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Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Then Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy during the Senate select committee on COVID-19 public hearing at Parliament House on May 13, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Australias Aged Care Sector Needs Financial Redesign Federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy has told a royal commission the aged care sector is under financial pressure and needs a funding redesign. The aged care royal commission is examining how to best fund the sector into the future as Australias population gets older and demand for services rises. We do not dispute that overall the financial performance of the sector has deteriorated in recent years, Murphy told the inquiry on Sept. 25. Many of the $1.5 billion of COVID measures put in this year in fact have gone to supporting the viability of the sector. We clearly accept that the system does need significant redesign and including in the costing and funding and transparency of that system. Intergenerational reports have identified aged care as the fastest growing component of federal expenditure. There is expected to be a significant rise in people needing care from 2030 when the baby boomer cohort enter their 80s, the commission previously heard. Former prime minister Paul Keating has advocated for a HECS-style loan scheme where money for aged care is taken out of peoples assets after they die. Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy told the commission the idea was worth examining but the question of private contributions needed to be sorted out first. We see people holding substantial superannuation assets at death, he said. I would be more inclined to say; how do we get the superannuation system and aged care system working to allow people with the means to make a reasonable contribution to their aged care? The community has an expectation that those of us who are in a position to contribute more should contribute more to a full range of services. Treasury deputy secretary Jenny Wilkinson said baby boomers broadly would retire with more superannuation behind them than people who had entered aged care in recent decades. The superannuation system is about 20 years in to having more than nine percent compulsory contributions being made by individuals, she said. Superannuation balances have been increasing in recent years. They are likely to increase substantially over the next 20. People entering aged care must fill out income and asset tests to determine how much they pay. The commission also has examined the merits of a hypothecated levy model, similar to Medicare, where people would be taxed specifically to fund aged care. Kennedy said he was not sure such a model would be helpful in funding something as wide and complex as the health system. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, September 10, Headstream , run by impact innovation company SecondMuse , announced the second iteration of the Headstream Accelerator on the heels of the successful completion of its first accelerator in the program. The announcement was made by SecondMuse and Headstream's Director, David Ball, at the virtual Headstream Innovation Festival. The Headstream Accelerator is supported by Pivotal Ventures , the innovation and incubation company created by Melinda Gates. Over the two years, Headstream has engaged teens, technologists, and other experts to understand the relationships that young people have with social technologies and how that has changed the experience of growing up. The application period opened on September 24 and will close in early November. The accelerator is virtual and will be open to innovators around the world who are launching tools that are available for young people in the United States. "We are proud and excited to launch the Headstream Accelerator 2 on the heels of the major impacts and successes we saw with the first accelerator. Through the Headstream Accelerator, we will actively support entrepreneurs who haven't traditionally had access to innovation accelerators or capital. We encourage all applicants to apply, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, religion, physical or mental ability, or identity," said SecondMuse's David Ball, Manager, Headstream. "We acknowledge the systemic, institutional, and psychological barriers that exist for women and people of color in the technology sector, and we are taking a stand to bring underrepresented voices to the forefront to support young people with the technology they need as they grow up." Headstream, a San Francisco-based technology and wellness innovation hub, supports a range of online tools aimed specifically at young people. The products it is helping to scale are a range of innovations, from a blockchain-enabled social commerce platform for women and the LGBTQ+ community to technology that enables gaming companies to prevent child exploitation and disruptive behavior. Headstream is particularly motivated to support solutions that positively impact BIPOC teens, teenage girls, and LGBTQ+ teens. By building with these underserved communities front of mind, Headstream believes that digital solutions will be more accessible and impactful for all communities. "We are committed to the healthy social and emotional development of young people in this country as they manage a rapidly changing environment," said Renee Wittemyer, Director of Program Strategy and Investment at Pivotal Ventures, who attended the event. "The innovators in the Headstream Accelerator are intentionally designing for the wellbeing of young technology users, and we are excited to support and partner with Headstream on this work." The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the psychological and social wellbeing of young people more than any other group and limiting their access to typical coping tools, like in-person therapy. Over the last year, Headstream has been supporting technology to fill these gaps and offer healthier spaces for isolated teens and young adults to connect with each other, find support and grow. The second Headstream Accelerator is seeking out social technology entrepreneurs that are actively supporting teens' pressing needs for wellbeing and their desires to create, learn, and engage through digital innovations. Innovators can apply for the five month Accelerator and the chance to receive up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding. The application period for Headstream's next Accelerator opened on September 24. Applications can be submitted at Headstreaminnovation.com . About SecondMuse SecondMuse is an impact and innovation company that builds resilient economies by supporting entrepreneurs and the ecosystems around them. They do this by designing, developing, and implementing a mix of innovation programming and investing capital. From Singapore to San Francisco, SecondMuse programs define inspiring visions, build lasting businesses, and unite people across the globe. Over the last decade, they've designed and implemented programs on 7 continents with 600+ organizations such as NASA, The World Bank, and Nike. To find out more about how SecondMuse is positively shaping the world, visit: www.secondmuse.com . Media Contact Information: Zach Giglio Media Relations, SecondMuse [email protected] 1.631.745.7551 Simone Byrd Global Communications & Marketing Specialist [email protected] 1.307.760.4759 SOURCE SecondMuse Related Links http://www.secondmuse.com As networks have become more complex with the addition of cloud computing, mobile devices, and IoT, published software vulnerabilities have accelerated roughly 12% year over year, with over 22,000 security vulnerabilities published in 2019 alone. These vulnerabilities affect product integrity, stability and reliability. While vulnerability scanners can identify the thousands of vulnerabilities that may exist on an enterprise network, cybersecurity staff must still manually sort through the flagged vulnerabilities and identify which are the most important to patch first and which are false positives. At the same time, global demand for cybersecurity professionals has outstripped supply, creating a critical cybersecurity skills gap and talent shortage. DeepSurface's Predictive Vulnerability Management platform helps to solve this problem by automating the discovery, accurate prioritization, and research for remediation of vulnerabilities leading to real risk reduction on their networks. Not meant to replace vulnerability scanners, but to pick up where they leave off, DeepSurface automatically collects deep knowledge of user permissions and activity, application permissions, host configurations, and the location of sensitive data to create a detailed threat model and map of all exploitation pathways through a network caused by unpatched software. Most importantly, DeepSurface computes the risk of each vulnerability and risk pathway based on potential impact to critical assets. By arming teams with actionable intelligence and the contextual analysis they need to measure and prioritize risk, teams can objectively prove where they should spend their time to reduce the most risk. "With essential information stored on networks and the cloud, it's critical that companies patch the vulnerabilities most dangerous to them promptly before they cost a company damage to their brand and revenue" said DeepSurface CEO James Dirksen. "With Deep Surface's unique mapping, wayfinding capabilities and actionable intelligence, security teams are finally able to attack the most dangerous vulnerabilities first with precision allowing teams to optimize the time spent on the areas of greatest risk." According to Gartner, "end-user spending for the information security and risk management market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% from 2019 through 2024 to reach $207.7 billion in constant currency."1 "Despite the large investments many companies are making in risk management solutions, choosing which vulnerabilities to address first remains a stubbornly manual and imprecise process," said Robert Pease, Managing Director of Cascade Seed Fund. "As more and more companies look to improve their risk reduction systems, automation is a natural next step. We found that DeepSurface has built a compelling solution for predictive vulnerability management and are excited to see where this investment takes them." Founded in 2017 the Portland-based company is led by CEO James Dirksen, a veteran Portland entrepreneur who bought and grew web categorization company RuleSpace, LLC and sold it to Symantec, and Tim Morgan, a leading penetration and application security tester. They are joined by a strong bench of advisors that includes Dwayne Melancon, former Chief Technology Officer at Tripwire; Dave Cole, former Chief Product Officer at Tenable; John Ewert, former Chief Operating Officer at Palo Alto Networks; and Rob Wiltbank, Chief Executive Officer of Galois, Inc. "Finally a vulnerability tool that will identify exactly what to fix and the patch to deploy in priority of risk to the enterprise" said Diane Fraiman, Managing Director Voyager Capital."This is hard to do and positions DeepSurface in a great position to gain market leadership. Voyager Capital is excited to be part of this growth opportunity." The beta version of DeepSurface is in use by large enterprise healthcare, SaaS, and financial companies. General availability will be available in Q4, 2020, and the company is scheduling preview tours of the product to vulnerability management teams and CISOs now. To learn more about DeepSurface visit: About DeepSurface Security DeepSurface Security is the first automated Predictive Vulnerability Management suite of tools that helps cybersecurity teams automate the process of analyzing and prioritizing vulnerabilities on enterprise networks. Created by a veteran cybersecurity team, DeepSurface Security is trusted by enterprise companies to identify, prioritize, and research vulnerabilities in their networks. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, DeepSurface is a privately held company funded by Cascade Seed Fund, SeaChange Fund, and Voyager Capital. To learn more visit www.deepsurface.com . 1 Gartner "Forecast: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide, 2018-2024, 2Q20 Update," Rustam Malik, et al, 28 July 2020 SOURCE DeepSurface Security Related Links https://deepsurface.com/ Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Ghana's Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Dr. Barfuor Adje-Barwuah, has commiserates with the family of late Babara Tommey, the young Ghanaian woman who was gunned down by her husband on September 8, 2020, in Orlando, Florida. During the visit, the Ambassador expressed his deepest sympathies to the family on behalf of President Nana Akufo-Addo and the entire nation. The Ambassador further attended both the memorial and burial services of Barbara Tommey. Speaking at the memorial service, the Ambassador stated that, although, it was unusual for the country and the President to be represented at every citizen's funeral, it was the gruesome and tragic nature of Barbara's death that pressed heavily on the country to show up and support the Tommey family. "Even with the brightness of the day, I feel rather cornered that in this room, I can only wish you a very cold morning because of what we are here for. Coming here is a little abnormal because it is not usual for the country and the president to be represented at every citizen's funeral. However, it is the demonstrably un-Ghanaian way of Barbara's exit that has made it necessary for me to be here today to register the condolences of the President and the 30 million citizens of Ghana," the Ambassador sadly expressed. The Ambassador encouraged friends, family and sympathizers present at the funeral to support the family as the days ahead would be extremely difficult, and also pledged his support to the family. "I appeal to all present here today to lend your support to the family in these difficult times so they don't fall apart. And on my part as the nation's representative, should it become necessary for any kind of support, I am only a phone call away," he said. Dr. Barfuor Adje-Barwuah also met with the Ghanaian Association of Orlando, Florida and charged them to build a resilient and resourceful community that is economically viable, socially cohesive and politically relevant. The Ambassador was accompanied by Mr. Kofi Tonto, Head of Information and Public Affairs at the Embassy. Source: peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Bunnings customers have rejoiced as the hardware store's iconic sausage sizzle has returned to select stores. Social media has lit up with overjoyed customers taking to their local store to sample Bunnings community sausage sizzles. Tik Tok user DavidorSteven uploaded a video after he was ecstatic to find his local Bunnings outet in Oxley in Brisbane had reintroduced the popular fundraiser. Social media has lit up with customers returning to Bunnings' for their iconic sausage sizzle 'Oh my God I almost had a freaking heart attack,' he says in the video. 'Why didn't anyone tell me the sausages are back?' Mr Steven captioned the post 'it brought tears to my eyes' with many commentators hopeful for the iconic snags to return to their local store soon. The hardware giant cancelled all sausage sizzles across Australia on March 18 over coronavirus fears. Almost four months later on July 9, the sausage sizzle returned to select Bunnings stores in Tasmania and the Northern Territory using a new layout that promotes physical distancing and includes increased personal hygiene processes. Sizzles return to ACT this weekend are are back in New South Wales on October 10. Bunnings suspended their fundraising sausage sizzles in March from covid fears before reintroducing them in Northern Territory and Tasmania on July 9 using a new covid safe layout HOW BUNNINGS WILL MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING AT SAUSAGE SIZZLES Separate ordering and pick-up points to allow for 1.5 metres' physical distancing Increased cleaning processes and hygiene requirements Increased signage to guide customers Additional team members rostered on to encourage physical distancing Advertisement Two weeks later, select Bunnings stores in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia reintroduced the sausage sizzle, with 200 community groups holding fundraising barbecues. The return of the sausage sizzle is still being discussed in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. 'Wed like to thank our customers for how patient they have been over the past few months with all the additional measures we have in place across our stores,' Bunnings Chief Operating Officer Deb Poole said in July. 'While we know they will be excited by this return, as are we, wed just ask everyone to continue to be patient and respect the guidelines in place.' The retailer said they are continuing to follow the government's advice during the coronavirus pandemic, with the sausage sizzle subject to government restrictions in each state. Community groups who were already booked in but had their events cancelled were given $500 gift cards by Bunnings to help with fundraising. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Duke of Cambridge appears in a forthcoming ITV documentary charting his interest in tackling environmental threats to the world (Phil Noble/PA) The Duke of Cambridge has called on humanity to speed the pace up and tackle the growing environmental threat to the planet. Speaking in a new documentary, William suggests he expects to be criticised for his views, saying: Someone has to put their head above the parapet and say, I care about this. And he highlights how the younger generation who are typified by the teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg are pushing for change and action on the issue. Expand Close William and Kate visiting the Chiatibo glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range to learn about the effects of climate change (Neil Hall/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp William and Kate visiting the Chiatibo glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range to learn about the effects of climate change (Neil Hall/PA) William has been filmed over the past two years in the UK and countries such as Pakistan and Tanzania for the ITV documentary Prince William: A Planet For Us All, which charts his journey from passionate conservationist to wanting to play a greater global leadership role on the environment. In Pakistans Hindu Kush mountains, the duke and his wife saw first hand the effects of climate change on glaciers which are melting at record speeds. During the official tour last October, William told the documentary: Its a huge environmental and humanitarian disaster. And yet, we still dont seem to be picking up the pace and understanding it quick enough. And I think the young are really getting it. And the younger generation are really wanting more and more people to do stuff and want more action. Expand Close During a visit to Tanzania, the duke was shown a stockpile of ivory (Kensington Palace/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp During a visit to Tanzania, the duke was shown a stockpile of ivory (Kensington Palace/PA) And weve got to speed the pace up. Weve got to get on top of it and we need to be more vocal and more educational about whats going on. The documentary follows the duke during a visit to Tanzania in September 2018 and he is filmed feeding a carrot to a rhino called Deborah. The future king says in the film, which will be screened next Monday: People might see them and think its a big tank, a big hulk of an animal, with a big horn, but they are incredibly vulnerable. They have brilliant eyesight and people will take advantage of that and they want this horn, which is effectively nail, and that is all it is, its fingernail. This is where the horn belongs, on a live rhino and thats where it should stay. Later William is visibly moved as he visits a heavily guarded secure ivory store in Tanzania where 43,000 tusks with a street value of 50 million have been impounded. Expand Close Sir David Attenborough is featured in the documentary with the duke and duchess (Peter Byrne/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir David Attenborough is featured in the documentary with the duke and duchess (Peter Byrne/PA) He says: Its a mind-blowing number of tusks, it really is. You cant get your head around it. Williams interest in protecting the natural world and the environment is reflected in his role as patron of Tusk, a conservation organisation working in Africa which aims to secure a peaceful co-existence for the continents wildlife and its people. And for more than five years the Transport Taskforce of his umbrella organisation United for Wildlife has been working to facilitate collaboration between the transport sector and law enforcement to prevent wildlife trafficking. In the film, the duke pays tribute to his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh and father the Prince of Wales for their work supporting the natural world. He says: My grandfather, my father have been in environmental work for many years. Expand Close Sir David and William watch the broadcasters new documentary sat in the wrong chairs. Kensington Palace / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir David and William watch the broadcasters new documentary sat in the wrong chairs. Kensington Palace My grandfathers well ahead of his time. My father, ahead of his time. And I really want to make sure that, in 20 years, George doesnt turn round and say, are you ahead of your time? Because if he does, were too late. The duke and duchess are featured with Sir David Attenborough during the documentary and are filmed when Kate names a new British polar research vessel after the broadcaster and naturalist. In the documentary, William tells the veteran broadcaster: Every generation, you know, after yours, David, has grown up listening and seeing all the things that youve shown them. And, hopefully, each generation listens a little bit more. Sir David, who last week met the Cambridges and watched his new documentary A Life On Our Planet with William, shares the dukes optimism: The public is becoming extraordinarily well informed it seems to me. Kids know an awful lot now about ecology and whats happening with the world. Its remarkable. At the end of the programme, William says he believes that 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic has given people a chance to take stock of what is important. He says: Ive been really heartened by what Ive been hearing from other people and how theyve decided to appreciate nature and experience it and see all the things that they never thought they would. Someone has to put their head above the parapet and say, I care about this. To have the belief that if we all work together, we can make a difference. Prince William: A Planet For Us All will be screened on ITV at 9pm on Monday October 5. The CDC holiday guidelines that have been recently released on the U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention website includes guides for those who will be celebrating the Dia de Los Muertos. The CDC holiday guidelines are hoped to help in averting the further spread of COVID-19 transmissions as the U.S. begins planning to celebrate fall and winter holidays. One of the fall and winter holiday celebrations that is much awaited is the Dia de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead. It is a Mexican holiday wherein families welcome back their dead relatives' souls for a brief reunion. The holiday is celebrated annually from October 31 to November 2. While the Dia de Los Muertos is a Mexican tradition, it is also more often celebrated in the U.S. wherein families start gathering late on October 31 to celebrate their departed loved ones with feasts, altars, decorations, and cemetery visits. While the CDC is not canceling the Dia de Los Muertos, it has identified high, moderate, and low-risk activities and alternatives listed on the CDC holiday guidelines. Identified as high-risk activities should be avoided by attending large indoor celebrations with singing or chanting or taking part in crowded indoor gatherings. Events holding a large dinner party with people from different households coming from other geographic locations and imbibing in alcohol or drugs could also not encourage cloud judgment and increase risky behaviors. These activities make it hard to do social distancing and impossible to maintain wearing masks; thus, they are labeled high risk. Among the activities considered to have moderate risks on the CDC holiday guidelines done for the Dia de Los Muertos celebration is having a small group in an outdoor, open-air parade where people should be apart from each other for more than 6 feet. Another is visiting and decorating the graves of loved ones but should be done with household members only. A 6 feet distance should also be observed with others who are also doing the same. Hosting or attending a small dinner with local family and friends can also be done, but it should be held outdoors, and people should be distant 6 feet apart. The CDC holiday guidelines also listed safe alternatives in celebrating the Dia de Los Muertos considered low-risk activities. Preparing traditional family recipes for family and neighbors is considered a safe activity; just make sure that the food will be delivered with no contact or less contact with people. Honoring the dead can also be done by playing the favorite music of the departed loved ones and decorating masks in the safety of homes or making an altar for the deceased. Setting out pillows and blankets for the departed loved ones is another way of honoring them. Joining a virtual get-together celebration would also be fun to try and very safe. The CDC holiday guidelines are not meant to replace health and safety laws, rules, and regulations issued by any state, local, territory, or tribe, but they are designed as supplements. CDC also warns that any person who is COVID-19 positive or may have been in contact with someone infected should refrain from joining any holiday celebration. Check these out: CDC Halloween Guidelines Discourage Trick-or-Treat, Costume Parties, Haunted Houses Stimulus Payments, $600 Unemployment Monthly Checks Included in Newly Unveiled Democratic Package COVID-19 Cases: 21 US States Report Increasing Numbers as Cold Season Looms Long gone are the days when entrepreneurship meant sitting in an office. The new generation of business owners, such as Giuliano Gigliotti , is able to see the world while making money. Gigliotti knows that first-hand, as his social media work has allowed him many opportunities for growth and networking across the world. "Travel, to me, is extremely important. It all began with travel, really. I moved to Los Angeles right after high school. Changing my reality and going from Ohio to such a busy city wasn't easy by any means, but I made it. Now, I'm excited to see the rest of the world," he explains. Each of Giuliano's trips is carefully planned. He doesn't go anywhere just for fun. In fact, he ends up creating connections and networking in various corners of the world that lead to mentorships and collaborations. "I've made a name for myself by promoting my lifestyle, and travel is a huge part of it," he says, adding, "I don't take vacations, and each trip ends up making money for me while being a ton of fun. In the future, I even want to organize travel exhibitions that would allow more people to learn about social media and how they, too, can achieve location-independence." Another crucial key to success for Gigliotti is networking. "Luckily, networking is basically a second nature to me. It never feels like work and I enjoy doing it. And the crazy thing about networking is that you can totally monetize it! There have been so many friendships for me that have turned into business opportunities," he shares. Once Giuliano realized how great of a networker he was, the profits started pouring in. Today, he sees work and fun as one and the same, and doesn't have strict business hours. "To me, business and pleasure are interchangeable. I like to travel to, say, London or Paris, or Mexico to meet like-minded people. Eventually, those connections turn into tangible dollars, and I've enjoyed the trip as well. It all makes sense, actually," he says. One piece of advice he has for starting entrepreneurs is to always invest in themselves first. "Sometimes, you won't get the recognition you deserve even if you did all the work. This is why you have to put yourself first and put in your time and energy into getting better. This will really get you far," he explains. To Gigliotti, public image is very important. He advises that anyone who wants to succeed takes the time to figure out what sort of persona they are putting forward for the world to see. "Keep your image consistent," he advises. For every new entrepreneur, there has to be a solid foundation, in Giuliano's opinion. This isn't necessarily a certain education or a sum of money, but rather a mindset. "If you want things to work in your favor, you need to remain optimistic. This is a powerful magnet for people and business opportunities. You are always in charge of your mindset. It will get you far," explains Gigliotti. Want to hear more from Giuliano? Follow him on Instagram. Photo: The Canadian Press This booking photo provided by the Cleveland, Tenn. Police Department shows Albert Haynesworth. Former Tennessee Titans All-Pro defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth was arrested Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, by Cleveland, Tenn. police after he was accused of threatening and yelling at his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. (Cleveland Police Department via AP) Former Tennessee Titans All-Pro defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth was arrested Monday after he was accused of threatening and yelling at his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Cleveland, Tennessee, police officers responded at 4:34 p.m. to a report that Haynesworth was yelling at his ex-girlfriend, according to a statement from the police. The woman told officers Haynesworth had driven there from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, after making threats to physically harm her and her boyfriend. No physical assault was reported, according to the police statement. After being told multiple times to stop yelling and cursing, Haynesworth was taken into custody, charged with domestic assault and disorderly conduct and transported to the Bradley County Justice Center, the statement reads. An officer at the jail said Haynesworth was no longer in custody Tuesday. A spokesman for the sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for information about bail in the case. An email to a lawyer who has previously represented Haynesworth was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon. Haynesworth has been receiving dialysis since his kidneys failed. After he revealed the news last summer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center said it had more than 1,000 calls and offers to donate a kidney or ask about the process within a day. However, he has not yet received a transplant. Haynesworth played 10 seasons in the NFL. He spent his first seven seasons with the Titans, who selected him No. 15 overall in the 2002 draft out of the University of Tennessee. Haynesworth also played for Washington, New England and Tampa Bay. He was selected as an All-Pro after the 2007 and 2008 seasons and had 30 1/2 sacks in 123 games. Haynesworth had his greatest season in 2008, when he had 8 1/2 sacks while leading the Titans to a 13-3 record and the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC before they lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional playoffs. OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Employee-Owned (Certified EO) is proud to announce the launch of Shop EO , the first-ever tool designed to help people find and shop at employee-owned businesses. Shop EO will boost efforts to revitalize the American economy by creating unprecedented visibility for employee ownership. As a one-stop-shop where consumers can browse employee-owned businesses and search by geography, industry, and name, Shop EO will help people vote with their dollars for an economic recovery focused on Main Street. Certified EO "Employee-owned businesses empower workers and build community wealth," said Certified EO co-founder and CEO, Thomas Dudley. "As our country begins to re-open, the choices that consumers make today will decide what our economy looks like in the future." "We are thrilled to launch this tool that makes it easier for people to use their purchasing power to support employee-owned companies," said Certified EO co-founder and CTO, Kramer Sharp. "Shopping at employee-owned businesses during the recovery is a positive action that anyone can take to stabilize our communities and create broad-based prosperity in America." The many beneficial impacts of employee ownership are supported by decades of research. Workers build wealth by earning a share in the company's success. This wealth built through ownership can be substantial. A 2018 survey by the National Center for Employee Ownership found that the average employee-owner had $170,326 in retirement savings, nearly twice the average non-employee-owner. In addition, companies see increased performance from engaged and committed employees. Multiple performance studies have found that employee-owned companies have higher growth and productivity. Finally, employee-owned companies provide stability for local economies, especially in difficult times. For example, during the 2009 recession employee-owners were five times less likely to experience layoffs. The benefits of employee ownership for workers, companies, and communities inspired Thomas Dudley and Kramer Sharp to launch Certified Employee-Owned in 2017 with the mission of creating national recognition for employee-owned business and building an employee-owned economy. Shop EO is a major step in achieving that mission. Today there are over 6,000 companies in America that meet Certified Employee-Owned's rigorous standards of broad-based employee ownership. These companies range in size from 10 people to over 180,000. They operate in every state and in a diverse set of industries including retail, manufacturing, construction, engineering, and professional services. To check out Shop EO, visit www.certifiedeo.com/shop. And to learn more about Certified EO visit www.certifiedeo.com . Media Contact: Adrienne Gehan 214-766-0671 [email protected] SOURCE Certified EO Nearly five dozen Portland police officers who were deputized to make federal arrests during the weekends protests will retain that authority until the end of the year, the police bureau confirmed Monday evening. Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen told The Oregonian/OregonLive that 56 officers, sergeants and lieutenants from the bureaus rapid response team, which typically polices protests, were sworn in and will be allowed to make arrests in place of federal officers. The officers were sworn in Saturday morning, prior to a Proud Boys rally in Delta Park, and a counter-demonstration in Peninsula Park. Gov. Kate Brown issued an emergency executive order putting them temporarily under the command of Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton and Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese. Hampton asked that the U.S. Marshals Service grant the Portland police officers in the Rapid Response Team federal powers, meaning federal prosecutors could bring allegations of assault on a federal officer if those officers were attacked by any demonstrator. Those charged with federal offenses typically face harsher penalties. Allen said the deputization of those officers doesnt mean automatic federal charges for any case where a federal officer is assaulted. According to the U.S. Attorneys office, federal deputization, standing alone, does not trigger coverage under the statute that prohibits assaults on federal officers, Allen said in an email to the news organization. Instead, he said, the decision would be made on the specifics of the case and the federal interest in the alleged crime. However, protesters have already faced federal prosecution, including the federal felony charge of civil disorder, for alleged attacks on local police officers far from any federal facility. Defendants include people arrested at protests outside of police precincts and the office for the union that represents Portland police officers. Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Jeremy Corbyn's son has blasted cops for bragging about raiding homes for small amounts of weed in a scathing attack on police. The former Labour leader's youngest of three boys, Tommy, criticised officers for storming a house and then posting about their haul on social media. The intervention came as the nation reeled after Met custody copper Sgt Matt Ratana was gunned down on a police station. Tommy - who runs a CBD store called National Hemp Service - comments on the East Dorset Police post on Facebook. The former Labour leader's youngest of three boys, Tommy, criticised police officers in Dorset for storming a house and then posting about their 'tiny' haul on social media (pictured: With Jeremy Corbyn) Rounding on East Dorset Police, Mr Corbyn called it an 'obnoxious trend' when police forces 'boast about aggressive house raids' on social media, saying they just 'did it for the likes' One of the images showed a crashed in door from the officer's raid on the dealer's home One photo was of a smashed in front door and another of a bag of cannabis and cash recovered. Tommy said: 'The obnoxious trend of local police forces boasting about aggressive house raids for TINY amounts of cannabis, just for the likes, really pisses me off. 'This 'successful' seizure looks like less than half an ounce of cannabis and a whopping 40(?!?) in cash. 'If you can afford it, you can go to a private doctor on Harley Street and pay for an ounce of your very own 'legal' cannabis. 'It has all the same cannabinoids, it has THC, it IS psychoactive and you could grow the exact same strain at home. 'Yet the people who have access to that expensive, exclusive 'legal' cannabis don't risk their front door being kicked in. 'They don't risk losing custody of their kids. They don't risk going to prison. The system rewards their privilege with safety. Tommy, pictured here with his father Jeremy and his girlfriend Chloe Kerslake-Smith, was slammed for his comments by other social media users 'Whoever this was done to, if you need any help finding legal support groups I'm on info@nationalhempservice.co.uk and would be happy to put you in touch.' Tommy runs a CBD shop in Finsbury Park, North London, with his girlfriend Chloe Kerslake-Smith. The store sells licensed cannibis products, such as CBD oil - a popular homeopathic medicine derived from the cannabis sativa plant but doesn't get you high. The shop, which also has a cafe inside, advocates for the legalisation of hemp and cannabis across the UK. But some people slammed Mr Corbyn for his comment, with Shadwell Jones saying: 'Scales. Cash and product. This is a drug dealer. Why are you defending him?' Shaun added: 'Tommy, they're upholding the law, however ridiculous that law is, that's literally their job, and in a world where their ability to do everything is ruled by 'results' they're going to make sure 'results' are noticed. Some people slammed Mr Corbyn for his comment and emphasised that officers were justdoing their job Social media users it back at Mr Corbyn's comment and said it is best to stay all clear of drugs Some shared Mr Corbyn's vire, like this man who referred to the small amount of drugs the dealer was selling in his comment on social media 'Fight for legalisation, don't fight the cops.' Camila Zurlini added: 'Just don't smoke. Don't use drugs. Not a big deal.' East Dorset Police's original post said: 'Officers from Wimborne Safer Neighbourhood Team successfully executed a drugs warrant in Corfe Mullen this afternoon. 'A male has been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs and a quantity of cash and cannabis has been seized. 'We will act on community intelligence and we welcome any information so we can work together to protect our residents.' A Canadian man has gone on trial accused of murdering and dismembering two young women whose bodies were only discovered after two plumbers were called to the home to unclog pipes. The workmen had been in the Ontario apartment building where 47-year-old Adam Strong lived, to unblock some drains when they came across a 'fleshy-like substance.' Unsure of what it was they had found, the pair decide to call the police who then uncovered the gruesome scene. The trial of Adam Strong, 47, pictured, accused of murdering and dismembering two women got underway Monday in Oshawa, Ontario It was December 2017 when Police Constable Kevin Park went to the Oshawa home, northeast of Toronto. Park met with the two plumbers where he was shown a shopping bag in which some remains had been collected. 'I'd never seen anything like this before so I wasn't sure,' the Durham Regional Police officer testified in court on Monday, as reported by CTV. Four police officers then went down to the basement apartment where Strong opened the door. Park asked what he was flushing down the toilet. Strong is alleged to have admitted things immediately. The dismembered body of Rori Hache, 18, was found in Strong's freezer and down some drains Strong has also been charged with first-degree murder in the case of Kandis Fitzpatrick who disappeared in 2008 'OK, you got me, the gig's up, it's a body,' he is alleged to have said. 'If you want to recover the rest of her, it's in my freezer.' Strong was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Rori Hache. He is also accused of killing Kandis Fitzpatrick, 19, who vanished in 2008 and has not been heard from since. Strong has pleaded not guilty to both first-degree murder charges. Crown attorney Bryan Guertin told the court how fishermen had found a torso in Oshawa Harbour three months earlier. It was quickly established that the body was that of Hache's. Information found on Strong's digital devices, including his cellphone, is likely to form some part of the evidence in the case against him Hache was found with multiple injuries on her body, including two fractures to her skull although an overall cause of death could not be established according to a medical examiner During their forensic search, investigators also found a large hunting knife on which Kandis Fitzpatrick's DNA was found. Her blood was similarly found in Strong's freezer and bedroom Strong had not been on police's radar until he had been caught trying to dispose of Hache's remains. Data from Google showed how his phone had been located at Oshawa Harbour one week before the torso had been found. After Strong's arrest, investigators found the rest of her body as Strong had said, in a freezer in his bedroom. Her blood was found on Strong's bedroom walls and ceiling, and his semen was found on her body. Hache was found with multiple injuries on her body, including two fractures to her skull although an overall cause of death could not be established according to a medical examiner. During their forensic search, investigators also found a large hunting knife on which Kandis Fitzpatrick's DNA was found. Her blood was similarly found in Strong's freezer and bedroom. 'Ms. Fitzpatrick found the same fate as Ms. Hache,' Guertin told the court. 'Both girls were vulnerable, were essentially homeless with no fixed address.' Strong had not been on police's radar until he had been caught trying to dispose of Hache's remains Data from Google showed how his phone had been located at Oshawa Harbour, pictured above, one week before the torso of Rori Hache had been found 'Both girls suffered from drug issues and sometimes worked in the sex trade to help fund their drug habit.' Hache's mother, Shanan Dionne, spoke outside court on Monday and said the trial was not about her daughter being homeless or 'a drug-addict tossed away that wasn't loved, because she was so loved.' The 18-year-old was pregnant at the time but also struggling with an addiction to crystal meth. Kandis's father, William Fitzpatrick, also testified in course and told how the last time he had seen his daughter was spring of 2008 and had not heard from her since. She was also known to have struggled with drugs and would often leave home for weeks at a time without any notice. The trial is continuing and will use digital evidence from Strong's phone along with testimony from five other alleged female victims of sexual violence by Strong. India held a webinar with Cambodia on Friday, September 25, on the theme of Indian Defence Industry Global Outreach for Collaborative Partnership. As per reports, the webinar was a part of a series of virtual discussions wherein Indian officials would be interacting with friendly foreign nations is an effort to boost defence exports and achieve defence export target of 5 billion in the next five years. Read: Govt's Decision On FDI In Defence To Enhance Self-reliance In Sector: Union Min Goyal India boosting defence cooperation with Cambodia The webinar was attended by senior Indian Defence Ministry officials and Cambodian army officials. As per reports, both sides discussed and spoke about enhancing defence cooperation between India and Cambodia. During the webinar, various Indian companies are reported to have made presentations on military hardware and equipment like Artillery Systems, Mine Protected Vehicles, Electronic and telecommunication systems and demining equipment. The webinar between India and Cambodia was attended by 200 delegates and 100 virtual stalls had been set up. Read: German, French Defence Ministers Visit Airbus Factory Growing security India-Japan ties In a similar development, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday said that the defence and security aspect of India and Japan's bilateral relationship was progressing smoothly despite it being a relatively new area of cooperation. EAM Jaishankar also noted that the recent development in this regard was the signing of reciprocal supply and services agreement. The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) between Japans Self-Defense Forces and Indias armed forces were signed by Japanese ambassador Satoshi Suzuki and defence secretary Ajay Kumar in New Delhi last week. India has similar agreements with the US, Australia, France, Oman, and Singapore. (Representative Image, Image: AP) Read: EAM Jaishankar Praises 'progressing Defence, Security Aspects' Of India-Japan Ties Read: Greece Boosts Defence Amid Turkey Tensions India is faring better than many developed nations in all parameters of COVID-19, Union Health Minister said on Tuesday as he highlighted the "continuously rising" recovery rate and "progressively falling" fatality rate in the country. This is the result of combined efforts of all the organisations and citizens of the country, Vardhan said as he along with Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment released a booklet on 'COVID-19- Safe Workplace Guidelines for Industry' through a virtual platform. "These guidelines will help in the welfare of industrial workers. The guidelines act as comprehensive planning guidance for employers and workers to help identify risk levels of COVID-19 at individual workplace settings in their premises and to determine appropriate control measures," the health minister was quoted as saying in a statement by his ministry. The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to the welfare of workers. As the country is moving towards unlocking of economic activities, it is important that the guidelines are followed within the industry premises, he said. "Scientific prevention, precaution and positive attitude will help us in our fight against These guidelines will provide guidance for assessment, categorization and mitigation of risk related to varied work-related exposures to COVID-19 and contingency plan," he said. These guidelines consolidate all important measures into a ready reckoner of action points to make workplace safe based on the bulwark of infection control measures like respiratory hygiene, frequent hand washing, social distancing and frequent sanitization of the workplace. On India's fight against COVID-19, Vardhan said, "In all parameters of COVID-19, India is faring better than many developed countries. The continuously rising recovery rate and progressively falling case fatality rate have proven the success of the COVID-19 containment strategy followed by all states and Union Territories. This is a result of the combined efforts of all organisations and citizens of the country." He also lauded ESIC hospitals for playing an important role in providing services to patients. Vardhan also urged people to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. The minister reiterated that till the time a vaccine is available, the social vaccine in the form of masks or face covers, hand washing and maintaining physical distancing need to be adhered to, the statement said. On the occasion, Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, "These guidelines for the safety of industrial workers will encourage people. It is important to prepare ourselves mentally for the present situation and spread awareness about COVID-appropriate behaviour. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 09/29/2020 Contacts for media: UMass Lowell: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu or Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu. President Donald Trump has an apparent lead over former Vice President Joe Biden in a close contest for Texas 38 electoral votes according to a new poll of likely voters in the state released today. Trump has the support of 49 percent of Texas likely voters, Biden is at 46 percent, other candidates on the ballot are at 4 percent and 1 percent are undecided. The poll of 882 likely voters carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. While male poll respondents are more likely to vote for Trump (52 percent Trump, 42 percent Biden), Trump is polling nearly even with Biden among women in Texas (49 percent Biden, 47 percent Trump); Biden likely needs to widen the gender gap in order to carry the state. More on voters support by party, age and education is available at www.uml.edu/polls. While Trump is slightly ahead of Biden with likely voters, 50 percent say they approve and 49 percent disapprove of the president. Among those who approve, 37 percent do so strongly and 13 percent somewhat. Among Trump disapprovers, 40 percent strongly disapprove of the way he is handling his job as president. Among Democrats, 95 percent disapprove of Trumps job performance, including 83 percent who strongly disapprove. Among independents, 60 percent disapprove of his job performance, including 39 percent who strongly disapprove. Among the 92 percent of Republicans who approve of Trumps job performance, 69 percent strongly approve. Trump is hanging onto a lead in Texas, but Republicans shouldnt be celebrating. Once a stronghold, statewide races continue to tighten and a loss in Texas would not only guarantee a Biden presidency, it would signal a landslide. The fact that Biden is keeping it close is cold comfort, said Joshua Dyck, director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and associate professor of political science. Asked about their opinions on whether either candidate and their allies are trying to cheat to win the election, slightly less than half of Texas likely voters say that Biden and his allies have been cheating a great deal (32 percent) or somewhat (16 percent), while half say that Trump and his allies have been cheating a great deal (36 percent) or somewhat (14 percent). As expected, these numbers break down by party identification, but the perception of partisan cheating by Trump among Democrats is higher: 72 percent of Democrats think Trump and his allies are cheating a great deal, and 57 percent of Republicans think Biden and his allies are cheating a great deal. In the closely watched U.S. Senate race in Texas, Republican incumbent John Cornyn leads Democratic challenger MJ Hegar 50 percent to 40 percent with 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate and 9 percent undecided. While Cornyn leads by a comfortable margin, his lead also does not necessarily project strength, rather that he is running against a relatively unknown challenger. Cornyn is leading among Republicans 91 percent to Hegars 3 percent, while Hegar leads among Democrats 83 percent to 7 percent. However, Hegar also leads among independents by 9 points, 44 percent to 35 percent. Notably, 10 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents remain undecided, compared to only 6 percent of Republicans. As a challenger, Hegars relative anonymity among Texas voters shows up in her favorables. She has a net favorability rating of +13 (35 percent to 22 percent), but a large number of Texas voters either have no opinion of her (26 percent) or have never heard of her (17 percent). Cornyn, by contrast, is not a particularly popular incumbent. His favorability rating is net neutral (38 percent favorable, 38 percent unfavorable), while 19 percent of likely voters have no opinion of the senator and 5 percent have never heard of him. Poll respondents were also asked whether the next Supreme Court justice the replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg should be appointed by the current president or by the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Here, we see a majority, 54 percent, of Texas likely voters say that the winner of the presidential election should appoint Ginsburgs successor to the high court, while 46 percent say that the sitting president should appoint her successor. The poll also found the following among likely Texas voters: Gov. Greg Abbott has an approval rating of 55 percent (28 percent strongly approve, 27 percent somewhat approve) Texas voters are split on whether it is safe to re-open local public schools. A slim majority (51 percent) of Texas likely voters think its not safe to re-open local public schools for face-to-face instruction (26 percent say definitely not safe, 25 percent say probably not safe, 28 percent say probably safe, 21 percent say definitely safe). Asked who they think will win the 2020 presidential election, Texas likely voters give Trump the edge: 49 percent say Trump will win and 37 percent say Biden will win. Sixty-three percent of likely voters say the country has gotten off on the wrong track while 37 percent think things in the country are headed in the right direction. Texas provides absentee ballots only to those voters who are unable to vote in person (i.e. they must provide a valid excuse). All other voters are expected to vote in person, but Texas does offer early voting between Oct. 13 and Oct. 30. Among likely voters, 15 percent say they plan to vote by mail, 64 percent say they plan to vote early, in person, while 22 percent plan to vote in person on Election Day. Among those who intend to vote by mail, Biden leads 69 percent to 25 percent, among intended early voters Trump leads 50 percent to 46 percent and among Election Day voters Trump leads 66 percent to 29 percent. Detailed poll results including topline and methodology are available at www.uml.edu/polls. The nonpartisan poll is independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowells Center for Public Opinion, which conducts public-opinion polling at the state and national levels. The nationally recognized center uses the latest technology and highest standards in its surveys and is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Researchs Transparency Initiative. The centers events and polls on political and social issues provide unique opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and research. The poll of 882 likely Texas voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 1,000 students and alumni who hail from the Lone Star State. The survey was designed and analyzed by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Sept. 18 through Sept. 25. It has an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. Full poll methodology is available at www.uml.edu/polls. In addition to the survey of likely voters in Texas, the Center for Public Opinion also released polls in two other states today. The findings include: In New Hampshire, former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by eight points, 52 percent to 44 percent. In the races for U.S. senator and governor, both incumbents lead by double digits. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen leads Republican challenger Corky Messner 56 percent to 37 percent. Gov. Chris Sununu leads Democratic challenger Dan Feltes 60 percent to 34 percent. (Poll of 657 likely New Hampshire voters conducted Sept. 17 through Sept. 25 with an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent.) In North Carolina, Trump and Biden are tied with 47 percent support of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham leads Republican incumbent Thom Tillis 49 percent to 43 percent. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Republican challenger Dan Forest 54 percent to 41 percent. (Poll of 921 likely North Carolina voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.) UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu By John E. Harmon, Sr. At the urging of New Jersey airport workers and labor unions across the state, the Senate Labor Committee has passed the Healthy Terminals Act (S-989/A-2487), which raises the minimum wage for certain workers and mandates a standard health benefits supplement and paid leave requirement. But contrary to the intended effect of helping workers during a time of crisis, imposing higher labor costs on an already overburdened industry will have disastrous consequences. This is a time when we can ill-afford to lose jobs, especially in the minority community a group that suffered a record number of job losses during the pandemic. In fact, 61% of Hispanics and 44% of African-Americans said they or someone in their household was laid off or had their wages cut. The airline industry is still struggling to survive amid the worst economic downturn in aviation history, despite implementing aggressive cost-cutting measures and receiving billions of dollars in emergency aid at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, and is not positioned to absorb this local cost into its broader network or business. As airlines find themselves forced to eliminate thousands of jobs, New Jersey lawmakers are moving to impose burdensome mandates targeting the industry that could further upend it and potentially lead to a loss of even more jobs within our communities. The good news is that this legislation has not been approved by either chamber in the state legislature in Trenton, giving lawmakers time to stop this misguided effort. U.S. airlines are still in critical condition. Carriers are still burning around $5 billion in cash each month and have been forced to furlough staff, retire old planes and suspend new aircraft deliveries. In fact, United Airlines among other carriers like American Airlines and Delta Air Lines announced plans to furlough more than 16,000 employees once the federal program to provide payroll support to businesses expires at the end of September. The payroll support program was created as part of the CARES Act, an infusion of federal aid intended to stabilize the economy and bolster the nations healthcare system amid the pandemic. Passenger airlines and cargo carriers that accepted the grant money had to agree to a number of conditions, including keeping frontline workers employed through the end of September. But with recurring outbreaks of the virus and travel restrictions still in place, the airline industry remains in a dire financial state. Even with a modest recovery since April, U.S. passenger traffic is still only a fraction of what it was in 2019. And the financial losses are accumulating. At United, revenue was down nearly 90% in the second quarter. Worldwide, the International Air Transport Association predicts that carriers will lose $419 billion by years' end. More than that, industry experts forecast that air travel will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024. Given the vital role that airlines play in the economy, this poses a challenge to any broader economic recovery throughout the nation. To grasp the damage that has been done to the airline industry as a result of the pandemic, consider that prior to COVID-19 the industry was responsible for $1.7 trillion in economic activity and 5% of the U.S. gross domestic output. That includes directly employing 750,000 people and indirectly supporting 10 million other jobs. U.S. airlines have also invested an overwhelming majority of their cash flow over the past five years to ensuring higher wages for their employees. Based on data from the leading airline trade association, U.S. passenger airline employees earn 45% higher wages than the average private-sector employee. Given that New Jersey has seen the greatest decline in air travel besides New York during the pandemic, state lawmakers have a direct interest in seeing the industry rebound. But if the New Jersey Healthy Terminals Act becomes law, that will handcuff the airlines and likely delay any recovery. For the sake of both the state and national economy, as well as our community, lawmakers in Trenton should abandon this controversial legislation and instead focus on policy solutions that protect our states hardworking airport and airline employees, rather than making an already dire situation worse. John E. Harmon, Sr. is the founder, president & CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Mississauga, Ontario, and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT"), a leading agriculture technology company that has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system, will participate in a virtual presentation and fireside chat at the October 2020 Lytham Partners Virtual Investor Growth Conference on Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT). BVT has an EPA-approved system that can replace chemical pesticides. By using commercially reared bees (both bumble and honey), BVT delivers a proprietary biological called Vectorite with CR-7, to blossoms. This can increase crop yields anywhere from 6 to 29%. In the October 6 presentation, Mr. Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT, will provide an update on the commercialization efforts in the US and some of the key milestones that unlock value for BVT shareholders including additional jurisdiction approvals and product-line extensions. The discussion will also focus on the numerous benefits that BVT's delivery system offers to help improve the environment, like the use of less water, fossil fuels and traditional pesticides. Participants may join the webcast by registering up to 15 minutes prior the start time, at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2387/37772. The download button for the presentation slide deck will be accessible next to the webcast button. A replay of the webcast will be available following the event at the same link. The webcast recording and presentation will be posted too on the BVT website at http://www.beevt.com/investors/financial-information. Questions for the last portion of the webinar can be submitted in advance to investor@beevt.com. Management will also be participating in virtual one-on-one meetings on October 6-9, 2020. To arrange a meeting, please contact Adam Lowensteiner of Lytham Partners at lowensteiner@lythampartners.com or visit www.lythampartners.com/virtual. About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its VECTORITE with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops. Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter. Company Contact: Ashish Malik, President & CEO info@beevt.com Investor Contacts: Babak Pedram, Investor Relations Virtus Advisory Group Tel: 416-995-8651 bpedram@virtusadvisory.com Adam Lowensteiner, Investor Relations (for US inquires) Lytham Partners Tel: 646-829-9700 bevvf@lythampartners.com The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres of strawberries in Florida, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated August 14,2020, filed with the CSE and securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64810 She's long been known for her chic and glamorous sense of style. And Catherine Deneuve was the picture of elegance on Monday as she arrived at the Louis Vuitton dinner party on the first day of Paris Fashion Week. The French actress, 76, was the picture of sophistication in a stylish black dress and silver sequin scarf as she posed on her way into the party. Gorgeous: Catherine Deneuve, 76, was the picture of elegance on Monday as she arrived at the Louis Vuitton dinner party on the first day of Paris Fashion Week Catherine cut a stylish figure in a classy black dress which she teamed with a matching corduroy blazer. The star accessorised her outfit with mesh slingbacks with pointed metal toes, along with a silver box clutch and a scarf covered with silver sequins. Catherine proudly displayed her ageless complexion with a statement red lip and her honey blonde tresses styled into voluminous curls. Lovely: The French actress was the picture of sophistication in a stylish black dress and silver sequin scarf as she posed on her way into the party Catherine is known for her illustrious career in French cinema, including the 1980 classic The Last Metro and Indochine in 1992, both of which earned her Cesar awards for Best Actress. Her most recent on-screen appearance came in The Truth last year, which she starred in alongside Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke and Ludivine Sagnier. Paris is set to impose strict new regulations in attempt to slow the spike in coronavirus cases. Chic: Catherine cut a stylish figure in a classy black dress which she teamed with a matching corduroy blazer Legendary: She is know as one of France's most acclaimed actresses, and has been starring in films more more than 60 years (pictured in 1964) New Paris regulations Bars in Paris, along with Lyon and nine other cities on 'heightened alert', to close at 10pm from tonight Ten person restriction at gatherings Number of attendees at weddings and parties limited to 30 Gyms and other indoor sporting facilities will remain closed Remains mandatory for all pedestrians to wear face masks in public areas in the capital Advertisement Emmanuel Macron's government has ordered bars in Paris, along with Lyon and nine other cities on 'heightened alert', to close at 10pm. There is also a 10-person restriction at public gatherings with attendees at weddings and parties limited to 30. Gyms and other indoor sporting facilities will also remain closed and it remains mandatory for all pedestrians to wear face masks in public areas in the capital. The move comes as the president tries to avoid imposing a full lockdown across the country with the French economy already set to shrink by 8.7 per cent this year. The French government recently announced that it would be pumping 100billion (91billion) into the economy as part of a recovery plan. Politician Macron hopes that this will help the French economy to get moving again by 2022. Paris Fashion Week, which is set to host presentations by Kenzo, Kenneth Ize and Schiaparelli, will end on October 6. A court in Minsk has extended the pretrial detention of Belarusian-American political strategist Vitali Shkliarov for a second two-month period despite signs he had the coronavirus while incarcerated. Anton Hashynski, Shkliarov's lawyer, said on September 29 that a COVID-19 test revealed that his client has antibodies for the virus. "Most likely he recovered himself from COVID-19 two weeks ago when he complained of a high fever. Since he and his cellmates have not been isolated, they now are getting infected one by one," Hashynski said. Shkliarov's detention by Belarusian security agents in late July has spurred increasingly urgent warnings from U.S. government officials who have called his jailing "unjust." Shkliarov, who has worked on political campaigns for Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders in the United States, and for Russian socialite Ksenia Sobchak, was arrested in his native city of Homel in southeastern Belarus on July 29, 10 days before the presidential election. He has said he was visiting his parents in Homel. But law enforcement officials have asserted he was trying to assist blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski to register as a candidate in the election. Tsikhanouski was detained himself prior to the election; his wife Svyatlana then ran for president in his place and has since become a leading opposition activist. Shkliarov's wife, U.S. diplomat Heather Shkliarov, said in mid-September that her husband's health was in "extreme danger." THE SOCIALIST AWAKENING Whats Different Now About the Left By John B. Judis Henry James once said that being an American is a complex fate, the critic Irving Howe wrote in Socialism and America (1985), one of the most penetrating essay collections on the subject. We American socialists could add He didnt know the half of it. The word socialist, which signifies deep egalitarian commitments, was encumbered in the 20th century by many disasters done in its name, particularly Stalinism. Howe felt that socialists could not simply shed those burdens. He hoped for friends of tomorrow who would have so completely absorbed the lessons of what went wrong that they wouldnt need to repeat them. After all, he added, yearning for a better mode of life will reappear. Is that tomorrow now? Are the lessons learned? Conservatives vexed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fret that tomorrow is here. Anti-socialist bluster riddled the 2020 Republican convention, even though the Democratic Socialists of America, the countrys largest socialist group, refused to endorse Joe Biden against Donald Trump (Sanders did the opposite). In The Socialist Awakening, the journalist John B. Judis proposes that a new socialism is emerging among the young and educated. He builds on his earlier volumes on nationalism and populism, collectivist ideas that have surged because of a breakdown of the consensus on the virtues of the free market and of globalization. A former Alabama sheriff has been arrested amid accusations he used his public position for personal gain. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Tuesday announced the arrest of 49-year-old Leroy Davie Upshaw. He was elected sheriff of Barbour County in 2005 and served until his term ended in early January 2019. The AGs Special Prosecutions Division obtained two warrants for Upshaws arrest on Monday, Marshall said. Upshaw is alleged to have improperly taken more than $85,000 from multiple accounts belonging to the sheriffs office. One charge alleges Upshaw used his public office to receive personal financial gain. The second alleges he used his public office to obtain financial gain for members of his family. Marshall did not elaborate on the details of the reported crimes and court records are not yet available. Upshaw surrendered to the Barbour County Sheriffs Office Monday and was released on bond. Efforts to obtain his mugshot from jail officials werent immediately successful. Marshall said the Alabama Ethics Commission provided assistance during the investigation. Use of office for personal gain is a Class B felony, punishable to two to 20 years in prison. Work has begun on converting a former Lidl warehouse in Newbridge into a manufacturing hub by US multinational Keurig Dr Pepper, according to database buildinginfo.com The US company behind brands such as Dr Pepper and 7up announced earlier this year that it is hiring for 50 positions immediately at the facility off Great Connell Road. The firm, which has 25,000 employees worldwide, wants to expand and diversify its supply chain by opening the manufacturing facility. Keurig Dr Pepper is the parent company of over 100 brands that also includes Snapple, Canada Dry and Sunkist. The vacant building will be converted for beverage manufacturing use. The main contractor is experienced firm, John Paul Construction Ltd. The gross floor area of the premises is increasing from 31,986 sq m to 34,191 sq m. The existing car park will also be extended to 209 car parking spaces and 40 bicycle spaces. Other additions will be an external chiller, condensing units and a wastewater treatment plant. The estimated total construction cost of the development is 2m. The AIIMS' forensic chief Dr Sudhir Gupta said on Tuesday the board of doctors has given a conclusive medico-legal opinion in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the Central Bureua of Investigation and that they were on the "same page" with the probe agency in the matter. A source said the doctors' panel did not find any trace of poison in the actor's viscera, but this information could not be verified further. On his part, Dr Gupta refused to divulge any details, stating the case is sub judice. "The medical board of AIIMS has expressed very clearly and conclusively medico-legal final opinion in this case to the CBI. The AIIMS and the CBI are in agreement and on the same page in the matter," AIIMS' forensic chief said. He added, "We don't confirm any speculation running in the media and request all media to refrain from referring to AIIMS' name in any news content." These remarks by Dr Gupta come amid conflicting media reports about the contents of the medico-legal opinion. While some news reports claimed that the expert panel has said there is no proof of poisoning, some others said it has not ruled out murder or homicide. The CBI had on Monday said it has not reached any conclusion in the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and all aspects are under investigation. "The Central Bureau of Investigation is conducting a professional investigation related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in which all aspects are being looked into and no aspect has been ruled out as of date," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. Rajput, 34, who made his silver screen debut in the critically acclaimed 'Kai Po Che' seven years ago, was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. The CBI had taken over the probe from Bihar Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actor's father K K Singh in Patna against Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family. K K Singh, in his complaint to the Bihar Police, had alleged that Chakraborty along with her family members had misappropriated Rajput's wealth. The allegation was denied by Chakraborty in TV interviews. Last week, K K Singh's lawyer Vikas Singh had expressed "helplessness" over the "slow pace" of the CBI probe into Rajput's death. "The pace of the CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput's death has suddenly slowed down and all attention is being diverted to drugs-related issues with the NCB conducting fashion parade of Bollywood stars," the late actor's family lawyer Vikas Singh had alleged on Friday. Washington County added to quarantine list for troublesome bug The Maryland Department of Agriculture has added several areas, including Washington County, to its quarantine list regarding the spotted lanternfly. Director and cowriter Tom Dolby says he unconsciously wrote The Artists Wife to fit a modernist home with a white exterior once owned by friends of his in East Hampton, New York. When we looked for the perfect white modern house [to film], my mind exploded when we saw it, he tells AD. The 1970s-era dwelling had been painted black since hed last been there. I had a come-to-Jesus moment and realized maybe it was supposed to be black all along. We looked at over 50 houses with modernist architecture and there was a lot of junk, and this house had such an elegant design to it, he says. Filmed against a striking white snowfall in the dead of winter, it provided the perfect setting for the home of the fictional celebrated abstract artist Richard Smythson (played by Bruce Dern) and his wife Claire (Lena Olin). The drama (available on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and Laemmle Virtual Cinema now) tells the tale of an eccentric artist in the twilight of his career facing the early stages of dementia. His faithful wife and muse, who gave up a successful career as an artist to become the proverbial woman behind the man, begins to look for her own identity after years of staying in the shadows. Its a story that hits close to home for Dolby. My father had been diagnosed with dementia right around the time I started writing a story about the unsung heroine, he says. I had seen so many creative relationships, such as Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, where the wife was so supportive. Hitchcock would not have been Hitchcock without his wife, and she never got the credit she deserves. Photo: Michael Lavine The house provides subtle details in this character study filled with metaphors and idiosyncrasies. One peek into Claires well-ordered Sub-Zero gives us a glimpse of anal-retentiveness at its finest. It is where she finds a semblance of control among the chaos. Claire was anal and highly regimented, so its a simple look at how her mind worked at that time, as her creativity needed some way to come out, says production designer John El Manahi. I had to find these little ways to portray things like this. The house pays homage to Richards work and that of contemporary artists. His studio is messy, cluttered, and as the designer notes, a metaphor for the state of his mind as he repeatedly paints a canvas white. Conversely, Claires soothing barn studio becomes a womb where she retreats and paints against a color palette of warm browns, burnt sienna, and ochre. Story continues Photo: Michael Lavine Photo: Michael Lavine Works inspired by artists such as Richard Serra, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Franz Kline represent the couples years as avid art collectors. Since obtaining permission rights for artwork is a Herculean challenge, El Manahi did double duty as an artist, creating a collection in record time. The designer, who spent three years at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, notes, I recreated all those paintings in the style of those artists [for Richards work] and did 18 large-scale paintings. I also created a few reproductions in the style of Motherwell and Rothko. Photo: Michael Lavine The interiors reflect the couples love of midcentury furniture curated over the years. We wanted to establish contrasts between the different environments that Claire and Richard inhabit that were reflective of their characters and journey, explains Dolby. Working with set decorator Tricia Peck, he and El Mahani provided a laundry list of iconic 20th-century pieces such as Marcel Breuers Wassily Chair and Arne Jacobsens Egg Chair. They say the best way to make something real is to use something that is fakein this case we needed to use real and rented pedigree vintage furnishings from dealers from the Hamptons and New York City. The color palette is very clean, with a mix of black, white, and gray with pops of red and yellow that allow the artwork to speak for itself. Claires Swedish heritage and love of Scandinavian design is reflected in the Marimekko dinnerware. Photo: Michael Lavine See the video. For Claires visit to the vestiges of her former life in Manhattan, El Manahi created an art gallery at the New Museum. He enlisted Manhattan performance and video artist Rob Roth to create the vibrant and colorful Retro-Respective installation, which is the work of Claires larger-than-life colleague Ada Risi (played by Stefanie Powers) in the film. The scene represents a stark contrast to her quiet world with Richard in the Hamptons, as well as the road not taken. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest THERE has been widespread outrage at videos circulating from Galway last night that show hundreds of youths congregating at the Spanish Arch and on Shop Street. This comes as health chiefs have earmarked Galway for possible Level Three restrictions after the county had 21 confirmed new cases of Covid-19 yesterday. It is currently freshers' week in Galway and numerous videos have emerged of groups of dozens or more students closely congregated and not adhering to public-health guidelines. Senator Ollie Crowe also confirmed that gardai called to 12 to 14 house parties in the city last night that they had been notified of. Numerous councillors and officials posted the videos online, condemning the actions. Senator Crowe went so far as to recommend army officers take to Galways streets to ensure public-health guidelines were being adhered to. I was in touch with the gardai in the last two nights and I will be calling on my colleagues to ensure the gardai get whatever assistance they need. Its freshers' week here in Galway and the Gardai are really under-resourced," Senator Crowe said on Today with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio 1. These students are going to be future leaders and were calling on them to respect the guidelines. What Ive asked young people to do is to quarantine for the next 10 to 14 days and assume that they have the virus. Read More NUI Galway leadership is meeting today with gardai and Galway City Council to discuss last nights goings-on. A spokesperson for NUI Galway stated: "NUI Galway has repeatedly appealed to the better judgment of our students and reminded them of their responsibilities under the Student Code of Conduct. "The University has also worked to ensure this year's experience of university life is safe, supportive and enjoyable, despite the limitations that the pandemic places on us. "While the vast majority of our students are doing their utmost to stay safe and helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19, we wont hesitate in dealing with any breaches of public health guidelines in line with our Student Code of Conduct." The code of conduct provides for penalties up to and including expulsion. As the new academic year gets under way, the university has sent an email to students warning of the dangers of parties or other risks associated with the pandemic. The email, effectively an updating of its code of conduct, was issued by the universitys Dean of Students, Professor Michelle Millar. In one section, students are told to socialise safely and call out reckless behaviour, and Professor Millar warned of the consequences of breaking the rules. Given the seriousness of this pandemic, we wont hesitate in dealing with any breaches of public health guidelines in line with our Student Code of Conduct (which has penalties up to and including expulsion). The email noted that in other countries, universities have closed because student parties broke guidelines and spread Covid-19. Prof Millar stated: I know most of our community want to socialise safely, but given the health dangers of actions that go against the public health advice, we will be invoking the code of conduct for any breaches. In general terms, the code of conduct advises students that they are required to behave in a manner which enables and encourages participation in the educational activities of the University and does not disrupt the functioning of the University. It added that it is the duty of its students at all times to behave, both inside and outside of the University, in a way which does not bring discredit to the University. Students were also warned that claims of ignorance of the provisions of this Code or other University policies shall not be entertained as part of any investigatory or disciplinary process. Examples of breaches of the code of conduct include behaviour that endangers the welfare of the individual or others, conduct likely to disrupt teaching, exams, study, research, or administration of the university, failure to comply with reasonable instruction(s) or behaviour that could damage the good name or standing of the university. The code of conduct also states: "The University, at its discretion and determination, will deal with complaints brought by members of the public to the University in respect of student behaviour under the procedures set out in this document." Commenting on the events of last night, Padraig Toomey, Student Union President of NUIG, said there are nearly 30,000 students in Galway between NUIG and GMIT and that most of them are staying safe and following guidelines. He said: "It was just reckless behaviour but this is not representative of the student community." Restauranteur JP McMahon, described the scenes last night as very depressing. He said he cannot comprehend these actions and agreed with suggestions by Senator Ollie Crowe that the army should be deployed to assist gardai in the city. He urged the government to close off-licenses or significantly restrict their opening hours as he said 'another lockdown will not work of they stay open' if they remain open until 11:30pm, he said. It's like something after a concert like concerts and festivals can't happen at the moment but at the same time impromptu events are happening, he said. Galway Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton has hit out strongly at those involved, saying the upset and anger among people in Galway is palpable. I could not believe my eyes last night when I saw such a large number of young people socialising with no visible social distancing or mask wearing, she said. I would have serious concerns as to the cost of last nights congregation for Galway; not only from a health perspective and the potentially deadly impact it may have on the most vulnerable in our society, but also for our local economy with many businesses already grappling to deal with the ever-challenging environment of Covid-19, she added. Ms Naughton said she contacted Justice Minister Helen McEntee, and the Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris about the incident I have also engaged with NUIG, GMIT and Galway City Council to discuss how we can work together to ensure that we dont see a repeat of last night, either at the Spanish Arch, or anywhere across our city and county. We all want to get back to normal, we all want to see our friends and family, we all want to celebrate birthday parties, Freshers Week, and even Christmas, like we used to pre Covid-19, she said. The only way we can achieve normality again is by taking personal responsibility for our actions. We can and we will defeat this virus if we come together, just like we have in the past, and make the right decisions for ourselves, our friends, our family and our county, she added. Sergeant Michael Walsh, Crime Prevention Officer for Galway City believes the colleges need to take the lead and work closely with gardai. In response to calls for more guards on the street, Sgt Walsh said Gardai are limited in what they can do. You could put 100 guards on the street but you cant arrest 400 people and if we move them off we are sending them indoors into house parties. So what is better? Having 400 people outside partying or 400 inside? Prosecuting isnt working either. The colleges are going to have to play ball here and work with the gardai. I think the colleges need to take the lead and have strict rules written into the code of conduct. Driving them indoors isnt going to solve this either. There has been calls to close off-licences but only yesterday we had reports of vans driving around the city selling alcohol. And there is a real risk the use of drugs will ramp up if they cant get their hands on alcohol. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Eighteen factory workers at a Bernard Matthews turkey processing site in Suffolk have tested positive for the coronavirus. Public health officials have had to test one hundred members of staff who work at the plant, located in Holton, near Halesworth. Bernard Matthews said those who tested positive for Covid-19 - from the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft areas - were now self-isolating. The turkey processor employs around 1,000 people at the Suffolk site. Food production has not been affected by the outbreak, Bernard Matthews and public health officials said in a joint statement. A spokesman for the company said: "We believe these small number of cases were initiated in the community, but nevertheless we will continue to enforce our robust Covid measures as we enter into our busiest period of the year." The firm said it was continuing with regular temperature checks, staff working in bubbles, Covid-19 marshals, masks and visors, and social distancing throughout the site. Stuart Keeble, Suffolk's director of public health, said: "I'd like to reassure people that this is, at this stage, a relatively small number of cases and that the situation is being very carefully managed by all the partners working closely together." Bernard Matthews is not the first meat processor to have had coronavirus cases amongst its workforce. In June, Asda was forced to temporarily shut down its West Yorkshire meat site after 165 staff tested positive for Covid-19. 2 Sisters - which produces a third of all poultry products consumed in the UK - shut its Anglesey meat plant after an outbreak infected 13 factory workers. Elsewhere, in Germany, Europe's largest meat processing site was hit by an outbreak which resulted in approximately 7,000 people being quarantined. The roads in Patna are packed with hoardings bearing photos of students who recently cracked the prestigious IIT-JEE or AIIMS entrance examinations for admissions to top-ranked engineering and medical institutes in the country. The city is a hub for students from across the state, who head to the state capital to secure a good career at an affordable cost. But within those narrow lanes, drug trade thrives in the daylight as a result of failed government policy. Within a kilometre from the capitals railway junction, peddlers can be spotted locating their customers amid the dingy shops selling spare automobile parts. Satyam Singh* developed an alcohol addiction at a young age through his friends. A resident of the neighbouring district of Samastipur, Singh said he suffered miserably after alcohol was banned in the state. Initially (after the liquor ban) I started drinking toddy, but later switched to cough syrup and medicinal drugs, Singh said. An aspiring photographer, he added that his career took a beating due to the addiction. He has been undergoing a de-addiction therapy at a rehabilitation centre in Patna. Many believe that the industry thrived in Bihar after the state government decided to ban alcohol, a promise which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made before the last assembly elections in 2015 to root out an anti-social practice. Kumar said that the ban would curb crimes, including domestic violence against women. It was also seen as a political pitch to woo women voters in the state. The government had initially tightened the trade through the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill 2016 which prescribes a death penalty for those engaged in the sale and manufacture of illicit liquor and jail terms and stiff fines for those involved in drinking liquor. After the liquor ban was imposed, many started looking for substitutes. Drugs, being on the supply route made an easy entry into the state amid the lack of vigilance. The addiction to cheaper medicinal drugs is a more spurious choice according to experts. Before 2015, there were hardly any cases related to drugs. But post 2015, I have treated more than 2,000 patients mostly addicted to ganja, smack and bhang (Hemp), said Rakhi Sharma, who runs several facilities under Disha Rehabilitation Centre in Patna. As many as 4,876 patients were undergoing therapy at the rehabilitation facility in 2018-19, most of them addicted to drugs. The data by the Narcotics Control Bureau shows an alarming surge in the seizure of drugs in Bihar, which was negligible in 2015. The seizure of ganja rose from 14 kg in 2015 to 28,887 kg in 2017, a steep rise in two years. Similarly, there was no seizure of hashish in the state in 2015, but the figure rose to 243 kg in 2017. The seizure of opium also went up from 2 kg in 2015 to 328 kg in 2017. Meanwhile, poppy which was hardly found in the state, suddenly rose to 557 kgs in 2017. Experts say that the patients under rehabilitation are mostly addicted to smack, ganja, bhang, whitener and glue, the reason being the availability and cost. In the state capital, you can get ganja for as cheap as Rs 50 a packet. It can go up to Rs 300 depending on the quality. If you have more to spend, you can even get Malana cream, said an addict from Patna, who wished to remain unnamed. He added that it isnt difficult to find a peddler as there are plenty of them in Naya Tola, BMP and Khagaul areas, referring to the suburbs around Patna which has undergone rapid urbanisation in the past decade. What is a more worrying trend is that most addicts who undergo rehabilitation are as young as 16 and below 25 years of age, Rakhi Sharma said. Citing data collated by the rehabilitation centre, she said that while 2,217 patients were addicted to alcohol in 2014-15, it decreased to 1,130 in 2018-19, due to the liquor ban imposed in 2015. On the other hand the addiction for ganja/charas/bhang rose from 1,459 in 2014-15 to 2,276 in 2018-19. The situation is pathetic. We dont have space for any more patients. The guardians are too terrified to take them back she added. Its very difficult to keep them in control. Two television sets in the centre have been smashed. Their violence is worrisome, Sharma said while adding that the rehabilitation centre with a capacity of 250 is fully equipped. The problem of addiction is not limited to the state capital. The drug trade has been flourishing throughout the states districts. Sharma added that most of her patients come from Ara, Saharsa, Katihar, Gopalganj, Sitamarhi and Khagaria. The data of the rehabilitation centre also shows that the patients from the urban areas outnumber patients from rural areas. But with time, the enforcement agencies became lax and drugs started flowing into the state. According to sources, drugs especially ganja find an easy entry into the state from Nepal, which is not only supplied to the state but also trafficked across the country through Bihar. After the liquor ban, the Nitish Kumar government has come up with a substitute- Neera, a pre-fermentation version of palm tree juice for the people who were addicted to alcohol. The government had ordered a comprehensive plan under which manufacturing units for Neera were set up. However, the drink didnt find many takers and the dream project remained unfulfilled as drug trade continued to thrive in the state. Bihar police have registered 2,583 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act-1985 from 2015 to 2020 and arrested over 2,500 people, ADG Jitendra Singh Gangwar said. Efforts were made to contact the Bihar Police but no response was received from them. In the last five years, the peddlers have made huge profits out of what they call is good quality ganja. Atul Kumar Giri* is one of the sellers in West Champaran, which falls into the trade route of drugs from Nepal to the rest of India. Giri said that he gets as many as a thousand customers daily, selling around 50 kilograms of ganja. But its not been a smooth sail for all drug peddlers. Rakhi Sharma explained that many drug peddlers themselves are in rehabilitation centres battling drug addiction. (*Names have been changed on request.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The catalogue was published. The loans secured. Everything was in place. But four illustrious museums - the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Tate Modern in London - have together decided to postpone, to 2024, a major exhibition devoted to the work of one of America's most critically acclaimed and influential artists. Why? Because they want to protect the public from having to interpret Philip Guston's art (which includes cartoon-inspired depictions of figures wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods) for themselves. Never mind that Guston, who was Jewish and died in 1980, had a powerful record, going back to his youth, of anti-racist actions and imagery. Never mind that two of today's leading African American artists, Glenn Ligon and Trenton Doyle Hancock, have contributed essays to the catalogue (Ligon even praising Guston in his essay as "woke"). And never mind that it's absurd to require artists to pass such litmus tests in the first place. Call me naive, but I didn't anticipate this. Yes, I can see all the forces in the culture leading to it. But the decision is simply wrong - and a legitimate cause for outrage. Consider the rationale: In a prepared statement, the leaders of these four museums, Kaywin Feldman of the NGA, Matthew Teitelbaum of the MFA Boston, Gary Tinterow of the MFA Houston and Frances Morris of Tate Modern, said they had decided that the Guston show should be postponed "until a time at which we think that the powerful message of social and racial justice that is at the center of Philip Guston's work can be more clearly interpreted." I have read some unfathomable doublespeak coming out of museum PR departments in my time, but this is by far the most ludicrous. The show is titled "Philip Guston Now." The idea that work with a powerful message of social and racial justice - as they themselves put it - should have to wait until some future when they think our current tumult and confusion has been magically cleaned up is truly Orwellian. (Note who gets to decide.) But if you think that reeks, the other part of the rationale - that the art will be ready to be shown only when it can be "clearly interpreted" - is beyond bizarre. It is a statement that sounds as if it comes from the mouths of people who hate art - or else from some kind of malfunctioning algorithm - because it is utterly antithetical to what art is about. Have Shakespeare's meanings become clear yet? What about Rembrandt's? Are we still waiting around for Toni Morrison's rather wordy and overelaborate sentences to let themselves be "more clearly interpreted?" Oh, we are? Better cancel them, until they learn to cooperate. The statement doesn't say so, but the Guston show is being postponed because of the aforementioned cartoonlike figures with Klan-like hoods. These feature in works that have ended up being Guston's most critically acclaimed and influential. In this period of racial reckoning, anyone can see the potential problem. But the best kind of art always presents some kind of problem. So let's talk about why he might have used such imagery. Of course, the "why" in art is not always easy - even to the artists who made it. But here's an idea : It might have to do with the fact that Guston was an anti-racist, that he hated racism, that he wanted to show its evil, and the potential for evil in all of us. How would we know this? Again, who can know a dead artist's heart? But in this case, we have some pretty solid evidence. When he was 18, Guston and a friend, Reuben Kadish, painted a mural and went to a rally in Los Angeles. This was the 1930s. The rally was a fundraiser in support of the Scottsboro Boys, nine African American teenagers in Alabama who were falsely accused of raping two White women. The protest painting was not great art. It was a portable fresco, and it depicted a Klansman whipping a Black man roped to a stake. A troubling image - the 1930s were a troubling time; lynchings were still taking place - it was obviously a reference to the outrages committed against the Scottsboro Boys. This was 90 years ago, before the explosion of mass media, way before the internet. So Guston, still a teenager, wasn't familiar with today's (important and legitimate) critique of our culture's casual exploitation of images of violence against Black people, which has become both repugnantly normalized and for Black people especially, traumatizing. But this early work is not in the show, and the reason it's not is important. Back then, Guston had recently joined a John Reed Club, a gathering place for Marxist-aligned artists and writers. After the rally, he stored the panels at the club. Los Angeles police then raided the club, discovered the painting and destroyed it, firing bullets into the Black figures' eyes and genitals. This deeply disturbing incident - disturbing to almost all of us, even today - presumably offered Guston a powerful lesson in the connections between state-sponsored violence, white supremacy and censorship. Nothing is straightforward, but you can see why those images might have lingered in his mind and taken on an accumulation of meanings. For a while, Guston continued to paint political images, a few of them showing figures in hoods. And then he became an abstract expressionist. Abstract expressionism was the dominant avant-garde style of the postwar period, and Guston, who had been a close friend of Jackson Pollock's in his youth, became one of its most acclaimed practitioners. But by the end of the '60s, the world was experiencing the kinds of upheavals, protests and violence that have caused many people to compare it with today. Guston began questioning the worth of abstract art. "What kind of man am I," he asked, "sitting at home, reading magazines, going to a frustrated fury about everything - and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue?" So he stopped painting abstractions, and turned to figurative images. Inspired both by the immediacy of underground comics and by the bold, solid forms of Italian Renaissance art, these new paintings - the ones on which his reputation now rests - addressed the fraught comedy, pathos, fear and brutishness of the human condition. Out of a belief, perhaps, that postures of power and thuggish attempts to inspire fear are best laughed at (something comedians, both Black and White, do every day of the week), Guston populated his paintings with those clunky figures with Klan-like hoods, looking at once menacing and risible, frighteningly stupid and indelibly pathetic. These paintings are, like all art, open to interpretation. You can adore them, as many of the world's most dynamic young painters do. (Guston's return to figurative imagery was a game-changer, opening up untold vistas for contemporary artists, even - ironically - for abstract artists. Mark Bradford, for instance, a politically active Black artist, represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 2017 with a painting that was an homage to Guston.) Alternatively, you can be disturbed by them. Or: You can adore them and be disturbed by them. Or, hey, you can just not like them. Take your pick. Welcome to art, everyone! Welcome to life. But "clean interpretations"? They don't exist. And we should beware of people who think they do. In their joint statement, the four directors pompously invoke their "responsibility to meet the very real urgencies of the moment." But as leaders of art museums, their responsibility is to show faith in the capacity of great art to speak to "the urgencies of this moment." They clearly have no such faith. We are in the middle of a culture war. Everyone knows that. It's a good time to question your faith. But it is not a good time for institutions to make false moves, because much is at stake. Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation and one of the National Gallery's trustees, said he supports the decision to postpone, arguing, "By not taking a step back to address these issues, the four museums would have appeared tone deaf to what is happening in public discourse about art." From someone who has been such a force for good in the art world, this is deeply disappointing. Given the financial power of the Ford Foundation and Walker's bona fides, I can only wonder who on the board might have been willing to argue against him, had they been so inclined. But what does he mean when he refers to what is "happening in public discourse about art"? In the art world, the culture war is playing out as a question of how big a role art can and should play in bringing about certain kinds of social change. Many on the left want our idea of art to become so instrumentalist - so subservient to political imperatives - that they are willing to jettison large parts of what art means to people who love it and truly need it. I am referring to its ambiguities, its contradictions, its connection to the richness and freedom of our inner lives, to beauty and pain, and its ability to speak to confusions within and without. I'm talking about all the things you find in Toni Morrison, in Frank Ocean, in Anton Chekhov or Alice Munro, in Shostakovich or Duke Ellington, in Romare Bearden or Philip Guston. This Guston decision feels big - like the first significant marker in an accelerating attempt not so much to respond to the "public discourse about art" as to alter our whole conception of art. But it's not actually a first, is it? We've seen it before, in Nazi Germany, in Stalinist Russia and in many other places where those in power, or those fearful of power, thought they could control the human heart and bend society their way by restricting what we see and how we express ourselves. Such people are always wrong. History continuously proves them so. What is at stake is not just the arts, or even the human heart. What's at stake is also political, in the immediate sense. I'm talking about the upcoming election. Because nothing invites a backlash from reasonable people on the left, in the center and on the right - people whose votes Democrats will need if they want to beat President Donald Trump - more than the left's efforts to control and foreclose upon free thought. Not to see this is the worst kind of political naivete. Guston once said that painting is "a kind of war between the moment and the pull of memory." He might also have mentioned the pull of the future. When, in the future, people look back on this truly dismaying decision, I'm pretty sure they will shake their heads. How, they will ask, could the well-meaning leaders of these four major museums be so spineless, so patronizing and so wrong? India is at a nadir. The subcontinent is on its way to becoming the most COVID-19-infected country in the world by Octoberand this isnt even factoring in a full count, considering Indias hapless testing system. The necessary, yet poorly planned and implemented (and too-soon-lifted), lockdown displaced hundreds of millions of people, many of whom have died, others of whom are still adrift. The countrys economy contracted by almost 24 percent in the last quarter, compared with the same period last year, and it is on pace to shrink by the end of the year by almost 10 percent. Meanwhile, heat waves and cyclones and other heavy storms have pummeled various areas. Advertisement On top on all of that, India is dangerously close to war with China. Long-standing border tensions that erupted in war and skirmishes throughout the 20th century flared up again when Chinese and Indian troops scuffled at the long-disputed Line of Actual Control in the Himalayas in June, leading to the first deadly conflict between the two nations in decades. Fortunately, it hasnt turned into a shooting war yet; such a battle would be devastating for India, and potentially the whole world given that these are both nuclear-armed powers. But even if full-scale war is avoided, the conflict could have grim consequences for the rest of the planet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indias blockade is preventing it from receiving the very things it needs to achieve its climate goals. India is taking a different form of retaliation, one thats more subtle but equally worrisome. After the first shots between the countries were exchanged and deaths recorded this year, the Indian government responded first by banning dozens, then hundreds, of popular Chinese-made mobile apps, including, most consequentially, TikTok. This was accompanied by rhetoric and media coverage promoting popular retaliation versus Chinaoften indulging in blatant Sinophobiaencouraging people to publicly destroy Chinese-made products, like TVs. The public boycott became an official one when the Indian government began hiking tariffs on Chinese imports and discouraging direct investment by Chinese companies; the fights escalation soon got the attention of the ASEAN bloc and the World Trade Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Indias blowback has put the subcontinent in way in over its head. Its GDP is one-fifth that of Chinas, and it faces a staggering trade deficit with its neighbor that has quadrupled over the past half-decade. While India does provide quite a few raw materials to China, the latters companies export many, many, many essential things in turn. Just a few items on that list: solar panels, nuclear reactors, semiconductors, wind energy generators, electric vehicles, LED lighting chips, lithium ion battery cells, and bicycles. Not to mention Indias new blockade would also affect Chinese investment in its rapid rail systems. In other words, the very things India uses often, boasts about, and needs to achieve its climate goals. Advertisement Advertisement To stanch this blow in renewable energy resources and transit development, India, which is currently the worlds third largest CO 2 emitter and is likely to overtake the U.S. for the second spot in a few years, would have to ramp up its domestic manufacturing of these goods on its own. And not for only renewables, but also for various needed resources like antibiotics and fiber optic cables. To put it mildly, India simply does not have that capacity, and will not in the near future. Plus, the needed manufacturing ramp-up, with the limited resources India will have to itself if it successfully blocks off Chinese-made products, will require more resource-intensive production and inevitably ramp up already-high emissions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Thomas Spencer, fellow at the New Delhibased Energy and Resources Institute, noted on Twitter, Chinas energy sector is fully developed in a way Indias is not. Where China is already carbonized and needs mainly to clean its sector, India is still lacking in bringing efficient, accessible energy to its population. While India figures out how to scale its renewables, it also desperately needs to make its cheaper, more intensive resources available to the entire population. And of course, it cant do either without China. Advertisement Advertisement India will claim that it can do just fine on its own. A 2018 report by the upper house of Indias Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, claimed that many of these Chinese products, including solar panels, electrical machinery, chemicals, and LED bulbs, are tainted with unsafe or suboptimal materials that have an adverse impact on India and its environment. The report also claims that, actually, India was doing great with manufacturing and exporting its own solar panels before China came in with its cheap goods and trade tricks and messed everything up. Advertisement But its hard to believe that India was just a passive victim. Consider that 80 percent of Indias solar panels come from China, and an estimated three in four power plants in India use Chinese equipment, according to a Brookings report. Plus, China is still buying goods apace from India. Its hard to see all this as an attack rather than studied cooperation between Indian and Chinese companies and government officials. So, where does this leave everyone? Not in a hopeful spot. Keeping out Chinese companies investments will wreck India and its climate goals. India could, of course, point to its long-standing emphasis on differentiation, that the biggest emitters have the biggest responsibilities. But with India itself being one of the top carbon belchers, its a moot point if the government doesnt get its act togetherand to achieve its own ambitions, India needs business with China more than it realizes. Advertisement Advertisement This should be a matter of concern for everyone alarmed about the planets future, and particularly to those looking to China and India to be the worlds climate leaders as the U.S.s case looks increasingly hopelessand who hope India will bounce back after its decimation by COVID. In an ideal world, the nations would engage in diplomacy, working together on making the futures climate less dire. India could then reallocate its burned-up finances toward rebuilding its shattered state instead of stockpiling arms and attempting in vain to construct a new, wholesale manufacturing base. The lockdown and ensuing drop in smog and pollution allowed Indians to literally envision a cleaner, more sustainable future, and that could have translated into innovative legislative and action, like it has in Seattle and Paris in spite of their deep recessions. But thats not likely to happen soon, and even if theres no war, Indias bellicosity will have the effect of its population dying off nonetheless, whether from disease, or storms, or heat, or lack of essential goods, or starvation. It doesnt have to be this way. UPDATE: The child has been found and is safe. Original article continues below. Authorities are asking for the publics helping finding a 10-year-old girl missing in Montgomery. Laterryka Jones was last seen about 10 a.m. Monday in the area of Underwood Drive. She was riding a turquoise, purple and white 10-speed Huffy bicycle. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has issued a Missing Child Alert. Police said she was wearing a white t-shirt, blue pants and yellow Crocs. She is described at 5-feet, 2-inches tall and weighing 100 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to all Montgomery police at 334-625-2532 or call 911. Peter John O'Neill, 61, (pictured) received a five-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to crimes against young boys The family of a teenage boy who took his own life after being sexually abused by his school teacher have hit out at the decision not to jail the paedophile because he is too fat to go to prison. Peter John O'Neill, 61, was given only a five-year suspended sentence at Hobart's Supreme Court earlier this month after pleading guilty to the abuse of young boys aged between 10 and 15 at schools across Tasmania during the 1980s. A court heard it would be too expensive to extradite the 140kg former remedial teacher to Hobart from Canberra to serve out his sentence. His medical problems include chronic back pain, spinal stenosis, incontinence and sleep apnoea. The brother of one of O'Neill's victims at Dominic College in Hobart - who died by suicide before the sentencing - said it was 'appalling' the 61-year-old did not have to go to jail. O'Neill pictured left outside his home in Canberra. Extraditing him to Tasmania would be too expensive, a court heard 'As soon as the sentencing was announced from the courts, everyone just went in complete disbelief,' the brother whose identity has not been revealed for legal reasons told A Current Affair. 'Having a sentence like this - a totally suspended five-year sentence - is just totally appalling.' The family member said in years to come O'Neill's health condition may improve and he could then live freely without facing the consequences of his actions. 'What's to say that in one year, two year or five year's time we find that miraculously he's recovered from all his conditions and he's happily walking around enjoying a full life,' he said. One of O'Neill's former students at Dominic College, Rachel Grgurevic, said it was right the ex-teacher was made to return to Tasmania to serve out his sentence. 'He needs to pay for what he's done. You can't put a price on somebody's life so how can you put a price on justice,' she said. She previously told Daily Mail Australia the current sentence is an 'injustice'. O'Neill pictured at his Canberra home. The brother of one his victims said the decision not to jail the paedophile was 'appalling' 'I believe the Department of Public Prosecution should appeal the leniency of the sentence,' she said. 'This man has ruined so many lives [and his actions have] taken many lives as well.' Previous reports have claimed it could cost anywhere between $25,000 to $40,000 to bring O'Neill to Tasmania via Medivac. His furious victims have already offered to raise the $40,000 to transport O'Neill, who requires a full-time carer, to Hobart. Former students of Dominic College in Tasmania (pictured) have posted to a Facebook group, with one saying, 'Nothing will give back what he took, but he must pay in some way' 'The community wants people like O'Neill in jail. The cost of his crimes has been huge. Our suffering, the harm to our mental health, is immeasurable,' a former student, who can't be named for legal reasons, told The Mercury. 'It would cost (up to) $40,000 to transport the obese abuser to Tasmania. We, his victims, are willing to raise that transport cost so this man has to face us and then serve his just punishment.' Other students are also requesting the Director of Public Prosecutions appeal against the lenient sentence. O'Neill's victims have offered to raise the $40,000 needed to transport him from Canberra to Hobart 'So he's gotten away with abusing kids and ruining their lives. Piece of s***. Can they appeal?' a woman wrote. The court heard how O'Neill befriended one of the boys, who was 10, while working as his personal art tutor. While on an overnight trip during a wild storm, the boy told O'Neill he was feeling scared. O'Neill gave the boy a back massage in bed and then sexually abused him. In another incident, O'Neill claimed he was sick in bed when he coaxed one 15-year-old boy to hug him. He then abused him. O'Neill (pictured) befriended one of the boys, who was aged as young as 10, while working as his personal art tutor That victim didn't come forward until his 40s because he felt he was to blame. Justice Blow said O'Neill deserved to be jailed but his only option was to deliver a wholly suspended sentence as there was 'no prospect' of him being brought to Tasmania. 'Although I cannot impose the penalty he deserves, his life now is probably far more miserable than the lives of most prisoners,' Justice Blow told the Supreme Court in Hobart on Wednesday. O'Neill is unable to travel on normal flights or any significant distance by car, while specialist medical transport by air would cost up to $40,000. Justice Blow said O'Neill could not be locked up interstate and didn't have the money to pay a fine. He said a home detention order was useless because O'Neill is unable to leave his house without assistance. Justice Blow said O'Neill had impacted his victims' education irreversibly and many had experienced problems with anxiety, homelessness, holding down jobs, depression and drugs. Justice Blow sentenced O'Neill to five years' jail, wholly suspended. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 01:48:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- While experts from around the world have warned of a resurgence of the spread of the novel coronavirus with the approaching fall and winter, countries that haven't overcome the first wave of infections face even greater difficulties ahead. -- In such a severe situation, the world needs to stand together to accelerate the development of a vaccine, reestablish social order and revitalize the global economy. -- As the pandemic continues to rage and the global economic crisis remains far from over, the world is crying for more solidarity and cooperation from every corner of the globe. BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- As global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 1 million on Monday according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, it has become increasingly urgent for all countries and regions to join forces to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its social and economic impact. A woman wearing a face mask cycles past the London Eye in London, Britain, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yan) GRIM GLOBAL REALITIES While experts from around the world have warned of a resurgence of the spread of the novel coronavirus with the approaching fall and winter, countries that haven't overcome the first wave of infections face even greater difficulties ahead. In the United States, almost half of the states are reporting increasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, the number of new COVID-19 cases has increased by at least 10 percent compared with the week before in 21 states, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. "Daily deaths are expected to reach 3,000 per day in late December. The reference scenario suggests that cumulative deaths will reach 371,000 by January 1," said a projection of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Months into the pandemic, the United States has recorded more than 7.13 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 204,900 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to the real-time count by Johns Hopkins University. Pedestrians walk through Times Square in New York, the United States, Sept. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) In Italy, fresh statistics on Monday showed the number of active COVID-19 infections exceeded 50,000 again for the first time since late May. In Spain, Health Minister Salvador Illa on Monday reiterated his warning to the regional government of Madrid that it needs to take further action to stop the spread of coronavirus in and around the Spanish capital. "There is community transmission" of the virus, which is spreading without control, he said, adding "the numbers continue to rise." "Madrid is responsible for almost 40 percent of all cases in our country and 20.7 percent of all PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests are positive, almost twice the rate of the rest of Spain," said Illa. In Britain, Professor Mark Woolhouse, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said a third wave of COVID-19 was "entirely possible" and warned current lockdown restrictions will not solve the problem. The number of cases in India continues to rise steeply. According to its federal health ministry, the total tally has reached 6,145,291 and the death toll now stands at 96,318 as of Monday. Worse still, the gap between the number of recovered cases and the percentage of active cases keeps increasing in the Asian country. The gap between the recovered cases and active cases is well above 4 million. A Health worker collects a swab from a woman for a COVID-19 test at Paltan Bazar in Guwahati, India's Assam State, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Str/Xinhua) URGENT GLOBAL COOPERATION In such a severe situation, the world needs to stand together to accelerate the development of a vaccine, reestablish social order and revitalize the global economy. As China has managed to keep the pandemic under control, it has sent expert teams to countries in need to share its anti-virus experiences, carried out vaccine development programs with a few countries, and tried various ways to contribute more to the world economy. Gerry Rice, spokesman of the International Monetary Fund, said that considering the better-than-expected economic data from China and other advanced economies, the global economic outlook is less dire than three months ago. A tourist enjoys sunshine on a beach in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Photo by Rodolfo Flores/Xinhua) The recovery of China's economic dynamism will have positive effects on Latin American economies, given China's "fundamental" importance as a regional trade partner, said Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Early this month, the German government has predicted that the economy will contract by 5.8 percent this year, a more optimistic outlook than the previously expected fall of 6.3 percent. However, the slow economic rebound from the coronavirus shutdowns may face a lot of uncertainties due to a pandemic resurgence. Finnish transport company Nurminen Logistics on Monday launched a new rail freight route between Finland's capital Helsinki and Chongqing, a major city in southwest China, a move that can double the volume of rail freight transport between the two countries next year to at least 170 trains annually, said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, who added that the rail connection to China is important for the operation of Finland's companies. At the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last week, world leaders have voiced strong support for the key role of the 193-member world body in fighting global challenges such as the raging pandemic and called for closer, joint actions of the international community to get through these tough times together. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his video speech at the UN high-level meetings, called on countries to put people and lives first and enhance solidarity to get through the pandemic together, emphasizing the guiding role of the World Health Organization in the global response. "While no country or society will succeed alone, some are still maintaining a 'me first logic' rather than coming together," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. "We must turn this approach around. We need solidarity and concerted multilateral efforts to fight the pandemic and save lives." A man wearing a mask talks on the phone outside a digital plaza in downtown Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang) The international community, with the coordination from the World Health Organization, has witnessed progress in its collective search for vaccines. A consensus that these vaccines should be delivered equitably, instead of being used as a commodity for profit, has also taken shape globally. China is working with several countries on phase-three clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines. When available, as Beijing has pledged, vaccines will be shared with other countries as a global public good. As the pandemic continues to rage and the global economic crisis remains far from over, the world is crying for more solidarity and cooperation from every corner of the globe. In this regard, countries have no choice but to stand together and closer. (Video reporters: Hu Yousong, Tan Yixiao, Jiang Lei, Jiang Chao, Liang Xizhi, Xie E, Shang Xuqian; Video editor: Luo Hui) NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Today's Daily Dose brings you news about Abeaona's leadership and Board transitions, GENFIT's deal with LabCorp., FDA hold on Inovio's planned Phase 2/3 Covid-19 vaccine trial, the new CEO of Merck KGaA, and label expansion of Pfizer's blockbuster drug Xeljanz. Read on. 1. Abeona Plunges as CEO, Directors Resign Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (ABEO) announced that Joao Siffert resigned from his positions as CEO, Head of Research and Development, and Chief Medical Officer, as well as member of the Board of Directors, on September 23, 2020. The company added that on September 27, 2020, Brian Pereira, Stefano Buono, Stephen Howell, George Migausky and Shawn Tomasello had all stepped down from the Board, effective immediately. Abeona is reviewing and exploring all strategic options and alternatives to maximize stakeholder value, including its sale. ABEO touched a new 52-week low of $1.07 in intraday trading Monday, before closing at $1.09, down 41.40%. 2. GENFIT in Deal with LabCorp for NASH Diagnostic Test Shares of GENFIT (GNFT) soared over 30% on Monday on news of the company entering into a five-year exclusive licensing agreement with LabCorp (LH). As part of the agreement, LabCorp will develop and commercialize a blood-based molecular diagnostic test powered by GENFIT's NIS4 technology throughout the U.S. and Canada to help identify patients with at-risk non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH remains a highly underdiagnosed disease due to its asymptomatic nature and the limitations of existing diagnostic approaches. Liver biopsy, a highly invasive procedure, is the current clinical standard to formally diagnose NASH and to determine the stage of fibrosis, the company noted. The diagnostic test is expected to be available from LabCorp by early 2021. GENFIT's lead candidate is Elafibranor, currently under a global pivotal phase III study in Primary Biliary Cholangitis, a severe cholestatic liver disease that impacts and gradually destroys the bile ducts, leading to inflammation and scarring in the liver. GNFT closed Monday's trading at $5.50, up 31.26%. 3. Inovio's Planned Phase 2/3 Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Placed On Partial Hold Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO) plunged over 28% on Monday, following the FDA's decision to place the company's planned phase II/III trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate INO-4800 on partial hold. INO-4800 is a nucleic-acid based vaccine that is stable at room temperature for more than a year and does not require to be frozen in transport or storage. In the clinical trial, INO-4800 is injected directly into the participant's skin via the device CELLECTRA 2000, where the vaccine prompts the body's immune system to drive a robust immune response. The FDA has asked for additional questions about the company's planned phase II/III trial of INO-4800, including its CELLECTRA 2000 delivery device to be used in the trial. Inovio plans to respond to the questions posed by the FDA in October, after which the regulatory agency has up to 30 days to notify the company of its decision as to whether the trial may proceed. INO-4800 is under an expanded phase I study in the U.S., and the partial hold will not affect the ongoing phase I trial. The company noted that the partial clinical hold is not due to the occurrence of any adverse events related to the ongoing expanded phase I study of INO-4800. A phase I/II clinical trial of INO-4800 in South Korea that is being conducted by Inovio and the International Vaccine Institute in partnership with Seoul National University Hospital is also underway. INO closed Monday's trading at $12.14, down 28.34%. In after-hours, the stock fell another 3.62% to $11.70. 4. Merck KGaA Names New CEO Merck KGaA (MKGAY.PK) has appointed Belen Garijo as new Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of the company, effective May 1, 2021, replacing Stefan Oschmann. Garijo is currently Vice-Chair of the Executive Board and Deputy CEO of Merck as well as CEO of the company's healthcare unit. Oschmann who has served the company ten years on the Executive Board, five of them as Chairman and CEO, is stepping down 'to turn to other tasks'. Peter Guenter, the CEO of Spain-based pharma company Almirall, has been roped in as a replacement for Garijo in the company's healthcare business sector. 5. FDA expands Label of Pfizer's Blockbuster Drug Xeljanz Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz has been approved by the FDA for yet another indication, i.e., for the treatment of children and adolescents 2 years and older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Xeljanz is the first and only Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor approved in the U.S. for the treatment of polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or JIA, defined as arthritis that begins before 16 years of age and persists for at least six weeks and is of unknown cause, affects about 300,000 children in the U.S. There are 6 categories of JIA - systemic, oligoarticular, polyarticular, enthesitis-related, psoriatic, and undifferentiated. Polyarticular JIA is characterized by arthritis in five or more joints and affects both the small joints of the hands and feet, and large joints like the knees, hips, and ankles. Xeljanz is already approved for three other indications - rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ulcerative colitis. The drug brought in global annual sales of $2.24 billion in 2019, up 29% over 2018. PFE closed Monday's trading at $36.39, up 0.94%. 6. Stocks That Moved On No News Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (GALT) closed Monday's trading at $3.64, up 32.36%. Trxade Group Inc. (MEDS) closed Monday's trading at $5.96, up 22.38%. Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (AVXL) closed Monday's trading at $4.66, up 20.41%. COMPASS Pathways plc (CMPS) closed Monday's trading at $37.00, down 14.29%. PolyPid Ltd. (PYPD) closed Monday's trading at $11.00, down 13.45%. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de President should take stronger stance toward Pyongyang President Moon Jae-in came up with an official response Monday to the death of a South Korean official who was killed by North Koreans in the North's territorial waters. Moon expressed sorrow for having failed to protect the official, but stopped short of criticizing the North for shooting him. He only asked North Korea to resume the operation of communications channels between the military authorities of the two sides. The President expressed his appreciation to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for offering an apology over the recent incident, saying it is of particular significance and calling it rare and unprecedented. He even said he could understand Kim's mind. This apparently means Moon was elated by Kim's apology and that his mindset sharply contrasts with the public uproar over the North's reckless act. He expressed hope that the tragic incident would rather result in a chance for dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas. Moon's remarks are disappointing in that many people expected he would issue a stern warning to Pyongyang as it was his first statement in six days after the incident. He should have called for the North's appropriate reaction in coping with it and explained how Cheong Wa Dae has addressed the issue, clarifying diverse questions surrounding it. It is problematic for Moon to only appreciate the North Korean leader's apology, while keeping silent on the North's behavior. The Justice Party's former chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jung cited the need for some ruling party members to refrain from putting priority on inter-Korean relations over the lives of South Korean citizens. Moon should pay heed to Sim's statement. It is also improper for the Moon administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to focus on a declaration to end the Korean War despite the recent incident. The party submitted a resolution calling for a declaration ending the war and the resumption of individual tourism to North Korea. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs who is on a visit to the U.S., said he would discuss the peace issue with the United States. Cheong Wa Dae has already come under criticism for Moon's address at the United Nations which focused on the peace issue despite it being informed about the shooting incident in advance. The opposition People Power Party is opposing the resolution, describing it as an attempt to disregard public anger over the North's killing of the official. Many observers have also cast skepticism over the ruling camp's move toward the declaration. Coronavirus news in the DC, Virginia and Maryland area FAQ: D.C. | Maryland | Virginia What you need to know: Symptoms guide | Delta variant | Other variants | How mental disorders elevate covid risk | Booster shots in D.C., Maryland and Virginia Mapping the spread: Known deaths and cases in the region | Nationwide cases Vaccine: Breakdown | State tracker | Mapping the vaccination divide | D.C. employees required to get vaccine | Md., Va. state workers need to show proof of vaccination Masks: Masks FAQ | Masks and vaccines in D.C. area schools | DC requires masks during high covid transmission | Prince Georges requires masks for children | Montgomery considering lifting mask mandate Get the latest local news: Morning newsletter | Afternoon newsletter Have a question about the delta variant? Ask The Posts science reporters. Swami Agnivesh, a revered longtime campaigner against child labor and indentured servitude in India, died on Sept. 11 in New Delhi. He was 80. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by an associate, Zayauddin Jawed, who said the cause was multiple organ failure. A pacifist Hindu monk who renounced worldly possessions and relations at a young age, Mr. Agnivesh led a decades-long crusade against village moneylenders, landlords and brick kiln owners who forced landless, debt-ridden farmers into bonded labor, or indentured servitude. In 1981 he founded the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, or the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he headed until his death. From 1994 to 2004, he was chairman of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. When Crew-1 astronauts head to the International Space Station on Halloween, they will be restarting what used to be routine: regular launches of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil. This will be the second time SpaceX propels astronauts into space. But NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi are the crew for the first operational mission after the successful May 30 launch and Aug. 2 splashdown of the Demo-2 test flight. This is a great milestone for us, Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said Tuesday during a news conference. Its the culmination of many, many years of work with NASA and SpaceX. On HoustonChronicle.com: NASA, SpaceX pull off first astronaut liftoff from U.S. soil since 2011 NASA has relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to access microgravity since retiring the space shuttle in 2011. Now, its partnering with SpaceX and Boeing (the latter has not yet launched people) to use their commercially owned and operated spacecraft to resume a regular launch cadence from the Florida coast. NASA and SpaceX originally targeted Oct. 23 for the first operational mission, but they pushed it back to 1:40 a.m. CDT on Oct. 31 so the SpaceX Crew Dragons arrival doesnt crowd the Russian Soyuz arrival and return. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, along with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch Oct. 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Then the stations current occupants, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin, are set to land in Kazakhstan Oct. 21. The Crew-1 launch delay also provides NASA more time to investigate a leak on the International Space Station. Its normal for some air to leak from the space station, but in September 2019 NASA and its international partners noticed that air was leaking at a slightly faster rate than normal. The crew and mission controllers conducted an isolation test in August, where the stations occupants stayed in the Russian segment and closed all of the space station hatches so mission controllers could monitor air pressure in each module. They repeated the test this past weekend. Then on Monday night, the crew was woken up to search again (the leak had increased and flight controllers thought it could be a good opportunity to find it). The search has been narrowed to the main work area of the Russian Zvezda Service Module. The leak does not pose an immediate danger to the crew. First and foremost, our goal is to find the leak, said Kenny Todd, deputy manager of NASAs International Space Station Program. Theres a lot of acreage with a lot of different leak paths that could be potential spots for us. On the SpaceX side, the company has been addressing a few minor issues discovered during the Demo-2 test flight. For instance, SpaceX and NASA are better coordinating with the Coast Guard to keep boaters away from the Crew Dragon capsule after it lands. The Demo-2 mission was quickly encircled after its splashdown. SpaceX has also improved how it measures the capsules altitude for deploying drogue parachutes (which are the first two parachutes used to slow and stabilize the spacecraft before deploying the four main parachutes) as these were released a little lower than desired. And it redesigned small areas of the heat shield that had more erosion than SpaceX wanted. At all times the astronauts were safe and the vehicle was working perfectly, said Hans Koenigsmann, the SpaceX vice president for Build and Flight Reliability. He said the eroded areas were very small compared with the heat shields entire acreage. And while the goal is to make human spaceflight more regular, NASA, SpaceX and the astronauts know traveling to and from space can never be considered easy. Its very important that we stay focused on the mission ahead, said Benji Reed, SpaceXs senior director of Human Spaceflight Programs. The next mission is always the most important mission and of course we understand the sacred honor that we have of holding the lives of the astronauts in our hands. On HoustonChronicle.com: Space race? America's new path to the ISS could affect relationship with Russia Hopkins, Glover, Walker (a Houston native) and Noguchi will spend six months on the International Space Station. And if they launch Oct. 31, their lift off would be precisely 20 years after the crew that began two decades of uninterrupted human presence in space. That crew launched Oct. 31, 2000, and arrived at the space station on Nov. 2, 2000. The astronauts with Crew-1 should reach the station about 25 hours after launch. And as is customary for the inaugural journey on a spacecraft (the Demo-2 mission used a different Crew Dragon capsule), the Crew-1 astronauts have selected a name for their ride into space: Resilience. I think all of us can agree that 2020 has certainly been a challenging year: global pandemic, economic hardships, civil unrest, isolation, Hopkins said. And despite all of that, SpaceX, NASA has kept the production line open and finished this amazing vehicle thats getting ready to go on its maiden flight to the International Space Station. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder Multiple People Dead After Shots Were Fired in Oregon Hostage Situation: Officials Several people died during a hostage situation that occurred in Salem, Oregon, on Monday, according to officials. Marion County Sheriffs Office deputies responded to a call about a potential hostage situation at around 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday, according to a news release from the agency. A trained hostage negotiator was on scene and attempted to speak to a suspect. However, officials said that shots were fired, according to authorities. There were multiple fatalities during this incident, including that of the suspect, according to the release. The sheriffs office didnt say how many people died in the hostage situation. The news release added that the Department of Oregon State Police is now investigating the matter. No deputies were injured, and any deputies involved in the incident will be placed on administrative leave amid the investigation, officials said. The sheriffs office offered no other details, including the names of the victims or the suspect. It also did not elaborate on what led to the hostage situation. They were not clear on who fired the first shot or how it escalated, officials told KOIN. The release added that there is no reason to believe there is any danger to the community. The incident occurred near Juneva Place Southeast near Mahrt Avenue, reported KATU-2. Salem is located about 50 miles southwest of Portland. NEW YORK - Thousands of schoolteachers will receive $500 grants from author James Patterson to help students build reading skills, especially as schools struggle to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. Whether students are learning virtually at home or in the classroom, the importance of keeping them reading cannot be underscored enough, Patterson said in a statement Tuesday. Reading teaches kids empathy, gives them an escape when they most need it, helps them grapple with harsh realities, and perhaps most importantly, will remind them that they are not alone even if theyre unable to see their teachers, classmates and friends in-person, he said. The grant program is administered by Patterson and by Scholastic Book Clubs, which will provide teachers 500 club points to go with the $500 from Patterson. Out of more than 100,000 applicants, 5,000 teachers will receive grants and club points. Tuesdays announcement marks the sixth installment in the Patterson Partnership for building home and school libraries. Patterson, one of the worlds bestselling novelists, has given more than $11 million to teachers, along with millions he has given to bookstores, libraries and literacy organizations. Republican Tony Gonzales and Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, the two candidates in the battleground Texas 23rd Congressional District, will participate in their first televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 8. The debate will be live - taking place in Uvalde - and broadcast at 7 p.m. on KSAT-12. The 23rd, a perennial swing district stretching from San Antonio to El Paso and covering 800 miles of border, is expected to be one of Texas most competitive races for the House of Representatives this fall. Gonzales, a former Navy cryptologist, is running to replace retiring GOP Rep. Will Hurd after a long-fought primary victory. Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer, is seeking the seat for a second time after nearly upsetting Hurd in 2018. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race lean Democratic. KNOW THE CANDIDATES: 2020 Houston Chronicle Voter Guide Jones announced the debate schedule in a press release on Tuesday after weeks of pressure from her Republican opponent. Gonzales had agreed to a debate weeks ago and went so far as to launch a website - Where is Gina? - that said hed challenged Jones to three debates that she hadnt yet accepted. In the Tuesday release, Jones said she has accepted the KSAT debate and would also participate in a debate on Oct. 13 in the El Paso media market. The debate would take place virtually, the release said, with further details to be announced. But Gonzales campaign spokesman Matt Mackowiak said that debate is still under discussion because Jones is demanding to debate via Zoom because she refuses to travel to El Paso. TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Jones campaign spokeswoman Sharon Yang said El Pasos KVIA invited both candidates to a virtual debate to protect the health of El Pasoans as cases once again rise in the area. Gina Ortiz Jones has always put the health of South and West Texans first, which is why she accepted this invitation and why shes fighting for quality, affordable health care, Yang said in an email. Mackowiak said thats an incoherent position, given that Jones will travel from San Antonio to Uvalde for the KSAT debate on Oct. 8. Has she not been in El Paso since March? Mackowiak said. Tony has been there several times, including yesterday and today. This is a large district. It requires a member of Congress who is willing to travel and meet with constituents. Unification Minister Lee In-young answers questions during a session at the National Assembly, Sept. 29. He has stressed the need to revamp the Korea-U.S. working group. Yonhap By Do Je-hae Seoul is facing internal conflict over adjusting the Korea-U.S. consultation framework on coordinating North Korea policies. The Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have begun discussions to reorganize the Korea-U.S. working group, according to Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a member of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification, Tuesday. The Korea-U.S. working group was founded in 2018 for more effective bilateral discussions on primary issues related to security on the Korean Peninsula. But it has faced some criticism from supporters of the Moon Jae-in administration's pro-engagement policy on North Korea that it has prevented inter-Korean cooperation from moving forward. Amber Heard is in the middle of a messy legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp. But the Austin-born actress is enjoying her downtime with loved ones, after her upcoming court date was delayed. She put on a dazzling display Monday in a black halter neck dress, trimmed in eyelet lace, as she stepped out at a farmers market in Los Angeles with girlfriend Bianca Butti and her dog. Back in black: Amber Heard put on a dazzling display Monday in a black halter neck dress, trimmed in eyelet lace, as she stepped out at a farmers market in Los Angeles with girlfriend Bianca Butti and her dog The 34-year-old finished the ensemble with a set of gold earrings, matching bangle, gold rings and black leather slip-on sandals. Butti, 39, wore a white spotted dress shirt tucked into jeans, which were ripped at the hem, with black leather boots, blue aviators and a grey wide-brimmed hat. Depp, 57, recently requested a delay in his upcoming January court dates with Heard, which conflict with the filming schedule for Fantastic Beasts 3 in London. The Aquaman actress argued in response that he's made 'no effort whatsoever' to make his schedule work with the court's, in the $50million defamation suit he filed against her early last year. Stay gold: The 34-year-old finished the ensemble with a set of gold earrings, matching bangle, gold rings and black leather slip-on sandals Blue jean baby: Butti, 39, wore a white spotted dress shirt tucked into jeans, which were ripped at the hem, with black leather boots, blue aviators and a grey wide-brimmed hat Her team responded in court documents: 'Mr. Depp decided that, rather than speak with his employer to work his film commitments around his trial, he asks this court to subserviently reschedule around his employment and the entire film schedule and production.' They also stated: 'Although Mr. Depp had been contacted in late June or July with the proposed filming dates, he did not alert [movie bigs] to the trial dates.' She argued that if the court accepted his request for a delay, it would adversely prevent her from filming Aquaman 2 in February. The court subsequently postponed their trial to May, not because either of their filming schedules, but citing the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has already forced them to delay twice. The lawsuit comes after Heard wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in December of 2018, which Depp's lawyers claimed 'depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.' Schedule conflict: Heard's ex-husband Johnny Depp, 57, recently requested a delay in their upcoming January court dates, which conflict with the filming schedule for Fantastic Beasts 3 in London (pictured in September, 2015) No effort: She argued in response that he's made 'no effort whatsoever' to make his schedule work with the court's, in the $50million defamation suit he filed against her early last year (pictured in November, 2015) Postponed: The court subsequently postponed their trial to May, not because either of their filming schedules, but citing the global COVID-19 pandemic. It came after she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in December of 2018, accusing him of domestic violence (pictured in July, 2020) Messy divorce: The Pineapple Express actress was married to Depp from 2015 to 2017, accusing him of abuse during their divorce and ultimately settling for $7million, which she donated to the ACLU and Children's Hospital Los Angeles (pictured in January, 2014) The Pineapple Express actress was married to Depp from 2015 to 2017, accusing him of abuse during their divorce and ultimately settling for $7million, which she donated to the ACLU and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Heard has launched a $100million countersuit, accusing her ex-husband of using trolls and social media bots in a 'smear campaign' against her. She said in court documents that she's finally 'fighting back,' as she seeks to have Depp's 'frivolous lawsuit' tossed, claiming it continues his 'abuse and harassment.' The documents read: 'This stream of false and defamatory accusations against Ms. Heard is all an attempt to ruin her life and career, simply because she was a victim of domestic abuse and violence at the hands of Mr. Depp, and had the audacity and temerity to finally come forward to end it.' By Trend Armenian armed forces shell our settlements and civilian targets after failing to cope with the Azerbaijani army, the press service of the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan told Trend. "One of the shells fired by the armed forces fell on the courtyard of the Tartar district police departments administrative building in the center of Tartar city at about 12:00 (GMT +4) on September 28, the press service noted. The strike was so strong that the shell fragments penetrated the building. Fortunately, no casualties occurred, but the building was seriously damaged. This again shows that having received crushing blows on the battlefield, the Armenian armed forces continue to target settlements distant from the front line and the civilian population living there," added the ministry. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said Sept. 27, 2020, that Ashaghi Abdulrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. ROCK HILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / The IRS released another revised version of the Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. In response to this, TaxBandits e-filing software has made the necessary changes required for the third quarter deadline. In addition to all the changes due to COVID-19 tax credits, there are now a few additional changes to account for the payroll tax deferment that the current administration has put into place. Here is a little background on this new payroll deferment action and how it will affect reporting on Form 941 for the upcoming 3rd quarter deadline. The current administration has passed a temporary tax deferment as additional aid to businesses struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic. This tax deferment is effective September 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. During this time employers can not only defer their share of Social Security taxes, but they are now able to defer the employees' share of Social Security taxes. Employers can choose whether or not they opt into this employee tax deferment. However, despite what an organization chooses, the Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, must accommodate these changes. While there was a complete overhaul of the Form 941 between the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2020, the new revisions for the 3rd and 4th quarter are much more subtle. The majority of these changes revolve around the option to defer employees' share of Social Security taxes. The following are lines that have been added to the form or adjusted for the 3rd quarter. Line 1- Number of employees who received wages, tips, or other compensation for the pay period including Sept 12 (Quarter 2) and Dec 12 (Quarter 4) Line 13b- Deferred amount of Social Security tax Line 24- Deferred amount of the employee share of Social Security tax included on line 13b Line 25- Reserved for future use. These changes will also affect the Form 941-SS and Form 941-PR, plus they will carry over onto the 941 Schedule R. The deadline for filing Form 941 for the 3rd quarter of 2020 is October 31, 2020. Since this falls on a Saturday this year, the deadline to file will actually be November 2, 2020. This revised Form 941 will most likely be used for the 4th quarter of 2020, which is due to the IRS on January 31, 2021. If your business needs a streamlined solution for e-filing Form 941, then www.TaxBandits.com is the software you need. With our simple e-filing process, there is no need to stress over the new additions to the Form. Our software will guide you through Form 941 line by line, we even support Worksheet 1. Not to mention our new Zero Filing feature allows employers to speed up the filing process exponentially. Employers with no wages to report for the third quarter of 2020 can select this feature when beginning their form. By doing so, our software will automatically generate zeroes in all areas of the form where they are required. This saves users a significant amount of time and prevents any accidental overreporting of taxes. Co-founder and CEO, Agie Sundaram responds to these changes stating, "As the IRS continues to implement changes to its forms, it is more important than ever that businesses choose an IRS Authorized E-file Provider that they can trust. Here at TaxBandits, we are working to ensure that our clients have the most up to date forms available while maintaining the simplicity of our superior e-filing process." SPAN Enterprises, the creator of TaxBandits, is an industry leader of software solutions for IRS filing and the transportation industry. Located in the heart of downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina, SPAN proves that big ideas can grow in a small town. With existing Business Management Software such as TruckLogics and Unitwise, ACAwise ACA reporting software, and PayWow, a full-service payroll provider, SPAN Enterprises is on the front lines of innovative business solutions. Learn more at http://www.spanenterprises.com. About TaxBandits www.TaxBandits.com is an IRS authorized e-file provider centered around an accurate, simplified, and secure customer experience. TaxBandits software allows for streamlined print, mailing, and e-filing services. In addition to the Form 941, TaxBandits also provides e-filing solutions for W-2 Forms, 1099 Forms, Payroll Forms 940, and 941 as well as ACA Forms. Employers can digitize their W-4 and W-9 Forms with TaxBandits. The TaxBandits software is designed to accommodate the filing needs for businesses of all sizes. For more information please contact Stephanie Glanville/Content Writer at stephanieglanville@spanenterprises.com or 704.684.4751 SOURCE: TaxBandits View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608285/TaxBandits-Is-Now-Accepting-IRS-Forms-941-For-Quarter-3-Of-2020 Armed with sickles, farmworkers harvest cannabis in the village of Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) On a mild September morning, about two dozen girls and women, swathed in brightly colored shawls that revealed only their eyes, picked through a verdant field. With sickles that glinted in the waning summer sun, they reaped the blanket of spiky-leaved stalks stretching to the foot of the nearby hills. The crop was cannabis. And its a lifeline, advocates say, that Lebanon urgently needs. The country is scrabbling to escape an existential, multilayered crisis that has gutted the currrency to less than a quarter of its previous value, brought the specter of shortages to a place renowned for its excess and spurred a full-scale rejection of the country's ruling order. Most of all, Lebanon is broke. It produces very little, relying on imports for almost everything, and dollars are scarce. Farmworkers harvest cannabis plants at a plantation in Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) In its desperate drive for foreign currency, it's trying to develop homegrown industries, including taking advantage of what is arguably its most famous export: Lebanese hash. This tiny Mediterranean country of 6.8 million people is, after all, responsible for 6% of the global cannabis supply, making it the world's third-largest exporter of the stuff, according to a report last year by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime this, despite the fact that cannabis had until recently been illegal. In April, with the country slammed by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lame-duck government still found time to legalize cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes, making Lebanon the first Arab nation to do so. The move now needs to be codified and implemented. The idea, officials say, is for the state to set up a regulatory authority that would issue licenses to private companies for farming, processing and selling cannabis and its derivative products. That could reel in potentially $1 billion in revenue, attract fresh investments in the country and generate new tax receipts. The village of Yammouneh is one of the focal points of this plan. It unfurls around a placid lake, which perfectly reflects a landscape of tree-studded mountains and green fields. Story continues Farmer Ali Shreyf drives through the village of Yammouneh in Lebanon, the first Arab nation to legalize cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) As you enter Yammouneh, graffiti greets you on a nearby shack, calling for Americas death and pledging fealty to "the Resistance" a reference to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite armed faction and political party, which dominates this northeastern village of some 5,000 people, as well as much of Lebanons eastern regions. (Washington designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.) Officially, Hezbollah is against hash; it was one of the few groups to object to legalization. But the Party of God, as it's also known, appears to have reached a detente with cannabis farmers, said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. The state cant stop them. Hezbollah cant stop them and needs the support of this constituency. And these people are living off of cannabis, Khashan said in a phone interview. He added that Hezbollah recruits members in these areas and also benefits from facilitating the smuggling of marijuana across the border. Whether they have an understanding or not, the cannabis production would continue," Khashan said. "So why not have an understanding with them? ... Publicly [Hezbollah] says it's against them, but that's because they don't want the state to enter and take a cut." Ali Shreyf, a village notable, or mukhtar, represents a good example of that understanding with Hezbollah. In a visit to a field a few minutes drive from his home in Yammouneh, the trim 50-year-old with more salt than pepper in his hair pointed to an apple orchard standing alongside stalks of cannabis. You have two brothers. The one in Hezbollah plants apples, the other one plants marijuana. It's a matter of beliefs, he said. Farmworkers at work in a cannabis field in Yammouneh, Lebanon, where the crop grows well in the rocky soil, cool climate and high humidity. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Shreyfs business is an inherited one: His father began growing cannabis around the 1920s. The trade bloomed during Lebanons devastating 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. Afterward, the state launched an eradication campaign, but those efforts foundered in 2011, when the conflict in neighboring Syria began and forced Lebanons security services to focus on new threats. (In 2017, nearly 100,000 acres in Lebanon were planted with cannabis, according to U.N. statistics.) The state also tried offering incentives to farmers to cultivate other crops. But the problem is that cannabis is easy to grow; it thrives in Yammounehs rocky soil, cool climate and high humidity. Not much else does, and besides, the profits wouldn't come close. Around Shreyf, the women in their shawls continued their reaping, the wind heady with the fresh scent of cut grass and the earthiness of marijuana. Yalla, girls! Yalla! shouted Muhannad, the foreman, who declined to give his surname. Like most of the field workers here, he's from the Syrian city of Raqqa, once Islamic States declared capital, and escaped as a refugee to Lebanon. "I have 25 workers in my crew. We'll harvest anywhere from 50 to 60 dunams [about 12 to 15 acres] of cannabis per day," he said. A harvesting crew works in a field. It is estimated that a cannabis farmer can make between $10,000 to $15,000 a year. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Once cut, the stalks remain on the ground for a week to dry before being transported to warehouses. There they are cured until late November, when the cold makes the plants sticky resin brittle and ready for sifting. The plants are placed inside a drum with mechanical rollers that shake off some of the resin into keyf, cannabis powder that can then be pressed into blocks of hash. Higher-quality keyf which means "pleasure" in Arabic is also extracted by rubbing the plants against a super-fine silk cloth or mesh. Half-pound blocks of keyf are sold locally or smuggled abroad by traffickers who take hash overland to Jordan and Saudi Arabia or via Syrias ports to Africa and Europe, Smugglers have had to switch techniques to evade detection, Shreyf said. They used to put them under fruits," he said. "Then they planted them in electric appliances. When that was discovered, they put hash inside stones and wheel wells of cars." A cannabis farmer can make between $10,000 to $15,000 a year, Shreyf said. The smugglers make the big profits, estimated to be $1 billion to $2 billion collectively. But keyf is not the only use for the plant. People use this for rope, paper currency, even clothes," Shreyf said, adding: "We use it for nothing." He took out a strip of hemp. Try to break it, he said to a visiting reporter. A few vigorous tugs later, the strip remained unbroken. Because legalization has yet to be codified, Shreyfs activities technically remain a criminal offense. But he doesn't care, and instead sees legalization as a ploy by Lebanons notoriously corrupt political class to benefit cronies. Theyve stolen everything except for the cannabis, he said. Now they want that, too. Supporters of the new law, including Ali Shoman, an official pushing for the creation of a cannabis growers syndicate, said legalization would help farmers. Is it better to enter the house through the window or the door? The cannabis theyre planting now they cant bring out legally, nor is it used to produce alternative products, he said. Cannabis plants sit in the sun at a local plantation in Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Antoine Habchi, one of the architects of the law, agreed. Who is benefiting now? Only the distributor, and they can do that because of political cover, the lawmaker said, adding that a raft of Canadian and Chinese companies had already expressed interest in using Lebanese cannabis for oils, perfumes and other products. When farmers work legally and the merchant works with them, then the state would have to deal with them," Habchi said. "Through the law the farmer is liberated. But the plan faces several snags. One is that the law allows cannabis containing an as-yet-unspecified percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the mind-altering compound found in pot. Lebanese cannabis contains up to 18% THC, a relatively high proportion, potentially forcing farmers to switch to a different seed. Another problem is that the bill bars anyone with a criminal record from obtaining a cannabis license. That would in effect rule out most of the current farmers and smugglers, said Talal Shreyf, Yammounehs mayor. (He and Ali Shreyf belong to one of the village's dominant clans.) If people here are wanted, theyre wanted for growing marijuana. Whoever makes such a decision is crazy, because these are the same people who are planting, he said. The government had discussed a controversial amnesty bill, but it was unclear whether it would include those charged with drug-related offenses. You need to turn a new page with these people you cant deal with them otherwise, the mayor said. Perhaps the biggest challenge is Lebanons dysfunctional government. Politicians are still flailing to form a government after the massive Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut's port which was blamed on chronic mismanagement and corruption toppled the previous Cabinet. On Saturday, the prime minister-designate stepped down, leaving the country in limbo. Were talking about missed opportunities," said Habchi, the parliament member. "Instead of us grabbing at chances, you feel that administrative issues are continuing with no end in sight. Shoman echoed his point. Weve been screaming at the government for years: 'We dont want money just get out of the way.' Dont give us the fish. Give us the fishing hook, and well feed ourselves and you with us. Armed with sickles, farmworkers harvest cannabis in the village of Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times) Farmworkers work 10 hours a day, moving from plantation to plantation, harvesting cannabis in Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) A truck full of dried cannabis plants is transported to an unknown location from a local plantation in Yammouneh, Lebanon. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Benaulim gangrape case: Goa CM faces flak for asking parents of victims why were their daughters out so late This is a matter of shame for country, govts: CM Kejriwal on Hathras gang-rape incident India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Sep 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday termed the death of Hathras gang-rape victim a matter of shame for the country as well as for the governments and demanded the hanging of the guilty. Hathras: 19-yr-old woman battling for life after brutal gangrape dies in Delhi|Oneindia News The 19-year-old Dalit woman died at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday morning, days after being raped by four men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said. #Nirbhaya trends on Twitter as Hathras gang-rape survivor dies "The death of Hathras victim is shameful for the entire society, country as well as for all the governments. It's highly sad that so many daughters are being sexually assaulted and we have not been able to protect them. The guilty must be hanged at the earliest," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. Uttar Pradesh: Teenage Dalit girl, gang-raped in Hathras, dies at AIIMS The woman was shifted to the hospital in Delhi from Aligarh on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. She was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. The accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have already been arrested. Name: Mike Southworth Party: Republican Race: 14th District Senate seat Profile: Southworth is a decorated firefighter of 20 years with the West Haven Fire Department and member of the Emergency Medical Services team. Southworth said he has had the responsibility of responding to 911 calls , medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, in addition to fire suppression. He lives in West Haven with his wife, stepdaughter, two rescue dogs and a cat. Southworths top legislative priorities are reducing taxes and stopping implementation of tolls, preparing Connecticut for future pandemics and ensuring that local control remains an element of legislation that is debated and passed through the General Assembly in regard to schools and zoning. Southworth says he also wants to provide support for hundreds of small businesses adversely affected by the pandemic and fight to reduce administrative costs in state infrastructure. Area animal shelters showered with funds in memory of Betty White The online fundraiser challenged fans of actress Betty White to donate to a local animal rescue or shelter in honor of her Jan. 17 birthday. Egypt has been the traditional host of reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas, but the latest round of talks between the two rival Palestinian groups took place in Istanbul, highlighting a growing Turkish role in the Palestinian issue. A combination of factors Turkeys ambitions in the Middle East, the increased Hamas presence in Istanbul, and the dramatic shift in Israeli-Arab ties that deprives Fatah of financial props and deepens its despair has raised Turkeys profile, but how far its role could go is open to question. The three-day talks in Istanbul ended with an announcement Sept. 24 that Fatah and Hamas had agreed to hold the first Palestinian elections in almost 15 years. The talks were preceded by an unprecedented meeting Sept. 3 between major Palestinian faction leaders in Ramallah and Beirut and a phone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two delegations led by Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of Fatahs Central Committee, and Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas political bureau agreed to hold legislative elections in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip within six months and then proceed with presidential polls and elections for the National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Leaders of all Palestinian factions are expected to meet again under the auspices of Abbas in early October to finalize the details of reconciliation and elections. Since Hamas bloody expulsion of Fatah from Gaza in 2007 that sealed the Palestinian division, the two sides have held many rounds of talks and inked about a dozen accords but have yet to achieve the goal of unity. A Palestinian source who closely followed the Istanbul talks told Al-Monitor that Turkey played a facilitating role despite its pro-Hamas policies. In general, Turkey favors Hamas to be the decisive group in Palestine, but as a result of factors such as the US Embassys move to Jerusalem and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrains normalization of ties with Israel, Fatah, too, has become more inclined to [deal with] Turkey, the source said. Turkey is utilizing this well. It has played a reconciliatory role in the talks, but I cannot say it is meddling in Palestinian affairs. Asked about how Egyptian and Turkish mediations are different, the source said, The talks in Egypt would take place in the building of the intelligence service with the participation of [Egyptian] intelligence officials. Egypt always favored Fatah. Their Foreign Ministry was not involved. This is because Egypt views Palestine as a security issue rather than a political one. The talks in Turkey, on the other hand, were held at the Palestinian consulate in Istanbul. Turkey undoubtedly has a sway over the process, but Turkish officials did not attend the talks. Besides, Turkey does not have as much grasp on the details as Egypt has. The source noted that Egypt showed no negative reaction to the talks and appeared to have greenlit them. Egypt can close the [Rafah] border crossing [with Gaza] if it so wishes, but we see it has just opened the crossing for several days, the source said. The Fatah team traveled on to Qatar from Istanbul and will then go to Cairo to brief the Egyptians. It is highly likely that Egypt had given them the green light. Fatah would have not gone ahead on their own. Speaking after a meeting with senior Hamas member Khaled Meshaal in Doha Sept. 26, Rajoub said Fatah had made a strategic decision to achieve national reconciliation with Hamas based on political partnership. Yet Hamas official Hussam Badran seemed to cast some doubt on the consensus as he said the same day that statements circulating about confirmed agreements and schedules are incorrect. The dialogue with Fatah, he added, is not a substitute for a comprehensive national dialogue but rather a preparation for it. According to another Palestinian source, other factions were annoyed by the announcement of a roadmap being drawn up in Istanbul because it implies that the Palestinian political process is an issue between Fatah and Hamas only. Ignoring the other factions is, in fact, something that Turkey, too, prefers because it is on good terms with both Fatah and Hamas, the source told Al-Monitor. Relations with Hamas represent the tough side of Turkeys policy against Israel, while relations with Fatah represent its conciliatory side. Yet a national dialogue should comprise everyone, he said. Many Palestinian factions, particularly leftist ones such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, are irked that Ankaras Palestinian policy is predicated on Hamas and thus the Muslim Brotherhood. But with regional developments piling pressure on the Palestinians to unite, objections to Turkeys auspices are being pushed to the backburner. Palestinian despair has deepened over a series of US moves the embassys transfer to Jerusalem, contribution cuts to UN bodies helping the Palestinians and the infamous deal of the century and the ensuing Emirati and Bahraini recognition of Israel. On top of it all, speculation is abuzz about UAE designs, allegedly endorsed by Washington, to back Mohammed Dahlan the controversial Palestinian leader who has been in the service of the Emirati crown prince since his expulsion from Fatah in 2011 as the next Palestinian president. Palestinian observers believe Dahlan stands little chance of being elected despite enjoying a degree of popular support, but the prospect of Dahlan staging a comeback as a result of Emirate-Saudi pressure and fait accomplis is not ruled out. US and Israeli silence on the Istanbul talks is remarkable as well. Washington had reacted harshly when Erdogan hosted Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political bureau chief, in Istanbul Aug. 22. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus stressed that both Hamas leaders were specially designated global terrorists and warned that President Erdogans continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community. Arouri, who was in charge of Hamas armed operations in the West Bank and has a $5 million US bounty on his head, is currently based in Lebanon after spending time in Qatar and Turkey since his release from an Israeli prison in 2010. Israel, too, has frequently raised concern about Turkey harboring Hamas militants as Istanbul became a prominent base for Hamas abroad, along with Doha. Last month, Israel charged that Ankara had given passports to a dozen members of the group. The silence of key actors on Turkeys role in Palestinian reconciliation might not last long. The feud between Turkey and the Saudi-Emirati-Egypt axis as well as the tensions between Gulf states and Iran have borne directly on the Palestinians, serving to break the Arab circle around Israel. The Palestinians are compelled to think out of the box to patch up support for their cause, but they can never ignore Egypt. The West Bank and Gaza are both in financial dire straits. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, is unable to pay the full salaries of public servants, and the administration in Gaza relies on assistance from Qatar. The new Middle East order might have pressed the Palestinians to look to Turkey and Qatar, but it hardly allows them to forge alliances as they wish. Erdogans unbridled propensity to intervention and taking sides is another factor that precludes optimistic forecasts on whether Turkey could sustain and expand its role down the road. Moreover, Palestinian factions other than Hamas remain cautious about Turkeys involvement. Fatah may value Qatar as a financial supporter, but the isolated Gulf emirate is not in a position to resist all sorts of pressure from the United States and US allies in the Gulf. All in all, any expectation of a major expansion of Turkeys mediation and Qatars financial role could be misplaced. The Syrian crisis and the rift in the Gulf have already shown Hamas how its attachment to one regional axis in regional influence wars could send it drifting from one capital to another. The Palestinians know that breaking their links with Egypt and the Gulf and leaning on Turkey and Qatar would not be without consequences. contributed photo WESTPORT A 40-year-old Westport man was charged with second-degree burglary for allegedly attempting to break into a Westport residence, police said. On July 21, a complainant alleged James Hamilton had forced entry into her parents Westport residence the evening prior while both were home. The interior door was allegedly damaged in the process of Hamilton gaining entry, police said. As the group breaks from the trail, the dense vegetation of the West Canada Lakes Wilderness closes behind them as soft and final as giant hands. Eight hikers enter a complex dance with being lost and barely found. Hunched under full packs, saying little, they begin a journey whose outcome is as murky and unmarked as the wetlands ahead, and only one thing is abundantly clear: They will not be going back the way they have come. Welcome to the SUNY Potsdam Wilderness Education program and the crowning jewel of five months of preparation a 14-day slog through one of the largest wilderness areas in the Adirondack Mountains. The trip promises unmatched beauty and raw, tactile encounters with nature. It centers around surviving, planning and watching plans fall apart, figuring out how to get to the next place and taking only a minimal number of mosquitoes to bed at night. Call it a boot camp for the leaders of tomorrow. Students of SUNY Potsdams Wilderness Leadership track must show they can apply what they learn on campus to real-world settings, and these annual end-of-summer trips are reinforced with ice climbing and winter expedition skills. The program offers a minor degree designed to train field instructors in outdoor recreation, environmental education, guiding, challenge programs and for therapy work with at-risk youth. Each of the eight participants will be deeply tested. When the forest canopy snaps shut and landmarks disappear, they grope for map and compass and try to determine their location. They must figure out how to navigate a swamp and avoid terrain that poses too high a risk of broken bones. They find their way to drinking water, clean it with iodine, take a break at a pre-determined time and carefully bury any human waste. Hoisting laden packs, they soldier on. Faced with the forests blank slate, the individual tasked with leadership for the day synthesizes a host of different options for moving through the woods, balances logic against the occasional impulse to panic and tries to determine how much risk is involved in getting to the next stop. Student Riley Notarthomas describes the logic, emotion, and pressure of leadership in this way: Orin Brown and Chris Rose set up camp after a long day of trekking through the West Canada Lakes Wilderness. Photo by Riley Notarthomas The mental challenge is that you are not only facing the same difficulties that everyone else is, but you are at the head of them. You are making the calls. You have to be thinking one step ahead of everything. So you have to put aside your personal discomforts. When youre dealing with the stress of juggling tasks, it can be easy to overthink and get frustrated. You need to be humble enough to let your followers help when you need them. Sometimes its best to let others make a decision thats actually good situational leadership. You need to have respect for your followers, and you want them to respect you and have faith in you. This requires confidence, focus, a level head and a positive attitude traits that can be very difficult to obtain after a long day in the woods, when things are going south, and we should be going north. Risk a small word with huge meaning. How the students determine its basis in reality versus mere perception and how they proceed from there lies at the heart of the journey. It is not easy to untangle actual risk from innate human fear. The process of gaining the necessary clarity heightened by the natural elements not only helps to shape leaders; it also holds lessons students can apply across the spectrum of their experiences. An actual risk may be crossing a waist-high, swift-moving river with a 50-pound pack on your back, explains Adam Wheeler, SUNY Potsdams wilderness education coordinator, who oversees the trip. A perceived risk might involve climbing a steep rock face while being belayed on a secure rope system. Risk is in the eye of the beholder. An individuals perception of that risk can either be an experience that creates extreme panic and fear, or it can create a heightened sense of discomfort that when approached properly results in personal growth. As daylight wanes, the tents pop up and the cooking stoves come out. The trekkers ignore the pain in their muscles. The days reward glitters in the background the surface of a lake, remote and apart from time, reflecting a smoky sunset. The band hoists their food high into trees in hopes of deterring a nighttime visit from bears. They draw into a circle and it is debriefing time. The days events, the leaders and followers go under the microscope. Everyone has to endure it, and the criticism lands firmly and honestly. No feelings are spared. The instructors are very critical and encourage honest feedback for the leader, so they can improve the second time around, Notarthomas says. Everyone learns from and challenges each other, helping us gauge our strengths and weaknesses as individuals so we can do better communicating and cooperating as a group. Notarthomas has been itching for months to take this challenge. Like other college students and most of the country for that matter, COVID-19 has made him feel cloistered since spring, a bit ill from the streaming electrons of a computer screen, and tired of living by proxy, devoid of much adventure or physical interaction. Heading out students find their way through the Adirondacks as part of a 14-day trip with a SUNY Potsdam wilderness education program that has helped shape generations of student leaders. Photo by Riley Notarthomas The trip started five months earlier where all such adventures begin the SUNY Potsdam campus. The group spent days planning routes and options, measuring risks and coming up with contingency plans for everything from broken bones to a sudden onset of high fever. The wilderness is a terrible place to fall ill. This year, Covid-19 presents its own challenges and lessons, and the group builds a scenario for dealing with the disease, should it strike. They quarantine and test negative for the virus just before the trip, but are determined to act as if they could contract illness from one another at any time. They practice social distancing and heightened hygiene, refrain from sharing food and sleep in pods that expose them to the same person all through the trip. With teamwork at the forefront and egos tucked in a small pocket of the rucksack, the group presses deeper into the wilderness. Like cramped fingers that have been held too long in a fist, their senses slowly unfold. The buzz of nervous thought drains away, replaced by the sounds of birds and the sensation of rough and solid earth. The group members begin to feel more connected to the ground, and to each other. Many have come away from these trips sensing the journey has changed their lives in some foundational way. Mike Yuhnke was adrift academically before he transferred to SUNY Potsdam and began to take every wilderness education elective the college offered. In the years following his graduation in 2012, he would scale high peaks in Central Asia and South America, bike across the United States, and lead troubled youths on sprawling 64-day trips in Alaskas Tongass National Forest, where the groups would drill into negative behaviors and forge new ways of dealing with the world. I owe a lot to the program and give a lot of the credit to Adam Wheeler, Yuhnke said recently. He spends a lot of time individually with his students in the classroom and in the field, pushing their skill sets and challenging them to think pragmatically and grow. As a result, it produces lots of high caliber professionals that go out into the world and excel at whatever they put their minds to. Wheelers group covers 65 miles by the time they are finished, entering at Moose River Plains near Inlet, N.Y. travelling south to resupply their food at Piseco, N.Y., then heading north. Because they spend the majority of the trip bushwhacking far from trails, they cross untrammeled wilderness few will witness. In spite of the pressures of leadership and survival and the fact that two weeks in the woods is no joke, Notarthomas is able to experience a badly needed escape and even efface the outside world entirely if only temporarily. In 2020, there are just too many things to worry about, he concludes. The outdoors in general provide this timeless escape from society, with a feeling of solace in the natural world. We are grateful to share such a real experience with each other. Read more Migrating monarchs at Montezuma: CNY woman photographs roost of more than 400 butterflies Upstate NY man gets jail time, $5,500 in fines for illegally shooting a moose What you should know about Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge during the fall (video) New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Delhi High Court will from October 5 hear on day-to-day basis the ED and CBI appeals against the acquittal of the accused in the 2G spectrum case. Justice Brijesh Sethi passed an order to this effect while allowing the applications for early hearing filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After hearing the arguments of all the accused and the two agencies, the court had reserved its order on September 22. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain -- who represented the ED and CBI -- submitted that substantial public time had already been consumed and pressed for immediate hearing of the matter since Justice Sethi, who is handling the case, is all set to demit office in November. "A Judge can always decide how much time is required to hear a matter... if genuine efforts are made and assistance is rendered, it's possible to take this matter to a logical conclusion," the ASG said while responding to submissions made by the counsel for the accused, who opposed the petition for early hearing on the ground that the accused won't get required time to put forth their stand in case of hurry. "It's my duty to unravel the truth," the court remarked while hearing Jain's submissions while pointing out that he had never stopped a counsel from arguing in the last four years at the High Court. Jain denied the submissions by the accused that case record was bulky and required assistance would not be possible for the accused during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the accused had opposed the pleas moved by the ED and CBI. Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for former Union Minister A Raja, argued that there was no cause to grant an out-of-turn urgent hearing to the appeals amid the pandemic. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, along with Mudit Jain and Ashul Agarwal, represented Shahid Balwa and several others and opposed the pleas. The counsel said that the CBI has not explained as to why their appeal against acquittal be given precedence or preference over other appeals. Both agencies moved the court in March 2018 to challenge a Special CBI court's 2017 order to acquit all 18 accused in the 2G spectrum case, including Raja and DMK leader K Kanimozhi. The scam came to light almost seven years ago when the then Comptroller and Auditor General held in a report that then Telecom Minister Raja was responsible for causing a loss of Rs 1,76,379 crore to the exchequer by allocating 2G spectrum licences at throwaway prices. The trial court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges. The verdict, however, didn't override the Supreme Court judgment or take away from the fact that the licences issued for 2G spectrum allocation were illegal. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text MADISON In her second visit to Wisconsin to stump for her husband and presidential nominee Joe Biden, Jill Biden spoke to voters in the Democratic bastion of Madison while area Democrats hope they can boost voter turnout in what many expect to be another close election. Monday marked Bidens second visit to Wisconsin this month. She and her husband traveled to Kenosha and Wauwatosa on Sept. 3 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake; Joe Biden also visited and made remarks at a Manitowoc foundry last week. Madison, Im so grateful to be here with you in person after so many virtual Zooms to your state in the last few months, Jill Biden said to a crowd of about 150 people standing outside Madisons Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery on Atwood Avenue. Following her visit to Madison, Biden departed for another event near Waukesha, an area conservatives have held a strong advantage in over the last several years. While the Bidens who canceled plans to attend the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee last month due to COVID-19 have made limited trips to the battleground state so far this year, President Donald Trump and his administration have made multiple campaign stops in Wisconsin. Trump returning Saturday Trump will once again return to the state on Saturday to hold campaign events in La Crosse and Green Bay. Saturday will mark Trumps sixth trip to Wisconsin as he looks for a repeat of 2016, when he defeated then-nominee Hillary Clinton in the state by fewer than 23,000 votes. It took 674 days for the Biden Campaign to find Wisconsin on a map, Anna Kelly, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, said in a statement. Meanwhile, for the sixth time this year alone, President Trump will campaign in Wisconsin ... President Trump has Wisconsins back, and as a result, Badger State voters will back him at the ballot box in November. The two new Trump rallies are in two coronavirus hot spots in Wisconsin, a state where cases have been surging for weeks. Trumps rallies often attract people who do not wear masks or practice social distancing as recommended by public health experts to avoid contracting the highly contagious virus. As of Monday, Wisconsin ranked third nationwide for new cases per capita with 459 new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks. The counties of La Crosse and Brown (where Green Bay is) were both in the top 10 for highest cases per capita in the state. To date, nearly 116,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Wisconsin and 1,281 have died, according to the state Department of Health Services. Also on Monday, Ben Carson, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Trumps cabinet, visited Milwaukee. Election anticipation With the Nov. 3 election only five weeks away, state election officials anticipate as many as 2 million people will cast absentee ballots, due in large part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday, nearly 1.14 million absentee ballots had been sent out and more than 238,000 has been returned, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. More than 52,000 ballots had been returned in Dane County. I know youre already engaged or you probably wouldnt be out here this afternoon. I know youre busy and youre probably stretched so thin, but Im asking you to do more because this election is too important to sit on the sidelines, Biden said on Monday. All of us have to do what we can until Election Day. This is it. There are no do-overs. This is the last shot to wake up on Nov. 4 and feel that hope. As the election nears, sparring continues to ramp up between Republicans and Democrats over the election primarily regarding absentee voting. We know that our energy has to be focused on a voter turnout plan because (Republicans) going to try to do everything they can to try to suppress the vote, as they always do and our response to that is even more organizing, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said on Monday. They know that the higher the turnout, the less likely it will be that they win. Thats why we have to make sure we get every eligible voter out to the polls. On Sunday, a federal appeals court temporarily halted a six-day extension for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsins upcoming presidential election. Currently, ballots are due by 8 p.m. Election Day. The appeal follows a lower court judges decision to side with Democrats to extend the deadline until Nov. 9 to allow more time to count what is anticipated to be a historic high number of absentee ballots. U.S. District Judge William Conley, who ruled on Sept. 21 to extend the deadline, said the influx of ballots would be three times more absentee ballots than any other previous election and could overwhelm both election officials and the postal service. If the decision had stood it could have delayed knowing the winner of Wisconsin for days. Whats more, a conservative group called Wisconsin Voters Alliance last week filed a lawsuit seeking to block more than $6.3 million in private federal election grants designated for five Wisconsin cities. Madison was granted $1.3 million through the program. The lawsuit claims that funds announced this summer by the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life constitute bribery to boost voting in progressive communities. The suit also claims that only the state, and not cities, have the legal authority to accept and use private federal election grants. Also last week, state GOP leaders Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Madison City Clerks Office questioning the legality of a ballot collection event, which kicked off this weekend in Madison parks. Despite the threat, city officials said the event is completely legal , involved city poll workers who are deputized to receive ballots and would be carried out as planned. Another event is planned for Saturday. Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said 10,813 absentee ballots were received across city parks this weekend as part of the event.(tncms-asset)f1468ed5-424e-584a-9a8d-4c7b07463eed[1](/tncms-asset) Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 One economist says cryptocurrency is no substitute for stocks and bonds Crypto.com a cryptocurrency exchange app company says it was the victim of a hack totaling $15 million in stolen funds. In a statement, a Crypto spokesperson told ConsumerAffairs that the incident affected 483 customers and that the company prevented unauthorized withdrawals in the majority of cases. In all other cases, customers were fully reimbursed. Breaking those 483 instances down into values, the company said the unsanctioned withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 ether, ... The region declared independence from Azerbaijan after a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives Armenian separatists in the Nagorny Karabakh region are resisting an Azerbaijani offensive, officials in Yerevan said, as heavy fighting entered a third day Tuesday ahead of UN Security Council talks on the crisis. Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a territorial dispute over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorny Karabakh for decades, with deadly fighting flaring up last July and in 2016. The region declared independence from Azerbaijan after a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives. It is not recognised by any country -- including Armenia -- and is still considered part of Azerbaijan by the international community. "Armenian forces repelled Azerbaijani offensives at various sectors of the frontline and the enemy suffered serious losses in manpower," Armenia's defence ministry said. "The Azerbaijani side launched massive artillery shelling of Armenian positions, preparing for a fresh attack," ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on Facebook. The defence ministry in Baku said "fierce fighting continued overnight as Armenia's attempted counter-offensive to win back positions it lost to Azerbaijani forces was repelled." "An Armenian motorised column and an artillery unit was destroyed," the ministry said. In the early hours on Tuesday, "Azerbaijani forces continued an offensive on the city of Fizuli, destroying four enemy tanks, an armoured vehicle and killing ten troops." The UN Security Council was due to meet Tuesday at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) for emergency talks on Karabakh, behind closed doors, diplomats told AFP. The overall death toll rose to 95 on Monday, as Karabakh reported 84 military casualties and with 11 civilians killed in clashes: nine in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side. Azerbaijan has not reported military casualties, but Armenian separatist officials have released footage from the battlefield showing what it said was the remains of Azerbaijani soldiers. Fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia could embroil regional players, Russia and Turkey. Russia, which has a military alliance with Armenia and stations a permanent military base there, sells sophisticated weapons worth billions of dollars to both Baku and Yerevan. Armenia has accused Turkey -- which backs Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan -- of meddling in the conflict. With each side blaming the other for the flare-up that erupted Sunday, world leaders have urged calm as fears rise of a full-scale conflict. Search Keywords: Short link: Trumps campaign is being accused of deterring Black voters. Donald Trumps campaign is being accused of trying to deter Black voters in the 2016 election. Read More: CDC director Redfield raises alarm over Trumps new virus adviser According to a report by British News Channel 4, the Trump campaign compiled data on over 200 million American voters into eight audiences, for online ad targeting purposes. One group titled Deterrence was beside the names of 3.5 million Black voters, the citizens Trump did not want to vote on election day, per the report. These groups were created to determine which ads would serve various audiences. For example, African Americans in Georgia are only 32% of the population but made up 61% of the deterrence category. Black people account for 22% of the population in North Carolina but represented 46% of the Deterrence group. According to Channel 4, the leaked data is made up of more than 5,000 files and 5 terabytesmaking it one of the largest leaked files in history. But back in 2016 when PBS spoke to the Trump campaigns digital director, Brad Parscale, he denied targeting Black people. No. We didnt write any kind of suppression and/or campaigns in any way that ran toI dont think we actuallywe didnt run on a campaign, I believe, Parscale told PBS. I would say Im nearly 100 percent sure we did not run any campaigns that targeted even African-AmericansI would take what they do and how they consume information. The things they buy, the jobs they have, [would] be more important than the color of their skin. QUINCY, MA MARCH 03: Signage outside of a polling location at Wollaston School on March 3, 2020 in Quincy, Massachusetts. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) It is unclear exactly how Trumps team used the list to deter Black voters but The Daily Beast reports that Cambridge Analytical, the former British political consulting firm pushed dark posts to tarnish Trumps opponent, Hilary Clinton. One example of this was an infamous video from 1996 when Clinton referenced Black super-predators. In a document viewed by Channel 4 News, Cambridge Analytical claims the Trump campaign spent $55K on these types of ads in Georgia alone. Story continues We use data but its to motivate, persuade, and encourage folks to participate. We dont use the data to say who can we deter and keep at home. That just seems, fundamentally, its a shift from the notion of democracy, Jamal Watkins of the NAACP said once he was presented with the news of Channel 4s findings. Rashad Robinson, a spokesperson for the Color Of Change PAC, released a statement obtained by theGrio when news of the leaked data broke today. This investigation confirms what weve always known: Trump and his campaign are actively trying to keep Black Americans from voting. But whats most disturbing here is not just the campaigns clear intent to suppress Black votes; its the brazen steps they took to research, target, and discourage Black voters. Robinson continues, We are just five weeks away from a monumental election and, while the Trump campaign looks to lure Black voters with a flimsy policy agenda, we are seeing his true colors. The findings of this investigation should be a wake-up call to Black voters. This November, we must show up at the polls in record numbers and vote for an administration that supports free and fair elections. Read More: Biden campaign mocks Trumps performance-enhancing drug accusations Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! The post According to data leak, Trump campaign tried to suppress Black vote in 2016 appeared first on TheGrio. Naya Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey and sister Nickayla Rivera reportedly moved in together to help raise the late "Glee" star's son, Josey. Dorsey is now living with model Nickayla and will share the responsibility of raising Josey, who was with his mother when she drowned in Lake Piru, California, according to Daily Mail. Dorsey and Nickayla were reportedly renting a three-bedroom home. On Sept. 6, Nickayla was spotted helping Dorsey moving his things from his previous North Hills place in the San Fernando Valley. A witness to Dorsey and Nickayla's subsequent trip to a Target told Daily Mail that they were fooling around and chatting the whole time. "They're helping lift each other's spirits," the witness said. Dorsey and Nickayla were seen playfully holding hands on a shopping trip, according to the outlet. Naya's ex-husband pushed the shopping cart, and Nickayla jokingly pushed Dorsey away with her shoulder as they walked the aisles while laughing and chatting, the Daily Mail reported. According to The Sun, Naya and fellow actor Dorsey rekindled their relationship after Naya's split from rapper Big Sean in 2014. The two were married in July 2014. Their son, Josey, was born in September 2015. In 2016, Naya initially sought to split from Dorsey though they reconciled and eventually made an official separation in 2018. Last July 13, the Ventura Sheriff's Office confirmed that Naya was discovered floating near the surface in Lake Piru's northeast region. The actress was reported missing while on a boating trip to the Los Angeles area reservoir with her son. Employees searched for the missing watercraft when Naya failed to return her rental boat on time. They discovered Josey on board alone wearing a life vest. Naya was "nowhere to be found," a 911 caller told the dispatcher. The police later confirmed that a life jacket assumed to be for Naya was on the boat along with her purse and wallet. Officials stated that Naya's death was an accidental drowning. Dorsey posted an Instagram tribute to Naya following her death and said: "This is so unfair... there's not enough words to express the hole left in everyone's hearts. I can't believe this is life now. I don't know if I'll ever believe it." A report earlier obtained by Fox News said that Naya screamed for help before she drowned in Lake Piru. The Ventura County Medical Examiner released a full autopsy report, which details Naya's final moments. The investigative report revealed that Naya's son said he and the late "Glee" star "counted '1,2,3' then jumped off the boat together." Then, not too long after, Naya told Josey to get back on the boat. "Rivera helped Josey onto the boat, and he then heard Rivera shout 'help' and put her arm in the air. She then disappeared into the water," the report said. However, the official autopsy report indicated that Naya was considered to be a good swimmer. Check these out: Naya Rivera Screamed for Help Before Drowning, Investigation Reveals Kelly Clarkson Describes Divorce with Brandon Blackstock "The Worst Thing Ever" Demi Lovato, Max Ehrich Call Off Engagement After 2 Months A man who took an Oregon family hostage killed himself in an attack that left an 11-year-old boy and a woman dead, police said. The Marion County Sheriff's Office said in a release that Jose Jesus Lopez-Tinoco, a 34-year-old from Woodburn, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a shootout with deputies just after 12.30pm. A woman and the 11-year-old boy also were found dead from gunshot wounds inside the residence in Salem, and another woman is listed as being in serious condition after surviving the shooting. Authorities have identified the 34-year-old suspect who opened fire at them during a hostage situation shootout at a home in Salem, Oregon, on Monday Deputies responded to the scene and were able to establish connection with Lopez-Tioco, hoping to 'resolve the situation peacefully.' The home where the shootout occurred is pictured Deputies arrived at the house on the 200 block of Juneva Place SE at 12.30pm after reports of the potentially dangerous situation. Deputies were able to establish connection with Lopez-Tioco, hoping to 'resolve the situation peacefully,' authorities shared in the release. Deputy Ricky Kittleson, with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, has been placed on administrative leave in connection to the shootout But after hearing gunshots, deputies forced their way inside. One of the responding deputies fired an undetermined number of rounds. Deputies found 43-year-old Laura Rocio-Bustos with a gunshot wound. She was taken to a local hospital and listed in serious condition. Diari Bustos-Bustos, 24, was found deceased along with an 11-year-old boy. Both victims died from apparent gunshot wounds. The sheriff's office will not be releasing the name of the young child. Authorities also shared that a 13-year-old boy was saved from inside the residence and uninjured. His name will also not be released. Lopez-Tinoco was found dead inside the residence with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. A two-year-deputy with MCSO, Deputy Ricky Kittleson, has been placed on administrative leave. The hostage situation is still under investigation. Deputies arrived at the house in Juneva Place SE at 12.30pm after reports of the potentially dangerous situation Police have not released the identity of the minors who were at the home Police confirmed no officers were injured in the shooting. Neighbor Katie O'Kelley told CNN: 'I heard three shots and then within five minutes I heard a bang. 'I heard sirens when the ambulances were coming in, they loaded three different people I could see, one right outside my house. It was pretty scary.' Brian Johnson, another local resident, said: 'It's kind of scary, I know the world's turning into a different direction. There's a lot of children and families around here so it's disturbing.' Local resident Brian Johnson said he found the incident 'disturbing' as there are lots of families and young children living nearby Neighbours in the suburban neighborhood (pictured) said they heard three gunshots and saw multiple people being carried on stretchers The sheriff's office added that there is no reason to believe there will be any further danger to the community. Mahrt Avenue SE was closed between Lancaster Drive SE and Roggy Court SE for multiple hours during the investigation. The sheriff's office said in a news release Monday evening that Oregon State Police were at the scene and is leading an investigation. Joe Biden and Donald Trump will not shake hands or wear masks when they enter their first of three planned presidential debates on 29 September, among several health precautions during the coronavirus pandemic that will impact the closely watched event. Neither candidate will shake hands with the moderator, Fox News correspondent Chris Wallace. Debate organisers and officials at debate host Case Western Reserve University in Ohio are following health guidelines and restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic to limit the size of the in-studio audience and restrict the candidates interactions. Everyone in the debate hall will be subject to a variety of health safety protocols, including Covid-19 testing, said Peter Eyre, senior adviser for the Commission on Presidential Debates. A small number of ticketed guests will attend the event, he said. The commission did not respond to The Independents request for the size of the audience and seating arrangements; Frank Fahrenkopf, CPD co-chairman told CNN that as many as 70 people will attend in-person. Mr Trump will stand at a podium on the right of the stage, and his Democratic opponent will appear on the left. The candidates will not deliver opening statements but will instead face a round of questions from Mr Matthews, who will be seated at a desk facing the candidates. His first question will go to Mr Trump. The 90-minute debate will proceed without commercial interruption and will consist of six segments, at 15 minutes each, covering Covid-19, the economy, the future of the US Supreme Court, race and violence in our cities and the integrity of the election, as well as dives into their respective records. Mr Wallace will pose a question, and each candidate will have two minutes to respond, then time to respond to each others remarks. The balance of the time will be used for a deeper discussion on the topic, the commission has announced. The debate is scheduled to begin at 9pm EST on 29 September. It will air on major news networks and stream online on other platforms, including YouTube. Vice president Mike Pence and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris will debate on 7 October at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. USA Todays Washington bureau chief Susan Page will moderate. A second presidential debate is scheduled for 15 October at the Adrienne Arsht Centre for the Performing Arts in Miami. C-SPANs senior producer and political editor Steve Scully will moderate. That debate will take the format of a town hall with questions posed by uncommitted voters in Florida. A third and final debate is set for 22 October at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. NBC correspondent and TODAY co-anchor Kristen Welker will moderate. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs are amending a resource management plan for oil and gas leasing on federal land in northwest New Mexico, even as Native American tribes, archaeologists and lawmakers ask for more time and tribal input. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham weighed in on the draft plan last week. I am deeply concerned that the RMPA/EIS does not adequately address the impacts of the proposed development on either air quality or tribal cultural resources and lacks essential alternatives, Lujan Grisham wrote in comments to the agencies. These flaws are in part the result of inadequate tribal consultation, an inadequate public input process, and an incomplete cultural resources survey. Several tribes and pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona claim the Chaco region as their ancestral homeland. Leaving Chaco didnt mean that we didnt maintain connection, said Acoma Pueblo Gov. Brian Vallo. These (places) are critical to the continuance of Acoma culture, are critical to the continuance of pueblo culture in New Mexico. Legislation to permanently install a 10-mile zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park prohibiting oil and gas leasing stalled in the U.S. Senate last year. Archaeologist Paul Reed worked with Acoma Pueblo this summer to identify sites in the buffer zone and has planned a similar project with Zuni Pueblo. We absolutely have been missing the pueblo voices, Reed said. I hope we can continue to have archaeologists like me step out of the way and elevate the voices of the people whose ancestors created Chaco. We need oil and gas, (but) we dont need oil and gas near special places. In December 2019, Congress appropriated $1 million for Chaco cultural resource studies. But U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland said the Interior Department has yet to release that funding to the Navajo Nation or to pueblos. The protection of Chaco Canyon should not be up for debate, but President Trumps energy dominance agenda has put it in danger, Haaland said. Because of the pandemic, Interior extended the comment period on the draft plan and proceeded with virtual public meetings. Last week the Navajo Nation Council passed an emergency resolution asking that the planning process be suspended, citing limited internet access and phone service for many Native American residents in the greater Chaco region. Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal. 'The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop' by Timothy Cotton Happening upon The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop by Timothy Cotton is like discovering a nice little treasure chest. Open this delightful book and you will find a whole bunch of different gems that will enrich you. Popular TV host Mike Rowe finds it a very funny book. He said hed assumed that Cotton was a dedicated cop who wrote amusing stories on the side, but after reading the book, he said, Im now beginning to think he is a dedicated writer who arrests neer-do-wells in his spare time. Craig Johnson, the author whose books gave us Netflixs acclaimed Longmire series, said, To be a good police officer, you have to be a student of human nature, and when you add literary muscle and a razor-sharp wityou get Timothy Cotton. For the 57-year-old native Mainer whos been a police officer for more than 30 years, overseeing the Bangor Police Departments Facebook page happened to be included among the duties that came with a 2014 promotion he received to sergeant and public information officer. Tim Cotton has been a police officer for over 30 years. (Courtesy of Tim Cotton) I didnt know anything about social media so I examined what police departments around the country were doing on their Facebook pages, he said. Many were very well-produced, highly professional, and some were really fancy, but they just didnt speak to me. I decided I wanted to take a very different approach. He asked the department chief if he could drastically change the tone by injecting humor into his writings about the police and their daily interactions with the good and not-so-good people they encounter. Do it your way, said the chief, as long as you steer clear of politics and religion. The departments Facebook following took off from 9,300 followers and just kept zooming. Today, more than 300,000 people in the United States and around the worldnearly 10 times the population of Bangor, Mainefollow what he, with his typical nimble wit, refers to as the worlds most marginally famous Facebook page. Since Cotton took over the Bangor Police Departments Facebook page, it went from 9,300 to more than 300,000 followers. (Bangor Maine Police Department/Facebook) Its not about me, and its not some soft-sell, I-love-the-police thing, Cotton said. Ive tried to create the page by writing about people and their relationships to, or with, the police. Its about interaction between cops and people and the funny things we see or do. I like to tell the story of the people we deal with more than us. People dont know the backstory of the person we help or arrest. I like to do it with humor, but I also like to do it with kindness. Cotton has always been a vociferous reader of comedy, especially the words of Dave Barry, P.J. ORourke, and Art Buchwald. Many among his huge following say his writing reminds them of these comic favorites, as well as other great humorists such as Lewis Grizzard and Erma Bombeck. Hes been selected as Humor Writer of the Month by the University of Daytons Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop. Im a guy who likes to be somewhat sarcastic and have a good time, Cotton said. Does he ever! His offbeat reporting about the police beat in this small Maine city is a delight; you so often find gems that are witty, insightful, inspirational, uplifting, and so fun to read. Cotton can make you laugh out loud. He can make you tear up. He can lift your mood. He can make you pause and think. Cotton writes an entertaining feature on the Bangor Police Department Facebook page called Got Warrants? (Bangor Maine Police Department/Facebook) Here are a few typical samples of Cottons musings: Officers were sent to a motel on outer Hammond Street to take the report of a person breaking out the windows. This is not the type of tomfoolery that makes other inn dwellers feel relaxed when smoothing the sheets with their weary bones A trio of revelers had consumed alcoholic beverages together for a substantial amount of time. The outcast went all kinds of crazy The remaining members of the trio, formerly known as enjoying themselves, escaped the room to summon help. Thats when the suspect started taking names and smashing glass. Lashing out is sometimes a cry for help, and thats where Bangor cops come in. The now-bleeding and still-inebriated suspect went to the lobby area where he broke another window. Handcrafted broken glass seems so much more artsy. He then ran for the wood line where he attempted to hide in that pitiful way that people hide when drunk; we refer to it as very poorly. He was taken to the emergency room during his victory lap to jail. Glass is sharp. He was not. A man in a red coat was clearly intoxicated and sleeping on a Rutland Street porch. The porch was not his to sleep on, and the homeowner wisely contacted us to arrange different accommodations. Our officer (a busy young lad) noted that the man smelled of spirits and staggered, as people sometimes do after drinking several too many. When the cop asked him where he was headed, the man said he would like a ride to his grandparents home in Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake is 155 miles to the north. Aint nobody got time for that. He did not heed the clear and concise warnings to quiet down and the young officer had no choice but to change the venue by applying the stainless restraint devices that we seem to use far too often when a moral compass has been lubedimproperlywith alcohol. A couple of mobile sommeliers did the sip n slip at Governors restaurant in Bangor. The ladies smelled the cork, popped the top, and didnt stop (to pay) before they took the liquefied grapes on a road-trip down Broadway. Before they left, an employee inquired about them trying to take the wine outside to imbibe, and one of them asked her if she was going to try to stop them. Talk about the Grapes of Wraththat was naughty! The ladies were found in Old Town by one of their officers. They said the neon lights are bright on Broadway, but, on this day, the dim glow of thievery was overcome by the overpowering LEDs of justice. One of our officers was dispatched to go to Norfolk Street to try to locate a motor vehicle that was seen towing a person wearing skis. These are the kinds of complaints that our officers love to handle. We were hopeful to find the adventuresome duo in order to inquire about the best speeds, appropriate rope lengths, and to find out which wax holds up best when applied to skis being used on both hard-packed snow, icy surfaces, and asphalt. We are not saying that we would not have given them a good dressing-down. We are just saying that this is a crime that could call for a complete reenactment. The officer could not find the skijoring souls as they skedaddled slickly, slipping silently into the snowy shadows. We were sad. These samples are from Got Warrants jottings he has posted on the Bangor Police Departments Facebook page. Other reflections of his included in the book are from his personal Facebook page (@TimCottonWrites) which has more than 55,000 followers and is rapidly growing. And some stories are original writings hes done just for the book. He also has a growing following on his Instagram page. The Duck of Justice Cotton said that much of what he writes is borne from thoughts that come and go as I drive or ride, covering the miles between all the places I love to go. One of the thoughts that came to him led to the Bangor Police Departments adoption of an unusual mascota wood duck. The Duck of Justice. (Bangor Maine Police Department/Facebook) Years ago, he rescued a dilapidated taxidermy duck from a trash can in the District Attorneys office and called it The Duck of Truth. He said its presence broke the ice with more than one witness to a crime, as well as with a few victims and suspects. The simple joke was that you cannot lie in front of the duck. It worked, and even when it didnt, it gave me great pleasure to say it. He made the stuffed duck, lovingly refurbished by a taxidermist, his sidekick when he took over the departments Facebook page. He slipped it into photos of officers and Bangor scenes. People couldnt resist asking why a stuffed duck kept showing up in so many photos. I didnt answer them, Cotton said. It made sense to keep it mysterious. That mysterious duck, renamed The Duck of Justice, became an internet star. It helped that web surfers looking for the Department of Justice or DOJ happened to also notice something about a duck at the Bangor police headquarters. People from every state in the United States and from Europe, Asia, and Australia have stopped by to have their picture taken with The Duck of Justicethousands of them! Its huge Facebook following includes Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks founder and CEO. Many thousands of Duck of Justice T-shirts have been sold, with all profits going to community causes. Cotton gifted his Duck of Justice, now a registered trademark, and all rights to it to the City of Bangor. Cotton being forced to pat Otis the puppy. (Bangor Maine Police Department/Facebook) Runs in the Family Being a cop runs in the Cotton family. His father was a police officer who became a minister following his retirement. His son is a Maine State Trooper. Cotton worked in a machine shop after graduating from high school; then, after studying at the New England School of Communications, was a popular radio show host in Bangor before joining its police department. Police work isnt glamorous, but its important, Cotton said. Follow his Facebook postings or read his book, and besides being wonderfully entertained you should also realize that the work police do is often mundane, frequently frustrating, sometimes very dangerous, and always essential for the safety of the people and the protection and property in a society that values the rule of law and enjoying liberty living in an orderly society. A pallet left outside of the Bangor Police Department. (Bangor Maine Police Department/Facebook) Oh, in case you are wondering, as I did: why is the book titled The Detective in the Dooryard rather than Doorway? Because, Cotton explained to me, in Maine and other parts of New England, the area around the door that is most often used to enter is always called the dooryard, whether it be the front yard, the side yard, or the backyard. If youre at all like me, the one thing you wont like about The Detective in the Dooryard is the ending. What you wont like is that it ends. The best way to deal with this is to pick it up now and then and enjoy dipping into it again. The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop by Timothy Cotton. A writer and favorably reviewed novelist himself, Fred J. Eckert has been a member of Congress and twice served under President Ronald Reagan as a U.S. ambassador. French President Emmanuel Macron met the leader of the opposition in Belarus and promised to help mediate an end to the country's political crisis, as he seeks to persuade European Union chiefs he's serious about confronting Russia. The meeting Tuesday in Vilnius was the first between a leader of a Group of Seven nation and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled across the border to Lithuania after post-election protests were met with a violent police response. During their conversation, she asked Macron for help. "We had a very good discussion," Macron told reporters afterward. "Now we need to be pragmatic and support the Belarus people, and we will do our best." Macron is on a three-day visit to the Baltic region amid increasing friction between the EU and Russia, which is helping President Alexander Lukashenko retain power in Minsk and has been asked to explain the use of a military-grade toxin in an attack on its most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. The trip, planned before the latest tensions, will now focus on those issues. Russia remains a concern for Lithuania, which like the other two Baltic nations was once an unwilling member of the Soviet Union. The three countries have been watching the Kremlin's increasing assertiveness with alarm, and Macron's apparently soft stance toward Moscow in recent months had been viewed with discomfort. His advisers described a strategy "to maintain open policy channels" with Russia, though he caused further nervousness last year by calling NATO, the key to the security of the Baltic region, "brain dead." Addressing a joint news conference in Vilnius with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday, Macron said he understood "the sensitiveness on the topic," but that "we need to re-engage this dialogue to avoid the worst again." He also said he backed sanctions against officials in Belarus over the contested election and violent suppression of protests, as well as mediation with Russia. The EU will hold a summit on Oct. 1-2 to discuss potential sanctions. So far, the bloc has failed to act on Belarus because of disagreements over how to deal with Turkey's energy claims in the eastern Mediterranean. An emotional Nauseda expressed sadness that the EU might be last to impose penalties, with the U.S., Canada and the U.K. preparing to do so Tuesday. "How is it the EU will stay behind in this context, unable to reach a decision?" he said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far taken the harshest line with the Kremlin -- also meeting with Navalny as he recovers in a Berlin hospital. Signs of a shift in the Elysee emerged Sunday when Macron called on Lukashenko to resign. Macron chose his words carefully on both Monday and Tuesday, describing Tsikhanouskaya as an opposition leader. Yet the meeting in Vilnius is the closest a G-7 leader has come to an endorsement. "She's been an important figure in the last few weeks, she was very brave," Macron said Monday of Tsikhanouskaya. "I want to recognize her role and her courage and the courage of other women in Belarus." Seeking Putin's help in pushing Lukashenko to leave has so far proved unsuccessful. Macron called what happened to Navalny "clearly an assassination attempt" and said "it's for Russia to come up with clarifications." Defending his approach with Putin, Macron said, "if we want to build sustainable peace we must work with Russia," while insisting France was not "naive." "We can't act as if Europe was an island isolated from Russia." Macron is the first French president to visit Lithuania on an official trip in almost two decades. He'll later head to Latvia, having traveled to Estonia in 2017. She often litters her Instagram with a slew of sexy lingerie snaps. And Rhian Sugden was sure to wow her followers with her latest sizzling snap, which she shared on social media during her trip to Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday. The model, 34, looked sensational in a plunging two-tone pink swimsuit that had black caged detailing on both the bikini top and bottoms. Wow! Rhian Sugden looked sensational as she put on a busty display in a pink and black bikini in a snap shared during her Turkey getaway on Tuesday Rhian's Curvy Kate swimwear showed off her amble assets as she posed for a sun-soaked selfie, while the bottoms accentuated her toned stomach. She opted to keep her accessories simple for the beachside look, as she shielded her eyes with a pair of chic oversized shades. The blonde beauty wore her golden tresses in a sleek, wet look, and she appeared to wear a light palette of make-up for the outing. Clearly delighted to be enjoying her holiday, Rhian wrote in the caption: 'Cant beat a sunset selfie!' Busty: The blonde beauty often litters her Instagram with a slew of sexy lingerie snaps Earlier this month, Rhian revealed she put on a half a stone during lockdown but is embracing her new curves. She wrote on Instagram: 'Has anyone else packed on a few pounds in lockdown? Ive put on over half a stone and cant for the life of me get motivated to go to the gym. 'But putting my gym gear on is a step in the right direction right? 'I wish I was one of those people that enjoys working out and running etc... I just like eating and laying down too much.' Self love: Earlier this month, Rhian revealed she put on a half a stone during lockdown but is embracing her new curves The glamour model is married to former Coronation Street actor Oliver Mellor and the couple have been enduring gruelling IVF for 20 months. After discovering that she wouldnt be able to conceive naturally, they went through two rounds of IVF and are planning their third. Throughout the process, experts recommended she stopped using all cosmetic products that contain hash chemicals or additives, which is when she decided to go tan-free for over 12 months. SHANGHAIAfter the cancelation of its spring edition due to COVID-19, Chic Shanghai came back from Sep. 23 to 25 in a slightly smaller format without its international attendees, but with greater urgency to help companies adapt to a domestic Chinese customer and alternative ways of doing business while the countrys clothing exports are suffering. The three-day fall fair drew 486 exhibitors and 521 brands, and was spread over 52,000 square meters, down from 65,000 square meters last year. Although daily life in China has normalized for several months after the pandemic which hit an apex in February here, the countrys garment industry is the largest exporter of clothes worldwide. With major markets overseas struggling from multiple waves of outbreaks, the majority of Chinese suppliers are still facing difficult times ahead. More from WWD Although some do domestic sales, more export clothing and textiles, said Leila Liu, vice general manager of Beijing Fashion Expo which organizes Chic. COVID-19 is still ongoing elsewhere so they have met with a lot of challenges but they are persistently finding new ways to adapt, and 1.4 billion people [in China] is a big opportunity. In August, Chinas national retail sales data turned positive for the first time this year, after a seven-month long slump. Shanghai Langkun Textile Co. was one such company that was trying to make the pivot to domestic business. Usually an entirely exports-focused firm with its major markets being France, U.S., and the U.K., it was the first time the company had attended Chic instead of international clothing shows. Since April, our manufacturing capability has been fine but the volumes of orders have dropped off, said Bobby Yang, marketing manager for Shanghai Langkun. We finished the previous round of orders and from the samples, you can see the appetite for this coming season and its down by 20 percent. With the domestic economy overall being quite good, we need to learn how to do business locally. Story continues The main difference is on the design aspect, Yang added, sizing is one, too, but on the design, overseas customers prefer styles that are more individualistic and eye-catching. Chinese are more conservative and follow more South Korea and Japan. The colors that we have here among our samples you might not see in other booths [because usually we cater to the west]. Mill de Lin, a linen specialist, said it would end the year flat compared to 2019 buoyed by local business. Around 20 percent of our business is exports and 80 percent domestic, said Ge Lan from Mill de Lin. For overseas, we mostly export to Japan and Europe, places like France and Spain, and its still not recovered. Our export sales orders have dropped off by half. We do some loungewear luckily so overall, with the domestic side, I think were able to do about the same as last year. Other than a domestic pivot, Chic also provided online ways to connect. In April, after the cancelation of its spring edition, it created an online platform for the industry to use completely free of charge. The Chic mini-program was also utilized with this most recent fair with industry panels live-streamed and some transactions able to make use of 3D digital sampling. However, there were some aspects to the business that needed an in-person connection. In my personal opinion, it cant completely replace the offline. It should be an omnichannel solution, said Liu. Also because culturally, Chinese people care about doing business face-to-face. If its smaller orders in the tens of thousands then maybe its okay for online but if its a large order in the hundreds of thousands, people will not trust so easily and will have reservations. There was also a common expression of discontent among exhibitors after international customers refused to honor contracts, citing force majeure. Zhejiang Shiyifang Science & Technology found it to be a hard pill to swallow when many of the brands it worked with abruptly canceled orders, leaving them with rooms full of unwanted product. During COVID-19, we saw that Westerners dont care about relationships or goodwill, said Oswald Wu, from Zhejiang Shiyifang. Orders they just say cancel and its canceled [and were left with the stock]. Even after we cooperate for so many years, some of them 7 or 8 years, it ends like that. Some of them said they would find us after COVID-19 passes but one third of our customers dont exist anymore since our biggest market is the U.S. Most of them are in the U.S. Its colder than if your girlfriend breaks up with you. With local partners, you can discuss and negotiate and try to find a way. Westerners personality and Chinese are different. The U.S. market was a particularly tricky one, with the impact of the U.S.-China trade war looming even larger over their business than COVID-19, said Wu. Were trying to figure out a plan, he said. Related: Shanghai Fashion Week Returns With More than 90 Physical Shows >> China Retail Turns Positive in August, After 7 Month Slump >> Democrats worry that Barrett has tied her Catholicism too closely to some of her statements and decisions, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, still faces criticism for her comments during Barretts 2017 confirmation hearing. Feinstein had joined Republicans on the panel in asking Barrett about her faith, but then went further by telling the then-professor that when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. John Joseph Jay McFalls, U. S. Army, World War II was honored in a Quilt of Valor ceremony organized by the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR. Family, friends, veterans organization leaders, Chattanooga National Cemetery staff and members of the Chief John Ross Chapter met together at the Hubert Fry Center, RiverPark for the well-deserved ceremony celebrating Mr. McFalls military service and a lifetime of community volunteerism. Mr. McFalls, who served in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, is readily recognized by area residents who frequently visit the Chattanooga National Cemetery since he spends most mornings visiting his beloved wife, Vivian. Jay McFalls grew up in Rhea County, the eighth child in a sharecropping family of 12 children that struggled to survive in the years prior to the Great Depression. At age 12 and armed with a seventh-grade education, Mr. McFalls struck out on his own, working for area farmers and then eventually finding his way to the Chattanooga area. He found a job at a Rossville hosiery mill and, more importantly, found the love of his life, too. The McFalls married when he was 17 and she was only 16 and they spent more than seventy wonderful years together prior to her death. Parents of two daughters and one sons, the McFalls worked together to overcome difficult childhoods, supporting each other is every endeavor and together becoming community volunteer leaders. Their devotion to each other continues to inspire generations of local citizens as they observe Mr. McFalls, seated in his lawn chair each morning, visiting with his wife, often singing and always talking with her. Sept. 30 will be their 76th anniversary and the McFalls will celebrate it because there is no end to their love story. In greeting the guests, Chief John Ross Chapter Regent Linda Moss Mines explained the National Society Daughters of the American Revolutions role in honoring veterans. The National Society was founded in October 1890 with an express goal of carrying the torch of patriotism via three specific objectives. 1. History - We are committed to perpetuating the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence through military service and through a multitude of other act supporting independence. A rich, diverse group of patriots banned together across the colonies and, putting themselves at risk as they were accused of treason, fermented a successful revolution against the most powerful empire, Great Britain. 2. Education Based on Washingtons admonition in his Farewell Address, we help to educate students of all ages because an enlightened and active citizenry is necessary for the survival of the Republic. And, finally, we work together with other citizens and organizations to maintain and improve the institutions of our freedom and to inspire patriotism so that all can enjoy the blessing of liberty, equality and justice. Col. Chris Dooley, USAF [Retired], Chair of the Chattanooga Armed Forces Day Parade and Hamilton County Veterans Service Office Chuck Alsobrooks, Chairman of the Chattanooga Area Veterans Committee, joined in the ceremony. The CJR Quilt of Valor Committee, chaired by former Regent Teresa Webb Rimer, stitches handmade quilts using patriotic colors of red, white and blue and then awards them to veterans touched by war. During the presentation, Mr. McFalls was wrapped in the soft quilt as a reminder that a grateful nation thanked him for his service and sacrifice during his years of service in the United States Army. Rimer was joined in the presentation of the quilt by First Vice Regent Jennifer Sawyer Harvey. The McFalls three children, Brenda Williams, Rhonda Catanzaro and John Joseph Joe McFalls, along with several grandchildren attended the ceremony and Joe McFalls, speaking for the family, paid tribute to their father for his unerring sense of integrity and commitment to family and community. Rice Management Co. and the City of Houston are hosting the first of three online community workshops Tuesday to discuss their vision and solicit feedback for the Innovation District, 16 acres in Midtown to be anchored by the Ion, a redevelopment of the former Sears building on Main Street, into an office, coworking, educational and events space. The Ion, scheduled to open next year, is the first major component of the district, which Rice and city officials said would be the epicenter of an innovation ecosystem where entrepreneurs, corporations and academics will create and collaborate in a vibrant neighborhood to be developed around it. Houston region cases increased by nearly 500 cases Sunday, bringing the total to 195,680 people who have been infected with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Authorities added 485 cases in Harris County alone, bringing the total to 141,353 cases. Deaths across the Houston region increased by seven to 3,428. Statewide, cases increased by 4,257 to 761,871. There were 40 new deaths reported, making the total Texas deaths 15,763. In other headlines, a southeast Texas father is fighting to see his daughter who is hospitalized at Texas Children's Hospital. Kevin Swearingen's 16-year-old daughter is in the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19, according to Jordan James and Raegan Gibson of 12NewsNow. She's on a ventilator and has her mother by her side, but hospital policy only allows for one visitor for every patient with the virus. That's not one visitor at a timebut one visitor who is the only person who can be in the hospital room, according to the news network. This means that Swearingen is not able to see his daughter even as she fights for her life. Instead, he's sending messages of hope from a nearby parking garage. He's even enlisted the help of state representatives to bring the issue to light, hoping to make a change. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In other other headlines, nearly a third of parents in a recent survey say they will not give their children a flu vaccine this year, according to ABC13's Charly Edsitty. A handful of those surveyed by Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital said they were afraid of taking their children to a healthcare site for the vaccine due to COVID-19. NOTE: The numbers included in this report represent a one-day change in data from Saturday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 27. It is still unclear how many of the state's new cases can be attributed to jail inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Houston Chronicle's analysis of COVID-19 case data now includes probable and pending cases. This change is based on interviews with multiple public health officials and epidemiologists, as well as in line with CDC guidelines on reporting. DSHS is now using death certificate data for its counts of COVID deaths, leading some Texas counties to have dramatically higher counts than others and some counties to have higher numbers than state figures. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe The publication of Andrew Weissmanns book Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation enables us to see what was always suspected by many to have been a fanatical determination on the part of the Mueller investigative team to destroy President Trump. The administration had to be destroyed because Mueller and his people didnt like it, so it was necessary to find a legal excuse for doing so. That this is fundamentally unjust, contrary to all professed American legal traditions, and a constitutional outrage, never seems to register in the thoughts of the author. He was convinced from the beginning that Trump was a corrupt individual unworthy to hold the nations highest office, and the hell with the electorate and the Constitution. This has generally been Weissmanns modus operandi throughout his long career as a prosecutorial eminence: Once he targets someone, no matter how capricious and uncorroborated his reasons for doing so, he focuses the full power of the state on bringing down his target. Antiquarian bourgeois notions such as the rights of suspected or accused people to defend themselves, and the need for government officials to accept reasonable guidelines for the exercise of their very wide powers, do not much enter into his thoughts. Weissmann operated from the unspecified assumption that because Trump is clearly a morally deficient character whom Weissmann and his confrerie did not regard as suitable to be president, it was right that he should have riveted on his back, every day that he was president, an investigation determined to find that he had been improperly elected or, failing such determination, at least to provoke him into actions that could be represented as an impeachable obstruction of justice, whether in fact they met those criteria or not. The most astounding aspect of Weissmanns book is the authors complete un-self-consciousness and absolute conviction about his right and duty to destroy the president, not on the basis of adduced facts, but on the basis of constructing a tenuous or even fraudulent case that could be lifted over the hurdles necessary to drive him legally from office. Story continues In proper totalitarian manner, Weissmann effortlessly dismisses all who do not immediately fall in with his crusade to dispose of the president as, themselves, lawless. Attorney General William Barr, who came late to the drama and was, as he remains, very uneasy about the origins of such a powerfully established and fiercely motivated attempt to prove the hypothesis of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, for which there was ultimately not a shred of evidence, is portrayed as completely cynical and profoundly dishonest. All such laggards were dismissed as venal, cowardly, criminally motivated, or a combination of these, including most Republicans and the few journalists who kept an open mind, especially at Fox News. Weissmann takes the fact that there were numerous contacts between officials of the Trump campaign and what are called Russian assets as proof of a criminal conspiracy to rig the election again, despite the absence of supportive evidence. Weissmann believes that if Mueller had not been a gentleman who believed in compliance with the limitations imposed by the rules of criminal procedure, an impeachable offense would have been proclaimed from the innocuous nonsense that Mueller invited the House of Representatives to consider as possible obstruction of justice. He believed Trumps conduct to be criminal, as if no one else would have been impatient with this interminable and chronically indiscreet persecution, emitting almost daily leaks that the walls are closing in on the president. He reproaches Mueller for not having continued indefinitely (it was a massively comprehensive and expensive inquiry that rumbled on for over two years). He reproaches the attorney general for issuing to the public the summary statement that no American was found to have colluded with the Russians to alter the election result, and that none of the facts cited by Mueller as potential evidence of obstruction met the necessary criteria of criminally intended interference with a criminal investigation in contemplation of a criminal proceeding. To Weissmann, obstruction is any statement, public or private, of disapproval of the conduct of the investigation by the person being chiefly investigated. He considers Muellers failure to go to the wall with the bunk about obstruction as shameful toadying to the president. It is all unimaginably slapdash. If Paul Manafort, briefly the Trump campaign manager, had dinner with a person of Russian nationality, this brought Trump to the verge of an impeachable offense, no matter what the subject of the dinner and regardless of whether the president himself knew anything about it. As the failure of the attempt to find evidence of criminal collusion to alter the election results became clearer, Weissmann bulked up the numerous statements and actions of the president and members of his administration indicating their disparagement of the motives and integrity of the investigation as obstruction of justice, as if the fact that they did not like being investigated indefinitely and with endless leaks to the media implying that they were criminals, and that the walls were closing in on them, were a crime. At no point does Weissmann dispute the accuracy of Robert Muellers response to the question in sworn congressional testimony after publishing the report that the president did not obstruct the investigation. He has practically nothing to say about the fraudulent applications for FISA warrants to conduct illegal surveillance on the Trump campaign and transition team, as if this were unexceptionable conduct. To anyone but the febrile Torquemada taking unto himself the powers of the Red Queen even over the chief of state and of government of his country, Muellers assertion that he had not been obstructed would have settled it. Trump was unlimitedly cooperative, except that he refused to answer questions other than in writing, in order to avoid a Michael Flynnstyle perjury mousetrap. But Weissman, without explaining why, claims not only that the piffle cited constituted obstruction, but that the Supreme Court would definitely uphold a subpoena on the president (far from clear) and that Mueller should have indicted the president (contrary to longstanding Justice Department policy), even in the absence of serious inculpatory evidence. Mueller cannot be thanked for putting a bloodthirsty advocate of judicial terror in charge of his investigation, one who was prepared to go to any lengths to harass and accuse the president, and even to charge him directly in defiance of all precedent, without remotely persuasive evidence. If Mueller had engaged reasonable people, his investigation would have ended a year earlier in an unambiguous clearance of the president. But Mueller, even as he faded into vagueness, must be praised for not allowing Weissmann to drag the entire American system of government into disrepute and confusion. Trump is right that a disgrace like this must never be inflicted on another president. Weissmann should be obliged to go about wearing bells like a medieval leper to warn the unsuspecting of his approach. More from National Review Egypt hosted Sept. 23 head of the Libyan Tobruk-based parliament Aguila Saleh and Khalifa Hifter, commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA). The meeting at Al-Ittihadiya Palace was held in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the head of Egypts General Intelligence Service, Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel. It came as part of Egypts efforts to achieve security and stability in Libya and protect the border with Libya. During the meeting, Sisi reiterated Egypts support for a political solution to the Libyan crisis away from foreign interference. He also welcomed any positive steps that could lead to calm, peace, construction and development in Libya. Libya has been witnessing war and chaos since the fall of Moammar Gadhafis regime in 2011, as two ruling powers have been in conflict, namely the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj that is based in Tripoli in the west of the country, and a parallel government supported by Hifter in the east. Hifter does not recognize the legitimacy of Sarrajs government, which was formed as part of the 2015 Skhirat Agreement in Morocco under the supervision of the United Nations. While Turkey supports the GNA, Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates support Hifter. Given the ongoing conflict in Libya, the UN Security Council announced Sept. 16 the extension of the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for a period of one year. It also mandated the UN secretary-general to assess the steps required to achieve a permanent cease-fire in Libya and gauge the potential role of UNSMIL in providing extendable cease-fire support. During the Sept. 23 meeting, Sisi praised Salehs efforts to support the political track and unify the executive and legislative institutions in Libya. He also applauded Hifters LNA in its efforts to fight terrorism and remain committed to the cease-fire. Sisi called on all parties to positively engage with the conclusions of the Berlin Summit held in January under the auspices of the UN, be they political, economic, military and security. He also called for committing to the Cairo Declaration and presidential and parliamentary elections that will allow the Libyan people to achieve stability, prosperity and development. On Sept. 18, Hifter announced that the pumping and export of oil would resume on condition that the revenues are fairly distributed among the three Libyan regions and not used with the aim of funding militias or in operations marred by corruption. In this context, an agreement was concluded with the GNA to form a committee tasked with overseeing the distribution of oil revenues and their proper use until the end of the current year, as well as to unify the exchange rate, open lines of credits in banks and carry out bank clearing operations away from any kind of discrimination. Some GNA ministers and head of the Supreme Council of State Khalid al-Mishri expressed their opposition to this agreement, claiming that they do not accept Hifters participation in its conclusion. Asked about the Libyan developments, Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The developments taking place to reach a political solution to the Libyan crisis in a way that somehow satisfies all parties even if without fulfilling all their demands are the only practical and possible solution. However, the outcome [of such meetings] could be built upon in the second Berlin conference on the Libyan crisis and could pave the way for a serious and constructive dialogue between the Libyan parties to end an entrenched crisis or at least defuse the possibility of a regional proxy war on Libyan soil. Sheikh Adel al-Faidi, head of the Libyan-Egyptian Communication Committee, told Al-Monitor that there are consultative meetings to garner consensus on holding a meeting for Libyan tribes from all regions in Cairo. He stressed the importance of the Cairo meeting and said it will contribute to solve some of the unresolved issues in the Libyan crisis while contributing to uniting ranks, ideas and paths. Faidi pointed out that no date has been set or a mechanism set up for a meeting with the Libyan tribes. He also explained that work is underway to obtain the approval of all parties for the meeting to be comprehensive and present a Libyan-Libyan proposal instead of the Western proposals that carry agendas contrary to what the Libyan people aspire to. Faidi added, The Libyan tribes are an effective figure in the Libyan arena, and this is not a spur of the moment thing but a natural extension of the boundaries and nature of the tribes role in the Libyan arena throughout history. Tribes played an important role in all developments that followed the fall of Gadhafis regime, especially in supporting the Libyan state and its institutions. Despite the presence of a number of tribes that support the Turkish-backed GNA, the fact remains that many of these have repeatedly announced their support for the LNA, as evidenced by several moves. In July, Sisi met with the sheikhs and elders of Libyan tribes in Cairo to shed light on the distinct tribal map in Libya, and he made it clear that his country would not allow the Sirte-al-Jufra line to be crossed. He stressed the need to keep Libya away from the control of militias and terrorism. Sheikh Saleh al-Fandi, head of the Supreme Council of Libyan Sheikhs, explained during the July meeting that the tribes asked Sisi for the intervention of the Egyptian army in the event of an attack on the coastal city of Sirte. Despite Egypts threat of military intervention should the pro-government forces cross the Sirte front line, Cairo also announced its adherence to a political solution. In June, Egypt proposed an initiative to solve the crisis in Libya following the internationally recognized governments achievement of important victories in its confrontation with Hifters forces. While the GNA rushed to reject the Egyptian presidents initiative, Hifters forces agreed to it. The initiative, labeled the Cairo Declaration, included a proposal for a cease-fire and called on the conflicting parties to abide by the arms embargo imposed on Libya and to work toward a political settlement. Eddie Redmayne has commented on the JK Rowling trans row, saying the backlash she has received is disgusting while also calling out anti-trans abuse. The actor, who starred in Rowlings Fantastic Beasts films as Newt Scamander, told The Daily Mail he thinks the torrent of abuse toward trans people online is hideous, but added that he was alarmed by the vitriol towards Rowling, which he described as absolutely disgusting. Redmayne also said the fierce criticism of Rowling had prompted him to write a private note to the author. Rowling has been embroiled in a trans row since June, when she mocked a headline that included the inclusive phrasing people who menstruate. She has been heavily criticised by activists and fans for her remarks about transgender people, which have been viewed by many as harmful and transphobic. The author has denied making transphobic comments. Rowling wrote an essay on the issue that was countered by Harry Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe. In it, she argued that discussion of gender identity invalidated biological sex. If sex isnt real, theres no same-sex attraction," she wrote. If sex isnt real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isnt hate to speak the truth. Redmayne is no stranger to the trans debate. When he played Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery, in 2015s The Danish Girl, the decision to cast a cisgender male as a transgender female was widely criticised. There is a hugely valid argument that Lili should be being played by a trans actress and that at the core of the issue there is little opportunity for trans people and there is a huge job discrimination, said Redmayne at the time. Whats complicated to me, from an actors point of view, is that I feel like everyone should be able to play everything. A number of prominent British literary figures recently signed an open letter supporting Rowling amid the row over her stance on transgender rights. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up More than 50 actors, writers, journalists and playwrights wrote a response to apparent hate speech directed towards her, which was published in The Sunday Times. Among them are authors Ian McEwan, Lionel Shriver and Susan Hill, actors Griff Rhys Jones and Frances Barber, and TV writer Graham Linehan. This article is the second of a seven-part series. Every Tuesday between now and Election Day, SFGATE will report on how the current 2020 presidential election polling averages compare to the polling averages at the same time in the 2016 presidential election. After the election, SFGATE will examine whether the polls in 2020 were more or less accurate than the 2016 polls. Installment one: Joe Biden's polling lead is considerably stronger than Hillary Clinton's was 6 weeks before election Because we're going to be spending plenty of time together between now and Election Day, this series will begin by responding to reader questions/comments/concerns from the previous week's installment. Q: Does Biden's national popular vote polling lead even matter, given the Republican tilt of the Electoral College? A: Yes, because national polling averages were pretty accurate in 2016 (read more on that here), and the margin of the popular vote can inform how close the Electoral College race will be. By examining the partisan lean of tipping point states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin relative to the national electorate, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver calculated the chances of a Biden win with different margins of popular vote victory. Silver estimates that if Biden wins the popular vote by less than 1%, he only has a 6% chance of winning the electoral college, and if he wins the popular vote by Hillary Clinton's margin of 2-3%, he still only has a 46% chance of an electoral college victory. If Biden over-performs Clinton and wins by 3-4% however, his odds jump considerably to 74% which is much better, but still far from a guaranteed win. Biden's odds of winning the electoral college go up to greater than 98% if he wins the popular vote by more than 5%. Rasmussen Reports the partisan pollster that often gives Trump much more favorable poll results than other pollsters is most certainly not "getting it right" in the Trump era. In fact, Rasmussen Reports is one of the only pollsters that completely bungled the 2018 midterms. Every other major polling group's final survey before Election Day showed Democrats with a 5% to 13% lead in the generic congressional ballot, and Rasmussen showed Republicans leading by 1%. The Democrats went on to win the national vote for congressional races by 8.4% and took back the House of Representatives. Treat Rasmussen polls with the appropriate dosage of skepticism. And Scott Rasmussen himself has fought back against the narrative that the "polls were wrong in 2016." In April of this year, he stated, "Contrary to popular myths, the national political polls in 2016 were very accurate... However, while the polling was good, the analysis of the polling was not. Many in the media and political worlds simply could not imagine a Clinton loss. Some looked at the polling, noted the margin of error, and assumed the Democratic nominee would win by far more than three percentage points... The problem was not the polls, but the analysis." If you have a question you'd like answered in next week's installment, email eric.ting@sfgate.com. With that out of the way, let's jump into this week's comparison of the 2020 and 2016 races: At this time in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were over a week removed from the first presidential debate, and three days before the release of the Access Hollywood tape. Clinton received a bump coming out of the first debate as multiple polls showed that debate viewers thought she "won" the evening. Clinton expanded her lead both nationally and in several states in just one week, whereas in 2020, we don't see much movement from this week to last. Next week will be the week to watch as we will presumably have polling from after the first Biden-Trump debate and fallout from the New York Times story on Trump's taxes. When comparing polls from this year and 2016, note that Biden not only has larger leads than Clinton, but also has more overall support in the averages since there are fewer undecided and third party voters in 2020 compared with 2016. For more on that phenomenon and why there's reason to believe polling will be better this year than in 2016 read last week's installment. National polls FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 44.2%, Donald Trump 40.1% (Clinton +4.1%, was Clinton +1.5% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 50.1%, Donald Trump 43.2% (Biden +6.9%, was Biden +6.8% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 48.1%, Donald Trump 44.2% (Clinton +3.9%, was Clinton +3.0% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 49.7%, Donald Trump 42.9% (Biden +6.8%, was Biden +6.5% previous week) Actual national popular vote in 2016: Hillary Clinton 48.2%, Donald Trump 46.1% (Clinton +2.1%) Pennsylvania FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 48.7%, Donald Trump 43.5% (Clinton +5.2%, was Clinton +2.5% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 49.6%, Donald Trump 44.4% (Biden +5.2%, was Biden +4.5% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 49%, Donald Trump 41.5% (Clinton +7.5%, was Clinton +2.4% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 49.0%, Donald Trump 43.7% (Biden +5.3%, was Biden +4.0% previous week) Actual Pennsylvania results in 2016: Donald Trump 48.2%, Hillary Clinton 47.5% (Trump +0.7%) Wisconsin FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 48.1%, Donald Trump 42.3% (Clinton +5.8%, was Clinton +3.6% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 50.5%, Donald Trump 43.8% (Biden +6.8%, was Biden +6.4% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 45.0%, Donald Trump 39.5% (Clinton +5.5%, was Clinton +4.7% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 50.2%, Donald Trump 44.0% (Biden +6.2%, was Biden +6.7% previous week) Actual Wisconsin results in 2016: Donald Trump 47.2%, Hillary Clinton 46.5% (Trump +0.7%) Michigan FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 48.6%, Donald Trump 42.7% (Clinton +5.9%, was Clinton +3.0% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 49.9%, Donald Trump 43.0% (Biden +6.9%, was Biden +7.7% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 47.0%, Donald Trump 41.3% (Clinton +5.7%, was Clinton 4.7% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 49.2%, Donald Trump 44.0% (Biden +5.2%, was Biden 4.8% previous week) Actual Michigan results in 2016: Donald Trump 47.5%, Hillary Clinton 47.3% (Trump +0.2%) Arizona FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Donald Trump 46.1%, Hillary Clinton 44.1% (Trump +2.0%, was Trump +4.8% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 48.5%, Donald Trump 44.9% (Biden +3.6%, was Biden +4.5% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Donald Trump 43.0%, Hillary Clinton 40.5% (Trump +2.5%, was Trump +2.5% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 48.2%, Donald Trump 44.8% (Biden +3.4%, was Biden +5.0% previous week) Actual Arizona results in 2016: Donald Trump 48.1%, Hillary Clinton 44.6% (Trump +3.5%) Florida FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 47.5%, Donald Trump 45.4% (Clinton +2.1%, was Trump +0.8% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 47.9%, Donald Trump 46.2% (Biden +1.7%, was Biden +2.0% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 46.2%, Donald Trump 43.3% (Clinton, +2.9%, was Clinton +0.6% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 47.8%, Donald Trump 46.7% (Biden +1.1%, was Biden +1.6% previous week) Actual Florida results in 2016: Donald Trump 49.0%, Hillary Clinton 47.8% (Trump +1.2%) North Carolina FiveThirtyEight projected vote share five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 47.1%, Donald Trump 45.9% (Clinton +1.2%, was Trump +1.4% previous week) FiveThirtyEight average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 47.5%, Donald Trump 46.4% (Biden +1.1%, was Biden +1.3% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2016: Hillary Clinton 45.0%, Donald Trump 43.7% (Clinton +1.3%, was Clinton +0.3% previous week) RealClearPolitics average five weeks before Election Day in 2020: Joe Biden 47.0%, Donald Trump 46.2% (Biden +0.8%, was Biden +0.9% previous week) Actual North Carolina results in 2016: Donald Trump 49.8%, Hillary Clinton 46.2% (Trump +3.6%) Eric Ting is an SFGATE reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting For the third time, United States President Donald Trump was nominated this year as a recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by an Australian professor who praised the doctrine of the US president against never-ending wars. The law professor who was named David Flint explained he decided to nominate the United States president during an interview. In the interview with the law professor, Flint shared that the Trump Doctrine is something that is extraordinary as there are so many things that the US president does. According to Townhall, Flint even emphasized that Trump is always guided by two things, which seem to be absent in most of the politicians, which is first, the common sense, and he is guided by national interest, and therefore in their circumstances, it is an interest in the Western alliance. The law professor also added that what the president has done with the Trump Doctrine is that he has decided that he would not involve America in the endless wars anymore as these wars only achieve nothing and resulted in the death of thousands of young Americans and imposing huge debt on America. During the interview, the law professor also mentioned the information regarding the recent peace deal that was announced by Trump between UAE or the United Arab Emirates, and Israel, which made the country the third Arab nation to make peace with the Jewish nation. Read also: Why SCOTUS is a Hot Topic for Trump-Biden Debate Flint also stated that what the United States president did was making the move while using his common sense, going ahead and negotiated against all advice. Flint also added that Trump negotiated directly with the Arab states concerned and Israel, brought them together and now states are lining up. Aside from that, the law professor also pointed out that Trump is the first American president to work out and made America energy independent from the Middle East. Moreover, Flint emphasized that the current United States president, Trump, is really producing peace in the world in a way that none of his predecessors ever did and because of that he fully deserves to be the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Newsweek reported via MSN. On the other hand, the said nomination is not new for Trump as he has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize already twice before his latest nomination. Just earlier this month, the US president was nominated also to be the Nobel Peace Prize recipient by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, the person leading the NATO delegation of Norway. To bring-Gjedde cited the role of Trump in the peace deal between the countries of the UAE and Israel. He also added that for Trump's merit, he thinks that Trump has done more effort in creating peace between nations compared to his other Peace prize nominees. And a few days later, Trump was nominated again by Magnus Jacobsson, a member of the Swedish parliament, for the peace deal between Kosovo and Serbia that was done by Trump. Jacobsson tweeted in his social media account that he nominates the US government and the governments of Serbia and Kosovo for the Nobel Peace Prize for what they have done for peace and economic development by signing that cooperation agreement in the White House. Jocaobsson emphasized that trade and communications are important building blocks when it comes to peace. Related article: President Trump Wants Rep. Ilhan Omar to Be Investigated for Ballot Harvesting Claims @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NBC's Lester Holt moderates the first of three debates between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) There will be no perfunctory handshakes and reportedly no planned opening statements when the first of three presidential debates kicks off Tuesday. Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Trump can thank the novel coronavirus for altering tradition during the 90-minute live broadcast. They arent obligated to clasp hands and pretend that civility and good sportsmanship still exist in 2020. Its also pointless to open the show with a pitch designed to sway the undecided voter. This year's particularly virulent strain of partisan fever has wiped out what was left of that dwindling population. Itd be easier to find a Nepalese yeti in Cleveland than a voter who truly hasnt decided between the two diametrically opposed candidates and their political parties. Given all the events of the past six months, they may as well just come out swinging. Televised presidential debates were not designed with Trump in mind, nor his devastating brand of constitutional crisis. The president has repeatedly declined to pledge that he will leave office peacefully if he loses the election. Hes repeatedly called the election rigged. He leveraged national security for dirt on Biden by way of Ukraine. And Sunday we learned that the real estate mogul, who Forbes once included on its 400 wealthiest Americans list, paid only $750 in personal federal income taxes the year he was elected and didnt pay any taxes at all in 10 out of 15 years beginning in 2000 thanks to business losses and write-offs. If these were normal times and Bidens opponent carried this kind of baggage into the debate, hed be a dead man walking, his chances crushed by corruption, malfeasance, incompetence and tax records that reveal he wrote off $70,000 worth of haircare. But no, this is 2020. A debt-ridden former reality-TV host is the incumbent. His opponent, a career public servant, may be versed in the art of public discourse about healthcare, foreign policy, the environment and other subjects that bore Trump but Biden is also a human gaffe machine, especially when compared with the flawless speaking style of his former boss, Barack Obama. Story continues An event pitting Bidens Beltway experience and everyman appeal against the made-for-TV absurdity of the Trump show is bound to be a spectacle. What it's unlikely to be is terribly illuminating whether for the vanishing sliver of swing-state undecideds or for the rest of us, eager to hear our leaders describe a path out of this mess. President Trump, left, and his 2020 challenger, Joe Biden, will face off in a debate format designed for another era. (Associated Press) The 90-minute face-off the first of three presidential debates, plus one for vice-presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, planned in the coming weeks will be moderated by Fox News Chris Wallace from the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic. It will be broken into six segments that address topics such as COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities, the integrity of the election and the Supreme Court.Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to the questions asked by Wallace. The televised debate was designed as a forum for candidates to argue on behalf of competing platforms in front of an electorate committed to assessing their vision and character. Over the years, the media has come to comb all the talk of healthcare and foreign affairs for ratings-worthy zingers, gaffes and flare-ups in addition to wonky specifics, such that most of us, in normal times, might consider presidential and vice-presidential debates lightly informative, sometimes entertaining political theater. The format has given birth to catchphrases like Mitt Romneys Binders full of women and memorable rejoinders like Lloyd Bentsens rebuke of Dan Quayle: I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy. Nixon sweated, Kennedy charmed. The history of televised debates is full of make-or-break moments and laughable memes. But Biden, like Hillary Clinton before him, is headed into something very different than the debates of his predecessors. Trump will make Bidens former adversary in the 2008 vice-presidential debate, barracuda Sarah Palin, seem like a stiff-collared Washington traditionalist. The old apparatus that got folks excited about elections primaries, conventions, get-out-the-vote efforts feels wholly ill-equipped to address todays maelstrom of voting in a pandemic, when mail-in ballots, like the post office, are under attack, voter suppression is on the rise and the Russians are at the door. Even the old adage Every vote counts! feels like a platitude since the two most recent GOP presidents lost the popular vote but still gained the White House, and Mitch McConnell's Republican-led Senate continues to use raw power, not public mandate, to add right-wing conservatives to the courts. As for the relevancy of Trump-era debates? Let's ask undecided voters what they think. You have 35 days to find one. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. HANOI The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) have partnered to launch the Tier 1 Vietnam programme, which will expand on the work of the successful Clean by Design and Race to the Top projects. The new initiative makes the case that positive environmental actions equate to greater financial savings, and so the two organisations spearheading this effort will work closely with garment suppliers and brands to reduce factory emissions in-line with the Paris Climate Agreements 1.5oC target. We have already seen the Race to the Top apparel programme succeed to identify savings opportunities up to 22 per cent of energy use in key textile suppliers in Vietnam. With the Tier 1 garment supplier programme can now scale this further and continue to reduce emissions in partnership with our supply chain, commented Aaron Tam, senior manager, Environmental Capability Building, at Gap. A 26-year-old television actor Akshat Utkarsh from Bihar was found dead in his rented apartment in Mumbais Andheri area on Sunday night. According to Amboli police officials, Akshat died by suicide and was depressed due to lack of work. His family, however, has dismissed the depression narrative, claiming that the aspiring actor was murdered. His body was taken to his native Muzaffarpur by his family on Tuesday. They have alleged police negligence. The police officials said Akshat used to stay with one of his female friend at a society near Andheri, RTO when the incident happened. According to his roommates statement, Akshat was behaving as usual on Sunday evening and they as usual chatted about various things and then had dinner together before going to sleep. At around 11.30 pm when she woke up to use the washroom, she found Akshat dead in his room, after which she immediately called the police, said an officer from Amboli police station. A team of police officials rushed him to a private hospital where he was declared dead before arrival. After which the body was shifted to Cooper hospital for autopsy report, added the officer. Someshwar Kanthe, senior police inspector at Amboli police station said, We have registered an Accidental Death Record (ADR) and are enquiring the matter. Preliminary enquiry and autopsy report do not indicate any foul play. The incident took place on Sunday night somewhere between 10 pm and 11:30 PM. Police officials who have questioned his friends that Akshat was in depression as there was no job because of the lockdown and because he had to borrow money from his family and friends. Speaking to Hindustan, his maternal uncle Ranjit Singh said that Akshat has been murdered. He said the Mumbai Police didnt take the matter seriously and didnt even lodge an FIR in the case. He also dismissed that Akshat was in depression, saying that the actor was looking for work and had also found a film. 2GB host Ben Fordham has credited his predecessor Alan Jones for helping him maintain the lead in Sydney's competitive breakfast radio slot. In Tuesday's radio ratings, Fordham claimed an audience share of 17.3 per cent, just 0.6 percentage points behind Jones's final result of 17.9 per cent. The result was well ahead of ABC Sydney presenters Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck, who enjoyed the biggest rise of any breakfast program with a jump of 1.6 percentage points to 12.5 per cent. Ben Fordham has held on to Alan Jones's lead in the breakfast timeslot. Credit:Louise Kennerley Reflecting on his first breakfast radio survey, Fordham said Jones deserved credit for leaving the timeslot in "such good health". "He built an audience over decades and handed it to me and said please don't stuff it up," he said. "That's why it's a daily battle to make sure you're doing your best and always working as hard as you can. Hopefully the results reflect [that]. The fracas between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Monday over who will be projected as the CM candidate in next years assembly polls not only points to a possibility of another vertical split in Tamil Nadus ruling party but will also come as sweet music for the opposition DMK which in the past stood to gain from the AIADMKs squabbles, says N Sathiya Moorthy. IMAGE: AIADMK joint coordinator and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami (2nd from right) and Deputy CM Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam (3rd from left) arrive for the partys executive committee meeting at the party HQ in Chennai, on September 28, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo. Reports of simmering infighting in Tamil Nadus ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam overflowing into the partys executive committee, at its scheduled meeting in Chennai on September 28, does not surprise political observers. It was waiting to happen, with Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O Panneerselvam, OPS, letting chief minister and joint coordinator, Edappadi K Palaniswami, to have his ways all-round through the past three years of what could at best be described as uneasy cohabitation after they split and re-merged, purportedly at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. If the current tensions continue, leading up to a vertical split for a second time since the death of then chief minister and party strong woman, Jayalalithaa, in December 2016, then the rival DMK parent, under long-time chief ministerial aspirant MK Stalin, can use it to argue political stability as a major plank in the upcoming assembly polls, due in May next. In the AIADMK, such a situation had happened twice already. Before the post-Jayalaltihaa split and patch-up, the party went through similar motions after the death of party founder and Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, with Jayalaltihaa and MGRs widow Janaki Ramachandran leading rival factions, contributing to the return of the DMK under M Karunanidhi in the 1989 assembly polls, after a spell of Presidents rule. The current AIADMK wrangling has two parts. One is about the need for and choice of the partys chief ministerial candidate for the assembly polls. The other is for the party to decide on the organisational structure, which under the post-patch-up constitution has created the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator, in place of the unitary general secretary, which posts MGR and Jayalalithaa had held. For a short while before entering a Bengaluru prison as a co-accused with Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case, her live-in confidante V K Sasikala Natarajan occupied the seat. Sasikalas imminent imprisonment lead to her to anoint EPS as chief minister, only for him to stab her in the back, full and proper. The post-imprisonment split and patch-up led to re-writing the party constitution, creating two posts in place of one. Drafted with persona, rather than the party, in mind, the constitutional changes also spelt out that the coordinator and joint coordinator would together select party candidates for all elections, and also have to sign the B Form for the Election Commission to allot the AIADMKs Two Leaves symbol, for those submitting nominations in the partys name. Having been pushed to a corner through the past three-plus years after re-unification, and not coming forward -- or being able to -- defend the denial of different party and government positions to his supporters, OPS has now squirmed around more than ever, anxious that he should not allow himself to be over-run completely in the choice of candidates for the assembly polls, and ministers and other positions in the government later, if the party won. IMAGE: Supporters of AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, wearing his face mask, gather outside the party headquarters during the partys executive committee meeting in Chennai, on September 28, 2020. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar / PTI Photo. OPSs nervousness became palpable after EPSs supporters began projecting him as the partys next chief ministerial candidate from public platforms and in media interactions. This continued even after a truce followed the competitive claims of his supporters for making OPS the chief minister, in wall posters in his Theni district, that too on the morning of Independence Day. The one to fire a pro-EPS salvo was minister Rajendra Balaji, from the southern region, supposed to be a stronghold of OPS. At Mondays meeting, the partys ageing and ailing presidium chairman E Madhsudhanan, a former minister under Jayalalilthaa, set the ball rolling by referring to oblique demands for his replacement. Having taken sides with OPS in the post-Jaya split, Madhusudhanan told the executive that whoever desired it had to go to the party general council, which alone was authorised to remove or replace him. OPS, who followed Madhusudhanan, declared that he was Ammas choice for chief minister thrice. He did not say it, but implied that EPSs was that of Sasikala, who is perceived to be a hate object for a section of AIADMK cadres and also the partys traditional voters. OPS also reportedly clarified that he had agreed to be deputy chief minister only for the residual, four-plus years of Ammas rule (meaning the five years won for the party when Jayalalithaa was alive in May 2016). EPS, who took the mike next, was quick to retort. He reportedly recalled how OPS and others had revolted against his leadership and did not vote for the trust vote moved by him. He was possibly hinting at two factors. One, OPS at the time had only 10 other MLAs on his side (and some of whom have since migrated to the other camp). If EPS was also referring to the pending DMKs disqualification petition against OPS and Co from that trust vote, and what Speaker P Dhanapals position could turn out to be in the next hearing. Though supposedly non-partisan, Speaker Dhanapal is often identified with the EPS camp. Though a shouting match purportedly followed in the closed-door meeting, many second-line leaders were conspicuous either by their silence, or their plea for presenting a unified face of the party in the assembly polls, lest outsiders should exploit the situation. The reference was more to Sasikala, who is expected to be out of prison after serving her four-year prison term, by January-end, more than even the legitimate DMK rival. At the end of it all, a patch-up was evolved by one of the two deputy coordinators, K P Munuswamy, a Rajya Sabha member still identified with the OPS faction, who was closeted with the two leaders in an ante-room in the party headquarters, after the conclusion of nearly five hours of deliberations in the executive, which also passed 18 resolutions -- eight of them praising EPS as CM. Talking to media-persons later, Munuswamy, taking over the role unilaterally assigned to Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar of the EPS camp, said the two leaders would together announce the chief ministerial candidate on October 7. It is easier said than done as the OPS camp is unlikely to give up easily without his being made the party coordinator, nay, possibly general secretary with undivided powers, like MGR and Jayalalithaa -- with exclusive powers to sign the B Form, if he had to accept EPS as the chief ministerial candidate. But that is easier said than done. On the procedural front, both propositions have to be cleared by the partys general council, where neither side is sure of an absolute majority. Hence, the need for a patch-up of whatever kind. The EPS camp may be elated by the prospects of his being accepted as chief minister, but that is linked to the party winning the assembly polls. IMAGE: AIADMK joint coordinator and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami pays tribute to former chief minister, the late J Jayalalithaa, before the partys executive committee meeting at the party HQ in Chennai, on September 28, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo. If not, the organisation would matter even more, where OPS would have elbowed out EPS -- anyway leading to another party split. Should the party win the assembly polls, and if EPS became chief minister, it is taken that he would entice all OPS supporters to his camp, and also possibly get the party statute amended to become the all-powerful general secretary himself. Whatever that be, any plausible rift in the AIADMK, leading to a visible split, whether formalised or otherwise, pre-poll could possibly lead to the Election Commission freezing the partys famed Two Leaves symbol. If none else, party leaders, especially chief ministerial aspirants, are obsessed with the symbol that MGR gave us and which (alone) has proved to be a talisman for the AIADMK. They have no explanation why then did the AIADMK lose some or many elections, both under MGR and Jayalalithaa, including the latters Bargur seat when she was incumbent chief minister in election 1996. If this is a hiccup in the eyes of party cadres and leaders alike, outside of the AIADMK, even without a vertical split, any bickering could help the DMK rival to project political stability as a sure-fire poll plank in May. The party is likely to refer to the earlier splits in 1989 and 2017, after the death of MGR and Jayalalithaa, and would tell the voters that there is no charismatic leader in the AIADMK like the other two, to keep the party together, on the strength of their cadre and voter-base. In comparison, it is argued that the sibling rivalry in the DMK between Stalin and his estranged elder brother M K Azhagiri through much of the last decade did not measure up. It did not cause any split in the party. Whats more, with patriarch Karunanidhi around, there were limits and limitations for Azhagiri, whom his father also got sacked from the party, leaving behind a hassle-free organisation for Stalin to inherit after his time. Unlike post-MGR and post-Jaya times, the DMK cadres now want the leadership to keep gentleman politics aside for a while and play the real role of being the states oldest and strongest party. Post-Jayalalithaa, anticipating internal trouble with an ailing patriarch bound to the wheelchair, Stalin resisted the temptation of encouraging defections from the AIADMK to try and form an alternate government. Considering that the assembly polls are anyway due in a few months, and even the ruling partys problems are all centred on the same, it is yet unclear what the cadres want the DMK leadership to do at the moment, in terms of strategising for a troubled AIADMK. The other question is about the fate of a post-split AIADMK, if at all it came to that (considering that both camps are alive to and aware of the risks and consequences). Without confirmation from the top, the OPS camp believes that any freezing of the party symbol could lead to their faction aligning with the BJP and regional and sub-regional parties like the PMK in the assembly polls -- offering them a satisfactory number of seats, in return for their accepting OPS as chief minister candidate, possibly at the head of a coalition government. That still raises the question about superstar Rajinikanths promised party for the assembly polls. Having announced that he will not be the chief ministerial nominee of his promised party, the superstar will still have to convince his fans about his decision, including the possibility of a third-party leader as their chief minister. For all his on-screen adventures and success stories, it is easier said than done, when a party and coalition with him as chief minister candidate, too, is faced with an uphill task against two well-entrenched parties with their long lists of achievements and contributions to the states voters, with his advancing age and Covid times not offering any solace or encouragement, either. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky honored the memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy victims on the day of the 79th anniversary of the mass execution of civilians by the Nazis in Kyiv. The Head of State laid flowers at the monument to citizens and prisoners of war shot by the Nazis in Babyn Yar, Presidents press service informs. The ceremony was also attended by Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak. "We bow our heads to all the victims of Babyn Yar. And we have no right to forget these terrible crimes. Never again," Volodymyr Zelensky stressed. In the presence of the President, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko and Member of the Supervisory Board of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation. The document was signed at the site of the future memorial immediately after the ceremony of honoring the victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy. According to the memorandum, the preservation and restoration of the memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy as a symbol of the Holocaust and other tragedies of World War II is an integral part of the memory of the Jewish people, the national memory of the Ukrainian people and other peoples of the world who became victims and witnesses of the Nazi regime crimes. The parties to the memorandum called for the joint efforts of Ukrainian society, the state, the international community and organizations involved in the study of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy aimed at preserving and restoring historical memory so that it becomes a constant reminder of the price people pay for peace. ol Export prospects rise though forestry decree, illustration photo Later this week, a joint technical meeting on the next steps for the implementation of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) is to take place at the office of the EU Delegation to Vietnam in Hanoi. The FLEGT-VPA, which took effect in June 2019, is aimed to help Vietnam improve forest governance, address illegal logging, and promote trade in verified legal timber products from Vietnam to the EU and other markets Over a week ago, the Vietnamese government enacted Decree No.102/2020/ND-CP on the Timber Legality Assurance System of Vietnam (VNTLAS) which will take effect on October 30. The decree is a part of the countrys FLEGT-VPA, which Vietnam was just the third country in the world to ink in 2018. The FLEGT-VPA ensures that timber exported to the EU from Vietnam does not come from illegal sources. The VNTLAS decree addresses important elements of the VPA related to the import and export of timber and timber products (TTPs). It also provides the basis for a classification system, albeit one specific to enterprises engaged in processing and exporting timber, and thus lacking some core elements foreseen in the VPA, stated a release from the EU Delegation to Vietnam. Such a system covering importers and domestic producers alike is foreseen in the VPA as a tool to facilitate legality assurance throughout the supply chain in Vietnam and is a core element of the VPA. Under the decree, which clearly defines standards of legally-imported TTPs, the owners of such imports must be responsible to the law for the legal origins of the products. They must obey all regulations and requirements about providing sufficient information about the wood origins. Giorgio Aliberti, Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam said, The scope of the VPA extends to all operators, involved in all parts of VNTLAS supply chains and for timber destined to all domestic and export markets. As such, the decree is a step towards these commitments, but should its scope not be aligned with the VPA by the time the decree becomes applicable, it might negatively affect Vietnamese exporters. Curbing illegal logging According to the European Parliament, the FLEGT-VPA will help turn Vietnam into a more attractive investment spot for European investment. Currently, European consumers and businesses have growing demands for transparent imported wood products. This will further prompt European investors to come to Vietnam to both implement projects directly and cooperate with local partners in exports, said Vice President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala during her working visit to Vietnam last year. The VPA will help improve forest governance, address illegal logging, and promote trade in verified legal timber products from Vietnam to the EU and other markets, Hautala added. Following six years of negotiations, the FLEGT-VPA was clinched by both Vietnam and the EU in October 2018 in Brussels. Vietnam imports timber from some 80 countries in recent years, main suppliers have included Cambodia, Laos, China, the US, and Malaysia. Since the FLEGT-VPA entered into force, all TTPs arriving in the EU from Vietnam have been carrying a FLEGT license issued by Vietnam. Products covered by the FLEGT-VPA include all those required by the EU regulation establishing a FLEGT licensing scheme, which are a minimum requirement for VPAs, such as logs, sawn timber, railway sleepers, plywood, and veneer. Nguyen Ton Quyen, vice chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, told VIR that the FLEGT-VPA will enable Vietnam to increase its TTP export turnover from the EU to more than $1 billion a year, from $864.6 million last year. Spur on TTP exports Currently the EU market purchases about 12-15 per cent of Vietnams total TTPs annually, with the main buyers being Germany, France, the UK, Spain, and Italy. All TTPs from Vietnam have transparent origins, and once entering the EU market successfully, Vietnams TPP exports may also be seen in many other markets because the EU standard is on top of the world in terms of strictness, Quyen said. In a specific case, Taiwanese-backed Tsung Chua Wood Processing Co., Ltd. in the southern province of Dong Nai has been importing timber materials from the EU and some African nations with clear origins. Due to COVID-19, our exports to the EU have been partly halted. However, we have resumed exports since July and expect that the FLEGT-VPA will help TTP exporters in Vietnam to have more opportunities to boost exports to the EU market, said a company representative. According to the MARD, Vietnam is one of the worlds leading wood processing and exporting countries with an export turnover of $8 billion in 2017, and more than $9 billion in 2018. The figure hit $7.32 billion in the first eight months of 2020, up 9.6 per cent on-year. Pima County Sheriff's Department Authorities at the scene of the rescue A man who went missing for several days in an Arizona park has been found alive, thanks to the help of his fiancee. The 25-year-old male was rescued by authorities on Monday, just two days after his fiancee left him behind in Tucson Mountain Park to get help, according to a statement from the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Authorities said they initially responded to a residence in the 9700 block of West Calle Anasazi in Tucson on Sunday around 7 p.m. after receiving a report that a woman, 28, had shown up asking for help. While speaking to officials, the woman explained that she and her fiance had been hiking in Tucson Mountain Park on Saturday night, but had gotten lost after leaving the Gates Pass area, the sheriff's department said. The man whom authorities noted was barefoot stopped walking while his fiancee carried on to search for help, in order to save their lives. Pima County Sheriff's Department The helicopter that helped locate the missing man RELATED: Elderly Hiker, 76, Who Went Missing on Northern Calif. Trail for Over 24 Hours Found Alive: Police Eventually, she came across the residence on West Calle Anasazi, where officials said she notified the homeowners of the situation and reported her partner missing. Authorities immediately coordinated a search of the area with the help of multiple agencies, including the Department of Public Safety air assets, Southern Arizona Rescue Association volunteers and the National Park Service. By Monday morning around 11:30 a.m., a sheriffs department helicopter spotted the man in a desert area. He was transported off the trail and taken to a local hospital for treatment, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said. At this time, the couple's physical conditions remain unknown. RELATED VIDEO: Hiker Lost in Montana Wilderness for Six Days Found Alive with Her Dog Hiker Lost in Montana Wilderness for Six Days Found Alive with Her Dog Story continues A 23-year-old Illinois native and her dog were found alive in a heavily wooded area in Montana on Wednesday after she went missing nearly a week before Tucson Mountain Park is considered one of the largest natural resource areas owned and managed by a local government in the U.S. with approximately 20,000 acres and close to 62 miles of non-motorized shared-use trials, according to Pima County's website. The park includes the Gates Pass overlook, which provides views of "interpretive displays and historic structures," as well as several hiking trails, campgrounds and recreational areas, the site states. Activists protest outside federal court during a hearing related to President Donald Trump's financial records on October 23, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer/Getty Images President Donald Trump's finances came under scrutiny this week after The New York Times published an investigation into his federal income tax returns, which he has concealed from the public. The investigation found that Trump raked in millions every year but paid little or no taxes for much of the last two decades. In 2016 and 2017, he paid just $750 in income taxes, the report said. The Times' investigation will likely bolster the Manhattan district attorney's efforts to obtain eight years of the president's tax returns. That's especially true since prosecutors from the DA's office hinted in a court filing last week that Trump may be investigated for tax and insurance fraud, and extensively cited previous media coverage as reason to subpoena his tax returns. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump's closely held finances snapped back into the spotlight this week after The New York Times published a lengthy investigation into his federal income tax returns, which he has not released to the public. The report has also renewed focus on a drawn out legal battle the president is engaged in with the Manhattan district attorney's office, led by Cyrus Vance, Jr. That's especially true since the DA's office hinted in a court filing last week that Trump could be investigated for tax fraud and has extensively cited previous media coverage including The Times' as reason to subpoena his tax returns. The Times investigation painted a damaging portrait of a president who raked in millions every year but paid just $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017. In 11 out of the 18 years of financial records examined by The Times, Trump paid no federal income taxes at all. "Over the past two decades, Mr. Trump has paid about $400 million less in combined federal income taxes than a very wealthy person who paid the average for that group each year," the outlet reported. Story continues The president also wrote off many of his personal expenses like spending $70,000 to style his hair as business expenses and reported major financial losses, which he benefited from because the write-offs reduced his tax bill. Trump denounced the Times reporting as "fake news" over the weekend. The president's personal defense attorneys are currently fighting Manhattan prosecutors over a subpoena for eight years of his tax returns, though some of those documents might already be in prosecutors' hands because of New York state procedures. The subpoena seeks Trump's financial records as part of an investigation into whether the Trump Organization violated state laws through its involvement in facilitating illegal hush money payments to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, with Trump's lawyers making the broad and unprecedented claim that the president has "absolute immunity" from any criminal investigation while he's in office. In July, the court ruled 7-2 in favor of the Manhattan DA's office but allowed Trump to keep fighting the subpoena on other grounds in the lower courts. Last month, a federal judge again struck down Trump's efforts to block the subpoena, describing the president's actions as "unprecedented," "far-reaching," and "perilous" to the rule of law. "As this Court suggested in its earlier ruling in this litigation, that notion, applied as so robustly proclaimed by the President's advocates, is as unprecedented and far-reaching as it is perilous to the rule of law and other bedrock constitutional principles on which this country was founded and by which it continues to be governed," US District Judge Victor Marrero wrote in his ruling. Trump's lawyers appealed the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on Friday. In last week's filing, Vance's office hinted for the first time that the president could be investigated for tax and insurance fraud. Prosecutors extensively cited media reports, including The Times' previous reporting on Trump's finances, as grounds to subpoena his long concealed financial documents. "The New York Times reported that Appellant engaged in 'dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud' and that he 'helped his parents dodge taxes' by 'set[ting] up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts' and undervaluing assets," the filing said. "Even if the grand jury were testing the truth of public allegations alone, such reports, taken together, fully justify the scope of the grand jury subpoena at issue in this case," the filing continued, adding that the scope of the subpoena "is moderate when compared to the temporal scope of misconduct alleged in public reports." Read the original article on Business Insider Berlin: The far-right Alternative for Germany party has fired a prominent official following reports he made comments suggesting that migrants could be killed. The party has confirmed that Christian Lueth, who was already suspended from his post as parliamentary spokesman in April after allegedly describing himself as a "fascist", had his contract terminated with immediate effect. Christian Lueth has been kicked out of the Alternative for Germany party. Credit:AP German media reported that Lueth told a young blogger in February that the worse off Germany is, the better it would be for his party, and that migrants coming to the country "could still be shot later on [...] or gassed." The meeting was secretly filmed by broadcaster ProSieben for a documentary about Germany's far-right. The speaker's face wasn't shown in the footage but weekly Die Zeit reported it was Lueth. CAMARILLO, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sabrewing Aircraft Company has announced an exclusive representation agreement with Arabian Development & Marketing Co. (ADMC) headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The five-year renewable agreement includes exclusivity for Saudi Arabia, the GCC and the Pan-African region. The deal includes an order for 102 Sabrewing Rhaegal-B unmanned, heavy-lift, Vertical Take Off Landing (VTOL), cargo aircraft. ADMC will soon begin taking additional aircraft orders throughout the GCC and Africa. The aircraft was recently unveiled to the public during an U.S. Air Force Agility Prime event. The deal between ADMC and Sabrewing also includes establishing aircraft assembly, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Africa to service the Rhaegal-B fleet and will provide technology jobs to the region. We are very pleased to have ADMC as our middle-eastern business partner. Its a perfect fit for Sabrewing and ADMC management in our mutual quest to pioneer unmanned VTOL cargo aircraft development/manufacturing and dominate this market sector by being the first-to-market this extraordinary aircraft, stated Ed De Reyes, Chairman and CEO of Sabrewing. As the first commercial purchase of an unmanned aircraft this is really groundbreaking and paving the way for a whole new industry. Sabrewings Rhaegal air vehicle has a turbo-electric drivetrain that is capable of taking off and landing vertically - in mud, snow, ice, deep sand or unimproved landing areas - at speeds of up to 200 knots (370 km/hr), and in weather that is all but impossible for manned aircraft. The Rhaegal is: Remotely piloted for commercial operations and fully autonomous for military applications. Delivers 5,400-pound (2450 kg) payload flying at altitudes of up to 22,000 feet (6,700 m) and has a range of up to 1000 nautical miles (1800 km). The wings fold on the ground for easy ground handling and in the air during hover for landing in tight spaces, The Rhaegals fold-up nose (a la Boeing 747 freighter aircraft) requires no special equipment for loading or unloading cargo in remote locations. All Sabrewing aircraft designs feature folding wings, fold-up noses, full pallet-sized cargo access, all-weather operation, and a first-of-its-kind ten-sensor Detect and Avoid (D&A) system to autonomously navigate a path around conflicting obstacles and other air traffic. This Agreement brings an emerging-technology, heavy-lift, unmanned cargo capability to the Middle Eastern and the Pan-African marketplace. It also brings advanced technologies in composites manufacturing, drone development and avionic sensor integration to our region, stated Ayman Zeibak, General Manager of ADMC, In addition to transporting critical supplies to our most remote regions, high-tech local jobs are being created. This program truly supports the vision for Saudi Arabias future, Zeibak added. ADMC will soon be tendering new offers for production-line position orders for the high-capacity, heavy lift, unmanned cargo aircraft, secured by deposits, for deliveries beginning in the fall of 2021. After performing an in-depth analysis of several heavy-lift cargo drone companies in the United States, Europe and Asia, Sabrewings design, without exception, offers tremendous capability and operates at a fraction of the cost of other cargo aircraft," stated Steven Chikos, ADMCs Senior Aerospace/Defense Advisor. Operating expenses are projected to be 50% to 60% less than similar payload capacity manned cargo aircraft. The Sabrewing ADMC team is poised to bring this aircraft to market years ahead of its competition, he added. Image download URL available upon request German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a press conference after a video conference with State Premiers on the country's response to the new coronavirus pandemic on September 29, 2020 in Berlin. (Photo by Kay Nietfeld / POOL / AFP) (Photo by KAY NIETFELD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) - KAY NIETFELD/ AFP Germany has ordered new restrictions to contain a second wave of the coronavirus, but stopped far short of the sort of measures seen in the UK. Angela Merkel and regional leaders agreed not to impose a new lockdown or a blanket limit on gatherings like the UKs rule of six. Instead public gatherings will be limited to 25, but only in areas where the rate of infection rises over government safety limits. And even in the worst affected areas, there will be no legal limit on how many people can meet in private homes. The rising number of coronavirus infections is a cause for concern, Angela Merkel told a press conference. We want to act in a regionally specific, targeted manner. Another lockdown must be prevented at all costs. Our priority is to protect the economy and keep schools open for children. When it comes to everything else, we shall have to see what we can manage. Germany recorded its highest daily increase in infections since April on Saturday, with 2,507, but the infection rate remains far lower than in the UK or most other major European countries. We got through the summer well, but difficult times lie ahead in the autumn and winter, Mrs Merkel said. We can meet this with the right measures. These will only succeed if citizens are willing to follow the rules so that the epidemic does not spread any further. The new rules come after it was leaked to the German press that Mrs Merkel was seriously worried at the rising infection rate in Germany and had privately warned party colleagues that the country could see 19,200 cases a day by Christmas. But under Germanys federal system the chancellors power to impose lockdowns and other restrictions is severely limited. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder attends a news conference after discussing with German state premiers on whether to prolong or phase-out the lockdown to combat COVID-19 at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 15, 2020, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Munich. Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool via REUTERS - POOL/via REUTERS Such measures are under the control of Germanys 16 federal states, and Tuesdays measures were only agreed after three hours of video talks between Mrs Merkel and regional leaders. The new rules amount to a traffic light system. In local areas where the weekly infection rate crosses 35 per 100,000 inhabitants, gatherings in pubs, restaurants and other public spaces will be limited to 50 people. Story continues Where it crosses 50 per 100,000 inhabitants or more, such gatherings will be limited to 25 people. It is thought Mrs Merkel wanted to impose mandatory limits on gatherings in private homes, but she was forced to back down in the face of opposition from regional leaders. Instead limits in private homes will be purely advisory and will not be enforceable. The leaders discussed imposing restrictions on alcohol sales but agreed they could be decided on a local basis in the worst affected areas. More facemasks, less alcohol and smaller parties is the deal, Markus Soder, the regional leader of Bavaria said.. Are we spoilsports or philistines? No. But we want caution not recklessness. A new minimum fine of 50 (45) was agreed for anyone providing false contact details to restaurants or pubs. It is already mandatory for all those visiting pubs and restaurants to provide contact details but there have been frequent reports of people leaving their name as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Peter Tschentscher, the mayor of Hamburg, told a press conference that in some of the citys restaurants as many as half of all the details people gave proved to be false. Plans for new self-isolation rules for those arriving from risk areas abroad have been postponed until October 15. Germany avoided the sort of ever-changing quarantine rules that blighted Britons summer holidays with mandatory airport testing, but the programme is being phased out because it is taking up too much of the countrys testing capacity. SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ordr, a leader in security for enterprise IoT and unmanaged devices, today announced the integration of Ordr Systems Control Engine (SCE) with VMware NSX-T and VMware NSX Intelligence to provide organizations with comprehensive IoT visibility, accelerated data center microsegmentation, and enhanced day-two operations capabilities. Ordr SCE and NSX-T provide ongoing programmatic synchronization from Ordr to VMware NSX for profile objects and the respective device IP addresses they contain. With the ability to share detailed campus-related device type data points with NSX, organizations now see which types of campus devices are communicating with the data center. Coupled with NSX Intelligence, organizations gain powerful visualization of how these Ordr-defined campus group objects are communicating to various virtual machines (VMs) within the data center. "The combination of Ordr with VMware NSX and NSX Intelligence gives organizations the ability to understand how campus and branch devices communicate with data center workloads, quickly identify unmanaged campus devices, and use those insights to streamline NSX policy generation for VMs," said Iain Leiter, Senior Technical Solutions Architect, Ordr. "Organizations will also be able to minimize the business impact of firewall changes by visualizing allowed or blocked campus traffic." Where organizations once had only the singular view of an unknown IP for visibility, Ordr now provides device context as an object with a grouping construct to programmatically populate that group in NSX. Using NSX Intelligence, organizations can now see the network traffic flow plus the Ordr context of the device type. "VMware and Ordr are working together to provide our mutual customers with visibility into how and which unmanaged campus and branch devices are communicating with workloads in the data center," said Dhruv Jain, senior director, product marketing for networking and security at VMware. "These organizations will be able to more quickly view and address these traffic flows and accelerate data center micro-segmentation initiatives to help isolate threats before they can interfere with mission-critical workloads." The combined solution of Ordr Systems Control Engine (SCE), VMware NSX-T, and VMware NSX Intelligence will be demonstrated at VMworld 2020 online, September 30-October 1. VMware NSX users will be able to: Achieve cutting edge visibility by understanding how each type of unmanaged campus and branch connected device is communicating with mission-critical virtual workloads in the data center. Accelerate NSX-T microsegmentation initiatives by integrating data from Ordr and using NSX Intelligence to visualize and automate optimal policy design while quickly determining exactly which campus devices, including IoT/OT, are communicating to virtualized workloads in the data center. Minimize the potential business impact associated with firewall changes by using Ordr integrated with NSX Intelligence to quickly visualize and troubleshoot allowed and blocked traffic from campus devices. To learn more, join the VMworld breakout session NSX Intelligence: Visibility and Security for the Modern Data Center Pt2 [ISNS2496] with Ray Budavari, Sr. Staff Technical Product Manager at VMware, along with Brandon Rivera, Enterprise Infrastructure Architect at CHRISTUS Health, and Iain Leiter, Sr. Technical Solutions Architect at Ordr as they deep dive into the integration and provide a live demo of the Ordr and NSX Intelligence capabilities. About Ordr Ordr secures the millions of enterprise IoT and unmanaged devices such as manufacturing machines, building systems, medical equipment, printers and more that run within global networks. The Ordr Systems Control Engine uses machine learning to automatically discover and classify every IoT and unmanaged device, map all communications, detect and prioritize vulnerabilities, and then proactively secure each device through dynamic policy generation and segmentation. Organizations use Ordr to discover their devices, track usage, achieve proactive protection and compliance. For more information about Ordr, go to www.ordr.net . VMware, NSX, and NSX-T are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Media contact: Michelle Van Jura 310-420-4062 [email protected] SOURCE Ordr Related Links http://www.ordr.net BLUE BELL, Pa., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced the company will co-host a National Cybersecurity Moonshot Virtual Workshop focusing on innovation and execution for cyber education one of the initiative's six foundational "pillars" with a goal of dramatically increasing the availability, quality and diversity of cybersecurity talent. Also being co-hosted by American University, the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (the I3P), the workshop will be held on October 5-6. The event is scheduled to include leading voices among government, industry and academia including keynote speeches from Bradford Willke, assistant director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. Unisys Chairman and CEO Peter Altabef who co-chaired the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) subcommittee that produced the Cybersecurity Moonshot report will join cyber education experts including Dr. Beverly Scott, a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council and an infrastructure-focused executive specializing in workforce development at all levels; Admiral (ret.) Mark Montgomery, executive director of the Cybersecurity Solarium Commission; Bobbie Stempfley, adjunct faculty, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University; and Tom Patterson, chief trust officer for Unisys, who will discuss highly-innovative cyber education efforts that can help address current and future workforce needs. "It is essential that the government forge trusted partnerships with industry and academia to help identify, cultivate and hire diverse sources of talent and accelerate the speed and breadth of cyber education necessary for our critical infrastructure protection," Altabef said. "Artificial intelligence, 5G communications, identity management and quantum encryption are undeniably important to the future of cybersecurity, but the technologies are rapidly evolving and markedly different. Through education on these topics and the nurturing of a diverse talent pool, the country will stand at the forefront of cyber innovation." National Cybersecurity Moonshot and Pillars Founded in 1982 by President Reagan and an act of Congress, NSTAC is chartered to provide information and advice to the President with respect to national security and emergency preparedness, telecommunications, information and communications services (including emerging technologies, broadband, public safety, communications infrastructure security and resilience and cybersecurity). The National Cyber Moonshot report features a set of recommendations for a "whole of nation approach" similar to the one once announced by President Kennedy for "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the 1960s for a safer, more resilient use of the Internet to deliver government and critical infrastructure services by 2028. Education is one of the six pillars outlined in the report as foundational to the moonshot's success, with the other five being Technology, Behavior, Ecosystem, Privacy and Policy. For more information on the National Cyber Moonshot including upcoming workshops, visit www.unisys.com/moonshot. About Unisys Unisys is a global IT services company that delivers successful outcomes for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include digital workplace services, cloud and infrastructure services and software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. Unisys integrates security into all of its solutions. For more information on how Unisys delivers for its clients across the government, financial services and commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn. RELEASE NO.: 0929/9790 Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder. UIS-C SOURCE Unisys Corporation PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Sept. (28), 2020 -- After more than a decade of pioneering the study of naturally occurring cancer in pet dogs, the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, announced today the commercial launch of Vidium Animal Health, providing genomic-based precision-medicine to veterinary oncologists and pet parents. As a veterinarian, Vidium President Dr. David Haworth has seen first-hand the pain and concern that veterinarians and pet parents experience when a dog is diagnosed with cancer. "Vidium is built around the human-animal bond, and the fact that the majority of pet owners feel their pet is part of their family," Dr. Haworth said. "When a pet is diagnosed with cancer, it can be a really scary time for everyone, so we want to offer the very best information, and hope, that science can offer." To increase a pets' chance of survival, Vidium created SearchLight DNA, a test designed specifically to identify any of the nearly 120 known cancer-associated genetic mutations in dogs, and use the molecular profile of misbehaving genes to help guide diagnosis and treatment. Vidium Founder and Chief Science Officer Dr. Will Hendricks, an Assistant Professor in TGen's Integrated Cancer Genomics Division, has spent much of the past decade dedicated to the pursuit of comparative oncology, the study of naturally occurring cancers in animals to better understand human cancers and vice versa. "It's clearly a two-way street, with both humans and dogs benefiting from the exchange," he said. As a prime example, Dr. Hendricks points to a landmark 2019 study conducted by TGen and The Ohio State University, which found that -- like many women who develop a particular type of breast cancer -- the same gene, HER2, also appears to play an important role in lung cancer in many dogs. "Vidium was born from our finding that the genetic underpinnings of canine cancers reflected the same fundamental science that allowed us to apply precision medicine toward treating human cancers," Dr. Hendricks said. "Cancer gene mutations that have clinical importance in canine oncology are abundant, and with SearchLight DNA our goal is to equip veterinarians with the best information possible to help guide the clinical management of the dogs in their care." Katie Banovich, Vidium's Director of Operations, said the absence of genomic technology in the care of pets is a tremendous void that Vidium hopes to fill, but only with the participation of veterinarians and pet parents. "Through application of multi-disciplinary genomic science, we want to position Vidium as a partner in the veterinary care team," Banovich said. "We want to be a guide. We want to work with veterinarians." SearchLight DNA reports will be customized with technical language designed for clinicians and easier-to-understand lay language for pet parents that fully communicates the details of their pet's condition. While Vidium's efforts will initially be put toward canine cancer, its goal is to expand its genomic analysis to the treatment of other diseases, and other animals. Beyond assisting with the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of dogs with cancer, Vidium will play a continuing role in the discovery of new associations between gene mutations, specific types of cancers in specific breeds of dogs, and clinical outcomes. "We are going to play an active role in changing the landscape of veterinary care, both through expanding our understanding of genetic biomarkers, and by facilitating access to targeted therapeutics that may make a difference in specific genetic settings," Dr. Hendricks said. ### Vidium Animal Health is a subsidiary of TGen. Learn more at: vidiumah.com. About TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based nonprofit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life-changing results. TGen is affiliated with City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases: CityofHope.org. This precision medicine affiliation enables both institutes to complement each other in research and patient care, with City of Hope providing a significant clinical setting to advance scientific discoveries made by TGen. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases through cutting-edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research toward patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and complex rare diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities worldwide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For more information, visit: tgen.org. Follow TGen on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @TGen. Media Contact: Steve Yozwiak TGen Senior Science Writer 602-343-8704 syozwiak@tgen.org Narendra Modi said he would restructure the bureaucracy but nothing has been heard of it since then Six years ago, prime minister Narendra Modi initiated a discussion under the aegis of the Niti Aayog on the reform of the bureaucracy. Sixteen years ago Dr Manmohan Singh too had said that his topmost priority was the reform of the bureaucracy. Little has happened. We havent even had a decent and half-intelligent discussion about it. The object of concern clearly doesnt share the need to discuss its reform. The government is now a golden gated community and takes away as much as 11.5 per cent of the countrys GDP for its own upkeep. And yet, the dil maange more! The base of government is the district. A typical district officer is usually still in his twenties or early thirties. But unlike his Indian Civil Service predecessor (of the British Raj era), the IAS district collector/magistrate or deputy commissioner has neither the unquestionable authority conferred either by racial exclusivity or superb education or social class, or all three, to dominate and control the lower bureaucracy. As required in a democracy, the administration is subservient to a government run by elected politicians. They play havoc with civil service tenures. According to a study by S.K. Das, an IAS officer, the average tenure of a district officer is about seven months. He or she invariably falls victim to the constantly changing and treacherous currents of an intensely competitive political system. The lower and permanent bureaucracy has adjusted well to this essential change and has become a tool in the hands of the politicians. In fact, the lower bureaucracy has increasingly become the nursery for the new political class. Little wonder, no one gives a fig for our district officers any longer. But quite clearly, ordinary citizens are paying a heavy price for this. India still ranks among the bottom half of the United Nations global Human Development Index. Clearly, we need to restructure the government and the administration in each of Indias 600-plus districts. The district collector, like his ICS predecessor, must become the executive head of the district with all branches of the government subject to his/her authority and power. This must particularly include the police. He/she must be redesignated as the commissioner and should be an officer with over 16 years of service, a mature and seasoned individual with the seniority and clout to exercise complete authority over the administrative apparatus. This seniority will also give him/her the experience and guile needed to deal with the political system. Above all, the commissioner must have a fixed tenure of at least five years and a board consisting of elected representatives of the district as well as his/her administrative superiors must make the officers selection to the position. In the late 1980s, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was reportedly contemplating such a restructuring of the government. No sooner had the word got around, the traditional politicians opposed it, as it would deprive them of much of their clout. Former deputy prime minister Devi Lal jeered that it would be a PM to DM system which would bypass all other political structures. From the mid-1990s, even amidst the most severe economic downturns, one industrial segment has posted consistent and significant growth. This is the segment called the white goods sector, which accounts for consumer durables like refrigerators, washing machines and other home appliances. This spurt coincides with the selective implementation of the Pay Commissions recommendations. Apart from recommending whopping increases in salaries and benefits, the Pay Commission noted the low productivity and also recommended that the numbers employed in the government should be drastically slashed. Consequently, the wage bill of the Central government alone is now the second biggest item in the Union Budget after interest payments. The state governments together now directly employ 7.5 million people in addition to the Central government, which gainfully or painfully employs about 3.3 million. Given the commonly high salary levels in the Central and state governments, one can easily compute the approximate cost of government by way of salaries alone. In addition to this huge army of babus, the Centre and the states employ a further 6.3 million people in PSUs and departmental undertakings like the Indian Railways. Local bodies like municipalities, zilla parishads and panchayats employ another 2.3 million. This entire cohort of about 23 million people belongs to the 27.2 per cent who make up our middle and upper income groups. A look at the capital expenditure on account of development suggests that it costs the Centre and the states about Rs 10 to give us a benefit of Re 1! Revenue expenditure very simply means wages, utilities, fuel, repairs and maintenance, and chai-pani aur dawa-daru kharcha. So, the effective cost of government is almost 90 per cent of the cumulative receipts of which the Centre and the states collect as taxes from us and/or beg, borrow and steal for us. This is about a good one-third of our GNP, and growing! However, the real slap in the face is that public administration is categorised as a part of the services sector for national income accounting, and the 14 per cent annual growth in the cost of government is what mainly accounts for the growth of this sector. Even in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, this sector is happily growing. The growth of the industrial sector is marginal, like that of the agricultural sector. The burgeoning cost of government is our single major public policy issue. Yet, it is not debated at all. All parties go into a funk when they are confronted with these facts. Thus, for the BJP, once again it seems there are only two issues that really matter: Hindutva and the Ram Mandir. And as for the sycophants in the Congress, they are only concerned with the interim Congress presidents two issues: Rahul or Priyanka. Poor Dr Manmohan Singh had listed the reform of the bureaucracy as his first priority, but the politicians paid no heed to him, and hence the bureaucracy saw no need to take him seriously. Now it is Narendra Modi's turn. A Harrisburg father of five who already was serving a 10- to 20-year prison term for attempted murder had a life sentence tacked onto that penalty Tuesday because he succeeded in killing the same victim on the second try. Dauphin County Judge William T. Tully said that life-plus-20 sentence is justified for the wanton display of violence committed by Calvin McKinney. McKinney, 32, was convicted by a county jury early this month of first-degree murder and conspiracy for the New Years Eve ambush slaying of 26-year-old Keynen Guider. Investigators said McKinney gunned down Guider as Guider drove in the 1900 block of Brookwood Street. They said that two days earlier, on Dec. 29, 2017, McKinney failed to kill Guider during a similar ambush at 20th and Market streets. Another jury in August 2019 convicted McKinney of attempted murder for that first failed ambush. That jury deadlocked on the murder count for the successful one, however, triggering the retrial. Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Zawisky said McKinney killed Guider over a Dec. 27, 2017 confrontation where Guider angrily accused McKinney of staring at his car. Investigators said McKinney might have had an unknown accomplice for the second fatal shooting, but he was the only person charged. Im at a loss to understand what could have led up to this wanton display of violence on the streets of this city, Tully said, lamenting the chronic gun violence in Pennsylvanias capitol city. "This is just a tragedy that occurs too often. He said he had to run the attempted murder and murder sentences consecutively because the failed hit and the successful one were two separate heinous acts. Defense attorney Amanda Batz said that before his arrest McKinney had been working to support his children. She noted McKinneys older brother died from cancer while serving a sentence in state prison. Batz said she advised McKinney not to speak during the sentencing hearing. Its very likely we will be appealing, she said. Relatives of Guider and McKinney watched the proceedings but none of them spoke. Immediately afterward, however, members of Guiders family hugged Zawisky and Detective Richard Iachini, the lead investigator in the case. Students from Tianjin Medical University take blood tests for peripheral stem cell transplantation on March 4. (Peoples Daily Online/Liu Dongyue) China aims to address the weaknesses exposed in medical personnel's knowledge and skills amid combating the COVID-19 epidemic by expanding the scale of rural-area tuition-free medical students and promoting the cultivation of interdisciplinary innovative top medical talents. The General Office of the State Council issued instructions to accelerate the innovative development of medical education on Wednesday, suggesting that China's resolution should comprehensively improve the quality of medical personnel training and develop medical education and health services. China's medical workers have played an important role in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. However, as the country faces the new challenges in addressing the coronavirus and new requirements posed by the development of medical science, China's medical education system has problems in terms of the structure of personnel training and quality of talents. To tackle these problems, the instructions proposed 17 reform measures in four aspects including gradually expanding the recruitment of tuition-free medical students in rural areas, a project initiated in 2010 involving training more general practitioners for county-level and town-level medical and health institutions, and making traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) courses compulsory for clinical medicine education. The instructions attempt to comprehensively optimize the structure of medical personnel training by strengthening the discipline construction of medical majors and promoting talent training and the development of urgently needed majors, such as anesthesia, infection, critical care medicine and pediatrics. What's more, China will increase its financial support for medical colleges and universities and the standards of fixed allocations for medical students will be adjusted in a timely manner. BIRMINGHAM, England, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Business and technology leaders have pointed to a range of opportunities provided by Artificial Intelligence to support the economy's revitalisation, including new efficiencies and new business models. But a lack of understanding in the boardroom, legacy technologies, and an under-skilled workforce all represent major challenges. A new report published by information hub The AI Journal, entitled AI in a Post-COVID-19 World, has revealed that 72% of leaders feel positive about the role that AI will play in the future, with the number one expectation being that it will make business processes more efficient (74%). 55% have suggested that AI will help to create new business models, and 54% expect it to enable the creation of new products and services. But respondents have pointed to a range of barriers to AI achieving its potential, led by a lack of understanding or commitment towards investing at board level - feared by 59% of respondents. The legacy processes and technologies within businesses that do not support AI (50%), and the lack of relevant skills within the workforce (48%), were also big concerns. 60% of respondents reported that their organisation currently uses AI; a further 52% are currently planning an implementation. Machine learning is the key technology of the moment it is already being used in many companies (70%), and 63% are planning further integrations. The other key technologies pointed to by respondents were data science, predictive analytics and chatbots. Tom Allen, Founder, The AI Journal, said: "I am confident that ultimately the changes brought by AI will improve people's lives. AI can be a force for good in this new and scary world that we are stepping into. It can help us to be more efficient, it can help us to develop new products and services, and it can help us to change our business models for the better. "But there are also challenges ahead many of the sticking points that we saw before the pandemic still remain, with the key issues being a lack of support at board level, legacy technologies, and an under-skilled workforce." AI in a Post-COVID-19 World is based on an online survey of AI experts and practitioners, and business leaders in both tech and non-tech organisations, carried out by The AI Journal during July and August 2020. Further input was sought from survey respondents and other members of the AI community in compiling the report. AI in a Post-Covid-19 World provides six solutions to the challenges faced by AI, as identified by business and technology leaders: Training and education Positive communications campaigns A focus on ethics and regulation Government support A focus on improving legacy systems A greater provision of support communities for AI developers Notes: The full findings can be read in AI in a Post-COVID-19 World. About The AI Journal The AI Journal is an information hub for all news, reports, interviews, and events about AI and emerging technology. We don't just report our take on current AI related news, we get expert opinions to give you an inside look on how these new technologies work. The AI Journal was founded in February 2020 with its readers at the centre of its content, the events that it runs, and the reports that it publishes. By being part of The AI Journal community you can expect to make more informed decisions to add greater value to your customers. Tom Allen +44 (0)77 255 621 78 SOURCE The AI Journal Related Links https://aijourn.com A Natick attorney and real estate developer pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to defrauding the federal government roughly $2.3 million in a scheme related to the redevelopment of a Worcester apartment that a former city employee is accused of being in on, authorities said. Sixty-one-year-old James E. Levin admitted Monday to committing wire fraud, trying to defraud the United States government and making false claims in connection with the scheme, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lellings office said. Levin is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 9, 2021. The scheme started around July 2010 and continued to about September 2011, according to a statement from Lellings office. During that time, Levin worked as the manager of the property company 5 May Street Apartments, LLC. In his role, Levin applied for and received federal funds through the city of Worcester to rehabilitate a multi-unit apartment building at 5 May St., the statement said. Worcester officials distribute grant funds on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), according to the U.S. attorneys office. Levin submitted seven payment requests to the city for work he claimed he completed on the building that he never actually did, the prosecutor noted. The Natick man was eventually charged in August 2016, according to Lelling. Jacklyn Sutcivni, who worked in the Worcester Housing Development Office, is accused of aiding Levin in his scheme, the U.S. attorney said. Authorities claimed that Sutcivni approved Levins payment requests despite knowing they were fraudulent. The scheme caused the city of Worcester to pay roughly $2,365,050 to Levin. After the payment was issued, Sutcivni or other city officials submitted reimbursement requests to HUD or DHCD for federal funds. Sutcivni has pleaded not guilty. The Dracut woman is scheduled to stand trial on May 3, 2021. Related Content: Jacklyn Sutcivni, Worcester housing official, charged in fraud scheme If you dive in the Mediterranean Sea, the cluster anemone is among the most fascinating and magnificent corals you could see. You can find it on rocks or sponges, in scarcely lit areas such as sea caves and gorges, where it clusters in dense agglomerations resembling yellow and orange carpets. In a study published in Scientific Reports, a research group of the University of Bologna found evidence that some corals commonly labelled as "cluster anemones" may belong to different species. Indeed, there are two types of Parazoanthus axinellae and they differ in size, colour and preferred substratum. Researchers sampled these corals in 11 locations of the Mediterranean Sea - from Banyuls-Sur-Mer (France) to Rovinj (Croatia), through Portofino, Olbia, Gallipoli and Chioggia (Italy) - and compared their DNA. "We found evidence of marked genetic isolation between these two morphotypes of Parazoanthus axinellae. This leads us to believe that they may belong to two different species", explains Federica Constantini, one of the authors of the study who is also a professor at the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bologna. "We will need further investigations to confirm these hypotheses. Information on species composition and marine populations connectivity patterns is fundamental to devise effective actions for safeguarding biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea". Which are, then, these two types of cluster anemone and how are they different? The first type (also known as "Slender" type) is spread across the entire Mediterranean Sea (including the Adriatic Coast) and presents a light-yellow colour, an elongated trunk and long, thin tentacles. The second type (also known as "Stocky" type) is to be found in the north-western Mediterranean and presents a deep orange colour, and a shorter, thicker trunk and tentacles. Moreover, the "Slender" morphotype mainly lives on the sponges of the genus Axinella, while the "Stocky" type lives primarily on rocky substrata. Through their analyses, researchers also found that the "Slender" morphotype is genetically closer to two coral species that also colonise sponges but live in the Caribbean (Parazoanthus anguicomus and Parazoanthus capensis). On the other hand, the "Stocky" morphotype revealed genetic similarities with coral species that live in the shallow waters of the Pacific Ocean (Parazoanthus elongatus and Parazoanthus juanfernandezii) and with one species that instead lives in the deep waters of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean (Parazoanthus aliceae). None of these species was ever found colonizing sponges as they live primarily on rocky substrata. In recent years, cluster anemones have experienced high mortality rates in some areas of the north-western Mediterranean because the temperature of the water is unusually high and periods of high temperatures are unusually long. These phenomena caused the proliferation of cyanobacteria that weakened the corals and, in some cases, led to the death of the corals themselves. "The existence of 'complex of species' may render the management and conservation strategies of these corals difficult. Indeed, different species may present distinctive characteristics. For example, they may present different resistance to climate change-induced stress. These peculiarities could call for different management strategies", says Professor Costantini. "Finally, it should be taken into consideration that the diversity we observed within the Parazoanthidae family may be also found among other species that live in the fragile and delicate coralligenous habitat of the Mediterranean Sea". ### This study was published in Scientific Reports with the title "Evidence of genetic isolation between two Mediterranean morphotypes of Parazoanthus axinellae". The research group carrying out the study includes Adriana Villamor, Lorenzo F. Signorini, Federica Costantini, Marko Terzin and Marco Abbiati from the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bologna. NeuroFlow, the leader of digitally enabled behavioral health integration, has secured a contract with the United States Air Force to expand its platform to multiple sites, enhancing and scaling care delivered by administrators and medical personnel. The partnership spans across multiple major commands empowering Airmen to manage their own mental health and build resilience for peak performance. The technology will help administrators monitor the combat readiness of Airmen, forming positive routines and creating a streamlined process for identifying at-risk individuals and adjusting treatment plans in real-time. Serving our Nations Armed Forces is an immense honor. We understand the challenges faced by military populations when treating and managing mental health symptoms, said NeuroFlow CEO and former Army Captain Chris Molaro. Its our objective to leverage technology in a way that allows everyone to take control of their own health, and we look forward to expanding our work with the U.S. Air Force on this critical mission. NeuroFlow began working with AFWERX, a United States Air Force program with the goal of fostering a culture of innovation within the service, in late 2019 after being awarded an initial trial contract. After integrating and validating the behavioral health platform on-site at Peterson Air Force Base with AFMS clinical specialists, NeuroFlow successfully won its bid on a more extensive contract to scale the technology. A heightened awareness around the topic of mental health has prompted leadership to seek out technology-driven solutions focused on wellness and resiliency. This partnership reinforces our commitment to finding innovative ways to ensure not just the combat readiness of our Airmen but their overall quality of life, said Major Judy Cole, 21st Medical Group Mental Health Flight commander. In the coming weeks, NeuroFlows technology will be deployed within a division of the U.S. Space Force, laying the groundwork for an integrated approach to physical and mental health care. The integrity of the platform ensures individual privacy and relies on user-generated data to make informed decisions about care. Within the scope of work, NeuroFlow will also assess the technologys long-term ability to lower medical costs and increase combat readiness. About NeuroFlow NeuroFlow is a digital health company combining workflow automation, consumer engagement solutions, and applied AI to promote behavioral health integration in all care settings. NeuroFlows suite of HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based tools simplify remote patient monitoring, enable risk stratification, and facilitate collaborative care. With NeuroFlow, health care organizations can finally bridge the gap between mental and physical health in order to improve outcomes and reduce the cost of care. http://www.neuroflow.com. About AFWERX Established in 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force and reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFWERX is a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors to create transformative opportunities and foster an Air Force culture of innovation. The ultimate aim is to solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the Air Force. AFWERX enables thoughtful, deliberate, ground-up innovation across the Air Force. They do this through an innovation approach that combines startup urgency with the largest pool of motivated talent in the world to uncover opportunities to improve Air Force capabilities, connect and engage the right stakeholders, and facilitate outcomes. Photo: The Canadian Press A CRTC logo is shown in Montreal on September 10, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes A "secret shopper" campaign on behalf of the CRTC found evidence of misleading or aggressive behaviour in about one-fifth of the interactions between its undercover shoppers and sales staff for six major wireless carriers. Canada's telecom regulator said the vast majority of interactions during its "secret shopper" investigation early this year were perceived as positive. However, it found that 20 per cent of shoppers felt they were given misleading information or faced aggressive sales practices particularly if they had disabilities and or didn't use English or French as their first language. The secret shopper project allowed us to gain on-the-ground insight into the challenges Canadians may face when engaging with communications service providers salespeople," CRTC chair Ian Scott said Tuesday in a statement. "This is why the secret shopper project will continue into the future. We look forward to using this information to promote the fair treatment of consumers. More than 400 undercover shoppers evaluated six large wireless providers BCE's Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Telus, Shaw's Freedom, Quebecor's Videotron and SaskTel, which is owned by Saskatchewan's provincial government. The number of engagements was determined by market share. Most of them at one of the three national carriers: Bell (121), Rogers (133) and Telus (124). About half the contacts (53 per cent) were in stores and the rest were split evenly between online and phone channels. A spokeswoman for OpenMedia, one of several consumer-oriented groups that speak out against Canada's large internet and wireless communications companies, said the report confirms that there's a systemic problem that should be fixed. "What this report completely fails to do however, is provide any path forward to improvement. The CRTC cant let this be the end of the road. Canadians deserve better," OpenMedia executive director Laura Tribe said in an email after the report was issued. The CRTC's first secret shopper report was issued 20 months after the CRTC announced in February 2019 that it would embark on the program, one of several initiatives it planned to take as a result of an investigation into alleged misleading and aggressive practices. The investigation included five days of testimony at public hearings in October and months of information gathering by the CRTC, which oversees Canada's mobile, internet and television service providers. Among the participants was a research team from the University of Ottawa, headed by Mary Cavanagh, who submitted the results of a first-hand secret shopper program to evaluate the exchange of information in the purchase of wireless services. The CRTC's 2019 report noted that Rogers and Shaw had reported using secret shopper programs to evaluate their own retail sales force, but those observations weren't made public. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday unveiled measures to leverage Indias huge demographic advantage and maximise the employability potential of the youth, and also announced a Rs 4,000-crore programme SANKALP, aimed at providing market relevant training to 3.5 crore youth across the country. Presenting Budget for 2017-18 in Parliament, Jaitley described energising youth through education, skills and jobs as one of the governments 10 important focus areas. He said the government proposes to extend Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras to more than 600 districts across the country, from 60 districts at present. Moreover, 100 India International Skill Centres will be established across the country to offer advanced training and also courses in foreign languages, which Jaitley said, will help those of our youth who seek job opportunities outside the country. The Finance Minister said that in 2017-18, a programme SANKALP (Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme) will be launched at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. SANKALP will provide market relevant training to 3.5 crore youth. Besides, Jaitley said the next phase of skill strengthening for industrial value enhancement (STRIVE) will be launched in 2017-18 at a cost of Rs 2,200 crore. STRIVE will focus to improve on the quality and the market relevance of vocational training provided in ITIs and strengthen the apprenticeship programme through industry-cluster approach. Read | Highlights of Union Budget 2017 | Full Coverage: Union Budget 2017-18 | Full Coverage: Budget Session of Parliament For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Cardinal George Pell is returning to Rome six months after he was acquitted of child sexual abuse in Australia. The former Vatican treasurer, 79, will depart Sydney on Tuesday, after living in the city since his release from a Victorian jail, but the reason for his visit is unknown. Joshua McElwee, from US newspaper the National Catholic Reporter, said the purpose of Cardinal Pell's visit to the Vatican was unclear. 'At the moment he has no official role here,' Mr McElwee told ABC News. Catholic Cardinal George Pell (pictured) is expected to fly to Rome on Tuesday. The former Vatican treasurer came back to Australia in mid-2017 to fight sexual assault charges Cardinal Pell (pictured leaving court in February 2019) was convicted in December 2018 but the High Court of Australia overturned the conviction in April and he was released from jail Mr McElwee said it was 'very likely' Cardinal Pell was travelling to Rome to 'put his affairs in order'. 'I imagine he still has personal items here, things to bring home, perhaps an apartment to clean up. 'I don't know what else he would be doing other than those kind of things,' he explained. Cardinal Pell came back to Australia from Rome in mid-2017 to fight charges related to the sexual assault of two choirboys when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. He was convicted in December 2018 and served just over a year of a six-year sentence in jail before the High Court of Australia overturned the conviction in April and he was released. Cardinal Pell had been head of the Vatican's Secretariat of the Economy, tasked with cleaning up the church's vast finances and eliminating abuse, and had taken a leave of absence from that role when he came back to Australia. 'He always intended to return to Rome,' Katrina Lee, an adviser to the Archdiocese of Sydney, told Reuters. His return to Rome comes just days after a powerful Vatican cardinal, Giovanni Becciu, was fired after Pope Francis accused him of embezzlement and nepotism. Cardinal Pell and Cardinal Becciu were reportedly previously at odds over reform of the Vatican's accounts. 'The Holy Father was elected to clean up Vatican finances,' Cardinal Pell told the Catholic News Agency on September 25. 'He plays a long game and is to be thanked and congratulated on recent developments. 'I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria,' Cardinal Pell said. President Donald Trump during the first presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Tuesday. Read more President Donald Trump closed out his first presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday night by repeating on national television his false claim that poll watchers had been blocked from observing the first day of in-person early voting in Philadelphia. Today there was a big problem, Trump said in the closing moments of the debate. In Philadelphia they went in to watch. Theyre called poll watchers. A very safe, very nice thing. They were thrown out. They werent allowed to watch. You know why? Because bad things happen in Philadelphia, bad things. But there were several reasons why elections staff did not allow members of the public to arbitrarily enter their offices. The Trump campaign has no poll watchers approved to work in Philadelphia at the moment. There are no actual polling places open in the city right now. And elections officials are following coronavirus safety regulations, such as those limiting the number of people indoors. Its true that voters were casting ballots Tuesday, but the locations where they were doing so are satellite elections offices where mail ballots can be requested, completed, and submitted. Poll watchers dont have the same rights at such locations as they do at traditional polling places on Election Day, officials said. We dont give someone a poll watcher certificate to watch somebody fill out their ballot at their kitchen table, said Al Schmidt, a Republican and one of the city commissioners, who run elections. Trump made the false claim earlier in the day on Twitter, first retweeting son Eric and then going further to accuse city officials of corruption. Wow. Wont let Poll Watchers & Security into Philadelphia Voting Places, he said. There is only one reason why. Corruption!!! Must have a fair Election. READ MORE: Trump refuses to condemn white supremacists, tells group to 'stand by' in debate marked by president's attacks against Biden The claims come as Trump, who is consistently trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in national polls and surveys of critical battleground states like Pennsylvania, has sought to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the election with false attacks on mail voting as susceptible to widespread fraud. He has also suggested he may not accept the results if he loses. State law allows campaigns and parties to appoint multiple poll watchers per precinct, who are permitted inside polling places to observe and, in some situations, raise legal challenges. But no poll watchers have been certified yet for the Trump campaign, the Republican Party, or other Republican campaigns, said Nick Custodio, deputy city commissioner under Lisa Deeley, chair of the city commissioners. The commissioners opened the first satellite offices Tuesday for a new form of early voting using mail ballots. At the satellite locations and the main elections office in City Hall, voters can apply for a mail ballot and receive one on demand, as well as fill it out and turn it in. At least one woman claiming to be a Trump campaign poll watcher was barred from entering one of those satellite offices Tuesday in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia. But, Custodio said, These are not polling places. Instead, they are just like the main office in City Hall, with no specific poll watcher rights. The only people who are there are those who are working or those who are availing themselves of the offices services, he said. Workers are also being strict about social distancing, Custodio said: We have to be extra cautious about maintaining social distance and making sure the people are supposed to be there and limiting crowds. And just like in City Hall, Custodio said, members of the public can be asked to leave for any number of reasons. Thea McDonald, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said Tuesday that the campaign has "demanded a response from the city commissioners and, if necessary, will pursue all available legal and equitable remedies. READ MORE: The start of early voting in Philly was riddled with technical issues About 1 p.m. Tuesday, a woman approached the supervisor at the entrance of the satellite office at Overbrook Elementary School. She said she was there to monitor the integrity of the election and asked to be allowed inside. The supervisor told her she was not allowed inside the building unless she was using the offices services. The woman did not present any sort of certificate of being an official poll watcher, but calmly stated that she had a right to be inside. The woman told The Inquirer she was hired by the Trump campaign to oversee the integrity of the election. She said she was paid to monitor the West Philadelphia site. She would not provide her name or any further information, and she left the area shortly afterward. The Trump campaign, in a complaint filed in federal court in Pittsburgh in July, accused state and county election officials of the arbitrary and illegal preclusion of poll watchers from being present in all locations where votes are being cast, because mail ballots are not being returned to official polling places before Election Day. The complaint seeks a ruling or injunction that permits poll watchers, regardless of their county of residence, to be present in all locations where votes are cast or counted, including without limitation all locations where absentee or mail-in ballots are being returned. READ MORE: Everything you need to know about voting in Pennsylvania, by mail or in person That lawsuit is ongoing. The state Supreme Court ruled earlier this month against the Trump campaigns request to allow poll watchers to operate in counties other than the one where they are registered to vote. The Pennsylvania Department of State declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing federal litigation. Mayor Jim Kenney on Tuesday urged Philadelphians to "reject these false accusations. We will undertake a fair and accurate election according to the laws of this commonwealth, not the presidents tweets, he said in a statement. Trumps campaign has been aware since 2016 of the state law regulating poll watchers. While campaigning four years ago, Trump frequently made ominous and unsubstantiated claims during rallies in Pennsylvania about efforts to steal or rig the election in favor of Hillary Clinton. It is so important for you to go out and watch other communities, he said at one point in Western Pennsylvania that year. Trump has been at it again this month, urging supporters at rallies in Nevada and North Carolina to sign up as poll watchers to prevent fraud. Be poll watchers when you go there," he said in Winston-Salem, N.C. "Watch all the thieving and stealing and robbing they do. The Pennsylvania Election Code has held since 1937 that only candidates and political parties can appoint poll watchers. Those watchers must have a certificate verifying their status and be registered to vote in the county where they are watching a polling place. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit nine days before the 2016 election, accusing the Trump campaign of conspiring to threaten, intimidate, and thereby prevent minority voters in urban neighborhoods from voting in the 2016 election by sending in out-of-town poll watchers. U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert, a former Republican state attorney general, rejected a request then from the Trump campaign to allow poll watchers to come from anywhere in the state. Container ship X-Press Godavari is being escorted to the Kolkata port by an Indian Coast Guard vessel. This comes after an overnight firefighting effort, to douse a flame on a container that the ship was carrying. The fire was first reported on Monday morning, following which the Indian Coast Guard had despatched assets to the location. The container ship X-Press Godavari was in anchorage off Sandheads, which is over a 100kms away from the Haldia port in West Bengal. Initially three Coast Guard vessels had reached the spot and carried out firefighting operations, while a Dornier aircraft was assessing the situation. By Monday evening, a fourth Coast Guard vessel had joined the action and had successfully doused the blaze. Later, they undertook boundary cooling operations to prevent re-ignition. Boundary cooling is carried out to lower the temperature in the areas around the fire, as metal gets heated up quickly and could always have the potential to re-ignite owing to the retained heat (even in absence of a visible fire). Live TV After carrying out boundary cooling operations though the night, the vessel is being escorted to Kolkata port, by an Indian Coast Guard ship. Earlier this month, the Indian Coast Guard had taken up a daunting firefighting task, off the Sri Lanka Coast. In a mammoth effort that lasted nearly 10 days, Indian Coast Guard ships had doused the fire, and also ensured that there was no oil leak and environmental damage, from the mishap on very large crude carried MT New Diamond. The historic EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has been in force for nearly two months now. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong talked how the agricultural sector has availed of the deals benefits and what suite of measures will come out in the rest of the year to expand the gains and reach annual development targets. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong Since the enforcement of the EVFTA, many agricultural producers have made inroads into the European Union. What leads to their success in accessing the new market? The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) last week worked with the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to start export shipments of coffee and fresh passion fruit to the EU, and teamed up with Ben Tre province in the Mekong Delta to accelerate shipments of fruit to this market after accessing the tariff incentives from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Earlier, the south-central province of Ninh Thuan celebrated the first shrimp exports that are eligible for EVFTA benefits. These positive outcomes followed the agricultural sectors thorough preparations for the deal. The signing of the EVFTA brings many advantages. Firstly, it helps beef up exports to this important market in product categories where Vietnam holds an advantage such as shrimp, coffee, fruits, and rice. Secondly, through the deal, we can get access to cutting-edge processing technology from the EU by attracting foreign direct investment. Thirdly, local businesses can improve management expertise via cooperating with European counterparts on management training for mutual development. To access these advantages, right from the start, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, businesses, and farmers have been actively preparing to meet the EUs conditions, while restructuring production to create links from input material preparation to deep processing and consumption. This has helped local agricultural businesses to avail themselves of the EVFTA benefits after the deal came into power. Preliminary statistics show that one month after the EVFTA came into force in August, Vietnams export value to the EU surged by 15-17 per cent on-month. Alongside support from state bodies, businesses play a key role in capitalising on EVFTA opportunities. How do you assess the role of pioneering businesses in promoting Vietnamese agricultural exports in the EU? Clearly, businesses are the nucleus of the production chain by not only applying science and technology but also streamlining trade and exports. It is crucial to provide the support businesses need, including small businesses, foreign-invested ones, and particularly those in rural and remote areas. This will help the creation of smooth links with farmers to establish close chains for modern agriculture and ensure the success of the agricultural sector. What are the most important measures to help Vietnamese businesses conquer the EU market? Restructuring production to ensure compliance with food safety and origin of goods rules is of great importance, as without it, the tremendous opportunities from the EVFTA would stay out of reach. The MARD will continue working closely with businesses and encouraging firms to concentrate on product categories where Vietnam holds an advantage like fruit and vegetables, seafood, and cash crops. We will also push up chain-based production with a close eye on product quality and will ensure that businesses have the necessary skills to succeed in their new environment. More radical and sustainable solutions are needed in the long haul to promote chain-based production and tighten links with farmers to establish closed production chains from input material preparation to processing and sale. The EU has significance far beyond a simple export market. Successful exportation to this market will attest to the production capacity of Vietnamese farmers and will be a clear indicator that Made in Vietnam goods have the capacity to pass any market gate. Could the agricultural sector leverage EU exports to counter the impacts of COVID-19 and reach the $41 billion export target for this year? Like other sectors, the agricultural sector is doing its utmost to achieve our dual targets for 2020: ensuring pandemic containment and reaching the set goals, including the export target. Right from outset of 2020 we have made great efforts to ensure businesses can maximise their benefits from policy incentives and what we have achieved so far is significant. Besides inclusion programmes (the national target programme on new rural development and agricultural restructuring programme), the sector will deploy a raft of other promotion activities. For instance, in the rest of the year, about 10-12 major projects would be kicked off, mainly focusing on agricultural processing. With the determination of the agricultural sector as a whole, we believe we can reach the full-year projections. VIR Thu Phuong Vietnams rice exports to EU sell at good prices With the new EVFTA, more and more Vietnamese rice is being shipped to the EU. Scented rice in particular is being sold at high prices. Houston, a Gulf Coast city that barely rises above sea level, has long worried about a worst-case weather scenario a direct hit from a powerful storm that sends a wall of water barreling into the regions petrochemical facilities, possibly triggering an environmental disaster. When it was spared a blow from Hurricane Laura last month, the city breathed a sigh of relief. Now the close call has renewed a debate about whether the Houston area should build a massive and expensive barrier to protect against storm surge. After Lauras close call, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hopes some kind of barrier eventually gets built. I dont know how many chances we are going to have Whatever it may be that can mitigate storm surge, then thats what I am in favor of, Turner said. What I do know is we cant keep just talking about it. In addition to a lack of storm surge protection, the nations fourth-largest city floods frequently because it does not have enough infrastructure to handle heavy rain. The area has developed rapidly in a way that sharply reduced the natural wetlands that could soak up storm water runoff. Its Depression-era drainage systems are woefully inadequate. The citys vulnerability was apparent again this week when Tropical Storm Beta flooded roads and filled waterways. Bill Merrell, a marine sciences professor at Texas A&M University at Galveston who first proposed the coastal barrier, believes storm surge is a grave threat that has been ignored for too long. Were overdue for a Laura Were starting to see pretty convincing evidence we will have stronger hurricanes due to climate change, said Merrell, who nicknamed the proposed barrier the Ike Dike, after 2008s Hurricane Ike. Merrell spoke earlier this month in Galveston, near the inlet between the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay. Thats where he envisions building the Ike Dikes floodgates, which would stop storm surge from entering the bay and traveling north into the Houston Ship Channel, home to some of the largest oil refineries in the world and 40 percent of the nations petrochemical industry. Researchers at Rice University in Houston have estimated that a strong Category 4 storm with a 25-foot storm surge could damage storage tanks along the ship channel, resulting in the release of more than 90 million gallons of oil and hazardous substances into neighborhoods and then into the bay. The barrier system, also referred to locally as the coastal spine, has been studied since Merrell first proposed it after Ike, which made landfall in Galveston as a Category 2 storm and resulted in nearly $30 billion in damage, mostly from storm surge. Because the storm and its surge did not come up the ship channel, most of the chemical plants and many homes were spared from a direct hit. Ike was also much weaker than a potentially catastrophic Category 4 or 5 system. But a variety of concerns about the dike, including a price tag of up to $32 billion and possible environmental effects, have been roadblocks in its construction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state are reviewing a proposed project that borrows from the Ike Dike. It would build floodgates, including some sets that would be 650 feet wide, the equivalent of a 60-story building laid on its side. The corps proposal also includes constructing a beach and dune system and undertaking ecosystem restoration projects along the Texas coast, said Kelly Burks-Copes, manager of the project. The coastal barrier would create additional protections and added security for our nations largest petrochemical hub, and for the people who live and work in these communities, said Dennis Winkler, executive director of East Harris County Manufacturers Association, an alliance of chemical manufacturers in the Houston area. Another draft report of the project is to be released in October, with a final report set to be given to Congress by May. If the project gets funded, construction could start as early as 2025. It would take 10 to 15 years to complete, Burks-Copes said. The project would have to be funded by both federal and local dollars. Rice Universitys Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, or SSPEED, has proposed its own project a series of man-made islands near the western section of Galveston Bay and the entrance to the ship channel that would be both a storm surge barrier and a park with trails and camping. The Galveston Bay Park, with a price tag of up to $6 billion, could be done by 2030. Were going to need multiple lines of defense. And right now, we have zero lines of defense, said Jim Blackburn, the SSPEED Centers co-director. But questions remain about both projects. Environmental groups are concerned that the Army Corps projects floodgates could affect water flow between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Galveston Bay is healthy, and fish and other animals thrive there because water circulates in and out of the gulf, said Bob Stokes, president of the Galveston Bay Foundation environmental group. Burks-Copes said the Corps has made changes to address environmental and other concerns. Neither project would have protected the area from Hurricane Harvey, which dumped more than 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on Houston in 2017, causing $125 billion in damage in Texas. Harris County, which includes Houston, is also completing several other flood-mitigation projects, including widening bayous, improving drainage and buying flood-prone homes, that are part of a $2.5 billion bond program approved by voters in 2018 after Harvey. Were doing it as quickly as possible, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the countys top elected official, said Tuesday of the flood-mitigation projects. And these storms keep coming. Stokes was realistic about the prospects for shielding the city from nature. No hurricane storm surge barrier will ever protect us from 150 mph winds. No hurricane storm surge barrier will ever protect us from rain, Stokes said. So really every storm is different, and there is no silver bullet. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Texas Windstorm Flood Hurricane Pollution WINCHESTER A 21-year-old man was killed in a crash near the Winchester/Goshen town line Monday night, police said. Police on Tuesday identified him as Tyler Brazil, of Smith Road in Norfolk. Police were dispatched to Route 263 near the town line with Goshen for a reported crash with injuries with one of the occupants involved trapped under a vehicle around 7:45 p.m. Monday. Investigators said a 2006 Nissan Sentra was driving east on Route 263 Ashley Road near the Winchester/Goshen line when the driver veered off the left side of the road, collided with a stone wall, then rolled over. There were two occupants in the vehicle. Brazil was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The passenger, identified by police as a 25-year-old Winchester man, was flown to Hartford Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the Nissan sustained heavy damage and was towed from the scene. The cause of the accident remains unknown as the investigation continues. The Connecticut State Police Accident Reconstruction Unit is helping to investigate the crash. "This important release empowers the CISO to be an even better business partner to their internal stakeholders by ensuring those not-to-be missed emails get delivered to the inbox," said Ramon Peypoch, Chief Product Officer, Agari. "No CISO wants to spend time dealing with the uncomfortable scenario of false-positive messages that are mischaracterized as malicious. The new capabilities we're delivering help solve this ever-present challenge so customers can make science-based decisions with confidence." Agari Fall '20 Release highlights include: Agari Brand Protection: Inbound DMARC provides the CISO organization with enhanced RUA visibility giving them increased confidence that important email sent from their own domains to internal addresses, including third-party SaaS services, are delivered to employee inboxes. Agari Phishing Defense: With scoring adjustments features, customers are empowered to locally tailor email risk scoring immediately, reducing false positives and making phishing defense more effective than ever, giving confidence that business-critical messages are delivered. Agari Phishing Response: Agari customers are now able to tag investigations with custom-defined attack classifications. By customizing attacks to customers' specific threat taxonomy, customers can deliver more transparency into their company, faster. Agari Active Defense: New global BEC insights and analysis adds critical context to the customer-specific threat intelligence realized from direct engagement with cybercriminals targeting an organization. These data and insights allow customers to better anticipate and prepare for the BEC attacks against their business. Additional Resources: "The Agari Fall '20 Release provides our customers with more knowledge and detailed insights into email messaging risk than has ever been possible," said Armen L. Najarian , Chief Identity Officer, Agari. "And that's powerful because the CISO organization needs a modern phishing defense solution that is rooted in understanding sender identity to protect the workforce from vicious email impersonation attacks." About Agari Agari is the market share leader in phishing defense solutions for the enterprise. Through applied science, the Agari Identity Graph delivers valuable business context to every email risk decision. Agari ensures outbound email from the enterprise cannot be spoofed, increasing deliverability and preserving brand integrity. It also protects the workforce from devastating inbound BEC, VEC, spearphishing, and account takeover-based attacks, reducing business risk and restoring trust to the inbox. Learn more at agari.com. Media Contact Jean Creech Avent Sr. Director, Global Corporate Communications Agari +1 843-986-8229 [email protected] SOURCE Agari By Trend Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan is a blatant violation of the international law, Abdulaziz Altwaijri, Former Director General of ISESCO, Member of Nizami Ganjavi International Center, told Trend. The continuous Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan is a blatant violation of international law, and an expression of the reckless policies of the Armenian government regarding peace and security in the region, and sincere working to bring just solution to the problem. This aggression prompted the Azerbaijan authorities to respond strongly to protect its citizens and liberate its occupied territory. I strongly condemn the Armenian aggression and its repeated provocations, and express my full solidarity with the Republic of Azerbaijan in its just cause, he said. Altwaijri referred to all the relevant resolutions and decisions of the United Nations Security Council that call for the full and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan. I have known Azerbaijan as a peaceful country and a hub for dialogue and cooperation.The solution to this conflict must be based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders, he concluded. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the frontline, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of the retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz President Moon Jae-in has offered belated condolences to the family of the South Korean official who was killed by North Korean troops in the West Sea last Tuesday. In a meeting with top aides on Monday, Moon said the government is sorry for the shock and anger caused to the South Korean people, calling the murder a "regrettable and unfortunate" incident. They were the president's first public remarks about the case and came a week after he was first informed of the brutal killing at sea. Moon stressed the need to uncover the truth and to find ways to stop such incidents from happening again. He highlighted the need for communication between the two Koreas, calling on Pyongyang to reopen the inter-Korean military communication line it severed earlier this year. The president also noted that a letter of apology from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "swift and unprecedented." Moon expressed hope that the tragic incident will serve as an opportunity for the two Koreas to resume dialogue and cooperation. North Korea has yet to respond to South Korea's call for a joint investigation. The official was found by a North Korean Navy vessel after he had gone missing from a South Korean fisheries patrol boat. His killers kept him in the cold water for six hours before firing a dozen rounds into him, dousing him in fuel and setting him ablaze. As South Carolina racks up nearly 1.5 million coronavirus tests administered across the state, Charleston County and Fetter Health Care are offering nasal swabs every Tuesday in October. The walk-up and drive-thru tests will be taken at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center and don't require any pre-screening or appointment. Everyone will be served regardless of ability to pay, according to the county, and all insurance companies are currently covering testing copays. The program will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first three Tuesdays of the month, then 4-8 p.m. Oct. 27. Statewide numbers New cases reported: 527, a 234 percent increase from the 158 tallied on March 31, the day Gov. Henry McMaster ordered nonessential businesses to close. Another 12 cases are probable. Total cases in S.C.: 143,495, plus 4,139 probable cases. New deaths reported: 22, plus one probable death. Total deaths in S.C.: 3,173, plus 186 probable deaths. Hospitalized patients: 690 Total tests in S.C.: 1,412,359 Percent of positive tests, seven-day average: 11 percent. Five percent of tests or fewer returning positive results is a good sign the virus spread is slowing, researchers say. Hardest-hit areas The top three South Carolina counties for new coronavirus cases Tuesday were Richland, 57; Greenville, 45; and Oconee, 44. What about the tri-county? Charleston County had 19 new cases, Berkeley had 10 and Dorchester had five. One Berkeley resident died, DHEC reported, and authorities are confirming that a Charleston victim had the virus. Deaths Of the 22 new deaths, 14 were elderly patients aged 65 and older, according to DHEC. Seven were considered middle-aged, 35 to 64, and one was a young adult aged 18 to 34. They resided in Abbeville, Anderson, Berkeley, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Greenville, Hampton, Horry, Kershaw, Lexington, Marion, Oconee and Sumter counties. Hospitalizations Of 690 coronavirus patients who were hospitalized as of Tuesday, DHEC said 176 were in intensive care and 88 were on ventilators. How many cases have been found in long-term care facilities? There have been 8,920 confirmed coronavirus cases in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities: 5,891 residents and 3,029 staff workers, according to DHEC data. So far, 1,307 residents have died from the virus, a mortality rate of 22 percent. Twenty-six workers also have died. Together, they account for 42 percent of deaths in the state, the data released Tuesday shows. The virus has been found in 381 facilities. There are active outbreaks at 117 of them. What do experts say? Public health authorities continue to urge South Carolinians to take precautions, such as wearing masks or other face coverings, social distancing and frequent hand-washing. They also urge anyone who believes theyve been exposed to the virus or who is developing symptoms to get tested. There are 310 mobile testing events scheduled through Oct. 31 and 264 permanent testing facilities. Go to scdhec.gov/covid19testing to find a testing site in your area. A number of the events will take place outdoors, such as the Wolfwalkers sketching tour of Kilkenny, in which some of the films artists will lead people around Kilkennys ancient buildings and streetscapes that inspired the visual look of the film and allow time for participants to sketch their own impressions. The tour will take place at least four times this weekend. Another event in which the entire town can participate is a series of projections from Wolfwalkers on the walls of Kilkenny Castle (yes, theyve got an 800-year-old castle), in which scenes from the film are set. The illuminations, specially created by Cartoon Saloon and Algorithm, will appear every evening in October and will be visible from Johns Bridge, Canal Walk and from the terrace of the River Court Hotel in Kilkenny City. Other events include multiple free screenings of Wolfwalkers; a discussion with Wolfwalkers directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, assistant director Mark Mullery, and art director Maria Pareja about the making of the film; and another panel about the art of voicing animation with Eva Whitaker, the voice of Mebh in Wolfwalkers, the films directors, and other voice actors. There will also be two workshop sessions for children about animation and character design led by Cartoon Saloons head of animation Fabian Erlinghauser and concept artist Rory Conway. An exhibition of artwork from Wolfwalkers will open on October 23 at Kilkennys Butler Gallery, ahead of the Irish theatrical release on October 30. Tickets for the various events at Kilkenny Animated go on sale tomorrow morning at 9:30 am (local Irish time) at KilkennyAnimated.com. If youre unable to attend Kilkenny Animated in person, stay tuned for a complete round-up of the event next week on Cartoon Brew. It is taking so much space in the small kitchen. But Babua Singh wont crib about that. You stack the bartan (dishes) in it, go to office, and when you come back in the evening everything is spotlessly clean and dry, she says. A textile designer, Ms Singh is showing her newly acquired dish-washing machine in the Ghaziabad flat that she shares with her husband and college-going daughter. Like many middle-class households, Ms Singh used to depend on the services of a part-time house maid for washing the dishes. The coronavirus pandemic changed that as visits from the outside now involve fears of getting the virus. Ms Singh says she nevertheless supported Asha, her long-time housemaid, until she left for her village in Bihar a couple of months ago. While her family would give a hand in household chores during the ongoing pandemic, Ms Singh would still find herself too involved in the kitchen duties. I leave for office at 9.30 in the morning and come back around 6pm, so there isnt so much time to relax. The house always had a washing machine to take care of the laundry but the idea of getting a dish washer came after Mukul Bhaiya and Anita Bhabhi got one for themselves, she says, referring to a couple who couldnt stop gushing about how easy their life had become after getting the admirable appliance. Following a brief discussion with her husband, Ms Singh ordered the machine online and the companys people helped us install it... they came in mask. The new machine seems the most ostentatious object in Ms Singhs kitchen. A simple two-burner gas range reigns over the counter. Lakshman Rekha chalk is drawn around an aata jar to keep off the ants. The microwave is in the corner and the spices and lentils are stocked behind wooden closets. Even the pressure cooker cleans up very well... the only thing I have to wash in the sink is the kadahi and the tawa, she says. Dishwashing machines are novel to Indian homes during the harshest days of the lockdown, some of the more popular online videos were of Hindi film stars trying their hand at washing the dishes in the sink. Ms Singh confides that some of her friends also got the machine in dekha-dekhi (got inspired) but they use it rarely, as if too much handling might spoil it... just like during the early days of the washing machines (for clothes), when we would use it only on Sundays! Native of a UP village, Ms Singh reveals that nobody in her circle of immediate relatives has ever used a dishwasher. And now she playfully poses with the machine, making sure that her face is not visible because of shyness. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Coronavirus second wave: Will there be another lockdown in India India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson set out a fresh set of restrictions for the next months in the wake of a second wave of coronavirus hitting the recovery in the UK. Several countries have allayed fears of a second wave of coronavirus. On Saturday, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray expressed apprehensions of a "second wave" of coronavirus transmission as more people are moving out for work, and called for stricter compliance with norms. Speaking at a virtual meeting with ministers and officials of Marathwada and Nashik divisions on the COVID-19 situation, the CM expressed concerns over asymptomatic patients, allowed to remain at home, stepping out without proper precautions and infecting others. Unlock 5.0 guidelines: Here is what to expect He said the focus should be on reducing the mortality rate. Thackeray directed officials to ensure that people follow health norms like wearing masks, and that violators be fined. "In Britain, asymptomatic positive patients are treated at home, but they are checked every day. They are shifted to hospitals, if needed. We are allowing asymptomatic patients to remain under home quarantine, but they are moving out and infecting others," the chief minister said. "There is fear of a second wave (of coronavirus transmission) since more people are now moving out for work. There is a danger of senior citizens getting infected at their homes," he said. During his interaction with officials, Thackeray stressed the need to increase mass awareness, and tracing and testing. "'My family, My Responsibility' is an important initiative in this regard. The campaign should become a health movement not just in our country but in the entire world," Thackeray said. He said proper protocol should be followed in treating COVID-19 patients, "and only medical prescription should be followed". Thackeray said the number of RT-PCR tests needs to be increased. "If results of antigen tests (for any person) return negative and symptoms prevail, then RT-PCR test is required and two swab samples need to be taken," he added. The COVID-19 RT-PCR test is a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in upper and lower respiratory specimens. The Rapid Antigen Detection Test (RADT) directly detects the presence or absence of coronavirus antigen in the patient's body within 30 minutes. News about a second wave has fuelled speculation that there could be another lockdown in India. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News During the meeting with the Chief Ministers of seven states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked them to re-assess the lockdown norms and said that it is creating economic difficulties. There have been reports that the National Disaster Management (NDMA) had called for another lockdown from September 25. The message being circulated says, "in order to contain the spread of Covid-19 and decrease the mortality rate in the country, the National Disaster Management Authority, along with the Planning commission, hereby urges the government of India and directs the Prime Minister office, ministry of home affairs to re-impose a strict nationwide lockdown of 46 days starting from midnight September 25, 2020. Maintaining the supply chain of essential commodities in the country, therefore hereby NDMA is issuing a prior notice to the ministry to plan accordingly," says the "order" dated September 10. However the Press Information Bureau said the circulation of this message is fake. "Claim: An order purportedly issued by National Disaster Management Authority claims that it has directed the government to re-impose a nationwide lockdown from 25th September. PIB Fact Check: This order is Fake. NDMA has not issued any such order to re-impose lockdown," PIB tweeted. WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Corporation for National and Community Service released a new brand strategy for the future, announcing it will now operate as "AmeriCorps," as part of a larger effort to grow awareness of service opportunities for all Americans. Along with the new name, the federal agency also revealed a new visual identity for the agency and all its programs, the first major update for the agency since it was created 25 years ago. While the agency's operating name is "AmeriCorps," its legal name will remain the Corporation for National and Community Service. The changes announced today unite all national service programs under the name AmeriCorps. Organizations and members funded through the AmeriCorps VISTA, NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), and State & National programs, as well as the Volunteer Generation Fund, will operate and be promoted as AmeriCorps. The agency's three programs that cater exclusively to volunteers 55 years and older under the Senior Corps name Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP will now operate and be promoted under the banner of AmeriCorps Seniors. As the nation continues to grapple with the challenges of COVID-19 and other disasters, the demand for volunteers is growing. Across the country, many are asking: how can I help? These new changes are designed to help connect those Americans to service opportunities in areas of critical need: education, public health, food insecurity, and economic uncertainty. "When called upon, Americans have always been there to help. Today is no different, and this spirit of service is needed now more than ever," said Barbara Stewart, CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service. "That's why we're redoubling our efforts to be sure all Americans know about their opportunities to serve through AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors. We're committed to strengthening the role of service and volunteering in our country for the next century, building on a long history of national service." A multi-year effort, the brand refresh is officially part of the agency's Transformation and Sustainability Plan, which was announced in 2018. As part of this plan, the agency conducted an extensive brand review that included external research and the engagement of branding experts to help develop a clearer and more compelling brand architecture and narrative. To support its brand development, AmeriCorps solicited combined fee-based and pro bono offers from contractors. AmeriCorps selected brand consultancy Brandpie to assist with the branding project. AmeriCorps is among a limited number of federal agencies which has legal authority to accept gifted services. Along with a new name and brand strategy, the agency also unveiled a refreshed logo, which pays tribute to the iconic AmeriCorps brand, while updating it for the digital age. This logo blends the letter 'A' with an American flag to symbolize the way AmeriCorps members and volunteers inspire and improve communities through service, creating a visual representation of the agency's role in uniting Americans. A redesigned americorps.gov website is on the horizon for next year, with a preview launched today that reflects AmeriCorps' new brand architecture, messaging, and look. Within the next three years, AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors grantees will update their materials to reflect the new identity, using tools provided by the agency to help them recruit AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers to respond to the unique challenges within their own community. For more than a quarter century, AmeriCorps has demonstrated how Americans can come together to help each other and their country prosper. Each year, more than 270,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations, working in more than 40,000 locations nationwide to tackle the nation's most pressing challenges, including preparing students for success, rebuilding communities and revitalizing cities, supporting veterans, fighting the opioid epidemic, responding to disasters, preserving public lands, fostering economic opportunity, and more. AmeriCorps also remains poised to respond as the nation faces unprecedented natural disasters alongside a public health and economic crisis, with teams of AmeriCorps members currently deployed to Hurricane Laura relief efforts, wildfire response, and Midwest storm recovery. Even as they address these rising challenges, AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors maintain a sustained effort to fight hunger, keep communities safe, and facilitate youth education in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. AmeriCorps, a federal agency, brings people together to tackle the country's most pressing challenges, through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations dedicated to the improvement of communities. AmeriCorps helps make service to others a cornerstone of our national culture. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov. SOURCE AmeriCorps Related Links https://americorps.gov One of Australias largest universities will get a $130 million boost to its pandemic-hit finances after selling a multi-storey Melbourne office tower to Sydney-based investment group Futuro Capital. Futuro is in exclusive due diligence to buy the upper levels of 235-251 Bourke Street, a 17-level strata building primarily owned by RMIT University. RMIT's strata building in Bourke Street. Credit: In a canny side deal worth more than $80 million, Futuro also looks set to buy a clutch of shops on the ground-floor called Tivoli Arcade. The shops are not owned by RMIT and snaring both them and the offices above will give Futuro keys to a major city building and potential redevelopment play. The 6000 square metre Tivoli Arcade is owned by the Melbourne-based Chan family. The sale of RMIT's tower is one of the few major deals seen in Melbourne as the city languishes in a harsh two-month lockdown that has prompted another major vendor South Africas Woolworths Group to delay the sale of its trophy David Jones Bourke Street Mall department store. Geographic map of the Pacific Arctic region, highlighting the study area in purple contour. Credit: Irene D. Alabia, et al., Science of The Total Environment, supplementary file, July 15, 2020 Climate warming will alter marine community compositions as species are expected to shift poleward, significantly impacting the Arctic marine ecosystem. The biodiversity of marine communities in the Pacific Arctic under future climate change scenarios highlights profound changes relative to their present patterns. Alterations in marine species distributions in response to warming and sea ice reduction are likely to increase the susceptibility and vulnerability of Arctic ecosystems. The findings, published by Hokkaido University researchers in the journal Science of the Total Environment, also suggest that there will be potential impacts on the ecosystem function and services. Fisheries oceanographer Irene Alabia of Hokkaido University's Arctic Research Center along with colleagues in Japan and the US investigated how future climate changes will impact the marine biodiversity in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. These seas extend from Alaska to Russia in the northern Pacific and southern Arctic oceans. "This area forms a 'biogeographical transition zone': a biodiversity-rich region covering two distinct areas with specific features that encourage the coexistence of species living at or close to their distribution limits," explains Alabia. "These zones are vulnerable to climate warming, and climatic disruptions can create favorable conditions for the shift of warm-water species into previously colder-water zones." Spatial distribution of functional traits of marine communities in the Eastern Bering and Chukchi Seas for the present-day (left panels) and late-century periods under low (middle panels) and high (right panels). Larger, longer-lived (top row) and more predatory (bottom row) fish and invertebrates will expand northwards as the seas warm; how far their ranges expand is determined by the extent of warming. Credit: Irene D. Alabia, et al., Science of The Total Environment, July 15, 2020 Scientists are interested in understanding how species in biogeographical transition zones are responding to climate changes and other human impacts. This information could help in conservation planning, fisheries management, and in studying the role of evolutionary history in shaping currently existing communities. Alabia and her team mapped the present and future spatial distributions of 26 fish and invertebrate species in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Using species records, sea surface temperature, and sea ice concentration data, the authors developed species distribution models to predict the distributional ranges under the present-day (1993-2017) and future (2026-2100) climate conditions. From the model outputs, the changes in species richness and compositional diversity in terms of species' phylogeny and functional traits between time periods and across contrasting levels of warming were elucidated. The findings suggest that larger, longer-lived and more predatory fish and invertebrates will expand their ranges towards the pole in response to warming waters and sea ice free conditions by the end of the 21st century. These poleward shifts could alter the structure, composition and functions of future Arctic communities, which are currently dominated by smaller and short-lived species. The future species pool in the Arctic waters will also have more similar functions within the ecosystem, impacting regional food webs. It is also likely that there will be considerable socioeconomic impacts, as commercially important species shift northwards, which could increase operational fishing costs. "These projected impacts are expected to raise challenges for ocean governance, conservation and resource management of shifting fisheries," says Alabia. "Our results provided glimpses of potential futures of the Arctic marine ecosystems, nonetheless, and some of these ecological shifts are already being documented. As such this highlights the need for continued monitoring and improving climate-ready strategies to buffer climate change impacts and maintain the integrity and functioning of vulnerable ecosystems." Explore further Mapping species range shifts under recent climatic changes More information: Irene D. Alabia et al. Multiple facets of marine biodiversity in the Pacific Arctic under future climate, Science of The Total Environment (2020). Journal information: Science of the Total Environment Irene D. Alabia et al. Multiple facets of marine biodiversity in the Pacific Arctic under future climate,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140913 Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy AHEAD, a leading provider of platforms for digital business, today announced that its chief marketing officer, Tom Pohlmann, is included on Crains Chicago Business 2020 Notable Executives in Marketing list. The annual list recognizes the top Chicago-based executives responsible for implementing programs that drive growth, customer success and brand recognition. Highly regarded in the professional services and technology advisory sectors as an innovator and thought leader, Pohlmann excels at guiding businesses through transformations in their strategy and go-to-market efforts. Over the past 18 months, he spearheaded AHEADs efforts to shift its market positioning toward cloud and professional services, and led the rebranding and communication efforts following AHEADs recent M&A activity, including the acquisition of five companies and merger with Data Blue. In parallel, under Pohlmanns leadership, the marketing functions influence on brand awareness and prospect engagement has flourished. Toms an exceptional communicator who can distill complex ideas into simpler, more impactful narratives, said Daniel Adamany, CEO, AHEAD. As we enter our next phase of growth and expansion, his guidance will continue to be invaluable. This recognition is well-deserved and a testament to his business acumen and commitment to our company values. I am humbled to be recognized by Crains as one of Chicagos top marketing executives, said Pohlmann. Since joining AHEAD three years ago, our company has more than tripled in size, established a national footprint and significantly expanded its offerings - making it an exciting place to work, to say the least. Im especially grateful to work alongside such a dedicated team of professionals who place as much emphasis on culture and values as they do on results. A marketing industry veteran, Pohlmann has more than 25 years of experience across technology product and service providers. Prior to AHEAD, Pohlmann headed strategy and brand as managing director at Mu Sigma, a leading global provider of decision science and big data analytics solutions headquartered in Northbrook. Before that, he spent 14 years at Forrester Research, where he ran the technology research and advisory business unit, followed by corporate strategy and marketing. About AHEAD: AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in enterprise cloud infrastructure, intelligent operations, and modern applications, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation. Learn more at http://www.thinkahead.com and follow us on Twitter at @ahead. The surprise decision by Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich to pause the confirmation process for two nominess for U.S. District judgeships in New Mexico is a blow to the administration of justice in one of the nations busiest federal court districts. The senators, both Democrats, withheld their blue slips and thus asserted their home-state ability to keep the Senate Judiciary Committee from completing its final vetting of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Federici and Albuquerque Attorney Brenda Saiz, who were nominated to fill longtime vacancies on the federal bench. As a practical matter, those nominations are not just paused until after the election. The senators have given no indication whether the two would still be considered. Thats unfortunate. Both candidates have excellent backgrounds and reputations. Federici worked in the U.S. Attorneys Office for 25 years as a prosecutor. He served as head of the criminal division and chief of the offices national security section. Saizs civil law practice concentrated on medical malpractice, trucking law and product liability issues. She also taught at the University of New Mexico School of Law. These are the kind of experienced people you want on the bench. And they are desperately needed. The district now has only five of seven authorized full-time judges, and before the confirmation of Judge Kea Riggs last year, each judge had more than 900 cases. The Las Cruces seat has been open almost 27 months, the Albuquerque seat 15 months. Were drowning, Judge Martha Vazquez told the Journal in 2019. Udall and Heinrich, however, jerked the much-needed life preservers out of the water. They said they took the action because Trump had insisted on politicizing the judicial appointment process with remarks at a thinly veiled campaign event at the White House on Sept. 9. Trump had criticized radical judges he said would be appointed by Democrats and trotted out a list of people he would consider for the Supreme Court. But the senators rationale for this disservice to their home state simply doesnt hold water. The senators should be committed first and foremost to the fair administration of justice. Both Federici and Saiz had been thoroughly vetted and received the highest recommendation of the American Bar Association. Second, Trump appointed them from a list provided to the administration by Udall and Heinrich. Their decision to derail their own nominees to somehow punish Trump defies logic. It punishes New Mexicans who deserve timely justice from their courts instead. The Journal inquired about the status of the Federici and Saiz nominations on Sept. 17. On Sept. 21, the senators said that throughout both Democratic and Republican administrations we have proceeded in good faith to get New Mexico judicial vacancies filled. We will continue to work expeditiously to fill those vacancies. Notably missing was any reference to the Sept. 9 remarks by Trump. That had changed by Sept. 25 when the senators announced the nominations had been paused and cited Trumps earlier comments. While the senators did not mention Trumps decision to nominate a Supreme Court justice to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, in their reasons for pausing the judges nomination process, clearly that decision has moved judicial politics to the forefront of the campaign. But the grievances Democrats have over that shouldnt inflict unnecessary hardship on the federal courts in New Mexico. If our senators care about the administration of justice in the federal system here and having highly qualified people on the bench, they should take their federal court nominations off pause before the Senate recess. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Tel Aviv, Sep 29 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that hospitals should be ready to treat at least 1,500 seriously ill coronavirus-infected patients by October 1, as the infection rate in the country has continued to increase unabated. As of Monday evening, the number of seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Israel stood at 763, while the overall tally increased to 233,118 with 1,499, The Times of Israel quoted the Health Ministry's latest update as saying. In a statement issued by his office on Monday evening, Netanyahu believes that the ongoing complete lockdown could be extended if the rate of infection continued to increase. Following discussions on Sunday, the Prime Minister directed authorities to submit plans aimed to curb the virus spread on Wednesday when the coronavirus cabinet convenes. According to The Times of Israel report, the cabinet is also likely to discuss other key issues, including vaccines, use of rapid Covid-19 tests, enforcement of regulations, as well as increasing fines and sanctions for violators. On September 26, Netanyahu admitted that his government made mistakes in emerging from Israel's first national lockdown earlier this year. "Did we make mistakes in the past? Of course," The Times of Israel quoted the Prime Minister as saying in a Hebrew video released by his office. "The opening of event halls was too fast. Maybe the opening of the whole school system." Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Jordan Menard is the founder of Traffic Pilot, an e-learning platform that teaches people how to become highly-proficient digital marketers who can charge high-ticket prices for their services. Most people haven't heard of Jordan Menard, but it's likely they've seen his work. Jordan is a media buyer, a job still relatively unknown by the general public. He's worked with people like Jordan Belfort, Consulting.com, Robert Kiyosaki, Mastering.com, The Morrison Brothers, & more. Media buyers are digital marketers who work as intermediaries between brands & networks. When big brands have products they want to sell online, they hire an agency that offers media buying services to create advertisements and pay the platforms to show them to their users. Essentially, media buying solves the problem every business has: How do we get leads? For obvious reasons, this industry is booming, and in an economy where millions have suddenly lost a job for no reason of their own, media buying is thriving; people are on their phones and computers more than ever. If you were to ask him, Jordan would tell you that a media buyer exchanges attention for Currency. Attention is more valuable than currency, Jordan argues, and the profit made from the clicks his agency buys is evidence of that. Traffic Pilot, the world's preeminent digital marketing e-learning platform, was created with the vision to teach people the same skills Jordan uses everyday in the agency he runs out of Encinitas, CA. The idea is simple: Anyone can do this. In an industry stained with a superficial reputation, Traffic Pilot is founded on a belief that digital marketing is a skill that has the greatest ability to facilitate the exchange of wealth in the Modern Economy. Anyone can buy ads from the platform, and algorithms do not discriminate on any superficial factors like humans do. Simultaneously, everyone from big brands to mom-and-pop small businesses can benefit from having an effective media buyer send traffic to their store and drive Sales. To learn more, go to https://trafficpilot.com/. For every course sold, Traffic Pilot gives one away to someone who is economically Disenfranchised. Jordan Menard says the vision behind this is centered around the fact that algorithms do not discriminate based on superficial factors like race or gender like humans do; algorithms only care about 1 thing: performance. You can find a free training where Jordan explains Traffic Pilot and the process of how anyone can start their own digital agency by clicking here: bit.ly/learn-digital-marketing1. CONTACT: Jordan Menard jordan@trafficpilot.com SOURCE: One World Publishing View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608375/Celebrity-Media-Buyer-Jordan-Menard-Launches-New-Digital-Learning-Platform-Named-Traffic-Pilot Pritzker has noted that a 20% hike in the flat tax is an option, along with 15% across the board spending cuts, if voters reject the proposed amendment. At the same time, opponents have contended the amendment would open the states income tax to retirement income though Illinois does not tax retirement income and nothing in the amendment changes that law. Tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated from towns including the entirety of wine tourism destination Calistoga Two California wildfires that ravaged Napa's famous wine region and killed three people exploded in size Tuesday as firefighters faced a weeks-long battle to contain the blazes. The so-called Glass Fire enveloping some of northern California's world-famous vineyards has scorched 42,000 acres (17,000 hectares) and remains zero percent contained, despite the efforts of some 1,500 firefighters. Celebrated Napa wineries such as Chateau Boswell and part of Castello di Amorosa have been lost to the flames, which reached the fringes of Santa Rosathe largest town in neighboring Sonoma County. Tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated from towns including the entirety of wine tourism destination Calistoga. "It looks like a bomb went off," 61-year-old resident Joe Ortega told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The trees go up like matches." Cal Fire official Jonathan Cox said 80 houses have been destroyed between the two counties. Santa Rosa fire chief Tony Gossner said it would take weeks to bring the flames under control, warning "it's going to be kind of long, and it's going to be painful." The region is still reeling from devastating wildfires in 2017 when 44 people died and thousands of buildings were razed. Smoke hangs among charred trees on the hillside behind a vineyard in Napa Valley, California Further north the deadly Zogg Fire that killed at least three people has now ripped through 40,000 acres, again without containment. Both fires were sparked Sunday by unknown sources, and spread rapidly through dry vegetation due to high winds that have since eased. Temperatures remain high in the region. The new blazes come during a record season, with five of California's six biggest wildfires in history currently burning and 3.8 million acres scorched. Climate change amplifies droughts which dry out regions, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out-of-control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage. Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday warned that California is only "now moving into the peak of the wildfire season," with Santa Ana winds sweeping south toward Los Angeles, where another major heat wave is expected. Evacuations have been complicated by the coronavirus, which has hit the Golden State hard with more than 810,000 confirmed cases. Explore further Wildfires rip through California wine country, thousands flee homes 2020 AFP HONG KONG The 12 protesters who were caught fleeing Hong Kong in a speedboat last month have not been allowed to call their families. They have been denied bail and held without charge in a Chinese detention center. They have been barred from meeting rights lawyers appointed by their relatives. Soon, they will face criminal charges related to their escape, and they are expected to do so in the mainlands murky justice system. In Hong Kong, they have become a potent reminder of the very same deep-seated anxiety that last year triggered large demonstrations and evolved into the most serious challenge to the Communist Partys rule in decades. The protests targeted a proposed extradition law, since abandoned, that would have exposed the citys residents to trial on the mainland, where courts are controlled by the party. This is what we had been fearing when we protested against the extradition bill, that people from Hong Kong could get sent over to China into a totally different system thats well known for not following their own laws, said Beatrice Li, the sister of Andy Li, an activist who was one of the people on the boat. FOSHAN, China, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited ("Bright Scholar," the "Company," "we" or "our") (NYSE: BEDU), a global premier education service company, today announced that it entered into agreements to acquire 60% equity interests in Leti Camp Education ("Leti Camp"). The Company targets to complete the transaction in November 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the completion of relevant corporate and regulatory procedures. Established in 2017, Leti Camp specializes in providing summer and winter camp activities for teenagers and owns a comprehensive product offering in Hands-on Inquiry Based Learning (HIBL) and camp business. Leti Camp has served around 100,000 students across China with services well received by its partner schools and educational institutions. "With the anticipated addition of Leti Camp to our camp business, Bright Scholar will further expand its offerings to include adoption of inquiry-based learning," said Zi Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Complementary Education Services. "HIBL aims to increase student engagement, nurture curiosity and excitement in learning and allow for more open-ended learning through participation in interesting camp activities, which is complementary to traditional models of following set curriculum. Being student-focused is at the heart of Bright Scholar. The investment in Leti Camp offers enormous potential and synergy which will expedite the expansion of our camp education service business." About Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited Bright Scholar is a global premier education service company, dedicated to providing quality international education to global students and equipping them with the critical academic foundation and skillsets necessary to succeed in the pursuit of higher education. Bright Scholar also complements its international offerings with Chinese government-mandated curriculum for students who wish to maintain the option of pursuing higher education in China. As of May 31, 2020, Bright Scholar operated 80 schools across ten provinces in China and eight schools overseas, covering the breadth of K-12 academic needs of its students. In the nine months ended May 31, 2020, Bright Scholar had an average of 51,970 students enrolled at its schools. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company's business plans and development, which can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under law. IR Contact: GCM Strategic Communications Email: [email protected] Media Contact: Email: [email protected] Phone: +86-757-6683-2507 SOURCE Bright Scholar Education Holdings Ltd. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved legislation prompted by the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other peopls that makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime. Reports surfaced after the Jan. 26 crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the others that graphic photos of the victims were being shared. Eight deputies were accused of taking or sharing graphic photos of the scene, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said then, adding that he had ordered the images deleted. He said the department has a policy against taking and sharing crime scene photos, but it did not apply to accident scenes. The measure that will take effect Jan. 1 makes it a misdemeanor with fines up to $1,000 per offense to take such photos for anything other than an official law enforcement purpose. Bryants widow, Vanessa Bryant, has sued the department over the photos. Wildlife warrior Bindi Irwin tied the knot earlier this year. And it appears the 22-year-old is more in love than ever with her American wakeboarder husband, Chandler Powell, 23. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Bindi shared a gushing tribute to her main man alongside a black-and-white throwback photo from their wedding. So in love: On Tuesday, pregnant Bindi Irwin, 22, shared a touching tribute to husband Chandler Powell, 23, as the couple prepare to welcome their first child. Both pictured In the photograph, Bindi is seen kissing Chandler as he wraps his arms around her waist. 'I fall more in love with you every day,' she captioned the photo. Chandler returned the love by leaving his own sweet message to his adoring beauty. 'I love you more than anything,' he wrote. 'Baby girl, you are our world!' Pregnant Bindi revealed she and husband Chandler Powell are expecting a daughter in an Instagram post Last week, the mother-to-be shared a photo of herself cuddled up to an Aldabra tortoise at her home in Australia Zoo, Queensland to Instagram. In the image, Chandler, 23, posed alongside her behind a pink floral display, as he held up a photo of the sonogram showing their baby. Bindi wrote in the caption: 'Baby girl, you are our world.' Baby Wildlife Warrior due in 2021: Bindi and Chandler revealed their baby news last month on Instagram, with the pair holding up a baby-sized Australia Zoo khaki uniform 'Our beautiful daughter is now about the same size as a hatchling Aldabra tortoise and is as healthy as can be. 'We can't wait for her arrival next year,' the Wildlife Warrior added. Chandler also shared the same photo sweet photo, and wrote in the caption: 'Our little girl and my beautiful wife are my entire world. 'I'm so excited to meet our daughter when she's born next year and to see the incredible person she will grow up to be.' The young couple were married on March 25, in a makeshift ceremony at Australia Zoo, just before Covid pandemic lockdown. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has been an active supporter of the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana after going around the state listening to the views of Pennsylvania residents. Fetterman will discuss why he and Gov. Tom Wolf are convinced legalizing recreational cannabis would be good for the commonwealth at 2 p.m. Tuesday on Live On PennLive with Joyce Davis on Facebook. Live On with Joyce Davis Lt. Gov. John Fetterman explains why legalizing recreational marijuana would be good for the state and its people on today's Facebook Live. Get your respectful comments and questions ready for today's discussion. Posted by PennLive.com on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 They point to Washington and Colorado, states that saw a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars when they legalized recreational marijuana. Its a windfall Pennsylvania could use right now as it battles COVID-19. But some people are still concerned that legalizing recreational marijuana could have negative side effects that the state would do well to consider, including reports of increased traffic accidents, medical emergencies and use by teens. Bring your respectful questions and comments about legalizing recreational marijuana to todays Facebook Live discussion with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. And please subscribe to Battleground PA to stay abreast of the issues in the 2020 elections! By Gabriella Borter and Lisa Shumaker NEW YORK (Reuters) - The percentage of COVID-19 tests taken in New York state that have come back positive has inched up to 1.5%, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday, a worrisome trend for the former epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus epidemic. New York's positivity rate had hovered around 1% for weeks, a hard-won metric after the state tallied thousands of cases per day during the peak of its outbreak in the spring. The rate's uptick now comes as 27 other states recorded increases in the number of cases for two straight weeks. "It's basically Brooklyn, Orange and Rockland that are increasing this number," Cuomo told reporters on Monday, adding that state health officials were looking into COVID-19 clusters in these locations. He said health officials were still trying to find a reason for the rise in those areas, all of them in the southern part of the state. In some Brooklyn neighborhoods, the positivity rate is as high as 5-7%, the city health department said on Monday. Cases in New York state have risen 4.4% so far in September, one of the smallest increases among U.S. states, according to a Reuters tally. The state's positive test rate remains much lower than that of some Midwestern states, where 15% of tests have been coming back positive. Cuomo urged New Yorkers to remain vigilant in mask-wearing and warned of consequences if they do not. "It's not time to get tired because the virus isn't tired," he said. NEW RECORDS The number of new cases has risen for two weeks in a row in 27 out of 50 U.S. states, with North Carolina and New Mexico both reporting increases above 50% last week, according to a Reuters analysis. The Midwest has emerged as the country's new hotspot, with hospitalizations surging in some states. Wisconsin set records for new cases twice last week and is now reporting more new infections each day than Florida. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming have all set records for new daily cases three times this month. Story continues The positivity rate has risen to 26% in South Dakota, up from 17% last week, according to an analysis using testing data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak. According to the analysis, on Monday, Wisconsin's rate was 19%, Iowa's was 16%, Missouri's was 16%, Kansas' was 15% and Nebraska's 14%. The World Health Organization considers rates above 5% concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered. U.S. top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday that he was concerned about the trend as the weather gets colder and people spend more time indoors, increasing the likelihood of spread. "We're not in a good place ... because as we get into the fall and the winter you really want the level of community spread to be as low as you can possibly get it," Fauci said. The United States is reporting 45,000 new infections on average each day, compared with 40,000 a week ago and 35,000 two weeks ago. Cities and states have continued reopening at varying speeds. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she would loosen capacity restrictions related to COVID-19 for bars, restaurants and health clubs later this week. "This next step in our reopening is good news for business owners as well as the communities they serve and the thousands of residents that work for them," Lightfoot said in a statement. On Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lifted all capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants. Video footage posted to social media over the weekend showed mask-less Floridians drinking and dancing in crowded bars. The state had recorded over 690,000 cases of the virus as of Monday, according to its health department website. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter, Lisa Shumaker, Brendan O'Brien and Susan Heavey; Editing by Aurora Ellis, Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin) The Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA) knows locals provide the most authentic and trusted perspective, offering visitors inspiration for their next staycation or getaway. With seven miles of beach, the perfect natural setting for a number of outdoor activities and home to destination hotels and restaurants, Miami Beach is a paradise getaway, only a drive away, ideal for a much-needed escape as travelers look to relax. "Miami Beach is home to a variety of talented artists and photographers and as we collectively work to welcome back our beloved visitors, it was important for us to showcase a selection of authentic work from locals," says Steve Adkins, Chair of the MBVCA. "The "My Miami Beach, Your Escape" campaign allows us to not only support our city's businesses, but also our community by featuring their work and connecting with future travelers." Images for the "My Miami Beach, Your Escape" campaign were submitted through a social media call for submissions asking local photographers to capture shots that represented their take on Miami Beach. Photography chosen and currently running in the campaign was captured by Gabriela Adian, Patty Villa, Majo Grossi and Michael del Riego, all who provided a unique take on the destination through their own lens. "I love the colorful sights found in South Beach. It reminds me of the cultural diversity that makes Miami Beach one of the best places to live on earth or vacation at," said Majo Grossi, a Miami Beach local. In addition to local photographers, the "My Miami Beach, Your Escape" campaign will feature renowned celebrities and personalities that call Miami Beach home and represent art, food, wellness, culture and the local lifestyle. To keep-up with the "My Miami Beach, Your Escape" campaign and to view the upcoming social videos series featuring local personalities, follow @ExperienceMiamiBeach on Facebook and Instagram and @EMiamiBeach on Twitter. "Miami Beach is not only a world-renowned destination because of our beaches, hotels and restaurants. What truly makes this destination like no other place in the world is our local community," notes Grisette Marcos, Executive Director, MBVCA. "This new campaign represents our city through the lens of those that call Miami Beach home and we look forward to sharing their work through this dedicated effort." Those inspired by the "My Miami Beach, Your Escape" campaign and ready to plan their next getaway can download the official app at http://www.miamibeachapi.com/. ABOUT MIAMI BEACH Miami Beach is an award-winning destination, recently awarded silver in the 2020 edition of the Travvy Awards, presented by travAlliancemedia, in the categories of 'Best Tourism Board U.S & Canada,' 'Best LGBTQ Destination' and 'Best Luxury Destination U.S & Canada." This adds to the wins in the 2019, 2018 and 2017 edition of the Travvy Awards in categories including 'Best Honeymoon Destination, U.S. & Canada', 'Best Tourism Board U.S. & Canada', and 'Best LGBTQ Destination'. Also recently named 2019 and 2018 North America's Leading Tourist Board by the World Travel Awards, and a winner in the 2018 Magellan Awards by Travel Weekly in the categories of "Best Overall Honeymoon Destination in the United States and Canada", "Best Overall Beach Destination in the United States and Canada", and "Best Overall Spa Destination in the United States and Canada" respectively. Miami Beach is a favorite destination among travelers worldwide. Renowned for its unparalleled culinary offerings, extravagant nightlife, rich culture, luxe shopping and plush hotels, Miami Beach is home to unique museums, the New World Symphony, Miami City Ballet, Miami Beach Convention Center, international festivals and art exhibitions, boat and auto shows, over 187 boutique and resort hotels and 12 public parks; it is no wonder the beautifully diverse city is one of the world's most popular vacation destinations. Boasting seven miles of breathtaking beaches, Miami Beach is easily accessible from the Port of Miami and Miami International Airport. The City of Miami Beach has been named one of the top cities worldwide for 'walkability' and is equally easy to navigate by bike or boat. Known for its year-round sunny skies, the vibrant destination has been ranked by TripAdvisor as a Top Winter Sun Vacation Rental Getaway Destination, Top Romantic Destination, Top 25 Beaches in the World and Top 25 Destinations in the U.S. Miami Beach is like no other place in the world! In 2019, the MBVCA introduced new handles on Instagram and Facebook @ExperienceMiamiBeach and on Twitter @EMiamiBeach to provide visitors with real-time information and recommendations. SOURCE Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority Related Links http://www.miamibeachapi.com For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment If someone calls it socialism, said the Rev. William Barber at an August 2019 conference of the Democratic National Committee, then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote socialism, because Jesus offered free health care to everyone, and he never charged a leper a co-pay. The Rev. Barber is not alone in that sentiment. There are flatly too many people right now praising to or sympathetic to socialism and/or Marxism. Some attempt to make an explicitly Christian case for communism, as seen in a stunning article in July 2019 by the leading Jesuit publication, America Magazine, titled, The Catholic Case for Communism, as if Christians have common cause with Karl Marx and his atheistic-materialist philosophy. Having just published a book whose title suggests just the opposite, namely, The Devil and Karl Marx, it pains me to see that anyone would believe that communism is compatible with Christianity specifically or religion generally. Such a notion is astonishing not only given the churchs longtime intense opposition to communism, but also given the intense opposition to Christianity by the founders and disciples of communism. Those founders exhibited an intense opposition to Judaism as well, and they harbored some ugly views of Jews and, still more, of blacks. Those latter views were based in part on an atheistic-materialist commitment to Darwinian evolution that made those founders quite racist. Where to start? Well, for Marx, the starting point was religion. Communism begins where atheism begins, said Karl Marx. The criticism of religion is the beginning of all criticism. Marx framed man as not edified or uplifted by religion but in a struggle against religion. This is a struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. This is why people crave religion as a kind of drug: Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions, averred Marx. It is the opium of the people. And again, for Marx, it all begins with religion. Thats the foundation that must be razed. Religion was among the things he wanted to abolish, along with property, family, all morality, and more. As for social justice Christians who invoke communism as somehow consistent with Christian social teaching, well, Marx begged to differ. The social principles of Christianity preach cowardice, self-contempt, abasement, submission, humility, scowled Marx. The social principles of Christianity are hypocritical. Georg Jung, a Marx contemporary and close friend, said that Marx calls Christianity one of the most immoral religions. Jung viewed Marx as a theological-philosophical revolutionary who was attempting to overthrow the entire social system, not just an economic system. Indeed he was. Marx in the Manifesto said that communism represents the most radical rupture in traditional relations and seeks to abolish the present state of things. Imagine that. That is no small objective. And neither is this rather grandiose goal stated at the close of his Manifesto: They [the Communists] openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Note the utterly revolutionary ambition: the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Marx and Engels closed their Manifesto with this exhortation to future revolutionaries: Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things. That objective has been seized by Marxist revolutionaries still today, whose desire seems to be to tear down rather than build up. Obviously, this has no resemblance to Christianity as Marx and friends knew. In fact, Marxs partner, Friedrich Engels, acknowledged that. One contemporary said of Engels: He held, of course, that Christian socialism was a contradiction in terms. Of course. That was part of the creed of communism. Vladimir Lenin declared that any worship of a divinity is a necrophilia, insisted that there is nothing more abominable than religion, and demanded: Everyone must be absolutely free to be an atheist, which every socialist is, as a rule. Nikolai Bukharin, founding editor of Pravda, stated: A fight to the death must be declared upon religion take on religion at the tip of the bayonet. According to Bukharin, Religion and communism are incompatible, both theoretically and practically. Communism is incompatible with religious faith. Karl Marx was likewise unimpressed with the faith of his family Judaism. The Israelite faith is repulsive to me, sneered Marx in 1843. In his awful 1844 essay On the Jewish Question, Marx raged: What is the worldly cult of the Jew? Haggling. What is his worldly god? Money. The Jew, Marx snarled, had become impossible. He chillingly concluded: The emancipation of the Jews, in the final analysis, is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism. Marx particularly disliked a Jew who was part black. He referred to his fellow German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle as the Jewish [N-word]. He and Engels debated over Lassalles hair and cranial formation: It is now perfectly clear to me that, as the shape of his head and the growth of his hair indicates, he is descended from the Negroes. Marx allowed for an exception: unless his mother or grandmother on the fathers side was crossed with a [N-word]. Marx mocked: This union of Jew and German on a Negro base was bound to produce an extraordinary hybrid. We see here the Darwinian roots of Marxs (and Engels) sordid attitude toward humanity. They viewed human beings as made not in the image of God the imago Dei but in the image of apes. Both Marx and Engels made fun of Marxs son-in-law, Paul Lafargue, who was partly Cuban, which, by Marxs logic, meant he was partially infected by Negro blood. Marx denigrated his own son-in-law as Negrillo, or The Gorilla. (Paul would kill himself in a suicide pact with Marxs daughter alas, Marx lost two daughters in joint suicide pacts with their husbands.) Engels figured to Marx that Paul possessed one-eighth or one-twelfth [N-word] blood. When Lafargue attempted to run as a political candidate for a council seat in a Paris district that contained a zoo, Engels made sure he took a shot at Paul in a letter to Pauls wife: Being in his quality as a [N-word], a degree nearer to the rest of the animal kingdom than the rest of us, he is undoubtedly the most appropriate representative of that district. These views are, obviously, thoroughly un-Christian. To Marx and Engels, Darwin was the figure to look to, not God who, after all, didnt exist. God was dead. In fact, when Marx died in March 1883, Engels looked to Darwin. Staring at Marxs cold coffin, which bore not a cross but two red wreaths, Engels in his eulogy invoked not God but Darwin, hailing the scientist for dealing such a grand blow for materialism and atheism. He would likewise hail Darwin in his eulogy for Marxs wife, Jenny: The place where we stand is the best proof that she lived and died in the full conviction of atheist Materialism, averred Engels, soberly staring at a pile of dirt. She knew that one day she would have to return, body and mind, to the bosom of that nature from which she had sprung. Engels exhorted the atheist faithful to take pride and joy in their shared conviction that the vivacious Jenny was now reduced to mere worm food. And yet, Darwin was hailed by leading Marxists in god-like language. Darwin destroyed the last of my ideological prejudices, Leon Trotsky triumphed. Trotsky said the facts about the world and life and its origins were established for him via this certain system of evolutionary theory. The idea of evolution and determinism, he wrote, took possession of me completely. Darwin stood for me like a mighty doorkeeper at the entrance to the temple of the universe. I was intoxicated with his thought. Trotsky historian Barry Lee Woolley explained: Trotsky took up the faith of Marx and Darwin. The conversion experience was genuine and thorough. This is what we would expect of an ideology that fashioned a golden calf, a material idol, forged and focused on money, property, gold. It was not about the soul. The key to the communist-Marxist utopia would be economics. Solve the economic problem, communists believed, and you would solve the human problem. They speak as if man truly does live by bread alone (Christ corrected Satan on that one). As Pope Benedict XVI said, the fatal flaw of communists and socialists is that they had their anthropology wrong. They did not adequately understand man. As Augustine said, we all have a God-shaped vacuum that God alone can fill; not a dollar-signed vacuum. We crave the divine manna of heaven. Alas, the Marxism that Karl Marx bequeathed is very much a reflection of his impoverished worldview. This materialistic-atheistic ideology would beget over 100 million deaths in the 20th century alone, not to mention a war on faith, family, property, and more. It still rages. And religious people should certainly reject it. Government TechnologyIn this months installment of the Innovation of the Month series, we explore the work of Julia Stoyanovich, an assistant professor of Computer Science, Engineering, and Data Science at New York University, and Falaah Arif Khan from Data, Responsibly, who are creating comics designed to increase awareness of responsible data science. MetroLabs Ben Levine spoke with the two about the background and development of their project.Can you tell us about the origin of the Data, Responsibly project and who has been involved in it?The name of the project was coined in 2015. Serge Abiteboul and I used it for the first time in our Data, Responsibly manifesto that was published as an op-ed piece in Le Monde (in French) and, in an extended version, in the ACM SIGMOD Record blog post . Then, in summer 2016, Serge and I, together with Gerome Miklau and Gerhard Weikum , organized a Dagstuhl seminar by the same name. Dagstuhl is an academic retreat venue in Germany, and having the seminar allowed us to start building a research agenda in responsible data management. In 2016, we joined forces with Bill Howe and HV Jagadish , who have been instrumental in taking the project to a new phase with concrete research ideas and specific applications, primarily in the urban context, that we were able to develop with generous support from the National Science Foundation.We have been working with many brilliant students. I would particularly like to underscore the contributions of my Ph.D. student Ke Yang , who has done tremendous work on fairness, diversity and interpretability. She will be graduating in May 2021.The next stage of this project is the Center for Responsible AI (Artificial Intelligence) that we are launching at NYU. Many of the activities of Data, Responsibly will feed into the work of the new Center.How have the objectives of Data, Responsibly changed over time and with the arrival of new technologies?The top-level objective has always been to help make the responsible use of data and of technologies like AI that rely on data the only kind that society will tolerate. It became increasingly clear to me over time that technology itself is, in some sense, the easy part of the puzzle. Or, at least, the part that we know how to start addressing. Whats much harder is understanding how to develop a good human/technology interface: how to educate people at different levels about what data and technology can and cannot do, and what we should ask and expect of it, and what we should do when technical checks and interventions are inappropriate, or when they fail. As a result, Data, Responsibly has been developing a strong focus on policy and education, in addition to the technical work. And this is why I jumped at the opportunity to work with Falaah to create the comic.Can you tell us about what led you to create thecomic? How did the comic help you to express ideas better than other formats?The more I create scientific comics, the more I see what a natural fit they are for presenting technical ideas. There are all these nuances in the work that get lost in the trigger-happy discussion on social media or the jargon of technical papers. For the general public, theres something about opening a technical paper that is extremely intimidating and hence isolating, and so its a challenge to engage the public using conventional methods. So we figured that wed break down these arguments into relatable metaphors and depictions and make it more amenable to the general public by wrapping it in a bunch of pop culture references and funny, silly illustrations!I think of the process of creating comics as sort of like an artists take on Feynmans principle of learning: If you want to identify how well you understand something, teach it to a child. To me it has now become, if theres a topic that Im obsessively researching and thinking about, that I have to sit down and turn it into a three- or four-panel comic to really distill my understanding. It has enforced a first principles kind of thinking about the machine learning landscape, and so even as a creator its a very enriching experience to go through the process of making one of these volumes.I have come to realize that a gap in responsible AI education in academia, in industry, in government, among members of the public is perhaps the greatest impediment to progress in this field. AI and ethics are just such intimidating topics on their own, but especially when we have to think about them in combination. And the whole conversation about ethics and responsibility in AI has just been so dead serious! To learn about a topic, we have to first feel that its within reach. And nothing is more helpful for this than a healthy dose of humor. The comic is helping us bring the necessary lightness into the conversation. It is also helping us say things directly without folks getting offended after all, its a comic!In, you talk about the importance of understanding who a project is for: Were so caught up in the how, that we forget to ask, For whom? For whom was this comic created, and how do you see them using it?This was actually the first question we asked ourselves and it drove our entire creative process. The bottom line was that we are going to make a resource that can cater to as wide an audience as possible, without compromising on the fundamental message in the piece. This meant that there were elements we had to rework repeatedly until they reached a point where the most casual reader could engage with it. Other times we removed entire parts because we found that they had become too catered to one demographic and wouldnt make sense to other readers.Like we say in the About page, it really is meant to be for everyone. We want it to be that random, cool thing that a layperson who has nothing to do with AI discovers on the Internet and immediately sends to their friends to read. We want it to be the repository of illustrations that academics turn to to add a breath of fresh air to their conference presentations or lecture slides. We want it to be a supplementary or introductory reading for an undergraduate course on AI.When we were making it, we kept gushing about the onion-like structure that was forming, where readers of different backgrounds would have these layers to peel off and enjoy. As with any creative project, you hope that your reader finds something new each time they read it and pick up on a tiny detail in the sketch or a nuance in the wording that they hadnt noticed the last time.How have you approached this project with accessibility in mind?We are not experts in accessibility, but we decided right away to make accessibility one of the focal points of the series, and of the first volume. On the implementation side of this, we learned about what it takes to create a comic that is accessible to the blind and made mistakes along the way, despite our best intentions. Amy Hurst , who directs the Ability Project at NYU , gave us lots of helpful tips that allowed us to get started. Still, the first version of the comic did not show the text in the right order when read with a screen reader. Chancey Fleet generously gave us several rounds of feedback and helped us fix accessibility bugs. Our experience shows that there is clearly a gap in the process those of us with good intentions still lack the training and the tools and devices to embed and test accessibility features in the work we produce.Will you continue making other comics? What are some of the next projects on the horizon for Data, Responsibly?We absolutely plan to continue making more Data, Responsibly comics. The landscape of responsible AI is so wide and spans so many disciplines beyond computer science, such as law, policy and ethics, and so we have a bunch of follow-ups in the works!Personally, I see scientific comics being just another deliverable at the end of a research cycle. Right now, we go work on something obsessively for months and then write a paper to present our ideas to the technical community. Its the same thing, but instead of limiting the discussion to the academic community, we also take all the discarded ideas, thoughts and learnings that are not amenable to a paper and make a comic out of it for the general public.Im excited to see how we can impact the AI landscape and how that will in turn inform the comics.was a primer on the spectrum of ideas and perspectives we hope to delve into in subsequent volumes, and a lot of the thoughts we presented are just ground zero for deeper discussions. My hope is that as the public develops fluency and the mainstream discourse gets more nuanced, were also challenged to dig deeper and break down even more radical ideas.Indeed, we plan to continue! Our initial work is on a series that targets people who are already familiar with data science and AI, at least to some extent. Im eager to get started on another series where the audience is the general public. You can find this AI comic and future comics here OFFALY County Council supported a motion from Cllr Ken Smollen which called on the Government to award medals to the soldiers who fought in the Jadotville siege. Speaking at the September meeting of the council, Cllr Smollen recalled the battle in the Congolese province of Katanga in 1961 involving an Irish United Nations contingent. The commander, Commandant Pat Quinlan, recommended that 32 of the Irish soldiers receive military medals for gallantry and distinguished service medals but they were never awarded. Some of those in the siege were from Offaly, the council meeting was told. Outlining the reasons for bringing his motion before the council, Cllr Smollen said that in 1960 Katanga seceded from the country which later became known as the Republic of Congo. The Irish UN troops were sent to the mining town to assist with the protection of citizens and in 1961 they were attacked by a combined force of Belgian, French and Rhodesian mercenaries along with Belgian settlers who were armed with a mix of heavy and light armament. Along with thousands of men, the attackers were supported by a fighter jet while the Irish had light personal weapons, some Vickers machine guns and 60mm mortars. The lightly armed Irish soldiers besieged in Jadotville resisted heavy assaults for five days as a relief force of Irish, Indian and Swedish trooops unsuccessfully attempted to reach the Irish force, said the Irish Democratic Party councillor. As ammunition and drinking water became exhausted, the Irish surrendered and were held as prisoners of war for about a month. They inflicted casualties but suffered no loss of life themselves. Cllr Smollen said only eight of the 32 men recommended for medals are still alive. With 19 of the 26 counties being represented on that mission at least two of those men that fought there are from Co Offaly, and possibly more. He said their bravery should be properly recognised while they're still alive. It's time that this wrong was put right and it's just another part of our history that has been purposely but shamefully omitted from our history books. His motion was seconded by Cllr Sean O'Brien, Independent, who said quite a few local people were involved in the battle, including Noel Stanley, a Clara man who lives in Tullamore, Joe Bracken, also from Clara, who lives in Athlone, and Jimmy Feery, a native of O'Molloy Street, Tullamore. Cllr O'Brien said Mr Feery, now a resident of Athlone, had been awarded a distinguished service medal for other service in the Congo. Cllr O'Brien said it was important for others who served with the Irish army abroad, that the bravery of their Jadotville colleagues be recognised. We have a very good record of people locally serving in the army, said the councillor. He noted that Dinjo Connolly had served in Lebanon during difficult times and was now a great organiser for the UN veterans' group. It'd be extremely important for those people. You can imagine at the time the difficult conditions they served under. The Tullamore councillor said pay is still an issue in the army and in the early 1960s they were paid a pittance. According to research read by Cllr O'Brien, two of those in Jadotville were just 15 years of age at the time and their mothers were still collecting their children's allowance. It's an amazing story and it certainly needs to be recognised, stated the councillor. Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday it had agreed to supply 25 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal via Trinity Pharmaceuticals, which it described as a private healthcare firm and key distributor there. The Russian Direct Investment Fund has struck multiple Sputnik V vaccine supply deals abroad, including to supply 100 million doses to India, where it also expects to hold clinical trials. Russia last month had approved a coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, although it is still undergoing clinical trials. President Vladimir Putin had praised the vaccine as safe and effective. A number of high-profile officials and politicians have already taken the vaccine, and Putin has said one of his daughters was vaccinated. Russia is ready to offer its 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine free of charge for voluntary vaccination of the staff of United Nations (UN) and its offices and the country will soon hold a virtual conference for those nations keen in cooperation in the development of anti-coronavirus vaccines, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. Delivering his remarks through a pre-recorded video for the 75th session of the UN General Assembly last week, Putin described the 'Sputnik V' vaccine, the world's first coronavirus vaccine, as "safe, reliable and effective". He said the Russian government is ready to share experience and continue collaborating with countries and international entities including the supply of the 'Sputnik V' vaccine. The Russian Direct Investment Fund is collaborating with Indian pharma giant Dr Reddy's Laboratories to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 as well as its distribution. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New evidence discovered from the Chicxulub crater suggests the black carbon that filled the atmosphere after an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago was caused by the impact and not massive wildfires as previously suspected. Researchers analyzed sediments from the crater, which is located in what is now the Yucatan Peninsula, and nearby ocean sites to determine the source of the soot that blocked the sun. The team found a group of hydrocarbons that were heated rapidly during the event that released sulfate aerosols and dust into the atmosphere sparking the impact winter that led to the mass extinction. The findings do support the previous theory of wildfires, but suggests the massive blazes were delayed and had less of an influence on killing 76 percent of life on Earth. Scroll down for video New evidence discovered from the Chicxulub crater suggests the black carbon that filled the atmosphere after an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago was caused by the impact and not massive wildfires as previously suspected The asteroid smashed into a shallow sea in what is ow the Gulf of Mexico that led to the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, including the nonavian dinosaurs. Evidence of the impact has been discovered all across the globe and in KPg boundary records, which are features of rocks that preserve information about the history of Earth. Scientists have long speculated that when the asteroid hit, the event sparked massive wildfires that released intense soot into the atmosphere. However, a team of researchers from the US, Australia and the UK have uncovered a new story at the crater site. Researchers analyzed sediments from the crater, which is located in what is now the Yucatan Peninsula, and nearby ocean sites to determine the source of the black carbon that blocked the sun We present a detailed record of molecular burn markers (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]) from the Chicxulub crater and in ocean sediments distant from the impact site, reads the study published in PNAS. PAH features indicate rapid heating and a fossil carbon source and are consistent with sedimentary carbon ejected from the impact crater and dispersed by the atmosphere. Target rock-derived soot immediately contributed to global cooling and darkening that curtailed photosynthesis and caused widespread extinction. The team found a group of hydrocarbons that were heated rapidly during the event, resulting in the release sulfate aerosols and dust into the atmosphere. This sparked the impact winter that led to the mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs The work involved analyzing sediment samples from within the Chicxulub crater and from other ocean sites near the crater. In their analysis, the researchers focused on PAHs, which can provide evidence of a source of black carbon. This led them to a fossil source that released the black carbon and not from burned material from wildfires. They also found that the characteristics of the PAHs showed they came about due to rapid heating, which, the researchers note, was consistent with rocky material ejected from an impact crater. The researchers also found small amounts of charcoal in the samples, indicating that some small amount of burned biomass had also made its way into the atmosphere. The national suckler herd could decline by as much as 32pc by 2030 if the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal. That shocking prediction was made by Teagasc in documents outlining the measures Irish agriculture should take to cut ammonia emissions in the coming decade. Under Teagasc's 'Low activity' scenario where hard Brexit is assumed to take place, the imposition of tariffs by the UK on imports of agricultural goods from the EU27 (including Ireland) leads to a dramatic reduction in the UK demand for Irish agri-food exports. Under this scenario, the beef sector is the most exposed of Irelands major agricultural sub-sectors to the imposition of tariffs by the UK on imports of agricultural goods. "Significantly lower levels of profitability that arise due to reduced beef prices lead to an accelerated contraction of the Irish beef cow herd," the report states. Beef cow numbers in 2030 are projected to decline to 686,000, a 32pc decrease relative to 2018. Under the hard Brexit scenario the total cattle population is projected to decline by 9pc over the period. However, Irish dairy cow numbers are still projected to increase. Teagasc said this increase reflects the continuing profitability of dairy production in Ireland in spite of the assumed hard Brexit. Dairy cow numbers in 2030, under a Hard Brexit scenario, are projected to reach 1.562m a 10pc increase relative to 2018. In a soft Brexit scenario, with the UK and EU trade relationship continuing to de facto be equivalent to UK membership of the Single Market, an even larger rise in the dairy herd is predicted: dairy cow numbers in 2030 could reach as high as 1.636m, up 15pc on 2018. In contrast, the study states the continuing low levels of profitability of suckler production systems would see it decline significantly, even in a soft Brexit scenario. It projects the suckler herd could decline to 0.76m by 2030. This represents a 25pc decrease relative to 2018. Under this scenario, the total crop land area is also projected to continue to decline due to the higher level of profits per hectare in dairy farming as compared to tillage farming. By 2030 the total cereal area harvested in Ireland is projected to decline to 223,000 hectare, 14pc down on 2018. Notably, the cereal area is projected to fall more slowly in hard Brexit environment, with slightly higher cereal prices in Ireland, as the introduction of tariffs on Irish cereal imports from the UK leads to higher Irish prices. Total sheep numbers are projected to increase to 5.316m by 2030 under a hard Brexit. The report projected hat the introduction of tariffs on EU-UK trade would lead to a reduction in the exports of lamb from the UK to other EU markets. This projected reduction in supplies to the EU market is reflected in an increase in prices paid to Irish sheep farmers as European demand increases for Irish lamb. However, in a soft Brexit scenario, sheep numbers are projected to decline by 10pc by 2030 due to low profitability. The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is embarking on a Literacy Campaign (SLC) from October 2 to promote literacy on 'WASH' (Water, and Hygiene) in 2,000 villages across the country covering one lakh rural population. The objective of the campaign, which would continue till January 26, 2021, is to focus on inculcating significant behavioural changes towards adapting good hygiene and sanitationpractices, according to a statement. also said that under the Swachh Bharat Mission, it has actively supported Government of India in construction of 3.29 crore household toilets by sanctioning and disbursing an amount of Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 12,298 crore, respectively. "The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for maintaining good hygiene and practices both at community level as well as at individual level," it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New UB program supplies companies with electrical engineering student assistance In addition to giving students formal technical knowledge, we need to give them hands-on experience. BUFFALO, N.Y. Ask Nathan DelSignore what he gained this summer from working at Baillie Lumber Co., and the answer comes easily. He relishes knowing that his efforts will potentially lead to substantial company savings. In prior internships, I havent had the opportunity to provide that type of value to the company, DelSignore says. The experience was possible because of a University at Buffalo pilot program pairing rising electrical engineering seniors with a few companies in Western New York seeking technical assistance. Managed by the UB Center for Industrial Effectiveness (UB TCIE), the students spent 40 hours per week for 10 weeks contributing their engineering know-how while absorbing realities of the business world. Each of the three students involved in the pilot was immersed in several aspects of the small- and mid-sized firms a stark contrast to the cubicle consignments so often associated with internships at multinational companies. In addition to giving students formal technical knowledge, we need to give them hands-on experience, says Jonathan Bird, PHD, chair of electrical engineering in UBs School of Engineering and Applied Scienes. Bird and the UB TCIE team are well acquainted with a common industry gripe: While the university produces technically competent engineering graduates, they dont always possess the knack for collaborating with and relating to various levels of the labor force. Such sentiments were voiced during UB meetings with industry representatives over the prior year. The gatherings were part of an effort led by UB TCIE and partially funded by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomos Climate Jobs NY initiative to close critical workforce gaps between clean energy employers and Western New York educators. Since Bird was part of those assemblies and heard the concerns firsthand, he collaborated with UB TCIE to support an experiential learning program. It would be modeled after UB TCIEs Student Six Sigma Black Belt Certification program, which integrates students applying theory at a company with support from a UB mentor. Thus, the electrical engineering summer program was born, with Bird acting as the students sounding board. Participating companies received the service at a reduced cost with a Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) grant. Companies would benefit from an extra hand. Students would learn from those who understand the nuances of a job or industry because they live it. Often the workers who dont have the formal academic training have the experience, Bird explains. Those people have a huge wealth of accumulated knowledge that is so important to learn from. Aside from downsizing the pilot, the COVID-19 pandemic skewed one-on-one interactions for most students, requiring heavy reliance on remote discourse. DelSignores role required a lot of virtual communications regardless, since his project assignment involved employees stationed at locations other than the companys Hamburg headquarters. He was enlisted to boost Baillies efforts of harnessing IoT (internet of things) technology and, in the words of Chief Technology Officer Gary Braunscheidel, move the needle in areas of innovation that we just dont have time to do. To maintain our competitive edge and to grow, were looking at innovation and IT, says Braunscheidel, referring to information technology. We have a lot of different opportunities in innovations that we could leverage to introduce efficiencies. DelSignore was assigned to assess a pilot project staged at the companys Blue Triangle Hardwoods facility in Everett, Pennsylvania. David Bosserman, information technology director at subsidiary American Hardwood in Virginia, had previously collaborated with a Baillie employee to build a prototype that utilizes IoT technology to better monitor kiln conditions. Initial results demonstrated energy savings, evidenced by a reduction in the monthly electrical bill. DelSignore gathered data and visited the Pennsylvania facility to observe the prototype in action. He thereafter devised a predictive model to calculate the apparatus probable savings at other Baillie facilities. There was a lot of room for my input and the direction I wanted to take, he says when reflecting on the license granted. He is also grateful for the bi-weekly check-ins with Bird, clarifying that it was comforting to receive guidance about the project, tips for handling situations and advice regarding future pursuits. Work culminated in a cost analysis for scaling the solution across Baillie. The IT team has incorporated it into a business case presentation to management. Bosserman acknowledges that without DelSignores focused dedication, completing the analysis would take much longer amid his daily responsibilities. This is sort of a backburner, extracurricular project. What he was able to accomplish in 10 weeks maybe would have taken me a year. Bird hopes the UB program can scale up to be of similar service to even more companies next summer. He is also hopeful that it stimulates further linkages between local employers and UBs School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Conversations and alliances with industry are important to informing academic programs. We are thinking of where our students are going once they leave and how their learning can be valuable to these companies, he says. We want to be partners in making this region successful. The Public Prosecution Service has upheld a decision not to proceed with cases against 15 former soldiers relating to Bloody Sunday. The announcement is a result of an internal review requested by the families of some of the victims and follows a decision last March that only one soldier, known only as Soldier F, will face court. He is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney and is further charged with five counts of attempted murder. A total of 13 people were killed and 15 were wounded when soldiers opened fire on a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry on January 30, 1972. The latest review of the existing evidence was conducted by PPS Senior Assistant Director Marianne OKane, who was not previously involved in the cases. The families had argued that 15 members of the military should face charges in relation to the deaths of 10 victims who died on the day and 10 others who were injured. They had also called for Soldier F to answer further charges. Last year, it had been decided there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable chance of prosecution for the other soldiers. A statement from the PPS said the decision has been communicated in writing to the families as well as the suspects. The statement said Ms OKane had taken new decisions for each review request, but concluded the test for prosecution was not met on evidential grounds to prosecute any of the 15 soldiers. The existing case against Soldier F is still to proceed, but the request to add further charges was also declined in the review process. Ms OKane said she had understood the disappointment felt by families after the original decision not to prosecute last year and their reasons for requesting a review. The reviews process began substantively in November 2019, after receipt of all legal submissions, and involved applying the Test for Prosecution afresh to all available evidence submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from 2016-17, she said. I have concluded that the available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction of any of the 15 soldiers who were the subjects of the reviews. Accordingly, the decisions not to prosecute these 15 individuals all stand. She continued: I know that todays outcome will cause further upset to those who have pursued a long and determined journey for justice over almost five decades. "I can only offer reassurance to all of the families and victims of Bloody Sunday, and the wider community, that my decisions were conducted wholly independently and impartially, and in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors. Finally, it is important to note that while Soldier F is among the 15 individuals to which these new decisions relate, the prosecution that commenced against him in 2019, which relates to two charges of murder and five charges of attempted murder, continues. In 2016, the PSNI had originally reported 20 suspects to the PPS in relation to the events of Bloody Sunday. This included 18 soldiers, one of whom has since died, as well as two Official IRA suspects. The PPS issued the initial decision not to prosecute 19 individuals on March 14, 2019. Religious, political leaders urge Western Church to remember 'forgotten' persecuted Christians Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Religious and political leaders urged the Church in the West to speak up for persecuted Christians and warned that if the U.S. doesnt lead the fight for religious freedom, the world will regress to our natural fallen state." There is more persecution worldwide than at any other time in modern history. And there's never been a greater need for action, former Virginia Congressman Frank Wolf said Wednesday night during the In Defense of Christians 2020 digital summit. He cited statistics from the Pew Research Center revealing that 80% of the worlds population lives in a religiously repressive environment. Out of all the global religions, Christians are the most persecuted group, he said. Wolf, a longtime advocate for international religious freedom who authored the legislation that created the international religious freedom office at the State Department, specifically mentioned the persecution of Christians,Uighur Muslims and Falun Gong in China. He also decried the genocide occurring in Nigeria. Boko Haram has killed more people, more Christians in Nigeria, than all the people that ISIS killed in Iraq and Syria combined, he said. But according to Wolf, the cries of the persecuted are met with the sound of silence" from many in the faith community in the West. Many Christians in these communities really feel abandoned. And when you visit them, sometimes they almost feel doomed, he explained. He cited William Wilberforce, who stated: You may choose to look the other way. But you can never say again that you do not know. With all the information out there today, you really can't say that we do not know, Wolf contended. You should be speaking out for those who are being persecuted and then, regardless of the cost, you're to be acting, doing something about it because we are facing a very, very critical time. The West needs to step up particularly the Church in the West needs to step up. The 81-year-old was among many who participated in the online global summit hosted by the prominent Washington-based human rights advocacy organization In Defense of Christians, which engages in grassroots political advocacy campaigns to lobby for the protection of persecuted ancient Christian communities in the Middle East. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of several religious leaders to address the summit, said that when he meets with persecuted Christians in foreign countries, theyll constantly say to me, We feel forgotten. We don't hear anybody speaking up for us. We feel like we're orphans. I say to them, You got it, Dolan told the audience. And Im asking all of you not to make me a liar. We cant forget those Christians suffering throughout the world. We cant ignore them. As part of the event, IDC named Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, the IDC Champion of 2020 for advocating for the protection and preservation of Christians and Christianity in the Middle East. Here in the U.S. we enjoy freedom, Crenshaw said while accepting the award. Freedom to largely do what we please, say what we will, where we want to, with whom we want to do it. But we're unique both today and in the longer history of the world. These are freedoms not everyone enjoys, and in far too many places, those freedoms don't even exist at all. Freedom to gather, the freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, is not the norm. Crenshaw stressed that the fight for freedom here and abroad is not one that will ever be totally won." "Its a constant battle that requires our eternal vigilance and willingness to be the shining city on the hill that leads by example and is willing to stand up and fight for the freedoms founded on our Judeo-Christian faith that we hold so dearly," the Republican said. Evils like the Islamic State can only exist when America refuses to lead, he added. We say 'The price is too high. The burden is just too much.' If the U.S. refuses to lead or fight for the truth that man is born free with inalienable, God-given rights, the world will regress to our natural fallen state where freedom is not the norm, but a brief memory of the distant past, Crenshaw asserted. Freedom matters, the representative said. Your freedom matters, freedom of Christians across the globe, but especially in the Middle East, the rights of free conscience to pray freely and the ability to worship without fear, matters. Opening the digital event, IDC President Toufic Baaklini praised the Trump administration for contributing to historic milestones for religious freedom, mentioning Trump's Executive Order on Advancing International Religious Freedom and the recognition of the Armenian genocide in Congress. We want to thank President Trump for what he's done, Baaklini said. No other president in U.S. history has done for the Christians all over the world [what hes done]. Wednesdays event was co-chaired by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. EWTN News anchor Tracy Sabol served as the master of ceremonies. Joshua Jennings, from Yukon, was initially charged with child abuse but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder Jennings was arrested on Friday after the baby, 10-month-old Paisley Cearly, was taken to the emergency clinic by her mother The baby died on Saturday The ardent Trump supporter has several posts declaring his support for #SaveOurChildren Hashtag has grown in prominence as QAnon supporters try to recruit pro-life fans into believing Democrats are running sexual cults Joshua Jennings, from Yukon, was initially charged with child abuse but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder A QAnon conspiracist from Oklahoma who repeatedly shared and posted the pro-life hashtag #saveourchildren, has been charged with killing his girlfriend's infant daughter. ADVERTISEMENT Joshua Jennings, from Yukon, was initially charged with child abuse but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder after the baby died at the hospital on Saturday. Jennings was arrested on Friday after the baby, 10-month-old Paisley Cearly, was taken to the emergency clinic by her mother on Friday, KFOR reports. Medical professionals at the clinic called authorities after discovering that the infant had sustained multiple significant injuries while in the care of Jennings. There was evidence of older injuries on the child as well. Police would not reveal what the nature of the injuries were until they received an autopsy from the medical examiner. The baby died on Saturday. Jennings was arrested on Friday after the baby, 10-month-old Paisley Cearly, was taken to the emergency clinic by her mother on Friday. The baby died on Saturday 'Upon talking to the doctor, there's no way the injuries could have occurred accidentally,' said Oklahoma City Police Msgt. Gary Knight. The abuse was said to have occurred near SW 5th St and Mustang Rd in Oklahoma City. 'Upon interviewing the man, Joshua Jennings, he was then booked into the Oklahoma County jail on a complaint of child abuse. The child later died so that charge would be amended to reflect murder in the first degree,' Msgt. Knight added. According to his Facebook page, Jennings is an ardent Trump supporter who has spoken out against athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. He has also expressed disdain for fake news. Jennings is an ardent Trump supporter who has spoken out against athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. He has also expressed disdain for fake news But Jennings has dedicated a number of post to the #SaveOurChildren, advocating against harming children and condemning pedophilia. 'Someone said to me "your hard on your kids"... Yeah and that's why they aren't little a**holes,' a post Jennings shared on September 14 reads. ADVERTISEMENT An August 12 post reads: 'Y'all know I don't get on here and post much any more. One, because life has been crazy with work, moving, etc. And two, because I don't feel the need to live my life on social media. However... This #SaveOurChildren movement train I will GLADLY hop on. Blow it up on my page if you feel froggy.' Click here to resize this module Jennings has dedicated a number of post to the #SaveOurChildren 'Someone said to me "your hard on your kids"... Yeah and that's why they aren't little a**holes,' a post Jennings shared on September 14 reads #SaveOurChildren has gained prominence among the QAnon community, who claim that Democrats, Hollywood stars and members of the Jewish elite are kidnapping minors for sexual rituals to extend their lives. Pizzagate occurred after Edgar Maddison Welch stormed a DC pizzeria believing there was an underage sex ring being ran by Bill and Hillary Clinton. 'This fight against this belief that the Hollywood elites or whoever the conspiracy theorists are blaming for this big huge pedophile rings, its just a distraction from the real issue thats happening to real children,' Texas Center for the Missing CEO Beth Alberts said, Reform Austin. 'Our time is being eaten up telling people to check their sources.' The Miami-Dade County School Board will convene an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss reopening schools, this time under pressure from the Florida Department of Education to open schools Monday. Days after the board voted on a conditional timeline of reopening schools between Oct. 14 and Oct. 21, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a sternly worded letter to Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and board chair Perla Tabares Hantman on Friday. He accused the board of contradicting the districts state-approved reopening plan, which says the district would determine by Sept. 30 if local conditions meet the criteria established to open schools Oct. 5. Corcoran instructed the district to open schools for in-person classes by Monday or prove exemptions on a school-by-school basis by Friday. Tuesdays 1 p.m. board meeting, to be held in person for the first time since March at the school districts downtown headquarters, only has one item on the agenda to decide how to proceed. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho offered the board two options. He recommended the first option of revising the boards school reopening timeline to allow a return of students to in-person schooling on Monday, with a non-opt teacher planning day set for this Friday. The second option authorizes Carvalho and his staff to take actions necessary to secure the Florida Department of Educations approval of the revised reopening timeline, including a staggered reopening of schools beginning Monday to ensure the district remains eligible for state flexibility and funding under Corcorans previous emergency order calling for in-person learning five days a week. Because South Florida became a COVID-19 hot spot over the summer, the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach school districts were allowed to begin the school year virtually. Carvalho said that if the board went with option two, the district would have to analyze each of its 340 schools, and submit that analysis to the state for approval. Story continues Corcoran told the Miami-Dade School Board that it must answer six questions for each school that will not be open for in-person instruction by Monday. They range from school capacity and how many students have requested and can be accommodated for in-person instruction, to a reasoned explanation for why not a single student can receive in-person instruction by citing specific health and safety guidance. Those answers are due by Friday, a week after the board received Corcorans letter. Also on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order moving the state into Phase 3 of its coronavirus reopening plan, allowing for all businesses to reopen, some with capacity limits. On Saturday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez signed an order relaxing local restrictions in step with the governors order. Schools are not specifically addressed in the states reopening plan. Rather, education is listed as an ongoing consideration. Corcoran gave a third option for the board to consider, but Carvalho warned against it as it could cause significant financial implications. Corcoran said the board could withdraw its reopening plan and proceed under existing statutory framework, but Carvalho said the state could determine that the district would no longer qualify for guaranteed funding at levels beyond what would otherwise be available, because the district was deemed to be out of compliance with the emergency order. Board chair Hantman said Carvalho called Tuesdays meeting and that she wasnt thrilled with the proposal, believing that there should be more options for the board to consider. I honestly feel that to open the schools on the fifth as it says, I dont believe this will be in the best interest of the students all at the same time, she said, preferring a staggered start. I dont believe operations is ready to do that. A dozen protesters led by the Rank and File Educators of Miami-Dade rallied outside the Miami-Dade School Board administration building on Monday afternoon supporting the boards decision for a later start and condemning DeSantis demands as bullying. From left, teachers Charles Pilamunga, Jeff Raymond, Thomas Fiori, and Richard Ocampo participate in a rally at Miami-Dade County School Board headquarters Monday. The rally, which was led by Rank and File Educators of Miami-Dade, a faction of the United Teachers of Dade, opposed state officials pressuring school administrators to open in-person classes on Monday. Jeff Raymond, a high school social studies teacher, said he visited his classroom at the end of last week and didnt see any hand sanitizer and not enough social distancing in classrooms. His school, which he asked to not name, said 80% of students are expected back for in-person learning. On Monday, Raymond received paperwork to apply for an exemption under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has pre-existing health conditions and said he was not comfortable at all with his classroom setup. Ive been prepared to take a bullet for my students and those are unpreventable, he said. This is preventable. Several teachers from Miami Beach Senior High were present. One teacher who declined to give his name said he hasnt received any PPE or been told about protocols. History teacher Charles Pilamunga said he brought a tape measure to his classroom. He has 37 desks in his spacious classroom, yet theres only 2 feet between desks. International standards outlined in the teachers union agreement with the district call for 3 feet, 3 inches of social distance. Pilamunga cant quit his job. Hes the sole breadwinner in his family and he has two young children. It is what it is but Id rather it not be this way, he said, carrying a sign that read, Its life or death for us, our students and our communities. In a video, United Teachers of Dade president Karla Hernandez-Mats said theres frustration in school communities. She called on the school board to have the fortitude and the spine to stand up to this bully. We see this as an attack on local control from the governor, she said, adding that teachers have asked for a delay, not to keep schools closed. Our teachers want to go back to school. But what theyre saying is that they want to do it with due diligence, making sure that all the safety precautions have been implemented. The Broward County School Board received an identical, word-for-word letter as Miami-Dade also on Friday. Board chair Donna Korn responded to Corcoran that same day, saying the board was confused by his assertion that the board contradicted its reopening plan. The plan, approved by the state and posted on its website, clearly says the district anticipates needing to remain in the eLearning modality for the first quarter of instruction (ending October 16, 2020). Korn pointed out that Phase 2 status is one of five considerations for reopening schools. The others include disease progression (infection rate, positivity rate trends, absolute positivity rate); ability to manage the spread (test result turnaround time, contact tracing capacity); health system capacity (COVID hospitalization rate, hospital bed/ICU capacity); and district safeguards (availability of PPE and sanitization materials). Therefore, we choose to move forward with the First option as outlined in your correspondence and continue to follow our original State approved Innovative Reopening Plan, Korn wrote. The Broward County School Board will vote on a reopening plan at its next meeting. The board has a workshop Tuesday and a meeting on Oct. 6. Korn wrote that schools can open no earlier than Oct. 14 but possibly earlier than Oct. 20. Miami-Dade Superintendent Carvalho warned the board about deviating from the districts state-approved reopening plan at the last board meeting. Vice chair Steve Gallon rejected that notion, pointing out that the districts approved plan includes using curriculum by K12, the for-profit company that produced the districts malfunctioning online learning platform that was ultimately scrapped. That platform hasnt been in use for weeks with no objection from the state. What must be made clear is that this is not about the School Board against the Florida Department of Education we can ill afford to let that dog of a narrative hunt, Gallon said in a statement. This has been and must continue to be about the School Board standing for the education and safety of students and the welfare of employees, and for the future financial viability of our school district. A School Reopening Discussion was held with the School Board July 29. At that special meeting, district officials presented the school reopening plan and a delayed Aug. 31 school start date, but the board never took an official vote on the school reopening plan, which the district submitted the following day. ELIZABETH, N.J., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 12,000 Unaccompanied Migrant Children, some as young as six years old, have settled in New Jersey over the past five years. Many of the youths experienced severe trauma in the forms of abuse or neglect before, during, and after their migration. Through a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Family and Children's Services (FACS) (www.facsnj.org) of Elizabeth, NJ, provides evidence-based trauma therapy to vulnerable children who were separated from caregivers as a result of their migration to the United States. The Unaccompanied Migrant Children typically arrive in the United States after having fled gang violence or other trauma in Central America. Once in New Jersey, the children are settled by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) into the home of an adult relative or other qualified custodian, who agrees to provide a stable environment for the child. "Even after their arrival in the U.S., the children are frequently in need of counseling to address trauma caused by parental separation, life-threatening conditions during their journeys, and, often, physical and sexual abuse. All of these adverse experiences may cause lasting damage to a child's sense of security and safety, which presents challenges as they attempt to settle into their new country," said Molly Fagan, LCSW, Executive Director of FACS. Once the youth arrive in New Jersey, they frequently exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including nightmares, panic attacks, and a reluctance to participate in daily activities, including school. For already traumatized children, anxiety and fear about COVID-19 can exacerbate symptoms. "We sometimes see children who lost a parent to random violence in their home country now anxious that they will lose their adult caregiver in New Jersey to COVID," Fagan said. To assist the children, FACS' team of bilingual mental health clinicians employs therapeutic models such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), a treatment that helps children and caregivers process traumatic events and learn skills to promote emotional and behavioral stability. Through the HEART (Hope, Empathy And Recovery from Trauma) program, Family and Children's Services also offers the migrant children and their families help with locating community resources, such as food pantries. For the treatment team at FACS, seeing a child progress from paralyzing anxiety and sadness, to engaging with peers and participating in school is tremendously rewarding. "We feel privileged to use proven therapies to make a difference in the lives of these vulnerable children," said Fagan. Family and Children's Services has served the Union County, New Jersey area for more than 127 years. Our Mission: Building Hope and Healing Trauma to Strengthen Families and Communities. FACS is a proud member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), which raises the standard of care for traumatized children, their families, and communities throughout the United States. Contact: Abby Colen, LCSW, [email protected]; 908-352-7474 Related Links samhsa.gov NCTSN SOURCE Family and Children's Services, Inc. Related Links http://www.facsnj.org remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A member of the grand jury has filed a motion in Jefferson Country calling for all records in the Breonna Taylor investigation to be released to the public. The grand juror, who is not named in the filing, is requesting the release of the transcript, recordings and reports because "the full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from the beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country," according to the filing. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is named in the filing, has received multiple requests from the Taylor family and the public to release the investigative materials in the Taylor probe since he announced a decision last week in the case. Cameron said he does not plan to release the investigative files because he said he does not want to taint former officer Brett Hankison's trial. The grand jury presented its findings Wednesday, indicting former officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment. He was the only officer involved in the probe to be charged, but his charges stem from him firing into a neighboring apartment the night of the March raid at Taylor's home. Ultimately, of the officers who fired shots, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove were cleared of any wrongdoing and were found justified in shooting. According to the filing, the grand juror points out that Cameron was asked why a dozen witnesses said they did not hear the police knock or announce themselves, to which the juror said the AG relied "on one witness to the contrary," adding, "he (Cameron) thought the 'more pertinent question is what was the evidence provided to the grand jury?'" The juror, in the filing, explains that Cameron believes the grand jury received enough evidence and testimony to bring them to indict Hankison, the rest of which he has said he won't get into because "the specifics again of the proceedings themselves are secret." But the filing also explains that while grand jury proceedings are secret, the "counsel may divulge such information as may be necessary in preparing the case for trial or other disposition." The grand juror explained that there is "compelling public interest" for the records to be released and that members of the public "have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself," putting blame on Cameron for using the grand jury to shift "accountability and responsibility" on them. "The only exception to the responsibility he foisted upon the grand jurors was in his statement that they 'agreed' with his team's investigation that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their actions," the filing describes. MORNING REPORT | NEWSLETTER Get all the news you need to start your day in Houston. See More Collapse According to the filing, it's those reasons that the individual is calling for the records to be made public because of the continued calls for their release "when the highest law enforcement official fails to answer questions and instead refers to the grand jury making the decision." "It is patently unjust for the jurors to be subjected to the level of accountability the Attorney General campaigned for simply because they received a summons to serve their community at a time that adherence to the summons forced them to be involved in a matter that has caused such a palpable divide between sides," the filing details. All in all, the grand juror is calling for the release of the records because "truth being of paramount importance to all affected parties and the community as a whole, justice demands a full public release of the grand jury proceedings." The juror explains that the publicist and criticism around the sealed investigation have prompted him to remain anonymous while "feeling compelled to act in a manner that promotes transparency, truth and justice without further sacrificing anyone's right to feel comfortable in their own mind and body for their compulsory grand jury participation and the decisions that were alleged to be exclusively theirs by Attorney General Daniel Cameron." The full filing can be viewed here. Cameron's office has not responded for comment on the filing. He was again pressed about releasing the files when Taylor's relatives and family attorneys held a news conference Friday in downtown Louisville. Cameron's office issued this statement in response to the Taylor family's allegations: "Attorney General Cameron understands that the family of Ms. Breonna Taylor is in an incredible amount of pain and anguish, and he also understands that the outcome of the grand jury proceedings was not what they had hoped. "Regarding todays statements at the press conference, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but prosecutors and grand jury members are bound by the facts and by the law. Attorney General Cameron is committed to doing everything he can to ensure the integrity of the prosecution before him and continue fulfilling his ethical obligations both as a prosecutor and as a partner in the ongoing federal investigation." Universities say a plan to legislate the definition of academic freedom is unnecessary, practically difficult to regulate, and risked conflating the need to protect academic inquiry with broader issues of free speech. The University of Melbourne was among the institutions to publicly oppose the move, after The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed on Tuesday the Morrison government had struck a deal with One Nation to create a legal definition of academic freedom. Pauline Hanson is pushing to insert a definition of academic freedom into the Higher Education Support Act. Credit:AFR Acting Provost Richard James said the university was concerned "with the challenge of appropriately defining the terms academic freedom and freedom of speech" as well as the "practical problems" of regulating compliance. Western Sydney University vice chancellor Barney Glover said the legal definition was "unnecessary", as the sector was already implementing a model code on freedom of speech and academic freedom. Prince William has praised his grandfather and father for speaking about climate change and the environment, as he called for more to be done before it is too late. In a documentary to be shown on ITV, William said he will put his head above the parapet and call on people to pick up the pace in the battle against climate change. Prince Charles, Williams father, and Prince Philip, his grandfather, have campaigned on similar issues for decades. Charles made his first speech about the impact of plastics on the environment more than 50 years ago. In the documentary William, 38, says: My grandfather, my father have been in environmental work for many years. My grandfathers well ahead of his time. My father, ahead of his time. And I really want to make sure that, in 20 years, George doesnt turn round and say, are you ahead of your time? Because if he does, were too late. The father-of-three was filmed over the course of two years on various royal tours, including a trip to Pakistan where he and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, saw how climate change is impacting the glaciers there. The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Louis watch as Prince George holds the tooth of a giant shark given to him by Sir David Attenborough. (Kensington Palace) Read more: Prince George gets special present as William and Kate have movie night with Sir David Attenborough Its a huge environmental and humanitarian disaster, William says in the documentary. And yet, we still dont seem to be picking up the pace and understanding it quick enough. And I think the young are really getting it. And the younger generation are really wanting more and more people to do stuff and want more action. And weve got to speed the pace up. Weve got to get on top of it and we need to be more vocal and more educational about whats going on. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George (seated), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Sir David Attenborough. (Kensington Palace) In the documentary, viewers will also see the duke feeding a carrot to a rhino called Deborah, during his tour of Tanzania in 2018. At the time he said: People might see them and think its a big tank, a big hulk of an animal, with a big horn, but they are incredibly vulnerable. Story continues They have brilliant eyesight and people will take advantage of that and they want this horn, which is effectively nail, and that is all it is, its fingernail. This is where the horn belongs, on a live rhino and thats where it should stay. William and Kate at the Chiatibo glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan. (Reuters) Read more: Princess Beatrice opens up about her lockdown wedding for the first time William, who is dad to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, is a patron of the charity Tusk, which works to ensure peaceful co-existence between animals and people in Africa. He has also been working with his umbrella organisation United for Wildlife, to prevent wildlife trafficking. Over the weekend, Kensington Palace released images of William, Kate and their children meeting Sir David Attenborough, including one of George, seven, with a special gift he was given by the TV veteran. However the gift, a sharks tooth found by Sir David in Malta in the 1960s, has become the topic of a heritage row, as the islands culture minister, Jose Herrera, has asked for it back. Prince William and Naomi Doak from United for Wildlife, and Head of Conservation Programmes at the Royal Foundation, see an ivory stockpile, which has been built up over the last 23 years in Tanzania. (Kensington Palace) Herrera said: There are some artefacts that are important to Maltese natural heritage and which ended up abroad and deserve to be retrieved. We rightly give a lot of attention to historical and artistic artefacts. However, it is not always the case with our natural history. I am determined to direct a change in this attitude. Prince William: A Planet For Us All is on ITV on 5 October at 9pm. A special court for NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) in Bangalore reportedly rejected the bail plea of actresses Sanjjanaa Galrani, and Ragini Dwivedi and Rahul's bail plea on Monday (September 28) in connection with the infamous Sandalwood drug racket case. As per IANS report, the arguments on the bail pleas of these actresses and other accused will be held on September 30. Notably, the special court for NDPS has also rejected anticipatory bail applications filed by two accused Vinay Kumar and Shiva Prakash, who tried to evade arrest till now. The report further suggests that the Central Crime Branch (CCB) is searching for Vivek Oberoi's brother-in-law Aditya Alva, who has been named in the case. For the unversed, the special court has granted permission to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 24, after they urged the court to question five accused- Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, Virender Khanna, Rahul Thonse and Ravishankar under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML Act). "For the purpose of investigation, it is necessary to record the statements of the respondents. Their written statements are very much essential for the money-laundering investigation which is admissible evidence before the court," ED had stated. Meanwhile, Actress Ragini Dwivedi's father Col Rakesh Kumar Dwivedi had expressed his frustration over the delay in the bail hearing. He told Times of India, "Those in custody are innocent until they are proven guilty. We have full faith in the judicial system, but the delay is frustrating." Also Read : Sandalwood Drug Racket: ED To Question Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani & 3 Other Accused The CCB has already summoned many Kannada celebs including big names like Akul Balaji, Aryann Santhosh, Diganth, Aindrita Ray and so on in connection with this case. Also Read : Drug Test: Ragini Dwivedi Cheats CCB Officers By Mixing Water In Urine Sample A Boeing 737 MAX jet lands following Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington on June 29, 2020. The leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Monday introduced bipartisan legislation to reform the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) aircraft certification process in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes. The Boeing 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019 after two crashes in five months killed 346 people. Boeing did not immediately comment. The committee is set to vote on Wednesday on the proposed legislation that would require U.S. aircraft manufacturers to adopt safety management systems and requires an expert review panel to evaluate Boeing's safety culture and make recommendations for improvements. The proposal, which has the backing of committee chair Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, and the top Republican Sam Graves would also require manufacturers to complete system safety assessments for significant design changes, ensure risk calculations are based on realistic assumptions of pilot response time, and share risk assessments with the FAA. DeFazio said Congress can "meaningfully address the gaps in the regulatory system for certifying aircraft and adopt critical reforms that will improve public safety and ensure accountability at all levels going forward." The prospects for winning approval for the legislation this year remain unclear. On Sept. 16, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee postponed consideration of a separate bill to overhaul FAA aircraft certification. The same day, House Transportation committee Democrats issued a report that found the 737 Max crashes were the "horrific culmination" of failures by Boeing and the FAA and called for urgent reforms. The House bill would extend airline whistleblower protections to U.S. manufacturing employees, require FAA approval of new workers performing delegated certification tasks for the agency and impose civil penalties against those who interfere with performance of FAA-authorized duties. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson will conduct an evaluation flight at the controls of a 737 Max on Wednesday, a key milestone as the U.S. planemaker works to win approval to resume flights. Brain-eating amoebas are commonly found in nature. But when a boys death this month led to detection of the amoeba in Lake Jackson drinking water, it stirred up a great deal of fear. Jennifer Cope, medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talked with the Houston Chronicle about how to protect against it and why it might show up in public water systems during a pandemic. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. How common is it to find brain-eating amoebas (naegleria fowleri) in nature? When we talk about the more traditional water exposures that we see -- lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs -- all of it points to it being relatively easy to find. It thrives in warmer water temperatures. Certainly in Texas, when you go swimming in a lake, you should assume there is naegleria fowleri in the water. When it comes to treated water settings -- whether that's a swimming pool or a drinking water system -- thats where it becomes more concerning to find. How do you protect against it? The safest thing to do is keep your head out of the water or avoid activities that might get water up your nose. But we recognize that's not always practical, so any way that you can minimize the amount of water getting up your nose is potentially going to be protective. We talk about holding the nose and using nose clips. Water systems normally should not have this present, right? Naegleria fowleri technically have three forms. The trophozoite is the form that infects people. In this form, it can be killed by adequate levels of chlorine, or chloramine -- the two main disinfectants youll see used in water systems. The other thing youre dealing with in water systems are the biofilms, the slime inside a pipe. That's where naegleria does like to hang out and it's actually protective. If it remains completely in that biofilm and that doesnt slough off, it's probably not as much of an issue. But when it does get into the water, that's obviously when it can be used by someone and go up the nose. Do you definitely get infected if water with the amoeba goes up your nose? It would be hard to believe that this child was the only one to get this water up the nose. This is a tough infection because we dont necessarily know all of the pieces that have come together and why that one person got it and not the other people who might have been doing the exact same thing. That contributes to the fear around it. Does boiling water help? If you are someone that does nasal or sinus rinsing with a neti pot or other device, we recommend boiling the water, regardless of what water system youre in. Drinking water is treated to be safe to drink. When youre going to use water in any other part of the body, it really should be treated additionally. We recommend boiling for one minute and then letting it cool. Has an infection from public water occurred before? In the United States, the most recent example of this happening is in Louisiana in 2011 and 2013. Prior to that, there had been a situation in Arizona in 2002. The water was these geothermal wells, so its a little bit different. Prior to that, Australia dealt with cases in the late 70s and early 80s. Their water source was a river but they had to pipe that water over a fairly long distance in overland pipes which got very hot in the summer. By the time the water would reach the homes it had no disinfectant left in it. Their response was to increase and add booster stations, so right before the water would start to go into the city water system, they would boost the chlorine level in it. They have not had any additional cases associated with their city drinking water systems since. Its tough with naegleria fowleri because the cases are rare. Every time something happens you have to learn as much as you can from each scenario. Maybe climate changes makes this more important to watch. Water age and water use can also affect disinfectant levels, so weve been asking: Was less water being used? Our understanding is the splash pad is in the downtown area, so earlier in the pandemic were less people coming into the city center to work or shop? Was there less water being used there, which contributes to water age? That is potentially an aspect. In Louisiana, one of the areas that was affected back in 2013 was an area that had been heavily affected by Hurricane Katrina, south of New Orleans. Not everybody came back, so that lowered demand on the water system. Anything else people should know? I realize this is very unsettling. But I do want people to know there are steps they can take to minimize water going up the nose and that's what they should focus on, although they need to continue to follow directions of the water utility. I just want to empower them to think that there are steps that can be taken to lower the risk of this infection. By Express News Service CHENNAI: In a bid to provide a safe journey for passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chennai Metro Rail has installed a foot-operated lift mechanism in all stations. It has also installed foot-operated buttons for taps in all restrooms. After studying various contactless options for the safe use of its elevators, CMRL has come up with an ingenious way to avoid and minimize hand contact with the elevator buttons by providing a foot-operated lift mechanism to reduce the virus spread and ensure safety of users, according to a release. This foot-operated mechanism is a one-of-a-kind prototype and CMRL is the first Metro Rail in India to implement this mechanism, initially in its administration building at Koyambedu during May 2020 on a trial basis. Based on the positive impact, CMRL has installed the foot-operated lift mechanism in all 32 Metro stations. Similarly, Chennai Metro has installed foot-operated buttons for taps in all 190 restrooms at all stations to encourage contactless usage for the safety of passengers, the release added. Production on The Last Duel was shut down in March as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the film industry, But filming on the all-star blockbuster has finally resumed Cahir Castle in Co Tipperary, Ireland this week, with stars Jodie Comer, Matt Damon and Adam Driver seen on set on Monday. Jodie was in full 14th century costume for her scenes, while both she and Matt added contemporary face shields to their looks, in keeping with strict health and safety measures on set. They're back! Production on The Last Duel was shut down in March as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the film industry, but filming resumed in Ireland on Monday as Jodie Comer was spotted on set Jodie was a far cry from her most famous role as Villanelle in Killing Eve, dressed in a pink velvet gown and corset. Her blonde hair was styled into elaborate braids for the day's filming. As she carefully hitched up her long robes to walk to set, Jodie wore a face visor, while crew members escorting her were in masks. Matt was also seen in his visor, teamed with bronze robes. The Hollywood star looked delighted to be back filming, grinning and waving at the huge crowd of fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the stars. Safety first: Jodie wore her face visor upside around set to protect her hair and makeup Leading man: The film's co-writer and star Matt Damon was seen on set, wearing a face shield with his 14th century costume Nice look: Jodie layered a black fringed shawl over her costume and carried a tote bag for her breaks on set Looking every inch the villain: Adam was hard to spot in his mask and hood Feels like home! Matt looked excited to be back in Ireland after previously quarantining in the country back in March when production on The Last Duel was shut down Footwear: During a break from filming, Jodie was seen battling the cold weather by wearing a pair of sturdy black boots Meanwhile the film's other leading man Adam Driver kept his costume covered with a waterproof coat as he talked to members of the crew between takes. Adapted from Eric Jager's book of the same name, it follows the true story of Jean de Carrouges (Damon), a 14th century knight who embarks on a fight to the death with former friend Jacques Le Gris (Driver) after accusing him of raping his wife. Jodie plays Marguerite de Carrouges, the woman at the centre of the fight in the Ridley Scott-directed epic. Hollywood arrives in Ireland: Adam Driver kept his costume covered with a waterproof coat as he talked to members of the crew between takes Attention to detail: Jodie's blonde wig was adorned with pearl beading in the plaited locks Regal: Jodie was a far cry from her most famous role as Villanelle in Killing Eve, dressed in a pink velvet gown and corset and accessorised with a face shield Good to see you! Matt was also seen in his visor, teamed with bronze robes. The Hollywood star looked delighted to be back filming, grinning and waving at fans Star in town: Matt couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he wandered around the set Friendly: Matt was seen smiling and waving at fans who were outside the set, as he wore his own floral-print face mask The Last Duel marks the first return of Matt's writing partnership with Ben Affleck since their award-winning script for Good Will Hunting. Matt co-wrote the screenplay alongside Nicole Holofcener and his longstanding writing partner Ben, the latter is also starring in the film, although he wasn't seen on set on Monday. Originally, Matt and Ben were set to play the two leading roles in the film, but they ran into scheduling conflicts because of Ben's film Deep Water, so he is now set to play King Charles VI, while Adam was cast to take over the role of Le Gris. Taking over: A member of security guarded the entrance to Cahir Castle as locals tried to get a glimpse of the stars Talent: The Last Duel, adapted from a historical novel marks the first return of Matt's writing partnership with Ben Affleck since their award-winning script for Good Will Hunting Strunning: Jodie's elaborate hairdo was kept in place with a wrap to ensure she looked flawless once action was called Star: Jodie was still looking flawless despite the long hours outside on set Relaxed: Jodie was seen strolling around on set with crew members In good spirits: Jodie was seen smiling to herself as she went to another part of set Health and safety: Matt kept his face shield nearby as he made his way through the crowds Calling it a day: Jodie smiled as she climbed into her car in her costume after shooting Filming began on the movie in February in France but the set was shut down in March due to the pandemic and travel restrictions in Europe. Matt was at the film's next location in Ireland when lockdown began and amid the travel ban ended up isolating in the seaside resort of Dalkey, an affluent suburb of Dublin with his wife and four children for a few weeks. The Last Duel had a scheduled released date of December 2020 but it has now been pushed back to October 15, 2021. Makeover: Matt showed off his statement new look as he swapped costumes for the castle scenes That's not how you wear it! Matt was seen carrying his face mask in his hands Under cover: Adam continued to stay wrapped up as filming continued in the wet and windy weather Huge production: An extra in full costume was seen walking around, keeping warm in a padded coat and UGG boots The other stars: Another castmember walked two dogs around the castle set Picturesque: wooden boats were seen moored in the river that surrounded the castle exterior By Trend The Azerbaijani Armed Forces continue counter-offensive operations against Armenia, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense Anar Eyvazov said, Trend reports. He pointed out that the Armenian army shelled the settlements in the Dashkasan district of Azerbaijan. "Following the counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, a large number of manpower and equipment of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed. The Armenian army continues to fire at the settlements of the Dashkasan district, in response to which adequate measures will be taken, Eyvazov added. The Azerbaijani army continues its counter-offensive operation. As a result of the counter-offensive of the Azerbaijani army, firing points and other military installations of the Armenian army were destroyed. All provocations of the Armenian subdivisions are suppressed. In the direction of Agdere district, heavy blows were inflicted on the units of the Armenian army, under which it was forced to retreat. During the redeployment in the Aghdara direction, one tank and one military vehicle were destroyed. By the precise fire in the Fizuli district, 4 tanks, and the third Martuni motorized rifle regiment, were destroyed. The Armenians appealed to the population to help with vehicles to take the bodies of the dead, said the ministrys spokesman. The military propaganda machine of Armenia, which fell into a hopeless position by the successful military operations of the Azerbaijani army, began large-scale provocations in the information space. Thus, the Armenian side, as always, presents old materials from past battles as new ones, and its failures as success. The offensive of the Azerbaijani army continues in the morning to liberate the city of Fizuli. Victory is with us! the ministry added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The military actions continued on Sept. 29. MBABANE - Nkosinathi Dan Siphampanana Dumas alleged assailant has appeared in court charged with four counts. Siphampanana is the popular radio theatrical actor, who is also known for radio adverts. He is the man who was attacked while in his house with Thembisile Tem Tem Lukhele, who is believed to be his girlfriend. Lukhele is well-known in the social circle around Mbabane. The alleged assailant has been identified as Ricardo de Sousa, who happened to be in a love relationship with Lukhele but they had separated. De Sousa (35) of Dalriach East in Mbabane made his appearance before Acting Mbabane Senior Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati yesterday. Charges He is facing two attempted murder charges. In the first count, De Sousa is alleged to have locked Duma in his house and further set the house on fire from which latter nearly died. In another attempted murder charge, de Sousa is accused of locking Lukhele in the house and further setting it on fire. The duo was attacked while inside a house rented by Duma at Sidwashini in Mbabane. They are currently admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where they are fighting for their lives. They were transferred to the RFM from the Mbabane Government Hospital due to a shortage of beds at the Mbabane Government Hospital ICU, according to Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula in a previous interview. De Sousa was also charged with arson in that he allegedly set on fire the house with immovable property belonging to Duma. It is alleged that the immovable property was burnt to ashes. De Sousa has further been charged for contravening Section 77 (1) (a) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 2018. He is accused of assaulting his former girlfriend (Lukhele) with fists all over her body. The assault incident happened on September 7, 2020, according to the charge sheet. It is alleged that de Sousa was wanted by the police for the assault offence when he allegedly attacked the duo. The Crown applied that de Sousa be remanded in custody until October 9, 2020 pending committal to the High Court. He was brought early to court. When he arrived, he was escorted to the courtroom where he sat quietly on a bench. After some time, de Sousa signaled to one of his relatives who were present in court. He had a brief discussion with his relative. Their conversation could not be captured but it was in relation to a lawyer. De Sousa was later engaged by a lawyer who only identified himself as T.N. Sibandze. He then had a brief moment with well-known lawyer Noncedo Ndlangamandla who left immediately afterwards. Injuries When called to the accused dock, de Sousa was represented by Sibandze. Noteworthy was that he had some injuries on his face, particularly next to the eye and behind the ear. There was information to the effect that de Sousa was attacked by a mob after he was allegedly found next to the burning house. His relatives had a moment with him before he was taken back to the police station. They also offered him a jacket. Without a functionality available to support the "Single Donation Management" processes, most of these companies currently depend heavily on separate systems, nearly always custom-built applications. This situation often results in unnecessary manual or even duplicate work since there is no single source system. The process is therefore error-prone and results in a longer time to insight. The use of these custom-built applications for this crucial process is often not a future-proof scenario. Upgrades can be time consuming and are not without risk. "itelligence now provides one of the first industry solutions to support the Single Donation Management processes," commented Frans Nieuweboer Director Life Sciences & Chemicals at itelligence Benelux. "it.lifesciences for plasma enables one-click batch traceability reporting from single plasma donation to the finished product. Our flexible accelerator also supports the Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) model and offers a high level of flexibility due to the partner-specific configuration setup." End-to-end processes for the plasma manufacturing industry it.lifesciences for plasma covers all relevant end-to-end processes for the plasma manufacturing industry. The use cases that are supported by the itelligence industry solution involve partner interaction processes, for example the import of the Electronic Bleeding List, test results and post-donation information. Also included are single donation conformity verification, warehouse processes, pool preparation, plasma batch composition processes and quality processes such as lookback management and unit isolation. Standard reporting is available for unit traceability, shipment reconciliation as well as quality, conformity and compliance reports. Implementing in a regulated industry Due to the highly regulated nature of the life sciences industry, it will come as no surprise that the it.lifesciences for plasma comes with a standardized set of deliverables supporting the different aspects of Good Manufacuring Practice and Computer System Validation. The documentation is based on a business process model and includes best practice user requirements, process flows and descriptions, configuration specifications, functional designs, test scripts and training documentation. Previous implementations were successfully submitted against CFR 21 Part 11 and EudraLex Volume 4. The all-SAP approach simplifies the IT landscape it.lifesciences for plasma is installed on top of SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ERP) or SAP S/4HANA, which creates a single source system for the plasma manufacturing processes and master data maintenance even when the plasma operations are distributed across multiple sites in different countries. The system helps to future-proof and, due to the SAP Fiori frontend using SAPUI5, also enable the scanning application to process high-speed data transaction volumes. The user interface was specifically designed for the Single Donation Control process and is therefore not only intuitive and user-friendly but also easy to integrate with hardware like scales, signal towers, label printers and peripherals like handheld radio frequency scanners. The industry solution makes use of standard SAP functionality like SAP Extended Warehouse Management and/or SAP S/4HANA stock room management, Quality Management (QM), Handling Unit Management (HUM) and Production Planning Process Industries (PP-PI) and can even be extended with SAP Global Batch Traceability. it.lifesciences for plasma is targeted at plasma manufacturing organizations that use SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA or plan to do so in the future. SAP-based solution with full range traceability In March 2020, one of itelligence' Belgian life sciences customers successfully completed the implementation of itelligence' industry solution it.lifesciences for plasma. Subsequently, this company became a leading life sciences expert with an integrated all-SAP-based plasma management solution that enables one-click full batch traceability reporting from single donation to the finished product. For itelligence, the first customer for this solution represents a major step towards global success. it.lifesciences for plasma covers all relevant end-to-end processes for the plasma manufacturing industry and complies with international regulations for the Life Sciences industry. About itelligence itelligence transforms IT landscapes and business processes through the combination of innovative SAP software and technology with services and products developed in-house. As an SAP Global Platinum Partner, itelligence supports SMEs and large enterprises in every phase of their digital transformation. itelligence's range of services includes IT strategy and transformation consulting, software deployment and implementation, as well as application management and managed cloud services. The excellence of these services is built on the foundation of itelligence's local presence, global capacity, and comprehensive industry expertise. itelligence partners with customers to create new and innovative business opportunities through the use of IT for each facet of the customer's business. Thousands of satisfied customers have placed their trust in itelligence, many of them since the company was founded 30 years ago. itelligence's contribution to innovation and long-term business success has been confirmed by numerous SAP awards and leading market analysts.itelligence is part of the global NTT DATA group and employs about 10,000 people across 27 countries. In 2019, itelligence generated 1.04 billion euros in total revenues. www.itelligencegroup.com SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. - Pictures are available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) - International Contact: Silvia Dicke Head of Corporate Communications phone: +49 521 91448107 e-mail: [email protected] SOURCE itelligence AG to one and 56 assembly seats spread across 12 states will be held on November 3 and 7, the said Tuesday, but did not announce "at this stage" by- to seven assembly constituencies in four others states. While to 54 assembly seats would be held on November 3, those for one seat in Bihar and two assembly seats in Manipur would be held on November 7. The votes for all the will be counted on November 10, alongside the counting of votes for the general assembly in Bihar. Before announcing the schedule, the poll panel issued a separate statement on Tuesday to say that it has decided not to hold "at this stage" assembly bypolls in seven seats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal. The decision has been taken based on inputs received from the chief secretaries and poll officials in these states, the poll panel said in the release. While there are two vacancies each in the assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one seat is vacant in the West Bengal legislature. The term of the legislative assemblies of the four states would end on different dates between May and June next year. Besides the Valmiki Nagar bypoll in Bihar, by- are being held to 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Most of these 28 seats fell vacant when rebel Congress members resigned from the party and the assembly to join the BJP. After the resignations of the Congress members, the Kamal Nath-led government lost majority and the BJP returned to power. Earlier, the EC had said that bypolls are pending in 64 assembly seats. But the figure now stands at 63, including the seven seats in four states where the schedule was not announced on Tuesday. The reason is that the number of vacant seats in some states has changed due to various reasons, including court cases. "The figures are not static. We go by the number of clear vacancies on a given date," a senior official explained. Eight assembly seats are going for bypolls in Gujarat, followed by seven in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Karnataka and Jharkhand, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Haryana. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Our newest osmometer designed to freeze even the most complex sample types NORWOOD, Massachusetts, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Instruments-an innovative developer of scientific and analytical instruments and related services for the biotech industry-announced the latest release to its biotech instrument portfolio, the OsmoTECH XT Single-Sample Micro-Osmometer. Bioproduction is seeing a rise in the complexity and concentration of sample types, including more difficult to freeze samples such as high concentration protein drug formulations, cryo-preservatives used in cell and gene therapy applications, RNA therapeutics, and buffer concentrates for in-line buffer dilutions, just to name a few. Highly concentrated, viscous sample types that previously presented a challenge to freezing point depression technology are now easily measured with the OsmoTECH XT, which provides the broadest range of osmolality measurement up to 4,000 mOsm/kg H2O. Designed with new, intelligent freezing technology, the OsmoTECH XT was built to handle the most complex sample types with the same consistent precision and accuracy you've come to expect from Advanced Instruments. OsmoTECH XT was designed to expand upon the freezing capabilities of freezing point depression technology to accurately and precisely measure a broad range of sample types, according to Byron Selman, President and CEO of Advanced Instruments. "We are working in close partnership with the industry and have launched the OsmoTECH XT with next generation freezing technology to meet the demands of today's most challenging testing. Sample types that were difficult to freeze are no longer a challenge with the OsmoTECH XT." The OsmoTECH XT integrates the advanced data management capabilities and security features of the entire OsmoTECH Product Family. These features, which support 21 CFR Part 11 and EU Annex 11, are necessary for any GMP environment. Critical to ensure compliance with 21 CFR Part 11, the OsmoTECH XT provides traceability, audit trail and most importantly electronic signature to ensure even greater control of your data. Users can choose from several configuration settings to evolve during R&D, preclinical research, clinical testing and GMP compliance stages. The OsmoTECH XT is also designed to meet osmolality testing pharmacopeia guidelines and provides user friendliness, thanks to an intuitive touch screen and factory-calibrated readiness. About Advanced Instruments Advanced Instruments is a global provider of scientific and analytical instruments for the biotechnology, clinical, and food-and-beverage industries. Since 1955, the company's innovations have helped organizations improve quality of results, achieve reliable outcomes, and increase workplace productivity. For more information, visit aicompanies.com. OsmoTECH XT is not for patient diagnostic use. Advanced Instruments certifies that the technical features needed for 21 CFR Part 11 and EU Annex 11 compliance are built into OsmoTECH XT. It is your responsibility to implement the necessary controls in your laboratory to comply with 21 CFR Part 11 and EU Annex 11 requirements. Media contact:Shweta Nair Phone: 781-320-9000 Email:shwetan@aicompanies.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/701853/Advanced_Instruments_Logo.jpg The department at the centre of Victorias failed hotel quarantine program may have broken the state's public health laws by not adequately checking daily if thousands of returned travellers needed to remain under detention. Each of the 20,000 travellers who stayed in Victorias quarantine hotels between March and when the program was scaled back in July was handed a detention notice at the start of their compulsory two-week isolation. Ben Ihle, counsel assisting the quarantine inquiry. The Public Health and Wellbeing Act requires that any person detained using the state's emergency powers have their detention reviewed daily to ensure it is necessary they remain in quarantine to protect public health. But the states COVID-19 hotel quarantine inquiry, which finished hearings on Monday, heard evidence from counsel assisting Ben Ihle that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to do this. We make finding technology in the energy industry as easy as finding a restaurant and provide access to all required support to get the technology deployed! TechnologyCatalogue.com, the fastest-growing technology platform in the Energy sector has raised 0.8 mln of funds from angel investors. TechnologyCatalogue.com was founded in 2018 to accelerate the uptake of technology in the Energy sector, based on extensive experience of the founders with technology strategy & management. The platform makes finding technology in the energy industry as easy as finding a restaurant and provides access to all required support to help position technology for success. It addresses the issue that end-users in the Energy industry often struggle to know which technologies are available, and what has already been used by others. Also, people often dont have the specific technical expertise required to sustainably embed the technology in their business. For providers of technology, the platform is effectively a 24/7 exhibition to showcase their technologies, and offers a viable alternative to traditional exhibitions, conferences and trade missions. Since the launch of the platform in 2018, we have seen an incredible growth. Already >30,000 unique users have made use of the platform. We now have >300 registered technologies, and our aim is to grow to >5000 in a few years from now. With the additional funds we will rapidly enhance the functionality. As a next step, we will also expand to other industries, this way allowing cross-sharing of technologies between industries, says Vincent van Beusekom, co-founder and Managing Partner at TechnologyCatalogue.com. The investors have an extensive network and expertise that will help to grow the company further. From their current and past roles, they understand how this platform can support the industry with the drive to make the most of existing assets whilst reducing CO2 emissions. We look forward to working together with this group of investors, says Erik Nijveld, co-founder and Managing Partner at TechnologyCatalogue.com. About TechnologyCatalogue.com TechnologyCatalogue.com is the fastest-growing technology platform that aims to connect Energy companies with innovative technology. We make finding technology in the energy industry as easy as finding a restaurant and provide access to all required support to help you position your technology for success and get deployment done. Over the years, weve facilitated more than >1000 use cases of technology for tens of different operators. Besides the global platform, the company also delivers customized versions of the platform for specific audiences. One example is the Netherlands Energy Technology Platform, which was launched at the request of RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) and Dutch Consulates, for export promotion. Another example is the recently launched UK Energy Technology Platform, uk.energytechnologyplatform.com. For more information, email us at info@technologycatalogue.com DUBLIN, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market by Product (Equipment (Immunoassay Analyzers), Consumables), Technology (Immunoassays, Chromatography-MS), Class of Drugs (Antibiotic Drugs, Bronchodilator Drugs), End User - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global therapeutic drug monitoring market is projected to reach USD 2.0 billion by 2025 from USD 1.4 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2020 to 2025. The growth of the market is largely driven by factors such as the rising number of organ transplant procedures, the use of TDM across various therapeutic fields, the increasing preference for precision medicine, a growing focus on R&D related to TDM, and technological advancements in immunoassay instruments. Increased adoption in the treatment of autoimmune diseases is expected to provide a wide range of growth opportunities for players in the market. Consumables segment accounted for a significant share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market, by product, in 2019 By product, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented as consumables and equipment. Of all these products, consumables accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market in 2019. The segment is also anticipated to grow at the fastest rate due to the repeat purchases of kits and reagents and the increasing number of immunoassay tests being performed across the globe. Immunoassays segment accounted for a significant share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market, by technology, in 2019 By technology, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into immunoassays and chromatography-MS. Of all these products, immunoassays accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market in 2019. The segment is also anticipated to grow at the fastest rate due to the increasing incidence of chronic and infectious diseases and technological innovation. Antiepileptic drugs segment accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market, by class of drugs in 2019 On the basis of class of drugs, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into antiepileptic drugs, antibiotic drugs, immunosuppressant drugs, antiarrhythmic drugs, bronchodilator drugs, psychoactive agents, and other drugs. The antiepileptic drug accounted for the largest share in 2019, due to the high complexity and heterogeneity of epilepsy, lack of biological markers or specific clinical signs aside from the frequency of seizures to assess treatment efficacy or toxicity, and the highly complex pharmacokinetics of these drugs. Hospital laboratories segment accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market, by end user in 2019 On the basis of end user, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into hospital laboratories, commercial & private laboratories, and other end users. Of all these end-user segments, hospital laboratories accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic drug monitoring market in 2019. The large share of this segment can be attributed to factors such as the availability of advanced healthcare facilities in hospitals and the rising incidences of chronic diseases. North America will continue to dominate the therapeutic drug monitoring market during the forecast period In 2019, North America was estimated to be the largest regional market for therapeutic drug monitoring, followed by Europe. Increasing per capita healthcare expenditure and the presence of technologically advanced healthcare infrastructure in the region, coupled with initiatives taken by different government associations, are anticipated to boost the market growth in the region. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market Overview 4.2 Asia-Pacific: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by Class of Drug 4.3 Geographic Snapshot of the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Importance of TDM in Organ Transplant Procedures 5.2.1.2 Use of TDM Across Various Therapeutic Fields 5.2.1.3 Increasing Preference for Precision Medicine 5.2.1.4 Growing Focus on R&D Activities Related to Tdm 5.2.1.5 Technological Advancements 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Requirement of High Capital Investments 5.2.2.2 Reluctance of Small Hospitals to Offer TDM Services 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Increasing Adoption in the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Availability of Alternatives to Conventional Tdm 5.2.4.2 Operational Barriers Faced in Conducting TDM Tests 5.3 Value Chain Analysis 5.4 Supply Chain Analysis 5.5 Ecosystem Analysis 5.6 Impact of Covid-19 on the TDM Market 6 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by Product 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Consumables 6.3 Equipment 6.3.1 Immunoassay Analyzers 6.3.1.1 High Efficiency of Immunoassay Analyzers Has Ensured End-User Demand 6.3.2 Chromatography & Ms Detectors 6.3.2.1 Technological Advancements Have Propelled the Growth of the Segment 6.3.3 Clinical Chemistry Analyzers 6.3.3.1 Automation to Raise Preference for Clinical Chemistry Analyzers 6.4 Impact of Covid-19 on the TDM Market, by Product 7 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by Technology 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Immunoassays 7.2.1 Chemiluminescence Immunoassays 7.2.1.1 Rapid Detection Time and Good Specificity Support the Growth of the Segment 7.2.2 Fluorescence Immunoassays 7.2.2.1 High Operability and Better Sensitivity of Fias to Drive Market Growth 7.2.3 Colorimetric Immunoassays 7.2.3.1 Demand for Colorimetric Immunoassays to Decline Due to the Rising Preference for Advanced Equipment 7.2.4 Radioimmunoassays 7.2.4.1 High Sensitivity in Drug Detection Applications Supports the Market for Radioimmunoassays 7.2.5 Other Immunoassays 7.3 Chromatography-Ms 7.3.1 Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry 7.3.1.1 High Accuracy Supports Demand for Lc-Ms 7.3.2 Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry 7.3.2.1 Drawbacks of Gc-Ms Challenge Market Growth 8 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by Class of Drug 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Antiepileptic Drugs 8.2.1 High Complexity and Heterogeneity of Epilepsy to Drive the Growth of the Segment 8.3 Antiarrhythmic Drugs 8.3.1 Increasing Incidence of Heart Disorders to Support Segment Growth 8.4 Immunosuppressant Drugs 8.4.1 Immunosuppressant Demand Has Risen Due to An Increase in Organ Transplantation Procedures 8.5 Antibiotic Drugs 8.5.1 Technological Advancements to Propel the Demand for Antibiotic Drug Monitoring 8.6 Bronchodilator Drugs 8.6.1 Increasing Prevalence of Respiratory Diseases Will Ensure Demand for Bronchodilator Drug Monitoring 8.7 Psychoactive Drugs 8.7.1 Rising Cases of Mental Illness to Drive Market Growth 8.8 Other Drugs 8.9 Impact of Covid-19 on the TDM Market, by Class of Drug 9 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by End-user 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Hospital Laboratories 9.2.1 Hospital Labs Hold the Largest Share of the End-User Market 9.3 Commercial & Private Laboratories 9.3.1 Extensive Test Menus of Commercial & Private Labs Support Demand for Their Services 9.4 Other End-users 9.5 Impact of Covid-19 on the TDM Market, by End-user 10 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market, by Region 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.3 Europe 10.4 Asia-Pacific 10.5 Rest of the World 10.6 Impact of Covid-19 on the TDM Market, by Region 11 Competitive Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Market Share Analysis, 2019 11.3 Competitive Scenario 11.3.1 Product Approvals 11.3.2 Product Launches 11.3.3 Agreements 11.3.4 Expansions 11.3.5 Acquisitions 11.4 Competitive Leadership Mapping (2019) 11.4.1 Stars 11.4.2 Emerging Leaders 11.4.3 Pervasive Companies 11.4.4 Participants 12 Company Profiles 12.1 Abbott Laboratories 12.2 Thermo Fisher Scientific 12.3 F. Hoffmann-La Roche 12.4 Siemens Healthineers 12.5 Danaher Corporation 12.6 Bio-Rad Laboratories 12.7 Biomerieux 12.8 Theradiag 12.9 Grifols 12.10 Bhlmann Laboratories 12.11 Sekisui Medical 12.12 Randox Laboratories 12.13 Diasystem Scandinavia 12.14 Cambridge Life Sciences 12.15 Ark Diagnostics 12.16 Chromsystems Instruments & Chemicals 12.17 Exagen 12.18 R-Biopharm 12.19 Apdia Group 12.20 Biotez Berlin Buch 12.21 Eagle Biosciences 12.22 Jasem Laboratory Systems and Solutions 12.23 Aalto Scientific 12.24 Immundiagnostik 12.25 Utak 13 Adjacent Markets 14 Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/p05lul Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Wilton Police Department photo Police say a New York man was arrested after trying to run away when he crashed into one of their cruisers. According to Wilton police, on Sept. 26, Zahid K. Patwary, 37, of Woodside, N.Y., was stopped in the middle of Westport Road when he was approached by police. He initially led police on a pursuit and then crashed into a police cruiser. GREENVILLE, S.C., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Duke Energy Foundation recently awarded more than $350,000 in grants to South Carolina organizations that will fund environmental projects, wildlife conservation efforts and environmental educational programs across the state. As a result of increased usage during the pandemic, a large portion of the funding also went to 22 qualified nonprofit and government entities that received up to $10,000 for funding of projects such as trail upkeep and maintenance; park beautification; and safety enhancements. "These grants support programs and organizations that work to protect and restore the wildlife and natural resources that our communities depend on," said Michael Callahan, Duke Energy's South Carolina president. "We think it's important to work alongside our community partners to ensure these beautiful places around us can be enjoyed by nature lovers of all ages for years to come." The South Carolina State Park Service manages and protects more than 80,000 acres of South Carolina's natural and cultural resources, including more than 300 miles of hiking and riding trails. "Our partnership with Duke Energy is exceptional and has helped us deliver our promise of wise stewardship of resources and service to our visitors," said Paul McCormack, director of the South Carolina State Park Service. "The latest grants for Landsford Canal State Park and the Carrick Creek Trail at Table Rock State Park underscore the value of their significant support." The City of Florence will use grant funding for an extension of a boardwalk at the Florence Rail Trail and the installation of a partially covered platform within the Jeffries Creek ecosystem. "During this health crisis, having safe recreational opportunities for the citizens of Florence is more important than it has ever been," said Stephen Wukela, mayor of the City of Florence. "We are very thankful that Duke Energy has provided the city with this grant to expand those amenities and continue our efforts in expanding our trail systems." A complete list of all grantees can be found here. The Foundation funds more than $2 million annually to nonprofit organizations in South Carolina. Duke Energy Foundation The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars. More information about the Foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at duke-energy.com/foundation. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit. Duke Energy is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit's regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects. Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2020 "World's Most Admired Companies" list, and Forbes' 2019 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 SOURCE Duke Energy Related Links www.duke-energy.com DGAP-News: SphingoTec GmbH / Key word(s): Agreement/Development of Sales SphingoTec GmbH: SphingoTec, BHR Pharmaceuticals ink agreement for distribution of SphingoTec's acute care portfolio in the UK and Ireland 29.09.2020 / 10:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. BHR specializes in innovative diagnostic solutions for point of care Collaboration focusses on SphingoTec's proprietary assays for bio-ADM(R), penKid(R) and DPP3 Investigator-initiated study in COVID-19 at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital and King's College Hospital NHS Trust Warwickshire, United Kingdom and Hennigsdorf, Germany, September 29, 2020 - BHR Pharmaceuticals Ltd ("BHR") and SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec") today announced that they have signed a distribution agreement for the commercialization of SphingoTec's portfolio of diagnostics solutions in acute and critical care in UK and Ireland. The collaboration in particular focuses on the UK market introduction of SphingoTec's point-of-care tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers in critical care targeting diagnostically underserved conditions such as sepsis, acute heart failure, acute kidney injury, and recently severe COVID-19. These products include tests for bio-ADM(R), penKid(R), and DPP3 allowing for the early diagnosis and monitoring of endothelial dysfunction, kidney dysfunction, and cardiac depression, respectively. The tests are made available on SphingoTec's Nexus IB10 platform, a fully automated rapid immunoassay point-of-care instrument, that provides accurate test results within only 20 minutes and can be flexibly deployed in laboratories, emergency departments, intensive care units, and doctors' offices. Established in 1990, BHR has grown to become a UK market leader in the provision of point-of-care diagnostics. BHR specializes in sourcing new advanced and progressive technology from around the world and delivering these innovative products to the UK market. Bharat Vadukul, Director of BHR commented "BHR is delighted to be appointed exclusive distribution partners for the Nexus IB10 system in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This product further strengthens the strategic fit with our existing product portfolio. With the Nexus IB10 system, BHR's comprehensive package of Point-of-Care testing devices will enhance the ability of Specialists in the Renal and Cardiology sectors to better manage their patients, saving lives and improve their all-important quality of life." Dr. Andreas Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec, echoes those sentiments. He noted, "We are very much looking forward to our collaboration with BHR who have been very successful in promoting the IB10 platform in the past. We also believe that they are excellent strategic partners for providing rapid and novel solutions needed by clinicians in managing critically ill patients and will support us in our long-term strategy to improve patient outcomes in acute and critical care conditions." To address the specific challenges provided by COVID-19 in the UK, the companies collaborate with Dr. Marlies Ostermann, MD, Ph.D. at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital/London, United Kingdom, who initiated a two-center study also including King's College Hospital NHS Trust to further investigate the added value of SphingoTec's biomarkers in developing individualized management strategies for severely ill COVID-19 patients1. Dr. Ostermann commented: "There is an urgent need to assess and monitor organ function of COVID-19 patients in real-time. After a first positive evaluation of these novel biomarkers, we have decided to further investigate their use in clinical practice in delivering information on the underlying pathogenesis in patients with COVID-19. " To discover more about the Nexus IB10 and SphingoTec's portfolio of diagnostic solutions for acute and critical care, please visit https://sphingotec.com. For more information on the BHR Pharmaceuticals portfolio, please visit https://www.bhr.co.uk/ 1 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04408365 ## About Sphingotec SphingoTec GmbH ( "SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) develops and markets innovative in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers for the diagnosis, prediction and monitoring of acute medical conditions, such as sepsis, acute heart failure, circulatory shock, and acute kidney injury in order to support patient management and provide guidance for treatment strategies. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Bioactive Adrenomedullin(bio-ADM(R)), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis or congestive heart failure, Proenkephalin (penKid(R)), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of kidney function, and Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3), a unique biomarker for cardiac depression. IVD tests for SphingoTec's proprietary biomarkers are made available as sphingotest(R) microtiterplate tests as well as point-of-care tests on the Nexus IB10 immunoassay platform by SphingoTec's subsidiary Nexus Dx Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) alongside a broad menu of established and commonly used tests for acute and critical care. About BHR Pharmaceuticals BHR Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a market leading company in the field of point-of-care diagnostics within healthcare, moving appropriate tests from the lab closer to the patient to better manage and treat people. This helps shorten patient pathways, improves the patient experience, and improves efficiency for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. BHR has challenges the conventions of laboratory medicine by showing that point-of-care diagnostics save time, money and improves health. Contact SphingoTec GmbH Ruxandra Lenz Sr. Manager Marketing and Communications Neuendorfstr. 15 A 16761 Hennigsdorf Germany Tel. +49-3302-20565-0 press@sphingotec.de www.sphingotec.com 29.09.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Ximen Completes Entranceway and Starts Laying Culvert at Kenville 257 Portal Posted by Publisher Internet Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX.v: XIM) (FRA: 1XMA) (OTCQB: XXMMF) (the ?Company? or ?Ximen? https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/ximen-mining-corp/) is pleased to provide the following update on progress at the Kenville Gold Mine project in the Nelson mining camp in southern British Columbia.? Work on the 257 portal is progressing well.? Steel supports have been installed and a new entrance has been timbered in place at the 257 Portal (see photo below). Work is now focussed on laying bedding and placing the new steel culvert outside of the underground entrance (see photos below).? Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release.? About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC.? Ximen`s two Gold projects The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine.? Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under a option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has recently acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment. Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL. This press release contains certain \forward-looking statements\ within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain \forward-looking statements\ within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words \expects,\ \plans,\ \anticipates,\ \believes,\ \intends,\ \estimates,\ \projects,\ \aims,\ \potential,\ \goal,\ \objective,\ \prospective,\ and similar expressions, or that events or conditions \will,\ \would,\ \may,\ \can,\ \could\ or \should\ occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company\-\-s management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management\-\-s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company\-\-s reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators\-\- System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Ximen Mining Corp 888 Dunsmuir Street Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4??? Tel:? 604-488-3900 This year the snow fell 24 days earlier than in 2019 and two days earlier than the average. Many Japanese Shinto and Buddhists make pilgrimages to the mountain in search of a communion with silence and with nature. Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Since yesterday, Mount Fuji, Japan's symbolic volcano, has a snow-covered peak. The Kofu Meteorological Office in Yamanashi prefecture made the official announcement, stating that this year the snow fell 24 days earlier than in 2019 and two days earlier than the average. The phenomenon of snow on Mount Fuji has been recorded since 1894. The earliest fall in time occurred in 2008, when the first snow fell on 9 August. The latest occurred in 2016, with snow covering the top of the mountain on 26 October. Mount Fuji is the highest peak in the country (3776 meters) and is a well-known tourist destination abroad and in the homeland, but it is above all a religious element: many Japanese Shinto and Buddhists make pilgrimages to the mountain in search of communion with silence and with nature. Mount Fuji is also considered a source of inspiration for artists. She helped put the 'super' in 'supermodel' en route to becoming one of the top earning models many times over during her illustrious career. Alessandra Ambrosio is back, gracing the cover and page of yet another high fashion magazine; only this time she's sharing the spotlight with her 12-year-old daughter Anja and eight-year-old son Noah. And on Monday, September 28, the Brazilian-born beauty took to her Instagram page to give her 10.2 million followers a glimpse at some of the photos from her shoot for the October edition of Elle Russia. Ambrosio first shared a photo showing the trio dressed in matching olive-green ensembles as they appeared to strike yoga poses. 'A family where life begins and love never ends!!! @elle_russia @anjalouise.a.m & @noahphoenixx BY @gregswalesart,' she gushed in the caption. The proud mother can be seen standing on one foot with her right arm reaching above her head, while in-between her two children. Anja is stretching out on floor in front of her mom while Noah does a semi-split to her right. By Monday afternoon, Ambrosio posted the cover photo showing herself standing against a wooden wall as she has her right arm around her boy. He is looking up towards his mother while in a prayer position dressed in what appears to be stylish grey sweatpants and a matching long-sleeve shirt. The longtime Victoria's Secret Angel stared into the camera decked out in a chic white outfit consisting of stylish shorts, matching top and jacket. By Monday evening Ambrosio shared a series of three photos showing herself and Anja striking leggy poses behind a pole wearing blush-colored outfits. The former catwalk queen's number had an added dose of sex appeal with its plunging design. The mother-daughter duo both wore their dark brown tresses long and flowing with a part slightly off to one side. By night's end, the Gal Floripa brand co-founder shared a close-up selfie snap of herself, seemingly lying in bed, on her Insta-Story with the headline: 'Goodnight' Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, leaves the federal court with his lawyer Sidney Powell following a status conference with Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington on Sept. 10, 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo) Flynns Lawyer Tells Judge She Wants Him off Case, in Snappy Exchange Sidney Powell, lawyer for former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, told a federal judge during a hearing that she will move to disqualify the judge from the case. She then got into an exchange with him that became heated as each interrupted the other. The exchange happened during a Sept. 29 virtual hearing where District Judge Emmet Sullivan heard arguments on the Department of Justices (DOJ) move to dismiss the criminal case against the retired three-star U.S. Army general. I need to also move to disqualify the court and urge that it recuses itself immediately, Powell said. Its absolutely unprecedented for proceedings against a defendant to be conducted by a person who actively litigated against him. She was referring to the fact that Sullivan earlier this year successfully appealed a decision of a higher court that compelled him to immediately accept the case dismissal. The judge made himself akin to a party in the case, creating an appearance of bias, which is grounds for recusal, according to Powell. Im not sure whether youve ever filed a motion to recuse in this case before me. I dont know. Did you? I may be mistaken. I dont believe you have, Sullivan said. Im writing that motion right now, your honor, Powell interjected. Put it in writing. I dont want to cut you off. But if you want to file a motion to recuse, you probably should have filed it. But you didnt. And Ill certainly afford you an opportunity to prepare and file an appropriate motion to recuse, Sullivan said. Im not going to address that on oral representations of counsel. Im not going to waste your time or everyone elses time. You could have filed a motion in writing. You could have filed it in June. You could have filed it earlier. But even though you didnt, Ill certainly afford you an opportunity to do that. Ill give you a week from the day to file your motion to recuse. Next point. Powell then proceeded to explain why she planned to file the motion only now. Counsel, whats the next point, Sullivan interjected. Whats the next point? I dont need to hear anything more about that. Im going to give you an opportunity to file your motion to recuse. Ill give you a week from the day. The exchange underscored the tension between Sullivan and Powell that has emerged as Sullivan has put off accepting or denying the dismissal. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents. In January, he asked the judge to allow him to withdraw the plea. The DOJ dropped the case in May after an internal review unearthed evidence suggesting the FBI agents were trying to catch Flynn in a lie. Sullivan responded to the motion by appointing former federal Judge John Gleeson to argue against the dismissal and determine whether Flynn should be charged with contempt of court for walking back his plea. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ordered Sullivan to accept the case dismissal in June, after which he appealed for a rehearing before the full court of 11 judges (en banc). The court reversed the panel decision and sent the case back to Sullivan on Aug. 31. On Sept. 1, Sullivan ordered Flynn, the DOJ, and Gleeson to come back to him by Sept. 21 with a proposed schedule for further proceedings. He also ordered the parties to submit a consolidated response to other third parties that have sounded off on the case. The parties asked the judge to expedite the hearing, and he picked the latest hearing date the parties suggested. During the hearing, Sullivan questioned Powell and the DOJ lawyers on whether Attorney General William Barr decided to drop the case based on Trumps tweets criticizing the case against Flynn or Powells letter to Barr last year, where she spelled out some concerns she had about the case and asked for him to appoint new prosecutors. Powell said she received no response to the letter and that she only talked to Trump about the case several weeks ago to give him an outline of the case; she asked him not to pardon Flynn. The DOJ lawyers said Barrs decision wasnt based on Trumps tweets and pointed to the new evidence. Among the new documents is a statement of a Flynn case agent expressing his belief that the prosecution was used as a means to get Trump. They said no career prosecutor would bring the case under these circumstances. When Sullivan asked for an example of a case that was dismissed under analogous circumstances, they said they werent aware of one since normally such a case wouldnt have been brought in the first place. At the conclusion of the hearing, Sullivan said he will move on with the proceedings with dispatch, as the higher court had urged him last month. THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A former commander in the ethnic Albanian guerrilla movement the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) said on Monday he was not ready to enter a plea in an initial appearance before a war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Salih Mustafa, 48, was arrested last week and brought to the Hague tribunal on four charges stemming from the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, including murder and torture, which he is accused of having committed as head of an interrogation site. "Your honor I said I won't enter a plea today, I will consult with my lawyer," Mustafa, the first defendant to appear at the court formally known as Kosovo Specialist Chambers, told presiding judge Judge Nicolas Guillou. During the war, the KLA battled against Serbian forces in what was then a province of Serbia. NATO aircraft bombed the Serbian forces to prevent what Western countries described as a campaign against Kosovo's Albanian ethnic majority. Kosovo later declared independence from Serbia in 2008. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Peter Graff) WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 26, an annual celebration dedicated to restoring and improving public lands, the National Park Foundation announced a more than $3.7 million investment in service corps programs across the country during fiscal year 2020, up from approximately $3.5 million in fiscal year 2019. Stephanie Greenwood, senior crew leader for the Nevada Conservation Corps, shares what it is like to be part of the all-womens crew at Great Basin National Park in Nevada. This all-womens crew is among the many service corps programs receiving support from the National Park Foundation this year. Video credit: Free People YouthWork Conservation Corps crew members help National Park Service employees with historic preservation at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. This YouthWork Conservation Corps crew is among the many crews being funded by the National Park Foundation. Photo credit: YouthWork Conservation Corps/@youthwork_industries Service corps are locally-based organizations that engage young adults and veterans in projects that address recreation, conservation, disaster response, and community needs. Projects that support national parks range from invasive species removal to historical preservation to trail restoration. Service corps also provide on-the-job training for members, enabling them to develop leadership skills, build teamwork, and learn about public lands career paths. "Service corps programs offer great opportunities to gain leadership skills and give back to national parks," said Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. "The National Park Foundation and our partners are proud to support programs that make lasting positive impacts for both parks and people." Each crew consists of approximately ten individuals. They are following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and also adhering to Leave No Trace principles, helping to ensure the health and safety of both crew members and the parks themselves. As the National Park Service works to address its significant deferred maintenance backlog with additional funding from the historic, recently-enacted Great American Outdoors Act, NPF is proud to continue engaging young leaders through service corps. Such programs enhance national parks while providing recreational access, key elements to improving the visitor experience. "Through public-private partnerships like service corps programs, we are able to engage a diverse group of park stewards," said Margaret Everson, Counselor to the Secretary, exercising the delegated authority of the National Park Service Director. "As we work to implement the historic Great American Outdoors Act, programs like this represent the type of important restoration work many of our national parks need." According to The Corps Network, the national association of service and conservation corps, there are more than 130 service corps organizations across the country. Today's service corps follow in the footsteps of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a Great Depression-era federal work relief program that provided food, shelter, education, and a $30-a-month stipend to three million young men as they restored and enhanced public lands across the country. Trails, roads, and campgrounds that they built between 1933 1942 are still in use today. Unlike the CCC, most present-day service corps are funded through public-private partnerships, like the crews funded by the National Park Foundation. "Partnerships between corps and national parks are a win-win: young adults have the opportunity to learn new skills while helping our park managers complete critical maintenance work on our country's natural and cultural treasures," said Mary Ellen Sprenkel, president and CEO of The Corps Network. "Thank you to the National Park Foundation and numerous donors for making this work possible. These projects are an investment in our parks and in a new generation of stewards." This year, the National Park Foundation is partnering with the National Park Service and more than 30 partner organizations* to support a diverse network of service corps crews. National Park Foundation-supported service corps crews include: An all-women Nevada Conservation Corps resource conservation crew that is supporting recreation planning, habitat restoration, and learning about bat management practices at Great Basin National Park in Nevada . in . Rocky Mountain Conservancy's AmeriCorps crew that is aiding trail construction efforts to restore access to the very popular Alluvial Fan Waterfall in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado . in . Student Conservation Association crews will help tackle deferred maintenance projects including invasive species removal and the restoration of an historic fence within Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC , and rehabilitate backcountry campsites in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia , all the while learning about the experiences of people of color, Indigenous people, and white settlers in the creation of Shenandoah National Park and the settling of the Chesapeake Bay area. , and rehabilitate backcountry campsites in Shenandoah National Park in , all the while learning about the experiences of people of color, Indigenous people, and white settlers in the creation of Shenandoah National Park and the settling of the Chesapeake Bay area. An American Sign Language inclusion summer crew, a local Pecos youth summer crew, and a local Albuquerque youth fall crew, all part of Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, that are constructing fences, restoring rivers and pastures and preserving Native American Adobes at parks in central New Mexico , including Pecos National Historical Park, Petroglyph National Monument and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. youth summer crew, and a local youth fall crew, all part of Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, that are constructing fences, restoring rivers and pastures and preserving Native American Adobes at parks in central , including Pecos National Historical Park, Petroglyph National Monument and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. YouthWork Conservation Corps crews of young AmeriCorps members who are low-income, in the Child Welfare system, or are living with disabilities that are completing projects at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan including trail development, invasive species removal, and historic preservation at the Port Oneida Rural Historic District, the largest historic agricultural community in the United States with over 100 farms that were settled in the late 19th century. including trail development, invasive species removal, and historic preservation at the Port Oneida Rural Historic District, the largest historic agricultural community in with over 100 farms that were settled in the late 19th century. An all-women Conservation Corps North Carolina crew that is providing critical repair work to the Linville Falls National Recreation Trail, including stunning overlooks, along Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina . "Being on an all-women's crew this summer meant I could not only feel comfortable in my womanhood, but also empowered to break gender roles on a daily basis," said Stephanie Greenwood, senior crew leader for the Nevada Conservation Corps. "Being surrounded by such smart and capable women inspires me to work harder every day as a leader and I feel very honored to lead this amazing women's crew. I can only hope for a future full of more women's crews." "I am so grateful for the National Park Foundation and the amazing women staff who work at Great Basin National Park," said Aurora Pinkey-Drobnis, director of operations at Nevada Conservation Corps (NCC), who created NCC's first all-women's crew. "They have provided a visibility that illuminates a pathway towards a successful career in conservation." Last year, National Park Foundation-supported service corps crews contributed over 74,000 hours of service to 30 national parks, resulting in the building and restoring of over 250 miles of trail and the planting of more than 36,000 trees and other plant species. The National Park Foundation is investing more than $3.7 million in service corps programs, including support from Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque premier partner Nature Valley and partners Apple, REI Co-op, Free People, The North Face, and 3M Open Fund. Select projects are also being leveraged with federal funds that were authorized and appropriated for the National Park Foundation under the 2016 National Park Service Centennial Act (PL 114-289). The values shared by the National Park Foundation and partners help ensure the service corps program will expand for years to come. The collective dedication to youth, job training, and the continued preservation of the National Park System are key to the program's success. Partner Quotes "We believe nature brings out the best in all of us. That's why Nature Valley is committed to supporting service corps crews across the country," said Scott Baldwin, business unit director, Grain Snacks at General Mills. "From the volcanic shores of Hawaii, to the highest peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we are proud to support over 10 thousand miles of trail restoration in our national parks." "It's time to ensure that everyone has access to the unforgettable, life-changing experiences made possible outside, and a meaningful role in shaping the future of our parks," said Nicole Browning, manager of local and inclusion marketing at REI Co-op. "An important piece of that work is shining a light on the ways that conservationists and stewards are leading in the fight for life outside, in a way that centers and celebrates voices and experiences that have too often gone unheard. Bringing together trail crews with a shared identity is one way we can elevate and connect communities working toward more inclusive and sustainable outdoors, and help build interest and capacity for the future of our national parks and public lands." "We love that the women's service corps not only positively impacts the park with targeted restoration work, but also provides a professional experience for young women that otherwise wouldn't have gotten such a unique opportunity," said Julie Verdugo, director of sustainability and social impact at Free People. *National Park Foundation partners include American Conservation Experience, American YouthWorks' Texas Conservation Corps, Appalachian Conservation Corps, Aviation Trail, Inc., Cabrillo National Monument Foundation, California Conservation Corps, Child & Family Services of NW Michigan YouthWork, Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, Conservation Legacy, Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps, Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters, Great Basin Institute - Nevada Conservation Corps, Groundwork USA, HistoriCorps, Idaho Conservation Corps, Mississippi Park Connection, Montana Conservation Corps, Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps, Northwest Youth Corps , Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps -NM, Santa Monica Mountains Fund, SEEDS, Sequoia Parks Conservancy, Southern Utah University Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative, Southwest Conservation Corps, Student Conservation Association, and Voyageurs National Park Association. ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help protect more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts and connect all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org . SOURCE National Park Foundation Related Links www.nationalparks.org Donned with the UN, Central African Republic (CAR) and Peruvian flags, the over 15-meter-long metal bridge was opened to traffic on August 22, 2020, by the local community chief, with community members looking on bringing an end to a host of transport challenges posed by the rickety bridge that was previously used. For years, locals and travelers passing through the Gono locality were dogged by the degradation of the main access road and bridge leading to the area. "There was a makeshift wooden bridge that was particularly precarious during the rainy season it was the cause of many accidents, with people and vehicles sometimes falling into the water while trying to cross the bridge, at times resulting in fatalities," recounted local one resident, Mr. Vella. Long detours were a painful reality for many with children being forced to walk for an hour and a half to get to school, often starting their journey from home in the wee hours of the morning. Merchants transporting goods to and from the market suffered a similar fate. For their part, churchgoers were discouraged from visiting houses of worship as their clothes were muddied on the journey there. The local community had previously tried to repair the old, dilapidated bridge to no avail, as more advanced engineering skills were required. At their request, an 80-member construction team from the MINUSCA Peruvian contingent took on the task of building the new metal bridge. Construction began at the end of May 2020 and included ground clearing of vegetation and bushes, improvement of abutments and footings, stonemasonry to extend the bridge supports, and reinforcement of the concrete foundations supporting the bridge. Despite delays related to the coronavirus pandemic, work resumed in July under the supervision of MINUSCA Unit 8 Deputy Chief Engineer Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammed Farooq Hayat. He explained that his team had sought a more permanent solution by also improving drainage and nearby connecting roads. "The bridge serves as a national road axis, taking people and goods from Bangui and Berberati to the all-important market on the Cameroonian border. More than half of CAR's population could potentially benefit from the construction of the bridge," noted Gbanne Esaie at the Bocaranga Sub-Prefecture. Beyond facilitating movement, day-to-day life has been boosted by better access to provisions exorbitant salt and soap prices that had become all too common for the local population due to shortages caused by difficulties in transporting merchandise have become a thing of the past. "Pedestrians and motorists alike will be able to use the bridge all year round. The benefit for the common man gives me the greatest satisfaction children can now reach school in half an hour. Traders, the majority of whom are women, and farmers carrying big loads of produce to the market now cover the distance in less time," Lieutenant Colonel Hayat expressed. "Our community has battled major transport problems for a long time due to lack of a proper bridge. The local population has breathed a sigh of relief thanks to the new bridge," said Gbanne Esaie. The metal bridge funded by MINUSCA to the tune of 8 million CFA will also strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to quickly intervene and assist the population when needed. Moreover, road access is crucial to maintaining security. Wamounzou Edwige, a teenage girl from the area, told Peruvian peacekeepers that "the people in my village are grateful for the bridge." Gono Village Chief Fidele Nzerekpi added that "the bridge has made our lives easier." Editor's note: Based on a story published by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). (END) NDP/MVB One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 The New York Times' bombshell report into Trump's tax returns makes little mention of the accountants who prepared them despite the firm having a long and colorful history that involves claims of misconduct and the stabbing death of one of the partner's wives. For decades, Trump has used accountants connected to Mazars to prepare his tax returns. Originally Spahr Lacher & Berk, it was folded in to Mazars and is now a branch of its worldwide company but it originated with small offices in Queens and Long Island and, according to a May ProPublica piece, was favored by Trump's father Fred in the 1950s. Fred started using the firm in 1951 and was its biggest client. Donald Trump started working with the firm in 1987. Both worked with Jack Mitnick, the former head of the company, until 1996, when Mitnick stepped down amid claims of fraud and malpractice, according to ProPublica's report. Trump with his father in 1987, the year he started using Spahr Lacher & Berk, which later folded into Mazars and is the firm he still uses today Mitnick had led the company for 30 years. ProPublica describes him as the mastermind of an alleged plot by Trump's late father Fred that allowed his children to inherit more than $1billion from him without having to pay heavy inheritance tax. The New York Times wrote about the apparent plot in 2018. He and his family denied any wrongdoing. Documents that were revealed at the time suggest the family only paid $52.2 million in gift and inheritance taxes - a tenth of what the bill ought to have been. Mitnick previously said the president was 'no tax genius'. He said that Trump did not understand tax codes when he was preparing his documents in the 1980s and 1990s. Mazars was once headed by Jack Mitnick who once worked with Trump's father Fred and allegedly masterminded a scheme to have the Trump kids avoid paying large gift and inheritance tax. Mitnick left the firm in 1996 He was to thank, according to former employees, for constructing a smoke and mirrors illusion that Trump had more cash than he actually did. Mitchell Zachary, who worked on Trump's accounts, told ProPublica that Mitnick was revered as a 'tax god' in the firm for his 'aggressive' but legal approach. After Mitnick stepped down, Trump carried on using the firm despite it being cited by the SEC for 'willfully aiding and abetting misconduct'. The CEO, who was an accountant at the time, was described as exercising 'highly unreasonable' conduct. Mazars defended him. They are who stand now in the middle of a fight between the president and the state of New York, which has subpoenaed the firm for eight years of his personal and business financial records. They are also the firm involved in tax returns filed by the now defunct Trump Foundation which was shut down and ordered to pay $2million in damages by the state of New York for its own misconduct. Mazars has said it will side with the courts in the case of sharing Trump's tax returns, giving over whatever is required of them. Trump is fighting it relentlessly. So far, judges have ruled against him. His attorneys say prosecutors are hell-bent on a fishing expedition to thwart the election and that they are driven by a left-leaning political biased rather than any apparent thirst for justice. Mazars' position in the court fight and its relevance to the new claims by the Times that Trump only paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017 thrust it back into the spotlight four years after one of its most senior partners was embroiled in a grisly murder scandal. In 2016, Jules Reich - a financial adviser and attorney who worked at the firm - killed his wife by stabbing her in the shower of their home in Scarsdale. Mazars office in midtown Manhattan. The accounting company has offices all over the world In 2016, Mazars partner Jules Reich (left) stabbed his wife Dr Robin Goldman (right) in the shower of their home. They were going through a divorce and he was taking medication which he said made him violent and 'snap' The pair were going through a divorce and he claimed he was also under stress from work. He claimed in court that he was taking medication at the time that made him violent, but it's unclear what that was. Reich was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018 Reich was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in August 2018. Mitnick has spoken unfavorably of the president. In 2016, he told CNN of Trump's early tax returns: 'As far as I know, and this only goes through 1996, he didn't understand the [tax] code, nor would he have had the time or patience to learn the provisions. 'I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature. 'Those returns were entirely created by us.' It came after Trump's boasts that he was 'smart' because he'd dodged taxes. He also aided the Times in its 2016 reporting into Trump's tax returns from the 1990s by confirming the authenticity of the returns and by explaining some of what was contained in them. Reporter Susanne Craig said she received the tax returns in a package in her mailbox and that she went to Mitnick afterwards to have him stand up her reporting. Trump's attorneys threatened to sue the Times for publishing the contents of them, saying they had no permission to publish them. But when he worked on Trump's accounts, Mitnick sought to reduce his tax bill as much as he could. 'As far as I know, and this only goes through 1996, he didn't understand the [tax] code, nor would he have had the time or patience to learn the provisions Jack Mitnick speaking of Trump's early 1990s tax returns In the 1980s, he went to court to try to get Trump out of an $80,000 tax bill on a Trump Tower condo that he'd flipped. Trump bought the unit at cost for some $600,000 and sold it for more than $3million, 19 days later. It falls into Trump's long history for trying to keep his tax returns hidden, something no other president has fought to do. He responded to the Times' latest reporting on his tax returns first through his lawyers, who said it was largely inaccurate, and then on Twitter on Monday where he said he had done nothing wrong. Mitnick, in the years since he left the firm, has been hit with tax liens, thrown out of his homes and had his possessions lined up in the street. He now lives in Florida and is in his mid 80s. Youd get another $1,200 payment and, if you are out of work, an extra $600 a week in unemployment insurance payments under the latest House version of legislation designed help Americans through the coronavirus-created economic downturn. The legislation would spend $2.2 trillion, down from the $3.4 trillion package that the House approved in May, which the Senate refused to take up and President Donald Trump threatened to veto. The latest House measure, released as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin resumed talks, included the Democrats' non-negotiable demand for federal assistance to state and local governments, though at half the original level. It remained substantially more than the Senate Republicans $500 billion bill that failed to pass and their original $1 trillion measure that they didnt bring up for a vote due to lack of support. It also was larger than the bipartisan $1.5 trillion proposal offered by a group of more moderate Democratic and Republican lawmakers and which has received praise from Trump. That proposal by the Problem Solvers Caucus automatically would grow to $1.9 trillion if the pandemic continues and a vaccine remains elusive. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, said he hoped the latest House proposal would lead to an agreement. With families, businesses, and local communities truly hurting from the impacts of this health and economic crisis, its unconscionable for Congress to go home without taking action, said Gottheimer, D-5th Dist. The House bill ignores Republican efforts to protect businesses from lawsuits by injured customers and workers, and increase taxpayer subsidies for religious and other private schools. But it does require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue strong standards for businesses, and the Problem Solvers Caucus has proposed immunizing companies that meet such safety requirements from coronavirus-related lawsuits. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Here are the highlights of the latest proposal: Stimulus payments. Taxpayers would receive $1,200, plus $500 for each dependent. Unemployment insurance. The bill restores the extra $600 federal unemployment insurance payment through Jan. 31. Gig workers and others who normally do not get unemployment payments would continue to receive them through Jan. 31 as well. Those who use up their eligibility would receive up to 13 additional weeks of payments through Jan. 31. State and local aid. There is $436 billion, down from an original $1 trillion, for state, local, territorial and tribal governments that have seen tax revenues drop after shutting down their economies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The funds would help them avoid layoffs of police, firefighters, teachers and health care workers. New Jersey would receive $8.7 billion and its municipalities $5.3 billion, according to figures provided by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist. Help for businesses. The paycheck protection program would be extended and small businesses could request a second loan. In addition, a new program would provide federal aid for restaurants and operators of live venues. There would be more money for the airline industry. And businesses would continue to receive tax credits for keeping their workers on the payroll. Education. The bill earmarks $225 billion for elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities. Unlike the Senate proposal, the House bill does not penalize schools that open remotely rather than in person. Testing. Coronavirus testing and contact tracing would get $75 billion, and another $28 billion would go towards obtaining and distributing a vaccine. Public transportation. Amtrak would receive $2.4 billion and transit systems would receive $32 billion to help cover revenue losses. Health insurance. The bill sets up a special enrollment period for workers who have lost their jobs to obtain coverage under the Affordable Care Act exchanges, and they would be eligible for the maximum subsidy for insurance. Vote by mail. The Postal Service would receive $15 billion, down from an original $25 billion, to help deliver what is expected to be an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, and local elections officials would receive $3.6 billion to cover the extra costs of voting by mail. Helping the needy. There is more money for housing and for food stamps and other nutrition programs. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. ShipBob, a Chicago, IL-based ecommerce enablement technology company that provides fulfillment by bringing fast shipping options to ecommerce businesses, raised $68m in Series D funding. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Prior investors include Menlo Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels and Y Combinator. In conjunction with the funding, SoftBank Investment Advisers Managing Partner, Ervin Tu, will be joining the ShipBob board of directors. The new capital will enhance the companys capabilities to bring its solutions to more customers, accelerate growth, expand its software platform and scale its global fulfillment network. Founded in 2014, and launched through Y Combinator by co-founders Dhruv Saxena Divey Gulati, ShipBob is a technology company that offers fulfillment for thousands of ecommerce businesses through their full-stack technology and ten fulfillment centers across the US, Canada and Europe. The solution focuses on the needs of direct-to-consumer retail brands and their need to manage inventory and ship orders safely and quickly while maintaining their brand identity. ShipBob integrates with all leading ecommerce platforms and marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace. These integrations enable nearly all emerging brands to provide fast shipping to their customers without having to handle fulfillment themselves. Beyond fulfillment, partners and integrations such as returns management, inventory management and financing solutions can be activated in the companys apps marketplace to provide brands with a one-stop shop to manage their business. The company has raised $130.5 million in funding to date. FinSMEs 29/09/2020 Canada and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions on several senior officials in Belarus, including its authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as international pressure continues to build over a disputed presidential election last month and subsequent police crackdown on opposition members, media, and protesters. The two Commonwealth nations announced on September 29 joint sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze to send a clear message to Lukashenkas violent and fraudulent regime." "We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights," U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. Canadas Foreign Ministry added in a statement: "Since the fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020, the government of Belarus has conducted a systematic campaign of repression and state-sponsored violence against public protests and the activities of opposition groups." Those sanctioned are Lukashenka, his son Viktar, Presidential Chief of Staff Ihar Syarheyenka, Interior Minister Yury Karayeu, Deputy Interior Ministers Alyaksandr Barsukou and Yury Nazaranka, Deputy Internal Troop Commander Khazalbek Atabekau, and Minsk Riot Police Chief Dzmitry Balaba. The sanctions announcement comes hours after French President Emmanuel Macron promised Europe's help in mediating the political crisis in Belarus after meeting with opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Lithuania. Macron called for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to handle mediation on Belarus, which has seen weeks of mass demonstrations triggered by a disputed August 9 presidential election. The opposition leader said the French president "promised us to do everything to help with negotiations [during] this political crisis in our country...and he will do everything to help to release all the political prisoners." Tsikhanouskaya told AFP that she had accepted an invitation to speak at the French parliament, where officials said she would address the lower house's Foreign Affairs Committee. No further details were provided. Meanwhile, her press secretary, Anna Krasulina, told Reuters the opposition leader planned to visit Berlin on October 5-6 and that a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel was being considered during the trip. Macron is the highest-profile Western leader to visit Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania amid a crackdown on protesters by long-ruling strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka following the presidential election. Lukashenka claims he won the vote, but the opposition has held mass rallies to protest the results, saying Tsikhanouskaya is the winner. The Interior Ministry said more than 350 people were detained during nationwide protests on September 27, bringing the total number of detentions over the weekend to about 500. Western governments have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have called on him to negotiate a transfer of power, which Lukashenka refuses to do. He was secretly sworn in on September 23, sparking outrage at home and abroad. Under increasing pressure from the street and the West, Lukashenka has leaned on neighboring Russia for political and economic support. In a video message for the participants of the Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus on September 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Belarus was in a "difficult situation" and facing "unprecedented external pressure." Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later downplayed Macron's meeting with Tsikhanouskaya, describing it as a meeting between the "French president and a Belarusian citizen." Ahead of his three-day trip to Lithuania and neighboring Latvia, Macron said it was clear that Lukashenka "has to go" after 26 years in power. Over the past year, Macron has tried to reduce distrust between Russia and the West. But the efforts have upset other EU governments, particularly those that escaped Moscow's orbit after the Cold War. They say little has changed to merit a thaw in relations. Other European Union leaders have called on Macron to review his stance toward Moscow since the poisoning of Aleksei Navalny, a longtime critic of Putin. German doctors found traces of a nerve agent in Navalny's body and his allies accuse the Kremlin of being behind the poisoning. Moscow denies the accusation but has resisted pressure to launch a criminal investigation. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and TASS ABE Abraham Lincoln in His Times By David S. Reynolds Of the 16,000 books produced about Abraham Lincoln since his death 155 years ago, not one, in the view of the historian and biographer David S. Reynolds, fits the definition of a full-scale cultural biography. Reynolds, the author or editor of 16 books on 19th-century America, has set out to fill that void with Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times, a prodigious and lucidly rendered exposition of the character and thought of the 16th president as gleaned through the prism of the cultural and social forces swirling through America during his lifetime. More character study than narrative biography, this Lincoln portrait, fully 932 pages of text, goes further than most previous studies in probing the complexities and nuances of the man: his tastes, likes, dislikes, the quality of his thinking, the evolution of his ideas all shaped and molded by the society around him. At the same time, Reynolds succumbs to a pitfall in drawing conclusions about how particular Lincoln experiences influenced his later thoughts and actions when no evidence for such causal effects is discernible. The author employs speculative language abundantly, as when he writes within one three-page section: must have been also saddened by, could not but have been moved by, could have exposed him to, must have also been aware and appears to have been influenced. It was a raucous and turbulent culture that greeted Lincolns birth in 1809, with a sentimental quality, certainly, but also ablaze with sensationalism, violence and zany humor as well as popular exhibits full of strange, freakish images. In tracing the multiple strains of American culture, Reynolds explores Puritan and Southern Cavalier sensibilities, frontier mores, alcohol consumption and the temperance movement, the Baptist Church, Quakerism, frontier humor, popular music, rural carnivals and P. T. Barnum, among other cultural phenomena. [ Read an excerpt from Abe. ] Lincoln embraced nearly all of it, Reynolds writes, in an extraordinarily wide-ranging manner. Indeed, he adds, Lincoln ultimately was able to redefine democracy precisely because he had experienced culture in all its dimensions from high to low, sacred to profane, conservative to radical, sentimental to subversive. External Affairs Minister will visit Tokyo from October 6 to 7 to attend a ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition and hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on ways to further deepen bilateral ties. Announcing the visit, the (MEA) said Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. "During the visit, the External Affairs Minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-USA ministerial meeting on October 6 in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate," the MEA said. It said the ministers will collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The second meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition or Quad comes in the backdrop of growing global concerns over China's military muscle flexing in the Indo-Pacific region. The MEA said Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with the foreign ministers of Australia and the US during the visit to Japan. It said the foreign ministers will discuss the post-Covid-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga held a telephonic conversation during which they discussed ways to deepen cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Senior officials of the Quad member nations also held a virtual meeting last week focusing on ways to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. In November 2017, the four countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. The first meeting of foreign ministers of the four countries under the 'Quad' framework had taken place in New York in September 2019. India is also expanding bilateral cooperation with Japan, the US and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region. On its part, the US has been pushing for a greater role for India in the Indo-Pacific which is seen by many countries as an effort to contain China's growing clout in the region. In their bilateral talks, Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to prepare ground for the annual India-Japan summit later this year. New Delhi: A budding actor named Akshat Utkarsh allegedly died by suicide at his home in Mumbai's Andheri, news agency ANI reported. A case has been lodged with the Mumbai Police and the matter is being probed. After the postmortem, Akshat's body was handed over to his family. Actor Akshat Utkarsh dies allegedly by suicide at his residence in Mumbai's Andheri area. Case lodged, matter being probed. Body handed over to family after postmortem: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2020 According to reports, he was found dead on Sunday night and was depressed due to lack of work in the industry. He hailed from Bihar's Muzaffarpur. Hindustan Times reports that Akshat's family has dismissed speculations of him being depressed and claimed that he was murdered and alleged police negligence. He was found dead by his roommate at 11.30 pm on Sunday. Many people took to Twitter to express shock over the incident. Meanwhile, a section of the internet is reminded of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, who also hailed from Bihar and was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14. Parscale was angry over being demoted by Jared Kushner Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, with whom he had been close rather than by the president himself, according to people familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions. But Parscale had spoken to Trump in recent weeks and had returned to the campaigns Arlington, Va., headquarters for meetings. He also had helped put together some of the videos for the Republican National Convention last month. Photo: The Canadian Press Green Leader Sonia Furstenau says the party is working overtime to field a full slate of candidates in the Oct. 24 British Columbia election, but may fall short. Furstenau, one of two B.C. Greens who are currently members of the legislature, said last weeks snap election call and the recent party leadership race have taxed resources to the limit. She said the Greens are aiming to have a candidate in each of B.C.s 87 ridings, but may fall short by Thursdays nomination deadline. As of Monday afternoon, the Green Party website listed 31 candidates, including three on Vancouver Island. Furstenau was in Chemainus Sunday afternoon for the campaign launch of Chris Istace, who is running for the Greens in Nanaimo-North Cowichan. Istace joins Furstenau and Adam Olsen, who currently represents Saanich North and the Islands, as candidates on Vancouver Island for the B.C. Green Party. The islands remaining 11 ridings do not yet have candidates for the party. The B.C. Liberals had 66 candidates listed on its website, including 10 in Island ridings, on Monday, while the NDP had 62. New Democrat Leader John Horgan called an early election last week, more than one year ahead of the fixed October 2021 date. People are not able to enter or leave Merthyr Tydfil without a reasonable excuse (Ben Birchall/PA) Waless First Minister has asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urgently consider imposing travel restrictions in areas of England with high levels of coronavirus infections. Mark Drakeford, in a letter to Mr Johnson, said people living in such areas in England can travel long distances, potentially spreading the virus well beyond their locality. In Wales, people must not enter or leave areas subjected to local lockdown restrictions without a reasonable excuse such as going to work. Travelling into or out of such an area for a holiday is not considered a reasonable excuse. Although local rules are in place across most of South Wales, this does not mean you can travel into other areas also in lockdown. You cannot travel out of a local lockdown area without a reasonable excuse. Heres what you can and can't do https://t.co/O1mWvel1mm pic.twitter.com/iEXiwUoyNx Welsh Government #KeepWalesSafe (@WelshGovernment) September 29, 2020 The letter to Mr Johnson said the restrictions, imposed in 12 areas of Wales and affecting more than 60% of the countrys population, reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. The letter was sent before it was announced four North Wales local authority areas, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham, were to also go into lockdown from 6pm on Thursday. On Tuesday, Public Health Wales said a further three people had died with coronavirus in Wales, with 366 people testing positive for Covid-19. Mr Drakeford wrote: I ask that you give urgent consideration to the introduction of similar travel restrictions in the current high infection areas of England to those we have here in Wales. This would be a significant step in lessening the risk that we collectively face, and give communities in border areas considerable reassurance that we are taking every possible step to protect them. Policy officials and lawyers from the Welsh Government would be happy to advise on the way these measures have been implemented in our areas of local restriction. Although we have implemented different policy responses in the four nations of the UK at different times during this pandemic, and, of course, this will continue, I urge you to consider these additional measures as part of our shared aim of public health protection for all four nations. Mr Drakeford asked for a further Cobra meeting to be convened urgently to discuss this and other imminent challenges. The letter was also sent to leaders in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the Secretary of State for Wales. On Tuesday, the issue was repeatedly raised in the Welsh Parliament. Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, said there was nothing to stop people from a Covid hotspot in the UK travelling to parts of Wales with low transmission. He asked why a person could not travel from Aberafan in Neath Port Talbot to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, but could come from Manchester to Mynytho in Gwynedd. Mr Drakeford replied that Mr Johnson should prevent people from English hotspots from travelling elsewhere in England to Wales or other parts of the United Kingdom because of the risk that that undoubtedly poses. The number of latest Coronavirus outbreak in Wales have been confirmed and updated. Data dashboard:https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfhhttps://t.co/HSclxpZjBh Find out how we respond to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsG pic.twitter.com/ZjJXB8gY4w Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) September 29, 2020 Arfon Jones, the police and crime commissioner for North Wales, also called for such restrictions. He tweeted: Conversations ongoing about local lockdowns in North Wales. Perhaps we could start by imposing restriction on travel from local lockdown areas in England similar to what the restrictions are in Wales. The virus comes along the A55 not the A470. Angela Burns, of the Welsh Conservatives, told the Senedd that businesses in the microtourism industry such as eco-lodges and small campsites had been badly affected by the pandemic. She said a letter from Microtourism Wales highlighted how members were dealing with confused guests looking to cancel or change their holidays because they do not understand the local lockdown policies. The Welsh Government has called on people across Wales to avoid making unnecessary journeys, which Ms Burns said was causing confusion for potential tourists from other parts of the country and in England. Mr Drakeford and other Welsh ministers attended the Senedd on Tuesday by videolink from the Welsh Government offices in Cathays Park instead of in person. Pleasure to be on the floor of the @SeneddWales today for the latest hybrid sitting. Shame that @fmwales nor his ministerial colleagues in the Welsh Labour Government have bothered to turn up. pic.twitter.com/CXSHkcUOTz Andrew RT Davies (@AndrewRTDavies) September 29, 2020 Paul Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, described the decision as a disregard for Welsh democracy. In response, Mr Drakeford said every member was able to participate remotely or in person, adding: I say to people in Wales all the time that they should avoid unnecessary journeys. He also insisted he was very committed to proceeding with 2021 Senedd elections next May but said it was important that every citizen felt they could go to a polling station. The 12 areas of Wales under local lockdown restrictions are: Caerphilly county borough, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff, Swansea, the town of Llanelli, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan, and Torfaen, From Thursday at 6pm, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham all in North Wales will also join the list of areas under local lockdowns. On Tuesday, the total figure for positive cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in Wales reached 23,597. The number of deaths in the country of people with coronavirus increased to 1,615. [Latest updates: Elementary schools reopened in person on Tuesday, in a milestone for New York City.] Fatimah Ali spent the first days of April organizing a Zoom memorial service for a beloved third-grade teacher at Brooklyns Public School 9 who died of Covid-19. This week, Ms. Ali, the school's principal, hopes she can bring a similar sense of calm to another exceptionally difficult moment: the reopening of school on Tuesday. Finding ways to make the building feel welcoming and safe for students who have been away for six months is as complex a challenge as Ms. Ali has faced in her career. Like military planners, she and her staff have scrawled arrows and stick figures in purple ink on a makeshift map to indicate where students will enter and exit the building. She has asked the school custodian to trace blue, yellow and pink hearts on the pavement to indicate where students should stand, so that even lining up can feel joyful. And she has inspected each classroom to make sure desks are six feet apart but also that the walls are decorated and vibrant. One day we will look back at this as a moment in time, she says, repeating a mantra she shares with staff. The chaos and uncertainty are not forever. People wearing protective masks walk by a going out of business sign displayed outside Century 21 on the Upper West Side as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on September 27, 2020 in New York City. Bankruptcies in the New York City region have surged 40% during the coronavirus pandemic compared with the same time a year ago, according to Bloomberg. The crisis has hit a number of industries across the United States, with retailers and restaurants among those hardest hit. Century 21, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese and Neiman Marcus are among the companies that have filed for bankruptcy as a result of the pandemic. But in New York City, which became the epicenter of the virus in March, the environment has been especially challenged. Tourism has plummeted, government officials have been more cautious about reopening the economy and many wealthy residents have fled to the suburbs. From March 16 to Sept. 27, 610 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the publication reported Tuesday. The two districts include some counties in the city's neighboring suburbs. Owners of small businesses, which have struggled more during the pandemic, are less likely to file for bankruptcy. Instead, many are simply leaving the keys in the door. Yelp data shows that more than 4,000 New York City businesses have permanently closed since March. Another flurry of bankruptcies and permanent closures is expected as cold weather arrives along with a forecast second wave of coronavirus cases. Local health officials issued a warning Monday as cases in New York rise and hospitalizations increase. Read more about rising New York bankruptcies here. In early December, Liu Zhangning was tending her cabbage patch when she saw a tall yellow construction crane in the distance. At night, the work lights made it seem like day. Fifteen days later, a 30-story hotel towered over her village on the outskirts of the city like a glass and steel obelisk. I couldnt really believe it, Liu said. They built that thing in under a month. A time-lapse video of the project in Changsha, which shows the prefabricated building being assembled on site, has racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube and left Western architects speechless. Advertisement Ive never seen a project go up this fast, said Ryan Smith, an expert on prefabricated architecture at the University of Utah. In other countries, the most advanced prefab construction methods can reduce building times by a third to half, Smith said. The builders of the Changsha hotel did better, knocking one-half to two-thirds off the normal schedule. Its unfathomable, Smith said. The warp-speed construction is a startling illustration of the building boom in China, where an exodus from the countryside to the cities has swelled the urban population by almost 400 million since 1990. Skylines are peppered with cranes. Smog-choked streets echo with the pounding of jackhammers. Residential high-rises sprout like weeds in the plains between major cities, creating an endless sprawl along the countrys east coast. The breakneck pace of construction reflects a societal urge to catch up as fast as possible to the developed world after decades of scarcity under Mao Tse-tung, said Zhang Li, a Beijing architect. The focus on fast construction took root during the economic reforms of the early 1980s, Zhang said. Prefabrication methods, well established elsewhere but just catching on in China, have magnified it. Raising a 30-story tower in two weeks is possible because most of the work is done in a factory and the foundation has been laid ahead of time.Chinasabundance of workers also helps. But a job done quickly is not always a job done well. Zhang said that in their race to the finish line, many Chinese construction companies skimp on the meticulous reviews and inspections that make projects in the West drag on for years. Incredible speed also means incredible risk, he said. But only time will tell how serious the risk is. The Chinese company behind the Changsha hotel, Broad Sustainable Building, says it cuts no corners on safety. To the contrary, it says, its methods will makeChinasconstruction boom safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. In promotional literature, Broad boasts that its technology is the most profound innovation in human history and that construction on a third of the worlds new buildings will be done this way in the near future. The hotel, called T-30, looms over dilapidated concrete homes interspersed with piles of garbage and rows of cabbages and leeks. Dogs and chickens run through muddy alleyways. In mid-January, a month after the buildings announced completion, its interior was a hive of activity. Many of the 500 rooms were finished, with made beds and white sofas. In others, wires protruded from unfinished walls. Paint-splattered workers hauled wooden planks past a grand piano in the pristine marble lobby. The hotel, which will accommodate visiting clients of Broad Sustainable Building and house some of its employees, is about 400 yards from the cavernous white factory where its components were manufactured. The headquarters of the parent company, Broad Group, is a 90-minute drive away. This is the tallest building in this county, and its also the fastest-built, said Rong Shengli, one of the buildings planners, looking over the rural sprawl from a helicopter pad on the hotels roof. Next were going to build a 50-story building. Then a 100-story one, then a 150-story one. And theyre all going to go up fast. The time-lapse video provides a glimpse of how the hotel was made. Workers in blue jumpsuits are seen assembling main boards, the building blocks of Broads structures -- 13-by-50-foot slabs containing ventilation shafts, water pipes, electric wiring and lighting fixtures sandwiched between ready-made floors and ceilings. A counter at the bottom of the screen ticks off the hours as the boards are loaded onto a truck and delivered to the construction site. A crane then stacks them up like blocks. Workers bolt in pylons and piece together staircases; the glass and steel exterior rolls up onto the frame like a gleaming carpet. At 360 hours, the ticker stops. Building this way costs 20% to 30% less than traditional methods, said Jiang Yan, a senior vice president at Broad. Its also safer, said Zhang Yue, chief executive of Broad Group, because factories are typically less risky environments than construction sites. The faster, the safer, Zhang said. Its like crossing the road. If you slowly walk back and forth in the middle of the road, thats not safe. The China Academy of Building Research has declared Broads structures earthquake-resistant up to magnitude 9. (The largest recorded quake of the 20th century, which hit Chile in 1960, measured 9.5.) The company says the strength of its buildings comes from their lightweight steel structures and diagonal bracing. Zhang said he got the idea to manufacture prefabricated buildings after a massive earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 in which the collapse of poorly constructed buildings killed tens of thousands of people, many of them schoolchildren. Zhang said it took about 200 of the companys 900 employees to put up the hotel. They are paid $500 to $800 a month, above average for China. Although some company executives acknowledged that many workers put in well over 40 hours a week, Zhang said they do not work later than 10 p.m. Unlike most Chinese tycoons, Zhang cultivates a reputation as an environmentalist. The company touts its sparing use of concrete to cut down on waste. Its buildings have low-energy lighting, water-saving toilets and elevators that generate electricity on the way down. Broad Sustainable Building has completed only a handful of projects. Its first was the 15-story New Ark Hotel, which the company built in about six days near Broad Groups headquarters in 2010. Soon afterward, it built a six-story building at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in less than 24 hours. Its first international project was a two-story building erected at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010. Mexican President Felipe Calderon called it a revolution of the worlds architectural and housing industry. The company says it is negotiating technology-transfer deals with firms in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and India and hopes to establish partnerships in the United States. Experts say that may not be easy. Broads buildings may not conform to U.S. fire codes. Labor laws could prevent employees from working the long hours required to construct a building with such speed. Amy Lelyveld, a professor of architecture at Yale University, described prefabricated buildings in the U.S. as kind of at the jewelry-making end of architecture -- an expensive niche. Lelyveld expressed concern about the adequacy of construction oversight on a complicated, hurriedly constructed building like the Changsha hotel. I wonder why it was so fast, she said, adding that if it was slower there might be more opportunities to inspect the work. Zhang, however, said Broad could adapt to labor and fire safety laws in other countries, and that employees workdays would drop to eight hours as the companys technology improves. We will use international standards, he said. Zhou Weidong, a vice president at Broad Sustainable Building, said the company was developing as quickly as its home country. Looking out the window of a company Buick, he noted that the squat concrete homes, convenience stores and auto repair shops lining the newly paved road between the headquarters of Broad Sustainable Building and central Changsha were at most a year old. Three years later, if you come back here, this will be a city, he said. Thats China. It changes overnight. Kaiman is a special correspondent. Even if omicron peak nears, Long Beach cases and hospitalizations will still be up for weeks, official says Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, MS, an expert in pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers as well as an accomplished clinical trial leader, has joined Mount Sinai Health System as Director of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program and Medical Director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office at The Tisch Cancer Institute. Dr. Cohen will also be an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In these roles, she will conduct important translational and clinical research, including studies that build upon scientific discoveries developed at Mount Sinai and collaborating institutions. As Director of the GI Oncology Program, Dr. Cohen will foster both clinical and research activities associated with GI cancers across the Mount Sinai cancer sites. She will also oversee the development of clinical trials in her role as Medical Director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office. Dr. Cohen has abundant experience as Principal Investigator on numerous trials for novel therapeutic approaches for gastrointestinal cancer in particular. We are very proud that Dr. Cohen has decided to join us to help lead our efforts in gastrointestinal cancers, said Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, Chair of Oncological Sciences, and Ward-Coleman Professor in Cancer Research of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. We are excited to welcome her to also further develop our already robust clinical trial office. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Cohen was on the faculty in the Division of Medical Oncology at New York University (NYU) for 13 years. Recently, she served as Medical Director for the Perlmutter Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office and Acting Director of NYU GI Medical Oncology. Board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology, Dr. Cohen is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Cancer Institute Colon Task Force. Dr. Cohen received her MD from SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn and a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation from New York University. She completed a residency in internal medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at NYU Langone School of Medicine. Dr. Cohens arrival is an exciting step forward for coordinating a multidisciplinary approach for gastrointestinal cancer that builds on a strong foundation already here, said William K. Oh, MD, Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and the Ezra M. Greenspan, M.D. Professor in Clinical Cancer Care Therapeutics. We are driven to continue to develop more effective therapies in trials for a constellation of cancers that take so many lives every year. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality carefrom prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty and our physicians in the top 1% of all physicians nationally by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. RADIO EMMA TOC WORLD SERVICE - SCHEDULE SUMMARY - OCT. 2020 www.emmatoc.com Programme Contents - a look at - the 'British Broadcasting Century' podcasts, an informative and humorous series covering the periods before, during and after 2MT, the BBC 'Over to You' discussing the future of shortwave, music radio in Jaipur India, a short 'one size fits all' life philosophy, and hello to listeners. Ways to listen... Radio Emma Toc World Service - programme no. 6 - October 2020 You can listen online - www.emmatoc.com - visit the 'World Service' page. You can listen to our shortwave or FM broadcasts via our relay partners as follows: WRMI - Radio Miami International - 9955kHz - covering Latin America (& beyond) Tues 18:00 EasternTime / 22:00 UTC and Wed 20:00 Eastern Time / 00:00 (Thurs) UTC WRMI - Radio Miami International - 9455kHz - covering Eastern North America (& far beyond) Sundays 21:00 EasternTime / 01:00 (Monday) UTC World FM - 88.2MHz / 107.6MHz - covering Tawa, Marahau & Stoke, New Zealand Sundays 22:00 NZST / 10:00 UTC and Thursdays 16:30 NZST / 04:30 UTC (alternating with other programmes) Channel 292 - 6070kHz - covering Europe (& beyond) Fri 9th Oct 07:300 UTC & 18:30 UTC, Sun 18th Oct 19:30 UTC, & Fri 23rd Oct 20:00 UTC Scandinavian Weekend Radio - 6170kHz / 11690kHz / 1602kHz / 94.9MHz covering Finland & Europe - Saturday 3rd October 06:00UTC Happy listening! If you are outside the transmitter coverage areas, why not listen via the broadcasters' online services. Website details for the above stations are listed on our own website here - https://www.emmatoc.org/worldservicescheduleoct2020 If you don't have access to receivers & aerials you can try using an online SDR receiver - ve3sun.com/KiwiSDR - experience the enjoyment of tuning around shortwave from worldwide locations online. We are happy to issue eQSLs for reception reports sent to - emmatoc1922@gmail.com - & will gladly include for online reports. If using an online SDR, please give us the SDR location. If any stations wish to relay our programme a download link is available on our website. Please advise us of times & dates so we can publicise in our schedule. Thank you! Jim Salmon Radio Emma Toc By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Actor Sonu Sood, who is often dubbed as the "messiah of migrants" for his philanthropic work during coronavirus induced lockdown, has been conferred with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He is among many globally acclaimed personalities such as Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson, and Liam Neeson who had also been honoured with the award in the past. According to a conservative estimate, Sood helped more than 15,000 migrant workers, the majority of them belonging to Bihar, to reach homes in addition to arranging foods and shelters to more than 45,000 other people struck in the lockdown. He had hired a fleet of private buses for sending the migrant workers to their homes free of cost and provided free foods and water throughout the way. Sonu's team had set up then a toll-free number for receiving the calls from those struck in the lockdown for help. ALSO READ | It's hard to read scripts when people are in need of help: Sonu Sood He had then claimed to be personally available on social media and responding to the calls or messages sent seeking his help. Besides this, Sonu Sood has helped financially to a good number of poor people when they approached him for help during the lockdown crisis times. Sood has also been providing free education and medical facilities to young children and has been creating free employment opportunities for the needy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The award was presented to the actor at a virtual ceremony on Monday evening. ALSO READ | Sonu Sood helps TN students stuck in Russia fly back home Expressing his happiness over the honor, the actor said he fully supports the UNDP in its endeavors. "This is a rare honor. UN recognition is very special. I have done whatever little I have done, in my own humble way, for my fellow countrymen without any expectations. However, to be recognized and awarded feels good," he said. "I fully support the UNDP in its endeavors to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Planet Earth and mankind will greatly benefit from the implementation of these goals," he added. (With agency inputs) - Joseph Gakono had been on the run after alleged victims filed complaints against him for various offences - He allegedly obtained KSh 320,000 from one Joseph Mwangi after promising to sell him a piece of land in Kutus area - Police officers pounced on the 56-year-old suspect while in the process of selling two eggs at KSh 600,000 PAY ATTENTION: Click 'See First' under 'Follow' Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB Feed A man in Kirinyaga county has been arrested for obtaining money by false pretences. Detectives from the county Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) offices pounced on Joseph Gakono over several accusations including selling two ostrich eggs at KSh 600,000. READ ALSO: ODM demands KSh 7.7 billion debt from government Ostrich eggs. A man in Kirinyaga was allegedly selling two at KSh 600,000. Photo: The White Elephant. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Eyes on William Ruto as Uhuru prepares to leave for France Gichugu sub-county Police commander Anthony Mbogo confirmed that the 56-year-old suspect was in the process of selling the two eggs when he was arrested. Reports suggested the suspect had been on the run following several complaints against him with one Joseph Mwangi having paid him KSh 320,000 for a piece of land. The suspect has been on the run after getting wind of his impending arrest. He has also been threatening his victims with death for demanding their money back, Mbogo told journalists. The DCI also officers told TUKO.co.ke Gakono will also face charges relating to obtaining money by false pretences contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code. Elsewhere, detectives nabbed four other suspects in a fake gold syndicate after swindling a Niger national over KSh 21 million on diverse dates. READ ALSO: Ruto spotted dancing with hustlers while donating wheelbarrows day after snubbing COVID-19 conference READ ALSO: COVID-19: Kenya records 210 new infections, 59 recoveries The victim was lured into the country by the prime suspect Seth Steve Okute to his Lux Cargo Group offices at Siginon Warehouse at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Working alongside other three accomplices, Samuel Macharia, Victor Onyango and Robert Kiplang'at, the four were paid the said amount to expedite rerouting of a cargo destination. They, however, disappeared and left the victim stranded at the airport. Okuthe ran for the Karachuonyo parliamentary seat in 2017 but lost in the party primaries. "Charges of obtaining money by false pretences and conspiracy to defraud being preferred," the DCI stated. Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme. This is me coming to you with a heavy heart. My friends left after I got cancer - Esther Nyambura/TUKO.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke Petoskey High School band directors, assistant principal remain on administrative leave Superintendent Chris Parker addressed the situation regarding three band instructors and an assistant principal who are all currently on paid leave during Thursday's board of education meeting. Nearly 28 years after the Babri Mosque was demolished in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, a special CBI court in Lucknow will pronounce the much-awaited verdict in the criminal case on Wednesday. BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the accused in the case. The Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by kar sevaks who claimed that the mosque was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple. CBI judge SK Yadav on September 16 had directed all the 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court on the day of the judgment. The accused include former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara. Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust in charge of constructing the Ram temple, is also among those accused. With both Bharti and Singh recovering in separate hospitals after coronavirus infection, it was not known if they would be present in the court at the time of pronouncement of order. Security in and around Ayodhya has been beefed up ahead of the verdict, with the city on high alert. An intensive checking campaign will be conducted at all entry points to the city. Along with personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, civil police will also be deployed in plain uniform to keep a check on any unwanted situation. Daily hearings in trial court Singh, during whose tenure as chief minister the disputed structure was demolished, was put on trial in September last year after his tenure as governor of Rajasthan ended. With the Supreme Court setting August 31 as the deadline and later extending it by a month, the trial court started daily hearings to complete the task. The central agency produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence. Charges were framed against 48 people, but 17 have died during the course of trial. The trial under the serious criminal conspiracy charges started against them after having been dropped by the trial court in 2001. The verdict was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2010, but the apex court ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge on April 19, 2017. The top court ordered daily hearing in the case and directed the special judge to conclude it in two years. The charge of conspiracy is in addition to the existing charges for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion for which the accused are already facing trial. They also face charges of having made assertions prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship". The other charges include indulging in deliberate and malicious" acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly. The CBI argued that the accused conspired and instigated kar sevaks to demolish the 16th-century mosque. But the accused pleaded innocence, maintaining there is no evidence to prove their guilt and claimed they were implicated by the then Congress government at the Centre as a political vendetta. In a significant judgment last year, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law. An alternative five-acre site was marked in the city for building a mosque. Before the 2017 verdict of the apex court, two sets of cases were being heard in Lucknow and Raebareli. The trial of the first case involving unnamed kar sevaks was going on in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relating to the eight VVIPs, including Advani, Joshi, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Ashok Singhal, Katiyar, Uma Bharti, Giriraj Kishore and Ritambhara, were on in a Raebareli court. The apex court, while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, had directed that the two cases be clubbed and had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. (With inputs from agencies) launches range of multi-brand, quality automotive products for Indian Independent Aftermarket Industry Signs sales distribution agreement with O2O automobile aftermarket platform GoMechanic Regulatory News: Groupe PSA (Paris:UG), today announced the launch of Eurorepar range of multi-brand, high-quality aftermarket products, in India. PCA India, the local entity of Groupe PSA, signed a sales and distribution agreement with GoMechanic, a renowned player in the Indian aftermarket with a network of flagship and partner workshops, spare part retailers and an e-commerce technology platform. GoMechanic will support the sales of Eurorepar spare parts, facilitating a strong market entry point in India. With this launch, Groupe PSA makesthe bold choice to enter the Indian market with a multi-brand label Eurorepar, an innovative strategy for India amongst car manufacturers. Sharing his views on the launch, Roland Bouchara Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing India Groupe PSA, said, "We are very excited that our globally proven, aftermarket brand, Eurorepar is being introduced in India. Eurorepar products are developed in line with strict, comprehensive quality procedures through suppliers who are systematically audited by Groupe PSA. We believe Eurorepar is the best alternative for Indian customers, who are looking for spare parts at smart prices and are not necessarily eager to spend a higher price for premium aftermarket brands. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 situation, we have retained the launch of multi-brand parts with Eurorepar in India and that makes it unique by way of being Groupe PSA's first consumer facing business initiative launched before the first Citroen vehicle, the C5 Aircross SUV, which is on track for launch in Q1 2021." Eurorepar product line, specially designed for the Indian aftermarket Eurorepar is Groupe PSA's multi-brand parts and accessories range for the repair and maintenance of vehicles. Present across 100 countries around the world, the range promises smart prices and quality products, regardless of the make and model of a vehicle. These products, available for three or more year old vehicles, are aimed at customers looking for quality and value when buying spare parts. The first Eurorepar product line will soon be available to Indian workshops with high quality brake pads at smart prices, both for B2B (multi-brand workshops and spare parts retailers) and B2C customers, both offline and online through the GoMechanic parts distribution platforms. Commenting on the launch and partnership, Jean Christophe Bertrand Senior Vice President Groupe PSA Independent Aftermarket Business Unit, said, "This decision to launch Eurorepar in India has to be analysed in the framework of PSA Aftermarket's global strategy, which consists to fulfil all customers' aftersales expectation worldwide regardless of their purchasing power and the make and age of their vehicle. India is a key piece in Groupe PSA's 'Push to Pass' strategy for global markets and it presents an incredible opportunity to showcase Groupe PSA's customer centric approach for all its brands. Our decision to partner with GoMechanic is based on our common goal, which is to provide high quality and value to all customers. We believe this strategy will help us both establish Groupe PSA more firmly in India and conquer a large customer base." Association and distribution agreement with GoMechanic As per the agreement, PCA India will provide the Eurorepar parts to GoMechanic, who will then distribute the parts through its warehouses and parts distribution logistics platform to all the workshops and retailers within its network. Groupe PSA will provide support in terms of marketing, training, brand building, besides providing a very strong product range. Speaking on the partnership, Amit Bhasin Cofounder GoMechanic, said, "We are delighted to partner with Groupe PSA to launch the Eurorepar brand in India. This partnership bodes well for us as we strive to provide superior quality service and parts at an affordable price to our customers. This could not have come at a better time as we are rapidly expanding our service centres in the country. With our 350+ workshops and a robust spare parts distribution network, we are confident that we can help scale Groupe PSA's aftermarket business in no time." Initially Eurorepar will be introducing products like high quality brake pads and the range will expand progressively to include multiple product lines like wiper blades, filters (air, oil fuel), brake discs, coolant, grease lubricants, thus building a strong product portfolio of service repair parts. The parts will be available in India, through GoMechanic workshops and retailers in 15 major cities from 29th September 2020. About Groupe PSA Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all customer expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, and provides a wide array of mobility and smart services under the Free2Move brand. Its 'Push to Pass' strategic plan represents a first step towards the achievement of the Group's vision to be "a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships". An early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, Groupe PSA is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia. Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com @GroupePSA_EN About GoMechanic GoMechanic www.gomechanic.com, is currently India's largest and fast growing network of technology-enabled multi-brand car service centres, offering a seamless car service experience at the convenience of a tap through it's mobile app and website-based consumer internet platforms. GoMechanic has 350+ car repair workshops presently across 21 cities and currently services 2 million+ cars annually and is targeting 10 million customers by 2021. The technology-first company is venture capital backed by marquee investors like Sequoia Capital, Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures) and Orios Venture Partners. About Eurorepar Present in over 100 countries with over 12,000 standardised references, Eurorepar is Groupe PSA multi-brand exclusive range of automotive products (spare parts, accessories, tyres, oil, workshop consumables) for repair and maintenance of vehicles 3 years old and over. Communications Department www.groupe-psa.com/en +33 6 61 93 29 36 @GroupePSA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005548/en/ Contacts: Media: PCA India: Saurabh Vatsa saurabh.vatsa@citroen.com Bala Krishnan bala.krishnan@citroen.com PSA Aftermarket: Marc Bocque - 33 6 80 21 87 03 marc.bocque@mpsa.com India PR Agency: Atul Shah +919960255829 atul.shah@adfactorspr.com Three children and two women were killed by a rocket strike on a home in a Baghdad neighborhood on Monday. The incident, announced by Iraqs Security Media Cell, comes amid threats by US officials to withdraw Washingtons embassy in Baghdad if the militia attacks are not stopped by Iraqs security forces. Two other children were also wounded by the rocket attack, according to the Security Media Cell, which said the rockets completely destroyed the home in the Albu Shaaban neighborhood of al-Radwaniyah district of Baghdad. The Security Media Cell said the rockets were launched from al-Jihad district. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week warned Iraqi President Barham Salih that the United States would consider withdrawing its embassy in Baghdad and may confront the militias unilaterally if their attacks on foreign diplomatic missions and convoys are not halted by Iraqs security forces. Word about the warning led to divergent calls by Hashid Shaabi factions. Falih al-Fayadh and Hadi al-Amiri, who leads the Hashid-affiliated Fatah political bloc, called for an end to the attacks on foreign troops and diplomatic sites, as did influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Fayadh fired and replaced two Hashid brigade leaders last week. Sadr also suggested Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi form a security committee to tackle the continued attacks, an idea to which Kadhimi is reportedly open. Qais al-Khazali of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, however, legitimized attacks on the US Embassy by saying it functions as a military base of an occupying force. While it is not immediately clear what prompted the American gambit, such an embassy closure would normally take up to three months, The Washington Post reported. Militia attacks on personnel connected to the US-led military coalitions presence in Iraq have ticked up in recent months. A British convoy was hit with a roadside bomb earlier this month, drawing rare condemnation from Irans Foreign Ministry. Iran has backed a number of the Shiite militias in Iraq for years. But despite Tehran officials renewed threats of revenge over the US assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled last week that Iran prefers softer tactics rather than outright war with the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday, however, tweeted in praise of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's role in "preserving [Iraq's] sovereignty" and "getting rid of the occupation forces and building a new Iraq." Killing Soleimani is believed to have weakened the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps grip on its preferred factions in Iraq, and it is less clear today that Iran can adequately reign them in, even if desired. An unsung British hero who helped save hundreds of children destined to die in Nazi concentration camps will be honoured with a life-size statue in his hometown. Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', helped Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia as the country came under the grip of Nazi occupation in the months before World War Two. At great personal risk, the schoolteacher negotiated with the Gestapo to agree exit passes for children, one of whom went on to become a poet whose work has been praised by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. The heros involvement in the operation, known as the Czech 'kindertransport', was not uncovered until more than 50 years after the war. Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', helped Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia. He is pictured as a young man Chadwick, who died in 1979, travelled back and forth between England and Prague in 1939 to supervise the movement of hundreds of children by train and aircraft. He was known for his friendly and personable manner that helped put children at ease at the most terrifying time of their lives. In May, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust confirmed it was raising more than 80,000 for a statue of the humanitarian to be erected in Swanage, Dorset. An 18-inch model of the bronze tribute has now been created by sculptor Moira Purver, which will be scaled up to life-size and placed on display in the town in 2022. Mrs Purver said: 'I first was alerted about this project in January and I had never heard of Trevor so I did plenty of reading up on him before starting the maquette [model of a statue] at the beginning of July. 'He was an amazing man - incredibly brave and warm, and this helped put the children at ease. 'I wanted to capture the powerful connection between him and the children. 'People have been incredibly pleased with it and say I've managed to capture that emotion.' The teacher's involvement in Czechoslovakia began when he visited Prague in January 1939 to sponsor two child refugees to house at his family's prep school in Swanage. In May, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust confirmed it was raising more than 80,000 for a statue of the humanitarian to be erected in Swanage, Dorset The father of a third child also approached him and begged for his help. Chadwick was able to rescue her too and she became the poet Gerda Mayer, who has been praised by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. While in Prague he met Sir Nicholas, who had visited the city on the advice of a friend, as well as Doreen Warriner, a representative of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. He agreed to organise the Prague end of the banker's evacuation operation if he could get the British government permission to bring unaccompanied children to the UK. By this point the Nazis had already seized part of Czechoslovakia, prompting an influx of Jewish refugees into the capital, where they lived in crowded, unsanitary camps. With time running out, Sir Nicholas drew up a list of names of children to be rescued, and tasked his mother back in England with getting the Home Office to organise permits for their entry. He returned home a month later, but Chadwick remained in Prague to organise the rescue operation even after the Nazis had overrun the city six weeks later. Showing remarkable bravery, the teacher negotiated with the Gestapo to obtain exit permits for the children, and successfully organised for eight groups of children to leave Prague for London. Sir Nicholas aged 100 in 2009 at an event at Liverpool Street Station to celebrate his work His cousin, Annie Bridger, 67, still lives in Swanage, and recalled his 'wonderful wit'. 'I only discovered in the last few years what he had done and I was bowled over,' she told the BBC. 'The family are very, very proud of him'. Paying tribute to his friend, Sir Nicholas later wrote: 'Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded... he deserves all praise.' After the war he moved to Oslo with his German wife Sigrid, who was 28 years his junior, and took a job as an academic publisher. He originally chose the city for its fresh air, because of his frequently relapsing TB but stayed there for the rest of his life until he died in 1979. John Corben, chairman of the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust, said: 'In many cases he had to arrange forged documents simply because he couldn't get them through a normal source. 'He also had to liaise with London because each child that came out of Prague had to have a sponsor in this country who had to pay 50. 'He did some really important work that people don't necessarily know about.' An Estonian teacher rings the dinner bell for Jewish refugee children at Dovercourt Camp near Harwich. Image undated Mr Chadwick's cousin, Annie Bridger, still lives in the Purbeck area. She described her relative as 'selfless, compassionate and brave'. She added: 'He did it totally selflessly. He had to befriend some of the Nazis in order to get a shoe in but had they found out what he was up to that would have been the end of him. 'Absolutely he was a reluctant hero.' Later in life, Chadwick suffered from tuberculosis and moved to Oslo, Norway where he worked at academic publisher Oslo University Press. Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews throughout World War Two by employing them in his factories in Poland. Webster Area uses hot-shooting performance to roll past Roncalli Webster Area used a strong offensive performance, shooting better than 50% from the field to down Aberdeen Roncalli 68-39 on Friday night in Aberdeen. Key equity indices firmed up once again in mid-afternoon trade with the Nifty crossing 11,250 mark. IT and metal shares were in demand. At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 152.44 points or 0.4% at 38,134.83. The Nifty 50 index was up 46.2 points or 0.41% at 11,273.55. TCS (up 3%), Reliance Industries (up 1.43%) and HDFC (up 1.74%) pushed the indices higher. The broader market underperformed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.06% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.05%. Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1136 shares rose and 1369 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 26.98 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 542.34 crore in the Indian equity market on 28 September, provisional data showed. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 33,353,615 with 10,01,646 deaths. India reported 9,47,576 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 96,318 deaths while 51,01,397 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Unlock 5.0: The media reported that restaurants, bars and eatery outlets in Maharashtra will be allowed to re-start operations from the first week of October. Hotels, bars and restaurants have been surviving on home deliveries due to the covid-19 lockdown. Buzzing Index: The Nifty IT index rose 1.07% to 19,995.10. The index has added 5.39% in three days. Mindtree (up 5.45%), TCS (up 3.03%), Info Edge (up 2.81%), Wipro (up 0.77%) and Infosys (up 0.75%) were top gainers in IT space. Stocks in Spotlight: SBI Card rose 0.66%. SBI Card, India's largest pure play credit card issuer, and American Express, the globally integrated payments company, have entered a strategic partnership. With this partnership, SBI Card's top end products - SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card PRIME will be available on American Express' global network. Shree Cement surged 1.69%. The board of Shree Cement has allowed setting up a clinker unit having a capacity of upto 12,000 tons per day (TPD) at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. The project will require a total investment of Rs 1,000 crore, which will be financed through internal accruals and debt. The capacity is expected to be added by the quarter ending September 2022. The existing cement capacity of the company is 40.40 million ton per annum (MTPA). During the year 2019-20 the utilization rate was 64%. The announcement was made during market hours today, 29 September 2020. Numbers to Track: In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 73.86 compared with its previous closing 73.79. The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.041% compared with previous closing of 6.056% in the previous trading session. MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2020 settlement rose 0.37% to Rs 50,320. In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2020 settlement fell 17 cents to $42.26 a barrel. The contract rose 1.22% to settle at $42.43 in the previous trading session. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PM Modi discusses global supply chain, Covid with Denmark PM in virtual summit The coronavirus pandemic has shown the risk involved in excessive dependence of the global supply chain on any single source, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a virtual bilateral summit on Monday with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen. The prime minister said India is working with Australia and Japan to diversify the supply chain, noting that like-minded countries are welcome to join the initiative. The prime minister also highlighted the government's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) initiative as well as various reform measures in the areas of agriculture, taxation and labour market. Watch the full video for more details. ...read more A Mumbai civil court has restrained Delhi-based media professional Sakshi Bhandari, lawyer Vibhor Anand and other unknown persons from posting comments linking actor Arbaaz Khan with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian. The court order came on Monday. Khan had moved a defamation suit before the city civil court, Mumbai, last week against Bhandari, Anand and other unknown persons for dragging his name in the alleged conspiracy theory behind the deaths. Along with the defamation suit, he had also sought to restrain them from posting or publishing any comment against him in this regard and also sought direction that existing comments be withdrawn. The actor has also made all the social media networks and micro blogging sites -- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google -- where the contents alleging his involvement in the deaths were published, party to the suit. Soon after Rajputs death on June 14, several conspiracy theories were floated; one of them being its link to Salians death on June 8. Another one alleged that Khan was involved in both the deaths. In their posts on several social media platforms, Anand and Bhandari also published the same, prompting Khans action. In their arguments, lawyers for social media companies claimed that they were wrongly added as parties to the suit. The court has granted them two weeks to submit their detailed reply. Meanwhile, till further hearing, the court also restrained Bhandari, Anand and any other person from posting any contents naming Khan in the conspiracy theories. The court has also asked the social media companies to take steps for withdrawal of the comments posted against Khan and his family. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Voting booths are kept socially distant at the Chesterfield polling site during the New Hampshire state primaries on Sept. 8, 2020. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP) No Information Suggesting Cyberattack on Election Infrastructure, Says FBI and DHS The FBI said that there is no information that suggests there was a cyberattack on U.S. election infrastructure. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a statement on Monday, saying that there are false claims of hacked voter information, describing them as disinformation. The agencies are issuing this announcement to raise awareness of the potential threat posed by attempts to spread disinformation regarding cyberattacks on U.S. voter registration databases or voting systems, according to the statement. They did not elaborate on the nature of the disinformation. In another alert, the FBI and CISAwhich is operated by the Department of Homeland Securitysaid that foreign actors and criminals have been spreading a number of false and inconsistent information during the 2020 election season. These efforts, they claimed, are an attempt to manipulate public opinion, discredit the electoral process, and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions. The two agencies noted that these malicious actors could use these forums to also spread disinformation suggesting successful cyber operations have compromised election infrastructure and facilitated the hacking and leaking of U.S. voter registration data, according to a joint statement. The agencies did not elaborate on who is spreading the disinformation or where it is being posted online. The warning comes after Michigans Department of State also denied there had been a cyberattack on its election systems after U.S. voter registration information appeared on a Russian hacking platform. The agency said that the voter information is readily available via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Last week, the FBI and CISA said (pdf) they would continue to quickly respond to potential threats, provide recommendations to harden election infrastructure, notify stakeholders of threats and intrusion activity, and impose risks and consequences on cyber actors seeking to threaten U.S. elections. They called on Americans to seek out election information from trustworthy sources, also without elaborating, and called on people to verify who produced the content, and consider their intent. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, left, speaks to reporters in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 13, 2020. On right, President Donald Trump before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 27, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Microsoft in early September published a report that found Chinese, Russian, and Iranian foreign actors are targeting political groups, including President Donald Trumps and Democratic nominee Joe Bidens campaigns. Before that, Attorney General William Barr told CNN on Sept. 2 that he believes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses the largest foreign threat to election security, pushing back on largely Democratic Party claims that the Kremlin is trying to meddle in the election to secure Trumps reelection. I believe its China, Barr said. China more than Russia right now. But he stressed that he wouldnt be surprised if Russia or another foreign state actor tries to meddle in the election just as Russia and other adversaries did during the 2016 election. Influence, basically, is two kinds of things. Its hack and dump. You get into someones mail system and then try to disclose embarrassing documents. It wouldnt surprise me if they try something like that, or any other country tries that. The other way is social media and putting things out on social media, Barr said. William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, found that China, Russia, and Iran are seeking to undermine the 2020 U.S. elections. Evanina said the Chinese regime is on the top of its list, saying Beijing has escalated its influence efforts to shape U.S. policy, pressure politicians, and tamp down criticism of the CCP. Netflix has released the first look images of the widely anticipated fourth series of The Crown, which debuts Emma Corrin as Princess Diana and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher. Fans of the hit-series, inspired by the award-winning play The Audience, will follow the re-telling of one of the most paramount times in British history. As the 1970s draw to a close at the beginning of season four, viewers will not only watch Princess Diana enter the Royal family but will follow the tensions that arise between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The series will unfold how these tensions grew stronger as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands war while the nation also begins to feel the impact of her divisive policies. Expand Close Viewers will get to see the relationship between Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and Prince Charles (Josh O Connor) develop / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Viewers will get to see the relationship between Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and Prince Charles (Josh O Connor) develop On the romance side, viewers can expect to see the realities of Prince Charles relationship with a young Lady Diana Spencer develop. Although it is the fairy-tale that the British people needed at the time, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided. Expand Close Prince Philip (TOBIAS MENZIES) and Queen Elizabeth II (OLIVIA COLMAN) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prince Philip (TOBIAS MENZIES) and Queen Elizabeth II (OLIVIA COLMAN) Read More Written by Peter Morgan, The Crown tells the inside story of the decades-long reign of Queen Elizabeth II and the struggle between her private and public self. The series focuses on the personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th Century. The series isnt simply about the monarchy but is about an empire in decline, a world in disarray, and the dawn of a new era. Video of the Day The fourth series of The Crown also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles, and Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother. The new series of The Crown will be available on Netflix from November 15th. The first presidential debate is Tuesday night in Cleveland, at 9 p.m. Eastern! We already know what the biggest takeaway from the evening will be: Thank God, this means the election itself cant be far off. But there will also be other things to learn from it, as well. Below, the six biggest questions going in about the candidates strategies, ranked in completely subjective order of importance. Why six, and not five or 10? Because thats how many I thought of this morning! Onward: Advertisement 6. Will Trump self-destruct over the issue of his taxes? Moderator Chris Wallace is definitely going to ask Trump about the New York Times having obtained years of his tax returns, and about how they reported that he apparently cheats on his income taxes and has taken out a number of enormous loans that he has no obvious way to pay off. Wallace will enjoy doing this because despite being an ideological conservative and Fox News host, he thinks Donald Trump is full of crap. As we will discuss more below, the idea that Donald Trump is a successful real-estate developer and master of economics is one that is very dearly held even by some voters who otherwise dont like him, so this is in theory a line of questioning Trump should be able to deflect. But he really hates the New York Times and Chris Wallace, so its possible that he goes nuts and starts demonstrating all the things about himself that those voters dont likecrudeness, impulsiveness, dishonesty. As I wrote Monday, Biden might also enjoy the opportunity to point out that the way Trump appears to handle his financesignoring problems until they become crises, then trying to weasel out of trouble by fudging the numbersresembles the way he has handled the coronavirus, an issue on which the public does not trust the president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 5. Can Trump restrain himself from celebrating the imminent overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act? Donald Trump loves to own the libs. Its his primary passion! Its why hes so excited about appointing a sixth conservative judge to the Supreme Court to rule against Roe and the ACA despite the fact that he clearly doesnt have any personal convictions about abortion and will suffer electorally if hes blamed for the demise of insurance-market protections for individuals who have chronic medical conditions. Republican senators who are up for reelection are out in the field right now arguing that they dont want to overturn Roe or eliminate preexisting condition coverage despite years of evidence to the contrary. Will Trump do the same? (Prediction: He will try, but it wont make sense.) Advertisement 4. Can Trump find an equilibrium point of racism that is racist enough to win back some older whites but not so racist that it turns off younger whites? Biden has been expanding his lead in the Midwest swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsinand getting close enough in Iowa and Ohio that Trump should be nervousby doing very well with nonwhite voters, well with white college graduates, and what you might call good enough to win with whites who didnt graduate from college. The most obvious way Trump could reverse this trend is to raise race-adjacent concerns about increasing crime rates in major cities without doing so in a way that is openly insulting to Black Americans and/or seems likely to incite further violence. (Prediction: Whatever he may say about race and/or crime will not even attempt this feat of calibration.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 3. Can Biden seduce Florida Man? If Biden wins Florida, its almost certain hell win the Electoral College. But his lead there has gotten narrower amid weak polling numbers with Latinos. A recent New York Times op-ed, citing research by its authors, argued that a populist regular people vs. the wealthy elite messagerather than anything that specifically addresses Latino identitywould be Bidens best strategy for winning over those voters. Such a message could also be a signal to progressive Democrats that Biden remembers they exist. There isnt much evidence that Biden needs to motivate that latter set of voters to turn out for himthe incumbent administrations racist assault on democratic values has motivated them pretty wellbut, you know, it would be a polite thing to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2. Can Trump attack Biden in a way that is legible to anyone outside the Fox News Cinematic Universe? Joe Biden is not exceedingly well-liked overallabout 45 percent of the public has an unfavorable view of him. But in Our Polarized Times, thats a number that he can liveand win a presidential electionwith. Thus far in the race, Trumps efforts to drag Biden down to a Hillary Clinton level of equally polarized public distaste have been unsuccessful. Whether that is because of sexism, Clintons record as a public figure, the media smartening up after getting played by Trump in 2016, voters realizing that Trumps flaws have more serious consequences than those of normal politicians, or all of the above that will be something for everyone to study in detail if Biden wins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But whats clear right now is that Trumps negative campaigningoriented around esoteric accusations that Biden has to take performance-enhancing drugs to appear in public, that hes a puppet of an influence campaign somehow simultaneously waged by the radical anarchist left AND the bureaucratic Deep State, and that his son Hunter is corrupthasnt taken off with anyone besides the Fox News viewers whove already been conditioned to believe in these things. Polls say there are areas in which Trump could attack Biden that might be fruitful: While it might not be commonly held that the Democratic candidate is blasting big rails of Adderall in order to cover up his dementia, there are concerns over whether he has lost a step mentally, and a slight majority of the public persists in the belief, despite the past 30 years of evidence to the contrary, that Republican presidents like Trump are better for the economy than Democrats. A Trump who is sharp, focused, and more conversant than Biden about details related to employment and growth might win back some of the I find him distasteful, but then again, the stock market voters that he needs. Advertisement Advertisement Biden, on the other hand, is the candidate more likely to espouse what is currently the majority position on what needs to be done to improve the economy, namely controlling the coronavirus. He also can and probably will point to what unemployment rates and retirement portfolios were like under the administration he recently served in, compared to what they are like now. Some upside for him, too, maybe. 1. Can Biden give America a glimpse of a blessed future in which a person doesnt have to pay attention to what Donald Trump says? This is the flip side of No. 2. Trump wants to make Biden look bad. But Biden doesnt need to convince a majority of voters that Trump is bad; he needs to give the people who already hold that position some reason to believe that he can reduce the epidemic national levels of chaos, divisiveness, and actual epidemics that they are exhausted from dealing with. Given what we saw at the Democratic National Convention, Bidens approach to this is to look like hes above it alllike hes already president, basically, and his attention is on ending the pandemic, restarting the economy, and addressing racial issues in a way that resolves them rather than making them worse. During Democratic primary debates, though, he had a tendency to get frowny, flustered, and sometimes incoherent when criticized. Can he avoid being annoyed by one of the worlds most annoying people, instead projecting the serenity that a wide margin of Americans say they would like to be enjoying come January? The future depends on it. Madrid/BarcelonaFor the first time since Catalonias home rule was restored Spains Supreme Court has moved to disqualify a Catalan president while still in office. The decision was taken unanimously by a panel of five judges, as announced on Monday morning by online newspaper El Espanol. In the afternoon Catalonias High Court of Justice enacted the ruling and formally informed the parties involved, effectively removing Quim Torra from office. The ban comes following Torras refusal to comply with an order from Spains Central Election Board (JEC) which instructed him to remove a banner hanging on the Catalan government building in support of the Catalan political prisoners during the April 2019 Spanish election campaign. Now Spains Supreme Court has fully endorsed the verdict of Catalonias High Court: an eighteen month ban from holding public office and a 30,000 fine for having disobeyed the JECs orders repeatedly and contemptuously. The ruling has been handed down by the courts second Chamber and was drafted by Justice Juan Ramon Berdugo. As anticipated by this newspaper, the courts decision came on Monday after a hearing in Madrid on 17 September, when the Catalan president chose to appear in court. Torras lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, outlined the reasons why he thought the Supreme Court should uphold the appeal lodged by the Catalan leader and overturn the verdict of Catalonias High Court of Justice. However, the court was not persuaded and it has ruled that Torra did indeed disobey the Central Election Board and must, therefore, be removed from office. The court argues that the appeal does not concern the display of symbols and banners associated with a particular political view; in other words, this is not a debate on the freedom of expression. According to the ruling, the purpose of this procedure is not to examine the conviction of the defendant from the point of view of free speech, as he is at liberty to voice or express his political views as any free citizen. Instead, we are concerned with him doing so during an election campaign whilst ignoring the instructions of the Central Election Board. It is the JECs duty to ensure that elections are fair and transparent and, therefore, the Board banned any display of symbols and banners. The ruling goes on to say that Torra violated the principle of neutrality which the administration must adhere to as a general rule, in violation of the specific orders issued by the JEC. In its 133 page ruling the second chamber of the Spanish top court stresses that Torra was aware of his disobedience and showed a clear willingness to contravene the instructions of the JEC. The court dismisses every argument presented by the Catalan leaders defence and states that the JEC is a higher body and, as such, it falls under the provision made in Article 410 of Spains criminal code on the crime of disobedience. The argument put forward by Torras lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, is that the Catalan president is in higher hierarchical position than the JEC, but the ruling states that this interpretation is biased: it establishes that the JEC is the highest authority during an election campaign, whereas the president of a regional government has no say in the matter whatsoever. The court also dismisses Torras claim that several members of the JEC were biased, as was the court that found him guilty. One of the points made by Torras lawyer was that the president of Catalonias Hight Court, Jesus Maria Barrientos, stood up and left a public event hosted by Barcelonas Bar Association when the phrase political prisoners was uttered. In fact, the Supreme Court argues that the penalty imposed is proportionate and does not admit any comparisons with precedents where only a fine was imposed. It emphasises that the ban on the Catalan leader includes any public office at regional, European, Spanish, provincial and local level. Interim government with limited powers led by VP Aragones A new, uncertain time has begun for Catalonias institutions, as the situation is unprecedented. As reported by this newspaper, the legal service of the Catalan presidency has readied a report that draws up the legal itinerary to be followed, giving vice president Pere Aragones the power to lead the interim government from now on. The executive branch, however, will have limited powers because once the president has stepped down, so does the cabinet. Aragones will have all the presidents powers except the prerogative to call an election, requesting a vote of no-confidence and appointing or dismissing cabinet ministers. Other than those, he will concentrate the powers of representing the Catalan administration, the State (in Catalonia) and coordinating the government. Even though that will be so from a formal point of view, coalition partners JxCat and ERC have agreed that Aragones will share the limelight with government spokesperson Meritxell Budo, the minister for the Presidency. Advertisement She is one of the most in-demand models in the world today. And Cindy Bruna looked sensational as she made a shimmering appearance at the Etam Womenswear Spring/Summer 2021 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday. The Vogue coverstar, 26, exhibited her washboard abs and endless legs in metallic silver lingerie as she strutted down the catwalk, before showing off her playful side by cheekily grabbing another model's behind. Wow: Cindy Bruna looked sensational as she made a shimmering appearance at the Etam Womenswear Spring/Summer 2021 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday A halterneck top drew the eye to the star's slender waist while pearlescent pink underwear highlighted her toned legs, and she boosted her statuesque frame with shimmering silver heels teamed with socks. Her raven tresses were styled in a sleek updo while statement chandelier earrings added extra drama to the look. After changing into a plunging black leather leotard, Cindy put on a cheeky display for onlookers by patting her fellow model's behind. Former VS angel Constance Jablonski also wowed in a tiny silver leotard and tasseled boots as she put on a playful display while strutting down the catwalk Playful: The model displayed her playful side by cheekily grabbing another's bottom as they walked down the catwalk Flawless: The Vogue coverstar exhibited her washboard abs as she prowled the runway in the dazzling sequinned ensemble Confident: Her raven tresses were styled in a sleek updo while statement chandelier earrings added extra drama to the look Jaw-dropping: Clad in the sequinned two-piece, Cindy's amazing figure was on full display as she strutted down the catwalk The catwalk proved to be a lingerie showcase as the models took to the catwalk in an array of scantily-clad ensembles. Cindy began modelling early on after being discovered at 16 years old and signing with Metropolitan Management and Wilhemina Models. In 2012 she walked exclusively for Calvin Klein and has previously appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia, as well as editorials across a number of different Vogue publications, Harper's Bazaar and ELLE UK. She first made her Victoria's Secret fashion show debut in 2013 and appeared in every showcase until its cancellation in 2019. The lingerie giant's parent company, L Brands, confirmed the cancellation in November last year, amid dwindling ratings and ongoing backlash over its lack of diversity. Sizzling: The model's eye-catching looks left little to the imagination as they strutted down the runway in an array of lingerie, bikinis, and sheer ensembles Work it: Former VS angel Constance Jablonski wowed in a tiny silver leotard and tasseled boots as she put on a playful display while strutting down the catwalk Wow: Constance later changed into a bondage-inspired bra as she modelled the new range Sensational: Guests were also greeted with a performance by Imagination hitmaker Leee John, who stormed the catwalk with a rendition of his biggest hits Jaw-dropping: While one model donned an 80s inspired crop top and spandex leggings, another sparkled in a sheer black one-piece covered with silver diamante detailing 'Unfortunately the Victoria's Secret show won't be happening this year,' Shanina Shaik confirmed to Australia's Daily Telegraph in July 2019. 'It's something I'm not used to because every year around this time I'm training like an Angel.' In an interview with Vogue last year, Cindy spoke about being scouted at 16 and how her parents coped. Serene: Carla Ginola put on a busty display as she posed backstage at the show in a sexy lace bustier and nude cropped jumper. The star looked radiant with caramel tousled waves as she posed up a storm Wow: Model Thylane Blondeau flashed her toned legs in a sheer sequinned gown at the show Gorgeous: The Instagram sensation looked gorgeous as she posed up a storm She said: 'My mom wanted me to finish school first. You hear so many things about modelling that parents don't really want for their kids.' Fashion icon Azzedine Alaia treated her as a protege, as she said: 'Alaia was my first job. I arrived at his showroom and was not even able to walk in heels. I learned to walk with him.. 'Through it all, I could always feel that I was in the presence of a genius. He offered me a dress for my birthday.' Runway: The models wowed in their revealing looks as they took to the catwalk, with one dressed in a plunging black one-piece and cowboy boots Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Bharat Book Bureau Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Global Coronavirus Diagnostics Market By Type of Test (Molecular v/s Serology), By User (Single v/s Multiple), By Full Test Time (Less Than 60 Minutes, 1 Hour - 12 Hours, 13 Hours - 24 Hours, More Than 1 Day), By End User (Hospitals, Public Health Labs, Private or Commercial Labs, Physician Labs, Others), By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2025under Healthcare Category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, competitive intelligence and Market reports. The ongoing pandemic novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused due to SARS-COV-2 and generally spreads from animals to humans and then from humans to humans. The disease usually spreads from saliva droplets of the infected person or the nose discharges of the infected person when they cough or sneeze. First case of the disease was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and since then, it has spread to various parts of the world infecting millions. As of 9th April 2020, the total number of coronavirus cases crossed 1.5 million, globally, of which around 330,000 had recovered and over 88,000 people had died. Global Coronavirus Diagnostics Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 12% during 2015-2025. The global coronavirus diagnostics market is driven by surging incidences of this disease across different parts of the globe. The market is segmented based on type of test, user, full test time, end user, company and region. Based on type of test, market can be bifurcated into molecular and serological tests. The molecular type of test segment is expected to dominate the market during forecast period. In this testing procedure, a sample from the back of the throat is taken and sent for testing. The sample undergoes a PCR test to find out the presence of virus genetic material. The PCR confirms the diagnosis of COVID-19 if it finds two genes of SARS-COV-2 virus. Request a free sample copy Coronavirus Diagnostics Market Report @ https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/sample/reports/2166787 Europe and North America are expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period owing to the presence of many research laboratories and pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies across the regions. Major players operating in the coronavirus diagnostics market include F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Abbott Laboratories, Danaher Corporation, Siemens AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., BioMerieux SA, GSK Biologicals SA, Altona Diagnostics GmbH, Seegene Inc., and others. Years considered for this report: Historical Year: 2015-2018 Base Year: 2019 Estimated Year: 2020E Forecast Period: 20212025 Objective of the Study: To estimate and forecast the market size of global coronavirus diagnostics market from 2015 to 2025F. To classify and forecast global coronavirus diagnostics market based on type of test, user, full test time, end user, company and regional distribution. To identify dominant regions and segments in the global coronavirus diagnostics market. To identify drivers and challenges for global coronavirus diagnostics market. To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in global coronavirus diagnostics market. To identify and analyze the profile of leading players operating in global coronavirus diagnostics market. To identify key sustainable strategies adopted by market players in global coronavirus diagnostics market. Our Research performed both primary as well as exhaustive secondary research for this study. Initially, Our Research sourced a list of diagnostic players operating across the globe. Subsequently, Our Research conducted primary research surveys with the identified companies. While interviewing, the respondents were also enquired about their competitors. Through this technique, Our Research could include the market players which could not be identified due to the limitations of secondary research. Our Research calculated the market size of global coronavirus diagnostics market using a bottom-up approach, wherein data for various end-user segments was recorded and forecast for the future years. Our Research sourced these values from the industry experts and company representatives and externally validated through analyzing historical data of these product types and applications for getting an appropriate, overall market size. Various secondary sources such as company websites, news articles, press releases, company annual reports, investor presentations and financial reports were also studied by Our Research. Key Target Audience: Coronavirus diagnostic kits manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and other stakeholders Government bodies such as regulating authorities and policy makers Organizations, forums and alliances related to coronavirus diagnostics Market research and consulting firms The study is useful in providing answers to several critical questions that are important for the industry stakeholders, besides allowing them in strategizing investments and capitalizing on market opportunities. Report Scope: In this report, global coronavirus diagnostics market has been segmented into following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below: Market, By Type of Test: - Molecular - Serology Market, By User: - Single - Multiple Market, By Full Test Time: - Less Than 60 Minutes - 1 Hour - 12 Hours - 13 Hours - 24Hours - More Than 1 Day Market, By End User: - Hospitals - Public Health Labs - Private or Commercial Labs - Physician Labs - Others Market, By Region: - North America - United States - Canada - Mexico - Europe - Russia - Germany - France - United Kingdom - Italy - Spain - Asia-Pacific - China - Japan - India - South Korea - Australia - Thailand - Singapore - Middle East & Africa - South Africa - Saudi Arabia - UAE - Iran - South America - Brazil - Argentina - Colombia Competitive Landscape Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in global coronavirus diagnostics market. Available Customizations: With the given market data, Our Research offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report: Company Information Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five). Browse our full report with Table of Content : https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/global-coronavirus-diagnostics-market-by-type-of-test-molecular-v-s-serology-by-user-single-v-s-multiple-by-full-t/2166787 About Bharat Book Bureau: Bharat Book is Your One-Stop-Shop with an exhaustive coverage of 4,80,000 reports and insights that includes latest Market Study, Market Trends & Analysis, Forecasts Customized Intelligence, Newsletters and Online Databases. Overall a comprehensive coverage of major industries with a further segmentation of 100+ subsectors./ Contact us at: Bharat Book Bureau Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: poonam@bharatbook.com Website: www.bharatbook.com Sheikh Sabah became Kuwait's emir in 2006 following a history of serving in key state positions, including prime minister and foreign minister for four decades Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah died at the age of 91 on Tuesday after a struggle with illness. Sheikh Sabah had recently received medical treatment in the United States after undergoing surgery. He was temporarily replaced during his illness by Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah became the Gulf countrys emir in 2006 after a history of serving in key state positions, including as prime minister and foreign minister for four decades. His tenure as emir witnessed the adoption of a number of political and socio-economic reforms. In 2005, Sabah's government involved unprecedented representation for women following the appointment of Maasuma Al-Mubarak, liberal political scientist and women's rights activist, as planning minister and minister for administrative development affairs. "I am proud of this great confidence the prime minister has shown in me. I hope I will succeed in my mission," Maasuma said at the time. This step coincided with the appointment of two women, Sheikha Fatima Nasser Al-Sabah and Fawziya Al-Bahar, to Kuwait's 16-member municipal council. Moreover, the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) offered investment incentives in a bid to diversify sources of economic revenues. This included tax holidays and full ownership and control of businesses by foreign investors. Ownership restrictions remained in a limited number of sectors, including those related to security and natural resources. Politically, during Sabah's years as emir, the parliament served as a key actor in Kuwaiti politics. In terms of foreign policy, Sheikh Sabah adopted a mediatory foreign policy strategy, playing a major role in a number of regional conflicts and political crises. He exerted efforts to end the diplomatic rift between Arab states following the 2017 decision by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to boycott Qatar, whom they accused of supporting terrorist groups. "I am sure that all Gulf states see the GCC role as important for them, for the region and the world. This is what we should build on it and use as common ground for moving ahead to bridge the gap," Kuwaiti premier Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said in June. Furthermore, under Sabah's rule, Kuwait hosted talks between parties to the Yemeni conflict, urging them to turn war into peace and backwardness into development. On 18 September, US President Donald Trump awarded the Legion of Merit to Sheikh Sabah for his "tireless mediation of disputes" in the region. A leader in the Middle East for decades, the emir has been a truly unwavering friend and partner to the United States, a White House statement said at the time. The emir is also an unparalleled diplomat, having served as his nations foreign minister for 40 years. His tireless mediation of disputes in the Middle East has bridged divides under the most challenging circumstances. Following recent Arab normalisation agreements with Israel, however, Kuwait said it "will be the last country to normalise relations with Israel," demanding the finalisation of a "fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue" and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 2002 Arab peace iniative. Search Keywords: Short link: Getty Images / iStockphoto In 2016, I was careless with my vote. At the time, I lived in New Delhi, and mostly, I did what I was supposed to do: I printed my ballot, filled it out and dropped it off at the American Embassy in a wooden box labeled Vote Here. Since I turned it in three weeks before the deadline, I figured it would probably arrive in time to be counted. But even if it didnt, I wasnt worried. I was voting in a blue state. Every poll I read reassured me that Hillary Clinton would be our next president. I thought our victory was assured. It wasnt until the morning of Nov. 9, when I watched a map of the United States turn a stubborn, bloody red, that I remembered to check the status of my ballot and found, to my horror, that it had not been received. I wanted to rage against the droves of white voters who had assured Donald Trumps victory, but I didnt let myself. How could I condemn their action, when my inaction was part of the problem? I have always viewed politicians that promise to ban hydraulic fracturing commonly known as fracking with some level of suspicion. In fact, a year ago as candidates were making these promises I explained Why A Ban On Fracking Will Never Happen. Those promises have always signaled one of three things to me. The Significance of Fracking First, the candidate may not understand the significance of fracking to U.S. oil and gas production. So lets review that significance. Fracking has actually been around since the late 1940s and has been used extensively to promote higher production rates from oil and gas wells. Fracking involves pumping water, chemicals and typically sand down an oil or gas well under high pressure to break open channels (fractures) in the reservoir rock trapping the deposit. Oil and gas do not travel easily through these shale formations, which is why they need to be fractured. The sand holds those channels open, allowing the oil (or natural gas) to flow to the well bore. While fracking has been around for decades, the shale boom ensued when fracking was combined with another common technique used in the oil and gas industry horizontal drilling. Like fracking, horizontal drilling was invented decades ago. As its name implies, horizontal drilling involves drilling down to an oil or gas deposit and then turning the drill horizontal to the formation to access a greater fraction of the deposit. The marriage between these two techniques meant that an oil or gas well could suddenly access a far greater percentage of a reservoir. As more producers embraced these techniques, U.S. oil and gas production soared. Thus, a candidate who promises to ban fracking is promising they would take away a technique that enabled U.S. dependence on foreign oil to plummet. It would take away a technique that has caused an economic boom in battleground states like Pennsylvania. So not only is it a dumb economic promise to make, it risks losing critical voters. Maybe They Know But Dont Care Perhaps the candidates do know the significance of fracking, but they still think it is critically important to move away from oil and gas. I understand that argument, but it once again ignores a critical point. The U.S. economy still runs on fossil fuels. That wont always be the case, but it will still be the case for the foreseeable future. The most ardent opponent of fracking still moves about the country using fossil fuels that were produced via fracking. Passing policies designed to accelerate the move away from fossil fuels is perfectly understandable. Crippling the supply of fossil fuels which would ultimately increase U.S. dependence on foreign oil again is not. Maybe They Are Pandering The real reason many of these candidates make unrealistic promises during campaign season is they are pandering to the more idealistic members of their party. After all, it would be hard to imagine that Joe Biden is unaware of the significance of fracking to the U.S. economy and to energy security. He and President Obama presided over the largest expansion of fracking and subsequently U.S. oil and gas production in U.S. history. Hence, you will often see a candidate make an extreme promise while campaigning only to adopt a more moderate position after they win the nomination. Biden Clarifies His Position This is likely behind Bidens evolution of his position from no new fracking when campaigning against Bernie Sanders to the position he recently took in a CNN town hall when asked about the topic. Biden was answering questions from voters in Pennsylvania, and one asked whether he support the continuation of fracking. Related: Shell May Cut Upstream Oil Operations By 40% After saying that he does support the continuation of fracking, moderator Anderson Cooper pressed him on whether he was trying to have it both ways. Quoting from the CNN transcript on the event: COOPER: Let me just follow up on that. You said you wont ban fracking but you wanted to gradually move away from it ultimately. It sounds like youre trying to have it both ways that that I mean, politically, its understandable why you might say that but it if fracking contributes to climate change, and climate change is an existential threat. Why should fracking continue at all? BIDEN: Well, fracking has to continue because we have transition, were going to get to net zero emissions by 2050. And well get to net zero power admissions by 2035. But theres no rationale to eliminate right now fracking, number one. Number two, those jobs that are out there, whether its a IBW (ph) worker, or whether its an iron worker, or a steel worker. What Im proposing is that, you know, when Trump thinks about global warming, he thinks hoax. When I hear global warming, I think jobs. That is a reasonable position on fracking. The reason it has to continue today is the consequences of ending it right away would be significant to the U.S. economy. But its really a moot point anyway. The President doesnt have the power to end fracking, and it is unlikely Congress has an appetite for passing such legislation. The way to get rid of fracking is to reduce demand for oil and gas. Eliminating fracking without reducing that demand is a prescription for increasing U.S. energy dependence. Joe Biden understands that now. In fact, given the history of fracking during the Obama Administration, he surely always has. By Robert Rapier More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kamal Shukla, the editor of Bhumkal Samachar magazine and head of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation to protect journalists, was assaulted and threatened by ruling party cadres in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Indian affiliates Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and the National Union of Journalists- India condemn the politically motivated attack and urge authorities to conduct an impartial investigation to the case. Shukla, the 53 year old veteran journalist, was brutally assaulted and threatened as he left the Kankar city police station on September 26 after supporting another journalist, Satish Yadav, to file a case against local municipal leaders of ruling Congress party who had assaulted Yadav. The attack on Shukla took place in broad daylight and was filmed. Shukla said he thought he would get some protection inside the police station but the police were unresponsive and told him to file his complaint and leave. Shukla suffered injuries to his neck and head. He was rescued and taken to a hospital where he got three stiches on his head. Another journalist Jeevananda Haldar was also injured when he attempted to protect Shukla. According to journalist Shukla, ruling party congress leaders and party cadres were behind both the attacks. Shuklas attack is reported as a retaliation of his news report that exposed the sand mafia in Chhattisgarh. Shukla filed First Information Report (FIR) Kankar city police station under sections 294 (Whoever, to the annoyance of others does any obscene act in any public place), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code. Following the FIR, Kanker ward councilor Shadab Khan, ex-councilor Jitendra Singh Thakur, journalist Ganesh Tiwari and Congress MLAs representative Abdul Gaffar Memon have been arrested and are due to be interrogated. Journalist associations in India organized protest program demanding all the culprits be arrested by October 1. The association plan s an indefinite sit in protest from October 2. The IJU president Geetartha Pathak said: The IJU condemns the heinous attack on senior journalist Kamal Shukla and urges the Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to initiate an inquiry and book the culprit associated with the assault of Shukla. The NUJ- I president Ras Bihari said: The NUJ-I strongly condemns the attack on Chhattisgarh journalist Kamal Shukla and urges the Indian governments to take stern action against the guilty. The IFJ said: The IFJ notes the attack on the journalist Shukla as a politically motivated retaliation. The sole aim of the attack is to silence the critical voices against wrongdoings of the ruling party and the government. The IFJ strongly condemns the incident and urges the Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel to conduct impartial investigation and punish the guilty. A member of the grand jury in the Breonna Taylor case filed a motion in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on Monday, asking that the sealed grand jury transcripts and records be released and jurors receive permission to publicly discuss the proceedings. In March, three officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department entered Taylor's apartment on a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation into her former boyfriend. Her current boyfriend, a legal gun owner, said he thought they were intruders, and fired his weapon. The officers returned fire, and Taylor died after being shot multiple times. Last week, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers in connection with Taylor's death, but one of the men, Brett Hankison, was indicted on charges of wanton endangerment for firing into the apartment of Taylor's neighbor. Hankison, who was fired by the police department, pleaded not guilty on Monday. The anonymous juror's petition was filed by attorney Kevin Glogower, who wrote that the person wants the transcripts released "so the truth may prevail," adding that they felt "compelled to act in a manner that promotes transparency, truth, and justice." The motion also states that Cameron "attempted to make it very clear that the grand jury alone made the decision. The citizens of this commonwealth have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself. Using the grand jurors as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for these decisions only sows more seeds of doubt in the process while leaving a cold chill down the spines of future grand jurors." More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly made tens of millions in the Great Recession by partnering with multilevel marketing companies 'Sully' Sullenberger savages Trump's 'lethal lies and incompetence' in new Lincoln Project ad North Carolina senate candidate commits grievous sin: confusing grilling for barbecuing Donald Trump and Joe Biden meet for the first presidential debate on Tuesday with not just themselves, but Brand America itself on the ballot. Tuesdays much anticipated contest, the first of three between the two presidential nominees, will be widely watched around the world not just in the United States. This is because of the huge foreign policy issues in play in the election duel, with implications for every continent from Asia-Pacific to the Americas. Another reason for high interest in Tuesdays big event is that Trump is narrowing Bidens long-standing lead in some national polls in what could yet be a cliffhanger election night in November. With so much at stake, it is even possible that Tuesday could shatter the 84 million U.S. viewer record audience for a debate recorded in September 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Trump faced off in the first showdown between them of that election season. To be sure, the president is popular in a small number of countries, including Israel. However, the overwhelming majority of global publics favour Biden winning, so an against-the-odds Trump re-election would send shockwaves around the world. To be fair to the president, he has scored some foreign policy successes, including the recent U.S.-brokered accords between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain with Israel. However, his overall international record is underwhelming, with initiatives such as his peace gambit with North Korea flatlining. Yet, it is not even Trumps record of foreign failure that has hit Brand America (the reputation of the United States) hardest, but his wild leadership style and maverick instincts. Indeed, Shashi Tharoor, former UN under-secretary general, has asserted that the presidents election could mean the end of U.S. soft power by entrenching tendencies the world never used to associate with the United States: xenophobia, misogyny, pessimism and selfishness. Attitudes toward Trump have consistently been much more negative than those toward his predecessor, Barack Obama, in the overwhelming majority of countries. Indeed, in many states, ratings for Trump are similar or worse to those received by George W. Bush near the end of his presidency. Take the example of a Pew Global poll released this month of perceptions of Trump in 13 Western countries. Trumps most negative assessment was in Belgium, where only 9 per cent said they have confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing in world affairs. Trumps highest rating was in Japan, but even there just one-quarter of people expressed confidence in him. If Trump does win again, there could well be a further spike in anti-U.S. sentiment. The overall impact could be significantly more marked than even during Bushs presidency, when anti-Americanism last reached a nadir. When Bush left office in early 2009, anti-U.S. sentiment was at about its highest levels since at least the Vietnam War. In the years after, Obama was able to partially reverse those public opinion patterns. There was a substantial increase in foreigners regarding the United States as the most admired country in the world again. However, despite these successes, Obamas progress was uneven, and he failed to fully capitalize upon what former French President Nicolas Sarkozy characterised as the countrys return to the hearts of the people of the world. For instance, many internationally were disappointed by his failure to close Guantanamo Bay. Perhaps the biggest failure of Obamas global public diplomacy was toward what he has called the Islamic world. Despite the early promise of his first term in which he sought to reset U.S. relations with Muslim-majority countries, there remained pockets of very high anti-Americanism in several key states, including Pakistan and Egypt. And since early 2017 Trump has only intensified this. It is in this context that many other countries are viewing Trumps potential re-election, given that overseas he is already one of the least popular U.S. presidents in living memory. Global opinion could yet be significantly more hostile to him than even Bush in his own second term, highlighting the downside risks for Brand America, plus the potential upside opportunity for the nations reputation if Biden pulls through. Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. Read more about: BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Known best for timeless designs that balance the romance of traditional architecture with the ideals of modernism, Patrick Ahearn Architect today proudly launched Patrick Ahearn's Studio free of charge to architecture and design enthusiasts worldwide. In more than four decades of practice, Patrick Ahearn has become synonymous with timeless American vernacular. In his 15-episode online Studio course, now offered free of charge, participants learn about the experiences and communities that shaped his career and his philosophy of architecture for the greater good. "In more than 40 years of practice, I've learned that good architecture has the power to improve lives. By making this Studio course complimentary, I am able to teach others the reasons how and why, and inspire future generations of architects without any sort of economic barrier," said the firm's founder and namesake Patrick Ahearn. "It's my way of paying it forward after learning so much over the years." In 15 online episodes narrated and taught by Ahearn himself, participants learn about the planned communities that inspired Ahearn's early career and are exposed to fundamentals like the basics of density and scale, architectural detailing, and how zoning dictates design. With segments on client communication, branding, and presentation, the Studio aims to give future architects an idea of what it might be like to work in the field while keeping Ahearn's philosophy of architecture for the greater good at the forefront. "Patrick and I have worked together for more than 15 years, and we live and breathe these principles every day," said Managing Principal Mike Tartamella. "As a firm, we consider the fabric of a neighborhood, the spaces between buildings, and enhancing the public experience as we design. The purpose and motivation behind our approach are shared in the Studio." For those who seek creative inspiration, love architecture, and aspire to build their own brand, the Studio provides a springboard to begin that journey without financial investment. All episodes of Patrick Ahearn's Studio are streaming now at http://studio.patrickahearn.com/. About Patrick Ahearn Architect Comprised of more than a dozen skilled team members based in Boston and Edgartown, Massachusetts, Patrick Ahearn Architect specializes in classic American architecture for contemporary living. Sensitive to the original spirit of every property and its surrounding neighborhood, the firm creates beautifully authentic homes that stand as integral parts of their historic surroundings and are simply timeless. Follow Patrick Ahearn Architect on Instagram @patrickahearnarchitect and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/patrickahearnarchitect/. About Patrick Ahearn, FAIA One of America's most celebrated classical architects and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Patrick Ahearn has focused on historically motivated, site-sensitive residences in New England and beyond for more than 40 years. He has been awarded degrees in architecture and urban design from Syracuse University and has taught coursework at both Syracuse and the Boston Architectural College. Today, he oversees the architectural firm that bears his name while also deftly drafting firsthand. A recipient of countless awards, Patrick and his work have been featured in numerous publications, broadcast outlets, and websites. Media Contact: Caroline Stone Email: [email protected] Phone: 617.830.2625 Related Files StudioLaunch1.jpg StudioLaunch2.jpg Related Images witchwood-a-marthas-vineyard.jpg Witchwood, a Martha's Vineyard homestead designed by Patrick Ahearn Architect In more than four decades of practice, Patrick Ahearn has become synonymous with timeless American vernacular. In his 15-episode online Studio course, now offered free of charge, participants learn about the experiences and communities that shaped his career and his philosophy of architecture for the greater good. Related Links Patrick Ahearn's Studio Course Patrick Ahearn Architect Website SOURCE Patrick Ahearn Architect Related Links http://www.studio.patrickahearn.com A Google worker has been in hospital fighting for his life for months after he was told complications from a broken arm he was being treated for were actually symptoms of blood cancer. James McGill, 33, who works as a senior account manager at Google, was admitted to hospital after seeking help for his broken arm which was not healing properly around December. McGill, who works for Google's media team in Dublin, Ireland, broke his arm a couple years before but started having further complications towards the end of last year. He began to trip up more frequently and realised he was losing power in his left leg. He also lost the ability to swallow or drink. Thirty-three-year old Google manager James McGill from Dublin found out he had blood cancer after his arm, which he had broken a couple of years ago, had failed to heal properly. Pictured: Before (left) and after (right) he found out about his cancer McGill, pictured, worked as a senior account manager for Google before discovering his terrible illness After an MRI scan in January, McGill was told that he had a lesion on his brain, which was later diagnosed as lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. The 33-year-old dropped from 9st 4lb to just 5st 8lb by May and was given between a day or two to live by consultants. In a bid to raise 100,000 to make his home liveable for his condition, McGill's friends set up a GoFundMe page. Telling his story, Mr McGill said: 'I broke my arm a couple of years ago, but it never seemed to heal properly. 'I slowly started to lose movement in it so went to see a few consultants, but they didn't really have an answer. 'Last December I slowly started to lose power in my left leg and found myself tripping up a lot. So I booked myself in for an MRI scan and they found a lesion on my brain.' Mr McGill went on to describe the moment he was told the devastating news at his parent's house. 'I took the call and just broke down in my dad's arms when I told him what it was,' he said. 'It wasn't long after that when I lost the ability to swallow or drink. 'They did an operation to find out what it was, and it turned out to be lymphoma. I've been bed-bound ever since.' Due to the coronavirus lockdown, the only visitors allowed to see him while in hospital were his parents. He said: 'I couldn't even tell them in person because they weren't allowed in that day. I had to tell them on FaceTime. The 33-year-old dropped in weight to just 81lb in May and was given between a day or two days to live by consultants 'By May I was drastically underweight I had gone from 59kg (9st 4lb) to 37kg (5st 8lb) in the space of a few months. 'At one point the doctors said I had 24 hours to live but I didn't know anything about it. I was hallucinating that I was having dinner with Kim Kardashian in London. 'Somehow I managed to pull through, and I think I'm slowly getting a bit better. 'I had multiple rounds of chemo which was a huge battle on the body and mind. Each time I fought hard. The medical team here in Beaumont have been amazing. 'I now want to get home for Christmas. That's the target. After where I was, it would mean everything if I could do it. 'The house needs loads of adjustments to make it livable. I'll need hoists on the ceiling, extensions downstairs, it'll be a lot of work. 'My friends set up the GoFundMe to get me some presents because they knew I was miserable and I had told them I didn't like the hospital towels. 'It's overwhelming to see how much money has been raised so far. It's really given me a boost over the past few days because it shows how many people are in my corner.' BEIRUT: Hezbollah`s leader said on Tuesday his Shi`ite movement welcomed French efforts to help Lebanon but that did not mean it would agree to any government or that French President Emmanuel Macron could act like the country`s ruler. In a televised speech, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah was still ready for dialogue under the French plan to lift Lebanon from the financial crisis, but that a new approach would be needed. He accused Lebanon`s Sunni former prime ministers, including Saad al-Hariri, of trying to exploit the French intervention to score political points. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government iappears to be in dilemma over the implementation of the contentious farms laws passed recently by the Parliament. The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have opposed implementation of the three laws in the state, calling them anti-farmer. Deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar announced last week that the state government would not implement the farm laws in the state. Revenue minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat has claimed that all the three ruling parties have opposed the bills and the issue will be discussed in a coordination meeting to stop implementation of the bills. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray hasnt made a public comment on the row over the farm laws in recent days. But his government did issue a circular in August directing local authorities to implement in letter and spirit the ordinance that preceded the legislation passed by Parliament. Also Read: They are insulting farmers, says PM Modi on protesters burning tractor at India Gate Shiv Sena, which did not oppose the bills in Parliament, has not come clean on its stands on the bills. The Sena had supported the bills in Lok Sabha and walked out of the vote in Rajya Sabha. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had even congratulated the Centre during a review meeting by the Union agriculture ministry a few weeks ago. A Shiv Sena leader said the issue would be sorted out soon. It will be discussed in a coordination meeting of the three ruling parties. Our stance on the bills will be cleared soon, the Sena functionary said.. On Monday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked all Congress-ruled states to explore the possibility of enacting legislation under Article 254(2) of the Constitution to negate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central governments anti-agricultural laws and prevent grave injustice from being done to farmers. Also Read: Sonia Gandhi urges Congress-ruled states to override Centres farm laws A senior Congress leader in Maharashtra said they were holding consultations within the party and with their alliance partners on the next steps. We are consulting on the matter with the law and judicial department seeking legal opinion. It will be discussed in a coordination meeting of ruling parties, said a Congress leader. The Centre had issued three ordinances in June this year, replacing them with three bills - Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Bill, 2020, and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 - which were passed by the Parliament last week. Maharashtra marketing director Satish Soni had issued a circular on the basis of the ordinances on August 10 that asked district authorities and departments to implement the ordinances in letter and spirit. As per the provisions in the ordinances, the farmers are free to market his produce at field, factory, warehouse or cold storage without any hindrance and without any market fee applicable under APMC Act. Any other fee or charges applicable under APMC Act cannot be charged now as per the provisions made in the ordinances. The law and judiciary department has vetted the ordinances and validated its applicability. Though the existence of the APMCs has not been affected by promulgation of the ordinance, the farmers will have a parallel mechanism to get fair prices for their produce. The market committees are expected to implement the provisions in the ordinances effectively, the circular states. It was the start of four days of intense surveillance and nuisance checkpoints designed to obstruct our reporting and ensure that local people were too afraid to talk to us. There were the cars that tailed us everywhere "Honda 25," "VW 35," we would chime as we spotted their license plates and the Keystone Kops, men who would jump behind bushes or pretend to talk on their phones while obviously following us. Two key glaciers in Antarctica which together cover an area the size of Norway are fracturing faster than ever before, an analysis of satellite images has revealed. An international team of experts warned that the Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers on the Amundsen Sea Embayment are on the path to disintegrating. Pine Island and Thwaites are among the continent's most dynamic glaciers and their melting is responsible for some 5 per cent of global sea level rise to date. Their complete loss, however driven by the warming of the surrounding waters would raise global sea levels by a whopping 3.3 feet. Predicting the evolution of the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers is therefore vital to understanding the future of our warming planet's seas. Two key glaciers in Antarctica which together cover an area the size of Norway are fracturing faster than ever before, an analysis of satellite images has revealed. Pictured, an image of the Pine Island glacier, as seen in late 2017, with a developing fracture highlighted 'To reveal whats really going on at Pine Island and Thwaites, we dug into imaging data from a number of different satellites,' said paper author and geoscientist Stef Lhermitte of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. 'We found structural damage at the "shear margins" of the glaciers ice shelves, where the ice transitions from fast- to slow-moving large crevasses, rifts and open fractures that indicate that the ice shelves are slowly tearing apart.' 'Currently, the ice shelves are a little like a slow car in traffic they force anything behind them to slow down. Once theyre removed, ice sitting further inland will be able to speed up, which in turn will cause sea levels to rise even faster.' Crevasses were not seen in images of the ice taken back in 1997 and the damage appeared far less widespread even in observations from just 2016 suggesting that the deterioration has been accelerating over the last two decades. Satellite data was collected by various missions including the European Space Agency's CryoSat and Copernicus Sentinel-1, as well as the NASA/USGS Landsat program and the Japanese ASTER instrument aboard NASAs Terra satellite. The team tracked the spreading fractures, determined how the topography of the ice shelf and glacier had changed and assessed the speed at which the ice had been moving from which they could model the impact of the damaged margins. 'This fracturing appears to kick off a feedback process it preconditions the ice shelves to disintegrate,' said paper author Thomas Nagler of Environmental Earth Observation Information Technology (ENVEO) in Innsbruck, Austria. 'As the glaciers fracture at their weak points this damage speeds up, spreads, and weakens more of the ice shelves, causing further deterioration and making it more likely that the shelves will start crumbling apart even faster.' 'The results from this study highlight a pressing need to include such feedback processes in model projections of ice shelf retreat, ice sheet mass loss and sea level change,' said European Space Agency CryoSat Mission Scientist, Mark Drinkwater. 'We know that a significant amount of glacial ice in West Antarctica is currently being affected by climate change in fact, a recent study found 24 per cent of this ice to be rapidly thinning and unstable.' 'These new results underline just how quickly this damage is occurring, and reveal that Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers are more vulnerable than ever before.' The full findings of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. An international team of experts warned that the Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers on the Amundsen Sea Embayment are on the path to disintegrating Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Senegalese president, Macky Sall, Tuesday underlined the need to re-orientate public policies, undertake reforms and reorganize the vital sectors of the national economy In the revised Petroleum Industry Bill, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will not be scrapped but commercialised in line with deregulation move across all streams in the sector, the minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has said. He said this while addressing journalists on Monday after a joint meeting with the National Assembly leadership. We have heard so much noise about NNPC being scrapped but that is not envisaged by the Bill at all. NNPC will not be scrapped but commercialised in line with deregulation moves being made across all the streams in the sector comprising upstream, downstream and midstream . We have said that NNPC will be commercialised. But If you are talking about transforming the industry, the only new thing that we are introducing is the development of the midstream, that is the pipeline sector that sector between the upstream and the downstream which because the framework was not there has not really developed very well. So we have provided robustly for the growth of the midstream sector. Through commercialisation, the required competitiveness in the sector will be achieved, he said. The minister further said not only will host communities get the best deal from the bill but through it, the industry will be transformed and the Petroleum Equilisation Fund and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency will not exist in the same form that they exist today. PREMIUM TIMES had reported some details of the bill as reported by Punch newspaper. The bill proposed the review of the existence of the NNPC and the PPPRA. It also proposed the creation of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited after all the asset and liabilities of the NNPC must have been identified by the ministers of petroleum resources and finance and establishment of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. During the meeting with the National Assembly leaders, Mr Sylva emphasised the need for speedy passage of the PIB to make the best of investments from the sector before 2040. On his part, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, vowed to break the PIB jinx by ensuring its passage. Now the bill is an executive bill coming to the National Assembly. The two chambers promise that we will break that jinx. We want to see an oil industry in Nigeria that is properly regulated, an oil industry that not only sustains the investment that we have but attract even more investment, an oil industry that is very competitive. In the same vein, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said even though the National Assembly will ensure speedy passage of the bill, it will not sacrifice thoroughness. We will not sacrifice thoroughness on the altar of speed because it will be in the nations best interest. We have assembled a crack team of legislators in the House who are versed in the workings of the industry. It is an Ad-hoc Committee drawn from the House Committees on oil, upstream, downstream, local content and gas. So there is a crack team that will be working with you as we are all trying to go to the same destination. The legislation, which has now been submitted to the lawmakers, is expected to be read in both chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday. Shaun L McKay Discusses the Pivot to e-Learning and how Higher Education has Adapted in Response to COVID-19 MANORVILLE, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / While universities have progressed into e-learning over the past two decades, many, including Santa Clara University, had not offered an online course until the COVID-19 pandemic caused an emergency need to host classes. While universities only began offering these courses in March 2020, Dr. Shaun L. McKay examines the lessons learned so far by higher education on e-learning in this article. Educator Shaun L. McKay Explains the Lessons Learned 1. What higher education offered on the fly since March does not constitute real e-learning, counsels career educator Shaun L. McKay. An e-learning program and each of its courses require months of planning and preparation. Most universities threw together tools that would enable their professors and instructors to go from sudden shut down to class on the schedule, explained Shaun L. McKay. That forced schools like Santa Clara to move "from a university that offered no online courses to a university that offered only online courses," it said in a statement quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education. This quick move to online courses qualifies as remote education, but that differs massively from true e-learning. It makes an important first step towards a more permanent move to online education. 2. It takes time and proper tools to build a true program of online instruction explains Shaun L. McKay. While the two weeks of spring break helped US colleges and universities prepare for the onslaught of university-wide e-teaching, they need more time. The summer months provided some of that, enabling schools to search for more appropriate tools and put better frameworks in place than the ad-hoc methods used to make it through the semester, in which COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic. This preparation provides a fallback if the return to campus gets cut short by a resurgence of the virus or flu season brings a different wave of problems. 3. Use what you have got and make the best of it, says Shaun L. McKay. The tools schools used already existed, and they had access to them. Some schools already owned the learning-management systems software they used to place the entire catalog of courses online. Rather than reinvent the wheel, they turned to popular video conferencing software like GoToMeeting and Zoom. 4. What the school next door uses may not work for you, says former university president Shaun L. McKay. Rather than choose for its professors, Texas A&M University let its professors decide on their platform based upon what other professors at the school already used. That limited selection whittled down the choices, but it also gave students no continuity. It let professors quickly choose a program they felt some comfort using, which helped speed them online. The cobbled-together systems provide one reason this is not actually a move to e-learning yet. Each university needs time to study which learning-management system would work best for its curriculum and then implement it with a formal training program for instructors. 5. Moving to online education does not cost a lot. That shocked many schools in a good way said, Shaun L. McKay. These relatively minor expenses and the reduction in overhead let some smaller schools experiencing funding issues make up some of their shortfalls. The hardware and software came to about $40,000 for most schools. 6. Students matter most and e-courses allow them to continue the most important aspect of their college experience - the education. In a time of worldwide instability, online education allowed them to have one constant, classes being continued. Shaun L. McKay said the emergency turn toward teaching over the Internet could help spur more schools to move classes online. Schools now have a crash course in how to do it, and once the pandemic ends, they can take a breath and do it right, revolutionizing American education. CONTACT: Caroline Hunter Web Presence, LLC +1 7865519491 SOURCE: Dr. Shaun L. McKay View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608305/Shaun-L-McKay-Speaks-on-The-Pivot-to-e-Learning-How-COVID-19-Forced-Higher-Education-to-Teach-in-the-Cloud India is planning to seek cabinets approval to sell 25% stake in the nations largest life insurer, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks resources to plug a widening budget gap. The government plans to amend the act of parliament under which the state-run Life Insurance Corp. of India was set up to prepare for the sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions were private. The timing of the insurers initial public offering will be depend on market conditions, and the sale is likely to be done in tranches, they added. A finance ministry spokesman was not immediately available for a comment. A stake sale in LIC through a public offering of shares will help the government bolster its finances after the coronavirus pandemic stalled growth and threatens the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of gross domestic product set for the year ending March 2021. The administration has raised about 5,700 crore through asset sales in the fiscal year from April 1, as against a target of 2.1 trillion. The government has picked Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Ltd. and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. to help Life Insurance Corp. of India prepare for an initial share sale, Bloomberg News reported last month. The advisers will help evaluate the capital structure of Indias biggest insurer as well as aid the company in reworking its financial statement, according to a tender document issued in June. As part of the proposal, the government will also move an amendment in parliament for an authorized capital of 20,000 crore which will be divided into 20 billion shares, the people said. A ministerial panel set up for asset sales will decide on the size of the public offering while the cabinet will consider changes to capital structure of the insurer, the people said. Taking the insurer public will help instill discipline" and unlock value, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech in February, without providing details or the time line for the sale. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Prosecutors to seek definition of WWII murders in Novgorod Region as genocide RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 12:05 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) The Prosecutors Office of the Novgorod Region is to petition a court to rule that an act of genocide against peoples of the Soviet Union was committed in Zhestyanaya Gorka village in 1942, according to a statement of Russias Prosecutor Generals Office press service. Acting on instructions of the Prosecutor Generals Office, the Novgorod regional Prosecutors Office has studied the materials relating to a mass grave of at least 2,600 civilians and prisoners of war murdered by German troops in 1942 through 1943, which was discovered in the village, the statement reads. The prosecutors are to petition the Soletsky District Court to rule that these mass murders were war crimes and crimes against humanity. The mass murders were committed by a German Teilkommando, some members of which were natives of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, on orders of General Kurt Herzog, who in 1947 was found to be a war criminal by a military tribunal and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko votes at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk on Aug. 9, 2020. ( Sergei Gapon/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) UK, Canada Sanction Lukashenko, 7 Other Belarusian Officials The UK and Canada on Tuesday sent a clear message by imposing coordinated sanctions on Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his son, and six senior figures in the Belarusian government, the UK government said. The sanctions were the first to be implemented by major Western powers over the crisis in Belarus, a close Russian ally. Lukashenko is the first leader sanctioned under the UKs new sanctions regime. Besides Lukashenko and his son, national security adviser Viktor Lukashenko, the others on the sanctions list are Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, chief of staff to the president of Belarus; Yuri Karayev, minister of internal affairs and major general of militia; Alexander Barsukov, deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and chief of public security police; Yuri Nazarenko, deputy minister of internal affairs and commander of internal troops; Khazalbek Atabekov, deputy commander of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; and Dmitry Balaba, commander of the Special Purpose Police Unit of Minsk. The sanctions, which include a travel ban and asset freeze, is to hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and to uphold the values of democracy and human rights, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. The sanctions have been imposed in response to the torture and mistreatment of hundreds of peaceful protestors in custody following the fraudulent Presidential elections, Raab said. The Belarusian authorities have taken no action to hold those responsible to account. Many opposition figures have been arrested or forcibly deported and denied re-entry, in a clear show of Lukashenkos disdain for dialogue with the opposition and for basic human rights. Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus, on Sept. 23 held an unannounced inauguration ceremony to mark the start of his new term, which domestic opponents and some Western countries consider illegitimate. His regime refused to engage in dialogue with the opposition, choosing instead to double down on a string of human rights violations its responsible for, British Foreign Office said. Raab told Reuters that Lukashenko should pay a cost for abusing human rights and rigging votes. Raab also mentioned Lukashenkos ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, although none of the measures Britain announced on Tuesday target Russia. First and foremost there must be a cost, there must be a price with the kind of human rights abuses that weve seen and the fraudulent approach to that election, Raab said in an interview during a visit to the South Korean capital of Seoul. We cant just have a situation where the likes of Alexander Lukashenko and frankly Vladimir Putin think that the human rights abuses and the rigging of that election can just pass without them being held to account. This is the second time the UK used its independent Magnitsky-Style sanctions power since its introduction in July 2020. The first sanctions, announced on July 6, targeted Russian and Saudi nationals. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said: Canada will not stand by silently as the Government of Belarus continues to commit systematic human rights violations and shows no indication of being genuinely committed to finding a negotiated solution with opposition groups. The European Union is set to move again on sanctioning the Belarusian leader, after a first attempt was blocked by Cyprus, in a bid to leverage the EU to impose similar sanctions on Turkey. Reuters contributed to this report. New Delhi: Bollywood stars such as Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Farhan Akhtar, Richa Chadha, Swara Bhasker and others have strongly condemned the brutal Hathras gangrape and demanded justice for the 19-year-old victim, who died on Tuesday at a Delhi hospital. The woman was gangraped and brutally assaulted on September 14 in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. The victim succumbed to her injuries today. Taking to Twitter, Akshay Kumar wrote that the incident had left him "angry and frustrated" and also called for the hanging of the rapists. "Such brutality in Hathras gangrape. When will this stop? Our laws and their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear! Hang the culprits. Raise your voice to safeguard daughters and sisters. It's the least we can do," he tweeted. Angry & Frustrated!Such brutality in #Hathras gangrape.When will this stop?Our laws & their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear!Hang the culprits.Raise ur voice to safeguard daughters & sisters-its the least we can do Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 29, 2020 Kangana demanded death for the culprits and wrote on Twitter: "Shoot these rapists publicly, what is the solution to these gang rapes that are growing in numbers every year? What a sad and shameful day for this country. Shame on us we failed our daughters." Farhan Akhtar posted a heartbreak emoji and said, "Sad, sad day. How much longer can this be allowed to go on." Sad sad day. How much longer can this be allowed to go on .. #Hathras Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) September 29, 2020 Richa Chadha and Swara Bhasker too sought justice for the victim. #JusticeForHathrasVictim everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators. TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 29, 2020 Meanwhile, Riteish Deshmukh said, "The culprits of this brutality & horrific crime should be hanged in public." According to the Hathras SP, the four accused have been arrested will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. People across the nation have condemned the act and are demanding justice for the victim and her family. WALLINGFORD A man previously convicted on home invasion-related offenses in other parts of the state will now face home invasion and robbery charges for his alleged role in a 2009 incident, police said on Monday. Victor Miguel Siguenzia Lozano, also known as Miguel Lozano Altamiran, was charged with home invasion, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, first-degree larceny and first-degree unlawful restraint. Police say he was also charged with conspiracy to commit each of the offenses as well. These charges stemmed from an incident nearly 11 years ago. Wallingford police investigated a home invasion and robbery at a Saddlebrook Drive home on Oct. 9, 2009, according to Lt. Michael Colavolpe, commander of the Detective Division. During the home invasion, an 18-year-old man was attacked and restrained by four intruders. Colavolpe said the intruders were in the home for about 20 minutes and took a large amount of money, as well as jewelry and electronics. Detectives sent forensic evidence from the crime scene to the state laboratory for analysis. Four years later, in October 2013, one of the alleged four suspects was identified through DNA evidence as Lozano, Colavolpe said. Wallingford police applied for and were granted an arrest warrant for Lozano. Colavolpe said Monday that the three other alleged suspects have not yet been identified. Detectives learned Lozano had been arrested in 2010 by Branford and Wethersfield police for similar incidents as the Wallingford home invasion, Colavolpe said. He was convicted of those incidents and sentenced to jail time. Lozano was released to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in April 2013 and was deported to Ecuador, Colavolpe said. Then, earlier this month, Wallingford police heard from the U.S. Marshal Service that marshals had taken Lozano, now 46, into custody in Texas. He was held at the Harris County Detention Center in Houston, Tx., for extradition back to Connecticut. Wallingford detectives went to Texas and took Lozano into custody. He was brought back to Connecticut to face charges from the 2009 incident. Lozano remains in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections on a $250,000 bond. He is expected in court on Oct. 6. Bangladesh: Stop importing fish from India: Jashore fish farmers by MOHSIN MILON September 29,2020 | Source: UNB Fish farmers and importantly the Fisheries Department of Jashore district are calling for a ban on importing fish from India, at a time when the countrys fish imports from India have doubled through Benapole port. Due to low prices, Indian rui, or rohu fish has witnessed a jump in imports. But fish farmers in the district are adamant that there is no need to import fish from India, at a time when the country is not only self-sufficient with the amount of fish it produces, but also exporting more and more. Mahbubur Rahman, Fisheries Officer of Benapole, said that 32.67 lakh kg fish was exported to India in FY 2017-18, 34.83 lakh kg in FY 2018-19 and 52.45 lakh kg in FY 2019-20. At the same time, 35.16 lakh kg was imported from India in FY 2017-18, 47.28 lakh in FY 2018-19 and 48.23 lakh in FY 2019-20. Due to corona restriction, fish was not exported from Bangladesh from April-June. Over 2 lakh kg fish was exported in July. The value of which is $518,000. On the other hand 20.47 lakh kg fish worth $1.47 million was imported in June and July. In August, over 3 lakh kg of fish was exported, valued at $772,000. In the same month, 16.90lakh kg fish worth $1.2 million was imported from India. Sharsha upazila fisheries officer Abul Hasan said Rui, Katla, marine and freshwater fish were imported from India. On the other hand, Pabda, Gulsha, Tengra, Pangas, Frozen Shrimp, Carp, Vetki and other fishes are exported from Bangladesh. There is high demand for pabda in India, covering nearly 40 percent of fish exported to the country. Pabda is mostly produced in Jashore district. Abul Hasan said the fish being imported from India are now being farmed extensively locally. "There is no need to import these fishes from India. If imports were stopped, the farmers of the country would benefit immensely, he said. Fish farming, also known as pisciculture, covers a total area of 6,239 hectares in 15 baors, 271 enclosures, 10 beels and 6,619 ponds of the upazila. Sharsha produces 22,465 metric tons of fish a year. Abul Hasan said fish production in Sharsha Upazila is three times the local demand in the upazila. It produces 22,485 metric tons of fish a year. But the local demand is only 7,572 tons out of that amount. After meeting the local demand, the surplus fish is sold in other parts of the country and exported to India. Abdul Quddus, a fish exporter from Sharsha upazila, said, "There is a huge demand for pabda and carp in India. We usually export Pabda, Tengra and other freshwater fish. Shafiqul Islam, an agriculturist, said, "We collect pollen from natural sources. After nursing the pollen through the tank and storing it in the pond, different species of fish are produced. We export these fish to the local market as well as abroad. Jashore District Fisheries Officer Anisur Rahman said Rui-Katla fish was being imported from India due to low prices. Rui fish from Bangladesh however is said to taste much better than the imported variety. "There is no need to import fish from India," he said, reiterating the point made by Sharsha Upazila Fisheries Officer Abul Hasan. If imports were stopped, the farmers of our country would have benefited. On Sept. 27, Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction that halted a ban ordered by the US administration on downloads of the short video sharing app TikTok, temporarily avoiding the removal of TikTok from the app store and suspension of updates. (Photo/pixabay.com) The judge's injunction, within the scope of his authority, not only benefits TikTok but also saves the US a little dignity in the name of the rule of law in front of the world. The US government's restrictions on TikTok's deal is inherently contradictory. In terms of time, in 45 days the ban that will take effect conflicts with the order required by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States which will be effective in 90 days; in terms of content and objectives, the government uses the security of the personal information and data of Americans as its official reason to ban TikTok. If it simply stops downloading, or prohibits TikTok from providing users with updates, it in effect exposes users' personal information and data to greater security risks. It is believed that the original idea of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to develop its overseas business was based on the Western free economy advocated by books such as Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat". However, the current US government eventually tore off the disguise, and sought to realize the robber-like American supremacy through force and trickery in a brazen manner. The block of the executive order is at least one step in a positive direction. We are not sure whether the respect for the rules, the practice of the rule of law, or the obedience to common sense will return to the US after a sustained, patient and determined struggle against its hegemonism and the current extreme fanatical hysteria. One thing is for sure -- if we do not keep struggling, the US will only slip further along the road of self-willedness. Think this is a different kind of election? Right about now during the 1976 presidential campaign, fully a third of the electorate was undecided. This year, the undecideds comprise about 7% of the electorate. Whats the difference? The candidates, the country, the national mood, everything. But 1976 is a good place to start to understand what is happening with the candidates, country, national mood indeed, everything. The candidates that year seem to us now to have been painted in earth tones. It didnt look that way in our bicentennial year. But history has a way of wiping away the extreme coloration of things, to reduce vivid shades to beige and taupe. On the ballot was Gerald Ford, the incumbent president the only unelected chief executive in our history, a onetime partisan brawler who transitioned seamlessly into a soothing presence: calm, assuring, tainted mostly by a pardon of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, that seemed like heresy at the time but that history has rewarded and redeemed. His challenger was Jimmy Carter, another soothing presence, offering healing and honesty, himself enough of a bumpkin (the peanut farmer from the rural crossroads of Plains, Georgia, presented an appealing update on the log-cabin images of the 19th century) and enough of a sophisticate (his nuclear engineering background from Annapolis gave him a modern air) to be an unthreatening balance of past and present. Lets not forget: Ford was a conservative, at least by that eras definition. Carter was a liberal, at least by the measure of the times. But in retrospect, they seem almost interchangeable, and though they battled earnestly and urgently, in time they came to respect, even to like, each other. (Years ago I worked on a lengthy magazine piece on how presidents pray during their White House years and had a revealing conversation with Carter. He asked if I had spoken with Ford, and I said I hadnt been able to get an interview. He offered to call Ford. Soon thereafter, Ford was on the phone with me.) Now lets look at politics 2020, and measure it by what I found in my mailbox the other day and what I heard on the telephone a day later. First, from the mailbox: an 8.5-by-11-inch cardboard placard with a picture of a wan-looking former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with his arm around a demonic-looking Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The message in boldface capital letters: JOE BIDEN HAS COMPLETELY EMBRACED THE RADICAL LEFT. On the back were charges that Biden would promulgate the biggest (tax increase) in history, would give amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants, letting them compete for American jobs, and would support Green New Deal legislation that would have the effect of destroying millions of blue-collar energy jobs and threatening our way of life. Now the telephone: It was a top Democrat calling President Donald J. Trump disgraceful and disgusting. We can argue about who is responsible for this change; the public verdict on that question pretty much reflects the public poll numbers right now. Those who support Biden feel Trump deserves the blame. Those who support Trump believe Biden and his onetime patron, Barack Obama, are culpable. But we cannot disagree that this election described by both sides as the most important of our lifetimes, a characterization that is employed every four years but really may be the case this time is being conducted in a country divided. But hold it. Maybe the country is not that much changed after all. Lets examine an important but overlooked Gallup Organization poll that was taken earlier this year, involving more than 29,000 interviews with American adults. It presents us with some intriguing, somewhat surprising, elements. It tells us that Americans are leaning more Democratic than Republican. That should be succor for Bidens supporters. But it also concludes that the country remains center-right. That should please Trumps partisans. It was a pretty much center-right country that confronted the Ford-Carter election. That country in 1976 chose Carter, the Democrat. Then four years later, it chose Ronald Reagan, the Republican and the conservatives conservative. The contemporary narrative is that the Democrats have gone on a liberal toot, and Gallup tells us that the liberal wing of the party indeed did rise from 25% in 1994 (the year the Republicans ended four decades of Democratic rule in the House) to 51% in 2018 (the year the Democrats ended eight years of Republican rule in the House). (E)ven though liberalism has been on the rise among Democrats, the Gallup analysts said, it is not yet the clear majority position, perhaps leading to the strong intraparty clashes seen over the past year on the Democratic debate stages and throughout social media, as Democrats try to come together around a standard-bearer for 2020. Now we know the identity of that standard-bearer. Hes Joe Biden, who at heart is a moderate and who, in his early days, was a crusader against Washington, D.C. In his 1972 campaign, he was a county councilman and an outsider, running against an establishment politician, Republican Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, a pleasant fellow known mostly for supporting environmental legislation. In his youth, Biden was a rebel much the way Jerry Ford had been. Long before he became the ultimate Washington insider 36 years in the capital! he was outside power looking in, and ran in his first presidential campaign, in the 1988 election cycle, as a mooshy moderate struggling to define his political profile. Republicans look at his efforts to unite the Democrats and say he is embracing, figuratively and literally, the left wing of his party, and they are not wrong to see him move on health care, taxes and the environment. But how would he govern from the White House? That is the great unknown. How Trump would govern in a second term is less uncertain, with his supporters hungry for more of the same and his critics worrying he would indeed present more of the same, only worse. This election may be about many things climate change, the economy, the virus but really it is about one thing: A center-right country is weeks away from giving a verdict on its president. Nothing more. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 US tech giant Alphabet Inc's Google has said that it is going to enforce Play Store tax on over 3 per cent of apps for not abiding by its payment system policy. The company demanded that the apps selling digital items without complying follow the rules within a year. Google's rebuttal came on Monday in its bid to refute criticism that it selectively imposes 30 per cent mobile app store tax. The development comes after lawsuits filed by "Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games last month accusing Google and Apple Inc of anti-competitive conduct. Also Read: Paytm's IPL cashback scheme back days after Google's temporary ban Applications sold on the tech leaders' stores are required to use their payment systems so that they can collect a portion of sales, which developers describe as a tax. The companies are defending the allegations. App stores are a fast-growing business as sales of Google's search ads and Apple's iPhone flatten out. Google said under 3% of developers with apps on its Play store sold digital goods over the last 12 months, and nearly 97% comply with its payment system policy. Dating apps maker Match Group Inc. is among the companies that have publicly said they do not pay Google's 30% fee, which decreases to 15% in subsequent years if it is for a subscription service. Also Read: Google Meet to reduce meetings to 60 mins on free versions Antitrust regulators in several countries are looking at the issue, including in South Korea, where several media apps anticipating Google's stricter enforcement pre-emptively complained to government officials recently. Apps have said 30% is excessive compared with the 2% fees of typical credit card payments processors, while Apple and Google say the amount covers the security and marketing benefits their app stores provide. New apps must use Google's payments tool for sales by January 20, while existing apps have time until September 30, 2021. Apps that shifted to selling digital items from physical goods and services because of the coronavirus pandemic may get additional time to comply, Google said. Apple said last week that a similar temporary reprieve extends through December 31. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the U.S. Supreme Court at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., September 27, 2020. In a scathing message to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, the Biden campaign accused the platform of backsliding on its work to protect democracy in the U.S. by fighting misinformation about the 2020 presidential election. "Rather than seeing progress, we have seen regression," wrote Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon in a letter to Zuckerberg that was obtained by Axios. "Facebook's continued promise of future action is serving as nothing more than an excuse for inaction." O'Malley Dillon accuses Facebook of failing to act on its commitments to prohibit messages misrepresenting who can vote and how. She points to a recent video posted on the Trump campaign's Facebook page featuring Donald Trump Jr. claiming without evidence that his father's opponents have a plan "to add millions of fraudulent ballots that can cancel your vote and overturn the election." Facebook added a label to the video that says, "Voting by mail has a long history of trustworthiness in the US and the same is predicted this year," citing the Bipartisan Policy Center and linking to voting information. But the Biden campaign said that is not enough. "No company that considers itself a force for good in democracy, and that purports to take voter suppression seriously, would allow this dangerous claptrap to be spread to millions of people," O'Malley Dillon wrote. "Removing this video should have been the easiest of easy calls under your policies, yet it remains up today." O'Malley Dillon also criticized Facebook for maintaining posts from the president himself encouraging his followers to attempt to vote at their polling place even if they submitted a mail-in ballot, unless it can be proved that the ballot was counted. After Trump called for North Carolina residents to take such action, officials in the state told voters it's illegal to vote twice and that showing up to the polls on Election Day if they'd already submitted a mailed ballot would only make lines longer and more risky during the pandemic. Facebook and Twitter both placed labels on Trump's posts but did not specifically call out the illegality of voting twice. Twitter hides tweets from the president that violate its voter misinformation policies and requires users to click to view them. O'Malley Dillon called for Facebook to remove Trump's posts that violate its policies. "While many Republicans think we should take one course, many Democrats think we should do the exact opposite," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "We've faced criticism from Republicans for being biased against conservatives and Democrats for not taking more steps to restrict the exact same content. We have rules in place to protect the integrity of the election and free expression, and we will continue to apply them impartially." "Silicon Valley can't help Joe Biden hide his 47 years of failure," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. Representatives for the Biden campaign did not immediately respond to requests from CNBC to provide the letter. Facebook has taken several steps since the 2016 election to protect its platform from being manipulated by bad actors seeking to undermine U.S. democracy. After U.S. government officials found Russian agents had been able to buy political ads and sow disinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms in the last presidential election, Facebook installed tougher measures for advertisers seeking to place political messages, stepped up moderation efforts and created a searchable political ads database. But many Democrats have held that Facebook's efforts have not gone far enough. Facebook has not eliminated advertisers' ability to target voters on a very small scale as critics such as Democratic Federal Election Commissioner Ellen Weintraub has suggested. The platform has also said recently it would let politicians lie in political ads and has refused to remove posts from President Donald Trump. Facebook said earlier this month, however, it would ban new political ads from running the week before Election Day, Nov. 3, and would take down posts that claim voters will catch Covid-19 if they go to the polls. Still, many voters are opting to vote by mail or vote early in light of health precautions. Twitter, by contrast, has taken more aggressive actions in the past year on political content, such as fact-checking and obscuring some of Trump's tweets and banning political ads altogether. Twitter's political ad revenue was far smaller than that for Facebook, though Zuckerberg has said it is also not a significant part of the company's revenue. Zuckerberg has said that he does not want to be an arbiter of truth on Facebook, but O'Malley Dillon wrote that by failing to effectively combat disinformation, Facebook is failing to protect voters' voices. "As you say, 'voting is voice,'" O'Malley Dillon wrote. "Facebook has committed to not allow that voice to be drowned out by a storm of disinformation, but has failed at every opportunity to follow through on that commitment. We will be calling out those failures as they occur over the coming 36 days." Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. WATCH: Facebook's battle against election manipulation I was scrolling on my Facebook page and later came across an article posted by the Editor-in-Chief of Daily Nigerian, Jafar Jafar, with the title "Zulum's Extreme Governance" advising the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, stressing that "this is not the first time the convoy of the governor was attacked. In July this year, the governor escaped death when Boko Haram terrorists attacked his convoy in Baga. In this latest attack, at least 8 policemen and 3 soldiers lost their lives just to escort a governor! Nigeria cant just afford to lose officers in the course of escorting VIPs not protecting the people". Jafar Jafar, stated The way I comprehend the article seems like the Writer is lamenting on the effort the governor is making which he described as risk taking and not only for his live but the lives of his aides and the returnees. Yes, of course, the governor is risking his life, but I also want to remind Mr. Jafar to understand that the situation of Baga is complicit and it also need urgent investigation by the federal government. If you could recall, the military has earlier refuted an allegation on "soldiers fishing In Baga" describing it as baseless and unfounded. That was after the Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, had alleged sabotage following an attack on his convoy in Baga about last few months, accusing the military of involvement in illicit fishing and farming activities. The question here is: Is the governor's allegation right or wrong? And if it is wrong, can we say that Baga should be inhabited by only soldiers and Boko Haram insurgents (at the bushes) without returning the IDPs? Can this yield a positive result? If you could also recall, this was exactly what happened when people of both Gwoza and Bama were returned, they experienced many attacks in the process of their returns and after, today it has became history for them. Let me clearly state that whether the governor is forcefully sending IDPs to return to their ancestral homes or not, Boko Haram will still attack whenever they want without considering humanity. Why the attacks? Can we also suspect that the insurgents also engaged in the farming and fishing activities in the fringe of Lake Chad and other shores? Again, why is it that some months ago, a committee was inaugurated to resettle Baga town and since then, the committee has been travelling the same road with workers and equipments to restore all social amenities in Baga. Why has there not been any report showing they have been attacked even for once? Why attacking Gov. Zulum's convoy alone? The truth is; it is high time for Federal Government to thoroughly investigate fishing activities in the region and this is because, it can not only be alleged of the military but the insurgents and as well. Fishing business in Baga and other parts of Borno State should be stopped for some time so that government will identify both the fisheries and the suppliers. We should also need to consider the hardship the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are going through in their various camps in terms of livelihood and shelter. Can we also say that the governor is right in terms of his efforts in returning them to go and continue with their means of livelihood instead of relying on Government and other donor agencies? Agreed that their return should be based on their decisions and informed by the persons concerned without coercion of any kind since they are citizens of this country and they are supposed to live like all other citizens - the right to liberty of movement and to choice of residence, and thus are entitled to choose whether they want to return to their place of origin, integrate locally where they were displaced, or resettle in another part of the country. We also need to understand that experience shows that unless displacement has lasted for a very long period, majority of IDPs opt to return in post-conflict situations. We also need to ensure the safety of returnees so that they must not suffer from attacks, harassment, intimidation and persecution or any other form of punitive action upon return to their home communities. The return of Baga people can be an important signifier of peace and the end of conflict; their return can play an important part in validating the post-conflict and fish out the perpetrators; it can also help them to rebuild and revitalize local economies such as farming and fishing. I mean the brave and patriotic Prof. Zulum must continue to stand firm in order to succeed in his pursuits. The returns of IDPs is the best solution ever. Abdulmumin Kolo Gulani writes from Information Unit, University of Maiduguri A 65-year-old Welland woman suffered minor injuries after being struck by a car Tuesday morning. Niagara Regional Police said the incident took place about 6:35 a.m. at East Main and Wellington streets in Welland. Police said a 22-year-old Welland man driving a Hyundai Elantra was southbound on Wellington when he went to make a left-hand turn on to East Main toward Highway 406. The woman was crossing the road at the time and was struck by the vehicle. Niagara Emergency Medical Services transported the woman to hospital with minor injuries. The driver was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian. Google Maps A woman was struck and killed by a Hummer while crossing a dark street Tuesday, according to the San Antonio Police Department. The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Terry Ann Rowland, 61. Amid widespread protests and turmoil, Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the three contentious agriculture Bills that seek to replace ordinances enforced in June this year. The idea behind the three Bills is to expedite investment of infrastructure and technology in the agrarian sector and liberalise farm market by facilitating the involvement of corporates. However, the farming societies, especially in Punjab and Haryana and those at the opposing end of the spectrum, reiterate that the government attempted to supersede the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism and Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) that provided farmers with a fair share in collective bargaining on price and non-price issues (weighing, grading, measurement among others). The protesters also called for regulation of APMCs to resolve evils of cartelisation within mandis. The corporatisation of agriculture includes corporate structures controlling input cost factors such as seeds, irrigation, fertilisers, electricity cost. Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the United States has greatly influenced Indian Agriculture Policy more covertly by coercing tariffs and imports at the World Trade Organisation. Furthermore, the corporatisation includes allowing corporates to control the means of production and chains of distribution. By 2013, three American corporate companies namely Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Bunge controlled more than 50 per cent of the agrarian market of the world through vertical integration and contract farming. Small farmers are evicted out of the agrarian market by the pricing policy of corporations. (Photo: Reuters) Farmers are pressurised by corporations; they are paid low prices for their products such as soya, wheat and maize, and they pay high prices for seeds, pesticides, energy, fertilisers and animal feed. The record food prices of 2008 resulted in higher profits for corporations, and not for farmers who have to bear all the risks. Corporate lobbyists often also work in government institutions. They often successfully lobby for corporate interests on food standards, approval of pesticides, GM seeds, trade agreements, or the public research agenda, says Andy Goldring of Permaculture Association and advocate for ecological sustainability in his paper. Globally, the largest purchasers of agricultural produce have been responsible for hunger and starvation among the peasant community and small farmers. Small farmers are evicted out of the agrarian market by the pricing policy of corporations. Many Brazilian farmers are indebted to the American corporate giant Bunge; which now has a claim on their harvest and land. As liberalisation creates avenues of free and global market available to farmers, rising agricultural prices soar the interest of investors and normalises land grabbing within the agrarian economy. Land grabbing has particularly affected Africa and South America where small-scale farming families are brutally evicted from their lands and the area is sold or leased to foreign (private) investors. The land is taken over for agrofuel plantations just as palm oil plantations displace small scale farmers in Indonesia. The commercialisation of agriculture in colonial India reflected ruthless exploitation by East India Company and resulted in oppressive zamindari system, arbitrary expulsion and unpaid labour whenever the peasant community rose in revolt. It also witnessed the displacement of farming societies of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to labour for tea plantations of East. The sink in production of enrichment cultivation (with a variety of seeds) to monoculture plantation of commercially valuable crops has continued even in post-independent India. In the Philippines, over 3,000 rice varieties were grown before the 1960s and reduced to two rice varieties over 98 per cent of the cultivated area by the 1980s. Similarly, global seed firms like Nuziveedu, Monsanto (now taken over by Bayer), BASF, DuPont Pioneer made inroads to India and ramped up the seed replacement rate for genetically-modified maize and cotton. Simultaneously, higher yield through high replacement rate has helped farmers increase their income in some parts of the country. Concentration to a handful of suppliers has led to the development of only a few varieties of seeds. Unchecked corporate power and increasing political influence have left farmers to operate under the push get big or get out and often driven abuse of farmers rights. In 2010, price fluctuations caused by Chinas enormous soya and maize purchases and droughts in Argentina and Russia massively profited trade giants. In the second half of 2010, the value of Bunge (worlds largest soya producer; the only soya producer in many countries of the world) shares increased by 30 per cent. Further, agro-fuel targets capitalised upon it to expand trading opportunities specifically in the EU and US. Belgian scholar and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter (2008-2014), criticised the pricing pressure and said low producer prices led to deteriorating social conditions. He called upon states to prevent unfair practices of trade with the removal of imbalances caused by market forces. Agricultural policy analyst Devinder Sharma in a recent interview pointed out how the corporatisation of American agrarian society since the 1960s led to decline in farmers incomes over the years. He also remarked that the governments focus should be to improvise the APMCs specifying the prevailing defects within the mandi system. Something that was also retained in the 2006 Swaminathan report by the National Commission on Farmers that suggested a law should be made for MSP to be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production. Also read: How Farm Bills will help all but the farmers in need By Trend The expected meeting of the members of the UN Security Council, which will be dedicated to the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is of informative nature, the German Embassy in Baku told Trend. The embassy said that no resolution adoption is planned during the meeting. The meeting was initiated by the German Foreign Minister and Secretary of State, the embassy said. The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on the latest developments within the Nagorno-Karabakh in a closed format on September 29, TASS reported. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar may get a big post in the future if he joins the NDA and said there is no advantage in staying with Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena should again join hands with BJP. If Shiv Sena doesnt come with us, I appeal to (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar to join NDA for development for the state. He may get a big post in the future. There is no advantage in staying with Shiv Sena, Athawale said at a press conference here. In 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats in the last Maharashtra Assembly polls while the Shiv Sena got 56 seats in the 288-member state Assembly. However, Shiv Sena later went ahead with Congress and the NCP to form the government in the state. (ANI) Technavio has been monitoring the packaged tostones market in Americas and it is poised to grow by USD 111.20 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 4% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005538/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Packaged Tostones Market in Americas 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied. While a few industries will register a drop in demand, numerous others will continue to remain unscathed and show promising growth opportunities. Technavio's in-depth research has all your needs covered as our research reports include all foreseeable market scenarios, including pre- post-COVID-19 analysis. Download a Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impacts Frequently Asked Questions- Based on segmentation by product, which is the leading segment in the market? The unflavoured segment is expected to be the leading segment in the global market during the forecast period. What are the major trends in the market? Advent of online shopping is one of the major trends in the market. At what rate is the market projected to grow? Growing at a CAGR of almost 4%, the incremental growth of the market is anticipated to be USD 111.20 million. Who are the top players in the market? ARA Food Corp., Goya Foods Inc., Iberia Foods Corp., Neillys Foods, Pacific Coral Seafood Co. Inc., Plantain Products Co., Prime Planet, Quirch Foods LLC, TropicMax, and White Toque Inc. are some of the major market participants. What are the key market drivers and challenges? Wide availability of plantains in Americas is one of the major factors driving the market. However, the increasing at-home preparation of tostones restraints the market growth. How big is the North America market? The North America region will contribute 68% of market growth. The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. ARA Food Corp., Goya Foods Inc., Iberia Foods Corp., Neillys Foods, Pacific Coral Seafood Co. Inc., Plantain Products Co., Prime Planet, Quirch Foods LLC, TropicMax, and White Toque Inc. are some of the major market participants. The wide availability of plantains in Americas will offer immense growth opportunities. To make most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. View market snapshot before purchasing Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations. Packaged Tostones Market in Americas 2020-2024: Segmentation Packaged Tostones Market in Americas is segmented as below: Product Unflavored Flavored Geography North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41676 Packaged Tostones Market in Americas 2020-2024: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The packaged tostones market in Americas report covers the following areas: Packaged Tostones Market Size in Americas Packaged Tostones Market Trends in Americas Packaged Tostones Market Analysis in Americas This study identifies the advent of online shopping as one of the prime reasons driving the packaged tostones market growth in Americas during the next few years. Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Packaged Tostones Market in Americas 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist packaged tostones market growth in Americas during the next five years Estimation of the packaged tostones market size in Americas and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the packaged tostones market in Americas Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of packaged tostones market vendors in Americas Table of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Unflavored Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Flavored Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Customer landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors ARA Food Corp. Goya Foods Inc. Iberia Foods Corp. Neilly's Foods Pacific Coral Seafood Co. Inc. Plantain Products Co. Prime Planet Quirch Foods LLC TropicMax White Toque Inc. Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005538/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ A pensioner with underlying health conditions was stunned when he was told to travel 500 miles for a coronavirus test. Stephen Feltham, 73, a type two diabetic with high blood pressure, hoped to book an appointment at his nearest test centre in Poole in Dorset. But he was told there was no availability for him there and he instead could go to Perth in Scotland - a round trip of 1,000 miles. Luckily the grandfather-of-six didn't have to make the exhaustive trip, which would have taken about 16 hours. Stephen Feltham (pictured) was told to travel 500 miles to Scotland from Bournemouth for a coronavirus test He eventually managed to book a test at the Creekmoor site in Poole but said when he got there he was the only client for 30 staff members. Mr Feltham, a widower with three daughters, said: 'I spoke to a bloke over the phone, he was very nice and asked for my postcode. 'I gave him that, which is BH8. He said there was a test available in Perth. I don't know if it was a mistake. I said I don't even want to holiday up there. 'I didn't even consider it, there was no way I was driving to Scotland. He said they'd run out of home test kits and told me to keep trying to book online. 'I did try late the next day and got through and from that moment on I have nothing but praise for my testing experience. 'My analysis is either they have not got enough test materials to do the tests, or they don't have enough capacity at the laboratories.' Mr Feltham eventually managed to get an appointment closer to his home and was tested at Creekmoor where he said the staff took good care of him. 'I have since had my test back and it's negative, as for the staff at Creekmoor everything was perfect, but I was the only one there. My test must have cost thousands of pounds. 'I think everyone is doing their best. My experience with being sent to Perth is not a major issue, the issue is having 30 people at Creekmoor looking after one client.' Mr Feltham, from Bournemouth, was recommended to get a test by his doctor because he had a temperature and a persistent cough. He got a test at the Creekmoor site and got his results back Saturday. After a course of antibiotics he has now almost recovered from what he believes is just a bad cold. Mr Feltham (pictured) a retired businessman was recommended to get a test by his doctor because he had a temperature and a persistent cough The retired businessman added: 'I ran a worldwide business in quality assurance so I'm used to management systems and the government are just getting this all wrong. 'I was very frustrated there isn't a queuing system online, why don't they have one when every other business can? 'Dido Harding is obviously not cutting it and Boris is going to lose his job because of this. 'They should be testing millions each day, everyone should be tested at least once a fortnight. But they are testing in such ridiculously small numbers, it's worthless. 'I was a bit worried as I am high risk, I was shielding in lockdown other than going out to walk my dogs.' Mr Feltham's case is just one of a catalogue of issues reported with the government's testing system. There have been reports of cars being turned away, people being unable to access the booking website or being told there are no test sites found and others being advised to travel hundreds of miles to test sites nowhere near them. Mr Feltham (pictured) eventually managed to get an appointment closer to his home and was tested at Creekmoor but was miffed as he was the only one there with 30 staff to look after him It's estimated one in 20 have to travel 50 miles or further to get checked, despite ministers batting away claims that swathes of Britons were being told to drive hours away to get checked for the life-threatening illness. A spokesperson for the department of health and social care said: 'NHS test and trace is one of the largest testing and contact tracing systems in the world. 'The service is working hard to break chains of transmission, with almost half a million people who may otherwise have unknowingly spreading coronavirus contacted and told to isolate. 'We're working with directors of Public Health and have more than doubled the size of local health protection teams to increase local contact tracing and stop outbreaks. 'We are also providing tests at an unprecedented scale - over 225,000 a day on average over the last week - and expanding capacity further to provide 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.' Inaugurating six mega projects in Uttarakhand under the Namami Gange Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that some people are opposing the recently legalised farm reform bills as yet another source of earning black money has been closed for them. While inaugurating the project, PM Modi said, Ganga brings prosperity to almost half of the countrys population. Therefore, non-stop flow and clean water in the river is very much needed. If the old steps were repeated then the condition would have stayed the same. PM Modi said the government went ahead with new thinking and new approach. We did not restrict it to just cleaning up Ganga, but made it the countrys largest river conservation project, he added. The Prime Minister said that currently under Namami Gange Mission, projects worth 30,000 crores are either completed or are underway. Here is what PM Modi said in his address: - Jal Jeevan Mission has given an opportunity to the people of the village. Opportunity - to free our village from water problems.Opportunity - to make our village full of water. - Major reforms have been made related to the farmers, workers and health of the country. With these reforms, the workers of the country will be empowered, the youth of the country will be empowered, the women of the country will be empowered, the farmers of the country will be empowered. But today the country is seeing how some people are protesting only for protest. - Today, even when the central government is giving the farmers their rights, these people came down on protest. These people want that the farmers of the country could not sell their produce in the open market. These people are now insulting the farmers by setting fire to the goods and equipment that the farmer worships. - In this period, the country has seen how the Digital India campaign, Jan Dhan bank accounts have helped people. When our government started this work, these people were opposing them. These people have always opposed this, if the bank account of the poor of the country is opened, they should also do digital transactions. - For years these people kept saying that they would implement MSP, but did not. Our own government did the work of implementing MSP as per the wish of Swaminathan Commission. - Today these people are also spreading confusion over MSP. There will also be MSP in the country and the farmer will also have the freedom to sell crops anywhere in the country. But some people are unable to tolerate this freedom. - These people are neither with the farmer nor with the youth nor with the brave soldiers. Our government gave the benefit of One Rank One Pension to the soldiers, then they also opposed it. - At the initiative of India, when the whole world was celebrating International Yoga Day, these people sitting in India were opposing it. Even when the tallest statue of Sardar Patel was being unveiled, these people were opposing it. Till date, no major leader has gone to the Statue of Unity. LEHI, Utah, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Motivosity, the modern employee engagement platform that helps companies develop motivated teams, announces the appointment of Logan Mallory as their new Vice President of Marketing. With exciting new product releases and growth opportunities over the next year, Motivosity has its sights set to soar. Mallory's background and approach will have an exponential impact on the trajectory of the company. "I'm excited to bring in Logan at such a critical time for Motivosity," said Scott Johnson, founder and CEO. "His background and expertise will open a lot of new doors for us as we look to change the nature of working teams around the world!" Mallory is joining the Motivosity team after leading digital marketing within a core business unit of LogMeIn, Inc., one of the world's largest SaaS companies with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. His focus on alignment with sales leadership and revenue drivers had a powerful impact on company growth and culture. He's also a marketing alum of Jive Communications, Workfront and Deseret Book. With an MBA from Brigham Young University, Logan also teaches as an adjunct professor within the Marriott School of Business. "I'm so thrilled to be joining Motivosity. This is the perfect time to represent a product that helps teams and companies connect in the way that Motivosity does," said Mallory. "I'll be joining an executive team that is talented, sharp and hungry--I'm anxious to be part of the group and to help the company grow quickly and intelligently." Mallory joins a growing team of Utah tech leaders that believe life at work can and should be just as meaningful, satisfying, and enjoyable as life off the clock. Logan, who loves boating and traveling, will fit right in as the new Vice President of Marketing at Motivosity, Inc. About Motivosity Motivosity is a modern employee engagement platform (that's a corporate way of saying all the things that make your team want to go out with a big smile on their faces and win every day). The software is used by companies intent on having the most motivated teams and is rejected by trophy-giving, box-checking, bureaucratic, compliance-loving, stodgy companies that still think HR stands for Humans are Resources. Learn more at www.motivosity.com. Media contact: Carly MacLennan, Marketing [email protected], 385.985.4850 Related Images logan-mallory.jpg Logan Mallory Related Links Motivosity SOURCE Motivosity, Inc. Related Links https://www.motivosity.com With the Election Commission announcing bypolls for two seats in Karnataka Sira in Tumkur and Raja Rajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) seat in Bengaluru it is the opposition Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is trying to make a mark. The Sira seat became vacant after sitting JDS legislator B Sathyanarayana died due to novel coronavirus on 5 August. In the 2018 assembly elections, the RR Nagar constituency was won by Munirathna Naidu of Congress but he later switched over to the BJP. Ironically it was the then BJP candidate Tulsi Muniraju Gowda who went to court challenging Naidus election alleging he had created fake voter ID cards. The EC had subsequently declared Naidus election as null and void. With the ruling BJP having 117 seats in the 225-member assembly (including one nominated member) plus the support of two of the three independents, it is comfortably placed with a clear, simple majority. However it is the opposition parties who have a point to prove in the bypolls. DK Shivakumar, who was appointed as the Karnataka Congress president in March this year, is keen to prove that under his leadership, the party would be able to take on the BJP. For the JDS, it is a question of survival as both seats are Vokkaliga dominated and the party is traditionally seen to represent the interests of this community. It is also an electoral tussle between JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar on who will be seen as the real Vokkaliga leader as both belong to the community. Kumaraswamy had recently acknowledged that the Sira seat would be a test, even as he swatted away rumours of increasing proximity to BJP. We will win Sira, Kumaraswamy had said on September 12 after holding a meeting of workers from the constituency. However, a senior JDS leader who did not want to be identified, said the party faces an uphill task. Due to age and health-related issues even before coronavirus claimed his life, Sathyanaryana was not very active in the constituency so even if we give a ticket to one of his family members to encash the sympathy, it might not work. Also remember, even our partys tallest leader Deve Gowda was defeated in Tumkur in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. Sira is an assembly constituency under Tumkur Lok Sabha seat. Both Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy will be in Sira on Wednesday to decide on their candidate and strategy. The Congress has already named former minister TB Jayachandra who had lost the previous assembly polls as its candidate. Karnataka president DK Shivakumar had declared on 17 September that Jayachandra is the unanimous choice of workers and leaders from the constituency. He has won six assembly polls in the past. I am confident we will win the seat again. The BJP, which is the third player in the constituency, is likely to field either SR Gowda or BK Manjunath. Both are party workers. In the RR Nagar seat, the BJP is likely to give Congress turncoat Munirathna Naidu the ticket, while Congress and JDS may field fresh faces. The parties are all in a huddle on finalising names of candidates except in Sira where Congress has already declared Jayachandras name. Political analyst Manjunath commenting on the bypoll prospects said The ruling party has other challenges such as cabinet expansion and eventual replacement of Yediyurappa. The BJP will also be more concerned about winning the four legislative council seats for which elections have been announced as they lack a majority in the upper house. It is the JDS and Congress who are both out to prove a point in the assembly polls. While all the three will obviously try to win, it is the JDS which has the most to lose in case it does now win either of the assembly seats. Election Commission has also announced polls for four graduates and teachers constituency for the Karnataka Legislative Council for which voting will happen on October 28. For the two assembly constituencies, voting will happen on November 3. Northern Irelands chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride has warned against acting prematurely to quell north west coronavirus clusters (Liam McBurney/PA) Northern Irelands health chiefs have warned against acting prematurely to quell north west coronavirus clusters. Derry and Strabane have seen a threefold increase in a week, driven by social gatherings, but experts helping steer the official response are awaiting the impact of recent restrictions before recommending more draconian measures. Different households are banned from meeting up indoors. There is a risk of acting prematurely Dr Michael McBride Top doctors advising Stormont ministers warned steps to apply brakes to the infection for a month like circuit-breaker lockdowns during school holidays could be considered. Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said: There is a risk of acting prematurely. The reduction in mixing in peoples households might begin to have an impact. It is a fairly significant measure that we have introduced. On Tuesday Northern Ireland recorded its highest daily total of infections since the current testing process was introduced. A cross-border spike in cases has led public health doctors to appeal for people not to cross the border with Donegal. The Department of Health #COVID19 dashboard has been updated with latest data. 320 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. https://t.co/YN16dmYa93 pic.twitter.com/CRsZBOMA3o Department of Health (@healthdpt) September 29, 2020 Dr McBride said: What it appears to be related to is a range of social interactions and gatherings. He added: It is important that we give some time and space to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. I do not want to see any part of society subjected to more restrictions than necessary at this point in time. The Department of Health said 320 new cases of Covid-19 had been notified in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. The Covid virus is going to be with us forever, for the rest of our lives and the question is how much of it will there be Professor Ian Young Key points to emerge from a briefing by Dr McBride and chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young included: Health chiefs are braced for a tough winter since it will be next year before adequate supplies of vaccine are available. Regular vaccination of around 70% of the population will be needed to keep the infection under control. Self-isolation could be cut to 10 days with changes to testing. The number of contacts per positive case has risen to nearly four, but extra contact tracers are being recruited with 20 more signed up earlier this week. The number of cases would double every 10 days without the recent restrictions, with 50 hospitalised daily. The number of older people infected is gradually rising. Ballymena in Co Antrim has seen a reduction in its level of infections since further localised restrictions were introduced there and there are encouraging signs in Belfast. Prof Young said: The Covid virus is going to be with us forever, for the rest of our lives and the question is how much of it will there be. To reach a very low level of transmission, occasional cases, we need to vaccinate 70% of the population, he said. For decades, archaeologists have been excavating artifacts on these islands. Credit: Scott Fitzpatrick, CC BY-ND For the millions of people around the world who live on islands today, a plane or boat can easily enough carry them to the mainland or other islands. But how did people in the ancient past first make it to distant islands they couldn't even see from home? Many islands around the world can be reached only by traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles across open water, yet nearly all islands that people live on were settled by between 800 to 1,000 years ago. Archaeologists like us want to understand why people would risk their lives to reach these far-off places, what kinds of boat and navigational methods they used, and what other technologies they invented to make it. Islands are important places to study because they hold clues about human endurance and survival in different kinds of environments. One of the most interesting places to study these processes is the Caribbean, the only region of the Americas where people settled an archipelago with some islands not visible from surrounding areas. Despite more than a century of research, there are still many questions about the origins of the first Caribbean people, when they migrated and what routes they took. My colleagues and I recently reanalyzed archaeological data collected over 60 years to answer these fundamental questions. Settling the islands one by one Based on the discovery of unique stone tools and food remains such as shells and bones, archaeologists have a general understanding that people first spread throughout the Caribbean in a series of migrations that probably began at least 7,000 years ago and likely originated from northern South America. Amerindians paddled between islands in dugout canoes and were remarkably adept at open-water travel. Archaeologists don't know what inspired people to first colonize the Caribbean islands, but we do know they brought plants and animals from the mainland, like manioc and oppossum, to help ensure their survival. There are two main ideas about what happened. For decades, the prevailing notion was that people migrated from South America into the Antilles in a south-to-north "stepping-stone" pattern. Because the islands stretch in a gentle arc from Grenada all the way up to Cuba in the northwest with many largely visible from one to the next this would seem to provide a convenient path for early settlers. This hypothesis, however, has been challenged by evidence that some of the earliest sites are in the northern islands. Analyses of wind and ocean currents suggest that it was actually easier to travel directly between South America and the northern Caribbean before moving in a southerly direction. Researchers call this proposal of a north-to-south migration the "southward route" hypothesis. Revisiting previous scientists' date data Figuring out which model for settling the Caribbean best fits the evidence depends on being able to assign accurate dates to human activity preserved in the archaeological record. To do this, researchers need a lot of reliable dates from many different sites throughout the islands to establish how, when and from where people landed. Archaeologists typically use a technique called radiocarbon dating to figure out how old an artifact is. When an organism dies, it stops producing carbon and its remaining carbon decays at a fixed rate of timearchaeologists say "death starts the clock." By measuring the amount of carbon left in the organism and then performing a few additional calculations, scientists are left with a probable age range for when that organism died. Archaeologists often date things like food remains, charcoal from cooking hearths or wood in the building where they are found. If archaeologists date shells found in a trash heap, they can tell, usually within a range of 25 to 50 years or so, when that shellfish was harvested for a meal. We recently reevaluated about 2,500 radiocarbon dates from hundreds of archaeological sites on more than 50 Caribbean islands. Archaeologists have been radiocarbon dating findings in the Caribbean since the 1950swhen the radiocarbon technique was first discovered. But dating methods and the standards scientists follow have improved dramatically since then. Part of our job was to see if each of the 2,500 radiocarbon dates available would meet today's standards. Dates that did not meet those standards were thrown out, leaving us with a smaller database of only the most reliable times for human activity. Determining where people lived first By statistically analyzing these remaining dates, we confirmed that Trinidad was the first Caribbean island settled by humans, at least 7,000 years ago. However, Trinidad is so close to South America that only simpleor even noboats were needed to get there. After Trinidad, the oldest settlements occurred between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago in the northern Caribbean on the large islands of the Greater Antilles: Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Reaching them would have required crossing passages of water where no islands were visible to the naked eye, although navigators rely on other wayfinding techniqueslike current, cloud patterns, seeing birds fly in a certain directionto know if land is out there. By around 2,500 years ago, people had spread out to settle other islands in the northern Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and Barbuda. Based on these data, the patterns of initial settlement of the Caribbean are most consistent with the southward route hypothesis. Around 1,800 years ago, a new wave of people also moved from South America into the Lesser Antilles, colonizing many of the remaining uninhabited islands. About 1,000 years later, their descendants moved into the smaller islands of the Greater Antilles and Bahamian archipelago. This is when Jamaica and the Bahamas were settled for the first time. Our research findings also support the widely held view that environment played a significant role in how and when islands were settled. Archaeologists know that once people settled islands, they frequently moved between them. Not all islands are the same, and some offered more or better resources than others. For example, in the Bahamas and the Grenadines, the primary way to access freshwater is by digging wells; there are no streams or springs. Some islands lacked clay for making pottery, which was important for cooking and storing food. People may have also traveled to different islands to access preferred fishing or hunting spots or seek out marriage partners. Strong seasonal winds and currents facilitated travel between islands. That's also probably one of the reasons why Caribbean people never developed the sail or other seafaring technologies that were used in the Pacific, Mediterranean and North Atlantic around the same time. Dugout canoes crossed between South America and the islands just fine. Interpretations of past human behavior at archaeological sites are anchored by radiocarbon dates to study change over time. For archaeologists, it's important to periodically take another look at the data to make sure that the narratives built on those data are reliable. Our review of the radiocarbon record for the Caribbean allowed us to showwith increased accuracythe ways in which the region was first colonized by people, how they interacted and moved between islands, and how their societies developed following initial colonization. Explore further Caribbean settlement began in Greater Antilles, researchers say This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:28:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HANOI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,094 with 35 deaths from the infectious disease, according to its Ministry of Health. The 17 new cases have recently entered the country from Russia and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry. As eight more patients were given all-clear, the total cured cases in the country has risen to 1,007 as of Tuesday, said the ministry. Meanwhile nearly 15,900 people are being quarantined and monitored in the country, the ministry said. Vietnam has gone through 27 straight days without any COVID-19 cases in the community, according to the ministry. Enditem Afghan officials say a roadside bomb has killed at least 14 civilians in the central province of Daikundi, as violence continues across the country despite ongoing peace talks between Taliban militants and the Afghan government in Qatar. The provincial governor's spokesman, Nasrullah Ghori, told RFE/RL that seven women, five children, and two men died when their vehicle was hit by the explosion on September 29. Three other passengers were wounded in the blast, he said. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian blamed the Taliban. The roadside bomb blast comes as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, to try to find a way to put an end to 19 years of war in the country. The Taliban has refused a nationwide cease-fire despite the ongoing peace talks, which kicked off on September 12. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has documented more than 1,280 Afghan civilian deaths during the first half of 2020 -- mainly as a result of fighting between Afghan government forces and Taliban militants. At a time when the university sector is on its knees because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its over-reliance on foreign students, the federal government is rushing through the most complicated reform package for the sector in a decade. The closure of borders to foreign students has cost universities about $3.8 billion in 2020, according to the Melbourne University Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Denied JobKeeper payments, universities have cut their staff by about 10 per cent. Universities are also warning that they might not be able to fund expensive courses for domestic students, such as dentistry and agriculture, or invest in globally significant research. The JobReady package now before the Senate comes at a time when there are serious doubts about whether our universities will maintain the high standards and global reputation on which Australia relies. The package is complicated and it does not involve any additional government funding. Instead, Education Minister Dan Tehan has decided to make students take up a bigger share of the costs of the sector. The package will raise HECS fees for some courses, especially for arts degrees where fees will rise 113 per cent. Mr Tehan says the cash will pay for an extra 100,000 student places over the next decade in areas of expected job growth such as engineering, nursing and teaching. A pro-democracy group honoring the legacy and continuing the work of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi launched on Tuesday, nearly two years after the Washington Post columnist was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, is the human rights watchdog dreamed up by Khashoggi in the months before his death. At the virtual unveiling on Tuesday, organizers said the Washington-based nonprofit will continue his mission by spotlighting foreign governments that undermine human rights as well as those who assist and enable them. We are going to uphold Jamals legacy, said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director. His original vision was based on the fundamental premise that democracy and human rights are the only solution for the Middle East that will give it stability, security and dignity for its people, she said. According to Whitson, the 10-person organization's funding comes from foundations and private individuals, including friends of the slain journalist. DAWN will initially focus its research on detentions and fair trial issues in the US-allied governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and will also examine the ways in which the United States is aiding and abetting abusive and unelected governments that rely on American military assistance. In pre-recorded remarks, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware thanked the organization for helping hold the US government accountable, in particular the Trump administration, for the ways in which it has put human rights on its back foot and put economic and military interests first. Before his death, 59-year-old Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile in the United States and contributing columns to The Washington Post that were critical of the kingdom's crackdown on dissent. In addition to its advocacy and research, DAWN will provide a platform for Arab regional experts and political exiles like Khashoggi to publish their work. Jamal was perhaps the Arab worlds most famous political exile whom Saudi Arabia tried to silence. We will give a voice to thousands like him who struggled for change in their countries, Whitson said. Organizers say DAWN will also continue efforts to seek justice and accountability for Khashoggis murder. On Oct. 2, 2018, he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to pick up paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Once inside, Turkish officials say a 15-man Saudi hit squad killed and dismembered Khashoggi, whose remains were never recovered. A UN investigation found the killing was overseen, planned and endorsed by high-level officials. The CIA concluded that Saudi Arabias de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the assassination. The Saudi government insists Khashoggi was killed in a rogue operation without the royal's direct knowledge. During a 2019 interview with 60 Minutes, the crown prince denied ordering the assasination but took full responsibility as a leader, acknowledging it was committed by individuals working for his government. There are scant opportunities for meaningful justice inside Saudi Arabia, activists say. In September, a Saudi court sentenced eight unnamed defendants to prison in a closed-door trial that Khashoggis fiancee called a complete mockery of justice. Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has warned there is absolutely no room for complacency as 430 new cases of Covid-19 were reported yesterday. He has urged people living in Dublin and Donegal, the two counties operating under Level 3 restrictions, to work from home if possible. "As we start into this new week, I am asking every household across the country to sit together and make a plan to reduce the number of people you meet this week," he said. "We have absolutely no room for complacency. If every person, family, workplace and organisation does not play their part, the situation will continue to deteriorate. "For people who live in Donegal and Dublin, remember Government advice is to work from home unless it is essential to attend in person. For people living in these and all other counties, assume that Covid-19 is circulating in your community and act accordingly," Dr Glynn said. There have now been 1,802 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. While there were no new deaths reported by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) yesterday, figures released on Saturday recorded five Covid-related deaths, and 248 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, of the new cases reported yesterday, 72pc occurred in people aged under the age of 45. A total of 212 cases were in Dublin; 54 in Cork, 23 in Donegal, 23 in Galway, 16 in Louth, 15 in Monaghan, 12 in Clare and 12 in Meath. There were nine in Cavan, eight in Roscommon, seven in Wicklow, six in Limerick, five in Kildare, five in Tipperary, and the remainder in nine other counties. Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that four counties currently operating under level two restrictions are being looked at very carefully. These are Cork, Galway, Louth and Wicklow. In relation to the threat of other counties joining Dublin and Donegal on Level 3, he said that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) looked at a variety of measures including the 14-day and seven-day infection rate, but also where the cases are coming from, are the cases rising quickly or is it a contained outbreak. Mr Donnelly said: "We'll leave it the experts" with respect to deciding, which, if any counties would have further restrictions imposed. However, he confirmed there were currently no plans for Nphet to call an emergency meeting this week. "They meet every Thursday, that may change but right now, they have no plans to meet before then," Mr Donnelly said in an interview on RTE's This Week radio programme. "The evidence that we have is that the vast majority of people are following the guidelines the vast majority of the time. "There are cases where that is not happening. We have seen a few cases in terms of house parties happening or bigger gatherings than are allowed, but it's not the norm and in a world of social media, every single one of these transgressions of course gets shared around to every one of us directly into our phones and we can see it all." Meanwhile, he said the HSE was negotiating with each private hospital to ensure there was "surge capacity", and for additional capacity to treat public patients to tackle waiting lists. HSE chief executive Paul Reid also made a "call to arms" for everyone to follow the expert advice on Covid-19. "We've now 110 Covid-19 hospital cases, 18 in ICU. Although lower than our worst peak, the impact on our hospitals is as significant, as we're now trying to keep all of our other services too," Mr Reid said on social media. "This is a call to arms to everyone to get right behind all we ask." Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 07:34:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Video: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric tells a press conference on Sept. 28, 2020 at the UN headquarters in New York that the UN chief has called on Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to take immediate steps to establish a ceasefire. (Xinhua) Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan reportedly continued fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone for a second day on Monday, despite calls from the international community for the hostilities to end. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to take immediate steps to establish a ceasefire. "The secretary-general spoke today with H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and with H.E. Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia," according to a press note issued by the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "The secretary-general expressed grave concern over the ongoing clashes along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. He urged both leaders to take immediate steps to establish a ceasefire and resume negotiations in order to prevent instability in the region," it said. "The secretary-general reiterated his full support for the important role of the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group co-chairs, stressing the need for the sides to work with them to return to negotiations without delay or pre-conditions," it added. Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan reportedly continued fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone for a second day on Monday, despite calls from the international community for the hostilities to end. The UN chief on Sunday expressed his great concern over the latest Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling on both sides to immediately stop fighting. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes along the borders. American makeup company Estee Lauder will pay Rs. 95 lakh or about $1,28,000 to National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) for a commercial shoot in space. The company's new Advanced Night Repair serum will be launched into space aboard a Cygnus spacecraft, which will leave Earth for a commercial resupply mission on October 1. Estee Lauder is the first beauty brand to join NASA's efforts towards the opening of space for commercial and business opportunities. "NASA is opening the International Space Station for commercial business so U.S. industry innovation and ingenuity can accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-Earth orbit," the American space agency had announced last year. Read: NASA Invites Amritsar Teen To US After She Bagged First Position In ISO 2020 We knew our NEW #AdvancedNightRepair serum was out of this & now were proving it! As a leader in science & innovation, were proud to be the 1st beauty brand to join @NASAs effort toward a @space_station economy & journey to @ISS_Research https://t.co/JLNMwTEXGm pic.twitter.com/OEcfdnbVpF Estee Lauder (@EsteeLauder) September 22, 2020 Read: US Election 2020: NASA Astronaut To Cast Ballot From Space Station In Nov Polls Commercial shoot, take-off & more The commercial for Estee Lauder's night repair serum will be shot by NASA astronauts onboard the International Space Station. The astronauts, however, will not feature in the commercial because of the restrictions that NASA has for its employees. Estee Lauder will reportedly pay NASA Rs. 95 lakh for bearing the cost among other things. Read: NASA Spacecraft To Touch Down On Asteroid Bennu's Surface In Historic Mission Estee Lauder is sending its new skincare product into space with NASA's 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The nearly 8,000 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware along with the night repair serum will be launched from Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. The Cygnus Spacecraft, which named after the deceased Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla is expected to arrive at the space station on October 4. Read: NASA Expert Suspects 'mini-moon' About To Enter Earth's Orbit Is Old Space Junk From 1960s Security teams at U.S. spy agencies are constantly scouring employee records for signs of potential compromise: daunting levels of debt, troubling overseas entanglements, hidden streams of income, and a penchant for secrecy or deceit to avoid exposure. President Trump would check nearly every box of this risk profile based on revelations in the New York Times from his long-secret tax records that former intelligence officials and security experts said raise profound questions about whether he should be trusted to safeguard U.S. secrets and interests. The records show that Trump has continued to make money off foreign investments and projects while in office; that foreign officials have spent lavishly at his Washington hotel and other properties; and that despite this revenue he is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt with massive payments coming due. (Washington Post) Featured stories Trump deflects questions about taxes, but first debate has a new issue (New York Times) Coronavirus has now killed 1 million people around the world (NBC News) New adviser giving Trump bad information on virus, top U.S. officials say (Reuters) Trump administration plans to end census early, defying judges order (The Guardian) National news House Democrats unveil new $2.2T proposal for virus aids (Associated Press) In Pennsylvania, advantage Biden with a big boost from women: POLL (ABC News) Pennsylvania Republicans ask Supreme Court not to allow count of mail ballots received after Election Day (CBS News) Police committed Brad Parscale for mental health care amid suicide fears (NBC News) Hennepin County attorney says no reports of ballot harvesting prior to allegations from Project Veritas, MPD evaluating validity (KSTP Channel 5) Brett Hankison pleads not guilty to wanton endangerment charges in Breonna Taylor case (CBS News) Grand jury member says Kentucky AG used jurors as a shield, seeks to have transcripts released (NBC News) Multiple people dead after Oregon hostage situation; at least one deputy opened fire (oregonlive.com) Mass evacuations as wildfire erupts in California wine country (CBS News) Oregon man falls to his death while posing in tree for photo on oceanside cliff (NBC News) Texas sheriff arrested in investigation of Black mans death during Live PD filming (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) World news Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan threatens to spiral into full-blown war (NPR) EU and Britain far apart as key week of Brexit talks begins (Reuters) George Pell: Cardinal to return to Rome for first time since acquittal (BBC) S. Koreas Moon apologizes over handling of killing by North (Associated Press) Romanian villagers re-elect mayor who died from COVID-19 (NBC News) Sri Lanka seeks fresh currency swap facility, deferment of debt payments from India (Reuters) Amnesty International to cease work in India, citing government harassment (Washington Post) Chinese kindergarten teacher sentenced to death for poisoning 25 students with nitrite-laced porridge (CNN) By Trend The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office issued a joint statement in connection with another provocation of the Armenian Armed Forces against Azerbaijan, Trend reports on Sept. 29. By grossly violating the international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, Armenia fired on the Azerbaijani civilians and facilities, the joint statement said. As a result, ten civilians were killed and 30 injured. The criminal cases have been filed in connection with these crimes of the Armenian armed forces upon the relevant articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, the joint statement said. "All these are war crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces, the joint statement said. The Armenians purposefully fire at the civilians and facilities. The international community must condemn these crimes and take measures to suppress them." Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Four in five oil and gas workers offshore the UK, or 81.7 percent, would consider leaving the industry, a new poll of environment campaign groups showed on Tuesday, while the leading representative body of the offshore industry, OGUK, says the reports claims that offshore workers are not consulted in the policies in the energy transition are misleading. Platform, Friends of the Earth Scotland, and Greenpeace UK published today a new survey of 1,383 offshore oil and gas workers, representing 4.5 percent of that workforce. The survey showed that morale among the UK offshore workers is currently low and that their biggest fear is job security. According to the survey, 42.8 percent of oil and gas workers in the UKs offshore have been made redundant or furloughed since March 2020. While job security was a top concern among oil and gas workers, they have a low level of confidence in government support provided to their sector. A total of 81.7 percent of the workers polled said they would consider moving to a job outside of the oil and gas industry. The least satisfactory element of the current terms and conditions for offshore workers was job security, and the biggest priority for moving to an alternative industry was also found to be job security, according to the survey. The skills and experiences of oil and gas workers are essential to deliver an equitable and rapid transition to renewable energy. This requires engaging a representative section of the workforce in participatory policy-making, where workers are able to help determine policy, in addition to engagement with trade unions, the authors of the survey wrote. OGUK is in dialogue with the UK government over how the recovery from the pandemic and the energy transition could be inclusive of the skills of offshore workers. Last month, a survey for industry body Scottish Renewables showed that more than three-quarters of oil workers in Scotland have considered retraining to find jobs in the renewables industries as 80 percent of Scottish oil and gas workers believe that their careers could be impacted by actions being taken to tackle climate change. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: WUHAN, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Wuhan - Sponsored by the Hubei provincial government, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference for High Quality Development kicked off in Wuhan on September 28, 2020, at the International Conference Center of Wuhan. Ying Yong, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hubei Provincial Committee, attended the event and delivered a welcome speech. The conference was presided over by Zhao Haishan, vice-governor of Hubei Province. Leaders such as Huang Chuping, board memember of the Communist Party of China Huber Provincial Committee and vice-governor, Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's Party secretary and other local officials also attended the conference. Themed with "Highland of Sci-Tech Innovation, New Engine for Growth", the conference strived to grasp the historical opportunities of technological innovation, and the opportunities presented by the newly adopted registration system in stock exchanges that would help outstanding companies in Wuhan to explore the road of going public. At the opening ceremony, the leaders of four major domestic and foreign stock exchanges, business associations and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss the high-quality development of Hubei Province. A number of distinguished guests had given keynote speeches at conference. They were Huang Hongyuan, secretary of party committee and chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Wang Jianjun, secretary of party committee and Chairman of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Lui Tim Leung, chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, Loh Boon Chye, CEO the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), An Qingsong, secretary of party committee and executive vice president of the Securities Association of China and Chen Chunyan, vice president and secretary-general of China Securities Investment Fund Association. A number of international economists and business leaders put forward valuable comments and suggestions on how to make Hubei an industrial incubator with global influence in the future. They were Eric S. Maskin, 2007 Nobel laureate and the world-known management consultant guru Kenichi Ohmae from Japan Story continues To refuel Hubei's economic rejuvenation, a number of entrepreneurs of both state-owned and private enterprises also shared their thoughts and views with the audience of Wuhan. They were Zhou Qiang, party secretary and Chairman of China Aviation Oil Group, Song Xin, party secretary and Chairman of China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group, Chen Dongsheng, chairman of Taikang Insurance Group, Liu Yonghao, chairman of New Hope Group and Yu Minhong, founder of Hongtai Aplus and New Oriental Group. At one session of the conference, contracts of about 49 key projects of innovation were signed to help Hubei to emerge as an industrial hub with global impact. The total value of the signed contracts was about RMB 97.494 billion, include 28 fund projects with a value of RMB 30.655 billion, and 21 investment projects worthy about RMB 61.839 billion. The municipal government of Wuhan also announced the launch of the "Hubei Hongtai Fund for High Quality Development", which is a RMB 30 billion industrial fund. With the support of high quality capital, such as this fund, settled in Wuhan, the city's transformation of economic structures is a determined success in upgrading. The municipal government of the Wuhan also announced a series of measures and rules to promote high quality development of the city's economy. The new measures and rule were named "Ten Golden Measures of Wuhan" on optimizing new economy. In addition to speeches and new rules, the Conference also featured with a special roadshow competition. Many outstanding enterprises in basic equipment manufacturing, new generation information technology, new materials and new energy of power equipment demonstrated their strength. The roadshow attracted investors who are interested in explore opportunities on investing in candidates that with a potential of going public in Hubei Province. The success of the 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference for High Quality Development had brought capital to promote high quality development of Hubei Province and provided a lasting power to make Hubei Province an industrial incubator with global impact in future. Steel Shen HCC http://wgcc.shinst.cn/ 86 13810894863 shengang@apluscap.com SOURCE: 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/608234/Following-the-Success-of-Fight-Against-Epidemic-Wuhan-Welcomes-Global-Capital-for-High-Quality-Development Kolkata: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Kolkata on Tuesday (September 29, 2020) convicted two Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) terrorists and sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. The two ABT terrorists have been identified as Sahadat Hussain and Umar Farooque who were also fined Rs 26,000 and Rs 33,000 respectively. Both the accused - members of banned terrorist outfit in Bangladesh pleaded guilty in the court. Sahadat Hussain convicted u/s 120B, 121A, 125 of IPC, Sections 18 & 38 of UA(P) Act and Section 14 of Foreigners Act and Umar Farooque convicted u/s 120B, 121A, 125, 468, 471 & 474 of IPC, Sections 18 & 38 of UA(P) Act and Section 14 of Foreigners Act, said a release from NIA. Live TV The case was initially registered by Kolkata Polices Special Task Force (STF) and pertains to arrest of five members of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Kolkata. The NIA took over the case on March 1 in 2018 and the investigation revealed that Bangladeshi members of ABT entered India in 2016 in pursuance of the conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in India. The accused persons travelled and stayed at Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai in the guise of labourers. The investigation also revealed that the accused tried to procure chemicals from a shop in Patna and tried to establish hide-outs in Ranchi. The accused also tried to procure arms and ammunition in Kolkata and several incriminating materials like map of Sealdah Railway Station, Howrah Bridge, literature on explosives and bomb-making, fake Aadhaar Card, fake PAN Card were reportedly seized from their possession. WILLISTON, Vt., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Winooski Insurance of Williston, VT has announced their intention to host a Celebration of Vermont Business Owners on October 16, 2020. On Friday they sent emails to hundreds of Vermont-based business owners, inviting them to RSVP for a free Vermont Apple Pie to be distributed on October 16th. It is their way of paying respects to those employers that have shown perseverance, resilience, and leadership throughout this COVID-19 period. "It's definitely been an unusual year, and we're taking this unusual action because we want to do our part to try and spread some good cheer and optimism," said Jeffrey Mongeon, President of Winooski Insurance. "We have over a thousand of them as clients and we know what they've been going through. We want to show our appreciation of them and all business owners, and we hope to inspire others to take unusual actions if they can." The event is not just reserved for Winooski Insurance clients. Hundreds of non-clients were also invited to partake, and social media posts are expected to reach many business owners not reached through email. To further support the Vermont economy, Mr. Mongeon has made it a priority to source the pies from South Burlington's La Cucina d'Amore Catering, and the apples from Richford's Seven Saplings Farm. "We are completely committed to our community and we like reinvesting in it when we have the opportunity," said Mr. Mongeon. If you did not receive an invite you can contact Winooski Insurance directly by email at [email protected]. About Winooski Insurance An Independent Insurance Agency specializing in business (commercial) insurance products and consultations. Since 1982 Winooski Insurance has worked diligently to build life-long relationships built on transparency, trust and integrity. Serving Vermont and New England, the agency maintains a rich tradition in local communities providing excellent customer service, quality insurance products and strong relationships created by local family ownership. For more information, visit Winooski.com. Media Contact Jeff Mongeon (802) 662-0618 [email protected] SOURCE Winooski Insurance Related Links https://www.winooski.com/ In this 'new normal', which has nothing normal about it, the security guards outside the doors of offices such as the SAE and SEPE employment agencies, Social Security, Hacienda (tax agency) and the traffic department, among others, have found themselves doing thankless extra work for which they are not paid. They are the first people members of the public see, the ones who have to stop people going in if they don't have an appointment, put up with their bad temper, tell them what steps to take if they want to carry out a particular administrative process and even give out forms and collect them once filled in. It is ironic that these subcontracted workers, whose employment conditions are often not ideal, have become the face of the Administration in Spain. Anyone who has had to deal with the State (in any of its forms) since the pandemic began will know: you need patience and determination to carry out bureaucratic processes these days. If you phone, the lines are constantly busy or not answered at all, and in situations where you are allowed to go in person you need an appointment first, and that can take a long time. You can't just go to a desk for information anymore; in fact, you often can't go into the office at all. "Do it online," is the new mantra, but even that isn't always easy. Many processes demand a digital certificate, electronic ID or Cl@ve code for security reasons, but that is an obstacle for those who are not familiar with such technological tools. The pandemic has also revealed that some institutions haven't done their homework in the digital field, because online processing can be problematic for them too. The local president of the Colegio de Graduados Sociales (a professional association of administration specialists), Juan Fernandez, told SUR: "We suddenly wanted to have a completely digital society without taking into the account what this means in reality for most citizens, many companies and the Administration itself." The overworked administrative system is making life more difficult for individuals, as well as for professionals and companies, who are complaining that the Administration still seems to be in a state of alarm and that delays, errors and a lack of communication are not helping them to get over the crisis. SEPEs and ERTEs "We shouldn't generalise because some departments are managing extremely well, but the question is, why is it that some are and some aren't? I believe it is to do with good governance, that abstract concept that implies having guidelines, coherence and coordination," said Javier Gonzalez de Lara, the president of the Confederacion de Empresarios de Andalucia (CEA, an Andalusian business association), who doesn't understand why there has been a gradual return instead of all the offices reopening fully at the same time. At the SEPE offices, the security guards are the only faces the general public see. / M. Fernandez The greatest example of a public institution which has been overwhelmed by the effect of the pandemic is SEPE, the Servicio de Empleo Publico Estatal (State Employment Service). The service has 8,000 employees all over the country (310 in Malaga province) and has received nearly four million applications for unemployment benefit relating to ERTE furlough schemes brought in with the arrival of the Covid crisis. Between March and May, with offices closed and staff working from home, this organisation had to deal with 130,000 new applications in the province. The backlog was inevitable. May arrived and many people who had been unable to work since March had still not received any payments. In June the problem seemed to have been solved: the government came to an agreement with the banks to make the payments in advance once people's applications had been approved. It also allocated another 30 workers to the SEPE in Malaga. However, when the summer arrived it became clear that this had only patched up the problem. Civil servants started to go on holiday and the ones who remained stopped working overtime, tired of trying to cover for the lack of staff. The delay in approving applications for benefits was just one in a long line of problems. Another of the most common issues was that some workers were paid when they shouldn't have been. Companies started to bring staff back to work and advised SEPE they had done so, but the service continued to pay them unemployment benefit. Again, all these problems are exacerbated by the impossibility of contacting these departments by phone, because all the lines are constantly busy or are inoperative. Despite the offices reopening in July, people can only go in person by prior appointment and, in Malaga at least, there are no dates available on the websites when you try to make one. Every morning, in despair, dozens of people turn up at the SEPE offices but can't get past the door. "It is unacceptable for the security guard to be collecting in forms that contain personal information from individuals and professionals," said Juan Fernandez. Nevertheless, this is also the scene every day outside the Social Security and tax offices. Both allow only a few appointments a day but they are still overwhelmed with work. The record is held by the department that deals with the new Minimum Living Income: according to figures from the CSIF union for civil servants (the government doesn't provide information on a provincial basis), up to 25 August Social Security had received 41,507 applications for this new subsidy in Malaga province, and 4,050 had been dealt with. Not even ten per cent. Also, nine out of ten of those applications had been turned down, so only 224 families in the province had been successful. CSIF says this fiasco is due to the lack of staff. The department that handles benefits for people with dependent children was given the task of dealing with these applications as well, and in Malaga it only has six members of staff. A further 20 workers from other departments are helping out voluntarily when their own working day is over, spending hours of overtime processing applications. In the field of law there are also a few problems. For example, if a worker is dismissed and wants to take their employer to court, they have to attend a conciliation meeting at the Centro de Mediacion, Arbitraje y Conciliacion (CMAC) first. The problem in Malaga is that the worker only has 20 days to take the matter to court and they can't get an appointment at the CMAC within that time. "They haven't been holding these meetings there since the lockdown, but we still have to present the claims. It means we have to go to the general registry, and that delays things," said Daniel Perez, an employment lawyer. Vehicles and drivers Anyone who needs to go the Traffic Department must also arm themselves with patience: it's almost a miracle to actually get an appointment. The same applies at the National Police for obtaining an NIE (Numero de Identificacion de Extranjero). Things aren't so bad at Hacienda, but tax advisers are complaining that they can no longer go in person if they have queries and require information. One factor is that many of the staff in the public administrations are still working from home. "We wonder why a teacher has to risk their health by going back to school but a civil servant can't sit behind a perspex screen," said Gonzalez de Lara, but he is keen to point out the exceptions. "The Junta's Employment Ministry has been highly efficient in dealing with the avalanche of ERTEs," he said. The head of that department, Rocio Blanco, said this week that one of the key parts of her strategy is the automisation of processing. "We are going to continue using this because it worked well with assistance for the self-employed. Their applications were processed robotically and we dealt with over 60,000 beneficiaries in three months," she said. "During the lockdown it was clear that nobody could do anything in person, so there was a backlog. The problem is that when the state of alarm was over, the Administration didn't fully reopen. It is still in a state of pseudo-lockdown. With the holidays and remote working there is a shortage of staff to deal with the public," said the president of the Colegio de Gestores Administrativos of Malaga, Daniel Quijada, who also believes the Administration was not properly prepared for functioning remotely. Fernando Cubillos of the CC OO union in Malaga denies that remote working is to blame and says the problems are due to a lack of staff and planning. His counterpart at the CSIF union, Juan Carlos Pedrosa, says people are suffering the consequences of years of understaffing, and warns that things could get worse: "A lot of civil servants are due to retire in the next few years." Contributed Photo / Torrington Police Department TORRINGTON After weeks of searching, police say a man wanted in connection with a fatal crash from August has turned himself in on various arrest warrants. Rolando Vilorio, 24, whose last known address was on Britton Avenue, turned himself in to police around 9 a.m. Monday. ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A military court in Kazakhstans largest city, Almaty, has sentenced seven men to prison terms between three and eight years after finding them guilty of taking part in deadly clashes. A road-rage brawl in early February sparked wider violence between ethnic Kazakhs and Kazakh citizens from the ethnic Dungan minority -- a Muslim group of Chinese origin, in the southern Zhambyl region. The violence in the villages of Sortobe, Masanchi, Auqatty, and Bulan-Batyr left 11 people dead and dozens injured, including 19 police officers. More than 30 houses, 17 commercial buildings, and 47 vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the ethnic clashes. More than 20,000 people, mostly Dungans, fled villages where the violence erupted. The seven ethnic Kazakhs were sentenced on September 29 by the Military Court of the Almaty Garrison that also found some of the defendants guilty of theft. In April, an ethnic Dungan was found guilty of hooliganism and inflicting bodily harm and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Another Dungan was handed a suspended prison term on the same charges. In all, more than 50 people were arrested following the deadly clashes and more trials in the case are expected. Many of the Dungans who fled violence ended up in the neighboring Kyrgyz region of Chui where the majority of Central Asia's Dungans reside. Kazakh officials say the majority of the displaced Dungans returned to Kazakhstan several days later. Many senior regional officials, including the Zhambyl region's governor Asqar Myrzakhmetov and local police chief, were sacked by Kazakhstan's central government in the aftermath of the clashes. Dungans, also known as Hui, are Sunni Muslims who speak a dialect of Mandarin that also uses words and phrases borrowed from Arabic, Persian, and Turkic. Their ancestors fled China in the late-19th century after the Chinese governments violent crackdown of the Dungan Revolt of 1862-1877, and settled in Central Asia, then part of the Russian empire. The total number of Dungans now living in former Soviet republics is about 120,000. Most reside in Kyrgyzstan's northern region of Chui and Kazakhstan's neighboring region of Zhambyl. Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. Independent specialist reinsurance broker BMS Group has announced the appointment of Suzi Morgan as director, effective in early 2021. Morgan joins BMS North America Direct & Facultative to assist Mark Lawson in leading the team. She will be based in London. Morgans appointment is a major step in BMSs global expansion in the property space, the company said. She has more than 25 years of market experience, most recently as head of the North American property team at Willis Towers Watson. She has also held senior roles at Integro Insurance Brokers, Guy Carpenter, JLT and Gallagher. NEW DELHI: Post covid-19 pandemic international order and tensions in the Indo-Pacific region due to China are expected to figure in the second meeting of the foreign ministers of the so-called Quad" group of countries - India, US, Australia and Japan -- to be hosted by Tokyo on 6 October. For India, the meeting comes amid heightened tensions with China on the border that looks to stretch into the winter months with tens of thousands of troops of both countries ranged against each other. The announcement of the Quad" meet also comes at a time when reports said that China was flexing its military muscles, holding five military exercises simultaneously along different parts of its coast ratcheting up tensions in the region. In New Delhi, the Indian foreign ministry announced the visit of foreign minister S Jaishankar to Japan on 6-7 October to participate in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue besides a series of bilateral meetings against the backdrop of the border standoff with China. This followed a press conference in Tokyo where Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, while talking to reporters, spoke of the crisis generated by the covid-19 pandemic During the visit, the external affairs minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-USA ministerial meeting on 6 October, 2020, in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate," the Indian statement said. The foreign ministers of the Quad," which was upgraded to the ministerial level in September last year, will discuss the post-covid-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic," the Indian statement said. The ministers will also discuss regional issues and collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," it added. Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the visit. A report earlier this month in the Japan Times said that Jaishankar may also call on the new Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga. All four countries of the Quad have differences with China and view Beijings conduct with suspicion. India is in the middle of a major military standoff with China in Ladakh, the Australian government has testy relations with China over the origins and spread of the covid-19 pandemic, Japan has concerns over Chinese intrusions near the Senkaku Islands, and the US is engaged in a war of words with China over the pandemic as well as has outstanding trade issues with Beijing. India, Australia and Japan recently held talks on alternative supply chains to counter Chinas dominance against the backdrop of countries looking for alternatives to Beijing amid the pandemic. The three countries are discussing building a supply chain resilience initiative," and held their first meeting on the subject earlier this month. Besides this, New Delhi has in recent months signed logistics support pacts with Australia and Japan and has a robust defence partnership with the US which includes hardware sales as well as military exercises. Earlier this month, the US signing a framework pact for defence cooperation with the Maldives was seen as an effort to strengthen alliances in the Indo-Pacific to counter China's growing presence. Indian foreign minister Jaishankar, at a seminar on India-Japan relations earlier this month, said New Delhi was looking to cooperate on projects in Bangladesh and Myanmar as part of their efforts to work together in third countries. The Indian foreign ministry has set up a new "Oceania" division to coordinate strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. The desk is headed by an additional secretary rank officer and two senior director level officers besides others. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The top 10 unicorns in the country make up 78 per cent of the total value of India's unicorns. Paytm alone claims nearly 22 per cent of the total valuation share of these unicorns, with a valuation of $16 billion. Hurun India Unicorn Index 2020 lists the top 10 most valued unicorns in the country in 2020. Here is the list: 1)Paytm ($16 billion) Founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, Paytm is valued at $16 billion. The Noida-headquartered digital payments firm ranks 13th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020. In its recent funding round held in November 2019, the company raised $1billion, the highest amount raised by an Indian unicorn in the year. 2)OYO Rooms ($8 billion) Online hotel booking platform OYO Rooms is currently valued at $8 billion. The startup's founder Ritesh Agarwal invested $2 billion in Gurgaon based company in October last year. 2)BYJU's ($8 billion) Byju Raveendran led ed-tech startup BYJU's has a valuation of $8 billion. The learning platform, founded in 2011 and based out of Bengaluru, raised $1.2 billion in its recent funding round. It is India's largest ed-tech startup, as of date. 4) Ola Cabs ($6 billion) Bengaluru based ride-sharing app Ola has a business valuation of $6 billion. The major shareholders in the Unicorn startup are SoftBank, Tiger Global, Tencent, Matrix Partners, and DST Global. 5)Swiggy ($3.5 billion) Online food delivery startup Swiggy is currently valued at $3.5 billion. The Bengaluru headquarter company began its operations in August 2014. The Unicorn received $43 million as funding in April this year. 5)Zomato ($3.5 billion) Valued at $3.5 billion, food delivery platform, Zomato was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in Gurgaon in the year 2008. In January this year, the company raised $150 million funding from Ant Financial. 7)Paytm Mall ($3 billion) The e-commerce platform is a venture of Paytm. The company is based out of Noida and has been in operation since 2016. In its recent corporate round of funding, the app raised $150 million from eBay, an American e-commerce company. 7)ReNew Power ($3 billion) ReNew Power, valued at $3 billion, is a renewable energy giant which began its operations in January 2011. In February last year, the company based out of Gurgaon raised $250 million from US-based Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). 9)Zerodha ($3 billion) Fintech company Zerodha has a current valuation of $3 billion. In June this year, GoldenPi, an online bonds and debentures trading platform, raised Rs 3.5 crore from the Bengaluru-based firm, through Rainmatter capital, a fund created by Zerodha in 2016. 9)BigBasket ($2.5 billion) With a business valuation of $2.5 billion, BigBasket is one of India's leading online grocery stores. The Bengaluru based startup was founded in October 2011. In its latest round of funding, BigBasket has managed to raise debt-based funding worth $51.78 million from Alibaba and CDC Group. 9) Udaan ($2.5 billion) Udaan, currently valued at $2.5 billion was founded in 2016 by Flipkart's ex-employees Amod Malviya, Vaibhav Gupta, and Sujeet Kumar. The Bengaluru based startup has raised around $900 million in total funding to date. Also read: Mukesh Ambani earned Rs 90 crore per hour since lockdown, total wealth Rs 6.6 lakh crore: Hurun List Soaring high on the success of her dreams, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh has created history by becoming the first female pilot to join Rafale's 'Golden Arrows' Squadron. Her leap from the countrys oldest fighter jets to the newest is legendary in itself. Flight Lt Singh has been flying MiG-21 fighters, MiG 21 Bison, which are considered to be the oldest flying jets in Indian defence. Now she has been appointed to join the Ambala-based squadron to fly the newest addition to Indian defence fleet, the Rafale jets. Varanasi: Family of Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, celebrates at their residence, as she is set to be the first woman fighter pilot in Rafale squadron of Indian Air Force. She is currently undergoing conversion training and will soon be inducted into Golden Arrows squadron. pic.twitter.com/EjqyxcQHxC ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2020 Upon finishing her conversion training, from Bison to Rafale, Singh would formally join the 17 Arrows Squadron at the Ambala base of Indian Air Force (IAF). The conversion training is necessary when a combat pilot switches from one fighter jet to another. However, after flying MiG 21 jets, which have the highest landing and take-off speed in the worlds, Singhs switch should come off as easy. She will leave her deployment at Rajasthan base and move to Ambala base to fly alongside Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter last year near the LoC on February 27 and was held captive for 60 hours. Hailing from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the flight lieutenant was part of the second batch of female fighter pilots, who were commissioned in 2017. With a dream of flying since childhood, Singh joined Banaras Hindu Universitys 7 UP Air Squadron as an NCC cadet while graduating in BSc from Sunbeam in Bhagwanpur. In 2016, she joined the Air Force Academy for training as a pilot. She also represented the Uttar Pradesh team in the Republic Day Parade in Delhi in 2013. Presently, there are 10 woman fighter pilots since their commissioning in IAF began in 2017. In 2018, flying officer Avani Chaturvedi scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo. She was the first woman combat pilot along with two of her cohorts, Mohana Singh Jitarwal, and Bhawana Kanth, who were commissioned as flying officers into the IAF fighter stream in 2018. Breaking the glass ceiling of long-standing combat-exclusion policy for women in Indian armed forces, these female fighter pilots are redefining the way we look at womens roles in the Army and other important streams. While every first is a significant step, lets just speed fast this process, shall we? Also Read: Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, The 3rd Female Lieutenant General In Indian History, Debunks Myths About Gender Stereotypes If Democrats control Congress and the White House in 2021, will they pack the Supreme Court with additional progressive justices? Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the efforts of the Senate GOP majority to fill the vacancy, it may be the most important question facing Democrats in 2020. But its a question only a few Senate Democrats are willing to answer. Massachusetts senator Ed Markey tweeted on September 21: This Republican hypocrisy is shameful but not surprising. If they violate their own precedent, we must expand the Supreme Court. West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, told CNN on Sunday that he cant support court-packing. But most Democratic senators have made it clear they dont want to reveal their intentions on court-packing until after the election. What we need to do before we talk about what happens in the next session of Congress is for Democrats to win the presidency and a majority in the Senate, Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal told National Review in the Capitol last week when asked about court-packing. Before voters go to the polls, should they get to know whether court-packing is likely or even on the table? There are so many reasons to vote for Democrats now that we need to focus on the pandemic, replied Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. You know, we just passed 200,000 deaths. The presidents failure to deal with the pandemic and the public-health and economic crises and his cruel and reckless indifference [are] costing lives. I think weve got to wait to get through the election, Pennsylvania Democratic senator Bob Casey said when asked about court-packing. The key thing right now is people have to understand whats at stake, especially on ACA and preexisting conditions. No thoughts at the moment, New Mexico Democratic senator Martin Heinrich replied when asked about adding justices to the Court. We have a job to do before we have that conversation. Story continues California senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, dodged the question during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday night. If Judge Barrett is confirmed and the Democrats have control of the Senate next year and the White House and the House of Representatives, should the Supreme Court be expanded? MSNBC host Lawrence ODonnell asked Harris. You know, lets, I think that first of all Joe has been very clear that he is going to pay attention to the fact, and Im with him on this 1,000 percent pay attention to the fact that right now, Lawrence, people are voting, Harris replied. She said that the winner of the November presidential election should fill the current vacancy, but she never said a word about what a Biden-Harris administration would do on court-packing. Its not clear how likely court-packing would be if Democrats have unified control of Congress and the White House in 2021. Its obviously more likely in a Senate with 54 Democrats than a Senate with 51 Democrats. If they are unwilling to say before the election that they will pack the courts, they will not be able to say in 2021 they have a mandate to do so. And its worth remembering that Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried and failed to pack the Court when Democrats held 76 out of 96 Senate seats and 334 out of 435 House seats. (The pressure did famously result in one justices beginning to rule favorably on the New Deal the switch in time saves nine.) If Democrats do add justices to the Court, it guarantees that Republicans would do the same the next time they control Congress and the White House. In October 2019, Joe Biden said: I would not get into court-packing. We add three justices; next time around, we lose control, they add three justices. We begin to lose any credibility the Court has at all. But since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Biden has repeatedly refused to state his position on court-packing. Its a legitimate question, Biden said last week. But let me tell you why Im not going to answer that question. It will shift the focus. Thats what [Trump] wants. Lets say I answer, then the whole debates gonna be about what Biden said or didnt say. Biden said he would or wouldnt. Asked again about court-packing on Sunday, Biden said: I know youre going to be upset with my answer. But what Im not going to do is play the Trump game which is a good game he plays take your eye off the issue before us. If I were to say yes or no to that, that becomes a big issue. Given how transformative court-packing would be to our system of government, its not clear that Biden and Senate Democrats will be able to get away with that non-answer over the next month. More from National Review The defense will have the opportunity to submit the other requests for further investigation. The trial of four suspects in the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 will continue in November. The decision was announced by Judge Hendrik Steenhuis at a meeting of the District Court of The Hague at the Schiphol Judicial Complex, a suburb of Amsterdam, on Monday, September 28, according to an UNIAN correspondent. The meeting was broadcast live on the official website on the MH17 trial. Read alsoRelatives of MH17 crash to seek damages from suspects, lawyers say media "We will indeed suspend the [consideration of the] case [today], and that applies in the cases of all four accused. And this suspension will be until Tuesday, November 3, 2020, at 10 a.m. [CET] We will continue in all four cases on November 3," the judge said. The Summary of the Day in Court for Monday, September 28, also briefed on progress by the defense. "In recent weeks the members of counsel visited the Russian Federation and spoke with their client there. Today the defense has adopted the position that these conversations have yielded so many new insights that they have not yet been able to submit additional requests for further investigation. They have indicated that they will be able to submit all their requests on November 3, 2020," it said. The court shall give the defense the opportunity to present the additional requests for investigation in the block of hearings starting on November 3, 2020. The defense shall need to substantiate those requests properly, indicating why those requests could not be submitted earlier. "In the next hearing block from November 3, 2020, the defense will have the opportunity to submit the other requests for further investigation. The Public Prosecution Service will be able to respond. In that hearing block the court shall take a decision on those requests as well," it said. Background The Caretaker Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Bege Katuka has reportedly been kidnapped by unknown gunmen. The Local Government Chairman was kidnapped while on his way to his farm located around Juji village in Chikun Local Government Area. Channels Television reported that the commercial motorcyclist whose bike he boarded while on his way to his farm, was shot dead during the ambush. The council chairman was then taken to an unknown destination. Bhubaneswar, Sep 29 : The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday convened for its Monsoon Session, with members seated as per the Covid-19 protocols. The session is slated to end on October 7. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended the first day of the session through videoconference from his residence 'Naveen Nivas' here, while several Ministers and MLAs participated while sitting in conference halls of the state Secretariat and district headquarters. Glass shields were installed in front of the benches as a precautionary measure. MLAs were seen wearing face shields and masks. They were allowed to speak while sitting on their seats. As many as 19 MLAs, including three Ministers, tested coronavirus positive during a three-day test drive before the beginning of the Monsoon Session. Besides, several other MLAs had tested positive earlier. After the House assembled for the day, the Chief Minister moved obituary references for MLAs and MPs from Odisha, Covid Warriors and others who had passed away since the last session. The House also paid homage to former President Pranab Mukherjee. --IANS cd/tsb/bg -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text EAST HADDAM Goodspeed Musicals will present Shakin the Blues Away: A Virtual Gala Concert for Goodspeed at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29. The gala concert will feature stars of Goodspeed and Broadway performing songs from classic musicals. Since no event would be uniquely Goodspeed without the iconic gem of a theater, stars will perform on the Opera House stage and in various surprising locations throughout the historic theater. Perforamnces will include Klea Blackhurst (Dolly Levi in Goodspeeds Hello, Dolly!. Off-Broadway: Party Face, Bingo, Radio Gals, Oil City Symphony, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn); Bryan Thomas Hunt (Goodspeeds The Drowsy Chaperone, Chasing Rainbows, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Holiday Inn. National Tours: White Christmas and Billy Elliot); Gizel Jimenez (Ado Annie in Goodspeeds Oklahoma!, Theory of Relativity at The Terris Theatre. Broadway: Nessarose in Wicked. Off-Broadway: Kate Monster in Avenue Q, Miss You Like Hell); Rashidra Scott (Reno Sweeney in Goodspeeds Anything Goes. Broadway: Company, Ain't Too Proud..., Beautiful, Sister Act, Hair, Finian's Rainbow and as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q); Kelly Sheehan (Goodspeeds Anything Goes and The Will Rogers Follies. Broadway: White Christmas and 42nd Street); Alysha Umphress (Hildy in Broadways On the Town, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Bring It On and American Idiot); Nicholas Ward (Goodspeeds Show Boat. Broadway: Mufasa in The Lion King and King Angnarr in Frozen). Additional performers are to be announced. The evening will feature work by Chorographer Kelli Barclay (Goodspeeds The Will Rogers Follies; Anything Goes; My One And Only; Hello, Dolly!; Damn Yankees; How to Succeed and Hello! My Baby at the Terris Theatre). Reuniting with Goodspeeds Anything Goes star Rashidra Scott, Barclay will choreograph a special number for the evening. Filmed throughout the Goodspeed Opera House, this moving and uplifting evening of song and dance will serve as a fundraiser for the nationally-renowned theatre. All proceeds from the gala concert will go to supporting Goodspeed until the theater can re-open for performances. All tickets purchased and gifts made during the event will be matched, dollar for dollar, by the Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts. SFFEAs Founding Partner Linda Marshall said, The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts has been thrilled to partner with Goodspeed on their impactful annual arts education programs. This fall, while we wait for all arts organizations, including Goodspeed, to re-open, we encourage donors to recognize the importance of Goodspeed in our community by joining us in making a generous gift during this exciting event. Unlike previous gala celebrations, there is no limit on attendees for Shakin' the Blues Away thousands of Goodspeed members and musical theatre lovers from around the world can participate from their own homes. There are a few ways to enjoy the gala performance. New and renewing Goodspeed Members who sign up by Oct. 23 will receive a free ticket for their household to watch Shakin the Blues Away: A Virtual Gala Concert for Goodspeed from the comfort of home. For all others, tickets are $25. This fundraising event is vital to the future of Goodspeed Musicals and is offered as a beacon of musical theatre hope and joy during the pandemic. Shakin' the Blues Away will be available for ticket holders to watch for an entire week after it premieres. For memberships, tickets, event information and more about Shakin the Blues Away: A Virtual Gala Concert for Goodspeed, please visit www.Goodspeed.org/gala. Shakin the Blues Away: A Virtual Gala Concert for Goodspeed is made possible in part by support from Stephanie Steifel Williams and Luke Williams, Jeffrey and Nancy Hoffman, Masonicare at Chester Village, blumshapiro and Kainen, Escalera & McHale, P.C along with Falcetti Music and Sennheiser, Goodspeed Musicals Official Audio Sponsor. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Mary Miko mmiko@goodspeed.org or by phone 860-615-0368. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ A year after unprecedented Iraq protests, what has changed? Iraqi demonstrators stand at Tahrir Square in Baghdad in October 2019 anti-government demonstrations Back in October 2019, unprecedented protests demanded the fall of Iraq's ruling class. One year on, with a new government in place and nearly 600 protesters killed, almost nothing has changed. The nationwide demonstrations which broke out on October 1, 2019 spiralled into a decentralised movement slamming unemployment, poor public services, endemic corruption and a political class more loyal to Iran or the US than to Iraqi citizens. It led to the shock December 1 resignation of then-premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, succeeded after months of political deadlock by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who pledged to integrate protesters' demands into his transitional government's plans. But on the ground, little has been achieved. Kadhemi has set an early parliamentary vote for June 6, 2021, nearly a year ahead of schedule. "Protesters wanted early elections and a new electoral law. We're doing that," Abdelhussein Hindawi, Kadhemi's adviser on elections, told AFP. But while parliament approved a new voting law in December, essential points including the size of electoral districts and whether candidates would run independently or on lists have yet to be agreed by lawmakers. And despite repeated claims he has no political ambitions and would only serve as a transitional premier, Kadhemi himself appears to be preparing for an electoral fight. Several MPs and members of rival parties told AFP the prime minister's advisors are scouting candidates for the 2021 elections, hoping he could secure a new term in office. "He's stuck because he has to make a decision about where he wants to be," said Renad Mansour, a researcher at the UK-based Chatham House. "Does he want to be PM for another four years and play politics, or does he want to change something right now?" - One foot in, one foot out - When he came to power, Kadhemi pledged to guide Iraq through a dire fiscal crisis, saying state coffers were "nearly empty" after years of waste and an oil price slump. Story continues The World Bank said Iraq's poverty rate could double to 40 percent this year and that youth unemployment, already at 36 percent, could rise further. Kadhemi's cabinet first vowed to reduce the public payroll and audit stipends handed out to millions of Iraqis, but walked back the policy following public criticism. It changed course again in August, hiring hundreds at the defence ministry -- but not enough to stop sit-ins outside other government offices demanding jobs. And Finance Minister Ali Allawi missed a late August deadline to submit a "white paper" of economic reforms that is still being finalised, Iraqi officials told AFP. Kadhemi also said he would prioritise Iraq's fight against the novel coronavirus, which had in May killed 100 people. Now, the death toll stands at close to 9,000, with the health ministry warning hospitals could "lose control" if the spread is not contained. The PM has few allies in parliament, where pro-Iran MPs have bristled at his references to protester demands. "He's had one foot in the elite camp and one foot in the anti-establishment camp. At the end of the day, he ends up not satisfying either," said Mansour. - 'It's too sensitive' - The premier has also struggled to make good on his promise to bring those responsible for the deaths of nearly 600 protesters and activists since last October to justice. In September, his government announced that families of victims could apply for compensation from the state, but no funds have been disbursed yet. A few weeks later, Kadhemi said a statue would be erected in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Baghdad's rallies, as well as in the protest hotspot of Nasiriyah further south. "I don't recall a statue being among our demands last year," wrote Ali, a young protester from east Baghdad. Meanwhile, the intimidation campaign has continued, including the abduction of a German national and the killing of scholar and government advisor Hisham al-Hashemi in July. "We know who and where the killers are, but we cannot arrest them or announce that. It's too sensitive," one Iraqi official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Rocket attacks on diplomatic missions and military convoys have increased, with hardline groups becoming more brazen in their threats against Kadhemi. On Monday evening, a rocket attack targeting Baghdad airport hit a nearby home, killing six civilians. Many of those factions fall under the state-sponsored Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network, and being unable to exert full control over them has made Kadhemi look "weak", Mansour said. "The challenge in Iraq is no one man can fix it -- but certainly not a man who believes in incremental slow change at a time that you have such a violent context," he said. mjg-sbh/hc/kir Obsessive thoughts, constant distraction and a sudden loss of interest in hobbies you once enjoyed are among the early warning signs that something is wrong in your relationship, a clinical psychologist has revealed. Gabby Goodier, from Perth, Western Australia, on Friday shared a list of 12 red flags that prove you have 'reached a limit' with certain elements of your partner's behaviour. These include unexplained insomnia, anxiety, mounting resentment and not having time for friends and family, according to the founder of The Sage Society, an online practice specialising in parenting, love and personal development. Being overly critical of either yourself or your partner is also cause for concern, Ms Goodier said, as is the niggling sense that you can't be your true self around them. Scroll down for video Clinical psychologist Gabby Goodier (pictured) says obsessive thoughts and a sudden loss of interest in hobbies you once enjoyed are warning signs that all is not well in your relationship Perhaps the most obvious alarm bells are an inability to say 'no' to your partner and developing harmful habits like eating badly, avoiding exercise and drinking to excess. If you are experiencing even one of these issues, Ms Goodier said it's time to reevaluate your boundaries and decide what you really want from the relationship. 'Recognising and having awareness of your red flags is one of the best ways to intervene before things become problematic,' she told Daily Mail Australia. If you are unsure about calling it quits, Ms Goodier said feeling contempt for your partner is usually an indicator that the relationship is over. 'When you are engulfed in a vortex of negativity, contempt is usually the final nail in the coffin,' she said. The 12 relationship red flags 1. You are overly critical towards yourself or your partner 2. You think obsessively about your partner 3. You feel resentful 4. You feel like you don't have enough time for other people in your life 5. You feel depleted or depressed 6. You feel anxious 7. You feel you can't say no to your partner 8. You forget to take care of yourself 9. You get easily distracted 10. You feel you can't fully be yourself 11. You have lost interest in activities you previously enjoyed 12. You are experiencing sleep difficulties Source: Clinical psychologist Gabby Goodier via The Sage Society Obsessive thoughts about your partner (left) and suddenly destructive behaviour like neglecting diet and exercise and drinking to excess (right) are telltale warning signs Advertisement 'Even those subtle forms start to slowly erode any connectivity that once held you together. 'Once your relationship is at that point of disconnection it is extremely challenging to find a path back to one another and sometimes it truly is healthier to get out sooner rather than later.' And when it comes to cutting off toxicity before it begins, Ms Goodier tells her clients there are three cardinal sins that should never be accepted: abuse, addiction and infidelity. 'It is most definitely possible to still love a person even with these variables at play, especially with the help of a mental health professional, but that never means you need nor should 'tolerate' the behaviour,' she said. For more advice on love and relationships, please visit The Sage Society here. The future of social circles is on the bubble and visitors to nursing homes in hot zones like Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa are being restricted because of the rapid, record-setting spread of COVID-19 as the province injects more cash into long-term care. Premier Doug Ford said the change in the visitor policy starting Monday follows fears the virus could again rush through nursing homes like a brush fire, while his chief medical officer said too many people are ignoring his guidance to limit close contact with others to 10 people, including members of their own household. Were concerned about that, Dr. David Williams said Tuesday. Were looking at that again to say, can people be trusted to keep it to 10? Do we have to reduce it a little bit more? I can see by the numbers, people, it does matter, he chided after the Ministry of Health reported Ontarios new COVID-19 cases fell to 554 on Tuesday from an all-time high of 700 the previous day, with four more deaths. Seventy-three per cent of the new infections were in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Williams also hinted families shouldnt plan on having too many people for Thanksgiving dinner in a couple of weeks. We may be asking that you limit that. Ford announced $540 million to help Ontarios 626 nursing homes hire more staff, improve their infection control and ventilation, stock more personal protective equipment and renovate for the second wave of the pandemic with infections and deaths rising this month. This is not something that we take lightlybut its absolutely necessary, he said of the clampdown on general visits to residents given that 1,866 have died in the pandemic along with eight staff. We cant let COVID-19 get in. Visitors will be limited to essential situations such as dying residents and to essential caregivers. Each resident or designated decision-maker is allowed to name two people who can come in to help, even during outbreaks, with feeding and other tasks after receiving special training on precautions such as the proper use of masks, gowns and gloves. Long-term-care families, if you have yet to formally assign yourselves as the two caregivers do it now because the hammer is coming down on Monday, warned long-term-care family advocate Vivian Stamatopoulos. No regular visits after that. Critics said the $540 million should have been provided months ago to give nursing homes time to hire more staff and book contractors to do the necessary renovations. The wave is already upon us, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told reporters. Donna Duncan, chief executive of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, said the $540 million will begin to address some of the existing gaps in the system. Long-term-care staffing is in crisis, added Duncan, who sounded the alarm in a June story in the Star about desperate staff shortages and appalling conditions that led to military medical teams being called in and hospitals temporarily taking over management of homes or sending personnel to help. Ensuring the health and safety of our residents and staff in our homes is criticalwe need to recruit an army of employees. Without enough staff, limited progress can be made. Ford is yet to deliver on his oft-promised wage increase for underpaid personal support workers, who constitute the bulk of staff in nursing homes. AdvantAge, a not-for-profit group that lobbies for better seniors care, said the $540 million is long overdue and desperately needed. Now that its here, the key will be for it to flow immediately to the front lines, said chief executive Lisa Levin. Stamatopoulous was more blunt, saying Ontario lags other provinces that moved much sooner to deal with nursing home staffing, infection prevention and control. They bungled this. Outbreaks in long-term care have almost doubled to 46 in the last three weeks. The number of long-term-care residents with active cases of COVID-19 has quadrupled to 78 from 19 three weeks ago, with active infections in staff tripling to 123 in the same time period. In one example reminiscent of last springs carnage, there have been 15 deaths at the West End Villa nursing home in Ottawa since late August, with 24 residents and 36 staff infected. The continuing high numbers of overall cases and delays in processing tests prompted opposition parties to press Fords government to do more to slow the spread of COVID-19. They dont have a firm handle on the second wave, said Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, who questioned why casinos were allowed to open Monday. The priorities are misguided and out of whack. Sixty-two per cent of the new cases were in people under the age of 40, a proportion that has been dropping slightly from two-thirds in recent days, suggesting infections are climbing in older age groups. That presents more of a threat to the hospital system because older COVID-19 patients are more likely to require medical care. The number of patients in hospital rose by nine to 137, up from 51 patients one month ago. Thirty patients are now in intensive care, up from 17 a month ago, with 16 on ventilators. There were 64 new cases in teachers, students and education staff, leaving 250 or five per cent of schools in the province dealing with infections. Two schools are temporarily closed. Read more about: The duke and duchess have started a new life in California (Danny Lawson/PA) The Mail On Sunday can rely on a recent biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in its defence to Meghans High Court privacy claim over the publication of a letter to her estranged father. Meghan Markle, 39, is suing the newspapers publisher Associated Newspapers (ANL) for alleged misuse of private information, breaching the Data Protection Act and infringement of copyright in relation to the publication of parts of a handwritten letter sent to Thomas Markle, 76, in August 2018. The duchess took legal action last year over five articles published in February 2019, two in The Mail On Sunday and three on MailOnline, which included extracts from the private and confidential letter to her father. At a preliminary hearing last week, ANL asked for permission to amend its written defence to Meghans claim to argue that the Sussexes co-operated with the authors of Finding Freedom, which was published in August. Expand Close Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay The publisher argued that Meghan gave the authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, information about the letter to Mr Markle in order to set out her own version of events in a way that is favourable to her. But Meghans lawyers said accusations the duke and duchess collaborated with the authors was a conspiracy theory and argued that references to the letter in the book were simply extracts from the letter lifted from the defendants own articles. Ruling on ANLs application on Tuesday, Judge Francesca Kaye allowed the publisher to amend its defence to rely on Finding Freedom. The judge said the amended defence did not raise new defences, but simply added further particulars of ANLs case. She added that Meghan knows the case she has to meet and that there is no suggestion that she is in fact unable to do so. Judge Kaye refused permission to appeal against her ruling, although Meghans lawyers can still pursue a challenge at the Court of Appeal. At the hearing in London last Monday, Meghans barrister Justin Rushbrooke QC said: The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book. He added that neither Meghan nor Harry spoke to either of the authors, who he said were not given the impression that the claimant wanted the contents of the letter to be reproduced in the book. In a witness statement before the court, Mr Scobie said: Any suggestion that the duke and duchess collaborated on the book is false. They did not authorise the book and have never been interviewed for it. In a witness statement before the court, Meghans solicitor Jenny Afia described much of the information about the Sussexes in Finding Freedom as extremely anodyne, the product of creative licence or simply inaccurate. But Antony White QC, representing ANL, said that the book gave every appearance of having been written with their (Meghan and Harrys) extensive co-operation. He said ANL wanted to amend its defence to allege that Meghan caused or permitted information to be provided directly or indirectly to, and co-operated with, the authors of the book, including by giving or permitting them to be given information about the letter. The publishers lawyers also argued that Meghan discussed the letter to Mr Markle with the Kensington Palace communications team before she sent it because she wanted to use it as part of a media strategy. Meghans case against ANL, which has been listed for a 10-day trial in January, is one of several High Court claims recently brought by the duke and duchess against media organisations. Harry brought cases against News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers over alleged historical phone hacking last September, just two days before Meghan filed her case against ANL. Meghan is also suing the Splash News and Pictures Agency over long lens photographs of her and her son Archie taken in a Canadian park in January this year. Imagine being stolen from your parents at 5 years old. Its a scene of chaos as a strange man in a red uniform with a flattened black top hat and gold trimming drags you, kicking and screaming from the clutches of your mother. She collapses to the floor in tears and hopelessness. Your father is yelling at the man to let you go. The man, who is a law enforcement officer called an RCMP, speaks in a foreign language you dont understand. But your father backs down, defeated and watches as youre hauled away in a cattle truck with a herd of other children. The home where you grew up, the security of the love of your parents fades behind the dust. Confusion, terror, and anticipation of what is to come when you arrive at a towering, brick building a few hours later. Youre taken to an assembly line and stripped naked, head shaved and scrubbed with hard soap until your skin breaks. You dont understand what the strange women in black with their heads covered are telling you. Theyre pointing in your face, so you answer in your mother tongue of Cree, only to be met with a burning slap to the face. They then throw a tattered uniform at you for clothing. Youre sent to a big, cement walled room with rows of bunkers for sleeping. Distraught, shivering, and hungry you crawl in a bed and cry yourself to sleep. You learn to survive here in this despondent land far from home. Soon, things get worse youre beaten on the regular and made to work like a slave picking rocks to clear the fields of farmers nearby. Theres a room with desks where a nun walks around with a wooden stick to threaten anyone who gets out of line. There is no peace or comfort anywhere. Its a test of endurance as you learn the ways of the whites and pray to the God of their religion to ask forgiveness for being born an Indian savage. At night, the demons in the long, black robes steal you away and violate your innocence. Molestation is rampant the children whimper in their beds and miss their mothers. Imagine, growing up this way and then at age 16 being thrown out of the doors of an institution that tore you from your family, inflicted unspeakable abuse and indoctrinated your mind to believe you were worthless. And it was all because you were Indigenous. Thus was the story of hundreds of thousands of Metis, First Nations, and Inuit peoples, albeit at varying degrees of physical, mental and sexual abuse, for over 100 years in Canada. There are children who didnt make it out alive, thousands died in these God forsaken schools, many of their bones are still scattered in unmarked graves. The last victims of this demented system walked out of the Gordon Residential School in Punnichy, Sask., in 1996. It was the last of approximately 130 residential schools across Canada to close. Thats just 24 years ago its in our lifetime. Whats left is a despairing cycle of brokenness in the lives of survivors, their children, and grandchildren. You see, the effects of abuse and neglect are ongoing. Nations of people recovering from attacks of genocide that began with colonization, then oppressive polices like the Indian Act, which ushered in the residential school era, and on its heels the Sixties Scoop, which continued the stealing of Indigenous children. Survivors were sent home to cope after the foundations of familial and cultural identity were shattered by the violence and cruelty of Canadas assimilation agenda. And people see a drunken Indian on the street, shake their heads and ask, Why cant they just get it together and contribute to society? or they read another headline of violence on a reservation and are thankful not to live there. Is there any understanding? Compassion for the consequences were seeing of a failed attempt to conquer the spirits of the First Peoples of these lands? Yes, we had a publicly funded Truth and Reconciliation Commission that made recommendations on how to not repeat the mistakes of the past and how to commence a journey of healing together. But, it only made a dent in the work that needs to be done to eradicate the fallout of this horrifying legacy. Too many Canadians remain indifferent and uninformed about the human tragedies of our not so distant past. We wear orange shirts once a year on Sept. 30 to solemnly commemorate residential schools, and to honour the survivors. But Canada, much more is needed. Were talking generations of damage and impacts to heal from. And its on both sides. The mainstream has, in recent years, partially stepped up in this process to help abolish the racism, discrimination and ignorance towards Indigenous. But we have to strive harder to heal. The way things are going in the world with awareness of racism and inequality, violence and protests, these are issues to tackle once and for all. Its uncomfortable, its tough to learn the horrid details, but we must learn the truth so its never forgotten. Stand for the future of our future generations, and become a reconciler for it to never happen again. SEARCH A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to perform a search. Chrissy Teigen had a 'really scary' morning on Tuesday as she described the terrifying moment she thought she'd lost her baby. The 34-year-old model, pregnant with her third child, has been keeping fans updated on her high-risk pregnancy as she remains on bed rest in hospital. In an early morning tweet, Chrissy expressed her relief to hear her baby's heartbeat after losing more blood. 'Just had a really scary morning, huge clot, almost save-worthy. The scramble to hear the heartbeat seemed like hours. I never thought Id relief sigh so much in my liiiiife'. 'Really scary morning': Chrissy Teigen was terrified she'd lost her baby on Tuesday as she discovered another blood clot Sigh of relief: Teigen tweeted this early on Tuesday morning After discussing her complicated pregnancy last week, Chrissy revealed on Sunday that she has been bleeding almost daily and had to undergo two blood transfusions on Monday. She said on Instagram stories, 'Hello from hospital. about to have my second blood transfusion which truly truly truly sounds more dramatic than it is.' 'Its an IV, but instead of fluids, the blood of some kind human being out there. Baby and I are completely fine, just missing the little things like walking...cooking...playing with the other buttbutts.' High-risk pregnancy: Chrissy, 34, took to Instagram Monday evening after two blood transfusions, reassuring her fans, 'baby and I are completely fine' The Utah-born star shared a shot from New Year's Eve last year in which she was looking glum, joking, 'came across this little gem from ringing in 2020. It all makes sense now!' Teigen - who is expecting a baby boy with husband John Legend - was hospitalized on Sunday evening at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after enduring a month of bleeding due to having a weak placenta. Taking to the app as she relaxed in her hospital room watching Real Housewives with Legend at her side. As a hospital alarm rang off, she joked, 'Soothing sounds at the hospital.' She later said that she got a blood transfusion and said 'it's just like an IV.' 2020 continues: The Utah-born star shared a shot from New Year's Eve last year in which she was looking glum, joking, 'came across this little gem from ringing in 2020. It all makes sense now!' The model had already been on strict bed rest this month but as she explained in a series of Instagram Stories on Sunday, her bleeding had worsened. Chrissy begged her followers not to try and diagnose her over Twitter as she explained more about her condition. 'We all know I've been on bed rest for a few weeks and that's like super serious bed rest. I get up to pee and take baths twice a week, no showering, just as little as possible,' Chrissy began. Teigen - who is expecting her third child, a baby boy, with husband John Legend - was hospitalized on Sunday evening after a month of bleeding Supportive: Legend was eating a meal in the hospital room, there for his wife 'But I was always, always bleeding. I'm about halfway through pregnancy and the blood has been going on for about a month, maybe a little bit less than a month. 'We're talking about more than your period girls, it's definitely not spotting. A lot of people spot but it's usually fine. Mine was a lot.' 'Everytime I go to the bathroom it would be blood, and honestly just laying there there would be blood.' Chrissy went on to explain that on Sunday her bleeding worsened comparing it to 'like if you were to turn a faucet onto low and leave it there...It was at the point today where it was never stopping, the bleeding.' Hospital: Chrissy said on the social media site the day before, that she was hospitalized on Sunday evening after bleeding for the past month She added that she was feeling great, telling her fans 'it's so weird because I feel really good. I'm usually at my happiest pregnant, mood wise. That's why it's so hard for me to come to terms with.' Chrissy also beamed as she revealed her baby was doing well, explaining: 'In the simplest of terms we can say my placenta is really, really weak, So I feel really good and the baby is so healthy, growing stronger than Luna or Miles.' 'He moves so much, so much earlier than they ever did. I'm so excited for him, he's the strongest little dude. He;'s the strongest coolest dude in the sh***iest house.' 'So his house is like falling apart. It didn't have a good foundation to begin with, he didn't have the strongest chance at the very, very beginning so all we're doing now is trying to make sure he has a lot of fluid around him and I'm resting as much as possible.' By her side: Chrissy revealed her husband John Legend was with her. The couple are expecting their third child, a baby boy Scary: 'Everytime I go to the bathroom it would be blood, and honestly just laying there there would be blood,' she told her followers, adding that her baby though is 'the strongest, coolest little dude' 'It's just hard because there's not much we can do. I'm at that weird in between time where it's dangerous to try anything. If me and baby boy can make it through the next few weeks then we can go from there and get through the danger zone.' 'It is scary,' Chrissy admitted, 'but scary in the way that there is really nothing to do. I take my progesterone and my iron and we're trying everything we can.' She then pleaded with her fans and medical professionals online to let her doctors do the work, cautioning: 'If you are a doctor I can not express enough how badly I would like you to stop your guessing games or even diagnosing me via twitter. I have very good doctors who know the entire story. I share a lot but not absolutely everything.' 'So bored': 'I'm having a bored time a bed time boredom photoshoot today. Just in bed,' she said sleepily in her original post from home Looking good: 'Full glam. Just so bored,' she joked, while showing off her makeup-free face and clear skin 'Scratch that': Chrissy wasn't bored anymore after she ended up in the maternity ward at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA Her visit to the maternity ward followed her announcement on Twitter on Thursday that she was ceasing all of her work temporarily after being diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy. 'Today I had to postpone the cookbook indefinitely and sent @AdeenaSussman alllll the way back to Tel Aviv and same with shutting down filming Chrissy's Court. Baby cannot do it. I am devastated,' she tweeted. Chrissy previously said that her pregnancies with Luna, four, and Miles, two, were complicated after her placenta failed to nourish them properly, requiring her to be induced early both times. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create havoc across the globe, Fort Bend ISD is doing what it can to ensure it does not devastate student bodies and district employees. While the first phase of face-to-face teaching started this week, the district has put into place safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19 well before it even has the chance to gain hold. Students and staff must wear masks and socially distance. Related: THIS WEEK: Chamber slates Stafford candidates forum for Thursday The district is also phasing in when students can return to campuses to avoid too many students arriving on the campus at once. Fort Bend ISD is providing daily updates on the number of reported cases of COVID-19. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, the district has a total of 26 active cases reported out of a population of 88,770 students and employees. There are no major breakouts at any one campus with Travis High School reporting the most cases with three. The district does not report online is positive cases are among staff, students or both. Related: Reported cases of COVID-19 in Katy ISD remain low In total, there are 10 reported cases among high schools; 11 cases among elementary schools; and five cases amid various district facilities. There are no reported cases in middle schools or specialized schools. The phased reopening of the district began Monday with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students heading to their campuses. The phased entry then phase first graders into the schools starting on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and second-graders on Oct. 2. The bell schedule for online students in elementary school will be from 8 a.m. to noon with middle school and high school classes from 9 a.m. to 2:30 pm. Students enrolled in face-to-face learning will attend classes from 8:10 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. According to documents presented during a recent school board meeting, of the districts 12,366 employees, roughly 88.9 percent will return to work on Sept. 23 and 11 percent submitted requests for a medical waiver to allow them to work remotely. Roughly 15 percent of the districts teachers, (approximately 800 teachers) requested accommodations for medical conditions to teach online. According to agenda documents, approximately 59.81 percent (45,701) of the district 76,411 students opted to remain with online learning with 40.19 percent (30,710) enrolled in in-person classes. For more information, go to www.fortbendisd.com. Reporter Kristi Nix contributed to this report. rkent@hcnonline.com Last Thursday, a Russian visitor, who was staying in a tourist hotel in the crowded city of Matara, in southern Sri Lanka, tested positive for COVID-19. News about the case created widespread anxiety and some panic amongst the citys residents. Many parents rushed to their local schools to bring their children home immediately. The justifiable concern exposes the general distrust, within the population, of the boasts and false assurances of the Rajapakse government to have controlled the spread of the pandemic. Soldiers checking a worker before he boards a train in Colombo (Credit: WSWS) Since the incident, a number of those in contact with the Russian individual have been placed under quarantine, while health officials are reportedly considering a lockdown in the city, after discovering that he had visited several public places there. In a situation where the Rajapakse government has already abandoned almost all social healthcare measures, the consequences could be devastating, if the virus has spread within the community. All schools, offices, factories and other work places on the island are now functioning normally. The over-crowded public transport system, along with congestion in workplaces, could pave the way for a catastrophe. In Sri Lanka, the number of COVID-19 cases reported so far is 3,360 and 13 deaths, with several thousand people still in quarantine. Due to the inadequacy of diagnostic tests, the number of actual infections is most likely higher than the officially reported cases. The government cites the relatively low number of cases, deliberately ignoring the fact that this is a global pandemic, to justify the bogus claim that Sri Lanka has successfully dealt with the coronavirus and that people do not have to worry. This lie is being peddled, as tens of thousands of Sri Lankans, who travelled to the Middle-East and other countries for employment, have been forced to languish in these countries, against their will and at the grave risk of infection, due to the governments refusal to repatriate them. Statements made by health officials have revealed that the infected Russian man was not tested for the virus when he entered the island, as a result of the negligence of the authorities. Public Health Inspectors Union of Sri Lanka president Upul Rohana said that neither the local Public Health Inspectors (PHI) nor the Medical Officers of Health (MOH) were informed about the arrival of the aircraft and the crew, with whom the infected person travelled. Although the Rajapakse government has largely ignored the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic it is spreading rapidly around the world. On September 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record one-day high of 316,036 new cases of COVID-19 globally. According to COVID-19 figures, the global death toll is nearly one million, while there are already more than 7.5 million active cases. The United States, Brazil, and neighbouring India remain epicentres of the global pandemic, signalling that further infections are likely. Although health experts, including the WHO, have repeatedly insisted that measures such as social distancing and personal hygiene should not be relaxed, the Rajapakse government has disregarded this advice, pretending that there is no longer any obstacle to moving the capitalist economy forward. The lives of workers, school children, teachers and the rest of the population are being sacrificed in order to boost corporate profits. The governments decision to allow the Colombo Annual Book Fair to occur, for Literature Month, is another gross violation of the health measures required to crack down on COVID-19. The book fair, which normally attracts tens of thousands, was held from September 18 to 27 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo. This was deliberately allowed to take place in order to counter the concerns of ordinary people about any hasty lifting of the lockdown. The countrys Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, from the epidemiology unit of the health ministry, stated that it was not advisable to hold such mass gatherings, due to the coronavirus. He insisted: There are certain technical difficulties in holding such an event at present and it poses a threat to the citizens. In the event an individual infected with COVID-19 enters the premises, it will be difficult to conduct contact tracing, due to the large volume of people attending the book fair, he pointed out. But the government simply ignores such warnings because it is determined to resume events as usual. One of the arguments used by Rajapakse as he normalises the country is that Sri Lanka has a strong health system, which can act to control the COVID-19 pandemic. In a keynote address on September 5 to a group of medical graduates, he boasted that Sri Lanka had achieved outstanding success in preventing the coronavirus, while some of the most developed countries in the world were unable to adequately respond to it. Promoting the reason for that success, he said: I am also proud to say that Sri Lanka, despite still being a developing country, has managed to face this situation very successfully because of our free healthcare system. These statements are simply false. Given the parlous state of the public health service, it cannot deal with the overall health needs of the country, even in normal times. Health officials have been extremely concerned at the devastation that could ensue if the extremely limited number of emergency treatment units is exceeded. Despite having 34.7 intensive care unit (ICU) beds per 100,000 people, the United States became an epicentre of the virus. The figure is 12.5 in Italy, which faced the worst disaster in Europe. It is clear that the Sri Lankan healthcare system, with a capacity of just over two ICU beds per 100,000 people, could not cope with a major spread of the disease. According to a survey published this month by the Deep Knowledge Group, an international think tank, Sri Lanka is ranked 92nd in the world, in terms of its ability to protect its population from the COVID-19 pandemic. While Germany has been listed as the safest country in the world, it has nevertheless reported 264,000 positive cases and approximately 10,000 deaths. Even neighbouring India, with more than five million infections and more than 90,000 deaths, ranks as number 80, twelve places above Sri Lanka. The extent to which any country is currently under attack from COVID-19 was not relevant in the reports preparation. Its main concerns are the level of political commitment to quarantine and locking down, the nature of management between national and local governments, the quality and capacity of medical care, the impact of the pandemic on the countrys economy, and the ability to manage emergencies. When considering the quarantine facilitiesa primary concern of the reportthe Sri Lankan government reported that the maximum number of people able to be quarantined at any one time in Sri Lanka is 7,000. Because of this limitation, the government has reduced the repatriation of workers working abroad, putting tens of thousands of Sri Lankans in danger of the pandemic. Another major factor that exposes the governments empty boasts is the low capacity for PCR tests. The total number of tests carried out so far is less than 300,000. No tests have been performed on randomly selected samples from the community, while the number of daily tests averages a maximum of just 2,000. And the tests are limited to only those who have associated with infected people and with people from overseas. The cash-strapped Rajapakse government has no plans to develop high-capacity hospitals and testing facilities or prepare adequate amounts of the personal protective equipment needed in the event of a major outbreak. For all its boasting, it has neither the ability nor the intention to allocate the necessary funds to implement such a broad program. Ayo Salami, the chairman of a presidential panel set up to probe suspended anti-graft chief, Ibrahim Magu, has said he never expressed regret accepting to chair the panel. Mr Salami, a retired president of the appeal court, described as false the statement by two lawyers representing Mr Magu that Mr Salami, on Friday, said he regretted accepting the presidential appointment. PREMIUM TIMES reported the claims by the two lawyers who spoke in separate interviews with this newspaper. Mr Salamis panel has barred journalists from observing its proceedings, refused to appoint a spokesperson and had not deemed it fit to explain its operations to the public. However, the jurist, irked by the claim of the two lawyers, released a rare statement describing the claim as false. I have no cause to express any regret over my chairmanship of the commission, he wrote in a statement he personally signed and sent to journalists. Mr Salami, in the statement, did not give any reason why his panel has barred journalists and other interested Nigerians from witnesssing its proceedings contrary to the law setting it up. Mr Salamis panel was set up following allegations of corruption and insurbordination by Attorney General Abubakar Malami against Mr Magu who has denied the allegations. More details later (CNN) -- Amazon's latest effort to speed up shopping trips lets you pay with the palm of your hand at some of its stores. On Tuesday, the company introduced Amazon One, which connects your palm print to a stored credit card so you can place your hand above a sensor to enter and buy items at checkout-free Amazon Go stores. (Typically, visitors use a code on their smartphone to open electronic gates inside these stores.) Initially, the feature will be available at two Amazon Go stores in Seattle, and the company plans in upcoming months to add it to more Amazon Go stores, which are spread across Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. Amazon plans to bring it to other retailers and perhaps places like offices and stadiums in the future. Dilip Kumar, Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology, told CNN Business that Amazon One had been in the works since long before the pandemic. But the timing could be a positive for Amazon: Customers may find such contact-free entry and payment technology convenient, and businesses, which are increasingly looking to technological solutions to navigate the pandemic, may also find it appealing. Yet the idea of handing over biometric data to one of the largest retailers in the United States could raise eyebrows, too. Amazon has previously come under fire from privacy advocates who are concerned about its facial-recognition software. Amazon said in June that it would temporarily stop selling its Rekognition software to police. When it comes to Amazon One data, Kumar said the company isn't storing any information locally on entry scanners at stores. All palm images are encrypted and Amazon stores them online. The company purposely chose palm recognition rather than another biometric because it can be very accurately matched, and a customer has to make an intentional gesture to use it, he said. "I encourage people to try it, see how they like the experience, and then go from there," Kumar said. Amazon One which is not to be confused with the company's first airplane, also called Amazon One is the latest offering in a decades-long effort to make shopping faster and more convenient. Its arrival had been anticipated. Before trying it, users must insert a credit card in an Amazon One device and hold a palm above it, facing down, so it can be scanned. In an effort to make the system as accurate as possible, Kumar said, a camera takes multiple images of the fine lines and ridges of the palm, and captures some subcutaneous details, such as veins, that aren't as visible in typical photographs. After enrollment, a user holds their palm above an Amazon One scanner to enter the store. Then, anything they take will be automatically charged to the credit card connected to their palm. Users should be able to use the same palm to enter and shop at multiple stores, Kumar said. At first, users will be able to link one credit card to either or both palms; eventually, Kumar said, there may be an option to assign one credit card to each palm. Amazon One is currently available at two of the Amazon Go stores in Seattle, at 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street, and in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Amazon is not yet saying when it will be available at other retailers, nor how much it will charge other businesses to use the technology. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Amazon wants you to pay with a wave of your hand" The barometer indices hovered near the flat line in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded in a narrow range above the 11,200 mark. Metal stocks bucked weak market trend on softer dollar. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 26.04 points or 0.07% at 38,007.83. The Nifty 50 index was up 9.15 points or 0.08% at 11,236.55. President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, will face off in their first Presidential debate Tuesday night. Three debates between the presidential candidates are scheduled to take place on 29 September, 15 October, and 22 October 2020. The US Presidential election is scheduled on Tuesday, 3 November 2020. The broader market was mixed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.1%. Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1006 shares rose and 1316 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged. Derivatives: The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.12% to 19.5475. The Nifty September 2020 futures were trading at 11,233.05, at a premium of 5.05 points compared with the spot at 11,228. The Nifty option chain for 1 October 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 43.61 lakh contracts at the 11,300 strike price. Maximum put OI of 38.71 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price. The Nifty option chain for 29 October 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 18.50 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 36.66 lakh contracts was seen at 10,500 strike price. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Metal index added 1.25% to 2,265.05 on softer dollar. The index has surged 7.25% in three sessions. Hindalco Industries (up 4.09%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2%), Tata Steel (up 1.52%), Vedanta (up 1.01%), JSW Steel (up 0.9%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.63%), NMDC (up 0.55%) and NALCO (up 0.46%) advanced. Dollar and commodity prices share an inverse relationship; when dollar strengthens, commodity prices fall and vice versa. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, was currently trading at 94.21. Stocks in Spotlight: Shalby surged 7.31% after the company's board approved to reduce promoters' shareholding in the company to 75% from 79.45%. The board also approved to raise upto Rs 117.01 crore via through issue of equity shares, other convertible securities/warrants/Global Depository Receipts/American Depository Receipts/any other financial instruments/securities convertible into and/or linked to equity shares or a combination thereof. Prime Focus jumped 6.95% after the company said its UK-based subsidiary, DNEG plc, intends to commence a private offering of $375 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2025. It intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay amounts outstanding under its existing term loan facility, its existing revolving loan facility and its Indian financing facilities; to extend a loan to its parent group of companies; to pay related transaction fees and expense; and for general corporate purposes. There can be no assurance that the private offering of Notes will be completed, the company said. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 33,353,615 with 10,01,646 deaths. India reported 9,47,576 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 96,318 deaths while 51,01,397 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Unlock 5.0: The media reported that restaurants, bars and eatery outlets in Maharashtra will be allowed to re-start operations from the first week of October. Hotels, bars and restaurants have been surviving on home deliveries due to the covid-19 lockdown. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SEATTLE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Headset , the leading provider of data and analytics to the cannabis industry, today launched the free version of their competitive intelligence tool, Headset Insights Pulse , in Massachusetts. The complimentary service enables potential cannabis business owners, investors and media professionals to compare markets over time and contextualize industry data at various category levels. Headset's Insights Pulse is now available in nine states and territories, including California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan and Washington, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Headset Insights will provide critical consumer market data in the largest adult-use market on the East Coast. Through the platform, Massachusetts industry professionals can leverage real-time cannabis data to understand the competitive landscape, conduct trend analyses and stay ahead of market changes. Headset Insights' data will also serve as an invaluable resource for cannabis professionals in neighboring states that may potentially come online in the coming months. "Launching Headset Insights Pulse into the most significant and fastest-growing New England cannabis market will facilitate the long-term growth trajectory of the overall region," said Cy Scott, Founder and CEO of Headset. "Data on Massachusetts' market performance will likely influence the business and investing behaviors of other East Coast states that are either on the cusp of legalizing adult-use products or already have a thriving medical industry. We are delighted to provide our customers with salient and in-depth information as the industry continues to mature on the East Coast." In the first eight months of 2020, Massachusetts adult-use cannabis sales reached $379M, despite state-wide dispensary closures due to COVID-19 during March, April and May. Despite a dramatic drop in retail sales in the spring, Massachusetts adult cannabis sales have managed to grow 53% between January and August, from $52.0M to $79.6M. Massachusetts stands out among other US cannabis markets with the largest average basket sizes so far this year, at $96.34. Headset Insights will allow cannabis companies to accurately track Massachusetts' market growth, measure brand performance and better prepare operations based on market changes. To learn more about Headset Insights, please click here . About Headset: Headset is a data analytics company in the cannabis industry with a mission to help businesses make better-informed decisions through data. Headset focuses on collecting and analyzing consumer transaction information. Headset's models and dashboards help cannabis retailers better optimize their day-to-day operations. In addition, product manufacturers, processors and distributors leverage the aggregated, standardized and anonymized receipt-level sales data in real-time to identify trends and opportunities, stay competitive and collaborate with retail customers. Learn more at https://www.headset.io/. Contact: Renee Cotsis [email protected] SOURCE Headset STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As restaurant staffs prepare to reopen dining rooms on Wednesday, Sept. 30, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) continues with inspections in this new COVID-19 era. The scrutiny on food businesses going forward includes intense scrutiny on social distancing, log books and hand sanitizing stations, report several owners who have passed muster in the past six weeks. Letter grades are pushed to the side right now as inspectors follow a checklist based on New York State COVID-19 requirements. The focus at the moment is on education over enforcement, noted a spokesman for the DOHMH. Routine inspections were suspended in March. Farmers agitating over the three agricultural laws enacted by Parliament recently continued their 'rail roko' stir on Tuesday for the sixth day and decided to extend it for an indefinite period. The farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have been squatting on rail tracks at various places in the state since September 24. They said they have decided to intensify their protest against the Centre and will continue to block rail tracks at Tanda, Mukerian, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ferozepur. The protestersare demanding the rollback of the three anti-farmer legislations. The train service, meanwhile, continued to remain suspended in Punjab amid the farmers' stir. Under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, the farmers on Tuesday also unanimously resolved to boycott some private companies, alleging that the Centre's farm bills were intended to benefit some private players. State general secretaryof the committee, Sarwan Singh Pandher, dubbed the farm laws as anti-farmers and said the private firms will exploit farmers. Another farmer leader Sawinder Singh Chautala said the rail roko protest would be further intensified next month and urged people from all sections of the society to come forward and support the farmers' cause. In Ferozepur district too, the protesting farmers vowed to boycott some private companies. They continued to block the railway track near Basti Tankan Wali for the sixth consecutive day. While addressing farmers, union leaders Satnam Singh Pannu, state president of the Sangharsh Committee, said the farmers have pledged to boycott each of the products that come from some of the corporate houses. Pannu claimed that the central government wants to promote the interests of some corporate houses in the country. He said the farmers are already reeling under financial crunch and these new agricultural bills would further aggravate their misery. Pannu said Punjab has always played a pivotal role as the food bowl of the nation. The farmers of the state will be the worst hit by these central laws, he claimed. He announced that the farmers would oppose the laws tooth and nail. President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday assented to the three contentious bills -- the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Electoral Commission (EC) says all duplicate voter identification numbers that were detected during the just-ended voter registration exercise have been "remedied" and the affected applicants have been re-issued new numbers. According to the Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, the duplicates occurred because the registration kits were offline hence all voter ID numbers were issued independently. She said 88,000 duplicates were detected when the national data came together online and that the Commission was in the process of handing over the new ID cards with the new numbers to the affected voters. Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, September 28, Mrs Mensa said political parties and their agents would be invited to monitor the re-issuance of the said duplicate ID cards. Reasons for duplicates The Chairperson explained that the duplicates were recorded because some registration kits had the same unique code. "To prevent the duplication of voter ID numbers, each kit is given a unique code. What we realised during the registration was that in instances where the registration kits become faulty, they were withdrawn from the field and a new one was sent to the field and the same code was put on the new one," Mrs Mensa said. "The same code as the one withdrawn was placed on the new one. However, when the faulty kit was brought back to the field, that code was not changed and so you realised that we had two kits with the same code and this meant that they would produce the same ID numbers". She said the current voter database does not contain any duplicate voter ID numbers. "Some 88,000 applicants were affected overall. The Commission has remedied this and contacted a good number of them during the registration. We are currently reissuing new Voter ID Cards to them. It must be emphasized that the data base does not contain any duplicates as this has been remedied." "In the spirit of transparency, the Commission has instructed its officials to allow Political Parties and their agents to monitor the distribution of the duplicate cards to the affected persons." Repeated pictures Mrs Mensa also assured that registers which contained recurring pictures were as a result of corrupted data which had been resolved by the EC. She said the corrupted images did not affect the validity of registered persons. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Trump administration hopes governors will use 100 million rapid COVID-19 tests to help reopen schools and keep them open for in-person learning as the nation continues to confront the pandemic. Federal officials announced plans Monday to distribute 100 million point-of-care coronavirus tests to states and territories, starting with a shipment of 6.5 million tests this week. Governors can use the tests as they see fit, President Donald Trump said at the White House, but officials hope they will use them to reopen their schools and their economies immediately, as fast as they can, he said. States could use the tests to screen teachers for the virus, helping schools to stay open and helping parents return to work, Trump said. An additional 50 million tests will go to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and to nursing homes. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services previously announced the plan to spend $760 million on the massive shipment of tests from Abbott in August, the day after the company received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. State leaders and public health officials hope faster test results will cut down on lag time, allowing them to be more agile in making public health decisions related to the operations of businesses and schools. Rather than waiting days for a laboratory-processed test, users will get results in minutes. The plan comes as virus rates start to tick up in some areas, provoking fears about a second wave. But will it be enough to reopen schools, or to keep them open in areas with climbing cases? What makes this COVID-19 test different? The tests that will be shipped to statescalled Abbott BinaxNOW tests are faster, easier to use, and more efficient than the more common tests used at consumer testing sites around the country, said Admiral Brett Giroir, who is coordinating federal testing efforts. Giroir demonstrated the test at the White House event Monday by rubbing a swab first on the inside of his nostrils and then on credit card-sized piece of cardboard that he said would provide results within 15 minutes. It also appears to be more accurate than previous generations of rapid tests, Science Magazine reports. This is not a home test, but during a health emergency, [Medicaid officials] have allowed [test administrators] to operate in temporary sites like schools, or churches, or parking lots, he said. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican who attended the White House press event, said the plan would allow his state to have testing available for our teachers every single day going forward, helping to keep schools open. He sat next to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who attended the event and has joined the Trump administrations aggressive push to pressure schools to reopen for in-person learning. The thing that we know is that kids learn better in the classroom ... than when they are doing distance learning, Reeves said. The announcement comes weeks before the presidential election and as Trump faces ongoing criticism for his response to the pandemic, including lags in scaling up an effective federal testing and supply strategy. Is 100 million tests enough to open schools? Michael Mina, a Harvard University epidemiologist who has advocated for the expansion of rapid virus testing, said on Twitter Monday that the number of tests federal officials plan to distribute is nowhere near whats needed to test on the level Trump has touted. This is not near the type of rapid test volume that is needed to make a major impact, he said. Instead the federal government CAN take responsibility and take ownership of testing, instead of simply purchasing whats available. The [White House] needs to take a leadership role and actually oversee these tests at a volume that can in fact live up to Trumps (false) hype. Before the announcement, Trump administration officials spoke on background to the Associated Press. The Abbott Laboratories tests would allow teachers, for example, to be tested on a weekly basis, or for parents to know whether their symptomatic child has COVID-19, the official said, according to the AP. In some cases, states could undertake some baseline surveillance, like testing a proportion of students per week or per month to make sure that the incidence of COVID-19 is low. But there are about 50.8 million students enrolled in U.S. public schools and about 3.2 million full-time teachers, according to the most recent federal data. That means the reach of the tests may be limited, depending on how state leaders and local health officials plan to incorporate them into mitigation strategies. The federal plan calls for tests to be allotted proportionate to a state or territorys population. State officials have also warned that rapid tests performed outside of the health-care system may lead to flawed data necessary to track the virus if their results arent properly reported, the AP reports. Trump administration sends mixed messages on testing. The news of new testing options that may effect schools come after months of mixed messages on the issue. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican and chair of the Senate education committee, has said all roads back to work and school lead through testing. But Trump has blamed climbing virus cases on tests and has tried to downplay their importance. Public health officials have said testing can be important both for surveillance of populations, like a university student body, and for tracking asymptomatic spread of the virus, through which students, who are at a lower risk for severe illness, can pass it to more vulnerable populations without realizing it. In July guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not recommend universal testing of all students and staff in K-12 schools. Universal SARS-CoV-2 testing of all students and staff in school settings has not been systematically studied, the CDC says. It is not known if testing in school settings provides any additional reduction in person-to-person transmission of the virus beyond what would be expected with implementation of other infection preventive measures (e.g., social distancing, cloth face covering, hand washing, enhanced cleaning and disinfecting). Therefore, CDC does not recommend universal testing of all students and staff. But more readily available rapid tests could be used in more targeted ways, public health officials have said. Photo: Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, demonstrates a new fast result COVID-19 test during a event at the White House Monday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa . Everyone is talking about Schitt's Creek. Yes, and for good reason. The "little Canadian" show blitzed the comedy categories at the Emmys earlier this month. But it also won best costume design after missing out last year to Russian Doll. Russian Doll? I don't recall that show's costumes having their own Instagram account. Yes, I am stunned, too. So, who's the most fashionable Schitt's Creek character? To start, I would have assumed Alexis, the ditzy, late-20s daughter of the family that loses their obscene wealth when they're swindled by an employee of the family video-store empire. Alexis has had to give up her globetrotting lifestyle but not her wardrobe, which is broadly described as "boho luxe". She loves floaty printed playsuits, Chloe handbags and the most inappropriate shoes for any situation. I sense a 'but' coming ... I love David. In fact, I love any man who considers organising his knits an afternoon activity but (damn) I'm indisputably Team Moira, the family matriarch. You know this whole conversation was leading up to that. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts for the full episode. During Tuesdays presidential debate, the first one-on-one confrontation between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, there will be a lot of important issues discussed: the coronavirus, the Supreme Court, Trumps taxes. But Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert at the University of CaliforniaIrvine School of Law and a Slate contributor, says hell be listening for something else: what the candidates have to say about the integrity of the election, which moderator and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace has said hell ask about. Trump has been undermining the validity of mail-in ballots, harping on voter fraud, and suggesting that he wants to find a way to protect the vote with election monitorsan act that wasnt even legally possible until this election. All of which makes what will happen on Election Day unpredictable. So for Tuesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Hasen about the loopholes in the U.S. election system, and how the president might exploit them. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mary Harris: Part of the reason its so hard to tell what might happen in November is that the American system is so disaggregated. The process is controlled by a local administrator, possibly someone elected, possibly someone who is explicitly partisan. And once your vote is counted (if its counted!), thats not the end of the story: Electors are assigned to transmit your vote to the Electoral College. Those results are counted by Congress. Each step in this process is a place where the whole thing can break down. Right now, were in the pregame part of the proceedings, when lawyers try to set the ground rules for the election itself. There are over 250 lawsuits that have been filed over pandemic-related voting concerns alone, more than youve seen in any year before. Advertisement Advertisement Richard L. Hasen: The pattern were seeing is, Democrats and voting rights groups are suing to try to ease the rules during the pandemic. And Republicans, the Trump campaign, and their allies have been suing or defending suits, trying to make it harder to expand the right to vote. There are all kinds of other disputes related to mail-in balloting, not about who should vote, but how to vote. What happens if you cant get a notary to sign your ballot, as some states require? Should it be thrown out? What if you forget to use the second secret envelope thats supposed to go inside? This was the big issue in Pennsylvania, where thousands of people during the primary had their ballots thrown out because they sent in so-called naked ballots, ballots not in their secrecy envelopes. These nitty-gritty details are whats going to potentially disenfranchise voters, and theres a ton of uncertainty. Were five weeks from the election, so were really talking about a period when these rules should be solidified. Theres even a name for this idea, called the Purcell principle, which comes from a Supreme Court case called Purcell v. Gonzalez that says a court shouldnt be making last-minute changes just before an election. So far, that rule has worked against Democrats in a number of cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hows it worked against Democrats? Democrats were getting some favorable court opinions in the lower courts and getting some of these balloting rules eased so people can vote safely during the pandemic. Then appeals courts said its now too close to the election, so you cant make the change. I want to talk about Pennsylvania a little bit, because its a swing state and so many people see it at the center of whats about to happen This is the first time its going to have a national election where theres going to be so much absentee balloting. My understanding is its not going to be counting until Election Day itself. Is that right? Advertisement Advertisement The rules for when you can process absentee ballots differ from state to state. By process, I mean everything but the counting. You need to make sure that when the ballot comes in, its legitimately from the voter. You check a signature or some other identifying information. Did the voter do everything they had to do? That takes time. It takes much longer to figure that out than just counting ballots that come in through the polling place. And at this time, theres no deal between the Democratic governor and the Republican Assembly over extending that time so that processing and counting can happen earlier, as is done in many other states. That means that there could be potentially millions of ballots that the state wont start processing till Election Day. And that means it could be at least a few days before we have definitive results coming out of Pennsylvania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That means we really may not have any results on Election Day. I think the important thing to note is that a candidates determination to concede or declare victory has no specific legal implications. The counting is going to continue. Trump could declare victory on election night based on partial returns, but it wont have any legal effect. We had a few races in California in 2018 where the Republican was ahead on the election night votes but, because Democrats tend to vote later, more ballots were counted over the next two and a half weeks, and these races flipped to Democratic wins. So its really quite possible in a place like Pennsylvania that Trump could be ahead in the in-person votes and lose the election. If he declares victory, that doesnt have any legal significance, but a lot of his supporters could believe that if the vote count changes, somebody is cheating. Words matter in this context, especially because democracy depends on losers accepting the results of fair elections. Advertisement Advertisement How do you categorize the concern that Trump might not accept the elections results if they show hes losing? Is that something we have a good reason to think might happen? Advertisement Theres a big difference between him saying I won the election and him saying if the election were fair and not rigged, I would have won. The question is, does he pack up and leave if he loses, or not? So its a matter of degree. Its not just degree. If you declare yourself the winner and say youre staying put and you actually have not won, that creates a real constitutional crisis. If you grumble on your way out the door, that might undermine the legitimacy of the election in the eyes of his most ardent supporters. But if the election is not close, I think a lot of Republicans are going to move on. So a big part of this depends on the closeness of the election. Advertisement Do you think well see a concession speech on election night? I dont think wed see a concession speech in the traditional sense of what a normal candidate does. What do you mean by that? Again, I could imagine him saying, if it werent rigged, I would have won. I cant imagine him congratulating Joe Biden, but I dont know whats going on in Trumps head. Maybe hell surprise us. But I think its much more dangerous if he actually loses the election and says, I won, and Im not leaving. Advertisement Advertisement And on election night, public sentiment can create pressure of its own, pressure that might resolve this contest prematurely. Advertisement Those of us in the field of election law have been pushing decision desks and major news organizations to be very cautious, especially given the uncertainty of what the votes going to look like in terms of how much is going to be by mail. The message should be that its too early to call unless theres a reason to think that its not. Its a problem when you see reporting that claims 100 percent of precincts reporting but only counts in-person voting, with tens of thousands of other ballots outstanding. So everyone needs to have patience. It starts with the media. And I think that message has actually gotten out. There was a recent poll that showed that over 60 percent of voters believe we wont know by the day after the election whos won. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres one caveat in all of the reporting about all the things that could go wrong with the election: If theres a landslide, a lot of these things dont matter. Does that reassure you at all? Yes. If its not close, we wont have a crisis this time. But we have a broken election system. And if we squeak through, that doesnt mean its not broken. It just means we got lucky. Weve got to get out of this. We need to either have standards that would apply nationally or a nonpartisan, quasi-independent body, with competent people in charge, that runs our elections. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday. Universal Health Services, the big health-care provider based in King of Prussia, said its computer system faced a "security issue." Read more Universal Health Services, a King of Prussia-based operator of 26 hospitals and 183 inpatient psychiatric facilities in 37 states, said Monday that its computer networks had been knocked offline by an unspecified security issue. UHS, which operates seven psychiatric facilities in the Philadelphia region, said in a short statement posted on its website Monday that it is working diligently with our IT security partners to restore IT operations as quickly as possible. Patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively with offline documentation, the statement said. The company said that no patient or employee data appears to have been accessed, copied or misused. UHS provided no details, but people posting to an online Reddit forum who identified themselves as employees said the chains network was hit by ransomware overnight Sunday. The posts echoed the alarm of a clinician at a UHS facility in Washington, who described to the Associated Press a mad scramble, including anxiety over determining, without being able to check digital records, which patients might be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Ransomware is a growing scourge in which hackers infect networks with malicious code that scrambles data and then demand payment to restore services. Increasingly, ransomware purveyors are downloading data from networks they infiltrate before encrypting targeted servers, using it for extortion. Earlier this month, the first known fatality related to ransomware occurred in Dusseldorf, Germany, after an attack caused IT systems to fail and a critically ill patient needing urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment In Washington, where UHS owns and operates George Washington University Hospital, a clinician described a high-anxiety effort to handle the loss of computers and some phones starting Sunday. The person, involved in direct patient care, was not authorized to speak publicly and described the chaotic situation on condition of anonymity. The loss of computer access meant that medical staff could not easily see lab results, imaging scans, medication lists, and other critical pieces of information doctors rely on to make decisions. Phone problems complicated the situation, making it harder to communicate with nurses. Hospitals have become frequent targets of ransomware. In the United States alone, 764 providers were victimized last year by ransomware, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. It estimated the overall cost of ransomware attacks in the U.S. at $9 billion a year in terms of recovery and lost productivity. The only way to effectively recover, for those unwilling to pay ransoms, is through diligent daily data backups. In June, Crozer-Keystone Health System suffered a malware attack that impacted certain health information, including lab testing information for some Crozer patients. We believe that none of the impacted information is at risk for misuse or public disclosure, Crozer said in an August statement. UHS is one of the nations largest for-profit hospital operators and the largest operator of inpatient mental health facilities. In the Philadelphia region UHS owns Hampton Behavioral Health Center Westampton, Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital in Fort Washington, Foundations Behavioral Health in Doylestown, the Horsham Clinic in Ambler, and Keystone Center in Wallingford, as well as Fairmount Behavioral Health System and Friends Hospital in Philadelphia. None of its acute-are hospitals is in the Philadelphia region. The company also has facilities in Puerto Rico and Britain. Staff writer Harold Brubaker contributed to this article. Organic synthesis in water has attracted the attention of chemists for several years. Water is considered as nature's universal solvent and possesses distinguished physical and chemical properties. It exhibits powerful hydrogen bonding and a wide temperature range to stay in liquid state. In recent years, many organic transformations use water as the solvent system. Other interesting features of water are that the pH of water is often varied, salting-in or salting-out effects can be induced by adding additives such as salts or surfactants, cyclodextrins etc. But water was neglected as a reaction solvent by organic chemists due the concept that all the reactants must be soluble in the reaction media. The earliest known reactions of organic synthesis in water include Wohler's urea synthesis and, Baeyer and Drewsen's indigo synthesis. The situation remained the same until Breslow showed how water can enhance the reaction rate of the Diels-Alder reaction. Water has become an admired reaction medium after the contribution of the Sharpless and Breslow groups. According to Jung and Marcus, approximately 25% of water molecules possess free hydroxyl groups at the interface and may form potential H-bonding with the substrates. The use of water as the solvent system has advantages like ease of product isolation, high heat capacity and unique redox stability. In the last few years, quinoline and its derivatives have attracted both synthetic and biological chemists because of its diverse chemical and pharmacological properties. They exhibit significant activity against several viruses including antimalarial, antibiotic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, tyro kinase PDGF-RTK inhibition and anti-HIV properties. Moreover, the quinoline ring system occurs in various natural products, usually in alkaloids, and is often used for the design of many synthetic compounds with diverse pharmacological properties. There are a number of natural products of quinoline skeleton used as a medicine or employed as lead molecule for the development newer and potent molecules. For instance, quinine was isolated as the active ingredient from the bark of Cinchona trees and has been used for the treatment of malaria. Its structure determination and SAR studies resulted in discovery of newer antimalarial drugs like chloroquine, primaquine, mefloquine etc. The quinoline structural motif is readily available through a number of classical synthetic routes and from commercially available reagents. The Friedlander synthetic method, Skraup, Combes and Doebner-Miller syntheses are good examples. Moreover, the Conrad-Limpach, Gould-Jacobs and Camps routes for the synthesis of quinolones are widely used methods. All classical methods have similar disadvantages, requiring highly acidic and/or oxidizing media, high temperatures and long reaction times. Moreover, most of these synthetic routes have selectivity problems with meta-substituted substrates and its versatility is limited by the reactivity of the methylene carbon involved in the aldol reaction. Although efficient and versatile, classical routes towards the synthesis of quinolines present environmental concerns as most synthetic routes use a large excess of reagents and produce a significant amount of toxic waste. Over the last decades, scientists are putting constant efforts to develop environmentally friendly synthetic methodology for quinoline derivatives. A significant amount of efforts has been put forwarded to synthesize quinoline moieties by following greener protocols. Microwave irradiation and activation of bonds by light exposure are also documented by several groups in addition to catalyst-free reaction. In this article, we report water-mediated organic reactions resulting in the synthesis and functionalization of quinoline moieties. Some of these transformations are highly regioselective. The synthesis of qionoline in water is covered in detail in a review, Facile Synthesis of Quinolines in Water, authored by Banik et al., in Current Organic Chemistry. ### To view the article, please visit: https://www.eurekaselect.com/node/186002/article/facile-synthesis-of-quinolines-in-water Author Information: Gongutri Borah1, Preetismita Borah2, Arnav Bhuyan1 and Bimal K. Banik*3 1Chemical Science and Technology Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India, 785006; 2 Agrionics, v1(a), CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Sector 30C, Chandigarh, India, 160030; 3Research Development & College of Natural Sciences and Human Studies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Email: bimalbanik10@gmail.com Videos have circulated that show the Syrian army's elite forces performing training exercises, following failed negotiations between Russian and Turkey regarding Idleb writes Al-Masdar. The Syrian Arab Armys elite forces were recently filmed, carrying out a storming exercise as part of their training in northwestern Syria. A video that was shared on pro-Syrian army channels showed the 25th Special Mission Forces Division, which was previously known as the Tiger Forces before they were inducted into the armed forces, carrying out a training exercise that was geared at storming a hypothetical enemys positions. The 25th Special Mission Forces have been carrying out several storming exercises recently, amid reports of a new offensive that will be launched in Idleb Governorate. Last week, a military source in Damascus told Al-Masdar that the Syrian armys high command is back to holding discussions about launching an offensive in Idleb Governorate; this comes after the failed negotiations between Russia and Turkey about northwestern Syria. The negotiations collapsed after Russia rejected Turkeys request to handover the city of Manbij and the town of Tel Rifaat in northern Aleppo. At the same time, the Turkish delegation refused to withdraw from their observation posts that are currently surrounded by the Syrian Arab Army. The failed talks have led the Syrian Arab Army to intensify their attacks against the Turkish-backed forces and their allied jihadist groups, as the situation around the M4 highway (Aleppo-Lattakia) continues to worsen. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. By Trend Speaking on the air of the famous Arab Al-Jazeera TV channel, Editor-in-Chief of the Trend News Agency Rufiz Hafizoglu said that it is Armenia that is responsible for the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In response to the military provocation of the Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani army launched a counteroffensive. Armenia, which claims to be in favor of peace, has no idea what it is, and it is Yerevan that is to blame for the escalation of the conflict in the region, Hafizoglu said. The editor-in-chief noted that all attempts of Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to shift the arrows to Azerbaijan in this situation, making it an aggressor, are doomed to fail. Pashinyan is deceiving his people, and by aggravating the situation in the occupied territories, he is trying to divert attention from economic and political problems within the country, Hafizoglu said. Moreover, speaking on the air of the Egyptian Al-Shurug TV channel, the editor-in-chief of the Trend News Agency brought to the attention of Arab viewers that Armenia is transferring Armenians to the occupied Azerbaijani lands from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and also Egypt. Hafizoglu noted that Armenia grossly violates international law and ignores the resolutions of the UN Security Council on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The world community, particularly the Arab countries - members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), must show solidarity with Azerbaijan, he said. During his speech on the air of the Russian TV channel Rusiya Al-Yaum, which broadcasts in Arabic, Hafizoglu noted that Azerbaijan gives an adequate response along the entire front line to provocations and aggression from Armenia. Azerbaijan is conducting military operations on its territory and liberates its lands from the Armenian occupation. Everyone knows that the OSCE Minsk Group isnt taking any action to resolve the conflict, as a result of which the occupying forces are increasingly entrenched in Azerbaijani lands, he said. Hafizoglu also noted that the information spread by a number of media outlets that Turkey allegedly sends militants from Syria and Libya to Azerbaijan is a lie and another Armenian disinformation to slander Azerbaijan and Turkey. The Armenian authorities have turned the occupied Azerbaijani territories into a den of the PKK and ASALA terrorists, he said. Commenting on the situation to the Omani WisalFM radio, the editor-in-chief said that it is not the first time that the Armenian armed forces commit provocations against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in the front-line zone. Azerbaijan aims at liberating its territories, and the whole world recognizes that Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are the territory of Azerbaijan, Hafizoglu emphasized. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Isabella Rossellini has announced four live virtual performances of her new stage show, Sex and Consequences. The production will be streamed live from her farm in Bellport, Long Island, on Friday, October 16 (7pm ET); Sunday, October 18 (6pm PT); Saturday, October 24 (7pm BT in the UK); and Sunday, October 25 (7pm AEDT in Australia). Sex and Consequences is a 40-minute comical and scientifically accurate show on biodiversity and the multiple ways animals reproduce. It will feature some of the many animals that call Rossellini's farm home, as well as videos from her Green Porno, Seduce Me, and Mammas series. The show is created by Rossellini with the support of Paul Magid. In addition to being a model and actor (seen in films ranging from Blue Velvet to Death Becomes Her), Rossellini has a master's degree in animal behavior and conservation. Magid is a cofounder of the Flying Karamazov Brothers, and worked with Rossellini first on the soon-to-be-released film Silent Retreat. For tickets, click here. Youre going to find few people where the Supreme Court justice pick specifically is going to sway their vote, said Mr. Sperry, 41. What youll find more is the fact that the Senate is trying to rush it through makes it dirty. Shannon Xiques, a public school science teacher from Elizabeth City, N.C., said she shared Judge Barretts Catholic faith, but didnt believe there was good cause for Republicans to rush the high court confirmation so close to the election. To get a Supreme Court justice is not something we need to worry about right now, we can put that off until after the election, said Ms. Xiques, 50. I think its just a rush job so he can say, Theres another one I did. Donald Zimmerman, a 62-year-old farmer from outside Kalispell, Mont., took the opposite viewpoint. Mr. Zimmerman, who backed Senator Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary, isnt a fan of Mr. Trump but said he thought Mr. Trump had a constitutional duty to name Justice Ginsburgs successor. Regardless of where were at in the election, the president has the responsibility to appoint someone and Congress has the responsibility to vote, he said. He said he was wary of Mr. Biden because the former vice president stayed mostly secluded at his Delaware home this summer, largely hidden from voters and the news media. Hes not asked the hard questions or becomes evasive immediately, Mr. Zimmerman said. I worry that he really does have cognitive function issues, and he was just coalesced around because he was the lesser of all evils. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would likely end up at the US' most notorious Supermax prison if he's extradited and convicted of espionage. (AP) Julian Assange may wind up at one of the country's most notorious prisons if he is extradited to the US and convicted of espionage. That's according to Maureen Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, who testified in London on Tuesday as part of the weeks-long trial involving Mr Assange. The Wikileaks founder is fighting an extradition request from the US, where he faces criminal charges that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. According to the Associated Press, Ms Baird told the court on Tuesday that Mr Assange would likely be sent to ADX Florence, the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, if he is convicted. Mr Assange, she explained, would need to be held under special administration measures (SAMs) because of national security concerns within the US government. Given those requirements, Ms Baird said the Colorado prison would be the "only place" for Mr Assange to serve his sentence, "unless there was a severe change in his medical status." Ms Baird added that Mr Assange would likely face the worst prison conditions the US has to offer conditions that she said "can have serious negative effects on an inmate's mental health." Under the SAMs measure, inmates spend most of the day confined in their cells with little contact with the outside world or fellow inmates. The ADX Florence is currently home to notorious convicts like Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, 1993 World Trade Center mastermind Ramzi Yousef, and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski. US authorities have accused Mr Assange, 49, of conspiring to hack government computers and violating espionage laws in connection with the release of confidential documents by WikiLeaks. His defense team has countered that the charges are a threat to press freedom and that Mr Assange is entitled to First Amendment protections. They have also said that Mr Assange suffers from mental health issues and would be a suicide risk if sent back to the US. Story continues The extradition hearing is due to end this week after initial delays from the coronavirus pandemic. Read more Julian Assange lawyer says Trump election victory will be bad for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces effective life sentence if convicted in US, court is told Expert: WikiLeaks' Assange a suicide risk if extradited By Trend PACE is extremely concerned by the outbreak of military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which puts regional stability at risk, Trend reports with reference to the PACEs statement. We deeply regret the losses of civilian and military lives reported by both parties, said the PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Armenia, Boriana Aberg (Sweden, EPP/CD) and Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland, SOC), and those for Azerbaijan, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) and Sir Roger Gale (United Kingdom, EC/DA), in a joint statement. We urge both parties to immediately cease armed hostilities, to de-escalate the situation and to return to the negotiating table in the Minsk Group format. In addition, we urge all other Council of Europe member States to refrain from any actions or discourse that could contribute to the tension and instability in this volatile region. We reiterate that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the statement said added. As we did in our joint statement in July 2020, when clashes took place along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, we underscore the explicit obligation incumbent on member States of the Council of Europe that they should resolve the conflicts between them by peaceful means only, they said. The Assembly stands ready to contribute, at the parliamentary level, to creating an environment conducive to peaceful negotiations within the Minsk Group format, they concluded. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The deaths of four people, including a Bay of Plenty child, is a sobering reminder for farm safety, says WorkSafe. WorkSafe has been notified of four fatalities on New Zealand farms in September. Two involved tractors in Te Kuiti and Hastings, another involved a child in a dairy shed in Opotiki, and on Monday there was a quad bike rollover in Central Hawkes Bay. Investigations have been opened into all four incidents. The two tractor incidents appear to have involved tractor drivers feeding out on steep terrain, says a statement from WorkSafe this morning. Initial reports indicate that the tractors may have slipped, causing the drivers to lose control. WorkSafe understands the dairy shed incident involved a piece of machinery. This weeks quad bike incident occurred on steep terrain. The investigations taking place will inform an accurate picture of the events but WorkSafe engagement lead for agriculture Al McCone, says immediate lessons from the events should be quickly heeded by others in the industry. This is the time of year where a lot of work is taking place. Farm work consists of a never-ending list of tasks and constant reprioritisation as weather, commodity prices and other factors outside and inside the farmer's influence change. It is a time of variable weather and growth, and variable ground surface conditions. Slope surfaces are especially tricky at this time of year. There is also a shortage of contractors and some farmers will be doing tractor work that normally a contractor might do with equipment better suited to the task. We cannot let these challenges contribute to loss of life or injury. The people with the most power to influence this are those on the ground each day doing the work. McCone says seatbelts should also be worn when doing farm work. Mistakes happen and your seatbelt might be the difference between a sore neck and a broken one. Understanding the role children play in a farming business is also critical, says McCone. Too often we are seeing children fatally injured in the workplace. That extends beyond the farm into other industries as well. From experience, we know that keeping an eye on them can be hard in a busy workplace. If your kids need to go to work with you, have a system in place that isolates them from where work is happening or where risks may be present. McCones recommendations for reducing the risk of harm on farm this season include: -Prioritising tractor and machinery maintenance. That should include attachments, good tyres and brakes. -Tired people make mistakes. Do difficult things earlier in the day - save the easy stuff for later. -If your vehicle is fitted with a seatbelt you should be using it. -Consider installing crush protection on your quad bike. -Ensuring that the vehicle is safely stopped and brakes are engaged before leaving the vehicle. -Ensuring that machinery with moving parts has the appropriate guarding fitted and in use. -Dont be afraid to seek assistance when you need to neighbouring farmers are always more than willing to offer a lending hand. KYODO NEWS - Sep 29, 2020 - 15:44 | World, All South Korea's coast guard said Tuesday it has concluded that a South Korean fisheries official who was shot to death at sea last week by North Korean troops likely tried to defect to North Korea. "The investigation team of the Coast Guard has judged that the missing official tried to defect to the North given the fact that he was wearing a life jacket when he was found by the North," the Korea Coast Guard said in a statement. It said its conclusion was based on information from the military, analysis of the possible direction that the man drifted at sea on a floating object, and other circumstantial evidence. "The North knew personal details of the missing official, he showed his willingness to defect to the North, and he was well aware of the surrounding coastal area of Yeonpyeong Island," it said. Related coverage: North Korea accuses South Korea of intrusion in search for national's body N. Korea leader apologizes for shooting death of S. Korean national South Korea says missing official was shot dead by N. Korean troops Yeonpyeong Island is located near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea. North Korea, a day after the official's death was announced last week, apologized to South Korea over the incident, while claiming its troops regarded him as an intruder. His body is still missing. South Korea has asked North Korea to hold joint investigation to clarify disputed facts and shed light on details of the incident. The missing official's brother met with foreign press later Tuesday and issued a plea to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for return of the dead body, while denying his sibling intended to defect to the North. Pakistan is on the cusp of a political storm after most major opposition parties demanded the countrys powerful generals surrender their stranglehold over politics and withdraw support for Prime Minister Imran Khans administration, which the opposition has vowed to oust through street agitation. On September 29, the newly former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) announced it would kick off a nationwide protest campaign on October 11. The announcement came a day after the showdown between the government and the opposition reached a fever pitch following the arrest of opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif in a money-laundering case that he says is politically motivated. Asif Ali Zardari, a former president and leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was indicted in a separate money-laundering case the same day. We want to make clear that the current selected [civilian] government is a mere showpiece, Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, a leader of Jamiat Ulama-e Islam (JUI), an Islamist party, said while reiterating the oppositions claim that the military rigged the 2018 election in Khans favor. We want to tell the forces propping up this government to cease supporting them because they have destroyed this nation and its poor, he said, alluding to the militarys continued support for Khans administration. Political turmoil in Pakistan is growing a week after Shehbazs elder brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), declared military interference as the root of political instability, economic decline, and diplomatic isolation for the Muslim country of 220 million people. It is sad to note that our problems have now moved beyond the state within the state to a state above the state, Sharif told opposition leaders on September 20, referring to the power of the army generals over the countrys formal constitutional political system. The disease of establishing parallel governments is the root cause of our problems. Khans administration and the military, however, have rejected Sharifs criticism. They blame opposition leaders for fomenting instability as a pressure tactic to get rid of the anti-graft investigations and court cases they face. Such disagreements have put the countrys politics in a bind. The military, which has ruled Pakistan directly for nearly half of its 73-year history, isnt ready for popular opposition, particularly from within the eastern province of Punjab. The countrys most populous province is the key recruiting ground for the military and a key bastion of the PML-N, whose leadership comes from the regions business elites. A key election for the Senate or upper house of the Pakistani parliament also looms large over the oppositions strategy. The vote in March 2021 will strengthen Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI). The party is currently a minority party in the Senate, which prevents it from adopting any meaningful legislation. Suhail Warraich, a senior journalist, says the coming weeks and months will see increased political turmoil. Conventional wisdom holds that the government becomes strong after sending the opposition to prison, he wrote. But in reality, when the oppositions got its back up against the wall, it fights back and conspires with different forces. Rhetoric by senior opposition leaders, however, indicates they have had enough. We cannot live in this country as slaves, JUI leader Maulana Fazal-ur Rehman told supporters on September 28. Rehman issued a warning to the military, without mentioning it by name. If you continue to act badly then your fate might not be different from what happened to America in [neighboring] Afghanistan, he said in a veiled threat to adopt Taliban tactics. Most JUI leaders are Deobandi clerics and run a network of thousands of madrasahs, where most leaders and many foot soldiers of the Taliban were educated. The JUI has shunned violence and adopted parliamentary politics as a means to political power. Rehmans bold strategy appears to have paid off. Pakistani media reported that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the anti-graft body, served Rehman a notice following the September 20 opposition gathering that formed the PDM. But on September 29 NAB reportedly said it had not called Rehman in for questioning over alleged corruption. Lawmaker Maulana Attaur Rehman, his younger brother, said NAB had arrested Musa Khan, a key confidant of Rehmans, while police had begun arresting JUI supporters. We have decided to protest at the provincial level and will hold a sit-in protest in front of the Corps Commander House in Peshawar, he told Samaa, a private television news station, on September 28. The corps commander is one of the most senior army field commanders who leads troops in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where Peshawar is the capital. The JUI is a major electoral force in the region, which borders Afghanistan. We will protest there because we know [who is the real power] behind this government. But last week Major General Babar Iftikhar, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had a clear message during a recent meeting with a senior PML-N leader. The army chief made it clear that their [the oppositions] legal problems will be solved in Pakistans courts while the political issues will be resolved in the parliament, he told the ARY television station. He reiterated that the army should be kept away from these issues. Fawad Chaudhry, the science and technology minister in Khans administration, reiterated the governments stance that all of the oppositions criticism is aimed at saving their necks in graft cases. They [the opposition] are asking why the judiciary and the military are not lending a helping hand in protecting the money of Nawaz Sharif and his family," he told Geo television. Such a wide gulf between the government and the oppositions perspectives hints that the countrys political battle is likely to be fought in the public sphere. Opposition politicians are adamant that in the absence of any major improvement in the economy or security amid mounting censorship and authoritarianism, Pakistanis will be more amenable to taking to the streets in protest. Sometimes, a hero has four legs and looks adorable but would kill you if they wanted to. Sometimes, a hero is a man's best friend with special training. Meet Sophia, also known as Shiksha, the bomb-sniffing dog who saved a lot of lives in Chhattisgarh after locating about 7kgs of explosives. ITBP/Twitter The specially trained member of the bomb disposal squad of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) successfully managed to detect an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by suspected Maoists on an under-construction road in Chhattisgarhs Rajnandgaon district. Sophia was one of the 16 dogs who joined the forces back in 2016 and has always been a brave doggo. Sharing her recent stint at saving multiple lives, the ITBP posted about the incident and had everyone hailing Sophia as the hero that she is. Dog Malinois Sophia also known as sniffs the explosive. 40th Battalion ITBP unearthed an IED weighing 7 KG on an under construction road link between Bega Salewara to Samudpani in Bakarkatta, District Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh today. The IED was later destroyed#Himveers pic.twitter.com/QcvxqugocP ITBP (@ITBP_official) September 27, 2020 Such a good girl (@hindoostxn) September 27, 2020 True friends for paramilitary forces https://t.co/cIdlEAsh14 Abhishek bhati (@Abhishe95545860) September 27, 2020 Sophia was awarded first ever Annual Best K9 medal of ITBP in 2016 at ITBP Raising Day Parade. https://t.co/1moAmQNup0 Vivek Kumar Pandey / (@vivekitbp) September 27, 2020 Good work solider https://t.co/j6fSoF5NWD MohiT ChaudharY (@MohitCh22827561) September 27, 2020 Highly commendable a job! Sam Das (@SamDasTweets) September 28, 2020 Oh definitely.The truest friend.She's always been impressive.Yes!Very commendable, for sure. Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, attends the opening of the 30th Arab Summit, in Tunis, Tunisia, on March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/Pool Photo via AP/File) Kuwait Ruler, Longtime Diplomat Sheikh Sabah, Dies at Age 91 DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesSheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nations top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. He was 91. In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts at pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. His 2006 ascension in Kuwait, a staunch U.S. ally since the American-led war that expelled occupying Iraqi troops, came after parliament voted unanimously to oust his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, just nine days into his rule. Yet as Kuwaits ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, and seesawing crude oil prices that chewed into a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies. President Donald Trump (R) and Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah take part in a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs, said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait. No question he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and more brash young princes holding power today. State television announced his death after playing Quranic prayers, with Royal Court Minister Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al Sabah reading a brief statement, his hands shaking. With great sadness and sorrow, the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world mourn the death of the late His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, emir of the state of Kuwait who moved to the realm of the Lord, the sheikh said, without offering a cause of death. Sheikh Sabah is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The high regard for Sheikh Sabah could be seen in the outpouring of support for him across the Mideast as he suddenly fell ill in July 2020, leading to a quick hospitalization and surgery in Kuwait City amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Authorities did not say what ailed him. A U.S. Air Force C-17 flying hospital then transported Sheikh Sabah from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinican extraordinary gesture by the American government for a foreign head of state. The Mayo Clinic did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York on Sept. 26, 2015. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) Sheikh Sabahs life spanned two very different Kuwaits. He was born June 16, 1929, just as the countrys pearl-diving industry would collapse. Within the decade, Kuwait would strike oil. Engineers would eventually confirm that the tiny country, slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, had the worlds sixth-largest known oil reserves. Sheikh Sabah became Kuwaits foreign minister in 1963 after holding a number of other governmental posts. He would remain in that position for four decades, making him one of the worlds longest-serving foreign ministers. His countrys greatest crisis came in 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the nation for seven months. Fleeing with other Kuwaiti officials to neighboring Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Sabah collapsed and lost consciousness at one particularly stormy meeting of Arab leaders. On Feb. 24, 1991, U.S. troops and their allies stormed into Kuwait. It ended 100 hours later. America suffered only 148 combat deaths during the whole campaign, while over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed. Even before the U.S. entered Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah and others began suggesting a permanent American presence in the region might provide them protection from Iraq and others. One learns from the past and learns about it for the future, Sheikh Sabah reportedly said. One has to consider arrangements that would make not only my country stable but make the whole area stable. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) shakes hands with Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah, in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on March 20, 2019. (Jim Young/Pool Photo via AP) Today, Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of U.S. Army Central. In 2003, his half brother and Kuwaits then-emir, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, named Sheikh Sabah as the countrys prime minister. Although the move kept members of the Al Sabah family firmly in control of Kuwait, it was seen as a modest step toward reform as it marked the first time that the roles of prime minister and crown princethe next in line to the thronewere split. It also formalized Sheikh Sabahs role in running the daily affairs of the countrya responsibility he had increasingly assumed while the former prime minister, Sheikh Saad, struggled with health problems. Despite those health problems, Sheikh Saad took power in 2006 after the death of Sheikh Jaber. Concerns mounted during his brief reign as he was seen in public only in a wheelchair and did not speak. Parliament ended up voting 64-0 to have Sheikh Sabah become emir, following a similar Cabinet decision. Sheikh Saad then submitted a letter of resignation. The vote, while largely symbolic, marked a small victory for democracy among the autocratic Gulf Arab states. It was the first time in Kuwaits history that the legislature had a role in choosing the emir. Sheikh Sabah proved a savvy player of the internal politics of the ruling family, Diwan said. Domestically, Sheikh Sabah faced the challenge of falling oil prices in recent years. He dissolved parliament several times as lawmakers kept questioning appointed government ministers, some of them members of his extended family. As the 2011 Arab Spring swept the region, Sheikh Sabah ordered 1,000 dinar ($3,559) grants and free food coupons for every Kuwaiti. But allegations swirled at the time that some lawmakers had been bribed $350 million by the government to sway their votes, along with rumors that they were involved in embezzling state funds. Amid strikes and confrontations with police, protesters briefly entered parliament, waving flags and singing the countrys national anthem. Sheikh Sabah nevertheless maintained power while still allowing protests, a rarity among Gulf leaders. Internationally, Sheikh Sabah embraced Iraq after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam. He twice visited the country and helped Iraq and Kuwait reach a $500 million deal in 2012 to settle a long-running legal dispute between their state airlines over allegations of large-scale theft by Saddam. (LR) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani of Bahrain and foreign ministers Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah of Kuwait, Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah of Qatar, Yusuf bin Alawi of Oman, Adel al-Jubeir of Saudi Arabia, Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa of Bahrain, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Emirates at an extraordinary GCC meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Jan. 9, 2016. (Ahmed Farwan/AFP/Getty Images) The emir also hosted a summit in 2018 that saw $30 billion pledged to help rebuild Iraq after the war against the Islamic State group. Thats even as Iraq still owes Kuwait reparations from Saddams 1990 invasion. Sheikh Sabah also played a role in raising aid funds for Syrians suffering as a result of that countrys civil war, hosting international donor conferences in 2013 and 2014, and pledging hundreds of millions of dollars of Kuwaiti wealth. One of his greatest challenges as a diplomat, however, came with the boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations that began in 2017. Sheikh Sabah positioned himself as a mediator for the political dispute, which he warned in a White House appearance in 2017 could have led to an armed conflict. Thank God, now, what is important is that we have stopped any military action, Sheikh Sabah said. Those mediation efforts have yet to resolve the crisis, but he did manage to get Qatars prime minister to shake hands on live television with Saudi King Salman at a 2019 meeting in Mecca. We believe that wisdom will prevail, Sheikh Sabah once said. A longtime widower, Sheikh Sabah lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, which was named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. He is survived by two sons. By Jon Gambrell and Adam Schreck Credit: CC0 Public Domain To manage and conserve natural ecosystems, it is essential to know how biodiversity changes. As one of those questions, it is important to know whether we are we gaining or loosing species. However, getting reliable measurements to study this is a complex task. Data can be collected by researchers during field trips, but a vast amount of data is also provided by different initiatives such as citizen science programs. However, to ensure measurements are reliable, samples need to be representative of the real world. If samples are not representative, they are biased. In their study, scientists from iDiv, UL and MLU showed that a bias can dramatically change the measurements of biodiversity change. They focused on the so-called site-selection bias, where sampling sites are not selected representatively. For example, if a person wanted to find out how the number of butterfly species is changing in the area over the next ten years, this person will likely not choose a typical and average spot, such as a little meadow behind a supermarket. Instead, a place such as a clearing in the park may seem well suited. Thus, the sampling site is biased towards where many butterfly species can be found. This is the site-selection bias. Site-selection bias may amplify or even reverse trends Using a computer simulation, the scientists showed that this bias can lead to false conclusions about how biodiversity changes. "If we measure biodiversity at places that have unusually many species, statistical principles suggest that we will more likely observe a drop in species numbers over time," said first author Dr. Andrea Mentges from iDiv and UL. The biased choice of where to take samples may manipulate the collected data and even lead to wrong conclusions. "We found that site-selection bias can even make our measurements point into the wrong direction: while for example in reality we are gaining species, our measurements would falsely suggest that the number of species goes down. This makes clear how important it is to choose representative sampling sites." The scientists analyzed how wide-spread such site-selection biases are, and found that they can potentially occur in many data sources, such as data collected by museums, national parks, citizen scientists and academic researchers. Whether the site-selection bias affects the measurements depends on the purpose of the collection. The data on the butterflies counted in the local park may still be informative, said Andrea Mentges: "Such data can be used to find out if a certain butterfly species can still be found in the area or if new species are immigrating. But if we use it to find out whether butterfly numbers are increasing or decreasing in the surrounding landscape, we might be wrong." Citizen scientists more likely to choose 'cool' spots For their study, the scientists also looked at 44 citizen science initiatives. In many programs, participants were allowed to choose sites themselves. This free site selection can potentially lead to a biasdepending strongly on the training participants received. Andrea Mentges said: "We assume that if people are not explicitly told that it is important to choose a 'normal' site they will always tend to choose a 'cool' spot. That's why we think such programs can potentially be problematic when there is no in-person training or instructions available online that also focus on site selection." In Germany, such training is not very common in citizen science initiatives. Although information material is available to interested participants this may not always prevent a site-selection biasfor example, when participants are encouraged to look for meadows and flower-rich wayside for their observations. "These are great initiatives that collect a lot of useful data," said Andrea Mentges. "But it may not be suitable for some research questionsfor example, whether the number of a certain butterfly species such as the small tortoiseshell is going up or down in general." However, such site-selection biases can easily be prevented. Prof Dr. Jonathan Chase, head of the Biodiversity Synthesis group at iDiv and professor at MLU, said: "The most objective way would be to use systematic, computer-based site-selection schemes, these are also applied more and more often. But it's always a fine line between scientific accuracy and practical feasibility. And, of course, citizen science programs owe their existence to the motivation of the many volunteers contributing with their data." More information: Andrea Mentges et al, Effects of siteselection bias on estimates of biodiversity change, Conservation Biology (2020). Journal information: Conservation Biology Andrea Mentges et al, Effects of siteselection bias on estimates of biodiversity change,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13610 Provided by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig - Ghanaian actress Moesha Boduong has been accused of begging for Laycons attention on social media - Laycon is the winner of the 2020 edition of the Big Brother Nigeria (BBNaija) reality show - Moesha said she wishes Laycon would fall in love with her and give her his prize money - She shared a meme on social media that she was reading a book on how to achieve her goal Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Ghanaian actress Moesha has been accused of begging Laycon, the winner of the 2020 edition of BBNaija, for his attention. In two new posts sighted by YEN.com.gh, Moesha shared the trending memes reading a book about a subject of interest. For Moesha, she said she was reading on how to make Laycon fall in love with her and gift her his prize money for emerging the winner of the reality show. Moesha and the BBNaija winner Laycon. Photo credit: @moeshaboduong @itslaycon Source: Instagram Some fans have concluded that Moesha was doing what is known in the local parlance as Ahusheshe to gain Laycons attention. Others have concluded on her post saying that her quest to have Laycons attention will not work. Nana, Collins, and Tilly, for instance, said Moeshas trick wont work: dear_nana_adwoa: it won't work la. bracollins99: It will never work LA. tilly.babe2g: My dear fogerrit, it won't work. Cherry also wrote that it wont happen as Moesha wants it: ch_erry1166: E no go happen wai. Yoofi called Moesha an opportunist: yoofi_grant: Opportunists. Ama said Moesha could still get a man in Ghana to give her even more money: nana_ama_afful: But some papa nom in Ghana here are paying more than this money to some ladies. Mcward also wrote that Laycon will not fall for Moesha: nana_mcward: Moesha likes money chai,he will not fall for you biaaaa. Meanwhile, Moesha was in the news recently when she cried that her friends are jealous of her and always want to tarnish her image. According to her, one of the friends even paid money to some people to have her destroyed. Moesha also revealed that yet another friend stole her boyfriends phone number from her phone and called him to stain her reputation. She trended massively in the news some time ago when she disclosed in an interview with CNN that she depends on another womans husband to live the plush lifestyle she flaunts on social media. VGMA21 full performances | #Yencomgh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Unidentified gunmen, allegedly belonging to the Volta Secessionist group, have attacked the Intercity STC transportation yard in the Ho Municipality and set some buses ablaze. David Owusu Acheampong, a driver, told GNA he was sleeping in one of the busses at about 0200 hours when he heard gunshots. He said the gunmen accosted him and ordered him to lie down on the ground when he tried to exit the vehicle. He said two gunmen rushed on the security man, beat him up and demanded keys to the facility. Acheampong said he escaped by scaling the wall. He said he heard gunshots while fleeing the scene, adding that about dozen gunmen set the bus ablaze. One bus was completely burnt while a second was partly damaged. Mr Richard Ahiafor, Regional Manager of the STC, told GNA the arsonists demanded the keys to the office in an apparent attempt to destroy the whole yard. He said the incident was reported to the Police and National Security and announced that service had been called off until further notice. Military and police personnel have cordoned off the area. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Canaan Partners Leads Series B for Zero Trust Access Leader out to Replace VPNs with Simple, More Secure Approach to Remote Application Access SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /CNW/ -- Axis Security, the leader in Zero Trust Access, today announced $32 million in Series B funding led by Canaan Partners, with participation from existing investors Ten Eleven Ventures and Cyberstarts. Axis will use the funds to accelerate growth and meet market demand driven largely by COVID-19 and the work from anywhere (WFA) movement sweeping the globe. As part of the funding round, Canaan Partners general partner Joydeep Bhattacharyya has joined Axis Security's board of directors. "Axis has quickly established itself with a differentiated, already proven approach to the decades-old problem of securing application access," said Bhattacharyya. "What has been most impressive to us is how the company has moved quickly and met the opportunity since coming out of stealth in March. It is a testament to the team and the power of the Axis platform. The company is rising at the right moment and we are humbled to become their partner at such a pivotal time." The new funding will drive Axis' continued development of its Zero Trust platform and expansion outside of North America, while enabling further investment in go-to-market resources, including an expanded channel program and team. Of note, the company today also announced enhancements to its Axis Application Access Cloud, as well as integrations with leading security providers CrowdStrike, Splunk and Okta. Many organizations have quickly found securely connecting large numbers of users to company data and apps, required by new WFA policies, to be nearly impossible with traditional solutions such as virtual private networks (VPNs). The Axis Security App Access Cloud solves the issue of implicitly open network access with a modern approach. It alleviates the pain points of network-based security associated with VPNs which can be complex, agent-based, slow to deploy and hard to manage, especially when providing access to third-party supply chain partners, vendors, contractors and remote employees at scale. "Our approach is a proven game-changer for customers," said Dor Knafo, co-founder and CEO of Axis Security. "We're solving one of the most complex security challenges IT faces right now in rapidly onboarding remote workers and third parties simply and securely. Doing this at scale is proving to be far more difficult than many organizations expected. We're giving IT teams a single, managed solution for access, security, control and scalability without the complexity and end-user headaches of what's available today." "When it comes to application access for third parties, maintaining a Zero Trust posture and having the ability to do continuous security monitoring of every user, request and action is what separates the Axis Application Access Cloud from legacy VPN solutions," said Prabash Coswatte, CISO of leading Hispanic supermarket chain Cardenas Markets. Alex Doll, founder and managing general partner of Ten Eleven Ventures, stated, "Axis has quickly accelerated its growth with an innovative, cloud-centric approach that reduces the management burden associated with traditional VPN architectures. This technology is a win-win for both IT and end users, easily and rapidly enabling many more kinds of secure access use cases." Gili Raanan, founder and general partner of Cyberstarts, said, "We are thrilled to be early partners with Dor, Gil and their entire team, all of whom are doing amazing work to disrupt the marketplace at a time when it is ripe for transformational change. With Axis' technology, we expect VPNs to be significantly displaced over the next couple of years and that's why we are all in on Axis." Founded by Knafo and Gil Azrielant , Axis has raised a total of $49 million. Ten Eleven Ventures led the Series A, while Cyberstarts led the seed round, both announced in March 2020. Additional investors included Dan Amiga, founder of Fireglass, and board member Michael Fey, co-founder and CEO of Zero Abstraction and former president of Symantec and Blue Coat. About Axis Security Axis Security's Application Access Cloud is a purpose-built cloud-based solution that makes application access amazingly simple. Built on a zero-trust approach, the solution offers a new agentless model that delivers the easiest and safest way to connect users anywhere on any device, to Enterprise apps, without ever touching the network or the apps themselves. Axis Security is a privately-held company backed by Canaan Partners, Ten Eleven Ventures and Cyberstarts. It is headquartered in San Mateo, California with research and development in Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.axissecurity.com . Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . About Canaan Partners For nearly 30 years, Canaan Partners has been investing in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas to improve the way we live our lives. With over $5 billion under management and more than 160 exits to date, Canaan has funded some of the world's most innovative companies in both technology and healthcare. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Canaan also has offices in New York City and Westport, Connecticut. For more information, visit us at www.canaan.com and follow us on Twitter @canaanpartners. About Ten Eleven Ventures Ten Eleven Ventures is the original venture capital firm focused solely on investing in digital security. The firm invests globally and at all stages, from seed to growth (the latter via its Joint Investment Alliance with KKR). Since its founding in 2015, Ten Eleven Ventures has raised nearly $500M and invested in 25 leading cybersecurity companies including Twistlock, Verodin, Cylance, KnowBe4, Darktrace, and Ping Identity. For more information, visit https://www.1011vc.com and follow us on Twitter @1011vc. About Cyberstarts Cyberstarts is a venture capital firm focused on cyber security and is backed by successful cyber security entrepreneurs. Cyberstarts is a leading platform for amazing teams of entrepreneurs solving the next big pain points in the cyber security world. Cyberstarts founder, Gili Raanan, was the first investor in cyber security focused companies like Armis, Adallom, Onavo and Fireblocks. www.cyberstarts.com SOURCE Axis Security For further information: Janet Brumfield, Guyer Group for Axis Security, 614.582.9636, [email protected], https://axissecurity.com Related Links https://axissecurity.com By PTI PATNA: Spurned by the NDA and disowned by the RJD-helmed Grand Alliance, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday announced another front ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar, comprising Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and a non- descript Janatantrik Party (Socialist). Addressing a press conference here, the former Union minister said that the yet to be named front will contest all 243 Assembly segments in the state with the promise of "abki baar shiksha waali sarkaar (this time a government for education)" which would usher in an era of growth and employment generation in the state. Kushwaha's front is the fifth political alliance in Bihar after the NDA, GA, UDSA (Owaisi), and Pappu Yadav led PDA. It is a vox populi that BJP is directly or indirectly influencing the politics and decision-making of RJD the way the BJP is fermenting rift between JD-U and the LJP playing a deep political game, Kushwaha alleged, asking the like-minded other parties in opposition of both NDA and the GA to join hand with his alliance to save the state. Upendra Kushwaha claims to be the leader of people belonging Kushwaha community which constitutes 8% of states total population among other extremely backward castes. Kushwaha termed the 15-year rule of Nitish Kumar and the preceding decade and a half when Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi ruled the state as "two facets of the same coin", neither of which did anything substantial to eradicate corruption and bring about improvements in health and education. He defended his decision of joining hands with the RJD less than two years ago. The RLSP chief who recently burnt his bridges with Lalu Prasad's party by opening a front against his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, said, "I had joined the Grand Alliance to help form an alternative government at the Centre. I was not helping the RJD form a new government in Bihar". On September 24, when he was "authorized" by the party to decide its future course, it was an indication that the RLSP's exit from the Grand Alliance was a mere formality. Kushwaha had then said that he would continue in the Grand Alliance only if the coalition agreed upon a Chief Ministerial face other than Tejashwi Yadav who, according to him, was "no match to Nitish Kumar". Asked whether he was isolated on the issue within the coalition, Kushwaha said, "Not at all. Just look at the Congress, the second largest constituent. It is still skeptical on the question of Tejashwi. Moreover, only recently Jitan Ram Manjhi quit the coalition and walked over to the NDA because of differences he had on this very issue." Kushwaha evaded questions about talks he reportedly had with leaders of the NDA in Patna and New Delhi. READ | Bihar polls: Tejasvi takes on Tejashwi over RJDs 10 lakh government jobs promise "The Grand Alliance was unable to take a decision on leadership in time. The filing of nominations will begin from October 1. And we had to make a move for the betterment of Bihar," he said. Kushwaha said that his front now has the RLSP, BSP, and the Janatantrik Party (Socialist), a party based in Uttar Pradesh where it has a marginal presence. The RLSP chief claimed that many more parties have evinced interest in joining his newly-formed front but he was tight-lipped when asked whether he would welcome Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which seems to be on a collision course with the JD(U)-BJP combine. Kushwaha, who had served as the minister of state for human resource development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi till December 2017, said, "It appears the BJP is calling the shots everywhere. It controls the Nitish Kumar government and even the RJD seems to be playing into its hands. " He also dismissed as "speculations by the media" reports that he was insistent on contesting the by-poll to Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat where voting is scheduled to take place on November 7. Sources in the party also said that Valmikinagar was "never on the agenda" since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had decided to field from the seat a close family member of Baidyanath Mahto, the JD(U) MP whose death necessitated the by-election. They also said that neither Kumar nor the BJP was averse to the RLSP's return to the NDA, "but uncertainty over the prospects of the LJP" and the saffron party's insistence that it join the coalition "unconditionally, without pressing for a guaranteed number of seats in elections", threw a spanner. Kushwaha also sought to make light of the exit of state unit chief Bhudev Chaudhary, whose crossing over to the RJD on the previous day came as a rude shock to the RLSP. "I have let loose my boat in the ocean with the intent to reach the other shore. The faint-hearted are welcome to alight whenever they want", he said, attempting a poetic flourish. While the Assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest. On Monday, Jan Adhikar Party founder Pappu Yadav announced a tie-up with the Bhim Army of Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan. A week ago, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had announced the formation of a front in which he was joined by Devendra Prasad Yadav, a veteran socialist leader who has formed his own party. LYNDHURST, Ohio Fatal crash: Brainard Road At 8:50 p.m. Sept. 25, a car driven by a California man, 40, struck a utility pole at Brainard Road near Mayfield Road. The car then struck a tree and a car parked in a residents driveway before catching fire. The impact pushed the parked car into its owners house. The driver, who died as a result of the crash, was the cars lone occupant. Police are investigating what caused the crash. A CEI crew was called to the site, as electric wires were pulled from poles. Assist person: South Sedgewick Road At 4:55 a.m. Sept. 27, a man, 41, reported that his former girlfriend, 29, of Parma, had made threats against him. Police contacted the woman and told her not to contact the man any more. Police gave special attention to the mans home and told him to call back should the woman contact him again. It was the second time that the man had sought help from police: At 8:55 p.m. Sept. 21, the man also reported threats the woman had made. Police also contacted the woman on Sept. 21 and told her to cease making threats. The woman has not been charged. Disturbance: Churchill Road At 12:45 a.m. Sept. 26, a woman, 20, notified police that two cars were at her house and that the girls in the cars wanted to fight her sister, 17. The suspects drove from the house before police arrived, but police were able to locate and stop the cars. The girls were upset about an Instagram post made by the 17-year-old. The girls' parents picked them up at the police station. Suspicion: Mayfield Road At 5:15 p.m. Sept. 24, a Lyndhurst girl, 14, flagged down a police officer to state that she had received text messages from a man, 21, who wanted to meet her at the BP of Lyndhurst gas station, 5615 Mayfield Road. The girl was uncooperative with police when asked questions about the meeting. She said she didnt make an arrangement to meet the man and didnt know how he knew where she was. Police found the man waiting in the gas station lot. The man, actually a 24-year-old from Cleveland, said he just wanted to meet the girl to smoke with her. Marijuana and a scale were found in his car. The girls mother was called to the scene to pick her up. The man was issued a warning for possession of drug paraphernalia. Drug abuse: Mayfield Road At 8:30 p.m. Sept. 23, an officer stopped a speeding car on Mayfield Road driven by a South Euclid woman, 28. The car was stopped in the parking lot of Walgreens, 1443 Richmond Road. While the officer was conducting the traffic stop, a male pedestrian called police and stated that the speeding car had almost struck him moments earlier as he walked. Inside the womans car, police found a small amount of marijuana. The woman was cited for speeding, driving with a suspended license and driving without a license. Read more from the Sun Messenger. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 14:59 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f3e2c 1 National COVID-19,public-communication,Mafindo,Lapor-COVID-19,politics,health,governance Free Activists and public health experts have criticized the government for failing to balance between optimistic and cautionary messages in disseminating COVID-19 information, which they say could undermine public health measures to tackle the pandemic. Indonesia has been struggling to communicate and carry out a consistent and effective response to the current pandemic, owing partly to the sheer complexity of a bureaucracy responsible for more than 260 million people. As a result, an increasing number of state actors have opted for action that, more often than not, causes friction and confusion as to how best to respond to a multifaceted crisis in Southeast Asias largest economy. Anita Wahid, a member of the committee for the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo), said she had noticed recently that the government had a tendency to convey an optimistic tone in its public communications, but without including a message calling for vigilance to prevent transmission. Anita said she was concerned that, if this were to continue, the public would be split into those who comply with health protocol and those who underestimate the threat of the disease, further dividing society. The anti-hoax activist noted that, for instance, there were cases where gravediggers were being harassed by bereaved members of a victims family for insisting on proper COVID-19 burial protocol. This, Anita said, illustrated a widening rift in society that could lead to even bigger conflict. It is true that we really need to be given hope that we can get through this problem, but what is actually important and what the government has missed is that there is a need to balance that hope with cautiousness, she told The Jakarta Post on Monday. Read also: Govt consistent in prioritizing health in handling COVID-19, Jokowi says President Joko Jokowi Widodo said on Saturday that Indonesias case number was still lower than those of India and the United States, but he failed to mention that the scale of testing in the country lags behind the two others. According to the most recent data on ourworldindata.org, Indonesia has carried out 111 daily tests per 1 million people, whereas India and the US logged 784 and 2,201 daily tests per 1 million people, respectively. Meanwhile, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan recently instructed state-owned companies to speed up the local production of remdesivir, while the President promised in March to provide millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. Neither drug is a proven treatment for COVID-19, and they are still being tested. But while providing prompt curative solutions is important, experts have underlined the greater urgency of taking preventive action to limit surging cases that may overwhelm healthcare capabilities. Irma Hidayana, cofounder of the LaporCOVID-19 volunteer group, said the governments statements attempted to illustrate that it had been doing well to limit virus transmission, when actually the opposite was true. Indonesia has seen a continuously rising number of cases since March. The nation logged record daily highs, all above 4,400 new cases, for three consecutive days last week. As of Monday, the official number of infections nationwide stands at 278,722, with more than 10,000 deaths. Read also: Indonesia's latest official COVID-19 figures This has put a continuous strain on the countrys healthcare system, with hospitals being inundated by patients and practitioners overworked. Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto on Sept. 10 appeared to play down Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedans suggestion that the capital needed to return to large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) amid an alarming shortage of hospital beds, saying the state had enough funds to increase capacity as needed. Anies eventually reimposed PSBB on Sept.14, prompting further protests from the Presidential Palace. LaporCOVID-19 has assisted dozens of people with COVID-19 who had difficulties finding hospital beds, not only in Jakarta, Irma said. If the situation is unclear, tell it like it is. But accompany it with instructive information, so as to raise peoples awareness, she told the Post on Monday. Show us the data and information that proves things are not fine but that we can work through it with some requirements, including strong regulations and protections for the people. The mixed messages the government is articulating have adverse effects on the health sector. Read also: Six months on, health experts covet greater voice in pandemic response Bambang Pujo Semedi, head intensive care unit (ICU) doctor at East Java's main COVID-19 referral hospital, Dr. Soetomo, said government officials should refrain from "lullabying" the public with their statements, which sometimes come off as neither correct nor appropriate. Pujo, who also heads the Intensive Care Doctor Association (PERDICI), called on officials to amplify the message that COVID-19 still could be dangerous and that medical experts still dont know much about its long-term effects. He also wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are only around 330 intensivist doctors, 2,600 anesthetists and 8,000 intensivist nurses in the country, and that they were neither evenly distributed nor always treating COVID-19 patients. "Honestly, we've been stressed out from having to deal with patients in really bad condition and the many who died. This is what the general public can't see, but we see it directly every day," Pujo said. All Jefferson County Drainage District 6 employees will get a 2% cost of living adjustment this year - the same amount as was approved by Commissioners Court for non-union employees earlier this month. Hours after the DD6 board unanimously approved the increase and its entire 2020-2021 budget unanimously, the move was commended by Jefferson County commissioners who had been critical of the board just last week. The board faced intense scrutiny over the past few weeks in the aftermath of a 3-2 vote to approve a budget that included sizable raises for 11 members of management as well as a 3% cost of living adjustment. District Chief Financial Officer Chuck Oakley later said the 3% figure included a 1.5% merit raise and a 1.5% adjustment. Tuesdays move to revoke approval of the early-September budget and move forward with smaller salary increases was more reasonable at this time, said Jefferson County Commissioners Eddie Arnold and Everette Bo Alfred. Related: DD6 board change ahead after contentious pay hikes I think in this time of considerable concern over COVID and other issues, having the raise that was initially proposed and voted onw as not the right move, Arnold said. The commissioners comments came after unanimously appointing local rice farmer and rancher Chuck Kicker to fill the unexpired term of Miriam Johnson. She resigned last week without giving a reason. Drainage District board member Tony Malley suggested the board push back the reconsideration of the 2020-2021 budget until Kiker could be seated. But the fiscal year begins Thursday. Malley ultimately suggested the 2% increase, after being given the option of no increase, 1%, 2% and 3% by District Manager Joe Majdalani. Malley said 2% would match what the county gave its employees and fell closer in line with the 1.1% to 1.8% increase in the consumer price index for the region. Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox The budget also includes a statement that makes clear that it does not include any other raises. Kiker soon will officially be seated on the board and, if he had majority support, the budget could be amended at any time. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, who chose Kiker, said he was making good on a post-Harvey promise to west Jefferson County residents that his next appointment to the board would be a rice farmer who understands how rice flows or an engineer. Mr. Kiker fits both of those roles, he said. He studied engineering at both Texas A&M and Lamar University. Hes a rice farmer and a businessman. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/KaitlinBain ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- In June, a high school student discovered a decapitated and dismembered body in a swimming hole on the Mga River just outside St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city. Using the serial numbers of Irish-made breast implants found on the body, police identified the victim as 23-year-old Jamshid Hatamjonov, a transgender sex worker from Uzbekistan who preferred the name Tamara. She had disappeared in St. Petersburg five months earlier, on the night of January 12-13. Last week, a court sanctioned the arrest of 53-year-old actor and theater producer Yury Yanovsky in connection with the case. Investigators allege that Yanovsky was Hatamjonov's last client and that he killed her in a St. Petersburg hotel using a knife and a saw. The case, which has been all but ignored by local media, highlights the perilous vulnerability of transgender people in Russia, particularly those who have come to the country to escape even more dangerous intolerance in their home countries, activists say. "The victim was a transsexual sex worker, a person who survived because of commercial sex," said Dzhonni Dzhibladze, the coordinator for transgender support of the St. Petersburg lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) group Vykhod (Escape). "This is a common story for transgender women from the near abroad, particularly Central Asia. In Uzbekistan, there is no procedure for changing the documents of transgender people." In their home countries, many trans people face homophobia, as well as hostility and violence from relatives who feel "dishonored." "Sometimes, if a story becomes public, [relatives] might even murder them," Dzhibladze added. Unwilling To Turn To The Police In Russia, however, transgender people from other countries often find themselves in vulnerable positions, victims of both homophobia and xenophobia. "They have to go to their home countries every 90 days [under Russian migration law]," Dzhibladze said. "That costs money and, also, they can be victimized at the border by border and customs officials. These women with men's passports can be cross-prosecuted on two criminal counts -- violating migration law and providing sex services. And deportation to Uzbekistan means a five-year ban on reentering Russia." This predicament means that they are very often unwilling to turn to the police, even in cases when their lives are in danger. "For them, the state is a greater threat than even the most insane client," Dzhibladze said. "We know people who knew this murdered trans woman, who lived with her and, most likely, worked with her," Dzhibladze added. "But none of her acquaintances are willing to testify in court or even to admit that they knew the victim." "No one knows what happened between the murdered trans woman and her client," he added. "But the important thing is that even if he threatened her, she couldn't turn to the police, whom she almost certainly feared more than even the most aggressive client." A Vykhod report on the LBGT community in St. Petersburg in 2019 found that the vast majority of the survey's 342 respondents did not report incidents of hate-based discrimination or violence to the police. Fifty-four percent said they did not believe the police would help them effectively; 37 percent said they avoided all interaction with the police; 18 percent said they were unwilling to discuss their sexual orientation or transgender status with the police, while 9 percent said they feared their tormentor would find out that they had turned to the police and the situation would be made worse. 'Trans-Panic' Aggression Transgender sex workers frequently encounter rage from clients who feel ashamed after interacting with them, said psychologist Dmitry Isayev. "He doesn't like such feelings and does not accept them in himself," Isayev told RFE/RL, describing a phenomenon that is known by the term "trans-panic." "By destroying the object of his attraction, he tries to destroy this negative thing within himself. This mechanism leads transgender people to be the objects of aggression. We don't know how many are killed in Russia each year. Two or three cases are identified every year, but it is clear that there are many more that are hidden among the general murder statistics." "Many trans women are pushed into sex work because they can't find any other employment," said St. Petersburg trans woman Yekaterina Messorosh. "And this sphere is dangerous in general and fraught with violence, even without the element of transphobia. I have encountered instances of trans-panic myself and the aggression that comes with it." Aleksei Sergeyev, coordinator of the Heterosexual-LGBT Alliance for Equality, said transgender people often encounter intolerance even within the LGBT community. "I recently met a man from Kyrgyzstan who is gay, but who does not accept transgender people," Sergeyev said. "He said he would hand them over to be executed himself. Transphobia remains pretty strong even inside the LGBT community." Activist Dzhibladze describes transgender people as "one of the most socially vulnerable minorities in Russia, particularly those who are not able to change their documents." "For years they cannot get official work simply because their appearance does not match their passport," he said. "Only the most dangerous activity is open to them -- commercial sex work." Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson based on reporting from St. Petersburg by Tatyana Voltskaya, a correspondent for RFE/RL's Russian Service. UPDATE: Oct 13: "A second facility, specializing on those participating in Hawaiis Safe Travels Multi-Tier Program as well as OAK-based currently credentialed employees, is planned to open on Thursday, Oct. 15. It is conveniently located in front of the main terminal complex between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 along the second curb in the Ground Transportation plaza. Appointments in advance are strongly recommended and are available through December at CityHealths website. Walk-ins will be accepted secondary to those with an appointment. There is no out-of-pocket cost for the test." --- Following recent announcements from both United and Hawaiian Airlines that they will make COVID-19 testing available at San Francisco International for Hawaii-bound travelers for a hefty fee, Oakland International Airport (OAK) has come out with its own plans for passenger testing which will be free. The state of Hawaii is preparing to reopen to tourists on Oct. 15, granting an exemption from its mandatory 14-day quarantine rule for travelers who get a COVID test no more than 72 hours before departure and show proof of a negative result upon arrival. Travelers who dont have their results by the time they land will have to quarantine until the results come in. OAK officials said the airports testing program will start Oct. 6 for airport and airline employees, with an expansion of the program to handle Hawaii travelers starting Oct. 15. Tests will be conducted by appointment by CityHealth Urgent Care from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in a facility at the airports North Field terminal complex at 9070 Earhart Road. Southwest, Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines all fly to the islands from Oakland. All OAK-based employees including tenant airlines, concessionaires, ground handling companies, etc. are eligible for testing. Additionally, the general public may be tested on a scheduled basis through CityHealths website, the airport said. Until the Hawaii pre-test program kicks in Oct. 15, only employees with a current OAK security credential will be eligible for testing. Specific details about the Oct. 15 Hawaii Pre-Travel testing program at OAK will be released separately, the airport said. But Oakland International spokesperson Roberto Bernardo provided SFGATE with some specifics. We advise travelers to get tested through their primary health care provider, he said. If that's not possible, they can use the OAK free testing facility. OAK recommends that travelers test the day before. If travelers wait until the day of departure, they should arrive three hours before departure, get tested (have the results in 15 minutes which are electronically sent to the State of Hawaii) and then check in for their flight. Travelers should keep in mind that the testing facility in the North Field complex is on the other side of the airport from the passenger terminals. See map. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. The airport said the CityHealth Urgent Care facility will provide on-site FDA EUA rapid testing as well as lab-based nuclear PCR testing. EUA refers to an FDA emergency use authorization. The airport said tests will incur no out-of-pocket costs for Hawaii travelers, making it unique from other programs charging as much as $250 per person a reference to Uniteds day-of-travel testing at SFO. Hawaiian Airlines recently announced COVID testing for passengers at SFO will cost $150 for same-day service. Under the CARES Act and through a partnership with commercial health insurance carriers, government payers and the Department of Health and Human Services, CityHealth proudly offers COVID-19 testing to all free of charge, the airport said. Google Maps If SFO and OAK will provide pre-departure testing for Hawaii travelers, what about Mineta San Jose Airport? SJC is exploring this possibility with our airline partners to offer a program here, a spokesperson tells us. In related news, JetBlue announced this week that its working with Vault for at-home, mail-in tests for its passengers. American Airlines is starting testing for some Caribbean flights. Alaska is offer tests for Seattle based passengers. And Tampa International says that it is offering COVID-19 tests for all passengers. However, Oakland seems to be the only airport offering free testing so far. Will there be more? Probably. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. President Donald Trump's campaign wanted a third-party to inspect Democrat Joe Biden's ear at Tuesday night's presidential debate to ensure he wasn't wearing an earpiece, it was revealed hours before the event. The demand for a 'third party' earpiece inspection emerged after Trump's personal lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, going on 'Fox & Friends' and accusing the 77-year-old Biden of suffering 'dementia.' Fox News Channel reported the request Tuesday morning as more details surfaced about the negotiations the two campaigns are having with the Commission on Presidential Debates. Biden's team did not agree to the demand, the channel reported, although it is unclear exactly when it was made. Trump's campaign volunteered that he would have his ears inspected. 'Joe Bidens handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined,' Trump's campaign said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. 'On top of the refusal to take a drug test, it seems pretty obvious that the Biden team is looking for any safety net they can find in the hours leading up to the debate. With his 47 years as a failed Washington politician, how much help does Biden want?' the Trump campaign added. On a call with reporters Tuesday, Biden's Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said, 'Of course he's not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for a break.' The Trump campaign wanted a third-party to inspect Democrat Joe Biden's (left) ears to ensure he wasn't wearing an earpiece to Tuesday night's presidential debate. President Donald Trump (right) reportedly agreed to being inspected The first presidential debate will take place Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio. The Biden campaign asked for two breaks during the 90-minute face-off, Fox News Channel reported, but the Trump campaign wouldn't go for it Fox News had also reported that Biden's team had requested that the debate commission, which oversees the broadcast divide, it into 30-minute segments with breaks, instead of the 90 uninterrupted minutes which it will be. 'Biden's handlers have asked for multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump doesnt need, so we have rejected that request,' the Trump campaign said, echoing Fox's reporting. No breaks will happen during the 90-minute debate. Under debate rules neither man will wear an earpiece. 'If we're playing that game, then you know, the Trump team asked Chris Wallace not to mention the number of deaths from COVID once during the debate,' Bedingfield continued. 'You can consider that confirmed from the Biden campaign.' 'See how easy that was to try to throw up a distraction?' she added. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani (right) floated on 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday morning that Joe Biden was suffering from 'dementia,' telling the hosts that he had talked to doctors about it. Steve Doocy (left) pushed back and told Giuliani, 'that's your opinion' Earlier Tuesday, Giuliani brazenly made a 'dementia' claim about the former vice president. 'The man has dementia. There's no doubt about it. I've talked to doctors, I've had them look at 100 different tapes of his, five years ago and today,' Giuliani told the hosts. 'He cant recite the Pledge of Allegiance and hes fine?' Giuliani said sarcastically. 'He was in the Senate for 160 years? I mean, he cant do the prologue to the... to the ... Constitution of the United States or the Declaration of Independence, any of them.' 'He cant do numbers. Wow, are the numbers screwed up. He actually displays symptoms that two gerontologists told me are classic symptoms of middle level dementia,' he continued. He then said the Democratic nominee showed signs of the 'fifth symptom of dementia.' 'He's got eight out of 10,' Giuliani claimed. 'I think the president is quite right to say maybe he's taking Adderall or some kind of Attention Deficit Disorder thing,' Trump's lawyer said. Host Steve Doocy interjected, 'that's your opinion,' pointing out that Giuliani wasn't a doctor. 'It's just not my opinion, it's the opinion of a number of doctors I've interviewed,' Giuliani shot back. Co-host Brian Kilmeade said 'we can stay away from that' as Ainsley Earhardt changed the topic to the Supreme Court. The attempt by the Trump campaign to claim Biden would wear an earpiece echoes a 2016 accusation that Hillary Clinton wore one in the form of an 'ear pearl' - to get help during a presidential forum. Trump never publicly embraced the conspiracy theory, but his son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted about it. However in recent weeks the Trump campaign has amplified claims - denied by the Biden camp - that the Democratic candidate uses a teleprompter during interviews. Trump himself claimed that Biden was 'given the questions' at a press conference - which he was not - and read the answers from a prompter. There's been mixed messaging from Trump world about Biden in the run-up to Tuesday night's first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Trump and his allies have tried to push the narrative that Biden's not 'all there,' while at the same time the Trump campaign told lawmakers and their staff Monday that Biden's debating skills shouldn't be underestimated. Amplified: Donald Trump's son pushed the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was being prompted with a secret earpiece in 2016 Claims: Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed his rival reads answers from a teleprompter and pushed an untrue claim that he was given questions in advance when he held a press conference The president has also pushed Biden to take a drug test, suggesting that his debate performance was much improved when he debated Sen. Bernie Sanders in March, compared to previous Democratic debates where multiple candidates were involved. The 90-minute debate will break up into six segments, selected by Fox News' Chris Wallace, who is moderating. The candidates will not shake hands when they take the stage at 9 pm ET on Tuesday night because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead they will stand at podiums that are socially distanced from one another while Wallace sits at a desk in front of them. There will be no opening statements and the first question will go to Trump. There will be a 'small' audience in the room, all of whom will be tested for COVID, according to Peter Ayre, senior adviser to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The two candidates have taken different approaches to their preparations. Biden has been hunkered down in Wilmington with briefing books and mock debate sessions. Trump, meanwhile, has done less than two hours prep time, CNN reported, including a short Q&A session on Sunday where advisers used flash cards to try and stump the president. Trump also played golf on Sunday morning. Polls show Biden leading Trump nationally and in a number of key battleground states ahead of the debate, which is their first face-to-face meeting this year. 'I am looking very forward to the debate,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. It is the first of three scheduled presidential debates. Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, will debate in October. The questions heading into the debate: Will Trump defend attacks on his taxes and the COVID response and can 'Sleepy' Joe Biden, 77, convince voters he has the strength to hold America's top job? President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, will meet on the debate stage for the first time Tuesday night in Cleveland. Millions of voters will get their first opportunity to compare the candidates' policies and personalities side by side on national television for 90 minutes just five weeks before Election Day and as early voting is already unfolding in some states. Here are some of the biggest questions heading into the night: HOW DOES TRUMP HANDLE BEING ON THE DEFENSIVE? In his first formal debate since taking office, Trump has a lot to answer for. More than 200,000 Americans have been killed by COVID-19 under his watch - the highest death toll of any country in the world. Tens of millions of people are still out of work. The country's cultural and political divisions are widening. And don't forget the weekend revelations that Trump has paid less federal income taxes than most working-class Americans for several years. Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News and Biden will no doubt press Trump on those facts. Trump seems to revel in hand-to-hand combat, and history suggests that neither facts nor any code of conduct will prevent him from saying whatever he needs to change the subject. He can pivot to more friendly issues such as the Supreme Court confirmation fight or 'law and order' - or he can jump into the mud by going after Biden's mental and physical strength or his family. Such personal tactics worked for Trump four years ago. But now that he's the man in charge of the country, it's unclear if voters will be as willing to accept the brash outsider act. HOW DOES BIDEN RESPOND? It's difficult to keep up with Trump's campaign messages, but one line of attack has risen above the rest over the past year: that the 77-year-old Biden, or 'Sleepy Joe,' is not mentally or physically fit to be president. Therefore, perhaps nothing matters more for Biden on Tuesday night than his ability to convince America that he has the strength to hold the world's most important job. Given Trump's persistent attacks, Biden faces a low bar in proving his stamina. But it's worth asking whether that's the measure for success that voters should use. After nearly a half century in politics, Biden is a far more experienced debater than Trump, and he has a much better grasp of foreign and domestic policy. On paper, at least, Biden has the advantage. Yet the former vice president's uneven performances in the primary debates offer plenty of reasons for Democrats to be worried. Mock debaters stand onstage as preparations take place for the first Presidential debate in the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, Monday, September 28, 2020, in Cleveland WHO WILL VOTERS SEE ON STAGE? Trump and his Republican allies have been trying to brand Biden as a socialist since he emerged as the Democratic nominee from a pack of primary candidates that featured a self-described democratic socialist (not Biden). And Biden and his allies have been calling Trump a racist since Biden launched his campaign. On Tuesday, each candidate will have a prime-time opportunity to debate the policies and rhetoric underlying each argument. Biden, who has long positioned himself to the center of his party's most liberal positions, has embraced plans to enlarge the government's role in health care, education and the environment. Such policies are hardly socialist, but they would represent a significant shift to the left and require tax increases. Trump has a well-established pattern of using racist rhetoric and favoring policies that disproportionately favor white people. For example, Trump has used the power of his office to crack down on Black Lives Matter protesters fighting for civil rights, calling them 'terrorists' and warning that violent mobs of such protesters are invading largely white suburbs. While the candidates' personalities may draw more attention than their policies, it's their policies that will touch the lives of virtually every American voter. HOW WILL BIDEN HANDLE TRUMP'S FALSE STATEMENTS? Heading into the debate, Biden's team was advising him to avoid messy confrontations and fact checking Trump in real time to avoid getting pulled into the mud with a president who loves getting dirty. Biden could easily spend all 90 minutes consumed by trying to refute Trump's claims, and no doubt, liberals will want to see Biden take the fight to the president whenever the opportunity presents itself. But Biden also wants to rise above the chaos and present voters with a clear alternative who's willing to compromise and move past the divisive fights that have dominated the Trump era. It's a delicate balance, and Biden has struggled at times to stick to his advisers' plans. You may remember him snapping at voters on the campaign trail back in the spring or the campaign's futile attempt to get him to shorten and focus his stump speeches. Even under the best of circumstances, as we've seen in Trump's previous debates, it's difficult to take on Trump directly. The former TV reality star is clearly comfortable on camera, and he's willing to say whatever he needs to - whether it's true or not. HOW WILL DEMOCRACY FARE? Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine the integrity of the election by raising unfounded concerns about voter fraud. Trailing in the polls, he's been escalating such warnings as Election Day nears. Trump's message is not supported by facts, but many of his supporters believe it. We'll see how convincing Trump's message is, with Biden - and perhaps Wallace - pushing back. There are legitimate concerns about the Postal Service's capacity to handle the surge of mail ballots as people try to participate in the election as safely as possible during the pandemic. And several states are scrambling to avoid the same ballot-counting delays that plagued primary elections. But experts are quite clear that there is no evidence of significant voter fraud and very little chance it will happen in 2020. The experts' voices are not as loud, however, as whatever will be said Tuesday night. RALEIGH, N.C. Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris unveiled her new campaign message Monday centered around the fight over confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, with health care and womens rights front and center. The California senator made her first formal remarks on President Trumps choice to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an in-person campaign appearance in this swing state, a relatively rare event for the Democratic ticket. While Trump has been holding numerous rallies in recent weeks, Harris and presidential nominee Joe Biden have traveled sparingly in an effort to avoid spreading the coronavirus. Democrats have little or no chance of blocking Barretts confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate, but Biden has emphasized fairness in his campaign message that the winner of the presidential election should pick Ginsburgs replacement. Harris hammered on a theme that other Democrats have voiced, the possibility that Barrett could provide the vote that overturns not just a national right to abortion, but the federal law that extended health insurance to millions of Americans in the past decade. Harris focus was on an upcoming case in which the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed through Congress and President Barack Obama signed in 2010. But Harris tailored her remarks specifically to how overturning the law would affect women, tying it to Ginsburgs legacy of protecting womens rights. There are few things they could do that would be more offensive to the legacy and the life of Justice Ginsburg than to return us to the full-scale policies of discrimination in health care toward the women of our country, Harris said. She said striking down the Affordable Care Act would have particular consequences for women. The law includes provisions that bar insurers from charging women more for health care because of their sex, require coverage of birth control and contraceptives, and prohibit pregnancy from being considered a preexisting condition. She coupled it with the possibility of a conservative court overturning Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. There is no other issue that so disrespects and dishonors the work of Justice Ginsburgs life than undoing the seminal decision in the courts history that made it clear a woman has a right to make decisions about her own body, Harris said. She noted that the court fight over health care is happening against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. This relentless obsession with overturning the Affordable Care Act is driven entirely by a blind rage toward President Obama, Harris said. And its happening at a moment when our country is suffering through the ravages of a pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in our country. Complications from COVID like lung scarring and heart damage could well become the next preexisting condition. While Republicans have rallied around Barrett as a foe of abortion rights, a base-moving issue for conservatives, Democrats see health care as a pocketbook issue that helped them win over moderate voters and take back the House in 2018. Although they lack the votes to block her confirmation, Senate Democrats have been registering protests in other ways. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she would refuse to meet with Barrett before a vote. Such meetings were once traditional etiquette, but Republican senators skipped them in 2016 when they refused to meet with Obamas choice to fill a Supreme Court seat, let alone hold a vote. I will not participate in the degradation of our democracy or our judiciary, or in confirming a judge so clearly unfit for the Supreme Court, Gillibrand tweeted. Harris is a member of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Barretts confirmation starting Oct. 12. Asked Monday whether she would meet with Barrett, Harris said, Im sure thats going to happen, well see how it works out. ... I havent made a plan one way or another. She added, I am definitely going to be involved in the hearings and performing my role and responsibility on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As she as done throughout her campaign as the vice presidential nominee, Harris also paid special attention to the issues of racial justice and equality in a trip to a state where polls show Biden and Trump tied. The senator gave her remarks at Shaw University, a historically Black university, saying the building where she spoke was one of the first built for the education of Black women in America. She cited voting rights and the ability to make a fair living free from discrimination as two other issues at stake in the fight over who will fill Ginsburgs seat on the court. In addition to her formal remarks, Harris did events that resembled more traditional campaigning all behind masks and replacing handshakes and hugs with elbow bumps. She danced to Shaws drum line as she left the university, and mingled with diners one coincidentally sporting a Biden-Harris campaign mask at a restaurant. She also held a roundtable discussion with Black voters at a barbershop, answering questions on criminal justice reform and how to empower communities of color. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan California Casualty's 2020 Work Hard/Play Hard Giveaway California Casualty remains committed to the dedicated professionals who serve our communities. California Casualtys 2020 Work Hard/Play Hard $5,000 STIHL tools giveaway will come to a close October 31st. Interested law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMTs must enter to win at http://www.contest4heroes.com before its too late. Now more than ever, our nations public safety professionals are feeling the pressure of their jobs. California Casualty, the auto and home insurance company trusted by these American heroes, offers its annual Work Hard/Play Hard contest as a way to thank them for their role in our communities. Working to ensure public safety, enforce laws, arrive first to emergencies, and provide reassurance to anxious communities, first responders face challenges and stressors every day. As a partner to public safety groups across the nation for half a century, California Casualty has witnessed the spirit that drives their sense of duty and appreciates the daily sacrifices they make. California Casualty remains committed to the dedicated professionals who serve our communities. We owe them this thank you for all that they do. said Sr. Vice President Mike McCormick. Previous Work Hard/Play Hard sweepstakes from California Casualty have awarded public safety personnel with: Liberty Safes, DeWalt Tools, Motorcycles, and Cash Past winners include an Oregon Police officer; a Colorado Sheriffs captain; firefighters from California, Nebraska, Ohio and Pennsylvania; and a California Highway Patrolman. California Casualty will provide one lucky winner $5,000 towards the STIHL tools of their choice. Entries are being accepted now through October 31, 2020 at http://www.contest4heroes.com. The winner will be announced in November. Founded in 1914 and headquartered in San Mateo, California with Service Centers in Arizona, Colorado and Kansas, California Casualty provides auto and home insurance to educators, firefighters, law enforcement and nurses across the country. Learn more about California Casualty at http://www.calcas.com or call 1.800.800.9410. *STIHL does not a endorse or sponsor this promotion (Natural News) A recent study suggests that volcanic activity may have played a bigger role in temperature fluctuations than scientists previously imagined. Whats more, these fluctuations appear to have contributed to the societal and economic conditions during the past 2,000 years, affecting civilizations and shaping world history as we know it. These are the findings of an international group of researchers upon examining tree rings, which provide an excellent, natural archive of past climate and weather conditions. The team gathered various tree samples to obtain summer temperature records in North America and Eurasia, which they compared with data on major volcanic eruptions, as well as critical historical events. Some climate models assume that the effect of volcanoes is punctuated and short, said lead author Ulf Buntgen, a geography professor at the University of Cambridge. However, if you look at the cumulative effect over a whole century, this effect can be much longer. The authors detailed their findings in the journal Dendrochronologia. Volcanism may trigger temperature changes The researchers examined samples from more than 9,000 living and dead trees that dated back to the first century. They used the same number of data points across a 2,000-year period, which was crucial to the accuracy of the study as previous climate reconstructions were biased by over-representation of trees from more recent times. Comparing this body of evidence with data from ice cores, they discovered that large volcanic eruptions could lower global average temperatures by fractions of a degree Celsius, with the strongest effect concentrated in parts of North America and Eurasia. The reason for the cooling stemmed largely from the amount of sulfur released into the stratosphere during an eruption, forming tiny particles that block incoming sunlight from reaching the surface. This would result in cooler temperatures and shorter growing seasons, which would lead to fewer harvests. In the same vein, Earth was able to absorb more heat from the Sun when there were fewer large eruptions. This could partially explain why the 3rd, 10th and 11th centuries periods that experienced decreased volcanism had higher temperature averages compared to other periods in the last 2,000 years. In fact, the teams reconstructed summer temperatures suggest that the climate conditions during these centuries were comparable to modern conditions up until 2010. The researchers also found strong evidence for the Late Antique Little Ice Age, or LALIA, which scientists believed occurred in the 6th and 7th centuries. Temperatures during this period dropped dramatically, which was likely triggered by three major volcanic eruptions in A.D. 536, 540 and 547. According to the researchers, the cooler temperatures in the A.D. 536 possibly marked the onset of the LALIA. Widespread effect of climate on society Next, the researchers teamed up with historians to uncover how these changes in global average temperatures affected man. They discovered striking trends: Prolonged periods of warmth during the Roman and medieval times, which saw fewer large volcanic eruptions, often coincided with societal prosperity across much of Europe and China. On the other hand, the periods marked with increased volcanism often presaged widespread famine, plague outbreak and political upheaval. Interpreting history is always challenging, said co-author Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge. So many factors come into playpolitics, economics, culture. But a big eruption that leads to widespread declines in grain production can hurt millions of people. In turn, opined Oppenheimer, hunger could lead to a host of problems, such as disease, conflict and migration. These were issues that did happen throughout the past, preserved in historical records that foreshadow whats in store for the future. (Related: A volcanic eruption in 1815 blocked the sun for a full year, causing global crop failures and famine and it could happen again.) For more on the effects of volcanic eruptions on climate, visit ClimateScienceNews.com. Sources include: Phys.org ScienceDaily.com ScienceDirect.com The family of a teenager (pictured) involved in a horror stabbing attack at Pyrmont in July have offered up $700,000 surety to secure their son bail The family of a teenager allegedly involved in a 'sickening' Pyrmont knife attack that left a father-of-one blinded have offered up a whopping $700,000 to secure his release. Brett Halcro, 36, was walking through a park in Pyrmont, in inner-city Sydney, on July 31 when a group of up to nine teens allegedly attacked him, before one pulled a knife and 'sliced' him across the face up to seven times. That teen then allegedly drove the blade 'deep' into Mr Halcro's right eye. One member of the group who allegedly stomped on Mr Halcro's head as he lay unconscious has since been granted bail, it was revealed in court on Tuesday. The teenager - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - will face strict conditions, including having to live with his parents, who put up $700,000 as a surety. He will also be unable to use the internet except for school work, have to attend his classes every day, be unable to communicate with his co-accused and have a curfew between 8pm and 6am. If he breaches any of his conditions his family could forfeit some or all of the money. Father-of-one Brett Halcro, 36, pictured before the attack that left him blinded in one eye and in a coma for more than a week. He was allegedly knocked from his bike, stomped on and then 'sliced' across the face, before the knife was driven 'deep' into his right eye A picture taken in Mr Halcro's hospital ward at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where he was in a coma for one week, his family said Police have so far arrested nine youths over the attack, with six of them appearing in the Surry Hills Children's Court on Tuesday. CCTV, DNA and mobile phone evidence will make up part of the prosecution case against them, the court heard The teenager's lawyer said he hoped the accused would be released 'this week'. That is despite a police prosecutor describing the allegations against the teenager as 'involving violence at the highest order'. 'I dont think I have read anything like this ever that goes towards the strength of the prosecution case,' NSW Police prosecutor Peter Mort said in July, on the teen's first day in court. 'I dont need to amplify what is contained (in the court documents) other than to say it is disturbing.' Six of the teens involved in the alleged attack - some from Sydney's most prestigious private schools - faced Surry Hills Children's Court on Tuesday, where it was revealed CCTV and DNA evidence will be crucial in the case against the them. The court also heard that further health complications suffered by Mr Halcro will lead to a further delay in the case. Police prosecutor Kai Jiang said on Tuesday it would be a further eight weeks before the matters of all the teenagers could return to court. He said this was due largely to 'the sheer volume of CCTV footage that will be used in evidence'. The alleged attackers and some friends - many of them students at some of Sydney's most prestigious private schools - had rented an Airbnb in the city for the night. It is understood that two girls who were among the group spotted Mr Halcro riding a bike below them and told friends they had been 'raped' or 'groped' by him. Pictured: One of the teens who allegedly took part in the attack. None of the youths can be named for legal reasons When the alleged offenders faced Surry Hills Children's Court in July, police prosecutor Peter Mort calling it a 'sickening' attack and 'violence of the highest order' A teen member of the gang allegedly sent these gloating, sadistic messages after the attack The court heard that in the moments before the attack, one of the girls was asked: 'Is that the one who raped you?' to which she replied: 'Yeah that's the one'. But NSW Police have said in court documents that the man was an 'innocent victim'. Moments later the group of teenagers allegedly rushed downstairs and attacked Mr Halcro, knocking him to the ground before bashing and stomping him. He was then left for dead in a park on the corner of Pyrmont Bridge Road and Wattle Streets. Among the most crucial evidence to be used in the case against the group will be text messages sent by a 15-year-old to a friend after the attack in which he detailed the alleged assault of their victim. The young man allegedly claimed watching the attack unfold made him laugh. 'I stomped on him and gutted his head he got knocked out after I bottled him on the head,' the youngster allegedly wrote in one text message. 'I put the shattered bottle in his stomach and then jetted (a co-accused) slit his face like 15 times and stabbed him in the eye.' Theresa Keecherer, Mr Halcro's former partner with whom he shares a four-year-old daughter (pictured), said she has trouble explaining to her daughter what had happened to him It is understood the attack may have been sparked by two girls who were in the group claiming they had been 'raped' or 'groped' by Mr Halcro, but NSW Police have said he was an 'innocent victim'. So far nine teenagers have been arrested over the attack in which Brett Halcro was allegedly knocked off his bike (pictured) before being sadistically injured while unconscious Pictured: police at the scene of the attack in Sydney's Pyrmont on Friday night, July 31 It is believed the alleged attacker was then asked by his friend if he knew the man. 'Nah mate. Ahahahaha he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,' he allegedly replied. 'He (a co-accused) stuck it in his eye. Put it in deeper and swivelled the knife around. So funny.' Mr Halcro, a father-of-one from Melbourne's south-east, had moved to Sydney earlier this year before the border closure to help his father renovate his home. He was in a coma for more than a week after the attack and has permanently lost the use of his right eye. After almost three weeks in intensive care, Mr Halcro's family shared a photo of him on his feet, walking in the hospital, showing his astounding recovery. 'Bandages have been removed from his arms and face,' family member Luke wrote on his GoFundMe page. The teenagers who faced court on Tuesday will next appear in Surry Hill's Children's Court (pictured) on November 24 'His fitness and youth have led to pleasing progress, as remarked by the physiotherapists,' a relative said. 'Having spoken with Brett twice now (most recently this morning), I can say that his emotional wellbeing continues to fluctuate understandably, however I was incredibly proud to hear him speak with such perspective and with a relatively positive outlook on his long road ahead. 'He told me today that his daily highlights are visits/calls from family and also physio sessions, where he said he has a point to prove!' The teenagers who faced court on Tuesday will next appear on November 24. The disclosure that President Trump paid little or no federal income tax for years, including while in the White House, convulsed the presidential campaign with only five weeks to go and immediately scrambled the equation and stakes of the first debate to be held on Tuesday night. While Mr. Trump tried to deflect the news about his taxes, and his Republican allies generally kept their silence, Democrats pounced and Joseph R. Biden Jr., the partys presidential candidate, posted a video noting that the president had paid less in income taxes than everyday Americans like teachers, firefighters and nurses. How the revelations, published on Sunday and Monday by The New York Times, may change the presidential campaign was an open question. The race has remained remarkably steady and without major shifts through all sorts of seismic developments. But with five weeks until the election on Nov. 3, every day that the president does not transform the dynamics of a campaign that polls show he is currently trailing in is a missed opportunity. We know the vast majority of Americans long ago made up their minds about President Trump, either for or against him, so the tax revelations are not likely to shift the election in any fundamental way, said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. That said, they could play a role in giving Joe Biden some ammunition for the debate and at the margins for some people who feel that $750 is not enough to pay in taxes regardless of the circumstances. 100 Years Ago 1920: Guilty was the verdict retuned by a jury in Federal Court last night in three indictments charging Mrs. Emma C. Bergdoll with conspiracy in aiding her sons, Erwin and Grover, to dodge military service. Delaware County figured prominently in the trial of the mother of the two youths, Erwin, who is at present serving time in a Federal prison for evading the drat, and Grover, another brother who is a fugitive from justice, having escaped from the custody of guards after being released temporarily from an army prison and taken to search for a supposed pot of gold. 75 Years Ago 1945: The criticism finds its way to the Chester Times office that a disservice is done the community when unpleasant facts are printed concerning it. This week, the Readers Digest, magazine with large circulation of any period published in the world prints an article entitled Americas Dead and Dying Rivers, which is from an article by Holman Harvey in the public The American City. The name of Chester is injected in the initial paragraphs of the article in a manner which is devastating form the standpoint of adverse publicity on a national basis. 50 Years Ago 1970: A 74-year-old school crossing guard was struck and killed this morning as he directed traffic at State and Monroe streets, Media. Francis Kelly, of 8 Ridge Road, had directed traffic at the corner, near Media Junior High School, for about 10 years. School Principal Henry Nacrelli said he had nay memories of Mr. Kellys early-morning cheerfulness. He always had time to stop and talk to everyone, whether a child or a teacher. 25 Years Ago 1995: Prospect Park Fire Company celebrates 100 years of service with a parade on Saturday, Oct. 14. The parade kicks off at noon at the Interboro High School, go up 16th Avenue to Lincoln Avenue and then up 10th Avenue to Park Square. Over 100 fire companies have been invited to attend, and the Avalon String Band; Woodland String Band; Pipe and Drums of Delaware Valley; and the Interboro Marching Band will perform. 10 Years Ago 2010: FreedomWorks, a national tea party organization issued an endorsement of Republican Pat Meehan on Monday, sparking criticism from his Democratic opponent in the 7th Congressional District race. The campaign of Democratic candidate state Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, said the endorsement was another sign Meehan was linked to far right agendas of some tea party activists. COLIN AINSWORTH Dominic Raab today announced the UK is imposing sanctions on Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko as he said the Government will not accept the results of August's 'rigged' presidential election. The Foreign Secretary said Britain is also imposing sanctions on other senior figures in Mr Lukashenko's regime, including his son, Victor, and Igor Sergeenko, the head of the presidential administration. The sanctions include a travel ban and asset freeze on eight individuals from the regime. The move, part of a co-ordinated approach taken with Canada, comes amid continuing international condemnation of the controversial poll held in the summer. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today announced the UK, along with Canada, is imposing sanctions on Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko Mr Lukashenko secured a sixth term as the president of Belarus at an election held in August. Critics said the poll was 'rigged' Mr Lukashenko has ruled the ex-Soviet nation with an iron fist since 1994, repressing opposition figures and independent news organisations. The official results of the August 9 election claimed the strongman leader had received 80 per cent of the vote, granting him a sixth term and prompting widespread protests from pro-democracy campaigners. But Mr Lukashenko has rejected calls for the election to be re-run as his regime was condemned for alleged human rights abuses against protesters. Announcing the sanctions, Mr Raab said: 'Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko's violent and fraudulent regime. 'We don't accept the results of this rigged election. 'We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights.' Protests remain ongoing in Belarus as the president's critics call for him to stand down. Mr Raab said in the wake of the election that the UK did not accept the result as he hit out at the 'violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress' peaceful demonstrations that followed the vote. The Foreign Secretary has previously called for an independent investigation to be carried out into the poll by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He said in a statement issued on August 17: 'The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election. The UK does not accept the results. 'We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair, as well as the grisly repression that followed. 'The UK will work with our international partners to sanction those responsible, and hold the Belarusian authorities to account.' A water drop is made from a helicopter on the Martindale fire burning above Bouquet Canyon Road, north of Santa Clarita. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) As temperatures in Southern California spike amid a fall heat wave, fears of fire weather continue. Hot, dry conditions are fueling large blazes and small brush fires across Los Angeles County. On Monday afternoon, the Martindale fire broke out in the Bouquet Canyon area of the Santa Clarita Valley and jumped to more than 200 acres in less than 30 minutes, the U.S. Forest Service said. Evacuation orders were issued from the Bouquet Reservoir Dam south to Mile Marker 11.5, and fire crews deployed more than a dozen aircraft in an aerial attack against the fire. Crews worked overnight to build containment lines, and as of Tuesday morning, the blaze was 40% contained, officials said. Earlier in the day, a small brush fire broke out near Acton amid red flag warnings across the region. The blaze, which ignited shortly before noon, was quickly stopped by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "Fire was held at 10 acres," the Fire Department said in a tweet. "No structures damaged. No injuries to civilians or firefighters." Southeast of the Martindale fire, the formidable Bobcat fire continues to burn. It ignited Sept. 6 in the Angeles National Forest and has chewed through more than 114,000 acres. As of Tuesday morning, it was 62% contained, but its smoldering status could shift at any time, officials said. The fuels are critically dry, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Larry Smith said, and until we get moisture, the fuels are going to remain critically dry. Youre going to continue to see smoke, continue to see flames. Estimates for the fires containment were pushed back Tuesday by one month, to Oct. 30, the Forest Service said. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said evacuations for the community of Wrightwood have been lifted. High temperatures and low humidity that arrived in the region Monday are expected to last throughout the week, while gusty winds had mostly dissipated Tuesday. A heat advisory has been issued for valleys in Los Angeles and Ventura counties through 8 p.m. Thursday. Story continues Wednesday will be the hottest day in the region, with temperatures reaching into the triple digits in the valleys and in the 80s and 90s along the coasts, the National Weather Service said. Strong high pressure over the West Coast will dominate the weather for the week, bringing hot and dry conditions, forecasters warned. And although Monday's red flag warning for gusty winds has been removed, officials said Angelenos should stay vigilant. The Bobcat fire started in a time when we didnt have a red flag warning, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. It doesnt require red flag conditions to get major fires. Wofford said other factors, such as dry grass and vegetation, can encourage the spread of a blaze. Things are drier than they would be normally this time of year, he said. We havent had rain in a long time, so thats another part of the equation: These fuels are really ripe to go. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Mitchell said resources will remain on both the Bobcat and the Martindale fires Tuesday and throughout the week, noting there is always a potential for any fire to reignite. Wofford agreed: "We can't let our guard down for a long time," he said. Nearly 28 years after the Babri Mosque was demolished in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, the special CBI Court will pronounce the verdict in the criminal case on September 30. The incident which was called an egregious violation of the rule of law by the Supreme Court, took place on December 6, 1992. The CBI court will announce the verdict that includes 32 accused in the case, including former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh, senior BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Sakshi Maharaj, and others. The FIR was lodged by the then Superintendent of Police Priyamvada Nath Shukla and Sub Inspector Gangaprasad Tiwari of Ramjanmabhoomi police station. Apart from this, 47 FIRs were filed by journalists, photographers and activists, all the cases were later referred to the CBI. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on October 5, 1993, against 49 accused, of which 17 have already died. And during this period, the CBI produced 351 witnesses and 600 documentary evidence. However, the court began writing the verdict from September 2 and has ordered all the accused to appear in the court on September 30. One of the prime accused, Uma Bharti had recently tested positive for Covid-19, so she will not be present in person for the verdict. Who Were the Key Figures in the Babri Demolition Case? Politicing the door-opening decision of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, started a 10,000 Km Rath Yatra, furthering the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Karsevaks from across the country joined the mega movement. According to the original CBI charge sheet, LK Advani was the main architect of the conspiracy to demolish the disputed Babri Masjid. The former president of the VHP, late Ashok Singhal was also one of the prime accused in the case. As per the charge sheet, on November 20, 1992, Ashok Singhal met the then Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and invited him to participate in Karseva. After this, on December 4, Thackeray directed the party workers- Shiv Sainiks to go to Ayodhya and actively participate in the movement. As per the charge sheet, Singhal is accused of shouting slogans- Ram Lala Hum Aaya Hain, Mandir Wahi Banayenge and Ek Dhakka Aur Do Babri Masjid Tod Do on the stage from Ram Katha Kunj. Along with Advani and Singhal, another active member in the case is former JP MP Vinay Katiyar. When the VHP formed the Bajrang Dal to give an edge to the Ram temple movement, its command was handed over to the young Katiyar and it is said that Bajrang Dal workers made the movement fiery. According to the CBI charge sheet, Katiyar had said in his speech on December 6, 1992, The enthusiasm of our Bajrangis has surpassed even that of a storm, which will demolish all the Babri mosques. Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi is also an accused in this case. According to the charge sheet, Joshi was also present in the demolition. As mentioned in the charge sheet, Uma Bharti shared joy with Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi when the mosques dome was brought down by the Karsevaks. The list of accused also includes the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister of Kalyan Singh. He has been accused of preventing the police administration from acting on the furious karsevaks. Singh is among the 13 accused in the original chargesheet of being involved in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque. The Librehan Commission had found Uma Bhartis role in the Babri demolition as faulty. Bharti however, denied the allegations of inciting the mob, but she has also said that she has no regrets and she is ready to take moral responsibility for the demolition. Huawei Technologies said on Monday that it is set to offer a hundred robust solutions adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to underpin the Egyptian market, in a bid to help businesses globally to address the challenges imposed by COVID-19. At a press conference held as part of the Huawei Connect 2020 global meeting, the company called for building a "digital ecosystem cube" with three dimensions to ensure business expansion and maximise profitability amid the challenges that the COVID-19 crisis imposes on all economies and businesses across the world. The cubes first dimension is based on the knowledge of the unsatisfactory services offered to the customers in various sectors and industries, while the second dimension focuses on gathering the different capabilities of partners and service providers, and making full use of their strengths. The third dimension is centred on developing multiple approaches for cooperation, and presenting business models, through making intensive efforts to create and share value with various partners, in order to continue expanding the size of the market. The conference discussed the paradigm shift in the field of digitisation to create greater value and the importance of digital transformation in promoting innovation in various fields and industries to create shared value for service providers and beneficiaries. Joy Kelly, vice president of international media affairs at Huawei, said that AI is the new revolution in the information technology sector. He described the new revolution as the integration of the five tech domains -- connectivity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and applications -- which will achieve all-round and multi-layered connection of people, things, and information. Adnan Bin Halima, deputy head of the regional public relations department, stated that 2020 was an exceptional year due to the global pandemic, and has witnessed an unprecedented need for connectivity in areas such as telemedicine, telework, and tele-education. All these fields and others have become necessities for the human society. According to the Huawei Global Connectivity Index, the total number of calls around the world will reach 200 billion by 2025. With the presence and the usage of artificial intelligence in many industries and as AI enters a wide range of industries, these newly connected objects are transforming from people and information to intelligence, Bin Halima said. Huawei Connect is an annual event hosted by the firm for the global communication and information technology industry, described as an open platform designed to help Huaweis customers and partners stay informed about new technological developments. Search Keywords: Short link: Three farm bills the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Bypass Bill, and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill have disappointed farmers across the country. Before I come to the harsh provisions of the bills, I wish to note that their journey without any meaningful consultation, debate, or majority in the Rajya Sabha marks a new low in democratic lawmaking. The bills represent an unprecedented encroachment into the rights of the states: Agriculture is a state subject under the Constitution. The government introduced e-National Agriculture Market (eNAM) in 2016 to address issues arising from the inefficiencies in existing mechanisms and different APMC Acts in different states. Till May, the government was confident of adding more mandis to eNAM. However, the market was not well-designed and the states were not incentivised to push for its adoption. So, only 1,000 out of 6,900 APMCs had joined eNAM. As a result, the governments hyperbole of doubling farmer incomes and offering them higher support prices has been exposed. A properly-implemented digital platform could have resulted in better terms for farmers. With the APMC Bypass Bill, even that halfhearted attempt to leverage digital technology as a step towards a unified agricultural market has been abandoned. APMCs have performed regulatory, match-making, and price discovery functions since inception. They have also assimilated the regional and local socio-economic landscape. Mandi fees and other associated costs of selling through APMCs constituted a key drawback as this reduced effective prices available to the farmers. This has needed reform for some time now. This could have been addressed by passing the burden of these costs to large corporate buyers, the use of technology, and by a financial line to the states to underwrite these expenses. This would have enabled APMCs to preserve its local character, allowed small and medium farmers to bargain collectively and to exchange crucial information. The Bypass Bill will help a few large farmers who can obtain favourable terms from buyers. Large buyers, in turn, driven by the need to minimise the cost of procurement, would prefer to deal with large farmers. This will create a separate ecosystem in which buyers divide up regions and large farmers among themselves, drive hard bargains and transact on terms that are publicly invisible. In the absence of a regulator, cartelisation of buyers and inferior terms for farmers cannot be prevented. The anti-competitive and exploitative impact of the bills has not been examined. Far from converging prices towards the minimum support price (MSP), the bills will create asymmetric markets in which farmers are the losers. In countless examples of privatisation from across the world, the invisible hand of regulation has been necessary to ensure favourable terms to those with the least bargaining power. The bills also lack any semblance of a genuine grievance redressal mechanism. Agriculture suffers from poor and uneven infrastructure and access to markets. In fact, there are too few mandis. As per the National Commission on Farmers, there should be a mandi every 80 sq km; there is only one every 435 sq km. Farmers hold a low share of warehousing facilities and have no access to good agri-logistic facilities like cold chain infrastructure and reliable grading and assaying facilities. Privatisation of trading will selectively benefit peri-urban farmers with access to better infrastructure and literate farmers, though the caveats listed here would continue to apply to them. The only important example of a large-scale experiment with the abolition of APMCs is available from Bihar, which repealed the APMC Act in 2006. Studies in the state have concluded that there has been little change in the way farmers sold their produce before and after the repeal. Small farmers continue to sell to traders on unfavourable terms, even when transport facilities are available. In any case, widely varying efficiency and modalities with which the Act has been implemented in the states make interstate comparisons meaningless. The bills divert attention from the anti-farmer stance of the government. Small and marginal farmers form 86% of the farming community and contribute over 50% of crop output. This majority faces substantial bottlenecks in connecting to markets and the bills bring no relief to them. There has been no systematic attempt by this government to infuse capital, technology and knowledge to make farming on small land-holdings profitable. In the absence of infrastructure, small and most medium farmers will continue to turn to local traders. With the marginalisation of APMCs, this relationship will turn even more adverse for the farmer. Input cost-price mismatch will worsen and rural indebtedness; as per the National Sample Survey Office, a farming household is likely to have 630% higher debt-to-asset ratio in 2013 than in 1992, and this has worsened in the last six years. Starting with demonetisation, withdrawal of support to agricultural research, the steep fall in international commodity prices, disruption of logistics on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, and forcing of APMCs into irrelevance are likely to push millions of farmers deeper into poverty and encourage profiteering, widen income and wealth inequalities and fuel social unrest. These reasons should convince us that while agricultural marketing and procurement need examination, this needs extensive consultation, most importantly with farmers, the organisations that represent them, and state governments, whose experience with the farm sector is much more vast, diverse, and nuanced than that of the central government. Sachin Pilot is Member of the Legislative Assembly, Rajasthan, and a former Union minister The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Nailia Bagirova and Nvard Hovhannisyan BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia and Azerbaijan accused one another on Tuesday of firing directly into each other's territory and rejected pressure to hold peace talks as their conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh threatened to mushroom into all-out war. Both reported firing from the other side across their shared border, well to the west of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region over which fierce fighting broke out between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces on Sunday. The incidents signalled a further escalation of the conflict despite urgent appeals from Russia, the United States and others to halt it. The conflict has reignited concerns about stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, speaking to Russian state television, flatly ruled out any possibility of talks. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the same channel they could not take place while fighting continued. Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region inside Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians and backed by Armenia. It broke away from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war but is not recognised by any country as an independent republic. Dozens of people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since clashes between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces broke out on Sunday, threatening to draw in neighbours including Azerbaijan's close ally Turkey. After a closed-door discussion on Tuesday the 15-member U.N. Security Council "expressed concern" about the clashes, condemned the use of force and backed a call by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate halt to fighting. Further stoking tensions between the two former Soviet republics, Armenia said a Turkish F-16 fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes over Armenian airspace, killing the pilot. It provided no evidence of the incident. Turkey called the claim "absolutely untrue", and Azerbaijan also denied it. Story continues "The international community should decisively condemn the aggression of Azerbaijan and the actions of Turkey and demand Turkey get out of this region," Pashinyan told Russian state TV. "The military presence of Turkey in this region...will bring further escalation and expansion of the scale of the conflict." Azeri leader Aliyev accused Armenia of fabricating the plane incident. "Turkey is not a party to the conflict, in no way participates in it and there is no need for this," he said. Aliyev said Azerbaijan was calling up tens of thousands of reservists under a partial mobilisation announced on Monday. "We are able to punish the aggressor ourselves so that he would not even dare to look in our direction," he said. PUTIN APPEAL Any descent into all-out war could threaten to drag in not only Turkey, but Russia. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, but also enjoys close relations with Azerbaijan. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to Pashinyan for the second time since the start of the crisis and said all sides should take measures to de-escalate. It has not made public any contacts between Putin and Aliyev. The Kremlin said Moscow was in constant contact with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Any talk of providing military support for the opposing sides would only add fuel to the fire, it said. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: "With casualties rapidly mounting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the Trump Administration needs to call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately to de-escalate the situation. It must also demand others - like Turkey - stay out of this conflict. RISING CASUALTIES Pashinyan told the BBC in an interview that Azeri forces had shelled villages and towns in Nagorno-Karabakh and inside Armenia itself on Tuesday. "There are casualties among both military and civilians. Dozens are killed and hundreds are wounded," he said. Azerbaijan's prosecutor's office said 12 Azeri civilians had so far been killed and 35 wounded by Armenian fire. The Azeri side has not disclosed military casualties. Nagorno-Karabakh has reported the loss of at least 84 soldiers. "What can I say? It's a war. We hear air raids several times a day and hide in bomb shelters," Albert Voskanyan, a resident of the enclave's capital Stepanakert, told Reuters. Armenian officials said earlier that a civilian was killed in an Azeri attack on the Armenian town of Vardenis, more than 20 km (12 miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh. They said a bus caught fire in the town after being hit by an Azeri drone. Azerbaijan's defence ministry said that from Vardenis the Armenian army had shelled the Dashkesan region inside Azerbaijan. Armenia denied those reports. (Additional reporting by Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi, Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Moscow and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Heinrich and David Gregorio) Pastor Todd Bell (pictured) has continued to hold in-person services at Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, Maine, even after he officiated a wedding that was linked to cases and deaths The family of a Maine pastor who officiated a 'super spreader' wedding linked to at least eight coronavirus deaths and nearly 200 cases in the state, will come together for an indoor ceremony and celebration next month. Pastor Todd Bell, of the Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, officiated the August 7 wedding in Millinocket that has been linked to more than 180 infections, including in an outbreak at a nursing home in Madison, more than 100 miles away, and a county jail. Despite the deadly outbreak, the family is set to gather once more on October 17 to watch Bell's son tie the knot at an indoor service at South Church in Portsmouth, the Bangor Daily News reported. Church spokesperson Jennifer Leyden said the ceremony will be conducted by a 'family minister', although it is not clear if it will be Bell. About 50 guests are expected to attend the wedding, where they will be required to wear masks, Leyden told the paper. About 50 of Bell's friends and relatives will gather at South Church (pictured) in Portsmouth, Maine to watch his son tie the knot in an indoor ceremony on October 17 Church spokesperson Jennifer Leyden said the ceremony will be conducted by a 'family minister', although it is not clear if it will be Bell The family will then celebrate the nuptials at a reception at the Hall at Great Falls, a venue in Somersworth The ceremony will be followed by a reception at the Hall at Great Falls, a venue in Somersworth, 15 miles away from Sanford. However, according to the venue's website, 'no events are being scheduled' at the hall due to the pandemic. The event comes as York County becomes the state's latest hotspot for COVID-19 cases. The county, which has a population of more than 207,000, has recorded 1,118 infections and 16 deaths as of Tuesday, according to the health department data. Bell however, has remained defiant and has continued to ignore social distancing and mask regulations, believing that 'God not the government' will handle the health crisis, according to the news outlet. Last week, an eighth death was linked to a coronavirus outbreak stemming from the August 7 wedding. The man who died was in his 80s and from Somerset County, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. According to the venue's website, 'no events are being scheduled' at the hall due to the pandemic The Maine CDC last week said that the number of deaths related to an outbreak at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison is now seven. None of the eight people who died at the nursing home attended the wedding or reception itself. The ceremony took place indoors at the Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket, and the reception was held at the Big Moose Inn Cabins and Campground in Millinocket. In total about 65 people attended the event which violated Gov. Janet Mills' executive order limiting indoor gatherings to 50 people. One of the wedding attendees was an employee at the York County Jail, where 72 cases have emerged and been linked to the wedding, officials say. As of last week the nursing home also had 39 active COVID-19 cases linked to the wedding - at least 24 residents and 15 workers. Officials say that an employee of the facility lives in the same household as a person who attended the wedding. The only death to take place outside the nursing home was 88-year-old Theresa Dentremont who died at Millinocket Regional Hospital on August 21 after contracting the virus. Detremont did not attend the wedding, but hospital staff believed she may have been infected by someone who did. Theresa Detremont (pictured) did not attend the Millinocket wedding before she was infected Now the state is investigating whether an outbreak at Calvary Baptist Church is linked to the wedding. That church is tied to at least 10 cases. The church said that some of its members attended the wedding reception. Despite the outbreak, the church said it will continue to hold services and is taking precautions to limit the spread of the virus. 'The Calvary Baptist Church has a legal right to meet. The authority of a local Christian church, a Jewish synagogue, or a Muslim mosque to gather for their respective religious services is a time-honored part of our nations history since its inception,' a statement said. 'These religious activities are also fully protected under the First Amendment to our United States Constitution,' the statement added. Pastor Bell is a big critic of the government's attempt to control the virus. Videos show that he held services at the church without social distancing. He hired a lawyer known nationally for defending the religious rights of churches. The virus cases stemming from the wedding have spanned hundreds of miles in a state that had largely controlled the spread of the coronavirus through the summer. 'Maine CDC is concerned about where we are, and I'm asking everyone else to share in that concern. COVID-19, right now, is not on the other side of the fence. It is in our yards,' said Nirav Shah, head of the Maine CDC. 'The gains that Maine has made against COVID-19 are ones that could, and unfortunately can, be washed away.' Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long said the agency's investigations suggest 'multiple potential points of transmission related to the August 7 wedding and reception.' The agency is working to limit the spread of the virus and support people affected by it, he said. Shah said the state's percent positivity rate has ticked up to 0.63 percent for the previous seven days. At one point, the rate was less than half a percentage point. The rate remains well below the national average of about 5 per cent, Shah said. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie participated in a groundbreaking ceremony this month at the Riverside National Cemetery in California for the first American Indian Veterans Memorial at any of the 150 national cemeteries run by the VA. "More Native Americans per capita serve our country than any other demographic," Wilkie said at the event. "This memorial will honor their sacrifice and service in the United States military." Read Next: Army Announces Fall Deployments to Afghanistan and Korea Once it is completed, the memorial will consist of a plaza and walkway centered on the bronze statue of a Native American veteran to be called "The Gift," according to a VA release. Peter Young, executive director of the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California, told Military.com that the figure of the American Indian is expected to be draped in the "Continental Flag" of the Revolutionary War era. That flag is believed to have been carried by American defenders in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, although historians dispute whether the flag was actually present. Young said he is hopeful that the memorial will be completed within a year. "I'm thrilled that we're doing this," he said. Funding for the memorial is being raised by the Riverside National Cemetery Support Committee, and no taxpayer money is involved, Young said. The Riverside National Cemetery, at more than 1,250 acres, is the largest and busiest in the VA system, with more than 7,000 burials expected this year, he added. Construction is also underway on a national memorial to Native American Veterans in Washington, D.C. The memorial, located on the National Mall, is set to be opened and dedicated this Veterans Day. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: House Approves Bill Ordering VA to Change Gender-Exclusive Motto A federal judge on Tuesday said a revised Oct. 5 date the U.S. Commerce Department picked to end the 2020 census may violate an order she issued last week that cleared the way for the head count of every U.S. resident to continue through the end of October. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh suggested she would be open to considering a motion of contempt against the federal government or a motion saying her order had been violated. Last week, the San Jose, California, judge suspended the U.S. Census Bureaus deadline for ending the head count on Wednesday, which automatically reverted the deadline back to an older Census Bureau plan in which the timeline for ending field operations was Oct. 31. Her order also suspended a Dec. 31 deadline for the Census Bureau to turn in numbers used for apportionment, the process of deciding how many congressional seats each state gets. In her decision, Koh sided with civil rights groups and local governments that had sued the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce, which oversees the statistical agency, arguing that minorities and others in hard-to-count communities would be missed if the counting ended at the end of September instead of the end of October. The decision to end the 2020 census on Oct. 5, credited to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday, was built on the idea of turning in the apportionment numbers by Dec. 31 which violates her injunction, the judge said. I think its inconsistent with what I ordered last Thursday, Koh said. August Flentje, an attorney for President Donald Trumps administration, said the suggestion that the federal government should be held in contempt was unfair. Trump administration attorneys were in courts on both coasts Tuesday, fighting over when the 2020 census would end and how the data would be used for deciding how many congressional seats each state gets. In the nations capital, Trump administration attorneys asked a panel of three judges to dismiss a challenge to a memorandum from Trump seeking to exclude people in the country illegally from being counted in the apportionment process. Tuesdays virtual court arguments in the District of Columbia were part of the latest hearing over the legality of Trumps July memorandum. Arguments already have made heard in federal cases in Maryland and New York, where a three-judge panel blocked the presidential order earlier this month, ruling it was unlawful. The New York judges order prohibits Ross from excluding people in the country illegally when handing in 2020 census figures used to calculate apportionment. The Trump administration has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and asked for the judges order to be suspended during that process. The judges on Tuesday denied that request. The New York judges didnt rule on the constitutionality of the memorandum, merely saying it violated federal laws on the census and apportionment, leaving open the door for the judges in the nations capital to rule on other aspects of the presidents memorandum. Other lawsuits challenging the memorandum have been filed in California, Maryland and Massachusetts. One of the aspects the judges indicated they may consider is whether the Census Bureau will have to use statistical sampling to determine how many people are in the country illegally since there is no citizenship question on the 2020 census that could help answer that. The Supreme Court has ruled that statistical sampling cant be used for the apportionment count. Under questioning from the federal judges, federal government attorney Sopan Joshi said the Census Bureau had no intention of using statistical sampling. The Washington lawsuit was brought by a coalition of cities and public interest groups, who argued the presidents order was part of a strategy to enhance the political power of Republicans and non-Hispanic whites. The U.S. House of Representatives later offered its support on behalf of the plaintiffs. The Trump administration attorneys said the lawsuit was premature since its impossible to know who will be affected by the exclusion order before the head count is finished and whether the Census Bureau will come up with a method for figuring out who is a citizen. But Gregory Diskant, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs, Common Cause, said waiting to challenge the presidents memo until after the apportionment numbers are turned in would create even greater problems. Douglas Letter, the attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives, told the judges that since the nations founding all three branches of government have believed that the apportionment count included noncitizens, regardless of whether they were in the country legally. Its just not right for a president to come in and say, without explanation, Im changing that, Letter said. The census helps determine how many congressional seats each state gets during apportionment, as well as the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending annually. ___ Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP Mumbai, Sep 29 : Actress Payal Ghosh, who has accused filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexual harassment, met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday seeking Y-category security. The meeting took place at Raj Bhavan in the city. Payal was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale. Payal's advocate Nitin Satpute told IANS: "We have given a letter to the governor seeking protection, and informed him about the case. Ramdas Athawale ji also requested him to look into the matter because the police are not doing anything. He assured us that he is concerned about atrocities against women happening in the state and will be looking into the matter. I have asked for Y-category security for Payal and myself. Payal has threat to her life and I am protecting her, so I am also vulnerable from anti-social elements." Governor Koshyari tweeted from his official account on Tuesday afternoon: "Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. @RamdasAthawale accompanied by film actress Payal Ghosh called on at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai and presented a memorandum." The Governor also shared photographs from the meeting. Payal Ghosh also tweeted from her verified account: "Had a great meeting with honorable @maha_governor Shri @BSKoshyari Sir. He had supported me and we have to go all the way. The naysayers will be there but I will not stop, not stop and not stop. Bring it on!!" By PTI DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will hold virtual meeting in December, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said here on Tuesday. Momen made the remarks after the sixth Joint Consultative Commission meeting, which was held virtually in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Momen led the Bangladesh side while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar led the Indian team at the meeting. He said the two prime ministers will hold a virtual meeting in December. Momen said he laid emphasis on "early resolution" of the Teesta water-sharing issue apart from resolving water sharing of other common rivers during the meeting. "We have got positive responses from the Indian side on the issue," he told a media briefing here on the outcome of the JCC talks. Momen said his meeting with Jaishankar also featured the issue of potential water sharing agreements on six of the remaining trans-boundary rivers - Monu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar. "Both sides underscored the necessity of early resolution of the Teesta water sharing and early resolution of agreements on sharing of all common rivers," the Bangladesh foreign office said in a statement. The two sides also agreed to hold the long pending Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting soon at the ministerial level to address outstanding issues on water resources cooperation. "It (JRC meeting) will be held very soon," Momen said. The two ministers discussed several issues including trade, line of credit and air bubble. According to the statement, Bangladesh thanked India for the concessions being provided under SAFTA but said various non-tariff barriers and lack of adequate trade facilitation was impeding flow of Bangladeshi products into India, particularly. Momen requested New Delhi to address issues of accreditation, certification, standardization, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to enable exports of Bangladesh into India, it said. "The Foreign Minister requested his Indian counterpart to look into the export of essential commodities, such as onions by India," it added. Bangladesh, it said, also stressed on the equitable application of investment policies by India. The JCC also reviewed the projects under the Indian line of credit and Dhaka put emphasis on expediting the implementation process of those projects and decided to form a monitoring committee to regularly review their progress. "Enhancing cooperation on energy and power sector through facilitation of tripartite power-energy cooperation among Bangladesh-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-India-Bhutan was also discussed," the statement said. Momen said the two sides discussed about cooperation on access to potential COVID 19 vaccine. He said the Indian side has assured that Bangladesh would get priority in receiving any potential vaccine which it could develop. Both sides discussed collaboration in the health sector "especially in terms of supply, delivery, distribution and co-production of COVID-19 vaccine," the statement said. A senior official at the Indian High Commission, who is familiar with the talks, said India proposed third phase clinical trial of a vaccine it was working on in Bangladesh as soon as its trial begins at home. "Bangladesh side in principle agreed to the proposal," the official said on condition of anonymity. Momen said that his Indian counterpart agreed with him to bring down border killing to zero level. "We don't want any death along the frontier," he said. The Rohingya crisis appeared to be another issue discussed during the meeting. The foreign ministry statement said Momen expressed hope that as a non-permanent UNSC member India would play a "more meaningful role" for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis. Momen and Jaishankar jointly unveiled two commemorative stamps as part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The two ministers agreed to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They also discussed the joint programmes for celebrating the Mujib Year, marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Prime Minister Hasina. The 5th India-Bangladesh JCC meeting was held on February 8 last year in New Delhi. AirTrunk Tokyo data centre Artists impression of AirTrunk's planned Tokyo data centre TOK1 Artists impression of AirTrunk's planned Tokyo data centre TOK1 SYDNEY, Australia and TOKYO, Sept. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirTrunk, a hyperscale data centre specialist, today announced it would be entering into the biggest data centre market in Asia (excluding China) with a plan to construct a new 300+ megawatt (MW) hyperscale data centre campus in Inzai, Tokyo. The initial ~60 MW phase of the campus is targeted to open in late 2021 to support anchor customer demand. Set to be one of the largest independent data centres in Asia, AirTrunk TOK1 will be scalable to over 300 MW, allowing public cloud customers the ability to scale rapidly to support their growing capacity requirements in Japan. The data centre is the companys sixth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, bringing its platform to a total capacity of more than 750 MW across five tier one markets. Founder and CEO of AirTrunk, Robin Khuda, said Japan is poised for a huge acceleration to the cloud. Japan is a highly developed market with strong international connectivity, underpinning its position as a technology and data centre hub in Asia. The rapid increase of cloud adoption in Japan will be enabled by critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centres like TOK1. TOK1 is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective infrastructure for our cloud customers in key Asia-Pacific markets. Were ensuring operational excellence and a consistent experience for our customers across our data centre platform, said Mr Khuda. AirTrunks Head of Japan, Nori Matsushita, said that the local Japanese team will leverage AirTrunks global data centre expertise and regional standards gained from its hyperscale data centre developments in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong. AirTrunks unique construction methodologies, safety track record, and commitment to providing an efficient and sustainable digital ecosystem will be key to our success in Japan. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver this enormous data centre in Inzai. Story continues Japanese construction conglomerate, Daiwa House, has been appointed as the general contractor and will also take a stake in the project. Their local expertise, relationships, and strong construction credentials will be an asset to the development. The data centre will bring several benefits to the local economy including substantial investment and hundreds of jobs during construction and on-going operations. TOK1 will include seven buildings set across more than 13 hectares of land. Strategically located in Inzais data centre hub, the carrier neutral data centre will provide strong international and domestic connectivity with multiple fibre paths to the campus. Critically, AirTrunk has secured high voltage power to the site, with dedicated 66kV substations to power the data centre. AirTrunks efficient design will result in an ultra-low power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15, delivering significant energy efficiency. Earlier this year, a consortium led by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund 2 (MAIF2), a Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets-managed infrastructure fund, and including Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), acquired an 88 per cent stake in AirTrunk, valuing the company at more than $A3 billion and providing necessary capital and expertise to further realise AirTrunks expansion plans across APAC. TOK1 is the newest addition to AirTrunks growing hyperscale data centre platform, which includes facilities in Sydney West (130 MW), Sydney North (110 MW), Melbourne (130 MW), Singapore (60 MW) and Hong Kong (20 MW). About AirTrunk AirTrunk is a best-in-class hyperscale data centre specialist creating a platform for cloud, content and large enterprise customers across the Asia-Pacific region. The company develops and operates data centre campuses with industry leading reliability, technology innovation and energy efficiency. AirTrunks unique capabilities, designs and construction methodologies allow it to provide customers with a scalable and sustainable data centre solution at a significantly lower build and operating cost than the market. AirTrunk is a private company that is well capitalised to fund its development of data centres across Asia Pacific. For more information on AirTrunk, visit https://www.airtrunk.com/ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/83a089e1-4f4f-462e-8362-ed145f8f601f CONTACT: Media contact Katya Ginsberg katya@bastioneffect.com +61 405 073 304 Ted Mitchell ted@bastioneffect.com +61 400 104 738 South Africa: Nelson Mandela Bay needs R6m for water crisis Government will have to spend about R6 million on water tanks and trucks for emergency relief of the current water challenges in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Rand Water estimated that it would cost government R6 million to procure 100 x 5 000 litre tanks and 20 water trucks for an emergency intervention to assist with the current water challenges in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Water trucks will be made available for two months, the Department of Water and Sanitation said in a statement. Since the province was declared a drought-stricken area, the department, together with Amatola Water and municipalities, has been hard at work bringing water to communities that are affected by drought in the Eastern Cape. Through Amatola Water, the department said 5 694 water tanks and 171 water trucks have been delivered to service communities around the province, as part of the drought and COVID-19 pandemic intervention. A total of 756 water tanks have also been delivered and installed in priority schools around the province, with 274 boreholes being drilled to augment water supply in the province. Nooitgedagt Water Scheme The department said it will ensure that funding is available for the completion of the Nooitgedagt Water Scheme because Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality also depends heavily on it for its supply. The permanent repairs to the Sundays River Valley Canal are to be expedited to ensure its completion prior to the commissioning of the soon to be completed Nooitgedagt Water Scheme. Additional water tanks for municipalities The department will provide 20 additional water tanks and three water trucks, additional to the five that are already operating, to improve water service delivery in Beyers Naude Municipality. Amatola Water is in the process of appointing a service provider to avail three tankers. In this municipality, water trucks will also be made available for two months. The Ministry will formalise governments relationship with the Gift of Givers based on the National Treasury agreement to utilise them. In Amathole District Municipality, Amatola Water has deployed five tankers as at 20 September 2020, out of the additional 20 water trucks required for Butterworth. Amathole Municipality has submitted a revised business plan to the department for procuring additional water tanks and tankers on the 20% allowed from their grant funding, the department said. R50m allocated to Ngqamakhwe water pipeline The department announced that additional funding is to be committed to the Ngqamakhwe water pipeline, which will supply water to Butterworth and surrounding areas. This financial year, theres R50 million available versus the R720 million required for the entire project. The project team is ready to establish the site office in October 2020. The Project Steering Committee is also functional and the construction permit has been granted by the Department of Labour. The project is expected to be completed within the next two to three years. Gcuwa Weir Project The department said additional funding is to be committed to implement the Gcuwa Weir project, for completion by the end of 2021. The tender briefing took place on 15 September 2020 for Geo-Technical services. Two boreholes will be drilled and elevated tanks installed in Ngquthu village to improve water supply. Drillers have been appointed from a panel of Amatola Water specialists to be deployed in October. Amatola Water is in the process of appointing a service provider to deliver three water trucks in Ndlambe Municipality to increase water supply, the department said. The department has urged everyone to save water and report criminal acts, including illegal connections, water leaks, vandalism and theft of water infrastructure on toll-free number 0800 200 200. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-09-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer, Satish Manishinde, during her bail hearing before the Bombay High Court on Tuesday has said that Sushant Singh Rajput had been consuming drugs since before he met her. Sushant died on June 14, and Rhea has been accused by his father of abetting his suicide. According to Live Law India, Maneshinde in his arguments said, It is not that Sushant Singh Rajput got into drugs after Rhea came into his life. His co-stars Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor appear to have given statements Sushant Singh Rajput was consuming drugs much prior to 2019. Rhea, along with her brother Showik and several others, has been arrested in connection with the drugs angle in Sushants death case. She is currently lodged at Byculla Jail. The Narcotics Control Bureau in its investigation concluded that Rhea was a part of a drugs syndicate, and had purchased narcotics. Had Sushant Singh Rajput been alive today, he would have been punished under Section 20, Maneshinde said. Sushant would have then claimed the immunity of rehabilitation and got away with punishment for small quantities, he added. Had Sushant Singh Rajput been alive today, he would have been punished under Section 20 : Maneshinde (Rhea's lawyer).#RheaChakraborty #SushantSinghRajput Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 29, 2020 There is nothing to say that Rhea financed any illicit drug purchase. Even if the prosecution case is accepted, that it only small quantity for the consumption of Sushant Singh Rajput, he continued. Maneshinde has said that during the time that Rhea and Sushant were living together, the late actor was the only consumer of drugs. He said that the amount allegedly purchased -- 25 grams for the consumption of Sushant -- indicates that they were not in it for the profit. Also read: AIIMS forensic report finds no trace of organic poison in Sushant Singh Rajputs body: report Vikas Singh, the lawyer representing Sushants father in his case against Rhea, recently said in a press conference that the family is disappointed that the investigation has been derailed. Today, we are helpless as we dont know in which direction the case is going. Till today, CBI has not done a press briefing on what they have found out. I am not happy with the speed at which the case is going, he said. The NCB had launched an investigation after it received official communication from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in which there were various chats related to drug consumption, procurement, usage and transportation. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) will host a three-day online interactive event to train, connect, and inspire local community developers on numerous topics relevant to the current national landscape. The CCDA Collective will offer over 60 different opportunities to learn and collaborate with peers at CCDAcollective.org from October 1-3. http://www.ccdacollective.org - 3 Day Event For Christian Community Developers Over 60 video-streamed sessions at CCDA Collective event October 1-3 - Details and registration is available at www.ccdacollective.org "We believe community development work on behalf of the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized and the forgotten in every locale is sacred work. It is missional work. It is necessary work, especially, in the severity of this moment," said Cecilia Williams, President and CEO of CCDA. Participants can go through up to 29 masterclasses, collaborate through 12 separate roundtable events, and network within 24 peer-to-peer scheduled sessions. Organizers have also curated morning welcome addresses and mid-day talks from key leaders to inspire the entire Collective. Peer-to-peer connection events planned around various affinities include: Millennials in Christian Community Development (CCD) GenZ in CCD Women of Color in CCD Racialized Policing CCD Mental Health/Social Work Professionals Gender Equity Social Entrepreneurs / Impact Investing Youth Ministry Workers Educational Equity Emerging Voices of Color Environmental Justice Voter Engagement & Support Rural Networks Live roundtable discussion events scheduled include: Pushing for Change In Protest Re-Building Neighborhood Capacity Rethinking Reconciliation Practitioner Shifts in the Age of COVID & Unrest Healing Racialized Trauma Building Relationships & Advancing Justice Masterclass sessions to be offered include: Educational Equity in the Now Using Media, Arts & Activism to Ignite the Story Reconciliation Worship in the Midst of Unrest A Theology from the Border Leading Youth Through the Critical Moment Re-discipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity Intercultural Competence Spirituality for the Long Haul Workforce Development "Our community needs real tangible opportunities to connect with each other beyond the typical webinar or events full of canned talks. We've planned this event to allow for substantial engagement around critical issues community developers are facing today," noted Williams. The entire schedule and full details are available at www.ccdacollective.org . About the Christian Community Development Association CCDA has been inspiring, training, and connecting Christian community development practitioners and leaders since 1989. The national organization is dedicated to helping local community developers reclaim and renew their communities. CCDA has helped over 1000 organizations create positive change in the most neglected and marginalized neighborhoods. Learn more at CCDA.org. Media contact: Lorenzo A. Watson, [email protected], 919-559-9169 SOURCE Christian Community Development Association Related Links http://www.ccdacollective.org Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders IPO opens for subscription; here is what you should know about the firm before bidding The initial public offering of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders opened today for subscription. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 135-145 per share for Rs 444 crore IPO. Those who want to bid for the IPO can do so till October 1. The issue by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has an offer for sale of 3,05,99,017 equity shares by the government. The proceeds from the sale of the equity shares will go to the government. The opening of the companys IPO for sale is part of the governments divestment programme. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has its headquarter in Mumbai. It was incorporated in 1934. The company is a Mini-ratna-I defence public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). According to Economic Times, it is the leader in building frigates, submarines and destroyers for Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. The company, which was nationalised in 1960, has a maximum capacity of around 40000 DWT, reported moneycontrol.com. It is one of the initial to manufacture corvettes in the country. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has two divisions shipbuilding and submarine and heavy engineering. Under shipbuilding, it is currently creating four P15 B destroyers and four P-17A stealth frigates. On the other hand, under submarine and heavy engineering, the company is currently involved in the process of delivering four Scorpene-class submarines. It has manufactured 795 vessels till date, which include four missile boats, three submarines, Godavari class frigates, Shivalik class frigates and corvettes each, six Leander class frigates and destroyers each and 25 warships. The firm is also planning to venture into a ship repair facility and enhancing infrastructure and manufacturing capacity. It also intends to foray into exporting its products. According to moneycontrol.com, the firm received Rs 54,074 crore worth of orders as of July 2020 from its shipbuilding and submarine and heavy engineering divisions. The company is expected to make progress after the central government has made an announcement to ban the import of 101 defence items. This means that the government is focusing on indigenisation and creating opportunities in the Indian defence sector. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani Defence Ministrys Spokesperson Vagif Dargahli has said that Armenia is using old videos as part of its its-large-scale disinformation campaign. In a statement post on the ministrys official Facebook page on September 29, Dargahli said that Armenias military propaganda machine, which is in a desperate situation after series of Azerbaijans successful military operations on the line of contact, has launched a large-scale provocation in the information space. Such activity of the Armenian side includes presenting old videos from previous battles to the population as new. The goal is to pass their failure off to the population as their success. Commenting on Armenian media reports on alleged downing of Azerbaijani helicopter, Dargahli emphasized that helicopters are not used in todays battles. The information disseminated by the Armenian side that the helicopter of the Azerbaijani Air Force was allegedly down is another disinformation of Armenia. We state that the Azerbaijani Army has not used the helicopters during the operations held today. Earlier, Dargahli denied Armenian reports on alleged downing of Azerbaijani F-16, saying are no F-16 fighters in the arsenal of the Azerbaijan Air Force. Armenian media recently used the footage of destroyed Mi-17 helicopter of Syrian Air Forces, alleging that it belongs to the Azerbaijani Army. The photo widely shared in the Armenian media dates back to February 11, 2020 and has nothing to do with the recent clashes on the contact line between the Azerbaijan and Armenian troops. ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY State health officials have sent rapid testing machines to communities in Orange and Rockland counties where the coronavirus positivity rate has spiked in the past week. The highest infection rate appeared to be in Rockland County clusters where 30 percent and 25 percent of people tested for the coronavirus in two ZIP codes, respectively, came back positive Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news briefing Monday. In Orange County, 112 people tested positive over the weekend. "That's by far the largest increase since May," said County Executive Steve Neuhaus in his Monday coronavirus briefing on Facebook, comparing it to just 38 positive test results the weekend before. Source: New York State Health Department Neuhaus said he and Rockland County Executive Ed Day had spoken about people and communities who aren't following pandemic guidelines for social distancing and wearing masks. During Cuomo's Thursday press conference, officials acknowledged links between Rockland, Orange and Brooklyn, all of which are home to large Orthodox Jewish communities. Health officials in New York City said a return to lockdowns in certain neighborhoods was imminent if no improvement was evident. On Monday, Cuomo deflected questions, saying analysts needed to drill down into the data first. Neuhaus on Monday pointed out that 56 percent of those testing positive over the weekend were from the town of Palm Tree. That's the location of Kiryas Joel, a large Hasidic community. Day, in his public statement, said he was concerned about the significant increase of positive test results within two zip codes in Ramapo. That town is home to most of Rockland's Ultra-Orthodox. "I am both privately and publicly urging local municipalities to utilize their employees such as building and fire inspectors and police in educational efforts. It is my expectation that appropriate enforcement action will be taken, as necessary," Day said. He thanked state officials for sending additional testing machines and test kits to local providers. Story continues "We are continuing to work closely with municipal, community and religious leaders throughout Rockland," he said. "To the residents of our County, we all need to take this situation seriously. By working together, we can limit the further spread of COVID and protect our families, friends, and neighbors. I strongly urge all Rockland residents to do their part." Cuomo was expected to talk more about the clusters at a noon news briefing Tuesday. This article originally appeared on the New City Patch ROME - The Vatican on Tuesday answered its critics and defended its pursuit of an extended agreement with China on bishop nominations, acknowledging difficulties but insisting the effort had achieved limited, positive results. The Holy See articulated its position on the eve of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who this month wrote a harsh critique of the Vaticans 2018 accord with China and suggested the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it. Pompeo is scheduled to headline a religious liberty conference on Wednesday with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister, two architects of the deal. The 2018 accord was aimed at uniting the Catholic flock in China, which is divided between an official church recognized and regulated by the Beijing government, and an underground church that has been loyal to Rome. The agreement, which included a process for nominating new bishops and regularizing the status of seven bishops who werent recognized by Rome, was intended as a first step toward thawing decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican. Critics of the accord, including the retired archbishop of Hong Kong, some underground faithful in China and conservative Catholics elsewhere, accused the Vatican of betraying Catholics in China who for decades refused to join the state-sanctioned church. The critics say the deal also has emboldened the Beijing government in its harsh crackdown on religious believers that has only increased in the two years since the accord was signed. Pompeo criticized the accord in an essay published in the conservative ecumenical magazine First Things, echoing the Trump administrations overall criticism of Beijing that has grown amid the coronavirus pandemic in an election year. Two years on, its clear that the Sino-Vatican agreement has not shielded Catholics from the (Communist) Partys depredations, to say nothing of the Partys horrific treatment of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong devotees and other believers, Pompeo wrote. Noting that the deal is up for renewal when it expires next month, Pompeo wrote: Now more than ever, the Chinese people need the Vaticans moral witness and authority in support of Chinas religious believers. In its first official response to such criticism, Vatican editorial director Andrea Tornielli recalled that the accord only covers bishop nominations, and did not enter into political or diplomatic relations with China. The Provisional Agreement exclusively treats the process for the appointment of bishops: an essential question for the life of the church and for the necessary communion between the pastors of the Chinese Catholic Church with the bishop of Rome and with the bishops throughout the world, Tornielli wrote in an editorial appearing in Wednesdays edition of the Vatican newspaper, LOsservatore Romano. Tornielli quoted the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as saying it was worth negotiating an extension to the deal despite unspecified difficulties aggravated by the virus outbreak. Even though contact was blocked in recent months due to the pandemic, the results have been positive, although limited, and suggest going forward with the application of the agreement for another determined period of time, he said. The issue of bishop nominations had been the main stumbling block to restoring diplomatic relations that were severed nearly seven decades ago when the Chinese communists came to power. Beijing had long insisted that it must approve appointments as a matter of its national sovereignty; the Vatican has insisted on the popes divine authority to choose the successors of Christs apostles. Details of the 2018 accord never were released. Francis has said it involves a process of dialogue, including over the nomination of bishop candidates, but that he has the final say. Vatican officials have acknowledged the agreement is far from ideal and represented the best agreement it could get. They said that if the Vatican didnt hammer out something new, there was a risk of the Catholic Church in China becoming irrevocably split. The Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, a China-watcher and editor of the Catholic news agency AsiaNews, said the accord hadnt borne much fruit in the past two years other than preventing a possible schism if China continued nominating bishops without the popes consent. However, the fact remains that during all this time, there has been an increase in the persecution and control of diverse (religious) communities, both underground and official, he said in an interview. As evidence, Cervellera cited restrictions forbidding children to attend Mass or receive religious education, as well as reports of even official churches in China coming under televised surveillance. Its clear that the Vatican wants this (deal) because it hopes that this little, fragile thing can grow into other aspects of the life of the church, he said. China, for its part, has defended its treatment of religious groups, including restrictions on minors attending religious services. Recent actions that followed Beijings long-standing policies on Muslim groups reflect Chinas increasingly harsh approach toward all ethnic and religious minorities under the Communist Partys leader, President Xi Jinping. Demands that minority groups adopt national standards in education and culture have been accompanied by well-documented crackdowns on Tibetans, Uighurs and other Xinjiang Muslims, and the destruction of places of worship, including the removal of exterior crosses from church buildings. The other prong of Xis crackdown is aimed at giving new life to the atheist partys dedication to the eradication of religion in general. One of the Vatican accords biggest critics has been the retired archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, who has accused Parolin, the secretary of state, of manipulating the pope into agreeing to the deal and selling out Chinas underground faithful in the process. Zen was in Rome earlier this week, hoping to meet with Francis to discuss developments in China and Hong Kong, Italian media reported. He left without getting an audience. ___ AP reporter Christopher Bodeen contributed from Beijing. The triple amputee Iraq veteran accused of stealing from the We Build The Wall campaign along with Steve Bannon and two others has said that 'not a penny' of the multimillion-dollar fund was spent on his 'lavish' lifestyle. Brian Kolfage, 38, is charged with stealing $350,000 from the GoFundMe account he set up in support of President Trump's wall initiative in 2018. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month alleged the Purple Heart had been the main beneficiary of the scheme and had siphoned some of the money to fund his and wife Ashley's expensive habits - including spending on boats, an SUV, plastic surgery, jewelry, home renovations and credit card debt. But Kolfage has denied any wrong doing. The We Build The Wall accounts are currently frozen due to the indictment and construction work has stopped. Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee who served in Iraq, (pictured with wife Ashley) is accused of siphoning money from the multimillion-dollar We Build The Wall campaign to fund his and his wife's expensive habits 'Not a penny of the donations went toward anything that was said in the indictment. Not a penny. 'We did not take money, at all, from donors to buy a boat, to pay for lavish things that they say, for home improvements, for cars, for none of that. 'Everything in that indictment I either owned previously or bought with my own money,' Kolfage told McClatchy. The indictment posted by the court stated that both Kolfage's Land Rover and his boat Warfighter had been seized. But Kolfage, who said he had owned the boat and car before the indictment, said: 'Nothing of mine was seized at all... that's something they tried to make me look bad.' Kolfage has denied any wrong doing (the couple and their children pictured preparing to board a private flight they were gifted by a veterans' charity) Kolfage is accused of stealing from the We Build The Wall campaign along with Steve Bannon and two others (Bannon and Kolfage pictured in a video on the We Build The Wall website) The retired Senior Airman also claimed that arresting officers had not allowed him to put on his prosthetic legs when they arrived at his home in Sandestin, Florida, on August 20. Kolfage, who lost his right arm below the elbow and both legs while serving in Iraq in 2004, said he was forced to pull himself from the ground and into their vehicle. He branded it as a humiliating experience that his young children had to watch. He told the publication: 'I had to crawl, like literally hop out of my wheelchair I have no legs hop out of my wheelchair onto the ground, and pull myself up into the vehicle. 'My family's there watching out the window and the whole thing is just completely disrespectful.' The indictment posted by the court stated that both Kolfage's Land Rover and his boat Warfighter had been seized (Ashley posing next to the couple's white Range Rover) But Kolfage (pictured with 33-year-old wife Ashley on their boat) said he had owned the boat and car before the indictment Kolfage, who receives $100,000 a year from the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate for his injuries, said he is now planning to sue the law enforcement agency and the New York court for civil rights violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He added attorneys for the We Build The Wall organization are trying to get the funds unfrozen in order to get the project restarted. It comes after Kolfage claimed the charges leveled against him are part of a 'politically motivated' scheme targeting Trump associates. Earlier this month he spoke out against the indictment in his first interview since his arrest, accusing federal prosecutors in Manhattan of fabricating the allegations as part of a political witch hunt. It comes after Kolfage claimed the charges leveled against him are part of a 'politically motivated' scheme targeting Trump associates (pictured in New Mexico last year) Kolfage launched the private wall effort in December 2018 - but took it off GoFundMe recently because, he claimed, the company was not allowing him to fundraise for victims of assaults by BLM protesters Kolfage (pictured after the blast) lost his right arm below the elbow and both legs while serving in Iraq in 2004 'They made it up. It's so blatantly false. If they can do this to us they can do it to anybody,' he told the New York Post by phone. 'Everyone knows that the Southern District is really the sovereign district. They do their own things. They went after Rudy Giuliani. They do what they want to do and it's politically motivated.' Kolfage's comments appeared to echo those of alleged accomplice Steve Bannon, who last month blasted his prosecution as a 'political hit job'. The former Trump advisor claimed the allegations were an attempt 'to stop and intimidate people that want to talk about the wall.' The GoFundMe initiative had raised more than $25million after it was backed by Republican donors in support of the border wall. Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon leaving U.S. District Court after he was arraigned for alleged scheme to defraud the non-profit on August 20, 2020 Prosecutors however, say Kolfage, Bannon, Timothy Shea and Andrew Badolato allegedly used shell companies and a not-for-profit formed by Bannon to launder the money back to Kolfage and keep some for themselves. Bannon was arrested and later released after putting up $5million bail, secured by $1.75million in assets. In his interview with the Post, Kolfage also denied that his wife Ashley had received money from the scheme and claimed he is able to support his 'good middle class family' from the payouts he receives from the Department of Veteran Affairs. 'I'm not living a lavish life by any freaking means,' he said. 'Thank God I have a house that was given to me by the Gary Sinise Foundation.' After returning from the war, Kolfage married Ashley - a former Chilli's waitress - and lived quietly until Trump's political victory when they then became vocal supporters. Pictured: Kolfage with former President George Bush (left) and the pair are shown with Eric Trump (right) last February Prior to the scandal, Kolfage had been hailed as a decorated war hero after he was nearly killed and lost an arm and both his legs in a rocket attack in Iraq on September 11, 2004. Initially, Kolfage was celebrated by members of both parties. In March, he told Reuters he had begun accepting $10,000 a month in salary from the wall organization, saying the amount was modest compared to salaries paid by other nonprofits of that size. Actually, according to the indictment, he had received a one-time payment of $100,000 as early as February 2019, plus $20,000 a month routed through a Bannon nonprofit and corporations that were supposedly working on the wall project. A gang of mischievous raccoons caused chaos when they attacked members of the media at the White House. Four of the furry pests went after journalists with one photographer and a reporter having their clothes grabbed as they worked on the North Lawn. "Strong Pawnee vibes at White House this morning as a raccoon attacked multiple news crews on North Lawn. allegedly grabbed pant leg of a photographer & then a corespondent before being fended off," tweeted Paula Reid of CBS News. Pawnee is the fictional Indiana town from NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, which is overrun by raccoons in the show. The incident quickly went viral on social media with some Twitter users suggesting they had been sent by Donald Trump to exact revenge for coverage of his tax controversy. Ms Reid said the White House had reached out to the US General Services Administration, which manages federal properties. White House staff and the National Park Service usually manage to control the raccoons on the property, where they have a long history, according to the White House Historical Association. The most famous ever White House raccoon was Rebecca, who was kept as a pet by Calvin Coolidge and his family after they were given her by a supporter from Mississippi in 1926. The supporter suggested that Rebecca be served for Thanksgiving dinner but the Coolidge family fell in love with her and adopted Rebecca as a pet, according to the WHHA. Rebecca was reportedly kept on a short leash and joined the family for events and even formal White House occasions. DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In an age where teaching in-person and online simultaneously is the new normal, VolunteerNow is offering schools much needed relief. The national technology nonprofit launched a new feature on its community engagement platform, VOLY.org, aimed at helping campuses better manage volunteers virtually. The innovative tool allows school users to create "Virtual Opportunities" on VOLY.org, a simpler way to recruit and retain volunteers offsite. The easy-to-use software also offers a seamless sign-up process for volunteers. The "Virtual Volunteering" filter helps volunteers find opportunities quickly, check-in, check-out and log hours from anywhere. "The global pandemic has been an unexpected challenge, especially for our educators," Tammy Richards, VolunteerNow CEO said, "We're happy to provide a new feature that will make it much easier to track, manage and engage volunteers from a far." VolunteerNow's VOLY.org currently supports dozens of districts - and counting! More than 207,000 volunteers gave 335,000 hours in the 2019-2020 academic year, valued at $8.5 million. More than 450,000 students were directly impacted by parent help, corporate projects, individual mentoring, and a multitude of other ways in which school districts rely on their surrounding communities. About VolunteerNow With nearly 50 years of experience, VolunteerNow transforms lives through volunteerism and community engagement. Last year, VolunteerNow mobilized 310,000 volunteers who gave 1.6 million hours to 3,500 local nonprofits, driving a $41 million economic impact. VOLY.org, powered by VolunteerNow, is the 24/7 connection between volunteers and local service opportunities. As a national thought leader in volunteerism and one of the largest volunteer centers in the country, VolunteerNow provides a wide range of programs and services that build capacity for school districts, nonprofits, and municipalities. www.volnow.org SOURCE VolunteerNow Related Links http://www.volnow.org A former Green councillor who scrawled 'Dickens racist' on wall of museum dedicated to 19th century author pleaded not guilty in court Ian Driver, 63, was arrested for criminal damage after graffiti was plastered on the outside of The Charles Dickens House Museum in Broadstairs, Kent, on Saturday night. Driver - who was a Green Party councillor in Thanet until 2015 - pleaded not guilty to seven counts of criminal damage worth 2,000 during his appearance in Medway Magistrates' Court. Ian Driver pictured scrawling graffiti on the Charles Dickens museum in Broadstairs, Kent, on Saturday Mr Driver (pictured) admitted daubing the graffiti in the seaside town of Broadstairs Was Charles Dickens racist? Charles Dickens is one of the most beloved authors of the Victorian era. His works, including A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, are viewed as championing the plight of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. The celebrated writer's works have garnered criticism since his death in 1870 for antisemitic and genocidal views. Charles Dickens In 1857, following an unsuccessful uprising by Indians against the British East India Company, Dickens wrote he wanted to 'exterminate' the race. Dickens, writing as though he were a addressing Indian citizens, said: 'I... have the honour to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth.' In his book The Noble Savage wrote: 'I call a savage as something highly desirable to be civilised off the face of the earth.' His depiction of the character Fagin in Oliver Twist has also been described as antisemitic - both during the time Dickens was alive and today. The first 38 chapters of the book refer to Fagin as 'the Jew' more than 250 times' compared to calling him 'Fagin' or 'the old man' 42 times. Dickens said he made the character Jewish as it: 'Unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that the class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew.' Advertisement It comes after Driver admitted that he targeted the museum dedicated to beloved 19th century author. He also said he was behind graffiti on various other locations across Broadstairs and Ramsgate in a blog post. He said he picked his various targets because they 'represent the deep-rooted institutional racism' in local councils and charities. Driver was arrested on Monday by police investigating the writing on The Charles Dickens House Museum as well as other incidents in Broadstairs and Ramsgate. He was charged with the damage done to the wall in local council-owned Charles Dickens House Museum - costing 400 to fix. He was also charged with 1,000-worth of damage to local dance and music festival Folk Week's office door and the offices of council building Piermont Hall. He also allegedly caused 400 damage each to road signs for Dickens Street and Leopold Street as well as 150-worth of damage to a council-built box put up to protect a plaque to Uncle Mack - a minstrel troupe leader. He categorically denies all charges - even though he admitted that he was behind the graffiti in a blog post. The carer wore a denim jacket and cream shorts as he took to the streets in the dead of night on Saturday to campaign against what he claims is 'institutionalised racism' in the seaside town. He told Sun Online: 'I've never hidden the fact that I did it, I grassed myself up - which must be a first!' The blog post read: 'I selected the targets as they represent the deep-rooted institutional racism of Broadstairs Town and Thanet District councils and the Broadstairs Dickens Week and Folk Week charities who openly support, celebrate, and fund with public money, offensive blacked up Morris dancers, Uncle Macks blacked up Minstrel show memorial, and genocidal racists such as Charles Dickens and King Leopold of Belgium.' He added: 'My actions are nothing to do with the Black Lives Matter movement, of which I am a supporter, and are purely part of my own individual protest for which I alone am responsible.' Prior to his blog post, Driver was already under investigation by Kent Police for vandalising a box erected over a 'racist' memorial to Uncle Mack, who ran a minstrel group in blackface on the local beach in the early 19th Century, after a Black Lives Matter protest on June 13. He claims Broadstairs Town Council's vote to keep the plaque on June 24 was 'totally provocative and racist' and forced him to take 'direct action as a last resort'. But the father-of-three said he has 'no regrets whatsoever' over his latest demonstration and was expecting officers to knock on the door of his Broadstairs home 'any minute.' Dickens House, a museum in Broadstairs, Kent, dedicated to the Victorian author, was daubed with graffiti by Mr Driver Mr Driver said he has long campaigned against folk week in the seaside town He added: 'I will go to court and fight my case. If I had my way, the museum would be shut down. 'The council is not listening and has no intention of addressing these issues. I believe that Broadstairs is Racism-on-Sea. 'The Black Lives Matter campaign is uncovering history we shouldn't be celebrating. Some of the things these people said and did would be appalling even in their own times - it's not just outdated views.' The father-of-three was arrested earlier today His grafitti came amid growing calls from the Black Lives Matter movement to remove statues and monuments of racist figures. A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down and dumped into Bristol Harbour earlier this year, while statues to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Holland and Nancy Astor, the first woman to take a seat in Parliament, have all been defaced in recent weeks. The museum on the East Kent coast inspired the home of Betsey Trotwood, a character in the novel David Copperfield, which was released in full in 1950. By the end of the 19th century the museum had come to be known as Dickens House, before it was opened a museum to the writer in 1973. Dickens Road, which is less than 10 minutes walk away from the Broadstairs museum was painted over with black ink During his life and more so after his death in 1870, Charles Dickens' writing has been criticised as antisemitic and racist. In a letter penned in 1857 reacting to an uprising in India, the Oliver Twist and Great Expectations author said he wished to 'exterminate the Race from the face of the earth.' While penning a non-fiction book titled The Noble Savage, he suggested Indians should be 'civilised off the face of the earth'. An aerial view shows a tree at the center of a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State By Nayara Figueiredo SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's biggest lobby group for soy farmers Aprosoja has broken ties with the Brazil Agribusiness Association (Abag) over its support for an initiative calling on the Brazilian government to rein in soaring deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Abag was among roughly 230 nongovernment organizations, companies and associations that called on the government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro earlier this month to take measures to combat rising deforestation. Aprosoja's departure from the association highlights just how divisive the issue of environmental protection is for Brazil's farming sector, which overwhelmingly backed right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 election. Environmental concerns in Europe over importing Brazilian products linked to deforestation have threatened to derail ratification of a free trade deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur. That would deal a blow to Brazilian farmers who stand to benefit from increased exports. Many of the biggest farmers and commodities trading companies say marginal producers, who do not represent the industry's mainstream, are driving illegal deforestation. Some farmers, as well as Bolsonaro, blame Brazil's negative environmental image on a smear campaign by non-governmental organizations. Environmental advocates say Bolsonaro's policies that weaken environmental enforcement embolden illegal farmers, ranchers and miners to clear the forest. Aprosoja President Bartolomeu Braz Pereira told Reuters that Abag was playing politics by siding with non-government organizations. "Our voice wasn't heard any more," Pereira said. "NGOs have no interest whatsoever in preserving the environment," Pereira said. By allying with NGOs, Abag was complicit in "denigrating the image of rural producers." Abag's press office said it would not comment on any member organizations leaving the association, but that it was not cause for concern. Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rose 34.5% in the 12-months through July, Brazil's official period for measuring deforestation, according to preliminary statistics from government space research agency Inpe. (Reporting by Nayara Figueiredo; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Aurora Ellis) 'The three men were picked up after officers traced them from their names on the helicopter booking forms.' (Getty/stock image) Belgian police arrested the suspects in an "amateurish" prison breakout less than 24 hours after the gang booked the helicopter they hijacked to try to free one of their wives under their real names. The three men chartered the flight in Deurne, near Antwerp, on Friday on the pretext of taking aerial shots for a television programme but planned to use the helicopter to free Kristal Appelt, the wife of the main suspect Mike Gielen (24) married Appelt (27) in prison last year. She is awaiting trial for the murder of her then boyfriend. "I can confirm that my client has admitted that he wanted to release his wife from prison," said Mr Gielen's lawyer, Tom Van Overbeke. "Right now it seems like the whole thing is pretty amateurish." After taking pictures of landmarks, the men produced imitation guns and ordered the pilot to fly to the prison. The excitement was too much for Mr Gielen, who vomited up to five times. The pilot managed to convince him that it was impossible to land the helicopter in the prison courtyard. After hovering for a short while, the helicopter flew out of Brussels to a car park in the French-speaking region of Wallonia. A headcount in the prison revealed that no one had escaped. The three men were picked up after officers traced them from their names on the helicopter booking forms. They will appear in court next week. The Wyoming Education Association came out this weekend against state health officials decision to limit the number of quarantines within schools, saying the move will make schools less safe and calling the change a step back in pandemic planning. Not only are there more identified cases of COVID-19 in Wyoming, but there is a higher percentage of our population testing positive than ever before, Grady Hutcherson, the head of the education association, said in a statement. Taking one step forward and two steps back in terms of recommendations and policy around COVID-19 safety isnt going to keep our schools safe. If we want our schools to remain safe if we want our schools to remain open now is the time to stay the course and remain diligent in exercising every possible safety precaution to stem the spread of COVID-19. Last week, Dr. Alexia Harrist said that because transmission within schools had been low and that face coverings were effective in curbing the spread of the coronavirus that the state was modifying its rules pertaining to when students quarantine after an exposure to a person with COVID-19. She said, and later told health officers across the state, that quarantines would only be necessary for when students who werent wearing masks came into contact with a sick student who also wasnt wearing a mask. In other words, just having close contact with a positive case isnt enough. As of last week, there had been roughly 100 cases of the virus within Wyomings schools, which have been open for roughly a month. Health officials have praised school districts and their implementation of face mask and social distancing requirements, heralding the lack of transmission within the buildings as evidence that face coverings work to curtail spread. Hutcherson told the Star-Tribune that the education association was strongly in favor of wearing face masks. But he said the new quarantine recommendations ignored the fact that masks arent worn at all times, and they place a new burden upon teachers to track when students are and arent wearing face coverings. He called it reckless to expect students to self-monitor their symptoms. Loosening quarantine requirements fails to account for the fact that were all human and mask usage is bound to be less-than-perfect, especially in a school setting, Hutcherson said. Kim Deti, a spokeswoman for the Health Department, said her agency continues to support strong mask usage and that it welcomes the WEAs strong face-covering encouragement. But she said teachers are already asked if students were wearing masks when a positive is identified. Looking at what has been occurring so far in schools, we havent seen significant transmission within schools when masks and distancing are used as recommended, she said. We dont want to keep large numbers of students who are not sick away from school unless it is a valuable and necessary strategy. While school cases have been relatively low, Wyoming has had a significant spike in the latter half of September. New daily and weekly records have been set, and the 14-day average number of cases reported per day is just above 80, triple what it was on Sept. 6. Hospitalizations are also up. Though recoveries have picked up pace as well, the number of newly reported cases has outstripped the number of recoveries. Hutcherson and the education association called the new quarantine changes a direction contradiction to CDC guidelines. Deti acknowledged as much and said the Health Department typically refrains from not following the federal agencys recommendations. But she said doing so in this case makes sense for Wyoming at this time. She also disagreed with the characterization that it was reckless to do so. If a student or staff member tests positive there will be appropriate follow up to determine whether the close contacts were wearing masks, she said. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. This article will be updated throughout the week with coronavirus case counts and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio. COVID-19 updates: The coronavirus pandemic continued to show signs of abating Sunday as city officials said no new deaths were recorded. Still, the total number of cases was up substantially from Saturday, when Metro Health said 58,184 had been tallied. COVID-19 updates: San Antonios Cornerstone Church said Sunday that its 80-year-old founding pastor, John Hagee, had tested positive for the coronavirus. October 3 COVID-19 updates: The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 145 new coronavirus cases Saturday, as well as five new deaths. With 5 more deaths occurring within the last two weeks, we have to remember that COVID-19 still lurks within our community, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Saturday. The total case count rises to 58,184, and the death toll now stands at 1,143. October 2 Free tests for the asymptomatic: The city of San Antonios COVID-19 testing sites will begin offering free tests Monday to people who have no symptoms of the virus. Currently, asymptomatic people who want to be tested must visit a doctors office or a private lab. But the city is expanding its testing for the first time to patients showing no symptoms. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the briefing that the coronavirus continues on a low trajectory in San Antonio and Bexar County with only 103 new cases reported on Friday. No new deaths were reported. October 1 COVID-19 updates: The Metropolitan Health District reported 104 new coronavirus cases Thursday a significant drop from the 155 cases on Wednesday bringing the citys total number of confirmed cases to 57,936 . There were also two new verified deaths, pushing the local death toll to 1,138. September 30 COVID-19 updates: Hospitalizations for COVID-19 dropped on Wednesday to the lowest level in about two weeks, an encouraging sign as the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus remained low in San Antonio. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 155 new cases, another drop from 262 cases the day before. September 29 COVID-19 updates: The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 469 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, including 207 positive results from Sept. 15-23. The remainder of the new cases are from the last seven days. This brings the countys total cases to 57,677. There were also five new deaths reported Tuesday, increasing the local death toll to 1,135. Just Monday, San Antonio reported no new deaths. September 28 COVID-19 updates: San Antonio officials reported 63 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths from COVID-19 on Monday. The positivity rate, or percentage of positive tests, declined to 5.92 percent, after ticking up to 6.4 percent the previous week. Health officials are close to their goal of reducing the areas rate to 5 percent or less. September 27 Backlog of cases: A backlog of 2,794 coronavirus cases reported Sunday pushed the total number in Bexar County since the start of the pandemic to 57,145, according to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The first presidential debate pitting President Donald Trump against former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden takes place Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the first of three debates in which the two will appear face to face. The election campaign is close, both nationally and in Ohio, a swing state, where voters opinions about the two candidates differ sharply from one household to the next. VOA's Carolyn Presutti is in Cleveland for the debate. VOA Khmer's Reasey Poch narrates in Khmer. "San Antonio has been incredibly receptive to the comfort-focused care and clinical support we've provided to the community, and this new facility enables us to deliver care more effectively to greater numbers of patients and families," said Joseph Brickner, general manager of VITAS in San Antonio. "The VITAS IPU at Villa Rosa offers extra layers of support around the clock from an expert hospice team in a place that feels like home." A ribbon-cutting ceremony in June marked the grand opening of the new location. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and other local officials attended the private event. Conveniently located in the Medical Center of San Antonio and accessible via I-10 and I-410, the IPU features 14 private rooms, a family room, kitchen, in-room recliners and sofas, washer and dryer, and children's play area. Visitation hours are available for family and friends, with service animals and well-trained pets welcome. Family accommodations are available at nearby hotels and restaurants. VITAS IPUs offer a temporary home away from home for patients near the end of life, along with their families, when symptoms can no longer be managed in their preferred setting of care. Patients receive 24/7 care from an interdisciplinary VITAS team comprising a physician, nurse, hospice aide, social worker, chaplain, volunteer and bereavement expert who attend to the medical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Operating offices in San Antonio and San Marcos, VITAS provides quality compassionate care to patients with advanced illness throughout 16 counties in the Greater San Antonio area. About VITAS Healthcare Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 48 hospice programs in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 11,946 professionals who care for patients with advanced illness, primarily in the patients' homes, and also in the company's 29 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the second quarter of 2020, VITAS reported an average daily census of 19,191. Visit www.vitas.com. Media Inquiries, contact [email protected] or 877.848.2701 SOURCE VITAS Healthcare Related Links https://www.vitas.com Watch: A look at the 10 countries with the most coronavirus deaths The global coronavirus death toll has passed one million a milestone branded agonising and mind-numbing by the UN secretary-general. The grim milestone was reported by the Johns Hopkins University dashboard, which was developed in late January to tracks infections and deaths in real-time as the outbreak swept the globe. Our world has reached an agonising milestone, said UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres in a statement. Its a mind-numbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. The US has the worlds highest death toll with 205,000 COVID 19-related deaths, followed by Brazil with 142,000, India with 96,000 and Mexico with 76,000. In terms of daily virus-related deaths, India is top of the dashboard, followed by the US, with Brazil and Mexico coming in third and fourth. Here are the countries with the highest virus-related tolls: The US President Donald Trump has been criticised for his handling of the virus. (PA) The US death toll from the coronavirus topped 205,000 on Monday, by far the highest in the world. It has had more than seven million cumulative coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. President Donald Trump has been criticised for his handling of the crisis, a key issue in the forthcoming election, and was accused of playing down the virus in its early stages. His democrat opponent Joe Biden pointed out that he said at a rally in June that he wanted to slow down testing. Trump announced in May that he was taking anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against COVID-19, however, there is no evidence the drug can fight the virus. Brazil Crosses and red balloons are placed in the sand on Copacabana beach in Brazil in a demonstration organized by Rio de Paz to honor the victims of COVID-19. (AP) Brazils death toll stood at 142,058 early on Tuesday morning. In April and May, so many Manaus residents were dying from COVID-19 that its hospitals collapsed and cemeteries could not dig graves fast enough. The city never imposed a full lockdown. Non-essential businesses were closed but many simply ignored social distancing guidelines. Story continues Brazil has had 4.7 million cumulative coronavirus cases. India A group of daily wage workers chats among themselves as they wait to get work at Labour Chowk in Noida, India. (AP) India, the worlds second most populous country after China, has had 96,318 coronavirus deaths and it is currently leading the way in new daily virus-related deaths. On Monday, the country reported its six millionth coronavirus case as it surged closer to the US as the most-infected nation. Prime minister Narendra Modi has urged people to wear face masks, although with a population of 1.3 billion and the worlds most densely populated cities, social distancing is not always possible. Mexico A cemetery worker digs a grave at the Cementerio Municipal de Valle de Chalco. (AP) Mexico has reported 76,603 deaths, the fourth-highest in the world, however, definitive data on the country's death toll from COVID-19 wont be available for a couple of years. Testing has been sparse in Mexico, even for people with coronavirus symptoms and for those on the front line such as doctors, nurses and carers. So the death toll is expected to be significantly higher. When will the final statistics on deaths from COVID-19 be ready? Certainly, a couple of years after the first year of the pandemic, assistant health secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said, adding that work would be left to the countrys statistics institute. Mexico currently has had more than 733,000 total cases since the pandemic started. The UK Prime minister Boris Johnson meets shoppers and shopkeepers during a visit to his constituency in Uxbridge, west London, last week. (PA) The UK is fifth on the list with 42,090 deaths, as of Tuesday morning. England, Wales, Scotland and northern Ireland have seen an average of 3,000 cases collectively in past weeks as some believe the country is experiencing a second wave of the virus. On Monday, government figures showed there had been a further 4,044 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus, taking the overall number of cases to 439,013. The UK government and prime minister Boris Johnson have come in for criticism for the initial response to the coronavirus outbreak for failing to prepare in the early stages and not locking down the country sooner. Italy A health worker collects swabs and conduct tests on passengers for coronavirus COVID-19 at the Capodichino airport in Naples. (Kontrolab/LightRocket via Getty Images) One of the first countries in Europe to be struck by the virus, Italy now has limited new cases compared with its neighbours. The World Health Organization held Italy up as an example this week, praising its clear government advice, strong public support to reduce transmission. Italy has had 35,851 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic started, and more than 311,000 cumulative cases. Peru A man wears a mask in Lima, Peru's capital city. (AP) Peru currently has 32,324 deaths and 808,000 cumulative cases. Peru imposed one of the earliest lockdowns in Latin America to stop the spread of the virus and continued until the end of June. Despite this, infections and deaths continued to rise. Experts have said that the Peruvian healthcare system was underprepared to deal with the crisis. France A waiter carries chairs to close a bar terrace in Paris, France. (AP) France has reported 31,744 deaths. COVID-19 cases, infection rates and hospital admissions are continuing to rise in in France. On Monday, public officials expressed hope a new slate of restrictive measures would keep the epidemic from reaching first-wave levels. We are doing everything we can to prevent a new general confinement, even though with this virus, we are ruling nothing out, environment minister Elisabeth Borne said on Monday. Spain Medical residents sit in the middle of an avenue as they take part in a protest against their working conditions during a strike in Barcelona, Spain. (AP) Spain is also in the midst of experiencing a second wave of the virus. COVID-19 has already claimed more than 31,000 lives among more than 700,000 cases nationwide, the highest infection rate in the EU. Madrid, the capital city, went into a partial lockdown on Monday to try and curb the spread. Iran People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus walk in downtown Tehran, Iran. (AP) The official tally shows Iran recorded 25,779 deaths so far, as of Tuesday. Iran recorded its first coronavirus cases in February in Tehran and implemented quarantine measures in March and April. On Friday, the number of daily infections rose above 3,500 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The current number of cases in Iran stands at 446,448. Coronavirus: what happened today Click here to sign up to the latest news and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter Watch: UK coronavirus cases rising - why are deaths still low? Washington country club conservatives are using their well-manicured hands to delicately slap their foreheads in disbelief. All the kings consultants and all the kings lackeys cant tell them whats wrong with their ingrate voters. And something is definitely wrong. The latest campaign finance reports show that interloper Donald Trump is raising double the amount of money from small donors than the potentate princes of D.C. According to Bloomberg (and it must really gall them to report this), Small-dollar donors provided more than half of President Donald Trumps $1 billion campaign war chest, but their largess has not extended to other Republican candidates, raising alarms for down-ballot races and the partys prospects in future elections. What is important here is not the amount of the individual contribution. Curator of the Senate Mitch McConnell can raise money in multi-thousand dollar chunks, while Trump has raised 56% of his $1 billion in grocery-money sized checks of less than $200. What is important is that every check Trump receives is a guaranteed vote for him in November. No one gives a penny to a candidate they dont intend to support on Election Day. While the bundled money delivered by K Street lobbyists to McConnell and the rest of the cocktail conservative incumbents dont guarantee any votes by real people, but do represent IOUs on the part of the politicians to the swamp lobbyists. Whats really funny about the Bloomberg analysis is its choice of candidate to illustrate the dire situation of GOP incumbents. The reporter chose a candidate who holds the base and the bases issues in utter contempt. Heres what I mean: Maine Sen. Susan Collins, facing a tough race after voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, has brought in about $325,000 from Trumps legion of grassroots givers, or 2.3% of the total shes raised. Shes not facing a tough race because of her Kavanaugh vote. Shes facing a tough race because she thinks the best technique for re-election is to put your thumb in the eye of Republican conservatives. Her 2019 vote rating by the American Conservative Union is 23 out of 100. Now that they have a chance, the GOP base is responding by sitting on their wallets. Frankly, Im surprised that Conservative in Name Only Collins has been able to raise even that much money from Trump supporters she regularly betrays. The simple fact of the matter is conservatives arent buying what these housebroken conservatives are selling. Compare what Trump promises with what GOP collaborators promise. Trump has protected U.S. jobs by limiting H1-B visas, hes cracked down on China, hes trying to limit unchecked immigration, hes eliminated regulations, encouraged fracking, erased Critical Race Theory and taken a hard line on voter riots. But most important of all is Trump stands up publicly for the average man. Trumps goals are tangible actions some more successful than others that voters can see in action. Compare those simple, quantifiable promises with the latest Commitment to America issued by a focus group in the House. Excuse me, issued by the House GOP leadership. Its 454 words of nebulous argle-bargle specifically designed to be unquantifiable. The commitment says absolutely nothing specific and measurable for conservatives who are tired of losing their culture and their country to the destructive left. Two years ago, I urged voters to go on strike and send our professional political class a message by giving the House to the left. Unfortunately, defeat taught them nothing. They have the perfect example of how to win sitting in the White House and they still ignore him. Unfortunately, conservatives now have no choice. A leftist takeover of the government is a leap into the abyss. Michael Shannon is a commentator, public relations consultant and the author of A Conservative Christians Guidebook for Living in Secular Times. He can be reached at mandate.mmpr@gmail.com. HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Namibia Critical Metals Inc. ("Namibia Critical Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:NMI) announced today, pursuant to the requirements of the TSX Venture Exchange, that its board of directors approved the granting of incentive stock options ("Options") under its stock option plan as part of the overall remuneration and incentive program for its employees, officers and directors. A total of 4,500,000 Options were granted to directors and officers of the Company and its subsidiaries. All of such Options are exercisable for a period of five years at a price of $0.26 per Common Share being the closing price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on September 28, 2020, the trading day prior to the grant. About Namibia Critical Metals Inc. Namibia Critical Metals Inc. holds a diversified portfolio of exploration and advanced stage projects in the country of Namibia focused on the development of sustainable and ethical sources of metals for the battery, electric vehicle and associated industries. The two advanced stage projects in the portfolio are Lofdal and Epembe (described below). The Company also has significant land positions in areas favourable for gold mineralization. Heavy Rare Earths: The Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project is the Company's most advanced project having completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2014 and full Environmental Impact Assessment in 2017. An application has been made for a mining licence at Lofdal. The project is now in joint venture with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC") who are funding the current $3,000,000 drilling and metallurgical program with the objective of doubling the resource size and optimization of the process flow sheet. Gold: At the Erongo Gold Project, stratigraphic equivalents to the sediments hosting the recent Osino gold discovery at Twin Hills have been identified but not yet sampled. Soil surveys are progressing over this highly prospective area. Tantalum-Niobium: In addition to Lofdal, the Epembe Tantalum-Niobium Project is also at an advanced stage with a well-defined, 10 km long carbonatite dyke that has been delineated by detailed mapping with over 11,000 meters of drilling. Preliminary mineralogical and metallurgical studies including sorting tests (XRT), indicate the potential for significant physical upgrading. Further work will be undertaken to advance the project to a preliminary economic assessment stage. Copper-Cobalt: The Kunene Copper-Cobalt Project comprises a very large area of favorable stratigraphy ("the DOF") along strike to the west of the Opuwo cobalt-copper-zinc deposit. Secondary copper mineralization over a wide area points to preliminary evidence of a regional-scale hydrothermal system. Exploration targets on EPLs held in the Kunene project comprise direct extensions of the DOF style mineralization to the west, sediment-hosted cobalt and copper, orogenic copper, and stratabound manganese and zinc-lead mineralization. Earlier stage projects include the Grootfontein Base Metal and Gold Project which has potential for magmatic copper-nickel mineralization, Mississippi Valley-type zinc-lead-vanadium mineralization and Otjikoto-style gold mineralization. Detailed interpretation of geophysical data and regional geochemical soil sampling surveys are under way. The Otjitanga Light Rare Earth Project is situated within the company's Kunene exploration area and hosts a new discovery of neodymium-rich carbonatite veins which is in the early stages of exploration. The common shares of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NMI". Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For more information please contact - Namibia Critical Metals Inc. Don Burton, President Tel: +01 (902) 835-8760 Fax: +01 (902) 835-8761 Email: Info@NamibiaCMI.com Web site: www.NamibiaCriticalMetals.com The foregoing information may contain forward-looking information relating to the future performance of Namibia Rare Earths Inc. Forward-looking information, specifically, that concerning future performance, is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the appropriate securities commissions. SOURCE: Namibia Critical Metals Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608294/Namibia-Critical-Metals-Announces-Grant-of-Stock-Options A kindergarten teacher has been sentenced to death in central China for poisoning 25 nursery children, one of whom died. Wang Yun was arrested in Jiaozuo after the young pupils were rushed to hospital after eating their morning porridge. Wang put sodium nitrite in the breakfast of her colleague's students 'in revenge after arguing with the co-worker', the local authorities said on Monday. A kindergarten teacher has been sentenced to death in central China after she was found poisoning 25 nursery children, one of whom died, a court says. The file photo shows students wearing face masks arriving at a primary school in Beijing on September 7 Wang's sentence comes police in China's Inner Mongolia have arrested three nursery teachers today after they allegedly used needles to stab the children. The incident occurred on March 27 last year after Wang had a fallout with her colleague, known by her surname Sun, over 'student management issues', the Jiaozuo court said in a statement. The nursery teacher then adulterated the food prepared for Sun's students with sodium nitrite, which is commonly used as a food preservative but can be toxic and possibly fatal from overexposure. It was reported at the time that 23 children began vomiting and fainting after eating their breakfast. Police launched an investigation after Wang was accused of poisoning the students. Authorities later found that a total of 25 children were poisoned during the incident that shocked China and triggered global headlines. One child died died in January after spending 10 months in hospital. Another 23 suffered minor injuries, according to the court. Schoolchildren in China have been the target of often fatal attacks by people bearing grudges or considered mentally ill. The file photo shows Chinese children lining up under the supervision of a teacher at a kindergarten playground in Beijing Wang was also found poisoning her husband in 2017 by putting sodium nitrite in his cup. He suffered minor injuries after drinking the water. The court said Wang was 'despicable and vicious', and she deserved to be severely punished as the consequences of her crimes were extremely serious. She was sentenced to death and deprived of political rights for life. Schoolchildren in China have been the target of often fatal attacks by people bearing grudges or considered mentally ill. In 2002, 42 people, mostly schoolchildren, died after eating snacks laced with rat poison in the eastern city of Nanjing. The killer, who apparently was jealous of his rivals' thriving business, was swiftly sentenced to death and executed. As for other employees at faith-based organizations such as a groundskeeper at a church, or a cafeteria worker at religious school the law is more nuanced, Ebbin said. Religious schools or other entities are allowed to limit employment to members of their faith, but if they make any exceptions, they cannot use faith as a basis to reject others. The family of a Louisville police officer who is believed to have fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor is trying to raise $75,000 to help him retire because he no longer feels safe on the force. An online fundraiser set up this week is seeking donations to help support Myles Cosgrove after he gives up his job because of the 'countless threats' he's received amid immense public outrage over his involvement in Taylor's killing. 'The family of Detective Myles Cosgrove, an officer involved in the tragic Breonna Taylor case, is starting this fund in order to help secure the safety of Myles and his immediate family going forward,' a post on GiveSendGo reads. 'It has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position serving the community with the Louisville Metro Police Department. 'We hope to raise enough funds to help him purchase the remainder of his service time, or "air-time", so that he can retire from the LMPD and continue to focus on the safety of his family, a family that has been put continually at-risk over the past few months.' Louisville Police Officer Myles Cosgrove (pictured) is looking to retire from the force after receiving 'countless threats' over his involvement in Breonna Taylor's killing, his family says Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed on March 13 when Cosgrove and two other Louisville police officers executed a 'no knock' narcotics warrant at her home Cosgrove's family set up an online fundraiser this week to help him retire from the Louisville Metro Police Department because he no longer feels safe amid fevered outrage over his involvement in Taylor's killing Cosgrove was one of three Louisville officers who fired shots while executing a 'no knock' narcotics warrant on March 13, striking the 26-year-old EMT six times. Last week a grand jury cleared Cosgrove and officers John Mattingly and Brett Hankison of charges in Taylor's death, ruling that they were justified in their use of force because the victim's boyfriend opened fire on them first without knowing they were police. Hankison was the only officer to be charged over the incident as he was hit with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots into a neighbor's home. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron discussed the findings of the grand jury investigation at a press conference last week, revealing that an FBI analysis confirmed that the fatal shot which struck Taylor near her heart had been fired by Cosgrove. Cameron noted that a ballistics test performed prior to the FBI analysis failed to come to a conclusion about who fired the fatal shot. The grand jury decision sparked renewed fury among critics who have demanded justice in Taylor's killing - one of several this year that have highlighted police brutality against black Americans and sparked protests worldwide. Last week a grand jury cleared Cosgrove and the other two officers involved in the Taylor raid - John Mattingly (left) and Brett Hankison (right) - of charges in her death. Hankison was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing bullets into a neighbor's home But Cosgrove's family is now trying to paint him as a victim, saying that they have received 'countless threats' in the past several months. 'Myles' reputation has been completely dismantled and the psychological trauma is something that he will have to cope with for the rest of his life,' the fundraiser states. 'Every day, the threats seem more legitimate and scarier; his family has been doxed and harassed, while the threats remain unrelenting. 'Although Myles may never feel completely safe again, if you can help us reach our goal, we can at least get him on a path to security and allow him to focus on his main objective: the safety of his family.' The campaign, which has raised more than $7,000 toward its $75,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon, came to light on Monday as new questions arose over Attorney General Daniel Cameron's handling of the case. The full description on the GiveSendGo campaign by Cosgrove's family is shown above Louisville police released this photo of Cosgrove on the night of the Taylor raid One of the grand jurors involved in last week's long-awaited decision revealed they were not given the option to indict two of the three cops involved in Taylor's killing and said Cameron is misrepresenting their deliberations by claiming they were satisfied neither of the officers should be charged. The juror made the claims in a court motion calling for Cameron to release all the evidence reviewed by the panel, which the attorney general later agreed to do. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (pictured) on Monday agreed to release transcripts of the grand jury proceedings In a statement Monday night, Cameron acknowledged that he never asked the grand jury to consider homicide charges against the officers - only recommending a charge of wanton endangerment for Hankison. He had previously declined to provide details on what charges prosecutors brought to the grand jury to consider when it met last week. Cameron said the grand jury is meant to be a 'secretive body', but said 'it's apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen.' He said a recording of the grand jury proceedings would be released Wednesday and assured that it would put speculation of misconduct to bed. 'Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury,' Cameron said. The attorney general also said he wouldn't object if members of the panel want to speak publicly about their grand jury experience. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] PEABODY, MA The patio tables were mostly full and the Just Wingin' It Food Truck was firing up orders in front of Granite Coast Brewing Company on Main Street late Saturday afternoon as patrons made the most of another warm weather weekend. The cornhole boards and Jenga blocks that once took up part of the gated patio space next to the brewery have been replaced with spaced-out tables to serve what co-owner and taproom manager Rob Dunn said has been a loyal customer base since the Peabody brewery was able to reopen from the spring coronavirus shutdown when the year-old taproom was relegated to growler fills to go. "A lot of regulars were staying with us," Dunn told Patch. "A lot of people we were seeing getting three, four, five, six growlers filled, and we were seeing them every weekend." Finding ways to keep those regulars coming back through the changing regulations of the spring, summer and fall has been an ongoing battle for Granite Coast and other small breweries across the state. Finding ways to convince them to come inside once the weather gets colder over the next couple of months could be their biggest battle yet. In June, beer gardens were allowed to open for outdoor consumption. But in August, amid a surge in coronavirus cases in states such as Florida, Georgia and Texas that had recently reopened bars, Gov. Charlie Baker announced traditional bars were closed until a phase 4 of reopening that won't happen until there is a vaccine or effective virus therapy. Those bars that had the capability to operate as restaurants were also told that not only did they have to offer food, all customers now needed to order it to be able to sit down and have a beer. "We had to get a food truck or food pop-up scheduled for any time we are open," Dunn said. "That can be a headache. For a young brewery who doesn't have a name built up yet, you might not get your emails returned. We were finding anyone and anyone to get our food trucks. If something happened, and you had a truck cancel on you, then you can't open that day. Story continues "Then when they changed it (in August) so that everyone had to buy food it got even more complicated. There were questions about what types of food you could have it couldn't just be desserts and how much people had to order. Can they be shareable items? A lot of food trucks are very specific with what they serve, so what if someone is a vegetarian or a vegan and you have a meat truck? They are not going to come to you if all they can order is meat." Through showing some local food trucks Granite Coast can bring them enough business to profit during a day in front of the brewery, and working with local catering companies that have turned to pop-up food operations with the dearth of big weddings and events because of the virus, Granite Coast has lined up vendors through the fall. But a walk inside the taproom on Saturday hinted at the next concern that many restaurants will face as winter approaches. While there were six tables filled on the patio, there were only two small groups in the taproom. "You just missed the big rush," Dunn assured about 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon as he made the rounds in the brewpub, while co-owner and head brewer Jeff Marquis stood near the bar and marketing manager Amy Luckiewicz brought beer to customers outside. At the start of the pandemic merchandise and growler fills were the Granite Coast Brewing Company's only sales options on site. (Scott Souza/Patch) About half of the German-style, sturdy tables the owners hand-built for the taproom, as well as the nine bar stools, are removed for social distancing, and Dunn questions how many of those seats that remain will be filled once customers face the choice of freezing outside, venturing indoors to dine and drink, or simply staying home. "Depending on how everything goes with (coronavirus) numbers and cases is going to determine how comfortable everybody is coming indoors," Dunn allowed. "I know a handful of people who are comfortable, but some are afraid, and it's a valid concern. "Our (business) model is based on selling beer and having a taproom. It's hard to get the numbers if people are afraid to come inside." Because brewpubs charge much more proportionally for a pint in the taproom than a growler fill to go, breweries like Granite Coast rely on that on-site consumption that has now become so complicated. Granite Coast was able to partner with RiverWalk Brewing to can beer for sale on site and at some other local restaurants, but those sales don't measure up to the revenue generated when a few groups of a few people come to the taproom to knock down a few. "The coming cold weather is going to be the big telling point for a lot of places," Dunn said. "A couple of our friends and counterparts are tiny. They can't really bring people in (and social distance), so they have tents outside. But when it gets cold what are they going to do? "We are fortunate to have 1,000 square feet here. We have brand new air-filtration systems that are in great working order. We just need people to feel comfortable coming inside." Granite Coast Brewing owners are hoping that as the weather gets colder more customers will feel comfortable coming inside for a some food and a couple of beers. (Scott Souza/Patch) Granite Coast has a food-selling license, and a preparation sink in the back near the production tanks for the 2-barrel brewhouse, so Dunn is now confident the catering companies and food trucks the Peabody is allowing to park out front will be able to operate in the taproom once things become frigid and snowy. Main Street is lined with parking spots dedicated for pickup to help out other restaurants and coffee shops on the stretch. "Our city wanted to work with businesses," Dunn credited. "They wanted to help small business. They came through with grants and small-business loans. They came to us before we had to go to them and said: 'We'd like to help you. What else can we do?' "Peabody is trying to help their businesses survive." That degree of "help" has varied throughout the state as different communities have different standards for breweries and bars that are operating as restaurants. While some are content to allow alcohol consumption with hot dogs and slices of pizza Gov. Baker specifically said bags of popcorn and pretzels don't quite cut it at his news conference announcing stricter enforcement of the regulations in August others insist on commercial food trucks or a fully operational, on-site kitchen. "We are working with being consistent at least on the North Shore," Dunn said. "But you do have people telling us: 'In Waltham, you can do it this way,' 'Beverly does this,' 'Salem does this.' For us, it's: 'Peabody does this.'" Starting this week, the state is allowing those who dine and drink inside to be seated 10 to a table. While bar seating for food is also being allowed, Dunn said the logistics of social distancing those sitting there while the staff serves from the taps behind the bar make it unlikely they will bring back the bar stools anytime soon. Dunn said ownership and his staff greet customer when they arrive and make clear all the protocols up front so there is no confusion. "We want to hit 'recommended and above,'" Dunn said of protocols. "We didn't want to try to do: 'It says it can be this, but can we push it and do more?' It wasn't worth it in the long run to do anything that made our clientele feel unsafe, or got us in trouble, because that would hurt us in the long run. "We have to make sure we know everything that's going on, and everyone is communicating, because that's the only way this is all going to work." More Patch Coverage: Massachusetts Restaurant Rule Changes Go Into Effect This article originally appeared on the Peabody Patch Coming from any British prime minister, the new restrictions on our day-to-day lives imposed over the past couple of weeks would be extraordinary. Over large parts of England it is now illegal to meet up with a friend or family member, even outdoors where the virus is far less likely to spread. Up to 16million Britons are suffering from draconian restrictions on their personal liberty and a growing band of Tory MPs are warning of 'national lockdown by default' with Boris Johnson facing a looming rebellion from his backbenchers. The new rules are being backed by eye-watering fines and pettifogging officials empowered to use 'reasonable force'. In as much as Johnson has a political philosophy, it has always revolved around getting the State off our backs. Pictured: The Prime Minister arriving to Exeter College this month Almost incredibly, pubs now face being fined up to 10,000 for allowing singing on their premises. Individuals who fail to self-isolate when ordered to do so can be fined 10,000 as much as many people earn in six months. Even employees who may be worried about keeping their jobs who do not tell their boss they are self-isolating risk being stung for 50 levies. I accept that the Treasury has been somewhat depleted by the Covid recession, but trying to make up the deficit by picking on people who fail to understand the rules is a step too far. Remarkably, not one of these regulations or fines has been debated in Parliament. Rather, they have been imposed under executive order by the Prime Minister himself, using emergency powers which at the beginning of this crisis we were led to believe would only be needed for a short period. But what is most astonishing of all is the fact that this assault on our everyday freedoms has been imposed by a man who, until recently, had a reputation as a libertarian. In as much as Johnson has a political philosophy, it has always revolved around getting the State off our backs. A growing band of Tory MPs are warning of 'national lockdown by default' with Boris Johnson facing a looming rebellion from his backbenchers. Pictured: Boris Johnson with television presenter Ulrika Jonsson Over large parts of England it is now illegal to meet up with a friend or family member, even outdoors where the virus is far less likely to spread How hard it is to reconcile the tinpot dictator who now resides in Downing Street with the editor of The Spectator who wrote of the Blair government's 'lust to interfere in every aspect of our daily lives'? Can the Prime Minister who now threatens us with 10,000 fines for seeing our loved ones really be the columnist who so bitterly opposed Tony Blair's attempts to introduce 90-day detention without trial? Or the man who in 2011 wrote eloquently in reaction to suggestions that skiers might be forced to wear crash helmets: 'I object furiously to the element of compulsion, not just because it offends the principles of liberty but because the whole problem of politics over the past 30 years is that we have proceeded by central legislation rather than leaving decisions to individuals and to communities?' What, in short, has happened to the freedom-loving, carefree man the country elected by a landslide under a year ago? Is it the taste of power coupled with his own fear of the virus, born out of a very severe case of it that has transformed him into such a strangely authoritarian Premier? The shift seems almost incredible and to no one more than me. I know quite a lot about how Johnson thinks because for several years, when he was editor of The Spectator, I wrote many of his leading articles. One, in March 2001, concerned what we both saw as the excessive reaction of the Blair Government to an earlier epidemic foot and mouth disease. With hearty encouragement from Johnson, I ridiculed the way the countryside was being closed, mobile libraries taken off the road and how the Bishop of Carlisle had been imprisoned in his home on the grounds that the field next door had seen an outbreak of what I called the 'bestial equivalent of athlete's foot'. Events proved Johnson was right in his instincts about Blair's knee-jerk approach to foot and mouth a University of Edinburgh report later concluded that many more animals were slaughtered than necessary. Some of the measures were plain daft for example, closing thousands of miles of footpaths, including those through arable fields and woodlands miles from the nearest farm animal. In 2005, remembering how he had once been consigned to an Oxford police cell overnight after a riotous Bullingdon Club dinner, Johnson wrote in The Spectator: 'I was suddenly conscious of the immense practical power of the State and its ability to make my life hell. 'I think back to that weird moment of shock when I realised the cops were capable of making something up.' Yet now he thinks nothing of threatening the population with huge fines and unleashing troops on to the streets, with regulations even he struggles to understand or still less articulate. One person who found himself at the wrong end of Johnson's reign of terror is weather forecaster Piers Corbyn (pictured), who has been fined 10,000 for organising a protest against lockdown One person who has already found himself at the wrong end of Johnson's reign of terror is weather forecaster Piers Corbyn, Jeremy's older brother, who has been fined 10,000 for daring to organise a protest against lockdown. (The organisers of the summer's anti-racism protests appear to have been left well alone.) How ironic that Johnson was once one of the biggest fans of Piers's forecasts. Of course, there are some people who will dismiss Johnson's former libertarianism as irresponsible. Opposing compulsion in health and safety matters is one thing, but it was his cavalier attitude toward his own health and safety that led to his boasting of shaking hands with everyone he met on a hospital visit in March at a time when Covid-19 was rampant. Three weeks later, he nearly lost his life to the disease. Johnson acknowledges that being overweight contributed to the severity of his illness. That, too, may have struck home, given that he had often ridiculed efforts by 'Nanny State' governments to legislate on obesity. Yet his insight before he became PM was absolutely right: Governments can make problems worse by jumping straight to passing laws rather than appealing to individuals' sense of responsibility. As Johnson himself wrote in 2004 when a committee of MPs proposed 'fat taxes': 'The more the State tries to take responsibility for the problem, the less soluble the problem will become and the more people will indeed feel that they are the 'victims' of an affliction, when it is nothing but their own fat fault.' Sorry, Boris: You were right first time. You once saw and powerfully argued that governments can't resist passing silly laws and threatening us with ever-bigger fines if we fail to obey. Your new-found authoritarian principles are destroying our freedoms and bringing the economy to its knees. URBANA, Ill. - As the climate trends warmer and drier, global food security increasingly hinges on crops' ability to withstand drought. But are scientists and producers focusing on the right metric when measuring crop-relevant drought? Not exactly, according to new research from University of Illinois scientists, who urge the scientific community to redefine the term. "Plants have to balance water supply and demand. Both are extremely critical, but people overlook the demand side of the equation, especially in the U.S. Corn Belt," says Kaiyu Guan, principal investigator on two new studies, Blue Waters professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois. The demand Guan refers to is atmospheric dryness, often expressed as vapor pressure deficit (VPD). The drier the air, the more moisture is sucked out of pores, or stomata, in plant leaves. Plants have to open stomata to take in carbon dioxide as their food, but if they sense the atmosphere is too dry, they'll close pores to avoid drying out. Keeping stomata closed too long leads to reductions in photosynthesis, plant growth, and grain yield. The kicker? Plants shut down stomata due to atmospheric dryness even when there's an adequate supply of moisture in the soil. "If you only consider rainfall and soil moisture, which is how most people think about drought, that's mostly describing the supply side. Of course if you have low soil moisture, plants will be stressed by how much water they get. But the supply is often pretty sufficient, especially here in the U.S. Corn Belt," Guan says. "However, the demand side from the atmosphere can also severely stress plants. We need to pay more attention to that drought signal." Guan's two recent studies used multiple technological approaches, including field measurements, various sources of satellite data, hydrological model simulations, and government crop yield statistics. The first study, published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, used data from seven sites across the Corn Belt to conclude VPD accounts for nearly 90% of the changes in crop stomatal conductance, a proxy for drought stress, and approximately 85% of changes in gross primary productivity, a measure of productivity. "By comparison, soil moisture typically accounts for 6-13% of these measures for corn and soybean, and up to 35% when considering time lag effects," says Hyungsuk Kimm, doctoral student in Guan's group and the study's lead author. In the other study, published in the Journal of Hydrology, Guan's team focused on grain yield. Yield depends on many factors related to water cycles, but the researchers found that VPD explains the biggest proportion of variability in crop yield and also provides the earliest warning for yield loss when comparing with other water cycle metrics and traditional drought indices. "This led us to build a new drought index integrating VPD, soil moisture, and measures of evapotranspiration, which can account for more than 70% of yield variation. Our index outperforms all the existing drought indices," says Wang Zhou, postdoctoral researcher in Guan's group and the study's lead author. Guan adds, "In these two studies, we tried to understand the demand side of drought from two major angles, one using eddy covariance data which measures landscape water and carbon use very accurately - the gold standard - and the other leveraging satellite data and model-simulated hydrological variables correlated with regional yield," Guan says. "In both, we demonstrate VPD is more important than soil moisture to explain the crop drought response in the U.S. Midwest." Adjusting the drought concept for crops will be critical for global food security under a changing climate. "When we look at climate change scenarios, the amount of rainfall is not changing much for the Corn Belt, but we for sure know temperature and VPD will increase here. That means not much will change on the supply side, but demand stress will increase significantly. And that type of stress is so connected to end-of-season crop yield," Guan says. His group is working on follow-up studies evaluating the role of irrigation in increasing supply and decreasing demand, but for now, Guan says breeding for improved water-use-efficiency could be an important part of the solution. ### "Redefining droughts for the U.S. Corn Belt: The dominant role of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit over soil moisture in regulating stomatal behavior of maize and soybean," is published in Agricultural and Forest Meterology [DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.107930] and "Connections between hydrological cycle and crop yield in the rainfed U.S. Corn Belt," is published in Journal of Hydrology [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125398]. Support from NASA, USDA NIFA, DOE, NSF, and Illinois NREC made the research possible. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday heard the bail applications submitted by actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and others arrested in a drug case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death. During hearing, lawyer for alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), asked court how can the drug supply link to Rajput be proven now that he is dead. In Parihars bail submission before the Bombay High Court, senior advocate Taraq Sayed said that on August 28, Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora were arrested by NCB with 13 grams of ganja (cannabis) in their possession and were granted bail. Based on their statements, the agency arrested Abdel Basit Parihar on September 3. Kaizan Ebrahim and Zaid Viltara were also arrested. Sayed reminded court that the mentioned people were arrested and questioned based on a single submission that Rajput was consuming drugs. However, no recovery has been made from the five bail applicants -- Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty, Sushants house helps Samuel Miranda and Dileep Sawant, and Abdel Basit Parihar. Appealing for bail on behalf of Parihar, his lawyer said that in cases where the offences are punishable with a maximum of one year jail sentence, such offences ought to be seen as bailable under the NDPS Act (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985). If the recoveries are small quantities then such offences are bailable, Sayed said. What is the material to show that my client Parihar delivered a contraband to some person who took it further? In none of the statements have they shown the quantity to be more than a small quantity, Parihars lawyer further said, as quoted by Bar and Bench. As Sayed pointed out the chronicle of arrests made in the drug link, he said: There are two conspiracies, two set of people -- 1) There are people directly linked in to Sushant Singh Rajput, and 2) There are people who have been arrested from the names given by the accused, like my client (Parihar). Sushant Singh Rajput expired on 14th June. I am not admitting that there was a conspiracy. He expired on 14th June, and we are being charged to supply him drugs when he was alive, he said. The lawyer asked how can the offence be proven today when Rajput has passed away. How can the offence be proved today, when the man (Sushant Singh Rajput) is no more? Sayed said in Bombay High Court during bail hearing. Can a charge of conspiracy ever be higher than the offence? When an offence is bailable, and accused produced before Magistrate, we were never charged offences which are non-bailable, he pointed out. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is currently investigating a drug link into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and so far has arrested a dozen of people. In its reply, the NCB told court that the investigation has nothing to do with Rajputs death and its a case of drug syndication. All throughout arguments, applicants state that this is connected to Sushant Singh Rajput death case but this investigation has nothing to do with it, ASG Anil Singh, lawyer for NCB, told the court, as quoted by ANI. The anti-drug agency further said that all the people arrested in the case are interlinked to each other and there were regular links and purchasing of drugs. After the day long hearing, the Bombay High Court reserved its orders on the bail pleas. The human rights watchdog earlier today halted its operation in India, citing reprisals from the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by the Centre New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday strongly refuted Amnesty International's allegation that it was being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt", saying India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations. Coming down heavily on the organisation, the ministry also said all the "glossy statements" about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power is nothing but a "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Amnesty International's statement was "unfortunate, exaggerated, and far from the truth," the home ministry said. "Such statements are also an attempt to extraneously influence the course of investigations by multiple agencies into the irregularities and illegalities carried out over the last few years," the home ministry said in a detailed statement. The home ministry said Amnesty International had received permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) only once and that too 20 years ago, on 19 December, 2000. Since then the organisation, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible for it. However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty (India) without MHA's approval under the FCRA. "This mala fide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions," it said. Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas, the home ministry said. This had led Amnesty to suspend its India operations once during that period as well. The home ministry said this bipartisan and purely legal approach towards Amnesty, under different governments, makes it clear that the entire fault lies in the dubious processes adopted by Amnesty to secure funds for its operations. The home ministry said Amnesty is free to continue humanitarian work in India, as is being done by many other organisations. "However, India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations. This law applies equally to all and it shall apply to Amnesty International as well," the home ministry statement said. India has a rich and pluralistic democratic culture with a free press, independent judiciary, and a tradition of vibrant domestic debate, it said. The people of India have placed unprecedented trust in the current government, the home ministry said. "The Amnesty's failure to comply with local regulations does not entitle them to make comments on the democratic and plural character of India," it said. Earlier in the day, Amnesty International said it is halting all its activities in India due to the freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over unfounded and motivated allegations. The Amnesty India said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. "The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt," the Amnesty said in its statement. All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), the coalition of over 250 farmers organisations that is spearheading the agitations against the three farm laws enacted by the central government, has announced a series of protest events across the country from October 2. The protests will culminate in massive meetings in Delhi on November 26 and 27. The leaders of the coalition have also called upon the central government to heed to the farmers demands and desist from promulgating these Acts. It wanted the state governments of Opposition parties, who have expressed support to the cause and position of the farmers, to devise legal ways to ensure that these laws are not implemented in their states. AIKSCC also called upon state assemblies of these tates to adopt resolutions not to implement the laws, which they believe undermine the federal structure and are a serious attack on farmer's rights. ALSO READ: Congress, opposition parties scale up nationwide protests against farm laws; to move Supreme Court "AIKSCC will continue and further intensify its agitation against these black anti-farmer laws. Several state units of AIKSCC have already given a call for continuing the agitations by way of village-level and block-level or mandi-level meetings, seminars to expose the fraud being perpetrated by the central government on farmers, spontaneous protests, relay hunger strikes, hunger strikes, etc. AIKSCC is also closely coordinating with all organisations and its own state units, including the movements in Punjab, Haryana, West UP and in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and shall announce further action plans," a statement from the coalition said. The planned protests include a rail blockade called by the Punjab farmers organisations, protests planned by Haryana farmers organisaitons outside the house of Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on October 6 to demand his resignation, call by Karnataka farmers organisations to resist implementation of anti-farmer central and state laws. ALSO READ: New farm laws threaten India's ability to impose high tariffs on imported agri-produce At a national level, AIKSCC said the farmers will take a pledge for 'Social Boycott' of those political leaders and representatives whose parties have not opposed these anti-farmer legislations and for holding village meetings to adopt resolutions against the anti-farmer laws of the central government on October 2. Similarly, the coalition will observe October 14 as 'MSP Adhikar Diwas' to prove wrong the government's claim that the farmers are receiving MSP as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. The culmination of the protest will see farmer groups from all over the country converging on to Delhi on November 26 and 27 in Delhi, AIKSCC said. AIKSCC had started protests immeditely after government announced three new laws to liberalise agriculture and provide free movement of farm produce across the country by bypassing existing trade mandi (market) systems. The coalition had also organised a national bandh on September 25. ALSO READ: Tractor burnt at India Gate amid protest against farm bills LANSING Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 16 other attorneys general to defend a Texas county clerks decision to send mail-in voting applications to registered voters ahead of the November election. The State of Texas is suing to block the county clerk from mailing the applications, claiming that he does not have the authority to make such a decision and that the mailers will confuse ineligible voters into voting by mail. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in Texas v. Hollins in the Texas Supreme Court, the coalition argues that local election officials require the ability to tailor their election rules to protect voter participation and the health and safety of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief also argues that there is no evidence that voting by maillet alone sending mail-in voting applications to registered votersresults in widespread fraud. "All Americans who are eligible deserve to perform their civic duty safely this year as we continue to navigate through the pandemic, said Nessel. For this reason, clerks across this nation are doing all they can within the confines of the law to simultaneously protect voters and our democracy. Ensuring all voters regardless of party affiliation or who they vote for are informed and have the tools necessary to vote in November shouldnt be a matter of contention. Here in Michigan, the Attorney Generals office recently defended Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for lawfully sending out unsolicited absentee voter ballot applications to registered voters. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a lower courts ruling that state law and the Michigan Constitution allow Secretary Benson to distribute applications in the manner that she did. Election experts project that voter turnout in the general election this November could be the highest in over a century. At the same time, however, according to one study, 49 percent of U.S. registered voters expect to face difficulties casting a ballot due to the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, states across the country have modified their election procedures to protect both voter participation and the health of voters and election workers. On Aug. 25, 2020, Chris Hollins, the Harris County Clerk, stated that his office would mail every registered voter in the county an application to vote by mail in the November election. The mailer would clearly outline the categories of voters who are eligible to vote by mail. The State of Texas filed for a temporary injunction to block this vote-by-mail outreach, claiming that Hollins did not have the authority to make such a decision and that it would confuse recipients into committing voter fraud since only certain voters are eligible to vote by mail. The trial court denied Texass motion for a temporary injunction, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The State has appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. In the amicus brief, the coalition supports the Harris County Clerks plan to send vote-by-mail applications to registered voters because: New Delhi: The government on Wednesday set the donation limit to political leaders at Rs 2000 from one source in order to ensure transparency in the political funding in India. The government proposed that the maximum donation can only be Rs 2,000 and that too from one source. While presenting the Union Budget 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also said that these donations can be made either through cheques or digital means only. Also, the government has proposed an amendment to the Reserve Bank Act to allow issuance of electoral bonds. The political parties can redeem these bonds in registered accounts and within a specified time only. Budget 2017 Highlights | FM Jaitley gives tax relief to lowest slab, MSMEs; increases expenditure for defence, agriculture In a bid to curb black money menace, the government has also proposed that no transactions of more than 3 lakh will be allowed in cash. Budget 2017-18: Income tax for Rs 2.5 lakh-Rs 5 lakh slab reduced to 5%; 10% surcharge for Rs 50 lakh-1 cr; 15% cess on income above Rs 1 crore to continue For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:54:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Visitors view an exhibition of artworks created by Chinese and Sri Lankan children during an event commemorating the 71st National Day of the People's Republic of China in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 28, 2020. An event has been held here to commemorate the 71st National Day of the People's Republic of China by the Sri Lanka China Society (SLCS) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. (Xinhua/Tang Lu) COLOMBO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- An event has been held here to commemorate the 71st National Day of the People's Republic of China by the Sri Lanka China Society (SLCS) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. The event was attended on Monday by senior government officials including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi, and Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to China Palitha Kohona, as well as Chinese Embassy officials. Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Hu Wei thanked the SLCS for organizing the event amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that Sri Lanka-China friendship organizations have played an important role in strengthening bilateral ties. "China and Sri Lanka have been supporting and helping each other, both well containing the pandemic, and setting a great example of bilateral cooperation for the international community," Hu said. "In the post-COVID-19 time, China is ready to work with Sri Lanka to spearhead pragmatic cooperation in various fields to bring benefits to our two peoples and to realize the common development of our two countries," he said. Palitha Kohona thanked China for extending crucial assistance to Sri Lanka during its own fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that the two countries stand firmly together. SLCS President Jinith De Silva said Sri Lanka-China relations can be dated back to the ancient silk road and that China has been among the first to assist Sri Lanka in times of need. "Sri Lanka values such friendship and Sri Lankans too have been supporting China. When the COVID-19 pandemic was reported in China, Sri Lanka's political leaders, cutting across political lines, expressed solidarity," De Silva said. Also speaking at the event, Sirimal Abeyratne, Professor of Economics at the University of Colombo, praised China's rapid development, including success in exports and foreign direct investments, as a model for Sri Lanka. Abeyratne said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides tremendous opportunities that Sri Lanka should seize to achieve its own development. The SLCS was founded in 1981 to strengthen Sri Lanka-China relations in economic and cultural fields. Enditem Oxford University students are being asked to submit China-related work anonymously for fear of political retaliation under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong from that applies anywhere in the world, a British newspaper reported on . Students will be anonymous in class, while group tutorials will be replaced with one-to-one tutor meetings, the Guardian newspaper reported. The move is apparently aimed at preventing informants from relaying information about Oxford students' work or opinions to the Chinese authorities. "Students are also to be warned it will be viewed as a disciplinary offence if they tape classes or share them with outside groups," the paper reported. The move comes amid growing concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is using its influence and network of informants overseas to set limits on what it deems acceptable speech far beyond its borders. Those concerns were heightened after the National Security Law for Hong Kong proclaimed that anyone, anywhere in the world, could be prosecuted under the law for words or deeds defined by Beijing as separatist or subversive, or deemed to show terrorist intent or "collusion with foreign powers." The vaguely worded law threatens anyone criticizing the Chinese or Hong Kong authorities anywhere in the world, prompting Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to end their extradition arrangements with Hong Kong. The move at Oxford comes after a number of U.S. institutions made similar arrangements in the wake of the new law, and after rights groups warned that overseas colleges and universities still lack a coherent strategy for protecting their students from the Chinese state. In , the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that many colleges and universities around the world with ties to the Chinese government, or with large student populations from China, were unprepared to address threats to academic freedom. "Few have moved to protect academic freedom against longstanding problems, such as visa bans on scholars working on China or surveillance and self-censorship on their campuses," HRW said. "Chinese authorities have long monitored and conducted surveillance on students and academics from China and those studying China on campuses around the world," it said. National Day protests Back in Hong Kong, police said they had arrested three people for "inciting others to stage illegal protests" on China's Oct. 1 National Day. Two 19-year-old students and a 30-year-old transport sector worker were arrested after they allegedly posted "incitement messages" online, which included calls for attacks on police officers, Benjamin Tai, chief inspector in the Technology Crime Division, told a news briefing. Police have refused to grant permission for a planned Oct. 1 rally by the Civil Human Rights Front calling for the release of 12 Hong Kong activists held in the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen after they tried to flee to democratic Taiwan by speedboat. Beijing's Central Liaison Office in the city warned on that anyone calling for National Day protests would be "blatantly flouting" the national security law. Meanwhile, the city's opposition politicians appeared to be wavering over whether to continue to serve on the city's Legislative Council (LegCo) after elections slated for early September were postponed by the city's chief executive Carrie Lam. Twenty-one pro-democracy lawmakers have said they will remain in their seats, including Ray Chan, Eddie Chu and Tanya Chan, who announced her resignation on for personal reasons. However, a poll gauging support in the pro-democracy camp for staying or leaving showed a 50-50 split, with some arguing more could be done from outside the legislature in the current climate. Andrew Shum, co-founder of the Civil Rights Observer and head of the city's Professional Teachers' Union, said many people in Hong Kong are still ready to take to the streets to protest the loss of their freedoms, in spite of the new law, which has seen the stationing of China's feared state security police in the city. "It was clear from the first day that the National Security Law took effect on that many people were still taking to the streets to express their views ... even when they knew that put them at high risk of being arrested," Shum told RFA in an interview marking the sixth anniversary of the 2014 Occupy Central movement. "Hong Kong people's desire for democracy hasn't changed; you could say those beliefs have even gotten stronger," he said. "But the crackdown by the authorities and police abuses of power have gotten more serious at the same time." Reported by Man Hoi-tsan, Pan Jiaqing and Fok Leung-kiu for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Srinagar, Sep 29 : Pakistani troops on Tuesday violated the ceasefire thrice on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, indulging in unprovoked firing and shelling on Indian positions. Pakistan first targeted Indian positions in Poonch district, to which the Indian forces retaliated in a befitting manner. Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Devender Anand said that Pakistani troops fired with small firearms and fired mortar shells along the LoC in Mankote Sector at 4.30 a.m. In the afternoon, another similar ceasefire violation was reported from Sunderbani Sector of Rajouri district. "At about 5.15 p.m., Pakistan again violated ceasefire in the Krishna Ghati Sector of Poonch district. The Indian Army retaliated to these firings." Pakistan has violated the LoC ceasefire agreement signed by the two countries in 1999 as many as 3,186 times this year, killing 24 Indian civilians and injuring over 100 others. By Trend As a result of the shelling of Azerbaijans Aghdam district by the Armenian Armed Forces, one civilian was killed and ten civilians were wounded, Mansur Guliyev, head of the department of the territorial administration of the Aghdam executive power, told Trend on Sept. 29. As a result of shelling by the Armenian Armed Forces, eight houses were completely destroyed, and 26 houses were greatly damaged, Guliyev added. "Some 25 settlements in Aghdam district have been shelled since September 28, Guliyev added. Besides the houses, additional buildings were also greatly damaged. Moreover, an artillery shell hit the courtyard of a modular secondary school in Tezekand village of Aghdam district. As a result, the school building was also damaged." The head of the department added that the Armenians continue to fire at the Azerbaijani settlements. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. - The Tanzanian official said it will take Kenya more than 25 years to completely repay the loan that financed the SGR - He said Tanzanian's railway line constructed by President John Magufuli's government will not be as expensive as Kenya's and will also bring in good returns - The video of the man ridiculing Kenya sparked mixed reactions with many saying Uhuru's government had made Kenya a laughing stock PAY ATTENTION: Click 'See First' under 'Follow' Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB A video of a Tanzanian official mocking Kenya for taking huge loans from China to build the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has ignited mixed reactions online. The Tanzanian official, who was bragging about how his president, John Pombe Magufuli, will oversee the building of a railway line, said the country will not go the Kenyan way of borrowing expensive loans to finance its infrastructure. READ ALSO: Kenyan newspaper review for Tuesday 29: Uhuru, Raila plot to counter Ruto's campaigns with BBI A picture of the SGR. The railway line cost was worth more than KSh 40 billion. Photo: SGR. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Larry Madowo gives netizens a sneak peek of his Washington DC house Speaking to journalists, the Tanzanian state official said it will take Kenya 25 years to repay the loan used to construct SGR and added the cost of building the SGR was thrice higher compared to building a similar railway in the East African nation. "I do not want to mention the country but it built a railway line using loans. The country is not far from here; they have built it on loans and after completion, it will be take more than 25 years to fully repay back the money. "The cost of the railway of the neighbouring country, the cost of the line is thrice the cost we are building ours in Tanzania under our President John Pombe Magufuli," he said. READ ALSO: Luck smiles on woman who was trolled for simple house decorations after well-wishers offer to help her Kenyans reacted differently to the man's statement. While many thought Kenya deserved the ridicule, others asked Tanzanians to concentrate on its affairs. Here are some of the comments: READ ALSO: Bungoma's James Bond is dead The SGR project was touted as the project that will secure President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy and the Jubilee government was optimistic it would rake in millions in revenues upon completion. However, three years later, the project is turning out to be a white elephant that has consumed billions of shillings and offered little return on investment. Recently, details emerged of how the project recorded a KSh 21.6 billion loss in the three years to May 2020. READ ALSO: Lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo says hustler narrative is gaining popularity: "Kenyans are wiser" This forced Kenya Railways to default on an estimated KSh 40 billion loan it was set to repay to Chinas Africa Star Railway Operation Company, which handles both passenger and cargo services on the railway. The Chinese built railway registered KSh 25.03 billion in revenues during the period against high operation costs of KSh 46.71 billion set to be plugged by burdened taxpayers. Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme My car broke my family - Kenneth Saota | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield is arguing against government-imposed shutdowns, saying the extraordinary measures to mitigate COVID-19 should be avoided in the future. Illinois still is in Phase 4 of the COVID-19 mitigation plan Gov. J.B. Pritzker implemented in May. That was after more than six weeks of a stay-at-home order that allowed only businesses the governor deemed essential like grocery stores, hardware stores and even cannabis dispensaries to be open to the public. In that time, more than 1.4 million people filed for unemployment in Illinois with tens of thousands filing for first-time benefits each week. The public was told the stay-at-home order was meant to flatten the curve of hospitalizations. Illinois had more than 5,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations on April 28 but since the second week of June the state hasnt had more than 1,800 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki made arguments against locking things down because of a virus in this months edition of the bioethics journal Ethics & Medicine. He told WMAY radio in Springfield on Monday his thinking is derived from Pope Pius XII differentiating between ordinary and extraordinary measures in end-of-life care. Yes we should do the ordinary things for protecting life, but we dont have to do the extraordinary things that are being mandated, he said. What we did in the last six months was really extraordinary, in shutting everything down, putting people out of work, telling them to stay home, dont go to school, dont go to church. He equated the extraordinary steps Pritzker took earlier this year that closed businesses, schools and churches to taking everyone off the road to save from vehicular deaths. We should shut our highways, but we dont do that, Paprocki said. But we dont do that because its extraordinary, we have to go to work, we have to go to school so we drive our cars but we take ordinary precautions, we use seat belts, we have airbags, we follow the rules of the road. During Pritzkers stay-at-home orders, parishioners spiritual health was harmed as were young students development, Paprocki told WMAY. Not only that, he said, lock downs could be unconstitutional. No governor can say, Im suspending that right until this virus goes away, so I think there are real concerns here, avoiding any hyperbole or anything like that, of criticism, Paprocki said. But I think theres some real legal and constitutional concerns of what Gov. Pritzker is doing. The bishop wants people to take away the message that its acceptable to follow guidelines to keep people healthy, but citizens should question government mandates that limit peoples civil liberties, such as attending church. Messages seeking reaction from the governors office were not returned. The chief of Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) panel that is re-examining the circumstances that led to actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death in June said on Monday that there is a need to look into some legal aspects before reaching a logical legal conclusion. AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion in due course of time. It will be totally conclusive, Dr Sudhir Gupta, chairman of AIIMS Forensic Medical Board in Rajputs death case, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Also read| Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Probing all angles, says CBI Guptas remark comes at a time when the lawyer of Rhea Chakraborty, who has been accused by Rajputs father of driving his son to suicide, has demanded that a new medical board be formed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to keep probe into the actors death case impartial. The disclosure of a 200% conclusion by an All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctor on the forensic team headed by Dr Sudhir Gupta in Sushant Singh Rajputs death case, on the basis of photographs, is a dangerous trend, Chakrabortys lawyer Satish Maneshinde had earlier said. Maneshinde was responding to a tweet by Vikas Singh, the lawyer of Rajputs father, in which he claimed that a doctor, who is part of the AIIMS team, had told him long back that the actors photos indicated that it was allegedly death by strangulation, not suicide. The doctor who is part of AIIMS team had told me long back that the photos sent by me indicated 200% that its death by strangulation and not suicide, Vikas Singh had written on Twitter. Following the 34-year-old actors death on June 14, the Mumbai police had lodged an Accidental Death Report (ADR). However, Rajputs father K K Singh on July 25 lodged a complaint with the Patna police against Chakraborty, her parents Indrajit and Sandhya, her brother Showik, the late actors then manager Shruti Modi and his house manager Samuel Miranda. Also read: NCB opposes Rheas bail plea, says it can investigate drug case After the CBI approached AIIMS for its assistance, a five-member medical board of forensic experts was formed in August to look into the autopsy files related to Rajputs death at his apartment in Mumbais Bandra. The CBI is probing the actors death while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are investigating the money laundering and drug-related angles in the case respectively. By Trend None of the Azerbaijani bombs fell on Armenias territory, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu said, Trend reports referring to the Russian media. The diplomat also stressed that the Azerbaijani army does not need mercenaries, all reports from Yerevan on this issue are fake. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz They should decline to be baited into any kind of fight over Barrett's faith and how it may or may not affect her judicial views. She has been through the confirmation process before. She's not going to be badgered into saying whether she does or does not intend to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. It would be a mistake to make her look like a victim. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hyonhee Shin (Reuters) Seoul, South Korea Tue, September 29, 2020 11:45 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e526c 2 World South-Korea,coronavirus,COVID-19,social-distancing,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free South Korea appealed on Tuesday for strict social-distancing despite a slight fall in the number of its new coronavirus cases, with millions of people set to travel for a major holiday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 39 new infections as of Monday midnight, which marks a fifth day of double-digit rises. It brought South Korea's total infections to 23,699, with 407 deaths. The numbers came a day after the daily tally fell to its lowest since a new clusters of the novel coronavirus emerged from a church and a big political rally last month, which have resulted in more than 1,800 infections. Health authorities pleaded for people to stay home and refrain from gatherings ahead of the Korean thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok, which begins on Wednesday, although millions are still expected to travel across the country. "We request you to be aware that the Chuseok holidays must not ignite another nationwide spread of COVID-19 and to act accordingly," Vice Health Minister Kang Do-tae told a meeting. "Keeping distancing rules and wearing masks is the safest way to protect you, your family and society." The government eased some social distancing rules after the rate of infections slowed this month but imposed special measures for the holiday, including banning dining at motorway rest areas and nursing home visits and requiring temperature checks at all stations. Kang also warned of strict punishment against anyone who takes part in a political rally. Authorities have said they have banned some 137 demonstrations. Polls have shown mixed forecasts about travel. More than 78% of Koreans said they planned to stay at home for the holiday in a survey conducted over the weekend by the Korea Society Opinion Institute. But airport authorities said on Sunday the number of people taking domestic flights would drop by 25% compared with last year. Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker by volume, will provide an additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for supplies to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) under the COVAX AMC alliance. This agreement is in addition to the initial agreement for up to 100 million doses supply announced in August. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of a further US$150 million to Gavi, bringing the total funding provided through this collaboration to US$300 million. The vaccines will have a ceiling price of US$3 per dose, thanks to investments made by partners such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for the vaccine supplies to low- and middle-income countries in 2021. The funding will help SSI increase manufacturing capacity now so that once a vaccine, or vaccines, gains regulatory approval and WHO pre-qualification. Serum is already making candidate vaccines licensed from AstraZeneca and Novavax, though the vaccines are still in the final clinical trial stages. The Gavi COVAX AMC, which is currently seeking at least US$2 billion in initial seed funding, is trying to meet at least part of the cost of procurement for the vaccine doses. The Gavi Board has signed with 92 countries for supply of the AstraZeneca and Novavax's vaccines candidates. If successful, AstraZeneca's vaccine will be made available to 61 Gavi-eligible countries and the Novavax vaccine to 92 countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. "At this stage, It is important for governments, global health and financial institutions in the public and private sector to come together in ensuring that no one is left behind in the road to recovery. This association is In line with our efforts to see that the future vaccines reaches the remotest part of the world providing full immunisation coverage in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic.," said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII. Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance said the momentum behind the effort is to ensure global, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is really building, as last week a number of countries had signed up to the COVAX Facility. COVAX is co-led by Gavi, CEPI and the World Health Organisation (WHO), to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines. So far 73 higher-income economies have formally committed to join the Facility, in addition to the 92 low- and middle-income economies that are eligible for support from the Gavi COVAX AMC. Also read: Serum Institute shares, applauds PM Modi's vision: Adar Poonawalla on India's vaccine offer to world Also read: Serum Institute to manufacture US-based biotech firm Codagenix's COVID-19 vaccine Binh Xuyen Industrial Park Vinh Phuc province looks to attract investment in the construction of Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Center which will act as a distribution centre as well as an inland clearance depot (ICD) in a bid to provide logistics services and meet the market demand. Regarding the logistics function, the project would serve the needs of forwarding, loading, unloading, storage, and distribution of goods while providing locations for the flow of import, export, and transit goods on the Kunming-Hanoi-Haiphong Economic Corridor, especially cargo flows from China through Lao Cai International Border Gate. The centre would also facilitate the storage and distribution of industrial inputs and consumption activities in northern localities, including Hanoi, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang, and Ha Giang. As per the ICD function, the centre would act as inland cargo clearance point, traffic hub, and multimodal freight forwarding of the region while performing the function of customs clearance point, carrying out customs procedures for imports and exports. It would also act as railway and road cargo terminals and an interchange point between road and rail transport systems. It would take on additional functions aimed to support production, such as packaging and processing as required by merchants while providing financial services as well as banking and tax procedures. The project covers the total area of some 830,784 square metres in Huong Canh township and Son Loi commune, Binh Xuyen district as part of the Vinh Phuc provincial People's Committee's Decision No.3926/QD-UBND dated December 30, 2014. The distribution centre will cover 87,633sq.m while 147,684sq.m is used for customs bonded area and ICD. Additionally, the logistics warehouse area would occupy 230,361sq.m, and road area will be 87,509sq.m and those connected with the planned railway are 137,510sq.m while 111,017sq.m would be allocated for green trees. As per the current land use status, the land for Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Center is mainly used for cultivation, aquaculture, and residential housing. The project, with an estimated total investment of approximately VND3.825 trillion ($166.3 million), is designed with the combined cargo capacity of 530,000 TEU. Of note, the land clearance cost is estimated at VND221.84 billion ($9.65 million) while the estimated construction cost is VND1.7 trillion ($73.9 million); the costs for machinery, equipment, and technology VND1.128 trillion ($49 million), and costs for project management, consulting, and other expenses VND424.63 billion ($18.46 million). Project investors must have equity of at least 15 per cent of the total project investment, equivalent to approximately VND573.76 billion ($24.95 million). The total capital mobilised for the project cannot exceed 85 per cent of the total project investment, equivalent to approximately VND3.25 trillion ($141.3 million). The project is scheduled to be completed 60 months after its investor is granted the investment permit. On top of this, an investor or a consortium member or the partner of an investor must have performed one similar project with the following criteria" - Type 1 (regarded as one standard project): A project focusing on one of the fields of logistics, technical infrastructure for dry port, urban technical infrastructure, new urban area for commercial purposes in which the investor has participated as an equity investor and absolutely meets the following conditions: + The project had a minimum investment of VND2.7 trillion ($117.4 million, equivalent to 70 per cent of the total project investment). + The investor contributed a minimum equity of VND573.76 billion ($24.95 million). + The project has completed the construction phase and is operating effectively (before the annoucement of this project on the national bidding network). - Type 2 (also called one standard project): A project in one of the fields of logistics, technical infrastructure for dry port, urban technical infrastructure, new urban area for commercial purposes in which the investor has acted as the main contractor to take over the execution work and fully meets the following conditions: + The project items which the investor conducted were worth at least VND1.9 trillion ($82.6 million, equivalent to 50 per cent of the total project investment). + The contractor contract has been completed in the past five years (before the announcement of the project on the national bidding network). - Type 3 (also listed as one standard project): A project focusing on one of the fields of logistics, technical infrastructure for dry port, urban technical infrastructure, new urban area for commercial purposes where the investor has acted as the main contractor to take over the execution work and fully meets the following conditions: + The project items that the investor carried out were at least VND1.9 trillion ($82.6 million, equivalent to 50 per cent of the total project investment). + The contractor contract has ended within the last five years (before the announcement of the project on the national bidding network). Investors interested in the project should prepare and submit registration procedures to the Vinh Phuc Department of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. The registration procedures comprise of documents and certification related to the investors legal status, competency, and experience, among others (if any). The registration procedures should be sent to the Vinh Phuc Department of Planning and Investment at 38-40 Nguyen Trai Street, Dong Da ward, Vinh Yen city, Vinh Phuc province, Vietnam. Telephone: 02113.862.480. The deadline for submitting the dossiers is 10:00, November 2, 2020. Renowned race and religion scholar Michael Eric Dyson to join Vanderbilt University Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Renowned race and religion scholar Michael Eric Dyson, an ordained Baptist minister who currently serves as professor of sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., will join the faculty of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee at the beginning of 2021. Dyson, a progressive author and activist who is known for his scholarship and commentary on popular culture in national media, will join the Nashville-based research university as the centennial chair and distinguished professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science. The 61-year-old will also serve as a distinguished professor of ethics and society in the Vanderbilt Divinity School. In a statement Monday, Vanderbilt chancellor Daniel Diermeier welcomed Dyson as a vital addition to the universitys faculty. He is a vital and inspiring addition to our community, a scholar with a proven ability to empower students and transform lives through dialogue, analysis and new modes of inquiry, Diermeier said. These characteristics lie at the very core of our academic mission. Dyson said he is excited about the partnership with the Vanderbilt community. I look forward to joining the vibrant and collaborative Vanderbilt community at a pivotal time when as scholars and engaged citizens we can make a significant impact on the future of our nation, he said. Dyson has authored and edited more than 20 books examining race, politics and popular culture, including the forthcoming Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America and his 2017 bestseller Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America. He was also the recipient of two NAACP Image Awards and an American Book Award, which he received for his 2007 work Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. The breadth of Michael Eric Dysons scholarship is testament to how his approach to learning and discovery truly crosses disciplines, Susan R. Wente, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said. Welcoming his expansive mindset to our One Vanderbilt culture will expand our work together, and across academic departments, to make the broadest possible impact." In a June interview with The New York Times, Dyson argued that the Bible is widely misunderstood by evangelicals who take every word from it literally. He was asked: "Do you think any canonical books are widely misunderstood?" The Bible," he responded, "by nearly every right-wing evangelical Christian zealot who hates a lot of folk that God loves, and by every believer who wants to take literally words bathed in divine metaphor and drenched in heavenly symbolism." Dyson holds a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University and has previously taught at other institutions like the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Chicago Theological Seminary and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through his theological background, award-winning books and active participation in the current media landscape, Michael Eric Dyson has influenced countless Americans, John Geer, the Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science, said in the statement. His coming to Vanderbilt means that our students will be able to engage with, and take cues from, a true visionary and at a moment when his insight is more resonant than ever before. The state education board on Tuesday voted to approve amendments to regulations around how students go to school safely during a declared state of emergency, as officials said they plan to monitor the quality of remote learning in the coming months. Massachusetts has been in a declared state of emergency for six months amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After schools abruptly went online in the spring as virus cases spread, districts across the state now have a mix of in-person and online learning models. The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted unanimously to approve amendments to regulations for student learning during an emergency, which call for districts to define remote learning and have plans that include a system for tracking attendance and participation, a policy for grading students' remote academic work and a requirement that teachers and administrators regularly communicate with students' parents and guardians, including providing interpretation and translation services, among other measures. Amendments to the guidelines based on public comment include: Adding a definition of synchronous and asynchronous learning to provide clarity on the scope of the concepts Modifying the definition of remote learning to include that students have opportunities to regularly interact with teachers to address the concern that remote learning could consist of asynchronous learning only Including students to the requirement that teachers and administrators regularly communicate with parents and guardians Education officials continue to work with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to make sure both departments are aligned on what is considered habitual truancy. With many students learning online full- or part-time this year, some have limited broadband internet access that could impact attendance online. Officials said they are continuing to monitor remote learning to ensure students' needs are being met. BESE Chair Katherine Craven said the board will take up the guidelines and amendments again in November after more data and information about how the current school year is going is available. In the two weeks that students have been back in schools, there have been no major outbreaks of coronavirus, Riley said. Some districts have reported handfuls of cases. The Hopkinton Public Schools have temporarily moved to remote learning this week after two students tested positive for the virus. Riley noted that there is a mobile testing unit that can go to a district if there is a concern about wide spread of the virus. When we start to think that it might be community spread in a school, we have a mobile testing unit through HHS and DPH which is set up to come out to a school and react quickly. Theyll be testing people that are more than close contacts, people that are asymptomatic, to try to gauge whether or not there has been spread at a particular school, Riley said. While we havent activated that yet, that stands at the ready to use in case we see clusters of cases start popping up throughout the year. This month, Riley and Gov. Charlie Baker have urged communities that have low coronavirus transmission rates - following a state metric that rates towns and cities as red, yellow, green or gray/white - to return to in-person learning. A handful of districts received a letter from Riley in mid-September seeking more information on why students were not back in classrooms despite their communities being rated green or gray/white per the metric. Riley reiterated during the meeting that the department wants to see students back in classrooms. At this time we feel like most of our schools should be back in person to the greatest extent possible, Riley said. We dont know if there will be a second spike in the future or not, but [districts] can use this metric going forward, again, based on multiple weeks of data to kind of make good decisions about where their schools should be. Stephanie Sweet, a parent from Andover who spoke during the public comment portion, pleaded that the department reconsider guidance to help more districts return to classrooms. Particularly, she wants to see state education officials relax bus guidelines and the 6-foot spacing mandate for lunchtime. Sweet noted that just nine miles from her home in Salem, New Hampshire, students are back in classrooms. She also pointed to the thousands of daycares that have operated in Massachusetts for several months with no major outbreaks. Moving forward, Riley said the department is focusing on supporting districts in areas including technical assistance, monitoring quality instruction and collecting data. Riley noted that the state assisted districts in obtaining 22,000 Chromebooks during a worldwide backlog of the devices. Nearly all of the Chromebooks are in and the rest will be in this week, the commissioner said. MCAS testing was also a topic of discussion during the meeting. It is anticipated that MCAS will be administered this school year, Riley said. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Patrick McQuillan, an education professor at Boston College, suggested that DESE could take its newly-implemented civics project and use that as a replacement for the MCAS exam. Related Content: Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) 29 September 2020 (SPS)- The Government of the Saharawi Republic, denied in a press release issued by its Ministry of Information, fake news published by Moroccan official Press Agency, reporting an alleged statement by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on the illegal breach in Guerguarat region, in Western Sahara. The Press release recalled that the Moroccan misinformation campaign, based on provoking confusion and tension around the Moroccan illegal breach in Guerguerat in Western Sahara, is nothing but a propaganda exercise designed deliberately to divert the attention of the Security Council away from the real issues that underlie the current stalemate in the peace process caused by Morocco itself when it declared its refusal to go forward with the implementation of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan in 2001. The Saharawi Government called on the Security Council to ensure that the Moroccan diversionary tactics do not distract it from the real issues that must be addressed with a view to assuming its responsibility and taking concrete and serious actions towards the full and rigorous implementation of the UN-OAU peace plan by enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, thus bringing to a successful conclusion the decolonisation of the last colony in Africa. Following is the complete text of the Press Release, as received by SPS: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Ministry of Information Spokesperson of the Government Bir Lehlou (29 September 2020) The Moroccan News Agency, MAP, notorious for spreading out fake news, has recently attributed to the UN Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, a press statement reportedly made through his deputy Spokesperson, in which the Moroccan agency has claimed falsely that the Secretary-General had made a call on the Frente POLISARIO in relation to the illegal breach made by the Moroccan occupying army across the wall of shame in Guerguerat in Western Sahara. The SADR Ministry of Information affirms that, based on the official clarifications received by the Frente POLISARIO from the United Nations, the Office of the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General did not issue any official statement on behalf of the Secretary-General on this subject contrary to what was reported by the Moroccan News Agency. The SADR Ministry of Information denounces strongly this new attempt by the media of the Moroccan occupying state to spread falsehoods regarding the Frente POLISARIO and the national legitimate struggle of the Sahrawi people, which has gone as far as attributing false statements to the UN Secretary-General and spreading unfounded allegations and accusations. The official clarifications from the United Nations deal another blow to the Moroccan occupying regime as its media outlets intensify their propaganda campaign using all deceitful methods including misinformation, twisting of facts and falsification. The frantic media campaign orchestrated by the media of the Moroccan occupying state is taking place at a time when the Security Council is expected to consider the report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara and to adopt a resolution on the renewal of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in the coming month. In this regard, it should be recalled that the Frente POLISARIO has always expressed its strong rejection of the existence of the Moroccan illegal breach in the wall of shame in Guerguerat in Western Sahara, which represents a persistent violation of the ceasefire, the terms of the military agreement No. 1 and the spirit of the settlement plan. The Frente POLISARIO has repeatedly called on the Security Council to urgently compel the Moroccan occupying state to immediately close this illegal breach, which remains a constant source of tension that may lead to more instability in the whole region. The Moroccan misinformation campaign, based on provoking confusion and tension around the Moroccan illegal breach in Guerguerat in Western Sahara, is nothing but a propaganda exercise designed deliberately to divert the attention of the Security Council away from the real issues that underlie the current stalemate in the peace process caused by Morocco itself when it declared its refusal to go forward with the implementation of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan in 2001. The Security Council is therefore called upon to ensure that the Moroccan diversionary tactics do not distract it from the real issues that must be addressed with a view to assuming its responsibility and taking concrete and serious actions towards the full and rigorous implementation of the UN-OAU peace plan by enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, thus bringing to a successful conclusion the decolonisation of the last colony in Africa. (SPS) 090/500/60 (SPS) Queensland's licensed brothels struggled through a "devastating" shutdown in March that left premises unable to operate until July 3, only able to reopen under strict guidelines. The Prostitution Licensing Authority's annual report, tabled in Parliament last week, notes the complexities of sex work meant there was no way for brothels to continue operating safely in the height of Queensland's lockdown. Sex workers in Queensland faced months of no income. Credit:iStock "Commercial sexual services involve close physical contact incompatible with social distancing and both sex workers and clients have traditionally had expectations about anonymity that may make contact tracing problematic," the report noted. Queensland has 20 licensed and operating brothels across the state: 12 in Brisbane, five on the Gold Coast, one on the Sunshine Coast, one in Toowoomba and one in Cairns. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:23:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have cracked 3,292 criminal cases related to illegal fishing, arresting 4,838 suspects amid a national crackdown on such practice along the Yangtze River. Launched by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in June, the three-year campaign aims to combat illegal fishing along the country's longest river. The crackdown has led to the seizure of more than 1,500 fishing boats, 23,000 units of fishing gear and 77,000 kg of catches, the MPS said Tuesday. Under the supervision of the MPS, the first batch of 100 major cases related to illegal fishing has already been solved, while another 55 key cases listed by the MPS are currently under investigation. The MPS has set up a tip-off center to handle public reports of such violations, making use of a telephone hotline, email and its official accounts on social-media platforms. A fishing ban has been observed in 332 conservation areas along the Yangtze River from the beginning of this year, and a ten-year fishing ban will cover all the key waters of the country's longest river from Jan. 1, 2021. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 23:37:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Journalists from a number of foreign media outlets on Monday joined a gathering to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing. Together with their Chinese counterparts, the journalists called on media outlets of all countries to stick to objective and rational reporting, be committed to eliminating estrangement and misunderstandings between people of different regions and countries, and work to promote friendship. Held by the All-China Journalists Association, the event was attended by over 120 guests including Beijing-based foreign journalists, Chinese journalists stationed overseas, and press officers from foreign embassies in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is generally regarded as one of the most important traditional festivals in China and falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival falls on Oct. 1 this year, coinciding with China's National Day. Enditem People arriving in Western Australia from Victoria will no longer have to quarantine in a hotel as of Monday. WA's chief health officer advised hotel quarantine for Victorians was no longer necessary, as long as they had somewhere to self-quarantine safely. Travellers and returning residents must still quarantine for 14 days on arrival. WA Premier Mark McGowan. Credit:Getty They will be tested on arrival in Perth and again on day 11 of their quarantine period. People currently in hotel quarantine will need to complete their stint. The limited exemption categories for Victorian arrivals will continue to apply. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Reykjavik, Iceland Tue, September 29, 2020 16:07 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47fac7d 2 Environment beluga-whales,whales Free Two beluga whales from a Shanghai aquarium have taken their first swim in open waters as part of their acclimatization to an Icelandic sea sanctuary, conservationists said Monday. Little White and Little Grey, two 13-year-old females, left the Changfeng Ocean World in June 2019 and were flown to Iceland's Klettsvik Bay in the Westman Islands in specially tailored containers. More than a year later, in August, they were moved from their land-based facility to care pools in the sea at Klettsvik Bay, the first time they had been in the sea since they were taken from a Russian research center in 2011. On Monday, the conservation charity Sea Life Trust said the belugas had been "released for the first time to fully explore the natural surroundings" of the wider sea sanctuary at Klettsvik Bay. The sanctuary is a 32,000-square-meter sea pen that will become their home. After having been cared for by humans for so many years, it is unlikely the belugas would survive in the wild. "We are introducing them gradually to the bay in little steps, but seeing them swim together and deep dive amongst the flora and fauna of the wider bay for the first time was amazing to witness and gave us a real sense that Little Grey and Little White are enjoying being back in the sea," Andy Bool, head of the Sea Life Trust, said in a statement. The belugas will continue to explore the wider sanctuary while returning to the care pools as their health and well-being are monitored on a daily basis "over a short period of time", the charity said. The whales each weigh 900 kilograms and measure four meters. Originally from Russian Arctic waters, it is thought they were two or three years old when captured. Belugas typically live for 40 to 60 years. Klettsvik is also where Keiko, the killer whale from the 1993 film "Free Willy", was flown in 1998. The orca was fully released in 2002 but did not manage to adapt to life in the wild and died 18 months later in a Norwegian fjord. The comedy concert series Dave Chappelle & Friends - An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair has been canceled after an unnamed performer had 'possible exposure to COVID-19' a rep for the series said on Tuesday. The show, which had stemmed from Yellow Springs, Ohio this past summer, had been slated to run four more shows through October 4. Organizers shut things down on Friday after a regular performer was thought to be positive for coronavirus. The latest: The comedy concert series Dave Chappelle & Friends - An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair has been canceled after an unnamed performer had 'possible exposure to COVID-19' a rep for the series said on Tuesday 'For the past three months of the pandemic, Dave Chappelle has successfully created a safe haven for comedians, musicians and poets to express their art without incident,' a rep told the outlet. The rep continued: 'Social distancing, face masks, hand sanitizer, temperature checks and access to daily COVID tests have all been a part of our protocol. We take COVID-19 very seriously and there have been no reported cases among patrons or crew.' Chappelles wife Elaine, according to Dayton.com, had said in a closed Facebook group: 'We take COVID-19 very seriously and there have been no reported cases among patrons or crew. 'However, due to a possible exposure within our inner circle, and out of an abundance of caution, we have elected to cancel the remaining ... shows.' Feted: Chappelle won the Mark Twain Award for American Humor last October Comedy royalty: Chappelle posed with Chelsea Handler at one of the shows TicketMaster has taken tickets for all of the remains shows off of their site. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had cleared the legendary comedian to put on the shows with strict protocols amid the pandemic, according to Dayton.com. Zoning Inspector Richard Zopf got nearly 2,500 letters and emails in support of the shows. Comedians who had appeared on the series of shows included Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, Michelle Wolf and Louis CK. WATERLOO REGION A Waterloo Regional Police officer has been charged with breach of probation. London police arrested the officer on Friday. The officer, who has been with Waterloo Regional Police for 21 years and is currently suspended without pay, is accused of breaching a term associated with a January, 2019 conviction on a number of criminal counts, including three counts of assault and one count of assault with a weapon. The crimes occurred while the officer was off-duty. The identity of the officer is not being released to protect that of the victim. Every week our Holiday Hero Neil Simpson takes an in-depth look at an important holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you don't have to. This week: Safe ways to book last-minute breaks to the sun. Ever-changing quarantine and 'travel corridor' rules mean it has been tricky to make travel plans this autumn. But if you're happy to hop on a plane within days of making a booking, then last-minute bargains abound. Book today and you could be in Milan on Saturday for a two-night Italian mini-break. The fare? It starts at a rock-bottom 19 return with Wizz Air from Luton Airport. Get going: Enjoy hassle-free - and safe - trips to Venice. Ryanair has return flights from 48 Prefer to spend next weekend sitting in St Mark's Square or strolling alongside the canals of a half-empty Venice? Ryanair has return flights from 48. And while this year's Oktoberfest in Munich has been cancelled due to coronavirus, you can still grab a (socially-distanced) stein of beer in the city next weekend after taking British Airways flights from 89 return with dozens of hotels offering rooms from 50 a night. Package holidays can also be picked up for a song. If you're able to fly out next Saturday, then onthebeach.com has seven-night self-catering breaks on the Turkish Riviera from as little as 240 per person. Airports and airlines are working hard to reassure nervous travellers that it's safe to fly British Airways gives each passenger hand sanitiser as they climb aboard. Face coverings are compulsory both on the ground and in the air, while tourist sites across Europe now have one-way systems, staff behind plastic screens and reduced guest numbers. The only challenge for a last-minute mini-break is to pick a hassle-free destination. Here's how. Package holidays can be picked up for a song. Onthebeach.com has seven-night self-catering breaks on the Turkish Riviera (Bodrum, a city in the region, pictured) from 240 per person ONE: Check you won't have to quarantine for 14 days after returning home. The latest list of quarantine-free countries is published at gov.uk under 'Travel Corridors'. The plan is for the list to be updated every Thursday, though it can be changed at any time. At the moment there's no place on it for tourist favourites such as France, Spain or Portugal. However, Italy, Turkey, Germany and some Nordic countries are on the list and are fantastic alternatives. TWO: Find out if different restrictions apply to residents of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Start on the Travel Corridor list, click on the 'Coronavirus' section of the country you hope to visit and scroll down to the information on 'Returning to the UK'. For example, Scots must self-isolate after returning from Athens, while Welsh residents must quarantine after visiting the Greek island of Paros. THREE: Be ready for pre-departure complications by going back to the Travel Corridor list and clicking on 'Entry Requirements' for your chosen country. Cyprus, for example, says UK travellers must produce a negative Covid-19 test result taken within 72 hours of arrival. Similar negative Covid-19 tests are now required for Madeira, though you can take a test on arrival and self-quarantine in your hotel for 12 hours until your result comes through. (NHS tests are for people with symptoms, not holidaymakers, so you'll probably have to find a postal test from a private provider (and pay about 150 for the service). Countries such as Greece ask travellers to complete Passenger Locator Forms online at least 24 hours before arrival. Those who forget may be denied entry. So keep an eye on gov.uk and don't ignore emails from your airline or travel company, as they may contain updated information. Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, leaves Federal Court December 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. The defense lawyer for former national security advisor Michael Flynn revealed in court Tuesday that she recently met in person with President Donald Trump to update him on the case, and that she had asked the president not to pardon Flynn. Sidney Powell, Flynn's attorney, told Judge Emmet Sullivan about that conversation with Trump during a hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court on the Justice Department's highly unusual request to dismiss the case. Powell said she spoke with Trump and a White House lawyer, Jenna Ellis, one time in recent weeks. "I provided the White House with an update on the overall status of the litigation," Powell said. "I never discussed this case with the president until recently when I asked him not to issue a pardon and gave him a general update of the status of the litigation," said Powell, who did not say why she asked Trump not to give Flynn a pardon. When Sullivan asked, "Did you make any requests of the president?" Powell replied, "No, sir, other than he not issue a pardon." Trump has long been harshly critical of the case and has said publicly that he would strongly consider pardoning Flynn, who pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his talks with a Russian diplomat in the weeks leading up to Trump's inauguration in January 2017. Sullivan also asked if Powell had ever asked Trump to request that Attorney General William Barr appoint new prosecutors in the case. Powell answered, "Oh, heavens, no." At the end of the hearing, which spanned five hours, Sullivan did not make a ruling on the Justice Department's motion to dismiss. But the judge said he was mindful of an appellate court ruling that encouraged him to rule quickly in the case, one of the first to spring out of a broad investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn so far has not been sentenced because of an unprecedented series of events that have included Barr seeking to toss out the case and being resisted at least until now by Sullivan. The White House declined to comment on Powell's statement. The Justice Department, which first charged Flynn and then obtained his cooperation with other investigations, long had defended the legitimacy of its prosecution. But the department abruptly last spring sought to dismiss the case and void Flynn's guilty plea, saying that it determined that there was not a legitimate reason for the FBI to have questioned Flynn. The Justice Department also argues that it does not have sufficient evidence to convict him now. Powell's disclosure of meeting with Trump came in response to a question from Sullivan, who had asked if she had spoken to the president about the case. She at first balked at answering him, arguing that she would be barred from doing so by executive privilege. But Powell then provided details of what she had told Trump after Sullivan pointed out that she was not an employee of the executive branch of the U.S. government. Powell later during the hearing asked Sullivan to recuse himself from the case, on the grounds of purported bias against Flynn, which included the judge appealing a higher court's order that Flynn's case be promptly dismissed. Sullivan, seeming annoyed, waved aside her request, telling her to put it in writing in a court filing. Powell said that the original prosecution of Flynn was part of "a coup" whose ultimate purpose was to target Trump. "This is the most egregious case of injustice I've ever seen in 30 years of practice," she said. Earlier in the hearing, Sullivan spent nearly an hour detailing the case's circuitous history. Several times during that monologue, Sullivan noted that his job as a judge is not to serve merely as a "rubber stamp" for a request by prosecutors to dismiss the case. A Justice Department lawyer later told the judge that Barr's "decision [to seek the case's dismissal was] not based on communications with the president or the White House" or on Trump's Twitter posts criticizing the prosecution of Flynn. Justice Department lawyers also said that the department has the "absolute authority" on whether to prosecute a case and that a judge does not have that authority. John Gleeson, a lawyer appointed by Sullivan to argue against the dismissal request, was contemptuous of the Justice Department's claim that there were valid reasons to toss the case. Gleeson, who is both a former federal judge and ex-federal prosecutor, said that the department's explanations flew in the face of established legal standards and that they were a pretext for the actual reason for dismissing the case, that is, doing a favor for Trump. He also said that at least one argument raised by the department, that Flynn's lies to the FBI were not "material" to the question of his guilt, was being raised by the department for the first time for any defendant charged by federal prosecutors. "You're not required to act like you were born yesterday," Gleeson told Sullivan. Flynn, who is a retired Army lieutenant general, only briefly served as Trump's first national security advisor. He was fired after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents who had questioned him about his talks with Kislyak. Flynn admitted falsely telling agents that he and Kislyak had not discussed the need for Russia not to retaliate against the United States for sanctions put on Russia by the outgoing Obama administration as punishment for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn's originally scheduled sentencing in December 2018 was aborted after Sullivan angrily admonished him, telling Flynn he had "arguably" sold out his country, and after the judge indicated he was considering sending Flynn to jail for his crime. The judge then suspended the sentencing, saying he wanted to give Flynn more time to complete his cooperation with then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with that interference by members of Trump's campaign. Flynn cooperated for several more months but then hired a new lawyer, Powell, who began laying the groundwork to undo his guilty plea. The Justice Department, which had opposed Powell's efforts for months, joined forces with her effort earlier this year and asked Sullivan to dismiss the case, a move that drew widespread criticism by Democrats and former prosecutors. But Sullivan did not act quickly on the dismissal request. Instead, the judge appointed Gleeson as a so-called friend of the court to make legal arguments opposing that request. Gleeson in court filings earlier this year advised Sullivan that the case should not be dismissed, arguing that the Justice Department had engaged in "a gross abuse of prosecutorial power." "The Government has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President," Gleeson wrote. Flynn and the Justice Department then filed an appeal, asking a three-judge appeals panel to compel dismissal of the case, arguing that Sullivan had overstepped his authority. That panel agreed and ordered the dismissal. But Sullivan then appealed that dismissal. Earlier this month, a panel of most of the judges on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the smaller panel's order and sent the case back to Sullivan for consideration, which led to Tuesday's hearing. Votes for Women A century ago, Michigan finally boarded the suffrage bandwagon. by Patti Smith From the September, 2020 issue "We can't be the first state ... why wait and be last?" --letter to the Ann Arbor Times News, 1918 In 1849, a special committee of the Michigan state senate issued a report recommending universal suffrage: allowing every resident of the state to vote. It would, the committee wrote, reflect the "importance of natural rights and equality, and the deeply-held American belief that government must derive its power from the consent of the governed--including women." It was a radical idea at a time when African Americans were still held in bondage in the south, Native Americans were considered citizens of other nations, and Michigan had only recently let married women own property. It was too radical for delegates to the state constitutional convention the following year. The elected representatives--all white men--debated extending the vote to African Americans, Native Americans, recent immigrants, and women. In the end, only Native American men who did not belong to a tribe were enfranchised. Recent immigrants never did get the vote--even today, they must complete a lengthy process to become naturalized citizens. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments after the Civil War gave African American men the vote, though the struggle against voter suppression continues to this day. Tribal members won voting rights slowly, state by state, over the next century. And Michigan women began a generations-long campaign that led to a state constitutional amendment in 1918 and the ratification of the federal Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. --- Starting in 1855, Michigan women submitted petitions demanding the right to vote at nearly every biennial legislative session. While sometimes the petitions were forwarded to committees, they more often died without any action being taken. When the state constitution was revised again in 1867, women submitted two petitions. One called for removing the word "male" from the description of voters, the other for putting the question before the electorate. Both were rejected. The Michigan State Woman Suffrage Association (MSWSA), organized in Battle Creek in 1870, helped persuade the legislature to ...continued below... hold a statewide vote in 1874. The separate, one-issue ballot said simply "Woman suffrage--Yes" or "Woman suffrage--No."Elated, more than 300 men and women met in Representatives Hall in Lansing to hear national suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton speak and to organize a statewide campaign. Despite their efforts, only one in five male voters chose "Yes."A tiny victory was won in 1881, when the legislature passed a law permitting any adult who paid school taxes to vote on school-related questions. In 1889 and 1891, the state house passed bills that would have let all adult women citizens vote in all local elections. Both were defeated in the senate--the second time, by a heartbreakingly close vote of 15-14."Municipal suffrage" was finally approved in 1893--only to be overturned by the Michigan Supreme Court, which declared that the state constitution did not give legislature the power to "create a new class of voters."---After that rejection, Michigan women became bolder about demanding their right to vote. Many had focused on municipal suffrage, hoping to advocate for issues close to home such as better education, health, sanitation, and job opportunities. Activists also called for limiting access to alcohol, creating separate "reform schools" for girls staffed only by women, raising the age of consent, and longer prison sentences for rapists.At the national level, Colorado and Wyoming had already granted suffrage, and two national groups had combined to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In Michigan, the next big opportunity came in 1906, when another constitutional convention was scheduled.By then, women's suffrage and alcohol prohibition had become politically and socially entwined. Though worried that the association could alienate male voters, suffrage leaders teamed up with prohibitionists and many other groups to lobby for shared goals--and once again were disappointed. The 1908 constitution extended the franchise only slightly, to all women taxpayers, and only to vote on local financial matters.But suffrage was rising as an issue. That year, students at the Michigan State Normal College in Ypsilanti--now EMU--debated the question. Both female and male students organized pro-suffrage groups, selling buttons to raise money and tasking themselves to campaign in their local communities when they went home on summer break.The Normal College was ahead of the University of Michigan, which wouldn't have a campus suffrage group until 1911, a year after Ann Arbor suffragettes first formally organized. Part of the reason may have been that in the early 1900s, about 80 percent of students at the Normal College were female while women comprised only about 20 percent of students at U-M.In general, Ypsilanti was the more progressive of the two cities on suffrage. The presidents of the Normal College and Cleary College both supported and lectured on behalf of the cause, while U-M president Harry Hutchins hedged on the issue. And while thewas an early defender of the cause, reporters for Ann Arbor'sused it as fodder for jokes.U-M medical dean Victor Vaughan and his wife Dora Vaughan were active supporters, but they were in the minority. One suffragist complained that the university and its faculty were "at least fifty years behind" other schools in their attitudes toward the cause.---In 1912, governor Chase Osborn, a Progressive, called a special legislative session to once again consider a constitutional amendment granting full suffrage. It was put on the fall ballot. But "Michigan had not made their intent to put the issue on the 1912 ballot known to the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and therefore we were not selected as one of the states it would focus on," explains Zoe Behnke, who with Jeanine DeLay and Linda Fitzgerald helped research the 2011 exhibit"They said that they would send speakers but [local suffragists] would have to pay the costs."Ann Arbor's town and gown groups merged to plan and fund the events. On a shoestring budget, some of which they raised by selling stationery that listed suffrage arguments along one side, they opened a headquarters at 205 E. Washington. Hundreds of pamphlets were printed and delivered around town while women's clubs debated and discussed the issue.Many local women lent their talents in multiple ways. Mary Hinsdale, a professor at the Normal College and an officer in the Ann Arbor Equal Suffrage Association, lectured at women's clubs. Association member Maria Peel, an insurance agent, volunteered as suffrage reporter for temperance groups and the women's clubs. The clubs initially voted against suffrage but later reversed themselves, a feat largely attributed to Peel's efforts.Jennie Buell's suffrage work naturally fit with her advocacy on behalf of local Granges, which mobilized farmers around common causes. Based in Ann Arbor, Buell lectured all over the state, served as editor and contributor to Grange publications, and traveled to other states to lecture on Grange opportunities for women--while also advocating for their right to vote. Other supporters included temperance groups, women's clubs, and African American groups.In November, Ann Arbor men voted in favor of suffrage, though Washtenaw County as a whole voted against it by a narrow margin. Heartbreakingly, Osborn's initiative lost statewide by just 760 votes.Supporters suspected fraud, blaming liquor interests and political bosses for stealing the vote. The Michigan Equal Suffrage Association produced flyers listing ways in which the vote was tainted by irregularities, including more ballots being cast in some precincts than there were total voters and anti-suffrage literature placed in the voting booths.Suffragists called for another election the next year, counting on the anger over those issues to help them carry the day. Unfortunately, anti-suffrage groups were ready and waiting to launch their own campaigns; the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage quickly opened a chapter in Washtenaw County. Saloon owners and anti-temperance groups campaigned hard, and suffrage was defeated again; even Ann Arbor men voted the measure down.Other states also voted on women's suffrage in those years, some approving it, others rejecting it. After several defeats in 1915, Miss Lucy J. Price, an employee of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, wrote for the United Press to declare that suffrage "has seen its height." The association's president, Mrs. Alfred Dodge, was jubilant, opining that if women wanted access to the vote, they could "get it through their husbands."Yet just three years later, Michigan voters reversed themselves and approved a suffrage amendment. The following year, when Congress passed the Nineteeth Amendment, Michigan legislators voted unanimously to ratify it. By August 1920, after three-quarters of the states had ratified, women's right to vote was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.How did sentiment change so quickly? After the defeats in the mid-1910s, suffragists had regrouped and carried on. Reflecting a new push to "organize, organize, organize," local suffragist Lucia Grimes made an indexing card system to track who knew whom and the positions of local politicians and organizations.World War I also changed perceptions as women entered the workforce to replace men who'd gone to fight. Many, DeLay says, worked "in dangerous factories, doing munitions work. Thousands of nurses went to France with the Red Cross to help with the 1918 flu. Women were beginning to be perceived as accomplished, which helped lead to the cultural shift."On the eve of the 1918 election, thepublished supportive letters from prominent citizens. "I have often wondered why the women have been deprived of this privilege," wrote Albert Fiegel, of Fiegel's Men's Store. "I have never heard a good sound reason that proves that judgment of women would not be as good as that of men's." He urged readers to "consider the women we live, love, in general--shouldn't they have the same right to vote as men? How would men feel if conditions were reversed? We can't be the first state ... why wait and be last?"---Maria Peel kept smashing glass ceilings after suffrage was won. She served as the city's first policewoman, the county's first female truant officer, a juvenile probation officer, and worked for the Friend of the Court.Even before ratification, the leaders of the National American Woman Suffrage Association moved on. They organized the League of Women Voters to, in the words of the group's website, "help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters." The Grange's Jennie Buell was one of its first presidents.Other activists set a new political goal: an amendment to give women full equality under the constitution. Fifty years later, the Equal Rights Amendment was approved by Congress with the support of a new generation of feminists, but a conservative backlash stalled ratification and it remains unrealized.There are many lessons to take away from the tireless work of the suffragists and all voting rights activists, but the foremost one is to remain vigilant to protect all Americans' rights at the ballot box. Says DeLay, "We tend to fall asleep and so liberty must awaken." [Originally published in September, 2020.] Kanpur: The NDRF on late Wednesday night rescued a 3-year-old girl, who was trapped under the debris for hours after an under-construction building collapsed in Kanpurs Jajmau. Many people were still trapped in the debris of the six-storey building and the rescue operation by NDRF and army was still on. The incident took place at 1 pm on Wednesday night but the rescue operations are going on at a snail's pace as it is a big challenge for the NDRF team to search out for people. The NDRF team is taking the help of trained dogs and Victim Locating Camera (VLC) to locate those people who could be still alive but trapped. Hydraulic Drill Machine and Gas Cutter are also being used to rescue people. According to NDRF Commander Kaushalesh, this is a big challenge and will take time. However, the rescue of the 3-year-old girl has raised hopes that more people will be taken alive. Meanwhile, cases have been registered against the owner and contractor of the building under various sections. ALSO READ | Under-construction building collapses in Kanpur; 7 dead, many feared trapped At least 7 labourers were killed and a dozen others were injured in the building collapse. Updates: #Shivpal Singh Yadav expressed grief over incident aaaaaa aa aaaaaS aaa aaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaa aaa aaaa aa aaaaa aa aaaaa aaa aaa aaaaaa aa aaaaa aaaaaa aaaa aa aaaaa aaaa aaaa Shivpal Singh Yadav (@shivpalsinghyad) February 1, 2017 #Around 30 persons still trapped. Op will take time due to the nature of structure of building: Alok Singh, NDRF on Kanpur building collapse #Kanpur building collapse: FIR registered against owner SP leader Mahtab Alam and contractor (ANI) Uttar Pradesh: NDRF teams conduct rescue operations at the building collapse site in Kanpur's Jajmua. pic.twitter.com/kv5lcdWayT ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 2, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The implications for healthcare providers are profound as they rethink business plans to accommodate new expectations, including developing more robust digital presences for effective engagement. Boston Digital, a leading digital marketing agency, with a client base including the worlds top pharmaceutical and healthcare brands, today announced results of a new survey, The Pandemics Impact on Digital Usage in Healthcare. The survey canvassed 500 healthcare executives to determine the extent to which healthcare industries have switched to digital solutions, the barriers theyve faced and their plans for expanding digital healthcare in the future. The results overwhelmingly indicate the switch to telehealth has been a largely positive one and that most plan greater investment to expand telehealth capabilities. Click here to access the full report. According to the survey, healthcare executives espouse the positive outlook of telehealth and its potential, even as they indicate that a patient's ability to use new technology is still the biggest barrier to its success. Increasing patient satisfaction, wellbeing and the long-term success of these initiatives requires a seamless UX experience and overall investments in digital marketing to communicate changes to the patient community. There has been much speculation about how patients would respond once they had the opportunity to schedule in-person appointments again, said Boston Digital President, Peter Prodromou. Our survey indicates the habits and preferences that formed around telehealth during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic are, in large part, here to stay. The implications for healthcare providers are profound as they rethink business plans to accommodate new expectations, including developing more robust digital presences for effective engagement. It will be very interesting to see how these trends impact the historic long-term growth of healthcare spending and costs, as well as general wellness. Telehealth changes are here to stay. Largely executives agreed that the changes implemented as a result of the pandemic were positive for patient care, would be implemented long-term and that expanding telehealth is a top priority. 57% say it has improved patient care 58% of respondents say that 40% or more of the changes are here to stay 63% say telehealth initiatives were important or very important to their current organizations 55% have already created new portals or micro-sites as a result of COVID-19 The key to telehealth success lies in providing a seamless user experience. The biggest barrier to telehealth is still the patients ability to use new technology, despite the positive benefits it has brought to patient care and overall satisfaction. Providing a seamless user experience will prove to be the decider in making telehealth successful and beneficial. 38% say the biggest barrier to success was the patient's ability to use new technologies; this was the #1 answer compared with only 8% mentioning costs and 5% claiming regulations 72% say having a mobile-friendly website was important or very important 76% say a good digital experience is important or very important for overall patient satisfaction Healthcare companies also plan to expand digital marketing. As healthcare companies make the switch to digital care solutions, they will need the ability to communicate the changes to patients, requiring different digital marketing channels. 89% plan to invest in marketing next year 50% plan to invest in social media marketing, 45% in email marketing and 26% in paid media Healthcare companies use a variety of digital tactics to communicate with their patients, 35% communicate new policies through video and 49% use social media To see more results and implications from Boston Digitals survey, read this whitepaper. Boston Digtal Boston Digital has been delivering transformative digital marketing for 20 years. We believe digital excellence starts with a world-class website and catches fire with brilliant digital marketing services. Boston Digital helps clients across the US in industries from consumer products and life sciences to higher education, financial services and high tech, find their Digital Mojo, connect their brand to the people who need it most, and boost their competitive edge. http://www.bostondigital.com Weeks before the assembly elections in Bihar, LJP chief Chirag Paswan has served an ultimatum to the BJP over seat sharing in the NDA coalition. Chirag Paswan reportedly met BJP president JP Nadda on Monday and demanded a decision on seat sharing soon, a report in NDTV said. The LJP has also made it clear that if it doesnt happen the party will field candidates on 143 out of 243 seats in Bihar. Chirag Paswan who has a bitter relationship with CM Nitish Kumar said that he will not hesitate to field candidates against Janata Dal United JD(U), say sources. Paswan also reminded the BJP that the JD(U) had earlier said that it has no alliance with the BJP. So, LJP can field candidates against JD(U) candidates, Paswan said, according to sources. Earlier Chirag Paswan has asked members of the partys parliamentary board to prepare a list of 143 candidates and start campaigning in their respective constituencies. The decision has won the appreciation of parliamentary board members in New Delhi. LJP chiefs mood shows that he is not willing to compromise on seat-sharing with the JD(U). There has neither been any final decision on seat sharing dynamics nor any decision on who will contest from which constituency. We will let you know if the details when we arrive at that decision," ANI quoted Chirag Paswan as saying. LJP leaders were against contesting elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar as they were upset with his poor handling of the Covid-19 situation, the floods, migrant crisis and employment issues in the state. So far as the JD(U) is concerned, party insiders say the spat with LJP is over seat sharing ahead of the elections. However, PM Modi gave his seal of approval to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as the face of the NDA, saying Kumar had a very important role to play in taking Bihar forward on the path to progress. The Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases- the first phase will be held on October 28, the second phase will be on November 3 and the third phase will be on November 7. The counting of votes will be on November 10. A western Sydney coronavirus case identified as having no known source attended Liverpool Hospital during a "potential exposure period", NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has confirmed. The case, in a Campbelltown man who was admitted to ICU, reset Queensland's clock for reopening its border last week, prompting an investigation by NSW Health into its source. A "mystery" case identified in NSW last week attended Liverpool Hospital. Credit:Kate Geraghty "The genome sequencing indicates that he has a type of genome sequence that is linked to [the Liverpool Hospital cluster]," Dr Chant said on Wednesday. However, NSW Health has not been able to find "a definitive source or interaction", which resulted in the transmission. Dr Chant said it would be the role of Queensland health authorities to determine if they will still consider the case an instance of commmunity transmission. By Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and Canada on Monday joined the European Union in pledging to protect 30% of their land and seas by 2030 to stem "catastrophic" biodiversity loss and help galvanise support for broader agreement on the target ahead of a U.N. summit. With the twin crises of climate change and wildlife loss accelerating, leaders are trying to build momentum ahead of the meeting in Kunming, China, in May, where nearly 200 countries will negotiate a new agreement on protecting nature. "We must act now right now. We cannot afford dither and delay because biodiversity loss is happening today and it is happening at a frightening rate. Left unchecked, the consequences will be catastrophic for us all," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "Extinction is forever so our action must be immediate." Without action, 30% to 50% of all species could be lost by 2050, threatening economic and social prosperity, a report by The Nature Conservancy charity this month said. For example, losing bees, butterflies and other pollinators could cause a drop in annual agricultural output worth $217 billion. Scientists have said a minimum of 30% of the planet must be safeguarded, through protected areas and conservation. A draft of the Kunming agreement includes this pledge. While Monday's pledges did not detail specific actions nor funding plans, protected areas are usually managed to ensure the long-term conservation of nature. This can mean curbing or banning commercial or extraction activities, ensuring unspoiled natural areas remain unspoiled, or restoring and maintaining ecosystems such as forests and wetlands. "We have both the responsibility and the opportunity. We have the second largest land mass, a fifth of the worlds freshwater, and the longest coastline in the world, that together are critical for biodiversity and for securing carbon in nature in the fight against climate change," Canada's Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said. Story continues ACTION PLEDGE In England, where 26% of land is already protected, the government said an extra 4,000 sq km would be safeguarded. However, E.J. Milner-Gulland, professor of biodiversity at the University of Oxford said: "It's great to get another 4%, but that, in itself, is not going to be a transformative thing in this country - and particularly if there's no funding." The EU's executive Commission has proposed a target for the 27-country bloc to legally protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030. That would safeguard 4% more land and 19% more sea than today. Speaking at the United Nations' Nature Finance Forum, Germany's Federal Minister Gerd Mueller said it planned to increase its 500 million euros annual investment in protecting biodiversity in low- and middle-income countries, without elaborating. Germany also plans set up a fund with public and private lenders to provide long-term financing to protected areas in those countries, he said. A growing body of evidence suggests that it pays to protect nature. Expanding areas under conservation could yield a return of at least $5 for every $1 spent, according to a paper by more than 100 researchers, published in July. The Nature Conservancy report said the world needed to spend an extra $598 billion to $824 billion each year over the next decade to reverse the extinction crisis. Separately on Monday, more than 60 countries - also including EU states, Britain and Canada - committed to 10 actions to reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030, including integrating nature protection into COVID-19 recovery plans, increasing financing to protect the natural world, and clamping down on marine pollution and deforestation. The pledge was signed by countries including Mexico, Bangladesh, Germany and Norway. Notable absences were Brazil and Indonesia - two hotspots of deforestation - and China and the United States, the world's top two emitters of greenhouse gases. (Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Alison Williams) Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced Tuesday his selection for the citys Municipal Court administrator, a longtime city employee who most recently worked as an administration manager for Tulsa Police and oversaw its budget. Cheri Harvell is filling a role vacated through a retirement, Bynum said in a news release Tuesday morning. Harvell, of Bixby, will start her new duties on Oct. 11, replacing Kelly Brader. Im thankful for the opportunity to be able to continue to serve at the City in Tulsa Municipal Courts, Harvell said in the release. I value my 15 years spent at TPD and look forward to serving Tulsans in this new role. As of Aug. 16, a Tulsa Police organizational chart identified Harvell as working directly under Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin. While with the Tulsa Police Department, Harvell prepared and managed the agencys budget of roughly $122 million for fiscal year 2021, the release states. She also oversaw numerous staff members while developing requests for federal grants, as well as for contract management and preparation of financial reports. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:42:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and one other was injured when a mortar shell went off in Nowshera district of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, local media reported. The victims found the shell from a river bank where they were collecting scrap, and it exploded while they were trying to weigh it at a scrap shop, 92 News said. According to the initial probe, it seems that the old shell has accidently exploded in the scrap shop, but police is making further investigations into the matter as the possibility of some terrorist elements behind the explosion cannot also be ruled out, said the report. The injured man was shifted to a nearby hospital where his condition is said to be out of danger. The killed people included the dealer of the scrap shop which was also destroyed in the explosion. Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Mahmood Khan expressed grief over the loss of lives in the explosion and sought a report of the incident from the concerned authorities after completion of investigation. Enditem To be nominated to the Supreme Court is both a great honor and a terrifying prospect the latter being particularly relevant if you happen to be nominated by a Republican president. Amy Coney Barrett, who already faced attacks and insinuations related to her Catholic faith during her confirmation hearing to the Seventh Circuit, has learned this in short order. Already, Barrett is being critiqued, again, as a nominee because of her devout Catholicism. Senator Mazie Hirono a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee best known for her embarrassing assertion that Brett Kavanaugh could not be afforded the presumption of innocence because of her own presumption that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade has insisted that Barretts religious views will not be off-limits when she comes before the Judiciary Committee later this month. Why should we say you get a lifetime appointment so that you can reflect your ideological agenda in your decision making? asked Hirono. Certified anti-racist Dr. Ibram X. Kendi has even gone so far as to attack Barrett for the two black children she has adopted from Haiti. Kendi suggests that Barretts decision to bring two more kids into the family in addition to the five she has birthed may not have been a selfless act of love, but an effort to use them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial, while cutting the biological parents of these children out of the picture of humanity. He went on to backtrack somewhat, saying whether this is Barrett or not is not the point. His point was similar to Hironos: The presumption of innocence of racism should not be granted to people such as Barrett or Kavanaugh. While the attacks on Barretts faith and family have been both galling and appalling, and thus more likely to be highlighted by her backers, it is the attacks on her record that are perhaps even more concerning for the future of the judiciary. While Republicans generally appoint jurists who interpret the Constitution according to the plain or original public meaning of its text, Democrats favor appointees who believe in a living or evolving Constitution. That is, one that can allow or prohibit whatever they want it to allow or prohibit. This method of interpretation is the natural result of judicial consequentialism on the left, or the belief that the law and Constitution should be interpreted not as it is, but as the Democrats believe it should read to fit their vision of a better society. Story continues Nathan J. Robinson summed up this view of the Constitution best for Current Affairs, writing that: One question alone matters to me: what effects would her [Barretts] presence of the Supreme Court have? In other words: how would she rule on issues that matter? Who would be helped or hurt by these rulings? The most important criteria in evaluating a potential justice are their stated values and their prior record, because these are the best evidence we have with which to speculate about what they would do if placed on the nations highest court. He goes on to predict that: She is likely to issue rulings that cause significant needless harm to innocent people and make the country a more unjust place, with rulings that erode the rights of workers, immigrants, criminal defendants, and, of course, those who need abortions. No one wants to cause significant needless harm to innocent people or make the country a more unjust place. But it is Congresss job to write laws within the boundaries set by the Constitution that prevent harm from befalling American citizens and make the country more just. It is the Supreme Courts job only to make sure that those laws fall within those boundaries. If the nine justices on the Court were to all adopt Robinsons view of the judiciary, we may as well not only abolish the Senate but the House too, and formalize the Courts role as a super legislature. Take the example of Roe v. Wade. Robinson decries the plight of those who need abortions. While all pro-lifers would be more than willing to debate whether almost any American need abortions, members of the conservative legal movement do not want to overturn Roe v. Wade solely because of their belief that abortion results in the termination of innocent life, but also because regardless of how long you may search, there is no right to abort your child to be found in the Constitution. Even Laurence Tribe, no friend to pro-lifers, has acknowledged that the legal reasoning in Roe was flawed, saying One of the most curious things about Roe is that, behind its own verbal smokescreen, the substantive judgment on which it rests is nowhere to be found. Moreover, while Robinson is willing to come right out and embrace judicial consequentialism, the entirety of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate is willing to do so implicitly. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that a vote by any Senator for Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and eliminate protections for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions and that Barrett would turn back the clock on womens rights and a womans right to choose, workers rights, voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, environmental protections and more. Senator Richard Blumenthal has asserted that Judge Barretts views would harm real lives real people in real ways, from children with pre-existing conditions to women who just want to be able to decide when and how to have a family. Hirono announced that she would oppose Barrett because she will vote to strike down the Affordable Care Act and has a long history of being anti-choice. The claim that the Affordable Care Act will be thrown out if Barrett is confirmed is a dubious one, and the opinion that she would harm the lives of Americans is just that: an opinion. More importantly though, they are consequentialist claims that have no place in determining whether Barrett should be elevated. Democrats tell us about the outcomes they want and warn that Barretts confirmation would lead to opposite ones, but they dont even try to explain why those outcomes are the right ones, constitutionally. It may be politically convenient to make results-based arguments about the Court, but its also deeply damaging to our constitutional order and polity. Those paying close attention to her confirmation hearings should be alarmed not only by the vicious personal attacks sure to be lobbed at her and her loved ones, but also by the consequentialist attacks on her judicial philosophy. More from National Review Journalist Bahroz Jaafer was arrested on 22 September after Iraqi president Barham Salih filed a defamation lawsuit against him. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate (KJS) in condemning the detention as an illegal act according to Journalism Law No 35 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Jaafer was arrested at a police station in Sulaimani, a city in the east of Iraqi Kurdistan, and authorities plan to keep him in jail for eight days until the beginning of his trial. Jaafer is the head of the Mediterranean Institute for Regional Studies, writes for the independent news site Peyser Press and is a member of the KJS. The KJS has been fighting for his release but he was still being detained at the time of publication of this statement on 29 September. The lawsuit came after Jaafer wrote an article in which he accused president Salih of corruption during his time as the Kurdistan Regions Prime Minister and condemned his lack of action in addressing the problems of Kurds in Iraq. President Salihs lawyers filed the lawsuit under Article 433 of the Penal code, a defamation statute, instead of under the Journalism Law, which only allows for fines and not imprisonment, according to the union. The KJS says that Jaafers detention is illegal under the Press Law and have called for the case to be decided under that law. Arrests, physical attacks or intimidation of journalists repeatedly occur in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and erode press freedom. In June, the IFJ reported that journalists were assaulted and denied access to information when reporting on the Covid-19 situation in the region. A report by the KJS revealed various press freedom violations in 2019. Journalists faced arbitrary arrests, were attacked by security forces or were physically prevented from reporting. In December 2019, the KJS organized an international conference on journalism ethics and media regulation in Iraq. IFJ leaders, dozens of journalists, trade unionists and media experts participated in the conference, providing guidelines for the future of an Iraqi media regulatory body to improve the quality of reporting and media accountability. They recommended the adoption of a self-regulatory mechanism. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "This body must be independent, open to the public, with the participation of journalists and employers. No more, no less." The IFJ is calling on president Salih to immediately drop his lawsuit against Bahroz Jaafer, so he can be freed. "Politicians should not make the highlight of their careers as jailers of journalists," IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said. "We remind the authorities that allowing for establishing a self-regulatory structure is the best way to improve ethical standards and media accountability while safeguarding press freedom and media independence." Ontarios health minister said the government will tackle the excessive use of nerve blocks billed to the provincial health system, a problem the premier called shocking. A Star investigation published Monday revealed some Ontario doctors unparalleled use of the controversial injections to treat chronic pain, prompting responses from both Christine Elliott and Doug Ford at Queens Park. I know there have been some situations where there have been an excessive use of the number of nerve blocks, and that is something we are absolutely going to follow up on, Elliott said. We want to make sure that every cent that goes into health care is going to be used for the proper purposes and for the people who really need the help, she added. The Star found top-billing pain doctors capitalize on Ontarios lax limits on nerve blocks, giving patients weekly injections despite medical guidelines saying the procedure should be done no more than once every three months. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has paid out more than $420 million for these kinds of nerve blocks since 2011 despite a scarcity of evidence to show regular, repeat injections are an effective way to treat chronic pain. The Star revealed that one doctor, Hany Demian, billed OHIP for giving a single patient 1,999 nerve blocks over three years, contributing to the nearly $8.4 million hes billed for the injections since 2014. He did not respond to requests for comment. In fiscal year 2017/18 alone, Demian billed the province for doing more than 38,300 nerve block procedures. To put that in perspective, the government of British Columbia says all of its doctors combined did only 55,595 nerve block and epidural procedures that same year. It was shocking when I read the story, Premier Ford commented. It really brought light on whats going on in some cases. Elliott said the government has been working with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and the joint government-OMA Appropriateness Working Group to restrict or delist medical services deemed low-value or unnecessary. These kinds of nerve blocks are among the treatments being discussed, she said. The working groups deliberations were paused earlier this year because of the pandemic. Negotiations between the government and OMA for a new fee contract are scheduled to begin in October. The billings are not the doctors take-home pay and do not take into account the often-hefty overhead costs for physicians equipment, staff salaries and rent. After past attempts to rein in nerve block billings failed, the province in 2018 proposed capping the number of blocks a person can get to 16 a year from the current limit of eight per patient, per day. The government says the cap could save OHIP more than $50 million a year. However, doctors at pain clinics warned the new restrictions would put many of them out of business, leaving vulnerable patients unable to access an important treatment for chronic pain a debilitating condition that impacts one in five Canadians. The chronic pain section of the OMA, which operates as a union for doctors, told the Star it wants to work with the government to help in their goals of finding savings, while also ensuring patient care isnt negatively affected. The OMA pain section said it has countered with its own proposal that advocates for procedural limits, appropriateness of patient visits along with fee code modernization, but did not provide specific details, saying it had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the government. In light of (the Stars) story, we have re-submitted the proposal for the Ministrys consideration and hope they can review and approve as soon as possible so we can fix any problems there may be, the statement said. The section strongly condemns anyone who may bill inappropriately and we have presented the government with a proposal that we believe will ensure that doesnt happen, the statement said. Two former OMA presidents added their voices to the chorus of people calling for reforms, saying the problem of ballooning nerve block billings has dragged on for too long. Its past time that we overhaul the way chronic, nonmalignant pain is treated. We need an evidence-informed model that puts patients needs at the centre, said Dr. Scott Wooder. Dr. Doug Weir said the issue came up during contract negotiations in 2004, 2008 and 2012. But the problem cannot simply be solved at the bargaining table by adjusting the fee schedule, Weir said. He said the government has not had the political will to properly fund the treatment of chronic pain. At the same time some pain docs make money on injections, there is still inadequate funding for chronic pain clinics that offer a range of services including (those of) other health professionals, he said, referring to social workers, psychologists and physiotherapists. Multiple Canadian and U.S. pain experts said they were appalled by the high use of repeated nerve blocks by some Ontario physicians, saying it is not in line with medical training and appears to be motivated by financial incentives to maximize billings. Dr. Ganesh Ram, medical director of the InMedic pain clinic chain and vice-chair of the OMAs pain section, said clinics like his focus on people with conditions such as fibromyalgia, which often encompasses their whole body. It stands to reason that these patients require a higher number of peripheral nerve blocks, he said. As there is no cure for chronic pain these procedures are continued based on individual patients requirements. Ram said empirical evidence for pain management procedures is generally limited, and while there is some evidence to suggest benefits of peripheral nerve blocks, it is not considered gold standard. The OMAs chronic pain section said its difficult to study chronic pain and that it wants to work with the government to ensure more studies are done. Theresa Boyle is a Toronto-based reporter covering health for the Star. Reach her at tboyle@thestar.ca . Follow her on Twitter: @theresaboyle Read more about: SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BIQU, a well-respected maker of high-end 3D printer components, has announced the launch of its first self-branded printer. The BIQU BX Direct Extruder FDM 3D printer is an out-of-box-all-level-user-friendly DIY creative task achiever that is perfect for hobbyists, makers and professionals alike. It combines powerful features, ease of use and affordability so that anyone can get started with 3D printing. BIQU BX is available now. Learn more here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1440007055/biqu-bx-worlds-lightest-direct-extruder-fdm-3d-printer. BIQU The BX Direct Extruder FDM 3D printer is built around BIQU's latest proprietary technologies and most powerful BTT (BigTreeTech) motherboard. At only 219g, it is the world's lightest all-metal direct extruder. It features a powerful 32bit, 400Mhz smart control chip for faster computational processing that enables smart-assistant features like auto-leveling to help amateurs achieve more successful prints and gives pro-users the power necessary for more complex prints. From kids' toys, skin-friendly medical items to other practical appliances, BX serves virtually any application. The printer has three easy control modes including Marlin and BTT touch-screen control modes. Notably, the BigTreeTech Motherboard design supports plug & print Raspberry Pi firmware expansion, making it the world's first laptop-free Octoprint integrated 3D Printer. The system also reserves driver slots for more functional expansion, such as filament breaking and blocking detection modules, Wi-Fi interface printing module and CAN bus interface. "Our team has a passion for 3D printing and a mission to make it accessible to anyone. We spent years creating high-quality components for other printer companies worldwide while also developing improved technologies for our own design. When it was perfected, we knew it was time to step out of the background and share the BIQU BX with the world. BX is the world's lightest direct extruder FDM 3D printer which makes it perfect for makers and home users. Its powerful features ensure high print quality but its ease of use means that anyone with an interest in 3D printing can get started fast and produce incredible results consistently. With the BIQU BX, anyone can unleash their creativity at the touch of a button," said Eric Zhang CEO and founder, BIQU. One of the typical barriers to entry into complex 3D printing is the learning curve. BIQU BX solves this problem with built-in features that take the guesswork out of setup and bed leveling. BX makes it easy with an innovative true Approximate Sensor Leveling-Free Technology, an intuitive interactive multi-language touchscreen control UI and safety protections that result in fast, accurate and safe printing for beginners and complex print capabilities for advanced users. BIQU BX is available now with special deals and discounts for early adopters. Learn more here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1440007055/biqu-bx-worlds-lightest-direct-extruder-fdm-3d-printer. Media Contact: [email protected] Related Images image1.png SOURCE BIQU Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Mohamed Badi has reiterated that he is only interested in service delivery and not politics. Speaking in an interview on NTV, the Major-General also rubbished claims that his appointment is not a military take over. I saw a lot of suffering in the city especially in informal settlements. Its my duty to deliver. I am not looking for votes. I have taken this as a national duty, he said. When politicians see you serving common citizens, they think that you are cutting down their influence. I have no problem with Governor Sonko. I am doing this job on his behalf, added Badi. He acknowledged the challenges faced in fixing the capital city saying he works every day of the work and has managed to achieve most of his goals. I was sworn-in in the afternoon and started working that night. I work on all days of the week from 7 am and I get home past 9 pm. Within the first 200 days in office, we have managed to achieve over 100 percent of what we intended to, he said. On court battles regarding the legality of the NMS, Badi said: There was a judgement for me to take over all the four functions after the court ruling. I am now focused on my work. When it is done, the common citizen will not care whether it was done by a member of the disciplined forces or a civilian. The NMS boss added that he is actualizing plans that previous county administrations failed to implement. I inherited the plans which had never been implemented, he said, adding that one such plan is the upgrading of Mama Lucy hospital to a level five referral facility. We will have 18 new ICU beds at Mama Lucy hospital and 10 at Mbagathi. NMS has also embarked on the construction of 19 more hospitals targeting all 17 Sub counties. Four of the 19 Hospitals are at an advanced stage of construction. The facilities will create at least 400 jobs in the medical profession, he said. On the citys water shortage problems, Badi said NMS has sunk 188 Boreholes mostly in informal settlements to ensure reliable supply of water necessary in the fight against Covid-19. Once complete, the Northern Corridor water project will help lessen the burden in the city, he said, noting that although there is enough water, the supporting infrastructure was ineffective. Another Confederate monument has been uprooted in the South, amid the USs heightened focus on racial and social injustice. In the city of Anniston, Alabama, a 115-year-old monument of Confederate artillery officer John Pelham, who died in the Civil War, was quietly removed just after midnight on Monday. The memorial, which was erected in 1905, referred to Pelham as "gallant" in an inscription on its base. The statue will be relocated to the Confederate history park Janney Furnace in Ohatchee, Alabama. City spokesman Jackson Hodges told the Associated Press the monument was taken down late at night to avoid traffic problems. He clarified, "It wasn't to pull a fast one on the community." Last month, city leaders voted 4-1 for the Pelham monument's removal, concluding that it was "inextricably intertwined with the South's historical support for slavery and racial segregation." The council's decision reportedly drew little public opposition in Anniston, a city of about 52 per cent Black residents. In 2017, the Alabama Legislature passed a law prohibiting cities from removing monuments that are more than 40 years old. In its vote to remove the Pelham monument, Anniston's city council agreed to pay the $25,000 fine for violating that law. Since June when George Floyd's death spurred nationwide protests against policy brutality dozens of Confederate monuments in the South have been vandalised or removed, as Americans debate whether such statues honour Southern heritage or symbolise slavery and racism. CONCORD, N.H. - A New Hampshire man will face more time in prison, a judge decided Tuesday in a case resulting from a monthslong armed standoff with U.S. marshals in 2007 over a tax evasion conviction that led to the discovery of explosives and booby traps on his property. A judge resentenced Edward Brown to 25 years in prison on charges resulting from the standoff. Brown has already served 13 years, five for the tax conviction, followed by eight from the standoff, resulting in about 17 additional years in prison. Its a death sentence, is what it is, Brown, 78, said to a friend as he was led away in handcuffs. His lawyer filed a notice of appeal. Brown was originally sentenced to 37 years in prison after the standoff at his fortress-like home in Plainfield, New Hampshire. His wife, Elaine Brown, received a 35-year sentence. A judge decided in January she could be released after serving over 12 years. She is seeking a divorce. One charge against the Browns that involved the use of explosives carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years. It was vacated following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that found the provision of the law under which they were convicted was invalid. Edward Brown had said resentencing him would be unconstitutional, violating the Fifth Amendment due process clause and the double jeopardy prohibition against multiple punishments for an offence. He also cited his minimal history of criminal behaviour, declining health, age and risk factors for complications from COVID-19, along with the fact that Elaine Brown and two other defendants were sentenced to time served. U.S. District Judge George Singal rejected those arguments. He said he believed after talking to Elaine Brown and the others that they had expressed remorse and had learned something during the time they were in prison. They learned that what they had done was wrong; they learned that what they had done was a mistake, Singal said. I dont see that in Mr. Brown. Browns lawyer, Benjamin Falkner, said Brown has long held beliefs challenging the government. The question isnt what his beliefs are; the question is, what are his acts? Falkner said, noting that Brown has been co-operative in prison, appeared in court and recognized that he would be under supervised release if allowed to leave prison. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Aframe said that he didnt think anything about Brown had changed and that he remained a public safety risk. It wasnt strength or muscle that led to this, he said, It was charisma, it was a set of beliefs and the ability to prepare weapons. Brown himself spoke for over an hour, talking about how he couldnt get a fair trial on the tax charge and had walked out of court. He also said that he would never hurt anyone, even though Singal noted 20 pipe bombs were found in Browns bedroom and explosive devices with nails taped around them were found in the home and hanging from trees. Tear gas canisters, ammunition and firearms also were found on the property. Brown said the devices didnt work. He also said he no longer has any need for guns. He said that friends were holding 33 guns that belonged to him and that he wants to sell them. Elaine, a dentist, and Edward, an exterminator, were initially convicted of failing to pay taxes on $1.9 million of income over eight years. The couple said the federal income tax is unconstitutional. Their argument, repeatedly rejected by courts, was that no law authorizes the federal income tax and that the 1913 constitutional amendment permitting it was never properly ratified. The Browns had declined to appear in court and retreated to their home. Anti-tax crusaders and out-of-state militia groups rallied to their cause. Supporters waved Dont tread on me flags and Dont Murder the Browns for Money signs. Among the visitors was Randy Weaver, whose wife and son were killed along with a deputy marshal during the infamous Ruby Ridge shootout with federal agents in North Idaho in 1992. U.S. marshals posing as supporters eventually gained entry to the Browns home and arrested them. No one was hurt. Exactly six decades after the first ever presidential TV debate, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are ready to face off from behind two podiums at a safe social distance, of course. Mr Biden has been holed up in Delaware as he prepares intensively to face the president, with former Hillary Clinton staffer Philippe Reines stepping into an oversized suit to stand in for the looming incumbent. Mr Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly been preparing by glancing at videos and flash cards on Air Force One as he buzzes between freewheeling campaign rallies. But whether the event much matters will ultimately rest on what the two men are asked. Here, the Independents writers and editors lay out their own questions. Ben Chu, Economics Editor The exposure of Mr Trumps astonishing tax returns fits perfectly with a grim American reality: income inequality in the US has exploded over the past half century. In 1980, the richest 1 per cent of Americans were taking home 10 dollars of every 100 dollars earned in the economy, and owned a fifth of the countrys wealth; today, those at the top are enjoying double that 20 dollars out of every 100 dollars earned and today, their share of the wealth has swollen to more than a third. This surge in inequality has occurred under presidents of both major parties. Some argue that it flows inevitably from unavoidable economic forces which favour people with higher skills, such as technology, or the globalisation of the economy. But other rich and prosperous countries which are also subject to these forces have done a much better job of keeping inequality down. So why has the US diverged? For a start, as Mr Trumps now-unearthed tax returns show, other countries have taxed the rich more and redistributed income to the less well off. America takes the lowest share of national income in taxation of all the countries in the G7 just 24 per cent. That compares with 33 per cent in Canada, which is the next lowest. And whereas many developing countries are taking more in taxation to fund health spending for their ageing populations, the American government has been going the opposite way, granting ever more tax cuts to its richest people. So, to the candidates: what will you do to address spiralling domestic inequality? Will tax and redistribution play a role, as they do in every other rich country and if not, how will it be done? Robert Fisk, Middle East Correspondent Since the Middle East regularly damages the US presidency (see Carter, Reagan, Bush junior), its the one wound in the world that needs Americas constant attention but since Mr Trump regards the region as a playground for Israels power and security and the Palestinians as unworthy of compassion, post-election America is going to have problems with it whoever wins. Either Mr Trump continues to plaster his peace of the century over the Arabs and continues to join Sunni leaders in their conflict with the Shiites of the Middle East, or Joe Biden has to rewrite the history of the past four years and pretend they never happened. Which he cannot do. The US embassy will stay in Jerusalem, Gaza will remain under siege, and worse still Mr Biden would almost certainly turn to the same group of weary, generally pro-Israeli peace experts who consistently failed his predecessors. Re-embracing the Iranian nuclear deal will be humiliating enough for any US president, and Mr Biden would need the EU to help him. Rekindling the broken Oslo agreement with Arafats pitiful successor is going to need the help of others. The EU again. And most important of all and here we come to the awful equation which Biden will have to recognise hes going to need the help of Russia. To re-imagine any kind of Palestinian state needs Putins support. To resume any kind of trust with Iran needs Putins help. To end the Syrian war needs Putins cooperation. If Biden can face all this in his first months, then he has to invite Putin to Washington or fly the presidential jet to Moscow. But should the present crackpot remain in the White House legally, at least Mr Trump doesnt have to do very much at all. Support Israel right or wrong, cow-tow to the wealthiest Gulf Arabs, betray old allies like the Kurds and ignore the colonisation of Arab land, overlooking the permanent breach of international law which this constitutes. And if Trump has any problems with that, he can always call the UK prime minister for advice. To Mr Biden, then: How can he hope to control Israel when, for the entire Trump presidency, it has largely written, organised and produced the USs Middle East policy if Mr Trump ever had one? Eric Lewis, Independent Voices The rule of law has been under siege for four years now, with Mr Trump working mighty hard to turn our justice system into yet another cynical clown show. The federal courts have been packed with highly ideological and marginally qualified judges, culminating in the hypocritical minute-to-midnight nomination to fill the seat of the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while the Attorney General declares himself only the hand of the President, in whom all prosecutorial discretion supposedly resides. Thus, the rule of law has become another theater of hyper-partisan politics, a system where you help your friends and hurt your enemies. There is something quite mundane, even conservative, about fealty to the rule of law. It can lead to results that we may not like. It can be slow and technical. The law is often a lagging indicator of social change. But without a reliable infrastructure to uphold neutral justice, the legal system becomes not just irrelevant but a tool of coercion and oppression. As one great lawyer, Barack Obama, said in tribute to another, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A basic principle of the law and of everyday fairness is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on whats convenient or advantageous in the moment." Now more than ever, a commitment to be bound by enduring principles rather than tribal passions may determine our survival as a nation. I would therefore ask each candidate: Are you committed to restoring the independence of the judiciary and the Department of Justice and their insulation from political pressure by the executive? Michael Arceneaux, Independent Voices Breonna Taylors killers were let off the hook precisely 65 years since Emmett Tills killers were acquitted. So it should be obvious that todays most pressing question regarding racial justice in America is still the most fundamental: do Black Lives Matter? Mr Trumps answer has been clear even before he became president. See his policies on renting to Black people and the Central Park Five. The only candidate who will even entertain the question with any real seriousness is Joe Biden. But even if he has my vote, surely even his most ardent supporters can understand how depressing it is for some of us to only have the author of the 1994 Crime Bill to look to in hopes of righting the wrongs of Americas longstanding two-tier justice system. But alas, we must deal with today and save our worries for tomorrow. Still, with a belligerent bigot as president further stoking racial flames and a justice system stuck in the status quo, Biden cant simply say that Black Lives Matter. He must articulate a vision and a path to prove it. So to Joe Biden, I ask: What three things are you going to do in the first 6 months of your presidency to prove you're serious about proving Black life matters in America? Andrew Naughtie, Inside Washington Editor If Americas twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic calamity have really become chronic crises demanding sustained attention, theres also an acute crisis brewing: Mr Trumps refusal to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power, and his increasing insistence that the election (which he is currently likely, though far from certain, to lose) will be stolen from him. Many Americans are rightly terrified at the prospect of a defeated president fighting dirty to stay in power and tacitly or otherwise encouraging armed and violent factions to defend his presidency. But many others will have written off the possibility as a fantasy, the feverish nightmare of a hyperactive political pundit class who thrive on drama. The president, however, is making it clearer by the day that he has no intention of going quietly. And yet, he is not widely expected to win and given Mr Bidens solid national lead, there remains a possibility that Mr Trump loses so badly on election night that the mail-in ballots he disdains will only add to his defeat. It needs to be made clear as quickly as possible what the president might actually do whether he really is so committed to winning that he simply cannot conceive of any way he could legitimately lose, and what he might do if he is in fact roundly defeated on the night. So the question to the president: are there any circumstances at all in which you would fully and unambiguously accept that you have lost? And to Mr Biden: If Mr Trump loses but refuses to leave the White House and claims you are launching a coup against him, what will you do about it? Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 18:52:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pan-African housing development financier, Shelter Afrique said Tuesday it has signed an agreement with two Chinese construction firms to scale up the development of large-scale affordable housing projects in Kenya and across Africa. The company said the MoU which it signed with the two Chinese firms, Amberton International Holdings and Sichuan Huashi Enterprises Corporation East Africa Limited is expected to boost its mandate of providing decent and affordable housing in Africa. Andrew Chimphondah, CEO of Shelter Afrique said his company will work closely with Amberton International Holdings as a co-developer for specific large-scale, low-cost housing projects in Africa, which will be constructed by Sichuan Huashi Enterprises Corporation East Africa Limited. "This strategic partnership with Amberton and Huashi will be key in expanding our projects across the continent as we draw from the experiences of the two companies," Chimphondah said in a statement issued in Nairobi. Experts say the property market in East Africa is responding to demand that has been created by an expanding middle class who has the disposable income and ability to service their mortgages. However, affordable housing for a majority of Africa's population remains a challenge. The housing shortage is a major social challenge especially in the major urban centers in Africa, blamed on the high costs of land, building materials, and lack of innovative financing methods. The rising demand for housing in Nairobi and other major cities has exerted pressure on neighboring towns where housing supply is hindered by the unavailability of serviced land. Chimphondah who inked the deal with Amberton International Holdings director Nancy Yu, and Sichuan Huashi Enterprises Corporation East Africa Limited MD Cao Zheng, said the partnership with the two Chinese firms will deepen Shelter Afrique's impact on Africa's affordable housing value chain in terms of supply. He said the company is in the process of securing a few projects in Kenya with the military, the Kenya Police and the Civil Service which is set to kick off this year. "These take-off projects will be aligned with Kenya government affordable housing plan under the Big 4 Agenda, which seeks to develop 500,000 housing units by 2022," Chimphondah said. The official said the majority of African countries were already facing a housing crisis with the overall housing shortage estimated at 56 million housing units across the continent. Out of this, Chimphondah said, more than 90 percent are in the affordable housing bracket. Enditem (Newser) A Texas sheriff who starred in Live PD was arrested Monday and charged with evidence tampering in the death of Javier Ambler, a Black man who died in police custody last year. Police use of force against the 40-year-old was captured on footage for Live PD, but that footage was ultimately destroyed. The controversy led to A&E canceling the reality series this year (a move that cost it half its viewers). Authorities say Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody destroyed or concealed audio and video footage showing what prosecutors say was likely the clearest view of Ambler's final moments. He was killed after a 22-minute car chase that started when he failed to dim his headlights for oncoming traffic; he was restrained and tased multiple times, despite telling officers he had a heart condition and couldn't breathe. story continues below Former Williamson County general counsel Jason Nassour was also indicted on a felony evidence tampering charge over the same incident. In what NBC News calls a "defiant" appearance after being released on bond, Chody said, per the Texas Tribune, "The Travis County District Attorney dropped the ball on the investigation, and when the video surfaced during her campaign, she had to find someone to blame for her own mistakes." But, while his lawyer says there is "not a single shred of evidence" Chody had anything to do with the destruction of the Live PD footage, the Williamson County DA says that during a months-long joint investigation alongside neighboring DA's offices and the Austin PD, 19 witnesses were brought before the grand jury. An internal investigation previously cleared the deputies involved in Ambler's death, but the Austin PD and county prosecutors continue to investigate. (Chody's office is also in the hot seat regarding gift cards for officers who used force.) A northern Manitoba Indigenous communitys worst fears have come true, after an entire family has tested positive for COVID-19 with as many as 100 others having come into contact with them before they knew they were infected. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A northern Manitoba Indigenous communitys worst fears have come true, after an entire family has tested positive for COVID-19 with as many as 100 others having come into contact with them before they knew they were infected. Seven family members at York Factory First Nation have been confirmed as testing positive for the novel coronavirus. The results came back Sunday, putting the community in lockdown, with only essential services being allowed and residents being told to stay inside their homes. Operators of the local ferry have been ordered not to bring people in and out of the community, located some 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The local Northern Store is only allowing one person at a time into the store, while taking orders and delivering goods to those who are housebound. Nearby Tataskweyak Cree Nation has also issued a lockdown, after a community member tested positive for COVID-19 last week. "Everybody is scared," a York Factory community member who didn't want to be identified said Monday. "There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of anxiety." A 36-year-old woman who had to go to Winnipeg to receive medical treatment returned to her home community via Perimeter Aviation on Sept. 18. She was home for five days before she was notified Sept. 23 she had been in contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Winnipeg. By then, the woman's family her husband, a 13-month-old child, a three-year-old, and three children under the age of 14 had been around the community, including attending school. They were tested Sept. 24, and positive results came back Sunday. "We started contact tracing a few days ago, and we have 100 contacts," the community member said. "The kids were in school. She flew Perimeter. "And we only have 40 tests here and there are 480 in the community. And there are only two nurses." On Sept. 24, Chief Leroy Constant ordered the shutdown of the community, except for essential services. When contacted Monday, Constant said he had no comment, pointing to a statement he released on Facebook. "That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do was deliver that message to our community," Constant said in the statement. "We will continue to do our best, day to day, as we are faced with this pandemic... It is not the family's fault that their mother had to seek medical attention in the Winnipeg health region. It is not their fault they came into contact with a positive case. It's not our fault we don't have adequate health care in the North. "Our people are forced to seek this urgent medical help. It's a matter of life and death." Constant also urged community members to remain strong. "Remember, we are all in this together. We all have a part to play... Just listen to the guidelines that we are put in place and we will be just fine." Tataskweyak Chief Doreen Spence said Monday she also would not be commenting at this time. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said he has "the utmost confidence in our leaders that they will continue to work diligently with public health to handle these cases and work to contain the spread of the virus." Settee said he is proud of every chief and community in the North for their work the last few months. "It's impossible to prevent COVID-19 from entering First Nations, but it is a miracle we have been able to keep it out of here for this long," he said. "But the system is designed to fail because of the way the system is set up. This pandemic has revealed a lot of things." Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Settee said MKO and the communities will be pressing for the construction of a northern health-care centre, so community members don't have to fly to Winnipeg for numerous medical procedures. "We've been trying for years to get services in the North. There's no reason for people to have to go to Winnipeg. We're living in 2020, but we're decades behind," he said. NDP MP Niki Ashton (ChurchillKeewatinook Aski) said she knows York Factory has asked for 300 COVID test kits, more nurses, and mental health support services. "The federal government has been on notice that First Nations have the potential to be hit harder than other communities and that's now," Ashton said. "This is not an isolated experience this has always been the concern that it will come to the community by someone who has been to medical treatment. "The federal government has known for a long time how easily COVID would spread in a small community. And there's nowhere to self isolate in these communities... Right now, this is go-time. Put these plans into action." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The state of Ohio ordered General Motors to repay $28 million in tax credits after closing the Lordstown plant, which was in agreement to be operated until 2040. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority said the closure violated the terms of two economic development agreements signed by the company. It was ordered to pay back around half of more than $60 million tax benefits it received, and also to provide an additional $12 million in community support programs in the Mahoning Valley, where the plant was located. The funds will be used for education and job training at Youngstown State University and other colleges, community programs and infrastructure projects. The automaker last year closed the plant, which produced the compact Chevrolet Cruze, citing collapsing market for small cars, and failed to retain 3,700 jobs as per agreement. GM sold the plant to start-up Lordstown Motors, which plans to build EV pickup trucks starting in 2021. Lordstown Motors is being acquired by DiamondPeak Holding Corp. GM is investing $75 million in the company, which includes the sale of the former Lordstown Assembly plant and production equipment. Meanwhile, in Lordstown, GM has already started construction of a $2.3 billion battery cell plant in a joint venture with LG Chem through the Ultium Cells LLC JV. The JV has received a 1.95%, 15-year Job Creation Tax Credit from the state, and is expected to create 1,100 new jobs. In separate development, GM announced it is investing $71 million in two other Ohio manufacturing facilities in Toledo and Defiance. These investments will enable GM to retain 240 good-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs. The company said it continues to strengthen its significant manufacturing presence in Ohio with these investments. Since 2009, GM has invested more than $3.3 billion in Ohio, and currently has more than 3,800 employees in the state. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The MEK formed as a militant group in opposition to Irans monarchy but was forced into exile after the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah. The State Department designated the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, citing its involvement in the killing of Americans in Iran during the 1970s. The department, which also cited a 1992 incident in which five men with knives invaded the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York, said the NCRI functioned as part of the MEK and supported the MEKs acts of terrorism. HUDSON Fewer people will be required to quarantine in at least some Cedar Valley schools after state officials eased guidelines Tuesday. Iowa Department of Health guidelines no longer recommend a person quarantine when they came in contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 if both people were wearing face masks. Previously, the state recommended any person who came in close contact with someone who tested positive should quarantine for two weeks. We sent out a notice today that were changing that based on updated guidance, said Tony Voss, Hudson Community Schools superintendent. In some respects, he said, the change is a relief for school administrators. We were walking around with tape measures to see if kids were six feet apart and looking at surveillance video, Voss explained. If everybody is masked and wearing them properly to cover both their nose and mouth he said this new rule helps remove some of the subjectivity in quarantine requirements. Dike-New Hartford Community Schools issued a press release outlining its changes based on the new guidance. Jesup Community Schools also cited the state recommendation while outlining changes to their policies effective Wednesday in a letter posted online. Tara Thomas, a spokesperson for Waterloo Community Schools, said the district isnt pivoting quite that quickly. We are reviewing our Return to Learn plan as a result, she said, but no decision has been made. Thomas shared a statement sent to Waterloo Schools staff Tuesday. Our District Leadership Team is meeting to make decisions about next steps and how to transition accordingly based on the new guidance, the statement said. We will continue working with Black Hawk County Health Department officials to ensure any changes to our Return to Learn plan align with recommendations. Dike-New Hartfords change closely follows the state recommendation. The quarantine period will no longer be necessary for those in close contact with a positive case if both people were wearing masks when the exposure occurred. The change is effective immediately. There are a number of exceptions, the release notes, as those exposed in a household or healthcare setting will still need to quarantine for 14 days. A face shield is also not considered a mask, and quarantine will be required if one of the individuals was wearing a face shield at the time of exposure. In addition, people who are sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 must still isolate from others until they have had no fever for at least 24 hours and their other symptoms have improved, the release continues. At least 10 days must have passed since their symptoms first appeared or, if they are asymptomatic, since they had a positive COVID-19 test. Dike-New Hartford students or staff currently in quarantine should contact Shannon Peverill at shannon.peverill@dnhcsd.org to discuss a potential return to the classroom. Cases will be reviewed on an independent basis. Superintendent Justin Stockdale emphasized the new protocol and the wearing of masks is not a replacement for social distancing. We urge our students, staff and families to continue taking the steps necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, he said in the release. In the Jesup letter, Superintendent Nathan Marting called the change a significant finding. He noted it will help us tremendously in allowing as many students and staff as possible to remain in school and at work for in-person teaching and learning. We have had a number of individuals quarantine this school year so far, not because of a positive COVID diagnosis, but rather due to the close contact rule of within 6 feet for 15 or more consecutive minutes. Starting last week, 25 people in a preschool/transitional kindergarten class went into quarantine after one person tested positive for COVID-19. As a result of the change, he wrote that starting Wednesday we are asking that all students and staff districtwide begin wearing masks. Face shields alone will no longer be allowed. Voss, the Hudson superintendent, noted it will remain to be seen what the impact of the change is. Based on numbers weve seen at our school, it would seem to suggest that masks are effective at mitigation, he said. Photos from Dike-New Hartford-Denver volleyball match Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. They remain our most important ally in the Middle East as the only true democratic republic in the region. From the early days of this republic until now, the U.S. has worked steadfastly to help Israel defend itself while remaining committed to the ultimate goal of peace in the region. We have not lost sight of this goal, even as COVID-19 has impacted day-to-day life in both our nations. President Trump has made ensuring a secure Israel in a peaceful Middle East a hallmark goal of his foreign policy. In the last two months alone, this has manifested through two Arab states the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain - recognizing the state of Israel and establishing normalized relations. These agreements, known as the Abraham Accords, are the first new recognition of Israel by Arab states since 1994 and allow for the development of a military and trade relationship. This is a major step forward to normalizing relations across the Middle East and bringing stability to one of the most volatile regions worldwide. I hope more nations will follow suit. To compliment this agreement, I have cosponsored H.Res. 1110 which supports the normalization agreements, and calls on other Arab and Muslim states to support normalization and peace with Israel. By Trend Canada's Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab issued statement in connection with the latest developments around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing Government of Canada. "Canada and the UK are deeply concerned by reports of large scale military action along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Reports of shelling of settlements and civilian casualties are deeply concerning. We call for the immediate end of hostilities, respect for the ceasefire agreement, and the protection of civilians. Any solution to this conflict must disavow violence and involve a peaceful, negotiated resolution through the framework provided by the OSCEs Minsk process. We support the work of the OSCEs Minsk Group and fully support the Co-Chairs' latest statement," said the statement. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. UPPER EAST SIDE, NY Neighbors have grown weary of an expansion project at an elite Upper East Side private school that has entered its sixth year and continues to generate noise and clog up neighborhood streets, they say. The Chapin School has been at work since May 2015 on a $135 million project to enlarge its 100 East End Ave. building. When finished, the all-girls school will have a new gym and cafeteria, added classrooms, and three new stories sitting atop the existing eight-story structure. The completion date, initially slated for 2018, has been extended to January 2021 a result of the coronavirus pandemic and an over-optimistic projection by the initial contractor, Chapin says. In that time, the project has endured a fraught few years in the neighborhood. In 2017, it was named the single noisiest construction site in New York, based on more than 100 complaints filed with the city. The same year, residents complained that the work had brought rat infestations, a loss of parking spots and a daylong water cutoff caused by a drilling accident. Facing unrest, the K-12 school, which charged $51,950 in tuition last year, has made a number of concessions to neighbors. A construction hoist on East 84th Street, pictured in May 2019, has been the source of noise complaints from those living nearby. (Google Maps) A sidewalk shed that blocked a lane of traffic on East End Avenue was rebuilt to open up street space. Trash pickups were increased. And the school cut back on after-hours construction despite holding a 24/7 work permit, after residents said nightly drilling was causing them to lose sleep. We havent fully used all the hours we were permitted, M.J. Quigley, Chapin's associate head of school, told Patch. The school also engages regularly with neighbors, providing online updates and holding community meetings every six weeks. "I can hear the screams all day long" While the projects most disruptive stages are in the past, it continues to draw neighbors ire. Over the summer, work ramped up as the school building sat unoccupied, disturbing residents near the construction hoist on East 84th Street, according to neighbor Lisa Paule, who lives on the street. Story continues Throughout the months of the summer it has been a hugely impactful construction racket that has really been difficult on neighbors, said Paule, who has organized fellow residents and co-founded a group, Serene Green 84, to monitor the project. Scaffolding still covers the full block between 84th and 85th streets, and frequent deliveries from construction trucks have obstructed sections of East End Avenue intended to be blocked to traffic as part of the city's Open Streets program. Frequent deliveries from construction trucks have obstructed sections of East End Avenue intended to be blocked to traffic as part of the Open Streets program, neighbors say. (Courtesy of Ginger Holton) Residents have also complained about an influx of construction workers to the site, some not wearing masks when they walk along nearby sidewalks. Neighbor Patrick Niglio said he is awoken promptly at 7 a.m. each day by crews shouting at the worksite. I can hear the screams all day long, he said. Early this year, Chapin leaders told neighbors that the project would be completed as early as December. Then the pandemic hit, halting construction for weeks in March and April. That stoppage, plus a staggered return to work once construction was allowed to resume, means Chapin now expects the expansion to finish sometime before March 2021 nearly six full years after it began. Students will return for in-person classes Oct. 5 and the hoist will come down later that month, helping reduce noise levels, according to the school. Still, residents remain frustrated by the projects extended length especially given that the finished product will be inaccessible to most neighbors. This is not a public project for public benefit, Paule said. This is a private school for girls. This article originally appeared on the Upper East Side Patch Former Russia special counsel Robert Mueller countered the criticism of a top lieutenant on the investigative team who has claimed that the inquiry into the Kremlin's interference in the 2016 election did not go far enough to hold President Donald Trump accountable. Mueller, in a rare public statement Tuesday, took issue with a book authored by former prosecutor Andrew Weissmann who said the team should have sought to force an interview with Trump and pursue a broader inquiry that included the president's finances. "It is not surprising that members of the Special Counsels Office did not always agree," Mueller said in his first public statements since his congressional testimony last year. "But it is disappointing to hear criticism of our team based on incomplete information." "The offices mission was to follow the facts and to act with integrity. That is what we did, knowing that our work would be scrutinized from all sides," he said. "When important decisions had to be made, I made them. I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation." Former special counsel Robert Mueller testifies on July 24, 2019. In recent interviews, including appearances Tuesday on MSNBC, Weissmann lamented that Mueller's team too often allowed their actions to be influenced by the risk that the president might shut down the investigation as it drew closer to him. How many Trump advisers have been criminally charged? Manafort, Stone and Steve Bannon makes 7 Manafort: Former Trump campaign chairman Manafort was 'a grave counterintelligence threat,' Republican-led Senate panel finds Weissmann said he particularly regretted that the team did not push more aggressively to seek access to the president's tax returns, after the New York Times disclosed Sunday that it had obtained years of Trump's tax documents, showing hundreds of millions of dollars in looming debts. Story continues Asked on MSNBC if the debts represented a national security risk, Weissmann said: "I don't know." The longtime Justice Department prosecutor said that the Russia team "absolutely" should have pursued the line of inquiry. But Mueller singled out deputy, Aaron Zebley, as the person who helped guide his management of the investigation. Mueller said Zebly was "privy to the full scope of the investigation and all that was at issue." "I selected him for that role because I knew from our ten years working together that he is meticulous and principled," Mueller said. "He was an invaluable and trusted counselor to me from start to finish." The disagreement broke into the open Tuesday afternoon just hours before Trump was set to debate Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the first face-to-face encounter of the 2020 campaign. The Russia investigation cast a shadow over much of Trump's presidency, ending with Mueller concluding that there was insufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. He said charging the president with obstruction was "not an option" because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Instead of pursuing an interview with the president, Trump provided written answers to questions posed by the investigative team. Asked later by lawmakers whether Trump provided incomplete or untruthful answers to those questions, Mueller responded: "Generally." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robert Mueller counters insider criticism: 'I stand by decisions' COLONIE Siena College researchers have found "quantifiable levels" of coronavirus in wastewater at the dormitory on the north side of campus. Cases are rising at the Loudonville private college and at least 18 students have tested positive for the virus since mid-August, according to Siena's online COVID-19 tracker, which is updated daily. Two weeks ago, on Sept. 16, the college had only reported three cases. Siena's wastewater testing program, headed up by Kate Meierdiercks, an associate professor and chair of Sienas department of environmental studies and sciences, uses cutting-edge technology to find asymptomatic cases before they present on an individual test. The really useful part is wastewater surveillance data could be used as an early-warning system for colleges that have large populations to monitor, she said. The virus was also detected on the south side of campus, which sometimes has outside visitors, and the dorm Hines Hall, though Hines did not have quantifiable levels, according to the dashboard. The college has also partnered with an outside lab to conduct random nasal swab tests on 2 percent of the campus population each week. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. A spokeswoman for the college did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the numbers on the dashboard. The quantifiable levels of coronavirus were detected at MacClosky Square Townhouses, where an outdoor Kentucky Derby party on Sept. 5 led to roughly 20 students being "temporarily dismissed" from campus housing after school officials caught wind of the event. Students say the party drew a crowd of 80 to 100 revelers. The International Trademark Association (INTA) has lined up two dynamic keynote speakers and a diverse slate of upwards of 100 other presenters from 20 countries for its upcoming 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting, historically the worlds largest trademark event. Daren Tang, incoming Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and Duncan Wardle, Former Vice President of Innovation & Creativity at The Walt Disney Company will each examine how innovation can bring about transformation and meaningful change. Being held virtually for the first time, the Annual Meeting will take place November 1620. During the prior week, November 1113, committee meetings and Leadership Meeting sessions for INTA volunteers are scheduled. More than 2,500 brand owners and intellectual property (IP) professionals from nearly 100 countries have already registered. Were honored to host our keynote speakers, who are both highly respected individuals renowned for championing new ideas. Our community is always looking for ways to innovate and grow, perhaps now more than ever given the need to adapt and stay a step ahead in the fast-moving business environment and changing consumer landscape, said 2020 INTA President Ayala Deutsch. Mr. Tang takes over at WIPO on October 1, after heading the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, where he implemented a wide variety of innovative stakeholder programs and solutions. Mr. Wardles approach to design thinking helps people capture unlikely connections that lead to fresh thinking and disruptive innovation. Additionally, the Meeting will feature capsule keynote addresses by senior leaders in industry and government who will share their thoughts on timely topics. Some of the business presentations are Creating an Awesome Culture and Diversity and Inclusion. Discussing key issues affecting brands in their regions, the government officials are Christian Archambeau, Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, Spain; Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Maria Jose Lamus, Deputy Superintendent for Industrial Property of Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio, Colombia; Rena Lee, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore; and Tim Moss, Chief Executive and Comptroller General of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office. The Meetings educational program is built around 12 thematic tracks to help guide registrants to sessions that meet their specific interests. Tracks include Managing Your Brands in Times of Crisis, Innovation and the Future of Intellectual Property, and Diversity and Inclusion. One track, Developing Issues in China, will be conducted in Mandarin. Among the array of workshops and town halls will be a workshop on advancing womens leadership, and a town hall looking at the IP Practice of the FutureA View from Intellectual Property Offices (IPOs), In-House, and Law Firm Leaders. The timely education programming will be complemented by a multitude of business development and social networking opportunities. They include 171 Table Topics with 2,052 seats and with corporate members moderating 45 of these small group discussions; 150 Speed Networking session with 1,800 seats; 15 Corporate Meet-up sessions with 180 seats; 31 social networking sessions with 10,425 seats; and 3 Hospitality areas with 2,288 seats. At the core of the networking opportunities is INTAconnect, a powerful 24/7 platform that serves as a registrant directory, appointment system, and matchmaking tool. It uses artificial intelligence to help registrants make connections with other registrants around the world, based on their unique profile, interests, and goals. This years industry gathering no doubt will be a very different experience than past meetings because it will be completely virtual, Ms. Deutsch said. But it has given our team the exciting opportunity to be creativeto innovate and expand our offerings to give the INTA community a very rich experience. Registration for the 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting is open until October 30. Special pricing is available for organizations sending larger teams. Learn more: http://www.inta.org/2020annual About the International Trademark Association (INTA) The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a global association of brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property (IP) to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation. Members include nearly 6,500 organizations, representing more than 34,350 individuals (trademark owners, professionals, and academics) from 185 countries, who benefit from the Associations global trademark resources, policy development, education and training, and international network. Founded in 1878, INTA is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Singapore, and Washington, D.C., and representatives in Geneva and New Delhi. For more information, visit inta.org. In the very month of the Teachers Day celebrations, though virtual all over the country, the teachers of Delhi University stand troubled with no choice left but to protest for their rights to payment. It is bizarre that the government acted with sheer ignorance towards the most important sector of the nation. The students of the university have been facing problems due the poor management of the universitys working. The funds that are administered with an intention to provide better facilities to the students have not been worked upon, rather used as extra finances in the bowl. This dent in the management has been depriving students of the best of possibilities and the type of education they deserve and it is extremely sad that the Delhi government aims to take no steps towards better planning for students. The employees, the pillars of the university, are in a helpless state and the government doesnt seem concerned with paying them their salaries on time. In times of coronavirus pandemic and economic instability, the Delhi government has not done much to adhere to the basic needs of university employees. As proud as the government was about its education model, what has it really done to improve the conditions of the university? The education model is a partial one with no stable rights and facilities; can even be called directionless. Students from every section of the society strive hard to pay their fees to study at this prestigious institution, only to realize that the students fund is to be withdrawn to make the payments of the employees. This is irresponsible. The most prominent education institute in the nation is not being managed well by the government. No facilities deserved by the students and the faculty are provided, nor is there a proper systematic working process to take care of the institute. In fact, the many letters written to the government by the teachers association and the DUSU for the provision of the facilities are left ignored and unacknowledged. The subject proficiency is a matter of doubt and no means of systematic education are being delivered rightly to the eligible students. The Delhi government has turned the institute into a mess with no efforts towards student outcomes and no proper aids for their advancement. Less than one third of Delhi government schools offer Science as a stream. In general, Science streams witness a higher percentage of students failing their class 10 and class 12 examinations. It is morally corrupt to deprive children of a subject of their choice just because they belong to comparatively weaker sections of the society. As a result, we see more students dropping out of government schools, but still unable to enroll themselves in private schools because of economic considerations. Where does the government expect these children to study? Or should they just be silent victims of this biased behavior? The AAP had initially made promises to open 20 degree colleges. This promise, however, stood undelivered because solitary affiliated colleges can be opened under the Delhi University which is a central university. Both staff and students suffer due to poor implementation of policies. A press release on September 16 clearly said that the fund which should rightly be used for the welfare of students is being wrongly used for salary payments to the employees. This action snatches from students their right to better facilities. It raised the vital issue of migrant workers, but people involved with the day-to-day working of the Delhi government clearly state that not much was done by it to stop the migration of people from Delhi. The same masses that elected the government to power were made to helplessly walk back home. All that the government needed to do was to get in touch with the factory owners, contractors, service providers, shop owners and manufacturing units and convey to them their responsibility of engaging with the workers to make them stay in Delhi with the delivery of required financial and basic facilities. We once again request the government to be inclusive and sympathetic towards the state and education affairs. The author is president of Delhi University Students Union. Views expressed are personal , , [ ] () - , 17 , - , - , - , , , , - , , , , () , , : UPSC , : Punjab Politics: , '' : , Advertisement Stunning photographs of Britain's coast battle it out for the prestigious prize in a photography competition run by a national maritime charity. The eighth annual Ultimate Sea View competition, run by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, was on the lookout for photographers to submit their favourite images of the ocean. In a recording-breaking year of more than 2,000 entries, the judges awarded the overall prize to Laurence Hartwell for his entry, 'Beam Trawlers Landing To The Fish Market At Night', which shows trawlers with their catches at the fishmarket in Newlyn, Cornwall. Applicants were encouraged to look back through their photo albums to submit images of the UK coastline - as the pandemic had a great impact on travel plans - as well as putting forward images taken more recently. The society, which provides financial support to former seafarers and their dependants, launched a 1million Covid response fund to provide support for working maritime professionals impacting by the pandemic. Chief Executive of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society, Captain Justin Osmond, said: 'We were blown away this year by the sheer number of entries for the competition and the outstanding quality of images on show. 'This year has been a challenging year for many, so it has been fantastic to see everyone come together and celebrate our coastline, our memories of the sea and those working there.' 'Beam Trawlers Landing to the Fish Market at Night' by Laurence Hartwell is the overall winner of the 2020 Ultimate Sea View photography competition taken in Newlyn, Cornwall 'Mylor Harbour' by Ian Butler was the winner in the Ships and Wrecks category of the eighth 2020 Ultimate Sea View photography competition The launch of the Cromer Lifeboat captured by Stephen Duncombe titled 'To the Rescue' was the winner in the Industry category of the 2020 Ultimate Sea View photography contest showing a boat crashing through the waves The highly commended winner of the Coastal Views category was captured by Liam Holley called 'Start Point Lighthouse' shows a remote lighthouse at the end of a cliff on a beautiful coastal setting Highly commended in the People and Recreation category was won by Thomas Salway for 'Findhorn Beach' showing a dog running through the sea in a perfect action shot Highly commended winner in the Industry category shows fishing boats and wind turbines in a dramatic backdrop captured by George Hodgson called 'Bringing In The Catch' Winner of the People and Recreation category was a photograph of this paddle boarder titled 'Into the Mist' was photographed by Katie Vincent The phenomenal photograph titled 'Under The Stars' by David Jenner showing an old boat stranded on the marshes at Hoo Marina near Rochester, Kent, under the Milky Way which won highly commended in the Ships and Wrecks category Lucy Watson has revealed her pet dog Digby passed away over the weekend. The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an emotional tribute to her 'best friend', nearly seven years after she welcomed him into her family. Alongside a collection of images, the vegan restauranteur admitted the pooch's death marked one of the 'worst' days of her life, three weeks after announcing her engagement to her long-term partner James Dunmore. 'I can't fathom life without you': Lucy Watson has revealed her pet dog Digby passed away over the weekend The reality star wrote in a heart-breaking post: '3 weeks ago today was one of the happiest days of my life. 3 days ago was the worst. I lost my best friend. 'I still cant believe this has happened and I honestly cant fathom life without you, Digby. 'Life will bring you so high and then it will drop to a low you never thought possible. I knew this day would come, I used to tear up just thinking about it. 'I wish more than anything that we could have had more time together... But I am so beyond grateful for the time we did get to share and I know I loved you as much as physically possible every single day. 'Thank you for everything you taught me, it was the biggest honour to be loved by you (I know you were picky). Forever in our hearts never to be forgotten.' 'I still cant believe this has happened': The ex-Made In Chelsea star, 30, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an emotional tribute to her 'best friend' (her fiance James Dunmore pictured) Heartbreaking: Alongside a collection of images, the vegan restauranteur admitted the pooch's death marked one of the 'worst' days of her life Lucy bought Digby, who was originally named Kevin, from Harrods' The Pet Kingdom in November 2013. The media personality also expressed her gratitude towards fellow social media users who reached out to her with supportive messages. Jewellery entrepreneur Lucy wrote: 'Thank you to everyone who has messaged me. It breaks my heart to hear how many of you have experienced a similar situation and I'm sorry to all of those that have gone or are going through this unbearable pain.' The passing of Digby has no doubt come as shock to Lucy and her new fiance James, 31, who popped the question during a romantic boat trip in Greece earlier this month. Lucy bought Digby, who was originally named Kevin, from Harrods' The Pet Kingdom in November 2013 Lucy and James have been going strong ever since meeting on the E4 series back in 2015, following her ill-fated flings with Andy Jordan, Jamie Laing, Spencer Matthews and Oliver Proudlock. The loved-up duo left the show just a year after embarking on a relationship and bought their first home in London in August 2017. They spent nearly 12 months renovating their Victorian home, an experience Lucy previously insisted was 'great' for their romance. Background: Lucy bought Digby, who was originally named Kevin, from Harrods' The Pet Kingdom in November 2013 (pictured in 2016) The designer told MailOnline in 2018: 'James is obsessed! He is really into architecture and interiors, and he's so hands on. Actually, I didnt realise how hands on he'd be. 'At first, we clashed a bit. I am so stubborn and so is he. But then you just realise that youre good at that and Im good at that so it's best to work together. It's been great for our relationship.' On how they've managed to maintain a long-lasting romance, the brunette told added: 'You have to choose the person that youre with. 'You can fall into loads of relationships with people you just end up with, but you have to look at whether their personality and goals match up to yours. 'It breaks my heart': The media personality also expressed her gratitude towards fellow social media users who reached out to her with supportive messages 'I think a lot of people just end up falling into things, and it doesnt work out as there wasnt a lot of thought process that went into it.' At the time, Lucy insisted she didn't feel pressured to get married or have kids, explaining: 'I dont know when, but I know James will probably be the person I end up with, unless something drastic happens. 'Im settled now for the foreseeable. Unlike my friends, I dont have any set goals for marriage and kids. They put a lot of pressure on themselves to reach those goals, but I dont. When it feels right for both us, then we will, but well have to see.' Nowadays, the influencer focuses on her accessory brand Creature Jewellery and vegan ventures, while the hunk is signed to Models 1 Management. Construction on a billion-dollar coal mine in central Queensland is set to begin after mining leases were handed over by the Palaszczuk government on Tuesday. The Olive Downs project has been given approval by state and federal governments to clear 5500 hectares of koala and glider habitat, about 343 times the size of Roma Street Parklands. The Queensland government has given final approvals for a new coal mine in central Queensland. Credit:Facebook/Robert Rough Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk granted the leases to private equity group Pembroke Resources, as part of its latest pitch to regional Queensland one month out from the state election. "It is 1000 jobs in regional Queensland," she said. LOUISVILLE, Ky. Two bullets tore through the floor of Stanley Davids apartment the night Breonna Taylor was killed. One punched through the hallway. The other passed right in front of his bedroom door, roughly 5 feet from where he was sleeping. His 7-year-old daughter was awake next to him when the shooting started. Daddy! Daddy! she yelled to alert him to the shooting. He grabbed her and hurried to the living room, where his 75-year-old mother was huddled with the little girl she was babysitting and the girls father, who had just arrived to pick her up. All of them were in Davids apartment No. 8, right above Taylor's. Ballistics report: Analysis doesn't support Kentucky AG's claim that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot cop Man, those gunshots were for almost five minutes, David remembered. It was terrible. Three Louisville Metro Police officers fired roughly 30 gunshots that terrifying night on March 13 when Taylor was killed during an attempted drug search that went awry. Police forced their way in, prompting Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, to fire a shot at what he thought were intruders, he said later. Police say Walker's shot hit LMPD Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh, and when Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove returned fire, they hit the unarmed Taylor six times, killing her in her hallway. The only officer to be charged was Brett Hankison, who allegedly fired blindly from outside Taylor apartment and into another neighbors unit with three people present. He was fired in June and faces three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. But he wasn't charged for firing shots into Taylor's apartment or through her ceiling into David's unit. A photo provided to The Courier Journal shows one of the bullet holes in Stanley David's apartment floor the night Breonna Taylor was killed. Moreover, neither Cosgrove nor Mattingly were indicted, with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron saying they were justified in their use of force because Walker fired first. Attorneys for Taylors family have publicly criticized the investigation and grand jury results as erroneous and unjust. Story continues David, 47, was at work when the grand jurys decision was announced Wednesday. A little more than 24 hours later, after first hearing about the outcome from a Courier Journal reporter, he was stumped to learn the officers who shot into his apartment were not charged. My apartment was hit too, he said. The bullet that came through my floor right in front of my bedroom door, if that bullet went through my bed, maybe I would have been dead too. Im a human being too. Evidence leaks: Video appear to show charged Louisville officer in unit after Breonna Taylor shooting She got killed for nothing A native of Liberia, David moved to Louisville about eight years ago. He said he met Taylor around 2016 when they briefly worked together as caregivers at a group home. About two years after he moved to Springfield Drive, she moved in the apartment below his. They didnt see each other much because of opposite work schedules. But she and her boyfriend would wave and say hello to him when they passed each other in the building. Breonna was nobody like they claim, David said of the swirling rumors of drug activity at her apartment. For as long as I knew her, I didnt see anybody coming there with anything like that. There werent people coming in and out. It was only she and her boyfriend. The night Taylor was killed, David said he first thought someone was breaking into one of the apartments in his building. 'Very troubling' questions for AG: Kentucky's attorney general isn't answering these questions on the Breonna Taylor decision He said none of the five people in his apartment heard police knocking on Taylors door or announcing their presence, which remains a crucial point of contention in the investigation. Cameron said Wednesday one neighbor did hear police knock and announce themselves before the doomed raid, while other neighbors have told Taylors family attorneys they heard no such thing. Once the gunfire stopped, David said the man who came to get his daughter tried to leave but was stopped by police. They couldn't leave until 4 a.m. By 8 a.m., David went outside to go to work. He said a police officer told him he couldnt because there was evidence under his work van. A photo provided to The Courier Journal shows one of the bullet holes left in Stanley David's apartment after Breonna Taylor was killed. A short time later, more police came to his apartment to ask questions: What was his name? His daughters name? His moms name? Where did he work? They checked his apartment and found the bullet hole in the hallway floor but not the one outside his bedroom door that was later discovered by FBI agents, David said. Police initially said someone shot at officers and officers responded. It wasnt until later that same day, after seeing Taylors covered body wheeled out and talking to other neighbors, that David realized she was dead. I dont think thats right, he said of her death and the decision not to charge any of the officers in her killing. Breonna was not doing drugs, and she got killed for nothing. She never had a gun. She did not shoot any shots. Fact checking 8 myths in Taylor case: Was she asleep when police shot her? Is there body-cam footage? My daughter could not go out to play As David faced a barrage of questions from police and federal agents in the weeks and months after Taylors death, he and his family struggled with the aftermath. His daughter, who arrived in the U.S. two months before the shooting, was petrified to leave the apartment. My daughter could not go out to play, he said. When his nephews and niece came to visit, they, too, stayed inside. His mom stopped her daily exercise routine of walking down to the apartment complexs leasing office and back. 'Lawful but awful': US self-defense laws questioned after Breonna Taylors death They eventually decided to move in June. Federal agents were still in Davids apartment investigating the shooting as he and his family packed up their belongings some of the agents even helped, he said. His daughter is 8 now. Shes started playing outside again, riding her bike around the cul-de-sac in their new neighborhood miles away. His mom has resumed her daily walks. David still takes a sleeping aid hasnt been able to get a good nights rest without it since that night. For you to know somebody very well, he said, and then they get killed in cold blood. Follow Jonathan Bullington on Twitter: @jrbullington. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor neighbor: Bullet went in my unit but cop wasn't charged A Chinese student walks on the campus of a school in Temecula, California on March 23, 2016. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) University of Rochester Student Dispute Highlights CCP Influence on American Campuses Chinas ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been infiltrating and exerting influence on western universities through Chinese student organizations for years, and now the University of Rochester is in the spotlight over a recent incident. On the University of Rochester (UR) campus in upstate New York, there is an underground tunnel connecting the north and south campuses. A few days ago, the school put out a notice saying that because of COVID-19, students were prohibited from painting on the walls of the tunnel. The notice triggered dissatisfaction among some students because this was once a freedom wall for Human Rights in China on campus. Some students believe that the motives behind the seemingly legitimate move by the university were suspicious, according to UR student newspaper Campus Timesespecially considering the series of conflicts between students of various ethnicities and students from mainland China at the end of last year. According to the Campus Times report, on Sept. 2, the Dean of Academic Affairs Matthew Burns announced via an email that due to COVID-19 concerns related to inadequate space and ventilation, the walls along the underground tunnel between Eastman Quad and Hoyt that have been used by students to express their political views and personal art will be closed this fall. Campus Events According to a report by Radio Free Asia, in November last year, the Wilson Student Center of the university moved the flags of Taiwan and Hong Kong from the national flag area to the regional flag and marked it separately on the universitys official website as Sub-National Entities, angering students who support freedom in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Chinese regime considers Taiwan as a part of its territory, despite its de-facto nation-state status, while it has denounced pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. As a response, some students painted on the walls of the underground tunnel on the evening of Nov. 21, 2019, the slogans of Glory to Hong Kong, Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times, Go Taiwan, and so on to express their opinions. When the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and Chinese Students Association (CSA) at UR heard the news, they called for a group of mainland Chinese students within one day to write pro-CCP slogans in both Chinese and English on top of the previous messages, such as Long live the great unity of the people of the world, One world, one dream, and I am from Xinjiang, I love China. Messaging by Chinese students on the University of Rochester campus in November 2019. (Provided to The Epoch Times) Messaging by Chinese students on the University of Rochester campus in November 2019. (Provided to The Epoch Times) In addition, last September, students from mainland China interrupted an academic event about Tibet on campus and harassed participants of the event, according to RFA. Since the Chinese Communist Party invaded the Tibet region, it has severely suppressed local customs and Tibetan Buddhist practices. Members of the College Republicans group planned a seminar about human rights in Tibet, called the Tibet Human Rights Conference. Before the event, a student from mainland China distributed fliers calling the event terrorism. After the event, a Korean-American student named Se Hoon Kim and other members invited three Tibetan monks to meet at the campuss Starbucks. At the time, a mainland student holding a slogan saying Tibet is part of China moved his chair to sit right next to the monks, and then chased them outside. Afterward, Kim reported the mainland Chinese student to the university for harassment, Kim told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. The universitys Office of Student Affairs did not respond to a request for comment regarding the above-mentioned events. Chinese Student Organizations Serve CCPs Agenda There is a CSSA at almost every western university for Chinese mainland students. The CSSA is known for its connection to the Chinese communist government. As shown in its LinkedIn profile, the CSSA at UR openly admitted that it is under the management of Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China in New York. (ScreenShot/Provided to The Epoch Times) After the incident last November with the UR tunnel walls, some students initiated a petition on Change.org asking for UR to permanently ban the CSSA. After this appeal, the CSSA retained all other original texts and only deleted the sentence about its relationship with the Chinese consulate. However, this student organization led by the CCP is not so careful on Chinese social media WeChat. In the UR-CSSA WeChat statement a month ago, the organization clearly stated in Chinese: The Chinese Students and Scholars Association of the University of Rochester-UR-CSSA is the only official Chinese student organization covering undergraduates, graduate students, doctoral students and visiting scholars at the University of Rochester. It also serves as a bridge between the Chinese Consulate General in New York and Chinese students. (Screenshot provided to The Epoch Times) The lesser-known CSA also serves the CCPs agenda. After the UR seminar on human rights in Tibet last September, Hao Simeng, then-chairman of the CSA, wrote a letter of complaint about the seminar to the schools All-Campus Judicial Council. It cited the reason for the complaint was that the event had not been academic dialogue as the organizer called it, but was a political event. He asked the school to cancel another Uyghur human rights seminar that was about to be held at that time. A screenshot of the letter from the University of Rochester Chinese Student Association. (Provided to The Epoch Times) David, who participated in the seminar on Tibet, told The Epoch Times that the activities at the time were indeed an academic activity because it gave everyone in the school an opportunity to listen and study, to decide what is right and wrong, and to give the audience the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the speaker at the meeting. He and other students also questioned the role of the CSA. The CSA is open to Chinese students of all backgrounds, such as Singaporean or Korean Chinese. Therefore, CSA should not be connected with the Chinese Communist consulate. They should not be a political organization, David said. But they also seem to be strictly following certain guidelines. This worries me, he added. Hao, the chairman of such a student organization that strictly follows the thinking of the Chinese Communist Party, was expelled from it last year because he accepted an interview with the South China Morning Post, which is considered a foreign media by the CCP. He commented implicitly about his expulsion, Many Chinese are brainwashed by the Chinese government. The CSSA immediately issued a statement on WeChat, clarifying its relationship with the CSA, saying that the two associations have nothing to do with each other, and promised to continue to do its best to help the motherland and Chinese compatriots and contribute to the beautiful development of the motherland. Some Chinese students in American universities either directly accept leadership from the CCP or exercise self-censorship, a New York Times article pointed out in 2017. Pressure on Campus Last September, student dean Matthew Burns had expressed to the organizer of the Tibet Human Rights Conference that he understood the mainland Chinese students concerns about the event. Our Chinese students are fearfulthat their government is watching what they do. And if they attend your program, their degree may be meaningless in their country, he said in an audio recording leaked to The Epoch Times, of a conversation between the College Republicans and school officials that occurred before the event. Burns also mentioned that after the University of Calgary in Canada awarded the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, an honorary degree in 2009, the CCP removed the university from its list of recognized foreign universities. Many Chinese students had to transfer from the university because they were worried they would not be able to find a job in China in the future, although the schools recognition was restored in 2011. The Chinese regime views the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist and forbids Tibetans from venerating him or displaying photos of him. Burns also cited the example of the University of California in San Diego. In 2017, the school invited the Dalai Lama to give a speech at the graduation ceremony. The Chinese Ministry of Education Scholarship Council then canceled a grant program for new Chinese scholars to attend the university. He added that such human rights events may lead to the Chinese government no longer recogniz[ing] the University of Rochester as a degree-granting institution. Thats a real fear, because theyve done it before. Burns did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the Tibetan event. Lin Yijun and Shi Ping contributed to this report. Michael Roth warned the UK not to play games as he said Mr Johnson's legislation that could override his own Withdrawal Agreement had jeopardised trust. Both sides have continued to clash over the UK governments controversial Internal Market Bill, which prompted Brussels to threaten legal action if it was not changed by the end of the month. The ninth round of formal negotiations resumed today, with fisheries and the level playing field among the items on the agenda as time runs out on the transition period. We still have some way to go. It is really high time we reached agreement Europe minister Mr Roth said both sides now must work with urgency to find a sensible solution and warned trust has suffered a lot recently because of the controversial Bill being debated by British MPs. The EU cannot and will not accept this approach. It is casting a dark shadow over the ongoing negotiations, he wrote in Der Spiegel magazine. Advertisement He accused the UK of having acted to recklessly jeopardise border arrangements on the island of Ireland to preserve the hard-won peace process. With readiness to compromise from both sides, with mutual trust and good will, a fair deal is still possible. But it is not helpful to play games, he said. We have made progress towards consensus on many points. On others, however, we still have some way to go. It is really high time we reached agreement. UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic met on Monday after their last acrimonious meeting resulted in a legal threat. Mr Sefcovic said Brussels will not be shy in taking the action after their latest discussions. But Mr Gove, his counterpart on the EU-UK joint committee, said the UK government would not back down on the controversial legislation. He argued the provisions on the Northern Ireland protocol, which the UK agreed to under the Withdrawal Agreement in October, was needed as a safety net for peace if trade talks fail. But talks have so far threatened to reach deadlock and Mr Johnson has indicated he would walk away from negotiations by the time of the next EU summit on October 15th. The transition period in which the UK continues to be in the single market and follow EU law ends on December 31st. Without a deal, the UK will face high trade tariffs. 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat sequel has found a home! The sequel to the popular 2006 comedy, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, will be available to stream on Amazon Prime on Oct. 23, according to Deadline. Baron Cohen will reprise his role as Borat in the follow-up that was made during the coronavirus shutdown, the outlet reports. The original film followed Borat, a popular reporter from Kazakhstan, as he travels to the United States to film a documentary on what makes the country great. While there, Borat offends almost everyone he meets, falls in love with Pamela Anderson and travels across the country in an attempt to make her his wife. The comedy went on to gross over $265 million worldwide, giving Cohen, 48, the platform to create future characters and movies like Bruno, The Dictator and Grimsby. RELATED: Sacha Baron Cohen May Have Already Secretly Filmed Borat 2: Report Baron Cohen won the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a motion picture musical or comedy for his performance in Borat. The film was also nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Cohen reprised the character briefly before the 2016 election to warn Americans about voting for Donald Trump. Borat appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he first taught host Jimmy Kimmel a surprising translation of the late night hosts name, then claimed Trump is one of Cohens more unbelievable" characters. He is clearly a parody of rich, American racist! Cohen as Borat said. Anunt de selectare a participantilor si participantelor la cel de-al doilea curs de instruire din cadrul Programului educational pentru dezvoltarea competentelor lucratorilor de tineret Communications agency Media Mic today announced that it has been selected as the public relations agency of record for Stylam Industries, Asias leading laminate company. Media Mic is a New Age Communication Partner with a focus on innovative ideas, tailor-made communication strategies, consistent brand messaging, and measurable results. Starting from this month, Media Mic will oversee an integrated communications mandate covering brand and corporate communications for Stylam. In addition to handling media relations, content creation, and influencer and experiential marketing, Media Mic will also be responsible for communications strategy, launch campaigns, and industry leadership positioning. Media Mics first major project will see them guide the communications aspect of Stylams recently announced role as Associate Sponsor for the Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Were thrilled to be able to announce our appointment as the public relations agency for Stylam. As Asias largest laminate company, a designated Export House by the Government of India, and the pioneering force behind an enormous array of advancements in the field of laminates, Stylam represents a fantastic addition to our stable of clients, said Ankita Vazirani Sood, Co-Founder, Media Mic. Our appointment comes at an especially critical time, given Stylams role as Associate Sponsor to the Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing edition of the IPL. Were grateful for the trust theyve shown in us, and look forward to doing some fantastic work together in the months to come, further added, Saumya Sharma, Co- Founder, Media Mic. Commenting on the announcement, Nitin Aggarwal, Manager - Brand & Communication of Stylam, said, Were pleased to have Media Mic on board as our PR partner. The commitment, professionalism, and engagement that they brought to all of our interactions immediately convinced us that they were the ideally suited to projecting our own brand values and approach. We have an exciting season ahead of us, and look forward to working closely with Media Mic to position Stylam as Indias favourite laminate brand. Headquartered in New Delhi, where it was founded in 2018, Media Mic has rapidly established a reputation for its work with some of Indias leading startups. Working as a vertical agnostic agency, Media Mic helps clients in fields as diverse as healthcare, luxury, edu-tech, and logistics develop, position, and brand themselves. Their clientele includes venture-backed and funded companies such as Times Internet Portfolio firms Clinikk, ClickPost and Classplus, Y Combinator backed health tech firm Inito, and Swedish crowd-marketing platform Brandie, among others. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29 2020 Yoo Myung-he may have been on the mind of South Korean President Moon Jae-in when he received a telephone call from newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last Thursday. There was no official confirmation from either side as to whether President Moon openly asked the prime minister for support for Yoos nomination for the top post at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Even if Suga agreed to Moons plan, Yoos road to the WTO job remains long and winding as she has to compete with two other women from Nigeria and Kenya and two men from the United Kingdom and Egypt. Support from other countries is much needed, but for Moon at least one of the major hurdles has been cleared. Moons top aides had told him that Japan was reluctant to back South Korea in the race for the WTO director-generals post. But I do believe both Moon and Suga have reached a mutual understanding on this specific case, despite the complex and emotional feud between the two neighbors. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Business intelligence and Analytics eCMS has helped streamline, automate, and simplify the way we collect labor time, process payroll, generate government reports, bill our customers, and manage our job costs, said Becky Jerls, ERP Manager, Sterling Industrial, LLC. Computer Guidance Corporation, the leading developer of cloud-based ERP solutions for the construction industry, announced today that Sterling Industrial, LLC, one of the Midwests largest industrial contractors, was able to automate and streamline its complex and high-volume job costing, union and corporate personnel payroll processing and government reporting with eCMS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software applications. Sterling Industrial is now leveraging advanced systems, resources and processes across its enterprise to improve productivity, efficiency and accuracy. eCMS has helped streamline, automate and simplify the way we collect labor time, process payroll, generate government reports, bill our customers, and manage our job costs, said Becky Jerls, ERP Manager, Sterling Industrial, LLC. A proud member of Traylor Industrial Group LLC, Sterling Industrial serves customers nationwide from its base of operations in Evansville, Indiana, and has been able to: Automate and streamline the processing of more than 1,000 weekly union payroll checks including their joint ventures, across over 40 different unions. Simplify and digitize the collection of labor time for payroll processing. Improve job costing and reporting associated with hundreds of sub-jobs, job codes, and job numbers each on over 2,500 jobs annually. Provide Time and Material Billing reports and invoices with granular details on thousands of jobs. Increase efficiencies with one platform for payroll, accounting, HR, and financial reporting. Reduce expenses associated with duplicate entry and manual processes. Improve customer synergy with more timely communication, billing, and reporting. Deliver critical corporate financial reporting to Traylor Bros., Inc., its ultimate parent company. Sterling Industrial leverages eCMS core accounting, financial management, human resources, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, T&M billing, and business intelligence solutions to support its successful completion of thousands of jobs utilizing specialized techniques in mechanical, boilermaking, millwrighting, piping, steel erection, general and civil construction, fabrication, and electrical services. eCMS has been known for its scalable, flexible and reliable project costing, construction accounting, and payroll functionality, said Michael Bihlmeier, President, Computer Guidance Corporation. Our innovative approach to data mining, reporting, content management, and workflow, coupled with our ability to help customers meet unique and complex requirements, creates a powerful CGC toolset that maximizes mutual success. About Computer Guidance Corporation With over 20% of their clients represented on top ENR lists, Computer Guidance Corporation delivers the leading construction enterprise resource planning solution including financial and project management, #1 business intelligence, mobile, and enterprise content management. Scalable, customizable, and cloud-hosted, CGC serves thousands throughout North America. Computer Guidance Corporation is part of the JDM Technology Group, a global construction-specific software conglomerate that serves more than 100,000 users in 40 countries and 6 continents. The Vice-Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang will later today, resume her campaign tour of the Central Region. The Running Mate began the Central regional tour on Monday the 21st of September 2020. She however suspended her campaign tour on the 22nd of September 2020 after the flagbearer of the Party John Dramani Mahama did same. This followed confirmed incidences of widespread errors, registration number duplications, including that of Prof. Opoku-Agyemang and the outright omission of names of other legitimately registered voters during the voters' register exhibition process undertaken by the Electoral Commission. As she resumes the campaign tour, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang will interactively engage with a cross-section of key constituents to listen to concerns of people and explain the NDCs manifesto plans for the advancement of the region. She visits the Central Region after successful tours of eight other regions. The Running Mates team includes Hon. Alex Segbefia - Former Health Minister and Deputy Campaign Manager for Election 2020, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa - Former Deputy Education Minister, Mrs. Maame Efua Houadjeto - Deputy Womens Organizer, Ms. Emelia Arthur - A former Deputy Western Regional Minister, Hon Abu Kasangbata - A Former Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Hon. Musah Abdulai, Former MCE for Bawku and Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh, A Former CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and now Spokesperson and Head of Communications for the Running Mate of the NDC. In a major development ahead of the Bihar Assembly election 2020, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday announced that the BSP will fight the elections in Bihar in alliance with Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and other parties. Addressing a press conference, the BSP chief also rooted for Upendra Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate. Mayawati said, "We have decided to fight elections in Bihar in alliance with Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party & other parties. Upendra Kushwaha will be the CM if this alliance gets the blessing of people of Bihar in the polls." Live TV She added, "This new alliance aims to free people of Bihar from the problems of unemployment, poverty and floods. I appeal to the people of Bihar to give a chance to this alliance. The poor, downtrodden, farmers and youths of the state have been ignored by previous governments." "For the last few years, the party has been contesting and winning the elections based on the coalition. After the suggestion of the Bihar unit, we have also decided that in Bihar we will contest the elections by an alliance," said Mayawati. Speaking on the by-elections for Lok Sabha and assembly seats in some states, she said that the BSP will contest all the assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on its own. "Election Commission today announced by-elections for Lok Sabha & Assembly seats in some states. BSP will contest all the Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh on its own. The party will not forge any alliance for these bypolls," said the Bahujan Samaj Party chief. On September 28, Pappu Yadav-led Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) decided to forge a poll alliance with three other political outfits including Chandrasekhar Azad's Azad Samaj Party, to fight the Bihar Assembly election. The new coalition named Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) also includes the Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) of MK Faizi to fight against the NDA and other fronts in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. Addressing media in Patna, the national president of the Jan Adhikar Party, Pappu Yadav, had said that Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP, the LJP, and Congress have been invited to join this alliance in the larger interest of the state. Slamming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of not doing enough to fight the coronavirus pandemic, he said the alliance has been formed put an end to 30-year misrule. He also blamed Nitish Kumar for failing utterly to extend assistance to helpless Bihari residents in Gujarat and Delhi during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. When asked if his effort to form an alliance is aimed at emerging a kingmaker after the polls, Yadav said he just wants to serve Bihar. Chandrashekhar Azad said, "We will always be available at places where a fight for justice is going on." Last week, Asaduddin Owaisi had also forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Janata Dal (SJD) and announced to field the alliance candidates on seats in Seemanchal and other parts of Bihar. The Election Commission had earlier announced that Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases: October 28, and November 3 and 7, while the counting of votes will take place on November 10. In the 2015 Assembly polls, JDU, RJD, and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner, while the BJP-led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies. RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the elections, followed by JDU (71), and BJP (53). The BJP, however, got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent), followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JDU (16.83 per cent). After the polls, a rift emerged between JDU and the RJD in 2017, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar snapped ties with RJD and rejoined the BJP-led NDA to retain power in Bihar. Drug dealers have been hit by coronavirus after lockdown disrupted their supply chains with three in ten users claiming prices have increased, according to a survey. The Global Drug Survey (GDS) found access to illegal drugs decreased in Britain between March and June in a poll of 1,173 people. The study reported 29 per cent of Britons said drugs were more expensive, while 10 per cent said it took longer to acquire them and 19 per cent bought larger amounts. Dozens of people being searched by police after a raid on an Amsterdam-style cannabis cafe where drugs were sold for as little as 3 in Limehouse, east London, in August last year It also found cannabis was one of the most difficult drugs to obtain, with 49 per cent of users reporting a reduced use due to the limited supply. GDS' chief executive, Professor Adam R Winstock, told The Times: 'For drugs like MDMA and cocaine, there would have been a period of time where there was a reduced supply. 'There would have been less international drug trade and less drugs coming into the UK.' He added: 'I can imagine that availability was also affected just because people would not necessarily have been able to go out and get their drugs.' Despite the disruption to supply chains, drug offences in England and Wales still soared by 27 per cent during lockdown. Data previously showed that thousands more crimes linked to banned substances were recorded by police between March 23 and May 25 than in the same nine-week period last year. Cannabis worth up to 20,000 found by officers during a raid in east London last year. The study found 49 per cent of cannabis users reported a reduced use due to the limited supply Met Police said that drug dealers adapted to the lockdown and started home deliveries, but this made them more visible and vulnerable to arrest. In total, 26 forces that responded recorded a total of 25,665 drugs offences, including trafficking and possession, between March 23 and May 25 this year, compared with 20,220 in the same period in 2019. There was also a rise of 11 per cent compared with the number of recorded offences between January 20 and March 23 this year. There were 23,113 drug crimes recorded between January 20 and March 23 this year. The latest total national figures for all crime reported by the National Police Chiefs' Council showed a 25 per cent drop in England and Wales in the four-week period to May 10. Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse University is one of the worst colleges for free speech, according to a survey of students at 55 of the nations largest campuses. SU ranks 51st in the 2020 College Free Speech Rankings released today which evaluate campus environments for free and open discussion of controversial issues. The University of Chicago got the best ranking, No. 1. Columbia University and Cornell University, the only other New York schools on the list, ranked 21st and 40th respectively. Of 230 SU students surveyed, 61% said there have been times when they felt they could not express an opinion on a subject because of how other students, a professor or the administration would respond. This reluctance to speak freely is even more pronounced among SU students who consider themselves conservatives, according to the report. Eighty-three percent of conservative SU students said they have self-censored. The rankings and survey were published by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education FIRE for short. FIRE has named SU one of the nations worst colleges for free speech four times since 2011. The group recently asked SU to reinstate a professor who was put on leave last month for referring to the coronavirus as the Wuhan flu or Chinese Communist Party Virus. I have had many classes where a dissenting opinion is mentioned and either the professor just states (it is) wrong and ends all discussion there or makes (the student) feel stupid or like a bad person, said one SU student who was surveyed. Critical thinking is rarely taught and dissenting points of view are rarely engaged with on this campus. In a statement, SU said it recognizes that a respectful and rigorous learning environment must allow for a diverse array of ideas, even those that may be viewed by a majority as provocative, or potentially incendiary. SU said it demonstrated its commitment to free speech by revising campus speech policies in 2017. SU said it has to balance free expression with its obligations under state and federal law to maintain an environment devoid of discrimination or harassment aimed at certain protected groups. Nicholas Perrino, a vice president of FIRE, said the survey results should serve as a wake-up call for college administrators. Students might remain silent in the classroom or on the quad, but their survey responses are loud and clear, he said. More than 90% of University of Chicago students surveyed said that the schools administration would be more likely to defend a speakers rights than punish the speaker during a free-speech controversy. At SU, by comparison, 50% of students said administration would be likely to defend a speakers free-speech rights. While colleges are designed to be places for open discussion of controversial issues, that type of exchange isnt happening on many campuses, according to the report. Race and race relations are especially difficult topics to talk about on college campuses, the report says. Forty-three percent of students surveyed at all 55 schools identified race as a challenging topic to discuss openly. Among Black students, that percentage was 66%. Best colleges for free speech 1. University of Chicago 2. Kansas State University 3. Texas A&M University 4. University of California, Los Angeles 5. Arizona State University Worst colleges for free speech 51. Syracuse University 52. Dartmouth College 53. Louisiana State University 54. University of Texas 55. DePauw University James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com The Executive Office will meet representatives of Northern Ireland's two universities today to discuss their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes after a number of students in Queen's University halls of residence in Belfast have been told to self-isolate after testing positive for the virus. Speaking in the Assembly yesterday, First Minister Arlene Foster said the Executive Office planned to hold meetings with representatives from Queen's and Ulster University today. The DUP leader said she was aware of a number of Queen's students self-isolating and sent them her "best wishes". "There are many scare stories about our universities and our young people but I believe in our young people. I believe on the whole they want to do what is right and I'd appeal to them to abide by the public health guidance and the restrictions that are there." A spokesperson for Queen's confirmed yesterday that a "small number" of students had tested positive. "Robust protocols are also in place to minimise the risk of the virus spreading," the spokesperson added. It is understood that one accommodation block at the university's Elms Village in south Belfast has been asked to self-isolate. The number of students involved has been estimated in double figures. The spokesperson said: "The university is working closely with the Public Health Agency and in line with their guidance all affected students or those who are considered to be at risk have been informed, asked to self-isolate and are being fully supported to do so. "It is believed that transmission of the virus is taking place in social settings." The First Minister welcomed police intervention in the Holyland area of south Belfast after hundreds of Covid notices were handed out to young people in the area for breaking the coronavirus regulations. Both Queen's and Ulster University have suspended students as a result of their behaviour in the area. Meanwhile, a Stormont minister has indicated she would look favourably on any request from Belfast City Council to bolster laws around multiple occupancy student homes. Communities minister Caral Ni Chuilin said she would not "pass the buck" if asked to toughen up licensing laws on House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). Her comments come amid ongoing concern over house parties in breach of coronavirus regulations in the Holyland student area of Belfast. There has also been long term concern about anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhood and the number of HMOs licensed. Ms Ni Chuilin told MLAs that if Belfast City Council wanted extra powers, it needed to inform her department, noting that she was not aware of any such request being lodged. "If Belfast City Council officials feel that the powers that they have aren't strong enough then they need to feed that back to us," she said. - Bishop Kiuna welcomed his third grandchild on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 29 - The excited Bishop shared the news with his fans on social media barely hours after the delivery of the baby - TUKO.co.ke understands the boy is Kiuna's third grandchild from one of his two daughters PAY ATTENTION: Jubilee Christian Church bishop Allan Kiuna and his wife Reverend Kathy Kiuna have always celebrated the births of their grandchildren publicly on end. The couple on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 29, could not keep calm after one of their two daughters ushered a new soul to the world. READ ALSO: Kenyan businessman John Rock painfully describes how he lost KSh 95 million due to COVID-19 restrictions Bishop Kiuna and his wife were super excited following the delivery. Photo: UGC Source: Instagram READ ALSO: Diana Marua raises eyebrows online after stepping out in revealing fishnet dress It is not yet clear if it is Vanessa or Stephanie who gave birth but what is for sure is the new addition to the Kiunas gave Allan and Kathy unexplainable joy. Excited Allan took to his Instagram account barely hours after the delivery of the child to thank God for the blessing. The man of God disclosed the newborn is a bouncing baby boy named Ethan Allan as he urged his followers to help him thank God for the gift. READ ALSO: Manchester United snatch late win vs Brighton after being awarded last minute penalty by VAR READ ALSO: Kibicho aongoza mkutano wa Mt Kenya katika mkahawa wa Thika Greens usiku ''I'm just in tears of gratitude to God as we welcome the most handsome grandson in the universe Ethan Allan!!! To God be all the glory for the great things he has done!!! Please thank God together with me and Rev Kathy Kiuna and our family as we welcome the most incredible addition to our family. God has done us so well, we have no words. Thank you very much for those who continue to pray and love us. May Gods best be on the Wulner family. We love you so much!!!!! And gosh I can swear I used to look like that at that age,'' The Bishop captioned a lovely photo of his grandson. The news was received well by thousand of his followers who thronged the comments section of his post to congratulate the family. Ethan is Kiunas third grandchild from one of his two daughters. PAY ATTENTION: Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme - https://www.patreon.com/tuko Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. I have infected multiple men with HIV, my entire family hates me -Kiki wa Nge'ndo | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. So far this year, more than 8,100 wildfires have burned more than 3.7 million acres, destroying thousands of structures and killing 26 people in California. The crazy thing is, we've just arrived at what's typically the worst part of the year for fires: fall. Not only is vegetation dangerously dry and ready to burn, but strong Santa Ana winds have started to show up, meaning wind-driven fires are a very real concern. With wind gusts that can top 100 mph, fires can be pushed along so quickly that they can trap people in their homes or cars before they've had a chance to evacuate. The fires can become all but unstoppable, consuming entire towns. Or, in the case of the Woolsey Fire in 2018, burn all of the way across L.A. to the ocean. The Woolsey Fire reaches the ocean along Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) near Malibu, California, November 9, 2018. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) In short, if strong winds show up, you need to be ready to go in case the worst occurs. FAST MOVING FIRES CAN SHOW UP AT ANY TIME Just because there's no fire nearby when you go to sleep, doesn't mean that you won't be forced to leave quickly in the middle of the night. All it takes is a spark from a powerline or a passing car to kick off a small blaze that quickly grows in size because of wild winds. If the National Weather Service issues a Red Flag Warning -- high winds and low humidity -- you should get ready to go, especially if you live in an area that's prone to burning. Obviously, the threat depends on the intensity of the wind event. But the L.A. County Fire Department understands what can happen and regularly positions strike teams in places like Santa Clarita, Malibu, and other dry, mountainous areas, that they know could get hit. If they're ready, you need to be as well. HAVE A GO BAG When the Saddle Ridge Fire broke out near our house last October, we saw the writing on the wall and packed up bags in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night or early the next morning (we did). We considered what we'd pack if we had to go on vacation (and for some reason had to bring things like tax documents and jewelry with us) for an extended period of time. We packed: A week's worth of clothes for each family member Medicines Baby formula, diapers, wipes, etc. A few gallons of water and snacks Camping gear Jewelry and cash Important documents (we keep these in their own box ready to go whenever) Hard drives and computers I set these by the door so they could be easily grabbed and thrown in the car. If you have the option, consider keeping these things in your car overnight. If I had had the foresight, I also would've made sure that our car's gas tank was filled when the Red Flag Warning was issued. HOW TO KNOW A FIRE IS COMING You may or may not find out until there's a conflagration bearing down on you. In that case, obviously, get out as quickly as possible. But there's also a chance that you could get an alert on your phone depending on when the fire started and how fast moving it is. If you have a smartphone you're likely already signed up for Wireless Emergency Alerts -- the same system that distributes Amber Alerts. Your county or city could choose to utilize it in a worst-case scenario, but they're sometimes reluctant to issue them unless things are really bad. They don't want people unsubscribing from the system because they're getting pestered with messages. Both L.A. County and L.A. City have their own alert systems that you need to proactively sign up for. You can choose to receive texts which may arrive in the middle of the night when there's some sort of emergency event, like a wildfire. That said, your power, cell, and internet service might be down. So listen for law enforcement or firefighters outside telling people to get up and go. CONSIDER LEAVING EARLY If you're right in the path of a fire that's already kicked off and you know the winds are blowing in your direction (pretty much just out towards the ocean during a Santa Ana wind event), you should consider leaving before mandatory evacuation notices are issued. Much like leaving Dodger Stadium in the 7th inning, it could help you avoid getting stuck in bad traffic out of your area. It took us about four hours last year to drive from L.A. to Santa Ynez when trying to escape smoke from the Saddle Ridge Fire. WHEN CAN WE RELAX ABOUT FIRE? That's a deep question, but in this context, we'll be in much better shape when the rainy season shows up. That should be some time in late November, early December, but sometimes it takes a while. Remember the Thomas Fire? That burned into January because of the delayed rainy season. And just last year we didn't see substantial rain until March. FIRE RESOURCES YOUR QUESTIONS OR IDEAS Kelly Clarkson took some time to get her mind off of her family drama and spent a day off at the at the beach in Los Angeles on Sunday. Her respite was unfortunately short lived, however, as just two days later she was sued for $1.4 million by her longtime management company which is run by the family of her soon-to-be ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. On Tuesday, Narvel Blackstock's Starstruck Management Group filed a claim against the 38-year-old accusing her of not paying them their 'full commission' for her work on The Voice and The Kelly Clarkson Show this year, according to Variety. The latest: Kelly Clarkson was spotted at the beach in Los Angeles on Sunday and two days later she was sued by her management company, which is owned by her ex's family, for $1.4 million, according to Variety However, over the weekend the Grammy-winner seemed carefree as she hung out with friends and took a dip in the Pacific. Kelly was spotted wearing a classic black one-piece swimsuit with a plunging V-neck underneath a trendy black cotton romper. The Since U Been Gone rocker accessorized with a pair of fashion-forward black sunglasses and, when she was off the beach, a printed face mask. Her dirty blonde hair was swept up in a chic messy bun on the top of her head and she was all-smiles walking on the sand. Hot mama: Over the weekend the Grammy-winner seemed carefree as she hung out with friends and took a dip in the Pacific wearing a classic black one-piece swimsuit underneath a trendy black cotton romper Trouble brewing: On Tuesday, Narvel Blackstock's Starstruck Management Group filed a claim against the 38-year-old accusing her of not paying them their 'full commission' for her work on The Voice and The Kelly Clarkson Show this year, according to Variety Background: Clarkson is currently in the midst of divorcing her husband of seven years, Brandon Blackstock - who has also served as her manager during that time Safety first: When she was off the beach, Kelly made sure to cover up in a printed face mask She was surrounded by a gaggle of girlfriends during her seaside outing and the group was seen chatting together in the surf. Clarkson is currently in the midst of divorcing her husband of seven years, Brandon Blackstock - who has also served as her manager during that time. Before Brandon, Kelly was managed by his dad Narvel. Narvel's management company sued Kelly this week claiming that she has paid his firm $1.9 million in 2020 but still owes them an additional $1.4 - adding that she will allegedly owe them around $5.4 million by the years end. 'Over the course of approximately 13 years, Starstruck developed Clarkson into a mega superstar,' the complaint read in part. 'By way of example only, Starstruck was instrumental in helping Clarkson achieve success in terms of numerous hit albums, multiple Grammy wins and nominations, her role on popular television shows like The Voice and her own talk show. 'Over the course of approximately 13 years, Starstruck developed Clarkson into a mega superstar,' the complaint read in part. 'Despite Starstruck's hard work and dedication, Clarkson has decided she is going to stop paying Starstruck for what is contractually owed.' Claims: Narvel's management company sued Kelly this week claiming that she has paid his firm $1.9 million in 2020 and still owes them an additional $1.4 - adding that she well allegedly owe them around $5.4 million by the years end In the documents: She is being sued for a 'breach of oral contract' and the suit notes that her deal was 'verbally negotiated' by her lawyer and business manager in 2007, according to Variety 'Despite Starstruck's hard work and dedication, Clarkson has decided she is going to stop paying Starstruck for what is contractually owed,' the suit claimed. She is being sued for a 'breach of oral contract', according to Variety. Kelly has been represented by the Blackstock's for 13 years and the suit notes that her deal was 'verbally negotiated' by her lawyer and business manager in 2007. While she has yet to formally respond to the lawsuit or comment on the matter, she did share a pointed Tweet after the news broke. The hitmaker tweeted a GIF of Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne's character from The Matrix franchise) doing a 'come and get it' hand motion. Subtle: While she has yet to formally respond to the lawsuit or comment on the matter, she did share a pointed Tweet after the news broke of a GIF of Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne's character from The Matrix franchise) doing a 'come and get it' hand motion Split: Earlier this year, the A-lister announced she had legally separated from her husband and is requesting joint legal and physical custody of their children daughter River, six, and son Remington, four (Kelly and Brandon pictured the year they got married in 2013) This lawsuit will needless to say complicate matters in Kelly's impending divorce. Earlier this year, the A-lister announced she had legally separated from her husband. She is requesting joint legal and physical custody of their children daughter River, six, and son Remington, four. Kelly is not seeking custody of Blackstock's children from a previous marriage: Savannah, 18, and Seth, 13. The star also asked for spousal support and for the former couple's prenuptial agreement to be implemented. It was not rape; they were deeply in love, held the Supreme Court as it exonerated a man following his 21-year ordeal. It noted that the girl had accused him of rape because they belonged to different religions and could not marry. The man from Jharkhand was booked under the charge of rape and illegal confinement in 1999. Even as the girls complaint cited the incidents from four years ago, he was held guilty by a trial court and was sentenced to seven years in jail. The Jharkhand High Court too affirmed his punishment despite his showing love letters between the two and the fact that the complainant had stayed with him at his house for a fortnight without any whisper of protest. It has taken more than two decades for the mans fate to finally turn around. On Monday, a bench headed by Justice RF Nariman called it unfortunate that the High Court failed to suitably assess the evidence on record, including the love letters and their photographs together. It rejected the girls testimony that she was forced into the sexual relationship and that her consent was either out of fear or fraudulently obtained on the false pretext of marriage. We have no hesitation in concluding that the consent of the prosecutrix was but a conscious and deliberated choice, as distinct from an involuntary action or denial and which opportunity was available to her, because of her deep-seated love for the appellant Leading her to willingly permit him liberties with her body, which according to normal human behaviour are permitted only to a person with whom one is deeply in love, held Justice Navin Sinha, authoring the judgment. It underlined that the man belonged to the Scheduled Tribe while the girl was Christian. They professed different religious beliefs in a traditional society. The nature and manner of allegations, coupled with the letters exchanged between them, make it apparent that their love for each other grew and matured over a sufficient period of time, maintained the bench. It added: They were both smitten by each other and passions of youth ruled over their minds and emotions. The physical relations that followed were not isolated or sporadic in nature, but regular over the years. The prosecutrix had even gone and resided in the house of the appellant. The judgment also commented on four years delay in registration of the FIR, noting she went to the police a week before the man was to marry someone else. But the appellant did not make any false promise or intentional misrepresentation of marriage leading to establishment of physical relationship between the parties. The prosecutrix was herself aware of the obstacles in their relationship because of different religious beliefs, said the bench, concluding that the entire genesis of the case is in serious doubt and hence the man cannot be held guilty of the alleged offences. France's government announced relief measures on Tuesday for bars, cafes and restaurants forced to reduce hours or close due to new Covid-19 restrictions. Angry owners denounced measures they described as incoherent and ineffective. On Monday evening, bars and cafes in Paris and 11 other French cities classified as high risk were obliged to close at 10pm due to new Covid-19 restrictions that were to last at least two weeks. Restaurants and bars have been ordered to close entirely in maximun risk classified cities Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, where admissions to intensive care are at the highest levels in the country. The new measures have provoked protests and a lawsuit from angry owners and officials in France's second-largest city since their announcement last week and come as a blow for a sector struggling after confinement in early spring and a reduced tourist season in the summer. We have the impression that we're being punished, says Remi Halegua, director of The Shamrock, an Irish pub in the touristic Old Port district of Marseille that closed on Monday. Halegua says confinement and reduced hours already meant reduced business by 50 to 60 percent this year and wishes the government had considered other ways of ensuring health measures were being respected. They could have easily let the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants stay open and carry out more police checks. People are pretty disciplined, and I see no problem at all on terraces. New measures to help owners Marseille was not the only city where people were upset about the restrictions. Disgruntled owners and customers left Paris bars at the request of police at 10pm on Monday, and restaurant and bar owners planned to demonstrate against the measures in the northern city of Lille on Tuesday evening. In response to the anger, French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire met with hospitality industry representatives on Tuesday. Castex announced on Twitter the government would offer relief funds between 1,500 and 10,000 euros per month and full coverage of pay to temporarily laid-off staff to the end of the year. Sense of incoherence But underlying the new restrictions is a sense that the government has lost its way in dealing with the accelerating Covid epidemic. It's incoherent, because a third of clusters are in schools and universities, another third are in office buildings, but they decide to close restaurants and bars, Halegua says. It makes no sense to me. The closures also concern the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, but not the surrounding areas, despite being in close proximity. Ten minutes from my home is my workplace, which is closed, and 10 minutes in the other direction, I can go to a bar or restaruant, Halegua explains. It means our clients will go where it's open, and it's not far from the Old Port. Some Marseille cafes and bars have chosen to flout the rules and open regardless, despite risking 135-euro fines for defying the ban. But Halegua did not want to take that path. Everyone considered it, but we don't want problems with the law, and don't want customers to have problems because of us, he says. We prefer to close and to wait, and show that we respect the rules. Bangkok: Thailand will receive its first foreign holidaymakers when a flight from China arrives next week, marking the gradual restart of a vital tourism sector battered by coronavirus travel curbs, a senior official said on Tuesday. The first flight will have about 120 tourists from Guangzhou, flying directly to the resort island of Phuket, Tourism Authority Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said. A worker sprays a Thai Airways aircraft. Thailand is opening up to tourists from China. Credit:Getty Images The country has kept coronavirus infections low with just 3559 cases and 59 deaths, but its economy has taken a hit from a ban on foreign visitors since April and is expected to contract 8.5 per cent this year. The government expects 1200 Chinese tourists in the first month and 14,400 over the next year. Mr Macron, youre going to have problems with me personally, warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two weeks ago after the French president advised European leaders to be clear and firm, not with Turkey as a nation and people, but with the government of President Erdogan, which has taken unacceptable actions. Echoing his bosss defiant mode, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar quipped that Macron was trying to take on the role of Napoleon, who died 200 years ago. But we can all see that he is neither powerful enough nor tall enough to do it. As the EU meeting on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean approached, together with looming sanctions, Erdogan has had to soften his tone. Last week he even called up Emmanuel Macron to plead with him for permission to let Turkey take part in the production of the French-Italian SAMP/T missile defence system. According to a report by Bloomberg on 25 September, Macron responded that Erdogan would have to clarify Turkish objectives in Syria before Paris would consider his request. The mere mention of Syria was a stinging rebuff. Turkey has occupied and effectively annexed big chunks of northern Syria, the first target of Erdogans neo-Ottoman expansionist ambitions. However, his influence and control there has been steadily dwindling while his mortal enemy in Damascus, Bashar Al-Assad, has been gradually regaining ground thanks to support from Russia. Russia, too, has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of Turkish behaviour in northern Syria and recent developments have led some observers to predict that Putin and Erdogan may soon part ways in Idlib. Judging by news reports and developments on the ground, the agreement they signed in March, and the understandings they reached in Astana before that, over the creation of a demilitarised zone and the removal of terrorist groups from Idlib, are very shaky. Hardly a day goes by without some violation of the truce on the part of Al-Assads forces, which could not occur without a green light from Moscow. Al-Assads advances weaken Ankara not just strategically but also, and more importantly, in the eyes of the militant groups it backs. Moscow, for its part, appears determined to expand its presence in Idlib city, strategically located just north of the M4 international highway and to the west of the even more vital M5 which runs north to south between Damascus and Aleppo. This has been one of the main bones of contention recently between Russia and Turkey. Erdogan refuses to believe Moscows claim that the security patrols are under threat. Instead, he believes that Russia is in a hurry to reopen that vital overland artery in order to offset the impacts of US sanctions against Damascus and stimulate the Syrian economy. Russia is also keen to prepare the climate for the elections that Al-Assads regime has envisioned for 2021 a vision that the Turkish regime rejects out of hand. Russia has been pressuring Turkish and Turkish-backed forces to withdraw to a depth of 35 kilometres south of the M4, claiming that Turkey has failed to meet its commitments under the Sochi Agreement to clear terrorist groups out of the area. Turkey counters that is Russia that is not living up to its end of the bargain which involves expanding the area in Idlib under control of a joint Russian-Turkish peacekeeping force. Moscow is dragging its feet and reneging on its word as usual, complain pro-government mouthpieces in Turkey. But not only are developments in Idlib working against Erdogans designs in Syria, the same applies to the situation to the north from Tel Rafat and Manbij to the region east of the Euphrates. The Turks complain that Russia has failed to meet its commitment to hand over control of Tel Rafat, Manbij and other designated towns to the control of Turkish-backed forces. Some Turkish analysts believe that Moscow is taking advantage of Turkeys predicament in the Eastern Mediterranean, the EUs mounting anger over Ankaras aggressive policies in the region and the fact that the situation in Libya has taken a turn contrary to Erdogans plans. Conditions were ripe for pushing the Turks and the Turkish-backed opposition in Syria into a corner in Idlib. But what the Turks had not anticipated was that Putin would reach some accommodations with the US, on the one hand, and with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other, heedless of Turkeys oft-repeated concerns regarding the latter, which it regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). On 15-16 September, Russian and Turkish interagency delegations met in Ankara for technical consultations on the situations in Idlib and Libya. According to Western diplomatic sources, on the second day of that meeting Moscow intensified pressure on Ankara to reduce its military presence in Idlib. Ankara had recently intensified that presence to an estimated 10,000 Turkish troops stationed in dozens of bases in Idlib. As follow-through, on Sunday, 20 September, Russian fighter jets bombarded portions of northwest Syria controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian militias. It was the most intense wave of Russian strikes in the vicinity of Turkish observation points in Idlib since the Russian-Turkish agreement to cease major combat activities six months ago. The Syrian army has also launched intermittent strikes against Turkish bases in Idlib, while Damascus and the militias allied with it have continued to amass troops along the fronts. In light of the foregoing, it comes as little surprise that a recent report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that, in that meeting with Russia on 16 September, Turkey may have agreed to cede control of territory in southern Idlib to pro-Assad forces and, if so, then a pro-Assad offensive in southern Idlib is probably immanent. The report described a pattern of recent events that substantiate the likelihood of a partial Turkish withdrawal from Idlib. It cited, for example, the withdrawal of hundreds of Turkish special forces and infantry and Turkish-backed opposition fighters from southern Idlib towns in the Jabal Zawiya area on 8 September and the reduction in the frequency of Turkish military logistics convoys into Idlib from one every one or two days to only three conveys in the 13 days prior to the publication of that report. The report also noted several pro-Assad protests staged outside several Turkish observation points on 16 September, which it described as a tactic the Syrian regime uses to emphasise the unpopularity of the Turkish presence in Idlib as a means to ratchet up the pressure on Ankara. It added that although Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied on 16 September that negotiations with Russia were productive, Cavusoglu may be trying to temporarily conceal the details of an agreement with Russia in order to preserve Turkeys reputation among greater Idlibs population and avoid backlash from opposition groups. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: The U.S. Postal Service isn't delivering mail as quickly as it should, but the delays don't appear significant enough at this time to disrupt an election, according to a September test by NBCLX and NBC Owned Television Stations. Following a similar test in August, NBC and Telemundo stations teamed up to send more than 400 first-class letters across a dozen major U.S. metros, as well as across the country, on September 11. For a second straight month, the USPS successfully delivered almost all the letters within a week. But instead of the one or two days that most of the letters would have been delivered a decade ago, most letters arrived in either two or three days. Eighty-eight percent of the total letters arrived within three days, while 98% arrived within a week - consistent with the similar test in August. More from NBCLX: Isolated breakdowns contributed to some of the more extreme delays, including a batch of letters that sat at a Dallas post office for three days before getting postmarked and shipped out, as well as a pair of letters that were still missing two weeks later. The NBC/NBCLX findings mirrored the findings of a Senate report, released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) earlier this month, which criticized Postermaster General Louis DeJoy's administration for changes that led to a slowdown of U.S. mail this summer. The report focused on delays on 18-32% for prescription medications, equating to about 1 extra delivery day. "We've (received) over 109,000 letters since July 14 on this topic," Sen. Casey told NBCLX. "People (are) in life-threatening situations, with prescription medications that are delayed, and it's attributable to the changes made by the postmaster general. It was not happening before that." With coronavirus concerns expected to prompt more Americans to vote by mail than ever before, delays could lead to hundreds of thousands of ballots nationwide going uncounted due to missed deadlines. But the Warren/Casey report did not specifically mention election mail, nor did not address why the mail slowed down this summer. It did not mention DeJoy's August explanations for the delays, which he told House and Senate leaders were temporary, largely due to nearly 10,000 USPS employees contracting coronavirus and new, more efficient truck schedules. "I worked with the team to get those trucks to run on time with the mail in 'em," DeJoy told David Rubenstein at an Economic Club of Washington DC event last week. "That was a good plan. We could've had a better execution; we're recovering from that right now." DeJoy also pushed back on claims that he slashed USPS overtime, saying it's at the same 13% in September as it was when he was appointed Postmaster General in May. And he said the man who appointed him, President Trump, was wrong to suggest the Postal Service could not handle tens of millions of mail ballots this fall. "When the president goes into thathe's incorrect," DeJoy said. "The American public needs to know we are prepared and committed to deliver election mail. We have plenty of resources for the election and we will handle the election; the whole organization is committed to that." Republicans on Capitol Hill have also expressed confidence in DeJoy and the USPS's ability to deliver mail ballots in a reasonable amount of time. "Are there some issues?...Yes," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. "I think they're blown way out of proportion(they're) certainly not being caused by the new postmaster general." Johnson pointed out the Postal Service's decades-long downward performance trend has led to missed on-time performance goals for years. The veteran Republican senator also joined Democrats in recommending voters mail ballots well in advance of the election a message that seems to be resonating; an NBCLX/YouGov poll conducted in mid-September revealed 57% of voters who planned to vote by mail indicated they would submit their ballots one month or more before Election Day, Nov. 3. A USPS inspector general audit on election readiness found postal distribution centers handled election mail inconsistently and sometimes unreliably - during the primaries. It also put some of the responsibility for delays on local election offices that continue to wait too long to mail voters ballots or continue to use ballots that aren't easily processed by USPS machines. U.S. Postal Service spokesman David A. Partenheimer said the agency is prepared to handle the election. "To put it in context," Partenheimer said, "the Postal Service delivers 433 million pieces of mail a day. Even if all Americans were to vote by mail this year, 330 million ballots over the course of the election would be only three-quarters of what the Postal Service delivers in a single day." A report by the federal Elections Assistance Commission following the 2016 presidential election concluded far more mail ballots were rejected because of non-matching or missing voter signatures (48%) than for missed deadlines (23%). If the NBCLX/YouGov poll is any indicator, the increased attention on mailing ballots early and the ability in some states to cure problems with signatures or other mistakes, if time allows could actually lead to a lower rejection rate in 2020 than in years past. NBCLX and NBC Owned Television Stations will repeat the first-class speed test one more time, in October, as the USPS sets out to deliver millions of mail ballots cast for Joe Biden or Donald Trump. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump offered to name Judge Amy Coney Barrett his Supreme Court nominee more than a week ago at the White House and she accepted, according to formal paperwork submitted to the Senate ahead of her confirmation hearings. Barrett tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House initially contacted her Sept. 19, the day after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, creating the court vacancy. Trump made the offer when she visited the White House on Monday, Sept. 21, and I accepted, she wrote. Thats days before Trumps formal announcement Saturday, and as he kept Americans guessing up until the last moment, suggesting he was still considering other nominees. The judges nearly 70-page questionnaire was submitted by the White House to the Senate Tuesday as Barrett launched day one of private meetings at the Capitol, drawing praise from GOP senators but opposition from Democrats objecting to her conservative views and fast-track confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was even more convinced of Barrett after their brief meeting. Noting she is a working mother of seven children, he scoffed at Democratic objections that the judge would put Americans access to health care at risk or turn back the clock on womens rights. What a joke, he said. As questions swirl about the potential for the results of the presidential election between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden to wind up in a court battle, Barrett offered no suggestion she would recuse herself from hearing any such election cases. Instead, she said she would recuse herself in cases in which her husband and sister, both practicing attorneys, had participated, as well as cases involving her alma mater Notre Dame University. Barrett lists a net worth of $2.5 million, including $1.6 million in securities and more than $500,000 in real estate. Liabilities include $102,000 in mortgages and more than $44,000 in tuitions. She reports $31,000 cash on hand. Leading Democrats say Barrett should not hear any cases about the presidential election because her nomination is the first in U.S. to come so close to one, with early voting underway. But Republicans said Barrett, if confirmed, should absolutely be involved. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said thats the entire reason why the Senate should rush to fill the vacant seat so that the Supreme Court can resolve any cases that arise in the wake of the election. Democrats are confronting the limits of their power as they fight against the nomination. Some have said they wont meet with Barrett, who is expected to be confirmed for the seat held by the Ginsburg by the end of October. No Democrats met with her Tuesday. Ginsburg, who died Aug. 18 at the age of 87, was buried Tuesday in a private service at Arlington National Cemetery. With Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, and just two GOP senators opposing a quick vote, Barrett appears to have enough support for confirmation. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold hearings Oct. 12. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged Tuesday it will be an uphill fight to stop Trumps nominee. But he said Americans are on Democrats side in preferring to wait until after the election so the winner can choose the next justice. He is among those refusing to meet with Barrett, calling the process illegitimate, and said her conservative views on health care, abortion and other issues are far outside the mainstream. Its not over, Schumer said on ABCs The View. Barrett made no public remarks at the start of what is expected to be days of meet-and-greet sessions with senators, a traditional part of the confirmation process. At the Capitol, Vice-President Mike Pence said Barrett represents the best of America. The White House formally submitted the nomination Tuesday. Shes got a good chance of getting my vote, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the former Judiciary Committee chairman who now helms the Finance Committee. Ahead of one meeting, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the GOP whip, said the two were set to talk about judicial philosophy and background and experience, and also whether or not she thinks Hoosiers is the greatest movie ever. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, said that barring any unusual developments, Im going to vote for her. Unable to block Trumps pick on their own, Democrats are arguing to voters that Barretts nomination threatens the protections of the Affordable Care Act. The court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obamas health care law just after the election, adding to the urgency of the issue. More Americans favour the ACA than have opposed it over the last few years, according to polls, and Democrats believe the coronavirus pandemic will only solidify that support. But there will also be ample opportunities for Democrats to make mistakes as partisans on both sides infuse the nomination battle with cultural, gender and religious politics. Religion, in particular, could be a minefield. Democrats worry that Barrett has tied her Catholicism too closely to some of her statements and decisions, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, still faces criticism for her comments during Barretts 2017 confirmation hearing. Feinstein had joined Republicans on the panel in asking Barrett about her faith, but then went further by telling the then-professor that when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. One likely prominent messenger on the issue is the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, California Sen. Kamala Harris, who sits on the judiciary panel and is expected to participate in the confirmation hearings. ___ Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Kathleen Ronayne in Raleigh, N.C., and Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report. National Coffee Day 2020: Freebies, deals and discounts today from Dunkin', Starbucks, Krispy Kreme Heads up coffee lovers today is your special day. Today (Tuesday, Sept. 29) is National Coffee Day and there are plenty of ways to score free or discounted jolts of caffeine from major shops like Starbucks, Dunkin and Krispy Kreme, as well as online retailers. Heres a look at some of the best deals: Barnes & Noble Get a free hot or iced tall coffee with the purchase of any item from the stores bakery case. Dunkin' Get a free medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase at Dunkin' restaurants nationwide. Offer includes Original Blend, Dark Roast and Dunkin' Decaf, which are all freshly brewed in-store. Godiva Get free shipping on coffee orders of $25 or more. Huddle House Huddle House is offering a free cup of coffee with any dine-in purchase on Sept. 29. Krispy Kreme Theres a couple of deals from Krispy Kreme. Everyone can get a free brewed coffee, no purchase necessary. Rewards members can score an extra treat a free doughnut of their choice. Sign up today by downloading the app or click here https://bit.ly/366LPTn. Loves Travel Stop Get any sized coffee or hot beverage for $1 when purchased through the Loves Connect app. All proceeds go to the Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. Reward members also can use a free drink refill credit for the purchase and Loves will donate $1 on their behalf. Mapco Get a free 16-ounce coffee on Tuesday. Panera Panera is celebrating National Coffee Day to include new Breakfast Feasts. The feasts are available in two varieties Breakfast Sandwich Feast and Fresh Baked Goods Feasts. The Breakfast Sandwich Feast includes four Panera breakfast sandwiches or wraps for $13.99 or six Panera baked good offerings for $13.99. Also, anyone who signs up for MyPanera+ Coffee subscription will receive free unlimited premium hot coffee, iced coffee and hot tea for one month. After that, cost is $8.99 per month. Sign up HERE to participate. Pilot Flying J Get any size hot or cold coffee free with an offer through the Pilot Flying J app. You can download here. Starbucks On Sept. 29, buy a grande or larger handcrafted drink via mobile order and get a handcrafted drink for free. Not valid on purchases of hot brewed coffee or tea or Starbucks Reserve beverages. Free drink offer will be redeemed as a coupon automatically loaded to your Starbucks Rewards account. Go to go to https://www.starbucks.com/account/create to create an account. Online coffee spots Blue Bottle Coffee Get free shipping on coffee subscriptions or orders of $35. Coffee Bean & Tea Purchase any six 1 lb. or 2 lb. bags of coffee and save 20% with promo code COFFEE6. Driftaway Coffee Driftaway is offering a coffee subscription personalized for individual tastes. Food 52 Check out coffee packs, presses and other items like this Japanese Coffee Kettle - here at Food 52. Keurig Get a free K-Mini Plus Coffee Maker or 50% off select coffee makers and 25% off beverages and free shipping with the Keurig Starter Kit. You can also get $28 off boxes of coffee and cider pods at AUTUMNSAVINGS. Le Creuset Le Creuset has coffee makers and cups, like this French Coffee Press. Sur La Table Check out your coffee accessories and makers here. Trade Coffee Get 30% off your first coffee bag delivery with free shipping. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (ACLUM) is seeking information from state education agencies about how they are working to protect the privacy of both K-12 and college students amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the fact that remote education is now the norm in Massachusetts and not the exception, the state still lacks sufficient privacy protections to ensure students are not being improperly monitored or tracked by corporations and the government, Kade Crockford, director of the ACLUMs Technology for Liberty program, wrote in a statement. The organization has therefore submitted a public records request to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on Tuesday, asking for all information about policies, guidelines and training the agency has in place related to remote learning and student privacy. The group has for years spearheaded legal efforts to ensure there are barriers to governmental surveillance in Massachusetts, including a statewide campaign to ban governmental agencies' use of facial recognition technology. With its most recent records request, the ACLUM is seeking information from DESE about privacy requirements and protection standards for the use of remote learning apps and software, including online classroom and proctoring technology. The organizations request comes as hundreds of school districts across the commonwealth have shifted to completely online learning and hybrid models of remote and in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 public health crisis. Some lower risk communities have kicked off the academic year with fully in-person learning. In this context, schools may take varying approaches to education technology and privacy policy, leaving some students more protected and others more exposed to privacy harms. But thats unacceptable, particularly when remote education is for so many students mandatory," Crockford said. The transition has highlighted not only privacy concerns, but also inequities in the education system at both the state and national level, according to the ACLUM. Several school districts, including Boston, have worked during the pandemic to ensure all students have access to computers and WiFi to be able to effectively participate in remote learning. Ahead of the first day of classes earlier this month, Chromebooks were still being handed out in Boston and in Worcester to public school students in need of them. In Springfield, Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick pointed out last week there were some technical issues during the first week of remote learning, but attendance was strong. In May, the ACLU of Massachusetts sent a letter to DESE, urging the agency to remedy what it called an inequitable and unsafe manner in which remote learning is being provided to public school students. In its letter, the group encouraged DESE to redouble its efforts to ensure students have equal access to the various technologies that make effective remote learning possible and establish adequate privacy protections for students engaged in online instruction. More than three months went by, and the ACLUM never received a response from the state agency, the organization claimed. Moreover, we have seen that equal access to technology-related resources in Massachusetts has not been adequately measured or reported, at least publicly, the group said. To understand the scope of remote learning problems in Massachusetts, the ACLUM requested information about the commonwealths plans for addressing such issues. The organization is also seeking records related to the outcomes of any measures taken to ensure students are able to access technology and the spending on software for schools and districts across the state. Along with the records request the ACLUM submitted to DESE, the organization is also seeking information from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education and the Executive Office Of Education about what approaches the state government and higher education institutions are taking to protect data collected on college campuses amid the pandemic. Institutions of higher education across Massachusetts have been subject to much scrutiny this fall, with some schools - including Holy Cross, Boston University, Northeastern University and Salem State University - reporting large gatherings of students that fly in the face of public health guidance. Other schools - like Boston College, Merrimack College in North Andover and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst - have reported COVID-19 outbreaks on or off their campuses. The ACLUM pointed out that many public colleges and universities are asking and, in some instances, requiring that all students agree to be tested for the coronavirus every couple of weeks and sign up for contact tracing apps to stave off transmission of the viral respiratory infection. Students have also been asked to sign waivers that allow institutions to access their medical records and other personal data, according to the ACLUM. These efforts are permitted but not required by the Board of Higher Education, the organization noted. Troubling nationwide reporting has shown that at some colleges, students testing data is also being shared with law enforcement, the ACLUM claimed. The organization cited the case of a student at Miami University in Ohio who was discovered to have tested positive for the coronavirus after a police officer scanned his license, CBS News reported. The ACLUM is seeking all records from the state about how both higher education and K-12 institutions as well as governmental agencies are using technologies to limit the spread of the virus at school and how data gathered by such tools is being stored and shared. Health privacy must be central to the governments COVID-19 response, but at present, the public has not been privy to the governments plans to ensure school-based testing data remains confidential," Crockford wrote in her statement. We seek records that we hope will provide transparency into how state government is handling critical student privacy matters related to remote learning and COVID-19. Related Content: YEREVAN, Armenia - Leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia brushed off the suggestion of peace talks Tuesday, accusing each other of obstructing negotiations over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, with dozens killed and injured in three days of heavy fighting. In the latest incident, Armenia said one of its warplanes was shot down by a fighter jet from Azerbaijans ally Turkey, killing the pilot, in what would be a major escalation of the violence. Both Turkey and Azerbaijan denied it. The international community is calling for talks to end the decades-old conflict between the two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus Mountains region following a flareup of violence this week. It centres on Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war. The U.N. Security Council called on Armenia and Azerbaijan Tuesday evening to immediately halt the fighting and urgently resume talks without preconditions. The U.N.s most powerful body strongly condemned the use of force and backed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier call to stop the fighting, deescalate tensions, and resume talks without delay. Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev told Russian state TV channel Rossia 1 that Baku is committed to negotiating a resolution but that Armenia is obstructing the process. The Armenian prime minister publicly declares that Karabakh is (part of) Armenia, period. In this case, what kind of negotiating process can we talk about? Aliev said. He added that according to principles brokered by the Minsk group, which was set up in 1992 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to resolve the conflict, territories around the former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region should be transferred to Azerbaijan. Aliev noted that if Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says that Karabakh is Armenia and that we should negotiate with the so-called puppet regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, (he is) trying to break the format of negotiations that has existed for 20 years. Pashinyan, in turn, told the broadcaster that it is very hard to talk about negotiations ... when specific military operations are underway. He said there is no military solution to the conflict and called for a compromise. But first, Azerbaijan must immediately end (its) aggression towards Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, Pashinyan said. We all perceive this as an existential threat to our nation, we basically perceive it as a war that was declared to the Armenian people, and our people are now simply forced to use the right for self-defence. Since Sunday, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Ministry reported 84 servicemen were killed. Aliyev said 11 civilians were killed on its side, although he didnt detail the countrys military casualties. Both countries accused each other of firing into their territory outside of the Nagorno-Karabakh area on Tuesday. The separatist region of about 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 square miles), or about the size of the U.S. state of Delaware, is 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region. Armenia also alleged that Turkey, which supports Azerbaijan, was involved. Turkey, according to our information, looks for an excuse for a broader involvement in this conflict, Pashinyan said. The Armenian military said an SU-25 from its air force was shot down in Armenian airspace by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet that took off from Azerbaijan, and the pilot was killed. The allegation of downing the jet was absolutely untrue, said Fahrettin Altun, communications director for Turkeys president. Azerbaijani officials called it another fantasy of the Armenian military propaganda machine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Armenia to withdraw immediately from the separatist region, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is by Azerbaijans side on the field and at the (negotiating) table. Armenian officials said that Turkey, a NATO member, is supplying Azerbaijan with fighters from Syria and weapons, including F-16 fighter jets. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey deny it. Earlier in the day, Azerbaijans Defence Ministry said Armenian forces shelled the Dashkesan region in Azerbaijan. Armenian officials said Azerbaijani forces opened fire on a military unit in the Armenian town of Vardenis, setting a bus on fire and killing one civilian. Armenias Foreign Ministry denied shelling the region and said the reports were laying the groundwork for Azerbaijan expanding the geography of hostilities, including the aggression against the Republic of Armenia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed for an immediate cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table in phone calls with the leaders of both countries, her office said. She told them the OSCE offers an appropriate forum for talks and that the two countries neighbours should contribute to the peaceful solution, said her spokesman, Steffen Seibert. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to Greece that both sides must stop the violence and work to return to substantive negotiations as quickly as possible. Russia, which along with France and the United States co-chairs the Minsk group, urged every country to help facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We call on all countries, especially our partners such as Turkey, to do everything to convince the opposing parties to cease fire and return to peacefully resolving the conflict by politico-diplomatic means, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday. Putin spoke to Pashinyan on Tuesday for the second time in three days, urging de-escalation and, like the other leaders, an immediate cease-fire. - Associated Press writers Daria Litvinova in Moscow, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed. Photo credit: Jeff Swensen From Car and Driver Ohio has ordered General Motors to repay $28 million in tax breaks because it didn't fulfill plans to operate the Lordstown plant until 2037, in addition to investing $12 million in the Mahoning Valley, where the plant is located. GM shuttered the plant in early 2019 after it discontinued the Chevrolet Cruze, which was assembled in Lordstown. GM said it had agreed to repay the specified amount. When General Motors decided to build a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, the state gave the automaker a $60 million tax break, contingent on GM's retaining 3700 employees at the plant until 2028, under the Job Retention Tax Credit. However, GM shuttered that plant in early 2019, and now Ohio is ordering that the automaker pay the state $28 million for reneging on its deal. The payments are due by December 31, 2022. Also part of the repayment plan is that GM violated its Job Creation Tax Credit agreement. The deal was that GM would create 200 jobs by 2010which the automaker didbut also that it would maintain operations at Lordstown until 2037, which it did not. GM said in a statement that it has agreed to pay back the amount requested by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, and that it will also give $12 million in community support to Mahoning Valley, the area where the plant is located. GM vehicle production at Lordstown ended when the automaker discontinued the Chevrolet Cruze sedan amid a push to refocus on larger vehicles, such as SUVs and trucks. The closing of the plant became a point of contention while the UAW was on strike, as up to 4000 people were losing their jobs. "While the decision to close the Lordstown plant was terrible news for workers and their families in the Mahoning Valley, today's announcement will bring relief as well as investment by GM who has committed to investing $12 million in the local community for workforce, education, and infrastructure needs," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement. Story continues "Today's action protects taxpayer dollars, while also allowing for continued investment in the local community," Lydia Mihalik, director of development and chair of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, said in a statement. Shortly after General Motors decided to end production at the Lordstown plant, it sold the plant to Lordstown Motors, an electric-truck startup. Lordstown recently announced that its pickup, the Endurance, has received more than 40,000 preorders, amounting to over $2 billion in potential revenue for the startup. You Might Also Like The realtor K Raheja Corp and private equity firm Blackstone Group-backed Mindspace Business Parks REIT have committed to 100 percent electric mobility by 2030. This move has been initiated to cut down air pollution, and it has already installed over 1,000 electric charging stations in its office complexes. 4500 crore in its Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) public issue. Alongside this, the company has also announced that it has joined the Climate Group's global EV100 initiative. This is expected to combine about 90 international companies that are committed to producing electric transport as the new normal by the end of this decade. Recently, the company has raised4500 crore in its Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) public issue. Alongside this, the company has also announced that it has joined the Climate Group's global EV100 initiative. This is expected to combine about 90 international companies that are committed to producing electric transport as the new normal by the end of this decade. Vinod Rohira, CEO, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, says, "Our endeavor under the Climate Group's EV100 initiative is to fortify our commitment to sustainability, with the best blend of innovation and technology." Mindspace has an office portfolio that has five business parks as well as five independent offices in the Mumbai region, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai. Also, it employees more than two lakh employees in its office complexes. "The recently listed REIT will ensure this transition by expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure for clients across all its business parks in India," says Mindspace. Mindspace Business Parks REIT has already initiated the EV's uptake amongst its clients by installing more than 1000 charging points across its business parks. These electric charges could be accessed free of cost. As the next phase of this commitment, the company is intending to escalate the numbers as it's portfolio grows. Mindspace Business Parks' tenants include affiliates of Accenture, Barclays, BA Continuum, Amazon, JP Morgan, UBS, Capgemini, Facebook, Qualcomm, Schlumberger, and BNY Mellon. Mindspace Business Parks REIT has a quality office portfolio in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad,and Chennai. The business parks in Mumbai are Mindspace Airoli West Business Park, Mindspace Airoli East Business Park, Paradigm Mindspace Malad and The Square, BKC(2). With Mondays milestone of 700 new COVID-19 cases reported, experts say to expect more days with 500-plus new cases as more people get tested and many continue to ignore public health guidelines. And with Premier Doug Ford himself confirming that Ontario is now in its second wave of the virus, the importance of physical distancing, mask-wearing and handwashing couldnt be more clear. While the premier said the second wave will be worse than the first wave, he stressed that we dont yet know just how bad it will be. In Ontario at least, experts say it will get worse before it gets better, with more days with new-case totals at levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic or even higher. Ahmed Al-Jaishi, an epidemiologist and PhD candidate in health research methodology at McMaster University, said he expects to see more than 500 new cases reported daily for the next few days, for two reasons. We are seeing more people being tested, which is good, he said, as well as a huge backlog in tests that is being processed. Here, the Star takes stock of some key indicators in the fight against COVID-19 and asks experts to weigh in. New cases continue to grow in Ontario While the actual number of new cases reported Monday was 700, the rolling seven-day average continued its upward trend to 465, up from 426 the day before. Why are case numbers growing? Al-Jaishi says he thinks its likely related to a mixture of the provincial government relaxing control measures and people being more relaxed about following guidelines. Also, there are long wait times for people to get tested and delays in hearing back about test results. So infected people with no symptoms or mild symptoms may inadvertently spread the virus while waiting, he said, noting he has no hard evidence for this. Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Regions medical officer of health, said there is a general cycle there of cases moving from workplaces to homes to social gatherings. These are not big gatherings of the sort that got much media attention, but even something as simple as coffee or dinner with a friend, he said; then those people take it into the workplace. Where are the most cases? Toronto continues to put up big numbers, adding 381 cases to the count on Monday. Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys medical officer of health, said Monday that she will recommend restrictions at a city council meeting Wednesday including reducing the number of people allowed in a bar or restaurant to 75 from 100 and the number of patrons at a table from 10 to six. Peel Region reported 104 cases on Sept. 27, according to Public Health Ontario. There are a lot of workplaces that are doing the right thing, absolutely, said Loh. But weve found pretty much in every instance where we have a workplace cluster or a large workplace outbreak, two things are happening. The first, he says, is that the proprietor is not taking precautions. The second, true for a number of clusters he says, is that employees are removing their masks during breaks in close contact with other employees. Loh says Peel is seeking funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada to open an isolation centre to stop the cycle. He says its been difficult to convey to people that self-isolation means not having contact with people within your own household; an isolation facility could interrupt the cycle of transmission. He thinks the provinces new limits on informal social gatherings 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors were a good step but he says further restrictions may be needed when it comes to large formal gatherings such as at weddings or religious services. Data indicates some fairly large exposures that are occurring in those settings in our region, said Loh. Ottawa reported the third highest number of new cases on Sunday at 89, according to the public health data. York Region was fourth with 56. Who is getting the virus? Of the 700 cases reported Monday, 60 per cent were in people under the age of 40, according to a tweet by Health Minister Christine Elliott. Its a trend we have been seeing in recent weeks. Since June 1, people between the ages of 20 and 39 have made up 45 per cent of all cases in Ontario. It probably reflects that this is a highly social group. Its the most social age demographic other than under-20s, said Todd Coleman, an epidemiologist at Wilfrid Laurier University. Loh said not only is this demographic more mobile when it comes to social engagements, but it is also a group that has a large number of working individuals. We really need (young) people to stick to the precautions, Loh said. Because keeping transmission down in that group means we wont see leakage into senior settings, leakage into other age groups that may be more vulnerable. So should we think about returning to earlier stages of reopening? Neither Al-Jaishi nor Coleman think so. But they do suggest a few measures that might help cut down on new cases. I think we certainly should be adding more restrictions to avoid people gathering at restaurants, bars, nightclubs, casinos, among other venues, said Al-Jaishi. With those restrictions, we also need to be mindful of supporting these businesses financially to ensure their survival. The idea is we need to figure out a way to either prevent people from coming into contact with each other, or, if they do come into contact with each other, having those masks be really a priority, said Coleman, adding that there is never a perfect solution. Worldwide death toll Deaths worldwide from COVID-19 exceeded one million people on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has suffered the highest numbers of casualties 204,995, followed by Brazil with 141,741. In Canada, more than 9,000 people have died, the majority about 70 per cent aged 80 years and older. Deaths of people in their 70s accounted for another 18 per cent. Among the provinces, Quebec has had the most deaths at nearly 6,000 followed by Ontario with 2,839, which includes 1,833 residents of long-term care homes and eight health-care workers, according to data released by Public Health Ontario on September 27. Canadas death toll ranks 20th among countries, according to the Johns Hopkins data, though we are only 26th in the world when it comes to the number of cases. I think, just broadly, (the number of deaths) are representative of the issues that exist in long term care, said Coleman. Kenyon Wallace is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @KenyonWallace or reach him via email: kwallace@thestar.ca The Yankees have set their 28-man roster for their wild card series against the Indians, beginning tonight in Cleveland. Gerrit Cole will start against the Tribes Shane Bieber in a great battle of aces in Game 1, and Masahiro Tanaka is lined up to start Game 2 for New York. The Yankees known to be debating whether to carry 12 or 13 pitchers onto the playoff roster, and they opted for 13 arms to provide as much depth as possible. On the position player front, Miguel Andujar is the most notable omission, as the Yankees decided on Mike Ford as the primary first base/DH counterpoint to Luke Voit. Ford is a left-handed bat while Andujar and Voit both swing from the right side, which could have been the deciding factor given that New Yorks lineup is already loaded with right-handed batters. Erik Kratz was also included on the roster as a third catcher. Left-Handed Pitchers Right-Handed Pitchers Infielders Outfielders Catchers (CNN) An expert on the spread of COVID-19 proclaimed last week that the pandemic in Sweden was essentially over the virus there was "running out of steam," he said, as researchers suggest Swedes could be building immunity. Such comments have emboldened governments flirting with the idea of adopting Sweden's "light-touch" approach, in the hope they can soften the blow to their economies. There was reason for optimism when Kim Sneppen, from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, made his comments. Sweden's infection and death rates had been low for weeks, despite a second wave rolling over Europe. It seemed to mark a turnaround for the country, which experienced one of the highest death tolls in the world per capita during the spring. The problem is, the science isn't in on whether immunity is building in Sweden at all, after the country resisted lockdowns and let the virus spread through much of its population. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, nonetheless, announced changes to restrictions in England last week, shaping the country's COVID-19 response in the image of Sweden's. Experts in both the UK and Sweden are warning that doing so could be dangerous. The UK has been experiencing record high numbers in daily infections, yet Johnson tightened restrictions only slightly, placing more emphasis on personal responsibility to prevent viral transmission, as Swedish authorities have done. The most significant change to the rules is a 10 p.m. curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants, forcing them to close just an hour earlier than they typically did. Now only table service is allowed, to avoid people lining up at bars to order food and drinks, as is the case in Sweden. As most of the Western world went into lockdown over the spring, Sweden's response was an outlier. It only issued advice to its citizens to practice social distancing and personal hygiene. Sweden typically doesn't mix public health and politics, and it doesn't typically use the law to influence behavior to protect people's health. So it kept open its bars and restaurants, as well as schools for under-16s, as other countries had them shuttered. But even Sweden's government now admits that this likely contributed to its high death toll of more than 5,800 people in the country of around 10 million. Almost half of those deaths occurred in Sweden's care homes for the elderly. While UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has insisted that likening the UK's new measures to Sweden's is a mischaracterization, a Downing Street spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the Prime Minister took advice from the architect of Sweden's response, Anders Tegnell, just two days before he announced his Swedish-style changes. "The Prime Minister canvassed a wide variety of scientific opinions over the weekend and on Sunday he took evidence from a number of scientists, which he used to formulate the package of measures he introduced," the spokesperson said. "It was an opportunity for people to give advice freely." Herd immunity debate resurfaces It's too soon to declare victory in Sweden, and even officials in the country are making clear they are not out of the woods. After a deadly spring and summer, the situation in Sweden appeared under control its infection rate is around 38 cases for every 100,000 people, EU data shows. In the UK, it's around 87 and in Spain it's 320. But there has been an uptick in Sweden in the past week, and Tegnell himself has conceded that authorities may now need to implement tighter restrictions at the local level and recommend mask-wearing in public areas, like shops, for the first time since the virus arrived something he has spoken out against doing for months. On Thursday last week, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described the increase in cases as "worrying." Sweden's Public Health Agency denied the country was backpedaling in its approach, saying in an email to CNN that it had always been prepared to advise the use of masks and impose restrictions in certain situations. But the recent interest in Sweden has marked a return to the debate on "herd immunity," the idea that if a certain percentage of your population is immune to a virus, the virus cannot transmit easily and will eventually die out. Scientists say that many viruses can be combated this way when 60-70% of a population is immune but that is usually achieved with a vaccine. A White House coronavirus taskforce member, Dr. Scott Atlas, has denied reports that he advocated adopting Sweden's model in the US or that he was a proponent of the "herd immunity" approach. But a senior administration official told CNN that all the policies Atlas had pushed for were in the vein of a herd immunity strategy. But research shows that even in hard-hit cities, like Stockholm, only around 15% of people tested positive to COVID-19 antibodies. In the US, less than 10% of people have tested positive, well short of herd immunity. How much proteccartion those antibodies give and for how long are also unknowns. During the pandemic, much of the talk about immunity has focused on antibodies, but researchers are also looking at T cells, which can fight a virus after infection and play a role in immunity, as well. One peer-reviewed study by researchers from Sweden's Karolinksa Institutet showed a higher than expected level of T-cell reaction in the blood samples of healthy people. They tested people with either mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, as well as healthy blood donors, as a control group. What was surprising was that T-cell reactions were seen in 30% of healthy blood donors who had no known history of COVID-19 infections. That's twice the rate of people who tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies in Stockholm. Researchers hope that these results mean there is much more immunity in the population that previously thought. Immunologist Cecilia Soderberg-Naucler, who is also from the Karolinska Institutet but did not work on the study, warned that there was no clear evidence yet that what was happening in test tubes was actually playing out in real life. In other words, no one knows for sure that having T cell reactions to the virus in your blood actually means they will help a person infected with the novel coronavirus. She also explained that even if the T cells did fight the virus, governments shouldn't allow Covid-19 to simply rip through the public in an attempt to build herd immunity. There are two reasons for that: It's not clear that past Covid-19 infections are even the reason T cells are reacting to the virus in test tubes. She pointed to another study that showed T cell reactions in 40 to 60% of samples from blood donors from 2018, long before the virus was presumably transmitted to humans for the first time. That suggests that something else perhaps past infections of similar viruses were causing this reaction, and possibly some immunity. "There are indications that there is something that has been present in the population before this virus came along, and the question is, does it help us?" she told CNN. She explained that T cells were like "trained soldiers" that have come across a threat before and are "recalled" when it faces the same or similar threat again. "That's what's happening in test tubes you recall the response and then react against SARS-Cov2, but if they have been trained to do that before the virus existed, they must have been trained by something else. That is why the argument is that there is most likely we have a 'cross immunity.' However, does that protect us? We have no idea." The second problem with letting the virus loose in populations is that, even if you protect the vulnerable, there could be long-term health consequences, Soderberg-Naucler said. "We know at least 10% of people are getting ill long-term, and five to six months after being infected, they still can't get out of bed. They can't function at work, they don't function in school," Soderberg-Naucler said. The X factor Until there is concrete evidence that immunity is truly building in Sweden, it's impossible to know what's behind its lower infection rates. There are societal factors that could be having an effect. More than 50% of Swedes live alone, for example, more than any other country in Europe. That could be significant, as several studies have shown that a high proportion of infections is spread between people within their homes. Sweden's cities are less dense than many in the UK and US, for example, yet there is no consensus on what role density plays in the spread of COVID-19. In Sweden, if you have even mild Covid symptoms, you are advised to self-isolate for a week. Whether you are a banker, teacher or bus driver, Sweden's strong social safety net means a person is paid either their full wages by their employer, or benefits by the state during this period. Imposing Sweden's model on the UK, with its different systems and cultural practices is risky, experts warned Friday. "We can see no merit in Sweden being held up as an example for us," said Dr. Gabriel Scully, part of Independent SAGE, a group of experts who have banded together to offer the public alternative advice to the government's official advisory body, known as SAGE. He called Sweden's approach "ineffective" and pointed out that the country's Nordic neighbors, like Finland and Norway, had more successful responses, with far fewer deaths. In a briefing, the group argued that the UK could be more vulnerable to the virus than Sweden if restrictions were kept loose. There are generally higher financial pressures in the UK. Residents spend more of their income on housing and unemployment benefits are lower, for example, which may influence people's risk-taking behavior. Air pollution, which studies show can be linked with the severity of infections, is much higher in the UK, the briefing notes. And as concerns are raised over outbreaks at schools, class sizes could be a factor, if social distancing is needed. The average class size in public primary schools in the UK is 27, while in Sweden, it's 20. And as Swedes are generally trusting of authorities, people there largely followed government guidelines and social behavior has changed voluntarily. According to Swedish government data, more than 80% of Swedes have been social distancing, are avoiding shaking hands and are washing their hands more often and thoroughly. Sixty percent of people have reduced their activities outside the home and are avoiding crowded places. Professor John Edmunds, who advises the government in its Covid response, said on Sky News that the measures Johnson announced last week were as dangerous as a "lorry speeding down a hill." But he told CNN that there were still some valuable lessons to take from Sweden. "There is much to learn from Sweden, from the benefits of adopting a consistent long-term strategy with allied stable messaging, to offering support to help people to do the right thing," he said. This story was first published on CNN.com "Some countries are eying Sweden's 'light-touch' Covid response. It's a gamble that could backfire" Nasa is still unable to find the source of a leak that is letting air out of the International Space Station. At a briefing on 28 September about the upcoming Northrop Grumman NG-14 Cygnus cargo mission, Nasa said that its investigation into the leak continues. It has already been searching for the cause of the leak for several weeks. As of this morning, there was no clear indication of where the leak is, said Greg Dorth, manager of the ISS Program External Integration Office at Nasa, said. The teams are still looking at the data and evaluating it. The crew of the ISS stayed in the Zvezda service module over the weekend, while other modules were opened and closed in order to identify which one had the leak, but to no avail. The module acted as the living quarters when permanent habitation of the space station began in 2000. The leak poses no risk to either the station or the people living on board, as the station can be repressurised using nitrogen tanks. Nasa astronaut Chris Cassidy reemphasised that point in a series of tweets before going into isolation in Zvezda. Strangely the data did not point us to any particular location. Yesterday and today, Anatoly and I have been checking all of the window seals (not #navyseals) for any indication of a leak using an ultrasonic leak detector, he tweeted on 24 September. So far no luck finding the source, but it looks like we will try again with the module isolation this weekend. No harm or risk to us as the crew, but it is important to find the leak we are not wasting valuable air. The leak first occurred in September 2019, but has remained a mystery to Nasa ever since. In the coming months, many cargo spacecrafts are scheduled to arrive at the station in the beginning of October. The NG-14 Cygnus cargo is expected to arrive at the station on 4 October; this marks the beginning of a very busy vehicle traffic month on ISS, Dorth said. By the end of October, the crew of the ISS will reach seven astronauts following docking with the a new Soyuz spacecraft and a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Singapore residents can report change of address online from Oct 1 From October 1, all Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents who need to report a change of residential address will be able to complete the process online, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). They can simply access the change of address e-Service on ICAs website using their SingPass, after which they will receive a unique PIN sent by mail to their new address. Applicants then enter the PIN via the e-Service to verify the new address, which will be updated within one working day in the databases of public agencies. A second mail containing a sticker bearing the new address will be mailed, and applications must affix the sticker to the back of their identity card (IC). In a press statement, ICA said the new e-Service will be available in the four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil). Singapore Residents residing in the same household can update their address with a single application. Infographic: ICA Under the National Registration Act, all identity card holders in Singapore are required to report a change of address within 28 days of moving into a new residence, regardless of whether the residence is located in or outside of Singapore. Currently this has to be done in person at a Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP), Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) or the ICA Building. They have to present their IC and documentary evidence of their new address, so as to change the address indicated on their IC. Those moving to or changing an overseas address need to email ICA to report the change. Actors Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha and Swara Bhasker have reacted to the death of Hathras gang-rape victim. While Richa wants justice for her, Kangana has called for drastic measures to curb such violence. Kangana wrote: Shoot these rapists publicly, what is the solution to these gang rapes that are growing in numbers every year? What a sad and shameful day for this country. Shame on us we failed our daughters. Richa too reacted to the news. She wrote: #JusticeForHathrasVictim everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators. #JusticeForHathrasVictim everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators. TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 29, 2020 Swara Bhasker retweeted a tweet by user who had asked in Hindi if the TV channels, who have been running breaking news on Rhea Chakraborty and Deepika Padukone, would give similar coverage to Hathras victim? She wrote categorically nahin (no) in Hindi. Yami Gautam wrote: Tried really hard to gather my thoughts before expressing my sorrow, anger & disgust. Its 2020 & still so many Nirbhayas have to give their lives. Cant imagine the pain she must have endured & her family. Praying for severe punishment & justice. The 19-year-old Dalit woman died at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday morning, days after being raped by four men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said. The family of the girl informed that she died around 3 am. The woman was shifted to a hospital in Delhi from Aligarh on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. Also read: Irrfan Khans wife Sutapa Sikdar reacts to photo of his grave looking like trash dumpster, asks Why should everything be exactly as per definition? The woman was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the AMUs Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. The accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have already been arrested. (With PTI inputs) Follow @htshowbiz on Twitter The wild rivers and lakes of California are not entirely wild. Each year, as many as 50 million trout are planted in the states waterways. A fish caught on a multiday backpacking adventure could easily have been raised in a hatchery outside of Los Angeles. In the Sierra Nevada, less than 1 percent of large lakes would naturally host trout. Now, thanks to a century of fish stocking, over 60 percent do. Earlier frontiersmen, miners and cattle drivers started planting trout in fish-less California waters as early as the late 1800s. Men would travel into the high country on horseback, lugging trout in 40-pound milk jugs to stock mountain lakes. Sporting groups followed, including the Sierra Club and, ultimately, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the late 1920s. As technology improved, fish brought in by horseback gave way to trucks and, in some cases, low-flying aircraft. Hatcheries provided a natural solution. Fishing licenses would fund the hatcheries, and fishermen would get their trout. To meet those demands, hatcheries try to produce as many fish as possible, which means at most facilities youll find thousands of fish swimming in densely packed concrete or aluminum channels known as raceways. But those close quarters often lead to illnesses. Lactococcus garvieae actually started at a Spanish trout hatchery in 1988. From there, the bacteria bounced around the world Italy, South Africa until arriving in the United States in the past decade. To date, only three other areas in the country have been hit with the bacteria, all hundreds or thousands of miles away from Mojave River. No one knows how it made it to a remote trout hatchery in California. What they do know is that, no matter where the bacteria arrived, no one has been able to control it. After making the decision to quarantine, Mr. Rowan and his colleagues looked to see if they could divert fish from other hatcheries to fulfill their stocking obligations. The natural choices were two hatcheries in the Owens River valley Fish Springs and Black Rock which hold about two million trout combined. Coincidentally, the hatcheries were conducting their annual test for viruses and infections. On June 25, the results came back. Positive for lactococcus garvieae. This story was originally published by Grist and has been republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, commentators were quick to lament the implications of her empty Supreme Court seat for abortion rights and gender equality. But theres another concern: our overheating planet. President Donald Trump has nominated 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett for Ginsburgs old spot. And some worry that a 63 conservative supermajority might mean that any policy to protect our planet from climate change will be struck down before it even gets started. Advertisement To state the obvious, a SCOTUS with a 6-3 conservative majority is going to strike down federal climate legislation of any ambition. It will probably also undercut several precedents that support *current* environmental laws & regulations. David Roberts (@drvox) September 21, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Environmentalists are facing a real minefield ahead, said Robert Percival, director of the environmental law program at the University of Maryland. I have just been so depressed. Advertisement Advertisement If Barrett and other conservative justices follow in Roberts footsteps, the outcome could be catastrophic. First, some facts: The Supreme Court cant just go around striking down legislation and a presidents executive orders left and right, but the court can make it much more difficult to implement laws or limit greenhouse gas emissions by: interpreting law narrowly, refusing to defer to institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency, and otherwise restricting presidential and congressional power. And now, with the potential for more conservative justices on the court than at any time in recent history, the odds that government actions survive Supreme Court scrutiny appear lower than ever. Barrett is a staunch conservative whos popular with the religious right. Not much is known about her environmental record, but if she follows in the footsteps of Trumps earlier appointments, she would join the conservative wing of the court in undermining existing environmental laws and blocking others. Advertisement One of the most important issues in environmental law is whether groupscities, states, and even young childrenhave the right to sue the government to take action on climate change. To have standing to sue, plaintiffs have to be able to prove a) that they have suffered some sort of harm, b) that injury is traceable to the action (or inaction) of the defendant, and c) that the result of the lawsuit would somehow rectify the damage done. Advertisement That poses a few problems for taking on the giant, global problem of climate change. A court tilted so far to the right might say that since climate change affects everyone, and global CO 2 emissions are hard to track and trace to particular defendants, a single state or city doesnt have standing to sue. Moreover, since no single action can truly solve climate change, conservative justices could argue that any lawsuit wouldnt rectify the harm caused, again demolishing plaintiffs standing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I call it the Goldilocks theory of standing, said Percival. If the harms arent big enough, then you cant sue, but if the harms are so big, then you cant sue because it affects everyone! Some justices on the court, like John Roberts and Clarence Thomas, are already skeptical of whether groups have the right to sue the government over climate change. In Massachusetts v. EPA, a 2007 Supreme Court case in which 12 states and several cities called on the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a 54 majority found that the plaintiffs did have standingbut only one of the justices in that majority is still serving on the court. Chief Justice John Roberts, currently the courts swing vote, wrote a scathing dissent, arguing that global warming was harmful to humanity at large and EPA regulation of greenhouse gases was unlikely to make a dent in the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Barrett and other conservative justices follow in Roberts footsteps, the outcome could be catastrophic. Litigation brought by states and by environmental groups is very importantfor instance, in holding Trumps feet to the fire, said Michael Gerrard, a professor of law at Columbia University. If these groups dont have the right to sue, then a hostile White House could gut more environmental laws and continue to ignore climate change, with nothing standing in its way. Back in 2014, foiled by Congress in his attempts to pass a sweeping climate change law, President Barack Obama turned to the EPA. The agency proposed the Clean Power Plan, which would have cut greenhouse gas emissions from the countrys power plants by 30 percent in 15 years. Advertisement It should have worked: The EPAs right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions had been confirmed in Massachusetts v. EPA. But the Clean Power Plan got held up in the courts, as over two dozen (mostly red) states sued to block it. The Supreme Court, in a highly unusual move, supported those states, halting enforcement of the plan while the lawsuit worked its way through the courts, and effectively hamstringing the regulation until the end of Obamas term. (Trump later replaced the rule entirely.) Advertisement Advertisement A superconservative court with Barrett on board would likely give similar treatment to any executive action taking on climate change, ruling that large-scale regulations on greenhouse gas emissions are a step too far under the EPAs authority. That could pose a huge problem for the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, who has promised to make the climate a centerpiece of his term if elected. Biden has pledged to get Americas electricity grid running purely on clean energy by 2035basically triple the ambition of Obamas plan. If Democrats dont take control of the Senate (a toss-up at the moment), he would have to try to muscle regulation through the EPA. And that probably wouldnt end well. Advertisement Theres at least one path to sweeping, Green New Dealesque climate action. The best-case scenario starts with Congress actually passing a bill, Gerrard said: Most of the litigation about climate change law that gets to the Supreme Court is on interpreting ambiguous statutes. But if Congress and the president adopt climate legislation and leave little room for interpretation, that wont leave much space for the Supreme Court to strike it down. Even that comes with caveats. According to Percival, theres a growing movement among conservative justices for expanding what is known as the nondelegation doctrine, through which laws can be struck down if they seem to hand too much power to executive agencies. That means if, say, Congress passes a law regulating greenhouse gas emissions but leaves it up to the EPA to parse out some of the details, the court could quash it. You could see the court basically striking down some major environmental statutes, Percival said. So if the Biden administration gets a clean energy law through Congress, it would have to be extremely detailed and avoid leaving too much for agencies to decide. Otherwise, it likely wouldnt survive a challenge that winds up in front of the Supreme Court. Gerrard is still hopeful that, given the right conditions, legislation that passes the Senate and the House could hold up even under superconservative court scrutiny. If the laws are clear and unambiguous and specific enough, he said, Congress ties the hands of the courts. Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said the Akufo-Addo-led government has spent GH27 billion on the implementation of key social interventions since assuming office in 2017. These programmes included the roll-out of the Free Senior High School policy, restoration of the teacher/nursing trainee allowances, the Nation Builders Corps, and provision of free water and electricity for lifeline consumers for six months amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Mahama-led administration could not raise GH70 million to pay for the teacher/nursing trainee allowances, he said. Dr Bawumia made the remarks on Tuesday at a durbar of teachers and artisans at Metaheko/Flamingo in the Ablekuma Central Constituency of the Greater Accra Region to begin his four-day tour of the Region. He said Ghanaians were witnessing much better governance and leadership under President Akufo-Addo with the cedi depreciating by only two per cent this year amid COVID-19 pandemic and an election year. He cited the restoration of the teacher/nursing trainee allowances, implementation of the Free Senior High School policy for which government pays GHc2.2 billion annually, payment of GHc21 billion to 4.6 million depositors whose funds were locked up in the banking sector clean-up, and provision of infrastructure such as roads, libraries, classroom blocks, and health facilities. The government, he said, had recruited 90,000 teachers since assuming office in 2017. The Vice President further explained that in view of the fulfillment of about 80 per cent of the NPP 2016 electioneering campaign promises with more ongoing projects, Ghanaians could trust the government with four more years to deliver more developmental projects. Dr Bawumia outlined some policies and programmes the Akufo-Addo-led government intended to implement when given the nod in the December 7 elections. They included the National Transport Recapitalization Scheme, Leasing programme to enable commercial drivers own new vehicles, Tertiary Loan Scheme for university students to receive loans and pay it after completion of school, and National Rent Allowance Scheme for workers to rent decent accommodation and later deducted from their salaries. The teachers and artisans asked government to provide stimulus package for private schools to cushion them against the COVID-19 pandemic, employ graduate teachers, and ensure that the One-Student, One-Laptop policy was fulfilled. Vice President Bawumia, responding to their requests, said President Akufo-Addo had directed the Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, to look at the COVID-19 Alleviation Fund and find support for the private schools. In addition, government wanted to find a local manufacturer to produce laptop computers in the country so that every teacher and student could get one each. Dr Bawumia said government would provide free internet service to all senior high schools, 46 colleges of education and 260 education offices across the country by the end of the year. Some dignitaries in the Vice Presidents Team were Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Anthony Abeyifa Karbo, Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Saad Habib, Member of Parliament for Bortianor,Ngleshie/Amanfrom, and Mr Sylvester Tetteh, CEO of the National Youth Authority and NPP parliamentary candidate for Bortianor/Ngleshie/Amanfrom. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Dodgers are long gone from Brooklyn. And so is Schaefer Beer, once a top-selling brand and a team sponsor that was brewed there. (It also sponsored the Mets.) The brand hung around longer than the Brooklyn Dodgers, with different owners in different locations. In the 1970s, the F.&M. Schaefer Brewing Company opened a new plant in Pennsylvania, and subsequently closed its other breweries, including the one in Brooklyn. All the while, Schaefer kept its slogan, the one beer to have when youre having more than one, with a jingle thats an ear worm for the ages. And now Pabst, the brands current owner, has brought it back to New York, though not Brooklyn, having it brewed by F.X. Matt in Utica. Schaefer is reformulated, with a classy new label but the same slogan. Its a deep gold lager, 3.8 percent A.B.V., and likably mellow. Schaefer Beer, 12-ounce bottles, $4 each, $11 for six, originalschaefercompany.com, taprm.com. Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. By Trend I sincerely thank our Gazi Mejlis for the sincere and decisive support of Azerbaijan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote about this on his Twitter page, Trend reports. Personally on my own behalf and on behalf of our people, I thank our political parties, whose signatures are under this joint statement, which strongly confirms that Turkey is always close to Azerbaijan, Erdogan wrote. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz TDT | Manama Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani held yesterday a video conference with his counterpart from the Republic of Rwanda, Dr. Vincent Biruta. During the meeting, they discussed friendship and joint co-operation relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Rwanda, and the efforts exerted to further develop these relations at all levels. They stressed the importance of promoting bilateral co-operation in all areas to serve the common interests of the two friendly countries and people. They also discussed the regional challenges threatening regional security and stability, in addition to a number of topics of common concern. The meeting was also attended by the assistant undersecretary for Western Countries and Afro-Asian Affairs, Ambassador Tawfeeq Ahmed Almansoor, and the ambassador of Bahrain to the UAE, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. The rate of Covid-19 in Cork is "rising fast" with one in five cases now linked to pubs and restaurants. The county recorded a further 27 cases today, bringing to 364 the total in Cork over the last fortnight, with Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn saying the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is now "very worried". Dr Glynn confirmed 70 of those cases are linked to pubs and restaurants. He says he is not focused on moving Cork to Level Three restrictions, similar to Donegal and Dublin, but government sources have cautioned that the county could be up for consideration as early as Friday. Dr Glynn said the prospect of Cork city being locked down but the rest of the county remaining in Level Two could happen, as NPHET "continues to evolve its approach" to assessing local areas. Refusal to speculate Michael O'Donovan, a publican in Cork city and chairman of the local branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, said it is disappointing to hear that 70 cases are linked to pubs and restaurants and he expressed concerns that pubs will once again be forced to close. He highlighted that 'wet pubs' are only open since last Monday and many of the 70 cases could be linked to establishments serving food. "We're asking people to please be vigilant and to follow the guidelines because if we don't, we don't want to be returning to a situation like in Dublin and Donegal where the bars could end up closing again," he said. Dr Glynn reminded the people of Cork that there is more work to be done to stop the spread of the virus. "I don't speculate on the need for additional measures. If additional measures are needed, that will be a recommendation made by NPHET on Thursday. "The reason we highlight counties is that people can take a bit of additional action to try to avoid a situation where additional measures aren't required." Dr Glynn said there had been a relaxation of distancing, saying that it was the "single biggest thing that people can do". "There are no new messages - but one, in particular, is that people need to keep their distance." Dr Ronan Glynn said that there would be "no vaccine, no treatment and no gamechanger" for the next six months, but he did not believe that despite the lack of an alternative plan to the government framework that "we are doomed". The government's plan reflects that we will have to live with this for six to nine months. It's not an easy message for people to hear, but the vast majority of our economy is open. " I don't believe there is an alternative strategy as things stand. But things can change." An additional 390 cases of Covid-19 were reported tonight, with 209 of these cases in Dublin. There has now been a total of 35,377 confirmed cases in Ireland. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. (TSXV:PINK)(FSE:4PC), a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address areas of high unmet medical need, announced today that Jeremy Sobotta, Perimeter's President and CFO will present a company overview at the Gravitas Healthcare Investor Day on Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. ET. The live presentation will be webcast and may be accessed on Perimeter's website under the "Investors" section at https://ir.perimetermed.com/. This year's Gravitas Healthcare Investor Day will feature several leaders in healthcare and will be attended virtually by institutional and retail investors from North America and abroad. For additional details about the conference and Gravitas Securities Inc., please visit: www.gravitassecurities.com Conference Details: Event: Gravitas Healthcare Investor Day (virtual) Date: Thursday, October 1, 2020 Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET Registration: Register by clicking here About Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. Perimeter Medical Imaging AI (TSXV:PINK; FSE:4PC) is a Toronto-based company with U.S. headquarters in Dallas, Texas that is developing, with plans to commercialize, advanced imaging tools that allow surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists to visualize microscopic tissue structures during a clinical procedure. Perimeter's OTIS platform is a point-of-care imaging system that provides clinicians with real-time, ultra-high-resolution, sub-surface image volumes of the margin (1-2 mm below the surface) of an excised tissue specimen. The ability to visualize microscopic tissue structures during a clinical procedure in addition to standard of care tissue assessment for decision making during the procedure has the potential to result in better long-term outcomes for patients and lower costs to the healthcare system. Perimeter's OTIS platform is cleared by FDA as an imaging tool in the evaluation of excised human tissue microstructure by providing two-dimensional, cross-sectional, real-time depth visualization, with image review manipulation software for identifying and annotating regions of interest. In addition, Perimeter is developing advanced artificial intelligence/machine learning image assessment tools intended to increase the efficiency of review. Perimeter's ticker symbol "PINK" is a reference to the pink ribbons used during Breast Cancer Awareness Month by the Canadian Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society, driving home the company's dedication to helping surgeons, radiologists and pathologists use Perimeter's imaging technology and AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the fight against breast cancer, which is estimated to account for 30% of all female cancer diagnoses this year. CONTACT: Jodi Regts Corporate Communications / Investor Relations Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. +1 778-999-5634 media@perimetermed.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Perimeter Medical Imaging View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608210/Perimeter-Medical-Imaging-AI-to-Present-at-the-Virtual-Gravitas-Healthcare-Investor-Day Representative image Bengaluru-based banking tech company Zeta has appointed Abhishek Sen as its chief operating officer, the company said in a press note today. Along with his role at Zeta, Sen will also be leading the operations for Flock and Radix as their Chief Operating Officer and will be working closely with the teams of these independently run companies. Zeta provides a full-stack cloud native banking platform for banks and fintechs. Zeta is part of the Directi Group co-founded by serial entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia. Sen has more than 16 years of experience in human resource management, operations and leadership development, the company said. Prior to Zeta, he was associated with Myntra. Previously he held multiple roles at Aon working across various geographies and practices. Sen has also worked with SAP Labs, Britannia as a human resource professional. He has a post graduate degree from XLRI, Jamshedpur and is a certified technical accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Zeta is growing rapidly and expanding to new markets across the globe. It is an exciting time for us and as a seasoned business leader, I am confident that Abhishek will drive the next phase of growth for Zeta, said Bhavin Turakhia, Co-founder & CEO of Zeta. Toby Antony By Express News Service The NIAs probe against Thodupuzha native Subahani Haja Moideen not only ended in the latters conviction, but also helped the agency bolster its ties with security and police agencies in the European Union (EU), especially France. NIA officials, including A P Shoukat Ali who investigated the case against Subahani, were hosted by French agencies to share information about the November 2015 Paris attack. This happened after Subahani allegedly told the NIA that he had seen some persons involved in the attack, including Abdel Hamid, Abdesalam and Mohammad Usman, at his camp in Mosul during his stay there from April to September 2015. Subahani had been working for the IS regiment Omer-Kathi-Kaliph, whose commander was one Abu Sulaimani Al Francisse. Subahani told the NIA that the persons had come to see Sulaimani.The information was shared with the French authorities who invited the NIA officials to Paris in April 2017. Later, the French authorities probing the Paris attacks requested to interview Subahani and later visited the Viyyur jail, where Subahani was lodged, in December 2018. Subahani did not cooperate with the French team and refused to divulge anything. However, NIA shared all other details with France, said a source. After the NIA teams visited Paris, a joint workshop on counter-terrorism was held in New Delhi in 2017 and since 2018, the platform has been expanded with NIA conducting annual workshops with agencies in the EU every December. Officers representing top agencies in EU countries attend the workshops. DECATUR A Decatur police unit that targets street violence, illegal weapons and drug sales arrested a man on multiple charges after he had earlier fled from officers in a car chase that reached speeds of more than 90 mph on city streets. A sworn affidavit said the chase happened on the night of Sept. 19 and police found and arrested the 27-year-old suspect at 4:56 a.m. Monday in the 2000 block of North Lowber Street. He was jailed on preliminary charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition, possession of cocaine and aggravated fleeing and eluding; all preliminary charges are subject to review by the state attorneys office. Watch now: Decatur police chief looks to counter gun violence, keeping officers accountable Describing a recent spike in Decatur gun violence and murder as unacceptable, the citys police chief told council members what he intends to do about it while also safeguarding the lives and civil rights of those who find themselves confronted by police. Writing in the affidavit, Officer Philip Ganley said members of the police Community Action Team, or CAT, had first seen the man on the night of the chase acting suspiciously while driving a Mazda sport utility vehicle. Ganley said police had encountered the man in the 2000 block of North Edward Street and, as soon as the man realized police were watching, he abruptly pulled to the curb and extinguished its headlights." Ganley said the man got out of the vehicle and was walking away as police drove by but, when they rounded the block to come back, his vehicle was gone. CAT members soon located it speeding along near the intersection of West Olive and North College streets and Ganley said police tried to pull it over for driving too fast. The Mazda fled from officers at a high rate of speed, reaching speeds in excess of 70mph while southbound on North Union (30mph residential zone), and speeds in excess of 90mph while westbound on W. Grand Avenue from North Union (35mph zone), Ganley added. CAT officers found the vehicle abandoned in the 1400 block of West Waggoner Street and saw two men fleeing between houses. Ganley said they caught one of them who confessed he had been a passenger in the car and the suspect had been the driver. Ganley said police found a digital scale and parts of a scale in the car, both with cocaine residue on them. They also seized an empty 9mm extended handgun magazine plus a .45 caliber handgun magazine that was loaded with ammunition and they found a box of .45 caliber bullets. A check of Macon County Circuit Court records shows the man was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to charges that included being a felon in possession of a weapon. He also has a 2018 conviction for possession of illegal drugs. The man remained held in the Macon County Jail Tuesday with his bail set at $75,000, meaning he must post $7,500 to bond out. Mug shots from the Herald & Review Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) Major airline companies have announced they will resume flights to Boracay via Caticlan, in time for the resumption of the island's tourism industry on October 1. The Philippine Airlines on Tuesday said the first flight from Manila to Boracay, PR 2041, will depart at 11:10 a.m. on October 1, and will arrive at Caticlan airport in Aklan at 12:10 p.m. Returning flight will leave at 12:55 p.m. and will arrive Manila at 1:55 p.m, the flag carrier said in its statement. There also will be flights scheduled on Oct. 4, 9, and 11, which will pave the way for a regular twice weekly Manila-Caticlan-Manila schedule operating every Friday and Sunday from October 16 onwards, with the same timings, it said. PAL said this aims to support the governments effort to revive the island's tourism industry. Meanwhile, AirAsia announced it will also gradually resume flights to Caticlan beginning October 2. The first flight from Manila will leave at 12:35 p.m., and will arrive in Caticlan at 1:40 p.m, the airline said in its statement. AirAsia also plans to increase the flight frequency to the destination to three times a week every Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays starting October 11. The government said tourists from areas under general community quarantine will be allowed to enter Boracay island starting Thursday this week, but certain health protocols will have to be followed. These include a negative polymerase chain reaction test result two to three days before travel. READ: Traveling to Boracay? What you need to know ahead of islands opening to more locals AirAsia also advised guests to prepare a health declaration card, which can be accessed through Aklans government website. Prior to this, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases allowed tourists of all ages only from Western Visayas to visit Boracay as a way to slowly reopen its tourism industry. DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent Insurance Group (IIG), an innovative insurer whose mission is to improve the lives of victims of serious injury and those who serve them, announced today that George Luecke has been hired as President & Chief Strategy Officer. His duties will include setting IIG's strategic direction as well as overseeing initiatives to enhance IIG's market presence and operations. "We're pleased to bring George onto the Independent Insurance Group team," shared Michael Upchurch, Chairman of the Board of IIG. "His broad and deep experience within the insurance industry will facilitate IIG's expansion and enhance our ability to deliver exceptional value to our clients and other important stakeholders." Luecke has 25 years of experience in multi-disciplinary roles in the insurance and reinsurance industries. During his career, he has served as an executive at long-established insurance companies, such as MetLife, in addition to entrepreneurial start-ups. Prior to directly joining the insurance industry, he was an investment banker specializing in mergers, acquisitions and capital solutions for insurance and reinsurance clients, first at Merrill Lynch and later at Bank of America. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he began his career as a corporate attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City. "I am thrilled to be a part of Independent Insurance Group," said Luecke. "IIG is an innovative insurance group backed by LKCM Headwater Investments, a prominent private equity firm. I look forward to helping them build upon the foundation they have created and joining them on their exciting trajectory." Jacob Smith, a Partner with LKCM Headwater Investments and Principal, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Luther King Capital Management added, "This is one of many positive developments on the horizon for Independent Insurance Group. With the combination of our LKCM Headwater Investments resources and the highly experienced IIG management team leading the way, we believe that IIG is poised for continued growth and success." ABOUT INDEPENDENT INSURANCE GROUP Independent Insurance Group, LLC is an insurance holding company whose principal operating subsidiaries are involved in the sale, issuance and administration of structured settlement annuities. IIG's operating subsidiaries include Independent Life Insurance Company, an underwriter of single premium annuities for the structured settlement market, Independent Assignment Company a qualified assignment company for structured settlements, Delta Settlements Insurance Services, a settlement planning and structured settlement brokerage firm, and Independent Service Company, an administrative service company. For additional details, please visit www.independent.life. ABOUT LKCM HEADWATER LKCM Headwater Investments is a Texas-based private equity firm that partners with management teams to build highly successful companies. LKCM Headwater Investments is affiliated with Luther King Capital Management, an SEC-registered investment firm established in 1979 with over $18.1B of AUM, 50 investment and other professionals and 84 employees*. LKCM's proven investment discipline centers on a long-term focus of investing in well-managed companies that demonstrate an ability to re-invest cash flows into high return investment opportunities. For additional details, please visit www.lkcm.com and www.lkcmheadwater.com. *As of 6.30.2020 SOURCE Independent Insurance Group Related Links http://www.independent.life Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for coronavirus and is under home quarantine, Tamil Nadu has extended the ongoing lockdown till 31 October, India's recovery rate has crossed 83%; the latest covid-19 updates from India India is faring better than many developed nations in all parameters of COVID-19, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday as he highlighted the "continuously rising" recovery rate and "progressively falling" fatality rate in the country. Vardhan's comments come on a day when daily COVID-19 cases in India dropped below 75,000 and less than 1,000 deaths were reported for the first time in nearly a month. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, who underwent a routine COVID-19 test, tested positive on Tuesday. Naidu is asymptomatic and has been advised to home quarantine, as per his official Twitter handle. His wife Usha Naidu has tested negative but is in self-isolation. The total coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 61,45, 291 with 70,589 new infections, while the toll reached 96,318 after 776 people succumbed to the disease in the past 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The total recoveries surged to 51,01,397 pushing the recovery rate to 83.01 percent, said Vardhan lauding efforts by the citizens and the government to curb the pandemic. The health ministry said that the sustained high level of recoveries have led to a further widening of the gap between active and recovered cases. "Recovered cases exceed the active cases by more than 41.5 lakh (41,53,831). The recovered cases are 5.38 times the active cases. The recoveries are consistently rising," the ministry underlined. There are 9,47,576 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently, which is "merely" 15.42 percent of the total caseload and "is consistently declining". The daily new recovered cases again exceeded the new infections, the ministry said. Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till 31 Oct The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday extended the ongoing lockdown till 31 October with more relaxations and put on hold its earlier order permitting students from Classes 10 to 12 to voluntarily attend school from 1 October. The government had earlier decided to allow students to go to school on voluntary basis to discuss their doubts with teachers. However, it rolled back the decision following opposition from parents who had expressed concerns due to the prevailing coronavirus situation. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu with 5,546 new COVID-19 cases, inched towards a tally of six lakh, while the toll moved closer to the 10,000 mark with 70 more fatalities. The state's recovery rate was above 90.50 percent while the mortality rate was at 1.60 percent Sero-survey 2.0: 6.6% of populace may be exposed to virus The Indian Council of Medical Research has released the findings of a second Sero-Survey conducted at the end of August to find out the prevalence of the virus in the general population. The survey, conducted in 70 districts across 21 states, shows that 6.6 percent of the total population could be exposed to the virus. The prevalence of the virus is higher in urban areas. In urban slums, the exposure is 15.6 percent and in non-slum areas, the exposure is over 8 percent according to the survey. The results imply that over 90 percent of India's population still remained susceptible to the virus, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR told the media. 'India's Feluda cheaper, faster alternative to RT-PCR' More accurate than a rapid antigen test and almost as quick, India's CRISPR Feluda COVID-19 test, which changes colour on detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, could be a cheaper, faster and simpler alternative to an RT-PCR diagnosis, say scientists. Named after Satyajit Ray's famed detective, the Feluda test, which is priced at Rs 500 and can deliver a result in 45 minutes, is able to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses even if genetic variations between them are minute. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) Feluda test, developed by the New Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and the TATA Group, received regulatory approvals last week from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for commercial launch. It meets high quality benchmarks with 96 percent sensitivity and 98 percent specificity for detecting the novel coronavirus, Debojyoti Chakraborty, a senior scientist at CSIR-IGIB and part of the team that developed the test, told PTI. Sensitivity is defined as the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals with the disease, while specificity is the ability of the assay to accurately identify those without the disease. Similar to a pregnancy strip test, Feluda changes colour if the virus is detected and doesn't need expensive machines for detection. Delhi records 3,227 new cases, tally crosses 2.76 lakh The National Capital reported 48 COVID-19 fatalities on Tuesday, the highest in over 70 days, pushing the toll to 5,320, while the infection tally rose to over 2.76 lakh with 3,227 more people contracting the viral disease, authorities said. This is the highest number of deaths reported in a day since 16 July when the city recorded 58 fatalities. However, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said that even though the city may have recorded more COVID-19 cases in September as compared to June, but the number of deaths due to the disease was "less than one-third" of what it was three months ago. He also said the health authorities in the National Capital have been conducting RTPCR tests on every symptomatic person. On 26 September, Delhi had recorded 46 deaths, 42 the next day and 37 on 28. The 3,227 fresh cases reported on Tuesday came out of the 59,102 tests conducted the previous day. Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally rose to 13,66,129 on Tuesday with the addition of 14,976 new cases, the state health department said. As many as 430 more patients succumbed to the infection, taking the fatality count in the state to 36,181, it said. Also, 19,212 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, raising the tally of recovered people to 1,069,159, the department said. Centre releases 'safe workplace' guidelines Vardhan, along with Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment released a booklet on 'COVID-19- Safe Workplace Guidelines for Industry' through a virtual platform. "These guidelines will help in the welfare of industrial workers. The guidelines act as comprehensive planning guidance for employers and workers to help identify risk levels of COVID-19 at individual workplace settings in their premises and to determine appropriate control measures," the health minister was quoted as saying in a statement by his ministry. "Scientific prevention, precaution and positive attitude will help us in our fight against coronavirus. These guidelines will provide guidance for assessment, categorization and mitigation of risk related to varied work-related exposures to COVID-19 and contingency plan," he said. These guidelines consolidate all important measures into a ready reckoner of action points to make workplace safe based on the bulwark of infection control measures like respiratory hygiene, frequent hand washing, social distancing and frequent sanitization of the workplace. Gangwar said, "These guidelines for the safety of industrial workers will encourage people. It is important to prepare ourselves mentally for the present situation and spread awareness about COVID-appropriate behaviour." With inputs from PTI Anyone doing business in the U.S. knows the stretch from Monterrey, Mexico, through San Antonio and up to Austin is booming with opportunity. Austins tech scene is remaking the skyline as San Antonio sees impressive manufacturing growth. The culture-rich lifestyles in both the Live Music Capital of the World and the Alamo City are assets that make the region among the most prosperous in the country. The astronomical in-migration numbers summarize that story: More than a half-million people moved to the region in the past five years. A mass of strong industry clusters has developed, like the regions complex and mature automotive manufacturing cell with anchor companies such as Toyota, Aisin, Navistar and now Tesla. It has leading-edge research and development organizations such as the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics and the Southwest Research Institute, which has had more space missions than NASA. Texas capital has the hottest tech scene outside the Bay Area. But the real story the big secret that sets the corridor ahead of other boomtowns are collaboration and the U.S. military. The corridor possesses a host of regional defense assets and is looking to leverage those as it competes for the home of the Air Force Space Command. San Antonio and Austin are two cities where business knows how to work with the military. Innovative thinking, a pioneering attitude, and the ability to collaborate have given the corridor an advantage in creating, distributing and improving products. The region is home to one of the nations largest and most valuable military installations, Joint Base San Antonio, or JBSA, including major headquarters for Air Force Cyber Command and Army Medicine. JBSA has more active runways than any other installation and the only Defense Department Level 1 trauma center in the country. Its no surprise that the University of Texas at San Antonio developed a National Security Collaboration Center to engage government, industry which includes Accenture, Booz Allen, Cisco, Dell, Noblis, Raytheon and USAA and academia to predict and overcome the nations cyberthreats. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday The corridors resources provide the infrastructure, health care such as UT Health San Antonio, Center for the Intrepid and the Dell Medical School workforce and network for collaborative ventures to succeed. Two incredible real estate assets Port San Antonio and Brooks, former military installations are perfectly positioned to accommodate private and defense operations. Boeing maintains the Air Force C-17 and executive fleet, among others, at Port San Antonio, where it also leads platform upgrades to connected capabilities for the Navys F/A-18 SLM, which is more than just an aircraft modification it is a prime and leading example of the platform integration that the armed forces will continue. Port San Antonio is also home to StandardAero, the company handling the C-130 engine. The first U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine started in New York, but it came to another unique property Brooks shortly thereafter, where pioneering medical innovations for several space programs were made. These properties are just a sample of the available opportunity. In San Antonio and Austin alone, there are more than 300,000 military veterans 12 percent more than other regions of this size. Affordability and quality of life make the corridor attractive relative to locations in Northern Virginia and Colorado. Just over two years ago, the Army Futures Command selected Austin for its tech and startup scene. The headquarters is downtown in space accessible to the business community and the University of Texas at Austin. The future of defense is alive in the capital of Texas. Among other assets, the corridor sits on the backbone of the least-regulated and most business-friendly state in the nation. If its a secret, youre just not paying attention. The corridor is primed to support the missions of tomorrow. Gary Farmer is president of Heritage Title and chair of Opportunity Austin. Michael Lynd Jr. is CEO of Kairoi Residential and a member of the executive committee of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. Close to 100 per cent increase in recoveries has been witnessed in India in the past month, Union said on Tuesday. The ministry also informed that over 82 per cent of the total patients have been recovered and discharged. "India has witnessed close to 100 per cent increase in recoveries in the past month. More than 82 per cent of total cases (exceeding 50 lakhs) recovered and discharged. Active cases (lower than 10 lakhs) a small proportion (less than 1/5th) of total cases," Ministry of Health and Family Welfare tweeted. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) P Hareesh By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh is partially complying with three of the six Supreme Court directives on police reforms, totally complying with two, and has failed to comply with one, a study by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) said. The Supreme Court had given six directives to be implemented by the States constitute a State Security Commission (SSC), ensure that the DGP is appointed through a merit-based transparent process with a minimum tenure of two years, ensure police officers on operational duties are provided a minimum tenure of two years, separate investigation and law and order functions, set up Police Establishment Board and set up a Police Complaints Authority. The CHRI, an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation headquartered in New Delhi, assessed the implementation of the reform directives by the States. Andhra Pradesh partially implemented the first directive constitution of SSC to ensure that the State government does not exercise unwarranted influence on the police. The parameters for assessing the compliance were the constitution of the SSC, inclusion of the leader of Opposition, inclusion of an independent panel, binding to the recommendations of the SSC and placing the annual report before the Legislature. AP complied with the first three of them while it did not comply with the parameters to have independent members in the SSC and submitting an annual report to the Legislature. Of the 28 States, Andhra Pradesh is the only one which partially complied with the directive, while the remaining 27 are non-compliant, the CHRI said. AP, apart from 16 other States, included independent members in the SSC, but did not appoint an independent selection panel for appointments. The CHRI also found that AP and Karnataka are the only States which made the recommendations of the SSC binding. With respect to the second directive ensuring that the DGP is appointed through shortlisting by UPSC, ensuring two years minimum tenure and no premature removal (of the DGP) if States do not categorically lay down the grounds of removal as stated by the court AP complied with the first two, but failed to follow the third. The overall compliance to the directive is partial. Total of 18 States, including AP, did not include the provision to consult the SSC in the decision to remove the DGP, the CHRI noted. AP complied with the third directive of ensuring minimum two years of tenure to officers on operational duties, including SPs and SHOs. AP along with 11 other States has failed to comply with the directive of separating investigation and law and order functions. With respect to the constitution of Police Establishment Board, AP and four other States complied with it partially. AP fully complied with the sixth directive, setting up of a Police Complaints Authority. Key highlights: 11 successful discovery holes were drilled on the Kaukua South extension-each contain magmatic sulphide mineralization, and rush assay results are pending. Major discovery increases mineralized strike length from 600 m to 4 km at Kaukua South. Drilling validates potential to significantly increase existing NI 43-101 pit constrained resources and confirms the Kaukua South Induced Polarization ("IP") chargeability anomaly is the result of magmatic sulfides. Due to near surface mineralization, more holes than planned were drilled, enabling modelling of potential tonnages across the four-kilometer mineralized strike length of Kaukua South. The width (drilled core length) of mineralized intercepts ranges from 15 m to 100 m. Palladium is more valuable than gold and has a range-bound price approximately US$400 per ounce higher than gold. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Palladium One Mining Inc. (TSXV: PDM) (FSE: 7N11) (OTC Pink: NKORF) (the "Company" or "Palladium One"). Initial visual results from the resumed diamond drill exploration program at the LK Project in Finland demonstrate that Kaukua South is comprised of the same host rocks and indicates that it is the fault displaced extension of the Kaukua Deposit. Multiple discoveries of magmatic sulfide mineralization have been outlined, and preliminary indications are that Kaukua South could be several times the size of the NI 43-101 Kaukua Open Pit Resource. That resource currently has 526,000 ounces of palladium equivalent ounces at 1.8 g/t in the indicated category and 636,000 ounces of palladium equivalent ounces at 1.5 g/t in the inferred category. "We are very excited to report this major new discovery, and are processing assays on a rush basis," said Derrick Weyrauch, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The Kaukua South strike extension is exceptionally significant because it has shallow disseminated sulfide mineralization the same as Kaukua and points to the footprint of a large-scale mineral system," said Dr. Peter C. Lightfoot, one of Palladium One Mining's directors and a globally recognized expert in magmatic precious metal and nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide ore deposits. Dr. Lightfoot also stated, "LK is shaping up to potentially be the largest palladium dominant open pit project in a best in class mining jurisdiction, globally." "Advanced planning for a Phase II resource definition drill program is underway, we will drill on a 100-meter spaced grid along the four-kilometer mineralized strike extent of Kaukua South." stated Derrick Weyrauch Investor Update Webinar Please join Derrick Weyrauch, CEO, and Neil Pettigrew, Vice President Exploration on October 1, 2020 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada), 4:00 PM (GMT+2) to discuss the interim results from the Company's Phase I exploration drilling program in the Greater Kaukua Area. Date: October 1, 2020 Time: 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada), 4:00 PM (GMT+2) Registration link: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/gfryyqah After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Questions may be asked during the webinar orally or via the webinar chat function. A replay will be made available on the Palladium One Mining Inc. website at http://www.palladiumoneinc.com Summary: Drilling has extended magmatic sulfide mineralization in Kaukua South more than 3 km east of hole LK20-006 which returned 63.4 m at 1.88 g/t palladium equivalent (Pd_Eq)*, within 166.7m @ 1.16 g/t Pd_Eq (see news release dated August 11, 2020). Historic drilling returned 33 m at 1.9 g/t Pd_Eq (KAU-08-035) 600 m west of LK20-006, thereby demonstrating a mineralized strike length of approximately 4 km (Figure 1). of hole LK20-006 which returned palladium equivalent (Pd_Eq)*, within 166.7m @ 1.16 g/t Pd_Eq (see news release dated August 11, 2020). Historic drilling returned (KAU-08-035) 600 of LK20-006, thereby demonstrating (Figure 1). 11 holes were drilled on the Kaukua South IP chargeability anomaly (see news release dated August 10, 2020) during the resumed drill program, all of which intersected magmatic sulfide mineralization (Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). Step out drilling, consisting of five sections with at least two holes per section , indicates Kaukua South shallows and comes to surface, along the three-kilometer extension. , indicates Kaukua South along the three-kilometer extension. Disseminated to blebby (1-5%) magmatic sulfides consisting of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite with local veins of remobilized massive sulfide occur within intercepts ranging from 15 m to 100 m (drilled core length). (drilled core length). Sulphide mineralization and variable- to chaotic-textured mafic-ultramafic rock types are the same as the host rocks at the Kaukua Open Pit NI 43-101 deposit. Kaukua South is now interpreted to be the fault displaced extension of the Kaukua Deposit. The average true-width mineralized core at Kaukua is approximately 30 m, and preliminary indications suggest that similar core mineralized true-widths also occur in Kaukua South. * Palladium equivalent Palladium equivalent is calculated using US$1,100 per ounce for palladium, US$950 per ounce for platinum, US$1,300 per ounce for gold, US$6,614 per tonne for copper, and US$15,4332 per tonne for nickel. Phase 1 Drill Program Update The Company continues to log and sample the drill core from the recently completed drilling program. Fourteen holes totalling 2,566 m were completed during the resumed program in August and September, bringing the total Phase I exploration drilling program to 26 holes totalling 4,490 m. First assay results are expected with in the next few weeks and will be released as they are received. Figure 1 This figure shows the greater Kaukua Area, the NI 43-101 compliant Kaukua Open Pit deposit, Murtolampi and Kaukua South zones. The new drill defined three-kilometer eastern extension of the Kaukua South zone is shown with the resumed Phase I drill holes labelled in red. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/64766_f4fe2191f4cdca5b_001full.jpg Figure 2 Kaukua South extension chalcopyrite-rich magmatic sulfide from 6 different holes from the resumed Phase I exploration drill program. Pictures A, B, C & D are typical Kaukua-type disseminated to blebby chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite magmatic sulfides, ranging from 1-5% averaging around 2%, hosted in gabbroic and pyroxenitic rocks. Pictures D and E are remobilized magmatic sulfides, which can occur as massive chalcopyrite-rich veins. To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/64766_f4fe2191f4cdca5b_002full.jpg Figure 3 Kaukua South Long section showing the greater than 1% magmatic sulphide isoshell derived from visual inspection of down hole percent sulfide from drill logs. Resumed Phase I diamond drill holes are labelled in red. To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/64766_f4fe2191f4cdca5b_003full.jpg Figure 4 Kaukua South Long section showing IP Chargeability isoshells and down hole logged sulfide percentages, resumed Phase I drill holes labelled in red. To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/64766_f4fe2191f4cdca5b_004full.jpg Figure 5 Kaukua South cross section, looking west showing holes LK20-017, 18 and 22 with down hole visual sulfide percentages. To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/64766_f4fe2191f4cdca5b_005full.jpg QA/QC The Phase I drilling program was carried out under the supervision of Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration and a director of the Company. Drill core samples were split using a rock saw by Company staff, with half retained in the core box and stored indoors in a secure facility, in Taivalkoski, Finland. The drill core samples were transported by courier from the Company's core handling facility in Taivalkoski, Finland, to ALS Global ("ALS") laboratory in Outokumpu, Finland. ALS, is an accredited lab and are ISO compliant (ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 17025:2005). PGE analysis was performed using a 30 grams fire assay with an ICP-MS or ICP-AES finish. Multi-element analyses, including copper and nickel were analysed by four acid digestion using 0.25 grams with an ICP-AES finish. Certified standards, blanks and crushed duplicates are placed in the sample stream at a rate of one QA/QC sample per 10 core samples. Results are analyzed for acceptance at the time of import. All standards associated with the results in this press release were determined to be acceptable within the defined limits of the standard used Qualified Person The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration and a director of the Company and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Palladium One Palladium One Mining Inc. is an exploration and development company targeting district scale, platinum-group-element-copper-nickel deposits in Finland and Canada. Its flagship project is the Lantinen Koillismaa or LK Project, a palladium-dominant platinum group element-copper-nickel project in north central Finland, ranked by the Fraser Institute as one of the world's top countries for mineral exploration and development. Exploration at LK is focused on targeting disseminated sulfides along 38 kilometers of favorable basal contact and building on an established NI 43-101 open pit resource. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Derrick Weyrauch" President & CEO, Director For further information contact: Derrick Weyrauch, President & CEO Email: info@palladiumoneinc.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States of America. The common shares of Palladium One Mining Inc. have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. Information set forth in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address a company's expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks associated with project development; the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in palladium and other commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume; and tax consequences to Canadian and U.S. Shareholders. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64766 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's multi-million-dollar deal with Netflix would not only let them be behind the camera but also in front. According to The Sun, the Duchess of Sussex is desperate to show the world the "real her." The Sussexes, who stepped down from their senior royal roles in March, have agreed to star in a Netflix reality show, which would allow them cameras from following them for three months. The outlet's source said that what the couple wants to show is "all the charity work" they do. "They may have had all these lofty ideas about producing epics highlighting environmental cause and the poverty gap, but Netflix obviously wants their pound of flesh." The source further added that it would be "tasteful" and said it wouldn't be similar to a tacky British reality show. "It will still be a fascinating insight, and Meghan hopes viewers will get to see the real her." The former actress and the prince reportedly wanted to "shine a light on people and causes around the world." It is unclear if the cameras are allowed to roll inside their Montecito, California mansion. Duke and Duchess Hypocrites Following this news, many people dubbed them as "hypocrites." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties because they said they wanted to have a normal, private life, away from the spotlight. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have tried to be more private than the other royals. Such as not inviting the press into their son's birth or christening. But the editor of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, said that they were such hypocrites to agree to the reality series after leaving the UK for the US for "greater privacy." Astounded, Seward said, "This is exactly what they said they wouldn't do." "The more they talk about themselves, the more people will want them to do just that and won't be interested in anything else they have to offer." Meanwhile, PR expert Mark Borkowski said that despite the couple having many haters, a lot of viewers would still want to see what they are up to. "There needs to be authenticity. They have laid out a grand plan and are fulfilling it. They are doing this all on their own terms." The expert said that reality series are big hits on the streaming giant, so it's not surprising that there will be a pitch about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex starring in their own reality show. The disappointment However, Borkowski thinks that their newest venture with Netflix will significantly upset the British royal family. Prince Harry might not have a family to come back to Britain after the numerous violations he had made in the past couple of weeks. The most recent one was when he spoke about politics for the US elections, which he shouldn't have because he knows he's not allowed to, and worse-- because he's still a blood member of the royal family. Though Queen Elizabeth II said the door will always be open to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, she's undoubtedly slowly closing it bit by bit for these troublemakers and embarrassments. READ MORE: Lili Reinhart Reveals New-Found Erotic Passion After Coming Out As Bisexual in June A new study has found that few Americans have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, rendered here in an illustration. The virus causes COVID-19. Credit: Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention In a nationally representative analysis of coronavirus antibodies, researchers also found high rates of infection among Black and Hispanic people, and in densely populated areas. About 9% of people nationwide have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a new study led by Stanford School of Medicine investigators. "This is the largest study to date to confirm that we are nowhere near herd immunity," said Julie Parsonnet, MD, professor of medicine and of epidemiology and population health, referring to the point at which a large part of the population becomes immune to a specific disease. Scientists estimate that 60%-70% of the population must have antibodies to the coronavirus before COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, fades, said Parsonnet, a co-author of the study. The findings were based on antibody levels from a cross section of patients on dialysis in July. The study also found significantly higher rates of infection among Black and Hispanic people and among people living in densely populated areas. "With this survey, we were able to provide a very rich picture of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. that can hopefully help inform strategies to curb the epidemic moving forward by targeting vulnerable populations," said Shuchi Anand, MD, lead author of the study, which was published Sept. 25 in The Lancet. Glenn Chertow, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the division of nephrology, is the senior author. Density a large contributing factor The research was conducted by analyzing blood samples from more than 28,000 patients on dialysis across 46 states. The results indicate that population density may be the largest contributing factor to infection rates, Anand said. Antibodies are produced by the body's immune system in response to an infection and can be measured in the blood for months and even years after someone is no longer infected. "Antibody testing is essential for monitoring the pandemic," Parsonnet said. "The advantage over swab testing is that it gives you more of a historical view." It's still uncertain how long antibodies remain in the blood of individuals after they've had COVID-19, but estimates range from at least two months to much longer period of time, she said. Serology testing, which measures antibody levels in the blood, is commonly used to test for the occurrence of widespread illness, Parsonnet said. Stanford researchers chose to conduct this testing on dialysis patients for multiple reasons, among them the ready availability of leftover blood plasma samples from the large population of these patients who get monthly laboratory blood tests. "Not only is this patient population representative of the U.S. population, but they are one of the few groups of people who can be repeatedly tested," Anand said. "This is a potential strategy for ongoing SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing and surveillance." Since end-stage kidney disease is a Medicare-qualifying condition, these patients don't face many of the financial barriers to care that limit testing among the general population, Anand said. "Unlike other studies that have aimed to determine the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, these estimates are unaffected by whether people feel well or unwell, worried or not worried, or have access to testing or not," Chertow said. Testing 28,503 blood samples from patients on dialysis, the researchers found that 2,292 had antibodies to COVID-19, a prevalence of 8 percent in the sampling population, and 9.3 percent when standardized to the U.S. adult population. "This study also showed a higher prevalence of undiagnosed cases consistent with other studies," Anand said. Other serologic surveys of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the United States have been restricted to hotspots or underrepresented high-risk, vulnerable populations, and faced challenges to timely repetition and longitudinal follow-up, limiting their utility for surveillance, the study said. Wide variation in prevalence The Stanford study showed a wide variation in prevalence by neighborhood, ethnicity, income level and population density. Results showed disproportionally high antibody levels in Hispanic and Black populations (16.3%) compared with the white population (4.8%). And living in densely populated areas translated to a 10-fold higher risk of getting the disease than living in low-density areas. The study also showed a remarkable variation by state, with early pandemic hotspots showing significantly higher rates than their neighboring states. The study determined that 33.6% of the population of New York had antibodies, whereas that figure was 17.5% in Illinois. In Pennsylvania, it was 6.4%, and in California, it was only 3.8% There are limitations to relying on the dialysis population as a representative sampling for the nation, such as a higher proportion of those at increased risk of COVID-19 due to comorbidities. On the other hand, these patients are more often unemployed with less exposure to large groups. With repeated testing, these variations will become clearer, Anand said. "This is a practical approach," Anand said. "It may not be completely precise, but it is internally consistent. This could greatly help health agencies plan for how best to distribute resources and plan for vaccine distribution." Explore further Estimate of COVID-19 seroprevalence in the US suggests few in the population developed antibodies in the first wave More information: Barnaby Flower et al. SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in patients receiving dialysis in the USA, The Lancet (2020). Journal information: The Lancet Barnaby Flower et al. SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in patients receiving dialysis in the USA,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32006-7 The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday temporarily blocked a federal district court judges ruling that reinstated straight-ticket voting for the November election. The administrative stay issued Monday puts the matter on hold while the appellate court considers whether one-punch voting will indeed be in place as early voting starts on Oct. 13. Straight-ticket voting allows voters to select candidates of one party across all races on the ballot by making a single selection. The 2020 general election was to be the first in Texas in nearly a century with no straight ticket option, after the Republican-led Legislature passed a 2017 law to phase it out. That changed on Friday when a U.S. District Judge in Laredo ruled the law unconstitutional, largely because it would increase wait time at the polls during the pandemic. The ruling had election officials across the state on tenterhooks over the possibility that they might have to restart the process of programming and testing voting machines with just about two weeks left before polling places open. Though not final, the appellate courts decision Monday was welcome news for at least one Texas election official. Thank God, said Bexar County election administrator Jacque Callanen. It was a huge relief to hear this. You cant in any way, shape or form make a change to the ballot, in any place, and not have to start testing (voting machines) all over again. Having to redo all that work could have caused at least a weeks delay to the countys election preparation schedule, at a time when her staff is already working seven days a week, Callanen said. BACKGROUND: U.S. judge reinstates straight-ticket voting in Texas, citing the pandemic Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office represents Secretary of State Ruth Hughs, commended the appellate courts decision Monday. I will not stand by when the integrity of our election process is threatened, Paxton said. The 2020 general election is already underway. Any changes to the process now could jeopardize the fair and accurate administration of the election. Bruce Van Spiva, who represents the plaintiffs, did not respond to a request for comment. As Texas demographics have changed, Democrats have begun to benefit more from straight ticket voting over the past decade. In 2018, more than two-thirds of voters used straight-ticket voting statewide. That year in Harris County, the straight-ticket vote was 77.2 percent of the total vote, and that vote split 55.3 percent for Democratic candidates and 44 percent for Republican candidates. In her ruling Friday, U.S. Southern District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo agreed with the Democratic plaintiffs in their argument that the loss of the voting method would disproportionately harm minorities, who use it more than other groups. Harris County officials and others across the state have warned that a long ballot would cause voters to take 15 minutes or more to make their picks, extending wait times on election day. By creating mass lines at the polls and increasing the amount of time voters are exposed to COVID-19, HB 25 will cause irreparable injury to plaintiffs and ALL Texas voters in the general election, wrote Marmolejo, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Just six states continue to use one-punch voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Regardless, Marmolejo said Texas voters have come to rely on it as part of their voting experience and that eliminating the practice would cause more confusion, not less. Joseph R. Fishkin, a University of Texas law professor who studies election law, said last week that the state is likely to cite in its appeal the Purcell principle, a Supreme Court precedent stating that courts should not change election rules too close to an election to avoid voter confusion and election administration problems. The New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit is widely regarded as one of the most conservative federal appellate courts in the nation, and several Texas Republicans have said they expect the appellate judges to overturn Marmolejos ruling. taylor.goldenstein@chron.com University student Universities could be forced to end face-to-face teaching early this term and students told to quarantine in halls in order to go home at Christmas, Gavin Williamson has announced. The Education Secretary sought to quell fears of students being unable to see their families over the festive period, insisting that every student would be able to leave university at the end of term. However, he said in order to do so some may be required to quarantine beforehand, requiring universities in certain areas to end in-person learning early and shift the remainder of the term online. Mr Williamson said this would only be required for institutions where there were specific cases or specific local circumstances adding that it would apply to a very small number of universities. His comments suggest that universities based in areas with high infection rates will be asked to stop normal teaching before other parts of the country, although a Whitehall source said this would be clarified in new guidance. While Mr Williamson did not say where students would be required to isolate, the source indicated they would be asked to do so in their university accommodation. In a warning shot to vice-chancellors, Mr Williamson also revealed he would be asking the university watchdog to make clear that bonuses should not be handed out where institutions had failed to maintain standards. It comes after the Office for Students on Monday warned that universities may be forced to issue partial refunds and face regulatory action if they allow standards to slip during the pandemic. In an update to MPs, Mr Williamson said: Where there are specific circumstances that warrant it there may be a requirement for some students to self-isolate at the end of term. We will be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in-person learning early if that is deemed to be necessary. He also rejected calls from union leaders and Labour for all universities to switch all teaching to online immediately, arguing that courses such as medicine, dentistry and creative arts required face-to-face contact. Story continues With more than 4,000 students self-isolating across 52 universities, Mr Williamson faced calls from MPs to order partial refunds for students whose learning had been disrupted. The DUPs Sammy Wilson said students were being forced to pay full price for a substandard education, while Tory MP Laura Trott called for vice chancellors to lose their bonuses if they refused to offer discounts. Responding, Mr Williamson said: We have an issue of excessive vice chancellor pay and bonuses for quite a long time. I will be asking the Office for Students to look at this and give very strong and clear steers to ensure that there arent bonuses going out as a result of this crisis. A Whitehall source said he had been referring to universities that failed to uphold high standards during the pandemic, adding that he would take a dim view of those that were dishing out bonuses despite teaching quality declining. Pressed on the issue of refunds, Mr Williamson said students should complain to the university ombudsman but that anyone who had failed to receive a satisfactory service was entitled to get money back. However, he faced a backlash from Labour MPs over accessibility of testing for students, with Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, arguing that the current situation was predictable and predicted. Lucy Powell, whose Manchester Central constituency includes Manchester Metropolitan University, where 1,700 students are currently isolating, accused Mr Williamson of losing control. What we have seen this week in two halls of residence in Manchester in my constituency I'm afraid just about sums up everything that the Government is getting wrong in handling this crisis, she added. "No planning over the summer and foresight when it was obvious that halls of residence would be the main area of risk. Confused messages that his own ministers can't even keep a track of, let alone 18-year-olds all arriving in our city from different parts of the country. And a woeful lack of quick testing which could have avoided this situation. Echoing her comments, Yvette Cooper, the chair of the Commons home affairs committee, argued that mass testing could avoid the need to force students to self-isolate before Christmas. A couple have been arrested after their baby boy died from a drug overdose inside their Pennsylvania home. Tracy Humphreys and Thomas Snelsire, both aged 45, turned themselves into police last Thursday, and are now facing criminal homicide charges over the death of their one-year-old son, Thomas. Authorities were called to the couple's Baldwin residence on September 13 after Thomas was discovered unconscious. However, a criminal complaint claims that the baby had been dead for 'some time due to the condition of his body'. He was reportedly found wrapped in a blanket on the property's front porch. Tracy Humphreys and Thomas Snelsire, both aged 45, are facing criminal homicide charges after their one-year-old son, Thomas, died from a drug overdose inside their Baldwin home Baby Thomas is pictured in a recent photo. Authorities were alerted to his parents' home on September 13 where they reportedly discovered him dead on the front porch Police searched the property and discovered a plastic straw in the baby's pack-n-play crib with 'an unknown white powder' in it. Pills, cocaine and heroin were also uncovered in the home. A subsequent autopsy determined the tot had fentanyl in his system and had died from an overdose. Meanwhile, police also performed a drug test on an 11-year-old boy who was living at the address. The boy is reported to be Humphrey's biological son and the test revealed that he had cocaine in his system. Humphreys and Snelsire are additionally facing child endangerment and drug possession charges. The home where baby Thomas lived with his parents. Authorities discovered pills, cocaine and heroin inside the residence WPXI reports that a detective 'filed two separate child endangerment reports on the couple earlier this year'. However, a Children & Youth Services caseworker completed an inspection of their home just last month and found no drug paraphernalia or evidence of narcotics use. Humphreys and Snelsire remain behind bars. Meanwhile, a relative has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for baby Thomas' funeral. 'Tommy brought his family so much pride and joy. He was such a happy baby and his family would like to see Little Tommy off in the most respectful way possible,' the organizer - Samantha Snelsire- wrote. 'Little Tommy will truly be missed and a part of his family's life will forever be broken due to this unpredictable and tragic accident.' Press Release Date: September 29, 2020 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is partnering with the University of New Mexicos ECHO Institute in Albuquerque and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston to establish a National Nursing Home COVID Action Network. The network will provide free training and mentorship to nursing homes across the country to increase the implementation of evidence-based infection prevention and safety practices to protect residents and staff. Nursing home residents are especially vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) due to their age, their underlying frailty, and their communal living conditions. And nursing home staff who care for them are among the most needed and most at-risk essential workers. It is estimated that almost 56,000 nursing home residents and staff have died from COVID-19, representing more than one-quarter of the nations known COVID-19 deaths. "Protecting vulnerable older Americans in nursing homes is a central part of our fight against COVID-19, and weve learned that improving infection control in many nursing homes is not a matter of will but of skill," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. "AHRQ is deploying its unique expertise in partnership with Project ECHO and IHI to help nursing homes protect both their residents and staff from the virus, slowing the spread and saving lives." "Expanding the use of proven safety practices will directly benefit nursing home residents and staff members and help save lives," said AHRQ Director Gopal Khanna, M.B.A. "AHRQ has a proven track record of producing science and research to address critical needs such as responding to COVID-19 and achieving 21st century care for all Americans. We are pleased to be working with the ECHO Institute and IHI on this new initiative." The new network is being created under an AHRQ contract worth up to $237 million that is part of the nearly $5 billion Provider Relief Fund authorized earlier this year under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While $2.5 billion has already been distributed to help fund testing, personal protective equipment, and other supplies, another $2 billion is available for Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes that show improvement in infection control. The ECHO Institute is recruiting academic medical centers and large health centers across the country to serve as training centers for local nursing homes. Over 15,000 nursing homes that are certified to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs will be able to participate in a 16-week training program using a standardized curriculum developed by the IHI. Nursing homes that actively participate are eligible to receive $6,000 in compensation to cover staff training time. While the curriculum will continue to be refined as new evidence emerges and the pandemic evolves, topics to be covered in the early weeks include: Best Practices in the Use of Personal Protective Equipment for COVID-19. Making the Environment Safe during COVID-19 through Infection Control Practices. Minimizing the Spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 Testing. Clinical Management of Asymptomatic and Mild Cases of COVID-19. Managing Social Isolation during COVID. Weekly virtual training sessions will be facilitated by small multidisciplinary teams of subject matter and quality improvement experts. Sessions will combine short lectures that provide immediately usable best practices with case-based group learning. Between sessions, a robust community of practice will foster peer-to-peer learning supported by additional expert consultation. "Collaborative education and shared learning is critical for our nonprofit nursing home members on the front line of this pandemic, under often challenging conditions," said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge. "Access to mentors, local experts, community peers, and resources, with a focus on continuous improvement, will go a long way to help mitigate the virus spread and ensure the health and safety of older adults." Sanjeev Arora, M.D., Project ECHOs director and founder, said he looks forward to leading the initiative in partnership with AHRQ. "At a time when the dissemination of best practices in health care is more critical than ever, we are honored to help address this urgent need for nursing homes," he said. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) was established to provide training and telementoring for health care professionals and staff across the nation and around the world. It includes over 250 training partners across the United States. AHRQ funded the initial establishment and evaluation of Project ECHO beginning in 2004. The new networks training program will use the evidence-based process pioneered by Project ECHO and referred to as the ECHO Model, which is an interactive, case-based approach based on adult learning principles. "The ECHO model is a proven approach that brings experts and providers together to learn and solve clinical and operational challenges," said Mark Parkinson, President and CEO for the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. "We strongly encourage providers to participate in the COVID Action Network to get access to experts and learn the latest best practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19." Contact: Karen Carp, AHRQ Office of Communications Karen.Carp@ahrq.hhs.gov or 301-427-1858 Dr. Eric Hoskins, chair of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, speaks during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on June 12, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) National Pharmacare Program: The Pros and Cons The federal government wants to establish a national formulary and reduce drug costs for those facing rare conditions as it moves toward universal pharmacare. While there is wider agreement on these initial steps, a national pharmacare program remains a hotly contested idea. The Sept. 23 speech from the throne stated that the government remains committed to a national, universal pharmacare program, with first steps to include a rare-disease strategy to help Canadian families save money on high-cost drugs and [e]stablishing a national formulary to keep drug prices low. Julie White is a member of the Congress of Union Retirees Canada and sits on the board of the Canadian Health Coalition, two groups that welcome the announcement. In the U.K., in most European countries, in Australia and New Zealand, [they have] a public medical plan that includes the cost of drugs so that people are covered from wall to wall. Some of those plans are completely free. A lot of them have a small fee, White told The Epoch Times. The whole population is really covered in a way that we are just not covered in Canada, she said, adding that the lack of such coverage leads to a lot of ill health, it leads to people showing up in emergency rooms, and it leads to much worse than that death because of a lack of access to drugs. Canadian Health Coalition board member Keith Newman notes there are at least 400 deaths a year in Canada because people are not able to afford their diabetes drugs. In 2019, a Health Canada advisory panel chaired by Dr. Eric Hoskins said that Canada was third, behind the United States and Switzerland, in its per capita cost for medicines, and that three million Canadians do not fill their prescriptions because of the cost. Hoskins, chair of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, reported that Canadians spent $34 billion on prescription medicines in 2018, and that universal pharmacare would save an estimated $5 billion annually. The federal government as one buyer could demand a lower price than could Canadas 110,000 public and private drug plans, according to the Canadian Health Coalition. The Canadian Health Policy Institute (CHPI) opposes the idea. Last September, CHPI reported, The research shows that national pharmacare is unnecessary, bad for privately insured people, and costly for taxpayers. It said two-thirds of Canadians had drug coverage through a private drug plan and that public plans covered the rest, and out-of-pocket costs are capped at affordable levels across all income deciles. Dr. Herb Emery, Vaughn Chair in Regional Economics at the University of New Brunswick, says paying for expensive drugs, the first step the government has proposed, meets more of a need than national pharmacare. The big biologics that are coming online are expected to be really expensive. Youve got orphan conditions, and so when you have what you would call catastrophic large costs for an individual, that annual cost can be insured and pooled across the population because the risk is fairly low for any one individual, Emery says. The problem you have is when you try to make what you call sensible decisions around prescribing these big, expensive drugs. Then people go to the media and you get forced into paying for them anyway, and you dont have the capacity to pay. Public pressure forced Ontario to expand a funding program for the use of expensive cancer drugs, including Avastin and Herceptin. Many new cancer drug therapies cost US$60,000 to US$100,000 per patient per year. Everyones terrified of these big, expensive drugs because we dont know where the top of the mountain is. We just know that if you start funding it, it may cause more people to come forward, Emery says. The federal government would face many obstacles before it could implement national pharmacare, Emery says, not just because of provincial jurisdiction, but also the impact on a widespread and entrenched insurance industry, which for most of us is doing quite well. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that if a national pharmacare program had been implemented in 2016, it would have meant having the federal government pick up $19.3 billion of the provincial cost annually, burdening taxpayers with $7.3 billion per year in additional costs. CHPI said a more realistic set of assumptions would have bumped those figures to $26.2 billion and $12.3 billion respectively, according to its estimates. During the Second World War, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)a secret organization whose job was to conduct espionage and sabotage in occupied Europe, as well as aid local resistance movementsdevised an ingenious plan to blow up Nazi factories. A SOE officer posing as a student, procured about a hundred rats under the pretext of conducting laboratory experiments. The rats were killed, and their carcasses were filled with plastic explosives. The idea was to get French Resistance fighters and Special Operations Executive agents to infiltrate German armament factories and leave the dead rodents in or around the boiler rooms. It was hoped that the Germans would throw the dead rodents directly into the furnace causing a huge explosion. A rare surviving example of a rat bomb. It was a sound plan. However, the very first batch of the rigged rats were intercepted by the Germans before they could be put into use. Although the secret was blown, the mission was not entirely a failure. The Germans were so fascinated by the idea, that they conducted massive searches for dead rodents believing that the British had distributed thousands of these pesky bombs across Europe. These wild goose chases consumed so much German resources that the SOE concluded: The trouble caused to them was a much greater success to us than if the rats had actually been used. Most of the captured rat bombs were disarmed and exhibited at top military schools for German scientists to study. After this, what became of them is not known. They were probably taken by the German soldiers and scientists as souvenirs. A computer outage at a major hospital chain has thrust healthcare facilities across the U.S. into chaos with treatment suspended and surgeries cancelled as doctors and nurses already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic have been forced to rely on pen and paper backup systems. Hospital chain Universal Health Services told employees on Tuesday that its network remains offline, two days after the company fell prey to an apparent ransomware attack. The company which operates more than 250 hospitals and other clinical facilities in the U.S., initially blamed the outage on an unspecified IT 'security issue' in a statement posted to its website but since provided a more comprehensive update in a statement on Tuesday evening. Hospital chain Universal Health Services' network remains offline on Tuesday, two days after the company fell prey to an apparent ransomware attack (file photo) Universal Health Services, a major hospital chain operating in the U.S, has confirmed its computer networks were knocked offline by a cyberattack 'The IT Network across Universal Health Services (UHS) facilities is currently offline, as the company works through a security incident caused by malware. The cyber attack occurred early Sunday morning, at which time the company shut down all networks across the U.S. enterprise. We have no indication at this time that any patient or employee data has been accessed, copied or misused. The company's UK operations have not been impacted. 'UHS implements extensive IT security protocols to protect our systems and data, and we are working diligently with our IT security partners to restore IT infrastructure and business operations as quickly as possible. We are making steady progress with recovery efforts. Certain applications have already started coming online again, with others projected to be restored on a rolling basis across the U.S.' The company did not state how many facilities were affected or whether patients had to be diverted to other hospitals, however UHS workers at company facilities in Texas and Washington, D.C. have described mad scrambles after the outage began overnight Sunday to render care. The chaos included longer emergency room waits and anxiety over determining which patients might be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Employees have described how ambulances have been forced to redirect to other hospitals while come patients surgeries have been cancelled UHS hospitals in the US including Valley Hospital Las Vegas and those from California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Washington D.C. are left without access to computer and phone systems. Pictured, McAllen Medical Center in Texas A text message sent by UHS to its staff said that 'the corporate network remains offline.' The message provided no timetable for when computer access would be restored and instructed some UHS employees to 'please continue to work remotely using alternative communication channels.' The Fortune 500 company, with 90,000 employees, said 'patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively' and no patient or employee data appeared to have been 'accessed, copied or misused.' UHS said that while 'this matter may result in temporary disruptions to certain aspects of our clinical and financial operations, patient care 'continues to be delivered safely and effectively.' 'Our facilities are using their established back-up processes including offline documentation methods.' The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, company also has hospitals in the United Kingdom, but its operations in that country were not affected, a spokeswoman said Monday night. John Riggi, senior cybersecurity adviser to the American Hospital Association, called it a 'suspected ransomware attack,' affirming reporting on the social media site Reddit by people identifying themselves as UHS employees. Workers said that ambulances and patients were being redirected from UHS hospitals to other facilities. BleepingComputer, an online cybersecurity news site, spoke to UHS employees who described ransomware with the characteristics of Ryuk, which has been widely linked to Russian cybercriminals and used against large enterprises. One UHS employee told the site that files were being renamed to include the .ryk extension used by Ryuk. Criminals have been increasingly targeting health care institutions with ransomware during the pandemic, infecting networks with malicious code that scrambles data. To unlock it, they demand payment. Increasingly, ransomware purveyors download data from networks before encrypting targeted servers, using it for extortion. UHS has provided no details, but experts said the outage had the hallmarks of ransomware, malicious software that locks users out of their computers (file photo) Earlier this month, the first known fatality related to ransomware occurred in Duesseldorf, Germany, after an attack caused IT systems to fail and a critically ill patient needing urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment. UHS may not be a household name, but has U.S. hospitals from Washington, D.C., to Fremont, California, and Orlando, Florida, to Anchorage, Alaska. Some of its facilities provide care for people coping with psychiatric conditions and substance abuse problems. A clinician involved in direct patient care at a Washington UHC facility described a high-anxiety scramble to handle the loss of computers and some phones. That meant medical staff could not easily see lab results, imaging scans, medication lists, and other critical pieces of information doctors rely on to make decisions. Phone problems complicated the situation, making it harder to communicate with nurses. Lab orders had to be hand-delivered. 'These things could be life or death,' said the clinician. A different UHS healthcare worker, at an acute care facility in Texas, described an even more chaotic scene. Both the Texas and Washington D.C. workers asked not to be identified by name because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 'As of right now we have no access to any patient files, history nothing,' the Texas worker said, with emergency room wait times going from 45 minutes to six hours. 'Doctors aren't able to access any type of X-rays, CT scans.' Nothing that runs on Wi-Fi alone was functioning Monday, the Texas worker said. Telemetry monitors that show critical care patients' heart rates, blood pressure and oxygen levels went dark and had to be restored with ethernet cabling. The Washington clinician said there was a lot of concern about how to determine whether or not patients had been exposed to the coronavirus, the Washington clinician said, adding that no harm came to any of the 20 or so patients they attended to. However, anxiety reigned during the entire shift. Handing off a patient to another department, always a delicate task because of the potential for miscommunication, became especially nerve-wracking. 'We are most concerned with ransomware attacks which have the potential to disrupt patient care operations and risk patient safety,' said Riggi, the cybersecurity adviser to hospitals. 'We believe any cyberattack against any hospital or health system is a threat-to-life crime and should be responded to and pursued as such by the government.' Ransomware attacks have crippled everything from major cities to school districts, and federal officials are concerned they could be used to disrupt the current presidential election. Last week, a major supplier of software services to state, county and local governments, Tyler Technologies, was hit. In the U.S. alone, 764 healthcare providers were victimized last year by ransomware, according to data compiled by the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. It estimates the overall cost of ransomware attacks in the U.S. to $9 billion a year in terms of recovery and lost productivity. The only way to effectively recover, for those unwilling to pay ransoms, is through diligent daily system data backups. PharmEasy, Indias largest online pharmacy has changed its legal structure, merging units into a single entity and parent ahead of its merger with rival Medlife, a move that sources say will help attract a better valuation. Previously, PharmEasys online marketplace business was earlier owned by 91Streets Media Technologies Pvt Ltd, while its inventory and stocks were owned by Thea Technologies Pvt Ltd. These two are now being merged into new legal entity- Threpsi Technologies Pvt Ltd, said sources familiar with the matter. PharmEasy (Threpsi) is in turn owned by API Holdings, the ultimate parent company. PharmEasy is also acquiring Medlife, in a $230 million deal which gives Medlife shares in API Holdings, according to filings with fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) The change in legal structure means that API will also own Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Pvt.Ltd - a separate pharma supply chain and credit platform, which also acts as a business-to-business (B2B) distribution entity for PharmEasy. This means all investors of Ascent Health as well as PharmEasy will now be allocated shares in API Holdings, which was not the case earlier. Ascent is backed by private equity firm Everstone Capital, while PharmEasy has raised about $300 million in capital so far, from investors such as Singapores sovereign fund Temasek and Canadian pension fund CDPQ, among others. One big differentiator for PharmEasy from other players is the Ascent backing and their B2B supply strength. Consolidating the legal units will help them sell the story to investors better, said a source involved in negotiations, requesting anonymity as the matter is private. Post the acquiring Medlife, PharmEasy will be valued at $1.2 billion, making it Indias first unicorn- privately held startups valued at over a billion dollars- in the health-tech space. PharmEasy declined to comment on Moneycontrols queries regarding the changes. PharmEasy also plans to raise more money from new and existing investors once the merger is completed, and for a better valuation in that fundraise, it has changed the legal structure. However, for investors of PharmEasy this means that they are getting stakes in a full-fledged pharma distribution business, not just an online pharmacy marketplace (the way most online retailers tend to operate), while for investors of Ascent, it gives them stakes in an internet and e-commerce business, and not just the distribution business they originally invested in. TDT | Manama Bahraini Ambassador to Italy Nasser bin Mohammed Al Balooshi will today highlight his diplomatic experience and achievements at Bahrain Radios talk show, the Diplomatic Dialogue. The ambassador will talk about his career, which is characterised by a combination of economy, diplomacy and multilingualism, as he is fluent in several languages, including English and French, and has written many articles and research related to economic development and technology transfer. Dr Al Balooshi was granted the Medal of Honour by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in 2013, the Officier de La Legion DHonneur Medal by French President, Jacques Chirac, in 2003, and the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa Medal of Honour by HM King Hamad in 2002. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics with honors, and held many key posts. He served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the advisor to former Minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, for Political and Economic Affairs. He was also the kingdoms ambassador to France, Non-Resident Ambassador to the Holy See, Switzerland and Spain. He also served as Bahrains ambassador to the US and Non-Resident Ambassador to Argentina and Canada, the Kingdoms Economic Representative to the SA, and a speaker at the Sixth Annual Monterey Congressional Forum on Trade Policy in Monterey, California, and provided testimony before the International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington DC. He was also the executive director of management services at the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) between 1992 and 2003. Aired every Tuesday at 5pm on Bahrain Radio 102.3 FM, the programme documents the march and achievements of the Bahraini diplomacy which celebrated its Golden Jubilee last year. The weekly programme is prepared and presented by a Bahrain Radio team, including Sabeeka Al Shihhy, Wafa Khalifa and Rashid Sanad, in co-operation with the Foreign Affairs Ministry Cindy McCain the widow of Republican Sen. John McCain will advise Democrat Joe Biden s presidential transition team as it prepares for him to take office if he wins in November, the team announced Monday. McCain is the second Republican on the 16-member transition advisory board, joining Bob McDonald, the former Procter & Gamble Co. chief executive who headed the Department of Veterans Affairs under President Barack Obama. Biden has reached out extensively to Republicans disaffected with President Donald Trump. McCain, whose husband was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, last week endorsed Biden and urged other conservative women to follow suit, saying, Biden is by far the best candidate in the race. As required by law, Biden's transition team is preparing for a smooth transfer of power should Biden win the presidency. The teams typically line up candidates for key appointments and prepare policies to implement early in the new president's administration. Biden's team says it is focused especially on the pandemic and its economic fallout. Ted Kaufman, one of five co-chairs of Biden's transition team, cited McCain's experience in business and philanthropy and her advocacy for women and children. This transition is like no other, preparing amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy," Kaufman, a longtime Biden aide who was appointed to fill his Senate seat when he was elected vice president, said in a statement. Biden's transition team this month signed a lease for office space with Trump's General Services Administration. Formal federal support for presidential transition teams was first put into practice in 2012 in an effort to ensure presidential candidates are prepared to assume the White House should they win the election. Available to consumers nationwide before the end of the year, the Mobile Companion will be an optional add-on to the Aloe Care at-home service for just $15 a month, no long-term contract required. Designed to be worn as a pendant, the Mobile Companion will also fit neatly in the palm of the hand and will feature a vibrational feedback setting to accommodate hearing and visual impairments. Its industry-leading, extended battery life will provide up to five days of use without a re-charge. "The two most requested features for Aloe Care this year were contactless set-up, which we launched in July, and the on-the-go option we're announcing today," said Ray Spoljaric, CEO and Co-founder of Aloe Care Health. "Having a solution that travels with older adults to give them added security is an important value-add. For remote caregivers, having full integration with our proprietary Family App offers an unprecedented level of support and peace of mind. We're immensely proud to continue to lead the space with innovation that meets the needs of our time." Aloe Care offers a comprehensive, proactive approach to remote caregiving and communication. Acclaimed by PC Magazine , Today's Caregiver, and MD Tech Review, among others, Aloe Care Essentials includes: The Aloe Care Smart Hub with voice-activated access to 24/7 professional emergency response and built-in motion, temperature, and air quality sensors; with voice-activated access to 24/7 professional emergency response and built-in motion, temperature, and air quality sensors; Contactless installation to align with COVID-19 safety protocols, requiring no technical know-how other than plugging the device into a wall socket; to align with COVID-19 safety protocols, requiring no technical know-how other than plugging the device into a wall socket; 4G LTE connection (WiFi optional); connection (WiFi optional); A secure Family App to improve communication and care collaboration; includes the ability to make check-in calls into the Smart Hub; and, to improve communication and care collaboration; includes the ability to make check-in calls into the Smart Hub; and, A wearable Care Button for added, at-home confidence. Aloe Care also currently offers a Total Care home set-up that adds automatic, wearable-free fall detection and additional environmental and motion sensors to the service. The Mobile Companion will be an a la carte add-on to any Aloe Care service. For more, visit www.aloecare.com ABOUT ALOE CARE HEALTH: Aloe Care's voice-activated system is the world's most-advanced in-home medical alert and communication system for older adults. Aloe Care's award-winning solution was created by caregivers, for caregivers. More than 70 percent of the team actively supports aging-in-place parents and grandparents. The company is headquartered in New York. SOURCE Aloe Care Health Related Links http://www.aloecare.com The Trump administration is racing to build the president's border wall as quickly as possible ahead of the Nov. 3 election, with construction crews now adding nearly two miles per day. It is an unprecedented pace toward meeting one of Trump's signature 2016 campaign promises. The latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that the rate of construction has nearly doubled since the beginning of the year, accelerated by the government's ability to cut through national forests, wildlife preserves and other public lands already under federal control. In southeastern Arizona, crews have been using dynamite to blast the steep sides of Guadalupe Canyon, a rugged span where the cost of the barrier exceeds $41 million per mile. Across the state at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, border agents have forcefully broken up protests by members of the Tohono O'odham Nation attempting to block the bulldozers near ancestral burial sites and a fragile desert oasis. CBP officials are preparing a ceremony for Trump next month that will mark the completion of 400 miles of new fencing. The administration has installed more than 341 miles, according to the latest figures, and CBP officials say they remain on track to finish at least 450 miles by the end of 2020. Mark Morgan, the acting CBP commissioner, told reporters that the president has proved his doubters and critics wrong. "Even as the nonbelievers, the folks who have been out there for a very long time who said we were never going to get this done, what I refer to as the judicial activism of lower court that have tried to stop our construction of the wall, the false narratives and, quite frankly, the lies out there about the effectiveness and need of the wall - despite all that - this president has remained steadfast in his commitment, his commitment to the American people, and to the men and women of CBP," said Morgan, erroneously claiming that the government was building 10 miles per day. "This isn't the president's vanity wall," he said. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said he will immediately halt construction of the barrier if elected, a looming threat for the private companies that have secured billions of dollars in contracts. Crews have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on at least five locations across the border, according to officials overseeing the project who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The pace of construction has had the biggest impact on Arizona, where the government has accelerated the project by building through protected areas and federal lands - areas where the administration is able to bypass environmental laws, archaeological reviews and other safeguards. Progress has been slower in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, the busiest span of the border for illegal crossings, and the region that the CBP has identified as its top priority for barrier construction. Nearly all of the land where the government seeks to build is in private hands. The Trump administration has completed five miles of new barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, CBP officials said, citing the difficulty of accessing and acquiring private land, and the engineering challenges of installing the barriers along aging river levees. CBP officials said they have obtained about 40% of the land they need in the Rio Grande Valley. Administration officials have noted the growing number of migrants caught hiding in tractor trailers or coming ashore on California beaches as an indication that the new fencing is leading smugglers to adopt more desperate tactics. In the San Diego area, where double-layered fencing creates a formidable barrier, the number of migrants arrested at sea has tripled since 2018, according to CBP figures. But the effectiveness of the new structure is difficult to evaluate because the administration has used the coronavirus pandemic to adopt emergency procedures allowing agents to quickly expel border-crossers to Mexico, bypassing normal immigration proceedings and asylum protections. Trump has put the wall project at the center of his reelection campaign while continuing to deceive the public with claims that Mexico is footing the bill. Mexico is not paying for the wall. The president has obtained $15 billion for the project, but just one-third of that money has been authorized by Congress. The rest, nearly $10 billion, has been diverted from the U.S. military budget, giving Trump enough to build 738 miles of new barriers, enough to cover more than a third of the 2,000-mile boundary with Mexico. In addition to the 331 miles of new barriers, about 250 miles of wall are "under construction" and another 157 miles are classified as "preconstruction," CBP figures show. - - - CBP officials said the current pace of construction is possible because the administration has cleared bureaucratic and financial hurdles, giving crews with a clear path. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the private contractors building the structure do not receive financial incentives to finish the job ahead of schedule. As with so much else, the future of the border wall project is contingent on the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election. If Biden wins and stops work, construction companies will receive less than the full value of the contracts, according to a current and former official with close knowledge of the project. Those contractors could bill the government for a "demobilization cost" as they withdraw crews and equipment from the border, but they would likely need to go to court to seek additional funds, the officials said. "There will not be another foot of wall construction in my administration," Biden said in August during an interview with reporters from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Biden said he favors "high tech" systems that rely on surveillance technology and would direct resources to the legal border crossings where most illegal narcotics are seized. Biden did not commit to removing or dismantling the barrier, as opponents of the project have advocated. The structure has grown into one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history, and as long as the barrier remains a divisive symbol of the Trump presidency, bipartisan support for its maintenance and upkeep will remain in doubt. Trump has urged several design changes to the barrier to make its appearance more intimidating, insisting, for instance, that it should be painted black to absorb more solar radiation. CBP officials said they do not have the funding available to order crews to go back and paint segments that have been installed, but four sections currently under construction in Texas will receive a black epoxy finish before installation, fulfilling Trump's wishes. - - - The canyons and deserts of southern Arizona have become a battleground for opponents of the project who include conservative ranchers and environmental activists. Dan Millis, who leads the Sierra Club's campaign against the barrier, called it "totally enraging" and "completely intolerable." "We're wasting billions upon billions to build an apartheid wall twice as tall as the Berlin Wall," he said. "It's a complete waste, and it's a shame and a blemish on this country." Clashes between protesters and border agents at Organ Pipe this month reflect an intensification of efforts by native groups to protect places they say are at risk of irreversible damage, including archaeological sites and fragile ecosystems such as Quitobaquito Springs, less than 100 yards from the path of bulldozers, where diminishing water this summer has imperiled an endangered pupfish population. The Trump administration declared a national security emergency at the border that allows the crews to plow through environmental protections to expedite construction. CBP officials said some of the Sonoyta mud turtles and endangered Quitobaquito pupfish at the springs have been relocated, CBP officials said. The spring's clay liner is leaking from several cracks, officials said, and a lack of monsoon rains this summer has left the oasis with its lowest water levels in at least a decade. Significant impacts also have been reported at the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge east of Douglas, Ariz., where contractors tapped into nearby aquifers to make cement for the barrier's base. The refuge has small ponds that sustain populations of borderland wildlife including puma, bear and other species. The refuge manager warned supervisors that water depletion was an immediate threat to the endangered species on the refuge, and that the slow pace at which the aquifers are recharged - over thousands of years - means any damage is effectively permanent. As the water has been pumped out to make concrete, the pressure in the aquifers has dropped, drying up surface water. This summer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service installed several solar-powered pumps to keep water flowing to the surface for the animals to drink. Beth Ullenberg, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service, provided a statement from her agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection saying the agencies were working with the Army Corps on "mitigation measures to assist with needed water flow." "The current pumps in the water wells are being replaced by the construction contractor with higher capacity pumps to allow for increased water flows into the ponds," the statement said. In the Peloncillo Mountains farther east, crews are blasting through the Guadalupe Canyon area to build roads so excavators and bulldozers can access the steep terrain. It is the area where the first live jaguar was photographed on U.S. soil in a generation, in 1996. There have been several more documented jaguar sightings since then, but Millis, of the Sierra Club, said 80% of critical habitat for the big cat's return will be blocked by the steel bars of the fence. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias speak during their meeting in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Giannis Papanikos/AP Photo) Pompeo Pledges US Support to Ease Greece-Turkey Dispute THESSALONIKI, GreeceU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that Washington will use its diplomatic and military influence in the region to try to ease a volatile dispute between NATO allies Greece and Turkey over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Pompeo began a five-day regional tour in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, days after Greece and Turkey committed to restarting a diplomatic dialogue on the dispute that triggered a dangerous military build-upand fears of military conflictin the disputed maritime area over the summer. The United States and Greece reiterated their dedication to enhancing their close cooperation as NATO allies, using all appropriate means at their disposal, in order to safeguard stability and security in the wider region, the two countries said in a joint statement after Pompeo met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and his wife Susan, arrive in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Giannis Papanikos/AP Photo) Relations between Greece and neighboring Turkey deteriorated sharply this year over disputed maritime boundaries and exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area Greece claims is on its own continental shelf and where it claims exclusive economic rights. Athens sent warships of its own to the area. Pompeo welcomed the decision of Athens and Ankara to restart exploratory talks and said maritime disputes should be solved through dialogue, not demonstrations of power. Weve watched the Greeks move in that direction trying to achieve that, he told Greeces ANA state news agency. We hope the Turkish government will see it the same way, and we hope the exploratory talks not only get kicked off right, but its important that theyre resolved in a way that delivers outcomes that each of the two nations find more than acceptable. European Union members later this week are to discuss imposing sanctions on Turkey for its actions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a signing agreement ceremony in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Giannis Papanikos/AP Photo) In Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced support for the peaceful resolution of disputes and renewed a call for solutions that would protect everyones rights. I invite all countries in the Mediterranean that are our neighbors, and especially Greece, to stop viewing the eastern Mediterranean as a zero-sum game. Come, lets together turn the Mediterranean into a basin of peace once again lets make energy a matter for cooperation, not conflict, Erdogan said. Pompeo had discussed the situation in the eastern Mediterranean late Sunday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as he headed to Greece. Pompeos regional tour will also include Italy, the Vatican, and Croatia. Later Monday, he flew from Thessaloniki to the Greek island of Crete where he was scheduled to meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and visit a U.S. naval base at Souda Bay on Tuesday. Last October, Pompeo visited Athens and signed a revised defense cooperation agreement with Greece that provided for increasing joint U.S.-Greece and NATO activity at three locations in Greece as well as infrastructure and other improvements at Souda Bay. Amid the tension with Turkey, Greece has announced major arms purchases, including fighter jets from France, as well as warships, helicopters, and weapons systems. Pompeo is the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Greeces second-largest city of Thessaloniki. Security was tight in the port city, with the venue of Pompeos meeting with Dendias changing from the originally planned location, a local ministry, to a hotel for security reasons, authorities said. About the time Pompeo was due to fly to Crete, about 1,500 people gathered in Thessalonikis center for two separate demonstrations to protest his visit, carrying signs reading The hawk of war is not welcome in our country, and The murderers of the peoples are not welcome. The protests were organized by left-wing groups and the Communist Party. Protesters take part in a rally against the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Greece, in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Giannis Papanikos/AP Photo) Protesters later burnt a U.S. flag in front of the American Consulate building. A similar, smaller protest was also held by leftist groups in Athens. Anti-American sentiment is still strong among many Greek leftistswho still adhere to the tradition of left parties and groups that supported Communist countries during the Cold War. During his visit to Thessaloniki, Pompeo signed a bilateral science and technology agreement, and hosted energy sector business leaders for a discussion to highlight energy diversification and infrastructure projects in Greece. He also joined members of Thessalonikis Jewish community to commemorate Yom Kippur at the local Jewish Museum, as police cordoned off a large section of the city center. No date has yet been set for the start of the Greek-Turkish exploratory talks By Costas Kantouris RAISED by Wolves star Niamh Algar has revealed she rehearsed for her role as a tough combat medic on a distant planet by "operating" on a toilet roll. The 30-year-old actor, who was also seen recently in Calm With Horses and The Virtues, said she practiced her stitching skills while home in Mullingar. "I went home for the lockdown and me and my sister moved back in together for a few months. She's a vet so she didn't stop working," said the star, who is now based in London. "It was funny, the last time I spent any time with her was before I went over to shoot Raised by Wolves and because my character was a medic I spent two weeks kind of shadowing her and seeing her work. "There was a point where my character Sue was doing a surgery and I was like, 'Oh God, I'm going to have to learn to cut into flesh and stitch things up.' "So, she gave me a toilet roll and then the stitching utensils and then she taught me how to stitch using toilet roll. "I never went near an animal. So that was really fun." The actor, who will star in Guy Ritchie's upcoming Cash Truck told showbiz website HeyUGuys that she remained very close to her family. INFLUENCE "My mum is an incredibly resilient woman. When I'm envisaging a strong female I'm always thinking of my mum and how she raised five of us and worked two jobs and there are definitely things where you take influence from people." Video of the Day She said it was only when she was with her family that she realised just how well she was doing in her career. "I was kind of going from one project to the next over the last couple of years," she said. "I didn't really digest any of it until my parents came to visit me on the set of Calm with Horses and I was in this really, beautiful apartment near the waterfront. "Me and my dad were sitting out on the balcony and he said, 'I really wish your granddad was here to see how well you've done.'" She said it was only then that what she had achieved really sank in. She had recently finished filming Raised by Wolves in South Africa with her idol, filmmaker Ridley Scott. "My dad acknowledging that - I'm not saying he didn't beforehand - it was a very special moment." In the ten-part Raised by Wolves, she plays a soldier on a mystery planet in the future where androids are raising children after the earth has been ravaged by war. UN needs reform in responses, processes and character: PM Modi The United Nations of 1945 is too inadequate to address the problems and challenges of the present day world and the assembly of 192 nations has failed to raise its collective voice against the enemies of humanity and human values, including terrorism, smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and money- laundering and the latest scourge of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The requirements and challenges of our present as well as our future are vastly different from those of the past and so the sources and resources, problems and solutions are all quite different from those of the 20th Century, he said. To be relevant in todays world, he said, the United Nations should have wider representation in key decision-making agencies. The form and composition of the Security Council as well as the development institutions like the IMF and the World Bank should reflect the aspirations of the millions that live in nations that are still considered second class members in the global platform, Modi said. There is a serious need for the United Nations to introspect it does not represent the voice of 184 nations out of the 193 members, but goes by the demands of one nation that has permanent representation in the UN Security Council. While India is proud of the fact that it is one of the founding members of the United Nations, its 1.3 billion people representing 18 per cent of the global population is not fully represented in the global platform, Modi pointed out. And this, he said, calls for a drastic change in the form and composition of the institution established with the aim of global welfare to be relevant in the prevailing situation. If century changes and we dont, then strength to bring changes becomes weak. If we assess the last 75 years of the United Nations, we see several achievements, but at the same time, there are also several instances where the global platform was found wanting. One could say that we have successfully avoided a third world war, but we cannot deny that there have been several wars and many civil wars. Several terrorist attacks shook the world and there have been bloodsheds. The people who lost their lives in these wars and attacks were human beings, like you and me. Thousands of children, who would have otherwise enriched this world, left us prematurely. So many people lost their life savings and became homeless refugees. Were the efforts of the United Nations sufficient during those times or are these efforts adequate even today? The whole world is fighting the global pandemic of Corona for the last 8-9 months. Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response? Reform in the responses, in the processes, in the character of the United Nations is the need of the hour. It is a fact that the faith and respect that the United Nations enjoys in India are unparalleled. But it is also true that the people of India have been waiting for a long time for the completion of the reforms of the United Nations. Today, people of India are concerned whether this reform-process will ever reach its logical conclusion? For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the United Nations? A country, which is the largest democracy of the world, A country with more than 18 percent of the world population, A country, which has hundreds of languages, hundreds of dialects, many sects, many ideologies, A country, which was a leading global economy for centuries and also one which has seen hundreds of years of foreign rule. The ideals on which the United Nations was founded are quite similar to that of India and not different from its own fundamental philosophy. The words Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the whole world is a family, have often reverberated in this hall of the United Nations. We treat the whole world as one family. It is part of our culture, character and thinking. In the United Nations too, India has always given priority to the welfare of the whole world. India is the country, which sent its brave soldiers to about 50 peacekeeping missions. India is the country that has lost the maximum number of its brave soldiers in the course of establishing peace. Today every Indian, while seeing the contribution of India in the United Nations, aspires for Indias expanded role in the United Nations. It was India that initiated the International Day of Non-Violence on 02 October and International Day of Yoga on 21 June. Similarly, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the International Solar Alliance are realities today due to efforts of India. India has always thought about the interests of the whole humankind and not about its own vested interests. This philosophy has always been the driving force of India's policies. One can see the glimpses of this philosophy in Indias Neighbourhood First Policy to our Act East Policy, in the thought of Security and Growth for All in the Region, and in our approach towards the Indo Pacific region. Indias partnerships are also guided by this very principle. Any gesture of friendship by India towards one country is not against someone else. When India strengthens its development partnership, it is not with any malafide intent of making the partner country dependent or hapless. We have never hesitated from sharing experiences of our development. Even during these very difficult times of a raging pandemic, the pharma industry of India has sent essential medicines to more than 150 countries. As the largest vaccine producing country of the world, I want to give one more assurance to the global community today, Indias vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis. We are moving ahead with phase 3 clinical trials in India and in our neighbourhood. India will also help all the countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of Vaccines. From January next year, India will also fulfil its responsibility as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. I express my gratitude to all our fellow countries who have bestowed this trust upon India. We will use the prestige and experience of the largest democracy for the benefit of the whole world. Our path goes from human welfare to the welfare of the World. India will always speak in support of peace, security and prosperity. India will not hesitate in raising its voice against the enemies of humanity, human race and human values terrorism, smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and money-laundering. Indias cultural heritage, tradition, thousands of years of experience will always stand in good stead for the developing countries. Indias experiences, Indias developmental journey with its ups and downs will strengthen the way towards world welfare the prime minister said. When Fredrick Miller bought a former Virginia plantation house, he never considered that its past had anything to do with him. But its history had everything to do with Miller. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Nielsen's Global Consumer Business announced Chicago as its global headquarters as it moves forward with its journey to becoming a standalone company. Effective January 1, 2021, this next evolution of Nielsen's Global Consumer Business' nearly century-old legacy in Chicago reestablishes the company's commitment to leveraging Illinois' elite technology talent and diverse workforce. Already the company's largest workspace in the U.S., this fully operational LEED Silver certified office, located at 200 W Jackson Blvd, provides Nielsen's Global Consumer Business the opportunity to collaborate with technology partners, attract top talent and better serve our consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail clients, many of whom are also based in Chicago. Nielsen's Global Consumer Business plans to further invest in and refresh this office, which is already home to many of the company's senior leaders from technology, operations, communications, finance and human resources. "Nielsen was founded in Chicago, Arthur Nielsen revolutionized consumer measurement and data here, and becoming a separate company is an opportunity to return our headquarters back to our original home. We believe that Chicago is a great place to build upon our technology lead and continue to disrupt the industry," says David Rawlinson, CEO of Nielsen's Global Consumer Business. "Coupled with Chicago's long-standing reputation for diverse talent, establishing our headquarters here will help us on our journey to define the future of e-commerce measurement and data, and build a world-class culture." Returning to the site of the company's founding in Rogers Park in 1923, Nielsen's Global Consumer Business now employs approximately 30,000 employees in nearly 100 countries around the world. Reestablishing its status as a longstanding member of this vibrant community, the Chicago office employs a team of more than 600 people, including some of our most forward-thinking technologists who are helping to reshape the future of our business and inform the future of commerce. As a company with deep roots in Chicago for more than 95 years, Nielsen's Global Consumer Business plans to expand its footprint with the addition of at least 50 jobs over the next two years. Nielsen's commitment to the City of Chicago includes partnering with underserved communities, colleges and universities for internship and training opportunities. These efforts will equip candidates with the skills and confidence they need to make a positive impact in their lives and their communities. "We are thrilled to welcome Nielsen's Consumer Business headquarters back to Illinois, the place where it all started," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Illinois continues to be a choice for leading companies across the world to expand and invest in and that's in no small part thanks to the talent found in our communities, our commitment to innovation and technology, and resources found here that allow companies to grow and thrive. We look forward to partnering with Nielsen to ensure more Illinoisans can benefit from jobs created and their continued economic growth in our state." Due to its top-notch talent, quality of life, and transportation infrastructure that gives companies quick access anywhere in the world, the State of Illinois is home to headquarters for hundreds of major global companies, including 37 in the Fortune 500. To ensure that Illinois remains a location where global headquarters can compete, prosper, and provide opportunities for all Illinoisans, Illinois is continuing to invest in infrastructure through Rebuild Illinois and talent through a renewed focus on apprenticeships and other workforce initiatives. "Nielsen's Consumer Business headquarters move to Chicago is a vote of confidence in Illinois and a testament to the growth opportunities our state has to offer for world class companies to grow and thrive, even in the midst of a pandemic," said Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Erin B. Guthrie. "Under Governor Pritzker's leadership, more companies continue to make the choice for Illinois, thanks to the talent and resiliency found across our communities, investments in shared infrastructure, as well as our continued investments that give us a competitive place to do business." "This announcement is an exciting win-win for Nielsen and the entire Chicago region," said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "By establishing its headquarters here in our city, Nielsen is furthering its position in the most economically diverse city in the nation, enabling it to better lead this fast-moving and cutting-edge industry, all while helping develop our city's own incredible workforce talent pipeline for years to come." ABOUT NIELSEN Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global measurement and data analytics company that provides the most complete and trusted view available of consumers and markets worldwide. Nielsen is divided into two business units. Nielsen Global Media provides media and advertising industries with unbiased and reliable metrics that create a shared understanding of the industry required for markets to function. Nielsen Global Connect provides consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers with accurate, actionable information and insights and a complete picture of the complex and changing marketplace that companies need to innovate and grow. Our approach marries proprietary Nielsen data with other data sources to help clients around the world understand what's happening now, what's happening next, and how to best act on this knowledge. An S&P 500 company, Nielsen has operations in over 90 countries, covering more than 90% of the world's population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com. SOURCE Nielsen Related Links http://www.nielsen.com COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - The Board of Swiss International Air Lines has agreed to accept the request from CEO Thomas Kluhr to release him from duties at the end of 2020. He will simultaneously step down as Chairman of the Board of Edelweiss Air. The SWISS Board will appoint Thomas Kluhr's successor in the fourth-quarter. Thomas Kluhr has been CEO of Swiss International Air Lines since February 2016. He will in future serve on the yet-to-be-established Swiss Aviation Foundation. The further Swiss Aviation Foundation members will be appointed by the end of 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. (Natural News) Australias Public Health Act of 2016 has been updated, and it is being put into action, unleashing medical police state horrors that havent been witnessed since the rise of medical experimentation on Jews in Nazi Germany. This Australian law gives sweeping new powers to law enforcement and other authorized officers to forcibly restrain, isolate and vaccinate whomever they want. The new powers are so descriptive, they give law enforcement the legal power to remove anything the person is wearing, including underwear. Australian officers can apprehend, detain and restrain adults and children for forced vaccination and removal of clothing The authorized officer can medically kidnap adults or children and force the targeted individuals to undergo medical observation, medical examination, medical treatment or compulsory vaccination. The Australian law allows officers to use reasonable force to make sure that human subjects comply with the public health directive. The officers can apprehend and detain the person to whom the direction applies and relocate that person for medical experimentation, the forced removal of their clothes and forced vaccination. The law is broken down into three parts, explaining how authorities can one, apprehend, two, detain, and three, restrain human subjects. Under Part 11 Division 2 of the serious public health incident powers, the authorities can forcibly vaccinate the subject and remove anything that the person is wearing. If the subject refuses to remove their clothing, authorities can rip the clothing from their body, including their underwear. The stripping of human beings of their clothing and their dignity does not end with authorities abusing adults. The act continues, If the relevant person is a CHILD or an impaired person, it must (the removal of clothing), if practicable, be done in the presence of a responsible person or some other person who can provide the child or impaired person with support and represent his or her interest. These heinous powers of rape and abuse and medical kidnap are openly allowed as long as the government of Western Australia can declare a public health state of emergency, as was done by Australia and most other governments in response to covid-19. Australia, like many other governments, will not relinquish these newly delegated powers easily. As long as humans exist, the threat of a viral infection will linger, and governments will capitalize on this fear to abuse anyone they want. Forced medical experimentation in Australia violates international treaties The new experimental drugs and vaccines that are being rushed into existence will be forced onto Australians. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said a coronavirus vaccine will be made as mandatory as you can possibly make it. According to these emergency public health orders, anyone who dissents can be rounded up and isolated, their clothing removed, their body subject to medical experimentation and forced injections. The Nuremberg code, a treaty established in the fallout of Nazi Germany after the International Military Tribunal, is clear about the necessity of informed consent for all medical experimentation on humans. The Nuremberg code is clear that experiments should avoid physical/mental suffering and injury. Vaccinations will irrefutably be classified as risky medical experiments, and when forced onto humans, they cause physical/mental suffering. For one, vaccinations are liability-free products, whereas vaccine manufacturers are held to no standard at all when their products injure people. Two, vaccinations are not tested against a double-blind saline placebo; and three, no studies are conducted comparing the non-vaccinated and the vaccinated in regard to overall health, strength of immune function, infectious disease incidence, and measurable spread of advertised infectious disease. With this precedent established and with emergency public health orders being pushed into perpetuity, the people of Australia should fight for their rights before they become even more stripped of their human dignity, their bodies violated, their clothing ripped off, their bodies subjected to the newest tracking technologies and vaccine experiments of the day. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com Legislation.gov.au IMARCResearch.com BASEL, Switzerland, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BaseLaunch, the Basel Area-based biotech venture accelerator and incubator, today announces their renewed strategic partnership with Cilag GmbH International, one of the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, who becomes the latest company to join the second phase of BaseLaunch's endeavor to fuel the next generation of biotech companies. The agreement was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Johnson & Johnson Innovation, which supported BaseLaunch's first phase, joins recently announced healthcare, pharma, venture fund and biotechnology strategic partners, including Roche, BB Pureos Bioventures, Roivant Sciences, Bridge Biotherapeutics and CSL Behring, in supporting BaseLaunch's investment in life sciences innovation. Nerida Scott, Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, EMEA, commented: "Incubators and accelerators are central to the global healthcare startup ecosystem. We have been collaborating with BaseLaunch since launch in supporting the growth and development of early-stage biotech ventures and recognize the contribution the team has made towards achieving their goals. We are delighted to continue to support Baselaunch Phase II in its mission to launch the next generation of breakthrough scientific innovation." Stephan Emmerth, Director of Business Development & Operations BaseLaunch, added: "We are delighted that Johnson & Johnson Innovation is continuing its collaboration with BaseLaunch. Working together with our dynamic group of international and entrepreneurial partners, BaseLaunch Phase II will support cutting-edge early-stage biotechs to achieve financing and grow their therapeutic ventures in the Basel Area." BaseLaunch is an accelerator and incubator for early stage ventures developing cutting-edge therapeutics. BaseLaunch helps build companies from inception through to Series A funding, providing financing and supporting all aspects of business development. During 2018 and 2019, BaseLaunch supported nine early therapeutic ventures which have raised over USD 100 million in equity capital from US and European venture funds, thereby contributing to the life sciences ecosystem of the Basel Area. Recently, BaseLaunch has added another four ventures to its portfolio, and has been instrumental in contributing to the development of six more ventures in the Basel Area. Building on the success of its first phase, BaseLaunch Phase II increased funding per venture to a maximum of USD 0.5 million (versus USD 0.25 million previously) and now accepts applications all year round, establishing BaseLaunch as a permanent initiative and the premier partner of choice for scientists and entrepreneurs that want to build potentially life-saving therapeutic ventures. BaseLaunch is operated by Basel Area Business & Innovation, the investment and innovation promotion agency of the Basel Area. During its first phase (2017-2019), BaseLaunch was supported by Roche, Novartis Venture Fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Pfizer and Roivant Sciences. Having entered its second phase, BaseLaunch is gearing up with new commitments, harnessing the Basel Area's unique position as a global life sciences hub, as well as its rising popularity among investors, to attract the next generation of breakthrough companies. BaseLaunch Phase II is now open for applications. Interested groups can find information at www.baselaunch.ch/apply/. About BaseLaunch BaseLaunch is the Basel Area-based incubator and accelerator that helps scientists and entrepreneurs launch exceptional biotech companies. BaseLaunch serves as a growth platform for early stage ventures developing cutting-edge therapeutics. BaseLaunch helps build companies from inception through to Series A funding, providing financing and supporting all aspects of business development. Operationally run and financed by Basel Area Business & Innovation, the investment and innovation promotion agency of the Basel Area, BaseLaunch partners with leading global pharma companies and venture funds - those announced to date being Roche, BB Pureos Bioventures, Roivant Sciences, Bridge Biotherapeutics and CSL Behring - which also feed into the pool out of which BaseLaunch funds ventures. Regional and domain partners include the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt and Jura as well as Alloy Therapeutics, KPMG, SpiroChem, Vossius & Partner and Infors HT. Since 2018, BaseLaunch supported ventures have raised over USD 100 million. Harnessing Basel Area's unique position as a global life sciences hub, as well as its rising popularity among investors, BaseLaunch is looking to attract the next generation of breakthrough companies. Interested groups can find more information at www.baselaunch.ch About Basel Area Business & Innovation Basel Area Business & Innovation is the investment and innovation promotion agency dedicated to helping companies, institutions and startups find business success in the Basel Area. The organization targets and attracts companies to settle, supports founders of innovative ventures, and drives high growth initiatives in order to establish the region as the Swiss business and innovation hub of the future. The non-profit agency focuses on growing the area's cutting-edge industries life sciences, healthcare and production technologies and manages the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area which houses the organization's accelerator programs. The agency serves the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt and Jura. www.baselarea.swiss HARTFORD A Connecticut Superior Court judge is weighing whether to include witness testimony from two doctors the state considers ideologues in a lawsuit challenging the requirement that students wear masks in schools. Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher heard arguments Monday on an emergency motion to stop Connecticut education officials from enforcing a requirement that students wear face coverings while at school. The motion stems from a lawsuit seeking to repeal a statewide requirement and prevent local boards of education from enacting their own mask mandates. The complaint, filed on behalf of parents in five towns, argues that the state lacked the authority to create the mandate and violated the constitutional rights of students by imposing it. The families are from Manchester, Wallingford, Niantic, Marlborough and Farmington. During the hearing, lawyers for the parents sought to introduce the testimony of two out-of-state doctors who claim masks are dangerous for children. Assistant Attorney General Darren Cunningham suggested that both doctors were too ideologically radical to serve as expert witnesses. An expert who becomes an advocate for a cause isnt properly an expert, Cunningham said. Among the witnesses the plaintiffs asked to introduce was Dr. Andrew Kaufman, a forensic psychiatrist from Syracuse, New York. Doug Dubitsky, a Republican state representative and one of two lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said Kaufman would speak to the psychological impact of masks on children. Kaufman described his qualifications including experience conducting suicide risk assessments, working with children, and serving as an expert witness in civil and criminal legal cases. On cross examination, Kaufman acknowledged that he viewed the pandemic as a manufactured crisis designed to increase reliance on government handouts. He said hed lost an employment contract for refusing to wear a mask. Kaufman agreed he had referred to vaccines as something like syringes full of poison and suggested he does not believe viruses cause diseases in humans. As Cunningham listed ailments like polio, HIV, influenza, and the common cold, Kaufman denied viruses were to blame. Im not comfortable with the term denied. Ive looked for scientific evidence to establish that a virus has been isolated and proven to exist and I did not find any evidence to support that, Kaufman said. In fact, I would say this for all viruses that are alleged to cause human disease. Dubitsky objected many times during Cunninghams cross examination, saying Kaufmans beliefs about viruses or vaccines were irrelevant to his witness testimony on the impact of masks on school children. His testimony is about forcing kids to wear masks and the psychological and mental harm that they cause, Dubitsky said. Moukawsher allowed the questioning. The validity of one set of scientific beliefs might be affected by the validity of another set of scientific beliefs. In terms, for instance, of whether this individual will be an aid to the court or not, the judge said. The plaintiffs also introduced Dr. James Meehan Jr., an ophthalmologist from Tulsa, Okla. Meehan said he also specialized in immunology and had previously been a medical editor for the journal Ocular Immunology and Inflammation. Meehan said he had testified before the Oklahoma legislature on the subject of masks. He said healthy people should not be wearing them. Theres something else driving these public health recommendations because it certainly isnt the science, Meehan said. Cunningham also objected to Meehans inclusion as an expert witness, citing entries on his blog which advocated for herd immunity as the only way to prevent pandemics and suggested mask mandates were always about symbolism, fear, and psychological operations to control the population. The blog also recommended readers take supplements to boost their immune systems instead of wearing a face mask. Meehan acknowledged he received funding when readers bought the supplements using a code from his site. Cunningham argued that Meehan could not serve as an expert witness because he was an advocate for a certain point of view. Im seeking to show that he is that: an ideologue who has very set views when it comes from this topic and as we just heard is using this pandemic to push his own notion of supplements, he said. Moukawsher said he would weigh both witnesses and make a ruling on whether their testimony should be allowed before reconvening the argument at 2 p.m. Tuesday. For much of the hearing, Moukawsher sought to focus the proceedings on whether the case merited an immediate injunction. This isnt a hearing to decide that in general masks are good or masks are bad. The reason were here today is the argument that there is imminent and irreparable harm. That unless I do something right now, we have a problem. Serious danger, he said. Its a big hurdle. Lawyers for the state are asking Moukawsher to dismiss the case, saying the plaintiffs had not exhausted their administrative remedies before suing the Education Department and its commissioner. The state also maintains that the mask mandate is written broadly with exemptions providing students with medical issues an avenue to attend school without a mask. Those exemptions themselves mean that this really cannot be an emergency situation. Obviously, I dont know whether these students have availed themselves of these issues, Cunningham said. What I can tell you is that the guidance provides exemptions. If theyre claiming that theyre having all these problems from wearing masks, I dont see how the exemptions dont apply to that situation. However, lawyers for the parents called the exemptions exceedingly narrow and said that local schools are not always honoring doctors notes recommending that a student not wear a mask. Dubitsky said some students are having very serious reactions to the masks. Youre telling me that people with bona fide medical conditions who have applied for an exemption have been refused? Moukawsher asked. Do you have evidence of that? Give me an example of a medical condition youre talking about. Having trouble breathing. Panic attacks. Theres sleep disorders. Theres behavioral changes, Dubitsky said. He described another example where the school refused to acknowledge that and refused to give an exemption. Cunningham said the situations Dubitsky was describing were inappropriate under the state guidelines. Youre getting into something thats a problem between the execution by a local board of education and the state Department of Educations guidance on this, he said. It may have taken a phone call to the state Department of Ed to correct the situation. It certainly doesnt rise to the level of enjoining the state from requiring masks in school districts. Business group Dublin Chamber is calling on the Government to reduce Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to 20% for investments in indigenous SMEs. The Chamber, which represents businesses throughout the Greater Dublin Area, says that a bold new plan is needed to boost investment in Irish enterprise as Ireland tries to reboot its economy following Covid-19 and as businesses face the prospect of a disorderly Brexit. In its pre-Budget submission to Government, issued this week, the Chamber states that Ireland should introduce a new 20% rate of CGT on investments in businesses that are not listed on any stock exchange. The group said that the move is needed to begin addressing the growing investment gap in the Irish SME sector which now faces a 15 billion revenue shortfall. Speaking this week, Dublin Chamber CEO, Mary Rose Burke commented, Introducing a targeted CGT reduction like this would send a signal that the Government is serious about growing our SME sector. It would cost less than the 2% VAT cut announced in the July Jobs Stimulus and would help to stimulate economic activity. She added, Irelands SME sector has been particularly badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and SMEs will also be the most exposed if there is disruption of our trade links with the UK. Now more than ever, the Government needs to show real ambition for Irish enterprise." In its pre-Budget submission, Dublin Chamber also called on the Government to bring forward the delivery timeline for major public transport projects, including MetroLink, the Dart+ scheme, BusConnects and Dart Underground. The Chamber has also argued for for vital investments to be made in essential services in the Dublin region, including broadband, to help with the transition to increased remote working, and the delivery of the Eastern & Midland Region Water Supply Project, to stave off the regions fast-looming water supply issues. Source: www.businessworld.ie The Nigerian Senate has mandated its Committees on Police Affairs and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to investigate the alleged arrest, detention, rape and murder of Ifeoma Abugu by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) FCT Command in Abuja. It also mandated the committees to investigate the status of the presidential directive on the reorganisation of SARS in light of the recent public outcry over atrocities perpetrated by the squad. This was sequel to a point of order raised by the senator representing Enugu North senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate, Chukwuka Utazi. Ms Abugu was said to have been arrested and whisked away from her fiances apartment by three SARS operatives at Wumba, Lokogoma Area of Abuja on September 1. She was arrested in place of her fiance, Afam Abugu, who was the initial target of the police officers. She was detained, allegedly raped, and murdered by the SARS operatives. Ms Abugu, who had just completed her national youth service, was planning her wedding, which was scheduled for December. She was killed days after her introduction. Although the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, had ordered a discreet investigation and post-mortem on the corpse to unravel the true cause of her death, the anti-robbery squad claims that she died of cocaine overdose. The motion In his presentation, Mr Utazi faulted the arrest of Ms Abugu in place of her fiance, which he said is contrary to Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, which prohibits the arrest of family and friends of a suspect in order to get the suspect to surrender. Before the gruesome murder of Ms Abugu, he said, there have been persistent complaints by the general public including news reports in print and electronic media of the attrocities of operatives of the squad including illegal arrests, detention and extra-judicial killing of Nigerians under very questionable and controversial circumstances. He also recalled that in 2018, the federal government, in response to public outcry and media reports on the unlawful activities of SARS, set up a presidential panel on reform of SARS and the report of the panel formed the basis of the presidential directive on the overhaul of the activities of SARS to ensure that the squad is intelligence-driven, human rights sensitive and restricted to the prevention and detention of heinous crimes such as armed robbery and kidnapping and apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences. Despite all efforts to reform SARS, the notorious squad has remained brutal in its operation with very little or no regard to the observance of human rights and suspects, contrary to its scope of activities and the presidential directive regarding its operation and has even veered away from its core mandate. There is an urgent need for the Senate to investigate the incident in order to ensure that justice is given to the family of the deceased and to establish the status of SARS reform in the light of the recent public outcry over atrocities perpetrated by SARS operatives, he said. The committees were given two weeks to carry out the investigation and submit its findings and recommendations. The lawmakers observed a minute silence in honour of the deceased and commiserated with her family and the people of Enugu State. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) -Pan Global Resources Inc. (TSXV: PGZ) (OTC: PGNRF) (the "Company") is pleased to report the ongoing Phase 3 drill program is continuing to intersect copper mineralization at the La Romana copper target in the Escacena Project, Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain. As reported in the Press Release of September 8, 2020, the first five drill holes of the current program all returned visual copper mineralization. Of significance, the next two recently completed drill holes (LRD14 to LRD15) have intersected massive chalcopyrite mineralization within a broad zone of stockwork pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization. Hole LRD014 intersected the massive chalcopyrite at a down hole depth of 224.1m (See Photo 1 below). Hole LRD015 was then drilled down dip to test the potential continuity of the massive chalcopyrite zone. Hole LRD15 again intercepted massive chalcopyrite at a down hole depth of 225.9m (See Photo 2 below). Both intercepts are being sent to the laboratory and assay results are awaited. Down-hole geophysics is also planned following the recent drill holes. Tim Moody, President and CEO of Pan Global commented: "The intersections of massive chalcopyrite mineralization in the two new drill holes is highly encouraging as we continue to expand the La Romana target. Every hole drilled on the property to date has intercepted visual copper over wide intervals, but these massive chalcopyrite intercepts could be very significant in terms of exploration potential." Mr. Moody added: "Whilst we are awaiting assay results, the exploration continues to show excellent potential for a significant new copper deposit commencing near to surface and wide open in several directions. On the strength of the results of the new drilling, additional drill holes are now being planned and preparations are being made to add a second drill rig." The Company has completed seven drill holes (LRD09 to LRD15) as part of the Phase 3 drill program for a total of 1377.95m. The program envisages approximately twenty-five drill holes and 3,500m aimed at expanding the copper mineralization along strike, up and down dip from the previous drilling. Each of the drill holes has intersected visual copper mineralization. Previous drill highlights at La Romana include LRD02, which intersected 20.55m at 1.5% Cu equivalent from 37m, including 7m at 3.43% Cu equivalent, and LRD-05 with 21m at 1.55% Cu equivalent from 12m, including 11m at 2.60% Cu equivalent. Drill holes LRD14 and LRD15 are the eastern-most drill holes completed to date at La Romana. The massive chalcopyrite intersected in both holes is coincident with a large down-hole EM conductor. The intersections are approximately 50m apart and show continuity at approximately 170 to 200m vertical depth. The massive sulphide occurs near the top of a more than 60m thick pyrite, pyrite-chalcopyrite stockwork zone with bands of semi-massive sulphides. The mineralization is open up and down dip, and appears to be increasing in thickness towards the east. Drill hole locations are shown on Figure 1 below. Hole LRD14 was drilled approximately 130m north-east of hole LRD09 and inclined approximately -50 towards the south targeting the lower DHEM conductor. Hole LRD15 was collared from the same platform as LRD14 and inclined approximately -61 south, designed to test the continuity of the massive chalcopyrite in LRD14. The Phase 3 drilling shows copper mineralization continues from near surface in several directions and confirms a strong coincidence with geophysics targets. Numerous geophysics targets at Escacena remain to be tested. Additional down-hole EM and mise-a-la-masse surveys are planned at the recent drill holes to identify extensions to the mineralization. Assay results are awaited. Qualified Person Robert Baxter (FAusIMM), a Director of Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Baxter is not independent of the Company. Photo 1 - LRD14 massive chalcopyrite To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5190/64742_24454312e4f3d87e_001full.jpg Photo 2 - LRD15 massive chalcopyrite To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5190/64742_24454312e4f3d87e_002full.jpg Figure 1 - Drill hole locations. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1 please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5190/64742_24454312e4f3d87e_003full.jpg About Pan Global Resources Pan Global Resources is actively engaged in base and precious metal exploration in Spain, and is pursuing opportunities from exploration through to mine development. The Company has committed to operating safely and with respect to the communities and environment where we operate. On behalf of the Board of Directors www.panglobalresources.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: info@panglobalresources.com Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64742 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed one of its officers on the Board of Thrissur-based Dhanlaxmi Bank for a period of two years from September 28, the bank informed the stock exchanges on Tuesday. The RBI has appointed D K Kashyap, General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Bengaluru Regional Office as Additional Director on the Board of the Bank, the lender said. It is common that RBI puts its nominees on the Boards of private banks. There were three RBI nominees on Dhanlaxmi Board earlier. However, with improvement in business, the central bank had withdrawn one last year. In the current context, the appointment of a new director is significant. Early this month, the RBI had written to the bank to the Board seeking termination of a key executiveone chief general Manager, P Manikandan. It was an unprecedented move from the part of the regulator to intervene in the matter of a CGM level officer. But the regulator was upset about the non-adherence to highest standards of corporate governance and Manikandans alleged involvement in board matters, according to people familiar with the development. On the same day the bank received the letter from RBI, Dhanlaxmis Board met through a videoconference and sought Manikandans resignation. Three board members had quit in June this year, including the Chairman, citing personal reasons. The first one to quit was Sajeev Krishnan, part-time chairman and independent director. Krishnan had joined the Kerala-headquartered bank in February 2018 for three years. He had around eight months left when he quit on June 29. The other two were KN Murali, independent director, and G Venkatanarayanan, an additional director. Both resigned with effect from June 29, 2020, before their terms came to an end. Murali joined the bank nearly a year and a half ago while Venkatanarayanan joined only a few months ago. Following these exits, the bank had appointed new board members. These include PK Vijayakumar, G Rajagopalan Nair, G Subramonia Iyer and Suseela Menon R, also as additional directors (Independent Category) to the board. Dhanlaxmi banks annual general meeting (AGM) is scheduled to be held tomorrow (30 September). There is speculation that a section of the shareholders may vote against the CEO. Woman beheaded in India for refusing to convert to Islam after marriage Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Muslim man in northern India beheaded his Hindu wife one-and-a-half months after their marriage because she refused to convert to Islam, a local newspaper reported. Police this week found the beheaded body of the 23-year-old victim, identified as Priya Soni, in a forest area near Preet Nagar area of Sonbhadra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, according to The Tribune. The suspect, Sonis husband who was identified as Ejaz Ahmed, and his friend, identified only as Shoaib, have been arrested. Police said they recovered the mobile phone of the victim, a knife and an iron rod from the suspects. The districts police chief, Ashish Srivastava, was quoted as saying that officers used social media to identify the womans body. Her father, Laxminarayan, identified her from her shoes and clothes. Priya married Ahmed against the wishes of the family and was being pressured to convert to Islam, police said, adding that they were considering charging the accused under the stringent National Security Act. While religion is a sensitive issue in India, such incidents are rare in the country, where Hindus constitute about 80% of the population of more than 1.3 billion people. India also has the worlds third-largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan. The Uttar Pradesh state and the federal government are both governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which, critics say, persecutes the minority communities of Muslims and Christians. In a seemingly targeted spate of violence in February, at least 53 people, mostly from the Muslim minority, were killed in northeast Delhi. The violence came after months of protests in several Indian cities against a recent controversial citizenship law that excluded Muslims. In July, a 25-year-old woman, Suman Munda, who had recently converted to Christianity, was brutally murdered in the eastern state of Jharkhand by four youths associated with a Hindu nationalist group, marking the fifth religiously motivated killing of a Christian in the country in less than two months. A local pastor told the U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog International Christian Concern that Munda converted to Christianity six years earlier. After learning of her conversion, Hindu nationalists started harassing her. When relatives visited Mundas house they could not find her, they later discovered her body at a deserted place near her home. I suspect that it is the handiwork of a Hindu fanatic group. Christians here have been facing a serious threat from it. The fanatic group is asking us to go back to Hinduism. We are scared and our people are shattered, Bishop Binay Kandulna of Khunti told UCA News at the time. According to the bipartisan U.S. government advisory body, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the religious intolerance and violence in India rose with the growth of Hindu nationalism under the Bharatiya Janata Party government. Muslims and Christians have had cordial relations in India. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Canberra, Sep 29 : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that people arriving in the country from "Covid-19 safe" nation could be allowed to quarantine at home, than at a hotel. Since late March, international arrivals to Australia were to spend two weeks in hotel quarantine at their port of entry, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report. Addressing the media, the Prime Minister said that the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the government health advisory body, was currently mulling the move to allow people coming in from "safe" countries to quarantine at home. "I think home quarantine can play a role in the future and it's something that is being considered by the AHPPC, particularly as we move beyond the phase we're in now. "(As) we do look to have our borders open up at some point to safe locations, whether it be New Zealand or parts of the Pacific, or places like South Korea or Japan, or countries that have had a much higher rate of success, then there are opportunities to look at those alternative methods," the ABC news report quoted Morrison as saying. The development comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia has increased to 27,044, while the death toll stood at 875. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Regardless of whether children go for in-person learning or take classes exclusively online, schooling will look radically different for all of the citys 1.1 million students this fall. [How New York City schools scrambled to reopen over the past few weeks.] Nine students will sit at desks six feet apart in classrooms that used to hold 30 children. Gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums will be largely off limits. Some schools are also making use of outdoor space, from playgrounds to adjoining streets and sidewalks. And, if all goes according to plan, students and staff members will not see each other in person without masks for many months to come. Almost no students will attend school five days a week. Instead, children taking in-person classes will report to classrooms one to three days per week and learn from home the rest of the time. Nearly half of families across the city have opted out of in-person classes for their children altogether through at least November, a statistic that reflects both the pervasive fear felt by many city parents and skepticism of the citys reopening plan. At many schools, finding ways to make buildings feel welcoming and safe for students who have been away for six months is a complex challenge for principals. The reopening is exceptionally difficult for schools like P.S. 9 in Brooklyn, which lost a teacher, Sandra Santos-Vizcaino, to the coronavirus. [A beloved teacher died from the virus. Now her school confronts reopening.] During the first period at P.S. 9, every teacher will ask their students how theyre feeling, and if theres anything they want to share. Children will also be asked to take short breaks for movement and meditation. The principal, Fatimah Ali, told my colleague Eliza Shapiro that she has created a team to oversee students mental health needs. Checking in with kids is my No. 1 priority, Ms. Ali said. The United Arab Emirates has defended its decision to normalize ties with and criticised interference in Arab affairs, an apparent reference to its foes and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, made the remarks during a speech Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. He proclaimed that the UAE's decision announced in August to formalize ties with froze a controversial Israeli plan to annex occupied territory in the West Bank claimed by Palestinians. Israel's prime minister, however, has insisted that plans have only been temporarily suspended. We hope this peace accord will provide the opportunity for the Palestinians and the Israelis to re-engage in negotiations to achieve peace, Al Nahyan said. Palestinians have blasted the deals signed by the and Bahrain with Israel, which were brokered by the United States, as acts of betrayal. President Mahmoud Abbas used his U.N. speech on Friday to stress that his government has not given a mandate to anyone to speak or negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people. Abbas said that the only path for lasting peace is an end to the Israeli occupation and creation of a Palestinian state. The Emirati foreign minister also warned against what he said were the expansionist ambitions of some countries in the region." Though he stopped short of naming any countries, the has long accused Iran, and Qatar of meddling beyond their borders in the affairs of other states. The is part of a quartet of Arab states that have boycotted Qatar since 2017, primarily for its backing of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE brands a terrorist group and deems a political and security threat. In an apparent dig at and Iran, Al Nahyan said that tensions in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq are related to blatant interference in Arab affairs made by states ... that have historical delusions of restoring their domination and colonial rule over the Arab region and the Horn of Africa. He called on specifically to stop the development of its ballistic missile programs. The UAE, a country of about 9 million people with more than 1 million Emirati citizens, is militarily involved in Yemen as a key partner of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis. The UAE also backs a military commander in Libya's east who's a rival to the allied militias in Tripoli that have backing from Turkey and Qatar. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Now in its second year of operation, Windham Woods School offers a unique program for students from grades 1 to 10 with mild to moderate learning challenges and whose families are looking for a hands-on, dynamic educational setting. With a 250-acre campus including four miles of private trails, the school emphasizes outdoor education through hands-on learning. Classes have a maximum of 10 students, allowing teachers to truly differentiate their instruction for each child. The school is built with energy efficiency in mind, and instructors incorporate the facility's solar panel energy production and geothermal heating into their curriculum. "We are a specialized school with unique programming that offers a variety of indoor and outdoor learning environments best suited for our students," explains Matt Taffel, Assistant Head of School and Middle/Upper School Director. "Fiber connectivity is critical for any school, but with our institution, our students really need interactive technology to help them access the curriculum, while also making the classroom a modern, engaging, and exciting place to be." Each child experiences a course unique to Windham Woods focused on Engagement, Communication, and Organization (E.C.O.). "This class meets daily and is designed to help students navigate the ever-changing and often complex social norms inherent in today's society," says Taffel. "Technology is a critical tool in that mission." The school was so successful in its first year of operation, that it needed to double the size of its facility, requiring an addition complete with more classrooms and a water feature. In addition to requiring fiber connectivity, doubling the number of classrooms meant adding a dozen new phones, which they again turned to FirstLight to accommodate. "We're proud to play a role in Windham Woods' important mission to provide education to children who learn differently," said Kurt Van Wagenen, President & Chief Executive Officer. "Access to technology is one of the foundations that levels the playing field in providing opportunities to children of all abilities. We are excited to grow with Windham Woods as it evolves and continues positively impacting lives in the community." About FirstLight FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic connecting more than 9,000 locations in service with more than 30,000 locations serviceable by our more than 20,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight's clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments. To learn more about FirstLight, visit www.firstlight.net, or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Media Contact: Maura Mahoney [email protected] About Windham Woods Windham Woods School offers a unique program for students and families looking for a more hands-on, dynamic educational setting. The team carefully reviews each child's learning profile to ensure all academic and social needs are addressed in order to unlock the true gifts that live within each learner. Students grow and build confidence while becoming immersed in nature on a 250-acre campus. SOURCE FirstLight Related Links http://firstlight.net Kanu Sarda By Express News Service NEW DELHI: With Sonia Gandhi advising Congress Chief Ministers to pass laws in their states under Article 254 (2) of the Constitution to negate the three farm laws which got the nod from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the opposition is headed for clashes with the Central government. Here is the explainer telling the powers of state under this article. What is Article 254(2)? Article 254(2) refers to a scenario where a law made by a state legislature concerning any matter that falls in the Concurrent List contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or an existing law, with respect to that matter. In such a case, the law made by the state legislature will prevail, provided it is reserved for the consideration of the President of India and receives his assent. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh stages a protest at Khatkar Kalam | PTI How can states use this provision? Supreme Court lawyer K V Dhananjay says this provision gives flexibility to a state legislature to make a law different from what is applicable in that state due to a parliamentary law already in operation there. Of course, this flexibility is only available on matters that are in the concurrent list to Schedule 7 of the Constitution. Under that list both the Parliament and the state legislatures could legislate subject to the rule that the parliamentary law will prevail over a state law. What all is covered under concurrent list? The concurrent list provides a rich set of topics for the states to take a lead in reform. It covers areas such as criminal law and procedure, marriage, divorce and adoption, bankruptcy and insolvency, social security, education (including technical and medical education) and electricity. Agriculture too comes under this list. Will this provision help the states? Though states could come out with their own Bills to some extent to override the statutes of passed by the Parliament, none of those Bills would be effective unless the President accords his consent to such Bills. What happens if President does not give consent? According to legal experts, its the sole prerogative of the President whether to sign the state Bills or not. Its a rare circumstance, wherein a state Bill is accepted by the President without the Centre on board. In case, the Centre is opposing the Bill, then the President, who works on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, can refuse to give his consent. Can states approach the Supreme Court challenging the central law? Supreme Court Advocate on Record Sunil Fernandes says states can approach the Supreme Court under Article 131 invoking the courts original jurisdiction that allows a state to file a suit in the Supreme Court in case of any dispute that it may have with the central government. Article 131 could be used to examine the constitutionality of a statute. Mike Pence at Franklin Graham's Prayer March: 'America is a nation of believers' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence addressed a crowd of tens of thousands from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday at one of two events in the nations capital calling on Americans to come together in repentance and prayer. Pence spoke at evangelist Franklin Grahams Washington Prayer March, which began at the Lincoln Memorial and ended 1.8 miles away at the United States Capitol. In his speech, the vice president extended the greetings of President Donald Trump, whom he described as a champion for people of faith, for life, and religious liberty. .@SecondLady and I were truly honored to join @Franklin_Graham and thousands of Believers for the #PrayerMarch2020 in Washington DC today. Thank you for your prayers, America. ???????? pic.twitter.com/p1l6J8Cp69 Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) September 26, 2020 Since the founding of our nation, the American people and our leaders have gone to prayer in challenging times, Pence said. George Washington prayed for the leaders and the people of our states what he called an earnest prayer that God would hold them and our states in his holy protection. Abraham Lincoln said during his time in the White House, I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. Pence proceeded to highlight how the president "has observed many times that America is a nation of believers. When the president and I travel around the country, the sweetest words we ever hear, and we hear them a lot, are when people reach out and simply say, Im praying for you. We want to urge you all to pray for all of those with public responsibilities in the executive branch, pray for all the members of the Congress of the United States, (and) pray for all the justices on the Supreme Court, including the remarkable woman that the president will nominate to fill the seat, he said. The crowd began to erupt into applause when he mentioned Trumps Supreme Court pick, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who had yet to be formally announced when Pence spoke. In the wake of a global pandemic, we urge you to pray for all of those who are struggling with loss and with serious illness, pray for our doctors and nurses, and all of those that are bringing America through these challenging times. Pence closed his speech by predicting that: If His people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray Hell do like Hes always done, through much more challenging times in the life of this nation, youll hear from Heaven and Hell heal this land, this one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Also held at the National Mall was the event known as The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance. Many in the crowd flew Israeli and American flags, as well as flags reading police lives matter. The theme of the event was the need for repentance, with speakers calling on attendees to ask for Gods forgiveness and making the case that the failure of Americans to obey God has led to many of the problems engulfing the nation. Speakers at The Return included well-known Christian television personalities, officials from Christian advocacy organizations, as well as outspoken Christian political figures. Apathy has killed us, said Pierre Bynum, a chaplain at the Family Research Council, who was among speakers. Weve watched as prayer has been taken out of our schools. Weve watched as Bible reading has been taken out of our schools. Where were we? What were we doing? What were we thinking? They took the Ten Commandments off the walls. They legalized abortion, they legalized same-sex marriage, defying the living God. God has called us to be anything but apathetic, he stressed. Our country is imploding upon us and its all because of us. If the church had done its job all these years, if we had spoken out about the issues that we should have spoken out on and stood for them and stood in the public square, we could have kept this thing from happening. But now were in deep trouble and only God can save us at this point in time. Even our repentance is inadequate if its just human repentance. Weve got to have God intervene and deal with us, he declared. Gordon Robertson, son of televangelist Pat Robertson and president and CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network, made a televised appearance expressing concern about the sin of racism that is still in our land. Robertson strongly implied that the pandemic, riots, wildfires, and major hurricanes were punishments from God because we still have the curse of racism. Robertson contended that despite all of the progress on the issue of race, American churches have a long way to go when it comes to reaching out to and embracing racial minorities. He lamented that 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings is still the most segregated hour in American culture. Lets start a great revival where we can have Heaven right here on Earth. In Heaven, theres no racial divide. Every language, every tongue, every people are all gathered together worshipping the King of Kings, worshipping the lamb, he explained. Robertson closed by urging churches across the U.S. to integrate and praying that the country becomes one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, proclaimed that four major problems on the horizon in the U.S. illustrate a need to repent. First is COVID, which is like a plague of the Old Testament, he said. Next, he listed racial division, the #MeToo movement, and a class problem as the other challenges facing the U.S. God wants to heal Americas race problem and release us into a unity, the like of which weve never seen, Jackson maintained. Dr. Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told attendees that your history is what gives you your identity. Your identity is what gives you your beliefs. I believe that this is a great time for us to reevaluate who we are as a nation, he said. It is time for us to bow our heads and return to God. Leading the crowd in prayer, Carson said: We have moved far, far away from those Judeo-Christian values that encouraged us to be kind to our fellow man, to help the poor, to develop our God-given talents to the utmost so that we become valuable to the people around us. We want to return to that once again. Its not necessary for us to be enemies and to be hateful and spiteful, but to be loving and kind as You are to us." Carson acknowledged that the U.S. has made horrible mistakes over the years before asserting that we dont bury those mistakes, we learn from those mistakes. ... The New Testament makes a lot more sense when you understand the Old Testament. The keynote speaker at The Return, Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, connected the turmoil unfolding in the U.S. to the challenges faced by ancient Israel when it rebelled against God: 400 years ago, another civilization was begun, formed and molded for the purposes of the creator. After mentioning that the Mayflower Compact signed by Americas earliest settlers was written for the glory of God and the advancement of the faith, Cahn recalled how puritan leader John Winthrop issued a prophetic vision of the new civilization he would help to plant. Winthrop envisioned the U.S. as a city on a hill, the eyes of the world would be upon it and if it followed the ways of God, then God would bless it and make it the most prosperous, the most powerful, the most secure, the most exalted of civilizations. While Cahn explained that Winthrops vision came true, he spoke of a prophetic warning from the puritan leader that should the city on a hill turn away from the God of its foundation, then the judgments that fell upon Israel would likewise fall upon it. Cahn recounted how the people of ancient Israel drove God out of their hearts, out of their government, out of their ways and lives, out of their education of their children, out of the public square, (and) out of their culture. America has likewise fallen in the midst of our blessings and prosperity. We, too, have turned away from the God of our foundation. Weve estranged ourselves from him. We drove God out of our hearts, out of our government, out of our ways, out of our laws, out of the education of our children, out of the public squares, out of our businesses, out of our media, out of our culture, (and) out of our lives. Cahn used his address to decry the embrace of abortion and the LGBT movement. To shed the blood of an unborn baby is to murder a human life. ... Our collective hands are covered with blood. 60 million Americans have been murdered. Instead of weeping over that fact, we go still farther, he said, citing the gruesome law passed in New York state that allowed abortions up until the moment of birth. Cahn concluded that the city on a hill has grown dark, its light has dimmed and is in danger of going out. Cahn lamented the fact that the rainbow has come to represent the LGBT movement. The rainbow does not belong to man, the rainbow belongs to God. It was not given as an emblem to the pride of man, it was given as a sign to the mercy of God. The Word of God stands against all hatred, all oppression, and all injustice against any person, people, nation, color, race, or group, Cahn added. After signaling his agreement with the statement that black lives matter, he slammed those who say nothing of all the black lives killed in this land before they can even breathe their first breath and the abortion clinics strategically placed in black neighborhoods. A special NIA court on Tuesday sentenced two Bangladeshi nationals belonging to the Ansarullah Bangla Team terror group to seven years rigorous imprisonment for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in India. Sahadat Hussain, 26, from Bangladeshs Jessore district, and Umar Farooque, 27, from Dhaka, were convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Foreigners Act. They were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment and the court also imposed a fine of Rs 26,000 on Hussain and Rs 33,000 on Farooque. They were both arrested on different occasions in November 2017. The case, initially registered by Special Task Force (STF) Kolkata on November 21, 2017, pertains to the arrest of five members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Kolkata. ABT is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Bangladesh. Four of the arrested ABT members were Bangladeshi nationals while one was Indian. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case on March 1, 2018. Investigation by the NIA revealed that the Bangladeshi members of the ABT entered India in 2016 in pursuance of the conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in the country. They travelled and stayed at Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai in the guise of labourers. The accused tried to procure chemicals from a shop in Patna and tried to establish hideouts in Ranchi, the NIA probe revealed. They also tried to procure arms and ammunition in Kolkata. Several incriminating materials like maps of Sealdah Railway Station and Howrah Bridge, literature on explosives and bomb-making, fake Aadhaar card, fake PAN card were seized from their possession, the agency said. The trial against the remaining three arrested and charge-sheeted accused will continue. Eriks Gabliks, who has served for the past 10 years as head of the state agency that governs certification and training of police officers, firefighters, corrections officers and 911 dispatchers, is retiring and taking a job as superintendent of the National Fire Academy in Maryland. Gabliks, 57, will work through the end of October, though with accumulated leave, his retirement wont take effect until the end of November. Gov. Kate Brown has placed a job posting for the director of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training at a time when police training and certification is under more scrutiny amid a social movement to reform law enforcement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. "Its one of the most important positions in the state as we deal with changes in the philosophy of law enforcement,'' said Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, who is spearheading police reforms in the Legislature. It will be interesting to see who decides to step forward and who will be recruited. The director, the posting says, oversees an agency budget of more than $55 million and works with a board to develop training and certification/licensing standards for more than 41,000 public and private safety professionals. The annual salary range for the directors job is $146,844 to $176,796, the posting says. Ive enjoyed my time with the agency," Gabliks said. "We have an engaged board and policy committees that want to make sure our public safety professions are held to professional standards. Gabliks was the first person who rose from within the department to become its director. He has worked for the state for more than 30 years, he said, coming to Oregon after serving as 911 supervisor for the Monmouth County Sheriffs Office in New Jersey. He began here as 911 training coordinator for Oregon Emergency Management, then moved to the public safety standards department to manage training for dispatchers and regional state fire training. He went on to serve as training coordinator and deputy director before he was appointed to the directors post. Gabliks, 57, who has worked for the state for more than 30 years and at least 10 as director of Oregon's Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, will start in mid-November as superintendent of the National Fire Academy in Maryland. The governor in June pledged to review police training practices in the state as she met with Portlands NAACP and Urban League of Portland. She also set up a Public Safety Training and Standards Task Force, which is expected to make recommendations by Nov. 1 for improvements, including incorporating racial equity into hiring and training. It is clear that law enforcement in Oregon and across the country must do more to build trust with the Black community and other communities of color by addressing the root causes of systemic racism," Brown said at the time. If law enforcement in this state is going to have the respect and support of all Oregonians, it is important that police officer training and certification be credible and transparent." Lawmakers in summer approved a bill in a special session calling for a statewide database of police certifications that have been suspended or revoked. The database is now on the agencys website. But lawmakers are pressing for further reforms, including a database of misconduct and discipline of public safety employees along with a requirement that agencies report complaints, allegations, charges, disciplinary proceedings, certain judicial findings and other actions of those employees. They also are pushing for a statewide database of physical force used by law enforcement and corrections officers. A 2017 Oregonian/OregonLive investigation found that while the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training wins national praise from academics and regulators for holding police officers accountable for bad behavior, the agency took no action to sideline dozens of officers fired for chronically inept police work. The department let fired officers remain eligible to work even after they accumulated records of brutality, recklessness, shoddy investigations and anger management problems. Gabliks has said the department would need a lot more staff and more money if theres a push to have it investigate officers instead of their employers, who are now responsible for misconduct investigations. The state agency also faced criticism recently for allowing three recruits to graduate from the basic police academy shortly after they offered conflicting accounts of what led to the serious injury of a fellow student during roughhousing in a dorm on Oct. 17, 2019. The recruits eventually resigned. A Salem police investigation and Marion County district attorneys review raised alarms about each recruits candor and credibility surrounding what led to the hospitalization of another recruit who suffered a brain bleed, a fractured vertebra, an orbital fracture and a broken wrist in a dorm room at the state academy. The injured recruit has filed a notice of intent to sue the state department and others, seeking more than $1 million in damages. In addition, Michael Stradley, a supervisor of the state departments basic police academy training program for recruits, has been on paid leave for more than seven months. Stradley is under investigation for a wrongful arrest and discrimination case he was involved in when he worked for the West Linn Police Department. The city of West Linn paid $600,000 to settle a lawsuit in the case. Gabliks said his agency is waiting for the U.S. Department of Justice to complete its inquiry into the West Linn case before making a decision on Stradleys future. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page Following the death of a 19-year-old, who was allegedly gang-raped in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras city, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma on Tuesday said that societys mindset needs to be changed in order to control such incidents. Speaking to news agency ANI, Sharma said that when this incident came to light suo moto cognizance was taken. She added that all possible assistance will be provided to the victims family. An NCW member is going to meet the brother of the victim and we will help the family in whatever way we can, Sharma said. The woman was allegedly gang-raped by four men in her village in Hathras on September 14 when she went to a farm. The woman was taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh the next day. After there were no signs of improvement in her condition, she was moved to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where she breathed her last. The police have arrested the four accused. They will face charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, according to Hathras SP. Meanwhile, members of the Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh such as Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and many others condemned the incident and demanded prosecution of the four accused in a fast track court. (With ANI inputs) Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh - The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact across the globe, posing significant threats to sustainable development gains and efforts to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilient societies. The pandemic has exposed challenges in governance which require collective action and solutions. By focusing on accountability and integrity, and by holding public and private sector actors to higher standards of ethical conduct, the G20 Leaders can improve response and recovery efforts, fight corruption in government and business, and build more inclusive and equitable societies. The G20 Leaders have every opportunity to work together to help their countries, and others beyond the G20, to rebound strongly from the crisis and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The B20 and UNDP welcome the commitments made in the G20 Leaders Extraordinary Summit (i) to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors in both the development and distribution of lifesaving goods (ii) to protect individuals and businesses of all sizes during the economic recovery and (iii) to realize a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment. We urge the G20 Leaders to commit more explicitly to accountability and anti-corruption efforts to ensure the impact and effectiveness of response and recovery efforts to COVID-19. We call upon the G20 Leaders to adopt the following measures to improve integrity and to reduce corruption in the age of a global pandemic: 1. Promote transparency and accountability, and fight corruption within public health and emergency procurement. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted once again the importance of ensuring accountability and transparency in public finance management: public trust in government is not a given it is earned through a multitude of daily decisions and actions. Given the need for urgency in responding to the pandemic, the B20 and UNDP recommend that the G20 governments support robust oversight mechanisms and other measures to promote the efficiency and integrity of relief funding and healthcare programs, including specific anti-corruption safeguards and through digitalization of government procurement and other public services. Additional efforts should include: All COVID-19-related healthcare spending and emergency procurement should be completely transparent, made available in line with open data standards, with contracts and disbursements that include relevant anti-corruption clauses (including the identification of beneficial owners) and code of conduct requirements. Thorough audits of emergency procurement spending, particularly sole-sourced contracts, must be undertaken in a timely fashion; Public and private sector organizations whose work on COVID-19 therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics and other health technologies has been supported with public funds should make their related clinical trial data and their access plans and strategies, publicly available in a timely manner. Failure to publish this data, contrary to the 2019 World Health Assembly Transparency Resolution for disclosure and applicable national laws, should result in civil penalties and the clawback of government funding; Oversight Boards, composed of anti-corruption or relevant oversight institutions, civil society, and the private sector, should be established or strengthened to oversee the management of, and reporting on, stimulus funds, while increased funding should be made available for relevant public sector accountability offices to assist government entities with their oversight responsibilities; Emergency laws or measures passed during the pandemic must meet international legal standards and be in accordance with the States obligations under applicable human rights law. Any curtailment of human rights should be proportionate, legitimate for the purpose intended and necessary to mitigate the risks identified, be reviewable by a court or other oversight body, and be taken and applied in a non-discriminatory way both in practice and in law; Companies that are registered - or have subsidiaries that are registered - in offshore tax havens should be ineligible for national pandemic relief or state financial aid related to COVID-19; Citizens and civil society should be encouraged to provide monitoring and oversight of the delivery of healthcare and sanitation; and Robust whistleblower systems should be established in the public and private sectors and protections provided for all healthcare workers and other citizens disclosing corruption or fraud within healthcare, relief funding and procurement systems. 2. Support the development and implementation of national anti-corruption strategies The B20 and UNDP recommend that all G20 governments put in place and globally support robust, far-reaching and implementable anti-corruption strategies, based on multi-stakeholder consultations, that include appropriately resourced prevention, education and enforcement capabilities. These strategies should be inclusive, aligned with national development goals, and contribute to achieving the SDGs. Measures should include: Engaging with citizens, communities and businesses on strategy design and implementation to ensure that their knowledge, capacities and resources can be leveraged appropriately; Bestowing upon national anti-corruption bodies, oversight institutions, and other relevant government agencies, the authority, expertise and resources to ensure full implementation of anti-corruption efforts and the monitoring of results; Drawing connections between national strategies and international frameworks and approaches for fighting corruption, including, in particular, the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), guidance from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); asset recovery frameworks such as the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR); and guidance developed by UNDP and other organizations to integrate transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in response to COVID-19; Mainstreaming gender issues in national strategies by considering the gender-based impacts of corruption, involving women from the public and private sectors in anti-corruption efforts and consultations and by actively supporting practical initiatives to help women leaders to combat corruption in government institutions and in companies, in particular SMEs; Ensuring that whistleblower systems more effectively engage and empower women to take a more active role in the fight against corruption; Encouraging and supporting the education and training of young people and start-up entrepreneurs to understand the commercial and other benefits of business integrity and ethics and to implement them in their companies operations; and Disseminating the strategy on an on-going basis and reporting annually against measurable goals, with clear indicators of how learning will be used to improve outcomes. 3. Facilitate the use of ICTs and open data for anti-corruption The B20 and UNDP recommend that the G20 governments take steps to support and strengthen anti-corruption efforts globally by more effectively leveraging inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) during and after the pandemic. Improved transparency and information-sharing, particularly relating to beneficial ownership data, public procurement and other government services, will bolster public and private sector corruption risk management and will empower citizens to be more involved in promoting accountability. Efforts should include: Adoption of consistent digital identity standards for legal entities and natural persons; Establishment of public national registers of beneficial ownership data which will increase accountability, assist enforcement efforts and significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of private sector third-party risk management; Endorsement of a G20-sponsored public-private partnership technology innovation project focused on improving data quality in, and data sharing among, national registers; Adoption of e-procurement and other financial management information systems to register emergency response funds and publish open data using standards including the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard (BODS), the Open Fiscal Data Package (OFDP) and the Open Contracting Data Standards (OCDS) to ensure the transparency of public spending; Analysis and recommendations for the future adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and advanced data analytics in preventing and detecting fraud and corruption in public procurement and other government services such as land registry, public administration and customs, while respecting human rights including the right to privacy; and Deployment of ICT-based communication channels, measures and systems to enable public reporting of corruption offenses in line with the G20 High-Level Principles for the Effective Protection of Whistleblowers and in accordance with Articles 13 & 33 of the UNCAC. The 2020 Civil Society 20 Anti-Corruption recommendations also address a number of these topics, including COVID-19, information technology, public private partnerships and national anti-corruption strategies. More information can be found in the 2020 Civil Society 20 Policy Pack. NOTE: B20 (Business 20) and C20 (Civil Society 20) are designed to contribute to G20. The G20 submit is in November. This statement is issued by B20 to contribute to the G20 declaration, which is currently being negotiated among G20 members. Former US president Barack Obama has accused the White House of suppressing black voters in a new campaign video for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. In the video, which has been shared with PBS before its release on The Shade Room, Mr Obama urges the US public to vote as early as possible for Mr Biden. As you know, the election is coming up, and Ive got just one word for you: vote, the former president says. Actually, Ive got two: vote early. Without mentioning president Donald Trump by name, Mr Obama then adds: Right now, from the White House on down, folks are working to keep people from voting, especially communities of colour. Thats because theres a lot at stake in this election. Not just our pandemic response or racial justice, but our democracy itself. The campaign video was released a day after an investigation by Channel 4 News in the UK accused the president of seeking to deter more than 3.5 million black voters from heading to the polls in 2016s presidential election. His campaign has been accused of targeting African American voters in 16 battleground states with negative ads of Hillary Clinton, with the aim of deterring them from voting. Jamal Watkins, vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), told Channel 4 that the organisation is troubled that there was allegedly an attempt to suppress black voters in 2016. So, we use data similar to voter file data but its to motivate, persuade and encourage folks to participate. We dont use the data to say who can we deter and keep at home. That just seems, fundamentally, its a shift from the notion of democracy, Mr Watkins said.Around two million black voters who voted for Mr Obama in 2012 did not do the same for Ms Clinton in 2016, after the Trump campaign allegedly put off black voters in states such as Wisconsin and Milwaukee. The Trump Campaign previously denied using any targeted campaigns on Facebook. Voters have been casting their ballots early this year, as Mr Trump has repeatedly spoken publicly against people being able to vote by mail in this years presidential election and has claimed without evidence that it will cause a large increase in voting fraud. The president has also refused to give the US Postal Service (USPS) more funding, despite it struggling during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and under the leadership of postmaster general Louis DeJoy. A deal to help fund the USPS was struck in the house last month, but is unlikely to make it through the Senate, as Republicam majority leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not accept a standalone bill for the service. President Trump has also threatened to veto it. During an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo last month, Mr Trump said that the Democrats need the USPS funding in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting, because they're not equipped to have it. They don't have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can't do it, I guess. Democratic officials have urged US citizens to vote as soon as they can, in order to make sure their vote is counted for 3 Novembers presidential election. The Biden campaign also released a video of Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday, where she urges voters to cast their ballots early. Ms Harris says in the video: We know its all on the line, everything from womens health to our jobs, from Black businesses to the quality of our schools and our communities. She adds: And of course, we must defeat Covid-19 and confront racism and injustice in our country. Speaking to PBS about the new campaign videos, Kamau Marshall, the campaigns director of strategic communications, said: Our campaign is focused on meeting voters where they are, outlining Joe Biden and Kamala Harris plan to build back better, and encouraging them to vote, He added that the aim is for them to reach a critical audience of black voters that were hoping to turn out this fall. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 00:13:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TAIPEI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Taipei residents formed a long line outside the Confucius temple at dawn on Monday morning, waiting to attend the annual ceremony marking the ancient Chinese philosopher's birth 2,571 years ago. The 90-minute ceremony started at 6 a.m., hosted by Kung Tsui-chang, a direct 79th-generation descendant of Confucius. A 37-step ritual that has been passed down over the centuries was performed at the ceremony. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je led the ceremony, with students from the Taipei Chongqing Junior High School playing ancient music, while students from the Taipei Dalong Elementary School performed a dance dedicated to Confucius. Yu Hsing-fang happily observed her son's performance in the band. The boy, a junior-middle-school student, was attending the ceremony for the second time. The first time, he had joined the dance group as an elementary-school student. "It took him a lot of time and effort to practice, but he seemed willing," Yu said. "We, as the parents, also supported him in participating in the event. It is good to pass on the tradition of honoring teachers and respecting education." Li Chi-hsuan, a student from the Taipei Dalong Elementary School, practiced the dance for a year before performing at the ceremony. "I have learned more about Confucius and the Confucian tradition," Li said. Confucius temples across the island held birthday celebrations Monday, including Tainan and Kaoshiung in southern Taiwan, and Taoyuan in the north. Confucius (551-479 B.C.) was an educator and philosopher, founding a school of thought that deeply influenced later generations. He was also the first person in China to set up private schools and enroll students from all walks of life. Enditem Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday accused the opposition parties of taking up "imaginary issues to create a false fear" among farmers and trying to "mislead" them over the new farm reform laws. The irony is that while the common farmers are satisfied and have no apprehension, it is some politically motivated interests which have no knowledge or stake in farming that are attempting to make an issue out of it by trying to mislead the farmers, he alleged. "It is in the interest of the farming community of India and common people at large, that all ... The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) urges the government of Niger state to immediately prevail on the traditional ruler of Mokwa, the Ndalile of Mokwa, Shaba Aliyu Mohammed, and stop the bogus and abusive healing practices of Mallam Hasan Patigi in the area. At this moment, it is important to impress on the Ndalile of Mokwa that his continued support and endorsement of Hassan Patigi's fake healing and degrading treatment of the people of Mokwa is a betrayal of trust. The Ndalile's refusal to condemn the fraudulent claims and exploitative schemes is incompatible with his duties and responsibilities as a traditional ruler. It must be made clear to the Ndalile of Mokwa that he must choose to rule following the law of the country or he would be sanctioned. https://cdn.thenigerianvoice.com/images/content/929202074345_1601306183515blob.jpg.png For months, Hassan Patigi, who is from Kwara state, has been conducting faith healing and witchcraft exorcist rallies in Mokwa with thousands of attendees in violation of the guidelines for the management of COVID19. Some revulsive images and videos of Patigi's healing activities have been circulating online, showing scenes of torture, inhuman and degrading treating of alleged witches, and others he claimed to be healing. In some of the videos, Patigi forced alleged witches to go naked, fight and urinate on themselves. In one video, Hassan Patigi was seen maltreating an old woman, accused of witchcraft in the community. These so-called 'healing practices' violate health management codes; they contravene human rights and the laws of the country. Unfortunately, the Ndalile of Mokwa has been frustrating all the efforts being made to stop this charlatan and end his utterly shameful activities in the area. There have been posts and comments linking the traditional ruler to the activities of Hassan Patigi. One post states: "He does his bogus healing at his residence especially in the evening, at the traditional head's house in the afternoon and torture innocent girls, men and old women to get them to confess to practicing witchcraft" Patigi's 'healing exploits' are an indictment on the authorities in Mokwa and Niger state. They demonstrate a dereliction of duty and inability to secure and protect the lives of people in Mokwa. Once again, AFAW implores the governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, the Etsu of Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar Kusodu, the Commissioner of Police, the chairman of Mokwa to take urgent and immediate steps to restore law and order in Mokwa. Hassan Patigi's abusive healing practices must stop. Ndalile's continued support for Patigi's despicable activities in Mokwa must end. By PTI MUMBAI: A 33-year-old `YouTuber' has been arrested by the cyber cell of Mumbai Police from Delhi for allegedly posting videos containing abusive language about women, an official said on Tuesday. Saahil alias Pradeep Choudhary, a resident of Faridabad, was arrested on Monday, an official said. Choudhary's YouTube channnel has thousands of subscribers and his videos cover latest issues such as Sushant Singh Rajput's death or the alleged Bollywood-drug trade nexus. A woman had complained to cyber cell on August 22 that he used abusive language about women in his videos. Chaudhary claimed that he was a journalist, but the claim was found to be untrue. He was remanded by a court here in police custody till Thursday. The federal government will move to deport underworld figure Sam Ibrahim to Lebanon as soon as possible after he is released from prison in the next week. Ibrahim, the brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim who was not involved in the offending, has been in prison since 2014 for conspiracy to supply guns. He was granted parole on Tuesday morning but will be immediately transferred to immigration detention because his permanent residency visa was cancelled following his arrest. Underworld figure Sam Ibrahim, pictured in 2011, faces deportation after being granted parole. Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton cancelled Ibrahim's visa in 2015 on character grounds. Born in Lebanon, Ibrahim has lived in Australia since he was four. Now in his mid-50s, he has children with an Australian wife and has never travelled overseas. An Australian Border Force spokeswoman declined to comment on the individual case but said the government took seriously its "responsibility to protect the Australian community from the risk of harm posed by foreign nationals who engage in criminal conduct" or behaviour of concern. Now that Pierce Brosnan and his wife, filmmaker Keely Brosnan, are spending more time on the Hawaiian island of Kauais North Shore, theyre ready to let go of their longtime Malibu dream hometo the tune of $100 million. The couples sprawling oceanfront estate, which they lived in for the past 18 years, took roughly a decade to complete, and was largely inspired by their trip to Thailand in the late 90s, where Brosnan filmed much of 1997s Tomorrow Never Dies. We fell in love with the architecture, Keely told the Wall Street Journal, adding that it was a labor of love to get the perfect shade of green on the homes unique clay-tile roof, which was inspired by Thailands many temples. The one-acre compound comprises two adjoining parcels that they bought in 2000; the couple initially lived in the midcentury-modern home on one of them, but they eventually razed that and designed a brand-new 12,500-square-foot spread with the help of Ralph & Ross Anderson. Presently, there is a main house and a guest house boasting a total of five bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and seven fireplaces, with an impressive 120 feet of private water frontage. Photo: Mike Helfrich for Chris Cortazzo of Compass See the video. The great room in the main house is the central hub of the resort-like property, with walls of glass sliding doors that open out onto the expansive back deck. Wide-plank teak floors connect the living and dining areas, and lead to a top-notch gourmet kitchen with custom teak cabinetry, two stoves, two center islands, and quartz crystal countertops. Upstairs, the main suite measures an impressive 4,000 square feet, and includes two fireplaces, an art studio, and access to a private deck overlooking the sea. There are also two chandelier-lit en suite bathrooms and multiple custom-built closets. The lowest level of the main house is meant for entertaining, with a screening room with its own bar along with stadium seating for up to 20 guests. A second bar just outside the screening room features onyx countertops and an impressive wine cellar that can easily store 200 bottles. Other lower-level amenities include a spa with an infrared sauna, steam room, and Japanese soaking tub; a mirror-walled gym; and a music room/recording studio. Out back, there are a pair of glass-enclosed outdoor areas (So you can have an outdoor dinner party and your napkins arent blowing around, Keely explained to the WSJ), a saltwater pool with a waterfall, a fire pit, and a mini sandy beach that leads down to the actual beach. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) expresses its deep condolences to the state of Kuwait, government and people, and the Arab Muslim countries for the passing of H.H. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. Sheikh al Sabah died today September 29, 2020 at the age of 91. Sheikh al-Sabah was sworn in on 29 January 2006 and has ruled Kuwait since offering a steady hand in a turbulent region. During his rule he emerged as a moderate Arab leader and a prominent voice of reason and a strong advocate for unity in a region facing a number of wars and conflicts. Former President Jimmy Carter has called Sheikh al-Sabah a "global humanitarian leader," for his "support of disaster relief, peace efforts and advancing public health are an inspiration." Former -UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the Emir "a great humanitarian leader." Earlier this month, President Trump awarded the Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander to Sheikh al Sabah. The honor was last awarded in 1991.It is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. "HH Emir Sabah al-Sabah was a remarkable leader who led his nation with wisdom, compassion and determination, "said Imad Hamad, AHRC Executive Director. "Under his leadership, Kuwait played a key role in global philanthropy," added Hamad. "We have no doubt that this noble tradition will continue with his successor," concluded Hamad. Courtesy of Katy ISD At its meeting on Monday, Sept. 28, the Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees named Henry Gaw as the districts new chief of police. He brings 26 years of law enforcement experience. Gaw joins Katy ISD from the Houston Police Department (HPD), where he served as police officer in the Central Patrol and Robbery Divisions; sergeant with the South Central Division and the Office of the Chief of Police; lieutenant with the Recruiting and Internal Affairs Divisions; deputy chief of staff and chief of staff; assistant chief of police for Patrol Support Command; and most recently, assistant chief of police for Patrol Region 1. I never thought this could happen to United Airlines and American Airlines. In July, United Airlines warned that nearly half its workforce--that's 36,000 employees--could be out of a job on October 1. American Airlines made a similar announcement soon after, warning that 25,000 employees were at risk of losing their jobs the same day. I thought at the time that these were probably just warnings of things that would likely never actually come to pass. Or less likely to happen because the airlines were warning about them. Why? Because the strategically timed announcements were designed to try to get the U.S. government to pass a second stimulus bill, including billions of dollars for the airlines to keep their employees working. Since the government had already passed one stimulus bill earlier this year, which contained a provision that said the airlines had to promise not to lay off any employees until October 1, in return for the bailout. Hence the magic of that date; a second bill just seemed likely. But a couple things happened on the way to the capitol. One of them was predictable in retrospect: A traditional political fight. It's an election year, perhaps the most contentious election year in living memory. And getting agreement between the House (controlled by Democrats) and the Senate (controlled by Republicans) is a heavy lift, to put it lightly. Now, as the critical date approaches, there's another issue: the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg. And the nomination and confirmation of her successor, which President Trump and the Republicans in the Senate have made their top priority. There are only so many days on the calendar, and only so many hours in the day. Despite the fact that the House passed a second stimulus bill back in May, compromise talks broke down over the summer. And if both sides assumed there would be a chance to reach a last-minute agreement, there are suddenly a lot fewer legislative minutes before October 1. There is some tempered good news. More recently, American and United have said that their layoff and furlough numbers are smaller than they might have been, due to some employees' voluntary departures. But American still anticipates that 19,000 workers will lose their jobs, and United says its number will be 16,370, with flight attendants reportedly making up the biggest part of the cuts. "Without action they're going to be furloughed on October 1, and it's not fair," American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said at a press conference this week. He added that American might wind up discontinuing air service to some smaller cities like New Haven, Connecticut and Dubuque, Iowa, as well. Separately, Delta Air Lines recently agreed to reduce the number of pilots furloughed by about 220 pilots, bringing the total to 1,721. JetBlue executives say they're anticipating layoffs too, although I haven't seen an updated numerical estimate. "Unfortunately, the dynamic in Washington, D.C. has really created an environment where our hopes are still there, [but] it's not looking as positive as it was going to be," said JetBlue president and chief operating officer Joanna Geraghty. The way at least some of the United and American job cuts are structured, some employees would continue to get health insurance through their employers, and they could be recalled for duty with 14 days notice. But at the same time, passenger volume is down 65 percent, and the airlines taken together are reportedly losing $5 billion each month. At United, CEO Scott Kirby predicted his airline will stay below half its size for another 15 months at least, and won't start rebounding until there's a widespread and effective vaccine (which he doesn't think will happen until the end of 2021). In normal circumstances, one might expect that the danger of 36,000 people losing their jobs just before an election might prompt action in government. But the past year has been anything but normal. And the fact that roughly 900,000 people have been filing weekly for unemployment insurance makes that otherwise large number seem less significant. Anyway, it's not for me to take a position here on whether Washington should pass another law helping the industry. I certainly feel empathy for any of the people at risk of losing their jobs, of course. But as a business owner, I think you'll find it intriguing and ironic. The most effective way to prompt a bailout, and stop from having to furlough so many employees, might actually be to keep announcing that you're going to have to do it. Canadas two largest provinces have warned they may have to lock down parts of the economy again after a spike in Covid-19 cases. Quebec, which has had more virus deaths than 40 US states, is an epicenter of the problem. The province has about 5,000 active cases, a 71% jump from the beginning of August, and is on the verge of closing bars and restaurants again in its two biggest cities, Montreal and Quebec City. Hospitalizations went up 26% in six days. Ontario, the largest province with 14.7 million people, reported 700 new cases Monday, the most ever in a day, though its also testing far more people than it was in spring. A group of hospitals called on Premier Doug Fords government to revert to stricter stage two measures in Toronto and Ottawa, which would mean restricting or closing indoor businesses such as gyms, movie theaters and restaurants. Its up to each of us. Together our collective actions will decide if we face a wave or a tsunami, Ford said Monday at a news conference during which he pleaded for residents to follow rules and get the flu vaccine -- but did not move the province back to stage two. Its a reversal of fortune for a country that avoided the summertime spike that hit the US As the pandemic got worse in Sun Belt states, a largely compliant Canadian population hunkered down and wore masks. Provincial governments, which set the rules for most companies, allowed the vast majority of businesses to open up again, sometimes with capacity limits and new sanitation rules. In Toronto, the financial capital, many restrictions were lifted on July 31. As Labor Day neared, virus cases started to rise again. They flared in British Columbia, praised for its early handling of the crisis. Nationally, active cases have more than doubled since Sept. 1, to 12,759. Almost 95% are in the four largest provinces, with the greatest problems in big cities. Six months of restrictions left some Canadians just as restless as their counterparts in the rest of the world. Across the country, the spike in new cases is being driven by social gatherings among people in their 20s and 30s, fed up with social distancing and hoping to take advantage of the last weeks of warm weather. What well tell people is: Stay home. Were going to ask for a considerable social sacrifice, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said in an interview on Radio Canada late Sunday. Theres going to be difficult decisions for bars and restaurants he added, as Quebec City and Montreal are about to be declared a red zone, the highest level in the provinces alert system. The greater concern is that Covid-19s toehold is becoming a foothold just as the country begins its rapid slide through autumn to winter, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. This coronavirus survives and stays in the air longer in cold, dry weather, he said -- peoples mucous membranes are less effective at filtering it out and infection rates are much higher indoors. Despite a run on fire pits and patio heaters, most policy makers are not expecting Canadians to dine outside in sub-zero temperatures. Lower Mortality One bright spot in the situation is the relatively low mortality rate in Canada. With the tragic exception of elder care facilities in Ontario and Quebec, where death rates soared early on, Canadas fatality rate, per capita, is less than half that of the U.S. since the pandemic began -- roughly 25 people per 100,000 population versus 63 in the U.S. As treatments have improved, along with better protection for the elderly and, crucially, greater testing -- and therefore identification -- of cases in younger people, so have the mortality numbers. But while a lower fatality rate is good news, it doesnt protect hospitals from being overwhelmed by a surge in cases, especially during flu season. And there are significant health consequences with the virus, Furness said. If we focus just on the death rate, eventually everyone is going to say this is no big deal, Furness said. We should reframe our understanding of Covid as vascular disease that causes widespread brain damage in the population. For policy makers and politicians, protecting the hospitals, which already have enormous backlogs of delayed surgeries, and keeping the schools open are key. But the rising numbers threaten disruption on all fronts. If politicians do not have the political fortitude to reintroduce some restrictions, then our risk of sliding into something much worse -- like the U.K. or Spain -- thats still on the table, said Furness. Canada needs to implement rapid testing across the country, tighten definitions on non-essential travel and hold the line on 14-day quarantine periods for those who have been out of the country, he said. Second seed Karolina Pliskova pushed aside a horror opening set to defeat the unseeded Egyptian Mayar Sherif in three sets on Tuesday at the French Open. Pliskova botched eight set points before going down in the tiebreak. The world number three regained her poise to take the second set 6-2. But Sherif, the first Egyptian woman to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, dug in to increase the tension in the decider. The 24-year-old world number 172 eventually cracked when serving to take a 4-3 lead. Pliskova quickly confirmed her break of serve and held on to edge the decider 6-4. It was super tough after missing all those set points, Pliskova told the post-match interviewer Marion Bartoli. Open roof For the first time in three days of competition play on Court Philioppe Chatrier got underway with the roof open. That decision looked foolhardy as both players lost their footing in a struggle to play through a shower. "I went onto a higher level in the second and third sets in difficult conditions," added Pliskova. I hope I can feel better in the next match. The 28-year Czech will face the 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko. In typical style, the Latvian blitzed her way past Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour to register her first win at the French Open since she claimed the title. In the men's draw, seventh seed Matteo Berrettini moved into the second round following an impressive 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 canter past the unseeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil. SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - It's again that day of the year when coffee lovers celebrate their passion for the caffeinated beverage. It is National Coffee Day today in the U.S. when major food and beverage outlets across the nation promote the coffee culture with deals for coffee fans. In the U.S., major coffee outlets such as Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Wawa, Krispy Kreme, Wendy's and Panera Bread give away free cups of coffee to consumers visiting the promoting stores on the day, September 29. They also run special offers to attract more customers to the outlets. This year, restaurants, convenience stores and brands alike are giving away free or discounted cups or bags of coffee - Dunkin', Krispy Kreme, Jack in the Box, Starbucks, Panera Bread and many more. Dunkin' is giving a free medium hot or iced coffee at restaurants across the U.S. with any purchase. Jack in the Box is offering a free regular hot or iced coffee with any app purchase. Krispy Kreme is giving everyone a free brewed coffee with no purchase required. Reward members will get one free doughnut of their choice along with the brewed coffee. The deals are valid for pick-up and drive-thru at participating shops across the U.S. One can order a grande or larger handcrafted beverage at coffee giant Starbucks and get a free drink offer loaded to one's account. At Duck Donuts, you get any size hot or iced coffee for free with a purchase. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf offers a free regular size coffee with any food or beverage purchase over $2. At Wawa, new and existing Wawa Rewards members will get one free any size coffee, and also. a free 16-ounce hot coffee from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Speedway. Wendy's in select parts of the country are giving customers free hot coffee when they buy a breakfast sandwich starting Tuesday through November 4. Barnes & Noble is giving away a free hot or iced tall coffee with the purchase of any item from the 'bake case' at store cafes. Stewart's Shops is giving away a free hot, iced, or cold brew coffee from noon to close today, excluding coffee and cold brew refreshers. At Scooter's Coffee, you can get a free small coffee for going into a store or through the drive-thru. Panera Bread is offering the first month of unlimited premium hot coffee, iced coffee and hot tea free when you sign up for the MyPanera+ Coffee Subscription. At Kolache Factory, customers can get a free 12-ounce cup of coffee with a coupon to be posted on its social media sites. Huddle House is giving away a free cup of coffee with any dine-in purchase at all locations, while Sheetz is offering a free cold brew when you order through the Sheetz app. Several local coffee shops and smaller chains are also offering free coffee or discounts to the celebrate National Coffee Day. The international coffee day is observed on October 1 every year since 2015, when International Coffee Organization (ICO) officially declared this day in Milan, Italy, to promote awareness about one of the most flavored beverages in the world and also to encourage fair trade of coffee. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The foremost Civil rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has commiserated with the President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), and the Army Chief, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai over the unfortunate killing of some very senior military officers amongst scores of other heroic combatants, but the rights group said the fact that senior officers have also paid supreme sacrifices demonstrates the honesty, devotion, resilience and total commitments of the Nigerian military and the federal government to the war on terror. The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said contrary to what naysayers or conveyors of fake news want Nigerians to believe above the commitments of the military to wage an all out war against terrorists, the fact that Senior military officers whose professional trainings may have cost the tax payers millions of dollars for them to have reached such high career pedestals, shows that the military institutions and the Federal Government is waging total and committed war on terror and that no particular Ethnicity or Religious affiliations are sent to the battlefield to be sacrificed as punishments for the Ethno Religious platforms of the affected fallen heroes. These regrettable and very sad deaths of senior officers as well as ranks and file should send us all the signal that the men and women in military uniforms must be supported and appreciated and that under no circumstances should anybody or group play Ethnic or religious politics with the war on terror going by the abundance of evidence that the military truly wishes to liberate the territorial platform of Nigeria from external and internal sabotage and insurrection of the most disturbing dimensions happening in the North East of Nigeria which is bigger in size than FRANCE AND BELGIUM PUT TOGETHER. Besides, the Rights group which commended the military over the the successes recorded in the counter terror warfare , particularly commended the hierarchy of the army and the Borno state Governor Professor Babagana Zulum for their total commitments and patriotism towards the provision of welfare and financial cushioning mechanisms for the brave fighters in the theatre of war. Specifically, the Rights group has canvased the voluntary donation by corporate bodies as well as individuals to the Nigerian military to assist the government to actualize a quick end to the ongoing war on terror even as the Rights group said the Federal Ministry of Defence should open a dedicated account details so that Nigerians can donate to buy basic necessities in aide of the so much that the hierarchy of the Nigerian military is doing with the limited funding components of the war on terror. "War on terror is everybody's war, being fought on behalf of all of us by a few dedicated members of the Military who should be supported by all and sundry on voluntary basis so as to motivate them to keep making these monumental sacrifices for the Native land and for us all". In a statement by the National coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National media affairs director Miss Zainab Yusuf, the Rights group also urged the military Authority and the ministry of Defence to publish a dedicated account details linked to the TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNTS (TSA) so that members of the public can voluntarily contribute towards providing provisions for the combatants to complement the phenomenal pro-welfare tendencies of the Army authority and other segments of the Armed forces of Nigeria just as HURIWA has pledged #50,000 ( fifty thousand naira) to be made available as soon as public notice by the ministry of Defence is made disclosing the account details for that purpose specified above. HURIWA is by this gesture, small as it is, urging non governmental bodies, market women, traders, boys and girls and multibilionaires to openly identify with the war on terror so that ultimate success is achieved in a record time before this administration elapses in 2023. HURIWA applauded the military for the successes achieved in the war including the recent ones which included the one that military Aircraft Struck Boko Haram Hideouts in Borno In continuation of the sustained offensive against terrorist elements in the North East zone of the Country under subsidiary Operation 'HAIL STORM 2' the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has eliminated several terrorists and destroyed their structures, including logistics facilities, at Arina Woje, Warshale and Valangide in Borno State. The air strikes were executed on 26 September 2020 following credible Human Intelligence reports as well as confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions indicating a resurgence of terrorists activities at the 3 locations. "HURIWA commends the military for these uncommon efforts. As we are told that at Arina Woje in Marte Local Government Area (LGA), where Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) elements were confirmed to be hibernating. The identified targets were attacked by Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships, resulting in the destruction of some structures and the neutralization of several terrorists. In the same vein, terrorist elements responsible for recent attacks in the Dikwa general area were tracked to Warshale and taken out as the NAF attack aircraft took turns in engaging the settlement. The air strike on Valangide in the Sambisa Forest area on the other hand was undertaken at night by helicopter gunships, which mopped-up the terrorists as they strafed the location. Major General JOHN ENENCHE, Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters 28 September 2020". HURIWA which sympathised with the federal government and the families of the bereaved soldiers also commended the Defence headquarters for the prompt dissemination of professionally qualitative and verifiable information on the war on terror just as HURIWA said the fact that the Nigerian Army had confirmed the death of a colonel after an ambush by Boko Haram terrorists shows the high level of professionalism in the Nigerian military just as HURIWA agrees with the army for describing late Colonel D.C. Bako as one of our gallant and finest war heroes. HURIWA recalled that the media reported the ambush, near Damboa, which led to the death of Colonel Bako, who also commands an army brigade in Damboa. Ado Isa, the spokesman of the Nigeria Armys Operation Lafiya Dole, in a press statement, confirmed the death. He said Colonel Bako was until his death the commander of 25 Task Force Brigade in Damboa. Isa said the colonel died in a military hospital where he was receiving treatment after the ambush. HURIWA disclosed that the full statement of the military on the killing of senior officers are as follows: Operation LAFIYA DOLE wishes to intimate the general public of the demise of one of our gallant and finest war heroes, Col DC Bako. It could be recalled that the professional, gallant senior officer who always led from the front and a patriotic Nigerian, led a patrol to clear Boko Haram Terrorits from Sabon Gari-Wajiroko axis near Damboa when his patrol team entered an ambush at about 10 a.m Sunday 20 September 2020. Under his able leadership, the troops cleared the ambush resulting to the killing of scores of terrorists and recovery of weapons and equipment.Sadly however, he was wounded in action and immediately evacuated by the Air Task Force Operation LAFIYA DOLE to the 7 Division Hospital at Maimalari Cantonment. The late senior officer was recuperating well after successful operation at the hospital, in good spirit and also said his prayers in the early hours of this morning before his sad passing at the hospital. May Almighty Allah grant his soul eternal rest. Ameen. The Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen TY Buratai on behalf of himself, gallant troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE and indeed well meaning Nigerians hereby express his heartfelt condolences to his esteemed family. We are most grateful for his contributions and sacrifices to the motherland. May God grant eternal rest to the gentle soul of Col DC Bako and the souls of all Nigerian Army officers and soldiers who paid the supreme prize in the defence of our father land. HURIWA further symparhised with the family of a senior army officer and two soldiers reportedly killed by bandits in Unguwar Doka Village under Faskari Local Government Area of Kastina State. HURIWA quoted news reports from the area, as saying thar the soldiers, who were on routine patrol, ran into an ambush by the bandits, which led to their death. HURIWA then quoted General Benard Onyeuko, Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, who confirmed the incident in a statement as stating thus: "They successfully cleared the village of the marauders to the admiration of the locals. During the encounter, troops successfully neutralized 21 bandits while others escaped with gunshot wounds into the forest as evident by the trails of blood along the criminals escape route. The gallant troops successfully rescued three kidnapped victims including an eight months old baby who have been in the custody of the criminals for more than 23 days. During the exploitation phase of the operation, the gallant troops recovered one AK 47 rifle, one AK 47 magazine and three motorcycles from the fleeing bandits. Regrettably, resulting from the encounter with the bandits, one gallant officer and two soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice while two other soldiers were wounded in action and are currently receiving medical treatment in a military medical facility and responding positively. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow will pronounce its verdict in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday. The demolition triggered some of the deadliest riots since partition and left about 2,000 dead. Here is a look at how the case has panned out 1. Two First Information Reports (FIRs) were lodged in Ayodhya after the demolition on December 6, 1992, with the first against unmanned karsevaks, or religious volunteers. 2. The second FIR named Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, who were present when the mosque was brought down. Advani spearheaded a campaign for a Ram Temple in place of the mosque. 3. Forty-five more FIRs were later lodged. 4. A special CBI court was constituted in Rae Bareli on July 8, 1993 to hear the case. 5. Charges were framed on July 28, 2005, and 57 witnesses recorded their statements. 6. The Supreme Court transferred the case to the Lucknow court on May 30, 2017, as charges were framed against 28 people. 7. It extended the timeframe for completing the criminal trial in the case on July 19, 2019 by six months, and set a deadline of nine months for the final order. 8. The nine-month deadline expired on April 19 and the special judge wrote to the apex court on May 6, seeking an extension. 9. The Supreme Court, on May 8, set a new deadline of August 31 for the judgment. 10. In August, the apex court again extended the deadline till September 3. Also Read: Babri demolition case: Accused may seek exemption from appearance in court Twist in the case Calling the demolition a crime that shook the secular fabric of the Constitution, the apex court in April 2017 overturned the dropping of criminal conspiracy charges against high-profile accused persons including Advani. The court called the Allahabad high courts February 12, 2001, verdict dropping the charges erroneous. Before the 2017 verdict, there were two cases related to the demolition being heard in Lucknow and Rae Bareli. The first case involved unnamed karsevaks in Lucknow and the second eight high-profile accused in Rae Bareli. In April 2017, the Supreme Court transferred the Rae Bareli case to the special court in Lucknow. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million on Tuesday, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work. Its not just a number. Its human beings. Its people we love, said Dr Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan who has advised US government officials on containing pandemics and lost his 84-year-old mother to COVID-19 in February. A municipal cemetery worker walks through a special cemetery for suspected Covid-19 victims in Jakarta, Indonesia. Credit:Getty Images Its our brothers, our sisters. Its people we know, he added. And if you dont have that human factor right in your face, its very easy to make it abstract. The bleak milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Jerusalem or Austin, Texas. It is 2 times the sea of humanity that was at Woodstock in 1969. It is more than four times the number killed in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The national state of disaster declared by the South African government on 15 March 2020 was a direct response to COVID-19. But that response inadvertently intensified three other existing disasters: poverty, unemployment and inequality. More South Africans are poor and unemployed now than before the lockdown was imposed. But some people in government and the private sector are richer than before, thanks to tender corruption and price gouging. Six months later, South Africa is at a low lockdown level . This is the new normal. But the hardship and vulnerabilities that COVID-19 created or exacerbated are not normal, and people still need government support. It's needed on at least three levels: humanitarian response, structural poverty reduction policies and economic recovery stimuli. At a recent webinar hosted by the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security , we agreed broadly on four priorities for social security in South Africa, to build back better after COVID-19. 1. Make COVID-19 emergency relief measures permanent Recognising the social and human costs of the pandemic and the lockdown, the government announced interventions to provide protection. These included top-ups to existing social grants (R250 a month), a caregiver grant (R500 a month), a COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant (R350 a month), a Temporary Employee Relief Scheme, and food parcels. These emergency relief measures were operational for six months and are due to end in October 2020, but the impacts of COVID-19 will be felt long after. The lockdown shut down both the supply- and the demand-side of the economy simultaneously. At least three million people lost their jobs or livelihoods in the first month of lockdown, and with the negative economic consequences predicted to last for at least the next three years, that number is more likely to rise than fall. There is no case for withdrawing the special relief programmes at this time. Social grants should continue to be paid at their higher levels, and the caregiver and Social Relief of Distress grants should be made permanent. Working age South Africans also need and have a constitutional right to social assistance. 2. Introduce basic income support COVID-19 exposed a huge gap at the heart of South Africa's social security system: the lack of any form of income support for low-income or unemployed people aged 18-59. The lockdown forced economically active adults to sit at home for months. The less fortunate (usually poorer) had no income and, especially in the case of informal workers, no access to unemployment benefits or temporary employee relief. Millions applied for the special Social Relief of Distress grant, but R350 a month is not enough to live on. Unemployment protection needs to expand to cover all workers, regardless of their prior employment status. Income support should also be connected to labour activation strategies. Until this happens, in the absence of social insurance for workers in the informal sector, we support the campaign led by a coalition of civil society organisations for basic income support . This should be paid at the upper-bound poverty line of R1,227 and linked to a system of labour activation. 3. Overhaul the social security system One lesson from the COVID-19 response not only in South Africa is that it is simpler and more efficient to build on existing systems than to set up new programmes in the middle of a crisis. Topping up the social grants was straightforward and worked best of the emergency relief measures. The process of verifying applications for the COVID-19 special grants was slow, error-prone and, according to the Auditor-General , susceptible to the abuse and mismanagement of funds. In September the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme and several senior managers of the Unemployment Insurance Fund were suspended . Many COVID-19 food parcels were also stolen or diverted by local government officials. This has generated another important lesson from COVID-19. All these schemes have been found wanting in terms of their delivery capability. The entire social security system needs to be reviewed: its criteria, online registration, payment methods and monitoring. It needs linked registries of beneficiaries, entitlements and contributions. Officials must be held accountable. All social security agencies must be supervised independently of political office-bearers. 4. Launch a national conversation about social security What social security are poor and vulnerable South Africans entitled to? The constitution provides for access to all to adequate food and water, healthcare, housing and social security. But the right to social security, while referred to in the Bill of Rights, is not formally defined in any law. Conceptual and legal clarity is needed about what is meant by social security in South Africa. It is broader than just the right to grants. South Africa does not have a social security policy or strategy. The White Paper for Social Welfare dates from 1997. The National Development Plan of 2011 notes the gap in protection. Only about 7% of unemployed people are covered by unemployment insurance. The constitutional right to social security or social protection has two components: coverage and adequacy. Coverage must be universal, but the support provided must be enough to ensure that people can survive with dignity. Benefits must relate to the cost of a decent standard of living. There is a deep conservatism among policymakers about giving income to working-age people. But COVID-19 has changed this. Recognising that unemployment in South Africa is structural makes giving income support to the working-age unemployed unavoidable, not only during the COVID-19 lockdown but in the long term. This opportunity to reconfigure the social contract around social security must be embraced. Conclusion The Treasury and the Minister of Finance will complain that extending the emergency relief measures and introducing new grants is unaffordable. South Africa was already facing a fiscal crisis before COVID-19, with low growth, rising government debt and falling tax revenues. Increasing social spending would increase the deficit. On the other hand, there is an economic argument, supported by international evidence , in favour of positive growth effects of social grants. Injecting purchasing power into poor households will stimulate demand and assist economic recovery. Reimagining social security in South Africa is not only a humanitarian imperative and a means of achieving social justice, it makes economic sense. It is something that the country cannot afford not to do. Stephen Devereux receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and the Newton Fund, administered by the British Council. The Wits School of Governance has a partnership agreement with the Department of Social Development to co-produce and manage a social budget report. I nevertheless receive no funds personally from this partnership. Isobel Frye and Lynette Maart do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. By Stephen Devereux, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex And Alex van den Heever, Chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies, Adjunct Professor in the School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 01:12:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HAIKOU, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The cooperation on new energy vehicles (NEVs) between China and Germany has made remarkable progress over the past decade since the two countries forged a strategic partnership on electric vehicles in June 2011. As part of the ongoing 2nd World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC 2020) held in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province running from Sept. 27 to 30, the Sino-German Forum on Cooperation and Development of NEVs was held Monday, reviewing the achievements and sharing future outlook of Sino-German cooperation on e-mobility. The forum was attended by government officials, representatives of automakers and suppliers in the NEV industry, as well as experts from universities and research institutes in both countries. Wan Gang, WNEVC president and chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said the two countries have seen their cooperation on electric vehicles grow from processing and manufacturing to joint research and development (R&D) and production, brand cultivation, marketing and sales, among other stages along the industrial chain. The past decade witnessed the rapid growth of the NEV industry, with global sales volume of NEVs rising from roughly 8,000 in 2010 to over 2 million in 2019, Wan said, noting that China is the world's biggest NEV market and Germany is the largest in Europe, together accounting for 60 percent of the world's total NEV sales. German automaker Volkswagen and Shanghai-based SAIC Motors established the first joint venture manufacturing sedans in China in the 1980s, initiating Sino-German cooperation in the automotive field. Since then, more German enterprises specializing in vehicle and parts manufacturing, including BMW, Daimler, Bosch, Continental and Siemens, entered the Chinese market and formed close partnerships with Chinese companies. With the rise of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the NEV industry is entering a new phase of accelerated development injecting new growth impetus into global economies, and decade of cooperation has promoted technological innovation and the industrial development of electric vehicles in both China and Germany. Both the German and Chinese automotive industries have been strongly committed to pressing ahead with e-mobility, said Hildegard Muller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), in her address to the forum via video link. She noted that climate protection, a growing scarcity of fossil fuels and an increased need for mobility require new solutions and alternative propulsion systems. "Under the impact of COVID-19, Germany has issued relevant incentives to recover the NEV markets. In Germany, the increased environmental bonus has given a huge boost to e-cars," said Muller, adding that plug-in hybrids have exhibited particularly vigorous growth. She said that in June this year, every 10th passenger car made in Germany was an e-car. German automakers currently provide 70 different electric models domestically and 31 models in China. "More will follow," she said. Forum participants reviewed the achievements of Sino-Germen cooperation over the decade since the two countries forged a strategic partnership on NEVs in June 2011. They also shared their thoughts and discussed the future outlook of cooperation on e-mobility. "Volkswagen is transforming into an integrated sustainable mobility provider," said Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, noting that by the end of 2024, Volkswagen and its Chinese joint ventures will invest 15 billion euros (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars) in e-mobility in China alone. The German automaker appreciates China's ambitious climate target of having CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, which is fully in line with the group's "goTOzero" environmental mission, Wollenstein said. "We're remaining an active partner in the nation's drive toward electrification and carbon neutrality in the future," he added. Zu Sijie, vice president and chief engineer of Chinese automaker SAIC Motor, one of Volkswagen's partners in China, called for better interactive cooperation between the Chinese and German auto industries. That would include accelerating synergy in new energy technologies for carbon neutrality, enhancing the complementary advantages of intelligent connectivity for a better mobility experience, and deepening collaboration on product innovation systems for a new auto industry ecology. A report on Sino-German cooperation and development concerning NEVs was jointly released during the WNEVC 2020 by the China Society of Automotive Engineers and the VDA, the forum's two organizers. China and Germany are looking forward to furthering their cooperation in the future by making policy and sci-tech innovations, promoting an industrial ecology featuring mutual integration and symbiosis, building hydrogen refueling infrastructure, as well as formulating relevant standards and regulations, according to the report. "The year 2020 marks the 10th year of Sino-German cooperation on NEVs, and we're looking forward to strengthening joint efforts to promote the transformation, innovation and upgrading of the industry at this new historic starting point," Wan Gang said. Enditem In the early 20th century, hurricanes were named after the saint of the day, so if the wind started blowing over 74 miles an hour on June 3, you had Hurricane Kevin. But in 1953, the World Meteorological Organization developed a convention by which they used womens names only. Which brings me to August 1966. Although we lived in South Ozone Park, N.Y., we spent that summer in a little town named Yaphank on Long Island. The nearest store was about a mile-and-a-half walk, and we had heard a report that Hurricane Faith was coming. My mother, Nurse Vivian, had not gotten her drivers license yet, so we hiked to pick up kerosene lamps, Pop-Tarts and candles before battening the cabin down. Honestly, I was looking forward to it. No lights! No television! Just me, a flashlight and a carton of comic books. It doesnt get any cozier than that. But Faith was unfaithful. The day before it was supposed to hit, Hurricane Faith veered off into the Atlantic, weakening into a tropical storm near Scotland. And we bought all that kerosene! Nurse Vivian, realizing I was upset just after dusk, turned out all the lights, sprayed us with the hose and said, Who needs a cyclone when you can just make one? We lit a fire on the grill, toasted the Pop-Tarts with marshmallows and invented a new type of smore. The womens liberation movement caught wind of the WMOs policy in 1978 and persuaded the organization to start using mens names again, so there would be equal opportunity himmacanes. Theres a six-year rotation, alternating male and female. If a storm is particularly horrible, like Katrina, its name is retired from the rotation. I only miss a few things about the East Coast, like pignolia cookies from Star Bakery, bagels I'd buy from a place on East 75th Street and how they put a name to their disasters. Superstorm Sandy had a comic book/opera feel to it. Yes, it was terrible and deadly, but New Yorkers werent afraid to look it in the eye and call it by its forename. Not so much in the city of St. Francis. Someone named the fog Karl, but none of our other weather gets a hypocorism. Whos in charge of naming earthquakes and fires? Who thought of Camp? CZU Lightning Complex? It lacks poetry. A bunch of firefighters in Idaho named one the Not Creative Fire in 2015, but that was a one-off. For that matter, why dont we give a better nickname to the pandemic? COVID-19 reeks of scientific lack of imagination. Im not talking bubonic plague or the black death. Weve had those. But maybe Id have a better attitude if the pandemic were named Hortense or Jethro. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Long before Crazy Mike became my Greek chorus, there was Tim Powers. Tim and my husband, Brian, became friends in Maine, then both moved to New York, then New Jersey. By the time Brian and I moved to California, we had grown close and invited him along. He was an adult, but in many ways, Tim was our first child. He moved back in with us when he was detoxing from heroin and for a while, he flourished. He earned a degree from the New School and started his very own gay coven. He moved back in again to the blue bungalow when complications from AIDS got worse. His death, 16 years ago this month, wasnt a typhoon or a volcanic eruption, but it was our own private disaster in the outer, outer, outer, outer Excelsior. Late one night at Davies Hospital, while we waited for the nurse with the morphine, Tim sat up, and said, We ought to name this death. When I asked why, he said that in Wicca one of the most powerful magics is to name. Even when we face the horrible, we can define and limit its power. By bestowing a moniker, we push through our fear. The fires still rage. The virus still kills, but Tim, and Nurse Vivian, taught me that even when the sky is falling, we can name that sky and we can find a way to smile. Kevin Fisher-Paulsons column appears Wednesdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com A person looking at their Fitbit fitness tracker - Fitbit The European Union is expected to approve Google's $2.1bn (1.63bn) takeover of the wearable fitness tracker Fitbit, according to Reuters. The European Commission had demanded the company make major concessions in order to alleviate concern that Googles access to Fitbits health data would further enhance its "data advantage" in online advertising. Last month, the EU rejected Google's commitment that it would not use data from the fitness tracker to create targeted advertising, labelling that promise as "insufficient". But in a new round of concessions, the company said it would appoint a monitoring trustee - a post to be approved by Brussels - to ensure Fitbit data was not used to create personalised advertising over the next 10 years. Google also guaranteed rival wearable companies will be allowed to use Googles Android and Cloud platforms and third parties will still have access to fitness data, as long as users consented. These new assurances mean the takeover is now expected to be approved. The European Commission was expected to decide on the deal by December 23 but reports suggest an announcement could come earlier than the deadline. What is at stake here is pretty much our fundamental rights, Privacy Internationals legal officer Ioannis Kouvakas said. A tie-up could give Google sophisticated real time data about individuals health conditions and needs, which Kouvakas warned could ultimately be pooled together with the US firms already vast data troves. Google's view that the deal is about devices, not data" clashes with a wider nervousness that, through a series of acquisitions, the company has become too big and is damaging competition. This summer, the company has been the subject of multiple antitrust investigations in the US and the EU. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Uddhav Thackeray government in was disinterested in helping farmers who had suffered crop loss due to heavy rains a few days ago. In a letter to Thackeray, the leader of opposition and former CM said farmers had suffered heavy losses in Vidarbha and Marathwada but the state was not checking if damage assessment was being done "seriously and carefully". He said crops like soybean, cotton, sugarcane, onions etc had been damaged in 1,800 villages, with the loss of produce being over 70 per cent in some tehsils. Moon (green gram) and urad (black gram) cultivation has been severely hit in Marathwada due to the rains, he said in the letter. "The state government has given orders to assess crop damage but there is no check on whether the assessment is being done seriously and carefully," he alleged. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new scientific report confirms that cats and dogs can be infected by the novel coronavirus, and that neither animal is likely to get sick. Cats, however, do develop a strong, protective immune response, which may make them worth studying when it comes to human vaccines. There is still no evidence to suggest that pets have passed the virus to humans, although cats do shed the virus and infect other cats. Infected dogs in the new study didnt produce the virus in their upper respiratory tracts and didnt shed it at all, although some other studies have found different results. Neither the cats nor the dogs in the study showed any illness. The authors of the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published on Tuesday point to real world transmission to emphasize why pets are not a significant concern for human infection. Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Airn E. Hartwig, Stephanie M. Porter and other researchers at Colorado State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences note that while millions of humans have been infected with the virus worldwide and 1 million have died, there are only a handful of reports of pets that have become infected naturally. Customer grievances filed with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) have spiked in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. AFCA says complaints have been running at about 14 per cent higher during the year ended June 30, compared to monthly numbers for the final eight months of the previous financial year. While about two-thirds of AFCA complaints concerned credit and general insurance, non-banking areas, such as travel insurance and early access to superannuation, saw significant growth. Direct comparisons cannot be made, as AFCA only came into existence in November 2018 when it became a "one-stop shop" successor to several financial complaints bodies. Non-banking areas, such as travel insurance and early access to superannuation, saw significant growth in complaints. The top product groups for complaints include credit cards with 5354 and housing finance with 5098. Amidst the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, teachers in four school districts in Southern California are taking part in courageous protests as opposition by educators to the murderous return-to-school policy of the ruling class unfolds globally. Most notably, Greece has seen hundreds of school occupations in light of the fast increase of the contagion. Educators in at least four Orange County unified school districtsNewport-Mesa, Irvine, Saddleback Valley, and Los Alamitosare standing firm in opposition to returning to work under unsafe conditions, defying their own unions recommendations with Los Alamitos teachers set to strike September 29. Ten out of 29 school districts in the county have either recently reopened or are reopening this week following Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsoms Blueprint for a Safer Economy order as well as clearance from local authorities, which have allowed schools to reopen when the number of reported cases drops under what are deemed safe thresholds. Kindergarteners entering Greentree Elementary School in Irvine Orange County is typically perceived as a wealthy area south of Los Angeles. It is, however, plagued by increasing social inequality and homelessness. According to the 2015 Orange County Community Indicators report, the county registered 24 percent of the population living in poverty, including 120,000 children, and with a whopping 41 percent of neighborhoods having a high concentration of families experiencing financial instability. More than 32,000 students are homeless or housing insecure, an increase of 236 percent in the last 10 years. The conditions today are undoubtedly worse than five years ago. In Orange County, which reports a death toll of more than 1,200, the alleged new COVID-19 case rate is 4.7 per 100,000 population and the positivity rate is 3.9 percent. However, it has been widely reported that the countys health care agency has kept outbreaks secret, concealing the real numbers. This is not a coincidence, as California is among those states not providing any district-level data on COVID-19 outbreaks in K-12 schools. In recent days, at least one college in the county had an outbreak, but officials refused to release any information. Teachers at Los Alamitos High School are planning a strike on Tuesday, September 29, to oppose the schools reopening. Their concern is primarily lack of safety, especially due to inadequate air ventilation. Most of the schools windows do not open and doors open to indoor corridors. Last Friday, the district supplied a few HEPA filters. However, they have not even been installed and would not solve the issue of proper air ventilation. Irvine High School The school district immediately responded to the strike threat by hiring substitute teachers. The California Teachers Association is highly concerned that this strike could escape its control and set a statewide and nationwide precedent. Therefore, it will doubtlessly try to either avert it through maneuvers that would have no concrete effect on safety, or try to isolate it and disarm it. It is significant that last August the Los Alamitos Unified School District laid off 300 staff effective mid-October. Superintendent Andrew Pulver said that there was not enough work for the classified employees due to schools not being open. He now is pushing teachers to show up on Tuesday, denying their concerns about air circulation, sanitation and its frequency or the absence of space to maintain social distancing. This was the first Orange County school district to be granted a waiver to reopen. Last Thursday, Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) opened up its fall term, with teachers, parents and students signing a petition protesting the unsafe reopening. In two days, it achieved 2,000 signatories. The Concerned IUSD Teachers have been warning of the dangers of the hybrid model, urging that the district commit to distance learning in the secondary schools for the fall semester. Students lining up in the morning at Greentree Elementary This action is in opposition to their union, the Irvine Teachers Association (ITA), affiliated with the California Teachers Association (CTA) and National Education Association (NEA), which endorsed the unsafe guidelines put forward by state and local authorities. The teachers stressed the urgency of the situation by pointing out that several families had already tested positive for COVID-19. Their children are enrolled at multiple schools in the district, from elementary up to high school level. The Concerned IUSD Teachers statement explained the drawbacks of the hybrid model. It expressed two concerns. First, the quality of hybrid in-person instruction at the secondary level will be inferior to the distance-learning model. Second, resuming in-person instruction will jeopardize the safety of students, staff, and families. The hybrid model creates environments that are antithetical to learning, said the statement, citing the fact that students will only be on campus two days a week and only see each of their teachers once a week. Teachers, however, will still be on campus four days a week. According to CDC and state guidelines, students would have to remain seated for the entire class period, all facing the same direction, wearing masks, and not working closely with classmates or their teacher. Group collaboration would need to be done online to facilitate this. Talking would have to be minimized in class because COVID-19 is aerosolized. This is practically impossible and would compromise safety. The statement also builds a case in favor of distance learning as a more effective instructional strategy. The fundamental danger of the hybrid model stems from exposing students and teachers to the deadly virus. Disruptions will be caused by the forced quarantine of exposed teachers and students. This danger is intensified by the absence of a district-wide testing program, leading inevitably to infected students and staff coming onto campus and spreading the virus. Additionally, social distancing is insufficient with many classrooms slated to have up to 20 students at a time. Teachers, students and parents signing the petition published powerful statements in opposition to the reopening. An IUSD teacher wrote: The rush to the hybrid model is the worst of both worlds: in terms of both safety and good education. The lack of a real and on-site testing and contact-tracing program is a huge flaw in this scheme. When you combine that with the huge flaws in the hybrid instructional model, the negatives should be glaring and were never adequately addressed. Sounding a similar tone, a parent wrote: It is reckless to open schools during this stage of the pandemic. If schools were to open during this time, it would not only be detrimental to everyones physical health, but mental health as well. Constantly being in fear of catching this deadly disease and bringing it home to their families is something that will affect a students ability to learn, as well as a teachers ability to teach. Keep schools online for the sake of the physical and mental health of all students and faculty members. An IUSD student wrote: I originally thought by choosing hybrid, I would go at a time when its completely safe AKA end of first semester because my mom is immunocompromised. I want to come back at a time where it is ABSOLUTELY SAFE. Additionally, hybrid learning will hinder my ability to learn especially because there wont even be as much social interaction. There is no point in going back to school this early if there will be no socialization including lunches or before school. A community member wrote: I am a physician scientist and agree that in-person instruction places students, families, teachers and other community members at significant risk without the availability of widespread testing and a vaccine to help develop herd immunity. Unless appropriate safety measures and support systems are in place, it is premature to begin in-person learning. We are already seeing the negative effects of opening some schools and colleges. One IUSD teacher described her teaching experiences on Facebook. I have two classrooms across from each other to house each half of my class. I have an aide to support supervision (though she is a credentialed teacher from out of state). Essentially, she is team teaching and is able to switch groups with her partner. Custodians sanitize the classrooms several times during the day, and everyone is washing their hands multiple times. Each classroom is equipped with an air purifier that cleans the air every 30 min. Each classroom also has a hospital filter, and the HVAC system has been modified to take in fresh air/cool/then circulate. A similar statement was issued by teachers at the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which emphasized similar issues, primarily safety and the inefficacy of the hybrid model. Similarly, three-quarters of the Newport-Mesa USD teachers voiced their firm opposition to the districts safety protocols that were agreed to by the union. Educators voiced their concerns against the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers (NMFT), whose President Tamara Fairbanks explicitly outlined the unions role in school reopening, We want to go back to school. We just want to go back safely. In a similar statement, the NMFT declared: We look forward to the return of our students to our schools and thank you for your commitment to safety. Students can and will rise to our expectations with support and encouragement from all of us. The pandemic is being used by the ruling class and its state agencies in multiple ways: first, to cut jobs and benefits, then to reopen unsafely for the purpose of freeing parents to return to work. These criminal policies threaten the lives teachers, students and their families. We urge all educators to take matters into their own hands and form independent rank-and-file safety committees on the model of those already founded in cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as states like Texas and Florida. These committees will establish the basis for a united struggle of workers across the country and prepare for a general strike. Not an ounce of trust can be given to the unions or either big business political party or agency that seeks to expose lives to the deadly risk posed by the coronavirus. Orthodox Jewish boys in a Brooklyn neighborhood in New York -- the community has been hard-hit by Covid-19 New York's daily rate of positive coronavirus tests climbed to 3.25 percent over the last 24 hours, with a sharp increase in cases among Orthodox Jewish communities, authorities said Tuesday. The elevated rate, which was at 1.93 percent just the day before, marks a worrisome step for a city that has made drastic progress in fighting the coronavirus. New York City, where more than 23,800 people have died of coronavirus, became the global epicenter of the pandemic in spring but has recently touted some of the lowest test positivity rates and infection rates among major US cities. "For the first time in quite a while, the daily number is over three percent and that is cause for real concern," Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters, announcing that the city would begin fining those not wearing masks in public. The increase in cases occurs in the same week that hundreds of thousands of children return to in-person school. It also comes as restaurants and bars will begin allowing indoor dining at 25 percent capacity for the first time since March starting Wednesday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed the rise on "a lack of compliance" and said that 20 state zip codes, all with a strong Orthodox Jewish populations, have daily test positivity rates that average five percent. Rockland County zip code has a 30 percent rate, he said. Cuomo said he will meet virtually with Orthodox Jewish leaders and local elected officials from the communities most affected by the coronavirus to insist on the need to abide by the rules. The governor admitted he was nervous about public school reopening, which is scheduled for Thursday. Mayor De Blasio said that schools would close again if the daily test positivity rate is higher than three percent for seven days. lbc/bfm/bgs ARLINGTON, Va. - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried Tuesday in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, laid to rest beside her husband and near some of her former colleagues on the court. Washington last week honoured the 87-year-old Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18, with two days where the public could view her casket at the top of the Supreme Courts steps and pay their respects. On Friday, the womens rights trailblazer and second woman to join the high court lay in state at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman to do so. Already the capital is looking ahead to confirmation hearings expected to begin Oct. 12 for Amy Coney Barrett, whom President Donald Trump announced Saturday as his nominee for Ginsburgs seat. Barrett was meeting with senators on Tuesday. Arlington, just over the Potomac River from Washington, is best known as the resting place of approximately 400,000 service members, veterans and family members. But Ginsburg is the 14th justice to be buried at the cemetery. Ginsburgs husband Martin Ginsburg was buried at Arlington in 2010 following his death from cancer. He had served in the Army as an artillery school instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma when the couple were newlyweds. The couple was married for 56 years and had two children. The justice had kept the framed, folded flag from her husbands casket in her office at the court. While the cemetery is known for its rows of white headstones, the section where the Ginsburgs are buried, called Section 5, is an older section of the cemetery where markers chosen by families are allowed, and their headstone is black, with a Star of David at the top. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in a statement that according to the justices family, Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt who spoke at ceremonies last week for the justice at the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol officiated at Tuesdays burial and offered traditional Jewish prayers. There were no formal remarks. Family, close friends, justices, and Ginsburgs staff attended, Arberg said. Ginsburg was an opera lover, and the ceremony concluded with recordings of two arias by Giacomo Puccini sung by Leontyne Price. Ginsburgs gravesite is just below the final resting place of former President John F. Kennedy. The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument are in the distance. Nine other justices are buried in that section, including three that Ginsburg served with. Other justices buried at the cemetery include President William Howard Taft, who served as chief justice after he was president, and Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights champion who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case and became the courts first black justice when he joined the bench in 1967. Harry Blackmun, the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a womans right to an abortion, is buried next to Marshall in Section 5. The last justice to be buried at the cemetery was retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who died in 2019 at the age of 99. In addition to Stevens, the other justices Ginsburg served with who are buried at the cemetery are Blackmun and Chief Justice William Rehnquist. ___ Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at twitter.com/jessicagresko. Former Married At First Sight contestant Dean Wells has reflected on the backlash he received for being portrayed as a 'sexist misogynist' in 2018. Dean claimed that before his controversial promotional trailer aired, Channel Nine warned the reality TV star to 'be prepared' for negative reactions. The 42-year-old, who was labelled the 'most hated man in the country', claims Nine offered to relocate him to another country at the height of his criticism. Scroll down for video Dean Wells reflects on MAFS 'misogyny backlash and claims Channel Nine wanted to fly him to AFRICA because it got so bad. Pictured with Tracey Jewel on MAFS in 2018 In a new episode on his YouTube show Dangerous Ideas, Dean hit back at being labelled a 'misogynist' in early trailers for his season. The Sydneysider was portrayed as a domineering chauvinist who 'wants to be loved and honoured and obeyed' by his wife. He claimed that he never said the word 'obey', which was used in promotional material, and that most of the clip had taken things out of context for dramatic effect. Backlash: In a new episode on his YouTube show Dangerous Ideas, Dean (left) hit back at being labelled a 'misogynist' in early trailers for MAFS. Pictured with Tracey Jewel Dean's promo: The Sydneysider was portrayed as a domineering chauvinist who 'wants to be loved and honoured and obeyed' in the 2018 promo (pictured) Dean said at one point Nine were concerned for his mental health and wanted to relocate the star overseas temporarily. 'They wanted me to go to Africa,' Dean claimed, laughing along with former MAFS wife Tracey Jewel, who backed up his claims. Dean claimed Nine suggested he fly out of the country for a few weeks to help build communities without internet access as 's**t goes down'. He claims to have declined the alleged offer at the time. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for comment. 'The did a number on me': MAFS star Dean (pictured) has previously lashed out at the show's producers for 'making him look like a misogynist' 'The next thing you know, I was cast as the villain, as a sexist, misogynist violent a***hole, which was terrible': Dean described how his life spiralled after the show began airing. Pictured with Tracey Jewel In a previous YouTube video in 2019, Dean described how his life spiraled after the show began airing, He said: 'The next thing you know, I was cast as the villain, as a sexist, misogynist violent a***hole, which was terrible because, first of all, I would never be violent towards a woman in any way.' Dean was later painted as the show's 'villain' after plotting a so-called 'affair' with co-star Davina Rankin, despite being paired with Tracey. Philadelphia Firefighters, Paramedics Union Endorses Trumps Reelection A union representing firefighters and paramedics in Philadelphia endorsed President Donald Trumps reelection bid, as the president picks up more and more unions representing first responders. The Philadelphia Firefighters and Paramedics Union, or Local 22, announced on Sept. 29 that it is breaking with the International Association of Fire Fighters, an ally of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, and is endorsing Trump. The union said that the IAFFs leadership has lost touch with the will of the membership. The members of Local 22 respectfully break with the undemocratic IAFF endorsement of Joe Biden and pledge our full support to President Donald J. Trump, said Local 22 President Mike Bresnan in a statement. The Biden endorsement was done without a canvas of local unions and the consideration of the rank and file IAFF membership. Bresnan said that Local 22 members overwhelmingly chose President Trump when asked who they support. They know what is at stake in this election and this endorsement should be a wake-up call to IAFF leaders. Bresnan then criticized former President Barack Obama, saying that several Philadelphia fire companies shut down due to a lack of federal funding. Meanwhile, Trump provided more Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants to get several companies back into service, he said. It comes as more and more police unions in major metropolitan areas have endorsed Trump, coming after waves of demonstrations, riots, and unrest in the wake of George Floyds death earlier this year. Those Black Lives Matter protests were accompanied by a strong anti-police animus, which Trump and the GOP said was either supported or not acknowledged by Democratic leadership. Earlier this month, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) chapter in Chicago endorsed Trump, and the FOP president of the Chicago chapter, John Catanzara, told the Chicago Tribune of Trump, I will do whatever I can for him. I hope he makes a somewhat local appearancethat he doesnt think Illinois is a lost cause and will just kind of mail it in. But theres definitely people who are not going to be happy about it, he told the paper. There are more Democrats, locally speaking, but theres even some Democrats who would agree that the current president has been very good for employment and law enforcement these days. The other law enforcement unions that have also endorsed Trump, including the Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the Milwaukee Police Association, the International Union of Police Association, the National Association of Police, the New York Police PBA, and the National Border Patrol Council. Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Olga Nedbaeva and Fiachra Gibbons (Agence France-Presse) Paris Tue, September 29, 2020 15:09 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f656f 2 Lifestyle Paris-Fashion-Week,fashion Free Paris women's fashion week opened Monday just as the city limited public gatherings in a bid to slow rocketing virus infections in France. Like Milan -- which finished Sunday -- the vast majority of Paris shows over the next nine days will be virtual, with frustrated fashionistas watching on their phones and computers through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and the labels' own sites. Hollywood star Sharon Stone declared the week open in a video message, urging designers to rise to the challenge of better serving "emancipated, free and bold women. "Fashion has to be more fair, diverse and equal," she said. Only a handful of the biggest brands, led by Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, are staging real live shows. With the vast bulk of international buyers and style journalists who usually flood the French capital staying away because of travel restrictions, Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane's Celine and Virgil Abloh's luxury street brand Off-White have bowed out altogether. The lack of pomp of spectacle has led to no end of streaked mascara online from influencers mourning the loss of yet another proper fashion week to COVID-19. "The last Paris fashion week which was entirely digital left us all orphans," fashion historian Olivier Saillard told AFP. People crave the "theater of the live spectacle", he added, saying the digital men's and haute couture shows in June were something of an anti-climax. Despite big social media campaigns, the new "physigital" reality -- mixing digital and physical shows -- lack fizz, with brands struggling to create the same buzz online. Before the week had even officially started, John Galliano released images of his new Margiela collection, even though he is not supposed to show until next Tuesday. 'The world has changed' And rising French designer Marine Serre warned that "Amor Fati", the film that will showcase her spring summer looks, "contains strong images that some viewers may be sensitive to." "This collection is a mirror of the last five months," Serre told AFP. With the Belgian master Dries Van Noten, she has called for a major rethink of how the industry works. Their manifesto for responsible fashion has since been signed by hundreds of other designers. "The world around us has changed radically," Serre added. Fashion's enfant terrible of the moment, Demna Gvasalia of Balenciaga, said he also found himself asking if "fashion makes sense in the apocalyptic world in which we have been living since March", when lockdowns began in Europe. However, the Georgian designer told the industry bible Women's Wear Daily that he has since "discovered that even in times of pandemic, people want something new. They even want it more to distract themselves from the horrors," he added. Even so, Salliard questioned whether it was worth persisting with shows while the pandemic continued. "If there are no American and Asian buyers, and no journalists, what's it for?" he asked. The Korean label Kimhekim kicked off Monday's six digital shows, with the young Georgian Irakli Rusadze making his Paris debut with his Situationist brand. His slightly surreal film was shot on the streets of his native Tbilisi, with his models buying potatoes in its street markets. Danish designer Cecilie Bahnsen, who "adores the idea that you can wear a ballgown with a pair of trainers", also made her first bow with a film showcasing her long white, black and pastel dresses on a blasted Nordic heath and beach. American artist Sterling Ruby with his S.R. Studio. LA. CA. brand and London newcomer Wales Bonner, who won the prestigious LVMH prize for young designers in 2016, rounded off the opening day's shows. Parks in city have been granted permission to reopen as part of the Centre's Unlock 4 after nearly six months of being shut during the Covid-19 lockdown. People expressed joy and relief as they would now be able to go back to their favourite places for morning walks and evening activities. Ravinder Nayak, a senior citizen said, "I am really happy that the parks have reopened. We used to visit the park every day earlier but due to the lockdown, we were not able to go and have been confined to our houses."He added that park authorities had mandated the wearing of masks for entry to the park and since its opening yesterday, people have been maintaining social distancing."The park opened yesterday and everyone has been maintaining social distancing. Park authorities are not allowing those without masks to enter. By properly following basic Covid-19 guidelines, we can prevent the spread of the virus. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As we head into the fall, people return to seasonal rituals, such as Trick-or-Treat on Halloween and heading down to the local polling place on Election Day. Thanks to Covid-19, those two dates just wont be the same this year. The CDC warns against traditional trick-or treating. And instead of voting in person, most New Jerseyans will be voting by mail this year. Thats bad enough. Worse, most of them will be required to lie about it if they want their votes counted. I discovered that the other day when a reader sent me an email. Reader Joe Defoe of Parlin described his surprise when he read the ballot he had recently received from the Middlesex County clerk. A person may be fined and imprisoned and may also lose the right to vote until restored by law if that person certifies falsely any information. So far so good. We all want to crack down on vote fraud. But among the statements DeFoe has to sign to get his ballot accepted was an affirmation that I am the person who applied for enclosed ballot. I did NOT apply for the enclosed ballot! Defoe wrote. The Governor sent it to me! Me, too. I checked the ballots I had just received in Ocean County. Sure enough, it also commanded me to sign that statement if I wanted my ballot counted. I would never sign such a statement for the simple reason that I would never willingly vote by mail, let alone lie about it. The polling place is two blocks from my house. I know most of the poll workers, including a guy who ran cross-country at St. Benedicts just like my dad did. And I dont buy Phil Murphys reason for imposing this mail-in mandate. The Guv said the Covid-19 epidemic makes in-person voting too risky. Anthony Fauci feels otherwise. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently said that as long as at-risk voters are given the option of mail voting theres no reason why we shouldnt be able to vote in person or otherwise. Well theres one reason: politics. Everyone who understands politics knows that higher turnouts favor Democrats and lower turnouts favor Republicans. Fair enough. The Democrats control the state, so theyre winning this game. But they have to learn to play it better. As early as Aug. 14, Murphy had put out an executive order mandating mail voting for the 2020 election. That was 80 days before the election. Way back in 1872, Jules Verne had his hero Phileas Fogg win a bet by going around the world in 80 days. Murphy couldnt even get an update on the 10 words that would have made that attestation accurate. The best he could do is a section of the Aug. 28 legislation that affirmed his executive order. It stated that said voters shall sign the certification affixed to the margin of the flap on the inner envelope of the mail-in ballot notwithstanding the fact the mail-in-voter did not apply for the enclosed ballot. Notwithstanding the facts? I wont be doing that this election. Instead Ill go to the polls and fill out the form for a provisional ballot. That takes 15 minutes or so 15 minutes when I will be exposed to Covid-19 when I could have been in and out under five minutes under the old system I asked Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan why the governor did not use those 80 days to rewrite the law to reflect the current reality. I didnt get an answer. But I suspect its because the bill was loaded with goodies such as the requirement that the state put up lots of unguarded lockboxes where mail ballots can be deposited. Current law says a ballot courier cannot deposit more than three ballots. But how can you stop said courier from making multiple trips to multiple lockboxes with multiple ballots? All of this is a recipe for chaos, said Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon. She said shes not looking forward to Election Night All of this was done in a rush and things werent sorted out, Hanlon told me. Across the board were hearing from people who say they dont like this. Theyre going to like a lot less after Election Day. In prior elections the great bulk of the votes were registered on machines. Now about 3.6 million are expected to come in by mail. It takes about 10 minutes per ballot to get them properly counted, Hanlon said. You do the math. In the meantime let me offer the governor a suggestion that Im sure he wont take: Leave Election Day alone. And whatever you do, dont mess with Halloween. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) The Department of Tourism has released a set of guidelines allowing staycations in areas under general community quarantine. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat signed an administrative order allowing staycations for all ages except for those with underlying medical conditions. We welcome the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to permit staycations or a minimum of an overnight stay for leisure purposes in GCQ areas, Romulo-Puyat said in a statement on Tuesday. According to the Tourism secretary, it is in line with the DOTs move to safely reopen the industry and bring back jobs to workers. Here are the guidelines in the administrative order: Negative antigen results The IATF and the DOT require negative antigen test results from a rapid antigen test conducted on the day of check-in. Cashless transaction The DOT also noted that cashless transaction for taking bookings and payments is mandatory. DOT Certificate of Authority to Operate For establishments under GCQ, this certificate must be secured from the DOT. They should follow a strict set of guidelines on guest handling, including the maximum number of guests per room and other safety protocols. Reopening of other function areas According to the administrative order, hotels and other establishments may now also reopen their gyms, swimming pools, restaurants, and other beverage outlets aside from bars, which are prohibited in areas under GCQ. As safety remains the DOTs top priority, establishments that will offer staycation services will be strictly monitored. They will be required to keep a record of occupancy and submit it every 10th of the month to the relevant DOT regional office and local government unit (LGU) tourism office for data analysis purposes, the tourism chief said. Philippine Travel Agencies Association President Ritchie Tuano believes the resumption of staycations in GCQ areas will have a lasting impact on the Philippine tourism industry. Though Tuano admitted that it will take a long time before tourists can gain confidence in booking for staycations as the daily COVID-19 infections in the country are still at the thousand mark. "Once we open slowly, we can sustain giving importance to the health and safety of the tourists," Tuano told CNN Philippines' Rico Hizon. The PTAA president added that the national tourism stakeholders are now finalizing the guidelines on how they will distribute funds from the Bayanihan to Recover As One Law to affected small businesses in their sector. Afghan police seized four tonnes of sodium nitrate, used in the making of car bombs and improvised explosive devices, officials said, in one of the largest such seizures in the country's 19-year insurgency. The chemical was seized from a truck in Kabul on September 27. The driver had been arrested and investigations were under way, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said. The government has not said which militant group was responsible. Sodium nitrate is also used in fertilizers and preservatives, but it has been banned in Afghanistan for years. The Taliban, Islamic State (IS), and other militant groups operate in Afghanistan and have carried out major attacks in and around the capital. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on September 27 it had detained seven IS members in the eastern city of Jalalabad, including a man believed to be in charge of planning urban area bombings. An NDS statement said the group planned to target a gathering of Afghan security forces or tribal elders in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where IS has carried out a number of attacks this year. Suicide bomber vests, weapons, and explosives were also seized. Afghan and Taliban negotiators have been meeting in Doha since September 12 in the hopes of agreeing on a cease-fire and a power-sharing deal. But they have been bogged down on procedures even before discussing their agenda. Violence has risen despite the talks, and the Taliban has rejected calls for a cease-fire. Taliban fighters on September 26 launched attacks in the central province of Bamiyan in the bloodiest clash in the area, considered one of the safest in the country, since the start of the 19-year war. Clashes continued for two days, with nine police killed and the Taliban suffering heavy casualties, said Latif Azimi, spokesman for the Bamiyan provincial governor. A Taliban statement said its fighters clashed with a convoy of security forces and that 30 Afghan commandos were killed. supremo on Tuesday condoled the death of the Hathras gangrape victim, and said "no hope" is left from the "insensitive government". "A dalit daughter, who was victim of gangrape and brutality ultimately died. I condole her death. No hope is left with present insensitive government," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi. A 19-year-old Dalit woman fromHathras died at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Tuesday morning. The woman was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to the Delhi hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mithun Chakraborty was worried for his family as the the 'only earning member' during the pandemic Ten schools in Louisiana were recently recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education for their high student performance. Three of those schools are in Vermilion Parish. Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler joined News 15 at 5 to discuss this achievement. NBC News- President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden come face-to-face for their first debate on Tuesday night amid increasingly nasty attacks on each other. Trump has called Biden a socialist puppet who wants to destroy the suburbs and "hurt God." Biden says Trump is a fraud whose failed leadership during the coronavirus crisis has "caused people to die." Here's what you need to know: WHEN & WHERE? The 90-minute debate is being held at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. It's being hosted by the school and the Cleveland Clinic. WHO'S MODERATING? The first faceoff is being moderated by Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace, a tough interviewer. He had a contentious one-on-one sitdown with Trump in July, and the president tweeted last year that he thinks Wallace is "nasty & obnoxious." Biden has so far avoided Wallace altogether. WHAT'S THE FORMAT? There will be no opening statements. Trump will be at the podium on the right side of the stage looking at the audience with Wallace in the middle and Biden on the left. The commercial-free broadcast will be split into six segments of 15 minutes each devoted to six topics selected by Wallace. Those topics are: the Trump and Biden records; the Supreme Court; Covid-19; the economy; race and violence in American cities; and the integrity of the election. Trump will get the first question. The candidates have two minutes to answer the first question in each segment. Trump and Biden will then have an opportunity to respond to each other, and the moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion, according to the event organizer, the Commission on Presidential Debates. WHAT ABOUT COVID? There will not be a traditional handshake (or even an elbow-bump) between the candidates before the debate starts, the CPD said. Trump, Biden and Wallace won't be wearing masks on stage. The audience, which the CPD said is being limited to a much smaller-than-usual 80 to 100 invited guests, will also be tested for the coronavirus ahead of the debate, as are all attendees. The restrictions also mean there will be no post-debate "spin room," the crowded and chaotic place where campaign surrogates try to lay out arguments for why their candidate won. The debate was originally scheduled to be held at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, but the school withdrew as the host site in July, citing health concerns. HOW CAN I WATCH? It can be watched live on all the major TV networks, including ABC, CBS, CNN, C-Span, Fox, MSNBC and NBC. NBC News NOW will provide free debate coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET, available to stream live and on demand across OTT platforms, including Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service. C-Span will be streaming it on its YouTube channel, and many of the major networks will offer it on their apps. On radio, NPR will be airing the debate and will also have a livestream available online. People can also watch via subscription streaming services like Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and fuboTV. NBCNews.com will live-blog the debate, including fact checks and analysis. This years faceoff will be unique in that most Americans are still working remotely and not commuting to and from offices. That means more people are likely to be viewing from home as opposed to mobile devices while on the go. WHEN'S THE NEXT ONE? The lone vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris of California is up next in Utah on Oct. 7. That will be followed by two more presidential debates a town hall-style debate in Florida on Oct. 15 and the last, in Tennessee, on Oct. 22, will have the same format as the first, hosted by NBC's Kristen Welker. Dareh Gregorian reported from New York, Ahiza Garcia-Hodges from San Francisco and Katie Primm from Cleveland. License Link License Link Image Source Link TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2020 /CNW/ - Drone Delivery Canada Corp. (TSXV: FLT) (OTC: TAKOF) (Frankfurt: A2AMGZ or ABB.F) (the "Company" or "DDC") is pleased to announce that, with the assistance of its sales agent Air Canada (TSX: AC), it has executed a Letter of Intent ("LOI"), with Astral Aerial Solutions Limited located in Kenya, effective September 28th, 2020. Under the terms of the LOI, the parties shall cooperate and work jointly with the local regulator (Kenya Civil Aviation Authority) and shall work together to identify and analyze market opportunities in Kenya for DDC's drone delivery solution with the intent to work towards a definitive agreement for that market. "As our first international opportunity, we are pleased to be working with Astral Aerial towards an agreement for DDC's drone logistics solution in Kenya. There are numerous potential applications from traditional last-mile cargo to mining, oil & gas, healthcare, humanitarian aid and infrastructure inspection services. Astral Aerial's parent company, Astral Aviation has a global, award-winning reputation and we look forward to a commercial relationship with them," said Michael Zahra, President & CEO of DDC. "We are honored to co-operate with Drone Delivery Canada, and to learn from their experience in providing innovative drone-based logistics platforms in Canada that can be applied in Africa. The Canadian technology can benefit various sectors in Africa especially in Healthcare and accessibility to Remote Communities," said Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia, Chief Executive Officer of Astral Aerial Solutions and Astral Aviation. About Astral Aerial Solutions Ltd Astral Aerial Solutions is a newly licensed Drone Operator based in Kenya whose mission is to create a drone-revolution in Africa by adapting technology and innovation to solve Africa's problem so that it can leapfrog to the future. Astral Aerial's vision is to offer the most innovative, flexible and cost-effective UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) integrated solutions which will have a lasting impact to its clients. Astral Aerial was rated by Airbus as Africa's Top 10 Tech Startups in 2018 and won the IATA Cargo Innovation Award in 2017, and was recognized by the World Bank for being the leader in Data Analytics and Agricultural Intelligence during its Disruptive Agricultural Technology competition. Astral Aerial will provide innovative drone-based solutions for Cargo Delivery, Agriculture, Inspection of Utilities and is setting up a Training Academy which will empower the youth in Africa with online based training. Astral Aerial is associated with Astral Aviation which is an established cargo airline with a strong footprint in Africa and Europe, with a diverse fleet of 14 Freighter Aircraft and a network of 50 destinations. https://astral-aerial.com https://www.astral-aviation.com/ About Drone Delivery Canada Corp. Drone Delivery Canada Corp. is a drone technology company focused on the design, development, and implementation of its proprietary logistics software platform, using drones. The Company's platform will be used as a Software as a Service (SaaS) model for government and corporate organizations globally. Drone Delivery Canada Corp. is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX.V Exchange under the symbol FLT, on the U.S. OTC Q B market under the symbol TAKOF and on the Frankfurt exchange in Germany under the symbol A2AMGZ or ABB.F . Read more about the Company at: www.DroneDeliveryCanada.com or on DDC's social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/drone-delivery-canada https://www.youtube.com/dronedeliverycanada https://www.facebook.com/dronedeliverycanada https://www.instagram.com/dronedeliverycanada https://twitter.com/DroneDeliveryCa Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. This forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and dependence upon regulatory approvals (both in Canada and internationally). Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking information. The parties undertake no obligation to update forward-looking information except as otherwise may be required by applicable securities law. SOURCE Drone Delivery Canada For further information: Investor Relations: Mr. Michael Zahra, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Bill Mitoulas, Telephone: (416) 479-9547, Email: [email protected]; Media Relations: Mr. Nelson Hudes, Hudes Communications International, Telephone: (905) 660-9155, Email: [email protected] Related Links http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com LUCKNOW: The 19-year-old woman, who was gangraped and brutally assaulted by accused in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on September 14, died on Tuesday morning at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital after battling for her life for almost a fortnight. The woman's family has alleged that UP Police did nothing to help them and took no action against the attackers. Live TV Speaking to Zee News, the victim's brother accused the Uttar Police of providing no help when he along with her sister visited the station. He said he had to take her sister to Hathras hospital in an auto-rickshaw. He said one of the four accused of the gangrape was arrested only after the victim's statement. He said the police officials were asking for accused's contact number. The incident took place on September 14. Terming the incident on lines of 'Nirbhaya gangrape', he demanded that the accused should be awarded death sentence. The woman, who belonged to the Scheduled Castes community, had been in an extremely critical state with multiple fractures and her tongue was cut. A spokesman of AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College said that victim's legs were completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed. The woman was attacked on September 14 at her village in Hathras, some 200 km from Delhi. She was dragged by her dupatta into the fields, where she had been cutting grass with her family. The woman was first admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital. Later, she was shifted to the ICU of Safdarjung hospital after her condition worsened. After her family members expressed their desire to take her to Delhi, she was referred to AIIMS on Monday (Sept 28) morning. The accused, who belonged to the upper caste, tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and, in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. Award-winning Japanese actress Yuko Takeuchi has been found dead at her Tokyo home at the age of 40. She was reportedly found by her actor husband Taiki Nakabayashi at their home in Shibuya Ward. Her death was confirmed at hospital. Police launched an investigation, suspecting that the actress took her own life, Japanese media reported. Ms Takeuchi was popular in Japan, known for the 1998 horror film Ringu which was adapted by Hollywood as The Ring. In a statement, her talent agency Stardust Promotion said it was stunned and saddened by the news. The actress also played a female Sherlock Holmes in the 2018 HBO series Miss Sherlock, which was broadcast in several countries including the US. For three years in a row, between 2004 and 2007, Ms Takeuchi won best actress in a leading role at the Japanese Academy Awards. Along with her long list of acting credits, Ms Takeuchis warm, smiling, woman-of-the-people image made her popular with advertisers, Variety Magazine reports. Although suicide has not been confirmed in Ms Takeuchis case, it has been the cause of death for a number of Japanese talents recently, including the actress Sei Ashina earlier this month, actor Haruma Miura in July and wrestling star Hana Kimura in May. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates It would have been easy to write a book that said everything we did was right, and everything we did responded to the onslaught coming from the White House or the attorney general, Weissmann said. But I was trying to write something for the American public and, frankly, for the historical record, and to try and be as candid as possible about what we did right and what we could have done better. TEL AVIV - Israel has surpassed the US in terms of death per capita due to COVID-19. It is also the top of the rankings in terms of countries with the highest number of new daily infections per capita. The figures were contained in a defense ministry statement that said that on the basis of the average over the past week, for the first time the rate in Israel is 3.5 deaths per million inhabitants, while in the US this number is about 2.2. A lockdown is currently in place in the country until October 11 but it is likely to be extended. The number of deaths in Israel has for the first time surpassed 1,500 at 1,507 and the health ministry noted that there had been over 500 deaths in the past three weeks alone. The number of seriously ill with the virus is now at 755 and, of them, 207 are on ventilators. The number of active cases stands at 65,025 out of a total of 233,554 since the pandemic began. Only 8,105 tests were conducted on Monday due to the Yom Kippur holiday, compared with about 50,000-60,000 on average in recent days. In any case, the death rate remains high. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told public radio station Kan that ''there is no hope that the lockdown may be loosened after a week and a half, after the end of the Jewish holiday'', Some media reported the crowding of some synagogues, especially in the Orthodox Jewish quarters of Jerusalem, during the Yom Kippur parters despite the restrictions in place. On Tuesday, the Knesset is expected to meet to vote on measures adopted by the government last week, with special focus on the ban on protests and prayers. For now, the measures adopted by the government under Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu have been implemented even without parliamentary approval. Heated debate on the two issues to be discussed at the Knesset is expected. On Wednesday, the government commission on COVID-19 will meet to discuss additional measures. KEY FACTS 11:50 a.m.: Two Ripleys Aquarium employees test positive 10:26 a.m.: Ontario reporting 554 cases 9:25 a.m. Canada to commit $400M to combat COVID-19 worldwide The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file is no longer updating. Click here to read the latest. Web links to longer stories if available. 8:44 p.m.: Less than a month after the Greater Toronto Hockey League rolled out its game plan to return to the rink, two local organizations have decided to back out of the season due to the anticipated second wave of the coronavirus. So far, both the East York Hockey Association and Amesbury Bert Robinson Minor Hockey League have cancelled their entire 2020-21 seasons and programs. After hours of discussion, consultation and consideration, this difficult decision was made, said the East York association in a letter to players and their parents. The focus of our league has always been to provide our communitys children with a fun, healthy and safe hockey environment. At this time, especially with the number of COVID cases rising and a second wave anticipated, we cannot foresee how that can be achieved at the rink. 8:28 p.m.: B.C. reported 105 new cases and one new death on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 234. However, the number of active cases ticked down to 1,268. In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown are encouraging people to plan for small gatherings at Thanksgiving, rather than travelling or hosting a large family dinner. "We have had to change our special celebrations and gatherings to keep the people we care about safe," they said. 5:58 p.m.: Alberta reported 160 new cases, one new death and 137 recoveries for a net increase of 22 active cases to 1,571. Albertas death toll is now 266. Edmonton continues to have the most active cases in the province, now up to 815. 5:48 p.m.: Squeezed by limits on attendance at its theme parks and other restrictions due to the pandemic, The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it planned to lay off 28,000 workers in its parks division in California and Florida. Two-thirds of the planned layoffs involve part-time workers but they ranged from salaried employees to nonunion hourly workers, Disney officials said. Disneys parks closed last spring as the pandemic started spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks have yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California. 5:24 p.m.: The City of Toronto reported 14 new hospitalizations in the last 24 hours as of Tuesday afternoon, with 285 new cases, one new death and 114 new recoveries. Hospitalizations have doubled in the city in eight days, to 66, as case numbers keep rising. 4:39 p.m.: Having already extended its summer road-closure program past Labour Day, the City of Toronto said Tuesday that itll now push the program into October, closing off chunks of Lake Shore Boulevard, Bayview Avenue and River Street this weekend. Residents desire to keep physically active during COVID-19 rules and the popularity of the closures drove the extensions, said Mayor John Tory, urging Torontonians to get outside and enjoy the (closed roads) again this weekend. From Saturday, Oct. 3 at 6 a.m. to Sunday, Oct. 4 at 11 p.m., heres whatll be closed to cars, but open to pedestrians and cyclists: Lake Shore Boulevard West (eastbound only) from Windermere Avenue to Stadium Road; Lake Shore Boulevard East (eastbound only) from Leslie Street to Woodbine Avenue; Bayview Avenue from Front Street East to Rosedale Valley Road; and River Street from Gerrard Street East to Bayview Avenue. 4:02 p.m.: The NFLs season suffered its first outbreak on Tuesday as the Tennessee Titans suspended in-person activities through Friday after the NFL says three Titans players and five personnel tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first COVID-19 outbreak of the NFL season in Week 4. The outbreak threatened to jeopardize the Titans' game this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers and posed the first significant in-season test to the league's coronavirus protocols. The NFL issued a statement Tuesday saying both the Titans and Minnesota Vikings suspended in-person activities Tuesday following the Titans' test results. The Titans beat the Vikings 31-30 in Minneapolis last weekend. 3:52 p.m.: Manitoba and Saskatchewan both reported drops in active cases on Tuesday, as recoveries and one deaths exceeded new cases. In Manitoba, 34 new cases were more than matched by 46 recoveries and a death, dropping the active count ot 606, while in Saskatchewan, seven new cases were outpaced by 18 recoveries to bring the active cases to 127. In Saskatoon, where a large gathering and workplace outbreak had led the city having almost half of the provinces active cases, Tuesdays data gave cause for hope that the worst was over - no new cases reported, against 16 recoveries. 3:42 p.m.: Halton Region reported 25 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, almost half of them in Oakville. Twelve of the new cases reported were in Oakville, six in Burlington, five in Halton Hills and two in Milton. Three of the five cases in Halton Hills were linked to infections at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School in Georgetown. Two of Halton Hills new cases were under the age of 19. Halton Region also declared outbreaks at long-term care homes in Oakville and Burlington. Despite the dozen new cases in Oakville, the town saw a drop in the number of active cases after reporting 13 recoveries. That leaves 85 active cases in the town. Overall, Halton saw its number of active cases rise by seven to 171. 3:36 p.m.: Ontario strip club operators are voicing frustration over the Ontario governments move to shut down their establishments, saying the closure was ordered without consultation and treats the industry unfairly. The province announced the shutdown late last week, saying it was needed to reduce transmission in high-risk businesses. Mauro Mastrucci, who owns the Airport Strip Club in Mississauga, said clubs werent warned about the order and argued the measure discriminates against the adult entertainment industry. Its totally frustrating, he said, noting that his club had Plexiglas barriers, required customers to wear masks, and checked temperatures at the door in an effort to follow public health guidelines. Two Toronto strip clubs made headlines this summer after COVID-19 cases were linked to the establishments. But Mastrucci said restaurants and bars have also seen cases without a sector-wide shut down. How can they distinguish that its more likely that strip clubs will be able to spread COVID-19, he said. Crossovers, a strip club in Barrie, also suggested its industry was being treated unfairly. In an online post, the establishment shared news about crowds at a recent car rally in Wasaga Beach, writing, And yet strip clubs are the problem ... Ellie Ade Kur, a board member with sex worker support organization Maggies Toronto, said closing strip clubs demonstrates bias against a set of workers already struggling financially after non-essential businesses had to close earlier in the pandemic. Strippers are being shamed in a way that other businesses are not, she said. We dont think its acceptable. 1:52 p.m.: Quebec is getting ready to deploy the federal governments COVID-19 contact tracing smartphone application. Premier Francois Legault told reporters today his government is in discussion with the opposition regarding the application, adding Quebecers will likely be able to use it in the coming days. Legault is also urging young people to follow COVID-19 public health guidelines. He is asking them to limit their contacts with others for the next 28 days as Montreal and Quebec City are now in the maximum pandemic alert level. 1:36 p.m.: Its bah, humbug for the Shaw Festival as the COVID-19 pandemic forces the cancellation of its annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol. We held off making this decision for as long as we possibly could because we had set our hearts on getting back into one of our theatres this year, artistic director Tim Carroll said in a news release. But it was not to be: the situation clearly calls for caution. The theatre festival has presented the Charles Dickens classic in its Royal George Theatre in the heart of historic Niagara-on-the-Lake since 2017, but the province is in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. Nonetheless, Carroll said the companys optimism remains unquenchable and we will be ready to leap into action the moment we get the nod. Planning is already underway for the 2021 season with details to be announced soon. And the festival is moving ahead with a series of outdoor concerts this year. See shawfest.com for more information. 1:16 p.m.: Italian restaurant Gusto 101 at King and Portland Streets has shut down after one of its workers tested positive for COVID-19. A statement was released on their website on Monday, informing patrons of the positive test. The workers last shift was Saturday. While not mandatory, we have immediately closed our restaurant until further notice, as our guest and team member safety will always be number one. The team member worked Sept. 22-24 (evening shifts) and Sept. 26 (daytime shift). 1:07 p.m. (updated): Ontario is restricting visitor access to long-term care homes in COVID-19 hot spots as cases surge in some parts of the province. Premier Doug Ford says that as of Oct. 5, only staff and people deemed to be essential caregivers or essential visitors will be permitted in those homes. He says the restrictions will apply in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa. The province says up to two family members or friends of a resident can register to become an essential caregiver. Ford also announced $540 million in additional funding to help long-term care homes fight the second wave of the virus. The funding will be used to provide support to staff, pay for renovations and to bolster infection control. Ford is also promising that every home in the province will have a two-month supply of personal protective equipment. 1:05 p.m.: The federal government has reached an agreement with American company Abbott to buy 7.9 million rapid-test devices once they are approved by Health Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, is pushing back against calls for Ottawa to quickly approve rapid tests for COVID-19, saying the decision is ultimately up to federal scientists. Canadas chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says rolling out inaccurate COVID-19 tests can lead to further infections if there is a large number of false negatives. Read the story from the Stars Jacques Gallant. 1:04 p.m. COVID-19 has sunk the Toronto International Boat Show. The annual event has been cancelled for the first time in its 62-year history. The next edition was due to be held at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place Jan. 15 to 24, 2021, but organizers didnt feel comfortable holding an event that normally attracts more than 70,000 visitors during the pandemic. The health and safety of everyone involved with the Toronto Boat Show is our primary concern, said president and show director Linda Waddell in a news release. Despite our extensive efforts and multiple plans to provide a safe environment for staff, attendees and exhibitors, we did not feel comfortable proceeding having the current information from public health experts and the number of rising cases heading into the fall. Before the cancellation, organizers considered creating a daily bubble each day of the show by having everyone who entered the building take a rapid COVID-19 test, but it became apparent that the approval of tests by Health Canada and the availability would not meet the shows timeline or planning standards, even if the show dates were postponed, Waddell said. Instead, planning will start for an in-person show in January 2022 with organizers exploring virtual options for 2021. 1 p.m.: Quebec restaurateurs say they are in shock after the government ordered restaurant dining areas closed for 28 days in the provinces two biggest cities. The order was one of several announced by authorities on Monday as they moved Montreal and Quebec City to the highest COVID-19 alert level, banning private indoor gatherings and shutting bars and cinemas. Martin Vezina, spokesman for Quebecs restaurateur association, said today that restaurants arent the problem, and that many of his members have spent thousands of dollars on measures to protect diners and staff. Montreals public health director, Dr. Mylene Drouin, told reporters today there have been no reported outbreaks and no reports of COVID-19 transmission from staff to clients in the citys restaurants. Michael Lafaille, who opened a second location of his restaurant, Kwizinn, three weeks ago, says despite working hard and playing by the rules, he feels restaurants arent being treated as real businesses. Vezina says his group is calling on the government to help restaurants with rent and cash flow, warning that many are at risk of closing permanently. 12:23 p.m.: A new survey finds many doctors fear they wont have enough of the flu vaccine to meet demand. The Canadian Medical Association says more than 86 per cent of 1,459 respondents say they worry influenza season will put additional strain on the health-care system. Of those who offer the flu vaccine, half say they wont have enough doses to meet demand and 85 per cent said the system needs more capacity. The survey, conducted Aug. 19 to 24, also found 54 per cent of respondents still face challenges trying to acquire personal protective equipment. The survey found 68 per cent worry suppliers wont have enough PPE, 62 per cent expect orders to be delayed, and more than half worry global demand will hinder supply. Nevertheless, three quarters of those asked believe the health-care system is better prepared with COVID-19 resurgences than during the first wave. Canadian health officials have said that additional flu vaccines have been ordered this year to meet expected demand. Earlier this month, a Public Health Agency of Canada spokeswoman told The Canadian Press the agency ordered 13 million doses of the flu vaccine compared with 11.2 million last year. CMA president Dr. Ann Collins said influenza immunization is more important than ever this year. We need to avoid a possible twin epidemic of flu and COVID-19 as it can be devastating to patients and our ability to sustain health care delivery, Collins said Tuesday in a release. We need to focus on greater funding and resourcing of public health to support mass vaccination efforts. She also called it imperative that governments ensure front-line workers are protected with PPE as COVID019 surges in many parts of Canada. 12 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 799 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus. Health officials said today two of the deaths were reported in the past 24 hours while five occurred between Sept. 22-27. Hospitalizations rose by 35 patients compared with the prior day, for a total of 274, including 41 patients in intensive care, a rise of four. Montreal and Quebec City, which have been moved into the highest pandemic alert level, reported the most new infections, followed by the Monteregie region, south of Montreal. Quebec has reported 73,450 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 5,833 deaths attributed to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Montreals public health director is urging 18-to-34-year-olds to get tested for COVID-19, because she says people in that age group are testing positive at disproportionately higher rates than are older people but are less likely to get tested. Dr. Mylene Drouin told a news conference today the city has reported 1,669 COVID-19 cases in the past seven days, about 240 cases per day. 11:50 a.m.: Ripleys Aquarium of Canada said two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, but the facility remains open. The cases were confirmed to be in two separate areas of the aquarium beside the CN Tower, with the first reported on Sept. 22 and the second on Monday. The aquarium closed the retail store for six days following the confirmation of the first case. As per Toronto Public Health, both cases are considered low-risk transmission, the aquarium said in a statement to the Star. The aquarium said to ensure public safety, it has decreased regular guest capacity to under 15 per cent, eliminated onsite shows, closed the playground, enhanced cleaning in all areas, provided additional sanitizer throughout the aquarium and enforced mandatory masks for both team members and guests. The positive tests are the first at the aquarium since the facility was allowed to reopen in June. 11:20 a.m.: The number of new active COVID-19 cases in public schools across the province has jumped by another 24 per cent from the previous day to a total of 308. In its latest data released Tuesday morning, the province reported 64 more school-related cases 37 more students were infected for a total of 164; seven more staff members for a total of 44; and 20 more individuals who werent identified for a total of 100. There are 250 schools with an active case, which the province notes is 5.18 per cent of the 4,828 public schools. Read more from the Stars Zena Salem. 11 a.m.: Montreals public health director is urging 18-to-34-year-olds to get tested for COVID-19, as the city moves into the maximum pandemic alert level. Dr. Mylene Drouin told a news conference today the city has reported 1,669 COVID-19 cases in the past seven days, about 240 cases per day. She says people in the 18-34 age bracket are testing positive at disproportionately higher rates than are older people but are less likely to get tested. Drouin was joined by Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, who told people to follow the 28-day lockdown orders imposed by the province, which prohibit private indoor gatherings among people of different addresses The Quebec government on Monday moved Montreal and Quebec City up to the maximum COVID-19 alert level, closing bars, cinemas and other venues where people gather. Authorities say 61 people are hospitalized for COVID-19 in Montreal with 17 people in intensive care. 10:26 a.m. (updated): Ontarios new COVID-19 cases fell to 554 from an all-time high of 700 the previous day with a slight drop in testing and 4 new deaths, the Ministry of Health reported Tuesday. Long lines at testing centres have led to a lag of more than a day in processing nasal swabs with a backlog of 54,759 samples in labs after 38,375 swabs were processed Monday. The continuing high numbers of cases and delays in processing tests prompted opposition parties to press Premier Doug Fords government to do more to slow the spread of COVID-19 and improve daily testing capacity, which he has promised to expand to 50,000 soon and 100,000 in the coming months. They dont have a firm handle on the second wave, said Liberal Leader Stephen Del Duca, who questioned why casinos were allowed to open Monday even with restrictions on the number of patrons and table games as new cases peaked. The priorities are misguided and out of whack. Bars and restaurants have been ordered to stop serving alcohol and close earlier and the legal maximums for indoor size of indoor gatherings has been lowered to 10 and 25. Health Minister Christine Elliott insisted we are ready for wave two as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath grilled the government on testing and preparations for nursing homes, where the tally of outbreaks has almost doubled to 46 in the last three weeks. The number of long-term care residents with active cases of COVID-19 has quadrupled to 78 from 19 three weeks ago, with active infections in staff tripling to 123 in the same time period. Read the story from the Stars Rob Ferguson. 9:48 a.m. The pandemic has battered New York City businesses, with almost 6,000 closures, a jump of about 40 per cent in bankruptcy filings across the region and shuttered storefronts in the business districts of all five boroughs. Its going to get worse. This fall, the nations largest city will see even more padlocked doors as companies burn through federal and private loans they tapped in March, landlords boot businesses that cant make rent, and plummeting temperatures chill outdoor dining and shopping. By late fall, there will be an avalanche of bankruptcies, said Al Togut, a lawyer who has handled insolvencies for small businesses and huge corporations like Enron. When the cold weather comes, thats when well start to see a surge in bankruptcies in New York City. 9:43 a.m. Botswana has extended its state of emergency for a further six months to combat the spread of COVID-19. The southern African country will maintain several restrictions, including limits to international travellers and tourism, in contrast to neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe, which are opening up their economies. Botswana, a diamond-rich, landlocked country of 2.3 million people, has reported 3,172 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 16 deaths, according to figures released Tuesday by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease burden has made it clear and imperative for us to extend the state of public emergency in the interest of the public, said President Mokgweetsi Masisi, before parliament voted to continue the emergency on Monday night. Botswana will continue to restrict public gatherings but it has reopened schools and allows the sale of liquor during limited hours. Facemasks must be worn in all public places. 9:39 a.m. Moscow authorities are extending school holidays by a week amid a surge of new coronavirus cases. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Tuesday ordered all schools to go on holiday between Oct. 5-18 and urged parents to keep their children at home during this period. Children (account for) a significant share of infections, often asymptomatic, Sobyanin said in an online statement. When they come home, they easily transmit the virus to adults and elderly members of the family, who get sick more severely. Health officials on Tuesday reported 8,232 new virus cases, with 2,300 in Moscow the highest daily number in the Russian capital since late May. Russia currently has the fourth largest caseload in the world with over 1.16 million confirmed infections. It ranks 11th in the world with a reported 20,450 deaths. Last week, officials asked the elderly to stay at home starting on Monday and requested employers to allow as many people as possible to work from home. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday urged Russians to remain vigilant. The fight against the epidemic is not over, it goes on. The risks remain, Putin said. 9:25 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will commit an additional $400 million in development and humanitarian spending to combat COVID-19. Trudeau says the new money will go to trusted partners that are fighting COVID-19 around the world. Trudeau made the pledge during a videoconference at the United Nations that he co-hosted with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Jamaicas Prime Minister Andrew Holness. It was the second time since the spring the three held a meeting of the UNs High-Level Event on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond. Trudeau says Canada will invest more in the coming years and he will continue to advocate for debt relief for countries facing economic hardship because of the pandemic. Trudeau says Canada will push to have the voices of those countries heard in larger forums such as the G7, G20 and the World Bank. 9:21 a.m. The Swedish government has decided to increase the number of spectators allowed to attend sporting events from 50 to 500 as of Oct. 15. Swedish Sports Confederation chairman Bjorn Eriksson says the decision is a step in the right direction. The exemption applies as long as there is no increased spread of infection in the country. Sweden has opted for a much debated COVID-19 approach of keeping large parts of the society open. People in the Scandinavian country kept enjoying many freedoms while most of Europe locked down their populations early in the pandemic by closing schools, restaurants, fitness centres and even borders. 9:20 a.m. The Spengler Cup, has been cancelled. Organizers of the event held in Davos, Switzerland, during the December holidays cite the impact of the pandemic. The invitational tournament was first played in 1923, and a six-team edition was won last year by Team Canada, comprising of mostly Europe-based players. Travel to and from Switzerland for the teams from Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Canada is currently only possible under strict adherence to the quarantine policies, if at all, organizers say. Though Swiss authorities are allowing more fans to attend hockey games from October, standing areas in stadiums cannot be used. Spengler Cup organizers say games in a half-empty stadium, and without standing room, has nothing in common with the hockey festival we have become accustomed to. 9:18 a.m. One southern Philippine province and its war-battered capital will be placed under a mild lockdown starting Thursday and the rest of the country will be under more relaxed restrictions to boost the battered economy of the country counting the most coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia. President Rodrigo Duterte announced the quarantine restrictions for October in televised remarks Monday night. Lanao del Sur province and its capital, Marawi city, will fall under a lockdown starting Thursday due to infection spikes in recent weeks. Most of Marawis commercial and downtown areas were destroyed after hundreds of Islamic State group-aligned militants laid siege to the mosque-studded city in May 2017 and the military launched a massive offensive and airstrikes to quell the five-month uprising. Many residents remain displaced, now staying with relatives or in government-constructed housing units. 9:15 a.m. Public health officials in the U.S. could take heart at the end of the summer. Even as the new coronavirus continued to spread, fewer people were winding up in the hospital because of COVID-19, and fewer were dying. Now, as the seasons turn, there are signs suggesting there will be more deaths and serious illness ahead. Data collected by the COVID Tracking Project shows that the number of people hospitalized has plateaued at about 30,000 in the past week, after a decline from nearly 60,000 that began in late July. Deaths, meanwhile, averaged about 750 over the seven days through Sunday, higher than the roughly 600 deaths a day in the first week of July. Scientists had hoped that a warm-weather reprieve could soften an expected reemergence of the coronavirus in the colder months. Instead, the contagion continued to spread across the country after Memorial Day, with early-summer outbreaks in Sun Belt states followed by the recent surge of new infections in the Upper Midwest and on college campuses nationwide. Any indication hospitals are attending to more coronavirus patients is likely to reignite concerns that the health care system could be overwhelmed by new cases as the weather cools and more activities, including school and holiday socializing, move indoors. 9:10 a.m. Hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms this week as New York City enters a high-stakes stage of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, which is keeping students at home in many other big U.S. school systems. Twice delayed, the elementary school reopening on Tuesday came over objections from school principals who said the citys complicated, changing plans put them in a staffing bind. Meanwhile, officials are worried about recent spurts in virus cases in some city neighbourhoods after a summer of success at keeping transmission fairly stable in the city as a whole. Its a big moment for the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on cable news station NY1 Monday night. With in-person learning for middle and high school students scheduled to begin Thursday, he noted, as many as half a million kids could be in school in the course of this week. With over 1 million public school students, New York City initially had a more ambitious timeline than many other big U.S. school systems for bringing children back to schoolhouses this fall. Families have the option of choosing all-remote learning, and a growing number are doing so 48 per cent as of Friday, up from 30 per cent six weeks earlier, according to city Education Department statistics. 7:55 a.m. The pandemic and record low mortgage rates have played out in a blockbuster summer for the Toronto regions new construction home market, according to numbers released by the building industry on Tuesday. August sales of single family homes a category that includes detached, semi-detached, link and town houses (stacked town homes excluded) soared 355 per cent year over year in August, outstripping the gains of condos, which also saw a 159 per cent year over year boost in sales last month. Although the benchmark price of newly built and pre-construction homes dipped slightly compared to July, condos still sold for 15.7 per cent more year over year at $972,859, and single-family homes were up eight per cent annually to $1.17 million. Read the full story from the Stars Tess Kalinowski 7:51 a.m. With Mondays milestone of 700 new COVID-19 cases reported, experts say to expect more days with 500-plus new cases as more people get tested and many continue to ignore public health guidelines. And with Premier Doug Ford himself confirming that Ontario is now in its second wave of the virus, the importance of physical distancing, mask-wearing and handwashing couldnt be more clear. While the premier said the second wave will be worse than the first wave, he stressed that we dont yet know just how bad it will be. In Ontario at least, experts say it will get worse before it gets better, with more days with new-case totals at levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic or even higher. Read the full story from the Stars Patty Winsa and Kenyon Wallace 7:32 a.m. After celebrating its 40th anniversary last year, the Toronto International Festival of Authors is beginning its fifth decade with big changes. Some we were expecting its the first festival for new director Roland Gulliver while others are driven by something entirely beyond the festivals control: COVID-19. TIFA will still run for 10 days, from Oct. 22 to Nov. 1. One of the biggest changes this year: its free. There are more than 200 events and activities and, because it is all available digitally, the festival is open to national and global audiences for the first time. You will need to register to attend; that begins Tuesday at FestivalofAuthors.ca. Headlining opening night is Margaret Atwood. Other high-profile events feature Desmond Cole on anti-Black racism and institutional oppression; Linwood Barclay interviewing Harlan Coben; American novelist Richard Ford interviewed by Gulliver; and Marilynne Robinson talking about her latest novel. Read the full story from the Stars Deborah Dundas 6:34 a.m.: Germanys debt load wont reach the level it did in the financial crisis a decade ago as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the finance minister said Tuesday, and it will still look better than that of Germanys peers in the Group of Seven did before the virus outbreak. Olaf Scholz was presenting to parliament a draft 2021 budget that foresees significant borrowing for the second consecutive year as Germany, Europes biggest economy, works to limit the economic fallout of efforts to contain COVID-19. The crisis has derailed the governments dedication to keeping its budget balanced, long a point of pride. After six years in the black, it is borrowing a net 217.8 billion euros ($253.7 billion) this year to finance rescue and stimulus packages and cover an expected shortfall in tax revenue. Next year, it plans to borrow a further 96.2 billion euros. 5:31 a.m.: Authorities are concerned by a COVID-19 outbreak aboard a cargo ship off Australias northwest coast that has infected most of the crew. Eight more members of the Filipino crew tested positive for the new coronavirus on Monday, bringing the number of infections to 17 out of a crew of 21. Seven of the infected sailors remained aboard the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Patricia Oldendorff, which is anchored off Port Hedland, a major iron ore export terminal, Western Australia State Health Minister Roger Cook said on Tuesday. The seven are part of an essential skeleton crew of nine. The other 10 infected crew members were in hotel quarantine at Port Hedland. None required hospital treatment. 5:20 a.m.: Brussels authorities have decided to ban prostitution until further notice in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus in Belgiums capital city. In addition, authorities have shut down three hotels hosting sex workers because social distancing measures were not respected, Wafaa Hammich, a spokeswoman at Brussels city hall told The Associated Press on Tuesday. She said police controls will be stepped up to make sure the ban is enforced. The decision came after Brussels decided to impose a curfew on bars. Since the start of this week, all bars and cafes have to close between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. while any other businesses selling drinks or food will shut down at 10 p.m. Brussels is facing a surge of new coronavirus infections. 5:13 a.m.: A southern Philippine province and its war-battered capital will be placed under a mild lockdown in October, while the rest of the country will have more relaxed quarantine restrictions. President Rodrigo Duterte announced the quarantine restrictions for October in televised remarks Monday night. Lanao del Sur province and its capital, Marawi city, will fall under a lockdown starting Thursday due to infection spikes in recent weeks. Most of Marawis commercial and downtown areas were destroyed in 2017 fighting between the military and Islamic State group-aligned militants. Metropolitan Manila and five other cities will remain under general quarantine restrictions with more businesses and public transport allowed to partially operate on the condition people wear masks and stay safely apart. 5:11 a.m.: India has registered 70,589 new confirmed coronaviruses cases in the past 24 hours, maintaining a noticeable decline in daily infections. The Health Ministry raised Indias confirmed total since the pandemic began to more than 6.1 million on Tuesday, but said the country had a little less than 1 million active coronavirus cases. It also reported 776 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 96,318. India is still registering the highest number of daily cases globally, but with a recovery rate of more than 82.5%, the number of recoveries has passed 5 million, the Health Ministry said. The first two weeks of September saw India clocking 90,000 cases every day. Since then India has seen a sharp decrease in the number of new daily cases. 5:06 a.m.: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the loss of 1 million people to the coronavirus is an agonizing milestone that has been made worse by the savageness of this disease. In a statement released after the global death toll from the pandemic crossed 1 million, Guterres called it a mind-numbing figure. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues, he said. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease. Risks of infection kept families from bedsides. And the process of mourning and celebrating a life was often made impossible. Guterres warned there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives. 5 a.m.: Israels health minister says the countrys nationwide lockdown is likely to be extended. The Israeli government imposed a second countrywide lockdown ahead of the Jewish High Holidays earlier this month in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown was initially slated to be lifted on Oct. 11, but in a radio interview on Tuesday Health Minister Yuli Edelstei said that there is no scenario that in another 10 days we will lift everything and say Its all over, everything is OK. Israel has recorded more than 233,000 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began and more than 1,500 deaths from the disease, according to the Health Ministry. While Israel garnered praise for its swift response to the arrival of the pandemic in March, the countrys reopening of the economy in May saw new infections skyrocket over the summer, and now it has one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world. 4 a.m.: The federal governments economic recovery plan has inspired some confidence that it will create jobs and a stronger economy in future, a new poll suggests. But, in the meantime, the vast majority of Canadians whove been working from home arent eager to rush back to their work places as cases of COVID-19 surge across the country. Fifty-two per cent of respondents to the survey, conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian studies, said they are very (nine per cent) or somewhat (43 per cent) confident that the recovery plan, outlined in last weeks throne speech, will create jobs and strengthen the economy in future. Thirty-nine per cent were not very or not at all confident. The throne speech appears to have given the governing Liberals a boost, with their support up five points over the past week, to 40 per cent of decided voters. The Conservatives had the support of 30 per cent, the NDP 17 per cent and the Greens five per cent. 4 a.m. The three main parties in the B.C. election campaign clashed Monday over the best way to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson says he would eliminate the provincial sales tax for a year if the party wins the election on Oct. 24, which would cost the governments coffers about $7 billion. He said the PST would return at three per cent in the second year, down from the usual seven per cent on most goods and services, because cutting the tax would help stimulate the economy. NDP Leader John Horgan said he hasnt seen an assessment of the impact of the Liberals proposed tax cut on provincial revenues, but he hopes Wilkinson will tell voters what services would face getting cut to cover the cost. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau also criticized Wilkinsons proposal, describing it as antiquated. She said people need economic security to help the province recover from COVID-19. Monday 9:30 p.m.: Members of Parliament have completed their first-ever remote vote in the Canadian House of Commons, a historic occasion marked by numerous technical glitches, lengthy delays and cameo appearances by some of their kids and even a family dog. The vote was on a Bloc Quebecois sub-amendment to a Conservative amendment to last weeks throne speech, a routine matter that normally would have taken 15 minutes. It was roundly defeated by a vote of 293-33 with help from one Bloc MP who accidentally voted against his own partys sub-amendment due to all the confusion over voting by video conference. But it took almost two hours to arrive at that result. Right off the bat, a system failure by Microsoft delayed the vote for about 40 minutes. For the eventual vote, only a few dozen MPs were physically present in the Commons while the rest joined in from remote locations in an excruciatingly slow, roll-call video conference vote. Click here to read more of Mondays COVID-19 coverage. A teacher was filmed hitting youngsters during nursery classes in Thailand After seeing the video a furious mother attacked the teacher during a meeting Parents and school reported her to police and she was charged with physical assault and illegal detention for when she locked the students in the toilet This is the moment a furious mother attacked a teacher who was caught on CCTV assaulting children at a Thai nursery. Teacher Ornuma Ploadprong, 30, was filmed battering the youngsters during nursery classes in Nonthaburi, central Thailand on September 22. ADVERTISEMENT In one of the videos, the angry teacher scolds a little girl, who was aged between three or four years old, in front of the class before shoving her to the ground. The hidden camera was installed after the parents went to complain to the board at the Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School. A furious mother (right) attacks a teacher (pictured in a face mask) who was caught on CCTV assaulting children at a nursery in Thailand Pictured: The mother who launched a furious attack on the school teacher who was filmed assaulting nursery-age children in Thailand Pictured: The mother (left) who launched a furious attack (right) on the school teacher who was filmed assaulting nursery-age children in Thailand When they checked the CCTV again, the horrified parents saw the teacher banging the students' heads on their desks, twisting their ears until they cried, and locking them in the toilet. A school meeting was held with the parents on September 24 and the teacher admitted manhandling the children. However, the angry mob of parents attacked the teacher while the other staff tried to calm them down. Pictured: This is the moment which appears to show Thai teacher Ornuma Ploadprong slamming a child's head on to the desk at a nursery school in central Thailand Click here to resize this module This is the moment a Thai teacher was seen throwing the nursery-age child around in the classroom and repeatedly pushing them The Thai teacher appears to grab and throw a young student roughly into the classroom in central Thailand The parents and the school reported her to the police later that day before she was charged with physical assault and illegal detention for when she locked the students in the toilet. Regional police commander Ampon Buarabporn said a court summons has already been issued for the teacher. He said: 'According to the evidence, It is apparent that the teacher used excessive force against the children.' Ampon added that all of the students in the class will undergo a psychological evaluation with childcare specialists to see if they suffered any lasting trauma. Teacher Ornuma Ploadpronga, who is currently under police investigation for physical assault and illegal detention for when she locked the students in the toilet He said: 'The child protection team will talk to the child to assess her mental wellbeing. 'If any of the children are found to be mentally affected, investigators will issue more charges against the teacher.' Ornuma was also allegedly teaching under a fake teacher's license which will also be added to the list of charges against her. ADVERTISEMENT The sacked teacher is still unreachable and missing from her residence. Meanwhile, police said that investigations into the alleged cruelty were ongoing. The Union government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it is likely to decide within 2-3 days the issue of whether people will need to pay interest for the period during which they used a repayment moratorium for their loans, which was announced as a measure to mitigate financial hardship due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The court granted more time to the Centre, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and banks to file their replies on an issue that was brought to court as a clutch of petitions seeking waiver of accrual of interest for the loan moratorium period. The case was adjourned till October 5 and the Centre said it will file its reply by October 1. Shares rose on Monday, led by banking stocks on hopes that the government may offer support and infuse some capital into the sector, with gains in global markets also aiding investor sentiment. The broader NSE Nifty 50 index rose 1.6% to 11,227.55 and the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.6% to 37,981.63. Expectations of a stimulus package from the (Indian) government are also helping, said Aamar Deo Singh, head advisory, Angel Broking, according to Reuters. Markets have bounced back from important technical levels. 10,800 was an important technical support level and a lot of short covering has also happened, Singh added. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre in the court, submitted that the government was at a very advanced stage in its decision-making process on the moratorium period interest issue. He sought some more time to place on record the details of actions to be taken by the government. Senior advocate Rajiv Dutta, representing the petitioners, opposed the adjournment and said the case must be heard and listed at the earliest. The bench said that it will consider and hear all the submissions on the next date of hearing. The Solicitor General was also directed to serve a copy of his affidavit upon all appearing parties in the matter. The top court bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising Justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah, on September 3 passed an interim direction holding that the accounts not declared as non-performing asset (NPA) as on August 31 shall not be declared as NPAs till further orders. The interim order had been extended on the last date of hearing. On September 10, the court granted the Centre, the RBI and banks two weeks to work together and file a concrete reply on their stand on waiving interest charged during the loan moratorium and related issues. The court had ordered the interim extension of the loan moratorium till September 28, directing banks not to tag any loans as non-performing till further orders. The court had also noted that an expert committee had been constituted to look into all the issues and action will be taken by the government. Petitioner Gajendra Sharma submitted that the interest would continue to accrue during the moratorium, which ultimately the borrower would have to pay. The petition contended that no interest should be charged during the moratorium because people are facing extreme hardship. It also stated that paying additional interest on top of regular EMIs would be difficult. The Centre recently told the court waiver of interest on deferred EMIs during moratorium period would be against the basic canons of finance and unfair to those who repaid loans as per schedule. (With Reuters inputs) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) London, United Kingdom Tue, September 29, 2020 19:06 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4801f66 2 Art & Culture Britain,Museum,statue,protest,race,Racism,slavery Free The British government has warned a number of cultural institutions that their public funding could be called into question should they remove statues or other objects that have become the focus of protests or complaints. The issue of how Britain should deal with the legacies of its past, especially its role in slavery and colonialism, has been the subject of passionate debate since the statue of a slave trader was toppled by protesters in Bristol in June. Since then, officials have removed the statue of another slave trader in London, a concert hall in Bristol has renamed itself, and venerable institutions like Oxford University have grappled publicly with what to do about contested heritage. In a letter sent to the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery and other prominent cultural institutions, culture minister Oliver Dowden said the government was against the removal of statues and similar objects. "Some represent figures who have said or done things which we may find deeply offensive and would not defend today," Dowden said in the letter, which was sent on Sept. 22 but published on Monday. "But though we may now disagree with those who created them or who they represent, they play an important role in teaching us about our past, with all its faults." Read also: Paris plans first statue of black woman for anti-slavery heroine Some of the institutions in question received funding from slave traders in the distant past, or hold in their collections items taken from distant lands during the colonial period, without consent from the people who owned or created them. But Dowden said that as publicly funded bodies, they should not be taking actions motivated by activism or politics. "It is imperative that you continue to act impartially, in line with your publicly funded status, and not in a way that brings this into question," he said, adding that this was especially important at a time when government spending was under pressure. Opposition Labour lawmaker David Lammy was among those who criticized Dowden's stance. "History is littered with autocrats instructing museum curators on what to exhibit," Lammy wrote on Twitter, accusing the government of stoking a "fake culture war" instead of supporting the cultural sector, which has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. History is littered with autocrats instructing museum curators on what to exhibit, but @OliverDowden knows that. The government prefers a fake culture war to addressing the poverty facing creatives, artists, and producers left whistling in the wind by this government. https://t.co/P6i01RL7Ro David Lammy (@DavidLammy) September 28, 2020 Topics : Britain Museum statue protest race Racism slavery N ew photos have revealed Jodie Comer has returned to set in Ireland to shoot The Last Duel alongside Matt Damon and Adam Driver. Filming on the Ridley Scott blockbuster was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the production resumed on Monday. Comer is pictured in a pink and yellow Middle Ages-style costume with her hair plaited around her head. The Liverpudlian actress, 27, is seen wearing a face visor in the images. Niall Carson/PA Wire Comer's co-stars Damon and Adam Driver were also pictured wearing PPE on set. The Last Duel is filming at Ardmore Studios in County Wicklow, south of Dublin, Ireland. Adam Driver on the set of The Last Duel / Niall Carson/PA Wire Damon, 49 found himself in lockdown in the area after filming was put on hold, with the actor becoming somewhat of a sensation among locals as he was spotted around the town. Damon stayed in Dalkey, a seaside suburb of Dublin, accompanied by his wife Luciana Barroso and their four children. Delighted locals shared snaps of the actor out and about in the town on social media. Jodie Comer's best red carpet looks 1 /17 Jodie Comer's best red carpet looks May 14, 2019 At the "Killing Eve" Series Two premiere wearing Giambattista Valli Getty Images May 12, 2019 At the TV BAFTA Television Awards wearing Stella McCartney Getty Images April 01, 2019 At the premiere of BBC America and AMC's 'Killing Eve' wearing Victoria Beckham Getty Images March 19, 2019 At the Royal Television Society Programme Awards wearing The Vampire's Wife Getty Images March 5, 2019 Attending the Miu Miu show at Paris Fashion Week wearing Miu Miu SplashNews.com February 9, 2019 At the "Killing Eve" panel during the 2019 Winter TCA Getty Images for AMC Networks January 13, 2019 At the 24th annual Critics' Choice Awards wearing Zuhair Murad Getty Images for The Critics' Ch January 6, 2019 At 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards wearing Ralph & Russo Getty Images January 5, 2019 At the BAFTA Los Angeles Tea Party wearing Erdem Getty Images April 8, 2018 At the Killing Eve screening at Cannes International Series Festival wearing Stella McCartney Getty Images May 14, 2017 At the TV BAFTA Television Awards wearing Alberta Ferretti Getty Images March 19, 2017 At the Empire awards wearing Temperley London Getty Images March 20, 2016 At the Empire awards Getty Images In an interview with local radio station Spin 1038, Damon described his life in Dublin as a fairy tale. Even in the lockdown, theyre like, you got to stay within two kilometres of your house. Two kilometres here, theres trees and forests and woods and ocean and I cant think of any place youd rather want to be in a two-kilometre radius of, he said. It feels a bit, you know, like a fairy tale here. The Last Duel is based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager. The film, written by Scott, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener, follows best friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, who are ordered to fight to the death after Carrouges accuses Le Gris of raping his wife. Affleck and Comer's Killing Eve co-star Harriet Walter also star. SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- O.C. Tanner , the global leader in employee recognition and workplace culture, today announced the release of its 2021 Global Culture Report. In its third year, the report provides an in-depth look at timely workplace culture and employee experience issues based on data gathered from over 40,000 employees and leaders in 20 countries around the world. The report was announced at O.C. Tanner's annual culture conference, Influence Greatness , which took place virtually this year. "2020 has brought a series of health, economic and social crises that have shined a light on organizational cultures in a way that has exposed both strengths and weaknesses," said Gary Beckstrand, Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute. "Organizations with thriving cultures have weathered the storm far better than others, but there's an impetus right now for organizations everywhere to stay agile as the current era of uncertainty continues. The 2021 Global Culture Report provides insights that will inform organizations as they make the necessary adjustments to successfully move forward as they create or maintain a great place to work for employees." As a reflection of 2020, the report identifies the need for organizations to shed the current "normal" in favor of a more aspirational future. The research highlights how superficial diversity and inclusion programs merely mitigate legal risk, rather than uplift employees and leverage their unique perspectives. It illustrates how stale and impersonal recognition programs fail to achieve their desired effect on experience and culture, and how generational initiatives backfire by highlighting the differences of each group instead of the similarities. Additionally, the report breaks down how traditional leadership is out and modern leadership is in; autocratic managers cling to dead philosophies that hurt culture and business outcomes. Ultimately, corporate lip service won't cut it to be successful, organizations must put the right action behind their words and implement modern technology that helps employees thrive. "This past year, we continued to examine the effect of how outdated and disconnected technologies, programs, strategies and leadership philosophies have, and will continue to, hinder individual and organizational performance," said Dr. Alexander Lovell, Director of Research and Data Science at the O.C. Tanner Institute. "The 2021 Global Culture Report is a clear call for action; employees expect a workplace that is rich in vibrant experiences and one where all employees can thrive at work and feel included. It is time for organizations to heed this call or risk falling behind." Sample key findings include: Impact of COVID-19 on company culture outcomes: Engagement: 11% decrease Employee net promoter score: 6% decrease Burnout: 15% increase Intention to leave: 5% decrease Eighty-seven percent of employees say their organization's recognition program is stale, outdated or used as disguised compensation. Only 44% of employees say their organization's diversity and inclusion efforts feel sincere, while even fewer (34%) feel they are effective. Over a third of respondents (35%) report their organization is not doing enough to address discrimination internally. Organizations with healthy cultures are 16x more likely to retain their Generation Z employees. Millennials are the most likely (53%) to project a sense of superiority and admit that they approach things differently than other generations, but they also feel their approach is better (52%). Likewise, they acknowledge they have difficulty relating to coworkers of other generations (37%), but believe stereotypes of other generations are accurate (47%). Nearly a third of respondents (29%) report that their organization has stopped investing in cutting-edge technology, while another 31% report that existing technology is difficult to use. Only 17% of today's leaders are considered modern leaders. This comprehensive report, which serves up actionable data for business leaders seeking change, can be accessed at O.C. Tanner's website here: https://www.octanner.com/global-culture-report.html . About O.C. Tanner O.C. Tanner is the global leader in software and services that improve workplace culture by creating powerful employee experiences. Its Culture Cloud suite of applications and solutions including recognition, service awards, wellbeing, leadership and celebrations helps people thrive at work. O.C. Tanner provides these and other services for thousands of the most respected companies in the world. For more information visit octanner.com . Research Methodology The O.C. Tanner Institute uses multiple research methods to support the global culture report, including interviews, focus groups, cross-sectional surveys, and a longitudinal survey. Qualitative findings came from 12 focus groups and 77 interviews among employees and leaders of larger organizations. Each group represented various types of employers, including both private and public entities. Quantitative findings came from online survey interviews administered to employees across Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The total sample size is 40,175 workers at companies with 500+ employees. SOURCE O.C. Tanner Related Links http://octanner.com FINE Gael was accused of being "too close to big finance and banks" as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe faced a claim that he "did nothing" to protect people who will be impacted by the end of Covid-19 mortgage payment breaks scheme. No new applications can be made for payment breaks for mortgages and other loans after tomorrow. Instead the banks offered the Government an undertaking in a meeting on Monday that they will deal with people who have repayment difficulties on a case-by-case basis. Speaking in the Dail Mr Doherty criticised the end of the payment breaks pointing to other European counties where such schemes will be in place for longer. Expand Close Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe He claimed: "You did nothing to protect these individuals who will now have a negative credit rating from the next couple of days onwards." Read More Mr Donohoe defended his and the Government's record pointing out that the initial three month payment breaks helped 89,000 mortgage holders. He said of these less than half, 37,000 customers opted for a second three-month break meaning that the majority of had enough confidence to come off their initial payment break. Mr Donohoe argued that comparisons with other countries are unfair as their schemes are more limited than the Irish one in terms of who would be eligible or what support is offered. He accused Mr Doherty of "a typical Sinn Fein response" in making comparisons with countries like Germany and Spain by offering only "part of the truth". Mr Doherty told Mr Donohoe: "You had an opportunity to do the right thing minister but... you and Fine Gael have done the wrong thing time and time again because the problem here is and we see it with Michael DArcy and we see it with Brian Hayes - the party is too close to big finance and banks." Former Fine Gael junior finance minister Mr D'Arcy resigned from the Seanad to take up a job as the new chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers. Mr Hayes, also a former junior minister and Fine Gael MEP is the chief executive of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. Mr Donohoe responded to Mr Doherty's attack insisting he represented the party "that has looked at all times to do the right thing" by people experiencing difficulties during the Covid-19 crisis. He said Ireland moved quickly to introduce payment breaks which have helped tens of thousands of families and businesses. Mr Donohoe said he is aware of the anxiety, pressure and fear that many people face at the moment and that's why measures like the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme are being continued. Earlier Mr Doherty claimed that the meeting Mr Donohoe and other ministers had with the banks on Monday amounted to "tea and coffee... through Zoom, a nice wee friendly chat, where they came in and told you that they're going to do what they did always - they will deal with individuals on an individual basis." He claimed: "You failed miserably because there will be no extension of payment breaks". Mr Donohoe insisted he discharged his responsibilities in the area and that's how 89,000 breaks were granted to mortgage holders. He also said he and the Central Bank have been clear that the funding is available to banks giving them the ability to put in place arrangements that can work for families and businesses. TEHRAN, Iran - Unknown gunmen in a car on Tuesday opened fire on two Revolutionary Guard vehicles, killing three Guard members in Irans southeast, state media reported. The official IRNA news agency said two assailants were also killed in the shootout, adding authorities are investigating. It said the shooting happened near the town of Nikshahr in Sistan-Baluchistan province, some 1,300 kilometres (806 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran. Similar past attacks in the province near the border with Pakistan, have been blamed on a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaida known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice. The group has been behind several attacks in Iran in recent years. Iran says it operates from across the border in Pakistan. The southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province has been the scene of occasional clashes between government forces and militants, as well as armed drug smugglers. In June, a roadside bombing in the province wounded a Guard commander. In 2019, a suicide car bombing claimed by Jeish al-Adl attacked a bus carrying members of the Revolutionary Guard force, killing 27 troops. Read more about: File image Out with grimy microwaves and sticky coffee machines with worn-out buttons, in with stylus pens, QR codes, no-touch water coolers and mobile apps that pick what brew the machine will make for you. From the headquarters of Ford in Dearborn, Michigan and Goldman Sachs in New York to Fedex facilities across the United States, workers are returning after months of lockdowns to the new reality of social distancing, hybrid remote and office work schedules, and strict hygiene protocols. The break room, where employees used to get their daily fix of caffeine and office gossip, is a big part of that reboot as coffee companies, such as Keurig Dr. Pepper, Lavazza and Nestle roll out new technology for the COVID-19 era. Nestle says it has worked with manufacturers to add a function to its coffeemakers that lets users to make a selection by just hovering a finger over the menu and has been delivering those to clients since June. Lavazza lauched a new model in September that works with a mobile app to whip up those cappuccinos and lattes without having to touch the machine. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show U.S. coffee machine manufacturer Bunn has chosen a different approach, retrofitting its machines with a QR code that lets users order drinks through a webpage. Last year, supplying offices with beans and brewers was a $5.7 billion business in the United States alone, according to research firm Packaged Facts. Coffee companies, which saw lockdowns wipe out so-called professional sales that also include the hospitality industry, bet they can revive that business by addressing workers' and employers' concerns. DASH FOR AN APP Lavazza had a new brewer slated to debut at a trade show in May, but started redesigning it to add a touchless function when the pandemic struck in March, Bruce Williamson, vice president of innovation and marketing at Lavazza Professional said. "We had to very quickly use the weeks (we had) preparing for an app." Williamson said a survey of about 170 consumers across the United States Lavazza commissioned in August validated its decision. It showed 40 percent of employees expected to leave the building less often to get a drink and to rely more on office supplies, but were nervous about infection risks. "What they are telling us is... 'I'm going to come back to the office but I'm nervous about touching the machine'." Employers, suppliers and designers are also experimenting with a one-stop service that allows office workers to refuel without going outside, while those working remotely can do it from the comfort of their home. K-cup pod maker Keurig is supplying coffee for mini-marts set up to replace office cafeterias and offering fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, coffee and other staples. It has also signed deals with several companies that have classified K-cup pods and brewers essential work items and pay for their deliveries to staff working remotely, said Phil Drapeau, the company's general manager for the 'Away from Home' business. Ford said more than 100,000 people out of its global workforce of 190,000 have returned to its facilities since May, but cafe service remains suspended and it offers pre-packaged meals and beverages instead. The carmaker is also testing onsite grocery kiosks selling locally sourced dairy, produce, and meal prep kits. Goldman Sachs told Reuters that 15 percent of its New York workforce is back with standard precautions in place - mandatory masks in all areas except employee desks and limits on the number of people in conference rooms and common areas. RETHINK AND RECALIBRATE Surveys and official guidelines suggest offices will fill up only gradually and might even never return to pre-pandemic capacity. GoodFirms, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, said this month its international survey of 168 businesses showed nearly a third of workers had already returned and nearly 60 percent wanted to do so, but more than half remained concerned about their safety. A makeover of office catering was important for addressing such concerns, says Alicia LeBeouf, marketing and retail strategy executive at food service company Canteen, which counts FedEx, Pinterest, Target and UPS among its clients. Buffets and chefs preparing meals on demand are replaced by grab-and-go food stations at Verizon and UnitedHealth Group Inc; contactless coffee machines get rolled out at Microsoft Corp; fridges get pedal-operated doors at Mohawk Industries and individually wrapped plastic utensils replace cutlery. At a FedEx facility Canteen has replaced all card payment terminals at its grab-and-go stations with Canteen's "Connect & Pay" app, which also shows which items are available and their nutritional information. The layout also needs to change, says Tom Vecchione, workplace strategist at New York architecture firm Vocon. The company is knocking down doors and removing screens for its clients to create more spacious common areas that make social distancing easier while replacing chairs with stools to discourage people from lingering for too long. Canteen's LeBeouf said employers were banking on workers coming back, but they would not be returning to the same office they left before the pandemic. "We've had to recalibrate and...rethink everything." Representative image The share of female hires in India's workforce reached 37 percent at the end of July from around 30 percent in April, according to professional networking site LinkedIn. Data from the Labour Market Update, a monthly update on hiring trends and insights based on LinkedIn's Economic Graph showed there is increased gender parity in India during the lockdown. It said one possible reason for this could be the strong support from live-in help and grandparents, as well as more flexible working hours with remote working schemes. This, said LinkedIn, has allowed more women have been able to enter the workforce despite schools and childcare facilities being closed during the lock-down. The report said the hiring of women in many developed countries followed a U-shaped trajectory in 2020, dipping in April before recovering in June and July. However, India bucked the trend in maintaining and even increasing gender parity - the share of female hires increased from around 30 percent in April to reach 37 percent at the end of July. The Labour Market Update analysis for July looks at the year-on-year changes in hiring rate, which is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Earlier in the year, hiring declines reached a low of below -50 percent year-on-year in April, before starting to slowly recover. Globally, lockdown measures put in place to contain the spread of Coronavirus had a more severe impact on the share of women being hired. In India, work from home has certainly boosted gender parity and emerged as a great equalizer in terms of gender diversity with increase in female representation across key sectors. The lockdown, which promoted acceptance of the work from home concept supported by flexible work hours, has emerged as an opportunity for women to rebuild their careers and start afresh, said Pei Ying Chua, APAC Lead Economist, Economic Graph team at LinkedIn. Gender parity has improved across many industries. Data showed that female representation grew by 8 percentage points across corporate services, education, healthcare and media & communications The report said it is possible that these industries are inherently more family-friendly in terms of flexible hours and work arrangements, hence the challenges of having to juggle work and household responsibilities has led more females to join those industries. Talent with disruptive digital skills have weathered the COVID-19 storm This analysis looks at the hiring rates of talent with basic digital skills (defined as digital literacy skills to access email and basic applications such as Microsoft Office), versus advanced disruptive digital skills (defined as skills required for designing and developing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics). The data showed that talent with more advanced digital skills have weathered the COVID storm better than those with basic digital skills - the hiring dip for talent with advanced digital skills was 1.8x less than talent with basic digital skills. Health Minister Roger Cook has called for tighter protocols and rules around foreign ships coming into Australian waters, after an infected ship arrived off the Pilbara coast in Western Australia. WA needs to better understand how international testing regimes work, as another outbreak on board a foreign ship could potentially threaten the import and export trade, he warned. The Pilbara, where the iron ore bulk carrier Patricia Oldendorff had arrived, was literally the engine room of our economy, highlighting one of Australias COVID-19 risk factors, and it was important the state government and community could have confidence in the arrangements in place. Mr Cook said he could not allow these sorts of scenarios to occur without challenging the rules that allowed them to come about. This originally appeared in the Sept. 23 Sioux City Journal. We believe President Trump should nominate someone to fill the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the nomination should get an up or down vote by the full Senate. No need exists for Trump or the Senate to wait for the Nov. 3 election because its the presidents right under the Constitution to fill high court vacancies and the Senates duty to take up nominations. We also believed -- and we said so in this space at the time -- the same was true of President Obama following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. In 2016, eight months from the presidential election, Obama nominated Merrick Garland, but majority Senate Republicans -- led by Mitch McConnell -- refused to consider the nomination. Why? Because, they said, voters in the next election should decide who gets to fill the seat. This time, less than two months before the election for president, no such demand was made by majority Senate Republicans -- still led by McConnell. Instead, McConnell vowed, Trumps nominee for a replacement will receive a vote on the Senate floor. As we said in our March 23, 2016, editorial, we believed the Senate should have performed its advice and consent responsibility by giving Garland a full, fair vetting. In the end, individual senators should have explained to Americans why they supported or opposed him. In other words, senators should have done their jobs. In our minds, the same holds true today. Thats a consistent position. Of course, the spectacle unfolding in the wake of Ginsburgs death on Sept. 18 isnt consistent with what happened in 2016, but it isnt surprising, either. Hypocrisy is never in short supply -- within either party -- in our nations capital. If, for example, a Republican occupied the White House when a liberal justice of a split Supreme Court died in a presidential election year in which Democrats controlled the Senate, would the Senate of today hold hearings on any nominee chosen by the president? If, for another example, a Democratic president who enjoyed Democratic control of the Senate wanted to replace a Supreme Court justice less than seven weeks before a presidential election, would Republicans like McConnell today react with anything less than furious indignation? The answer to both questions is, we believe, no. So even though in our view its proper for them to give Trumps choice due consideration this year, the fact Senate Republicans didnt do the same for Obamas choice four years ago will add fuel to the fire of payback. And what is a seemingly endless cycle of power politics will continue -- to what we believe is the detriment of our country. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 To create a dance drama, we should face our true self, true history and true human nature, well-known director and choreographer Tong Ruirui recalled her work, Deep in Memory, staged in 2018. It was the second time she explored the survivors and witnesses of the Nanjing Massacre, when more than 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese invaders in six weeks beginning on Dec 13, 1937. It was 13 years after her debut stage work, Nanking 1937, in 2005. Tong was speaking at the artists' conference of this year's Zhongguancun Dance Festival, which opened in Beijing on Sept 5 and ended Saturday. The conference, attended by directors, choreographers, playwrights and scholars, was held to promote innovative cooperation between dance circles and other arts and technology fields, and to dig further into international operation and industrial development of dance dramas. Tong's work, Soaring Wings: Journey of the Crested Ibis, in cooperation with playwright Luo Huaizhen, has enjoyed great popularity at home and abroad in recent years. According to Tong, she is working on a realistic stage work about two generations of Chinese entrepreneurs grasping their opportunities during the four decades' of reform and opening-up. The work is expected to go on stage in January. Han Zhen is jointly responsible for directing and choreographing The Eternal Wave, which tells a story during China's modern revolutionary history. It has been performed 150 times since its premier in August 2019, and Han said she thinks the main difficulty in creating a stage work is bridging the gap between life details and the dance itself. A director should exert her strength not only during creation but also after the work has been put on stage. The overall talents of a team determine the creation of a dance drama and the sustainability of its artistic quality in the long term. Liu Zhen, one of the initiators and head of the youth dance company at the Beijing Dance Academy, said the art form is full of active thinking, spirituality and distillation of emotional contrast, and his priority is to find the "only accuracy" for the theme he wants to convey. Cao Xueqin, a new biographical work he directed about the author of the classic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber, debuted during the festival. The key to success of an art festival lies on whether the artistic works can hit a larger audience group and win people's hearts, and what platform it can provide for artists to express themselves, said Zhang Ligang, chairman of the board of Beijing Joyway Culture and Media Co Ltd, and also one of the festival's organizers. "We have to present our academic research and perspectives as a pioneering dance drama festival," Zhang said, adding that the conference's aim was to discuss into the creation, development and market situation of dance dramas from several dimensions. In Luo's opinion, the dance drama festival emphasized the current development of dance as an art form and its prospect to break through its boundaries in the future. A special show of top Chinese young dancers, including Wang Yabin, Zhang Aoyue, Liu Yan and Hu Yang, on Saturday marked the end of the festival. Each has taken a turn to present one of their representative works. According to Zhang, the festival, since its launch on Sept 5, attracted more than 16,000 people into the theater, and had 4.5 million viewers online by Sunday. The 47 shows of the 23 dance dramas take up more than 30 percent of the performances on show after Beijing's theaters in late July resumed operation after the COVID-19 pandemic was put under control. Ukrainian dancer and choreographer Vladimir Malakhov gives an online lecture to young Chinese dancers. [For China Daily] (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) The Dubai-based airline Emirates will resume flights to Muscat this week. The Gulf carrier is nearing 100 destinations as it continues to rebuild amid the pandemic, despite financial struggles. Emirates flights to the Omani capital will start again on Friday. The day before, the airline will resume travel to Entebbe, Uganda, bringing the airlines total destinations to 94 in October, Emirates said in a press release. Before the COVID-19 crisis, Emirates flew to around 150 destinations. Dubai is a major international transit hub and Emirates, like other regional airlines, has experienced large revenue losses due to the downturn in global travel. The Dubai government, which owns the airline, provided Emirates with $2 billion to help it stay in the sky in August. The airline also offered employees unpaid leave that month and cut jobs in June. Dubai reopened to tourism in July and is now looking to boost its airline and economy with international visitors. Abu Dhabi also announced this month it is allowing tourists to enter again. Flight resumptions and tourism are continuing, but the United Arab Emirates is experiencing historic highs in daily COVID-19 cases. To mitigate the spread, all people flying into the UAE, whether to visit or transit, must test negative for the virus before their flight. The Gulf country also approved the use of an emergency COVID-19 vaccine. Three new universities have received four vehicles each from government to assist their operational effectiveness. They are the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS); CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS); and University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD). The four vehicles comprised a Toyota Land Cruiser, two Toyota Land Cruiser Prados and a Toyota Hilux pickup. Presenting the vehicles on behalf of the government, Thursday 24th September, 2020 the Minister of Education Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh said the vehicles were provided as part of governments resourcing plan for the new universities. He further stated that this follows assurances he gave at the inauguration of their Governing Councils and Interim Key Officers, earlier this year, since the universities identified the means of transport among the most of their immediate needs. In addition to the vehicles, each university received GHS1.5 million to cater for basic logistics needs. This initial funding is sourced from allocations made under GETfund to provide for the most urgent logistics requirements, while government makes provision for adequate funding for their medium to long term needs. Dr. Prempeh emphasised that government expects the universities to use these resources efficiently and most effectively. We expect you to be innovative yourselves and resourceful as the universities takeoff so that you can complement governments efforts. He continued, most of all, we want you to focus on ensuring a smooth takeoff and to keep the universities on a growth path consistent with the mandates given you. Speaking on behalf of the three universities, the Vice Chancellor of the CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS), Prof. Eric Wilmot, thanked government for the gesture and assured the Minister of a sound maintenance culture for the vehicles. He further assured him that they will work with the NCTE to ensure that in no time, their institutions will become pace setters. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In comments to the World Socialist Web Site this week, well-known Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis condemned the abuses being perpetrated against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and stated that he had only been able to survive years of arbitrary detention because of his conviction that truth should prevail. Kostakidis warned that the punishment meted out to him for revealing the truth is intended to crush himand he is human. She has been viewing the resumed British court hearings for Assanges extradition to the US each day, and has been live-tweeting about the proceedings. The journalist has a large public following, as a result of her outspoken defence of civil liberties. Kostakidis was the main presenter for the national television program SBS World News for over two decades, until 2007. She has defended Assange since the US persecution of the WikiLeaks publisher, over his exposure of American war crimes, human rights abuses and global diplomatic conspiracies, began. In 2011, Kostakidis presented Assange with the Sydney Peace Foundations Gold Medal for peace with justice. Kostakidis, with Professor Stuart Rees, presenting Assange with the Sydney Peace Foundation's Gold Medal (Credit: Sydney Peace Foundation) In her remarks at Londons Frontline Club, Kostakidis thanked Assange for his heroic courage in exposing the truth to the public and described WikiLeaks as an ingenious website that has shifted the power balance between citizen and the state by exposing what governments really get up to in our name. Amid a barrage of media lies and slanders directed against Assange, Kostakidis bluntly stated the real issue: The US wants to shut down WikiLeaks and criminalise the activity of this publisher. Kostakidis would meet with Assange after he sought asylum in Ecuadors London embassy in 2012. She also visited the WikiLeaks publisher in Britains maximum-security Belmarsh Prison last year. An account she published online was headlined: Belmarsh High Security prison is surrounded by greenery. But Kostakidis noted, Nothing is green insidea small internal courtyard is barren and desolate, the sky framed by razor wire. An astonishing place to hold a journalist, editor and publisher. WSWS: You have been watching and live-tweeting the current British extradition hearings each day. Could you please give our readers your assessment of the proceedings overall? Are there particular episodes or actions/by the prosecutors/court that have concerned or shocked you? Mary Kostakidis: Cancelling access for all non-journalistshuman rights groups and parliamentarian monitors from around the world, including Amnesty Internationalwas astonishing given the detailed and substantial reports of abuse of the defendants human and legal rights by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, and in public letters supported by large numbers of doctors and jurists around the world. Effectively that removes their voice from media reporting on the hearingsthey cannot witness developments or articulate concerns. What has indeed been shocking is the judges acceptance of the very late second superseding indictment in an administrative hearing days before the extradition proceedings commenced on 7 September. The prosecution explained that in the US system, the investigation can continue and this investigation is indeed ongoing. There are two alarming aspects to this: given Julians lawyers had no access to him during the COVID restrictions other than occasional brief phone calls, they could not possibly prepare to defend the additional allegationsallegations that serve to augment the computer intrusion evidence, the effect of which would be to increase the penalty for that charge (remember it is only 5 years as applied to the alleged conduct regarding the material from Manning). And secondly, ultimately the UK would be extraditing him on a particular set of charges knowing that this may not be what he is confronted with once on US soil. Despite allowing the very late second superseding indictment, the judge refused to allow the defence to submit two additional witness statements that provide critical evidence, citing delays this may trigger that would be an unacceptable burden for the defendant given his health and continued incarceration. One would have thought if that was something Julian was prepared to accept given the potential impact on the outcome of the case, the attribution in her reasoning came across as odd. Much of the prosecutions case relies on a substantial number of lengthy declarations made by US Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg and Krombergs assertions have been relied on as facts by prosecution witnesses. However Kromberg will not be cross examined. It is not possible to contest his claims, for example that Julian would not be held under SAMs [draconian Special Administrative Measures] in the US prison he will be detained in, both pre and post trial. One of the statements that the judge refused to accept was from a psychologist who works in the exact prison Julian Assange will go to. Its not easy to obtain a statement from a current employee and this evidence would have been critical. This is a complex case involving lots of witnesses and many of the statements are very lengthy. The judges view was that once the statements are accepted by the court they become public documents, so can be accessed by members of the public including the media, and therefore there is no need for witnesses to be examined. Mary Kostakidis (Credit: The Wheeler Centre) The reality is few journalists will make the effort to study these documents, relying instead on what has transpired in court. Defence counsel had to argue that it was not in the interests of open justice to go straight into a cross examination of some hours without giving defence and the witness the opportunity to set out facts and expert opinion in evidence and how both were arrived at. In the end they were allowed half an hour to examine before the cross examination. (There is also of course a re-examination after the cross examination, and that is also brief.) It is appalling that the prosecution bundle of several hundred pages is sent to the witnesses the day before they are to be cross examinedeach and every one of them has stated this has been the case. Its very disappointing that so few mainstream media are following the case. On the very first day of the February hearings there was a dramatic development that should have made headlines all over the world. In his opening address, the prosecutor made a point of addressing the media, going to great lengths to assure them this has nothing to do with them, this is not about journalism. However, later that same day in questioning related to evaluating dual criminality, the judge asked the prosecutor whether without aiding and abetting, would a newspaper obtaining classified information be enough to constitute conduct deemed an offence. After some prevaricating the answer was yes. There it was, loud and clear, but it fell on deaf ears. The figleaf having been removed in February, during the September hearings, the prosecutor has on numerous occasions stated The US has never said they will not prosecute journalists. Have you seen this reported? WSWS: There has also been powerful defence testimony. Are there aspects of defence evidence that you have found particularly striking? MK: The defence has presented a series of very powerful witnesses who have withstood attempts by the prosecutor to elicit simplistic, misleading answers by breaking a matter up into its components. It was remarkable to see Daniel Ellsbergs acuityat 89 he would have sat up all night to read the prosecution bundle (one of only two who said they did) and presented at 6 a.m. to give evidence via video link. He had the prosecutor for breakfast. His highly articulate defence of Julians motivation and actions and rebuttal of false assertions is likely to constitute the most powerful few hours of this entire trial and I listened with great regret that it was not able to be captured. It is a centrepiece of this historic trial. Daniel Ellsberg receiving the Olaf Palme prize in 2018. (Credit: Bjorn Qvarfordt/OLOF Palmes Minnesfond) Similarly, the tram track cross examination of [former Der Spiegel journalist] John Goetz was not going to cut the mustard. His testimony prevailed and the evidence he gave included comments about Julians attitude to redactionthe great care he insisted on and the delays this caused, much to the frustration of the media partners. Dr. Quinton Deeley gave a particularly lucid account how Julians personality and behaviour is commensurate with high achieving intellectuals who have Aspergers. An account was given by a digital forensics expert of how the unredacted file was downloaded and decrypted by many sites after Guardian journalists published the password in a book. The first site to publish the decrypted unredacted file was Cryptome, whose editor also provided a statement saying they have not been asked by the US government to remove the material.WSWS: The defence has stressed that the Trump administrations decision to prosecute Assange is part of a broader war on journalism. Could you comment on this? MK: This war on journalism is an element of the rise in authoritarianism in countries that in the past championed press freedom, but can no longer claim to do so. We are seeing it right here. The Australian government has legislation in place to prosecute journalists, so they are now using it, and in the US they are resorting to an arcane Espionage Act intended to prosecute spies who stole information to give to the enemy. Kostakidis with Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, along with his lawyer Jennifer Robinson and former Argentine diplomat Alicia Castro (Credit: @MaryKostakidis, Twitter) WSWS: You met with Julian when you awarded him the Sydney Peace Prize in 2010, and then when he was a political refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy. You have spoken before about the sharp contrast between your experience with him and the way he has often been presented in the corporate media. Could you please speak on that? MK: He is a highly principled individual with enormous courage who has risked his safety and freedom to provide us with information to hold the powerful to account. [Assanges partner] Stella Morris is spot onhe is not an anarchist, if anything, he is a democracy extremist. He is an intellectual, gentle person who is quirky and differenthe has a singular focus and a sense of the importance of harnessing the digital age to enhance democracy. He is able to maintain sustained high order function. In fact he cant do otherwise. Thats what has enabled him to survive arbitrary detention for so many years. That, and the conviction that truth should prevail. But the punishment meted out to him for revealing the truth is intended to crush himand he is human. Everything you need to know about skiing the Northeast this winter Whether you want to stay close to home or head north, here's everything you need to know about skiing or snowboarding in the Northeast and New York this season. Subscriber content preview YAKIMA (AP) Wine grape growers in Washington state have said grapes this year have a better flavor and color than previous years, but it is unclear how many can be salvaged from smoke damage from nearby wildfires. Yakima Valley farmers said their harvests are expected to come in below anticipated numbers because of the wildfires, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported. . . . Leaders of securities firms have a conversation during a meeting on Yeouido in Seoul, on Aug. 27. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Securities firms' decades-long practice of only releasing "pro-business" stock reports keeps tarnishing their reputation and raising investors' eyebrows. The biggest problem is that there are no proper legal measures to put the brakes on the practice. This raises concerns that more and more retail investors and beginners in stock investing may fall prey to the practice When investors look at corporate analysis reports released by major securities firms, they rarely find any negative reports on the business prospects of major conglomerates or their affiliates. Most of the reports advise investors to buy their stocks, raising their target stock price. It is true that investors are responsible for their own failed investments, but the authorities are also being urged to crack down on some misleading reports. To some extent, it is also understandable for securities companies to release such reports, as part of their revenue source. They are under pressure to keep releasing reports in favor of big companies which are major advertisers in them. "Analysts are being forced to publish such pro-business reports by citing some plausible evidence," an official from an investment company here said. The practice has remained in place for over a decade, and chances remain slim that they will make any changes in consideration of the business ties between the securities firms and advertisers, the official added. Securities firms have also recently shown what is deemed a "two-faced" attitude in their investments. When LG Chem announced its plan to spin off its battery business in mid-September, most securities firms here released a series of reports advising investors to actively purchase LG Chem shares, saying its valuation will continue to rise from a medium- to long-term perspective. But data showed otherwise. According to data from the Korea Exchange, securities and asset management firms here net-sold LG Chem shares worth 20.48 billion won for three trading days since Sept. 16 when the spinoff news made headlines here and abroad. But investment industry sources urged retail investors not to have any unconditional trust in investment reports from securities firms, as it is hard for them to release negative analysis reports when major firms make big decisions. "Any analysts and researchers from local securities firms are under pressure to hype up such a decision by releasing reports, and make as little comment as possible regarding the negative side effects following the decision," a securities firm official said. Even if it is important for securities firms to generate more profits this way, they are also being urged to share a balanced analysis with investors to prove their brand value and regain their trust. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is preparing to face tough questions in Tuesdays debate on how he would approach China if he wins the White House in November. His team is privately acknowledging that they expect the issue to be a focus during the first debate in Cleveland, Ohio, according to a person familiar with their planning. Over the past week, Biden advisers have honed in on questions about the worlds second largest economy anticipating attacks from President Donald Trump on the former vice presidents record of dealing with Beijing. If he beats Trump, Biden will need to decide whether to scrap, keep or escalate the billions in tariffs levied against Chinese imports, and whether to stick to or renegotiate the partial trade deal Trump signed in January. Hed have to determine if his administration continues the sanctions imposed on Chinese officials for their crackdown on human rights in Hong Kong and the western region of Xinjiang and possibly expand those sanctions further. Biden would also inherit a litany of restrictions to cut off Chinese technology companies access to American intellectual property and a patchwork of relationships across the region that could help, or complicate, tensions with China. Priorities Bidens campaign advisers say they would prioritize domestic issues like investing in research and development and US manufacturing to compete with Beijing from a position of strength -- and deal with international matters like trade later. But the multifaceted rivalry with China will be difficult to ignore, and senior policy advisers including longtime Biden hand Jake Sullivan and former deputy secretary of state Tony Blinken have already publicly conceded as much. China poses a growing challenge. Its arguably the biggest challenge we face from another nation-state, Blinken said last week at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I dont think the question is whos tough or whos weak on China. The question is who has the most effective strategy to protect and advance our security, our prosperity, our values. On the campaign trail to date, Biden has offered little detail on how hed deal with Chinas economic ascent -- perhaps to maintain maximum flexibility should he win the election. In some instances, he may have a hard time undoing existing policy. Both parties in Congress have overwhelmingly been in favor of tougher actions against Beijing on tech, human rights and trade. Trump has touted his record on China frequently, boasting hes the toughest president and the first to take on the Asian giant. The presidents campaign has produced multiple TV ads focusing on Bidens past comments that Chinas rise was good for the US. By comparison, Bidens ads have criticized Trump for downplaying the threat of the virus as it spread in China and for policies that allowed the Chinese nation to grow stronger. Heres a look at some of the key economic and trade issues related to China thatll confront Biden if he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20 and what we have gleaned from his statements so far: Phase One The deal forged earlier this year has fallen short in one of Trumps crucial selling points: Chinas commitment to buy an extra $200 billion of American goods and services over two years. According to Bloomberg Economics, China so far has only purchased about half of what would be needed to stay on track to reach the annual target. Full-year data for the trade flows will be public in February 2021 -- shortly after Biden would take office and analysts expect those numbers to disappoint as well. Biden has attacked Trump for praising the deal and prioritizing it over holding Beijing accountable for the coronavirus spread earlier this year. But his campaign hasnt said whether hed keep or nix the deal. Biden would have to decide if hed build on the agreement in a second phase or renegotiate the terms of the existing deal. Asked about a potential phase-two agreement in a Biden administration, Blinken listed subsidies and cyber theft as some of the areas where Trumps deal underperformed and said we would have to come back and actually engage on the systemic issues that continue to pose a real problem when it comes to our commercial relationship with China. Tariffs Biden could face some pushback if he unwinds the tariffs, which have bipartisan support in Congress as well. So far, he hasnt committed one way or the other. He says hell immediately review all of Trumps trade actions and called the presidents approach to tariffs short-sighted and destructive. I will use tariffs when they are needed, but the difference between me and Trump is that I will have a strategya planto use those tariffs to win, not just to fake toughness, Biden said in response to a questionnaire from the United Steelworkers union. Theres widespread belief among China watchers that Biden will not remove existing tariffs -- at least not in the short-term. Hes going to be way more cautious on removing tariffs than people expect, because thats money. Thats money coming in, said Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre in Singapore. After theyve been in place for a certain amount of time, the tariff revenue is baked into the budget, and youd need to find an offset to account for that. Still, what to do on tariffs wouldnt necessarily have to be a binary choice. Biden could decide to lower the duty rate for certain products or increase the amount of exclusions for industries that have been hurting. Technology Race Biden said hed heavily invest in American R&D to counter Chinas technological innovation and acknowledged that certain Chinese companies pose a national security risk to the US. As president, he would have to decide whether to continue the Trump administrations aggressive campaign against Chinese tech firms and inhibiting American companies from supplying them. Shaun Roache, Asia-Pacific chief economist at S&P Global Ratings, says theres a lot of uncertainty about the tactics but the strategy of pushing back on Chinese technology will probably remain. One thing the business community is hoping for: more adherence to the rule of law when it comes to actions on national security grounds, says Steven Okun, senior adviser for consulting firm McLarty Associates. Under the Trump administration, the definition of national security has expanded to capture areas like competition and human rights. The Trump administration this month cited national security when it announced a ban on Chinas WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores. A federal judge this week temporarily blocked the White Houses ban on TikTok, but the Commerce Department vowed to defend the underlying executive order from legal challenges. Separately -- to avoid a ban --Tiktok parent ByteDance is negotiating with Oracle Corp. and the U.S. government to take a stake in the Chinese company. Blinken noted the Biden team would hone in on commercial cyber espionage after Beijing fell back on a 2015 agreement between Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping that laid out very clear demands and specific consequences if China did not seize espionage against U.S. businesses. But trying to fully decouple from China, as some have suggested, I think is unrealistic and ultimately counterproductive, he said. Syracuse, N.Y. -- A city councilor who represents Syracuses West Side has temporarily blocked the city from selling property for a major development on the South Side because the project will likely result in moving a homeless shelter to a working-class area in his district. Councilor Pat Hogan conceded that his maneuver today might achieve nothing more than a brief delay. But he vowed to continue his opposition to opening a new homeless shelter at 501 W. Genesee St., just west of downtown. At todays council meeting, Hogan objected to taking a vote on the citys plan to give up two block-long sections of city streets to support JMA Wireless' development of a 5G wireless equipment factory in a distressed neighborhood south of downtown. Hogans objection automatically tabled the vote until the next council meeting -- when it will likely be approved. "Itll pass,'' Hogan predicted. This Catholic Charities men's shelter at 1074 S. Clinton St. is likely to be relocated to 501 W. Genesee St. The $25 million JMA Wireless project on the South Side has broad support from public officials -- from Gov. Andrew Cuomo on down -- and is in line for millions in state, federal and local assistance. The project, which involves renovating the former Coyne Textile facility at the corner of South Clinton and Tallman streets, is expected to bring at least 100 new jobs to a poor neighborhood. And its a key element of the Syracuse Surge, Mayor Ben Walshs vision to create a high-tech corridor leading south out of downtown. Hogan supports the project and has no objection to abandoning portions of city streets to sell to JMA, he said. He opposes an unrelated aspect of the project: JMA plans to acquire a building at 1074 S. Clinton St., across from the Coyne plant, that is now home to a Catholic Charities mens shelter. Officials at Catholic Charities say they plan to move into a vacant commercial building at 501 W. Genesee St., where they will open a new shelter and provide mental health services and other assistance. That location, across from the West Street off-ramp from Interstate 690, is near the Park Avenue neighborhood. Hogan said a homeless shelter could worsen the quality of life in the once struggling neighborhood, where residents have worked for years to improve the housing stock. "Its incumbent on me to fight for my neighborhood,'' Hogan said. "Theyre favoring one project over another neighborhood.'' Construction is underway at the former Coyne textile building. JMA Wireless is developing the site into a facility that will manufacture 5G components. Just Sunday, Hogan noted, a man was stabbed repeatedly near the Clinton Street mens shelter. The man is expected to survive, Deputy Police Chief Richard Shoff told councilors today. Catholic Charities has been discussing its options for moving the shelter for months, Mike Melara, executive director, said last week. The city and county presented about 15 options, he said, and the West Genesee Street location was the best. The proposed site is conveniently near downtown and other social service agencies, Melara said. Thats ideal for people who mostly walk to get where theyre going. Catholic Charities is planning to meet with West Side neighbors and will work to address their concerns, Melara said. The relocation of the shelter is still a work in progress, he said. "We are in contact with members of the neighborhood and in the process of arranging meetings,'' Melara said today in an email. "I cant emphasize enough that we want to answer their questions and respond to their concerns. Catholic Charities operates programs in nine different locations in the city, and our goal is always to be a good neighbor.'' The proposal before the Common Council today was to abandon the 1000 block of South Clinton Street and the 100 block of Cortland Avenue so that JMA can create a corporate campus. During a public hearing on the proposal, architect Robert Haley asked that the vote be delayed so that JMA could consider amending its plans for the site. Haley said he wanted to meet with JMA to show them an economic development plan for the South Salina Street corridor developed by the nonprofit Urban Design Center, of which he is co-director. But after the public hearing, councilors were prepared to vote on abandoning the city property. Then Hogan objected, automatically delaying the vote. News tips? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023 Undocumented Jamaican immigrants Clive and Oneita Thompson were welcomed into sanctuary at the Tabernacle United Church on Tuesday. After living two years inside First United Methodist Church of Germantown to avoid deportation, the family moved to new quarters at the University City house of worship. Read more After living two years inside a Philadelphia church to avoid deportation, Clive and Oneita Thompson have finally moved out but not to freedom, nor back to their old life in South Jersey. The undocumented Jamaican couple moved eight miles south to another church, where they will continue their battle to stay in the United States. Its a long, hard fight, and were the ones that are in it. We have no choice, said Oneita, who with her husband has been joined in sanctuary by their two American-citizen children. Thank God somebody else decided, I will help you guys, I will host you, I will pick up the torch to help you run this race. Under a light rain on Tuesday morning, the Thompsons were formally welcomed into Tabernacle United Church in University City, an event that came only hours before the first presidential debate in a campaign where immigration stands as a key issue. About 30 people gathered outside in support, all wearing masks and many holding signs that read Sanctuary for All and Freedom Now. Thats our mission, to be a place of shelter for people, especially those who are under threat of harm in our world, said the Rev. Katie Aikins, the church pastor. The Tabernacle congregations sanctuary roots stretch back to the 1980s, Aikins said, and the church recently completed a two-year renovation project to install a shower and laundry in preparation for hosting an immigrant family if the need arose. At the welcoming, supporters sang and chanted, and together broke sticks, placing half in a basket and taking half home, in what they said was a symbolic break from oppression. Were offering them welcome, but the truth is, they shouldnt be here, Aikins said. If the laws were just, they wouldnt be here.... They would be at their own home, at work, in New Jersey. New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, which supports the family, said in a news release that the Thompsons situation exposes the racism and anti-immigration bent of the nations justice system. It quoted Oneita: As Black immigrants, we did everything right, but we still dont get a chance. We are behind the walls of a church because we are Black." Seven percent of non-citizens in the United States are Black, but they make up 20% of those facing deportation on criminal grounds, according to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and RAICES Texas. In sheer numbers, Latinos are by far the most deported people. The Thompsons fled their homeland in 2004 after gang members burned their farm and threatened to kill them. The U.S. government denied them asylum, yet allowed them to stay, hold jobs, pay taxes, buy a house, and raise seven children. That changed when the Trump administration put them on a fast track to deportation. Since August 2018, the Thompsons had lived in the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, known as FUMCOG, taking sanctuary only days before they were scheduled to be removed to Jamaica. Tuesdays move came after the relationship between the family and the church became strained over time. They made the decision that they could no longer be the host, Oneita Thompson said. The Rev. Bob Coombe of FUMCOG, who attended the event, said, We did the best we could.... We did what we could over two years. Several other clergy members were present as well, showing that as we shift congregations, were sending a very clear message that the faith community is behind them," said Peter Pedemonti, co-director of New Sanctuary Movement. Churches are considered safe places for immigrants facing deportation, since ICEs sensitive location guidelines generally bar agents from taking action in houses of worship, hospitals, and schools. Those in sanctuary can continue to fight their cases from inside. In March, Honduran immigrant Suyapa Reyes, who took sanctuary with her four children in the same church at the same time as the Thompsons, won her freedom after 18 months, when the government reversed itself and said she could stay in this country. Carmela Apolonio Hernandez and her four children are nearing three years inside the Germantown Mennonite Church sanctuary, having fled Mexico in August 2015 after being threatened by the drug criminals who killed her brother and two nephews. For 14 years, the Thompsons lived peacefully in the Cumberland County community of Cedarville. Clive Thompson was a heavy-equipment operator at Bridgeton-based Cumberland Dairy, while Oneita, a certified nursing assistant, worked at Friends Village retirement home in Woodstown. Son Clive Jr., known as C.J., is now at Columbia University, thanks to support from people who raised more than $29,000 to get him started at the Ivy League school. Neither parent has been able to work since taking sanctuary. The pandemic put a stop to their fund-raising dinners. Their younger citizen children, Christine and Timothy, moved into sanctuary to stay with their parents. The other children also live legally in the U.S. The thought of moving is hard, said Oneita Thompson. Were already displaced from our home. Were thinking were going to walk out of the church free, but that didnt happen. To walk into the next church, its hard. You still dont know when it will end. Meghan Markle's best friend Jessica Mulroney has broken her social media silence after quitting Instagram to share pictures working out in a gym. The stylist, 40, from Toronto, posted a snap on her Instagram stories as she leaned against a punching bag dummy, clad in skin-tight black gym gear, writing: 'Missed Igor and punching.' Her post comes just one week after she announced she would be taking a 'much needed break' from social media for a few weeks to 'get some real work done'. Earlier this month she hit back at rumours that she and Meghan, 39, are no longer close by claiming the wife of Prince Harry, 36, is the 'kindest friend' who has 'checked up on me every day'. Meghan Markle's best friend Jessica Mulroney, 40, from Toronto, has broken her social media silence to say she 'missed punching' after enjoying a tough work out in a gym Days ago, the stylist shared a selfie wearing a red suit and monochrome vest top on Instagram, captioning the post: 'Little girls night before a much needed break to get some real work done. See you in a few weeks.' She later changed the caption on the post to say she was taking a 'pause' so that she could 'finish an exciting project.' It was claimed in August that the Duchess of Sussex was reported to have cut ties with Jessica after black influencer Sasha Exeter accused her of 'threatening her livelihood' after 'taking offence' at a Black Lives Matter video posted by the online star. But in a new post, which was published on her Instagram story earlier this month, Jessica wrote: 'I'm going to tell this once and for all. Meghan and I are family. Her new post comes just one week after she announced she was taking a 'much needed break' for a few weeks to 'get some real work done' She captioned a selfie to say she was going out for a 'little girls night' before adding she wouldn't be on the platform 'for a few weeks' 'She is the kindest friend and has checked up on me everyday. Tabloid culture is atrocious. It creates lies and hurtful storylines. Stop feeding into it. Done.' Although her Instagram account has been set to private, the post was re-published by people.com. Because she has set her account to private, only Jessica's approved followers can read her posts. Her latest comments come after Jessica deleted an Instagram photo earlier this month of one of her twin sons, Brian, at Meghan Markle's wedding. The stylist made the claim in an Instagram post, just over two weeks after she deleted a throwback snap of one of her twin sons at Meghan's wedding The post was thought to be to be a further attempt from Jessica to show she remains good friends with the former actress - who now lives with Prince Harry, 35, in Santa Barbara. Jessica and Meghan have been close friends for years, with the stylist's daughter a bridesmaid and Brian and his twin John serving as page boys at the Duchess's wedding to Prince Harry. But the mysterious disappearance of the photo from her Instagram page added fuel to the fire of rumours of a rift between the pair. Jessica then took to Instagram once again a week later to reveal that she sometimes deletes Instagram posts because she's 'tired' of looking at the amount of 'bullying and hatred' she's had to put up with for three years. Jessica shared a snap of one of her twin sons, Brian, at Meghan Markle's, 39, wedding at the beginning of this month, but deleted the snap the following week The recent post read: 'People often ask why I delete certain posts. The amount of bullying and hatred I've had to put up with for three years...I'm tired of looking at it. Be kind. Be gracious. 'We are grown ups...stop acting like teenagers. Real women don't put down other women.' Mother-of-three Jessica returned to the social media platform on August 11 following a two-month break after the public rift with Sasha Exeter. A source told DailyMail.com at the time that Meghan was left 'mortified' by the scandal and informed her close friends she felt she could 'no longer be associated' with Jessica. It was claimed in August that the Duchess of Sussex was reported to have cut ties with Jessica after black influencer Sasha Exeter (left) accused her of 'threatening her livelihood' after 'taking offence' at a Black Lives Matter video posted by the online star 'Meghan is absolutely mortified that she's been dragged into this complete mess. She said Jessica is in no way a racist, but the way she handled the situation [with Sasha] was tone-deaf and heartbreaking,' a close friend of Meghan's said at the time. 'Meghan said friends reflect friends and because of what's at stake she can no longer be associated with Jessica, at least not in public. 'She has to do what she has to do in order to preserve her dignity and her own reputation,' the source added, admitting that they 'wouldn't be surprised' if the controversy was the 'beginning of the end of their friendship'. But earlier this month Jessica shut down the rumours, branding a commenter's suggestion on one of her posts that she had been 'dumped' by Meghan 'fake news'. By Trend The special correspondent of Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper Alexander Kots has posted video footage from the streets of the Azerbaijani Agdere city in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region during an air raid, Trend reports on Sept. 29. The journalist stressed that Agdere is close to the line of contact of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. One can hear an air raid siren here and there are no people on the streets, Kots added. The atmosphere here is much tenser than in the occupied Azerbaijani city of Khankendi. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz ALBANY A sports bar said "Covid is real" on social media last week when it canceled a voter-registration event a few days after temporarily losing its liquor license following a visit by state investigators, who allegedly found more than 100 people violating regulations for bars and restaurants related to limiting the spread of the coronavirus. Johnnie's on Broadway, in north Albany at 1278 Broadway, near the border with Menands, had its license to sell alcohol suspended Sept. 19 by the board of the State Liquor Authority for permitting approximately 115 people to drink while standing and mingling or dancing, not requiring masks or enforcing physical distancing or insisting patrons order food with initial alcohol purchases, according to an announcement Tuesday from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. All of the alleged behaviors flout current state rules. The investigators' visit to Johnnie's was on Sept. 18, according to the announcement, which says the bar was warned by the SLA in July that the agency had received complaints about violations of rules regarding physical distancing among patrons and would be conducting follow-up inspections. The announcement from the governor's office says 15 Johnnie's patrons were observed drinking while standing in front of the bar without wearing masks or observing distancing rules, about 70 more were inside under similar circumstances, and another 30 were on a rear patio. Beyond requiring 6 feet of distance between separate parties, whether inside or out, current regulations stipulate that the number of indoor patrons be limited to 50 percent of a business' official capacity. The regular threshold for Johnnie's was not readily available Tuesday. The day the suspension was imposed, a message was posted on the bar's Facebook page: "Well Johnnies will no longer be serving alcohol due to not social distancing." It said it would be open for food service the following week. Businesses with suspended liquor licenses are permitted to continue to sell food, though most choose not to. On Sept. 22, the Facebook page informed patrons that an upcoming voter-registration event was canceled because management feared it would draw a large crowd. A note said, in part, "Covid is real. These are the governors rules and regulations and it is what it is." It added, "The last day to register to vote is October 2nd. ... Vote. Our future depends on it!" Johnnie's was among 16 bars and restaurants statewide that were part of the latest batch of license suspensions announced by the SLA and governor's office. The new suspensions seven in New York City, Johnnie's locally and eight elsewhere were issued by the board during meetings held between Sept. 19 and Sunday, the SLA said. In the past week, a multi-agency state task force conducted 8,634 compliance checks at bars and restaurants across New York, resulting in 40 lesser violations being issued, all to New York City establishments, the SLA said. In all, 217 bars and restaurants statewide have had their liquor licenses temporarily suspended and a total of 1,161 charges have been filed for pandemic-related offenses in the past six months, state records show. Locally, including the new suspension at Johnnie's, a total of 17 businesses have been cited. Of those, nine have had their liquor licenses temporarily suspended. Most were for enforcement agents observing what were seen as egregious violations of pandemic-related safety measures or, in the case of Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon and Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke, preemptively suspended for advertising Fourth of July events that would have defied those regulations. The latter two had their licenses reinstated with no penalties; two other local bars suspended for flagrant violations, Loopies Pub in Tribes Hill and Hudson Brewing in Hudson, paid $10,000 fines to get their licenses back, according to the SLA. Liquor licenses remain suspended at Johnnie's, The New Elbo Room, The Clubhouse and Andys Place in Albany and at Marks Grill and Wolffs Biergarten in Schenectady. According to the agenda for Wednesday's SLA board meeting, The Clubhouse and Wolff's-Schenectady have submitted offers of $10,000 penalties to have their liquor licenses reinstated. By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov The Azerbaijani Army has destroyed armoured and other combat vehicles of occupying Armenia in the direction of Agdere and Fizuli-Jabrayil in the night battles, the Defence Ministry said on September 29. The ministry said that intense fighting continued along the entire length of the front in the night from 28 to 29 September. "The Armenian armed forces have repeatedly attempted to counterattack to regain the lost positions in the Fizuli-Jabrayil and Aghdere-Terter directions. The units of the Azerbaijan Army stationed in these directions, having successfully defended, immediately suppressed all enemy attempts." During the night battles, a mixed column of Armenian armoured vehicles and other combat vehicles moving from Madagiz in the direction of Aghdere, and an artillery battery providing fire support for its movement, were destroyed by the aviation assets of the Air Force and the Azerbaijani troops stationed in this direction. "One tank, one vehicle and up to 10 servicemen of the enemy, who tried to move to the fore in the Fizuli-Jabrayil direction of the front in the morning, were destroyed by the artillery fire." The ministry added that intense fighting continues and occupying Armenia was forced to retreat, suffering heavy losses. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. By choosing signs that are up-to-date with todays ANSI and ISO best practices, workplaces are doing everything they can to move towards a safer, more productive environment. Thats important every day, but especially in our COVID-19 environment. Clarion Safety Systems, a leading manufacturer of safety labels, signs and tags, has expanded its product line of COVID-19 safety signs and labels. These new visual safety solutions can help businesses to keep employees, visitors and customers safe by supporting social distancing policies, reminding of hygiene protocols, and reinforcing PPE requirements. Hazard communication is fundamental in reducing risk to workers and that includes risks related to COVID-19, says Ron Crawford, CEO of Clarion Safety. Todays businesses have so many struggle points, whether theyre working through reopening plans or revising policies in order to take extra precautions to keep everyone safe amid rising virus transmission rates. Visual safety communication doesnt need to be one of those challenges. At Clarion Safety, were ready to provide guidance using todays best practices on effective signs and sign systems. Clarion Safetys COVID-19 Safety Sign and Label Product Line Clarion Safetys COVID-19 product line launched this spring, specifically designed to support back to work plans and communicate important health and safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and local health agencies. For example, the solutions contain messaging to inform visitors of curbside pickup instructions, to remind workers how best to disinfect hands, and to communicate general safety precautions like maintaining social distancing and wearing a face mask. New products have now been added in line with continued reopening plans and more specific messaging needs such as visitor policies and temporary closure signs. Clarion Safetys COVID-19 safety label and sign products are available in-stock, meaning turnaround times up to one business day, and now include: Directional Signs Housekeeping Signs (Wash Your Hands Signs, Virus Prevention Tip Signs, Virus Symptom Awareness Signs and more) Occupancy Signs Parking/Curbside Pickup Signs PPE-related Labels and Signs Policy-related Signs and Floor Markers (including those related to social distancing and temperature checks) Its expanded products not only cover the needs of industrial, construction and manufacturing worksites, but also schools, gyms and fitness centers, swimming facilities, hospitals and medical facilities, parks, restaurants, retail stores and churches. That includes signs related to gym rules, park rules, school policies and dining/food handling. Visual Safety Best Practices for Todays Workplaces Clarion Safety specializes in designing safety signs that are not only compliant with OSHA regulations, but use the latest American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) warnings technology to more effectively create awareness and explain hazards specific to the issue at hand. The companys COVID-19 notice, caution and warning signs use ANSI Z535-style designs as well as ISO standardized graphical symbols. The style of these signs offer critical detail to help keep workers safe. Simplified sign content and design formats, including lack of visuals, are common in todays workplaces, but that style isnt the only choice. The best practice principles offered in the ANSI and ISO standards are considered the state-of-the-art for todays warnings, says Angela Lambert, Clarion Safetys Director of Standards Compliance and the chair of ANSI Z535.1, the ANSI standard that focuses on safety colors, including those used in safety signs, labels, tags and markings. By choosing signs that are up-to-date with todays ANSI and ISO best practices, workplaces are doing everything they can to move towards a safer, more productive environment. Thats important every day, but especially in our COVID-19 environment. Clarion Safetys standard and custom product line can help companies to meet their workplace safety and compliance objectives, including those related to ANSI/ISO best practices, OSHA regulations and CDC/WHO guidelines. The company offers a full catalog of safety signs, as well as online resources and a free assessment service, where its trained professionals review a facilitys signage and make recommendations for improvements. They strive to make quality safety products and services accessible and approachable for all types of businesses and all sizes of projects. Clarion Safety also accepts media inquiries and speaking opportunities related to workplace safety and risk and visual communications best practices. To submit a media inquiry, visit the companys Newsroom and select the For the Media tab. ABOUT CLARION SAFETY SYSTEMS Clarion Safety Systems, LLC, is the leading designer and manufacturer of visual safety solutions that help customers in more than 180 industries worldwide to make their products and premises safer. Clarion Safety offers a full range of standard and custom products including machinery safety labels, environmental and facility safety signs, pipe and valve identification markings, lockout/tagout products, and safety-grade photoluminescent egress path-marking escape systems. Founded in 1990, the company continues to play a leading role in the development and writing of international and national standards for safety signs, labels, and markings. Clarion Safety is headquartered at 190 Old Milford Road in Milford, PA, 18337, and online at http://www.clarionsafety.com. 5 1 of 5 Contributed Photo / Norwalk Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Contributed Photo / Norwalk Police Department Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Contributed Photo / Norwalk Police Department Show More Show Less 5 of 5 NORWALK Police are asking for the publics help to identify the person they say is responsible for a recent bank robbery. The Peoples Bank inside Stop & Shop at 380 Main Ave. was robbed around 2:45 p.m. Monday, police said. No weapons were shown, police said. Your browser does not support the video tag. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 29.09.2020 - On 1 October, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis will take part in the investiture of the two captains regent, the joint heads of state of the Republic of San Marino. The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs was invited as official speaker at the ceremony. The official visit will also provide an opportunity to discuss bilateral and international issues. Every six months in San Marino on 1 April and 1 October the investiture of the two captains regent takes place. The captains regent are the heads of state of the Republic of San Marino. A foreign dignitary is invited to speak on each of these occasions. Ignazio Cassis will be the first federal councillor to participate as official speaker. The investiture is both a religious and civil ceremony and is a rite that has been handed down unaltered since 1243. The visit to the oldest republic in the world will also be an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as a number of international matters, including the COVID-19 crisis and Switzerland's candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the period 202324. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 30 2020 The suffering of the families of kidnapped prodemocracy activists is now complete with the appointment of two former members of the infamous Tim Mawar (Rose Team), the father of one of the activists has said. I think our suffering is now complete, [the government] hasn't pulled any punches. After the kidnappings, they just ignored us, so it's complete, Dionysius Oetomo Raharjo said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com. Dionysius son, Petrus Bimo Anugerah, is among 13 activists who have been missing for more than two decades after allegedly being abducted by Tim Mawar, part of the Armys Special Forces (Kopassus), between 1997 and 1998. Tim Mawar was previously implicated in a series of kidnappings and disappearances of prodemocracy activists in the late 1990s, when the current chairman of the Gerindra Party, Prabowo Subianto, was heading Kopassus. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login The foreign ministry is being recast to align with its new policy priority of the Indo-Pacific region. The ministry has created a new division, the Oceania division, headed by additional secretary Reenat Sandhu, which will focus on South-East Asian nations, Pacific Island states and the larger Indo-Pacific in a clear sign of the importance that the government accords to the region. It will also have two director rank officers, Geetika Srivastava and Paulomi Tripathi from the 2005 and 2007 batches respectively. The ministrys southern division, which looked after a swathe of countries from Thailand to Australia and New Zealand, will be part of the Oceania division as will be the Indo-Pacific division. Besides countries in South-East Asia, the Oceania division will include Pacific Island states such as the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, the Marshal Islands, Solomon Islands and Tonga. The idea behind the rejig is to look at countries from Thailand to the Pacific Island states as belonging to one region, Mint has learnt. Putting an additional secretary rank official in charge of the Oceania division also underlines the importance that foreign minister S. Jaishankar and foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla attach to the region. The move signals that New Delhi will be giving decisive shape to its engagement with countries in the Indo-Pacific. The new administrative entity comes into existence just before a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad countries"the US, Japan, Australia and Indiain Japan next month. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics (nationaljeweler.com) - New YorkLVMHs acquisition of Tiffany & Co. is on shaky ground after the French luxury titan announced Wednesday it would be backing out of its agreement to buy the American jeweler. Tiffany responded with a lawsuit to force LVMH to move ahead with the deal. In its official statement issued last week, LVMH cited closing date issues after Tiffany requested a second extension and, it said, the French government asked it to hold off until January 2021 because of proposed U.S. tariffs on French luxury goods. Tiffany countered that LVMH was looking for a way out of the $16.2 billion deal and breached the merger agreement by dragging its feet on securing the necessary regulatory clearances. President Volodymyr Zelensky says people must have a place "to really remember one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century" New details of Babyn Yar massacre revealed at online memorial ceremony. Participants include Israel's President Reuven Rivlin: "We must never be complicit in the sin of destroying memory" KYIV, Ukraine, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, Ukraine's government signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC), to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the tragedy. Meanwhile, at an online memorial ceremony, new research was presented, revealing previously unknown details of the Babyn Yar massacre. The Babyn Yar tragedy was one of the largest instances of mass-murder during the Holocaust. 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis in just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941, while tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter throughout the occupation of Kyiv. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/23kr85f2N84 The memorandum was signed by Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Tkachenko Olexandr and BYHMC Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder. The signing took place at Babyn Yar after the official memorial ceremony to commemorate the anniversary. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended the official memorial ceremony commented, "We must not forget the tragedy of Babyn Yar. We understand that this is the history not only of Ukraine and of the Jewish people, but a tragic history of the whole world. People, especially youth, should be able to come and see the place where thousands of Jews were shot, to really remember one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. We must all understand that this cannot happen in the modern world, or in the future. Never again." BYHMC Supervisory Board member and President of World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder said, "This was one of the greatest mass murders in history, and then a second crime - covering it all up. Almost 80 years after this happened, these tortured souls will finally be remembered with an International Memorial Museum - a museum that will also tell the history of the holocaust. Ukraine takes a giant step forward today - towards remembrance and towards justice. We have never forgotten, and now the entire world, thanks to all of you, will not forget either." The memorandum states that preservation and restoration of the memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy constitutes an integral component of the memory of the Jewish people, the national memory of the Ukrainian people as well as other peoples of the world who have fall victims to and witnesses of the Nazi regime crimes. Later in the day, global leaders participated in an online memorial ceremony hosted by BYHMC. Although the museum is due to open its doors in 2026, BYHMC already operates twelve education and commemoration programs. A selection of current research initiatives were presented at the ceremony, which have yielded new discoveries about the Babyn Yar massacre. The Names Project has uncovered the identities of more than 900 previously unknown Babyn Yar victims. A separate program has utilized state of the art topographic, forensic tools, and historic photos to identify the exact location of the massacre for the first time, recreating the area in a 3D model. Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said, "Tens of thousands of Jews, including babies, women, children and the elderly were massacred during just two days in this valley of death. This valley has witnessed two sins: The sin of destroying human beings and the sin of destroying memory. The sin of destroying human beings has already been done, we can never bring the dead back to life But we must never be complicit in the second sin." Chair of the supervisory board at BYHMC, human rights icon Natan Sharansky recalled growing up in Soviet-ruled Ukraine, where the memory of Babyn Yar was intentionally suppressed. He said, "Babyn Yar is a symbol of the Soviet Union's efforts to physically erase memory. They took the most tragic part of our history and tried to make it disappear. Thanks to an independent Ukraine, the policy was fully changed towards the memory of the Holocaust." Chair of Yad Vashem Avner Shalev said, "The Soviet Union didn't want to tell the story of the killing of Jews We knew a bit, but the main part of the story was brushed away. This is the importance of Babyn Yar." Addressing a recently signed archive sharing agreement between Yad Vashem and BYHMC, he commented "New information and new collaboration will give us a new dimension to fight together for the truth. It is a very important collaboration." Former US Senator Joe Lieberman commented, "Even today, as we solemnly acknowledge the 79th anniversary of the Nazis' barbaric acts at Babyn Yar, we are faced with a world where intolerance, bigotry, hatred and even genocide still rear their horrific heads. It is up to each one of us to fight against such evil." About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. The creation of the memorial centre was initiated by a group of international organisations and independent philanthropists who sit on the Foundation's supervisory board. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental organisation which aims to build a centre for education, documentation and remembrance, dedicated to the tragic events of September 1941. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kr85f2N84 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283883/Babyn_Yar_Memorial_Service.jpg LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: Latino Religions & Politics Survey Results Conference Call WHO: Claremont McKenna College Prof. Gaston Espinosa, Arthur V. Stoughton Associate Professor of Religious Studies. WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. PDT CALL-IN: To participate in the conference call, please call or text Gilien Silsby 213-500-8676. Zoom login: https://cmc-its.zoom.us/j/85195863306 (Note: Journalists will need to RSVP their participation by Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. PDT) POLL INFORMATION: In the race for president of the United States, Republican incumbent Donald Trump has expanded his support among key Latino voters in Florida and Texas, according to results from Claremont McKenna College's Latino Religions and Politics National Survey 2020, which will be released on Wednesday, September 30 during a Zoom call. With less than six weeks to go before the general election, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has a healthy 2-to-1 advantage over Trump in every age demographic and is significantly leading Trump among Latina women. Trump continues to attract Latino support, especially among the nation's Latino Protestants/Other Christians, who make up 30% of all U.S. Latinos. The survey polled 1,292 Latinos from September 8 to 18, making it the largest Latino religion and politics survey this election season with a MoE of +/- 2.73% at a 95% confidence level. "Trump is gaining ground despite COVID-19 and building the border wall," said Gaston Espinosa, the Arthur V. Stoughton Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College. "Latinos will be among of the largest groups of voters in key swing states in 2020, making this population key for Biden, especially in Florida," where there are more than 2.5 million registered Latino voters from a variety of regions and countries, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Colombia. "Florida could determine who wins the White House and Latino voters will certainly play a big role. The nation's 18 million Latino Protestant/Other Christian voters which are much more likely than Catholics to possibly vote Republican - could also have a real impact on the election because many are undecided and have a history of swinging over and voting Republican, like they did (44%) for George W. Bush in 2004." Although Biden is outperforming Trump among Latinos in every swing state, surprisingly, Trump is doing better than expected in five electoral-rich swing states, including Florida (41%), Nevada (38%), Texas (35%), Georgia (35%), and North Carolina (28%). In Florida, another poll found Trump is taking 38% of Latino voters in Miami-Dade county, a key metropolitan for Biden. "Based on Trumps favorability rating, the fact that conservatives underreport, and that a high percentage of independent and undecided voters nationwide are born-again Christians, Trump may end up taking 31-33 percent of the U.S. Latino vote though probably around 32-33 percent," Espinosa said. Other survey results include (the full survey results will be available on Sept. 30): Biden has a 2-to-1 voting advantage over Trump across most demographics Nationwide among all Latinos, Catholics have declined to 54% and Protestants/Other Christians grown to 30%. Within the Latino Christian community, 64% are Catholic and 34% Protestant/Other Christian. Evangelical and born-again Christians have grown significantly Almost 4 in 10 Latinos report being born-again Christians Trump's Latino support has grown from 26% in an NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo poll to 30% Biden's 62% Latino support is slightly underperforming Hillary Clinton's 66% support in 2016 66% support in 2016 Trump is taking almost one-third of all Latino voters nationwide Biden holds an almost 2-to-1 favorability rating over Trump More than half of Latinos reported that Biden can do a better job of rebuilding the economy 1 in 3 Latinos reported that Trump can do a better job of rebuilding the economy Biden has an almost 3-to-1 voting advantage over Trump among Catholics Trump leads Biden among Latino Evangelical born-again Protestants, who make up 64% of the nation's 18 million Latino Protestants/Other Christians Almost 6 in 10 Latinos believe Trump is moving the nation in the wrong direction Almost one-third of Latinos believe Trump is moving the nation in the right direction More than 6 in 10 Latinos disapprove of Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis Almost 1 in 3 Latinos approve of Trump's handling the COVID-19 crisis Almost 8 in 10 Latinos favor legal protections for religious liberty and freedom of conscience Gaston Espinosa is the Arthur V. Stoughton Associate Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College and Co-Editor of The Columbia University Press Series in Religion and Politics. He served as the past two-term past President of La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion at the American Academy of Religion. He directed the survey in cooperation with Rick Hunter of SDR Consulting, who has over thirty-years of experience and who has directed Latino surveys with Pew, Telemundo, and Univision. Espinosa has directed Latino national surveys in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2014, and now 2020 and is the author or editor of 8 books, including three on religion and the American presidency: https://www.amazon.com/Gaston-Espinosa/e/B00INZ9X66%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share. SOURCE Claremont McKenna College Related Links http://www.cmc.edu A local hotel has hit back strongly following a critical review on Tripadvisor which slammed the hotel for refusing to serve a Dublin couple on the basis of Covid-19 regulations. The review on the popular travel website said that the couple in question were in McKevitt's Hotel in Carlingford and were asked for their eircode - which was 'D' for Dublin - and according to the reviewer, the couple were told by a staff member that they would not be serving anybody from Dublin. Dublin is currently at Level 3 restrictions which states that people should not leave or enter the county unless for work, education or other essential purposes. Responding to the review on their Facebook page, McKevitt's Hotel in Carlingford said: "Here at McKevitt's we accept all feedback whether it be positive or negative. However, we feel like this type of review is very unfair. Since our reopening on June 29th we have taken every precaution to ensure the safety of our customers and staff. We have completed all COVID-19 safety charter criteria. As a result we have passed Failte Ireland inspection and are proud to be registered as COVID-19 compliant premises. "Part of these changes has been to abide by all government guidelines in relation to COVID-19. We made the decision as a business to not accept guests from any county affected by government restrictions as a protective measure for all. "We do not apologise for protecting our customers both old and new in these trying times and certainly do not apologise for making every attempt to ensure the safety of our hardworking staff. We encourage all potential customers to listen to government guidelines and recommendations and we will continue to provide a safe environment for all permitted customers." The hotel has received plenty of support on social media for their stance, with one user posting: Well done McKevitts! As a Dub Im delighted that you are ensuring everyones safety. I dont know why this person or her parents think that they are above a pandemic but you are right to protect yourselves and those who visit." Talia Giles, 25, of Philadelphia, speaks during a Party for Socialism and Liberation rally on Sept. 23 outside City Hall in Philadelphia. Read more Jackie Milestone doesnt think much of Joe Biden. She believes the Democratic presidential nominee will support that baseline capitalist system that exploits poor people, and Black and brown people, and will fail to promote any of the massive general-welfare things that this country deeply needs, that so many people are suffering without. But Milestone, an audio engineer who lives in the Cedar Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia, is voting for Biden anyway. The whole system needs to go down, and I think itll be easier to do that under a Biden administration, because I think Trump will make protesting illegal, Milestone, 27, said last week while walking with her friend Kai Yohman. Both supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary this year, after voting for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. Yohman hasnt decided whether to cast a ballot this year. The current state of the world feels such that were really at a turning point, and I dont think Biden or Trump is the answer in terms of what communities, especially marginalized communities, need right now, said Yohman, 34, who works in nonprofit operations and also lives in Cedar Park. Sanders bumper stickers are as common as Biden-Harris yard signs in Cedar Park and the adjacent Squirrel Hill neighborhood, which straddle Baltimore Avenue and are a hub of Philadelphias ascendant progressive movement. Six of the citys 11 voting divisions that tallied the most ballots for Jill Stein, the 2016 Green Party nominee, are in the areas 46th Ward. And despite an almost nonexistent Republican presence, these liberal bastions and others in Philadelphia could prove as vital to Bidens prospects against President Donald Trump as the hotly contested campaigns for voters in the suburbs and in postindustrial towns across Pennsylvania. With Trumps support appearing to hold steady or grow among white voters in rural areas and small towns, Biden needs huge vote totals in deeply Democratic Philadelphia to recapture a critical battleground state Trump won by less than 1% of the votes cast. The competition in recent city elections hasnt been between Democrats and Republicans, but between candidates backed by the Democratic establishment and progressive challengers to the status quo. Interviews with progressive leaders, organizers, and voters in Philadelphia suggest there remains significant uncertainty about whether Biden can win enough support from the partys left wing to avoid Clintons fate. Stein won almost 50,000 votes in Pennsylvania in 2016, more than Trumps margin of victory of about 44,000. While its unlikely all of Steins voters would have otherwise gone for Clinton, that outcome was nevertheless agonizing for Democrats. But Biden will have one important advantage: a dearth of third-party options for liberals, after the state Supreme Court removed the Green Partys presidential ticket from the ballot. Still, City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, who won a historic race last year as a candidate for the progressive Working Families Party, said shes worried about whether Bidens campaign has done enough to engage the citys progressive infrastructure. The campaign, she said, reached out to her for the first time about potentially appearing at an event only last week. And she hasnt seen many signs the campaign is taking advantage of the movements power in Philadelphia. When you are doing outreach to moderate suburban white folks and minimal campaigning in Black disenfranchised communities, thats problematic if you want to win, Brooks said. I feel like theyre leaving votes on the table." Sincere' Harris, a senior advisor for Bidens Pennsylvania campaign, said the campaign continues to "bring more voters into this coalition, no matter who theyve voted for in the past, and were seeing excitement around the Biden-Harris ticket in every corner of the state. READ MORE: Black voters in Philly are backing Biden. But theyre not excited: If Obama chose him, he cant be so bad. The campaign has important connections with liberal activists in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Its state director, Brendan McPhillips, managed City Councilmember Helen Gyms 2015 campaign, and deputy state director Nikki Lu worked for SEIU 32BJ, a service industry union that has provided critical financial support for progressive victories in the state. And Biden has won endorsements from liberal groups including Indivisible, and MoveOn, while his campaign conducts weekly calls with progressive leaders. From district attorney to City Council and the state legislature, progressives have won a series of upset election victories in Philadelphia a city that while Democratic for decades, was not considered a wellspring of left-wing politics until the last five years. The recipe for progressive success here has typically involved two ingredients that arent available in this election: a candidate that excites liberals, and legions of volunteers knocking on doors, a strategy largely cast aside because of the coronavirus. Reclaim Philadelphia, a group founded by veterans of Sanders' 2016 campaign, is not sponsoring in-person canvasses due to safety concerns, but is phone-banking, political director Amanda McIllmurray said. She said the downside of that is that its harder to reach some people, especially low-income voters. But its also been more fruitful than usual while so many voters are at home. When trying to win over progressives leery of Bidens moderate record, activists like Reclaims volunteers are often more effective messengers than the Biden campaign itself, McIllmurray said, because they also approach the Democratic nominee with hesitation. What were saying is, We also have critiques. Were also not completely happy. However, these are the stakes, she said. READ MORE: Bernie Sanders on Joe Biden, progressive primary wins, socialism, and the presidential race in Pennsylvania There are some liberal voters for whom no amount of effort could warm them to Biden. Eric Jenkins was a teenager when his familys furniture store in Brewerytown shut its doors, a victim of the 2008 financial crisis, and he balked as President Barack Obama bailed out Wall Street instead of Black working people. I will never forgive Obama or Biden for that, said Jenkins, now a college student and member of the group Socialist Alternative. If Sanders won the Democratic nomination, Jenkins said, he would have canvassed for his White House bid. Instead, hes planning to cast a write-in vote for Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins the one kicked off the ballot this month. Jenkins wants to send a message by not backing Biden, a candidate he says doesnt commit to a mass movement to change things like a Green New Deal, defunding local police departments, and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A lot of people say Trump is a fascist, and if you dont vote Biden, youre voting for fascism, said Jenkins, 25. But its not Trump thats causing all these things. Its part of a crisis of capitalism, of housing, of education, of police brutality. We dont have time to keep voting for Bidens. Other left-wing voters plan to write in Gloria La Riva, a socialist activist whos on the ballot in 15 states, but not Pennsylvania. Shes a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which advocates the end of Americas class structure and grew in prominence in Philadelphia this summer after organizing protests against police brutality. Talia Giles, who joined PSL in June, gathered Wednesday with about 30 other voters to watch La Riva speak in the shadow of City Hall about police brutality, poverty, housing, and the need for greater redistribution of wealth in the United States. Giles, 25, of West Philadelphia, said she doesnt demonize Biden voters, but plans to write in La Riva. Arent you tired of voting for the lesser of two evils? she said. READ MORE: Women in Pittsburghs wealthy suburbs could help Biden beat Trump in Pennsylvania While some on the left cant stomach voting for Biden, plenty are holding their nose and doing it anyway, seeing Trump as an existential threat. Samantha Goldman is a local organizer with Refuse Fascism, a national protest group established after Trumps election. Goldman, 33, identifies politically as a communist and has never before cast a vote for president. This year, shes voting for Biden, but not thinking that he is a savior of any sort. He is a representative of the system of mass exploitation and brutality and oppression, she said. But we need to do everything in our power to give the most massive repudiation of Trump and of fascism, and thats going to include voting. Some are still working through it. Salem Snow, who lives in North Philadelphias Norris Square, is a socialist who voted for Stein in 2016. He said that while Bidens agenda may not be in line with Trumps, I feel like his political history is. But Snow, a registered Democrat, may vote for him anyway. Hes undecided between that and writing in another candidate. If he chooses Biden, he said, it would be to dis-embolden the racists that have been emboldened under Trump. The Democratic Party tactics are really confusing, Snow said. Hillary said, Im not Trump. Biden is running on the same thing. ... Anyone can be not Trump. Thats just a really low bar. Howden, the independent employee-owned insurance broker, announced it has reached an agreement to acquire St Giles Legal & Professional Risks, a London-based professional indemnity insurance broker specializing in the UK solicitor sector, a market in which Howden is already a leading provider. The acquisition will bring the number of UK law firms Howden represents to more than 1,000. Financial detail of the transaction were not released. St Giles is a highly regarded and specialist broker of professional indemnity insurance. We are delighted to be bringing our talents together for the long-term benefit of our collective client base, commented Mark Westgarth, managing director, UK Regions, Howden Broking. We can offer greater scale and a depth of expertise that, combined with the experts at St Giles, will deliver better solutions for our mutual clients, in what are currently very challenging market conditions for them. We always strive to be part of the solution to tough challenges and our investment in additional expertise again demonstrates our strong and long term commitment to the UK legal sector, added Westgarth. St Giles is a company that we at Howden have known for many years. As is so often the case with our acquisitions, we buy companies with whom we have a long history and have built up trust and respect. Senior Directors Mark Thomsen and Simon Gale will take up positions in Howdens Financial Lines Group, with fellow Director Malcolm Gordon, providing consultancy support. About Howden Broking Group Howden, the London-headquartered re/insurance broker, risk consultant and employee benefits adviser, comprises owned businesses across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Established in 1994, Howden employs more than 4,500 people worldwide and controls over 6 billion of premium. Together with network partners aligned to its specialty-led proposition, Howden operates in more than 90 territories. Source: Howden Broking Group Topics Mergers Agencies London Canada's largest provinces are bringing in new limits on activity after a spike in covid-19 cases, threatening to short-circuit an economic recovery. Quebec will force public places including bars, museums, cinemas and restaurant dining rooms to close from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28 in three regions, including greater Montreal and greater Quebec City. Schools and stores will remain open. The province, which has had more virus deaths than 40 U.S. states, is an epicenter of a second wave with about 5,000 active cases, a 71% jump from the beginning of August. Premier Francois Legault announced the measures Monday "with a heavy heart" and said his government is working on ways to support the businesses affected. People living in those regions also won't be allowed to receive guests at home. "The situation has become critical," Legault said at a news conference. "If we don't want our hospitals to be submerged, if we want to limit the number of deaths, we must act strongly right now." Ontario, the largest province with 14.7 million people, reported 700 new cases Monday, the most ever in a day, though it's also testing far more people than it was in spring. A group of hospitals called on Premier Doug Ford's government to revert to stricter "stage two" measures in Toronto and Ottawa, which would mean restricting or closing indoor businesses such as gyms, movie theaters and restaurants. "It's up to each of us. Together our collective actions will decide if we face a wave or a tsunami," Ford said Monday at a news conference during which he pleaded for residents to follow rules and get the flu vaccine -- but did not move the province back to stage two. Earlier this month, his government reduced limits on how many people can gather in one place. It's a reversal of fortune for a country that avoided the summertime spike that hit the U.S. As the pandemic got worse in Sun Belt states, a largely compliant Canadian population hunkered down and wore masks. Provincial governments, which set the rules for most companies, allowed the vast majority of businesses to open up again, sometimes with capacity limits and new sanitation rules. In Toronto, the financial capital, many restrictions were lifted on July 31. As Labor Day neared, virus cases started to rise again. They flared in British Columbia, praised for its early handling of the crisis. Nationally, active cases have more than doubled since Sept. 1, to 12,759. Almost 95% are in the four largest provinces, with the greatest problems in big cities. Six months of restrictions left some Canadians just as restless as their counterparts in the rest of the world. Across the country, the spike in new cases is being driven by social gatherings among people in their 20s and 30s, fed up with social distancing and hoping to take advantage of the last weeks of warm weather. The greater concern is that Covid-19's toehold is becoming a foothold just as the country begins its rapid slide through autumn to winter, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. This coronavirus survives and stays in the air longer in cold, dry weather, he said -- people's mucous membranes are less effective at filtering it out and infection rates are much higher indoors. Despite a run on fire pits and patio heaters, most policymakers are not expecting Canadians to dine outside in subzero temperatures. One bright spot in the situation is the relatively low mortality rate in Canada. With the tragic exception of elder care facilities in Ontario and Quebec, where death rates soared early on, Canada's fatality rate, per capita, is less than half that of the U.S. since the pandemic began -- roughly 25 people per 100,000 population versus 63 in the U.S. As treatments have improved, along with better protection for the elderly and, crucially, greater testing -- and therefore identification -- of cases in younger people, so have the mortality numbers. But while a lower fatality rate is good news, it doesn't protect hospitals from being overwhelmed by a surge in cases, especially during flu season. And there are significant health consequences with the virus, Furness said. "If we focus just on the death rate, eventually everyone is going to say this is no big deal," Furness said. "We should reframe our understanding of Covid as vascular disease that causes widespread brain damage in the population." For policymakers and politicians, protecting the hospitals, which already have enormous backlogs of delayed surgeries, and keeping the schools open are key. But the rising case numbers threaten disruption on all fronts. "If politicians do not have the political fortitude to reintroduce some restrictions, then our risk of sliding into something much worse -- like the U.K. or Spain -- that's still on the table," said Furness. Canada needs to implement rapid testing across the country, tighten definitions on "nonessential" travel and hold the line on 14-day quarantine periods for those who have been out of the country, he said. A trio of female lawmakers from Pennsylvania have posed topless for a new get-out-the-vote campaign which aims to educate voters on new mail-in ballot rules that were announced in the state for the upcoming election. Allegheny County council members Bethany Hallam, 30, and Liv Bennett, 42, and House candidate Emily Kinkead, 33, all went nearly nude for the attention-grabbing campaign, which warns voters not to forget to seal their mail-in ballots inside the provided secrecy envelope or else they'll be thrown out by election officials. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures!' Hallam tweeted last week. 'So your favorite elected officials got naked so that you remember to make sure that your mail-in ballot is NOT submitted without its secrecy envelope!' Vote! A trio of female lawmakers from Pennsylvania have posed topless for a new get-out-the-vote campaign which aims to educate voters on new mail-in ballot rules The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that ballots not sealed inside the secrecy envelope can be rejected (pictured: Emily Kinkead, who is running for a state House seat in the 20th District) On September 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that 'naked ballots' those not sealed inside the secrecy envelope can be rejected by election officials. Some are predicting that this could lead to up to 100,000 Pennsylvania ballots being thrown out. So candidates in the state have begun launching initiatives to educate voters on the new rule to ensure that all ballots will be counted. Certainly the most distinctive one so far was released by Hallam, Bennett, and Kinkead, who all posed nude from the waist up in front of a brick wall. Those very important secrecy ballots were Photoshopped over their chests for privacy and to make their point. 'No one wants a naked politician or a naked ballot!' tweeted Kinkead, who is running for a state House seat in the 20th District. 'Don't forget your secrecy envelope when you mail in your ballot.' 'If we have to get naked to get this message across, thats what were willing to do,' said Allegheny County council member Bethany Hallam 'Desperate times call for desperate measures!' Hallam, 30, tweeted last week 'No one wants a naked politician or a naked ballot!' tweeted Kinkead Running along the bottom of one version of the ad are the words: 'The public doesn't need to see everything. Don't forget your secrecy envelope!' Another reads: 'Whoops! Good thing I've got my secrecy envelope!' The campaign also includes step by step instructions for how to properly fill out and enclose a mail-in ballot. 'If you dont do even one of those two things, your ballot will be thrown out and you wont even know,' Hallam told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 'If we have to get naked to get this message across, thats what were willing to do. 'Theres a lot misinformation going around about mail-in voting. Its brand new. Most voters, this is the first time theyre ever voting by mail,' she went on. 'I reached out to my friends who are elected officials, as well, and I was like, "Hey, I have this wild idea. Lets get naked to try to save our democracy."' 'Theres a lot misinformation going around about mail-in voting. Its brand new. Most voters, this is the first time theyre ever voting by mail,' said Hallam (left; Kinkead pictured right) Kinkead is glad to see that it has caught the public's attention. 'People are talking about it. Its getting a lot of attention to just the existence of secrecy ballots,' she said. 'Were getting people who are saying, "I didnt even know about the secrecy envelope."' Liv Bennett, who also posed for the campaign, is an Allegheny County council member 'Im not just trying to protect Democratic voters,' added Hallam. 'Im trying to make sure all voters ballots are counted.' The campaign has earned plenty of positive feedback, with commenters calling it 'awesome,' 'amazing,' 'brilliant,' 'clever,' and 'wonderful' and several calling for male candidates to do a version, too. 'This is... quite a unique method to talk about naked ballots in PA. 10/10 for originality. Remember, your voting rights are real. And they are fantastic!' wrote Michigan news anchor Nick LaFave. In fact, the posts had few critics though among them was the women's colleague Keith Rothfus, a Republican in Pennsylvania's 12th District. 'And this is the crowd that thinks @RealDonaldTrump is vulgar? Really?' he tweeted. 'So looking forward to confirmation of #ACB as our next #SupremeCourt Justice.' Kinkead fired back: 'Now powerless man who spent career working to deny women ownership of their bodies and power is big mad that women in power are owning their bodies.' The Minneapolis Police Department announced Monday it was looking into a report by right-wing activist group Project Veritas that supporters of Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) had been illegally harvesting ballots this summer. The Minneapolis Police Department is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements, the department said in a statement. No further information is available at this time on this. Project Veritas, an investigative reporting project led by conservative activist James OKeefe, reported on Sunday that supporters of the Minnesota Democrat were illegally collecting blank ballots and posting boastful videos of their collections to social media, leading President Trump to call on the U.S. attorney in Minnesota to investigate. This is totally illegal. Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? If not, why not??? We will win Minnesota because of her, and law enforcement. Saved Minneapolis & Iron O Range! Trump said in a tweet early Monday. The president and other Republicans have been outspoken against ballot harvesting, a practice in which a third party collects ballots from voters homes to drop off at polling stations. The third-party harvesters are sometimes paid for their work and can be volunteers or campaign staff. In a majority of states that allow ballot harvesting, laws limit the number of ballots that can be collected by a single person. In Minnesota, it is legal to assist up to three individuals in turning in their ballots. For a period of time following a July 28 ruling by a district-court, the limit was temporarily invalidated, allowing an individual to collect an unlimited number of ballots, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The Minnesota Supreme Court then reinstated the limit in a September 4 ruling. A video shared by Project Veritas late Sunday shows Liban Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, surrounded by what he claims are hundreds of ballots as he brags about his ballot harvesting work. Story continues Just today we got 300 for Jamal Osman, Mohamed says in the video that was first posted on Snapchat on July 1, according to the report. I have 300 ballots in my car right now. Numbers dont lie. You can see my car is full. All these here are absentee ballots. Look, all these are for Jamal Osman. Minneapolis residents detailed large-scale ballot harvesting operations in apartment complexes across the city as part of a cash-for-ballots scheme to gather and fill out absentee ballots illegally from Somali immigrants, according to the report. Omar Jamal, a local community leader, and other unidentified sources alleged that progressive Squad member Ilhan Omars supporters were collecting the ballots. I think [Mohamed] was [working for] both Ilhan Omar and Jamal [Osman], but I think he was more with Ilhan Omar, Jamal said. Its an open secret, he said. She will do anything that she can do to get elected and she has hundreds of people on the streets doing that. Mohamed accused Project Veritas of editing the video to misrepresent his comments. The group uses undercover reporters and its report relies on anonymous sources, making it difficult for outside groups to confirm the claims. Project Veritas has previously come under fire for the accuracy and ethics of its reporting, including during a botched attempt to show bias at the Washington Post. Omar responded to Trumps calls for an investigation into the allegations on Monday by ridiculing the president over a New York Times report that claimed he had only paid $750 in income taxes in 2016. Jeremy Slevin, Omars senior communications director, called the investigation an attempt to delegitimize the election, according to Newsweek. The amount of truth to this story is equal to the amount Donald Trump paid in taxes of ten out of the last fifteen years: zero. And amplifying a coordinated right-wing campaign to delegitimize a free and fair election this fall undermines our democracy, he said. While Minnesota is a battleground state, with several House seats and a Senate race that could flip, Omars district, one of the most liberal in the country, is unlikely to switch. Omar had a strong lead in her primary and is likely to win against her Republican opponent by a wide margin. More from National Review Laredos Red Roof Inn alternate care site, which was outfitted to treat non-acute COVID-19 patients, was officially demobilized by the state on Sept. 23. Deputy Fire Chief Ramiro Elizondo said during a press briefing Monday that the state was waiting for the final patient to be discharged last week before closing it down. This alternate care site went up July 19 as the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients rose beyond the local capacity. However, health officials noted that the hospitals really needed more intensive care beds, not the low-acuity beds that the Red Roof Inn site created. There were 106 beds available at the site, but never more than seven patients there at once, according to Fire Chief Guillermo Heard. In the two months it was in operation, only 20 to 30 patients total were treated there, Heard said. The Texas Department of State Health Services sent 140 health care professionals to Laredo to man this operation. They worked in two groups, alternating 12-hour shifts. In order to qualify for admission at this alternate care site, the patient had to pass several health and lifestyle tests. They couldnt have severe shortness of breath, be younger than 18 years old, require continuous telemetry monitoring, or a dozen other stipulations. The city worked to try and loosen these requirements so that they could move more patients there from the hospitals, but it never happened. In a statement to LMT, Heard said in the event of a second wave, the city is looking instead to see if the Specialty Hospital could hold more ICU patients. We are meeting with State Health Officials on other resources and the possibility of another care site that we can use in preparation of the second wave, he said the statement. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Tuesday, September 29, 2020 How Democracies Die This 2018 book by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt came up with two main reasons for the death of democracies. Democracies depend on tolerance and forbearance. When one party is intolerant of the other side and never declines to take advantage of the other side at every opportunity, democracy is in trouble. Restraint is essential to democracy and Trump's endless parade of norm breaking and law breaking threatens democracy. Low information voters are perfectly gullible swallowing whole Trump's 20,000 lies in office as documented by the two papers of record the New York Times and Washington Post. Many of Trump's supporters consider him frank and honest. Frank, yes, honest, no way. Conservatism This is not your grandfather's Republican Party. Barry Goldwater, the political candidate who birthed the radical brand of conservatism in 1964, led the delegation of Republican Senators who told Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. Ronald Reagan, who nominated Goldwater in 1964, put America on the path of militarism and extremism by cutting the tax rate on the rich 60%. Millions of small business owners vote Republican despite being sold out in favor of big business every time there is a tax cut. Conservatism needs champions of business, but small business has been coopted by the big business owned by the 1%, the elephant triumphs again. Religion The gospels of Jesus never mention anything about abortion. Jesus in his devotion to human equality keeps warning us about the rich, hypocritical religious pharisees that often resemble church going Republicans with their prejudices, and the false prophets warned about in the apocalypse. Funding the rich and defunding the poor is not what Jesus would want. Trump reminds me of the musical "The Music Man" as a con man takes over a small town. The cult around Trump has been created by endlessly bullying everyone in sight who slights Trump in any way. Trump serves only himself not others, hardly the way of religion. Jesus warned us about the excessive clubbiness in religions and Country Clubs. This leads to looking down on others rather than helping them. Good Samaritan forget about it. Lawlessness Trump is easily running one of the most corrupt presidencies ever, compared to no charges against Obama cabinet members while he was in office. Turnover is record setting, as Trump keeps firing Secretaries and National Security Advisors. When Trump's people try to be honest, they are fired and replaced with much more pliable acting Secretaries and agency heads. Most of the cabinet is as corrupt as Trump in their self-dealing expense reports. Already Impeached and guilty of countless acts of obstruction of justice, Trump intimidated the Mueller investigation. William Barr, Trump's current Attorney General, lied about the Mueller report and keeps exonerating corrupt officials (Flynn) and campaign aides (Stone). He also lied to congress, both chambers, and tried to keep his former fixer in jail to stop his tell all book. When honest officials cross the liar in chief, they are bullied relentlessly, even firing acting FBI director McCabe just one day before pension vesting. No level of cruelty is too much for Trump, who rips apart families at the border. How can such a president even dare to run on a law and order platform? I guess it works with the blind believers. Less Military The Reuschlein economic model, so scientifically precise, will force over time all governments to recognize that strong defense cannot be prioritized over the economy, as high military spending blocks manufacturing growth. Some military may be necessary, but too much too soon will only weaken the economy and thereby the long-term national defense. Deluded by military Keynesianism, US presidents of both political parties have used military spending to inject growth in local economies, failing to recognize the boomerang effect of reduced manufacturing jobs that goes with all military buildups. Check the record, the graphs are obvious. Nature in these times Hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires have been very impactful in recent hot years. This year, the United States was impacted by the most major hurricanes (four) since 1916 and the most landfalls of tropical storms and hurricanes (eight) since 1856. Of course global warming has warmed the oceans, but cyclical better explains these events. Two 54-year cycles ago would be 1912 and three 54-year cycles would be 1858, so the repetition of events is only four years and two years off respectively. A couple years ago here in the American Midwest our skies were faced with a light haze thanks to fires in Alberta Canada tar sands area. Today the haze has returned thanks to the orange sky smog of fires over California and Oregon. Each of the two states has a record setting fire with about three times as much fire overall. The American West Rocky Mountain states all have major fires going on. Trump's style of climate denial is extreme even by corporate standards, with Amazon promising to be carbon neutral by 2030. Conclusion Coronavirus deaths in America by month, 60,000 April, 40,000 May, 27,000 June, 27,000 July, 30,000 August, 24,000 September. Not much evidence of slowing down, will probably spike in flu season. Time for the traditional notion of national security to be expanded beyond military force to include global warming and public health, both nationally and internationally. The pandemic did slow down most European economies in the first quarter more than in America. The Spanish flu of 1918 (thirty million died) and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 (one million deaths) and the coronavirus 2020 (one million deaths so far) all seem to be on the 54-year cycle. The confluence of major wars and civil rights protests during these times periods suggests that the end of the 27-year high growth period in the long cycle creates multiple tensions that play out the three ways. The first period had World War, Spanish flu, and women's right to vote. The second period had the Tet offensive in Vietnam, the nearby Hong Kong flu, and Martin Luther King death riots. Now we have the pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the major war scheduled for 2025 give or take a couple years. The Reuschlein research proves both the empire theory and long cycle theory are accurate and reliable scientific theories that can and will change the world. Reuschlein 17 Key Findings and Claims: https://www.academia.edu/37217512/Findings_and_Special_Claims_November_2017_2_pages Please cite this work as follows: Reuschlein, Robert. (2020, September 29), "Most Unusual Times Update" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Most-Unusual-Times-Update,2020236573.aspx Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2020 with accelerating interest from Norway. Intense interest in an unusually consistent pattern shows up on my website as following my work, hard looks per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 196 (projected). Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com Info: www.realeconomy.com Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) 29 September 2020 (SPS)- The President of the Saharawi Republic, H.E. Brahim Ghali, congratulated H.E. President Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, for the 54th Independence of the Republic of Botswana, in a letter he addressed him on the occasion on Monday 28 September. I am writing to you today Mr. President and dear brother, to present my most sincere and deep congratulations on this great day, full of lessons, full of glory but also full of challenges that make real leaders arise from within their people to lead them to great achievements and make history, President Ghali stressed. The Saharawi President further emphasized that the people of the Saharawi Republic, its government, and myself, are grateful to Your Excellency and to the people and government of Botswana, for the principled position and solidarity with our rights to dignity, freedom and independence. It should be recalled that the two countries established diplomatic relations back in 1980. They upgraded it to Ambassadorial level on 2019, when the Saharawi Republic opened an Embassy in Gaborone. (SPS) 090/500/60 (SPS) Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (17) Here are the key takeaways from Fastmarkets International Aluminium Conference that took place from Monday September 21-Wednesday September 23. Low-carbon aluminium Low-carbon aluminium is a huge talking point in the market right now and the conference dedicated a day to sustainability. Sustainability directors from Rio Tinto, Norsk Hydro, UC Rusal and Alcoa participated in a panel discussion discussing the growing demand from downstream consumers for transparency throughout the aluminium production supply chain. They said that creating transparency and credibility in the green aluminium sector will be a key factor in expanding the market for sustainably produced metal. Ali Al Baqali, chief executive of Aluminium Bahrain, also warned delegates about the need for being rational while the market begins to embrace low-carbon aluminium. And En+ Group executive chairman Lord Gregory Barker said creating a definition for low-carbon aluminium would be an important step in helping to develop broader market engagement in sustainable production. New low-carbon initiatives The focus on low-carbon aluminium led to the announcement of a number of new sustainable initiatives at the conference. Alcoa chief executive officer Roy Harvey announced exclusively at the conference that Alcoa is launching the first ever low-carbon alumina brand, EcoSource. Harvey explained that EcoSource is produced with no more than 0.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per tonne of alumina. Meanwhile, China Hongqiao announced that it will complete phase one of its hydro-powered aluminium smelter in southwestern Chinas Yunnan province by the end of the first quarter of next year. LMEs sustainability drive The London Metal Exchange was also in focus; its sustainability discussion paper consultation ended just after the conference on September 24. The exchanges new package of sustainability proposals should aid the discovery process of low-carbon aluminium pricing, CEO Matthew Chamberlain said. While Lord Barker of En+ Group called on the LME to eventually make its new spot trading platform mandatory to drive a new asset class for low-carbon aluminium and to improve transparent, sustainability-based trading. But I think its going to be a challenge to come up with something thats really credible if we end up with something that is just voluntary, that isnt as rigorous in terms of transparency. I think you could have a lot of disappointed punters out there, Barker said. Covid-19 issues The Covid-19 pandemic bolstered aluminium demand from the packaging sector, while the automotive and construction sectors are now recovering after taking the biggest hits during the pandemics peak, CEOs of major aluminium producers said during a panel discussion at the conference. Alcoas Harvey said he now sees a snap back from the difficult second quarter, where in the United States, the temporary shutdown of the automotive supply chain had crippled demand. But his optimism was tinged with caution given the uncertainty of this pandemic. Major aluminium producers operating in some of the countries most affected by Covid-19 took decisive actions early on to protect workers and maintain operations, top executives also assured delegates. When Norsk Hydro CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim learned of the pandemic in China, she quickly took down the company's extrusion plants in the country. But she soon realized the coronavirus was not contained in China and swiftly engineered health and safety guidelines for its other locations. Alf Barrios, CEO of Rio Tinto Aluminium, explained that the now-ended US tariff on Canadian aluminium and the effect of Covid-19 on the market as a whole made an already challenging 2020 for the aluminium industry even tougher. Raw materials There was also lots of discussion around aluminium raw materials at the conference. Noranda chief Thomas Robb told delegates that global alumina prices are expected to remain rangebound over the next quarter unless there are significant changes to the supply and demand picture. John Thuestad, executive vice president of bauxite and alumina at Norsk Hydro added that alumina prices had not been significantly affected by the recent reduced capacity at the Alunorte refinery because of the current oversupply in the alumina market. Further upstream, factors including an improving oil price and increased demand will support a recovery in the cif China bauxite price in the second half of this year, Fastmarkets aluminium analyst Yang Cao told the conference. But he told market participants to keep a close eye on the effect of a weakening domestic China alumina price on the bauxite market. By examining preexisting research for other conditions, researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found a potential treatment that could be applied to COVID-19. The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, established that a lipid found in the human body could be used to prevent or treat infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. That lipid, called sphingosine, is a natural element taken from the body and is important in the lipid metabolism of all cells and the local immune defense in epithelial cells, a type of cell that lines the surfaces of the body including skin, blood vessels, urinary tract and organs. They serve as a barrier between the inside and outside of your body and protect it from viruses. "We investigated whether a specific lipid is able to interfere with the binding of SARS-CoV-2 to human epithelial cells," says corresponding author Erich Gulbins, MD, a visiting professor in UC's Department of Surgery. He is also chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. "Sphingosine has been shown in past studies to prevent and eliminate bacterial infections of the respiratory tract, but it is unknown if it can be used to prevent viral infections. The coronavirus needs to bind to specific molecules on the surface of human cells as a prerequisite to infect them," Gulbins says. "This is similar to the key and lock principle of a door: To open the door you must insert the key into the lock. We show that the lipid sphingosine binds into the cellular 'lock,' the receptor ACE2, for SARS-CoV-2 and thereby prevents binding of the virus to and infection of human cells." Researchers in this study analyzed the use of this lipid in regulating infection in cultured human cells with SARS-CoV-2 particles added. "We showed that sphingosine prevented cellular infection in these cultures, and pretreatment of cultured cells or freshly obtained human nasal epithelial cells with low concentrations of sphingosine prevented adhesion of and infection with the virus," says Gulbins. "These findings indicate that sphingosine prevents at least some viral infection by interfering with the interaction of the virus with its receptor; it could be used as a nasal spray to prevent or treat infections with SARS-CoV-2," he adds. "The nasal spray must be developed, but sphingosine is a natural product. More research is needed to see if this could be a treatment for COVID-19." Co-author Syed Ahmad, MD, co-director of the UC Cancer Center, professor and chief of the division of surgical oncology at UC and a UC Health surgeon, says this collaboration is particularly fascinating because it takes medical research from other areas of study and applies it to a timely public health issue. "The ACE2 receptor has been studied and identified as a treatment target in pancreatic cancer," says Ahmad, the Hayden Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research. "This is an example of taking existing research and applying it to COVID-19 science in order to make progress in the field. This is how translational science works." ### In addition to Ahmad, other co-authors on the study include: Sameer Patel, Gregory Wilson and Michael Edwards (first co-author), University of Cincinnati; Katrin Becker (first co-author), Simone Keitsch, Barbara Wilker, Matthias Soddemann, Anne Gulbins, Alexander Carpinteiro and Elisa Carpinteiro, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Barbara Gripp, Zentrum fur Seelische Gesundheit des Kindes-und Jugendalters, Germany; Markus Hoffmann and Stefan Pohlmann, German Primate Center-Leibniz Institute for Primate Research and University Gottingen, Germany; and Silke Walter and Klaus Fassbender, University Hospital Saarland, Germany. Gulbins has patented the use of sphingosine to treat viral infections. The study was supported by the German Research Foundation DFG, the German Ministry of Science and institutional funds from the universities of Cincinnati and Duisburg-Essen. NEW DELHI, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Education New Zealand is all set to host its first-ever New Zealand-India Education Week from 05 to 09 October, 2020. The online series brings together researchers, experts and academia from across New Zealand and Indian education and business landscape. The week-long event will strengthen the education relationship between both countries through a range of academic collaborations and student activities across India. The week will feature Exclusive Panel Discussions, Specialist Masterclasses, Alumni Engagement, Daily Trivia and showcase of New Zealand's Maori Culture. Commenting on the initiative, John Laxon, Regional Director- Asia, Education New Zealand said, "We are excited to launch this inaugural New Zealand-India Education Week, making use of technology to connect with academics and students right across India. The online event offers us an opportunity to hear from Indian students in New Zealand, explore the impact of COVID-19 on the future of education, and engage with leading New Zealand academics." New Zealand and India's education ties have continued to strengthen in recent years, with the number of Indian students studying at New Zealand universities rising 37 per cent in 2019. Despite disruptions caused by COVID-19, there remains active engagement between universities and institutions of both countries. "All of our universities represented during the week feature in the top 3% globally in the 2020 QS World University rankings, offering globally recognised and transferable qualifications and skills. We look forward to welcoming international students into New Zealand when it is safe to do so, and in the meantime are committed to strengthening our connections with Indian academia and institutions," added Mr Laxon. For more information or to register click https://enzevents.eventsair.com/nz-india-education-week/student About Education New Zealand: Education New Zealand (ENZ) is New Zealand's government agency for international education. Education New Zealand works to grow awareness of New Zealand as a study destination and to support New Zealand education providers and businesses to take their services and products abroad. For more information on why New Zealand best place is to study and live: www.studyinnewzealand.govt.nz/ For more information on Future Proof Yourself: www.studyinnewzealand.govt.nz/in/futureproofyourself/ SOURCE Education New Zealand By Trend Switzerland ready to host meetings at the highest level to support negotiations process within the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Trend reports citing the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA of Switzerland. Switzerland is concerned about the ongoing violent confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan that have been intensifying since 27 September. In the light of recent events, Switzerland calls on all parties to preserve regional stability and therefore end the use of force, the statement said. Switzerland reminds both sides to uphold their obligations under international law, in particular, to protect the civilian population. As there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict, substantive negotiations must be resumed immediately and without preconditions. Switzerland fully supports the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group towards a negotiated conflict solution and is ready to host meetings at the highest level, as has been done in the past, the statement said. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said Sept. 27, 2020, that Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GenNx360 Capital Partners ("GenNx360"), a middle market private equity buyout firm investing in industrial and business services companies, is pleased to announce the promotions of Pratik Rajeevan from Vice President to Principal and Peter White from Senior Associate to Vice President, effective immediately. Since joining GenNx360 in 2009 as an Analyst, Pratik has been responsible for identifying, evaluating and executing new investment opportunities and supporting GenNx360's portfolio company strategies. During his tenure Pratik has covered Global Industrial, Aerospace and Logistics companies. He began his career as an investment banking analyst at Genpact, India. Pratik received an MBA from IIT Roorkee and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecom from the University of Mumbai. Since joining the firm in 2016 as an Associate, Peter has been a valued member of the deal team. He is responsible for identifying, evaluating and executing new investment opportunities, in addition to supporting GenNx360's portfolio company strategies while working closely with respective management teams. During his time with GenNx360, he has worked with several platform investments. These investments have spanned across various end markets, including Aerospace & Defense, Packaging Equipment and Business Services. Prior to joining GenNx360, Peter was an Analyst at Credit Suisse working in the Global Industrials Group. He began his career as an Analyst with the Industrials group at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Peter received a BSBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. "Pratik and Peter have demonstrated the commitment and the strategic leadership qualities to be successful over the long term at GenNx360. We proudly recognize their contributions to GenNx360's growth and achievements with these well-deserved promotions," said Matthew Guenther, GenNx360 Managing Partner. About GenNx360 Capital Partners GenNx360 Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on acquiring middle market business services and industrial companies. GenNx360 partners with companies having proven and sustainable business models in expanding industries with the objective of implementing and supporting value-enhancing organic and inorganic initiatives to accelerate growth, deliver cost efficiencies, and generate strong financial returns. Target industries include industrial machinery and components, business & industrial services, automation & industrial technology, packaging products, equipment services, environmental services, and food ingredients/equipment/services. GenNx360 was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in New York City. For more information on GenNx360 Capital Partners, please visit http://www.gennx360.com. For media inquiries about this press release, please contact: GenNx360 Capital Partners Carmen Rojas, Director of Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Tel: 212.257.6772 SOURCE GenNx360 Capital Partners Pipeline 29 September 2020 Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., announced today that it will open Hotel Nikko Changshu in 2023. The hotel will be located at Changshu National New & Hi-Tech Zone in Changshu city, one of the county-level cities in the Suzhou of southeastern Jiangsu Province. The company has contracted with Changshu Kuncheng Development Investment Co., Ltd. to manage the new property through its joint venture BTG Nikko International Hotel Management Co., Ltd. The Hotel Nikko Changshu will offer 288 guest rooms, each with a standard area of about 40m, including 14 suite rooms, on 22 floors above ground and two underground floors. It will also feature a full range of facilities, including a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, all-day dining and banqueting facilities, as well as a fitness center and indoor pool. Located to the west of Shanghai and adjacent to major cities such as Wuxi and Nantong, Changshu is a market town and trading post that has prospered since ancient times thanks to the fertile land that surrounds it. The city has recently focused on attracting foreign companies, in particular Japanese companies, and the research and production bases of many of the world's top 500 companies, including those in the automotive sector, have moved there. The Changshu National New & Hi-Tech Zone is located about 6 km south of the center of Changshu, an area where the Changshu Municipal Government is focusing its development efforts, and which is expected to become the driving force of Changshu's economy. The area around the new hotel is being developed into a hub featuring business and research facilities, schools and residences, with office buildings currently being added. Overview of Hotel Nikko Changshu By PTI KOLKATA: Two organisations promoting Bengali sub-nationalism in West Bengal urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday to allow Durga Puja celebrations in the northern state with adherence to the COVID-19 protocol. Adityanath had directed officials during a review meeting on Monday to "apply all precautions during the upcoming festive season" in view of the COVID-19 situation, an official statement of the Uttar Pradesh government said. Some media reports, however, claimed Adityanath had said no Durga Puja or Diwali celebrations will be allowed in Uttar Pradesh this year to avoid mass gathering, while Ramlila will be permitted with strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocol. UP Govts order that Durga Puja should be done at home is unfair & even absurd. Like the allowances for Ram Lila, Durga Puja should be permitted with harsh but sensible restrictions. Otherwise it is discriminatory. Bengali Hindus in UP appeal to @myogiadityanath to review order Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) September 29, 2020 Referring to such reports, Bengali outfit Bangla Pokkho, said in a statement, "The Constitution of India guarantees every citizen to celebrate his/her own culture, tradition, and religious sentiment. In compliance with the fundamental rights that our constitution has to offer, we demand that public celebration of Durga Puja be allowed with all COVID-19 safety protocols". "We have nothing against any decision to limit the number of people gathering in a place. But we request the UP administration not to prevent Durga Puja celebrations altogether," a spokesperson of the outfit said. The statement said Durga Puja, the most auspicious occasion for Bengalis across the world, is not only integrally associated with the religious sentiment of the Bengali community but also complements its culture and value system. Siddhabrata Das, spokesperson of another such outfit, Jatiya Bangla Sammelan, posted on social media, "Is Bengali's Durga Puja banned in Uttar Pradesh as we are on the way to become a Hindu Rashtra?" "Who will Shri Ramchandra worship during Navaratri if there is no Durga Puja?" Das said in another post. He said there should be equal norms and yardstick for both Durga Puja and Ramlila. An official of the Uttar Pradesh government, however, told PTI in Lucknow that no such advisory has been issued with regard to Durga Puja celebrations in the northern state. The five-day Durga Puja festivities will begin on October 22. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday was discharged from hospital after his COVID-19 test report result was negative. Sisodia, who was battling a double infection of COVID-19 and dengue, was administered a convalescent plasma therapy, an official had said on September 25. The Deputy CM has been advised to take rest for a week. Sisodia was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket, from Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital in the national capital on September 25. Live TV "Plasma therapy has been administered to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who is suffering from dengue & COVID-19 at Max hospital, Saket," an official statement had said. Sisodia was earlier admitted to LNJP hospital after he complained of fever and low oxygen levels. Earlier on September 14, the Deputy Chief Minister had informed about his positive test results for COVID-19, following which he had isolated himself. Sisodia was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital from being under home-isolation after he had contracted the infection. A senior doctor from LNJP Hospital had said, "He is still in ICU since yesterday, but his condition is stable. The minister has been put on oxygen support as per requirement and under constant observation. The Deputy CM will be administered an RT-PCR test in a couple of days." Asked if the minister has any co-morbidities, the doctor, also a senior official had said, "He has hypertension." Notably, the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility. The 48-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was admitted to the hospital after he complained of fever and low oxygen levels. Sisodia was unable to attend the one-day Delhi Assembly session on September 14 since he had tested positive for the disease. He is the second Cabinet minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government to contract COVID-19 infection after Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Jain tested positive for COVID-19 in June and was administered plasma therapy. New Delhi: Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda on Wednesday announced support for the SAD-BJP combine in the upcoming Assembly polls in Punjab. A decision has been taken to support the Akali and BJP candidates in Punjab polls by the followers of the Dera, Deras political Affairs wing member Ram Karan told PTI. The Dera had left it to its followers premis to take a call on which political party to support. Accordingly, the premis have decided to support the Akali Dal and BJP candidates in Punjab, he said. The Assembly election to 117 seats in Punjab is to be held on February 4. The followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh have major presence in 27 different segments, especially in Malwa region of the state, which comprises 69 Assembly seats. In 2007 Punjab Assembly polls, Dera had thrown its weight behind Congress following which the SAD-BJP combine was routed in its Malwa stronghold, even as the combine got a simple majority in the 117 member assembly. The Dera followers have started visiting the SAD-BJP candidates with feelers that the sect will back the ruling alliance, he said. After meeting with the sadh-sangat (followers), we have decided to support the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab Assembly election, Karan said. According to sources, Dera Sacha Sauda has about 5 crore supporters who are known as premis. There are more than 35 lakh Dera devotees in the state, 70 per cent of them are in the Malwa region. Many leaders from Congress, SAD-BJP and AAP had visited the Dera Sacha Sauda recently to seek blessings of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The current military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh dates back to the fall of the Soviet Union when the two fought a bloody war over the territory. The mountainous region is historically claimed by both Armenians and Azerbaijanis. As the two countries gained independence amid the Soviet collapse in the late 1980s, ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh sought to unite with Armenia. The resulting six year war between 1988 and 1994 caused an estimated 30,000 casualties and displaced hundreds of thousands before a ceasefire brokered by Russia ended large-scale fighting. But Armenia and Azerbaijan never signed a peace treaty and the conflict has remained unresolved, frequently seeing violent clashes for the past three decades as international mediation efforts led by Russia, France and the United States have made little headway. PHOTO: Servicemen of Karabakh's Defence Army wave while riding in the back of a truck on the way to the town of Martakert during fighting with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, Sept. 29, 2020. (Narek Aleksanyan/AFP via Getty Images) The war left Nagorno-Karabakh as majority Armenian after hundreds of thousands of Azeris were forced to flee and with an Armenian-backed government in control. The enclave of 150,000 people is still recognized internationally as Azerbaijans and the country has never given up its claim. Fighting has frequently occurred since. In 2016 the two countries fought an inconclusive five-day war that killed over 100 people. Intense skirmishes were fought again this July along the border. But independent analysts and civilians on the ground say this current fighting is far heavier than at any time since the 1990s and that the risks of a full-scale war are much higher. "This is totally different," Angela Frangyan, a filmmaker in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital Stepanakert on Tuesday said by phone, saying the scale and intensity of the fighting had not been seen since the 1990s war. Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of starting the current round of fighting and experts have said it's not clear what triggered it now, though many warned it had been brewing since the skirmishes in July. Story continues Why does it matter? There are fears that the intense fighting could escalate into a full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that could pull in major regional players, in particular Turkey and Russia. In addition to the risk of a humanitarian crisis for Armenia and Azerbaijan, all-out war could also threaten what is an important energy corridor. Turkey is already becoming increasingly involved in the conflict and on Tuesday Armenia accused it of shooting down an Armenian fighter jet. MORE: Armenia and Azerbaijan battle amid reports that Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were deployed Turkey has close ethnic and historic links with Azerbaijan and is a longtime supporter, but independent analysts say Turkey has taken a significantly more aggressive stance on the fighting this time. Turkeys president Tayyip Recep Erdogan has said "it is time to end Armenias occupation" and demanded it withdraw from soil Turkey considers to be Azerbaijani. PHOTO: A man gets out of a makeshift bomb shelter in the village of Sahlabad outside the Azerbaijani city of Tartar, Sept. 29, 2020. (Tofik Babayev/AFP via Getty Images) Armenia has accused Turkey of providing military advisers, weapons and warplanes to assist Azerbaijan. And there are reports of Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters being recruited last month to assist Azerbaijan. Turkey and Azerbaijan have both denied the reports or that Turkey is interfering militarily in the conflict. Both countries also dismissed the Armenian allegation that Turkey had shot down the fighter jet. Some analysts believe Turkey's new role in the conflict reflects a broader policy of greater assertiveness abroad under Erdogan, who has launched military interventions in Syria and Libya. Turkeys strong backing of Azerbaijan complicates efforts to end the fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular by the traditional power broker in the region -- Russia. Moscow has close ties to both Azerbaijan and Armenia. But it has a formal security pact with Armenia, a military base in the country, and in recent years Azerbaijan has turned more toward Turkey. That security agreement puts Russia in an uncomfortable diplomatic position. Few believe it will lead to a military clash between Russia and Turkey but there are worries that Turkish support for Azerbaijan could lead to another prolonged conflict fueled by Turkey and Russias support for opposing sides, as is already playing out in Syria and Libya. The Kremlin has signaled it has no desire for such a conflict and called for an immediate halt to the fighting, urging Turkey to persuade Azerbaijan to return to talks. Why Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is likely to travel to Delhi for his cabinet reshuffle and expansion, sources said. CT Ravi, who holds the portfolio of Tourism and Culture Minister is likely to be dropped from the cabinet, they said. According to sources, Arvind Limbavali, Umesh Katti, Basangouda Patil Yatnal, Sunil Kumar and Halady Srinivas Shetty are likely to get placed in Yediyurappa's cabinet. On September 27, the CM won the trust vote in the state Assembly against the no-confidence motion by the Congress against his government. The no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Congress was defeated by voice vote on Saturday night after a fierce debate for about six hours. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. She recently returned from a whirlwind work trip in Italy. And Kendall Jenner was back to her favorite medium as she posted up in a bathroom for a selfie shared to Instagram on Tuesday morning. The 24-year-old model showed off her sensational figure in a two-piece floral swimsuit after storming the catwalk during Milan Fashion Week. Hello: Kendall Jenner was back to her favorite medium as she posted up in a bathroom for a selfie shared to Instagram on Tuesday morning Kendall's light green bandeau top featured straps delicately tied into bows across her shoulders. She kept her bright orange iPhone case strategically placed over her face and captioned the snap 'nice bathroom.' The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star regularly poses in mirrors of her favorite room in the house. Snap happy: The 24-year-old model showed off her sensational figure in a two-piece floral swimsuit after storming the catwalk during Milan Fashion Week Sensational figure: Hours later, she jumped back on social media to share a sultry snap of herself in a pair of tiny spandex shorts and matching black sneakers at the gym Hours later, she jumped back on social media to share a sultry snap of herself in a pair of tiny spandex shorts and matching black sneakers at the gym. On her Instagram Story, she could be seen styling her microscopic bottoms with a cropped black tank, which showed off her lithe limbs and gym-honed midriff. The model opted to cover her face under a cowboy emoji, ahead of her sweat session. A Kendall classic: The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star regularly poses in mirrors of her favorite room in the house Kendall is making the most of an interesting year with COVID-19 putting a halt to most international work and travel commitments. She found solace in nature earlier this month and posted a few shots from her lakeside vacation. Jenner recently made her Instagram Live debut to discuss politics with Jon Favreau, the former speech writer for President Barack Obama and current host of the popular politics podcast Pod Save America. Relax: Kendall is making the most of an interesting year with COVID-19 putting a halt to most international work and travel commitments Great outdoors: She found solace in nature earlier this month and posted a few shots from her lakeside vacation Vote: Jenner recently made her Instagram Live debut to discuss politics with Jon Favreau, the former speech writer for President Barack Obama and current host of the popular politics podcast Pod Save America The reality star had some initial technical difficulties since she wasn't used to the format, but once things got underway the two discussed the perils of voter suppression across the country and the importance of increasing youth voting turnout. 'If you don't like what's happening in America right now, I honestly think this election is your last chance to change it,' Favreau warned. 'Voting won't elect a savior, it won't solve all our problems, but voting will give us a chance to do something about climate change, systemic racism, healthcare, and education. Voting will give us a chance to make sure that our politics isn't as f**ked up as it is right now, and that we're not all at each other's throats like we are right now.' Thousands of churches across the US to gather for Repentance Sunday Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Thousands of churches across the United States will pray for repentance and revival on Sunday in response to calls by the leaders of more than 50 churches and ministries to observe Repentance Sunday as the country is going through division, destruction and degradation. Inspired by Old Testament calls to sacred assemblies, this special day (September 27) marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in the historic Church calendar, say the organizers on the events website. This is one of the most sacred days of the year for the Jewish community and an opportunity as the Christian church to practice what Revelation 2 and 3 require, a return to our first love, seeking forgiveness of our personal and corporate sins, explain the organizers, including Matt Chandler from The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas; Gabe Lyons from Q Ideas in Nashville, Tennessee; John Stonestreet of Colson Center in Colorado Springs; and Francis Chan of Crazy Love Ministries, among others. During worship services or special evening services on Sunday, churches will pray for repentance in response to the continued division, destruction and degradation taking place throughout our land. When theres division, when theres confusion, when were experiencing calamity, the role of the Church is to do what only we can do. And thats to turn to God to confess our sins, to repent of our personal sins, our corporate sins, and to ask God to turn toward us, says Lyons in a video message on his ministrys website. The idea here is, of course, the dependence creatures have, by definition, on their Creator, said Stonestreet on the BreakPoint ministry website. And, another aspect of our creatureliness spoken of in Scripture is not only that we exist, but when and where we exist. He continued, God has, according to Pauls teaching found in Acts 17, placed each and every one of us in particular times and particular places. The chaos of the cultural moment is all the reason we need to pray that we could possibly need. Stonestreet noted that Lyons, who has been, the driving force organizing Repentance Day, told many of us recently, Something is surely afoot. God is on the move. Ive sensed that too. Repentance Sunday is part of larger calls being made for prayer and repentance in America. On Saturday, Christian leaders are gathering together for The Return: Global Day of Repentance and Prayer on The Washington Mall in Washington, D.C. Without repentance, we have nothing else. That is the foundation of the order of God in Scripture and in all things, Kevin Jessip, president of Global Strategic Alliance, told The Christian Post in an interview earlier this month. Known as The Return, a national and global movement of prayer and repentance, the 10-day event began with the Feast of Trumpets (Sept. 18) and will end with the Day of Atonement (Sept. 28). This is also known as the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As part of the revival, leaders from over 150 nations will be participating in a day of prayer on Saturday. The broadcast will be hosted in over 90 languages in real-time translation. Christian media outlets including CBN, TBN, Daystar, TCT, and GOD TV will also be broadcasting the event. Featured speakers will include HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, pro-life evangelist Alveda King, Dr. James Dobson, Bishop Harry Jackson and several others. Lotz, the 72-year-old daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, has also issued an urgent call to repentance, warning that America has a small window of opportunity to return to God, that, if not taken, will incite severe judgment. In an interview with The Christian Post this week, Lotz, founder and president of Angel Ministries, said the U.S. has repeatedly shaken its fist in Gods face, removing His name everywhere from schools to the government. When you do that, God just backs away, she said, citing Romans 1, which speaks of the retributive judgment of God. God gives us over to ourselves, and I believe that is where we are right now; it really is the judgment of God, Lotz said. America has a window of opportunity to return to the Lord, but its just a window, and its going to close. Were going to find our nation without God, and without Him, we dont have His protection, we dont have His wisdom. Qatar Airways has become the first global carrier to operate Honeywells Ultraviolet (UV) Cabin System. Image: Qatar Airways. Approximately the size of a beverage cart, the system has extendable UV arms that treat aircraft seats, surfaces and cabins without using cleaning chemicals. Having already received six of the Honeywell UV Cabin System, the devices have undergone comprehensive testing onboard Qatar Airways aircraft, before entering service. The airline aims to acquire additional units in the near future, in order to operate them onboard all aircraft turnarounds at Hamad International Airport (HIA). Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: We are pleased to be the first global airline to operate the Honeywell UV Cabin System onboard our aircraft. In clinical tests, UV light has been shown to be capable of inactivating various viruses and bacteria when properly applied at specified doses. During these unprecedented times, the health and safety of our crew and passengers continues to be of the utmost importance. Since the start of the pandemic, we have been regularly introducing new and effective safety and hygiene measures onboard our aircraft, based on our unparalleled expertise of flying consistently throughout. Honeywell Aerospace President EMEAI, James Currier, said: Honeywell has technology today that can make air travel safer from the traveller to the airport worker, throughout the airport and onboard the aircraft. Were working across business lines to develop new products such as Honeywell ThermoRebellion, a new temperature-monitoring solution - Environmental Control System Check, which allows airlines to monitor air flow in the cabin, and an array of Personal Protective Equipment. All this allows for cleaner and safer airports. Mak has become the second contestant to be eliminated from the Great British Bake Off. The 50-year-old accountant from Greater Manchester failed to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith on Tuesdays biscuit-themed episode. The episode also featured the first Hollywood handshake of the series. Were sad to say therell be no return of the Mak next week. Such a close call, but you can feel so proud and its been a pleasure having you in the tent. Best of luck with the novel! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/gqtA8rkvHF British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) September 29, 2020 After being eliminated, Mak said he gave everything during the competition. He added: It was a privilege to be here, meeting new people, making new friends. It has just been amazing. The showstopper round saw Mak attempt to make an Indian chai tea set from biscuits. However, Leith criticised his biscuits for being flat rather than having been moulded into round shapes. I just think the whole thing is a little bit clumsy, she added. Video of the Day The theme of Tuesdays programme was biscuits and the bakers were tasked with making Florentines and macaroons, flavoured with coconut and mango. Its happened! Lotties only gone and got the Hollywood Handshake! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/loNeM59P6G Channel 4 (@Channel4) September 29, 2020 Tuesdays episode also saw the first Hollywood handshake of the series given to Lottie, 31, a pantomime producer from West Sussex. Hollywood and fellow judge Prue Leith both heaped praise on her biscuits, which she had named Quarantine Florentines. Hollywood said: I cant find a fault with them, really. Lottie joked she was never going to wash her hand again. She said she was very shocked, adding: Im not dead inside, I just turned numb. I didnt know what was happening. Thats it, Ive peaked for sure. Dave, 30, a security guard from Hampshire, was named as the weeks star baker after impressing in the macaroon challenge. Leith praised the shape and taste of his food, adding they were perfect. Rowan, 55, a music teacher from Worcestershire, came close to being eliminated from the competition after the judges weighed up whether to send him or Mak home. Last week, Loriea, 27, a diagnostic radiographer from Durham, became the first baker to be axed from the competition. Production of the 11th series was initially delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but filming finished near the end of August. The bakers, presenters and others working on the programme formed a bubble in Down Hall Hotel near Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, throughout the duration of filming, after being tested for the virus and self-isolating. President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the head of the family and faith. Former members of the group, called People of Praise, say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands. Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her familys involvement, and a People of Praise spokesman declined to say whether she and her husband are current members. But Barrett, 48, grew up in New Orleans in a family deeply connected to the organization and as recently as 2017 she served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc., according to the nonprofit organizations tax records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Only members of the group serve on the schools' board, according to the systems president. AP also reviewed 15 years of back issues of the organizations internal magazine, Vine and Branches, which has published birth announcements, photos and other mentions of Barrett and her husband, Jesse, whose family has been active in the group for four decades. On Friday, all editions of the magazine were removed from the groups website. People of Praise is an intentional religious community based in charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The group organizes and meets outside the purview of a church and includes people from several Christian denominations, but its members are mostly Roman Catholic. Barretts affiliation with a conservative religious group that elevates the role of men has drawn particular scrutiny given that she would be filling the high court seat held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a feminist icon who spent her legal career fighting for women to have full equality. Barrett, by contrast, is being hailed by religious conservatives as an ideological heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch abortion-rights opponent for whom she clerked as a young lawyer. In accepting Trumps nomination Saturday, the Catholic mother of seven said she shares Scalias judicial philosophy. A judge must apply the law as written, Barrett said. Judges are not policy makers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold. Barretts advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings. Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last week, Vice President Mike Pence responded: The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans. But some people familiar with the group and charismatic religious groups like it say Barretts involvement should be examined before she receives a lifelong appointment to the highest court in the nation. Its not about the faith, said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University, who has studied similar groups. He says a typical feature of charismatic groups is the dynamic of a strong hierarchical leadership, and a strict view of the relationship between women and men. Several people familiar with People of Praise, including some current members, told the AP that the group has been misunderstood. They call it a Christian fellowship, focused on building community. One member described it as a family of families, who commit themselves to each other in mutual support to live together through thick and thin. But the group has also been portrayed by some former members, and in books, blogs and news reports as hierarchical, authoritarian and controlling, where men dominate their wives, leaders dictate members' life choices and those who leave are shunned. AP interviewed seven current and former members of People of Praise, reviewed its tax records, websites, missionary blogs and back issues of its magazine to try to paint a fuller picture of an organization that Barrett has been deeply involved in since childhood. ---- People of Praise was founded in South Bend, Indiana, in 1971 as part of the Catholic Pentecostal movement, a devout reaction to the free love, secular permissiveness and counterculture movements of the 1960s and early 70s. Many of the groups early members were drawn from the campus of nearby Notre Dame, a Catholic university. The group has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide, with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. All members are encouraged to continue to attend church at their own parishes. People of Praise has a branch in Mobile, according to the groups website. After a period of religious study and instruction that lasts from three to six years, people involved in People of Praise can choose to make a lifelong covenant pledging love and service to fellow community members and to God, which includes tithing at least 5% of their gross income to support the groups activities and charitable initiatives, according to a statement on the groups website. People of Praises more than 1,500 word covenant, a copy of which was reviewed by AP, includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of the groups pastors, teachers and evangelists. We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries in full harmony with the church, the covenant says. Its unclear whether Barrett took the covenant. But members of the organization and descriptions of its hierarchy show that members almost invariably join the covenant after three to six years of religious study or they leave, so it would be very unusual for Barrett to continue to be involved for so many years without having done so. A 2006 article in the groups magazine includes a photo of her attending a People of Praise Leaders' Conference for Women. The magazine also includes regular notices when members are released from the covenant and leave the group. APs review found no such notice of Barretts or her husbands departure. A request to interview Barrett made through the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where she currently serves as a judge, was declined. Jesse Barrett did not respond to voicemail or email sent through his law firm in South Bend. People of Praise spokesman Sean Connolly declined to discuss the Barretts or their affiliation with the group. Like most religious communities, the People of Praise leaves it up to its members to decide whether to publicly disclose their involvement in our community, Connolly said by email. And like most religious communities, we do not publish a membership list. Several people familiar with the group told the AP that, unlike some other charismatic movements, People of Praise has a strong commitment to intellectualism, evidenced in part by the schools they have established, which have a reputation for intellectual rigor. Barretts father, Michael Coney Sr., has served as the principal leader of People of Praises New Orleans branch and was on the groups all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017. Her mother, Linda Coney, has served in the branch as a handmaid, a female leader assigned to help guide other women, according to documents reviewed by AP. One of the key principles of People of Praise is freedom, the exercise of our own freedom in following the Lord and in following our own what we believe, what we think is right, Michael Coney, 75, said Friday in an interview with AP. Joannah Clark, 47, grew up in People of Praise and became a member as an adult. She acknowledged that the board of governors consists of all men, but said that is not a reflection on the worth or ability of women, but rather the approach the group has chosen for that level of leadership. In a marriage, we look at the husband as the head of the family. And thats consistent with New Testament teaching, said Clark, who is the head of Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. This role of the husband as the head of the family is not a position of power or domination. Its really quite the opposite. Its a position of care and service and responsibility. Men are looking out for the good and well-being of their families. Clark said she had previously served as a handmaid. The term was a reference to Jesus' mother Mary, who called herself the handmaid of the Lord. The organization recently changed the terminology to woman leader because it had newly negative connotations after Margaret Atwoods dystopian novel A Handmaids Tale was turned into a popular television show. Clark said the woman leaders in People of Praise do things like provide pastoral care and organize help for community members, such as when people are sick or need other help. Theyre also in a role of advising, so the men will ask the women leaders advice on issues that affect the patterns of life within the community, certainly issues that affect women and families, Clark said. Barrett, in accepting Trumps nomination at the White House on Saturday, put particular emphasis on the equality of her own marriage, saying she expected from the start the she and her husband would run their household as partners. As it has turned out, Jesse does far more than his share of the work, she said. To my chagrin, I learned at dinner recently that my children consider him to be the better cook. Though People of Praise opposes abortion, those familiar with the group said it would be a mistake to pigeonhole their politics as either left or right. While socially conservative in their understanding of family and gender, some members are deeply committed to social justice in matters of race and economics, they said. Barretts parents are both registered Democrats, according to Louisiana voter registration records. ___ Tax records and other documents show that as recently as 2017 Barrett sat on the board of Trinity Schools, a campus of which was recently designated by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as a National Blue Ribbon School. The schools are coed, but most classes are segregated by gender. The schools website says the group sees men and women created by God equal in dignity but distinct from one another. We seek to uphold both that equality and appropriate distinction in our culture, it goes on. Similarly, People of Praise meetings are often segregated by gender. And as they become adults, members frequently live together in same-gender communal houses sometimes owned by the group, or they are invited to live with a family within the community. Articles in the People of Praise magazine frequently note when young single members get married to each other. Multiple birth announcements often follow. The groups magazine also offers insights into the groups views on marriage, community and members' finances. A 2007 issue discusses how the 17 single women who live together in a household, called the Sisterhood, had their paychecks direct deposited into a single bank account. One member said she had no idea what the amount of her paycheck was. The pooled money was managed by one woman, who budgeted for everyones clothing and other expenses, including $36 weekly per person for food and basics like toilet paper. All women were expected to give 10% of their pay to People of Praise, another 1% to the South Bend branch and additional tithes to their churches. Married couples and their children also often share multi-family homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for city building by the groups leaders, where they can easily socialize and walk to each others houses. As part of spiritual meetings, members often relay divine prophecies and are encouraged to pray in tongues, where participants make vocal utterances thought to carry direct teachings and instructions from God. Those utterances are then interpreted by senior male leaders and relayed back to the wider group. A 1969 book by Kevin Ranaghan, a co-founder of People of Praise, dedicates a chapter to praying in tongues, which he describes as a gift from God. The gift of tongues is one of the word-gifts, an utterance of the Spirit through man, Ranaghan wrote in Catholic Pentecostals. Alone, the gift of tongues is used for prayer and praise. Coupled with the gift of interpretation it can edify the unbeliever and strengthen, console, enlighten or move the community of faith. In a blog entry on the groups website from March of this year, a mother described taking her children to pray in tongues as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. ___ While People of Praise portrays itself as a tightknit family of families, former members paint a darker picture of that closeness. Coral Anika Theill joined People of Praises branch in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1979, when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins. My husband at the time was very drawn to it because of the structure of the submission of women, recounted Theill, who is now 65. Theill, who converted to Catholicism after getting married, said in her People of Praise community women were expected to live in total submission not only to their husbands, but also the other male heads within the group. In a book she wrote about her experience, Theill recounts that in People of Praise every consequential personal decision whether to take a new job, buy a particular model car or choose where to live went through the hierarchy of male leadership. Members of the group who worked outside the community had to turn over their paystubs to church leaders to confirm they were tithing correctly, she said. Theill says her handmaid, to whom she was supposed to confide her innermost thoughts and emotions, then repeated what she said to the male heads, who would consult her husband on the proper correction. Thered be open meetings where you just have to stand for the group and theyd tell you all that was wrong with you, Theill recounted to AP last week. And I would ask questions. I was a critical thinker. When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children, Theill said, he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldnt get birth control. I was basically treated like a brood mare, she said, using the term for a female horse used for breeding. During her 20-year marriage, Theill had eight children from 11 pregnancies. Theill, who says she declined to take the covenant, described being dominated and eventually shunned because of the doubts she expressed about the group. Clark, a current member in Oregon, said she had never heard of members being shunned. At any point, a community member can decide to leave and is free to do so, Clark said. She said she has friends who have left the community. These are people Ive maintained a good friendship with and people whove maintained friendships with other people in community. But Theill isnt the only former member to describe forced subjugation of women within People of Praise or shunning of former members. Among People of Praises very first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife, Marie. The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he said he became disillusioned and was dismissed from the group in the mid-1980s. Reimers, who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame, went on to write detailed academic examinations of the groups inner workings and theological underpinnings. In a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities, Reimers wrote that fundamental principle of the group was St. Pauls stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the head of his wife and that the wife is to submit in all things. A married woman is expected always to reflect the fact that she is under her husbands authority, Reimers wrote. This goes beyond an acknowledgment that the husband is head of the home or head of the family; he is, in fact, her personal pastoral head. Whatever she does requires at least his tacit approval. He is responsible for her formation and growth in the Christian life. Though women are allowed to serve in some administrative roles within the community, Reimers wrote that no woman is allowed to hold a pastoral position of leadership in which she would oversee or instruct men. People who leave these communities are often shunned by other members and are spoken of as no longer brothers and sisters in Christ or even no longer Christian, he wrote. Reimers declined to expand on his experience with People of Praise, saying he doesnt know Amy Barrett and didnt want to get drawn into a political fight. But he said he stands by his prior account. To quote Pontius Pilate, What I have written, I have written, he said last week, referring to the Roman official in the Bible who signed the order condemning Jesus to be crucified. Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s, when she was a fourth grader. She chronicled her experience in a blog called Exorcism and Pound Cake, a reference to how she knew as a child that it was a meeting night because of the smell of baked goods coming from the kitchen. I remember my mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband, because it was his right and her duty, said Williams, 56. Sex is not for pleasure. Its for as many babies as God chooses to give you. ... Women had to be obedient. They had to be subservient. Corporal punishment of children was common, Williams told AP. When she was insufficiently obedient to her father, she was beaten with a belt and then required to kneel and ask forgiveness from both him and God, she said. She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms. When her parents, from whom she is now estranged, decided to leave People of Praise when she was a junior in high school, she remembers the leaders said her family would be doomed to hell and they were shunned. Nobody would talk to you, she recalled. Steven Hassan, a psychologist who counsels people who have left fundamentalist authoritarian religious groups, said the culture within People of Praise as described by Theill and Williams, including the practice of shunning former members, creates fear so that people are dependent an obedient. A person who is in one of these groups has to suppress their own thoughts, feelings, desires that doesnt align with the dogma, Hassan said. He cautioned, however, that Theills and Williams' experiences were from decades ago and not necessarily illustrative of how the group now operates. And current members of People of Praise interviewed by AP strongly disputed those characterizations. Theres a high value on personal freedom, said Clark, the Trinity School director in Oregon. She said she had never heard of some of the practices the former members detailed to AP, such as micromanaging finances or handing over paychecks. She grew emotional when she recounted the sacrifices people in the group make for each other as part of their covenant, like the case of a man known for helping his fellow members move, who was in turn cared for by group members as he died. Ive never been asked to do anything against my own free will, said Clark, a member of the group for 25 years. I have never been dominated or controlled by a man. Thomas Csordas, an anthropology professor at University of California San Diego, has studied the religious movement that includes People of Praise. He said such communities are conservative, authoritarian, hierarchical and patriarchal. But, he said in his view, the groups leaders are unlikely to exert influence over Barretts judicial decisions. Coney, Barretts father, said the culture of female submission described by some former members was based on misunderstandings of the groups teachings. I cant comment on why they believe that. But it is certainly not a correct interpretation of our life, he said. Were people who love each other and support each other in their Christian life, trying to follow the Lord. And, as a lawyer himself, he rejected the notion that his daughters religious beliefs will unduly influence her opinions if she is confirmed to the high court. I think shes a super lawyer and she will apply the law as opposed to any of her beliefs, he said. She will follow the law. State Duma adopts bill on humanization of treatment of tax offences flickr.com/ Marco Verch 15:59 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) The State Duma has passed in the third and final reading a federal draft law envisaging that defendants charged with tax offences are not to be held criminally liable in cases where they have repaid the amounts in question in the course of court proceedings, according to the database of the lower house of Russias Parliament. The bill was developed by Russias Supreme Court with the aim to humanize criminal policies with respect to tax and insurance payments defaulters. The document answers the tasks of further humanization of criminal policies and envisages that there is to be created an environment ensuring the fullest possible observance of the rights of suspects and defendants in tax cases, the explanatory note to the bill reads. Earlier, the law has prescribed termination of criminal proceedings in tax cases only if the damages were compensated before the start of court hearings. Actor Sonu Sood who is often dubbed as the "messiah of migrants" for his philanthropic work during induced lockdown, has been conferred with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the Development Programme (UNDP). The 'Dabangg' actor has received the award for selflessly extending a helping hand and sending lakhs of migrants, stranded students across geographies abroad, back to their homes. Besides that, he has also been providing free education and medical facilities to young children and has been creating free employment opportunities to the needy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The award was presented to the actor at a virtual ceremony on Monday evening. Expressing his happiness over the honour, the actor said he fully supports the UNDP in its endevaours. "This is a rare honour. UN recognition is very special. I have done whatever little I have done, in my own humble way, for my fellow countrymen without any expectations. However, to be recognised and awarded feels good," he said. "I fully support the UNDP in its endeavours to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Planet Earth and mankind will greatly benefit from the implementation of these goals," he added. With this prestigious honour, Sood joins the likes of Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Antonio Banderas, Nicole Kidman and Priyanka Chopra who have been similarly honoured by different UN bodies. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amnesty International India employees at their headquarters in Bangalore in February 2019. (Aijaz Rahi / Associated Press) Amnesty International has suspended its work in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modis government froze the group's bank accounts over alleged fundraising violations, the human rights organization said Tuesday. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning watchdog said it has been the target of an incessant witch hunt by the Indian government for its work, including campaigning for the rights of citizens in the disputed territory of Kashmir and documenting police abuses. The group has been hounded by Indian investigators for the past two years, is regularly vilified in the government-friendly media and was finally forced to lay off staff members in what it described as a growing climate of repression. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, said in a statement. The suspension of work by one of the worlds best-known rights groups was the latest blow to freedom of expression and civil liberties in India, where critics say Modis Hindu nationalist government has used its extensive powers to marginalize or silence independent voices especially those speaking out for the rights of the Muslim minority. India, the world's second-most-populous country, is home to more than 100 million Muslims. Since Modi came to power in 2014, attacks against Muslims have been on the rise. Last month, Amnesty published two investigations that detailed security forces harsh crackdown in the Indian-held portion of Kashmir, the countrys only Muslim-majority territory, and police complicity in riots in New Delhi in February that killed 53 people, most of them Muslims. The Indian government did not immediately confirm whether the groups bank accounts had been frozen. Officials have previously alleged that millions of dollars from Amnesty Internationals accounts in Britain had been wired to the India office without government permission, a violation of the financing laws for nonprofit groups. Story continues The financing law in effect allows the government to block foreign funding for groups it doesnt like. Modis government has wielded the law against groups advocating for the rights of Dalits (the underclass formerly known as untouchables), U.S.-based Christian evangelical organizations, the environmental group Greenpeace and others. Amnesty said that it has not violated any laws and that its work in India is funded through domestic contributions that are not subject to the foreign-funding law. Despite years of raids and public threats, the government has yet to formally charge Amnesty with any crimes. The fact that the government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the over-broad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the governments grave inactions and excesses, the groups statement read. Amnesty said it would file a lawsuit demanding that the bank accounts be restored, but a decision could take months in a plodding legal system that is moving even more slowly because of COVID-19 restrictions. The groups bank accounts were blocked on similar grounds in 2018, then restored by a court order. In October 2019, Amnesty officials testified before a congressional panel in Washington on human rights in Kashmir after India revoked the territorys special status earlier in the year. Two weeks later, Indian government investigators raided the groups offices in the southern city of Bangalore and the residence of one of its directors. Aakar Patel, who headed the groups India office from 2015 to 2019, said the government has portrayed human rights groups as enemies working to discredit the country, allegations that are propelled by a jingoistic media eager to label critics as anti-nationals. The state uses every possible instrument and lever it has to attack, demonize, discredit and shut down civil society organizations, Patel said. It has become an offense to work on rights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Hayden Taylor, of Snells Beach Autos, is moving his garage just north of Warkworth after 15 years in Mahurangi East. The new business, K C M Automotive will be operating out of Haydens property where he has been busy building a brand new full-service premises at 68 Kaipara Flats Road. The new location will offer a more convenient service for residents west of Warkworth, as well as those working in town. Its only three minutes from Hill Street, and Hayden has courtesy cars for customers who want to drop off their vehicle. Hayden encourages drivers to regularly come in for at least a basic service. For $150 to $200 it also means there is a pair of eyes on your engine, to notice any issues. He says vehicle owners ought to have their transmission fluid done every couple of years to prevent common problems. Its cheap to get done, but it could be $3000 to repair if left unattended or even force you to write off the car. Twenty years ago, when Hayden left school, he told his Dad that he would like to have a break and do nothing for a while over the Christmas break. The next day, Hayden was informed he had a job at the local garage and he would start Monday. Hayden says his philosophy is to be up front and honest with his customers. I was told by my dad never to compromise on integrity, and that has always stuck with me. Hayden takes the time to explain to customers the repairs that need to be made to their vehicle. Hayden has 3000 customers on his database and some of them still drive from Auckland and Dargaville for his service. Unlike some garages, Hayden doesnt surprise his customers with a long, itemised bill after quoting for a basic job. Well always give customers a list at the end of what needs doing, or give them a call in the day if its serious. Hayden is shifting to the new premises on Kaipara Flats Road from October 1 and will be open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. You are here People Louis-Marin Lapastoure PhD Researcher Dept. of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering Email: lapastol@tcd.ie Optimisation of XL Monopiles supporting offshore wind turbines through advanced numerical modelling of cyclic loading effects Keywords: Geotechnical engineering; Offshore foundations; Renewable energy; Soil cyclic loading; Numerical modelling. The European Union (EU) has established ambitious renewable energy targets in order to de-carbonise the energy sector. In Ireland, it is estimated that 2.3GW of offshore wind capacity will be installed by 2030 at an estimated cost of 6 billion. The foundations for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) can represent up to 30% of the overall cost of development. Among all components of an OWT structure, the foundations offer the greatest scope for optimisation. Monopile foundations, which are large diameter (typically 4 8m) steel tubes driven into the ground, represent around 80% of all offshore wind turbine foundations installed to date and will continue to the be the most common foundation solution for offshore wind for at least the next 15 years. As larger wind turbines are being developed, XL monopiles from 8 12m in diameter are needed to be support these. These larger diameter piles typically have a lower slenderness (ratio of length to diameter) than standard monopiles and are therefore significantly more susceptible to the effects of cyclic loading. Because of inadequate understanding of the effects of cyclic loading, XL monopiles are currently over-designed, causing excessive manufacturing, transportation and installation costs. This project aims to improve design methods for cyclic loading effects on XL monopiles through state-of-the-art numerical modelling and calibration against new field test data, and will lead to significant advances in scientific knowledge and improvements in the design efficiency of OWTs. Specifically, this will build upon recent advances in the state of the art in numerical modelling of monopiles and a will be validated against recent monopile field test data. The ultimate goal is to reduce cost and improve the viability of the offshore energy, leading to a more rapid reduction in carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. The research is funded under the IRC employment-based postgraduate program. Direct inputs and support from Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions are acknowledged. Project Supervisor: Asst. Prof. David Igoe COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday he plans to sign a bill into law that would temporarily ban local governments, including Cuyahoga County, from setting local bans on plastic bags and other single-use containers. DeWine in December said he opposes the proposal to ban local bag bans. But he said Tuesday because the bill expires after 12 months, and because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the current COVID-19 pandemic, hes been convinced to support it. My general principle is, unless theres a compelling reason why we need uniformity throughout Ohio that we should stay away from telling local units of government what to do, he said. "Theyre elected by the local citizens, theyre accountable to the local citizens and if the local citizens dont like them, they can get rid of them. So unless theres a compelling reason to do it, I would normally veto this bill. But we are in the COVID period, and I think it makes sense during this period of time to have that uniformity and assurance that people will have the ability to use Styrofoam containers, to have carryout containers and to use the plastic bags." If he gets another bill next year, DeWine, a Republican, said: "I probably wont sign it. Last week, the Ohio House passed House Bill 242, with most of the chambers Republicans voting yes and most Democrats voting no. The bill already had cleared the Republican-controlled Senate, with senators amending it so that it expires after 12 months. The bills sponsor, state Rep. George Lang, described it as a pro-business measure that will promote uniformity across Ohio for grocery stores and other companies that operate in the state. Lang, a Southwest Ohio Republican, also said it would protect the interests of a plastic-bag manufacturer in his district, one of five in the country. The bill is a response to local governments across Ohio moving to ban single-use plastic bags, including in Cuyahoga County, which is particularly concerned about Lake Erie. In a recent study from the Rochester Institute of Technology, researchers estimated the lake includes 381 metric tons of plastic, much of which originates in city streets and makes its way into the lake via storm drains. Opposition also has come from local governments who say it erodes their home-rule powers. The bill is just the latest in a long list of examples of Republican state legislators in Columbus acting to pre-empt laws passed by local government officials in Cleveland. Australians returning from overseas could have the option to quarantine at home but they may be tracked with an ankle bracelet or police check-in app. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he is hopeful home quarantine can again play a role in managing Australia's borders as they look to open them "at some point to safe locations", nominating New Zealand, parts of the Pacific, South Korea and Japan as possibilities. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is hopeful home quarantine can again be an option for Australians returning to the country. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer "As time goes on, we will need a more flexible approach that gives us more options for managing this, so I think that is something that is under active consideration," Mr Morrison said. "I think home quarantine can play a role in the future." A former District Court judge has been admonished by the State Commission on Judicial Standards for launching an investigation into a defense attorney and holding a proceeding without giving her the opportunity to be heard. The judge, Joey Contreras, presided over the murder trial of Jesse David Vasquez III, which began Oct. 23, 2018. In a pretrial hearing four days earlier, the defendants attorneys, Jessica Gonzalez and Amy Owen, told Contreras their client had allegedly received an anonymous letter that indicated his attorneys were unqualified to handle the case and he should replace them, according to the admonishment, dated Sept. 8. Although the letter was typed, the address on the envelope was handwritten, and defense counsel told Contreras they were certain the handwriting on the envelope belonged to attorney Veronica Legarreta, as they were each well-acquainted with her and familiar with her handwriting, the document states. Owen and Legarreta are former law partners. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Contreras, a longtime federal prosecutor, to the 187th state District Court, filling an unexpired term, on Oct. 24, 2017, after Judge Steven Hilbig retired. Legaretta and Contreras ran against each other in the Republican primary in 2018. Contreras lost the primary and left the bench Dec. 31, 2018. Responding to the allegations in writing and in testimony before the commission, Contreras confirmed he asked his court coordinator to summon Legarreta, also a defense attorney, to appear Oct. 23, 2018, in his court. He said he instructed the staffer not to tell Legarreta the purpose for her requested appearance. Contreras said after a full morning of testimony, he called a recess and excused the jury, though some people remained in the courtroom, the document states. He told the commission he called Legarreta to the bench and told her about the letter and that the handwriting on the envelope had been identified as hers. After questioning by Contreras, Legarreta repeatedly denied having written the letter, the admonishment states. Contreras said he told Legarreta again that someone who professed knowledge of her writing had identified it as hers. When Legarreta inquired as to whom, Contreras said he acknowledged her denials and told her he was putting her on warning regarding the matter. She then was excused. Vasquez was convicted of murder Oct. 29, 2018, and sentenced to 20 years in prison after the jury determined he acted under the influence of sudden passion, which lowered the punishment range. After sentencing, the admonishment states, Contreras convened a second proceeding regarding the anonymous letter with Gonzalez, Owen and a court reporter. Legarreta was not present, the document states. Contreras said he took sworn testimony from Gonzalez and Owen, and admitted various exhibits offered by them to be entered into the record. After hearing their testimony, he concluded that Legarreta had authored the letter, Contreras told the commission. Legarreta stated in her complaint to the commission that she felt embarrassed, blindsided, attacked and helpless over the Oct. 23 appearance before Contreras. In his response, Contreras told the commission Legarreta did not seem embarrassed when she appeared before him, rather she seemed angry and defiant, and was disrespectful to the court, the admonishment states. Contreras testified before the body in August that his sole intention for both proceedings was to carry out his duty with respect to the allegations regarding Legarreta. He said he did not believe her presence was necessary at the proceeding Oct. 29, stating he was simply carrying out his administrative duties, the admonishment states. After considering the evidence, the commission determined Contreras should be publicly admonished for his actions regarding both proceedings, including going beyond the scope of his judicial role and undertaking an independent investigation regarding the allegations against Legarreta; summoning her to court without notice of the reason; and questioning her in open court. The commission also determined Contreras held the second proceeding without giving Legarreta the opportunity to be heard. In so doing, Judge Contreras failed to treat Ms. Legarreta with the patience, dignity and courtesy required of the judge for those with whom he deals in an official capacity, and failed to accord Ms. Legarreta the right to be heard according to law with respect to those proceedings, the admonishment states. Contreras referred inquiries to his attorney, Andrew Del Cueto, a partner with Ramos and Del Cueto, where Contreras is practicing. Del Cueto did not criticize the commissions finding but said he believes the allegations were done in a very vindictive manner. Joey is one of the few attorneys I know that if there is ever an ethical issue, he would be the first to call the State Bar of Texas. He just wants to do things right, he said. We are appealing it. Legarreta said she was taken by surprise and thought Contreras behavior was because they were running for the same office. It was a perfect storm when he chose to do something that wasnt part of his job, she said. It embarrassed me. Gonzalez declined to comment Monday. Everything that I said was true, Owen said late Monday. And I stand by my statements that they were the truth. Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. To read more from Elizabeth, become a subscriber. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in... Pune: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case has gone in different direction". Speaking to reporters in Pandharpur in Solapur district, Pawar appeared questioning the progress made by the CBI in its investigation of the case, which was initially probed by the Mumbai Police. He also ruled out any politics behind the much-talked meeting between Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week. When asked about Union minister Ramdas Athawales suggestion that Pawar join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the event of the Shiv Sena not forging ties with former ally BJP, Pawar said nobody takes the RPI (A) chief seriously inside as well as outside Parliament. Speaking on Sushant Singh Rajput case, he said, It could be because the Central government did not have trust in Mumbai Police that is why the probe in the case was given to another agency (CBI). What light they (CBI) have shed on the case, we have not yet seen. Suicide (angle) aside, now strange things are coming to the fore. Now the investigation in the case has gone in different direction," he said, adding that things will become clear once the truth comes out. The veteran politician was apparently referring the the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) wideninng its probe into alleged Bollywood-drug nexus arising out of the Rajput death case. Asked about Athawales comments, Pawar said, Does his (Ramdas Athawales) party have a single MLA or an MP? He speaks, gives advice, but nobody takes him seriously, neither in Parliament nor outside". Athawale had asked the Shiv Sena to reunite with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra and also suggested a power-sharing formula between the two saffron parties. Replying to a question on Fadnavis-Raut meeting, Pawar, whose party is part of the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, said, If a reporter or an editor of a newspaper takes interview of leaders from different parties, it does not mean that he gets associated with that party". When Raut had interviewd me (for Sena mouthpiece Saamana), he had announced that he would intrview Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Raut had also clarified that he would interview BJP leaders. I dont think there is any need to comment on that," he said. Pawar said the interview (of Fadnavis) will take place and get published, but it will not have any effect on politics of the state". Speaking about Maratha reservation, which was stayed by the supreme court recently, the NCP chief said the Central government and BJP are supporting Rajya Sabha MPs Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje and Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale, and they should take lead in resolving this issue". Dozens of migrants made it across the English Channel today in small boats for the first time in a week, while asylum seekers claim that the army Kent barracks they are being housed in are overcrowded. Around 40 people are understood to have been detained as they took advantage of a change in weather conditions to arrive in the UK today. One boat with 13 people - 11 men and two teenage boys - landed on Shakespeare's Beach at Dover in Kent with a second understood to have landed further down the coast at Kingsdown near Deal. It comes after 393 migrants were detained in 26 small boat incidents last Tuesday. The latest migrant crossing comes as it was revealed that asylum seekers who are being housed in an army barracks in Kent are being crammed into rooms of 20 people. Refugees who are staying at the Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, have revealed that 20 people are being forced to share two toilets and two showers between them, amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, the rise in Channel migrant crossings is 'far from being a crisis', United Nations officials are expected to tell MPs. The Commons Home Affairs Committee continues its inquiry into Channel crossings, migration and 'asylum-seeking routes through the EU' on Wednesday when it hears from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR's representative in the UK, will say: 'Asylum claims in the UK have been stable in recent years and so far in 2020 they have actually fallen. A further 13 migrants arrived in Dover by dinghy today after crossing the Channel in the dark last night Up to forty migrants arriving by dinghy are brought into harbour by HMS vigilant this morning Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR's representative in the UK, will tell MPs: 'Asylum claims in the UK have been stable in recent years and so far in 2020 they have actually fallen' 'They remain manageable for an advanced democracy with a sophisticated asylum system. 'The irregular crossings are dangerous, that's a real concern for lives, but they pale in comparison with numbers elsewhere. 'The UK is far from the epicentre of the real challenge.' According to the UNHCR, the number of asylum applications made in the UK are far lower than those made in Germany, France, Spain and Greece. Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR's special envoy for the Central Mediterranean situation, will say: 'Globally, forced displacement is climbing because the causes, conflict, climate, poverty and poor governance, are going unaddressed.' The officials will also warn against branding those seeking protection as 'illegal', saying that this triggers xenophobic reactions and social divisions. Mrs Pagliuchi-Lor will also say there are 'no easy fixes' to the Channel migrant crossings but that it is 'manageable for the UK', adding: 'The best route through is to keep saving lives, continuing to be compassionate and respecting human dignity. 'There is also a need to intensify international co-operation on returns for those not needing protection, and to improve legal pathways to safety.' The committee will look at the international legal obligations and duties states have regarding refugees, particularly during sea rescues, as well as the reasons why a growing number of people may be attempting to cross the Channel. More migrants tried to make the crossing on Tuesday before the weather is expected to worsen. Border Force officials and police escorted the migrants away after picking them up from the shores in the early hours of the morning The migrants were then given masks and transferred to Border Force officials Discarded clothes and and shoes were spotted strewn across the pebble beach this morning Border Force and French authorities were active in the narrow strait at the end of another record-breaking month for the number of crossings. In Dover people believed to be migrants were seen arriving wearing lifejackets while a long line of dinghies was towed along by the harbour patrol. September has been a record month with at least 1,880 making the treacherous journey across the world's busiest shipping route this month. More migrants made it across the 21 mile stretch of water known as the Dover Strait in September than in the whole of 2019. On September 2, a record number of 416 migrants in 28 boats. The total to arrive and be detained by Border Force officials so far this year stands at 6,905 according to official Home Office figures - not including today's figures. One migrant, Suley, 19, from Ethiopia, has described the cramped conditions of the Kent army barracks the migrants are staying in. He told The Mirror: 'In my room there are two of us and that is OK, but in the next room there are 20 people in there, probably more.' And another refugee, from Sudan, added: 'It is dangerous with the virus, people are too close, and we are told the virus will get worse in winter. 'If only one person gets infected then lots of us will get infected within a day.' Refugees are now being held at the Napier Barracks and another old barracks in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The latest migrant crossing comes as it was revealed that asylum seekers who are being housed in an army barracks in Kent are being crammed into rooms of 20 people Just two days ago, four Sudanese asylum seekers who travelled 3,000 miles across five countries to get to the UK, said: 'We wish we had stayed in France.' They had been held at a taxpayer-funded hotel but were moved last week to a former Army barracks in Folkestone, Kent, now being used to house migrants as their asylum claims are processed. This site and a second near the village of Penally in Wales have been heralded by some as a sign that Britain will no longer be a 'soft touch' for people traffickers. But human rights groups and migrants have criticised the camps as being like 'prison', while locals have raised concerns about the large influx of young men in their areas. Pictured: The 13 migrants who crossing the Channel overnight and were picked up by Border Force officials and police this morning One of the four Sudanese asylum seekers, Amin Adam, said residents of the Kent camp which has a 10pm curfew were 'kept like animals in pens'. He added: 'The food is no good. There is only one toilet. I should have made my application [for asylum] in France. Enforcement officer numbers plunge The number of immigration enforcement officers has fallen dramatically just as the Channel migrant crisis escalates. Figures from the Home Office show it employed 4,774 of the officials who oversee deportations at the end of March, down 550 on 2014-15. It means that there are now fewer staff to track illegal immigrants and enforce the UK's immigration laws. The number of fines issued to employers for hiring illegal workers also dropped to 1,849 last year from more than 3,000 in 2016. A Home Office spokesman said: 'Immigration enforcement has become more efficient over the years through the use of mobile technology, automated processes and streamlined functions which has meant a reduction in the number of officers required. 'This has enabled us to deliver better value whilst still remaining committed to tackling those who abuse our hospitality by committing serious crimes.' Advertisement 'We have more rights here [in the UK] than in France. I want to go to school in England and work. But this place [the barracks] is no good.' The four, who said they are in their 20s and 30s, all fled the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. They first made their way to Libya, before travelling by boat to Malta, then Sicily, and on through Italy to arrive at the remnants of the notorious Jungle encampment in Calais, northern France, at the beginning of the year. They said they met for the first time in Calais and spent around seven months sleeping rough before attempting the Channel crossing in a dinghy they found on the beach. Adam, Mohammed, Hussain Abu-Bakr Mohammed and Yassin Mohammed were plucked from the water two months ago by a Border Force patrol as water cascaded into their vessel. After being processed, they were sent to a hotel in Slough, Berkshire, to await the results of their asylum applications. Last week they were among the first to be placed at two Army facilities that will temporarily be used to house migrants. The Home Office said the use of sites such as former barracks could save taxpayers up to 50 per cent of the cost of hotel placements. It comes amid an influx of Channel crossings almost 7,000 this year alone and a lack of space as a result of the pandemic. Both camps have attracted protests from far-Right groups, while the Stand Up To Racism West Wales campaign said a former military facility is a 'completely inappropriate' place to house those who had fled war. Another asylum seeker moved to the Folkestone camp said he was given 30 minutes' notice to leave his accommodation at a hotel in Chiswick, west London. 'I haven't slept for five days,' the former computer engineering student added. 'There is too much stress. It's like a prison.' Pictured is a general view of Napier barracks in Folkestone, Kent, that is being used as a makeshift migrant camp Pictured is an aerial view of the converted army barracks in Penally, Wales He said he feared there would soon be hundreds in the camp and 'I am worried about Covid'. There were clashes between far-Right and counter-protesters at the camp in Wales last week but yesterday messages of support were tied to the barracks and clothes left at the entrance. A government spokesman described the camps as 'contingency accommodation', adding: 'We have worked tirelessly to provide asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute, with suitable accommodation.' A federal appeals court on Monday put a temporary hold on a lower courts ruling last week that reinstated the practice of straight-ticket voting, again casting into uncertainty whether Texas voters will have the option in the Nov. 3 election to vote for every candidate of a political party with one punch. A final ruling is expected after the court weighs the arguments more thoroughly. Straight-ticket voting was set to end this year in Texas, bringing the state in line with much of the rest of the country, under a law passed in 2017 by the Legislature. But on Friday, a federal judge ordered the state to reinstate the practice, writing that one-punch voting would speed up the voting process and decrease the time that in-person voters would be at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. Early voting is set to start Oct. 13, leaving election administrators little time to make major changes to voting procedures. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo wrote that ending straight-ticket voting would cause important delays at polling places, place Texan voters at increased risk of catching a deadly virus, and discourage voters, particularly those most vulnerable to the disease or under significant economic pressure, from exercising their rights on election day. The three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a momentary pause on that decision Monday while it considers the case. It set quick deadlines for both sides to submit their arguments. The case was brought by the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans and Democratic groups. No matter the end result, the litigation has meant hours of chaos for scores of election administrators scrambling to ready their polling places for a Texas election unlike any other. Texas is one of the few states that have not allowed for no-excuse absentee balloting. Bexar County Election Administrator Jacque Callanen told the Houston Chronicle last week that changing plans this close to the first day of early voting Oct. 13 was unbelievable. For us right now to have to stop what were doing and reprogram and retest, and with the early start of early voting oh my God, Callanen said. I cant say we wont do it, but its going to take everything in us, and were going to have to throw as many people at it as we can. Straight-ticket voting is a popular option, generally more so among Democrats in Texas 10 largest counties. In the 2018 general election, about two-thirds of Texas voters used the straight-ticket option. The option makes a particularly meaningful difference in places like Houston, where there may be dozens of local judges on the ballot for voters to select among after they decide on candidates for major federal and statewide offices. Without straight-ticket voting, both Republican and Democratic operatives fear that some of their voters may leave their polling places without making it to the end of their ballots. A London court has ordered the release of the $200 million guarantee placed as security by the Nigerian government in relation to the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) $10 billion arbitral claim. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made this known in a series of tweets on Tuesday. The bank said the development led to a rise in the nations foreign reserves. Nigerias Foreign Exchange Reserves was this morning boosted by over $200Million when the London Commercial Court ordered the release of the $200Million guarantee put in place as security in respect of the execution of the much discredited P&ID $10 Billion Arbitral Claim. Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) September 29, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The CBN also disclosed that the court awarded 70,000 cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of 1.5 million. Nigerias foreign exchange reserves was this morning boosted by over $200 million when the London Commercial Court ordered the release of the $200 million guarantee put in place as security in respect of the execution of the much discredited P&ID $10 billion arbitral claim, the CBN wrote. The court also awarded a 70,000 cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of 1.5 million. Background Earlier in September, the Nigerian government secured a judgement of a British court to suspend an unfavourable ruling over the scandal. A commercial court in the United Kingdom granted Nigerias appeal for a stay of execution of the award of $8.9 billion (about N3.2 trillion) in favour of P&ID, a controversial British firm that secured a gas contract in Nigeria. The Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL presided over by Justice Sir Ross Cranston said following a review of written submissions by the Nigerian government after the arbitral award, which contained new evidence concerning the matter in dispute, the court decided to grant Nigerias applications for an extension of time and relief from sanctions. The P&ID conundrum became a full-blown saga last year when a U.K. judge ruled P&ID could enforce an arbitration tribunals 2017 ruling, now totaling $9.6 billion including interest, which found the country breached the agreement. Nigerias chances of annulling the giant penalty laid on proving the 2010 gas supply arrangement was a sham designed to fail by P&ID and government officials. An investigation by PREMIUM TIMES also revealed that the gas supply arrangement was designed to fail, partly because the company had neither the expertise nor had the government put in place necessary mechanisms for its success. Reactions Following the announcement of the award Tuesday, Nigerias Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, expressed appreciation over the development. Mr Malami, in a statement by Umar Gwandu, his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, said he was glad over the victory in addition to the multiple successes recorded so far by the ministry. The recent judgment on the Nigerias cases against P&ID demonstrated an outcome of strong commitment and determination of the present administration through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to tackle fraud, corruption, non-compliance with the due process. Since the minister took over the coordination of the case, it has been a matter of success upon success, he added. According to him, as a result of the determination of the Attorney-General, the following successes, relating to the matter, were recorded: Order for stay of execution of the arbitral award was granted, Nigeria recorded tremendous success challenging the order for cash deposit of $200m to bank guarantee. Success was equally recorded for having an order for the extension of time to challenge award and agreement, Nigeria was successful as the court award payment of legal cost of 1.5m in favour of the country. He noted that other successes include the court order for the release of bank guarantee in favour of Nigeria, award of payment of 70,000 to Nigeria as further legal cost relating to the issue and Nigeria obtaining multiple positive rulings to obtain information from banks abroad which helped in establishing fraud. After the CBI was accused of 'delaying' the probe in Sushant Singh Rajput's death by his family lawyer Vikas Singh, the central investigating agency on Monday issued a statement. The CBI said that it is conducting a professional investigation related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in which all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out as of date. Furthermore, in a massive development, the AIIMS forensic team also submitted its report based on analysing the Mumbai police's post-mortem report and autopsy along with photographic evidence. The CBI which has stated that 'conclusive findings' have been shared, will now analyse the report along with the evidence in the case to conclude if it is a case of suicide or not. In light of this, Dr Subramanian Swamy's sourced-based info from around the same time has proved correct, and hence, makes his related views relevant. 'Murder cannot be ruled out' Reacting on the development, senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy claimed that AIIMS team has already told CBI that based on the "undamaged and undestroyed evidence, i.e., photographs and viscera", the murder angle cannot be ruled out. Dr Swamy said, "Cooper team said, "death by hanging. It was actually death before hanging." His statement concurs with the statement of the CBI and the AIIMS that "no aspect has been ruled out yet." According to sources in Delhi, AIIMS team has already told CBI that based on the undamaged and undestroyed evidence, i.e., photographs and vicera show that murder cannot be ruled out. Let CBI deny this. Cooper team said death by hanging. It was actually death before hanging Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 28, 2020 Last week Vikas Singh had said that a doctor who is a part of AIIMS team had told him long back that the photos sent by him "indicated 200% that its death by strangulation and not suicide." Getting frustrated by the delay in CBI taking a decision to convert abetment to suicide to Murder of SSR. The Doctor who is part of AIIMS team had told me long back that the photos sent by me indicated 200% that its death by strangulation and not suicide. Vikas Singh (@vikassinghSrAdv) September 25, 2020 Charmain of AIIMS' Forensic Medical Board Dr Sudhir Gupta while commenting on the forensic report has said that there is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical conclusion, "AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion in due course of time. It will be totally conclusive," Gupta told ANI. READ | SSR death case: Here's how to sign #SushantJusticeNow petition and hold CBI accountable READ | NCB opposes bail for Rhea & Showik, alleges 'both active members of drug syndicate' Currently, the CBI is probing the death case, while the NCB is probing the drug angle and the ED is investigating the alleged money laundering matter. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. The CBI had taken over the probe from Bihar Police & Mumbai Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actor's father KK Singh in Patna against Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family. Numerous investigative reports by Republic Media Network have highlighted a sequence of events, raised question marks, and presented a list of people who must be summoned in the case, though the agency is yet to do so. READ | Sushant Rajput death case: AIIMS submits report; CBI says conclusive findings shared READ | Sushant case & drug probe LIVE Updates: AIIMS team submits report to CBI Oklahomans remain proud of our teachers, administrators, parents, and families who work tirelessly together to ensure students have access to quality learning environments, even during the unusual circumstances facing schools and students this year. I commend the 2020 Blue Ribbon schools for their hard work and perseverance toward the achievement of this important milestone. Hofmeister said she hopes Freedom Elementarys success will inspire others to overcome similar challenges. Freedom was one of two elementary schools in northeast Oklahoma to earn an overall A grade on the 2018-19 state report card. The Sapulpa school received a B in 2017-18, when the Oklahoma State Department of Education released its revamped grading system after a brief hiatus. The accomplishment went against a statewide trend in which 33% of Oklahoma schools saw their grade decrease by at least one letter. The 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools awards ceremony will be held virtually Nov. 12-13, according to a news release. The novel coronavirus has found its way into a Delhi retirement home. The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit says one resident of Delrose Retirement Residence tested positive for COVID-19 during regular surveillance testing of residents and staff in long-term care. Medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai couldnt say how the virus got into the retirement home, but said the health unit is in regular contact with Delrose staff as they collaborate on a public health management plan. That plan has residents confined to their rooms, including for meals, and staff wearing full protective gear. Were working to try to contain the outbreak and ultimately to bring it to a resolution, Nesathurai said. Were always cognizant of the impact that measures during an outbreak can have on residents of an institution, but we also have to balance out trying to prevent transmission within the institution and from the institution beyond. The resident at Delrose is one of five active lab-confirmed cases in Haldimand-Norfolk, which has seen 491 total COVID-19 infections and 32 deaths. With Ontario reporting 700 new cases on Monday, worry about a second wave of the virus is growing. Nesathurai said the local health-care system can handle the current caseload and the background risk posed by the disease, but he added that a large surge in hospitalizations could spell trouble. I am concerned about the increasing number of cases throughout the province, Nesathurai said, reiterating the need for mask use, frequent handwashing and physical distancing. If youre sick, stay at home, he said. Dont go to school, dont go to work. Nesathurai encouraged residents to get the flu shot once it is available at pharmacies and doctors offices in October. While the flu shot doesnt protect against coronavirus, he explained that getting immunized should reduce the number of residents who will experience flu-like symptoms and require a COVID-19 test to rule out the coronavirus. That allows us to use more of our (health-care) resources to manage people who have COVID-19, he said. In July, guests wore masks as required to attend the official reopening day of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Read more ORLANDO, Fla. Squeezed by limits on attendance at its theme parks and other restrictions due to the pandemic, The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it planned to lay off 28,000 workers in its parks division in California and Florida. Two-thirds of the planned layoffs involve part-time workers but they ranged from salaried employees to hourly workers, Disney officials said. Disneys parks closed last spring as the pandemic started spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks have yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California. In a letter to employees, Josh DAmaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experience and Product, said Californias unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen exacerbated the situation for the company. DAmaro said his management team had worked hard to try to avoid layoffs. They had cut expenses, suspended projects and modified operations but it wasnt enough given limits on the number of people allowed into the park because of social distancing restrictions and other pandemic-related measures, he said. As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic, he said. Californias health secretary on Tuesday said the state was close to working out a way to have the theme parks reopen in a responsible way. We know that a number of Californians are eager and wondering when that is coming, and were working with those industries to put out something thats thoughtful, allows us to maintain the rest of our framework in a strong way, and really following those principles of slow and stringent to ensure those large activities are done responsibly, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services. Disney officials said the company would provide severance packages for the employees, where appropriate, and also offer other services to help workers with job placement. Officials with the union that represents the actors who play Disney characters at the theme parks said they were having conversations with Disney officials about how they would be impacted, according to Actors' Equity Association. Officials with the Service Trades Council Union, which represents 43,000 workers at Disney World in Florida, said they were having similar conversations. We were disappointed to learn that the Covid-19 crisis has led Disney to make the decision to layoff Cast Members, the coalition of six unions said in a statement. About 950 workers from Unite Here Local 11 in California will be laid off starting Nov. 1, union leaders said. Disney officials didnt offer a breakdown of the layoffs between the Florida and California operations. Walt Disney World in Florida has around 77,000 employees, while the Disneyland Resort in California has more than 30,000 workers. With its parks closed due to the pandemic in April, Disney furloughed up to 43,000 workers while still paying for their health insurance at its Florida resort. It brought many of them back after it reopened in July. Furloughed workers in California also received health benefits. In a statement, U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat from Orlando, said the layoffs showed the need for more coronavirus-related relief from Congress. These layoffs show yet again how desperately that assistance is needed by American households and businesses, Demings said. Were it in a less toxic industry, there might be an outcry about the sale of William Hill to a foreign predator. After all, the company has been highly innovative. What a shame its advances are in the field of online gambling technology, which makes it trickier to argue it's a great British business that should never be flogged to the Americans. The UK has led the field in internet gaming, which has boomed during the pandemic. Our Gibraltar-loving gambling firms have also been pioneers in tax minimisation. Now we are exporting that expertise to the US. Up in lights: The offer of 272p a share for William Hill from US casinos operator Caesars looks a pretty good one for investors The offer of 272p a share for William Hill from US casinos operator Caesars looks a pretty good one for investors. Chairman Roger Devlin, who has tidied up at William Hill over the past couple of years as well as sorting out the mess at housebuilder Persimmon where he is also chair, deserves some credit here. True, shares leapt above the offer level yesterday. But in March when the first lockdown began, they were trading at less than 40p. There was a placing as recently as June at 128p. Hopes for a higher price centre around the US side of the business, which has the potential for explosive growth after the liberalisation of gambling in many states. But that is only 8 per cent of the business overall and there are substantial regulatory risks. The US is relaxing controls on gambling but could switch back in the opposite direction if the experience here is anything to go by. The deal, along with the other corporate activity in the sector, will focus attention on some of the vast personal fortunes being created from UK gambling enterprises and prompt calls for tougher regulation. Among the big winners at William Hill are the billionaire Done brothers, Fred and Peter, who have a 6 per cent stake. The septuagenarian siblings, who founded Betfred, have seen the value of their holding soar. Other gambling bosses have made enormous piles. Denise Coates, the founder of privately-owned firm Bet365 paid herself 323m last year. GVC, which owns Ladbrokes Coral faced a shareholder rebellion two years ago over payments of 67m to two top bosses. At the same time there is a stream of distressing cases of gambling addicts driven to suicide, including that of 25-year-old engineer Chris Bruney, who took his own life after running up huge debts. This speaks of an industry that is highly vulnerable to clampdowns and boycotts by ethical investors. Any gambler knows the value of quitting when they are ahead. Asda bid Moving in the opposite direction to William Hill is supermarket chain Asda, which may be heading back into British hands after two decades as part of the US Walmart empire. The Issa brothers, a pair of petrol station billionaires based in Blackburn, are the front runners. Grocery giants ought to have been able to cash in during the pandemic but the big three, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco, have seen their share prices fall this year. Partly that is due to increased costs for hiring staff and making their stores Covidsafe, partly down to competition from online and from discounters. Ocado, which has just embarked on its joint venture with M&S, is the stand-out success: its shares have more than doubled since the start of the year. The German cut-price operators Aldi and Lidl are the other great threat, with the latter announcing yesterday its biggest-ever investment in the UK. All three traditional operators are under pressure but the Asda deal puts the spotlight on Sainsbury's, whose own plans for a multi-billion pound merger unravelled. If it doesn't come up with a convincing new strategy, it could become a target for private equity itself, as it has been in the past. Supermarkets are getting exciting. HSBC bounce Some relief for troubled HSBC has come after its largest shareholder, Ping An Asset Management, increased its stake. The shares rose by 9 per cent, but I stick by my view the bank is in deep crisis. The increase merely compensated for a similar plunge last week and since the start of the year, the shares have halved. Some interpret the Ping An stake as a sign China, which is said to be considering branding the bank an 'unreliable entity' may be softening, but other experienced investors are less sure. Pune: A court in Pune sentenced two doctors to 10 years in jail for the death of a woman during a 2012 cesarean section delivery, an official said on Tuesday. Additional Sessions Judge VR Jagdale sentenced Dr Jitendra Shimpi and Dr Sachin Deshpande to simple imprisonment of 10 years and ordered them to pay Rs 2.5 lakh to the womans husband. A third accused was acquitted in the case, the official said. As per the prosecution, the woman was admitted in Shimpis hospital for delivery but after complications arose she had to be shifted to another hospital where she died. A probe revealed Shimpi and Deshpande had degrees in Ayurvedic medicine and were not qualified to carry out the procedure. They were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder by Dehu Road police. Prosecutor Rajesh Kavediya said they examined nine witnesses. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Japan is looking to start easing its travel advisory currently in place for 159 countries and regions in October. It will start with nations where the pace of new COVID-19 cases is slow including Australia, Vietnam, and New Zealand. Foreign Ministry's Current Travel Advisory The Foreign Ministry's travel advisory for the 159 nations and regions is currently imposed at Level 3, warning against all travel. The gradual lifting of overseas travel warnings is a bid to prompt the removal of entry restrictions implemented in other nations. The Japanese government will prioritize 10 countries that have a low number of COVID-19 cases but decisions on whether to accept international visitors from Japan would be up to those governments, reported Caixin. The COVID-19 pandemic had adverse effects on Japan's tourism. Limitations on domestic tourism have been lifted but the country's borders remain closed to international travelers and no signs have surfaced that the borders will be opened to considerable numbers of tourists soon. Announcement Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga made an announcement that Japan would reopen its borders to selected foreign travelers with authorization to stay in the country from Thursday, October 1, following fewer new novel coronavirus cases in recent weeks. The easing of restrictions would allow the foreign nationals' entry with permits to stay for a span of three months or longer for purposes including medical, sports-related, and cultural activities, reported Garda World. As background upon the news of Japan easing its travel advisory, its central government announced a state of emergency after much dubiousness. During that time, the official prevalence was low (aside from the Diamond Princess), with some surmising that the country had deliberately alleviated testing in an effort to save the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, reported Travel Caffeine. Also Read: Japan's First Flying Car Makes a Successful Flight Japan has issued COVID-19-related travel advisory and precautions on infectious illnesses through a system with four categories depending on the probable risk and safety in relevant locales. Each caution level does not legally bind Japanese citizens from traveling. The receiving nation has the power to accept or decline their entry. Online COVID-19 Travel Questionnaire Japan will make accessible an online health questionnaire required to fill out prior to entering the nation to smoothen the immigration control process. According to sources, the health questionnaire will be slated to flag travelers who are possibly at higher risk of arriving while coronavirus positive. The test will be available soon on a trial basis for a couple of international flights arriving at Narita airport near Tokyo. If the Foreign Ministry lowers the advisory for a couple of countries to Level 2, it means that unimportant travel should be alleviated. No country is imposed Japan's highest Level 4 advisory which prompts all Japanese nationals to avoid all travel and evacuate. Domestic Situation Unlike in Europe and North America, COVID-19 has not spread in Japan at a much more prevalent rate. The Japanese central government has declared a state of emergency between April 7 and May 25, advising citizens to stay at home and particular businesses to close. Even following the end of the state of emergency and upon Japan easing the travel advisory, people in the whole of Japan are advised to alleviate from visiting crowded and badly-ventilated places and follow social distancing measures. Related Article: Japan Secures 120 Million Doses of Probable COVID-19 Vaccine @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The encomienda system, according to some, was established by the Spanish conquerors of New Mexico, beginning with Juan de Onate in 1598, as an effort to establish religious, social, economic and political order upon the Pueblo people. The word itself is innocuous enough: encomendar, to entrust. Use of the system extended back to Spain in the late 15th century when it was applied by the Spanish crown to the Moors as an effort to Christianize them. As it was applied by most of New Mexicos governors from 1598 to 1680, it required tribute to be paid by the conquered to their masters. The governor was authorized to issue encomiendas to a select group of encomenderos. New Mexico historian Marc Simmons defined an encomienda as a formal grant of Indians entrusted to the care of a Spaniard. Encomenderos were holders of encomienda grants. Onate made 60 or so such grants, although the number was reduced to 35 by the 1640s. A Pueblo, or a portion of it, became an encomienda and that, once assigned by the governor, meant that a tribute, or a tax, or a tithe, had to be paid to the encomendero each year. It could be in the form of livestock, grain or other agricultural products; hides of one kind or another; cotton cloth; or salt if that was available to the particular Pueblo (such as Abo). While labor was technically forbidden, it was frequently accepted in place of other items, and land was not to be a part of it, although that seems of happened, too. The Pueblo people, who had managed to support themselves for centuries, were now expected to additionally support the Spanish newcomers, both the government and the church. The Spanish, in return, offered the Pueblo people conversion to Christianity and protection from the nomadic Indians. The encomendero had his obligations, too. He was obliged to protect and care for his Pueblo charges, whether they needed or wanted it or not. He was also required to be a resident of Santa Fe. He was obliged to serve as a military officer at the beck and call of each governor. The encomenderos, in fact, became the officer corps of the Spanish military on the northern frontier. No regular Spanish troops were assigned there at the time, so volunteer officers as well as soldiers were required. The result of the encomienda system was that many Pueblo people were reduced to poverty. No account of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 fails to mention the system as a cause of the uprising. Some governors were more demanding than others, but the result remained the same. The system did not survive in the Spanish reconquest of the 1690s. (Don Bullis is a Rio Rancho resident, New Mexico centennial historian and award-winning author. He was named the Best Local Author in the 2018 and 19 Rio Rancho Observer Readers Choice contests. Ellos Pasaron por Aqui is translated as They Passed by Here.) Don Bulliss latest book, New Mexico Historical Chronology, is available from RioGrandeBooks.com. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Vietnams current account is expected to see a surplus equivalent 1 per cent of GDP in 2020 before rising to 1.5 per cent in 2021. If the economy grows about 2 per cent on-year in this year as expected by the government, the GDP will be $267.2 billion, and the current account surplus will be $2.67 billion. Vietnam has continuously earned a current account surplus since 2011, at 0.2 per cent of GDP in 2011, 6 per cent in 2012, 4.5 per cent in 2013, 5.1 per cent in 2014, 0.5 per cent in 2015, 3 per cent in 2016, 2.9 per cent in 2017, 3 per cent in 2018, and 2 per cent in 2019. Meanwhile, in April the World Bank forecast under negative impacts of COVID-19, Vietnams current account surplus is expected to be 0.1 per cent of GDP this year, 1 per cent next year, and 1.2 per cent in 2022. It said that the current account balance should deteriorate temporarily. The countrys current account surplus would be able to be higher without negative impacts from a dent in state revenue, remittances, and foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the ADB, with tax collection reduced because of lower incomes and spending increased on health care and social security, and likely additional fiscal support in 2020, the fiscal deficit is forecast to widen to the equivalent of 6 per cent of GDP in 2020. This 6 per cent is estimated to equal $16 billion, if GDP remains at $267.2 billion. Besides that, based on its calculations the ADB projected that overseas remittances into Vietnam will drop about 18 per cent on-year in this year, causing pressure to the economys current account. Last year, Vietnams total overseas remittances sat at $16.68 billion. If this 18 per cent decline became true, the figure might be about $13.7 billion this year. Difficulties caused by the pandemic globally have forced Vietnamese overseas to tighten their belt, making it more difficult for them to send money back to their homes in Vietnam, said a senior ADB economist. Venture slowdowns Last year, the quantity of remittances sent to Vietnam mounted to $16.68 billion, accounting for 6.5 per cent of GDP, according to the State Bank of Vietnam. Of which, Ho Chi Minh City accounts for about $5.3 billion. In addition, many investors are delaying the implementation of their projects in Vietnam, likely leading to a reduction in FDI disbursement this year. This will also affect the economys current account picture. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) estimated that in 2020, total newly-registered, newly-added, and stake-acquisition foreign capital will be about $34-35 billion, down 10.1-12.8 per cent on-year, and total disbursed FDI will be $19-20 billion, down 1.9-6.8 per cent on-year. The largest contributor so far this year is Thailands 464-hectare Long Son Petrochemicals Complex which increased capital from $3.7 billion to $5.1 billion in order to upgrade the refinerys technology and improve its capacity. The investors include Vina SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd. and Thai Plastic and Chemicals Public Co., Ltd. The level of FDI inows is projected to drop in 2020 given the uncertainties in the world economy, but should return to recent levels afterward, partly reecting the growing interest of foreign investors in the domestic market and their willingness to diversify their activities away from China, said a World Bank update on Vietnams economic outlook. Figures from the MPI showed that in the first eight months of this year, total newly-registered, newly-added, and stake-acquisition foreign capital was $19.5 billion, down 13.7 per cent on-year, and total disbursed FDI stood at $11.4 billion, down 5.1 per cent as compared to the same period last year. Export recovery Currently, foreign-owned firms account for about 20 per cent of Vietnams GDP, contribute to a quarter of tax revenue, and have created millions of direct and indirect jobs. They also represent about 70 per cent of the countrys exports, with over half of them from electronics. However, the economys current account picture this year is fuelled by a gradual recovery in exports. According to the MPI, this year is forecast to see Vietnam earn a trade surplus of about $7 billion, with total export turnover of $267 billion up 1 per cent against last year, and total import turnover of $260 billion up 2.6 per cent against 2019. Total export turnover for August is estimated to be 26.5 billion, up 6.5 per cent on-month, largely thanks to Samsung boosting the export of its new Note 20 mobile phone, said an MPI report. In the eight months, total export turnover of mobile phones and their spare parts was $31.5 billion, accounting for 18.1 per cent of total export turnover. Currently Samsung holds almost all the mobile phones and spare parts exports of Vietnam. It has invested over $17 billion in the country so far. In the first nine months, Vietnam is roughly estimated to enjoy a trade surplus of $14 billion. The World Bank said that Vietnam is now the global export champion. Since 2017, its export turnover has always been on top of the region. Vietnam has also signed and implemented more trade agreements, which numbers 13 now, than any other country in East Asia and the Pacific, and is currently negotiating three more. With some of the lowest labour costs in the world, a strong openness to trade, and an advantageous geographic location, Vietnam has been a major destination of FDI over the past decade. Foreign enterprises have not only increased capital, but also generated millions of jobs and helped Vietnam expand important export markets, said an economic expert from the World Bank. By Trend Turkey will always be next to its strategic partner Azerbaijan in its just struggle, Chief Turkish Presidential Adviser Yalcin Topcu told Trend on Sept.29. Topcu stated that Armenia must unconditionally fulfill requirements of the UN Security Council and OSCE and withdraw its occupying armed forces from the Azerbaijani territories. When Armenian armed forces withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories in accordance with the requirements of these resolutions, then prosperity, peace, and stability will be established in the region, he said. The parties represented in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey made a joint statement, in which they expressed support for Azerbaijan in its just struggle in a form accessible to the whole world, he noted. By pursuing its occupation policy, Armenia poses a threat to the stability and prosperity of both the region and the entire world. This situation harms both the peoples of the region and the peoples of the world. Namely for this purpose the whole world must oppose and suppress the aggressive behavior of Armenia, its violation of international law and the UN Security Council resolutions for 30 years," Topcu stressed. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The government on Tuesday said it does not agree with the calculation that Rs 80,000 crore is needed for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in India. Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan was responding to a question tweeted by Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla who asked the government whether it had Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because thats what @MoHFW_INDIA needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle," Poonawalla had tweeted. Responding, Bhushan said, We do not agree by the calculation of Rs 80,000 crore. The government has made a national committee on vaccine experts and five meetings have taken place till now." In these meetings, we have mulled over the process of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the amount required for it in terms of prioritisation of population and the staggered immunisation for this prioritisation. We have calculated the amount required in the meetings and currently, that amount is available with the government," said Bhushan. Caribbean CASTRIES, Saint Lucia With budgets and spending priorities adversely impacted by COVID-19, local government officials across the Region are getting some of the assistance they need to deal with this new financial reality. On September 17, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) along with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum - Caribbean (CLGF - Caribbean) launched the Regional Capacity Building in Municipal Finances project with the first of several virtual consultations. The technical assistance project will target up to 130 accounting and financial reporting officials from seven Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) of the Bank with active municipalities Belize, the Bahamas, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Municipal officials will receive training and support to enhance their skills in budgeting, resource mobilisation and expenditure management, with a focus on enhanced accountability mechanisms and inclusive governance practices, such as gender mainstreaming and social inclusion. Speaking at the start of the first virtual consultation with officials in Saint Lucia, CDBs Division Chief, Technical Cooperation Division, Dr Darran Newman, underscored the reasons for the Banks involvement in municipal finance training. One may ask why is CDB engaging itself in local government and specifically, municipal finances, at this time? A fair question. Municipalities play a key role in facilitating development and providing social and economic infrastructure to support economic development and improve the quality of life and well-being within communities, said Dr Newman. Velda Joseph, Saint Lucias Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment welcomed the project as timely. She noted: Recently, this year we engaged the Cabinet of Ministers on a discussion on advancing local government reform and this is one of the recommendations that was made - [to] build the capacity resident in authorities to be able to adequately perform the task ensuring that these councils are able to manage their finances and to collect and manage resources in a way that is accountable and in a way that is very transparent. Dr Newman added that in the wake of the global pandemic, this feedback CDB had been getting, suggested that this kind of support was now even more needed. She stated: As our BMCs seek to respond to the socio-economic setbacks and demands resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, they have signalled a renewed urgency to develop the capacity of their local government organs to manage limited or even shrinking resources. The Bank, therefore, sees this as an opportunity to support this process in a robust manner by buttressing the technical capacity of those responsible for accounting and planning, [and] hence empowering them to better advise and support their leadership. The virtual consultations will be held for each participating country, giving senior officials the opportunity to shape capacity building by identifying the key priorities for their countries and municipalities. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 04:19:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LJUBLJANA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian-Chinese Business Council held its inaugural meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) here on Monday. The new organization's aim is to strengthen bilateral cooperation and boost business, the GZS said in a press release on Tuesday. The council has over 30 founding members. "Slovenian companies need to cooperate with the world," said GZS director general Sonja Smuc. Their involvement in international business is crucial for creating added value, so the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia welcomes the establishment of the Slovenian-Chinese Business Council, especially given the fact that China is Slovenia's largest partner in Asia." Ajda Cuderman, state secretary at the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, said that her government supported businesses wanting to cooperate with China. She said that new market niches must be found to increase Slovenia's exports to China and Slovenia's achievements in high-tech development, biotechnology, automotive industry, new materials and alternative energy sources must be highlighted. Chinese Ambassador to Slovenia Wang Shunqing said that the Slovenian-Chinese Business Council will promote the development of economic and trade relations, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. Wang spoke highly of the two countries' cooperation in fighting COVID-19, adding that he had confidence in continuing cooperation in the post-pandemic era. Wang emphasized that China and Slovenia should jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and oppose unilateralism and protectionism. The newly elected president of the council, Ziga Vavpotic, said he wanted to "build a bridge between east and west, economy and politics, and expectations and opportunities." Enditem By PTI PUNE: NCP MP Supriya Sule said on Tuesday that the drug menace can not be countered by summoning high- profile people for inquiry, but a nation-wide awareness drive was necessary. She was speaking against the backdrop of the Narcotics Control Bureau's questioning of Bollywood stars in the drug probe related to Sushant Singh Rajput's death. "By calling just three-four high-profile people, the issue will not be solved and the menace will not be rooted out from society. Drugs is a very serious menace and it is a global phenomenon," said Sule. There should be stress on rehabilitation and creation of awareness among students, she said. "Once people refuse to take drugs, the drug trade will stop. We started anti-tobacco drive in Maharashtra. If the Centre starts a drugs-free India campaign, we will welcome it," the Baramati MP said. Asked about Income Tax notices to her, Sule said she, her father and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, minister Aaditya Thackeray and her husband Sadanand Sule have received notices, and they will respond to them. Akshat Utkarsh's uncle Ranjit Singh has claimed that his nephew was murdered, adding that the Mumbai Police has not even filed an FIR. Akshat Utkarsh, aspiring actor from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, has died allegedly by suicide in Mumbai's Andheri on Sunday night, reports Asian News International. He was 26. The Mumbai Police told the news outlet that a case has been lodged and the matter is under investigation. The body of the deceased was handed over to his family, following a postmortem examination. Actor Akshat Utkarsh dies allegedly by suicide at his residence in Mumbai's Andheri area. Case lodged, matter being probed. Body handed over to family after postmortem: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2020 "We have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and are enquiring the matter. Preliminary enquiry and autopsy report do not indicate any foul play. The incident took place on Sunday night somewhere between 10 pm and 11:30 PM," Someshwar Kanthe, senior police inspector at Andheri's Amboli police station, told Hindustan Times. The report states that Utkarsh's friends who were questioned by the police said the actor was in depression because of the coronavirus lockdown. He was also going through financial trouble due to which he had to borrow money. Utkarsh's uncle Ranjit Singh told Hindustan Times that Utkarsh was murdered, adding that the Mumbai Police has not filed an First Information Report (FIR). He refuted claims of his nephew suffering from depression, saying that Utkarsh was looking for work and had bagged a role in a film. Police sources said that an FIR had not been lodged as the postmortem declared the cause of death as suicide. A note has also not been found, states The Quint. * A collection of Suicide prevention helpline numbers are available here. Please reach out if you or anyone you know is in need of support. The All-India helpline number is: 022 2754 6669 James O'Keefe released a video bombshell revealing that Ilhan Omar's Fifth District in Minneapolis is home to a vast ballot-harvesting fraud, all aimed at getting her, and people associated with her, elected. Faced with apparently irrefutable evidence, O'Keefe's political opponents are looking for other avenues of attack. In a move reminiscent of life in a police state, one group is trying to get him arrested in New York for failing to quarantine. On Sunday, James O'Keefe's organization, Project Veritas, released a video providing compelling and seemingly irrefutable evidence that there is a massive ballot scheme in Minneapolis's Fifth District, which is Ilhan Omar's home district. According to hidden camera footage and witness testimony, Omar's political machine pays people to go to nursing homes and collect blank ballots from residents. Some of them are even paid for handing over their ballots. O'Keefe promises a further video that will tie Omar, and possibly other Progressive politicians in Minneapolis and Minnesota, directly to the fraud. Based on past reports, Omar is at home with corruption. Some documents appear to show her engaging in immigration fraud to get her brother into the country and defraud the education system. Sadly, the federal government refused to do anything about these claims, perhaps fearing accusations of racism and homophobia. The videotape that James O'Keefe has released, however, is going to be more challenging for the FBI to ignore. It's hard to imagine any defense to the self-incriminating statements and witness testimony he's caught on tape. Because they're unable to refute the evidence, those who wish to silence O'Keefe have had to use more roundabout tactics. To that end, American Family Voices, a hard-left "pro-family" organization in the Elizabeth Warren camp, has reported to New York State that O'Keefe is a "COVID Super Spreader," who needs to be punished for violating New York State's laughable and almost certainly unconstitutional quarantine laws. Here's the organization's simultaneously smug and hysterical press release: According to the attached pictures from his own Instagram account, Project Veritas President James O'Keefe traveled both to Gettysburg, SD and Chaska, MN in the last week, before returning to Project Veritas headquarters in New York State. Both South Dakota and Minnesota have been designated as states with "significant community spread" by the New York State Department of Health, and as such any individual entering New York from those states is required to quarantine for 14 days and follow strict protocols including self-isolation. By his own admission, O'Keefe is clearly not social distancing or wearing a mask, whether in the Midwest or back in New York. "Rightwing political hatchet-man James O'Keefe has long been known as a super spreader of misinformation, but is he also a super spreader of COVID-19?" asked Project Veritas Exposed Executive Producer and American Family Voices Executive Director Lauren Windsor. "It's clear that James has no respect for the truth, but now it's clear, too, that he has no respect for public health nor the safety of his own employees." AFV reported O'Keefe's flagrant disregard for the law and public health to the New York State Department of Health and the Westchester County Health Commissioner tip lines. AFV encourages others with any knowledge of O'Keefe's movements to come forward. Anyone caught violating New York's rules can be heavily fined ($2,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for actually causing harm). People in New York for 24 hours or less need not quarantine, although they're asked to respect social distancing and mask requirements. I'm not the most adept person at reading Instagram, but I don't see anything on O'Keefe's Instagram feed showing that he landed permanently at any time in New York, a fact that would require him to quarantine himself. There's also no proof that he wasn't quarantining along with others who traveled with him. Also, to give a little perspective, South Dakota, which O'Keefe visited and which New York has designated as a danger zone, has had 218 deaths and a total of 21,738 cases. By contrast, New York State has had 25,468 deaths (23,810 of which were in New York City) and 456,460 cases. You have to wonder who's a threat to whom. What's most disturbing is that there's a totalitarian quality to the way Lauren Windsor, the executive director for American Family Voices, is trying to silence O'Keefe. Because she cannot challenge his facts, she's hoping to use New York's police state to impose fines on him so heavy that he will be forced into silence. It sounds more like Soviet Family Voices than anything connected with America. Image: Screen grab of James O'Keefe's Instagram page. MONTREAL, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Valsoft Corporation Inc. ("Valsoft"), a Montreal-based company that specializes in the acquisition and development of vertical market software companies, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Interdev Technologies ("Interdev"), which has been serving Emergency Services and healthcare community for over 20 years. Terry Kuehn and Brian Field met in the 1990's as frequent collaborators on EMS database projects for the Ontario Ministry of Health. It was then that they came to understand the desperate need for a sophisticated Electronic Patient Care Record (ePCR) for Paramedic Services worldwide. In the year 2000 they joined forces as Interdev and began to develop a highly integrated suite of SaaS products to provide Emergency Services with essential data. Since then, Terry, Brian and the Interdev team have continued to develop high quality solutions enabling Emergency Services and healthcare personnel to focus their energy on delivering exceptional care to our communities. Their suite of software continues to be designed with Emergency Services personnel in mind to help them find efficiencies in their process to save time and resources. Terry and Brian are extremely proud of the company they and their employees have built and are optimistic about the company's future within Valsoft. Interdev's CEO, Terry Kuehn, stated "Valsoft will be an excellent partner and advisor to Interdev as we continue to provide industry leading products and services for both the EMS and related industry for Canada and internationally as well. We are all very excited about working with Valsoft and their team of experts and industry leaders to improve and grow into the future." Valsoft CEO Sam Youssef commented on the acquisition as well as Interdev and its client base in stating "Interdev has a long history of offering industry leading, innovative solutions to a client base that provides essential services to our communities. We were impressed by the team's relentless focus on supporting their clients by developing solutions aimed at improving their clients' operations, as evidenced by their comprehensive and loyal customer base. We look forward to having Interdev continue to partner with their clients to develop industry leading technologies and software to assist them in performing essential community services. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all Emergency Service personnel for their tireless efforts in keeping us safe, particularly, over the past few months." About Valsoft Corporation: Valsoft acquires and develops vertical market software companies, enabling each business to deliver the best mission-critical solutions for customers in their respective industry or niche. A key tenet of Valsoft's philosophy is to invest in well-established businesses and foster an entrepreneurial environment that molds companies into leaders in their respective industries. Unlike private equity and venture capital firms, Valsoft does not have a pre-defined investment horizon and looks to buy, hold and create value through long-term partnerships with existing management. Valsoft was represented internally by Giancarlo Ruscio, Senior Legal Counsel, David Felicissimo, General Counsel and Pamela Romero, Paralegal. Interdev was represented by Jeff Goldenthal of Wilson Vukelich LLP. For more information please visit www.interdev.ca and www.valsoftcorp.com. SOURCE Valsoft Corporation Inc. Related Links https://www.valsoftcorp.com/ DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb has today announced the appointment of Konstantin Tretiakov as Regional Casualty Manager, MENA. In his new role Konstantin will be responsible for growing and managing Chubb's Casualty Portfolio for MENA by developing its Reinsurance proposition in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Tunisia and offering extensive support to grow its direct book in Egypt and Pakistan. He will be based in Chubb's DIFC offices and will report to Mojgan Khoshabi, Regional Managing Director, MENA, Chubb and Shankar Krishnan, Regional Head of Casualty, Eurasia and Africa, Chubb. The role is effective immediately. Konstantin, who was previously Chubb's Casualty Manager for Russia & CIS, has 18 years of industry experience and has held a variety of roles in Russia including Director of Underwriting at Government Insurance Co Yugoria and Director General at Insurance Broker RIMS. Mojgan Khoshabi, Regional Managing Director, MENA, Chubb said: "I am delighted that Konstantin will be leading our Regional Casualty team in MENA. One of Chubb's many strengths is our ability to develop and promote from within and acknowledge talent across the company and Konstantin's appointment is testament to this. I am very much looking forward to working with him and developing our Casualty business together." About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs approximately 33,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/324916/Chubb_Logo.jpg Ivory Coast should allow former president Laurent Gbagbo, who has been barred from running in next months key presidential election, to vote in the poll, the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights said Friday. The court, established by African Union members in 2004, asked Ivory Coast to take all necessary steps to immediately remove all obstacles preventing Gbagbo from being added to the electoral roll. Ivory Coast withdrew its recognition of the courts jurisdiction in April this year. Gbagbo, who was president from 2000 to 2010, is not on the electoral roll which was updated this year, and thus cannot vote or be a candidate in the October 31 election. The Constitutional Council, Ivory Coasts top court, has rejected 40 of 44 applications to contest the election, which is taking place against a backdrop of extreme tension. Those barred include Gbagbo, 75, and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, 47, both of whom played key roles in the crisis that engulfed the country after disputed elections in 2010. The Ivorian court, however, accepted an application by President Alassane Ouattara, 78, who is seeking a third term despite criticism that this sidesteps constitutional limits. Gbagbo was freed conditionally by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague after he was cleared in January 2019 of crimes against humanity. He is living in Brussels pending the outcome of an appeal against the ICC ruling. His candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council on the grounds that he was handed a 20-year jail term by an Ivorian court last November over the looting of the local branch of the Central Bank of West African States during the post-election crisis. The African Court, based in Arusha in Tanzania, also said Gbagbos conviction should not be included on his judicial record until it had time to deliver a full judgement. On September 15, the African Court handed down a verdict in Soros favour, saying Ivory Coast should also immediately remove all obstacles preventing him from competing in the ballot. Soro provided military help that enabled Ouattara to come to power after a civil war that erupted when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in the 2010 election. More than 3,000 people died in the fighting. Soro, who lives in France, was barred from contesting the election on the grounds of a 20-year sentence, also in absentia, for alleged embezzlement of public funds, handed down in April. Ouattara, has blasted attempts by Gbagbo and Soro to contest the presidential election as provocation and said one of them belongs behind bars. Soro, like Gbagbo, was excluded because he has a criminal record, Ouattara told the French magazine Paris Match. This young man, drunk on money and power, has simply lost his head. AFP Source: The Ghanaian Times/AFP Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Party City, one of the nations largest party supply retailers, has removed from its shelves a Halloween costume of a Confederate soldier after a white Virginia woman who adopted two black children said it was racist. Caroline Brasler of Arlington, Virginia, was shopping at the Party City store in Baileys Crossroads last week when she noticed two costumes depicting rebel soldiers wearing a hat with the Confederate battle flag. One of the costumes was of General Robert E. Lee. The other costume depicted a Confederate officer. Brasler, who took photos of the costumes and posted them on her Facebook account, was looking to buy Halloween costumes for her two young girls - Meredith, 12, and Olivia, 10. A Party City store in suburban Arlington, Virginia, removed from its shelves two Halloween costumes depicting Confederate General Robert E. Lee (left) and a Confederate officer (right) The costumes were removed after Caroline Brasler of Arlington, Virginia, noticed them while shopping in the store last week Brasler, who took photos of the costumes and posted them on her Facebook account, was looking to buy Halloween costumes for her two young girls - Meredith, 12, and Olivia, 10. Both of the girls were adopted. The Confederate flag to me is a symbol of racism, she told WUSA-TV. To have that out there for a child to wear on Halloween sends so many horrible messages. Brasler added: I'm the adoptive parent of two beautiful African American girls. We discuss race, we respect race. And to see something like that just flies in the face of everything I try to teach them to be proud young women. I'm the adoptive parent of two beautiful African American girls,' Brasler said. We discuss race, we respect race. And to see something like that just flies in the face of everything I try to teach them to be proud young women Brasler said that after she saw the Confederate costumes at the store, she refused to spend her money at that location. Instead, shell buy vampire and zombie unicorn costumes for the girls somewhere else A store manager at the Party City location confirmed to DailyMail.com that the costumes were removed Brasler said Olivia asked her why she was taking a photograph of the costumes. I said, That's a Confederate flag, that's a symbol of hate, and she said, Oh, ma, really? THE FLAG OF THE CONFEDERACY The Civil War-era Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia is today known as the symbol of the Confederacy What is today considered the Confederate flag was never the official national flag of the 13 states which made up the Confederate States of America from 1861 until 1865. The banner that is often hoisted at rallies today is a version of the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. Also known as the 'Dixie flag,' 'rebel flag', or 'battle flag,' the design has come to be associated with the racial history of the South. The Confederate States of America were formed in 1861 when 11 states seceded from the union in order to protect the institution of slavery. The North eventually defeated the South in the Civil War, resulting in the abolition of slavery. But racial injustices continued, particularly in the South, where blacks were subject to systematic discrimination and violence at the hands of whites. While the flag is often flown by non-extremists who cite Southern pride and heritage, the symbol has also been adopted by extremist groups like neo-Nazis and other white supremacist organizations, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The use of the Confederate battle flag by extremist groups has prompted widespread calls for the banner to be banned and for statues and monuments honoring Civil War-era figures from the South to be taken down. Advertisement Then she took off for the candy aisle. Brasler said that after she saw the Confederate costumes at the store, she refused to spend her money at that location. Instead, shell buy vampire and zombie unicorn costumes for the girls somewhere else. No more princesses for them! she said. A store manager at the Baileys Crossroads location told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that the costumes in question have been removed. In a statement, Party City said the costumes were not sanctioned by the companys corporate offices and that they were sold at the discretion of the franchise owner. At Party City, we do not tolerate racism or hatred of any kind, and we stand together in solidarity with our diverse colleagues, customers, and communities, the company said in a statement. As the leader in Halloween with more than 60 million customers per year, Party City supplies a broad assortment of costumes, none of which are meant to be offensive in any way. The costume in question was sold at a franchise location and is not produced or sold in any Party City corporate-owned stores. We have reached out to our franchisees and other partners to remove it from all retail locations ASAP. We know that as a company, we can and must do better, and were taking immediate action. We value customer feedback and will continue to evaluate how to make each shopping experience fun and welcoming for all as we support efforts in inclusion internally, in our communities, and beyond. Party City, which counts more than 800 retail stores across North America, began franchising in 1986. The display of the Confederate flag as well as Confederate monuments has become a hot-button issue in recent months amid the racial unrest that was sparked by police-involved killings of African Americans. Supporters of the symbol say it is an important part of Southern heritage and history, while opponents who demand its removal say it harkens back to the days of slavery and oppression of black people. At least 63 Confederate statues, monuments or markers have been removed from public land across the country since George Floyds death in Minneapolis on May 25. Most were removed by government officials, though protesters have toppled some. MHAs decision to sanction NIA branch in Chennai is perfect answer to fighting radicalisation in TN India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: In an important move, the Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned three additional branches of the National Investigation Agency. The branches were sanctioned at Chennai, Imphal and Ranchi. The NIA has its branches also at Guwahati, Mumbai, Jammu, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, Raipur and Chandigarh. This decision of GoI will help in ensuring quick response to any emergent situation in the concerned States by the premier anti-terror investigation agency of the country. It will strengthen NIA's capability in investigation of terrorism-related cases and other national security related matters. It will also facilitate timely collection of crucial information and evidence related to such offences, the NIA said in a note. NIA court sentences to life ISIS terrorist in Omar Al-Hindi case The most important part of this decision was to sanction a branch at Chennai. The state of Tamil Nadu has over the years seen a steep rise in radicalisation and terror groups such as the Islamic State have had its Indian origins in this state. Over the years, several incidents of terror have been reported in Tamil Nadu. Recently, the NIA learnt that the murder of TN SSI, Wilson was committed with the intention of creating terror in the minds of people. Wilson, Special Sub-Inspector of Kaliyakkavilai Police station was shot and stabbed to death on January 1 by Shameem and Thowfek, while the officer was performing duty at Kaliyakkavilai Market Road check post. After the arrest of the assailants on January 15 2020, it was revealed that they had committed the murder of the police officer with the intention to create terror in the minds of people, including Police, as part of waging violent jihad. It was revealed that Khaja Mohideen was a member of the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Daish. Since May, 2019, he had radicalised Abdul Shameem and Thowfeek on the perverted jihadi (violent extremist) ideology and recruited them into his terrorist gang to carry out violent attacks against establishment especially Police, in Tamil Nadu, to bring Islamic Rule or Shariah. It is a well known fact that since 2016, investigating agencies have carried out several arrests and also seized jihadi propaganda material in South India, especially in Kerala and to a large extent in Tamil Nadu. In 2019, the NIA had conducted raids at several locations in Tail Nadu. It was found that a Coimbatore module was operating in a similar fashion like the one in Kerala. Both these modules had planned on carrying out attacks in South India, the NIA learnt. What makes Kerala a happy hunting ground for Al-Qaeda, ISIS and many more terror groups PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News The NIA found that a person by the name Mohammad Azharuddin had recruited persons both from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. was the leader of the module and had been maintaining the Facebook page named "KhilafahGFX", through which he had been propagating the ideology of ISIS/ Daish. The accused was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of the module have also been sharing radical contents attributed to Zahran Hashim, over the social media. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, has had a long run with the ISIS. The first known ISIS recruit in India, Haha Fakruddin is from Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Haha was in fact radicalised by a Cuddalore based group, following which he went to Singapore and then to Syria before joining the ISIS. IB officials say that Tamil Nadu and Kerala face the bigger problems where the ISIS is concerned. The network is deeply infested in Tamil Nadu. To add to Kerala's worries is the Al-Qaeda, which operates as the Base Movement in the state. The Islamic radicalisation in Kerala has been found to be multi-dimensional. The ISIS and the Al-Qaeda's Base Movement continue to operate in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It was found that both were operating through its network in Colombo. Now coming to some very interesting data pieced together by the Indian agencies. It was found that the state that surfs for ISIS-related content the most is Kerala. This is followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and then Karnataka. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 10:05 [IST] All-in-one gamma device helps security forces detect radioactive sources at twice the speed, from twice as far and with greater sensitivity to protect against nuclear threats Kromek Group plc ("Kromek" or the "Group") (AIM: KMK), a worldwide supplier of detection technology focusing on the medical, security screening and nuclear markets, is pleased to announce the launch of the D3 PRD, the new all-in-one, high-accuracy personal radiation detector ("PRD") for first responders, armed forces, border security and CBRNE experts. The D3 PRD continuously monitors gamma radiation levels, equipping security forces to protect against the threat of nuclear terrorism and the illicit movement of nuclear materials. Built to meet the requirements of the PRD market, it expands Kromek's existing range of wearable radiation detectors. The D3 PRD is an all-in-one device, with replaceable batteries and which fits into a conventional use model of PRDs. It measures and notifies users of gamma dose while also storing spectral information that can be downloaded and analysed offline by a trained user if required. The new product combines a small form factor (pocket-sized) with a detector substantially larger than that of some competitors. It allows users to detect radiation at twice the speed, from twice the distance and with greater sensitivity (detecting material at half the strength) than the current state-of-the-art detectors. The built-in screen notifies users of radiation with a high dose accuracy of 10% and it has an industry-leading ultra-low false alarm rate that is more than six times better than the ANSI standard determined by the US government. In addition, Kromek's CIRIS configuration software allows users to tailor the device settings for specific applications, including adjusting the threshold for alarms. The E-Learning platform allows users to benefit from on-the-go interactive training to ensure all frontline workers can be easily equipped with the device. Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek, said: "We are very pleased to be deepening our footprint in the personal radiation detection market and expanding our wearable range. The new D3 PRD meets a growing market demand for a standalone gamma-only device, while offering market-leading dose accuracy, speed to alarm and an ultra-low false positive number. Built with ease-of-use in mind, the device can be tailored to specific applications and worn by all frontline workers, helping to ensure our towns and cities are protected against nuclear threats." For further information on the D3 PRD, please visit: https://www.kromek.com/product/d3-prd/ D3 PRD specification Gamma detector material CsI(TI) Gamma detector volume 1 in3 (16cm3 Gamma energy range 30 keV to 3 MeV Gamma sensitivity for Cs-137 5 cps/R/h (500 cps/Sv/h) Photo peak 1.2 cps/R/h (120 cps/Sv/h) Maximum throughput for gamma channel 10,000 cps Maximum dose rate 100 R/h (1 Sv/h) at 662 keV Dose accuracy 10% far exceeds ANSI N42.32 False alarm rate 1 in 24h without compromising detection of weak sources Communications Micro USB, Bluetooth Operational battery life >40 hours Operational temperature range -20C to 50C, meets ANSI N42.32 section 7.1, section 7.2, section 7.5 Device size 125mm x 80mm x 35mm Device volume 248cm3 Humidity Up to 93% RH as per ANSI N42.32 section 7.3 Moisture/dust protection IP65 exceeds ANSI N42.32 section 7.4 Device weight (excluding batteries) 312g Battery 1450 mAh Li-Ion rechargeable battery 2 x AA replaceable batteries Charging Charging via USB Device status indicator External LED and on device display Internal data storage >100,000 spectra and dose values Hardware Standard Compliance Vibration ANSI N42.32 section 9.1 ESD immunity ANSI N42.32 section 8.1 Radiated emissions ANSI N42.32 section 8.4 Drop test ANSI N42.32 section 9.2 Impact (microphonics) ANSI N42.32 section 9.3 About Kromek Group plc Kromek Group plc is a technology group (global HQ in County Durham) and a leading developer of high performance radiation detection products based on cadmium zinc telluride ("CZT") and other advanced technologies. Using its core technology platforms, Kromek designs, develops and produces x-ray and gamma ray imaging and radiation detection products for the medical, security screening and nuclear markets. The Group's products provide high resolution information on material composition and structure and are used in multiple applications, ranging from the identification of cancerous tissues to hazardous materials, such as explosives, and the analysis of radioactive materials. The Group's business model provides a vertically integrated technology offering to customers, from radiation detector materials to finished products or detectors, including software, electronics and application specific integrated circuits ("ASICs"). The Group has operations in the UK and US (California and Pennsylvania), and is selling internationally through a combination of distributors and direct OEM sales. Currently, the Group has over one hundred full-time employees across its global operations. Further information on Kromek Group is available at www.kromek.com and https://twitter.com/kromekgroup. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005292/en/ Contacts: Enquiries Kromek Group plc Arnab Basu, CEO Derek Bulmer, CFO +44 (0)1740 626 060 Luther Pendragon (PR) Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury, Alexis Gore, Joe Quinlan +44 (0)20 7618 9100 The first half of 2020 saw 29 retailers file for bankruptcy as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already bleak outlook for brick-and-mortar stores whose customers shifted to online shopping. From January to June, 18 retailers, including once-popular brand names like Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Pier 11, and GNC, filed for chapter 11, according to the financial advisory firm BDO USA. In the six-week period beginning in July and stretching through mid-August, 11 more retailers filed for bankruptcy. Among the notable companies that went belly-up over the summer are Lord & Taylor and its subsidiary, Le Tote; Tailored Brands, which is the parent company of Mens Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank; and Ann Taylors corporate parent Ascena Retail Group. The first half of 2020 saw a record high 29 retailers file for bankruptcy as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already bleak outlook for brick-and-mortar stores whose customers shifted to online shopping Most of the bankruptcies (39 per cent) filed this year were by apparel and footwear companies like Brooks Brothers and Modells Sporting Goods, which shuttered all of its 134 remaining locations in March after liquidating its inventory If the current trends continue, 2020 will surpass 2010, when 48 retailers went bankrupt amid the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Last year, 22 retailers filed for bankruptcy. In total, the bankruptcies resulted in the closure of 5,998 stores. Most of the bankruptcies (39 per cent) filed this year were by apparel and footwear companies like Brooks Brothers and Modells Sporting Goods, which shuttered all of its 134 remaining locations in March after liquidating its inventory. Nearly a quarter of the bankruptcies were by home furnishings stores like Tuesday Morning and Sur La Table. Three major department stores were among those which filed for protection. According to BDO, the pandemic has forced solvent companies to shutter some locations. Coffee giant Starbucks announced that 400 of its restaurants would close. Telecom behemoth AT&T closed 250 of its locations. Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered 200 of its outlets. Macys also downsized significantly, closing 125 of its stores. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers were struggling to stay afloat due to consumers increasing reliance on online shopping. But the pandemic, which necessitated strict lockdown measures like physical distancing in much of the country, accelerated the downward trend. Earlier this month, the federal government released data indicating that while Americans were spending more on retail, it still wasnt at a high enough pace to propel the economy forward. Neiman Marcus was one of the companies that filed for chapter 11 this year. A Neiman Marcus store in the Hudson Yards section of New York City is seen above in May Retail sales rose 0.6 per cent in August, the fourth consecutive month of growth, the US Commerce Department said, but lower than the 0.9 per cent increase in July. Its also below the 1.1 per cent increase analysts expected. These are disappointing numbers, said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. And theyre probably a hint of whats to come in the wake of the ending of enhanced unemployment benefits. Congress and the Trump administration have been haggling over a new stimulus bill. Much of last months growth came from spending at restaurants and bars, which are just starting to let people in to eat and drink. Sales rose 4.7 per cent at those places, but are still down 15.4 per cent for the year. Overall retail sales have been recovering since they plunged in the spring as stores and malls were ordered closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. A number of those retailers, some of them part of the US retail landscape for more than a century, have failed. Century 21 said last week its shutting down all 13 of its stores for good after nearly six decades in business. Clothing sales, however, rose nearly 3 per cent in August after a 20 per cent decline in the last year. Retailers that had already pivoted to accommodate a shift to online shopping, like Target and Walmart, have thrived. Sales at Amazon.com have soared. Online sales, however, were flat last month, according to the Commerce Department, after soaring 22 per cent in the past year. J.C. Penney also filed for bankruptcy this year. A J.C. Penney store is seen above in Orlando in May People also spent less at supermarkets and sporting goods stores in August, after shoppers rushed to them this year to stock up on food and exercise equipment for their quarantines. At the end of July, nearly 30 million laid-off workers stopped receiving a $600-a-week federal unemployment check, which economists have said helped sustain spending. The Trump administration has set up a program to provide some of the unemployed with $300 a week. Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of all economic activity in the US, and is monitored closely by economists gauging the nations economic health. The retail sales report covers only about a third of overall consumer spending. Services such as haircuts, movie tickets and hotel stays are not part of the report. All of those businesses have been hammered during the pandemic. Also reflected in the numbers released is the new reality for many Americans: theyre working from home or taking classes online instead of going to school. Sales at electronic stores rose 0.8 per cent as people bought up computers and laptops. And at furniture stores, sales rose 2.1 per cent. Ikea, the chain of affordable furniture stores from Sweden, said earlier this month that demand for desks, chairs and filing cabinets has been so high that its been sold out of numerous items and is working to restock them. I came to the United States in 2009 at the age of 27 from an island where the last free and fair elections happened 72 years ago Cuba. There, violent communist rule is not some "red scare" tactic or a concern of generations past but the insufferable reality for more than 11 million people, including many family members I was forced to leave behind when I received asylum here. There, growing up under the privations of a communist regime, I learned despite the best efforts of my teachers and the government's propaganda to admire the United States of America, and I dreamed about one day having the God-given rights, like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and the right to elect my own leaders, enshrined in and guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. These dreams came true in 2016 when I was able to swear allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and become a United States citizen. That same year, for the first time, I cast my first free and fair ballot for the potential new leader of the country of which I was a citizen. It felt amazing to have a voice, to freely make a choice and to take on such a responsibility. I felt very privileged and appreciative of my adoptive homeland. That ballot I cast was for Donald J. Trump. Image: Yuri Perez (Courtesy Yuri Perez) Then, as now, I didn't care about so-called political correctness when choosing a candidate; I realize many other Latinos favor more government involvement in our lives and young Latinos trend more liberal, but I'd had quite enough of groupthink in Cuba. I looked for a good manager and administrator to lead a government, and I felt and I now think that President Trump is the right person for the job. Beyond that, Trump delivered on the 2016 campaign promises that were important to me then: He lowered taxes; he appointed judges to the federal bench who hew strictly to the Constitution; he has, at every turn, pushed for merit-based immigration; and he has rescinded a whole host of unnecessary regulations. His agenda was, and continues to be, pro-business, pro-family and pro-life. Story continues But beyond all of that, as a relatively new U.S. citizen committed to our Constitution, I am determined to help build that more perfect union we have promised one another. And so, I feel it is my duty to warn my fellow Americans about the dangerous ideologies I see at play in our country and which continue to push me to vote for our president. Image: Yuri Perez (Courtesy Yuri Perez) Younger Americans millennials like me are becoming increasingly sympathetic to the very ideologies that forced me to seek asylum in America. According to the fourth Annual Report on U.S. Attitudes Toward Socialism, Communism and Collectivism of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, "70 percent of millennials say they are likely to vote socialist," and communism is viewed favorably by more than 1 in 3 millennials (36 percent). I have to believe that, if all Americans knew the true human cost of living under a socialist, communist regime, they would have a different attitude. We've seen the results of a blase attitude toward socialism before: 20 years ago, many Cubans who were exiled in Venezuela warned the locals about socialism, but Venezuelans thought it could not happen to them, because they believed that Venezuela was a stable democracy. But after many people then voted for a socialist regime, believing its leaders' false promises of easy prosperity, the once-prosperous country has become a ruin, and the naysayers are now learning the hard way that, as Ronald Reagan first said in 1961, "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." So I was glad Joe Biden "beat the socialist" Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has praised a number of socialists and communist regimes, in the primaries; however, that win does not appear to have stopped the increasing influence of Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the other self-identified democratic socialists within the Democratic Party. The willingness of the Democratic Party to not just accept self-identified democratic socialists but also to allow them power within the party harms both the Democrats and the U.S. bipartisan consensus against communism. Both communism and its intrinsic predecessor, socialism, cannot be seen as acceptable parts of any coalition for otherwise good policies, or else that coalition is inherently tainted. For instance, though there is no question that America's racist past and present are at odds with the ideals to which I so recently pledged allegiance, the fact that the Democratic Party chooses to express its opposition to racism by aligning with the people behind the organization Black Lives Matter is problematic for me and many others. Those in the BLM leadership have self-identified as trained Marxists, openly professed their devotion to the ideals embodied by violent, anti-democratic former Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro and honored violent Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. The Democrats' embrace of leaders like those, even when the organizations they purport to represent are more noble in purpose than their leaders, are often deal breakers for newly minted citizens who come from socialist regimes, like me. (Additionally, I was disappointed by then-President Barack Obama's and now Biden's policies toward Cuba and Venezuela.) In contrast, Trump expresses strong anti-socialist stances; just last Wednesday, he said, "Today, we proclaim that America will never be a socialist country," at an event honoring U.S. veterans involved in the unfortunately ineffective Bay of Pigs operation. It is a comforting message to someone who gave up everything he once knew to live in a nonsocialist country and a statement that has been also backed with sanctions against the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes. Thus, I am voting for him again this November and invite others to do the same. How they shift the way they speak. What is the cadence of their conversation, and how do they respond to different people in the debate room? Politicians often shift their tone to try to relate to different people indeed, its something we all do, Kennedy noted. People can move back and forth between different ways of talking, because we all interact with different social groups, and we do this quite naturally as a way of signaling our alignment with a particular group. It can be interesting to note when and how they do this. For example, Biden often speaks in a folksy way, Kennedy noted. He might seek to cultivate an atmosphere of a calm grandfather who can handle the nations situations, Kennedy said, while Trump uses language to project authority. Everybodys a strategic speaker. We do it all the time, politicians especially, he said. Bengaluru, Sep 29 : The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday arrested four persons in connection with their alleged involvement in procuring MDMA tablets through the 'dark net' and selling them to the student community in Udupi. Udupi, one of the fastest growing cities in Karnataka, is 422 kms away from Bengaluru. According to the NCB press note, the arrested persons were identified as K. Pramodh - a consignee, Fahim - a mastermind and their associates A. Hashir and S.S. Shetty. The NCB claimed that alleged mastermind Fahim learnt the concept of purchasing drugs online (dark net) through a web series. "He started purchasing bitcoins and through bitcoins ordered drugs from the dark net. Fahim used to deliver consignments at various addresses in India and thereafter collect from there. He further sold the drugs to students of various colleges in Udupi," the NCB claimed. The NCB further added that Fahim had mastered the art of procuring drugs through the dark web from the Netherlands. "Their consignment was seized in July 2020, but due to lack of consignee address, the NCB had to gather technical data to nab this syndicate," the note read. The NCB had recovered an envelope containing 750 MDMA tablets, and was ordered through the dark net from foreign post office. "Contraband was imported through a courier parcel from the Netherlands and payment was through bitcoins," the note stated. The note further elaborated that the detailed investigation in the case with the help of digital analysis led NCB team to the arrest of all the syndicate members including the consignee K. Pramodh, mastermind Fahim and their associates A. Hashir and S.S. Shetty. NCB added that further investigations of the forward linkages is underway. (Photo : Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 05: A Google logo is shown on a screen during a keynote address by CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group Richard Yu at CES 2017 at The Venetian Las Vegas on January 5, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 8 and features 3,800 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 165,000 attendees. (Photo : Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) SAN ANSELMO, CA - JULY 29: The websites of Bing, Microsoft and Yahoo are displayed on a computer monitor July 29, 2009 in San Anselmo, California. Microsoft and Yahoo have announced a 10-year internet search partnership in an attempt to take away users from search giant Google. Due to Europe's antitrust settlement, Google must allow new Android users to download other search engines, even if it is a rival search product. Countries with different search engine choices are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, etc. Also Read: Google Play Store Bans Stalkerware Apps, Except "Spouseware" and Parental Control; Releases Updates on Developer Policies The slots for these countries were auctioned off, and one of the big winners is Bing, one of Google's rivals. The options would be available to Android users between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Also Read: Google Messages 6.7 Solves Inbox Clogging by Deleting OTPs After 24 Hours, Letting You Find Important Messages Easier This is currently the biggest news since Microsoft has managed to get its rival product placed in some of Europe's biggest markets. Bing would be available in Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. According to Bloomberg's latest report, PrivacyWall, GMX, and Info.com are the big winners of the majority of the slots across Europe. "Choice Screen" would mitigate Google's search engine monopoly The new "choice screen" had been available on Android smartphones shipped in the EU since Mar. 1. It is specifically designed to mitigate Google's search engine monopoly. Previously, Bing lost its slot to DuckDuckGo in the new Android search engine ballot. Google introduced the choice screen because of an antitrust ruling from the European Union in March, where EU regulators fined the company a record of $5 billion. They said that Google must stop "illegally tying" its browser and search engine to its mobile OS. On the other hand, the search engines available to new Android users would vary for each EU country, with the slot decided based on a "fourth-price" auction system. Different companies were willing to pay Google so that users would select their search engine as the default. The highest bidders are then shown to users. For more news updates about the new "choice screen," always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Also Read: Gmail's Logo New Look: What Changes Made So Far? This article is owned by TechTimes, Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Hopes are high that a prisoner-exchange agreement between the warring factions in Yemen could lead to a political solution ending the conflict in the country The United Nations hailed the agreement in Glion, Switzerland, on Sunday for a prisoner exchange between the warring factions in Yemen as a significant breakthrough, saying that it wanted to build on this positive development to bring about a national ceasefire and a political solution to end the conflict in the country. Under the agreement, the internationally recognised government of Yemen and the Houthi rebels agreed to release more than 1,000 prisoners during a meeting of the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Prisoners Exchange Agreement formed after negotiations in Stockholm, Sweden, last year. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said of the agreement that I was told that its very rare to have prisoner releases of this scale during a conflict, that they mostly happen after a conflict Our overall aim at the moment is to bring about an agreement on what we call a joint declaration, which is a national ceasefire to end the war in Yemen. Griffiths added that the prisoner release would be accompanied by other measures to open up ports, airports and roads in Yemen. The parties concerned both inside and outside Yemen welcomed the agreement, some considering it to be a sign of a breakthrough in the five-year conflict that has left thousands dead, many more injured and millions displaced, with the majority of the population also facing famine and dire health conditions. This is not the first prisoner swap to have taken place during the Yemen conflict, though it might be the biggest, and the implementation of such agreements has not always been smooth. Even if the present agreement leads to a ceasefire in the conflict, this, too, will not be the first. All such agreements are fragile and vulnerable to twisted interpretations by warring parties to the extent that they may not stand or last for long. The UN might also be hanging onto straws in its hopes of ending the conflict in Yemen, which has brought with it an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia and the government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi are backing the agreement and are both keen to end the conflict, but the Iran-backed Houthi militia are not willing to seriously negotiate a political settlement. The Houthi rebels have been increasing their attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, along with opening new fronts in South Yemen. They are set to capitalise on the rift between the southern parties, mainly the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Hadi government, which Riyadh had been trying to fix. The Houthi militia marked what it called 2,000 days of resistance against the Saudi-led Coalition with a food parade in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday, with a display of stacks of cash, food and other donations presented to its fighters. In the run-up to the parade, the Houthis also increased the number of their attacks with armed drones and missiles on Coalition targets. In a rare admission of direct involvement in Yemen, an Iranian military spokesman said that his country has transferred its expertise in defence technology to Yemen, so that the Yemeni people can make missiles and drones by themselves. Though he denied sending weapons, it is an established fact for the Coalition, proved by the debris of missiles intercepted over Saudi Arabia, that the Houthi rebels in Yemen are fighting with Iranian weapons. However, the Iranian spokesman said that we do not send missiles to Yemen, but they can now make them themselves to fire them at their enemies heads. Some analysts have suggested that the diplomatic efforts coinciding with the escalation of military action are an indication of a possible further breakthrough in Yemen before the end of the year. But regional developments do not support this suggestion. A settlement in Yemen is becoming more and more intertwined with other conflict areas in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Unless there is a reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the situation in Yemen will not stabilise. As one Gulf analyst put it, all the parties are also waiting for the results of the US presidential elections in November. Iran wants to keep its intervention in Yemen as a playing card with the US, especially if Trump wins a second term in the White House and a new deal between Tehran and Washington is on the table. If the Democrats win, then Yemen will also be a significant card for the Iranians to play with a Biden administration, he commented. However, the fact that America is thought to be disengaging from the region counterweighs this argument. Americans on both sides of the political arena want to offload the Yemeni burden by ending the conflict and reaching some sort of settlement, even if a fragile one. One Oxford-based British commentator on the Middle East said that the US concern was mainly the result of their support for their Gulf allies on Yemen and not necessarily the plight of the Yemeni people, whether in Houthi-controlled areas, government areas or southern areas of the country. Hadis government has accused the Houthi rebels of hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of Yemenis. Many areas of the country are in need of essential aid as the Covid-19 spreads and polio reappears in the country. Yemens National Emergency Committee has blamed the Houthis for the resurgence of the latter disease in militia-controlled areas of Saada and Hajjah, saying they had prevented polio-vaccination teams from operating there. Yemen had previously been declared polio-free in 2006. In his speech to the UN General Assembly last week, the Yemeni president also asked the Houthis to allow a UN team immediate access to an abandoned oil-tanker that risks causing massive environmental damage in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the UN has warned that international aid to Yemen is drying up, threatening the livelihoods of more than nine million people. UN Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council last week that famine in Yemen had been averted two years ago because donors had swiftly met 90 per cent of the UNs funding requirements. But the latest figures show that the current $3.4 billion appeal is less than 38 per cent funded. The worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen is unlikely to help to bring about a rapid resolution of the conflict in the war-torn country. And meanwhile many Yemenis feel they have been abandoned by allies and foes alike. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Ireland's 'Green List' of countries that people can travel to without restricting their movements on return has been cut further. The revised list, which takes effect today, is made up of just four countries - Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Liechtenstein. The 'Green List' uses a cut-off of 25 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people, with rising incidences in Germany (27.0), Iceland (90.4), Lithuania (27.5) and Poland (25.6) leading to their removal after just one week. Liechtenstein (20.8) is the only new addition - a tiny state with no airport. The list is being updated every Thursday, with changes taking effect the following Monday, as an interim measure until a new European 'traffic light' system for travel is approved. Read More The common European approach is expected to be in place from mid-October and will see countries colour-coded as red, orange or green based on a weekly assessment of their 14-day incidence of Covid-19 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Other metrics such as the percentage rate of positive cases will also be a factor. Under the proposed system, 'green' countries would have 25 cases or less per 100,000 people, 'orange' countries would have between 25 and 50 per 100,000, and 'red' countries would have more than 50. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have expressed disappointment at Ireland's interim approach, as it does not include 'orange' countries such as Italy, Greece or Sweden. However, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said that different countries may opt into the 'traffic light' system in different ways. It is still a bit up in the air and there will be, certainly, flexibility as to how different countries treat amber and red, he said. Green will be green, theres no doubt about that, but amber and red may be treated differently by different countries, whether its testing or restricted movements. Read More Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs has also pointed out that travellers should be mindful of any restrictions at their destination. Ireland's 14-day average is currently 71.6 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 of the population - well above the 'red' threshold. The figures mean travellers from Ireland to Cyprus must show negative test results on arrival, for instance, while those travelling to Latvia are required to self-isolate there for 10 days. Meanwhile, calls have been growing for a pre-departure testing regime in Ireland to complement the proposed 'traffic light' system, eliminate quarantines and help to restore confidence in travel. Dublin and Cork airports are reportedly in talks about establishing possible testing centres, and the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) said it was in favour of pre-departure testing. "Covid-19 testing has progressed rapidly since March," it said. "The ITAA believes that the use of quick, accurate, easy to use and affordable testing measures could be an interim solution and have a positive effect on air travel in the coming weeks and months." The Department of Health last week told the Irish Independent that consideration is being given to additional travel measures, "including the nature of any testing regime". However, it also pointed to what it termed the "elevated risk of imported cases of Covid-19" through international travel. "The measures we have adopted in relation to international travel have been essential in suppressing the spread of the disease in Ireland," the Department said in a statement. According to Government data, around 2pc of Ireland's cases are related to "travel abroad", a figure that has remained stable since June. Sign up for our free travel newsletter! Like what you're reading? Subscribe to 'Travel Insider', our free travel newsletter written by award-winning Travel Editor, Pol O Conghaile. For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers. LONDON, ONTARIO - A new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University illustrates how the gut microbiome interacts with an oral medication in prostate cancer patients, suggesting bacteria in the gut play a role in treatment outcomes. The findings, published in Nature Communications, highlight how the drug abiraterone acetate is metabolized by bacteria in the gut to reduce harmful organisms while promoting those that fight cancer. The team suspects this is one of many examples of how the microbiome influences our response to medications. "Research is beginning to uncover the ways in which the human microbiome influences cancer development, progression and treatment," explains Brendan Daisley, a PhD candidate at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry who is conducting research at Lawson. "Our study highlights a key interaction between a cancer drug and the gut microbiome that results in beneficial organisms with anti-cancer properties." Traditional prostate cancer therapies are designed to deprive the body of hormones called androgens, which are responsible for prostate cancer growth. "Unfortunately, traditional androgen deprivation therapies are not always effective," explains Dr. Joseph Chin, Lawson Associate Scientist, Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and Urologist at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). "In those cases, alternative therapies are explored." Abiraterone acetate is a highly effective therapy used in the treatment of prostate cancer that has been resistant to other treatments. While abiraterone acetate also works to reduce androgens in the body, it does so through a different mechanism and, unlike traditional therapies, it is taken orally. "When drugs are taken orally, they make their way through the intestinal tract where they come into contact with billions of microorganisms," says Dr. Jeremy Burton, Lawson Scientist, Associate Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and lead researcher on the study. "While it's long been a mystery why abiraterone acetate is so effective, our team wondered if the gut microbiome plays a role." The team's study included 68 prostate cancer patients from LHSC, including those being treated with abiraterone acetate and those being treated with traditional androgen deprivation therapies. The research team collected and analyzed patient stool samples, and conducted further experiments in their laboratory at St. Joseph's Health Care London. They discovered that patients' gut microbiomes changed drastically after taking abiraterone acetate. Bacteria in the gut metabolized the drug leading to a significant increase in a bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila. Referred to as a 'next-generation probiotic,' this bacterium's relevance has recently been explored in several large cancer studies. It's been shown to facilitate a better response to cancer immunotherapy drugs and it can elicit a wide range of other positive health benefits as well. The increase in Akkermansia muciniphila also led to an increased production of vitamin K2 which is known for anti-cancer properties that can inhibit tumour growth. The team also observed the impact of androgen depletion on the microbiome. Both abiraterone acetate and traditional androgen deprivation therapies led to a decrease in organisms that utilize androgen. "These findings clearly demonstrate that the gut microbiome is playing a role in treatment response," notes Dr. Burton. The team hopes to further explore drug-microbiome interactions with a goal of harnessing the microbiome to improve treatment outcomes for a variety of diseases. In another study, they are exploring whether fecal microbiota transplants from a healthy donor can change the microbiome of melanoma patients to increase organisms like Akkermansia muciniphila and improve response to immunotherapy. They also plan to study whether analysis of a patient's microbiome can be used to predict their response to specific therapies. "While more research is needed, we may one day be able to analyze a patient's microbiome to determine the best course of treatment or even influence the microbiome to improve outcomes," says Dr. Burton. "This could lead to a new frontier in personalized medicine." ### The study was made possible through the generous support of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation and the Canadian Urologic Oncology Group. MEDIA CONTACT: Robert DeLaet, Communications Consultant, Lawson Health Research Institute, t. 519.619.3872, robert.delaet@lawsonresearch.com ABOUT LAWSON HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE Lawson Health Research Institute is one of Canada's top hospital-based research institutes, tackling the most pressing challenges in health care. As the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London, our innovation happens where care is delivered. Lawson research teams are at the leading-edge of science with the goal of improving health and the delivery of care for patients. Working in partnership with Western University, our researchers are encouraged to pursue their curiosity, collaborate often and share their discoveries widely. Research conducted through Lawson makes a difference in the lives of patients, families and communities around the world. ABOUT WESTERN UNIVERSITY Western University delivers an academic experience second to none. Since 1878, The Western Experience has combined academic excellence with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social and cultural growth in order to better serve our communities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western attracts individuals with a broad worldview, seeking to study, influence and lead in the international community. ABOUT SCHULICH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University is one of Canada's preeminent medical and dental schools. Established in 1881, it was one of the founding schools of Western University and is known for being the birthplace of family medicine in Canada. For more than 130 years, the School has demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence and a passion for scientific discovery. Despite the Minister of Healths assurances there will be no caps or quotas on COVID-19 testing, assessment centres in two Ontario regions ones that include Ottawa and London, cities with significant outbreaks are being directed to limit the swabs they collect, memos obtained by the Star show. In the provincial health region that includes Ottawa, assessment centres are being asked to submit 1,215 fewer swabs per day because of new testing targets, according to a memo sent by an official with Ontario Health, the agency in charge of COVID testing. Its not clear from the memo where across the region the reductions would come from: the area also includes Kingston, Peterborough and many smaller testing sites. The provincial health region that includes London was also given daily swab targets, according to another memo. Those targets would result in one of the citys testing sites collecting fewer swabs per day than recent averages, and one collecting more. So far this week, both of Londons major assessment centres have reached capacity before noon, saying they had issued the allotment of testing spots for the day. Both Ottawa and London have seen worrying case counts. Ottawa reported 106 new cases on Tuesday, the second-highest tally after Toronto. The citys assessment centres have also seen massive lineups and hit capacity well before posted closing times. London grappled in recent weeks with an outbreak connected to students at Western University; the document laying out swab targets for the city identifies London as a hot spot. The memos were written by regional officials with Ontario Health. Both describe the testing volume allocations as efforts to prevent the provinces lab system from being overwhelmed. They also ask the assessment centres to pause any growth or expansion. They describe the pause on expanding testing capacity as a temporary requirement while the province boosts its lab capacity, but do not say how long the situation will last. Ontario Health did not respond to requests for comment and more information, including whether testing caps are being implemented in other parts of the province, or whether the agency is concerned this will limit the provinces ability to track the full extent of the epidemic during a time of rapidly rising case counts. Premier Doug Ford said Monday that Ontario was in its second wave of the pandemic. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, after first directing requests for comment to Ontario Health, emailed a statement late Monday night. Minister of Health Christine Elliott has been unequivocal that there are to be no caps or quotas on testing. As we have said from the outset of the pandemic, everyone who needs a test must be able to access a test, spokesperson Carly Luis wrote. Late Tuesday afternoon, Ontario Health issued a memo to assessment centres describing testing targets as how many tests a region should need, based on what weve historically observed in each region these targets go beyond anticipated need based on the ministrys new testing guidance. The province announced new guidelines on who can get tested at assessment centres last week, telling the public not to get tested if they have no symptoms and no known exposure to a confirmed case or outbreak, with a few limited exceptions. Our public health officials have advised that this updated guidance will help ensure those individuals have access to a timely test. As always, our number one priority is to protect the health and safety of Ontarians and that is what we are focused on with this updated testing guidance, Luis said in the statement. The province also announced $1 billion to expand COVID-19 testing and contact tracing last week. But officials running the labs warn it could take time to boost that capacity: labs all around the world are in competition for the same finite supply of equipment and resources, and require specially trained professionals to operate that equipment. In Ontario Health West, which includes London, a document sets out targets for assessment centres in the region. According to the document, Londons assessment centres collected 866 swabs on average last week, with a projected target for this week of 958. But the confirmed target for these sites was set at 950, with one assessment centre given a target lower than its recent average and another given a target higher than its average. Testing sites in surrounding areas including Grey Bruce and Huron Perth, which each saw single-digit cases last week were given targets higher than their recent averages. The memo from an official with Ontario Health East, which includes Ottawa and Kingston, wrote that the province has made it clear that, until the lab system is able to adequately increase capacity, there needs to be a pause on any additional capacity added to testing; with temporary restrictions for some areas. The province has provided the region with some estimated volumes that, compared to existing lab capacity, indicates a need to reduce overall swabs by approximately 1,215 per day. The memo says a provincial team will be reviewing the total swabs used by each region daily to allow for adjustment over time as lab capacity increases, and also warns that if swabs arent tracked accurately, targets may have to be further reduced to mitigate risk. The Union home ministry on Tuesday strongly refuted Amnesty International's allegation that it was being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt", saying India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations. Photograph: Kind courtesy Amnesty India/Facebook Coming down heavily on the organisation, the ministry also said all the "glossy statements" about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. The Amnesty International's statement was "unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth," the home ministry said. "Such statements are also an attempt to extraneously influence the course of investigations by multiple agencies into the irregularities and illegalities carried out over the last few years," the home ministry said in a detailed statement. The home ministry said the Amnesty International had received permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act only once and that too 20 years ago, on December 19, 2000. Since then the organisation, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible for it. However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment. A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty (India) without MHA's approval under the FCRA. "This mala fide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions," it said. Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas, the home ministry said. This had led Amnesty to suspend its India operations once during that period as well. The home ministry said this bipartisan and purely legal approach towards Amnesty, under different governments, makes it clear that the entire fault lies in the dubious processes adopted by Amnesty to secure funds for its operations. "The stand taken and the statements made by Amnesty International are unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth," the home ministry said. The home ministry said Amnesty is free to continue humanitarian work in India, as is being done by many other organisations. "However, India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations. "This law applies equally to all and it shall apply to Amnesty International as well," the home ministry statement said. India has a rich and pluralistic democratic culture with a free press, independent judiciary and a tradition of vibrant domestic debate, it said. The people of India have placed unprecedented trust in the current government, the home ministry said. "The Amnesty's failure to comply with local regulations does not entitle them to make comments on the democratic and plural character of India," it said. Earlier in the day, the Amnesty International said it is halting all its activities in India due to freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over unfounded and motivated allegations. The Amnesty India said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. "The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt," the Amnesty said in its statement. Meanwhile, government sources said that there is no Enforcement Directorate investigation against Amnesty International India Foundation, but against a private company linked to the NGO that allegedly received dubious export proceeds worth over Rs 51 crore. They said the Enforcement Directorate, a federal probe agency to check money laundering and forex violation crimes, is investigating two entities -- Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd and Indians for Amnesty International Trust. Both are being probed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and under the civil proceedings of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, they said. The agency had issued a show-cause notice to Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd last September for alleged contravention of FEMA to the tune of over Rs 51 crore. "Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd has allegedly received export proceed of Rs 51.72 crore during financial year 2013-14 to 2018-19 from Amnesty International, UK." "Investigation proved that no services were exported and the amounts so received were in contravention to the provisions of the FEMA and PMLA," a senior officer said. The contravention has led to "freezing" of balance deposit in the bank accounts of Amnesty India International Pvt Ltd and Indians for Amnesty International Trust, the officer said. Sources said this freezing order was challenged by the two entities before the Karnataka High Court and the ED order was upheld by the court. "No other fund except for alleged export proceeds received from Amnesty International,UK is under investigation or freezing under the law," the officer said. Amnesty International on Tuesday said it is halting all its activities in India due to freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over unfounded and motivated allegations. "Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India," it said. Amnesty involved in multiple illegalities', says BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party alleged Amnesty International is involved in "multiple illegalities" and it has no right to lecture on propriety, hours after the human rights watchdog said it was halting India operations over an "incessant witch-hunt". Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP leader Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said any organisation can work in India but it cannot violate the laws and regulations of the country. Any organization can function in India, but it has to be within its legal ambit. Wearing a veil of honesty and acting in bad faith is not something we will permit to Indian or foreign organisations," he said. Rathore also alleged that Amnesty International received foreign funds illegally. "Multiple illegalities have been undertaken by Amnesty International, therefore, it has no right to lecture on propriety, especially when it faces action over its illegal practices," Rathore said. He further said that in 2009, Amnesty International's license had been rejected by the UPA government for receiving foreign funds and their operations were suspended. Nazis have exterminated Jews, Gypsies, Soviet POWs, Ukrainian nationalists, patients of Kyiv's psychiatric clinic, inmates of the local concentration camp and others whom they considered "enemies" in what's believed to be one of WW2's most horrifying massacres. Ukraine on September 29 marks the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar (Babi Yar) tragedy, one of the most tragic pages in the history of World War II, when the Nazis launched mass executions of civilians in Kyiv. "Today we honor the memory of the victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy. Innocent lives were taken as a result of the criminal and ruthless actions of the Nazi regime. The tragedy of such scale remains our pain, not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world," Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov said in an address posted on the parliament's website. According to the official, no matter how many years have passed since those terrible events, people have no right to forget about the causes and irreparable consequences of that tragedy. "Genocide is the most terrible crime against humanity, so we must do everything possible to prevent this from happening again. Only by remembering these terrible pages of history can we build a safe future for our children," he said. Read alsoZelensky holds video conference on construction of Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial CenterRazumkov stressed that modern, democratic, and strong Ukraine remembers the hard lessons of the past and stands not to recognize any manifestations of intolerance. He expressed confidence that only by uniting around important issues, protecting human life as the highest value, and discarding differences that artificially divide Ukrainians, is it possible to create a successful and prosperous state. Babyn Yar tragedy From September 1941 to the end of September 1943, Babyn Yar was the site of regular massacres and burials carried out by Nazi Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei) and SD (the SS intelligence service) of the Einsatzgruppen, special action groups, along with the occupying authority of Kyiv. Jews, Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, Ukrainian nationalists, patients of Kyiv's psychiatric hospital, prisoners of the Syrets concentration camp, and others whom the Nazis considered their enemies were slain and buried in mass graves Babyn Yar. Over 100,000 civilians and prisoners of war were massacred at the site during World War 2. Recruiters from banks hold an online interview with applicants during a financial job expo that took place for three days from Aug. 26 in Seoul. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Commercial banks here are reinforcing their digital workforce by cutting recruitment of bank clerks and expanding that of IT experts, in their bid to become online-driven and digitally agile lenders at the earliest possible date. The nation's five largest banks shared their plan to cut the number of new employees in half this year, compared to a year ago, amid unfavorable market circumstances induced by the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic. The lenders including KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup hired a combined 3,000 new bank clerks in 2019, but they plan to recruit only half as many this year, with a focus on experts in digital banking and data management. All of the major lenders have included a category of digital and IT experts for this year's recruitment as part of their efforts to embrace the post-coronavirus banking paradigm shift represented by online-driven transactions. CEOs from the lenders have in recent months underlined their determination to prioritize making their organizations more digitally agile in line with the rise of non-face-to-face transactions becoming increasingly prevalent after COVID-19 swept across the nation and changed consumers' shopping patterns. "Employees and the organization need to make more efforts to be more agile and responsive to the digital era where a creative and open culture is being established," KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said in a message to celebrate the group's anniversary, Tuesday. The diminishing number of new bank clerks is partially due to new trends in recruitment, with lenders favoring year-round recruitment particularly in the digital sector, rather than sticking to their decades-long practice of hiring thousands of new clerks at certain times of the year. "Despite the widespread belief about the conservative nature of the banking industry, most banks are moving to let go of their long-lasting public recruitment culture and hire new employees from time to time, in a bid to adapt to the rapidly changing market environment," an official from one lender said. But it remains to be seen whether banks can hire skilled IT experts, as those well-qualified for the positions are unlikely to work for the banking industry, according to another official from the tech industry. "In general, those with outstanding experience in the IT industry rarely want to get a job in the banking industry," the source said. "Most of them prefer other tech-driven conglomerates or promising IT startups. Banks may have to extend exceptional offers to recruit top-level technicians." Michelle Parker, a San Francisco-based flight attendant for a U.S. carrier, with a house, a spouse and three kids living in Sydney, Australia, really wants to go home, and stay home. But she can't. That's because of Australia's stringent quarantine rules that are currently allowing a very measured number of citizens and permanent residents to trickle back into the country. Currently, that number is set at just 6,000 per week. As of Sept. 28, Australia, with a population of about 25 million, has recorded 875 deaths from COVID-19, and reports 27,044 cases, compared with the U.S., which just surpassed 200,000 deaths, and 7 million cases according to Johns Hopkins University. It's no surprise that the isolated nation, which has done a relatively good job keeping the coronavirus under control, would keep close tabs on who and how many outsiders are allowed in. But that's not much consolation for the tens of thousands of ex-pat Australians, known for their global "walkabouts" on lengthy vacations or work assignments, who now want to go home. Before the pandemic began, there were nearly 1 million peripatetic Australians living and working overseas at any given time, according to Australia's Consular Services. It's even tougher for Parker, with a job in the U.S. and a family in Australia. Before COVID-19 locked Australia's borders, she was able to come and go as she pleased, working international flights, and then returning home to her family in Australia for long stints between assignments. Now, due to new quarantine rules, she's only allowed into Australia when she's working, since flight attendants are considered essential workers. While in Australia, she must stay at an assigned hotel, not at her home in Sydney. If she was able to stay, she'd have to comply with the 14-day hotel quarantine, for which she'd have to pay US$2,100 and then repeat that for every subsequent stay. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. "I'm functionally homeless," she told SFGATE. "I have no access to health care, I have three kids at home with my husband who can't focus on his work because he's taking care of them, so we can't afford for me to quit my job," she said. She's appealed her case to numerous authorities, but has not yet been allowed to return and stay without quarantining. Currently, the country has caps on how many people are allowed in, so as not to overwhelm its strictly enforced quarantine rules, which require new arrivals to live, locked in hotels, for two weeks. Those in quarantine are monitored daily by local police. Officially, there are about 35,700 Australians still struggling to get home, many booking flights which are subsequently canceled, according to Australia's 9 News. Unofficially, some observers think there are around 100,000 Australians hoping to get home this year. Qantas, the national carrier, has shut down all international flying through July 2021, so it's not an option for those hoping to repatriate. A few other carriers, including United, are still flying to Australia, but with limited schedules, and frequent cancellations due to the caps on arriving passengers, That's frustrating for those competing for space on these flights, which seem to be postponed into oblivion. Parker says that there are only 30-50 passengers on the flights she works between San Francisco and Sydney due to the passenger caps. Regrettably, it does not appear that the situation is going to improve in the near term for Australia's stranded expats. London's Daily Mail says the federal government has reportedly been working on a large scale plan to bring Australians back to the country and quarantine them in remote facilities. To help pay for plane tickets and living expenses, the government is offering US$1,400 loans to the afflicted, which is not much considering the cheapest one-way flights are running close to $1,100 (SFO-SYD), and once on the ground, they must pay $2,100 for their quarantine accommodations. As I was finishing up this story, Parker contact me with some good news. After months of contacting members of Parliament and the media, she has been granted an exemption, and can now live with her family between flying assignments. But even at home, she's required to self-isolate, she's not allowed to leave her apartment and has to submit to calls and checkups from the local health department. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Mexicos Aeromar to connect Cancun with Cuba Cancun, Q.R. Cancun will be the starting point for the new regular flights that Aeromar will launch to Cuba starting November. The new flights will be in coordination with Viajes Libero to expand and diversify its routes. Through offices in Cancun and Havana, Aeromar customers will be able to purchase packages to the Cuban capital as well as to Varadero and Cayos, aboard its modern aircraft. These new flights from Cancun will begin in a staggered manner, the first starting on November 5 with two weekly frequencies to Havana on Thursday and Sunday. On November 6, the Cancun-Varadero flight will begin each Friday. As of December 3, Aeromar will put into operation the route to Santa Clara that will fly every Saturday, and which will also arrive at Cayo Largo on Sundays from Cancun. With these new routes, the Mexican regional airline will expand the international connectivity with Cancun using its ATR 72-600 aircraft. All flights will comply with international health protocols and measures to guarantee safety and confidence to passengers. - Mahama has for the first time spoken about the disturbances going on in the Volta Region - He is unhappy about how some few people want to distort the peaceful coexistence among Ghanaians - The NDC flagbearer noted that the rest of the country will fight back and fend off the attacks by these secessionist groups Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Former President John Dramani Mahama has broken his silence for the first time on the unrest in the Volta region, with regards to the Western Togoland secessionist group. According to the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the rest of the country will fight back and fend off the attacks by these secessionist groups. In a report filed by Kasapafmonline, Mahama noted that the harmony and peaceful cohabitation being enjoyed by Ghanaians for the past years, must not be destroyed by a few selfish people. WesternTogoland: Mahama finally breaks silence; chides them for violent acts Source: Facebook(John Dramani Mahama) Source: Original Ghanas land belongs to Ghana, Ghana is a sovereign republic and nobody can claim a part of Ghana. All of us came together to make Ghana so we cannot sit aloof and watch some people take Ghana. If its so, then everyone will trace their history and come for a part of their share which will not be a good thing. What brings us together is the fact that we are all Ghanaians, Mahama noted. Former President Mahama's comments come on the back of the second attack launched by the group at the State Transport Corporation (STC) in the Volta regional capital, Ho. He made these comments while addressing a gathering in the Bono region, where his campaign train is currently at. In this latest attack allegedly carried out by the group, YEN.com.gh reported that the State Transport Corporation (STC) has had one of its mini buses burnt by unknown persons at Ho, the Volta Regional Capital. According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on the verified Facebook handle of renowned journalist, Israel Laryea, a number of drivers at the station were assaulted. This follows last Fridays attack blamed on secessionists calling themselves by different forms of identifications. On September 25, 2020, the nation woke up to the trending news of several routes to the Volta Region getting blocked by members of the different secessionist groups. They were believed to have belonged to one of the Western Togoland Group and the Homeland Study Group Foundation organizations. It appears as though the different groups share the same interest to seek independence of the Volta Region from Ghana as a country on its own. Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos. Source: YEN.com.gh Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Milan, Italy Tue, September 29, 2020 22:04 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c48042b9 2 Lifestyle Black-people,fashion-designer,fashion,Milan-Fashion-Week,Milan Free Black designers presented collections at Milan's fashion week in a show aimed at raising awareness of the lack of diversity in the industry. The five designers are part of the Black Lives Matter in Italian Fashion group, a name inspired by the international movement leading worldwide protests against racial injustice. The "We are Made in Italy" digital event was filmed in Milan's grand Palazzo Clerici and hosted the spring/summer 2021 collections of Fabiola Manirakiza, Mokodu Fall, Claudia Gisele Ntsama, Karim Daoudi and Joy Meribe. The event was one of the virtual shows of the first fashion week since the coronavirus pandemic. Read also: Paris fashion designers make Black Lives Matter plea The five designers were mentored by Italian-Haitian Stella Jean, the only Black member of the Italian fashion council, who is campaigning against racism in the industry. "Made in Italy was represented around the world as being a white concept, now it is no longer like this. The new Italy is not this and does not want to be this," said Jean. Jean is demanding the sector's governing body supports Black designers and has called on Italian fashion houses to do more to confront racism. "In Italy we have a racial problem and if we don't start opening the wound in order to heal it, the wound will never heal," she said. (Natural News) Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is looking for answers from both the Department of Justice and the FBI regarding the wiping of a large amount of data from several smartphones used by members of Robert Muellers special counsel team, who were investigating alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia. On Thursday, Sep. 10, the Justice Department released 87 pages of documents from a Freedom of Information Act request showing that at least 27 iPhones were used by members of the special counsels office. The government official who reviewed the devices when they were turned in found that data was completely wiped from 22 of the smartphones. At least two phones had their data wiped more than once. On 11 occasions, employees of the special counsels office said the data wipes were accidental, and on seven other occasions employees said they inputted the wrong password too many times, causing the phone to wipe itself. (Related: How is this not illegal? Robert Muellers team wiped nearly 30 cellphones to get rid of any incriminating evidence.) In a letter addressed to Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Chirstopher Wray, Sen. Grassley wrote: It appears that Special Counsel Muellers team may have deleted federal records that could be key to better understanding their decision-making process as they pursued their investigation and wrote their report. Indeed, many officials apparently deleted the records after the Department of Justice Inspector General began his inquiry into how the Department mishandles [FBI investigation] Crossfire Hurricane. Senate Republicans demanding more transparency Grassley is now asking the Justice Department to provide an unredacted version of the documents that were released. Not only that, but he also wants the records from all of the government phones issued to Muellers staff, as well as any records that may explain why each employee deleted the data from their smartphones. He also wants to know if the FBI or any other agency is investigating the matter, and whether somebody has attempted to recover the lost data. Grassley isnt alone. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, also sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Justice Department, Michael Horowitz, to investigate what, why and how information was wiped, whether any wrongdoing occurred and who these devices belonged to. Along with asking Horowitz to open an investigation, Johnson also wants to know whether the Justice Department knew about this issue before it surfaced, and if the Inspector General has the ability to recover any of the lost information from the phones. Both Johnson and Grassley have a lot of reasons to be concerned regarding the lack of transparency in the special counsels team, especially since this has happened before. Back in 2018, the Justice Departments Office of the Inspector General detailed an extensive effort to recover text messages sent between FBI attorney Lisa Page and the FBIs deputy assistant director Peter Strzok. Before the Inspector Generals investigators could get their hands on the pairs smartphones, they had been completely wiped. Apparently, Strzok and Page texted each other constantly about how much they hated President Donald Trump, about how they wanted to help stop him from winning his reelection bid in 2020 and how they wanted some kind of insurance policy if he were to win a second term. When Horowitz informed Mueller of the text messages, Strzok was immediately removed from the special counsels team. This is also when almost all of the phones, with the exception of Pages, were wiped. This raised concerns that the wiped data may contain evidence of criminal conduct on the part of the special counsel or his office. This is part of the reason why Republican senators like Grassley and Johnson are now worried that a lot more evidence of improper or criminal conduct may now be lost in the nearly 30 other empty smartphones. Congress and the American people are owed answers regarding Special Counsel Mueller and his team, wrote Grassley. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com KITV.com TheHill.com WEST HAVEN Officers seized fentanyl, crack cocaine, marijuana and Oxycodone pills after an attempted traffic stop last week led to a pursuit and the driver crashing into a utility pole, police said. Around 10 p.m. on Sept. 25, the Street Crime Unit was patrolling the area of First Avenue and Spring Street when they spotted suspected drug activity involving a driver of a white Lincoln SUV, police said. Patrol officers tried to pull the driver over on Spring Street near the New Haven line but the driver, later identified as Tashuan Minor-Davis, instead started a pursuit with officers, police said. The officers called off the pursuit and began searching the area for the Lincoln, which they found crashed into a telephone pole in New Haven on Washington Avenue, police said. As officers walked up to the vehicle, Minor-Davis tried to run away while discarding crack cocaine in his path of travel, police said. Minor-Davis was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit, police said. Investigators recovered 20 grams of pure fentanyl, 39 grams of crack cocaine and a small quantity of marijuana and Oxycodone pills from the scene, police said. Minor-Davis, 23, was charged with interfering with an officer, possession with intent to sell over one-half ounce of cocaine, two counts of possession with intent to sell narcotics, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, illegally obtaining a prescription drug, engaging police in a pursuit, reckless driving, failure to display a license plate and possession of less than one-half ounce of a marijuana. He was released after posting a $100,000 bond. WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alion has been awarded a five-year $142 million prime task order to provide Mobility, Power, and Energy enhancements for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC). Alion was awarded this contract under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center's (DoD IAC) multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle. These DoD IAC MAC task orders (TOs) are awarded by the U.S. Air Force's 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron to develop and create new knowledge for the enhancement of the DTIC repository and the R&D and S&T community. "Alion continues to support the Army's military ground vehicle research and development (R&D) center optimizing ground fleets and developing technologies that advance these vehicles," said Todd Stirtzinger, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Alion's Advanced Technology Group. "Our extensive program knowledge, subject matter expertise, and engineering talent allows us to identify and successfully address complex engineering challenges." Alion will provide R&D into mobility, power, and energy systems to improve current force effectiveness as well as provide superior capabilities for the future force. This includes manned and unmanned Ground Combat Systems, Combat Service and Service Support Systems, Hybrid Combat Vehicles, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, and Robotic Vehicles. "For 19 years, Alion has demonstrated the ability to perform complex, technical tasks required to fulfill GVSC's mission and objectives. Our team's combined expertise in Ground Power and Mobility ensures the next generation of combat vehicles incorporate the most advanced technology and innovation," said Jim Moratis, Operations Vice President of Alion's Advanced Technology Group. ABOUT DOD IAC PROGRAM The DoD IAC program operates as a part of Defense Technical Information Center and provides technical data management and research support for DoD and federal government users. Established in the 1940s, the IAC program serves the DoD Science & Technology (S&T) and acquisition communities driving innovation and technological developments by enhancing collaboration through integrated scientific and technical information development and dissemination for the DoD and broader S&T community. ABOUT ALION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION Solving some of our nation's most complex national security challenges, Alion works side-by-side with our Defense and Intelligence communities as we design and deliver advanced engineering solutions to meet current and future demands. We go beyond the superficial and dive deep into the root of the engineering complexities, and bring innovation to reality. With global industry expertise in Big Data, Analytics, and Cyber Security; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Live, Virtual, and Constructive Training; Electronic Warfare and C5ISR; and Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing, Alion delivers mission success where and when it matters most. To learn more, visit www.alionscience.com. Disclaimer. "This material is based upon work supported by the DoD Information Analysis Center Program Management Office (DoD IAC PMO), sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)under Contract No. FA807518D0002." Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited. "Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron." SOURCE Alion Science and Technology Corporation Related Links http://www.alionscience.com News Release: Untapped Potential Exists for Blending Hydropower, Floating PV Sept. 29, 2020 Hybrid systems of floating solar panels and hydropower plants may hold the technical potential to produce a significant portion of the electricity generated annually across the globe, according to an analysis by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The researchers estimate that adding floating solar panels to bodies of water that are already home to hydropower stations could produce as much as 7.6 terawatts of potential power a year from the solar PV systems alone, or about 10,600 terawatt-hours of potential annual generation. Those figures do not include the amount generated from hydropower. For comparison, global final electricity consumption was just over 22,300 terawatt-hours in 2018, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the International Energy Agency. This is really optimistic, said Nathan Lee, a researcher with NRELs Integrated Decision Support group and lead author of a new paper published in the journal Renewable Energy. This does not represent what could be economically feasible or what the markets could actually support. Rather, it is an upper-bound estimate of feasible resources that considers waterbody constraints and generation system performance. The article, Hybrid floating solar photovoltaics-hydropower systems: Benefits and global assessment of technical potential, was co-authored by NREL colleagues Ursula Grunwald, Evan Rosenlieb, Heather Mirletz, Alexandra Aznar, Robert Spencer, and Sadie Cox. Rendering shows a schematic of a hybrid floating PV-hydropower system. Floating photovoltaics (PV) remain a nascent technology in the United States, but their use has caught on overseas where space for ground-mounted systems is less available. Previous NREL work estimated that installing floating solar panels on man-made U.S. reservoirs could generate about 10 percent of the nations annual electricity production. So far, only a small hybrid floating solar/hydropower system has been installed, and that is in Portugal. NREL estimates 379,068 freshwater hydropower reservoirs across the planet could host combined floating PV sites with existing hydropower facilities. Additional siting data is needed prior to any implementation because some reservoirs may be dry during parts of the year or may not be otherwise conducive to hosting floating PV. Potential benefits exist by coupling floating PV with hydropower. For example, a hybrid system would reduce transmission costs by linking to a common substation. Additionally, the two technologies can balance each other. The greatest potential for solar power is during dry seasons, while for hydropower rainy seasons present the best opportunity. Under one scenario, that means operators of a hybrid system could use pumped storage hydropower to store excess solar generation. Funding for the research came from NRELs Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program. NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC. Lower-income Americans, blacks and Hispanics bearing brunt of COVID-19 economic fallout: study Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Large swaths of American adults have been struggling to pay for necessities like housing and food since the start of the new coronavirus pandemic. But the brunt of the economic fallout from the virus has been more acutely felt among adults with lower incomes, those without a college degree and black and Hispanic Americans, according to the findings of a new Pew Research Center survey. The survey of 13,200 U.S. adults conducted from Aug. 3-16, 2020, using the Centers American Trends Panel, found that overall, one-in-four adults have had trouble paying their bills since the start of the pandemic, a third have dipped into savings or retirement accounts to make ends meet, while approximately one-in-six have borrowed money from friends or family or received food from a food bank. Among lower-income adults, according to the survey, an even larger share (46%) say they have had trouble paying their bills. Some 32% say its been hard for them to make rent or mortgage payments compared to the 20% of middle-income adults who face these struggles. The challenge among upper-income adults is substantially smaller. When it comes to job loss, some 25% of U.S. adults reported that they or someone in their household was laid off or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak overall. Some 15% reported personal job loss with lower-income adults and young adults being impacted the most. Prior to the pandemic, the Feds Survey of Consumer Finances showed that personal finances fueled by income gains and rising home prices had been improving for American families. Economists are now worried that the gains from the longest economic expansion on record may have been wiped out for minority and less-educated employees who were more likely to be working in the service industry jobs impacted by the pandemic. Without a doubt, it will worsen, Julia Coronado, founder of MacroPolicy Perspectives and a former Fed economist, told The New York Times. We know that the skew of the unemployment is toward lower-income, more economically vulnerable people. Labor Department data shows that while the unemployment rate was 8.4% in August, it was 13% for black people. The jobless rate for those with less than a high school diploma was also more than twice that for adults with a bachelors degree or more. The economic downturn has not fallen equally on all Americans and those least able to shoulder the burden have been hardest hit, Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said at a news conference this month. In particular, the high level of joblessness has been especially severe for lower-wage workers in the services sector, for women and for African-Americans and Hispanics. The new data from the Survey of Consumer Finances also highlighted dramatic gaps in income and wealth across racial groups. Black families median wealth stood at just $24,100 in 2019 compared to $188,200 for white households and $36,100 for Hispanic families. Summit Credit Union of North Carolina in partnership with The Needham Group, Inc. has launched their new in-house insurance program, Summit Insurance Solutions to provide a full suite of affordable auto, home, and commercial insurance products working with national carriers such as Nationwide, Progressive, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and more. Established in 1998, The Needham Group, Inc. is an independent insurance agency, headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., specializing in personal and business insurance. The partnership offers an in-house insurance program for Summit Credit Union members. Joining the Summit team is Vickie Hill, associate insurance agent, who will be located at Summits West Market Street branch in Greensboro. Hill has been in insurance industry for more than 26 years, specializing in auto and homeowners insurance. Summit Credit Union was established in 1935 and is a full-service not-for-profit financial cooperative providing services to employees at over 280 companies throughout North Carolina. It has over 38,000 members and assets of approximately $293 million. Summit Credit Union offers a portfolio of personal financial products, including checking accounts, debit cards, credit cards, home banking, direct deposit, mobile app, ATMs, and more. While on post, Department members will be highly visible. Vehicles will have their Mars lights activated for the duration of their tour of duty, according to one of the memos, which said the policy change will remain in effect until further notice. Department members will also ensure that they have their helmets, batons, masks (if issued) with them, and be prepared for inclement weather. Body Worn Cameras (BWC), if assigned, will be required. District collectors should step up efforts to further decrease the COVID-19 mortality rate in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Tuesday. Addressing a review meeting of district collectors on COVID-19 through a virtual link from the secretariat, Palaniswami flagged the need for more awareness. District collectors should increase awareness among the people on the need to seek healthcare assistance by visiting hospitals within 24 hours of the manifestation of symptoms like fever, breathlessness, fatigue and a loss of taste, he said. "Priority must be given to samples of senior citizens and those with co-morbidities while conducting RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests to detect COVID. Test results should be declared expeditiously," he advised. The Chief Minister asked the collectors to monitor more if the protocol for treating COVID patients were being followed in government and private hospitals. "District collectors should periodically inspect the amenities at COVID care centres." So far Rs 7,323 crore has been spent on prevention, treatment and relief for the pandemic, he said. In view of a string of measures to combat COVID, Tamil Nadu's recovery rate is above 90.50 per cent and mortality is pretty low at 1.60 per cent, he noted. Though has a low mortality rate, it needed to be further reduced and district collectors, in consultation with health officials, should intensify measures to make it happen, Palaniswami said. As of September 28, Tamil Nadu's death toll was 9,383 which includes 3,179 from Chennai, Chengelpet 545 and Tiruvallur 544. The active cases stood at 46,306 and cumulatively, 5,30,708 people got cured out of the5,86,397 total cases. The government's measures to contain the spread of pandemic earned the praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said and thanked the frontline workers, officials and ministers for the appreciation. To sustain the momentum that fetched admiration, the good work should be continued, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three weeks ago, a student-run newspaper with ties to New York University got a new editorial adviser: Kenna Griffin, a former reporter and editor who had taught journalism at Oklahoma City University for 16 years. She started advising the paper, Washington Square News, remotely from Oklahoma. On Monday, 43 of its student journalists all but four people on staff resigned. The tensions at Washington Square News, a journalistic training ground for N.Y.U. undergraduates since 1973, began when its editor in chief was fired without warning by Dr. Griffin soon after the adviser started, the students wrote in a post that appeared on the publications website Monday. Dr. Griffin was increasingly rude and disrespectful to the staff, despite being repeatedly reminded that her words had a negative effect on staff morale, the post said. Dr. Griffin was unnecessarily harsh, and when confronted about her behavior, would defend it by arguing that WSNs staff is too immature to accept critique. Dr. Griffin did not immediately reply to requests for comment. According to the post, the working relationship between the students and the adviser worsened after a dispute over the use of the word murder to describe the death of Breonna Taylor in a Sept. 24 article about protests in New York prompted by a Kentucky grand jurys decision not to charge police officers in her killing. Many news organizations use the word murder only after there has been a murder conviction in a court of law. New Delhi: Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Tuesday (September 29, 2020) said that an uneasy status prevails at northern frontiers with China at present in an apparent reference to the heightened border tension with Beijing. The IAF chief said at the moment no war, no peace status was holding along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) despite concerted efforts to end the ongoing standoff at several friction points in eastern Ladakh. Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, however, added that the armed forces are prepared for any eventuality and that the Air Force particularly is resolved to counter any misadventure. Airpower will be a crucial enabler in our victory in any future conflict, the IAF chief said. Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria was quick to add that the recent induction of Rafale fighter jets along with Chinook, Apaches and other aircraft fleet has given a fillip to the Indian Air Forces tactical capabilities. Live TV Present security scenario along our northern frontiers is at an uneasy no war, no peace status.... The recent induction of Rafales along with other aircraft has provided the IAF with substantial practical and strategic capability enhancement, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said. The remarks from Bhadauria in the backdrop of reports that the Indian Army is preparing itself for the long haul in Ladakh this winter. The Army has rushed tanks, heavy weaponry, ammunition, fuel, food and essential winter supplies to high-altitude areas in eastern Ladakh where it is engaged in a standoff with the Peoples Liberation Army of China. Military sources said last week that the aim is to prepare the force and ensure its combat readiness through the treacherous winter which lasts for some months in Ladakh. The operation has been described as one of the biggest in decades as far as military logistics are concerned. Anticipating possible misadventure from China, the Indian Army has flown in T-90 and T-72 tanks, artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles to several sensitive locations including Chushul and Demchock sectors in eastern Ladakh. The Army has also sent clothes, tents, food items, communication equipment, fuel, heaters and other supplies in large quantities to forward posts and mountain passes which are located at a height of more than 16,000 feet. The operation is being personally supervised by Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane. Sagittal mouse brain view showing the 22 BMI GWAS-enriched cell types. The first two letters in each cell type label denote the developmental compartment (ME, mesencephalon; DE, diencephalon; TE, telencephalon), letters three to five denote the neurotransmitter type (INH, inhibitory; GLU, glutamatergic) and the numerical suffix represents an arbitrary number assigned to the given cell type. Credit: University of Copenhagen Some people are at higher risk of developing obesity because they possess genetic variants that affect how the brain processes sensory information and regulates feeding and behavior. The findings from scientists at the University of Copenhagen support a growing body of evidence that obesity is a disease whose roots are in the brain. Over the past decade, scientists have identified hundreds of different genetic variants that increase a person's risk of developing obesity. But a lot of work remains to understand how these variants translate into obesity. Now scientists at the University of Copenhagen have identified populations of cells in the body that play a role in the development of the diseaseand they are all in the brain. "Our results provide evidence that biological processes outside the traditional organs investigated in obesity research, such as fat cells, play a key role in human obesity," says Associate Professor Tune H Pers from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), at the University of Copenhagen, who published his team's findings in the internationally-recognized journal eLife. "We identified cell types in the brain that regulate memory, behavior and processing of sensory information that are involved in the development of the disease. Further investigation of these areas of the brain may tell us why some of us are more susceptible to develop obesity than others." A mosaic of brain cell populations contribute to obesity The discovery was made by developing computational tools that combine two different sets of data. The first set is genome-wide association study data from around 450,000 people. This data compares a person's health and physical attributes, such as their body weight, to their unique genome. Doing so reveals that people with obesity are much more likely to have a range of genetic variants in common. The second set is single-cell RNA-sequencing data of more than 700 different types of mouse cell populations. Different cells express different parts of the genome, so this data set contains the unique genetic fingerprint for each cell population. The team at CBMR integrated the two data sets and found that the genetic variants, which are strongly associated with obesity, are near genes expressed by 26 cell populations acting as different types of neurons. Obesity is not a lack of willpower We already know that the brain plays an important role in obesity by regulating how the body maintains its energy needs. It does so by processing signals from within the body about the energy stores and food intake, as well as external signals such as the sight and smell of food. The new findings suggest that a person's risk of developing obesity is driven by populations of cells that process sensory stimuli and direct actions related to feeding and behavior. They also identified specific brain cell types that support a role of learning and memory in obesity. "The next step is to explore how defects in parts of the brain traditionally known to regulate memory and integration of sensory signals actually makes us more vulnerable to become obese," says Tune H Pers. "Our journey, to understand why some of us develop obesity, has only just begun. Our findings reinforce the growing body of evidence that obesity is far more complex than previously recognized and not can be reduced to a simple question about lack of willpower." Explore further Getting the goods on obesity More information: Pascal N Timshel et al, Genetic mapping of etiologic brain cell types for obesity, eLife (2020). Journal information: eLife Pascal N Timshel et al, Genetic mapping of etiologic brain cell types for obesity,(2020). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.55851 More than eight years after Bonnie Winslett tore up and threw away a summons that notified her she was being sued, the Georgia Supreme Court is being asked to resolve questions of law that will determine whether GEICO Indemnity Co. must pay approximately $2.7 million of a courts award against her. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday sent three certified questions to the states high court. Once answered, the federal appellate court can then rule on an appeal of a district courts order in a bad faith case that requires GEICO to pay 70% of the nearly $2.9 million in damages awarded by the jury, plus interest. The long legal battle began on Feb. 26, 2012, when Winslett borrowed a friends Ford Escort for a trip from her apartment in Columbus, Georgia to a nearby store. Along the way, Winslett ran the vehicle into bicycle rider Terry Guthrie. Guthrie sought treatment at hospital emergency room and owes nearly $10,000 in medical bills, his lawyers say. Winslett went to jail for driving with a suspended license. She would spend the next several years at times incarcerated and at other times homeless or living with a boyfriend, according to court documents. The owner of the Escort notified GEICO about the accident. Although the insurer was told differing versions of how Winslett ended up behind the wheel, the insurer initially accepted responsibility. Guthrie filed a lawsuit against Winslett in Muscogee County Superior Court, which issued a default judgment of $2,916,204 after she failed to show up for hearings. According to a deposition taken later, Winslett said she suffered from multiple mental disorders and relies on Social Security benefits and nonprofit groups for food and housing. GEICO would later regret a letter that its claims adjuster sent to Winslett in 2012 saying that it would be handling resolution of the matter. When Winslett received notice that a lawsuit against her had been filed, she said the hell with this shit and ripped up the papers, according to a district court judge. GEICO says it learned about the lawsuit only after the default judgment was entered. The carrier petitioned the court to set the judgment aside, but the Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling and the state supreme court refused to hear the case. Lawyers for Guthrie had given GEICO an opportunity to settle the case for the $30,000 policy limit, but the carrier refused to go higher than $12,409. That decision became the impetus for a bad faith lawsuit filed by Guthrie against the insurer. Attorney Fife Whiteside, on Guthries behalf, first filed an involuntary bankruptcy lawsuit against Winslett, which would have discharged her from the debt but retain liability for GEICO. The insurer hired attorneys to fight the petition, but failed to block the bankruptcy. Whiteside, as a trustee for Winsletts estate, then filed a bad-faith action against GEICO. The lawsuit asserts that the insurer has a duty to represent Winsletts interest and should have paid the $30,000 that settlement that was offered. Because the carrier acted in bad faith, under Georgia law the policys $30,000 limit for bodily injury claims no longer applies, the lawsuit asserts. After a trial in federal court in Columbus, a jury agreed and ordered GEICO to pay $2,886,204, less 30% to represent Winsletts share of the fault. With interest, the judgment amounts to about $2.7 million now, according to court papers. U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land refused GEICOs request to set aside the verdict. GEICO appealed to the 11th Circuit. The carrier argues it is not liable for the cost of the verdict and could not have committed bad faith when handling the claim because it never received notice of the underlying lawsuit. Instead of deciding the case, the appellate panel asked the Supreme Court to answer three questions: When an insurer has no notice of a lawsuit against its insured, does Georgia law relieve the insurer of liability from a follow-on suit for bad faith? If the notice provisions do not bar liability for a bad-faith claim, can an insured sue the insurer for bad faith, when after the insurer refused to settle but before judgment was entered against the insured, the insured lost coverage for failure to comply with a notice provision? Does a party have the right to contest actual damages in a follow-on suit for bad faith if that party has no prior notice of or participation in the original suit? Though we have our own guesses about the answers to these questions, we do not think it appropriate to substitute our own intuition for the views of the Georgia Supreme Court in deciding these novel issues of state law, at least one of which has significant consequences for Georgias public policy on motor vehicle insurance, Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant wrote for the panel. The Centre on Tuesday stated that the statement of Amnesty International that it was being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" is unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth. The Union Home Ministry asserted that human rights cannot be an excuse for defying the law of the land. An official MHA statement said that all the "glossy statements" about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Live TV The statement read, "Amnesty International had received permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) only once and that too twenty years ago (19.12.2000). Since then Amnesty International, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible to get such approval." "However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India, by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty (India) without MHAs approval under FCRA. This mala fide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions," the MHA added. Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas, it said. "This had led Amnesty to suspend its India operations once during that period as well. This bipartisan and purely legal approach towards Amnesty, under different governments, makes it clear that the entire fault lies in the dubious processes adopted by Amnesty to secure funds for its operations," further added the statement. "All the glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Such statements are also an attempt to extraneously influence the course of investigations by multiple agencies into the irregularities and illegalities carried out over the last few years," the MHA stated. "Amnesty is free to continue humanitarian work in India, as is being done by many other organizations. However, India, by settled law, does not allow interference in domestic political debates by entities funded by foreign donations. This law applies equally to all and it shall apply to Amnesty International as well," it added. It also stated, "India has a rich and pluralistic democratic culture with a free press, independent judiciary and tradition of vibrant domestic debate. The people of India have placed unprecedented trust in the current government. Amnestys failure to comply with local regulations does not entitle them to make comments on the democratic and plural character of India." Earlier in a statement Amnesty International had said that the complete freezing of Amnesty International Indias bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on September 10, "brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt". It added, "The organisation has been compelled to let go of its staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations." Japan's Defence minister Taro Kono said unusual sightings should be reported Government insists that Japanese pilots have never encountered any UFOs It comes only weeks after the Pentagon set up a new task force for odd sightings Japanese military pilots have been ordered to take pictures of any UFOs they encounter in the country's airspace. Defence minister Taro Kono said mysterious sightings should be submitted for analysis, while the military will also investigate reports by the public. ADVERTISEMENT The new protocol, reported by the Japan Times, comes despite official insistence that there is no evidence UFOs exist and that the Japanese military has never encountered any. It also comes only weeks after the Pentagon set up a new task force under the US Navy to investigate ufo sightings. An unexplained balloon-like object in the skies above Sendai in Japan earlier this year, which prompted theories about UFOs or North Korea Earlier this year, the Japanese defence minister told a press conference that 'I don't really believe in UFOs' after the Pentagon released footage of unexplained encounters. 'It seems that [Japanese military] pilots have never encountered a UFO, but I would like to establish a procedure in case of an encounter,' he said at the time. 'I have heard that even the pilots of the Self-Defense Forces have never encountered such a scene.' Asked about a book which included examples of UFO sightings, the minister said that 'if there is such a concrete example, I would love to hear from you'. The new protocol is partly aimed at unconventional aircraft including new drone technology, it is believed. Click here to resize this module In response to questions from a lawmaker last year, Japan's government admitted it had 'not considered in any specific manner what will be done should a UFO be spotted flying toward Japan'. However, it added that 'no confirmation has been made of their existence'. Earlier this year, a mysterious balloon-like object appeared in the sky over northern Japan, sparking speculation about UFOs. Japan's weather bureau admitted it had 'no idea' what the object was, with theories including a North Korean balloon used to drop propaganda leaflets. Previous mysteries have included a flashing green orb in the skies near Niigata in 2016 and unexplained 'white globes' in Osaka a year earlier. In April 2020 the Pentagon released footage from three sightings of unidentified objects. One of the videos was captured off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, in 2015 (pictured) In 2009, the wife of Japan's incoming prime minister wrote in a book that 'my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus' while she was asleep. ADVERTISEMENT Miyuki Hatoyama described the 'very beautiful' planet in a book called Very Strange Things I've Encountered. In April this year, the Pentagon released three videos taken by US Navy pilots showing mid-air encounters with unexplained objects. The grainy black and white footage had previously been leaked and the Navy had acknowledged they were genuine videos. One of the videos was shot in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015. In one, a weapons sensor operator appears to lose lock on a rapidly moving object which seconds later suddenly accelerates away to the left and out of view. In another video which is tracking an object above the clouds, one pilot wonders if it is a drone. In August, the Pentagon said it was setting up a new task force under the US Navy to investigate UFO sightings. With the creation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the Department of Defense hopes 'to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs,' it said. The 6th JCC meeting between Bangladesh-India to be held virtually on Tuesday in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Rohingya crisis, water sharing, energy, connectivity, bilateral trade and border are expected to be on the agenda. The issues related to Rohingya crisis, water sharing in common rivers, energy, connectivity, bilateral trade and border are expected to be on the agenda of a meeting in Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) to be held on Tuesday, Bangladeshi media reported. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen will lead their respective sides in the 6th JCC meeting to be held in a virtual platform in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Both the foreign ministers may discuss the draft of the water sharing treaty of six common rivers Monu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar and will give a guideline to hold the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting soon, Dhaka Tribune reported citing diplomatic sources. The last meeting of the JRC was held in New Delhi in 2010. But, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to India last year, both the countries had agreed to direct the JRC technical committee to exchange updated data and information and prepare a draft framework to this end. On Monday, Momen said that India is Bangladeshs best friend but the two countries have many things to discuss. India is our neighbour and our best friend. We have many things to discuss, he added. Also Read: Hathras gangrape survivor dies at Delhis Safdarjung hospital Also Read: Amit Shah chairs key review meeting with senior MHA officials He also announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina are likely to hold a meeting in December, Bangladeshi media reported. Memon, speaking to Dhaka Tribune, said that the two countries are discussing the matter and it is undecided whether the meeting would take place in person or virtually.It is too early to say whether the meeting will take place in person or virtually, Dr Momen said. If the Covid-19 situation remains unchanged, the meeting will be virtual. (ANI) By Marcelo Teixeira NEW YORK (Reuters) - Food processor J.M. Smucker has started to sell a coffee brand that allows consumers to have information about where it was produced and, if they wish, contribute financially to programs in the grower's community, the company said on Wednesday. Smucker, one of the largest coffee processors in North America, will sell through retailers in the United States and Canada packages of its 1850 Coffee brand containing QR codes that will lead consumers to a website with information about the coffee origin in Colombia. Once in the website, called Thank My Farmer, consumers would have the option to donate to programs that assist those communities, such as systems to provide clean water, school supplies or coffee seedlings for small farmers. The company said the system, developed with IBM and Farmer Connect, is an answer to consumers' desire to have more transparency in products and their worries over farmers' sustainability. Initially, it is not possible for consumers to donate directly to growers, something that could happen in the future, Smucker said. The launch comes at a time when many coffee growers around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to make money, as reference prices hover around historical lows. Many coffee farmers have abandoned or sold their land in Central America, for example, after being unable to make money. Fernando Morales de La Cruz, founder of Cafe For Change, an organization seeking to raise awareness regarding low pay for growers, says the initiative will not help much. He says the only way large roasters such as Smucker, Starbucks and Nestle could improve the situation is to raise the price paid to farmers. (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Nick Zieminski) (Photo : Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) (Photo : Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) A logo sits illumintated outside the Huawei booth on day 2 of the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2019 on February 26, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the world's largest communications companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and wearables gadgets like foldable screens and the introduction of the 5G wireless networks. The British Telecom and the United Kingdom government have now announced Nokia as its new major beneficiary company for 5G networks. This was a decision that finalizes the Huawei ban in the country. How does it affect the United Kingdom and its telecoms? Nokia just beat Huawei over 5G deal The Finnish telecom company Nokia has recently won the deal on U.K.'s 5G networks against Chinese company Huawei. As announced by BBC, Nokia will soon be the main company that'll provide additional base stations and antennas in the country to let EE, British mobile network provider and internet service provider, transmit and make calls for the U.K.'s 5G "radio access network." The deal also includes Nokia's control in B.T.'s 2G and 4G networks. In the previous interview with British Telecom, The Guardian reported that over $600 million are expected to be gained by Nokia through the deal in five years. This was also the exact amount of Huawei renounced due to the 'Huawei ban.' B.T. said that the Nokia 5G network infrastructures are set to be located at Aberdeen, Cambridge, Dundee, Exeter, Southampton, and York. Meanwhile, London, the Midlands, and some rural locations already use Nokia's 5G cell sites, so B.T. will just extend its partnership on these locations. Other than Nokia, B.T. also reportedly picked another Swedish telecom company, Ericsson, to provide replacement to Huawei's equipment for the 5G structures' 'core.' Why the U.K. wants 'Huawei ban?' Tech Times reported in July about U.K.'s final decision to fully remove Huawei's 5G equipment all over the country. Through citing 'security' and 'privacy' issues, the Digital and Culture Minister Oliver Dowden announced the committee's decision to let go of Huawei for good until 2027. All mobile providers will be banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after Dec. 31. After this decision, Huawei talked back to 'false claims' and said that the U.K. turned this issue to 'politicized it.' "It threatens to move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide," said Ed Brewster, a spokesperson for Huawei U.K. "Regrettably our future in the U.K. has become politicized, this is about U.S. trade policy and not security." ALSO READ: U.K. News: After Interfering with Gov't on Huawei Deal, the Tory Rebels Now Wants Chinese Nuclear Station Out This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Jamie Pancho 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Kooheji Development, one of the leading real estate developers in Bahrain, said one of its key projects - Onyx Bahrain Bay - has won top honours at the Arabian Property Awards in the Best Project in High-Rise Residential Development category. The Arabian Property Awards, the largest and widely recognised award in the region, boasts an independent panel of over 80 industry experts. The judging panel is chaired by Lord Caithness, Lord Best and Lord Waverley, members of the House of Lords in the UK Parliament. Kooheji Development will be honoured at the Arabian Property Awards in a virtual ceremony on November 5 for Onyx Bahrain Bay. The Bahraini developer won the top award competing against the best property professionals across the Arab world. The entries were judged by an independent panel that included Jill Keene, the Former Editor of International Property and Travel Magazine; Victoria Taylor, the current Editor of International Property & Travel Magazine and Del Hossain, the Managing Director of the Adrem Group, London. The panel focuses on many aspects of high-rise residential developments, including the development design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability. "Onyx Bahrain Bay was able to win the coveted award due to its uniqueness in many of these aspects," remarked Engineer Mohamed Abdulghaffar Al Kooheji, the General Manager of Kooheji Development. "We are extremely proud of Onyx Bahrain Bay project achievement in winning the best project in the High-Rise Residential Development Category by the International Property Awards that is the world's largest and most prestigious award," he noted. Winning this award is recognition of the excellent service and the constant look for quality. As one of the key players in Bahrains real estate industry, Kooheji Contractors and Development strives to maintain its entrepreneurial spirit while seeking better ways of delivering projects, he added. Onyx Bahrain Bay is strategically located at Bahrain Bay, a global business, leisure and lifestyle destination that combines relaxation and luxury in the heart of the capital Manama. The architectural design of the tower blends with the surrounding context, and its fully-glazed facade offers a strong connection with the site from all directions. Additionally, the curvilinear layout of the building maximising the views and creates a unique outline for the project. Residential apartments in Onyx Bahrain Bay provide a variety of layouts and sizes to cater to every luxury need ranging from one- to 3.5-bedroom apartments and four- and five-bedroom sky villas. The tower is claimed to host the largest penthouses in Bahrain Bay that provide luxury, privacy and exclusivity, each covering two floors and 650 sq m of built-up area and offering top-of-the-line furnishing, spacious outdoor areas and its own private pools. The different layouts developed with two themes have been created by top international award-winning interior designers for Onyx Bahrain Bay apartments, said Kooheji Development. Moreover, details of the safety, security, sustainability and innovation methods used in the project were highlighted to showcase the cutting-edge latest technology and methods used in the construction of Onyx Bahrain Bay project, it added. Kooheji Contractors is one of Bahrains top real estate developers with 50 years of experience in delivering world-class projects. It boasts a design team with unique in-house capabilities and full-fledged project management structural design and build that achieves premium quality finishes at the best value proposition. "Our approach is to constantly challenge conventional methods and achieve more efficient ways to deliver projects, while working with integrity to ensure we uphold high our ethical standards," he added. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's Arabian Awards will be an online virtual ceremony. The 27th edition of the awards covers over 45 different residential and commercial categories. Regional heats are staged for Arabian, Europe, Africa, Canada, Central & South America, the Caribbean, USA, UK and Asia Pacific.-TradeArabia News Service Egypts finance ministry will guarantee long-term financing of 3 billion Egyptian pounds ($191 million) from the central bank for national carrier EgyptAir, according to a law issued by the presidency, state news agency MENA said on Tuesday. The presidency issued a separate law allowing the finance ministry to guarantee a 1 billion pound central bank loan for the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, the report said. ($1 = 15.7100 Egyptian pounds) Search Keywords: Short link: Julian Assange faces fate worse than death in US: WikiLeaks founder could serve life in isolation at dreaded Supermax prison thats home to Americas most violent terrorists and drug lords if extradited, court hears Julian Assange 'faces a fate worse than death' in a lifetime of isolation at the 'Supermax' prison currently home to America's most violent terrorists and drug lords if he is extradited, a court has heard. The Wikileaks founder, 49, could live out his years alone at maximum security ADX Colorado jail where he would spend 23 hours in a cell if he is convicted of espionage offences in the US. Assange is wanted in the US for allegedly conspiring with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to expose military secrets between January and May 2010. Prison expert Joel Sickler said the US government had 'raised the possibility of sending Mr Assange to ADX'. He said the only time Assange would spend outside his cell - if sent to the prison -would be an hour in an individual cage for 'recreation time'. In a statement read to court he said: 'It is my understanding that the United States Attorneys Office that is prosecuting this case with the Department of Justice has said that Mr Assange would be subject to a sentence of up to 175 years in prison. XAU/USD PRICE OUTLOOK: GOLD SELLING STABILIZES NEAR 100-DAY MOVING AVERAGE AS MARKET SENTIMENT IMPROVES Gold jumped higher by 1% on Monday as precious metals aim to stabilize after falling sharply Gold price action likely hinges on fiscal stimulus speculation and broader liquidity conditions XAU/ USD gained ground while the US Dollar Index pivoted lower amid recovering risk appetite Gold prices edged 1% higher to start the week in an attempt to erase steep losses recorded over recent trading sessions. The precious metal has slid by nearly 5% month-to-date, but gold selling pressure seems to have stalled out near its 100-day moving average. Improving trader sentiment on the back of rekindled fiscal stimulus negotiations seems to be weighing negatively on the anti-risk US Dollar, which is likely propelling the advance by XAU/USD price action. GOLD PRICE CHART WITH US DOLLAR INDEX OVERLAID: DAILY TIME FRAME (07 APR TO 28 SEP 2020) Chart created by @RichDvorakFX with TradingView Generally speaking, there is a strong inverse relationship between gold prices and the US Dollar. This inverse relationship has strengthened notably this month with the gold to US Dollar correlation coefficient plunging to -0.91 from -0.11 clocked on 31 August. As such, the direction of the broader US Dollar Index could exert a greater influence on where gold price action trends next. GOLD PRICE CHART: DAILY TIME FRAME (25 MAR TO 28 SEP 2020) Chart created by @RichDvorakFX with TradingView Gold might continue to face headwinds with the US Dollar showing signs of a bullish reversal amid an aggressive uptick in market volatility. That said, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level of this years trading range, as well as the 100-day simple moving average, have provided buoyancy to gold price action so far. Sustained improvement in market sentiment, likely accompanied by a deeper US Dollar pullback, could facilitate a larger rebound by XAU/USD. This could bring support-turned-resistance near the $1,920/oz price level into focus as a potential area where the precious metal might face renewed selling pressure. On the other hand, a breakdown in risk appetite and liquidity conditions could send traders flocking into safe-haven currencies like the US Dollar, which could bode poorly for gold. Taking out last weeks lows and slipping beneath the 100-day moving average increases the potential for gold to stretch even lower toward the $1,790-price level. Keep Reading: Gold Price Forecast Bright & Volatile as USD, Real Yields Swing -- Written by Rich Dvorak, Analyst for DailyFX.com Connect with @RichDvorakFX on Twitter for real-time market insight On Thursday, September 24, BlackBerry (TSX:BB)(NYSE:BB) released its second-quarter results for the period ending August 31. Its sales of US$259 million were up 6.1% year over year. Analysts were expecting sales of US$237 million a target that the Ontario-based company cleared with ease. Its growth came from licensing and other revenue, which totaled US$108 million and grew by 42.1% from the prior-year period. Its software and service revenue of US$151 million, however, was down 10.1% from last year, as BlackBerry blamed COVID-19, and the impact it had on the automotive market, leading to a decline in royalties for its BlackBerry QNX software, which dropped by US$21 million. The company did see an improvement in its bottom line, as its net loss of US$23 million was lower than the US$44 million loss that BlackBerry incurred in Q2 last year. Overall, it wasnt a bad quarter from the company, as it did well despite the challenges related to COVID-19 this year. BlackBerrys cash flow for the past six months also showed improvement, as its cash from day-to-day operations netted out to $0 compared with a cash burn of US$47 million during the same period last year. Its cash on hand of US$837 million as of August 31 was more than double the US$377 million that BlackBerry reported at the start of the fiscal year at the end of February. Are the results good enough for investors? BlackBerry stock initially saw a strong boost on the release of the results on Thursday, but by the end of the day, it finished down 1%, despite the earnings beat. Its difficult to gauge BlackBerrys success, because its quarterly revenue has been stuck within US$200 million and US$300 million for the past few years. The progress has been limited and sales growth of 6% doesnt give investors much to be excited about. However, with COVID-19 still impacting the economy and businesses, theres no easy answer for investors here as to how much better the stock should have done. Story continues But with more people working from home due to the pandemic, investors should expect to see some positive tailwinds in the companys top line. With the stock down more than 30% over the past year heading into earnings, the company may be running out of time, as investors could grow tired of waiting for BlackBerry to start generating strong growth numbers. It could be a sign that there is just too much competition out there, and that BlackBerrys products simply arent good enough. Bottom line As a BlackBerry investor myself, I was hoping for much better from the company. Many tech companies have been posting strong results amid COVID-19, as their businesses have benefitted from more people working remotely. And that should have contributed to some better growth numbers for BlackBerry in Q2, especially as cybersecurity needs are likely on the rise with more people working outside the office. A 6% growth rate is not what Id expect from the company at this stage, and although it beat earnings and profit estimates, its hard not to consider this yet another disappointment. With no profitability, soft growth numbers, and a business that seems to be stuck going nowhere, it may be time for investors to consider other options, as there are much better stocks to invest in today. The post Is BlackBerry (TSX:BB) Stock a Buy After Beating Expectations in Q2? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading Fool contributor David Jagielski owns shares of BlackBerry. The Motley Fool recommends BlackBerry and BlackBerry. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020 I recently wondered if we are living at the beginning of our own extinction. Texas and Louisiana were drowning. California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado burning. More than 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19. Black people killed by police, immigrants in custody. A constitutional crisis this autumn? An inherent contradiction in an apocalypse is that if it is happening, you are powerless to stop it; at the same time, you have a moral obligation to try to stop it. There is, perhaps, no better example than the climate crisis. Climate scientists Anne Stoner and Katherine Hayhoe recently published a climate change forecast for the Houston area. According to the analysis, Houston has already experienced significant increases in temperature since 1950 because of climate change. Over the rest of the century, the region will see even longer summers, more days of 100-degree heat, hotter nights, more intense rainstorms and stronger hurricanes. A key aspect of the report is that nothing will stop the effects of climate change. Its already happening, and will continue; we can only reduce the effects. I asked Hayhoe, one of the scientists, how she talks about her projections for the future that seem so dim without discouraging people into inaction. This message should be empowering, which is that we have a choice to make, Hayhoe said. And our choice really does make a difference. Their analysis details various outcomes based on different pathways of emissions: a high emissions scenario and a low emissions scenario. The analysis details how the effects of climate change will differ if we reduce greenhouse gases in time under each. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houstons climate change forecast predicts longer summers, stronger hurricanes in city's future The way Hayhoe looks at it, reducing emissions is not for naught. In the same way that slowing the spread of a disease is not for naught, because saving more lives is inherently better than saving fewer lives. More time is better than less. Hayhoe acknowledges that the dice are loaded against us. But she still has faith in our ability to change. We can see the odds are stacked against us and keep playing to win. Even now, in 2020, while suffering feels endless, all around are rebuttals to the apocalypse. The stay-at-home orders of the pandemic have shown us how feelings of intimacy and isolation can co-exist. The George Floyd and Breonna Taylor cases have demonstrated how justice and injustices can happen in tandem. Each hurricane and wildfire proves we may drown and burn at the same time as we build and flourish. We can we must have faith in our capacity for change in the face of devastation and despair, even when it feels like a great contradiction. In May, a few months after the stay-at-home orders lifted, I began to reckon with one such contradiction: I hadnt seen my family in Colorado since January, and they really needed me. At the same time, experts were projecting the pandemic could go on for several more months, if not years. How could I both stay home and travel during the pandemic? Do my actions even matter? The most dangerous part of a crisis is believing that theres no chance of stopping it. That its all up to the system, or the elites, the Big Bad Corporations, The Left or The Right. We can lose faith in elections and maintain faith in democracy which requires us to vote. We can know that climate change is irreversible and that we still have time to prevent the worst effects which requires reducing emissions. So in May, I acknowledged the real and present danger of spreading COVID-19 across the country, but I decided to maintain faith in my personal power to prevent it. I packed up my car with a months worth of supplies and two days of food. Gloves and masks for stops at the gas station. Disinfectant wipes for surfaces. Sixteen hours later, I was in Fort Collins, Colo., where I quarantined with my family for a month before the long drive back to Houston. The idea that we dont have the power to effect change in the face of a global pandemic, global racism, a global climate crisis, is ironically what will ensure we dont. Our choices are not always about solving the massive, overwhelming problem. Sometimes, all we can do is hold ourselves accountable and not make the problem worse. In the long run, maybe that is the solution. erin.douglas@chron.com Twitter.com/erinmdouglas23 Kim Hyung-tae, front, artistic director of social enterprise Hab Good Village, plays Yongpal-ee in the madangnori (traditional performance) "Dragon Hunters." It has been performed every Saturday at the Korean Traditional Culture Center in Jeonju Hanok Village of the southern city since May. / Courtesy of Hab Good Village Hilarious, educating madangnori 'Dragon Hunters' woos foreign tourists By Kang Hyun-kyung Traditional performance "Dragon Hunters" revolves around four main characters searching for a dragon, hoping to make a fortune. Although it tells the story of people chasing after money, the performance rarely seems materialistic. In the traditional open space musical, the dragon hunters are hilarious rather than greedy or self-absorbed. As opposed to seeking wealth out of a sense of greed, the four dragon hunters plan to use the sizeable financial compensation they hope to get by catching the mythical creature to solve different pressing issues they are facing. "Dragon Hunters" is a hilarious and educational performance. Its genre is madangnori, a combined Korean word of madang (front yard) and nori (play) referring to a traditional performance conducted in an open space. In the play, the four dragon hunters arrive in a small village in the southern city of Jeonju upon hearing rumors of a dragon living there. Samsik-ee, a single man, wants to get married but has no house. He searches for the dragon to make money to buy his own home, one of the conditions that will make him an eligible bachelor. Another dragon hunter Yi-ppunee is a female character suffering in an appearance-oriented society. Unemployed for many years due to her unattractive physical appearance, she seeks to use her fortune to spend during the rest of her life. Her uncle, Yong-palee, joins the journey to help his poor niece. There's one more dragon hunter whose parents in their 80s suddenly have a baby and this new sibling is the reason that motivates him to embark on the dragon hunt. All four of them spend three years searching in vain for a dragon. Their eventual arrival in Jeonju excites the villagers who believe the local economy, particularly the service sector, will benefit from the outsiders. "Dragon Hunters is a story about hope," Kim Hyung-tae, artistic director of the social enterprise Hab Good Village, a production house of the madangnori performance, told The Korea Times over the phone, "All of us have had or still have dreams. For some, there is a big gap between our lofty goals and the reality, so achieving our dreams is nearly impossible. The dragon in the performance symbolizes a dream that remains unachievable." To help audiences relate to the characters, Kim said he adapted the story and included pressing contemporary issues, such as unemployment, strict beauty standards and housing problems, for each character. In addition to directing the musical, Kim also plays Yong-palee. Like other madangnori performances, "Dragon Hunters" is boisterous and flamboyant. The traditional musical is satirical as each character's motives are rooted in social issues that press ordinary citizens hard in their daily lives. "Dragon Hunters" gives its audiences a rare chance to peek into local culture. One of the homegrown cultural traditions featured in the performance is a "gijeop" play. It's a type of play local people formerly enjoyed during the short summer festival that began on July 15 on the lunar calendar. Villagers would show up holding flags bearing emblems of their villages and socialize with others while sharing food and desserts. Since it premiered in 2015 at the National Theater of Korea, "Dragon Hunters" has been performed for five years in Jeonju Hanok Village. It is one of the most popular shows among Korean tourists. Before COVID-19, every show would attract some 100 spectators in the relatively small venue. This year has been tough for the performers. Like other art or music performances, "Dragon Hunters" has gone online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, being performed in an audience-free setting on the outdoor stage of the Jeonju Traditional Culture Center in the compound of Jeonju Hanok Village. The performers hope to attract foreign tourists to the traditional performance once social distancing is over. "Jeonju Hanok Village is a popular place for foreign tourists. From next year, we hope they can find time to visit our show to discover lesser-known local culture," Kim said. "To welcome foreign audiences, we prepared a little trick in English in the latter part of our show. It's a punchline." From May this year, "Dragon Hunters" has been performed every Saturday. The last performance of the year will be held on Oct. 10. The 'beautiful little girl' aged six who was tragically killed after being hit by a falling tree at school was today pictured for the first time. Ella Henderson was rushed to hospital from Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne shortly after 1pm on Friday. An air ambulance took her to the Royal Victoria Infirmary where medics battled to save her life - but she died the following morning. Grieving friends and family rushed to share their tributes on a fundraising page set up by Ella's mother Vikki Henderson for her 40th birthday - shortly after her daughter died. Ella Henderson was killed after being hit by a falling tree at school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne The six-year-old pupil was killed by a falling tree at Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle Ella was rushed to hospital from Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne shortly after 1pm on Friday More than 2,700 people have donated to the cause and more than 40,000 has been raised for the air ambulance charity which tried to save Ella's life. In a post on her Facebook page, Mrs Henderson wrote: 'This is not a post I thought I would ever be writing [on] my birthday this year, I'm asking for donations to Great North Air Ambulance Service. 'I've chosen this charity because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope that you'll consider contributing as a way of celebrating with me. Every little bit will help me reach my goal.' One message - signed off as 'Grandma and Pops' - said the youngster gave them 'such joy in your short life'. It read: 'You had so many life experiences and were so lucky to have such devoted parents and such a loving sister. We will never forget you. Sending all our love and kisses.' Another post written by Jennifer Lyn said Ella had a 'lovely kind nature and sweet smile'. Tributes describe Ella as a beautiful little girl as her mother Vikki raises thousands for charity Floral tributes have been left outside Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle after the death Outside the school, dozens of floral tributes were left for the youngster as thoughtful members of the community shared their condolences over the weekend. Children's paintings of rainbows and teddy bears now sit alongside bunches of sunflowers and colourful roses. One tribute read: 'Bright and beautiful flowers for a beautiful little girl'. Great North Air Ambulance Service said it was 'overwhelmed by the response to Vikki's fundraiser'. A source told the Daily Express: 'Vikki's actions in setting up the page, and everyone's generosity in supporting it, will mean other people can benefit from the care of our team. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy.' Gosforth Park First School's headteacher said there will be extra support for staff and pupils in the wake of the tragedy. Police were called to Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle following the death of the girl Staff and pupils at the Newcastle school were offered support following the girl's death Leanne Lamb said: 'Our entire school community has been shocked and devastated by the tragic news that one of our pupils passed away during the night, as a result of injuries suffered from a falling tree in the school grounds. 'First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the child's family and friends as they come to terms with this tragic loss. 'As a school and community, we will take the time to mourn and are putting in place extra support for the staff and pupils who are devastated by this incident. 'We would ask that people respect the privacy of the grieving family and the school as we work to understand exactly how this happened.' A spokesman for Northumbria Police confirmed that an investigation was underway, saying: 'Our officers are continuing to support her family and our thoughts are with them at this incredibly difficult time. 'An investigation has been launched with police working in conjunction with the health and safety executive.' What a time to be alive. The first debate between the U.S. presidential candidates in a year consumed by a global pandemic, wildfires, raging storms and widespread civil unrest, will take place during the same week an explosive news report revealed the U.S. presidents long-withheld tax history and a judge has been controversially nominated as the presidents next pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. Many Canadians will be watching as Democratic candidate Joe Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump take part in the first of three official election debates and not just because its impossible to look away. The outcome of the 2020 U.S. election will affect Canadians lives in real ways. While Trumps administration has taken the country from the outward-looking stance of the Obama years to a protectionist, America-first model, Biden is seen as more likely to prioritize the kind of free-trade practices on which Canada relies. Americas handling of its current crises also reverberate north of the border. One observer, John ONeil, who is a global health expert, is watching the U.S. election closely with an eye to how the country will handle the coronavirus pandemic. I think its a lot of Canadians who wish they could vote in this one, he said. With that in mind, here are six things Canadians should watch for Tuesday night. Can Biden call out Trump for untruths If Donald Trumps casual relationship with the truth was known at the time of his election in 2016, experts say the pressures of a global pandemic have brought it into even sharper relief and shown potential consequences of governing by alternative facts. I think Canadians are looking at the complete dismissal of facts regarding the health and well-being of people who live in North America, said John ONeil, dean of health studies at Simon Fraser University. Trumps strategy has always been to play to his base even if that means bending the truth to what his supporters would most like to hear. Political science professor Andy Hira pointed out that strategy may not be enough for him, given that he is behind in the polls. The counterintuitive thing is that Trumps strategy has always been playing to his base but in this case, he might have to appeal to voters who are uncertain who theyre going to vote for, Hira said. A gotcha moment in a debate could start to shift things. That leaves a potential opportunity for Biden to call Trump out if and when he bends the truth. Whether Trump can make Biden look weak Biden has largely laid low during this historic election campaign, eschewing large Trump-style rallies in the name of physical distancing. Its meant Biden has stayed out of the spotlight himself, leaving Trump to criticize him for apparent weaknesses, such as instances of stuttering and misspeaking onstage, and his lacklustre performance in the Democratic primary debates. That does leave Biden with an opportunity, observers say. The way in which (Trump) characterized Biden is interesting, because it does set a very low bar for Biden, said Samir Gandesha, a Simon Fraser University humanities professor and political commentator. He can exceed the low expectations that Trump has encouraged. If Biden shows weaknesses on stage, though, it will just feed into the narrative Trump has weaved about his opponent that Biden is too tired to be president, and past his prime. Dynamics between candidates and the host Chris Wallace, the Fox News anchor who hosted the third presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, will host Tuesdays debate. A registered Democrat working for the famously conservative news channel may satisfy all parties by pleasing none. Though Fox News is well known as Trumps favourite network, Wallace is one host who has given the president a hard time, challenging him on such things as his economic record and a cognitive test Trump bragged about acing. Hes been tough on Biden, too, even giving Trump the opportunity to answer the question Is Joe Biden senile? on a Fox News Sunday segment. In 2016, Wallace was generally praised as a debate host for remaining calm and preventing Trump and Clinton from talking over one another. He has selected six topics for the debate: The candidates records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities, the integrity of the election. How the candidates respond to Wallace, and whether he is able to keep them focused on the issues, will set the tone for the first of three debates between the men. Can Biden talk about climate change when the environment is not on the agenda Climate change, and the environment more generally, is not on the menu of debate topics listed for Tuesday night. But that doesnt necessarily mean it wont come up. Recent research from Pew Research Center found climate change was a very important ballot box issue for 42 per cent of U.S. adults surveyed. And with smoke from wildfires still raging across the West Coast of the country having extended across the continent, the effects of climate change are visible and front of mind for many as the first debate kicks off. That said, if climate change is discussed at Tuesdays debate, it will only be because Democratic candidate Joe Biden steers the conversation that way. According to the Pew poll, its a priority for 68 per cent of Biden supporters, and only 11 per cent of Trump supporters the widest gap of any issue included in the poll. I would expect (climate change) to fall to the wayside even despite the fact that the eastern part of the country is wrecked by storms and the western side is on fire, said Samir Gandesha. But it is an issue Biden may want to point to, given the Obama/Biden administrations comparatively strong record on it. Its the elephant in the room. That could be something Biden may want to go for in a future debate. A peaceful transfer of power When the U.S. president refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power when questioned by reporters recently, that had humanities professor Gandesha distinctly worried. This seems to suggest hes concerned about losing and is hedging his bets, Gandesha said. This is the most worrying thing Ive seen in American politics in my lifetime a president who wont commit to handing over power. Of the six debate topics chosen by moderator Chris Wallace, one of them is the integrity of the U.S. election, so Trumps statements on the election are sure to come up. It will be Bidens task to advocate for the integrity of Americas democratic institutions, while Trump may try, as he has done in the past, to cast doubt on electoral processes such as mail-in voting. Its no small thing for Canadian observers. Since Canadas economy, society and population is so entangled with that of the U.S., any instability regarding our neighbours democratic institutions are cause for major concern, Gandesha said. COVID-19 policies and actions In a famous moment at the start of the second debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the pair met on stage and nodded to greet one another without shaking hands. At the time, it was a break in convention that made headlines. Now, the opposite gesture may attract more notice, as politicians are scrutinized not only on their policies in handling the COVID-19 outbreak, but also on whether they practise physical distancing and wear a mask themselves. One test will be whether the candidates appear on stage wearing non-medical masks a convention more commonly seen at the Democratic National Convention than the Republican event. It may symbolize a key disagreement between the men on handling of the coronavirus. Biden supports governors mandating masks in indoor public spaces, while Trump is opposed. Coronavirus policy is one area Canadians may be especially interested in, because how the U.S. handles the virus next year will likely have direct effects on Canada. The border between the U.S. and Canada will eventually will open a prospect that worries Canadians given the current state of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. One expert says hell be watching the debate to see if Biden can make a persuasive appeal to U.S. voters about the need to restore widespread trust in public health institutions suc as the trust that largely exists in Canada for Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Bonnie Henry of B.C. I think the border issue is not likely to change until (there is) a restored sense of trust in the public health institutions in the U.S., said John ONeil, dean of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. The numbers are going to have to come down, but theyre not going to come down until that situation changes. The coronavirus is another top issue among U.S. voters, but it weighs more heavily with Democrats than Republicans. Read more about: Immediately after Hurricane Laura swept through East Texas and across the border to Louisiana, Boy Scout Troop 777 of The Woodlands began to collect necessary supplies to bring to those hit hardest in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Now, they plan to return to the area to continue to help rebuild, and like good scouts, theyre going prepared. Right after Laura hit, Rafe Kotalik, 15, and his brother Reed, 10, began soliciting donations of necessary supplies to bring to the Lake Charles area. To help spread the word, Reed, a First Class Scout Patrol Leader, made a video explaining what the scouts were looking for and where they could bring donations. All the donations were collected after 36 hours and the Kotaliks drove a jam-packed Ford Expedition to Lake Charles. I felt that I needed to step up and help these people, said Rafe, an Eagle Scout and Senior Patrol Leader. The donations of water, food, toilet paper, and other supplies, and solar showers were brought to communities near Lake Charles. Before bringing everything to Louisiana, the Kotaliks coordinated with a family friend, Eric Henry, who had traveled to the community to help his family members who live there. It meant a lot, not just because I know the family, but just knowing there was someone there that would come ad help bring supplies to get people up and living somewhat of a normal life, Henry said of being contacted by the Kotaliks to offer their help. It was great just to have someone say Hey, yall have suffered, how can we help ease that pain? Henry doesnt live in the area now, but when he heard about the damage to the Lake Charles area where some of his family lives he took almost a week off of work to go and help. He had to drive up to 70 miles outside of the area at times to find supplies or just a working ATM. Within the next few weeks, the Kotaliks will be returning with several other scouts and others associated with the troop to help those hardest hit. I have a duty to help in the community because its not fair for me to live in this house with a roof over my head and then see them struggling, Rafe said of why he continues to help. This is not the first time that Rafe has found a way to help those in need after a catastrophic event. In 2018 after the Camp Fire in California he organized a donation drive and, with his father, flew the donated materials to Sacramento County. After Hurricane Harvey, he and his fellow scouts helped another member whose house flooded. For Reed, giving back feels good. Following Hurricane Harvey, the Kotaliks house was spared from flooding or damage, but the storm left debris around the neighborhood that needed to be cleaned up and he understands the damage and loss that can come from natural disasters. We wanted to make a difference because weve felt is and other people have felt what its like too, Reed said. One of the big differences between Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Laura, Rafe said, was the damage left behind. Harvey caused massive flooding from torrential rain, whereas Laura swept through with high-speed winds that tore down buildings, bent power line towers, and caved-in roofs. Scouts teaches young folk to run to the problem, not away from it, said Brian Richardson, Committee Chair for Troop 777. Thats the whole Be prepared thing. Richardson will be going with the scouts back to the Lake Charles area in mid-October to help rebuild. He has seen the devastation that hurricanes can cause and he and his scouts will be there to help as needed and expects that they will continue to offer help in the future. Were very blessed and weve got a bunch of kids that are just absolutely brilliant, Richardson said of the growing troop that has close to 20 scouts now. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com Stops in Pittsburgh, Latrobe, Greensburg and Johnstown will highlight Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens tour by train of Ohio and western Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Biden, traveling to meet with voters and workers the day after he debates President Donald Trump on national television, will talk about what he will do as president to create jobs, support working families and build our economy back better, according to his campaign which, as of Tuesday morning, hadnt publicly released stop-by-stop details about the tour. The stops in the counties outside of Pittsburgh are to towns where Trumps campaign surrogates, and the president himself at times, have visited, and to where some Democrats have insisted the candidate visit to cut into GOP margins and win back Pennsylvania this November. On the tour, Biden will meet with workers and their families union workers in steel, iron and construction, among others and voters who Trump appealed to in 2016 but has since forgotten, the Biden campaign says. After stops in Cleveland and Alliance, Ohio, Bidens train will roll to Pittsburgh, where hes expected to speak about his vision to help communities like Pittsburgh who built this country recover from the Trump presidency, according to the campaign. He will then board the train to Latrobe and though it is unclear what he will do there, the campaign notes that Latrobe is reminiscent of Main Street towns like Scranton and across America that Biden says hes fought for during his career. Trump headlined a rally there earlier this month. Then, Biden will continue eastward to Johnstown, where hell deliver remarks again focused on Trumps broken promise in 2016, the campaign alleges, that hed bring back jobs and reopen mills. The presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., held an event in Johnstown last week. A map of Mr. Bidens tour also includes Greensburg as a stop, but no further details were available. Vice President Mike Pence rallied supporters there in July for a Cops for Trump coalition event. By Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette More: The first debate between Trump and Biden just might be the decider | John Baer Rallying at Pittsburgh airport, Trump calls the election a matter of economic survival for Pennsylvania Manchester United great Roy Keane rarely came off second best in a tackle but the outspoken TV pundit was forced to backtrack after Jurgen Klopp took him to task for labelling Liverpool "sloppy" following Monday's 3-1 win over Arsenal. Klopp jumped on Keane's observation after his team's victory, which maintained the champions' 100 percent record after three games. "Did I hear right? Mr Keane said we had a sloppy performance tonight? Did he say that?" said Klopp. Former United and Republic of Ireland captain Keane did not address the question directly. "I think they gave up one or two opportunities, which he will be disappointed with," said the 49-year-old. Klopp, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019 and their first Premier League title last season, pressed on. "Did he say that it was sloppy? I want to hear it," said the 53-year-old German. "I am not sure I heard it right and maybe he was speaking about another game. "It cannot be this game. Sorry, that is an incredible description of this game." Klopp described his team's performance against in-form Arsenal as "exceptional". "This game tonight -- there is nothing bad to say," said Klopp. "It was the opposite of sloppy." Keane, unusually for him, sought to calm the situation. "You might have misheard me," he said. "There were sloppy moments but I think you have been outstanding and I have been giving the club nothing but praise. "I am not sure you heard me correctly, you need to hear the rest of it." Klopp laughed and said: "I will, 100 percent." Keane, though, had the last laugh after the Liverpool boss had left the interview. "Very sensitive, isn't he? Imagine if he'd lost." pi/jw/iwd By Hu Bo The US State Department recently released a new statement on the South China Sea issue to hype up the so-called "China's militarization of the South China Sea" and "coercion of neighboring countries", demanding the international community to condemn and resist China's "dangerous and unacceptable" behaviors. The US, especially its State Department, has obviously engaged more actively and directly in the South China Sea disputes this year. In addition to taking advantage of every maritime event in the region and every diplomatic dispute between concerned parties to put pressure on China, it has also given itself more exposure by flinging groundless slanders and smears at China, the recent statement also being such a case. First of all, the term "militarization" doesn't apply to the South China Sea. According to international laws and acknowledged international practices, terms like "militarization" and "non-militarization" are applicable only to international public domains like the South Pole and the outer space. The US is fully aware that the South China Sea archipelago and other China-stationed islands and reefs are in no way international public domains. Therefore, the term "militarization" simply doesn't apply. Second, the US has dispatched to the South China Sea various types of aircraft thousands of times and naval vessels hundreds of times every year, constantly approaching the Chinese territory and the coast of Hainan Island. The number of American troops close-range reconnaissance flights in the South China Sea has doubled since 2009 to reach nearly 2,000 sorties one year now, its maritime forces in the region have increased by 60%, and the large-scale military exercises has increased by about 30% to nearly 100 times a year. What's more, the US Navy has recently threatened China's maritime routes in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, even blatantly resorting to its gunboat policy and public intimidation. Third, as the largest coastal country along the South China Sea, China needs sufficient forces to protect its sovereignty, security and maritime interests as well as proportionable forces to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. Frankly, China has exercised great restraint in its employment of forces in the South China Sea despite its rapid development in recent years. Just imagine how the US would have reacted had the PLA assigned thousands of aircraft and hundreds of naval vessels to America's eastern and western coasts every year, while repeatedly accusing the US troops of making unprofessional responses. It is also the cliche in the statement that China coerces some Southeast Asian neighbors through the use of Coast Guard and maritime militia. Washington has spared no effort in hyping up the maritime threats from China over the recent years, citing the larger number of military vessels owned by the PLA Navy than the American Navy, but it knows perfectly that it would be a bit too far-fetched to build its story on the number of vessels alone, as the total tonnage of Chinese naval vessels has just reached 1/3 that of the US Navy. Therefore, hyping up the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia is to a large extent intended to exaggerate "the maritime threats from China". Obviously, the US is no longer satisfied with interfering in the South China Sea issue but is bent on resisting China's all activities and moves in the region. US aggressive moves, making no sense and highly illogical, are just taken "for the sake of opposition". The US' slew of moves to stigmatize China is essentially aimed at restricting and curbing China's rise as a maritime power. They have not the faintest relation to morality or the so-called "rules-based international order". The US, according to the classical theory of sea power, is simply determined to control the South China Sea, restrict China and deprive China of its rights in the waters. Such an attempt will never succeed. The writer is director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a think tank in China. Disclaimer: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. See Full Image Gallery >> Buick plans to broaden its range of electric cars in the coming years, and it still owns the rights to the heritage-laced Electra nameplate, so it was only a matter of time before the past and the future met head-on. Buick resurrected the name it used between the 1959 and 1990 model years on a futuristic, battery-powered concept car. Created by a Shanghai-based design studio, the Electra concept takes the form of either a tall sedan or a low crossover, depending on your perspective. While it's not officially a preview of an upcoming production model, it ushers in a design language named Potential Energy that will permeate most of the electric cars the firm will release during the 2020s. It's inspired by a space capsule, according to Buick, so its greenhouse was drawn to resemble a glass pod. Its surfaces are sculpted but not chiseled, and its front fascia wears LED lights with a three-dimensional effect. Fear not: Stylists didn't forget the seemingly obligatory back-lit emblem. Butterfly doors provide access to the cabin, where the space capsule theme continues. Buick packed the Electra with cutting-edge technology features, but it concealed them rather well to avoid a tech overload. The driver faces a rectangular steering wheel that retracts when it's not needed, behind which is a wide, curved screen that replaces all of the buttons, knobs, and switches normally found in a car's interior. An electric motor is far more compact than a comparable four- or six-cylinder engine, so designers were able to carve out a generously sized interior. Engineers embedded technology into the Electra from the project's earliest stage. It's equipped with software named eConnect that supports over-the-air updates, provides on-demand information about a specific trip, and gives details about the various electronic driving aids. An artificial intelligence-powered assistant lets users perform various tasks, such as setting the air conditioning or controlling home devices, with voice commands. Story continues Buick noted the Electra offers about 410 miles of driving range thanks in part to the Ultium battery technology developed by General Motors to power a wide selection of electric models, including the Cadillac Lyriq, the GMC Hummer, and a pair of Honda-badged models scheduled to go on sale for the 2024 model year. Its dual-motor drivetrain sends 583 horsepower to all four wheels, a figure which easily eclipses the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette's, and sends the concept from zero to 62 mph in 4.3 seconds -- in theory, at least. Supercar-like power is useless if you park two miles away from your destination. Buick thought of that, too. While images aren't available, the company said it cleverly integrated a space-age skateboard beneath the rear bumper to allow the driver to reach his or her destination, even if it's located deep in an area that's off-limits to cars. Buick hasn't revealed what the future holds for the Electra concept. We know it's planning on releasing two electric models in the 2020s; one will be a crossover with conventional proportions, and the second will arrive as a high-riding model with, in the company's words, "more expressive proportions." Could it be a toned-down Electra? Time will tell. What's certain is that both models will at least borrow styling cues from the design study. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:27:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Chen Xi on Tuesday called for advancing the development of science and technology to a deeper and broader level. Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee's Organization Department, made the remarks at a symposium with newly elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Chen encouraged the academicians to carry out their studies based on the urgent and long-term needs of the country and strive to solve major issues concerning national development and security. He also stressed the cultivation of young scientists and stronger policy support to stimulate the innovation and creativity of sci-tech experts. Enditem The hospitality industry risks being "killed off" as a result of new Covid-19 restrictions introduced by the Executive, the president of Belfast Chamber has warned. Michael Stewart, an industry veteran, said the sector was facing "an exceptionally difficult period" because of more stringent rules, including a restriction on table make-up to a maximum of six people from two households. He said venues were already facing cancellations, and that he feared the impact of any introduction of a curfew in bars and restaurants. Mr Stewart said he felt as if restrictions were being introduced deliberately to lower demand. A 10pm closing time has already been introduced in England, while venues in the Republic are required to close at 11.30pm. Hospitality leaders here have said a curfew of 11pm would be preferred. The Executive is tipped to announce a curfew for venues today. Mr Stewart said: "Rules such as no more than six people at a table from a maximum of two households are already causing consternation amongst our city's publicans and restaurateurs and are resulting in cancellations and a drop in forward bookings, especially worrying with Christmas a few months away. "Customers and operators alike are confused and concerned." He said a curfew would inhibit trade and risk huge crowds congregating in the street if all venues were closing at the same time - a problem seen in cities in England following the introduction of their curfew. "This curfew has actually created the problem that the Government wanted to avoid, a problem that was and is under control in many of our hospitality venues here," he said. "Our venues in fact have the strictest procedures for combating Covid-19 in the whole of the UK and across Ireland. "It may not be a lockdown in name, but for me it feels like these restrictions are deliberately designed to depress custom." Mr Stewart said he feared that dire predictions made during lockdown by the industry, before it had received a lift from August's Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, could yet come true. He added: "Earlier in this crisis Michelin-starred chef Michael Deane said that he was worried that the Covid-19 crisis could close half of Belfast's restaurants. "I am beginning to fear that not only was Michael justified in his concerns, but that he actually may have even underestimated the impact." He also said he believed the Government should offer more support to the industry beyond the existing 12-month rates holiday, and an extension of the Vat reduction for hospitality and tourism to the end of March. "We are now facing into what feels like an exceptionally difficult period and there is no sign of assistance coming," he said. He insisted the sector was not one which could be sacrificed as it was key to the overall ecosystem of the city. "As we've seen all too evidently, hospitality needs the trade that workers in banks and tech firms bring, but those businesses also need a good mix of pubs, cafes, bars and restaurants to attract and retain the talent they need," he said. Mr Stewart urged the Executive to reconsider the restrictions. He added: "If our Executive wants to have a hospitality sector at the end of this current crisis that is able to contribute to our economy as it has and it can again, then they must revisit these restrictions urgently and ensure that in trying to conquer the coronavirus, it doesn't kill off our hospitality industry." A Prairie View A&M University alumna and a professor took the virtual stand Monday in the first day of a week-long trial with students and alumni saying that Waller County officials allegedly obstructed their rights to vote. U.S. Southern Texas District Judge Charles Eskridge held the trial over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prairie View A&M students and alumni, including Jayla Jenice Allen, Damon Johnson, and Treasure Smith, sued the county in 2018 for violating their civil rights. They allege the county offered easily-accessible locations to non-Black and non-student voters, rather than to the more than 8,250 students 80 percent of whom were Black who called the historically black college home, according to the federal lawsuit. Leah Aden, an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., called the case the latest iteration in Waller Countys long persistent of continuing record of suppressing the political power of Black voters. Aden emphasized that the denial of additional early voting hours was a discriminatory practice based on students age and/or race. College students across the country have the right to vote where they go to school, yet Waller County continues to be nationally known, stratagem and stratagem, to limit Black students voting rights, Aden said. Allen, who graduated from PVAMU in December 2019, testified that students decided to push back after learning that early voting at the campus Memorial Student Center that year had been reduced to two 12-hour days rather than the two weeks that they had expected. After some dispute, additional hours were added at Prairie View City Hall, with is more than a mile away. But Allen, 21, said the situation was still alarming. Meanwhile, PVAMUs student center serves as a convenient and central hub on campus, with several amenities, including the campus mail room, the school auditorium, book store, dining hall and offices for financial aid and registrar, according to Allen. It was brought to our notice because in the past we had been given two weeks of early voting. ... We were given the same amount of time in the first and second week to vote, said Allen, noting that more options for early voting and having them on campus were convenient for students with busy schedules and some with little access to transportation. Voting results published by Waller County for the March 2018 primary also indicate that 64 percent of PVAMU students voted early as compared to 43 percent countywide, court documents state. Related: Prairie View A&M students suing Waller County over alleged early voting suppression Allen, who served as a precinct chair of PVAMUs polling station and helped organize voting efforts on campus, said in response, she and other students hosted a Pull Up to the Polls carpooling event, where they volunteered and drove students to the Waller County Courthouse to vote, nearly 15 minutes away. Defense attorney Gunnar Seaquist pushed back, saying Waller County has consistently provided early voting near the campus since 2002 and that the county community center is located within the footprint of the campus and that county officials had built additional sidewalks to connect the campus to the community center. Seaquist also challenged Allens assertion of what was convenient, questioning how far students would walk to parties held in fields near campus or how far Allen would travel in her car for groceries. Seaquist said it was true that PVAMU had fewer early voting hours than certain towns and cities in Waller County, but said that fewers hours do not equate to unequal opportunity. Peniel E. Joseph, a professor of public affairs and history at University of Texas at Austin who was brought on to testify as an expert, argued that there has been entrenched racism involved in the voting process in Texas since Black people were given the right to vote and a steady and unmistakable pattern of Waller County trying to suppress the vote of PVAMU students. In 1992, Black student voters from PVAMU were indicted for alleged voter fraud or illegally voting out of their jurisdiction. Charges were dropped later that year. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an objection letter to Waller County officials, who had proposed a redistricting plan that seemed to undermine the effectiveness of racial minority voters. Related: Prairie View A&M students win fight for early voting polling place In 2016, students protested to have an early voting location at PVAMUs student center, and in many ways, the fight still continues, Joseph said. These are quieter, but still lethal voting tactics. The trial is scheduled to continue this week. . brittany.britto@chron.com The Bachelor's Locklan 'Locky' Gilbert has parted ways with celebrity agent Sharon Finnigan after working together for just five months. Daily Mail Australia can reveal the 31-year-old terminated his agreement with SF Management last month, while The Bachelor was in full swing. 'Sharon's not my manager... she's f**king over,' Locky said on Friday night when asked who was representing him. See ya, Shazza! The Bachelor's Locklan 'Locky' Gilbert has parted ways with celebrity agent Sharon Finnigan after working together for just five months Ms Finnigan offered a more polite statement when approached for comment on Tuesday morning. 'Locky wishes to go in a different direction which doesn't align with SF Management,' she said. 'I wish him the best of luck.' Locky is now being managed by a former employee of Ms Finnigan's. Moving on: Locky (pictured with his girlfriend, Irena Srbinovska, in Sydney on Friday night) terminated his agreement with SF Management last month, while The Bachelor was in full swing. He told Daily Mail Australia: 'Sharon's not my manager... she's f**king over' Split: Ms Finnigan (right, with her former client Karl Stefanovic and his wife, Jasmine Yarbrough) offered a more polite statement on Tuesday. 'Locky wishes to go in a different direction which doesn't align with SF Management,' she said. 'I wish him the best of luck' Daily Mail Australia understands that Ms Finnigan was not surprised to see Locky sign with one of her ex-staffers. A source said: 'They had no connection and Sharon wasn't a fan of Locky's work. They had different plans for his future and he just wanted out.' SF Management had confirmed its partnership with Locky on April 22, just a month after he was announced as Channel 10's new Bachelor. Controversial move: Locky is now being managed by a former employee of Ms Finnigan's. Pictured with Irena in Sydney on Friday night 'Welcome aboard @locklangilbert looking forward to you joining our family. Coming soon,' the agency wrote on Instagram, to which Locky responded: 'Happy to be a part of the team, guys.' Ms Finnigan has a number of stars on her books, including former WAGs Kyly Clarke and Phoebe Burgess, and MasterChef alum Reynold Poernomo. Sharon once represented breakfast TV stars Karl Stefanovic and Sam Armytage, but both have since parted ways with SF Management. Short-lived deal: SF Management had confirmed its partnership with Locky on April 22, just a month after he was announced as Channel 10's new Bachelor Former Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana has been named the new CEO of the Weingart Foundation (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) The real estate developer Ben Weingart made his fortune building Lakewood and other communities around Los Angeles. Now his legacy is taking a quintessentially Southern California turn as the $800-million foundation that bears his name is set to pass its leadership to an L.A. County native whose Mexican-immigrant parents would not have been welcome in one of Weingart's communities. "Weingart really represented the entrepreneurial spirit, and he's the L.A. story of his generation," said Miguel Santana, a former high-level administrator in both the city and county, whose appointment as the next president and chief executive of the Weingart Foundation is being announced Tuesday. But the Whitter College alum noted with some relish that, because of discrimination, he and his family likely wouldn't have been allowed to live in the developments the foundation's namesake built in the mid-20th century. "I really love the fact that I'm running a foundation with his name that was made from a fortune of housing that I would not have been able to buy," Santana, 51, said in an interview. "I think there's something really cool about that." Santana will succeed Fred Ali, who during a 21-year run as the head of the foundation diversified its once all-white board of male businessmen and played a key role in drawing the region's other large philanthropic groups into collaborative initiatives to steer public policy. "I will miss Fred intensely," said Antonia Hernandez, president and chief executive of the California Community Foundation. "Fred has been a fantastic visionary leader in philanthropy, not only in L.A. but across the state." Hernandez said Santana is uniquely positioned to further that work because of his extensive experience in government. "Miguel's intimate knowledge of how the public sector works is going to benefit the growth of the relationship between philanthropy and the public sector," she said. Story continues "We're losing a great leader, and we're gaining a great leader," said Robert K. Ross, president and chief executive of the California Endowment, who has served with Santana since 2016 on the Weingart Foundations board. Santana's decision to take over from Ali puts to rest widespread speculation that he was considering a run for public office. Those rumors ramped up in July after Santana announced he was stepping down as head of the nonprofit that runs the county fair. Santana has been at the center of city and county political machinations for the last two decades. After beginning his career as community liaison at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, he joined the staff of then-County Supervisor Gloria Molina, became her chief of staff, then rose in the county ranks to the position of deputy administrative officer. In 2009 he became the Los Angeles city administrative officer and guided the city through the painful budget years of the Great Recession. While at City Hall, he became a prominent advocate for public action to address homelessness and was a lead architect of the $1.2-billion homeless housing bond measure, Proposition HHH. After leaving his city post, he spent two years as chairman of the volunteer citizens committee overseeing the bond program. In an interview, Santana said replacing Ali offered a chance to continue the work on homelessness, which includes grants awarded by the foundation to help fund housing projects and groups that provide services to the homeless. Santana will assume the $510,000-a-year position when Ali, 70, steps down in February. Ali, who worked for almost 20 years at nonprofits in Alaska and ran Covenant House in Los Angeles prior to becoming Weingart president in 1999, said he will continue to be engaged in philanthropic work. During Ali's tenure, Los Angeles' network of philanthropic foundations collaborated more closely with one another and government agencies. "You've had a number of the foundations that have really emerged to be civic leaders and not just writing checks," said James M. Ferris, the founding director of the center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Nowhere has that collaboration been more apparent than in the fight to combat homelessness, Ferris said. The Weingart Foundation joined forces with the California Community Foundation, the California Endowment and other nonprofits to play a leading role in getting the HHH housing bond passed. They worked closely with Santana in his role at the city to design the ballot measure that passed in 2016. While the bond was pitched to voters as a solution to chronic homelessness in the city, progress toward building thousands of apartments for those without shelter has been slow. Serving on the oversight committee for the program was enlightening, Santana said. The experience led him to realize that government at all levels had failed to develop sustainable, effective ways to build the enormous amount of affordable housing needed to get the most vulnerable off the street. In this new role, he said he hopes he can keep working to finding ways to build cheaper housing. It is clear now to Santana that the thousands of apartments being built with the bond money will fall short because "we didn't create a new model for how to build permanent supportive housing." Santana's shift to the nonprofit was foreshowed earlier this year when he was recruited to head a group of philanthropic leaders planning for the region's recovery from the coronavirus epidemic. The group morphed into the Committee for Greater LA, which produced a sweeping report, "No Going Back," that documented the breadth of racial and economic inequities and recommended dozens of policy shifts that are needed to correct them. The deft way Santana handled the committee's weekly Zoom meetings made an impression on Charisse Bremond Weaver, president and CEO of the Brotherhood Crusade. "His leadership touched me," Bremond Weaver said. "Every week his ability to frame the conversation around why we cannot go back, and we need to do more. It's really clear that the Weingart succession plan will be good for our city." Authorities identified a 29-year-old man as the victim of fatal fire in Framingham early Tuesday. Harold Anderson Jr. died in the blaze, which broke out at a multiple-story, two-family home at 15 Clark St. around around 2:45 a.m, according to a statement from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. The blaze started in the kitchen of Andersons apartment on or near the Framingham mans stove, the statement said. The cause of the fire is considered accidental, according to the statement. Whether there was a cooking accident, a malfunction of the stove or an electrical malfunction cannot be determined due to the damage, the Department of Fire Services said. There is nothing to suggest an intentionally-set fire. Anderson was the sole resident in the apartment. No one else was injured in the building the victim lived in, authorities said. Our sympathies go out to the family of the victim, Framingham Fire Chief Mike Dutcher said. The fire, which caused an estimated $60,000 worth of damage, left Andersons apartment uninhabitable. Officials are trying to determine if the second unit in the building is inhabitable, Dutcher told MassLive. The Framingham fire and police departments as well as Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans office jointly investigated the fire. Related Content: 29-year-old man dies in Tuesday morning fire in Framingham The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has again promised that the police force will ensure safety of lives and property in the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election. Mr Adamu said the force will do better in discharging its responsibilities in order to record better success than it did during the recently concluded Edo governorship election. The police boss made this known during a meeting with the convener and co-convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo and Esther Uzoma, who led other representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria to his office at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on Monday. According to a statement by the police spokesperson, Frank Mba, the CSOs commended the polices performance in the just concluded Edo governorship election. They called for sustainability and improvement on the Police culture in managing elections, as was evident in Edo State, the statement said. The IGP appreciated the CSOs for their commendable roles in the electioneering processes and their invaluable contributions toward the passage of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020. He reassured that the Force will continue to partner the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders in election management towards ensuring free, fair, peaceful and credible elections, not only in the Ondo election, but also in subsequent elections. The Ondo State governorship election will hold on October 10 with 17 political parties with different candidates vying to take Governor Rotimi Akeredolus seat. Mr Akeredolu, who is seeking a return to office on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has two major opponents to contend with. They are Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft lands in the Gulf of Mexico in August with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on board. (Bill Ingalls / Associated Press) SpaceX has made some changes to its signature crew spacecraft, the Crew Dragon capsule, as it looks forward to its astronaut launch at the end of October. The upgrades come after the Elon Musk-led company launched two NASA astronauts in May in its first-ever crewed mission. After a more than two-month stay at the International Space Station, the capsule, with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard, returned safely to Earth in August. That test flight enabled SpaceX and NASA to evaluate the capabilities of the Hawthorne company's Crew Dragon. SpaceX found that there was deeper erosion than expected in four small areas of the capsule's heat shield, Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability, told reporters Tuesday. The affected spots were near the tension ties, which hold together the capsule and its trunk a cargo-carrying module that gets jettisoned before the capsule reenters Earth's atmosphere. The rest of the capsule's heat shield, which is at the bottom of the spacecraft and helps it reenter the atmosphere safely, worked as expected, Koenigsmann said. He said that the erosion did not reach the capsule's structure and that SpaceX has addressed the problem by putting a more erosion-resistant material in place. "At all times, the astronauts were safe," Koenigsmann said. "Im confident that weve fixed this particular problem very well. The new heat shield design was tested last week and NASA is "very satisfied," said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of NASA's human exploration and operations mission directorate. SpaceX also improved part of the capsule's barometric pressure sensor to give more accurate measurements to help determine when to deploy the spacecraft's drogue parachutes, which help slow it for splashdown. During the August capsule return, the drogue parachutes opened at a slightly lower altitude than planned, though still within acceptable limits, said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Story continues NASA expects to finish certifying the SpaceX capsule for regular astronaut transport to the space station next month. SpaceX is set to launch three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from Japan's space agency on Oct. 31 at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the capsule's first operational mission. The craft is scheduled to dock at the space station for six months. When it returns to Earth, there will be another type of change. In August, when the Crew Dragon splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, people eager to get a close look swarmed the area in boats. That raised some logistical concerns. This time, NASA and SpaceX and the U.S. Coast Guard will establish a restricted zone around the splashdown area. During the August splashdown, toxic fumes were detected in the capsule's outer shell, which NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at the time was even more reason to make sure the public didn't get too close to splashdown sites in the future. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Ask Michelle Berryman if she likes to cook and the answer is simple. No. Yet the owner of Jamrock Irie Jerk in St. Catharines does it professionally five days a week, turning out the flagship dishes of her birth nation, Jamaica, including my favourite vegetable roti in the city. She does it all with a smile, to boot. I know how to cook, Berryman said. I just never liked it. But she does like numbers. Berryman, who studied finance in school, is a mortgage broker and real estate agent in addition to helming the kitchen at her Welland Avenue takeout spot. So when her then-husband and business partner talked of opening a restaurant five years ago, the division of duties were clear: she would keep the books; he would do the cooking. It was an ideal arrangement until the marriage ended. Berryman remained determined to stick to the numbers of selling jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish Jamaicas national dish and curry goat. She hired another chef and stuck with the bookkeeping. Then she hired another one. When the last cook quit abruptly, Berryman decided the only way to successfully feed people was to do it herself. I said, Forget this. Im not bringing in another chef, she recalled. Im going to do this myself. I always say God has a sense of humour of all the things I dont like doing, but I have a passion for it. And a genuine talent. When the pandemic forced restaurants to switch to takeout only in mid-March, Berryman decided to temporarily shutter Jamrock Irie Jerk instead, taking the mandated timeout she had been given to regroup and renovate. As other businesses started to ramp up dining to-go, Jamrock remained darkened. I started to wonder if it had become a casualty of the pandemic. And then, selfishly, I worried about where I would find a suitable replacement for her vegetable roti wrap that Caribbean street food staple of curry chickpeas, cabbage, carrots, sweet potato, broccoli and cauliflower hugged tightly by dhalpuri, an Indian-inspired flatbread resembling a tortilla but stuffed with split peas. Berryman re-opened in early June to the relief of many, and those beasts of roti, enormous in girth and weight, have been part of my pandemic takeout rotation ever since. I love them for how filling and comforting they are. Im not lying when I say they bring tears of joy to my eyes. Sure, theyre also brought on because Im overzealous with the crushed fresh scotch bonnet peppers that Berryman packs on the side for me. The endorphin rush from the heat is real, and I wouldnt have it any other way. But theres also her soup that draws people in, including cow foot, which is considered an aphrodisiac. Thats a big seller. Once I put that on the board men go crazy, Berryman said with a laugh. Berryman, who is as exacting in the kitchen as she is with her accounting, knows the rhythms of customers hunger by the days of the week. Tuesdays are busy soup days; Wednesdays its anything with curry. On Thursdays, oxtail is the big seller, while Friday, its a free-for-all. Saturday brings in a breakfast crowd, keen to start the day with steamed vegetables and callaloo, another name for the leafy green, amaranth. Ackee, a nutty-tasting fruit with the texture of scrambled eggs, alongside salt cod, are also popular weekend fare. Every day at Jamrock is jerk chicken day, however. That and Jamrocks chicken roti are the restaurants biggest sellers. Especially for people whove never been here before. People connect jerk chicken with Jamaica, she said. Theyll say Ive been to Jamaica and I like spicy. Ill always introduce people to jerk chicken, not because its the No. 1 seller but because its attached to Jamaica. Connecting people with Jamaica through food is something shes happy to do. Berryman came to Canada from the island nation when she was 10, landing in Edmonton before moving to more temperate Toronto as a teen. Niagara beckoned in 2014, bringing Berryman and her sons, Brandon and Rishon, who work at the restaurant. She makes a point of returning to Jamaica to visit her family, including her mother, every winter. Its part of my culture. Even though I grew up here, Im proud to serve Jamaican food and Im proud the customers like it, she said. Everything is prepared in small batches, starting at 6 a.m. when Berryman arrives at the restaurant to ready for opening at 11. Shes determined that everything on the menu will be available to the first person who walks through the door and that its made how she would want to eat it. Whenever I make anything or present anything, I think about how I want it for myself. It always has to look presentable, she said. I know people eat with their eyes first. Even if it tastes good, I know its a turn-off if it doesnt look good. More than a place to fulfil her own entrepreneurial spirit, Berryman offers Jamrock Irie Jerk as an outlet for other Black-owned food business. She sells pies from Itty Bitty Pie Co. in St. Catharines and sweets from Monfriese Rum Cakes in Niagara Falls as add-ons to the meals she prepares and cooks the very notion of which isnt just a surprise to her. (My mother in Jamaica) makes fun of me all the time. My daughter owns a restaurant. My daughters cooking, Berryman said with a laugh. You wont find me behind a stove in Jamaica. I like to go out and support other businesses and restaurants. I cook for everyone, now its time for someone to cook for me. My Favourite Things This is a series of Eating Niagara featuring my favourite foods and beverages grown, cooked and poured in Niagara. What: Vegetable Roti Where: Jamrock Irie Jerk, 250 Welland Ave., Unit 2, St. Catharines What else you need to know: Jamrock is a colloquialism for Jamaica, land of wood and water. It means solid. Irie means everything thats cool or great. Hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms this week as New York City enters a high-stakes stage of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Tuesday was the first day of in-person learning for students in kindergarten through fifth grades whose families had chosen the hybrid learning plan, while some high school and middle school students are slated to be back in classrooms starting Thursday. The COVID-19 outbreak is resurging in certain clusters of the city and keeping students at home in many other big US school systems. But on Tuesday Mayor Bill de Blasio met young people on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and later said in a press briefing: 'We are going to continue moving forward.' Elementary school students are welcomed back to P.S. 188 as the city's public schools open for in-person learning. Middle and high schoolers will start on October 1 New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, center right, greets students as they arrive for in-person classes outside Public School 188 The Island School, Tuesday in Manhattan A child has his temperature taken before attending the first day of grade 2 at P.S. 130 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City ZIP CODES OF CONCERN 11223 - Gravesend/Homecrest (6.72%) 11230 - Midwood (5.53%) 11415 - Kew Gardens (3.61%) 11691 - Edgemere/Far Rockaway (3.98%) 11219 - Borough Park (5.26%) 11204 - Bensonhurst/Mapleton (5.15%) 11229 - Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay (4.05%) 11210 - Flatlands/Midwood (4.08%) 11367 - Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok (3.04%) Advertisement New York City's positive COVID-19 test rate topped 3% 'for the first time in months,' de Blasio said on Tuesday, attributing the rise in the city's infection rate to nine particular zip codes. The citywide daily positive test rate was 3.25%, the mayor said on Tuesday, while the seven day rolling average was 1.38%. 'Obviously everyone is concerned about that. That is something we all have to work on together to address,' de Blasio said. By Thursday, 500,000 children will have returned to in-person learning after two delays and despite infection cases in certain neighborhoods dramatically spiking. School principals have said the city's complicated, changing plans put them in a staffing bind. But de Blasio was pictured giving children elbow bumps as they headed inside Public School 188 The Island School Tuesday. At PS 179 elementary school in Brooklyn's Kensington neighborhood, very young students were seen greeting a guidance counselor with a hug as older children had their temperatures recorded at the door. The Health Commissioner says there's an 'alarming rise' in cases in a cluster Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods. With over 1 million public school students, New York City initially had a more ambitious timeline than many other big US school systems for bringing children back to schoolhouses this fall. Students greet Eddie Polanco, an elementary school guidance counselor, as they arrive at school in Manhattan De Blasio has attributed the rise in the city's infection rate to particular zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens Tuesday was the first day of in-person learning for students in kindergarten through fifth grades whose families had chosen the hybrid learning plan. A child is pictured in Brooklyn Mayor Bill de Blasio said about spiking cases in Queens and Brooklyn: 'Everyone is concerned about that. That is something we all have to work on together to address' De Blasio said about reopening schools amid a spike in COVID-19 cases: 'We are going to continue moving forward' Families have the option of choosing all-remote learning, and a growing number are doing so - 48% as of Friday, up from 30% six weeks earlier, according to city Education Department statistics. Pre-kindergarteners and some special education students began showing up September 21 as online instruction began for the rest of the student body. 'It's a big moment for the city,' Mayor Bill de Blasio said on cable news station NY1 Monday night. Students were originally due back September 10. But the start date was pushed back, repeatedly, after the city teachers' union said it wasn't safe to open schools because of outdated ventilation systems, an insufficient number of school nurses and other issues. At one point, the United Federation of Teachers threatened to strike. Kindergarten student Katalina Vidal holds her father's hand as she waits to enter PS 179 elementary school in the Kensington neighborhood, Tuesday A mother adjusts her daughter's hair they wait outside PS 179 elementary school A school administrator directs a student and her mother as they arrive at PS 179 elementary school Teachers line up their students before entering PS 179 elementary school in the Kensington The union was still pressing for changes as recently as Friday, when the city agreed to let more teachers work from home when instructing students remotely, rather than having to come in to school to conduct online classes. The principals' union said the late-breaking change was too much. Principals had already complained that the city was creating a staffing crunch by planning to have three different groups of teachers - one for all-remote students, another for in-classroom pupils and a third for blended-program students when they're at home. Saying that de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza 'have entered into grossly irresponsible staffing agreements,' the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators called Sunday for the state to take control of the school system for the duration of the pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he understood the concern of the principals' union and that the state would monitor virus testing data to determine whether any steps need to be taken concerning New York City schools. Both Cuomo and de Blasio are Democrats. A child has his temperature taken before attending the first day of grade 2 at P.S. 130, Brooklyn A child has her temperature taken before attending the first day of grade 2 at P.S. 130, Brooklyn Sonam Zompa was excited for her 7-year-old son to go back to his elementary school on Manhattan's Lower East Side - and so was he. The third-grader, Tenzin Topdhen, said he liked his online classes but missed his friends - and in school, 'we have actual recess.' Waiting for her daughter to go through a temperature check and questionnaire at the same school, Ashley Shelton said she hoped the start of school would be good for both of them. Online learning was 'how can I put that - OK,' Shelton said, but her daughter missed going to school. And Shelton, a single mother, lost her receptionist job amid the pandemic. Now that school is starting, shes looking for new work. Still, 'I'm not going to say it was easy' to decide to send her daughter to school in person, Shelton said. 'Because I have my doubts, I have my worries, but God is good.' Many other big school systems around the country began the fall term online, though some are reopening physical schools. In Florida, for instance, students opting for in-person learning returned to schools September 21 in Palm Beach County, where the nations 10th largest school system has over 197,000 students. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (C) greets students near the welcome sign at P.S. 188. One child stands with his mask slipped below his nose (right) Pre-kindergarteners and some special education students began showing up September 21 as online instruction began for the rest of the student body A child and adult hug before children head into school on Tuesday morning for the first day back One student waves off her family as she wears a cartoon mask for a day of in-person learning Students line up for in-person classes outside Public School 188 The Island School, Tuesday GP surgeries are rationing flu vaccines and making people between the ages of 50 and 64 wait until supplies are more robust. The Royal College of GPs said people are being given the jab in phases, as signs are emerging the system is creaking under the pressure of the ambitious winter drive. Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged this year would see the most people vaccinated ever in a bid to reach 30million people and relieve the pressure flu patients put on the NHS, which is already bracing for a second wave of coronavirus. High street chemists Boots and Lloyds have had to stop offering appointments as their services are sold out, and now doctors' surgeries are facing massive demand. Although the flu vaccine won't protect people from Covid-19 it can prevent them getting flu, which may increase the risk of dying if you catch coronavirus at the same time, and stopping flu spreading can keep the elderly and vulnerable out of hospital. Over-65s, pregnant women and those with serious long-term illnesses are usually prioritised for the vaccine because they are at a higher risk of complications from the virus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged this year would see the most people vaccinated ever in a bid to reach 30million people and relieve the pressure flu patients put on the NHS, which is already bracing for a second wave of coronavirus (Pictured: A patient at a drive-through vaccine centre) Head of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Martin Marshall, said on Sky News: 'This is a significant problem - it does seem to be a greater demand than there are supplies. 'The issue here is that we order our flu vaccines at least six months in advance. The orders were put in before the Covid crisis was recognised. 'What we're doing in general practice is prioritising those in greatest need. And that means people over the age of 65, people who have long-term health problems, pregnant women and young children. 'So the new group of people that we want to vaccinate as a consequence of the Covid crisis, which is mostly people between the age of 50 and 64, are going to have those vaccinations delayed until the supplies are available.' The Department of Health insists there is not a shortage of the vaccine and that it is 'wrong' to suggest there's not enough to go around. Matt Hancock has pledged that the country would have the biggest flu drive ever this year and reach 30million people, up from the normal 15million. As part of this scheme, access to free NHS vaccines has been widened to include anyone over the age of 50 - but now they are being barred access by doctors. The most at-risk groups will get access first, Professor Marshall said, and surplus jabs can be given to the expanded access groups. Professor Marshall added that he could not see signs that 30million doses were available. 'There seems to be enough for the original group, probably 15, 16, 17 million people at the moment, but at the moment the manufacturers are trying to produce more,' he said. 'It looks like they're going to do so, but it does mean that those in the latter group - the younger group of people who perhaps are at lower risk - might have to wait longer before they actually get their vaccines.' He urged people to 'sit tight' and they would get their jab eventually, adding that flu could be a 'serious condition'. Professor Marshall said: 'What you need to do if you're in that lower risk group is hold tight for now. 'If you're going to get it from general practice, then general practice will contact you when the supplies are available. 'If you're going to get it from your local pharmacy, your pharmacy will also tell you when it's available, so hold on for now and it will be available, and hopefully before Christmas.' In a media briefing last week, England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said the flu programme was always managed in stages. Australia, which faces a similar flu outbreak to the UK, saw very few flu infections this winter. This suggests the UK may dodge a 'double-whammy' of coronavirus and the flu He said: 'The emphasis has always got to be on the existing high-risk groups and getting them well served and the uptake high before we move into the 50 to 64-year-olds who are lower risk. Who is eligible for a free flu vaccine? Health officials are trying to ensure everyone who needs a flu vaccine can get one this autumn. The jab will be made available to 30million people for free - in the largest British vaccination programme ever undertaken. It can be booked through visiting your local GP or pharmacy. The Department of Health has said it is available to the following Britons: Adults aged 65 and over People with some medical conditions including diabetes, heart failure and asthma People who were required to shield from coronavirus Pregnant women Children aged between two and 11 Health and social care workers People between the ages of 50 and 64 - who are eligible to get vaccinated for free for the first time - will be contacted 'later in the year', the NHS says. Advertisement 'This actually fits with the likely pattern of arrival of flu vaccine stocks.' He said some GP practices also prefer to have staged deliveries 'simply because of fridge space'. A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: 'There is no national shortage of the flu vaccine - it is currently available in pharmacies and GPs across England and it is wrong to suggest otherwise. 'There are enough doses for 30 million people. The vaccine is already being delivered for those in at-risk groups, including the over-65s, and this will continue throughout the winter months.' Professor Marshall's comments come as high street pharmacy Boots has suspended bookings at branches across the UK. LloydsPharmacy is only allowing bookings for customers that had already registered an interest online due to 'unprecedented demand'. A spokesman for Boots said: 'We have seen more people than ever booking early to get their flu vaccinations, and due to the level of demand and limited stock that we have available, we made the decision to pause taking any new bookings for our private and NHS under 65s Flu Vaccination Services earlier this week.' They said the suspension was to 'make sure we can vaccinate the patients who have already booked their appointment with us'. The Department of Health and Social Care controls an emergency stockpile of jabs but this has yet to have been made available to surgeries. This is expected to change in the coming weeks. Graham Slesser, a 65-year-old accountant from Doncaster, tried to book a flu jab from his local GP yesterday, having been turned away by his high street pharmacy. He said: 'I was told there were 200 people ahead of me and I might not get an appointment until the end of October.' Amid fears over a 'double whammy' hitting the health service Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, previously told MailOnline Britain 'almost certainly' will not see two consecutive waves of flu and coronavirus. 'There's been virtually no influenza around in the southern hemisphere during their flu season this year and the reason for that is obvious,' he said. 'The things we're doing to control Covid are even more effective on influenza.' Dr Ed Hill, a post-doctoral researcher working on modelling the spread of disease at the University of Warwick, said measures to inhibit the spread of coronavirus would also 'disrupt' influenza transmission. 'The combined interaction of non-pharmaceutical interventions, targeted at reducing Covid-19 transmission but also impacting influenza transmission, and a wide-spread and intensive vaccination campaign may reduce the scale of seasonal influenza this winter,' he said. Australia and New Zealand whose winter occurs during the UK's summer have given hope that Britain will not inevitably be hit by the flu and Covid-19 at the same time. So far this year Australia has recorded only 21,000 influenza infections, fourteen times lower than last year's figure at 313,000. After Sydney declared a lockdown on March 23, flu cases dropped from 5,895 for the entire month to 308 in April, and to a low of 121 in August. New Zealand didn't see one influenza case since screening began in June. Last year about 57 per cent of samples collected by GPs were positive. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korean President Moon Jae-in apologized for the first time Monday for the death of a man who was shot by North Korean troops last week, saying his government failed in its responsibility to safeguard a citizen. The shooting triggered outrage and criticism that Seoul apparently wasted hours to rescue the South Korean official who was found adrift in North Korean waters before his death last Tuesday. While the shooting drew a rare apology from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North has largely passed the blame to the man who was killed, saying that he refused to answer questions and attempted to flee before North Korean troops fired at him. On Sunday, North Korea accused the South of sending vessels across their disputed western maritime border in search of the mans remains, warning that the alleged intrusion could escalate tensions. South Koreas military and coast guard insist they have been searching only in waters south of the boundary. In a meeting with senior aides, Moon offered his deep condolences to grieving family members and also apologized to the public over their shock and fury, saying that the government without any excuses is responsible for protecting the safety of its citizens. Moon also said Kims apology showed he was eager to prevent a breakdown in bilateral relations over the incident and called for the North to resume dialogue and reconnect military communication channels that it cut off in June. North Korea has suspended virtually all inter-Korean cooperation and diplomacy amid a stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration, which have faltered over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament. South Korea has proposed a joint investigation with the North to investigate the shooting. Our hope is that this tragic incident doesnt just end as a (tragic) incident and instead creates room for dialogue and cooperation, becoming an opportunity to develop South-North relations, Moon said. Story continues Critics, including conservative lawmakers, have accused Moons government of inaction after military officials revealed the man was spotted in North Korean waters about six hours before he was killed. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was difficult to establish communication with North Korea because of the severed channels and that officials needed more time to analyze intelligence to determine what the North would do to the man. Kim was quoted as saying he was very sorry over what he described as an unexpected, unfortunate incident in the message sent to South Korea. It said the troops did not recover a body but burned the object on which he had been floating in line with anti-coronavirus rules, the message said. The man was a 47-year-old employee of South Korea's maritime agency who was reported as missing while on duty on a fishing boat near Yeonpyeong island, which is close to the sea border. Minimal details released though South Korea's military have said he likely had been trying to defect to the North. His brother has denied that possibility through local media, saying it was more likely that he fell into the sea by accident. Galapagos NV GLPG and its collaboration partner Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD announced that the European Commission has granted approval to their marketing authorization application (MAA) for Jyseleca (filgotinib 200 mg and 100 mg tablets), a once-daily, oral, JAK1 preferential inhibitor. The MAA sought approval for Jyseleca as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate (MTX) for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who have had an inadequate response or are intolerant to one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). We note that Jyseleca is the first approved drug in the Galapagos portfolio. The company will receive a milestone payment of $75 million from Gilead related to the approval of the drug in Europe per their collaboration agreement. The approval in Europe is based on positive results from the phase III, FINCH, and phase II DARWIN studies. Data from the late-stage FINCH studies have shown that patients receiving Jyseleca once daily showed improvements in clinical signs and symptoms, as measured by ACR20/50/70 scales. A significantly higher proportion of patients achieved low disease activity and/or remission following treatment with Jyseleca 200 mg plus MTX or other conventional synthetic DMARDs, compared to placebo or MTX alone at weeks 12 and 24. Patients who had an inadequate response to MTX also achieved statistically significant inhibition of progression of structural joint damage when treated with Jyseleca plus MTX. Moreover, data from the open-label, long-term extension DARWIN 3 study showed that improvement in clinical signs and symptoms were maintained for up to three years in patients who received Jyseleca 200 mg as monotherapy or in combination with MTX. Please note that the FDA issued a complete response letter for the new drug application seeking approval for Jyseleca in the United States last month. The FDA has requested additional data for reviewing the overall benefit/risk profile of the drug. Story continues Shares of Galapagos were up 5.1% on Sep 25, following Jyselecas approval. Galapagos shares have lost 32.7% in the year so far against the industrys increase of 1.5%. Per the existing collaboration agreement between Galpagos and Gilead for filgotinib, Galapagos will have sole rights to commercialize Jyseleca in Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and may co-commercialize in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The companies will equally share net profit or losses in these countries. Galapagos will receive tiered royalty from net sales of the drug outside these countries. Meanwhile, Galapagos and Gilead are developing the drug in several other inflammatory indications including ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Apart from the collaboration agreement for filgotinib, Galapagos has an option, license and collaboration agreement with Gilead. Per this agreement, Gilead has the option to acquire exclusive commercial licenses in all countries outside of Europe to all current and future clinical programs of Galapagos during the 10-year initial option term of the agreement. Galapagos has collaborated with several other pharma/biotech companies including AbbVie ABBV, and Servier for developing its pipeline candidates. These deals along with Gilead has been the primary source of revenues for the company through milestone payments. Jyselecas approval in Europe will likely generate a steady stream of revenuesfor the company going forward. However, the drug may face competition from approved JAK inhibitors for treating RA in Europe,which includes Eli Lillys LLY Olumiant. Galapagos NV Price Galapagos NV Price Galapagos NV price | Galapagos NV Quote Zacks Rank Galapagos currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021. Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Galapagos NV (GLPG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Manchester Arena bombers brother Ismail Abedi posted extremist images and Islamic State propaganda on social media before the attack, the inquiry into the bombing has heard The Manchester Arena bombers brother posted extremist images and Islamic State propaganda on social media before the attack, the inquiry into the bombing has heard. Families of the 2017 atrocity's victims have criticised MI5's 'obsessive secrecy' over the public investigation, as families were told no members of the security service would be scrutinised in public. Manchester magistrates' court heard yesterday terrorist Salman Abedis older brother Ismail published extremist images on social media while his father was friends with a key lieutenant of bin Laden. MI5 checked the Facebook account of Ismail Abedi, now 27, in July 2015, when agents found a series of photographs of him posing with weapons, the public inquiry into the terror attack heard. John Cooper, Q.C., representing families of 12 of the 22 victims, said the account contained images of Ismail Abedi holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher and sitting on an anti-aircraft gun. He was also depicted holding a machine gun. Photographs were imprinted with the logo of the Islamic State terror group, Mr Cooper said. Two months later in September 2015, Ismail was detained by border officials when entering the UK, his phone was seized and its contents downloaded. Manchester magistrates' court heard yesterday terrorist Salman Abedis older brother Ismail (centre, with other brother Hashem on the left) published extremist images on social media while his father was friends with a key lieutenant of bin Laden Hashem Abedi, Salman and Ismails younger brother who built the Manchester bomb, was found to have used it. Mr Cooper said: The phone was apparently used by both Hashem and Ismail. Islamic state recruitment videos and literature were found on the phone, he added. Fellow barrister Pete Weatherby, Q.C., representing seven of the families, gave details of the Abedi familys wider terrorist links. He said: The Abedi family was known to the Security Services, and what was known about the brothers should have been analysed in the wider knowledge of what their father and other known associates had been and were involved with and in some cases promoted on social media. Police scrambled to Manchester Arena in their droves after the shocking attack three years ago Who are the Abedi's?: The family who refuse to co-operate with an inquiry into the murder of 22 innocent people Hashem Abedi Hashem Abedi Hashem Abedi, 23, helped his suicide bomber brother Salman plan the sick attack on 22 innocent people attending an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. He helped build the bomb which his brother detonated at the concert. Manchester-born Abedi was in Libya when the bomb went off and was arrested there and extradited to the UK. Prior to the attack, the college drop-out, who worked as a takeaway driver, started asking the owner of the restaurant he was working for if he could take the metal vegetable oil cans away for scrap. Hashem and Salman started using them to test homemade explosives they were experimenting with at their property on Elsmore Road, Manchester. Hashem was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 55 years, after being convicted of 22 counts of murder. He has refused to co-operate with the inquiry. Ramandan Abedi Ramadan Abedi The father of the pair responsible for the Manchester Arena bombings is a Libyan-British national who fought against the Gaddafi regime in with militant group Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) - which was designated a terrorist organisation by the US, according to the Guardian. He was arrested in Libya alongside Hashem, but was released without charge. In Manchester, Ramadan, worked as a security officer, and was assigned the role of muezzin at Didsbury mosque and calling out prayer five times a day. In 2011, Ramadan he travelled back to Libya to fight in a civil war, reports the Guardian. Shortly before he was arrested in Libya in 2017 he 'condemned' terrorist attacks on civilians. He still lives in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry. Samia Abedi Samia Abedi is the mother of the brothers involved in the Manchester Arena bombing. Little is known about her background, other than that she lived with Ramadan in south Manchester for more than a decade and that all of the pair's children were enrolled in schools in the UK. She is known to have left the UK in 2016, though continued to receive tax credits, child and housing benefit of about 550 a week, even though she left the UK for Libya in October 2016. She still lives in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry. Joamana Abedi Little is known about Joamana Abedi, the sister of the pair involved in the Manchester Arena bombings. The 21-year-old is known to be living in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry. In 2017, she gave an interview after the attack in which she described her brother as 'kind and loving and that she was surprised by what he did. She said he may have carried out the attack because he wanted revenge for US air strikes on Syria. Ismail Abedi Ismail Abedi The eldest of the brothers, Ismail Abedi still lives in the UK. He has previously apologised for the actions of his brothers. In an interview with Sky News he said he had 'no idea his brothers had taken this path'. 'I want to apologise on behalf of my family to the victims, for all the pain Hashem and Salman caused,' he said. On his brother's life sentence, Ismail, who has a wife and child, added: 'I'm glad this has happened because I can put it all behind me, get on with my life and look after my family.' He is claiming legal privilege in relation to the inquiry. Advertisement It is now acknowledged that Ramadan Abedi was not only a malign influence on his sons but he is also designated as a suspect in the bombing. Ramadan Abedi was connected to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and had posted pro al-Qaeda material on Facebook. He had high profile associates connected to al-Qaeda. Mr Weatherby told how Ramadan Abedis friends reportedly included Anas al-Libi, a fellow member of the LIFG which was affiliated to al-Qaeda and was said to be behind an attempt to assassinate Libyan president Colonel Gaddafi in the 1990s. Al-Libi became a key lieutenant of Osama bin Laden and was accused of masterminding al-Qaeda bomb attacks on US embassies which killed 224 people. He was eventually captured by American forces and died in custody. Mr Weatherby said: Ramadan Abedi posted a photograph of him on Facebook referring to (al-Libi) as a lion. The inquiry heard that when stopped by counter terrorism police on leaving the UK to travel to Libya with his sons in 2011, Ramadan claimed he was taking aid to Libya including medical supplies to rebels. Multiple media reports suggest otherwise, Mr Weatherby said. He added that 16 other known extremists were reportedly living within a 2.5 mile radius of the Abedi familys home in south Manchester. How many of those 16 knew the Abedis and how? Mr Weatherby asked. Despite the familys Islamist links, no members of the family were referred to the Prevent counter terrorism programme, the inquiry heard. Mr Cooper questioned why Salman Abedi managed to have significant contact with Abdalraouf Abdallah, a Manchester-based recruiter for Islamic State currently serving a nine-and-a-half year extended jail sentence. Contact included unsupervised prison visits, one lasting 90 minutes. Another visit, in January 2017, coincided with Hashem arranging purchase of sulphuric acid for the bomb. What exactly were the Security Service doing when all this was happening? Mr Cooper asked. Further questions by the families include how the Abedi brothers were able to buy large quantities of chemicals for the bomb without an alert being triggered, and why they repeatedly travelled unchallenged between the UK and war-torn Libya. An MI5 investigation into Salman Abedi was briefly opened then closed in 2014. Relatives of one victim, Lisa Lees, were incredulous Salman was allowed into the UK without close scrutiny. Mr Cooper said: The families we represent are requiring this inquiry to rigorously question the security services upon their state of knowledge, not only of Salman Abedi but those clearly closely associated with him and what actions were taken. Duncan Atkinson, Q.C., representing seven families, said Salman Abedi had hit a priority indicator with MI5 by March 2017 due to information received the previous year but the process had not been taken further. Counsel for the families called for security service agents to give evidence in public. Only one MI5 witness - a deputy director general - is scheduled to be questioned with the families lawyers and chairman Sir John Saunders present. In the final report, a classified chapter on security service failings will be given to the Home Secretary. Mr Weatherby told how his clients had grave misgivings about the obsessive secrecy which surrounds the security services section of evidence. He said: The current position essentially removes the whole of a central issue from public scrutiny. Mr Cooper said: These questions should be in an open forum, transparent and accessible to the families. Just where were the security services in all this? Mr Weatherby added: To bring secrecy does not protect national security - it does the opposite. It protects failure. The inquiry also heard concerns from lawyers for victims families that penny pinching by organisers and security contractors at the fateful Ariana Grande concert may have led to underwhelming security and medical provision. Guy Gozem, Q.C., representing three of the families, accused them of putting profit before safety. The concert was deemed a low risk by arena bosses although the UK security threat was severe. The inquiry continues. The Delhi Police has arrested five more people, including the Punjab Youth Congress president Brinder Singh Dhillon, who had allegedly led the group that had set afire a tractor at India Gate on Monday morning. On Monday, around 7.30 am, Dhillon and 20-25 others had set a tractor on fire at Rajpath near India Gate lawns in support of the ongoing farmers agitation against the newly passed farm laws. The police on Tuesday also wrote to Punjab Police, demanding action against four Punjab Police personnel who had allegedly escorted the group of protesters to India Gate on Monday morning. Police said of the five men arrested on Tuesday, four are affiliated with the Youth Congress. Apart from Dhillon, who was arrested from a luxury hotel in Delhi, the others were identified as Harish Panwar, national general secretary of All India Youth Congress; Abraham Roy Mani, national general secretary of the All India Youth Congress; and Bunty Shelke, secretary of the All India Youth Congress, who is also in charge of Punjab Youth Congress.Police also arrested a driver, Omprakash, a resident of Pathankot, who had come to Delhi with the other protesters. Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal said police received information that Dhillon was staying at a city hotel. We sent our team there and he was arrested. Based on the information he gave, the other three Youth Congress members were arrested from different parts of the city. They have all been charged under Section 3 of the Epidemic Act, 51(B) Disaster Management Act, Section 4 of the Damage to Public Property Act, and under relevant Indian Penal Code sections for creating mischief by fire, and obstructing public way, among others. Singhal confirmed that the Delhi Police has also written to Punjab Police on Tuesday, demanding disciplinary action against four policemen who had escorted Dhillon and others in uniform up to India Gate. Punjab Youth Congress vice president Gurjot Singh Dhindsa said they have no regrets and are ready to face any legal action. We are fighting for the rights of Punjab farmers. Another protest is being planned Delhi but I cannot share details, he said. Police said the group was not stopped by any policemen as they were accompanied by policemen and, hence, could successfully reach Rajpath, where the tractor was set afire.Police had arrested five men on Monday. The men had even raised slogans of Jai jawan jai kisan and Bhagat Singh amar rahein in support of the farmers agitation . The protesters went live on social media and clicked group pictures alongside the burning tractor. They were also carrying a picture of Bhagat Singh, police said. Following the incident, the Delhi Police has stepped up security in and around India Gate. The police have also tightened security across the citys borders last week, amid the ongoing farmers protest in Punjab and Haryana against the newly passed farm bills. Covid-19 death rates of sick, hospitalized patients dropped from 9.8% to 3.7% when patients were taking an ARB or ACE inhibitor, and even further if also taking a statin. The medical webinar presented multiple studies supporting the use of those widely available, generic, low cost drugs that treat high blood pressure and high choles-terol. Drs. James K. Gude, John Barchilon, and David S. Fedson unveiled the warmly received information from studies which directly oppose the NIH and CDC's views. Their research and reports are taken from Belgian nursing homes, UK hospitals, Yale's Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation and the New York Hospital Cornell/ Columbia Presbyterian hospitals as well as multiple other institutions. The physicians presented treatment regimens we should be using now to lower death rates and save lives until vaccines and antivirals become widely available. They discussed how we got there, why so little attention has been paid to such encouraging results, and why the CDC opposes them. Meeting ID: 213 542 901 Host: James K. Gude, MD , Yale undergrad, Yale MD, postgrad at Stanford Univ. Hospital, Pulmonologist, Critical Care Specialist, Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF Medical School, a founder of Global OffsiteCare.org, the 501c3 non-profit telemedicine resource for underserved communities which is based in Petaluma, California, was moderator/host for their Wednesday mornings Global Grand Rounds. They have practicing physician viewers on all 4 continents. Presenters are: John Barchilon, MD , Dartmouth undergrad, Yale MD, postgrad at Yale, surgery at the New York Hospital Cornell, Yale fellowship in immunopathology; prior ER Physician and now Urgent Care Specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California spoke from Thousand Oaks, California NB: Dr. Barchilon was acting on his own behalf and was not representing Kaiser Permanente. David Fedson, MD , Yale undergrad, Yale MD, postgrad training at Johns Hopkins, NIH/CDC, then faculty at Univ. of Chicago Hospitals in medicine, formerly Professor of Medicine, Univ. of Virginia Medical School, speaking from Sergy Haut, France. LINK TO 14 REFERENCES: https://globaloffsitecare.box.com/v/goodnewsaboutcovid19 SOURCE J.M. Barchilon MD Inc Government troops secure an area in the southern Philippines city of Marawi that remains off limits to civilians, Feb. 21, 2020. A Philippine court has convicted and handed life sentences to 10 Filipino militants linked with Islamic State for their roles in a 2016 bomb attack that killed 15 people at a night market in Davao, President Rodrigo Dutertes southern hometown. Judge Marivic Vitor of the Regional Trial Court in Taguig, Metro Manila, ruled that the defendants should serve their sentences on murder-related charges without the possibility of parole. Those convicted were members of the pro-Islamic State (IS) Maute group, whose leaders and others launched a siege on the southern city of Marawi in May 2017. Sebastian Duterte, the acting mayor of Davao and the presidents son, praised part of the judges decision, which Vitor handed down on Monday. [The verdict] underscores the delivery of justice for the fatalities of the bomb attack, the survivors, their loved ones, the entire City of Davao and all the Dabawenyos who endured the impact of the said terror attack, the mayor said in a statement posted on the citys website. In addition to the sentence, the judge ordered the seven defendants who were in court T.J. Tagabaya Macabalang, Wendel Apostol Facturan, Musali Urbano Mustapha, Jessy Vincent Guinto Original, Zack Haron Lopez, Jackson Usi, and Ausa Abdullah Mamasapano to compensate the victims families. Three fugitives who were convicted were not identified by the court. The 10 were identified as members of the Maute band of militants under the command of brothers Omarkhayyam and Abdullah Maute. The brothers were among the estimated 1,200 fighters, soldiers and civilians killed during the five-month siege of Marawi. Nearly three years after government forces broke the militants siege, some Marawi residents have been allowed to return to the ruined city, although an estimated 125,000 people remain displaced in evacuation camps. In a speech to the nation late Monday, Duterte announced that Marawi and surrounding Lanao del Sur province would be put under a mild COVID-19 lockdown at the beginning of October, the Associated Press reported. The lockdown would restrict most residents to remain at home except for medical emergencies, to purchase food or make other essential trips. Not guilty on terrorism charges Terrorism charges under the Human Security Act of 2007 were dropped because the judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the perpetrators guilt by establishing that the accused were motivated by the desire to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand. The prosecution failed to prove with clear and convincing evidence that the bombing was performed because the president is from Davao City and that it was done to compel the government to reduce the military forces in Basilan who, at that time, were fighting the Abu Sayyaf Group, the judge said, referring to another militant group based in the southern Philippines. Sebastian Duterte said the fight for justice was far from over. And given the many lives lost because of the bomb attack and given its impact on Davao City and its people we respectfully express our dismay as we point out that this positive development is somehow tarnished by the absence of a strong law against terrorism, he said in the statement. Although the perpetrators were convicted as murderers, they would have been convicted as terrorists as well if only the Philippines had a good anti-terror law, he said. Four years after the grisly attack, we continue to mourn with the families of the victims and the survivors. In addition to killing 15 people, the Sept. 2, 2016, bombing injured 70 others. President Duterte, who had taken office two months earlier, was in Davao at the time but not near the blast site. In July 2020, the president signed the Anti-Terrorism Act, which repealed the Human Security Act of 2007. The act, which has drawn protests, empowered law enforcers to arrest suspected terrorists without warrants and detain them without charges for up to 24 days. One month later, a pair of suicide bombing attacks in Jolo left 15 dead. The suicide bombers were believed to be working with an IS branch led by Mundi Sawadjaan, a relative of IS-Philippine chief Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. The military has alleged that Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan was the mastermind of a twin suicide bombing at a church in Jolo that left at least 23 dead. Richel V. Umel in Iligan City, Philippines, contributed to this report. Modi said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things. Dehradun: In a scathing attack on those opposing the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they wanted only the middlemen to thrive and referred to the burning of a tractor in Delhi by Congress workers as an insult to farmers. "They are opposing the freedom of farmers and want their problems to continue forever. By torching farming equipment, which the agriculturists worship, these people are now insulting farmers," he said without naming the Congress. The Congress' youth wing activists on Monday morning set a tractor ablaze near India Gate, a few hundred metres from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, to protest the contentious farm laws. Modi said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things. Terming it "opposition for the sake of opposition", the prime minister said that by resisting big reformative steps by the Centre such as the farm laws, these forces were making themselves irrelevant in the society and in the country. He accused them of challenging everything from GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale deal, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor and celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. He said that this politics was the root of the frustration of a party which had ruled for four generations. "Frustration of a party which has ended up riding the shoulders of others despite wielding power for four generations is behind this politics of the opposition for opposition's sake," Modi said. He said none of the leaders of the political party had till date visited the Statue of Unity, built to honour the memory of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel whose contribution to unifying the country is well known. "Why? Because they had to oppose," he said. He said people had seen for themselves the role Jan Dhan accounts played in direct benefit transfer schemes during the coronavirus pandemic and they could also remember how it was opposed while being introduced by the Centre. He said after opposing the Ram Mandir in the Supreme Court for decades, they even began opposing its foundation stone laying in Ayodhya. Without naming the Congress, he accused it of being neither with the farmers nor with the youth nor the soldiers and recalled that the the party had demanded proof of surgical strikes instead of praising the bravehearts who carried out the exercise. He also recalled how it opposed the purchase of Rafale fighter jets. "They did not do anything for years to strengthen the Air Force, ignoring its pleas for being better equipped and modernised. I am pleased to see that Rafale fighter jets are strengthening our Air Force today," he said. He said the farm laws were meant to set farmers free from restrictions which they had suffered for decades. "They will have both MSP and the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the open market but there are people who are spreading lies about the bills. They only want middlemen to thrive and want the problems of farmers to be perpetuated. The real reason behind the ongoing protests is that yet another source of black money has been closed for them," the prime minister said. Modi was inaugurating six ambitious sewage treatment plants in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Muni-ki-Reti town and Badrinath under Namami Gange through video conference. He said the process of empowering people, farmers and the youth, and making the country self-reliant through big reforms will continue relentlessly. Modi also attacked the previous governments for wasting too much money over Ganga rejuvenation, drinking water and irrigations schemes without any results, claiming there was no coordination between the government departments involved. "This led to further aggravation of the problems instead of resolving them. But today the work culture has changed and every penny is going into the implementation of the projects," he said. This new five-year agreement will invest $150,000 into supporting both the Legacy Schools program and Legacy Spaces program. The partnership broadly advances Canadian learning about the history and impact of the Indian residential school system on Indigenous peoples. Both programs are an invitation for people to participate in Reconciliation. "The DWF is an amazing organization that is building on the legacy of two incredible people (Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack) to encourage people to learn about Reconciliation and take action," said Lisa Frizzell, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at the NWMO. "We are proud to co-create a meaningful partnership with this organization and contribute to Reconciliation in Canada, while publicly recognizing Orange Shirt Day." Importantly, this announcement is made at a time of year when Canadians and Indigenous people recognize Orange Shirt Day (September 30th), which is a day that honours those Indigenous children that were forcibly taken from their families and sent to residential schools. Sadly, more than 6,000 Indigenous children died at residential schools. With support from the NWMO, the Legacy Schools program provides free toolkits to teachers in schools across Canada, including educators in areas where the NWMO is active: South Bruce and Ignace. Among its resources, the Legacy Schools toolkit features a graphic novel called Secret Path, which tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died in 1966 after escaping a residential school and trying to walk 600 kilometres home. In addition to its Legacy Schools program, DWF is also recognized for its Legacy Spaces program that offers the opportunity for organizations to play an important role in their communities by creating safe, welcoming places dedicated to education and spreading awareness about Indigenous history and Reconciliation. "We are so grateful to extend our partnership with the NWMO," said Sarah Midanik, President & CEO of DWF. "This five-year commitment will support exponential growth in the Legacy Schools program to more schools and communities. The NWMO has already demonstrated commitment to moving Reconciliation forward, and we're excited to partner with them to create a Legacy Space to continue this important work." Currently, the NWMO is planning its own Legacy Space at its office in Toronto. "Our Legacy Space will further support staff in being able to actively see their role in Reconciliation as part of interweaving Indigenous Knowledge into all of NWMO's work, by embedding Indigenous teachings into the workplace," said Jessica Perritt, Section Manager, Indigenous Knowledge and Reconciliation at the NWMO. About the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) was created out of two families coming together to make change, uphold Chanie and Gord's legacies, and create a pathway on the journey toward Reconciliation. Each year, DWF hosts its annual event "Secret Path Week" that spreads awareness about their programming. This year, virtual events will be held online from October 17- 22. For more information, to support and donate today, please visit www.downiewenjack.ca About the NWMO The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is implementing Canada's plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The organization was created in 2002 by Canada's nuclear electricity producers. Ontario Power Generation, NB Power and Hydro-Quebec are the founding members, and along with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, fund the NWMO's operations. The NWMO operates on a not-for-profit basis and derives its mandate from the federal Nuclear Fuel Waste Act. SOURCE Nuclear Waste Management Organization For further information: Pamela Bishop-Byers, Regional Communications Manager - Indigenous, [email protected], 416.564.5478 Egypt has declared three days of mourning starting Tuesday for Kuwait's emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who died earlier today at the age of 91. In a statement by the presidency spokesman Bassam Rady, Egypt mourned the death of Kuwait's emir saying "The Arab and Islamic nations have lost a great leader of a unique calibre after a life full of benevolence and achievements to serve his people and his Arab and Islamic nation and support its causes," the statement added. "Egypt, in these painful circumstances, recalls with full gratification and appreciation the brotherly stances of emir Sabah and his prominent landmark work in the renaissance of Kuwait and the Islamic and Arab nations. He was a wise leader who devoted his life to serve his people, nation, and the whole of humanity," the statement added. "His actions and achievements will remain deeply-rooted in conscience and will keep him a role model in leadership, generosity and bounteousness," it added. The statement added that Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed his condolences on behalf of the Egyptian people and government over the passing of the Kuwaiti leader. Search Keywords: Short link: Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application filed by freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. Denying him bail, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who is an important brick in the fourth pillar of democracy, decides to act with the intention to destabilise and negatively impact the sustainability and survival of democracy, it would be darkest day in the free press movement. "The preliminary electronic evidence collected by the investigating agency points towards involvement of the accused in commission of offence under the Officials Secrets Act. I am satisfied that if accused Rajeev Sharma is released on bail at this stage, he may attempt to hamper the investigation. Accordingly, bail application stands dismissed," the court order said. On September 14, Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61, for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. During the search of his house, a laptop, some confidential documents related to Indian defence and incriminating papers were seized. He is currently in judicial custody. Sharma had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that he is suffering from various ailments, which include acute sinus problems, has undergone two surgeries for sinus and is at a high risk of Covid-19. The prosecution had vehemently opposed his bail plea, claiming that the accused received huge sums of money from some companies and cash was collected on behalf of the accused from such companies. The Additional Public Prosecutor further submitted that the source of secret documents found in the possession of the accused is yet to be established, and his alleged foreign handlers are also to be traced. The present case was registered on the basis of secret inputs received from Indian intelligence agencies about links of Sharma with foreign intelligence officers and that he was receiving funds, through hawala and Western Union monet transfer, from his foreign handlers for conveying sensitive information on national security and foreign relations. A case under Sections 3 (possession of any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information, which relates to munitions of war), 4 (Communications with foreign agents) and 5 (Wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act was registered on September 13 and Sharma arrested the next day. On interrogation, Sharma allegedly disclosed his involvement in the procurement of secret and sensitive information and conveying the same to his Chinese handlers Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digital channels. He is also said to have further disclosed that he was about to send these recovered secret documents to his handlers. After Sharma's arrest, Chinese woman Qing Shi and her Nepalese partner Sher Singh alias Raj Bohra were also arrested as they were found supplying Sharma with huge amounts of money, routed through hawala channels, for conveying sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. Washington, Sep 29 : Law enforcement agencies across the US reported 911 outages, which were restored within an hour, according to a media report. At around 7 p.m. on Monday, agencies in the states Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Nevada said their 911 systems were not operational, The Hill news website reported. But most of them said that the system was restored in about an hour. The cause of the outages was not immediately clear. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Emergency Communications Board tweeted it was in contact with CenturyLink, a telecommunications company, to determine the cause. Also taking to Twitter, the Minneapolis Police Department said their 911 systems were "not operational nationwide" before posting an update almost two hours later. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has accused a council on Sydney's north shore of "throwing its toys out of the cot" and has warned he could intervene if it attempts to abandon housing targets. Mr Stokes said Ku-ring-gai Council had a "shared commitment to meet the requirements of a growing city" in achieving projections for dwellings in the area previously agreed on with the Greater Sydney Commission, which a developer lobby group recently described as "relatively modest". Planning Minister Rob Stokes has accused Ku-ring-gai Council of acting "petulantly" over housing targets. Credit:Louise Kennerley Mr Stokes said that if the council did not want to undertake local planning responsibilities, "I can appoint a planning administrator to do it for them". "My preference is they do what they're elected to do, because I think their community feels passionately about local planning, so I'd encourage them not to hand over their powers but if they want to, we'll help them," he said. Deborra-Lee Furness addressed long-running rumours husband Hugh Jackman is 'gay' during her appearance on Anh's Brush with Fame on Tuesday. The 64-year-old actress and producer rolled her eyes when asked about the persistent rumours by the show's host, Anh Do. 'I see these magazines and they're so mean-spirited I hope people realise it's all made up,' she said. Speaking out: Deborra-Lee Furness addressed long-running rumours husband Hugh Jackman is 'gay' during her appearance on Anh's Brush with Fame on Tuesday She added: '[Hugh's] been gay for so many years, I was gay too when I did [the 1988 film] Shame. They were shocked when I got married. 'It's just wrong. It's like someone saying to Elton John, "Oh he's straight". I'm sure he'd be p**sed! 'And so what! What are we discussing here Is he a vegetarian Is he gay?' Deborra-Lee previously told The New York Post's Page Six magazine that she pays 'no heed' to gay whispers. No truth: 'I see these magazines and they're so mean-spirited I hope people realise it's all made up,' she said She said back in 2011: 'The line I heard was, "Wolverine? Who would have thought?" Hugh and I don't pay much heed [to that]. 'It's kind of tragic that these people have nothing better to do than to gossip about people they don't know.' Rumours surrounding Hugh's sexuality have plagued the 51-year-old multi-talented actor for most of his career. Hugh addressed the speculation in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter back in 2013, blaming the Internet. Speculation: '[Hugh's] been gay for so many years, I was gay too when I did [the 1988 film] Shame. They were shocked when I got married,' she continued 'Just recently, it bugs her,' he said of the online rumours, adding that Deborra-Lee accesses the Internet more than he does. 'She goes: "It's big. It's everywhere!"' Hugh continued. Hugh's X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner also brushed off the speculation in the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 'I have seen him with Deborra since the beginning of their trip to Hollywood, and I've been on five movie sets with him and have never seen him stray, have never seen him eye anyone.' According to The Metro in 2018, Hugh again addressed the rumours on US radio. Annoying: The 64-year-old actress and producer rolled her eyes when asked about the persistent rumours by the show's host, Anh Do (pictured) 'Some dudes do get upset, some dudes say, "Don't say I'm gay" [but] I am good.' Hugh added that he believes the rumours began after his role in 2003's broadway show, The Boy From Oz. 'I was literally just locking lips... I started to laugh so hard,' Hugh recalled of having to kiss his co-star on stage. 'So I stay kissing him, because I thought, "I'm just going to laugh. I'm going to stay here until it subsides", and it never subsided and the whole audience could see my body shaking, so they started.' Also on Anh's Brush with Fame, Deborra-Lee said she finds it frustrating when people tell her how 'lucky' she is to be married to The Greatest Showman star - and how sometimes people make her feel like she's 'won a chook raffle'. Not reading into it: Hugh (pictured this month) addressed the speculation in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter back in 2013, blaming the Internet. He also said Deborra-Lee accesses the Internet more than him 'People don't realise that it's actually rude to say that,' she said. 'Lucky because he's a stud muffin and all that but that's showbiz and Hollywood and the brand of Hugh Jackman.' But after 24 years of marriage, Deborra-Lee said she's come to realise it's all part of being married to a Hollywood heartthrob. Deborra-Lee also spoke about meeting Hugh on the set of the Australian TV series, Correlli, back in 1995. She revealed there was an 'instant attraction' between them, and said they confessed their feelings for each other in Hugh's kitchen one night and have been together ever since. The census for this year will have an end date of October 5, said U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. This decision ran in contrast to a federal judge's ruling last week. It said the census could have an end date until the end of October, as noted in a tweet from the Census Bureau on Monday. The end date for the census has been an ongoing battle lately. The matter is of great importance as the headcount is used to allocate seats in Congress, The Guardian noted. Census data is also used to determine how federal spending worth $1.5 trillion should be distributed per year. During a virtual hearing held in San Jose, California, the announcement was made, said an AP News report. It was a follow-up hearing to the U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh's preliminary injunction. The new end date doesn't really violate the judge's order because only the field operations were suspended in the injunction. It also suspended the December 31 deadline of the Census Bureau for turning in figures for congressional seats. Koh asked federal government attorneys to present documents on how they came to the October 5 deadline. They said the decision making was a "moving target" that did not have any records. August Flentje, special counsel to the assistant U.S. Attorney General, said, "It's day-to-day adjustments and assessments." Lawsuits on Census End Date Some groups sued president Donald Trump's administration because of the census end date. In August, they announced plans to shorten the timeline by a month, Reuters noted. Civil rights groups and some municipalities argued there was a "rush" in the schedule. They claimed this could lead to inaccurate results and a "massive undercount of the country's communities of color." Critics believe the move could exclude undocumented immigrants from the survey and advantage certain groups in the coming elections. The Trump administration said it would appeal to the judge's decision. Attorneys argued that the headcount had to be finished by September 30 to meet a December 31 deadline for apportionment. But with the restraining order, they knew that the deadline was unlikely to be met. Unofficial End Date Announcement Announcing the change of end date was notable since it was only linked to Ross. Previous announcements on the matter were made either by Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham or both men jointly. The Commerce Department announced this as census takers claimed they were being pressured to meet the September 30 deadline. This is even after Koh issued her injunction. In an email obtained by AP News, a northern California manager told supervisors, "We're in the home stretch with only three days left." In that same region, another manager told census supervisors Monday that they had to complete 99% of households by Wednesday. Because of the pandemic, the deadline for ending the 2020 census was moved by the Census Bureau from the end of July to the end of October. They also asked Congress to have more time to turn in the number of seats for apportionment. Check these out! 2020 Census: Court Temporarily Stops Bureau's Plan to 'Wind Down' Operations White House Seeks to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Data How do Trump, Biden Prepare for Tomorrow's First Presidential Debate? Ait Melloul (Morocco), 27 September 2020 (SAPS) - Sahrawi civilian prisoner, Brahim Dedi Ismaili, who is serving an unjust and harsh life imprisonment sentence at the local prison of Ait Meloul 2, in the suburbs of the Moroccan city of Agadir, initiated on Friday a 24-hour warning hunger strike, said the Association for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners, citing family sources. This protest comes as an expression on the part of the Sahrawi civilian prisoner to condemn all forms of deliberate racial discrimination against him by the prison administration, as he prevented from making phone calls as a basic and declared right. The Sahrawi civilian prisoner held the General Administration of the Moroccan occupation prisons and the prison administration officials fully responsible for the health safety of all Sahrawi civilian prisoners within the Gdeim Izik group, who are in the same prison, due to the policy of negligence and indifference practiced against them, especially after allocating a neighborhood to treat those infected with the Coronavirus pandemic, where they are quarantined, the same source added. Sahrawi civilian prisoner, Brahim Dedi Ismaili, is in the local prison of Ait Meloul 2, the suburbs of the Moroccan city of Agadir, under an unfair and harsh sentence of life imprisonment, following an unjust trial that lacks guarantees and fair trial standards, staged in the Moroccan city of Sale, with the testimony of significant international organizations concerned with human rights such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, due to his peaceful participation in the mass exodus of Sahrawi camps of Gdeim Izik region, east of El-Aaiun the occupied capital of Western Sahara, it should be recalled. (SPS) 062/SPS/T In this week's TravelSkills on SFGATE newsletter... This past August was the hottest ever in Palm Springs, with high temperatures rising to 110 degrees or above on 24 days, and once even hitting an astonishing 120 degrees. That kind of heat would normally keep away all but the most intrepid desert rats, but not during a pandemic. Since June, after county and state leaders allowed hotels and home rentals to re-open, Palm Springs has enjoyed a relative surge of visitors and that interest should extend into the cooler fall and winter months. Read: Why is Palm Springs so hot these days? In route news, Hawaiian Airlines joins United in offering COVID-19 testing; the state of Hawaii offers more details on preparations for Oct. 15 reopening; JetBlue will begin new transcontinental routes, including one from San Francisco; Alaska Airlines sets new California routes, including one from San Jose; Palm Springs emerges as one of airlines' hottest destinations this winter; Delta extends perks for SkyMiles and Sky Club members; Emirates scraps winter schedule to SFO; American adds Mexico routes; and El Al faces an ownership controversy. Read: Routes: Latest on Hawaii tests + JetBlue, Alaska expand, Delta perks, Emirates exit United Airlines and its pilots have reached an agreement that both sides say will avoid about 2,850 furloughs that were set to take effect later this week and another 1,000 early next year. The Air Line Pilots Association said Monday that the deal will allow United to spread a reduced amount of flying across the airline's 13,000 pilots to save jobs at least until next June. Read: United Airlines reaches deal with pilots, avoids furloughs Hawaii has set Oct. 15 as the date when it will open tourism to visitors who have tested negative for COVID-19, and United and Hawaiian Airlines aim to make that easier by offering a pilot testing program for its San Francisco passengers. But it won't be cheap. In a partnership with GoHealth Urgent Care, United will offer its customers flying to the islands out of SFO a coronavirus test on the day of departure that provides results in about 15 minutes, the company said. Read: United offers COVID-19 tests at SFO for Hawaii passengers, but they are not cheap Southwest is pulling out one of its biggest marketing guns to help convince customers to fly this fall and winter. Will you bite? Normally, Southwest Airlines coveted Companion Pass is a long-term goal for Rapid Rewards participants, but a new very-short-term promotion lets members earn a limited-duration Companion Pass by booking just one flight. But you dont have a lot of time to think about it. NOTE: Offer expired 9/25. Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for short term travel deals and sales like this one. Read: New Southwest Companion Pass promotion valuable for duos To fly today, airlines require all passengers (except kids under 2) to wear face coverings. This requirement is being enforced: Major airlines have reportedly banned more than 700 fliers for non-compliance. Issues of personal freedom aside, are the airlines being overly cautious or is that mask policy important in protecting the traveling public? Read: Face masks on flights 'critically important' to prevent COVID-19 spread, Harvard study finds With the arrival of fall, many Northern California residents are looking for safe, healthy, socially distanced activities to do with loved ones due to the virus that causes COVID-19. Heading to the Sierra to see the fall leaves turn color seems like the perfect day or weekend trip for many to get away from it all. Read: Where to find the prettiest fall foliage in Northern California When Catie Torres said goodbye to her boyfriend at the airport this March, she never thought she would spend the rest of the year wondering when she would see him again. A nurse raised in Livermore, Torres met her partner, Akis, while on vacation in Greece just over two years ago. The pair struck up a lively conversation on the day of her arrival, and she remembers how they instantly connected. Since then, the couple hasnt spent more than two months apart, traveling to one anothers home countries for periodic visits. Last summer, Torres even acquired a student visa to continue her education in Greece so they could try out living together. Then the pandemic hit. Read: 'Part of me was missing': Couples divided by pandemic travel ban If you love beer and nature, this could be your dream job. A big beer company is hiring a "Chief Exploration Officer" (CEO) to explore some of America's iconic national parks in a camper van, complete with its own bathroom and shower. The company will even cover gas. And you can bring another person a spouse, partner, friend or a pet to accompany you on your working adventure. Pay: $50,000. Read: This dream job will pay you $50k to drink beer and travel Tell your friends about TravelSkills on SFGATE and have them sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts or forward this email to them! American Airlines announced it will open its much-anticipated new Admiral's Club in the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport on October 6. SFO opened the first phase of the $2.4 billion Harvey Milk terminal in July 2019 with flights from only Southwest and JetBlue. American moved in after the terminal's second phase opened in May, delayed three months due to COVID-19. We also got some bad news about Alaska Airline's new lounge at SFO originally scheduled to open next month Read: SFO gets a brand new American Admirals Club Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. Email: chris@travelskills.com. Get up-to-the-minute travel news via Chris's social feeds: Twitter: @cjmcginnis | Facebook: @TravelSkills The first presidential debate of the 2020 election will offer President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden a prime-time opportunity to shift public opinion in a race that has largely remained stable throughout the year. Trump will face his Democratic rival Tuesday for a 90-minute debate in Ohio, a battleground state where polls show the candidates locked in a virtual tie. The presidential debates could generate more interest due to the lack of traditional events throughout the campaign until recently, said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan. World peace is indivisible and humanity shares a common destiny. In the past 30 years since China joined the United Nations peacekeeping operations, the countrys armed forces have injected a power of peace into the world with concrete actions, creating a stable environment for development, and delivering warmth, love and friendship to every corner of the globe. A recent white paper issued by China remarked that the countrys armed forces have engaged in the UNPKOs with courage and determination, always aspiring to fulfill their missions of meeting the responsibilities of a major country, safeguarding world peace, and contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. To share a common destiny with the world is a firm faith of the Chinese peacekeepers. In this vast world I might be just like a small and light feather, but even so, I would like this feather to carry the wish for peace. Thats a line wrote by Chinese UN peacekeeper He Zhihong who died in 2010 in Haiti. It is a reflection of the broad mind of the Chinese armed forces, as well as an oath made by them to safeguard the peace of the world. Setting out for operations at dawn, returning to camps late at night, sleeping in the sound of guns and waking up by battling cries, Chinese peacekeepers are always standing out wherever they are needed. Over the past 30 years, Chinas armed forces have contributed more than 40,000 service members to 25 UN peacekeeping missions. Sixteen Chinese military peacekeepers have sacrificed their lives for the noble cause of peace. Chinese military peacekeepers maintain peace with their sweat, youth and lives. Only by giving equal attention to development and security and by addressing both the symptoms and root causes of conflict can sustainable peace be assured. In the UNPKOs, Chinas armed forces have always contributed to a safe and stable environment for countries and regions in conflict. They also actively participate in medical support and health care, humanitarian assistance, environmental protection, improving lives, and social reconstruction, and provide more public services to enable the local people to enjoy the benefits of peaceful development. In the past 30 years, Chinas armed forces have built and rehabilitated more than 17,000 kilometers of roads and 300 bridges, disposed of 14,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance, and performed a large number of engineering tasks including leveling ground, renovating airports, assembling prefabricated houses, and building defense works. They have provided medical services to over 246,000 sick and wounded people. In Darfur, which lies on the edge of a desert with complex geology, is one of the regions afflicted by the worlds most severe water shortages. From 2007 to 2013, Chinese military engineers drilled 14 wells in the most difficult circumstances, and effectively alleviated the problem of water scarcity for the locals. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations of the UN, remarked that by protecting civilians, safeguarding security, constructing infrastructure and improving livelihood, Chinese peacekeepers have made huge contributions to the development of world peace. Chinese military peacekeepers are not only guardians of peace but also messengers of friendship. The Chinese medical units in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ran a twinning project in SOS Childrens Village Bukavu to offer help. Touched by the love and care from the units, children in the village called the female members their Chinese mothers. The consistent efforts of the Chinese units over the past 17 years have won widespread praise from the locals. In the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Chinese military peacekeepers provided agricultural techniques, farming tools and vegetable seeds to local people. They were invited by local middle schools to teach lessons on Chinese culture and language, which were very popular with the students. With concrete actions, Chinese peacekeeping armed forces proved that civilization differences are not a source of conflicts, and mutual learning shall become a force that drives human progress and a bond that safeguards world peace. To participate in the UNPKOs is integral to Chinas joint efforts with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. The world is undergoing pr ofo und changes unseen in a century, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertainties and destabilizing factors in the international security situation are on the rise, and there are diverse threats to world peace. Chinas armed forces will endeavor to play a stronger role in the UNPKOs, comprehensively improve peacekeeping capability, faithfully fulfill their responsibilities, and contribute more to world peace. China will keep working to improve the peacekeeping system and address both the symptoms and root causes of conflict. It will pursue extensive consultation, joint contribution, and mutual complementarity and build a new type of peacekeeping partnership. Besides, it supports the UN efforts to refine security council mandates and improve peacekeeping effectiveness. The country supports giving full play to the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and enhancing rapid response. It advocates to proactively address risks and threats and ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers. The Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative raised by the UN shall be actively responded by global countries. No matter how the international landscape evolves, China will always be ready to join hands with all peace-loving nations to champion and pursue multilateralism, and uphold the international system centered on the UN and the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China will exert itself in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and in making the world a better place. The Australian bushfires have consumed 17 million hectares of forest in the later part of 2019 and 2020. Citizens stepped up and recorded frog calls using a mobile phone and a FrogID mobile app and helped scientists build a snapshot of the existing frogs in Australia before and after the fire. Scientists and conservation groups are wary of the extent of the fire's damage to animal and plant species. But due to the extent of area damage and the COVID-19 travel restrictions, a scientific survey poses a big challenge. Scientists were already expecting that damage to plant and animal species may be substantial, especially for problematic status species. Frogs are particularly vulnerable as it is sensitive to pressures such as change of temperature, disease, and habitat loss. Information on how frogs can respond to fires is limited. But with the help of citizens, mobile phones, and the FrogID app, researchers were able to compile 45 frog species from recorded calls after the fires. The findings were published in Conservation Science and Practice on September 27. READ: The Cryptic Life of the Burrowing Frogs FrogID Mobile App The FrogID, the app instrumental to a recent mapping of frogs from its recorded calls, is a free app downloaded to smartphones. Headed by the Australian Museum, the project makes it possible for anyone to record a frog call and upload it. A team of scientists then identifies the species by its call and develops a national database from it. The app was launched in November 2017, and more than 13,000 citizen scientists have downloaded the app, had recorded 220,000 frogs calls all over the country. Australian Frogs Australia has 240 known frog species. At least four of these species are believed to be extinct, while 36 are nationally threatened. After the fire, scientists needed more information on which frogs required immediate help. With the travel restrictions die to COVID-19 after bush fires, a field survey has become a challenge. Before the fire, citizen scientists were able to send 2,655 recordings of 66 frog species from the areas that were consumed by the fire. During the four months of the fire, 632 recordings were passed on to the FrogID team. From the recordings, researchers confirmed the presence of 45 of the 66 species previously recorded; later, 33 summer-breeding frog species were also detected, making the researchers conclude that there were no "missing" frog species. The eastern froglet (Crinia signifera) and striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii) were the most common ones recorded. Rare and threatened species like the vulnerable southern barred frog (Mixophyes balbus), the endangered giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus), and mountain frog (Philoria kundagungan) were also confirmed present. READ ALSO: Male Frog in Brazil Found to Practice Polygyny With a Harem of Two Loyal Females The Traditional Survey is Still Necessary. Despite the valuable data from citizen scientists, researchers said more information on how the affected Australian frog is still lacking, especially for species with high conservation concern. Tradition survey is still necessary, but the FrogID will remain a powerful tool as it allows the gathering of information quickly at a large scale. READ NEXT: Alien Spotted-Thighed Frog Invasion Disrupts Southern Australia's Natural Biodiversity Check out more news and information on Frogs on Nature World News. NEW DELHI: The Maldives received Dornier Maritime Surveillance aircraft by Indian Navy on Tuesday, which has been termed as a "colossal milestone" between the defence ties of the two countries. The aircraft will help the country in Maritime & exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surveillance, humanitarian assistance, disaster and medical Relief. This will be especially helpful for the Maldivians in the northern atolls and also identifying foreign vessels, something that has increased presence in the Indian Ocean region. Speaking exclusively to WION, Maldives Defense minister Mariya Didi said,"As a country with over 99% of its territory covered by the sea we have always worked together with our friends across the ocean to protect our domestic interests from pirates, drug smugglers and poachers. Our national defense forces are the first responders in search and rescue operations and in providing humanitarian relief as per law and by duty." Adding, "The request for a Dornier initiated by the former administration in 2016 which we saw materialize today will go a long way in increasing our capacity to tackle these challenges. ts a colossal milestone in defiance relations and adds a new chapter to the continued cooperation between our two countries.." All in all, the Dornier will in the command and control of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and will be flown with MNDF flag and colours. Maldivian pilots have been trained for the aircraft since 2017. Maldives National Defence Force release said it will be, "used in surveillance and monitoring of Maldivian waters, monitoring Maldivian maritime fishing grounds and identifying foreign vessels, in anti-drug (and other illegal substances) and human trafficking operations, as well as in search and rescue missions and to provide humanitarian assistance." It was in 2016, that the request for a Dornier Maritime Surveillance aircraft was raised during the visit of the then President Yameen of the Maldives to India. The present Ibrahim Mohamed Solih government of Maldives was able to fast track it. This comes even as India and Maldives have been doing joint surveillance of exclusive economic zone, in which the aircraft will be helpful. Since 2009 both, Maldivian Coast Guard and Indian Navy have conducted 54 joint aerial surveillance operations to safeguard Maldivian waters. Labor leader Anthony Albanese will sharpen his attacks on the Morrison government over its handling of the coronavirus, naming fairness as one of the key tests for next weeks federal budget. Mr Albanese will outline an alternative budget agenda including more generous income support for those who have lost their jobs at a time when the government is scaling back payments. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is sharpening his attacks on Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen His speech will call for a bigger plan to build new infrastructure, more spending on social housing, an end to "neglect" in education and new policies to use government spending to support more local manufacturing. Mr Albanese will fire personal barbs at Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his response to the pandemic and his plans for growth, blaming him for the "Morrison recession" this year. " " A white rhino calf brutally killed in 2011 for its horn in South Africa. DNA technology is now being used to stop rhino horn poachers. Gallo Images/Getty Images In January 2017, a South African court sentenced Simon Ngomane, 35, a traditional medicine healer, to 28 years in prison for rhinoceros poaching. He was convicted on forensic evidence from RhODIS (Rhino DNA Indexing System), the DNA matching database that is successfully being used to connect horns, blood and animal carcasses from specific crime scenes to the poachers responsible for the barbarous killings and mutilations. According to a Jan. 8, 2018, article in the journal Current Biology, evidence from 5,800 crime scenes has been submitted to RhODIS since its inception in 2010. To date, the system has matched rhino DNA to more than 120 criminal cases, nine of which have been successfully prosecuted. The hope is that the same genetic fingerprinting methods used to convict murderers and rapists in the criminal justice system will result in more poaching convictions, acting at once as a deterrent and a form of wildlife preservation. Advertisement In spite of rigid trade bans and strict enforcement, poaching of endangered white and black rhinoceroses in South Africa has increased exponentially, from just 13 incidents in 2007, to more than 1,200 in 2014. Wildlife trafficking is one of the biggest illegal black markets in the world, with the keratin-rich rhino horn fetching upward of $60,000 per pound making it more expensive than gold, cocaine or diamonds. In Vietnam and China, the trafficked horn is thought to be a cure for cancer and impotence. And in parts of Asia it is considered an aphrodisiac and a magical cure-all. Talismans and curios made from the horn are seen as status symbols and signs of wealth. The brutality of poaching is not limited to the national parks and wilds of Africa and India, where rhinos are also heavily poached. The astronomical black market price of the horn recently lured greedy criminals to a zoo near Paris, France, where they broke in late at night, shot a rhino named Vince three times in the head, and removed his horn with a chainsaw. This horrific act prompted a broad discussion about the future security of endangered animals in captivity. Trafficking is the backbone of the illegal rhino horn trade that makes poaching profitable. Through cooperation with police, rangers and wildlife investigators, researchers on the RhODIS team hope to use crime scene DNA to thwart crime syndicates that ship rhino contraband to foreign countries. Thus far, the RhODIS database has helped to convict poachers and traffickers in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Swaziland. Now That's Interesting The Nicaragua-based nonprofit Paso Pacifico is now using 3-D-printed fake turtle eggs to track and apprehend poachers who sell the eggs as a delicacy and an aphrodisiac to bars and restaurants all over the world. Marines conduct maritime reconnaissance, Sunday, off the coast of Yeonpyeong Island near the inter-Korean maritime border where a South Korean official was shot dead by North Korean troops last week after floating into the North's territorial waters. Yonhap By Jung Da-min Disputes may rise again over the inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea, following last week's killing of a South Korean official by North Korean troops in the North's territorial waters. While the South Korean military is continuing search operations for the body on this side of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean sea boundary, Pyongyang warned Seoul against "trespassing" into North Korean waters and creating tensions that could lead to another unsavory event. The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried the warning, Sunday, calling for the South to immediately stop trespassing across what it called the "West Sea Maritime Military Demarcation Line." The South Korean military, however, flatly refuted the North's claim, saying the NLL designated by then-commander of the United Nations Command Gen. Mark Clark in August 1953 is the de facto maritime demarcation line between the Koreas and the NLL should be observed and respected. The NLL was drawn up one month after the 1953 armistice and the North did not object until 1973 when it began to insist on nullifying the NLL, committing provocations such as sinking South Korean fishing vessels and kidnapping those aboard boats in the waters near the border area. But the North acknowledged the NLL in 1984 when it received flood relief supplies from the South. The North did not object when the International Civil Aviation Organization updated its Flight Information Region of the Korean Peninsula in 1993 in accordance with the NLL. But the North changed its attitude again in 1999 when it crossed the NLL in June causing the first Battle of Yeonpyeong by preemptively firing at a South Korean ship. The North insisted on the nullification of the NLL in September that year. North Korea's military provocations and military collisions between the Koreas continued in the West Sea, including the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002 and sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010. Through the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement signed as part of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration in 2018, the two Koreas agreed to designate the maritime border area of the West Sea as a "peace zone" but the recent incident has brought further tension to the region. Some military experts say the North was mentioning the NLL issue to simply reject the South's request to launch a joint investigation into the incident, as it claimed it was already carrying out operations in search of the South Korean official's body. The South Korean military said earlier the body was burnt by North Korean military personnel but the North denied it, saying they only burnt a floating item on which the official had been drifting. "The message from Pyongyang is clear: There will be no additional joint investigation as the North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un has already apologized for the incident," said Choi Yoon-cheol, an assistant professor at Sangmyung University's Department of National Defense. I was the first member of my family to go to university. When I graduated, I had over $50,000 worth of student loans; I would not have succeeded if it were not for getting a loan from the Ontario and federal governments. Fortunately, my generation graduated into a time of strong economic growth in the 1980s and 90s. I was able to pay off my loans, start a family, buy a home and launch my career. When I first heard about calls to forgive student-loan debt, particularly from Democrats in the United States, I was skeptical; I know Id worked hard to clear off my debts, so why couldnt this generation? But, over the summer, Ive come to realize that I was able to do so because of a strong economic circumstance working alongside my own best efforts and loan forgiveness is an issue that should be discussed and considered. This generation of young people have faced two cataclysmic economic realities over the past decade or so. Millennials went to university with the highest tuition prices in history, and they graduated into a job market in the midst of the worst economic climate since the Great Depression. A decade later, a global pandemic has shut down much of the economy, just when millennials were entering their prime earning years. Circumstances are particularly challenging for todays students. They face a back-to-school situation of online classes at full price and the highest tuition in history. In Ontario, many students were already facing difficulties because of the cuts to OSAP made by Premier Doug Ford. Many students from low- and middle-income families lost more than half of their OSAP, adding up to an over $10,000 shortfall for some. Further, graduates now have to pay back their loans right away, rather than having some breathing space until they can find a job, thanks to more misguided changes by the Ford government. Fortunately, for the past six months, the federal government has rightly suspended student-loan repayments as a response measure to the pandemic economic shutdown, but that suspension ends this month. The federal government has been a force of protection for vulnerable populations, and it has helped us avoid the worst. When Canadians are not able to shoulder the catastrophic impacts of this pandemic, the government should be there to help. Students are undoubtedly part of this vulnerable group, as part-time jobs will be practically impossible to find. With COVID-19 cases climbing again, we risk a very real crisis for students and student-loan holders, as rent, mortgages and loan payments all come crashing down on household budgets in the next week. No one should have to shoulder this burden alone. This conversation has already begun in other jurisdictions. In the United States, Senator Elizabeth Warren advocated for student-loan forgiveness, using existing federal regulatory power to forgive debts. Vice-President Joe Biden is running on a plan to forgive $10,000 of student-loan debt as a one-time cash stimulus for low- and middle-income borrowers. In Canada assistance for post-secondary students has been largely missing from conversations in this country about how to help people through this pandemic. It would be in our best interest to help the innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow succeed during this unprecedented crisis. There are a range of ways to address these concerns, from one-time grants to help compensate for the lack of part-time jobs due to the pandemic, to reversing the Ford OSAP cuts, to the federal and provincial governments working together to explore some form of debt forgiveness for students. At the same time, we must ensure funding for innovation, to support online learning, and to help universities and colleges navigate this crisis is in place. Liberals have always believed one of the surest ways to stimulate our economy is to invest in a well-educated society. And it is these investments that made Ontario among the best-educated jurisdictions in the world today. This principle is more true than ever during COVID-19. NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a scathing attack on the Congress-led Opposition for opposing the Centre's farm laws, saying they demand evidence of the Indian Armys surgical strike in PoK, opposed the Yoga Day and installation of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's statue in Gujarat too. Four years ago, around this time the country's bravehearts carried out surgical strike and destroyed bases of terror. But these people (opposition) were demanding for evidence of the surgical strike. By opposing the surgical strike, they've cleared their intention before the country, the PM said. The PM went on to say that when the world was celebrating International Yoga Day, under India's initiative, they were opposing Yoga in India. When Statue of Unity - made after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - was being unveiled, they were opposing it. None of their tall leaders has visited the Statue of Unity so far. Training his guns at the opposition, the PM said that for years these people (opposition) didn't do anything to empower our security forces. Air Force kept asking for Rafale but they never listened to them. When our govt signed a contract with France government for Rafale aircraft, they started having a problem. The PM made these remarks after on inaugurating six mega projects amounting to Rs 521 crores under the Namami Gange Mission in Uttarakhand. The Prime Minister inaugurated several sewage treatment plants and their upgradations today located in Haridwar, Rishikesh, among other regions. Live TV A Ganga Museum, to showcase the river rejuvenation activities and its biodiversity, at Chandi Ghat in Haridwar was also inaugurated by the Prime Minister today. Governor Baby Rani Maurya, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, MoS Ratanlal Kataria, among others also participated in the event. "In the past decades, huge initiatives were taken up to clean river Ganga but those initiatives had neither public participation nor farsightedness. As a result, the water of Ganga was never cleaned," PM Modi said. "Ganga brings prosperity to almost half of the country`s population. Therefore, non-stop flow and clean water in the river is very much needed. If the old steps were repeated then the condition would have stayed the same. But we went ahead with `nayi soch, naya approach`. We did not restrict it to just cleaning up Ganga, but made it the country`s largest river conservation project," he added. According to him the four-point steps included firstly creating a network of sewage treatment plants that would stop the flow of dirty water in the river. The second was to make sewage treatment plants taking the needs of the coming 10-15 years into account. "Further, 100 big cities and 5,000 villages located along the Ganga were made open-defecation free and fourthly, the tributaries of Ganga are also being cleaned up with full force," he said. The Prime Minister said that currently under Namami Gange Mission, projects worth Rs 30,000 crores are either completed or are underway. He said that in the upcoming "Kumbh Mela" at Haridwar people participating would be able to witness a cleaner Ganga with the government`s efforts. The Prime Minister also launched Jal Jeevan Mission`s logo and guidelines earlier today. He also said that the Jal Jeevan Mission should also be taken seriously by the State governments to ensure water reaches every household in the country. The Prime Minister also pointed out that now farmers in the country are free to sell their produce to anyone and anywhere at their discretion, but the Opposition does not want that to happen. "They do not want farmers to sell their produce in the open markets. They want their vehicles to be seized like it used to happen earlier. By burning their equipment (tractor) they are disrespecting farmers today," the Prime Minister said." Japanese eatery in Cancun catches fire Cancun, Q.R. A fire in a Japanese eatery in Superblock 26 needed assistance from Cancun firemen Monday when their kitchen caught fire. Elements of the Cancun Fire Department and Civil Protection Directorate attended to the Monday afternoon report of a restaurant fire. One unit with men arrived at the scene, while police officers closed vehicular circulation on the street, while flames were suffocated. Employees of the Japanese food establishment were busy removing furniture to help stop flames from spreading. Preliminary accounts say the fire likely started in the kitchen due to a possible accumulation of fat in the hood area in the extraction system due to the heat generated on the grills and stove. No injuries were reported in the fire, only material damage to the inside of the eatery. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of a panel of three independent directors to run Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). The bank's day-to-day affairs will be run by the appointed Committee of Directors (CoD). The development comes after the LVB's shareholders rejected the reappointment of seven of the directors on its board, comprising the bank's interim MD and CEO, S. Sunday at its AGM (annual general meeting) on September 25. LVB, in a regulatory filing, said the committee of independent directors will exercise the discretionary powers of MD & CEO in the ad-interim, which includes Meeta Makhan, Chairperson of the CoD, Shakti Sinha, Member and Satish Kumar Kalra, Member. Also Read: Lakshmi Vilas Bank stock closes 5% higher as shareholders clear three-member panel to manage affairs "On 27th September 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved that, day-to-day affair of the Bank will be run by a Committee of Directors (CoD) composed of three independent directors," the bank said in its filing late on Sunday evening, trying to assuage concerns regarding its financial standing. The three are the only ones out of the proposed 10 directors, who were voted for reappointment by LVB's shareholders. "With Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of about 262 per cent as on 27th September 2020, against the minimum 100 per cent required by RBI, the deposit-holders, bond-holders, account-holders and creditors are well safe guarded," the bank said. Lakshmi Vilas Bank will continue to share information on developments in the public domain as and when they materialise, and as required by applicable law, it added. The bank's troubles started after it shifted its focus to lend to large businesses from SMEs. Its loans, nearly Rs 720 crore to the investment arms of Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of pharma majors Ranbaxy and Fortis Healthcare, against fixed deposits (FDs) of Rs 794 crore made with the bank in late 2016 and early 2017 turned the bank turtle. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Lakshmi Vilas Bank a strategic opportunity, due diligence process on, says CLIX Capital Last week, Delhi Police arrested two former employees of Lakshmi Vilas Bank for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation of fixed deposit receipts worth Rs 729 crore of Religare Finvest Limited. With soaring NPAs, the bank was put under Prompt Corrective Action framework of the RBI in September 2019. LVB had sought the RBI's nod to amalgamate itself with Indiabulls Housing Finance and Indiabulls Commercial Credit in May 2019 to meet its capital requirements. However, the deal could not get regulatory approval because of RBI's aversion to let realty-focused entities into commercial banking. On June 15, 2020, the bank signed a preliminary, non-binding letter of intent with Clix Capital Services and Clix Finance India for a possible amalgamation with the Clix Group. With the merger, the bank's net worth will more than double to Rs 3,100 crore from the current Rs 1,200 crore. Clix Capital has a net worth of Rs 1,900 crore. LVB has been dogged by high bad loans and the attendant regulatory curbs since 2018. Last month, it said its board had approved fundraising plans for Rs 1,500 crore. The board had also approved increasing foreign shareholding of up to 74 per cent from the current 12.35 per cent. LVB posted a net loss of Rs 836.04 crore in the year to March 2020. Started by a group of seven progressive businessmen from Karur under the leadership of V S N Ramalinga Chettiar in 1926, the bank has expanded with 566 branches, and 918 ATMs in 19 states and 1 union territory so far. Also Read: Lakshmi Vilas Bank in talks for capital infusion; expects to mop up Rs 1,000 crore (With agency inputs) LANSING A former Michigan priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday. Gary Berthiaume, 78, formerly of Farmington, is charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony. He was arrested on the charge today at his home in Warrendale, Illinois and will face extradition to Michigan where charges were authorized last week. The victim, who was 14 at the time, reported the assault took place in August 1977 at the rectory of Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, where Berthiaume was a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Berthiaume was arrested in 1977 for sexual assault of two other minors in Michigan. After serving a jail sentence in the Oakland County Jail he was transferred to the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio. He was moved again in 1987 to the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. My offices investigation into clergy abuse will continue to receive, review and act upon credible allegations of abuse on behalf of the many victims who have come forward, Nessel said in a statement. Criminal sexual conduct at any level must not be tolerated, and we must ensure justice is served to those who assault others particularly those authority figures and people in powerful positions who prey on the weak and vulnerable. Berthiaumes arrest comes as Nessels office continues to investigate sexual abuse within the seven Catholic dioceses across the state. More than 1.5 million paper documents and 3.5 million electronic documents were seized through search warrants executed in October 2018. Including Berthiaume, the Attorney Generals investigation has resulted in criminal charges being filed against 11 individuals with ties to the Catholic Church. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Athens Tue, September 29, 2020 14:01 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f1ac2 2 News cruise-ship,greece,travel,TUI Free A dozen crew members on the first cruise ship to dock in Greece after the coronavirus lockdown have tested positive, the Greek coastguard said on Monday. The Maltese-flagged Mein Schiff 6 operated by German travel giant TUI, with 922 passengers on board, is currently moored off the Aegean island of Milos, a coastguard spokeswoman told AFP. The positive results surfaced after tests on 150 among the crew's 666 crew members, she said. "They are assistant staff," the spokeswoman said. "They have been isolated on board, and we are awaiting instructions from the public health agency on where the ship is to sail." Read also: Residents surprised by unidentified cruise ship sailing Raja Ampat waters during travel restriction The cruise ship had sailed from the Cretan port of Iraklio on Sunday evening and was heading to Piraeus near Athens. The passengers had a clean bill of health before the voyage, the spokeswoman said. The TUI ship was the first to return to Greek waters after lockdown measures imposed in March, local operators said, docking at Iraklio in mid-September. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The public issue of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, the defence public sector undertaking, witnessed good response from investors on September 29, the first day of bidding itself. The Rs 444-crore public offer is subscribed 2.09 times as it has received bids for 6.39 crore equity shares against IPO size of 3.05 crore shares, the subscription data available on the exchanges showed. Retail investors seem to be strongly positive on the stock as their reserved portion subscribed 5.6 times. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors saw 78 percent subscription and that of employees 27.7 percent, while qualified institutional buyers' category saw 3 percent subscription. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 135-145 per share and the IPO subscription will close on October 1. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders IPO opens: Subscribe or avoid? The government is going to sell little over 15 percent stake in Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders via public issue which consists an offer for sale of 3,05,99,017 equity shares by the government. It is a part of government's divestment programme. Mazagon Dock is the only public sector defence shipyard constructing conventional submarines with a maximum shipbuilding and submarine capacity of 40,000 DWT. As on July 2020, it had healthy order book of Rs 54,074 crore, to be executed over next 6-7 years which gives strong revenue visibility ahead. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders IPO Opens Today: 10 key things you should know It is India's only shipyard to have built destroyers and conventional submarine for Indian Navy and one of the initial shipyards to manufacture corvettes in India. Company plans to increase its ship repair activities in the future (being a higher margin business due to shorter time, resultant an early booking of revenue), could be a big positive which will help to generate more revenues, increase its client base, and reduce its dependency on the MOD for future orders, Rudra Shares said. Currently, ship repair is just 3.5 percent of total revenue & is expected to reach 15-20 percent of total revenue in next 5 years. "On an upper price band of Rs 145, with EPS at Rs 21.36 for FY20, the stock is available at a P/E ratio of 6.78x (lower than its industry peers), makes valuation attractive. Hence, we recommend to subscribe the issue for listing as well as long term gains," said Rudra Shares. "Further, it is a cash rich company having no debt, long term visibility of top line growth, attractive dividend yield and healthy ROE of 15 percent for FY20, will command premium valuations. Though, the company has negative net cash flows from operating activities in FY20, could be a concern," the brokerage added. Amarjeet Maurya - AVP - Mid Caps at Angel Broking also recommended subscribe to the issue with a long-term horizon. "Mazagon Dock has a healthy ROE of around 16 percent coupled with highest dividend yield (7.4 percent) and higher cash on balance sheet among its peers." MOSCOW -- Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says a planned school holiday in the Russian capital next month will be extended by a week as a measure to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Sobyanin said on September 29 that students would be off from school for two weeks from October 5-18, and urged parents to ensure their children remained home during that period. Usually, the holiday lasts only one week. "Today, a significant proportion of those with the virus, and who are often asymptomatic, are children. When they come home, they easily transmit the virus to adults and elderly family members who get much more sick," the mayor said on his website. RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region. With more than 1,167,800 coronavirus cases, Russia has the world's fourth-highest number of infections. The authorities said on September 29 that Moscow reported 2,300 new COVID-19 cases over the past day, the highest since May 31. Last week, Moscow authorities recommended that anyone with chronic health problems or those older than 65 stay home. People in the city are required to wear a mask in shops and public transport, and employees of large companies are advised to work remotely. With reporting by Reuters and TASS The summit was originally to be held in Riyadh, with Trump, Putin, Modi and Xi Jinping in attendance, just two years after Jamal Khashoggi's killing Dubai: Saudi Arabia, which is presiding over the Group of 20 countries this year, said on Monday that the upcoming November gathering of world leaders will be held virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom had originally planned to host world leaders for the G20 summit in Riyadh before the pandemic, offering Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the chance to share handshakes and wide smiles with presidents and prime ministers, such as Donald Trump, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, India's Narendra Modi and China's Xi Jinping. Instead, the planned virtual meet-up announced Monday strips the kingdom of the pomp that would have accompanied televised arrivals on Riyadh's tarmac just two years after the killing and dismemberment of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi stained the crown prince's reputation. Prince Mohammed has insisted he had nothing to do with the operation carried out by Saudi agents inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, despite US senators and intelligence officials saying he bore responsibility for the slaying. Saudi Arabia said the virtual summit on 21 and 22 November will be chaired by King Salman. The meeting will focus on focus on protecting lives and restoring growth by addressing vulnerabilities uncovered during the pandemic and by laying down the foundations for a better future, a Saudi statement said. The statement added that G20 countries, which represent the world's biggest and most powerful economies, have contributed over $21 billion to support the production of vaccines and access to therapeutics, as well as injected $11 trillion to safeguard the global economy. G20 nations, however, have been criticised for not taking cohesive action against the virus and its economic impact. The US, China and Russia have opted out of a collaborative effort to develop and distribute a vaccine. The G20 agreed this year to suspend the debt of developing countries and defer billions of dollars in payments as governments focus spending on emergency stimulus programmes to protect vulnerable people and boost national health care systems. Pakistan's prime minister, however, has called for outright debt relief for poorer nations from the world's richest countries. The leaders of the G20 last met virtually in March in a session hosted by King Salman. The virtual video call was unusual at the time, as governments around the world were beginning to stress the importance of social distancing to curb the virus' spread amid closures, curfews and lockdowns globally. Rights groups and others had called for world leaders to boycott the summit in Saudi Arabia due to Khashoggi's killing, the kingdom's human rights record and its continued detention of activists. It was unclear whether leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have attended an in-person summit, but there were others, such as Putin, who said they were ready to take part. Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions who investigated Khashoggi's killing, told The Associated Press earlier this month that another country should volunteer to host the G20 leaders summit if it was going to be held in-person. Failing that, she said, it should be made conditional that Saudi Arabia releases imprisoned women's rights defenders, human rights activists, journalists and others. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- JAC Motors launched at the Auto China 2020 its all-new PV brand SOL (Chinese says , Sihao), named same as the affordable-EV brand launched in 2018 by JAC-Volkswagen joint venture. (Photo source: JAC Motors) The automaker put the SOL X8, the first production model under SOL brand, onto the market at the same time. With 8 variants offered at one go, the new mid-sized SUV is priced from 83,800 yuan ($12,280) to 135,800 yuan ($19,900). Zhang Wengen, General Manager of JAC Passenger Vehicle Marketing Company, said the SOL X8, featuring a super-long wheelbase of 2,830mm, is offered as the six-, five- or seven-seater to meet different consumers demands, while the six-seater is the flagship one which mainly targets two-child family. (SOL X8; photo source: JAC Motors) It is noteworthy that the SOL X8 can be regarded as the JAC Jiayue X8 bearing SOL's brand. The new SUV is powered by the 1.5-liter TGDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engine that is good for up to 135kW and 300Nm of peak torque, meeting the China emission standard. (Logo of SOL; photo source: JAC Motors) JAC Motors heralded the SOL X8 as far back as this year's July when it celebrated the premiere at the Chengdu Motor Show the Jiayue X8 carrying the flash-designed logo, which now belongs to SOL. The name of SOL was known by the public first as a new BEV brand launched by JAC Volkswagen, a joint venture between JAC Motors and Volkswagen Group. Its new identity unveiled at the Auto China indicates that SOL will work on fuel-burning vehicles instead of merely focusing on full-electric vehicles. Washington: Scientists have offered new insights into the origin of diamonds in a group of stony meteorites called ureilites. These diamonds most likely formed by rapid shock transformation from graphite during one or more major impacts into the ureilite parent asteroid in the early solar system. Previously, researchers have proposed that diamonds in ureilites formed like those on Earth -- deep in the mantle of the planet, where the high pressures needed to form a diamond, are created by the weight of the overlying rock. If diamonds in ureilites formed this way, then the original parent body on which they formed must have been a large protoplanet -- at least the size of Mars or Mercury. However, new research conducted by Prof. Fabrizio Nestola (University of Padova, Italy), Dr. Cyrena Goodrich (Universities Space Research Association at the Lunar and Planetary Institute), and their colleagues show there is no evidence requiring formation under the high static pressures and long growth time conditions of a planet's deep interior. The team investigated diamonds in three ureilite samples using electron microscopy, micro X-ray diffraction, and Raman laser spectroscopy. Their investigations revealed both large and small grains of diamond, along with metallic iron and graphite, in the carbon-rich regions located among the silicate mineral grains in these samples. "We discovered the largest single-crystal diamond ever observed in a ureilite. Importantly, the ureilites that we investigated have all been highly shocked, based on the evidence from their silicate minerals, which strongly suggests that both large and small diamonds in these rocks formed from original graphite via shock processes," said Dr Cyrena Goodrich. The origin of diamonds in ureilites has important implications for models of planetary formation in the early solar system. Present day asteroids, from which most meteorites originate, are very small compared to the planets. However, planetary formation models predict that planets formed as a result of the accumulation of Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos (protoplanets). Advocates of the high static pressure hypothesis for the origin of ureilite diamonds argue that the ureilite parent body was one of these embryos. However, Nestola and co-authors demonstrate that the presence of diamonds in ureilites does not require a Mars-sized parent body. Previously it was thought that micrometer-sized diamonds were too large to have formed in the short time periods during which peak pressures are maintained in impact events. However, Nestola et al. calculated that peak shock pressures could last for 4-5 seconds during a major impact such as that inferred for the ureilite parent body. This is sufficient for the formation of 100 micrometer-sized diamonds when catalyzed by the presence of metal, a process commonly used in the production of diamonds in the industry. Since metal is ubiquitously associated with the carbon phases in ureilites, catalyzed formation of large diamonds from original graphite under shock compression is very likely. "Our findings are important because they not only indicate a shock origin for the diamonds in ureilites, as discussed by many previous researchers, they also refute arguments that have been made for the large parent body hypothesis," Dr. Goodrich said. "This type of scientific debate and testing of hypotheses is an essential part of making progress in science," added Dr. Goodrich. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. L.A. Comic Con may be back at the L.A. Convention Center. (Jenna Schoenefeld / Los Angeles Times) L.A. Comic Con says it is moving forward with its plan to hold an in-person convention in December at the L.A. Convention Center, but large gatherings such as conventions and conferences are currently not permitted anywhere in California amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event's organizers explained in a Sunday announcement on the L.A. Comic Con website that they have been working with the convention center and taking guidance from state and local officials to plan an event they think will "be both safe and fun" for attendees and exhibitors. But Doane Liu, the executive director of the Los Angeles Department of Convention and Tourism Development, told The Times on Monday that this announcement came as a surprise and is premature. "Under current state health guidelines, conventions are not allowed," Liu said. "It's not known when they will be allowed." Liu explained that none of the different tiers established in Gov. Gavin Newson's latest reopening plans includes resuming events such as conventions. L.A. County is still in the state's most restricted tier, meaning indoor dining, movie theaters and shopping malls are among the businesses that are still closed. Both the state and county would have to allow conventions to take place before an event like L.A. Comic Con can happen. In a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, the chief executive of L.A. Comic Con parent company Comikaze Entertainment, Chris DeMoulin, clarified that L.A. Comic Con is currently "a potential show." "While we are planning to move forward and have a show and we're starting to sell tickets to that show ... all of our plans, as true for any event, get reviewed by the city, they get reviewed by the county department of public health," said DeMoulin. "At the end of the day, they have to approve our final plans." He also reiterated that "safety is our number one priority" so if the event is deemed unsafe, it will be canceled. Story continues While other massive pop culture conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con had shifted to a virtual format, L.A. Comic Con announced in July that it would push its September event back to Dec. 11-13. . On Tuesday, 4,500 tickets for the potential event went on sale. If L.A. Comic Con 2020 is canceled, tickets will be refunded or rolled over to a 2021 event, the organization said. An annual three-day celebration of comic books, sci-fi, pop culture and more, L.A. Comic Con drew more than 123,000 attendees in 2019. This year, organizers have planned adjustments to control the density of the crowd so attendees can stay physically distant from others. These adjustments include booking the entire L.A. Convention Center for this year's convention for a more spacious layout to enforce physical distancing among guests. If the event proceeds as planned, each day will be split into two ticketed sessions capped at 12,000 each. There will be "industrial cleaning" between them. Masks will be mandatory for everyone on-site including guests, exhibitors and staff and will be provided free to anybody who needs one. Organizers say this rule will be enforced by event and security staff at all times. For fans who choose to remain in the safety of their own homes rather than braving the in-person experience, L.A. Comic Con will live stream its main panels, which have not yet been announced. Angelica Gaitan was found in a weakened state with hypothermia in Colombia The 46-year-old mother lost contact with her family around two years ago Gaitan said she tried to kill herself after fleeing an abusive ex-husband and falling on hard times She told local media that she asked a woman for money to get to the sea where she planned to kill herself Daughter denied the rumours about the abusive family situation as fake news A missing mother has been found floating alive off the coast of Colombia two years after she lost contact with her family and vanished. The woman lost contact with her family two years ago and they had no idea where she was until she was found floating around a mile off a beach from the town of Puerto Colombia in Atlantico on 26 September. ADVERTISEMENT She was later identified as Angelica Gaitan, 46, who was found in a very weakened state with signs of hypothermia by fisherman Rolando Visbal after spending eight hours in the sea. After her rescue, she told local media that she had jumped in the ocean to kill herself. She said that she was subjected to 20 years of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, which cut her off from her family and friends, and she felt suicidal. This is the moment Angelica Gaitan, 46, was found in a very weakened state off the coast off Colombia This is the moment Angelica Gaitan, 46, was found in a very weakened state off the coast off Colombia This is the moment Angelica Gaitan, 46, was found in a very weakened state off the coast off Colombia According to Colombian news site La Libertad, the fishermen - on seeing the struggling person stranded in the ocean - initially thought she was a log. It wasn't until they drew closer that they realised it was a woman waving her hands for help. The video shows the moment Visbal and a friend simply identified as 'Gustavo' approach the floating woman who is almost completely unresponsive. Click here to resize this module Visbal is heard yelling at the 46-year-old in Spanish and then switching to English apparently trying to make sure the victim understood him. Gaitan continues to be dragged towards the boat through the rope tied to the lifesaver which the fishers had previously thrown towards her. Visbal is then seen struggling to lift the woman into the boat who has remained unresponsive but moves her torso just enough to help get her body over the edge and safely onto the boat. The fisher then tries to have a conversation with her and give her water but the victim, who is visually upset, begins to cry and remains in an altered state as the video comes to an end. According to reports the woman was floating in the water for about eight hours and was taken to a hospital where she arrived in a state of shock. ADVERTISEMENT Once safe in hospital, Gaitan said she regretted her decision to leap into the sea, adding that God had saved her from drowning during the eight-hour ordeal. 'I was born again, thank God. If I had had an opportunity or a help, I would not make that decision. Now I am very grateful because God gave me a new opportunity to move forward,' she said. Gaitan said her ex-husband 'violently beat' her even during her two pregnancies. 'The abuse began in the first pregnancy, he beat me, he violently abused me,' she told RCNRadio. 'In the second pregnancy the abuse continued and I could not get away from him because the girls were small. 'Many times I reported him but the police took him for 24 hours and when he was in the house again, the assaults returned.' In a separate interview with DiarioLaLibertad, Gaitan said that she was locked inside the home she shared with her then husband and was unable to use the bathroom and forced to use the garden as her toilet. Gaitlan is pictured after being brought to shore in Colombia. She was in a weakened state showing signs of hypothermia She told RCN that during her 20-year relationship she was repeatedly 'violated' by her ex-partner, with him 'breaking her face' and trying to kill her in September 2018. After the abuse two years ago she escaped and wandered the streets for six months before taking refuge at a woman's shelter in the hope of keeping her ex-husband away from her. Despite having found shelter from her husband, the abuse didn't end and she was bullied and mistreated at the Camino de Fe rescue centre, she said. ADVERTISEMENT She told LaLibertad that women in the shelter turned off her water while she was trying to shower and put soapy water into juice that they offered her. She said that she didn't harm anyone or do anything do deserve the treatment she experienced. The Friday before her suicide attempt, Gaitan said the protection measures ended because he had moved states. The police then moved her out of the shelter. After being thrown out of the home, she said she 'did not want to continue with my life.' 'A lady lent me for the tickets and I took a bus directly to the sea', she told RCN. 'I wanted to end everything, I had no help from anyone, not even from my family, because this man kept me away from my social circle, that's why I didn't want to continue living.' Gaitan said that her last memory before being rescued was 'being on the seashore' in 'solitude' when she decided to jump into the sea. The circumstances surrounding the bizarre incident remain unclear especially after the local media tracked down the woman's daughter Alejandra Castiblanco who said she had not known about her mum's whereabouts for the past two years. She said suggestions that her mother had been suicidal over a broken relationship or because of an attack by a former lover were fake news. ADVERTISEMENT Castiblanco and her sister are currently raising money to transport their mum to the capital city of Bogota where they live and hope their mum will be 'taken care of by family'. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah arrives at Heathrow Airport in London Kuwait's ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died, his office said in a statement read out on state television on Tuesday. Sheikh Sabah, 91, had ruled the Gulf Arab oil producer and US ally since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. His designated successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "With the utmost sadness and grief for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and people of friendly nations, the Emiri Diwan mourns the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait," his office said. Sheikh Sabah sought to balance relations with Kuwait's bigger neighbours - forging the closest ties with Saudi Arabia, rebuilding links with former occupier Iraq and keeping open dialogue with Iran. He tried to mediate in a Gulf dispute that saw Riyadh and its allies impose a boycott on Qatar. A succession is not expected to affect oil policy or foreign investment strategy through the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds. Oil policy is set by the country's Supreme Petroleum Council, which is appointed by the emir. The new emir's choice of crown prince and prime minister - who would be tasked with managing the government's often difficult relationship with parliament - will be watched closely, especially at a time when Kuwait's finances have been strained by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. DENVER Colorado Gov. Jared Polis addressed parents on Tuesday, encouraging families to register students in online or in-person schools as the state experiences a decline in enrollment. Polis said the decline is based on anecdotal evidence, but it is widespread across the state, with the greatest decrease among pre-school to third grade students. Other school districts across the U.S. have reported similar trends. According to Colorados Department of Education, the state saw a continued increase of its student population over the last 30 years, with the last decrease recorded in the 1988-89 school year. At a news conference Tuesday, Polis and other officials warned about the major deficit that children who return to school after taking time off may face. Dr. Chris Rogers, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, said school is critical to the healthy development of children and adolescents. Research is clear that kids to best when they know what do expect from day-to-day life, Roger said. And one of the things that we can do to promote a sense of normalcy for our children during this pandemic is to provide this clear schedule, particularly when learning remotely. Rogers also emphasized the need for children to feel their part of a school or classroom community that is important to developing a sense of identity. Without being involved in school, kids are left to feel further alone when this connection to their community can literally save them, he said. Thursday is Colorados school count day. That day will largely determine the state finances awarded to school districts. which rely greatly on the number of students counted in each district. This is a message that doesnt expire on Thursday, and if families are not enrolled this week, we want them enrolled next week, next month, as soon as they can for the benefit of their kids, Polis said. According to Rico Munn, superintendent of Aurora Public Schools, thousands of pre-schoolers and kindergartners are not enrolled. Munn warned that the loss of school for younger children would be an incredibly life-changing impact. Officials also identified the importance for students to access services provided by schools, including lunches, counselors and health services. We cannot let our childrens education become a casualty of this pandemic, said Katy Anthes, the states commissioner of education. ___ Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. At least 80 homes have been destroyed in Napa and Sonoma counties as the Glass fire continues to rampage through Northern California's wine country. The blaze had burned 46,600 acres as of Tuesday evening nearly quadrupling in size since Monday morning with just 2% containment. The fire destroyed 52 residences in Napa County and 28 in Sonoma County, said Erick Hernandez, a public information officer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Two commercial structures in Napa County have been burned. The fire burned rapidly Sunday through Napa Valleys Silverado Trail, raising concerns about the fate of the area's famed wineries. Napa and Sonoma counties are home to more than 800 wineries, according to their tourism associations, and many are family owned. One building that was lost was the distinctive stone structure at the Chateau Boswell Winery in St. Helena, which marked its 40th anniversary last year. Officials said Monday evening that at least eight wineries were damaged. The winding road to Chateau Boswell was flanked by smoldering brush and trees Tuesday morning as firefighters worked to quell the flames scorching the region. Just off Silverado Trail, downed power lines and burned cars blocked one of the mountain paths to the winery, known for its Cabernet, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vineyards entrance was roped off by yellow sheriffs tape. Singed cypress trees towered over the driveway that now leads to scorched rubble and earth. Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner said Tuesday that his department had called in all possible personnel to fight the Glass fire. Every available firefighter that could work came to work, he said during a briefing, noting that crews top priorities for Tuesday are extinguishing the fire and maintaining perimeter control. Of particular focus is the mountainous area between Calistoga and Angwin. Were going to be in this for a couple of weeks, Gossner said. Its going to be long, and its going to be painful for those that are dealing with it. So take a deep breath, take care of yourself and take care of your neighbors. Story continues Though Cal Fire officials could not immediately confirm the acreage breakdown by county, they emphasized that California's wildfire-fighting infrastructure is one of the strongest and most diverse in the nation. This is a large fire, Cal Fire Unit Chief Shana Jones said. Were at 42,000 acres covering two counties. That is a lot of territory, and its a lot of work. Although no injuries have been confirmed, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee from the fire. Sonoma County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said some 68,000 residents had been ordered to leave. Authorities on Tuesday downgraded mandatory evacuation orders to warnings for areas that included Summerfield, Spring Lake and parts of the communities of Melita and Calistoga. In Melita, about five miles east of Santa Rosa, evacuation orders were reduced to warnings for the area west of Calistoga Road, south of Melita and north of Montgomery Drive. The entire city of Calistoga, with a population of slightly more than 5,000 people, was ordered to evacuate Monday evening; authorities scaled back the order to a warning for the area west and north of Mountain Hawk Drive between Highway 12 and San Ramon Way, as well as the area west of San Ramon Way. Evacuation orders remain in place elsewhere in Calistoga, and on Tuesday evening, authorities ordered residents in an area southeast of Calistoga to evacuate from an area west of State Route 29, extending to the Sonoma County line and bounded by Diamond Mountain Road and Petrified Forest Road. Evacuation orders remain in place for the hills on both sides of the northern Napa Valley, flanking Calistoga and St. Helena, and parts of the east side of the Silverado Trail. Officials have urged residents to comply with those directives saying some of those who refused to leave had to be rescued from their homes later, placing further strain on law enforcement and public safety personnel already stretched thin by California's historic fire season. The dynamics of climate change, the dynamics as it relates to the lack of forest management over the last century, have created ... real concern as it relates to the spread of these wildfires in ferocious ways," Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. GLASS FIRE - early this morning (Silverado Trail just outside St. Helena). Never underestimate how quickly a fire can spread. Reminder, an evacuation order means theres an immediate threat to life. Be safe. pic.twitter.com/5tVbIMvn61 Napa County Sheriff's Office (@NapaSheriff) September 29, 2020 Newsom has declared a state of emergency in Napa and Sonoma counties as well as Shasta County, where the Zogg fire has burned more than 40,000 acres and killed three people. The governor has also requested a disaster declaration from the federal government, which would bring increased aid to Los Angeles, Fresno, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou counties. The Glass fire is the latest to besiege Northern California's wildfire-weary wine country. Dozens of people were killed and more than 9,000 structures were lost in 2017, when fires swept through Santa Rosa and surrounding communities. Last year, the Kincade fire menaced the region for weeks, putting nearly 100,000 people under evacuation orders. More than 50% of Lake County to the north of Santa Rosa has burned in the last decade. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said that we are all dealing with significant fire fatigue. This is the fourth major fire in our community since 2017," he said Tuesday. "Many people are feeling the effects, and many people are evacuating and have evacuated multiple times. For many, the latest fire carries with it an unwelcome wave of memories: the terror of having to evacuate and the uncertainty of not knowing whether their homes were spared from the flames. The Tubbs trauma is real, said Rincon Valley resident Randi Cornwall, referring to the 2017 fire that devastated the region. When you have seen fire move fast before, you know to get the hell out before traffic backs up and fire is licking at your cars. Some, however, were hesitant to flee. Monday morning, Ben Illia stood in the frontyard of the gray ranch house where he grew up. He was watering down the landscape with a hose. A veteran of the Tubbs fire, he had no plans to leave unless I see flames coming over the hill, he said. Tucked into the hillside off Highway 29 in Calistoga, a young man reached for a thick hose attached to a water tank at the back of his truck and doused the spot fire licking the brush around a neighbors home. The man, who declined to give his name, said he lived about a mile away and had defended the area from flames in the past. Dressed in a T-shirt, with a cigarette resting between his lips, he waited for his water tank to refill, then aimed the hose at a tree that had caught fire. Other residents had fled from the home behind him after hanging a tag that read EVACUATED in red letters. Down below, at the edge of the highway, Joe Ortega watched the flames char a parcel of land that he said a real estate agent he knows had put up for sale. Burning trees crackled behind him. The 61-year-old said he had been checking on friends and familys houses and properties since 4:30 a.m., when he made the rest of his family evacuate from their Calistoga home. Ortega said he planned to head back into town later in the day to hand out Red Bull and water to firefighters. Im a rebel, he laughed as fire engines whizzed by. Parvini reported from Calistoga, and Money and Smith reported from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Anita Chabria, Paige St. John, Maura Dolan, Marisa Gerber, Joseph Serna, Matthew Ormseth and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Japanese military pilots have been ordered to take pictures of any UFOs they encounter in the country's airspace. Defence minister Taro Kono said mysterious sightings should be submitted for analysis, while the military will also investigate reports by the public. The new protocol, reported by the Japan Times, comes despite official insistence that there is no evidence UFOs exist and that the Japanese military has never encountered any. It also comes only weeks after the Pentagon set up a new task force under the US Navy to investigate ufo sightings. An unexplained balloon-like object in the skies above Sendai in Japan earlier this year, which prompted theories about UFOs or North Korea Earlier this year, the Japanese defence minister told a press conference that 'I don't really believe in UFOs' after the Pentagon released footage of unexplained encounters. 'It seems that [Japanese military] pilots have never encountered a UFO, but I would like to establish a procedure in case of an encounter,' he said at the time. 'I have heard that even the pilots of the Self-Defense Forces have never encountered such a scene.' Asked about a book which included examples of UFO sightings, the minister said that 'if there is such a concrete example, I would love to hear from you'. The new protocol is partly aimed at unconventional aircraft including new drone technology, it is believed. In response to questions from a lawmaker last year, Japan's government admitted it had 'not considered in any specific manner what will be done should a UFO be spotted flying toward Japan'. However, it added that 'no confirmation has been made of their existence'. Earlier this year, a mysterious balloon-like object appeared in the sky over northern Japan, sparking speculation about UFOs. Japan's weather bureau admitted it had 'no idea' what the object was, with theories including a North Korean balloon used to drop propaganda leaflets. Previous mysteries have included a flashing green orb in the skies near Niigata in 2016 and unexplained 'white globes' in Osaka a year earlier. In April 2020 the Pentagon released footage from three sightings of unidentified objects. One of the videos was captured off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, in 2015 (pictured) In 2009, the wife of Japan's incoming prime minister wrote in a book that 'my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus' while she was asleep. Miyuki Hatoyama described the 'very beautiful' planet in a book called Very Strange Things I've Encountered. In April this year, the Pentagon released three videos taken by US Navy pilots showing mid-air encounters with unexplained objects. The grainy black and white footage had previously been leaked and the Navy had acknowledged they were genuine videos. One of the videos was shot in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015. In one, a weapons sensor operator appears to lose lock on a rapidly moving object which seconds later suddenly accelerates away to the left and out of view. In another video which is tracking an object above the clouds, one pilot wonders if it is a drone. In August, the Pentagon said it was setting up a new task force under the US Navy to investigate UFO sightings. With the creation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the Department of Defense hopes 'to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs,' it said. J.P. Morgan Chase has quietly settled a long-running lawsuit that accused the bank of manipulating precious metals markets with "spoofing" trades. And the bank is set to pay $920 million to resolve government investigations for similar alleged conduct in the precious metals and Treasury futures markets, CNBC has learned. A penalty of that size would be a record for spoofing, which is the act of placing a buy or sell order with no intention to actually execute the transaction. The goal of spoofing is to move market prices in a way that financially benefits the trader's preexisting positions in the market. Spoofing was banned as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law after the 2008 financial crisis. In recent years, regulators and federal prosecutors have cracked down on suspected spoofing, issuing fines or filing criminal charges in a number of cases. J.P. Morgan, which declined to comment for this article, long has denied engaging in spoofing. The spoofing lawsuit filed against J.P. Morgan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, which court documents reveal was settled this summer, was filed in 2015 by Daniel Shak, the colorful hedge fund operator and high-stakes poker player, and two metals traders, Mark Grumet and Thomas Wacker. Details of the settlement were not disclosed in court filings. David Kovel, attorney for Shak, Grumet and Wacker, declined to comment on the settlement. The three plaintiffs had accused J. P. Morgan of manipulating the silver futures market from 2010 through 2011 through spoofing trades. The three claimed they lost tens of millions of dollars as a result of the actions of J.P. Morgan traders. The bank for years denied the allegations, and in 2016 succeeded in getting the plaintiffs's claims dismissed by a judge. Kovel then appealed that decision, and got the case reopened in 2017. As the case was pending in November 2018, a guilty plea in a criminal case related to spoofing trades by John Edmonds, a former precious metals trader at J.P. Morgan, drew the attention of Kovel. In his plea in Connecticut federal court, Edmonds admitted that he, along with other "unnamed co-conspirators" at the bank, manipulated the prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures contracts from 2009 to 2015. Edmonds said he learned how to make bogus trade orders from senior traders at the bank and that he used the strategy hundreds of times with the knowledge and consent of supervisors. As part of his guilty plea, Edmonds agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in investigations. Kovel told CNBC at the time that he was struck by how much in common his lawsuit against J. P. Morgan had with the criminal conduct admitted by Edmonds. Kovel then sought permission from the judge in his suit to reopen depositions he had taken as part of the case from of two former J.P. Morgan traders, including Edmonds, as well as from Michael Nowak, who at the time still was the bank's global head of base and precious metals trading. Shortly after Kovel made that request, the Justice Department asked the judge in the civil suit to put the case on hold as criminal investigation into J.P. Morgan's precious metals desk continued. Prosecutors said the depositions, if reopened, could interfere with their probe. That stay was granted last Nov. 30, and multiple extensions were granted over the following months. The settlement of the civil case this summer came before Kovel got another crack at questioning the former traders in reopened depositions. In September 2019, federal prosecutors charged Nowak and two other former J.P. Morgan precious metals traders, Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan, with participating in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with a multiyear scheme to manipulate the markets and defraud customers, as well as other crimes related to alleged spoofing.. A superseding indictment was filed in the criminal case two months later, adding another defendant, ex-J.P. Morgan executive Jeffrey Ruffo, who had worked in hedge fund sales on the firm's precious metals desk. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. Trial in that case is scheduled to begin in April in Chicago federal court. Although Shak's lawsuit has been settled, J.P. Morgan still faces a class action lawsuit related to alleged spoofing in the precious metals markets. Proceedings in that suit, which is pending in Manhattan federal court, have been suspended until at least May 31 at the request of federal prosecutors, who wanted to avoid interference with the criminal trial in Chicago. "I didn't have any ghostly encounters, but being in the lobby I always feel weird like some sort of presence is there," Johanna Molina told Chron.com. The resident ghost hunter of her family, along with her daughter Brittany, enjoy ghost-seeking adventures. They've visited Galveston's Hotel Galvez and Spa multiple times and prove why the famed hotel made TripAdvisor's list of the most haunted hotels in Texas, according to an article by Darcy Schild with Business Insider. HOUSTON HOTELS ROLL OUT STAYCATION DEALS: Houston hotel rolls out staycation deals for an autumn getaway Galveston itself can be considered a ghost hunter's dream with many haunted places to add to your bucket list, such as a tour of The Bishop's Palace, The Broadway Cemetery, and some of the best ghost tours that are sure to send a chill up your spine. But let's explore why Hotel Galvez belongs on this list of ghostly encounters. Built in 1911, the hotel is famous for the story of The Love Lorn Lady, who is said to wander the hotel blowing out candles and breaking dishes. "Once referred to as the 'Playground of the Southwest,' this 226-room hotel conjures images of Galveston's gilded age when Galveston was once the 'Vegas of the South,' frequented by Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Dean Martin," Ghost City Tours. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind seeing Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin's ghost but not a ghost bride. There's also the story of "Sister Katherine" who belonged to the Sisters of Charity that oversaw St. Mary's Orphans Asylum. The storm of 1900 that wiped out the city is responsible for this one. According to Ghost City Tours, 90 children and 10 nuns died from the hurricane, and their bodies were buried where they were discovered, "leading some to suspect that the Hotel Galvez stands above their mass grave." Then there's the tale of the young girl seen bouncing a ball throughout the hotel, according to Segway Galveston. Are you scared yet? By PTI LUCKNOW: A special court here will deliver the much-awaited judgment on Wednesday in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case in which BJP veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the accused. CBI judge SK Yadav had on September 16 directed all the 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court on the day of the judgment. The accused include former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara. With both Bharti and Singh convalescing in separate hospitals after coronavirus infection, it was not immediately known if they would be present in the court at the time of pronouncement of order. Singh, during whose tenure as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh the disputed structure was demolished, was put on trial in September last year after his tenure as governor (of Rajasthan) came to an end. Champat Rai, the general secretary of the trust in charge of constructing the Ram temple, is also among those accused. With the Supreme Court setting August 31 as the deadline and later extending it by a month for the CBI court to give its verdict, the trial court started day-to-day hearing to complete the task in time. The central agency produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the court. Charges were framed against 48 people, but 17 have died during the course of trial. The trial under the serious criminal conspiracy charges commenced against them after having been dropped by the trial court in 2001. The verdict was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2010, but the apex court ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19, 2017. The top court ordered daily hearing in the high profile case and directed the special judge to conclude it in two years. The charge of conspiracy is in addition to the existing charges against them for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion for which they are already facing trial. The accused are also facing charges of having made assertions "prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship". The other charges against them include indulging in "deliberate and malicious" acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly. The CBI argued that the accused conspired and instigated 'kar sevaks' to demolish the 16th century mosque. But the accused pleaded innocence maintaining that there is no evidence to prove their guilt and claimed they were implicated by the then Congress government at the Centre as a political vendetta. The Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by "kar sevaks" who claimed that the mosque in Ayodhya was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple. In a significant judgment last year, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law. An alternative five-acre site was marked in the city for building a mosque. Before the 2017 verdict of the apex court, two sets of cases were being heard in Lucknow and Raebareli. The trial of the first case involving unnamed 'kar sevaks' was going on in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relating to the eight VVIPs, including Advani, Joshi, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Ashok Singhal, Katiyar, Uma Bharti, Giriraj Kishore and Sadhvi Ritambhara, were going on in a Raebareli court. The apex court, had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition and had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. New Delhi: Amnesty International has said it is halting all its activities in India, claiming that it is being subjected to an 'incessant witch-hunt' over unfounded and motivated allegations. In a statement on Tuesday (September 29), Amnesty India said that it has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. On the contrary, activities of Amnesty International in India were found to be suspicious and when the investigation started, it decided to halt its activities in the country, rather than facing the charges. In the recent probes, it has been found that the international organisation even failed to obtain the necessary permission to work in India, and was functioning illegally for so many years. Amnesty has been receiving crores of rupees from abroad every year, while it was expected to register itself under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the same. The Government of India, therefore, seized all the bank accounts of Amnesty, which has been active in India under four different names, according to the investigation. After being exposed, the Amnesty stated, "The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt." "This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," Amnesty International India said, adding that it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. The organisation further stated, "For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India's work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions." Amnesty supporters again raised the slogan of democracy under threat in India. The question comes to our mind what work this foreign organization was doing that halting of its activities will put India's democracy under threat. Amnesty International is a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization (NGO). Established in 1961, Amnesty describes itself as an organization working in the field of human rights. It opened its office in India immediately after its establishment. While working in India, it had strived hard to defame India rather than protecting the human rights of Indian people. In the year 1947, the British left India, but these institutions are still working to enslave the Indian people ideologically. The DNA analysis will further expose the activities of an organisation like Amnesty International. You will be shocked to know that this organization has been campaigning against India worldwide on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. It has also campaigned in favour of 26/11 attack convict Ajmal Kasab, Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon. Amnesty has also been very active with Urban Naxals, besides issuing a lot of statements on the Bhima Koregaon violence. It has relentlessly worked to tarnish India's image on the global forums. This international organisation also played a suspicious role after the Delhi riots in February this year. It also released a report on the Delhi riots in different parts of the world stating that the Delhi Police committed violence against those who were holding peaceful demonstrations. The report gave a clean chit to rioters and also made an attempt to prove that these riots were anti-Muslim. This report has no doubt dented India's image internationally, and Pakistan used the report to spread the false propaganda against India on international forums. Refuting Amnesty International's allegation, the Union Home Ministry said that all the "glossy statements" about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. It said the Amnesty's statement was "unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth," adding "Such statements are also an attempt to extraneously influence the course of investigations by multiple agencies into the irregularities and illegalities carried out over the last few years." Notably, India's fight is not just with Amnesty International, but also with the misuse of foreign funding. Crores of rupees come from abroad in India in the name of social service every year, but no one knows where this fund is being used as NGOs hardly give details related to their work. Currently, there are around 31 lakh registered NGOs in India. In 2015, the CBI submitted this information before the Supreme Court. The question arises as to why there is a need for so many NGOs in a country like India. You will be surprised to know that the number of NGOs is more than double the total number of schools; this number is 250 times more than the total government hospitals in the country. Notably, there is one NGO for every 400 people in India, while there is only one policeman for 700 people; only 10 percent of NGOs follow government regulations, and the rest of 90 percent do not even submit their balance sheets. In the recently concluded Monsoon Session, Parliament amended the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), which has created an uproar among NGOs receiving suspected foreign funding. The role of civil society is important in any democracy, but anti-national activities cannot be allowed under its guise. Not only India, but several other countries are upset with the activities of NGOs. Around 40 countries including Russia, Israel, Hungary, and Egypt have enacted stringent laws against NGOs. Even in America, there is a ban on the interference of any foreign institution in its domestic politics. The Indian government has also followed the same international policy. During the UPA government, the action was taken against such NGOs. In 2009, 883 NGOs were blacklisted on the charges of misusing funds. In 2012, registration of more than 40,000 social institutions was canceled, following the protests against the Kudan-Kulam nuclear project in Tamil Nadu. The role of these NGOs was found to be suspicious during the UPA 2 government. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 03:53:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda (1st L, Front) and French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd L, Front) review a guard of honor in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 28, 2020. Lithuania has made huge progress in the two decades since the last official visit by Jacques Chirac in 2001, visiting French President Emmanuel Macron said here on Monday, referring to one of his predecessors. (Photo by Alfredas Pliadis/Xinhua) VILNIUS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania has made huge progress in the two decades since the last official visit by Jacques Chirac in 2001, visiting President Emmanuel Macron said here on Monday, referring to one of his predecessors. "Thank you for the warm welcome during this difficult time. We try to live with COVID-19, we try to find solutions and move forward," Macron said at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda after their tete-a-tete meeting. "Expectations of economic prosperity, of freedom, peace and security have become a reality in Lithuania. This is a major advancement over the last 19 years," the French leader added. Strategic partnership guidelines between Lithuania and France testify to the importance of joint projects, such as the comprehensive package which will help the EU rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic, Macron said. "We are working together, and we want to move forward together," the French leader emphasized. Nauseda noted that their bilateral meeting was "sincere, honest, avoiding any evasions." Nauseda also expressed gratitude for the contribution of France to enhancing regional security. France took eight rotations in the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission. Currently, 300 French soldiers are deployed to Lithuania. In their conversation, the presidents also discussed the situation in Belarus, relations with Russia, climate change, digital economy, and economic and cultural cooperation between Lithuania and France. Lithuania is the first leg of Macron's Baltic visit. He will be off to Latvia on Tuesday. Enditem A Welland man who maintained massaging breasts were a normal part of a full-body massage has been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. Claudel Fortin, 62, was charged with sexual assault in spring 2018 after a woman reported to police she had been fondled during a massage at his home studio. A second woman came forward after reading about the mans arrest in the media. She told police she had been molested during a massage which occurred sometime between 2011 and 2013. Both women testified at trial the defendant had touched their breasts and genitals during a massage. Fortin denied touching the genitals but said he did touch their breasts as it is a normal part of the massage procedure, and that he always discusses the procedure with clients ahead of time so they know what to expect. Both women said they were unaware the massage would include manipulation of their breasts. In Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Monday, Judge Donald Wolfe found the man guilty on two charges of sexual assault and reserved sentencing until November. Although the defendant testified massaging the breasts is not uncommon, the judge said the defence did not offer any expert evidence to support that claim. The judge, meanwhile, found both women to be credible and reliable witnesses. One women testified she was shocked when she realized the defendant was touching her more erotically than a massage. When she told Fortin she was uncomfortable with him touching her breasts, she said he replied that other customers enjoyed it and that she should relax. She said the offender continued the massage and subsequently touched her genitals. She told the man to stop and gathered her clothing to leave. When he asked if shed like to book another massage, the woman said she wanted to turn around and punch him. Fortin testified he underwent massage therapist training in Quebec and Tibet, however his qualification were not recognized in Ontario. Grant Shappss first Commons appearance in his new role as a minister for International Development was a terrible disappointment to those watching from the gallery. Though we had been told this new challenge was in no way a come-down from his Cabinet position as Conservative Party chairman, it was as if his fellow ministers were treating him as the junior member of the International Development team. He was allotted the task of answering question seven on the order paper, while Justine Greening and Desmond Swayne dealt with numbers one to six. That became apparent only because there was a moment, about 20 minutes into the half-hour session, when David Morris, who was due to ask question seven, thought he had been called by the Speaker and jumped to his feet, whereupon Shapps lifted the notes prepared for him by civil servants and made ready to move into action. It was a misunderstanding. John Bercow had actually called David Burrowes, sitting next to Morris, to ask a supplementary to question six. Time ran out; question seven was never asked. Shapps then had to leave the front bench, where he had sat for 30 minutes without saying a word. Was it an unfortunate mix-up? Dont rule out that Bercow did it on purpose, a certain minister told me afterwards. And dont quote me on that. Javid does a double-take Sajid Javid, the ambitious new Business Secretary, told the Commons a self-deprecating story as he made his first appearance opposite Chuka Umunna, his Labour shadow. He claimed that, when first elected in 2010, he was flattered by the way people seemed to recognise him. It was only after an excited member of the public took a selfie with him that he discovered it was because they thought he was Chuka Umunna. Mixed messages Ivan Massow is picking up support in his drive to be Tory candidate in next years London mayoral election when Boris Johnson pulls out. On his campaign website, he admits: I resigned from the Conservative Party at the turn of the century, wanting to jolt the party out its 1950s mindset, and while I still stand by my decision, Im older and wiser now. For the sake of complete accuracy, he could have added that he did not just leave the Tories, he very publicly joined Labour, only to depart after a few years. Mosleys formative years Max Mosley, who fought shy of publicity until his unusual sex life filled the front page of the News of the World, has given an interview to GQ magazine about being the son of notorious parents. His father, Sir Oswald, founded the British Union of Fascists. His mother, Diana, and her sister, Unity Mitford, were fans of Adolf Hitler. They were groupies, he told his interviewer, Alastair Campbell. His father also met Hitler twice but did not much like him; he was more a Mussolini fan. He also euphemistically describes his father as sexually active, though when Max was born the press inaccurately speculated that he was Hitlers child, by Unity Mitford. It was Fleet Street at its worst, he said. He saw nothing unusual in visiting his parents in jail as a child because he was brought up by nannies and tutors, so did not know how odd his background was. A magnificent blunder An Environment Agency press release was headed Magna Carter celebrations. This inspired a string of suggestions on Twitter as to what Magna Carter might refer to. Is it the title of a film in which Michael Caine throws Michael Gove off a multi-storey car park, for example? MOSCOW, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than one hundred doctors and medical workers from Maimonides Medical Center, one of the leading U.S. hospitals at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, expressed strong interest in Russia's Sputnik V vaccine at an online briefing, the first of its kind, with Russian scientists from the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Maimonides Medical Center, which is ranked in the top-10 U.S. hospitals for treating heart attacks, heart failures and pneumonia, has been restructured to treat COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. All the medical professionals who took part in the briefing have had extensive practical experience of COVID-19 treatment in recent months. The Gamaleya Center scientists told the U.S. audience in detail about the key stages of the development of Sputnik V, including the results of earlier clinical trials and the progress of an ongoing post-registration clinical trial. The scientists emphasized the advantages of the human adenoviral vector platform used in Sputnik V over untested technologies such as the monkey adenoviral vector platform or mRNA technology, which have not been studied for potential side effects such as impact on fertility or cancer risks over the long term. They also told the U.S. doctors about the two-shot model using two different human adenoviral vectors, Ad5 and Ad26, for each shot, the Gamaleya Center's own unique technology, which makes Sputnik V different from other vaccines based on human adenoviral vectors using only one type of adenoviral vector in a single-shot model. On August 11, the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform. Detailed information on the Sputnik V vaccine, the technological platform of human adenoviral vectors, and other details are available at sputnikvaccine.com On September 4, a research paper on the results of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine was published in The Lancet, one of the leading international medical journals, demonstrating no serious adverse effects and a stable immune response in 100% of participants. Post-registration clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine involving 40,000 volunteers are currently ongoing. More than 60,000 volunteers have applied to take part in post-registration trials. The first results of these trials are expected to be published in October-November 2020. Earlier, the Gamaleya Center in partnership with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) held a series of international briefings on Sputnik V for regulators and medical professionals in several regions, including Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. More than 50 countries in CIS, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America have applied for Sputnik V. RDIF has previously announced supply agreements with Mexico for 32 million doses, with Brazil for up to 50 million doses, with India 100 million doses and with Uzbekistan for up to 35 million doses. Dr Jacob Shani, Chair of the Heart and Vascular Center and the Department of Cardiology at Maimonides Medical Center, Professor of Medicine, said: "We were very excited to hear from the two scientists about the Sputnik V vaccine and were very impressed with the data the Gamaleya Center scientists presented. We read the publication in The Lancet journal and this publication was also very impressive. It showed good results of the Phase 1 and 2 trials, including the development of antibodies, cellular immunity and only minimal side effects. It was all very encouraging. On a personal level we were impressed with the Gamaleya scientists. They were very professional, knowledgeable and most importantly, they appeared to be very transparent. They answered every question without hesitation. If the vaccine performs as the data suggests, you have a very good vaccine on your hands. Obviously, time will tell if the vaccine is effective. So far we know that it produces antibodies, we know that it is safe. Now we need to know if it indeed protects from COVID-19. I personally asked the scientists a question if any of the people who were vaccinated got infected and the answer was no. I am very eager to learn about the results when a larger group of people will be vaccinated." Dr Alexander Gintsburg, Head of the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology: "Our key mission is to provide timely and detailed information about the Sputnik V vaccine in a transparent manner for all interested parties. We were delighted to share this information with colleagues from Maimonides Medical Center, one of the most respected U.S. medical institutions directly involved in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. We also appreciated the professional, non-partisan approach by the U.S. doctors, who, just as their Russian colleagues, are tired of the pandemic and would like to see a working, effective and safe vaccine against COVID-19 as soon as possible. We regard international cooperation on the vaccine as key to a decisive victory over COVID-19 and will work towards this goal with our partner, the Russian Direct Investment Fund." SOURCE The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology MARYLAND The COVID-19 pandemic will make traditional door-to-door trick or treating, well, tricky, for Maryland families. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against the much-beloved tradition, calling it a "high-risk" activity during the public health crisis. In Maryland, some communities are amending their trick-or-treating hours or suggesting that residents stick to less risky Halloween activities, like socially-distant scavenger hunts and virtual costume contests. But despite the latest guidance from federal and local health officials, a majority of parents who took Patch's survey said their kids will trick-or-treat in Maryland. "If you can go to McDonald's ... you can trick-or-treat," one reader said. Four hundred people responded to this informal survey question. According to the survey, 206 Patch readers or 51.5 percent said they'd send their kids door-to-door for candy on Halloween. Several of those respondents said they didn't believe trick-or-treating would pose a risk to their family or community. "There is no there is no danger to keep my granddaughter from trick or treating," one reader said. There were, however, 149 others (37.2 percent) who said they'd follow the CDC's guidelines and not trick-or-treat. Another 45 people (11.3 percent) said they haven't made up their minds yet. A majority of parents who are letting their kids trick-or-treat this year also said they'd make their kids wear a face mask. Of the 371 respondents, 206 (55.5 percent) said yes to face masks, 107 (28.8 percent) said no, and 58 (15.6 percent) said they were unsure. According to the Patch survey, a majority of parents aren't concerned that their children will trick-or-treat during the pandemic. Of the 409 people who responded to this survey question, 165 (40.3 percent) didn't express concerns about COVID-19. Almost as many people, however, said they were very concerned about the risk of coronavirus transmission. Story continues For this question, 212 (52 percent) the 408 respondents said they plan to pass out candy this year. "(We'll have a) table outside with individual size bags of candy. We will wave from inside the house, behind a closed door," one reader said. Another said: "Halloween is my family's favorite time, we will still be decorating, doing pumpkins, and giving out candy-safely." About 150 people (36.8 percent) said they would not pass out candy this year and 46 others (11.3 percent) said they weren't sure. It seems people are split on how they will celebrate Halloween this year. Of the 405 respondents, 198 (48.9 percent) said COVID-19 will not change the way they celebrate. "Halloween is equally risky this year as it was last. Covid is not something to be concerned about the way the media makes it seem," one reader said. But for almost as many people (187 people, or 46.2 percent), the pandemic will upend their traditions. Some respondents said they are opting for less risky Halloween activities. "My granddaughter will spend a few hours with two friends. They'll get dressed up, but will be at home watching horror movies," said one respondent. Another said: "We are staying home dressing up, having a pinata and scavenger hunt with our kids for our own private Halloween party." Note: The survey is not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but is meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way. This article originally appeared on the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Patch - Ghanaian actress Jackie Appiah has spoken again about the rumours that she is pregnant - She shared a new photo and indicated in the caption that her smile can dispel lies and fabricated stories - Jackie was reacting to reports that she was pregnant for Liberian President, George Weah - The actress said she has no time to address such lies Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Beautiful Ghanaian actress, Jackie Appiah, has once again spoken on widely circulated reports and rumours that she is pregnant for George Weah, the President of Liberia. In a new post sighted by YEN.com.gh, Jackie shared a photo dazzling in a white dress and was full of smiles. She indicated in the caption that her bright smile is what dispels lies and fabricated stories, proving that she is not perturbed at all about such stories. The ever-gorgeous Jackie Appiah. Photo credit: @jackieappiah Source: Instagram Jackie had earlier said she would not waste her energy to address what she called She was rumoured to be pregnant for George Weah when a photo of her with a bigger stomach than she is known for surfaced online. The photo was taken at the launch of the Adonko Next Level Energy Drink which was held recently in Accra, with many celebrities attending. Meanwhile, Jackie has displayed her dancing prowess in a video published earlier by YEN.com.gh. She was captured happily dancing to KiDis Enjoyment song. She trended massively in the news when a photo of her looking decent and stunning as usual, dropped on the internet. Jackie got many people singing her praises as Ghanas most beautiful and decent female celebrity. She was also in the news for flaunting her customised Maserati car at the launch event. Jackie gained attention following a photo she took with Joselyn Dumas, Yvonne Okoro, and Okoros younger sister. Fans admired the ladies, especially, Jackie, who showed a little skin with the dress she wore to the event which was Dumas birthday party. Her only child and son, Damien Agyeman, was also in the news recently flaunting their ultramodern bathroom on the internet. VGMA21 full performances | #Yencomgh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Sheikh Sabah was foreign minister for 40 years after 1963. He was the last surviving figure of Kuwaits popular ruling elite that was associated with modernisation of the small oil-rich Gulf emirate in the 1970s The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 91, died in the United States on Tuesday where he was recovering from surgery he underwent two months ago. Sheikh Sabah came to power in 2006 at the age of 77, succeeding Sheikh Saad Al-Salem Al-Sabah after a brief power struggle that ended with the latter, too ill to speak the oath before parliament, abdicating in favour of Sheikh Sabah. Before he became emir, Sheikh Sabah was Kuwaits foreign minister for 40 years after 1963. He was the last surviving figure of Kuwaits popular ruling elite that was associated with the modernisation of the small oil-rich Gulf emirate in the 1970s. Both he and his predecessors maintained a consistent pan-Arab identity for the emirate that withstood the rise of a new and significantly different generation of neighbouring Gulf monarchies. His half-brother, Crown-Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 83, is slated to become the next emir. Should he succeed Sheikh Sabah, the new emir is constitutionally required to choose a crown-prince who needs the majority support of parliament to be approved. The process of nominating and selecting a crown-prince within the Sabah family, traditionally alternating between the Al-Jaber and Al-Salem branches, is largely opaque. Crown-Prince Nawafs past positions include deputy chief of the Kuwaiti National Guard, deputy prime minister and minister of the interior. Rarely in the spotlight, little is known about his leadership abilities, even though it was announced in July that he had temporarily assumed Sheikh Sabahs powers. Under Sheikh Sabahs leadership, Kuwait has emerged as a respected regional mediator and a voice of reason in the Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) diplomatic crisis with Qatar. Kuwait has also acted as a go-between for Pakistan and Bangladesh, Turkey and Bulgaria, Palestine and Jordan, factions in the civil war in Lebanon, in the Gulf States and in Iran. Sheikh Sabah was born in Kuwait on 16 June 1929 and received his primary education at the Al-Mubarakia School in the 1930s, completing his education under tutors. He is the half-brother of the previous emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who appointed Sabah as prime minister in July 2003. As foreign minister, Sabah restored Kuwaits international relations after the Gulf War. He was also first deputy prime minister while serving as foreign minister. On 19 September, US President Donald Trump awarded Sheikh Sabah the US Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander. Because of his ill health, the award was received by his eldest son Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the White House in Washington. The Legion of Merit is a rarely awarded decoration that can only be bestowed by the US president, typically to the heads of state or government of other countries. The honour was last awarded in 1991. Trumps move came days after both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said they would normalise their relations with Israel. The US president then said the other Gulf monarchies were expected to follow. Sheikh Sabah has been vocal in his support for Palestinian rights. He praised Kuwaits Parliamentary Speaker Marzouk Al-Ghanems criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in international venues, for example. With his death and the likely succession of another octogenarian, the question of the succession and changes to the system is now paramount in Kuwait. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: HAMILTON, Bermuda, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seadrill Limited ("Seadrill" or the "Company") (OSE: SDRL) (OTCQX: SDRLF) announces that it has agreed to extend and/or renew the existing forbearance agreements with certain creditors, announced on 15 September 2020, in respect of the group's senior secured credit facility agreements, senior secured notes, and guarantee facility agreement. Pursuant to the forbearance agreements, as extended, the consenting creditors have agreed not to exercise any voting rights to, or otherwise take actions, in respect of certain events of default that may arise under the senior secured credit facility agreements, senior notes and guarantee facility agreement as a result of the group not making certain interest and charter hire payments under the group's senior secured credit agreements and leasing arrangements, until and including the earlier of 31 October 2020 and any termination of the forbearance agreements. Forbearance has not yet been agreed with respect to certain defaults that may arise under the Company's leasing agreements in respect of the West Hercules, West Linus and West Taurus. Without a forbearance in respect of these leasing agreements, non-payment of charter hire and interest could result in enforcement of a default or cross-default under such leasing agreements. The purpose of the forbearance agreements continues to be to allow the Company and its stakeholders more time to negotiate on the head terms of a comprehensive restructuring of its balance sheet. Such a restructuring may involve the use of a court-supervised process. The Company continues to evaluate capital structure proposals from its financial stakeholders; whilst no agreement has been reached at this point it is expected that potential solutions will lead to significant equitization of debt which is likely to result in minimal or no recovery for current shareholders. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes forward looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business, the markets in which it operates and its restructuring efforts. These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's regulatory filings and periodical reporting. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward looking statement. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. CONTACT: [email protected] +44(0)20 3745 4960 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/seadrill-limited/r/sdrl---seadrill-announces-extension-of-forbearance-agreements,c3205239 SOURCE Seadrill Limited STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. As Staten Island public elementary school students returned to their classroom for the first day of in-person learning as part of New York Citys phased-in reopening amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) there was a mix of both excitement and back-to-school jitters. Tuesday marked the first time K-5 and K-8 schools are open for in-person learning since the coronavirus outbreak shuttered school campuses in March. I feel pretty good, said Alessia Scala, a third-grader at PS/I.S. 48, Concord. I feel really excited, but kind of nervous, but mostly excited. [Im excited] to see my friends. Her father, Richard Scala, said theyve prepared for the return to school, such as practicing wearing a face mask for a few hours a day. But Scala said hes worried that the blended learning model will set his daughter back after the city said students in that program wont be guaranteed live instruction during the days they are learning remotely. Those participating in the blended learning model go to school two to three days a week and learn remotely on the other days. Parents also have the choice of students learning remotely full-time. My wife and I are going to see how it goes, because if youre full remote at home, youre getting a teacher every day," he said. Thats nonsense. Ill be honest, if shes not getting educated, were going full remote, but I dont know what were going to do about babysitting and stuff. FIRST-DAY NERVES Elias Alvarez, a second-grader at PS/I.S. 48, said his mother woke him up early to get ready for the first day. He said he felt both excited, but scared, since it has been months since hes been at school. And Theresa Thanjan, a parent of a second-grader at PS 9 in Concord, said those first-day nerves have been amplified because of the coronavirus. Were hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, she said. She wants to be back in school and see her friends. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Crossing guard Ella Latta was making sure students were safely crossing the street at PS 78 in Stapleton on Tuesday morning. She explained how students were excited to be back and couldnt wait to get inside the school with some even arriving before the building opened. Im so excited to have the kids back, and its so nice to see all the school buses and the teachers and to just feel some sense of normalcy again," Latta said. Im just so happy the schools are open again and Im praying that they stay open. Teachers, staff and Principal Jodi Contento welcomed students back to the PS 78 campus as they arrived Tuesday morning. WELL WORTH IT It was a lot of work, a lot of preparation and a lot of family communication and outreach, which can be challenging, but it was all well worth it to bring us to the point that were at today and to be able to open in the middle of a national health crisis," Contento said. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that the city would start the process of returning students to school buildings in phases, with the academic year kicking off for some in-person and all remote learners on Sept. 21. Students in 3-K, pre-K, and District 75 were the first to begin reporting for in-person learning on Sept. 21, followed by K-5 and K-8 students on Tuesday. Middle and high school students will begin the return to campus on Thursday, Oct. 1. Contento said that when schools were closed since March, parents sent messages to share how much their kids missed their friends. Its been hard for everyone, but especially the students, she added. I know even my kids miss being in school every day," she said. "They miss the routine, and as much as you try to re-create the school-like structure at home, its never the same as a brick-and-mortar building. And now that the students are back, its not what theyre used to, Contento said. Theyre used to collaborative learning and group work with their peers, so theres going to be an adjustment there as well, but I still think the benefits of being back outweigh it, she said. Safety protocols at schools involve social distancing, face coverings and more. Alfred Thompson, the father of third-grader Vanessa at PS 78 in Stapleton, said his daughter missed school so much, and couldnt even express how much joy she is feeling." Her brother is in Africa, so she hasnt had anyone to play with at home, so you can imagine how hard its been for her being all by herself with her computer," he said. Once she found out she could go back to school, oh my God, she was just so, so happy. DONT TOUCH ANYTHING As students arrived at PS 56, Rossville, they had their temperature checked, and one mother told a young learner, Dont kiss anyone, dont hug anyone, wash your hands and dont touch anything, thats it." Principal Phillip Carollo told arriving families that just 24% of students at the Rossville school chose full-time remote learning, explaining that everyone wants to be back." Joseph Newman, a kindergarten student, proudly shared his big accomplishment on the first day of school: I made my own lunch -- baloney and cheese and mayonnaise." View the gallery above to see photos from PS/I.S. 48, PS 9, PS 78, and PS 56 as students arrived Tuesday morning. Catholic school students in New York City went back to school earlier this month. Related stories: NYC schools daily health screening: What parents need to know How to check number of coronavirus cases at your childs school First day of school in NYC: So glad to have our students back NYC schools reopening amid coronavirus: How to care for your childs mask NYC schools reopening: Heres what you need to know Safety protocols in NYC schools: What you need to know NYC to bring in 2,000 more educators for the start of school as de Blasio pushes forward with Sept. 21 reopening Coronavirus: How to find ventilation inspection results for your childs school NYC school year delayed; in-person learning to start Sept. 21 Reopening of NYC schools delayed: What you need to know Heres how coronavirus testing will work in NYC schools Coronavirus: How NYC plans to safely reopen schools in fall FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 14:02:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The British government put itself on a potential collision course with Brussels on Monday after rejecting calls by the European Union (EU) to withdraw parts of a controversial bill that will break international law. The EU had given Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government until Wednesday to drop clauses in a planned Internal Market Bill currently going through their legislative processes in the Houses of Parliament. The European Commission has threatened legal action against Britain if it continues with the contentious parts of the bill. The likelihood of a showdown between London and Brussels emerged at a meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee in Brussels. British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, co-chair of the committee, spelled out the British government's response at the meeting. In a statement issued later in London, the Cabinet Office said: "The UK reiterated that the measures set out in the Internal Market Bill are designed to create a 'safety net' to ensure the communities of Northern Ireland are protected. The UK is clear that those measures would not be withdrawn." European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, who co-chairs the committee with Gove, had led the call for the bill, or parts of it, to be shelved after it was confirmed it would break international law by overriding a treaty between the two sides. Despite the political wrangle over the bill, talks will resume in Brussels on Tuesday between the EU and British Brexit negotiating teams. Led by the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain's chief negotiator David Frost, the week-long talks aim to find ways to break a deadlock on a number of sticking points. Both sides want a deal to be brokered before the end of this year to pave the way for a future post-Brexit trade deal from Jan. 1, 2021. A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed the government's stand over the internal market measure in a media briefing Monday afternoon, saying the bill will continue its passage through parliament. The spokesperson added that the British government will continue to work through the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee to resolve outstanding issues and ambiguity. The Telegraph in London quoted Sefcovic as saying: "I reminded the UK government today that the withdrawal agreement contains a number of mechanisms and legal remedies to address the violation of the legal obligations contained in the text, and I underscored that the EU will not be shy in using them." "We maintain that the bill, if adopted in its current form, would constitute an extremely serious violation of the protocol, as an essential part of the withdrawal agreement, and of international law," Sefcovic continued. Britain ended its membership of the EU on Jan. 31 but continues to follow the bloc's rules on trade under a transitional arrangement that ended Dec. 31. Enditem The positivity rate must average at most 6.5% for three consecutive days for the northwest region to return to normal phase four restrictions under the governors reopening plan. If the rate swings the other direction or remains at 8% or higher in the next two weeks, even more clampdowns might come. A Statement By The Pro-Democracy And Leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) On The alleged Widespread Corruption in The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), The Refusal of The Accountant General of The Federations Refusal To Reply The FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST Seeking for the Comprehensive Update on the Huge Amount of Public Fund Purportedly Diverted to Private Accounts, Which Shows He is Hiding Something and HURIWA ALSO Reinforces The Earlier Allegation of Corruption in The Humanitarian Affairs And Disaster Management As Justified By The Recent ICPCs Revelation. THE ISSUE: As one of the foremost civil rights advocacy groups in the country, which has consistently campaigned against all forms and manifestations of public and private economic and associated corrupt practices within the last 14 years, we have been informed from credible sources about the disturbing cases of alleged corruption in the National Biotechnology Development Agency. Specially, our office has consistently been bombarded with petitions on allegations of misapplication of the institutional funds of the Agency in which the acting Director General/CEO; Mr. Alex Akpa is mentioned and we have tried to vigorously crusade against such tendencies because of the adverse consequences that such threat could have in the development of Bio-technological sciences in Nigeria. Just few weeks ago, we declared as deplorable, the state of affairs with the management of this badly administered institution under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology not willing to meet the payment obligations to cleaners and security staff working for the agency despite the continuous servicing by the Federal government of the budget lines meant to be used to pay the wage bills of this category of low level but critical staff. Again, we gathered from a written petition wherein many of the staff had alleged that all the acting DG does is to allegedly collect from 30 to 70% of project money and allegedly use it as bribe to ensure he is confirmed as DG/CEO. He allegedly tells a lot of lies on national TV as achievements of NABDA when in essence nothing is going on," the petition sent to us had alleged. The Acting Director General of NABDA has been approached by us for his position but he accused his rivals trying to push him out of his acting job as those fabrucating the cacophony of ALLEGATIONS of sleaze and corruption. Also, the Agencys staff alleged that NABDA Biotech centres that collect money every year has no structure there and no staff on ground, just bushes. Consequently, when we tried on many occasions to reach out to the acting DG with these plethora of complaints, the Acting Director General attacked us on the phone and accused us of harassment only because we approached him to demand why the staff have low morale and the cleaners and security are owed accumulated wages despite the fact that the 2018 budget lines with the file number as 0228001001; and 2019 Appropriation law with number 0228001001 and 2020 Appropriation with same code show that CLEANERS AND SECURITY BUDGETS were serviced. Furthermore, pursuant to sections 1 and 2 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) ACT of 2011, laws of the federation of Nigeria, we wrote to the Accountant General of the Federation; Mr. Ahmed Idris Fcna requesting to get relevant confirmation and update on a correspondence he authored with file number FD/AGF/ADC/203/2020/1/, said to have emanated from his office dated 3rd September 2020 and received on the same date by the office of the director general of the National Biotechnology Development Agency titled: RE:TAKE-OFF GRANT 2018 CAPITAL ALLOCATION TO FOUR(4) NEWLY ESTABLISHED CENTRES. We gathered from a copy of the letter, which was made available to us that the Accountant General had demanded the following actions regarding suspected acts of corruption as it relates to huge public fund as follows: 1. I write to refer to the above captioned subject released vide AIE no: CMD/CAP/026/2018 dated 27, June, 2019 in the sum of 400,000,000.00 (Four Hundred Million Naira Only) meant for the newly established Centres. (Appendix l). 2. The Agency subsequently requested for the transfer of the amount into the Sub-Accounts of The respective Centres. While effecting the transfer vide our mandate dated 24 August, 2020, the payment could not be honoured due to insufficient balance in the account. (Appendix II). 3. Further investigations revealed that the Funds were transferred into a Company account with Money Deposit Bank against the purpose the fund was meant for. 4. In view of the foregoing, you are requested to refund the money meant for the Take-Off Grant of the Four Centres to the designated accounts. 5. You are' further requested to explain the rationale behind moving Public Funds to a Private Company account with Zenith Bank PLC in total disregard to TSA Policy of the Federal Government. 6. The Agency is obliged to consider this letter as notice of compliance within 7 days, failure of which appropriate action would be taken including involving relevant investigative agencies. Until the time of this statement, the Office of the Accountant General is yet to respond to our letter seeking for clarifications on behalf of millions of Nigerians and pursuant to relevant sections and provisions of the FOI Act to know the status of the said huge amount of public fund purportedly diverted to private accounts. The last time we asked about the response a top official in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation said her boss travelled to host the marriage ceremony for his Son. Two weeks down the line, the FOI request is yet to be responded to which has made our Trustees to decide that we are giving the Accountant General of the Federation 48 hours to respond or we do one of these two actions- institute a legal action to compel compliance or we send a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari to demand that Nigerians are told why CORRUPTION IS TOLERATED RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE. WE WILL THEREAFTER WAIT FOR ANOTHER ONE WEEK FOR REMEDIAL ACTION OR WE SEND A LETTER TO THE AFRICAN UNION TO DEMAND CANCELLATION OF THE AWARD OF ANTI CORRUPTION CHAMPUON OF AU CONFERRED ON THE NIGERIAN PRESIDENT. OUR STAND AND WAY FORWARD: From the issues raised above, it cannot be gainsaid nor overemphasized that the National Biotechnology Development Agency stinks of wide spread corruption and the Accountant General of the Federation is aware but seems to be aiding and abetting it, evident from his purported letter to the acting DG and his refusal to reply to our FOI showing either that he is hiding something and this offends the FOI Act and the anti-graft war. We are worried that these allegations of misapplication of the institutional funds of NABDA and the refusal of the Accountant General to reply to our FOI would hinder the practical provision of the practical frameworks for the advancement of biotechnology in Nigeria, which will harm the Country's vision of joining the rest of the World to achieve remarkable success in the fields of science and technology. There is the urgent need then for the agency to be compelled by President Muhammadu Buhari to wake up from the doldrums of mismanagement and begin to discharge her statutory functions and mandates Similarly, when in July this year, we issued a statement exposing the alleged widespread corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Investments, especially on the implementation of the so-called social investment programme and the school feeding programme, describing it as the best known cesspool of corruption and abuse of office, we received series of attacks; but the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recently exposed same heist. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), yesterday (Monday) disclosed that it uncovered the sum of N2.67 billion payment made to some federal colleges for school feeding during lockdown when children are not in school, ended up in personal accounts. It would be recalled that in our statement on the corruption in that Ministry, we had demanded the Honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs; Sadiya Umar Farouq to take up the challenge for a public debate on the administration of school feeding programme especially the sessions that happened whilst schools were on lockdown, but up till today we have not gotten any reply. We use the opportunity to therefore ask that the Accountant General of the Federation and the Humanitarian Affairs minister to fix a date for a public debate on the extensive corruptions and economic crimes happening right within the CURRENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI OF WHICH THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION OUGHT TO PROVUDE THE PRAGMATIC FRAMEWORKS FOR MAKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND FUNANCIAL MANAGEMENTOF PUBLIC FUND ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT. The ICPCs revelation justifies and reinforces our earlier allegation of corruption in Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster management ministry. Hence we are by this statement, for the umpteenth time challenging the Minister together with the Accountant General of the Federation to a public debate with us in Abuja on these allegations. SUMMARY: Public Debate emerges as a significant tool in the process of making people more active participants in the democratic process by involving them in the decision-making process. Thus, the proposed public debate will go a long way in addressing the peoples opinions, interests, expectations and clarifications on the alleged cesspool of corruptions in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development and that of the National Biotechnology Development Agency and as it concerns the Accountant General of the Federation. It will also afford them the opportunity to state the official lines of what it has spent. We urge the President; His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) and the National Assembly to remember that good governance is enhanced when openness, transparency and accountability become the Mantra of Government. Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the National Assembly should realise that history will be unkind to them for failing to stop widespread corruptions that have characterized governance in Nigeria with impunity in recent times. COMRADE EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO: NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION (HURIWA). Miss. Zainab Yusuf: Director, National Media Affairs. September 29th 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:43:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LHASA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Losang Qoepee, an orthopedist of the People's Hospital of Lhasa, has been apprenticed to Yang Jie, a doctor from the Beijing Jishuitan Hospital for a month, together with several other local doctors. Under the tutorship of the Beijing expert, they have done dozens of orthopedic surgeries on children, a breakthrough in Tibet's medical history. This is not the first time that Losang Qoepee has learned from medical experts from Beijing. "I've learned minimally invasive orthopedic surgery from Gong Xiaofeng, my first master in 2017. It is a very practical technology that reduces the pain on patients and the possibility of sequelae," Losang Qoepee said. The 35-year-old doctor is now an expert on such surgeries himself. Since 2015, China has increased medical assistance to Tibet. A total of 841 medical staff from seven provinces and municipalities have provided assistance to eight hospitals in Tibet, providing training for around 4,000 medical workers in the region. Thanks to the assistance program, nearly 200 doctors in Tibetan hospitals are now able to independently conduct one or two kinds of new surgeries, greatly improving the accessibility of medical service to Tibetan people. The program introduced more than 1,000 of advanced practices and technologies to Tibet, and filled 1,500 medical technology gaps in Tibet. By 2019, the number of outpatients, inpatients and surgeries in the eight hospitals had increased by 28 percent, 70 percent and 76 percent, respectively, compared with five years ago, and the average life expectancy of people in Tibet reached 70.6 years. Over the past five years, the above-mentioned seven regions have spent 920 million yuan (about 134.85 million U.S. dollars) to help seven Tibetan hospitals build new facilities, procure medical equipment and conduct medical research and education, according to the regional health commission. Enditem Interestingly, PureHMOTM Prebiotic does not actually contain human milk. Instead, it is derived from a precise fermentation process of high-purity lactose. But the end result is a bio-identical match to 2'-fucosyllactose, the most abundant HMO found in mother's milk and, most importantly, its inherent benefits. Research shows those benefits extend to adults. Podcaster Ben Greenfield and author Joel Greene recently discussed the immense benefits of human milk oligosaccharides on The Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast. Greene is author of The Immunity Code. Scientific research has shown that HMOs can help to alleviate symptoms of "leaky gut" and IBS, as well as provide additional benefits. Unlike other common prebiotics (inulin, GOS, FOS), HMO not only promotes the growth of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria (beneficial bacteria) in your gut, but it also prevents pathogens from binding to the intestinal surface. HMO may modulate the immune system, acting locally on cells of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues or systematically inhibiting inflammation by creating a positive gut environment. In addition, HMO provides salic acid as an essential nutrient to form sialic-containing gangliosides and poly-sialic containing glycoproteins, which support cognitive function. PureHMO Prebiotic is available at Amazon.com/LayerOrigin and at www.LayerOrigin.com Layer Origin was founded by a group of scientists to supply science-based supplements and is based at the Cornell University Business and Technology Park in New York. The company owns multiple organic farms in central New York to supply raw materials. Layer Origin's signature products include Triple Essentials Blood Sugar Support and BranPure 2.8X Oat Bran for cholesterol and Heart Health, in addition to PureHMO Prebiotic for gut health. Media Contact: Beau Berman [email protected] SOURCE Layer Origin Natural Supplements Related Links https://layerorigin.com The Tuesday alleged Amnesty International is involved in "multiple illegalities" and it has no right to lecture on propriety, hours after the human rights watchdog said it was halting India operations over an "incessant witch-hunt". Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, leader Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said any organisation can work in India but it cannot violate the laws and regulations of the country. Any organization can function in India, but it has to be within its legal ambit. Wearing a veil of honesty and acting in bad faith is not something we will permit to Indian or foreign organisations," he said. Rathore also alleged that Amnesty International received foreign funds illegally. "Multiple illegalities have been undertaken by Amnesty International, therefore, it has no right to lecture on propriety, especially when it faces action over its illegal practices," Rathore said. He further said that in 2009, Amnesty International's license had been rejected by the UPA government for receiving foreign funds and their operations were suspended. Amnesty International earlier in the day said it was halting all its activities in India due to freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over alleged unfounded and motivated allegations. In a statement, Amnesty India said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. However, the government has said that Amnesty has been receiving foreign funds illegally. said it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By PTI LOS ANGELES: Actor Megan Fox says her image in the media following her role of glamorous Mikaela Banes in the "Transformers" franchise had a catastrophic effect on her 2009 movie "Jennifer's Body". The horror-comedy, written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, featured Fox as a demonically possessed high school girl who kills her male classmates. During her appearance on "Eli Roth's History of Horror: Uncut" podcast, the actor referenced to her "fall-out" with the "Transformers" makers, saying that it had a negative impact on "Jennifer's Body". "I was being vilified a little bit when the movie was getting ready for its release, it was that interesting juxtaposition to shooting up to extreme heights of fame right before the movie was released and then the tearing me down was starting to happen. Then I had this immediate fallout with someone I worked in the industry. "That happened right when I was on the press tour for 'Jennifer's Body' I think it all sort of exploded at once. I think people definitely viewed me as negative or having bad intentions or just being really shallow and selfish if it could be reduced and simplified even to that," Fox said. The actor said the film never "stood a chance" mainly because of her "image" at the time. "All these people put in a lot of hard work into making a really quality project that was panned for reasons that had nothing to do with them," she said. "A lot of it was just about my image at the time and who I was in the media at the time and the backlash to that. The movie never really stood a chance," Fox added. The actor, who found global fame with Bay's two "Transformers" movies, was fired from the franchise after she compared the director with German dictator Adolf Hitler. It is rumored that veteran filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who served as an executive producer on the franchise, was upset with Fox's comment and had forced her to leave the series. Now after so many years, the actor is happy that "Jennifer's Body" is regarded as a feminist piece of art and that so many girls are able to relate its core story. "I think somewhere inside of every girl they can relate to this idea of feeling like 'My power has been taken away from me and what would I do if I got all of that power and then some back'. "I imagine that's one of the things that they relate to: That vicarious letting lose, what's referred to in our hippie circles as 'the inner wild woman', the inner wild witch' that we all have. That is an archetype," Fox said. A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy granted 15 days to the Union Territory to file response New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti's amended plea challenging the detention of her mother, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, under the J-K Public Safety Act, saying it cannot go on forever and "some via media" should be explored. A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy granted 15 days to the Union Territory to file response and asked as to what was the maximum period for which a person can be detained under the specific law and whether the authorities proposed to continue with the detention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader. On the issue of the permission to attend party meetings, the top court, in a hearing conducted through video conferencing here, said that the PDP President should place such a request with the authorities. The bench took note of the submission of lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Iltija, that Mufti's daughter and other relatives should be allowed to meet her in detention. Even people in jails are allowed to meet their families, the lawyer argued. The bench said he requests for visitation and meetings may be placed before the authorities concerned and allowed. At the outset of the brief hearing, the bench said that it would like to deal with certain issues as to what can be the maximum period of detention under the law and asked the authorities about the period of detention to which she may be kept. "Find some via media out. Detention can't be forever," the bench observed, while posting the matter for hearing on October 15 after filing of the fresh reply of the UT administration to the amended plea of Iltija. Referring to the earlier reply of the UT authorities, the bench said that it needed to go through the reply and "will have to see what is to be done". The top court, in February this year, had issued notice to the UT authorities on the habeas corpus (bring the person) plea of Iltija challenging the detention of her mother and had sought the response by March 18. The PDP president was put under detention on the eve of abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5 last year. In her application, filed in the pending petition, Iltija said it has been filed praying for permission to amend the plea and seeking a writ of habeas corpus. "The amendment sought is to include grounds of challenge and additional prayers for challenging the orders of confirmation (dated February 26) and subsequent extensions (May 5 and July 31) of the detention order (of Mehbooba) impugned in the writ petition," the application reads. The writ petition has challenged Mehbooba's detention on several grounds. It contends that the grounds and the dossier for detention are "stale, vague and that they suffer from non-application of mind, malice in law and that they violate the provisions of Section 8(3)(b) of the PSA". "The detention order based on stale grounds have become staler even more since the petition was filed and the respondent administration has continued to act with total non-application of mind and the malice in law has only been reinforced and aggravated in confirming and extending the order of detention for further periods," it said. Seeking permission to allow her to amend the section of the writ petition entitled Prayers, Iltija pleaded for issuance of the writ in the nature of habeas corpus commanding the respondents -- the central and Jammu and Kashmir governments -- to produce Mehbooba forthwith before the court for being set at liberty. Pleading for direction or order quashing the impugned order of detention and subsequent extension orders, the application sought appropriate compensation to Mehbooba for the "illegal detention that she has suffered" and to award costs of the litigation to the petitioner. "I have challenged her PSA order and the subsequent extensions to ensure her continued detention. Her detention is illegal and questionable in a democracy," Iltija had said, adding "a key opposition leader has been jailed for over a year without recourse to trial." Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 15:02:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank provided a grant of 100 million U.S. dollars to help Afghanistan stabilize its financial sector and support small enterprises as the country strives to spur its recovery from COVID-19, said a statement reaching Xinhua on Tuesday. "Funded by the International Development Association the Strengthening Afghanistan's Financial Intermediation (SAFI) project will enhance capacity of Afghanistan's central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), for financial system regulation and supervision," the statement said. "As Afghanistan recovers from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening its financial sector is key to accelerating the recovery," World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan Henry Kerali was quoted in the statement as saying. "This new financial assistance will enable Da Afghanistan Bank to strengthen its capacity to maintain financial sector stability. It will also support the financial institutions in expanding lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in a sustainable way and facilitate temporary provision of matching grants to small and medium enterprises to retrofit and retool their businesses in response to impacts of COVID-19," he said. The project will also help the Afghan Ministry of Finance facilitate access to finance for MSMEs, including women owned or operated businesses, through risk-sharing, matching grants, and technical assistance, the statement said. Enditem Torontos accelerating COVID-19 spread has killed the concept of social bubbles of up to 10 people, prompting city officials to urge residents to now get close only to other household members. The new advice was announced Monday, along with proposed new controls on bars and restaurants, in response to a sustained surge including 381 new confirmed and probable infections in a single day and a record 700 for the entire province. Its plain to see that there is an immediate, rising risk in Toronto of continued and significant COVID-19 resurgence, Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys public health chief, told reporters. Nowhere in the city escapes the risk. We move around too much for that. The city advised residents to disregard old advice from provincial officials, who said in mid-June that it was safe to resume close mingling with up to 10 extended family or friends. Amid the infections resurgence since early August, when Toronto entered Stage 3 reopening, and with many children now back in school, times have changed, said de Villa. She has blamed the relapse on people gathering indoors and ignoring advice to physically distance, wear masks and wash their hands. The results we want wont come from rules that arent followed, she said. Other measures recommended to city council, which meets Wednesday, include: Cut the number of people allowed in eating and drinking establishments from 100 to 75. Require bars and restaurants to log contact information for every customer, not just one person per party, and cut the maximum number at a table from 10 people to six. Order bars and restaurants to play music no louder than normal conversation so people dont lean in and speak louder, which can boost spread of the virus primarily shared via respiratory droplets. Urge the province to mandate masks in workplaces when physical distancing isnt possible. The city looked at issuing that order but decided, de Villa said, that the province has jurisdiction. Proposed new rules on bars and restaurants follow province ordering them to move closing timeto midnight from 2 a.m. The Ontario Hospital Association urged Toronto to revert to Stage 2 where business could not offer indoor dining and drinking de Villa stressed its behaviour, not its location, speeding the spread. Outbreaks have been traced to private parties, weddings and religious services, she said, but some added risk factors in bars and restaurants justify extra precautions. Mayor John Tory admitted being jolted by Mondays spike in infections, saying he knows Torontonians are scared that the virus, which on July 27 claimed only one new infection, has roared upwards and starting to hit schools. Toronto on Monday reported the highest rate of infection in Ontario, and the fastest growth in the infection rate, even adjusted for population. The city had 7.6 new cases per 100,000 per day, up 3.2 cases per day from one week earlier. We are asking Toronto residents to recognize that the alarm bell is ringing and to take action now in their own lives, Tory said. The officials said people calling for Toronto to retreat into lockdown have to take into account the public-health harms of social and economic shutdown in terms of shuttered businesses, lost income and damage to mental health. These (new) restrictions have been put in place to keep people healthy and alive without going back to a total shutdown we cant afford, Tory said. With files from Jennifer Pagliaro and Ed Tubb David Rider is the Star's City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider Honour Rating: The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story Rating: Keeley Hawes is actually triplets. Thats the best explanation for how she can star in practically every primetime drama: theres three of her. Mumsy Keeley always has a glass of gin in her hand, in period dramas such as The Durrells and Summer Of Rockets. Glamorous Keeley calls the shots as an oversexed politician in Bodyguard. But its when she wipes the make-up away that we know shes really taking charge, as a lank-haired corrupt copper in Line Of Duty, a desperate wife in The Missing or a steely eyed spy catcher in Traitors. And its no-nonsense Keeley who takes the lead in Honour (ITV), playing DCI Caroline Goode: the real-life detective whose relentless murder inquiry in 2006 exposed not only a culture of rape and misogyny among Londons Iraqi-Kurd community, but an alarming reluctance by the police to protect women in terror for their lives. Keeley Hawes plays DCI Caroline Goode: the real-life detective whose relentless murder inquiry in 2006 exposed not only a culture of rape and misogyny among Londons Iraqi-Kurd community, but an alarming reluctance by the police to protect women in terror for their lives The drama is based on the killing of 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod, who went to the police five times with fears that her family wished her dead. Each time she was ignored or accused of seeking attention. Her crime was to fall in love with a young man, instead of submitting to a forced marriage even though her first marriage, at 17, had descended into rape and violence before ending in divorce. Gwyneth Hughess two-part dramatisation, which concludes tonight, veers from methodical reconstruction to cop-shop cliches. Theres an enormous amount of factual background to cram in: the camera repeatedly cuts back to the incident room whiteboard, festooned with big mugshots and clearly printed names, to help us keep track of the various uncles, cousins and family friends suspected of murdering Banaz. With so many videos of interviews and boxes of phone records, the evidence becomes smothering. To keep the drama human, Hughes includes plenty of back-office banter between detectives. One of them is sleeping on the floor behind her desk, and nipping out to buy fresh undies every day. The station junior knows his place he brings his boss takeaway coffees and muffins. The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story (BBC2) asks how the GP from Hyde, Greater Manchester, could have got away with killing scores of his patients over more than 20 years Keeley has to strike a balance between the dialogue, straight out of a detective novel, and the plot, which often feels like a crime report. To make her role harder, we know nothing about her life outside the police: if she has a family, we dont see it. Double act of the day: Anne and Nick set the template. Then there was Richard and Judy, Phil and Holly. . . Next month, Kym Marsh and Gethin Jones launch Morning Live on BBC1. Good luck, guys getting it right is trickier than it looks. Advertisement But, by the end of the hour, shed succeeded in making us believe that nothing in her career could ever matter as much as finding justice for Banaz. This might not be remembered as one of Keeleys starriest performances, but she has never demonstrated more clearly why shes the first choice for 9pm dramas. Invisible murder victims were the theme of the night, with The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story (BBC2) asking how the GP from Hyde, Greater Manchester, could have got away with killing scores of his patients over more than 20 years. Filmmaker Chris Wilson narrates the three-parter (which also continues tonight) with a flourishing turn of phrase. Shipman, he said, was not only above suspicion but effectively above the law. He almost certainly killed more than 100 people: Even saying it now, it sounds unbelievable. Yet the story broke slowly. At first, it was treated as a curious local police case, not the biggest murder trial in British history as it would become. So far, Wilson has not attempted to blame the authorities for failing to stop Shipman decades earlier. Still, this was not a night of TV that senior police will have relished. The equity round is led by the Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF) and Investissement Quebec (IQ). New investors also include Export Development Canada (EDC), BDC Capital and Singapore-based K3 Ventures, along with current investors Inovia, Plaza Ventures, and Claridge increasing their investment. MONTREAL, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Busbud , the online marketplace that enables global travelers to shop for and book intercity bus tickets on over 2.3 million bus routes worldwide, today announced the close of a $15M CAD (US$11.5M) Series C equity funding. This latest round brings total fundraising to date to $40M CAD (US$30M). The Series C funds will be used to fuel technology development, further grow the team and accelerate geographic expansion. "We believe that Busbud's leadership team possesses the skills and experience to execute on their vision to continue to grow the leading global bus travel aggregator and booking provider," George Rossolatos, CEO of CBGF explains. "We are proud to partner with LP, and have Busbud as our first investment in Quebec and hope to do more in the province". "Busbud continues on its impressive growth path, and Investissement Quebec is proud to join forces with a group of experienced investors to give the company the flexibility it needs to accelerate that growth. Despite the unstable climate facing the tourist transport industry, Busbud's dynamic team is favourably positioned to continue developing its technology and diversifying its global markets," stated Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO of Investissement Quebec. "This is a fantastic development for the company. This is obviously a challenging macro environment for the travel industry, but this fundraising shows the resilience of the leadership team and the continued high-growth potential of the business. Busbud's engineering team has been heads down building an exciting pipeline of new product features in the past 5 months. We've backed the company since day one, and we are thrilled for this next chapter", says Magaly Charbonneau, Partner at Inovia, one of Canada's leading VC funds. As part of the transaction, Hai Tran-Viet, Senior Investor at CBGF will join Busbud's board of directors, bringing 20 years of experience in private equity. The board also includes Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia and Venture Partner at TCV as well as Philippe Vimard, former CTO/COO of publicly-listed eDreams/ODIGEO Travel Group and current CTO of Doctolib, the No. 1 booking platform for doctors in Europe. Busbud continues on its impressive growth path. With revenue growth at 110% Y/Y pre-COVID, the company has also diversified its activities in 80 countries, which will allow continued growth even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. With a mix of international and local travellers using Busbud's mobile website and app, Busbud is well positioned to benefit from the rise of in-country travel as travel restrictions gradually ease up around the world until a fuller recovery. "We continue full speed ahead on our quest to make sense of this huge and fragmented intercity bus travel market, which boasts more passengers than air travel, while being widely overlooked by the travel industry. We've built deep expertise integrating with bus back-end systems around the world. Working together with our bus industry partners, we believe we can keep translating this expertise into a delightful experience for bus travellers worldwide", added CEO & Co-founder LP Maurice. Earlier this year, Busbud recruited two seasoned executives to its leadership team: Andrew Boch as COO, who was previously COO at Hopper and Boston based LevelUp (acquired by GrubHub), and Richard Cohene as CMO, who was at Facebook and brings to Busbud 15 years of experience in digital marketing. About: Busbud : Busbud is an online marketplace that enables global travelers to shop for and book intercity bus tickets on over 2.3 million bus routes worldwide. Available in 17 languages, the company's convenient and secure booking website and app offer the ability to search, compare and buy tickets from over 3,900 bus companies in 16,000 cities across 80+ countries, supporting transactions in 30 currencies. Co-founded in 2011 by longtime friends LP Maurice (CEO), Michael Gradek (CTO) and Frederic Thouin (CPO), the company currently has 50 employees and is based in Montreal, Quebec. It is backed by investors including the Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF), Investissement Quebec (IQ), Inovia, OMERS Ventures, Real Ventures, Revolution Ventures, Plaza Ventures, FJ Labs, Export Development Canada (EDC), Claridge, Teralys Capital, K3 Ventures and BDC Capital, as well as angel investors who have served as key executives at Expedia, Google, Facebook, Airbnb and TripAdvisor. Experience travel with Busbud at https://www.busbud.com. Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF): Launched in 2018, the Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF) provides long-term, patient, minority capital to ambitious entrepreneurs to fund growth and expansion of mid-market businesses in Canada with investments between $3 and $20 million. An evergreen investment fund with capital commitments of $545 million from Canadian financial institutions, CBGF is committed to long-term partnerships with the companies it invests in. As part of its mission to drive growth, CBGF connects its partner businesses to its broad network of experienced business leaders, sector experts and international relationships to help them achieve their full potential. For more information: www.cbgf.com and @CBGFinvestments. Investissement Quebec (IQ): Investissement Quebec's mission is to play an active role in Quebec's economic development by spurring business innovation, entrepreneurship and business acquisitions, as well as growth in investment and exports. Operating in all the province's administrative regions, the Corporation supports the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes with investments and customized financial solutions. It also assists businesses by providing consulting services and other support measures, including technological assistance available from Investissement Quebec CRIQ. In addition, through Investissement Quebec International, the Corporation also prospects for talent and foreign investment and assists businesses with export activities. SOURCE Busbud Related Links https://www.busbud.com/en Microsoft Corp.s Bing search app will appear as a download prompt on new Android phones in Germany, the U.K. and France after it won slots in a Google auction for rivals. Google announced the results of its October-December auction on Tuesday, showing info.com won slots on a choice screen for new Android phones in all 31 countries, PrivacyWall won slots in 22 countries, GMX in 16 countries and Bing in 13 countries. DuckDuckGo won just eight slots in smaller markets, down from a slot in each country in the last period. Alphabet Inc.s search unit was ordered by the European Union in 2018 to find ways to remedy its power over search on mobile phones. Google has a stable 97% market share for search in Europe, according to Statcounter figures for August. Google decided to auction off three slots to rivals to appear on a screen asking users to pick them as a default. The auction process hasnt yet generated many downloads for rivals. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics The Japanese government is urging people to come forth with mental health issues after yet another celebrity passed away in a suspected case of suicide. Japan has seen an alarming rise in cases of death by suicide among celebrities with Miss Sherlock" star Yuko Takeuchi, becoming the fourth Japanese celebrity to succumb to it. On Tuesday, the nation was shocked to find the 40-year-old actress had passed away, leaving behind a successful career and a family including two children. Takeuchi gave birth to her second child in January. Actress Ashina Sei was also found dead earlier this month. And before that, actor Miura Harumi in July and reality TV star Kimura Hana in May. The series of apparent suicides has plunged Japan in a discussion about mental health and depression, much like the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput did in India. However, instead of turning the case into a political slugfest and poll issue in India, the Japanese government seems to be focusing on addressing mental health. On Monday, it urged people to seek help if they are struggling to cope with mental health issues and also seemed to purport that the coronavirus pandemic might also be causing a spike in cases. While he did not mention any cases, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato noted that some people were struggling to cope during the coronavirus crisis. In August, Japan saw nearly 1,900 suicides, up 15.3 percent from a year earlier. But is coronavirus really causing a spike in cases of suicide? According to a report in the Washington Post, the United States has undergone a historic mental health crisis since the coronavirus pandemic. The federal hotline for mental health had a 1,000 percent increase in the number of calls it received from across the country as compared to last year. And that was just April. Psychiatrists and mental health experts across the world have hinted at a possible link between the pandemic and the worsening mental health situation of people, with daily death and the stress of coping with isolation and lockdown causing severe trauma among people. Pandemic blues in India This isnt just the case in Japan or in the US. Pandemics have led to a rise in suicides across India as well. Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF), a Bengaluru-based organisation, found a severe rise in cases of self-harm and suicide ideation since the coronavirus pandemic. As per a report in Times of India, therapists reported a 30 percent increase in patients who self-harmed. In Kolkata, 113 cases of death by suicide were reported from April to July. That is nearly double the number reported last year during the same period. As per a report in The Print, nearly half of them were under the age of 40. Cases of suicide have also spiked in Himachal Pradesh with 466 cases of death by suicide reported across the state from January till July. While January and February saw 40 and 45 cases of death by suicide, the cases steadily rose as the lockdown began with June and July showing a two-fold increase with 112 and 101 deaths. A report in The Tribune said that homemakers", labourers and students were the most affected and also cited the stress of the pandemic as a possible cause. The report also noted that the deaths by suicide of public figures may cause an uptick in cases of suicide as it impacts the public at a larger scale. Bollywood actors Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging inside his home on June 16. But is India failing to address the massive mental health challenge knocking at its doorstep? Data reveals that we never were. India has one of the highest rates of death by suicide in the world. In 2016, the suicide rate was 17 per one lakh people. Financial stress, changing lifestyles, caste discrimination, depression or anxiety, there can be many causes of suicide. Instead of giving a platform to celebrities denying mental health issues or harassing other celebrities for what they do in their free time, perhaps it is time for India to look deeper into what is causing a spike in rates of suicide. (This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).) Trump Vincibility Watch is a subjective and speculative estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump actually loses the 2020 election or, in other words, that he suffers the consequences of his actions for the first time in his life rather than wriggling out of yet another jam (see: the Mueller investigation, the Ukraine scandal, the 2016 popular vote, his six bankruptcies, and everything else). So: The resorts, hotels, and buildings the Trump Organization owns are not generating enough money to pay back its debts. Advertisement Trump has personally guaranteed $421 million worth of those debts, of which about $300 million is due within the next four years, and doesnt seem to have any way to make good on them except by liquidating assets. One of the ways he appears to be trying to keep cash on hand is by claiming things that arent legitimate business expenses (like transfers of money to his daughter and payments to lawyers working on cases related to his political campaigns) as business expenses so he doesnt have to pay income taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its possible that the IRS will determine a $70 million refund he filed for in 2010 should not have been issued. He originally claimed the refund by abandoning his stake in casinos whose investors were fed up with him; the best-case scenario for him, in other words, is the IRS accepting his version of events about a situation in which he formally admitted that, for him, trying to make money running casinos was a lost cause. Advertisement Advertisement After repeated sell-offs, he may hold as little as $873,000 in securities, which would be a good, comfortable amount to have if he were an upper-middle-class professional living in Short Hills, New Jersey, rather than someone who is supposed to come up with $421 million by 2024. His only recent sources of new revenue are deals to license his brand name in countries like India, the Philippines, and Turkey, whose leaders want (and have gotten) the United States tacit permission to suppress and kill dissidents or members of ethnic minorities in their countries. Those takeawaysalong with the eye-popping, extremely shareable detail that the high-rolling president paid a whopping $750 in income tax in each of two different yearsare derived from the New York Times expose about Donald Trumps covertly obtained tax returns. Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. One surprise in the piece is that Trumps claim to be under a long-running IRS audit, a story he kept telling to skeptical reporters throughout his last campaign and his presidency, is apparently true. Whats not true is his accompanying claim that the existence of the audit prevents him from releasing his returns himself. The Times story suggests some more plausible reasons for his reluctance to share: because the returns appear to show that he has pressing debt problems, is bad at managing businesses and assessing investment opportunities, has committed tax fraud, and has compromising private relationships with foreign regimes. Advertisement Advertisement Its hard to imagine the Times report will convince Trumps current supporters to interrogate their view of him as a successful businessman. But it also seems unlikely to help him convince independent voterswho generally already believe that he is dishonest and has committed crimesto support him over Joe Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Look at the photo above: That is the president at the White House Monday morning, showcasing an electric pickup truck made in Ohio by a company called Lordstown Motors.* Trump is presumably holding this event with this truck because he wants to convey that his presidency has created a resurgent American manufacturing economy. But the outlook for the Ohio electric truck manufacturing sector is not going to be the top story on many news broadcasts or websites today. Nor is there much chance it will be a major subject at Tuesday nights debate. Advertisement Advertisement In 2016, Trump was able to survive personal scandals like the Access Hollywood tape because an equal amount of media and voter attention was focused, during a period of relative economic stability, on the purported corruption of his opponent, Hillary Clinton. At the time, a crucial number of Americans saw Trump as someone who was personally distasteful and erratic, but in a way that might help them by shaking things up. In 2020, the idea of things being further shaken up is unappealing, and Trumps efforts to make Joe Bidens purported corruption a major story have not worked. Advertisement The tax bombshell, moreover, is not exactly crowding into a news cycle that would otherwise be good for Trump. Before the Times published its piece, the top political issue of the day was going to be the possibility that the judge he just nominated to the Supreme Court will vote, in Trumps words, to terminate the very popular Affordable Care Act provision that guarantees access to health coverage to Americans with chronic medical conditions. Advertisement It is unlikely that Biden, who has run what the professionals call a disciplined general election campaign, is going to throw out the talking points he planned to use at Tuesdays debate in order to fixate on a report in the New York Times. But he certainly intends to discuss the pandemic and the economic collapse, during which the president has attempted to avoid taking responsibility for his own ineptitude by lying, fudging numbers, and trying to change the subjectan approach that has only created cascading crisis cycles rather than resolving what you might describe as underlying deficiencies. Trumps promises to voters, an enterprising presidential rival might argue, are like his promises to banks: a lot of talk that he hasnt been able to back up. Arent all of us, Deutsche Bank included, ready to call it a wash and move on? Advertisement Or so Joe Biden could say. I imagine. Trump, in any case, is a candidate of ESCALATING VINCIBILITY. A Midland man filed a supplemental petition in support of his lawsuit against Midland ISD in a case having to do with the renaming of Robert E. Lee High School. Jeremy Shane Mansell filed the first supplement petition Friday with District Clerk Alex Archuleta. Midland ISD Board President Rick Davis wrote in an email, The crux of the supplemental petition appears to be that school board trustees do not have the legal authority to change the name of a school if it is going to cost any money to make that change. I disagree. School districts across Texas have changed, and are changing, the names of certain schools within their districts. MISDs board of trustees did so 2017 in connection with Gen. Tommy Franks Elementary School. In the plaintiffs supplemental statement of claim, Mansell states Midland ISD didnt have any budget items set aside in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 approved budgets for the purpose of renaming the schools at issue (Robert E. Lee High School and freshman high school). He wrote that the Texas Education Code states MISD is prohibited from spending public funds in any manner other than as specified in the budget adopted by the board. Mansell also wrote that renaming the high school and freshman school would require a future expenditure of public funds. He added that the Texas Attorney General has long held that such expenditures must pass a two-part test: determining in good faith that the expenditure serves a public purpose and placing sufficient controls on the transactions to ensure that the public purpose is carried out. Mansell also references a three-part test established by the Texas Supreme Court to determine constitutional use of public funds. Lastly, Mansells statement of claim states MISD accepted an invalid petition into official proceedings. The petition, he wrote, was used to defraud the public and committed an abuse of official capacity. Earlier this month, Mansell filed a petition in the 238th District Court that seeks a temporary restraining order and temporary and permanent injunctions against Midland ISD as the district attempts to rename Robert E. Lee High School and the freshman school. Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato and all other defendants put on trial on accusations of fraud and falsifying the books in the 2011 stock listing of Spains Bankia bank were acquitted on Tuesday. The court said banks stock listing had received approvals from all necessary institutions. The listing was very popular among small investors, who lost their shirts when the Spanish state had to nationalise the bank the following year and inject 22 billion euros ($25.7 billion) to keep it from collapsing. Rato, who headed the International Monetary Fund from 2004 to 2007, led the merger in 2010 of several struggling banks into Bankia. The image of a smiling Rato ringing the bell and sipping champagne on July 20, 2011 to mark the start of Bankias listing has since become a symbol of the scandal. More than 300,000 small shareholders bought share packages for a minimum of 1,000 euros, attracted by a major advertising campaign and the profits boasted by the bank. But in 2012, after a disastrous year that saw its share value collapse, the bank admitted that in the year it listed it had actually made a loss of close to three billion euros. In addition to bailing out Bankia the Spanish state also had to seek an EU rescue plan for the nations entire banking sector as investor confidence had been shaken. During his trial Rato said Spains central bank was fully aware of everything that went on in Bankia. Rato was economy minister and deputy prime minister in the conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar from 1996 to 2004, before going on to head the IMF. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Thank you Mr. Roelof Hemmen. Good morning. I am pleased to join you today to look at how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the future of trade. It is fitting that the Dutch trade community has organized this debate. Dutch sailors and merchants have been at the forefront of global trade for centuries. My father imported goods from the Netherlands into the United States over 50 years ago. As long as there is someone looking for goods to move from one part of the world for the benefit of both the producer and the consumer, you will do well. Over the millennia, the ways goods, services, ideas and people have crossed borders has changed almost beyond recognition. One recent example: I am currently speaking to you from Switzerland via an internet platform that few of us were familiar with when this year began. But the Netherlands has kept up with the times. Rotterdams port is an example of that adaptability. Having first emerged as a major transhipment hub in the 17th century, it ranked as Europe's largest freight port in 2018(1), and is among the top 12 globally(2). The forces transforming the global economy have also transformed the port of Rotterdam. It was an early adopter of containerization and automation with benefits for this entire continent and those that lie beyond the oceans.. In the face of climate change, the port has set for itself the target of carbon neutrality while putting into place state-of-the-art storm surge barriers against the threat of rising sea levels. Like the rest of the global economy, the port has also been affected by Covid-19. Rotterdams throughput in the first six months of 2020 was 9.1% less than in the first half of 2019(3). This is in line with new WTO data suggesting that global merchandise trade volumes in the second quarter of 2020 were 14.3% lower than a year before. COVID-19 AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY As you are well aware, the outlook for the global economy over the next two years remains uncertain. Much will depend upon how the pandemic evolves, what measures governments and businesses will need to take, and how quickly countries can rebound from the economic damage. The International Monetary Fund in April estimated that global economic output would shrink by 3%. By June, it downgraded this expectation to a 4.9% decline. This month, the OECD projected that the contraction would be around 4.5%. Estimates may vary, but one thing is clear: the world economy is in the steepest downturn of our lifetimes, on a scale unseen since the 1930s.(4) The ongoing contraction in global merchandise trade is substantially worse than during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009. Services trade has also declined, though less sharply. While trade volumes have also been affected, it could have been much worse. In April, WTO economists projected that depending on the pandemics impact and the policy response, global merchandise trade volumes could fall by 13% to 32%. We are on track to be at the better end of that spectrum. Fiscal and monetary measures have cushioned the shock to demand. Many supply chains have overcome the initial disruptions to travel, transport, and border clearance. Container shipping has held up relatively well in no small part thanks to the thousands of seafarers who have been unable to return home on schedule. Policy-induced trade restrictions have thus far been confined to a relatively limited number of goods and trading relationships. Our task today is to think about the economy and trade after COVID-19. Trade policy choices do have a direct role in the medical response to the pandemic, since they affect countries ability to import key medical supplies as well as eventual treatments and vaccines. Trade will also matter for the wider post-COVID economy. A robust and inclusive economic recovery would be best served by open and predictable international markets. Open trade, underpinned by the rules-based system, enables the productivity gains that come with increased specialisation and scale, and a freer exchange of goods, services, and ideas. For over seventy years since it was founded in the wake of the Great Depression and the Second World War, the multilateral trading system has fostered greater economic integration and prosperity. In recent years, improved information and communications technologies combined with predictable market conditions to give rise to the global value chains that now dominate manufacturing production and trade. It became feasible for companies to locate investment across multiple locations at home and abroad, sourcing inputs and services from the most cost-effective locations. This boosted profitability for firms while lowering prices for consumers as attested to by the incredibly powerful yet affordable digitally enabled devices most of us are currently carrying around with us. COVID-19, however, reinforced the call by many for onshoring. Under the surface, the factors affecting value chain choices were shifting even before this year. Increased automation was reducing the importance of labour-cost arbitrage. More frequent natural disasters linked to climate change were repeatedly disrupting production and shipping, forcing companies to think again about how best to build more resilient supply networks. COVID-19 accelerated ongoing trends such as the shift to e-commerce. And it caused a new kind of supply shock. COVID-19 AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS When the pandemic first hit, medical equipment, from simple hand sanitizer and masks to more sophisticated protective garments and ventilators were suddenly in short supply. Domestic manufacturing could not immediately respond. In many places, the immediate response from governments, which were taken by surprise, was to unilaterally restrict exports to shore up the availability of supplies at home. The WTOs monitoring exercise documented an increase in trade-restricting measures in March and April, primarily for exports of medical supplies and agricultural products. WTO rules permit measures to relieve domestic shortages of essential products. But the fact is that export restrictions can cut off import-dependent countries especially poorer ones from urgently needed supplies. And by blunting incentives to ramp up production, they can even lead to higher prices at home than might otherwise have been the case. We should note that many of the COVID-19 specific trade restrictions have already been reversed, though the momentum of the removal of emergency measures is beginning to slow. Shortages of certain medical supplies persist, even in countries with substantial manufacturing capacity. The news on this front is not entirely grim. Countries trade-facilitating measures in fact outnumbered restrictions. Global trade in products such as personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and ventilators grew by close to 30% in the first half of the year compared to 2019, pointing to how increased production and trade are helping meet demand for essential supplies. It will now be important for governments to identify and unwind continuing trade restrictions once they are no longer necessary. The experience of shortages in a relatively few, but essential, product lines, and of being unable to rely on international markets, has injected new urgency into the debate over on-shoring and near-shoring supply chains. While it is understandable that governments would be keen to avoid a repeat of these circumstances, moving value chains closer to home is not straightforward, is sometimes impractical and in many cases would carry major opportunity costs. First , it is not simple to replicate all the links in a value chain domestically, especially when a sector is capital- or knowledge-intensive, or tied to natural resources. According to some estimates, a single multinational can have more than 10,000 independent suppliers. It is one thing to convert clothing factories to making masks and aprons, or to switch from manufacturing perfume to hand sanitizer both of which are alcohol-based. It is quite another to replicate at home the 600 globally sourced parts needed to make a ventilator. Second , some businesses have strong economies of scale, taking advantage of ecosystems that have developed in specific locations, with unique suppliers and specialized talent. You cannot reproduce that overnight, if at all. Third , this strategy may offer a false sense of security. Concentrating production in a single territory exposes the country to locally concentrated shocks: natural disasters or domestic economic or political crises. Deep international markets are more resilient in the face of such shocks. And finally, when it comes to global supply chains, the economics of running businesses often provides effective limits to government policies favouring self-sufficiency. Using policy to maintain uncompetitive or obsolete productive structures is a recipe for higher costs and lower productivity. For a finite handful of products, this price may be worth paying to ensure domestic supplies but even here there will be limits, especially where governments will emerge from the pandemic without excess funds for expenditure on projects of limited benefit. As a general policy, however, onshoring across too broad a swath of the economy would leave citizens significantly poorer than they otherwise would have been. The pandemic has exposed some of the fragilities inherent to value chains and economic interdependence. But it has also shown that trade plays a central role in maintaining the availability of goods and services. Global value chains evolved because of economic forces. They are driven mainly by the need of businesses of any size: whether a single entrepreneur selling products through the web, or a major multinational, businesses require a return on investment. I do not believe that global value chains are a relic of the recent past. I do think, however, think we can expect what I call Global Value Change. I think we will see more flexibility in these networks, moving towards more diversity in sourcing and increases in inventory. Trade will still be a most important source for most of what industries and individuals consume. A shift from just-in-time to just-in-case manufacturing does not mean that all components can or should be made next door. McKinsey Global Institute(5) recently estimated that 16 to 26 percent of exports, worth $2.9 trillion to $4.6 trillion in 2018, has the potential to shift to new locations whether that involves reverting to domestic production, nearshoring, or new rounds of offshoring to new locations. This estimate was due to all causes. For example, the primary cause of shifts in supply chains in agriculture is due to climate events, but also to local outbreaks of animal infections. In agriculture, on-shoring and near-shoring is not the most likely or even possible answer. The answer lies is diversifying or temporarily shifting sources of supply. These shifts need to be backed by a functioning trade system that provides transparency and predictability to cross-border trade. There are other implications here for companies and for governments. New technological tools can help build supply chain resilience. For example, early in the pandemic, a well-known footwear maker(6) used predictive analytics software to reroute products from physical stores to e-commerce sales, cushioning the impact on sales. Companies will have to deploy resources more creatively and nimbly. The FT(7) recently described how shipping companies have reduced losses and even in some cases even increased profits by cutting capacity and shifting towards shorter routes, smaller vessels, and new lines of business such as substituting for air freight. For governments concerned about access to essential products currently and in future crises of whatever nature, there are three principal routes to assuring supply: stockpiling, investment in domestic manufacturing capacity and trade. In practice, countries with the financial and technological wherewithal to do so will likely opt for a mix of all three within limits. Each option has its shortcomings. Public stockpiling is expensive, and recent experience provides clear evidence that the commitment to maintaining stockpiles erodes over time. Moreover, a serious enough crisis might overwhelm stockpiles, or demand products that were not foreseen. Attempting to build up a reserve of spare or easily diverted manufacturing capacity would be expensive, and demand resources that could have been deployed elsewhere. Relying on international trade is the most efficient and economical choice of the three provided that there is reasonable security of supply. Governments can act at the WTO to help make trade a more reliable mechanism for assuring access to essential supplies. In fact, several different WTO members have called for supply lines to be kept open, particularly for food and medical products. The European Union has informally broached the idea of new rules to ensure the free flow of trade in essential goods, with tariff cuts and disciplines on export controls. CHALLENGES IN THE TRADING SYSTEM The WTO continues to provide enormous value to the global economy. The lions share of world trade continues to occur under WTO rules and principles. Bilateral and regional trade agreements rest on the multilateral architecture. The world weathered the financial crisis a decade ago far better than we otherwise might have done because the WTO exists. This is also true now for the pandemic. But the WTOs contribution to post-COVID recovery would be substantially enhanced if members take forward the ongoing process of systemic reform. This would mean restoring the WTO to its intended role as a venue: where agreements are successfully negotiated to address pressing problems; where disputes are settled within a binding and universally accepted structure; and where members are actively served by a strong, dedicated, professional Secretariat. Last week under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, G20 trade ministers reiterated their commitment to supporting reforms to improve the functioning of the WTO. For the WTO to remain fit for purpose, its rulebook must be responsive to a changing global economy. On the current agenda, concluding ongoing multilateral negotiations on fisheries subsidies would be a valuable step in demonstrating in practical terms the shared commitment indicated by declarations in support of the multilateral trading system and sustainable development. Of broader importance to the world economy would be the successful conclusion of an agreement on digital trade among a group of WTO Members accounting for over 90% of global trade including the European Union, China, and the United States. Geopolitical rivalry does not rule out making progress on sustainable development, while doing more to protect the environment. CONCLUSION In conclusion, it is safe to say that trade will continue to be transformed as it always has by a multitude of factors: demographic and technological change, political choices, environmental stresses, and, from time to time, by the spread of disease that has always gone hand-in-hand with human mobility. The of Port of Rotterdam has witnessed many such changes: from the pioneering 16th century Dutch cargo vessels (fluyts) to the rise of refrigerated steamships and containerization, from being cut off from British trade by the Napoleonic blockade to the utter devastation of the Second World War and subsequent rebirth of a global economy. We can expect the Port to see many more changes in the years ahead including, hopefully, a greater share in world trade with Africa spurred by the new African Continental Free Trade Area. The foundation for world trade is the WTO its rules, its processes, its services to Members. The flow of trade around the world, like the movement of cargo vessels and tankers, relies on protocols, on lane markings, on radar and sonar (which in the case of trade consists of the transparency that comes from monitoring and notifications), on the stability offered by the trading system, the equivalent of GPS. The job of the WTO Secretariat and of the delegations of the WTO's 164 Members is to provide the framework, to allow the world to continue to prosper from world trade. WTO Members will have an opportunity to work with the new Director-General to place the multilateral trading system, and global trade, on an even better foundation for the future. I believe that our 164 Members and the 23 countries seeking to join the WTO have strong common interests in a robust, effective and improved global trading system. They presently need to find the will to work constructively with each other. I believe that in the long term they will certainly do so. We are not by any means at the end of the journey across millennia to enjoy the benefits of world trade. Land traffic will expand, new modes of manufacture will be put into place, but oceans and ports will remain of immense continuing importance. Of that Rotterdam can be sure. Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has assured of his governments preparedness to absorb apprenticeship fees and cost of start-up capitals if the Ghanaian electorate gave him the mandate for a second-term. He said apprenticeship fees and affordability of start-up capitals had been a stumbling block for many unemployed youth to acquire skills training and that elimination of those barriers would create employment amongst the youth and enhance job security. According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Election 2020 Manifesto, free technical and vocational training would pave the way for both the privileged and the less-privileged to be empowered socio-economically to contribute meaningfully for the countrys progress. Mr Mahama, accompanied by Mr Jonson Asiedu-Nketiah, the NDC General Secretary and other party officials, gave the assurance when he addressed the Council of Elders, Imams and people of the Sunyani Zongo Community after an earlier visit to the Sunyani Traditional Council to resume his campaign tour of the Bono Region. He said his government would design a scholarship package for students from the zongo communities, particularly females, to pursue academic and other professional programmes of their choice at the tertiary level. He pledged his commitment to building senior high schools in all zongo communities, which lacked those facilities and implored them to cast their ballots based on their living conditions. Mr Mahama appealed to every Ghanaian to preach and promote a violence-free election come December 7. Mr Aseidu-Nketiah said to ensure the wellbeing of the zongo communities, the Mahama-led government would construct separate mortuary facilities in all government hospitals with trained Muslim pathologists to take care of their corpses. Sheikh Umar Abdul Kardir, the Bono Regional Chief Imam, entreated political parties supporters and sympathisers, especially the youth, to place high premium on the prevailing peace in the country and desist from acts that would foment trouble and violence. The nation was protected and not destroyed by our forefathers, so we must also protect and maintain its absolute peace and security for future generations, he said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video George Poikayil By Express News Service KASARGOD: In July, a watchman of the Milma dairy plant at Mavungal was fired from his job after he used a derogatory word to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook. On September 16, Hosdurg police booked the personal assistant of Kanhangad municipal chairman VV Rameshan for allegedly slandering the former chief minister Oommen Chandy on Facebook. The PA, Venugopalan, did not even write Oommen Chandy in his message. He wrote OC, and yet the police booked him. Two days later on September 18, T V Hemalatha -- a woman who runs an Akshaya Centre and who ran a gym till Monday -- approached the Bekal police station with a complaint saying two fake voice messages were doing the rounds on WhatsApp that she had eloped with a former colleague. The voice clips were forwarded along with a photograph of Hemalatha and her former colleague she had posted on Facebook. After 10 days, the Bekal police were yet to register an FIR. She is now contemplating staging a satyagraha in front of the police station for justice. Police officers said the slandering of a public figure and a private individual was treated differently by the law because of the fear of rioting in the former's case. But Hemalatha would have none of it because the messages have created a riot in her own life. "I contemplated ending my life. But when I got support from my family and society, I decided to track down the perpetrators," she said. And track down, she did. On September 17, Hemalatha's friends send her two voice clips -- one in a male voice and another in female voice -- saying she had eloped with her colleague. At first, she thought they were a prank. But soon, she started getting calls from her relatives and friends. The voice clip was shared with a photograph of Hemalatha and her colleague she posted on Facebook in February. "I had posted the photograph to wish him on his birthday," she said. The next day, she filed a complaint with Bekal police asking them to track down the perpetrators. "But the police did not inspire confidence in me," she said. So Hemalatha and her sister-in-law (brother's wife) started making calls to track the creators of the fake messages. She first called friends who forwarded the messages to her to find out where they got them. A person shared the message even in her son's office WhatsApp group. "I blasted the person for sharing the unverified message," she said. The two women called at least 50 phone numbers in two days. They would call the person who forwarded the message in a group. "They would tell that they got the message from another group. Then we contact the person in the previous group. If they refused to divulge the details we threatened to file a cyber case against them," she said. After two days, they reached a WhatsApp group called Kali Kupi Fans or Empty Bottle Fans. "It was a group for people in Cheemeni but I found that my neighbour Abhilash had created the voice message in the group," Hemalatha said. Abhilash is a driver for Milma. She and her friends confronted him and he admitted to making the voice clip. On September 20, she dragged him to Bekal police station from where she made him confess to the crime on camera. Later, she sent the videos from his phone to all the WhatsApp groups he was a member of. But she found out that the complaint she filed on September 18 was missing from the station. "So I filed another complaint on September 20. But a case has not yet been registered," she said. Her quest to find the female voice ended at a phone number registered in the Gulf. Not a police case, say officers Bekal police said that her complaint sought to know who the perpetrators were and it was duly forwarded to the Cyber Cell. "But the fact is it is a case of defamation, and she should approach the court and not a police station," said Bekal sub-inspector Ajith Kumar. Senior officers said not many people know that they could approach the jurisdictional court directly in civil matters such as defamation, and to press charges in the case of non-cognisable offenses. "In this particular case, Hemalatha was defamed in social media by misrepresenting facts. Section 66 A of the IT Act which dealt with it was scrapped by the Supreme Court. The messages do not attract Section 67 because there is nothing obscene in them," said a senior officer. It was hard to charge the perpetrators with Section 509 B (sexual harassment by electronic mode) of IPC because there was no sexual intent in the voice clip even though they cause a lot of mental agonies, he said. Section 120 (o) of the Kerala Police Act which deals with causing a nuisance through any means of communication can be applied here but it is a non-cognisable office and the police are not obliged to investigate it, said the senior officer. "But she can always approach the judicial first class magistrate for justice," he said. But when a politician is abused in social media, their supporters take out a protest march and threaten to riot, said the officers. "That gives us reason to invoke Section 153 of the IPC. Along that section, we add Section 120 (0) of the KP Act too. That's how Venugopalan was booked," said an officer of Hosdurg police. When told about this, Hemalatha said: "So they want me to create a riot to get justice". Yevgeny Nikulin, the Russian man dubbed the Putin of the Russian hacking world by another colleague, is set to be sentenced in a U.S. federal court after being convicted of hacking LinkedIn, DropBox, and other Internet companies. Nikulins sentencing, set for U.S. District Court in San Francisco on September 29, will bring to a close a nearly four-year process that began with his surprise arrest in the Czech Republic in October 2016. Prosecutors have asked for a nearly 12-year prison sentence for Nikulin after a federal jury in July found him guilty on nine counts related to the hacking of several major U.S. social-media companies. Lawyers for Nikulin, who pleaded innocent to the charges, have asked the judge for leniency, citing among other things, childhood abuse at the hands of his father and the suicide of his older brother. They asked the judge to sentence him to time served: essentially, to the time in U.S. custody since his arrest in Prague in October 2016. Nikulin, who was extradited to the United States 17 months after his arrest, was targeted by U.S. law enforcement as part of a multiyear campaign to arrest some of the most notorious Russian hackers and suspected cybercriminals. More than a dozen have been arrested in various countries, a development that has enraged Moscow, which has accused Washington of hunting Russian citizens. The campaign undermined years of cooperation between U.S. law enforcement and Russian intelligence on various cyberinitiatives. But it has also yielded insights into how Russian intelligence agencies, including the FSB, allegedly used hackers as part of their operations -- including efforts, documented by U.S. intelligence and U.S. congressional committees, to interfere in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. In one filing submitted by prosecutors in Nikulins trial, U.S. officials revealed they had interviewed a hacking colleague of Nikulins in Moscow. The man, identified in court documents as Nikita Kislitsin, met with FBI agents at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in April 2014, where he offered details on Nikulin and other hackers. According to the filing, Kislitsin described Nikulin as being very wealthy with a reputation for owning expensive sport cars. Kislitsin said Nikulins hacking skills were well known, and he called him the Putin of the hacking world -- a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kislitsin was indicted himself in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on separate hacking charges. He later went on to work for a prominent Moscow cyberresearch company Group-IB. Court papers also revealed an alleged business relationship between Nikulin and Aleksei Belan, who was later sanctioned by the United States and then indicted for his alleged role in the theft of more than a billion e-mail addresses belonging to Yahoo. Some of Belans efforts were directed by an officer at Russias main intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, according to court papers filed in Nikulins trial and in the Yahoo indictments that named Belan, and two Federal Security Service officers. Ivanka Trump (R), daughter and adviser of President Donald Trump, and Attorney General William Barr attend a meeting on human trafficking at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Aug. 4, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) White House Partners With Nonprofit to Fight Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking The Trump administration is joining forces with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to launch a campaign to fight online child exploitation. A White House official said in a statement that leading administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, will represent the administration at a webinar on Tuesday to give impetus to the Safety Pledge initiative, which seeks to combat child exploitation that often leads to the evil of child trafficking. This initiative aims to provide free resources to help parents, educators, and other caregivers learn more about the risks that children face online and bring awareness to the dangers of child trafficking, the official said. The NCMEC said in a statement that its representatives would join administration officials in the webinar, noting the objective is to help keep Americas children safer. With children online now more than ever, the risks they face continue to grow. From online enticement to sexting and sextortion, it is critical that we combine efforts to protect them from todays online risks, the NCMEC stated on the page hosting the webinar, which will detail some trends the nonprofit has identified in online exploitation. The White House said that, over the past several months, the NCMEC has witnessed a dramatic increase in reports of child sexual exploitation. With many children being educated remotely this fall and increased use of social media and gaming platforms, there are increased opportunities for predators and traffickers to groom and recruit minors, the official said. It is essential that we work together to keep children safe online and out of the vicious cycle of trafficking and abuse. One of the ways the NCMEC works to combat child exploitation is by operating the CyberTipline, a platform for reporting incidents of online child sexual exploitation. With more children spending time online amid the pandemic, reports to the tip line have surged by as much as 126 percent during the outbreak. Partnering with the NCMEC on the Safety Pledge is the most recent in a series of Trump administration actions to fight child exploitation and human trafficking. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to set up a working group at the Department of Health and Human Services to help with the housing needs of survivors of human trafficking. It also established the first ever White House employee position focused solely on tackling human trafficking in the the United States and directed the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to fund programs in schools aimed at prevention of child exploitation. As a consequence of Trumps executive action, the Justice Department last week awarded over $100 million in grants, which will support victim service providers, strengthen human trafficking task forces, and provide housing assistance to victims. A Parliamentary watchdog has concluded that Ian Paisley did fail to properly declare funding towards a 2016 luxury family holiday in the Maldives, but said he will not face punishment. A report published by Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the House of Commons, also rejected repeated claims by the North Antrim MP that the trip was partly funded by a personal friend and did not need to be declared. Ms Stone said she began the investigation on her own initiative following a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in December 2018. Part of the cost had been met by a third party with allegations it was arranged by a foreign government. Ms Stone investigated whether Mr Paisley should have registered receipt of the hospitality and if he had acted in breach of rules on paid advocacy for MPs. She said she concluded, on the balance of probability, that a corporate body, rather than a personal friend of Mr Paisleys had absorbed the cost. While she saw no evidence Mr Paisley had engaged in any activities relating to his parliamentary role during the visit the circumstances were not analogous to a family holiday which was partly paid for by someone else because of a purely personal relationship". She said the fact that Mr Paisley had no direct relationship with the donor created a presumption...and I was persuaded that having received complimentary rooms was something which others might reasonably consider to influence Mr Paisley, which made registration a requirement. Ms Stone said Mr Paisley should have registered the holiday within 28 days, and that he had acted in breach of the Code of Conduct for members. She said she believed, however, that Mr Paisley had not acted in breach of the rules on declarations of interests or paid advocacy. Expressing frustration at the process, she said: This investigation has taken far too long to complete. Some of the time taken is attributable to waiting for evidence from third parties, some to the Dissolution of Parliament and some to the volume of work in my office. However, much of the delay is the result of Mr Paisley focusing his attention on rebutting allegations made in the media rather than on answering specifically my questions about his adherence to the rules of the House. She added: I believe that in so doing, when he asked for the Registrar's advice in December 2018, he did not disclose all of the relevant information. Had he disclosed more detail then about the nature of his relationship with one of the resort's owners, his contact with that individual before and after his visit to the Maldives, and about other arrangements for his holiday, he would have been advised then to register the hospitality he had received and this matter could have been concluded very much sooner, early in 2019. She said that while this was not the first time that Mr Paisley had broken the rules on registration of overseas visits, he received this hospitality before she had concluded her inquiry into the other matter. He has acknowledged this new breach of the rules. He has apologised unreservedly for it and he has agreed to rectify his omission. He has described to me the steps he has taken to avoid any further recurrence. He has also apologised for unnecessarily delaying my inquiry. Rather than face further punishment, Ms Stone said she decided to deal with the matter with a rectification procedure in which he registers the interest belatedly rather than a further sanction. That decision was finely balanced, but I concluded that it was appropriate to do so, she said. Following the BBC Spotlight report Mr Paisley denied any wrongdoing. The MP was previously suspended from the Commons for 30 sitting days for serious misconduct after he failed to declare two family holidays to Sri Lanka in 2013. A petition to trigger a by-election in his North Antrim constituency fell short by 444 votes, an outcome described by Mr Paisley as a "miracle". On his return to the House of Commons following his suspension, he said "a smaller man than me would have crumbled". Legendary advertising executive Martin Sorrell says we don't need to break up Google or Facebook. The S4 Capital CEO and WPP founder told CNBC's "A View from the Top" that the companies are "exercising more responsibility" with advertisers and that regulatory ideas about potentially splitting up the companies wouldn't accomplish much. "If you just split these companies up, I don't think it would make that much difference," Sorrell said. He added that Facebook now has "35,000 people looking at the editorial," as the company tries to get a handle on hate speech and other misleading information. "They've changed the algorithm," said Sorrell. "They've stopped extreme groups like the Boogaloo group. They don't get credit for that." The chief executive officers at Facebook and Google, along with Apple and Amazon, testified in front of the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust in July and argued they're not abusing power as market share leaders. Google and Facebook will continue to dominate U.S. advertising from a market share revenue standpoint this year, according to research firm eMarketer, taking in more than $70 billion between them. "They tend to get an unfair rap, obviously, because of their size and their dominance," Sorrell said. "When you get to a trillion dollars, obviously you draw a lot of attention." Google's YouTube and Facebook have dealt with boycotts as the companies work to eliminate undesirable content from showing up next to advertisements. Sorrell said he thinks the boycotts are generally ineffective, likening them to publicly negotiating with the Chinese government. "It's a bit like dealing with the Chinese," said Sorrell. "You don't slap them in the face in public. What you do is you talk to them privately. You take them through what your beefs are, what your concerns are, and try and negotiate." If that doesn't work, small and medium-sized businesses must ban together to gain leverage against Facebook and Google, who rely on their advertising revenue, said Sorrell. "They do have leverage because they are so important in the context of these platforms," Sorrell said. "I think one of the mistakes that the platforms made was not stressing that enough." Subscribe to CNBC Pro to read the full Q&A and other insights from industry leaders. WATCH: Sir Martin Sorrell questions Facebook ad boycotts and plans to work until he drops dead By Trend By international law, Armenia invaded and occupies the sovereign territory of another sovereign state, Azerbaijan, said Ambassador (Ret.) Richard E. Hoagland, Trend reports citing Caspian Policy Center (CPC). He continued and explained that fundamental U.S. policy is to support and protect the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of all nations. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the frontline, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of the retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, left, arrives Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the U.S. Naval Support Activity base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete. (Aris Messinis / Associated Press) The Trump administration is pumping up U.S. military and diplomatic ties with Greece, an unsubtle warning to neighboring Turkey, which is taking on what U.S. officials see as a more combative role in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. It is tricky diplomatic territory: Greece and Turkey, while historical rivals, are U.S. allies in the NATO military alliance, and both serve as strategic gateways to areas vital to U.S. interests. But Turkey has been criticized by the Trump administration for its overtures to Iran and repression of religious minorities and political dissidents. Regional tensions escalated in recent weeks as Athens accused Ankara of impinging on its territorial waters in the Mediterranean Sea, which have hydrocarbons and other energy resources. The two countries positioned warships in the area. The U.S. has not publicly taken sides in the dispute but has boosted support for Greece. In a visible sign of that backing, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday visited the U.S. Naval Support Activity base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete. The relationship between our two countries is at an all-time high and getting stronger, Pompeo said from a hangar, with uniformed Greek naval officers in the audience. He described Greece as a pillar of stability and prosperity in a troubled region. Pompeo was making his second trip to Greece in less than a year. Joint appearances by U.S. and Greek officials were rare until recently, and holding one on the joint yet strictly divided U.S.-Greek military base had a special punch. Pompeo and Mitsotakis, a conservative who was elected last year, stood aboard the Greek naval frigate the H.S. Salamis, named after a decisive battle 2,500 years ago in which Greece defeated a larger force of invading Persians. Speaking at the hangar, Mitsotakis outlined Greeces problems with Turkey, while touching on themes Pompeo favors. Story continues He condemned Turkey's aggressiveness with provocative actions outside the international law, calling them contrary to the values of the Western world. Pompeo called for negotiations but also announced the arrival to Souda Bay of the USS Hershel "Woody" Williams, a naval vessel that can deploy Marines and support naval aviation. He said Greece can help counter Russian influence, including military action in Libya, the spread of disinformation and the "co-opting" of the Orthodox Church. It was not clear if he was referring to the Russian or the Greek Orthodox Church, but religious freedom has become a focus of Pompeo's tenure. The Greeks hope Washington will expand its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean as an alternative to Turkey, which has hosted a major U.S. airbase at Incirlik since the 1950s. While some U.S. officials have hinted at the possibility, it would be difficult for the U.S. military to extricate itself from Turkey, and several U.S. officials argued that it was not in the cards. "It's apples and oranges," said a senior State Department official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, in keeping with administration protocol. The U.S. military presence at Incirlik is massive and includes nuclear weapons, whose transport would be extremely complicated. Still, U.S. officials were keen to promote what they called a sharp improvement in American relations with Greece, which was dogged for years by leftist governments, military dictatorships and a simmering anti-U.S. terrorist movement. The U.S. is "bringing together all the strands of American power and American diplomacy to meet this challenge," the State Department official said. President Trumps views are less clear. U.S. diplomats at times seem to pursue one policy, while Trump promotes another. At the Republican National Convention in August, for example, Trump spoke favorably about his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strongman with despotic tendencies. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented what he claimed were aerial photos of a Hezbollah "missile depot" in the heart of Beirut during a prerecorded speech Tuesday to the UN General Assembly. The other side: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah quickly took to the organizations TV station to respond to Netanyahu's speech, which he said was an effort to incite the Lebanese people against Hezbollah. Nasrallah said Hezbollah's press office would take reporters from the local and international media to the site Netanyahu mentioned to prove it's not a missile facility. The backstory: Hezbollah has been under pressure in the wake of last month's port explosion in Beirut, both because it's a major player in Lebanon's dysfunctional politics and because it partially controlled the port where ammonium nitrate had been left unsecured (the Iran-linked group is not known to bear any direct responsibility for the disaster). What he's saying: "The next explosion could be here," Netanyahu said, using a laser pointer to highlight a site he said was tucked into a residential neighborhood and next door to a gas company. He included photos of the site itself and provided its direct coordinates. Netanyahu called on the residents of the area, Jnah, to pressure Hezbollah to shut down the alleged missile facility, which is near Beirut's international airport. I say to the people of Jnah, youve got to act now. Youve got to protest this. Because if this thing explodes, its another tragedy. ... You should tell them, tear these depots down," Netanyahu said. The big picture: This is a familiar tactic from Netanyahu, who has used previous addresses to international audiences to present what he describes as damning evidence of malign behavior from Iran and its associates. The latest: Hezbollah's media chief, Mohammed Afif, invited reporters to see the warehouse Netanyahu mentioned in his speech, which he said was owned by a private Lebanese citizen. Climate warming will alter marine community compositions as species are expected to shift poleward, significantly impacting the Arctic marine ecosystem. The biodiversity of marine communities in the Pacific Arctic under future climate change scenarios highlights profound changes relative to their present patterns. Alterations in marine species distributions in response to warming and sea ice reduction are likely to increase the susceptibility and vulnerability of Arctic ecosystems. The findings, published by Hokkaido University researchers in the journal Science of the Total Environment, also suggest that there will be potential impacts on the ecosystem function and services. Fisheries oceanographer Irene Alabia of Hokkaido University's Arctic Research Center along with colleagues in Japan and the US investigated how future climate changes will impact the marine biodiversity in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. These seas extend from Alaska to Russia in the northern Pacific and southern Arctic oceans. "This area forms a 'biogeographical transition zone': a biodiversity-rich region covering two distinct areas with specific features that encourage the coexistence of species living at or close to their distribution limits," explains Alabia. "These zones are vulnerable to climate warming, and climatic disruptions can create favorable conditions for the shift of warm-water species into previously colder-water zones." Scientists are interested in understanding how species in biogeographical transition zones are responding to climate changes and other human impacts. This information could help in conservation planning, fisheries management, and in studying the role of evolutionary history in shaping currently existing communities. Alabia and her team mapped the present and future spatial distributions of 26 fish and invertebrate species in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Using species records, sea surface temperature, and sea ice concentration data, the authors developed species distribution models to predict the distributional ranges under the present-day (1993-2017) and future (2026-2100) climate conditions. From the model outputs, the changes in species richness and compositional diversity in terms of species' phylogeny and functional traits between time periods and across contrasting levels of warming were elucidated. The findings suggest that larger, longer-lived and more predatory fish and invertebrates will expand their ranges towards the pole in response to warming waters and sea ice free conditions by the end of the 21st century. These poleward shifts could alter the structure, composition and functions of future Arctic communities, which are currently dominated by smaller and short-lived species. The future species pool in the Arctic waters will also have more similar functions within the ecosystem, impacting regional food webs. It is also likely that there will be considerable socioeconomic impacts, as commercially important species shift northwards, which could increase operational fishing costs. "These projected impacts are expected to raise challenges for ocean governance, conservation and resource management of shifting fisheries," says Alabia. "Our results provided glimpses of potential futures of the Arctic marine ecosystems, nonetheless, and some of these ecological shifts are already being documented. As such this highlights the need for continued monitoring and improving climate-ready strategies to buffer climate change impacts and maintain the integrity and functioning of vulnerable ecosystems." ### A police officer is seen during as looting and violence erupts on September 02, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Shops in and around various parts of Johannesburg, were looted and set alight. Most of these establishments are owned by foreign nationals. LONDON A year and a half since the South African government adopted an action plan to combat xenophobia, African and Asian foreigners in the country are still suffering routine harassment and abuse, according to Human Rights Watch. In a 64-page report published earlier this month which contained video footage and witness testimony, the organization claimed that in the year since the implementation of the plan, the government has done "very little to ensure that attacks by members of the public, the police, and government officials are investigated and that those responsible are held accountable." HRW documented killings, serious injuries, barriers to justice and basic services, displacement and discrimination over the course of the year. Non-nationals also struggled to secure legal representation or acquire legal status documents enabling access to health care and education. The South African government and law enforcement authorities have claimed that the violence was driven purely by criminality, and not by xenophobia. A spokesperson for the government did not respond to CNBC's request for comment, but the government issued a statement in July condemning xenophobic attacks and called for South Africans to desist from unlawful behavior. "It is unfortunate that such message is intended to sow divisions amongst South Africans and foreign nationals," the statement added. Just last week, a social media campaign led to xenophobic protests outside the Nigerian embassy in Pretoria, according to South Africa's Sunday Times. The non-profit cited the indifference, denial or tacit approval of government officials and law enforcement authorities as allowing such obstacles to persist. "Non-South African nationals have suffered wave after wave of xenophobic violence and live in constant fear of being targeted solely for not being South African," said Kristi Ueda, Africa division fellow at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. "The South African government should hold those responsible accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Impunity only emboldens others and perpetuates xenophobia." Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 23:50:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Quim Torra, leader of the Catalan region in the northeast of Spain, leaves the Sant Jaume Square, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 28, 2020. The Spanish Supreme Court on Monday upheld a ruling prohibiting Quim Torra from holding public office for a year and half. (Photo by Joan Gosa/Xinhua) MADRID, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Supreme Court on Monday upheld a ruling prohibiting Quim Torra, the leader of the Catalan region in the northeast of Spain, from holding public office for a year and half. The original ruling passed by a court in Barcelona last December found Torra guilty of disobedience for refusing to remove from public buildings yellow ribbons and other messages of support for the Catalan politicians jailed for their roles in organizing the independence referendum held in the region in 2017, which was declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Torra had been instructed by the Electoral Commission in Madrid to remove the symbols from public buildings in the run up to the general election held on April 28, 2019. He still has the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court, according to the report of Spanish TV network RTVE. Meanwhile, members of the Catalan regional police force have been placed on alert in case Monday's court decision leads to street protests, such as those seen in October last year. Enditem The head of Joe Biden's election campaign has written a scathing letter to Facebook accusing the social network of backsliding. As reported by Axios, campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon says that the platform remains the nations foremost propagator of disinformation, and is still allowing high-profile figures to mislead voters. Dillon focuses on a posting from Donald J. Trump Jr., largest son of the current president, who said that opposition parties would add millions of fraudulent ballots to overturn the election. Trump Jr. then, in the same video, invited members of the public to form an army for Trumps election security. On September 3rd, Facebook announced new measures to tackle misinformation in the run-up to the 2020 US elections. That included a ban on political ads in the final week of the campaign and labelling posts that seek to delegitimize the outcome or discuss the legitimacy of voting methods. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the platform would remove misinformation about voting, and take steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest. Naturally, the Biden campaign believes that a video urging a volunteer army to prevent a non-existent election fraud ticks several of these boxes. Dillon adds that the campaign, as well as several other organizations, raised concerns over the post, but Facebook chose not to remove it. When the campaign contacted Facebook for an explanation as to why the video was not removed, the letter adds, the platform neglected to provide any additional detail. The only amendment the platform made was to add a content label, which Dillon says was buried on the top right corner of the screen where many viewers will miss it. When we asked for a written explanation of how assertions that millions of votes will be fraudulent, that millions of others will be cancelled, and that the solution was to enlist in an army for Trumps election security, could possibly be consistent with your policies that prohibit all of these claims, you provided none. Jen O'Malley Dillon No company that considers itself a force for good in democracy, writes Dillon would allow this dangerous claptrap to be spread to millions of people. The letter goes on to cite additional posts, including from Trump Sr., that appear to delegitimize the outcome of the election or sow misinformation around the voting process. In addition, Dillon highlights the fact that the hyperpartisan propaganda organ [...] the Daily Wire is Facebook's top web publisher as more evidence of Facebook's laxity. The letter ends by suggesting that Facebooks decision making is either biased in favor, or is being influenced by the current administration. Facebooks critics often imply that Zuckerberg and/or VP Global Policy Joel Kaplan are holding their thumb on the scale to benefit one side. The Wall Street Journal and Buzzfeed have painted Kaplan as a figure who has carved out policy exemptions for right-leaning voices that would otherwise have been removed for rule-breaking. And earlier this month, The Verge reported that Zuckerberg refused to let Kaplan engage with employees who are critical of his role. The CEO said that he believes Kaplan to be very rigorous and principled in his thinking, and said any criticism of the executive was troubling. The Verge previously published comment from Zuckerberg saying that Facebook would fight any attempts at regulation should (then would-be Democratic candidate) Senator Elizabeth Warren become president. Biden and Facebook are hardly on good terms right now, given that back in August it was found that Instagram was down-ranking Biden-related hashtags. Back in January, VP Biden said that Facebook was knowingly spreading falsehoods, and has said, if elected, he would look to reform the broad protections afforded to the site under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996. The first presidential debate airs tonight, kicking off the most intensive period of the US elections in the run-up to November 3rd. Both campaigns will be looking to Facebook both to get their message out, and blunt that of the opposition while scrutinizing Facebooks role in all of this. The escalation on behalf of the Biden campaign may help counter the pressure right-wing groups have placed on these platforms, a policy that the New York Times described as working the ref. Its been a wretched year for Broadway, but its not all bad for veteran stage director Joe Mantello. While his buzzy New York production of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? became yet another pandemic casualty when it closed before it even began in April, Mantellos terrific new film version of the late Mart Crowleys 1968, acid-tongued gay cult classic play The Boys in the Band should lessen the blow. Though Mantello was just five years old when Boys first premiered Off-Broadway, its William Friedkins controversial 1970 film version that later introduced him to Crowleys eye-opening vision of gay life. I went to North Carolina School of the Arts, and I saw it for the first time there, probably early on when I was a sophomore, and I found it terrifying, but I also loved it, Mantello, a New Yorker, said in a phone interview from his quarantine hideaway in Palm Springs. As someone just coming out of the closet, it felt both like a cautionary tale and something that felt a little foreign to me. The Netflix movie isnt the first crack at the text for Mantello, a decorated actor and theater helmer who has brought Broadway successes like Wicked, Blackbird, and Glengarry Glen Ross to the stage. In 2018, he gathered an all-out cast of gay male actors on Broadway for a Tony-winning revival of Boys. Joining forces with producer Ryan Murphy, Mantello enlisted that very same group for this years movie version: Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Tuc Watkins, Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Brian Hutchinson all return to resurrect this groundbreaking dark comedy about a group of gay besties (and, in some corners, frenemies) who assemble for a fraught birthday party. However, like many gay audiences new to Crowleys world of bitchy, self-loathing queens and their firecracker quips, Mantello didnt necessarily see himself in the story. Thats the way I felt about it for a very long time, he said. Subsequently Ive seen other productions and have always felt slightly distanced from it, and that was my concern going into this. I didnt know how I was going to locate myself in it. Story continues Gay Men Are Not a Monolith While pressure was high on Crowleys original text to speak to all the hidden issues surrounding gay male life in the late 1960s, just before Stonewall and well ahead of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, The Boys in the Band, Mantello said, doesnt have to do that anymore. And thats liberating. It was a misconception that [Crowley] was trying to write about all gay men, because he was the first, and this was the only gay play, and not just another gay play. It had an incredible responsibility, Mantello said. It was under a lot of scrutiny. I would say unfair scrutiny over the years, [because] I dont think it would be possible for him to write something encompassing every aspect of gay mens lives. Gay men are not a monolith. We want different things. We see the world differently, and this was one particular story. But there are certain truths he gets to because hes writing such specific characters. Many of the characters, like Jim Parsons boozy writer Michael, are at times aggressively unlikable, which is the point. Theyre still marginalized by society, and have to, to a certain extent, perform to move painlessly through the outside world. But behind closed doors, theyre free to be their caustic, deliciously witty selves even to the point of alienating the audience. I find it disconcerting to think we cant have flawed or imperfect characters who happen to be gay, Mantello said. This play is a lightning rod for a lot of very strong feelings, both positive and negative. Still, reimagining the play in todays climate doesnt mean erasing the traumas of gay past. This idea or argument for amnesia about our history feels lazy and oversimplified. The Singular Alchemy of an All-Out Gay Male Cast Putting together an all-gay cast for the play was a happy accident, Mantello said, and cultivated a special alchemy between the performers, who have developed a unique rapport after collaborating on Boys in the Band for more than three years. Mantello and producer Ryan Murphy auditioned gay actors, straight actors, and everything in between for the play, Mantello said, but it worked out that all nine of the actors are gay. I think it informed the work, that the nine of them had a shorthand with each other and with the material. I think that translates. Their comfort level with themselves and with each other is a vital part of this film. That wasnt the case for Friedkins film, which featured a mix of straight and mostly closeted gay actors. The rapport on display in Mantellos film, he said, might not have been possible in 1970. Even the gay members of the cast, despite the fact that they were in the gay play of the time, in the press a lot of them had to remain closeted. Obviously thats just not the case here. The Boys in the Band arrives at an ongoing moment of scrutiny over straight actors taking on gay roles, from Call Me by Your Name, to this years Ammonite, and on TV in this years Love, Victor. Comedian and out-gay actor Billy Eichner made headlines earlier this year for announcing hed play queer camp icon Paul Lynde, in a bid to revolutionize who tells LGBTQ stories. So who gets to play gay? Its a question on a lot of Hollywood minds, but Mantello doesnt see things in such binary terms. Im just a person who wants the best possible actor in the role, he said. The director pointed to the casting of out-gay actor Russell Tovey as the fiercely heterosexual Nick (played by George Segal in Mike Nichols 1968 film version) in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? If I ruled him out because of his sexuality, that wouldve been a real loss, because he was brilliant in it. His sexuality to me was beside the point, Mantello said. We have to be very careful, because if youre going to apply a rule, you have to apply the rule across the board. Yet for many, many years, gay actors watched straight actors play gay roles and be lauded for it, and watch them be called brave. Theres something courageous about their playing these roles. Whither Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Broadways Future? Mantellos version of Edward Albees scathing dark night of the soul Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was set to star the powerhouse quartet of Laurie Metcalf, Rupert Everett (also gay but playing straight), and Patsy Ferran, along with Tovey. Broadway will remain shuttered into 2021, and so Mantello is unsure if hell ever be able to recreate this particular vision even when theater starts to get on its feet again. It would really involve the schedules of those four actors and whether we could all find a time together again to do it, he said. Ive heard different things about when the Broadway things might reopen. Right now, there are a lot of plans on the runway, productions that were either about to open, or in process, or in development. All of those will go to the head of the line. Mantello said that Albees template necessitates a certain fidelity to the text, meaning that when you see a production of Virginia Woolf onstage, they tend to look the same, within reason. Albee had very particular ideas on how his plays should be done, and that involved design choices. But Mantello and his team tried shake things up from a visual standpoint. What we tried to do was deconstruct the set with each successive act so that, in the final act, there were certain elements of the living room that remained, but they were in more of a void. Whether thats a good idea or not, whether it worked or not, will remain unknown. As for the future of Broadway, he declined to speculate on a dire, unprecedented situation. There are people who are in rooms right now having very serious conversations about how and when were going to bring this industry back, but I dont know. There are so many variables, he said. Theres a scenario where theaters reopen and theres social distancing, and youre not playing to full houses, but that means rethinking the entire financial model of the weekly costs of running a show. The Boys in the Band streams on Netflix beginning September 30. More from IndieWire Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. New Delhi: India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan on its decision to hold an election in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Gilgit Baltistan saying that it is a 'cosmetic exercise' to camouflage Pakistan's illegal occupation of the region. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also added that these actions can't hide the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades. Live TV While protesting the action, the MEA said, "Action such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades." It added, "These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation." Pakistan has announced that election will take place in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on November 15 under the recent Gilgit-Baltistan (Elections and Caretaker Government) Amendment Order 2020. The country plans to make the region as its fifth province and hectic political activities are underway. The MEA also reiterated that the entire "Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947" and "Government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it". India highlighted how the Pakistan establishment has been trying to bring material changes in areas under "its illegal and forcible occupation" and call upon Pakistan to "immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation". There are three outsiders for every four in the Pakistan-occupied parts of Indian Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Seoul has snatched the title of best-paid city in Korea from the industrial port of Ulsan for the first time since 2006. According to a survey on nationwide wages released Monday by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the per-capita pre-tax wage of a company in Seoul employing more than five workers stood at W4.18 million (US$1=W1,173). Ulsan came second with W4.17 million. The government announces the ranking once a year based on April data. Ulsan overtook Seoul for the first time in 2007 and held the top rank since. But now the per-capita monthly wage in Ulsan has fallen 4.3 percent on-year, the biggest decline among major regions. The main reason was the lackluster performance of the manufacturing industry, the backbone of Ulsan's economy. Shipbuilders' overseas orders shrank drastically due to the coronavirus pandemic, and carmakers also suffered a sharp decline in worldwide demand, while petrochemical exports took a hit from low international oil prices and weak global economies. As a result, the number of workers in Ulsan shrank 0.4 percent on-year in April and 2.9 percent more recently. The Katy city council officially approved a lower tax rate and city budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year at the Sept. 28 special city council meeting. The new tax rate of $.44 per 100 valuation is the lowest in the citys history. Despite the lower tax rate, the budget is balanced with positive expenditures. The new tax rate of $.44 per 100 valuation is down from the original rate of $.48 per $100 valuation, resulting in a 7 percent decrease. City council also voted to approve the 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. According to city documents, the year to date encumbrances are about $28 million, which is less than the current budget by almost $3 million. The net activity of revenue of expenditures is about $1.5 million. City staff is committed to taking a long-term strategy and planning approach to the budget process by taking into consideration projected future revenues and expenditures, said city administrator Byron Hebert. It is a careful process of managing growth and the cost associated with growth while assuring revenues are available to fund the cost of growth. Anticipated revenues usually lag, which is expected as a result of growth and serves as a challenge to keeping up with the expected needs and demands of the citizens. The largest revenue source for the citys general fund is sales tax, Hebert noted. The city administration estimates that sales tax revenue will decrease by about $619,000 due to COVID-19s economic impact on sales revenue. Conversely, city staff estimates that property tax, the citys second largest source of revenue, will increase by about $2.4 million. Without this increase, in combination with the COVID-19 impact on the economy, it is doubtful that the city would be able to sustain the level of service it currently provides, Hebert noted. Increases in spending were primarily directed for public safety. According to council member at-large Chris Harris, the city allocated a 60 percent increase in public safety spending. Related: Deputy honored for thwarting potential teen suicide According to Hebert, the new budget provides for a conservative approach for city expenditures until the economy shows signs of recovery. While the budget is balanced, some city projects, like repairs to Fire Station No. 1, have been put on hold until the COVID-19 economic impact ebbs. The city council also unanimously approved the following agenda items: Convention and Tourism Bureau Hotel Occupancy Tax grant application by the Katy Heritage Society for the roof replacements of the Wright Museum and the Stockdick Home in the amount of $29,550. Final approval of the land plats for the Falls at Green Meadow, West Ten Business Park Commercial Reserves and the Katy Main Street Commercial Reserves. Awarding a bid to Huitt-Zollars, Inc. for the engineering design services and implementation on the Fortuna Street drainage improvements. Signing a proposal with Costello, Inc. for the professional engineering services for improvements to the citys stormwater pump station at the water treatment facility. Ratifying emergency agreements in the amount of $186,861 with Tackle Construction and Mersino Dewatering for emergency repairs to the sewer line on Roberts Road. On HoustonChronicle.com: Joe Biden has 66% of Texas Latino vote, new poll shows Issuing a $4 million tax road bond to the Village at Katy. Signing an agreement with Motorola to improve the alert system for the Katy Fire Department. Extending the maintenance support agreement with IDEMIA Identity and Security USA, LLC for maintenance of the Katy Police Departments LiveScan system. claire.goodman@chron.com Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on Tuesday at the age of 91. The emir had been hospitalized at Minnesotas Mayo Clinic since July. He was flown there from Kuwait in a U.S. Air Force plane following a failed surgery. The big picture: The late emir took power in 2006 following 40 years as Kuwait's foreign minister, and had been a highly active and influential figure in regional diplomacy. What to watch: The crown prince the late emirs half-brother, Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah has been announced as the next emir. The 83-year-old crown prince has previously held senior posts including as minister of the interior and of defense. The latest: State television cut away from its regular broadcast on Tuesday and started broadcasting verses from the Quran. Shortly afterwards, the Emiri Court announced his death. Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged three Florida residents with fraudulent sales of stock in NIT Enterprises Inc., a South Florida technology company. The SEC previously charged NIT Enterprises, its former CEO, and two SEC-barred brokers with allegedly defrauding over 100 retail investors, many of them seniors. In the latest action, the SEC's complaints allege that Mason Newman, Christian Baquerizo, and Kevin Cardenas raised approximately $1.4 million selling unregistered NIT stock to retail investors, most of whom were seniors, and received nearly $500,000 in undisclosed commissions. According to the complaints, the defendants cold-called investors, making baseless promises about NIT's future profitability and imminent public offering and leading investors to believe that NIT would use their funds primarily for research and development, while concealing that 30% or more of the funds invested would be used to pay commissions to the defendants. The SEC also alleges that Newman used an alias to conceal that the SEC had previously barred him from acting as a broker and offering penny stocks to investors. "We will continue to pursue wrongdoers who prey on our most vulnerable senior investors," said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the Miami Regional Office. "Today's action shows that alleged recidivists cannot shield themselves from detection and action by the SEC by using aliases or otherwise attempting to conceal their identity." The SEC's complaints charge the defendants with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest and civil penalties. Baquerizo and Cardenas, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, agreed to be enjoined from future violations of the charged provisions while leaving the resolution of monetary relief to a later date. The settlements are subject to court approval. Baquerizo and Cardenas also consented to industry and penny stock bars. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Michael J. Gonzalez and Eric E. Morales in the Miami Regional Office and supervised by Jason R. Berkowitz and Glenn S. Gordon. The SEC's litigation is being led by Wilfredo Fernandez and Mr. Gonzalez and supervised by Andrew O. Schiff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of Florida's Office of Financial Regulation. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (19) (Photo : National Institute of Health) The United States' top services experiences a simultaneous outage over the weekend and this week, now with the 911 emergency hotline facing service interruptions as observed by several cities and states including Minneapolis, Tucson, Redmond, Arizona, and more. Speculations now rise as the emergency hotline's outage is connected to Microsoft and UHS' recent interruptions that cripple several services and functions. Emergency services, particularly the 911 hotline, faces service outages in several cities and states, around the country, with no technical reason to pinpoint. The bizarre events affected at least 14 states in the country, including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington. According to ZD Net, these 14 states' police departments reported the service outages losing 911 phone connections and SMS emergency services. The reports that surfaced did not relay what caused the outages; still, officials see a weird technical phenomenon that shut down the services. Now, officials look into and speculate the recent 911 service outage to the events that occurred over the weekend and the start of this week, as reported by different companies. The Universal Health Services (UHS) experienced a ransomware attack over the weekend, rendering its services offline for the days ahead. On the other hand, the multinational technology company, Microsoft, particularly its 365 applications, experienced a similar outage with unexplained reasons. The service interruption saw its downtime around 5 pm ET. The three large-scale service providers are now investigated to know the interconnectedness of the phenomenon. 911 Emergency Hotline Services Interruption Several Police Departments of the counties affected announced the 911 emergency services outage in Twitter, with Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) and Tucson Police Dept (@Tucson_Police) sharing with a tweet. ATTENTION: The 911 lines are not operational nationwide. This is for phone calls and text messaging. If you need police, fire or emergency medical assistance in Minneapolis, please call 612-348-2345. We will advise when this issue is fixed. Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 28, 2020 ATTENTION: The 911 lines are not operational nationwide. This is for phone calls and text messaging. If you need police, fire or emergency medical assistance in Minneapolis, please call 612-348-2345. We will advise when this issue is fixed. Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 28, 2020 Both police departments, miles away between each other, report the outage on simultaneous times. The outages went on for 30 minutes and even reaching two hours for some affected cities. Minneapolis says the return of the emergency services two hours after its initial tweet. UPDATE: The 911 system is back up and working again. The nationwide outage has been fixed. https://t.co/WXaLXVcUdz Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 29, 2020 Microsoft 365 Outage and Redmond, Is it Connected to Other States? The City of Redmond (@CityOfRedmond) reports that city phones and emails malfunction and link it to the Microsoft 365 outage. Microsoft's headquarters is currently on Redmond, Washington, explaining the city's outage to experience the same. As of 5 p.m., City phones and emails are experiencing intermittent outages related to a larger Microsoft 365 outage. We are hoping the issue is resolved shortly. Sorry for any inconvenience. City of Redmond #MaskUpRedmond (@CityOfRedmond) September 29, 2020 However, speculations say that Microsoft's services being faulty caused other states to have its 911 emergency service outage. Microsoft's Dynamics 365, Outlook, Office.com, Teams, and Power Platform are the ones affected by the service outage, leading speculations to phone lines being disconnected as well. Bill Gates the same guy who wants to give us vaccines just crashed all the 911 operators across the Country because his Microsoft software is faulty https://t.co/1yNhs9APEk Christopher Greene (@amtvmedia) September 29, 2020 911 PSAP The Public Safety Answering Points or PSAP are the ones that are widely believed to be the origin of the outages. PSAP is a telephony system that directs the call to call center operators who take the emergency calls. Twitter users look into Intrado (@IntradoSafety) to be the concerned party linked to the emergency services, providing the lines and network for the 911 hotline. The 'choke' or traffic points all pass through PSAP first, and the outage interconnects all services, meaning that the provider's system causes a 'domino effect' on all lines. ALSO READ: [Update] UHS Ransomware Attack 2020: Company Still Not Confirming Cyber Attack; May Take Days Before Getting Back Online This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In the years before he became president, Donald Trump lived lavishly while paying little in federal income taxes. The Times reported on Sunday that Mr. Trump paid no taxes in 10 of the 15 years immediately preceding his run for the White House. In each of the following two years, 2016 and 2017, he paid the token sum of $750. Remove Mr. Trumps current job from the picture, and what remains is a story that still demands attention. The portrait of a man who earned hundreds of millions of dollars, lived a life of comic excess and yet, in many years, paid nothing in federal income taxes is an indictment of the federal income tax system. It illustrates the profound inequities of the tax code and the shambolic state of enforcement. The government has sharply reduced the share of income that it collects in taxes from the wealthiest Americans. One recent study found that the 400 wealthiest households paid 70 percent of their total income in federal, state and local taxes in 1950, 47 percent in 1980 and 23 percent in 2018. The cuts in tax rates have come mostly at the federal level. The government allows income to be sheltered from taxation for hundreds of different reasons, but real estate investors have long enjoyed a particularly sweet set of loopholes. A homeowner can write off the interest payments on a mortgage loan, but the owners of commercial buildings get a host of other benefits, too. Its relatively easy for real estate investors to use past losses to offset income, to defer income and to avoid reporting some kinds of income. Best of all, the law lets investors claim a building is depreciating in value a theoretical loss of money even as the actual value increases. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case has gone in "different direction". IMAGE: Sharad Pawar said now strange things are coming to the fore in the Sushant case. Photograph: ANI Photo Speaking to reporters in Pandharpur in Solapur district, Pawar appeared questioning the progress made by the Central Bureua of Investigation in its probe of the case, which was initially probed by the Mumbai Police. He also ruled out any politics behind the much-talked meeting between Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week. When asked about Union minister Ramdas Athawale's suggestion that Pawar join the National Democratic Alliance in the event of the Shiv Sena not forging ties with former ally BJP, Pawar said nobody takes the RPI-A chief seriously inside as well as outside Parliament. Speaking on Sushant Singh Rajput case, he said, "It could be because the Central government did not have trust in Mumbai Police that is why the probe in the case was given to another agency (CBI). "What light they (CBI) have shed on the case, we have not yet seen. Suicide (angle) aside, now strange things are coming to the fore. Now the investigation in the case has gone in different direction," he said, adding that things will become clear once the truth comes out. The veteran politician was apparently referring the the Narcotics Control Bureau wideninng its probe into alleged Bollywood-drug nexus arising out of the Rajput death case. Asked about Athawale's comments, Pawar said, "Does his (Ramdas Athawale's) party have a single MLA or an MP? He speaks, gives advice, but nobody takes him seriously, neither in Parliament nor outside". Athawale had asked the Shiv Sena to reunite with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra and also suggested a power-sharing formula between the two saffron parties. Replying to a question on Fadnavis-Raut meeting, Pawar, whose party is part of the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, said, "If a reporter or an editor of a newspaper takes interview of leaders from different parties, it does not mean that he gets associated with that party". "When Raut had interviewd me (for Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'), he had announced that he would intrview chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Raut had also clarified that he would interview BJP leaders. I don't think there is any need to comment on that," he said. Pawar said the interview (of Fadnavis) will take place and get published, "but it will not have any effect on politics of the state". Speaking about Maratha reservation, which was stayed by the supreme court recently, the NCP chief said the Central government and BJP are supporting Rajya Sabha MPs Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje and Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale, and "they should take lead in resolving this issue". Maybe people just dont like masks. But we routinely obey and police officers routinely enforce laws with which we dont entirely agree. You might think you can drive safely much faster than the speed limit. So maybe you push the boundary a bit, driving 65 in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. But those who drive 70, 80 or more know they could well get a big ticket and so they (mostly) curb the impulse. Many people originally objected to seatbelt laws as an infringement on personal freedoms, but who doesnt buckle up these days? Not smoking in restaurants and stores is now inviolable. My family had a dog in New York City when the Canine Waste Law took effect in 1978, and it was gratifying to watch women in minks suddenly start doing their pooper-scooping duty. A big part of the reason adherence has been so variable is that governors generally declare the mandates, and local and city officials are left to decide how to enforce them. And these simple, sensible laws to protect public health have been politicized and wrapped up in controversy like no such laws before. So now we have some law enforcement officials announcing that they wont enforce masking laws or limits on gatherings imposed by their own governors in states like Ohio and Wisconsin. A sheriff or police chief giving advance notice that its OK to break the law? said Mr. Hall. Theres a new level of lawlessness to that. Imagine the authorities announcing it was fine to ignore stop signs. The Italians miraculous turnaround on restaurant smoking offers some lessons. There was consistent messaging: The law was there to protect nonsmokers health. And there were fines: 275 euros, around $320 today, for people smoking, and 220 euros for the restaurant managers or owners. The Italian police, who themselves could frequently be seen smoking while walking their beats, enforced the rule. Why it matters: The largest of the lakes is said to measure over 18 miles wide with each of the other lakes measuring only a few kilometers wide. The hope is that these subsurface lakes could harbor microbial life, but not everyone is convinced. Researchers a couple of years back detected evidence of an underground saltwater lake near the south pole of Mars. Now, theyve got additional evidence to support the discovery and more. In July 2018, they cited radar data from the European Space Agencys Mars Express spacecraft. It is equipped with an instrument that sends out radio waves and records how they are reflected back against the type of material they encounter, like rock, ice, or water. As Nature recounts, however, the findings at the time were only based on 29 observations made from 2012 to 2015. Other researchers felt they needed a larger body of evidence to support their claim of finding liquid water on the Red Planet. The latest study features 134 observations spanning from 2012 to 2019, which identified the same body of water as before, plus three other smaller lakes around the main one. The same instrument, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), was employed. John Priscu, an environmental scientist at Montana State University in Bozeman, said there is not much life in similar salty pools in Antarctica. Theyre just pickled. And that might be the case [on Mars], he added. Jack Holt, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, told Nature that there is not enough heat flow to support a brine, even under the ice cap. Image credit Pike-28, Jan Kaliciak General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said that the launch of iDEX4Fauji is a step towards making the country and its forces Atmanirbhar. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had released guidelines for iDEX. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said that the launch of iDEX4Fauji is a step towards making the country and its forces Atmanirbhar (self-reliant). The launch of iDEX4Fauji is a step towards making us Atmanirbhar. The budget allocated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will encourage the security forces. The innovations that we were doing will now turn into developmental projects, Rawat said at the video conference. Regarding the visit to Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir by the Defence Minister and him, Rawat said, Some months ago we visited Kupwara sector close to the Line of Control (LoC) and there our Jawans showed several innovations to the Defence Minister with which they use to take action against terrorists.Our soldiers made several innovations and to take it to step forward iDEX4Fauji will give the right direction. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday released the Project Management Approach (PMA) guidelines for iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) during the launch function of Defence India Startup Challenge-4 (DISC4). The Defence Minister congratulated all stakeholders, including those in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for creating such an environment where participants from various sectors are coming together to promote innovation in defence. In the process of making defence sector strong and self-reliant, we have understood that along with the government sector the private sector too needs to participate in this, he said. Also Read: Farm bills row: Sitharaman attacks Sonia over advice to Cong-ruled states Also Read: Amid face-off with China, MEA rejects claims of LAC demarcation in 1959 The Defence Minister mentioned the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 launched on Monday, which contains provisions to promote the private sectors participation. He further added that the 11 challenges in the DISC-4 challenge cover all needs of the armed forces. (ANI) A new musical drama is to be created to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The show, The White Handkerchief, takes its name from one of the most iconic images of the shootings in Derry. The photograph of Bishop Edward Daly waving a white handkerchief stained with the blood of young victim Jackie Duddy remains a powerful image of the day when British soldiers shot dead 13 people taking part in a civil rights demonstration on January 30, 1972. The 50th anniversary of the shootings will be on January 30, 2022. To mark this landmark, the Playhouse in Derry is creating the new show which will tell the story of Bloody Sunday through music and song. The show will be premiered on January 30, 2022 to a worldwide online audience. The team behind The White Handkerchief are keen for as many local performers as possible to be involved. As a result, a new musical theatre academy is to be set up at the Playhouse next year to develop local talent. The White Handkerchief director, Kieran Griffiths, said it would be an 'impassioned, sensitive, reverent and ultimately moving musical reflection on Bloody Sunday'. The title is inspired by the iconic image and blood soaked handkerchief of the then Father Edward Daly, he said. This will be a piece of music theatre that marries dramatic narrative with the reverence of choral music and musical libretto. It is essential to us that this production features a completely local cast. So were very proud to also announce a new educational strand to feed into the production, which looks at the incredible talent already on offer in this city, and gives it a world-wide platform. Noirin McKinney, Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said they were delighted to the support The White Handkerchief. It promises to be a powerful and moving piece of musical theatre, demonstrating the power of the arts in helping us creatively express and work through difficult issues and experiences of the past, she said. The Arts Council also welcomes the creation of The Playhouses new music academy which will offer training, development and much-needed employment opportunities for local actors and theatre makers in Derry-Londonderry. We wish everyone at The Playhouse continued success as they develop this production and look forward to experiencing it in January 2022. Given the ongoing pandemic restrictions, the Playhouse has recently performed a number of shows to an online audience. Mr Griffiths said they had been pleased with the response. When we embarked on a new digital journey for The Playhouse in August, we had no idea the response we would get, or the support we would get from around the world, he said. Were so pleased that a legacy is now in place for our productions to be broadcast live, online, across the world. So, while our 150-seat theatre remains empty for shows, conversely our audience has now expanded greatly too. The academy being set up at the Playhouse is a nine month training programme beginning in February 2021. Registrations for the academy will be by audition in December. The musical in its draft form will be workshopped on Bloody Sundays next anniversary from January 23 to 31, 2021, and will also open up auditions for professionals to take part in this paid opportunity. The Playhouse will be seeking the citys best musical theatre performers for a variety of roles. For inquiries email with subject White Handkerchief workshop to kieran@derryplayhouse.co.uk. Louise ISD Superintendent Garth Oliver had high hopes for virtual learning when the school year began in his tiny school district just southwest of El Campo. About 30 percent of his roughly 530 students had opted to learn online, and teachers spent most of summer reconfiguring instructional models and lesson plans to accommodate those who did not want to return to campuses on Aug. 19. However, once the school year began, it became clear many of the remote learners were logging on but not participating. I dont think (Texas Education) Commissioner Mike Morath expected kids would sign in and do nothing. We didnt expect it either, but thats what was happening, Oliver said. Our kids were doing so poorly we said, We cant continue to allow our kids to not get their education. Oliver ultimately decided to cancel the districts virtual learning program all together, telling Louise ISD students and families on Sept. 22 that virtual learners had to make another choice: they could return to campuses for in-person instruction; withdraw to pursue home or private school; or transfer to another district that provides online learning. Louise ISD is among only a handful of smaller, rural Texas school districts to eliminate their remote learning options during the COVID-19 pandemic, but others soon could join their ranks. In a phone call with superintendents last Thursday, Morath responded to a question about districts eliminating their online options by reiterating that districts did not have to provide remote instruction. Although that has been the Texas Education Agencys position since first outlining back-to-school guidance in June, some superintendents had been under the impression they were required to provide families with a remote-learning option. No Houston-area districts have indicated that they are considering abandoning their virtual-learning options. Decisions to abandon some online learning programs come as the state has reported the lowest average of new cases since June, when COVID-19 infection rates began spiking across the state. The Texas Education Agency and the Department of State Health Services updated their data on Monday and reported there had been 6,773 cases of COVID-19 across the states roughly 1,200 school districts since July. That represents a fraction of the more than 1.9 million students and staff who have returned to campuses, but many of the larger districts, including Houston, Dallas and Fort Bend ISD, have not yet brought large numbers of students back into classrooms. While education leaders agree in-person instruction is more effective than distance learning, some teachers groups and health officials have argued the risk of spreading COVID-19 outweighs those benefits. Clay Robison, public affairs specialist with the Texas State Teachers Association, said the state still is averaging more than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases daily and that more than 800 of TSTAs members have reported lax social distancing or sanitation practices at their schools. The reason districts are doing virtual learning and had the virtual option to begin with was to protect students and teachers and parents from exposure to the coronavirus, Robison said. We hope not many districts take this option and hope many continue with virtual learning. State funding also is at stake. Texas school systems receive state funding based on their average daily attendance, so if any of their virtual students withdraw or transfer to other districts because remote programs are nixed, the state funding they generated would go elsewhere, as well. Still, Dallas Grimes, Superintendent of Roosevelt ISD about 8 miles east of Lubbock, said he has fielded phone calls from nearly 25 superintendents across the state after his 1,060-student district announced last week that it, too, would eliminate its online learning program. He said teachers in his district experienced the same problems with their virtual learning students that were seen in Louise ISD: students logging in but not turning in work, some parents refusing to talk to teachers sometimes even blocking their numbers and overworked teachers struggling to juggle the needs of kids in their classrooms and those learning online. Grimes said virtual students struggled so much that 70 percent of them were failing at least one class. After the first six weeks wound down, we looked at the numbers and said Look, kids off-campus arent holding up their end of the bargain, Grimes said, adding that phone calls to families did not help, either. The parents werent holding up their end of the bargain of what they agreed to, so we decided were going to do whats best for our kids, even if it costs us money. Ultimately, most of Roosevelt ISDs remote students came back to campuses when the distance-learning program ended on Monday. Thirty of 44 elementary remote-learners came back, 30 of 34 junior high schoolers returned and 36 of 39 high school students reported back to campuses on Monday. Grimes said he stared in disbelief as some families took first-day pictures outside of the districts elementary school, even though their students were entering their seventh week of instruction. Mindy Dewbre, who teaches fifth grade English and reading at Roosevelt Elementary, said it was practically the first day of school for her only virtual learning student. Her parents did not want to send her back at the beginning of the school year fearing she would contract COVID-19 and suffer serious complications, but she hardly completed any work during the six weeks she was working from home. She would email Dewbre excuses for why she wasnt participating that she was busy or had a headache. Her parents stopped answering Dewbres calls. Meanwhile, Dewbre sometimes stayed up until 1 a.m. recording lessons and creating online assignments specifically for that one student. She said when the fifth grader walked into her class on Monday, it was clear she was far behind her peers. She hopes to help her catch up now that she has more time to focus on her classroom. You dont have time to put into your instruction when youre reproducing everything youre doing at night, Dewbre said. I thought I was going to hug the superintendent when he said theyd be coming back. I saw him three times that day and said Has anyone told you lately how wonderful you are? Has anyone told you have a whole lot of fans today? Robison worries that elation may be short lived, especially if a rise in COVID-19 cases force students in Roosevelt ISD and other districts back online. Although the district has only had one confirmed case of COVID-19 since students returned in mid-August, Robison said that number could grow if more districts require all of their students to return to classrooms. The fact that they dont have many cases in their town may be due to the fact so many restrictions over the past 6 months helped keep virus from spreading more than it may have, Robison said. If everyone is back to school, and theres more crowding in classrooms, you may find that you do have a problem. I think we should err on the side of health. shelby.webb@chron.com Hong Kong: Helpers' minimum wage unchanged The Minimum Allowable Wage for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) will remain at $4,630 per month and the monthly food allowance will remain at not less than $1,121, the Government announced today. The decision was made after carefully considering Hong Kong's general economic and labour market conditions over the past year, as well as its near-term economic outlook, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The employers' affordability and the FDHs' livelihood were also taken into consideration. Under the Standard Employment Contract for hiring FDHs, employers must provide them with free food or pay them a food allowance. This story has been published on: 2020-09-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 10:20:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Wu Xia BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The global COVID-19 death toll has on Tuesday passed the grim mark of 1 million. What the world feared at the start of the year has become a stark reality -- that the human race is in the thick of one of the greatest tragedies in history. Humanity's miserable losses in the raging pandemic are only partly caused by the virus itself. The past nine months or so have shown that those who deny science-based solutions or resist proven control and prevention measures are even deadlier in this once-in-a-century outbreak. Even now, as one human life is lost every minute from COVID-19 somewhere in the world, some ill-informed, steadfast coronavirus deniers still insist on not wearing masks and won't stop mass gatherings. They seem to be as optimistic as their certain leaders are, turning a blind eye to stark reality and choosing to believe that the pandemic is a mere flu that "affects virtually nobody." Ordinary citizens need responsible guidance in an unprecedented crisis, and professional tips alone cannot beat the virus. Government readiness and efficiency to act and to lead is crucial to deal with the novel coronavirus. Decisive steps on testing, quarantine, and public health guidance, especially in the early stage, are proven measures to put an outbreak under control. The international community can learn from many of the world's successful examples that have effectively contained the outbreak, and from some tragic failures, too. It is sad to see that the world's most scientifically advanced nation has set a terrible example by leading the world in coronavirus cases and deaths. With just 4 percent of the world's population, it is home to about 20 percent of the world's pandemic fatalities. All the more alarming is a staggering disregard for human life at the helm of America's fight. Some U.S. politicians are trying to manipulate the epic battle for political gain, putting their own people at risk with flamboyant, shameless fictions and falsehoods. "The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering, in some respects stunning," Dr. Anthony Fauci, top infectious-disease expert for the U.S. government, told CNN last week on the latest mortality statistics in the country. With every day passing by, the battle against the pandemic has been turning into a war of attrition. Currently, several countries are struggling to contain a second wave of COVID-19, with the coming flu season to possibly further complicate the situation. It must be kept in mind that before better treatments and, hopefully, vaccines come to the rescue, it is vital not to let pandemic "fatigue" or "burnout" weaken or crush the world's will to bear down on the pathogen. Although an evident exit out of the crisis is still not in sight, there is reason to hope for a final victory, as much has been learned about the virus since the onset of the pandemic. The World Health Organization warned on Friday that it is "not impossible" that the coronavirus death toll could double if countries do not uniformly work to suppress the virus' spread before the arrival of safe and reliable vaccines. In the name of the 1 million people who have died of COVID-19, more must be done to end the pandemic and prevent the next million from such a tragedy. Enditem An internet imagery. NEW DELHI (PTI): In its biggest military logistics operation in decades, the Indian Army has rushed tanks, heavy weaponry, ammunition, fuel, food and essential winter supplies to high-altitude areas in Eastern Ladakh to maintain its combat readiness through the treacherous winter of around four months, military sources have said. They said Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane, aided by a group of top commanders, has been personally involved in planning and overseeing the implementation of the mammoth exercise that began in mid-July and is nearing completion. A significant number of T-90 and T-72 tanks, artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles were flown into various sensitive areas including Chushul and Demchock sectors as part of the logistics operation, the sources said on Sunday. Under the operation, the Army transported large quantities of clothes, tents, food items, communication equipment, fuel, heaters and other supplies to army personnel deployed at forward posts and mountain passes at the height of over 16,000 feet. "By far it is the biggest logistics operation that has been implemented in Ladakh post Independence. Its scale is humongous," a senior military official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. To deal with any Chinese misadventure, India has deployed over three additional Army divisions in Eastern Ladakh where the temperature fluctuates between minus five to minus 25 degrees Celsius from October to January. The sources said India imported winter clothing and gear from a couple of countries in Europe and they have already been supplied to the troops in eastern Ladakh. Almost all transport aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force including C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster were used to transport thousands of tonnes of food, fuel and other equipment to the region. The Indian Army has decided to maintain its current strength of troops in all key areas in Eastern Ladakh in the winter months as there was no sign of early resolution of the border row with China. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also decided to remain on high alert in the forward air bases along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Indian and Chinese armies held the sixth round of Corps Commander talks on September 21 in the backdrop of deteriorating situation in the Chushul sector following three incidents of shots being fired in the air by the Chinese military since the intervening night of August 29 and 30. Following the incidents, India had occupied at least 20 strategic heights around southern and Northern banks of Pangong lake. In the talks, the two sides agreed not to escalate the situation by announcing a series of measures. However, there was no breakthrough on the disengagement process. The sources said a series of talks will be required for the disengagement process to begin with. The situation in Eastern Ladakh escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side acknowledged suffering casualties, but it is yet to divulge the details. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35. The situation further deteriorated following at least three attempts by the soldiers of the PLA to "intimidate" Indian troops along the Northern and Southern bank of Pangong lake area in the last three weeks where even shots were fired in the air for the first time at the LAC in 45 years. As the tensions escalated further, the foreign ministers of the two countries held talks on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Moscow on September 10 where they reached a five-point agreement to defuse the situation in Eastern Ladakh. The agreement was the basis for the sixth round of Corps Commander-level talks on Monday which was also attended for the first time by a joint secretary from the MEA. The agreement aimed at ending the tense standoff included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday adjourned till October 13 the hearing on the plea filed by diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is an accused in the PNB scam, against Netflix's documentary titled "Bad Boy Billionaires: India". A division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, hearing Choksi's petition against the order of a single-judge bench, which had dismissed his earlier plea seeking pre-screening of the documentary, deferred the matter to October 13. On the previous date of hearing, the bench was informed that Choksi left India prior to registration of a case and hence, his not being in India shall not be read against him. "Mr. Mehul Choksi left India prior to any registration of FIR by the CBI and thus, his not being in India cannot be read against him," said advocate Vijay Aggarwal before a division bench of the high court presided by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan. The arguments were made while the court was hearing an appeal filed by Choksi challenging a single bench order dismissing his plea seeking postponement of the release of Netflix's Upcoming venture "Bad Boy Billionaire: India". Aggarwal's submissions came in response to the arguments made by senior advocates Sanjay K. Kaul and Dayan Krishnan, who were appearing for Netflix submitted that Choksi is not entitled to any relief, as he is not a Citizen of India, as he has forsaken his citizenship, and therefore, not entitled to protection of any fundamental right. While the said arguments were made, the bench said, "The Single judge has not closed your (Mehul Choksi) relief. You have the relief of a civil suit but you want to invoke a 226 jurisdiction and for that your conduct and issues are also important." "You have changed the Citizenship, you are no more a citizen of India," Justice Jalan said. Responding to the queries of the court, Aggarwal said that Article 21 of the Constitution does not require Choksi to be an Indian Citizen. Kaul argued that the entire writ petition filed by Choksi was based on a trailer which did not even mention or refer to him. "He does not know what his grievance is because the trailer does not mention about him at all," said Kaul. "No writ can be issued in a vacuum. My Lords asked him five times that which trial is on...There is a red corner notice issued against him... And here he makes a magnanimous offer to join the investigation with video conferencing," said Kaul. Kaul further stated that he has watched the said series in question and can assure that it is nothing more than an amalgamation of various interviews of which are already out in the public domain. "My Lords, I have had the privilege of watching this film and I can assure you as an officer of the court that this series is nothing but an amalgamation of interviews, snippets, etc., and we have a source chart of the said interviews," said Kaul before the division bench. Meanwhile, Aggarwal argued that if today Netflix is permitted to violate an individual's fundamental right, then tomorrow, emboldened, it shall claim immunity from judicial scrutiny even if it violates the religion or telecasts shows propagating China's stand against India or showing any documentary showing a wrong map of India. "Such can never be the law, he argued. He posed a query as to whether even in such circumstances, the courts are without jurisdiction to pass any appropriate directions against the unregulated OTTs such as Netflix?" said Aggarwal. Drew Barrymore saved an iconic piece of Hollywood prop history to pass along to her two young daughters. The 45-year-old actress admitted to being 'terrible at keeping things' from her storied decades-long career but did hold onto something from one of her very first films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Barrymore dished about keeping her iconic red cowboy hat from the 1982 flick in the cover story for the inaugural issue of Domino Kids magazine. Hollywood history: Drew Barrymore admitted to being 'terrible at keeping things' from her career but said did hold onto her iconic red cowboy hat from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, in a new interview with Domino Kids 'I am absolutely terrible at keeping things,' Drew revealed. 'I lose everything. But I do have the red cowboy hat I wore in E.T. ' 'It is in the girls room somewhere and reminds me that I was 6 years old wearing that hat. Im so glad I still have it,' Drew said. Adding: 'When were kids, we dont think something will be important to us one day; we clean out our room and throw stuff away. Its nice if parents put something of theirs in their kids rooms, so its a transference of memories and energy.' A Kindergarten-aged Drew co-starred in the film, directed by Steven Spielberg, as young Gertie - the baby sister of lead character Elliott. It was the young actor's second film of her career. 'I am absolutely terrible at keeping things,' Drew revealed. 'I lose everything. But I do have the red cowboy hat I wore in E.T. It is in the girls room somewhere and reminds me that I was 6 years old wearing that hat. Im so glad I still have it' (Drew pictured in 1982) Drew, who was interviewed for the magazine by 12-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist Jonah Larson, said that her unique upbringing working in Hollywood from a young age eventually lead her to the creation of her new home line. 'I had always lived in hotel rooms and apartments and weird places all over the world for my job, and I never knew where I was going to be living next,' she said. 'But then I realized I didnt have a stable base.' Drew purchased a home two decades ago and has spent the last 20 years slowly refurbishing it. 'When were kids, we dont think something will be important to us one day; we clean out our room and throw stuff away. Its nice if parents put something of theirs in their kids rooms, so its a transference of memories and energy.' Inspiration: Drew, who was interviewed for the magazine by 12-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist Jonah Larson, said that her unique upbringing working in Hollywood from a young age eventually lead her to the creation of her new home line 'I created this wonderful home and fell in love with decorating,' the Flower Home designer said. 'The more you get into interior design, the more you learn about different styles and read every interiors magazine (Im obsessed with themthat is my happy place), and discover designers who teach you things.' Drew's daughters, Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, are around the same age now that their mom was as a working child actor in E.T.. But, unlike Drew who lived in the spotlight from the age of six, she and her ex Will Kopelman are typically very private about their children. Mom life: Drew's daughters, Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, are around the same age now that their mom was as a working child actor in E.T. but, unlike Drew who lived in the spotlight from the age of six, she and her ex Will Kopelman are typically very private about their children In a rare move, both of the girls appear do in the cover of Domino Kids as well as some inside images but their faces are obscured in all of the photos. The magazine was created during the pandemic and gives readers direction on how to navigate being at home with kids all the time in the 'new normal' of COVID-19 with tips on getting creative, play time and organizing. Drew has been busier than ever recently between the launch of her wildly popular Flower Home line at Walmart - which expanded her Flower brand from a cruelty-free makeup line and eye wear line into the decor space - as well as the debut of The Drew Barrymore Show. Irkutsk lawmaker charged with $2.5 mln embezzlement detained for two months RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov 16:36 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) - Andrey Levchenko, lawmaker of the Irkutsk Region Legislative Assembly and son of a former regional Governor, on Tuesday was ordered to be placed in detention until November 20 as part of a 185 million-ruble embezzlement case ($2.5 million), Irina Morozova, the spokesperson of Moscows Basmanny District Court, told RAPSI. On Monday, the defendant was transported to Moscow and charged with embezzlement. Searches were conducted at his place of residence, office and at premises of his father Sergey Levchenko. The official pleaded not guilty. According to investigators, Levchenkos involvement in the crime was established as part of a criminal case against CEO of Zvezda company. Allegedly, Oleg Khamulyak along with other persons in October 2017 filed forged documents with the regional Ministry of the procurement contractual regulation to the applications for participating in a capital repair contractor tender. Later, Khamulyak and Levchenko signed a 167 million-ruble lift equipment supply contract with a foreign company and submitted it to the regional overhaul fund in order to receive advance in accordance with the concluded agreements. Then the defendants created one more company through which they unfoundedly increased the sum of repair works to nearly 3.2 million rubles and continued sending overpriced equipment cost documents to the repair fund. In total, they stole over 185 million rubles, the Investigative Committees statement reads. In mid-August, Moscows Basmanny District Court extended house arrest of Khamulyak until October 20. Congress MP from Kerala TN Prathapan moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the contentious Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 Protests against the controversial farm laws, which were recently passed by both the Houses of Parliament in the absence of an Opposition bench, raged across several states on Monday. The Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK), among others, held agitations at various places, including Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Farmer organisations, including the Bhartiya Kisan Union, have protested against the legislations which received President Ram Nath Kovind's nod on Sunday. Over the past few days, Punjab and Haryana have been roiled by protests. In Karnataka, after political parties demonstrated during a statewide bandh called by the Karnataka Raitha Sangha, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, extending an olive branch to cultivators, said, "Sit with us and have a discussion. I am always ready to make changes for the benefit of farmers." Earlier on Monday, a mob set fire to a tractor near India Gate in Delhi to voice their opposition to the contentious farm laws. Five workers of the Punjab Youth Congress have been arrested over the incident, said police. Leaders and workers of the Congress, which has announced a "mass movement" against the Centre, were also detained in several states as they attempted to march towards their respective Raj Bhawans. Meanwhile, a Congress MP from Kerala filed the first petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions on one of the newly enacted farm laws. Congress workers detained in several states In Uttar Pradesh, state Congress committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu and other party workers were held while staging a protest in Lucknow, the party's media convenor Lalan Kumar told news agency PTI. Led by Lallu, Congress workers from all over the state staged a protest at Lucknow's Parivartan Chowk, raising slogans against the "anti-farmer" laws. When they were heading towards the Raj Bhawan, some workers and the UPCC chief were held, Kumar said, adding that there were reports of workers on their way to Lucknow being detained in other districts. Delhi Congress leaders and workers, including its president Anil Kumar, were also detained by the police while holding a protest at Raj Ghat. The detained protesters were taken to a stadium in Hari Nagar, Delhi Congress leader Parvez Alam said. The protesters were scheduled to take out a march to Raj Niwas, but party leaders and workers were detained before the March could begin, Kumar said. "We wanted to submit a memorandum to the LG against the farm bills passed by Parliament but we were detained by the police. The Congress will not rest till the Modi government withdraws its anti-farmer bills," he said. In Gujarat, state Congress president Amit Chavda was among 100 party workers detained by the police. Chavda, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Paresh Dhanani, Congress MLAs Baldevji Thakor, CJ Chavda and other party workers had gathered at the Ambedkar statue near the Assembly complex and raised slogans against the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Gujarat. They denounced the farm bills recently passed by Parliament as "anti-farmer" and alleged that the bills "will destroy APMCs". As the workers started marching towards the Raj Bhavan, around 100 of them were detained as no permission had been for the rally, said police. "Since the Congress workers had not taken any permission for the rally, we detained them. We will take a decision about their release afterwards," Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda said. Congress workers demand repeal of laws After the detained leaders were released, a Congress delegation met Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitted a memorandum demanding President Ram Nath Kovind withdraw his assent to three farm bills cleared by Parliament recently. The Congress, in its memorandum, called these "black laws" which had been brought in by the Narendra Modi government to give select corporates the power to control the country's agriculture sector. In Maharashtra, a Congress delegation met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan and demanded withdrawal of the "black laws". Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was part of the delegation, told reporters after the meeting that the laws were passed in Parliament hurriedly without listening to views of parties opposing them. Chavan said the governor heard them out and "admitted that a way out should be found on the issue sitting together". Congress, JD(S) workers detained in Karnataka A dawn-to dusk bandh called by farmers in Karnataka against the amendments to the APMC and land reforms acts by the state government was backed by various pro-Kannada organisations and the Opposition Congress and JD(S). Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress protests against govt at party office. State Congress chief DK Shivakumar, state in-charge Randeep Surjewala & Siddaramaiah present. Karnataka is observing a bandh today, against Farm laws, land reform ordinances, amendments to APMC & labour laws. pic.twitter.com/xaU9MXPIda ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2020 Several labour organisations who are protesting against amendments to some labour laws during the brief Assembly session of the state legislature have also backed the bandh. Pro-Kannada organisation 'Karnataka Rakshna Vedike' activists barged inside Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport to mark their protest, while some were detained by police near Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru, the Indian Express reported. As per the Indian Express, traffic was disrupted in the state capital and few shops and other commercial establishments remained open. However, public transport in the rest of the state continued to operate smoothly. Protesters were detained in Bengaluru as well as in Madikeri of Kodagu district, where Congress, Janata Dal (Secular) and SDPI workers were detained. Karnataka: Police detain workers of Congress, JD(S) & SDPI, who were protesting in Madikeri of Kodagu district today, amid statewide protest. Farmers' orgs have called statewide bandh today against #FarmBills (now laws), land reform ordinances, amendments to APMC & labour laws. pic.twitter.com/7lYOeanmx5 ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2020 As protesters took out rallies in public squares, raised slogans in many places across the state and also set ablaze tyres in some places, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa extended an olive branch to farmers. Seeking to allay fears of farmers, the chief minister said: "sit with us and have a discussion. I am always ready to make changes for the benefit of farmers." He said the two bills Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill and the Karnataka Land Reforms (Second Amendment) Bill were aimed at benefiting the farmers and not the way projected by certain people. The bill cleared the state Assembly on Saturday. Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah claimed the amendments were unnecessary. "Both the amendments will have a deadly effect on the farmers," he alleged during the agitation staged by his party in Bengaluru. Protests held in Tamil Nadu, Telangana Congress workers in Telangana too staged a demonstration against the farm bills and urged the president to withdraw them. State Congress leaders and the new AICC in-charge for party affairs in Telangana Manickam Tagore sought to submit a memorandum to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at the Raj Bhavan. However, the protesting workers were taken into custody and shifted to Goshamahal police station in the city when they began to move towards the Raj Bhavan, said police adding that they did not have an appointment with the Governor, They were released by police later. In Tamil Nadu, DMK and its allies also hit the streets, with DMK chief MK Stalin saying his party was ready to challenge the Centre's decision in court. Addressing a demonstration at a village in Kancheepuram district as part of the state-wide protest, Stalin alleged that the new laws would drive farmers away from their lands. "Take back farm laws," "We will not rest until the farmers interests are protected," "farmers betrayed," and "farm laws lead to hoarding," were among the slogans raised during the demonstration. The DMK chief also took a shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that Modi had often claimed that he was the son of a poor mother. "This son of a poor mother is now making a large number of Indians poor," he charged. Attacking Chief Minister K Palaniswami, he said though the AIADMK leader took pride in calling himself a farmer, thelives of the royts have "taken a hit" only after he assumed power. After consultations with allies, the next course of action like further protests against the farm laws would be decided, he said. MDMK chief Vaiko, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri, DMK leaders TR Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran were among those who took part in the protests held at various places, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli. The Odisha unit of the Congress also staged a demonstration near the Raj Bhavan demanding the repeal of the farm bills passed in the Parliament recently. In Rajasthan, party's state president Govind Singh Dotasra and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted a memorandum to Governor Kalraj Mishra. The memorandum addressed to the president, seeks revocation of the agriculture-related new laws. In West Bengal, hundreds of Congress workers marched in Kolkata carrying haystacks on their shoulders and submitted a memorandum to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him to "intervene and ensure" that the laws were immediately repealed. Will go to SC, says Amarinder Singh In Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who staged a sit-in at Khatkar Kalan village, slammed the BJP-led Central government for 'snatching the rights of states' and said his government would approach the apex court. "Now you have taken away (right over) the farm sector. Which thing will you leave with states? Will you leave it or not? You have taken away everything (from states). How will we run our states?" he asked. Stating that his government would take every possible step to protect the interest of the farming community, he said that he would discuss the matter with two advocates who are to come to the state from Delhi. "I have said we will take this matter forward. The president has passed these bills and now we will take this matter to the Supreme Court," Singh further said. Kerala Congress MP approaches SC Meanwhile, a Congress MP from Kerala TN Prathapan moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of one of the new farm laws. Pratahpan, who represents Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, has alleged that the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, is violative of Article 14 (right to equality), 15 (prohibition of discrimination) and 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution. He said the law is "liable to be struck down as unconstitutional, illegal and void". As per the government, the new law intends to provide a national framework for the farming agreements to protect and empower farmers as they engage with agri-business and food processing firms, wholesalers, exporters and large retailers for farm services and sale of produce at a remunerative price framework in a fair and transparent manner. BJP slams Congress over tractor burning Earlier in the day, five people claiming to be members of the Punjab Youth Congress were detained after they unloaded a tractor from a truck in the high-security area at Rajpath, a few hundred metres from the President House and the Parliament, in the National Capital and set it on fire around 7 am. "On #BhagatSingh's birth anniversary Youth Congress set ablaze a tractor in protest against the govt's anti farmer bills," the Indian Youth Congress tweeted. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal said an Innova car used in the act has been taken into police custody. "A case under 3 Epidemic Act, 51(B) Disaster Management Act, 4 Damage to Public Property Act and other IPC sections has been registered at Tilak Marg police station and five persons have been arrested," the DCP said. The BJP came down hard on the Congress over the incident, saying it has "shamed" the country with its "drama" aimed at publicity and at "misleading" farmers. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Tejasvi Surya alleged that youth Congress workers were involved in burning the tractor. "Our farmers worship tools they use for farming. No real farmer ever burns his tractor. If at all the Youth Congress wanted to show their support to farmers, they could have donated the tractor to a poor farmer instead of burning it. But how can they? Destroying is all they know," he said in a statement. "In the guise of a protest against the government's reforms for farmers, it is sad that the youth Congress is destroying property," Surya, Bengaluru South MP, said. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of misleading farmers, stating that the party's manifesto had promised to do what the Modi government has done with its farm sector reform bills. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had also spoken similarly on the issue, he claimed. "Now, Congress is trying to mislead farmers by speaking in a different voice. But it will not succeed," he said, adding that mechanisms like the minimum support price (MSP) and APMC will continue. The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill , 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 were passed by the Parliament in the recently concluded Monsoon Session. The bills were notified after receiving the presidential assent on Sunday. Farmers' organisations and Opposition parties have been protesting against the legislations across several states.. Various farmers organisations, under the umbrella of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) had called for a nationwide shutdown on 25 September. Protests were held outside government offices in Kerala while 'Rail Roko' agitations were carried out in Amritsar. Farmers associated with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee squatted on the Amritsar-Delhi railway track, continuing their rail blockade which had started on Wednesday. The committees general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher had earlier demanded that all the sitting 13 MPs from Punjab resign from their seats with immediate effect in support of the farmers demands, adding that BJP leaders would not be allowed to enter the villages of Punjab. The protests will be observed till 29 September. On Thursday, the Congress launched its mass movement against the government over anti-farmer, anti-poor and black laws, announcing nearly two months of protests. On 2 October, the Congress will observe Kisan-Mazdoor Bachao Divas (Save Farmers and Farm Labourers Day). On 10 October, state-level conferences will be held and from 2 to 31 October, the party will collect signatures from two crore farmers from across the country. On 14 November, the birth anniversary of Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a memorandum, along with signatures of the farmers, will be submitted to the president. Opposition parties including the Congress and SAD have strongly opposed the move, claiming that it will pave the way for big businessmen to enter the agriculture sector and harm the interests of the farmers. The SAD quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to protests against the passage of the bills. The Centre has maintained that the legislations would be beneficial to the farmers as they would have the freedom to choose buyers for their produce and get remunerative prices. With inputs from agencies Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 15:26:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NILI, Afghanistan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Eleven civilians were killed and four others wounded when an improvised bomb struck a vehicle in Afghanistan's central Daykundi province on Tuesday, confirmed the provincial police chief. "A vehicle carrying 17 people touched off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Dasht-e-Sulaiman locality of Kujran district roughly at 9:00 a.m. local time, setting off the pressure-plate IED and the explosion affected 15 of the people aboard the vehicle," Ghulam Sakhi Ghafoori told Xinhua. Among the victims were several women and children, the police chief noted. The victims were travelling to a shrine in surrounding areas of the district, in the mountainous region 290 km west of the country's capital Kabul, he said. He blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack. Militants in Afghanistan have been using home-made IEDs as roadside bombs and landmines to target security forces, but the lethal weapons also caused casualties among civilians. More than 800 civilians were killed and over 2,330 others wounded in IED explosions in 2019 in Afghanistan, according to figures released by the United Nations mission here. Enditem NEW HAVEN - Two men who conspired to commit a robbery, a scheme that resulted in Leeandre Benton being shot to death alongside the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Hamden, received sentences Monday requiring each of them to serve 12 years in prison. Robert Moye and Brennen Coleman, both 24 and New Haven residents, stood side by side in the courtroom in prison attire as they were sentenced by Superior Court Judge Gerald L. Harmon. The plea agreements had been worked out during lengthy negotiations since the two were arrested in July 2018, the year after Benton, 18, was killed. Both defendants originally were charged with felony murder but the charges were reduced to conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery after they pleaded guilty to that count and agreed not to contest any charges at a trial. Senior Assistant States Attorney Seth Garbarsky noted during the sentencing hearing that James Graham was the man who pulled the trigger. He was convicted of murder by a jury in 2019 and sentenced to serve 52 years in prison. But Garbarsky cited evidence at Grahams trial showing all three of these individuals were armed. All three confronted Mr. Benton with the intent to rob him. Garbarsky added: All three could be seen afterward on Facebook celebrating this. They seemed to take pleasure in what they did that day. Evidence used at the trial also indicated the three individuals belonged to a neighborhood group and Benton was a member of a rival group. According to testimony, Benton resisted being robbed by punching Coleman. Graham then pulled out his gun and shot Benton in the back of the head. The two defendants stood and listened while Victim Services Advocate Christie Ciancola read a statement by Bentons mother, Chiquita Cousins, who declined to come to court for the sentencing hearing. My familys life has been changed forever, Cousins said. My family is still suffering and Im sure we will never be healed. Only through Gods grace and mercy. The decision you made to plot against my son I hope haunts each of you for the rest of your lives, she told them. My king will never be able to make this world as we know it better because of that decision. She added, Im so grateful for all the authorities that put their hard effort into catching you guys. Even though you all deserve 52 years, Im grateful they were able to make 20 years of your life suffering away from your families, to be able to think about what you have done. Cousins concluded: God has the last say. May you do your sentence in remorse. Bentons stepmother Charlene Heath gave a statement in court without using notes; she cried as she spoke. I have to forgive, she said. I just cant hate. But she added: My life will never be the same. Heath described her stepson as so beautiful and a good young man. Defense attorney Glenn Conway, who represented Coleman, told Harmon the plea agreement and sentence were fair and reasonable. He also told Harmon that Coleman did not wish to make a statement. Harmon then sentenced Coleman to the previously agreed-upon sentence: 20 years, to be suspended after serving 12 years, followed by five years of probation. This was a very tragic event, Harmon said. One young life taken away and other lives being ruined to some extent. Mr. Coleman, keep that in mind. When you get out, try to be a better individual. After judicial marshals took Coleman out of the courtroom, it was Moyes turn. He was represented by New Haven Public Defender Beth A. Merkin. He was 22 at the time, Merkin said of Moye. There are disagreements on the differing levels of complicity but Mr. Graham was the most culpable. Merkin said Moye claims he was not aware of all the planning that brought the three defendants to the crime scene alongside the popular running, biking and walking trail. Hes still a young man, Merkin told Harmon. When Harmon offered Moye a chance to say anything, Moye shook his head. While Harmon imposed the identical sentence of 20 years, suspended after 12 years with five years of probation, he told Moye: You are both at a very young age. Youve got a lot of your life left. Hopefully you can turn it around. Harmon added: You hung around with the wrong people. You have to be careful who you choose as your friends. Youve got a chance to go forward with your life. Unfortunately the victim does not have that chance. Choose your friends better in the future. After court was adjourned, Heath said, Im just glad I got justice and he can finally rest. Contact Randall Beach at randall.beach@hearstmediact.com. BRADY ANDERSON, Chariho, Wrestling, Sophomore; Anderson finished first in the 152-pound weight class at the Griswold Midseason Invitational tournament. Anderson went 3-0 in the tournament, pinning all of his opponents in the first period. Anderson is 10-4. LYDIA LASKEY, Stonington, Gymnastics, Senior; Laskey finished first in all four events in meets against NFA and Westerly. Laskey had an all-around score of 33.75 against NFA and 34.60 against Westerly. RILEY PELOQUIN, Westerly, Girls Basketball, Sophomore; Peloquin scored 22 points and had 19 rebounds in two games. Peloquin is averaging 7.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs. DEONDRE BRANSFORD, Wheeler, Boys Basketball, Sophomore; Bransford scored 25 points and had 28 rebounds in a pair of Wheeler victories. Bransford is averaging 10.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per contest for the Lions. Vote View Results United Airlines is planning to resume service at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2021, possibly early in the year, according to people familiar with the matter. The early plans are a bet that the coronavirus pandemic's lull in air travel could help United end its five-year absence from what is normally one of the country's most congested airports. Airlines have pulled back service more in the Northeast compared with other regions as business travel remains largely halted. Airline capacity in New York state will be down nearly 70% in October compared with the same month a year ago, more than the national average of close to a 50% decline, according to Airlines for America, a trade group that represents most U.S. carriers. Service could start early next year but a firm timeline or decision hasn't been finalized. It isn't yet clear whether officials will grant United space at the tightly controlled airport, or which airline's slots the carrier will try to use. United serves the New York-area from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, where it dominates flights, and out of New York's LaGuardia Airport. Scott Kirby, who became CEO in May, in 2017, then United's president, said leaving JFK in 2015 was a mistake. He has since expressed a desire to return to JFK because moving those transcontinental flights allowed competitor American Airlines to win some lucrative corporate clients. JFK has been a key airport for carriers like Delta Air Lines, American and their international partners. United's potential return to JFK isn't the first strategy shift to emerge during the pandemic. In a surprise move in July, American announced a partnership with New York-based JetBlue Airways that would let the two carriers sell seats on each other's flights. It would give Fort Worth, Texas-based American more access to New York and Boston. United declined to comment. Just hours after learning their famed Restaurant at Meadowood had been completely gutted when the Glass Fire tore through the property, the owners of the St. Helena resort are committed to rebuilding, according to a statement from managing director David Pearson. Still, on Tuesday, executive chef Christopher Kostow was struck by the physical devastation of a place where he had spent 60 or 70 hours a week for the past 12-odd years. Its weird that its all gone. Its all rendered futile, said Kostow, who is still processing the loss and said hasnt had a chance to think about whether he will return to a rebuilt Meadowood. Theres so much of myself that went into that place and so much of so many people that I think it deserves a moment. Everyones safe and well and well be fine, he said. But, he added, It feels like someones died. Kostow was woken up on Sunday to a bunch of texts and quickly drove from his home in Calistoga to check on the restaurant, as well as his more casual Charter Oak, which is also in St. Helena. He and the rest of the team watched closely as Meadowood, which is located east of the Silverado Trail, was evacuated as fires neared. Later in the day, they heard conflicting reports about the fate of the Michelin three-starred restaurant. Then, they saw photos on social media that clearly showed it completely engulfed in flames. The pictures of the ruins are just staggering, said Kostow, who later saw images where only the stairs and fireplaces remained. Its really just difficult to process. Members of the Meadowood staff plan to visit the site on Tuesday to assess the damage to the rest of the property. The restaurant had its last night of service Saturday. It had recently reopened indoors after Napa County allowed restaurants to do so, and previously served dinners outdoors over the summer. The restaurant had often had long wait lists for its $360 tasting menus, and was able to employ much of its staff despite the pandemic, Kostow said. Now Playing: Wildfires are once again ravaging Northern California's Wine Country. The Glass Fire threatens communities in Sonoma and Napa counties, including Santa Rosa, that suffered destruction from blazes in 2017. Video: San Francisco Chronicle Kostow and his wife, Martina, who also works at the restaurant, and their two young daughters and pets evacuated from their own home in Calistoga Sunday to a hotel in St. Helena, and then had to move again to another hotel in Marin. They arent yet sure if their home made it through the fire. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. For now, Kostow said he is most concerned about his staff. He hopes to give staff opportunity to work at some upcoming events, and at Charter Oak or even the companys restaurant in China. A restaurant is just a collection of people, he said. We were a good restaurant because of these people, and I dont want to lose that. Yet he keeps thinking back to his last menu and everything that went into each dish, from the purveyors to the staff that prepared them to those who made the plates they were served on. The beauty doesnt lie in the fanciness, he said. The beauty lies in the density of the thing. Tara Duggan is The San Francisco Chronicles assistant food editor. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan LOS ANGELES, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Office Products keeps clients stocked as they navigate new workplace solutions through the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses have faced many challenges in 2020 and they are constantly changing, particularly in Los Angeles which has approached reopening the city with caution. Capital Office Products holds a diverse client base including law firms, schools, and the fire department. As clients faced challenges like making the transition from working in the office to all employees working from home they worked with suppliers to find essential items clients needed to keep operations running smoothly. Founder Carolyn Nelson says, "Capital Office Products guarantees to go above and beyond to get our clients the products they need because we truly care about their businesses like they were our own." In going above and beyond for clients, Nelson and the Capital Office Products team focused on getting essential work from home items, like home office furniture, delivered to employees' homes while finding additional sources for hygiene products. When their standard vendor was out of the most in-demand product, hand sanitizer, Nelson immediately worked to find a solution. This led to a new partnership with a local company making hand sanitizer, which allowed Capital Office Products to make a same-day delivery of 5,000 hand sanitizers to the LA County Fire Department station. As College of the Canyons is navigating the challenges schools have been presented with, they acquired 2000 customized masks with the school logo through Capital Office Products. Supporting the community has always been important to Nelson, who regularly works with and supports organizations such as Carousel Ranch and Bridge to Home. To support both of these organizations Capital Office Products has donated hand sanitizer to help protect volunteers and individuals in the community. For essential businesses that have remained in their original workplaces, Capital Office Products has continued to deliver office supplies and source PPE daily. These efforts ensure Nelson and the team can meet clients' needs seamlessly. In addition to PPE essentials like hand sanitizer and masks, Capital Office Products has added barriers and furniture modifications to their supply list for all social distancing needs. Capital Office Products recently relaunched their website with a new design to make it even easier for new and existing clients to find what they need. About Capital Office Products: Founded in 1994 by Carolyn and Richard Nelson, Capital Office Products was started with the firm belief that there is a space in business relationships for clients that value the vendor relationship and the desire to connect with those clients. Capital Office Products is a certified WBE/DBE with the City of Los Angeles, an LSBE with the County of Los Angeles, and a certified small business with LAUSD. For more information on services and products, visit their recently updated website at: https://www.capitalofficeproductsca.com *IMAGE: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/20-0929s2p-cap-our-work-300dpi.jpg This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com SOURCE Capital Office Products Related Links https://www.capitalofficeproductsca.com There are times when the US and the West in general throw up their hands over the Middle East, by which they mean, when we take a closer look, the Arab world. Such fits of despair have their origins in the proscriptions of the historian Bernard Lewis in the 1960s and, subsequently, in Fouad Ajamis pronunciation of The End of Pan-Arabism in 1970s. They have since become a kind of mantra reiterated every decade or so when circumstances give rise to the belief that the end is nigh for the Arabs, Arabism or Arab states. In the 1990s the Arab exception gained currency as a term that summed up Western frustration that Arab states had failed to catch up with the train of nascent democracies that emerged after the end of the Cold War in Eastern Europe and then in Latin America. After the turn of the millennium, the Arabs were blamed for the waves of terrorism that reached their zenith with the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington, DC. That gave birth to the satanic notion of bringing regime change to the Arab world at the end of a tank barrel. When the US invaded Iraq it was commonly said in Washington that the target was not specifically Baghdad, but Cairo and Riyadh as well. The war in Iraq wreaked untold tragedies with irreparable consequences. The same applies to the war in Afghanistan that Washington had started before that. In the 2010s, Western jubilation at the Arab Spring did not last long because that season soon revealed the theocratic and terrorist movements and organisations that had been ready to pounce, and unleashed a maelstrom of violence and civil warfare that tore societies apart and wreaked massive destruction. In the middle of that decade, a Middle East Strategy Task Force (MEST) was formed to study how to repair and rebuild this devastated region. A bipartisan assembly of Middle East specialists, the group was headed by Madeleine Albright who had served as secretary of state under Bill Clinton and Stephen Hadley who had served as national security adviser to George Bush Jr. In their final report, they concluded that the root causes that precipitated the deterioration in the region essentially lay in the lack of liberal and democratic traditions. The Democrats and Republicans had no differences to pick with each other over this outlook on the Arab world. On 5 September, Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, came out with a grim assessment beneath the heading The End of Hope in the Middle East and the subheading The region has always had problems but its now almost past the point of recovery. Cook is not alone in this prognosis. Others have held similar notions, sometimes based on a focus on a single Arab country, generally Egypt or Saudi Arabia. What they have in common is not only their liberal frame of reference, which is no longer the only gauge of progress in the world, but also the notion that the tides of change in the US have called into question the ability to sustain progress in light of the intense complexities engendered by contemporary modes of production combined with the universal backlash against globalisation and the recoil into nationalist isolationism. If, as it seems, scholars in the West have applied a distorted lens to their approaches to the Middle East and, specifically, the Arab world, the greater flaw is to be found in a deficiency in scholastic rigidity, close observation of developments in this region and fairness. The region has endured a number of brutal tests during the past two decades, starting with the Islamist extremism and Islamist terrorism that hit this part of the world harder than anywhere else. These radical trends interwove with the tumultuous waves of the Arab Spring generating the chain reactions that resulted in political and economic collapse, civil wars and numerous forms of chaos that were not at all creative. Nothing in that brew was conducive to the processes of democratisation and construction of the civil state that theorists in Washington had envisioned. One phenomenon that escaped the attention of the various American think tanks and task groups is that despite the succession of tragedies, the Arab state proved more resilient than imagined. Algeria had emerged from the dark 1990s with a state stronger and fitter to rise up and engage in the search for a brighter political future. Despite the invasion of Iraq and the USs attempt to dismantle the state and reconstruct it on the basis of a sectarian/ethnic quota system, Iraq has remained unified and the Kurdish secessionist referendum failed. Even at the fiercest heights of the Syrian conflict, there has not been a move from within Syria or abroad to partition that country. The same applies to Lebanon, Libya and Yemen apart from in the imaginations of US think tanks. More importantly, the Arab world had not been idle all this time. Various reform initiatives emerged during the first decade of the 21st century and these began to be implemented during the second decade in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria and Bahrain. Tunisia pursued a path of its own under the heavy weight of the Tunisian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood and its political facade, the Ennahda Party. Political success there came hand in hand with economic deterioration and a rollback in secularist values. In short, the Arab world has been dealing with its crises through profound reform processes that reached deep into its various countries distinct geographic, historical and intellectual makeups. Saudi Arabia and Egypt furnish models certified by the IMF, World Bank, UNDP human development reports, global competitiveness reports and similar studies that US researchers generally do not consult unless they support their opinions. The reforms go beyond the mega economic projects that have multiplied their land use rates to projects that resolve long intractable problems in education, health and housing. These have proceeded in tandem with concerted efforts to renovate religious thought, empower women and constructively address minority issues. An unprecedented cultural/civilisational awakening has accompanied this developmental process as evidenced in the recent archaeological excavations in Saudi Arabia and, in Egypt, in the construction of more museums, roads, towns and universities than in the second half of the 20th century. The Arab world did not passively succumb to difficult fates. It was resistant to the forces of disintegration and ready to rebuild itself using methods applied by emergent powers as opposed to the Western path which had proven a failure in many experiments carried out under Washingtons supervision. And it persisted despite pressures from all sides, from the aggressive behaviours on the part of Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia and Israel to direct interventions on the part of Russia and NATO. Arab responses to these pressures were epitomised by Riyadhs leadership of the G20 and its attempt to solve the Yemeni conflict without partitioning Yemen and in a manner consistent with UN resolutions, by Egypts proposed peace and prosperity project for the Eastern Mediterranean, and by Bahrain and the UAEs efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. Surely these and other developments should inspire hope and point the way to a promising future that Cook apparently does not wish to see. *The writer is chairman of the board, CEO and director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: By William Cooper There is widespread concern that President Trump wont leave office if he loses the election. This angst is understandable. Trump has, after all, repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. But if Trump loses he will leave. Not, of course, because he wouldnt want to seize power and stay in office. But because he couldnt get away with it if he tried. A fight about the elections outcome would ultimately go to the Supreme Court just like it did in 2000. Trump wouldnt stay in the White House if the Supreme Court ruled that he lost. Why? Because staying would require Trumps entire administration, the military and more than a third of the Senate (to withstand impeachment and removal) to all conspire in violating two of the most sacred principles of our constitutional system: that the courts are the final word in constitutional disputes and there are peaceful transitions of power after elections. It wont happen. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 18:33:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Farmers harvest a corn field in Eskisehir, Turkey, on Sept. 27, 2020. The Gecer family, who has been earning a livelihood from sugar beet production for years in Central Anatolia, Turkey, is highly optimistic about this year's harvest despite several natural disasters that hit the region during the seeding time. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua) by Zeynep Cermen ISTANBUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Gecer family, who has been earning a livelihood from sugar beet production for years in Central Anatolia, Turkey, is highly optimistic about this year's harvest despite several natural disasters that hit the region during the seeding time. Fethi Gecer, a 60-year-old farmer, expects to get 200 to 300 tons of products over 110,000 square meters of land located in the fertile Alpu Plain of the Eskisehir Province. The worst disaster affecting the farmers during the seeding time was the frost that hit the area in May. The temperatures suddenly dropped below zero degree Celsius from above 30 degrees Celsius, reducing the yield by 30 to 40 percent, especially in corn, sunflower, and sugar beet. The region also saw several floods. "Dealing with agriculture is difficult, the input costs are increasing day by day, but we cannot say that farmers do not earn money after a fertile period, despite several setbacks, including natural causes," Gecer told Xinhua at his field. Although he looked a bit worried as the related state institutions have not yet declared the lowest purchasing price of sugar beet, he said, "At least we know that we will get the payment for sure as we have a deal with the factory." Every year, before planting, he signs a deal with a sugar factory, and after the harvest, he directly sends the output there and gets the money. "The quality of the sugar that comes out of each field is not the same. Therefore, the factory pays according to the quality of the products after conducting several tests," he said. "But of course, we have to know the lowest buying prices first." If the lowest price will be announced as 400 Turkish liras per ton, Gecer will earn 120,000 liras or 15,300 U.S. dollars for 300 tons of product. Sugar beet production in 2019 was 18.9 million tons across the country, indicating a 3.7 percent year-on-year increase. The producers in the region said the main reasons for this growth is the increasing number of farmers who plant sugar beet and the growing amount of planting fields. Burak Tepe, a senior student of agricultural engineering at Namik Kemal University in the northwestern Tekirdag province, told Xinhua that farmers are generally well paid in the country so that their numbers keep increasing each year. Most of the farmers in the Alpu region have doubled the amount of their land with convenient state-backed loans, Tepe also said. "Some say that the farmers are in a difficult situation, but nothing is challenging for a hard worker," he noted while helping his father for the corn harvest. "We also saw a very lucrative season this year." After his graduation, Tepe plans to return to his hometown and continue farming his family's cornfield. Meanwhile, sugar beet harvest time in the country has attained significant attention this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic as it provides ethanol, the main ingredient of the Turkish cologne, a traditional disinfectant with an 80 percent alcohol rate. Utku Cakirozer, a deputy from the opposition Republican People's Party, has recently met with sugar beet producers in Alpu Plain. "In this challenging process, if our beet producer had not produced enough, perhaps we would not have found ethyl alcohol for disinfectants and cologne," press reports quoted Cakirozer as saying. "Despite all kinds of natural disasters in the region, including floods and frost, there is a fruitful harvest season," he also noted, asking the government to announce the lowest buying prices as soon as possible. Enditem In 2017, while planning Santa Barbara, Ms. Markosian commissioned one of the original writers from the 1984 soap opera, Lynda Myles, to write a screenplay of her story. It helped me process my family history and see it as a story, she says. It was still my life, but I could now step back and, in my own way, control it. That dialogue never made it into the final cut of the film, but it appears as typed manuscript in Ms. Markosians Aperture book, lending narrative direction to photographs of details like a red plastic telephone beside a full ashtray, or a cactus caught in the evening sun. These appear in the book alongside staged photographs: actors dressed as Ms. Markosians family members, on set or on location, directed by the photographer or improvising in character. On the Glendale soundstage. one person especially apprehensive about Svetlanas arrival was Ana Imnadze, the actress from the Georgian republic cast to play her. Ms. Imnadze, who had quickly grown close with Ms. Markosian during her first visit to the United States, found herself in the center of the unfolding family melodrama. In this moment, Im not only an actress, she told me. This storys inside me. Later that day, they would shoot a scene in which Ms. Imnadze, dressed as Svetlana, asked the real Svetlana questions she had written in advance. It is one of several moments in the project when the fourth wall is removed, and Santa Barbara is revealed as a fastidious reconstruction. In a set of the Markosians Moscow apartment, the two women faced each other across a table set for tea. Svetlana, why did you leave Russia? Ms. Imnadze asked. Svetlana, her hands folded in her lap, reached for the right words in her richly accented English. Well, I didnt feel I have a country anymore. I feel betrayed by my country and then I feel betrayed by my husband. I was by myself. I didnt feel I had any future. Photo credit: Planet R/Randy Lorentzen - Car and Driver From Car and Driver From the October 1999 issue of Car and Driver. In the late '80s and early '90s, when the George Bush that mattered had an "H" for a middle initial and Acura, BMW, Cadillac, lnfiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, and Oldsmobile were all in the business of selling upscale cars rather than upscale SUVs, if you wanted a luxury sport-ute, you bought either a Range Rover or a Laforza. And practically no one bought a Laforza. So Laforza went bankrupt. Nearly as improbable as John DeLorean being asked back to run Pontiac or Jenny McCarthy getting another sitcom on NBC, the Laforza has returned. Returned to a new world where Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Range Rover all think of luxury-SUV buyers as their customers, and the art of building the things advances every month. On this second go-round, will Laforza do better? Whereas the Laforza vehicle looks (and is) almost identical to the one driven by C/D back in June 1989, the company assembling it has changed. Laforza Automobiles of Escondido, California, north of San Diego, is the new company. Headed by David Hops, whose Monster Motorsports continues to cram Ford 4.9-liter V-8s into the engine bays of Mazda MX-5 Miatas, the company bought up the remnants and inventory of the Laforza's previous assembler (Michigan-based C&C) in 1995 and began screwing parts together soon thereafter. In the past four years, it's put another 130-or-so Laforzas on American roads (Lincoln alone sold more than 20 times that many Navigators this past June). Hops told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he wants to keep production limited and ship "maybe 300 to 400 cars a year, at most." Photo credit: Planet R/Randy Lorentzen - Car and Driver The Laforza's 18-gauge-steel body is stamped and assembled by Golden Car in Italy (alongside the Lamborghini Diablo) under contract for Magnum Industrialethe remnants of the company that built our '89 test car. Magnum, which sells less luxurious versions of the vehicle around the world, plops the body atop a truly massive ladder frame and mates the whole thing to suspension components from a Fiat military truck. Once the thing is a roller, it's shipped off to Escondido, where Laforza installs the Ford Explorer's drivetrain (a V-8/automatic combo with full-time, high-range all-wheel drive). The 4.9-liter is uprated from 215 horsepower in the Explorer to 225, and the all-wheel-drive system is a hands-free viscous-coupling design. Laforza also applies the Speciale Edition's $60,385 sticker. For an extra $7000, it will bolt an Eaton supercharger to the engine (as it did on our test truck) to bump output to a claimed 320 horses. Story continues The Laforza feels 1989 archaic in many ways. It is also the only new production vehicle available in the U.S. without airbags, thanks to NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 98-6, which runs out at the end of next year. The suspension consists of torsion-bar-sprung, wrist-thick control arms up front and a solid rear axle with a limited-slip differential, set on semi-elliptical leaf spring . The front-disc, rear-drum brakes are unburdened by an anti-lock system. Up-to-date in this class would mean coil springs and discs with ABS at all four comers, with the leading-edge vehicles sporting four-wheel independent suspensions. Photo credit: Planet R/Randy Lorentzen - Car and Driver That behind-the-curve feeling extends to the interior, where expected contemporary details such as one-touch-down power windows, cruise control, adjustable lumbar support on the front seats, and a tilting steering wheel are all M.I.A. The instrumentation is easy to read but looks cobbled together from various parts bins, as do the shifter and the various controls, handles, and switches. However, the inside of the Speciale Edition does have compensating virtues that include enough butter-colored cowhide to actually re-encase a small herd of cows, and high-quality, close-nap carpeting. It's also wonderfully roomy, with stretch-out space for five, and the oversize seats are cushy enough to qualify as thrones. But it's not subdued. The Miami Vice opulence skitters perilously close to over-the-top extravagance. A suede headliner? Come on. A limited run of 20 No Fear-branded models will appear soon with four bucket seats and four-wheel disc brakes. And the company is small enough that it would probably custom-cover the inside, outside, and piston rings in ostrich gullet if the check were big enough. Once the driver acclimates to the cockpit and the small-diameter Momo steering wheel, the supercharged Laforza proves a satisfying drive in a relentless, blunt-instrument sort of way. And it gets noticed. Keep in mind that at 78.7 inches across and 73.6 inches up and down, the Laforza is 1.9 inches wider and 3.3 inches taller than a '99 Chevy Tahoe five-door, but at 179.9 inches, it's actually 19.7 inches shorter in length. At a staggering 5260 pounds, it weighs nearly a half-ton more than the Explorer, for which the drivetrain was originally developed. This is a very big, high-density truck. Photo credit: Planet R/Randy Lorentzen - Car and Driver Despite the heft, the blown Laforza manages decent acceleration with a 9.9-second zero-to-60-mph time and a clocking of 17.6 seconds at 79 mph in the quarter-mile. (The similarly priced Range Rover 4.6HSE does those tricks in 9.2 and 17.1 seconds, respectively.) The deep note from the Borla exhaust is satisfying, the Eaton blower's whine is barely noticeable, and the transmission and the transfer case function unobtrusively. Off-road, the well of low-end torque available makes getting stuck a challenge rather than a probability. Still, the Laforza practically begs for the 360-hp, 5.4-liter supercharged SOHC Triton engine found in Ford's SVT Lightning sport truck. Then again, any truck would be better with the Lightning's engine in it. The steering is heavy and uncommunicative with the 275/60R-17 Bridgestone Dueler HTS tires tending to pick a direction and then resist any deviation. The suspension is about as stiff as SUV suspensions get, and although the ride is compliant over most surfaces, hitting a dip will send a coccyx-rattling shudder forward from the rear axle. On the skidpad, the Laforza developed a weird diagonal, porpoise-like rocking motion so pronounced that it almost lifted a wheel, an antic that would make a swell opening act for Shamu. Photo credit: Planet R/Randy Lorentzen - Car and Driver What the Laforza has going for it, old or not, is undeniable star presence. In a world of Expeditions, Escalades, Denalis, and Navigators, people sense the Laforza's aura from blocks away and flock to it with a long list of questions. No one asks what an M-class Mercedes is, but it seems everyone wants to know about the Laforza. If a driver likes being noticed, that makes up for the lack of one-touch power windows. Maybe now the time is right for Laforza. It's not the sport-utility vehicle for everybody, at a time when every other SUV seems straining to be just that. It's wacky, it's weird, and it hasn't been run through a billion dollars' worth of character-cleansing consumer clinics. It's definitely not an Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, Oldsmobile, or Range Rover. And now that SUVs are accepted as luxury vehicles, that works to its advantage. It's a cup of espresso in an ocean of Maxwell House. You Might Also Like Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 12:09:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is expected to grow by 2.0 percent in 2020, up from the 1-percent growth projection released in June, the World Bank said on Monday. The growth will be boosted by government spending, strong exports, and a low rate of new COVID-19 infections since March, but checked by slow domestic consumption, the World Bank said in the October 2020 Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific (EAP). The rest of the region, however, is projected to contract by 3.5 percent, according to the report. The region as a whole is expected to grow by only 0.9 percent in 2020, the lowest rate since 1967. In the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects released in early June, the World Bank projected that the EAP region will grow by 0.5 percent in 2020. The World Bank said in the regional update that prospects for the region are brighter in 2021, with growth expected to reach 7.9 percent in China and 5.1 percent in the rest of the region, "based on the assumption of continued recovery and normalization of activity in major economies, linked to the possible arrival of a vaccine." The multilateral lender, however, pointed out that output is projected to remain well below pre-pandemic projections for the next two years, noting that the outlook is particularly dire for some highly-exposed Pacific Island countries where output is projected to remain about 10 percent below pre-crisis levels through 2021. The COVID-19 shock is not only keeping people in poverty, but also creating a class of "new poor," the World Bank noted. The number of people living in poverty in the region is expected to increase by as many as 38 million in 2020 -- including 33 million who would have otherwise escaped poverty, and another 5 million pushed back into poverty. "Many EAP countries have been successful in containing the disease and providing relief, but they will struggle to recover and grow," said Aaditya Mattoo, chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific at the World Bank. "The priorities now should be safe schooling to preserve human capital; widening narrow tax bases to avoid cuts in public investment; and reform of protected service sectors to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities," Mattoo said. Enditem Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, who passed away in April 2020 after a battle with neuroendocrine tumour, is remembered by his fans for his effortless and natural acting. Irrfans grave is in Versova Muslim Kabrastan, Mumbai. Reacting to a comment which said that Irrfans grave looks like a trash dumpster, the wife of the late actor Sutapa Sikdar asked why everything should be as per the definition. She explained that the plants and grass have grown after rains and will wither in the next season. The grave can be cleaned after they wither. Sutapa described the picture of the grave that she had seen as wild and beautiful. She also said that there might be a purpose of the plants that are growing around Irrfans grave. In her comment, Sutapa also added that she has not gone to the grave as women are not allowed to enter Muslim graveyards. Instead, she visits a place in Igatpuri where she has buried all of Irrfans favourite things and has also planted Raat ki Rani there, which gives a strong fragrance. After her mothers comment, Irrfans son Babil Khan took to Instagram and shared a couple of pictures of himself where he could be seen watering the legendary actors grave, while flowers are kept on the grave. The other picture has orange and yellow coloured marigold flowers spread on the grave. Babil captioned the picture as, Baba liked it wild. He continued to say that Ayaan (his younger brother) is staying strong and then shared what Sutapa wrote in response to the comment that Irrfans grave is unkempt. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Babil (@babil.i.k) on Sep 28, 2020 at 8:52am PDT Irrfan Khan also worked in Hollywood and was celebrated for his performances in Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire and Jurassic World. In Bollywood, he is known for his natural acting in movies like The Lunchbox, Hindi Medium, Life in a Metro and many others. The audience found his roles relatable and this is why, when Irrfan passed away, most of the obituaries mentioned that they found his demise a personal loss. The Congress on Wednesday will hold internal discussions on the seat-sharing arrangements with like-minded parties for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. According to sources, the party has called its Bihar unit chief Madan Mohan Jha and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sadanand Singh to the national capital on Wednesday. The Congress is contesting the Bihar assembly polls as part of the 'Mahagathbandhan' with the RJD, Left parties and some smaller state parties. The three-phase assembly election in Bihar will start on October 28 and end on November 7, with the results to be declared on November 10. The sources said the seat-sharing arrangement is not being worked out as the RJD, which is the bigger partner in the alliance, is not ready to offer more than 55 seats to the Congress, which wants to contest on 75 seats out of a total of 243. The screening committee of Congress for Bihar polls will also meet soon to select the candidates for the upcoming polls. Avinash Pande heads the state's screening panel. The sources said the Congress, being a national party, is keen to contest on at least 70 seats and talks are on with the RJD leadership. The Congress had contested the last assembly polls in 2015 in Bihar as part of the Mahagathbandhan with the RJD and the JDU. While the Congress got 41 seats as part of the seat-sharing arrangement in 2015, the RJD and the JDU contested on 101 seats each. The cancellation of music festivals this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic has led to a huge surplus of cider which is devastating apple growers. Farmers in the West Country say that millions of cider apples that are now ready to be picked and pressed to make the traditional drink will be left to rot instead. The problem has been compounded by the vast amounts of left-over barrels and bottles of cider produced 12 months ago which have gone unsold and are collecting dust on shelves. Julian Temperley (pictured) who owns Somerset Cider Brandy in Kingsbury Episcopi near Martock, Somerset, reckons the cancellation of music festivals has led to one of the worst crises that the cider industry has ever had The closure of festivals such as Glastonbury as well as pubs and restaurants led to demand for traditional apple cider to dry up this year. One leading West Country cider producer fears some farmers will be hit so hard that may end up axing their apple orchards to grow other crops instead. Julian Temperley owns Somerset Cider Brandy in Kingsbury Episcopi, near Martock, Somerset, which produces about 1,500 tonnes of apples across 170 acres of orchards. Mr Temperley, who supplies the Cider Bus at Glastonbury, reckons his staff will produce about 50,000 gallons of cider this year, half of what they usually make, saying: 'For us it is an off year and we havent got a large crop but we have just started and it is going quite well. 'But out there in the normal market there is a glut of cider apples and it's a very sad occurrence.' He said that his company can use apples to make cider brandy which can last for years in barrels, but that other farmers will have to bin their stock. He added: 'Normally at this time of the year the smell of apples hits you when you enter the village, but it will be a smell of rotten fruit this year. 'This is one of the worst crises that the industry has ever had. Matilda Temperley (pictured) is the manager at Somerset Cider Brandy 'As a result of the music festivals and events being cancelled and restaurants and pubs closing the market has dropped like a stone and cider makers have been left with considerable stocks of cider that should have been sold by now. 'I feel very sad for farmers who have orchards full of apples that they can't sell on. We have been getting a lot of farmers phoning up asking if we want to buy their apples this year. 'If you have apples in orchards that can't be sold then you will probably find the grower reaching for the chainsaw as they may as well grow barley instead and the world will be a poorer place for it. Matilda Temperley (pictured) inspects the stocks. 'We [the industry] will survive this year but will end up with huge stocks. 'We are able to turn quite a lot of our apples into Somerset Cider Brandy that can sit in barrels for years. But others won't have that option and will just have to put up with it and let their apples rot.' Mr Temperley, 65, said many apple growers will resort to selling their unwanted fruit to bio-digesters to be turned into bio-gas but there is little profit in that. But on the plus side overwintering birds like thrushes and starlings will have a 'field day' this autumn by feasting on the rotten apples left on the ground. The reduced demand for cider and luxury pressed juices seems to be widespread. Gabriel David who is the founder of Devon-based Luscombe Drinks one of the UK's only organic cider producers said it should have been an absolute vintage year. He told The Observer: 'After such amazing sunny weather in lockdown, the apple blossom was perfect. The bees were everywhere: it was a stunning spring. The owner at Somerset Cider Brandy can also make cider apples into their signature brandy that can sit in barrels for years 'Then it rained at just the right time so our cider apples are bigger, with a higher sugar content, resulting in a greater complexity of flavours.' 'We'd normally supply small chains of cinemas, theatres, pubs, hotels and restaurants. But, with coronavirus, so many venues just aren't open.' David, who relied on the hospitality trade for 80% of sales until early 2020, said the backlog of unsold cider has added to the problem. 'That's where a lot of the wastage is: we're still selling last year's cider, and the cider we're producing now won't sell until February,so we need to produce less.' David normally processes 400 tonnes of apples every year on his five-acre orchard. A quarter of that goes into bottled cider and the rest is pressed into organic apple juice. This figure will be halved this autumn. According to the National Association of Cider Makers, between 170,000 and 200,000 tonnes of cider apples are grown each year in the UK, and 1.4 billion pints of cider are produced. The company's CEO Fenella Tyler said: 'Over the lockdown period, when the hospitality sector was shut, there were around a quarter billion fewer pints of cider sold across the UK. 'It is difficult to predict how many fewer pints will be sold in late summer and autumn when pubs, bars and restaurants have reduced opening times and are only able to accommodate smaller numbers of customers. Kentucky AG to release grand jury recordings in Breonna Taylor case after juror files motion Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Monday that he will release the recording of secret grand jury proceedings that considered charges against three white Louisville police officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor inside her apartment in March. The decision came after an unnamed juror, who argued that Cameron misrepresented the grand jurys deliberations in his announcement last week, filed a court motion seeking a release of the recording as well as permission to speak publicly to set the record straight. Cameron said in a statement published by CBS News that even though the grand jury proceedings are meant to be secret, he would comply with a judges order to release the recording by Wednesday. "The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body," Cameron said. "It's apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen." The juror argued that Cameron did not give the grand jury the option of indicting the two of the officers involved in Taylors fatal shooting. This is something where the juror is not seeking any fame, any acclaim, any money, Kevin M. Glogower, the jurors lawyer, told The New York Times. On Monday, Cameron said that his team presented jurors with a "thorough and complete case. Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sergeant [Jonathan] Mattingly and Detective [Myles] Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker, Cameron said in a statement shared with media outlets. For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment. The attorney general announced last Wednesday that while the shooting death of Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was tragic, the evidence considered in the case could not indict any of the three officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove for her death. They were involved in the fatal shooting incident after breaking into Taylors apartment to execute a no-knock search warrant related to a narcotics probe involving Taylors ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, on March 13. Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment of people in a neighboring apartment, a Class D felony. None of the officers were presented with any charges related to Taylor, who was struck by six bullets. In his detailing of the facts in the case, Cameron said that in the early morning hours of March 13, the officers went to Taylors apartment to execute the warrant and were advised by superiors to knock and announce their presence in serving it. The officers said they both knocked and announced their presence at the apartment, contrary to earlier accusations that they hadnt announced their presence. Their announcement was corroborated by an independent witness who was near Taylors apartment. However, other residents have also said they did not hear the police announce themselves. When no one answered, the officers breached the door. They said Mattingly was the first, and only, officer to enter the residence. He identified two individuals standing beside one another at the end of the hall, a male and female. The male who was identified as Taylors boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was holding a gun, arms extended, in a shooting stance. Mattingly saw the mans gun go off, heard a boom, and immediately knew he was shot because he felt heat in his upper thigh. It was concluded that Walker fired the shot that hit Mattingly and there is no evidence to support that injury by friendly fire from the other officers. Walker admitted that he fired one shot and was the first to shoot. The ballistics report also shows that the round that struck Mattingly was fired from a 9 mm handgun. The officers fired .40 caliber handguns. However, one of Walkers attorney, Steve Romines, said last Wednesday that he had obtained a Louisville Metro Police Department record that shows that Hankison was issued a 9 mm gun, according to USA Today. Mattingly returned fire after releasing six shots. Cosgrove, who was also in the doorway area, shot 16 times. Evidence shows that only one of Taylors six bullet wounds were fatal. Hankison also fired his weapon 10 times, including from outside a sliding-glass door and through a bedroom window. Some bullets traveled through the walls and two other apartments. In one of those apartments, a male, pregnant female and a child were at home. The attorney generals investigation found that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their use of force, after having been fired upon by Walker. The KSP ballistics analysis did not identify which of the three officers fired the fatal shot, a statement from the attorney generals office reads. The FBI Crime Lab was asked to conduct an analysis to see if their analysis reached the same results. The FBI ballistics analysis concluded that the fatal shot was fired by Detective Cosgrove. [Special Prosecution Unit] looked at both reports to determine if there were major differences in the procedures used by each lab that would have led the FBI to identify who fired the fatal shot, the statement continues. Both law enforcement agencies used similar equipment and analysis, but issued different findings. The attorney generals office contends that different conclusions create a reasonable doubt in the evidence about who fired the fatal shot. Glogower told The New York Times that the juror was unsettled by the fact that the grand jury was presented only with possible charges for Hankison, who was fired in June, but not charges for Mattingly or Cosgrove. Legal experts had explained to the newspaper, however, that Kentuckys vigorous self-defense laws made it unlikely that murder charges would be filed against any of the officers because Walker had fired first. We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented, Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, told the New York Times on Monday. Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sergeant Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker. For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment. Ramon McGee, a longtime criminal defense lawyer, said the charges the attorney general presented to the grand jury was not problematic. That is an incorrect assumption on how the grand jury process works, he said. Prosecutors make the decision on what witnesses are called, which evidence is tendered and what charges to recommend. Benjamin Crump, attorney for Taylors family, told CBS News that there were concerns with the investigation. Crump said his team had spoken with 12 witnesses who say they did not hear officers announce themselves during the execution of the warrant. "Daniel Cameron only presented his perspective and didn't present the other 12 neighbors [perspective], Crump said. He has unilaterally made a decision on whether or not Breonna Taylor would ever get due process, whether she would ever get justice, and that is not right. SAN CLEMENTE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Concierge Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB:CNCG), a diversified global holding firm, today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. For the year ended June 30, 2020, the company reported revenues of $26.7 million, compared with $26.9 million for the prior year. Concierge reported net income of $1.77 million, equal to $0.05 per fully diluted share, for fiscal 2020, versus $0.3 million, or $.01 per fully diluted share, for the prior year. Concierge's balance sheet remained strong at fiscal year-end, with $17.6 million in current assets, of which $9.8 million are held in cash and cash equivalents, essentially no debt, and total assets of $24.4 million. The company said that, as expected, results for its operating subsidiaries in the food service, hair and skin care, and security monitoring businesses lagged somewhat in the 4th quarter of fiscal 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a global scale. Despite the 4th quarter slow-down, these businesses all reported profits and near normal operating results. Its financial services business, Wainwright Holdings is the holding company for United States Commodity Funds LLC and USCF Advisers, LLC (together USCF). USCF currently manages ten exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products that are all listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This year has seen significant inflows into commodity funds, including USCF's, raising assets under management ("AUM") from $2.7 billion in 2019 to near $6 billion as of June 30, 2020. Income to USCF is related to AUM through management fees. Concierge said each of its other business units-Gourmet Foods, Brigadier Security Systems and Original Sprout-were all deemed essential businesses within their jurisdictions of New Zealand, Canada and California, respectively, in regard to COVID-19 lockdown orders. None of these businesses were shut down for any period of time and each of them adapted as required to meet safety standards and to continue supplying their customers. Each had a different approach: Gourmet Foods began producing more frozen product to supply households; Brigadier Security Systems took on more work in public buildings and commercial spaces than residential; Original Sprout added an online sales channel to market and also began producing hand sanitizer. Each of them employed cost cutting measures enabling them to maintain projected profitability on reduced gross revenues. "I know I've said this before," commented Nicholas Gerber, Chief Executive Officer of Concierge Technologies. "but the ongoing pandemic has further proven to us that our strategy of creating a diverse, global, holding company is working. Despite entering one of the worst, and most confusing, economic times in recent memory, Concierge continues to be strong and profitable. We're going to keep on doing what we do, building a talented management team around a solid, high quality, platform from which to grow organically or by acquisition of other profitable companies." Business Units Gourmet Foods, https://gourmetfoodsltd.co.nz/, acquired in August 2015, is a commercial-scale bakery that produces and distributes iconic meat pies and pastries throughout New Zealand under the brand names Pat's Pantry and Ponsonby Pies. Brigadier Security Systems, www.brigadiersecurity.com, acquired in June 2016 and headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada, provides comprehensive security solutions to homes and businesses, government offices, schools and other public buildings throughout the province. The company's USCF Investments operation, www.uscfinvestments.com, acquired as part of the Wainwright Holdings transaction in December 2016 and based in Walnut Creek, Calif., serves as manager, operator or investment adviser to 10 exchange traded products, structured as limited partnerships or investment trusts that issue shares trading on the NYSE Arca. Acquired by Concierge at the end of 2017, California-based Original Sprout, www.originalsprout.com , produces and distributes a full line of vegan, safe, non-toxic hair and skin care products, including a "reef safe" sun screen, in the U.S. and its territories, the U.K., E.U., Turkey, Middle East, Africa, Taiwan, Mexico, South America, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. About Concierge Technologies, Inc. Concierge Technologies, originally founded in 1996, was repositioned as a global holding firm in 2015, and currently has operating subsidiaries in financial services, food manufacturing, security systems and beauty products. Offices and manufacturing operations are in the U.S., New Zealand and Canada. For more information, visit www.conciergetechnology.net. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" that include information relating to Concierge Technologies' future events and future financial and operating performance. Such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, growing the business platform and an expectation for its subsidiaries to rebound, or AUM to continue to rise, should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting Concierge Technologies or its subsidiary companies, and more detailed information about the individual operating entities, please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available on the Company's website, (http://www.conciergetechnology.net), or at www.sec.gov. For further information contact: David Neibert, COO dneibert@conciergetechnology.net Tel: 888.805.2229 FINANCIAL TABLES ON FOLLOWING PAGES CONCIERGE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS June 30, 2020 June 30, 2019 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 9,813,188 $ 6,481,815 Accounts receivable, net 717,841 939,649 Accounts receivable - related parties 2,610,917 1,037,146 Inventories 1,174,603 1,008,662 Prepaid income tax and tax receivable 857,793 1,754,369 Investments 1,820,516 3,756,596 Other current assets 603,944 546,105 Total current assets 17,598,802 15,524,342 Restricted cash 12,854 13,436 Property, plant and equipment, net 1,197,192 757,014 Operating lease right-of-use assets 733,917 - Goodwill 915,790 915,790 Intangible assets, net 2,541,285 2,659,723 Deferred tax assets, net 900,878 859,696 Other assets, long - term 523,607 523,607 Total assets $ 24,424,325 $ 21,253,608 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 2,843,616 $ 2,867,081 Expense waivers - related parties 421,892 325,821 Current portion of operating lease liabilities 323,395 - Notes payable - related parties 3,500 3,500 Loans-property and equipment, current portion 13,196 26,241 Total current liabilities 3,605,599 3,222,643 LONG TERM LIABILITIES Notes payable - related parties 600,000 600,000 Loans-property and equipment, net of current portion 359,845 61,057 Long term lease liabilities, net of current portion 447,062 - Deferred tax liabilities 261,923 176,578 Total liabilities 5,274,429 4,060,278 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 50,000,000 authorized Series B: 53,032 issued and outstanding at June 30, 2020 and at June 30, 2019 53 53 Common stock, $0.001 par value; 900,000,000 shares authorized; 37,412,519 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2020 and 37,237,519 at June 30, 2019 37,412 37,237 Additional paid-in capital 9,330,913 9,178,838 Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income (144,744 ) (175,659 ) Retained earnings 9,926,262 8,152,861 Total stockholders' equity 19,149,896 17,193,330 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 24,424,325 $ 21,253,608 CONCIERGE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS Year Ended Year Ended June 30, 2020 June 30, 2019 Net revenue Fund management - related party $ 15,459,061 $ 15,021,439 Food products 4,745,821 4,747,358 Security systems 2,660,153 3,558,580 Beauty products and other 3,883,953 3,621,246 Net revenue 26,748,988 26,948,623 Cost of revenue 6,483,171 6,936,421 Gross profit 20,265,817 20,012,202 Operating expense General and administrative expense 4,447,563 4,205,389 Fund operations 3,176,214 4,494,001 Marketing and advertising 2,601,104 2,910,447 Depreciation and amortization 601,826 702,320 Salaries and compensation 7,523,083 6,944,457 Total operating expenses 18,349,790 19,256,614 Income from operations 1,916,027 755,588 Other income (expense): Other income (expense) 365,250 (484,028 ) Interest and dividend income 96,186 366,796 Interest expense (41,100 ) (29,493 ) Total other income (expense), net 420,336 (146,725 ) Income before income taxes 2,336,363 608,863 Provision of income taxes (562,962 ) (347,014 ) Net income $ 1,773,401 $ 261,849 Weighted average shares of common stock Basic 37,390,524 32,588,418 Diluted 38,451,164 38,298,159 Net income per common share Basic $ 0.05 $ 0.01 Diluted $ 0.05 $ 0.01 CONCIERGE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME The first vessel in an Iranian convoy of ships bringing desperately needed fuel arrived in Venezuela, demonstrating both nations determination to undermine U.S. efforts to isolate the governments in Tehran and Caracas. The Iranian tanker Forest entered Venezuelan waters early on Monday, according to tanker-tracker data collected by Bloomberg. Its heading to El Palito refinery port, said union leader Ivan Freites. Its one of three vessels bringing hundreds of thousands of barrels of the fuel. Following years of mismanagement and operational neglect, national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA is unable to supply the country with gasoline, idling not only millions of cars and buses but also emergency vehicles and trucks delivering food from farms to cities. PIPELINES: Venezuela is tearing apart oil pipelines to sell as scrap metal U.S. sanctions restricting PDVSAs ability to import fuel from international markets have worsened what were once sporadic shortages, touching off days-long queues at filling stations and more frequent unrest. The isolation efforts have also fomented closer strategic ties between Iran and Venezuela as most international oil and shipping companies avoid Venezuela for fear of risking punitive measures by the U.S. On Sunday, General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Iran had received gold bars from Venezuela by plane as payment for gasoline shipments, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. We gave Venezuela gasoline and received gold bars, and we took the gold to Iran on a plane so that nothing could happen to it along the way, the general said, according to Mehr. FUEL FIX: Our energy news. Your inbox. A perfect combination. Two more tankers, the Fortune and Faxon, are expected to arrive in the coming days. This is the second time Iran has provided gasoline to Venezuela since the end of May, when a flotilla of five vessels discharged nearly 1.5 million barrels of Iranian gasoline and fuel additives, as well as parts for local refineries. Irans foreign ministry has said any attempt by the U.S. to stop them will be met with a swift and decisive response. Irans shipments signal Tehrans commitment to aiding its South American ally despite U.S. efforts to stymie such cooperation. In August, the U.S. seized the cargoes of four vessels carrying 1.1 million barrels of Iranian gasoline ostensibly headed for Venezuela. The move was described as the U.S. governments largest-ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran by the Department of Justice, which said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated a foreign terrorist organization, was behind the shipment. U.S. special envoy to Venezuela and Iran Elliot Abrams said recently U.S. sanctions on Venezuela convinced Russia and China not to sell gasoline to Nicolas Maduros regime and alluded to possible snap back sanctions in the coming days. PDVSA and Venezuelas information ministry declined to comment on the shipments. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Circulating Tumor Cell Market Report from Market Research Future (MRFR) highlights deep analysis on market characteristics, sizing, estimates and growth by segmentation Circulating Tumor Cell Market To reach $28,300 million at highest CAGR by 2023. Advancements in biomedical imaging technology and soaring prevalence of cancer to boost growth of Global Circulating Tumor Cell Market. Global Circulating Tumor Cell Market analysis by Application (Research, Drug Development), Technology (CTC Enrichment, CTC Detection), End-User (Hospital & Clinics, Research & Academic Institutes, Diagnostic Centers) Forecast Till 2023. The players dominating the global circulating tumor cell market includes Greiner Bio-One International GmbH, Ikonisys Inc., SRI International, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Miltenyi Biotec, STEMCELL Technologies, QIAGEN Hannover (QIAGEN), Menarini Silicon Biosystems, NanoString Technologies, Inc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, GE Healthcare, Fluxion Biosciences, Inc., Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (Bio-Techne Corporation), ApoCell, and Epic Lifesciences, Celltraffix Inc. Also Read - Global Circulating Tumor Cell Market Overview The circulating tumor cell (CTC) market is anticipated to surpass a valuation of USD 28,300 million, attaining a healthy CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2023), Market Research Future (MRFR) reveals in a detailed analysis. Advent of Cluster Chip Technology to Assist in Circulating Tumor Cell Market Growth The global circulating tumor cell market has gained huge attention over the past few years. The prevalence of CTC has increased in the recent past. The mechanism of CTC is majorly responsible for deaths caused by cancer. Notable progress has been made to develop effective diagnostics and treatment, which encourages the market growth. Healthcare companies are highly focusing on developing solutions, which allow quick and accurate detection of CTC. The soaring prevalence of cancer is one of the prominent factors predicted to influence the growth of the market in the foreseeable future. Majority of deaths caused by cancer are cancers having metastasized, which leads to the field of circulating tumor cells taking on a crucial position in modern oncology. Advancements made in bioengineering and biomedical imaging technology is considered a prominent factor encouraging the market growth. The role of translation research and genomics in the development of methods, which can improve enumeration, detection, and analysis of CTC in patient specimens is predicted to influence the market growth in the coming years. The surging adoption of companion diagnostic option and personalized medicine for the eradication of cancer from the infection site is likely to boost the market growth in the coming years. Moreover, the rising need for diagnosis, oncology screening, and therapy monitoring to determine patients health will elevate the scope for the market in years to come. The advent of Cluster Chip Technology is considered a major factor driving the market for CTC globally. This technology can be used for the isolation of circulating tumor cells from the bloodstream by using a microfluidic device. On the contrary, the dearth of awareness, along with the reluctance for the adoption of advanced CTC technologies are some of the concerns likely to restrict the market growth in the foreseeable future. Global Circulating Tumor Cell Market: Segmental Analysis The circulating tumor cell market is segmented on the basis of application, technology, and end user. By application, the circulating tumor cell market is segmented into research, clinical, and drug development. By technology, the circulating tumor cell market is segmented into CTC detection, CTC enrichment, and combined enrichment and separation of CTC. Of these, the CTC enrichment segment is predicted to gain prominence due to the extensive use of this method as a result of a wide scope of applications in oncology research. The presence of several methods based on electrochemical and physical properties of CTCs for their enrichment also enhances the market growth in the CTC enrichment segment. By end user, the market comprises research and academic institutes, hospitals and clinics, and diagnostic centers. Regional Analysis: Geographically, the circulating tumor cell market spans across South America, North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa. Considering the global scenario, North America will dominate the global market and is likely to retain its dominance in the foreseeable future. The highly advanced state of the healthcare industry in the region is considered a key factor conducive for the healthy growth of the market in the region. The soaring incidences of cancer, coupled with the rising efforts to enhance and update the means to combat the disease, are predicted to trigger the demand from the circulating tumor cell market. The Asia Pacific is predicted to demonstrate a healthy growth in the coming years owing to the soaring healthcare expenditure, especially in emerging economies, coupled with the surging prevalence of cancer among the population. Moreover, international companies are showing interest to expand their business in countries like China and India, which will further encourage the market growth. Also, the presence of untapped opportunities in these economies is predicted to augment the market share. Browse more information at: Industry Updates June 2019: A team of researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has recently developed a non-invasive device which can detect circulating tumor cells as well as blast them away at the same time. This device, Cytophone, can employ a laser which heats the CTCs and detects them with ultrasound before turning up the heat to kill them. Related Reports Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Market North America Hearing Aid Market About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. A Yorkshire landowner has been issued a 10,000 fine after allowing a wedding celebration on his farm despite the current Covid-19 regulations. Police received reports of between 100 and 300 people present on land at Scarecrow Farm, New Farnley, near Leeds on Saturday (26 September). Officers attended the area and confirmed there was a large number of people and loud music around a marquee in woods, in breach of Covid-19 regulations. A number of vehicles were still entering the site and police resources were deployed to block the entrance and prevent anyone else attending. While officers were working to identify the organisers, large numbers of people began to leave the site both on foot and in vehicles, with the event having fully dispersed by around 9.30pm. Officers continued to monitor the site overnight and returned on Sunday morning to seize two industrial-size generators that had been used for the event. A 49-year-old man was identified as being one of the landowners and was reported for summons for holding a gathering of more than 30 people in breach of legislation, which carries a 10,000 fine. Police have now warned other landowners and farmers against allowing large gatherings that breach coronavirus regulations. Leeds District Commander, Chief Superintendent Damien Miller said: This large-scale event was an absolutely blatant breach of the restrictions that are in place to keep our communities safe. It is even more appalling that it came only the day after widespread media coverage highlighting the increased restrictions in Leeds that have been put in place to address recent rises in rates. Everyone should know by now what is expected of them, and no-one can be in any doubt that large gatherings such as this are completely unacceptable." Auryn and Eastmain Announce Completion of C$23 Million Equity Financing Posted by Publisher Internet Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX: AUG, NYSE American: AUG) (?Auryn? or the ?Company? https://www.commodity-tv.com/play/auryn-resources-update-on-upcoming-proposed-project-spin-outs/) and Eastmain Resources Inc. (TSX: ER) (?Eastmain?) are pleased to jointly announce that Auryn has today completed the equity financing announced August 31, 2020 by raising C$23 million through the issuance of 7,750,000 subscription receipts (the ?Subscription Receipts?). The bought-deal financing was co-led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Beacon Securities Limited. The Subscription Receipts will be exchanged for common shares of Fury Gold (as defined below) concurrently with the release of the escrowed proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts as the final step of the previously announced plan of arrangement transactions pursuant to which Auryn is reorganized and acquires Eastmain (the ?Transaction?). Under the Transaction, Auryn will acquire Eastmain after spinning out Auryn?s Peruvian assets into two new companies and distributing the shares of those new companies to Auryn shareholders. The Transaction will also create Fury Gold Mines Limited (?Fury Gold?), a leading developer of Canadian gold projects. The sale of the Subscription Receipts fulfills a principal closing condition for the Transaction. A Message from Ivan Bebek, Executive Chairman & Director of Auryn: ?This financing is an integral part of the Fury business plan of building a Canadian gold mining company. The financing fulfills one of the key closing conditions of the Transaction with Eastmain, which we expect to close on October 9, 2020. ?The fully funded 50,000-meter drill program at and around the Eau Claire deposit in Quebec will be a significant catalyst for investors. We appreciate the continued support of the Auryn shareholders who participated and welcome the new future Fury shareholders.? A Message from Blair Schultz, Interim President & CEO of Eastmain: ?This financing puts Fury Gold in a strong position to deliver on its plans to expand the Eau Claire deposit and explore several of the untested targets in Quebec as a first step in increasing potential value for shareholders.??? Of the Subscription Receipts sold, 5,000,000 were flow-through at a price of C$3.50 each and will be exchanged for Fury Gold common shares designated as ?flow-through shares?, while 2,750,000 Subscription Receipts were sold as non-flow-through and will be exchanged for Fury Gold common shares. Pricing of the Subscription Receipts is reflective of Auryn?s Peruvian assets being spun-out to Auryn shareholders prior to the Subscription Receipts being exchanged for Fury Gold shares. The Fury Gold ?flow-though shares? will be identical to its ordinary common shares, except that they will provide certain Canadian income tax deductions to the buyers related to the use of the proceeds for mineral exploration in Quebec. Further details regarding the Transaction, including its principal completion conditions can be found in each of the Company?s and Eastmain?s management information circulars dated September 3, 2020 and filed under each of their profiles at www.sedar.com. These securities will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. These securities have been sold and this announcement appears as a matter of record only. About Auryn Auryn Resources is a technically-driven, well-financed junior exploration company focused on finding and advancing globally significant precious and base metal deposits. The Company built a portfolio of six projects in Canada and Peru containing gold, silver and copper?resources and exploration targets. On July 29, 2020, Auryn announced its intention?to spin out its Peruvian assets into two new companies and acquire Eastmain, creating a Canadian gold-focused exploration and development company?to be renamed as Fury Gold Mines Limited. The Company?s two flagship Canadian properties are the Committee Bay gold project in Nunavut and Homestake gold project in British Columbia for which an amended preliminary economic assessment was filed effective June 24, 2020. Upon closing of the?Transaction, expected in?October?2020, Fury Gold?s three core assets?will comprise of?Eau Claire in Quebec, Committee Bay and Homestake Ridge. Auryn shareholders, invested prior to the completion of the?transactions, will become shareholders of Fury Gold and?will also receive?shares in the two new?Canadian?spin out companies, one holding the Sombrero copper-gold project, and the other holding both the Curibaya silver-gold project and Huilacollo gold project. Auryn\-\-s technical and management teams have an impressive track-record of successfully monetizing assets for all stakeholders and local communities in which it operates. Auryn conducts itself to the highest standards of corporate governance and sustainability. For more information on the company and the transactions, please visit?www.aurynresources.com. About Eastmain Eastmain is a Canadian exploration company operating in the Eeyou Istchee emerging James Bay gold camp in Quebec. Eastmain holds a 100%-interest in the Clearwater Property, host of the Eau Claire Project, for which it issued a Preliminary Economic Assessment in May 2018, and the Percival Discovery made in November 2018. Eastmain is also the operator of the Eleonore South Joint Venture, located immediately south of Newmont?s Eleonore Mine, which hosts the Moni/Contact Trend Discovery (2017) Forward Looking Information and Additional Cautionary Language This release includes certain statements that may be deemed \forward-looking statements\. Forward looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to or associated with the Transaction, including the expected closing date and the benefits of the Transaction, and the use of proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to the risks discussed in the Company\-\-s Annual Information Form and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent continuous disclosure filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators available at www.sedar.com and the Company\-\-s registration statement on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES A group of 70 senior government officials who formerly worked with various Republican administration, including Reagan's and Bush's, endorsed U.S. President Donald trump for re-election on Monday. They former government officials cited his accomplishments on foreign policy and national security. In an open letter, 70 former officials, which includes governors, senators, national security advisers, military generals, and ambassadors from the Trump, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Reagan, Nixon and Ford administrations, lauded Trump. This in terms of his efforts to keep a "strong foreign and national security policy in America's interests." The letter stated that they believe that a president's duty and loyalty are owed first and foremost to the American people and not the international community. The letter added that for all of these reasons, they have decided that Donald J. Trump should be re-elected as President of the country. The following are the names that led the initiative: KT McFarland, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump; Christopher Burnham, the former assistant secretary of the State Department and Under Secretary General of the United Nations during George W. Bush's presidency; Charles Glazer, the former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador under Bush; and Deroy Murdock, a former member of the Department of Education during the Reagan administration. Burnham said that Trump has achieved a remarkable number of successes on behalf of our nation. Burnham added that the opponent bristles at his methods, but the scoreboard shows something. The former official added that America is winning and they want to keep winning, adding that they are urging their fellow Americans to vote for Donald Trump. Other notable signatories include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani This also includes Germany's past U.S. ambassador Ric Grenell and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. The authors noted Trump's imposition of sanctions on Iran, North Korea, Russia and China. They also cited Trump's efforts in securing additional funding from NATO allies, as well as the peace deal that he helped forged between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The authors also mentioned his authorization of a drone strike killed Iran's top security and intelligence commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Glazer said Trump's foreign policy has strengthened America's national security, advanced the cause of peace in the Middle East. They also added that it has held the Chinese, Russia, and Iranian governments accountable. Glazer also said that Trump has and will continue to have the fortitude and leadership to keep American safe, at home and abroad. Trump has a 46 percent approval rating on foreign policy, which is slightly below his overall job approval rating of 48 percent, according to a Fox News poll published on Sept. 13. Meanwhile, reports said that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is leading Trump in the national polls for the presidential election. However, this does not guarantee Biden's victory. Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton also had a clear lead over Trump in the polls for almost the entire 2016 campaign. However, she ended up losing in the electoral college. Check thse out! Mother of baby abandoned in Patong found, arrested PHUKET: After nearly a week of searching, police have tracked down and taken into custody the mother of the newborn boy found abandoned in Patong last Wednesday (Sept 23). By The Phuket News Tuesday 29 September 2020, 06:34PM Ms Ei Ei Phyu breaks down into tears after police found her at a workers camp in Surat Thani province. Photo: Patong Police The mother was placed under arrest for child endangerment in Surat Thani yesterday, Patong Police Chief Col Aganit Danpitaksat explained at a press conference at Patong Police Station this morning (Sept 29). The mother, named as Myanmar national Ei Ei Phyu, 40, was arrested at a workers camp in Tambon Tapan, Phunphin District, Col Aganit said. Col Aganit explained that the officers checked CCTV footage in the area around Aroonsom Square plaza, where the baby was found, to Soi Eden, off Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd. Police showed Myanmar workers living in the street images from the CCTV footage and asked if they knew the woman. Officers were told that the woman was also a Myanmar national and used to work for an Indian restaurant in Patong. The restaurant owner confirmed that he knew the woman and confirmed her identity, Col Aganit said. One of the Myanmar workers police questioned said that the mother had taken a passenger van from Surat Thani to Patong to visit her friend and stay for a night. In the morning, she took a bus from Patong to Phuket Town, Col Aganit said. Officers then checked bus services from Phuket to Surat Thani, and confirmed that Ms Ei Ei Phyu had disembarked a bus in Phunphin District. Police checked with hospitals in the area and confirmed that she had given birth to the boy at Tha Rong Chang Hospital on Sept 9, Col Aganit said, without revealing the name of the boy. Police went to the location of her address given by the hospital and found Ms Ei Ei Phyu at a workers camp in Tambon Tapan, he said. Col Aganit confirmed that Ei Ei Phyu had been brought back to Patong Police Station and changed with Abandonment of a Child under Section 308 of the Criminal Code. As such, Ms Ei Ei Phyu now faces up to three years imprisonment or a fine of up to B6,000, or both. Col Aganit confirmed to The Phuket News this evening that officers from the Phuket office of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security had been informed of Ms Ei Ei Phyus situation. They will come to help Ms Ei Ei Phyu, but we dont know when. Tomorrow, she will be taken to Phuket Provincial Court in the morning, Col Aganit said. Col Aganit explained that Ms Ei Ei Phyu already had one child, but was abandoned by her husband when she became pregnant with her second, the now newborn boy. The restaurant in Patong where she worked closed due to the COVID-19 economic crisis, and unable to cope financially Ms Ei Ei Phyu sent her firstborn back to Myanmar. Ms Ei Ei Phyu found work in Surat Thani, and moved there, where she gave birth to the boy. She did not have enough money to support her second child, so she decided to take public transportation from Surat Thani province to Phuket to leave her child here in the hope that he would be found safe and that someone else would be able to take better care of him, Col Aganit explained. Additional reporting Eakkapop Thongtub Franklin Templeton Asset Management India has assured unitholders that there was no misutilisation of funds as the books of six shut schemes were regularly audited. The fund house also said that markets regulator Sebi should handle any issues related to mutual funds rather than Economic Offence Wing (EOW). "We have the utmost respect for all statutory authorities including EOW, however we believe that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the specialised regulator for the securities market, is best placed to handle any issues related to mutual fund investments," the fund house President Sanjay Sapre said in a letter to investors. He, further, said the books of the six impacted schemes are regularly audited by internal auditors, statutory auditors, auditors appointed by the regulators among others and "none of them have ever made any observation regarding misutilization of funds by the schemes". Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund shut six debt mutual funds on April 23 citing unfavourable conditions in the debt market due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Chennai Police registered a first information report (FIR) against the fund house for an alleged criminal conspiracy to defraud investors. In addition, the fund house said the press release issued by Chennai Financial Markets & Accountability (CFMA) citing the FIR, was replete with various misleading and baseless allegations. CFMA accused the fund house and its top management of conspiracy to defraud 3 lakh investors by causing wrongful loss to them and unlawful gain to themselves. "Please do not believe un-substantiated rumours and baseless accusations. While we cannot comment on the FIR as we have not seen its contents," Sapre said. "Since the business has been carried out in compliance with the applicable laws and all decisions were taken in the best interest of our unit holders, we are confident about the outcome of any true and fair investigation conducted in this regard," he added. The fund houses that the schemes under winding up had received over Rs 7,184 crore from maturities, prepayments and coupons since closure. In addition, four out of the six schemes are already cash positive. "These amounts have been generated without the ability to efficiently monetise the portfolio," Franklin Templeton said. The fund house reiterated that it acted in the best interest of unitholders. "Our focus remains on maximizing value for unitholders in these schemes and returning monies as soon as possible in accordance with the applicable regulations, subject to the decision of the Karnataka High Court," Franklin Templeton said. ZURICH, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitto , a leading provider of global omnichannel communications solutions, today announced it now supports application-to-person (A2P) messaging via all major chat apps, extending brands' ability to engage with customers on their preferred channels. Mitto's extended A2P support for all major chat apps coincides with new research from the company, which reveals insights into consumer preferences and use of chat apps across five countries: the U.S., China, India, Brazil and Nigeria. The findings from 600 respondents in each country show increased consumer use of messaging platforms and apps for both personal use and to engage with brands, which are seeking new channels to effectively interact with their customers where they are and in ways that fit seamlessly into their lifestyle. Mitto's research found that over 80% of consumers in China, Brazil, India and Nigeria use chat apps for brand engagement, significantly higher than in the U.S. (51%), highlighting for U.S. brands the importance of using chat apps to effectively reach consumers abroad. Mitto found strong parallels globally among the chat apps consumers report using the most for personal use and for brand engagement, suggesting chat apps are used interchangeably for both purposes. The research also found the most popular chat apps used to engage with brands outside the U.S. were WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. In the U.S, however, Facebook Messenger ranks as the most popular chat app for brand engagement, followed by WhatsApp and Discord. Which of the following chat apps do you use regularly to engage with brands? Chat App Country U.S China Brazil India Nigeria Discord 7.8% 20.7% 10.8% 15.2% 5.3% Facebook 52.5 38.8 60.7 67.8 57.2 Line 4.8 17.7 4.2 15 5.3 Telegram 6.8 12.5 35 53.3 44.5 Viber 5.3 4.0 4.5 14.8 4.7 WeChat 6.7 35.0 5.8 24.5 9.8 WhatsApp 20.8 54.5 76.3 86 74.8 "Mitto's expanded A2P business messaging support for chat apps will give our clients the ability to connect with global consumers where they're already at: on their phones, on their preferred chat apps," said Sandro Stupar, Director of Product Management at Mitto. "Across the world, consumers are demanding more from the brands with which they engage, and this extends into how and where they communicate. At Mitto, we work with our customers to identify how to best reach their target customers and we ensure quality delivery over the best channel. Chat apps represent massive opportunities for brands to organically drive positive customer experiences." With billions of users worldwide, chat apps present critical and robust engagement channels for brands to reach their customers. Mitto's A2P business messaging support for chat apps give global brands new ways to deliver reliable, rich and high-quality communications with their customers that can drive loyalty and engagement, particularly set against the backdrop of our new contactless world. Since the start of COVID-19, Mitto's research found a rise in the use of chat apps for brand engagement among consumers in all five countries surveyed, however the rise has been most prominent in India (73%), Nigeria (71%), China (66%) and Brazil (61%). In the U.S. only 32% of consumers report using chat apps more since the pandemic began. With Mitto business messages, brands seeking to engage their customers via chat apps can send content-rich messages of up 3,000 characters, depending on the specific app -- compared to 160 with SMS -- that include images, videos, expressive content, interactive buttons and links, and live message status updates, all in a native and brand-safe environment. This rich communication channel, combined with Mitto's intelligent, AI-powered A2P traffic routing for fast, reliable delivery every time, gives brands personalized and high-impact ways to engage a global audience with simple and seamless integration. Mitto customers receive actionable insight into how users interact with their chat app messages, including whether the message has been viewed by the recipient. According to Mitto's research, consumers engage with brands on chat apps across a range of industries: What industry do you most often engage with on chat apps? Industry Country U.S China Brazil India Nigeria Retail/E-Commerce 36.1% 33% 48% 60.2% 53.3% Finance/Banking 20.5 30.9 42.3 54.3 46.5 Travel 16.7 27 27.8 44.3 23.8 Food/Delivery Services 39.1 33.2 68.2 63.3 42 Gaming 28.3 45.2 44 47.8 34.3 Other 20.5 4 6.2 4.2 13.8 When asked what types of messages they'd like to receive more from brands on chat apps, consumers were especially opinionated on promotions/sales, satisfaction surveys and order updates: What types of messages would you like to receive more of from brands on chat apps? Types of messages Country U.S China Brazil India Nigeria One-time PIN codes 17.8% 27.4% 23.7% 42.5% 26.8% Promotions/Sales 39.3 32.6 67.8 60.2 62.8 Order updates 27.2 29.2 38.7 53 44.2 Company updates 18 27.8 30.3 51.5 46 Satisfaction surveys 20.3 21.8 42.8 48 48 Customer support 28.5 24.1 37 51.2 46.3 Mitto's support for chat apps comes as the company has rapidly expanded its offerings and capabilities over the past two quarters. Last month, Mitto extended direct connectivity to the top three MNOs in Japan -- where the company now delivers secure routing of A2P SMS into 90% of the country -- and in June Mitto added Verified SMS by Google to strengthen trust between brands and their customers. In addition to chat app support, the company offers a full suite of CPaaS APIs including SMS, RCS, voice, 2FA and mobile intelligence anywhere in the world. Enablement of chat apps for business messaging is available to customers everywhere the apps are available. About Mitto: Mitto is a leading provider of global, omnichannel communications solutions, supporting business growth with advanced customer engagement technology and messaging enablement. Offering easy-to-integrate SMS, Voice, and Chat App APIs, next-generation business messaging, and end-to-end phone number management, Mitto's platform ensures the world's largest brands and MNOs are ready for what's next. Follow Mitto on Twitter: @mittoglobal Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Mitto (Left) President Donald Trump in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 16, 2020. (Right) Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Del., on July 28, 2020. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) An Economists Guide to the Sept. 29 Presidential Debate Commentary As an economist, Im often asked by fellow investors how to interpret news events and make sense of upcoming announcements: What does it mean if this happens, or what does it mean if that happens? Tonight (Sept. 29) is the first presidential debate between Democratic Party nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, and the incumbent, Republican President Donald Trump. The debate will start at 9 p.m. Eastern time (6 p.m. Pacific Time) and last for 90 minutes, according to the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. There will be six topics, with each segment set to last 15 minutes. According to the commissions website: Subject to possible changes because of news developments, the topics for the September 29 debate are as follows, not necessarily to be brought up in this order: The Trump and Biden Records The Supreme Court COVID-19 The Economy Race and Violence in Our Cities The Integrity of the Election By far, the most important thing to consider, from the perspective of trying to predict responses from the financial markets, is how the debate may affect the electorate. Predictions show that Biden appears poised to get 279 electoral votes from states, not including those listed as barely Democratic, while Trump currently stands at 120 electoral votes, not including those listed as barely Republican, according to Electoral-Vote.com, which tracks state-by-state polling data and shows what that data might mean for votes in the Electoral College. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House. If Trump is seen to have done well enough to sway voters in barely Democratic states plus the two exactly tied states (Iowa and Texas) and any of the three Rust Belt states that voted for him in 2016 (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania), then his chances of winning will be seen to go up. Markets like continuityequity markets generally go up the year after an incumbent president wins reelection and the U.S. stock market, before COVID-19, particularly liked the current administrations rollback of regulations. This time, markets likely will be assessing a higher probability of a new coronavirus relief package under a Biden presidency versus a likely much lighter tax and regulatory regime under Trump. They might also have to start thinking about what a Biden-stacked Supreme Court might look like for business-related cases. So the most important thing the markets will be assessing is the increased chances of winning for either of the major party candidates. Within the details of the debate, any new revelations regarding policy will matter. On matters of geopolitics, there might be discussion about China, Iran, the UK, or Europe. These might all reflect a candidates industrial policy (favoring U.S. businesses over others) and trade policy as well. Any such revelations might have tremendous importance for any particular industry affected directly by that industrial or trade policy. Agriculture investors might especially be listening regarding geopolitics and trade. With severe flooding taking place in China and with Iowa polls showing the candidates in a virtual tie, agriculture might take on special political significance this year. Investors will want to pay attention. There may also be discussion of energy policycheap energy is good for manufacturing, while expensive energy will generally drive up the costs of manufacturing. Of course, the outlook for energy-related companies and the regions where their activity takes place might also be affected. Places where extracting carbon-based energy is especially important include Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas, while the manufacturing base is especially important in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. While those are the most consequential industries, many smaller industries also may be affected. Investors in companies that would benefit from increased trade with Mexico might perceive a benefit from a clear Biden win at the debates. Investors in private prison companies would likely cheer a strong performance by Trump. While the role of the economist is not to predict the news, in cases such as a presidential debate, its good to help investors be prepared. There are only a finite number of likely outcomes: Biden does really well, Biden does slightly better, neither candidate dominates, Trump does slightly better, or Trump does really well. Its good to think ahead of time how the markets are likely to respond to each of these scenarios. But like a good blackjack player who moves his bets up and down based on probabilities, investors are cautioned to keep in mind they are dealing only with probabilities and to keep invested for the long run. The role of the economist is to help investors develop their own understanding of how probabilities might change based on possible outcomes of the expected event, in this case, the first presidential debate. Tim Shaler is a professional investor and economist based in Southern California. He is a regular columnist for The Epoch Times, where he exclusively provides some of his original economic analysis. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The media has a profound effect on public opinion in an election year. They also have a great responsibility. Whether reporting on candidates and campaigns, providing a platform for debate and discussion, or educating voters, the media is a critical player during an election year. The Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series will bring together notable University of Miami alumni on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. for an online discussion, The Role of Media in an Election Year. Experts spanning the communications industry will share their perspectives on the medias role and responsibility covering political campaigns and elections. The speakers include Alex Ferrer, J.D. 86, attorney and retired Florida Circuit Court Judge and former host of the nationally syndicated court show Judge Alex; Cynthia Hudson, A.B. 85, M.A. 97, senior vice president, CNN en Espanol; Chuck Todd, Hon. 14, political director for NBC News and moderator of Meet the Press; and Maribel Perez Wadsworth, B.S.C. 93, president at Gannett Media and publisher of USA Today. The Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series was established in 1995 through the generous support of Stu Bloch, A.B. 64, and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch. The series recognizes and celebrates University of Miami alumni who have distinguished themselves and their alma mater through lifetime achievement and professional accomplishments. It also serves to foster intellectual dialogue among the University of Miami community and encourage the lifelong pursuit of learning. Register to attend the virtual event here. Video shot by the self-proclaimed Artsakh Defense Army showed images of a burned out tank which they claimed belonged to the Azerbaijan military. The clashes were the latest flare-up of a long-running conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan, which also declared martial law, said its forces responded to Armenian shelling and that five members of one family had been killed by Armenian shelling. The violence prompted a flurry of diplomacy to reduce the new tensions in a decades-old conflict between majority Christian Armenia and mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, with Russia calling for an immediate ceasefire and another regional power, Turkey, saying it would support Azerbaijan. The MEA said that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947 New Delhi: India on Tuesday said it has conveyed its strong protest to Pakistan over announcement of elections to the "so-called Gilgit-Baltistan" legislative assembly next month, holding that the "cosmetic exercises" are intended to camouflage the "illegal" occupation of the region by Islamabad. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said actions like holding of elections in the region can neither hide the "illegal occupation" of parts of Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Islamabad nor the "grave human rights violations and exploitation" of people in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. Pakistan has announced that elections for the legislative assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan will be held on 15 November. "The government of India has conveyed its strong protest to the government of Pakistan and reiterated that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947," the MEA said in a statement. The MEA said Pakistan has no locus standi on territories "illegally and forcibly occupied" by it. "Action such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades," it said. "These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation," the MEA said. The MEA also asked Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation. In a ruling earlier this year, the Pakistan Supreme Court allowed Islamabad to amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct general elections in the region. The Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018 provided for administrative changes, including authorising the prime minister of Pakistan to legislate on an array of subjects. Following the verdict, India issued a demarche to a senior Pakistani diplomat here and lodged a strong protest over the apex court ruling. The polls in Gilgit-Baltistan were to be held on 18 August, but Pakistan's election commission on 11 July postponed them due to the coronavirus pandemic. Republican Tony Gonzales and Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, the two candidates in the battleground Texas 23rd Congressional District, will participate in their first televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 8. The debate will be live taking place in Uvalde and broadcast at 7 p.m. on KSAT-12. The 23rd, a perennial swing district stretching from San Antonio to El Paso and covering 800 miles of border, is expected to be one of Texas most competitive races for the House of Representatives this fall. Gonzales, a former Navy cryptologist, is running to replace retiring GOP Rep. Will Hurd after a long-fought primary victory. Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer, is seeking the seat for a second time after nearly upsetting Hurd in 2018. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race lean Democratic. KNOW THE CANDIDATES: 2020 San Antonio Express-News Voter Guide Jones announced the debate schedule in a press release on Tuesday, following weeks of public pressure from her Republican opponent. Gonzales had launched a website Where is Gina? that said hed challenged Jones to three debates that she hadnt yet accepted. Jones campaign said the candidate had agreed to KSAT event on Sept. 16 but didnt announce the details until Tuesday. Her spokeswoman told the Texas Tribune on Sept. 4 that Jones was looking forward to debating. In the Tuesday release, Jones said she would also participate in a debate on Oct. 13 in the El Paso media market. The debate would take place virtually, the release said, with further details to be announced. But Gonzales campaign spokesman Matt Mackowiak said that debate is still under discussion because Jones is demanding to debate via Zoom because she refuses to travel to El Paso. TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Jones campaign spokeswoman Sharon Yang said El Pasos KVIA invited both candidates to a virtual debate to protect the health of El Pasoans as cases once again rise in the area. Gina Ortiz Jones has always put the health of South and West Texans first, which is why she accepted this invitation and why shes fighting for quality, affordable health care, Yang said in an email. Mackowiak said thats an incoherent position, given that Jones will travel from San Antonio to Uvalde for the KSAT debate on Oct. 8. Has she not been in El Paso since March? Mackowiak said. Tony has been there several times, including yesterday and today. This is a large district. It requires a member of Congress who is willing to travel and meet with constituents. Under the Mamatas Kitchen initiative, migrant workers will be provided meals at just Rs 5 from 11 am to 3 pm every day The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has launched the Didir Rannaghar' (Mamata's Kitchen) scheme in West Bengal to provide meals to migrant workers at Rs 5 only. The aim of the scheme is to support the migrant workers who suffered financially due to the coronavirus pandemic outbreak and the subsequent lockdown that left them with no means to earn their livelihood. According to a News18 report, under the Mamatas Kitchen initiative, migrant workers will be provided meals at just Rs 5 from 11 am to 3 pm every day. The meals provided at Didir Rannaghar will primarily be vegetarian and the menu will change every day. The migrant workers will be served rice, dal (pulses), shukto (vegetable stew), Khichdi (pot rice cooked with lentils and spices), and papad. Three of these Mamatas Kitchens located in Howrah, Belgachia, and Barrackpore - have already started serving meals to the migrants. However, the West Bengal government plans to start more of these across the state with the help of various party clubs, to provide wholesome meals to the needy as Bengal is set to drown itself in festivities with the commencement of Durga Puja. Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, we have decided to stand beside the people, primarily those belonging to the underprivileged sections/unorganised sectors as they have suffered a lot due to the pandemic situation. We are hopeful that Didir Rannaghar will benefit them immensely, TMC MLA Tapas Roy said. He informed that the party is also planning to donate clothes to the poor so that they can wear new clothes during Durga Puja. The party has guaranteed proper hygiene at these kitchens. To make the initiative popular, posters containing messages on public hygiene will also be put up. Meanwhile, the CPI (M) in Bengal has already launched almost 700 such kitchens across the state under the name Sramojibi canteen. They have also started 50 health clinics for those who cannot pay for healthcare facilities. Les Schwab timeline 1917: Les Schwab born in Bend. He was schooled in the Brooks Scanlon logging camp, in a railroad boxcar with holes cut in the side. He had three newspaper delivery routes, picking up the papers with the log train and delivering The Oregonian, The Oregon Journal and the Merged News Telegram during the noon hour. 1936: Marries Dorothy Schwab at age 18. 1952: Les Schwab, 34, buys OK Rubber Welders tire shop in Prineville with an $11,000 loan from his brother-in-law and $3,500 from selling his home and borrowing on his life insurance. At the time, Schwab later said, hed never fixed a flat tire. Sales quintupled over the next year, to $155,000. Within three years Schwab had Les Schwab Tire Centers in Bend and Madras. 1971: Son Harlan Schwab dies in car wreck at age 31. 1980: Schwab Tire has 71 stores. 1983: Phil Wick takes over as Schwab Tires president but Les Schwab remains closely involved in the business. 1986: Schwab Tire opens its 100th store. 2004: Schwab Tire hits $1 billion in annual sales. 2005: Les Schwabs surviving child, Margie Denton, dies of cancer. 2007: Les Schwab dies at age 89. 2008: Schwab Tire moves its headquarters from Prineville to Bend. 2016: Dorothy Schwab dies at age 98. 2019: Schwab Tire hires Goldman Sachs to broker sale of the business. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 00:01:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The first residential building in Germany to be built with a 3D printer was under construction, the local state government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) announced on Tuesday. Using a nozzle, the printer applied the layers of cement-based mortar or concrete to build up the walls of the two-story detached house in the German town Beckum, according to the NRW state government. "We are proud that the first house to be 3D printed is being built in our federal state," said Ina Scharrenbach, NRW minister for homeland, municipal affairs, construction and equality. "This makes North Rhine-Westphalia a pioneer for Germany." The local government supported the project with 200,000 euros (234,000 U.S. dollars) and was hoping for results and experiences that would be exemplary for the entire construction industry. "The interest in methods for automated building construction is currently flourishing worldwide and the number of research initiatives is constantly increasing," the NRW government noted. The digitization of the construction industry was promoted by the state ministry which budgeted 750,000 euros in funding for this purpose, according to the NRW government. Enditem Dalwhinnie Farms Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational cannabis in 2014 and has since experienced a modern-day green rush with marijuana sales hitting a record $1.75 billion last year. And so, if there were ever a town where Rolex products could share space with and pre-rolled joints, it would be Aspen. Renowned for its glamorous ski season, the Rocky Mountain haven is a glitzy playground of the rich and famous and a fitting location for a new breed of ultra-luxe dispensary. Dedicated to premium cannabis products and fine goods, according to Dalwhinnie Farms CEO Terry Mendez, the concept for his pioneering Aspen boutique came with the vision of cannabis fitting into the bigger picture of a high-end lifestyle. Our goal is to destigmatize and demystify cannabis, normalize it as part of a healthy routine, and create a destination where aficionados can enjoy a unique and exclusive buying experience, he says of the boutique, which soft-launched on Labor Day. Dalwhinnie Farms An Elite Shopping Experience Less taboo, more Tom Ford, the store was conceptualized in partnership with TerraRose Design Labs and enjoys a prominent position on Mill Street a stones throw from Aspen landmark, Hotel Jerome. The horses and western heritage aesthetic isn't just creative styling either. Dalwhinnie Farms gets its name from a dressage ranch that now houses its state-of-the-art cultivation facility near Telluride at the base of the San Juan Mountains a beautiful place to grow connoisseur grade cannabis. With the boutique, Mendez hopes to challenge preconceived notions about the typical dispensary experience. Dalwhinnie Farms is the first step in setting a new standard for cannabis, similar to what customers have come to expect in shopping for premium wine and spirits, and other luxury goods, he says. Once inside reservations can be made in advance with private appointments coming soon customers receive top customer service from Dalwhinnies budtenders who not only help with cannabis selection but provide background on every hand-selected piece within the store. Dalwhinnie Farms Purveyors of Fine Colorado Cannabis The Aspen experience is all about ultra-luxury, and Dalwhinnie Farms had to meet that standard, says Mendez. The environment here feels more like eclectic bazaar that features a well-curated selection of art, textiles and rare, fine goods alongside premium cannabis. Designer apparel, jewelry and home goods share space with cannabis products and showpiece accessories, including fine leather goods by Tica, Pasotti umbrellas, Badash crystal ashtrays, and chic cannabis accessories such as handmade ceramic bongs by Summerland and Stonedware. Mendez says a commitment to delivering an amazing experience is at the heart of creating Dalwhinnies namesake premium proprietary strains, which are meticulously grown using organic nutrients and AI-based environmental controls. Creating connoisseur grade cannabis starts with geneticswe select, and breed cultivars based on carefully analyzed cannabinoid and terpene content. Staunch environmental advocates dedicated to the communities they do business in, Dalwhinnies sustainable cultivation methods include a geothermal cooling system and facility irrigation captured and returned clean to the nearby Uncompahgre River in Ridgway. They have also sponsored several roadway clean-ups in Aspen. Dalwhinnie Farms Western Heritage With roots in Colorado, Aspen makes the perfect home for the Dalwhinnie Farms brand, who despite opening during COVID, has seen a positive response from locals and a steady increase in foot traffic. By reimagining the dispensary layout, the design ushers in a new era of cannabis retail, raising the bar and accomplishing a look and feel that rivals any mainstream store, says Mendez. The aim is to create an environment that encourages customer engagement and discovery: one inviting people to shop, explore and return for more. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. find Dalwhinnie Farms at 108 S Mill Street. Dalwhinnie Farms After calling out Khaligraph Jones as a deadbeat dad on social media, femcee Karimi Muriungi alias Cashy has opened up more about why she decided to go public. I have been quietly handling the matter for almost a year now but its getting stalled more and more, yet the kid needs support. After we broke up, I didnt talk about the paternity of my child as I wanted to keep the matter private, because I felt the media would twist the story, she said. Cashy claims that efforts to communicate with Khaligraph proved futile as hes been blocking and unblocking her. She noted that the Tuma Kitu rapper has been asking for photos of their son, Xolani, and painting a picture of a responsible dad to his daughter on social media. I started actively following up on the matter after delivering and graduating- I sent him a demand letter. He knew the baby is his because we were together when I was pregnant. Hes been asking for the babys pictures, talking to my parents but does nothing for our child. Meanwhile, hes trying to paint this picture that hes a good dad on social media yet hes not taking care of our son at all. Because of this habit of blocking my number and speaking to me when he feels like, I opted to seek justice for our son through the legal system, added Cashy. The femcee said the matter is urgent because Xolani is sick and doesnt have health insurance. Its urgent because our son fell sick, but Khaligraph took no action. They (Khaligraph and Xolani) know each other and thats why Im wondering why he doesnt want to take care of him. Ive followed the legal procedure, with the main issue being of negligence. I feel like I have all the necessary documents and all the evidence to prove that hes unwilling to be responsible. She also denied having a malicious agenda against Khaligraph Jones. Its not about being malicious but fighting for the childs rights. Ive been consulting lawyers and talking to people on social media who have been very helpful. They have been giving me advice and contacts and to lawyers and organizations dealing with childrens rights. Cashy further said she has been taking care of Xolani on her own and its time Khaligraph Jones chipped in. Ive got some of the childs need covered. I would like for him to have the best education possible, considering who his parents are. Its in the childs best interest if we combined forces and do whatever is best for him to the best of our abilities. When reached for comment, Khaligraphs manager Frank said he only deals with the business side. He said Khaligraph is unavailable to comment on the matter. As many as 215 personnel of the Department tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 23,033 in the force, informed the state police on Tuesday. Out of the total positive cases, the active cases stand at 3,107. While 19,681 patients have recovered, the death toll has reached 245. "215 police personnel tested positive for COVID19 in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 23,033 in the force including 19,681 recoveries, 3,107 active cases and 245 deaths," police said. Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected by the pandemic with 2,65,455 active cases, 10,49,947 cured and discharged cases and 35,751 deaths. With a spike of 70,589 new cases and 776 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 61-lakh mark on Tuesday, according to the Union Health Ministry. The COVID-19 count stands at 61,45,292 including 9,47,576 active cases. It also includes 51,01,398 cured and discharged or migrated patients and 96,318 deaths, according to the Ministry. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The hotel will reopen with its Lead With Care program in place enhanced health and safety measures, supplies and equipment. Guests can expect to be greeted at the door with a contactless temperature screening and a set of COVID-19 health questions. Using the Four Seasons' mobile app created in 2017 for guests to chat with hotel personnel, they can check in virtually, and room keys will be ready at the reception desk. A welcome kit with hand sanitizer, wipes and masks is provided in each room, along with a remote control with a band indicating it was sanitized between guests. A beautiful woman who compared herself to 'an alien' when her hair fell out at 17 has abandoned her wig - painting her skull in unicorn colours and even applying to be a model following positive reactions to a bald picture she posted on Instagram. When administrator Jess Newman, 25, of Colchester, Essex, first started losing her eyebrows, aged 15, doctors put it down to puberty. But at 16, after she met up with her father - who split from her mum Linda, 59, a financial administrator, when she was a baby - for the first time in six years, her hair fell out in clumps. She found she was suffering from alopecia, a condition which is thought to be auto-immune and occurs when the immune system turns on itself, provoking hair loss. Jess was so embarrassed by her condition that she would hide it from her friends and go as far as sleeping with a wig to keep the illusion going. But she's now learned to embrace her alopecia and rocks a bald look when she heads out. On the occasion of their 15th anniversary, Jess became one of the champions of Alopecia UK and has been photographing herself sporting a bald scalp in various locations. Jess Newman, 25, from Colchester, Essex, has embraced her bald scalp after losing her hair due to Alopecia when she was 17. Jess, pictured now, is one of Alopecia UK's champions and is speaking out to mark Alopecia Awareness month The administrator sometimes experiments with her bald look by wearing beautiful makeup and jewels on her scalp Jess was devastated when her hair started falling out in clumps when she was a teen, but has now embraced her condition Speaking out to mark September's Alopecia Awareness Month, Jess, whose sister Kathrine, 36, and brother Andrew, 33, live in Australia, said: 'At first, losing my eyebrows when I was 15 was gradual, until I was left with just half of one. 'The doctor thought it was probably associated with puberty. 'But, after the stress of meeting my father for the first time since I was ten - who I have not seen again since - the hair on my head started falling out, too. 'I was left with bald patches around the bottom of my hairline and crown and it all started to recede.' Jess wore wigs to disguise en Alopecia (pictured) and would keep them on while sleeping to keep the illusion going Attending Chelmsford's private Springfield Hospital when she was 17, Jess was referred to a dermatologist, who diagnosed her with alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition, where cells from the immune system attack hair follicles, stopping them from producing more hair. She continued: 'The dermatologist told me its related to how the body deals with stress. 'It was really upsetting, because there is no cure and you cant do anything to stop it. The more you stress the worse it gets. On the occasion of Alopecia UK's 15th anniversary, Jess, one of their champions, was challenged to rock her bald scalp outside on 15 consecutive days When her hair started to fall, Jess was advised by doctors to shave her head rather than go through the stress of seeing her hair fall out 'The doctors said I should look at the wig process, saying it would be better to shave my head, rather than deal with the stress of my hair continuing to fall out. 'I was scared, as I didnt know anybody else with alopecia and thought nobody else really understood how I felt. 'Back then, there was not a big community online and not much support.' Agreeing to have her head shaved by her hairdresser, Jess could not look at herself in the mirror at first. She said: 'I wore beanie hats. Even if I wore a wig, I would wear a beanie hat over it, because I thought everybody was looking at me and could tell I had one on. 'I was in my first year of college and started to avoid attending some lessons, or Id go to one but go straight home afterwards, as I felt so self-conscious. I didnt socialise, either, in case people found out about my wig. As part of the Alopecia UK challenge, Jess was photographed in a summer dress and without a wig in front of Colchester Castle Jess during the Alopecia UK Challenge on the grounds of Colchester Castle. The woman said she sometimes still struggles with her condition For a long time, Jess struggled with her condition and would cry every night before she started her shift as a waitress (pictured wearing a blond wig) 'I had a close friendship group, who knew I wore one, but nobody else did. 'I worked part time as a waitress and would cry before every shift, because I was worried people would notice. 'I wore synthetic wigs, which were not very comfortable, for six months to a year. 'When I switched to real hair wigs, aged 18, it made a difference once my head had got used to them, after a couple of weeks. 'Id wear the same style - long and blonde - to stop people guessing they weren't real. 'And if I stayed with a friend, Id sleep in the wig, refusing to take it off.' Jess's confidence has grown thanks to her support online, and her loving family, who told her that 'bald is beautiful' A teenage Jess, before her hair started to fall. She explained she struggled most with losing her eyelashes Luckily, Jess' supportive family kept her going. She said: 'My mum is my best friend and has been amazing. 'She's my biggest fan and always picked me up if I cried on the way to college. 'My stepdad Richard was also brilliant if I was down at home. He always says, "Bald is beautiful".' Turning 18, not only was Jess bald, but she had no eyebrows, so it was a great confidence booster when she had brows tattooed on. When she was 18, Jess had her eyebrows tattooed. Up until then, she had been drawing semi-permanent ones on her face, which vanished in water (Jess pictured now during the Alopecia UK challenge) Proud mother Linda, 59, with Jess wearing a wig. Linda has been very supportive of her daughter's journey She said: 'Before that, I would use semi-permanent tattoos that you get for children, but I couldnt go swimming or anything, in case they came off. 'I struggled most with losing my eyelashes though, which happened when I was 19, I could tattoo on eyebrows and wear a wig to cover my head, but I had to accept my bald eyelashes, because I didnt feel confident with false ones.' It was not until she was 20 that Jess, who is single, took the first tentative steps to go public about her hair loss, by revealing her bald head to her friends. She said: 'The first time I took my wig off, one friend started crying. The 25-year-old said she would always wear the same type of wigs so that people couldn't guess her natural hair had fallen out, but now proudly shows her bare scalp She hadnt realised I was completely bald. 'Everyone was really nice about it, but it was what I thought of myself that was the problem. 'I thought I was ugly and looked like an alien. I thought I looked really strange. 'As a young woman, make up and doing your hair are big parts of your identity, so not having any made me feel a bit lost. 'And I hated being complimented on my hair, as I knew it was a wig. 'I only took it off when I was on holiday, because I didnt know anybody there and didnt mind so much what strangers thought. 'It was what people at home thought that really mattered to me.' Jess as a teen before her hair fell out, left. The young woman said doctors first thought her hair loss was due to puberty The teen's pictures documented her gradual hair loss, which saw her go bald aged 17. At first, patches of hair on top of her scalp fell off Jess felt the confidence to post a picture of herself without a wig on social media during the coronavirus pandemic (pictured at Thorpe Park for her 15-day challenge) Strangely, it was the spring lockdown, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, that gave Jess the confidence to come out to the world by posting a wigless picture of herself on Instagram in March. 'I felt braver, because I wasnt going out and having to see people,' she said. 'I was nervous before pressing upload, but I had some lovely comments and people were very supportive. I havent had any negative comments. It felt so empowering. 'I spoke to a lot of other girls with alopecia and we now have a WhatsApp group.' Her positive reception online then inspired her to go out locally without her wig. First, Jess lost her eyebrows aged 15, and started drawing them out. Her hair followed after he turned 17. Pictured left: Jess at her prom, with her natural hair 'Sometimes I feel so confident and dont care what people think and other times I want to run away,' she admitted. 'If I do go out bald, I prefer to be with my friends or with my mum for support, in case someone says something mean. 'Ive had a couple of boys shout "wiggy" at me. Children are quite bad for it, because they dont understand. I heard one little boy ask his mum why that boy was wearing a swimming costume rather than trunks, but, thankfully, Ive never been bullied for being bald. Jess admitted she sometimes preferred to be with her family and friends when she headed out while bald, in case someone said something mean Jess said she sometimes felt invincible and did not care about what other people thought of her scalp (pictured for the Alopecia UK challenge) The 25-year-old, who has now applied to become a model, is pictured wearing a headscarf at home Jess said that some people assumed she was ill when she rocked a bald look in public (pictured wearing a wig) 'I've had people have asked me how my chemotherapy is going. I went to Orlando, Florida, for my birthday, people in the queue would ask me how my chemo was going. People sometimes assume I'm ill. 'Sometimes, when you lose your hair, people will say, "Well its just hair". 'They say that whilst wearing a full face of make up and with their hair done, which makes me think, "If you lost your hair you wouldnt enjoy it!" 'But there are worse things that could happen and meeting other people online with alopecia has been very comforting.' Jess was delighted in August when she was asked by Alopecia UK to become one of their 15th birthday champions after they saw her on Instagram. Readily accepting, she agreed to go out 15 times without her wig and post the results on social media raising almost 1,000 for the charity, so far. WHAT IS ALOPECIA? Alopecia, which causes baldness, is thought to be an autoimmune disorder. The immune system - the body's defense system - turns on itself. What are the symptoms? 'Typically, one or more small bald patches, about the size of a 50p piece, appear on the scalp. The hair can start to regrow at one site, while another bald patch develops. Hair may also begin to thin all over the head,' says Marilyn Sherlock, chairman of the Institute of Trichologists. What causes it? 'For some reason, the body's immune system begins to attack its own hair follicles. Special white blood cells in the body, known as T-lymphocytes, cause the hair to stop growing,' she adds. Can worry make it worse? Stress has been shown to prolong the problem. Is it an inherited condition? There is strong evidence to suggest that alopecia, like other auto-immune diseases, runs in families. About 25 per cent of patients have a family history of the disorder. Who gets it? Alopecia areata usually affects teenagers and young adults, but it can affect people of any age. It is just as common among men as women. Is there a cure? There is no known cure, although there are various treatments which may be effective for some people. Advertisement She has visited a swimming pool, a beach, a pub, a supermarket, Wagamamas, a park, a Post Office, H&M, a high street, Starbucks, Colchester Castle, a local arcade, Thorpe Park and a shopping centre. She still has one challenge to complete. 'Where I live, everybody knows each other, so I did worry about doing it,' she confessed. 'There were times when Id fret before going out, but I still did it. 'I've even been to the pub without my wig. 'The Post Office was the first place I went on my own. I was standing in the queue and could feel my legs shaking, as people were looking at me. I did get a bit embarrassed, as some people smiled and others stared. Jess visiting an arcade for the challenge. Jess said taking part in the Alopecia UK initiative has boosted her confidence The 25-year-old was challenged to visit a high street while rocking a bald head. She said she fretted about going out with a wig, but did it anyway 'When I was challenged to go to a high street, I did feel my heart drop when I saw someone I knew, who hadn't seen me without a wig before. But he came over and gave me a big hug and acted normal, which put me at ease. 'As I've gone to more places, I've found it's bothering me less - to the point where I forget I'm not wearing a wig.' Her newfound confidence has also encouraged Jess to experiment with different looks - with her make-up artist friend Maisy Reiser covering her head in beautiful colours and jewels, to mark Alopecia Awareness month. 'Maisy based the look on mermaid and unicorn colours like blues and purples. It took three and a half hours to do,' she recalled. 'I wanted to display my fun side and show other girls that it can be fun to play around and experiment. You can still have that sense of glamour with a bald head. 'I dont have a huge interest in make up, but Maisy has also been helping me to use false eyelashes, so Im getting more confident.' And Jess has now applied to be a model, as part of a campaign with Models of Diversity who are looking to recruit an inspirational person for a project with fashion brand Missguided. 'If it wasn't for the support I had on social media, I would never have had the courage to do that,' she added. Jess, whose condition has changed from alopecia areata to alopecia universalis, which is characterised by hair loss across the entire scalp and face is also sensitive to allergies. She suffers particularly badly with hayfever, because she has no nasal hair. She said: 'Little bumps and mosquito bites can turn angry, as my condition means my immune system is fighting off its own hair follicles, rather than anything else that is attacking my body! 'But I try and remind myself and others of the positives like not having to shave my legs, having quick showers, saving money on hairdressing bills and being cool when everyone else is hot! 'I'm on a journey and I dont know if Ill ever ditch my wig for good, but I feel proud of myself for finally believing that bald really can be beautiful.' Follow Jess on Instagram @nevertooobold and to donate to her challenge fund visit Alopecia.org.uk. February 2019 file photo of Amnesty International India employees working at their headquarters in Bengaluru. The human rights watchdog said on Sept. 29, 2020, that it was halting its operations in India, citing reprisals from the government and the freezing of its bank accounts. (AP) New Delhi: The human rights NGO Amnesty International on Tuesday threw in the towel on Tuesday and said it was halting all its activities in India due to the freezing of its accounts. The NGO claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over unfounded and motivated allegations. Amnesty India, in a statement, said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. "The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt," it said. The government has said that Amnesty has been receiving foreign funds illegally. In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate carried out searches at the headquarters of Amnesty International in Bangalore. The raids were ostensibly conducted to investigate alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Act. The organisation claimed that the attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organisations, activists and human rights defenders are only an extension of the various "repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power". "This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," Amnesty International India said. Amnesty International India said it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. "For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India's work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions," the organisation said. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and the fact that the "government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the government's grave inactions and excesses", it alleged. "Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India," Avinash Kumar, the executive director of Amnesty International India, said. Many universities around the world pay academics to publish their research. Our recent study in South Africa, though, suggests they should be cautious of such practices. The country's Department of Higher Education and Training funds public universities for every article published in academic journals on any of six accredited lists . The lists include journals that meet various quality indicators such as peer review. The idea is that funding will drive the country's participation in the knowledge economy through its contribution to research. Universities in these cash-strapped times have used this funding incentive to maximise their publication counts and therefore their income. But they have often done so in ways that could be considered to be gaming the system . For example, in response to this national funding structure, many universities now offer pay commission to academics for articles published in accredited journals. That's despite the Department of Higher Education and Training warning them not to do so . All universities offer indirect incentives, in that publications are a key feature in promotion criteria. In addition, many universities pay bonuses to academics who bring in such funding. The money goes either into their research accounts or into their salaries. Our research , based on surveys and interviews with academics from seven South African universities, tracked some of the consequences of these direct incentives. Incentives drive quantity but not quality Arguably, the country's massive increase in research output from 7,230 units in 2005 to 18,872 in 2015 was in response to this commission payment process. Except that the two universities, Rhodes University and the University of Cape Town, that don't pay direct incentives to their staff enjoyed an equally sharp rise in outputs. All around the world the pressure to publish has led to a focus on the exchange-value of academic publishing. Publication is seen to be exchangeable for promotion and bonuses. The use-value, that is knowledge contribution, can be undermined as a result. The idea that sharing research should be useful in building a knowledge field or solving a problem is set aside when publications are framed as currency to be exchanged for private benefits. Many of the academics we interviewed saw publication in an accredited journal as the measure of an article's worth and not whether it made a knowledge contribution. But others were worried that the article's content and readers seemed to matter less than whether it counts in the accreditation system . The unintended consequences of this include wasted time and resources spent on worthless research. This has led to a glut of poor-quality papers overwhelming the editorial process. It happens through a practice known as salami slicing, where a piece of research that merits a single article is sliced thinly into multiple publications. National funding is rewarding such practices because of the bluntness of the quality indicator for knowledge dissemination. All it requires is that the journal should be on an accredited list. Predatory publishing The exchange-value conception of publication was clearly implicated in the enormous rise in predatory publications. As academics rush to get published, so predatory journals move into the sector. Predatory publications are journals which are entirely profit driven and don't implement peer review, copy editing and other quality criteria. The Department of Higher Education and Training has attempted to stamp out predatory publishing, especially on the national list of accredited journals. But these remain a serious problem across the country and the continent . Universities that have low research output and which have instituted strong exchangevalue cultures are particularly vulnerable to such charlatans . Academics in such universities get the message that what is desirable is publication of anything and in any journal. This thinking is communicated through incentive systems and institutional policies that highlight the need to publish but don't say why. Academic resentment Our research data also suggested that universities which were focused on increasing subsidy income through publishing may foster resentment between academics. Some senior staff were protected from heavy teaching loads because their publications generated significant income. These researchers got both lighter teaching loads and cash bonuses. Junior staff found it difficult to establish their own research profiles in this context. The Department of Higher Education and Training has, since 2015 , warned universities against directly incentivising individual authors as this practice is promoting perverse behaviour in some cases. The recent independent assessor's report on the University of Fort Hare showed that millions of rands were paid to individual researchers. It spoke of the obvious risk that academic quality was sacrificed for quantity. There's a need for a more nuanced system to drive the continent's participation in the knowledge economy: one that focuses on the use-value of research. By aspiring to scholarship of an internationally high standard at the frontiers of the field, academics can make a worthwhile contribution. Many universities are making this less likely by consistently indicating to academics that publication is about getting commission. Sioux McKenna is currently a research fellow at the STIAS Wallenberg Centre. Dr Evelyn Muthama received NRF student scholarship grant -reference number 94969. By Sioux McKenna, Director of Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University And Dr Evelyn Muthama, Postdoctoral Fellow, Rhodes University Update: San Antonio police on Tuesday identified the officer who shot and injured a man allegedly holding a gun Monday. Matthew Sparks, who has been with the San Antonio Police Department for three years, is the officer involved in the incident. Officers responded to the 4100 block of Tropical Drive after a teenage girl called 911 to report her parents were violently fighting, police said. Antolin Zuniga, 38, is in stable condition after being shot at least twice in the chest. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault to a public servant. Original: San Antonio police shot and injured a man they said was holding a gun during a domestic incident call Monday at a Northeast Side residence. It is unclear how many times the man was shot and what led to officers firing their guns. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus did not provide many details about the incident because he said he had not seen body camera footage. McManus said police responded to the residence located in the 4100 block of Tropical Drive after a teenage girl called 911 to report her parents were violently fighting. While officers were standing at the door talking to the girl, the man came from inside the house demanding to know who the f--- was at the door holding a gun, McManus said. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox At some point after, officers fired at the man, hitting him multiple times. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was hit at least twice in the chest, McManus said. McManus said the daughter told police the man has a history of violence, but several neighbors said the couple seemed friendly and never caused problems. This is a quiet neighborhood, its the first time Ive seen the police here, said Alejandro Martinez, 18, who lives next door to where the incident occurred. I have never even heard a commotion from their house. Martinez said he and his family were awoken by the sounds of the officers yelling before they heard the shots. I just heard SAPD knocking, then they shouted gun, gun before the shots went off, Martinez said. It was crazy, the cop lights were everywhere and the streets were all shut down. The incident marks the fifth officer-involved shooting in the San Antonio area in the last 35 days. Since Aug. 25, SAPD has shot and killed two people and injured a third; Balcones Heights police shot and injured one; and the Bexar County Sheriff's Office shot and killed one man. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Breonna Taylors killing by Louisville police, and the recent decision by a grand jury not to charge any of the officers who shot her, brought no-knock search warrants to the forefront of the police reform conversation. No-knock warrants are a surprise tactic in which police do not need to first knock or identify themselves before entering a premises. In New York, a bill to reform how these warrants are used has been languishing in the state Legislature for nearly two decades. But Taylors death could breathe new life into the bill and lead to a ban of no-knock search warrants in all drug cases. The case has brought attention to the no-knock warrants because Taylor died during a late-night raid of her apartment, in which three officers used a battering ram to enter Taylors home after police had obtained a no-knock search warrant as part of a drug-related investigation of Taylors ex-boyfriend. Although police changed the original no-knock warrant they received approval for to a knock and announce one shortly before the raid, no-knock warrants still became a flashpoint in the wake of Taylors death. Knock-and-announce warrants can sometimes lead to so-called quick-knock raids, in which police still break down a door immediately after knocking and identifying themselves, whether or not they were heard or understood. Taylors surviving boyfriend and most neighbors say they never heard the police knock or identify themselves. When serving a conventional knock-and-announce warrant in New York, in which police identify themselves and their reason for being there, officers must give people a chance to answer the door and comply with the warrant before trying to force their way in. Police dont necessarily execute every search warrant like a raid. No-knock search warrants exist for cases in which police believe they may be in danger if they announce themselves and give suspects a chance to react or if officers believe that a suspect may destroy evidence flushing drugs down the toilet, for instance unless officers take them by surprise. While these may seem like extraordinary circumstances, they have become increasingly common since the rise of the war on drugs. Police perform an estimated 20,000 no-knock warrants a year. Louisville banned all no-knock search warrants in June after the city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Taylors family. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which included a ban on no-knock search warrants in drug cases like with Taylors death, although it never passed the Senate and was opposed by President Donald Trump. Florida and Oregon are otherwise the only two states that had prohibited no-knock search warrants prior to Taylors death. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown issued an executive order in August greatly limiting the use of no-knock warrants in the city. The state Legislature passed and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed several sweeping police reform laws in June, but none involved no-knock warrants. But some state lawmakers want to change that. State Sen. James Sanders Jr. of Queens plans to introduce Breonnas Law, a new bill that would ban the use of no-knock search warrants in all drug cases. While it doesnt ban no-knock warrants in cases such as murder, drug cases make up the majority of cases for which such warrants are issued. The bill, however, does not address quick-knock raids. The use of no-knock warrants expanded greatly with the start of the war on drugs in the 1980s. According to an American Civil Liberties Union 2014 study of 800 SWAT raids, which include both no-knock and quick-knock warrants, 62% were drug searches. Of those raids, drugs were found in just 35% of cases, suggesting their efficacy is low. And no-knock search warrants disproportionately are used against Black people. No-knock search warrants are meant to be safer for cops, but police reform experts have disputed this assertion and argue they are inherently more dangerous for civilians. For lay people, it just seems like a recipe for disaster, said civil rights attorney and Columbia Law lecturer Alexis Hoag. And, in terms of law enforcement, you never know whos going to be in a residence. According to a New York Times investigation, 81 civilians and 13 police officers died in forcible entry raids between 2010 and 2016. That number could conceivably be higher since most governments dont require reporting on SWAT operations. After weighing and measuring and seeing the vast number of misused warrants and seeing that there are so many better ways of doing this we should remove (tactics) that have been leading to a disproportionate impact on innocent civilians, Sanders told City & State. He said that he is not an expert in police sciences, but said that cops have served search warrants since before the rise in no-knock warrants and have other tools at their disposal to conduct searches without risk of suspects destroying evidence, like turning off the plumbing to a building before entering on a typical knock and announce warrant. There seem to be tactics that law enforcement could use that would subject fewer people to violence, and potentially lethal violence, Hoag concurred. For nearly two decades, a bill to reform how no-knock warrants are used including limiting their use to only business hours between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and requiring police to reimburse the cost of damage for anyone not ultimately convicted has also remained stalled in the Legislature. The bill was first introduced in 2003, in response to the death of Alberta Spruill, a 57-year-old Harlem woman who worked for New York City and died of a heart attack after police broke down her door and threw a flash grenade into her apartment. Police were serving a no-knock warrant shortly after 6 a.m. for a drug case, although bad information had led them to Spruill, who had no drug connections nor drugs in her home. No-knock warrants are still used, and allegedly misused, by New York City police officers today. The victims of a no-knock search warrant executed in May 2019 are suing the city after armed police broke into their Brooklyn apartment at 7 a.m. The officers searched for guns and drugs and, despite finding none, still arrested James Patterson in front of his young children. Police leader released Patterson without charging him. Photo evidence shows officers left the apartment trashed and damaged the door. Sanders suggested that a Republican majority in his chamber until last year in part led to the bills stagnation. It did not have a Senate version in between 2003 and 2007, when it passed the Assembly several times, but has not passed either chamber since 2007. Sanders also suggested that Taylors death serves as a tipping point. People have had a low understanding that there is a problem, Sanders said. Finally, America and New York state may be at a place where they should have been long ago. Even though Republicans no longer control either chamber in Albany, there could still be fervent opposition from police and prosecutors to eliminating no-knock warrants. A spokesperson for the New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association said in a statement that legislation banning no-knock warrants in drug cases would get cops killed and that removing effective tools for responsible law enforcement is a dangerous way to earn political points. The Syracuse Police Benevolent Association pushed back on Syracuse Mayor Ben Walshs executive order that would simply review the use of no-knock warrants. In Kentucky, the state Fraternal Order of Police called the bill to ban such warrants across Kentucky an attack and slap in the face to the great cops in the state. Sanders added that his bill was not included in Junes package of police reforms because everything lawmakers must address could not have been achieved in one session with just one package of bills. He feels confident the issue of no-knock warrants and other police reforms will continue to be a top priority for his chamber next session. I think that a new generation of leaders, especially under a Democratic majority led by our leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, is far, far more aware, Sanders said. Perhaps the word we can use is woke. Correction: This article originally misidentified the New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association. Originalists want to go back to the 1780s to find the basis of judicial rulings. They want to return to a world in which Black people could be enslaved, women could not own property, Native Americans could be subjugated, children did not need education and government had no role in protecting health or the environment. Originalists are not interested in the evolving nature of the American experiment. They do not care that our nation and its institutions are now vastly different from when a small group of well-to-do White men wrote the Constitution. They look for every opportunity to roll back progress. Earlier in August, a woman of Indian origin in London sent out a heartfelt appeal on Twitter urging people to visit the oldest Indian restaurant in East London to help the dwindling business. The Halal restaurant was established in 1939 by her grandfather Usman Abubacker and was apparently running into losses now. However, the tweet has proved to be a boon for the restaurant and over a month later, the business is flourishing again, the Better India reported as it traced the journey of Halal restaurants owner. Hey twitter! Not one to do this, but my dad owns the oldest Indian restaurant in East London and has been struggling with customers so please show some love! If youre in Aldgate come have a curry, Im biased but its the best! Below is my grandad in the 70s vs my dad now (sic)," Mehnaz had written in the tweet in August. The tweet had gone viral. Mehnazs grandfather Usman had moved to London in 1970s in pursuit of a good job and a better life. He landed at the restaurant job and worked in the kitchen and later started working as a waiter there. The owners trip to India got him promoted to the post of manager and finally Usman bought it from the owner. Mehnazs father now manages the restaurant which is popular among the Indian diaspora there. However, it had taken a hit in the pandemic as the lockdowns impacted business across the world. In August when Mehnaz had made an earnest appeal on Twitter, people had responded with love and support and shared their memories of the place. The Halal has made its place in the hearts of desi food lover with its biryanis, the meat/chicken vindaloo, the chicken tikka masala. Theres something for everyone here. Two days after several parents from Mumbai had raised an alarm about a company promising up to a 50% discount in private school fees because of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, the office of the deputy director of the education department for the Mumbai region, Maharashtra, has warned them about the scam. On September 26, HT had reported about a complaint filed by a group of parents against a private company called Pride Group, which had claimed to have a tie-up with the state government and promised to pay up to 50% of fees of private schools on behalf of parents. The company had promised discounts depending on the fee that a private school charges. Also Read: Online learning leaves poor, young women in India behind | Opinion In lieu, parents were asked to pay Rs 2,500 to the personal account of one of the heads of the company. The deputy director of education department for the Mumbai region took cognisance of the complaint and issued a circular. There is no such fee reduction scheme by the state/Central government for private schools as stated by the company. Parents are requested not to trust such companies and should not provide any details and documents to them, the circular stated. Also Read: Teachers raise concerns over weekly report mandate by Maharashtra education department Anil Sabale, deputy director of the education for the Mumbai region, said, We have uploaded the circular on our website and have also urged private schools and parents not to trust such schemes. The post, which is doing the rounds on social media, is claiming that the group has an association with the state government. It is fake information. Parents are also wary of the fake promises made by the company. Many parents have lost their money and have also given their documents. This is a risky business, especially at a time when parents are already struggling to pay their childrens school fees because of the contagion. We are planning to lodge a police complaint in this matter, said a parent. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:32:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The video snapshot shows Bangladesh's Health Minister Zahid Maleque addressing a launching ceremony of a China-funded south-south cooperation project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sept. 28, 2020. A China-funded south-south cooperation project aimed at bringing down maternal mortality in Bangladesh was officially launched in the capital Dhaka on Monday. (Xinhua) DHAKA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A China-funded south-south cooperation project aimed at bringing down maternal mortality in Bangladesh was officially launched in the capital Dhaka on Monday. The project is run by the intergovernmental initiative Partners in Population and Development (PPD) in collaboration with Directorate General of Family Planning, an agency under Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The project of "Providing Safe, Comprehensive and Appropriate Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Hemorrhage for Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Bangladesh" was funded by the Chinese government through China's South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund. China is currently chairing the PPD, an intergovernmental organization comprising 27 developing countries, which is committed to boosting the south-south cooperation. Attending the launching ceremony were Bangladesh's Health Minister Zahid Maleque and other government officials, and experts, as well as representatives of diplomatic missions including from China, Morocco, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, and United Nations agencies, among others. The Bangladeshi health minister in his speech pledged support for the implementation of the project, which will begin in Gazipur district that is located on the outskirts of Dhaka. The PPD said the project is expected to make significant contribution to reducing the maternal mortality in Bangladesh, and to serve as a model for other developing countries. Liu Zhenhua, the economic and commercial counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh, said at the ceremony that the Chinese government hopes the project will help improve the well-being of the Bangladeshi people. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bangladesh, Liu said, adding that public health has been one of the sectors featuring close bilateral cooperation over the years, and the two countries should continue to work together to build a global community of health for mankind. Enditem The family of a Texas university student wants answers after she woke up in her dorm to campus police drawing guns on her. Two weeks after the Sept. 14 incident at Stephen F. Austin University, the schools president and police chief says it is investigating the false report made on Christin Evans. Her roommates and seven other girls falsely accused Christin, 17, of threatening to stab someone with scissors, she said, according to KHOU. The students told a resident advisor about the fake threat and police were notified, KPRC reported. Police raided the students dorm at 3 a.m. with guns drawn, her parents said, according to KTRK. I cant sleep at night because of this. It has made me really paranoid, Christin said in a press conference. Her parents say text messages they received from the universitys police chief said surveillance footage proved Christin is innocent, KPRC reported. The family believes she was a victim of swatting, KHOU reported. Swatting occurs when people play a prank on a person that leads police to believe a crime is taking place. Christin, who is Black, may have been targeted because of her race, according to her parents, KTRK reported. This could have been a Breonna Taylor circumstance, the familys attorney, Randall Kallinen, said at the press conference, referring to a Black woman killed earlier this year by Louisville police. Christins mom, LaShondra Evans, said Monday she wants justice, KTRK reported. I want the people responsible to have consequences. They played with her life, the mother said. Stephen F. Austin President Dr. Scott Gordon said in a statement Monday filing a false report is a violation of the law and has directed a thorough investigation. Each perpetrator will be dealt with appropriately, he stated. My heart goes out to the young lady who was an innocent victim in this matter. We will do all we can to support her and her family through this heinous ordeal. John Fields, the chief of the universitys police department, said the incident involves a racially diverse group of students who he added will be held accountable. Christin is still enrolled at the university but has moved out of the dorm, KHOU reported. Eddie Redmayne and J.K Rowling (Credit: KGC-161/STAR MAX/IPx) Eddie Redmayne has said that the targetting of J.K. Rowling over her comments on transgender issues has 'absolutely disgusting'. Redmanye, who plays stars in the Rowling-penned Fantastic Beasts movies, said that he does not agree with her stance, but was alarmed at the 'vitriol' that has been directed towards her, and addressed it in a personal note to the author. He added that the insults hurled at trans people on social media are 'equally disgusting'. Read more: Rupert Grint responds to Rowling comments Speaking to the Daily Mail, Redmayne said that he has 'trans friends and colleagues' who are 'having their human rights challenged around the world and facing discrimination on a daily basis'. Watch: J.K. Rowling is under fire for plot of her new novel: 'transvestite serial killer' He went on: Similarly, there continues to be a hideous torrent of abuse towards trans people online and out in the world that is devastating. Famously, Redmayne starred in The Danish Girl in 2015, a biopic of the pioneering transgender artist Lili Elbe. Rowling was targeted on social media earlier this year, after taking issue with an online article which described 'people who menstruate'. Redmayne in The Danish Girl (Credit: Universal/Working Title) The Harry Potter writer noted that the word 'women' appeared to be missing, but objections were then raised over the fact that those transitioning can still menstruate. Following the backlash, she penned a long essay defending her right to discuss issues of gender and sexuality as a survivor of sexual assault and abuse. However, the controversy resurfaced, after it emerged that her new novel, one of her Cormoran Strike series, written under her Robert Galbraith pseudonym, contained reference to a male character who murders while dressed as a woman. In a Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019 file photo, author and Lumos Foundation founder J.K. Rowling attends the HBO Documentary Films premiere of "Finding the Way Home" at 30 Hudson Yards, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Read more: Emma Watson speaks out in support of transgender community Over the weekend, a large group of actors and writers, including the likes of Ian McEwan, Lionel Shriver, Griff Rhys Jones and Frances Barber, signed an open letter in support of Rowling published in The Sunday Times. Story continues It objected to the 'hate speech' directed at Rowling 'in the hope that, if more people stand up against the targeting of women online, we might at least make it less acceptable to engage in it or profit from it'. I'm profoundly grateful to all the signatories, not only on a personal level, (though believe me, I'm EXTREMELY grateful on that level), but because the signatories are showing solidarity with all the women who're currently speaking up for their own rights and facing threats of violence and even death in return, Rowling said in her response on Twitter. Watch: Are people boycotting Harry Potter books after J.K Rowling's controversial comments? Lufthansa, one of the Europes largest air carrier and Germanys largest air carrier has announced to cancel all flights to India starting September 30 till October 20 citing dispute with the centre. Lufthansa, in a statement said that Indian government has unexpectedly rejected the Lufthansas flight schedule despite prior agreement under the air bubble pact. Lufthansa, on Twitter, said - Due to the Indian governments unexpected rejection of Lufthansas planned flight schedule for October, Lufthansa will now have to cancel all planned flights between Germany and India between 30 September and 20 October." Lufthansa further added that - As of yet, we cannot comment on the development of the situation. Today, we had to cancel all flights between India and Germany scheduled between September 30th and Oct 20th." India recently established bilateral bubble agreement with certain countries including the US, Germany and UK to ease the air travel for passengers flying in and out of the country despite travel ban due to COVID-19. Germany was among the first countries with whom India established the air corridor and flights from both the sides, mainly Lufthansa from Germany and Air India from India were operating regular flights on these routes. While Lufthansa will not be flying any flights in the coming days, Indian air carriers will continue to operate flights to Germany and back including cities like Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. DGCA, Indian aviation body said - India formalised an air bubble agreement with Germany in July. However, there are restrictions in place for Indians desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a disadvantage resulting in an inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa." On the other hand, Lufthansa has issued a statement stating - Lufthansa sincerely urges the Indian authorities to work together with the German government in order to establish a temporary travel agreement between both countries. Such an agreement is necessary to address the urgent need of tens of thousands of Indians and foreign nationals for travel to and from India and would also help balance the interests of both countries airlines." More and more people are travelling with the ease in travel restrictions and Lufthansa says it will put an unnecessary burden on travellers - As visa issuance is restarting and demand for flights to and from India is increasing, it is regrettable that Lufthansa is currently being unnecessarily restricted in its ability to serve its loyal Indian customers and enable their desired travel," they added in the statement. One of the worlds largest Christian publishing companies is suing its former CEO, claiming he violated the terms of his contract by partnering with another prominent publisher. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Tennessee, LifeWay Christian Resources accuses ex-CEO Thom Rainer of breaching his contract with them by agreeing to a multi-book, multiyear agreement with Tyndale Publishing, best known for their New Living Translation Bibles and the hit Left Behind series. Rainer led LifeWay, an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, for 13 years before he announced his retirement in August 2018. In a blog post explaining his decision to step down, Rainer wrote that he wanted to maximize family time and that he desired to dedicate this next phase of life to making a contribution to the revitalization of churches across the world. More from Robert Downen Solid job growth pushes Texas employment to all-time high Earlier this summer, he announced the deal with Tyndale, which he described as a new ministry partnership that would include Rainers website, ChurchAnswers.com. LifeWay says that runs afoul of their deal with Rainer, who agreed to remain on as chief advisory officer through October 2020, according to the suit. Rainer, LifeWay says, also agreed not to have any association, either indirectly or directly, with any competing business for one year after the end of his tenure at LifeWay. LifeWay also says that Rainer has used his Twitter account to advertise his relationship with Tyndale, and is asking for a judge to step in, writing that Rainer has confidential information that will provide Tyndale with a significant competitive advantage. Rainer told the Chronicle Tuesday afternoon that he was saddened and grieved by the action, and that he assumed all was well until the lawsuit was filed yesterday. Before learning of the lawsuit, I heard from a LifeWay representative about this concern only one time on September 8, 2020, he told the Chronicle. LifeWays counsel sent me an email asking for an explanation of my relationship with another publisher. I gave a quick and substantive response that same day. Even more, I requested to meet with the board officers in my response. Rainer also said he received a written and amicable release from publishing with Lifeway more than a year ago, in October 2019. I love LifeWay, Rainer continued. I gave LifeWay 13 of my prime years seeking to do Gods best for the organization and for the Kingdom. Neither LifeWay nor its present leadership are my competitors. I am confident we are on the same mission to help churches make disciples. robert.downen@chron.com Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Al-Sarraj, met Tuesday with the Minister of Labour and Rehabilitation, Al-Mahdi Al-Amine, on his programme for youth employment and training in Libya, which has seen 244,499 unemployed youth register for the programme In an article published in Nature Genetics, researchers confirm that about 14% of all cases of cerebral palsy, a disabling brain disorder for which there are no cures, may be linked to a patient's genes and suggest that many of those genes control how brain circuits become wired during early development. This conclusion is based on the largest genetic study of cerebral palsy ever conducted. The results led to recommended changes in the treatment of at least three patients, highlighting the importance of understanding the role genes play in the disorder. The work was largely funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Our results provide the strongest evidence to date that a significant portion of cerebral palsy cases can be linked to rare genetic mutations, and in doing so identified several key genetic pathways involved. We hope this will give patients living with cerebral palsy and their loved ones a better understanding of the disorder and doctors a clearer roadmap for diagnosing and treating them." Michael Kruer, M.D., neurogeneticist at Phoenix Children's Hospital and the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix and senior author of the article Cerebral palsy affects approximately one in 323 children in the United States. Signs of the disorder appear early in childhood resulting in a wide range of permanently disabling problems with movement and posture, including spasticity, muscle weakness, and abnormal gait. Nearly 40% of patients need some assistance with walking. In addition, many patients may also suffer epileptic seizures, blindness, hearing and speech problems, scoliosis, and intellectual disabilities. Since its first official description in 1862, scientists have hotly debated whether cerebral palsy is caused by problems at birth. For instance, it is known that babies born prematurely or who experience a lack of blood flow or oxygen during birth have a greater chance of suffering from the disorder. Later though, researchers concluded that a majority (85-90%) of all cases are congenital, or born with the disease, and some studies had suggested that cerebral palsy could be inherited. Despite this, the causes of many children's cases had remained elusive. Then in 2004, scientists discovered the first genetic mutation known to cause cerebral palsy. Since then several more mutations have been identified and depending on how an experiment was performed, scientists have estimated that anywhere from 2 to 30% of all cases may be linked to a misspelling in a patient's DNA. In this study, the researchers provided support for a previous estimate and highlighted which genes may play a critical role in the disorder. "Cerebral palsy is one of neurology's oldest unresolved mysteries. The results from this study show how advances in genomic research provide scientists with the hard evidence they need to unravel the causes behind this and other debilitating neurological disorders," said Jim Koenig, Ph.D., program director at NINDS. The study was led by Sheng Chih (Peter) Jin, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and Sara A. Lewis, Ph.D., a post-doc in the lab Dr. Kruer leads. The researchers searched for what are known as "de novo," or spontaneous, mutations in the genes of 250 families from the United States, China, and Australia through a collaboration made possible by the International Cerebral Palsy Genomics Consortium. These rare mutations are thought to happen when cells accidentally make mistakes copying their DNA as they multiply and divide. An advanced technique, called whole exome sequencing, was used to read out and compare the exact codes of each gene inscribed in the chromosomes of the patients with that of their parents. Any new differences represented de novo mutations that either happened while a parent's sperm or egg cell multiplied or after conception. Initially the researchers found that the cerebral palsy patients had higher levels of potentially harmful de novo mutations than their parents. Many of these mutations appeared to be concentrated in genes that are highly sensitive to the slightest changes in the DNA letter code. In fact, they estimated that about 11.9% of the cases could be explained by damaging de novo mutations. This was especially true for the idiopathic cases which had no known cause and represented the majority (62.8%) of cases in the study. Approximately another 2% of the cases appeared to be linked to recessive, or weaker, versions of genes. This raised the estimate of cases that could be linked to genetic problems from 11.9% to 14%, as has been previously reported. Moreover, the results led to recommendations for more tailored treatments of three patients. "The hope of human genome research is that it will help doctors find the best, most personalized, matches between treatments and diseases. These results suggest that this may be possible for some patients with cerebral palsy," said Chris Wellington, program director in the Division of Genome Sciences at the NIH's National Institute of Human Genome Research, which also provided support for the study. When the researchers looked more closely at the results, they found that eight genes had two or more damaging de novo mutations. Four of these genes, labeled RHOB, FBXO31, DHX32, and ALK, were newly implicated in CP while the other four had been identified in previous studies. The researchers were especially surprised by the RHOB and FBXO31 results. Two cases in the study had the same spontaneous mutation in RHOB. Likewise, two other cases had the same de novo mutation in FBXO31. "The odds of this randomly happening are incredibly low. This suggests that these genes are highly linked to cerebral palsy," said Dr. Jin. The researchers also looked at the genes behind other brain development disorders and found that about 28% of the cerebral palsy genes identified in this study have been linked to intellectual disability, 11% to epilepsy and 6.3% to autism spectrum disorders. In contrast, the researchers found no significant overlap between cerebral palsy genes and those involved with the neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer's disease which attacks the brain later in life. "Our results support the idea that cerebral palsy is not one narrow disease but a spectrum of overlapping neurodevelopmental problems," said Dr. Lewis. Further analysis of the results suggested that many of the genes they found in this study, including six of the eight genes that had two or more de novo mutations, control the wiring of neural circuits during early development. Specifically, these genes are known to be involved in either the construction of protein scaffolds that line the perimeters of neural circuits or in the growth and extension of neurons as they wire up. Experiments on fruit flies, formally known as Drosophila melanogaster, supported this idea. To do this, the researchers mutated fly versions of the wiring genes they identified in the cerebral palsy patients. They found that mutations in 71% of these genes caused flies to have problems with movement, including walking, turning, and balancing. The results suggested that these genes play a critical role in movement. They estimated that there was only a 3% chance these problems would happen if they had blindly mutated any gene in the fly genome. "Treatments for cerebral palsy patients have not changed for decades," said Dr. Kruer. "In the future, we plan to explore how these results can be used to change that." A woman in her 80s has been left with potentially life-threatening injuries after a crash with a bus in Oxford Circus. Emergency services rushed to the scene at 3.30pm on Monday after receiving reports of a crash involving a pedestrian and a bus at the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street. Metropolitan Police said a woman in her 80s was taken to hospital with "potentially life-threatening" injuries. Initial reports on social media suggested the person hit by the bus was a cyclist, however Scotland Yard has confirmed it was a pedestrian. A London Ambulance spokesperson told the Evening Standard: "We sent a number of crews to the scene including an incident response officer, paramedic team manager and ambulance crew. "We treated a woman at the scene for leg injuries and took her to a major trauma centre." Road closures were in place but police officers from the Westminster twitter account said enquiries at the junction have now concluded and the road has reopened. No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing. An air ambulance was also sent to the scene. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 01:39:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China stands ready to work with Argentina and other members of the international community to firmly support the World Health Organization (WHO) in playing a leading role in the fight against COVID-19, win a complete victory over the pandemic as soon as possible, and promote the building of a global community of health for all. Xi made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. The COVID-19 pandemic is a severe test for the whole world, Xi said, adding that in the face of the disease, both the Chinese and Argentine governments have adhered to the principle of putting people and life first, and assigned priority to the life and health of the people. Noting that the two countries have been standing together and helping each other in the battle, Xi said China is willing to continue to provide as much assistance as its capacity allows for the South American country and deepen bilateral vaccine cooperation. Xi emphasized that China attaches great importance to its relations with Argentina, supports the Argentine side developing its economy and improving people's wellbeing, and has full confidence about the future cooperation between the two countries. China, he added, will lift the level of opening up in a comprehensive manner and foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, which will create ample market and development opportunities for all countries across the world, including Argentina. Noting that China-Argentina practical cooperation boasts a sound foundation, strong resilience and huge potential, Xi said China welcomes more good-quality farm products and high value-added commodities from the South American country into the Chinese market, and welcomes Argentina's participation in the third China International Import Expo. Xi called on the two sides to implement existing major projects in earnest, open new frontiers for cooperation, and deepen people-to-people exchanges, so as to push for greater development of the China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership. Xi stressed that humankind has entered a new era of interconnectedness, with countries sharing intertwined interests and their future closely linked together. Whether in combating the pandemic or in restoring the economy, the world needs to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and pursue the path of solidarity, cooperation and common development, Xi said. Noting that both China and Argentina are important emerging markets and developing countries, Xi said China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Argentina within international frameworks to support multilateralism and promote the building of an open and inclusive world economy. Xi also suggested that the two countries work together in such international organizations and multilateral mechanisms as the United Nations, Group of 20 and World Trade Organization, to push for green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and help make the international system and international order more just and reasonable. For his part, Fernandez wished the Chinese people a happy National Day. He said he listened carefully to Xi's speech at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and admires Xi's vision and commitment. Noting that Argentina and China share common grounds on many issues, such as upholding multilateralism and tackling climate change, Fernandez said Argentina is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with China on these issues. China's development presents an important opportunity for Argentina, and strengthening the two countries' relations is a top priority in Argentina's foreign policy, he added. Argentina hopes to deepen cooperation with China in a wide range of fields such as trade, investment, infrastructure and finance, and within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said, adding that he believes that will greatly boost Argentina's economic and social development. Argentina, he said, thanks China for providing support and assistance in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, opposes any attempt to politicize the disease, supports the WHO in playing a leading role, and hopes to continue to deepen vaccine cooperation with China. Enditem The Laredo Sector Border Patrol welcomed Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak during a virtual Change of Command ceremony held on Sept. 24 at the Laredo College. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney S. Scott presided over the ceremony, which formally established Hudak as the chief patrol agent for the Laredo Sector. I want to reaffirm the commitment that this organization, and I have to this community. Its a commitment stronger than ourselves. Its a willingness to sacrifice some freedoms because we want to hold ourselves, collectively, to a much higher standard, Hudak said in his ceremonial address. When we talk about Honor First, it means putting the honor of the organization, of our mission, ahead of our personal stake. I remain proud of this organization and to have the opportunity to stand here as the chief of the Laredo Sector is truly an honor and privilege for me. Hudak began his Border Patrol career in 1997 at the Harlingen Station in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. He was promoted to Supervisory Border Patrol Agent in 2001 at the Douglas Station in the Tucson Sector. In 2004, Hudak transferred to Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he helped establish and lead the enforcement and information technology division. In 2007, he returned to the field as the assistant patrol agent in charge of the Cotulla Station in the Laredo Sector and also served as the acting patrol agent in charge of the Laredo Sector intelligence unit. In January 2010, he was promoted to patrol agent in charge of the Laredo South Station. In 2012, Hudak became the Laredo Sectors Division Chief for Operational Programs. He also served as Laredo Sectors Acting Deputy Chief Patrol Agent from March 2013 to April 2014. In 2015, he was selected to be the deputy chief patrol agent for the Del Rio Sector. In 2019, he was assigned as Chief Patrol Agent of the Big Bend Sector. Hudak has a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Central Connecticut State University and a masters degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University. Hudak and his wife, Melissa, have two children. The Africa Education Watch is calling on the government and the Ministry of Education to postpone the October re-opening of Junior High and Senior High Schools in the wake of the violence by the Western Togoland separatist group. In an address to the Nation on Sunday 30th August 2020, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced that second-year Senior High School and Junior High School students will be returning to school from October 5, 2020, to December 14, 2020, to complete their academic year. With just a week to the reopening, Africa Education Watch has emphasized the need for the government to postpone to protect the lives of pupils and teachers whose jurisdiction is under attack by the members of the secessionist group. According to a press statement from the group, Schools have always been targeted by such rebel groups across Africa and hence JHS and SHS should remain close in the wake of the attacks by armed secessionist groups in the Volta Region. The decision by government to re-open Junior High and Senior High Schools on 5th October 2020 must be urgently reconsidered to save the lives of students, teachers and non-teaching staff in some 1,400 public and private JHS and SHS in the Volta Region, a part of the press release from the Africa Education Watch group reads. Read full press release below: Donald J. Trump asked the Black community five years ago, What do you have to lose? He said that in reference to taking a chance to vote for him as the 45th President of the United States of America. In doing so, he forced Black Americans to take a hard look at the current state of their lives, family, community and country. He forced us to echo the question: What DO we have to lose? When Blacks residing in urban areas run by a one party system, (Democrats) in many cases it was a hard but necessary question to consider. When we looked at the decline in jobs over the previous eight years prior to a President Trump administration, we had to be truthful about the situation, its causes and the facts. And many of us did face the reality that jobs, services, education and liberties declined and got worse under the previous administration. So we took the chance, we voted for the businessman, we saw the promises made, were kept and we saw record employment among Blacks and the unemployment rate decrease too. We saw regulations cut, roads being built, the economy bouncing back, and we knew then as we know now that Donald Trump cares and loves this country and it shows through his ACTIONS despite the propaganda, rhetoric and disinformation from those that only oppose him because of his personality or a loss of their candidate of choice. We understood that it would take a businessman that knows what it means to build not only a nation, but its people as well. Trump has done that, amid all the opposition, and we are confident that with those who took a change the first time to elect him, will do so again and he will be able to accomplish even more during his second term. I will proudly stand with him to assist him with keeping America great! Iran has rejected accusations it has trained members of a terrorist cell that Saudi Arabia says it recently dismantled up in the kingdom. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh called on Irans regional foe to "choose the path of honesty and reason" instead of coming up with "worthless scenarios." Saudi Arabia late on September 28 said it had arrested 10 people last week and seized weapons and explosives from a terrorist cell. Members of the cell had received training from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to the Presidency of State Security, a Saudi intelligence body. Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and mainly Shiite Iran have been tense for years. Riyadh cut diplomatic relations with Tehran following 2016 attacks by demonstrators on its missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric. The two countries are currently facing off in proxy conflicts in the Middle East, including in Yemen and Syria. Riyadh has blamed Iran for a series of attacks targeting oil infrastructure and tankers in the Persian Gulf since last year. Tehran has denied those accusations. Based on reporting by dpa and Reuters An estate in Western Massachusetts offers both privacy and panoramic views. The Wilbraham property is located on just over seven acres tucked inside stone entry walls. It offers five bedrooms and six baths within its 9,139 square feet. The large kitchen features stainless steel appliances, custom mahogany cabinets and granite counters. While COVID has placed restrictions on large events, listing agent Denise DeSellier estimates in the listing that 200 guests can be hosted comfortably at the property. More than a half dozen retractable French doors lead to the homes terrace. DeSellier says the home offers views for close to 80 miles. Related: Traveling? Use Traveling? Use TripAdvisor or VRBO for rentals and more The property features two master bedrooms, both of which feature fireplaces, steam showers and walk-in closets. Learning from home? The house features a school room with built-in desks. Other features include a media room, gym, two wet bars, heated in-ground pool and hot tub. 655 Ridge Road in Wilbraham is listed for $3.5 million. See the full listing here. Related: By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Defence Ministry has denied another disinformation circulated in Armenia about alleged downing of Azerbaijani F-16. Commenting on the disinformation, Defense Ministry Spokesperson Colonel Vagif Dargahli told to local media that there are no F-16 fighters in the arsenal of the Azerbaijan Air Force. The information of the Armenian side that the F-16 fighter belonging to the Azerbaijani Air Force was allegedly shot down is a lie and is provocative in nature. We declare that there are no F-16 fighters in the arsenal of the Azerbaijan Air Force, and we remind the Armenian side that it is impossible to destroy what doesnt exist," Dargahli noted. Dargahli also denied Armenian reports that Azerbaijan has allegedly lost parts of the territories liberated recently. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense states that no land of the liberated territories has been lost. Currently, the Azerbaijani army is conducting an operation to suppress the resistance of Armenia, said Dargahli. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Orea Mining Corp. ("Orea" or the "Company") (TSX: OREA) (OTCQX :OREAF) (FRA: 3CG) announces that Laurent Mathiot has resigned as a director effective September 24, 2020. The Board of Orea would like to thank Mr. Mathiot for his commitment and for his contributions. About Orea Mining Orea Mining is a leading gold exploration and development company operating in a prospective and underexplored segment of the Guiana Shield, South America. Its mission is to develop gold deposits with a reduced environmental footprint using innovative technologies, upholding the highest international standards for responsible mining. In French Guiana, Orea Mining holds a major interest in the world-class Montagne d'Or mine development project. It is also advancing the Maripa gold exploration project where past drilling had returned excellent near surface results, including 4.3 g/t gold over 36.0 meters. For more about Orea Mining visit the company's website at www.oreamining.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD: Rock Lefrancois President & CEO Certain statements and information contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are referred to collectively as "forward-looking statements". The United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements and information regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that are based upon assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. All statements and information other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "seek", "expect", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "estimate", "continue", "forecast", "intend", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target", "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" and similar words or phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements in this and other press releases include but are not limited to statements and information regarding: the Company's plans, or modifications thereunder, to develop Montagne d'Or; the construction and development plans for the Montagne d'Or gold mine, including anticipated timing thereof; the satisfaction of additional requirements to the construction of the Montagne d'Or gold mine, including but not limited to, the submission and processing of mine permit applications; the timing and rendering of a decision regarding the development of the gold mining industry in French Guiana; the earning into of the Maripa gold exploration project and related exploration objectives and plans; the objective of the Company to become an emerging gold producer; the acquisition of an advanced-stage gold project in South America including its terms, subsequent plans, intentions to acquire additional interests and resulting effects; objectives for any projects Orea may acquire, including completion of related feasibility studies. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Some of the known risks and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are described in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" in the Annual Information Form of Orea Mining Corp, (formerly Columbus Gold Corp.), available on SEDAR under Orea's (formerly Columbus Gold) profile at www.sedar.com. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Orea undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this press release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law. SOURCE Orea Mining Corp. Related Links www.columbusgoldcorp.com Oregon and Washington residents across the political spectrum agree climate change is a problem, but many think the measures that their state governments are taking to address the issue are the wrong approach, according to a survey. The survey found 97% of Democrats, 86% of Independents, and 64% of Republicans said they think climate change is definitely or probably happening, according to the poll. The results represent a stark contrast with national opinions on global warming, which 97% of climate scientists agree is being caused by human activity. While a gap remains between Democrats and Republicans, in the Pacific Northwest the divide is only 33 points, as opposed to a 46 point chasm nationwide. That might be due to a long history of bipartisan concern for the environment in the region, said Paul Manson, a visiting political science professor at Reed College. In the Pacific Northwest, there has long been a broader tradition of conservation values that bridges party affiliation, most famously linked to Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, Manson said. Despite the heightened partisanship of our current era, this tradition persists in our region and might be a path forward for meaningful policy change. When asked about climate change, a survey found that the gap between Republicans and Democrats was much smaller in the Pacific Northwest than in the country as a whole. Experts have long predicted the Northwest would see increased temperatures, prolonged periods of drought and more intense fire seasons as carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere grow. Many of those predictions have come to pass recently with more than two-thirds of Oregon in severe drought and thousands of residents reeling from massive wildfires exacerbated by warming conditions. Though the evidence of a warming climate has been enough to convince people of both parties, finding workable solutions has proven difficult. Twice in the past three years, Republican lawmakers in Oregon have fled the state capital to deny Democrats the opportunity to vote on a measure that would implement a so-called Cap and Invest strategy to cut the states carbon emissions. The bill would have put a cap on emissions that would have steadily decreased over time and required large polluters to acquire allowances, either in a state auction or from other participants trading on a secondary market. After the second Republican walkout, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order earlier this year that codified many of the goals of the failed legislation, but she did not have the authority to implement the Cap and Invest system, instead telling state agencies to make curbing emissions their top priority. In Washington, a 2019 bill that would have imposed a tax on carbon emissions also failed. The survey found that respondents did not favor market-based solutions to the climate problem like carbon taxes and cap and invest. Instead, the survey found Oregon and Washington residents preferred direct action by the government, including strict limits on the amount of carbon emissions and enforcement on those who fail to comply. Respondents also favored raising taxes on high-income earners to fund environmental initiatives. Respondents to the survey favored government regulation and increased taxes on high-income earners over carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems. Chris Koski, a professor of political science and environmental studies at Reed College, said the results came as a bit of a shock. Washington and Oregon climate politics over the past two legislative sessions have focused heavily on failed efforts to create carbon markets and failed ballot initiatives to levy carbon taxes, Koski said in a statement. It is somewhat surprising, then, Democrats and Republicans favor regulation over markets. This stands in contrast to multiple campaigns at the state and federal level over the past two decades for cap and trade legislation. The survey, which was conducted by Northwest Policy Priorities Project, polled 500 adult residents in both Oregon and Washington between Sept. 1 and Sept. 11. The margin of error was 4 points. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Multi-millionaire hedge fund boss Crispin Odey has appeared in court to deny groping a junior banker at his Chelsea home. Odey, a 61-year-old Brexiteer and Boris Johnson ally who has donated vast sums to the Tory party, was charged in May with indecently assaulting a young woman in 1998. The banker, then in her 20s and at the start of her career, alleges that Odey invited her back to his spacious townhouse on an exclusive street in Chelsea after post-work drinks in a pub. Support: Crispin Odey with his wife Nichola Pease outside court in London There he appeared wearing a dressing gown and 'launched himself' at the young woman, putting his hand under her blouse and grabbing her breast over her bra while sliding his hand up her skirt, prosecutors claim. Details of the allegations were heard in public for the first time yesterday, as Odey appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court flanked by his wife Nichola Pease, herself a successful fund manager. The couple, once known as the 'City's Posh and Becks' due to their high profile, are worth 825m according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Pease, 59, kept her arms folded during the hearing as details of the historic allegations were read out. Prosecutor Aaron McCalister said: 'This assault is said to have taken place by the defendant on the complainant who was then a junior employee of an investment bank in the summer of 1998. 'The defendant effectively engineered a situation where they went back to his house. 'He said he would change out of his suit and returned in a dressing gown. 'The Crown say he launched himself at her, putting one hand on her back, groping her breast and putting his hand up her skirt.' At yesterday's pre-trial hearing, Odey spoke only to confirm his identity. The investor, who founded Odey Asset Management in 1991 and manages around 4billion for clients, was a customer of the investment bank where the young banker worked. The prosecution plans to call five witnesses, including four of the woman's former colleagues and her then-boyfriend. The young banker initially made Odey aware that she planned to pursue charges by email in 2013, the court heard yesterday. Odey denies the charges, and his trial is scheduled for February 17 and 18 next year at Hendon Magistrates' Court. Due to the nature of the charges, he could choose whether to have them heard in the Magistrates' Court or in the Crown Court. He opted to have the case heard by magistrates, without a jury. In a statement after the court hearing, Odey said: 'I am pleased that the magistrates have agreed to hear this historic matter quickly. 'I look forward to having the facts heard and maintain the allegation is untrue.' Odey's barrister, Crispin Aylett QC, added: 'This allegation is immensely damaging for Mr Odey both professionally and personally.' Odey, who has three the biggest donors to the campaign to leave the EU. The millionaire, who was educated at Harrow before graduating from Oxford University and qualifying as a barrister, has given almost 900,000 to pro-Brexit campaigns. He has donated at least 1.7m to the Conservative party over the last decade, and 100,000 to Boris Johnson's successful leadership campaign. After backing the movement to leave the EU, Odey then made 220m in the aftermath of the referendum as the value of the pound tumbled. The hedge fund boss also raked in 115m during the stock market's coronavirus crash in March this year, he told the Mail on Sunday that month. Odey and Pease's family home is a Grade II listed mansion, Eastbach Court, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The pair raised eyebrows in 2012 when they filed a planning application to build a 150,000 chicken coop, which stood taller than a bungalow and was replete with Roman-style columns. Before he married Pease in 1991, Odey was briefly married to Prudence Murdoch, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's eldest daughter. Police in Minneapolis are investigating reports of voter fraud after video emerged that allegedly shows supporters of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar collecting absentee ballots. James O'Keefe of Project Veritas claimed that Omar's alleged backers were illegally harvesting ballots. According to O'Keefe, Minneapolis resident Liban Mohamed - said to be a supporter of Omar - illegally collected some 300 ballots from primarily Somali immigrants to help his brother, City Councilman Jamal Osman. Under Minnesota state law, only three absentee ballots can be collected by any one person. Mohamed in turn accused O'Keefe on Twitter of 'fake news'. Omar Jamal, a Somali political operative, told Veritas that he believes ballot harvesters in the community are hired and take advantage of elderly community members. He said that Ilhan Omar is connected to the alleged election fraud. However neither he nor the videos provide any direct evidence of any connection to the congresswoman, who is also of Somali descent. Jeremy Slevin, senior communications director for Omar, said: 'The amount of truth to this story is equal to the amount Donald Trump paid in taxes of ten out of the last fifteen years: zero. 'And amplifying a coordinated right-wing campaign to delegitimize a free and fair election this fall undermines our democracy.' Supporters of Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, are accused of voter fraud Minneapolis police on Monday night confirmed that they were investigating the claims 'Ballot harvesting' allows a third party to collect and deliver ballots to voters. Although widely practiced and rarely found to be abused, the rule permitting a third party to collect and return multiple ballots remains a source of partisan dispute. More than half of states allow a third party to collect ballots, and political groups and campaigns from both parties have run ballot-collection programs aimed at boosting turnout and ensuring voters who are older, homebound, disabled, or live far from US postal services can get their ballot returned. In Minnesota, the law states that a third party can return no more than three ballots. 'The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting,' the police tweeted. 'We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements. No further information is available at this time on this.' President Trump took to Twitter just after midnight on Monday and demanded that the Justice Department investigate Omar for alleged 'ballot harvesting.' 'This is totally illegal,' the president tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning. 'Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? 'If not, why not??? 'We will win Minnesota because of her, and law enforcement. 'Saved Minneapolis & Iron O Range!' 'This is totally illegal,' the president tweeted on Monday. 'Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? If not, why not???' Omar responded with a meme showing a Deal or No Deal box being opened, to reveal the sum $750 - the amount of federal income tax Trump is reported to have paid in the first year of his presidency. Omar is one of four Democratic congresswomen known collectively as 'The Squad' who has frequently been targeted for criticism by the president and his supporters. The others are House Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; Rashida Tlaib of Michigan; and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Last week, Trump again went after Omar at an election rally in Pennsylvania, suggesting that the U.S. isn't her country. 'She's telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from?' Trump said of the Somali-born Democrat, who's a U.S. citizen. 'How was your country doing?' the president added. Omar hit back at Trump's comments, even calling his rallies 'cult-like.' 'Firstly, this is my country and I am a member of the House that impeached you,' the Minnesota lawmaker tweeted. 'Secondly, I fled civil war when I was 8. An 8-year-old doesn't run a country even though you run our country like one.' Minnesota is considered a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election. According to the latest polls compiled by the news site FiveThirtyEight, Trump's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, has a six-point lead in the state. The president on Monday was reacting to a claim by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas that supporters of Omar in Minneapolis were illegally engaged in 'ballot harvesting' O'Keefe's Project Veritas released a video claiming that Liban Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman, illegally dropped off some 300 ballots during the recent election Project Veritas said it obtained Snapchat videos from early July posted by Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman. Mohamed says in the video that he collected 300 absentee ballots in a single day for his brother's special election race in Minneapolis' Sixth Ward, which was held on August 11 - the same day as the statewide primary election. Mohamed is also heard in the video saying: 'money is everything, money is the king of this world. If you don't have money you should not be here period.' Republicans say that could be evidence of a cash-for-ballot scheme, though there's no direct evidence in the videos of money being exchanged for ballots. Osman condemned the allegations of fraud in a lengthy Facebook post. 'Throughout my campaign, I let my staff, volunteers and supporters know my values including the type of race I wanted to run,' Osman wrote. 'I stated publicly the importance to run a positive and ethical campaign. I condemn behavior that contradicts these values. 'That is why I also condemn the continued attacks on the integrity of the East-African immigrant community in Minneapolis. 'The community is proud to be here, passionate about exercising their constitutional right to vote and excited to elect the next President of the United States.' 'Ballot harvesting' is also known as 'ballot collection,' which is a legal practice in many states that allows third parties to collect ballots on behalf of impaired or disabled voters who are unable to physically get to polling places. In Minnesota, the law allows a third party to collect no more than three ballots. The above file photo is a 2008 election ballot in Minnesota Project Veritas now claims that Democrats are engaged in rampant voter fraud. Democrats say Trump and his allies are looking to sow doubt in the integrity of the upcoming election by making unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing. Ballot harvesting, also known as 'ballot collection,' is legal in a majority of states. Trump and the GOP contend 'ballot harvesting' opens the door for fraud and have fought to restrict it. This has escalated as states prepare for greater reliance on absentee voting or vote-by-mail amid COVID-19. California since 2016 has allowed for someone to collect an unlimited number of ballots from voters, though it does bar someone from being paid based on how many ballots they return. This year, Republicans and Democrats have squared off in lawsuits over the third-party collection of ballots in Pennsylvania, Florida and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, a conservative law firm known as the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty requested that election officials outlaw the process. Though that state's laws don't specifically address 'ballot harvesting,' officials said they weren't aware of any efforts to systematically collect absentee ballots in the state and did not impose a rule prohibiting it. The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the central government whether it proposes to continue the preventive detention of former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti. A bench headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Centre to inform the top court about its proposal with regard to Mufti. You should address us on two issues ; One, what is the maximum period for which a person can be detained and two, what is your proposal and how long do you propose to continue the detention, justice Kaul told Centres second senior-most law officer, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Muftis daughter, Iltija challenging her mothers detention under Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA). Mufti has been under detention since August 5, 2019, when the Centre nullified Article 370 and placed the Kashmir valley in a state of lockdown. Her detention in 2019 was under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which empowers an executive magistrate to order a person to execute bonds for keeping the peace. She had been in custody for six months and her detention was set to expire in February 2020 when a new detention order was issued on February 5 under the PSA which allows the administration to detain a person without trial for a maximum period of 1 year in case of persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and for two years in case of persons acting prejudicially to the security of the country. Iltija alleged that the continued detention was because of the refusal by Mufti to sign a general bond affirming that in case of release, she will not make any comment, deliver any speech or attend any public assembly related to the recent events in Jammu and Kashmir. The case had first come up for hearing on February 26 when the top court had issued notice to the Centre and union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. When the case came up for hearing today, Tushar Mehta told the court that Mufti has been detained on the ground that her conduct could lead to public order issues. He also informed the court that the Centre has filed a counter affidavit in the matter. The court adjourned the matter for October 15 after Iltija sought permission to file an amended petition. The Centre was given liberty to file its response to the amended plea. Iltija has submitted that the detention of Mufti is a based upon dossier prepared by the Superintendent of Police, Srinagar which itself was replete personal remarks against Mufti and in bad taste. The dossier, she alleged, was abound with vulgar descriptions about Mufti like Daddys girl and Kota Rani, the latter a medieval queen who rose to power through scheming and poisoning of opponents. It contained unwarranted remarks about the marital status of Mufti and described her as hard headed and possessing a scheming mind. It was Iltijas case that the detention of Mufti was based only on the grounds contained in the dossier and those grounds have no tendency to disturb public order. I am a candidate U.S. Congress Dist. 2 for the Independent American Party running to raise the Banner of Liberty. The U.S. Constitution has given us the most free and prosperous nation in the world. Our Constitution and our fundamental liberties are under attack. The Democrats have embraced socialism and anarchy. Many elected Republicans have failed to defend our liberties. We bring a new vision, that of returning to Constitutional limited government where citizens are responsible for themselves. Because of government interference, many businesses are closed and many people out of work. Because of this our economy is struggling. We should be open for business. Let people who are vulnerable to coronavirus stay home. People want jobs not government handouts. Government interference has caused our health care and insurance costs to become unaffordable. Health care choices are limited because Big Pharma wants to keep us in the pill game. We need private health insurance which allows us to choose whatever health care is best for us and our families including alternative and natural health care. We should choose Supreme Court Justices who honor the Constitution and interpret the law, not judicial activists who make the law from the bench. We must protect at all costs our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which is a last defense against tyranny. In Nevada, we are also guaranteed gun rights for security, defense, lawful hunting and recreation. Protection of our Freedom of Religion is paramount if we are to remain a free people. Religious Liberty is under attack from politically correct philosophies. Freedom of Speech is under attack by anti-constitutional forces in our nation who are attempting to silence the people. Without free speech, the right of Assembly and Petition, freedom cannot be preserved. Illegal immigration is a threat to our stability as a nation. When illegal aliens gain access to social welfare programs, which 85% do through their children, it costs taxpayers billions of dollars. If there were no tax benefits for Illegal immigrants most of them would not come and many would go home voluntarily. The Right to Life is the first right recognized in the Declaration of Independence. I support the protection of the most innocent lifethe unborn. Education has declined since the Federal Government has been involved. Control of our schools and curriculum should be returned to parents and local school boards while encouraging choice in education. As a wife, mother, grandmother and native Nevadan, I am very concerned about the future of our state and nation, particularly what we are leaving to our children. I have served as a citizen advocate representing families and taxpayers at the Nevada Legislature my entire adult life. I was named Conservative of the Year in 2010 for my work at the Legislature. As President of Nevada Families for Freedom I have worked to inform and engage the people of Nevada in the Legislative process, so that their interests and rights can be protected. I graduated from Brigham Young University magna cum laude. I am the State Chairman of the Independent American Party. You can learn more about Janine at: www.janinehansen.com. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 EDWARDSVILLE An expert testified Tuesday that the accused killer of Eldon Twirp Williams of Godfrey was sane at the time of the shooting on Oct. 16, 2018. Daniel Cuneo, a court psychologist for Madison County and other venues, testified he has examined defendant Donald M. Nelson, of Alton, on several occasions and found that Nelson is malingering. That means he is feigning or exaggerating his symptoms, Cuneo said. Cuneo said Nelson does suffer from hallucinations and mental illness, but at some point Nelson agreed with everything Cuneo suggested in an interview. That indicates malingering, Cuneo said; an insane person would give consistent answers, but Nelson has given different answers to the same questions at different times. Cuneo testified that Nelson is mentally ill, but was sane at the time he inflicted the gunshot wound to Williams head. He said Nelson was able to appreciate the criminality of his conduct at the time. He knows the death could have been avoided, Cuneo testified. Williams body was found in his car at a home in the 200 block of Delmar Avenue in Alton. The home was listed with the real estate firm for which Williams was an agent. Officers who testified Monday said Nelson appeared to be sane at the time they interviewed him. They said they could detect no behavior that would require a mental evaluation. This weeks bench trial before Circuit Judge Kyle Napp has four possible verdicts: guilty, not guilty, guilty but mentally ill and not guilty by reason of insanity. The law states that an insanity verdict requires a finding that the defendant did not appreciate the criminality of his acts. Cuneo said a report by a defense expert used an outdated version of the manual governing diagnosis. The newer version is called DSM 5 the gold standard, Cuneo testified. If Nelson is found guilty but mentally ill, he could be sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections, which would arrange for treatment. If he completes treatment he would still have to serve out his sentence. A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity would result in his being confined to a mental health facility under the Illinois Department of Human Services. Staff members at that agency could decide to release him after treatment. Before Cuneo testified, the judge heard a video recording of Nelson being interrogated by Alton Police officers Andrew Pierson and James Siatos. Nelson changed his story numerous time as to where he had been, where he got the gun he used to allegedly kill Williams, how much money he had and other statements that the officers asked about. Youre hem-hawin around. You know where you were on that day, Siatos said. Finally, Nelson admitted he went to the home on Delmar where he killed Williams. He said he then went to a small home nearby to hide, but he left after the residents insisted he leave. He said he at first thought the home was unoccupied. It made me feel good. In gave me a rush. I felt it was the right thing to do. I felt he would do the same thing to me, he told the officers. He said he might kill again. Asked if he intended to steal Williams car, he responded, I thought about it, but I didnt want to get blood on me. The trial continues Wednesday. Defense attorney Mary Copeland said she intends to call another expert to testify for Nelson. Karen Thompson has worked at Rutgers-New Brunswick as an adjunct professor in the writing program for more than 40 years. But come spring, she wont have a job. Thompson is among dozens of adjuncts, or part-time lecturers, whose positions have been eliminated, at least for the next semester. It was like a lightning bolt, said Amy Higer, a political scientist and president of the union representing adjuncts at Rutgers, where she has taught for more than 20 years. Its so demoralizing. The cut follows a larger reduction in adjuncts this semester. The university said it has about 25% fewer adjunct positions this fall compared with last year. The decision was made because of fluctuations in enrollment as well as efforts by the university to control costs at a time of unprecedented pandemic-related economic pressures, said spokesperson Dory Devlin. She said the writing courses at Rutgers-New Brunswick will be taught by full-time faculty and teaching assistants. Adjuncts have long struggled with difficult working conditions and lack of job security and benefits, often taking positions at multiple schools to make ends meet. In recent years, more have begun to be represented by unions, which have fought for better conditions. Still, when budgets tighten, they often are among the first to take a hit. Some are graduate students finishing their studies. Others are professionals who have turned to teaching, and a growing number, like Higer, are trained as educators and made a career as adjuncts because tenured positions are often hard to come by. READ MORE: A union push to organize Philly-area college adjuncts Locally, other universities also have experienced or are bracing for faculty losses. Theres no doubt we have adjuncts who would normally teach two courses this fall who are only teaching one or none, said Steve Newman, the faculty union president at Temple University. The Temple Association for University Professionals also has heard that a program that employs many adjuncts would be using fewer in the spring, he said. The union is concerned that cutting adjuncts will mean an increase in class size, which isnt good for students either, he said. We are very concerned about it, and we are trying to figure out how to push back against it, Newman said. Even before the pandemic hit, Daniel Greenstein, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, encouraged the systems 14 universities to curtail the use of adjuncts as finances tightened. Seven of the 14 have warned of possible reductions in teaching staff for next fall, though they havent specified whether adjuncts would be targeted. Those universities are Mansfield, Lock Haven, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana, California, and Cheyney. READ MORE: With finances growing tighter, state universities told to cut back on adjuncts, combine underenrolled programs At Rutgers University, with campuses in Camden, New Brunswick and Newark, about 2,100 adjunct professors typically teach during any given semester, Higer said. This fall, there are about 1,600, she said. The writing program is one of the biggest users of adjuncts, Higer said. She estimates 60 have lost their jobs: Rutgers didnt provide an exact number. Higer said the union found out about the cuts because three of its board members teach in the writing program. Instead of thanking professors who have worked hard to move courses online, they are slapping them in the face, she said. And the union is concerned more adjuncts could be affected. Were trying to find out who else is on the chopping block," she said. Other campuses have been impacted by the reduction this fall. Bruce Garrity, a part-time lecturer in the arts program at Rutgers-Camden, said his teaching load was cut in half. He usually teaches four studio and art history classes; this semester, he has two. Both Higer and Garrity said they dont believe the reduction in adjuncts was driven solely by the coronavirus. Theyd like to get rid of adjuncts as much as they can, and they are taking this opportunity to do it, said Garrity, who has taught at the university since 1997. The university could find the money, Higer asserted, if educating students was their priority. Thompson, who started at Rutgers in 1979, is indicative of many of the adjuncts in the writing program, who have taught for decades. Its a little funny that were called adjuncts, said Thompson, 75, who helped start the adjunct union decades ago. Im going on 42 years. She said she participates on university committees for no compensation and has been one of the first to speak out on issues because she cares about Rutgers. She teaches two classes a semester, and her annual salary is about $32,000, thanks to a raise last spring, she said; she was making $25,000. She said shes more worried about younger colleagues who cant collect Social Security and dont have other work; she could retire, she said. Maybe this is the bell, she said. After logging 3,400 miles of windshield time through the heart of Americas cropland from September 14 to 18, I came away with this finding this could be a banner crop year. For the vast majority of the trip, corn and soybean fields looked like Michelangelo had set them up for a painting session. With the fall harvest just getting started, we will know the validity of that statement in short order. To be fair, there were small pockets of late season dryness and early drought witnessed in parts of Indiana and Illinois. Then there was Des Moines, Iowa, and the surrounding area that was devastated by the derecho storm in mid-August. To be candid, the remaining corn crop there lay in ruin as if the Big Bad Wolf in the childrens fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood had huffed and puffed and blew all the corn down. Record corn and soybean yields? The road trip to gather material for upcoming print and online editions took me from Wisconsin to western Minnesota. From there, I traversed to Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, through the Texas Panhandle, and on to the cusp of Clovis, N.M. The return trip back sent me across the country straight to Ohio . . . with two swings through Indiana and Illinois before I returned to Wisconsin. The swaths through the Hoosier State and the Land of Lincoln took me through southern and northern sections of both states. My take away? USDA forecasters are right, pegging the projected corn yield at 178.5 bushels per acre and soybeans at 51.9 bushels per acre as published in the September 11, 2020, edition of Crop Production. Those estimates were down slightly from USDAs August forecast of 181.8 bushels for corn and 53.3 bushels for soybeans. Based on my observation, the August numbers could be closer to the final harvest. Candid comments from farmers When it comes to dairy cows, the fall harvest and corn silage are synonymous. From that standpoint, many a bunker already had been covered. In other instances, forage harvesters still were humming from sunup to sundown and beyond. Folks may have been putting in long days, but those long days included smiles . . . especially when reflecting upon the same time last year. Midwest and Northeast farmers reported a far easier corn silage harvest that was well ahead of last years mudfest, where tow straps and lead tractors helped guide sliding forage harvesters through muddy fields. As that took place, skid steer operators worked nonstop to remove mud from country roadways. One prominent custom operator in Wisconsin reported he was three days from wrapping up the harvest as of September 22. Last year, his team struggled throughout October to slew corn silage from waterlogged fields. An employee for another custom operator brought a tow strap out the Tuesday after Labor Day as corn silage harvest was about to begin. Whats that for? asked the operation manager. After last year, I thought we always opened up corn silage fields with a tow strap and tractor assist, said the longtime employee who couldnt hold a straight face for long. Both got a chuckle and neither wanted to relive that harvest ever again. During the 3,400-mile journey, I made many phone calls to dairy farmers. In Michigan, one dairy woman offered that the bunker was covered and that the farm had decided to take a fifth cutting of alfalfa given the great harvest conditions. To be fair, everything wasnt sunshine and rainbows. Those throughout Pennsylvania, New York, and the New England states reportedly saw lower corn silage yields due to drier weather. As for me, the soybeans came off on September 22 on our family farm with a personal farm record of 49.8 bushels per acre. That may not sound impressive to many . . . however, that farm is located in northeast Wisconsin, and its field features just 2 feet of soil before hitting limestone ledge rock. Ill take 49.8 bushels and run to the mill with those soybeans planted on May 2. With its later-planted corn, the corn silage harvest for the Hoards Dairyman Farm is right around the corner. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2020 September 28, 2020 In the days after she was named former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris said the run up to the election against President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would be "a knockdown drag out." Now, Harris is gearing up for battle, laying out her clear opposition to Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court vacancy. Harris, during remarks in North Carolina, called Trump's effort to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's chair a contradiction of Ginsburg's dying wish to be replaced by the next president, accusing Trump and the Republican Party of wielding their political power without regard for the desires of the American people. MORE: Kamala Harris' Supreme Court hearing participation could be unprecedented "President Trump and his party don't care. They just want to jam this nomination through as fast as they can," Harris said. "It's called raw power." PHOTO: Senator and Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, delivers remarks about President Trump's Supreme Court pick to a room full of reporters at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 28, 2020. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images) Using sharp language, Harris later referred to Trump's presidency as an "infection" and called for voters to head to the polls as recourse. "We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralyzed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court," said Harris. "This election is about more than the presidency or the Senate or the Supreme Court. This election is about our democracy." Harris named Barrett in her remarks, framing her not only as the antithesis of Ginsburg's legacy, but also said Barrett "will undo (Ginsburg's) life's work." Harris pointed to the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade -- the ruling that gave women the right to abortion -- as aspects of American life that would be in jeopardy if Barrett is on the court. MORE: President Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court seat Story continues "President Trump and his party and Judge Barrett will overturn the Affordable Care Act, and they won't stop there. They have made clear that they want to overturn Roe v. Wade, and restrict reproductive rights and freedoms," said Harris. "Judge Barrett has a long record of opposing abortion and reproductive rights. There is no other issue that so disrespects and dishonors the work of Justice Ginsburg's life, than undoing the seminal decision in the court's history that made it clear -- a woman has a right to make decisions about her own body." PHOTO: Senator and Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, delivers remarks about President Trump's Supreme Court pick to a room full of reporters at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 28, 2020. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images) Because of Harris' post on the Senate Judiciary committee, she is uniquely positioned as both a member and the Democratic vice presidential nominee to question Barrett should a hearing be called. While it is customary for senators to meet one-on-one with the Supreme Court nominee, Harris told reporters in North Carolina, "I haven't made a plan one way or another." Several other Judiciary Committee Democrats, including Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, have announced they will not meet with Barrett. Barrett is scheduled to meet with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Pence on Tuesday. Traditionally she would next meet with the Senate minority leader, but Sen. Chuck Schumer has also refused to meet with her. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley Mike Crapo and Mike Lee have all announced that they will meet with the nominee. ABC News' Trish Turner contributed to this report. Amy Coney Barrett 'will undo' Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy: Sen. Kamala Harris originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Aquiline Drone's Drone-on-Demand app provides the convenience of ordering powerful drone services right from their fingertips. Many individuals, businesses, law enforcement agencies, etc. are missing out on the invaluable data collection capabilities of drones because they lack the resources for an in-house drone operation, explains Barry Alexander, CEO, and founder of Aquiline Drones. Drones offer unparalleled views from above, but the cost and complexity of operating drone equipment often outweigh the benefits for many organizations and individuals. Now Aquiline Drones (AD), the nations fastest-growing drone manufacturing and cloud technology company, is just weeks away from launching the nations first true Drone-on-Demand (DoD) mobile app. Many individuals, businesses, law enforcement agencies, public works departments, and the military are missing out on the invaluable data collection capabilities of drones because they lack the resources for an in-house drone operation, explains Barry Alexander, CEO, and founder of Aquiline Drones. Akin to Uber and Lyft, individuals and businesses can now enjoy the luxury and convenience of ordering both private and commercial drone services right from their fingertips. A modern-day convenience everyone should have! The DoD app will be accessible through all mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. The user may order aerial photography and videography services for most everything; utility inspections (power lines, wind turbines, bridges, tunnels, railroad tracks, etc.) outdoor events, real estate, safety patrol, search and rescue missions, precision farming, tracking wildlife, beach patrol for spotting sharks and countless other applications. Beyond simple viewing and camera capabilities, the drones manufactured and deployed by Aquiline Drones are managed and supported by the worlds first aviation-inspired drone cloud that gathers, analyzes, models and stores data and video, says Alexander. Additionally, as a drone airline committed to safety, our drone-on-demand service was designed to elevate the safety standard, fostering a more responsible introduction and use of drones in society. Alexander notes that drones are difficult to control. One bad move and an amateur pilot could be looking at hundreds or thousands of dollars in damage, or a full drone replacement. Drones also have an unfortunate reputation as annoying gadgetry utilized to invade privacy. DoD addresses all of these issues and utilizes artificial intelligence to essentially remove the risk of hardware loss and liability from bad piloting associated with consumer drone ownership. And with ADs Flight to the Future drone training academy, a new breed of highly trained and safe drone pilots is well underway to perform the jobs generated from customer app requests. AD is one of four drone airline companies in America but the only one privately owned by professional aviators. On the supply side of the industry, AD is focused on using both semi-autonomous and autonomous drones to record predefined physical locations submitted through customer requests via the app. ADs proprietary drones are manufactured in Connecticut and equipped with capabilities such as AI-assisted object recognition, target tracking, 4K video recording, thermo and night-vision, and other essential features. The job of fulfilling customer service requests through the app will be performed by graduates of ADs Flight to the Future program, an online drone pilot training course and employment opportunity for anyone 18+ that launched this month. Users of the app will have the unique experience of interacting live with the drone during flight, plus later obtain footage of the recorded content. The hourly cost varies depending on the customers request, job complexity, flight duration and other factors. We envision a world in which humans and drones live and operate harmoniously, using their real-time control, autonomy and analytics to reduce costs, create new business value and save lives, concludes Alexander. At the same time, we recognize the responsibility of ensuring our equipment works within a legal and ethical framework through our collaboration with the FAA and other government and public-interest organizations. About Aquiline Drones Aquiline Drones is a Black-owned, independent, all-American drone company founded by highly experienced aviators, systems engineers and IT gurus. With a customer-centric model, US-based manufacturing and supply chain and world-class MRO services, the company offers innovative and successful ways for using drones in commercial activities. Supported by a dedicated UAV cloud and real-time OS, autonomous drone operations with real-time control and dynamic in-field decision making capabilities, Aquiline Drones full-spectrum of technological solutions provide a more expansive and deeper applicability across countless industries and environments by delivering real-time data insights. Aerospace-compliant processes for software, hardware manufacturing and systems integration, along with best-in-class mission capabilities are being planned and designed as the company continues to create strategic partnerships with Federal, State and private organizations in an effort to develop and launch new drone system applications in a collaborative manner. Visit http://www.AquilineDrones.com for more information. -###- He's the affable television presenter that isn't afraid to poke fun at himself. And this was exactly the case on Tuesday, when Grant Denyer shared a short video to Instagram of himself showing off his 'sexy' dance moves in front of a tractor. The 43-year-old - who lives just outside of Bathurst, New South Wales with his family - had fans in stitches over the impromptu performance. Just a country boy at heart! TV host Grant Denyer, 43, showed off his 'sexy' dance moves in front of a tractor, in a video shared to Instagram on Tuesday (pictured) Dressed in a black jacket, grey shorts and work boots, Grant let loose to Kenny Chesney's hit, She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy. In a nod to country life, Grant wrote in the post's caption: 'You wouldn't understand.' Followers were quick to comment with the likes of 'Thank you. I needed this laugh tonight' and 'Love this Grant'. Letting loose: Dressed in a black jacket, grey shorts and work boots, Grant let loose to Kenny Chesney's hit, She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy Appeal: Followers were quick to comment with the likes of 'Thank you. I needed this laugh tonight' and 'Love this Grant' Grant has plenty to smile about with the news he's expecting his third child with wife Cheryl 'Chezzi' Denyer, 41. The couple shared their joy in August on their respective Instagram accounts. The couple are already proud parents to daughters Sailor, eight, and Scout, four. Baby joy: Grant and wife Cheryl 'Chezzi' Denyer, 41, announced they're expecting their third child in August. They are pictured with daughters Sailor, eight, and Scout, four 'We have some exciting news... coming 1 March 2021,' Grant and Chezzi wrote on their social channels. The post was accompanied by a sweet video of their daughters sharing the news. 'So, we have some news. Our mum is pregnant! And mum's really sick. And she's been resting for days,' Sailor explained. Exciting news! 'So, we have some news. Our mum is pregnant! And mum's really sick. And she's been resting for days,' Sailor (left) explained in a video shared to Instagram at the time 'So that's our news and it's so exciting that she's got a baby.' Sailor quizzed her younger sibling, asking: 'What are you looking forward to?' to which Scout replied: 'I really, really hope it's a girl!' 'And we're so excited to play with it and look after it and hold it,' she added. Adding to their brood: Chezzi has been open about her desire to expand their brood Chezzi has been open about her desire to expand their brood. The media personality previously told TV Week magazine that while they are proud of their two daughters, Grant would 'love a son'. 'He'd love a little boy running around the house,' she said. 'Grant's an amazing dad, and we've spoken about it, so who knows.' File image The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will complete its five-year term, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday while ruling out possibility of mid-term elections in the state. Raut told reporters that people of the state do not want polls now. His comment came a day after Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that "there will be no option if no combination works out, while replying to a query on possibility of mid-term polls in the state. "Nobody wants mid-term polls. But one also cannot figure out a solution to instability. Hence, something may happen one fine morning. All will try to see nothing happens But if no combination works out, then there will be no option," Patil had told reporters, adding that no party wanted polls now. Addressing media persons here, Raut sarcastically said the Election Commission, which announces poll schedule, might have given Patil "some responsibility" and the latter might be having more information in this regard. "But I take Chandrakant Patil's comments positively. He said people of Maharashtra don't want polls. I am also saying there should be no elections. Hence, the Thackeray government will run for five years and there will be no elections," Raut said. To a question about former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey joining the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) after taking voluntary retirement last week, Raut said one has the right to join politics after resigning from service. "We had no personal enmity with Pandey saheb, who was Bihar DGP. We were against the statements made against Mumbai Police while he was on the post. You don't insult the Mumbai Police," Raut said. Pandey came under attack from leaders of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadai government after he sought a CBI probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death at a time when the Mumbai Police was investigating the matter. "Now, the CBI is here (investing the matter). The entire country is waiting to see what the CBI does in this case. I think Pandey too should wait for some time," the Sena chief spokesperson said. He also asked news channels "which raised questions over Mumbai Polices probe" to now ask questions to the CBI. The central agency has been probing the actors death for over a month now. "Channels questioned us. They should now ask questions to the CBI, Pandey, Nitish Kumar," he said, alleging the charges were part of a conspiracy to defame the Shiv Sena. The CBI on Monday said it had not reached any conclusion in the death of Rajput and that all aspects are under investigation. Asked whether the MVA government will not implement new farm laws, Raut said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is holding discussions on the issue with the NCP and Congress. "It is being discussed at the government's level. Let the government talk about it," the Rajya Sabha member said and added the Sena had opposed the bills in Parliament during the monsoon session. Raut, whose meeting with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis caused flutter last Saturday, said he will again meet the former chief minister to finalise the schedule for the latter's interview (to Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'). He also said no discussion was held between himself and Fadnavis on upcoming Bihar Assembly elections during that meeting. "However, I expressed joy that a Maharashtra leader got charge of Bihar polls," Raut recalled. He said Sena workers from Bihar wanted to contest the Assembly polls in the eastern state and added he will hold discussions with CM Thackeray, who heads the party, on the issue. The death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the leader of who earned a reputation as a seasoned diplomat and a rare ruler who could cross the region's political and sectarian divides, drew an outpouring of grief from across the Arab world Tuesday. As news of his death broke, condolence messages streamed in from leaders throughout the region. As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body of Arab Gulf states, has often charted its own course, pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab states that continues to this day. The United Arab Emirates ordered a three-day mourning period and lauded Sheikh Sabah for his wisdom, tolerance and peace, with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emirates' day-to-day ruler, describing him as a great pioneer in Gulf cooperation. The Saudi royal court said in a statement that the kingdom's leadership and Saudi people share in their grief with the state of and brotherly Kuwaiti people. The statement said the emir passed away after a journey full of achievement and generous service to his country and humanity as a whole. In Lebanon, where the late Kuwaiti leader played a key role in trying to end the country's ruinous 1975-90 civil war and later helped with its reconstruction, politicians also offered their condolences. With the death of Sheikh Sabah, Lebanon has lost a great brother who stood by the Lebanese during the difficult circumstances over the past years, said a statement from President Michel Aoun. The U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski called Sheikh Sabah a popular leader and special friend of the U.S. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait said he devoted his life to peace and regional stability. A statement issued from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi expressed great sadness over Sheikh Sabah's death, recalling the long-standing fraternal stance of the emir toward Egypt. He ordered Egypt's flag lowered to half-mast for three days. Jordan's royal court announced a nationwide 40-day mourning period, with the country's King Abdullah II mourning the loss of a great brother and wise leader who loved Jordan. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Just in time for the holidays, Katy Market Day is set to return to downtown Katy on Saturday, Oct. 17. The event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. outside Limited Edition Art and Antiques at 5717 Second St. is slated to have 50 vendors, including food trucks, arts and crafts, antiques and produce. In past years, Katy Market Day has drawn roughly 85 vendors and a waitlist each third Saturday of the month. But this year until now, the market were all canceled due to COVID-19. Free food: Katy ISD to distribute free meals for virtual learners, area children Betsy Proctor of Limited Edition Arts and Antiques started the market days more than 10 years ago to encourage people to support downtown Katys shops and businesses. Mayor Bill Hastings and Police Captain to Byron Woytek have helped to get Katy Market Day going again and make it safe. There will be hand-washing stations, and vendors will be asked to have hand sanitizers at their booths for people to use as they shop. Attendees will be required to wear masks. Additionally, Proctor explained that the booths will be 10 feet apart and only allow one household to shop at a time at each booth. Last year, the Christmas market had around 200 booths, 60,000 pounds of snow and an estimated 10,000 shoppers. Proctor said while that wont be possible this year, she is going to see how the October market goes and hopefully have another smaller market in November and perhaps one a little larger in December. Typically, Katy Market Day has not been held in January and February because of the weather. Many vendors for this year had already reserved their spots and lost income when the events were not held. Proctor said if the first markets the rest of this year do well, she might consider January and February events to help those vendors. Freedom Tour: YMCA examines civil rights movement, present in Virtual Freedom Tour 2020 Proctor is excited about the October event and hopes people will comply with the safety precautions to make it a great market. Ive been working with the mayor and, you know, going by his guidelines and following what he says and working with the city of Katy to try and make this as safe as possible. And I think if everybody complies with the rules, it should be fine, she said. Katy Market Days is a nonprofit, so any proceeds that are left at the end of the year are donated to Katy Christian Ministries. For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/yymf9pr5. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com The top three vendors for Apple have committed to invest a total of Rs 6,5000 Crore or $900 million in India over the next five years to bolster local production. The report comes from Reuters who suggest the production-linked incentive plan comes from two sources familiar with the matter. Wistron India The three vendors include Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, all three of whom plan to make investments in the country under the scheme, according to Reuters sources. The new scheme offers cash incentive on any increase in sales of locally manufactured smartphones over the next five years. This scheme has been set up to make India an export manufacturing hub for technology products such as smartphones and perhaps other products as well. The three vendors i.e. Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron manufacture select devices for other companies as well apart from Apple. Wistron in India only assembles iPhones at the moment and has, in fact, assembled approximately 2 lakh iPhone SE in 2020 per month in India. The company is planning to increase the production up to 400,000 a month by the end of the year and plans to export the device to other countries as well. MensXP/Akshay Bhalla Foxconn already assembles smartphones for Xiaomi in India and is now planning to use the PLI plan to boost iPhone production in the country as well according to a different source. The move comes after a heated trade war between China and the United States which will enable companies like Apple to diversify their supply chain and not solely rely on China. Under the new scheme, it is predicted that the three companies may generate 10,000 jobs as well. "India is key to Apple's global ambitions as it expands beyond China," said Tarun Pathak, an associate director at tech researcher Counterpoint. "It offers a strategic market to them where skilled labour is cheaper as compared to other manufacturing destinations, the size of the internal market is huge and the export potential is enormous. Local manufacturing will also help Apple save costly import duties on some of its products and enable the company to capture a higher share of the premium smartphone category in the near future. Apple launched its own online store last week and is also making their retail presence felt by building its first Apple Store in Mumbai. If you want to know more about all the benefits you can get by buying directly from Apples online store, you can read all about it here. Source: Reuters Today India invites foreign investment in arms and ammunition but it restricts investment in health, education and peoples rights The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act is a funny old piece of legislation. It appeared in India in 1976 as a law to prevent external interference in Indias electoral process and democracy. It prohibited the receipt of foreign money by political parties and their candidates, journalists and newspaper publishers, judges, bureaucrats and members of Parliament. In time, liberalisation meant that many of these categories could receive foreign money legally and the Indian government actively promoted bringing in of such money. That, after all, is the foreign direct investment whose numbers this government is so proud of and speaks of regularly. For instance, the media, both print and television and certainly online (which is the most dominant form of media today), can not only receive foreign investment, it can be dominated by it. The largest media companies in India are Facebook and Google, which are entirely foreign owned and managed. Newspapers can receive equity investments from foreign firms as can news channels. Even political parties managed to get themselves off the hook on FCRA. In January 2013, a public interest litigation case was filed in the Delhi High Court claiming that the BJP and the Congress had got donations from the same company, Vedanta/Sterlite, which were in violation of the FCRA Act. On March 28, 2014, the court held that the BJP and Congress were guilty of violating FCRA and asked the Narendra Modi government and the Election Commission to act against the two parties. In December 2015, it was reported that the government was making amendments to the law that would get both parties off the hook. This happened in the 2016 Budget, when the definition of foreign source was changed, legitimising the donations received by the political parties. Unfortunately for the parties, this was done in a fairly slipshod fashion and so another amendment was passed in 2018 to again try and get the parties off. This finally happened in March 2018 through the amendment of a repealed law, an entirely farcical operation. This is the background to the political side of the FCRA, which was the intent of the legislation. What has happened over the years is that the law has been turned around and instead of reducing foreign influence on politics, it has been made a weapon against non-profit organisations. No government has any fondness for the sector called civil society, but the BJP in particular is hostile to it. The Economic Times reported (PM Narendra Modi says he is victim of NGOs conspiracy, 21 February 2016) a speech in Bhubaneswar that the Prime Minister made to put forth his views on the subject. Modi offered no evidence for his accusation that NGOs were foreign agents, but was convinced that they were trying to topple his government. In the entire Modi era, the government has been trying actively to cut the size of the NGO sector. India has over 30 lakh such organisations, which range from neighbourhood associations to the most powerful NGO in the world, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The groups work on education, disaster relief, violence against women, public health, human rights, the criminal justice system, the environment, agriculture and so on. Between 2014 and 2018, a report estimated, there had been about a 40 per cent cut in foreign funding for these groups. Yet another amendment made to the FCRA this month seeks to squeeze them further. This was introduced without any advance notice or consultation and passed without much debate. What it does is make it even more difficult for NGOs to function in India and in fact is an invitation for them to shut down. I have worked in the sector for a few years and can say that it is filled with highly committed individuals who do the work in many sectors that the State in India simply cannot do. This is work that happens without a problem in large parts of the world and in all parts of the democratic world. The damage that is being done to the Indian NGO sector is being done in part because of the paranoia of the BJP that there is some sort of giant agenda behind organisations who do such work. Many of them are highly respected organisations around the world and the one that I worked for has won the Nobel Peace Prize. It is not in the interest of India or its people or even the government to persecute and harass these organisations. Unfortunately that is what has happened and is happening and the reality is that many of them, already under assault from the State, will have to wind up operations and others will have to scale down. Indias civil society is full of motivated people and much of their work will continue because these individuals are not doing this work because of the money. I have worked with people with a background in investment banking, law and of course the media who have chosen to work in an NGO for much less than in their corporate job. Such Indians will continue their work and it is a shame that they are being hindered. Today India invites foreign investment in arms and ammunition and bombs and guns, and in alcohol and tobacco, and petroleum and pharmaceuticals and everything else that one can think of. But it restricts investment in India on health, education and peoples rights. Something is very wrong with such a state of affairs. Union minister Ramdas Athawale has demanded the arrest of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has been accused of sexual harassment by an actor. Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (RPI), met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari along with the actor and requested the latter to ask the Maharashtra government to take action against Kashyap. Kashyap has denied all the allegations, calling them an attempt to silence his political critique of the central government. The actor told Koshyari that said she had put her career at stake and sought justice against the harassment that she was subjected to by Kashyap. I am giving an ultimatum of seven days to the state government to arrest Kashyap or else the RPI will start an agitation. The police is going slow on the investigation, said Athawale, adding that he believed that Kashyap was guilty and hence he would also submit a memorandum to state home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking urgent action against the filmmaker. The Union minister also demanded security for the actor and claimed that she could face an attack as she came forward to lodge the complaint against the filmmaker. Earlier this month, the actor had alleged that Kashyap had harassed her around the time he was making one of his films and threatened to sit on hunger strike if the filmmaker was not arrested. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Regardless US-Israeli plans, the Palestinian question cannot be erased when it concerns the lives and fates of seven million people Till last January, the United Nations and the international community had a roadmap to settle the question of Palestine according to various UN resolutions inspired by and based on Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967. The Oslo Accords of 13 September 1993 (signed at the White House under the Clinton administration) were reached with this resolution in mind. The two-state solution adopted by the Security Council in 2003 became an objective that commanded international support as well as wide Arab and Palestinian backing. From 2003 onwards, various US administrations under two Democrats and one Republican had lent their backing to this political plan to resolve the Palestinian question. With the present US administration, the international legal framework for the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict faded, at least temporarily, and was replaced by a political blueprint that is based on Israeli long-term expansionism at the expense of occupied West Bank territories, thus scuttling the prospects of implementing the two-state solution. The US administration in the last four years has systematically, and in cahoots with the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, made sure that all final status issues that should be settled in the framework of a final peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question have been dealt with unilaterally by the United States, and in a blatant violation of international law, on the one hand, and in utter disregard for previous official positions adopted and defended by all US administrations since 1967, on the other. On 28 January, the administration of President Donald Trump revealed a peace plan that ignores all Security Council resolutions that have governed American and international efforts to come to grips with the basic issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In essence, these resolutions have meant, if implemented, the final and fair resolution of a conflict that has remained unsolved for more than 70 years. The Trump plan will not put an end to this conflict if not revised to take into account the national aspirations of the Palestinians. The problem with the Trump deal is not only its complete disregard for UN resolutions but it is inspired by the destabilising Israeli formula of peace for peace. In fact, this what happened on Tuesday, 15 September, at the White House, when two Gulf countries the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed normalisation accords with Israel. The signatories spoke of peace between the Arabs and the Jewish State, decoupling this imaginary peace from the question of Palestine, which has been the primary cause of instability between the Arabs and the Israelis since 1948, spurring five wars. According to the Trump administration, more normalisation agreements are on their way between other Arab countries and Israel. The odds are that Sudan and the Sultanate of Oman could be next. The president of the Interim Presidential Council of Sudan flew to the United Arab Emirates 10 days ago to hold talks with American officials on the steps to be taken to sweeten such a decision before Sudanese public opinion. For all practical purposes, the Arab Peace Plan of 2002, which was based on the principle of land for peace, has been shelved, despite the lip service by some Arab states and the Arab League to this plan. Never before in the annals of the Arab-Israeli conflict has the Palestinian question has been challenged so strongly. The Palestinians today are in very delicate situation. Either they go along with the Trump peace plan and their destiny becomes a question mark, or they reject it with all its consequences on the ground, and find themselves without necessary Arab cover and necessary support. Furthermore, the Palestinians, under all circumstances, cannot deal with the latest developments in Arab-Israeli relations if they do not put their own house in order. The regrettable split between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas should come to an end. Moreover, the present political leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have been in power for more than a decade without holding either presidential or legislative elections. I believe the time has come for paving the way for new younger leaders to take the reins of power in the framework of a united Palestinian political authority and one legitimate government for both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These steps, with a more flexible approach to the new winds blowing in the Middle East, would consolidate the negotiating position of the Palestinians and give great impetus to international support for the Question of Palestine much-needed to confront present uncertainties, especially if President Trump is re-elected for another four years. This eventuality should be uppermost on the minds of Palestinian leaders and, accordingly, they should be prepared to deal with such an outcome on 3 November. Last week, Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, met at the Palestinian consulate in Istanbul and agreed to hold elections in the Palestinian territories (the West Bank and Gaza) in the next six months as a prelude to ending the split between the two. They even talked about bringing Hamas and the Islamic Jihad under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). In this respect, a joint committee set up by Palestinian factions should finish a report on inter-Palestinian reconciliation and political partnership five weeks from now. The largest Palestinian organisation wants to hold elections as soon as possible, with common understanding with Hamas that whoever carries the elections would govern in both the West Bank and Gaza. The next logical step is for this elected-Palestinian government to announce that it is ready to resume negotiations with Israel on the basis of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (commonly known as the Oslo Accords). As a reminder, these accords stipulate that Palestinian rule was to last for a five-year interim period, effective after the signing of the accords, during which permanent status negotiations would commence no later than May 1996, in order to reach a final settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Both sides missed their rendez-vous with history by 24 years. If this understanding materialises on the ground, I believe the Palestinians would be in a strong position, relatively speaking, to deal with what comes next in the Middle East. And most importantly, to keep the Question of Palestine alive, and relevant to peace and security issues in the Middle East. You cannot ostracise more than seven million Palestinians for good and still speak of peace in the region. It is like squaring the circle. *The writer is former assistant foreign minister. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanford Health, the largest provider of rural healthcare in the country, today announced the finalists for the biennial Sanford Lorraine Cross Award which honors life-changing breakthroughs and innovations in medical science. The 2020 finalists are: Mark Denison, MD Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Principle Investigator (Denison Lab) Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Vanderbilt University Carl June, MD Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Michael Welsh, MD Investigator (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) Director (Pappajohn Biomedical Institute) Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Sanford Health is the only health system in the country to award a $1 million prize for achievements in the medical sciences. A winner will be selected at a special ceremony in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. While traditional awards in the medical sciences focus on the significance of the contribution of a researcher or clinician, the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award celebrates the role that the award candidate has played in bringing a new emerging transformative medical innovation across the finish line to patients, and their efforts in overcoming challenges, forging collaborations, and ensuring a successful outcome. Finalists for the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award are determined through a rigorous selection process that uses machine learning to identify innovative areas of discovery and breakthrough science. The candidate selection is then focused on the areas with the most promising transformative potential for patients. An interdisciplinary scientific advisory board narrowed down the top areas of innovation. The individuals who have made the greatest contribution in these three areas are then identified as the finalists. "Sanford Health has a long history of relentlessly challenging the status quo to improve health care," said Kelby Krabbenhoft, CEO, Sanford Health. "The Sanford Lorraine Cross Award honors someone pioneering that change with a medical breakthrough, innovation or treatment to transform global health. It starts with a $1 million prize, and it continues with a life-changing impact for us all." The award is named after the Cross of Lorraine, a global symbol first chosen as emblematic for those who took action against disease in 1902 at the International Tuberculosis Congress in Berlin. In recent history, Sanford Health has used it to symbolize profound innovation and progress in the medical sciences and also includes the image in its own institutional logo. The Sanford Lorraine Cross Award is supported in perpetuity through an endowment established by donors to the Sanford Health Foundation. Donors who invest $1 million or more are honored as members of the Founders Circle, a distinguished group celebrated for its visionary generosity. These individuals are united by their passion for creating a better tomorrow, inspiring future generations of courageous innovators, and leaving a legacy of health and healing. The December awards event will be livestreamed on Sanford Health's social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and regularly covered on Sanford Health News. Here's a closer look at the 2020 Lorraine Cross finalists: Mark Denison, MD Dr. Mark Denison of Vanderbilt University has studied coronaviruses since the 1980s. In 2007, his lab discovered that coronaviruses have a protein that acts as a powerful proofreader during replication, meaning that the virus can self-correct errors in its RNA sequence. This makes coronaviruses difficult to treat, but Dr. Denison and his team theorized that if they could slip past the proofreaders, they could prevent the virus from growing. Through a partnership with Gilead Sciences, they discovered Remdesivir, a drug that can evade the proofreading system and terminate the growth, thus killing the virus. Though Remdesivir was shelved after failed attempts to treat hepatitis and Ebola, it has experienced a rebirth during today's COVID-19 pandemic and is undergoing clinical trials for treatment. Since the spark of COVID-19, Dr. Denison's story is the world's story. His work on Remdesivir has received coverage from The New Yorker, CNN, The New York Times and others. Without his early discovery of this proofreading mechanism, it is unlikely scientists would have been able to jump start therapeutic solutions for the current COVID-19 pandemic. Carl June, MD T cells are like the body's security guards, recognizing harmful intruders and triggering an immune response. Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania, working with colleague Dr. Bruce Levine, was able to reprogram selected T cells to recognize and destroy leukemia cancer cells. This therapy is now named KYMRIAH by Novartis and is FDA-approved to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In 2010, June and Levine treated their first patient a retired 65-year-old corrections officer named Bill Ludwig. After just a few infusions, Ludwig fell severely ill and spent a week in the ICU. Then, all of the sudden, he woke up and found the masses had disappeared. A second patient, Emily Whitehead, had relapsed twice at the age of seven with an extremely aggressive form of leukemia. Like Ludwig, Whitehead got severely ill as the therapy tried to rid her of her cancer. However, this time Dr. June recalled an arthritis drug (from his daughter's struggle with juvenile arthritis) that could manage her side effects. The story of Emma Whitehead was featured in a 2012 article in the New York Times and covered in Forbes, PARENTS Magazine and the PBS documentary "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies." Michael Welsh, MD Dr. Michael Welsh is a pulmonary physician who wanted to know how human airways work, particularly how salt ions move across the airway wall. This led him to study cystic fibrosis (CF), an inherited disease that causes lifelong vulnerability to destructive lung infections and an early death. He discovered that the CFTR gene instructs the cell to make a channel for chloride. This was a monumental breakthrough because it linked the genetics and the lung infections. Importantly, it also clearly identified the target that needed repair. He then discovered ways that different inherited mutations in the CFTR gene disrupt the chloride channel. That work provided the blueprint that has continued to guide therapeutic development. He demonstrated that the common CF mutation could be corrected in the lab, a discovery that ignited CF drug development and provided the confidence, knowledge and tools that ensured success. His work has been widely covered, including in the The New York Times. The exciting advances arising from Dr. Welsh's research have dramatically changed the lives of people with CF. Today, 90% of CF patients have a highly effective therapy. His discoveries were instrumental in a recent finding, published with colleagues in the March 2019 journal Nature, that an approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of the CFTR channel. While additional treatments will also be developed, the fundamental properties required to treat the defect remain those defined by the pioneering work of Welsh. About Sanford Health Sanford Health, one of the largest health systems in the United States, is dedicated to the integrated delivery of health care, genomic medicine, senior care and services, global clinics, research and affordable insurance. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization includes 46 hospitals, 1,400 physicians and more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations in 26 states and 10 countries. Learn more about Sanford Health's transformative work to improve the human condition at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News. Media Contact: Angela Dejene [email protected] 218-280-0148 SOURCE Sanford Health A magistrate court in Bandra on Tuesday discharged all 12 Indonesian nationals who were arrested and booked for allegedly not following a Mumbai police advisory declare that they had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. During inquiry, Mumbai police learnt that the group of 12 had come to India on February 29 and that they had visited Nizamuddin Markaz to attend the meet. According to Bandra police officials, after attending the religious meet, they arrived in Mumbai on March 7 and were staying at an apartment in the area. Also read: Tablighi event led to Covid spread among many, Govt tells Parliament The Bandra police traced them on April 1, and two of them tested positive for Covid-19 after which they were admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, while the remaining 10 were home quarantined for 20 days. The accused were arrested on April 23 under section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease that is dangerous to life) 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life),188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and for attempt to murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Indian Penal Code (IPC). It was alleged that they had intentionally played a key role in spreading the virus. However, the courts had held that they cannot be booked for attempt to murder as it was not intentional and were granted bail by the sessions court. Their lawyer Ishrat Khan had later moved a discharge plea, claiming they cannot be charged for any offence. The court discharged all the accused from all the charges. A detailed order copy would, however, be made available in a few days. Two similar cases are pending where DN Nagar police station has booked 10 Indonesian and Kyrgystan nationals each under similar charges. Police have dropped the charges of attempt to murder against the 20 accused even as the case against them under various other charges is still pending. They were also booked under sections 269 , 270 and 188 of the IPC. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kelsey Bradshaw/San Antonio Express-News A missing tuber was found dead Sunday on the San Marcos River, according to the Caldwell County Sheriffs Office. Divers found the body of Jessie Austin Jr., 29, around 1 p.m. near Martindale. Under conditions of unprecedented political crisis in the United States, Jacobin magazine, which is politically affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is ever more openly positioning itself as both a defender and adviser to the Biden campaign. In one of the latest articles in this vein, David Sirota and Andrew Perez (To Fight Trumps Rising Authoritarianism, Dems Must Drop Their Learned Helplessness) respond to Trumps declaration last week that he would not accept a peaceful transfer of power in the event he loses the upcoming presidential election. The authors also condemn his attempt to rush through a Supreme Court nominee that could be a major factor in deciding the next president in the event of a contested election. In characterizing the significance of these developments, Sirota and Perez write: This is a crime in processspecifically, a coup that will be engineered remotely by Zoom, as Republican lawmakers now plan to leave Washington without passing a pandemic relief bill and return only for votes to install a new Supreme Court justice to throw the election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer at the Capitol (Credit: Flickr.com/AFGE) Trump is indeed attempting to prepare an electoral coup. He is utilizing the election campaign for this purpose, including the incitement of far-right and fascistic elements and threats to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military throughout the United States. The pressing question facing workers and youth is how this descent into dictatorship and fascism can be stopped. The perspective offered by Jacobin magazine is to channel all opposition behind the Democratic Party. Sirota and Perez spend a great deal of time reviewing and criticizing the response of the Democrats to Trumps plotting. They criticize Chuck Schumers signal late last week that Senate Democrats would not be waging any serious opposition to Trumps nomination, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosis retreat on her empty threats to shut down the government. Perez and Sirota conclude that the feckless prostration of the Democratic Party is the product of Democrats learned helplessness. They write that the pathology of the party is anti-opposition and one that embraces any capitulationno matter how amoralin the name of electability, living to fight another day, and good manners. One could hardly have a more inane analysis of American politics than that offered by Jacobin magazine. According to Perez and Sirota, the Democrats are cast as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, who laments his lack of courage. If only the Democrats had the nerve! Then Dorothy would find her way home to Kansas, and American democracy would be saved from dictatorship. Absent from the analysis of Jacobin is any reference to the class interests that the Democratic Party represents. The Democratic Party is the oldest capitalist party in the US. It represents a powerful faction of Wall Street, the military and the intelligence agencies, in alliance with privileged sections of the upper-middle class. What scares the Democratic Party most of all is not Trump, but rather the growth of social opposition from below, outside of the control of the Democratic Party. This has determined the Democrats actions throughout the Trump presidency. While collaborating with Trump on key issues of domestic policy, the Democrats sought to channel mass popular opposition to the right-wing policies of the administration behind their own campaign for a more aggressive foreign policy against Russia. They have ceded to the military and intelligence agenciesthe adults in the roomthe principal position within the state in opposing Trump, with the not-so-subtle subtext that these are the forces that would be relied on to remove Trump by force if the ruling class decides this is necessary. Among those they have praised as defenders of democracy and moral authorities are retired generals James Mattis, John Kelly, and H.R. McMasterall long-standing architects of US imperialism. In relation to the pandemic, the Democratic Party, almost unanimously, supported the CARES Act, which sanctioned the hand-out of trillions of dollars to Wall Street and corporate America. Since then, the Democrats have done everything in their power to facilitate the implementation of Trumps policy of herd immunity, in which the virus is allowed to spread unabated throughout the population. This is the policy driving the reopening of schools for in-person learning, which has been pursued most ruthlessly in Democratic-controlled districts, including New York City, the largest school district in the country. The policy of the ruling class is producing a social explosion, and the Democrats fear is that opposition to Trump will challenge the interest of Wall Street and American imperialism. Its fecklessness is rooted in class interests. Jacobin magazine functions as a faction of the Democratic Party meant to divert growing opposition back into the dead-end political strategy of pressuring the Democrats to the left. Sirota and Perez sum up this position in the final paragraphs of their article: If opposition party lawmakers dont stop imagining a return to normalcy and brunchand if millions of Democratic voters dont start immediately demanding that their partys leaders begin fighting to stop Trumps court pick right nowthen whatever is left of American democracy is probably finished. Jacobin cannot imagineor, rather, it is opposed toany solution to the crisis outside of the Democratic Party. Unless workers start immediately demanding that the Democrats begin fighting, according to Sirota and Perez, American democracy is finished. If this is the only solution, one might as well just cut to the chase and say: American democracy is finished. The more intense the social crisis in the United States, the more Jacobin moves to the right. Indeed, just last week the magazine published an article promoting the policy of herd immunity. One of the academic interviewees in the article, Martin Kulldorff, argued that schools and universities should reopen because young, healthy people contribute to the herd immunity that will ultimately benefit all. In a passage approvingly retweeted by Jacobin publisher Bhaskar Sunkara, Kulldorff declares, The lockdown is the worst assault on the working class in half a century essentially adopting the line of Trump, first promoted in the New York Times that the cure cant be worse than the disease. Kulldorff has praised and defended Trumps leading promoter of herd immunity, Scott Atlas. In terms of the class interests that Jacobin represents, they are privileged sections of the upper-middle class, hostile to the working class. The magazine is now preparing the arguments that, in the event that Biden assumes office following the election, will be used to pursue essentially the same policies in relationship to the pandemic as the Trump administration. Sirota is a former spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, former press secretary for Bernie Sanders, and former fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP, established by John Podesta, a member of the Clinton and Obama administrations). He is also the founding co-chairperson of the Progressive States Network. The latter was set up in 2005 by George Soross Open Society Institute, Podestas CAP, the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, AFSCME and the United Steelworkers to lobby state legislatures on behalf of the union bureaucracys agenda. After the pathetic end of the Sanders campaign, Sirota was brought on to the Jacobin staff to help corral Sanders supporters behind Biden. After five years of campaigning for Sanders, no meaningful analysis was to be made or lessons drawn from the experience. Instead, Sirota got to work writing dozens of articles promoting the same basic perspective contained within his latest piece: dont leave the Democratic Party! The current political situation within the United States and around the world is dire. The lives and livelihoods of millions of workers are at stake. The Trump administrations efforts to transform the election into a coup are a political expression of the incompatibility of massive levels of social inequality and the homicidal herd immunity policy with what remains of democratic forms of rule. The fight against authoritarianism and dictatorship must not be subordinated to the Democratic Party. It must be developed as an independent movement of the working class against the capitalist system. Meghan Markle claimed she pays no mind to public 'flattery or criticism' about her during a virtual summit on Tuesday afternoon - while also hitting out at the media for 'misinterpreting' remarks she has made in order to make them sound more 'controversial' or 'inflammatory'. Despite insisting that she does not focus on anything said or written about her, Meghan defended herself against past controversies, alleging that any time 'anything she has said... ends up being inflammatory', it only comes a result of 'people's interpretation of it'. 'If you listen to what I actually say, it's not controversial,' she added. The 39-year-old's comments during the Fortune's Most Powerful Women summit came just hours after the Duchess of Sussex lost her latest court battle against the Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Mail on Sunday, to prevent the publication from using an explosive biography written about her private life as evidence in its defense case. Speaking out: Meghan Markle took part in Fortune's Most Powerful Women summit on Tuesday, when she claimed that she does not focus on any public 'flattery or criticism' Discussion: During her conversation with Fortune's senior editor Ellen McGirt, the 39-year-old also lamented the 'misinformation' that she says is spread in the media and online "If you listen to what I actually say, its not controversial." Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, joined the #FortuneMPW Summit and shared her advice for speaking out on important issues: https://t.co/pSn3nFrdtQ pic.twitter.com/4bJ9NBoTuD FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) September 29, 2020 The incredibly flattering 'unauthorized' biography, Finding Freedom, was published in August and features a host of intimate information about Meghan and Harry from an array of anonymous friends and sources. Meghan is accused of feeding personal information to the writers of the book - Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand - to 'set out her own version of events in a way that is favorable to her', or authorizing others to do so. The latest high court ruling now means Finding Freedom can and will be used as evidence in the Duchess of Sussex's privacy battle against Associated Newspapers. Meghan is suing the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online's publishers for printing in February 2019 extracts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle. She claimed that it breached her 'deepest and most private thoughts and feelings,' and that she had not given permission for the letter to be made public. During her virtual conversation with senior Fortune editor Ellen McGirt however, Meghan insisted that she does not actually focus on anything written about her - be it negative or positive - turning to a quote from artist Georgia O'Keeffe to express her views about 'flattery and criticism'. 'I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free,' she quoted, while adding her own sentiments, claiming that she feels 'liberated' from opinions about her. 'And the moment you are able to be liberated from all these other opinions of what you know to be true, then I think its just very easy to just live with peace and live with authenticity,' she said. 'And that is how I choose to move through the world.' The words are at odds with Meghan and Prince Harry's ongoing war against the media, which has seen the Duchess of Sussex repeatedly decry the 'toxicity' that she believes the couple has faced. Shortly before sharing the O'Keeffe quote, Meghan once again took the opportunity to lament the spread of 'misinformation' in the media and online, insisting that people have to take it upon themselves to stop 'contributing to or even clicking on misinformation' and 'report' anything that they believe is wrong to ensure that only 'the facts are getting out there'. Meghan, who was speaking from the $14 million Santa Barbara home she shares with husband Prince Harry and their one-year-old son Archie, also hastened to warn that people's interactions both on- and offline are being negatively impacted by 'bots and trolls'. 'Its like we live in the future when youre talking about bots and trolls and all of these things,' Meghan said according to HuffPost. 'It seems so fantastical, but thats actually the current state of affairs and that is shaping how we interact with each other online and off and thats the piece thats important. Focus: Meghan said that she has spent much of the pandemic 'spending time' with Prince Harry and 'watching their little one grow' Experienced: The Duchess of Sussex has taken part in a number of virtual events throughout the pandemic, and even made an appearance on America's Got Talent earlier this month 'It is not just an isolated experience. It transcends into how you interact with anyone around you and certainly your own relationship with yourself.' Meghan suggested that the pandemic has provided many people with the opportunity to 'reset', describing the global COVID-19 outbreak as a 'moment of reckoning' that has spurred 'a reevaluation of what really matters'. For Meghan, she says her focus has been on husband Prince Harry, 36, and their one-year-old son Archie, explaining that family has been her main priority throughout this time - during which the Sussexes moved out of Tyler Perry's Beverly Hills mansion and into their own California home. 'For me, its been amazing to spend time with my husband and watch our little one grow and thats where our attention has been,' she said. However, she added that she and Harry have also been working on their new charitable venture, the Archewell Foundation. Although little concrete information about the organization's work has been made available thus far, Meghan explained that the couple is working to figure out how they can 'be a part of the change of energy that so many people are craving right now' both online and offline. 'Part of our focus with the Archewell Foundation is to just ensure that we are helping foster healthy positive communities online and off for our collective wellbeing,' she added. During the conversation, Meghan also addressed a virtual speech that she made to graduates at her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, during which she spoke about Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd. According to the Duchess of Sussex, she was 'in tears' ahead of the online event thinking about the 'heartbreaking' subject matter of the speech. 'I was just in tears thinking about it, and I was just explaining to my husband why I thought that it was so heartbreaking, certainly for me being back in Los Angeles and it being so reminiscent to the state of Los Angeles with the riots after the Rodney King beating,' she said. 'And so for these girls to be graduating from high school, which should be a very celebratory time, to be plagued with that unrest felt troubling to me.' Meghan's session for the virtual summit lasted just 15 minutes and was described online as focusing on ways in which we can 'build - and rebuild - our digital world'. 'Our experiences online shape our communities offline,' the Fortune MPW website detailed. 'How do we build and rebuild our digital world? Whats the true price we pay if we dont?' While it is unknown if the Duchess received a fee for her appearance, Meghan and Prince Harry signed up with the Harry Walker Agency earlier this year. Tidbits: Tickets for the event were reserved for Fortune MPW members, who pay an annual membership fee of $13,500, however the organization shared a few quotes on Twitter Inspiration: When it came to her thoughts on dealing with public opinions about herself, Meghan turned to a quote about 'flattery and criticism' from artist O'Keeffe 'Quite free': The quote suggests that Meghan feels comfortable and happy in herself and can, in turn, choose to ignore the things she may read about herself, both positive and negative At the time, branding experts revealed they could earn as much as $1 million for a speech through HWA, which calls itself the 'World's #1 Exclusive Speakers' Agency'. Meghan has taken part in a number of virtual summits and talks during quarantine, both with and without her husband Harry. During many of these conversations, the Duchess of Sussex has hit out at the media, saying during The 19th* Represents 2020 Virtual Summit in August that both she and her husband believe there is too much emphasis on 'salacious' details and 'toxicity'. Weeks earlier, she addressed the Girl Up Leadership Summit, during which she warned young female participants about focusing too much on negative online voices. Earlier this year, Prince Harry also spoke out about social media, warning that it is stoking a 'crisis of hate,' and urged companies to rethink their roles in advertising on digital platforms. In an opinion piece for business magazine Fast Company headlined 'Social media is dividing us. Together, we can redesign it,' Harry said that social media, as it currently stands, is 'unwell'. The former senior royal said he and Meghan, had spent weeks working with business leaders and marketing executives on the issue to try and introduce changes. 'The digital landscape is unwell and companies like yours have the chance to reconsider your role in funding and supporting online platforms that have contributed to, stoked, and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth,' he wrote. He called for online communities to be 'defined more by compassion than hate; by truth instead of misinformation; by equity and inclusiveness instead of injustice and fear-mongering; by free, rather than weaponized, speech.' The couple were forced to drop the Sussex Royal branding as part of their release from The Firm, starting an Archewell Foundation instead, and are thought to be waiting until after the pandemic to announce any further details on their charity or any new social media accounts they may be launching. The couple revealed their new charitable foundation Archewell in April, which will incorporate the causes close to their heart, and said the Greek word in the project Arche meaning source of action was the inspiration behind the name of their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. The couple submitted an application for their non-profit foundation to be called 'Archeway' with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 28. Harry and Meghan said they were focusing their efforts on the coronavirus pandemic but felt 'compelled' to reveal details of the venture. Harry and Meghan biography 'Finding Freedom' CAN be used as evidence against her in privacy battle with Associated Newspapers, judge rules after court heard she or her friends 'co-operated' with authors Meghan Markle suing publisher of Mail on Sunday for printing letter to her father She claims article in 2019 breached her privacy, copyright and data protection Royal says note contained her deepest and most private thoughts and feelings Associated Newspapers has sought permission to amend its written defence They argue she 'co-operated with the authors of 'Finding Freedom' to put out their version of certain events' Today a High Court judge said the newspaper can rely on the royal biography in the ten-day trial starting on January 11 Meghan Markle today lost her court fight to block claims she co-operated with the authors of an explosive book about her private life or allowed her friends to. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is accused of feeding personal information to the writers of 'Finding Freedom,' to 'set out her own version of events in a way that is favourable to her.' The High Court ruling by Judge Francesca Kaye means that the book will now feature as evidence in Meghan's high stakes privacy battle against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online. It also means that she could be questioned under oath about her involvement with the book, which tells the story about her life with the Duke of Sussex. Meghan Markle today lost her court fight to block claims she co-operated with the authors of 'Finding Freedom', an explosive book about her private life The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is accused of feeding personal information to Omid Scobie (left) and Carolyn Durand (right), the writers of 'Finding Freedom,' to 'set out her own version of events in a way that is favourable to her Meghan launched a legal action against the Mail on Sunday and its publisher after her father Thomas (together when she was a teenager) shared a letter she sent him after her wedding Meghan is suing the Mail on Sunday for publishing in February 2019 extracts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle. She claimed that it breached her 'deepest and most private thoughts and feelings,' and that she had not given permission for the letter to be made public. Meghan denies that she helped with the book 'Finding Freedom,' which the newspaper argues she collaborated with the authors on, was published in August, weeks after lawyers for the newspaper had submitted its defence. Last week in a pre-trial hearing the publishers Associated Newspapers asked the High Court for permission to include her alleged co-operation in 'Finding Freedom' as part of their defence when the trial starts on January 11. The Duchess's own legal costs are predicted to be 1.8million for the ten-day trial, when she is also expected to give evidence. Her legal costs for the pre-trial hearing were revealed to be 'just under' 140,000 and she was also ordered to pay the newspaper's costs of 39,000. Lawyers for the newspaper claimed it was 'difficult to see' how Meghan could complain about extracts of her letter to her estranged father being published when she and Harry had helped with 'Finding Freedom,' which exposed their private thoughts and feelings. At the preliminary hearing, Antony White QC said the biography 'gives every appearance of having been written with their extensive co-operation'. 'The book contains a great deal of detailed information about [Meghan's] personal life, including a number of passages referring to her relationship and communications with her father, and a section referring to the letter which is at the heart of this case,' he added. Barrister Justin Rushbrooke (pictured left) is now representing Meghan in the High Court after Meghan dropped her lawyer David Sherborne (right) He argued that the Duchess, either directly or through friends, allowed the bombshell book to use intimate details to paint a 'favourable' picture of her life. Meghan's lawyer Justin Rushbrooke QC asked for permission to appeal against the ruling allowing the amendments to the Mail on Sunday's defence. The barrister said the 'inherent improbability' of Meghan having co-operated with the authors of the biography could be demonstrated by 'simply comparing what the defendant's own articles said with what the book said about the letter' to her estranged father. Judge Francesca Kaye refused permission to appeal against her ruling, but Meghan's lawyers could still pursue an appeal to the Court of Appeal. At last week's preliminary hearing,Meghan'slawyers denied that she co-operated with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand on the book and that any reference to her letter in it were simply extracts that were actually taken from the Mail on Sunday article. They also denied that she used her friends to influence press and public opinion. In a written submission, Mr Rushbrooke QC, said: 'The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book.' Thomas Markle with a baby Meghan Markle. A picture shown in the Channel 5 documentary called Thomas Markle: My Story, that aired earlier this year Thomas Markle showing souvenirs he keeps on mantlepiece of Harry and Meghan from the wedding he was unable to attend. Father and daughter have not spoken since He added that neither Meghan nor Harry to spoke to Mr Scobie or Ms Durand, who he said, 'were not given the impression that the claimant wanted the contents of the letter to be reproduced in the book'. Mr Rushbrooke will reportedly be representing Meghan for the remainder of the case after she dropped his colleague, David Sherborne. The High Court ruling also means that Mr Scobie will also be asked to give evidence in the case, after he submitted a statement maintaining that Meghan did not co-operate in the writing of the book. New Delhi: Actress Kangana Ranaut has put across her point of view on social media, and strongly condemned the brutal Hathras gangrape, after the 19-year-old victim, succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in the capital. The victim was gang-raped and brutally assaulted at Hathras, Uttar Pradesh on September 14, 2020. She was allegedly dragged by her dupatta into the fields, where she had been cutting grass with her family. Demanding death for the culprits, Kangana wrote on Twitter: Shoot these rapists publicly, what is the solution to these gang rapes that are growing in numbers every year? What a sad and shameful day for this country. Shame on us we failed our daughters The 19-year-old victim was initially rushed to AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital. However, after her health deteriorated, she was shifted to the ICU at the Safdarjung hospital. In fact, her family members even expressed their desire to take her to Delhi, and she was referred to AIIMS on Monday (September 28) morning. According to PTI, the accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. A spokesman of the Aligarh hospital had said that the woman's legs were completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed. The four accused who have already been arrested will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, according to the Hathras SP. Several political leaders, celebrities and netizens have strongly condemned the act and demand justice for the victim and her family, recalling the gruesome Delhi Nirbhaya gangrape incident. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:54:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Peerzada Arshad Hamid NEW DELHI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- India's federal health ministry has come up with a web portal to provide detailed information on the ongoing development of the COVID-19 vaccine. The portal along with national clinical registry of COVID-19 developed by the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is aimed at addressing queries of the people on vaccine development. "The portal provides useful and important information related to vaccine development, ongoing clinical trials and progress made in this area locally and globally at regular intervals. Today, in the times of COVID-19, vaccine development is watched very closely. Thus, it becomes important to showcase the status of vaccine development in the country," Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said while launching the portal on Monday. According to officials, the national clinical registry for COVID-19 will collect systematic data on clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory investigations, management protocols, the clinical course of COVID-19, disease spectrum and outcomes of patients. "The national clinical registry will be crucial in providing accurate information around COVID-19. Clinical data like symptoms, laboratory investigations, protocols, clinical course of the disease and outcome of patients will be invaluable for deciding future actions," officials said. "The data will serve as an invaluable tool for formulating appropriate patient management strategies, predicting disease severity, patient outcomes etc." According to ICMR, trends in presentation and management of the disease can be analyzed from the collected data. "The analysis may help both clinicians and policymakers to take better informed decisions," the ICMR said. "Only data from hospital records are being collected and there is no interference with the standard practice of clinical care as followed in individual hospitals." The vaccine portal contains all information regarding India's efforts towards the development of a vaccine against the COVID-19. The aim of the portal, officials said, is to disseminate the vaccine-related information and create awareness among the masses. "This dynamic, insightful tool will detail efforts for developing various vaccines against COVID-19 and other diseases and mapping their stages of progression," the health minister said. The portal presents the details of three COVID-19 vaccine under trials in India -- COVAXIN, Covishield and ZyCoV-D. "In order to respond quickly and effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, a broad range of candidate COVID-19 vaccines are being investigated globally using various technologies and platforms. These include viral-vectored, protein subunit, nucleic acid (DNA, RNA), live attenuated and inactivated vaccines. Some of these candidates have entered clinical trials," ICMR said. Presently India is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday the health ministry said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 6,145,291 including 96,318 deaths. Globally India is the second worst-hit country by COVID-19. This month the health ministry said about 30 COVID-19 vaccines were under various stages of development in the country and of these three were in the advanced stage. The Indian government said the COVID-19 vaccine might be ready by the first quarter of next year. "Several vaccine trials are going on in India. At present, we can't predict which one will emerge as the most effective. But by the first quarter of 2021, we will definitely know the results," Vardhan recently said. He said a vaccine expert group had been set up to oversee the entire process. Enditem PHOENIX, Ariz.Adult fans may recall the little "dust-up" Lora DiCarlo had with the Consumer Electronics Show back in January of 2019, where CES first awarded the company's Ose vibrator an "innovation in robotics" award, then took it away shortly thereafter, only to re-give DiCarlo the award in May of 2019 after worldwide consternation at the censorious move. The entire saga is available by searching "Lora DiCarlo" on AVN.combut now, Entrenue is making hay of the fact that it has been named exclusive North American distributor for the award-winning sex tech innovator. Although an Entrenue distribution deal was struck in January, the boutique distributor is now shipping several of the companys pleasure tools that weren't ready nine months ago, including Ose 2, Baci, Onda, Filare and Carezza, and Entrenue is providing support to retailers as they introduce this unique sex tech to consumers across the continent. We are thrilled to work with Lora DiCarlo and bring these highly anticipated pleasure devices to our customers, Entrenue CEOwner Joe Casella said. Their team ethos is very much in alignment with Entrenues and we love that Lora DiCarlo isnt just creating lovely productsthey are centering their business around female empowerment and pleasure, encouraging body positivity, and teaching consumers about the importance of exploring and enjoying pleasure. Ose 2 is designed to deliver a blended orgasm by mimicking the sensation of a partners fingers, tongue and mouth against the G-spot and clitoris. The handheld device combines a G-spot massager and clitoral "mouth" to stimulate both pleasure points simultaneously. With a flexible body and custom controls, Ose 2 adjusts to fit each users anatomy. Baci is designed to replicate the sensation of the mouth and tongue over the glans clitoris. Its ridges and ten intensity levels provide rhythmic thrumming to the clitoris, and comes complete with a travel-friendly built-in case. Onda is a vibrator and G-spot massager that replicates the motion of a finger using microbiotic technology. Custom settings allow the user to determine the level of vibration and the length and speed of each stroke against the G-spot. Onda comes with a topper that functions as a built-in travel case. Carezza uses microrobotics and "PercussionTouch" technology to stimulate the clitoris. The soft tip offers finger-like tapping, then escalates to deep vibrations. Also using advanced microrobotics is Filare, equipped with stimulation points that roll over and around the clitoris like a partners tongue or fingertip. With 10 speeds and 3 modes to choose from, Filare has an adjustable palm shape to help users find the best way to apply the unit to their bodies. Lora DiCarlos dedication to customer satisfaction is impressive, Casella said. They took consumer feedback seriously and created an improved version of the Ose 2 for the official launch. Their team also offers fantastic customer support with outstanding videos, trainings and sales sheets, as well as a video bank that features Lora discussing all of the products in detail. Lora DiCarlo is helping lead a sexual empowerment revolution, and Entrenue is thrilled to be a part of it. After months of anticipation, we are excited to bring Ose 2 and its counterparts to our customers in the U.S. and Canada. Each Lora DiCarlo item is made with an ABS plastic base coated in silicone. The entire line is waterproof with magnetic USB charging, and each item comes complete with a storage bag. The product names are all Italian to reflect the companys heritage: Ose 2 (Risque), Baci (Kiss), Onda (Rolling Wave), Filare (Swirl), and Carezza (Caress). Lora DiCarlo products come with attractive card stand displays and display holsters for shelf appeal. To learn more or place an order, call (800) 368-7268, email [email protected] or visit Entrenue.com. Despite precautions at Pioneer Elder Care that might have helped make its assisted living facilities resistant to outbreaks, the COVID-19 virus somehow found its way into one of the companys St. Catharines homes. But if the private retirement homes that specializes in providing care to residents with dementia had followed a recommendation of public health against testing all staff and residents, Pioneer co-owner and director of client services Mary Ellen Spear said the extent of an outbreak at one of its facilities could have been worse than it is. Pioneers home on Lakeshore Road was added to Niagara Region Public Healths list of facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks on Sept. 22, after a nurse who was not in direct contact with residents tested positive for the virus after complaining of a migraine headache. The nurse has since been off-site recovering. Spear said Niagaras public health department advised the homes director of care that testing all staff and residents including those who had no symptoms was not required, and added if you want to go above and beyond thats up to Pioneer. She said Pioneer chose to test all staff and residents at both its Lakeshore Road and Vine Street locations. As a result, she said one asymptomatic resident at the Lakeshore Road location has tested positive for the virus so far while the results of several other tests remain outstanding. Ministry of Health guidelines for COVID-19 testing last updated Sept. 24 recommend all staff and residents within a long-term care or retirement home where an outbreak has been declared should be tested. But Niagaras acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, whose office has the discretion to declare outbreaks and order testing at long-term care homes, said the specific circumstances of the Pioneer outbreak did not warrant broad testing at the time. He said the first case was a staff person who had limited contact with a few staff members and no contact with residents. So, we decided to focus on the people who had a likely exposure and deal with them, Hirji said. That limited contact is why tests were not ordered for all staff and residents. That changed after the company ordered tests found a resident case. Hirji said there is no information yet that links that resident to the infected staff person. It is possible, he said, the resident was exposed by someone else. But Spear said if the home hadnt tested everyone after being told it was unnecessary, the asymptomatic resident would not have been identified as quickly possibly adding to the risk of spreading the virus to other residents and the staff that work with them. We did it on our own. Why arent they saying it is required that everyone get tested? I dont know if we dont have enough tests or enough manpower, if its politics. I dont know, she said. When youre dealing with the most vulnerable and the elderly and front-line staff during an outbreak, what constitutes requiring testing? We wouldnt have known about the positive result. Touch wood that none of the other tests have come back positive, although some of the results seven or eight days later are still not back. Spear said too many staff and residents at Pioneer, as well as their families, have been left to worry while waiting to learn if they have the virus. Theyre (test results are) basically trickling in. A lot of the results are outstanding and these are front-line workers, working in an outbreak, she said. Its really been a nightmare. It seems like all the systems are overwhelmed. Of course, the province relaxed a lot of the measures opening up the homes to visitors, allowing residents to go out. Its been challenging. The provincial government announced a rollback of some of the reopening measures on Tuesday, again imposing visitor restrictions at long-term care homes in hot spot areas such as Toronto and Ottawa. Spear said those restrictions should include Niagara, too. Were looking after the most vulnerable in our community. With dementia residents its not the same as someone who doesnt have cognitive impairment. They dont understand wearing a mask. They dont understand that they cant walk from room to room. She said additional measures have been put in place. We have followed every protocol for screening, checking temperatures for residents. There were no signs or symptoms, she said. But if it can happen at Pioneer, it can happen anywhere. Under persistent questioning from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, Flynn's attorney acknowledged having spoken to the president within the last few weeks Sidney Powell said she briefed Trump and asked him not to pardon convicted liar Flynn who is trying to get out of plea deal with Robert Mueller Flynn has twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a conversation with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period in December 2016 Justice Department moved in May to dismiss the case, saying there was insufficient basis to interview Flynn Sullivan has so far resisted efforts to dismiss the prosecution and appointed a former federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's position That ex-judge, John Gleeson, has accused the department of acting for political reasons when it moved to drop the case Hearing Tuesday was as Sullivan decides whether to go ahead with case or accept that it is dismissed; he reserved judgment Sullivan was appointed federal judge by Bill Clinton. He was appointed a District of Columbia judge by Ronald Reagan and promoted by George H.W. Bush A lawyer for former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn told a judge Tuesday that she recently updated President Donald Trump on the case and asked him not to issue a pardon for her client. The attorney, Sidney Powell, was initially reluctant to discuss her conversations with the president or the White House, saying she believed they were protected by executive privilege. ADVERTISEMENT But under persistent questioning from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, she acknowledged having spoken to the president within the last few weeks to brief him and to argue against a pardon. U.S. Justice Department lawyers denied any corruption or political motives in efforts to get the federal criminal case against Flynn dropped. In May, Attorney General William Barr stunned many in the legal community by ordering prosecutors to have the case dropped. Critics have accused Barr of giving special treatment to Trump allies. Sullivan reserved judgment in the case and did not set a date for the next hearing but indicated he intended to be speedy. The revelation of Trump being briefed came in a tense exchange between Flynn's attorney and the judge. Powell at first declined to discuss the substance of her direct conversations with Trump, angering Sullivan when she tried to invoke executive privilege. 'You don't work for the government,' Sullivan told her. Powell, in a tense exchange with the judge, said she recently met with Trump after the government moved to dismiss the case. She added that Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis was also present. 'I spoke with Jenna Ellis and I spoke with the president himself to provide a brief status of the litigation within the last couple weeks,' Powell said. 'Did you make any requests of the president?' Sullivan asked. 'No sir, other than he not issue a pardon,' she replied. Admission: Under persistent questioning Sydney Powell (left) said she had briefed Donald Trump on her attempt to get Mike Flynn (right) out of his plea deal Center of case: Flynn has emerged as something of a cause celebre for Trump and his supporters Powell also downplayed a letter she sent to Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in June of 2019, in which she let them know she would soon be taking over as Flynn's lawyer and complained that the FBI had tried to entrap her client. ADVERTISEMENT When Sullivan asked her whether she felt her letter to Barr was ethical, Powell replied: 'Perfectly.' The letter to Barr 'raises questions about motive' for the department to remove career prosecutors from the case, the judge said. He suggested the bar association might take issue with her tactics. He asked the government to schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss how Barr and Rosen responded. Powell's discussion of the case with Trump, along with her letter to senior Justice Department officials, are likely to further stoke debate over whether the Trump administration is improperly seeking to dismiss the case for political. But she called the case a 'hideous abuse of power that continues until this very minute.' 'This is the most egregious injustice I have even seen in my 30-plus years of practice,' Powell said. The DOJ was represented by a veteran career prosecutor. 'I wanted to appear today because the allegations against our office that we would somehow operate or act with a corrupt political motive are not true,' Kenneth Clair Kohl, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said. 'I've never seen it in my entire career in our office and it didn't happen here.' He also directly attacked former top FBI officials, including former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former agent Peter Strzok, saying they could not be reliable witnesses for the government if it had proceeded with its prosecution of Flynn. Click here to resize this module Unprecedented case: Federal district judge Emmet Sullivan is considering whether to continue and sentence Flynn despite AG Bill Barr trying to drop the prosecution entirely Unprecedented case: Federal district judge Emmet Sullivan is considering whether to continue and sentence Flynn despite AG Bill Barr trying to drop the prosecution entirely Powell, meanwhile, also told Sullivan she thought he was biased against Flynn and intended to file a motion soon to ask him to recuse himself. ADVERTISEMENT Barr's unusual move ordering the case be dropped despite the guilty pleas led Sullivan to tap retired judge John Gleeson, whom he instructed to argue against the Justice Department's legal position. Gleeson on Tuesday urged Sullivan not to drop the case. 'People who don't hang around in federal courtrooms don't really get just how important it is to enter a guilty plea,' he said. 'People can't plead guilty and then show up for sentencing, as this defendant did on December 18, 2018 and see how the wind is blowing.' Gleeson, has accused the department of acting for political reasons when it moved to drop the case and of shifting its rationale over several months for doing so. 'These reasons are so patently pretextual that the government feels the need to keep coming up with more of them,' Gleeson said. Lawyers for the federal government revived their efforts to persuade Sullivan that dismissing the Flynn case was in the interests of justice. The lawyers cited what they said was internal uncertainty about whether Flynn had even committed a crime, as well as questions about the credibility of law enforcement officials in the case. Allegations of improper political motives are 'just not true,' said federal prosecutor Ken Kohl, who identified himself as the most senior career official in the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington. 'I've never seen it in my career in my office, and it didn't happen here,' Kohl said. 'Im here to say that the U.S. Attorney's office's decision to dismiss this case was the right call for the right reasons.' Who do we call if he have to prosecute? The DOJ's Ken Kohl suggested that the case would be impossible for the Justice Department to win in the event that it went to trial saying: 'Are we going to call Pete Strzok in this case?' Kohl asked rhetorically. 'Or do we call the deputy director who ordered the interview, Andy McCabe?' (pictured) Both have been fired Who do we call if he have to prosecute? The DOJ's Ken Kohl suggested that the case would be impossible for the Justice Department to win in the event that it went to trial saying: 'Are we going to call Pete Strzok (pictured) in this case?' Kohl asked rhetorically. 'Or do we call the deputy director who ordered the interview, Andy McCabe?' Both have been fired He also suggested that the case would be impossible for the Justice Department to win in the event that it went to trial. He cited the actions of Peter Strzok, an FBI agent who interviewed Flynn but was fired from the bureau because of pejorative texts about Trump, and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired over allegations that he misled the Justice Department's inspector general. 'Are we going to call Pete Strzok in this case?' Kohl asked rhetorically. 'Or do we call the deputy director who ordered the interview, Andy McCabe?' In recent weeks, as part of the review being conducted by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen of St. Louis, the Justice Department has identified correspondence that it sees as possibly favorable to Flynn. That includes a recent interview of an FBI agent who was part of the Flynn investigation, and expressed misgivings about it, and also came to believe that the Mueller team exhibited a 'get Trump' attitude. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was charged under former Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trumps candidacy. Flynn pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI about his conversations before Trump took office with Sergey Kislyak, who was then Russia's ambassador to the United States, concerning U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia under President Barack Obama. He was due to be sentenced in December 2018. Sullivan delayed that until Flynn could finish cooperating with the government in another pending criminal case out of Virginia. But Flynn last year switched lawyers and his new legal team claimed the FBI had set him up. ADVERTISEMENT The Justice Department moved in May to dismiss the case, saying there was insufficient basis to interview Flynn and that the questioning was not relevant to the FBI's broader counterintelligence investigation. The partner of a police officer who was shot dead in London has paid tribute to her gentle giant as the investigation into his death continues. Su Bushby said there were no words to describe her feelings at the loss of Sgt Matt Ratana, who was killed while on duty in the early hours of Friday morning. I know Matt touched many, many peoples lives with his friendliness, patience, kindness, enthusiasm and caring ways, she added. I had the pleasure of sharing five years of my life with this lovely man my gentle giant, with his infectious smile and big heart. I think of him with tenderness and love. Matt was my partner, friend, confidant, support and soul mate. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten. Matt will always be in my head and in my heart. Sgt Ratana, who was originally from New Zealand, also has an adult son from a previous relationship. MPs held a minutes silence in the House of Commons in his memory on Monday following commemorations over the weekend for National Police Memorial Day. Sgt Ratana, 54, was an experienced custody sergeant and was working at a custody suite in Croydon on Thursday night. He was allegedly shot by 23-year-old Louis De Zoysa, who had been arrested for possession of ammunition and drugs, in a holding area. The suspect had been handcuffed to the rear and was about to be searched using a metal detector at the time. Matt Ratana, a Met Police sergeant who was shot dead while on duty, with commissioner Dame Cressida Dick (Metropolitan Police) He remains in a critical condition in hospital after turning the gun on himself, while Sgt Ratana died in hospital. A string of community leaders from Croydon paid tribute to him in a video shared on social media on Monday. Superintendent Andy Brittain Sgt Ratana, who was known for his love of rugby and played for London Irish amateurs, touched the lives of so many. Multiple tributes have been paid since his death, including from the country's prime minister Jacinda Adern. Dame Cressida Dick said he was an extraordinary person who was very good at his job. The Metropolitan Police commissioner said his terrible death might bring home to people the challenges of police work, helping them to see us police as who we are human beings, going to work to help people, to support people and to protect people. Sgt Ratana moved to Britain in 1989 and joined the force two years later, working across the capital in various roles before moving to Croydon in 2015. As a colleague, he was big in stature and big-hearted, a friendly, capable police officer, Dame Cressida said. Police officer shot dead in Croydon A lovely man, highly respected by officers and staff, and by the public, including suspects he arrested or dealt with in custody. He was very well known locally and will be remembered so fondly in Croydon, as well as in the Met and the rugby world. The investigation into his death has seen police searching an address on Southbrook Road in Norbury, southwest London, and another on Park Road, Banstead in Surrey. A cordon was in place outside Courtlands Farm off Park Road on Sunday, following reports from neighbours of an explosion in the early hours of the previous morning. Officers arrested a man on suspicion of supplying a firearm at around 2am on Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk. In the lead-up to Friday's killing, the suspected gunman had been arrested by patrolling officers for possession of ammunition and possession of class B drugs with intent to supply following a stop and search. He was handcuffed behind his back before being taken to the station in a police vehicle. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), he was taken into the building and sat in a holding area in the custody suite, then opened fire while still in the handcuffs as officers prepared to search him with a metal detector. No police firearms were discharged in the incident, during which the suspect was also injured, and the case is not being treated as terror-related. Priti Patel paid tribute to Sgt Ratana and restated the governments commitment to a police covenant enshrining support for officers and their families in law. Speaking in the Commons, the home secretary said: Last Friday we saw the senseless murder of police sergeant Matiu Ratana while on duty in Croydon. His tragic death in the line of duty is a reminder to us all of the risks our brave officers take each and every day to keep us all safe. I know the House will join me in paying tribute to his courage and service and also in sending our sincere and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. Islam, an Egyptian student who has lived in the UK for four years, is keen to take part in the upcoming parliamentary election. He believes it is his duty to exercise his vote and help choose who will represent him. Postal voting makes the whole process easy. I will register and be ready to have a say on 21 October, he said. Egyptians abroad must register to vote between Sunday 27 September and 10 October. In mid-September the Foreign Ministry called on Egyptian expatriates to register on the website of the National Elections Authority (NEA) to be able to take part in the parliamentary elections set to be held from 21 to 23 October. Only registered voters will be able to print their ballot papers and vote via e-mail. In previous elections voters were able to cast their ballots in person at diplomatic missions in the country in which they were living. This time it is different. I will not have to travel to the embassy to cast my ballot. That is far easier and less time consuming, says Sami, an Egyptian who has lived in New York for more than 20 years. The real challenge is finding out information about the candidates and deciding who will best represent me, he added. Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said in July that after registering their data on the official NEA website voters will receive a confidential code that they must enter on voting day to access to the ballot paper which voters can print, choose their candidates, and place in a blank and sealed envelope. A declaration will appear on the website confirming the voters participation in the ballot. The declaration must then be printed out, signed by the voter and placed, together with the blank envelope, a copy of the voters national ID card or passport and their residence permit, in a clearly addressed envelope that the voter then sends via express mail to the Egyptian diplomatic mission in the country they live in. I failed to register my data for the Senate elections in August. But I will not miss the registration this time, says Riad, a labourer who has been working in Saudi Arabia for eight years. Postal votes are proving very useful in countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that have high numbers of Egyptian expats, and in countries like the US and Canada where the nearest diplomatic mission could be hundreds of miles away. The expatriate vote is usually held earlier than the domestic vote to allow for the results to be sent to the relevant election committee. The first phase of parliamentary voting for expatriates will take place between 21 and 23 October and any run-offs between 21 to 23 November. Final results of the first phase will be declared on 30 November. The second phase of the expat vote will be between 4 and 6 November, with the results declared on the 15 November. Run-offs will be held between 5 and 7 December and the final results declared on 14 December. Every Egyptian citizen living abroad, whether temporarily or permanently, who is registered on the electoral roll and has a national ID card, even if it has expired, or a computerized passport, has the right to cast a vote at the nearest Egyptian embassy or consulate. Postal voting was allowed in the 2012 parliamentary and presidential elections and proved helpful for thousands of expatriates. Voting in the 2014 and 2018 presidential elections was only in person. In April 2011 the then cabinet announced that Egyptians living overseas should be allowed to vote in presidential elections and referendums at embassies and consulates abroad as part of amendments to the law on political participation. In October 2011 an administrative court ruled that Egyptians living abroad had the right to cast ballots in parliamentary polls. A month later, the then-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) passed a law regulating expatriate voting in parliamentary and presidential elections and in referendums, allowing expatriates to vote at embassies and consulates in the countries in which they lived. Now expats can make full use of technology in registering and casting their ballots in the comfort of their own homes. This is an enormous advantage in this time of COVID-19, said Dina, a teacher who has lived in Kuwait for the last 12 years. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving lower on Tuesday as investors looked for cues from the final round of Brexit trade talks as well as the upcoming U.S. presidential debate. The European Union and Britain have indicated that a post-Brexit deal was still some way off as negotiations recommenced over implementing their Withdrawal Agreement. Covid-19 news flow and developments on the latest U.S. stimulus measures also remained on investors' radar. The pan European Stoxx 600 slipped half a percent to 361.76 after posting its biggest single-day gain in three months the previous day. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed around 0.7 percent, while France's CAC 40 index was down 0.4 percent. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. fell over 1 percent and Peugeot S.A. lost 1.8 percent after they announced the composition of the Board of Stellantis, the new company that will result from the combination of their respective businesses. Nokia Corp. shares rose half a percent. The company said it has signed a long-term strategic deal to become BT Group plc's 5G RAN supplier. HELLA GmbH & Co. KgaA shares fell over 1 percent. The automotive part supplier is selling its business with front camera software of HELLA Aglaia including the related activities of HELLA Aglaia in testing and validation, to the Car.Software Organization, a subsidiary of Volkswagen. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG gained 0.7 percent. The company has signed an agreement for taking a majority stake of 50.01 percent in the multi-function terminal Piattaforma Logistica Trieste in the Italian seaport of Trieste. This will be the company's third participation in a port outside Hamburg after Odessa (Ukraine) and Tallinn (Estonia). Travel-related stocks were declining as the global death toll from Covid-19 pandemic crossed 1 million. British Airways owner IAG fell 2.4 percent, airline EasyJet declined 1.7 percent and engine maker Rolls-Royce tumbled 3.8 percent. Plumbing parts distributor Ferguson soared 5.5 percent after restoring dividend. High Street baker Greggs plunged 5.6 percent. The company has warned that trading will remain 'below normal for the foreseeable future'. Cairn Energy declined 1.4 percent as it reported a loss before tax from continuing operations of $284.4 million for the six months ended 30 June 2020 compared to profit of $73.2 million, prior year. In economic releases, Eurozone economic confidence index reached a six-month high in September driven by waning pessimism in industry, retail trade, construction and services, survey data from the European Commission showed today. The economic confidence index rose to 91.1 in September from 87.5 in August. This was the highest score since March and above economists' forecast of 89.0. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 17:45:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Local communities in the northern provinces of Laos will benefit from a pilot project which was launched to improve nutrition levels and people's living conditions. The project would provide technical assistance and advice to enable the communities to produce their goods more efficiently and of higher quality, local daily Vientiane Times on Tuesday quoted Executive Director of the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF), Chit Thavisay, as saying. The project is being launched in 248 villages covering 12 districts in the target provinces of Phongsaly, Xieng Khuang, Huaphan and Oudomxay, with a focus on basic infrastructure, nutrition support and income generation activities for local people. A senior official from the Nutrition Center of the Ministry of Health, who wished to remain anonymous, reiterated that poverty was the primary reason for stunting and underweight children under five years of age in these provinces. The problem demands a series of coordinated clear policies and the launch of the pilot project was needed to deal with the immediate, underlying, and fundamental causes of malnutrition, the official said. According to data from the PRF, malnutrition rates remained high in these provinces. About 19 percent of Lao citizens are malnourished, and 33 percent of children under the age of five are stunted. Reducing malnutrition is vital for boosting human capital in Laos and ensuring that young adults enjoy productive and fulfilling lives, according to the World Bank. The project is supported by the Lao government budget and development partners, including the World Bank with the third phase running from 2020-2024 and implementation by the PRF. The PRF, established in 2002, has become part of the Lao government's Nutrition Convergence agenda, with a renewed focus on reducing stunting among children. Enditem The international media reacted with little sympathy after Lewis Hamilton suggested Formula 1 is trying to stop him dominating the sport. The six-time world champion received two five-second penalties for illegal practice starts before the recent Sochi race, and afterwards suggested he had been unfairly singled out. "How is it that such a strong driver, a phenomenon like Lewis Hamilton, doesn't know the rules?" an editorial in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reacted. Indeed, F1 race director Michael Masi insists that all 19 of Hamilton's rivals made their pre-race practice starts in the designated area. "So just one piece of advice," La Repubblica added. "In addition to weights in the gym, sometimes pick up a book, and start with the Formula 1 rules." Spain's El Pais agrees that Hamilton's "rookie mistakes" were "inappropriate for a driver of his calibre". Hamilton's 2 super licence penalty points, which took him perilously close to a race ban, were rescinded by the FIA after it emerged that Mercedes agreed that he could do a practice start outside of the official area. Mercedes' engineering director Andrew Shovlin told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper: "We didn't quite realise how much further down he wanted to go. "We didn't see his first one, but when we saw the second, we knew they (the stewards) wouldn't like it." Former F1 driver Karl Wendlinger told AvD Motorsport Magazin: "Hamilton should know where he can practice his starts. He's been in Formula 1 long enough for that." Another ex driver, Marc Surer, added: "If 19 drivers practice in the right place and Lewis Hamilton goes to the end of the pit exit where the cars come out at high speed, one the one hand it's dangerous and on the other I cannot understand where he even got the idea to go there." Sergey Sirotkin, who drove for Williams in 2018, told Russia's Championat: "I don't think it was too harsh a punishment. "The pitlane exit is rather narrow with walls on both sides, and where he did it is a long way from the place where he should have done it. "I am quite sure that the stewards didn't invent that penalty, I think they have clearly prescribed penalties for certain violations. I think it was quite justified," the Russian added. (GMM) Six years after Eric Garner was filmed gasping 'I can't breathe' while being placed in a chokehold by the police on Staten Island, a judge has ruled that the man's family could question Mayor Bill de Blasio and other top city officials in court about their handling of the case. New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden on Thursday ordered a 'summary inquiry' into Garner's 2014 death, a year after the man's mother, Gwen Carr, filed a petition seeking to bring the mayor of New York City, former Police Commissioner James O'Neil and FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro before a judge to address 'unresolved factual issues' concerning the incident. 'Although the arrest and death of Eric Garner has received considerable attention in the press over the past six years, many facts relating to his arrest and death, and the investigations and any disciplinary actions taken in response to his death, have not been disclosed to the public or to the family of Mr. Garner,' Madden wrote in her opinion. Scroll down for video Gwen Carr (left), the mother of Eric Garner (right), has won a legal right to question top New York City officials about their handling of her son's arrest Officers were trying to arrest Garner for selling untaxed cigarettes on July 17, 2014, when NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around the suspect's neck for about seven seconds as they struggled against a glass storefront. Garner's final moments were captured on video recorded by his friend. His dying gasps of 'I cant breathe' have become a rallying cry among police reform activists. In December 2014, a Staten Island grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo on criminal charges in Garner's death. He was fired from the force in August 2019, after a judge ruled that he had used a banned chokehold on Garner. Last summer, Garner's mother and sister filed a petition in state court seeking a summery inquiry, a special proceeding under New York City Charter Section 1109 that enables the courts to act as a check on the actions of city government by allowing citizens to bring any public servant before a judge to answer allegations of official misconduct under penalty of perjury. Afterward, transcripts of their testimony are made public. Garner, a father of six, died in July 2014 after being put in a chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo. This video shows cops tending to him after he stopped breathing Carr and Garner's sister, Ellisha Flagg Garner, allege that de Blasio, O'Neill and other city officials neglected their duties in their handling of Garner's death, and then failed to release information about the case. City Hall and the police department pushed back on the request for such an inquiry and filed a motion to dismiss the petition. 'The police department conducted a fair and impartial investigation into this matter, including holding a public trial,' City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein stated in August 2019. Officer Pantaleo was never criminally charged in connection to Garner's death. He was fired from the NYPD in August 2019 The summery inquiry will cover several aspects of the arrest and its aftermath, including the lack of immediate medical aid for Garner, possible failures to train NYPD officers in the use of force and chokeholds, and suspected filing of 'false officials NYPD documents,' reported CNN. Garner's family also would like to question officials about possible false statements that were made during an internal investigation, leaking of Garner's arrest record and medical history, as well as his autopsy information. 'It has been more than six long years since the NYPD killed my son, and six long years of cover ups and excuses from Mayor de Blasio and his entire administration. Today is an important sign of hope that their misdeeds will not stay in the dark - the world will know what they did to my son and my family,' Carr told CNN. 'We have seen the video. We have heard my son cry "I can't breathe" as he died. Now we have a chance to finally show that the Mayor has allowed the police department to get away with murder - and the related cover-up. I hope New Yorkers join me in my ongoing demand for the immediate firing of all the officers who engaged in misconduct related to my son's murder.' Mayor Bill de Blasio (left) and former NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill could potentially be compelled to appear before a judge to answer questions about the Garner case The Law Department of New York City is appealing the judge's ruling, arguing that there is no evidence that the mayor or any other officials neglected their duties or broke the law. 'There is no legal basis for a judicial inquiry to second guess the decisions that the law vests in the mayor and police commissioner,' agency spokesman Nick Paolucci said. Madden's decision potentially clears the way for Carr and her legal team to compel de Blasio and O'Neal to appear before a judge, but Nigro will not be required to testify, reported Staten Island Advance. Additional details concerning the inquiry will be discussed during a hearing set for October 6. Camper fire claims the life of two people in Marshall County Andhra and Telangana are opposing each other's irrigation projects on the Krishna and Godavari. (Representational image) Hyderabad: The Union water ministry has proposed to hold the Apex Council meeting with the AP and Telangana chief ministers on October 6 to resolve the dispute between the two states over sharing of the Krishna and Godavari river waters. The council meet has been postponed twice earlier. The Union Jal Shakti Ministry scheduled a meeting on August 5, but it was postponed at the request of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. It was rescheduled to August 25, but was postponed again after the Apex Council chairman and Union water minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalised. On Monday the ministry informed both state governments about a fresh date for the meeting and requested the chief ministers of both states to make it convenient to participate in the meet. Shekhawat will chair the meeting through a video conference. The meeting gains significance in view of the complaints and countercomplaints by both state governments to the Krishna River Management Board and the Godavari River Management Board pertaining to irrigation projects and also the letters of the Union water resource minister to both chief ministers. In letters dated August 7, the minister noted that both states did not furnish detailed project reports (DPRs) of the projects objected to by the other to the river management board concerned despite the chairmen asking for the same. The Union minister in his letters to the chief ministers made it clear that they cannot take up projects that are not approved by the respective river management boards and the Apex Council. He also asked the AP government not to go ahead with the proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. Despite letters from the Union Minister, the AP government has finalised the tenders for the project recently. With the 2020 election just around the corner, the Democrats are increasingly confident they can get Joe Biden to the White House while winning the Senate and holding the House of Representatives. And if they manage to do that, they may be able to achieve whats become a major goal: abolishing the Electoral College. This is the institution that gave Donald Trump the presidency in 2016, even though Hillary Clinton beat him by nearly 3 million votes. Assuming Joe Biden manages to win it, this could be the colleges last election. Heres what you need to know about the electoral college, the calls for its elimination, and why it exists in the first place. What is the electoral college, and how does it work? When voters cast their ballots on election day in America, theyre technically not voting directly for the candidates themselves. Instead, under the electoral college, they are essentially casting a ballot for their preferred candidates electors. These electors are often party loyalists, or the individuals close to the campaigns. In all but two states, the winner of the popular vote receives all of that states electoral college votes no matter the margin of victory. Read more: 2020 Electoral College map: The swing states Trump and Biden need to win All told, there are 538 electors in the electoral college: one for each member of the House of Representatives, two per senator, and three allocated to the District of Columbia through the 22nd Amendment. So, after voters cast their ballots (and after governors of the states certify the tallies and electoral lists), the electors then meet in December in their respective states. At that point, they then officially vote for president and vice president. Members of the House and Senate then meet in January to take an official tally of those votes. Why does the US run its election this way? The electoral college is a compromise solution dating back to the origins of the country, when there was considerable concern that urban centres would dominate elections to the detriment of less populated areas. Because the number of electors a state has is tied to its number of representatives in the House, more populous states have an edge because they wield more by virtue of having greater representation. In order to offset that, the founders of the country determined that each state would also receive one elector per senator of which each state has two, regardless of its size thereby giving less populous states a boost. The procedure is detailed in the 12th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Who benefits from the electoral college? In the two most recent elections in which candidates lost the popular vote but won the election anyway, the candidates were Republicans. George W. Bush won in 2000, while Donald Trump won in 2016. Generally speaking, republican support is found in rural areas of the country, while democrats find their support in urban centres. Read more: How many US presidents have lost a second term? If you look at a map of nearly any election, the vast majority of the country will be painted red for republicans no matter the vote. Thats because republicans dominate in sparsely populated areas of the US in the centre of the country; meanwhile, urbanised areas that usually vote Democratic are concentrated on coasts and in relatively few states. The contest in most elections, then, is about encroaching on just enough of the other sides territory in a handful of key areas within a few swing states. Republicans have long fought a strong game in the more affluent suburbs of major cities, giving them an edge in swing states like Pennsylvania where the Democratic vote is largely concentrated in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Conversely, the Democrats are increasingly hopeful of finally winning Arizona for the first time since 1996 thanks in large part to the changing demographics and politics of its two largest cities, Phoenix and Tucson. What happens if theres a tie? The founders created a system where it is possible for a tie - 269 votes a piece. This has never happened but then again its 2020, an election year unlike any other. If neither Mr Biden nor Mr Trump reaches the magic number, 270, then the decision goes to the House of Representatives and is based on the majority of state delegations, who each get one combined vote. This scenario would likely favour Mr Trump as 26 states have Republican majorities going into the 2020 election. In the unique circumstance that the house is in deadlock, then the vice president-elect becomes acting president on Inauguration Day until the house breaks its tie. How can it be changed? Changing the system would require a constitutional amendment, which would is a drawn out process that requires an overwhelming amount of support across the country. In some states, though, governors have taken action and are pushing for laws that would award all of their electors to whoever won the popular vote, no matter what the result was in their state. Agreements between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and test manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor make available innovative tests priced at a maximum of $5 for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) A set of agreements to make available, for low and middle-income countries, affordable, high-quality COVID-19 antigen rapid tests were announced by the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Organizations involved in the milestone agreement include the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), the Global Fund, Unitaid, and the World Health Organization (WHO). As part of this comprehensive, end-to-end effort, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has executed separate volume guarantee agreements with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) producers Abbott and SD Biosensor. These two arrangements will make available to LMICs 120 million antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) priced at a maximum of $5 per unit over a period of six months. These tests provide results in 1530 minutes, rather than hours or days, and will enable expansion of testing, particularly in countries that do not have extensive laboratory facilities or trained health workers to implement molecular (polymerase-chain reaction or PCR) tests. The tests developed by Abbott and SD Biosensor are highly portable, reliable, and easy to administer, making testing possible in near-person, decentralized healthcare settings. Both companies tests are faster and cheaper than laboratory-based tests, enabling countries to increase the pace of testing, tracing and treating people for COVID-19 at the point of care particularly in areas with under-resourced health systems. A number of other Ag RDTs are at various stages of development and assessment. To scale up the Ag RDTs, the Global Fund has announced that it has made available an initial $50 million from its COVID-19 Response Mechanism to enable countries to purchase at least 10 million of the new rapid tests for LMICs at the guaranteed price, with the first orders expected to be placed this week through the Global Funds pooled procurement mechanism. FIND and WHO are working together to accelerate appropriate use by supporting implementation research that will optimize Ag RDT use in multiple LMICs, in line with WHO guidance. This includes provision of catalytic volumes of tests to understand how Ag RDTs can best fit into health systems. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 12:12 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e67aa 1 Business SME,Cooperative-SME-ministry,export,food-and-beverage Free The government is urging small and medium enterprises (SME) to export food and beverage products that have gained popularity in overseas markets amid the slowdown in global trade due to the COVID-19 crisis. Victoria Simulangkit, the deputy of production and marketing at the Cooperatives and SME Ministry, said on Monday that products like carica (mountain papaya), tempeh chips, crabs and palm sugar appeared to catch buyers interest abroad. Producers of the products, most of which are based outside of Jakarta, have managed to penetrate foreign markets, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and China, according to Victoria. Food and beverages is one of the sectors that see high demand both at home and abroad, because people need nutritional intake to maintain their immunity and thus stay healthy, Victoria said in a virtual discussion on Monday. SMEs products can become more than just raw materials for industries. SMEs can make products that catch market interest, she added. Indonesias exports fell by 8.36 percent annually to US$13.07 billion in August, as the pandemic upended global demand, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects that the global trade volume will contract by anywhere between 13 percent and 32 percent this year. Meanwhile, despite accounting for roughly 60 percent of Indonesias economy, small businesses contribution to national exports is only around 14 percent, according to the ministry. To boost their exports, Indonesian small businesses should monitor recent trends among consumers in export destination countries, said Victoria. We encourage SMEs to [learn] to read the food trends in the destination countries, like organic food. This provides an opportunity for Indonesian SMEs, she said, adding that vegetarian and healthy instant food were also trending lately. Adhi Lukman, the chairman of Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (Gapmmi), said small businesses still faced challenges in managing sanitation and food safety and were finding it difficult to adapt to customers needs during the pandemic. Some SMEs may not have the necessary facilities like equipment, tools and clean water resources, and may lack knowledge on the proper implementation of health protocol and social distancing, said Adhi. Read also: Concerns raised over safety, quality of food sold online Furthermore, to export their products, small businesses also needed assistance in the form of market intelligence related to regulations in the destination countries and information on trade exhibitions and competitors activities, Adhi added. Many of our SMEs still lack knowledge, either on regulations, products or standards. Hence, sometimes their compliance with the regulation in the destination country is still far from what the destination country demands, said Adhi. Indonesias overall exports of semi-processed and processed food reached $4.33 billion in the JanuaryJuly period, marking an annual increase of 5.6 percent, according to Adhi, quoting data from BPS and the Trade Ministry. Malia White has had a few whirlwind romances on the Bravo Franchise, Below Deck Med. Fans of the reality television show might remember that in season 2 of the show, Malia has found herself in a very messy love triangle. This happened when both West (the bosun) and Adam (the chef) started pursuing Malia actively. However, all that is surely in the past as Malia has had a new man in her life since late 2019. It was Tom Checketts a popular chef, who was later hired as the head chef on Below Deck Med Season 5. But lately, it seems as though not all is good between the Below Deck Med couple. Find out, What happened to Mali and Tom? Read | What happened to Rob and Jessica? Find out if the Below Deck Med couple is till together What happened to Malia and Tom? Three years after her messy boat romance, Malia was promoted to the post of the bosun and she also found love again. This time it was in chef Tom Checketts. A report on Distractify had revealed that the two had met while working on a boat and travelled the world together as their romance blossomed. In Below Deck Med, the fan favourite couple also got a chance to work together on the same luxury ship. This happened when Malia convinced Tom to take the position of the chef when Kiko Lorran, the former head chef of the ship was fired. The crew on the luxury ship The Wellington welcomed Tom Checketts with open arms. And why wouldnt they, Tom had worked under Gordon Ramsay. Read | What happened to Pete on 'Below Deck Med'? Find out if Pete Hunziker is back But most recently it seems as though, the boat-mance between Malia and Tom might have ended. In the September 28 episode of Watch What Happens, Malia talked to host Andy Cohen and revealed that she had split with Tom. "My understanding was that you kind of were open while you were away, and came back together, but maybe I was wrong?" Cohen asked. To this Malia replied that Tom may have had an affair while they were working on separate boats. Read | 'Below Deck Mediterranean' star Hannah Ferrier gets fired, fans support her on Twitter Did Tom cheat on Malia? Malia White remained mum on the details of when Tom cheated, with whom, or how she had discovered the truth. Fans were shocked to know this as the Below Deck twosome appeared to be in good terms until mid-September. According to Toms Instagram handle, they even took a short trip to London together around September 13. Read | Are Malia and Tom still together? Know all about 'Below Deck Med' couple But it appears as though the happy reunion did not last very long. On September 20, Malia took to her Instagram and posted a picture of herself with a cryptic caption, Cheers to all the ladies out there in their 30s, single, focused on their careers. She even deleted all the pictures of her with Tom from her feed. However, Toms Instagram handle still features Malia as the chef has not yet deleted any pics of them together. Promo Image Source: Tom Checketts (Instagram) Article 254 (2) of the Constitution essentially allows a state law to prevail over a conflicting Central law in some circumstances Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has advised party-ruled states to explore a rarely-used legal provision in order to oppose three contentious farm laws that have recently received the President's assent. The provision Article 254 (2) of the Constitution essentially allows a state law to prevail over a conflicting Central law in some circumstances. A Congress party statement has said, "Congress President has advised the Congress-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass laws in their respective states under Article 254(2) of the Constitution, which allows the state legislatures to pass a law to negate the anti-agriculture Central laws encroaching upon the state's jurisdiction under the Constitution." The statement further notes, "This (states passing laws negating Central legislations) would enable the states to bypass the unacceptable anti-farmers' provisions in the three draconian agricultural law(s) including the abolition of MSP and disruption of APMCs in Congress-ruled states. This would also alleviate the farmers from the grave injustice done by the Modi government and BJP." What is Article 254 (2)? The text of Article 254 (2) of the Constitution states, "Where a law made by the Legislature of a State with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the concurrent List contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or an existing law with respect to that matter, then, the law so made by the Legislature of such State shall, if it has been reserved for the consideration of the President and has received his assent, prevail in that State." For a better understanding of what the Article entails, we can consider the various aspects of the provision separately. Firstly, the Article applies only when a state law on a subject which is the Concurrent List conflicts with a nationwide law. In such a case, the state law can prevail over the Central law if the President gives his or her assent to the former. The President, however, acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. However, Article 254 (2) represents the exception, not the norm. Article 254 (1) of the Constitution essentially states that if there is any inconsistency between laws passed by Parliament and those passed by a state legislature, the former should prevail. Further, a proviso to Article 254 (2) states that even if the President gives his or her assent to a state law passed under the provision, the Parliament can later amend or repeal the law. In essence, Congress-led state governments are unlikely to be able to thwart the implementation of the farm laws through Article 254 (2). However, the passing of such laws by state governments will be a statement of political intent. History of the provision Congress leader Jairam Ramesh noted on Monday that former finance minister Arun Jaitley had asked states to resort to Article 254(2) of the Constitution to override provisions of 2013 Land Acquisition law. As FM Arun Jaitley got states to resort to Article 254(2) of the Constitution to override provisions of 2013 Land Acquisition law, a law hed fully supported as LoP in RS. States should now follow the same advice to undo the damage caused by the #FarmBills that have become Acts. pic.twitter.com/cyCxgwkbdu Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 28, 2020 In a blog post on 1 September, 2015, Jaitley had written in the context of an ordinance to amend the land acquisition law, "The provisions of Article 254(2) clearly provide that a State Government can bring a legislation on a Concurrent List Subject which conflicts with the Central legislation provided the Presidential assent is given to such legislation." He had further said that if "any State wishes to make some amendments in the Central law, the same would be permitted by the Central Government." At the time, Tamil Nadu had attempted to bypass the 2013 land acquisition law by inserting Section 105-A in the legislation. However, in July 2019, the Madras High Court held that if the government intended to use the old state laws, it will have to re-enact them. According to Deccan Chronicle, the high court had then noted in its order, "In order to revive these Acts, the state must re-enact these statutes, in accordance with Article 254 (2) of the Constitution of India and obtain the assent of the President. Merely by inserting section 105-A and the 5th schedule in the new Act, these impugned enactment(s) do not get revived." Political faceoff over farm laws President Kovind on Sunday gave assent to the three contentious farm bills passed in Parliament last week. These laws have triggered farmers'' protest, especially in Punjab and Haryana. These three farm bills are: The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020. Parliament cleared the bills in the Monsoon Session. The laws are aimed at liberalising the agriculture sector and allowing farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country they want at a better price. The Opposition led by the Congress is critical of the manner in which these bills were passed in Parliament. They have alleged the bills were cleared "unconstitutionally" in a "complete disregard" to Parliamentary norms. The Congress also proposes to challenge them in court. With inputs from PTI JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SalesLeads announced today the August 2020 results for new planned capital project spending report for industrial manufacturing. The Firm tracks North American planned industrial capital activity including expansions, new plant construction and equipment modernizations. Research confirms 140 new industrial manufacturing projects. Industrial Manufacturing Project: Type Manufacturing/Production Facilities - 124 Distribution and Industrial Warehouse - 80 Scope New Construction - 40 Expansion - 50 Renovations/Equipment Upgrades - 69 Plant Closings - 9 Location Texas - 12 North Carolina - 9 Alabama - 8 Ohio - 7 Tennessee - 7 Pennsylvania - 6 New York - 6 Michigan - 6 South Carolina - 5 Indiana - 5 Largest Planned Project SalesLeads research identified 6 new Industrial Manufacturing facility construction projects, estimated value of $100+M. Largest project is owned by ArcelorMittal, planning to invest $500 million for expansion, equipment upgrades of manufacturing facility, CALVERT, AL. Completion: Fall 2022. Top 10 Tracked Projects ARIZONA: Steel company is expanding, planning to invest $300M for construction of manufacturing facility adjacent to existing plant: MESA, AZ. Completion: 2023. INDIANA: Wires/cables mfr. investing $46M for 250,000sf expansion, equipment upgrades at manufacturing facility: BREMEN, IN. Construction started, completion 2021. ALABAMA: Automotive components mfr. investing $59M, started equipment upgrades on leased 200,000sf manufacturing facility, MUSCLE SHOALS, AL. Completion: Spring 2021. LOUISIANA: Startup lumber company is planning to invest $90M for construction of saw-mill, GREENSBURG, LA. Currently seeking approval. Operational 2022. MARYLAND: Pharmaceutical company is investing $27M. Started renovation of 22,000sf processing, warehouse, laboratory space at 4600 Wedgewood Boulevard, FREDERICK, MD. Operational 2021. MAINE: Medical equipment mfr. is planning to invest $51M for expansion, equipment upgrades of manufacturing facilities in GUILDFORD, ME, PITTSFIELD ME. NORTH CAROLINA: Furniture mfr. is planning to invest $27M for renovation, equipment upgrades on leased 260,000sf manufacturing facility, WHITSETT, NC. Received approval. NEW MEXICO: Aerospace company is considering investing $50M for construction of manufacturing facility. Seeking site in NEW MEXICO. Watch updates. OKLAHOMA: Corrugated packaging products mfr. is planning for construction of 550,000sf manufacturing facility, TULSA, OK. Construction Fall 2020. Relocate regional operations Fall 2021. TEXAS: Aerospace company is planning for renovation, equipment upgrades on 219,000sf leased manufacturing space. TEXARKANA, TX. SalesLeads Inc., Jacksonville, FL generates high quality industrial sales leads with valuable project information that can be assigned immediately to sales. www.salesleadsinc.com 800.231.7876 SOURCE SalesLeads, Inc. Related Links https://www.salesleadsinc.com/ New Delhi: BJPs vision document for Uttarakhand will be released on February 4, which will spell out the direction in which the party wants to drive the state. With just a few days left for Elections in the state, BJP top brass including party president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are coming to Uttarakhand to address election rallies at different places to gather support for the party, Pradesh party media in-charge Devendra Bhasin said on Wednesday. The document will outline the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of developing Uttarakhand into one of the finest states in the country. While dates for the PM's and other Union Ministers' programme are yet to be finalised, Shah is coming to the state on February 7, 9 and 12 during which he will address nine rallies, three on each of the days. Union Minister VK Singh is also coming to the state on February 4 to address poll rallies in Didihat, Tharali and Mussoorie, Bhasin said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to begin meeting with senators, a customary step ahead of her confirmation hearings, set to begin Oct. 12. Barrett was flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone to begin a day packed with courtesy calls with Republicans -- but so far, no Democrats. PHOTO: Judge Amy Coney Barrett is escorted to the Senate by Vice President Mike Pence, right, where she will begin a series of meetings to prepare for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 29, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP) Barrett's nomination has angered Democrats who have urged Republicans to allow whoever is elected as the next president on Nov. 3 to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. MORE: Most say wait on Ginsburg seat, while opposing packing the court: Poll But Pence defended Trump's decision to move forward with Barrett's nomination, pointedly claiming Americans deserve "nine justices," although an ABC News/Washington Post poll shows show most Americans -- by 20 percent margin -- think the Senate should wait and let the election winner should decide. PHOTO: Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and Vice President Mike Pence arrive at the Capitol to meet with senators in Washington, DC, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Republicans push Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings starting Oct. 12 as Democrats criticize timing "We urge our Democratic colleagues in the Senate take the opportunity to meet with Judge Barrett and as the hearing goes forward provide the kind of respectful hearing that the American people expect," Pence said. "We look forward to a vote in the Senate in the near future and to fill the seat on the Supreme Court of the United States because the American people deserve a justice like Judge Amy Coney Barrett the American people deserve nine justices on the Supreme Court of the United States." PHOTO: Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence in the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AFP via Getty Images) Barrett began her day meeting with Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who said he was "glad" Barrett was on Capitol Hill and "glad to get the process started." Barrett did not speak. When a reporter asked Pence and McConnell whether Barrett, assuming she is confirmed, should recuse herself from voting on any election disputes, as Trump has said he wants her on the court to do, both stood silent. Story continues MORE: Democrats have few tools to slow Senate vote on Supreme Court nominee before Election Day Traditionally, the minority leader would meet with Barrett after meeting with McConnell. But the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, has announced that he would not meet with Barrett. "I believe first that the whole process has been illegitimate and second because she's already stated that she is for overturning the ACA," Schumer said on Sunday. "I will not meet with her." Several other Democrats quickly followed Schumer's lead. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., tweeted Sunday that she would not meet with Barrett. Spokespeople for Sens. Bob Casey, D-Penn., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, have also confirmed to ABC News they don't intend to meet with her. PHOTO: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, meets with Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AFP via Getty Images) While no Democratic members were slated to meet with Barrett during her first day on Capitol Hill, she was slated to meet with at least eight GOP members. After McConnell, she was scheduled to meet with Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota., Sen Mike Lee o Utah and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. GOP senators who have met with Barrett so far gave her glowing reviews, including Cruz, who has said he hopes the Senate will vote on Barrett's nomination before Election Day. "I think the Presidents decision to nominate Judge Barrett may well have been the most important decision of his presidency," Cruz said. "And in making this nomination the president was fulfilling the promise he made to the American people." Barrett was to end her day meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham. While it is still not clear when McConnell will ultimately schedule a vote on Barrett's nomination, Graham's hearing schedule would allow a Senate floor vote in the week before the election. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett meets with GOP senators originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 19:20:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad speaks during a ceremony on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China hosted by the Chinese embassy in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Sept. 28, 2020. Mekdad has lauded China's foreign policy, which he said is aimed at building an international community free of hegemony based on justice and non-expansion. (Photo by Hummam Sheikh Ali/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has lauded China's foreign policy, which he said is aimed at building an international community free of hegemony based on justice and non-expansion. Speaking at a ceremony held Monday on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Damascus, Mekdad said the occasion marks another step forward on the way for China to make more achievements. China is looking forward to building an international community based on justice and non-expansion, he said, expressing appreciation for China's aid provided to other countries without having hegemonic schemes. During the ceremony, Chinese ambassador to Syria Feng Biao said that China has advocated for many times building a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. He said China has always considered Syria as a close friend and a good partner and brother, pledging China's continuous support for the Syrian government and people. Feng also said that China will exert unremitting efforts to bring about peace in Syria as well as happy life for the Syrians. Enditem An investor looks at price lists at a securities company in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. Of 1,600 tickers trading on Vietnams three bourses, 142 have not registered any trade in the past year. Five of the untraded stocks are on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), Vietnams second main bourse for mid- and smaller- caps, which account for around 10 percent of total listed market cap, according to data from finance portal Vietstock. The Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM), a mezzanine exchange for unlisted companies with lower disclosure requirements, hosts the remaining 137. None of the untraded stocks are on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), which accounts for 90 percent of the nations listed market cap, and is represented by Vietnams benchmark VN-Index. According to data from brokerages, nearly half of the number of tickers listed on HoSE and HNX, and two-third of stocks on UPCoM, totaling 788 tickers, have an average daily trading volume of less than 10,000 shares per session in the past year. "Liquidity for some stocks has been this low because they are unable to attract the attention of investors," Le Nhi Nang, head of the representative office of the State Securities Commission in Ho Chi Minh City, said at a recent conference. "The financial information gap is also a reason why the stock prices of many listed businesses with good fundamentals do not accurately reflect their performance and value," he said. From an investors perspective, Nguyen Hoang Linh, head of research at Vietcombank Fund Management (VCBF) said it was essential that investors are able to research a company thoroughly before investing in their shares. They need to be able to access financial disclosures from official sources, showing a high level of reliability in business operations, as well as plans to expand business operations. Businesses that do not do well in disclosing their financials will see poorer corporate valuations, he added. Nguyen Anh Duc, Director of Institutional Client Services at brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., said while larger enterprises have managed to carry out disclosure and investor relations professionally, most small enterprises often do not care, and do not allocate resources for this activity. To improve information disclosure and investor relations, businesses should set up a separate department specialized for this activity with a clear set of standards. However, because this is a trust-building activity, it cannot be done without a long-term strategy, he added. According to a report on financial disclosure by the Vietnam Association of Financial Executives (VAFE) published in June, only 329 out of 729 enterprises listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnams two main bourses, have fully conformed to all disclosure requirements in a timely manner. The rest all received warnings or fines for late or erroneous filing of quarterly or biannual financial statements, the report said. Of those that fully meet standards, 21 are large-cap businesses (market capitalization above VND10 trillion, or $431.52 million), 81 are mid-cap and 227 are small-cap stocks. Companies with larger market capitalization have better information disclosure management practices, while the worst were companies with "small or very small market capitalization" (below VND1 trillion), VAFE said. However, conformity with disclosure requirements has improved over last year with a 45.13 percent full compliance rate, up from 36.33 percent, it added. Jammu, Sep 29 : Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation on the line of control (LoC) on Tuesday targeting Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Col. Devender Anand, spokesman of Defence Ministry said that at 4.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in Mankote sector of Poonch district. "Indian army retaliated befittingly," he added. Since the beginning of this year, Pakistan has been violating the bilateral ceasefire agreement signed by India and Pakistan in 1999. A total of 24 civilians were killed and over 100 injured in more than 3,186 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC so far this year. Thousands of people living in villages close to the LoC are living life on the edge as shelling from across the border endangers their lives, livelihood and agricultural activities. A jealous husband forced his wife to decapitate her lover after he shot his rival in the head. (AFP/Getty Images) A jealous husband forced his wife to decapitate her lover after he shot his rival in the head. The dismembered body of Jonathan Amerault was discovered at a remote campsite in northern New Hampshire, several days after he was reported missing. Police say that Armando Barron forced wife Britany Barron to cut the victims wrists while he was still alive and behead him after he was dead. Barron, 30, forced his 31-year-old wife to cut off the head so that Mr Amerault could not be identified by dental records, according to reports. Mr Ameraults head was found in a separate grave covered by gravel. The discovery of his remains took place after New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers received reports of an illegal campsite in a hunting area. When they found Britany Baron and told her she was trespassing she reportedly told them: I am in big trouble. Officers found Mr Ameraults body wrapped in a tarp and disposed off in a stream and arrested Britany Baron and later her husband. Armando Barron, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, was charged with Ameraults murder and Britany Barron was charged with decapitation and concealing the body, according to the Keene Sentinel. They both appeared at an arraignment hearing in Cheshire County to plead not guilty and they were remanded without bail. Britany Barons lawyer reportedly said that his client had been badly beaten by her husband and only participated because she feared for her life. Prosecutors say that she was charged despite her cooperation, which they say only came after she was caught. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would have to be almost dying to get out of arguably the most notorious prison in the United States if convicted of espionage charges and sent there, the court at London's Old Bailey heard Tuesday. Assange, who is fighting an extradition request from the U. S., would likely be sent to the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, if convicted, according to Maureen Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. U. S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of ... Photo: (Photo : Facebook of Stockton Police Department) A California mom gave birth at the parking lot of the Stockton Police Department. Two police officers had to step up and help in the delivery of the baby. The newborn baby now has police friends, after the unexpected event that surely changed their lives forever. The California mom gave birth at the parking lot According to the police, the father of the baby was frantically looking for help when he approached the police officers. Chief of the Stockton Police Department, Eric Jones, shared that the two police officers that the father-to-be asked were on duty that day. He said, "A couple in a car stopped and told officers that they were in labor." Apparently, the couple was looking for a nearby hospital. However, the baby boy was a little too excited that he had to be delivered at the Stockton Police Department's parking lot. READ ALSO: Sparta Police Helps in Delivery of Two Babies within Six Weeks Police officers assist in delivering the baby The mom gave birth while she was in the front seat. The two police officers assisted in the delivery. Jones believes that everything was timely since the two officers were trained medics. The chief said, "They've been medics for years, and they had never delivered a baby before in that career, and here they become police officers." An ambulance was also called by the police officers. READ ALSO: Kids' lemonade stands get support from police and other groups The police officers will be nominated for awards Because the two police officers were quick on their feet the chief of Stockton Police Department plans to nominate them for an award. The department is set to have departmental awards given away. Jones says that he is glad that the incident had a positive outcome, "It was so nice to have a positive outcome, a positive story, and for those officers to be able to assist in bringing a new life into the world." READ ALSO: Texas Police Warn Parents About Leaving Children in Hot Cars The netizens' reactions The Stockton Police Department posted a unique story on its official Facebook account. A lot of Facebook users congratulated the new parents for their baby boy. Others commended the job of the two police officers. Some users also said that they think the baby is destined to be a police officer too! READ ALSO: Police Dog and Handler Was on Their First Deployment When They Found Mom and Baby on a Steep Ravine It Just Took Off (TNS) Voting by mail may seem so familiar in Washington state these days as to be baked into our civic culture. But the ballots landing in residents mailboxes next month are the product of decades of experiments and reforms sometimes painful ones as local and state election officials gradually reimagined a new way for public participation.Washingtons story also contradicts President Donald Trumps attempts this year to disparage mail voting as he trails in the polls. Trump has sought to cast doubt on the coming election results by suggesting Democrats are pursuing mail voting in an effort to commit fraud and win the election.Last week, the president on two occasions declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose. Washingtons experience is almost a mirror opposite of the presidents portrayal.Here, Republicans pushed early on to expand mail balloting. Voters liked mail ballots so much it eventually helped bring about the formal changeover. And the 2004 gubernatorial election which ended after two recounts, questions over accuracy and bitter acrimony prompted Washington to adopt reforms and ultimately pushed the state toward all-mail elections.Kim Wyman, the Thurston County auditor at that time, called the switch to mail voting the hardest decision I ever made as county auditor, and absolutely the right one.Very emotional, because I didnt want to close the polls, that was a sense of tradition and ceremony, Wyman, a Republican who is now secretary of state, said last week.But the move to Washingtons all-mail voting which has a host of safeguards against fraud and is considered one of the better-protected ones against foreign interference took decades of trial and error.Now, other states are rushing to adopt or expand mail balloting for the Nov. 3 election amid the coronavirus pandemic.They must adapt as Trump who dropped a mail ballot in a drop box in this summers primary election, just like many Washingtonians do continues to say he may question the election results. At the same time, states are making sure recent U.S. Postal Service (USPS) changes that created widespread delivery delays this summer are halted for now, as a federal judge ordered.Those elements have combined to put mail balloting in a spotlight like never before.Wyman along with local election officials in King, Snohomish and other counties say theyre confident Washingtons elections will run smoothly.Elsewhere, states including hotly contested battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin must wade through questions and legal challenges as they prepare for mail balloting. Some fights could extend to Election Day and beyond. In a close race, challenges and uncertainties could provide confusion, or fodder for those want to cast doubt on election results.That worries Jim Kastama, a former Democratic state senator who in 2005 spearheaded some of Washingtons key election security reforms. States expanding mail balloting are figuring out processes while in some cases still having to set up polling places, all with limited time and resources.Unless the election is very overwhelming for one side, I think we are really headed for a difficult time, said Kastama, who is now a Puyallup City Council member.Washingtons changes began in earnest in 1983, when the Legislature passed a law allowing special elections to be conducted by mail.Before then, absentee mail ballots had been available to voters with disabilities or who were 65 or older, according to the Secretary of States Office. Other voters could request an absentee ballot, but had to make that request in writing, and for each election.At that time, Thurston County Auditor Sam Reed saw an opportunity. Mail ballots could boost turnout and combat shortages of capable poll workers, said Reed. And, he saw it as a way to better inform voters.I really believed in getting an informed electorate, said Reed, a Republican who went on to serve as secretary of state from 2001 to 2013. And by that ballot sitting there, in their home, before they vote, guess what? Theyre not just going to say hey that rings a bell, and vote. Theyre going to look it up if they have a voters pamphlet or talk to somebody whos knowledgeable.More milestones came in the 1990s, with laws that allowed local election officials to expand or experiment further. Most notable among them may have been a 1991 law allowing any voter to sign up for an absentee ballot and keep automatically receiving them for future elections.The word got out and voom, it just took off, Reed said. People really liked it.For advice, Washington officials at that time could call their counterparts in Oregon, the one state further ahead in mail voting. Meanwhile, Reeds efforts converted others, like Sam Hunt, a longtime Democratic Olympia lawmaker.He obviously was way out front on this, that was what spurred me to be an advocate for it, said Hunt, who is currently a senator who chairs a committee that handles election legislation. I saw what we were doing here, it was very successful.By 2004, the use of absentee ballots had risen, requiring more staff and resources, even in places like King County, which still conducted in-person elections.It was too challenging to run two separate, different elections, said Julie Wise, the current King County Elections director. Back then, Wise worked there on the polling side, where she said staff increasingly struggled to secure polling sites and qualified election workers.The problems came to a head in that years gubernatorial election between Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi.In a razor-close race that evolved into a legal challenge, Gregoire was declared the winner by about 130 votes on the second recount.During that fight, problems were found in several counties, officials said, including high-profile examples in King County. In one case, county officials found uncounted ballots as late as April 2005.In response, legislators in 2005 passed a package of sweeping reforms. One bill included requirements for how ballots should be designed, as well as treated by election workers once received. It created training guidelines so election workers could verify voters signatures on the ballots. And it included requirements that ballots be reconciled to make sure they matched the number of participating voters in an election.The momentum of that Gregoire-Rossi election really allowed us to do far-reaching reforms that hadnt been done in Washington state, said Kastama, who sponsored that bill.Hunt, then a state representative, sponsored the successful legislation that allowed counties to voluntarily switch to all vote-by-mail.The changeover quickened. King County made the switch in 2009. By 2011, when the Legislature passed a statewide vote-by-mail law, 38 of Washingtons 39 counties Pierce County was the lone exception were already using mail ballots.Washington election officials say theyre confident the Postal Service this fall will give election mail swift treatment when ballots go out Oct. 16.Don Cheney, of the American Postal Workers Union Local 298, said Tacomas mail processing facility has seen a vast improvement in delivery since the summer delays.And Cheney praised a new memo by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stating that secure and timely delivery of election is a No. 1 priority. In an email, Cheney called it, a dramatic and welcome change.Wyman in August announced an emergency rule to make sure ballots are delivered swiftly, and said her office will urge voters to return ballots early.In an email Friday, Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell echoed that. Returning ballots early reduces lines at drop boxes and voting centers and cuts health risks for everyone involved, he wrote.Early action also helps spread the workload of processing ballots over a longer period of time, allowing us to better maintain social distancing and other recommended practices within our processing facilities, wrote Fell.Wise, the King County Elections director, has faith in officials elsewhere, who often administer elections in challenging circumstances, such as natural disasters, and now amid the pandemic.This a skilled group of people that have little time and less resources, and still do a great job administering elections, said Wise. So I still think elections administrators across the country will do a good job as they move to vote by mail. As the arts sectors in the rest of the world look on and sob, the German federal government has announced that it will increase its culture and media budget by more than 120 million ($140 million) in 2021, bringing the culture ministrys total budget up to 1.94 billion ($2.26 billion). Culture minister Monika Grutters says that such a strong budget for the final year before the German elections underscores the countrys commitment to culture, especially on top of its existing billion-dollar coronavirus rescue program. Artnet Middle East Launch for Kantar's BrandZ Kantar is to launch its BrandZ index in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, ranking the top 30 most valuable brands across the two countries combined in terms of dollar value. The new ranking, 'BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Emirati and Saudi Brands', will be launched at a virtual event on 6th October, and is based on interviews with more than 12,000 consumers about their opinions on more than 300 brands across nineteen categories. The original BrandZ global study was launched by Millward Brown in 2006, when Microsoft, GE and Coca-Cola filled the top three places, and the index is now compiled for Australia, Canada, China, France, German, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru), the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the US. The assessment combines financial and market data with primary research data from consumers, and over the last fifteen years has surveyed more than 3.8 million consumers in 51 markets. BrandZ valuations feed directly into Bloomberg terminals and a global ranking with discussion is published every year by the Financial Times. The share price of the BrandZ top 10 firms has over time outperformed the S&P 500 and the MSCI World Index (see chart). 'A strong brand helps differentiate you from your competitors, is a major source of shareholder value and helps protect your business from risk', says Amol Ghate, CEO Middle East, Insights Division at Kantar. 'It enables brand owners, the investment community and others to evaluate and compare brands and make faster and better-informed decisions'. Web site: www.kantar.com . A Kentucky judge has ordered the release of audio recordings from the grand jury hearing in the Breonna Taylor case despite warnings from state Attorney General Daniel Cameron that the move could jeopardize a federal investigation and an admission that no homicide charges were recommended to the panel. The decision by a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge came after an anonymous member of the grand jury who heard evidence in the high-profile case filed a motion asking that the transcripts and recordings of the three-day hearing be released. The grand juror also requested the judge allow members of the panel to speak publicly about the evidence they heard and the decision they reached. "My client is 'aggrieved,' to use that term, that what was presented is not being publicly disclosed," the grand juror's attorney, Keven Glogower, said at a news conference on Tuesday morning. "I think they (the grand jurors) were aware ... there were certain questions that were left unanswered," Glogower said. "It's the accountability and the sense of public trust to make sure that everything that can get out there does and there was some concern that maybe it wasn't." PHOTO: Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers after they allegedly executed a search warrant of the wrong home. (Courtesy Tamika Palmer) In a statement released Monday night, Cameron claimed that prosecutors presented "all of the evidence," even though the evidence supported that two of the Louisville Metro police officers involved in the shooting, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, "were justified in their use of force" after having been fired upon by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when they busted open Taylor's door. The officers, who were serving a search warrant on Taylor's apartment in the early morning hours of March 13, claimed they feared for their lives when Walker fired on them causing them to unleash a barrage of 32 shots, striking Taylor six times and killing her, according to statements made by Cameron. Story continues "For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment" against a third officer involved in the shooting, Brett Hankison, Cameron said. Cameron did say last week that the prosecuting team walked the grand jury "through the homicide offense, and also presented all of the information that was available to the grand jury." "And then the grand jury was ultimately the one that made the decision about indicting Detective Hankison for wanton endangerment," Cameron said. Citing the secrecy of the hearing, Cameron declined to say if the grand jury was presented, beyond the recommended wanton endangerment counts, with options to consider homicide charges, including manslaughter and reckless homicide. "The citizens of the Commonwealth have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself," reads the motion filed by the grand juror. "Using grand jurors as a shield to deflect accountability for these decisions only sows more seeds of doubt in the process while leaving a cold chill down the spine of future grand jurors." During his news conference on Tuesday, Glogower added, I think the dangerous precedent to set is more of a chilling effect of not letting the public in on whats happening and trying to distort that level of secrecy to the extent that youre, at least by appearance, not putting all of the truth out there." Attorneys for the Taylor family released a statement Tuesday, saying, "Daniel Cameron clearly failed to present a comprehensive case that supported justice for Breonna." "That conclusion is supported by the grand juror who came forward to say that the attorney general misrepresented the grand jurys deliberations," reads the joint statement from attorneys Benjamin Crump, Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker. "We fully support the call to release the entire proceeding transcript as the only way to know what evidence was presented and how the grand jury instructions led to this outcome." Hankison, who was fired in June for violating police department policy in the shooting, was the only officer indicted in the case but not for Tayor's death. The grand jury announced three felony counts of wanton endangerment against Hankison for firing shots into Taylor's apartment that penetrated a wall of the residence of a white family next door to Taylor's apartment. Hankison pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment on Monday. Cameron said that none of the 10 shots fired by Hankison struck Taylor, while the bullets that did hit her were fired by Cosgrove and Mattingly. Citing an FBI ballistics analysis, he said Mattingly fired six shots and Cosgrove fired 16 bullets, including the fatal shot that hit Taylor. Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith ordered that recordings from the grand jury hearing be placed into the court record by noon on Wednesday despite objections from Cameron, who said he will comply with the judge's order. The judge's decision was not based on the grand juror's motion, since it was only filed Monday night and there hasn't been a hearing. Judge Smith ordered the recording released as part of the normal trial rules of discovery. "The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body. It's apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen," Cameron said in the statement he released Monday night. "As the special prosecutor, our team has an ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool. Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judge's order to release the recording on Wednesday." PHOTO: Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron addresses the media following the return of a grand jury investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor, in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 23, 2020. (Timothy D. Easley/AP, FILE) He said the release of the recording will also address part of the legal motion filed by an anonymous grand juror. "We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented," Cameron said. "Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the Grand Jury." Attorneys for Taylor's family have called the grand jury proceedings a "sham" and demanded last week that Cameron release the transcript of the entire hearing to see what evidence prosecutors from Cameron's office presented to the panel. The attorneys allege that prosecutors presented scant evidence, if any, that pertained to Taylor's death, and cited at least eleven witnesses who dispute Cameron's claim that the investigation showed the officers knocked on Taylor's door and announced themselves before using a battering ram to force the door open. He said one witness corroborated the police officers' statements that they knocked and announced themselves before entering the apartment. But Walker's attorneys say the witness changed his story. They told ABC News that a week after the shooting, the individual claimed the officers did not identify themselves as police, yet two months later he said they did. Vice News published an alleged recording of the witness telling an investigator on March 21 that "nobody identified themselves." ABC has not independently verified the audio. PHOTO: Former Louisville Metro Police Officer Brett Hankison is pictured in a booking photo released by the Shelby County Detention Center in Kentucky on Sept. 23, 2020. (Shelby County Detention Center) During a news conference following the grand jury's announcement on Wednesday, Cameron was emphatic in his statement that the bullet fired by Walker, who was armed with a licensed 9mm handgun, struck Mattingly in the thigh. He went on to say that because Walker fired the first shot, Cosgrove and Mattingly were justified in returning fire to protect themselves. "This justification bars us from pursuing charges in Ms. Breonna Taylor's death," Cameron said. However, a ballistics report from the Kentucky State Police could not determine that Walker shot Mattingly, contradicting Cameron's statements, according to records obtained by ABC News. In an interview with ABC News, Steve Romines, one of Walker's attorneys, said "the Kentucky State Police's own ballistics report could not determine that Kenny's shot is who hit Officer [Jonathan] Mattingly." A portion of the Kentucky State Police ballistic report obtained by ABC News indicates that the one shot fired by Walker "was neither identified nor eliminated as having been fired" from his weapon "due to the limited markings of comparative value." MORE: Breonna Taylor shooting case: Hankison indicted on wanton endangerment of neighbors Walker, 27, a licensed gun owner, was initially charged with attempted murder and assault following the March incident, but those charges were dropped. He has since filed a civil lawsuit against the Louisville police department, claiming they never knocked or announced themselves before they forced open Taylor's door. Walker claimed he fired a warning shot because he initially thought the police officers, who were in plainclothes, were intruders. His civil suit also raises the possibility that Mattingly was wounded by friendly fire from one of the other officers, a scenario refuted by Cameron. "Kenneth Walker fired the shot that hit Sgt. Mattingly and there's no evidence to support that Sgt. Mattingly was hit by friendly fire from other officers," Cameron said. MORE: Ballistics report raises questions in Breonna Taylor shooting Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and a certified emergency medical technician, was shot when the officers executed what a judge approved as a "no-knock" warrant based on a sworn affidavit from a detective that an ex-boyfriend of Taylor's was sending packages of drugs to her apartment through the U.S. Postal Service. Although a judge approved a "no-knock" warrant, Cameron said the officers were instructed beforehand to knock and announce their presence. MORE: Former Louisville cop pleads not guilty to charges related to Breonna Taylor shooting No drugs were found in Taylor's apartment and lawyers for Taylor's family allege the warrant was secured with an affidavit that contained lies. The warrant required the police to verify with postal inspectors that the ex-boyfriend was receiving packages at Taylor's address. But lawyers for Taylor's family say the Louisville Postal Inspector denied that his office inspected packages sent to Taylor's home as part of a drug-trafficking investigation. Cameron, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, said the investigation his office conducted did not include looking into how the warrant was obtained. He said federal authorities are investigating that aspect. It remains unclear if any evidence was presented to the grand jury about how the warrant was obtained. In addition to investigating the warrant, federal authorities are also probing whether any civil rights violations occurred during the shooting. Federal officials have not commented on the progress of those investigations. AG never asked grand jury to consider homicide charges in Breonna Taylor's killing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A 20-year-old woman has died two weeks after an horrific gang-rape by four men in India that left her paralysed with a broken spine. The men, who are described as 'upper caste' in local media, attacked the woman near her home in the Hathras region, around 60 miles from Delhi, on September 14. The unnamed victim, of the 'untouchable' Dalit class, had been on a ventilator in intensive care after the savage rape left her with multiple fractures. She was only yesterday moved from a hospital in upstate Uttar Pradesh to one in the capital. The four attackers are in custody and will now be charged with murder. The four attackers are in custody and will now be charged with murder The young woman had been cutting grass near her home when she was dragged into millet fields and stripped by the attackers. Her brother told NDTV: 'My mother, sister and elder brother had gone to a field to get some grass. My brother went home earlier with a large bundle of grass, while my mother and sister continued to cut them. 'The women were a little far from each other. Four-five people came from behind, they threw my sister's dupatta (shawl) around her neck and dragged her inside the bajra (millet) field. 'My mother realised she was missing and went looking for her. My sister was found unconscious. They had raped her. The police did not help us initially... they did not take quick action. They acted only after four-five days.' It has been reported that the woman's tongue was cut out by the attackers, however, it has since been clarified by officials that the woman lacerated her own tongue when she bit down on it as the men tried to strangle her with her scarf. The Hathras district magistrate said today: 'All four accused have been arrested. Under the SC/ST Act, her family has been given the financial support of Rs 10 lakh (11,000), in total. Reports of her tongue being chopped off are not true.' Today the woman's brothers, who say the police only acted when the case became a national scandal, claimed that officials failed to move her to adequate medical facilities in time. 'We were told that she would be taken to AIIMS (All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) but she was taken to Safdarjung,' one of them told reporters. 'Her condition was very bad. She was found in the bajra field, without clothes. Initially we even wondered if she was bitten by a snake. Three bones on her neck were broken. She had difficulty breathing... She needed oxygen right from the beginning. We reached here (Safdarjung Hospital) yesterday,' another brother told the local press. The police in Uttar Pradesh state have denied the family's claims that they did not act fast enough and say that they will fast track a prosecution. Hathras police chief Vikrant Vir told NDTV: 'This is a very unfortunate incident but we have been proactive in making arrests and helping the family in whatever manner possible. I will personally ensure swift investigation and that these men are tried in a fast track court.' The case, the latest in a harrowing litany to plague the country, has been reported across the country and compared to the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape, a rape and murder which took place on a bus in Delhi and sparked waves of national protests. Today around 300 protesters from the Bhim Army, a party championing the rights of Dalit community of which the woman was a member, entered the hospital premises and shouted slogans near the mortuary. Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest after the death of a rape victim inside the premises of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh said: 'The incident is very saddening. Our government stands with the victim's family. Investigation started immediately and four accused have been arrested. Strict action will be taken. The law will take its course.' 'There is next to no protection for women. Criminals are openly committing crimes,' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a leader of the opposition Congress party, said on Twitter. One woman reported a rape every 15 minutes on an average in India in 2018, according to the latest government data released in January. The woman's home state of Uttar Pradesh, which ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, ranks as the most unsafe state for women in the country. Last December, a 23-year-old Dalit woman was set ablaze by a gang of men as she made her way to a court in Uttar Pradesh to press rape charges. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices rose slightly on Tuesday as investors looked for cues from the final round of Brexit trade talks as well as the upcoming U.S. presidential debate. Covid-19 news flow and developments on the latest U.S. stimulus measures also remained on investors' radar. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,884.03 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,888.55. The European Union and Britain have indicated that a post-Brexit deal was still some way off as negotiations recommenced over implementing their Withdrawal Agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden will meet tonight in Cleveland for their first of three debates that could shake up the race for the White House. On the Covid-19 front, the global death toll from the pandemic eclipsed 1 million on Monday night, with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling it a 'mind-numbing figure'. He said that it was crucial that the international community learn from the mistakes made in the first 10 months of the pandemic. Separately, Anthony S. Fauci, the United States' leading infectious-disease expert, called Florida's full reopening of bars and restaurants 'very concerning,' and warned it will spark more coronavirus outbreaks. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Haas boss Gunther Steiner was notably annoyed with his driver Romain Grosjean after the Russian GP. Frenchman Grosjean went into the weekend admitting that his Formula 1 career was in doubt as Haas weighs up a list of about ten potential replacements for 2021. "It is clear that there are not many seats available next year and a lot of candidates, so you just have to do the maths," Grosjean is quoted by Ouest France newspaper. Once on track at Sochi, Grosjean was highly critical of Haas' 2020 car, telling his team on radio: "There is nothing we can do with this car" and that he is "getting a little tired of it all". When asked about Grosjean's unhappy run to 17th on Sunday, boss Steiner said: "What happened with Romain was documented extremely well in the TV broadcast. "He speaks to people so I do not have to tell you or put it in the press release," he told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. "He said very clearly what he thinks about the car. Good for him," Steiner concluded. BT newspaper's F1 correspondent Peter Nygaard said: "I am becoming more and more convinced that Romain Grosjean is no longer part of Haas' 2021 plans." (GMM) Protesters gather after a whistleblower claimed ICE performed unnecessary hysterectomies on women in their custody - Kyle Grillot/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /Shutterstock Mexico said Monday it had requested more information from the US on medical procedures given to migrants in detention centers, after allegations six detained Mexican women were sterilized without their consent. Rights campaigners alleged two weeks ago that a number of hysterectomies had been carried out at a privately run detention center in the US state of Georgia. The Mexican ministry of foreign affairs said it sent a diplomatic note "to clarify the situation, requesting information on the medical attention that Mexican citizens receive" at the Irwin County Detention Center. The ministry said that consulate personnel have interviewed 18 Mexican women who are or were detained at the center, none of whom "claimed to have undergone a hysterectomy," an operation involving the removal of all or part of the uterus. The department added that seven of the women interviewed had been treated by the doctor accused of performing the sterilizations. Another of the women said she had undergone a gynecological operation, although there is nothing in her file to support that she consented to the procedure. Nurse Dawn Wooten speaks at a news conference where she accused ICE of performing hysterectomies on immigrants who did not consent - Jeff Amy/AP The women interviewed did not deny that they had been "victims of bad practices for different reasons," the foreign ministry said. Mexico announced last week it was investigating the allegations of sterilizations, warning that such operations would be "unacceptable." The allegations came from a whistleblower, a nurse at the center, where some detainees are held under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The nurse said that detained women told her they did not fully understand why they had to get a hysterectomy. Project South, the Georgia Detention Watch, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network filed a complaint to the government on behalf of detained immigrants and the nurse. US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has called for an urgent investigation into allegations that at least 17 women were subjected to unnecessary gynecological procedures that she called "the most abhorrent of human rights violations." On Sunday, 44 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the Wyoming Department of Healths daily update. The department announced five new probable cases. Twenty-two new confirmed recoveries were announced. Six new probable recoveries were announced. There are now 3,679 confirmed cases, 667 probable cases, 3,211 confirmed recoveries and 557 probable recoveries in Wyoming. Forty-two Wyomingites have died after contracting COVID-19. In Natrona County, 307 confirmed cases and 61 probable cases have been recorded. That includes eight new confirmed cases and four new probable cases on Sunday. Probable cases are defined by officials as close contacts of lab-confirmed cases with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. A patient is considered fully recovered when there is resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath) for 72 hours AND at least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Cases plateaued in Wyoming in late spring before beginning a spike in mid-June. That surge brought about an increase in the rate of reported coronavirus patients not yet seen here since the pandemic began. As a result, state health officials decided against their plans to eliminate almost all coronavirus restrictions. State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist is expected to extend the current orders soon. Cases tapered off somewhat in August but have trended back up and down since then. While Gov. Mark Gordon has said he is not considering a statewide face mask requirement, he has urged the states residents to wear them. The symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever and shortness of breath. Symptoms appear within two weeks. Health officials recommend self-isolating for two weeks if you have contact with a person who has the illness. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 22:24:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A health worker collects a swab from a woman for a COVID-19 test in Guwahati, India, on Sept. 28, 2020. India's COVID-19 tally is steeply rising, surpassing 6 million on Monday, while the country's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan pinned hopes on the development of the first vaccine by early next year. (Str/Xinhua) by Pankaj Yadav NEW DELHI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally is steeply rising, surpassing 6 million on Monday, while the country's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan pinned hopes on the development of the first vaccine by early next year. "Research to develop a vaccine is being done expeditiously. There are at least three viable such vaccine candidates that are in the phase of clinical trials right now in the country. We're hopeful that within first quarter of 2021 it will be available," media reports quoted Vardhan as saying. The country's COVID-19 tally reached 6,074,702, and the death toll reached 95,542, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry. As many as 82,170 new cases and 1,039 deaths were registered in the past 24 hours across the country. Still there are 962,640 active cases in the country, while 5,016,520 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 71,967,230 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country till Sunday, out of which 709,394 were conducted on Sunday alone. During the day the health minister also launched a vaccine portal, and another portal on COVID Clinical Registry, said an official statement. "The portal provides useful and important information related to vaccine development, ongoing clinical trials and progress made in this area locally and globally at regular intervals," said the minister. Meanwhile, Vardhan said India's continuously rising recovery rate and progressively falling case fatality rate have proven the success of the COVID-19 containment strategy, adding the country has ramped up the testing capacity which has touched 1.5 million daily tests. The number of recovered COVID-19 cases in the country has been higher than the number of fresh cases registered over the past 10 consecutive days, an official confirmed. The gap between percentage of recovered cases and the percentage of active cases is continuously increasing. The gap between the recovered cases and active cases is well above 4 million. The number of active patients has been below 1 million for several days, according to federal health ministry. Enditem Miao villagers Liang Zuying (L) and Pan Meimei finish their homework from a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xin] Located deep in the mountains straddling the border between Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province, Wuying is a remote village inhabited by the Miao ethnic group where women over 40 have hardly ever attended any school. In their childhood, they were occupied with herding cattle, doing housework and taking care of younger sibling. Going to school had been a distant dream for them. They could neither read nor speak Mandarin, which made their communication with the outside world almost impossible. Since March 2020, local authorities have piloted a Mandarin training program at Wuying Village as part of the local poverty alleviation efforts, employing college students to teach stay-at-home women Mandarin, music, dance and other skills. So far, over 70 Mandarin training courses have taken place in Wuying. The number of students in the training courses has grown from 6 in the first class to nearly 30 now. To balance work and study, poverty-alleviation officials in the village have also set up after-school training centers, planting sorghum and raising fish along with local women. In the past six months, more than 30 teachers from all walks of life, including primary school teachers, college students, traffic police, TV hosts and agricultural experts, have volunteered to teach Mandarin lessons in Wuying. The training program has become a bridge for local women to reach the outside world. Miao villagers attending a Mandarin training program learn fan drawings on the sidelines of their language courses in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 9, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xin] Volunteer teacher Wu Xiaoshu (rear) teaches a Miao villager how to write her name in Chinese characters during a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xin] Elementary student Bu Yongyuan (R) teaches pinyin to Miao villagers during a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xin] Miao villagers attend a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xin] College student Pan Muzhi (2nd L) accompanies Miao villagers Liang Yingmi (1st L) and Liang Zuying (1st R) on their way to a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on June 6, 2020. [Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang] (Source: Xinhua) Police Police units responds to the scene of an emergency. Credit - Getty Images/iStockphoto Matt Gush More than 100 people were arrested and charged with criminal and traffic offenses after taking part in a what police called a pop-up rally in Ocean City, Md., this weekend, the police said in a statement. This weekends gathering was an unauthorized car rally called H2Oi, the Baltimore Sun reported. According the Salisbury Daily Times, the unsanctioned event occurs around this time of year annually. The police said in a statement Sunday that the what started as social gatherings took a turn, and additional law enforcement officers were called in at around 11:50 p.m. after there was unruly and violent behavior among large crowds across the city, especially in the downtown area. The release did not specify which day the statement referred to, and the police could not be reached for comment. People at the event shared videos of confrontations that erupted between police officers and rally attendees. In one video posted on YouTube, police tackle a fleeing person to the ground. Meanwhile, people in the surrounding area urged one of a man to run, shouted police brutality and taunted the police. This is not a car show and the majority of these visitors are not car enthusiasts, Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said. They are here to disrupt, destroy and disrespect our community and our law enforcement officers. Our policing philosophy is to be friendly, fair and firm. Unfortunately, the disorderly behavior and unruly crowds left no choice but to shift our philosophy and take additional steps to protect our officers and our community. Story continues The Salisbury Daily Times reported that some attendees drove recklessly during the rally, revving engines, racing and skidding their tires. The event has a history of being disruptive and for inciting rowdy and sometimes dangerous behavior in the city, according to the Times. To deter reckless driving ahead of the event, the city had put in place a Special Event Zone, which under new Maryland legislation lowered the speed limit, increased fines and penalties and enabled the police to arrest drivers for certain motor violations, according to a release from the town of Ocean City. The arrests took place during a contentious time for law enforcement in the United States. Since May, protesters in Maryland and across the country have demonstrated against police brutality targeting Black Americans. In 2017, over 60 farmers died, and hundreds were affected reportedly by the increased use of pesticides sprayed without any protective gear, on the cotton crop in Yavatmal and other districts of Maharashtra. In a first, a group of farmers from Yavatmal, Maharashtra, who suffered from contact pesticide poisoning in 2017, have filed a complaint along with their families, against the Switzerland-based agrochemical multinational company Syngenta in two separate instances. Syngenta manufactures the pesticide Polo which many of the farmers used to spray on cotton. In 2017, over 60 farmers died, and hundreds were affected reportedly by the increased use of pesticides sprayed without any protective gear, on the cotton crop in Yavatmal and other districts of Maharashtra. The victims families have been assisted by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India and Asia Pacific, the Maharashtra Association of Pesticide Poisoned Persons (MAPPP), the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR; an independent, non-profit legal and educational organisation dedicated to enforcing civil and human rights worldwide) and Public Eye, an independent media investigation and research agency based in Lausanne and Zurich. On 17 September, 51 affected families filed a specific instance (a Specific Instance raises a complaint about conduct by an enterprise that is alleged to be inconsistent with the recommendations contained in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises) at the Swiss OECD National Contact Point in Bern. Under the guidelines, all governments are required to establish a National Contact Point (NCP) to hear complaints by communities or workers harmed by corporate activity. The specific instance complaint seeks remedy for violating OECD Guidelines Chapters II, IV and VII by Syngenta AG, and Syngenta India Ltd. for selling its pesticide Polo to the Yavatmal farmers who subsequently suffered severe negative health impacts from pesticide poisoning. The farmers are demanding that Syngenta refrain from selling hazardous pesticides to small-scale farmers in India, the use of which requires Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to small and for which like in the case of Polo no antidote is available in case of poisoning. In addition, the company should pay compensation to the 51 victim families for treatment costs and loss of income. In a separate matter, also on 17 September, a survivor of poisoning and two women whose husbands died due to contact poisoning, filed lawsuits against Syngenta in a civil court in Bern, demanding monetary compensation for loss of lives and suffering, according to Dr Narasimha Reddy, advisor to PAN India and the (MAPPP). The claim is based on product liability, as one of the active ingredients in the pesticide Polo (diafenthiuron) came directly from Switzerland. ECCHR supports the complainants, who are represented by its partner law firm Schadenanwaelte. This legal step is being taken independently of the OECD NCP specific instance, which these parties are not involved in, PAN India clarified. Polo contains an active ingredient called diafenthiuron, which is on the list of substances and preparations that are banned or subject to severe restrictions in Switzerland. According to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), diafenthiuron is poisonous when inhaled and it may cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure. According to ECCHR, Polo was banned in the EU in 2002; in Switzerland, it was taken off the market in 2009. In March 2017, diafenthiuron was added to the European list of substances that are banned because of their effects on health and the environment. Nevertheless, Syngenta continues to market the pesticide Polo in the Global South, such as India. In 2018, Syngenta International AG denied the allegations that Polo is responsible for the poisoning cases. This correspondent has reached out to Syngenta for comment and the report will be updated when they respond. In 2018, Firstpost published a report based on information under obtained by this correspondent under the Right to Information (RTI). The police records obtained under RTI show 22 deaths and 349 affected by pesticide poisoning in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, in 2017. Only in five deaths did the police file cases against pesticide dealers under section 304(a) of the Indian Penal Code (causing death by negligence and the Insecticide Act). Most of those who died had used monocrotophos as one of the chemicals they sprayed and a mixture of toxic pesticides. The RTI records indicate that Polo is another popular insecticide and at least 80 of those affected reported using it, along with other chemicals, at times. Dr Narasimha Reddy said this was a landmark in the struggles against pesticides in India. To find evidence and file cases was an enormous challenge but PAN India had already conducted an investigation after the 2017 deaths and produced a report. It documented 250 cases of farmers who were affected, making detailed records of health care and symptoms. Hospitals kept poor records and often the names of the pesticides were missing. The treatment protocol also left much to be desired and they were all medico-legal cases, which should have been investigated by the police. This did not happen, Dr Reddy said. The farmers had evidence in the form of bills but at times companies took away the bills, on the pretext that the government was giving a compensation of Rs 4,000. This has happened in Yavatmal in the case of farmers who bought Polo. Once we began documenting these cases, the name of Polo kept cropping up and the symptoms too were typical eye burning, loss of sight for 10 days to a month. Some had very rudimentary treatment and even after 2-3 years they suffered from weakness and their eyes are photosensitive to sunlight and they cannot work in the sun, he said. The PAN report identified chronic issues faced by the farmers; a majority of the cases seemed to be related to Polo, Dr Reddy added. Once the PAN report became public in 2018, there was a lot of interest in seeking legal action and that is how the case transpired. While the families of those who died due to poisoning were paid Rs 2 lakh as compensation from the government, this was not adequate and not all received it. A public interest litigation filed by social activist Anand Jammu in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, resulted in the compensation being increased to Rs 4 lakh in March 2018. The court had also directed the state government to seek the ban of five pesticides by writing to the Centre, and this included diafenthiuron. The complaints are filed in the framework of the Responsible Business Initiative, part of an international movement and member of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice under which companies will be legally obliged to incorporate respect for human rights and the environment in all their business activities. This mandatory due diligence will also be applied to Swiss based companies activities abroad. LOUISVILLE, Ky. Kentuckys attorney general acknowledged that he never recommended homicide charges against any of the police officers conducting the drug raid that led to Breonna Taylors death, and said he didnt object to a public release of the grand jurys deliberations. Amid outrage over the jurys decision last week to not charge any of the officers for Taylors fatal shooting, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Monday that he also did not object to members of the panel speaking publicly about their experience. We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented, Cameron said in a written statement. Cameron also revealed late Monday that the only charge he recommended to the grand jury was that of wanton endangerment. He had previously declined to say what charges he recommended. The grand jury last week charged Officer Brett Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through Taylors apartment into an adjacent unit with people inside. No one in the adjacent unit was injured. Hankison, who was fired from the force for his actions during the raid, pleaded not guilty on Monday. None of the officers was indicted in the killing of Taylor, who was shot five times after they knocked down her door to serve a narcotics warrant on March 13. In a TV interview Tuesday evening, Cameron also indicated that he had recommended no charges against the other officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. Speaking to WDRB-TV in Louisville, he remarked of the grand jury, Theyre an independent body. If they wanted to make an assessment about different charges, they could have done that. But our recommendation was that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their acts and their conduct. At a news conference last week, Cameron said Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in firing their weapons because Taylors boyfriend had fired at them first. Mattingly was struck by a bullet in the leg. There was no conclusive evidence that any of Hankisons bullets hit Taylor, Cameron said. For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment, he said. He also said at the news conference that prosecutors walked them (the grand jury) through every homicide offense and also presented all of the information that was available to the grand jury. A judge ordered the public release of the grand jury proceedings during Hankisons arraignment Monday. Cameron said the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body, but its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen. The attorney general said a record of the proceedings would be released Wednesday, and that the public will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury. An attorney for Taylors family reiterated the need to release the complete record. Since the grand jury decision was announced, weve been saying that Daniel Cameron clearly failed to present a comprehensive case that supported justice for Breonna, attorney Ben Crump said in a news release Tuesday. A member of the grand jury sued on Monday to have a record of the proceedings released and allow the panels members to talk publicly about their experiences. The grand jurors attorney, Kevin Glogower, said Tuesday that Cameron has yet to answer what was actually presented as far as the charges and the individual they were directed to. I think thats important to know and my client feels the same, Glogower said. The grand jurors lawsuit accused Cameron of using the grand jury to deflect accountability and responsibility for (the indictment) decisions. The public disclosure of grand jury minutes is rare. Most states have laws that would make it impossible. Other states, such as California, allow it under very specific circumstances, and some require a judges order. Grand jury transcripts were released in the police shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri. But a judge refused to release the minutes of the grand jury that decided not to indict New York City officers in Eric Garners death in 2014, citing in part concerns over secrecy. In Georgia, 11th Circuit this year ruled against releasing grand jury records in the 1946 lynching of two Black couples. A coroners report says Taylor was shot five times and died of multiple gunshot wounds. It says she was hit in the torso, her upper left arm and both legs. She tested negative for drugs and alcohol. The night of the botched drug raid, the officers were carrying a no-knock warrant but Cameron said a witness testified that they knocked and announced their presence at Taylors door. On Tuesday, The Courier Journal reported that the witness gave conflicting accounts. Aaron Sarpee told police in March nobody identified themselves, but in a follow-up interview in May he said he heard officers announce this is the cops, the newspaper said, citing documents it obtained. ___ This story has been edited to correct that the court is releasing the record of the grand jury deliberations, not the attorney general, who said he has no objections. It also has been edited to clarify that the judges order to release the information came during an officers arraignment hearing, not in response to the grand jurors request. ___ Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report. The shocking subject of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's grisly fate - his 2018 murder and dismemberment at the hands of thugs apparently directed by Saudi Arabian authorities, perhaps as highly placed as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - opens and closes the disturbing documentary "Kingdom of Silence." There is a suggestion that Khashoggi may have been killed because he had been approached by investigators looking for information about connections between the Saudi government and 9/11. Khashoggi himself was once a close admirer of Osama bin Laden, in his youth, before bin Laden established al-Qaida. But the reasons behind the death of Khashoggi, who was a Washington Post contributing columnist and critic of the Saudi government, are not the film's sole subject. Rather, Khashoggi's assassination is used to bookend a deeper examination of the history of Saudi Arabia's complex relationship with the United States, which the film posits began with Chevron's entry into the country to drill, after the discovery of oil there in 1938. From that point, filmmaker Rick Rowley lays out the chronology carefully - if not always in tidy chapters, considering its many twists and turns. During the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan, for instance, the United States and the Saudis together backed the Afghan mujahideen rebels, and all seemed cozy. But then 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 turned out to be Saudi. And bin Laden - a supplier of arms and funds to the mujahideen, like us - was identified as being behind that attack. Things got messy. Throughout this shifting narrative, Khashoggi's place in the story is also evolving, from an insider with close connections to the Saudi royal family to something of a dissident who often sharply disagreed with its rulers, despite always identifying as a patriot. He was living in what he called self-exile in suburban Washington, D.C., at the time of his death. "Kingdom of Silence" - the title refers to the insularity and secrecy of rule by the Saudi royal family - is most alarming in its implications about the United States, however, and not the Saudis. The clear message is that we, as a country, have prioritized our strategic and financial relationship with an authoritarian regime "one step below a theocracy," as one interview subject puts it, over all else, including grotesque human rights violations. That's made explicit by President Donald Trump: When asked by a reporter why he appeared to side with the Saudi's denials of involvement in Khashoggi's death, the president replied, in effect, that he was not about to jeopardize billions of dollars worth of deals by contradicting the Saudis. Like much else in the film, it's shocking to hear this characterized by Trump as an "America First" policy, and not just because Khashoggi was a permanent U.S. resident. But Trump is not alone in seemingly distorted priorities. Later in the film, a longtime Foreign Service officer in Saudi Arabia, David Rundell, whose experience runs from the Carter administration to Obama's, puts it even more bluntly, saying that preserving our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia - one that involves oil imports and arms sales - "outweighs the death of any one man." You can almost hear the sound of the cash register. Another of the film's subjects lays out the thesis of "Kingdom of Silence" - or, really, its moral - quite clearly and chillingly, asking simply, "Which side are you on?" It's a question that hangs in the air, like an accusation, as the closing credits roll. - - - Three stars. Rated TV-MA. Available on Showtime. Contains violent images, disturbing thematic elements and coarse language. In English and Arabic with subtitles. 98 minutes. Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time. Bangladesh Prime Minister and her Indian counterpart will hold virtual meeting in December, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said here on Tuesday. Momen made the remarks after the sixth Joint Consultative Commission meeting, which was held virtually in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Momen led the Bangladesh side while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar led the Indian team at the meeting. He said the two prime ministers will hold a virtual meeting in December. Momen said he laid emphasis on "early resolution" of the Teesta water-sharing issue apart from resolving water sharing of other common rivers during the meeting. "We have got positive responses from the Indian side on the issue, he told a media briefing here on the outcome of the JCC talks. Momen said his meeting with Jaishankar also featured the issue of potential water sharing agreements on six of the remaining trans-boundary rivers - Monu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar. "Both sides underscored the necessity of early resolution of the Teesta water sharing and early resolution of agreements on sharing of all common rivers," the Bangladesh foreign office said in a statement. The two sides also agreed to hold the long pending Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting soon at the ministerial level to address outstanding issues on water resources cooperation. "It (JRC meeting) will be held very soon," Momen said. The two ministers discussed several issues including trade, line of credit and air bubble. According to the statement, Bangladesh thanked India for the concessions being provided under SAFTA but said various non-tariff barriers and lack of adequate trade facilitation was impeding flow of Bangladeshi products into India, particularly. Momen requested New Delhi to address issues of accreditation, certification, standardization, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to enable exports of Bangladesh into India, it said. "The Foreign Minister requested his Indian counterpart to look into the export of essential commodities, such as onions by India, it added. Bangladesh, it said, also stressed on the equitable application of investment policies by India. The JCC also reviewed the projects under the Indian line of credit and Dhaka put emphasis on expediting the implementation process of those projects and decided to form a monitoring committee to regularly review their progress. "Enhancing cooperation on energy and power sector through facilitation of tripartite power-energy cooperation among Bangladesh-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-India-Bhutan was also discussed, the statement said. Momen said the two sides discussed about cooperation on access to potential COVID 19 vaccine. He said the Indian side has assured that Bangladesh would get priority in receiving any potential vaccine which it could develop. Both sides discussed collaboration in the health sector "especially in terms of supply, delivery, distribution and co-production of COVID-19 vaccine," the statement said. A senior official at the Indian High Commission, who is familiar with the talks, said India proposed third phase clinical trial of a vaccine it was working on in Bangladesh as soon as its trial begins at home. "Bangladesh side in principle agreed to the proposal," the official said on condition of anonymity. Momen said that his Indian counterpart agreed with him to bring down border killing to zero level. "We don't want any death along the frontier, he said. The Rohingya crisis appeared to be another issue discussed during the meeting. The foreign ministry statement said Momen expressed hope that as a non-permanent UNSC member India would play a "more meaningful role" for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis. Momen and Jaishankar jointly unveiled two commemorative stamps as part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The two ministers agreed to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They also discussed the joint programmes for celebrating the Mujib Year, marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Prime Minister Hasina. The 5th JCC meeting was held on February 8 last year in New Delhi. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW DELHI : The Netherlands has evinced interest in the ''Feluda'' test for COVID-19 indigenously developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), its director general Shekhar Mande said on Tuesday. Mande said Netherlands wants to ramp up its coronavirus testing capacity and has written to the CSIR asking about the test. They have written to us and shown interest in the Feluda test. We have forwarded the request to the TATA group as they are our commercial partners," Mande told PTI. According to the World Health Organisation dashboard, until September 28, the Netherlands reported 1,11,150 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 6,365 fatalities. Unlike before, we would resort to reverse engineering. But Feluda test is an indigenously developed test with the capability to be used at the global level," Mande added. He noted that the Feluda test is cheaper than the RT-PCR test. Earlier this week, the Drugs Controller General of India approved the commercial launch of 'Feluda', the Tata CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) COVID-19 test. Feldua, named after Satyajit Ray's detective character, has been developed by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti, scientists with the CSIR's Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), as a simpler way of detecting SARS-coV2 presence. An acronym for the FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay, Fedula uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for detection of the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. CRISPR is a gene editing technology and is used in correcting genetic defects and treating and preventing the spread of diseases. The test meets high quality benchmarks with 96 per cent sensitivity and 98 per cent specificity for detecting the novel coronavirus. Sensitivity is defined as the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals with the disease, while specificity is the ability of the assay to accurately identify those without the disease. Similar to a pregnancy strip test, Feluda changes colour if the virus is detected and doesn't need expensive machines for detection. The test starts the same way as a normal RT-PCR, i.e. by extraction of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) and its conversion to DNA. It then differs by using a differently designed PCR reaction to amplify a part of the viral nucleic acid sequence and then a highly specific CRISPR, FnCAS9, developed at IGIB, to specifically bind to that sequence. Using innovative chemistry on a paper strip, the CRISPR complex bound to that specific sequence can be visualised as a positive band - like one sees in simple pregnancy tests. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Stratford has been gripped by an air of romantic nostalgia with residents flocking to offer help to a young Tewkesbury couple planning to elope in the town in October. Anya Maltsberger and Jack Warren are set to tie the knot on 7 October, but an appeal for witnesses and for a wedding photographer, prompted an outpouring of support on social media. Anya, originally from Texas, and Jack, met whilst studying at York University in 2018, but had been maintaining a long-distance relationship for some time afterwards. However with this years lockdown, the couple have seen more of each other that ever living together in Tewkesbury, a situation they say has made them blissfully happy. Anya said: We are planning a bigger ceremony in Summerset 2021 where well have our friends and family, but with everything thats happened this year we wanted to try something big and bold and get married in Stratford, its our way of reclaiming the year. We live in Tewkesbury, but Stratford is definitely a place on our bucket list, Jack is a massive Shakespeare nerd and Ive got a masters in medieval history, so it just seemed the perfect place for us. When we put it up on Facebook the reaction was amazing, it was so overwhelming and positive. Jack added: It was nice to see people of all ages offering help or wishing us well, I suppose people just like the old fashioned romantic idea of a couple eloping, it just makes people happy. Were going to go up to Stratford on the bus, just the pair of us, well check into an Airbnb an hour before the ceremony and were meeting the photographer at the registry office on Henley Street, we might go for a meal afterwards. Jack and Anya have now found witnesses and a photographer for the ceremony on 7 October, but would like to thank everyone who offered to help. Anyone who wants to offer their best wishes to Jack and Anya are welcome to do so after the ceremony, which takes place at 2pm. There were no novices at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma Monday. The dozen or so evacuees who parked in the grass lot here had already done this at least once or twice before. Their cars were cluttered with clothes, pets and sleeping pads. At least one couple lounged on camping chairs as they monitored the news from a tablet. Wed never dealt with anything like this, until the Tubbs Fire, said Jonathan Andre, who said he, his wife and their pug Zora have evacuated four or five times before. Andre, who lives in Bennett Valley, said he and his wife woke up around 8 a.m. Monday morning to see evacuation notices on their phones. The next thing you know, theyre, knock knock knock you gotta go! Andre said, referring to the deputy who evacuated them. Andre was among the 54,000 people who had evacuated from the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties as of Monday afternoon, according to the California Governors Office of Emergency Services. Some were being sent to 143 hotels with more than 1,500 rooms secured by the state as officials tried to minimize group shelters because of the coronavirus. But some evacuees were waiting it out at evacuation centers. The Glass Fire, which erupted Sunday morning and spread quickly through extremely dry grasslands, destroyed dozens of homes and threatened thousands more. Evacuees faced not only coronavirus risks but a heat wave Monday. With flames threatening the northeast quadrant of the city, government officials chose to close an evacuation point they had set up at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building on Maple Avenue. Evacuees were instead being asked to go to the Petaluma Fairgrounds or the 50-acre RV and tent campground at Sonoma Raceway, off Highway 121. Melanie Collins and Chris Rossow, a married couple from Oakmont, were the only two evacuees in the middle of a large, empty field across from the Sonoma Raceway Tuesday afternoon. Temperatures at the field had sweltered into the upper 90s and shade was nonexistent, but it was far away from the fire zone and smoke was not noticeable. If we had to grade it, Id probably say a C-minus, Chris Rossow joked. Rossow and Collins have lived in California for about a year. Both competitive bicyclists, they moved to Sonoma County for its ample hills and mountains. But after already having to evacuate their home twice, Rossow said he might consider moving somewhere else. The unrest really gets to you, he said. Now were starting to think, well, should we look somewhere else? Rossow and Collins gathered their bikes and cat, Sophie, before evacuating around 10 p.m. Monday night. With a small tent on top of their red Mazda SUV, they anticipate theyll be able to rough it out for a few days. Collins, who served as a firefighter in Maryland for nine years, knows all about how destructive fires can be. Last night, we were like, everything we own is going to burn, she said. But still, we have each other. Others were also weary from repeat evacuations. Andrew Carpenter, 63, sat in his white Ford pickup truck Monday at the Sonoma Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, ready to go nowhere soon. Carpenter thinks its the third or fourth time hes been through this. I lost track, he said. So many fires are popping up, and its not the lightning thats doing it. Now Playing: Patrick Ryan stayed with his home in Santa Rosa while his wife and children evacuated the Shady Fire, which burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate. Video: Matthias Gafni, Erika Carlos The evacuations have now become more of a nuisance than a terror, he said. I was in the navy for 8 years, he said. This doesnt scare me. But he added that the heat was nearly unbearable. Also at the fairgrounds was Gloria Young, 55, who woke up at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday to someone banging on her RV window, yelling at her to evacuate. But the RV that she parked in Santa Rosas Howarth Park wasnt running, and she had no other way to flee, Young said as she sat, barefoot and in the shade with her rat terrier, Spunky. Im afraid of fire, Young said. I think this is one of the scariest things in my life. Young was only able to grab her purse, her other dogs urn and Spunkys blanket before she fled. Im already homeless, Young said through tears. Those items might not be much, but it meant a lot to me. Young said she had to walk a few miles before she could hitchhike a ride to the Petaluma Veterans Building. The space was filled, however, so Young boarded a bus to the fairgrounds. Young said shes hoping tonight she can make her way back to Howarth Park. I dont have any money, she said. But Ill get on the bus somehow. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy (Natural News) A coalition of doctors and other health professionals in Belgium has issued an open letter calling for an immediate end to every emergency policy established in response to the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19), as well as a full-scale investigation into the World Health Organization (WHO) for allegedly faking a pandemic. Citing a complete lack of medical justification for the continued lockdowns and mandatory mask-wearing, the coalition says an open debate is needed to allow all experts with varying perspectives the chance to be represented and have their voices heard, without censorship or retribution. Forcing people to remain in isolation while prohibiting them from engaging in normal commerce, traveling freely, and even going to work, the letters signers warn, is having a greater negative impact both in the short and long term than if there were no restrictions at all which is why it all needs to end immediately. In Belgium, at least, health authorities never would have imposed such restrictions were it not for the misguidance of the WHO. The Belgian Supreme Health Council (BSHC) normally takes a minimalist approach, meaning it encourages people to adopt a healthy lifestyle that works for them, rather than try to force them to abide by some one-size-fits-all government prescription such as the one that came down the pipeline from the WHO. Furthermore, the latest science does not even support the WHOs approach, which is hurting people more than it is helping them. After the initial panic surrounding covid-19, the objective facts now show a completely different picture there is no medical justification for any emergency policy anymore, the letter reads. The current crisis management has become totally disproportionate and causes more damage than it does any good, it goes on to explain. We call for an end to all measures and ask for an immediate restoration of our normal democratic governance and legal structures and of all our civil liberties. Having to get vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) is another draconian imposition coming down the pike that carries with it permanent health consequences, seeing as how there is no way to effectively detoxify from an mRNA vaccine. To learn more, check out the following episode of The Health Ranger Report: Strict covid-19 restrictions violate the WHOs own definition of health Back in 1948, the WHO defined health as follows: Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or other physical impairment. According to the letters signers, the WHOs current approach to combating SARS-CoV-2 is a clear violation of this long-established ethic because it impinges upon the emotional and social well-being of humans, all in the name of keeping them safe from a virus. Forcing people to stay at home muzzled with no human contact is also a violation of basic human rights, as is demanding that people mask up whenever they decide to venture from their own property especially since being social actually protects against viral infection. Studies have shown that the more social and emotional commitments people have, the more resistant they are to viruses, the letter explains. It is much more likely that isolation and quarantine have fatal consequences. Fear, persistent stress and loneliness induced by social distancing have a proven negative influence on psychological and general health, it adds. Remember when flatten the curve was only supposed to last two weeks? Early on, the WHO warned that if the world failed to flatten the curve, up to 3.4 percent of people who contracted the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) would die. This process was supposed to take just two weeks, as you may recall, but still persists six months later. The world was also told by the WHO, which has proven ties to the vaccine industry, by the way, that the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) would lead to an abnormal pattern of seasonal infection, another claim that has since been proven false by science. The course of covid-19 followed the course of a normal wave of infection similar to a flu season, the letter explains. As every year, we see a mix of flu viruses following the curve: first the rhinoviruses, then the influenza A and B viruses, followed by the coronaviruses. There is nothing different from what we normally see. So what we continue to face is a cure that is far, far worse than the problem, the letter contends. Furthermore, flawed testing, fake science, and widespread ignorance about how the human immune system even works are keeping us under medical tyranny, to our own collective detriment. The full open letter can be read in its entirety at this link. More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and humanitys fight to escape the clutches of public safety restrictions can also be accessed at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: GreatGameIndia.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Paris prosecutors are investigating a French ambassador for allegedly not using a condom as requested during consensual sex, a practice known as "stealthing", a source close to the inquiry said Tuesday. The woman, 30, told police she had spent part of the night at the home of the 44-year-old envoy she met through a dating site. "They had met up several times without any sexual relations. That evening, they had consensual sex," the source said, confirming a report in French magazine Le Point. "She asked him to use a condom but realised during the act that the man was not wearing one," the source added. The woman filed her complaint three days later. The source did not identify the envoy by name, while Le Point said only that he is based in the Middle East. French law defines rape as "any sexual penetration... committed against another through violence, force, threat or surprise." But no clear jurisprudence exists for "stealthing", which is when a man removes a condom while having sex with a partner who requested he wear one, potentially exposing him or her to HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. A woman also risks being impregnated. In January 2017, a court in Lausanne, Switzerland, handed a Frenchman a suspended 12-month prison sentence after convicting him of "rape" for removing his condom without telling his partner. A few months later, the sentence was upheld on appeal, but the court lowered the charge to "a sexual act committed against a person unable to discern or resist it." NEW DELHI : NEW DELHI: The prime ministers of India and Bangladesh will hold a virtual summit in December, a joint statement issued at the end of the fifth India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission said on Tuesday after both countries reviewed existing bilateral ties and pledged to increase collaboration in a range of areas including trials for the covid-19 vaccine. The Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) was co-chaired by Bangladeshi foreign minister A. K. Abdul Momen and his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar. The two ministers expressed satisfaction over the fact that despite the covid-19 pandemic causing major disruptions, India and Bangladesh had been able to keep up sustained engagement, the joint statement said. Some of the things accomplished in spite of the covid-19 induced constraints were the first trial movement of cargo from Kolkata to North East India through roads and waterways of Bangladesh, signing of the second addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (and the) export of goods from India using rail route, including container and parcel trains," the statement said. The transit of Indian goods through Bangladesh to its northeastern states is a measure of how far ties have evolved between the two countries in the past decade. The two countries have sorted out land and maritime boundary issues between them that have helped build trust between the two countries. According to the statement, the transit of Indian goods through Bangladesh to northeast India reflected the excellent understanding shared between the two countries. In this regard, (the Bangladeshi) Foreign Minister reiterated Bangladeshs commitment to support India in strengthening connectivity in the region for creating a win-win situation for both economies." The two ministers also discussed holding trials of covid-19 vaccine candidates to combat the disease that has swept the world killing one million people so far since it emerged in China late last year. Given their shared history, the two countries outlined a slew of programmes to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Liberation War (of Bangladesh) and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in India, Bangladesh and in select third countries through their respective Missions," the statement said. These include ceremonial military parades on 16 December in Dhaka and New Delhi and Kolkata, honoring Indian war veterans of the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the revival of the Mujibnagar-Kolkata road and the simultaneous launching of a website on 50 years of victory and friendship between India and Bangladesh are some of the programmes the two sides have chalked out. Border management was an area that the two ministers agreed needed further strengthening" for the effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP). Both sides agreed that the loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern and urged the concerned border forces to enhance coordinated measures to bring such border incidents down to zero," it said. The importance of educating the border population about the sanctity of the international border was stressed on," the statement said. On trade, the two ministers noted that greater measures could be taken for mutually beneficial enhancement of trade and investmentincluding the removal of all forms of barriers to trade," according to the statement. Bangladesh reiterated its appreciation for duty free access of Bangladeshi products into the Indian market under a South Asian pact, as a result of which Bangladeshi exports to India could cross the $ 1 billion mark in 2018-19. Momen repeated a Bangladeshi request for advance information on any amendments in export policy that India could make that could impact Indias export of essential commodities to Bangladesh, since such exports are an important factor influencing Bangladeshs domestic market. The Indian side took note of this," the statement said. This comes against the backdrop of India recently stopping exports of onions that Bangladesh sources from India. Jaishankar and Momen tasked their officials to work closely to avoid disruption of supply chains, particularly in the post-covid period, stressing on the importance of unhindered two-way trade through the land ports and four trans-border railway connections as well as inland and coastal waterways. Jaishankar and Momen also reviewed the status of projects under the three Lines of Credit (LoC) agreements concluded between India and Bangladesh. Dhaka is the largest recipient of aid from India in the form of LoC. On the vexatious issue of sharing of river waters, the two ministers reiterated their commitment to finalization of the Interim Agreement for sharing of the waters of the Teesta," the statement said. The two ministers also underscored the need for early conclusion of Framework of Interim Agreement on sharing of waters of six other joint rivers, namely, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar," it said. On the issue of Rohingya refugees who are sheltered by Bangladesh, Jaishankar and Momen reiterated the importance of the safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar of the forcibly displaced persons from the Rakhine State of Myanmar." In this regard, Bangladesh Foreign Minister emphasized that unless the problem is resolved quickly, there are possibilities of pockets of radicalism disrupting economic growth, peace and stability in the region and requested Indias leverage, to address the crisis," the statement added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Veterans are among hundreds of families facing eviction after the Ministry of Defence ordered them to move out of former military houses. Private firm Annington Homes owns the freehold for the affected 350 properties across 14 former barracks in England and Wales. It leases them to the MoD at a 58 per cent discount. Residents received an eviction notice on September 9 which said their lease would be terminated by the end of March 2021. The move has been taken to reduce the size of the MoDs married quarters estate. Private firm Annington Homes owns the freehold for the affected 350 properties across 14 former barracks in England and Wales. Pictured: A general view of Annington's Union Buildings in Aldershot Keith Lawrence, 51, served as an Army corporal for 24 years before he moved into a rented military property in Lyneham, Wiltshire, with his wife Kathy three years ago. The couple, who live on the same street as six other veterans, were one of more than 59 households in the area told to move out. Mr Lawrence, who suffers from PTSD and depression, said: I spent 24 years of my life in the Army and I feel the MoD dont care. Annington Homes boss, James Hopkins, suggested the MoD return some of its 10,000 empty properties instead. An Annington Homes spokesman said the decision is the MoDs alone, and we were not consulted on it beforehand. The evictions were raised by Labour MP Nick Smith at a hearing of the Commons Public Accounts Committee yesterday (MON). He said it was a shocking story that he warned will affect many places across the UK. Tory MP Gareth Bacon added that he had been told by Annington Homes it was an MoD decision and they were baffled as to why it was happening. Sir Stephen Lovegrove, Permanent Secretary at the MoD, said he was not aware of the evictions. Labours shadow defence secretary John Healey said evicting the families of former servicemen is a new low for the MoD. An Annington Homes spokesman said the decision is the MoDs alone, and we were not consulted on it beforehand. Pictured: The Ministry of Defence main building He said: It beggars belief that defence ministers are evicting Forces families in the middle of this continuing Covid crisis, especially in the run-up to Christmas. The MoD has been failing military families on housing for years, but this is a new low. The Defence Secretary must step in and stop these evictions. A MoD spokesman said: We are committed to the wellbeing of our veterans and have recently published guidance for local authorities to improve access to social housing and allow service leavers to remain in surplus military accommodation, where available, for up to a year after they leave. Civilian tenants who rent homes that are temporarily not required for service personnel sign up to two months notice. However, in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances faced by tenants during the Covid-19 pandemic we have extended the Notice to Vacate period to 12 months. This provides up to a year for the MoD to work with Annington Homes to whom the houses are being returned. The spokesman added that the MoD would like to transfer the homes back to the private firm with the sitting tenants. Sienna Miller has revealed Chadwick Boseman donated part of his own salary to cover her fee to work on their movie 21 Bridges after the studio bosses refused her wage request. Actor Sienna Miller has revealed that Chadwick Boseman, her 21 Bridges co-star, "donated" a part of his salary to increase her fee when the studio didn't agree to pay her the number she quoted. Boseman, who passed away last month following a private, four-year-long battle with colon cancer, was also one of producers on the 2019 cop thriller alongside his Marvel collaborators Anthony and Joe Russo. Miller said the Black Panther star was also instrumental in her joining the Brian Kirk directorial, in which he played the lead character of detective Andre Davis. "This was a pretty big-budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn't get to," Miller recounted in an interview with Empire magazine, whose new issue is dedicated to the late actor's life on- and offscreen. "And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ''I'll do it if I'm compensated in the right way.'' And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for. He said that that was what I deserved to be paid," she added. The 38-year-old actor said she was unsure whether she should share this story but ultimately decided to tell it all it as "a testament" to who Boseman was. "... There was no showiness, it was, ''Of course I'll get you to that number, because that's what you should be paid''," she recalled the late actor saying. Miller said, as a producer, he had been "really active" in trying to get her to do the film, in which she played detective Frankie Burns, a role that was originally written as a male character. She said Boseman offered her the film at a time when she "didn't want to work anymore". "He was a fan of my work, which was thrilling, because it was reciprocated from me to him, tenfold. So he approached me to do it, he offered me this film, and it was at a time when I really didn't want to work anymore. I'd been working non-stop and I was exhausted, but then I wanted to work with him." The actor said though she had not spoken publicly about how Boseman had helped her, she had talked about his gracious gesture privately among her circle of male actor friends. "It's just unfathomable to imagine another man in (Hollywood) behaving that graciously or respectfully. In the aftermath of this, I've told other male actor friends of mine that story, and they all go very, very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while," Miller said. Public health officials are urging anyone who attended a car rally at an Ontario beach town over the weekend to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. Since its too early to know if there was any community transmission at the event in Wasaga Beach, the local public health unit said Tuesday that anyone present at the rally should be extra cautious. If they develop symptoms they should be self-isolating and seek assessment, said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka Public Health. Because the event drew car enthusiasts from all over Ontario, Gardner said it would be challenging to do contact tracing if a COVID-19 case is connected to the rally. The transmission that could occur could potentially be widespread, not geographically localized, so it could affect more than just Simcoe Muskoka, said Gardner. It could go beyond, depending on where everybody had come from and there could also be local transmission with people coming from areas that are higher risk right now. Police officers had to close the town of Wasaga Beach to non-residents on Saturday after hundreds of car enthusiasts gathered over the weekend. Ontario Provincial Police said they issued 11 tickets in connection with the event for violating the Reopening Ontario Act, a law which, in part, governs the size of social gatherings in the province. The force said it also issued 172 tickets for things like speeding, dangerous driving, not wearing a seatbelt, and careless driving. Police have said the event is believed to be related to a larger car rally in the United States. Due to the pandemic-related border closure, the Canadian group decided to have a meetup in Wasaga Beach, OPP said. Simcoe Muskoka has reported 44 new COVID-19 cases since last Thursday, bringing the regions total number of cases up to 884. Ontario reported 554 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and four new deaths from the illness. Gardner noted that as the case totals in Simcoe Muskoka rise along with the provinces second wave, it is increasingly difficult for the public health unit to keep up with testing, contact tracing, and case management. It is getting tougher, said Gardner. These are large numbers of contacts for us to follow up on. We havent yet in Simcoe Muskoka reached the number of cases we peaked out on in April-May, but its going up rapidly so we may very well get there. The health unit has used money from the provincial government to hire more public health nurses to assist with schools reopening, including some dedicated to contact tracing and case management, he said. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. (NYSE: IRS; BYMA: IRSA), the leading real estate company in Argentina, announces today its results for the Fiscal Year 2020 ended June 30, 2020. HIGHLIGHTS Net result for the fiscal year showed a profit of ARS 23,731 million , compared to a loss of ARS 38,371 million in the fiscal year 2019. This gain is explained by a higher value in pesos of investment properties in Argentina business center. , compared to a loss of in the fiscal year 2019. This gain is explained by a higher value in pesos of investment properties in business center. On March 20 , as a consequence of the social, preventive and mandatory lockdown decreed in Argentina due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotels and shopping malls throughout the country were closed, working exclusively those essential activities such as pharmacies, supermarkets and banks. This negative impact has been mainly reflected in the 4th quarter of FY 2020. , as a consequence of the social, preventive and mandatory lockdown decreed in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotels and shopping malls throughout the country were closed, working exclusively those essential activities such as pharmacies, supermarkets and banks. This negative impact has been mainly reflected in the 4th quarter of FY 2020. Adjusted EBITDA for Argentine Business Center, excluding the impact of the revaluation of our investment properties at fair value, reached ARS 5,708 million in fiscal year 2020, 23.3% below 2019. in fiscal year 2020, 23.3% below 2019. During the year we have issued notes in the local market for the sum of USD 197.2 million and after the end of the fiscal year, an additional sum of USD 38.4 million to refinance short-term debt. and after the end of the fiscal year, an additional sum of to refinance short-term debt. In Israel Business Center, in September 2020 , IDBD creditors asked the Tel Aviv District Court to order the opening of a liquidation procedure against IDBD. Following the Court's adverse ruling, we are evaluating the possible alternatives. Regarding our individual financial statements, the investment in IDBD and DIC as of June 30, 2020 is valued at zero. Financial Highlights (In millions of Argentine Pesos) FY 2020 Ended June 30, 2020 Income Statement 06/30/2020 06/30/2019 Revenues 95,793 92,181 Consolidated Gross Profit 33,589 32,790 Net result from changes in the fair value of investment properties 30,742 (37,877) Consolidated Profit / (Loss) from Operations 38,339 (27,727) Profit / (Loss) For the Period 23,731 (38,371) Attributable to: IRSA's Shareholders 14,249 (36,610) Non-Controlling interest 9,482 (1,761) EPS (Basic) 24.76 (63.68) EPS (Diluted) 24.62 (63.68) Balance Sheet 06/30/2020 06/30/2019 Current Assets 205,717 201,915 Non-Current Assets 421,482 476,445 Total Assets 627,199 678,360 Current Liabilities 143,384 105,704 Non-Current Liabilities 361,160 450,000 Total Liabilities 504,544 555,704 Non-Controlling Interest 65,528 76,813 Shareholders' Equity 122,655 122,656 IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. (NYSE: IRS, BYMA: IRSA) is Argentina's largest, most well-diversified real estate company, with investments in the US and Israel, cordially invites you to participate in its FY 2020 Results Conference Call on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, at 11:00 AM US Eastern Time / 12:00 PM BA Time. To access the Webinar: https://irsacorp.zoom.us/j/99000838672?pwd=MzNBSlYxNW9yQmROcGYwdkg1MEhxdz09 Webinar ID: 990 0083 8672 Password: 124463 In addition, you can participate communicating to this numbers: Argentina: +54 112 040 0447 or +54 115 983 6950 or +54 341 512 2188 or +54 343 414 5986 Israel: +972 3 978 6688 or +972 55 330 1762 Brazil: +55 11 4700 9668 or +55 21 3958 7888 or +55 11 4632 2236 or +55 11 4632 2237 or +55 11 4680 6788 Estados Unidos de America: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 878 or +1 301 715 8592 Chile: +56 232 938 848 or +56 41 256 0288 or +56 22 573 9304 or +56 22 573 9305 or +56 23 210 9066 Investor Relations Department. IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. + 5411 4323-7449 [email protected] www.irsa.com.ar Follow us on Twitter @irsair SOURCE IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. Related Links http://www.irsa.com.ar STAMFORD A city heroin trafficker faces up to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge in court Monday, officials said. A judge sentenced Joaquin Veras, 46, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, one kilogram or more of heroin. The federal charge against Veras stemmed from an investigation last year. Law enforcement made two controlled buys of about 100 grams of heroin from Veras in March and again in May 2019, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham. Investigators set up to buy a kilogram of heroin from Veras for $58,000. Veras was arrested on May 16, 2019, in possession of about one kilogram of heroin. When investigators searched a Stamford apartment that authorities said Veras used as a stash house, they found another kilogram of heroin, cocaine, items used to package and process drugs for street sale and $7,000 in cash. Veras, who has been detained since his arrest, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 23. He faces a maximum term of life in prison. Back in August 2011, Veras was sentenced to 57 months in prison for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin in the Southern District of New York. By PTI LAHORE: Pakistan's Leader of the Opposition and PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif was on Tuesday sent on a 14-day physical remand by an accountability court in assets beyond means and money laundering case, a day after he was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) here. Shahbaz, the younger brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was taken into custody from the Lahore High Court's premises on Monday after the court rejected his bail application in the Rs 700 crores (USD 41.9 million) money laundering case. The 69-year-old former chief minister of Punjab province was produced before the accountability court Judge Jawad-ul-Hasan on Tuesday. Shahbaz requested the court to allow him to present arguments in his defence instead of his lawyer. The court allowed him. He denied any wrongdoing and said Prime Minister Imran Khan's nexus with the NAB has made mockery of accountability in the country and they are targeting the opposition leaders only. "Money laundering charges against me are baseless. I do not do business. My parents had worked hard to establish business in the country and transferred the same to my children," he said. He said being the chief minister of Punjab province his decisions caused a loss of millions of rupees to the businesses of his elder brother Nawaz and his (Shahbaz) son Hamza in order to benefit the public. Following the arguments, the judge accepted NAB's request for a 14-day physical remand of Shahbaz and ordered for him to be presented in the court again on October 13. The court directed that Shahbaz's performance report be made part of this case. Shahbaz's arrest comes just ahead of the planned protests next month by his party - the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Khan. The Imran Khan government last week filed the money laundering case against Shahbaz, who served as chief minister of Punjab province from 2008 to 2018, and his family. The anti-graft body has claimed that the assets of Shahbaz's family ballooned from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 700 crores in the last 30 years, which they have failed to justify. Nawaz, who has been in London since November 2019 after securing bail on medical grounds in Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was sentenced for seven years, strongly reacted to his brother's arrest. In a tweet, Nawaz said, "this puppet government has endorsed the resolution adopted by the opposition's [multi-party conference]. "Shahbaz Sharif had already said all of the [MPC's] decisions would be implemented whether he is in prison or outside. No one should be mistaken that such disgraceful tactics will make us bow down." "Shahbaz's arrest is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The Imran Khan regime has broken all records of injustice but we will not be cowed into submission by such tactics," he said. PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz strongly criticised the arrest of her uncle and party president Shahbaz, saying he was being "punished" for standing by his brother Sharif's side. "Make no mistake. Shahbaz Sharif has been arrested ONLY because he REFUSED to play in the hands of those who wanted to use him against his brother (Nawaz Sharif). He preferred standing behind prison bars than to stand against his brother. Shahbaz Sharif, aap ko SALAM (sic)," she tweeted. Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned Shahbaz's arrest, saying Prime Minister Khan was worried after the opposition parties launched an alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement, to oust his government. The Opposition was anticipating strong reaction from the government following Sharif's attack on the military in the multi-party conference over a week ago. Sharif while addressing the conference via video link from London talked about the Army's involvement in politics, saying in the country "there is a state above the state." The powerful Army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. The Opposition is anticipating more arrests. The NAB has already issued a call up notice to JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman who is also leading the joint opposition's campaign against the government in income beyond means case. Pakistan's major opposition parties have demanded "immediate" resignation of Prime Minister Khan and planned countrywide protests next month to oust his government. Editors note: This is two of two articles in a series about RiverWatch. GODFREY Professor John Griffis, a RiverWatch volunteer citizen scientist since 1998, Professor John Griffis helped his children get their feet wet in biological studies in the creeks of the Fox and Des Plaines rivers watershed in northern Illinois. Griffis, who is a retired professor, still fills his time as an adjunct at Joliet Junior College (JJC) and still monitors two sites along Lily Cache Creek as part of the RiverWatch program. He first learned of the program, part of National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC), through a co-worker. A colleague was planning to train for the RiverWatch program and told me about it, Griffis said. I liked the idea of monitoring for pollution levels. I thought that was an important thing that we should be doing, and I had an interest in getting involved with research. Monitoring trips for the RiverWatch program became a family activity for Griffis and his children, one of whom, Hannah-Beth Griffis, now is a RiverWatch technician. My kids have always been involved with helping out with my RiverWatch sampling, and I think that was an important part of our father and child relationships, her father said. It probably played a role in all three of them becoming interested in biology. They helped in data collection, things like stream velocity, also picking bugs out. They all probably started helping around age ten or eleven. All three of Griffis children have gone on to achieve advanced degrees in biology. I began helping him when I was in middle school, Hannah-Beth Griffis said. I started helping him just by pointing out macroinvertebrates in his samples. When I was old enough, I began to go out into the field and help him collect stream samples. In jest, John Griffis children like to claim that their father pushed them into biology careers. It wasnt my intent, at all, for them to necessarily go into biology, he said. Its pretty impressive. Im glad they enjoyed it. They used to come to JJC with me and look at all the specimens, so I guess it did have a big impact on them. HannahGriffis recalls how, as a child, her father impressed her with his knowledge. When we went to any place that involved hiking through nature, my dad would just start naming all the plants and animals, she recalled. I realize he was probably just guessing on some things, but I didnt know that. As a young child, I felt like my dad knew everything. Her father was just as impressed with his offspring. They were always so sharp with their observations, he recalled. Sometimes when we were out, they would pick out things that I just didnt see at all. Theyve always had that knack, and that impressed me. Over the years, he has been able to integrate the work hes done with the RiverWatch program with his teaching at JJC. We have been utilizing RiverWatch techniques at JJC in an undergraduate research course, he explained, which has led to students presenting and publishing their research findings at the National Conferences of Undergraduate Research. We like to look at how stream quality varies, using different sampling techniques and within different seasons, time of year. We have also looked at comparisons between sites within the same creek that differ in riparian characteristics. My students and I have been published in the RiverWatch Newsletter a few times. To learn more about the RiverWatch program, visit www.ngrrec.org/riverwatch. Just one day before Google's Pixel 5 reveal, Sonos has filed a new lawsuit against the search giant, alleging it has infringed five more patents. The patents cover technologies that form the basis of some of Sonos' best-known features, including its Trueplay tuning tool. The new lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing legal spat between Sonos and Google. Sonos first sued Google at the start of 2020. It alleged at the time that the company had violated five of its speaker patents, including one that details a technology that allows wireless speakers to sync with one another. In June, Google countersued Sonos, claiming the speaker company had been using its search, software, networking and audio processing technologies without paying a licensing fee.While Google rarely sues other companies for patent infringement, it must assert its intellectual property rights here, Google wrote in the complaint. "Google has chosen to double down on its disregard for IP and smaller American inventors and we believe it is vitally important that Sonos, both for its own sake and for that of other smaller innovative companies, stand up to monopolists who try to copy and subsidize their way to further domination," a Sonos spokesperson said. The timing isn't ideal for Google for a handful of reasons. At tomorrow's Pixel 5 event, the company will likely announce a new Nest-branded smart speaker. Google also finds itself at the center of antitrust investigations in the US and EU. A second lawsuit may add merit to those investigations. She was recently announced as one of the leads alongside Sienna Miller in new Netflix series Anatomy Of A Scandal. And Michelle Dockery cut a low-key figure as she enjoyed a leisurely stroll with her pet dog in London on Tuesday. The Downton Abbey star, 38, wore a casual ensemble of dark jeans with a comfy-looking green jumper. Low-key: Michelle Dockery cut a low-key figure as she enjoyed a leisurely stroll with her pet dog in London on Tuesday Dressing for the drizzly London weather, Michelle finished her look with a black anorak, biker boots and a small leather handbag. The actress left her raven locks into a loose relaxed hairdo and added just a slick of make-up to enhance her stunning features. Michelle appeared in good spirits during her relaxing walk in the British capital with her pet dog. Her appearance comes after she was announced as one of the leads alongside Sienna Miller in new Netflix series Anatomy Of A Scandal. Casual: The Downton Abbey star, 38, wore a casual ensemble of dark jeans with a comfy-looking green jumper Keeping dry: Dressing for the drizzly London weather, Michelle finished her look with a black anorak, biker boots and a small leather handbag According to Deadline, the actresses will be joined by Rupert Friend on the series which is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Sarah Vaughan. The 2017 book focuses on high-profile Westminster politician James Whitehouse (Rupert) whose marriage begins to unravel when he is accused of rape. His wife Sophie (Sienna) is convinced that he is innocent and will do whatever it takes to protect her family in the wake of the scandal. Meanwhile, criminal barrister Kate (Michelle) is equally convinced that James is guilty and is determined to see he pays for his crimes. Stepping out: The actress left her raven locks into a loose relaxed hairdo and added just a slick of make-up to enhance her stunning features Good spirits: Michelle appeared in good spirits during her relaxing walk in the British capital with her pet dog The show is from Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley and former House of Cards showrunner Melissa James Gibson. S.J. Clarkson of Succession and Jessica Jones is reportedly slated to direct the six-part series. An idea is said to have been put forth that the show could become an anthology, with future seasons focusing on different scandals. Exciting! Her appearance comes after she was announced as one of the leads alongside Sienna Miller in new Netflix series Anatomy Of A Scandal Anatomy of a Scandal was ordered to series at Netflix in May and will be shot in the UK at a later date. Further details about the rest of the cast or when the series will be released are yet to be confirmed. Michelle was most recently seen in the AppleTV+ series Defending Jacob alongside Chris Evans, where she played a mother dealing with an accusation that her 14-year-old son is a murderer. Sienna starred in drama film Wander Darkly this year while she also appeared as Roger Ailes' wife Beth in the miniseries The Loudest Voice released last year. When I was a kid, having a dog was almost no work. After what felt like years of pleading (but was probably only weeks) after my 6th birthday, my parents and oldest brother returned home from a breeder with Johann, our German shepherd, who grew to 110 pounds and 5 feet tall on his hind legs. Johann kept me company when I stayed up late doing homework and often ate things he wasn't supposed to, like gravel. Once, he had a cyst surgically removed from his back, which led to a large bald spot with several Frankenstein-looking staples. He was also one of the only dogs our trainer had worked with who enjoyed the taste of the sour-apple spray intended to prevent him from chewing the window sills. In Johann's surprisingly long, almost 13 years of life, my parents often complained about the bills they incurred on his behalf, but little else. It was this silence, in part, that inspired me to rescue a dog, like so many other people during the pandemic. "Dogs are a lot of work," my mom told me after I mentioned that I'd applied to adopt Layla, a 4-year-old mutt with a pit bull head and dachshund body. "I know, but we'll be fine," I thought. "She did it, my brother does it, literally so many people do it!" Layla looking skeptical about going for a walk. (Courtesy Maura Hohman) As it turns out, merely knowing lots of people with dogs doesn't actually prepare you for the responsibility of a living, breathing, emoting creature depending on you for most things. And because Layla was found covered in fleas, with a poorly healed broken leg and after recently giving birth, the stakes feel even higher. My boyfriend and I took Layla home about three weeks ago, as long as her foster mom had had her. In that time, I've touched poop daily, taken her to multiple vets and seen my anxiety rise exponentially. Layla loves her naps. (Courtesy Maura Hohman) Playing with Layla, going for walks and snuggling were supposed to quell my pandemic-induced nervous energy. Instead, I have pretty much nothing to distract me when she scratches the mass on her face, which may or may not be cancerous. My brain twists every grunt to mean she can't breathe, even though I know what she sounds like when she's choking because that happened last week on a rawhide. Per Dr. Google, her snoring almost certainly indicates a thyroid condition. Story continues With all Layla has been through and I'll never know the extent of it I believe she deserves the most comfortable life, but I've honestly felt unsure if I'm the one to give it to her. At this point, though, she is my dog. Layla at home. (Courtesy Maura Hohman) I first wrote "my dog" after I noticed worms on the couch, leaking from her anus, two days after we got her. I asked my boss for the afternoon off to take Layla to the emergency vet. Stool sample in hand, which I remembered from the Johann days, I carried a terrified pup into an Uber and across Brooklyn. We waited on the street in the sun, and I forgot to bring water. She panted, probably from stress and thirst, until I left her in the vestibule due to COVID-19 guidelines. While waiting to get a call from the vet, I paced over a mile. On the phone, I asked so many questions that I drank an entire beer. The author and Layla. When Layla was returned to me, $450 later, I called an Uber, and she barfed in it while huddled on the opposite side of the car from me. In the days that have since passed, we've gotten to know each other better and avoided ride-share services. She's stubborn (won't go on walks unless treats are involved), affectionate (licks every part of your body), spunky (no longer terrified of the elevator) and resilient (loving New York City after rural North Carolina). Through it all, I've continued to think to myself, something's going to happen to her because I can't be this lucky. She loves me even though most humans she's met have hurt her. She trusts me even though she's known me for less than 1% of her life. She sits in my lap even though I've just accidentally yelled at her. Earlier this week, I took Layla to the vet for a wellness checkup after we'd had her for exactly 16 days. This time, she was too attached me to go with the tech right away, and when the vet called me, I heard wailing and soft barks in the background. For 27 minutes, she convinced me Layla was fine and that nothing was going to happen to her. Only a couple vaccines and some medication for her ear infection notably, one part of her body I hadn't worried about would be necessary. We talked a bit about how our family had been adjusting socially, too. She's adaptive and brave, I explained, I'm just worried about all the things that can go wrong. "Well, I'm glad you found her," the vet answered. "And I'm glad she found you." Kuleba stressed the importance of consolidating international efforts to ensure the rights of victims of terrorism and provide them with adequate support, assistance and rehabilitation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls on the international community not to turn a blind eye to Russia's terrorist methods in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. Speaking during an online 2nd ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, which took place as part of the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, he condemned terrorism and violent extremism as one of the key challenges to international peace and development, as reported on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's website. Read alsoZelensky elaborates on Crimea-related issues to be raised internationally Kuleba drew the participants' attention to the experience of Ukraine, which has been countering Russia's armed aggression and terrorist methods in Donbas and Crimea for the seventh year in a row. "The international community should not turn a blind eye to the attempts of the state, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to silence human rights defenders, civil activists and journalists in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas under the guise of carrying out counter-terrorism measures," the official said. Kuleba also stressed the importance of consolidating international efforts to ensure the rights of victims of terrorism and provide them with adequate support, assistance and rehabilitation. "An equally important task is to bring to justice all organizers, supervisors and sponsors of terrorist activities," the minister said. The Foreign Ministry clarified the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism is an international political association of like-minded countries, which deals with the problems of protecting the rights of people who have suffered as a result of terrorist acts. More news reports on the subject: Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine Erik Svedahl discussed the further work of the Ukrainian-Norwegian Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation in Trade, Entrepreneurship and Economy and a new draft law on tourism. The parties discussed these issues during a meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday, according to Tkachenkos Facebook post. We discussed the further work of the Ukrainian-Norwegian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Entrepreneurship and Economy, including strengthening cooperation to minimize the negative consequences of COVID-19. We are planning to hold a meeting in early November. I took the opportunity and told the ambassador about our new law on tourism, Tkachenko wrote. The minister noted that he had been to Oslo many times, so he really wanted to show Norwegians a tourist Ukraine. "I will definitely return to this as soon as the situation at the borders improves due to the pandemic," he added. He also noted that the Great Construction project is welcomed by our international partners. The Norwegian side supports the ambition of Ukrainian authorities to open cultural services centers and restore over 150 cultural facilities - castles, nature reserves, theaters. Mr. Svedahl rightly noted that culture helps to build a dialogue not only between people, but also between states. I completely agree, Tkachenko added. As reported, on Monday, September 28, the minister presented the main provisions of the bill, which provides for a systematic update of the outdated law "On Tourism". ish Pa. police say they have plenty of evidence the driver knows he or she hit a person, then fled Sunday night. From the video, the vehicle did in fact run the victim over, Lt. Andy Snyder of the Cheltenham Police Department in Montgomery County, Pa., told 6ABC in Philly. Snyder adds that the runaway driver, without question, knows they hit someone and that front end of the car is clearly damaged. We did recover some pieces of the vehicle at the scene. It would be plainly obvious they did strike a person, Snyder said. The family of the victim, 30-year-old Shanna Hurdle who was crossing Cheltenham Avenue Sunday evening when she was struck and later died, is being even more direct in begging the driver to do the right thing: Please, just turn yourself in, Shannas mom, Stephanie Murdoch, told 6ABC. Police are looking for a white SUV, possibly a GMC, that has front end and hood damage, 6ABC reports, adding: The crash happened at 8:13 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Cheltenham and Ogontz avenues. The striking vehicle was last seen turning onto Upsal Street in Philadelphia moments after the crash. Anyone with information is urged to call Cheltenham Police at (215) 885-1600. BREAKING NOW: Accused in killing, Pa. man says he didnt understand word attorney and wants confession thrown out Misunderstanding or abduction? Pa. judge rules on Uber driver accused of holding 2 women captive in car Pa. cop went on $5,500 tire-slashing tirade after being denied booze at restaurant: state police Man in Burger King uniform found shot dead on Pa. sidewalk Pa. boy, 1, fatally ODs on fentanyl; couple charged with homicide: It breaks my heart The Justice Department this week said it struck a settlement deal with the former owners of two San Antonio apartment complexes after they were accused of hitting 41 servicemembers with unlawful lease termination charges. A proposed consent order, if approved by a judge, will require a pair of limited partnerships, Western Rim Investors 2011-4 and Western Rim Investors 2011-3, to pay more than $71,000 to compensate the servicemembers and a $64,715 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury. The agreement resolves a suit filed by the Justice Department. The two firms owned the Estates at Briggs Ranch and the Mansions at Briggs Ranch from late 2011 to March 31 this year in an area west of Loop 1604 a few miles from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. They violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by charging fees for breaking leases and refusing to allow four other service members to terminate their leases early, according to a department news release. Our men and women in uniform risk their lives and liberty to preserve our freedom, and we enjoy liberty and security because of their sacrifices, said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the departments Civil Right Division. These patriots should not be charged a financial penalty when an unexpected reassignment or rapid deployment requires them to move. The civil relief act, called the SCRA, allows service members to terminate a lease without penalty after entering military service or receiving qualifying military orders, which include a permanent change of station, a deployment of at least 90 days, separation or retirement. The suit alleges that the 41 service members were required to forfeit rent concessions or discounts that they had received. The concession chargeback fees ranged from $116 to $1,012 per servicemember. The former apartment owners said they relied on lease contracts and other forms provided by the Texas Apartment Association. One of those forms was a lease addendum that claimed to waive a tenants rights under the SCRA, which the Justice Department called invalid because it was not executed separately from the lease and wasnt supported by any additional benefit to the service member. The case was pursued by prosecutors for the departments Western District of Texas, which has one of the largest concentrations of military service members and their families in the country. It is not related to a lawsuit filed last year in federal court by military families living in what they said was substandard housing provided by companies that operate residences on bases in Texas and across the country. On ExpressNews.com: Suit says housing at San Antonio, Del Rio bases sickened military families It will be years before those cases might be resolved, Houston attorney Jim Moriarty said Tuesday. In one of the suits, a group of families on Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in San Antonio and Laughlin AFB in Del Rio said mold and other problems with on-base housings made them sick. Another 15 or 20 plaintiffs living in privatized housing on Fort Hood have been represented in a new lawsuit that makes similar claims, Moriarity said. On ExpressNews.com: Air Force found mold, pests in 10 percent of Randolphs privately managed housing The Civil Rights Divisions Housing and Civil Enforcement Section and U.S. Attorneys offices across the country enforce SCRA. The department has obtained more than $474 million in monetary relief for over 120,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the law since 2011. Servicemembers and their dependents who think their rights under the law have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil/. This settlement sends a warning to apartment associations and landlords that they cannot avoid their obligations under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act simply by pointing to fine print in boilerplate lease agreements, said Dreiband, the assistant attorney general. Sig Christenson covers the military and its impact in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Sig, become a subscriber. sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe NEW CANAAN Annual crime statistics from the FBI released this week show virtually no change between 2018 and 2019, but there was one noticeable omission: The Jennifer Dulos homicide. The FBI Uniform Crime Report data for 2019 does not include the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, who vanished May 24, 2019 after she was last seen returning to her Welles Lane home. Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, faced murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case when he died from an apparent suicide in January. Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said the Dulos case was not deemed a homicide until 2020. He said Tuesday he is not sure if the 2019 report will be amended or if it will appear in the 2020 FBI report. Incidents of domestic violence are recorded as aggravated assaults, said New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro, a spokesman for the department. Two of those were listed in 2019, with none recorded the prior year. The report shows New Canaan had two assaults in 2019, up from none in 2018, and 101 property crimes such as theft in each of those years. The 2019 report, as it did the previous year, lists 101 thefts or similar cases in town with a population listed at slightly more than 20,000. New Canaan is incredibly safe, Krolikowski said, based on the data. The vast majority of crime, save for a tiny percentage, is property crime, and that property crime is preventable. It would be as simple, as Krolilkowski has repeatedly said, as locking car and building doors, turning on alarms and securing valuables inside the house rather than leaving them in a car. It could usually be prevented by good common sense, Krolikowski said. Burglaries (14 in 2019 vs. 12 in 2018), theft (80 vs. 79) and theft from a motor vehicle (7, down from 10 in 2018) were nearly identical in 2019 and 2018. Krolikowski said FBI statistics only record the most serious charge in an incident. Local stats showed 54 larcenies, down from 81 in 2018, and 32 thefts from vehicles, down from 26 the prior year. New Canaan saw 15 burglaries and 10 stolen cars in each of the past two years, Krolikowski said, citing statistics kept by the department. Krolikowski cautioned against online scammers, who monitor email transactions until they sense an opportunity to request money be wired, posing as a legitimate client of financial institution. There will be idiosyncrasies in the scam emails, he said. The pending installation of cameras in Waveny Park could impact crime by their mere presence, Krolikowski said. Every year, police see four or five cars broken into while parked there. Cameras will make people think twice before coming into the park, he said, and will help tremendously with investigations when someone does commit a crime in the park. Quasar's unique technology will deliver vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home functionality that will transform the energy ecosystem by enabling consumers to feed energy stored in their EVs back to the grid or to their homes Octopus Electric Vehicles started installing the first units of Quasar as part of its energy management solution across the UK in August Wallbox, the leading energy management company that manufactures smart EV charging solutions, will partner with Octopus Electric Vehicles to introduce its latest game-changing technology into homes across the UK. Quasar, the world's lightest and smallest bi-directional charger for the home, was first announced in June of last year. Wallbox has now started to deliver the first pre-ordered units, and the UK is the first market to have the product available. In addition to providing DC charging capabilities for EVs, Quasar allows owners to pull energy from their cars' batteries and export it into the grid, a capability referred to as vehicle-to-grid or V2G, as well as to power their own homes, known as vehicle-to-home or V2H, effectively converting their EVs into a powerful energy storage unit that can replace or add capacity to an energy system. The partnership with Octopus Electric Vehicles will be focused on the V2G technology. Enric Asunsion, CEO of Wallbox, explains the importance of this technology in the future of energy management: "There are three trends accelerating that will cause a paradigm shift in how we produce, store and use energy: rising demand for energy worldwide; electrification of the mobility sector; and the increase in production of renewable energy as a positive response to climate change. The new possibilities that emerge with this scenario will require technology to harness their potential. At Wallbox we are creating the first generation of products that will give consumers the ability to use their EVs as a source of energy for the grid or the home." Wallbox creates smart charging systems that combine state-of-the-art technology with exceptional design, creating an intelligent ecosystem between car, charger and home. With Quasar, the company is bringing the grid into this ecosystem, giving consumers more control over how and when they use their energy. As explained by Eduard Castaneda, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, "An EV stores enough energy to power a home for multiple days, and most drivers only use a fraction of this capacity on their daily commute. By enabling the transfer of energy to and from the battery to the grid and the home, consumers are empowered to use and share their energy in ways we didn't even imagine until recently." Octopus Electric Vehicles offer Powerloop, the complete V2G package for a consumer: a lease on a brand new Nissan LEAF, a Quasar charger, a smart meter and a green energy tariff compatible with the charger. Using a dedicated app, the customer can 'set and forget' their charging schedule, and earn up to 30 cashback every month, just for allowing the car battery to be used to help the energy system. Powerloop is Octopus Electric Vehicles' market-leading large scale demonstration project for residential vehicle-to-grid. Octopus Electric Vehicles secured 3 million from Innovate UK, funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), to roll out V2G technology to over 130 homes in a consortium alongside their sister company the green energy supplier Octopus Energy and others including UK Power Networks (UKPN). "The Wallbox Quasar enables us to bring V2G charging technology to our customers on the Powerloop project. We envisage a connected world of energy where your car is capable of supporting and strengthening the grid at times when renewable energy is abundant or when demand is high," says Claire Miller, Director of Technology Innovation at Octopus Electric Vehicles. Quasar, the world's lightest and smallest bidirectional charger for the home Quasar is the world's lightest and smallest charger of its category. Combining innovation and design, this charger is a huge leap forward in the smart usage of sustainable energy. Not only will it increase the stability of the grid, but it will also empower consumers to sell the energy they have generated and stored, turning them into prosumers, active agents in the energy ecosystem. Quasar buyers in the UK are eligible for the OLEV (Office for Low Emission Vehicles) grant, which encourages the adoption of low-emission vehicles and provides a 75% of discount in the cost of purchase and the installation of a domestic charging point, up to 500. Quasar's disruptive technology has been internationally recognized, winning four major awards at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the largest consumer technology event in the world in early 2020. Quasar won the Best of CES by Engadget award in the Transportation Technology category, in addition to being recognized as one of the most innovative products of the event with awards by the leading American publications Electrek, Newsweek, Robb Report. Recently, Quasar has won a Germany Design Award in the category Excellent Product Design. Quasar will soon reach beyond the UK, with Germany and Australia as its next target markets, and it will also be introduced into the US, where Wallbox already operates. ABOUT WALLBOX: Wallbox is a leading energy management company that manufactures smart charging solutions for electric vehicles. Combining state-of-the-art technology with exceptional design, Wallbox creates a smart ecosystem that improves the way we manage, use and store energy. Created in 2015 and with its headquarters in Barcelona, Wallbox' mission is to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles today to make a more sustainable use of energy tomorrow. Envisioning a world free of fossil fuels, Wallbox technology enables people to create, use and share renewable energy in ways they never imagined. It currently sells to more than 40 countries and has 250 staff spread across offices in Europe, Asia, and America, as well as 2 factories of its own. Wallbox offers four types of chargers, including Quasar, the world's smallest and lightest bidirectional charger for home use with advanced two-way charging technology. It was recognized with the highest distinction by CES, the world's leading technology trade show for the industry. During the first half of 2020 Wallbox completed a Series A round of investment of 23 million euros. ABOUT OCTOPUS ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Octopus Electric Vehicles is a specialist EV leasing business, focused on making it easy for drivers to switch to clean, green driving. Launched in 2018, it's the UK's only company to offer a complete solution for EV drivers. The expert team at Octopus can help you find the right EV for you from Tesla to Nissan, Jaguar to Renault, VW to Polestar, and many more. And once selected, the team can help you with access to great finance, charging solutions and green energy tariffs designed especially for EV drivers plus a free support helpline to help you on every stage of your electric journey. Part of the Octopus Energy Group, Octopus EV are also cutting new ground where the energy and auto sectors collide: retailing the smartest charging solutions and even running one of the world's largest Vehicle-to-Grid trials, Powerloop, supported by Innovate UK. More information can be found at www.octopusev.com/powerloop View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005625/en/ Contacts: MEDIA ENQUIRES Chris Spillane chris.spillane@wallbox.com CHICAGO and GILBERT, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Conagra Brands (NYSE: CAG) announced new products featuring bowls made from plant-based fibers for Healthy Choice Power Bowls, new Hungry-Man Double Meat Bowls and P.F. Chang's Ramen single-serve meals. By using plant-based fibers instead of plastic, the carbon footprint of manufacturing the bowls is reduced by 50 to 70 percent1 across select product lines. The expansion will help to decrease Conagra's carbon footprint by 34,117 metric tons, equivalent to avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions of driving around the planet 3,399 times or 84 million miles2. This progress aligns with Conagra's January 2020 announcement that the company is striving to make 100 percent of its plastic packaging renewable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The plant-based fiber bowl is designed by Footprint, a sustainable materials science technology firm that designs alternative solutions to single-use plastic. Conagra initially partnered with Footprint in 2017 to develop packaging for its Healthy Choice Power Bowls product line, which included a first-of-its-kind bowl made from plant-based fibers that could replace plastic alternatives. The versatile material is microwave safe, non-stick and cooler to the touch than traditional plastic packaging. Since introducing the packaging in 2017, Conagra has avoided the use of more than 3.5 million pounds of plastic packaging. "Plant-based fiber packaging is critical to helping Conagra Brands progress toward making 100 percent of our current plastic packaging renewable, recyclable or compostable by 2025," said Katya Hantel, senior director of sustainable development at Conagra Brands. "Innovative partners like Footprint have been invaluable in producing packaging that supports sustainable outcomes." These packaging solutions are driven by highly collaborative, customized inventions from the Footprint team of materials scientists, who worked closely with Conagra to meet the needs of the three distinct product lines. The team is led by Troy Swope and Yoke Chung, previous Intel engineers, who saw the opportunity to pioneer the use of plant-based materials based on ingredients that can stand up to the robust quality and safety that single-use plastic delivers to consumers while eliminating plastics from reaching the environment. "We've been able to create solutions for Conagra that won't sacrifice cost, quality or performance for the consumer," said Footprint CEO Troy Swope. "Our engineered fiber-based packaging solutions integrate with existing product manufacturing lines for a smooth transition away from single-use plastic. Conagra's use of plant-based fiber is proof that any company of any size can make incredible change for the betterment of the planet." Conagra's current efforts to improve the sustainability of its packaging are part of the company's broader commitment to responsible sourcing, one of the four pillars of Conagra's corporate social responsibility and ESG efforts. To see how Conagra is supporting a sustainable world, see the company's Citizenship Report. To learn more about Footprint's plastic-free alternatives, visit www.FootprintUS.com. About Conagra Brands Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), headquartered in Chicago, is one of North America's leading branded food companies. Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit, Conagra Brands combines a rich heritage of making great food with a sharpened focus on innovation. The company's portfolio is evolving to satisfy people's changing food preferences. Conagra's iconic brands, such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, and Slim Jim, as well as emerging brands, including Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera, offer choices for every occasion. For more information, visit www.ConagraBrands.com. About Footprint Footprint has a clear vision: eliminate single-use and short-term use plastics. Footprint designs, develops and manufactures technologies that are biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable. We make it easy for companies to switch out of plastic to preserve our future. We love our oceans and our planet, that's why we are revolutionizing industries to eliminate plastic pollution. The company was founded by former Intel engineers Troy Swope and Yoke Chung and employs more than 800 people. Footprint was named on Fast Company's prestigious list of the World's 2020 50 Most Innovative Companies. In 2019, Footprint was announced a winner of the prestigious NextGen Cup Challenge for its plant-based alternative manufacturing process for making cups and lids. It has already helped eliminate over 60 million pounds of plastic. The company is based in Gilbert, Ariz. For more information and a complete portfolio of Footprint solutions visit www.footprintus.com. For more information, please contact: Tim Wrona 312-549-5400 [email protected] ______________________________ 1 GaBi Packaging Calculator analysis courtesy of Footprint, accessed June 2020 2 GaBi Packaging Calculator analysis courtesy of Footprint, accessed June 2020 SOURCE Conagra Brands, Inc. Related Links http://www.conagrafoods.com A new oncology hospital will start operating next month after four years of construction at a cost of almost US$253 million. The second branch of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital will come on stream on October 2, Diep Bao Tuan, deputy director of the hospital, said on Tuesday. Initially, the branch will only treat outpatients, Tuan added. It is expected to receive a daily average of 400 patients, most from other provinces, in October. That number will rise to 600 in November and 1,000 in December. Inpatients will be tranferred to the main premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital at 3 No Trang Long Street in Binh Thanh District. The transport of such patients will be free for three months from the date of operation of the second branch. For the time being, patients can choose to have their health examined at both locations of the hospital, with the second branch situated at Road 400, Cay Dau Hamlet, Tan Phu Ward, District 9. In the long run, the hospital on No Trang Long Street will merely admit patients from the citys districts, except for District 2, District 9, and Thu Duc District. It will treat patients in daytime and conduct cancer screening. Inpatients will continue being treated at the first branch of the hospital. From now until January 2021, whenever the second branch becomes capable of treating inpatients, all of them will be moved there. Currently the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital examines roughly 3,000 patients, about 75-80 percent of the pre-COVID-19 level, on a daily basis, according to statistics. Construction of the second branch started in 2016. It was scheduled to finish in late 2017. The date of completion has been pushed back many times till now. It cost VND5.845 trillion ($252.7 million) to build the new hospital. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Thomson Reuters Third-Quarter 2020 Earnings Announcement and Webcast Scheduled for November 3, 2020 Conference call and webcast scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EST TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 -- Thomson Reuters (NYSE, TSX: TRI) announced today that its third-quarter 2020 earnings will be issued via news release on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/13199/THOMSON_REUTERS_LOGO.jpg Steve Hasker, president and chief executive officer, and Mike Eastwood, chief financial officer, will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast that morning at 8:30 a.m. EST. Discussions may include forward-looking information. You can access the webcast by visiting the "Investor Relations" section of the Thomson Reuters website. Registration for the webcast is now open. Additionally, an archive of the webcast will be available following the presentation. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the world's most global news service - Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com. Coopers, Lion and Carlton & United Breweries want government's booze tax cut This would make alcohol cheaper for customers and help struggling industry Currently breweries are taxed $2.23 per litre of alcohol at manufacturing point Australians could soon be enjoying cheaper beer, as Australia's largest breweries push the government to cut excise tax to reduce prices and provide a lifeline to struggling pubs and clubs. Coopers, Lion and Carlton & United Breweries combined to make the call, saying booze must be made more affordable to entice badly-needed customers back to bars after many months of heavily reduced trade due to coronavirus lockdowns. ADVERTISEMENT The breweries estimate 85 per cent of the country's beer stock is made in Australia. Coopers, Lion and Carlton & United Breweries called on the government to make booze at pubs and clubs more affordable as 85 per cent of the country's stock is made in Australia (pictured, woman pouring a beer in Bunbury on May 18) This would make alcohol more affordable for customers and help the struggling industry (pictured, people having a beer in Victoria on June 1) Currently breweries are taxed $2.23 per litre of alcohol at the manufacturing point, which is passed on to consumers. Peter Filipovic, chair of Brewers Association of Australia, said a cut would help breweries' biggest customer - the hospitality industry. 'We need to make a beer at the pub more affordable. It is as simple as that,' Mr Filipovic said. Click here to resize this module 'The tax on beer has gone up twice annually for the past 35 years forcing Australians to pay the fourth highest beer tax in the industrialised world. 'This has meant beer, the drink that brings people together, is less and less affordable for everyday Australians. It's not unusual for a single pint to cost $10 or more nowadays, whereas in the 1970s, a beer would set you back less than a dollar.' He said Australian beer drinkers need some respite from price rises - with consumption of the amber liquid sliding to a 50-year low pre-COVID-19, due chiefly to cost. Currently breweries are taxed $2.23 per litre of alcohol at the manufacturing point, which is passed on to consumers (pictured, people having a beer in Victoria on June 1) "As we recover from COVID-19 Australians will want to return to their favourite local, however, there is a risk that COVID-19 will have caused permanent behaviour change meaning there is a reticence to gather in pubs and clubs,' he said. 'By cutting excise the Government has an opportunity to incentivise Australians to get out and about and support our vibrant, world leading hospitality industry.' The loss from pubs and clubs being closed has not been made up for in liquor store sales. ADVERTISEMENT Breweries are also pushing for a domestic tourism package and a continuation of JobKeeper. Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, has called for a credible and impartial investigation into the recent activity of the secessionists' group, Western Togoland. I have demanded a credible and impartial enquiry into this matter. I do not want to conclude that they are part of the secessionists. They may be terrorists using this avenue to pursue an agenda. Let us get to know who is behind this. "Already some eyewitnesses are saying that the people who invaded the area were people they did not know, he said. Mr Ablakwa, in an interview with the media while on a tour of some affected areas in his constituency, condemned the act and called on the President to speak to the matter. The President must speak on this matter since he has sworn an oath to protect us. This is a matter that is very high up and we should hear the Commander-in-chief speak on it. We appeal to the president to take this matter seriously and to assure the people of the country, he said. He disclosed that the Assembly's and police patrol pick-up vehicles the secessionists took away during the activity were retrieved. However, the weapons have not been retrieved, he said. The MP said the government should not take the development for granted. Now that we are seeing the formation of another group and we are seeing clearly that these people are now radicalised as they have weapons available to them, he said. Mr Ablakwa called on the National Security to involve various relevant stakeholders to let Ghanaians know what they are doing to enhance security. As it is now the signs are quite clear that these groups have been infiltrated by people who have superior knowledge about the use of weapons, how to even acquire those weapons, training people and all of that. So this is beginning to metamorphose into something else which can destabilise not only Volta Region but the whole country. "The irony is that the place being attacked, that is the Tongu area is not part of it." "I have followed this history keenly, I have read all the United Nations resolutions, read Jacob Spate book, who is an authority on the anthropology of the Ewe people. The history is clear, that this matter involves just a few districts, more in the northern Volta, but it includes the northern region, upper East region and places like Dagbon, Mamprusi, Bawku, Yeji and some Bono parts." It involves other territories and jurisdictions such as Togo and Burkina Faso if you look at the original map of Western Togoland. This can even destabilise the sub-regions. "We need to see this matter placed on the agenda because it has the potential to destabilise not only Ghana but the sub-region. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Eco El Paso, a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in El Paso, Texas, is thrilled to announce we have been selected to receive an AARP Community Challenge Grant for 2020. We are one of only 184 grantees selected from across all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. With this quick-action grant, we will install wayfinding signage, rest stops and shade trees to safely guide residents in the Thomas Manor neighborhood to the Playa Drain Trail. The Playa Drain Trail is part of the larger Paso Del Norte Trail which is a community-driven, collaborative effort to develop a 68-mile county-wide trail in El Paso County, visit http://www.pasodelnortetrail.org for more information. Connecting the Thomas Manor neighborhood to the Playa Drain Trail will provide access to the Ysleta Pre-K center, two elementary schools, Ysleta Middle School, and Ysleta High School, as well as five parks. We are incredibly proud that AARP selected Eco El Paso to receive this grant, says Shelby Ruff, President of the Board of Directors for Eco El Paso. AARP is a nationwide leader on making neighborhoods, towns, and cities more livable for all residents and we are honored that they see the tangible value this project will bring our community in El Paso, Texas. Eco El Paso is focused on sustainability in the hot-arid climate of El Paso and the surrounding desert region. We are dedicated to fostering a learning environment for sustainable systems and lifestyles while integrating workforce and economic development concepts. From solar energy and battery storage, to sustainable architecture and green building techniques, we want to build a more sustainable El Paso. This AARP Grant will allow us to continue to further our mission! Find out more about Eco El Paso by visiting http://www.ecoelpaso.org. Eco El Paso wants to thank Creosote Collaborative for being a sustaining partner over the years. We appreciate their collaboration on this upcoming AARP Community Grant project in El Paso. We cant wait to share pictures and videos once the project is complete! About the AARP Community Challenge The Community Challenge funds innovative projects that inspire change in areas such as transportation, public spaces, housing, smart cities, civic engagement, coronavirus response and more. Its all part of AARPs nationwide work on livable communities, which supports the efforts of neighborhoods, towns, cities and counties across the country to become great places for all residents. AARP believes that communities should provide safe, walkable streets; affordable and accessible housing and transportation options; access to needed services; and opportunities for residents to participate in community life. To learn more about the work being funded by the AARP Community Challenge across the nation including all 184 granted projects this year, visit http://www.aarp.org/CommunityChallenge. You can also view an interactive map of all Community Challenge projects and AARPs livable communities work at http://www.aarp.org/livable. Learn more about Eco El Paso https://www.ecoelpaso.org Contact our team info@ecoelpaso.org COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio elections officials are beginning to receive millions of dollars in private grants, funded by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to help with the upcoming presidential elections. But some Republican officials are debating whether to take what appears to be free money, especially given the controversy surrounding Zuckerberg, Facebook and Big Tech in general among conservatives. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Leica Microsystems, Inc. have combined efforts to establish the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The new Center will support a mission to drive new discoveries and insights from scien-tific research performed using state-of-the-art imaging systems. A virtual ceremony took place today to mark the occasion. The Center of Excellence features cutting-edge confocal and widefield microscopy technology such as Leica SP8 STED nanoscopy imaging, allowing researchers to capture images and video of the cellular and molecular processes of life. The new partnership between Mount Sinai's Microscopy and Advanced Bioimaging Core and Leica will ensure that we can meet the growing demand for novel microscopy-based instru-ments and strategies." Deanna Benson, PhD, Director, Microscope and Advanced Bi-oimaging Core and Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence in Microscopy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai "Our partnership will also allow a free exchange of information be-tween Leica's application scientists and Mount Sinai's Core facility scientists crucial for devel-oping novel imaging strategies customized to address the wide-ranging research questions--from mechanisms of viral infection and cancer progression to cognition, stress and pain--posed by our research community." "With this agreement, we're enabling researchers at Icahn School of Medicine to push beyond boundaries of what can be visualized and quantified and fulfilling Leica Microsystems' mission to provide unrivaled insight for our customers," said Greg Eppink, General Manager, Microsco-py, Leica Microsystems Americas. "We look forward to continuing this exciting alliance for years to come - it's an honor to serve the future of scientific research in collaboration with this top-tier institution." "At Leica Microsystems we are actively seeking to collaborate with leading research institu-tions. Icahn School of Medicine scientists are world-renowned and their dedication to advanc-ing our understanding of the mechanisms of life is truly inspiring," said Douglas Giszczynski, Director of Academic Programs, Leica Microsystems Americas. "We at Leica Microsystems are proud that they have chosen us as collaborators on this road to discovery." The Center of Excellence will provide valuable feedback necessary to drive innovation in soft-ware, systems and workflow solutions while informing the applications and advanced imaging and analysis techniques of tomorrow. This supports the Leica Microsystems leitmotif of "with the user, for the user," established by Ernst Leitz I, the entrepreneur who led the business to world renown. For 170 years, Leica Microsystems has helped shape the future and continues to do so today with its latest digital innovations enabling new insights for research, medical, and industrial applications. The opening ceremony will be followed by virtual seminars on September 23 and 24, presented by prominent Mount Sinai researchers discussing imaging applications. Socially-distanced hands-on and virtual demonstrations of the imaging systems will be available to researchers fol-lowing the seminars. Some civil servants may never go back to the office, one of the country's top mandarins has said, predicting that working from home will become a 'permanent feature' of Government departments. Alex Chisholm's comments come despite recent efforts by the Prime Minister who, before the second wave of Covid-19 infections hit the UK, had led calls for staff to return to the workplace. The rallying cry had been issued in response to concerns that cafes and other businesses which rely on demand from commuters were facing ruin. Alex Chisholm, the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, told MPs that a 'positive' impact of the coronavirus pandemic had been to pave the way for more 'hybrid' online working between staff in the office and those based at home Critics lay bare the cost of Boris Johnson's six-month covid clampdown The horrifying cost of Boris Johnson's six-month Covid clampdown was dramatically laid bare last week. Business chiefs and hospitality groups issued a string of dire warnings over the impact of the restrictions, saying millions of jobs were now on the line. They said the Prime Minister's U-turn on his 'get back to work' message could spell doom for struggling high streets, with footfall plummeting and shops boarded up. In a passionate intervention, a prominent entrepreneur said the prosperity of the nation was at stake. Julian Metcalfe, who founded Pret A Manger and Itsu, said: 'The repercussions of this six months are going to be devastating to so many, to local councils, to industry, to people all over our country. 'We have not begun to touch the seriousness of this. This talk of six months is criminal.' Advertisement Efforts to get 80% of civil servants back working at least part-time in Whitehall, initiated by ex-cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill before his departure earlier this month, now appear to have been abandoned. Mr Chisholm, the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, told MPs that a 'positive' impact of the coronavirus pandemic had been to pave the way for more 'hybrid' online working between staff in the office and those based at home. The shift towards more home-working, he told the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday, would allow the Civil Service to reduce its central London office space as it looks to relocate jobs across the country. Asked whether he thought there would be fewer staff working from Government offices in future, he said: 'Yes, in short. 'There will be fewer officials working from Whitehall, partly because we want to reduce the number working in Whitehall and the size of the Whitehall estate anyway. 'But I think you're absolutely right that the impact of the virus, one of the positive impacts, is it has shown the potential for this hybrid working, this mix of online and face-to-face, and that would I'm sure be a permanent feature.' With civil servants covering a myriad of job roles, including the UK Border Agency and other non-office based contracts, Mr Chisholm said the Cabinet Office would 'try not to set a general rule across the piste' but instead leave it to department heads to decide where to base their staff. The senior mandarin said an announcement about the plan to reduce the Whitehall estate would come 'in the weeks ahead'. Efforts to get 80% of civil servants back working at least part-time in Whitehall, initiated by ex-cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill before his departure earlier this month, now appear to have been abandoned Mr Chisholm, a former chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, said the intention was to 'consolidate and rationalise' the current Civil Service property portfolio into 'substantial new' hubs, focused in cities. The Civil Service also wants to 'reduce London-centricity', he added, in a bid to cut the number of people working in Whitehall with a view to recruiting and supporting jobs elsewhere in the UK. During his landslide election win last year, Boris Johnson promised to 'level-up' across the country by creating more opportunities outside of London. Decriminalising personal drug use? Should the NDPS Act be amended? No drugs confiscated at Mundra Port prior to seizure of 2,998 kgs of heroin:MHA Cruise ship drugs case: Court issues another summons against Nawab Malik in defamation case Mumbai cruise drugs case: Aryan Khan no longer needs to mark weekly NCB attendance FIR filed against Akali MLA and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia in drug case Contraband of 750 MDMA tablets from Netherlands seized by NCB at Bangalore, Four arrested India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Sep 29: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru arrested members of drug syndicate following detailed analysis after a parcel destined to India from Netherlands, containing 750 MDMA tablets, was seized in July. ''Contraband was ordered through darknet & payment was made with bitcoin,'' NCB officials said. The accused has been identified as K Pramodh, mastermind Fahim and their associates. A. Hashir and S.S Shetty. Bollywood-drugs nexus: NCB questions Deepika Padukone for five hours Mastermind Fahim learnt the concept of purchasing drugs online through a popular web series. He started purchasing crypto-currency and through crypto-currency ordered drugs from darknet. Fahim used to deliver consignments at various addresses in India and thereafter collect it from there. He further sold drugs to students of various colleges in Manipal University, NMAMIT, Udupi, clubs in Manipal and SRM University Chennai. The syndicate was working for tha 2 years. While Fahim and Pramod are from Kerala, Hashir and SS Shetty are from Karnataka. Futher investigation is underway. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 17:50 [IST] Patna: Taking a jibe at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that if RJD comes to power he will employ 10 lakh criminals and buy firearms increasing the crime rate in the state. Fadnavis said that Tejashwi will buy 10 lakh country-made firearms and distribute them among his supporters and promote abductions, looting and robberies in the state. Addressing a town hall meeting of BJP, Fadnavis said, "Yesterday, I heard that Tejashwi Yadav will give jobs to 10 lakh people in the first cabinet. I get to know to whom they will give jobs. They will give the order for 10 lakh country-made pistols and Bihar will again see kidnappings and looting. Yadav will distribute those pistols among his supporters. This is the job, he was talking about. He will give jobs to 10 lakh kidnappers, looters and murderers.'' The statement of Fadnavis came as a reply to Tejashwi Yadav's statement made on Sunday in which he said that there are over 10 lakh jobs vacant in various government departments. These posts will be filled at the first cabinet meeting if his party comes to power in Bihar. Live TV Targeting RJD, Fadnavis said,"We will see the same kind of Bihar that was there under Lalu Yadav`s rule in which girls could not go outside in the evening, no one was allowed to by new car. We have seen a Bihar which had no electricity, water and roads. This NDA government has provided all the basic facilities in all villages, this is the change government brought in in its tenure.'' Fadnavis highlighted the importance of Bihar in Inda economy and said that Bihar has 58 per cent youth population. Bihar youth will contribute most in the development of the country. He added that the Narendra Modi government will provide jobs to youth make them self independent through Aatma Nirbhar Bharat "Bihar is a land of revolutions. The present Bihar will contribute in the development of the nation. Bihar has 58 per cent youth population. Bihar youth will contribute most in the development of the country. We will jobs to youth make them self independent through Aatma Nirbhar Bharat," he added. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national president Tejasvi Surya alleged that the opposition leaders have become jobless under Modi government."The opposition has become jobless under Modi rule and they raise issues for themselves, not for youths. We understand the issues of jobs. We will try to fulfil the vacancy as soon as possible," he said. In the 2015 Assembly polls, JD-U, RJD, and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner. The BJP-led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies. RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the elections, followed by JD-U (71), and BJP (53). However, BJP got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent), followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JD-U (16.83 per cent).Differences later emerged between the RJD and JD-U and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returned to NDA. (With ANI input) Bexar County Records A San Antonio man found holding a bloody knife was arrested Monday after allegedly stabbing a woman at a bus stop, according to the San Antonio Police Department. Abel Gonzalez, 41, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Traces of coronavirus have been found in sewage in the Victorian coastal town of Anglesea, prompting authorities to boost testing in the area. While the preliminary result may not mean there are active cases of COVID-19 in the Anglesea community, Premier Daniel Andrews announced increased testing as a precaution. The coastal town is the second tourist hotspot to detect traces of coronavirus in its wastewater system following a similar discovery in nearby Apollo Bay earlier this month. The coastal town of Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road. Credit:Richard Cornish The discovery of virus fragments, found in wastewater taken from the sewerage network, comes as Victoria recorded 13 new cases of coronavirus and four more deaths on Wednesday. The deaths include a woman in her 70s, a woman in her 80s and a woman and a man in their 90s. Two of the deaths were linked to aged care. DANBURY About 1,800 gallons of oil spilled into the Sympaug Brook Monday. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is overseeing clean-up of the brook, which flows into the Still River. The spill was caused by a hose failure at a manufacturing facility owned by Stanley Engineered Fastening at 4 Shelter Rock Lane. Around 1,800 gallons of waste oil with metals was assumed lost, DEEP said. Some of the oil was recovered from secondary containment, while some was released into the brook, leaving it a milky-white color, the department said. Stanley has taken responsibility for the clean-up and hired Moran Environmental Recovery and Fuss & ONeill to assist. The Danbury Health Department also assessed the impact. Though the impacted area is not believed to be an active area for recreation, the health department is recommending that fishing, bathing, or recreational activities do not occur in the affected areas until remediation is complete, DEEP said. DEEP said it will continue to assess the situation. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:28:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIYADH, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Urban 20 (U20) Mayors Summit will present a 27-point consensus-built communique with policy recommendations to rebuild cities in post-pandemic world to the Group of 20 (G20), a U20 statement said on Tuesday. The U20 Mayors Summit, to be held virtually between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 , will outline and discuss policies that could accelerate the urban recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and will feature speakers and panelists from the world's leading organizations. Since Saudi Arabia's presidency of the U20 group began in December 2019, the official engagement group formed three taskforces, which have collectively drafted more than 1,000 pages of research. They were submitted to the U20 as 15 seminal white papers, according to the statement. The U20 also formed a Special Working Group on COVID-19. U20 is a city diplomacy initiative that brings together cities from G20 member states and observer cities from non-G20 states to discuss and form a common position on climate action, social inclusion and integration, and sustainable economic growth. The U20 issues recommendations for consideration by the G20. Enditem The Derry man leading the Catholic Church in Ireland has called for a 'Family Rosary Crusade' against Covid-19 during the month of October. Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland said he would invite families to pray the Rosary together at home each day for 'Gods protection during this time of Coronavirus'. These past six months have reminded us of the importance of the domestic Church the Church of the sitting room and kitchen the Church that meets every time a family stands or kneels down, or sits down to pray together. It has also helped us realise how important is the vocation of parents to be the primary teachers and leaders of their children in faith and prayer. That is why I am calling for a Family Rosary Crusade against Covid-19 during October encouraging you to pray the Rosary, or even a decade of the Rosary, each day during the month of October. "Pray for your own family and loved ones and for all those whose health or livelihood is being seriously impacted by the coronavirus crisis. Archbishop Martin is also inviting families to spread the word online. Using the #FamilyRosaryCrusade or #OctoberFamilyRosary hashtags please feel free to share a picture or a short sound clip of your family saying a Hail Mary, Our Father or Glory Be! on social media. SPRINGFIELD Local officials and community members on Tuesday took a tour of the Lincoln and Brightwood consolidated elementary school building under construction on Plainfield Street. I am so excited because the community took part in this development. They even picked the color of the rugs they wanted for the school, said Maria Perez, a School Committee member and longtime North End resident who said community members have been waiting for this for decades. It means when we work together as a team we will have more developments like this one. Construction is on schedule for completion in June 2021. The 150,500-square-foot building will cost $80.6 million and will replace two outdated neighborhood elementary schools. Brightwood, also on Plainfield Street, was built in 1898 and Lincoln Elementary, on Chestnut Street, was built in 1910. They will share a media room, or library, a cafetorium and a gymnasium, but otherwise they will be separate school buildings, said Peter Garvey, the citys director of capital asset construction, who conducted the tour. The project is the first of its kind in the state, said Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick. The Massachusetts School Building Authority wants bigger projects, but we said the only way we would agree to one building was if the schools could be independent of each other, Warwick said. Studies have showed that schools with 450 students or less perform better and have a better atmosphere. Norman Roldan, a member of the School Building Commission and Jose Claudio, chief operations officer and community development director for the New North Citizens Council, said the new building will lift up the neighborhood. This is a home run for the neighborhood. We want to see our neighborhood flourish and this is helping to make that happen, he said. Each school will offer full-day pre-kindergarten along with kindergarten through fifth grade. State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, and Ward 1 City Councilor Adam Gomez attended the event. From being on the neighborhood board to become a city councilor and now becoming a senator-elect, I absolutely see how important it is to collaborate within your community, but outside your community as well, and how important building these relationships is, Gomez said. He also credited the union workers who continued to work on the project during the coronavirus pandemic. Shout out to the men and women who were working on this project throughout these dangerous time making sure this is on schedule and that the kids can come here once this is over and we have defeated COVID-19, he said. Next year construction will begin on the consolidated Deberry and Homer Street schools in the Mason Square neighborhood. The project is expected to cost around $95 million. Its a cost-effective way and an innovative way to build schools while still giving each school their own identity and their own space, and Springfield is the first city in the commonwealth to do it, Sarno said. Related Content: A hiker fell nearly 70 feet to his death on Saturday at New Hampshires White Mountains, making him the third fatality in just 6 days at the popular mountain range. The unidentified man was hiking along a 2-mile trail, with an average height of 70 feet, to Arethusa Falls, a White Mountains waterfall, when he went ahead of his two friends to the top of the falls, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a statement. The friends arrived at the falls to discover the man had fallen from the top and sustained life-ending injuries. NH Fish and Game Conservation Officers, Mountain Rescue Service members and Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team members look for a fallen climber in Franconia, N.H., on Sept. 21, 2020. (N.H. Fish and Game) A day earlier, on Sept. 25, the fish and game department says an unidentified Massachusetts man plunged 55 feet to his death while rock-climbing a route known as the Dead Sea Equestrian at the Rumney Rocks in the White Mountains. His climbing partner told first responders the man suffered a "catastrophic equipment failure." And on Sept. 20, 34-year-old Benjamin Kessel died rock-climbing on Cannon Cliff after a rock the size of a refrigerator dislodged above him and severed his climbing rope. Kessel fell 150 feet into spruce trees and nearby climbers, upon descending to the cliffs bottom, determined he was deceased. Kessel, from Somerville, Massachusetts, was an engineer and outdoor enthusiast, according to his online obituary. It reads, He was an avid rock climber who loved the outdoors and taught and led expeditions with the MIT Outing Club. A memorial fund has been started in his name. The deaths come during what officials say is an unusually busy season at White Mountains and the coronavirus pandemic is likely a factor. It seems like a lot of people are coming, Lieutenant James Kneeland of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in an interview with NBC News. People are traveling closer to home and are not going on extended vacations elsewhere. Theyre doing the short drive here to White Mountains and a making a day or weekend out of it locally. Normally, Kneeland sees very, very few rock-climbing incidents and the pandemic may be a reason for the rash in the last week or so of climbing accidents. New Hampshire wildlife officials are now urging visitors to White Mountains to plan ahead and be cautious while enjoying the outdoors. Kneelands specific advice to rock-climbers is to review safety literature, make sure you have the appropriate gear or go climbing with a guide, especially as winter approaches and trails or climbing routes become more difficult to navigate. LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Southern California estate planning firm, The Law Offices of Tony J. Tyre, Esq., APC, is pleased to announce that the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization has confirmed Tony J. Tyre, Esq. as a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. This certification process involves both an exam and endorsements by attorneys and judges. Tony is the only such specialist in the Covina-area and in Temple City. In addition, The Law Offices of Tony J. Tyre, Esq., APC now has a full-time Spanish-speaking staff member, who is available to assist with translation for their Spanish-speaking clients. Estate planning is more important than ever. Although having a living trust or will which directs the disposition of one's assets after death is a crucial part of the estate planning process, two equally important, but often overlooked documents are the advance healthcare directive and durable power of attorney, which apply while someone is living but incapacitated. "An advance healthcare directive allows you to choose who would make medical decisions on your behalf if you were to become incapacitated. It also empowers you to set forth your wishes regarding important considerations, such as life support and organ donation," explained Tony. A durable power of attorney, on the other hand, allows one to choose who would make financial decisions on your behalf and for your benefit, if you are living but incapacitated. Tony said, "For instance, who would pay your bills? Who would deal with financial institutions, social security, government agencies, etc. on your behalf?" With the threat of Covid-19 at the forefront of everyone's mind right now, many people may feel overwhelmed and helpless, which is why now, more than ever, it is important to ensure that you and your loved ones are adequately equipped to handle whatever challenges may arise. About Tony J. Tyre, Law Offices of Tony J. Tyre, Esq., APC. Tony J. Tyre is a highly respected estate planning attorney throughout California. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The Law Offices of Tony J. Tyre, Esq., APC is dedicated to fulfilling all of the estate planning drafting and probate and trust administration needs of its clients. For more information, call (626) 858-9378, or visit http://www.tyrelawgroup.com. The law offices are located at 100 S Citrus Ave., Suite 101, Covina, CA 91723 and 5703 Temple City Blvd., Temple City, CA 91780. For media inquiries, please call THE NALA at 805.650.6121, ext. 361. SOURCE: Law Offices of Tony J. Tyre, Esq., APC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608278/Tony-J-Tyre-Certified-as-Specialist-in-Estate-Planning-by-State-Bar-of-California-Board-of-Legal-Specialization THE GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC), operator of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), issued on Monday, September 28, an updated list of travel requirements for all domestic passengers arriving via the MCIA. Aside from the previously required documents for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) or returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) such as quarantine certificate issued by the Department of Health-Bureau of Quarantine (stating completion of 14-day quarantine and negative RT-PCR test result) and a valid ID, ROFs arriving from Manila who are residents of Cebu City are now required to undergo mandatory RT-PCR swab test in Cebu City cluster clinics upon arrival, if the validity of the RT-PCR swab test result is already more than three days from the date of release. ROFs must also undergo the mandatory 14-day home quarantine upon arrival in Cebu City. Edilyth Maribojoc, MCIAA Corporate Affairs assistant of GMCAC, said since this new protocol came from the Cebu City Government, the City will be the one to shoulder the cost of the swab test. She said OFWs are not required to undergo reswabbing upon arrival, as they are directly handled by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), but they are urged to register their information in the OFW Assistance Information System (Oasis) at oasis.owwa.gov.ph. Additional requirements are also imposed for locally stranded individuals (LSIs). In addition to travel authority issued by Philippine National Police-Joint Task Force Covid Shield, medical clearance certificate issued by the City/Municipal Health Office where the LSI was stranded, a Letter of Confirmation from local government unit of destination under Cebu Province (not required for the Cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu Lapu), and a valid ID, LSIs arriving from Manila and are residents of Cebu City must also secure a Letter of Coordination issued by the barangay of residence in Cebu City. Upon their arrival, they also have to undergo mandatory swab testing at cluster clinic and to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine. The swab testing is shouldered by the Cebu City Government. Story continues For Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (Apor), they must secure a company ID or proof of profession or business; certificate of employment or proof of profession or business (except for uniformed public Apors); medical clearance certificate; valid ID; proof of intent to visit, if applicable (for example invitation to attend a business meeting, among others); and certification from the Cebu Provincial Government if destination is one of the component cities or municipalities. Apors are employees and workers involved in the manufacturing of basic food products, essential products, medicine and medical supplies, feeds and fertilizers, and equipment or products necessary to perform construction works; workers or employees in the food preparation establishments; retail establishments; media establishments; hotels and similar establishments accommodating guests who have existing long-term bookings, who have existing booking accommodations for foreigners as of May 1, 2020, distressed OFWs and stranded Filipinos or foreign nationals, repatriated OFWs, non-OFWs who may be required to undergo mandatory facility-based quarantine, and health care workers and other employees; officials and employees of all government agencies and LGUs, and gasoline stations, among others. For the complete list of Apors, one can visit http://bit.ly/PNPAPORsList. For long-term private Apors (individuals in the private sector staying in Cebu City for more than 14 days) arriving from Manila and staying at or are residents of Cebu City, they must submit a Letter of Coordination from the Barangay of Residence in Cebu City and a travel clearance from the Office of the Mayor. Upon arrival, they must undergo mandatory swab testing at cluster clinics and undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine. Short-term Private Apors or individuals in the private sector who are staying in Cebu City for less than 14 days need to secure a Travel Clearance from the Office of the Mayor, swab test result taken three days prior to departure to Cebu City, and a return flight ticket. Public Apors or individuals in the government sector must secure a mission or travel order signed by the head of the agency. Meanwhile, persons who are traveling for medical reasons must secure a certificate from LGU of residence, a Medical Certificate Clearance from LGU of residence, and a certification from the Cebu Provincial Government. Traveling for leisure purposes are still currently not allowed while those below 21 years old and are 60 years old and above, pregnant women, and individuals with immunodeficiency, comorbodities or health risks (except under permitted circumstances) are still not allowed to travel. Certifications from the Provincial Government of Cebu may be requested via provincialcapitol2019@gmail.com. Passengers traveling to Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, or Mandaue City may get in touch with their respective city governments for other specific requirements: Cebu City (travel clearance) at ccg.travelpass@gmail.com, Lapu-Lapu City at info@lapulapucity.gov.ph / lapu2city.gov@gmail.com, and Mandaue City at cmo@mandauecity.gov.ph / cmo.mandaue@gmail.com. Passengers classified as LSIs and private Apors can request the Letter of Coordination from their respective Barangays of Residence in Cebu City via http://www.tinyurl.com/lsicebu. Passengers seeking assistance upon arrival may approach the governments Information and Assistance Desk located at the Airport Village. The assistance desk will be manned 24/7 by representatives or personnel from the Owwa, Department of the Interior and Local Government-Central Visayas, and other LGUs. Passengers are also strongly advised to continuously monitor the status of their flights and to ensure that they have the necessary documents in compliance with the regulations and guidelines of the LGU of their point of origin and destination. (WBS with PR) Pritzker and all close contacts will be going into isolation for 14 days, and contact tracing is underway for the staff member who tested positive. Organizers of the events the staffer attended have been notified, the governors office said. All staff who are working in the governors office rather than working from home are being tested and wont be allowed back until testing negative. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:40:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- George Farah, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, had been under unemployment for six months due to the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories. Farah, 34 and a father of two, worked as a tourist vehicle driver in the city for almost eight years. After the outbreak of the pandemic in March, the Palestinian Authority imposed a lockdown on the city as part of the precautionary measures to prevent the virus spread. No local or foreign tourist groups have visited the city since March. "Bethlehem used to be full of local, Arab and foreign tourists daily, but these days, tourism is completely paralyzed due to the COVID-19," Farah told Xinhua. He said that he lost his job as a tourism driver after the first case was recorded in Bethlehem on March 5. Farah said that later he found a job related to construction but did not know anything about the sector. "But what can I do? It is the only way to find any job to be able to feed my family," he said. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 33,000 Palestinians working in the tourism sector have become unemployed in all the West Bank districts, mainly in Bethlehem. For Fares Salsa'a, a 23-year-old young man, the situation is no better than Farah. The young man lost his job at one of Bethlehem's tourism agency after it was shut down due to the coronavirus. Salsa'a, who graduated from a college of tourism in the city, told Xinhua that the city's lockdown had negatively affected the workers in the tourism sector. The young man had been working as a tourist guide for two years. He used to take groups of tourists and show them the city and the archeological sites. During the past three months, Salsa'a found a part-time job at a small carpentry that his father owns. He said it was his only choice for living. According to the Palestinian Association of Hotel Owners in the city, there are about 70 hotels in Bethlehem that employ around 3,000 workers, most of whom lost their jobs due to the suspension of domestic and foreign tourism. Elias al-Arja, the association's chairman, told Xinhua that the suspension of tourism movement due to the virus causes hotel losses of more than 100 million U.S. dollars until the end of this year. He expressed hope that the lockdowns will not be so long "because the economic situation is no longer tolerable." Enditem M094LON Empirical Finance and Accounting Research Question Answered Question: In Southeast Asia, Singapore has built a reputation in becoming the main fintech hub for new startups. This was an initiative under the governments plan in becoming The World First Smart Nation in five years. As of April 2020, there are 98 digital lending platforms in Singapore (Tracxn, 2020). SME have now shifted to digital lending platforms to acquire financing. Since SME can now obtain financing from digital platforms, the big question is could it stimulate Singapores economic growth by creating more job opportunities and making more capital investment?. The purpose of this research is to understand how financial accessibility offered by digital lending platforms could stimulate economy growth. Value of Research This research will provide a better understanding of the role of digital lending platforms in providing financial access for underserved SME. Furthermore, this study also aims to provide an overview on the importance of SMEs alternative financing. This research will provide an overview on how alternative financing could make a difference on SMEs productivity and growth. Finally, this research aims to study how SMEs alternative financing would affect Singapores economy. Research Question How Singapores economy is impacted as digital lending platforms provide financial access to underserved SME? Research Objectives 1) To explain the role of digital lending platforms in providing financial accessibility for underserved SME. 2) To provide a theoretical theory on the importance of SMEs alternative financing. 3) To determine the effect of underserved SMEs financial accessibility towards the economy. Literature Review Theoretical Literature Review Keynes Economic Review The Keynesian theory focuses on aggregate demand. The general idea is that economys output level of goods and services is the sum of four components which are consumer spending, investment, government purchases, and net exports. Thus, any increase in these four components would increase the demand. When there is demand, this shows that the economy is performing. This research will focus on consumption and investment. Consumption can change for a number of reasons which includes changes in wealth levels as well as income level. Investment can change based on SME perspectives on their expected profitability. Sitting down at a table inside a restaurant for a meal, an everyday act thats been forbidden by health orders in San Francisco for over six months, will be legal again Wednesday. Its an enormous shift that could give the citys restaurant industry a shot in the arm, even as concerns remain about the coronavirus ability to spread indoors. It shows how Bay Area counties are seeking to balance keeping the pandemic in check with providing small businesses some relief from shelter-in-place restrictions. San Francisco moved on Tuesday into Californias orange tier, which reflects whats considered a moderate spread in the states four-color blueprint for recovery. The city is now able to permit restaurants to operate at 25% capacity or with 100 people whichever is fewer. San Francisco joined Amador and Calaveras on Tuesday in being among the states first counties to jump into the orange tier, the second least restrictive. Contra Costa, alongside Butte, Fresno, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Yolo counties, moved into the red, leaving only Sonoma among the Bay Areas nine counties in the states most restrictive purple tier. Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle We know this continues to be a challenging time with people struggling economically and emotionally. However, thanks to San Franciscos commitment to following public health guidance, we are seeing improvements in our numbers, which means we can continue to move forward with reopening, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement. San Francisco will also allow places of worship to fill to 25% of capacity, among several other changes: Outdoor protests may increase to 200 people, and indoor malls may increase to 50% capacity, along with indoor food courts that follow safety guidelines for dining. Outdoor carousels, miniature trains and Ferris wheels will also be allowed to reopen, with safety precautions. San Francisco hopes to open outdoor playgrounds by Oct. 14 now that state officials have allowed public recreational facilities to operate with specific safety regulations. This latest round of activities and reopenings is a result of the dedication and commitment of our residents and businesses. Our actions to limit the spread of the virus continue to pay off, San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said in a statement. San Francisco and Napa started in the red tier, reflecting a substantial spread of the virus, when the state shifted to a four-color-tiered blueprint last month. Alameda, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano moved from the worst tier purple to red during the past two weeks. A new state designation does not mean an immediate change in local rules, since counties can maintain more stringent regulations than the baseline for a tier, but many counties have promptly adopted state guidelines as they progress. Contra Costa entered the red tier Tuesday and will be allowed to expand mall and retail capacity from 25% to 50%. It may also open limited capacity for indoor operations at gyms, movie theaters and personal care businesses. The credit really belongs to the residents of Contra Costa, who have adapted to the new normal and modified their lifestyles to reduce the spread of COVID in the county, said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costas health officer. The toll of COVID-19 reached a grim milestone Monday, hitting 1 million deaths worldwide. More than 33 million people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In his Tuesday news conference, California Department of Public Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly repeatedly emphasized a slow and stringent approach as the state prepares for reopenings and the upcoming Halloween holiday and flu season. He said that hospitalizations were up, but that cases overall were still on the decline in the state and that test results were being processed faster. The rates have generally flattened, but not decreased, in the Bay Area. The effects of recent evacuations, which inevitably lead to more mixing of people and hence possible new infections, may not be seen for weeks. San Franciscos status under the state blueprint has advanced because of its case rates and extensive testing. Doing business indoors couldnt come at a better time as we approach the colder months. And, now our restaurants need us. So lets stay safe and do what we do better than any other city: eat out often, said Joaquin Torres, director of San Franciscos Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron In tonights debate, the first between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the two candidates will have a lot of ground to cover. Theyll be addressing top issues for voters like the response to COVID-19, the economy, health care, and the makeup of the Supreme Court. The debate is also a chance for voters to hear how Trump and Biden speak about their political priorities and motivations. Both have been campaigning to draw in voters of faith, including evangelicals. The party conventions held last month offer a glimpse at how they have employed religious language in the race. Faith references came up throughout the Republican National Convention in August far more often than at the Democratic National Convention, which had been held the week before. But when it came to the remarks from the candidates themselves, the trend reversed. Biden, a lifelong Catholic, made faith a bigger part of his speech than Trump did. Ahead of the debate, I took a closer look at the kinds of religious terms weve seen from both platforms so far, based on an analysis of 2020 convention transcripts. References to God were most common at both party conventions, followed by mentions of faith, blessing, prayer, and Jesuswho occasionally came up by name at the RNC but almost not at all at the DNC. There are limits to text analysis to keep in mindthis method wont identify religious language that is not explicit, and it also counts all words equally. Thus, Mike Pence quoting a long passage from the Bible that uses Gods name once counts the same as Joe Biden ending his speech by saying, God bless America. But, despite these constraints, it offers an unbiased glimpse of the most direct religious references evoked by the campaigns. For the Republicans, religious language was fairly prevalent across the first three nights of the convention. Most 30-minute blocks of programming contained at least 15 references to religious imagery with God and bless leading the wayobviously God bless America being a common sentiment and sendoff for speakers. However, the last night of the Republican National Convention saw a much different pattern. That evening, Trump offered his acceptance speech. He made fewer references to God than the other Republican speakers. He invoked God on three occasions, including a reference to all children, born and unborn, [having] a God-given right to life, and mentioned faith once. While Bidens campaign has offered a more robust faith outreach effort than Hillary Clinton in 2016, the party as a whole is still more much muted in their religious references than the Republicans. For instance, there was more religious language in the first 30 minutes of the first night of the Republican National Convention than in the entire two hours of the DNCs opening night. Again, the pattern shifts on the final night of the convention. Biden referenced our purpose as Gods children and spoke multiple times about the soul of America or soul of this nation. Yet it was Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a graduate from Yale Divinity School, who was responsible for most of the religious language as he testified to the sincerity of the former vice presidents convictions. For Joe, faith isnt a prop or political tool, said Coons. Ive known Joe about 30 years, and I've seen his faith in action. Joe knows the power of prayer, and I've seen him in moments of joy and triumph, of loss and despair, turn to God for strength. The convention also had a spike in faith language from non-Christian voices, with final prayers delivered by Rabbi Lauren Berkun and Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid to end the evenings festivities. While the RNC clearly had a higher frequency of religious language, it was also specifically directed toward a Christian audience. The word Christ was invoked six different times, and Melania Trump referred to Christianity specifically in her speech. On the other hand, the Democrats never mentioned the word Christ during the four nights of their convention. This time, as Trump and Biden take the stage in Cleveland, itll be up to them whether faith comes up in their responses. Based on what we heard from them during the party conventions, it seems unlikely that either candidate will go out of his way to invoke religious imagery in the debates. It would be a tremendous deviation from prior behavior to see either candidate invoke theological positions or scriptural references to support his positions on hot-button issues (as Episcopalian Pete Buttigieg did during an early Democratic debate last year). The pattern of largely leaving religious references out of the presidential debates follows what happened in 2016, when The Atlanticdeemed one between Trump and Clinton Americas first post-Christian debate. In 2020, appeals to religious voters are more likely to be couched in the language of policy stances than faith itself. Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. His research appears on the site Religion in Public, and he tweets at @ryanburge. Manitobans will soon join others elsewhere in the country with smartphone technology designed to alert them if they've been exposed to someone who has COVID-19. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitobans will soon join others elsewhere in the country with smartphone technology designed to alert them if they've been exposed to someone who has COVID-19. "Now is the time to download that COVID Alert application," provincial Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Monday afternoon, adding the notification technology will be available by the end of the week. The app can be downloaded here. "Let's do what we can," Friesen said. Manitoba's 20th COVID death a man in his 70s hospitalized in Prairie Mountain Health region was reported Monday, along with 39 new infections, 22 of them in Winnipeg. There are 13 people hospitalized in Manitoba hospitals, seven in intensive care. Four people are in Winnipeg hospitals, two of them in the ICU. CP The COVID Alert app will let people know if they might have unknowingly been exposed to the virus. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press files) Friesen said an additional testing site will open later this week in Winnipeg to help reduce long waits at existing location, but wouldn't provide any details, saying only that Dynacare will be providing "additional capacity" for screening sites that will benefit all Manitobans. The COVID Alert phone app won't reduce wait times but will let people know if they might have unknowingly been exposed to the virus. "It's another tool we can refer to in this complex response to COVID-19," Friesen said. So far, the app is being used by Ontario, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. The Manitoba government has been working to make it available but does not receive any information about those who use it, he said. "It doesn't rely on GPS; it doesn't give government information about who you are or where you are," he said. Every day, the app checks a list of random codes from people who tell the app they tested positive. Anyone who has been near the phone of one of those people within the past 14 days receives a notification. CP Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press conference about the app when it was released in July. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files) The random codes do not identity anyone, Friesen said. "If you contract COVID-19... then it is still voluntary for you to enter that one-time code into your app that will then send a signal to other phones and identify whether contact has taken place," said the health minister. The app works only if it has enough users, Friesen said his understanding is that more than half of Manitoba's residents need to use it in order for it to be effective. As of Sept. 21, the Canadian Digital Service reported 2,701,335 downloads (1,659,892 iPhone and 1,041,443 Android) of the COVID Alert, said Prof. Mark Crowley, an expert in artificial intelligence and technology at the University of Waterloo. He's given the app positive reviews for privacy and ease of use. "Its very encouraging that more provinces are coming on board," Crowley said via email Monday after learning Manitoba is adopting it. "I am hopeful that more people will use it, especially now that the second wave is crashing in across many provinces," he said. "But I dont understand the resistance to it. It has been built in a way that really ensures privacy and it doesnt take any effort to use." The app doesn't replace the conventional public health investigations and contact tracing, Friesen said. THE CANADIAN PRESS Every day, the app checks a list of random codes from people who tell the app they tested positive. Anyone who has been near the phone of one of those people within the past 14 days receives a notification. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press files) On Friday, Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced pandemic restrictions for metropolitan Winnipeg starting Monday mandating mask-wearing in indoor public spaces and limiting gatherings both indoors and outside to 10, not including the hosts. Close to half of all new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks have been linked to bars and restaurants. Roussin couldn't say Monday how many are workers or patrons or where they acquired the virus but last week he provided examples of behaviours that are helping to spread the infection in Winnipeg, including one person in their 20s with COVID-19 symptoms who went bar hopping, leaving 36 contacts in their wake. Brandon mayor offers advice Embrace the mask, follow the fundamentals and this will all be over before you know it, says the voice of experience. On the first day of pandemic response restrictions imposed on Winnipeg and its neighbours, Brandon's mayor talked about how his community survived when similar public health orders were imposed from Aug. 24 to Sept. 18 on the entire Prairie Mountain Health region. "The time goes fast and it needs to be done," Mayor Rick Chrest said by phone Monday. click to read more Embrace the mask, follow the fundamentals and this will all be over before you know it, says the voice of experience. On the first day of pandemic response restrictions imposed on Winnipeg and its neighbours, Brandon's mayor talked about how his community survived when similar public health orders were imposed from Aug. 24 to Sept. 18 on the entire Prairie Mountain Health region. "The time goes fast and it needs to be done," Mayor Rick Chrest said by phone Monday. "Really, it's not that bad," he said. By now, most Manitobans have masks and are used to having to wear them while running errands and shopping, he said. Some people may wear their heart on their sleeve but in Brandon, people began wearing their heart on their mask. "People were having fun choosing a mask and designing masks," he said. Crafty people sewed Elvis masks. Fans supported local teams and institutions, wearing Wheat Kings, Blue Bombers and Assiniboine Community College masks, said Chrest who has a collection. People got in the habit of wearing them and popping a mask on whenever they go inside a public place, he said. "Most people are still wearing the masks in Brandon," he said. "People are used to it." On Monday, Prairie Mountain Health was the only region in Manitoba not reporting any new COVID-19 cases. It had a total of 29 active cases, with just nine in Brandon. Chrest says he would never say "I told you so," but when his small city became the first in Manitoba declared a code-orange with COVID-19 restrictions slapped on it, he warned the rest of the province's towns and cities they could be next. Now Winnipeg and its surrounding municipalities including Selkirk are "it" with mandatory masks in public places and indoor and outdoor gatherings limited to just 10. Chrest reminded Winnipeggers that the number of active cases per capita and people testing positive in West Man in late August was at least twice as bad as it is now in Winnipeg. By having the pandemic restrictions imposed now, it should make it easier to flatten the curve in the provincial capital, he said. "Code orange really put an exclamation mark on the situation," said Chrest. "It really snapped people to attention and got them to bear down on the fundamentals again." -Carol Sanders Close While masks must be worn in bars and restaurants except while seated at tables, it's the individual who violates the order not the bar or restaurant facing a fine from enforcement officers under the current public health orders, Roussin said, adding people refusing to wear masks can be denied entry. Officials are now working with bars and restaurants about further measures to stop the spread, Roussin said. Other provinces with rising caseloads linked to pubs, nightclubs and eateries have taken steps such as ordering the volume of music to be turned down so people aren't crowding together and shouting to be heard, as well as limiting the number of patrons seated at a table and imposing earlier closing times. Roussin didn't rule any of that out for Winnipeg and surrounding communities. "Additional measures may be put in place," he said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Countess of Wessex appeared effortlessly elegant when joining a Ministry of Defence roundtable today. Sophie, 55, who lives with her husband Prince Edward, 56, and their children Lady Louise Windsor, 16, and James Viscount Severn, 12, at Bagshot Park, between Windsor and Guildford, joined Minister of the Armed Forces James Heappey at the occasion. The pair took part in the virtual roundtable with civil society organisations to discuss the continued integration of Human Security - which gives primacy to people as well as the security of the state - into military operations. Sophie looked the epitome of sophistication in a blue and black striped frock, teamed with an eye-catching pearl necklace. The Countess of Wessex (pictured) appeared effortlessly elegant when joining a Ministry of Defence roundtable today The mother-of-two swept her loose blonde locks to the side and completed her look with a touch of glamorous makeup. She accessorized with matching pearl earrings and a large cream bag, which she clutched over her shoulder. Earlier this week, Sophie cut a casual figure as she visited Coverwood Farm in Cranleigh, Surrey. The royal's visit comes just days after she was joined by her husband and their two children Lady Louise and James, 16, Viscount Severn, 12, as they took to Southsea Beach in Portsmouth to pick up litter. The Countess donned a pair of blue denim skinny jeans and paired them with a pink and white pair of deck shoes, while her hair was swept back in an elegant bun. Sophie (pictured), 55, who lives with her husband Prince Edward, 56, and their children Lady Louise Windsor, 16, and James Viscount Severn, 12, at Bagshot Park, between Windsor and Guildford, joined Minister of the Armed Forces James Heappey at the occasion The pair (pictured) took part in the virtual roundtable with civil society organisations to discuss the continued integration of Human Security - which gives primacy to people as well as the security of the state - into military operations A day earlier, Sophie was spotted riding a horse and carriage in the grounds of the Queen's residence in Berkshire. Former PR executive Sophie lives at Bagshot Park in Surrey, with Edward and their two children and is widely recognised to be the Queen's favourite royal. The Queen and Sophie's close bond is said to be down to their similar interests, with the pair often spending Saturday or Sunday evenings together at Windsor, watching old war films and historical documentaries. Sophie, who was brought up in Kent by a tyre company executive father and a secretary mother, is even thought to have convinced the Queen to watch The Crown - suggesting she might enjoy the Netflix series which is based on her reign. The Wessex family are often spotted taking part in outdoor activities at Windsor Castle, which is just 10 miles from their home at Bagshot Park. Milton stepped down as executive chairman at the electric-truck maker after claims of deception leveled by short seller Hindenburg Research sent Nikolas stock spiraling. He has also been accused by his cousin Aubrey Smith of sexual assault in 1999 when she was 15 and he was 17, which he has also denied. The Income Tax department will seek the Attorney General's opinion on the next course of action after losing the retrospective tax arbitration case against Vodafone. India could opt to appeal against the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in Hague. A person in the know said that all legal options are open but the government would keep in mind investors' rights and interests of the sovereign, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. The PCA stated on Friday that the I-T department was in violation of the 'guarantee of fair and equitable treatment' under the India-Netherlands bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The PCA said that the company was entitled to protection under the accord. The government has said that the treaty does not cover taxes and settling this interpretation of the agreement would be one of the reasons for the appeal. The finance ministry sources, as mentioned in the daily, said that the government is duty bound to protect public money if there is an attempt to avoid levies by rerouting transactions through tax havens. The telecom giant had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016 following a failure to reach consensus with government arbitrators in finalising a judge to resolve the tax dispute. In 2013, Vodafone had invoked India-Netherlands bilateral investment treaty seeking resolution of the tax demand imposed by enactment of a tax law with retrospective effect. The government had initially slapped a tax demand of Rs 7,990 crore on Vodafone for failing to deduct tax on capital gains made over its $11-billion acquisition of 67 per cent stake in the mobile phone business owned by Hutchison Whampoa in 2007. Also read: Retrospective tax case: Vodafone wins arbitration against Indian govt (Natural News) Aliens might have already found us, and theyve been on the lookout ever since. American physicist James Benford proposes that alien lurkers may have set up probes on near-Earth objects (NEOs) that follow an orbital pattern similar to Earth. Whats more, these co-orbitals are very close to us, bound gravitationally not just to the sun but also the planet. But theyve been able to steer clear of a collision, scot-free throughout all these centuries. Benfords bold proposal, which was detailed in the Astrophysical Journal, was an offshoot of an earlier hypothesis put forth by Ronald Bracewell, a radiophysicist at Stanford University who suggested the existence of hypothetical feelers in 1960. Alien lurkers may be observing Earth from NEOs These hypothetical feelers were autonomous probes dispersed by superior galactic communities to monitor and, perhaps, communicate with other life forms. Benford explained that a probe could bide its time while humans try to develop technology that could find it. In the meantime, its likely that the probe had only been sending routine reports on Earth back to its host. Benford, who received his doctorate in physics from the University of California, San Diego, offered a possible answer to where these mysterious Bracewell probes might be hiding. A promising location to search for Lurkers lies among the co-orbital objects, which approach Earth very closely annually at distances much shorter than anything except the moon, he wrote. These NEOs share the same orbital period as Earth and can be space rocks, such as asteroids, that have been in place for hundreds to thousands of years. Benford said that co-orbital NEOs provide a strategic location for setting up surveillance as they harbor resources that intelligent alien life might need, such as concealment and a firm anchor. However, he noted that these orbiting objects might also be decoys that are nothing but artificial. Astronomers have detected only a handful of such co-orbital NEOs. The nearest one to Earth, asteroid 2016 HO3, was just recently discovered. Its described by NASA as Earths constant companion and orbits Earth just as it also orbits the sun. 2016 HO3 loops around our planet, but never ventures very far away as we both go around the Sun, said Paul Chodas, who oversees the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations NEO Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But Benford is convinced that theres more to co-orbitals than scientists like to think. He said that exploring these objects should be prioritized in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Astronomers dedicated to SETI can study co-orbital NEOs by observing them using Earth-based space telescopes and by visiting them with probes, said Benford. (Related: Looking at the lunar surface: Harvard scientist believes the moon holds clues about extraterrestrial life.) A space mission to any one of these NEOs wont be a terrible thing; according to Science Alert, besides the prospect of finding signs of alien life, it can also provide crucial insights into these obscure co-orbitals, especially since only 20 percent of them have been found. As fate would have it, China recently announced plans to launch a 10-year mission that would include visiting asteroid 2016 HO3, reported Science Alert. Still, other astronomers are not raising their hopes about any grand alien discovery. Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist and astrobiologist from Arizona State University, who wasnt involved with the study, thinks its extremely unlikely that alien probes are stationed on co-orbital NEOs. But hes not shutting the door on a mission to these rocks. Even if we dont find E.T., we might find something of interest. Cosmic.news has more on SETI. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk ScienceAlert.com ALBANY Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, New York has faced dozens of lawsuits challenging the sweeping authority state officials have invoked to respond to the public health crisis and attorneys say that trend is expected to continue. Many of the lawsuits take aim at the constitutionality of the directives and executive orders issued by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his administration throughout the pandemic. While 25 of the 53 lawsuits have been resolved most ending with a ruling in the state's favor the plaintiffs in some of the cases said they are moving forward with their lawsuits and expect even more legal challenges of state leaders' actions. Caroline J. Ryan, a partner at Goldberg Segalla, a Buffalo-based law firm with offices in Albany, said she anticipates courts will get bogged down from class-action and individual lawsuits over the restrictions. "I think you're going to see a lot more of these lawsuits as we start to emerge from the pandemic and business owners really step back and see what's left in terms of many businesses not being able to reopen," she said. "This is all going to get untangled, and unfortunately, it's going to get untangled in the court system." Ryan said the outcome of a case depends on the facts, the judge, the state where the case originates and the respective state constitution governing executive power. Taking those factors into consideration, she said, there is anticipation that more decisions will come with rulings similar to one recently issued by a federal judge in Pittsburgh on Sept. 14. U.S. District Judge William Stickman ruled that portions of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's executive orders in responding to the public health crisis violated the First and 14th Amendments. It's these favorable outcomes that have given reassurance to some New Yorkers waging legal battles over the restrictions. Buffalo attorney James Ostrowski, who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit with several other Buffalo business owners and residents, said they intend to take their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The western New York residents argue Cuomo's ability to "rule by decree" is trampling on the rights and freedoms enshrined in the state and federal constitutions, and the sweeping authority equates to the most "massive violation of civil liberty" in American history. The U.S. system of government "is based on pre-existing natural rights which the regime may never violate on pain of revolution and on popular sovereignty in which limited powers are delegated by the people to the government through constitutional means," their lawsuit, filed May 15, argues. "To be blunt, a bloodless coup against the Constitution has been undertaken by the state itself." It's possible some of the cases could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been a flashpoint in the presidential election following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg earlier this month. President Donald J. Trump on Saturday nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy as Democrats and some Republicans have called for the president and U.S. Senate to wait and allow the winner of the presidential election to make the nomination. "We lost track of all the frivolous lawsuits filed against the state during this pandemic," Cuomo's senior advisor, Richard Azzopardi, said in response to questions about the lawsuits. "Wear a mask. Wash your hands." But as similar constitutional challenges make their way through courts in other states, attorneys are hopeful that the Supreme Court will weigh in. "Although those decisions are not necessarily controlling in our particular jurisdiction, we ultimately believe this is an area of the law that is going to be further interpreted by the Supreme Court," said Nick DeMarco, an attorney for several wedding venues in western New York that sued the state over the restrictions. "The fact that different federal district courts have reached different conclusions in similar contexts only bolsters this need for further guidance from the Supreme Court." DeMarco said they are still deciding whether to appeal a court ruling earlier this month that denied their request for a preliminary injunction. New York has seen a variety of legal challenges since the beginning of the coronavirus restrictions from the National Rifle Association suing over firearms stores being labeled non-essential businesses, to out-of-state attorneys challenging the constitutionality of New York's travel advisory requiring people from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival here. Whether those challenging Cuomo's actions will be successful will ultimately be determined by the court it's tried in and the judge's interpretation. But Neil Murray, a senior partner at O'Connell and Aronowitz law firm in Albany, said it's important for people to understand that constitutional rights are not absolute. "Some advocates like to couch them in terms of being absolute rights that can never be impinged upon. We know in reality that's not actually the case," Murray said, giving the example of it being illegal to falsely shout fire in a crowd. "Everyone's individual freedom is limited by the impact it's going to have upon somebody else." Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 ALBANY Dozens of business advocacy and local government groups penned a letter to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday calling for him to include a repeal of a state law that has been on the books since the 1800s that puts the blame for workplace accidents solely on the shoulders of the business regardless of the workers relative responsibility in their own injury. The statute, known as the Scaffold Law, holds employers and building owners to an absolute liability standard whenever a worker is injured or killed in an accident involving a fall from an elevated surface. New York is the only state in the country with such a law. Imagine the famous photo Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, in which the construction workers building 30 Rockefeller Plaza sit with their lunches on an outstretched steel beam, nothing beneath them to stop them from falling to their deaths if they slip. Workplaces like that are why the law exists in the first place. Proponents of the law, such as labor unions or personal injury lawyers, say it is essential to keeping workers safe. "In light of several years in a row now of record high construction deaths, our concern is that repealing or reforming laws that protect workers could provide opportunities for bad actors to lower the standard for safety on jobs," said Anthony Fresina, business manager for Local 190 of the Laborers' Union. "Our priority is, and always will be, the health and safety of our members and all workers within the construction industry." Critics of the law note that it was passed before the development of federal workplace safety standards, and is now outdated. They point to what they characterize as inflated insurance premiums for construction projects in the state and say that its common sense that if a judge finds a worker to be 2 percent responsible for their own injury, their payout in an injury claim should be 2 percent less. They also say theres no evidence the law actually leads to safer workplaces, since employees dont have a legal incentive to be responsible for their own safety. The letter, signed by 44 groups such as the New York Conference of Mayors, the Farm Bureau, construction and builders groups and the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, asks Cuomo to include a repeal of the Scaffold Law as part of his budget proposal for the states next fiscal year. With the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget calamity as a result of COVID-19, this would be one way to make each dollar stretch a bit further, the letter says. We cannot let special interests hold our state and municipal budgets hostage any longer," the letter says. "We stand behind you and urge you to finally fix this law and bring New York into the 21st Century and help us recover and heal from this terrible pandemic." Tom OConnor, vice president for governmental affairs for the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, said changing the law would save New York taxpayers $700 million and private businesses as much as $1.4 billion. "If thats going to be a savings for school districts, local governments and the private sectors, youre addressing part of your fiscal crisis and youre also promoting economic growth, both of which the state absolutely needs right now, he said. Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, introduced the standalone bill to repeal this law. He described the fight to ensure passage as an uphill battle due to the political influence of trial lawyers and labor unions with the Democratic party. Nominate your favorite people and places now Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Nominate your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4. If its ever going to happen, its going to happen in the budget process, no doubt about it, he said. Its at that time of the legislative calendar when bulky omnibus legislation can be passed at once, and a sticky political issue like the Scaffold Act could squeak through. McDonalds pitch for the bill is simple: The Scaffold Law adds as much as 7 percent to construction costs that other states dont have, which is particularly hard on schools and local governments trying to pay for construction projects, and theres not much evidence it actually makes New York a safer place for construction workers. The last assertion is backed up by a peer-reviewed study of the Scaffold Law by the national Transportation Research Board. I would never want to promote something that would make the workplace more unsafe, but theres been no evidence as to that, McDonald said. I would rather invest in people and projects than in out-of-state insurance companies. The lawmaker also said high insurance costs in New York due to the Scaffold Law make it artificially difficult for small, minority-owned businesses to make bids and break into the industry. The labor community would tell you that its unfair that people may die and theyre not being compensated, and I get that, McDonald said. This is not meant to penalize the injured worker, but if somebody makes a mistake that contributes to the accident then that needs to be taken into account in the fuller picture. LONDON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ocorian, a diversified financial services group with four areas of expertise, Fund Services, Corporate Services, Capital Markets and Private Client services, has acquired Newgate Compliance. Newgate Compliance is a London-based compliance consultancy and hosted regulatory solutions provider for funds clients, including both established and first time managers. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. Newgate Compliance was founded in 2014 by Martin Herriot and Aron Brown. Newgate provides compliance consulting services, leveraging the GATEway, a proprietary software solution that enables clients to track and meet their FCA regulatory obligations efficiently, as well as to comply with the spirit, principles and culture of the UK regulatory regime. This transaction reflects Ocorian's continued strategy to enhance its service offering to best support its clients' needs today and into the future. The acquisition strengthens Ocorian's service offering to asset managers that operate in the regulated UK market: following the acquisition, it will provide end-to-end administration services and a suite of compliance and regulatory services. Farah Ballands, CEO at Ocorian said, "Our strategy of acquiring the highest quality, independent businesses in key markets has been very successful and continues with the acquisition of Newgate Compliance. Ocorian and Newgate share a single-minded focus on providing outstanding client service whilst building long term client relationships. It will be business as usual for Newgate's employees and clients. We are looking forward to working with the founders, Martin Herriot and Aron Brown, as well as the whole team at Newgate to expand our funds offering in the UK." The Newgate Compliance business will continue to be led by Martin and Aron who said, "This is tremendously exciting for our clients and colleagues. Our clients will benefit from Ocorian's extensive suite of services across the globe and our employees will be able to take advantage of the broader opportunities that come with being part of a large, multinational enterprise. We are looking forward to being part of Ocorian and to building on the success we have achieved to date." Advisers involved in this transaction included: For Ocorian: Legal counsel: White & Case Financial and tax DD adviser: Mazars Regulatory DD adviser: Duff & Phelps For Newgate Compliance: Legal counsel: Eversheds Sutherland Corporate finance advisers: DC Advisory Accountants: Calder & Co About Ocorian Ocorian is a global leader in corporate and fiduciary services, fund administration and capital markets. It has US$260bn in assets under administration and employs 1,250 professionals. Supporting and protecting global investment is Ocorian's priority; it manages over 17,000 structures on behalf of 8,000 clients including financial institutions, large-scale international organisations and high-net-worth individuals. Ocorian provides fully compliant, tailored solutions that are individual to clients' needs, no matter where in the world they hold financial interests, or however they are structured. The group offers a full suite of corporate, fund and private client services across a network of offices spanning all the world's financial hubs. Locations include Bermuda, BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Netherlands, Singapore, UAE and the UK, as well as a representative office in the US. To find out more about Ocorian and its services, including regulatory information, visit www.ocorian.com SOURCE Ocorian One area of civil and military aviation where China has lagged behind the West is helicopters. Chinese domestic helicopters manufacturers still depend on foreign designs, and especially foreign engines to power helicopters built in China. There are nearly 10,000 non-military helicopters in the United States, China has only about 15 percent of that. While China has the second largest economy ($14 trillion) which is about 65 percent the size of the $22 trillion American GDP, the Chinese government heavily restricts use of non-military helicopters. All airspace in China is controlled by the military and it is very difficult for commercial helicopters to get permission to use that air space. Airlines always operate in designated flight paths, with flight controllers and flight plans mandatory for fixed wing commercial airlines. Commercial helicopters are a different matter and are popular and effective when they can be often used by businesses in a less regulated manner. Same with private and corporate fixed wing aircraft. In China private and corporation aircraft or helicopters are few in number because of the burdensome and time-consuming regulations controlling their use. This means Chinese firms do not have much of a civil helicopter market to develop local designs and engines for. As a result Chinese helicopters are often imported, especially the commercial models. The situation isnt much different when it comes to military helicopters. While the United States has 5,700 military helicopters China has only about 900. Thats fewer than Russia, which still maintains a fleet of about 1,500 helicopters. South Korea, with a military a quarter the size of Chinas, has a military helicopter fleet of over 800 transport and combat helicopters and is now manufacturing locally developed helicopters. China still relies on licensed or stolen designs for the few helicopters it produces. For locally built military transport helicopters, China depends on licensed production of French Super Frelon and Dauphin models as well as Chinese designed models that are basically modified version of the French designs. The latest Chinese military transport helicopters, the Z-20, entered service in 2020 and is a clone of the S-70 (the civilian version of the American UH-60). Until 1991 China was buying S-70s but the U.S. halted those exports in 1991. Russia did not halt its exports of its primary military transport helicopter, the Mi-8. Since 1991 the Mi-8 has evolved into the far more capable and reliable Mi-17 and Mi-171. The Mi-171 continues to evolve, and the latest development is the Mi-171E with much more powerful engines able to handle hot and high operations. Helicopters lose a lot of their lift at higher altitudes or a warmer weather at any altitude. Most of the southern Chinese border (mainly with India) is very high, as in over 4,000 meters (12,500 feet), and often very hot. China recently ordered more Mi-171E transport helicopters. A Chinese company assembles some Chinese Mi-171s but the 171Es come from Russia because China cannot yet make the powerful engines the 171E uses. China also imports other Russian transport helicopters, like the Ansat, a three-ton transport similar to the UH-1 and used as an ambulance, Ka-32s (the civilian version of the 12 ton Ka-27 naval helicopter that can carry up to four tons) and several other Russian naval helicopter models. Despite having their own helicopter industry, including licensed manufacture of some European and Russian designs, China continues to buy Mi-171Es from Russia because China needs more military transport helicopters right now and still needs other types of Russian helicopters in such small quantities that producing them in China is not practical. The Russian military still has budget problems and the Russian Helicopter Corporation (a merger of most Russian helicopter firms) is geared mainly for export sales and has the capability to expedite orders for favored customers, which China qualifies as. Moreover the 2014 sanctions imposed on Russia caused Russian Helicopters to lose some business, especially from Afghanistan (but paid for by the United States). Afghanistan is now replacing its Mi-17s with UH-60s. China has been importing the Mi-171E for over a decade and is the major customer for this model. Nearly ten percent of Chinese military helicopters are the Mi-171Es. This model can carry up to 37 passengers or four tons of cargo and has engines that make this model essential for operating in Tibet. China is quite fond of the Mi-17E and the older Mi-8 it is derived from even though China has based its locally made designs on Western models. Then again so have the Russians, especially since the 1990s. But the Mi-17 is like the DC-3 or C-130; a design you can improve but not replace. Currently China has about 250 Mi-17 type helicopters and over 700 locally made or imported military helicopters. Most (Z9/Z-19) of these local builds are based on the Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin while another hundred locally built Z-10 gunships were based on a Russian design. China has shown a preference for the Mi-8/17 design and would like to more than double its force of Mi-17s. In 2010 Chinese and Russian helicopter manufacturers established a joint venture to perform maintenance and refurbishment on helicopters, especially those of Russian design. This was part of a larger plan, which also included the factory in China building Mi-171s. That effort did not go much beyond assembling components, most of them Russian, in a Chinese plant. This was the result of a more ambitious deal that was to allow China to legally manufacture the Mi-171 at the Sichuan Lantian Helicopter Company Limited (SLHCL). Russia has had long and painful experience with China stealing its military technology and building Chinese versions that are described as designed and developed in China. This sort of thing is a major issue with Western nation but even with Russia, one of Chinas few allies, the technology theft continues. There was also a proposal for China and Russia to jointly develop a large transport helicopter, based on the existing Mi-26T (a 20-ton aircraft that can carry 80 passengers). This effort is still under way, with both nations contributing technology and design ideas. The Mi-26T model was modified to suit Chinese needs and the Chinese military and commercial firms continue to buy it from Russia. There may be other joint development deals to produce updated versions of existing Russian helicopter designs. This sort of thing could be mutually beneficial. China now has a domestic source for inexpensive transport helicopters. Chinese civilian and military users are demanding a lot more helicopters but the government is not encouraging more non-military use of helicopters, and wants to develop the ability to design and build its own military helicopters. At the moment China is having a hard time designing and developing something like the Mi-171.This is basically an inexpensive transport helicopter. But it can easily be modified to carry weapons or any other specialized gear. Some of the Mi-171s are even being equipped with radars and other sensors for reconnaissance and surveillance. The Mi-171 is based on the 1970s era Mi-17, which is the export version of the similar Mi-8. Weighing about 12 tons, and carrying a four-ton load, the Mi-171 has a range of 590 kilometers at a cruising speed of 250 kilometers per hour. There is a crew of three and as many passengers as can be squeezed in (up to 40 people, but usually 20-30.) A sling underneath can also carry up to four tons. Nearly 500 Mi-171s have been exported by Russia. The helicopter is rugged, inexpensive ($4-5 million each) and better suited for less affluent nations. Development of this model was completed in 1998 and Russia has been pushing sales hard. Leading UCaaS solution now available in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, with adoption growing rapidly across every market where solution is available Avaya (NYSE: AVYA) and RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) today announced the expansion of Avaya Cloud OfficeTM by RingCentral across Europe, with the solution now generally available in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands. In addition, the companies also announced that they have signed their first seven-figure deal with a large United Kingdom-based Government customer. This geographic expansion of Avaya Cloud Office follows the launch of the solution in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia in June and the United States in March. Since then, the solution has seen uptake continue to accelerate, with a growing number of new customers being signed across every country in which Avaya Cloud Office is available. "It is now more important than ever before that vendors in Unified Communication Collaboration are able to provide UCaaS for clients both new and potential," said Oru Mohiuddin, Research Manager Enterprise Communications Collaboration, IDC. "According to the IDC Europe forecast1, UCaaS will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.3 percent between 2019 and 2023, higher than 17.1 percent as anticipated during the pre-COVID-19 period. Avaya Cloud Office is now available in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands and follows the success that Avaya has seen in North America, Australia, and other European countries. This is to facilitate remote collaboration as working from home becomes the new norm in the post-crisis period. It is, however, not just enough to provide UCaaS it needs to be customizable, flexible, modular, agile, frictionless, scalable, omnichannel, and secure to cater to the varying needs of enterprises." Following today's announcement, organizations in France, Ireland and the Netherlands will benefit from the same recently announced features that are available to all Avaya Cloud Office customers, including additional migration tools, enhanced devices support, along with advanced telephony management and other capabilities. "Avaya Cloud Office is generating tremendous return on investment for our customers, who appreciate the flexibility and reliability the solution provides," said Dennis Kozak, SVP, Business Transformation, Avaya. "Over the last quarter, we have activated an eager base of customers and partners with this compelling UCaaS offer. As we expand availability of Avaya Cloud Office across Europe, we look forward to enabling more customers to achieve positive business outcomes as they transition to new ways of work and engagement." In addition to the recently announced features, Avaya Cloud Office customers will enjoy new capabilities, such as: Avaya branded unified desktop app: Entirely reimagines the user experience for enterprise communications. The clean and refreshed redesign of the desktop application enables users to be more productive with an integrated experience between messaging, video, and phone services in one place. It will also let users switch from different devices while participating in video meetings. Entirely reimagines the user experience for enterprise communications. The clean and refreshed redesign of the desktop application enables users to be more productive with an integrated experience between messaging, video, and phone services in one place. It will also let users switch from different devices while participating in video meetings. Avaya branded video: Offers a full meeting experience from a web browser so users do not have to download any application and can get their meetings started faster than before. Offers a full meeting experience from a web browser so users do not have to download any application and can get their meetings started faster than before. Network performance and video quality controls: Admins can set up custom alerts that proactively notify them of call quality and device status issues that could impact teams. Admins can set up custom alerts that proactively notify them of call quality and device status issues that could impact teams. Admin security controls: Provides hosts with multiple security options when scheduling, starting, or managing on-going meetings to prevent unwanted participation. Provides hosts with multiple security options when scheduling, starting, or managing on-going meetings to prevent unwanted participation. Adoption and usage analytics: Provides insight into usage data to identify areas of improvement and discover ways to help customers get the most out of Avaya Cloud Office. "The need for modern cloud communications has only become more pronounced since we jointly launched Avaya Cloud Office in March 2020, with many organizations realizing the benefits of a powerful UCaaS solution," said Phil Sorgen, Chief Revenue Officer, RingCentral. "Avaya Cloud Office helps meet the communications needs of these organizations, and we continue to see adoption as we roll it more broadly worldwide. We look forward to expanding the ability of our joint European customers to take advantage of these capabilities." Avaya has initiated a comprehensive go-to-market strategy in Europe, having announced new master agent partnerships to meet the growing regional demand for Avaya Cloud Office. Avaya has signed a new master agent agreement with Itancia and ScanSource to rapidly enable adoption of the solution in France. The Netherlands will see Avaya Cloud Office offered by ScanSource. Finally, Avaya has expanded its master agent agreement with Westcon so that it now covers Ireland, France and the Netherlands. 1Source: The Impact of COVID-19 on European Unified Communications and Collaboration doc EUR146381420 About Avaya Businesses are built by the experiences they provide, and everyday millions of those experiences are delivered by Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE: AVYA). Avaya is shaping what's next for the future of work, with innovation and partnerships that deliver game-changing business benefits. Our cloud communications solutions and multi-cloud application ecosystem power personalized, intelligent, and effortless customer and employee experiences to help achieve strategic ambitions and desired outcomes. Together, we are committed to help grow your business by delivering Experiences that Matter. Learn more at http://www.avaya.com About RingCentral RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, and contact center solutions. More flexible and cost-effective than legacy on-premises systems, RingCentral empowers modern mobile and distributed workforces to communicate, collaborate, and connect from any location, on any device, and via any mode. RingCentral provides unified voice, video meetings, team messaging, digital customer engagement, and integrated contact center solutions for enterprises globally. RingCentral's open platform integrates with leading business apps and enables customers to easily customize business workflows. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, California, and has offices around the world. 2020 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements", including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated impact and benefits of Avaya Cloud Office. All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" statements for purposes of the U.S. federal and state securities laws. These statements may be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "our vision," "plan," "potential," "preliminary," "predict," "should," "will," or "would" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. RingCentral and Avaya have based these forward-looking statements on their current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While RingCentral and Avaya believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond their control. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including risks related to the parties' ability to successfully perform their obligations under the commercial arrangement, the parties ability to successfully market, sell and transition customers to Avaya Cloud Office, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed in RingCentral's and Avaya's respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") available at www.sec.gov. RingCentral and Avaya caution you that the list of important factors included in their respective filings may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release may not in fact occur. Neither RingCentral nor Avaya undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Source: Avaya Newsroom View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005280/en/ Contacts: For Avaya Media Inquiries: Alex Alias alalias@avaya.com For RingCentral media inquiries: Jyotsna Grover jyotsna.grover@ringcentral.com - With less than two years left to the end of his final term, Uhuru is overseeing fast-tracked construction of roads - He has been making unannounced inspection tours to ensure projects countrywide are completed as scheduled - In northeastern Kenya, the government is constructing a highway that will traverse five counties - The KSh 91 billion Isiolo-Mandera Highway will be the most expensive in the countrys history PAY ATTENTION: Click 'See First' under 'Follow' Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB Feed Construction of roads has emerged as a key cog of the legacy President Uhuru Kenyatta plans to leave when his term ends in 2022. Since he assumed power in 2013, Kenyatta has prioritised the construction of major inter-city highways, urban and rural roads as part of government efforts to enhance connectivity, reduce travel times and open up hitherto closed regions for more investment in a bid to alleviate poverty and unemployment. READ ALSO: Eyes on William Ruto as Uhuru prepares to leave for France President Uhuru Kenyatta. Photo: State House Kenya. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Victor Wanyama denies claims he paid woman KSh 700k to sleep with her, vows to take legal action A key pointer to the premium the government places on road infrastructure is the huge chunk of the budget that the National Treasury continues to allocate to road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance. And with less than two years left to the end of his final term, Uhuru is personally overseeing the fast-tracked construction of roads, making unannounced inspection tours to ensure they are completed as scheduled. READ ALSO: Kenyan businessman John Rock painfully describes how he lost KSh 95 million due to COVID-19 restrictions The projects are spread across the country, with hitherto marginalised regions such as the upper eastern, upper western and parts of the coast now boasting of modern roads and highways thanks to targeted investment. Nairobi Nairobi, which has for many years suffered from traffic gridlocks, has massively benefited from road projects, some of which are already complete while others are ongoing. Ongoing projects include the 27.1 km Nairobi Expressway, a toll highway that begins at Mlolongo and passes JKIA, Nairobis CBD before ending at Westlands along Waiyaki Way. READ ALSO: Uhuru kusafiri kwenda Ufaransa, Ruto atarajiwa kuchukua majukumu ya urais Construction of Nairobi expressway is envisioned to end in 2022. Photo: KeNHA. Source: Facebook The project, whose construction was commissioned by President Kenyatta last year, has the primary objective of decongesting Nairobi by providing faster, reliable, and less costly transport. It is scheduled to be completed in 2022. Then there is the KSh 17.3 billion Nairobi Western Bypass, which will connect Kikuyu to Ruaka in Kiambu, where it will join the Nairobi Northern Bypass. The 16.78 km China Exim Bank-funded project is the fourth and final ring road in Nairobi; the others are the northern, eastern and southern bypasses. Once completed in 2022, it will further help decongest Nairobi as fewer cars would enter the central business district. North-eastern North eastern region, which Kenyatta has visited more times than any other President since independence, has benefitted from mega road projects that have served to open up the area, laying the ground for exploitation of its immense but hitherto untapped economic potential while improving the welfare of the people. They include the KSh 42 billion Isiolo-Moyale road, which reduced travel time to Nairobi from Wajir, Mandera and Garissa from three days in dry weather to between six and 12 hours depending on your destination. There is also the KSh 2.5 billion Elwak-Rhamu road in Mandera county. The government is also planning to construct the Isiolo-Mandera Highway, which traverses five counties of Isiolo, Meru, Wajir, Garissa and Mandera at a cost of KSh 91 billion. READ ALSO: It will be the single largest project in northern Kenya and the most expensive in the country's history. The project recently received a major boost after the World Bank agreed to finance, among others, the upgrading of 365 kilometres of the 750km Isiolo-Mandera Regional Road Corridor and 30km of spur roads, while the upgrading of the remaining sections will be financed by other development partners at a cost of KSh 81 billion. Coast region At the Coast, megaprojects include the KSh 22 billion six-lane Mombasa-Mariakani Road, the KSh 10.8 billion GarsenWituLamu Highway and the Kinna-Garba Tulla road that connects Isiolo with Garissa. There is also the 18km Dongo-Kundu Bypass Highway, which connects Mombasa West Mainland with Mombasa South mainland. The highway forms part of a three-phase plan to decongest Mombasa and open up the south coast for business and tourism. The KSh 2.7 billion Changamwe-Magongo road, which is complete, has provided a key link between the city and Moi International Airport. Last week, Uhuru inspected the KSh 4.2 billion Malindi-Sala Gate Road that is under construction in Kilifi County. Another flagship project in the area is the KSh 4.2 billion Malindi-Sala Gate highway, which is nearing completion. Other projects at the Coast include the KSh 11 billion Miritini-Mwache-Kipevu road, the KSh 6.1 billion Mombasa-Kwa Jomvu road and the KSh 2.7 billion Port Reitz/Moi International Airport road. Rift valley In Rift Valley, projects completed by KeNHA since 2013 include Sotik-Ndanai-Gorgor, Londiani-Fort Tenan, Timboroa-Eldoret, Kericho-Mau Summit, Kericho-Nyamasaria and Chepterit-Kimondi. Key ongoing projects in the region include the Eldoret Southern Bypass, Loichangamatak-Lodwar (A1), Lodwar-Lokitaung Junction (A1), Cheptiret-Kesses-Lessos and Cheptiret-Moi University among others. The KSh 6 billion Eldoret Southern Bypass will be a game-changer as it has already led to a property boom along its route, an indication that it will help attract more investment to the region. It will go a long way in easing traffic jams in Eldorets central business district that connects the North Rift to neighbouring countries such as Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Central Kenya In Central Kenya, the dualing of the KSh 33 billion Kenol-Sagan-Marua road is expected to be completed before 2022. The road will connect the Northern Corridor from Thika with the ongoing LAPPSET project and open northern parts of the country, also providing central Kenya residents with easy access to markets in various regions. Another signature project is the 540-kilometre KSh 40 billion Mau Mau Road, which will cut across Aberdare forests from Gatanga constituency to Njambini in Nyandarua. It will shorten the route to Naivasha from Muranga and Nyeri counties, thus linking Central Kenya with Rift Valley. The project has been divided into four parts and awarded to different contractors to ensure the construction takes two and a half years. Other road projects in Central include the KSh 11 billion Kiambu Ngewa Kibichoi (B30) Road, the KSh 2.8 billion Ruaka-Banana-Thogoto-Gikambura-Mutarakwa-Limuru road and the Upland-Githunguri-Ruiru road. Eastern Kenya In Eastern Kenya, the government is tarmacking the Kibwezi-Mutomo-Kitui-Mwingi road at a cost of KSh 18.4 billion. The 192-km Class B7 road forms part of the Mombasa-Isiolo-Adis Ababa Transport Corridor. Also under construction is the Athi River-Machakos Turnoff Phase I and the Kibwezi-Kitui-Migwani road. In Meru, the Jubilee government late last year completed construction of the 103km Ena-Ishiara-Chiakariga-Mituguu-Meru road, ending a 20-year wait by the residents of Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties. Completion of the artery, which is also known as Mati Road, reduced costs and travel time to and from Nairobi compared to when one is using the meandering Meru-Embu-Nairobi highway. There are plans to construct a dual carriage road cutting across Meru town, which will ease the movement of people and goods. READ ALSO: Larry Madowo gives netizens a sneak peek of his Washington DC house Western Kenya In western region, major projects that have been completed include the KSh 4.5 billion rehabilitation of the Kisumu-Kakamega road, the KSh 2.5 billion Kakamega-Webuye road, the KSh 3.3 billion Webuye-Kitale road and the KSh 1 billion Gisambai-Shamakhokho road. Others are Ejinja - Bumala and Kimilili - Misikhu roads. Nyanza In Nyanza, major projects include the KSh 9.4 billion Isebania-Kisii-Ahero road, which passes through Migori, Homa Bay, Nyamira, Kisii and Kisumu counties. Its construction is part of the efforts to facilitate inter-regional movement of passengers and goods. READ ALSO: TV47 launches on DStv, offering more local entertainment to subscribers Last month, National Treasury CS Ukur Yattani released KSh 4.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Kisumu-Chemelil-Muhoroni (Mamboleo-Kisumu) road. The road, which has been neglected for over 20 years, cuts across Chemelil, Miwani and Kibos to join the KisumuKakamega road at the Mamboleo junction, traversing three major sugar millers. Others include here is the KSh 1.7 billion Kamagambo-Nyasembe-Mogonga road, Siaya-Ruambwa, Chebilat-Ikonge-Chabera, Masara-Suna-Kehancha, Awendo-Mariwa and the Daraja Mbili-Nyatieko-Eronge-Kegogi-Miruka road. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My car broke my family - Kenneth Saota | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. More than 100,000 containers at major ports across the country are now caught up in an indefinite waterfront dispute as retailers fear delays at docks in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle could threaten Christmas stocks. Leading stevedore Patrick Terminals has released new figures claiming Melbourne will be 11 days behind schedule by Friday, Sydney will be out more than three weeks and Brisbane nine days behind following a series of stoppages, go-slows and overtime and upgrade bans. Patrick CEO Michael Jovicic, overlooking Port Botany, says a union dispute is delaying containers. Credit:Louie Douvis The Maritime Union of Australias claim for a six per cent wage rise over four years is heading to the Fair Work Commission for conciliation on Wednesday and a hearing on Thursday. Patrick said there were now 38 ships being held up around Australia and en route from Asia, with a backlog of almost 25,000 containers expected in Melbourne by the end of the week, 56,000 in Sydney and 12,000 in Brisbane. This Monday marks World News Day, a global campaign organised to highlight the critical role of journalism and professional newsrooms in helping citizens make sense of the world. All over the world today, newspapers are using their pages, editorials, digital and social media platforms to highlight why journalism matters. Local Ireland, the representative association for Irish local news publishers including the Offaly Express, is urging the government to support the vital role of public interest journalism in the democratic process and safeguard citizens from fake news and the spread of misinformation. In recent years there have been numerous examples of outstanding public interest journalism produced by Irish news journalists that have affected real change in society - from recent investigative journalism which uncovered wrongdoing or illegal activity, to campaigning journalism which achieved tangible results to the reporting of issues or stories which change the public discourse and narrative. But quality journalism requires funding and in the current media landscape, publishers are struggling to monetise content adequately while international technology giants, who do not invest in content creation, absorb a disproportionate share of advertising revenue on the back of content created by news publishers. Covid-19 has highlighted the critical importance of trustworthy news sources in an era of misinformation and disinformation. We are proud that Irish news publishers have been to the forefront in keeping the public accurately informed since the crisis began. Our journalists have worked hard to consistently deliver accurate, fact-checked information and news analysis to the Irish people, while dangerous falsehoods spread like wildfire on social media, said David Ryan, President of Local Ireland. The organisation says urgent reform is needed to rebalance the platform-publisher relationship and restore competition to the digital advertising market to secure a sustainable future for news publishers. To that end, Local Ireland is calling on the government to do the following. *Complete the long-overdue Review of the Defamation Act and reform Irelands draconian defamation laws *Tackle the dominance of tech platforms in the digital advertising market. Urgent pro-competitive reform to rebalance the platform-publisher relationship and restore competition to the digital advertising market is needed to secure a sustainable future for news publishers *Reduce VAT to 5% on newspapers and digital news products and to ultimately reduce VAT to 0% as is the case in Britain and other EU countries. "Without a vibrant local and national news publishing industry, going forward, who will report on the courts, the Oireachtas, council meetings, local and national sporting events, raise awareness of important societal issues and campaign for change? - Google? Facebook?," asked David Ryan. Ever wondered what The Office would be like if Marcus from Coronation Street played Martin Freemans role? Actor Charlie Condou has revealed he auditioned for Timothy but didnt get it, sharing his own experience as he asked other actors which life-changing parts they narrowly missed out on. From Hermione to Art Attack, actors began to share what might have been in the now viral Twitter thread. Condou kicked off the thread by asking the Twitterverse: "Actors: what part did you go up for and not get, which wouldve changed your career? Ill start. Martin Freemans part in 'The Office.'" Harry Potter near misses were a recurring theme in the thread, with one of the biggest being fellow Corrie star Tony Maudsley revealing he had missed out on Hagrid. He tweeted: Hagrid in Harry Potter. Though I did get a little consolation when I got to play his younger brother Grawp in the fifth film a few years later. Call the Midwife actor Cassie Compton also revealed she had missed out on Hermione after multiple auditions, saying, Hermione in Harry Potter... after multiple auditions... only for the first film to be released and spend six months hearing you look like that girl in Harry Potter at school for about six months A number of people also revealed they had auditioned for Daniel Radcliffes role in the series, with TV writer Elliot Gonzalez sharing his own experience: I'm totally fine about it now. I ended becoming a supporting artist (extra) in the 4th film and got free cakes every day at 3pm, so I think we all know who won really. Getty Images Condou and two other actors also shared their joint experiences of losing out on the role of Bilbo Baggins to Martin Freeman in The Hobbit. Actor Neil Cole revealed that back when Sherlocks shoot schedule had clashed with The Hobbit, he was tapped in that brief period when Martin Freeman couldnt do it because of Sherlock Condou responded, Same. They even told me that Peter Jackson wanted to wait for him so I probably wouldnt get it. As another actor told Condou hed also lost out on Bilbo, Condou responded, Join the club mate. Emmerdales Natalie Anderson said she had lost out to another Natalie for the role of Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, which later went to Natalie Portman. Daniel Logan, who played Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode II, said he had missed out on the role of John Rowland in Desperate Housewives to Jesse Metcalfe. You're the Worst's Chris Geere shared a whole string of amazing roles he had sadly missed out on, tweeting, "I have experienced so many down to the last three then missed out. Pirates of the Caribbean, Letters to Juliet, Vampire Diaries and The Morning Show to name a few!" He later clarified to another user that the Vampire Diaries role he lost out on was Klaus, a character who later went on to have a spin-off series. He said, "I was so devastated when I heard Id missed out but now realise how many wonderful jobs I would have missed out on if Id got it. Life has a path for all of us, lets enjoy the ride." Spotless actor Kate Magowan also revealed she was down to the last two for Kate Beckinsales role in Pearl Harbour, to which Condou replied that hed been in a similar position for Empire of the Sun. An actor named Katherine Moran also gave us a glimpse of what lockdown smash hit Normal People may have looked like in another universe, as she revealed she had auditioned for Marianne. The Fast Shows Arabella Weir also responded to Condou James Bond. Actor Natasha Barnes also said she was haunted by her audition experience for Jerusalem, where she acted alongside Mark Rylance and Jez Butterworth. She said: A part in Jerusalem. Sat in a room in the Royal Court with Jez Butterworth and Mark Rylance with no idea who they were. Did some improv. I am haunted by how awful that improv will have been. I am haunted by not knowing who those Gods were at the time. Other actors also shared their own experiences, with Raja Singh saying he lost out on the Ang Lee film Life of Pi but "going on to watch it do so well as an incredible feeling and still motivates me to this day." Actor Jenny Ryan revealed that she auditioned for "the lead in a Granada kids show", but missed out on it. She added, "It was 30 years until my next professional audition." Ryan currently stars as The Vixen on the quiz show The Chase. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Richard Horstman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 15:19 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f7506 3 Art & Culture arts-and-culture,arts-and-culture-in-Indonesia,Aan-Andonowati Free Indonesian art visionary Aan Andonowati initially developed her creative prowess within the field of applied mathematics. Born in Magelang, Central Java, in 1963, her parents forbid her to engage in art and music as a child. From the age of 6, her mother sent her to private mathematics classes, believing this was an avenue to her daughters future prosperity. In 1995, Aan received a PhD in mathematical physics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and afterward she worked as a researcher and a faculty lecturer at McGill for two years. She then affiliated with the Applied Analysis and Mathematical Physics Group at University of Twente, Netherlands. While living in Montreal, Aan's passion for fine arts led her to embark upon art market practices in Canada. Returning to Indonesia in 1999 to work at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), she began collecting artworks mostly from Indonesian artists. Among other appointments and achievements, her fascination of mathematical modeling and simulation focused upon coastal oceanography and environmental water helped inspired a new independent research institute, LabMath-Indonesia, which she cofounded with her husband in 2006. Aans first venture into the Indonesian art world began in 2007 with ArtSociates, an art and artist management enterprise to promote local artists within the national and international spheres. ArtSociates later hosted a private art and science estate, Lawangwangi, from late 2009. The following year, Aan initiated the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards, biannual prizes to encourage talented emerging artists to explore their ideas using diverse media. In 2012, Lawangwangi evolved with an emphasis on sustainability and was rebranded as Lawangwangi Creative Space with the vision of becoming a distinct art park and a center for the advancement of art and culture in Bandung. As the chief director of PT Lawangwangi, her companys projects focus upon the hospitality industry integrated with art and nature. (https://www.instagram.com/artsociates.id/) (https://www.artsociates.com/) (https://www.lawangwangi.com/) Newly opened in early September, Sakarsa Art Space owned by Sakti Wahyu Trenggono in Bekasi, West Java, is currently managed by Aan. The opening was delayed due to the pandemic, but she is optimistic, believing the venue will help to revitalize the art scene by creating a new cluster of collectors. Aan recently expressed her thoughts and ideas about the future of the Indonesian art world and some of her projects. 'The Irony of Ruralism' (2018) by Eddy Susanto, mixed media, 3.5m x 5m x 5m. (Courtesy of ArtSociates/Lawangwangi/File) What are the factors (pre-COVID) inhibiting the development of Indonesian contemporary art? The infrastructure for a healthy development of Indonesian art is far from ideal. There are no international standard museums as key reference points to inform society, public art is not encouraged and structural government support for artists does not exist. The Indonesian art market is, however, among the largest in Southeast Asia, because many private patrons have supported the art industry. Unfortunately, until the boom in 2008, the art market was partly driven by auction prices, and we often observed that there was no correlation between the price and the artists' portfolios. Relations between collectors, galleries and artists were not harmonious, which made it difficult to create a healthy art market in Indonesia. What are some practical solutions to help correct these problems? For government policymakers, it is time to create a National Art Council with members from all stakeholders of the art community, including curators, artists, museum directors, gallerists, collectors and art biennale and art fair directors. The council could create programs to promote Indonesian art with requirements for public and private buildings to display art in their public spaces. An inventory of National Assets in Art for existing and future art acquisitions could be developed. Establish international standard museums as public art references and make a financial scheme for art donations and art event support. For art galleries, artists and collectors, it is time to build respectful and sustainable long-term relationships where galleries have as targets the promotion of their representative artist. Artists produce their best works for the representing galleries, while collectors make art acquisitions through galleries. How can we draw a new generation of collectors to Indonesian art? Appreciating and collecting art needs to be perpetuated. Each exhibition should come with programs: regular guided tours, school children visits to galleries, artist talks and classes for art appreciation for possible new collectors. ArtSociates/Lawangwangi does most of these programs. At the moment, we are only able to have virtual tours and private guided tours. We also provide interviews with artists and curators, mostly presented on our Instagram. 'Speculative Realism #41Games' (2020) by Jim Allen Abel, 150X100cm inkjet print on professional photo paper mounted on aluminium dB (Courtesy of ArtSociates/Lawangwangi/File) What does innovation mean to you? Innovation is how the human race progresses to become more empathic toward others along with the better distribution of wealth. Innovation is also a way to grow and achieve sustainability. Why is it important that innovation becomes a new mantra for the Indonesian art world? The blessing of contemporary art is that art should speak about context and why it is relevant. This context is a golden gate for Indonesian artists to enter the global scene, because context exists within our rich and dynamic Indonesian sociopolitical culture. Innovation is the rediscovery of the right context presented in the right media, and this stimulates the understanding of what is otherwise hidden. What positive ideas/developments have occurred during the pandemic that have captured your imagination? Our art business is structured around the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards, the mechanism for selecting artists that we later manage and promote. While this system is valid, only a minimal number of artists can be part of our promotion into the mainstream market. To expand into a broader market and so enlarge the involvement of artists, I created a new brand, COLABOREA art & design. This serves as pre-order custom art specializing in the needs of the clients, affordable art and art-based designed objects. COLABOREA working & living is also a new brand to further promote the Indonesian creative industry. In this project, we open coworking and coliving spaces with connections to working studios (ceramic, metal, glass). The artists and designers can trial prototype art/design productions while connecting with others via technology startups, for example. Finally, we also reshaped and rebranded our restaurants where the food is curated based upon a six-month theme. This will later evolve with a new concept of curated ghost/cloud kitchens - a gallery culinary show - under the new brand COLABOREA food & culture. It is now too late for me to build a career as an artist, Aan admits. I do believe, however, I can contribute to a brighter future by building the Indonesian art and cultural infrastructure to encourage creative minds to flourish. (wng) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. As California waits (and waits) for an announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsoms office regarding theme parks, Disney has announced that it will lay off approximately 28,000 cast members from its California and Florida parks. In light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic exacerbated in California by the states unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen we have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels, Disney Parks Chairman Josh DAmaro said today in a statement shared with SFGATE. Those employees have been on furlough since April, he noted, with paid health care benefits. About 67% of the layoffs are of part-time workers. We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal, DAmaro said in a staff memo shared today. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. And, as a result, today we are now forced to reduce the size of our team across executive, salaried, and hourly roles. Pressure is increasing in all corners of the state to reopen Disneyland. The Anaheim theme park is the only Disney resort in the world to remain closed, and there has been no guidance issued by the governor on when it can reopen. Yesterday, a group of California lawmakers including senators and assembly members sent a letter to Newsoms office, imploring the governor to issue guidance on theme parks. Theme parks throughout the country and internationally have successfully reopened and one glance at the news makes it obvious that outbreaks simply arent being traced back to these theme parks, the letter said. Your Administration [sic] has been rightfully reliant on data and science and, to date, the data and science do not point to theme parks as sources of transmission. Julie Tremaine Last week, a commercial aired from Reopen OC, asking viewers to put pressure on Newsom for news or guidance regarding Disneyland, Universal Hollywood, Knotts Berry Farm and the rest of California's theme parks. However, Newsoms response has been one of caution, not of reopening guidance, according to the LA Times. If were not cautious, if were not vigilant, if were not wearing our masks, if were not practicing physical distancing, these numbers can start to tip back up, he said Monday. That statement came in advance of an announcement Tuesday moving some counties from red to orange tiers, which means additional businesses can open up at limited capacity in counties that meet state reopening criteria. Today, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services, said in a press conference, Were working hard to get that [guidance] out in a responsible way as soon as possible, so planning can be done by both the counties that are homes to the theme parks, as well as the operators of those theme parks. We know a lot of Californians are eager and wondering when that is coming, Ghaly continued, and were working with those industries to put out something thats thoughtful and allows us to maintain the rest of our framework in a strong way and really following those principles of slow and stringent to ensure those large activities are done responsibly. Not quite yet, but were getting very close. Meanwhile, new social distancing markers have been installed outside the gates to Disneyland, ready for guests as soon as the announcement comes. Julie Tremaine is a contributing editor for SFGATE covering Disneyland. Email: julie.tremaine@sfgate.com | Twitter + Instagram: @julietremaine By Trend The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office issued a joint statement in connection with another provocation of the Armenian Armed Forces against Azerbaijan, Trend reports on Sept. 29. By grossly violating the international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, Armenia fired on the Azerbaijani civilians and facilities, the joint statement said. As a result, ten civilians were killed and 30 injured. The criminal cases have been filed in connection with these crimes of the Armenian armed forces upon the relevant articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, the joint statement said. "All these are war crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces, the joint statement said. The Armenians purposefully fire at the civilians and facilities. The international community must condemn these crimes and take measures to suppress them." Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. India has yet again highlighted that victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and Pathankot terror attack are yet to get justice due to Pakistan's "non cooperative" attitude. Speaking at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of Victims of terrorism, Secretary (East) Vijay Thakur Singh in ministry of external affairs said,"would like to highlight that, for example, the victims of 2008 Mumbai terror attack and 2016 Pathankot terror attack are yet to get justice." Without taking Pakistan's name, the Indian diplomat said, "This is due to the unwillingness and non-cooperative attitude of a particular country." Both the attacks were perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror groups and despite India giving evidence of their involvement, Islamabad has taken no action against them. "While terrorists can never succeed in achieving their nefarious objectives they leave behind a "trail of death and destruction" & even, amidst the ongoing pandemic, terrorism continues to pose a critical threat to international peace and security", stepping up the use of information technology "for propaganda and for issuing threats further exacerbating the stress on victims of terror," noted Vijay Thakur Singh. Live TV India has been calling for a common definition of terror via CCIT or Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations. Proposed in 1996 by India, the draft remains stuck due to lack of consensus at the world body. Secretary (East) elaborated on the impact of terrorism on women and childen saying"Acts of terrorism not only violate the rights of individual victims but they also deeply affect the enjoyment of a range of rights by the families of the victims and society as a whole." Adding,"Measures aimed at addressing the needs of the victims of terrorism, therefore, should factor in the sensitivities of these vulnerable sections of the society. Efforts should also be made to work with the victims to build a counter narrative against the hateful propaganda of terrorism." Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism was launched last year by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.Group is the initiative of the Permanent Missions of Afghanistan and Spain to the United Nations, and has 24 Member States including India.UN Office of Counter-Terrorism & UN Office on Drugs and Crime are observer members of the grouping. JPMorgan Chase & Co. admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay more than $US920 million ($1.29 billion) to resolve US authorities' claims of market manipulation in the bank's trading of metals futures and Treasury securities over an eight-year period, the largest sanction ever tied to the illegal practice known as spoofing. The New York-based lender will pay the biggest monetary penalty ever imposed by the CFTC, including a $US436.4 million fine, $US311.7 million in restitution and more than $US172 million in disgorgement, according to a statement from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC said its order will recognise and offset restitution and disgorgement payments made to the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission. Spoofing typically involves flooding derivatives markets with orders that traders don't intend to execute to trick others into moving prices in a desired direction. Credit:AP The accord ends a criminal investigation of the bank that has led to a half dozen employees being charged for allegedly rigging the price of gold and silver futures for more than eight years. Two have entered guilty pleas, and four others are awaiting trial. The JPMorgan penalty far exceeds previous spoofing-related fines levied against banks, and is the toughest sanction imposed in the Justice Department's years-long crackdown on spoofing. The bank entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department as part of the settlement, according to the CFTC. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may select the next CEO of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), from a panel of candidates the lender had provided to the central bank earlier this year. The list includes one internal candidate, one from Kotak Mahindra Bank and one from Punjab National Bank (PNB), sources said, as per a report by The Economic Times. We are given to understand that the regulator may consider the existing list for selecting the next CEO for the bank, a source told the paper. CEO S Sunder, at present holds interim charge and was suggested to fill the post fully a decision that was rejected by shareholders through vote at the AGM last week. They also rejected the re-appointment of six other directors on September 25. Sunder took charge in January 2020 after Parthasarathi Mukherjee suddenly resigned on August 31, 2019. Prior to this he was the banks CFO from April 2018 to December 2019. The outcome of the AGM (first reported by Moneycontrol) was unprecedented in many ways. It is rare that shareholders oust an RBI-approved CEO in a bank, along with more than half the directors on the board, and the auditors as well for good measure. As news of the management's ouster hit the headlines, LVB swung into damage control. It sought the central banks approval to form a committee of directors (CoD) to take charge with discretionary powers of the managing director and CEO. The approval came late on September 27. Members of the CoD are Meeta Makhan (Chairman), Shakti Sinha and Satish Kumar Kalra. LVB has been incurring losses for the past 10 quarters and the RBI initiated Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) in September 2019, which inter alia prescribes the bank to bring in additional capital, restrict further lending to corporates, reduce NPAs, and improve the Provision Coverage Ratio to 70 percent. The distressed finances require the bank to take effective steps to augment its capital base in 2020-21. According to the March quarter figures, LVB has a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) a measure of the financial stability of a lender of just 1.12 percent as on March 31, as against the RBI requirement of 8 percent. Similarly, the Tier I and II components of CAR stood at a negative 0.88 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, as on March 31, stood at 25.39 percent compared with 23.27 percent a year ago. In the March-quarter results notes, under the head 'material uncertainty related to going concern', the banks auditors had outlined the severe financial situation the company is going through and indicated that any chances of survival depend on capital infusion. ALBANY State Attorney General Letitia James detailed her offices efforts on Tuesday to protect consumers from phantom debt collectors and abusive and threatening debt-collection practices. James office is part of a nationwide crackdown, led by the Federal Trade Commission, that has brought more than 50 enforcement actions in 16 states. The FTC outlined Operation Corrupt Collector in a conference call with James with reporters. In New York, James office has recently been involved in five cases against debt collection companies. James said the cases are focused on protecting seniors and societys most vulnerable. Every debt collection scam unearthed, she said, prevents a "number of victims of harassment and intimidation. Two of the cases are ongoing, including a scheme in Buffalo allegedly led by a man named Kenneth Thomas and others, which used extremely deceptive and abusive tactics to collect debts." For instance, using a call spoofing service, the Thomas company allegedly disguised their phone numbers with contact information associated with the consumers local county courthouse or sheriffs office. While impersonating government officials, the debt collectors allegedly threatened consumers with pick-up orders, bench warrants, license suspensions and other bogus threats. The company, which has used the name Midway Resolution Services and others, also allegedly made threats to consumers friends, family members and employers. In mid-September, a temporary restraining order was granted by state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Panepinto in Erie County enjoining the company from engaging in debt collection and freezing corporate bank accounts. Nominate your favorite people and places now Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Nominate your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4. Another recent case from James office targeted a company that was trying to collect fake debts from consumers, which resulted in a permanent industry ban for company leadership. Another, targeting a company that charged consumers more than they owed and posed as law enforcement personnel, resulted in a $1.7 million suspended judgement, James said. The broader federal crackdown announced Tuesday included two new FTC cases alleging that companies were trying to collect debts they cannot legally collect or that a consumer does not owe, a practice known as phantom debt collection. States reporting actions as part of the operation include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington. SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bandwidth Infrastructure Group (Bandwidth IG), a metro dark fiber network provider in Northern California and Greater Atlanta is expanding its high capacity, dark fiber network within Douglas County, Georgia. Bandwidth IG is working in partnership with the region to attract and support new development and investment in the area. Douglas County offers affordable land, a favorable business environment and a trained and qualified workforce all within a 25-minute drive of downtown Atlanta. With over $3 billion in investment over the last five years, Douglas County has emerged as a highly attractive area for data centers to expand and invest. Douglas County boasts a low risk of natural disasters, highly available and robust connectivity, attractive state and local tax incentives and abundant and reliable energy with costs of approximately 50% of the natural average. "It is an honor to have partners of Bandwidth IG's caliber who bring proven industry expertise to Douglas County," says Chris Pumphrey, Executive Director of Douglas County Economic Development Authority. "The investment that Bandwidth IG is making in Douglas County plays a significant role in the economic growth of the region and contributes exponentially to the confidence that potential investors have in the market. With over 1,000 acres immediately available for future sites, infrastructure improvements by our county and city leaders, and the key partnerships we have in place with companies such as Bandwidth IG, Douglas County has garnered national attention as an emerging data center hub and we anticipate continued growth in this sector." Bandwidth IG recognizes the importance that high capacity, strategic, dark fiber networks with large fiber counts, diversity and low latency play in laying the groundwork for future development and economic growth. Fiber networks of this kind are extremely beneficial to the colocation business but also provide a great backbone for other industries, such as banking, finance and healthcare who can benefit from this infrastructure and connectivity. New development of this kind brings with it a highly skilled workforce with technical expertise and ultimately creates higher quality jobs, extending the benefits of the development throughout the community. "Based on its merits, we can see Douglas County eventually being able to rival Loudon and Santa Clara counties for data center development. We have been working together with key members of the Economic Development team to transform policy, map out development and capacity, and share insights and opportunities with one another," said Jim Nolte, CEO for Bandwidth IG. "Douglas County is a prime area that is ripe with new opportunities for growth and development and we are thrilled to be a part of its continued success." The new infrastructure that Bandwidth IG is building out offers diverse routes with high-capacity fiber to ensure the highest levels of throughput and business continuity. Building underground fiber was previously cost prohibitive making Bandwidth IG's investment in the area even more valuable. To learn more about new projects being unveiled on 'Data Hill' in Douglas County, visit the website. To connect with the team at Bandwidth IG or to learn more, reach out to us today. About Bandwidth IG Bandwidth Infrastructure Group (Bandwidth IG) is a metro dark fiber provider that offers high capacity, strategic, dark fiber networks to mission critical data centers, hyperscalers and enterprises throughout Northern California and Greater Atlanta. Bandwidth IG's 100% underground network meets critical data needs for enterprises and data centers who require quality, reliable connectivity options. Bandwidth IG's Northern California network offers more than 50 route miles and 89,000 fiber miles, and the Greater Atlanta network has more than 40 route miles and 75,000 fiber miles. Bandwidth IG was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit www.BandwidthIG.com to learn more. About Douglas County Economic Development Authority Douglas County Economic Development Authority (DCEDA) builds business success with site selection and workforce solutions for expanding and existing businesses, attracting more than $4 billion in new investments, and creating thousands of jobs in Douglas County, Georgia in the past three years. By showcasing Douglas County's proximity to Atlanta and its international airport, affordable real estate, lower taxes and business-friendly environment, DCEDA has drawn a mix of data centers, advanced manufacturing, professional and technology services, and logistics operations, including Amazon, Google, Switch and Medline Industries. DCEDA is committed to fostering an environment where businesses can thrive and focuses its efforts on recruiting new businesses, assisting existing industries, and providing tools for entrepreneurs to succeed in Douglas County. Visit www.developdouglas.com to learn more. SOURCE Bandwidth IG Related Links http://www.BandwidthIG.com FILE PHOTO: A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines accused Facebook on Tuesday of censoring pro-government content which it said was tantamount to curtailing freedom of speech and called for new measures to regulate the social media giant to "level the playing field". In the Southeast Asian country, President Rodrigo Duterte has been bolstered by establishing a powerful support base on social media platforms like Facebook, a factor that was instrumental in his election victory in 2016. But Facebook last week dismantled a network of accounts that originated from China and the Philippines for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behaviour", including one that Manila says it supports for its anti-communism stance. The takedown drew the ire of Duterte who warned Facebook on Monday night that it should explain what its purpose is in his country if it wants to continue to operate. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte would not shut down Facebook, but he wants to understand how it regulates content in the Philippines where 65% percent of its 107 million people are users. Platforms like Facebook have become political battlegrounds in the Philippines, but the Duterte administration has denied allegations that it has allowed the abuse and manipulation of social media by its supporters to harass or discredit opponents. Roque also questioned Facebook's partnership with local fact-checkers Rappler and Vera Files, online news organizations that he said were critical of the Duterte government. "We need new policies to level the playing field on Facebook," Roque said, adding Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself has called for regulation of online content. Facebook and Rappler did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Vera Files declined to comment. Facebook has been under fire in recent years for its lax approach to fake news reports, state-backed disinformation campaigns and violent content spread on its services, prompting calls for new regulations around the world. Following such criticism, Zuckerberg had said the company would prioritize "trustworthy" news in its feed by identifying high-quality outlets. (Reporting by Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Ed Davies) The Verkhovna Rada's Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government and Urban Planning invites President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to condemn the statements and actions of the first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group Vitold Fokin and to terminate his participation in the work of the delegation. "The Verkhovna Rada appeals to President of Ukraine, head of the National Security and Defense Council Volodymyr Zelensky with an appeal (...) to condemn the statements and actions of the first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group Fokin Vitold Pavlovych and to stop his presence in the (...) delegation," the draft resolution being at the disposal of the Interfax-Ukraine agency says. The resolution also notes that the Verkhovna Rada expresses deep concern over the systemic, purposeful, and those that threaten state sovereignty and national security, statements and actions of individual members of the Ukrainian delegation to participate in the Trilateral Contact Group, in particular, the first deputy head of the delegation Fokin. China on Tuesday said it does not recognise the illegally constituted Ladakh union territory, adding it was opposed to India building military infrastructure in the border areas. The Chinese foreign ministry said neither India nor China should engage in activities in the border region that could complicate the situation, brushing aside its own infrastructure-building by saying it was on their side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Beijing also denied reports that it had built new military bases near LAC, saying they were driven by ulterior motives. Responding to a question on India building a high-altitude road network in Ladakh, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: China has not recognised Ladakh union territory illegally set up by the Indian side. We are opposed to conducting infrastructure development for military purposes in the border area. Indias strengthening of infrastructure in the region comes amid the worst border tension with China in decades in eastern Ladakh, where border troops from the two countries are locked in a face-off since May. Based on the two sides consensus, no side should engage in the border areas in any activities that might complicate the situation to avoid undermining two sides efforts to ease the situation, Wang added. China had responded strongly in August, 2019, after New Delhi had stripped Jammu & Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated the state as two separate union territories of J&K and Ladakh. China has always opposed Indias inclusion of Chinese territory in Indias administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border. This position is firm, consistent and has never changed, the foreign ministry had said in a statement at the time. In recent days, the Indian side has continued to undermine Chinas territorial sovereignty by unilaterally amending its domestic laws. This practice is unacceptable and will not produce any effect, the 2019 statement had said. When Wang was asked on Tuesday to comment on Chinas advanced infrastructure in the region, he initially denied that Beijing was building new military facilities in the region. First, some institutions once released the so-called information on new military bases or facilities China has built on its side. Such reports are completely false. They are driven by ulterior motives, Wang said. Then he went on to add that Beijing follows all border agreements signed with India. Second, China consistently and strictly abides by the agreements signed with the Indian side. We are committed to maintaining peace and stability along the border with India; at the same time, we firmly safeguard our sovereignty, territorial integrity and security. For a long time, (the) Chinese side have been conducting activities on the Chinese side of the LAC and they have always complied with relevant agreements. The spokesperson added: We hope the Indian side to work for the same purpose, together with China to achieve the cooling of temperature on the ground and to prevent adding complex factors to the two sides concerted efforts to ease the situation. Wang was also asked to comment on the quadrilateral, or Quad, meeting of officials from India, Australia, and the US in Japan next week. External affairs minister S Jaishankar will hold talks with his counterparts from the US, Japan and Australia in Tokyo on October 6 for the Quad meeting. They will discuss their common regional concerns, such as Chinas increasingly assertive actions, in the first face-to-face ministerial meetings Japan will host since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Associated Press news agency reported. Wang warned that no exclusive clique should be formed, indicating that Beijing was closely following the development and progress of the Quad. Peace, development and global cooperation is the overriding trend of todays world. Multilateral and plurilateral cooperation should all be open, inclusive and transparent. No one should seek an exclusive clique, he said. Efforts should be made to enhance regional countries mutual understanding and trust, instead of targeting a third party or harming third partys interests. We hope the relevant county will proceed from the interests of regional countries and do more things conducive to regional peace, stability and development instead of the contrary. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 14:06:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The next D23 Expo, Disney's ultimate fan event, will be postponed by one year from 2021 to 2022, the company said Monday. "We are excited to announce that the next D23 Expo will be held September 9-11, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center," said the company in a statement, adding that the event "will be a celebration unlike any other, as we give fans a first look at the incredible plans for the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company." Many prominent events in the United States have been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Last held in August 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland in Orange County, California, the next D23 Expo was originally scheduled to take place next summer. The D23 is the official fan club for the Disney company. Since the first D23 Expo in 2009, the event has been held every two years to reward Disney superfans. During the event, Disney brings their worlds of film, TV, theme parks and celebrities together for their fans to enjoy. Enditem Azad had earlier demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. New Delhi: Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan of Azad Samaj Party (ASP) meets the family of Hathras rape victim at Safdarjang Hospital in New Delhi, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (PTI Photo) New Delhi: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and his supporters held a protest on Tuesday at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, where a 19-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died days after being gang-raped, demanding the culprits be sentenced to death. The Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries Tuesday morning At the protest, the Bhim Army chief said, "I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won''t rest until the culprits are hanged." Azad had earlier demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. "The state government is equally responsible for the death of our sister," he alleged. The woman was gang-raped a fortnight ago. The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have been arrested. She was admitted to Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital here on Monday. Rivers Plumbing and Electric Inc.'s new facility on 122 E. Laurel St. will be the company's fourth South Carolina location. The Marion County operations will manufacture, store and distribute prefabricated assemblies for construction. "We're so excited and honored to be bringing this piece of Mullins' history back to life, Rivers Plumbing and Electric Inc. President Scott Rivers said. Our hope is to be a valuable member of this community and to continue to be a positive source of growth in the Carolinas." The facility is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2021. "We are pleased to see that Rivers Plumbing and Electric Inc. is establishing operations in Mullins and will occupy the former American Lightbulb building, Marion County Administrator Tim Harper said. We have had the opportunity to work with Rivers in the past, and we look forward to continuing the relationship and congratulate them on this new endeavor." Gov. Henry McMaster said its exciting to see another South Carolina business succeed and build on its presence. We celebrate Rivers Plumbing and Electric Inc.'s decision to establish operations in Marion County and create 150 new jobs, he said. One of the worst things about the mainstream media's habit of treating American politics as a high school popularity contest is that it obscures actual news with important consequences. A story that has received a lot of play in the foreign media and almost none in the American media is that the Vatican is renewing a deal with China that gives the Chinese government a say in the appointment of Catholic bishops. The Vatican did this despite strong opposition from the U.S. government. A craven Pope Francis then delivered a snub to the Trump administration when he refused to meet with Secretary Mike Pompeo. The first thing to get out of the way is the fact that, yes, Pope Francis is leftist in his orientation. Francis is a product of the communist "liberation theology" movement that swept Latin American Catholicism in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of his values owe more to Marx and the modern Progressive movement than they do to the Bible and the values of the Catholic faith. Therefore, it should not be a surprise that, in 2018, Pope Francis entered into a deal with the Chinese government regarding the status of the Catholic faith in that communist country. You may not have known this, but China has about 12 million professed Catholics. Some of them "worship" at a state-sponsored "Catholic church," while others worship in an underground Catholic church loyal to the Vatican. The members of this second church have often been persecuted for their loyalty to the pope. Pope Francis has decided that the way to break through to the Chinese Catholics is to appease the communist government. Two years ago, the Vatican entered into a secret agreement with the government. The details are hazy, but what's known is that the agreement gave both the Vatican and the communist government a say in appointing bishops to the state-sponsored "Catholic" church. According to Al Jazeera, which it galls me to say is a more honest broker of the news than our American media: Francis immediately recognised eight Chinese bishops who had been appointed by Beijing without his approval. Since then, two new bishops have been appointed in China, with a nod from the head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics. And in a historic step earlier this year, Chinese and Vatican foreign affairs ministers met publicly at an international event for the first time in 70 years. During the same two years, China has escalated its persecution of Catholics and other religious people within its borders. In an article published in First Things, secretary of state Mike Pompeo detailed just some of the persecution the government is visiting on religious people. After acknowledging the well known atrocities against Uighur Muslims, he says: Two years on, it's clear that the Sino-Vatican agreement has not shielded Catholics from the Party's depredations, to say nothing of the Party's horrific treatment of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong devotees, and other religious believers. The State Department's 2019 annual report on religious freedom provides an illustrative example in the story of Father Paul Zhang Guangjun, who was beaten and "disappeared" for refusing to join the CCP-run Patriotic Catholic Association. Sadly, his experience is not unique. Communist authorities continue to shutter churches, spy on and harass the faithful, and insist that the Party is the ultimate authority in religious affairs. Not content with harassing the faithful, the Chinese government has been rewriting Christianity's most sacred text, the New Testament. In the original version, Jesus shamed those who would stone an adulteress and then told her he would not condemn her; instead, she should sin no more. In the Chinese version, when Jesus was alone with the adulteress, he stoned her to death, saying, "I am also a sinner. But if the law could only be enforced by men without blemish, the law would be dead." Secretary Pompeo has been trying to meet with the pope to discuss the Vatican's decision to renew an agreement that gives the papacy's imprimatur to the Chinese government's abuses. Francis, though, is hiding: Pope Francis has reportedly refused to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Rome over a dispute between the Vatican and China. [snip] According to reports, Pope Francis cited the looming United States presidential election as the reason to not meet with Mr Pompeo. But the Trump administration's criticism over the deal between the Vatican and China could likely be a factor in the decision. One more thing: The above quotation comes from an MSN news site. However, it's not an MSN story. Instead, it comes from England's Independent. The American media, which are obsessed with Amy Coney Barrett's Catholicism, have ignored a story that affects 12 million Chinese Catholics and reflects very poorly on the man who is the spiritual head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. The media are a disgrace, and I'm not impressed with the pope, either. Image: Pope Francis by Annett_Klingner at Pixabay (edited in Pixlr). GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) today announced it will release third quarter 2020 financial results on Thursday, October 22, 2020, after market close. The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) on the same day. Interested parties can access the live webcast of the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, http://investor.associatedbank.com. Parties may also dial into the call at 877-407-8037 (domestic) or 201-689-8037 (international) and request the Associated Banc-Corp third quarter 2020 earnings call. The financial tables and an accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company's website just prior to the call. An audio archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately fifteen minutes after the call is over. ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $36 billion and is one of the top 50 publicly traded U.S. bank holding companies. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 240 banking locations serving more than 120 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements made in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "should", "will", "intend", "outlook", "target", or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference. Investor Contact: Brian Mathena Senior Vice President | Director of Investor Relations 920-491-7059 | [email protected] Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager 920-491-7576 | [email protected] SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp Related Links www.associatedbank.com BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Manage My Things is a photo-based mobile app that helps homeowners easily inventory the important things in their homes, or that of aging parents. After importing photos, the app queries users on their items and then securely organizes them by category. Through AI, the app generates custom, task-specific reports that can be sent directly to key contacts such as estate planning attorneys, insurance agents, a charity or heirs. With 138 million private residences in the U.S., the app is intentionally priced for everyone to afford. A subscription is $9.99 per year and is available on the App Store or Google Play. Manage My Things helps with a variety of critical tasks including logistics for closing out a parent's home, tackling complicated estate planning or properly updating insurance policies. Estate planning can be a tedious and emotional exercise. In fact, more than 58% of American adults don't have a will completed. When it's time to settle an estate, conflict often arises within families when specific things are in dispute. The app organizes items by heir, and to help reduce tensions, a 'Resolution' folder has been created where items can be isolated for further discussion. Additionally, fires, hurricanes and floods can often expose the 2/3 of all homeowners who are under-insured. The app can take an inventory of the items in a home and generate a report that will be forwarded to insurance agents for review to accurately modify home policies. We've also collectively accumulated too much stuff. The easy-to-use app creates reports that can be used when donating goods to charity or to efficiently dispose of things no longer wanted. The user can also segregate things between homes, boats and even long forgotten storage units. Features include : Secure cloud back-up of images if your device is no longer in your possession Toggle between multiple homes, boats, RVs or storage units Photo-based inventory reports of things of value for insurance, estate planning, charitable giving and more Resolution folder that isolates things family members might squabble over Time Capsule to capture stories and images around family heirlooms for the next generation "Batch" that can take or import multiple pictures at one time for when time is tight Online community and the ability to share user-provided tips at www.ManageMyThings.com White label options for wealth management firms, insurance brokers, estate and trust attorneys, financial firms and other organizations wanting to build better digital relationships with clients and prospects "If you've ever had to empty a parent's home, decide which of your heirs gets your things when you die or have confidence you'll be made whole if a disaster strikes, then you know all the decisions you make are emotional," said Rick McKenna, CEO of Manage My Things. "This app takes you through much of the complex decision-making, so your time is better spent with loved ones. All you need to know is how to take photos and answer a few questions. The app does the rest." Manage My Things is available on the App Store or Google Play. Visit www.ManageMyThings.com for more information including user tips and FAQs, or follow Manage My Things on Facebook and Instagram. Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved My Things, LLC. About Manage My Things Fires, hurricanes and floods expose families who are often under-insured. The majority of adults don't have estate plans or wills. Downsizing the homes of aging parents is emotionally and logistically challenging. We've collectively accumulated too much stuff. Real issues that seem like they are impossible to conquer, until now. Manage My Things is an app that helps organize, prioritize and generate inventory reports of the things in our lives. This intuitive, easy-to-use photo-based app helps you determine items that will get passed on to heirs, make sure they are properly insured, donated to charity or efficiently disposed. Additional features include a "resolutions" folder for things family members might squabble over, a "time capsule" to capture the stories around special items to pass on to the next generation, and a "batch" feature for taking multiple pictures for when time is tight. For only $9.99 per year, available on the App Store or Google Play, your items are securely cataloged on the app, backed up via the cloud if your device is no longer in your possession, and the reports are easily shared with loved ones, estate planners, insurance brokers and more. Visit www.ManageMyThings.com for more information including user tips and FAQs or follow Manage My Things on Facebook and Instagram. Contact: Natasha Desai, [email protected] SOURCE Manage My Things Related Links http://www.managemythings.com For updates on the Glass Fire, visit the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Twitter feed. Burning a path of destruction through Sonoma and Napa counties, the Glass Fire grew to 46,600 acres with 2% containment Tuesday, more than tripling in size since Monday morning when it was 11,000 acres, Cal Fire said in its latest incident report. The report also included a more detailed look at structure damage, stating that 28 homes and 15 minor structures in Sonoma County and 52 homes and 17 minor structures in Napa County have been destroyed. That number is expected to grow. The fire threatens 10,712 structures. The blaze, which once again threw the North Bay into chaos, isn't burning as actively as it was Monday morning when fierce winds whipped flames. Fog pushed down temperatures and winds were light before sunrise, but hot temperatures and low humidity are expected to hamper firefighter efforts this afternoon. Cal Fire officials said Tuesday afternoon that familiarity with the region both due to many firefighters being North Bay locals and because of the 2017 Tubbs Fire has aided in their efforts. Conditions around the North Bay are extremely smoky, which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, calm winds mean slower fire growth. On the other, poor visibility has kept air tankers mostly grounded. Better visibility on the north side of the fire near Angwin allowed for some air support earlier Tuesday morning. Cal Fire officials said at an 11 a.m. briefing that there is still "significant" fire growth in the direction of Angwin and in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Things are looking better in Annadel State Park, where fire crews set preventative backfires Monday evening. Firefighters are "feeling much more confident this morning," Cal Fire said. Officials also said they felt "confident" the danger to Santa Rosa was decreasing. More than 68,000 people had been forced to evacuate across the Napa Valley and in Sonoma County by Monday afternoon, and just after 6 p.m. the entire town of Calistoga (pop. 5,000) was told to pack up and leave. There was a bit of good news going into the evening with winds calming along the fire lines and slightly cooler temperatures and calmer conditions in the forecast Tuesday. "Currently I'm sitting on Highway 12 and do not really see any movement in the trees," Cal Fire section Chief Ben Nicholls said in the evening press briefing. "... The smoky skies that we're under is a sign that there's not a lot of wind." Nicholls also said that firefighters "saved far more than they lost" in Santa Rosa, St. Helena and Calistoga on Monday. "It was a win overall," he said. Kent Nishimura / Getty The Napa-Sonoma inferno began with the Glass Fire at 3:50 a.m. Sunday on the 200 block of North Fork Crystal Springs Road in Deer Park near St. Helena. Two more blazes sprung up the Shady and Boysen fires west of St. Helena on Sunday night and quickly merged with the Glass Fire on Monday. This area about 45 miles north of San Francisco is once again facing devastation as it nears the third anniversary of deadly wildfires that erupted in 2017, including one that killed 22 people. Just a month ago, many of those same residents were evacuated from the path of the lightning-sparked LNU Complex that became the fourth largest in state history. Our firefighters have not had much of a break, and these residents have not had much of a break, said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. Flames roared across hills Sunday into Monday, destroying several homes in eastern Santa Rosa's Skyhawk neighborhood including "at least a dozen homes on the stretch of Mountain Hawk between Brigadoon Way and Nighthawk Drive," according to the Press Democrat, which posted video footage on YouTube showing hot spots in Skyhawk. The blaze jumped Highway 12 into Oakmont, triggering evacuations in the senior community. "We had explosive fire growth of the Glass Fire as it was able to establish a foothold on the west side of the Napa Valley and burn approximately 4 miles during the course of about six hours overnight to where it finally ended up this morning in the community of Oakmont and trying to push into Annadel State Park," Nicholls said in a Monday press briefing. Homes were destroyed and an elementary school severely damaged in Deer Park, the small community north of St. Helena. Nearby, flames engulfed the 40-year-old Chateau Boswell Winery and the Black Rock Inn on the Silverado Trail in St. Helena. Napa County Office of Emergency Services said 64 wineries sit within the evacuation or evacuation warning areas. Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin evacuated her property in the Oakmont community of Santa Rosa at about 1 a.m. She is rebuilding a home damaged in the 2017 fires. Gorin said she saw three neighboring houses in flames as she fled early Monday. Were experienced with that, she said of the fires. Once you lose a house and represent thousands of folks whove lost homes, you become pretty fatalistic that this is a new way of life and, depressingly, a normal way of life, the megafires that are spreading throughout the West. Gorin said it appeared the fire in her area was sparked by embers from the Glass Fire. Ed Yarbrough, a wildfire evacuee from St. Helena in Napa County, watched firefighters douse flames across from his house Monday. I can see in the distance that it looks like its intact, he said, but said spot fires were still being doused. So I know were not really out of the woods yet, and the woods can burn. AIR OPERATIONS: Tonight, as the sun set, this was the view from the north end of the #GlassFire just northwest of the town of Angwin. pic.twitter.com/hXGqnk2zBo CAL FIRE LNU (@CALFIRELNU) September 29, 2020 California has been devastated by a record-breaking wildfire season in 2020. More than 8,100 California wildfires have now killed 29 people, scorched 5,780 square miles (14,970 square kilometers), and destroyed more than 7,000 buildings. There are currently 27 significant wildfires burning throughout California. As flames continue to ravage the state's parched landscape and tear through communities, Newsom declared a state of emergency for Shasta, Napa and Sonoma counties late Monday due to the fires that "have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed homes and critical infrastructure and caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents," according to a press release. MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE: Pics reveal giant chunks of ash falling on North Bay streets Napa Valley's famed castle loses building containing all of its bottled wine Map: See where wildfires are burning in the North Bay Nearly 200,000 Californians in the dark amid more wildfires After confusing reports, not all of Meadowood Resort is destroyed Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Fox News has been promoting the upcoming presidential debate that will be moderated by their own Chris Wallace. The reporters on Fox have been assuring their viewers that Biden will not escape challenging questions from the tough-reporting Wallace. I am not that hopeful. Wallace got the job in part because Biden has declined to be interviewed by Wallace on Fox News Sunday. That is no guarantee that he will ask Biden tough questions. Fox News screen grab. If you are a Trump-supporter, this is not encouraging news. Wallace's Sunday program has been very tough on Trump, particularly on his handling of the pandemic. What worries me is not that he will go after Trump, but that he will not ask Biden difficult questions that force him to choose between the radical Democratic Party base and the more moderate but also more numerous center-left of the party. Here are a few questions for Biden that might clarify his views for voters. Will a Biden Education Department pressure high schools to allow boys to shower with girls and compete on girls' sports teams? Will a Biden Education Department reinstate the "Dear Colleague Letter" that pressured colleges to impose federally mandated standards to adjudicate accusations of sexual assault? Such standards denied the accused male students the right of counsel, the right of cross-examination, the right to confront the accuser, and the right to receive exculpatory evidence and mandated a standard of proof that required only that the accusations were more likely than not. Will the Justice Department prosecute businesspeople who don't want to participate in same-sex "weddings"? Will a Biden administration support giving trillions of dollars to African-Americans as reparations? Will Biden reinstitute Critical Race Theory training in all agencies of the federal government, including the military? Will Biden be pressed about his green energy policies? Will Biden be pressed about his obvious ignorance of what the Trump administration response to the virus actually has been? Biden's own suggestions are mostly copies of Trump administration policies. Will Biden be pressed about favoring Iran during the Obama administration? I suspect he may actually be tough on Biden about this. Will he question Biden about his family enriching themselves while he was vice president? Will he ask Biden if he intends to let the Durham investigation proceed? Will he ask Biden if he would seek to place any limits on abortion? With foreign policy not a focus of the debate, I suspect that Biden will get off relatively easy. I doubt that Wallace will ask Biden any of the tough questions on social issues. On the other hand, he is likely to go after Trump on his handling of the pandemic, suggesting that Trump's negligence is responsible for so many deaths. Trump needs to be prepared to pressure Biden to address these contentious issues as well as be precise about his decision-making in combatting the pandemic. If he can do these things well, he will greatly improve his election chances. Kanpur: At least 7 labourers were killed and a dozen others were injured after an under-construction building collapsed on Wednesday in Kanpurs Jajmau. Kanpur Police DIG Rajesh Modak told PTI that number of dead and injured may rise. The incident took place in KDA (Kanpur Development Authority) colony in the afternoon, when top floors of the seven-storey under-construction building started falling, Modak said. So far, seven bodies have been recovered and around a dozen injured have been sent to hospital, he said. Home Minister Rajnath Singh also tweeted on the incident, Spoke to DG NDRF regarding the news of an under construction building collapse in Kanpur. Two teams are rushing to the spot for rescue ops. I offer my condolences to those who lost their loved ones in Kanpur building collapse. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured, he said in a second tweet. Relief and rescue is underway with army troops also pressed into the operation. Senior administrative officials have rushed to the spot. According to the DIG, the exact number of dead and injured could be ascertained only after sometime as many more are fear trapped under the rubble. As per locals, the collapsed building belongs to Samajwadi Party leader Mahtab Alam but no official has confirmed this. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. LVB reassures investors as shareholders reject management team Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has sought to ally investor fears after shareholders voted out most of the proposed management team, including the CEO, at the lenders annual general meeting, in what is seen as a lack of faith in the proposed team. In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the bank sought to reassure depositors that it has adequate liquidity and that affairs of the lender would be managed in consultation with the board. The statement came after shareholders of the bank rejected the appointment of seven directors, including the chief executive officer, at the lenders annual general meeting held on 25 September. The bank's liquidity poisiton as on date is comfortable, with liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) in excess of 250 per cent about 262 per cent against minimum 100 per cent required by RBI, the lender said in a press release. The bank's provision coverage ratio also remains healthy at 72.6 per cent, against the minimum of 70 per cent prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India under the prompt corrective action. Till a new managing director is appointed, the existing senior management team along with the board of directors will discharge the day-to-day affairs of the bank as usual. We will be making further announcements on the interim management at the soonest. On Saturday night, the bank disclosed that the appointments of S Sundar (MD & CEO), N Saiprasad (Non-executive, non-independent), Gorinka Jaganmohan Rao (Non-executive, independent), Raghuraj Gujjar (Non-executive, non-independent), KR Pradeep (Non-executive, non-independent), BK Manjunath (Non executive, independent) and YV Lakshminarayana Murthy (Non executive, independent) have not been passed by shareholders. The appointment of only three directors - Shakti Sinha, Satish Kumar Kalra and Meeta Makhan - was cleared by shareholders. In addition, there are two Reserve Bank of India appointed directors on the board. A Welsh couple who knocked out their village's internet for 18 months have delighted Good Morning Britain visitors once again after being gifted a new TV by Piers Morgan. Pensioners Alun, 67, and Elaine Rees, 63, left viewers in hysterics last week after appearing on the show and telling off presenter Piers, 55, for speaking over co-host Susannah Reid. The GMB superfans revealed on the show their old 16' Bush TV had unwittingly been leaving their neighbours with poor broadband connectivity every morning at 7am in the village of Aberhosan, Powys. Appearing on the show again today, the couple left viewers 'smiling inside and out' after they were gifted a brand new giant television, which Elaine says will be going up on their bedroom wall. Welsh couple Alun, 67, and Elaine Rees, 63, (pictured) who knocked out their village's internet for 18 months have delighted Good Morning Britain visitors once again after being gifted a new TV by Piers Morgan The new television was delivered to their door by Andi Peters, (pictured) who told a crocheting Elaine: 'This is it, this is your brand new telly!' The new television was delivered to their door by Andi Peters, who told a crocheting Elaine: 'This is it, this is your brand new telly. For you Elaine it means you can see Piers in ultra HD crystal!' 'Its going up on my bedroom wall,' she replied. 'It is, yeah.' 'How do you feel about having Piers Morgan life sized in your bedroom?,' Andi asked Alun, to which he replied: 'I think Ill manage.' 'As long as hes got Susannah,' Elaine interjected. Piers tweeted last week to say that the couple were 'possibly my favourite guests ever' and said that they would be buying the couple a new TV Appearing on the show again today, the couple left viewers 'smiling inside and out' after they were gifted a brand new giant television When quizzed on the huge reaction to their last interview, Elaine said: 'To be honest, I started at the top didnt I, so I didnt want to give any more interviews because you cant beat the best can you.' Viewers quickly took to Twitter to praise the couple, with one writing: 'Alun and Elaine brightening up my morning again'. 'Made me smile inside and out! What lovely people', said another. A third wrote: 'Alun and Elaine, I want them to be my nana and grandad #goodmorningbritain'. The couple told last week on the show they were unaware that their TV had been leaving their neighbours with poor broadband connectivity every morning at 7am in Powys village of Aberhosan, Wales The retired couple explained last week that their old 30 TV set, which is in their bedroom, was turned on every morning to watch Good Morning Britain. Piers tweeted last week to say that the couple were 'possibly my favourite guests ever' and said that they would be buying the couple a new TV. Elaine, who loves to watch Piers Morgan in the morning because he 'makes her laugh', was crocheting a blanket throughout the interview and showed off another she had crocheted over the back of the sofa behind them. The retired couple and GMB super fans explained last week that their old 30 TV set, which is in their bedroom, was turned on every morning to watch Good Morning Britain She explained that, while retired farmer Alun is driving his tractor, she sits in the back and crochets. Elaine added: 'Weve got a camper van that we actually made up ourselves and I do sit in the passenger seat crocheting when Alun is driving the camper van.' When Piers asked Elaine when he makes her cross, Elaine told him it was when he wouldn't let co-host Susanna talk, to which Susanna responded with a round of applause. Piers said: 'By the way, pretty rich coming from you given Alun doesn't talk either. I haven't seen him get a word in.' Jason Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" film series. David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images/Warner Bros. Pictures "Harry Potter" actor Jason Isaacs told British television show "Lorraine" that people who don't wear face masks properly should be "hanging in the streets." Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in "Harry Potter," said he is more annoyed by people who don't wear masks properly than by people who don't wear them at all, who themselves should be "in stocks or in prison." WHO guidelines state that masks should always be worn over the face and nose, with "no gaps between your face and the mask." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. "Harry Potter" actor Jason Isaacs has said that he is more annoyed by people who don't wear face masks properly than by people who don't wear them at all. Isaacs, who is best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in "Harry Potter," was appearing on the British daytime chat show "Lorraine" on ITV to speak about his struggles through the pandemic and his return to work on the set of Netflix's "Sex Education." Isaacs told host Lorraine Kelly: "The thing about masks is, somehow I'm made less annoyed by the people who refuse to wear masks, who I think should be in the stocks or prison, than by the people who are wearing it with their nose sticking out." Isaacs continued: "We all know that you transmit and receive it more through your nose. And what about the people who I'm talking to who pull it down to have a chat and put it back up again?" "They should be hanging in the streets," Isaacs concluded. According to the WHO guidelines, face masks should always be worn over your nose and over your mouth and there should be "no gaps between your face and the mask." Isaacs said that he has found it "very hard" to "keep your spirits up" during lockdown, and that the only way he has found to do this is "to help people." Isaacs did say, however, that he got to go to a set recently "Sex Education." The Netflix show is shooting its third season, which Isaacs is joining as Peter Groff, the "cocky and more successful older brother" of Mr. Groff, according to Deadline. Story continues "It was great and fun and really weird," Isaacs said. Isaacs also teased a potential new podcast with his former "Harry Potter" costar and onscreen son Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the film series. Isaacs and Felton are good friends off-screen, and Isaacs told Kelly that he and Felton are considering teaming up for a new project. "He's never seen the films of my generation and I've never heard the music of his generation so we were thinking of doing a podcast where we force each other, cross-generationally, to catch up," Isaacs said. Read more: Lucius Malfoy actor Jason Isaacs wished his 'fake son' Tom Felton a happy birthday and called him a 'ray of light' Lucius Malfoy actor Jason Isaacs opened up about overcoming his 'decades-long love affair with drugs' We've tested several cloth face masks over the past 5 months here are the 9 best ones Read the original article on Insider A former governor of Osun and pioneer Interim Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Akande, has appealed to those agitating for Nigerias break-up to bury such thoughts. Mr Akande made the appeal on Monday in Ibadan during the inauguration of a project owned by Adebayo Adelabu, a former CBN deputy governor and APC governorship candidate in Oyo in the 2019 elections. The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that Mr Akande, alongside other prominent Nigerians, were in Ibadan for the 50th birthday anniversary of Mr Adelabu. He said that allowing Yoruba to break away from Nigeria might lead to bloodshed and avoidable civil war that would further decimate the people. Mr Akande called on those agitating for a Yoruba nation to bury the idea, saying the nation couldnt afford to witness another war. Those agitating for a Yoruba nation should have a rethink. This country must remain united to save it from war. Yoruba will be in war for another 100 years if Nigeria is allowed to break, he said. He said that Nigeria was a product of war, adding that the country came into existence after Yoruba people had gone into 100 years of wars. According to the former governor, most African countries and western world envy Nigeria because the country is the heartbeat of Africa. Mr Akande said that francophone countries across the world have been praying for Nigeria to break because they werent comfortable with the countrys strength. Those tormenting Nigeria are doing so because they are products of failed states. It is a difficult task to stop crimes, particularly in a corrupt society. Now that some Nigerians are talking about breaking because of difficulties, they didnt know that a man who cannot endure will collapse and die. Only enduring countries can stay, he said. Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, who inaugurated the project, commended Mr Adelabu, saying the project would meet the yearnings of jobless youths in the state and Nigeria. He said that Mr Adelabu had embarked on people-oriented projects aimed at providing employment for the youth in Oyo State, Nigeria and Africa. Earlier, Mr Adelabu said that his defeat in the 2019 election was only a delay and not denial. Mr Adelabu said that his loss in the election was a blessing in disguise, adding that it would make him a better governor than he would have been in 2019. He said that his interest in the governorship race was still very much alive, promising to double his efforts in 2023. NAN reports that the event was attended by Obafemi Hamzat, the deputy governor of Lagos State and Moses Adeyemo, former deputy governor of Oyo State. Others were Akin Oke, APC Chairman in Oyo State, Akeem Adeyemi, Segun Odebunmi, among other dignitaries.(NAN) UWs Bodily Receives WNA 2020 Inspiring Our Future Nurses Award David Bodily David Bodily is this years recipient of the Wyoming Nurses Associations (WNA) Inspiring Our Future Nurses Award, given annually to a WNA member nursing instructor who has been a positive influence on the future nurses of Wyoming. Bodily, an associate lecturer in the University of Wyomings Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, is program director for the schools online Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum program called Revolutionizing Nursing Education in Wyoming (ReNEW), and RN-BSN nursing programs. As a seasoned instructor, Bodily embodies the faculty role that involves teaching, advising, service and professional development, and has had an invaluable impact on our future Wyoming baccalaureate-prepared nurses, says UW School of Nursing Dean Sherrill Smith. Smith points out that Bodily has been instrumental in developing and teaching courses in the ReNEW program, which is a shared curriculum across all Wyoming community colleges and UW nursing programs. Bodily collaborates with community college leaders to encourage associate degree nursing students to continue their education at UW to achieve their BSN at their own pace and convenience. Kimberly Raska-Miller, a senior lecturer of nursing and pre-licensure programs director, adds that Bodily pushes students to think outside the box, and is highly knowledgeable about online learning modalities and technology, providing technology support to both students and faculty. Bodilys student evaluations are very positive, lauding his presence and timely, video-enhanced feedback. He inspires us all to be the best online instructors we can be, Raska-Miller says. In addition to Bodilys teaching role, he is part of a small advising team for more than 300 BSN completion and potential students. David has worked with his team to develop a flexible model for advising that will provide rapid response to students, meeting the needs of this unique, online-only student population, Smith says. Bodily serves on multiple committees for the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and statewide, including as vice president of the Wyoming Nurses Association, as well as being a member of advisory boards for UW community colleges and Hospice of Sweetwater County. He recently was asked to speak to a Wyoming legislative committee about the ReNEW programs nursing education efforts statewide. He did a masterful job of showing the strength of the ReNEW program during the Joint Education Committee meeting, says David Jones, dean of the UW College of Health Sciences. Bodily and Paula Kihn, a UW assistant lecturer of nursing, secured funding and implemented a research project to evaluate what baccalaureate essentials are delivered in associate degree programs in Wyoming that will inform UWs future BSN completion courses and program. Bodily has obtained a professional certification as a simulation educator and provides simulation consultation to UW faculty members as well as other faculty across the country. He has served as a manuscript reviewer for the journal Clinical Simulation in Nursing. I cannot be more proud to have David Bodily as a faculty member at the University of Wyoming, Smith says. He expertly performs the multifaceted role of the faculty member and is truly an inspiration to our future nurses. Non-Governmental Organization Citizen Eye Ghana (CITEG) wants government to pass a law to allow the Western Togoland their freedom as a country. The CEO of the group, Mr. Alex Kweku Tetteh explains that their separation from Ghana will compel President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to layoff all Voltarians occupying state office. President Nana Addo should accept their separation so Ghana can treat all Voltarians in Ghana as real foreigners. All Voltarians occupying government positions must be forced to resign as well. This will end their rubbish and that will also affect the NDC, he said in an interview with Peacefmonline.com. The Volta Region on Friday, September 25, 2020, was thrown into a state of chaos as members of a secessionist group, seeking the independence of the area to become the Western Togoland, staged spontaneous attacks in various parts of the region. The attacks included blocking major entry points to the region as well as attacks on the Aveyime and Mepe police stations all in the North Tongu District. We are seeking independence of our great motherland, one of the separatists told journalists after they also blocked roads in Juapong. Seeking sovereignty The Western Togoland region is predominately wedged between Lake Volta and the Ghana-Togo border. Currently, a number of splinter groups are demanding the area be recognized as a sovereign state. In a press release, the chairman of the Western Togoland, Togbe Yesu Kwabla Edudzi I, declared that efforts for consolidating statehood, which began on 1 September 2020, were being put into practice. The press release also claimed, "roadblocks to assert its sovereignty are all over the Southern sector." The movement says it wants to force the Ghanaian government to join the United Nations (UN) facilitated negotiations aiming to declare Western Togoland an independent state. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The UK has imposed sanctions including an asset freeze and travel ban on Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko in response to human rights abuses following his rigged re-election. The measures also apply to seven other leading figures in his regime, including the presidents son and national security adviser Viktor Lukashenko. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the move sent a clear message to the violent and fraudulent regime. It is the second time the UKs new sanctions regime has been used and Mr Lukashenko is the first national leader to be made subject to restrictions. Riot police detain a protester during an opposition rally over Mr Lukashenko (TUT.by/AP) The UK acted alongside Canada to announce the measures, stating that the regime in Belarus is responsible for a string of human rights violations against opposition figures and the media. Thousands of people in Belarus have taken part in protests against the authoritarian leaders re-election in August despite a brutal crackdown by the states security forces. Mr Raab said: Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We dont accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights. The sanctions apply to: Alexander Lukashenko, the president. Viktor Lukashenko, his son and national security adviser. Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, the presidents chief of staff. Yuri Karayev, the minister of internal affairs. Alexander Barsukov, the chief of public security police. Yuri Nazarenko, commander of internal troops. Khazalbek Atabekov, deputy commander of internal troops. Dmitry Balaba, commander of the special purpose police unit of Minsk. Name: Jorge Cabrera Party: Democrat Race: State Senate, 17th district Profile: Cabrera, a longtime union organizer and workers rights advocate lives in Hamden with his wife, Rebecca, a public school principal, and their twin teenage boys. Cabreras priorities are to make sure constituents have jobs that pay a living wage, affordable, quality healthcare and equitable education. Cabrera says he will also fight to make sure, the people of the district have a clean environment and the security to retire with dignity. Cabrera now serves as a business representative and director of organizing for UFCW Local 919 in Farmington. In 2019, he was one of the key leaders in the historic Stop and Shop strike in which more than 35,000 workers throughout New England walked off the job to demand better treatment-and won. A woman has been sentenced to federal prison for the smuggling attempt of 23 pounds of cocaine through the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, according to court documents. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo sentenced Ramona Elizabeth Garcia Gonzalez to 48 months in federal prison. Garcia Gonzalez, 49, had pleaded guilty on July 8 to import and conspiracy to import cocaine. [September 29, 2020] Kaltura to Migrate Cellcom TV to the Cloud New York, NY, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaltura , the video cloud, announced today that it has been selected by Cellcom Israel , a leading Israeli telecommunications company, to power Cellcom TV, Israels first OTT service, with over 250,000 (as of Q1/2020) households subscribed nationwide. The service will be fully cloud-based and hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Cellcom TV first launched to customers in 2014, and has since remained the largest OTT TV service in the country. To achieve greater agility, scalability and introduce more advanced features, Cellcom Israel decided to migrate its legacy TV platform to the Kaltura TV Platform. Cellcom Israel will also benefit from Kalturas Targeted TV solution to optimize user engagement. We are thrilled to join forces with Cellcom Israel, a leader in the market, and pioneer in the Telco TV space, said Nuno Sanches, Kaltura General Manager, Media and Telecom. Cellcom Israel was an early adopter of IPTV technologies, and launched an impressive and successful service. We are excited to be Cellcoms partner of choice for the Cloud TV transformation of Cellcom TV. The company will enjoy a slew of benefits, including fast updates, cloud performance and scalability, while maintaining the highest broadcast level experience. The Kaltura TV Platform also enables Cellcom Israel to improve its user experience with new features, try out new business models and discover new revenue streams while at the same time reducing costs. Cellcom TV assumes the role of a Super Aggregator which enables quick access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Spotifys wide range of original content and international content catalog. Inaddition, Cellcom TV offers its customers an extensive curated content offering, including VOD, linear channels and catch-up. The service is available on multiple devices, including Android TV set-top-boxes. Cellcom TV has had great success since its inception, and we are looking forward to taking the service to the next level with the help of our new partner, Kaltura, said Atara Litvak Shacham, Vice President of Innovation and Excellence at Cellcom Israel. We are proud to be able to provide an innovative OTT TV service in Israel, and we are confident that Kalturas TV Platform will enable us to maintain our leadership and introduce ongoing innovation and service enhancements to our users. About Cellcom Israel Cellcom Israel Ltd., established in 1994, is a leading Israeli communications group, providing a wide range of communications services. Cellcom Israel is the largest Israeli cellular provider, providing its approximately 2.734 million cellular subscribers (as at June 30, 2020) with a broad range of services including cellular telephony, roaming services for tourists in Israel and for its subscribers abroad, text and multimedia messaging, advanced cellular content and data services and other value-added services in the areas of music, video, mobile office etc., based on Cellcom Israel's technologically advanced infrastructure. The Company operates an LTE 4 generation network and an HSPA 3.5 Generation network enabling advanced high speed broadband multimedia services, in addition to GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. Cellcom Israel offers Israel's broadest and largest customer service infrastructure including telephone customer service centers, retail stores, and service and sale centers, distributed nationwide. Cellcom Israel further provides OTT TV services, internet infrastructure and connectivity services and international calling services, as well as landline telephone services in Israel. Cellcom Israel's shares are traded both on the New York Stock Exchange (CEL) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (CEL). www.cellcom.co.il About Kaltura Kaltura's mission is to power any video experience for any organization. Kaltura is the leading video cloud, powering the broadest range of video experiences. Kalturas products are used globally by thousands of enterprises, media companies, service providers and educational institutions, engaging hundreds of millions of viewers at home, at work, and at school. Kalturas Media and Telecom business unit helps telcos and content owners make the transition to a full-fledged Cloud TV service that satisfies the exacting demands of todays TV viewers. The Kaltura TV Platform features personalized multi-screen access to linear, VOD and time-shifted TV as well as third-party content. It combines advanced monetization options with the ability to scale to millions of viewers anywhere in the world. The adaptability and agility of the Kaltura TV Platform means that companies can experiment with new products and features, analyze performance, and react quickly to changes in viewing behavior in order to optimize engagement and better achieve business goals. For more information visit www.kaltura.com . Lisa Bennett VP Marketing lisa.bennett@kaltura.com [ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com\LTE's Homepage ] Aerial photo taken on July 31, 2018 shows a sand-fixing forest in Dalad Banner of Ordos of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Kubuqi Desert, located in the Ordos plateau, has an area of about 18,600 square kilometers. Once being totally barren and was called the "sea of death", the desert, however, now has a green area of more than 3,200 square kilometers thanks to the efforts of local people, enterprises and government. In 2014, The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced that Kubuqi Desert is an ecological economy demonstration zone, showing the experience and wisdom of Chinese people in the action. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) The 2020 Special Cannes will screen four films from its 2020 Official Selection, as well as in-competition short films and the Cinefondations school films. Cannes Film Festival, initially scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 May, was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, after events in Venice and San Sebastian took place partially virtually and in-person with safety regulations, Cannes decided to host a three-day-long compact festival. The "2020 Special Cannes", in collaboration with Cannes City Council will be held from 27 to 29 October. The general public will be allowed to the Louis Lumiere auditorium of the Palais des Festivals et des Congres for the screening of four films from the 2020 Cannes Official Selection, as well as in-competition short films and the Cinefondations school films. Here is the announcement #Cannes2020 Special: the Festival returns to the Croisette! From October 27th to 29th, four previews, the short films Competition and the Selection Cinefondation will be presented to the public! An exceptional event co-organised with @villecannes! https://t.co/np3tqPkiSU pic.twitter.com/VLPtVq4oCT Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) September 28, 2020 Emmanuel Courcol's Un triomphe (The Big Hit) will open the festival with lead actor Kad Merad and other members of the cast and crew in attendance. Concluding the event is Bruno Podalydes Les Deux Alfred (The French Tech). Other films to be showcased include Japanese director and Cannes regular Naomi Kawase's Asa Ga Kuru (True Mothers) and, Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili's debut Beginning, which won Golden Shell for Best Film (Concha de Oro) at San Sebastian this year. Thierry Fremaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes said the event was a great sign to see the highly acclaimed movies making a stop at Cannes. Meanwhile, 74th Festival de Cannes is confirmed to take place from 11 to 22 May, 2021. So, Joe Biden has accused President Donald Trump of acting like Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Lets take a step back from notions conceived in anger and examine this, perhaps best done in question and answer format. The Nazis used street violence and rioting and assaults on police to sow fear and anarchy, then held out Hitler as their savior. Who is doing something similar now? The Nazis tolerated no dissenting opinions or critical review of anything they said or did. Who do you have fear of publicly questioning or criticizing? I say it is Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, not Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. The Nazis targeted their political enemies with violence. Whose home was surrounded by a threatening mob, his family intimidated and ridiculed, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, or liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders? It was McConnell. The Nazis installed puppet figureheads in political and judicial positions. Who (Biden) more closely resembles a puppet, Trump or Biden? Who (Trump) is following prescribed constitutional procedure to fill a court seat, and who (some Democrats) are planning to stack an expanded Supreme Court with hand-picked sycophants to assure their agenda is approved regardless of the preferences of the American people? Who (Democrats) advocates for expanded statehood, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, which would add voting members of Congress? A stacked Congress and a stacked Supreme Court are a formula for a totalitarian takeover. Look to 1917 Russia, 1949 China, 1959 Cuba and 20th century South America to see where our current path leads us. And, its not Trump marching at the head of the blood-lust crowd. Its the puppet masters standing in the shadows behind a soulless, cynical, madly power seeking Joe Biden. Lou Manfredo, Deptford Township Trump is how nation got to 200,000 deaths The headline in the Sept. 23 print issue, How We Got To 200,000 (U.S. coronavirus deaths) and its associated graphics were very informative, much needed, and I thank the Times for publishing this. At least 10 times before March, beginning on Jan. 18, President Donald Trump was warned about the severity of the impending pandemic and he did virtually nothing. The first U.S. case of COVID-19 was confirmed on Jan. 20. Despite all the warnings and facts that supported them, the president did not proclaim the U.S. outbreak a national emergency until March 13. He continued to tell the American people that we have this under control and it will go away, even though he knew this was a lie. More lives could have been saved if the Trump administration had implemented social distancing guidelines earlier on. To this day, Trump refuses to accept any responsibility for COVID-19 deaths. His lack of leadership is how we got to over 200,000 lives lost. Remember this when you vote. Richard Nash, Williamstown Go non-party for Washington Township mayor As we contemplate the upcoming election, we must examine our conscience as good citizens to choose the person who will always follow the law. As we live in neighborhoods and communities, we have a duty to vote for the person who will care the most for our families and livelihood. Giancarlo DOrazio is running as an independent candidate for Washington Township mayor. He is not on the bandwagon of favors, payoffs and corruption. He will be a watchdog for Washington Townships taxpayers and residents. For years, the establishment in Washington Township has been promising lower taxes, to fix roads and to balance the budget. Dorazio will always honor his pledge to the people, not the political parties. Lets make a change. What do you have to lose? Rocco Colucci, Mount Royal Editors notes: The writer is a former Washington Township resident. DOrazio, using a Township United slogan, is running on the Nov. 3 ballot against Democratic incumbent Mayor Joann Gattinelli and Republican Vincent Spinelli. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Annette Marie Brash, 55 of Mechanicsville, Maryland passed on Thursday, September 17, 2020 at her home surrounded by her loving family after a long battle with cancer. She was born on August 14, 1965 in Washington, DC to the late Michael Patton Warren, Sr. and Bernadette M. (Spaight) of Mechanicsville, MD. She was the devoted and loving wife of Jerry K. Brash, Sr. They married on August 25, 1984 and have been married for over thirty-six (36) years, celebrating both great joy and devasting loss always side-by-side. They welcomed five (5) children, J.J., Joey, Tony, Nicole and Amber. Annette was so proud to be Momma to her wonderful children and then a grandmother to Jordan, Savannah and Natalee. The pillar of the family, everyone went straight to Annette for a hug, advice or just a friendly smile. She was always willing to help others in need. She worked as a homemaker, always making sure her husband and kids had everything they needed. An infectious laugh and smile to brighten the darkest day, Annette loved going to play Bingo. She was always ready to hear her number called so she could shout out her good luck or hit the road and go play the slots. If you knew her as Annette, Momma, sister or friend you knew she was a shining light. A woman with happiness surrounding her and blessings abounding she may have been taken too soon, but she is safely in her golden palace in the sky. She may not be here physically, but her soul shines bright in the eyes of her children and grandchildren. Annette is survived by her husband, Jerry Brash, Sr. of Mechanicsville, MD; children, Joseph Brash of Charlotte Hall, MD, Anthony Brash of Charlotte Hall, MD, Nicole Showalter of Charlotte Hall, MD and Amber Brash of Charlotte Hall, MD; three (3) grandchildren, Jordan Showalter, Savannah Showalter and Natalee Brash. She is also survived by her mother, Bernadette Warren of Mechanicsville, MD and brother, Michael Warren, Jr. of Mechanicsville, MD. Annette was preceded in death by her father, Michael Warren, Sr. and her son, Jerry Brash, Jr. The family will receive friends for Annette's Life Celebration on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a Prayer Service being officiated by Pastor Dennis Gillikin at 7:00 p.m. at Brinsfield Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A., 30195 Three Notch Road, Charlotte Hall, MD 20622. Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, contributions toward the funeral expenses would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to Brinsfield Funeral Home, Post Office Box 128, Charlotte Hall, MD 20622. Condolences may be made to the family at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com All arrangements have been made at Brinsfield Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A. Remember the early days of quarantine when we actually wore clothes that weren't sweatpants, collectively learned the TikTok dance to Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage," and were baking mere loaves of bread instead of entire upstate safehouses made of sourdough? Well, reader, here's a blast from the past: there's an update about everyone's favorite March binge watch, Tiger King, especially for Joe Exotic and the those who believed that Carole Baskin was up to sinister feline machinations. A cadaver dog signaled that it smelled human remains near Carole Baskin's missing husband's lake house in the new ID documentary special, Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up, fueling rumors that the Big Cat Rescue founder was involved in her former husband's disappearance. Although Baskin, who we first spoke to before all of this, way back in 2014, continually denies that she was involved in the 1997 disappearance and presumed death of her former husband, Don Lewis, some viewers (OJ Simpson included) speculate that she may not be telling the truth since the release of Tiger King earlier this year. While the dog picked up on a scent, former secret service agent and retired homicide detective, Jim Rathmann, who is featured in the documentary, says that he thinks its unlikely that a corpse will be found, citing 23 years of mud, low visibility, and the alligators living in the lake. CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / September 28, 2020 / PetroFrontier Corp. ("PetroFrontier" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:PFC) wishes to correct an error in its press release entitled "PetroFrontier Corp. Announces Closing of Amended Debenture Extending Agreement Including Partial Debt Repayment" issued September 25, 2020 (the "September 25 Press Release"). The September 25 Press Release announced that it had closed an amended debenture and credit facility extending agreement (the "Amended Extending Agreement") which extended the repayment terms of both a debenture granted on July 21, 2016 (the "Debenture") and a credit facility entered into on June 3, 2019 (the "Credit Facility") with the Corporation's senior secured creditor, Kasten Energy Inc. ("Kasten"). The closing resulted in a partial repayment of the Corporation's indebtedness under the Debenture in the amount of $1,000,000 by the issuance of 25,000,000 common shares of the Corporation (the "Common Shares") at a deemed price of $0.04 per common share. With respect to the "Early Warning Report" section of the September 25 Press Release, if the maximum of $2,000,000 were to be drawn under the Credit Facility and Kasten elected to convert such amount into Common Shares and convert the Debenture in the amount of $2,000,000 into Common Shares during the first year, Kasten would own Common Shares representing 61.79% of the then issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation rather than the 55.51% equity position referred to in the September 25 Press Release. This correction does not change any other amounts or information reported in the September 25 Press Release. About PetroFrontier Corp. PetroFrontier is a junior energy company currently focused on developing two Mannville heavy oil plays in the Cold Lake and Wabasca areas of Alberta. PetroFrontier's head office is in Calgary, Alberta and its Common Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "PFC". Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of PetroFrontier. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, PetroFrontier does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Not for release in the United States of America For More Information Contact Kelly Kimbley, President & CEO PetroFrontier Corp. Suite 900, 903 - 8 Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0P7 Telephone: (403) 718-0366 Email: info@petrofrontier.com Website: www.petrofrontier.com SOURCE: PetroFrontier Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608155/PetroFrontier-Corp-Announces-Correction-to-News-Release NRL WAG Zoe Marshall has posted a sweet tribute to her best friend, fashion designer Steven Khalil, on his birthday. The 36-year-old, who is married to departing Wests Tigers player Benji Marshall, described Steven as her 'person' in a gushing Instagram post on Tuesday. 'Scrolling through our photos and videos together makes me laugh and bursts my heart open a little,' she wrote, alongside a gallery of photos of the pair together. 'I know we were related in another lifetime': Rugby league WAG Zoe Marshall (left) has posted a sweet tribute to her best friend, fashion designer Steven Khalil (right), on his birthday 'You are my brother. I know we were related in another lifetime (because we have the same toes and blood condition) we have travelled the world, shared our secrets, belly laughed hard to our own private jokes, had lap dances in Vegas together.' She continued: 'You are my person. I trust you. I love you. I thank you for your constant loyalty, support and joy. Now let's eat cake and celebrate the beautiful human you are.' Zoe and Steven's extraordinarily close relationship has raised eyebrows in the past. Gushing: 'You are my person. I trust you. I love you. I thank you for your constant loyalty, support and joy,' she wrote on Instagram Back in January, she was forced to respond to 'really weird questions' she was getting on Instagram about the state of her marriage. Zoe, who was on holiday in Singapore with Steven at the time, was accused of spending 'more time' with the openly gay fashion designer than with her husband. Sharing screenshots of comments from her followers, she clarified that Benji 'loves Steven just as much as me'. She also pointed out that her husband was the one who had suggested she take a holiday with Steven in the first place. Hitting back: Back in January, Zoe was forced to respond to 'really weird questions' she was getting on Instagram about her friendship with Steven 'Getting some really weird questions about my friendship with Steven Khalil. Are we really living in a world where this is even a passing thought?' Zoe asked. She shared examples of the direct messages she had received from Instagram users, several of whom claimed her vacation with Steven looked more like a 'honeymoon'. 'Wow, how does your husband feel about all this alone time with your work colleague?' one person wrote. 'Whether you love Benji or not, some of your shots and Instagram videos are a bit extreme.' 'Peculiar question': The socialite, who was on holiday in Singapore with Steven at the time, was accused of spending 'more time' with the openly gay fashion designer than with her husband Accusations: Zoe shared examples of the direct messages she had received from Instagram users, several of whom claimed her vacation with Steven looked more like a 'honeymoon' 'Question... you seem to spend most of your time with Steven. How does Benji fit in?' asked another troll. In response, Zoe said that Benji, 35, was 'okay' with her Instagram posts and had actually suggested she and Steven go on holiday together. 'He loves Steven as much as me,' she wrote. 'We aren't work colleagues, he's my best guy friend. We are very affectionate because we love each other immensely. All okay: Zoe pointed out that her husband, Benji (left), was the one who had suggested she take a holiday with Steven in the first place. The couple are pictured with their son, Fox 'I'm not sure what you mean by extreme? I put out a pretty clear warning that I was coming in HOT with the extra, so if that's what you mean you are welcome!' 'I hope it inspires you to be extra too. Feel your joy! Follow your bliss! And be a little extreme! You only live once!' she concluded. Zoe has previously described Steven as her 'gay husband'. Claim to fame: Since finding fame as a professional NRL WAG, Zoe has carved out a career as an influencer and media personality Steven is close with Zoe and Benji, and is godfather to their young son, Fox. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in 2017, Steven said he was delighted to be asked to be the child's godfather. 'I said to Zoe, "Are you sure?" Benji has lots of friends. I almost feel guilty, but it's a beautiful honour,' he said at the time. Eight Laredo Independent School District student leaders have been selected as a Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) 2020-21 Health Ambassador for a Ready Texas (HART) Initiative. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced that Laisha Gonzalez and Juan Segovia of the Dr. Dennis D. Cantu Early College High School, Itzel Rojo and Jeffery Garcia of Cigarroa High School, Dayna Garza of the Hector J. Garcia Early College High School, and Patricia Martinez, Noelia Bustamante, and Amy Reyes of the Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts are among a handful of students in Texas to be selected as Health Ambassadors. TDAs HART initiative, now in its second year, provides high school students with an opportunity to champion healthy eating and Texas agriculture on their school campuses. I am very excited about being selected as a Texas Health Ambassador. Im so delighted. It feels amazing, says Laisha Gonzalez. I really enjoy extra-curricular activities so being a part of the HART Initiative is going to open so many opportunities for me to engage with other students from across the state who are also encouraging students to eat healthy. READ MORE: LISD offering flu shots for employees around district offices As Health Ambassadors, the LISD group will join high school students from across the state by promoting the importance of federally funded school meals during National School Lunch Week, Farm to School Month and other exciting events throughout the year. They collaborate with school staff and TDA to pursue these activities as well as their own strategies for developing healthier campuses. Gonzalez likes to eat healthy cant wait to help motivate other students in the district to have a healthy lifestyle. I want to be a voice for my school and LISD. I want to help plan nutritional meals for all students, added Gonzalez. The Ambassadors will also have the opportunities to provide TDA with vital information and feedback for increasing participation in federal nutrition programs. Student leaders also learn strategies for engaging their peers in learning more about good nutrition and lifestyles. I see a lot of students who either dont eat lunch or they just buy junk food, Noelia Bustamante said. I want to advocate for more food options in our cafeterias and students to eat healthier. TDA Food and Nutrition created Health Ambassadors for a Ready Texas (HART) to provide the opportunity and encourage high school students to champion healthy eating and wellness within their schools and community. Health Ambassadors will gain leadership skills as they engage with school staff, students, their school Health Advisory Committee, and other school partners to promote TDA Child Nutrition Programs, improve their school health environment, and provide feedback to TDA about food and nutrition programs. If you are interested in learning more about the HART Initiative, visit SquareMeals.org/HART or contact the HART Team at HART@TexasAgriculture.gov. PARIS - French security forces on Tuesday morning cleared a Calais migrant camp in which between 700 and 800 people were living. The operation was the largest of its kind since the operation of the informal encampment known as 'The Jungle' in 2016. The operation began calmly at 7 AM in a sector called the Lande de Virval near the Calais hospital, monitored by security forces. ''We want to avoid any concentration or new point of stable gatherings in Calais. The Virval zone will become inaccessible. We will study alongside the Calais mayor what can be done,'' prefect Louis Le Franc said. John Bercow has apologised for the quip in which he likened the Employment minister, Esther McVey, to a washing machine. He was pulled up today by the Tory MP Heather Wheeler who suggested that it was not the sort of thing the Speaker should be saying to a female minister. I intended to cause no offence to her and hold her in the highest esteem, he replied. I hope I ordinarily treat MPs with great courtesy. It was an off-the-cuff remark, it may well have been a foolish one, and I apologise for it. It has been suggested that he was being sexist, but as I said yesterday, he would be just as likely to say something cutting to a man. He demonstrated as much seconds after delivering the apology, when he silenced the Labour MP Chris Bryant. You are an exceptionally clever man, he said. No one is more aware of your cleverness than you. I should add that no one who knows Mr Bryant is likely to disagree. Cest la guerre Reports that the French are saying Non to a 2 euro coin that would commemorate the Battle of Waterloo evoked a gleeful response from the Tory MP Michael Fabricant, via Twitter: They say its degrading. Yeah, it is. We won, you losers! Come on it was 200 years ago. We have been allies in every war involving both France and the UK since then. Stalwart voice silenced Stephen Norris, who combined being an MP in the 1990s with a successful business career, was the best candidate the Tories had run in a London mayoral contest, until Boris Johnson came along, because he was a social liberal. But there was solid opposition to his having any role in the Tory party, mainly from its women members of a certain age, because he was also like the current mayor a serial philanderer. Rosette Irwin, a stalwart of the Camden Conservative Association, was filmed emerging from party headquarters, and on being asked whether Norris should be allowed to stand, giving a resounding Non. That voice is now silent. She died this week, aged 96. Her funeral is next Wednesday. Value for money MPs There is a new website called Rate Your MP which offers a crude guide to which MPs are the best or worst value of money. The calculation is done by totalling an MPs salary and office costs, and dividing by the number of times that MP has voted in the Commons since the 2010 election, arriving at a cost per vote figure. On this basis, the Speaker and his deputies and the Sinn Fein MPs are bumping along the bottom, because the Sinners never took their seats because they wouldnt swear allegiance to the Queen, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers never vote. Meanwhile it was with dread and trepidation that I looked up Philip Hollobone, the Tory maverick who keeps his office costs down to almost nothing and is assiduous in voting for every daft or far-right proposition that comes before Parliament. As I feared, they rate him as being the best value for money of them all. Despicable situation There was a sign of how tense the political leaders are getting as an election looms in the increasingly harsh language that David Cameron and Ed Miliband threw at each other at Prime Ministers Questions. Miliband called the Prime Minister a bully, and David Cameron twice called Miliband despicable. I have searched for any previous example in the current Parliament of one MP using that adjective to describe another. So far as I can discover, the nearest anyone came to it was during a debate about social care in 2012, when the right-wing Tory Philip Davies was annoyed with the Labour MP Diana Johnson and accused her of trying to do something that might be described as despicable. New Delhi: After more than six months of closure, schools and colleges are likely to reopen when the Centre announces the guidelines for the Unlock 5, that will most probably come into effect from the first week of October. READ | Unlock 5.0: Centre announces major changes; here's all you need to know Currently, schools have partially reopened from September 21 in compliance with the Unlock 4 guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). These have only been allowed in the non-COVID-19-containment zones. "Students of classes 9 to 12 may be permitted to visit their schools, in areas outside the Containment Zones only, on a voluntary basis, for taking guidance from their teachers. This will be subject to the written consent of their parents or guardians," the MHA had said in its Unlock 4 guidelines. The MHA had also stated that States and UTs may permit up to 50% of teaching and non-teaching staff to be called to the schools at a time for online teaching or tele-counselling and related work. Live TV Notably, UTs and states like Haryana, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Nagaland have already reopened schools with students studying in classes 9 to 12 visiting their institutions for taking guidance from the teachers. Some universities and colleges have also started the new academic year and have begun taking online classes. The Centre will also take into consideration their efforts of holding JEE Main and NEET entrance examination amid the coronavirus outbreak, which reportedly was conducted successfully. Meanwhile, the rising coronavirus cases across India could also force schools and colleges to remain closed as the COVID-19 total in India has crossed the 61-lakh mark. There were 70,589 new infections in India on Monday. Almost four weeks into the full reopening of UK schools by the Conservative government and the lie that schools were ever COVID-19 secure has been shattered. This week, almost one in five positive tests in England were in the under-19 age group, 19.7 percent of all tests. Latest figures form the Weekly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report show that educational settings account for 45 percent of positive cases. Confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19 had hit 2,072 schools by noon Monday. Of these, 1,483 schools are in England, 313 Wales, 166 Scotland and 110 in Northern Ireland, according to research complied by the Tory Fibs organisation. Many schools have suffered multiple infections. Thousands of children are being sent home to self-isolate, in some cases to isolate with vulnerable parents. The government is keeping no central record of infections in schools, but the huge scale of what is being concealed was revealed by Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson. He tweeted Monday, New infections of COVID-19 in this last week in Liverpool is 1,254, this has increased the numbers infected to approx. 5,000, it is doubling every six days. There are currently 8,000 school children at home self-isolating and over 350 teachers & staff. All 1,700 pupils were sent home to isolate at one Liverpool school, after testing revealed 48 asymptomatic positive pupilsconfirming in-school transmissionreported the Skwawkbox blog yesterday. Matt Ashton, Liverpools director of public health, reported that there were 242 positive coronavirus infections per 100,000 people in the week to September 24. This compares to Boltons 211 cases per 100,000, previously the highest rate in the UK. He said Liverpools cases were doubling every eight to nine days and 12.8 percent of people being tested were confirmed positive, which is classed as a high rate. There were infections in all age groups and sharp increases in COVID hospital admissions. He warned increases in deaths are likely to follow. Liverpool has a population of over 552,000, and this dire situation is undoubtedly replicated in many other towns and cities in the UK, including nearby Manchester, that also has a population in the hundreds of thousands. Boris Johnsons government, with the support of the Labour Party and the trade unions, are desperate to keep the schools open to all pupils despite the horrendous conditions being experienced by teachers, pupils and parents. Johnson announced a week ago a few enhanced national restrictionswhich will do nothing to arrest the spread of the virus. But schools had to remain open. Johnson called for office workers to work from home again, if possible, while continuing to force 11 million pupils and teachers into small and unventilated classrooms as cases reach the highest since the height of the pandemic in April. The maniacal drive to keep schools open means that local lockdown rules exempt grandparents so they can provide childcare for their families. Grandparents are generally of an age which makes them most prone to infection. This measure came in as official figures show that incidents of groups being sent home from school because of COVID-19 have quadrupled in a week. Roughly 900 schools sent pupils home, with the attendance last Thursday showing four percent of schools not fully openan increase of three percent from the week before. The figures revealed that over a million children have been off school, with the numbers higher in secondary schools compared to primary. Parents are then having to arrange last minute childcare if they are to continue to work. Teachers are being used as cannon fodder for the disease yet are not able to get tested to diagnose their symptoms. When teachers are sent home, they and their families face a huge challenge to even access a test. The impact of inadequate testing has left teachers waiting for days to get tested. In some cases, staff are turned away because of the lack of testing facilities. Headteacher Jenna Crittenden, at Platt Church of England primary school in Kent, said that she had been left without a deputy headteacher who was turned away from a testing facility. Last week, my deputy head booked a test in Kent after two days of trying, she told the Times Educational Supplement (TES). When she got there they were turning people away as they had no tests, and when she said that could they ask to confirm she was needed back at work as a key worker, the gentleman went off to his supervisor and then returned to tell her that Teachers are not key workers and you need to go home and isolate. Many schools have been left with staff having to self-isolate for days awaiting a test or until they can receive their test result. Educators and parents are having to cope without any support from the government. Chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, Alison Peacock, told the TES that teachers are spending hours on the phone seeking a testing appointment only to be turned away to call again the next day, or turned away from a test centre because they were not considered a key worker. While Health Secretary Matt Hancock states that teaching staff with symptoms can get tested so we can keep schools and classes open, the government has placed them only fifth on the list for rationed testing. The list does not include children. The message is clearteachers, get tested and then get back to your COVID-19 secure bubble of 30-200 children, with no social distancing and no PPE, you have nothing to fear! The teaching unions have abandoned their members and will do nothing to fight the unsafe schools reopening. Instead, they claim that adequate testing is the answer. Leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, Ruth Davies, said, The inability of staff and families to successfully get tested when they display symptoms means that schools are struggling with staffing, children are missing school, and ultimately that childrens education is being needlessly disrupted. The crisis goes much deeper than the disruption of education. The conditions that teachers find themselves in are intolerable and unsustainable. There are reports on Twitter of teachers having to teach combined classes in school halls due to teacher sickness and isolation. Teachers are trying to hold this all together, but many are exhausted and still feel unsafe. Not only this, but any member of staff who comes in contact with the children is also at risk, with school bus drivers raising their concerns about lack of social distancing on their services, which are packed with children not wearing masks. The Unite union feigned concern that it was extremely worried bus drivers were at risk of catching COVID-19 on packed buses. This is the same union that has overseen, along with management, the dangerous conditions that have led to the deaths of 33 London bus drivers. Government guidance is that social distancing is not mandatory on dedicated school buses across the UK, leaving the decision up to the children and their schools to enforce the measure. The BBC interviewed a driver in Northern Ireland who said his bus carries children from eight different schools, who are on board for between 20 and 35 minutes. The pupils who are over 12 should be wearing facemasks but only around 50 percent on his bus do so. Everyone who works in education is at risk and will remain at risk without further safety measures. The Socialist Equality Party calls for all cases of COVID-19 [to] be immediately reported to staff and families and affected schools closed until testing and contact tracing establishes that it is safe to reopen. However, educators and parents are being kept in the dark. Some school staff say they are not being told which students have tested positive for COVID-19. Teachers and parents are demanding more information be shared with them about cases at their schools. While some local newspapers run stories of school closures, there is nothing in the mainstream media about the thousands of cases that have inevitably broken out nationwide. The advice that schools are getting from the government is totally inadequate. Last week, Schoolsweek reported that local Public Health England teams had left some schools in limbo waiting three days to get health advice. The Department for Education (DfE) then seized control of handling calls about school COVID-19 cases, yet even then the advice from the DfE was wrong. Essex County Council are turning instead to the local Essex Contact Test and Trace Team for advice in the first instance, rather than the DfE advice line, if they have a positive case. The dismay over the deadly situation that educators have been forced into is reflected in a TES survey of more than 8,500 teachers and other school workers across Britain. It found that nine in 10 school staff in England have limited or no trust in the governments management of the coronavirus and schools. As every day passes, the pandemic is ripping through schools, colleges and universities. Yet in UNISON, GMB and Unites joint statement, government must do more to keep schools open and safe, the emphasis is very much on keep open. Their only call is for the size of pupil bubbles to be reduced and for face coverings to be made compulsory on school buses. The unions only encourage wearing face masks inside schools, not that they be made compulsory. They call for full pay for lower-paid workers who need to isolate. But this is only because they know that one of their main demandsto increase the hours of cleaners in deep cleaning infected areaswill lead to infections. As with the teachers unions, the three unionsrepresenting thousands of school support staff across the UK including teaching assistants, technicians, catering workers, cleaning staff, caretakers, and receptionistsare leaving workers to their own fate. The Socialist Equality Party calls on all educators, teachers and students to take matters into their own hands and organise independently of the education trade unions in rank and file safety committees. Join the newly founded Educators Rank-and-File Committee and share your experiences, since returning to schools and campuses, with other workers. The Duke of York will not be present at this year's Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph and sources say it is 'unlikely' he will ever make an appearance again. Royal aides are said to have been 'agonising' over how to handle the predicament. Plans for a significantly pared-down service this year are said to have given them the perfect excuse not to include the beleaguered prince in the traditional royal line-up on November 8. They say that unless matters regarding his ongoing battle with the US authorities over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal dramatically change, they do not believe the prince will be seen at the event in an official capacity again. Prince Andrew (pictured at the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial at The Cenotaph in November 2019) will not be present at this year's Remembrance Sunday service and sources say it is 'unlikely' he will ever make an appearance again Buckingham Palace is in the process of finalising the event but, subject to receiving appropriate advice, the Queen will again oversee the commemorations from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth building overlooking the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The 94-year-old's heir, the Prince of Wales, will lay a wreath on her behalf. She handed over this duty to him in 2017 due to her age. Other members of the Royal Family who normally attend the event, organised by the Royal British Legion, are likely to lead commemorations elsewhere due to social distancing rules. Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew, who served with distinction as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot, would be stepping back from royal duties for the 'foreseeable future' in November following his disastrous attempt to clear his name in a BBC interview. The Duke of York (pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in New York's Central Park) will not be included in the traditional royal line-up on November 8 But officials said the 60-year-old would still attend key events such as Trooping the Colour and Remembrance Day as a royal colonel and military veteran. Andrew has continued to retain several honorary military titles such as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, despite calls for him to step down from those too. Trooping the Colour was cancelled this year due to the pandemic, alleviating courtiers of a difficult decision, but Remembrance Sunday was always going to be a more thorny issue, as Andrew served his country with distinction during the Falklands War. He piloted Sea King helicopters in the South Atlantic during the 1982 conflict, flying missions including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and casualty evacuation. On his return to Portsmouth in September 1982, his ship, HMS Invincible, was met by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The prince eventually retired from the Royal Navy after 22 years in 2001. A source said: 'There has been behind-the-scenes agonising over the Cenotaph issue because of the Duke's history of service, but matters have now been taken out of everyone's hands. 'Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Wales will lead the nation's tributes in a pared-down event. 'However, unless matters change dramatically, no one believes we will ever see the Duke of York in the royal line-up on Remembrance Sunday again.' This year's commemorations will be particularly special as they will mark the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of the Cenotaph. The Government of Ukraine has changed the rules for foreigners entering Ukraine for the period of coronavirus quarantine. "On 28 September 2020, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 888 amended the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 22 July 2020 No. 641 which establishes quarantine and introduces enhanced anti-epidemic measures," the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine informs. In particular, the Government has determined that, inter alia, for the period of quarantine it is prohibited for foreigners and stateless persons to cross the state border without a valid insurance certificate issued by an insurance company registered in Ukraine or a foreign insurance company, which has its office in Ukraine or a contractual relationship with an insurance partner company in Ukraine, and covers the costs associated with COVID-19treatment, observation, and is valid for the period of stay in Ukraine. Exceptions that do not fall under this requirement include foreigners, stateless persons permanently residing in Ukraine and persons recognized as refugees, or persons in need of additional protection, employees of diplomatic missions and consular institutions of foreign states, representations of official international missions, organizations accredited in Ukraine, and members of their families, servicepersons (of units) of the armed forces of NATO member states and member states of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme who participate in the training of the Armed Forces units. In addition, without an existing insurance certificate, foreigners and stateless persons are prohibited from crossing and leaving the checkpoints of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. It is also determined that persons who cross the state border and come from the countries or are citizens (nationals) of the countries with a high number of COVID-19 cases are required to self-isolate. This rule does not apply to the following categories of persons: Children aged under 12 years People coming to Ukraine to study at higher education institutions Citizens (nationals) of countries with a significant COVID-19 spread rate who have not been on the territory of such countries over the past 14 days or transit through the territory of Ukraine and have documents confirming departure abroad within two days Employees of diplomatic missions and consular institutions of foreign states, missions of official international missions, organizations accredited in Ukraine, and members of their families Drivers and crew members of freight vehicles, buses engaged in regular transportation, crew members of aircraft and ships, river vessels, members of train and locomotive crews Instructors of the armed forces of NATO member states and member states of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme who take part in the training of the Armed Forces units Cultural figures invited by a cultural institution and one person accompanying each figure Persons transporting hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation Persons who have undergone a PCR test and received a negative result no more than 48 hours in advance of his/her arrival in Ukraine. ol Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Emma Farge (Reuters) Geneva, Switzerland Tue, September 29, 2020 13:00 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e8dbc 2 World Africa,illegal-money,UN Free Africa is losing nearly $89 billion a year in illicit financial flows such as tax evasion and theft, amounting to more than it receives in development aid, a UN study showed on Monday. The estimate, in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) 248-page report, is its most comprehensive to date for Africa. It shows an increasing trend over time and is higher than most previous estimates. The report calls Africa a "net creditor to the world," echoing economists' observations that the aid-reliant continent is actually a net exporter of capital because of these trends. "Illicit financial flows rob Africa and its people of their prospects, undermining transparency and accountability and eroding trust in African institutions," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. Junior Davis, head of policy and research at UNCTAD's Africa division, told Reuters the figure was likely an underestimate, citing data limitations. Nearly half of the total annual figure of $88.6 billion is accounted for by the export of commodities such as gold, diamonds and platinum, the report said. For example, gold accounted for 77 percent of total underinvoiced exports worth $40 billion in 2015, it showed. Understating a commodity's true value helps conceal trade profits abroad and deprives developing countries of foreign exchange and erodes their tax base, UNCTAD said. Tackling illicit flows is a priority for the United Nations, whose General Assembly adopted a resolution on this in 2018, and the report urges African countries to draw on the report to present "renewed arguments" in international forums. Mocktails Brand wins Craftwork distribution for premium drinks Premium non-alcoholic cocktail supplier Mocktails Brand has partnered with Craftwork as a UK distributor. The company was conceived by three American families who had first-hand experience of the gap in the market for alcohol-free drinks that presented a fair equivalent to their alcoholic counterparts. Its range - created by Ezra Star, award-winning mixologist and former general manager of Boston bar Drink - so far includes the Mockapolitan, Mockarita, Mockscow Mule and Sansgria. They are all gluten-free, vegan, low in sugar and calories, and are designed to be treated like cocktails - shaken over ice and served in proper glassware. The products are made in the UK, which along with other countries is seeing huge growth in the no/low drinks category as people - particularly the younger generations - look to reduce their alcohol consumption. Alongside the distribution deal with Craftwork, Mocktails Brand has also announced the appointment of Elliott Clark as its UK sales director. He joins from drinks marketing and distribution agency Indie Brands and will be helping to grow Mocktails Brand's presence in the on and off-trade. Bill Gamelli, founder and CEO of Mocktail Brand, said: "Covid-19 is accelerating trends already underway and reshaping the way consumers engage with all products and services. The drinking experience and occasion is no different and the industry is in the midst of unprecedented change. From our studies, we can see that consumers are more than twice as likely to order a second premium mocktail than typical soft drinks, event at higher price points." Elliott Clark said: "Consumers can now enjoy a substantially better experience than standard soft drinks when choosing an alcohol-free option. The opportunity for hotels, restaurants, bars and catering managers to increase revenue streams is tried and tested. Research has shown that consumers are happier to pay more for an alcohol-free drink which has a grown-up flavour profile and presentation, whilst at the same time they are more likely to order more than one, unlike with a standard soft drink." Jeremy Rockett of Craftwork added: "To date, there have been very limited premium offerings for the designated driver or those abstaining from alcohol. This is a real opportunity to reach a broad range of consumers who have previously been ignored when it comes to social occasions." We are thrilled to partner with MOCKTAILS to bring what we see as the solution to the on and off-trade throughout the U.K., says Jeremy Rockett of Craftwork. Covid-19 has been a real catalyst for driving the No & Lo market in the U.K. To date, there have been very limited premium offerings for the designated driver or those abstaining from alcohol altogether. This is a real opportunity to reach a broad range of consumers who have previously been ignored when it comes to social occasions. These include: the young, health conscious generation; those not drinking for religious or cultural reasons; pregnant women; and those looking to moderate their alcohol intake. It also fulfils demand during seasonal occasions: Sober October and Dry January, which historically have had a negative impact on trading across sectors. MOCKTAILS has an RRSP of 1.99 - 2.49 per 200ml bottle. They are currently available in the U.K., U.S., and Asia. 29 September 2020 - Bethany Whymark CAIRO An ancient pharaonic granite slab from the time of the ancient Egyptian King Djoser, which was discovered years ago, has recently resurfaced amid the crisis over the Ethiopian dam on the Nile River, raising the fears of Egyptians over a stone-carved inscription about the drying up of the Nile River. The stone tells the story of a drought that occurred during King Djosers era that lasted for seven years, during which the Nile ceased flooding during its usual season. In this context, Abdel Rahim Rihan, general director of the Department of Research, Archaeological Studies and Academic Publication in South Sinai of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said, There is a carved stone in the Seheil Island in Aswan, with an inscription mentioning seven years of drought and famine under King Djoser. In the upper part of the stone, Djoser is depicted making offerings to three Egyptian deities Khnum, Satis and Anuket during the era of Ptolemies, who ruled Egypt from 332 to 31 B.C. The stone is a granite one cut in a rectangular shape. The inscription is written in hieroglyphic script with 42 columns. The upper part of the stone depicts three Egyptian deities, Khnum, Satis and Anuket, with Djoser holding offerings in his outstretched hands. A deep crack, which was already there when the inscriptions were made, cuts the stone in half. Some parts of it are damaged, rendering some passages of the text unreadable, Rihan told Al-Monitor via phone. The stone depicts the kings wrath and concern over the drought in Egypt that dragged on for seven years, as the Nile did not flood throughout this period. King Djoser later ordered that offerings be carried to the south to be offered to Khnum in a bid to please him, Rihan said. Egypt, whose land is mainly a desert with little rainfall, depends on the Blue Nile River for more than 95% of its water needs. Egypt has had concerns about its water security since 2011 when Ethiopia announced its intention to start building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) at a cost of $6 billion, which would retain 74 billion cubic meters annually of Nile River water. This would affect Egypt's share of the Blue Nile River and is an existential threat to Egypt. Addis Ababa seeks to turn the GERD into the largest power project in the African continent, but Cairo fears this would impact its water shares exceeding 55 billion cubic meters annually, most of which it gets from the Blue Nile. In his most recent statements upon the faltering of the last round of negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the GERD, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at the UN Security Council that the issue of the dam had tremendous consequences on the Egyptian people, which necessitates efforts and cooperation on the part of the international community to reach a fair solution to this crisis. Ethiopia had announced in July the completion of the initial filling of the dam without reaching an agreement with Sudan and Egypt. This angered the two downstream countries. Shoukry stressed in his UN address that the GERD crisis threatens the water resources for 100 million Egyptians and poses great risks to an entire nation, noting that Egypt resorted to the Security Council to avoid further escalation. Shoukry added that Egypt is well aware of the GERDs importance for the Ethiopian people, but filling the dam unilaterally without any agreement would endanger Egypt and Sudan. An agreement signed in 1959 stipulates the Nile water shares of Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia, among other African riparian countries, however, contests the legitimacy of that agreement. They argue that it was concluded during the Colonial era, during which African countries had no say in their internal affairs. The per capita share of freshwater in Egypt annually has reached 570 cubic meters, or 150,000 gallons per person, while UN reports found that a water-poor country is one whose water shares are fewer than 1,000 cubic meters per capita per year. Mohamed Nasr Allam, former minister of water resources and irrigation, expressed concern about the stalled GERD negotiations. Allam explained what went wrong in the talks. There was a lack of commitment to pledges on part of negotiators, particularly Ethiopia. There was no set agenda for any round of talks. The date of the negotiation round would be announced only a few hours before the talks began. There is only a moral commitment to abide by the talks until the construction of the dam is completed. The role of observers and experts, even the African Union itself, is ambiguous. Reluctance or embarrassment in issuing statements of condemnation or a summary of the obstacles and their causes. Finally, no party in the world is capable of predicting or knowing the results of the negotiation process, Allam wrote on Facebook Sept. 14. The last tripartite meeting was held Aug. 28-29 under the auspices of the African Union and in the presence of observers from the United States, South Africa and other member states. The talks did not yield any positive results or real indication to solve the disagreement between the three concerned countries over the GERD. Dubi Kaufmann is a Chicago artist. His work is irreverent and delightful and occasionally political. He once rendered 30th Ward Ald. Ariel Reboyras entirely in Legos. He created an Instagram filter that makes your portrait look like that famous Barack Obama HOPE poster from 2008. For a while, he was asking people to text him their faces and hed superimpose them to look like they were on Millennium Parks Crown Fountain, spitting a cool stream of water onto splashing, laughing children. CHARLESTON A group of Coles County community leaders issued a statement on Tuesday urging people to follow precautions against the coronavirus. The announcement comes at a time when Coles County's rate of COVID-19 cases is increasing and brings the possibility of the return of restrictions, county Health Department Administrator Diana Stenger said. The letter includes the names of 21 county health care, government, education, church and social service representatives. READ THE LETTER: "We do not wish our beloved community to become more restrictive or to undo the progress that has already been made," the letter says. "We, as a community, can do a few simple things to defeat this enemy and prevent our local businesses, educational institutions, places of worship and medical facilities from further suffering, financial loss and personal expense." Stenger said Illinois Department of Public Health officials found the county's current rate of COVID-19 cases to be "alarming." She said they indicated that if the rate stays at that level it could lead to the return of closings and other restrictions as took place in some other parts of the state. She said there could be some confusion because of the recent announcement that the state moved Coles County out of its "orange" warning level, which indicated an increase in COVID-19 cases. There's a lag of about a week in the data, which led to the change to the "blue" warning level, which indicates stable numbers, Stenger explained. Stenger said Coles County's rate of positive cases as of Friday was 8.6% while the state's target rate is 8% or less. Last week, the state department began tracking Champaign County separately from the rest of the region that also includes Coles County, she said. Because of the large number of the University of Illinois students being tested, state department officials thought including those in the region's total "was not an true picture," she added. Friday's positivity rate for Champaign County alone was 1.2%, Stenger said. On Tuesday, the health department also reported another coronavirus related death, bring the county's total to 31. Officials also reported 19 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the county's total to 1,546. Elsewhere in the region, Cumberland County reported seven new COVID-19 cases since Friday; Moultrie County reported its fourth coronavirus-related death; and Shelby County reported five additional residents have tested positive. All three counties are in the same region as Coles County. Statewide on Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced another 1,362 cases of the virus and 23 more deaths in COVID-19-positive individuals. The death total is now at 8,637 in Illinois, and there have been 291,001 confirmed cases among more than 5.5 million test results reported. There were 45,624 test results reported over the previous 24 hours, making for a one-day positivity rate of 3%, which brought the rolling seven-day average rate to 3.6 percent. At the end of the day Monday, there were 1,535 people reported hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, including 363 in intensive care unit beds and 151 on ventilators. Those numbers fluctuate considerably daily but have been trending slightly upward in recent weeks. Stenger said the community group, called "Coles County Cares," prepared a flier with a message urging people to wear face masks to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. The department has some available for the public. The department can be reached at (217) 348-0530. The letter also urged other precautions such as social distancing and frequent hand washing. Remember these Charleston locations Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternet Systems, Inc. (USOTC: ALYI) today announced an update from investment partner RevoltTOKEN (www.revolttoken.com). Earlier this month, on September 2nd, RevoltTOKEN CEO, Henryk Dabrowski, released a comprehensive overview of RevoltTOKEN's plan to fund ALYI's overall electric mobility ecosystem initiative. Mr Dabrowski's original funding strategy presentation can be reviewed here. On behalf of RevoltTOKEN, Mr. Dabrowski today communicates that the plan remains intact pending the finalization of the various processes necessary to securing required prior authorizations. Specifically, as revealed in the September 2nd presentation, RevoltTOKEN has elected to domicile its business in Bermuda and now RevoltTOKEN, having undertaken the efforts necessary to register and license its operations in Bermuda, is working to complete same in a timely manner and in so doing, launch the planned RevoltTOKEN initial cryptocurrency offering (ICO). We continue to encourage all interested in purchasing RevoltTOKEN cryptocurrency to thoroughly review the white paper currently in a draft form and available on the RevoltTOKEN website (www.revolttoken.com) where the anticipated cryptocurrency redemption options are listed. Further questions can be directed to [email protected]. To learn more about the upcoming ICO visit www.revoltTOKEN.com. For more information and to stay up to date on ALYI's latest developments, please visit www.alternetsystemsinc.com. Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. Alternet Systems, Inc. Contact: Randell Torno [email protected] +1-800-713-0297 SOURCE Alternet Systems, Inc. Related Links http://www.alternetsystemsinc.com The two women say the driver locked the car doors and said, Youre not going anywhere. The driver chalks it up to a misunderstanding. Whos right? It was up to an Allegheny County judge to decide whether the driver college professor Richard Lomotey who was moonlighting with Uber to decide whether he was guilty of unlawful restraint, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. In the case dating back to May 2019, the 38-year-old man originally from Ghana who taught as a professor at Penn State Beaver was accused by the two women of holding them captive in his Uber, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh reports: Two women who requested the ride from a Homewood bar accused Lomotey of not following their directions or the Uber GPS, pulling over and locking them inside the car. And after these charges were reported, another woman came forward saying Lomotey made unwanted advances toward her. KDKA reported. Lomotey disputes all this, saying his Uber app froze and he pulled over to wait for it to restart and kick back on. Details from the original KDKA report and interview with the driver: I tap on the app to zoom in on the map to see whether I should make a right turn, left turn or go straight. Thats when I realized the app was frozen, so I pulled over at the side of the road at the intersection, Lomotey said. She opened the door and started screaming out, Niya, Niya, run, the driver said. After sprinting from the car, the two 21-year-old women ran toward Penn Avenue and called police. Lomotey says he never locked his doors, and after the women fled, he sat confused. Within minutes, Im talking about three minutes, Uber had sent me a notification to go pick up someone else, so then I continue picking up people throughout the night to morning, Lomotey told KDKA. Then, his wife called: She said the police just left the house looking for you over an incident, Lomotey recounted. The married father of two kids found himself charged with kidnapping, a count later dropped. Penn State revoked his access to campus in wake of the incident, KDKA reported, adding: The whole incident is just absurd, he said. Its just not logical and more importantly, it never happened the way its been projected. After the bench trial in the case, the judge found Lomotey not guilty on Monday. But the verdict can hardy be called a victory for the professor who was just out to earn a little extra cash. BREAKING NOW: Accused in killing, Pa. man says he didnt understand word attorney and wants confession thrown out Family of Pa. woman killed in hit-and-run begs driver to come forward Pa. cop went on $5,500 tire-slashing tirade after being denied booze at restaurant: state police Man in Burger King uniform found shot dead on Pa. sidewalk Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will hold virtual meeting in December, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said here on Tuesday.Momen made the remarks after the sixth Joint Consultative Commission meeting, which was held virtually in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Momen led the Bangladesh side while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar led the Indian team at the meeting. He said the two prime ministers will hold a virtual meeting in December. Momen said he laid emphasis on "early resolution" of the Teesta water-sharing issue apart from resolving water sharing of other common rivers during the meeting. We have got positive responses from the Indian side on the issue, he told a media briefing here on the outcome of the JCC talks.Momen said his meeting with Jaishankar also featured the issue of potential water sharing agreements on six of the remaining trans-boundary rivers - Monu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar. "Both sides underscored the necessity of early resolution of the Teesta water sharing and early resolution of agreements on sharing of all common rivers," the Bangladesh foreign office said in a statement. The two sides also agreed to hold the long pending Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting soon at the ministerial level to address outstanding issues on water resources cooperation. It (JRC meeting) will be held very soon,Momen said.The two ministers discussed several issues including trade, line of credit and air bubble. According to the statement, Bangladesh thanked India for the concessions being provided under SAFTA but said various non-tariff barriers and lack of adequate trade facilitation was impeding flow of Bangladeshi products into India, particularly.Momen requested New Delhi to address issues of accreditation, certification, standardization, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to enable exports of Bangladesh into India, it said. "The Foreign Minister requested his Indian counterpart to look into the export of essential commodities, such as onions by India, it added. Bangladesh, it said, also stressed on the equitable application of investment policies by India.The JCC also reviewed the projects under the Indian line of credit and Dhaka put emphasis on expediting the implementation process of those projects and decided to form a monitoring committee to regularly review their progress. "Enhancing cooperation on energy and power sector through facilitation of tripartite power-energy cooperation among Bangladesh-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-India-Bhutan was also discussed, the statement said. Momen said the two sides discussed about cooperation on access to potential COVID 19 vaccine. He said the Indian side has assured that Bangladesh would get priority in receiving any potential vaccine which it could develop.Both sides discussed collaboration in the health sector "especially in terms of supply, delivery, distribution and co-production of COVID-19 vaccine,the statement said. A senior official at the Indian High Commission, who is familiar with the talks, said India proposed third phase clinical trial of a vaccine it was working on in Bangladesh as soon as its trial begins at home. "Bangladesh side in principle agreed to the proposal," the official said on condition of anonymity. Momen said that his Indian counterpart agreed with him to bring down border killing to zero level. "We dont want any death along the frontier,he said.The Rohingya crisis appeared to be another issue discussed during the meeting. The foreign ministry statement said Momen expressed hope that as a non-permanent UNSC member India would play a "more meaningful role" for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis.Momen and Jaishankar jointly unveiled two commemorative stamps as part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The two ministers agreed to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.They also discussed the joint programmes for celebrating the Mujib Year, marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Prime Minister Hasina. The 5th India-Bangladesh JCC meeting was held on February 8 last year in New Delhi. (Image Credits:PTI) (This story has not been edited by www.republicworld.com and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed). Photo: (Photo : Vidal Balielo Jr. from Pexels) A newborn baby in Virginia was born without an immune system. When Virginia mom, Tiffany Green, learned that her son has no immune system, she was shocked. What made her more afraid was the thought that her baby boy was born during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. READ ALSO: Parents Test Toddlers in a New TikTok Challenge Most Results Were Heartwarming The newborn baby's condition Baby Parker was born in April. During this time, the cases of coronavirus patients were continuously rising. The Virginia mom received the news about her newborn baby's condition a week after he was born. She was initially informed that the screening of baby Parker was abnormal. Doctors told Tiffany that her newborn baby has a rare genetic condition. This case is called the SCID or the severe combined immunodeficiency, a condition that affects only one out of 60,000 births. SCID patients do not have any T-cells which are "organizers of the immune system." A baby who has SCID has no cells that could protect them from the coronavirus. Something that has been giving the Virginia mom anxiety for quite some time now. READ ALSO: Dad with Five Daughters Wants Sixth Baby to Be a Boy; to Confirm, He Cut Open Wife's Stomach The coronavirus pandemic Because of baby Parker's condition, Tiffany cannot stop thinking about her newborn baby getting the deadly coronavirus. She said, "That was one of them, one of the most important things that went through my mind is he's gonna get it." Doctors said that any kind of infection is very dangerous for baby Parker. Despite the anxiety and fear, the Virginia mom also sees the pandemic as a blessing in disguise. She shared, "Because we're all home anyway, so it wasn't anything new to my kids or me, and everybody's masking and social distancing, and it helps him out, too." READ ALSO: How to Prepare Your Pets for a Newborn Baby Fighting the disease during the pandemic This case of the newborn baby in Virginia is something that can be cured when caught early, according to Dr. Blachy Davila of Children's National Hospital in D.C. He said that through early interventions, babies with SCID have a chance to survive, compared to cases in the past. According to Dr. Davila, "Prior to the newborn screen, without any interventions, over 90 percent of these kids would die in their first year of life." Since baby Parker's diagnosis, he had to undergo chemotherapy in June. He also had a bone marrow transplant, which meant he had to stay in the hospital. However, he recovered quickly and has been home to bond with his sisters, Natalie and Avery. Right now, as the newborn baby from Virginia is building his immune system, his family is also staying isolated at home. Baby Parker is now five months old. READ ALSO: Australian Dad Sees His Newborn Baby for the First Time Due to Quarantine Lockdowns Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae attends a cabinet meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex, Tuesday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae is facing continued controversy over her son's military service even after the prosecution cleared her of allegations that she had used her influence as a powerful politician to gain special favors for her son in 2017 while he was serving as a Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) soldier. After a months-long investigation, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announced Monday that it found no grounds to indict Choo, her 27-year-old son surnamed Seo, and her former aide surnamed Choi regarding Seo's military service as a KATUSA with the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eighth U.S. Army. Choo has been under fire over allegations that she used her influence as the then chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to seek special favors in extending her son's medical leave after he underwent knee surgery in June 2017. Although the prosecution dropped the investigation into her for putting external pressure on officials to request leave, several text messages between Choo and her former aide, revealed through digital forensic investigation, are sparking fresh controversy, as the messages showed that the two had discussed extending Seo's medical leave, contradicting Choo's repeated denial of such an incident during a National Assembly interpellation session. The messages sent by the former aide June 14 read, "We have already dealt with your son's case," and "The doctor's prescription will be submitted as soon as we receive it." Choo had asked the aide to get in touch with her son in a message sent June 21, which also included contact information of a military officer. The aide replied, "We have asked to extend (Seo's) vacation. They will let us know after reviewing it as this is an exceptional case." According to records from the Ministry of National Defense, Seo went on sick leave from June 5 to 14 and again on 15 to 24, after which he took four more days of personal leave. The prosecution investigation began after whistleblowers alleged that Seo did not return to his unit at the end of his second medical leave, even though his personal leave had yet to be approved. They claimed it was literally desertion. The messages imply that Choo was at least aware of the fact the Seo's leave was being taken care of by her aide, and possibly had ordered the requested extension. This was in contrast to what she told the National Assembly as she kept insisting, "Neither I nor my husband have ever made any orders to a secretary to make phone calls (regarding my son's leave)." The prosecutors' office concluded that the text messages cannot be seen as clear evidence that Choo had directly intervened in the matter using her influence. The main opposition People's Power Party (PPP) called the prosecution decision a "conspiracy" and "concealment," saying it will push for a special prosecutor to unearth the truth behind the incident. "The prosecution has covered up Choo's allegations instead of revealing detailed information on how she obtained the military officer's phone number and why she had passed it on to her ex-aide," said Rep. Cho Soo-jin from the PPP. They are also demanding Choo to be held accountable for giving false testimony at the National Assembly. Meanwhile, Choo made a public apology through the ministry's spokesman Monday after the investigation was dropped, calling the suspicions "a groundless political attack". "I'd like to offer my apology for the trouble caused from groundless and reckless political attacks. I will now concentrate on completing the prosecution reforms through redistributing power and launching an independent investigative body targeting corruption by high-ranking officials," she said. A Fox News contributor has defended President Donald Trump following a bombshell report that revealed he allegedly wrote off $70,000 for hair styling on his tax returns. When appearing on Fox News Outnumbered on Monday, Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor with The Federalist and Fox News contributor, claimed that the tax write-offs detailed in The New York Times report were allowed under the law. Depreciation, itemising deductions. All of these things hes doing are things that probably all of us do, that most people do when they are filing their taxes. Im not quite sure what is supposed to be news, she said. Fox News reporter Bret Baier stated during the segment that Mr Trump previously said in 2016 that he follows the law when it comes to filing his taxes. If people have a problem with how he files, Mr Trump said at the time, then its the law that should be addressed. Ms Hemingway was in agreement with that take. As Bret noted, this story came out in 2016, and at the time, Donald Trump said he absolutely did not pay more taxes than he owes. If you do have a problem with the way he is paying his taxes, and that it is legal, you need to change the law, she said. The contributor has defended the president since The New York Times released the tax report on Sunday. Honestly just feel blessed to follow so many journalists on Twitter who are tax and loan experts. Didn't realize that they had this particular expertise before tonight as I'd never heard them discuss a word of it before, which makes it all the more impressive, she tweeted. Controversy into the presidents taxes comes after the newspaper reported Mr Trump paid only $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017, according to documents obtained by the newspaper. In 10 of the 15 years of tax filings reviewed by the publication, Mr Trump paid no money toward the federal government because of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he lost from his businesses. Tax write offs reported by the publication included $70,000 towards hair styling and nearly $700,000 in consulting fees that went to his daughter Ivanka Trump. Mr Trump, differing from all other past presidents, has refused to publicly release his tax returns. His campaign has claimed the president was unable to due to his taxes being under audit. Supporters of the president defended Mr Trump by saying that he followed the law with his tax write offs, similar to the defence Ms Hemingway gave on Fox News. But in the case of the haircuts and styling, those are actually difficult to write off. You cant deduct expenses of radio and television appearances to increase your personal prestige or establish your professional reputation, according to the IRS. Past court cases have also reaffirmed the decision by the IRS that personal expenses such as teeth whitening, nail care, haircuts, and skin care can not be a write off unless they are 100 per cent work-related. Expenses that are inherently personal are nondeductible personal expenses, the US Tax Court ruled in a case involving a TV presenter. In response to the bombshell report, Democratic challenger Joe Biden released 22 years of tax returns to contrast what hes paid in taxes while in public office compared to the sitting president. Photo credit: Marcin Kempski From ELLE How does a level-headed actor from North London remain true to herself while scaling the heights of Hollywood? It's complicated, as she explains to Liv Little It is one of the hottest days of the year when I speak with Letitia Wright. Its uncomfortably sticky and, while the rest of the UK can be found flouting social distancing at recently opened pubs, the 26-year-old actor is hanging out in her north London flat (also her office) making the most of the dry air to get her washing done. Her webcam is down when we speak, but when she does talk, in her soft, comforting tone first about our shared Guyanese heritage, but later about, well, everything it feels like Im sitting at the table with an old friend. Shes been busy during lockdown largely because shes used the time to set up her own production company, 316 Productions. It is, she tells me, her way of creating roles for those who dont often get a seat at the table. Its an opportunity to create the roles that I didnt see for Black women and men, or Asian people... she says. Photo credit: Marcin Kempski If you dont know Wright, you will undoubtedly recognise her. Shes one of the stars of Black Panther, Marvels runaway box-office hit, which made more than $200 million in its US opening weekend back in 2018, and quickly made Wright a face for Black girls everywhere to look up to. While, for some, a rapid ascent into the stratosphere of celebrity can become catastrophic, she is quite possibly one of the most wholesome people Ive ever met her commitment to faith, family and friends is evident throughout our call. This is perhaps aided by the fact that shes been in the acting game for a little while now, having started her career as a teenager on Holby City, and then in Channel 4 crime drama Top Boy. Her first project through 316 Productions is a short film called Things I Never Told My Father, which, she says, is intended to explore the dynamics of grief. I saw my friend deal with the loss of his uncle, who was basically his father, she says. The way he dealt with it was like Damn, youre really trying your best to grit your teeth and get through this, but youre hurting. I want to make things where the subject matter is really important, but [also] giving Black actors your brothers and sisters something to work with, like a character, a full human being, she explains. Story continues She tells me that shes turned down roles in massive Hollywood productions because they didnt feel quite right; being deliberate with every role is important to her. Wright is a rarity in that sense: not every actor is able to maintain a steady sense of integrity when they make it big in Hollywood. But, for her, its paid off taking her from small-screen appearances on British TV (including a particularly hard-hitting season finale of Black Mirror) straight into the heart of Hollywood. Photo credit: Marcin Kempski In Black Panther, which eventually took over $1.2 billion worldwide, Wright played the role of Shuri, a princess in the fictional kingdom of Wakanda. It was a life-changing role, catapulting her into the realm of celebrity where even a supermarket shop can become a minefield. As soon as you go to Sainsburys, you could even be wearing a hat but theyre like, Yo, I swear thats my girl from Black Panther! she says. People still show her their Wakanda arms, the now-iconic stance of crossed arms over your chest, a signal of solidarity and Black power. But she never grows tired of the support. She sees it as something to be celebrated, all good vibes. I saw Black Panther when it was first released, but it was another project that Wright did at the end of that year that stood out for me. The Convert was a play written by fellow Black Panther star Danai Gurira following the story of Jekesai, a young woman who finds herself having to convert to Catholicism after fleeing a forced marriage. Wright reveals that the role of Jekesai was her favourite to date. (Though, I should point out, she does this with excruciating hesitation because she finds it so hard to choose between them.) Photo credit: Marcin Kempski It turns out I wasnt the only one blown away by her performance at the Young Vic that winter Kenneth Branagh also went to see The Convert and was struck by Wrights performance. I used to watch Much Ado About Nothing with him and Denzel Washington, Wright says. Hes a bad-boy actor so, for him to come to the play was amazing... It opened the gate for me to get another role, which is a blessing. Shes talking about Death On The Nile, the Agatha Christie thriller about a murder on a luxurious cruise, starring everyone from Sophie Okonedo to Gal Gadot, and directed by Branagh himself (who also reprises his role as Hercule Poirot). Being back on a big Hollywood set at the end of last year to film Death On The Nile was a gear shift from a summer spent filming Steve McQueens Small Axe, an upcoming series for the BBC, comprising five films that follow Londons Caribbean communities from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. The title of the series is based on the proverb: If you are the big tree, we are the small axe, meaning that even the most marginalised of voices can have transformative power. Photo credit: Marcin Kempski Wright spotted the project as soon as it was announced online on movie database IMDb. She moved to the UK from Guyana at age seven and, as such, Caribbean culture plays a hugely important role in her life and identity. The amount of struggles my mum had in this country, people dont really know what weve been through, she says. But, while she watched the project from afar, director Steve McQueen was also watching Wright. When she eventually met the director in London, she asked when shed have to officially audition. He was like, You just did. Ive seen your work and I think youre phenomenal, she says. He said that was how he worked with all his main actors. Michael Fassbender was the same... They met and they vibed. I remember thinking: Hes an Oscar-winning director. How is he not going to audition me? I tried to act cool about it and be lowkey, but it was so simple. I was thankful that all the years of saying no to certain things and all the years of sticking to my integrity; those projects are [now] speaking to me. Wright also stars as activist Altheia Jones in Mangrove, which has been chosen to open the BFI London Film Festival this year. In preparation for the role, she got to meet Jones, who was instrumental in the fight for Black liberation in the 1960s and became known as part of the Mangrove Nine, a group of protestors who were arrested in the 1970s for conspiracy to incite a riot at Notting Hills Mangrove Restaurant. They were cleared of the charge and the case became significant as the first time a judge officially acknowledged racism in the Metropolitan Police. Wright was clearly inspired by Jones and her grassroots efforts: Shes a beautiful woman. She studied biochemistry, she was extremely intelligent. She faced racial tensions, and she faced teachers laughing and mocking her, telling her that she would never be anything. Photo credit: Marcin Kempski The timing of Small Axe also felt particularly pertinent. Preparing for it, doing it, giving all that you can to it and then you get to 2020 and youre like, Hold up a minute, this is happening again. People arent going out to protest because they want to. Its aggravation after aggravation, and standing up for justice. For Wright, theres power in bridging the gap between the activists portrayed in Small Axe, many of whom are still alive, and the generation organising on the ground now. If we have someone like Altheia just communicating with youngsters today, then the youngsters also get the knowledge of what they had to go through to fight for us, for what we have now, Wright says, reflecting on the summers Black Lives Matter protests. Amidst all the buzz around her new films, Wright recently tweeted some ominous messages about the industry: Now I understand why some folks do the work and dip right away. This industry can be so fake at times. Cant be around that energy for too long. I ask her to elaborate, but she is quick to make clear that the tweet was more a musing and wasnt aimed at anyone in particular. No one troubled me, it was just a thought. But I find it very important to be around people who are genuine, because it can really disappoint you when people are not real, when theyre not for you, she explains mysteriously . I ask whether the tweet touched on the idea that, because there hasnt historically been enough space carved out for Black women, some have the mentality that theres only space for one of us. Wright agrees: Its sad and it hurts. But, the funny thing is, if you actually step aside from that mentality and go, No, theres space for all of us [to succeed], we just have to keep building a wall. The bricks at the bottom have to be laid first before the bricks on the second row can be laid. So, if you say, OK, you lay your brick there, and Ill lay my brick in the next two months. Let me make sure that your brick thats laid is good and solid and paid well... Then, soon, you have a wall, she explains, before admitting, Yes, I stole that from Will Smith. Ive listened to that since I was 16, but he has a point: we have to be bricks, we have to be that solid foundation for each other or else whats the point? Photo credit: Marcin Kempski One of the ways in which Wright has dealt with the pressures of the industry is by keeping her circle of friends tight. I really pride myself on the circle that I keep and its a very small circle, its almost like a dot, she says. I remember I asked actor Naomie Harris a few years back for some advice, and she met with me and said, How you carry yourself is how people will respond to you. So, if I turned up and I have a Gucci bag or [Im] in the club every day theres no problem with that, if thats your vibe but Im very quiet and all about the work. John Boyega and Damson Idris are still her boys after they all met at Identity School of Acting, the now-famous London drama school that was created in 2003 to reach out to actors of colour (the founder of the school, Femi Oguns, is still her agent). I tend to hide away a lot. Damson is always chasing me on Instagram like Yo, like where are you at? And shes close with Star Wars actor Boyega, who is also in Small Axe. I literally hit him up the other day for advice and some photos. Were all a family, we all support each other. And Im not going to lie in the UK because were so small, like, its such a small pond of actors, we just support each other and love each other. As well as a close-knit group of actor friends, religion is another huge influence in her life. Wright attributes her enormous success as an actor to her connection with God. She tells me she has even attended a session at Hillsong, Justin Biebers church in the US.They had a free early morning sermon and my friend was adamant we get there on time. Walking through, seeing Justin Bieber therewith his notepad and hoodie on at 9am, I was like, What? Religion has perhaps been key to her evolving self-acceptance, something that hasnt always come naturally. After moving to the UK and settling in Tottenham, she spent time trying to assimilate at primary school, changing her accent fromGuyanese to British by impersonating other kids. I find that so interesting, how you change yourself to fit in, she says. As her acting career took off in her late teens, she put herself under massive amounts of mental strain: I think back to back years of living the same way and thinking the same thoughts and the pressure I would put on myself... I remember analysing every single thing. If I went on a red carpet, Id analyse the picture. If I did an interview, Id analyse the video. If I spent time with friends, after I left, Id think to myself, Why did I laugh like that, why did I show teeth. It was just back to back. It was through Christianity, and joining the church in 2015 at age 22, that she started to consider the bigger picture. I started to realise that, you know, its not about me, its not about how much people can validate me and I started to see the power of God and not the power of man. Im on another layer of a self-love journey, taking a step back to re-evaluate loving myself even better than I did a year ago, she says. This whole isolation thing is not new to me because Ive been doing it since I was 16. I retreat, I work, I retreat. I go back on the field. I retreat. Like others, lockdown has encouraged Wright to contemplate where she wants to be based. A fan of Guyanas slow-paced nature, the thought of relocating there is alluring. Its perfect because, if I need to go to the US, its quick. Its not as complicated as it seems, she tells me, sounding like shes close to making up her mind on a move. Its so funny last night, some stuff popped up on YouTube about African Americans relocating to Africa and how happy they are. I was like, This is actually the way to be. Why are we fighting these people? Why are we shouting at them to give us space when we can go to our motherland and have space there? Photo credit: Marcin Kempski A few weeks after our interview, Letitia takes to social media again, but this time as part of collective mourning for Chadwick Boseman. A few days earlier, the unexpected passing of her Black Panther co-star was made public. Boseman, it transpired, had secretly been battling bowel cancer. Wright penned a beautiful five-minute poem, a tribute to her friend, sure to make you weep, in which she says: I wish I got to say goodbye. I messaged you a couple of times, but I thought you were just busy. I didnt know you were dealing with so much. She finally continues: It is written that all things are made new, there is light in the darkness. Its a line she left me with as we said goodbye on that baking day back in August. Im happy to be a light in the world. Thats my spirit. I cant be anything else. And if I am, then somethings wrong. Small Axe is coming to BBC One this autumn. Death On The Nile is in cinemas December 18. ELLE's November issue hits newsstands on October 1, 2020. Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. In need of more inspiration, thoughtful journalism and at-home beauty tips? Subscribe to ELLE's print magazine today! SUBSCRIBE HERE You Might Also Like (Natural News) Social media and micro-blogging platform Twitter is guilty of selective censorship, a new report says, noting that while the entity regularly engages in high-profile flagging of several conservative politicians, it remains mum when it comes to misinformation put forth by the Chinese government. Conservative online news channel Breitbart, in a report, noted that Twitter was quick to flag a video clip posted by the Trump Team on Twitter, which showed President Donald Trump talking about how children allegedly have a heightened immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. The same platform, however, has not applied the same standards to other personalities, particularly Chinese government officials, who have been noted as actively spreading unfounded theories suggesting that the coronavirus originated in the United States instead of Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province. As noted by the Breitbart team, the most that Twitter did was to add a note on tweets from official Chinese accounts a far cry from the crackdown and outright censorship it enforced against President Trump and other key conservative American figures. One such post was from Lijian Zhao, the spokesperson for Chinas Foreign Affairs Ministry, who, in a tweet dated March 12, surmised that it might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. (Related: Twitter to add warning labels to misleading coronavirus tweets but whos fact-checking Twitter?) This conspiracy theory, which first spread on the Chinese social media network Weibo, was started by Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan, who, in a press conference in early February, noted that though the COVID-19 was first discovered in China, it does not mean that it originated from China. According to the theory, SARS-CoV-2 was introduced to China when 300 U.S. military members arrived in the Wuhan region for the Military World Games in mid-October and infected the local population. This theory has been debunked, with none of the service members who made the trip testing positive for the virus. Zhaos tweet, which demanded that the U.S. government give Beijing an explanation, received more than 15,000 likes and nearly 12,000 retweets. 2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3 Lijian Zhao (@zlj517) March 12, 2020 Similar posts from Chinese government officials and official state affiliates have not been flagged, and in fact, have been allowed to flourish, not just on Twitter but on other platforms as well. For instance, Chinas state-sponsored international TV network CGTN posted an Arabic YouTube video in March, suggesting that the virus had American origins. This was echoed in April by the state-sponsored paper Peoples Daily, who suggested on Facebook that an avian influenza experiment may have led to the COVID-19 outbreak. That same month, Beijings ambassador to France tweeted a short animated clip that not only lampooned and mocked the U.S. response, but also suggested that China tried to warn America of the virus looming threat. Once Upon a Virus pic.twitter.com/FY0svfEKc6 Ambassade de Chine en France (@AmbassadeChine) April 30, 2020 Twitter, for its part, maintains that it does not wantonly censor accounts, noting in a statement on its website that the platforms mission is to serve the public conversation. We encourage a space that is safe and healthy, and censorship is not a part of our mission or platform, the social media network said, adding that they will only suspend an account or ask users to remove content when there is a violation of their rules. Conservative lawmakers to American social media platforms: Do not let yourselves get used by China! Conservative voices have long decried what they say is a bias against them by social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, noting that the platforms are too quick to flag their posts compared to those of their Democrat and foreign counterparts. Sen. Michael Lee of Utah is among those who have aired their apprehensions regarding social media, noting in a letter that he is most concerned with company conduct such as censorship, that he believes is based on political bias instead of consistent, across-the-board content policies. I am specifically concerned about corporations wielding their power unilaterally to silence opinions they dislike, and thus warp the public debates their platforms present to the American people, said Lee, a staunch Republican who also chairs the U.S. Senates antitrust committee. Lees counterpart in Congress, Texas Representative Michael McCaul, meanwhile, echoed similar sentiments, noting that social media companies such as Twitter have to address the abuse being committed by the Chinese Communist Party online. I support free speech, but the Chinese Communist Party is abusing our First Amendment right, so I think social media companies have a responsibility, McCaul said, noting that American social media networks must not allow their platforms to be used by foreign adversaries to propagate falsehoods against the United States. Sources include: Breitbart.com The-Scientist.com Help.Twitter.com Deseret.com Lee.Senate.gov Ozy.com WATCH: Harry and Meghans political statements are risky in the US Nearly half of Britons think Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should lose their royal titles, according to a YouGov poll. The survey of more than 3,000 adults in Britain found more than a quarter of people said they should keep their titles, while 25% did not know. Harry and Meghan are still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex because the titles were given to them as a wedding gift by the Queen. However they have been criticised in recent days in the UK because of their ongoing comments about American politics, including remarks which have been interpreted as supporting Joe Biden in the presidential election. A Tatler poll released last week found 68% agreed Harry and Meghan should have their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex taken from them after stepping down as working royals and moving to the US. A total of 63% agreed that Meghan should not be commenting on US politics despite the fact shes a US citizen, while 35% agreed that the duchess wants to be president of the United States one day. Read more: Harry and Meghan's political statements 'could harm US brand - but might help them internationally' The poll found nearly half of people thought their titles should be taken away. (YouGov) Read more: Have your say: Should Harry and Meghan lose their royal titles? A survey by Yahoo UK found 85% of people thought their titles should be removed. The YouGov poll found seven in ten Tories think they should lose their titles (70%); three in ten Labour supporters (31%); four in ten Liberal Democrat supporters (39%). Support for removing royal titles was highest among over 50-year-olds. Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, stepped back as senior royal family members in March, after announcing their intention to carve their own path and work to financial independence in January. As part of the deal struck with Buckingham Palace, they stopped using His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness, but are still entitled to be called the duke and duchess. Harry is also still sixth in line to the throne. Story continues WATCH: Meghan and Harry urge Americans to vote The poll comes ahead of the halfway point in the 12-month review period offered by the palace to look at the situation with the Sussexes. September 30 will be six months since the couple stepped back and in that time they have signed a deal with Netflix to produce documentaries for the streaming service, bought a new home in California and paid back the 2.4m renovation work on their UK home, Frogmore Cottage. They have not been back to the UK because of the coronavirus pandemic, but have been reported to be in touch with members of the Royal Family. Meghan, who was critical of President Donald Trump before she married into the Royal Family, has worked with non-partisan organisations to encourage people to vote since moving back to the US. Lifelong campaigner Gloria Steinem, who Meghan has called a friend, said the former actor came home to vote. Harry initially stayed out of the conversation around voting, but in a video for Time 100 encouraged Americans to reject hate speech as he revealed he had never voted in the UK. Royals are not specifically banned from voting but tend not to out of convention to avoid appearing biased. A source close to the duke and duchess has previously denied they are offering specific support for either candidate in the US election. TAIPEI: There are no signs that China is preparing for all-out war with Taiwan, such as massing troops along its eastern coast, Taiwans defence chief said on Tuesday, after repeated Chinese drills near the island that China claims as its own. Democratic Taiwan has denounced Chinas manoeuvres, including flying fighter jets over the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, as an attempt at intimidation. The Chinese communists have continued their acts of provocation against Taiwan, but there are currently no signs showing it is ready to launch a full-scale war," Defence Minister Yen De-fa told parliament. One sign of an imminent attack would be if troops from inland parts of China began massing along its east, but there are no indications that is happening, he added. Taiwans own forces are maintaining peacetime combat preparedness and have not stepped up their alert status, Yen said. Nevertheless he vowed a fight to the last man to defend the islands sovereignty and democracy. Last week, in an apparent warning to China, the defence ministry said Taiwans armed forces have the right to self-defence and counterattack amid harassment and threats". Taiwans military is well armed and well trained, but dwarfed by that of Chinas, which is busy adding advanced new equipment, such as stealth fighters. Premier Su Tseng-chang, also speaking in parliament, said attackers would have to pay a heavy price as Taiwans people would tenaciously defend themselves and their land. Taiwan would not fall," added Su, who has previously said he would wield a broom if necessary to fight off a China attack, if that was all that was left. China has been angered by greater U.S. support for Taiwan, including two visits by top officials, Health Secretary Alex Azar in August and Keith Krach, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs this month. The United States, which has no diplomatic ties with the island but is its strongest backer, also plans new arms sales to Taiwan. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Prosecutors in Texas have rejected a drunken driving charge against conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones, who was arrested in Austin earlier this year. A Travis County sheriff's deputy pulled Jones over on March 10 for going 5 mph above the speed limit, according to the Austin American-Statesman, but the Travis County attorney's office rejected the misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated against Jones on September 18, records show. The deputy was responding to a call from the Infowars host's ex-wife, Kelly Morales, who reported that he was driving a black Dodge Charger and may have been drinking, according to an affidavit. She tweeted on Monday that Jones 'was pulled over on a no-refusal weekend after consuming large amounts of alcohol in a very short period of time. The officer didn't make him blow. Alex got out of the car and the officer shook his hand.' The Travis County attorney's office rejected the misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated on March 10 against Alex Jones on September 18 (seen in his mugshot). Ex-wife, Kelly Morales, reported that he may have been drinking Morales claimed in a tweet Monday that 'the officer didn't make him blow' and that 'Alex got out of the car and the officer shook his hand' Travis County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark said Jones had a 'strong odor of alcohol' coming from him and that he was unable to complete field sobriety tests, losing his balance and failing to touch heel to toe. Jones' blood-alcohol level was recorded at .076 and .079, according to court records; the legal blood alcohol limit is .08 in Texas. Under state law, impairment is possible regardless of a person's blood alcohol level, meaning a jury in Texas could reasonably determine a driver was intoxicated even if they didn't reach the 0.08 threshold. Morales said she was disappointed with the prosecutors' decision and wrote on Twitter that she's filing under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Using the Black Lives Matter hashtag she also asked: 'Do you think others would get this consideration?? Why special rules for #AlexJones? 'People are in jail all across America on false charges. #AlexJones protected. Why???' Jones' blood-alcohol level was recorded at .076 and .079, according to court records; the legal blood alcohol limit is .08 in Texas She has been battling the conspiracy theorist over their children for more than six years and tweeted Sunday that the same lawyer in his custody battle was representing him in other cases Morales has claimed in the past that he has been trying to financially ruin via legal action and she repeated the claim on Sunday In another tweet she wrote: 'This is my ex, and the attorney he has used to sue me over and over again represented him. How does this happen??' Jones is also being sued in Austin by the parents of a 6-year-old victim of the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre who claim the InfoWars host used his show to promote falsehoods that the shooting was a hoax. A defamation trial begins in November. Morales also asked, is 'a family law attny (who is primarily a criminal attny who is knowingly assisting his client in fraud he wont disclose) repping him on DUI charges, using his connections/power to get him off easy/hide alcoholism not material & a conflict of interest?' DailyMail.com has reached out to Jones for comment. Jones took to his website in March to brand the drunk driving incident a 'DWI dragnet' and claiming he was only picked up because cops needed to up their arrest rates. But a police report claims that cops were called to his home after a family altercation that 'was physical' earlier in the day and ended with him driving away following a verbal argument. In March the radio host said he had been cleared of the charges. He also alleged that the arresting officer couldn't perform the roadside 'stand on one leg' sobriety test correctly when he was trying to demonstrate it to him. Morales is trying to get custody of their two daughters. Their son Rex is now 18 and appears on InfoWars Infowars founder Alex Jones said in March that he'd been cleared of the charges. Pictured, he speaks into a bullhorn at the Texas State Capital building on April 18 in a call for the country to be opened up despite the risk of the COVID-19 Earlier this year DailyMailTV revealed that Morales had launched a fresh legal bid for custody of their children in the wake of his arrest for DWI. She has been battling the conspiracy theorist over their children for more than six years. They divorced in 2015. Kelly was already suing him in a bid to enforce the shared custody ruling handed down by a Texas court in December 2018 which she claims he has ignored. Although Kelly was awarded primary custody of their children following a jury trial in 2017, Jones repeatedly appealed the decision and it was overturned in December 2018. Kelly says that she believes Jones is trying to silence her through litigation which at one stage cost her up to $100,000 per month - and would like to see her financially ruined. She said: 'He's got the money to keep suing me and Texas keeps letting this go on he could well bankrupt me. Kelly said she believes her three children are in danger from the couple and now wants the two youngest who are minors returned to her immediately. She said in March: 'There are emergency concerns for the children's safety including Alex's DWI arrest and the domestic violence and mental health instability revealed in those arrest reports.' Kelly previously accused Jones of brainwashing their children and of trying to 'annihilate me financially and ruin my life' via litigation in an interview with DailyMailTV in January. Kelly told how her ex-husband's paranoia affected every aspect of their lives, from not being allowed to fly because of his concerns about TSA to being banned from vaccinating their children because of his antipathy to western medicine. He insisted that she home-school their three kids but then undermined her efforts by repeatedly telling them that education 'doesn't matter'. Jones has denied his ex-wife's claims. The Saudi British Bank (SABB) has won the best Digital Mobile Banking App award in Saudi Arabia from Global Finance in recognition of the applications excellence in providing digital banking services. Naif Al-Abdulkareem, Deputy Managing Director, Retail Banking and Wealth Management at SABB said: We are proud to receive this award, especially during this time of our historic merger between SABB and Alawwal Bank. This reinforces our ambition to be the best bank in the Kingdom, considering that Digital banking is one of our strategic pillars to support our competitive strength, as well as to improve our customer experience. At a time when the Corona pandemic imposed many challenges and restrictions, we achieved remarkable success in facing these challenges, as we were able to manage our business and deliver our services to our customers perfectly. Thanks to our continuous investment into modern technology and digital transformation to manage our business and banking services. We will continue our focus on developing digital banking and creating solutions to ensure that we provide a pioneering banking experience to our customers, he added. SABB has recently achieved a significant increase in the number of digital channel users, and has succeeded in migrating a wide range of services from branches to its digital platforms. The SABB Mobile application has become an integrated and advanced banking solution platform with more than 100 features which meet the needs of 70% of customers who uses the digital channels on a regular basis. These advancement have positively contributed in the increase of digital financial transactions by 50% comparing to the same period last year. TradeArabia News Service In the months before he was killed by Saudi agents in 2018, Saudi dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi was pursuing a dream to found an organization in Washington to promote democracy in the Arab world. On Tuesday, two years after his death, Khashoggis friends and colleagues will launch that organization, Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN. DAWN is a Washington-based human rights watchdog that plans to focus on violations by the United States closest Arab allies and publish articles by political exiles from across the Middle East to carry on Khashoggis legacy. Since Khashoggis death and dismemberment by Saudi agents inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, critics have embraced his case as the grimmest manifestation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans no-holds-barred approach to silencing dissidents within Saudi Arabia and abroad. Salman, the Saudi kingdoms de facto ruler, has said that he did not know beforehand about the plot against Khashoggi, although an assessment by the CIA said it was likely that he had ordered the killing. Despite the kingdoms efforts to move on after a Saudi court sentenced eight men to prison terms for the crime this month, Khashoggis story continues to resonate. Two high-profile documentaries about his killing, Kingdom of Silence and The Dissident, are to be released on the second anniversary of his death on Friday, and a group of Saudi dissidents announced the formation last week of an exile opposition group, the National Assembly Party. Some of its members were associates of Khashoggi. On Monday, Turkey prepared a new indictment against six Saudi citizens, including two consular workers, in connection with his killing. They are expected to be added to the Turkish trial in absentia of 20 other suspects that began in July. DAWNs organizers say they hope the group will continue Khashoggis vision. The fundamental premise that democracy and human rights are the only solution for stability, security and dignity in the Middle East is 100% Jamals point of view, said Sarah Leah Whitson, the groups executive director. That is what he wanted this organization to be about. Khashoggi came up with the idea for DAWN after he fled Saudi Arabia for fear of arrest in the summer of 2017 and settled near Washington. He wrote columns for The Washington Post that criticized Salmans reform plans and the arrests of clerics, academics and rights activists, turning him into a hated figure in Riyadh. DAWN was registered in the United States in early 2018 but failed to take off before Khashoggi was killed. After his death, associates of Khashoggi raised money and developed plans to launch the organization, said Whitson, who was formerly the director for the Middle East and North Africa for Human Rights Watch. She described the organization as a mix between a think tank and a human rights watchdog that would focus, initially at least, on authoritarian states with close ties to the United States Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. One goal is to counter the idea that the United States is a benevolent actor in the Middle East. Forget about doing good, she said. Stop doing bad, stop arming, stop aiding these abusive governments, because that taints Americans. The organization will focus on naming and shaming midlevel officials who are involved in human rights violations but who usually escape scrutiny, she said. These governments always say it is not the king, the crown prince or the interior minister, it is the people around them who are responsible for abuses, said Fadoua Massat, DAWNs Arabic media director. We want to get the names of the people who are behind these violations. The group will also maintain a Khashoggi Index to track the roles of foreign governments in promoting or hindering democracy and rights in the Middle East and publish articles in English and Arabic by political exiles, experts and activists. It has an initial staff of 10 people and is funded by people in the United States who were friends with Jamal, Whitson said. There is no shortage of organizations documenting human rights abuses and trying to shift United States policy in the Middle East, and it remains unclear how DAWN will fit in. Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said that he doubted it could drive any major change. If the primary audience is going to be American policymakers, they are going to come up against the national interest and fixed alliances, he said. Underlying American ties with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are security, military and economic cooperation, which often overshadows concerns about Arab countries human rights records or their leaders means of staying in power. Nobody defends the U.S. relationship with these countries as a values-based confluence of Western democracy, Ibish said. But research done by DAWN could serve as ammunition in battles over Middle East policy in Washington, Ibish said, and its work could be more relevant in the Arab world than that done by other human rights groups. It is not impossible that an Arab voice with Arab names and Arab discourse will be effective when directed back at the Arab world in a way that traditional human rights advocacy isnt, he said. Ben Hubbard c.2020 The New York Times Company DGCA said India formalised an air bubble with Germany in July. However, there are restrictions in place for Indian nationals desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage New Delhi: Lufthansa said Tuesday that it will have to cancel all "planned flights" between India and Germany from 30 September to October 20 because of an "unexpected rejection" of its flight schedule by the Indian authorities. The German carrier said it had applied for continuation of the special flights it was allowed to operate until the end of September but will now have to cancel the flights because of the "unexpected rejection". Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since 23 March due to the coronavirus lockdown. However, special flights have been permitted under "air bubble" arrangements India has formed with 13 countries, including Germany. Aviation regulator DGCA said India formalised an air bubble with Germany in July this year. "However, there are restrictions in place for Indian nationals desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage resulting in inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa," the DGCA stated. "As against Indian carriers operating 3-4 flights a week, Lufthansa operated 20 flights a week. In spite of this disparity we offered to clear 7 flights a week for Lufthansa which was not accepted by them. Negotiations continue," it noted. Lufthansa said in a statement that its application process to operate flights beyond September 30 was necessary since India has so far not accepted Germany's invitation to discuss details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both countries. "It is important to note that the October flight schedule would essentially have been an extension of the already limited number of flights between India and Germany that Lufthansa has been reintroducing to the Indian market since June," it added. It said it had scheduled flights for October to continue connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore with Europe and other regions. "The October schedule would also have seen the addition of flights to and from Chennai, one of the most important cities in southern India." Lufthansa said it "sincerely urges" Indian authorities to work together with the German government to establish a temporary travel agreement between both countries. "As visa issuance is restarting and demand for flights to and from India is increasing, it is regrettable that Lufthansa is currently being unnecessarily restricted," it added. According to the website of Germany Embassy in India, there is an entry ban on travellers from "high-risk areas" like India. However, according to the website, German nationals, citizens of European Union, foreigners with a valid residence permit, persons holding family reunion visa, persons having long-term (Category D) visa for employment and study purposes and who have to necessarily travel to Germany can enter the country from India. JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of maintaining a secret arms depot in a residential neighbourhood of Beirut, warning it could cause another tragic explosion in the Lebanese capital. Hezbollah denied the allegations and invited international and local media to immediately visit the site, where they found a small factory housing heavy machinery but no weapons. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu pointed to maps purportedly showing the missile depots location next to a gas company and residential housing, not far from Beiruts international airport. He also showed what he said was a picture of the entrance to the depot. Heres where the next explosion will take place, right here, he said. Youve got to act now, youve got to protest this, because if this thing explodes, its another tragedy, Netanyahu said, addressing the Lebanese people. You should tell them, Tear these depots down. Last month, a warehouse filled with nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beiruts port, killing nearly 200 people, wounding thousands and causing widespread destruction in the capital. The ammonium nitrate had been stored there for several years after being removed from an impounded cargo ship. No one has yet been held accountable for the blast, which appears to have been triggered by an accidental fire. Israel has long accused Hezbollah of storing weapons and maintaining military posts in civilian areas, especially in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon, both strongholds of support for the Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied Netanyahus allegations, insisting the group does not store missiles in civilian facilities. Whoever wants to go can go now. If Hezbollah is storing missiles in this facility, then there is not enough time to remove them, Nasrallah said in a televised address. We dont store missiles at the port or near gas facilities. We know where to store missiles. We will allow media outlets to enter the facility so that the world knows that Netanyahu is lying, he added. Dozens of reporters, including an Associated Press photographer, toured the small factory in the southern neighbourhood of Jnah late Tuesday, where they saw large pieces of iron and steel, heavy machinery and oxygen canisters but no missiles or weapons of any kind. Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif, who led the tour, said the facility did not belong to the militant group. You can see the missile and the missile factory behind you, he said sarcastically. We want to confirm again that all charges by the enemy are mere lies. After Netanyahus address, the Israeli military released detailed maps showing the site in Jnah and two other alleged missile depots it said were under residential apartment blocks. It described all three as precision-guided missile manufacturing sites. The military provided precise locations of what it called weapons sites but gave no other evidence and did not say how advanced the manufacturing program is. Israel has long warned that Hezbollah is seeking to manufacture precision-guided missiles or add guidance systems to its existing projectiles, something Israel insists is a red line that may require military action. Hezbollah is believed to have massively expanded its arsenal in the years since it fought Israel to a monthlong stalemate in 2006. Israel believes Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere in Israel, but precision guidance would make them far more lethal. Netanyahu said another depot had exploded just a few days ago in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana, near the port city of Sidon. It is not clear what caused that explosion, which sent smoke billowing into the sky but did not cause any casualties. The Israeli prime minister usually uses his annual address to the United Nations to highlight Israels concerns about archenemy Iran and its nuclear program. And he does it in a distinctive manner. In contrast to most leaders, who typically sit behind desks or stand at podiums, he often uses visual aids such as maps and diagrams to make his points. This year, talking about potential explosions, he delivered his speech against the backdrop of a Jerusalem street scene filled with intense oranges and yellows. This year, Netanyahu said the recent decision by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel showed that Israel and Arab countries stand together in confronting the greatest enemy of peace in the Middle East Iran. Netanyahu claimed that Iran would have enough enriched uranium in a few months for two nuclear bombs after it recently began exceeding limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran began publicly exceeding those limits after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. Iran insists it has never sought nuclear weapons and that its atomic program is for civilian purposes. Netanyahu, a staunch opponent of the nuclear deal, praised Trumps decision to withdraw from it and called on the world to follow the U.S. in snapping back sanctions. He also reiterated his willingness to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of Trumps proposal to end the conflict, which overwhelmingly favours Israel and has been rejected by the Palestinians. ___ Ammar reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed. Read more about: Even as the nonbelievers, the folks who have been out there for a very long time who said we were never going to get this done, what I refer to as the judicial activism of lower courts that have tried to stop our construction of the wall, the false narratives and, quite frankly, the lies out there about the effectiveness and need of the wall despite all that this president has remained steadfast in his commitment, his commitment to the American people and to the men and women of CBP, said Morgan, erroneously claiming the government was building 10 miles per day. People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny and CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan outside Leinster House Picture supplied by People Before Profit. THE issue of assisted dying seen by some as euthanasia is to be referred to a special Dail committee. It will carry out hearings over 12 months, taking evidence from experts and interested parties, and the issue could eventually go to referendum. New Zealand is to hold a referendum on the subject on October 17. Announcing the committee, the Government said the subject raised medical, moral, ethical, criminal justice and constitutional issues. Expand Close Terminally-ill Vicky Phelan outside Leinster House yesterday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Terminally-ill Vicky Phelan outside Leinster House yesterday Read More A previous court case resulted in a court noting that the Oireachtas was free to bring forward legislation in the area. But any legislation could clash with Article 40. 2 (2) of the Constitution, which guarantees that the State will protect the life of every citizen. The subsection that follows, which was inserted after a referendum, states that provision may be made for the termination of pregnancy. The creation of a special committee followed a prolonged discussion at Cabinet today, taking up a larger amount of time than any other subject considered. It could offset the Dying with Dignity Bill, brought in the name of People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, which gets its first reading in the Dail on Thursday. Helping an actual or attempted suicide is currently a serious offence, but the Bill would decriminalise such an action. Mr Kenny last night called on the Government to withdraw its amendment to allow the Bill as drafted to go to committee stage. Read More He said he thought the principle that justice delayed is justice denied would apply for some people who are terminally ill. Mr Kenny did, however, accept the bona fides of the Government because people do want to see the issue debated before the law is changed. I think it's inevitable that it's going to happen. Nonetheless, he said it was imperative that the Government drop the amendment and let the Bill go to pre-legislative scrutiny. Public opinion is well ahead of Government in relation to this, as with a lot of other social issues. The discussion is ongoing, not only here but in the streets and in households, said Mr Kenny. But we're the ones that can change the law. Its up to us to change the law in favour of voluntary assisted dying. A spokesman for the Government said: Changes to the law in this area cannot be rushed. Referral to a special committee will allow for a wider public debate. The spokesman acknowledged that Mr Kennys Bill was sincere in its intent, but he added that it gave rise to the most serious questions. The committee would look at all circumstances, having regard to the value of human life and whether any change is justified. Fine Gael has an apparent majority in favour of the draft legislation, with Leo Varadkar telling his parliamentary party last week that there seemed to be a consensus in favour of a free vote. Ministers will be bound by the Government amendment, a spokesman for the Tanaiste said. Eamon Ryan recommended a special committee to Cabinet. The Green Party has a policy standpoint in favour of assisted dying. Labour Party leader Alan Kelly told the Irish Independent that he was personally in favour of the legislation, but he also said there was a lot of work to be done. I personally support the Bill and I will be talking to my party colleagues about it with a view to taking an agreed position. I think it will go through to committee stage, said Mr Kelly. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said: We have studied the legislation; we feel it needs further consideration. It is a very sensitive and emotive issue, affecting so many people in so many families, so we will be supporting the passage of the legislation (at second stage) and look forward to further deliberation. She added: We have to get this right, and I think we need to listen very carefully to those families who are either living through an experience or who have that experience of heartbreak and real physical suffering in their families. I think it is going to be a hard debate. I think this is a hard conversation for people, and a difficult one for us as a society, but one I think we need to have. We are happy for it to go forward, and then we need to assess it very forensically and methodically. The whole objective here is to get it right. There are believed to be some misgivings in Sinn Fein. I would be astonished if there were not different views across parties and across society. Thats entirely to be expected, Ms McDonald said. Fianna Fail TDs who are not members of the Government will be allowed a free vote on the Dying with Dignity Bill when it comes before the Dail for a vote on Thursday. TDs and Senators were told at the online parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday evening that they will be allowed to vote with their conscience on the private members' bill as long as they are not members of the Government. Ministers, however, will be expected to comply with the amendment to the bill agreed by Cabinet earlier on Tuesday. This amendment will seek to establish a special committee to deal with the issue over the next 12 months. Vicky Phelan, the cervical cancer campaigner who is terminally ill, has appealed to politicians to allow her and others to die with dignity. Her message to politicians, she said, was: Allow us to die a peaceful death with dignity. Dropping Sean Quinn's name from the industrial empire he founded, as part of the rebranding of Quinn Industrial Holdings, goes a lot deeper than a new name and colour scheme. It is the final symbolic gesture that marks the end of an era - and the former billionaire's aspirations of ever regaining control of the mantle that once made him one of Ireland's richest men. QIH's management team, which includes Kevin Lunney who was abducted and tortured last year, announced the group of companies will now be called Mannok, with a letter M replacing the distinctive Q logo on its fleet of trucks and buildings. In a statement on behalf of the five directors, the company said the name change was the culmination of a five-year plan. But few will be in any doubt the rebranding is also intended to eradicate any lingering reminder of Sean Quinn. The fact the five directors of Mannok, a hugely successful company with 830 employees, are receiving police protection is unprecedented in Irish corporate history and has had a negative effect on the country's reputation as a safe place to do business. But the terror tactics proved misguided and succeeded only in driving a deeper wedge between the QIH management team, who legitimately part-own the company - over 70% is owned by international investors - and their former mentor. It was not always so. When Liam McCaffrey, Dara O'Reilly, Kevin and Tony Lunney - his former proteges - joined forces with Leitrim businessman John McCartin to secure the backing of US investors to buy key parts of the business in 2014, they hired Mr Quinn and his son Sean Junior as consultants. A famous photograph of Sean Quinn holding a tray of whiskey and beers at the company premises in Derrylin before Christmas 2014 painted a picture of old bonds being strengthened. But the relationship soured with Mr Quinn alleging he was "sacked" and "stabbed in the back" by the QIH directors. Rapprochement between the two sides became impossible as Mr Quinn refused to accept the reality of his situation. Thus the excision of his memory marks the breaking of the final link. By rebranding the company, the owners are clearly seeking to close the door on the bad memories of the past and attempting to create a new future that does not include the man they called 'The Mighty Quinn'. Yesterday's statement made no reference to the former owner or his achievements. "The word Mannok comes from Fear Manach - the origin of 'Fermanagh' - meaning 'man/people of Manach'. It reflects our enormous pride in our origins - our near 50-year heritage, our quality products and, especially, our people," said the statement. "Our name is a symbol of our company. We believe it is also a symbol of our commitment - to our customers, our communities, and to each other." Sources close to the company say the rebranding was designed and formulated in strict secrecy over several months and unveiled amid tight security to prevent any incidents. The management and police on both sides of the Border are braced for a possible backlash by a small group of people who have attempted to continue a campaign of intimidation against the five directors in the hope of forcing them out and restoring Mr Quinn to his former mantle. Expand Close Tortured: Kevin Lunney was abducted and beaten by criminals / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tortured: Kevin Lunney was abducted and beaten by criminals The former billionaire has repeatedly condemned the horrific attack on Mr Lunney, which he has described as "barbaric". He vehemently denies violence was being done in his name. He has also called for the violence and intimidation to stop. In an interview following the incident last September, Mr Quinn revealed he no longer had any interest in regaining control of his old empire. However, the dropping of the distinctive green Quinn logo - designed by Quinn himself - that has adorned the company's fleet for almost 50 years will come as a bitter blow to the former tycoon: the final confirmation his empire is in other people's hands. Its collapse, which came as a result of his gamble on Anglo Irish Bank shares, was greeted with shock, anger and sadness in the communities of Cavan, Fermanagh and Leitrim, where he is still revered by many. Expand Close QIH lorries / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp QIH lorries That affection lay in the fact that he had provided much-needed jobs in what would otherwise have been an unemployment black spot, the wages feeding and educating many families down through the decades. But there has been a campaign of intimidation and vandalism directed against the company over several years, orchestrated by the now deceased criminal Cyril 'Dublin Jimmy' McGuinness. McGuinness, who died from a heart attack during a police raid last November, was working on behalf of individuals who wanted to forcibly restore Sean Quinn to his throne, in a type of corporate coup that had little regard for the rule of law or the safety of innocent businessmen. Bernard (Bernie) Murray, Bannon Terrace, Longford Town, Longford The death occurred, suddenly, at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, after a long illness bravely borne, on Saturday, September 26 of Bernard (Bernie) Murray, Bannon Terrace, Longford Town, Longford (Former member of 17th Bn. and 4th Motor Sqn.). Predeceased by his parents and his twin children. Deeply regretted by his loving wife Bridie, sons Brian, Paul and Charlie and his partner Marie, grandchildren Dylan and Conor, sisters Mary, Caroline and Jackie and brother Peter, brothers-in-law Richard, Jim, Michael and Chris, sisters-in-law Kathleen, Masie, Martina and Christine, nephews, nieces, cousins, relatives and friends. Rest In Peace. Bernies Funeral Cortege will depart from his home at Bannon Terrace on Thursday, October 1 at 10:30am, to arrive at Saint Mels Cathedral for Funeral Mass at 11:00am, followed by burial in Ballymacormack Cemetery. Following Government guidelines regarding public gatherings the Funeral Mass will be restricted to Family and very close friends Limited to 50 people. The Mass will be streamed live on www.longfordparish.com Those who would like to attend but cannot do so, due to these restrictions may leave a personal message below in the Condolence section on RIP.ie. The family very much appreciates your support and consideration at this time. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to the Dialysis Unit, Tullamore Regional Hospital, C/O Kellys Funeral Directors, Athlone Road or any family member. Attracta Flanagan (nee Daly), Cornamaddy, Ballykeeran, Athlone, Westmeath / Longford The death occurred, peacefully, on Sunday, September 27 of Attracta Flanagan (nee Daly), Cornamaddy, Ballykeeran, Athlone, Westmeath / Longford. Sadly missed by her loving husband Jimmy, son Seamus, daughter Eileen, step-sons Colm and David, step-daughter Olive, brothers Fr. John, Seamus and Dermot, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, grandchildren Lynn, Chloe, Katie, Jessica and James, great-grandchildren Leo, Jack and John, nephews, nieces, in-laws, relatives and many friends. May She Rest In Peace. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and by adhering to government guidelines, a private family funeral will take place for Attracta for family members only. If you wish to express your sympathies or pay your respects, please do so personally by phone or text or use the online condolences below, or Mass Cards by post. Attracta's Funeral Mass will be live streamed for public viewing on Wednesday, September 30 at 12 noon. The link is: https://www.churchservices.tv/coosan Kathleen Sweeney, Broucklagh, Drumlish, Longford The death occurred, peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family, on Sunday, September 27 of Kathleen Sweeney, Broucklagh, Drumlish, Longford and formerly Birmingham, England. She is predeceased by her parents Patrick and Mary Ellen. Kathleen will be forever missed with love by her family, her husband and life-long friend Michael, sons Michael, Liam, Dermot, Patrick and Brendan, daughter Ann, daughters-in-law Dawn and Joanna, her adored grandchildren Mikey, Tomas, Eoin, Cormac and Eleonore, brother Pat-Joe, sisters Patrica, Elizabeth, Margaret and Veronica, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law,nephews, nieces, neighbours and friends here in Ireland, Birmingham and London. Her nature was loving and giving, Her heart was made of gold, And to us who truly loved her, Her memory will never grow old. Rest in Peace Kathleen. Due to government guidelines, Kathleen will repose at home on Wednesday, September 30 from 4pm until 6pm for family and close friends only please. (House is private outside of reposing time). Please observe government guidelines regarding social distancing, please wear a face covering. Funeral Mass on Thursday, October 1 at 12 noon, in St Mary's Church, Drumlish, Co Longford, followed with burial in the New Cemetery. (Funeral Mass is restricted to 50 people only). Family flowers only, donations if desired, to The Dementia - Alzheimer Society of Ireland, c/o Connell Funeral Directors or any family member. Kathleen's family would like to thank you all for your support and understanding at this difficult time. To leave a condolence message, use the link on RIP.ie. If you wish to have a death notice published on www.longfordleader.ie you can email it to newsroom@longfordleader.ie And if you wish to submit an obituary for publication in the Longford Leader, you can submit it along with a photograph of the deceased to newsroom@longfordleader.ie Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 15:30:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WELLINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Overseas voters will be able to vote in the 2020 General Election and referendums from this Wednesday, New Zealand Electoral Commission said on Tuesday. About 67,000 New Zealand voters are enrolled at an overseas address. Overseas voters can vote from Wednesday, Sept. 30 until 7:00 p.m. on the election day, Oct. 17, using the download and upload service to receive and return their voting papers, said a commission statement. "This election, the easiest and safest way to vote from overseas is to download and print voting papers from the website, and return them by uploading to the website," said Alicia Wright, Chief Electoral Officer. In 2017, more than two-thirds of overseas voters used this service, Wright said. In some countries, voting in person at an overseas voting place will also be an option, but services will be limited and will depend on the COVID-19 public health advice in each country, she said. In New Zealand, telephone dictation voting also opens on Wednesday for people who are blind, partially blind or have a physical disability that means they cannot mark their voting paper without help, Wright said. Advance voting at voting places across New Zealand starts on Saturday and closes at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 17, according to the commission. Enditem Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nina V. Guno (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network) Tue, September 29, 2020 10:30 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e04fb 2 Entertainment Joaquin-Phoenix,Rooney-Mara,actor,birth,united-states,River-Phoenix Free Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara have reportedly welcomed their first child together, a baby boy. Director Victor Kossakovsky broke the news during a screening over the weekend of Gunda, a film about a pig in Norway, which was executive produced by Joaquin, Buzzfeed News reported on Sep. 28. Kossakovsky mentioned during the 2020 Zurich Film Fesitval that the Joker star could not attend the screening because he just got a baby, a beautiful son called River. Read also: Joaquin Phoenix wins best actor Oscar for 'Joker' Their son is a namesake of Joaquins brother who was 23 when he died in 1993 due to a drug overdose. River was a musician and actor, and advocated for animal welfare and the environment also advocacies that Joaquin firmly supports. When he received his Oscar this year for best actor in a leading role, Joaquin spoke about animal rights and ended his speech with a tribute to River, quoting his lyrics, Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow. The couple has yet to confirm the news and have remained mum even as reports swirled in May that Mara was six months pregnant. They got engaged last year after dating for three years, first meeting on the set of the Spike Jonze film Her. Topics : This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post (Natural News) A police officer in India who also claims to be a biological weapons expert has written a new book suggesting that the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) is a product of bioterrorism. Dr. Sharad S. Chauhan, a decorated Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, contends in his book COVID-19 Opportunistic Bioterrorism? A Virus from China set to Change World History that experiments taking place on SARS-like coronaviruses in communist China are what led to the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) being unleashed. For more than a decade, Chinese researchers have been tampering with coronavirus, Chauhan suggests in his book. Then, when Chinas economy was in shambles, the novel virus suddenly emerged for the first time in an act of opportunistic bioterrorism, he insists. What started as an outbreak in China near the end of 2019 is now a global calamity, reports Great Game India, a Journal on Geopolitics & International Relations. The rampaging COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as never before, the great wars and pandemics of past included. The strategic, geopolitical and geo-economics consequences of COVID-19 are slowly unfolding. The virus from China is set to change the world. More related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) is available at Pandemic.news. Opportunistic Bioterrorism includes 101 critical questions about covid-19 Chauhans book relies on both scientific and open source intelligence to scrutinize the evidence surrounding the Chinese laboratory origins of the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19). It also draws from Chauhans own expertise while in medical school and in the Indian police force. His book also raises what Great Game India says are 101 critical questions about the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) that deserve answers. While the issue of its origins in a Chinese laboratory were kept out of the main text and put into an Appendix, other issues are brought forth in the body that are worthy of consideration. The questionnaire appended is a judicious mix of both clarifying and probing questions and valuable in and of itself, irrespective of the answer to facilitate effective deliberation on the topic, the journal reports. The book is a single source reference for all contentious issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, it adds. Does Dr. Li-Meng Yans account of events suffice as evidence of bioterrorism? Another person spreading the bioterrorism narrative is Dr. Li-Meng Yan, who we reported has come forward as a type of whistleblower with claims that the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) is, in fact, a bioweapon. Dr. Li-Meng has appeared on Fox News and elsewhere to suggest that the novel virus came from a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military lab. She has further suggested that the Wuhan wet market narrative was just used as a decoy. Some have questioned the legitimacy of Dr. Li-Mengs claims, while others believe her to be telling the truth. She is currently not in communist China, despite having lived there prior to coming forward with these alleged revelations. Further claims made by Dr. Li-Meng include the allegation that she tried to go to her superiors about what she discovered concerning the virus, only to be turned away and ignored. She also expressed concerns that she might disappear at any time for raising questions, though she is still on the media circuit today. One thing is for sure: The Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) is not a natural occurrence, nor did it somehow spontaneously appear without goading from science. With that said, it is safe to assume that there is at least some truth to the claims made that the novel virus is a Chinese bioweapon, if not a Chinese psychological weapon that was designed to inflict maximum terror on the masses. This is so worrying, wrote one Twitter user in response to a Great Game India tweet from back in March that was among the first to expose the Wuhan coronavirus (covid-19) as a potential bioweapon. If its true, then @WHO officials are definitely hand in glove with #China. Sources for this article include: GreatGameIndia.com NaturalNews.com World peace is indivisible and humanity shares a common destiny. In the past 30 years since China joined the United Nations peacekeeping operations, the countrys armed forces have injected a power of peace into the world with concrete actions, creating a stable environment for development, and delivering warmth, love and friendship to every corner of the globe. A recent white paper issued by China remarked that the countrys armed forces have engaged in the UNPKOs with courage and determination, always aspiring to fulfill their missions of meeting the responsibilities of a major country, safeguarding world peace, and contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. To share a common destiny with the world is a firm faith of the Chinese peacekeepers. In this vast world I might be just like a small and light feather, but even so, I would like this feather to carry the wish for peace. Thats a line wrote by Chinese UN peacekeeper He Zhihong who died in 2010 in Haiti. It is a reflection of the broad mind of the Chinese armed forces, as well as an oath made by them to safeguard the peace of the world. Setting out for operations at dawn, returning to camps late at night, sleeping in the sound of guns and waking up by battling cries, Chinese peacekeepers are always standing out wherever they are needed. Over the past 30 years, Chinas armed forces have contributed more than 40,000 service members to 25 UN peacekeeping missions. Sixteen Chinese military peacekeepers have sacrificed their lives for the noble cause of peace. Chinese military peacekeepers maintain peace with their sweat, youth and lives. Only by giving equal attention to development and security and by addressing both the symptoms and root causes of conflict can sustainable peace be assured. In the UNPKOs, Chinas armed forces have always contributed to a safe and stable environment for countries and regions in conflict. They also actively participate in medical support and health care, humanitarian assistance, environmental protection, improving lives, and social reconstruction, and provide more public services to enable the local people to enjoy the benefits of peaceful development. In the past 30 years, Chinas armed forces have built and rehabilitated more than 17,000 kilometers of roads and 300 bridges, disposed of 14,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance, and performed a large number of engineering tasks including leveling ground, renovating airports, assembling prefabricated houses, and building defense works. They have provided medical services to over 246,000 sick and wounded people. In Darfur, which lies on the edge of a desert with complex geology, is one of the regions afflicted by the worlds most severe water shortages. From 2007 to 2013, Chinese military engineers drilled 14 wells in the most difficult circumstances, and effectively alleviated the problem of water scarcity for the locals. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations of the UN, remarked that by protecting civilians, safeguarding security, constructing infrastructure and improving livelihood, Chinese peacekeepers have made huge contributions to the development of world peace. Chinese military peacekeepers are not only guardians of peace but also messengers of friendship. The Chinese medical units in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ran a twinning project in SOS Childrens Village Bukavu to offer help. Touched by the love and care from the units, children in the village called the female members their Chinese mothers. The consistent efforts of the Chinese units over the past 17 years have won widespread praise from the locals. In the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Chinese military peacekeepers provided agricultural techniques, farming tools and vegetable seeds to local people. They were invited by local middle schools to teach lessons on Chinese culture and language, which were very popular with the students. With concrete actions, Chinese peacekeeping armed forces proved that civilization differences are not a source of conflicts, and mutual learning shall become a force that drives human progress and a bond that safeguards world peace. To participate in the UNPKOs is integral to Chinas joint efforts with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertainties and destabilizing factors in the international security situation are on the rise, and there are diverse threats to world peace. Chinas armed forces will endeavor to play a stronger role in the UNPKOs, comprehensively improve peacekeeping capability, faithfully fulfill their responsibilities, and contribute more to world peace. China will keep working to improve the peacekeeping system and address both the symptoms and root causes of conflict. It will pursue extensive consultation, joint contribution, and mutual complementarity and build a new type of peacekeeping partnership. Besides, it supports the UN efforts to refine security council mandates and improve peacekeeping effectiveness. The country supports giving full play to the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and enhancing rapid response. It advocates to proactively address risks and threats and ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers. The Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative raised by the UN shall be actively responded by global countries. No matter how the international landscape evolves, China will always be ready to join hands with all peace-loving nations to champion and pursue multilateralism, and uphold the international system centered on the UN and the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China will exert itself in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and in making the world a better place. In motels, on the street or in the woods, there are hundreds of men and women in the Charleston area who don't have a place to call their own. Trapped in a cycle they feel is ignored by local officials, these people often rely upon the help of Charleston's volunteers and service providers. Women in this cycle can be particularly vulnerable to abusers and predators, but there are fewer resources to help women get back on their feet than there are for men facing homelessness. The 2019 State of Homelessness Report conducted by the S.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness counted 1,632 people affected by homelessness in the Lowcountry. Around 30 percent, or 483 individuals, were women and 13 percent of homeless said they were taking care of at least one child. Many service providers say these numbers are an undercount. One group's philosophy is that it takes women to help women. Walking Women Welfare, which was launched in August 2019, wants to open a house where single women could live safely and gain the skills and self-confidence needed to get back on their feet. The house would be modeled on the Bounce Back program, a North Charleston complex that helps transition homeless men back into the community. It was founded by Pastor Alfrieda Deas-Potts, a leader of Walking Women Welfare. But despite looking into some 50 potential houses in the past year, the group has struggled to find a landlord willing to rent a property. Formerly homeless tenants are considered undesirable and risky, they've been told. "It's not some halfway house. This is a home, where people are being restored. And they just need a chance," said Faith Roberts, a volunteer. They hope to start with 10 women in a four- or five-bedroom home. A house mother would be on site at all times to supervise and ensure everything is running smoothly. Some members of Walking Women Welfare have experienced homelessness themselves, or had close calls. Roberts came from California, but after a few months of living in North Charleston, her affordable housing was torn down and replaced with condominiums. She had nowhere to go. Roberts nearly went to live in her car at a rest area on Interstate 26 but was able to move in with a friend. She still didn't have her own place and the waiting list for affordable housing was a year. "It doesn't take much to be homeless. Just a quick minute and you can be homeless," Roberts said. It's a dangerous situation for anyone, but women can be especially vulnerable. Physical, emotional or sexual abuse can trap them, particularly if they're also caring for children. There aren't many shelters, and those that exist fill up quickly. Some are for men only. Affordable housing can be more difficult to find. Outreach groups, service providers and individuals in the homeless community echoed the same concern the Charleston area's lack of affordable, decent housing. For those not living in the streets or in the woods, many are in motels. That's where Walking Women Welfare volunteers go to spread the word about their mission. Reaching out On a sunny Saturday afternoon, 10 volunteers filled a van with clothes, food and hygiene products, then drove down Rivers Avenue in search of those who needed their help. At their first stop, a motel, volunteers were told they'd need the manager's permission to remain. So they packed up and made their way to a Walmart, parking on the edge of a wooded area. Some volunteers edged their way through the trees, looking for anyone who may have been camping there. "We've got food," they called out. Their third stop was another motel. There, they had more luck. Men, women and children came down from their rooms and looked through the bags of clothes, grabbing soup, a sack lunch and some juice. Walking Women Welfare volunteers handed out their cards to the women, encouraging them to call if they ever needed help. Six women filled out applications for the upcoming house. Cherren Goodwin said she's been homeless for two years. She pays $50 a day for the motel room on Rivers Avenue. "I'm always interested in better opportunities," she said as she worked through the application. Goodwin said she often faces the choice of spending her money on food or paying the rent. It's hard to save money, especially after losing her job because of the pandemic. Another woman at the motel said she's struggled to find something affordable in a decent, clean area, but wants a safe place for her 10-year-old daughter to play. She misses living in a house. She was evicted from her last home because it was deemed unsafe and the landlord wouldn't fix the issues, she said. One woman asked the group if they could slip her an application on the sly her partner was watching her from their room. As they were handing out food, clothes and other items, volunteer Lynette Woods occasionally looked through her phone at potential houses for the group's program. She'll be the house mother when it opens. The group's last stop in their day of outreach was at another Rivers Avenue motel. One of its residents, Tina Johnson, started knocking on her neighbors' doors as soon as she saw the van with its logo roll up. Johnson pays $250 a week for a motel room for herself and her husband. "It's hard to survive now," she said. "But I'm a survivor." She said she's lived through two abusive relationships, but things are looking up. In two days, she'd be starting a new job, she said that Saturday. "It's a blessing," Johnson said of Walking Women Welfare's visits to the motel. She often goes to the food bank to bring back donations for her neighbors. Pick a mansion or pick a motel, she said, and you never know which resident will be happier. "Money doesn't buy happiness." A shortage of resources Despite a growing need for affordable housing and other resources, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, many who help the homeless feel that the problem is being ignored. Christy Giles, a Walking Women Welfare volunteer, works at a Dollar Store in North Charleston. Some people live in front or behind the store, out in the open. She said they tell her, "We don't feel like anything's going to change." Finding housing is often the biggest problem. Shelters are often full to capacity, and during COVID-19 some have had to switch to keeping clients elsewhere as they search for a more permanent solution. My Sister's House, a domestic violence shelter in North Charleston, is empty because of the pandemic. The program is still running remotely, and those who do need shelter are housed in hotels. The organization launched in 1980 with a 24-hour crisis line. Now, it operates a 36-bed facility. Most women stay an average of 45 days to get back on their feet as they participate in the 60-day program. Each client has a case manager who assists them in finding a job and housing, along with other needs. The program is built around breaking the cycle of domestic violence so that women don't go back to an abuser or end up with a different one. "Domestic violence affects all of us. It doesn't stay at home," said Sydney Conrad, director of education and training for My Sister's House. It's a leading cause of homelessness for women, but South Carolina doesn't have many services to address the problem, she said. To her knowledge, the state has more animal shelters than domestic violence shelters. "It's an issue where we don't like to talk about it. It's uncomfortable," Conrad said. Fear of homelessness can trap a women with an abuser, especially with how expensive it is to live in the Charleston area. While My Sister's House has connections in the community, landlords often don't want to rent to such tenants. "It can feel impossible sometimes," Conrad said. But she's always impressed by the bravery of the women who seek the organization's assistance. "Asking for help is an incredible sign of strength." Heather Carver, program director for the Lowcountry Continuum of Care, comprised of several service providers for homeless residents, said it's time to reimagine housing. Shelters aren't always a good option, as they can leave some women vulnerable. Many service providers are trying to prioritize single women or women with children for hotels and rapid rehousing. The pandemic has raised concerns of increased domestic violence for cooped-up and unemployed families. It can be difficult for women to find housing for themselves and their children. They have to weigh several concerns whether a potential living space will have enough room, whether it's close to schools and whether it's a safe area for kids. It's more difficult than for a man with the same income trying to find a one-bedroom apartment, volunteers said. Many women also have to deal with other people's judgments of them regarding the care of their children and the resulting sense of shame. The search for a home For the Walking Women Welfare group, it comes down to faith. Faith that volunteers and organizers can make a home for women left adrift and ignored. Faith that God will connect them to the people who most need their help. They're praying for a house by Christmas, if a landlord will give them a chance and provide space for rent. "We need help," said Roberts. "You wonder why these people are in a state of despair, but you show them no sign that you're going to help them." Homelessness can be a vicious cycle, she said, "and it's not like it can't be helped or prevented or stopped." Many in the group believe they can be a sign of hope to women who live in the house. Some have struggled themselves with homelessness, addiction and abuse but they've come out on the other side. "Even though you may screw this up, we will still be here for you, because somebody did it for us," Roberts said. The house will have a peer group, and the women will be empowered to return to school and enter the workforce. Finding a job while homeless is challenging, especially for those who don't have a phone, permanent address or even a place to wash. At a CubeSmart storage locker, Deas-Potts, who built a transitional housing program for men from the ground up, lifted the door of their unit to show a room filled to bursting with furniture. She said her garage is even more packed. It's all waiting for the day the group can open up a house for women. "We're ready," Deas-Potts said. The home will be called, "Faith Abides." Press Release 29 September 2020 More than 50 percent of the global workforce in the tourism sector are women Travel and tourism have a great contribution to the development of communities Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of the WTTC, participated in the virtual seminar of the International Federation of Tourism Business Executives Associations (FIASEET), the most important group in Latin America Advertisements London, United Kingdom - The President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), highlighted that tourism has a great social impact, by contributing decisively in community development and gender inclusion. He highlighted that according to the WTTC Economic Impact Report, during 2019 the travel and tourism sector was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million in total), contributes 10.3% to world GDP and generated one in four new job positions; She said that more than 50 percent of the workforce that moves global tourism are women. During his participation in the virtual seminar "The recovery of Travel and Tourism, a global perspective", organized by the International Federation of Associations of Executives of Tourism Companies (FIASEET), Guevara Manzo highlighted that tourism is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, since Globally, 121 million jobs have been lost, and the number could rise to 197 million by the end of 2020. He explained that the two main priorities of the WTTC at the moment are: working to rebuild the confidence of travelers through the application of universal protocols, reducing risks through the use of masks; as well as the elimination of travel restrictions, such as quarantines, the responsible opening of borders and international coordination. He explained that the WTTC is promoting a plan of four essential principles for the responsible reactivation of tourism: A coordinated international approach to reestablishing effective operations, by reopening borders and removing barriers. Promote the experience of travel without setbacks, with the application of low-cost rapid tests to avoid possible infections, as well as the use of masks. The adoption of unique global health, hygiene and safety protocols. Government support to companies in the sector and workers. Guevara Manzo said that, with the aim of contributing to the reactivation of tourism, the WTTC designed the health and hygiene protocols for tourist establishments, based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for the Control and Disease Prevention (CDC), as well as considering the best practices of WTTC members. It also issued the Safe Travels Stamp to recognize destinations that adopt protocols for the health care of travelers and collaborators. On the occasion, Teresa Rubina, President of FIASEET, highlighted the importance of coordinated work between private initiative and local governments, for the recovery of tourism activity. In turn, Rosa Martha Brown, members of the Federation, highlighted the contribution of the WTTC to the promotion of global tourism and said that it is time to join forces to move tourism forward. Lastly, he expressed the interest of FIASEET companies to obtain the Safe Travel Seal from the World Travel and Tourism Council. TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2020 (Healthday News) -- The global coronavirus pandemic reached a grim new milestone on Tuesday: One million dead. Americans made up more than 200,000 of those deaths, or one in every five, according to a running tally comprised by Johns Hopkins University. "It's not just a number. It's human beings. It's people we love," Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan, told the Associated Press. He's an adviser to government officials on how best to handle the pandemic -- and he lost his 84-year-old mother to COVID-19 in February. "It's people we know," Markel said. "And if you don't have that human factor right in your face, it's very easy to make it abstract." It's taken the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 virus just 8 months to reach a worldwide death toll that's meant personal and economic tragedy for billions. Right now, more than 33 million people worldwide are known to have been infected with the new coronavirus, the Hopkins tally found. In the meantime, Americans struggle to stay ahead of the virus. The U.S. government announced Monday that at least 100 million rapid COVID-19 tests will be distributed to states in the coming weeks. Who will get them first? The White House is urging governors to use the tests to help reopen schools, the Associated Press reported. As an example, the Abbott Labs tests would allow teachers to be tested on a weekly basis, or for parents to know whether their symptomatic child has COVID-19, the AP reported. This batch of tests are part of a 150 million order the federal government has placed with Abbott, the wire service said. The company's rapid test, the size of a credit card, is the first that does not require special computer equipment to process. It delivers results in about 15 minutes. As the rapid tests are being sent out, new COVID-19 cases remain elevated averaging more than 40,000 a day -- while experts warn of a likely surge in the fall and winter, AP reported. Only in the last two months has U.S. testing capacity begin to exceed demand, the AP reported. Adm. Brett Giroir, the nation's testing czar, told Congress last week that the United States will soon have the capacity to run 3 million tests per day. Quick and cheap Abbott's test is an important advance because of its low cost ($5 a test) and convenience, the wire service said. Until now, the vast majority of coronavirus tests had to be sent to labs for processing that typically took several days. Backlogs led to repeated delays in reporting results, particularly during a huge summer spike in cases. Still, rapid tests are less accurate and positive results often need to be confirmed with lab tests. Additionally, because the tests are often performed outside the health care system, state officials have warned that many tests might go unreported, the AP reported. "What we're hearing from the states is that they don't know where these tests are being done," Dr. Jeffrey Engel, of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, told the wire service recently. He warned that schools generally do not have the capacity or expertise to report mass testing results, which could artificially lower infection counts sent to state and federal officials. Right now, Abbott is ramping up production of its rapid tests, which will be produced in two factories, one in Maine and one in Illinois, the wire service said. The promise of "herd immunity" to help slow the pandemic seems remote: A new U.S. study found that less than 10 percent of Americans have antibodies to COVID-19 in their systems. The percentages varied by region -- averaging 3.5% in the West to 27% in the Northeast, according to researchers at Stanford University. They put the national average of Americans with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at 9.3%. "This research clearly confirms that despite high rates of COVID-19 in the United States, the number of people with antibodies is still low and we haven't come close to achieving herd immunity. Until an effective vaccine is approved, we need to make sure our more vulnerable populations are reached with prevention measures," study co-author Dr. Julie Parsonnet, a professor of medicine at Stanford, said in a news release from the medical journal The Lancet. In the study, published in the journal Sept. 25 , scientists led by Stanford's Dr. Shuchi Anand analyzed blood plasma samples from more than 28,500 patients receiving dialysis in July at approximately 1,300 facilities in 46 states run by one lab. Overall, the percentage of dialysis patients who were positive for antibodies among those sampled was 8%. But since dialysis patients aren't representative of the entire U.S. population, the researchers standardized the results with respect to age, sex, race and ethnicity and region. While seven states had 0% of patients having antibodies, New York topped the list with 33%. The scientists also saw racial and economic differences in antibody rates: Compared to the whites, residents of predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods were two to three times more likely to have antibodies, people living in poorer areas were two times more likely and those living in the most densely populated areas were 10 times more likely. The number of U.S. coronavirus cases passed 7 million on Friday, with California the hardest hit state so far in a pandemic that has crippled the country for more than six months. The United States has been averaging about 41,500 cases daily, down from the pandemic's midsummer peak, but states in the Midwest and West are seeing case numbers climb, The New York Times reported. It was less than a month ago that the United States reached 6 million cases, the Times reported. It took over three months for the country to record its first million cases. One-shot vaccine moves to larger trials In news that might help make vaccinating all Americans against COVID-19 more easy to accomplish, the first coronavirus vaccine that only requires a single shot has entered the final stages of testing in the United States, the Post reported. The international trial will eventually recruit up to 60,000 participants. The vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, is the fourth to enter the large, Phase 3 trials that determine effectiveness and safety, the Post reported. Paul Stoffels, the company's chief scientific officer, predicted on Tuesday there may be enough data to have results by the end of the year and the company plans to manufacture 1 billion doses next year. Three other vaccine candidates have a head start, with U.S. trials that began earlier this summer, but the vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson could be easier to administer and distribute if it's proven safe and effective, the Post reported. The company is initially testing a single dose, while the other vaccines require a second shot three to four weeks after the first one, the newspaper said. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine can also be stored in liquid form at refrigerator temperatures for three months, whereas two of the three other vaccines must be frozen or kept at ultra-cold temperatures for long-term storage, the Post reported. "A single-shot vaccine, if it's safe and effective, will have substantial logistic advantages for global pandemic control," said Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who partnered with Johnson & Johnson to develop the vaccine. "It is a really good thing that we have this diversity of platforms because this is a critical crisis in terms of our global circumstance," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "Now, here in the U.S. with 200,000 deaths, we want to do everything we can without sacrificing safety or efficacy." Cases keep mounting By Tuesday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 7.1 million and the death toll neared 205,000, according to a Times tally. According to the same tally, the top five states in coronavirus cases as of Tuesday were: California with over 814,700; Texas with more than 773,600; Florida with more than 701,000; New York with over 461,000; and Georgia with nearly 299,000. Curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the rest of the world remains challenging. By Tuesday, India's coronavirus case count had passed 6.1 million, just over one month after hitting the 3 million mark, the Times reported. More than 96,000 coronavirus patients have died in India, but when measured as a proportion of the population, the country has had far fewer deaths than many others. Doctors say this reflects India's younger and leaner population. Still, the country's public health system is severely strained, and some sick patients cannot find hospital beds, the newspaper said. Only the United States has more coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, Brazil passed 4.7 million cases and more than 142,000 deaths as of Tuesday, a Johns Hopkins tally showed. Cases are also spiking in Russia: The country's coronavirus case count has passed 1.1 million. As of Monday, the death toll in Russia was over 20,456, the Hopkins tally showed. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus. Nearly a month after blowing four match points as she threw away a 6-1, 5-1 lead at the US Open, the French number one Kristina Mladenovic underwent another Grand Slam tournament meltdown on Tuesday. Leading her first round French Open tie 5-1 and with a set point, Mladenovic's drop shot bounced twice on the side of her opponent Laura Siegemund. But instead of awarding the point to the 27-year-old Frenchwoman, the umpire, failing to see the double bounce, penalised her for touching the net. Siegemund eventually held her serve to trail 2-5 on Court Philippe Chatrier. Mladenovic then squandered the opportunity to claim the set 6-2 despite having another set point. Wasteful She racked up five more set points while Siegemund was serving at 3-5 down. But she still could not convert. Siegemund eventually levelled as Mladenovic's game started to unravel and the 32-year-old German strode on to claim the opener 7-5. "Kristina started solidly," Siegemund told the post-match interviewer Cedric Pioline. "I was making a lot of unforced errors but I tried to find my groove and cut down my mistakes and while I was doing that she made a few more errors." Competition A contest appeared plausible at the start of the second set when Mladenovic claimed Siegemund's serve to end the six game roll But it was a fleeting fillip. Siegemund hit back immediately for 1-1 and she made the decisive break when Mladenovic was serving to level at 4-4. Unlike her opponent, she did not fluff her lines at the crunch. "I played point by point," Siegemund added. "I tried to fix the errors and I wasn't thinking about the big picture. Even if I was down I was trying to see what the problem was and to fix it because it was only the first set and a long way to go." With contactless delivery to curb the spread of coronavirus, she added, you can't tell servers... Press Release September 29, 2020 Pangilinan to govt: Buy locally grown rice and stop smuggling to help Filipino rice farmers SENATOR Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Tuesday urged government to act with urgency to address Filipino rice farmers' woes as farmgate price of palay tumbled to as low as P12 a kilo, pushing the country's mostly poor tillers deeper into poverty. "Ang solusyon sa balitang bagsak presyo ng palay: Unahin ng pamahalaan ang pagbili ng bigas na tinanim ng ating mga magpapalay, at higpitan ang importasyon ng bigas lalo na ngayong tag-ani at sugpuin ang technical smuggling ng bigas," said Pangilinan, former Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization. He said continued rice smuggling and skewed importation policy are slowly killing the Philippine rice industry and the livelihood of local farmers. "Pag hindi na nagtanim ng palay ang ating mga magsasaka dahil wala na silang incentive ng sapat na kita, sa kalaunan, tayong lahat ang magdudusa. Hindi mapupunan ng imported rice ang pangangailangan ng buong bansa. Mahigit 80 percent ng ating kinokonsumo ay galing pa rin dito sa Pilipinas," said Pangilinan. Pangilinan also urged government agencies to intensify direct procurement of local produce from local farmers. During the pandemic, local government units already bought P6 billion worth of local produce directly from local farmers. "Kung lahat ng pangangailangan ng gobyerno sa bigas ay bibilhin sa local farmers, malaking ganansya ito sa kanila," said Pangilinan. The senator stressed that rice smuggling, which contributes to the worsening corruption in and out of government, should also be curbed. "It's lamentable thinking about the hardships of our farmers in tilling the soil and then getting a measly P12 for every kilo of palay, while at the other end of the spectrum are officials getting away with PhilHealth funds in a breeze," he said. "The P15 billion involved in the PhilHealth fraud could get us over 800,000 tons of rice (at P20 per kilo of palay) and if procured locally would give our Filipino farmers better reason to continue tilling and making their lands productive," he added. The senator also urged the Administration as well as the congressional oversight committee on the Rice Tariffication Law to sit down and find out if the dip in palay prices was an effect of the law that allowed the unbridled importation of rice. Several lawmakers, including Pangilinan, have called for the law's review due to its adverse effects on the local farmers. He said there should be an efficient mechanism to halt the flow of imported rice when there are enough supplies such as during harvest seasons. UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said last week unemployment 'is already rising and will continue to rise.' Photo: PA The UK government will launch new training options in an effort to boost productivity and tackle unemployment to help the country recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The support will include funding to allow adults without qualifications to take certain educational courses for free, as well as flexible loans allowing people to space out their studies and transfer credits between institutions. The government hopes that people learning new skills will help tackle the unemployment rate, which stands at 4.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics. Unemployment levels are expected to increase as the governments job retention furlough scheme comes to an end in October, to be replaced by a scaled-back job support programme. Last week, the UK chancellor Rishi Sunak admitted unemployment will continue to rise, even as he unveiled a package of new crisis measures designed to save firms and jobs. The finance minister set out a string of new policies in his Winter Economy Plan, which firms cautiously welcomed but warned did not go far enough to prevent lay-offs. Watch: What is the governments new job support programme? The scheme is designed to prevent redundancies, by topping-up the wages of workers who work and are paid for at least a third of their typical hours. The Treasury said employees working a third of their usual hours would receive 77% of their normal hours. Of course unemployment is already rising and will continue to rise. Thats a complete tragedy, said Sunak. READ MORE: UK government unveils 'Winter Economy Plan' to protect jobs and firms Prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to say on Tuesday: We cannot, alas, save every job. What we can do is give people the skills to find and create new and better jobs, according to excerpts sent by his office. Were transforming the foundations of the skills system so that everyone has the chance to train and retrain, he will say. In a statement on Tuesday, Johnson suggested that some jobs in traditional shops, pubs or restaurants may be gone for good. Before COVID people were already shopping ever more online, were already sending out for food. Story continues Coronavirus has compressed that revolution, he said. The government will also provide more funding for apprenticeships at small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), and will extend a pilot programme known as digital skill boot camps to new locations. Levels of vocational training have been falling over the past twenty years, the government said, with only 10% of adults in Britain holding a higher technical qualification as their highest qualification, compared with 20% in Germany and 34% in Canada. UK businesses have complained of a shortage of skills in the workforce affecting the countrys productivity. Peter Cheese, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) welcomed the announcement but said the measures must be just the beginning of further investment and reforms to ensure people can access the training and support they need to find employment. The CIPD is calling for the government to take further action to boost training and reskilling including reforming the apprenticeship levy to make it more flexible and investing 1bn ($1.3bn) in enhancing the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response service to fund bespoke sector-based training and employability support for up to 250,000 workers who have been made redundant. The CIPD also wants the government to provide funding to enable small and medium sized employers using the Job Support Scheme to use online training to develop the skills of their workers on reduced hours under the scheme when they are not working. Watch: How to create the perfect CV Advertisement Naya Rivera's sister Nickayla took to Instagram Stories on Monday amid reports that she's moved in with Naya's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey to help raise her five-year-old nephew Josey. The model, 25, posted a series of statements making it clear that her first priority is to be there for the young boy, hours after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed she is now living with her sister's ex-husband. 'In the darkest time of my life, the only thing that is important is my friends & family,' she said. 'Showing up for my nephew even though I can't show up for myself.' Nickayla said she didn't care about appearances after she and Ryan were pictured holding hands less than three months after Naya's body was recovered July 13 in Lake Piru, California. The latest: Naya Rivera's sister Nickayla, 25, took to Instagram Stories on Monday after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed she has moved in with Naya's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey, 37, to help raise her five-year-old nephew Josey Naya Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey has been spending a lot of time with the late actress' 25-year-old model sister Nickayla Rivera since the the Glee star's death in July, as seen in exclusive DailyMail.com photos 'Im not concerned with the ways things look because no one can see each agonizing moment we all endure,' Nickayla said of her sister's tragic passing, as officials ruled Naya's death at 33 an accidental drowning after she embarked on a July 8 boat ride with Josey. Nickayla said that 'what matters most I've learned, is to show compassion, not to judge others and never take a moment for granted,' adding, 'I hope you all can do the same.' Nickayla has past spoken publicly about her deep grief in the wake of her sister's premature death. 'Sister, There are no words to describe my love for you,' she said on Instagram July 25. 'Side by side or miles apart, our connection is infinite. 'Our bond is unbreakable. We were complete opposites, yet simultaneously the same. The yin to my yang. I never knew that by losing you, I would find so much of you in myself.' Nickayla is pictured in a previous Instagram post with Naya, who is eight years her senior. Naya and Ryan welcomed their son Josey in 2015 and divorced in 2018 The pair were seen holding hands as they shopped in a local Target store and went down the escalator on September 19 They have been inseparable since 33-year-old Naya drowned while boating with her five-year-old son Josey on California's Lake Piru and were spotted together multiple times this month She continued, 'I've never known a life without you in it & still can't imagine it. My world is turned upside down. But through it all, everything we were, we are still. 'I'll always look at you with the same eyes as I did when I was young. My shmaya, I'll love you for eternity & miss you every second of my life.' Ryan and Nickayla have moved into a three-bedroom rented house together where they are caring for Josey, who turned five last week, with the help of Dorsey's parents. The pair are spending every spare minute of their time together, as seen in exclusive DailyMail.com photos. Both Ryan and Nickayla, a stunning 5ft 11in fashion model and social influencer who bears a striking resemblance to her actress sister, posted emotional tributes to Naya on social media after her shocking death. Since the tragedy, they have been leaning heavily on each other for support and comfort. The pair have moved in together to this rented home about 30 minutes away from Ryan's previous home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley On September 6, Nickayla was seen helping Ryan begin moving his belongings from his previous home in North Hills, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, to a new rented home where the pair are both living 30 minutes away. At one point, Ryan stripped off his black t-shirt in the sweltering heat to reveal his ripped torso, while Nickayla showed off her stunning physique in black sweat pants and a black New York motif crop top. She wore her long dark hair in a tight bun. Two days later, the pair spent two hours loading his furniture from his old home into a rented yellow moving truck, which Ryan drove to the new house, which has a pool and costs nearly $5,000-a-month to rent. Nickayla, wearing black sweat pants and a tiny white crop top, followed in Ryan's black Chevrolet Tahoe. September 6 On September 6, Nickayla was seen helping Ryan begin moving his belongings from his previous home in North Hills, in LA's San Fernando Valley, to a new rented home at which the pair are both living 30 minutes away The pair were seen in Ryan's black Chevrolet Tahoe as they headed to Ryan's home to help him move out and into the rental home they share 30 minutes away At one point, Ryan stripped off his black t-shirt in the sweltering heat to reveal his ripped torso as he wore a bandana around his neck, a black cap and Nike sneakers Nickayla showed off her stunning physique in black sweatpants and a black New York motif crop top. She wore her long dark hair in a tight bun Ryan was seen lifting a rolled up rug as he began moving his belongings out of his home on September 6 and into the new home where he'll raise his son Josey with the help of Nickayla and his parents Ryan flashed a quick smile as he got into his black SUV. Since the tragedy, he and Nickayla have been leaning heavily on each other for support and comfort Nickayla, who stands at 5ft 11in, was seen walking with her purse into Ryan's home to help move him out The following day on September 9, the pair were seen helping each other with yard work and chatting happily. Nickayla wore jeans and a white top tied to expose her taut midriff while Ryan wore green shorts and t-shirts. Josey was playing in the yard while the pair kept a protective eye on him. It seems whenever the pair has been spotted of late, they are always together. It appears they barely leave home without each other for company. On September 19, the pair playfully held hands as they shopped in a local Target store. Ryan pushed the shopping cart and Nickayla jokingly pushed him away with her shoulder as they perused the aisles while animatedly laughing and chatting. 'They seem really comfortable together and are obviously helping each other through a very difficult period in both their lives,' said an eye witness who spotted the pair in Target. 'They were fooling around and chatting the whole time. They're obviously helping lift each other's spirits.' September 8 On September 8, the pair spent two hours loading Ryan's furniture from his old home into a rented yellow moving truck. They were spotted by DailyMail.com chatting Ryan drove the large rental truck to the new house, which has a pool and costs nearly $5,000-a-month to rent. It seems whenever the pair have been spotted as of late, they are always together Stunning Nickayla, wearing black sweatpants and a tiny white crop top, followed in Ryan's black Chevrolet Tahoe after he packed up the truck. Ryan wore a graphic t-shirt with a message to vote Ryan hopped into the oversize moving truck to drive it 30 minutes to the new home the pair are sharing with his son Josey 'I can't believe this is life now. I don't know if I'll ever believe it. You were just here,' Ryan said in a heartbreaking Instagram post after the death of Naya Naya was reported missing on July 8 after Josey was found drifting and asleep in a rented pontoon boat. Her lifeless body was found floating in the lake, known for rip currents and having cold, deep water, five days after she disappeared. The sheriff reported that she was most likely trapped in vegetation underwater. Her death was officially ruled an accidental drowning. Josey told police that he and his mother went swimming, and that while she was able to push him back up on the deck of the boat, she never resurfaced. September 9 On September 9, the pair were seen helping each other with yard work and chatting happily. It appears they barely leave home without each other for company Nickayla wore jeans and a white cropped hoodie to expose her taut midriff while Ryan wore green shorts and t-shirt with sneakers Dorsey posted a heartbreaking tribute to his ex-wife on Instagram after her body was recovered. 'This is so unfair...there's not enough words to express the hole left in everyone's hearts,' he wrote Nickayla changed out of her jeans and kept it casual in shorts and a cropped sweatshirt as she carried a small dog from the property In the sweltering Southern California heat, Nickayla took off her sweatshirt to reveal her toned physique in a black tank top as she carried her purse alongside Ryan Nickayla posted a tribute to her older saying after her death, saying: 'Side by side or miles apart, our connection is infinite. Our bond is unbreakable. We were complete opposites, yet simultaneously the same. The yin to my yang. I never knew that by losing you, I would find so much of you in myself' Nickayla was seen juggling multiple reusable shopping bags from Marshalls and TJ Maxx with her hair up in a messy bun Ryan waived from his property as his son Josey (not pictured) played in the front yard under a protective eye Dorsey later posted a heartbreaking tribute to the actress on Instagram. 'This is so unfair...there's not enough words to express the hole left in everyone's hearts,' he wrote. 'I can't believe this is life now. I don't know if I'll ever believe it. You were just here.' He added: 'Life is all about good times and bad times but with Josey it makes the bad a little less so because a part of you will always be with us. He'll never forget where he came from. We miss you. We will always love you.' Nickayla also posted a tribute to her older saying, saying: 'Side by side or miles apart, our connection is infinite. Our bond is unbreakable. We were complete opposites, yet simultaneously the same. The yin to my yang. I never knew that by losing you, I would find so much of you in myself.' She added: I've never known a life without you in it & still can't imagine it. My world is turned upside down. But through it all, everything we were, we are still. I'll always look at you with the same eyes as I did when I was young. My shmaya, I'll love you for eternity & miss you every second of my life.' September 13 On September 13, Nickayla wore burgundy sweat pants and a white t-shirt, with her long hair in a ponytail, as she and Ryan went shopping Ryan wore his signature pirate motif neck scarf over his face while Nickayla wore a black face mask and was seen putting it on before entering the store Ryan was all in gray as he and Nickayla went shopping. The pair had been spotted together several times over the month of September and appear to be inseparable since Naya's passing Naya shot to fame and critical acclaim playing openly gay cheerleader Santana Lopez on the hit Fox series from 2009 until 2015. Her love interest, fellow cheerleader Brittany, played by Heather Morris, eventually became her wife. Naya and then-husband Ryan Dorsey welcomed son Josey Hollis in 2015. She called her young son 'my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him' in her 2016 memoir 'Sorry Not Sorry.' The couple divorced in 2018, after Rivera had earlier applied to end the marriage in 2016 but the couple had initially reconciled. Dorsey, also an actor, has appeared on shows including Ray Donavan and Justified. September 19 On September 19, the pair were seen spotted shopping around in Target, possibly for home items for their new digs together 'They seem really comfortable together and are obviously helping each other through a very difficult period in both their lives,' said an eye witness who spotted the pair in Target 'They were fooling around and chatting the whole time. They're obviously helping lift each other's spirits,' an eyewitness said about the pair's trip to Target Both Ryan and Nickayla kept it casual in black shorts and Nike sneakers. Nickayla wore a sweatshirt with Ryan wore a black t-shirt They were seen loading up Ryan's SUV with the items they purchased from a local Target. Mickayla was seen wearing a sweatshirt that says 'The industry is watching' Nickayla and Ryan were seen outdoor at Target and a hardware store in Los Angeles on September 19. They each flashed their tattoos, with Nickayla's on the back of her neck and Ryan's on the back of his calf Nickayla has 78,000 Instagram followers and is currently signed to top modeling agencies Photogenics in Los Angeles and Wilhelmina in New York, following in the footsteps of her mother who moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a model. Nickayla is friends with some of the most famous faces in the business. She previously shared a photo to social media with fellow models Chrissy Teigen and Chanel Iman, which can be seen via her Instagram account. Naya Rivera's father, George Rivera, left, and mother Yolanda, third from right, are pictured with members of Ventura County Sheriff's Office in a boat after Naya's body was found in Lake Piru, Monday, July 13 This diagram shows where actress Naya , 33, and her four-year-old son Josey rented a boat on Lake Piru before the young boy was found alone. The map in the top left shows the location of the lake in relation to Los Angeles where Rivera lives Naya Rivera sent a photo of her four-year-old son Josey to a family member 90 minutes before he was found on their pontoon boat that shows the cove they'd sailed to 'My world is turned upside down': Naya Rivera's devastated younger sister Nickayla Rivera posted a moving tribute to the late Glee star on Instagram Naya's autopsy confirmed that the actress died by drowning and there were no signs drugs or alcohol played a role in her death. The manner of her death was listed as an accident. The Glee star's body was recovered from the northeast portion of Lake Piru, located 50 miles north of Los Angeles, days after she went missing on July 8 while boating with her son. The actress grew up 20 miles from the lake and was familiar with it, police sources said. She thought of it as her 'sanctuary', despite it being known for rip currents and icy waters that can overpower swimmers. The lake itself is 1,200 acres and can reach depths of up to 130 feet. With almost zero visibility, human divers were resorting to searching by feel to recover the actress. Her Glee cast mates, Ryan and her parents were all seen at the shores of the lake to pay tribute to the late star. She's taking the next step with boyfriend Luke Benward as they plan to set up home together. And amid house-hunting, Ariel Winter was spotted stocking up on cardboard boxes at a UPS store in Los Angeles, California on Monday. The actress, 22, cut a casual figure in a blue The Office Dunder Mifflin hoodie as she carried her haul of boxes as well as other goods including packing tape. Supply run: Ariel Winter was spotted stocking up on cardboard boxes at a UPS store in Los Angeles, California on Monday Ariel added a pair of disheveled white slip-on trainers to her relaxed look, while covering up with a white patterned face mask. The Modern Family star swept her bubblegum pink tresses up into a bun as she went about her day. The previous day, Ariel was seen going house-hunting with her fellow actor beau in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles. The duo took a tour of a house with a realtor, who had some paperwork ready to go for them. Low-key look: The actress, 22, cut a casual figure in a blue The Office Dunder Mifflin hoodie as she carried her haul of boxes as well as other goods including packing tape Ariel and her boyfriend Luke recently wrapped production on their upcoming movie Don't Log Off, which is set in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown. Her first project since Modern Family, the comedy-thriller is about a group of friends planning a virtual surprise party, as the birthday girl goes missing. The Phineas and Ferb star posted to Instagram in late July: 'AND WE ARE WRAPPED!!!!!!! Congratulations and thank you to our whole team especially the very talented @branbaer & @thethirdlilbaer, our wonderful writers/directors. 'This movie really is an ensemble and Im honored to be sharing the screen with my friends, and producing this with a few of them as well!!!!!' Co-star goals: Ariel and her boyfriend recently wrapped production on their upcoming movie Don't Log Off, which is set in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown (pictured in February 2020) She bid farewell to Modern Family back in February, starring as the brainy Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom since it premiered in 2009, before coming to an end with its 11th season. The beauty told Teen Vogue in April: 'This is new territory for me. I was doing something very specific for so long. Now I have to reset my mind and retrain myself to be in that place of, "All right, I am ready to look for the next thing." I am ready to work. I am ready to do everything I can. 'I am ready to be in the right mindset to go in there again and be able to face the rejection that will come, and be able to move past that and go to the next audition and be ready for it. And be ready for things in my personal life. Just living.' SAN FRANCISCO - The modest cash grant Iguehi James received from the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce helped the clothing designer defray costs, including surge prices on elastic and fabric that jumped dramatically due to the pandemic. The application process was simple and she qualified for a $5,000 resiliency grant, despite being a solo practitioner with no employees or storefront. Along with the fiscal help, the grant reminded the 38-year-old novice entrepreneur that she is part of a community with a tradition of mobilizing to help members in times of distress. Weve been denied opportunities, weve had to work really hard to get to where we are, said James, who lives in Oakland, California. When you have other people who know the struggle, know the plight, know how hard it is to be valued ... to be seen, you just feel like you have a community. The chamber announced this summer that it had raised $1 million for its fund to help Black-owned businesses. Its one of several launched in the U.S. since the pandemic began closing businesses and schools, and its a nod to the difficulty that Black businesses have in landing bank loans and the disproportionate impact the virus has on African American families. Elsewhere, female Black civic leaders in Washington state unveiled the Black Future Co-op Fund in June to address damage created by systemic racism. The Black Resilience in Colorado Fund aims to help people in the Denver area. Perhaps the most astonishing grass-roots effort has been in Portland, Oregon, where organizers have raised more than $1.7 million for Black residents of the city that has been in the national spotlight for its nightly protests against police brutality. The Black Resilience Fund has helped nearly 3,000 residents with groceries, utility bills, student loans and rent, according to its GoFundMe page. Cathy Adams, an event planner and president and CEO of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, said discussions about its fund began in late April as small businesses struggled to get help from the federal governments paycheque protection program. Phone calls from hurting business owners broke Adams heart. Meanwhile, the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May further underscored the inequities faced by African Americans in work, wealth and health. This resiliency fund? This is nothing but love, Adams said. Aaron Bryant, a curator with the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., says the funds are reminiscent of the benevolent societies that began appearing in New Orleans and Philadelphia in the late 1700s to aid Black people in times of illness, death and other hardships. What we see happening now is really important because it shows the humanity, that we still have humanity in spite of all the obstacles that were confronting, he said. Shawn Ginwright, an education professor in the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University, says the funds highlight the discriminatory policies that have shut out Black people from acquiring capital and wealth. The real story is not the resilience, he said. The real story is why is resilience necessary in the first place. In Oakland, Adams approached television stations to generate news coverage about the fund and spent hours on the phone pitching it until her voice grew hoarse. She worried the chamber might not meet its goal, but eventually Adams landed donations from more than 200 companies and individuals, including $200,000 from Clorox and $100,000 each from Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente and online security company Okta. Several people called me crazy, but I dont think what they said was personal, she said. I just think they did not believe in miracles. The chamber expects to award grants to some 150 businesses ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. Only chamber members can apply and recipients must complete a financial management seminar. Grants have been used for marketing, equipment and even a new restaurant location. James, the designer, beefed up online marketing for her Love Iguehi line of colorful masks, head wraps, kaftans and clutches. The business had depended heavily on in-person pop-up events and conferences that have been cancelled due to the virus. The Red Door, a catering company, used its $10,000 grant to help retain seven of its roughly 20 full-time employees and has pivoted to mail-order snacks, pop-up meal events and meal deliveries. Its really about hope, about extending hope, said founder Reign Free of the grant program. Once you lose hope, thats it, youre done for. They should have named it the Hope project. Bus Eireann's inter-city services are facing the axe due to the impact of Covid-19 Translink has said it remains committed to operating the cross-border express bus service to Dublin after the Irish transport authority decided to suspend their service to Belfast. Bus Eireann's inter-city services are facing the axe due to the impact of Covid-19. Expressway routes between Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Galway, and Dublin and Limerick are likely to end early next year. The Dublin-to-Belfast service will be suspended indefinitely. Bus Eireann said in a statement that it plans to expand city and commuter services. The end date for the inter-city services has not been decided but it is likely to be next year when emergency support for routes expire. "The X51 service from Galway to Limerick and the X1 Dublin-to-Belfast service have not been in receipt of emergency funding and services will formally cease on these routes over the next few months," the statement said. Measures are being taken "in response to significant medium-term challenges posed by Covid-19 in order to safeguard Expressway's remaining 14 national routes and meet demand required on other city and commuter services". The decisions were taken at a board meeting yesterday. The company said it had an opportunity through July stimulus measures to increase services in Cork, Galway and Limerick, Louth and Meath. Chief executive Stephen Bus Kent said it decided to withdraw from a small number of routes to avoid job losses. Siptu sector organiser John Murphy said the cuts were "short sighted, flawed and a kick in the teeth for workers and passengers". A Translink spokesperson said: "Due to the ongoing challenges and impact of Covid-19, Bus Eireann, our current partner on the X1 cross border Belfast to Dublin route, have taken the difficult decision to suspend their service indefinitely following a review and an analysis over the past number of months. "This move by Bus Eireann will be introduced formally over the coming months. "Translink remain committed to operating this route and will work with Bus Eireann to manage the transitional period in order to maintain services for passengers along this corridor. "We will communicate any changes on the timetable and work to minimise the overall impact on our passengers." Translink said it would work with the Irish authorities "to ensure continuity of services." CARROLLTON, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Only months after its April launch, Uptown Wine Cocktails has won two major awards in grocery and convenience Progressive Grocer's Editors' Pick and Convenience Store News' Best New Wine of 2020. The BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion team entered the cocktail line in both contests this summer. According to Convenience Store News, nearly 100 companies entered to win in 38 categories. BuzzBallz/Southern Champion In mid-August, the team learned that the Uptown Wine Cocktails Chocolatini was granted Best Wine by the publication. The team was granted the Progressive Grocer's Editors' Pick win even earlier the end of July. The accomplishment was published in the magazine and on the site mid-September. The mark of success for this brand didn't begin or end with these awards, however. Over the past few months, Uptown Cocktails has been one of the top-selling brands under the BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion umbrella and has already been named a top ten premixed cocktail by *Nielsen. "The reason it's doing really well is the [ready-to-drink] space has exploded," said Blair Casey, Vice President of Sales at BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion. "Millennials want their cocktails and they want them now. In grocery stores, they prefer the ease of picking up a full cocktail on the go instead of having to go home with a bunch of ingredients to make one cocktail." Flavor innovation and premium packaging are also factors that make Uptown Wine Cocktails stand out on shelves. There are currently six bold flavors Lemon Tea, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Margarita, Mango Margarita, Strawberry Margarita and Chocolatini; all of which are made with natural juices or creams. Each cocktail is 13.9 percent ABV and sealed in a 1.5-liter, frosted bottle. To find them in stores, visit https://www.uptowncocktails.com/store-locator/ . *NIELSEN, xAOC & Convenience, wine cocktails, 26 weeks ending 6/13/20 About BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion is a woman-owned and family-operated Texas distillery, winery and brewery founded in 2009 as the result of Merrilee Kick's master's degree thesis project. In a little over 10 years, BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion has greatly expanded its product base and begun to grow into a worldwide brand. As the only combined distillery, winery and brewery in the US that is woman owned, this company has gained significant recognition, boasting distribution in 45 states, several countries abroad and growing. The company maintains a fun brand message as they create high-quality, premixed cocktails, as well as small-batch spirits. Learn more at: http://www.southern-champion.com/ and www.buzzballz.com . Contact: Kim Diggs, PR/Communications Manager 972-439-1879 ext. 134 [email protected] SOURCE BuzzBallz/Southern Champion Related Links http://www.southern-champion.com Accusations and counter accusations have been cast about whether Syrian fighters have been sent to aid Azerbaijani in their recent confrontation with Armenia. Armenia and Azerbaijan have proffered contradictory reports that Turkey has sent Syrian fighters to fight with the Azerbaijani soldiers against Armenians. The Interfax and RIA news agencies on Tuesday quoted Vardan Toganyan, Armenias Ambassador to Russia, as saying Ankara had sent some 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to its close ally, Azerbaijan. According to our information, recently about 4,000 fighters have been deployed by Turkey from Syria to Azerbaijan. They are already participating with the other side, and it has been done. Azerbaijan has rejected the statement by the Armenian official. An aide to Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev swiftly denied the reports. Rumours of militants from Syria allegedly being redeployed to Azerbaijan is another provocation by the Armenian side and complete nonsense, said Khikmet Gadzhiev. Military clashes were renewed between the two countries early Sunday morning, with the Ministry of Defense in Azerbaijan announcing that it had launched a counter-attack along the entire line of contact in Karabakh. While Armenia announced the general mobilization in the country for those under the age of 55 to confront the escalation in the Karabakh region, the Armenian Ministry of Defense also revealed that 16 soldiers were killed and more than 100 others were injured in a preliminary survey. This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Syrian Observer. Pakistan on Tuesday violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri, Kathua and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir. A Pakistani soldier was killed when India was forced to retaliate. In the afternoon, Pakistan started firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district. Around 5.15 pm, Pakistan again resorted to ceasefire violation in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district. Later in the evening Pakistan again resorted to unprovoked firing in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district. The Border Security Force (BSF) troops retaliated befittingly. September 29, 2020 College students are often extremely busy, especially during the first semester. Whether youre battling midterm exams or simply keeping up with extracurriculars, it can be difficult to carve out time in your schedule. That is why when it comes to an activity as important as voting, its best to plan ahead. Headquartered in New Jersey and operating nationwide, On Campus Marketing, or OCM, serves over 900 campuses nationwide and has made shopping for college essentials easier and more affordable for over six million families and counting. During their 35-year tenure, they have given over $50 million back to student organizations across the country. The organization is committed to developing the potential of students and improving their campus communities through the effective action of their fundraising programs. OCM has put together a fool-proof guide for how to register to vote on your college campus. Decide Where to Register According to OCM, many students fail to realize that they often have a choice of which state they can register to vote in. If you go to college in the same state as where youre from, then you have to register in that state. However, if you are attending an out of state college, then you can choose whether you want to vote in the state that the college is located or your home state. When making this decision, there are a few factors to consider. First, you may want to ask yourself if either state is a swing state. If so, then your vote may make more of a difference if you register in that state, compared to one that historically always votes the same way. Second, you will want to consider how easy it is to cast an absentee ballot. For example, if you decide to vote in your home state, but you wont be in your home state on election day, then you will need to get an absentee ballot sent to you. In general, voting by absentee ballot requires a bit of extra effort compared with traditional voting. Lastly, you may also wish to consider your future. If you plan to move back to your home state after graduation, then perhaps you would prefer to register to vote in your home state where you will get to experience the long term impacts of your vote, should the candidate you vote for win. Research Deadlines and Eligibility Requirements Once youve made a decision as to which state youre going to register to vote in, its time to do a bit of research and find out that states voting deadlines and eligibility requirements. OCM warns that each state has different deadlines and requirements, so dont assume that the way one state does it is how they all do it. This year where much of the voting is being done by mail-in ballot, it is especially important to find out this information early and get your vote in as early as possible. There is likely a student-run group on campus that can provide you with this information if youre having trouble finding it. A few general voting requirements to keep in mind are that you must be 18 years of age in order to vote and you must be a United States citizen who meets the states residency requirements, has completed voter registration by the deadline, and who can provide ID on voting day. Register to Vote Finally, once youve done your research, its time to actually register to vote. Registering to vote is relatively simple and many college campuses across the United States have places on-campus where students can register. Although voter registration requirements vary in each state, the process generally includes you filling out a form and providing a personal ID, such as a drivers license. Students can register to vote in one of three ways: in person, online, or by mail. If you prefer to vote in person, campuses often have student canvassers walking around with registration forms. Typically, student government representatives will also visit classrooms to pass around forms. If you prefer to vote online or by mail, visit your states voting page where the relevant information can easily be found. Remember that voting is not only your duty as a U.S. citizen, but also a privilege. Exercise your right to vote and let your voice be heard! Calling the recent New York Times report showing that President Trump is saddled with debt and paid only $750 in taxes the year he ran for president the political equivalent of an H-bomb, veteran GOP political operative Mike Murphy predicted the presidents debate performance on Tuesday will suffer because he will spend half the debate saying, you know, Im a billionaire. And in an interview for the Yahoo News Skullduggery podcast, Murphy also offered some advice for former Vice President Joe Biden: Knowing how insecure Trump is, Id open with a joke: Hey, Donald, before we get started, if you need to borrow a few bucks, I brought a little for you. A jab like that would, said Murphy, drive the president nuts. He said he fully expects Trump to have difficulty staying on message during Tuesdays debate because he will be desperate to reestablish his bona fides as a billionaire. Trump hates, hates, hates to be seen as not a rich guy, and he has no sense of humor, like any good sociopath, Murphy added. I would not be surprised tonight if he spends half the debate saying, you know, Im a billionaire, I own this land thats worth at least 10 times what I paid for it in Kansas. On the same Skullduggery podcast, GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson said Biden should instead focus on the coronavirus pandemic. I would spend more time on the coronavirus issue, because what people think about Donald Trumps character has to be baked into the cake at this point, she said. Even after the revelations about Trumps business record, Biden should emphasize the presidents handling of the pandemic because that will rattle [Trump] more, Anderson said. When the stuff hit the fan and Donald Trump was in charge ... Trumps response is, I closed the borders at the airports in January, and thats kind of it. What has he done since then to help us overcome this virus? He doesnt have a great answer, and I think Biden should just consistently nail him on that. Story continues Joe Biden and President Trump. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Although he has been a top strategist for GOP candidates for decades, Murphy is now consulting for Republican Voters Against Trump, a group of former officials in Republican administrations who are mounting a campaign to defeat Trump and elect Biden. Murphy said the tax story is damaging to Trump not just because of how it affects him psychologically, but also in more concrete terms. Trump is trailing Biden in election polling, Murphy said, and needs to win most of the voters who are still undecided. That will be harder to do now, he said, because every voter can play the beer-and-pretzel game, comparing their own tax bill with Trumps and most will have paid more than $750. The tax story also hurts the president by taking up media bandwidth he desperately needs to get an offense going, Murphy said. Trump wont be able to go on offense anytime soon, Murphy predicted. He also said the medias focus on how Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barretts expected confirmation would change the court will be a damaging story for Trump in the coming weeks. Trump has tapped Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of cancer on Sept. 18 and voted repeatedly to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Because Barrett has criticized the legal basis for the ACA in some of her writings, Murphy said it is likely that the weeks leading up to her Oct. 12 confirmation hearings will be overtaken by a relentless media focus on the potential loss of health coverage and protections for millions of Americans. Murphy predicted Democrats will go back to [their] best midterm election issue, which is These sons of bitches millionaire Republicans want to rig the Supreme Court to take away your preexisting conditions. That is a laser sword, Murphy said. There are a lot of former Republican congressman from 2018 who can tell you about that one. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Since I was sworn into office, President Trump has signed three pieces of my legislation into law. The first was the Lower Insulin Costs Now Act, which makes generic insulin available on the marketplace sooner. Next, I passed bipartisan legislation to fund an electronic health record system to prevent children from dying of preventable illnesses while in federal custody on the U.S. - Mexico border. This March, President Trump signed a piece of legislation I wrote to examine our reliance on a foreign-based medical supply chain, which threatens our national security during a pandemic. As the youngest Black woman ever elected to Congress, Ive also been able to confront an issue thats personal to me: maternal mortality. In Illinois, women who look like me are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women. I co-founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus with my colleague, Dr. Alma Adams of North Carolina, to end these health disparities and save moms lives. My focus, of course, is always on the 14th District. During my first term in Congress, I have voted to support federal programs that brought over $1 billion dollars to our communities to fund small business loans, cutting edge science at FermiLab, and other grants and federal contracts that support good jobs and services in our community. Im really proud of the way my team has been able to deliver for our community, and I plan to continue identifying opportunities for bipartisan progress during my second term. The Victor Lofts building looms behind the 11 Cooper apartment complex near Camden's waterfront. Read more When Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff geared up to exercise his long-held development rights on the Camden waterfront, he says, he was suddenly urged to take on a new partner: South Jersey power broker George Norcross. Dranoff characterizes Norcross intrusion on his Camden plans as a shakedown involving Norcross and the former real estate giant Liberty Property Trust. Dranoff delivered that testimony in a newly public deposition in a legal battle in which the developer and the City of Camden have sued each other over the scuttled $71 million sale of his Victor Lofts apartment building. His account adds another chapter to the tale of how Norcross and his business partners won control of valuable land and development deals backed by lucrative state tax credits in a city fighting to make a comeback. The litigation is underway at a time of intense scrutiny of development on the waterfront. The Inquirer has previously reported on an FBI investigation and a New Jersey state grand jury probe of development linked to massive tax breaks. A task force appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy last year found evidence that some companies may have won tax credits improperly. In his testimony, Dranoff, 72, describes an increasingly hostile series of interactions with Norcross, 64, which he alleges inspired the South Jersey businessman and political powerhouse to later derail the Victor sale in a vendetta against him. During one tense negotiating session on a conference call in 2016, George literally screamed at me, Dranoff said in the deposition. It was a very adversarial situation and we just wanted to get out. Among Dranoffs most startling allegations are his claims that Liberty, which aimed to remake a huge swath of Camdens waterfront after developing some of Philadelphias most notable buildings, teamed with Norcross on a pressure campaign that ended with Dranoff cashing out. In other filings, a city attorney and an economic development executive acknowledged that Norcross brother, lawyer Philip Norcross, had asked Camden officials to proceed slowly on Dranoffs plans. Dranoff sat for the deposition in November, fielding questions from the opposing side by William Tambussi, who represents the city. Tambussi has also represented George Norcross including when Norcross unsuccessfully sued Murphy last year over the governors support for the task force investigation. In response to questions about the testimony, a spokesperson for George Norcross said numerous things are out of context. The spokesperson, Dan Fee, did not provide specific examples. He said the negotiations referenced were by and between Dranoff and Liberty Property Trust. Conner Strong & Buckelew, the insurance brokerage that George Norcross leads as executive chairman, looks forward to continuing to be part of Camdens nationally heralded renaissance, Fee said. Philip Norcross did not respond to a request seeking comment. In its lawsuit, Camden officials say that Dranoff bilked the city out of millions by abusing a tax break for the Victor redevelopment project. For almost two decades, Carl Dranoff failed to revitalize the Camden waterfront as he promised to do, all while pocketing tens of millions of dollars and denying my cash-strapped city money it was owed, Camden Mayor Frank Moran said in a statement Tuesday. He is resorting to saying things that simply arent true in order to deflect attention from his own failures. Before setting his sights on Camden in the early 2000s, Dranoff, who declined comment for this article, had already made a name for himself in Philadelphia with such projects as the Symphony House condo building on Broad Street and the Locust on the Park apartments in the Fitler Square neighborhood. At the time, the vacant wreck of Camdens former RCA Victor record factory stood as a monument to the deindustrialization that had left much of the city blighted and forlorn. He bought the iconic building in a deal that included a 2002 tax agreement with Camden officials that limited his payments to the city to $200,000 a year. Other agreements protected the buildings Delaware River views from being blocked by other construction and gave him first dibs on future residential development on the waterfront. The waterfront remained largely vacant for years. That changed in 2013 with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act under Gov. Chris Christie. It created a pool of corporate tax credits, fueling demand to build in Camden. Businesses were eventually approved for $1.6 billion worth of incentives. Among those hoping to cash in on that support was developer Liberty, whose past work had included Comcast Corp.s headquarters tower and most of the South Philadelphia Navy Yards central office park. The company announced plans for up to 1.7 million square feet of office space amid residences, hotels, and shops on what was then a vacant site across the Delaware River from Center City. When Dranoff got a call from Liberty asking to collaborate, I said absolutely, yes, he testified. Were in. He asked Liberty to honor his residential development rights, he said, and proceeded to hire an architect and win tax credits for a new apartment complex. But only when he went to meet with a Liberty Property Trust executive at the time, John Gattuso, did Dranoff find out that John and his group had formed a partnership with George and his group on the master on the whole waterfront, he said. And they wanted me to become a partner of Georges. Dranoff wasnt pleased. We didnt really see the point of that, he testified. I felt like we were being kind of a shakedown, that we were in a situation where we were being asked to participate in a partnership that we really didnt want to participate in. The two sides couldnt make it work. Dranoff said he didnt want to hold up the master plan, and asked to be bought out of his rights, including the easement that limited the height of buildings in front of the Victor Lofts The value of the view easements and development rights, we felt, was much higher than what George and his group were willing to pay, Dranoff said. And that led to a lot of negotiations. And ultimately, I think name-calling and some pretty aggressive and obnoxious behavior against us. Finally, Dranoff said, we agreed to sell our development rights for what we considered to be a very low number, and that was the end of it. He sold the rights for about $1.5 million. Under questioning from Tambussi during the deposition, Dranoff conceded that he made a business decision to sell the rights, but he disagreed when Tambussi asked, That was your choice, right? Well, no, not really, Dranoff replied, adding: I dont think that should have been requested of us. There was no obligation for us to take on a partner. Gattuso declined to comment on Dranoffs version of events. Carl is one of the finest people Ive ever worked with, and hes a real good guy, Gattuso said. William Hankowsky, who was Libertys chief executive at the time, did not respond to an email. Between 2016 and 2018, Norcross and his business partners amassed five properties, totaling about 10 acres, along the Delaware River. Projects that Norcross invested in benefited from nearly $290 million in tax credits and other state incentives, The Inquirer found last year. One of those projects started out as the apartment complex that Dranoff proposed. State records show that Dranoffs firm and two others were approved for an incentive award in June 2016 and that Dranoffs firm was replaced on the award in 2017. The resulting building, 11 Cooper, is owned by a partnership among the Michaels Organization, the logistics firm NFI, and Conner Strong & Buckelew, Norcross company. Liberty didnt fare well in Camden, either. Norcross and Liberty clashed over the costs to develop a new office tower, he told state lawmakers last year, and another builder completed the project. The partners on the tower, including Norcross insurance brokerage, won a $245 million tax incentive from the state, to be paid out over 10 years. Ultimately, Liberty developed just one building for American Water Works from its original master plan. The developer wrote off $26 million on the Camden venture in 2018. Earlier this year, Prologis, a California real estate trust, completed its acquisition of Liberty. By the spring of 2018, Dranoff had struck a deal with Apartment Investment & Management Co. (Aimco) to sell the Denver-based investment trust his entire portfolio of Philadelphia-area rental buildings, including the Victor, for $445 million. For the Victor to change hands, however, Dranoff needed Camdens permission to transfer the 2002 tax break to Aimco. The city had been legally obligated to grant that permission, but never did, he argued in his lawsuit. Dranoff said in his deposition that he was met with radio silence from the city and complete stonewalling of our application. By late August 2018, he said, Aimcos offer for the Victor had expired and it was too late to save our deal. City attorney Michelle Banks-Spearman, in another deposition, filed this month, described regular meetings that Philip Norcross attended with Mayor Moran and other city officials in 2018. She said the meetings were called by the mayor with regard to the Economic Opportunity Act, the tax-break measure, and that Philip Norcross and another lawyer with his firm came because they represented developers. Philip Norcross law firm, Parker McCay, represented his brothers insurance firm and other companies in tax-break applications. The governors task force found that Parker McCay wrote portions of the tax-credit law behind the scenes. A Dranoff lawyer asked Banks-Spearman whether, during those meetings, Philip Norcross expressed that he wanted Camden to slow down its review of the transfer process for the Victor. Yes, she replied. As to the reason, she said: He told us he had concerns about the condition of the property. And he wanted to make sure that the conditions were addressed prior to the city agreeing to the transfer. Banks-Spearman later testified that she was not aware of any action taken to assess the buildings condition. She also said she could not recall whether anyone objected to Philip Norcross request to slow the transfer process. There are no minutes from those meetings, she said. The city did not respond directly to questions about the meetings. Anthony Perno, who led the Coopers Ferry Partnership waterfront development nonprofit, also testified that Philip Norcross instructed Camden not to meet with Dranoff about another property known as the Radio Lofts building, according to other filings this month, although his full testimony is not included. William Spearman, a New Jersey state assemblyman whose district includes Camden, testified that he was aware of Philip Norcross near-weekly meetings with Camden officials (including his wife, Banks-Spearman), but did not know about any requests that the lawyer may have made to delay the transfer. Theres some things you just dont want to know about, Spearman said when asked about Philip Norcross alleged request. Thats one of them. Mika Salo has hit back at claims he inappropriately leaked information about Lewis Hamilton's Sochi penalties to a television broadcaster. Ten minutes before the FIA announced the stewards' verdict on Sunday, Finnish commentator Niki Juusela told viewers of the live C More broadcast that Hamilton would receive ten seconds worth of penalties and super licence points. "There is no official information yet, but it will probably be two five second penalties and four points on his licence, which means that according to our information, Hamilton is not driving at the Nurburgring," Juusela said at the time. Ultimately, Hamilton received only 2 super licence penalty points for the illegal practice starts, and they were later rescinded completely. But it raised strong suspicions that Mika Salo, a former F1 driver who was a steward at Sochi, leaked the information to Juusela, his C More colleague. Bild newspaper suspected Salo will not be invited to serve as steward again. "It's all nonsense," Finn Salo told Ilta Sanomat newspaper. "The accusations are unfounded. I heard that someone came up with this story, but they should have checked the facts. You can write anything on the internet. "As for the penalty, everyone must follow the rules." Salo said he was similarly in the hot-seat after a stewards' decision in 2017 that cost Max Verstappen a podium. "When someone doesn't like a stewards' decision, they always start saying nasty things," he said. "For a whole year I received threats after we deprived Max Verstappen of the podium in the USA in 2017." Commentator Juusela denied that Salo leaked him the information. "It was not Mika Salo, but as you may understand, I will not comment on this," he insisted. (GMM) Trump calls for Biden's ears to be inspected before the first debate (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The Trump campaign has pushed for Joe Bidens ears to be inspected for electronic devices or transmitters ahead of the first presidential debate, according to a new report. Currently the two campaigns are negotiating the details of the debates, mere hours before the candidates will face off against each other for the first time. Fox News reported that Donald Trump and his team have asked for the ears to be inspected by a third party for each candidate, as they accuse Mr Biden of potentially wearing a device that could feed him lines during the debate. The Biden campaign has yet to agree to this demand, according to the report. On the other side of the aisle, the Biden campaign has asked for two breaks, one every 30 minutes, during the debate. Mr Trumps team has said in recent weeks that they would not agree to this demand. Rhetoric surrounding the debates has heightened in recent weeks. Besides Mr Trump accusing his democratic challenger of attempting to wear an electronic device, hes also called for each of them to submit drug tests before and after every debate. In a series of tweets shared on Sunday, the president made unfounded claims that Mr Biden uses performance-enhancing drugs to boost his performance. I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night. Naturally, I will agree to take one also, Mr Trump wrote. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy??? Mr Biden initially said no comment when asked later on Sunday about the accusations made by the president, but then his campaign reconsidered their response. I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night. Naturally, I will agree to take one also. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy??? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2020 Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it, said Kate Bedingfield, Bidens deputy campaign manager. Wed expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn't make a plan to stop Covid-19. Story continues Mr Trump has long used nicknames like sleepy and weak to belittle his challenger, but that could set the stage for Mr Biden to perform better than expected with the president setting the bar so low. So the president has now changed his rhetoric to instead accuse Mr Biden of using drugs and electronic devices in an effort to improve his debate performance. The first debate will air later today from Cleveland, Ohio, with Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace as the moderator. The debate will include six 15-minute segments "dedicated to topics announced in advance in order to encourage deep discussion of the leading issues facing the country," the Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement. These topics include the records of Mr Trump and Mr Biden in office, the Supreme Court, coronavirus pandemic, the economy, race and violence in our cities, and the integrity of the election. Read more Biden v Trump: The attack lines that could win or lose the debate 'He has dementia': Rudy Guiliani makes unfounded claims about Biden during rambling Fox News interview US presidential debate: The questions Trump and Biden need to answer Foreign companies that have long been a thriving part of China's economy and strong supporters of global supply chains are finding fresh momentum from the improved market access in the nation and the ongoing efforts to create a more transparent and free business environment. At his speech delivered during the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services earlier this month, President Xi Jinping said that a review of human history shows that the world economy thrives in openness and withers in seclusion, and that China will stay committed to further opening up. Measures mentioned by Xi include the establishment of a sound negative list management system in cross-border services trade, the advancement of constructing open platforms for piloting innovative development of trade in services, the easing of market access in the service sector, and the active expansion of quality services imports. Xi also stressed on raising the level of opening up in an all-around manner, and building higher-level new institutions for the open economy, while chairing a symposium on economic and social work in Beijing in late August. Many opportunities are also arising from China's new policy measures introduced this year to stimulate consumption, attract global capital, boost both goods and services trade to mitigate the COVID-19 epidemic effect and support its early economic recovery. Foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland grew by 18.7 percent on a yearly basis to 84.13 billion yuan ($12.3 billion) in August, the fifth successive month of positive growth, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce. FDI inflows amounted to 619.78 billion yuan in the first eight months, up 2.6 percent year-on-year. In order to assess the effect of many challenges facing businesses going forward, the American Chamber of Commerce in South China conducted a comprehensive study involving 172 companies from Aug 28 to Sept 8. The survey found that about 90 percent of the respondents, regardless of origin, had a positive outlook for the second half of this year. These companies, including those from Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and the United States displayed a strong willingness to continue to grow and expand in China. Over 78 percent of companies said they no longer face difficulties with the supply chain, up 46 percent since March 12, when the chamber released its report on the effect of COVID-19 on the supply chain in China. Global business leaders said that building on the effective containment of the pandemic, China has rigorously rolled out a string of measures to stabilize foreign trade and investment. China, with its excellent economic resilience and potential, will remain an attractive investment destination for global investors, said the survey. Alfonso Alba, country pision head for Bayer Crop Science in China, said the company is optimistic about the good business environment and innumerable market opportunities in China, one of the most important global markets for the company. "We appreciate China for its excellent supply chain management and good economic recovery during the pandemic, which has provided strong support for us to conduct regular business in the Chinese market and ensure the supply of products and services," he said. Alba said Bayer has a long-term development strategy and market commitment in China, and will continue to invest in innovation, sustainability and digital transformation. China's agriculture has entered a stage of high-quality development and his company will keep pace with this trend, he said. The German company to date boasts about 80 plant protection products in five categories that can prevent and control major diseases, pests and weeds. It also develops and markets conventional vegetable and corn seeds for Chinese farmers through its wholly-owned subsidiary and a joint venture. In terms of new market opportunities, he said Bayer regards digital technology as one of the key areas. Digital farming plays an essential role in the high-quality development of agriculture in China, and it is also the global innovation direction of Bayer Crop Science. Woody Guo, president of Herbalife Nutrition China and senior vice-president of the US-based nutrition company Herbalife Nutrition, said the company enjoyed double-digit growth in sales on a yearly basis in China during the first and second quarters of this year despite COVID-19, thanks to the growing demand for high-quality health products in China. The company has accelerated its new product launches in China since the second half of 2019, and expects to double the same in the next five years. Its first product innovation center globally, the Herbalife Nutrition Product Innovation Center, will be launched by end of the year in Shanghai. With investments totaling 100 million yuan, the center will enable the company to rapidly transform the cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements in nutrition science into nutritional products, Guo said. Wilson Ho, vice-president and managing director of SAS China, part of the US-based analytics firm, said the company has always been optimistic about the Chinese market and has full confidence in China's economic development prospects. "SAS mainly serves analytics applications in various industries, especially as we are passing through a special phase this year. However, business data show that the pandemic had little effect on SAS' business in China in the first half of the year. In fact our business in China managed to see some improvements," he said. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SynBioBeta, the leading community of biological engineers, investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs to build a better world with biology, announced the schedule for its 2020 Global Synthetic Biology Summit. The Summit will feature such luminaries as Tristan Harris (Center for Humane Technology), George Church (Harvard), Jennifer Holmgren (LanzaTech), Christina Smolke (Antheia), Sylvia Wolf (AquaBounty), Ed Boyden (MIT), and Timothy Lu (MIT). Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold received 2019 SynBioBeta Award from SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers Despite the economic slowdown of COVID, synthetic biology startups raised a record-setting $3.0 billion in the first half of 2020. While funding is strong for tools and technologies companies -- the engine of the bioeconomy -- there is increasing investment in synthetic biology-enabled companies in consumer products, food, agriculture, medicine, chemicals, materials, and other manufacturing sectors, signaling the impact tech and biology is poised to have on every industry. "This year, the pandemic has brought previously unimaginable challenges to our community, not just how we meet and work, but more importantly, how we respond to the society's urgent needs," said John Cumbers, founder and CEO of SynBioBeta, which earlier in the year hosted a series of events on synthetic biology and the pandemic. "Synthetic biology is ready to turn today's industry on its head and revolutionize the way we do business. In the same way that every company today is in some way an Internet company, every company will one day be a biology company. SynBioBeta 2020 is the place to get ahead of the curve." This year's conference will explore how engineered biology will disrupt consumer products, food, agriculture, medicine, chemicals, materials, and more. Sessions include: Dopamine, disinformation, and the ethics of technological progress: A Leaps Talk with Tristan Harris ( Thu Oct 1 , 8:15-8:45a Pacific) ( , 8:15-8:45a Pacific) The sea, the city, outer space: What is the next frontier for truly sustainable agriculture? ( Wed Sep 30 , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) "Synthetic biology versus cancer" ( Thu Oct 1 , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) "How the lab-grown sausage is made: The media, synthetic biology, and how the story will be told" ( Thu Sep 29 , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) , 10:00-10:45a Pacific) "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: The synthetic biology dream?" ( Thu Oct 1 , 4:25-4:55p Pacific) Each year, SynBioBeta is honored to recognize synthetic biology leaders who embody the best of this industry and the aims it seeks to achieve. This year's winners are an exceptional group of innovators who have helped the community grow while making profound contributions to society: Pioneer in Synthetic Biology: Jennifer Doudna , UC Berkeley. This award recognizes the contribution of CRISPR to the scientific community and to humanity as a means for understanding and bettering the world with biology. SynBioBeta will acknowledge the ongoing impact of CRISPR and Jennifer Doudna's work to enable us to correct genetic defects, treat and prevent the spread of diseases, and improve the food supply, to name just a few examples. , UC Berkeley. This award recognizes the contribution of CRISPR to the scientific community and to humanity as a means for understanding and bettering the world with biology. SynBioBeta will acknowledge the ongoing impact of CRISPR and work to enable us to correct genetic defects, treat and prevent the spread of diseases, and improve the food supply, to name just a few examples. Best New Product: Conagen ( Oliver Yu , CEO). This year, Conagen developed fermented lactoferrin and non-GMO human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), giving families important new options in providing infants with essential nutrition, boosting a baby's immune system, and providing for a family's wellbeing. , CEO). This year, Conagen developed fermented lactoferrin and non-GMO human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), giving families important new options in providing infants with essential nutrition, boosting a baby's immune system, and providing for a family's wellbeing. IPO of the Year: Berkeley Lights ( Eric Hobbs , CEO). SynBioBeta recognizes Berkeley Lights' pivotal technology platform to market, accelerating discovery and development of cell-based products, and the important role Eric Hobbs and Berkeley Lights have played in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. , CEO). SynBioBeta recognizes Berkeley Lights' pivotal technology platform to market, accelerating discovery and development of cell-based products, and the important role and Berkeley Lights have played in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Bio-Innovator of the Year: Lisa Dyson , Air Protein. SynBioBeta acknowledges the tremendous impact Lisa Dyson and her company can have on food security, and the many environmental, social, and economic benefits their technology could bring to the world's people. About SynBioBeta 2020 SynBioBeta 2020 is the Global Synthetic Biology Conference that unites leading biological engineers, investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are building the future with biology. This year's digital offering gives you even more ways to connect, including our annual conference, new events and grand challenges, access to online content and groups, and AI-powered networking. Learn the latest technologies, hear the big announcements in the field, make new partnerships, meet investors, and discover new companies. Learn more and register here. About SynBioBeta SynBioBeta is the leading community of innovators, investors, engineers, and thinkers who share a passion for using synthetic biology to build a better, more sustainable universe. We create and energize innovation communities to make the impossible possible via unparalleled opportunities for growth, networking, storytelling, and learning. SynBioBeta offers a weekly industry digest, The Bioeconomy Hub membership program, the SynBioBeta Podcast, Good Genes magazine, and educational courses in addition to providing our world-class industry partners with opportunities for advertising, partnership, trade show exhibition, strategic consultation, and promotion. For more information, visit www.synbiobeta.com. Contact: Amanda Prieto, [email protected], (707) 344-8279 Related Images nobel-laureate-frances-arnold.jpg Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold Receives 2019 SynBioBeta Award Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold received 2019 SynBioBeta Award from SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers SOURCE SynBioBeta Imagine, on a sizzling summer day in downtown San Antonio, sitting under a foliage-festooned trellis, walking below panels shaped like big lily pads or attending an event beneath a gigantic ziggurat-esque frame. Those are a few of the design ideas Texas architects came up with for a competition aimed at providing more shade in the citys urban core, which can feel like a furnace in July and August. Some of the submissions incorporate greenery, with one proposing using native trees in self-watering vessels. Another features a long, tunnellike portico. One includes structures akin to polymorphic leaves, which I had to Google. Polymorphism is the quality or state of existing in or assuming different forms, according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary. So, different shapes. The contests organizers the city, Centro San Antonio and the American Institute of Architects in San Antonio frame shade as an equity issue. Theres parts of our city that hardly have any shade, said District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, who represents downtown. You can draw a line between the haves and the have-nots. Courtesy of the Shade Equity Design Competition On ExpressNews.com: Skyline: Organization looking to redevelop the West Sides Basila Frocks building Its also a way to escape the steamy effects of climate change and encourage more walking in car-centric San Antonio. With temperatures expected to keep rising, shade is an essential component of public health, particularly in a city like ours, where summer drives how we adapt to place, said Jay Louden, past president of AIA in San Antonio. The competition focuses on three sites: Flores Street along the old Frost parking garage, the river bridge on Houston Street near the Valencia Hotel and a stretch at Market/Dolorosa Street across from the Westin Hotel. Courtesy of the Shade Equity Design Competition Architects were tasked with developing designs that can be constructed within city ordinances, are able to be replicated, and accommodate emergency vehicles and existing trees. They were also told to look at opportunities to support jogging, biking, and scooters and to develop strong pedestrian connections from VIA stations and other centers of activity. The budget for the final idea and its implementation is set at $750,000, with $500,000 coming from the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and $250,000 from Centro San Antonio. The TIRZ reimburses developers for improvements from property tax revenue. On ExpressNews.com: City panel denies request to demolish Toudouze Building and add car wash Twelve groups submitted ideas in early September, and the public was invited to take a survey and provide feedback on each concept. The survey was initially set to close Sept. 22 but was extended another two days after a tremendous response, said Torrey Carleton, executive director of AIA San Antonio. The jury made up of city staff, architects and designers will meet Oct. 30 to evaluate the designs based on creativity, connection to San Antonio, aesthetics, practicality and innovation in design or materials. The winner will receive $10,000, with second and third place entries awarded $3,500 and $1,500, respectively. A date for announcing the winners hasnt been set yet. Being chosen as a winner does not guarantee a contract with Centro or that the entries will be built, according to AIA San Antonios website. The process is still in the early stages. The goal is to break ground on a project in the next year or so, said Matt Brown, Centro San Antonios CEO. This is the first step in what will be a very long piece of work, he said. There is no long-term plan figured out yet. Were working on that now. More downtown news Hopscotch, an interactive art gallery, was set to to open its permanent location Friday at the Travis Park Plaza building. The 20,000-square-foot gallery at 711 Navarro St. includes 14 installations from artists. Tickets can be purchased online. Entrada Partners, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm, bought the building and a parking garage this spring from local developer GrayStreet Partners. The Travis Building at 405 N. St. Marys St. is set to be turned into high-end apartments. Work is expected to start in late October, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Prose, a national chain of high-end nail salons, is planning to open a location on the Frost Towers ground floor shortly before Thanksgiving. madison.iszler@express-news.net Amnesty International (AI) has shut down its operations in India, alleging that its bank accounts were frozen earlier this month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of a "witch-hunt" by the government. The winding down of the India operations is expected to result in close to 150 employees losing their jobs. However, the government has denied the allegations and said that global rights watchdog has been receiving foreign funds illegally. The government also said that the organisation never registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. In 2019, the ED had initiated an investigation against AI on charges of alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). "On 10 September 2020, Amnesty International India came to know that all its bank accounts were completely frozen by the Enforcement Directorate bringing most of the work of the human rights organisation to a grinding halt," AI's India office said in a statement. The organisation blamed 'reprisal'from the government for closing down its operations in India. "This is the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," it added. The recent reports by AI had been critical of the government. In its recent report, AI had raised questions on alleged rights violations during the February Delhi riots. Another report had raised concerns on Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. "The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu and Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent," said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India. Dylan Farrow at a park in Bridgewater, Conn., on September 21 Credit - Celeste Sloman for TIME Dylan Farrow nearly lunges across a table to offer me a social-distance gamer solidarity hug. We have been sitting at opposite corners of a park picnic bench in Bridgewater, Conn., for nearly an hour dancing around the themes of her debut novel, a fantasy book called Hush (out Oct. 6), when we realize that we have both recently lost weeksO.K., monthsto the same fantasy video game: Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We both prefer the rare games in which you can play as a female avatar, preferably one who righteously shoots misogynists with arrows. Have you seen my author photo? she asks, scrolling through her phone. In it, shes wearing a necklace that looks like a crescent moon, but in fact is a family crest from Fire Emblem. Farrow has been obsessed with fantasy for as long as she can remember, spending hours reading A Wrinkle in Time and The Lord of the Rings. Maybe that escapism was a form of coping with trauma that I didnt realize at the time, she says. Hushin which the central character, Shae, confronts a cabal of mostly male wizards who can use magic to manipulate her reality and force her to question her truth and her sanitydraws obviously, achingly from Farrows life. Shes reticent to talk specifics, but in a bold afterword, Farrow makes a direct connection between Shaes experience and her own. My family was assaulted by a powerful individual dedicated to ruining our lives and our credibility, she writes. Using the overwhelming power of a verbal campaign that was supported only by obfuscating legal documentation, an entire generation was led to believe in a false narrative. When she was 7 years old, Farrow told her mother, Mia Farrow, that her then-adoptive father Woody Allen had sexually abused her. A few months prior, Mia Farrow had found naked pictures of another one of her daughters, Soon-Yi Previn, in Allens possession. Allen has repeatedly denied Dylan Farrows allegations and famously told TIMEs Walter Isaacson in a 1992 interview of his affair-turned-marriage to Previn, The heart wants what it wants. The two revelations spun out into a very public custody battle and PR war that has plagued Farrow her entire life. In 1993, a judge concluded that we will probably never know what occurred on the date of the alleged incident but wrote that credible testimony did prove that Mr. Allens behavior toward Dylan was grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her. Story continues Given Allens fame, Farrow has never been able to completely avoid the man she accused of abusing her, and until recently, telling her story had little effect. Allen continued to make films and win awards. I have been repeating my accusations unaltered for over 20 years and I have been systematically shut down, ignored or discredited, Dylan Farrow told Gayle King in 2018. Farrow was a child when her name began appearing in the news, and shes still wary of the media. When I ask about the feeling of being gaslit, especially on such a public stage, shes evasive. But readers of her book will glimpse just how disorienting it can be for an authority figure, particularly a paternal one, to suggest to a survivor that she misremembers her own trauma. Youve seen the stuff written about me ... Its invalidating and dehumanizing to have this limited version of yourself blasted across the news Hush builds a dystopian world where powerful men obfuscate truth not only with magic but by banning reading and writing altogether, claiming that contact with ink can result in a deadly illness called the Blot. When Shae claims that her mother was murdered, these men try to convince her that her mother died in an accident. Its only once she wrests power from them that she can truly begin her journey to discover what happened to her mother and the vast conspiracy of men trying to hang on to their influence by undermining those who might stand against them. It can be a delicate line to walk at times, but I think the line is there, she says. There is a difference between fiction and reality, and I, turns out, surprise, know the difference. Farrow largely exists on the Internet as a person defined by the worst moment of her life. Youve seen the stuff written about me, she says, referencing Twitter attacks from Allens defenders. It sucks. Its invalidating and dehumanizing to have this limited version of yourself blasted across the news. But Farrow is extremely private and loath to offer any more of herself to the public. I have a whole breadth of experience outside my public persona, she says. Its not salacious. Its a lot of picking up my daughters toys, bingeing television with my husband, playing video games. She nods toward her purse, which has Star Wars emblazoned on the side. The thing that the general public doesnt know about me is Im a nerd, she says. A huge nerd. After Mia Farrow adopted her as a baby, Dylan Farrow grew up in New York City and Bridgewater, a town with a single traffic light and cows grazing on rolling hills. Hers is a large familyMia Farrow gave birth to or adopted 14 children. Dylan Farrow experienced separation anxiety as a kid and would ask her mother to sit outside her kindergarten classroom all day. And bless her, she did it, Farrow says. And if she had to work, one of my siblings did. I was incredibly lucky that they indulged me. Dylan Farrow, left, and her mother Mia Farrow arrive at the Opening Night of "Gypsy" at The Shubert Theatre in New York City on May 1, 2003 Bruce GlikasGetty Images After graduating from Bard College, Farrow briefly worked as a production assistant at CNN. It turned out journalism was geared towards a different member of my family, she says, referencing her brother Ronan Farrow who won a Pulitzer for his work reporting the many sexual-abuse allegations against now-jailed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. She and her now-husband moved to Florida where he worked in IT and she took a job in graphic design. A few years ago, she sat him down and said she was kind of miserable and wanted to finally take a crack at writing a fantasy novel. We did the millennial thing of moving in with my mom for a while, she says. She was very accommodating, but thank God we have our own house now to start our own family unit. Farrow and her husband now have a 4-year-old daughter. Luckily, we live close enough that we still have her as a free babysitter nearby. They are all sharing a quarantine bubble. Like her favorite character in Fire Emblem, who holes up in her room and prefers reading to combat, Farrow is a homebody. When we meet at a park near her house, she notes that it is really the first time shes left her property since the pandemic began. I am literally Bernadetta, she says of the character. I feel so hard for her. Its only on the drive back to New York that I remember the reason this character scorns social interaction: She was abused by her father as a child. Still, Farrow has proven that, like Bernadetta, she is willing to fight when she needs to. In 2014 when Allen was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, she wrote in the New York Times that she developed an eating disorder, engaged in self-harm and feared the touch of any man as a result of her trauma and called out those who continued to support and work with him. Allen in turn wrote his own op-ed claiming Mia Farrow indoctrinated Dylan into believing she was molested. When #MeToo accusations felled other powerful men in the industry, Dylan wrote a piece for the L.A. Times asking why Allen had been spared. In 2018 Soon-Yi Previn said in a rare interview with New York Magazine that Mia had paraded Dylan as a victim, a claim Dylan told the magazine only serves to revictimize me. This year it was announced that Allen would release a memoir. When Dylan and Ronan expressed dismay that Hachette planned to publish itand Ronan dropped them as his publisherHachettes staff staged a walkout to support her and forced the publisher to pull the book. (Arcade Publishing later put out the book.) Allen still has famous supporters and manages to secure financing, often from foreign producers, for his projects (he debuted his latest film at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September), but he has become a pariah among major Hollywood studios. Actors who once supported him have expressed regret about working with him. My statement on the disappointing and, frankly shocking, news from @HachetteUS today. pic.twitter.com/h0zuAi0T7l Dylan Farrow (@RealDylanFarrow) March 3, 2020 Farrow says Hush was partly inspired by the #MeToo movement, which she argues is far from over. Its not as simple as throwing Harvey Weinstein in jail and calling it a day, she says. Right now, theres a lull in the conversation. Its not viral. Obviously, women are still being abused, and I feel like issues like this kind of stand on a knifes edge, and it really takes very, very little to push them back to the forefront again. She casts Hush as a coming-of-age story in which the heroine starts with finding the truth, putting a voice to that truth, making mistakes, learning from them, and starting all over again. And while discovering ones own power is indeed a hallmark of young-adult fiction, rarely has that struggle been examined in the context of gaslighting. We know now that it is a common tactic used to discredit women who speak out about abuse. But fantasy is still dominated by male authors, few of whom are equipped to tackle this topic. The women who do write fantasy novels, especially those that deal with themes like sexism, usually face online abuse primarily by male fantasy fans who bemoan an author weaving politics into their escapist fiction, even though male authors like George RR Martin and JRR Tolkien created explicitly political works. These small groups of fans are part of highly vocal contingent on the Internet who dedicate entire social media accounts to attacking female creators in their favorite genres and arguing that the #MeToo movement has gone too far and that pop culture has become too politically correct. I feel like those are not the people who would pick up a book written by Dylan Farrow, she says. And probably not the people that Dylan Farrow sat down to write the book for. Anyway, she mostly avoids social media. I have to stay away for my own mental health, 90% of the time. When I do tweet, its like this, she says, turning her face away from a phantom laptop and grimacing as she mimics hitting Send. Farrow, who is currently working on the sequel to Hush, says the aspect of her book that she identifies with the most is not the battle for truth but the characters determination to create her own identity, outside of her conflict with the men who try to repress her. Anyone who is familiar with me and my story and what Ive gone through will know that its been a tough few years trying to sort of step into myself as Dylan the writer rather than Dylan the advocate, she says. Believe it or not, I dont spend all my time yelling about sexual offenders on Twitter. Thats part of my experience, obviously, but not all of it. Im excited to reintroduce myself to the world. Two policemen have been suspended and a FIR filed against them after a 38-year-old man arrested by them died of a gunshot injury on Sunday night. The policemen had claimed that Rajpati Kushwaha had shot himself from the service revolver of one of the two policemen. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was registered against the policemen after protests by residents of a town in Madhya Pradeshs Vindhya region. Satna district police chief Riyaz Iqbal was also shunted out by the state government. The two policemen are Singhpur police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and constable Ashish Kumar, said Rewa zone inspector general (IG) of police Umesh Joga. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the transfer of the district Superintendent of Police and Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for Rajpati Kushwahas family. Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered. If any police personnel is found guilty in the inquiry the state government will not spare him and take strict action against him, he said. An FIR has been registered against the police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and constable Ashish Kumar under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 348 (wrongful confinement) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Singhpur police station, Rewa Umesh Joga said. The man had been detained for interrogation in a theft case. The action followed protests led by Congress legislator Siddharth Kushwaha in Satna district, about 500 km north east of Bhopal, who alleged the police had killed the man. Rajpati Kushwahas daughter, Shivani, said her father was being harassed for a long time. He cant kill himself because he was a brave person and told us that he would come back from the police station as he didnt commit any crime, the 18-year-old said. Senior police officer Umesh Joga said Rajpati was called for questioning after a burglary was reported by the former village head of Narayapur village. He had alleged that the thief had stolen jewellery and a licensed rifle. The former sarpanch in his written complaint expressed his doubt about involvement of Rajpati and two others in the crime. Police had interrogated Rajpati once last week. On Sunday, he was called again for interrogation to the police station, Umesh Joga said. The SP Riyaz Iqbal informed me that during interrogation, Rajpati snatched the revolver of police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and shot himself in the forehead. He was taken to a private hospital from where he was referred to Sanjay Gandhi Medical College, Rewa where he succumbed to bullet injuries, said Joga. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (TSX-V: NVO; OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to announce that the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation pertaining to Novos terms sheet with Kalamazoo Resources Ltd. (Kalamazoo) dated September 22, 2020 (the Terms Sheet) whereby Novo has been granted an option to acquire an initial 50% interest in Kalamazoos Queens Project in Victoria, Australia. Accordingly, Novo has initiated the six-month due diligence period under the Terms Sheet. Please see the Companys news release dated September 22, 2020 for further details. The Company has issued 24,883 common shares to Kalamazoo which are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on January 29, 2021. About Novo Resources Corp. Novo is advancing its flagship Beatons Creek gold project to production while exploring and developing its highly prospective land package covering approximately 14,000 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail leo@novoresources.com On Behalf of the Board of Directors, Novo Resources Corp. Quinton Hennigh Quinton Hennigh President and Chairman Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Advertisement Shocking footage shows hundreds of students climbing on top of ping pong tables and raving at a Coventry University accommodation block on Tuesday night. At least 200 students are thought to have crammed into a common room at Arundel House, close to Coventry University's main campus, ignoring social distancing guidelines and the rule of six. Some revellers could be heard screaming, while a group of male students clambered on top of a ping pong table as they sang along to the thumping music. The accommodation block is just a two minute walk from campus and is also close to the town centre. A spokesman said Coventry University, where there have been 5 confirmed cases of coronavirus, was aware of the incident and said any students found to be in breach of the university's code of conduct could face disciplinary proceedings. The footage emerged despite coronavirus causing havoc at universities across the country. Up to 4,000 students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities, although it is understood there is no lockdown in place at Coventry. It comes as: 'Invisible Man' Gavin Williamson breaks cover to confirm that some students will have to self-isolate for two weeks at the end of term before they are allowed to go home for Christmas; Teachers say government should introduce 'Nightingale classes' as latest figures show one in six state secondary schools couldn't open fully last week due to Covid; Labour critics slam Boris's 'gross incompetence' and call for him to 'get a grip' on confusing lockdown measures after PM had to apologise for 'misspeaking' in bumbling explanation of 'Rule of Six'; More than 500,000 people in North Wales are banned from leaving their local area in new Covid crackdown - with Welsh First Minister urging Boris to bring in similar measures in England; Britain records 7,143 more coronavirus cases and 71 deaths as infections rise 45% in a week and deaths in England and Wales jump 40%; Figures reveal just 1,800 out of 110,000 occupied hospital beds are currently taken up by Covid-19 patients. Some revellers could be heard screaming, while a group of male students clambered on top of a ping pong table as they sang along to the thumping music The University of Exeter became the latest to institute a 'soft lockdown' on its students yesterday afternoon, asking them not to socialise in other people's residences and only to mix with people within their household. It is believed that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. Elsewhere, 1,700 students are under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls. All lectures, seminars and classes for first-year students at the university will now be online for the next 14 days. Meanwhile, Gavin Williamson confirmed some university students will have to cut short their term and self-isolate for a fortnight in order to be allowed home for Christmas. The government has been under-fire for its handling of the pandemic as it spread to college campuses, with freshers across the country locked down inside their halls and told to isolate with just those they are living with. Photos of students putting up signs on the windows of their accommodation blocks have been shared widely on social media, while others have begged for help with food and supplies. The number of students trying to get a shopping delivery means some are starting to run out of food, with parents turning up to halls with bags of shopping. Furious parents have demanded help, with calls from across the political spectrum for reimbursement of tuition fees. A spokesman said Coventry University was aware of the incident and said any students found to be in breach of the university's code of conduct could face disciplinary proceedings An investigation is underway to find the organisers of the party, with police shutting down communal areas in the accommodation blocks and beefing up security in light of last night's gathering The footage emerged despite coronavirus causing havoc at universities across the country, with thousands of students under lockdown The accommodation block is just a two minute walk from campus and is also close to the town centre Pressure is mounting on universities to refund tuition fees as thousands of students face lockdowns, online-only courses and the prospect of Christmas confined to their halls. Tory MPs said it was 'madness' that the country's universities were charging the same fees for 'second-rate' learning. Despite the ongoing row, students at Tuesday's nights illegal rave showed no fear of catching the killer virus. An investigation is underway to find the organisers of the party, with police shutting down communal areas in the accommodation blocks and beefing up security in light of last night's gathering. Government should introduce 'Nightingale classes' say teachers Union chiefs have called on the government to create 'Nightingale classes' amid a drop in the number of schools able to fully open due to Covid-19. The latest government figures revealed one in six state secondary schools could not fully open last week - with most unable to do so because of coronavirus. Schools are considered to be not fully open if they are unable to provide face-to-face teaching for all pupils for the whole school day and have asked a group of students to self-isolate. Latest school attendance statistics reveal approximately 84 per cent of state-funded secondary schools were fully open on September 24 - down eight per cent from a week earlier. Now bosses from the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education union in the UK, have renewed calls on the government to create 'Nightingale classes' in a bid to get all of the country's students back into lessons. They say the Nightingale class would be similar to the government's Nightingale hospital system - where pop-up hospitals were set up in conference centres at the start of the pandemic to deal with an anticipated surge in hospital admissions. Joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: 'With such a rapid drop in the number of fully open secondary schools in the space of just two weeks, it is clear the Government's grip on the situation is now in question. 'It is doubtful the urgency of the situation has yet dawned on either (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson or (Education Secretary) Gavin Williamson, who must now ensure that schools and colleges are equipped to deal swiftly and effectively with any outbreaks that occur on their premises. 'This does not just begin and end with testing, although that situation is parlous enough. 'We need to see the drafting in of retired, supply and newly qualified teachers to get class sizes down. 'Nightingale classes will be necessary to expand school space - we have been calling for that since June.' Advertisement A statement issued from Coventry University this afternoon said: 'We are aware of an incident in a private accommodation block which was captured in a video that has been shared online. 'We are deeply concerned by the scenes in the video and strongly condemn the blatant breaches of the rule of six and other guidelines as they risk the health of our students, colleagues and the communities in which we are located. 'We have introduced a code of conduct for students and shared this widely with them ahead of the weekend. 'This code of conduct makes it clear that a failure to follow university and Government health, safety and wellbeing requirements will constitute a breach of the university's disciplinary regulations and may be dealt with as a matter of misconduct. 'If any of those involved in the video are found to be students of Coventry University and in breach of the code of conduct, we will take appropriate action. A spokesman for Coventry Police said: 'We attended Arundel House today (September 29) following reports of a large gathering of students in the early hours of this morning. It's believed around 200 people may have been present in a common room. 'We will be examining CCTV and will take action if evidence comes to light that this was a planned party. 'We have liaised with management at the student accommodation block and they have agreed to close some communal areas and to increase security. 'We have also arranged a Safer Students stall in Arundel House tomorrow to reiterate CoVID-19 regulations and the consequences should those regulations be flouted.' A spokesman for NIDO, which runs Arundel House, said: 'We were made aware of a large social gathering in our residence in Coventry last night. 'Steps were immediately taken to deal with the gathering, including calling the police for assistance. The police were unfortunately unable to attend at the time. We understand that they are under a lot of strain due to the number of similar incidents, both in Coventry and nationally. 'We are in close contact with FutureLets at Coventry University and are assisting the local authorities with their investigation. 'In line with government advice, we are reinforcing our zero tolerance policy to different households mixing and have put in place stringent Covid-19 related measures, including the installation of Perspex screens at reception and hand sanitiser stations throughout the building, the posting of social distancing guidance and measures, ensuring PPE is worn by all staff outside of the office and providing residents with regular updates on the latest government guidance. 'We have also now restricted all visitors to the building, closed communal areas, and have stepped up security across our residences to oversee these policies. We do not want the actions of a few to affect the experience of many.' The Education Secretary told MPs today that students in 'specific circumstances' would have to quarantine before Christmas amid growing anger at the handling of campus lockdowns. Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Mr Williamson said it was 'essential' that measures were put in place to ensure that students can return home for Christmas 'while minimising the risk of transmission'. 'Where there are specific circumstances that warrant it, there may be a requirement for some students to self-isolate at the end of term and we will be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in-person learning if that is deemed to be necessary,' he said. 'My department will publish this guidance shortly so that every student will be able to spend Christmas with their family.' Mr Williamson's disappearance during the crisis so far is likely to raise further questions over his future, after he faces the wrath of parents, teachers and MPs over the return of pupils to schools and the A-Level and GCSE results fiasco last month. 'Invisible Man' Gavin Williamson breaks cover to confirm that some students WILL have to self-isolate for two weeks at the end of term before they are allowed to go home for Christmas Beleaguered Gavin Williamson broke cover today to confirm that some university students will have to cut short their term and self-isolate for a fortnight in order to be allowed home for Christmas. The Education Secretary said students in 'specific circumstances' would have to quarantine before the festive period amid growing anger at the handling of campus lockdowns. He addressed the Commons after being dubbed the 'Invisible Man' by Labour after being notable by his absence as students were locked into halls of residence. Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Mr Williamson told MPs today was is 'essential' that measures were put in place to ensure that students can return home for Christmas 'while minimising the risk of transmission'. 'Where there are specific circumstances that warrant it, there may be a requirement for some students to self-isolate at the end of term and we will be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in-person learning if that is deemed to be necessary,' he said. 'My department will publish this guidance shortly so that every student will be able to spend Christmas with their family.' Mr Williamson's disappearance during the crisis so far is likely to raise further questions over his future, after he faces the wrath of parents, teachers and MPs over the return of pupils to schools and the A-Level and GCSE results fiasco last month. The Education Secretary said students in 'specific circumstances' would have to quarantine before the festive period amid growing anger at the handling of campus lockdowns University students (pictured left and right: University students who are self-isolating in Manchester) face two weeks in isolation at the end of term so they can return home for Christmas Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Pictured: A sign made from sticky notes says 'Help Us' at a halls of residence in Manchester Self-isolating students given free booze as three more universities impose Covid curbs Self-isolating students were treated to 1,000 free beers in Manchester as three more universities impose coronavirus curbs. Some students at the accommodation at Manchester Metropolitan University have been forced into isolation and are only able to receive food and drink through delivery services. Other grocery deliveries were allowed into the Needham Court halls of residence alongside free beer from Magic Rock Brewing. It comes as three other universities in the UK have imposed curbs on freedoms and thousands of students across the country remain in self-isolation after spikes in Covid-19 cases were reported. The University of Exeter yesterday ordered students to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household following reports that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. The University of Aberystwyth put a stop to all in-person teaching after multiple students tested positive amid 'uncertainty' about how far the recent spike has spread. A 'small number' of positive tests were reported in Queen's University Belfast, forcing all students living in university accommodation into self isolation. Some 40 students and staff at the University of Sunderland have tested positive for coronavirus. It comes after Newcastle University and Northumbria University confirmed 62 students had tested positive on September 25, with all students self-isolating. Advertisement He said he does not believe students should face stricter measures than others in society. He told the Commons: 'Students as well as the wider community accept when we are living in a global pandemic we have to operate in a society with restrictions. 'But I do not believe that we should look to inflict stricter measures on students or expect higher standards of behaviour from them than we would from any other sector of society - there must be a parity.' And he added: 'We will never be in a position where we can eliminate all risk. 'But we will not condemn a generation of young people by asking them to put their lives on hold for months or years ahead. 'We believe that universities are very well prepared to handle any outbreaks as they arise.' It comes as more universities in the UK imposed curbs on freedoms. The University of Exeter yesterday ordered students to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household following reports that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. The University of Aberystwyth put a stop to all in-person teaching after multiple students tested positive amid 'uncertainty' about how far the recent spike has spread. A 'small number' of positive tests were reported in Queen's University Belfast, forcing all students living in university accommodation into self isolation. Some 40 students and staff at the University of Sunderland have tested positive for coronavirus. It comes after Newcastle University and Northumbria University confirmed 62 students had tested positive on September 25, with all students self-isolating. Labour said its research showed Mr Williamson has not made any public appearances in recent days and nor has he tweeted since September 10 - more than two weeks ago. On Monday, the South Staffordshire MP took to Instagram to post about a litter pick in his constituency that he had taken part in, rather than the situation at the UK's universities. Responding in the Commons, shadow education secretary Kate Green said the situation as students return to university was 'desperately worrying'. Ms Green told MPs: 'Across the country, many find themselves isolated in cramped accommodation, parents worried about their well-being and safety, and university staff who have worked so hard over the summer to prepare are anxious and angry that the Government didn't keep its part of the bargain. 'They've all been let down by the Government just as it let down many of these same students with its handling of exam results last month. Education watchdog backs tuition fee refunds for students in lockdown if the quality of their course drops Students at universities hit by coronavirus should seek tuition fee refunds if the quality of their course slips, the higher education watchdog said last night. At least 40 universities have recorded virus cases around one in four leaving thousands of students locked down in halls. They have complained of 'disgusting' conditions as they are essentially sealed off from the outside world. The situation has caused growing anger over the prospect of no face-to-face learning despite fees of up to 9,250 per year. The Office for Students (OfS) regulator has now urged students who feel the quality of their education has been affected to complain, warning universities not to take a 'blanket policy' against refunds. Chief executive Nicola Dandridge said: 'Students have a right to good quality higher education whether that is taught online, in-person or a mixture of the two. 'Where they feel this is not happening they can raise concerns with their university, escalating complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator where a resolution cannot be found. 'They can also inform the OfS, and we can and will investigate if we believe that universities have not taken all reasonable steps to protect standards or where quality is slipping for groups of students.' She added: 'In considering whether to make partial tuition fee refunds, we would expect a university to consider the circumstances for each student rather than to adopt a blanket policy that refunds are not available.' Advertisement 'What students, staff and their families need now is reassurance.' Education chiefs are considering asking students in high infection areas to isolate for two weeks at the end of this term, even if they are not showing Covid-19 symptoms, according to the Times. Ministers hope this will help prevent the spread of the virus from university areas, some of which are currently under lockdown, to other parts of the country. Junior skills minister Gillian Keegan said today she 'expects' that students will be able to return home for Christmas, adding: 'Of course that is something that absolutely we'll be working towards.' Mrs Williamson is expected to the MPs today that students should not face further restrictions. He is also expected to reveal plans to reduce the risk of transmission when the current term ends in December - one of which is the rumoured two-week self isolation proposal. Up to 4,000 students are currently self-isolating for two weeks following outbreaks at universities across the country. University of Exeter students living in the city have been told to self-isolate for the next two weeks - as the government insisted locked down freshers would be able to visit their families over Christmas. The Government yesterday said all students in isolation at university should be allowed home for the festive period amid a growing row over coronavirus lockdowns on campuses. The University of Exeter became the latest to lockdown its students yesterday, ordering them to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household. It is believed that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. Elsewhere, 1,700 students are under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls. All lectures, seminars and classes for first-year students at the university will now be online for the next 14 days. Yesterday, MMU's vice-chancellor said its isolating students will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent and a care package including 'basic food'. The National Union of Students has received reports of security guards outside blocks, universities telling students they will deliver food and then it not arriving and others left 'wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from'. And lawyers have encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free, with Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeting: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' But amid fears over what will happen by December, a Downing Street spokesman said today: 'We would expect all students to be able to go home at Christmas.' Meanwhile the University of Aberdeen has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions and warned students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. (Left to right) Mia Winrow, 19, Natasha Kutscheruk, 18 and Niamh Morrow, 19, of Manchester Metropolitan's Birtley Hall, pictured today. The students have been locked down since Friday Five of the 1,700 students under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls speak to Sky News yesterday following the outbreak First-year students pose from behind fencing at a campus of MMU on Saturday evening Lawyers offer free help to freshers fighting campus lockdowns One legal firm has encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free amid concerns over those stuck at two Manchester Metropolitan University campuses. Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeted: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' Lectures and classes for first-years at MMU will all be given online for the next 14 days, with the situation to be reviewed at regular intervals. Supt Chris Hill, of Greater Manchester Police, said that 'to our knowledge' officers had not been deployed to enforce the rules on students. He said the campus self-isolation was 'not a policing issue'. Manchester's Director of Public Health David Regan also confirmed that the lockdown was currently optional. Advertisement NUS president Larissa Kennedy told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'I'm hearing from some students across the country where there are security guards outside of these blocks where students are being kept, stopping people from leaving, coming and going, where students are being discouraged from getting deliveries and told by the university that they'll deliver food and that delivery has not arrived and so they've gone for the day without food. 'I've heard from other students who, they've turned up with an amount of toilet roll, told with no notice that they're going to be locked down and wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from. 'It just feels like these are disgusting conditions for students to have been trapped in.' The number of students trying to get a shopping delivery means some say they are starting to run out of food, with parents turning up to halls with bags of shopping. Recruitment worker Tina McKenzie, whose daughter is currently isolating in Edinburgh tweeted: 'My daughter is in quarantine in her halls in Edinburgh. 'They said they would deliver food - she advised she is vegan. The University of Edinburgh sent a Mars bar and croissant.' MMU student Phoebe told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I've had a test back and I'm actually positive, which is quite scary. I wouldn't be surprised if I've got corona from this place. Before the isolation would be the period when I would have got it. 'There's just been non-stop parties, no social distancing, no wearing masks in the corridors, which would all contribute to the spread.' Another MMU student, Tasiana, 18, told the New Statesman: 'No one was in the flat when I arrived. I know a girl that lives in another block that didn't meet her flatmates for days after moving in. 'The majority of everyone's time is spent in their rooms, attending online seminars. It's hard to speak to my flatmates because a lot of them have eight-hour days of classes on Zoom, so people hardly leave their rooms. One of my flatmates still hasn't come out of her room yet. We aren't sure if maybe she is a bit nervous about social distancing.' As thousands prepared to start the new term, at the University of Aberdeen, sanctions for those breaking the rules include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion, with private landlords urged to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. Lawyers have encouraged students in isolation at university to seek their help pro-bono A student gives a thumbs up at the window of a flat at Birley student halls in Manchester today But third-year student Jack Boag, 20, said students have been 'sold a lie' and 'treated like the problem' - despite being encouraged to come back to university. Compensation plans for Manchester Metropolitan students who are self-isolating Students stuck in self-isolation at Manchester Metropolitan University will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent, its vice-chancellor has said. Professor Malcolm Press said 'a significant amount of money' would be given, on top of a care package that includes 'basic food', to ensure students felt 'protected and cared for'. Speaking to Sky News he said: 'It will be a package that I think students will appreciate, that allows them to rest assured, while they're in this situation, they don't have any particular financial worries as a consequence.' Prof Press said details were being discussed with students, but added that 'a financial package means hard cash', with it representing 'more than an actual week's rent'. 'Students will be receiving financial compensation to ensure that they feel protected and cared for during this period of self isolation,' he said. His comments came after Glasgow University said it will refund all students in halls of residence one month's rent, along with a 50 payment for food, amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases there. Over the weekend fears were raised among a number of students at Manchester Metropolitan University that they were being falsely imprisoned in their accommodation, with human rights lawyers questioning the legality of security staff enforcing a 14-day isolation period. Students described being scared and confused as their accommodation was locked down on Friday, after 127 people tested positive for coronavirus. They were later told the decision, made in conjunction with Public Health England and Manchester City Council, was 'deemed necessary' to prevent the spread of the virus to other students, staff or the community. But Prof Press told Sky News today: 'We were asked to ensure (students) would self-isolate because there had been an outbreak of Covid into halls of residence. 'We're advising students on the rules, what they should do, we're supporting them, but the idea that they're not able to leave is just not true I'm afraid. 'Students are free to go should they wish to and a small number of students have gone home in a Covid-secure way.' Prof Press also said there had been some 'miscommunication' within the university over students being asked to remove posters. 'We've retracted that information, students are very free to put posters up and we obviously value freedom of speech, and it's just regretful that there was a message sent out in error,' he said. Advertisement Mr Boag said: 'In terms of the lockdown, I live in a private flat quite far away from the Covid hotspots, so it comes across as closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted. 'We were told it would be a blended learning experience, and obviously that hasn't happened. Coming up to Aberdeen from my home in Fife has been completely pointless. 'We've been consistently told to come back to campus, we've been consistently told that it would be a blended learning experience, and now that we're here it feels as if we've been sold a lie and treated as if we are the problem. 'For first years who have just moved into halls with people that they've never met, that's hard. My main concern is that landlords could quite easily take advantage of this. 'The landlord/tenant dynamic is not an equal one, so it could become a tool for blackmail, essentially. I'm a private renter so they've been talking to my landlord, and while I can understand the university isn't taking any chances, it's worrying. 'It seems when other universities are easing back, Aberdeen is doubling down and emphasising the punishments and what will happen if you breach regulations.' Mr Boag, from Fife, said while he doesn't have plans to move back home, he understands why many other students might feel differently. He said: 'I would have to go back to my grandparents who are vulnerable or my dad who is a key worker, so for me it's not really an option, although I can see why it would be attractive for others.' Ms McKenzie said she 'followed up multiple times and sent a few dead salads', adding: 'I've sent her parcels and she has ordered takeaway. Lucky she has the money unlike less fortunate others.' Labour even called for a delay to the start of the English term until the chaotic testing system can meet soaring demand. Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I'm extremely worried about these young people. 'Some of them will be vulnerable to mental ill health, and for some of them it's the very first time away from home. 'So I think that the very first thing that needs to happen is that universities need to be given the support to identify which students may be particularly vulnerable. 'The second thing is there needs to be an assessment of which young people want to stay at university and which ones may not want to stay there.' She added: 'If young people want to be returning at some point between now and Christmas, there needs to be a plan that the Government works up with universities so that we have a managed Covid-secure return of those young people to home. 'Because what we can't have is for those young people to be moving in the same numbers at the same time that they were at the start of term, but doing that at Christmas time.' Health minister Helen Whately told Radio 4 that the Government could not rule out the prospect that university students may be unable to return home at Christmas. She said: 'We want them to be home for Christmas. Everybody wants to come home and spend Christmas with family. We want that very much to be the case. A note left in the window of a flat at Birley student halls of residence in Manchester today 'Christmas is some time off yet and it is down to all of us to get this under control so we can spend Christmas with our families.' Pressure mounts for universities to refund tuition fees Pressure is mounting on universities to refund tuition fees as thousands of students face lockdowns, online-only courses and the prospect of Christmas confined to their halls. Tory MPs said it was 'madness' that the country's universities were charging the same fees for 'second-rate' learning. As students face the prospect of being confined to their halls of residence over Christmas because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses, 3,000 students have already been locked down in their rooms after cases at 36 universities, including Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan and Edinburgh Napier. Last night Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the education select committee, said students must be compensated for the lack of face-to-face learning. The Department for Education said students who wanted refunds should appeal to their universities. Mr Halfon told the Daily Mail: 'If we have 3,000 students in lockdown now, it could be 6,000 next week, so ministers need to come up with a plan on testing and tracing. And we need to ensure students are back by Christmas, because a lockdown over Christmas would cause anguish for them and their families. 'The Government needs to seriously consider a discount, because when you pay for a product you should expect to get that product, and if not, you should get some money returned.' Tory MP George Freeman said yesterday it was 'madness' that students were locked in halls of residences by universities 'still happily taking their money'. He said on Twitter: 'How do I think universities make up the losses from offering student discounts? Well, not from fleecing students! Maybe from vice-chancellors' 300,000 salaries?' Advertisement In Manchester, the 1,700 students have been told they cannot leave the campus to visit the local testing centre, leading to fears the outbreak will spread. Labour education spokesman Kate Green said today that the Government should 'step up' testing capacity to help ensure university students can return home for Christmas, She told Sky News: 'Students will desperately want to be able to go home to be with friends and family at Christmas. And, of course, it's right that we all have a part to play in keeping distance and keeping safe. 'But the real key to this is getting the mass testing rolled out so that students can be tested, we can know if somebody is testing positive and make sure that they are isolated and don't travel. 'But it would mean the other students would be able to get back home for Christmas and that's why the Government needs to step up too and make sure that that testing capacity is available.' She also said the Government should support universities' efforts to test for coronavirus, adding: 'One thing that I think particularly in relation to students: much more effort could be made to support those universities that are already developing their own testing capacity, like Leicester, for example, or Cambridge. 'And the Government could be really working much more closely alongside them to get that additional capacity that would relieve pressure elsewhere in the NHS and other pillars of testing. 'And it would mean that students could be tested on campus, so could university staff.' Ms Green argued this would help make universities 'much safer places'. Last night Ms Green called on ministers to stop students from returning to university for the start of the academic year affecting 2.3 million in the UK. She said they should either delay the start of term or 'pause' the return of students to university campuses where courses had not started. Backing Miss Green, NUS president Larissa Kennedy told The Guardian the union was demanding 'a functional test-and-trace system in place on campuses and adequate funding to tackle the student mental health crisis'. She added in a tweet: 'Government and universities are gambling with students' lives.' Ms Kennedy added on Good Morning Britain today: 'First and foremost, we are of course encouraging people to do the right thing for public health and to follow that guidance. Students post a message in their window at MMU yesterday complaining about the situation A sign on a closed gate at the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning Bottles of alcohol lined up in a window of the Birley student halls in Manchester this morning 'But we are questioning whether this is legal, in terms of making sure that students get that access to the basic amenities that they need - to food, to toiletries and to all the things they need just to survive lockdown - and in cases where that hasn't been the case, whether it has been legal to keep them cooped up in that way without that access to the things that they need.' Morrisons cashes in on students trapped in campus lockdowns Morrisons has today revealed an SOS 'Serve our Students' food delivery service aimed at those in lockdown on campuses. The supermarket said students will be able to choose from the food boxes of 35 meat essentials; 35 vegetarian essentials; 30 easy meals for the week; and 25 big night in. An example of the food packs Morrisons will be delivering to isolating students Its delivery service will launch at the lockdown-hit Birley and Cambridge Halls at Manchester Metropolitan and will then expand to other universities. Students can email students-ug@morrisonsplc.co.uk to place their order today and it will be delivered to them tomorrow between 5pm and 7pm. Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: 'Students have asked for our help and that's why we are making sure they can safely access affordable food at this very difficult time. We're playing our full part in feeding the nation so that no one is left behind.' The company hopes students will soon be able to place their order by 2pm for delivery that evening. If successful, the service will be rolled out to other universities across the country. Advertisement But outgoing University of Buckingham vice-chancellor Sir Anthony Seldon said: 'We must have a sense of perspective. Universities have gone to huge lengths to plan for this and many are coping.' And the Department for Education rejected Labour's call, insisting it was 'working closely with universities to support them to keep staff and students as safe as possible'. Niamh Thripleton, a new zoology student at Reading, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'We're obviously not allowed to go out. Freshers is all online. 'We're, we think, only meant to socialise with our flat, but they haven't really been enforced or been made clear. 'It's just been a lot quieter, it's been harder making friends. Turning up and realising everything is going to be online is a bit of an anti-climax. 'You'd think it (a zoology degree) would be quite a lot of lab work, and it's quite worrying how I'm going to do that online. 'I just think the way Manchester Met and other places have been locked down, being on your room on your own for two weeks with now freedom there, I don't I'd be able to cope with that, so it's kind of worrying.' Her stepfather Chris Taplin told the programme: 'I do feel she's certainly been robbed of the experienced I had at university. 'It is also really scary when you read things about the Christmas threat, not coming home, when it is the first time they've moved out and we basically feel we'd be some kind of law breaker if we went there and busted her out. But it's been the first thing for a sort of mental trauma, really. 'Certainly my wife has been saying, 'don't worry we'll get you out' (if she's locked down in halls at Christmas), but I think that's obviously not a very sensible position to go and do that. 'But I think we're both making sure we get food to her and keep talking to her as much as possible.' Meanwhile the Prime Minister has been urged to ensure online tuition at universities 'becomes the norm', amid concern over the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on students. In a letter to Boris Johnson, the University and College Union (UCU), accused some institutions of adopting a 'stubborn position' over requiring in-person teaching because they depended on rent from student accommodation. An 'HMP' sign has been put up in one of the windows of the Birley student halls this morning A sign reading 'help' is left in a window of one of the flats in Manchester this morning Signs in windows of the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning In her letter to Mr Johnson, Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said the union which represents academics and university staff was 'not prepared to take chances with the health of students, our members and the communities they serve'. University asks private landlords to report any students caught breaching Covid rules A top university has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions. The University of Aberdeen has warned students of the consequences facing them if they breach national Covid-19 related guidance. In a statement emailed last night, university bosses said students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion. And private landlords around the city have been asked to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. The statement read: 'Given the events of the last few days I want to emphasise that any breaches will not be tolerated, and those found to be breaking the rules will face robust action. 'Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as the potential for further action - including suspension and/or expulsion - under our Code of Conduct on Student Discipline (non academic). 'Regardless of whether you live in University provided accommodation, a private flat or in student accommodation from a private provider, we will still look to take the same appropriate disciplinary measures against any student that fails to follow the requirements that are currently in place to protect everyone in Scotland. 'We are in contact with landlords and have asked that any incidents of a breach of our Covid Campus Pledge and Guidelines and the national guidelines are reported to the University, to enable the matter to be investigated in the usual way.' Advertisement 'It is clear that remote learning should be the default for campus life while we are in this precarious position with the virus,' she said. 'However, what we are seeing on the ground is university employers hiding behind the Government's current sectoral guidance, with all the ambiguities associated with the term 'blended learning'. She added: 'Whilst other sectors are being encouraged by the Government to work from home to help control the spread of the virus, universities are requiring staff to travel across their local regions to work on-site and in-person with any number of students. 'Considering the known risks associated with in-person teaching and students living in close quarters, why did the Government not insist on minimising in-person teaching and students travelling to universities? 'We have concerns that universities are taking this stubborn position because they depend on rents from student accommodation - and because your own Government refuses to step in and underwrite universities' lost income for the duration of the pandemic to ensure they are not negatively impacted and jobs are not lost.' The Government is under pressure to guarantee young people are not confined to their halls of residence over the Christmas period because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses. Ms Grady said students should be allowed to leave their accommodation and return home 'without fear of financial penalty'. 'We cannot have students forced to quarantine in halls of residence with no familiar support network, or staff forced to carry out work on site that could be conducted more safely from home,' she said. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator in England, said it would be 'looking very closely' at the quality of education being provided by institutions. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said institutions must be clear with students on what teaching conditions they can expect and if this changed. 'What we can't have is a situation where students don't know what's going on, that they're locked in their halls of accommodation, and can't get hold of food,' she said. She said students had 'legal rights as consumers' and could raise complaints with their university and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Students at Manchester Metropolitan have been left unimpressed by the cost of studies Students look down from outside their window at MMU while in lockdown yesterday Asked if students should receive a refund of tuition fees she said it was 'a question for government'. The 1,700 MMU students in lockdown yesterday complained of feeling abandoned with some already plotting their escape. After 127 positive tests for Covid-19 on Friday, the shocked students many of them freshers living away from home for the first time were ordered to self-isolate in their halls of residence for a fortnight. Desperate undergraduates said supplies of food and toiletries were low and complained of students holding all-night parties likened to 'prison riots'. A student waves through the window of accommodation at MMU behind a sign yesterday Some tried to ease the boredom by putting up signs in their windows with slogans including 'send drink' and 'f*** Boris'. 'Don't fine students for partying refund their fees': Oxford professor urges UK to follow Sweden and PAY infected freshers to trace their contacts A Oxford professor has urged universities in the UK to follow Sweden and pay infected freshers to trace their contacts as at least 32 report Covid cases. Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University told the Times newspaper the Government had helped every sector but had 'clamped down' on students. The professor said that the UK should pay students to trace their contacts if they become infected and said students should be trusted to behave like responsible adults instead of being locked on campus over Christmas. He added: 'We should waive student fees. We have asked people to go back to university and at the first sign cases are going up, we are clamping down on people.' Advertisement As some students in lockdown likened the university to a prison by labelling it 'HMP MMU', with security guards blocking them from leaving, legal experts claimed their incarceration could amount to false imprisonment. Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at Doughty Street chambers in London, wrote on Twitter: 'False imprisonment is detention without lawful authority.' Hours later, university vice-chancellor Professor Malcolm Press conceded it could only 'expect' students to follow the self-isolation rules designed to avoid spreading the infection to their home towns. While many students pledged to stick it out, others were preparing to flee the city. Tilly Thompson, 19, said she felt like a 'caged animal' and was waiting for her mother to take her home to Wolverhampton. Students claimed some of those under restrictions had been ignoring the rules and throwing parties. One boasted the quarantine would be 'a two-week p***-up', saying he had '200 cans of lager' and 'it's going to get messy'. A student called Tom told BBC Radio 5 Live that people had been running past their flats shouting: 'Open your doors, we've got coronavirus, we want to give it to you.' He added: 'It was insane... parties going on everywhere, loud music... It was like a prison riot.' Martyn Moss, of the University and College Union, said he had warned MMU chiefs that their plans for the 'mass return of students would inevitably see institutions become Covid incubators'. He added: 'Universities should have spent the summer following the science and preparing properly for this inevitable crisis.' * Are you a student in lockdown? Send your photos to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk * Gavin Williamson's words plop out of his mouth like coins from a one-armed bandit: HENRY DEEDES watches the Education Secretary's statement on the fiasco in our universities When the BBC commissioned its delightfully dire 'sun, sex and sangria' sitcom Eldorado, some bright spark at Broadcasting House had the whizzo idea of hiring some Spanish actors. You can just imagine how the conversation at that executive lunch went. 'Yup, trust me, Tristram, this will save us a bunch. Plus, it will make the whole thing a bit more authentic. Now, do try the rabbit polenta here, it's dreamy.' Of course, as soon as cameras started rolling, it transpired that none of these artsy hombres understood a word of what he was saying. The whole production was a Costa del Disaster. Hysterical viewing, mind you. Zero understanding: Gavin Williamson This little snippet of early 90s nostalgia came to mind yesterday, when Gavin Williamson came to the House to issue a statement on the fiasco taking place in our universities, where local restrictions have left many students cooped up on campus like battery chooks. This must be Mr Williamson's fourth or fifth appearance at the despatch box in recent weeks, and having sat through each one, I have come to suspect that he has absolutely zero understanding of the words written in front of him. He might as well be reading Swahili. Words do not so much come from his mouth as plop out at random, like coins from a one-armed bandit. Everything is just one long monotonous drawl. Stress, emotion, urgency such oratorical tools are completely absent from the Williamson kitbag. Even his universities minister Michelle Donelan, perched cross-legged to his left, spent most of his speech staring into the distance, her eyes basted with a dewy glaze. From what I was able to discern, contrary to recent fears, students will be able to return home this Christmas, though some might have to cut short their term and self-isolate for two weeks first. Panicking mothers, you can all breathe easy. It is fortunate for Gav that his opposite number Kate Green was off her oats. She was rather subdued. Possibly still licking her wounds after Piers Morgan gave her a going-over on Monday over her recent comment: 'Don't let a good crisis go to waste.' Other Labour MPs were far more vocal. 'Shambolic!' they cried. 'Chaotic!' Even bubbly Lucy Powell (Lab, Manchester Central) had gone grey with rage. Williamson, she said, had 'lost control'. There was much venting about student fees. The DUP's Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) was furious. Usually is. He asked why universities were able to charge the same money while clearly 'not offering the student experience that they promised'. Bambos Charalambous (Lab, Enfield & Southgate) called it 'grossly unjust and unfair'. This must be Mr Williamson's fourth or fifth appearance at the despatch box in recent weeks, and having sat through each one, I have come to suspect that he has absolutely zero understanding of the words written in front of him The SNP's education spokesman Carol Monaghan suggested England take a leaf out of Scotland's book and make tuition fees free. Cheeky. Scottish universities, of course, benefit from cash which whistles its way up from Westminster. Gav thanked Monaghan 'for suggestions for future Conservative Party manifestos'. There were a few 'hear, hears' from backbenchers at that remark, which might have encouraged Williamson. He delivered a decent put-down to Corbynite clod Richard Burgon (Lab, Leeds East), who accused the Government of rushing students back to dodge demands for rent reimbursements. Droned Gav: 'I'm always grateful to get direct questions from the UCU...' Laura Trott (Con, Sevenoaks), so lustrously maned she may possibly have just waltzed in from the set of a shampoo advert, raised the issue of university bosses' pay. Some vice-chancellors, as we know, are paid better than Goldman Sachs bankers. Trott wanted assurances that staff would not be allowed to claim bonuses this year, unless fees were lowered. Williamson said he would give regulators a 'strong steer' on the matter. If you could. Twice Williamson was asked whether students were allowed under the current rules to go home to self-isolate. Twice he promised his department would publish 'guidance' shortly. He hangs to that word like a toddler to a blankie. He used it 14 times yesterday, by my count. Anyway, Gav shows no sign of going anywhere, so stand by for more of this nonsense. Two men landed behind bars for attempting to smuggle a group of immigrants through land making up the Killam Ranch property, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Sept. 24. Jessie Ryan and Victor Antonio Puente were arrested and charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport immigrants who had crossed the border illegally. 29/09/2020 - The COVID-19 pandemic has led to school closures across the world and forced teachers and students in many countries to adapt quickly to teaching and learning online. But a new OECD PISA report reveals wide disparities both between and within countries in the availability of technology in schools and of teachers capacities to use ICT effectively. Effective Policies, Successful Schools analyses findings from the most recent OECD PISA 2018 test, involving around 600,000 15-year-old students in 79 countries and economies. On average across OECD countries in 2018, there was almost one computer available at school for educational purposes for every 15-year-old student. Yet in many countries school principals reported that the computers were not powerful enough in terms of computing capacity, affecting one in three students globally. This crisis has exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in education systems across the world, said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills. Disadvantaged young people have been particularly affected and every country should do more to ensure that all schools have the resources they need so that every student has an equal opportunity to learn and succeed. Differences between advantaged and disadvantaged schools were significant. In Brazil 68% of students in advantaged schools had access to sufficiently powerful digital devices, according to principals, compared to just 10% of students in disadvantaged schools. In Spain, there was a 40 percentage-point difference (70% vs. 30%) in the availability of sufficiently powerful digital devices between advantaged and disadvantaged schools. Teachers capacity to use technology varies widely. On average across OECD countries, 65% of 15-year-olds were enrolled in schools whose principal reported that teachers have the necessary technical and pedagogical skills to integrate digital devices in instruction. The proportion varied considerably between socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged schools. In Sweden, for example, 89% of students in advantaged schools attended such a school, but only 54% of students in disadvantaged schools did. On average across OECD countries, about 60% of 15-year-old students were enrolled in schools whose principal reported that teachers have sufficient time to prepare lessons integrating digital devices, ranging from close to 90% of students in the four Chinese provinces/municipalities that participated in PISA 2018 to little more than 10% of students in Japan. For some students, even the basics for learning are not available at home. On average across OECD countries, 9% of 15-year-old students do not have a quiet place to study in their home. Even in PISA top-performer Korea, one in five students from the 25% most disadvantaged schools reported they do not have a place to study at home, compared to one in 10 students in advantaged schools. The report also compares other key aspects of school policies and equity. Overall, the PISA 2018 results reveal considerable disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged schools related to shortages of education staff and material resources, including digital resources. PISA shows that, already prior to the pandemic, many schools faced shortages in resources. On average across OECD countries, 27% of students were enrolled in schools whose principal said that learning is hindered by a lack of teaching staff, and shortages of staff tended to be reported far more often by principals of disadvantaged schools (in 42 education systems) and by principals of public schools (in another 42 education systems). In 44 education systems, students attending schools whose principal reported greater shortages of teaching and support staff scored lower in reading. Ensuring that all schools have adequate and high-quality resources, and the appropriate support, is key if students from all backgrounds are to be given equal opportunities to learn and succeed at school, according to the report. The findings also reveal how the foundations for education success are laid early. Students who had attended pre-primary education for longer scored better in PISA than students who had not attended pre-primary education. Between 2015 and 2018, the share of 15-year-old students who had attended pre-primary school for three years increased in 28 countries. Despite this advantage, in 68 out of 78 education systems with comparable data, students who had not attended pre-primary education were much more likely to be socio-economically disadvantaged and enrolled in more disadvantaged schools at the age of 15. This highlights how access to pre-primary education often reinforces educational disparities. When expanding pre-primary education, greater care must be taken to shift the emphasis from access to quality and from care to education, says the report. The report is available at http://www.oecd.org/education/pisa-2018-results-volume-v-ca768d40-en.htm. For more information, journalists should contact Spencer Wilson in the OECD Media Office (tel. + 33 1 45 24 81 18). Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. NJ Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect Federal Judges and Their Families Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) on Monday unveiled legislation to safeguard the personal information of federal judges and their families that leave them vulnerable to job-related threats. The bill, The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020, was written in response to the fatal attack on U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salass New Jersey home in July of this year. In the recent attack, Salass son, Daniel, was fatally shot and her husband, criminal defense attorney Marc Anderl, was critically wounded when authorities say a man named Den Hollander posed as a Fed Ex driver to gain entry into their home. On Sept. 28, the New Jersey lawmakers held a press conference in front of the Newark Federal Court to detail their bipartisan, bicameral legislation and answer questions. I made a personal commitment to Judge Salas that I would put forth legislation to better protect the men and women who sit on our federal judiciary, to ensure their independence in the face of increased personal threats on judges, and help prevent this unthinkable tragedy from ever happening again to anyone else, said Menendez. Menendez was the one who recommended Salas to President Barack Obama for appointment to the federal bench. This is a commonsense bipartisan bill; it will save lives and I would urge my colleagues to pass it without delay. The bill would shield the personal information of federal judges and their family who share their residence, including home addresses, social security numbers, contact information, tax records, marital and birth records, vehicle information, photos of their vehicle and home, and the name of the schools and employers. Hollander, the suspect in the attack, was a self-described anti-feminist who had openly criticized Salas. After the attack, Hollander was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was able to easily access Salass information because currently, federal judges do not have any extra protections allotted to them or their families, Salas said in a video statement in August. The monster knew where I lived and what church we attended and had a complete dossier on me and my family, the judge said in the video. My sons death cannot be in vain, which is why I am begging those empowered to do something to help my brothers and sisters on the bench, Salas said. Now more than ever, we need to identify a solution that keeps the lives of federal judges private. The Menendez-initiated bill creates a framework for federal agencies, state and local governments, and commercial data collectors to put safeguards in place to protect the personal information of federal judges, past and present, making it illegal for government agencies to post any personal information and requiring them to take down any information that is posted within 72 hours. No person who takes on the responsibility of serving as a federal judge should ever have to live in fear that they or their family could be targeted by someone who is able to easily access their personal information, said Booker. Sherrill, who also worked in the federal courts before being elected to Congress, said she was horrified at the murder of Salass son. And we hope that the action we are taking today will prevent this from happening again. Providing the United States Marshals Service, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and state and local governments with these tools will help law enforcement do its job and keep our federal judges safe, said Rep. Sherrill. Sherrill was referring to the bills provision that would authorize funding for the United States Marshals Service to monitor and assess online threats, maintain records, investigate complaints, and address acts of aggression and violations. This bill also creates a federal grant program to cover the costs for such actions and authorizes funds to expand programs to redact information from government databases, like taxes, property records, and vehicles. In addition, the bill prohibits commercial data collectors to sell, trade, license, purchase, or provide judges personally identifiable information and allows injunctive relief and a private right-of-action for violations of the law. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 is co-sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, August 13, 2020. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that Democratic lawmakers unveiled a new, $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which she said was a compromise measure that reduces the costs of the economic aid. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers released by Pelosi's office, she said the legislation "includes new funding needed to avert catastrophe for schools, small businesses, restaurants, performance spaces, airline workers and others." "Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill," she said. "We have been able to make critical additions and reduce the cost of the bill by shortening the time covered for now." Pelosi in recent days has said she thinks a deal can be reached with the White House on a new coronavirus relief package and that talks were continuing. But she also said that she would offer legislation if the impasse continued with the Trump administration over the size and shape of another relief package. She did not say when there would be a vote on the latest Democratic proposal. Formal talks among Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows aimed at hammering out a relief package broke down on Aug. 7 with the two sides far apart. Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke by phone on Sunday and again on Monday. They plan to speak again on Tuesday morning, her spokesman said. Pelosi and Schumer initially sought a $3.4 trillion relief package, then said some time ago they were willing to scale that back by at least a trillion dollars. But it was not clear whether the White House would consider the $2.2 trillion sum proposed in the new legislation. Meadows has said that Trump would be willing to sign a $1.3 trillion relief package. Pelosi also faces pressure from moderate House Democrats who say they want to see bipartisan aid proposals that have a chance of becoming law. The new proposal included $436 billion for state and local governments, as well as money for education, testing, airline industry workers and for a small business loan program known as the Paycheck Protection Program, a statement from House Democrats said. It would also provide a new round of direct payments to Americans of $1,200 per taxpayer and restore federal unemployment benefits of $600 a week through January. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that through its direct presence on the ground Ankara is seeking to help Azerbaijan end the Karabakh conflict by force. Turkish military specialists are fighting side by side with Azerbaijan, using Turkish-manufactured weapons, including UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and warplanes, the ministry charged in a statement. According to credible sources, Turkey is recruiting and transporting foreign terrorist fighters to Azerbaijan, it said, referring to recent reports, including by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, about the recruitment of pro-Turkish Syrian rebels mostly affiliated with jihadi groups. Azerbaijan has denied those reports. The situation on the ground clearly indicates that the people of Artsakh (Karabakh) are fighting against the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance. Turkey, which a century ago annihilated the Armenian people in their historical homeland and still justifies that crime, now supports Azerbaijan by all possible means to carry out the same genocidal acts in the South Caucasus, added the statement. Ara Harutiunian, Karabakhs president, likewise claimed on Sunday that Turkish F-16 fighter jets, helicopters and attack drones are attacking military and civilian targets in Karabakh. In recent months Ankara has stepped up its long-standing support for Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict. It promised greater military assistance to Baku following last Julys deadly skirmishes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Turkish and Azerbaijani troops held joint exercises in various parts of Azerbaijan in August. The drills featured Turkish F-16 jets and combat helicopters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again blamed Armenia for the heavy fighting in Karabakh, which broke out on Sunday, and demanded an end to Armenian occupation of the disputed territory later on Monday. The time has come for the crisis in the region that started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh to be put to an end, he said in a speech. Erdogan also lambasted the United States, Russia and France for failing to broker a solution to the Karabakh after more than two decades of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks mediated by them. Now Azerbaijan must take matters into its own hands, he said. The Armenian Foreign Ministry expressed confidence that the Azerbaijani aggression will end in failure. Yerevan says that the unusually deadly clashes in Karabakh resulted from a large-scale Azerbaijani offensive. Baku maintains, however, that its army went on a counteroffensive in response to Armenian shelling of Azerbaijani villages located close to the line of contact. A motorcycle driver was seriously injured after crashing Monday afternoon into a guardrail on I-78 in Warren County. The person was driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at about 4:38 p.m., when the bike hit the metal guardrail on the left side of the highway at milepost 2.5 in Pohatcong Township, New Jersey State Police said. The driver was ejected and sustained serious injuries, state police said. The highway was shut down and a medical helicopter used to transport the driver to an area hospital, according to emergency radio broadcasts. I-78 was closed for about 3 hours as troopers investigated. The cause of the crash remained under investigation as of Tuesday afternoon, state police said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Throughout the 232-year history of the United States (US) presidential elections, India had rarely been a campaign issue. The current election, pitting President Donald Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden, is changing that. With the election day less than seven weeks away and early voting already in progress in several states, both campaigns are touting their strong support for India. Foreign leaders and the politics of other countries become issues in US presidential campaigns only when they have direct implications for the US or foreign policy consequences. The exceptions have been Israel and Cuba. They are perennial campaign issues because of the presence of a large number of voters who have an interest in the domestic politics of those countries. India has become a campaign issue in the current election cycle for this same reason. Both the Trump and Biden campaigns are touting their support for India to woo the 1.8-million Indian-American voters, who have a strong presence in battleground states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Indian-American populations in swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida are large enough to tilt the race one way or the other. According to a survey by AAPI Data, which tracks demographic data on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islander communities, there are 87,000 Indian-American voters in Florida, 61,000 in Pennsylvania, and 45,000 in Michigan. These are among the dozen states that will decide the fate of Trump and Biden on November 3. To put the size of the Indian-American electorate in context, Trump won Michigan in 2016 by 13,080 votes and Pennsylvania by 44,292. Trumps campaign was the first to start focusing on India. Trump, who had professed his love for Hindus during his insurgent campaign in 2016, appeared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in two public events over the past 12 months, in Houston last year and in Ahmedabad in February. For its part, the Biden campaign has also been courting the Indian-American community aggressively. On August 15, Indias Independence Day, Biden and vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris addressed the Indian-American community, where both vouched their strong support for India. Until recently, neither the Democratic nor the Republican Party made any concerted effort to earn Indian-American votes. This was due to the relatively small size of the Indian-American electorate and the fact that it was concentrated in reliably Democratic states such as California, New York and New Jersey and routinely voted Democratic. This year, the Indian-American electorate is on the radar screens of both Democrats and Republicans. Around 56% of Indian-American registered voters told the AAPI Data pollsters that they have been contacted by the Democrats in the past year and 48% said they were approached by the Republicans. Even though Trump was the first to begin targeting Indian-American voters, he doesnt appear to have made a lot of progress. The recent AAPI Data survey found that only 28% of Indian-Americans plan to vote for Trump. Two-thirds of the registered voters said they will vote for Biden. There are many reasons the president hasnt been able to move the needle substantially with the Indian-American community. First and foremost is the former vice-presidents long track record as a supporter of India, dating back to his Senate days. Second, Trumps approach to India, much like his approach to politics and governing, in general, has primarily been one of sloganeering rather than consistency in policy positions. Finally, similar to a vast majority of Americans outside of Trumps base, Indian Americans perceive the Trump presidency as one of chaos and confrontation for the US, India and the world. At this point in time, however, it appears that verdict will be that Donald Trump should be a one-term president and that India should start developing its future relations with Joe Biden. Frank F Islam is an entrepreneur, civic leader and thought leader based in Washington DC The views expressed here are personal Turkish prosecutors issued a second indictment on Monday in connection with the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Six new Saudi nationals were named in the indictment, which was sent to court to be combined with the countrys larger ongoing trial. Turkeys case against Khashoggis killers began, to the surprise of some experts, in July after there was speculation a trial could not exist without the suspects present. The proceeding is the third wave of action into the murder after a Saudi trial and a more extensive UN investigation wrapped up last year. The case has quietly taken on an international dimension as Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to welcome coverage of the case and use the trial as a tool against his major regional rival, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The second indictment comes less than one week before the Oct. 2 anniversary of Khashoggis visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The constant reminder of this case, of this murder, such as with this second indictment, is a way for Erdogan to better his own position vis-a-vis the Saudi monarchy, said Project on Middle East Democracy Turkey coordinator Merve Tahiroglu. Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist and fierce critic of Salman. In October 2018, he was last seen at the Saudi consulate, which he visited in order to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding. Turkish officials believe his body was dismembered and removed from the building, although his remains have not been found. There are two layers to this case. One is charging the individuals directly associated with the murder, and the second is linking individuals to the murders cover-up. Mondays second indictment is more focused on individuals involved in the cover-up of the murder; it will be combined with the larger case. Three probes have so far been conducted. A trial by Saudi Arabia concluded last year as it overturned five death sentences and jailed eight Saudi nationals. The proceedings were criticized by international rights organizations for failing to provide transparency or hand down punishments that fit the crime. The Saudi process was anything but justice, said UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard to reporters outside the Istanbul Court House, where the first hearing of the Khashoggi case was held. A separate UN investigation into the killing cited 19 individuals associated with the death. And in March, Turkey indicted 20 Saudi nationals, many names overlapping with the UN investigation, on charges of murder and incitement to murder. Red notices were issued via Interpol as Turkey requested those listed in the indictment be handed over. Saudi Arabia has so far not granted Turkish investigators access to those accused. The case was not likely headed to trial, some experts at the time believed, because a Turkish law demands the presence of defendants for trial. Despite this, Turkeys trial commenced in July, and the men are being tried in absentia. The next session will resume in November. Now, a Turkish judiciary itself criticized for going after its own opponents will be the primary means for truth-telling. It is pretty ironic, given how politicized Turkeys judiciary actually has become in the last few years and the heavy crackdown that the judiciary has facilitated against Turkish dissenters and opposition and critics of President Erdogan, Tahiroglu said. It is a bit tragic that the mechanism for actually obtaining justice for Khashoggi is now left in the hands of the Turkish judiciary, given its own problems. A court in North Macedonia has sentenced former conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to 1 1/2 years in prison, and handed suspended sentences to six other party members and supporters for orchestrating violence in 2013. Gruevski was sentenced on September 29 in absentia. North Macedonia authorities are still seeking his extradition from Hungary, where he was granted political asylum after fleeing there in 2018 to avoid a separate two-year prison sentence for corruption. The trial, which started in 2016, dealt with a protest in 2013 outside a municipal building in the capital, Skopje, when participants forcibly entered the premises and prevented opposition board members of the municipality from blocking a plan by then-premier Gruevski to remodel the capital's center. Much of Gruevski's architectural intervention, which cost an estimated 600 million euros ($703 million), went ahead. The court on September 29 found Gruevski guilty of having organized and encouraged the protest. The six others who received suspended sentences include Gruevski's former transport minister. Both the defense and the prosecution said they will appeal the sentence. Four other cases are pending against Gruevski, who served as prime minister from 2006-2016, on charges of corruption, election irregularities, and abuse of office. All charges against Gruevski originate from a wiretapping scandal that broke in 2015, when it was revealed that the phone conversations of more than 20,000 people, including politicians, judges, police, journalists, and foreign diplomats were illegally recorded. The crisis led to an early election in 2016 in which Gruevski lost to Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev. Gruevski, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2016, fled to Budapest in November 2018 after being convicted on corruption charges in Macedonia and sentenced to two years in prison. He was convicted in May 2018 of using a 600,000 euro ($703,000) Mercedes bought with state funds for personal travel. Budapest granted Gruevski asylum from what it called "political persecution" in Macedonia. Gruevski, who has close ties with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said he chose Hungary because it is a member of NATO and the European Union and a country with "independent institutions." North Macedonia has issued an international warrant for his arrest. With reporting by AP 00:34 Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Hathras gangrape incident, the Congress on Tuesday questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and women leaders of his party and alleged that Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government has become the country's "crime capital". The Opposition party's attack on the Centre and the state government came after a 19-year-old Dalit woman from Hathras in UP died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital Tuesday morning, days after she was allegedly raped by four men. Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev wrote to Chief Minister Adityanath over the incident and demanded his resignation, saying he should quit taking moral responsibility for the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state and that president's rule be imposed. At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that for eight days no gangrape charges were pressed in the matter and that the UP chief minister's information advisor and Agra Police kept calling the incident "fake news. She demanded a probe into the incident by a committee headed by a sitting high court judge. Shrinate also attacked Union Women and Child Development minister Smriti Irani, an MP from the state, asking her to break her "conspicuous silence" on the issue. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu also demanded Adityanath's resignation from the CM's post and asked why UP Governor Anandiben Patel was silent over the incident. The Congress also protested over the incident at Vijay Chowk in Delhi, demanding justice for the victim. The party said its leaders PL Punia, Udit Raj, Amrita Dhawan along with others were detained at Mandir Marg police station for protesting. Party leaders and workers also carried out a candle march at Safdarjung hospital and in several places in UP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the government over the incident, saying the "class-specific jungle raj" of UP has killed another young woman. "The government said this is fake news and left the victim to die. Neither was this unfortunate incident fake, nor was the death of the victim and the mercilessness of the government," he said in a tweet in Hindi. Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out at the state government, alleging that there is "no semblance of security" for women in UP. She said incidents of rape one after the other in Hathras, Shahjahanpur and Gorakhpur have shaken the state. "Law and order in UP has deteriorated beyond limits. There is no semblance of safety for women. Criminals are committing crimes in the open, Priyanka Gandhi said, demanding that the woman's killers be punished severely. In her letter to the UP CM, Dev said being the chief minister, he was "accountable" for the brutality committed against the "daughter of Hathras". She demanded strict action against the culprits through a fast track court and all possible assistance to the victim's family. "The terrible state of Uttar Pradesh in violence against women is a matter of shame. You should take moral responsibility for the deteriorating law and order situation and resign, and President's rule should be imposed in Uttar Pradesh," Dev said in the letter. Shrinate alleged that for eight days no gangrape charges were pressed in the matter and only after the media reported it, the police registered a case. She also alleged that the UP chief minister's information advisor and Agra Police, till September 24, kept calling the incident "fake news". "Why did it take eight days for the UP police to register a gangrape case on her complaint, why was she immediately not transferred to a premier institute like AIIMS, and instead was left to die in UP? Why is it that these men who brutally assaulted, raped and murdered her, do not face NSA (National Security Act) charges and why is it that the UP chief minister is absolutely quiet on this?" Shrinate asked. -- PTI Photo credit: RunPhoto - Getty Images From Delish The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have both issued warnings about a salmonella outbreak linked to dried wood ear mushrooms. The mushrooms in question were sold to restaurants and not to customers directly. Wismettac Asian Foods of Santa Fe Springs, CA, distributed the mushrooms. At the time of publication, 41 individuals have been infected with the Salmonella Stanley strain. Of those 41 people, the infections are currently affecting 10 states and four people have been hospitalized. There have been no reported deaths linked to this outbreak. The products were shipped to 30 states, but the states affected thus far include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. On September 23, Wismettac Asian Foods recalled the product which is referred to as wood ear mushrooms, Kikurage, Dried Black Fungus, Dried Fungus, or Muer/Mu Er/Mu-Err. The product was sent to restaurants in six-packs of five-pound bags labeled as Shirakiku brand Black Fungus (Kikurage) with a UPC bar code 00074410604305, item #60403, and were imported from China. The CDC reported that four illness clusters were connected to restaurants serving the mushrooms in ramen dishes. If you're dining out at a restaurant, you can ask an employee what mushrooms were used in the food to be safe. The investigation is still ongoing, but in the meantime, be sure to get rid of any affected products in your possession, clean and sanitize all surfaces you were cooking on, and report your symptoms to the health department should you get sick. You Might Also Like A French police officer stands near the Opera Bastille where the man was arrested - REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo A Pakistani man was charged with attempted murder and terrorism last night (on Tuesday) after confessing to wounding two people with a meat cleaver outside the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Zaher Hassan Mahmood, 25, told prosecutors he had not known that the newspaper had moved premises after two Islamist extremists shot dead 12 people at its office in 2015. He confessed to carrying out the attack on Friday, saying he acted out of anger that Charlie Hebdo recently republished cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. They appeared at the start of an ongoing trial of alleged accomplices in the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre by brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who were shot dead by police. The choice to reprint the cartoons sparked protests as far away as Istanbul - OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images Al Qaeda claimed the attack in revenge for the weeklys initial publication of the cartoons, which it said blasphemed Islam. Mahmood also admitted to prosecutors that he had lied about his age when he arrived in France two years ago to obtain residency as an unaccompanied minor and claim child welfare benefits. When arrested on Friday, he told police his name was Hassan Ali and gave his age as 18. He later admitted his true identity and age after a photo of his Pakistani passport was found in his mobile phone. He did not claim an affiliation with a specific terrorist group. Not a known Islamist radical, he was not on Frances terrorism watch list. He had been arrested in June in possession of a cleaver after being involved in a fight among Pakistanis, but was cautioned and released. In the attack on Friday, hee injured a woman and a man who work for a TV production company with offices in the building where Charlie Hebdo was formerly based. He told prosecutors he had planned to set the newspapers office on fire and was carrying three bottles of flammable white spirit. Jean-Francois Ricard, a counter-terrorism prosecutor, said Mahmood had reconnoitred the area on three separate days shortly before his attack. Story continues In his telephone, we found a three-minute video in Urdu, in which he announces his plan, saying: Here in France they make caricatures about our pure and great Prophet Muhammad Today, I will revolt against this. The attack came as a painful reminder of the terror threat in France. The disclosure that the perpetrator lied about his age has also focussed public attention on migrants falsely claiming to be minors. Jean-Louis Thieriot, a conservative MP, said: Nearly 80 per cent of unaccompanied foreign minors in Seine-et-Marne [outside Paris] are frauds. Weve seen migrants in their 40s claiming to be minors. The doodle shows an animated picture of the legendary actress in a classical dance posture with a floral background. Illustrated by artist Parvati Pillai the doodle celebrates the illustrious career of Zohra Segal, India's first female actor to truly achieve recognition on the international stage. Google on Tuesday paid tribute to the late veteran actor and dancer Zohra Sehgal as it dedicated its doodle in remembrance of her iconic film Neecha Nagar.Through the doodle, the tech giant celebrated the release of the film at the prestigious annual Cannes International Film Festival. The artistic doodle sees an aged yet poised Zohra Sehgal acing classical dance mudras with a pleasant smile on her face. According to a statement on Googles page, the illustration has been made by artist Parvati Pillai to celebrate the one of the countrys first female actors to truly achieve recognition on the international stage. Among Sehgals notable early work was a role in the film Neecha Nagar (Lowly City), which was released on this day in 1946 at the Cannes Film Festival, the statement read.It further said the film won Indian cinemas first international critical success as it won the festivals highest honor Palme dOr prize. Born in British Indias Saharanpur, Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan attended a prestigious ballet school in Dresden, Germany in her 20s.She later went on to tour with the Indian dance pioneer Uday Shankar and later transitioned to acting after joining the Indian Peoples Theatre Association in 1945.The iconic actor moved to London and worked in several British television classics like Doctor Who and the miniseries The Jewel in the Crown.Recognised as one of the brightest stars of the Indian cinema, Sehgal won some of the highest awards of the country including the Padma Shri, Kalidas Samman, and Padma Vibhushan for her prolific contributions. ALSO READ: 2 October Gandhi Jayanti 2020 Images, poster, HD wallpapers, pictures for Facebook Status and Whatsapp DP ALSO READ: Joker star Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara welcome baby boy, name him River By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lead attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser on Tuesday told a federal judge that she has discussed the ongoing criminal case with the president and asked him not to pardon Michael Flynn, an extraordinary admission that raises questions about political interference. At the same hearing, U.S. Justice Department lawyers denied any corruption or political motives in efforts to get the federal criminal case against Flynn dropped. In May, Attorney General William Barr stunned many in the legal community by ordering prosecutors to have the case dropped, a decision that came after Trump repeatedly complained that Flynn was being treated unfairly. Critics have accused Barr of giving special treatment to Trump allies such as Flynn and Trump's longtime friend and supporter Roger Stone. Flynn's defense counsel Sidney Powell tried to invoke executive privilege in an initial refusal to discuss details of her conversation with Trump, angering U.S. Judge Emmet Sullivan. "Well, you don't work for the government," Sullivan told her. Powell, in a tense exchange with the judge, said she recently met with Trump after the government moved to dismiss the case. She added that Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis was also present. "I spoke with Jenna Ellis and I spoke with the president himself to provide a brief status of the litigation within the last couple weeks," Powell said. "Did you make any requests of the president?" Sullivan asked. "No sir, other than he not issue a pardon," she replied. Powell downplayed a letter she sent to Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in June of 2019, in which she complained that the FBI had tried to entrap her client and asked the department to appoint new government lawyers to preside over the case. When Sullivan asked whether she felt her letter to Barr was ethical, Powell replied: "Perfectly." Story continues Powell's discussion of the case with Trump, along with her letter to senior Justice Department officials, are likely to further stoke debate over whether the Trump administration is improperly seeking to dismiss the case. The letter to Barr "raises questions about motive" for the department to remove career prosecutors from the case, the judge said. He suggested the bar association might take issue with her tactics. He asked the government to schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss how Barr and Rosen responded. TWO GUILTY PLEAS Kenneth Kohl, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said he did not know details of Barr's response but denied there was any improper political interference in the case. "I've never seen it in my entire career in our office and it didn't happen here," Kohl said. He attacked former top FBI officials, including former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former agent Peter Strzok, saying they could not be reliable witnesses for the government if it had proceeded with its prosecution of Flynn. Powell, meanwhile, told Sullivan she thought he was biased against Flynn and intended to file a motion to ask him to recuse himself. Sullivan did not issue a ruling during the more than four-hour hearing and did not indicate when he will make a decision. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was charged under former Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Flynn pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI about his conversations before Trump took office with Sergei Kislyak, who was then Russia's ambassador to the United States, concerning U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia under President Barack Obama. He was due to be sentenced in December 2018. Sullivan delayed the sentencing until Flynn could finish cooperating with the government in a separate criminal case. But Flynn last year switched lawyers and his new legal team claimed the FBI had set him up. Barr's unusual move ordering the case dropped despite the guilty pleas led Sullivan to tap retired judge John Gleeson to argue against the Justice Department's legal position. Gleeson on Tuesday urged Sullivan not to drop the case, arguing that a guilty plea cannot be taken lightly. "People can't plead guilty and then show up for sentencing, as this defendant did on December 18, 2018 and see how the wind is blowing." (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Asserting that Sikhs are safe under the Trump administration, a group of prominent Sikh-American leaders have alleged that the Biden campaign is trying to "demoralise and demotivate" the community. It is because of President Donald Trump's initiatives to ensure religious freedom and liberty that so many Sikh youths are serving in the US military today with their turbans and beard intact, said Harmeet Dhillon, a Sikh-American attorney and co-chair of Lawyers for Trump. According to Jasdip Singh, co-chair of the Sikhs for Trump, the community members in the US have never been as safe as is under President Trump. "We are a martial community, no one can bully us. By saying so (that the Sikh community is not safe in US), the Biden campaign is trying to demoralise and demotivate us, he said. The Biden campaign, which launched the 'Sikh Americans for Biden', in a press release on Sunday said that Sikh-Americans experience bullying at rates twice the national average and have reported a spike in these encounters since 2017. The Biden campaign vowed to address the unique challenges, including xenophobia, being faced by the Sikh community in the US. Singh claimed that a Biden-Harris administration would be "anti-Sikh". In the November 3 presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate and his running mate Kamala Harris will challenge incumbent Republican President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Singh said Harris, during her tenure as California Attorney General, was against the employment of a Sikh man, Trilochan Singh Oberoi, who refused to shave off his beard. "Harris asked him to shave his beard and choose between faith and livelihood. Despite being of Indian-origin, she is anti-Sikh," he said. "We cannot support or Kamala Harris. Those are not Sikh values, Singh said. In 2005, Oberoi cleared the written test, vision test, a physical abilities test, and every other test required by the state of California to get him a corrections officer job but was denied the position when he refused to shave his beard. The department rejected him, saying the state-mandated wearing a gas-mask during jail emergencies and that keeping beard would be a hindrance. Finally in 2011, after a six-year-long legal battle, Oberoi was appointed as a correctional officer in the prison and won USD 295,000 in damages. Singh said, I want to address all my Sikh brothers and sisters who are questioning me that how being a Sikh I am supporting Trump. I want to ask them a question. How they being Sikh are supporting and Kamala Harris who are supporting and promoting weed and drug culture, who support abortion...same sex marriages. Are these Sikh values?" Singh, who is also a businessman, said as part of the 2020 election campaign he has been travelling to some of the remote parts of the US and his turban and beard have never posed any problem. Everywhere I go -- from Pennsylvania to Ohio, even in the remote parts of the country -- people welcome us. Trump supporters have given me so much love and affection like never before. I represent Sikh and India with my turban," he said on Monday. Singh, who had launched 'Sikhs for Trump' in 2016, claimed Trump has very strong support from the community. "Sikh truckers in the US are now supporting President Trump. President Trump has personally acknowledged and thanked the support of the Sikh/Indian American community, he said, claiming that this year more than 50 per cent of the community members are supporting Trump. Trump's policies and vision for America resonated with Indian and Sikh values, he said. Kanwaljit Singh Rekhi, a Sikh leader, said all minority groups in US have benefited from Trump's economic recovery plan. Small minority businesses mostly owned by South Asians survived during the pandemic due to President Trump's aggressive economic recovery plan," he said. According to Baljinder Singh, another Sikh leader, Trump signed the Religious Freedom Act, which opened doors for Sikh members to serve in the US military and other law enforcement agencies, keeping their turbans and beard intact. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Is Trumps debt a national security threat? Whatever the real value of his assets are, Mr. Trumps tax returns at least confirm that he is deeply in debt. He is responsible for loans totaling $421 million, most of which will come due within four years. He may also find himself on the hook for an I.R.S. bill of more than $100 million because of a refund he claimed that remains under audit. Mr. Alexander puts the presidents debt even higher: $1.13 billion. That amount of leverage puts Mr. Trump in a compromised position, writes Timothy L. OBrien, one of Mr. Trumps biographers, in Bloomberg. If Trump is unable to meet his debt payments, hes either going to have to sell assets or get bailed out by a friend with funds, he reasons. Trump has never liked to sell anything, even when its hemorrhaging money. So if hes tempted to save himself by getting a handout, that makes him a mark. Among those best positioned to lend him a helping hand are international oligarchs, the Times columnist Michelle Goldberg argues, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Trumps brand, perhaps his most lucrative asset, is worthless in much of the country, she writes. Perhaps the president simply feels a kinship with rich villains. But if hes truly facing ruin, Trump needs them at least as much as they need him. The question of whom the president owes his debts to is already sparking speculation about his potential vulnerability to foreign influence. Americans should be concerned about the presidents debt because its a national security risk for our country, said Donald Sherman, deputy director of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. While it is well known that Mr. Trump received loans from Deutsche Bank, some analysts, including the chief ethics attorney under President George W. Bushs administration, have questioned why the bank would have continued doing business with someone with such a poor financial record. Why would banks assume the risk on these loans? he asked. Or did someone else quietly assume risk of that loan for the bank to make it happen? Adam Davidson, a staff writer at The New Yorker, expanded on the question of Mr. Trumps creditors in a Twitter thread: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to visit Japan from Oct 6-7 to attend Quad meet India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Tokyo from October 6 to 7 to attend a ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition and hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on ways to further deepen bilateral ties. Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. SAARC must deal with terrorism, obstruction in trade and connectivity: Jaishankar "During the visit, the External Affairs Minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-USA ministerial meeting on October 6 in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate," the MEA said. It said the ministers will collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The second meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition or Quad comes in the backdrop of growing global concerns over China's military muscle flexing in the Indo-Pacific region. The MEA said Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with the foreign ministers of Australia and the US during the visit to Japan. It said the foreign ministers will discuss the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga held a telephonic conversation during which they discussed ways to deepen cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Senior officials of the Quad member nations also held a virtual meeting last week focusing on ways to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. In November 2017, the four countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. India can promise to be Africa's most steadfast partner: Jaishankar The first meeting of foreign ministers of the four countries under the 'Quad' framework had taken place in New York in September 2019. India is also expanding bilateral cooperation with Japan, the US and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region. On its part, the US has been pushing for a greater role for India in the Indo-Pacific which is seen by many countries as an effort to contain China's growing clout in the region. In their bilateral talks, Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to prepare ground for the annual India-Japan summit later this year. Two bodies were found amidst the destruction caused by an overnight Williamstown fire that tore through several homes and a chiropractors office, Pennsylvania State Police said. Trooper Megan Ammerman said excavation is underway to recover the bodies, which were discovered around 11:15 a.m. The Dauphin County Coroners Office has been notified, but it will be a while before the victims can be identified, Ammerman said. Here are some photos from earlier this morning. More than 10 fire departments from Dauphin & Schuylkill counties responded. Three homes caught fire. Firefighters believe the blaze started in the middle home. Were told one of the homes has a chiropractors office in the back pic.twitter.com/f4I2eyHgKK Priscilla Liguori (@PriscillaABC27) September 29, 2020 Four adults and six children were left homeless by the blaze, which broke out around 2:20 a.m. on the first block of East Market Street. Firefighters from Dauphin and Schuylkill counties rushed to the scene and worked for at least four hours to control the flames. State police fire marshals were called to the scene around 3:47 a.m., Ammerman said. The American Red Cross said it is providing the displaced residents with food, clothing and temporary shelter. READ MORE: Police searching for man accused of breaking into Harrisburg home, assaulting resident Mother, daughter receive 5 life sentences for killing 5 family members in Pa. Family of Pa. woman killed in hit-and-run begs driver to come forward Gov. Whitmer Announces Healthy Michigan Plan tops 800,000 enrollees for first time Gov. Whitmer Announces Healthy Michigan Plan tops 800,000 enrollees for first time FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2020 Contact: Bob Wheaton, wheatonb@michigan.gov, 517-241-2112 Gov. Whitmer Announces Healthy Michigan Plan tops 800,000 enrollees for first time Expanded Medicaid program helps low-income residents be healthy and afford coverage LANSING, Mich. The Healthy Michigan Plan is now providing health care coverage to more than 800,000 low-income residents for the first time, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced today. There are now 800,794 people enrolled in the Healthy Michigan Plan, the states expanded Medicaid program. As Senate Democratic Leader, I was proud to work across the aisle with a Republican governor and legislature to expand health coverage for Michiganders through the Healthy Michigan plan, Governor Whitmer said. Now, with the Affordable Care Act under constant attack in the courts, its more important than ever that we protect Healthy Michigan and ensure care for families across the state. Repealing the law would put Michiganders lives at risk and hurt our economy. I will continue working with everyone who wants to protect and expand health care for Michiganders. COVID-19 affected the finances and health of so many Michiganders that the number of Healthy Michigan Plan beneficiaries jumped from just under 682,000 in late March to more than 800,000 six months later. Michigan instituted policies to help families access affordable health care coverage such as deciding to avoid terminating Healthy Michigan Plan coverage and freeze premiums for as long as the COVID-19 public health emergency exists. The state was able to qualify for additional Medicaid funding from the federal government through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The department has also worked to streamline the application process over the past few years to ensure people eligible to receive benefits are able to access them without unnecessary burdensome requirements. Gov. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) have strongly supported the Healthy Michigan Plan. When she was State Senate Democratic leader, Whitmer helped pass the bipartisan legislation that created the Healthy Michigan Plan, which was enacted in April 2014. In March, Whitmer and MDHHS preserved Healthy Michigan Plan coverage for tens of thousands of people by supporting swift action on the legal challenge of work requirements that had been adopted by the Republican Legislature. Policies like work requirements that take away health insurance undermine the purpose of Medicaid which is to provide health care coverage to low income and vulnerable populations. Expanding access to health care coverage is one of MDHHSs top priorities, said MDHHS Director Robert Gordon. The Healthy Michigan Plan has been a huge success by improving health outcomes for thousands of Michiganders. Our residents are healthier and our state is more productive when people have health insurance. Senator Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), a champion of expanding health care, reducing maternal deaths, and addressing healthcare disparities, praised the news. Simply stated: Health care is a right and should be treated as such. This pandemic has reaffirmed how important it is that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. More than 800,000 people enrolled in Healthy Michigan have been able to take proactive steps to ensure they and their families can get the care they need, Sen. Brinks said. Especially in such an uncertain time, the certainty of having access to affordable health care is critical for keeping Michigan residents healthy, and I am proud to continue standing by Healthy Michigan. "For so long, we've treated health care as if it were a luxury reserved for the wealthiest few, rather than a fundamental right shared by all Michiganders," said Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia). "Healthy Michigan and the Affordable Care Act changed that by throwing open the doors to care for hundreds of thousands of families across our state who needed it most. If we've learned nothing else from our fight with COVID-19 this year, it's that we must urgently act to protect these health care programs and continue expanding critical health care access to every resident no matter who they are or where they're from." As Michigan and our nation continue to grapple with the COVID-19 global pandemic, everyone must have access to quality and affordable health care. The continued assaults on the Affordable Care Act are unconscionable and will have life and death consequences if they succeed, said state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn), minority vice chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. It is abundantly clear health care access impacts all communities and must be a critical priority. I am proud of the continued investment in Healthy Michigan and the incredible support it provides to Michiganders. Healthy Michigan Plan coverage is available to Michiganders ages 19-64 years old who have an income at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level or $16,971 annually for a single person and meet other eligibility requirements, such as not qualifying for other Medicaid programs. Expanded Medicaid plans are allowed under the federal Affordable Care Act if states decide to implement them. According to 2017 research from the University of Michigan, the Healthy Michigan Plan more than doubled primary care usage, reduced enrollees reliance on the emergency room by 58 percent, cut uncompensated care by nearly 50 percent, and added $2.3 billion to our states economy. Apply for the Healthy Michigan Plan at www.michigan.gov/MIBridges or by calling the Michigan HealthCare Helpline at 855-789-5610. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/HealthyMiPlan. # # # WASHINGTON American intelligence officials have seen an uptick in Russian disinformation about mail-in ballots as President Trump has escalated his attacks on voting by mail, Representative Adam B. Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview. American intelligence agencies have not explicitly linked the increase in Russian disinformation operations to the presidents comments. They would not make such an link without specific intelligence about the Kremlins marching orders. Intelligence and other officials acknowledged that Russia always focuses its disinformation efforts on existing controversies to amplify ongoing arguments. Mr. Trumps false assertions have also fueled the spread of misperceptions about widespread mail-in voting. Experts have repeatedly said absentee voting is secure, and there was little public controversy over it until the president began his attacks. After Mr. Trump began stepping up his criticism of mail-in voting, Mr. Schiff, Democrat of California, asked the intelligence agencies he has oversight over to track any rise in Russian disinformation efforts. Apple in the enterprise focused company, Jamf, kicked off its virtual JNUC conference today with a deluge of news and information for Mac, iPhone and iPad using enterprises. Apple and Microsoft together for work The show comes at a pivotal moment in the transformation of enterprise IT. Not only is work becoming virtual, but Apples presence in the space continues to grow. The move to virtual conferences means the event has more attendees than ever before, with around 15,000 people attending, the company said. Speaking before the show, Jamf CEO, Dean Hager, told me: This year, there's something really exciting that's happening with Apple and Microsoft. In the last 12-months, Apple's announced its new security framework, the single sign on extensions, Apple Silicon for the Mac, they've deprecated kernel extensions I mean they're being aggressive -- really going after it with the Mac and iPad to take over the work environment. At the same time, you've got Microsoft over here, who's doubling down their investment on the Mac, specifically with Office 365. Jamf recently discussed plans to let Microsoft Endpoint manage enterprise iPhones using Azure, and theres much more on this integration that is being revealed today. Apple is a peer player in enterprise IT Microsoft VP Brad Anderson will demonstrate Office 365 working on a Mac, including new features revealed in Outlook last week. His message? Office on a Mac is now just as good as it is on Windows. Office for the Mac might be the number one most important thing for Mac growth within the enterprise, said Hager. Another piece of big news around Microsoft control of identification: The introduction of new Microsoft grouping ability, which means IT support can now use the combination of Apples products, Jamf and Microsof to control which groups can access data and services and from which devices. This is likely to be of great interest to enterprise IT. It makes it possible for Azure to be used to manage passwordless remote setup of Apple equipment, including Macs. This will be incredibly helpful to enterprise in the new WFH era. Remote working and the new normal JNUC 2020 has remote working and the digital transformation of the enterprise at its heart, evidenced by rock hard security, Azure integration and zero touch configuration. 2020 has been a year like no other. Workflows that were once visionary, like zero-touch deployment and virtually educating students or caring for patients, are now necessary, Hager said. I spoke with Microsofts Anderson, who told me: What we have seen from the pandemic is the move to get more in the cloud has accelerated in a dramatic way. So, as an example, I am now seeing more than double the devices every seven days coming into Microsoft Endpoint Manager than I did prior to the pandemic we're seeing 1.5 million new devices every seven days coming into the cloud to be managed and that's Windows, iOS, Mac and Android. During the keynote, we also heard from Jeremy Butcher and the head of Starling Bank, who told us that when COVID-19 broke out his first step was to purchase every available MacBook in the UK in order to equip his teams. Biometric Mac security We heard some of the enhancements around Azure and Macs quite recently. These mean workers can now employ a passwordless workflow using an iPhone and Face ID or Touch ID to secure the Mac provisioning process. It means you can use Face or Touch ID on your iPhone (and a PIN number if required) to enable Azure credentials and securely unlock the Mac. This exciting feature works by combining Microsoft Azure AD credentials, the Jamf Connect iOS app and Apples own device management tools. In practise, it seems to load a certificate on the iPhone which is then validated on a Bluetooth-paired Mac. This tool will be made available in beta form later this year, with general availability expected in early 2021. Azure meets Apples Single Sign-On Jamf also demonstrated a preview of the forthcoming Microsoft Enterprise SSO Plugin, which allowed for a transparent Azure AD authentication while accessing the Jamf Self Service portal. macOS and iOS contain Apples native Single Sign-On Extension framework, which when used with an identity providers extension on a managed device, can greatly improve the login experience to enterprise applications. Thats what this integration uses. iOS Device Compliance Jamf announced it has extended its partnership with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security by launching iOS Device Compliance. This will be made available today in preview and lets organizations choose Jamf for iOS management while also sharing important device information like compliance status with Microsoft Endpoint Manager. IT teams can utilize the built-solely-for-Apple Jamf features for Apple ecosystem management, while leveraging conditional access to ensure that only trusted users from compliant devices, using approved apps, are able to access company data. In other news, Jamf announced key updates to its Marketplace, which now offers over 350 listings, including recent integrations with Jira, ServiceNow and Splunk. Health Jamf announced a new telehealth workflow aimed at protecting providers while still connecting patients to the care they need and the communities they love, Virtual Visits. This is in use by Oxford Health. Holly Panting, IT Project Manager, Oxford Health, said: With Virtual Visits, we can facilitate an easy way for patients to stay connected without the technology being overly complicated in order to improve the patient experience. Education Jamf announced Learn Anywhere, which includes new features that help educators communicate with students, use engaging resources and assess learning objectives from any environment. These include tools such as remote class, raise hand and assessments. Jamf allowed us to transition our district from in-class learning to distance learning in 24 hours, said Jacob Luevano, Innovative Teaching Strategist, Manor Independent School District. Many students who didnt have access to apps, resources and all the benefits of modern technology, now do. This allows them to better engage with their peers and teachers, and empowers them to seamlessly transition from classroom to home with their Apple device in hand. Apple Classrooms Jamf also announced that it used a portion of its IPO proceeds, in partnership with several of its banking partners and financial sponsors, to launch four new Apple Classrooms, called Innovation Hubs. The event runs for the rest of the week, expect a deluge of reporting as I try to report from the show, and please get in contact with your news and observations concerning the changing world of enterprise IT. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe. Just hours before the first presidential debate, two polls released Tuesday show Joe Biden with a considerable nine-point lead against Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania as a vast majority of nationwide voters say debate performances wont change their minds about who theyre voting for. A Washington Post/ABC News poll taken September 21-26 shows that 54 per cent of likely voters in the swing state plan to cast their ballot for the Democratic nominee compared to the 45 per cent who say they will vote for the president. At the same time, a national survey from Politico/Morning Consult released Tuesday shows the three upcoming debates between the two presidential candidates wont make much of a difference to voters. A whopping 86 per cent of voters have already made up their mind about who theyre voting for on November 3, while only 14 per cent say they could change their minds before casting their ballots. The Keystone states western neighbor will hold the first of three presidential debates at 9:00 p.m. Both candidates are heading to Cleveland, Ohio Tuesday as they plan to discuss and debate their records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, race and violence and election integrity with moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News. A new poll released just hours before the first presidential debate shows Joe Biden has a nine-point lead against Donald Trump in the battleground of Pennsylvania, which the president won by less than 1 per cent in 2016 The candidates will face-off in their first of three debates on Tuesday evening in Cleveland, Ohio, as another poll released Tuesday shows only 14 per cent of voters feel they could be swayed by respective candidates' performances Trump will also face questions over a recent New York Times report claiming the billionaire president only paid $750 in federal taxes. Among registered voters in Pennsylvania, 53 per cent approve of Trumps management of the economy while 57 per cent disapprove of his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall, the presidents approval rating in the state is 43 per cent positive and 55 per cent negative. In 2016, Trump won Pennsylvania by a very slim margin. He earned 48.2 per cent of the vote compared to Hillary Clintons 47.5 per cent only a 0.7 per cent difference that won Trump 20 Electoral College votes. Some other close-call swing states Trump won in 2016 included Michigan, where he was the victor by only 0.3 per cent and Wisconsin where he won by 0.7 per cent. Of the three Rust Belt states that were integral to deciding the 2016 election, Pennsylvania is the most populous. If Trump were to lose all three, he would give up 46 Electoral College votes. In the previous six elections before 2016, all three states voted for Democratic presidential nominees before shifting to Trump last time around. The Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted September 25-27 shows that nearly all of the 1,991 registered voters polled are not counting on the debates to sway their opinion when they vote for president. Among those already planning to vote for Biden, 93 per cent say they wont change their mind before Election Day. And of Trump voters, nearly 9 in 10 or 89 per cent say they have made up their minds. Trump and Biden will face off a total of two more times before Election Night. The second debate will be held October 15 in Miami, Florida and will be moderated by C-SPANs Steve Scully as the candidates participate in a town hall style event. And the third and final debate will take place in Nashville, Tennessee on October 22 and be moderated by NBCs Kristen Welker. Many Americans have already completed early voting as mass mail-in ballots have become the norm in several states as coronavirus concerns are still rocking the nation. Trump has railed against the remote-voting measure, claiming voters should be required to request an absentee ballot rather than it be sent to them automatically. He laments this will increase chances of voter fraud and disproportionately benefit Biden and the Democrats. Of the 808 adults surveyed in Pennsylvania, 65 per cent say they plan to vote in-person on Election Day. A bit more than 3 in 10, however, plan to cast their ballot early by mail-in or at an in-person voting site. This year, any voter in the state can request a mail-in ballot without an excuse due to health worries. In 2016, only 4 per cent of voters in Pennsylvania participated in voting by absentee ballot. A Tory peer and British Paralympic champion grabbed a masseuse's bottom at a five star hotel's spa, a court heard on Tuesday. Lord Christopher Holmes of Richmond MBE, 48 - who is blind - allegedly pointed to his crotch and asked if the woman did 'extras' at a five star hotel's spa on March 7 last year. Holmes, joined in the dock by his assistance dog, black Labrador, Nancy, denied one charge of sexual assault at London's Southwark Crown Court. He was pictured outside the court today walking arm-in-arm with a woman - believed to be his wife - who has attended all hearings with him so far. Tory peer and British Paralympic champion Lord Christopher Holmes (right) grabbed a masseuse's bottom at a five star hotel's spa, a court heard on Tuesday. Left: Lord Holmes with his guide dog and a woman believed to be his wife outside Southwark Crown Court Holmes (centre with his meddles), who is a life peer in the House of Lords, is Britain's most successful Paralympic swimmer, with a total of nine golds, five silvers and one bronze Who is British Paralympic champion Lord Christopher Holmes? Lord Holmes was a champion swimmer, winning six gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Games and three at the Atlanta Paralympics. He also broke 35 world records before moving into top roles in sports management and politics. He was director of Paralympic integration for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games before taking his seat in the House of Lords in 2013. His website says he campaigns for more accessible environments for disabled people and has been asked to head a Government review that will make recommendations on how to encourage more disabled people to apply for public appointments. Lord Holmes has also sat on a number of House of Lords select committees and has introduced a private members bill to tackle unpaid internships. Advertisement Holmes, who is a life peer in the House of Lords, is Britain's most successful Paralympic swimmer, with a total of nine golds, five silvers and one bronze. Following his retirement from professional swimming he was elevated to the House of Lords in 2015. Prosecutor Linda Strudwick told jurors Holmes had booked a one and a half hour spa massage at the central London hotel. She said: 'Towards the end of the massage, Lord Holmes grabbed [the complainant's] arm. He sat up on the table where the massage was taking place. 'He asked how old she was. Then he asked her "can I see how you look?" '[She] was unsure about what he meant but assumed that it meant could he touch her face. 'She allowed him to do this, but then feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable at that point she began to move away. 'Mr Holmes stopped her by grabbing her buttocks. 'He said nice and he asked if he could touch her boobs. She said 'no'. 'He asked if she 'did extras' and pointed towards his crotch, she said 'No, I am a professional'. 'He said: "Are you sure you've never done it?" 'Mr Holmes obviously realised that he had gone too far, he made shushing noises to her and apologised,' said Ms Strudwick. Holmes then 'calmed down' the shocked woman, who finished the massage and wordlessly handed him over a robe, the court heard. The distressed woman went straight to her manager and also told her work agency and boyfriend, jurors heard. Holmes, of Richmond, Surrey, denies one count of sexual assault. The trial continues. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:44:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUIYANG, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The first direct China-Europe freight train service linking southwest China's Guizhou Province and countries along the Belt and Road was launched on Monday. The inaugural train loaded with nearly 300 tonnes of Guizhou tea worth 100 million yuan (about 14.67 million U.S. dollars) is expected to arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in eight to 10 days. Compared with the traditional mode of transportation, which relies mainly on offshore shipping, the direct China-Europe freight train service shortens the travel time and reduces the freight transportation cost by about 20 percent, according to the provincial department of commerce. Guizhou had over 467,000 hectares of tea plantations by the end of 2019, ranking first in China. According to official statistics, in the first seven months of this year, Guizhou's exported 497.6 tonnes of tea worth of 20.35 million U.S. dollars, up 68 percent year on year. Enditem Casper's downtown sits along the blue-ribbon waters of the North Platte River, with Casper Mountain serving as the city's backdrop. Casper's downtown sits along the blue-ribbon waters of the North Platte River, with Casper Mountain serving as the city's backdrop. Casper, Wyoming, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Americans' priorities continue to shift and with one-third of city-dwelling residents considering making the move to more rural destinations, private and public partners in Casper, Wyoming recently launched Choose Casper, a website designed to serve as a resource for potential new residents and businesses. There has been a shift in what families, workers and businesses are looking for, said Justin Farley, spokesperson for Choose Casper and CEO/President of Advance Casper. They want the best of both worldsamenities and culture youd expect to find in urban areas and open space, with the opportunity to create the personal and professional life of their choice. In Casper, they really can have both. Choose Casper (ChooseCPR.com) has numerous resources dedicated to helping people learn about Casper, including school information, real estate details, cost of living, recreational offerings, the community and more. The website also features local ambassadors who share what its like to live, work and play in Casper with prospective residents. With many considering making the move from urban to rural, roughly one-in-five Americans have relocated due to the pandemic or they know someone who has, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, while one-in-ten adults ages 18 to 29 moved due to the coronavirus outbreak. And with 43 percent of city dwellers visiting real estate sites looking for a house or apartment to rent or buy, according to a recent Harris Poll, the interest in relocating is stronger than perhaps ever before. In a place like Casper, we have what people are looking for, said Luke Gilliam, Business Development Manager for Visit Casper, one of the partners involved with Choose Casper. We have cultural amenitieslike world-class museums, a lively culinary scene and cutting-edge education, including language immersions schoolsthat are important to many people, but we have it in the middle of wide-open Wyoming. Combine that with little traffic, incredible air quality and affordable housing, and Casper might be the best place in the West for remote employment and businesses that are ready to make a move. Story continues A small city by national standards, Casper was named the #6 small city where Americans start businesses in a study from AdvisorSmith, and with 15 people per square mile, Business Insider named it the #6 city to live in the West. The opportunity in Casper is endless for individuals looking to relocate and for businesses that are ready to make a move to a welcoming community and a business-friendly state like Wyoming, added Farley. Choose Casper is a partnership between Advance Casper, Flowstate and True Companies, the Economic Development Joint Powers Board and Visit Casper. Learn more about Choose Casper, and see the website, at ChooseCPR.com. # # # About Choose Casper A partnership of like-minded organizations and locals, Choose Casper is designed to introduce Casper to professionals who are considering making the move to Casper, as well as serving as a resource for businesses that are looking to grow talent for their organization. Attachment CONTACT: Tia Troy Choose Casper 4065298314 tia@lightningbugpublicrelations.com The weather pattern is right for numerous waterspouts to develop on the Great Lakes between now and Saturday. The recipe for waterspouts is warm water, cold air aloft and significant wind-flow. One more factor is present, and thats what we call cyclonic curvature which means the air is rotating around a large low-pressure storm system. The water temperatures on the Great Lakes wont change much over the next four days. The water temperatures on the surface of Lake Michigan look to range between 60 degrees and 65 degrees. Water temperatures on Lake Michigan Surface on September 24, 2020 But the upper-air temperatures will change dramatically over the next few days, as a large area of quite cold air aloft moves south from Canada. Heres a forecast animation showing the cold air aloft coming south. Temperature forecast (in degrees C) for 5,000 feet aloft from Tuesday to Friday. Notice the much colder air aloft coming. The chance of waterspouts on the Great Lakes will increase starting Wednesday, and really go up Thursday and Friday as the temperatures get colder. The International Centre for Waterspout Research(ICWR) runs an experimental model that forecasts the chance of waterspouts. Here is the model run from today, projecting out the next three days. The light green color has the highest chance of numerous waterspouts. You can see the chances of waterspouts increase as we move toward Friday. The Michigan shorelines of Lake Superior and especially Lake Michigan will likely be where waterspouts form. Northern Lake Michigan, from Leelanau County to the Mackinac Bridge look especially interesting. Waterspout forecast for 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 30, 2020 (source: International Centre for Waterspout Research) Waterspouts are dangerous on water, producing up to 100 mph winds right in the funnels circulation. Waterspouts will occasionally come onshore with a small area of high winds and lots of water. So there is some danger with waterspouts. If you spot a waterspout and want to watch it evolve, just use your commonsense. Stay away from the funnel. Stay in your car and be able to drive away from the beach quickly. Waterspouts usually dissipate shortly after they hit the shore. There are cases when a waterspout will continue on land for a short time. In that case the waterspout technically becomes a tornado, or sometimes is called a landspout. In this case I think we will just have interesting to watch waterspouts. Amid thriving anti-China sentiments following clashes between Indian and Chinese armies in Ladakh, data shows that imports of tyres from China recorded a fall during the first quarter of FY21. Tyre companies in Thailand and Vietnam reaped benefits of the hostilities, snatching away market share from Chinese tyre companies. As per data shared by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), Chinese tyre companies have lost market share in almost every segment of the vehicle market. Almost all of the demand is from aftermarket (secondary market) as most vehicle makers in India source tyres from local tyre companies. In passenger car radials (PCR), which accounts for the largest share in the overall tyre import volume in India, Chinas share dropped to 38 percent in Q1FY21 from 44 percent recorded in the same period last year. During the same period, Vietnams share jumped to 18 percent from 5 percent. Chinas loss appears to be the steepest in trucks and bus radials (TBR). Its share in Q1FY21 crashed to 27 percent from 43 percent in the same period last year. Thailand became the new leader in the segment with its share rising to 49 percent from 42 percent. Japan, Vietnam, and Brazil also benefited from Chinas loss. Motorcycle tyre is the only segment where China managed to improve its share, but the gain remains very marginal. During Q1FY21 Chinese tyre companies managed to improve market share to 5 percent from 4 percent. Vietnam has stranglehold of the segment with a share of 67 percent. The coronavirus pandemic-led lockdown, however, did cripple tyre imports during Q1FY21. As per the data, the value of tyres imported by India was 44 percent less in April-June, compared to the same period last year. Tyre imports slumped to Rs 395 crore from Rs 703 crore. PCR tyre imports slumped 59 percent to 608,890 units during Q1FY21 as against 1.48 million units recorded in the same period last year. TBR tyre imports fell 40 percent to 100,000 units as against 166,000 units. Motorcycle tyre imports fell by 67 percent to 185,000 units as compared to 568,000 units. While segments such as commercial vehicles and three-wheelers are yet to come out of the woods, other segments like passenger vehicles and two-wheelers are showing signs of demand recovery. Farm vehicles like tractors have shown the best growth so far since lifting of the lockdown. With production at almost pre-Covid levels, tyre companies and vehicle manufacturers are busy clearing output bottlenecks which are mainly related to supply chain and availability of raw material. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2020 -- The global calcium hypochlorite market was valued at around US$ 5 Bn in 2016 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of more than 3% from 2018 to 2026, according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled 'Calcium Hypochlorite Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026.' Expansion in the global calcium hypochlorite market is driven by the rise in demand for fresh water and increase in demand for calcium hypochlorite in pulp & paper applications. The calcium hypochlorite market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of around 4% during the forecast period. Rapid urbanization in developing economies such as China and India is estimated to propel the calcium hypochlorite market in the region. Request a sample - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2506 Increase in Demand for Fresh Water and Decrease in Sources of Fresh Water Expected to Drive Calcium Hypochlorite Market According to the World Bank, in 2016, 783 million people across the globe lacked access to safe drinking water, 2.5 billion people lacked adequate sanitization, and large percentage of hospital beds were populated by people afflicted with waterborne diseases. At the current rate, 90% of all available freshwater is projected to be consumed in the next 25 years. Consequently, desalination and water reuse is likely to become a vital source of freshwater. Currently, more than 16,000 desalination plants are operational in at least 140 countries in the world. More than 100 water reuse facilities are available across the globe. These facilities require reliable disinfection technologies, including calcium hypochlorite either in pre- or post-treatment form, to prevent biological fouling within the system or the distribution system. Thus, increase in demand for fresh water and decrease in its sources are anticipated to boost the demand for calcium hypochlorite in the near future. More Trending Reports by Transparency Market Research - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/animal-feed-amino-acids-market-to-reach-valuation-of-us-14-1-bn-by-2027-developing-concerns-about-animal-health-stimulates-the-growth-of-global-market-noted-tmr-301026065.html Superior Cost-to-performance Ratio to Create Demand for Powder Segment In terms of form, the calcium hypochlorite market can be segmented into powder, pellet, and granule. The powder segment is anticipated to account for the major share of the market in terms of volume in the near future owing to the cost effectiveness of the powder form with respect to other forms. Increase in Urbanization in Developing Economies to Fuel Water Treatment Applications In terms of application, the calcium hypochlorite market can be divided into water treatment, house cleaners & detergents, agrochemicals, pulp & paper, food & beverage, and others (including algae control in industrial cooling water systems and general industrial sanitization). The water treatment segment dominated the calcium hypochlorite market in terms of value and volume in 2017 due to the extensive usage of calcium hypochlorite in swimming pools across the globe. Request for Discount on This Report at - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=2506 Large Customer Base in Developing Countries of Asia Pacific to Create Opportunities In terms of region, the global calcium hypochlorite market can be segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe held prominent share of the calcium hypochlorite market, as most of the water treatment companies are well established in these regions. Asia Pacific also constitutes significant share of the market. The market in Asia Pacific is estimated to expand at a rapid pace due to the increase in demand for fresh water and decrease in sources of fresh water in the region. The market in Middle East & Africa and Latin American is expected to expand at a sluggish pace during the forecast period. Key players operating in the calcium hypochlorite market include China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC), Tosoh Corporation, Lonza Group Ltd., Nippon Soda Co., Ltd, Westlake Chemical Corporation, Sree Rayalaseema Hi-Strength Hypo Ltd., Tianjin Kaifeng Chemical Co., Ltd., and Yuzhoushi Weilite Chemical Co., Ltd. Companies are investing significantly in new facilities for the production of calcium hypochlorite. For instance, in March 2018, Tosoh Corporation established a new holding company named Tosoh China Holdings Co., Ltd. (Tosoh China) in Shanghai, China. The new company is likely to help Tosoh Corporation strengthen its position in China. Request for covid19 Impact Analysis - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=2506 The odors we give off are a sort of body language - one that may affect our relationships more than we realize. New research from the lab of Prof. Noam Sobel at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests this "chemical communication" may extend to human reproduction as well. The study, which was published today in eLife, found that women who suffer from a condition known as unexplained repeated pregnancy loss (uRPL) process messages concerning male body odor in a different way than other women. These findings may point to new directions in the search for causes and prevention of this poorly understood disorder. Sobel and his team in the Institute's Neurobiology Department thought that some cases of uRPL could be related to a human variation on the Bruce effect, named after its discoverer Hilda Bruce, who found in 1959 that when pregnant mice are exposed to the body-odor of a a male that did not father the pregnancy, they will almost always abort. Why this occurs is not fully understood, but the common rational is that the female "chooses" to abort because the chemical message is that a new "more fit" male is in town. Could a similar effect occur in women? A remarkable estimated 50% of all human conceptions and some 15% of documented human pregnancies, end in spontaneous miscarriage. Ethical considerations obviously prevented the researchers from repeating the Bruce experiments in humans; But the team instead sought circumstantial evidence. For the Bruce effect to occur in mice, the female must remember the body-odor of the fathering male. To test for this in humans, the researchers presented participants with three odorants: one extracted from a t-shirt worn by their spouse, and two from t-shirts worn by non-spouse men. They found that women with uRPL were able to identify their spouse by smell, while the control women could not. When retested with ordinary odorants to see if those with uRPL simply had a better sense of smell overall, they tested only marginally better. The ability of uRPL women to identify their spouse by smell was remarkable: In another part of the experiment, in which the women did not know what odors they would be smelling, "several of these women said 'oh, my husband's in here'," says research student Reut Weissgross, who co-lead the study. This never happened once with the control women. Further testing suggested that these women are not just better at picking out the smell of their spouse, they may experience men's body-odor in a different way altogether. When asked to rate men's body-odors on various scales, including ranking them by standard scales for pleasantness and intensity, but also by such factors as fertility or sex appeal, the uRPL-affected women were unique in the way they described and graded the smells, and significantly different from control women in their answers. In the final phase of the research, the experimenters used both structural and functional brain imaging to study these women. The structural imaging revealed that women with uRPL have smaller olfactory bulbs; these are the initial brain-relay for smell. Using functional imaging, they found an increased response to men's body-odors in the hypothalamus of women with uRPL. The hypothalamus plays a key role in the Bruce effect in mice, and it is a brain region that participates, among other things, in coordinating pregnancy and overall hormonal regulation. "It seems these losses of pregnancy may be 'unexplained' because physicians are looking for problems in the uterus, when they should also be looking in the brain, and particularly the olfactory brain" says Weissgross. Sobel cautions: "Correlation is not causation, so our findings do not prove in any way that the olfactory system, or body-odors, cause miscarriage. But our findings do point to a novel and potentially important direction for research in this poorly managed condition." ### The study was co-lead by Dr. Liron Rozenkrantz, Reut Weissgross, and Dr. Tali Weiss, all in Sobel's lab, and it was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Howard Carp, head of the uRPL clinic at Sheba, Tel Hashomer Medical Center. Prof. Noam Sobel is Head of the Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and Research; his research is also supported by the Norman and Helen Asher Center for Human Brain Imaging; the Nadia Jaglom Laboratory for the Research in the Neurobiology of Olfaction; the Rob and Cheryl McEwen Fund for Brain Research; and Sonia T. Marschak. Prof. Sobel is the incumbent of the Sara and Michael Sela Professorial Chair of Neurobiology. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment. Russia, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, will continue mediation efforts to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Alexander Lukashevich, Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, said on Tuesday VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th September, 2020) Russia, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, will continue mediation efforts to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Alexander Lukashevich, Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, said on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the OSCE Permanent Council met for an emergency meeting over the escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh. "Russia, as a member of the Minsk Group 'troika,' in close cooperation with the United States and France, will continue mediation efforts to assist the parties in developing a mutually acceptable consensus basis for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," Lukashevich said at the meeting. "The effectiveness of the mediation assistance of the 'troika' of the Minsk Group co-chairs depends, first of all, on the parties to the conflict themselves, on their political will, which is needed to achieve a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the negotiating table. Attempts to question the role of the co-chairs enshrined in the decisions of the OSCE and the UN Security Council and their practices can only further complicate the complex settlement processes," the permanent representative added. Toronto Public Health says its investigation into a COVID-19 outbreak at a Scarborough elementary school is ongoing, which is why it ordered the entire school to self-isolate for the week, and not just specific cohorts. More than 170 students and all staff at Mason Road Junior Public School near Bellamy Road and Eglinton Avenue East have been ordered to stay home and isolate while the school is shut this week, Toronto Public Health said in a letter. News of the closure comes as the Toronto District School Board reported 51 COVID-19 cases involving students and staff at 43 schools on Monday and the Toronto Catholic District School Board reported 19 cases in 16 different schools. It also comes as the province reported a daily record of 700 new cases on Monday. There are four confirmed cases at Mason Road school, including one student and three staff, the Toronto District School Board confirmed. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education define an outbreak in a school as two or more cases of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are linked in the school, bus or after-school setting, over a 14-day period, said Dr. Vinita Dubey, Torontos associate medical officer of health. As a result, while the investigation is ongoing, TPH has advised the school to be temporarily closed until Friday, she said, adding parents and staff will be informed, if, based on the results of the investigation, they are required to stay home beyond Friday. TPH will inform students and staff directly if it is recommended for these individuals to be tested for COVID-19, the public health agency said. Parthi Kandavel, TDSB trustee for Ward 18 where the school is located, said TPH and the local public health unit will be setting up mobile testing in the school gym Tuesday morning for families exhibiting symptoms. Sally Wong, whose two grandchildren attend Mason Road school, said she received a letter late Sunday night informing them about the closure. She said her grandkids had been home all of last week as well, after one child had symptoms of COVID-19. (Both of the grandchildren have tested negative for the virus.) Days later, Wong got an email that her grandsons entire Grade 1 class had been sent home to self-isolate. Im retired ... so there is no disruption whatsoever, said Wong. But Im sure there are families who are scrambling to make some sort of alternate arrangement for this one week. If they have to work, I dont know what they will do. I guess now they are trying to figure out where it came from, she said, adding the school has gone to great lengths to keep the kids safe. They have been very diligent that kids have their masks on. We have to sign an assessment sheet that they are feeling fine. Their hands are sanitized before they walk into the school, Wong said. There are very good protocols put in by the school, she said, adding the children were contacted by their teachers on Monday and remote learning has been set up for Tuesday. In a letter to parents Sunday night that was shared with the Star, principal Helen Wong and vice-principal Brandi Perera said Mason Road school will be receiving additional cleaning this week. They also said parents would be informed about how we will be supporting students learning during the closure period. Kandavel told the Star I think what was unique in this case is that three of the four (confirmed cases) came from staff . . . and not from community spread. The citys first school closure comes as a host of other cases of COVID-19 were reported at dozens of schools across the city on Monday. Two cases were reported in students at Martingrove Collegiate Institute, three at Richview Collegiate Institute and three at Sts. Cosmas and Damian Catholic School. All of those schools remain open. The outbreak at Mason Road comes on the heels of an outbreak at Glen Park Public School in North York on Friday. But at Glen Park, where two students tested positive, the school remained open with 35 students and teachers self-isolating, along with the two infected students. Toronto Public Health said decisions to keep schools open or to close them is done on a case-by-case basis. The decision to close any school and for how long are dependent on the unique factors related to the cases related to each school, said Dubey. TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said the closure at Mason Road came down to the number of cases, and the fact that Toronto Public Health is still investigating so as a precaution we were advised to temporarily close the school, he said. In the case of Glen Park PS, two 5/6 split classes are in self-isolation, but it was within the same cohort, he said. Mason Road is the third Ontario school to close due to an outbreak, after Monsignor Paul Baxter elementary school in Ottawa and Fellowes High School in Pembroke. The Pembroke school reopened Monday after being shut down for two weeks. Meanwhile, the province reported 36 new school-related COVID-19 cases in its latest update Monday morning for a total of 272 as of Friday at 2 p.m. As cases mount inside and outside of school, Education Minister Stephen Lecce told reporters at Queens Park the province is ready to shut down schools if advised to do so by the medical officer of health, but said from the governments perspective, the obligation really is to try to keep them open. There is overwhelming societal benefit and imperative for Ontario to have our schools open. The priority, the emphasis right now is to do whatever it takes to keep the schools open, he added. Thats not some platitude. The province may also be open to taking a regional approach to shutting down schools in areas of the province harder hit by COVID-19, while leaving schools open in boards where cases remain low. He also said the government will continue to look at all options to improve school safety. But New Democrat MPP Catherine Fife said with cases of COVID-19 now in almost 200 schools, the government needs to reverse its plan to save a buck and instead provide funding for smaller classes so students can be physically distanced indoors. Lecce said so far, more than 2,044 teachers have been hired because of government investment in ensuring the safety of our schools a number that does not include those hired in Toronto. In the legislature, NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles said Lecces repeated assurances just do not line up with the reality of whats happening in our communities This money is a shell game. That money is not flowing. And the proof is in, again, what were seeing in our communities and in our schools. It is status quo class sizes in most schools in this province. Elsewhere, the principals of two Toronto high schools Birchmount Park and Martingrove sent letters to parents on Monday revealing that students had tested positive recently. The students, one at Birchmount Park and two at Martingrove, are staying away from school for now, but the schools are not closed. Noor Javed is a Toronto-based reporter covering current affairs in the York region for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @njaved On the streets that night, Rittenhouse, 17, was playing grown-up. Hed strapped on an adults gun an AR-style semi-automatic rifle with a 30-round magazine that prosecutors charge he was too young to carry. He was telling people he was an emergency medical technician, though to be licensed as an EMT in his home state of Illinois, an applicant must be 18. And he was claiming that his job was to stand with the other armed adult volunteers who had come to town to protect private property from looting and vandalism that had broken out on previous nights as demonstrators took to the streets to protest the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake. A pizzeria in Co Down has apologised for causing any distress to its customers after a member of its staff falsely claimed he received a positive Covid-19 test - so he could get off work. Moira Pizzeria, which is located on the main street of the village, said in a post on its Facebook page yesterday that they had been misled by the staff member, who no longer works in the takeaway. The takeaway closed after they were informed of the employee's 'positive' test, in line with Covid-19 safety regulations. But it has since been explained that it turned out the person involved falsely claimed to have tested positive as he had "other plans for the weekend". Moira Pizzeria said it was "deeply" embarrassed and the claims by the individual had caused a "great detail of distress" for its staff and customers. They added that the person no longer works in the take-out and not a single staff member had tested positive for the virus or displayed any symptoms. The pizza shop has since reopened and is operating as normal once again. "As a business we tried to act responsibly, we closed and went public straight away for the protection of our staff and customers," Moira Pizzeria said in its statement. "It is only right that we share this new information for the same reason regardless of the cost to ourselves or our reputation. "The individual involved no longer works for us and no one in the shop has tested positive or displayed any symptoms. "Once again, we can only apologise for the actions of this individual." The popular eaterie declined to comment any further when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph. Moira Pizzeria received support from a number of customers after posting the statement on Facebook. One person said the actions of the individual were "shocking", while another said the business was "well rid" of the "selfish person". Another customer stated that she would be "fuming" and expressed her sympathy to the owners. "That's just awful," one customer wrote. "I was worrying as I had been in and have been coughing. Glad you got rid, no business needs that." UUP health spokesperson Alan Chambers said that the establishment may have had to needlessly pay for a professional deep clean. "It was a pretty mean thing to do and rather disloyal by someone who was getting their wages from the establishment," commented the North Down MLA. "It is a hard financial blow coming at this particular time in having to close for a few days." Meanwhile, the DUP's health spokesperson, Pam Cameron MLA, who is also the deputy chair of Stormont's Health Committee, added: "I cannot comment on an individual case but there are very clear guidelines as to what to do if you display symptoms and especially if you subsequently test positive. "It is up to each and every one of us to follow both law and guidelines and to be mindful of our actions and in how they impact on others. "This is an incredibly difficult time for all. We all need to play our part to see us through the winter." A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency said that the body cannot comment on individual cases but reminded people to only book a Covid-19 test if they develop any of the symptoms of the virus. The Department for the Economy, which oversees employment, was also contacted for comment last night. (Photo : (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)) NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: Protestors rally against Amazon and the company's plans to move their second headquarters to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, at New York City Hall, January 30, 2019 in New York City. Some Queens community members and activists say Amazon's move to Queens will further gentrify neighborhoods in the area and add more stress to an already struggling infrastructure system. (Photo : (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)) HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 14: Items in "Amazon Prime" branded packaging are seen at the Amazon Fulfillment Centre on November 14, 2018 in Hemel Hempstead, England. The online retailer Amazon will again take part in the now-traditional "Black Friday" sales this year, with reductions available from 16-25 November. (Photo : (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)) WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 18: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seal hangs on the facade of its building September 18, 2008 in Washington, DC. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has called for the ouster of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in the wake of the collapse of several giant banks on Wall Street and the resulting financial crisis. Amazon, LLC's former finance officer and two members of her family, were recently charged last Monday, September 28, with insider trading of the company's assets, gaining up to $1.4 million in the process illegally, now pursued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Amazon had no idea regarding insider trading and was unaware of the illegal activities under its nose. Amazon.com, Inc.'s former high ranking officer from the Tax Department was allegedly trading the company's sensitive and confidential information to unknown buyers through her husband. Laksha Borha, the former finance officer, is now facing charges from SEC and the United States. Laksha Borha supplied the information to her husband, Viky Borha, and his father, Gotham Borha, who then traded the sensitive data for profit. The illegal insider trading lasted for two years, while Laksha Borha was under Amazon's Tax Department. She illegally revealed Amazon's financial performance, which was then bought for unknown reasons. According to CNN Business, The Borha trio traded the information into 11 separate accounts managed by the family. Laksha Borha was a senior manager during her stint with Amazon, having access to high-level information used for profiteering. The case was filed by SEC in San Fransisco's Regional Office. Its Director, Erin Schneider, believes that the Borha family are culprits who leaked sensitive information to various unknown individuals. Amazon and the lawyers of the Borha family are not responding regarding the issue. ALSO READ: Spotify Partners With Prod Co. Behind 'New Girl,' Epic Games, and Tile for Two Reasons--'Creating Coalition for App Fairness' Against Apple and Turn Original Podcasts into Movies Borha vs. SEC: Amazon's Insider Trading According to SEC's Litigation posted on Monday for public information, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Laksha Bohra, Viky Bohra, and Gotham Bohra, the insider trading went on from January 2016 to July 2018. Laksha Borha also violated Amazon's quarterly reminders that advise employees on the severity and illegality of passing on material nonpublic information or recommending Amazon securities' purchase or sale. The family's efforts reaped a whopping total of $1.4 million in the unlawful exchanges of Amazon's assets. The Borha family are now required to pay the total disgorgement of $1,428,094, total prejudgement interest of $118,406, and total penalties amounting to $1,106,399. Laksha Borha and her accomplices will now pay a whopping total of more than $2.6 million, seeing a vast difference in the gained profits. Borha vs. US: 'Parallel Action' Charges The Security and Exchanges Commission filed the case in San Fransisco, pursuing its case against the Borhas; However, according to Reuters, 'parallel' action is happening in the US Attorney's Office in the Western District of Washington, still aiming to prosecute the Borha family. Despite the family's grievous actions, Amazon did not see what was happening under its supervision, and currently, the international e-commerce company stays silent regarding the issue. Also, Amazon was not the one who found out and filed the case against its former employee, Laksha Borha, and her associates. The family trio is now facing a case against the country's federal security laws' anti-fraud provisions. This particular charge is from Seattle's federal court filings, different from San Fransisco's SEC filing. Schneider of SEC San Fransisco firmly believes that the family used Amazon's information for their gain. ALSO READ: Elon Musk: 'Manufacturing is 10,000% Harder than Prototypes'- Rants on Battery Day's Media and Public Reactions This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After procurement agencies failed to initiate the purchasing process in the state, farmers on Tuesday expressed their ire by blocking roads, staging protests and locking offices of the marketing committees . Agitated farmers held protests in Indri, Gharanda and Kunjpura in Karnal; Pipli, Ladwa, Pehowa and Sahabad in Kurukshetra; Guhla, Cheeka, Jandhola in Kaithal; and Radaur and Jagadhri in Yamunanagar. Farmers complained that delay in procurement had led to glut in grain markets. Deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala had to face the farmers ire during his visit to Cheeka town in Kaithal district where sloganeering farmers opposed his visit. The police detained a farmer leader, Hardeep Singh, for allegedly tearing down posters and banners of the chief minister and deputy chief minister. The Bharitya Kisan Union will launch statewide protests and block roads outside mandis in all the districts from Wednesday. We had raised the issue with additional chief secretary, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs PK Dass but he did not give us any assurance, said BKU Chaduni. Arhtiyas, rice millers join forces, farmers on edge Procurement agency officials are unable to procure paddy as rice millers are not allowing them to store it in their godowns. Arhtiyas and rice millers are opposing the governments decision to keep rice millers out of procurement operations. Procurement agency officials will procure paddy and transport it to the rice mill from the mandi check bogus procurement. Rice millers have demanded that the government increase their milling charges from 10 to 100 per quintal and reduce returns to 64 per quintal of paddy. Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association (HRMDA) representatives have raised the issue with the top officials of the Haryana food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department but did not get any assurance. Association members sat they will continue the strike until the government accepts their demands. We will not allow government agencies to use our godowns until our demands are accepted, said Jewel Singla, HRDMA state president. Meanwhile, Arhtiyas say they will not provide J form or cooperate until procurement agencies assure them that procured paddy will be lifted from mandi the same day. Arhtiyas and rice millers have joined hands and are not supporting procurement, putting farmers on edge. Arhtiyas and rice millers are harassing farmers. They have no option but to stage protests, said a Haryana State Agriculture and Marketing Board senior officer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON One in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer1 and as a result of certain treatments, some men will experience incontinence. In recognition of Men's Health Awareness Month this November, Depend will donate $1 dollar to PCF for every purchase of Depend Guards or Depend Shields. Funds will be used to further research to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of prostate cancer. "Depend recognizes and celebrates confronting incontinence and other health issues head on is the ultimate display of strength," said Drew Phillips, General Manager for the North American Depend Brand. "Through our partnership with Mark Teixeira, he'll be able to help us showcase first-hand how the quality of life for loved ones can be improved when addressing health concerns, and be able to speak candidly about his personal experiences taking care of his grandfather." MLB three-time All-Star Mark Teixeira bonded with his grandfather from a young age over playing and watching American's favorite pastime together. During Teixeira's teenage years, his grandfather started using Depend products which allowed him to be present to cheer at more games, actively participate in Mark's commitment to the sport and spend more time with his family. "Breaking down the stigma of men wearing Depend is important because I saw a hero of mine go through a tough time and get the support he needed," said Teixeira. "This campaign is about celebrating the strength of our loved ones and making sure other heroes know they aren't alone." "We are proud to Stand Strong with Depend and engage the public in a conversation about prostate cancer," said Dr. Jonathan Simons, President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. "As a result of this campaign, we are sharing critical health information with men and their families, and raising awareness to help accelerate research to cure this disease." Complete details around the Stand Strong for Men's Health initiative can be found at, depend.com/en-us/stand-strong. For more on the Prostate Cancer Foundation and how Depend is accelerating its research mission, please visit: pcf.org/depend. About the Depend Brand Launched in 1984 by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the Depend brand is the market leader in the adult incontinence category in North America. Over the years, the Depend brand has evolved with its consumers to provide the exceptional protection and lend them the confidence they need to lead normal, active lives. For more information or to request a product sample, visit www.Depend.com. About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 148-year history of innovation, visit Kimberly-Clark.com. About the Prostate Cancer Foundation About the Prostate Cancer Foundation The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $840 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 23 countries around the world. Learn more at www.pcf.org. [KMB-B] 1According to the American Cancer Society Between 11/1/20 11/30/20 Depend shall donate to Prostate Cancer Foundation $1.00 for each Depend Shields or Guards purchased in the United States. Minimum Donation $150,000/Maximum Donation $200,000. Void in MS. For more information, PCF.org SOURCE Depend Related Links http://www.Depend.com The murder suspect who triggered last years extradition bill crisis was a free man who had paid his debt to Hong Kong society and there was little the government could do to change that, Hong Kongs leader admitted on Tuesday. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also declined to say whether authorities could do anything to get Chan Tong-kai to Taiwan so he could surrender, something he previously said he planned to do. Chan, who is under police protection in a Hong Kong safe house, is wanted on the self-ruled island in connection with the 2018 killing of his 19-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing, in Taipei. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. His case returned to the spotlight earlier this month when the victims mother broke her silence to urge her daughters suspected killer to turn himself in. The mother of Poon Hiu-wing broke her silence earlier this month. Photo: Sam Tsang Lam said last week she believed Chan remained committed to facing justice in Taiwan when the political climate and the coronavirus crisis allowed it. In response, Poons mother, who spoke out on condition of anonymity, again pleaded with him to surrender, especially since both places have set up a special window to process his visa application. She told the Post Lam should remember the pledge she made when announcing the extradition bill. Two years ago, you told us that your original intent was to help my daughter by introducing the extradition bill, she said. Where has the original intent gone? She questioning why Lam had not taken the initiative to meet Chan and instead relied on communicating through Reverend Canon Peter Koon Ho-ming, who had been assisting him. I hereby urge Chan Tong-kai again to stand up courageously and hand himself to Taiwan immediately, she said. But Lam suggested there was little more her government could do, after Chan was released from jail having served 19 months for money laundering. As I have said before, Chan Tong-kai has served his sentence in Hong Kong and fulfilled his legal responsibility. Essentially, he is a free man, she said. Story continues Chan has been living in a police safe house since he was released from prison on October 12 last year. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said authorities had to act in accordance with the law. Photo: Nora Tam Asked why police had continued to let Chan stay in the safe house, Lam said she would not comment on individual cases. I know and I totally understand [the mothers] feelings. But in Hong Kong, we must handle every situation in accordance with the law, she said. On Chans police protection, head of the force Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Tuesday that the arrangement was made according to risk assessment and needs. He added that he could not comment further on police operational matters. In response to the death of Poon Hiu-wing, the Hong Kong government proposed a law last year that would allow fugitives in Hong Kong to be transferred to other jurisdictions with which the city had yet to form an extradition agreement, including mainland China. The bill sparked months of widespread anti-government protests, which only subsided at the start of the year because of the coronavirus. Since then, the imposition of the national security law by Beijing, which criminalise acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with external forces, has limited further unrest. Additional reporting by Chris Lau This article Hong Kong murder suspect who sparked extradition bill crisis essentially a free man, admits citys leader Carrie Lam first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. Lucknow, Sep 29 : Former chairman of Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap the Places of Worship Act, 1991 and said that it had been brought in by the then Congress government to appease the Muslims. Rizvi has also suggested that temples demolished by Mughal emperors should be rebuilt and mosques which stand there should be removed. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wasim Rizvi has urged that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, should be immediately abrogated. Rizvi's letter comes in the wake a petition filed in a Mathura court, seeking 'liberation' of the Krishna Janmabhoomi. "I urge you to scrap the Places of Worship Act, 1991, brought by the then Congress government to appease some Muslim organizations and violate the rights of the Hindus. Please bring in laws or set up a high-level committee to mediate and remove these mosques and rebuild the ancient temples where they stood before being demolished by the Mughal emperors," Rizvi said in his letter. He further wrote, "We live in a democratic country. We cannot undo the exploitation by the Mughal emperors, but giving back the religious belongings will be justice to the Hindus of the country." In his letter to the Prime Minister, Rizvi has named Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, and Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi among the prominent ancient temples that were demolished by the Mughal rulers. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text If California were an independent nation, it would have the fifth-largest economy in the world. With a GDP of $3.2 trillion, it would sit just behind Germany and just ahead of India. Its the home of Hollywood, one of the most important cultural centers in the world, and its one of the most vibrant areas for technological development. The Golden State shouldnt have trouble keeping the lights on. Yet last month, two million Californians were left without power during a record-breaking heatwave as the state performed its first rolling blackouts in nearly two decades. The shutoffs were necessary because of the states reliance on renewable energy. Cloudy days and still weather meant renewable power sources could only serve 18% of Californians demand nowhere near enough. The state used to make up for that shortfall by importing power from other western states; which it couldnt do this time, as those other states needed the power as everyone was stuck inside. California could avoid this problem in the future by embracing nuclear power. Moving away from fossil fuels has a whole laundry list of positives, even beyond the simple fact of climate change. But renewable energy needs to be reliable for it to be useful. Barring that reliability, you need an alternate power source to fill in the gaps. There is, of course, the option of natural gasbut natural gas still has the issue of carbon emissions. Nuclear power, on the other hand, generates zero carbon. Yet Californians, and Americans more broadly, have chosen to abandon nuclear as a potential power source. Fourteen states put restrictions on the construction of new nuclear power plants. So has Massachusetts, New York, and thirteen other states. Nuclear waste ( solid, radioactive fuel leftover from reactors) is a continual fear in the eyes of nuclear skeptics, despite the fact that in the last 50 years there have been no leaks or accidental releases. There will be no more reactors until a solution can be found for nuclear waste disposal. What the state legislatures have chosen to ignore is that such a solution practically exists. France, for example, sources nearly three quarters of its power from nuclear sources. Germany until political concerns forced its shutdown used to source 25% of its power from nuclear energy. But in these nations, nuclear waste is reused, and reprocessed into new fuel for extant reactors the waste itself wont need to be disposed, practically until the end of the century; by which time the nuclear storage facilities that are planned, developed, and only held up due to political bickering can be operational. Nuclear is a highly, highly regulated industry. Its one thats beset by a laundry list of requirements and licenses before a reactor can go online. Partially, you cant fault that. After all, they are dangerous, as even the most enthusiastic of nuclears advocates will admit. But most of these worries are overblown. Rather than considering the actual risks, the American mind is occupied by images of Chernobyl and Fukushima. But modern nuclear reactors are designed such that a meltdown cant occur in the way it did in those disasters. In older reactors, water was pumped electrically. A meltdown occurs when the fuel can no longer be cooled by the water that is pumped around the fuel, and it overheats. At Fukushima, thats exactly what happened: the power went out, the pumps stop working, and the reactor overheated. These days, reactor designs use gravity to move the water, and even when the electricity goes out, gravity wont. Its essentially failproof. Overly stringent regulations have prevented the replacement of older reactors still using the electrically powered pump model, with newer reactors that use the safer, superior gravity model. For instance, it took NuScale Powers innovative small reactor design three years to have their 12,000 word application pass the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions first hurdle - and that was only after answering 1,500 questions. And this application, approved this year, was the first new reactor design approved since 2014. But, after those hurdles are passed, nuclear energy ends up being cost-competitive, longer lasting, and predictable. Unlike solar or wind, you can increase or decrease nuclear power to meet demand. The dilemma is easily fixed, and will persist until the simple facts on the ground are realized. Renewable energy, as it stands, cannot work as an independent power source without nuclear power. And until government officials loosen the unnecessary restrictions upon nuclear power, we wont have reliable, renewable, energy. Sam Rutzick is a contributor to Young Voices and a graduate of Columbia University. His writing has appeared in the Baltimore Times, Spiked! Magazine, and Reason Magazine. Its full speed ahead on the scientific front in the fight against COVID-19. Were on track to have an arsenal of vaccines and medicines for the novel coronavirus within a year. Due to strong U.S. protection for intellectual property, the United States has been at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation for decades. We are now better prepared to seek solutions to a pandemic than any other country in the world. How troubling and short-sighted it is, then, that Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and other House leaders have called for policy changes that would undermine this culture of innovation. They want to strip the scientists working to defeat the coronavirus of intellectual property protections for life-saving innovations. This pledge came on the heels of a global push from Doctors Without Borders urging political leaders to preemptively seize patents on COVID-19 vaccines and therapies. Proponents claim these efforts will ensure availability, reduce prices and save more lives. What nonsense. The entire healthcare community has assured the public that COVID-19 breakthroughs will be disseminated as widely as necessary. Unsubstantiated fears of price-gouging should not be allowed to derail ongoing efforts to address this major public health challenge. Eliminating intellectual property protections would not only reduce incentives to develop coronavirus treatments as quickly as possible; they will also destroy the domestic industrial base that could be the key to stopping the next pandemic. Take this historical example that highlights the value to the public of patent protection. At the onset of Americas involvement in World War II, President Roosevelt called on companies to develop and mass-produce for soldiers a life-saving medicine that could beat back lethal infections from battlefield wounds: penicillin. A few companies rose to the presidents challenge. Pfizer, then just a fermentation company, was among them. The company found a fermentation process to produce penicillin on a war-time scale. Company leaders risked a lot had they failed, Pfizer might have been out of business. Thankfully, they did not. On D-Day, Pfizer manufactured 90 percent of all penicillin sent to soldiers overseas. Pfizer also helped the war effort by sharing its fermentation process with other firms. Eventually, 19 companies helped work on a drug meant not just for soldiers, but anyone at home fighting a bacterial infection. Pfizer continued production after the war and built on its patented processes in new lines of research, helping to usher in the age of antibiotics in the 1950s. Research companies used derivatives of penicillin to develop dozens of new antibiotics. The revenues from those medicines enabled Pfizer to fund additional research. Indeed, Pfizers Zithromax, a descendent of its early penicillin efforts, is a potential COVID-19 fighter. If the government had taken away Pfizers original intellectual property for manufacturing penicillin, none of this future progress would have been possible. Now, we face another world war, this time with coronavirus. The world is counted on science to deliver and it will. If governments strip away intellectual property protections, they will set an uncertainty-inducing precedent that will discourage the funding researchers need to explore other potential uses for todays discoveries. We would compromise our response to this pandemic and the next one. Christopher Holman is a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Some portion of the podcast will, of course, deal with the Frost-Nixon encounters. David Frost recorded nearly 29 hours of interviews with Nixon, which were broadcast in 90-minute segments on four successive nights. Nixon accepted responsibility for the Watergate scandal, acknowledging that he had let the American people down. (The first episode, which attracted 45 million viewers, still holds the record for the largest television audience for a political interview.) Nixon earned $600,000 for the interviews equivalent to about $2.5 million in 2020 plus a share of the profits from the broadcasts. Frost got the exclusive in part because he made Nixon the highest offer, an exchange that was denigrated as checkbook journalism though at least one network had offered Nixon money too. The interviews were chronicled in the play Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan. Michael Sheen starred as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon in the theatrical version, which opened in London in 2006 and on Broadway in 2007. It was adapted for a 2008 Ron Howard film by the same name, in which both actors reprised their roles. In 2014, Wilfred Frost began working on a deal for the rights to the 380 master recordings that CBS did have of The David Frost Show, which had presented its final program five years before the famous Nixon sit-down. The recordings had been gathering dust for decades in a storage unit in Pennsylvania. When Mr. Peck began his search for the Frost tapes, he remembered that he had previously recovered a few White House recordings of the The Merv Griffin Show, another program whose rights he handled, from the Nixon library. Tehran, now streaming on Apple TV+, follows a Mossad agent, on an undercover mission to dismantle Iran's nuclear reactor. Moshe Zonder, best known for political thriller Fauda, once again tries to keep his audience at the edge of their seats with eight-part espionage series Tehran. Fauda saw an Israeli Defence Force unit infiltrate Palestinian militant group Hamas, and in Tehran, Zonder sends his Iranian born Mossad computer-hacker agent Tamar Rabiyan (Niv Sultan), a novice, on an undercover mission to dismantle Iran's nuclear reactor. The assignment goes awry and Tamar goes rogue, sheltering herself from her superiors desperately on her tail. Every scene is thick with tension, will she or will she not get caught? Both Fauda and Tehran broach the subject of Israel's tensions with its neighbours through the respective journeys of their primary characters. Zonder's experience as an investigative journalist helped bring a broader perspective in illustrating these complex relations. "I loved to cross borders, mentally and physically, to the West Bank and Gaza strip and meet, for example, the leaders of the Hamas Islamic movement, Israel's greatest enemy in the region. Interviewing them, meeting their families and hearing their life stories, impressed me. It was much different than anything I knew before and what was published in Israeli press. It led me to write the first season of Fauda." Executive producer Dana Eden calls Tehran "a global story about identity, immigrants, family, and loyalty." When it comes to dealing with geopolitical representations in cinema and TV, one side is often favoured over the other. We have seen it in Hollywood's war/spy dramas and in the ultranationalism of Bollywood films. With Tehran, Zonder says he has attempted to draw parallels between the lives of common, young Israelis and their cross-border peers, researching for which took him and his team over two years. While politics are important, humanity takes precedence in storytelling. "We wanted to show the lives of those young people that I adore protesting and demonstrating against the Ayatollah regime, risking their freedom and lives," says Zonder. "One of the most beautiful things about this show is that we have put in a lot of effort to show both sides of the conflict without leading the audience to choose one side over the other. There is no one clear enemy," reiterates Iranian-American actor Shaun Toub, who plays Faras Kamali, head of the Revolutionary Guards, a branch of Iran's armed forces, "As a viewer, your feelings are changing in every episode. You can relate, but also hate both sides." The show tries to subvert stereotypes of Iran being a restrictive Islamic state with no space for self-expression. We see Tamar seek refuge at her long lost aunt Arezoo's home, and soon befriend a local hacker and student activist Milad (Shervin Alenabi), who introduces her to Iran's underground culture. Arezoo's daughter, on the other hand, represents the conservative side. The world of espionage and action thrillers is usually dominated by men, so choosing a female protagonist was a political statement for the makers, an important step toward diverse media representation. Besides, writing a female character and designing difficult situations for her to tackle was "more interesting and freeing" for Zonder and co-writer Omri Shenhar. "The fact that we chose a woman and not only a woman, but an immigrant from Iran, who comes back to her homeland as a spy makes everything more complex and more nuanced," adds executive producer Dana Eden. Tamar is inexperienced and nervous as an on-field agent, and sentimental upon returning to her place of birth. Though her self-defence training kicks in when she is in peril, she is still susceptible to rookie mistakes, endangering herself and people around her. Selecting the right fit for Tamar involved a fair amount of auditions, until Eden suggested Sultan, whom she had worked with before. "I want to say about Niv that she has a quality to be tough and soft at the same time. That's what she brought into the character. We didn't want the character to be only tough or only soft and vulnerable we wanted both. Niv embedded both of those qualities in her acting," says Eden. For Sultan, preparing for the role involved learning Farsi, mastering the pronunciation and mouth movements, which were completely different from Hebrew and Arabic, the two languages she has been exposed to in Israel. The actor immersed herself in Iranian culture, even refined her physical skills by learning Krav Maga (Israeli martial art). Most dialogues in the show are in Farsi, with fragments of Hebrew and English. Sultan reveals she took over four to five months to learn her lines. Tehran's cast also includes Navid Neganban (Homeland), Liraz Charhi, Menashe Noy, Shila Vosough Ommi. Tehran is now streaming on Apple TV+. The Queen's former chef has revealed the recipe to a boozy chocolate mousse that is one of Her Majesty's favourites. Darren McGrady, 58, who was the personal chef to the Queen in the 1990s, made a video for his YouTube channel with a step-by-step recipe explaining how she enjoys chocolate desserts, which he served at Balmoral. 'It's no secret that the Queen loves chocolate, and the darker chocolate the better,' he says in the video. Recipe for Darren's delicious Drambuie chocolate mousse INGREDIENTS 6 ounces dark chocolate 10 fl oz heavy cream 5 egg yolks 5 egg whites 1 tsp instant coffee 2 tbs Glenfiddich whiskey or Drambuie (that I use in the video) or any good whiskey 1 tbs boiling water METHOD Melt the chocolate taking care not to overheat it in a large bowl. Put the coffee in a small bowl and dissolve in the boiling water. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate and then add the dissolved coffee and the whiskey and mix well. Whip the cream until stiff and peaks hold. Whip the egg whites until stiff and the peaks hold. Fold the cream with a metal spoon into the chocolate mixture followed by the whipped egg whites. Keep folding until there are no white specks of cream or egg white and then pour into a decorative serving dish. Put the mousse into the refrigerator for at least three hours to allow the chocolate to set. The top can now be decorated with rosettes of whipped cream and chocolate curls for table presentation. This mixture makes enough for about eight portions of dessert. Advertisement Darren, who was born in the UK but is now based in Texas, often shares stories from his life working for both the Queen and Princess Diana. In the new clip, he revealed that the staff came up with the dessert as they would often not know where the royals would be dining during the summer at Balmoral and would need to prepare dishes that could be served anywhere on the estate. 'The Queen is at Balmoral Castle. She loves it there! So do her staff. It's a nerve-wracking time for her chefs though,' Darren explains. 'Will dinner be in (at the castle) or out (BBQ in the hills on the estate)? We had to be be prepared for both... at a moment's notice!' Darren McGrady, 58, who was the personal chef to the Queen in the 1990s, made a video for his YouTube channel with a step-by-step recipe explaining how the royal enjoys chocolate desserts He added that the Royal Family often spend time out on the estate and as a result will occasionally dine in the lodges. 'Here's the most delicious chocolate mousse I made for The Queen, both at Balmoral and banquets at Buckingham Palace, that you will ever taste. 'Light, fluffy, not too sweet and easy to make!' Darren said, adding: 'I think if you polled all over the royal staff, they'd all agree that Balmoral is the favourite estate.' To make the dish, Darren started off by melting dark chocolate but ensured it wasn't too hot because that causes scorching. Darren, who was born in the UK but is now based in Texas, often shares stories from his life working for both the Queen and Princess Diana in the 1990s. In the new clip, he revealed that the staff came up with the dish as they would often not know where the royals would be dining during the summer at Balmoral and would need to prepare dishes that could be served anywhere on the estate Next he took the eggs and separated them to stiffen the whites. He then whipped cream until stiffened and set it aside. Darren added boiling water to instant coffee and then a generous splash of Drambuie whiskey to the mix. Once the chocolate was melted, he built the mousse by adding coffee and whiskey together and then adding egg yolk. When everything was mixed in he added the whipped cream and egg whites and left he dessert for three hours to set in the fridge. Darren said the royal kitchen staff love spending time at Balmoral as there is 'gorgeous produce' grown on site, including 'the best berries in the world'. He is pictured making the mousse It was then topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzles. Darren said the royal kitchen staff love spending time at Balmoral as there is 'gorgeous produce' grown on site, including 'the best berries in the world'. But while the meals are finely cooked with the best ingredients, they are sometimes served in plastic containers. 'We never knew whether the royal family were going out for dinner, barbequing to the hills, or having dinner in the Castle,' he explained. 'We never knew until about 5 o'clock when they'd gather for afternoon tea and then decide. However, if foods such as the mousse were on the dinner menu, that posed problems in terms of how to serve it. 'We'd have to make two different lots of chocolate mousse one we'd prepare in a beautiful silver dish and one we'd prepare in plastic because we couldn't send the silver out to the hills.' The big picture: Google's latest Android "choice screen" auction results saw Microsoft's Bing win in all the major markets in Europe, alongside three other search engines from small independent providers. But while it may look like the search giant has done the right thing after being fined $5 billion for anticompetitive behavior, some of its rivals think the auction is designed to prevent Google from bleeding market share. Last year, Google promised it would soon let Android users choose an alternative search engine to govern their smartphones. The company devised a country-specific auction where alternative search providers could bid for one of three slots alongside Google in a choice screen shown during device setup. The results for the October-December auction are in, and it looks like the big winners are Bing, GMX, Info.com, and PrivacyWall -- these will show up for a majority of the countries in Europe, including major markets like Germany, France, and the UK. By contrast, DuckDuckGo and Yandex only won in a few of the smaller countries, despite the former managing to win in all 31 countries in the first auction earlier this year. Google says that "in developing the choice screen for Europe, we carefully balanced providing users with yet more choice while ensuring that we can continue to invest in developing and maintaining the open-source Android platform for the long-term. [...] An auction is a fair and objective method to determine which search providers are included." Naturally, rival search providers disagree. DuckDuckGo believes the auctions are rigged by Google to ensure continued dominance of its own search engine. DuckDuckGo CEO and founder Gabriel Weinberg says that his search engine didn't win in more countries because search providers are incentivized to bid close to what they can expect to earn in profit for every user they gain. Weinberg notes that while DuckDuckGo has been "robustly profitable" since 2014, the focus on user privacy and a clean search experience translates into a lot less profit per search. This results in a lower bid in Google's auction, where some rival search engines with less strict privacy policies and more aggressive advertising strategies stand to win. In a study conducted earlier this year with 9,000 Android users across the US, UK, and Australia -- where Google holds over 95 percent of the mobile search market -- DuckDuckGo found that a different design for the search engine choice screen on Android could lead to a significant change in Google's market share. Many users still went with Google even if when it was placed last on a complete list of alternatives, but its share would still drop between 16 and 20 percent. BRUSSELS - European Union officials and Germany came to the defence of an EU commissioner Tuesday after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for her resignation because she publicly criticized his governments policies. Germanys Europe Minister directly addressed Values Commissioner Vera Jourova on Twitter, writing that the European Union needs your impartial and clear mind. The minister, Michael Roth, added: Thank you for your tireless engagement. In an interview with German weekly newspaper Der Spiegel on Saturday, Jourova said Hungary under Orban was veering away from Western democracy, especially now than media freedom had come under attack. There is hardly any criticism of the government in Hungarian media anymore, so that a large majority of Hungarians may no longer be able to form a free opinion, she told the newspaper. I fear the people in Hungary could one day discover that their last election was also their last free election. Mr. Orban likes to say he is building an illiberal democracy. I would say he is building a sick democracy, Jourova said. In a stinging letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, Orban wrote that Jourovas statements are not only a direct political attack against his government but also a humiliation to Hungary and the Hungarian people. Her resignation is indispensable, Orban said. Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said Tuesday that Jourova continued to enjoy von der Leyens full trust. Our concerns when it comes to the rule of law situation in Hungary are well known. They will be addressed in our rule of law report, which Jourova is scheduled to present Wednesday, Spinant said. Orbans letter also spawned an outpouring of support for Jourova among EU legislators. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Colleges across the U.S. have taken vastly different approaches to learning right now due to COVID-19. Some campuses re-opened to students in the fall, while others opted to offer online-only classes or a mix of in-person and online coursework. The result has had profound impacts on where students learn, how they stay connected to campus and classmates, and their travel and leisure activities, according to a new survey conducted by online budget travel agency CheapTickets. The survey asked 515 college-age students questions regarding online learning, travel and their on-campus connections, and found that COVID-19 has significantly impacted travel for Gen Z learners1. While more than half (53%) haven't traveled for leisure since COVID-19 closed campuses in March 2020, 47% of respondents reported to have taken a leisure trip or vacation since COVID-19 started the most common types being short trips with friends or family vacations. "College is a period of continuous growth and development for students, not just academically but in terms of how they navigate and broaden their understanding of the world around them. Travel is an important part of that experience," says Justine McDonald, Senior Manager CheapTickets brand. "Many students told us they don't have any leisure travel planned for the rest of the year, however 30% reported they plan to take use local activities as a getaway this fall." Student Travel Plans Our survey findings show that most students are taking the pandemic seriously when it comes to travel planning. Nearly 3 in 4 respondents (73%) reported they are traveling much less since the start of the pandemic, and the controlled spread of COVID-19 in an origin or destination was the most significant consideration for students in determining whether or not to travel. When asked what type of leisure trip students had taken or would consider this fall, there was one clear winner. "The family vacation is the new fall break this year," says McDonald. "Most students said they weren't planning any fall break trips this year (37%), but for those who were, it was to travel with their family." Online Learning Impacts Most respondents said they were taking classes online right now (62%), with the majority living at home with parents or family members (55%). Attitudes toward their online learning situation were surprisingly positive, especially when compared with their family members. Online learners were more likely to report feeling calm and happy about their at-home setup, while they believe their family members are more likely to report feeling sad overall. This gap increased in particular for remote learners in the Northeastern part of the U.S. More than 30% believe their family is less happy about their online learning setup right now. Taking a Schoolcation While many colleges offering in-person classes are limiting travel to prevent on-campus spread of COVID-19, the pandemic has reduced travel much more significantly for those who are taking online classes only. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of remote learners are traveling "a little" or "much" less since COVID-19, compared to the 46% of students taking in-person classes that report the same travel impact. This is despite nearly a quarter reporting that their primary motivation for any leisure travel right now would be to recharge and take a break from their school and work schedule. "Students are experiencing the pandemic just like the rest of us, and stress from a compressed school schedule and the extra demands of learning right now are top of mind for them," says McDonald. "According to our research, the top two motivations for student trip planning are to recharge and take a break from school and work (23%), or to re-connect with friends or family (22%)." While acknowledging that travel isn't an option for many students right now, CheapTickets is offering a way for students to jumpstart their future travel plans without leaving home. Students can enter the CheapTickets Schoolcation Contest where they could win $500 in future travel credit redeemable through the end of 20212. Students just have to answer two prompts via an online form: Where in the world would they most want to be remote learning right now, and what they miss most about being on campus. "For many students travel for the time being is just like classes and so much else virtual-only," says McDonald. "But that doesn't mean students can't take a study break this fall to dream about what that next trip could be like." For more information on the CheapTickets Student Travel Survey and for COVID-19 travel tips and advice, visit CheapTickets.com. About CheapTickets CheapTickets.com is an online travel provider where travelers come to get more value out of every trip they book. On CheapTickets.com, travelers search, plan and book all aspects of their trip, from flight and hotels to events and car rentals. CheapTickets.com helps travelers make the most of their travel budget, no matter how big or small, with steep discounts, expert advice and useful tips. Follow CheapTickets.com on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for more cheap travel deals and giveaways. Founded in 1986, CheapTickets.com is owned by Expedia Group, one of the world's leading travel companies. 2020, Trip Network, Inc., an Expedia Group Company. All rights reserved. CheapTickets, CheapTickets.com, and the CheapTickets logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Trip Network, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. CST # 2062836-50 For more information: Mel Dohmen Sr. Manager, Communications [email protected] 1 CheapTickets "Student Travel" online survey among 515 U.S. students currently enrolled in post-secondary education, fielded September 14-20, 2020. 2 See www.CheapTickets.com/Schoolcation for contest terms and conditions. SOURCE CheapTickets Related Links http://CheapTickets.com FIT4MOM joins Sweet Baby Shade's Affiliate Program Sweet Baby Shade", the only baby sunshade of its kind protects Infants and Toddlers from the harmful rays of the sun and now, unwanted human contact! Sweet Baby Shade", the only baby sunshade of its kind protects Infants and Toddlers from the harmful rays of the sun and now, unwanted human contact! NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STEINER INNOVATIONS, LLC AKA "Sweet Baby Shade", is excited to announce an affiliate program with FIT4MOM, the nations leading company for pre and postnatal health, wellness, and fitness programs for every stage of motherhood. "We are excited to be teaming with FIT4MOM and believe Sweet Baby Shade will be beneficial in these times of COVID, while providing the all-important sun protection to their little ones, said Don Steiner, president of Steiner Innovations. This product is GREAT and especially with our 'new normal' these shades will come in handy during our classes! said Britney Pagano, Partnership Sales Manager of FIT4MOM. Not only does Sweet Baby Shade help to protect your babys eyes and skin from the suns harmful UV rays, they also act as a deterrent for any unwanted hands reaching into the stroller and your babys personal space. Don continued, The last six months have been an extraordinary challenge for all of us. We sincerely hope your family and loved ones are safe and healthy, as we are committed to the health and safety of our customers and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Steiner, a leading entrepreneur, founded STEINER INNOVATIONS in 2012 with the goal of creating products and solutions to improve the quality of life for families. Mr. Steiner is also President of Profit Recovery Partners (PRP) LLC, a leading cost reduction consulting firm in North America. About FIT4MOM FIT4MOM is the nations leading company for pre and postnatal health, wellness, and fitness programs for every stage of motherhood. FIT4MOM is headquartered in San Diego, California, but has franchises nationwide, reaching tens of thousands of mamas all over the United States. To learn more, visit https://fit4mom.com/about. Story continues About Steiner Innovations, LLC AKA Sweet Baby Shade STEINER INNOVATIONS, LLC develops and brings to the market products at a low cost to improve consumers' standard of living. The company is built on core values that serve customers first with its goals to deliver original ideas and practical products. To learn more, visit https://www.sweetbabyshade.com/ or call (714) 617-3095. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69182a93-9335-4a2e-aa89-148f472f449d Dhaka, Sep 29 : The Bangladesh government's Postal Department has released a commemorative stamp to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 73rd birthday. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar unveiled the commemorative stamp worth Tk 10 during a programme on Monday, reports bdnews24. The Department said that a commemorative envelope worth Tk 10 and a data card worth Tk 5 along with a special seal were also released to mark the occasion. The stamps and envelopes went on sale from Monday at the Philatelic Bureau of Dhaka GPO. These will later be sold at all the main post offices and GPOs across the country. "Digital infrastructure is a big tool of Sheikh Hasina's struggle to establish a digital Bangladesh," bdnews24 quoted Jabbar as saying. Describing the 'Digital Bangladesh' initiative as a milestone in the country's progress, he added: "As a worthy successor to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina has left an indelible mark of honesty, self-sacrifice, foresight and patriotism - this is her greatest achievement." Hasina, the longest serving Bangladeshi Prime Minister, turned 73 on Monday. For the first time since she was elected premier for a second time in 2008, she celebrated her birthday at home this year as the day coincides with the UN General Assembly in New York annually, bdnews24 reported. Although Hasina asked the ruling Awami League not to organise celebrations due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the ruling party held some scaled-down events with health protocols in place. The events mainly include special prayers and discussions. WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI The death of a person who was found in an Augusta Township home a month ago is being investigated by Michigan State Police. Officers were called Aug. 29 to the home in the 5000 block of Bolla Road, east of US-23, for a report of a person found dead inside the home, according to Michigan State Police. Stating that the investigation is still open and ongoing as of Tuesday, Sept. 29, police declined to provide the deceased persons name or any information regarding the death. Police also did not release information at the start the investigation in August. However, police said the death is being investigated by the Michigan State Police Special Investigation Service. Anyone with information is asked to contact state police or leave a tip anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP. More from The Ann Arbor News: Voters set to decide who takes over the bench from retiring 14B District Court judge First Street to close in downtown Ann Arbor for construction Concerns remain as officials near decision on Ann Arbor pollution cleanup HAMDEN Hamden schools reported that a student had tested positive for COVID-19 early Tuesday, but Superintendent of Schools Jody Goeler later said the test was a false positive, with a more reliable test producing a negative result. The student, who attends Hamden High School and is a member of the dance team, initially tested positive via a rapid COVID-19 test, according to Goeler, who said he learned of the apparent infection over the weekend. As a result, the entire 23-person dance team was instructed to quarantine. But the student has since received the results of a second test, which came back negative, Goeler said. The latest test was a PCR test, while the first was a rapid test, he said. Rapid tests are known to be less reliable than PCR tests. But for both tests, false positive results are very rare, according to an article from Harvard Health Publishing. Goeler said the negative result was reviewed by the districts team leader for school nurses, which helped informed the decision to suspend the quarantine. Due to the latest test result, members of the dance team will be able to return to school Wednesday, according to the superintendent. The Quinnipiack Valley Health District did not return a request for comment. As of Tuesday, no other students on the twenty-three person team had tested positive for the virus, Goeler said. The district reported earlier this month that a staff member at Helen Street Elementary School was diagnosed with COVID-19. Hamden public schools opened Sept. 15 under a hybrid learning model, with middle and high school students divided into cohorts, so that half are in school each day and the other half learning remotely, according to the districts reopening plan. Grades K-6 are in school four days a week, the plan indicates. About 30 percent of students opted for full-time distance learning, Goeler said earlier this year. Over the summer, prior to the start of school, two of the high schools adult education teachers also tested positive for COVID-19. They quarantined per the districts health plan, Goeler said at the time. Note: This story has been updated to report the superintendents statement indicating the initial COVID-19 test produced a false positive. meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com As COVID-19 cases continue to pile up, a leading health expert says the Ontario government should consider shutting down casinos, movie theatres and shopping malls. Industry defenders, meanwhile, say closures would be unnecessary and unfair. Closing them completely should be a last resort. But I think we need to consider everything right now. How surgical can we afford to be? said Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease specialist with the University Health Network. Tuesday, Ontario had 554 new COVID-19 cases, down from a record-setting 700 the day before. But Sharkawy warns we havent come close to the peak of the second wave. I have no doubt that well be seeing a thousand cases per day within the next two to three weeks, said Sharkawy, who was surprised to see some Ontario casinos reopen on Monday for the first time since March. Casinos had been allowed to open since the province hit Stage 3 in mid-July, but casino operators had been negotiating unsuccessfully with the province to boost a 50-customer cap. Theyre closing strip clubs and cutting bar hours but casinos are still open? Gambling is not essential. All it will take is one outbreak at a facility like this to show why we shouldnt be supporting them right now, said Sharkawy. Those casinos are all managed by Great Canadian Gaming Co., which runs 11 casinos in Ontario, including at Woodbine and Mohawk. Shutting casinos down wouldnt be fair to the industrys 17,000 workers in Ontario, said Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, the casino industrys national trade association. If they roll things back to Stage 2 for the entire province, or an entire region, thats their prerogative. If they cherry-pick one sector of one industry, thats problematic, said Burns, who pointed out that casinos which have opened are nowhere near their standard capacity, and are missing some standard features: booze and table games. Were the safest part of the entire hospitality industry, because were already so heavily regulated. And now, there are only 50 people allowed in at a time, said Burns. A spokesperson for the provincial ministry of health said the government is still monitoring the COVID situation across Ontario, and could implement further restrictions. The government, in consultation with public health experts, continues to review trends from a range of criteria on an ongoing basis to determine if public health measures need to be adjusted or tightened, said Anna Miller. Allowing just 50 customers into a casino thats designed for thousands isnt a money-maker, said Burns. Not that its being done for charitable purposes, he admitted. They wanted to demonstrate to public health officials that they could open and operate in a safe manner. Its not economically viable at 50 people, said Burns. Eventually, Burns said the casino industry would like to see more gamblers coming through the doors. That conversation stopped when the province announced a 28-day moratorium on more opening up. Its a conversation that well continue at the appropriate time. We recognize that now is not the time, Burns said. Mall operator Cadillac Fairview, which runs properties including the Eaton Centre, says its ready if the government clamps down again. Like many other businesses, we are closely monitoring the current COVID-19 environment and local public health updates with regards to potential restrictions being reimposed. Should this be the case, we have plans in place to act quickly and as mandated, said Cadillac Fairview spokesperson Janine Ramparas. A spokesperson for the countrys largest movie theatre chain said the company would follow whatever rules are put in place, but said their theatres are safe. I wouldnt want to speculate about what may or may not happen, but above all our primary concern is the health and well-being of our team and guests. We have proudly and safely welcomed back over 1.5 million guests to our theatres since Canada Day, but will of course follow all heath and safety guidelines put in place at the federal, provincial and municipal level should things change, said Cineplex spokesperson Sarah Van Lange. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close AGGRAVATED ASSAULT: A pizza delivery driver told police a woman stole a pizza and threatened to shoot him if he chased her after she arranged to have the pizza delivered to the Starbucks parking lot, 15852 S. Cicero Ave., on Sept. 25. The victim told police the pizza cost $29 and the suspect only gave him $12. When the victim attempted to take back possession of the pizza, he said the woman grabbed the pizza, began running and said dont chase me, I have a gun and Ill shoot you before lifting up her shirt to reveal a small, black handgun. The suspect is described as a black woman about 55 with a very heavy build and black hair and wearing baggy black pants and a black jacket. Back in 2016, Nikola unveiled the Nikola One prototype , a hydrogen-electric semi they claimed was not a pusher and fully functional, but that later turned out to be just a pusher that would never go into production. As Trevor Milton would have it (based on his own claims in a 2018 lawsuit against Tesla, in which he claimed Tesla stole the One design for its own Semi), he designed the One on his own, in his basement.That claim is accurate only if Miltons basement is in Croatia and on his own means he bought the concept from a designer working with Rimac Automobili. According to internal documentation obtained by the Financial Times (story via The Drive ), Milton was in Croatia in 2015, meeting with Rimac people in order to collaborate on a series of unspecified projects.The collaboration proved impossible, but Milton got to meet with Adriano Mudri, head designer at Rimac at the time. Mudris earlier diploma project was a semi concept called Road Runner, and Milton apparently liked it so much he paid several thousand dollars for it.Back home, he used the Road Runner moniker for Nikolas first semi project, which is either one huge coincidence or proof that the Road Runner was Nikola One before re-christening. Two people working with Nikola confirm for the Financial Times that this was no coincidence: and they have the receipts to prove it, including internal communication mentioning the Nikola Roadrunner Project Prototype.This latest revelation is in accordance to what Tesla has been saying it its countersuit against Nikola, namely that Nikola cant claim any patent infringement against Tesla over the One, since theyre not the original designers. In a statement to the same publication, Nikola acknowledges the Mudri connection but denies his work had any influence on the final design of One.The Nikola One truck was designed and patented by Nikola, Nikola says. It is commonplace to license third-party designs during vehicle development, and although early in the process Nikola purchased a license to Adriano Mudri's designs, he was not part of the design team and his designs are materially different from the design invented by Nikola for the Nikola One.Nikola has seen a genuine fall from grace in recent weeks. A report by Hindenburg Research accused the startup of intricate fraud for securing millions without making any actual products, which prompted an investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice. Then, Trevor Milton was accused of sexual assault, and he stepped down from his position as Nikola chairman and board member, going completely dark online as well. Former GM executive Steve Girsky replaced him Vice-President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo has warned that Nigeria may break up if efforts are not made to address the already existing cracks. The Vice President gave the warning when he spoke at an interdenominational church service to commemorate Nigerias 60th Independence anniversary on Sunday, September 27. The Vice-President who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at the National Ecumenical Centre, where the anniversary service was held, said efforts to mend the crack might be opposed, but such opposition would be defeated with focus and consistent prayers. Making reference to the biblical story of how Nehemiah championed the rebuilding of the broken walls of Jerusalem, Vice President Osinbajo said DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the leader of Kuwait who earned a reputation as a seasoned diplomat and a rare ruler who could cross the regions political and sectarian divides, touched off an outpouring of grief from the Arab world Tuesday. As news of his death broke, condolence messages streamed in from across the region and from Western countries with longstanding ties to Kuwait, including the U.S. and Britain. Several Arab governments declared days of mourning and lowered their flags to half-staff in his honour. As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body of Arab Gulf states, Kuwait has often charted its own course, pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab states that continues to this day. Diplomats around the world eulogized Sheikh Sabah as an expert statesman who navigated regional feuds and provided humanitarian aid in times of crisis. Sheikh Sabah was an extraordinary symbol of wisdom and generosity, a messenger of peace, a bridge-builder, said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. From the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan offered an admiring tribute, describing the late emir as a great pioneer in Gulf co-operation. In Saudi Arabia, one of Kuwaits closest allies, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Sheikh Sabah devoted his life to the service of his country and to Arab and Islamic nations, a sentiment echoed by Bahrain, another close regional partner. Such was Sheikh Sabahs status that condolences poured in from Qatar and Iran, locked in long-running rivalries with Kuwaits key Gulf allies, as well as from Israel, underscoring his reputation as a source of stability in a turbulent region. The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, referred to Sheikh Sabah as the father of all. With his departure, the world has lost a beacon and symbol of humanity, he wrote. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran wrote on Twitter that he was pained by the loss of Sheikh Sabah, who painted an image of moderation and balance, for Kuwait and for the region. The Israeli Foreign Ministry lauded Sheikh Sabah for steering Kuwait to modernity and stability. Yemens Shiite Houthi rebels, who are battling a Saudi-led military coalition for control of the country, said they appreciated the late emirs support of peace-making efforts. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Sheikh Sabah central to building peace and prosperity in the Gulf region, noting that his humanitarianism and global leadership shaped Kuwait into a prosperous modern state. From Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sheikh Sabah made a personal contribution to regional stability and humanitarian assistance which will long be remembered. I sincerely hope the long and deep ties that unite our countries will continue, he added. In Lebanon, where the late Kuwaiti leader played a key role in trying to end the countrys ruinous 1975-90 civil war and later helped with its reconstruction, President Michel Aoun said his country had lost a great brother who stood by the Lebanese during the difficult circumstances over the past years. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi praised the late emirs long-standing fraternal stance toward Egypt, while Jordans royal court announced a 40-day mourning period nationwide. In Iraq, Kuwaits northern neighbour, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi recalled Sheikh Sabah as one of the first leaders to support Iraqi state-building efforts after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein, and later in fighting the Islamic State group. Veteran U.N. diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi cited the friendly present-day relations between Kuwait and Iraq as proof of the late emirs wisdom and farsightedness three decades after the Gulf War. As Kuwaits Cabinet announced that Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah would take the reins of power, many expressed hope that the tiny oil-rich country would follow the peacemaking path set by Sheikh Sabah. The role that Kuwait traditionally plays in the Middle East as a bridge-builder is needed today more than ever, said Ban Ki-moon, former U.N. secretary-general and deputy chair of The Elders, a group of world leaders. ___ Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report. UPDATE: 2 dead after Williamstown house fire: state police Four adults and six children were left homeless after an overnight fire in Williamstown ravaged several row homes for hours, officials said. The blaze broke out around 2:20 a.m. on the first block of East Market Street, according to Dauphin County dispatch. Here are some photos from earlier this morning. More than 10 fire departments from Dauphin & Schuylkill counties responded. Three homes caught fire. Firefighters believe the blaze started in the middle home. Were told one of the homes has a chiropractors office in the back pic.twitter.com/f4I2eyHgKK Priscilla Liguori (@PriscillaABC27) September 29, 2020 Fire crews from Dauphin and Schuylkill counties rushed to the scene and battled the flames for at least four hours. FOX 43 reported smoke was continuing to rise from the homes as of 8:40 a.m. The American Red Cross tweeted it is providing food, clothing and temporary lodging for the families. The extent of damage and whether anyone was hurt in the fire remains unclear. ABC 27 reported the fire damaged a chiropractors office and several homes. Pennsylvania State Police told ABC 27 they are still working on getting into the homes to determine injuries and fatalities. ABC 27 said they did not release any information at the scene about people who were rescued or unaccounted for. READ MORE: Lancaster County man could serve decade in prison for vandalizing Millersville U. buildings: prosecutors Accused in killing, Pa. man says he didnt understand word attorney and wants confession thrown out Ephrata pedestrian charged at driver with knife when he asked him to get out of the street: police HINESBURG, Vt. - A fire chief suffered a minor injury when ammunition inside a burning home shot out and hit him, officials said. Firefighters responded to the fire in Hinesburg, Vermont, shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. No one was home at the time, WCAX-TV reported. The ammunition that caught fire and shot out of the house delayed crews from putting the fire out, the television station reported. The fire also damaged a neighbouring home. Investigators believe that cigarette butts found in pine needles under pine shrub sparked the fire. The pandemic and record low mortgage rates have played out in a blockbuster summer for the Toronto regions new construction home market, according to numbers released by the building industry on Tuesday. August sales of single family homes a category that includes detached, semi-detached, link and town houses (stacked town homes excluded) soared 355 per cent year over year in August, outstripping the gains of condos, which also saw a 159 per cent year over year boost in sales last month. Although the benchmark price of newly built and pre-construction homes dipped slightly compared to July, condos still sold for 15.7 per cent more year over year at $972,859, and single-family homes were up eight per cent annually to $1.17 million. We have seen spring push into summer, said David Wilkes, CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). The spring sales that didnt happen because of the pandemic are happening now and are being added on to the sales that would usually occur at this time of year. This year there have been slightly more than the average number of single-family home sales to date 9,678 versus 9,342, the average between 2014 and 2020. The average number of condo sales in the same period was 14,500. This year to date there have been only 13,008. The total 22,776 new construction home sales this year to date remains below the 2017 peak of 29,531 sales, according to data supplied to the industry by Altus Group. The 1,150 detached houses sold last month is the highest number for August since 2011 with the most 425 sold in Durham Region. But the 4,762 detached homes sold this year to date remains below the 10-year average. While this years numbers dont veer significantly from the average, there has definitely been a shift this year to ground-level housing, said Wilkes. People are certainly looking for some green space as we use our homes to work, live, shelter, have comfort, he said. But low mortgage rates have also helped some buyers afford a house rather than a condo. But, he said, The demise of the condo market certainly its not there at this point. As people are looking at home prices they look at the carrying costs as much as anything else. So its a combination of having more affordable money. We did see a dip in prices this year, said Wilkes. But he said the industry and the government need to continue to watch the supply side of the housing industry where demand has long outstripped supply. Inventory new construction homes that are either built or in the selling or construction phases is down year over year. There were 10,776 new condos available for sale at the end of August, compared to 12,079 last year at the same time, he said. Inventory of single family homes was down to 3,555, from 4,450 a year ago. To me the solution to affordability will be addressing the long-term supply challenges. There needs to be continued effort to address some of the structural challenges that weve had in the market where demand has outstripped supply for so many years, said Wilkes. Despite extensive communication efforts or control systems, many employees still do not understand the organisation's strategic goals, let alone act upon them. How could this be changed? Despite extensive communication efforts or control systems, many employees still do not understand the organisation's strategic goals, let alone act upon them. How could this be changed? According to Ausrine Silenskyte's dissertation presented at the University of Vaasa, the major driver of strategy implementation is the person's commitment to their personal preferences and organisational ability to reciprocate, i.e. to ensure that the people working at the organisation feel supported in achieving their personal commitments. Once this is in place, employees open up for organisational strategy and become interested in behaving strategically. "A strategy is meaningful only when implemented. Every manager knows how difficult it is to ensure that every person in the company understands the strategic goals and behaves strategically, helping the corporate vision to become reality. Top management tends to think that performance-driven culture and strong focus on assigned targets will lead to implementation success", says Ausrine Silenskyte, university teacher and PhD candidate at the University of Vaasa. In her dissertation, Silenskyte examined how and when strategic plans become strategic behaviours among employees in different parts of a Finnish multinational corporation. Her research demonstrates that the middle and project managers as well as experts in non?managerial positions frequently experience difficulties in relating to the strategic plans and goals assigned to them by the top management, even when the company is consistent and clear in its communication about the strategy. The dissertation, which will be publicly defended on 30 September, suggests a counter?intuitive recipe to support strategy implementation. "Research revealed that employees may behave strategically without prescriptions, or even without knowing details in the strategy, if certain conditions are met. It is equally important to make good strategies, set clear goals and communicate them, as it is crucial to uncover personal aspirations and needs of the employees, and to create a feeling that the organization will help people achieve these personal commitments", says Ausrine Silenskyte. Is the recipe for achieving strategic behaviors the same across all countries? Silenskyte's research was conducted within a global service provider, a Finnish multinational corporation and its units in Finland, Russia, and India. The research reveals that the ways to achieve feelings of reciprocity will vary across countries. Across the three countries, Finland had the weakest sense of reciprocity, i.e. individuals related to the organizations mostly formally and the importance of reaching their personal aspirations was very high. In India, reciprocity was almost a devotion, but not for the organization or its strategy, but rather for the business leader: employees were willing to put aside their personal interests and follow the strategy, if they believed that leader would take care of them and their needs. In Russia, reciprocity was more bureaucratic: employees considered that the strategy work is a matter of the managers, but they wanted to be reassured by their manager that certain daily tasks of the employees relate to general strategy. Thus, if a multinational corporation wishes to achieve strategic behaviors in every business unit, employee definition of reciprocity must be understood at first. The findings imply that international experts working on strategy implementation in global teams will need to calibrate their understanding of the importance of realizing personal commitment and achieving organizational reciprocity, otherwise conflicts will occur. When colleagues work on strategy implementation on a global, culturally diverse team, strategic behaviors can be reached by addressing these culturally?specific differences in reciprocity and personal commitment. How to understand whether strategy implementation was a failure or a success? Business unit visits, interviews with top, middle, and project managers, and employees, as well as analysis of a large set of organizational documents revealed that the managers evaluate strategy implementation processes under the assumption that there is one "truth" in the organization. "It is rarely considered or remembered that the organizational systems, process descriptions, or policies are only managerial intentions described 'on paper'. Frequently, it is assumed that once we design those structures and policies, they should and will be followed as expected. When people do not fulfill such expectations, it is normally considered that the implementation failed", says Ausrine. The case analysis in the dissertation provides detailed illustration on how more than one "truth" exists in the organization and explains why managers must take this into consideration. "Different behaviors, differently utilized strategic and operational systems do not yet mean that the strategy implementation has failed! If the managers are able to recognize the stratified reality, analyze it systematically by, for example, using methodology suggested in the dissertation, the implementation efforts are likely to become so much easier and managers will know what actually failed and what turned to be an unexpected, or unintended success", says Ausrine. Public examination The public examination of M.Sc. Ausrine Silenskyte's doctoral dissertation titled "Corporate strategy implementation. How strategic plans become individual strategic actions across organizational levels of the MNC" will be held on Wednesday, 30 September, at noon. The public examination will be organized online: https://uwasa.zoom.us/j/61152153370?pwd=YjFSSEVRYWpSSzJwT2JTOHFaUFNuQT09 The field of dissertation is management. Professor Rebecca Piekkari (Aalto University) and Associate Professor Catherine Welch (University of Sydney) will act as opponents and Professor Adam Smale as custos. The examination will be held in English. Silenskyte, Ausrine (2020). Corporate strategy implementation. How strategic plans become individual strategic actions across organizational levels of the MNC. Acta Wasaensia 446. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Vaasa. Publication pdf: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-476-919-8 ### She opened her mail to find another neighbors ballot in her envelope, which I took and hand delivered to him around the corner. Of course he also received someone elses ballot in the mail, Mr. Weiss said. Phoenix Graphics, a family-owned firm that prides itself on its ability to deliver a high-quality product on time and within budget, has worked with the city Board of Elections since at least 2010, according to city records, including during the June primaries. The companys $4.6 million no-bid contract which the board awarded under an emergency procurement in June lasts through the end of the year. Sal DeBiase, the companys president and chief executive, did not reply to multiple requests for comment. Wrong ballots signed by voters will be invalid. Voters who unwittingly sign erroneous ballots will still be able to vote via a second ballot, or in person, according to Sarah Steiner, an elections lawyer. She added that in-person votes cancel a voters absentee ballot. Im worried because anything that confuses voters at this point or makes them leery of voting or suspicious of the process is damaging to democracy, Ms. Steiner said. Douglas Kellner, co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections, said he had received reports of the problems in the city, as well as far more isolated problems in Nassau County, where he is aware of only three affected ballots. The downside of introducing widespread absentee balloting is that, once the Boards of Elections start contracting out the process of mailing, then they lose quality control and direct supervision of what goes on, Mr. Kellner, a Democrat, said in an interview. This is a good example of the problem. US Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, on Sunday (REUTERS) Nancy Pelosi urged Democrats to prepare for a doomsday scenario where the 50 state House delegations would decide a stalemate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. What some Democrats are not preparing for, however, are the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barret, with at least four Senators indicating they would boycott proceedings. Ms Pelosi was in full campaign mode on Monday as she also hit the president on The New York Times tax return story, saying his $421m in debt to come due in the next four years made the president a "national security threat". While Pelosi focused on the president's debt, the Biden campaign focused on the $750 taxes reportedly paid with a new attack ad and website launched in less than 24 hours of the story going live on Sunday, and a website, "Trump Tax Calculator", launched within less than 24 hours. Biden refused Trump's suggestion of a drug test before the first presidential debate with a graphic riposte, with his campaign saying "If the president thinks his best case is made in urine, he can have at it". While their campaigns were making pee jokes, the candidates were deep in debate prep, with reports that Biden was bracing for Trump to 'weaponize' corruption claims against Hunter Biden for his business dealings in Ukraine. Elsewhere, Cindy McCain - widow of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, joined Biden's transition advisory board as the Democrats prepare to take office if winning in November. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load CENTRALIA, Wash., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) in partnership with the Douglas County Public Utility District, the Renewable Hydrogen Alliance, and Toyota Motor North America today received a $1.9 million grant from the Centralia Coal Transition Board to fund the Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Project, which will deliver the first hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in Washington State. With the funding provided by the Board, the Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Project will lay the foundation for the expected growth of zero-emission personal and heavy-duty hydrogen powered fuel cell electric vehicles. The Centralia Coal Transition Board provides grants to improve energy efficiency, educate and retrain workers for the next generation of jobs, and fund energy technology projects that improve our environment. The renewable hydrogen will be made from Douglas County PUD's clean, renewable hydropower via electrolysis, a process in which electricity is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Renewable hydrogen holds the potential to substantially reduce carbon emissions from a multitude of sectors including transportation, agriculture, petroleum refining, and natural gas utilities. "I am excited to see the Centralia Coal Transition Board and Douglas County PUD move forward with this innovative project. As Washington continues to transition to a clean energy economy, zero-emission fuels, like renewable hydrogen, can play an important role in decarbonizing our transportation, energy, and industrial sectors. Transitioning to clean fuels as soon as possible is critical to meeting our climate goals," said Governor Jay Inslee. Bi-partisan support to develop renewable hydrogen production began with Sen. Brad Hawkins' (R-East Wenatchee) sponsorship of SB 5588 in 2019, providing authority for the state's Public Utility Districts to produce and distribute renewable hydrogen. HB 2042, the Green Transportation Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma) and Rep. Ed Orcutt (R-Kalama) included incentives for development of renewable hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure. Rep. Mike Steele (R-Chelan) secured funding for Douglas PUD to begin engineering their production facility. "This project will deliver a transformational demonstration of renewable hydrogen that has the real potential to bring more zero emission vehicles to our roads and reduce harmful emissions," said Evan Ramsey, Senior Director of the Renewables Program at BEF. "By pairing renewable hydrogen production with the first fuel cell electric vehicle fleet in Washington, the project will build public awareness around hydrogen and fuel cell technology and assist the state in expanding support of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle transportation in the coming years." Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology is an emerging priority for several automotive manufacturers, including Toyota Motor North America. These vehicles offer long range (more than 300 miles) and fast fueling (less than 5 minutes), which is comparable in range and fueling time to conventional vehicles. "The opportunity to demonstrate fuel cell electric vehicle technology has never been timelier as Douglas County PUD is currently procuring a first of its kind renewable hydrogen electrolyzer facility, which can provide clean fuel to Washington State," said Molly Simpson, Douglas County PUD's Commission President. "This project will pair our new renewable hydrogen production facility with a new hydrogen fueling station and begin by serving a fleet of approximately 10 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles." The hydrogen station in Washington State is expected to open in late 2021, with the vehicles in demonstration fleets shortly thereafter. Initial site selection will target locations with proximity to public fleets in the Lewis and southern Thurston County areaand also halfway between the Seattle and Vancouver/Portland metro areas. Bonneville Environmental Foundation The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) is a 501c3 nonprofit working on energy, carbon and water. BEF believes that addressing the climate crisis requires partnership and innovation. BEF strives to break down barriers to renewable energy through education, awareness, and creative solutions. Douglas County Public Utility District Douglas County Public Utility District is a locally owned, nonprofit public utility district who strives to provide the best possible utility services at the lowest possible cost consistent with sound business principles. Media Contact Evan Ramsey, [email protected] SOURCE Toyota Motor North America Related Links www.toyota.com INDIANAPOLIS Purdue University Global will commemorate Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a variety of activities throughout October. Purdue Global will host three additions to its ongoing speaker series. Undergraduate cybersecurity professor Laurent Boucard has reached out to his network and provided Purdue Global with individuals who will share their experience and knowledge to support information technology and cybersecurity students in their educational and professional journeys. These events are open to the first 250 attendees: Oct. 6, 7 p.m. ET Shelley Westman, enterprise transformation leader, Cree; previously vice president of operations and strategic initiatives, IBM; received Diversity and Human Resources Solutions 2019 Inclusive Excellence Award; 2018 recipient of Triangle Business Journal Leaders in Diversity Award; JD, with honors, University of North Carolina School of Law. Meeting Link Oct. 13, 7 p.m. ET Dan Houser, CISSP-ISSAP-ISSMP CISA CISM, senior manager of security engineering and governance, risk and compliance for a global nonprofit (NGO) and cloud services provider; security innovator and architect since 2000; patent and trade secret work in cryptography, identity and access management, third-party trust assurance and banking; founder and provost emeritus of Ohio-based Security MBA and a published author. Meeting Link Oct. 27, 4 p.m. ET Nicholas Chaillan, First Air Force chief software officer, appointed in 2019; co-lead for Department of Defense Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative with Department of Defense Chief Information Officer; designed new robust, innovative and holistic government cybersecurity architecture (Cyber.gov); recognized as one of Frances youngest entrepreneurs after founding WORLDAKT at age 15; has founded 12 companies, including AFTER-MOUSE.com, Cyber Revolution, Prevent Breach and anyGuest.com. Meeting Link: In addition to the speaker series, Purdue Global faculty are actively engaged in cybersecurity events throughout October. Rhonda Chicone, graduate cybersecurity professor, will be the keynote speaker for a town hall at Minot State University. Her topic is Security Awareness and Becoming a Human Firewall. In addition, she will be sitting on a panel of four to discuss security awareness. The town hall is from 8-10 p.m. ET on Oct. 27. Chicone, along with Susan Ferebee, also a graduate cybersecurity professor at Purdue Global, will present at the IACIS conference on Oct. 8. The conference is virtual this year, and registration is still open. Chicone and Ferebee will present A Comparison Study of Two Cybersecurity Learning Systems: Facebooks Open Source Capture the Flag and CTFd. The full paper can be found here. Not only is cybersecurity a passion for Chicone, it also is where her daughter and son-in-law have found the focus for their lifes work. Her daughter, Deana, helped create and organize an information security conference because most were being canceled due to COVID-19. The conference supports the community in Pittsburgh. The One Time Pittsburgh Information Security Conference (otpgh.com) is Oct. 9, free to the public, and will include 12 speakers. Chicone and Dr. Ferebee will present The Better Assessment Tool: Facebooks Open Source Capture the Flag or CTFd. Chicones son-in-law, Kyle, hosts a podcast called Moscow Mules and NOP Slides. Chicone and Ferebee will be featured on the podcast as a part of the speaker series for the OTPgh conference. Purdue Global maintains a robust Cybersecurity Center that provides articles, resources, program information and more for current and future students, employers and industry partners, as well as the general public. Individuals or small businesses who seek cybersecurity answers to questions or support can find a form on the website to submit such requests. The Purdue Global Bachelor of Science degree program in cybersecurity has been accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET accreditation assures that programs meet standards to produce graduates ready to enter critical technical fields that are leading the way in innovation and emerging technologies, and anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public. In addition, Purdue Global has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education through academic year 2025 for its Bachelor of Science degree in cybersecurity. The Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency jointly sponsor the National Centers of Academic Excellence program. The goal of the program is to reduce vulnerability in national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and expertise in cyber defense. About Purdue University Global Purdue University Global delivers personalized online education tailored to the unique needs of adults who have work or life experience beyond the classroom, enabling them to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves more than 32,000 students (as of September 2020), most of whom earn their degree online. It also operates several regional locations nationwide. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue Universitys flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest, Indiana, as well as serving close to 6,000 science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, please visit purdueglobal.edu. Writer, Media Contact: Tom Schott, 765-427-1721, tschott@purdue.edu Source: Tina Bruton, tburton@purdueglobal.edu Jacinda Ardern has fired back at Karl Stefanovic after the Today host questioned whether she went 'too hard' with New Zealand's coronavirus response. The prime minister defended her hard-line lockdown because it ensured her population was kept 'safe' during the health crisis. 'We want to keep our people safe. I absolutely stand by that decision we had, which was go hard, go early,' she told Today on Wednesday morning. 'It meant we lifted our restrictions sooner than many others. We got our open economy back and our death rate was low. 'Ultimately what is an economy without a healthy people? That's been the basis of a lot of our decisions.' Ms Ardern's justification came after Stefanovic claimed the strict coronavirus restrictions meant her nation suffered economically. Stefanovic said: 'Few countries handled the health crisis better than you and New Zealand. 'It did come at a huge economic cost. Much greater than Australia. Did you go too hard?' Ms Ardern said she would 'dispute' the premise of the question. 'Actually, our unemployment's been lower. Our debt is lower. 'And of course there's a while to run, I think til we see the full impact on the likes of GDP but we should of course keep in mind, both countries had similar goals.' Jacinda Ardern has fired back at Karl Stefanovic after the Today host questioned whether she went 'too hard' with New Zealand's coronavirus response. She said: 'Ultimately what is an economy without a healthy people? That's been the basis of a lot of our decisions' Today host Allison Langdon also quizzed the prime minister whether Australians would be able to visit New Zealand for Christmas. 'We have been working quite hard to try and get some arrangements underway,' Ms Ardern said. Ms Ardern advanced talks on the creation of the trans-Tasman bubble with counterpart Scott Morrison in a phone meeting on Tuesday night. 'There is a chance that we could have Australia simply open to New Zealand because of our status and where we are right now, which is pretty good,' she told AAP. 'They could just say, ''Well look one way (travel from New Zealand to Australia) is fine by us'' until we work through some of the detail, and it's a possibility.' The NZ Labour leader, overseeing a COVID-19 elimination strategy, has established a series of criteria that must be met before opening borders to other nations. Passengers arrive at Sydney International Airport arriving after flying in from Auckland on September 18 That means New Zealand reciprocating and allowing Australians in for quarantine-free travel is a little further away. The Victorian outbreak led to an impasse in trans-Tasman bubble talks with Australia, though Ms Ardern says Mr Morrison's embrace of a 'hotspot' system would allow travel to resume sooner. 'Essentially what a hotspot system would do, it would shut down those areas where there were heightened cases, while allowing the rest to be open. And so absolutely, we can also make that work,' she told AAP. 'What we just need to hear a bit more from Australia on is what the definition of a hotspot will be, how they'll manage the state borders in those situations, but we're working that through.' Ms Ardern said opening up to Pacific nations - beginning with the Cook Islands - was 'absolutely' still part of New Zealand's re-engagement with the world. 'The threshold that we'll set will meet the Cooks' expectations,' she said. Two decades after the Burnt Church crisis, disputes flare up over Indigenous fishing rights in Atlantic Canada by Greg Mercer September 29,2020 | Source: Globe and Mail Twenty years before a wharf in Saulnierville, N.S., became a flashpoint in the fight over Indigenous fishing rights in Atlantic Canada, a similar scene played out in New Brunswick on the water outside Miramichi. Angry that Mikmaq fishers were harvesting lobsters outside the federally-approved season, a flotilla of more than a hundred fishing vessels chased Indigenous boats, pulled their traps from the water and sparked a wave of vigilantism, arson and brawls in what became known as the Burnt Church crisis. Everyone was concerned that people were going to die, said Herb Dhaliwal, the former federal fisheries minister who was in charge at the time. I had commercial fishermen saying were going to bring our guns and were going to shoot anyone fishing our lobster.' It was a violent, emotional battle over the Mikmaq peoples right to set their own rules for a commercial fishery. Two decades later, that tension remains this time, causing strife in Canadas most lucrative lobster fishing zone in southwestern Nova Scotia. Like Burnt Church, this latest lobster dispute can be linked back to 1999s Marshal Decision, when the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Donald Marshall Jr., a Mikmaq man charged with fishing and selling eels without a licence. That landmark decision affirmed Indigenous peoples right to earn a moderate livelihood from fishing. But the ruling also left a lot of room for interpretation including defining what a moderate livelihood actually looks like, and how that fishery should be regulated. The federal government negotiates fishing agreements band by band, but some, such as the Sipeknekatik First Nation, have not wanted to make the concessions over control demanded in those deals. Earlier this month, on the anniversary of the Marshall Decision, Sipeknekatik decided to assert their treaty rights, issuing their own commercial fishing licences and announcing they would determine for themselves what a moderate livelihood means. They awarded their first fishing licence to Randy Sack, the son of Mr. Marshall. Its believed to be the first Mikmaq-managed commercial fishery in the province. But its also prompted demonstrations and angry clashes in Saulnierville with large crowds of non-Indigenous fishers, angry that a lobster harvest was taking place after the local season had closed. Sipeknekatik fishers say their boats were blocked by more than a hundred vessels when they tried to leave the harbour, chased on the water and shot at with flare guns. Police made several arrests after supporters for both sides got physical, and are investigating complaints of sabotage against Sipeknekatik equipment. Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. A student who participated in a vile Year 12 muck-up day scavenger hunt tormenting a sexual abuse survivor was not allowed to graduate with his class after the school learned of the prank. Leaving students at Merewether High School in Newcastle, north of Sydney, were challenged to send the girl - who was abused from the age of four to 10 - a message 'defending paedophiles' to score points in the hunt. One of the boys who participated messaged her late on Wednesday night to say: 'I really don't think paedophiles are that bad.' When she questioned the message, the boy added: 'My uncle was one and I think he's a good bloke. Is there anything wrong with that? 'Everyone is human. We are all the same, black, white, pedo, not pedo.' But just days later, the student changed his tune and sent a grovelling apology to the young girl, insisting that he didn't understand the gravity of the situation. 'I'm young and stupid,' he confessed. 'None of this was meant to hurt anyone.' The boy said he thought he was participating in a harmless challenge, and said he had no idea of the young woman's traumatic personal experience. Leaving students at Merewether High School in Newcastle, north of Sydney, were challenged to send the girl a message 'defending paedophiles' to score points The student later sent a grovelling apology admitting that he'd made a mistake 'I thought it was a simple scav task. I had no idea of the unimaginable consequences of my actions,' he wrote. 'It makes me sick thinking about what I have done.' The New South Wales Department of Education told Daily Mail Australia he was barred from graduating with his peers after the school learned of the incident. 'A student who taunted a sexual assault survivor online was barred from the final Year 12 departure ceremony,' a spokesman said. He added that the student would face further disciplinary action. He went on to say the overwhelming majority of the cohort understood not to participate in scavenger hunt challenges and that it violated campus expectations. 'Year 12 students at Merewether High School have a very clear understanding of the high standards expected of them by the school in relation to their final days of schooling,' he said. 'The posts setting up the ''hunt'' were not from a student or students enrolled at Merewether High School, and the school referred the matter to police.' In a sickening abuse of trust, the challenge was actually created by a former student who graduated from the same school in 2019 and was a friend of the victim. He told the victim that after the school learned of the incident, he was barred from graduating with his class She had recently confided in him about being sexually abused by a close family friend over six years. Daily Mail Australia understands he has since been fired from his job after his employer learned of the prank. The mother of one of the boys was 'horrified' when the school informed her that her son had participated in the degrading activity. In Facebook messages obtained by Daily Mail Australia, graduating students contacted the vulnerable teenager - who does not even go to the school - late last Wednesday night to defend paedophiles in a sick attempt to elicit a reaction. The young woman, who can't be identified, later learned the messages were sent to earn points for the selective school's muck-up day scavenger hunt. Other challenges in the warped hunt included flicking a dog's testicles, abusing a teacher via email, filming sex acts and abusing new mothers. It is the latest in a string of sick muck-up day challenges involving graduating NSW students, including at elite schools such as Shore in Sydney where so-called pranks included spitting on homeless people and defecating in public. The girl's shattered mother told Daily Mail Australia the messages had 'broken' the 18-year-old, who recently started university after leaving school in Year 10 to cope with her trauma. 'The days of throwing toilet paper over lawns and having innocent fun are gone... This is way too far,' the mother-of-three said. An 18-year-old girl, who Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to name, became the victim of one of the challenges on Wednesday night when she began receiving unsolicited messages from boys she hardly knew defending paedophilia The young girl from Newcastle, north of Sydney, later learned the messages were sent to earn points for a local schools' Muck Up Day scavenger hunt challenge (pictured) The messages immediately triggered the young woman, who was repeatedly molested as a child and has needed therapy to deal with her trauma ever since. A friend in the year group revealed he saw the muck-up day challenges for Year 12 students, and the messages were part of the twisted game to earn notoriety and points ahead of graduation. The boy who created the challenge, she confided in him. She thought he was her friend and instead he's turned her trauma into a joke Teenager's mother 'She was sobbing, shaking,' her mother tearfully explained to Daily Mail Australia late on Wednesday night. 'She feels so humiliated and exposed.' The exact challenge was for the students to 'message [her] and start an argument about paedophilia', all while knowing about her traumatic experience. 'The boy who created the challenge, she confided in him. She thought he was her friend and instead he's turned her trauma into a joke. 'We're just totally shattered, and that's an understatement.' On Wednesday night, the young woman decided to confront the issue on Facebook after she realised 'all of Newcastle was about to find out about it one way or another'. 'I thought it would be better for it to come from me. It was my story to tell and I wanted to be able to tell it myself rather than in this group, so I posted it on Facebook,' she said. The post attracted hundreds of comments from outraged friends sharing their own muck-up day horror stories and condemning the boy who created the challenge. The girl only found out she was the centre of the sick scavenger hunt when a friend messaged her (her conversation with him above) The girl took to Facebook to confront the former friend who abused her trust She also privately messaged the former student, demanding to know why 'you literally made me being molested into a f***ing scavenger challenge) 'I wasn't ready to publicly announce it at all, but I felt like I didn't have a choice,' she said. Within hours, Facebook had removed the posts and any other comments affiliated with it, claiming it violated community standards. 'It's okay for him to put it all around Newcastle and the high school that he went to, and for students at the school to have a hard copy of this challenge list and to contact my daughter, but it's not okay for her to post about it,' her mother said. The mother-of-three explained that she understood kids needed to let off steam at the end of a school year, but said it should never come at the expense of another person. 'We were finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel and now we're back at square one 'That boy has caused irreparable damage to [her] and to our family,' the woman said. 'We were finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel and now we're back at square one. As a mother, I helped her put the pieces back together and now they've just totally fallen apart again because of one person's idea of funny.' When she was just 10 years old, the brave girl told her parents about the abuse she had endured for six years. Her family had no idea. 'She stood up in that box at court and she was just so brave in testifying against him. He was charged and it took her a very long time to trust anybody with that information, to trust boys at all.' 'She's so broken again. She'd been trying to build up trust in people. She's just said to me ''what's the use?' It's just heartbreaking.' The post attracted hundreds of comments from outraged friends sharing their own muck-up day horror stories and condemning the boy who created the challenge Shore School is among the top ranked in New South Wales and regularly features impressive Year 12 results. Students have been embroiled in controversy after a muck-up day manifesto was leaked Since she began receiving the vile messages, the young woman has slipped back into a dark place and has been inconsolable. 'In the past, she has been in a place where she couldn't even find a reason to live,' her mother explained. 'I would camp outside her door and sleep on the wooden floor just to make sure she wouldn't harm herself. I'm so terrified now. I'm praying and I've made her promise she won't hurt herself.' It's understood the boy responsible for including her name in the challenge completed his HSC at the same school in 2019. He has since deleted his social media accounts. He and the young woman had been friends prior to the incident, and she was doubly heartbroken when she learned he had broken her trust. 'Someone's idea of a scavenger challenge to hurt and break a person is not my idea of fun or funny,' the girl's mother said. 'They've made it personal. I think they're young, and silly and don't realise the repercussions of their actions. 'Some of these challenges include taking three ecstasy pills and washing it down with a bottle of Jack Daniels, last year they were told to burn swastikas into their bums.' She acknowledged that the students had worked hard and overcome major setbacks in 2020 to make it to their graduation, but said it was no excuse to ruin someone else's life. The young woman is not a student at the school and has no affiliation with the muck-up day challenge, and said she had no idea why she was ever brought into it. The exclusive bubble stretches from Belmore Park, out the front of Central Station, to the Spit Bridge and includes Kirribilli, Neutral Bay and Mosman Students at several other schools are known to be participating in similar muck-up day challenges, bouncing ideas off one another in nationwide Facebook groups. On Wednesday, the manifesto from Shore School on Sydney's lower north shore revealed students were willing to 'spit on homeless people' and denigrate women for sport. The 'official rule and challenge book' - revealed they planned to meet between 5pm and 6pm on Wednesday at Waverton Park for the series of 'treacherous' challenges. The rule book stated all participants from the $33,000-a-year school were required to chip in $10 and the team who gathered the most points would be rewarded the total cash prize. More than 150 challenges were listed in the scavenger hunt rule book and the tasks range in difficulty. The 'Beta' difficulty is deemed the easiest for competitors, with five to ten points up for grabs for each task. Some include stealing a street sign, shaving an eyebrow, posing for a naked photo in front of Luna Park and 'hooking up' with a random girl. In the 'Apprentice' difficulty, students can receive 20 points for defecating on a public toilet seat, waxing their armpits, snorting cocaine and winning $50 on the pokies. For 30 points in the 'Terrorist Eh' difficulty section, participants must take a vodka shot out of a condom, 'get with a lesbian', 'order a stripper' and 'eat a live small animal'. The list of challenges denigrates women, by urging students to 'get with a chick which is 3/10 or lower (photo of the chick and the dirty work)'. The muck-up day manifesto was discovered by school administrators, who contacted NSW Police. The 'official rule and challenge book' - created by students in a PDF document - revealed they planned to meet between 5 and 6pm on Wednesday at Waverton Park for the series of 'treacherous' challenges A mother who longed for a bigger family after having three children finally had her prayers answered when she welcomed quadruplets, after enduring six devastating miscarriages. Childhood sweethearts April, 42, and Phil Gardner - who now spend $400 a week on food and slept for just 45 minutes a night when their youngest four were babies - were teenagers when they welcomed their first child, Rilee, now 24. Everything went like clockwork, according to April, from Taylorville, Utah, leaving them completely unprepared for the problems ahead when they boosted their brood to include Whitlee, 18, Jaxton, seven, and quadruplets Ryker, Tallon, Bowen and Berklee, who are now four. April, who suffers with fertility issues such as polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, had six marriages before successfully giving birth to her quadruplets thanks to hormone injections which helped stimulate her ovaries. Endometriosis is when tissue usually found in the lining of the womb grows in other parts of the body and sometimes causes fertility issues, while polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal condition making natural conception difficult. April Gardner (pictured left, while pregnant with her four youngest children), who longed for a bigger family - despite enduring fertility issues and six miscarriages - had her prayers answered when giving birth to healthy quadruplets (pictured right) Childhood sweethearts April, 42, and Phil Gardner (pictured with their three eldest children) - who now spend $400 a week on food and slept for just 45 minutes a night when their youngest four were babies - were teenagers when they welcomed their first child, Rilee, now 24 Everything went like clockwork, according to April, from Taylorville, Utah, leaving them completely unprepared for the problems ahead when they boosted their brood to include Whitlee, 18, Jaxton, seven, and quadruplets Ryker, Tallon, Bowen and Berklee (pictured as babies), who are now four Reflecting on her incredible journey, April, who works in financial services, said: 'The miscarriages were obviously very hard to take. There were times when I blamed myself. 'I'd had children before, so I didn't understand why I suddenly couldn't. I'd say to myself, "What's wrong with you?" But something in me told me to keep going.' Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, the condition that affects one in three women in the UK Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition that affects how a woman's ovaries work. The three main features of PCOS are: Irregular periods which means the ovaries don't regularly release eggs (ovulation). This can affect a woman's ability to get pregnant. Excess androgen high levels of 'male hormones' in the body, which may cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair. Polycystic ovaries the ovaries become enlarged and contain many fluid-filled sacs (follicles) which surround the eggs (it's important to note that, despite the name, if you have PCOS you don't actually have cysts). Source: NHS Choices Advertisement First meeting at school, Phil, 43, who has just retired from working in communications for the Air Force, was in the year above April when they fell in love - before discovering they were expecting when she was 18. Although young, they knew they wanted to be together forever, so felt excited about becoming parents. 'We started young,' laughed April. 'Back then, I never dreamed fertility would be something I'd have to think about. I'd fallen pregnant with Rilee easily enough, after all.' Shortly after Phil left school and joined the Air Force, Rilee was born and the young family were soon uprooted to Germany, where he was stationed - only for April to start having painful cramps and nausea. 'I'd wake up in the night with these agonising stabbing pains in my lower tummy,' she said. 'Sometimes they were so bad I'd be physically sick.' Diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue usually found in the lining of the womb grows in other parts of the body and sometimes causes fertility issues, doctors were confident she would still be able to conceive. With no immediate plans for more children, it only became an issue six years later - then living back in Utah - when April had her first miscarriage, so early in her pregnancy that she had not known she was expecting. 'I had some bleeding and saw the doctor who said I'd miscarried. I hadn't even known I was pregnant,' she said. Conceiving again shortly afterwards, in 2002, the couple were delighted when Whitlee was born. 'That reassured me that, hopefully, the miscarriage was a one off and not the start of fertility problems due to my endometriosis,' she added. But in 2005, when Whitlee was around three and April and Phil began discussing giving her a sibling, they had no idea that it would be 11 long years before baby number three came along. April, who suffers with fertility issues such as polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, had six marriages before successfully giving birth to her quadruplets (pictured with their dad and older brother) thanks to the help of hormone injections to help stimulate her ovaries Reflecting on her incredible journey, April, who works in financial services, said: 'The miscarriages were obviously very hard to take. There were times when I blamed myself' Pictured, the quads as newborns April fell pregnant in around August 2005, soon after they began trying, but, just eight weeks later, she miscarried again. She recalled: 'I can't explain it. I just woke up one day with a weird feeling that something was wrong like a dread deep inside me. That went on for a couple of days, until eventually, I couldn't ignore it and told Phil. WHAT IS ENDOMETRIOSIS? Endometriosis occurs when cells in the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body. Each month, these cells react in the same way as those in the womb; building up, breaking down and bleeding. Yet, the blood has no way to escape the body. Symptoms include pain, heavy periods and fatigue, as well as a higher risk of infertility, and bowel and bladder problems. Its cause is unknown but may be genetic, related to problems with the immune system or exposure to chemicals. Treatment focuses on pain relief and improving quality of life, which may include surgery or hormone treatment. Source: Endometriosis UK Advertisement 'He said, "Maybe stay off work and rest." But I thought I should go in and try and distract myself. Just 30 minutes after arriving, though, I started getting these cramps. I went to the loo and there was a tiny spot of blood there. I knew right away what it meant.' Tragically, later that day, an ultrasound confirmed April had miscarried for a second time. She continued: 'It was very hard to go from being really excited to this sudden low. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realised all the plans I'd made weren't going to be seen through.' Six months later, in early 2006, April found out she was pregnant again but felt too afraid to tell anybody aside from Phil. Heartbreakingly, at just six weeks, she began cramping, later discovering she had lost the baby. 'After that, I felt like I needed a break for a while,' she recalled. 'We didn't try again until the end of 2006. By then, I had picked myself back up and told myself, "Maybe your body just needed a chance to rest." 'We started trying, only this time, nothing happened. I'd gone from not being able to stay pregnant to not even being able to get pregnant. 'I couldn't understand I'd had two children by that point. Why was this happening now? I became obsessed with reading every little thing I could, trying to get some answers.' After eight months of trying, April sought advice from her doctor in mid-2007, who discovered she was having a severe endometriosis flare-up. Next, she had a laparoscopy, where a tiny telescope was inserted into her abdomen, before surgeons made small incisions to cut out the patches of endometriosis. First meeting at school, Phil, 43, who has just retired from working in communications for the Air Force, was in the year above April when they fell in love - before discovering they were expecting when she was 18. Pictured, the quads as newborns Proud parents: April holding Tallon, pictured right, and Phil holiday Ryker, pictured left, following the birth of the quadruplets 'Doctors thought the flare-up was the reason I'd been struggling to conceive,' she said. 'Thankfully, my ovaries were unaffected, so I figured I would be able to start trying for a baby again soon, once my body had recovered.' But sadly, April suffered two more miscarriages between 2008 and 2010 one at eight weeks and the other at 10. 'The 10 week one my fourth - was very tough. That really took me down,' she said. 'I'd been so close to my second trimester. I was almost out of the scary zone and then it all went wrong.' Over the years, April also tried various fertility treatments including clomifene a drug that encourages the release of an egg every month all to no avail. She had several investigatory tests to try and determine the underlying cause of her issues - discovering she had low levels of the hormone progesterone, which prepares the body for potential pregnancy after ovulation. She was also diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - a hormonal condition making natural conception difficult. Shortly after Phil (pictured with his wife and Tallon and Ryker) left school and joined the Air Force, Rilee was born and the young family were soon uprooted to Germany, where he was stationed - only for April to start having painful cramps and nausea Diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue usually found in the lining of the womb grows in other parts of the body and sometimes causes fertility issues, doctors were confident she would still be able to conceive. Pictured, the quadruplets at Halloween While the news was hard to hear, she felt she at least had some answers. 'I almost got a false sense of security out of it, convincing myself that, if doctors knew what was wrong, they could solve it which isn't always the case,' she said. In 2010, April and her family moved to Alabama, for Phil's job, where she found a fertility centre, who accepted her medical insurance, meaning she could get specialist treatment. She explained: 'I had a bunch more tests, including one where a radiologist watched as a dye was injected into my reproductive system. 'It showed up that the left side was weakened and damaged by endometriosis and that the PCOS had left some cysts on my ovaries that were too small to surgically remove. Essentially, my body couldn't prep itself for pregnancy. 'But the way I viewed it, the more information we had, the more of a plan we could make. I also focused on the fact I already had two beautiful babies my daughters.' With no immediate plans for more children, it only became an issue six years later - then living back in Utah - when April had her first miscarriage, so early in her pregnancy that she had not known she was expecting. Pictured, the four youngest on their tricycles Big moment: Phil and April bringing Bowen home, pictured left, and the parents returning to their house with Berklee, pictured right Prescribed follistim and progesterone injections to help stimulate her ovaries, after three months, she fell pregnant before miscarrying for a fifth time just six weeks later. 'Oddly, I felt as if that one wasn't the right time although I don't know if I was just me telling myself that as a coping mechanism,' she said. 'I put my faith in the specialists and knew we were in good hands.' Resuming the injections, April fell pregnant once again three months later, only to have her sixth miscarriage at eight weeks. 'All the miscarriages have been the same the weird feeling something isn't right, then the cramps and the sinking feeling when you realise the baby has gone,' she said. 'I really thought that one would be it, though. I felt it was going to work. We'd put ourselves through so much and Phil was worried I'd had enough. He could see me blaming myself and bashing myself about it all. But I felt I had it in me to keep going. I wasn't done.' In 2002, the couple were delighted when Whitlee was born. Pictured, Jaxton and the quadruplets earlier this year But in 2005, when Whitlee was around three and April and Phil began discussing giving her a sibling, they had no idea that it would be 11 long years before baby number three - Jaxton - came along. Pictured, Phil meeting Jaxton at the airport In 2012, following injections at the fertility clinic, April discovered she was expecting again. And this time, she carried her baby to full term, with little Jaxton arriving in February 2013. She recalled: 'With the babies I'd lost, something had felt wrong. I'd been scared to do anything, scared to tell anyone. But with Jaxton, that feeling had lifted. The pregnancy was perfect. 'Once I got past the 10-week mark the latest point at which I'd miscarried before I felt unstoppable. 'When he was born, Phil was deployed, so he had to watch the birth using Skype. It was still the most magical moment. The love I felt when I got to hold him was indescribable. 'I was also very protective over him, which is understandable given all we'd gone through to get him. Phil met him at the airport when he came home six weeks later and it was incredibly emotional.' After that, the couple did not think they would have any more children. After that, the couple did not think they would have any more children. Pictured, the quadruplets on their second birthday But, in early 2015, they became aware of the huge age gap between Jaxton and his sisters and decided they wanted to give him a sibling to grow up with. Pictured, the four siblings at Christmas So, returning to the same fertility clinic in Alabama that had helped them before, April (pictured in hospital before the birth of her four babies) began follistim and progesterone injections again - conceiving after just two months, only for a bombshell to be dropped at her six-week scan that there were six babies. Two had no heartbeat But, in early 2015, they became aware of the huge age gap between Jaxton and his sisters and decided they wanted to give him a sibling to grow up with. So, returning to the same fertility clinic in Alabama that had helped them before, April began follistim and progesterone injections again - conceiving after just two months, only for a bombshell to be dropped at her six-week scan. She said: 'I remember looking up at the screen and seeing two little blobs. I cried out, "Oh my gosh, it's twins!" The sonographer told me she could see more than two. She fetched a doctor to check and they counted six. 'I was gobsmacked and laughing with sheer disbelief. Phil was away with work, so I text him six photos of the separate sonograms. 'He phoned me and said, "Why have you sent me six of the same picture?" I told him, "Look again they're different babies." Four of the fetuses were doing well, but two had no heartbeat leaving April with a difficult decision. As predicted by doctors, two of the fetuses still had no heartbeat by 10 weeks and their tissue was absorbed by the others. Pictured, Newborn Tallon, left and Berklee, right But the four remaining babies were going strong giving April the confidence to tell her family at 13 weeks. Pictured, April, Phil, Jaxton and the quadruplets 'Doctors told me about something called selective reduction, which would basically be lowering the number of fetuses to give the others the best chance at survival,' she continued. 'I understand why they asked, but it didn't feel right. I had been through so much that even to hold one baby at the end of it all would be a miracle. 'Besides, how could I have chosen which ones to keep? Phil and I talked things through and decided we would roll the dice and leave it all up to fate.' As predicted by doctors, two of the fetuses still had no heartbeat by 10 weeks and their tissue was absorbed by the others. But the four remaining babies were going strong giving April the confidence to tell her family at 13 weeks. 'I was already showing,' she said. 'We told them straight, "I'm pregnantand it's quads." The first words out of everyone's mouths were, "You're lying". But when they saw we weren't, they were absolutely astonished.' Thankfully, April's closely monitored pregnancy progressed very well. After hearing about her story, several other military families even banded together to donate baby items to her. Pictured, April's four babies as newborns Then, at 30 weeks and two days, she finally delivered her non-identical quads (pictured starting school) three boys and a girl at Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery, Alabama by cesarean section, just after 6:30am on October 16, 2015 Thankfully, April's closely monitored pregnancy progressed very well. After hearing about her story, several other military families even banded together to donate baby items to her. Then, at 30 weeks and two days, she finally delivered her non-identical quads three boys and a girl at Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery, Alabama by cesarean section, just after 6:30am on October 16, 2015. First came Ryker, weighing 3lb 1oz, followed by Tallon at 2lb 12oz, then Bowen and finally the only girl, Berklee both 2lb 8oz. 'Each of them let out a cry when they came out, which filled me with relief. I knew that, after everything, they were here and healthy,' she said. As they were premature, the babies initially required oxygen and had to stay in hospital while they grew stronger. April added: 'I was unwell myself at first with an infection, but went home after five days. It was very difficult not taking my babies with me. Though I knew they were fighters, there was something so hopeless about seeing them on the neonatal ward.' First came Ryker, weighing 3lb 1oz, followed by Tallon at 2lb 12oz, then Bowen and finally the only girl, Berklee both 2lb 8oz. Pictured, The family welcoming the babies back home Now, they are thriving four year olds (pictured), who have forged an unbreakable sibling bond After five weeks, the babies were all sent home within two days of each other first Ryker and Tallon on the same day, then Berklee and finally Bowen. Now, they are thriving four year olds, who have forged an unbreakable sibling bond. 'The first year is a complete blur no kidding, I got about 45 minutes sleep a night,' said April. 'Now, at any one time, there are toddlers all over the house running, crawling, rolling around. 'We've childproofed everything, but soon learnt that childproof and quadproof aren't the same.' These days, April's family life is chaotic, but exceptionally happy. With each child developing their own little personality, she explained how Ryker is arty, Tallon is sensitive and loving, Bowen is a 'little rocket' full of energy and Berklee is a true diva. But feeding so many mouths means an average weekly shop sets her back around $400 and Christmas can cost up to $3,000. With each child developing their own little personality, April (pictured left with her son while pregnant with her four babies) explained how Ryker is arty, Tallon is sensitive and loving, Bowen is a 'little rocket' full of energy and Berklee is a true diva (pictured right) But feeding so many mouths means an average weekly shop sets her back around $400 and Christmas can cost up to $3,000. Pictured, the huge family car Joking that her piles of laundry are 'endless' April has also come up with some clever hacks to keep things in order. Pictured, the family's Christmas stockings 'I try to buy them joint presents or stock up when sales are on to keep costs down, but the truth is, there's no real cheap way to run a house with so many kids,' she laughed. Joking that her piles of laundry are 'endless' she has also come up with some clever hacks to keep things in order. She added: 'When we go out to eat, we'll make them bibs out of Press n' Seal, which is a sort of cling film. It means they can be messy without leaving any stains on their clothes. 'They aren't identical, but they looked very similar when they were first born, so we assigned them all a color, meaning we could tell apart things like their bottles, clothes and dummies. 'They've sort of stuck to them as they've grown older Ryker is red, Tallon is yellow, Bowen is blue and Berklee is pink.' Now April hopes that her words will give hope to other couples facing fertility issues. She said: 'Life now is absolutely crazy. The house is like a circus but I wouldn't change it for the world.' Nearly four in ten maternity services are failing to meet basic safety standards, a health watchdog warned today. Professor Ted Baker highlighted 'significant cultural issues', including a lack of training and 'dysfunctional' teams of consultants and midwives. The Chief Inspector of Hospitals at regulator the Care Quality Commission told MPs that 38 per cent of units were currently rated as 'requiring improvement for safety', with a further 1 per cent 'inadequate.' Meanwhile, Sir Bill Kirkup, who is leading up a major inquiry into the maternity scandal at East Kent hospitals, warned of a cover-up culture. Nearly four in ten maternity services are failing to meet basic safety standards, a health watchdog warned today (File image) He said: 'There are some units which actively conceal what they're doing. When they get in sufficient trouble, their response is to stop communicating with the outside world and disguise the failings that they've got. 'My view is that a lot of it lies in the leadership of those units and the fact they become isolated and nobody can quite spot what's happening.' Professor Baker and Sir Bill gave evidence to MPs on the health select committee which is investigating the safety of NHS maternity units. The committee launched its inquiry after major failings were uncovered at one of the country's largest hospital trusts, East Kent, where up to 15 babies have died since 2011. Another review is under way into what is feared to be the NHS's biggest maternity scandal at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust in Shropshire. Nearly 2,000 families have made complaints about their care and they include those who have lost mothers and babies. Professor Baker told the committee whose chairman is former health secretary Jeremy Hunt that he was concerned about the lack of progress in maternity services. He said: 'Some 38 per cent require improvement... That is a significant number and larger than in other specialities. That is a reflection of the cultural issues in maternity services nationally.' The CQC later confirmed that a further 1 per cent had been rated inadequate for safety. Professor Baker added: 'Those problems are of dysfunction, of poor leadership, of poor culture, of parts of the service not working together midwives and obstetricians. 'This is a significant cultural issue across maternity services.' Last month the Mail revealed how the East Kent Hospitals trust was suspected of covering up baby deaths by failing to report 100 suspicious cases to the coroners. This month we highlighted figures showing that mistakes on maternity wards were costing the NHS 1billion a year. On Sunday morning, a federal district judge granted a motion by the video sharing app TikTok to stop the Trump administrations executive order banning the Chinese-owned software from being downloaded through iPhone and Android app stores in the US. In an 18-page Memorandum Opinion, Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia imposed a preliminary injunction on the presidents ban that would have halted downloads of the massively popular app as of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday evening. Judge Nichols agreed with TikToks lawsuit filed on September 18. He ruled that the presidents scheduled ban was unconstitutional on First (free speech) and Fifth (due process) amendment grounds. The judge wrote that the ban constitutes indirect regulations of personal communication[s] or the exchange of information or informational materials. A smartphone with TikTok and WeChat apps. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) The judge also agreed with TikToks claim that absent injunctive relief, the company will suffer irreparable harm. The judge wrote that the video sharing platform is one of the fastest growing apps in the United States, adding 424,000 new users each day, and that banning TikTok from app stores would have the immediate and direct effect of halting the influx of new users, likely driving those users to alternative platforms and eroding TikToks competitive position. The lawsuit TikTok v. Donald Trump was filed after the US president issued two executive orders on August 6 that declared the Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat to be threats to the national security, foreign policy and national economy of the United States. The executive orders claimed, without substantiation, that TikTok and WeChat were capturing the user data of Americans including internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories and making it possible for the Chinese Communist Party to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage. Trumps orders, which were derived from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977, called for a ban on certain business transactions with TikTok within 45 days. Five specific prohibited transactions were identified by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on September 18, the first of which was the download ban which was scheduled to take effect at midnight on September 27. TikTok is owned by the Beijing-based app developer ByteDance. The app, which is promoted with the tag line Make Your Day, Real People, Real Videos, was launched internationally in September 2017. In the ensuing three years, the app has been downloaded globally more than two billion times, and it has accumulated more than 800 million monthly active users in 155 countries and published in 39 languages. There are approximately 120 million monthly active users in the US. In the leadup to and aftermath of the executive order, Trump made it clear that he would lift the TikTok ban if a deal could be worked out whereby ByteDance would be divested of its ownership of the app, and a US corporate entity could take it over. After initial negotiations for such a planwhich saw American corporate vultures lining up to get in on a US government-sponsored theft of the valuable Chinese assetrumors were circulating that Microsoft and Walmart were close to signing a deal for the purchase of TikTok from ByteDance for an undisclosed sum. Then, the Chinese government modified its export control rules that would require ByteDance to obtain a license to sell its core technology to an American owner. The new rules, which restrict the export of technology based on data analysis for personalized information recommendation services, specifically impacted TikTok. The core technology and most valuable asset of TikTok is its recommendation algorithm that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict the videos that users will find entertaining and keep them watching for longer periods of time. An announcement by Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin on September 13 said that a deal had been secured for the US enterprise software giant Oracle to become a trusted tech partner of TikTok. A week later, the proposed takeover expanded to involve Walmart, a group of US private equity and venture capital investors and the creation of a US corporate entity called TikTok Global and was given the blessing of Donald Trump. The president even went so far as to claim that the US corporate heist of TikTok would provide the US government with a $5 billion fund to educate people about the real history of our country. However, no deal has yet been finalized. The next deadline imposed under Trumps executive order is November 12 in which advertising sales on the platform and other types of monetary transactions will be prohibited, effectively shutting the business down completely. Early Tuesday morning, the Global Times, the English-language newspaper published under the auspices of the Chinese government, said that regardless of the outcome of the TikTok lawsuit, China will resolutely take actions to prevent TikTok and its technologies from falling into the US hands to protect its national security and the interests of its enterprises. The paper quoted Liu Dingding, a veteran analyst very familiar with the TikTok issue, who said, If the US-manipulated restructuring of TikTok becomes a template [for future deals], it would mean that world-class companies that have core competitiveness would be like lambs that can be wantonly slaughtered by the US government when they enter the US market. The Chinese publication also quoted Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of the China Information Security Research Institute, who said, The Trump administration is so crazy that it considers any Chinese firm that collects user data in normal business operations as a [national security] threat. According to the US hegemonic logic, China should have banned a number of US high-tech companies as China heavily purchased from the US for its information industry development over the past years. The Trump administrations effort to ban TikTok and WeChatalso being held up by a US courtaddresses several strategic objectives of US imperialism simultaneously. On the one hand, it facilitates anti-Chinese propaganda as a means of deflecting growing social anger over the malign response of the White House to the coronavirus pandemic, and, on the other, it furthers trade war measures against one the greatest threats American global hegemony. These political purposes are shared by the Trump administration, both parties in Congress and the Biden-Harris presidential campaign of the Democratic Party, all of whom are supporting the TikTok ban based on unproven accusations of Chinese spying on Americans. Speaking at a campaign stop in Minnesota on September 18, Joseph Biden said, I think that its a matter of genuine concern that TikTok, a Chinese operation, has access to over 100 million young people, particularly in the United States of America. Sevenfold increase in half-yearly commercial invoicing to 5.8 million euros; Strong improvement in adjusted EBITDA for the first half of the year, at -3.1 million euros compared to -7.0 million euros a year earlier; Up to 25 million euros in revenues from new contracts signed since December 2019, mainly in upfront and milestone payments, expected over the next 4 years; Tens of millions of euros per year in additional licensing revenues (royalties) could be received from commercial launches of the co-developed solutions; Tripling of commercial invoicing expected in 2020 and confirmation of the objective of financial breakeven (adjusted EBITDA) expected in 2021. Regulatory News: Voluntis (Paris:VTX) (Euronext Paris, Ticker: VTX ISIN: FR0004183960), a leader in digital therapeutics, today announced its results for the first half of 2020, as approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting on September 28, 2020, as well as its commercial and financial outlook. On this occasion, Pierre Leurent, CEO of Voluntis, stated: "We are satisfied with these first results since the presentation of our strategic roadmap last March. While IFRS impacts the reading of our accounts, the cash vision is promising. The strong increase in our commercial invoicing, combined with the ongoing adjustment of our cost base, allows us to significantly improve our adjusted EBITDA in line with our objectives. Beyond the half-year accounts, the last nine months have been the most successful for the company in terms of revenue generation. The pre-launch revenues booked over the period exceed the cumulative amounts booked between 2011 and 2019. We are delighted to see the immediate benefits of our strategic roadmap initiated earlier this year, and to pave the way for future growth. While the health crisis may lead to delays in certain programs by pharmaceutical companies, it has highlighted the importance of digital health solutions in optimizing healthcare systems and the patient experience. We remain confident in our ability to achieve our financial objectives." Implementation of the new strategic roadmap and major new partnership in oncology In the first half of 2020, Voluntis executed its new strategic roadmap. This prioritizes the oncology market, offering vast opportunities to create value through the digital therapeutics developed by Voluntis, and the conclusion of major partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies. This business model allows the generation of upfront payments and milestone payments in the short term and, after commercial launch, annual payments (royalties) linked to the number of patients using the product. It is in this context that Voluntis has entered into a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb, announced in March 2020, to develop digital therapeutic solutions for the management of cancer patient symptoms and their remote monitoring by healthcare professionals. This collaboration follows the one announced in December 2019 with Novartis for the evaluation of Voluntis' digital therapeutic platform for breast cancer. The goal of the collaboration is to provide patients with tools to effectively manage their symptoms and thus improve the patient experience and clinical outcomes. These collaborations are based on Theraxium Oncology, Voluntis' platform for digital therapeutics in oncology. Strong increase in commercial invoicing Thanks to these major partnerships, commercial invoicing increased sevenfold between the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2020 to reach 5.8 million, mainly in the field of oncology. This favorable trend confirms the successful execution of the strategy and the value of partnerships to optimize cash flow in the short and medium term. At the same time, Voluntis has embarked on an ambitious program to adapt its organization to its new strategy, both in France and in the United States: the Group has thus evolved from 113 employees at the end of 2019, to 85 at the end of June 2020 and 75 to date, while maintaining innovation capabilities of the digital platforms that are at the heart of Voluntis' value proposition. These organizational adjustments will only produce their full economic impact from the second half of 2020. Improved results despite the impact of IFRS 15 This favorable evolution is only marginally reflected in the income statement due to the application of IFRS 15. This standard requires that the amount of invoices issued in the context of partnerships be deferred over time. As a result, a very limited portion of new collaborations has been recognized as revenue so far, with the balance being recorded in the balance sheet as prepaid income. Excluding the application of IFRS 15, adjusted EBITDA is up sharply to -3.1 million compared to -7.0 million in the first half of 2019. After taking into account IFRS 15, half-year revenues amounted to 1.9 million compared to 2.0 million in the first half of 2019. EBITDA (EUR -5.9 million compared to EUR -7.0 million in H1 2019) and net income (EUR -8.1 million compared to EUR -8.4 million one year earlier) improved slightly. Strengthening the financial structure The increase in cash flow from partnerships and the reduction in the cost structure made possible by the new roadmap have increased the company's financial visibility. Voluntis generated positive free cash flow of 0.9 million, including 3.1 million in research tax credits (CIR) compared to 1.7 million in the first half of 2019, compared to a cash outflow of 7.4 million over the same period in 2019. As of June 30, 2020, Voluntis had available cash of 4.2 million, which was reinforced in September by a 2 million state-guaranteed loan (PGE). The company estimates that it will be able to cover its 12-month financing needs thanks to this level of cash and the implementation of additional financing or the signature of new partnerships under discussion. Voluntis also has an OCEANE-BSA program that could be implemented in the future. Growth in activity and invoicing expected between 2020 and 2024 At the end of this encouraging first half year, Voluntis confirms its short- and medium-term financial objectives. In this context, Voluntis confirms that it is targeting significant growth in its commercial invoicing in 2020. Year-to-date invoicing now stands at 8.4 million, three times the entire 2019 financial year (2.7 million), thanks to partnership agreements. In particular, Voluntis announced in July 2020 a global licensing agreement with Biocon Biologics for Insulia, the digital therapeutic developed by Voluntis, which is FDA-approved and CE-marked for patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin. As announced, subject to the fulfillment of certain contractual conditions, the agreements signed since December 2019 could generate up to 25 million in cumulative commercial invoicing between 2020 and 2024 (including a significant part of the 8.4 million billed to date in 2020), mainly consisting of upfront and milestone payments. The commercial launch of co-developed solutions would make Voluntis eligible to receive additional payments for the license of its Theraxium platform and proprietary digital therapeutics. These payments may cumulatively amount to tens of millions of euros per year, based on negotiated per-patient fees and projected number of end-users. This significant acceleration of Voluntis' commercial bookings is an illustration of the positive momentum of the digital health sector, which is particularly notable during the Covid-19 crisis. Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to digital therapeutics to support and enhance their product portfolio to deliver optimal treatment experiences to patients worldwide. These new solutions also enable remote patient monitoring and the expansion of at-home treatments. This revenue growth should enable Voluntis to achieve its break-even target of a positive adjusted EBITDA in the course of 2021. Availability of the half-year financial report The Half-Year Financial Report 2020 is available to the public today and has been filed with the Autorite des marches financiers (AMF). It can be consulted on the company's website. About Voluntis Voluntis creates digital therapeutics that empower people with chronic conditions to self-manage their treatment every day, thus improving real-world outcomes. Voluntis' solutions, combining mobile and web apps, use clinical algorithms to deliver personalized recommendations to patients and their care teams. For example, these recommendations are used to adjust treatment dosage, manage side effects or monitor symptoms. Leveraging its Theraxium technology platform, Voluntis has designed and operates multiple digital therapeutics, especially in oncology and diabetes. Voluntis has long-standing partnerships with leading life science companies. Based in Cambridge, MA, and Paris, France, Voluntis is a founding member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. For more information, please visit: www.voluntis.com Mnemo: VTX ISIN: FR0004183960 Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Voluntis group and its business, including its prospects and product candidate development. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Voluntis considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the 2019 annual financial report and the 2020 half-year financial report published by Voluntis respectively on April 30, 2020 and September 29, 2020 (a copy of which is available on www.voluntis.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Voluntis operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Voluntis or not currently considered material by Voluntis. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Voluntis to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. Voluntis expressly declines any obligation to update such forward-looking statements. Alternative Performance Indicators: Commercial invoicing: reflects commercial activity and the achievement of technical or regulatory milestones during the period, which are often deferred or spread out in accordance with IFRS 15. EBITDA: recurring operating income before depreciation, amortization and provisions. Adjusted EBITDA: corresponds to the EBITDA amended with the variation in prepaid income and deferred charges pursuant to the application of IFRS 15 (income invoiced for items over which control has not been transferred, expenses for the execution of items produced under customer contracts and not yet transferred). Consolidated Income Statement Actuals as of June 30 m 2020 2019 Revenue 1,9 2,0 Other operating revenue 0,3 0,5 Total operating revenue 2,2 2,5 Personnel expenses (5,8) (6,5) Other operating costs (2,6) (2,7) Depreciation, amortisation operating provisions (1,5) (1,3) Operating income (7,7) (8,0) Financial income (0,4) (0,5) Income tax (0,0) (0,0) Net income (8,1) (8,4) EBITDA (6,1) (6,6) Adjusted EBITDA (3,1) (7,0) Consolidated Balance sheet Actuals as of m 30/06/2020 31/12/2019 Assets Intangible assets 2,5 2,7 Tangible assets 3,0 3,3 Other non-current assets 0,3 0,3 Other fixed assets 0,3 0,4 Non current assets 6,1 6,6 Receivables 0,5 0,5 Other current financial assets Other current assets 2,2 5,0 Cash on hand 4,2 5,1 Current assets 6,9 10,6 Total 13,0 17,3 m 30/06/2020 31/12/2019 Liabilities Shareholder equity (6,3) 1,7 Financial debt (non current) 3,1 4,5 LT provisions and other non current liabilities 5,5 0,9 Non current liabilities 8,6 5,3 Financial debt (current) 3,0 3,2 Payables and other current liabilities 7,6 7,0 Current liabilities 10,7 10,2 Total 13,0 17,3 Actuals as of Simplified cash flow statement (m) 30/06/2020 30/06/2019 Net cash flows from/(used in) operating activities 1,4 (6,9) Net cash flows from/(used in) investing activities (0,5) (0,5) Net cash flows from/(used in) financing activities (1,8) 1,9 CASH FLOW VARIANCE (0,9) (5,6) Net foreign exchange difference 0,0 0,0 OPENING CASH BALANCE 5,1 19,8 CLOSING CASH BALANCE 4,2 14,2 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005975/en/ Contacts: ACTUS Media relations Vivien Ferran vferran@actus.fr +33 (0)1 53 67 36 34 ACTUS Investor relations Jerome Fabreguettes-Leib voluntis@actus.fr +33 (0)1 53 67 36 78 Voluntis Directeur Administratif et Financier Guillaume Floch investisseurs@voluntis.com +33 (0)1 41 38 39 20 Insurers have been branded 'shameless' for trying to wriggle out of payments to small businesses battered by coronavirus. Two High Court judges ruled earlier this month that insurers must pay out under most business interruption policies types of insurance taken out by firms to protect their income if they are forced to close. The judgment was heralded as a lifeline for thousands of struggling companies which had to shut their doors during lockdown, after most insurers had refused to pay out, claiming the policies were not designed to cover a nationwide pandemic. Two High Court judges ruled insurers must pay out under most business interruption policies types of insurance taken out by firms to protect their income if they are forced to close But now seven insurance giants, including Hiscox and RSA, have lodged applications to appeal the High Court's decision. Firms from events companies to restaurants, who were relying on the insurance payout to help them survive the pandemic, fear for their future as they face more delays. Kim Roe, who runs events business Circa Group based in Tunbridge Wells, holds a business interruption policy with Hiscox. Despite being told by lawyers that her claim should be covered by the High Court judgment, she is still waiting for a payment. She said: 'It's clearly a delaying tactic people like myself are under a lot of pressure, and they're hoping that because of that we'll settle for a lesser amount. 'It is shameless. A lot of people will go to the wall because of this. Insurers are acting like hyenas and waiting for everyone to drop off so they can pick at the bones.' RSA, which made 492million in profits last year, said it would take an 85million hit if it had to pay out under business interruption policies. Hiscox, which made 45million of profits in a poor year after a number of catastrophe claims, said the hit would be less than 100million. The High Court case was brought by the Financial Conduct Authority on behalf of businesses affected by the pandemic, in order to decide whether insurers must pay out. The FCA took eight insurers Arch, Argenta, Ecclesiastical Insurance, Hiscox, MS Amlin, QBE, Royal & Sun Alliance and Zurich to court to act as examples. The judges ruled on September 15 that a majority of the 400,000 firms with business interruption insurance should have a valid claim. But since then, insurers have been dragging their feet as they remain locked in talks with the FCA over how to pay policyholders. Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, urged insurers to 'do the right thing by policyholders'. Hiscox said yesterday that it 'remains committed to an expedited resolution and today's application, pending this hearing, preserves speed of process for all parties should there be an appeal'. The FCA declined to comment. "We are excited to enter the State of Washington. With our extensive and comprehensive line of exemplary surety products and services, we will definitely serve the needs of the Washington market, Californias most trusted surety bond company, Surety Bond Authority, announced today that it has expanded its streamlined surety bond services in the State of Washington. For over 30 years, the company has been offering surety bonds designed to meet the changing needs of various businesses and individual professionals. "We are excited to enter the State of Washington. With our extensive and comprehensive line of exemplary surety products and services, we will definitely serve the needs of the Washington market, said Greg Rynerson, CEO of Surety Bond Authority. With its launch in the State of Washington, Surety Bond Authority is offering a suite of surety bond products and services that includes the following: Commercial Bonds - These are surety bonds required from businesses or professionals when obtaining licenses and permits. Contract Bonds - Also known as Construction Bonds. These bonds are used to manage the risks of construction projects. About two-thirds of the surety bonds generated by the industry are contract bonds. Court Bonds - Its an umbrella term for different types of bonds that are required in court proceedings. Miscellaneous Bonds - These are surety bonds required by a statute, ordinance, or regulation. Others are contracts between two private parties. Surety Bond Authority provides a streamlined surety bond application process to make it easier for bond purchasers while maintaining privacy and confidentiality. They use a privacy-focused technological tool that ensures the security of their clients information. Building trust is paramount in our business. We want our clients to trust us when it comes to taking care of their bonding needs and when it comes to providing the information needed for the underwriting process, Greg Rynerson clarifies. The companys team of experts has extensive knowledge of specific risks companies and professionals face. This helps them assess applicants better and provide bonds to those who have non-standard credits. Its important for us to give everyone a chance, Greg Rynerson concludes. About Surety Bond Authority Surety Bond Authority offers exceptional surety bond products for various companies. It is known for its financial strength and exemplary client service. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.suretybondauthority.com Contact: Surety Bond Authority, Inc. Greg A. Rynerson, CPCU Phone: +1 800-333-7800 Email: info(at)suretyauthority(dot)com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Though local internet station oWOW Radio will wrap up its broadcast operations on Oct. 2, it will keep its music streaming indefinitely after that date following listener feedback and conversations on social media. The announcement comes less than a week after oWOW announced it would cease all operations, due to financial stresses related to the coronavirus pandemic. After Oct. 2, oWOW wont have its personalities on air, but it will have a streaming service up on its website for the remainder of the month, or for as long as the station can financially and contractually endure, a press release states. The stream will focus on oWOWs Timeless Rock format. We know that continuing the music is only one of the many programming and marketing elements of oWOW, and does not incorporate the personalities, news, pubic service, regional information, opinion, and being live and local, which have become known for," said John Gorman, oWOWs chief content officer, in a press release. But, for now, we will continue to provide the Cleveland Timeless Rock soundtrack element of oWOW in this interceding period. The online radio station launched in 2014 by Gorman, a former WMMS program director. Gorman led a staff of on-air hosts that were notable from other Cleveland radio stations and media outlets, including Ravenna Miceli, Monica Robins, Kasey Crabtree and Steve Pappas. The station operated out of a studio space in Clevelands 78th Street Studios, spinning tunes that appealed to older audiences who had been fans of WMMS programming from past decades, Gorman said. Though oWOWs closure has occurred due to the ongoing pandemic, Gorman said in a cleveland.com interview that he hopes to bring back the station in the future, potentially toying around with new formats to create a sustainable presence. You can find more information about oWOWs operations at owownow.com. Katy Independent School District taxpayers should see their school tax rate decrease this fall. During its meeting on Monday, Sept. 28, the Board of Trustees approved a 5.43 cent drop in the school tax rate per $100 valuation of property. Related: Katy ISD appoints new chief of police The property tax rate is decreasing 5.43 cents due to the passage of House Bill 3, which was approved during the 86th legislative session in 2019, said Chief Financial Officer Christopher J. Smith in a news release. Our goal is to consistently provide high-quality education to our learners while being a good steward of our taxpayers dollars. With this decrease, a residential household will see an approximate savings of $148 for the 2021 taxable year. According to Smith, the current 2019-2020 tax rate is comprised of a maintenance and operations/general operating (M&O) rate of $1.0531 and an interest and sinking/debt service (I&S) rate of $0.3900, for a total rate of $1.4431 per $100 valuation. But he said the M&O rate for the 2020-2021 year will be $0.9988, and the I&S rate will be $0.3900, for a total rate of $1.3888 per $100 valuation. On HoustonChronicle.com: Seven Lakes High School ranks top in Katy ISD The school tax rate decrease is the fourth for the district over the past 15 years. The new rate is effective immediately, so taxpayers should see the benefit on their tax statements later in the fall. This is the second consecutive year that district has dropped the rate, for a total of more than a 12 cent decrease, Smith said. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives appear torn over whether to stick with the controversial gas-pump decals that have been ruled unconstitutional. Nearly four weeks after Mr. Justice Edward Morgan issued a 17-page decision castigating the Tory-blue stickers, the government has still not determined its next course of action. Energy Minister Greg Rickfords office would only say Tuesday that we have no further updates at this time. While Rickford was in the legislature for the morning question period, he ducked reporters after. Sources say the issue may finally be discussed at cabinet Wednesday 26 days after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ford should back away from any kind of appeal or attempt to fight this decision. It was ridiculous in the first place that Ford used public money to basically force gas-station operators to put the governments political propaganda on the gas pumps, Howarth told journalists at Queens Park. Unveiled last year as part of the Conservatives $30 million crusade, the Tory-blue stickers read the federal carbon tax will cost you. Morgan sided with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which had taken the Tories to court, saying the inaccurate decals violated business owners rights. A government or political party can, in the words of Ontarios Minister of Energy stick it to another tier of government or political party as a matter of free speech in an election campaign or otherwise, the judge wrote. But a government cannot legislate a requirement that private retailers post a sticker designed to accomplish that task. The mandatory fuel pump sticker is an unconstitutional attempt to do just that, he wrote. Morgans ruling pounced upon Rickfords April 2019 comment that were going to stick it to the Liberals and remind the people of Ontario how much this job-killing regressive carbon tax costs. Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was surprised the Tories seem blindsided by the court decision. I am astounded and quite shocked that they dont have an answer for it. It does speak to a stronger undercurrent of incompetence from this government, said Del Duca. We saw flashes of this throughout the first 18 or so months that Doug Ford was premier, whether it was gas-pump stickers or it was licence plates that didnt work at night, he said, referring to the defective double-blue plates finally scrapped in May. Green Leader Mike Schreiner implored the premier to stop wasting tax dollars sabotaging climate solutions. But the decals and what they symbolize are sticky for the Tories who continue to oppose federal carbon-pricing measures. On Monday, government house leader Paul Calandra told the legislature that make no mistake about it we are not in favour of the federal carbon tax. We do not believe that the people of Ontario should continue to be punished ... we do not believe the federal carbon tax is in the best interests of the people, said Calandra. Still, one cabinet minister, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations, expressed frustration at the governments inability to resolve the decal debacle. No one is talking about the carbon tax, the minister confided. There are other things going on. The stickers have long proved problematic for the government. There were adhesive issues that infuriated Ford, whose family runs a label business. Their firm did not print the 25,000 decals, which cost $4,954. Initially, the Tories threatened scofflaws with fines of up to $10,000 a day for not posting the stickers. That led the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to renounce them as an example of unnecessary red tape that could force private retailers out of business. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The missing South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers at sea last week had expressed his willingness to defect to the soldiers, South Korea's Coast Guard said on Tuesday. The official's death sparked controversy after his older brother refuted the government's initial claim that he might have tried to flee to the North. The Coast Guard said it has determined after an investigation based on CCTV footage, military intelligence and background records that the official told the North Korean troops he wished to defect and they were aware of his detailed personal information. "We have confirmed that the North side had secured his personal information that he would only know, including his name, age, hometown and height, and that the missing person had conveyed his willingness to go to the North," said Yoon Sung-hyun, chief of investigation and intelligence at the Coast Guard. Yoon said the possibility was "extremely low" that he had lost his footing or attempted to take his own life because he was wearing a life vest and a flotation device when found some 38 km (23.6 miles) away from where he went missing. The man's brother, Lee Rae-jin, had said it must have been an accident as he had just got a new boat and no reason to defect. Yoon said the official had run up debt of more than 58 million won ($49,600) but it was still unclear whether he sought to flee because of that. The Coast Guard and Navy have expanded the search for the man's body involving dozens of ships after Pyongyang said the soldiers only burned a flotation device he was using, in an effort to head off the risk of a novel coronanvirus outbreak. South Korea has accused the North of dousing his body in fuel and setting it on fire after killing the man, calling for a joint investigation. Pyongyang remains silent about the joint probe as of Tuesday but leader Kim Jong Un has offered an apology. State media said the North was conducting its own search for the man's body but warned the South against raising tension by intruding into its waters. ($1 = 1,169.4200 won) (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Michael Perry) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condoled the demise of MP and IUML leader E Ahamed and said his efforts for empowerment of the Muslim community will be remembered. aSaddened by the demise of Mr. E Ahamed, a veteran political leader who served the nation with great diligence. A My condolences,a he tweeted. He said Ahamed devoted significant efforts towards Keralaas progress and his role in deepening Indiaas ties with West Asia was notable. aThe continuous efforts of Mr. E Ahamed for the empowerment of the Muslim community will be remembered,a Modi added. Meanwhile, Congress on Wednesday demanded postponement of the budget following the demise of Ahamed. aIn our opinion, including JDU leaders and former PM Deve Gowda, the budget should be postponed,a Mallikarjun Khadge said. aI think Govt already knew that he had passed away, but they were trying to maybe delay announcement. Itas not March 31, there is a lot of time to present budget. Govt can postpone it,a he added. aThis was an inhuman act,a said Kharge on allegations that E Ahamed 's death announcement was delayed. 78-year-old Ahamed passed away in the wee hours on Wednesday at RML Hospital here. The MP from Keralaas Mallapuram suffered a cardiac arrest during the Presidentas address to the joint sitting of Parliament yesterday. The continuous efforts of Mr. E Ahamed for the empowerment of the Muslim community will be remembered. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 1, 2017 Mr. E Ahamed devoted significant efforts towards Kerala's progress. His role in deepening India's ties with West Asia was notable. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 1, 2017 Saddened by the demise of Mr. E Ahamed, a veteran political leader who served the nation with great diligence. My condolences. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 1, 2017 (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A United Nations report to the Human Rights Council showed that its human rights activities and programs were subject to uninvited police presence and surveillance in Cambodia, with local rights monitoring groups facing similar adversities. The findings were part of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterress report to the Human Rights Council, which will be submitted on Wednesday, detailing the intimidation and reprisals faced by individuals and groups working with the multilateral organizations human rights programs across the world. In Cambodia, we continue to receive reports of acts of intimidation against civil society and human rights organizations, which impede their capacity to monitor and report including to this Council, reads the reports case information for Cambodia. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the report states, had witnessed that local rights groups were reluctant to associate and advocate with them for fear of reprisals. It also noticed that prison detainees had also rejected assistance provided by the multilateral body. The report refers to the August 2019 complaints received by Rhona Smith, special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, about local police arriving at civil society events and training sessions, where they would take photos and demand details of participants. Additionally, the U.N.s human rights office also reported police presence at a meeting organized by a local group and the U.N. country office, demanding a permit for the event. After consultations with Preah Sihanouk officials, the meeting proceeded, but the police arrived the next day asking for a list of participants and the agenda. Similarly, the police attempted to photograph and get details of participants at OHCHR training for human rights defenders in Kampong Thom province in November 2019. Police officers arrived at the premises and demanded to see the training agenda and list of participants, and attempted to take photographs of participants, reads the report. Sok Ratha, Kampong Thom provincial coordinator at local rights group ADHOC, said events organized by the organization on human rights and fundamental freedoms were routinely monitored by local authorities and the police. They would often ask for the reason for the meeting, the agenda, and the list of participants, he added. We clearly dont know their intention for coming [to the meetings]. We ask them and they said they got orders, he said. Khieu Sopheak, the spokesman of Interior Ministry, rejected the U.N. report by saying that it was the job of the rights groups to allege fake violations in order to continue to be funded. He added that the government had not ordered local police to watch over events in the provinces or Phnom Penh, and that police were entitled to make inquiries from the organizers, especially to check the identities of foreigners at the event. If we allow [people] to do anything, do whatever they want without letting the authorities know, what will our country be like? he said. Cambodians are asking Cambodians, so there is no problem. It is not Vietnamese [authorities] who are asking [about these events]. Chin Malin, the spokesman of the Justice Ministry, said the reports filed by NGOs and the U.N. Special Rapporteur were not reflective of the reality in Cambodia. A group of Stillwater Public Schools parents on Monday filed suit against the district over distance learning. The six parents are asking a Payne County District Court to force the district to provide traditional access to in-classroom services and reopen all public school facilities. The district is using blended learning based on the COVID-19 threat level. They currently are using some in-person and some distance learning and offer virtual coursework as well. Defendants include Stillwater Public Schools, Superintendent Marc Moore, the Stillwater Public Schools Board of Education and school board members. There has been a gross dereliction of duty and this Court must immediately act to ensure that the children of the Stillwater public school are no longer ignored, neglected, and failed by those entrusted to educate them, according to the brief. Distance learning requires parents and guardians to spend their own money to accommodate the ill-advised and poorly implemented education model, the suit said. It neglects their right to a constitutional free public education, the suit said. On trips to Rome, Steven Jenkins formerly of Fairway and now running Olive Oil Jones picked up the scent of coppiette, a kind of pork jerky. He and his wife would notice Italian truck drivers passion for gnawing on this stuff whilst jamming gears, and he described coppiette as pure premium pork loin dried and seasoned with fennel seed, hot chile flakes, coriander and sea salt. Determined to get someone to make it in the United States, he convinced Chris Eley of Smoking Goose in Indianapolis to do so, and arranged for Patrick Martins of Heritage Foods to supply the pork. Its now available to give your jaw a workout, just as Mr. Jenkins described. Heritage Pork Coppiette, $20 for 4 ounces, oliveoiljones.com. Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. Jenny Dethmers was on her way to pick up her mom with her partner, her stepdaughter and their baby when their minivan was struck by a pickup truck fleeing from police in the William Whyte area on Saturday afternoon. She was pronounced dead in hospital that day. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Jenny Dethmers was on her way to pick up her mom with her partner, her stepdaughter and their baby when their minivan was struck by a pickup truck fleeing from police in the William Whyte area on Saturday afternoon. She was pronounced dead in hospital that day. Dethmers spent the morning decorating her house for Halloween, then called her mom, Candy Volk, and told her she was going to pick her up so she could show off her newly decorated house. COURTESY JESSICA BIRD/THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Jennifer (Jenny) Dethmers was killed in a weekend crash that also sent her baby to hospital. It would be the first Halloween for Dethmers' 10-month-old son, A.J. She was adamant it would be special, even if possible COVID-19 restrictions prevent kids from trick-or-treating. That was Jenny. She was very creative, and she always went out of her way to make things special for the people she loved. She was helpful and kind, and she spoiled the people closest to her. The pandemic wasnt going to ruin her sons first Halloween. "They didnt have enough gas, so they turned around to go to the Shell station, and they were hit," Volk said through tears on a telephone call from Childrens Hospital, where she has been with A.J. since Saturday afternoon. "She was supposed to be here, and she wasnt answering her phone, so I was getting mad. I always used to say to her, Why do you have a phone if you dont answer it?" Not long after, Volk went on Facebook and saw photos and videos of a horrific two-vehicle crash that happened at the intersection of Boyd Avenue and Andrews Street, just a few blocks from her home, at about 1:30 p.m. "Thats how I found out, from Facebook. I asked my son, Is that your sisters van? And he said no, but I had this feeling. I just knew in my heart that it was her van," Volk said, weeping softly. Volk made her way to the scene of the collision, where her worst fears were confirmed. She remembers speaking to a police officer, giving her daughters name, and being told the mangled van was her daughters. Then, things went black. She doesnt remember what happened after that. SUPPLIED Dethmers and her son, A.J., at the beach in July. Her world crumbled. Dethmers grew up in the North End. She was her mothers miracle baby, because Volk was told she wouldnt be able to have more kids after her son was born. Seven years later, in March 1990, Jennifer was born. "I always wanted a little girl named Jenny," Volks voice softens. "Back then, you didnt name kids abbreviated versions of names, so I named her Jennifer. I used to call her my little miracle, because thats what she was. She was my miracle." Dethmers attended Machray School and R.B. Russell Vocational High School, where she excelled in anything creative. She had a close circle of friends she grew up with and often referred to as her sisters or cousins. She was a big part of her community, taking part in vigils and walks for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with her mom. When she was 14 or 15 years old, Dethmers created her own memorial walk called For Them All, Youth Honouring Youth. She set up a series of events to honour young people who had gone missing or were lost to murder, suicide or drug addiction. Volk remembers telling her daughter the name didnt sound right. "It should be For All of Them," she told her. But Dethmers laughed and told her mom she liked the name. Thats how she talked, and thats what she was going to call it. "I never thought wed have to have one (a vigil) for her," Volk said. The mother and daughter were close. Dethmers and the baby would come to Volks house for dinner every night. That was their routine. They would eat and visit, and then Dethmers would get A.J. ready for bed. Then, theyd head to Tim Hortons for a cup of decaf coffee before calling it a night. Later in the evening, as Volk was trying to sleep, her phone notifications would start going off, waking her. "My phone would be pinging every night around midnight because Jenny would be tagging me in some funny meme or a video of A.J.," Volk laughed, reflecting on how endearing and annoying those midnight notifications were. "My phones not pinging anymore." In talking about her daughter, Volks love for her and strength is evident. Even in her darkest hour, her focus is on remembering how her daughter lived, not how she died. "She was my best friend," Volk said. "She was helpful and kind and sweet. She had a sailors mouth, and if you pissed her off, boy you better run." Volk said Dethmers was coming into her own. She gave birth to her son on Dec. 3. Her last trimester of her pregnancy was rough, but she relished her role as a mama bear. Volk said Dethmers thoroughly enjoyed being on maternity leave and the time it allowed her to spend with her son. She was kind and protective and would do anything for her little boy. She often shared videos of A.J. on her Facebook page. He was her whole world. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Dethmers had already bought a tote full of Mickey Mouse decorations for her son's first birthday and his Christmas outfit for this year, telling her mom how excited she was for his first Christmas. "She said, Mom, hes going to be crawling around, pulling your tree down." Now, Volk sits with the little boy in hospital, praying he recovers from the massive injuries he suffered in the crash. Hes still in critical condition, but hes not getting worse, she said. Its day-by-day now, not minute-by-minute. A good sign, and a little bit of hope in this tragic situation. Volk said she is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from friends and strangers alike, as she pours over countless Facebook posts and tributes to her daughter, and fields messages, calls, food donations and visits from people showing up to show their support. "So many people have shown up and reached out to me, and I am just so overwhelmed," she said. "We miss her so much." shelka79@hotmail.com Twitter: @ShelleyACook LONDON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Overall, the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) industry has been quick to respond to the global COVID-19 crisis. However, the Caribbean's Commonwealth of Dominica topped the list. This is according to the CBI Index, an in-depth report that examines and evaluates fast-track routes to citizenship offered by a variety of countries in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Dominica's swift response was credited to its longstanding history in the investment immigration industry. The 2020 version of the report was published earlier this month and is backed by the Financial Times' Professional Wealth Management magazine. The fourth annual version of the index compares 14 CBI jurisdictions using nine 'pillars' that evaluate factors like the speed of the application process, due diligence, and investment rates. "CBI countries particularly those with long-established systems and experienced processing staff have largely been quick to respond to the Covid-19 crisis. They have provided a range of solutions, both temporary and permanent, to alleviate administrative burdens for applicants and authorised agents," the report said. In March 2020, the CBI unit of Dominica, "Issued circulars announcing that they would move their processes online to reduce transmission of the disease. Dominica, whose unit had already accomplished a swift switch to remote processing in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricane season, drew on experience to adapt to the social distancing requirements of COVID-19 and continue to process at a rapid pace," it added. Dominica also ranked best overall CBI Programme for the fourth year in a row. It excelled in the pillars of minimum investment outlay, mandatory travel and residence, ease of process, due diligence, certainty of product, and the index's newest pillar, family. This is due to some changes the country made this year to make its CBI Programme more attractive to families. The changes include the fact that dependents can be related to the main applicant or the main applicant's spouse, there is no longer an age limitation on parents or grandparents, and siblings are allowed up to the age of 25. A growing population of foreign investors have become citizens after contributing US$100,000 to a government fund or investing at least US$200,000 in prime hotels and resorts. CBI funding has had a tangible impact on virtually all aspects of life in Dominica, as noted in a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign speech in Manitowoc, Wis., Sept. 21, 2020. (Mark Makela/Reuters) Biden Releases 2019 Tax Return Prior to Debate With Trump Democratic nominee Joe Biden released his 2019 tax return on Tuesday, just hours before his debate against President Donald Trump, seeking to draw a contrast with the president, who has sought to keep his tax returns private. The American people deserve transparency from their leaders, its why as of today, Ive released 22 years of my tax returns, Biden said in a statement on Twitter. According to the 2019 state and federal tax return of Biden and his wife, Jill Biden (pdf), shows that they reported $944,737 in taxable income last year and paid $299,346 in federal income taxes, at a rate of 31 percent. Bidens move comes days after The New York Times published a report on more than a decade of Trumps tax returns, allegedly obtained from an undisclosed source. According to the report, Trump paid $1 million for 2016 and $4.2 million for 2017 in individual federal income taxes, while in 10 of the 15 previous years, the president paid no taxes because of business losses that allowed him to reduce his tax obligations. Trump denounced the New York Times report as fake news. In a tweet on Monday, he complained the newspaper obtained his tax returns illegally and then reported on them with only bad intent. The New York Times said it obtained the two decades of tax returns from sources it said had legal access to the documents. The newspaper declined to provide the documents to the Trump Organization. The Epoch Times reached out to The New York Times for comment regarding its report but has not received a reply. Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told the New York Times that most, if not all of the information about the tax returns appears to be inaccurate, adding that Trump paid millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015, while over the past 10 years, he paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government. I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits, Trump wrote on Twitter. I am extremely under leveragedI have very little debt compared to the value of assets. The president told reporters at a briefing on Sept. 27 that hes unable to release his financial records because he is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), insisting that he paid a considerable amount of taxes over the years. First of all, I paid a lot, he said. I paid a lot of state income taxes too. New York state charges a lot. News outlets and various Democratic officials at the state and federal level have tried to obtain Trumps tax returns over the past four years. Democrats in the House of Representatives have sued the president in a quest for the tax returns. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Trumps tax records, said The New York Times report makes it even more essential for his committee to get the documents. Now Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary. It is essential that the IRSs presidential audit program remain free of interference, Neal wrote. A substantial amount of interest about the presidents tax returns was centered on whether theyd reveal a connection to Russia. The New York Times found no such connection. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News on Sept. 28 that Democrats are replaying the same playbook they tried in 2016the same playbook that the American people rejected and will do so again. Bidens running mate Kamala Harris also released her 2019 tax return, filed jointly with her husband (pdf). Jack Phillips, Ivan Pentchoukov, and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. PEN Insider Trading Notification The Management Board of Photon Energy N.V. informs that it received information from its shareholder Solar Future Cooperatief U.A., (hereinafter referred to as Solar Future) who is owned jointly by Michael Gartner, the Director of Photon Energy and his wife Magda Gartnerova, that it executed the following sales transactions on the Munich Stock Exchange: -On 24 September 2020 Solar Future sold 206,000 shares of Photon Energy N.V. at a price of EUR 2.62 per share. -On 25 September 2020 Solar Future sold 71,100 shares of Photon Energy N.V. at a price of EUR 2.62 per share. -On 28 September 2020 Solar Future sold 23,500 shares of Photon Energy N.V. at a price of EUR 2.62 per share. The total amount of shares sold amounts to 300,600. The notified transaction value amounts to 787,572 EUR. Prior to the conclusion of the above mentioned transactions, Solar Future held 22,266,166 shares in the Company, which accounted for 37.11 % of the Companys share capital and carried 43.47% of votes at the Companys general meeting of shareholders. As of 28 September 2020, Solar Future holds 21,965,566 shares, which account for 36.61% of the Companys share capital and 42.89% of voting rights at the Companys general meeting of shareholders. Activity in Texas service industry accelerated in September and retail sales climbed, a monthly survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows. The revenue index a key measure of the sectors health rose to 14, its highest reading since the start of the pandemic. Positive readings indicate an expansion of activity. Texas service sector activity rebounded sharply in September, said Christopher Slijk, an associate economist at the Dallas Fed. Labor market indicators showed increases in employment and average hours worked, although a majority of services firms continued to note headcounts below February levels, he added. Perceptions of broader business conditions improved, and outlook uncertainty plateaued. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios Convention Center hosts first major event since March shutdown Retail sales jumped in September after two months of declines, with the sales index rising from -9.9 to 20.8. Business leaders perceptions of industry conditions stayed positive, but they also expressed uncertainty about the upcoming election and the continuing effects of the pandemic. Some said they were struggling to hire employees. Uncertainty is the only constant, an executive at an accommodation business told the Dallas Fed. In the lodging and restaurant space, nothing will change until governments relax restrictions, and people regain confidence in air travel and public gatherings. A business leader at a motor vehicle and parts dealer said inventory is expanding as assembly plants increase operations, but there are supply-chain lags. On ExpressNews.com: Outdoor furniture maker moving HQ from California to Texas Generally, we still believe there is a great deal of uncertainty as the election approaches, they said. Business failures in airlines, hotels, restaurants, retail and other affected industries are concerning. The Commerce Department hasnt reported September retail sales yet, but August figures increased a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent from July. Spending on furniture, electronics and clothing rose while grocery and sports, hobby and book purchases slid. Retail spending habits have remained largely consistent and stable these past few months since stores began to reopen, said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, a trade organization. Some consumers likely reduced their spending with the end of the $600 supplemental unemployment benefits for those out of work, but a building-up of savings from that and other government cash helped support spending. SA Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox At this juncture, it is difficult to sort out how much economic activity is due to government support and how much is evidence of hardcore demand due to recent job gains, he added. August numbers might have been higher if not for small businesses struggling with reopening and the return to full operations. With online shopping continuing to surge and the holidays fast approaching, retailers are looking to hire thousands of seasonal workers to help with curbside and delivery orders. Walmart is hiring 20,000 temporary employees in its e-commerce fulfillment centers and Best Buy is holding job fairs at its stores Saturday and Sunday to fill seasonal slots in areas such as sales, customer service and merchandising inventory. Target is doubling the number of employees handling pick-up orders. The companies declined to provide specific hiring figures for San Antonio. madison.iszler@express-news.net HORSHAM, Pa., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinetic Ceramics, LLC, a leader in innovations using piezoelectricity to revolutionize industrial hardware, in 2021 will welcome employees to its new headquarters at Spring House Innovation Park (SHIP), the premier, suburban Philadelphia multi-tenant business and research campus developed by MRA Group. Relocating from the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Kinetic Ceramics CEO Robert A. Frantz III began his search for office space as part of the company's expansion plan. Ultimately, he decided the Lower Gwynedd, Montgomery County, PA innovation campus was most suitable to attract and retain top talent. "We found the accessibility of our new location and amenities at SHIP very appealing," Frantz explained, "but we placed tremendous value on the opportunity to grow in a state-of-the-art space customized to meet our unique needs while being positioned on a thriving campus with innovative neighbors." Open for Innovation, SHIP is a designated BioLaunch611+Keystone Innovation Zone, a statewide initiative to foster life sciences and technology innovation and entrepreneurship. The 133-acre, 600K square-foot, and 11-building campus offers an ecosystem of nearly two dozen leading-edge companies representing various industries, including life sciences, business, technology and manufacturing. According to MRA Group Senior Vice President Mike Wojewodka, tenants like Kinetic Ceramics are instrumental to the inventive culture promoted at SHIP. "This impressive group of engineers will be an extension of the forward-thinking talent and knowledge-share on our campus," said Wojewodka. "Kinetic Ceramics will bring jobs, ingenuity and breakthrough technology -- giving us a chance to see our vision for this campus continue to manifest as the innovation park of the future, which simply means the work, research and discoveries of our tenants today will shape the future of our world." Kinetic Ceramics is a group of extraordinary engineers and problem solvers that are turning nano-scale motion into precise, powerful, and meaningful movement. Their piezo-driven technology includes intelligent pump, valve and ultra-precision machining systems controlled by state-of-the-art electronics. To learn more, visit www.kineticceramics.com. About Spring House Innovations Spring House Innovation Park (SHIP) is the premier, 133-acre, multi-tenant business and research campus developed by MRA Group, located in suburban Philadelphia. The approximate 600,000 square feet, 11-building innovation park delivers build-to-suit laboratories, state-of-the-art research & development facilities and Class A office space for lease, fostering a business ecosystem of tenants spanning multiple industries from across the globe. For more information, visit www.springhouseinnovationpark.net . Melonie Butler Director of Marketing, MRA Group 856.278.0604 SOURCE MRA Group Badgr and Credential Engine Logos Combining the power of Badgr Pathways and Credential Engine technologies provides innovative solutions to address the needs of learners, workers, employers, and credential offerers who want better information and data that impacts life, hiring, and how education and training are developed. Concentric Sky (makers of Badgr) and Credential Engine have announced a pioneering new collaboration that will make it possible for credential issuers worldwide to export their open badge-backed professional learning achievements from Badgrs stackable, credential pathways and then publish them into Credential Engines global Registry. This unprecedented integration will empower learners and issuers to better understand how their credentials and professional learning journeys connect with opportunities for career advancement, continued learning, and the more expansive world of open data. Badgr, the worlds fastest-growing digital credential network, currently supports over 25,000 digital badge issuers, including organizations like Walmart, Facebook, Microsoft, Western Governors University, the University of North Texas, and thousands more spanning over 160 countries. Every year these learner-centric organizations award millions of open, skills-aligned micro-credentials (sometimes referred to as digital badges) to millions of learners around the world in recognition of their growing and evolving skills and competencies. Many of the micro-credentials issued through the Badgr platform are assembled into stackable learning journeys using Badgrs easy-to-understand Pathways tools. These pathways are stackable both within and across organizational boundaries and can combine awards from multiple issuing platforms, allowing issuers to build programs that include credentials and certifications from a wide array of trusted, third-party organizations. For example, the Upskill San Antonio program addresses the needs of frontline workers by scaffolding their upskilling and reskilling programs into pathways that guide learners while providing them with portable, digital credentials that they may use to send verifiable signals of success to employers. If the steps in a learners journey are thought of as individual threads, when combined into interoperable learner records, they can be seen as creating a rich tapestry of skills and proficiencies that have previously been difficult for employers to visualize and for learners to communicate. This tapestry can be made even more useful to learners by combining data from many different types of credentials, skills, and other components of education and career pathways expressed using the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL), a vocabulary of over 500 terms that are useful in making assertions about a credential and its relationships to other entities. Within the Registry, credentials are linked to other parts of the credentialing ecosystem such as assessments, learning opportunities, and a myriad of conceptual frameworks such as competencies, job skills, and formal classifications of occupations and instructional programs. Badgrs collaboration with Credential Engine leverages the power of Open Badges, CTDL Pathways, and Badgrs open infrastructure which all share a common digital format. This mutually-beneficial alignment facilitates the discovery of new and emerging opportunities across the open Web and among system integrations, including those among the hundreds of thousands of existing distinct data points related to credentials and competencies that Credential Engine has already established. Soon, credential issuers will have the ability to connect their machine-readable digital badges and learning pathways from Badgr with Credential Engines expansive structure of open data. Not only will this powerful combination of data help learners, professional development providers (like universities and colleges), and employers access a shared registry of verifiable professional credentials, it will also unlock new opportunities critical for helping the economy rebound from a catastrophic worldwide recession. The value of credentials and skills are increased when they are clearly understood in the context of education and career pathways, said Jeanne Kitchens, chief technology services officer for Credential Engine. Combining the power of Badgr Pathways and Credential Engine technologies provides innovative solutions to address the needs of learners, workers, employers, and credential offerers who want better information and data that impacts life, hiring, and how education and training are developed. These technologies support the capabilities desired by all of these users for interoperability and search and discovery on the open Web. The interoperability of learning pathway and skill data is critical in building an education-to-career pipeline that works to fill positions quickly, with increasing equity and opportunity for workers. Concentric Sky is proud to work with Credential Engine and a wide community of educational institutions, employers, and public entities to develop and implement the data interoperability standards that will drive the next generation of skills-based education and hiring. Says Nate Otto, Director of the Badgr Platform. To learn more about this collaboration, visit badgr.com or credentialengine.org. ### About Badgr and Concentric Sky: Badgr is a global ecosystem of digital credentialing and stackable pathway tools designed for individuals and organizations of all sizes. Badgr serves millions of users and provides recognition from over 25,000 issuing organizations spanning more than 160 countries. Badgr is a registered trademark of Concentric Sky, an award-winning software development firm with a 15-year track record of enterprise product design and innovation around open technology standards. For more information about Concentric Sky, visit http://www.concentricsky.com About Credential Engine: Credential Engine is a non-profit whose mission is to create credential transparency, reveal the credential marketplace, increase credential literacy, and empower everyone to make more informed decisions about credentials and their value. To discover credentials in the Registry, visit the Credential Finder https://credentialfinder.org. FARMINGTON, N.M., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the US Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) recognized Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) for their exemplary mining and reclamation work at the Navajo Mine. OSMRE awarded NTEC the agencies highest honor for activities that went above and beyond reclamation requirements to achieve superior results. NTEC is the steward of the nearly 33,000 acre Navajo Coal Mine on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Traditional piecemeal reclamation began at the mine in 1970. When NTEC, a Navajo-owned company, purchased the mine in 2013 they inherited failing reclamation and unstable landforms, much of which had already been relinquished from jurisdictional oversight. The company immediately saw an opportunity to go above and beyond to correct the situation and do more than required to create a stable, sustainable landscape that mimics the natural erosion and deposition process of the Southwest. Specifically, one site had been reclaimed to the previous applicable standard and was unnaturally eroding, while another site was lacking soil to shape and fill the area. However, the existing site configuration didn't allow equipment the access necessary to perform reclamation work. NTEC and Bisti Fuels (NTEC's contract miner) applied a creative solution to remedy both situations and allow for a watershed reclamation method. The limiting infrastructure included electric rail structures (necessary to move coal from the pit to the power plant) and a local access road. The Company removed electric rail overhead lines and purchased diesel locomotives, as well as relocated a portion of the road. The new road location served the dual purpose of providing locals safe passage during the weather events. The new configuration allowed NTEC to correct the erosion problems with one pit, minimize impacts to previous reclamation, and move soils for future reclamation. Combined, these extraordinary efforts allowed for a large-scale effort that mimics a natural watershed and creates a sustainable restoration landscape. This effort and approach is above and beyond what is required. "We took a site that has already been released from jurisdiction by the agency, and put it back in, because we knew we could do it betterwe wanted to leave things better than we found them," said Clark Moseley, CEO. "Doing the right thing is one of NTEC's core behaviors. We have an obligation to our shareholders, the Navajo People. Our reclamation efforts present an opportunity to step up, do the right thing, at the right time, and create a better landform than what is required." OSMRE Principal Deputy Director Lanny E. Erdos, along with NTEC and Navajo Nation leadership toured the reclamation site this morning. The tour was followed be an award ceremony. "It is with great pleasure that I am here today to present the Navajo Transitional Energy Company with the 2020 Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award," said OSM Principal Deputy Director Lanny E. Erdos. "NTEC, North American Coal, and Bisti Fuels are truly deserving of this National Award. As good stewards of the land, they utilized a unique and effective geomorphic approach to reclamation which restored key waterways and returned the lands to a productive use." Since 1986, OSMRE has awarded the Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation to coal mining companies that achieve the most exemplary coal mine reclamation in the nation. Winners demonstrate a commitment to sound mining practices and effective reclamation plans that enhanced beneficial postmining use of the land. About NTEC NTEC is an autonomous single member limited liability company, organized under the laws of the Navajo Nation, that owns mines in Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The mission of NTEC is to be a reliable, safe producer of coal, while diversifying the Navajo Nation's energy resources to create economic sustainability for the Nation and the Navajo people. NTEC's sole shareholder is the Navajo Nation. NTEC is a recognized leader in safety and reclamation, having been awarded the Sentinels of Safety award from the National Mining Association, the Good Neighbor Award from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the 2019 Excellence in Reclamation award by the New Mexico Mining Association. For more information about NTEC, visit www.navajo-tec.com. SOURCE Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) Related Links http://www.navajo-tec.com TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Four years after its initial rollout, RightSure has announced more impressive enhancements to its RightRater auto insurance platform used by car dealerships across the nation. There's a good reason that so many dealerships offer the RightRater platform to their customers: Easily accessible coverage translates to fewer lost auto sales. And now that RightRater is instantly available by snapping a QR code, and capable of shopping coverage with more than 45 carriers within 90 seconds, it's a gamechanger. "Dealerships that don't use RightRater are at a serious competitive disadvantage," says RightSure President, Jeffery Arnold. "It's counter-productive to spend all the time it takes to help buyers find their perfect vehicles, and then to lose sales because of something as mundane as insurance," he adds. RightRater empowers car buying customers to secure coverage and proof of insurance anytime 24/7, eliminating the sales attrition that occurs after hours and on weekends when car buyers are unable to reach their insurance agents. In the four years since RightRater was introduced, it has facilitated insurance for more than 60,000 drivers, with nearly $100 million in premiums. Car buyers simply use their smartphones to snap a QR code and instantly access RightRater. After answering a few quick questions, RightRater's multi variate rating algorithm quickly shops coverage from 45+ best-brand carriers and returns the top three results. Buyers can then customize and purchase their coverage and instantly receive their insurance ID cards on their phones. The best part? The whole process can be completed in as little as 90 seconds! The latest improvements include a faster, sleeker, mobile-friendly interface and more options for buyers. "If your dealership is not yet using RightRater, contact us. We'll get you started right away for free. Your sales team will love this," Arnold says. About RightSure Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, RightSure is a full-service independent insurance agency providing insurance products to families and businesses in 42 states. By using a unique, client-centered approach combined with superior technology, RightSure presents clients with a wide range of insurance options and a seamless purchasing process. To learn more and see if you can save money, visit https://www.rightsure.com or call 520-777-1125. Media Contact: Megan Kossow [email protected] 520-901-7010 SOURCE RightSure Related Links https://www.rightsure.com Conditions of availability of the preparatory documents Regulatory News: In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and within the framework of Ordinance n2020-321 of March 25, 2020 which duration of application has been extended until November 30, 2020 by Decree n2020-925 of July 29, 2020, ESI Group (Paris:ESI) has convened an Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting, which will be exceptionally held behind closed doors, that is without their physical presence, on Wednesday October 21, 2020 at 4 p.m. CET at the head office, 100-102 avenue de Suffren, 75015 Paris, France. The meeting notice, including the agenda and the proposed resolutions to be voted on by Shareholders, was published in the French Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO), on September 16, 2020. The convening notice will be similarly published in the French BALO as well as in a legal gazette on October 2, 2020. The documents and preparatory information referred to in article R. 225-73-1 of the French Commercial Code may be consulted and downloaded on the Company's website: https://investors.esi-group.com/shareholders-meeting. The documents and information referred to in article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code are made available to shareholders on the above-mentioned website. They will also be available for consultation, under the conditions provided for by the regulations in force, at our current administrative place of business due to the Covid-19 located in Rungis, Le Seville, 3 bis rue Saarinen, 94528 Rungis Cedex, France. About ESI Group Founded in 1973, ESI Group is a leading innovator in Virtual Prototyping solutions and a global enabler of industrial transformation. Thanks to the company's unique know-how in the physics of materials, it has developed and refined, over the last 45 years, advanced simulation capabilities. Having identified gaps in the traditional approach to Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), ESI has introduced a holistic methodology centered on industrial productivity and product performance throughout its entire lifecycle, i.e. Product Performance Lifecycle, from engineering to manufacturing and in operation. Present in more than 20 countries, and in major industrial sectors, ESI employs 1200 high level specialists. In 2019, its turnover was 146M. ESI is headquartered in France and is listed on compartment B of Euronext Paris. For further information, go to www.esi-group.com/fr View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005087/en/ Contacts: ESI Investors Relations investors@esi-group.com +33 1 53 65 14 51 SHAN Media Investors Relations Esigroup@shan.fr Aftab Shivdasani had finished shooting for his debut web series and was preparing to travel to London to be with wife and daughter when the unexpected happened. The actor got fever and started feeling weak. Later when he developed dry cough, Shivdasani decided to get himself tested for Covid-19 and the result came positive. He took to social media on September 11 to announce his diagnosis. I was not prepared for this and was looking forward to be with my family. My shooting for Poison 2 was over and I was making all the preparations to fly to London, says Shivdasani, adding that it took him time to come to terms that he has been infected by the virus. Initially when I got the result I was shocked. For the first few minutes I was disoriented because obviously I didnt know how to react. There were a thousand thoughts in my head. My entire schedule was going to go for a toss. We hear, speak and read about but until it happens to you its still news. There are so many theories going around Covid about how fast its spreading, the mortality rate, the medication The fact that the whole world is unclear about this is a little bit worrying. Slowly I composed myself and decided to deal with it, he shares. As suggested by the doctor, he was in home isolation and every five-six days got his blood test and chest scan done. He got tested thrice in total. After the first two weeks I tested the second time and it came out positive. I got the result of my third test on Monday and thankfully it came negative. With my family and well wishers good wishes and by Gods grace I recuperated well, he adds. Shivdasani shares even after the virus is dead in your system, it stills pops up as positive in the report at times. This means the infection is not active but its there In my case after the first five days I had no symptoms at all. So, I was asymptomatic for about 16 odd days, he adds. Reacting to the stigmas attached to the infection, Shivdasani, 42, says, People are very scared and rightfully so. It is something invisible. I myself dont know how I got it. At least if we knew what to take prevention from, things would have been easier. This is a different kind of virus and we can only deal with it if our immunity levels are high. I would suggest everyone to take vitamin C and zinc to boost their immunity, then youve 90% chance of fighting this. Dont stress and cooperate with the authority, he urges. Ask if he is ready to get back to work and the actor is quick to add, Im a fighter and Ill always be one. Im reading scripts and there are two films, a thriller and a horror that Im in talks for. Well start shooting after a month. Before that Im planning to visit my family and waiting for the doctor to give me a go ahead. Cant wait to see my daughter, he ends. Follow@htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that genius lies in being altogether receptive; in letting the world do all, and suffering the spirit of the hour to pass unobstructed through the mind. For Lincoln, this meant traversing a cultures idiomswhat Emerson called the whole scale of the language, from the most elegant to the most low and vile. In Emersons words, A great style of hero draws equally all classes, all the extremes of society, till we say the very dogs believe in him. The person who most fully represented this breadth of vision, Emerson wrote, was Americas sixteenth president: Abraham Lincoln is perhaps the most remarkable example of this class that we have seena man who was at home and welcome with the humblest, and with a spirit and a practical vein in the times of terror that commanded the admiration of the wisest. His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong. Indeed, Lincoln was unusually responsive to the spirit of the hour, and this responsiveness fostered his practicality and his compassion. His close friend Joshua Speed commented, Lincoln studied and appropriated to himself all that came within his observation. Everything that he saw, read, or heard, added to the store of his information; nothing was too small to escape his observation. The Illinois lawyer Leonard Swett reported that Lincoln, who on the law circuit talked endlessly with average folk by day and pored over Shakespeare or Euclid by night, was the most inquisitive man I have known, one for whom life was a school; . . . he was always studying and mastering every subject which came before him. Lincoln believed that the surroundings shape the person. According to his law partner William Herndon, he often said, Conditions make the man and not man the conditions. But, Herndon emphasized, Lincoln also believed firmly in the power of human effort to modify the environments which surround us. Fate and free will, then, combined in Lincolns outlook. There were times when he felt that fate had taken over. At a trying moment during the Civil War, Lincoln wrote, I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. At other times, though, he took an active and aggressive stance toward the world: he became a shaper and a creator, not just an observer or a receiver. Lincoln declared, He who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. As this book shows, Lincoln constantly molded popular opinions and language and redirected them toward what he regarded as order, justice, and fairness. [ Return to the review of Abe. ] Cultural biography reveals an engaged, fully human Lincoln. It works from the premise that cultural and social surroundings infiltrate the mind and shape behavior, motivation, and expression. Every human life is culturespecific and timespecific. Outside influences saturate innermost thoughts. Although we all share virtually the same genome, as individuals our behavior and our cognition are products of the intersection of our genes and the unique environment around us. The cultural biographers task is to describe that environment as fully as possible with the aim of revealing crossinfluences between the individual and the outside world. Cultural biography reveals not only self-making but also culture-making. Culture fashioned Lincoln; he in turn fashioned it. From a young age, he reacted creatively to the cultural materials available to him. He responded to a culture alive with subversive passions and fertile images of the sort that energized Americas greatest writers Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Whitman, Mark Twain, and othersand that produced Lincolns allabsorbing vision, which enabled him to guide the nation through its most turbulent period. Political victory frequently comes to candidates who best tap into cultural attitudes. Few in American history have done so as effectively as Lincoln. Much of his greatness lay in his thoughtful response to his teeming, unstructured nation. Emerson called America the ungirt, the diffuse, the profuse, procumbent, one wide ground juniper, . . . it all runs to leaves, to suckers, to tendrils, to miscellany, . . . formless, has no terrible & no beautiful condensation. Thoreau, likewise, remarked on what he called the confused tintinnabulum of this restless, nervous, bustling nineteenthcentury America. Americas formlessness reflected a democracy that before the Civil War had few established institutions. In an era of a weak central government, the only federal agency that touched the lives of average Americans was the postal service. American Protestantism, liberated in the atmosphere of religious freedom, spawned so many new denominations, sects, and selfstyled prophets that Tocqueville wrote, In the United States there are an infinite variety of ceaselessly changing Christian sects. In the absence of organized police forces and effective crowd control, mob scenes broke out regularly from the 1830s, when Lincoln denounced the mobocratic spirit . . . abroad in the land, right up to the second year of the Civil War, when the New York City draft riots erupted with deadly violence. Periodic slave rebellions, such as those by Nat Turner in Virginia and the Amistad rebels at sea, created a terror in the South that turned into widespread panic when John Brown invaded Virginia in 1859 to spark insurrections. Science's pursuits of unraveling how human cells fight viral infections kicked into high gear in 2020 with the devastating emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A study published recently in eLife by University of California San Diego scientists describes fresh details about the mechanisms involved when individual human cells are attacked by viruses, with possible implications for COVID-19 clinical treatment. The research helps advance science's understanding of interferons, a key group of immune response proteins released naturally by human cells when a virus is detected. In response to a viral infection, human cells synthesize and secrete interferon-alpha, a chemical that triggers a series of biochemical reactions in cells, leading to the production of gene products that work to kill viruses or limit their spread. Interferon-alpha has been used clinically for more than 50 years in the treatments of diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV. However such efforts have been limited because interferon-alpha, in addition to inducing antiviral effects, also triggers cell refractoriness--or insensitivity--to further treatments. This stalled effectiveness takes hold within hours after drug administration and lasts for several days, resulting in a low therapeutic response rate. Looking into the details of these processes, Biological Sciences PhD student Anusorn Mudla, Associate Professor Nan Hao and their colleagues used a combination of experimental analyses and mathematical modeling to describe the intricate time-dependent regulatory mechanisms that human cells use to control the duration and strength of antiviral responses triggered by interferon. Their efforts resulted in the identification of a time delay in the production of USP18, an inhibitory factor that triggers cell refractoriness to prolonged interferon treatments. "Based on these findings, repetitive administrations of interferon to cells, with the duration shorter than the delay time, are less able to induce this inhibitory factor. This could potentially suggest strategies leading to a higher therapeutic response rate than the routine chronic treatment of the drug," said Hao, a researcher in the Section of Molecular Biology and the study's senior author. The findings are especially relevant given the urgent need for new defense tactics against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The new findings shed light on possible ways to enhance the effectiveness of interferon for future clinical use. "Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is especially sensitive to interferon-alpha, compared to other coronaviruses, making interferon treatment a potential strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection," said Hao. Based on this finding, researchers could now design time-dependent administrations of interferon in an effort to minimize the production of this inhibitory factor and boost therapeutic responses. ### The full author list includes: Anusorn Mudla, Yanfei Jiang, Kei-ichiro Arimoto, Bingxian Xu, Adarsh Rajesh, Andy Ryan, Wei Wang, Matthew Daugherty, Dong-Er Zhang and Nan Hao. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 GM111458, R01 CA177305, R01 CA232147 and R35 GM133633), Pew Biomedical Research scholars, the DPST training scholarship from the Royal Thai government and the Cellular and Molecular Genetics training grant (T32 GM007240). NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday (September 29) questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and women BJP leaders on Hathras gangrape incident in which the 19-year-old rape victim lost her life after being subjected to extreme brutality. The party also hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and said the state has become the 'crime capital' of the country under his regime. Former Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today stated that the class-specific jungle raj of Uttar Pradesh has killed another young woman. Live TV "The government said this is fake news and left the victim to die. Neither was this unfortunate incident fake, nor was the death of the victim and the brutality of the government," he said in a tweet in Hindi. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said a girl belonging to a low-caste who was victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras and passed away at Safdarjung Hospital after struggling for two weeks between life and death in hospitals. "Law and order in UP has deteriorated to a great extent. There is no semblance of safety for women. The criminals are committing crimes in the open," she said. Earlier in the day, Congress staged protests demanding justice for the victim at Vijay Chowk. The party said its leaders P L Punia, Udit Raj and other leaders were detained at the Mandir Marg Police station for the protest. BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav also spoke out on the incident and demanded strict and fast punishment for the culprits. The teeanged girl, who had gone to a field along with her mother on September 14, was assaulted and brutally gangraped by four men on September 14. She was first dmitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh with deep injuries on her body parts; and legs and arms completely and partially paralysed. On September 28, she was referred to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she breathed her last at 3 am on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the victim's brother had accused the police of no cooperation in the case and said he has to rush her to the hospital from the police station on an auto. Dobrila Vignjevic/Getty Images In announcing a nationwide crackdown on debt collectors illegal tactics, officials said Tuesday that some have threatened bodily harm, deportation and arrest and even tried to collect fake debts. Officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined New York's attorney general in announcing Operation Corrupt Collector. Sixteen states were part of the law enforcement sweep to put illicit debt collectors out of business. "They'll use abusive and threatening language, profanity and racial slurs, and relentless call after call to intimidate and humiliate people into paying up, Andrew Smith, who directs the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, told reporters on a conference call. This is illegal. It injures consumers and also those legitimate debt collectors who are trying to do things by the book." WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, B2B ratings and reviews platform Clutch announced the top performing accounting firms in Philadelphia . The report's rankings are based on verified client feedback, services offered, work quality, and market presence. The following 10 firms are recognized as market leaders in Philadelphia for accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping services. Top Accounting Firms in Philadelphia in 2020 1. Maillie LLP 2. Financial GPS 3. Solvit CFO 4. Tilghman Accounting + Tax Solutions 5. Morey, Nee, Buck & Oswald, LLC 6. Crouch & Company, LLC 7. SD Associates 8. Bilardo & Associates LLC 9. Ambrozy Accounting 10. Your Outsourced CFO "Proper accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping are crucial for organizations of all sizes. Our research indicates that clients prefer to work with local accounting firms, as evidenced by the popularity of the search term, 'accountants near me' in Google searches," said David Goosenberg, business development analyst at Clutch. "Each of these firms has excelled at delivering quality financial services to Philadelphia-based B2B clients in a variety of industries." Research identifying the leading accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll service providers is ongoing, and firms interested in marketing their services are encouraged to apply to be included in Clutch's research. Upcoming press releases will highlight leading accounting firms in Miami, Atlanta, and London. The results are a snapshot of Clutch's Leaders Matrix on September 29, 2020. Rankings are dynamic and may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Clutch's website. The full research can be found at: https://clutch.co/accounting/philadelphia https://clutch.co/accounting/philadelphia/leaders-matrix About Clutch Clutch is the leading ratings and reviews platform for IT, marketing, and business service providers. Each month, over half a million buyers and sellers of services use the Clutch platform, and the user base is growing over 50% a year. Clutch has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the U.S. and has been listed as a top 50 startup by LinkedIn Contact David Goosenberg (202) 840 - 6685 [email protected] SOURCE Clutch Related Links https://clutch.co Patna, Sep 29 : Parting ways with the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) of former MP Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday announced to join hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janvadi Party (Socialist) to contest the Assembly elections. Kushwaha, a former Union Minister of State, announced the coalition in the presence of the BSP and JP-S state unit chiefs in Patna. He said the coalition will contest all the 243 seats in the Assembly. Kushwaha said that he would welcome other like-minded political parties to come on board, if they wished. Earlier, Jan Adhikar Party President Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav said that Kushwaha should come with him. Kushwaha formed the new political front after his talks with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition and RLD leader Tejashwi Yadav on seat-sharing failed to bear fruit. Lashing out at Nitish Kumar, the RLSP chief said: "In the last 15 years, Nitish Kumar has just saved his own chair and nothing else. And to achieve it, he made several compromises. His claims on development in all sectors in Bihar are just false and nothing else. The ground reality is completely different from what he is claiming." Kushwaha also alleged that the education sector in Bihar was at its lowest whereas the crime graph and corruption was the highest. "Nitish's rule is similar to that of the RJD government's 15 years," he remarked. Kushwaha also attacked the Rashtriya Janata Dal, alleging that the opposition party was "run by an undermatriculate". "We have two CMs (Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi) who failed to ensure matriculation by their sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. Now, they have given the party command to one of them," the former MP said. "I asked top RJD leaders for a change in party leadership but they turned it down. Hence, I decided to part ways with the Grand Alliance," Kushwaha claimed. "On the other hand, the saffronisation of Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United is complete. I even have doubts that the RJD is also under the influence of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh," the RLSP chief said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Continue Reading Below Advertisement The Naga had a complicated relationship with the British. In a classic frenemies situation, sometimes they were happy to receive traders and missionaries, and sometimes they killed outsiders in a ritualized headhunting ceremony. So while the British ostensibly considered the Naga to be under their jurisdiction, they mostly left them alone. Then, in 1942, Japan swept through Burma and threatened to push into India, starting with the mountainous Naga border territory. The British turned to Bower, asking her to use her Naga connections to monitor Japanese troop movement and rescue downed Allied pilots. Bower went further and mustered a 150 man strong guerrilla force who liked the imperialists who mostly ignored them more than the imperialists pressing the Naga into brutal forced labor. Armed primarily with old muskets, they mainly aided refugees escaping Burma, but also harassed Japanese troops to the point where a bounty was placed on the head of a woman with no formal military training leading male warriors who typically frowned on women in the war workplace. Continue Reading Below Advertisement In 1944 the Japanese suffered a backbreaking defeat at Kohima, a battle won with the help of Naga intelligence, and retreated. Bower pivoted to teaching Allied troops jungle survival skills and, in doing so, even found the husband her mother had been hoping for, marrying a British officer in a Naga wedding ceremony. After the war, she returned to a more mundane life. However, she did advocate for the Naga after the British rewarded their dedicated wartime service by punting the question of their autonomy to newly independent India, which opted for a campaign of terrifying oppression instead. Yeah, another reason the CBI is forgotten is that it was a lot more complicated than "The good guys won, yay!" Once poorly connected to the rest of Vietnam, Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta is now known by more tourists thanks to the construction of bridges linking it to surrounding provinces over the past decade. Five years ago, Tra Vinh was not as famous as other tourist cities such as Vung Tau or Da Lat, but it is slowly securing a spot on the map because of its many attractive features, such as a peaceful way of life, fresh air, as well as many places offering cheap and delicious eats. Tra Vinh has never been a well-known tourist attraction in Vietnam, but tourists that visit will be greeted by hospitable people and plenty of relaxing natural spots. Visitors to Tra Vinh can see the landmark Ba Om pond and bask in the fresh air provided by the many trees that line the city. The provincial government is deeply interested in the environment and living green. Recently, a provincial stadium was transformed into a central park to offer residents a place to exercise and host cultural activities. A street is under the shade of green trees in Tra Vinh City, Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Photo: Gia Tien / Tuoi Tre The people of Tra Vinh are known for being gentle and orderly. It is not a rare sight to see someone waiting alone at a red light for their turn to cross, even in the rain with no cross traffic. Tra Vinhs cuisine is influenced by Vietnamese, Khmer, and Chinese culinary cultures. It is known for many tasty dishes such as Ben Co noodles and Tra Cuon 'banh tet' (Vietnamese cylindrical glutinous rice cake), but the signature delicacy is Tra Vinh-style 'bun nuoc leo,' a traditional noodle soup cooked with the Bo Hoc fermented fish paste unique to the Khmer people. Unlike noodle soups in other regions with plenty of meat, the noodle soup of Tra Vinh is very simple with only noodles and vegetables. It is the distinctive strong flavor of the Bo Hoc paste that makes all the difference. The dish is not only delicious but also cheap with each bowl costing only about VND8,000-VND10,000 (US$0.34-0.43). Two servings of Tra Vinh-style 'bun nuoc leo' (noodle soup) and side dishes are shown at an eatery in Tra Vinh City, Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam. Photo: Van Thanh / Tuoi Tre Taking the Dai Ngai Cu Lao Dung ferry from Cau Quan Town in Tieu Can District gives a scenic view as the ship sails along the banks of Tien and Hau Rivers. Drifting along the south of the Hau River on the ferry, visitors are treated to a view of the Tran De fishing village and Vinh Chau Town with large swathes of purple shallot farms. Since the construction of Co Chien Bridge which connects Mo Cay Nam District in Ben Tre Province with Cang Long District in Tra Vinh the latter province has been busier. Many spacious land plots around the bridge area are getting ready to be built into homestays. Tourists often come here to catch snakehead fish and then grill them or enjoy a Vietnamese chicken salad. These homestays also serve up a homemade drink of coconut and 'sticky rice' spirit, a perfect companion to the sad melodies of Co Chien music, a signature style of the south of Vietnam. If visitors are feeling extra relaxed, grab a chair or a hammock for a nap. Big trees are seen near the Ba Om pond in Tra Vinh City, Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Photo: Gia Tien / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! They are the first people you go to when you want to vent or complain. The thought of Monday mornings seems unimaginable without them. When you need a morale boost, pep talk or even some sense knocked into your system, they are your sounding board and unpaid therapists. Most of your days are spent with them and meals are eaten with them. No, Im not talking about your real-life spouse, but your work wife, who is equally (if not more) important in your life, and this is not up for debate! Shes there when youre struggling through the little/big issues like when the coffee machine breaks down or youre passed for a promotion. A work wife is a boon and makes every dysfunctional workplace seem like a walk in the park, even if its Jurassic. via GIPHY I cannot remember a single workplace that I have survived without a work wife (wives) in my case. From sharing the workload to waiting for the other person to get done for the day, these were the unsaid rules that never required mentioning. I had a lunch ritual with my work wife Shivangi, where we ate, napped, watched Netflix all in one hour. We barely spoke during that hour, (we did that for the rest of the day) but that one hour was sacred, reserved for our kind of TLC during a hectic day. I remember after she left, I became a chained-to-my-desk kind of person who kept mostly to herself. via GIPHY Everyone needs a Christina to their Meredith, who will remind them that they are the sun of their lives, not their better halves, even if they are McDreamy (Hello Greys Anatomy). Remember Leslie Knope and Ann Perkin from Parks and Rec? They make the modern-day power couples look like a scam. Besties before testes, am I right? They said it first. via GIPHY Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Set New Rules for Speaking Engagements: Heres What Theyre Asking Requirements for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's online speaking engagements have been revealed Meghan Markle is speaking out about the powerful effects of the digital world and how we're all going through a reset amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Duchess of Sussex spoke with Fortune's senior editor Ellen McGirt at the magazine's Most Powerful Women virtual summit on Tuesday, tackling the challenges of the internet age and discussing what it will take to create humane tech. We have got to all put our stock in something that is true, and we need to have reliable media and news sources that are telling us the truthwhen you know something is wrong, report it, talk about it, Meghan, who called in to the event from her Santa Barbara home, said. Its like we live in the future when youre talking about bots and trolls and all of these things, she continued. It seems so fantastical, but thats actually the current state of affairs and that is shaping how we interact with each other online and off and thats the piece thats important. It is not just an isolated experience. It transcends into how you interact with anyone around you and certainly your own relationship with yourself. RELATED: Meghan Markle Cold-Called Voters with Gloria Steinem: Meghan 'Came Home to Vote' Fortune Meghan Markle "If you listen to what I actually say, its not controversial." Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, joined the #FortuneMPW Summit and shared her advice for speaking out on important issues: https://t.co/pSn3nFrdtQ pic.twitter.com/4bJ9NBoTuD FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) September 29, 2020 Meghan, who has spoken out on the importance of voting in the 2020 election, opened up about her personal experience with misinformation, saying, If you look back at anything Ive said, what ends up being inflammatory is peoples interpretation of it. But if you listen to what I actually say its not controversial." Story continues She also talked about the COVID-19 crisis, saying, people "are all going through a reset and we are all going through a moment of reckoning and probably a reevaluation of what really matters. ABC Prince Harry and Meghan Markle For me, its been amazing to spend time with my husband and watch our little one grow and thats where our attention has been, she added. In addition to, of course, how we can be a part of the change of energy that so many people are craving right now and whatever we can do to help in that capacity. She ended her conversation with a quote from American artist Georgia O'Keefe: I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free. Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit is a three-day event that gathers the preeminent women in business, along with select leaders in government, philanthropy, education, sports, and the arts, to explore our theme, 'Rising to the New Reality.' Just last month, Meghan and Prince Harry joined leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust who are working to make digital media a force for good in a video call, keeping their 1-year-old son Archie top of mind. Harry encouraged the activists to continue their work to end the negativity and hate that spreads online, joking that he felt he was already way too old. You've got to stop, we're not old! Meghan replied. But it's true, Harry said. This is the world you're going to inherit. Meghan quickly added, And Archie! And Archie, Harry repeated. It's on all of us collectively to make the world a better place...and we are." Meghan, 39, also addressed how the coronavirus pandemic has driven people online to connect, making it more important than ever to have positive online experiences. Everyone's mental and emotional well-being are perhaps more fragile than ever before, certainly with COVID and our dependability on devices right now in the absence of human interaction, she said. People are going online more than ever before to feel community." Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! The Duchess of Sussex also said, "When you look at what these platforms are capable of with that reach, and what that propels in terms of trollingYou can either train people to be cruel, or you can train people to be kind. Its really that simple." BBC academic quiz University Challenge is supposed to be a celebration of the UK's finest young minds but viewers are, it seems, becoming increasingly distracted by the lack of diversity amongst contestants. The latest episode of the programme, which aired at 8pm on BBC2 with regular host Jeremy Paxman at the helm, once again saw an all male line-up of the show. Just five women have featured in the last five episodes of the programme, compared to 35 male contestants, despite the fact that more women than men attend university in the UK. Scroll down for video Another episode, another all-male line-up... many viewers tuning into the 12th episode this series of University Challenge were shocked by the lack of diversity amongst the teams from Warwick and Wolfson Oxford On Twitter, many slammed the 'diversity fail' saying they didn't know whether the BBC or the universities were at fault for the lack of inclusion. @Salaman16222850 wrote: 'What are the chances 8 white men who sound distinctly middle class are the best quizzers from two unis? Disgraceful show of this lack of diversity #UniversityChallenge @KristaMitchy said: '57% of university students in the UK are female. 26% are BAME. Obviously none of them go to Warwick or Wolfson.' @benstallard1972 added: 'Diversity and Inclusion fail #UniversityChallenge' @nickgoode penned: 'Epic diversity fail on tonights #universitychallenge not just gender either.' @foxcubofwm wrote: 'Not sure if the lack of diversity in the #UniversityChallenge teams reflects more badly on the Universities or the BBC?' A spokesperson for the BBC told MailOnline: 'While the make-up of each team is ultimately decided by the university it represents, we encourage all teams who apply to reflect the diversity of their student population, and we will continue to look at how we can work with universities to help them with this'. Two episodes ago, the show featured another all-male line-up, when Merton College Oxford took on Wolfson Cambridge It's not the first time this series that the show has been slammed for a lack of representation. Viewers tuning into the very first episode back in July found two teams - from the University of Glasgow and Exeter University - fielding seven white men out of eight possible contestants. Gravett, who appeared for Exeter, was the only female contestant. The City of Amsterdam joins the Empire State Purchasing Group The City of Amsterdam invites all potential vendors to register online. The City of Amsterdam announced it has joined the Empire State Purchasing Group and will be publishing and distributing upcoming bid opportunities on the system. BidNets Empire State Purchasing Group connects participating agencies from across New York to a large vendor pool and streamlines the bid and vendor management process. BidNets New York purchasing group provides notifications to registered vendors of new relevant solicitations, as well as any addenda and award information from participating agencies from across New York, and can be accessed at http://www.bidnetdirect.com/new-york. The City of Amsterdam joined the purchasing group in September, and will be utilizing the system to streamline their purchasing process including bid management, bid distribution and vendor relations. The Empire State Purchasing Group is a single, online location for managing sourcing information and activities and provides local New York government agencies the tools needed to minimize costs and save time throughout the purchasing process. The Empire State Purchasing Group expands an agencys vendor pool and enhances vendor competition without increasing distribution costs. In addition to the existing vendors on the Empire State Purchasing Group, all vendors looking to do business with the City of Amsterdam can register online: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/new-york. The City of Amsterdam invites all interested bidders to register today. Registered vendors can access all open bids, related documents and files, additional addenda and award information. In addition, the Empire State Purchasing Group offers a value-added service to notify vendors of new bids targeted to their industry, all addenda and advance notification of expiring term contracts. Registered vendors have access to not only the City of Amsterdam bid opportunities, but all participating agency bids. Our vendors can now save time and paper. They not only have direct access to our open bids, but those from other agencies throughout the state and in many cases can submit their responses electronically. We invite all vendors to register on the Empire State Purchasing Group to start receiving business opportunities, stated Stefanie Lenkowicz, City Clerk of the City of Amsterdam. Vendors may register on the Empire State Purchasing Group at: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/new-york. BidNets vendor support team is available to answer any questions regarding the registration process or the bid system at 800-835-4603 option 2. Other local New York government agencies looking to switch from a manual bid process, please contact the Empire State Purchasing Group for a demonstration of the no-cost sourcing solution. About The City of Amsterdam: The City is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands and is located within Montgomery County, New York. With a long-standing history dating back to the 1600s, the history of the City is very interesting and can be located on the Citys website, https://www.amsterdamny.gov/our-city/history-of-amsterdam. The City of Amsterdam, New York has several incentive programs that are designed to attract new businesses to the city as well as assist existing businesses with expansion or renovation of their current facilities. Through partnerships with private institutions, non-profits and agencies in Montgomery County, Schenectady County, the State of New York and City agencies, Amsterdam has great potential and unique opportunities for growth for new and existing businesses. About BidNet Direct: BidNet Direct, powered by mdf commerce, is a sourcing solution of regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies throughout the country. BidNet Direct runs regional purchasing groups, including the Empire State Purchasing Group, across all 50 states that are used by over 1,500 local governments. To learn more and have your government agency gain better transparency and efficiency in purchasing, please visit https://www.bidnetdirect.com/buyers Remgro released its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2020, which shows the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the company. Total headline earnings per share were down by 61.3% and headline earnings per share from continuing operations declined by 68.7%. With a diverse portfolio of companies, Remgro is in a good position to assess the impact of the lockdown on the South African economy. Remgro said in a press statement the pandemic and lockdown have brought desperation and devastation upon millions. In South Africa, lives and livelihoods have been lost, with household finances decimated and many going hungry in large parts of the country, it said. In its results presentation, Remgro highlighted that the initial level 5 lockdown brought the local economy to a near standstill. The ban on alcohol and closure of restaurants were two examples of where entire industries were prohibited from operating. Even after some of the restrictions were lifted, many industries like tourism were still struggling to operate. The impact of the lockdown rules on the South African economy was immediate and devastating. The countrys gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 51% in the second quarter of the year, reflecting the immense damage done to the economy by the lockdown. Stats SAs latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey further revealed that the number of employed persons decreased by 2.2 million to 14.1 million. This unprecedented change is the largest quarter one to quarter two decline since the survey began in 2008. The FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) has also shown that the pandemic and related economic restrictions delivered a profound blow to consumers willingness and ability to spend. The CCI plummeted from an already depressed level of -9 in the first quarter to a shocking -33 in the second quarter. Remgro published three graphs, reproduced below, which clearly illustrates the impact of the lockdown on South Africas economy. Real GDP decline Unemployment Consumer confidence SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Brenda Lee Pryce has waited decades for an apology from the city of Spartanburg after her neighborhood was demolished during the city's urban renewal efforts in the 1970s. Urban renewal efforts were meant to demolish blighted areas in cities and create better housing and more opportunities. In many areas, Black families and businesses were displaced and no opportunities were created. The loss of homes and businesses left Pryce feeling angry and disappointed. When City Council apologized for the failure of the redevelopment efforts Monday night, Pryce became so emotional that it brought her to tears. The city council unanimously approved a resolution that acknowledges systematic racism and includes an apology to Black residents like Pryce for racial injustices and long-lasting inequities that have resulted from past city policies. What is systemic racism? Here's what it means and how you can help dismantle it Spartanburg Mayor Junie White, center, listens as the public addresses the Spartanburg City Council on Sept. 14, 2020. A standing ovation immediately followed the vote. Im just overwhelmed, said Pryce, a former S.C. Representative who was born and raised in the citys south side, an area that once served as the citys Black downtown during segregation. Today, it's a food desert where people without transportation struggle to find basic essentials such as food and medicine. In the 1970s, the city purchased a lot of the land using federal urban renewal dollars. It resulted in the demolition of Black-owned businesses and several Black neighborhoods. Protests lead to change: South Carolina city budgets $50K for diversity training after backlash over official's posts I never thought Id live to see this apology, Pryce, 72, said after the meeting. This means everything to me. To city council member Jerome Rice, the words written on that three-page resolution are worth more than anything hes ever been a part of as a council member. The city of Spartanburg Police Chief Alonzo Thompson took questions from the city council about how the city of Spartanburg Police Dept. will handle security and the right of the public to peacefully protest. Jerome Rice District 5 listens to the police chief. Protests have occurred across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck following an arrest. Not even the newly-finished TK Gregg Community Center, where the council meeting was held, holds as much value as this resolution, Rice said. Story continues This $15 million facility doesnt measure up to whats on this paper, Rice said. We are sorry. In the resolution, titled Healing, Reconciling, and Unity. A Pathway to a More Equitable Spartanburg, the city also pledges to do a better job in the future ensuring that policies and funding decisions focus on racial equity. The resolution was promoted by Councilwoman Meghan Smith, who pushed for it in an Aug. 10 letter to her council colleagues. In the letter, she cited several examples of times the city has "played a role in systemic racism. Monday night, she told the diverse crowd at the meeting, Tonight, this is for you, and for all who have come before you, who have felt sidelined, disenfranchised and discriminated against. The city of Spartanburg Police Chief Alonzo Thompson took questions from the city council about how the city of Spartanburg Police Dept. will handle security and the right of the public to peacefully protest. Meghan SmithDistrict 1 listens to the police chief. Protests have occurred across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck following an arrest. Several council members acknowledged that passing this resolution isnt enough. The next step, they said, is ensuring they uphold the commitments written on the document: To do better in the future ensuring that funding decisions and policies are focused on equity. We want you to hold us accountable to the work that needs to be done, said Councilwoman Erica Brown. Theres so much more work to be done. This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg apologizes to Black residents for systemic racism Finding a diverse job candidate set, making sure the process is as inclusive as possible, then getting the best person for the job to sign a contract isnt where talent acquisition begins and ends. The DIAL Global Virtual Summit on 24 and 25 September was supported by Yahoo Finances parent company Verizon Media. The virtual conference, entitled A Call to Action & Moving the DIAL for Meaningful and Sustainable Change through Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, speaks to senior directors and C-suite executives at the largest organisations in the world to discuss how companies can foster a truly diverse and inclusive workplace. Sandy Gould, VP, talent acquisition, learning and diversity & inclusion at Verizon Media, Stella Smith, founder and CEO at Pirkx, and Nancy Kelley, CEO at Stonewall were on a panel entitled LGBTQ-being welcomed and accepted as you are, chaired by Collette King, HRD, Studio Retail. Gould laid out how some of the most crucial points in talent acquisition and fostering an environment of diversity and inclusivity can start in the window between a person agreeing to take the role and starting at the company. He explained that before one candidate started a role, the company informed the manager and team that they were transitioning. After speaking with the candidate and supporting the person, the company fully laid the groundwork ahead of their arrival in order to make sure the environment was as mindful and inclusive as possible so when they arrived they had an amazing experience and were proud of the company with its support. He also stressed the importance of expressing the message of inclusivity at the doorway. Its defining the identity of the company and the impression the employee has when they join. As a new hire we make sure that they know that they are here to change things, they are here to bring their authentic difference and create and innovate and they hear that message from senior executives and from the CEO regularly, said Gould. Story continues [Sending that message] is very important to connect to the mission, and its just as important as goals and revenue. Its important at the doorway that they realise they all have superpowers and that comes with their differences to help shape our product, services, and people. Its the success of different ideas and it makes a difference knowing the company [and executives have their back. The session explored how the panellists respective companies has been a welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary employees. The panelists discussed the actions that have had the biggest impact on their organisations inclusion of diverse sexuality as well as reflections on what they got right and what they got wrong. Sandy Gould, VP, talent acquisition, learning and diversity & inclusion at Verizon Media, Stella Smith, founder & CEO at Pirkx, Nancy Kelley, CEO at Stonewall were on a panel entitled LGBTQ-being welcomed and accepted as you are, chaired by Collette King, HRD, Studio Retail. Photo: Yahoo Finance/DIAL Global Gould said one of the most impactful moments came from Verizon Medias partnership with the LGBTQ+ employee resource group PRISM. In 2018, the White House administration was floating the idea of refining the legal classification of gender. However, within a few days of speaking with PRISM Verizon Media communicated to its 10,000 employees that the company would protect them and give them the right to gender classification. Everyone has a different idea of how diversity should be run and part of what it means, we want to make sure we are listening, comfort and make sure we are continuously listening and learning, which what helps us all grow and shape the workplace, said Gould. A personal moment for an employee that really highlighted the culture for inclusivity was when one employee told their manager that they were transitioning and the manager asked Gould if it was OK to throw the colleague a party. I said, its not OK... its amazing!, said Gould. I said you made [the company] a greater place and sense of community and the employee felt fully supported. All these things are super important. Shivin Narang and Tejasswi Prakash, former contestants of Khatron Ke Khiladi 10, will soon be appearing in a romantic video song called Sunn Zara. The TV actors have shot the music video at a beautiful location in Mumbai. The first poster of the romantic song has been unveiled, showing Tejasswi and Shivin as a happy couple taking a stroll together. To add to the romantic mood, there are autumn leaves strewn over the poster, enhancing the theme of the song. Their look in the poster is quite casual. Tejasswi is seen in a white top and shorts along, with a bomber jacket, while Shivin is seen wearing navy blue joggers, a sky blue shirt and reading glasses, giving a nerdy touch to the look. Shivin shared the poster on Instagram and said, Announcing my latest love song Sunn Zara with Indie Music Label. Be mesmerised by this love song thats unlike any other. Coming soon this October! Stay tuned to @indiemusiclabel." The actress is also excited for the song as she wrote yaaay" followed by a dancing emoji. Shivin and Tejasswi have been two of the most talked about contestants in Rohit Shettys Khatron Ke Khiladi 10. The two had won hearts with their never give up spirit, however, it was their equation which managed to grab the attention. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in March (Getty) A Kentucky police officer who may have fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor is seeking to retire after receiving countless threats, his family has said. According to an online fundraising drive apparently organised by the family of Myles Cosgrove, it is no longer safe for the Louisville officer to remain in his job. It said his relatives were trying to raise enough money for him to stand down from the force, and take care of his family. The family of Detective Myles Cosgrove, an officer involved in the tragic Breonna Taylor case, is starting this fund in order to help secure the safety of Myles and his immediate family going forward, says a posting on the website GiveSendGo. It has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position serving the community with the Louisville Metro Police Department. It added: We hope to raise enough funds to help him purchase the remainder of his service time, or air-time, so that he can retire from the LMPD and continue to focus on the safety of his family, a family that has been put continually at-risk over the past few months. Myles Cosgrove was one of three officers involved in operationGiveSendGo Mr Cosgrove was one of three officers who fired shots into the home of the 26-year-old black medical worker when they conducted a no knock warrant operation at her home, as they sought to question a former boyfriend in March. The young woman was killed, her death leading to protests across the country that have demanded justice for her, and numerous other unarmed people of colour killed by the police. The Courier-Journal, which was first to report the development, said a ballistics test by the FBI had indicated shots fired by Mr Cosgrove struck Taylor near her heart and likely proved fatal. Last week, a grand jury failed to bring charges against any of the three officers involved in the incident for firing shots into Taylors home. It ruled that Mr Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly were justified in their use of force. A third officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, for firing shots into a home next to Taylors. Story continues Ben Crump, a lawyer for Taylors family, denounced the decision as outrageous and offensive. Under Kentucky law, someone is guilty of wanton endangerment if they commit an act that shows an extreme indifference to the value of human life. The newspaper said that Mr Myles family did not immediately respond to questions about the fund-raising drive, which by Monday afternoon stood at a little under $5,000. The post said the family was going to raise $75,000 for Mr Cosgrove and his immediate relatives, who had received countless threats. Myles reputation has been completely dismantled and the psychological trauma is something that he will have to cope with for the rest of his life, it said. Every day, the threats seem more legitimate and scarier; his family has been doxed and harassed, while the threats remain unrelenting. Although Myles may never feel completely safe again, if you can help us reach our goal, we can at least get him on a path to security and allow him to focus on his main objective: the safety of his family. Additional reporting by Associated Press Read more Breonna Taylor: Video appears to shows former officer visiting scene in violation of police policy Breonna Taylor protests: NYPD criticised for charging at BLM demonstrators among diners in Manhattan Rihanna rips Kentucky attorney general over Breonna Taylor case Synchrony's investments in tools and technology are meeting the needs of partners and consumers by advancing secure, digital payment solutions to provide seamless, socially distant transactions. Direct to Device is the latest tool in Synchrony's arsenal of contactless payment options. About 70 percent of Synchrony's credit applications in the second quarter were completed digitally. Synchrony, a premier consumer financial services company, is rapidly deploying digital technology solutions to help ensure a safe, seamless and socially distant experience for every stage of the payments process applying for credit, completing the transaction, and paying a bill or servicing an account. Synchrony even has digital gifting technology for the holidays. While the digital shopping transformation has been underway for several years, the pandemic has accelerated consumer demand to transact without touching cash, cards, or keypads also known as contactless commerce. In a recent study, the overall usage of contactless payments rose 150% since March 2019. As businesses meet consumers' digital needs in the COVID era, Synchrony is increasing its digital capabilities for partners and their customers across all channels. Consumers can apply for a credit card on their own device (in store, at home, or anywhere), add a new credit card into their digital wallet, transact with contactless cards, and make monthly card payments. As a result of the company's investments in technology capabilities and customer friendly tools, an estimated 70 percent of Synchrony's credit applications in the second quarter were completed digitally. Approximately 80% of Synchrony's total bill payment transactions are processed electronically -- through both digital channels and by phone. "The pandemic made touchless shopping a necessity, and now that consumers are more familiar with contactless commerce, there's no sign they'll stop," said Carol Juel, executive vice president and chief information officer, Synchrony. "Synchrony is well positioned to help our partners meet this moment of rapid change." Synchrony makes contactless commerce easier in stores Synchrony's latest contactless solution is called "Direct to Device" a patent pending technology that provides an efficient contactless experience for customers using their own smartphones. The technology enables a transfer of data between the business and customers' mobile devices in-store. For example, if a customer shops in-store and wants to open a line of credit, the business can send the application to the customer's mobile device through email or QR code. The customer then uses Synchrony's patent pending dApply technology to safely and securely apply for credit. dApply allows the customer to authenticate themselves and have their application prefilled with basic information like their name, address, and phone number just by entering the last four digits of their social security number. This leaves only a few fields left to complete, reducing the overall time and effort. Credit decisioning is made in seconds, in partnership with mobile authentication technology from Prove . The data and information is entered by the customer and if approved for credit, the card can be provisioned/added into the customer's wallet for immediate use. Direct to Device technology was brought to market when Verizon and Synchrony launched the first Verizon co-brand credit card earlier this summer. Synchrony is working with its partners to scale this innovation across industries. "Direct to Device is an exciting new tool and just the latest example of how Synchrony is laser-focused on digital solutions, to enable the contactless, frictionless experiences consumers demand," said Brad Burke, senior vice president, products and digital development. "We continue to innovate simple, time-saving solutions for consumers all along the customer journey whether they are applying for credit, making a purchase, or servicing their card." Synchrony expands contactless ecosystem Direct to Device marks the latest addition to Synchrony's contactless ecosystem. Through a combination of smart investments and Agile methodology, Synchrony has steadily built a payments technology arsenal that provides partners with advanced contactless solutions. From applying for credit, which also includes technologies like dApply, and Quickscreen; to shopping with SyPI; to paying, which can be done with unique QR codes Synchrony creates for its partners, consumers can look forward to a suite of contactless options whether shopping online or in-store: Customer-centric credit applications with dApply: Advance prefill technology helps streamline the application process, reducing the number of fields a customer must fill out on their mobile device or desktop, to open an account. dApply is white labeled to take on the look and feel of each partner, with a customer-focused interface that makes the application simple and account terms easy to understand. Advance prefill technology helps streamline the application process, reducing the number of fields a customer must fill out on their mobile device or desktop, to open an account. dApply is white labeled to take on the look and feel of each partner, with a customer-focused interface that makes the application simple and account terms easy to understand. Special credit offers with Quickscreen: The Synchrony pre-approval engine allows partners to offer qualified customers on-the-spot financing at the point-of-sale. The process is initiated when the store obtains the customer's name and mailing address, to quickly render a credit decision. The Synchrony pre-approval engine allows partners to offer qualified customers on-the-spot financing at the point-of-sale. The process is initiated when the store obtains the customer's name and mailing address, to quickly render a credit decision. Seamless integration of credit capabilities into retailer mobile apps with SyPI: The Synchrony plug-in is easily integrated into partners' branded mobile apps, and customizable for their needs whether that's creating an overall omnichannel experience for customers or enabling them to redeem rewards. Synchrony's patented SyPI technology, which allows customers to apply for credit, make transactions, and service their account, has seen $6 billion in credit card bill payments since it launched in 2016. The Synchrony plug-in is easily integrated into partners' branded mobile apps, and customizable for their needs whether that's creating an overall omnichannel experience for customers or enabling them to redeem rewards. Synchrony's patented technology, which allows customers to apply for credit, make transactions, and service their account, has seen in credit card bill payments since it launched in 2016. QR Codes: Unique codes for Synchrony partners or CareCredit providers allow an additional and easy way for consumers to learn about, apply for credit and pay, all from their own device. For merchants, each QR code is associated with the partner or provider's Merchant ID number, making it easy to see who has applied, been approved, and has available credit and at which locations. Preparation meets demand Synchrony's deep technology investments have enabled the company to respond quickly to partners and cardholders with dedicated resources to help them adapt to the challenges of this new environment. In fact, as society learns to balance the need for increased health and safety measures, while maintaining traditions, like celebrating birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries Synchrony enables contactless gifting technology (GiftNow), offered by select partners. About Synchrony Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company. We deliver a wide range of specialized financing programs, as well as innovative consumer banking products, across key industries including digital, retail, home, auto, travel, health and pet. Synchrony enables our partners to grow sales and loyalty with consumers. We are one of the largest issuers of private label credit cards in the United States; we also offer co-branded products, installment loans and consumer financing products for small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as healthcare providers. Synchrony is changing what's possible through our digital capabilities, deep industry expertise, actionable data insights, frictionless customer experience and customized financing solutions. For more information, visit synchrony.com and Twitter: @Synchrony . Media contact: Nicole Ward @NWardSays 203.564.6938 [email protected] SOURCE Synchrony Related Links www.synchrony.com The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged South Florida lawyer Andrew Dale Ledbetter with fraud in connection with the unlawful sale of securities to investors on behalf of a now-bankrupt merchant cash advance company. The SEC previously charged 1 Global Capital, LLC, its former CEO and CFO, and the former CEO's brother-in-law in connection with the alleged $322 million fraud perpetrated on more than 3,600 retail investors. The SEC also previously charged Ledbetter's law partner with fraud, and charged a sales agent for acting as an unregistered broker. According to the SEC's complaint, Ledbetter, while an attorney at a Fort Lauderdale law firm that was counsel to 1 Global, falsely told investors and the network of sales agents he recruited to offer and sell 1 Global's notes nationwide that 1 Global's notes were not securities despite knowing that they were securities and that the offering violated the securities laws. In the process, he reaped approximately $2.9 million in commissions from the sale of 1 Global's notes. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida today announced criminal charges against Ledbetter. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Miami, charges Ledbetter with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act. The SEC seeks a court-ordered injunction, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains, pre-judgement interest, and a civil penalty. The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Gary Miller in the Miami Regional Office and supervised by Elisha L. Frank and Glenn S. Gordon. The SEC's litigation is being led by Robert K. Levenson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Researcher Steven Emslie encountered a puzzle at Cape Irizar, a rocky cape located just south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue on the Scott Coast, Ross Sea. He found both ancient and what appeared to be fresh remains of Adelie penguins, mostly of chicks, which frequently die and accumulate at these colonies. However, the "fresh" remains were puzzling, he says, because there are no records of an active penguin colony at this site since the first explorers (Robert Falcon Scott) in 1901-1903 came to the Ross Sea. Emslie found abundant penguin chick bones scattered on the surface, along with guano stains, implying recent use of the site, but that wasn't possible, says Emslie. Some of the bones were complete chick carcasses with feathers, now falling apart from decay as at a modern colony, as well as intact mummies. Emslie and his colleagues collected some of these surface remains for further analysis and radiocarbon dating to try and figure out what was going on there. The team found old pebble mounds scattered about the cape. These mounds are former nesting sites of Adelie penguins because they use pebbles to build their nests. When they abandon a site, the pebbles become scattered and stand out on the landscape, since they are all about the same size. "We excavated into three of these mounds, using methods similar to archaeologists, to recover preserved tissues of penguin bone, feather, and eggshell, as well as hard parts of prey from the guano (fish bones, otoliths). The soil was very dry and dusty, just as I've found at other very old sites I've worked on in the Ross Sea, and also had abundant penguin remains in them. Overall, our sampling recovered a mixture of old and what appeared to be recent penguin remains implying multiple periods of occupation and abandonment of this cape over thousands of years. In all the years I have been doing this research in Antarctica, I've never seen a site quite like this." The analyses reported in Emslie's recent paper published in Geology indicate at least three occupation periods of the cape by breeding penguins, with the last one ending at about 800 years ago. When that occupation ended, either due to increasing snow cover over the cape or other factors (the Little Ice Age was beginning about then too), the "fresh" remains on the surface were covered in snow and ice and preserved intact until recent exposure from snowmelt. Global warming has increased the annual temperature in the Ross Sea by 1.5-2.0 C since the 1980s, and satellite imagery over the past decade shows the cape gradually emerging from under the snow. Thus, says Emslie, "This recent snowmelt revealing long-preserved remains that were frozen and buried until now is the best explanation for the jumble of penguin remains of different ages that we found there." ### This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Antarctic Program. It included collaboration and support from the Italian Antarctic Program and personnel at Mario Zucchelli Station. PAPER ABSTRACT The Ross Sea (Antarctica) is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean and supports nearly one million breeding pairs of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) annually. There also is a well-preserved record of abandoned penguin colonies that date from before the Last Glacial Maximum (>45,000 14C yr B.P.) through the Holocene. Cape Irizar is a rocky cape located just south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue on the Scott Coast. In January 2016, several abandoned Adelie penguin sites and abundant surface remains of penguin bones, feathers, and carcasses that appeared to be fresh were being exposed by melting snow and were sampled for radiocarbon analysis. The results indicate the "fresh" remains are actually ancient and that three periods of occupation by Adelie penguins are represented beginning ca. 5000 calibrated calendar (cal.) yr B.P., with the last occupation ending by ca. 800 cal. yr B.P. The presence of fresh-appearing remains on the surface that are actually ancient in age suggests that only recently has snowmelt exposed previously frozen carcasses and other remains for the first time in ~800 yr, allowing them to decay and appear fresh. Recent warming trends and historical satellite imagery (Landsat) showing decreasing snow cover on the cape since 2013 support this hypothesis. Increased 13C values of penguin bone collagen further indicate a period of enhanced marine productivity during the penguin "optimum," a warm period at 4000-2000 cal. yr B.P., perhaps related to an expansion of the Terra Nova Bay polynya with calving events of the Drygalski Ice Tongue. CONTACT: Steven Emslie, emslies@uncw.edu, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Biology and Marine Biology, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA URL: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G48230.1/590932/Ancient-Adelie-penguin-colony-revealed-by-snowmelt GEOLOGY articles are online at http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/early/recent. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary articles by contacting Kea Giles at the e-mail address above. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GEOLOGY in articles published. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org. https://www.geosociety.org Man sent to prison for drug trafficking A Flat Rock man was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to numerous drug trafficking charges, District Attorney Greg Newman announced. Earl Little, of 112 Berry Creek Drive, pleaded guilty to trafficking, opium or heroin, possess firearm by felon. Little was sentenced to the prison term and ordered to pay $50,000 fine. Little's was one of the cases handled in a term of Superior Court Sept. 14-15. Judge Peter Knight presided. In other cases: Jordan Bassa, of 507 Fleming St, Hendersonville, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of firearm by felon. Bassa was sentenced to 17 months active time. Eric Bray, of 416 Hunters Glen Circle, Hendersonville, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Sell/Deliver Methamphetamine, Larceny of a Motor Vehicle. Bray was also sentenced to 21 months active time. Christopher R. Brown, of 1247 Ocain Court, Hendersonville, pleaded guilty to break/enter terrorize/injure, possession of firearm by felon. Brown was sentenced to 45 months active. Brandon M. Gray, of 947 Summer Rd, Hendersonville. Gray pleaded guilty to possess drug paraphernalia. Gray was sentenced to 5 days active. Stephen Rhode, of 305 N. Whitted Street, Hendersonville, pleaded guilty to maintain vehicle/ dwelling/place cs, possess drug paraphernalia. Rhode was sentenced to 4 days active. Nigel L. Smith, of 34 Laurel Hill Circle, Candler, NC pleaded guilty to larceny of motor vehicle, attempted robbery-dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery-dangerous weapon, flee/ elude arrest with motor vehicle, possess stolen motor vehicle. Smith was sentenced to 30 months active. Defections have hit the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the Tamale North constituency with barely three months to the December 7 general election. Alhaji Abu Yahaya, NDC Nobisco polling station A chairman and the NDC Tamale North former Constituency Women Organizer Hajia Sharatu have officially defected to the New Patriotic Party(NPP). Alhaji Yahaya is said to be a grassroot political strategist and believed to be one of the brains behind NDC dominance in the Nobisco area of Tamale North constituency. Alhaji Abu Yahaya who confirmed his defection to DGN Online said the opposition NDC is not a party worth dying for. According to him , he used all the resources in his disposal to campaign and canvas for votes for the NDC to win the 2012 general elections but was ignored and abandoned by the party after winning. In Northern Region I was the only party person who used his car to carry party supporters to Wulensi, Koforidua , Accra for campaigns without giving me money or fuel but what did I gain nothing, he lamented. He indicated that he used to transport party supporters and give them feeding allowances as well but the NDC decided to abandon him after all the sacrifices he did for the party. My car was involved in an accident during one of our campaigns but nobody in the party supported me until I was able to fix it myself so I realized that the party can't help me so I don't see why I should still stay in it. The NDC former chairman said all his relatives who belong to the NPP live a better life and for that matter he decided to join the party adding that the NPP develops its members and transforms them unlike the NDC. Looking at my relatives in the NPP, I realized that I wasted my resources and time in the NDC that's why I decided to joined the NPP. Mr. Yusif Toyibu Agenda, the NPP Northern Regional Treasurer, who welcomed the two defectees to the party assured them that the NPP is a party that cares for the development of its members. The party donated a brand new motobike to Alhaji Abu Yahaya to aid his campaign activities for the party in the Tamale North constituency. ---Daily Guide The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Tuesday condemned the government for its efforts to privatise electricity distribution business in some parts of the state. The trade union also criticised the arrest of its members protesting against the state government's move. " condemns the oppressive measures being resorted to by the Yogi Government of by mass arrests of the trade union leaders in the power sector who are opposing and organising protest demonstrations against the privatisation of electricity distribution," an statement said. demands that UP Government stop privatization of electricity distribution and victimization of electricity employees, the statement said. It said that for the first phase, the government has chosen the Poorvanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam to bifurcate and create small units for paving its way to hand over electricity distribution to the private companies. The government has already handed over the Agra sector to private companies, it said adding the workers are fighting unitedly under the banner of All India Federation of Electricity Employees, a joint front of all trade unions and associations of engineers. They have started Boycott Work from September 28, which is Shaheed Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary, the statement said. AITUC rued that even without tabling the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in Parliament and even after facing opposition from 350 stakeholders and 12 states, the Power Ministry issued directives on September 20 to start process of privatization in all states, leaving only 26 per cent of the rural area under the state government control. The entire responsibility of the present employees will be that of the new franchisee taking over the distribution work, it said. AITUC expressed its unequivocal support to the fighting workers of power sector in and calls upon other sections of the society to come in their support. "If this anti-people policy succeeds, then not only the employees will suffer loss of their jobs, face wage cuts and social security benefits but the consumer at large would be fleeced with expensive electricity and there will be cascading effect of rising expenses in the service sector, manufacturing and agrarian sector," it added. In a separate statement, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) also condemned the arrest of its Chairman Shailendra Dubey and other engineers and employees leaders on Monday when they were proceeding for a candlelight march after a protest meeting against privatization of Varanasi Discom, in Lucknow. Immediately, hundreds of employees gave court arrest in Lucknow. As soon as the news of the arrest spread, hundreds of employees offered arrest in different parts of the state, it added. This compelled the state government to release all the employees, said Prasanta Chowhary, convener Coordination Committee for Electricity Employees and Engineers. The candlelight march was held in all the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.The employees and engineers are protesting against the privatization of Poorvanchal discom which includes the city of Varanasi. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mitch McConnell helped Judge Amy Coney Barrett avoid reporter questions when meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett has travelled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with senators ahead of her Supreme Court nomination hearings. The nomination was kicked off with Ms Barrett participating in a three-minute press event with Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, which involved answering no questions from the press. Were pleased today to welcome Judge Barrett to begin the process of advice and consent in the Senate. And if you know shell be visiting with members who are interested in talking to her during the course of the next few days, Mr McConnell said when speaking first. Were glad to have her here and glad to get the process started. Then Mr Pence spoke to the room full of reporters and praised the judge for being an an extraordinary American who has a judicial philosophy that will uphold the Constitution of the United States. "We believe the Senate has an opportunity here for a fair and respectful consideration," Mr Pence added. "We urge our Democratic colleagues in the Senate to take the opportunity to meet with Judge Barrett, and as the hearing goes forward to provide the kind of respectful hearing the American people expect." The brief meeting with the press then ended with one reporter asking if Ms Barrett should recuse herself from any election related cases, like if the November election were to end up before the Supreme Court. This question was met with no response before reporters were asked to leave the room. Following the brief press event, Ms Barrett was placed in a room on Capitol Hill on Tuesday where she would remain for the entirety of the day to meet with GOP senators, including Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, and Chuck Grassley. When meeting with the judge, Mr Grassley told reporters he also would not be answering questions. Ms Barrett was not expected to meet with any Democrats on Tuesday after several have publicly stated they would refuse to speak to her ahead of the nomination hearings. Story continues Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was one who said he would not be meeting with Ms Barrett. I am not going to meet with Judge Barrett. Why would I meet with a nominee of such an illegitimate process and one who is determined to get rid of the Affordable Care Act? he wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal, and Mazie Hirono have all indicated they would also not meet with the presidents nominee. This nomination process is illegitimate. I refuse to participate in the further degradation of our democracy and our judiciary, Ms Gillibrand wrote. The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has widened the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats. In 2016, Senate Republicans, who held the majority, refused to consider President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee following the sudden death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, saying at the time that it was too close to a presidential election to consider the pick. Republicans have said the situation was different for Mr Trumps pick, despite it being much closer to the election compared to 2016, because they control both the Senate and White House and are frustrated by what happened to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his nomination process. Mr McConnell vowed for the nomination process to be swift so the Senate can hold a vote before the presidential election on 3 November. Only two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, have indicated they were against a vote before the election, likely ensuring the nomination. Read more Biden and Harris release tax returns to troll Trump ahead of first presidential debate Johnson and Trump have a lot in common they both have little respect for the public they were elected by Kamala Harris demands to know if any Trump debt is owed to foreign government An Australian deportee has been caught trying to escape hotel quarantine after using bed sheets as a rope to climb out of a window and abseil down the building. The man was staying at a Ramada Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand when he decided to make a break for it on Monday, despite being due for release in two days. He tied bed sheets together to create a rope and managed to scale down four storeys. The man was staying at a Ramada Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand (pictured) when he decided to make a break for it on Monday, despite being due for release in two days But he was caught by on-site security as he made his way out of the front gate. He was taken into custody by police. 'So far, we have been unable to establish what time the man absconded the facility,' Darryn Webb, head of managed isolation and quarantine, said. CCTV footage will be reviewed to establish he man's movements, he said. 'This person has put themselves and others at potential risk and their actions were unacceptable. Wilfully leaving our facilities will not be tolerated, and the appropriate action will be taken.' Mr Webb said the COVID-19 risk to the public was low. He tied bed sheets together to create a rope and managed to scale down four storeys (stock image pictured) Security at the facility has been increased since the escape attempt. New Zealand has a 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine scheme for anyone entering the country. About 55,000 people have gone through the hotel quarantine scheme and 13 breaches have been reported. 'These incidents are rare, and we treat them extremely seriously,' Mr Webb said. by Paul N. Hung Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Nang: I want to urge you to always remember your purpose, your goals and your desires when you came to the city. In particular, you should join the Catholic associations and parishes in which you live, where you will have the opportunity to support each other, help each other and keep the faith. " Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) As of April 2019, the population of Ho Chi Minh City was about 9 million people, several million of them immigrants. Among these there are about 600 thousand Catholics. They came to Ho Chi Minh City from central and northern Vietnam. On 27 September, the Pastoral Committee for Migration of the Archdiocese of Saigon organized the celebration of the 106th World Migration Day in the parish of St. Paul in the Binh Tan district. In Vietnam, people are still battling the Covid-19 epidemic following the guidelines of the Ministry of Health. The Day was held over a period of 8 hours (from 13:00 to 21:00) in the parish of Saint Paul. The Message of Pope Francis on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees was widely circulated in Vietnamese to 27 dioceses and parishes in Vietnam. In his Message, Francis invited all the Catholic Churches of the world to recognize the image of Jesus in these migrants. The Holy Father also recalled the tragedy of all those who suffer from uncertainty, abandonment, marginalization and rejection due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, on May 5, the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development also published a new guide on Pastoral Guidelines on Domestic Migration to meet the challenge of assisting internal migrants. Thus, the Pastoral Committee for Migration of the Archdiocese of Saigon celebrated the 106th World Migrant Day in the parish of St. Paul with about 3 thousand people, including groups of children, the elderly, students, workers, religious and 30 major seminarians of St Joseph Seminary of Sai Gon. A representative of the St. Joseph Major Seminary in Saigon spoke of the feelings and aspirations of these immigrants who live in parishes, some houses of charity, catechists, participants in catechism courses, choirs and Catholic parish associations. We are also migrant seminarians from other dioceses who come here to study for the future ministry of the priesthood. We communicate with migrant brothers and sisters in daily prayer. We also learn from Pope Francis' message on the occasion of the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees "." We therefore shared our life of faith among ourselves in the last months of the Covid-19 pandemic and spoke with the Archbishop of Saigon Joseph Nuyen Nang, Most young people live in poor families or face very difficult circumstances. They said they came here to look for work, or to study in high schools, universities, or for the vocation of becoming a priest. There were young people who said they came to this city to earn a living for themselves or their families. However, in reality, these young migrants have faced many difficulties and pressures in their lives. During the time of sharing experiences with each other, some groups said that "our life of faith is in danger". Some young migrants told Asianews that we cannot afford to visit our families during the time of the pandemic. We miss our families very much. There are groups of young immigrants who have not yet integrated into the culture of the city. They said: We believe it is very difficult to integrate into the life of the city, because there are too many people and vehicles on the street. This causes air pollution and affects our health. But for this life, we still have to continue this arduous journey. " Especially during the period of the epidemic, many young migrants had to do all kinds of manual labour to make money and live day after day. So there are also groups of young Catholics who are no longer interested in their "religious life". Their faith has been shaken in these days of family separation. However, there are also many young migrants who have shown that During the pandemic there were many opportunities to pray as a family among them. We are able to carry out charitable and social activities to help poor and immigrant children. " Listening to the views of thousands of young migrants in St. Paul's Church, the Archbishop of Saigon, Joseph Nguyen Nang, said: You spoke of your concern. You have moved to the city to find work, study, improve and earn money. All these are good and justified reasons ". "For this - he added - I want to urge you to always remember your purpose, your goals and your desires when you came to the city. In particular, you should join Catholic associations and parishes in the city in which you live, where you will have the opportunity to support each other, help each other and keep the faith". Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a dying cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), the virus that causes COVID-19. Credit: NIAID Integrated Research Facility, Fort Detrick, Maryland. A study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai addresses a mystery first raised in March: Why do some people with COVID-19 develop severe inflammation? The research shows how the molecular structure and sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteinpart of the virus that causes COVID-19could be behind the inflammatory syndrome cropping up in infected patients. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses computational modeling to zero in on a part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that may act as a "superantigen," kicking the immune system into overdrive as in toxic shock syndromea rare, life-threatening complication of bacterial infections. Symptoms of a newly identified condition in pediatric COVID-19 patients, known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), include persistent fever and severe inflammation that can affect a host of bodily systems. While rare, the syndrome can be serious or even fatal. The first reports of this condition coming out of Europe caught the attention of study co-senior author Moshe Arditi, M.D., director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division at Cedars-Sinai and an expert on another pediatric inflammatory diseaseKawasaki disease. Arditi contacted his long-time collaborator, Ivet Bahar, Ph.D., distinguished professor and John K. Vries Chair of computational and systems biology at Pitt School of Medicine, and the two started searching for features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that might be responsible for MIS-C. Bahar and her team created a computer model of the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike protein and the receptors on human T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system. Under normal circumstances, T cells help the body fight off infection, but when these cells are activated in abnormally large quantities, as is the case with superantigens, they produce massive amounts of inflammatory cytokinessmall proteins involved in immune system signalingin what's known as a "cytokine storm." Using this computer model, the team was able to see that a specific region on the spike protein with superantigenic features interacts with T cells. Then, they compared this region to a bacterial protein that causes toxic shock syndrome and found striking similarities in both sequence and structure. Importantly, the proposed SARS-CoV-2 superantigen showed a high affinity for binding T cell receptorsthe first step toward touching off a runaway immune response. "Everything came one after another, each time a huge surprise. The pieces of the puzzle ended up fitting extremely well," said Bahar, co-senior author on the study. By finding protein-level similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and the bacterial structure that causes toxic shock syndrome, the researchers said they may have opened up new avenues for treating not only MIS-C patients, but also adults with COVID-19 infection experiencing cytokine storm. The researchers also collaborated with scientists studying adult COVID-19 patients in Germany and found that those who experienced severe symptoms had a T cell response similar to what is seen in people exposed to superantigens and very different from the T cell response in patients who had only mild symptoms. "Our research finally begins to unravel the potential mechanisms involved and raises the possibility that therapeutic options for toxic shock syndrome, such as intravenous immunoglobulin and steroids, may be effective for managing and treating MIS-C in children and hyperinflammation in adult coronavirus patients," said Arditi, professor of pediatrics and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai. Arditi's and Bahar's labs are now using the ideas generated by this study to search for and test antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV-2 superantigen, with the goal of developing therapies that specifically address MIS-C and cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients. Explore further Rare hyperinflammatory syndrome in children with COVID-19 described More information: Mary Hongying Cheng et al. Superantigenic character of an insert unique to SARS-CoV-2 spike supported by skewed TCR repertoire in patients with hyperinflammation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Mary Hongying Cheng et al. Superantigenic character of an insert unique to SARS-CoV-2 spike supported by skewed TCR repertoire in patients with hyperinflammation,(2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2010722117 When is the first presidential debate of the 2020 election? How can I watch the Trump-Biden debate on TV and streaming? President Donald Trump will face off with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday, Sept. 29. The first of three debates will air live on television and livestream online starting at 9 p.m. ET from Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The debate is expected to last 90 minutes with no commercial breaks. How to watch the presidential debate The debate will air live on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, PBS and Vice. Most networks will also have pre-debate coverage and analysis afterwards. Presidential debate livestream The presidential debate will be live streaming online for free through the C-SPAN official YouTube Channel, CBSNews.com, and ABCNews.com. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC will also offer a livestream on their websites (cable provider login required). You can also stream the debate through Fubo TV, Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV. Fubo TV and Hulu have seven-day free trials for new users, and Sling offers a three-day free trial. Who is moderating the debate? Fox News host Chris Wallace will moderate the first debate. Debate topics, format The first debate will be broken up into six 15-minute segments, which will each start with a question from Wallace. Candidates get two minutes to answer, followed by further discussion guided by Wallace. Wallaces topics will be: The Trump and Biden Records, The Supreme Court, Covid-19, The Economy, Race and Violence in our Cities, and The Integrity of the Election. Specific questions are not shared in advance with the candidates or the Commission on Presidential Debates. What to watch for: Other topics will certainly factor in the debate, including The New York Times' recent report that Trump only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and no federal taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years. Reuters reports viewers may also be looking for whether or not Trump accepts responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic, potential falsehoods, and questions about Bidens mental fitness. When are the next debates? Bidens running mate Kamala Harris will debate Vice President Mike Pence on Oct. 7. Trump and Biden will also have two more presidential debates in October. Steve Scully of C-SPAN will moderate a town meeting debate Oct. 15 in Miami, and NBCs Kristen Welker will moderate an Oct. 22 debate in Nashville, Tennessee. MORE: Early voting in NY starts in less than 4 weeks Absentee ballot vs. mail-in ballot: Whats the difference? How to vote in NY How to tell if your NY mail-in ballot makes it to the Board of Elections Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 03:20:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Peter Mertz DENVER, the United States, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- "I think that there's a lot of concern that we could start to see a real upsurge and this is a continuation of a broader trend underway as we head into the colder months," Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Sunday. Gottlieb, former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, appeared on Face the Nation of CBS to caution that the country is "taking a lot of infection into a very dangerous season" for the virus. Gottlieb isn't the only expert that has given a warning in the past few days. As a new wave of novel coronavirus cases slowly seeped into America, experts from coast to coast sounded the alarm. HOSPITALS FEAR CLOSURE "Where there are already cracks in the system, those cracks become earthquakes," Dr. Chris Pernell, University Hospital's chief strategic integration and health equity officer, told NBC News Saturday. "A second surge of COVID-19 this fall and winter could be catastrophic for the U.S., and it's not just more sick people that doctors worry about," NBC's report noted. Experts agree that the economic strain of continued COVID-19 services -- especially in the wake of an anticipated upsurge -- could be devastating for many hospitals. By the end of 2020, hospitals across the United States will lose about 300 billion U.S. dollars, according to the American Hospital Association, noting that during the pandemic, hospitals have absorbed the costs of extra supplies, including masks and gloves, and without federal support, many face bankruptcies. Many experts agree that the upsurge has begun or is on its way, although Gottlieb said it was "unclear" if the recent upsurge "is the start of a persistent trend heading into the fall and the winter," or whether it was a "temporary" upswing resulting from Labor Day festivities. NUMBERS RISING As of Monday, in total, the United States has 7,127,210 infections with 204,861 deaths as a result of the pandemic, "more than double Europe's case count, and many more people live there," CNN said. Across the country, daily cases were largely on a downward trend through August and early September from highs in July, but are going up again now, National Public Radio (NPR) noted Saturday. Anthony Fauci told the media several days ago, "The U.S. is still in its first COVID-19 wave and should be prepared for the 'challenge' of fall and winter." But Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, may revise his assessment, based on hard data in just the past week. The country reported more than 58,461 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Tracker. Overall, about two-dozen states and territories reported an upward trend in new infections, with some states setting and breaking records in days, according to NPR. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has projected there would be up to 226,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Oct. 17. ACROSS THE COUNTRY On the East Coast, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday there were 1,005 positive cases tallied on the previous day, Friday, out of 99,953 tests, for a 1 percent positive rate. "Is there cause for concern? As long as COVID is here, yes," Cuomo's aide Gareth Rhodes posted on Twitter. Rhodes stressed Saturday that the new positive-case number came out of nearly 100,000 tests, compared to about 60,000 tests daily in June. From late July through the start of September, the Empire State was seeing an average of around 660 people test positive per day. Last week, New York averaged 817 positive tests per day, Cuomo's office said. In the Midwest, four states reported record one-day increases in COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a national trend for a second straight week, according to a Reuters analysis. In Wisconsin, the state's Department of Health said it had identified 2,817 new infections on Saturday, its highest daily total since the pandemic began. It broke the record of 2,533 new infections from Sept. 18. "Wisconsin is now experiencing unprecedented, near-exponential growth of the number of COVID-19 cases in our state," Governor Tony Evers said. Wisconsin's hospitalizations have set new records for six days in a row, according to state health data, rising to 543 on Friday from 342 a week ago. South Dakota's hospitalizations set records five times last week, rising to 213 on Saturday, the Reuters analysis noted, adding that all Midwest states except Ohio reported more cases in the past four weeks as compared with the prior four weeks. In California, the state's top health official, Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, warned Friday night that the latest data of COVID-19 in the state was worrisome, since it could be an early sign showing a "second wave" of the virus is coming. The Golden State saw 3,400 new cases on Friday in the previous 24 hours, marking a slight uptick from recent lows. Meanwhile, the state's positivity rate, state-wide coronavirus-related emergency department visits and new hospitalizations due to the virus are all on the rise in the past week. Enditem Freightliner wins Tarmac train haulage contract 29 September 2020 Freightliner has announced that it has been awarded a new contract with Tarmac to haul trains from Tarmacs Tunstead site, Derbyshire, and services from Tarmacs West Country quarries. Deliveries will be made to Wales, Somerset and Herefordshire. The new contract will see Freightliner run an average of 50 trains a week, taking bulk materials, including aggregates and cement, for use in regional and national projects. "We are delighted to have been awarded this new contract with Tarmac and to support their critical infrastructure projects such as HS2," said Emma Dempsey, Chief Commercial Officer for G&Ws UK/Europe Region companies. "In addition, we continue to support Tarmac in their continued quest to achieve carbon-neutral delivered product." "As the largest operator of carbon-neutral traction, we are continually developing solutions to deliver decarbonisation targets, working in collaboration with customers." Chris Swan, Head of Rail at Tarmac, said: "The renewal of our contract with Freightliner highlights both our ongoing commitment to supporting the delivery of a lower-carbon built environment and the continued enhancement of our rail freight capabilities." "Effective use of the rail freight network is key in supporting the UK's transition to a net-zero society and supporting a green recovery as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis. Collaborative working has a vital role to play in this, and were looking forward to working with our freight operating partners as the industry focuses on doing both more rail and better rail." Published under LAGOS, Nigeria, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) received the delivery of 115,800 COVID-19 test kits to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. These supplies were funded by IHS Nigeria, the Nigerian subsidiary of IHS Towers. Testing remains the mainstay of the response led by the Presidential Task Force and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the first step towards diagnosing the infection. Tests enable health officials to understand the COVID-19 status of an individual and link that person to care, support and treatment while contributing to the protection of families and communities. "Testing remains a core strategy of Nigeria's response to COVID-19. This is critical for understanding the burden of the disease on our population and targeting our response activities accordingly. The primary goal of the Nigerian Government is to control the spread of this disease. This donation from IHS Nigeria through UNICEF will contribute to the national stockpile of test kits managed by NCDC, and support efforts of the growing network of accredited laboratories across the country for the testing of COVID-19. We are grateful for the continued support from UNICEF, IHS Towers and other partners," said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General, NCDC. IHS Towers has been a strong and continuing partner of UNICEF. At the onset of the coronavirus in Nigeria in late February, IHS Nigeria provided funding to UNICEF to urgently procure essential supplies and equipment with which UNICEF supported the Government of Nigeria in its COVID-19 response. "UNICEF is deeply appreciative of IHS Towers' commitment to being a partner in UNICEF's work in Nigeria. Once more, IHS has shown great generosity in supporting UNICEF's ongoing efforts to work closely with the Government of Nigeria in the fight against COVID-19. I am very delighted to receive this huge contribution from IHS Towers, the benefit of which will reach many more children and their families," said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Country Representative. "We are proud to have played an important role in supporting the Government and our communities where we operate to provide crucial tools needed to fight this pandemic. We understand this virus is here to stay for the foreseeable future, but are confident that with our support, and that of our other private sector colleagues, we are helping to manage and mitigate the impact of the virus in our country," said Mohamad Darwish, Chief Executive Officer of IHS Nigeria. This recent support of essential tests makes IHS Towers the biggest private sector donor for UNICEF Nigeria's emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF Nigeria on Twitter and Facebook. For more information about COVID-19 and guidance on how to protect children and families, visit www.unicef.org/coronavirus About NCDC The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is the country's national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies. The Bill for an Act to establish NCDC was signed into law in November 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari. The mission for the NCDC (2017-2021) is 'To protect the health of Nigerians through evidence-based prevention, integrated disease surveillance and response activities, using a One Health approach, guided by research and led by a skilled workforce'. Contact: NCDC Toll-free Number: 0800-9700 0010 | SMS: 08099555577 | WhatsApp: 07087110839 Twitter: @NCDCGov | Facebook: @NCDCgov | Instagram: @NCDCgov | NCDC Media Releases About IHS Towers IHS Towers is the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, bringing the power of mobile technology to hundreds of millions, accelerating the digitalization of economies through the acquisition, management and construction of critical national infrastructure. SOURCE IHS Towers VANCOUVER, B.C., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MonetizeMore is proud to be recognized on the 2020 Report on Business Ranking of Canada's Top Growing Companies by the Globe & Mail. Canada's Top Growing Companies ranks Canadian companies on three-year revenue growth. MonetizeMore earned its spot (224 of 400) with a three-year growth rate of 181%. CEO & Founder Kean Graham Delivering a Speech at MonetizeMore MonetizeMore Company Retreat 2020 "Being among the Top Growing Companies in Canada is symbolic of how hard our team has worked and their level of talent. We're proud to be an example of Vancouver's innovation and entrepreneurship."- Kean Graham, CEO of MonetizeMore. Launched in 2019, the Canada's Top Growing Companies editorial ranking aims to celebrate entrepreneurial achievement in Canada by identifying and amplifying the success of growth-minded, independent businesses in Canada. Companies had to complete an in-depth application process in order to qualify. The full list of 2020 winners, and accompanying editorial coverage, is published in the October issue of Report on Business magazine available at tgam.ca/TopGrowing "The stories of Canada's Top Growing Companies are worth telling at any time, but are especially relevant in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic," says James Cowan, Editor of Report on Business magazine. "As businesses work to rebuild the economy, their resilience and innovation make for essential reading." "Any business leader seeking inspiration should look no further than the 400 businesses on this year's Report on Business ranking of Canada's Top Growing Companies," says Phillip Crawley, Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail. "Their growth helps to make Canada a better place, and we are proud to bring their stories to our readers." About The Globe and Mail The Globe and Mail is Canada's foremost news media company, leading the national discussion and causing policy change through brave and independent journalism since 1844. About MonetizeMore MonetizeMore started in 2010, now has over 170 team members across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia & Latin America. MonetizeMore's divisions have grown to fuel Gross Revenues of $30M Canadian dollars and Net Revenues of $5M. Expanding from our core offering of ad operation services to our PubGuru ad tech suite that empowers ad monetized publishers. MonetizeMore - Realize your ad revenue potential 101-15317 Thrift Avenue White Rock, BC, Canada V4B 2L4 Media Contact: Brandon Gains 250-216-5013 [email protected] SOURCE MonetizeMore ANKARA, Turkey - The Greek Orthodox Church of the United States said Tuesday it is petitioning United Nations experts to coerce Turkey into protecting Orthodox Christianitys cultural heritage following the Turkish governments conversion of Istanbuls landmark Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said it was pressing U.N. special rapporteurs in the areas of cultural rights, minority rights, freedom of religion and beliefs to hold Turkey accountable for its deliberate policies to erase the cultural heritage of Orthodox Christians. In a move that drew praise from the Muslim faithful and widespread international opposition, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree in July that turned Hagia Sophia back into a Muslim house of prayer. The structure, a UNESCO world heritage site, had served as one of Christendom most important cathedrals and a mosque for centuries, as well as a museum for 86 years. Erdogan announced a decision last month to transform the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, another Byzantine-era church in Istanbul, into a mosque as well. By unilaterally changing the status, structure and name of these UNESCO sites, with particular significance to Orthodox Christians, Turkey is in violation of its obligations under international law to preserve cultural heritage and to respect the political, cultural and religious freedoms of Orthodox Christians in Turkey and abroad, Archdiocese of America counsel Christina Hioureas told The Associated Press in an emailed statement. The Greek Orthodox archdiocese hopes that international pressure from the United Nations, its bodies including UNESCO, and its member states will motivate Turkey to reverse its decision to convert (the world heritage sites) into mosques. There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government, which has vowed to protect Hagia Sophia and to keep it open to visitors outside of prayer hours. Built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 537, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque with the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding leader of the secular Turkish republic converted the structure into a museum in 1934. Erdogan, a pious Muslim whose ruling party has roots in Turkeys Islamic movement, re-converted the building into a mosque despite calls for it to be kept as a museum in recognition of Istanbuls multi-faith heritage. The move was largely seen as being geared toward consolidating the ruling partys conservative and religious support base at a time when its popularity is sagging amid an economic downturn. The Hagia Sophia was built 15-hundred years ago to be the cathedral and first church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said. Today, with a heavy heart, we behold the historic and indeed essential Greek Orthodox Christian cultural heritage of Turkey being misappropriated, with the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, he told the AP. To do so is to start down a path toward denial of history, a path that denies the future as well. After snapping their 24-year-old ties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are now at loggerheads, both vying for the leader of opposition seat in the General House of the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC). During a meeting held between the mayor and the councillors of SAD on Tuesday, the latter said they had 11 councillors against BJPs 10, which was why councillor Harbhajan Dang should remain the leader of opposition. Earlier, the SAD-BJP alliance had made for 21 councillors in the MC House. The BJP now claims the support of an independent councillor, Parvinder Kaur. ALSO READ: Political dynamics in Ludhiana set to change as SAD, BJP go separate ways While the Congress party holds a majority in the MC General House with 64 councillors, followed by SAD and BJP, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) comes in fourth with seven councillors. Three of the 95 councillors are independent. Will seek legal opinion: Mayor Dang said, BJP is making false claims for fear of losing ground in the state. Norms dictate that the votes of independent councillors dont count in total tally. We have asked the mayor to take legal opinion if BJP makes any claim to the seat of leader of opposition. Mayor Balkar Sandhu confirmed this and reiterated that legal opinion will indeed be sought over the issue should such a situation arise. BJP district president Pushpinder Singal, however, said the party had not made any claim to the position of the leader of opposition, yet. We have not made any claims over the tag, but an independent vote will be counted as BJPs vote since the councillor has extended support to the party from the onset. SAD is disturbed over losing BJPs support. A few SAD councillors are even looking to join BJP. The director of the National Gallery has said he hopes the museums first major exhibition devoted to a female historical painter will shine a light on why there were so few famous female artists throughout history. The gallery will stage the first major exhibition in the UK of 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschis work, bringing together her best-known paintings as well as her letters and the transcript of the high-profile trial of her rapist, Agostino Tassi, during which she was tortured to prove she was telling the truth. The exhibition, which was meant to open in the spring but was delayed due to the global pandemic, was inspired by the gallerys acquisition of her Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria in 2018, the first painting by Artemisia to enter a public collection in the UK. The first major exhibition of #Artemisia Gentileschis work in the UK opens on 3 October! Have you got your ticket yet? https://t.co/bKci1emsT0 pic.twitter.com/sJMWMXiOw9 National Gallery (@NationalGallery) September 28, 2020 Curator Letizia Treves described Artemisia as the most celebrated female painter in Europe in her lifetime, who has been forgotten for centuries. Gallery director Dr Gabriele Finaldi said: For us at the beginning of the 21st century Artemisia comes across as a very powerful and inspirational figure, somebody who in a world of 17th century art which was dominated by men patrons and men artists, Artemisia found a way to have her own voice heard, to have success and autonomous success or her own, and she achieved that through extraordinary talent, extraordinary invention but also through very clever connections with patrons and with supporters. He added: This is the first major exhibition that the gallery has devoted to a woman historical painter. Artemisia is a figure of great historical importance, particularly in contemporary art history, she was largely forgotten after the 17th century and she is really a discovery of art history in the 20th century and I would say particularly she has been the discovery of women art historians so I think shes very much attuned with our times. There is a huge interest amongst the public in Artemisia and the acquisition in 2018 of the Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria really gave us the opportunity to construct an exhibition and programme around her to make her better known, but also to raise some of the questions that affect our time Why were there so few famous women artists in history? How can we give them a new protagonism through the kinds of activities that we do here at the National Gallery. He added: Certainly in art history as a discipline, the role of historic women artists is being explored much more thoroughly, there is a sense there is a debt to be paid and there is a lot to learn and discover. Video of the Day It is a remarkable thing that there are so few works by women artists in the National Gallery and I think we are in a strong position to say heres a moment now to begin to take an interest, lets look at this from a historical perspective, lets look at this from an academic perspective but lets do it as something we can share and enjoy together with the public. Artemisia is at the National Gallery from October 3 to January 24 2021. Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College. In order for educators to effectively prepare students, they must transform their approach to teaching and learning. Among other concepts, our goal at this conference is to explore how the new normal will challenge education. Unitek Learning is thrilled to announce that on November 6, 2020, world-renowned physician, director, and comedian Dr. Zubin Damania, MD, will serve as keynote speaker at the Fifth Annual Unitek Conference. Pioneer Dr. Patricia Benner will also lead the event with her expertise and impact on the nursing profession. This year, the theme is Education Evolution: Transforming the New Normal. The virtual event will focus on how to achieve teaching excellence amidst global change. In previous years, Unitek has emphasized innovation in education and healthcare, infusing caring into teaching and learning, and building a strong partnership between academic and healthcare. This year, the conference will prepare for the next evolution in healthcare and education delivery. Some key points include the detriments of waiting for change, transformations in academia, and new practice and teaching patterns due to COVID-19. Keynote speaker Zubin Damania, M.D. will demonstrate how to leverage humor during challenging times. Dr. Damania is the Director of Healthcare Development for Downtown Project Las Vegas. During his 10-year hospitalist career at Stanford, he received the Russell Lee Award for Clinical Teaching while maintaining a second career performing stand-up comedy for medical audiences worldwide. Dr. Patricia Benner is a highly influential figure in the healthcare field. She has shaped the nursing profession with her Novice to Expert theory. It introduced the concept that expert nurses develop skills and understanding of patient care over time through a sound educational base in addition to various experiences. As the primary researcher and author of Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation, Dr. Benner addressed the need to transform nursing education using innovative approaches to decrease the academic-practice gap. The ultimate goal of these innovative speakers is one that Unitek shares: To elevate healthcare reform through academia and practice collaboration and become change agents on a global scale. This principle holds true for faculty as well, said Dr. Abdel Yosef, PhD, RN, CNE, Chief Academic Officer at Unitek Learning. In order for educators to effectively prepare students, they must transform their approach to teaching and learning. Among other concepts, our goal at this conference is to explore how the new normal will challenge education. At the conference, executive nursing and allied health educators will discuss how to achieve teaching excellence. Some of these esteemed speakers and workshop facilitators include nurse legend Dr. Patricia Benner, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN; inspirational leader Dr. Tim Porter-OGrady, RN, DM, EdD, ScD(h), FAAN; and comedian Nurse Blake Lynch, RN. Each panelist will demonstrate how to transform the new normal during this education evolution. The virtual event will begin at 8:30 am PST. Uniteks leadership team will provide a warm welcome to participants from academia, healthcare, and the extended community. Afterwards, Dr. Damania will deliver his keynote address. A panel discussion led by Dr. Benner will follow the keynote address. Executive officers from various medical systems will join her to discuss how this education and healthcare evolution can shape the future. Concurrent sessions will take place after lunch, with presentations by Unitek Learnings academic members as well as several community partners and sponsors of the event. Dr. Porter-OGrady will lead a panel in the afternoon, where he will discuss the merits of the Next Generation NCLEX Project. The conference will conclude by 4:30 pm with closing remarks from Dr. Yosef. We are honored to host such innovative and inspirational thought leaders like Dr. Damania, Dr. Benner, and Dr. Porter-OGrady. Together, they bridge the gap between healthcare and education, said Janis Paulson, Chief Executive Officer at Unitek Learning. At Unitek, we believe in the importance of teaching excellence to prepare for the next stage of healthcare delivery. Academic transformation is needed to help set the course for the future and improve student learning experiences. Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College. Unitek programs teach the clinical practices and theory used in the field today. Equipped with a multitude of sought-after skills, Unitek graduates are prepared to excel in many of the fastest-growing careers in healthcare and nursing. Just as COVID-19 was hitting Manitoba last March, the province was poised to close the books on a balanced budget. Now, with the virus firmly entrenched, the government is facing a gargantuan shortfall that's approaching $3 billion. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Just as COVID-19 was hitting Manitoba last March, the province was poised to close the books on a balanced budget. Now, with the virus firmly entrenched, the government is facing a gargantuan shortfall that's approaching $3 billion. On Tuesday, the Progressive Conservative government released the audited financial statements for 2019-2020. They show a modest $5 million surplus for the year ended March 31 a big improvement on the $360 million deficit the government predicted in its 2019 budget. During last year's provincial election campaign, Premier Brian Pallister promised to put the province's books into the black by 2022. He got the job done ahead of that target by holding the line on departmental expenses and underspending budgeted amounts on infrastructure. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS "It's not frustrating; it's rewarding," Premier Brian Pallister said. "Today's announcement is a celebration of keeping our commitments. It's a celebration of facing the challenges," the premier said. However, the government's fiscal performance is about to take a sharp turn for the worse, according to the Finance Department's estimates. The latest deficit estimate for the current fiscal year is $2.938 billion compared with the estimated $220 million shortfall forecast in March. Government revenues this year are expected to be $1.56 billion lower than budgeted as a result of the economic shutdown caused by COVID-19. Expenses are projected to exceed budgeted amounts by $1.158 billion due to the cost of fighting the virus and supporting Manitobans in its wake. Pallister celebrates political goal Click to Expand MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister's government announced it had balanced the province's budget last year, for the first time since 2009, posting a surplus of $5 million. Posted: 5:53 PM Sep. 29, 2020 Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister took time to celebrate accomplishing one of his major political goals Tuesday, while fending off questions about his future. The government announced it had balanced the province's budget last year, for the first time since 2009, posting a surplus of $5 million. Read Full Story The government projects the province's economic growth to fall by 5.2 per cent this year before rebounding by 4.8 per cent in 2021. It expects to take in $318 million less from individual income tax this year, $155 million less from corporate income tax, $62 million less in retail sales tax and $422 million less from other taxes. "It's not frustrating; it's rewarding," Pallister said about the fiscal turnabout after slaying the deficit, explaining the government worked hard to place Manitoba on a strong financial footing so it would be able to withstand an emergency such as the pandemic. "Today's announcement is a celebration of keeping our commitments. It's a celebration of facing the challenges." Premier Brian Pallister So far this year, it has spent $363 million on personal protective equipment alone, including $178 million on face shields and masks, $104 million on gowns and coveralls and $22 million on gloves and hand sanitizer. According to the province's latest projections, Health Department spending this year will climb to $7.27 billion from a budgeted $6.8 billion, an increase of $445 million. As it has in the past, the office of the province's auditor general disputed some of the Pallister government's accounting practices. Rather than a $5 million surplus for 2019-2020, as the government states, the true surplus is actually $43 million, according to a statement issued by newly appointed auditor general Tyson Shtykalo. Premier Brian Pallister hailed his government Tuesday for stopping a "runaway train" of deficits under its NDP predecessor but its path to get spending back on track has been ruthless, critics say. To the average Manitoban, reports of a balanced 2019/20 budget with a modest surplus means little compared to what they lost, NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. click to read more Premier Brian Pallister hailed his government Tuesday for stopping a "runaway train" of deficits under its NDP predecessor but its path to get spending back on track has been ruthless, critics say. To the average Manitoban, reports of a balanced 2019/20 budget with a modest surplus means little compared to what they lost, NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. "The real world impact is that you can no longer go to the Victoria General emergency room, the Concordia emergency room, the Seven Oaks emergency room, the Roblin emergency room, the Altona emergency room during may hours and Ashern during many hours,'' Kinew told reporters Tuesday. A balanced budget during good times is a laudable goal but Kinew criticized how Pallister achieved it. He criticized a shortfall in infrastructure spending by more than $400 million from the $1.8 billion budgeted. "One of the most effective ways that government can intervene in the economy is by investing in infrastructure," he said. "Every school that doesn't get built this year, every road that doesn't get fixed is a road and a school that will need to be fixed by the next generation," said Kinew. "The runaway train of NDP deficits actually financed much needed infrastructure investments we're all benefiting from, while his government has slashed spending," Lynne Fernandez, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said of Pallister. She credited massive support from the federal government for helping Manitobans during the pandemic, not the provincial government for balancing its books and having $5 million leftover. "Now that we're in a second wave and more and more people need to be tested, a small government surplus isn't going to help," Fernandez said. Pallister and Finance Minister Scott Fielding said Tuesday the province went into the pandemic on a stronger financial footing thanks to high levels of immigration and their fiscal stewardship that's resulted in lower taxes, more investment and a stronger economy. Liberal leader Dougald Lamont dismissed that, saying the province increased revenue by $19 million from the growing economy and that most of the money came from $354 million provided by the federal government and tens of millions in new fees the province is collecting from Manitobans - from service fees in health care to higher tuition fees and fees being clawed back from First Nations students. "They've made Manitobans suffer unnecessarily," said Lamont. Cutting taxes - including Pallister's one per cent reduction in the PST - could have gone toward paying down the debt. "He could've balanced the budget must faster," Lamont said. The economist also questions the rationale for cutting taxes. "I find it hard to understand how cutting taxes has decreased the deficit, because lower taxes means lower revenues, which, if you're deficit adverse, has to lead to spending cuts," Fernandez said. "...We've taken a close look at his tax cuts, and they've not benefitted low-income Manitobans who are the ones who spend all their disposable income, so he can't claim that these cuts are stimulating the economy. -- Carol Sanders Close The province and the AG have long disagreed whether the financial results of the Workers Compensation Board and the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. should be included in the province's summary budget accounting. The auditor general says they should be included, the government says they should not. It's not the first time, the AG has given a "qualified opinion" on the PC government's books. A year ago, then-auditor general Norm Ricard, citing similar disagreements, said if the government had properly employed public-sector accounting standards it would have shown a $9-million surplus in 2018-2019, rather than a deficit of $163 million. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Last fiscal year, government revenues were $616 million higher than budgeted, and expenses were $207 million higher than anticipated. Total strategic infrastructure spending in 2019-2020 amounted to $1.4 billion, $404 million less than budgeted. The underspending included $51 million on housing infrastructure and $74 million on health-care capital projects. Total Health Department spending last year increased by $303 million to $6.8 billion compared with the year before. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed a suit, asking the court to restrain Hope Uzodinma as Imo State governor. The judge, Okon Abang, who delivered the ruling after taking arguments from counsel to parties, also ordered the award of N500, 000 each in favour of 1st, 2nd and 7th defendants in the matter. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kingdom Okere, Reform and Advancement Party (RAP)s 2019 Governorship Candidate in Imo, had filed a suit asking the court to stop Mr Uzodinma. While Mr Uzodinma is the 1st defendant in the suit, the governor of Imo, Attorney-General of Imo, All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Alliance (AA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are 2nd to 7th defendants respectively. Although all parties were represented at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, only Action Alliance was not represented. Ifeoma Ogufo, Counsel to Mr Okere, informed the court that she had filed a notice to discontinue the suit and that defendants had been served. M.A. Aguda, who was counsel to Mr Uzodima, did not oppose the application. He urged the court to dismiss the suit. However, Mr Aguda, who described the suit as a distraction to his client in steering the ship of the state, asked for an award of N5 million cost against the plaintiff. Also arguing in the same vein, Counsel to the 2nd defendant, Idris Yakubu, asked for an award of N5 million cost against Mr Okere. Lawyer to the Attorney General of Imo. J.M. Mathew, though urged the court to dismiss the suit, did not ask for a cost. Also, Counsel to the APC, S.M. Igbonna, did not ask for a cost but urged the court to dismiss the notice to discontinue the matter. Adedamola Falogun, who represented the PDP, also did not ask for a cost and did not oppose the application. However, Counsel to INEC, Alhassan Umar, SAN, though did not oppose Mr Okeres intention to withdraw the suit, he asked for an award of N8 million against the plaintiff. Although the matter was fixed for hearing today and issues have been joined with the plaintiff in this matter, the plaintiff did not have control of the matter anymore, he said. But Mrs Ogufo, who said she was holding brief in the case, disagreed with the plea for an award of cost against her client. We are not conceding to the cost my lord, she said. In his ruling, Mr Abang dismissed the suit as prayed for by the plaintiff. However, the judge held that he would take his decision based on the arguments presented before the court by the counsel. He said notwithstanding, the application by the plaintiff, the defendants were entitled to cost in the case. Mr Abang, who said he agreed with INEC counsel that the application was an issue of the law not of discretion, said: learned counselor to the plaintiff by her conduct brought the plaintiff to direct confrontation with the law. If the application was properly argued by the counsel, it would have affected the consequential order to be made. Failure to do this is a choice made by her. I will take a decision based on the facts placed before me. Advertisements I cannot stand the dust that will be generated in the arena of legal conflict. The judge said Mr Aguda noted that the suit was a distraction to his client since the issue had already been decided by the Supreme Court. He said the defendants were entitled to cost to serve as deterrent to others; a busy body. Mr Abang then ordered an award of N500, 000 in favour of 1st, 2nd and 7th defendants. RAP and its 2019 governorship candidate, Mr Okere had, approached the court seeking judicial interpretation on whether the APC indeed sponsored Mr Uzodinma in the 2019 Imo governorship election. He said the suit was predicated on the judgment of the Supreme Court which affirmed Uche Nwosu as the duly nominated 2019 Imo governorship candidate of the APC. (NAN) COXSACKIE Almost half of the electricity from a proposed 400-acre solar farm here is under contract to go to Connecticut. That was one of the arguments by opponents of the Hecate Greene County Solar Facility during a virtual public statement session on the plan Tuesday before the state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment. Of the 50 megawatts envisioned in the project, 30 are allocated to projects with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority with 20 going to two buyers in Connecticut. Those who oppose the project noted that the 20 MW in Connecticut wouldnt help New York meet its ambitious carbon reduction goals, since the power would go out of state. We dont want our landscape scarred so politicians in New York and Connecticut can brag about their green energy bonafides, said Leslie Albright. The developers see it differently. Clean air and climate change dont know state boundaries, Gabe Wapner, Hecate Energys director of development, told the Times Union after the hearing. He said that the Connecticut buyers came forward before New York to contract for the energy. Like other solar developers, they needed energy sale commitments to move ahead. The export also points to another reality about green power and climate change. While the New York projects are being prompted by the states 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates sharp reductions in carbon emissions by 2030, other states have similar plans. Connecticut, for instance, has an executive order also calling for sharp reductions by 2030. Aside from the export, opponents of the project say they worry about how it would impact real estate values as well as bird habitat. Albright added that Hecate is planning another large solar farm, the Flint Mine project to the north of Greene County, in Albany County. There is no process to consider the siting of multiple plants in one community, added Albright. Other speakers, though, said they favor the plan due to its green energy, the revenue it would generate in the town and the benefits it would bring to the Sleepy Hollow Lake housing development. By supplanting some of the cropland that surrounds the manmade Sleepy Hollow lake, the solar project would cut back some of the runoff that has created worries about algae blooms, said Kenneth Gifford, president of the Sleepy Hollow Lake Property Owners Association. Nominate your favorite people and places now Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Nominate your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4. Several farmers and relatives of farmers who would lease property to the solar developer added that the revenue would allow them to continue farming, rather than sell their property off to developers. The area has seen a housing boomlet lately, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic sending New York City residents scrambling to buy homes upstate. Others noted that the scenery and landscape of the region has changed over the years, from farmland to a more residential nature as people developed properties and built houses. My family has been on this land for several hundred years, said farmer James Taylor, who favors the project and like several others spoke about his longstanding multi-generational roots in the community. They never came and asked us if we like to look at all the houses built in the area, he said, referring to those who have put up homes in recent years. The Greene County project application was deemed complete by the states siting board earlier in September and needs to be decided upon in a years time. Wapner said they hope to begin construction by the end of 2021. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU Amid strong police presence, fencing around the heritage Poush Mela ground at Santiniketan by the Visva-Bharati University authorities continued for the second day on Tuesday. An Executive Council member of the university said that construction of a boundary wall, over which there will be barbed wire fencing, began from Monday after a committee appointed by the Calcutta High Court had given its consent with certain specifications. The committee had met stakeholders in the varsity, locals and the administration to arrive at a solution following the vandalism on August 17 during a protest over erection of the wall around the Mela ground. Poush Mela is an annual cultural event being held for over a century. It is organised in the month of December. A section of local residents, businessmen and students, under the banner of Mela Math Banchao Committee'(save the fair ground committee), held a sit-in in front of the Bolpur fire brigade office, during the day, demanding immediate stoppage of work. A police officer said, cops were deployed around the ground and water cannon was kept ready to cope with any situation since morning but there was no untoward incident till afternoon. The West Bengal government on prayed before the Calcutta High Court for a stay on a decision by a court-appointed committee allowing fencing of the Poush Mela ground at Shantiniketan, even as the states advocate general expressed his desire to be excluded from the panel. The court said that it is the duty of the police machinery to uphold law and order and rule of law has to be maintained by its keepers. A division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Shampa Sarkar said that it will consider the prayer of the state government on Wednesday when the matter will be heard again. The bench said that it will also consider Advocate General Kishore Duttas desire to be excluded from the court-appointed committee on the next date of hearing. The committee, appointed to find out ways and means for appropriate resolution of issues relating to Visva-Bharati, is headed by Justice Sanjib Banerjee and has Justice Arijit Banerjee as one of its members, along with the advocate general and the additional solicitor general of the Union government. The bench said that the heritage and history of Rabindra Tagores Shantiniketan, of which the Poush Mela has become a part, have to be preserved. The court had on the last date of hearing on September 18 directed that the matter will be treated as a suo moto public interest litigation in view of the importance of the"great institution" founded and carried forward by Gurudev Tagore. The university authorities on Monday night sent a written request to the district magistrate and superintendent of police seeking adequate posting of police personnel and imposition of section 144 CrPC apprehending a rerun of the August 17 incident, when a mob went on a rampage, vandalised property of the central university and tore down the heritage gate. However, prohibitory order had not been clamped, the police officer said. WASHINGTON Since Barry Goldwater, accepting the Republicans 1964 presidential nomination, said extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, Democrats have been decrying Republican extremism. Actually, although there is abundant foolishness and unseemliness in American politics, real extremism measures or movements that menace the Constitutions architecture of ordered liberty is rare. This week, however, extremism stained the Senate. Forty-eight members of the Democratic caucus attempted to do something never previously done amend the Bill of Rights. They tried to radically shrink First Amendment protection of political speech. They evidently think extremism in defense of the political classs convenience is no vice. The First Amendment as the First Congress passed it, and the states ratified it 223 years ago, says: Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. The 48 senators understand that this is incompatible by its plain text, and in light of numerous Supreme Court rulings with their desire to empower Congress and state legislatures to determine the permissible quantity, content and timing of political speech. Including, of course, speech by and about members of Congress and their challengers. The 48 senators proposing to give legislators speech-regulating powers describe their amendment in anodyne language, as relating to contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections. But what affects elections is speech, and the vast majority of contributions and expenditures are made to disseminate speech. The Democrats amendment says: Congress and the states may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections, and may prohibit corporations including nonprofit issue advocacy corporations (such as the Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice America and thousands of others across the political spectrum) from spending any money to influence elections, which is what most of them exist to do. Because all limits will be set by incumbent legislators, the limits deemed reasonable will surely serve incumbents interests. The lower the limits, the more valuable will be the myriad (and unregulated) advantages of officeholders. The point of this improvement of James Madisons First Amendment is to reverse the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision. It left in place the ban on corporate contributions to candidates. It said only that Americans do not forfeit their speech rights when they band together to express themselves on political issues through corporations, which they generally do through nonprofit advocacy corporations. Floyd Abrams, among the First Amendments most distinguished defenders, notes that the proposed amendment deals only with political money that funds speech. That it would leave political speech less protected than pornography, political protests at funerals and Nazi parades. That by aiming to equalize the political influence of persons and groups, it would reverse the 1976 Buckley decision joined by such champions of free expression as Justices William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall and Potter Stewart. That one reason President Harry Truman vetoed the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act was that he considered its ban on corporations and unions making independent expenditures to affect federal elections a dangerous intrusion on free speech. And that no Fortune 100 corporation appears to have contributed even a cent to any of the 10 highest-grossing super PACs in either the 2010, 2012 or 2014 election cycles. There are not the 67 Democratic senators and 290 Democratic representatives necessary to send this amendment to the states for ratification. The mere proposing of it, however, has usefully revealed the senators who are eager to regulate speech about themselves: Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Benjamin Cardin (Md.), Thomas Carper (Del.), Robert Casey (Pa.), Christopher Coons (Del.), Richard Durbin (Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Al Franken (Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Angus King (Maine), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Edward Markey (Mass.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Christopher Murphy (Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Harry Reid (Nev.), John Rockefeller (W.Va.), Bernard Sanders (Vt.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Mark Udall (Colo.), John Walsh (Mont.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Ron Wyden (Ore.). The italicized names are of senators on the ballot this November. But all 48 Senate co-sponsors are American rarities real extremists. Dr. David Unwin from the University of Leicester and University of Portsmouths Professor Dave Martill believe Mesozoic flying reptiles called pterosaurs had a relatively smooth skin without any covering. Pterosaurs were Earths first winged vertebrates, with birds and bats making their appearances much later. They thrived from about 210 to 65 million years ago, when they were wiped out by the asteroid that also doomed the non-avian dinosaurs. It is widely held that pterosaurs were covered with hair-like structures called pycnofibers. In 2018, Nanjing University paleontologist Zixiao Yang and colleagues proposed that some pterosaur pycnofibers were branched, exhibiting brush-like and tuft-like morphologies. Going further, the team compared the branched pycnofibers to protofeathers, previously reported for several dinosaurs, and argued that they share a common origin. Feathered pterosaurs would mean that the very earliest feathers first appeared on an ancestor shared by both pterosaurs and dinosaurs, since it is unlikely that something so complex developed separately in two different groups of animals, Dr. Unwin and Professor Martill said. This would mean that the very first feather-like elements evolved at least 80 million years earlier than currently thought. It would also suggest that all dinosaurs started out with feathers, or protofeathers but some groups, such as sauropods, subsequently lost them again the complete opposite of currently accepted theory. Dr. Unwin and Professor Martill propose that the branched pycnofibers in pterosaurs are not protofeathers at all, but tough fibers which form part of the internal structure of the pterosaurs wing membrane, and that the branching effect may simply be the result of these fibers decaying and unraveling. The idea of feathered pterosaurs goes back to the 19th century but the fossil evidence was then, and still is, very weak, Dr. Unwin said. Exceptional claims require exceptional evidence we have the former, but not the latter. Either way, paleontologists will have to carefully reappraise ideas about the ecology of these ancient flying reptiles, Professor Martill added. If they really did have feathers, how did that make them look, and did they exhibit the same fantastic variety of colors exhibited by birds. And if they didnt have feathers, then how did they keep warm at night, what limits did this have on their geographic range, did they stay away from colder northern climes as most reptiles do today. And how did they thermoregulate? The clues are so cryptic, that we are still a long way from working out just how these amazing animals worked. The teams paper was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. _____ D.M. Unwin & D.M. Martill. No protofeathers on pterosaurs. Nat Ecol Evol, published online September 28, 2020; doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-01308-9 Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Uday Samant on Tuesday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and was under home quarantine. With this, over a dozen Maharashtra ministers have contracted the viral infection so far. The minister for higher and technical education disclosed the diagnosis on Twitter. I have tested positive for COVID-19. I had some initial symptoms and the test result has confirmed the infection. My health is fine and I have home quarantined myself," he said. As the coronavirus pandemic has progressed, firms have started selling customised face masks to cater to people's fashion tastes. But designer Ronald van der Kemp has taken things a step further by creating a series of Couture face masks to raise money for Dutch charity the Refugee Company. The masks, of which there are 29 in total, are being sold online by auction house Christie's and bidding ends on Wednesday. They are all expected to fetch between 455 (500) and 730 (800). The mask with the highest bid - 730 so far- boasts a copper metallic effect and crinkled pattern on a reinforced silk base. The other designs include a butterfly-inspired one and another which is made from velvet and boasts Swarovski crystals and a reclaimed goat hair mohawk. Check a selection of the best designs out for yourself below... Designer Ronald van der Kemp is selling a series of handmade Couture face masks at auction house Christie's to raise money for the charity Refugee Company. Pictured: The mask with the highest bid - 730 (800) so far - boasts a copper metallic effect and crinkled pattern on a reinforced silk base This mask boasts a polka dot pattern and is made from silk Jacquard. It has two slightly bizarre sculpted pieces of shapely fabric jutting out from the main mask and is fastened with two grosgrain straps. It has had a bid of 91 (100) This colourful butterfly-inspired mask is made from printed re-purposed silk and is hand-painted and hand-sewn. It is fastened at the back with a velvet tie. So far, it has received a bid of 545 (600) This silk velvet mask is set with repurposed Swarovski crystals and boasts an overhead mohawk made from 'reclaimed' goat hair. It has had a bid of 91 (100) This mask is made from a base of silk and features layered flower petals made from repurposed couture fabrics, including silk gold lurex. It is fastened with a grosgrain strap. So far, it has received a bid of 365 (400) This mask has had a bid of 91 (100) but is expected to sell for between 455 (500) and 730 (800). It is described as an 'asymmetrical corset mask', is made from silk and boasts a polka dot pattern This mask is from a base of silk but its standout selling point is the numerous multi-coloured Swarovski crystals which are set on it. It is fastened with two silk ties. It has a bid of 273 (300) This mask has been given the name of 'the knot' - and with good reason. It is made from foam which has been encased in silk boasting a red dot pattern. It also features silk piping around its edges. It has had a bid of 91 (100) This funky mask has been rightly named 'glam rock' and its main feature is a huge mane of lambs wool which has been dyed purple. It is set on to a crinkled leather base. It has received a bid of 91 (100) This mesh mask is made from repurposed Swarovski crystals and despite it having a dazzling effect on its own, the viewer's eye is also drawn to a huge headdress made from crinkled black fabric. It has received a bid of 273 (300) The base of this mask is made from silk but it boasts an elaborate floral design which has been spray-painted in a variety of bright colours. It is fastened with two grosgrain straps. It has received a bid of 365 (400) This mask is named 'The Stud' and features gold leather base mask set with metal plates. It also boasts a brass chain which fixes it to your face. It has received a bid of 183 (183) College students attending face-to-face lectures will be asked to record their seat numbers, under public health protocols agreed for the return to campus. It is among the measures to be introduced to assist with contact tracing in the event of a Covid case emerging among a college community. However, with tighter restrictions imposed across the higher-education sector last Friday, it could be several weeks before the overwhelming majority of students sit in a lecture theatre. With concerns about the growth in Covid infection in many counties, the focus of the next two to three weeks is to minimise the cross-country movement of students and avoid the congregation of large groups on campus. Colleges were expecting to welcome limited numbers of students this week, either for first-year orientation or the start of teaching, but scaled back their plans further after Friday's announcement. Campuses have been closed to students since March and detailed protocols for the safe return were agreed prior to the recent re-opening setbacks, initially affecting Dublin colleges, and now the entire sector. The discussions involved Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris, the Irish Universities Association, the Technological Higher Education Association and the Union of Students in Ireland. Like in other sections of society, the protocol puts onerous record-keeping responsibilities on the colleges, for contact tracing and risk-assessment purposes. To the greatest extent possible, they are asked to record attendance by students and staff at classes, lectures and practicals and to retain records for 28 days. Colleges are also urged to encourage staff and students to maintain a Covid-contact diary to record details of their movements and activities when on campus. Meanwhile, the postponed Leaving Cert will kick off with biology on the evening of Monday, November 16, according to the timetable published by the State Examinations Commission yesterday. It also opened for applications for the rescheduled sitting. Any candidate entered for the exams in June has until Friday to decide whether they want to take the written papers. Since yesterday, Leaving Cert 2020 candidates have also had access to the class ranking awarded to them by teachers. Meanwhile, new figures show that 2,467 students - 4pc of the total - had five or more of their school-estimated grades lowered by the Calculated Grades offices. One in three (34pc) - 19,596 students - had no grade lowered, while 18,584 (32pc) had one grade lowered. By Kazeem Ugbodaga The leadership of the National Assembly said Monday that the ninth Assembly will break the jinx of not being able to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill after several attempts. The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila assured Nigerians that the time had come for the passage of the bill. They spoke at a meeting of the leadership of the National Assembly with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari and some other top officials in the Petroleum sector. The meeting was essentially to brief the National Assembly leaders on the focus of the PIB which the Senate President confirmed was forwarded to the Assembly about two weeks ago. The bill has not been read at the floor of either of the two Chambers of the National Assembly because the federal Lawmakers are currently on recess but will resume session on Tuesday. The PIB is said to be jinx actually for a long time. Probably from 2007 to 2019, Lawan said in his opening remarks. Its either the bill or bills were sponsored by the Executive and not passed by the Legislature bas was the case in 2007, 2011 in the 6th and 7th Assembly. In the 8th Assembly, the Legislature sponsored the bill, breaking it down to about three, it passed but there was no assent. Now the bill is an executive bill coming to the National Assembly. The two chambers promise that we will break that jinx. We want to see an oil industry in Nigeria that is properly regulated, an oil industry that not only sustains the investment that we have but attract even more investment, an oil industry that is very competitive. So the Ninth Assembly wants to work with you, have a very clear understanding of every provision so that, at the end of the day, we will break that jinx together with you and provide the oil industry a legislation that will make more effective and efficient at the end of the day, Lawan said. The Senate President said it was the first meeting between the Petroleum Ministry and other agencies with the leadership of the National Assembly to discuss the essence and focus of the bill. We are glad that the bill is now in the National Assembly even though not before the National Assembly. I imagine that by tomorrow (Tuesday) when the communication to the House, communication to the Senate will be read, then it will be before the two chambers of the National Assembly, Lawan said. Also Speaking in the same vein, Gbajabiamila was confident that the ninth National Assembly will break the jinx and pass the bill speedily. The Bill has been long in the making for several years but I believe this is the session in which it will pass. We will pass this Bill speedily, however its passage will not sacrifice thoroughness. We will not sacrifice thoroughness on the alter of speed. Speed because it will be in the nations best interest. In the House of Representatives, we have assembled a crack team of legislators who are versed in the workings of the industry. It is an Ad-hoc Committee drawn from the House Commitees on oil, upstream, downstream, local content and gas. So there is a crack team that will be working with you as we are all trying to go to the same destination. Talking about passing it speedily, unfortunately it is coming at the time when it will be competing with the passage of the budget, Gbajabiamila said. The Speaker described the bill as perhaps the most important piece of legislation that will come out from National Assembly in the lifetime of this government. It is a most important piece of legislation because we all know what oil represents in terms of our economy. Everyone has been waiting for the arrival of the PIB. That is the legislations that is on the lips of every Nigerian whether he knows anything about petroleum or not. It is the most popular and most common Bill. Everybody talks about PIB because oil represents the life wire of our State. That underscores the importance of this Bill, Gbajabiamila said. Share this post with your friends: Related The Manga Station of CSIR-SARI has engaged cowpea farmers along the Fumbisi valley in the Builsa South District in Upper East Region and other stakeholders in the cultivation of improved Cowpea varieties using residual moisture. The programme was organized under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research (ILLSR) project, a CSIR-SARI University of California Riverside collaborative research project. The Lead Scientist of the project at CSIR-SARI, Dr. Francis Kusi, speaking on the sideline of the programme, told the media that, one of the objectives of the project is to reach out to the under privilege, the marginalized, the deprived, less empowered farmer groups, communities or ethnicity when it comes to access to agricultural technologies and resources to increase their productivity. Justifying the involvement of the cowpea farmers in Fumbisi, Dr. Kusi said, they contribute significantly to the production of cowpea in Ghana yet they lack access to adequate proven technologies to increase their production and productivity which he said probably could be due to the fact that the farming communities in Fumbisi are hard to reach by scientist and other stakeholders. The farmers agreed with Dr. Kusis observations and added that Fumbisi is known nationwide for the production of rice, but many more production of other crops also take place there which do not receive adequate support like the rice production. They were therefore much appreciative to Dr. Kusi, CSIR-SARI and ILLSR project for introducing improved varieties to them. According to Dr. Kusi, Fumbisi is the source of a landrace cowpea variety called Alancash in Fumbisi which has attractive large seeds size and white seed quote colour. He added that, although the seeds of Alancash is attractive, the variety is unimproved and its photoperiod sensitive and for that matter, the farmers can produce it once in a year between October and December. He, therefore, introduced the Fumbisi farmers to two improved early maturing, photoperiod insensitive, striga and aphid resistant cowpea varieties. The two varieties, Wang Kae and Kirkhouse Benga, he said, unlike their landrace could be produced and harvest every 60 days (2 months) which, means between May and December each year, they can do at least 3 production cycles to generate more income. The Builsa South District Crop officer, Abdulai Amadu expressed the hope that with the introduction of the two improved varieties under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, the farmers can have access to the improved seeds at a subsidized price and adapt to the new variety. He stated that the floods, as usual, this year, left in their wake large deposits of residual moisture along the valleys of Fumbisi, which is conducive for the cultivation of cowpea for the last quarter of this year. At the end of the exercise, the about 80 participants most of whom were women farmers, were optimistic that, they will have enough cowpea to content with by the close of December this year. In a scathing attack at those opposing the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said they wanted only the middlemen to thrive and referred to the burning of a tractor in Delhi by Congress workers as an insult to farmers. They are opposing the freedom of farmers and want their problems to continue forever. equipment, which the agriculturists worship, these people are now insulting farmers," he said without naming the Congress. The Congress youth wing activists on Monday morning set a tractor ablaze near India Gate, a few hundred metres from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, to protest the contentious farm laws. Modi said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things. Terming it opposition for the sake of opposition", he said that by opposing big reformative steps by the Centre such as the farm laws, these forces were making themselves irrelevant in the society and in the country. Modi accused the opposition of opposing everything from GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale deal, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor and celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. He said this politics of the opposition for oppositions sake was the root of the frustration of a party which had ruled for four generations. Frustration of a party which has ended up riding the shoulders of others despite wielding power for four generations is behind this politics of the opposition for oppositions sake," he added. Modi said none of the leaders of the political party had till date visited the Statue of Unity, built to honour the memory of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel whose contribution to unifying the country is well known. Why? Because they had to oppose," he said. Modi said that people had seen for themselves the role Jan Dhan accounts played in direct benefit transfer schemes during the coronavirus pandemic and they could also remember how it was opposed while being introduced by the Centre. He said after opposing the Ram Mandir in the Supreme Court for decades, they even began opposing its foundation stone laying in Ayodhya. Without naming the Congress, he accused it of being neither with the farmers nor with the youth nor the soldiers and recalled that the the party had demanded proof of surgical strikes instead of praising the bravehearts who carried out the exercise. He also recalled how it opposed the purchase of Rafale fighter jets. They did not do anything for years to strengthen the Air Force, ignoring its pleas for being better equipped and modernised. I am pleased to see that Rafale fighter jets are strengthening our Air Force today." Modi said the farm laws were meant to set farmers free from restrictions which they had suffered for decades. They will have both MSP and the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the open market but there are people who are spreading lies about the bills. They only want middlemen to thrive and want the problems of farmers to be perpetuated. The real reason behind the ongoing protests is that yet another source of black money has been closed for them," he said. Modi was inaugurating six ambitious sewage treatment plants in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Muni-ki-Reti town and Badrinath under Namami Gange through video conference. He said the process of empowering people, farmers and the youth, and making the country self-reliant through big reforms will continue relentlessly. Modi also attacked the previous governments for wasting too much money over Ganga rejuvenation, drinking water and irrigations schemes without any results, claiming there was no coordination between the government departments involved. This led to further aggravation of the problems instead of resolving them. But today the work culture has changed and every penny is going into the implementation of the projects," he said. (With inputs from agencies) A wedding party in Daraa was struck when a car bomb exploded, causing a number of injuries and leaving one in a critical condition writes SANA. Eleven persons were wounded when a car bomb detonated in the vicinity of a wedding party in Hait town in Daraas western countryside. A source at Daraa Police Command told SANA that an explosive device planted in a car carrying audio equipment to a wedding party on Monday evening exploded in Hait town in the Daraa countryside, leaving 11 people with wounds of varying severity. One of them is in a critical condition. The source added that the injured were rushed to Daraa National Hospital and al-Sanamen Hospital to receive the required treatment. Earlier on that day, a source at Daraa National Hospital said that the emergency department received three people who sustained shrapnel wounds in a blast of an explosive device, indicating that one of them is in a critical condition. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. BATH, England, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Event Store today announces it has secured Series A financing from strategic investor Qualasept Holdings ('QH'). Event Store is the company behind EventStoreDB, the popular open source event stream database. EventStoreDB was open sourced in 2012 and has relatively quietly built a strong commercial business. In late 2018, Event Store Limited was formed and an expanded leadership, engineering, and support team were introduced. The Series A investment represents Event Store's next stage of growth towards EventStoreDB's adoption in the broader database market. EventStoreDB is an operational "source of record" database technology. It has similarities to event-oriented integration technologies, such as Apache Kafka, from a stream and API perspective. However, it was built for database workloads from the start. Dave Remy, Event Store CEO, explains, "Most mainstream database technologies, whether relational, graph, or document-oriented, keep the latest state of the data, throwing away the old data when it changes. In contrast, EventStoreDB, the leader in the emerging class of databases, called Event Stores, is specifically designed to keep the changes along with the business context of those changes, in the form of events. Current state can then be derived from replaying the event stream. This pattern enables a myriad of benefits, including powerful audit, debugging, caching, occasionally connected scenarios, and much more." Event Stores are foundational to the increasingly popular Event Sourcing design pattern. EventStoreDB is applicable across industries and is particularly valuable for those with challenging audit requirements, such as financial services and healthcare. Innovative companies like Walmart, Xero, Insureon, Linedata, Made.com, UK National Health Service, Swiss Air Traffic Control and many more use EventStoreDB in mission-critical production environments. Building on its momentum, the company is launching Event Store Cloud, a multi-cloud database as a service (DBaaS). The subscription service, currently in Preview, will provide cloud convenience and make EventStoreDB more accessible to developers and companies of all sizes. "As applications increasingly move toward event-driven architectures, foundational platforms like EventStoreDB will be a critical first source of truth in capturing and enabling analysis of event data. This technology will generate meaningful and measurable value across multiple industries," said Ben Kolada, Director, Head of DataTech at ICON Corporate Finance. "From the time Greg Young and his team released EventStoreDB in 2012, it has been the go-to database for CQRS and Event Sourcing projects. This Series A investment represents a new stage for Event Store and EventStoreDB. We will accelerate the development of Event Store Cloud, improve the developer experience, increase scalability, and build new products and services to help developers build systems within an event-driven architecture," Dave Remy said. Tech investment bank ICON Corporate Finance advised Event Store on the transaction and corporate structuring, while QH was advised by BDO, Roxburgh Milkins Limited, and Alantra. Media Contact: Dan Crosby Email: dan.crosby@eventstore.com Related Files Event Store Logos.zip Related Links About Event Store Rescuers searched frantically Monday for a 12-year-old girl believed buried for two days under a vast garbage heap which collapsed while she was scavenging in western India. Neha Vasava and a six-year-old boy were on top of a 25-30 metre (80-100 feet) mountain of trash at Ahmedabads biggest rubbish dump when it collapsed on Saturday evening. An estimated four million Indians many of them children work in filthy, dangerous conditions, as as rag pickers", sifting through trash for metal and other materials to sell. The boy was also buried in the garbage, but since his head could be seen locals rescued him," deputy chief fire officer MP Mistry told AFP. Our operation will continue till we find her." Mistry said rescue conditions were very difficult as one cannot breath properly surrounded by tonnes of garbage", and also because of packs of roaming feral dogs. The dump, which receives around 3,500 tonnes of garbage a day from the city of 5.6 million people, is home to several hundred impoverished families who work as rag pickers. According to UNICEF well over 41 million children aged under 12 are forced to work in South Asia. Experts say lockdowns imposed to combat the coronavirus have exacerbated the child labour problem. A 29-year-old British man has survived after plunging 300ft down a mountainside in the snowy German Alps after going for a hike in a pair of shorts and trainers. He and three other Englishmen set out for Kehlstein's 6,171ft peak on Monday, a subpeak of the colossal Goll massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. They were having difficulty navigating due to poor visibility and it being slippery underfoot when the 29-year-old fell down the rocky gully. He suffered serious injuries to his legs, head and feet, but it would be more than hour until the rescue helicopter was able to find them in the dense fog. Mountain rescuers on Monday flying down to the rocky slope down which the 29-year-old Englishman fell The helicopter flew the man off the mountain despite heavy fog Rescue teams had to triangulate the group's position using their call data before scouring the mountainside with binoculars. After they were spotted, about 45 minutes after their call, mountain rescuers were able to reach them at their location, around 5,000ft up. The helicopter arrived 20 minutes later, at around 5.30pm and the injured man was winched up and whisked off to hospital. The others were rappelled off the steep slope by the ground crew who had hiked up to their position. Despite the onset of wintry conditions, the four Britons had set out that day in shorts and trainers from their camper can in Hintereck. Ooredoo Qatars CEO Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani has claimed that the operators coverage in the market has reached more than 90% of populated areas. The Peninsula newspaper quoted the operators CEO as saying that its subscribers were currently able to access 5G data speeds to up to 2.2Gbps and that speeds of 4.2Gbps were theoretically possible after the completion of all logistics requirements. Al Thani stated: In the coming period, our focus will be on continuing to grow, develop and expand in the field of digital transformation and covering more areas in Qatar with a 5G network. He also lauded the recently launched M5 Netgear as one of the most advanced devices in mobile broadband service currently available. TeleGeography notes that 5G licence holders in Qatar must demonstrate that they have provided 5G coverage across a minimum of 40% of their original 4G footprint before the end of 2020. To meet this figure, Ooredoo would have needed to deploy around 500 5G base stations. The operator pledged an initial deployment goal of 1200 5G base stations, so it has likely exceeded the requirement. But serving and former investigators familiar with Mr Yates' work also said the appointment posed an obvious perceived conflict of interest. The ACIC has since 2017 been investigating the same money-laundering suspects that Crown has partnered with for years. Mr Yates has been overseeing and participating in those investigations, but he will be unable to share the details of those probes with Crown under the ACIC's strict non-disclosure regime. ACIC officials must obtain security clearances to access classified information gained through phone taps, secret hearings and human source cultivation. It used its powers to find intelligence about Suncitys organised crime links and those of its associates and sub-agents, and their infiltration of Crown. The Bergin inquiry has examined instances of large amounts of cash being exchanged at Suncity's private room at Crown Melbourne. The ACIC previously designated Suncity which until recently had its own gaming room at Crown Melbourne and one of the firms owners, Cheng Ting Kong, as high-priority police targets given they posed a grave organised crime risk to national security. The commission has also contributed to joint investigations with Austrac and Victoria Police into key Crown high-roller partner and crime boss Tom Zhou. Mr Zhous relationship with senior Crown staffer Veng Anh has also been been the subject of recent joint agency investigations partly overseen by the ACIC. Mr Anh has not been charged over any of his dealings with Mr Zhou. ACIC chief executive Mike Phelan, Mr Yates' former boss, has been the most outspoken law enforcement official in the country about the casino industrys facilitation of organised crime. Mr Phelan savaged the industrys enabling of money laundering in mid-2019 at the same time that Crown was seeking to downplay the problem. Mr Phelan has also championed major investigations by the ACIC that led to Suncitys Crown operations being crippled and contributed to the downfall of Mr Zhou, who is now in a Chinese jail. Mr Yates played a key role in the ACICs efforts. The recruitment of law enforcement officials by companies is common given the private sector can pay more than government agencies and ex-officials have specialised knowledge and government contacts. Crown previously hired former senior Victoria Police officer Craig Walsh as its Melbourne security manager and more recently appointed as a consultant former NSW deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas. Neither Mr Walsh nor Mr Kaldas are accused of having conflicts of interest. But Mr Yates' recruitment is different because he has been directly overseeing the ACICs investigations into Crown's high-roller business partners. Loading "He will have to build a hell of a Chinese wall in his head at Crown to ensure he doesnt use the secret knowledge he gained at the ACIC," said a former senior organised crime investigator who worked with Mr Yates and who respects him, and who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another official said there should be a cooling-off period for officers before they were hired by companies which featured in their recent investigations, and a third said Mr Yates could handle the conflict by compartmentalising the information he learnt about Crown at the ACIC. Given his integrity, he would help the casino fight organised crime, the officials said, also speaking anonymously. The policing officials also told The Age and the Herald that the evidence to so far emerge at the Bergin inquiry showed Crown paid little more than lip service to money laundering concerns and, when this was exposed in media reports in 2019, misled the public, shareholders and agencies about the extent of its internal failings. The board is expected to be grilled by the Bergin inquiry about its decision to publish full-page newspaper advertisements attacking an investigation by The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes that sparked the Bergin inquiry. The content of those advertisements, which were also filed by Crown with the ASX, has been exposed in the inquiry as containing errors and false claims. A pandemic imperils your safety, but also your sanity. Social distancing can spare your body, but it wont save your soul. As we struggle to understand the uncertainty of COVID-19, my constant companion has been a new book about old thinkers: The Socrates Express In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers. In the worst of times, bestselling author Eric Weiner goes back in time to learn how we coped with forces beyond our control and comprehension (fullest of full disclosures: we were both foreign correspondents together when I toiled overseas for the Toronto Star and he worked for NPR; we remain friends). Weiner researched and wrote the book pre-pandemic, but his manuscript anticipates the peril that is a perennial for philosophers: Bad things happen out there. Wars. Pandemics. In a cosmic coincidence, COVID-19 emerged just as The Socrates Express was speeding to warehouses and booksellers. At about the same time, public protests erupted against police shootings amid racial prejudice. This year, as they have for thousands of years, people have been struggling with difficult ideas and deadly diseases. Even if not infected, we are all affected by a virus that long ago went viral the pestilence of racism as much as the persistence of a pandemic. There are no panaceas, not until a vaccine materializes. But as we experiment with medical treatments and social remedies, Weiner exposes us to the thought experiments of philosophers from Confucius to Gandhi whose ideas can inoculate us against the spectre of panic in a pandemic, and the contagion of fear amid protest. Weiners cast of 14 philosophers opine on the mundane and the medical, the spiritual and the political. Each chapter offers remedies or ruminations for lifes eternal challenges not least death which have multiplied these last few months (the parentheses below are mine): How to cope (with COVID) like Epictetus. How to fight like Gandhi (against racism). How to be kind like Confucius (COVID again). How to get out of bed (when working from home) like Marcus Aurelius. How to wonder like Socrates. How to walk like Rousseau (pandemic activity again). How to have no regrets like Nietzsche. How to grow old like Beauvoir. How to die like Montaigne. Rather than a self-help book, it serves as a thinking persons guide to self-reflection leavened with much self-deprecation from the author. For all true philosophy is truly practical. Weiner agues that his ancient philosophers the word is derived from the Greek philosophos, meaning lover of wisdom can guide daily living and surviving in a way that modern technology cannot. Wisdom from philosophers can rescue us when information overload defeats us. All these months into the pandemic, are you suffering from Groundhog Day syndrome? The big idea behind the blockbuster film the most philosophical movie ever made was dreamed up by Nietzsche as the eternal recurrence of the same, notes Weiner (who boasts of viewing it over and over reliving it a dozen times in an experiment all his own). Nietzsche thought philosophy should be fun. He is playful. But contentment can be a state of mind, notably when others are losing their minds, even in mid-pandemic: Find joy in uncertainty and even illness, while still physically painful, no longer terrifies. And then there is the Stoicism of Epictetus. The philosophys core teaching change what you can; accept what you cant is appealing in our tumultuous times. This is one problem with trigger warnings, so prevalent on college campuses. They reinforce the presumption that college students are unable to control their reactions to an insult. It disempowers them. It is not the Stoic way. The book ranges beyond European philosophy to thinkers in Japan, China and India. The chapter on Mohandas K. Gandhi is a refresher course in the non-violent protest that he pioneered, lest we forget: Gandhi abhorred violence but there was something he hated even more: cowardice. He disliked the term passive resistance because there was nothing passive about it, or about him. Gandhi later called it satyagraha, often translated as Truth Force, or Soul Force, which he described as the most active force in the world, because a nonviolent resistor is more active and courageous than an armed soldier. Gandhis peaceful protestors, like soldiers everywhere, were willing to die for their cause. Unlike most soldiers, they were not willing to kill for it. His idea lived on when the U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. met Gandhis followers and family in India later transplanting the stern love of nonviolent resistance to an American crusade against racist injustice. The book is not so much a crash course in philosophy as it is a guided journey through time, right up to the time of COVID-19. Weiner quotes the French thinker Maurice Riseling musing that, Sooner or later, life makes philosophers of us all. To which one might add: Today, a pandemic makes philosophers of us all. Speaking of racial injustice: Ill be hosting members of Ontarios first Black Caucus Why it Matters at an online Ryerson Democracy Forum this Thursday at 4 p.m. Open to all, free to register. Read more about: (UPDATED: Oct. 8, 2020) YPSILANTI TWP., MI Two are vying to be elected as the next 14B District Court judge this November. Mark Nelson and Erane Washington will face off for the six-year term in the Nov. 3 election, with the winner taking over the seat of current District Judge Charles Pope, who is retiring at the end of 2020. The 14B court handles misdemeanors, small claims, civil infractions, traffic incidents, landlord/tenant disputes and other cases in Ypsilanti Township, including preliminary examinations for felony cases sent to the Washtenaw County Trial Court if the judge determines there is enough evidence for the charges to proceed. Nelson, who currently serves as 14B District Court magistrate and the 14B court administrator, said he believes hes the most qualified candidate to serve as judge. As magistrate, he has seen thousands of cases since taking the job in 2009, he said. Ypsilanti Township magistrate running for 14B District Judge, endorsed by current judge My courtroom experience enables me to manage conflict and has exposed me to every type of case that will come before me as judge, Nelson said. Real-time experience is essential to developing an effective courtroom demeanor, temperament and the ability to make well-reasoned decisions. Washington, an attorney with more than 27 years of experience in the courts, is running on a platform of transparency, fairness and restoring trust in the court system, she said. If elected, Washington said she wants to develop a mental health problem-solving court, a type of diversion program that aims to improve lives and reduce recidivism. Establishing the court would require state funding, she said. Candidate for Ypsilanti Township judge hopes to add mental health court, restorative justice programs Washington also wants to involve restorative justice practices in the resolution of disputes, she said. Restorative justice would entail using communication between offenders and victims to repair the harm caused by criminal behavior, Washington said. Both Nelson and Washington highlighted a need for continued remote court hearings even after COVID-19 restrictions end, agreeing it aids in helping those who may not be able to physically make it to the courthouse and speeds up the rate at which some hearings are processed. Access to the court has been a challenge for many for a long time, Nelson said. The court was able to quickly develop virtual courtrooms. For the past few months people have exclusively appeared in court via video. Going forward not every court appearance can be done virtually but those that can will continue. Washington and Nelson also agree court funding should be revised as, in its current state, its unfair that the court operates primarily on fees and fines collected from defendants. While Nelson supports the development of a proposal by the Michigan Supreme Court Trial Court Funding Commission calling for uniform state funding of all courts, Washington supports obtaining grants from the state and/or the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Currently 86% of the 14B District Courts budget is funded by the fines, fees, and costs paid by the litigants. This is in stark contrast to the neighboring communities where the figure is much lower, Washington said. For more information about Nelson, visit his campaign webpage by clicking here. For more information about Washington, visit her campaign webpage by clicking here. MLive Media Group has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information and other voting resources to readers ahead of 2020 elections. Women argue with a riot police officer during an opposition rally to protest the country's presidential inauguration in Minsk, Belarus, on Sept. 27, 2020. (TUT.BY/AFP via Getty Images) Canada Imposes Sanctions on Belarusian Leader, Officials Canada has imposed sanctions on Belarusian government officials, including the president, over election fraud and violence against protesters and opposition groups, Global Affairs Canada announced Tuesday. Canada is imposing sanctions against Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko and 10 other officials for fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020, and conducting a systematic campaign of repression and state-sponsored violence against public protests and the activities of opposition groups under the Special Economic Act. According to the act, any person in Canada and any Canadian outside Canada are prohibited from dealing in any property or providing financial or related services to the sanctioned officials. Sanctioned officials are also not allowed to enter Canada. Canada will not stand by silently as the Government of Belarus continues to commit systematic human rights violations and shows no indication of being genuinely committed to finding a negotiated solution with opposition groups, Foreign affairs minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a press release on Tuesday. The release said Canada remains deeply concerned by reports of ongoing human rights violations, including against freedom of the press and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Besides Lukashenko, the list of those sanctioned includes Minister of Internal Affairs and Major General of Militia Yuri Khadzhimuratovich Karaev, and Commander of the Special Purpose Police Unit of Minsk Dmitry Vladimirovich Balaba. More than 12,000 people have been arrested in mass protests in Belarus since Lukashenko won a landslide victory in the presidential election on Aug 9denounced as rigged by opponents and Western observers. In its notice about the sanctions, the federal government says the Belarusian governments rights violations include prolonged arbitrary detentions, brutality, intimidation, and the excessive use of force against peaceful protestors, including through the use of water cannons, flash grenades, rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, and the use of live ammunition. There are also credible allegations of the use of torture and sexual violence against those unjustly detained. All major opposition figures are now in jail or have fled. Amnesty Internationals Belarus 2019 report revealed that Lukashenkos government violates freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association, among other infractions. Canadas decision to sanction those officials is in coordination with the United Kingdom and with the support of the Belarusian people, the government said. The United States has not announced similar sanctions, though sources had said last week it was planning to coordinate the announcement with Canada and the U.K. The European Union has also announced plans to sanction the Belarusian officials, although it has yet to finalize them. Western countries have so far been cautious in responding to the events in Belarus, balancing sympathy for the pro-democracy movement with concern about provoking Russia, which has made clear it still supports Lukashenko, its close ally. On Aug. 27, Russian leader Vladimir Putin told state television he had set up a police force to support Lukashenko. I told him Russia would fulfil all its obligations. Alexander Grigorivich (Lukashenko) asked me to create a reserve police force and I have done that. But we agreed this would not be used unless the situation got out of control. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in an interview on Sept. 29 that Lukashenko should pay the price for the kind of human rights abuses that weve seen and the fraudulent approach to that election. We cant just have a situation where the likes of Alexander Lukashenko and frankly Vladimir Putin think that the human rights abuses and the rigging of that election can just pass without them being held to account, Raab said. With files from Reuters Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Maxfort School, Rohini, organised its annual inter-school event titled Ecstasy 2020 on a digital platform. A grand creative extravaganza, that event witnessed the participation of 29 eminent schools. It provided the perfect platform to the students to realise their dreams of innovation and imagination. A lot of talent and innovation was showcased in that glorious event where the participants were thrilled with excitement to whittle their fate by being venturous and prove their mettle by giving their best in their respective categories. Ecstasy was the exuberant blend of the virtual and human resources. The live inauguration ceremony was a huge success. After the propitious lamp-lighting ceremony, the Ganesha Vandana added serene to the virtual assemblage. School principal Ratna Chakravarty welcomed the principals of the participating schools, guide teachers, participants and parents. Chakravarty motivated the contestants to give their best. She congratulated the talented Maxfortians who had brought laurels to school with their excellent performances in Classes 10 and 12 for the academic session 2019-20. The innovative categories for this magnum opus were Gallantry Pageant for Classes 1-2, Mathtrix for Classes 3-4, Created to Create for Classes 5-6, Navaras for Classes 7-8, Roohaniyat (a solo Sufi competition) for Classes 910, Budding Scientist for Classes 1112 (science stream), Reincarnation (for commerce stream) and The Voice of Truth ( for humanities stream). The day pervaded the air with a fountain of optimism and gaiety. It also painted the canvas of perfection with the talent shown by the participants in various events. The panache replenished all with energy, enthusiasm. The school believes that the goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to make the possibilities for a child to invent and discover and to create individuals who are capable of doing new things. MBS Intl School, Dwarka, celebrates Ripples with zeal Students took part in several events (HT Photo) MBS International School, Dwarka, organised its inter-school festival Ripples 2020 on the theme of Value to provide an opportunity to its students to perceive beauty and value in the world. On that occasion, some theme-based activities inspired over 350 participants from around 50 schools in Delhi to explore and exhibit their imagination and creativity. The students took part in a plethora of multifarious activities such as Waltz n Whirl, Cheery Puppet-ale, Directors Cut, etc., to name a few. The presentations and videos prepared by the students made the event an experience in itself. After the successful culmination of the festival, the school is looking forward to organising many more such interactive events in the future too. Online exhibition at Sadhu Vaswani Intl School for Girls, Shanti Niketan Principal Santosh Vyas praised the teachers and students for their remarkable work (HT Photo) To fuse futuristic learning and nations history and tradition, Sadhu Vaswani International School for Girls, Shanti Niketan, hosted its annual exhibition on a virtual platform. The theme Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat took the viewers on a virtual tour of Incredible India to celebrate the idea of India as a nation wherein different cultural units across varied geographies coalesce and interact with each other. The exhibition was an attempt of the students and the teachers to showcase the glorious manifestation of our nations diverse cuisine, music, dance, literature, festivals, painting, handicrafts, sports, sculpture and much more through their creativity, innovation and technology. More than a thousand students took part in that virtual event and over a hundred exhibits were shown. Congratulating the staff members and students for their remarkable work, principal Santosh Vyas welcomed everyone to see the spectacular event. The principal also expressed gratitude to the members of the management committee and the parents for encouraging and supporting the students in these tough Covid-19 times. Her vision inspired not only the perseverant teachers but also the students. The exhibition served as a channel for the students to give shape to their dreams and realize that cultural diversity is a joy which ought to be celebrated through mutual interaction and reciprocity between people of different states so that a common spirit of understanding resonates throughout the country. Keeping in mind, the EK Bharat Shrestha Bharat theme, students made wonderful models, videos and sketches. BBMS, Gurugram, hosts GURUGITA: A Spiritual Sojourn Blue Bells Model School (BBMS), Sector 4, Gurugram, hosted GURUGITA- A Spiritual Sojourn, a perfect blend of the teachings of the Bhagavat Gita and the Gurubaani, on a virtual platform. The event was a humble effort of the students under the guidance of Hindi and Sanskrit departments. Present on that occasion were BBGS chairman Mahesh Chandra, director Saroj Suman Gulati and other members of management. Students presentations were woven around the theme of awakening of soul towards the righteous path. All were touched by the performances of the students. The chairman complimented all and congratulated the school team for the wonderful effort of rooting the future citizens to the rich Indian culture and heritage. He highlighted the importance of Gurus in spiritual awakening and connecting to the Almighty. Gulati thanked the chairman for being an exceptional Guru for the last 40 years and motivating all in the new ventures. The event brought to the fore the schools mission of providing a learning environment that encourages children to bring out the best in themselves by all-round development through the joy of learning, enduring values and the celebration of diversity. Brookfield Properties' $2 billion Wynyard Place project has moved a step closer with the unveiling of the historic Shell House and clocktower that will be the new home for National Australia Bank. Located on the corner of Carrington and Margaret streets, Shell House is fully integrated into the rising Wynyard Place project. With basement works complete and all 10 levels of concrete flooring poured, fitout works are under way to accommodate NABs new Sydney headquarters in 2021. Brookfield Properties begins to unveil its revamp of the historic Shell House building as part of its $2 billion Wynyard Place development. The site will merge with the project's centrepiece 27-storey office tower that was "topped out" last month after it reached its highest point and was renamed Brookfield Place. 29.09.2020 LISTEN The process to connect all Senior high schools (SHSs) in the country to free Wifi is on course, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said. He said all things being equal, the process would be fully implemented next year. Dr Bawumia said that when he launched the Aspirants Unite for Victory group for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Accra on Monday. The promise for a free Wifi for all SHSs is contained in the NPP 2020 election manifesto. The Group The Aspirants Unite for Victory is a group of 220 unsuccessful parliamentary aspirants and 42 sitting MPs who lost the primaries of the NPP but who have buried their differences and put the defeat behind them and have joined forces to work to ensure victory for the NPP in the December elections. Among the strategies they have adopted for the campaign are regional tours, constituency visits, health walks and also to be very active on social media. Apathy Dr Bawumia charged the unsuccessful parliamentary aspirants of the NPP to actively get on board the 2020 elections campaign to avoid voter apathy in the December elections. He said they must join forces with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the aspiring MPs so that the roadmap for the party was duly achieved. We need a resounding victory for the President and MPs so put in 100 per cent effort so the roadmap is achieved, the Vice-President told them. While commending the group for the initiative which he described as remarkable, Dr Bawumia said, you had the right to grumble but you overlooked your loss for the sake of President Akufo-Addo and the NPP. He said the unity exhibited by the group gave enough impetus to the party and so every effort would be made to support the group for a successful campaign. He said the NPP had a team which was solidly knitted together for victory this year because it had stayed true to the people by delivering most of its promises. He, however, stressed the need for unity at all times, saying, a house divided by itself cannot stand. Dr Bawumia advised the group to continue with the agenda of their movement beyond this years elections, saying, their coming together was a good sign for the demonstration of unflinching love for the NPP and urged them to continue to showcase their love for the party even more in opposition. Comparison Comparing the eight years of the NDC from 2008 to 2016 to the three-and-a-half years of the NPP, the Vice-President said there was so much at stake for the future of the country that voting for the NDC and former President John Dramani Mahama would mean retrogression. He described the former President as lacking the credibility to stage a comeback. He was the one who banned okada but he says he would now legalise okada if he should come back. He introduced the teachers licensure examination but now he is saying he will cancel it when he gets the chance. Again, he said free SHS was not possible and that even if he had the money he wont invest in free SHS but now he is saying he would extend it to private schools, Vice-President Bawumia stated. Dr Bawumia said under President Akufo-Addo, Ghana had a transformational leader who had done so much in the last three and a half years, including revamping the automobile industry, massive achievements in the agricultural sector through the Planting for Food and Jobs policy which had led to the export of at least 17 crops. Strong majority The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, who chaired the ceremony, said President Akufo-Addo would need a strong majority representation in Parliament to prosecute his agenda for growth. Loyalty is the duty of true party members and so do not encourage skirt and blouse, he stressed. Prof. Oquaye described the meeting as unprecedented because after every parliamentary primary of the party, there was too much friction and misunderstanding. No personal interests The National Organiser of the party, Mr Sammy Awuku, for his part, commended the aspirants for choosing the NPP over their personal interests and urged them to unite to work together for victory. He said victory in this years elections would not come on a silver platter and, therefore, the NPP needed everyone on board. The national organiser appealed to the group and members of the party at large to ensure that internal elections were devoid of personality attacks and character assassinations. Lessons A defeated aspirant at the Nhyiaeso Constituency in the Ashanti Region and a convener of the Aspirants Unite for Victory, Mr Kennedy Kankam, said defeat taught them a lot of lessons. He said if the unsuccessful candidates were well managed and supported, it would all be good for the party. We have resolved that we are going to work for victory for the party and beyond and that is manifested in the funding and organisation of this event which we did all by ourselves, he said. Mr Kankam added that they had resolved to forgive all delegates and others who worked against all the aspirants who lost in the primaries. Graphic Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers. A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you. 1. 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Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process. 3. Transfer the name into your account As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process. 4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish press is writing numerous articles proving Turkeys direct involvement in Azerbaijans ongoing military attack on Artsakh. The Turkish Milliyet newspaper published an article titled Bayraktar striking Armenian targets, referring to the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The report says Ankara is considering sending its troops to assist Azerbaijan. According to information from diplomatic sources the Azerbaijani officials have been clearly told that they will receive any kind of support, including this option, it said, referring to sending troops. It has been stressed that the priority is the security of the energy corridor, at the same time it was noted that in case of favorable conditions returning to the negotiations table shouldnt be avoided. According to the report, Turkey could potentially send troops to Azerbaijan only by a Presidential decree approved by parliament. Sources say such decree could be based on the 2010 Turkey-Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership and Mutual Assistance agreement. The article said that the Azerbaijani army is attacking Artsakh with the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2s. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan New Delhi: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan should be the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and the party should fight on 143 seats, said LJP national general secretary, Shahnawaz Ahmad Kaifi amid reports of confusion in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing in the state. Kaifi, however, said that he has made Chirag Paswan aware of the demands being raised by the party workers and members. "Chirag Paswan is definitely the Chief Minister candidate of our party, there is no doubt about it. The leaders, workers in our party are of the same opinion," Kaifi told ANI in Patna. He added, "The party members also believe that we should fight on at least 143 seats in the elections. I too would urge the party to fight on these many seats." The LJP leader further said that Chirag Paswan`s decision in this matter would be a final one and it would come shortly. Live TV Earlier, BJP had clarified that the NDA would go in the elections under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Ahead of the assembly elections, the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar is facing strong headwinds with new allies. The old allies seeking a greater share of the electoral pie, are virtually blocking the seat-sharing talks among its constituents. The RJD, which had emerged as the single largest party in the last elections with 81 seats, is finding it tough to convince its recalcitrant partners of its pre-eminence in the coalition and allow it to contest 150 odd seats of the 243-member assembly. The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has already deserted the coalition and returned to the ruling NDA. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) of former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha looks set to follow suit today decided to join hands with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The RLSP already said that "all is not well" in the 'Mahagathbandhan', which was formed by Lalu Prasad and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar to deafeat the BJP in the 2015 assembly polls. Notably, Bihar has 243 Assembly seats and elections in the state are due in October-November as the tenure of the current Assembly will end by last November this year. PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Pascagoula police are searching for a 20-year-old man who has been identified as the suspect in a Sunday shooting which sent a Pascagoula resident to the hospital. The shooting occurred Sunday evening in the 5400 block of Monaco Drive in Pascagoula. Police responded to the shooting and found the victim -- later identified as 22-year-old Rhyheim Young -- suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Young was taken by personal vehicle to Singing River Hospital and was later air lifted to University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile, where he was listed in stable condition as of Tuesday morning. Police have identified 20-year-old Swadrian Isaiah Lewis as the primary suspect are are seeking the publics assistance in determining his whereabouts. Lewis is described as a Black male, 5-5 in height and weighing 155 pounds. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on Lewis' location or on this case is asked to call the Pascagoula Police Department at 228-762-2211 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898. Thats far better than what many municipalities are reporting, Dr. Cannuscio said. Tracers in Louisiana were able to reach 66 percent of identified cases from May 15 to Sept. 24, Alyson Neel, a spokeswoman for the states health department, said in an email. Of the people they reached, more than 94 percent agreed to be interviewed. The rejection faced by many contact tracers has led state health departments to find alternative ways to reach out to people who were possibly infected: In Louisiana, people who werent reached by phone received letters in the mail. In the District of Columbia, calls appear as DC COVID 19 Team, the districts health department said in a statement. But even with a clear caller ID, some Washingtonians were skittish, prompting the department to visit them in person. On Tuesday, Philadelphias health department started sending text messages to cases people who have tested positive before contact tracers call them. The texts advise them that they will receive a call from the health department and tell them the phone number they should be expecting a call from. Hannah Lawman, who leads the departments division of coronavirus containment, said that 15 to 20 percent of cases dont pick up our phone calls. The warning messages could help decrease that number, she said. It appeared on Tuesday evening that it already had. A contact tracer on Dr. Lawmans team said one person told him: I got your text message. Thanks for the heads up. In Florida, cautious people might not be to blame: Some phone calls from contact tracers this summer were flagged by phone companies as spam. The Chiefs and people of Okuapeman began the celebration of their annual Odwira festival from the 28th of September and it is set to end on 4th October, 2020 at Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The one hundred and ninety-fourth edition of the traditional festival is scheduled to take place in a safe and socially distanced environment in the new normal with programs curated to equip students with the relevant skills and materials, breast screening for the general public, and donations of educational and essential materials needed to stay safe during the pandemic. Dubbed SAFE and SMART Okuapeman, this years Festival is set to combine the bright cultural drumbeat at the heart of the Odwira Festival, with the green scenery, while promoting a digitally Smart and Safe Akuapem. Ewo Wo Nsem means literally, 'It is In Your Hands. Amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic and with the installation of the newest and youngest Paramount Chief in Ghana; OSEADEEYO KWASI AKUFFO III, the theme for the Odwira 2020 is A Safe Smart Okuapeman by delivering 3 distinct and mutually related goals - (1) Culture, Identity and Leadership, (2) Smart Learning (3) Smart Togetherness For nearly 200 years, generations of Akropong, Amanokrom, and Aburi have annually celebrated the Odwira festival which was initiated by Nana Addo Dankwa 1, who was then the 19th Okuapehene of Akuapem. The celebration is linked to the victory of the people of Okuapeman over the then powerful Asante army during the historic battle of Katamansu near Dodowa in 1826. Being a Yam festival, traditionally, the timing of Odwira also coincides with the harvest season of the New Yam when there is abundant food; gratitude for the harvest is especially expressed in feeding the ancestors. The celebration promises its usual colourful, vibrant and diverse cultural expression and experience. This years Odwira festival started on the 28th of September with activities ongoing until 4th October, 2020. Odwira is always preceded with the clearing of the path to Amanprobi which ushers in the Odwira with the purification of the Kingdom with herbs followed by the parading of the harvest of new yams through the principal streets of Akropong, capital of Okuapeman. This is accompanied by singing, drumming and dancing which signifies the traditional lifting of the ban on noisemaking, imposed 40 days earlier, in preparation for the Odwira festival. In addition to these age-old customs, this years festival will be set apart with a donation to schools, coding lessons, fontomfrom dance competitions, and the observance of social distancing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This years celebration also encourages individuals, organizations, and companies to be bold and start again from ground zero due to the impact of the pandemic while providing some essentials to our communities and caring for one another. And of course, it is always a time of great cultural and spiritual significance for the people of Okuapeman and all who celebrate it. The general public is invited to visit www.odwirafestival.com for more information and to join the people of Okuapeman for a unique cultural experience at Odwira 2020. For more information, please contact the Office of Okuapehene on [email protected]. Yours faithfully, NANA OSIM-KWATIA GYAASEHENE OF AKUAPEM & CHAIRMAN ODWIRA PLANNING COMMITTEE Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy on Monday said that Rs 6,790 crores have been released on September 11 for the YSR Cheyutha scheme, under which women are given Rs 18,750 cash for handholding for their business needs. "Amount of Rs 4,643 crores were allotted for the scheme last year. Rs 6,790 crores are released on September 11 for the present year. This scheme is intended for The government has discussed with many business entities and banks and encouraging women to become entrepreneurs," said Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister during a ministerial-level review meeting of YSR Cheyuta scheme. "Almost 21 lakh women have applied for various businesses. 8 lakh women said that they will continue their old shops. The ministers will continue reviewing the scheme and its implementations once in every two weeks," he added. Under the scheme, government has signed MoUs with some companies to encourage and hold business with these women. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COLUMBIA, S.C. - A group of historians wants a national site dedicated to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation illegal to incorporate locations in South Carolina that helped pave the way for the case. Historians and family members of those who fought for equal education of Black children in South Carolina said Monday that they are seeking the inclusion of places in Columbia and Clarendon County in the National Park Services Brown v. Board of Education historical site in Topeka, Kansas, The Post and Courier reported. According to the group, the 1954 Supreme Court court case cannot be fully understood without the role of Briggs v. Elliott, a 1950 lawsuit filed in Summerton that challenged segregation. That suit was the first of five to be combined into Brown v. Board of Education. The advocates want national recognition of the South Carolina schools at the centre of that case, the home of Harry and Eliza Briggs, and churches that served as meeting sites for parents who were challenging the unequal school system, among other places, the newspaper said. U.S. House Majority Leader Jim Clyburn and U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, both Democrats, filed legislation in Congress this month to expand the Kansas site, and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott co-sponsored it. Designating the locations as part of the Kansas site would allow for better signage, expanded opportunities for grants that would fund upgrades and education as well as other initiatives that could boost tourism revenue. Another round of wildfires is ripping through Northern California, forcing evacuations and casting thick smoke over the region as hot weather and high winds leave the state perilously dry. A blaze in the wine country north of San Francisco more than quadrupled in size overnight to 11,000 acres, tearing through a region devastated by fires just three years ago. The fire, along with a second one in Shasta County, came even after PG&E Corp. cut power to about 195,000 people in an attempt to keep its electric lines from sparking blazes. PG&E shares dropped the most in three months Monday, though the company said in an internal memo that there are no indications its equipment was involved in the fires. Across California, more than 36,000 square miles -- an area about the size of the entire state of Indiana -- is under threat from critical fire conditions, affecting about 5.8 million people, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center said. And blazes are spreading fast, fanned by dry winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 60 mph. Governor Gavin Newsom urged people to heed evacuation orders and leave immediately when authorities sound the alarm. So many of the people that have lost their lives were just cautious in terms of taking seriously those orders, Newsom said in a media briefing. We really, really cannot say it enough. Please heed local law enforcement. Please listen to them when they raise that alarm bell. California has been battered for weeks by rounds of extreme weather that state officials say have been fueled by climate change. Last month, a record-breaking heat wave triggered the states first rotating power outages since the 2001 energy crisis -- and was followed just three weeks later by another one. More than 8,000 wildfires have burned a record 3.7 million acres this year, choking cities with smoke, killing at least 26 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures. On Monday, more than 18,000 firefighters were battling 27 major blazes across the state. Shares of PG&E -- which went bankrupt last year after its equipment ignited catastrophic fires -- fell 5.5% Monday. The company told its employees that it has no information indicating that its equipment was involved in the start of either the Glass Fire in Napa County or the Zogg Fire in Shasta County, according to the memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The causes of the blazes remain under investigation. The Napa County fire broke out early Sunday and was raging uncontrollably northeast of Santa Rosa, triggering thousands of evacuations. The area was devastated in 2017 by the Tubbs Fire, which was among the most destructive in California history. About 180 miles north, the Zogg Fire in Shasta County has already burned 7,000 acres, prompting more evacuations. Butte County, meanwhile, issued an immediate evacuation order for some communities on Sunday due to the ongoing North Complex Fire. Nearly half the state is under an air quality alert. Smoke from the new blazes is already reaching Bay Area cities that have been choked for weeks by bad air from blazes across the region. While winds are forecast to ebb in Northern California late Monday, potentially giving firefighters a break, the heat will continue. High temperatures in Sacramento are expected to hit 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) on Monday and rise to 101 degrees by Wednesday. Los Angeles may hit 101 on Wednesday. Newsom warned that strong offshore winds could develop overnight in Southern California and said state officials are dispatching firefighters there in case blazes break out. Utilities across the US West are increasingly cutting power ahead of wind storms to reduce the chances of their live wires igniting blazes. In Southern California, investigators are looking at a power line owned by Edison Internationals Southern California Edison as part of their probe into a fire thats burning in the mountains near Los Angeles. PG&E began shutting off power on Sunday to parts of 16 counties. The move affected about 65,000 homes and businesses, or about 195,000 people based on the size of the average California household. The company issued an all clear for crews to start inspecting lines on Monday, and said it expects to restore power to the large majority of customers by the end of the day. The outages were considerably smaller in scope than previous ones. Earlier this month, PG&E cut power to about 172,000 homes and businesses -- or about 516,000 people -- as high winds raked California. PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in July after settling wildfire claims for $25.5 billion. Californias peak wildfire season traditionally runs from September through November. It has grown longer and less predictable in recent years, with blazes coming as late as December. Never accepted unilaterally defined 1959 LAC, Chinas insistence contrary to commitments: India India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: India on Tuesday rejected China's perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and asked the neighbouring country to refrain from advancing an "untenable unilateral" interpretation of the de-facto border. China's stance spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it follows the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India. Way ahead is to refrain from attempts to unilaterally change status quo: MEA on Ladakh standoff "India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in response to a question by the media on the issue. The spokesperson's comments came after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Hindustan Times that China abides by the LAC as proposed by then Premier Zhou Enlai to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959. Srivastava referred to various bilateral agreements including the 1993 agreement on maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC, 1996 pact on confidence building measures (CBMs) and the 2005 agreement on political parameters and guiding principles for settlement of the boundary issue, to emphasise that both sides showed commitment to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC. "Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements," he said, adding the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC. Endurance would be key as situation along LAC remains tense, but under control Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's recent address to Parliament, Srivastava said it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the western sector has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo. The MEA spokesperson also talked about repeated affirmation of the Chinese side in the last few months that the current situation along the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries. "In the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart on 10th September also, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements," Srivastava said. Srivastava further urged the Chinese to abide by all the previous agreements. "We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC," he added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 22:39 [IST] New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Soviets used an Indian newspaper in 1983 to spread disinformation that the AIDS virus had been invented by the US military as a "biological weapon to kill black and gay men" and this echoed for decades. There's greater sophistication today, says a new book on the threat to democracy and personal liberty from fake news generated by Advanced AI technology, with Russia fine-tuning the concept in this age of the Infocalypse, which the author defines as the "increasingly dangerous and untrustworthy ecosystem within which most humans now live". "Before we get to the Russian disinformation of the Infocalypse, let's look at one of the old Soviet campaigns, usually referred to as Operation Infektion," Nina Schick writes in "Deep Fakes and the Infocalpyse - What You Urgently Need To Know" (Hachette/Monoray). "In July 1983, article entitled 'AIDS may invade India: Mystery disease caused by US experiments' appeared in The Patriot, an obscure publication printed in New Delhi. This piece made a bombshell accusation: the deadly AIDS virus had been invented by the military as a biological weapon to kill black and gay men," writes Schick, a broadcaster and author who specialises on how technology and AI are reshaping politics. "The story cited a letter from an anonymous but 'well-known American scientist and anthropologist' to support its explosive claims" that Fort Detrick, a US military base in Maryland, was at the centre of the allegations," writes Schick, who has worked on foreign interference in the 2016 and 2020 US elections and on the evolution of mis- and disinformation. During the 1940s, Fort Detrick was home to the Pentagon's super-secretive biological weapons programme and a type of anthrax bomb was invented there during WW II but never went into production as the conflict ended. It was also involved in a project to spread yellow fever through infected mosquitoes but the US biological warfare programme began to decline in the 1960s as President Richard Nixon denounced the use of such weapons. By the 1970s, Fort Detrick's remit had been radically scaled back to focus on defence against biological weapons rather than their production, the book says. "The Patriot reported otherwise, claiming that US government scientists had scoured Africa and Latin America in secret missions to identify highly infectious pathogens, eventually leading to the creation of AIDS at Fort Detrick. The accusation of biological warfare was a trope that the Soviets used repeatedly against the Americans in the Cold war," Schick writes. In 1983, "when the Soviets planted a seed of disinformation in a Soviet-sponsored Indian newspaper", it was before "the birth of our modern information ecosystem, so this outrageous lie would have to be carefully cultivated to achieve virality. It took six years, but the Soviets managed to make it go global," the author says. "The myth went quiet for a few years but the Soviets continued to accuse the US of pursuing an offensive biological-weapons warfare programme in violation of international laws". In 1985, a Radio Moscow broadcast claimed that the CIA was spreading dengue fever in Cuba and helping South Africa develop a biological weapon against its black population, the book says. "Suddenly, in 1985, the AIDS claim resurfaced in the influential Soviet weekly Literaturnaya Gazetta. In an article headlined 'Panic in the West, or What is hidden behind the sensation about AIDS?' the journalist Velentin Zapevalov repeated the AIDS conspiracy claim, citing the 'well-respected Indian paper The Patriot.' He obviously neglected to reveal that the story had been planted there by the Soviets," Schick writes. The next year, a 'scientific' report entitled 'AIDS: Its Nature and Origin' by Professor Jacob Segal emerged, supporting the claim that AIDS was man-made. Closer examination revealed that Dr. Segal was a retired 76-year-old East German biophysicist. The co-author was his wife, Dr. Lilli Segal, also retired, an epidemiologist, and also East German. As the AIDS epidemic worsened, the Soviets stepped up the campaign, the book says. Through 1986, a flurry of articles surfaced in the Soviet press repeating that the AIDS virus was created in a Pentagon laboratory. These reports were relayed globally by Soviet news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, which together had over a hundred bureaus worldwide. "The Soviets paid, tricked or otherwise incentivized local publications in the developing world to reprint the story," Schick writes. By 1986, "the story had started to go viral and appeared in dozens of sympathetic as well as unsuspecting newspapers around the globe. This included the West", where it was printed on the front page of the Sunday Express along with an interview with Jacob Segal. Segal's claims "were soon debunked in Britain by conflicting reports in The Times and The Sunday Telegraph. Nevertheless, the operation was a great success: by the end of the decade, the story had appeared in major newspapers in more than 80 countries. It was particularly virulent in Asia and Africa, where the lie received prominent play. The US image was tarnished around the world," the book says, adding that "its legacy is doing great harm" and even affected Barack Obama. "It emerged that Obama's former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, had claimed that the HIV virus was created by the US government as a tool of genocide against Black Americans and Obama was forced to publicly disown him. "A seed planted by the Soviets in India in 1983 had come back to haunt the man who would become the first African-American President 25 years later. If the one lie at the heart of Operation Infektion lives on 40 years later, imagine the havoc that disinformation can wreck in the Infocayplse. Or what it could do when it is accompanied by deepfakes," Schick writes. What's the lesson in this for the world at large? Contending that the Infocalypse "is evolving into an even more potent phenomenon with dangerous implications for everything from geopolitics to our individual lives," Schick notes that while it had enabled Russia to forge way ahead of the pack in the disinformation game, China has been a quick learner and had been joined by other emerging actors like Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and North Korea. Oxford University researchers had found evidence of 28 countries "practicing some form of online disinformation operations in 2017". In 2020, "this number has risen to 70. While all these state actors pose serious threats in the Infocalypse, for now there are orders of magnitude between the sophistication of the Kremlin's efforts and those of the others. In one study from 2019, researchers from Princeton found that Russia was responsible for 72 per cent of all foreign disinformation operations between 2013 and 2019. This makes it almost three times as aggressive as all the others". "If Russia is a maestro playing a Tchaikovsky sonata from memory on a grand piano, then the others are playing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' on a child's keyboard," Schick writes. But then, all is not lost, as the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million, proved. It had gained its independence from Russia in 1991 but faced three weeks of vicious cyber attacks against its government, media and banking infrastructure following its decision in 2007 to relocate the Bronze Soldiers of Talinn, a memorial to the occupying Soviet soldiers killed in the Second World War. "Instead of crumbling, Talinn used the lesson to reinforce its defences and fight back. It did this by taking a society-wide approach that engaged all its citizens" to become one of the most digital nations in the world: 99 per cent of public services are online, nearly one-third of its citizens vote online and it has not suffered a further Russian breach of its defences", Schick writes. "The forces to fight the Infocalypse are already coming together and growing in strength. They are helping us understand the threat, and they have also started building the solutions and alliances to help safeguard us all. But they need our support. We can help by sharing this understanding, preparing our defences and fighting back. Time is of the essence... "Be careful about what information you share. Verify your sources. Correct yourself when you get something wrong. Be wary of your own political biases. Be sceptical but not cynical...It's time for all allies to unite. As the Estonians did to the Russians, we still have the chance to say 'no' to the Infocalypse," Schick concludes. (Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in) Responding to the (illegal) leaks of President Donald Trumps tax return, Joe Bidens campaign trotted out their slogan that the campaign pits Scranton vs. Park Avenue. Biden grew up in Scranton, Penn. Donald Trump lives on Park Avenue. Joe stands up for working people. Don just cares about Wall Street. Or so Biden says. Donald Trump is in no danger of winning the vote in Manhattan, most especially from the Park Avenue set. Trump is going to come a lot closer in Scranton. Democrats carried Lackawanna County 63 percent to 35 percent in 2012. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won with 50.2 percent of the vote, with Trump at 46 percent. Scranton was once a center for iron production, later for coal and the railroad industry. It was bottoming out for decades, until roughly 2012, and has started to rebound as a cheaper cost of living made it attractive. Joe Biden will likely do a little better than Hillary in Lackawanna County, but the long-term trends are pretty clear. Democrats are moving to Park Avenue. In a 2016 forum sponsored by the Washington Post, Chuck Schumer described their thinking: For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, he predicted. Maybe it didnt work out perfectly four years ago. It was exactly the improvement Trump made in counties such as Lackawanna that put him over the top in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and in the election as a whole. With his age and in his political mannerisms, Biden tries to appeal to blue-collar voters. He appeals to them primarily through his suffering particularly his pain over the death of his first wife and two of his children. As with many blue-collar workers, his religion is less about doctrinal adherence to faith and morals than solemn and inexpressible sentiments attached to rituals, embedded in a community. Trumps team has tried to paint Biden as an empty suit trying to disguise the threat of socialism. But in a somewhat absentminded way, Bidens politics have always represented the newer American economy of global free trade and finance. Elected from Delaware, he was the senator from Mastercard. He supported legislation that the credit card industry supported. Biden was the big champion of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which toughened bankruptcy procedures, limiting the kind of debt that could be discharged. Spend too much on luxury goods (most anything that costs more than $725) via a credit card? That wont go away in Chapter 7 anymore. You cant discharge your student debt in bankruptcy, either. Thanks, Joe. Story continues A nationalist Republican such as Trump and an old-school moderate Democrat like Joe Biden should probably recognize that the cultural breach in our country is intensified by the economic breach between Manhattan and northern Pennsylvania. Maybe it will be Joe Bidens economic populism that ekes out a win. But it could be Trumps cultural populism. One job that nationalists usually set for themselves is the task of integrating the interests of megacities and their surrounding countryside. Globalism has always been with us it is the soft alliance of cities trading with one another. If New Yorks ruling class today thinks more of London and Tokyo than Scranton, thats not much different from the Venetians of the Middle Ages who thought more of Baghdad than of San Biagio. Eventually, as Venice took on the role of a larger political entity, rich Venetians built their country villas in San Biagio. For now, the Democrats are content to feed Scranton a palliative liberalism of redistribution and dependence. Republicans feed it envy and resentment. But the vote in Scranton doesnt have to be close. It can be won overwhelmingly someday, the moment that one party figures out a plan to creatively channel Park Avenue wealth into solid investments in Scranton. More from National Review Former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison poses for a booking photograph at Shelby County Detention Center in Shelbyville, Kentucky, U.S. September 23, 2020. Picture taken September 23, 2020. Shelby County Detention Center/Handout via REUTERS. Former Louisville Metro Police officer Brett Hankison pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of wanton endanger in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor,local news outlet WLKY reported. Hankison the only former officer who was indicted in the Taylor case appeared in court Monday after a grand jury indicted him last Wednesday on three charges of wanton endangerment for shooting in the neighbor's apartment, not for killing her. None of the three officers involved, including Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, were charged in her death. Taylor was shot eight times in her apartment during a March 18 botched drug raid after police entered her home on a no-knock warrant. Hankison's charges say that he "wantonly shot a gun" into the apartment of Taylor's neighbor. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. One of the former Louisville police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor pleaded not guilty on Monday to wanton endangerment charges, local news outlet WLKY reported. Ex-Det. Brett Hankison the only former officer who was indicted in Taylor's case appeared in court Monday after a grand jury indicted him last Wednesday on three charges of wanton endangerment for shooting in the neighbor's apartment, not for killing her. None of the three officers involved, including Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, were charged in her death. Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department at the end of June. Representatives from the Louisville Police Department declined Insider's request for comment. Taylor was shot eight times in her apartment during a March 13 botched drug raid after police entered her home on a no-knock warrant. Hankison's charges say that he "wantonly shot a gun" into the apartment of Taylor's neighbor. Kentucky law states that "a person is guilty of wanton endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person." The former Louisville Metro police officer turned himself in the day he received his charges but was released after posting a $15,000 cash bond. Read the original article on Insider Television actor Akshat Utkarsh was found dead in his rented apartment in Mumbais Andheri on Sunday night, reports ANI. Akshat hailed from Muzaffarpur and was in Mumbai to pursue a career in acting. Actor Akshat Utkarsh dies allegedly by suicide at his residence in Mumbais Andheri area. Case lodged, matter being probed. Body handed over to family after postmortem: Mumbai Police, a tweet by ANI read. Actor Akshat Utkarsh dies allegedly by suicide at his residence in Mumbai's Andheri area. Case lodged, matter being probed. Body handed over to family after postmortem: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2020 However, the family of the 26-year-old actor, who hailed from Bihar claims he was murdered. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Akshats maternal uncle Ranjit Singh claimed that the actor has been murdered and alleged that the Mumbai Police didnt take the matter seriously and didnt lodge an FIR in the case. The report further states that Amboli police officials claim the actor was depressed due to lack of work and died by suicide. We have registered an Accidental Death Record (ADR) and are enquiring the matter. Preliminary enquiry and autopsy report do not indicate any foul play. The incident took place on Sunday night somewhere between 10 pm and 11:30 PM, the report quoted Someshwar Kanthe, senior police inspector at Amboli police station as saying. Note: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata). No casualties were recorded amid shelling in the past day. Ukraine has reported five violations of the latest ceasefire by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Monday, September 28. "In the past day, September 28, the Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire five times," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Command wrote on Facebook in an update as of 07:30 Kyiv time on September 29, 2020. In particular, the enemy fired rifles in the morning, as well as a tripod-mounted man-portable antitank gun in the evening near the village of Starohnativka. In addition, the enemy provoked the Ukrainian military with the use of rifles and a heavy machine gun near the town of Avdiyivka. Another two ceasefire violations were recorded near the village of Shumy, where the enemy used rifles and an under-barrel grenade launcher. Read alsoHead of Ukrainian intelligence believes Russia to go for another military incursion in UkraineNo casualties were recorded amid shelling in the past day. Since Tuesday midnight, no attacks by Russia-controlled armed formations have been recorded, the JFO HQ said. The situation is under full control of the Ukrainian military. Donbas ceasefire: Background WILTON MANORS, Fla., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida League of Cities' new President, Orlando Commissioner Tony Ortiz, appointed Commissioner Gary Resnick to serve on the Florida League of Cities' Executive Committee. As an executive committee member, Commissioner Resnick will help guide the League to continued success in all activities and programs. "In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, our local communities are facing new challenges and I will continue to support our community not only as a local elected official but also as a member of the Florida League's Executive Committee," said Commissioner Resnick. "Much of our success as local leaders is dependent upon preserving our home rule authority, where we are not preempted by the State or County and can make decisions that best serve our residents. We all must commit, more now than ever before, to support home rule because each city has unique needs and circumstances that locally elected leaders are in a better position to understand." The Executive Committee will implement the League's presidential priority: Building Stronger Cities. With the 2020 Legislative Session starting in March, the Committee's focus will be two-fold: engaging municipal leaders across the state of Florida and supporting a unified message to legislators to let cities make decisions locally for their residents and business community. Commissioner Resnick has served on the Wilton Manors City Commission since 1998, including 10 years as Mayor (2008-2018), and has served on the Board of Directors and Legislative Advocacy Committee of the Florida League of Cities since 2003. While Mayor, Resnick served as chair of the National League of Cities (NLC) Information Technology and Communications (ITC) Federal Advocacy Committee, and now serves on NLC's Board of Directors, Legislative Advocacy Committee, and Legal Advisory Committee. Resnick was President and currently serves as Treasurer of the Broward League of Cities (BLOC) and chairs the BLOC Legislative Advocacy Committee. He is a shareholder and practicing attorney with GrayRobinson Attorneys at Law and chair of the Firm's communications broadband practice. ABOUT THE FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES Founded in 1922, the Florida League of Cities is the united voice for Florida's municipal governments. Its goals are to promote local self-government and serve the needs of Florida's cities. Florida's cities are formed by their citizens and governed by their citizens. The League is founded on the belief that local self-government is the keystone of American democracy. For more information, visit floridaleagueofcities.com. ABOUT THE CITY OF WILTON MANORS Wilton Manors was laid out in 1925 by Edward John "Ned" Willingham, a land developer from Georgia, as an upscale residential community. It was recognized as a Village in 1947 and incorporated as a City in 1953. Today, the City of Wilton Manors offers all the benefits of a big city from shopping, to hip restaurants and bars, a burgeoning arts community, yet still maintains a cozy, community-feeling offering miles of natural waterways perfect for kayaking, paddle boarding and other outdoor activities. In 2018, Wilton Manors was named the "Second Gayest City" in the United States, celebrating a diverse population of approximately 12,000 residents. To learn more about the live, work and play opportunities in Wilton Manors call (954) 390-2100 or visit www.wiltonmanors.com. Conceptual Communications, (954) 732-0754, [email protected] SOURCE City of Wilton Manors Related Links http://www.wiltonmanors.com Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has apologised to his cabinet colleagues for the controversy surrounding Michael DArcy's appointment to a lobbying organisation for investment bankers. Mr Varadkar said he was unaware of any issue relating to the appointment until after Mr DArcy resigned. Mr DArcy has contacted the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) about his appointment as chief executive of a lobby group for investment managers. In a Statement, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar revealed the former minister for state contacted the ethics watchdog. Mr Varadkar also confirmed he was unware the Fine Gael senator had not contacted SIPO before he accepted the position. Its my understanding that Michael DArcy has contacted SIPO, Mr Varadkar said. Read More In my view it is appropriate for any such individual, whether thats a former minister or any other relevant person, to engage with SIPO on matters such as this. I believe he should have contacted SIPO prior to taking up his position. I am however glad that this contact has now taken place, he added. He said he had no knowledge of this matter prior to Sunday afternoon when Mr Darcy phoned him to say he had resigned from the Seanad and has accepted a role in the private sector. Mr DArcy is taking up the position of CEO with the Irish Association for Investment Managers More to follow... India on Tuesday provided a Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to the Maldives National Defence Force (MDNF) that is expected to boost efforts to keep a closer eye on the movement of Chinese vessels in regional waters, people familiar with developments said. The Dornier aircraft will operate under the command and control of MNDF while running csosts will be borne by India. It will assist in ongoing joint surveillance activities by India and the Maldives of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Indian Ocean archipelago. Seven MDNF personnel, including pilots, air observers and engineers are being trained to operate the Dornier by the Indian Navy. The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that the aircraft was provided by the Indian Navy in line with and inter-governmental agreement. Also Read: India, Maldives launch cargo ferry service connecting Tuticorin and Cochin with Male The aircraft will also help in monitoring the activities of Chinese vessels in regional waters. The surveillance of the EEZ includes the tracking of all adversarial movements, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and drug and human trafficking, said one of the people cited above. In light of the Mahibadhoo and Laamu attacks by suspected terrorists, the Dornier aircraft will also be useful in the counter-terrorism sphere. The isolated and dispersed nature of islands and resorts can be safeguarded only by a technologically capable fixed wing aircraft, the person said. The person was referring to attacks at the harbour of Mahibadhoo Island in the central Maldives on April 15 in which four speedboats, a sea ambulance and two dinghies were set on fire. Also Read: India provides soft loan of $250 mn to the Maldives The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks but Maldivian police described the incident as arson and said it could have been the work of extremists or drug traffickers retaliating against special operations conducted since September 2019. The Indian high commission in Male tweeted: As per Govt-to-Govt Agreement & discussions started in 2016, the Dornier arrives! It will engage in humanitarian relief efforts & joint-EEZ surveillance under command & control of #MNDF; It proudly dons #MNDF colours & crest, and will involve Maldivian pilots in its operations. As per Govt-to-Govt Agreement & discussions started in 2016,the Dornier arrives! It will engage in humanitarian relief efforts & joint-EEZ surveillance under command & control of #MNDF; It proudly dons #MNDF colours & crest,and will involve Maldivian pilots in its operations. pic.twitter.com/VKjP7phjxt India in Maldives (@HCIMaldives) September 29, 2020 The people noted that previous Maldivian governments too had wanted a Dornier aircraft to be positioned in the Maldives to enhance security and joint surveillance of the EEZ and search and rescue and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations, particularly in the northern atolls. The requirement of the aircraft was first raised during previous Maldivian president Abdulla Yameens visit to India in 2016. While it could not get implemented earlier, the present government of President Ibrahim Solih has been able to implement it. Maldivian pilots, observers and technical personnel are being trained to operate the Dornier aircraft since June 2017, said an official who declined to be named. The current government of the Maldives has been successful in getting more such training programmes organised by India, the official said. During a recent EEZ surveillance operation, multiple large fishing trawlers were found illegally fishing in Maldivian waters, the official added. The India government has been regularly sharing information with the government of the Maldives on the movement of drug traffickers headed for the archipelago based on reconnaissance flights by Dornier aircraft. The Dornier will also complement medical evacuation operations currently being conducted by MNDF helicopters. More than 250 Maldivian lives have been saved during such medical evacuation flights. The Maldives is an archipelago of nearly 1,200 islands grouped into 19 dispersed atolls that cover an area of nearly 90,000 km. The countrys EEZ covers nearly one million kilometres. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A key worker has branded the coronavirus testing system an "absolute shambles" after he was forced to take a 100-mile round trip from Surrey to the Isle of Wight for a test. Martin Baker, who lives 50 miles away from the Isle of Wight, in Farnham said he developed a cough and fever on Tuesday morning. The 49-year-old technical trainer drove to his workplace in Southampton to pick up key items from a distance so he would be able to isolate and continue his job from home, while also knowing there was a new test centre 200 metres away. But the NHS Covid-19 app told him the nearest site where tests were available was on the Isle of Wight. The app appears to have been sending residents in Hampshire and Surrey to the Isle of Wight test centre, while directing islanders to take the same trip in the opposite direction. The Department of Health has since confirmed the app directs users to test centres using their home postcode, not their current location, though the Southampton Airport test centre is located between Mr Bakers hometown and the Isle of Wight. Despite being within visual distance of the test centre in Southampton, I was directed to go to the Isle of Wight," Mr Baker told the PA news agency. Staff hand out self test kits at a Coronavirus testing centre in Southwark, London / PA So of course, even though its a free test, I still got lifted with nearly 100 in ferry fees for the same-day return. Mr Baker added that he was forced to mix with other passengers on the ferrys deck because they were not allowed to stay in their cars during the 45-minute journey. He described the system as an absolute shambles, adding he spent the journey attempting to stay as far away from other people as possible, and thinking that his family would be worried about him. He said: The surprising bit for me, was when I got to the test centre, there were two other cars in there, both of which had come over on the same ferry as me, so I wasnt the only one coming over from the mainland. Hancock defends NHS Test and Trace app availability The woman at the testing site asked how far Id come from, and told me she knew two people that day that were going from the island over to the mainland to have their tests done on the same day, while theres three cars going the other way." The Southampton Airport site where Mr Baker had thought he could get a test was also at the centre of confusion last week. The site was set up to replace a Portsmouth centre without this being communicated to residents. The Tipner drive-through centre was packed up overnight and ahead of schedule to make way for a Brexit lorry park. Speaking about that move, Portsmouth City Councils health cabinet member Matthew Winnington said the Government urgently needed to get a grip on testing on the south coast. He said: (Residents) shouldnt be using public transport while they have symptoms, but what the Government website is saying is that they have to. Its just not good enough, and it really gives me concern about what other things we havent heard about with regards to the pandemic. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the Evening Standard: "NHS Test and Trace is providing tests at an unprecedented scale 225,000 a day on average over the last week with the vast majority of the public reporting no issues at all with the process. We are targeting testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, and prioritising at-risk groups. On average people are tested within six miles of their home and we are working around the clock to ensure everyone who needs a test can get one. Testing capacity increases daily and were on course to have capacity for 500,000 tests every day by the end of October - bringing in new labs that can process tens of thousands of tests a day, opening new test sites, and trialling new rapid tests that will give results on the spot." Additional reporting by PA Media. The Jabalpur airport is getting upgraded and its new terminal is likely to be constructed and commissioned by March 2022, said the Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday. The new terminal building equipped with world-class passenger facilities will have the capacity to handle 500 passengers during peak hours, the said in a press release. "Spread over an area of 1,15,180 sq ft, the terminal building will have three aerobridges, advanced baggage screening system, modern food court in the landscape area and well-planned car parking for more than 250 cars and buses," the noted. Apart from the new terminal building, the is also extending the runway and building a new ATC tower, a technical block and a new fire station at the Jabalpur airport. The extended runway would be able to handle bigger aircraft like A320s, the AAI said. The Madhya Pradesh government handed over 468.43 acres of land to the AAI in 2015 for these upgrade works, the press release noted. "The new terminal building is likely to be commissioned by March 2022," it said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Less than 50% of the fund meant for a crucial scheme to tackle malnutrition among children and pregnant and lactating women was utilised by the Centre in 2018-19, the latest CAG report has highlighted, strongly noting that this was a result of the inefficiencies by the Women and Child Development Ministry. Report said, only about Rs 908 crore, out of approximately Rs 1,042 crore allocated for the Integrated Child Development Scheme was actually disbursed. The savings of over Rs 1,000 crore were due to ministrys inefficiencies in scheme performance, leading to delay in finalisation of contract with service provider for cloud services; delays in procurement of smart phones; non-receipt of utilisation certificates and availability of unspent balance of previous years with the state governments, report said. ICDS, one of the WCD ministrys flagship programmes in existence since 1975 is meant for kids aged 0-6 under which they are assured of supplementary nutrition, non-formal education, nutrition & health education through anganwadis and immunisation and health check-ups in public hospitals. All components of ICDS except supplementary nutrition programmes are financed through a 60:40 ratio between Centre and states and under SNP beneficiaries are given hot meals along with take-home rations. CAG report is especially worrying as per the Lancet Child Adolescent Health 2019 report, malnutrition remains the predominant risk factor for deaths (68.2%) and disease burden in children younger than five years in India. The national and state governments need to streamline budget monitoring systems, develop nutrition management information system and work together to effectively utilise the budget that can prevent nutrition disruption and improve access to nutrition supplies and services by the marginalised in a timely manner, said nutrition consultant Basanta Kumar Kar. Sujeet Ranjan, executive director, Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security said that the binding constraints in the implementation of the scheme are gaps in human resources, particularly at the supervisory level and procurement of growth monitoring devices. He identified lack of smartphones and likelihood of attrition in the quality of data collected through ICDS- common application software, fund utilisation, convergence at grassroot level, capacity building as other problem areas. Highlights TikTok users in the US can continue to download TikTok app from app stores for now. A US federal court judge has granted a reprieve to TikTok app which was going to face a ban on Sunday. Last week WeChat, too, dodged an app ban in the US which would have imposed restrictions on users downloading the app. TikTok, the contentious short-form video making app, dodged an app ban which was slated for September 27 from the United States as a federal court judge granted a reprieve to the app. The app was slated to face restrictions that would bar users from downloading the app from app stores. The order from US District Judge Carl Nichols of Washington, DC, allows US app stores to continue offering downloads. Nichols did not rule on a second, more comprehensive ban that would halt US companies from working with TikTok, NBC reported. Earlier reports have stated that TikTok could face a potential comprehensive ban in November after the US presidential elections. John E Hall, a lawyer for TikTok, had argued during a 90-minute Sunday morning hearing that the ban was "unprecedented" and "irrational." "How does it make sense to impose this app store ban tonight when there are negotiations underway that might make it unnecessary?" Hall asked during the hearing. "This is just punitive. This is just a blunt way to whack the company... There is simply no urgency here." TikTok in a statement said that it was pleased with the ruling and that it "will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees." "At the same time, we will also maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the president gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement," it said. ByteDance said on September 20 it made a preliminary deal for Walmart and Oracle to take stakes in a new company, TikTok Global, that would oversee US operations. TikTok also said that the executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump were unlawful under the national security act which he cited as the ban violates TikTok's First Amendment speech rights and Fifth Amendment due-process rights; and that there's no authority for the restrictions because they are not based on a national emergency. Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat was also slated for restrictions that would make it impossible to use the app last week. However, a federal judge in California approved a request from a group of US WeChat users to delay those restrictions. She said the government's actions would affect users' First Amendment rights. The funds will go toward paying a portion of the salaries and benefits of dozens of officers across the state, including six in Owasso who are needed amid a time of ongoing expansion across Tulsas northernmost neighboring city. We have the benefit of always looking forward to having more people, more resources, but unfortunately we always have to play catchup because of the swift growth of Owasso, Lt. Nick Boatman said. So when we heard that we were getting this grant it was really good news. It may be a full year until the new officers hit the streets of Owasso, but Boatman said the extra time spent training them is a long-term investment that only goes to benefit the community. Its going to mean quicker response times and more safety for the average citizens of Owasso, he said. Were going to be able to get to you quicker and deal with your problem quicker, and hopefully make Owasso a safer place all around. Owasso PD has hired 14 officers in last four years, according to Boatman. The forthcoming addition of the new officers will bring the departments total number to 66 marking a 10% increase to the force at one time. Will open more European connections and more convenient twin centre holidays HAMILTON, Bermuda, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct air service to Bermuda will originate from London Heathrow beginning March 28, 2021 announced jointly today by the Bermuda Ministry of Transport and British Airways (BA). Tickets are now on sale, with return fares from as low as 876 USD. This new service, operating a minimum of four times weekly and much as daily, will open a wide and diverse range of flight connections for those travelling to and from Bermuda. While current demand for flights to Bermuda emanates mainly from the UK, Heathrow flights have the potential to stimulate significantly greater demand from the rest of the world, particularly European cities. The Hon. David Burt, Premier of Bermuda and minister responsible for tourism, said: "This is a signature achievement which will provide a foundation to extend Bermuda's tourism reach into Europe. The entire team who worked on this deserves our thanks as we set the stage for a new opportunity for tourism growth. British Airways has been a longstanding and valued partner and through this relationship we have partnered in an innovative change that will be welcomed by all travellers to and from Bermuda." The flights will depart from Bermuda from the new airport terminal scheduled to open in December 2020 at 20:10, landing at London Heathrow at 06:55 the next day. The route will be operated by a Boeing 777-200, which will soon feature the airline's new Club Suite offering direct-aisle access, a suite door for greater privacy and luxurious flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. "We are enthusiastic about this London airport shift and have already begun talks with British Airways and local hotel partners to create special consumer offers to launch the Heathrow service next year," said Bermuda Tourism Authority Interim CEO Glenn Jones. "While the city hasn't changed, we treat this development like an entirely new route because we believe the whole European travel landscape changes now in a positive way." "Additionally, our longstanding 85-year plus partnership connecting BA with Bermuda will continue to benefit international business and tourism and as a result of this pivotal decision will aid in the island's pandemic recovery," adds Jones. BA's Director of Network and Alliances, Neil Chernoff, said: "We are delighted to launch flights from London Heathrow to Bermuda and we look forward to welcoming customers to experience our world class facilities at Terminal 5. Whether our customers are travelling on business, visiting friends and family or taking a European holiday, London Heathrow is the UK's largest airport and a gateway for many of our destinations worldwide." About Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) is an award-winning, accredited destination marketing organisation that promotes Bermuda internationally and works to empower our tourism industry stakeholders. Explore Bermuda's National Tourism Plan at BermudaNTP.com and visit us at https://www.gotobermuda.com/bta and connect via @BTAInsights on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MEDIA CONTACT: Tiffani Cailor Torrence Director of Public Relations & Content Development tcailor@bermudatourism.com (646) 644 0341 Millions of coronavirus tests that give on-the-spot results in minutes are set to be rolled out across the world, in what is being hailed as a landmark in the battle against the disease. The rapid tests - which take just 15 to 30 minutes to yield a diagnosis - work like a pregnancy test and display two blue lines when someone is positive. They work via a nasal swab that is inserted into a cartridge that scans for antigens, or proteins found on the surface of the virus. Antigen swabbing is generally considered a less accurate - though much faster - method of testing. Wealthy countries have been using higher-grade genetic tests, known as PCR tests, but they require processing with expensive laboratory equipment and chemicals. Poorer nations have simply been unable to roll-out PCR testing on any significant scale, sparking fears outbreaks in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America are being under-reported. While Europe tests 243 people per 100,000 a day on average, and North America swabs 395, Africa tests fewer than 16. US drugs giant Abbott and South Korean manufacturer SD Biosensor - who make the devices - have agreed to supply 133 low-income countries with the tests at the cut- price of 3.80 ($5) per kit. The World Health Organization and the Bill and Melisa Gates Foundations said the 467million project ($600m) could get started as early as next month. Wealthier nations will also get access to Abbott and SD Biosensor's tests, although they will have to pay a heftier fee. The exact figure has not been disclosed, but Germany has already ordered 20m tests and France and Switzerland are following suit. The UK Government is eager to get rapid virus tests, which would play a key role in Boris Johnson's 'Operation Moonshot' project to carry out 10million tests a day. But it is not clear if minsters intend to buy the these tests. Experts told MailOnline the tests, while a 'valuable tool for diagnosis', are not accurate enough for population screening of asymptomatic people needed for the Government's ambitious project to work. South Korean company SD BioSensor's test has just been given emergency approval by the WHO US drugs giant Abbott's device is in the process of being approved by the international health body The UK is currently trialling British-made saliva tests, as well as rapid antigen tests, both of which take about an hour and a half to give results. Abbott and SD Biosenso claim their tests are 97 per cent accurate, but that is only under optimal conditions. It is thought that their true sensitivity is between 80 per cent and 90 per cent in real-world scenarios. This won't catch every patient, but it will go a long way to help poorer nations identify and isolate more infectious people and stop the virus's spread. PCR swabs used en masse in the West are more accurate, and give the correct result most of the time. But some only provide the true diagnosis in 70 per cent of cases. Sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease, whereas test specificity is the ability of the test to correctly spot those without the disease. Professor Paul Hunter, a medical expert and epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that he doesn't expect the UK to order the two tests hailed by the WHO. He said: 'The issue is going to be the sensitivity and specificity of the test. They are so valuable for diagnosis but if used for population screening of asymptomatic individuals many/most positives will be false positives (when someone is incorrectly told they have the disease). WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the programme as 'good news' in the fight against Covid-19 'If you took the specificity of 98 per cent for a population of 1,000,000 people with the current UK infection rate you get... about 18,000 positive results of which only about 2,000 are correct. 'So a valuable diagnostic test in people who have symptoms or are likely to be infected because of close contact but unlikely to be the answer for the PMs moonshot.' WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said supplying low-income countries with rapid tests will not only help paint a clearer picture of outbreaks in these nations, but they will also allow mass screening of health workers, who are dying in disproportionate numbers in poor countries. WHAT ARE THE TESTS AND HOW DO THEY WORK? Abbotts device, known as BinaxNOW, is about the size of a credit card. It uses lateral flow technology, which scans the surface of proteins in nasal samples for the presence of the virus. To perform the test, a nasal swab specimen is collected from the patient and inserted into the test card. Test results are interpreted visually after 15 minutes, based on the presence or absence of visually detectable pink/purple coloured lines. In data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from a clinical study conducted by Abbott with several leading US research universities, the BinaxNOW card demonstrated sensitivity of about 98 per cent. SD Biosensors Standard Q Covid Ag device also uses nasal swabs that are inserted into a tray to scour for pieces of the virus. It too can be done on the spot, requires no additional equipment and yields a result within 30 minutes. The device reported to be around 97 per cent accurate has been given a CE marking, meaning it meets EU safety and health requirements. It has been given an emergency use listing by the World Health Organization and will likely be distributed to low income countries as early as next month. Advertisement He added: 'These tests provide reliable results in approximately 15 to 30 minutes, rather than hours or days, at a lower price with less sophisticated equipment,' he said. 'This will enable the expansion of testing, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that do not have lab facilities or enough trained health workers to carry out PCR tests. 'We have an agreement, we have seed funding and now we need the full amount of funds to buy these tests.' SD BioSensor's test has just been given emergency approval by the WHO, while the Abbott's is expected to get it shortly for a test it manufactures in South Korea. Catharina Boehme, chief executive of a non-profit group called the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, said the rollout would be in 20 countries in Africa, and would rely on support of groups including the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics, said it would make an initial $50million (39m) available from its Covid-19 response mechanism. He said the deployment of the quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests will be a 'significant step' to help contain and combat coronavirus. 'They're not a silver bullet, but hugely valuable as a complement to PCR tests, since although they are less accurate, they're much faster, cheaper and don't require a lab,' he said. Many rich countries have also faced problems rolling out accurate tests, and testing itself is no panacea - countries like France and the US have all faced backlogs and hiccups at times, and rapid tests in the UK and Spain turned out to be inaccurate. But rolling out testing in poorer countries aims to help health care workers get a better grip on where the virus is circulating, in hopes of following up with containment and other measures to stop it. Mr Sands said high-income countries are carrying out 292 tests per day per 100,000 people - while the lowest-income countries were conducting 14 per 100,000 people. He said the 120 million tests would represent a 'massive increase' in testing, but are still a fraction of what is needed in those countries. Abbotts device, known as BinaxNOW, is about the size of a credit card. It uses lateral flow technology which scans the surface of proteins in nasal samples for the presence of the virus. To perform the test, a nasal swab specimen is collected from the patient and inserted into the test card. Test results are interpreted visually at 15 minutes based on the presence or absence of visually detectable pink/purple coloured lines. In data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from a clinical study conducted by Abbott with several leading US research universities, the BinaxNOW card demonstrated sensitivity of about 98 per cent. Machine that processes 15,000 swabs per day, a 20-second saliva test and 28-a-go nostril sample analyser: How accurate are the tests being lined up for Boris Johnson's 'Operation Moonshot' plan to check 10million people a DAY? Rapid coronavirus tests that use saliva, work in minutes and cost less than 30 a time could be used to try and hit Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ambition of 10million tests a day in his 'Operation Moonshot'. The PM earlier this month announced plans for mass testing of people in the UK to allow people to return to normal, but ministers and chief scientists have admitted the technology to do this doesn't yet exist. There are, however, trials being done all over Britain of innovative swab tests that could see people given a diagnosis or all-clear in minutes, instead of the current days-long waiting time. Government pilots involving 'lab in a van' tests by the companies Oxford Nanopore (LamPORE technology), Optigene and DNANudge are already underway, but others are being developed and tested all the time. These are some of the tests that could be involved in Operation Moonshot: HALO - 'Game-changing' saliva test HALO saliva test kit: Clients can take the test at home by spitting into a tube (top right, the tube, bottom right, the funnel), and sending the sample off for processing Sample type: Saliva Turnaround time: As little as seven hours Tests per day: 'Over 250,000 tests per week' Accuracy: 100% specificity ( claimed Price: Unknown, but thought to be lower than 25 per kit. The website says: 'The cost is around the same as average private health insurance, and less than half that of the cheapest swab-based test.' British biotech company Halo has unveiled a saliva test which it says provides results in under seven hours, delivered through a phone app. Clients can take the test at home by spitting into a tube, and sending the sample off for processing at the company's lab at Imperial College London. It is not yet clear how many tests could be processed a day at this lab alone or whether the test could be scaled up for mass use. But Halo's website says: 'Each testing module is capable of over 250,000 tests per week. Although we have short term limits imposed by equipment, consumables and space, we can rapidly scale up our number of labs to meet any demand.' Halo's test works similarly to a PCR test used globally for testing people for the coronavirus using a swab. It purifies the genetic material from saliva and uses polymerase chain reaction to detect the virus in a lab. The company claims it is '100 per cent specific' to SARS-CoV-2, meaning a person should never get a 'false positive' result if they don't have the virus. It is 'ten times more sensitive than the PCR test', The Telegraph reported. Internal tests correctly identified the virus in 100 per cent of tested samples when the viral load was 1,000 times lower than amounts typically found in patient saliva, the company claims, meaning it is able to spot the virus even when it is in low levels. Jonathan Biles, Halo's chief executive, said: 'Our tests are very, very sensitive. We think we've got something that's game-changing,' The Financial Times reported. 'Saliva is much less intrusive, has a lower impact on the environment and is less labour intensive than other tests.' Saliva test kits from HALO are sent out to people's homes in an envelope, arranged via an app. The group's first customer is Exeter University which has bought tens of thousands of tests to conduct on students who display symptoms in a bid to avoid major disruptions from potential Covid-19 outbreaks. Student's won't even need to leave their accomodation to get a test. They will be sent on through the post. University of Exeter said: 'Those participants who take tests in the morning will receive same day results, participants in the afternoon will receive results the next day. The test results will then be fed into the national Test and Trace system. HALO, a team led by Dr Craig Rochford, inventor of the life-saving Epipen, is supported by top medics such as Sir Walter Bodmer and Professor Karol Sikora. The firm is now in talks with a global airline, a medical research facility, City firms and other businesses, to see how the test can fit in. 'It is designed for large British organisations to test their people conveniently and painlessly and get them back to work safely and cost-effectively,' the company said. LamPORE saliva sample testing in 90 minutes Sample type: Saliva or nasal swab Turnaround time: 90 minutes Tests per day: 2,000 (small); 15,000 (large) Accuracy: 99% ( claimed Price: Unknown (UK has bought at least 450,000) Biotech company Oxford Nanopore has developed portable swab-recording devices which use the firm's LamPORE tests WHAT IS 'OPERATION MOONSHOT'? How will it work? Ministers and health officials are banking on a test that does not need to be processed in a lab to be developed, so that users get their results in a matter of minutes rather than days. Similar to a pregnancy test, the saliva test would eliminate the need for people to travel sometimes long distances to testing centres before returning home to wait for the result. The tests may need to be sent to a laboratory. How much will it cost? Operation Moonshot will have a price tag of almost as much as NHS England's 114billion budget in 2018/19, as set out in documents seen by the British Medical Journal. Last week the Government pledged 500million for a new community-wide repeat testing trial in Salford, Greater Manchester, as part of pilot scheme for a no-swab saliva test. A number of residents will be invited for a weekly test, with up to 250 carried out each day, while existing trials of tests in Southampton and other parts of Hampshire will also be expanded. What is the Government hoping for? The aim of the tests is to start fully reopening society and getting the economy up and running even before a vaccine has been developed. After imposing stricter social distancing measures limiting groups meeting indoors or outdoors to just six people, with the threat of a fine for non-compliance, the Government is in dire need of some good news. Previewing the plans, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the programme would allow Covid-negative people to 'behave in a more normal way in the knowledge they can't infect anyone else with the virus'. What are the problems with the current testing programme? There have been numerous reports of people being asked to travel long distances to their nearest testing centre, only to discover that they do not have an appointment. One man, from Maidstone, Kent, who asked not to be named, revealed to the PA news agency that he was asked to make a 400-mile round trip for a test, only for his results to then be lost. On Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock also blamed the shortage of testing slots on symptom-free people attending for a test, despite the fact people can be symptom-free and still spread the virus. Advertisement 1) Biotech company Oxford Nanopore has developed portable swab-recording devices which use the firm's LamPORE tests and can determine whether a user has Covid in the space of an hour-and-a-half. The machines take 90 minutes to give a result and can process up to 15,000 samples a day. It involves taking a sample of saliva, unlike existing methods which require invasive and difficult nose and throat swabs. The LamPORE device, which also comes in a desktop version which is about the size of a printer, uses electronic means to record and analyse the samples. Each test is given a barcode which is individually assessed before returning back with the result. This must be done in a laboratory but the labs can be mobile and put into vans or pop-up test sites. The portable version of the LamPORE device is the same size as a CD player. Ministers have ordered 450,000 of the tests, which are now being trialled in Salford and Southampton. Millions more are due to be rolled out later in the year if they prove to be effective. The Salford trial will invite people in the community to come for weekly tests using a new saliva Covid-19 test that produces results in under an hour and a half. The pilot will begin with a select number of participants and up to 250 tests a day, to be scaled to the whole area. Initially, the pilot will focus on specific high footfall locations in the city, which includes retail, public services, transport and faith spaces. Phase two of the no-swab saliva test pilot in Southampton will also start this week. The second phase of the pilot will trial the weekly testing model in educational settings, with participation from staff and students at the University of Southampton and four Southampton schools. Over 2,100 pupils and staff across four schools will be invited to have a test as part of the pilot, which is led by a partnership of the University of Southampton, Southampton City Council and the NHS. The makers of the test have not revealed how accurate it is, and the Government has refused to divulge that information, too. Mr Hancock said of the tests: 'Oxford Nanopore's new rapid LamPORE tests will benefit thousands of people with fast and accurate test results, removing uncertainty and breaking chains of transmission quickly and safely. 'I am hugely grateful for the fantastic work Oxford Nanopore have done to push forward this important innovation in coronavirus testing.' OptiGene swab results in 20 minutes Sussex-based biomedical company OptiGene has created a nasal and throat swab test that takes just 20 minutes to diagnose people Sample type: Nasal & throat swab, or saliva Turnaround time: 20 minutes Tests per day: 300 per hour Accuracy: 97% Price: Unknown Sussex-based biomedical company OptiGene has created a nasal and throat swab test that takes just 20 minutes to diagnose people. Once swabs have been collected from patients, the samples are loaded into the devices, known as the Genie HT, which look for tiny traces of the virus in their DNA. The machines amplify the DNA billions of times chemically so they can detect the virus with extreme sensitivity. They can also be used with saliva samples. The device has proven to be just as accurate as PCR swabs, which take days to give results, in clinical trials by Public Health England. In contrast to the widely used PCR tests, which need be processed at different temperatures, the Genie HT does not require a change in temperature to detect results. It is currently being trialled by the Government on thousands in A&E departments, GP coronavirus testing hubs and care homes across Hampshire, and will be rolled out in the new testing programmes in Salford and Southampton. Four thousand people of all ages have been involved in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust trial. A study done during that trial Hampshire have found the test to be 97 per cent sensitive, meaning it can find 97 out of 100 positive cases, and 99 per cent specific, meaning only one in 100 people would get a false positive result. DNANudge 75 minutes to a result from a nostril swab Sample type: Nostril Turnaround time: 75 minutes Tests per day: 15 Accuracy: 98% Price: 28 each on average (UK paid 161million for 5.8m tests including 5,000 machines) The DNANudge test can detect the virus from just a nostril sample - much less invasive than some throat swabs. Once a swab is taken, it's inserted into a handheld reader that provides results within just 75 minutes. The DnaNudge has a sensitivity of over 98 per cent - meaning it can pick up on mild and asymptomatic cases - and specificity of 100 per cent. The 100 per cent specificity means it can tell the difference between a person who doesn't have the disease at all and a sample which wasn't taken properly, meaning there aren't any false negatives. After successful trials on 500 patients in London hospitals, the 'lab in a cartridge' device was approved for clinical use by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) at the end of April. One of the new test kits, made by London-based DNANudge, scours DNA in nose swabs and takes just 75 minute The Government has purchased at least 5,000 of the DNANudge machines, which can process up to 15 tests a day, to provide six million tests in the coming months. The test, developed by Imperial College London's Chris Toumazou, is based on the design of a DNA test and can give a result in just over an hour, significantly cutting down on the 48-hour wait for a laboratory diagnosis. Matt Hancock has previously said about the machines: 'By quickly detecting whether the virus is present in an individual, this new test is an important step forward in point of care testing which means that positive cases can be identified and contained quickly and safely. 'I am hugely grateful to DnaNudge and their incredible work to innovate coronavirus testing, which will mean we can test millions more people in the coming months.' PCR tests - set to be increased to 500,000 per day Sample type: Nose and throat swab Turnaround time: At least 24 hours Tests per day: Currently 65,000 Accuracy: 87-92% Price: Some 25 per test PCR tests are the now-infamous nose and throat swabs which currently make up all of the Government's diagnostic testing programme. Under 'Operation Moonshot', the Prime Minister said officials are 'working hard to increase our testing capacity to 500,000 tests a day by the end of October'. Currently, between 150,000 and 200,000 tests are processed each day, but this includes surveillance studies that use antibody tests. According to the most recent NHS Test and Trace data, 452,679 people were given a swab test under Pillar 1 (hospitals) and Pillar 2 (community) in the week August 20 to 26 - less than 65,000 people per day. PHE provides instructions for people who are sent home kits every day in the UK (pictured). The accuracy of viral RNA swabs depends almost entirely on the quality of sampling The swab test used worldwide is the so-called 'PCR test' that looks for active infection. It usually takes at least 24 hours to get a result back. The sample is then sent to a lab, where it will be tested to determine if the patient's cells, swabbed from their throat and nose, are infected with the virus. The coronavirus is a RNA virus, which means it uses ribonucleic acid as its genetic material. A process called reverse transcription is needed to transcribe the RNA into readable DNA. A swab sample doesn't collect much RNA in one go, therefore a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to rapidly make billions of copies so it can be analysed. WHICH TESTS ARE THE GOVERNMENT USING IN THE NEW TRIALS? Optigene: The Optigene testing kit, which can use nasal swabs or saliva samples, is being used in pilots in Southampton and Salford, Greater Manchester. A study done during a trial in a Hampshire hospital trust found the tests to be 97% accurate. LamPORE: The LamPORE technology has been bought in a batch of 450,000 kits by the UK Government and they will be used in the Salford and Southampton trials, and on 2,100 people in schools in the port city. DNANudge: Officials have bought 5.8million DNANudge tests to be used in 5,000 machines, at a cost of 161million. They will be used in NHS hospitals to analyse nose swabs at speed. Advertisement The DNA is dyed a fluorescent colour, which glows if the coronavirus is present, confirming a diagnosis. It gives a yes or no answer, but not how much virus the person is infected with. There are some drawbacks to the PCR test, including that a swab taken from someone who has very recently been infected by the coronavirus will not yet contain any virus. The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) says between two and three people who have Covid-19 may test negative. This is dangerous because it means the patients may go outside and spread the virus to others, under the belief they are free of the infection. The accuracy of viral RNA swabs depends almost entirely on the quality of sampling and when the sample is taken in the course of disease, which will vary greatly, experts say. Public Health England (PHE) has never disclosed how accurate its antigen testing is, despite publishing public papers on the accuracy of antibody tests. Meanwhile, it has recently come to light that the PCR test may be 'too sensitive'. Up to 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada in July carried barely any traces of the virus. PCR tests analyse genetic matter from the virus in cycles and today's tests typically take 37 or 40 cycles, but experts say this is too high because it detects very small amounts of the virus that don't pose a risk. The test's threshold is so high it detects people with the live virus and those with few genetic fragments that are leftovers from infection and no longer pose risk, Dr Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said. SAMBA II 30-a-go swab analyser is 99% accurate The SAMBA II was created by University of Cambridge spin-off company Diagnostics for the Real World Sample type: Nose and throat swab Turnaround time: 90 minutes Tests per day: 15 Accuracy: 99% Price: 30 per test The SAMBA II has shown to be almost 99 per cent accurate at analysing swabs and can give a result in just 90 minutes. The portable machine can diagnose Covid-19 in less than 90 minutes, but only has the capacity to process 15 tests a day. It was developed by University of Cambridge spin-off company Diagnostics for the Real World. It scours DNA in throat and nose swabs to detect the virus. Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge has been trialling the device since April. They have shown to be so effective that the hospital switched nearly all of its coronavirus testing from standard lab tests to the Samba machines in May. A Samba test, costing approximately 30 per sample, would outweigh the cost of each additional bed day at around 200 'many times over', the team said. The tests have been validated at the Public Health England, Cambridge in 102 patient samples and shown to have 98.7 per cent sensitivity and 100 per cent specificity. The machines are already used to diagnose other blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. Virolens - a 20-second test used at Heathrow Sample type: Saliva Turnaround time: 20 seconds Tests per day: 'Hundreds' from one screening device Accuracy: 97%+ Price: Unknown Virolens is a screening device that uses a digital camera attached to a microscope to analyse saliva samples, giving results in 20 seconds Virolens is a screening device that uses a digital camera attached to a microscope to analyse saliva samples, giving results in 20 seconds. It's developed by British startup iAbra, with design and manufacturing expertise from TT Electronics and technology powered by Intel, and is about to embark on clinical trials which is necessary for it to be certified for medical use. Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye is urging the Government to fast track the test following a successful three-week trial at Heathrow Airport as part of the Government's Condor programme. He said today: 'Testing for Covid-19 is the lifeline that the UK economy needs to get back on its feet. 'I have experienced iAbra's test myself, alongside the PCR test - it is quicker and cheaper, and potentially more accurate.' People swab saliva from their cheek and tongue before placing the sample in a cartridge that is analysed by the device, cutting the need for a laboratory. The Virolens system reportedly has a 99.8 per cent sensitivity, which means almost every single person who tests positive is truly infected, and there are no 'false negatives' - when someone is wrongly told they do not have the coronavirus. And the test has 96.7 per cent specificity, based on the results of a study at the University of Bristol, meaning just over three in every 100 people will get a 'false positive' result when people are incorrectly led to believe they have virus. The company said the test does not need to be carried out by a healthcare professional, making it useful for airports, stadium and music venues. Each screening device is capable of carrying out hundreds of tests per day. The Telegraph reports each unit can test some 1,650 people per day, and 15,000 units are in the pipeline for production. The Government is reportedly in talks with epigenetics company Chronomics about its saliva test for coronavirus (pictured) Chronomics - one-hour results from a spit test Sample type: Saliva Turnaround time: 1 hour Tests per day: Unknown Accuracy: 'Super accurate' ( claimed Price: Unknown London-based company Chronomics has developed an easy coronavirus spit test that has reportedly gained Government attention. In June, The Telegraph reported that the Government was in talks with the British firm, founded by scientists at Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and University College London. RAPID TESTS 'DON'T EXIST YET' Experts are cautious about the ability to deliver 'Operation Moonshot' because the rapid tests don't actually exist yet. Minutes after the plans were unveiled by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Downing Street press briefing, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the technology was not yet available, warning he should not put a date on when it would be because 'that's not how science works'. And Chief Scientific Advisor Patrick Vallance said: 'There are prototypes which look as though they have some effect, but they've got to be tested properly. 'We would be completely wrong to assume this is a slam dunk that can definitely happen.' On Thursday morning, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps declined to give a timeframe for when the tests would be read. He was realistic about the fact that it could be a long time, telling Sky News: 'This is technology that, to be perfectly blunt, requires further development there isn't a certified test in the world that does this but there are people that are working on prototypes.' Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chairman of the British Medical Association, said it was unclear how the so-called Operation Moonshot would work - given the 'huge problems' currently seen with lab capacity. Although the idea is to roll out 'on the spot tests', some need to be read in a laboratory, and currently the testing system is creaking with 200,000 swab tests being carried out a day. This is set to increase to 500,000 by the end of October, the PM said. According to the most recent NHS Test and Trace data, 452,679 people were given a swab test under Pillar 1 (hospitals) and Pillar 2 (community) in the week August 20 to 26 - less than 65,000 people per day. Advertisement One expert involved with the project said the firm was aiming to produce test results within one hour of the samples arriving at labs. Philip Beales, a professor at the University College London Institute of Child Health, who has been helping to coordinate the efforts of smaller firms, said: 'Our guys are working on a one hour turnaround time from receipt of the sample in the lab, to getting the actual result back.' The kit, which requires someone to spit into a tube, is easier and less painful than swabs currently used at hospitals, drive-in test facilities and in home packs. The collection of the sample can be done anywhere - at home, work or in hospital - by the patient themselves, and the person does not need to have symptoms. It involves the individual spitting sputum - a mixture of saliva and phlegm - into a tube and then sending it to a lab, where technicians read it for RNA - the viruses genetic information. Professor Beale said: 'The saliva test has this inactivation buffer in the bottom, which inactivates the virus, preserves the RNA and then in thousands of [labs] in the country, you can just do a straightforward RNA extraction.' Chronomics says it has the ability to significantly increase how many tests are conducted and is the 'solution to mass scale testing'. And it claims the saliva test is 'super accurate'. The website says: 'Even small errors at high numbers can have dangerous consequences in the context of an infectious disease. 'Our test... is incredibly sensitive (in a controlled lab environment it can detect a single copy of the virus), it is highly specific to SARS-CoV-2 (and won't be confounded by other human viruses) and it will detect all strains of the virus that have evolved to date.' Randox portable swab tester saves on lab time Randox's portable antigen test, called the Vivalytic, can process five swabs an hour Sample type: Nose and throat swab Turnaround time: 12 minutes Tests per day: Five per hour Accuracy: Unknown Price: Unknown The Government partnered with Northern Irish firm Randox in April to ramp up testing in the nation. Randox's portable antigen test, called the Vivalytic, can process five swabs an hour. These are likely to be the same type of swabs currently used that go in the nose and mouth but processed at speed. It has been scaled up across multiple hospitals in Northern Ireland. The device is also used at the point of care and operated by a healthcare professional. Randox says its device works by 'identifying SARS-CoV-2 and differentiating it from nine other respiratory infections with similar symptoms, including influenza and all known coronaviruses'. The devices are still being trialled. In July, 750,000 swabs were recalled after they failed to meet the required safety standards. Randox said the issue was with one of its suppliers of its swabs. The machines which process the swabs have not been deemed unsafe. Pregnancy test-style kits home tests for 5 being checked by PHE Sir John Bell, an Oxford University scientist and key Government adviser, said cheap pregnancy-style tests devices were currently being assessed by scientists at Public Health England Rapid tests for Covid-19 which give a diagnosis in minutes could be approved within weeks, according to a leading scientist. Sir John Bell, an Oxford University scientist and key Government adviser, said the cheap devices were currently being assessed by scientists at Public Health England. He did not reveal which tests have been selected for inspection by officials, but mentioned a 'lovely test from the US' being brought in. He claimed they could be sold on Amazon or Boots for as little as 5 if they are proven to be over 90 per cent accurate. Professor Bell said the devices, that are 'no larger than a teacup', plug into a socket in the wall and process swabs within an hour. One from the US which is currently under review is able to process a sample in the time it would take for a person to have a shower or eat their breakfast, he claimed. Sir John said scientists at Porton Down - government run laboratories in Salisbury, Wiltshire, are currently assessing rapid antigen tests. Intelligent Fingerprinting experimental kit that uses sweat The rapid test scours sweat for the virus and takes just 10 minutes This sweat-testing kit is not a confirmed part of the UK Government's considerations but has potential as a simple alternative to swab testing. British diagnostics firm Intelligent Fingerprinting and Imperial College London joined forces to develop a rapid test that scours sweat for the virus. The test is said to take just 10 minutes to produce a diagnosis. It works by collecting fingerprint sweat onto a small test cartridge for analysis. The sample is then analysed by a portable DSR-Plus analysis unit. The machine uses sensitive lateral flow technology and fluorescence measurement methods. Its makes say the test is more hygienic and has less chance of being done wrong because it utilises sweat samples rather than a throat or mouth swab. It's unclear how accurate the test is or whether UK ministers are looking into it. Nonacus - a spit test in development backed by Government funding Birmingham-based Nonacus, who have developed a Covid-19 spit test, received the share of a 40million Government grant to speed up work. The test involves spitting sputum into a tube - couriered or sent to a person's own home - which is then sealed and sent to the laboratory. Nonacus said the samples obtained could be examined by a significantly higher and broader number of labs than those processing existing swabs, The Telegraph reported, because a solution in the bottom of the tube inactivates the coronavirus. Under government rules, live samples, like those on swabs, can only be examined by labs with highly specialised equipment to avoid contamination or spread of the coronavirus. In May, Nonacus revealed it was one of 800 companies that had been given a portion of 40million from Innovate UK, part of the 1.25billion coronavirus package first announced by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help UK businesses driving innovation and development during Covid-19. It will use this validate rapid surveillance testing for Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses. Chris Sale, CEO and co-founder of Nonacus, said: 'It will allow us to extend the technology to include SARS-CoV-2 as part of a comprehensive respiratory viral surveillance product so, if your cough is not due to COVID-19, we will be able to tell you what is causing it.' The website said: 'Nonacus expect the product to become commercially available later this year. 'In order to support the governments back-to-work strategy and avoid a second spike of cases, accurate, real-time monitoring of the coronavirus and its spread is critical. 'This requires advanced testing methods which can be rapidly deployed across many laboratories, globally, to allow for the surveillance and monitoring of the virus within and between populations by public health institutions.' TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IMPROVATE held a first of a kind conference on "food security" with the aim of connecting Israeli technology companies with African nations tackle the continent's urgent challenge of feeding a rapidly growing population. Agriculture Ministers of five African nations, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) presented to Israeli technology companies the challenges and problems faced by their countries. IMPROVATE Food Security - Full Event Israel Minister of Science & Technology, Yizhar Shai; The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Tony Blair; and Irina Nevzlin, founder of IMPROVATE (credit: Oded Karni) (PRNewsfoto/IMPROVATE) Watch the conference: https://youtu.be/0wCK6coy6gU The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Rt.Hon. Mr. Tony Blair, opened the conference, stating: "Food security is a huge challenge, and it was a challenge before COVID, which has just deepened that challenge This is a huge opportunity to use technology to help lives, to improve lives, to save lives, to improve the quality of agriculture in Africa, to help Africa fulfil its potential as a major source of food, not just for Africans, but for the world... This is something that is transformative, groundbreaking and will change the world." Senior African ministers and officials participated in the conference: Mr. Joseph Antoine Kasonga Mukuta - Minister of Agriculture, Democratic Republic of Congo; Mr. Jonathan Bialosuka Wata - Minister of Fisheries and Livestock, Democratic Republic of Congo; Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga - Permanent Secretary of the State Department for Crop Development & Agricultural Research, Republic of Kenya; H.E Ato Sani Redi - Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ethiopia; H.E. Job D. Masima - Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania; Mr. Rene Awambeng, Global Head of Client Relations, African Export Import Bank; Emmanuel Rwakagara Nzungize - Chairman of the Agricultural Organization CIPA RDC, Democratic Republic of Congo; Mr. Jabulani Mabuza - Minister for Agriculture, Eswatini; Mr. Mpoko Bokanga, PhD - Agroindustry Specialist; Mr. Manuel Moses - Country Manager, East Africa, International Finance Corporation. A total of 10 leading Israeli companies presented solutions to the challenges raised by the African representatives: Netafim - water supply with drip irrigation; ICL - innovative enhanced efficiency fertilizers; BioFishency - solar-powered aquaculture fisheries; NextFerm - food security through natural fermentation proteins; Milkey - increasing dairy production; AgroScout - autonomous disease monitoring for agriculture; LR Group - construction and development of agricultural projects; Ashra-The Israel Foreign Trade Risks Insurance Corporation - financial solutions; Bermad - innovative water delivery solutions; AlefBet Planners - solutions for construction of dairy farms and planning of agricultural areas; Israel Discount Bank - financial cooperation. Israel Minister of Science & Technology, Yizhar Shai: "Innovation today leads the dialogue between nations and reinforces the importance of peace between peoples." IMPROVATE founder & chair, Irina Nevzlin: "During periods of crisis, people tend to focus on the problem, on its causes, and on who is to blame. But the important thing is to understand the source of the problem, and we believe in the need for a platform that enables leaders and companies to focus on the solutions to problems. That is the role of IMPROVATE - to connect between governments and technological leaders, who wish to find practical solutions to problems in order to advance common goals that will improve the lives of many." IMPROVATE CEO Ronit Hasin Hochman stated that IMPROVATE will follow up by connecting government officials from African nations that participated in the conference with the 10 Israel technology companies that took part - with the aim of bringing technologies to these countries. About IMPROVATE: IMPROVATE was launched in September 2020 with a vision to make innovation and technology accessible to all. Operating out of London and Tel Aviv, IMPROVATE's mission is to connect change-makers in technology with leaders and decision makers, through international conferences, business delegations and deals between governments and companies, in order to help realize global progress through innovation. In a world where the focus is often on problems, IMPROVATE is a platform dedicated to finding solutions. For further information visit our website: improvate.net Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wCK6coy6gU Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283700/Improvate.jpg SOURCE IMPROVATE Related Links http://www.improvate.net U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun talks to journalists in front of the U.S Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28 after completing his meeting with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon. Yonhap U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said Monday he discussed "creative ideas" on how to move the stalled negotiations with North Korea forward during talks with South Korea's chief nuclear envoy. "The United States and the Republic of Korea remain fully committed to diplomacy as a way to reach an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula, to achieve denuclearization, to bring about a brighter future for all of the Korean People and to bring about normalcy in the United States' relationship with the DPRK," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun told reporters. He spoke shortly after talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon. "I very much appreciate (the) encouragement and creative ideas that we discussed today. But we cannot do it by ourselves. The U.S and ROK cannot do it by ourselves. We need the DPRK engaged, and we remain open to that discussion with them when they are prepared," Biegun said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Lee said the two had "very productive" discussions on ways to move forward. "Special envoy Biegun and I discussed how we will manage this situation and how we will resume our dialogue (with North Korea)," Lee said. "And also in our conversation, (we) discussed various ways on how we will lead our joint tasks of denuclearizing the peninsula and establishing a peace regime," added the South Korean diplomat, who arrived here Sunday on a four-day visit. North Korea has stayed away from any serious dialogue with South Korea and the United States since leader Kim Jong-un's second bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump ended without a deal in February 2019. South Korea's top nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon, left, fist-bumps with Stephen Biegun in front of the U.S Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28. Yonhap Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired an equity stake in New Ruipeng Group (NRP Group) which operates digital and clinical pet services across China The partnership with NRP Group aims to expand health solutions, quality advice and professional care to the growing number of pets and pet owners in China Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired an equity stake in China-based New Ruipeng Group (NRP Group). NRP Group is a fast-growing business that offers veterinary care, e-commerce and many other services to pet owners and the broader animal health market across China. "Improving the health of animals and humans is what drives us in Boehringer Ingelheim. Strong collaborations and partnerships have always been key to achieving this goal," commented Jean Scheftsik de Szolnok, Member of the Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for Animal Health. "Together with NRP Group and other partners we are looking forward to serving pet owners in China and contributing with our knowledge in areas such as disease understanding or training and education." China's pet market is one of the?fastest growing markets in the world. The number of pets is continuously rising as they play an increasingly significant role in people's lives, and pet owners are looking for integrated online and offline products, services and information. "We are committed to expanding our active role in this dynamic and fast-paced market. Along with NRP Group and our other partners, we believe we can advance animal health care in China to the benefit of our customers, our employees, our businesses, and most importantly, the pets," shared David Gocken, Head of Animal Health for The Chinese Markets, Boehringer Ingelheim. Through collaboration and knowledge sharing, the aim of the partnership with NRP Group is to offer better solutions, quality advice and professional care to the growing number of pets and pet owners across China. This is an exciting milestone for the company's business development in China. Boehringer Ingelheim will continue to invest in China and make its contributions to people's aspirations for integrated and innovative solutions for their pets. Boehringer Ingelheim remains fully committed to its current and future business partners,?such as other clinics, veterinarians, distributors and animal health companies, and to expanding business opportunities with them.?Both companies will continue to work independently according to their respective business models. Through this investment, Boehringer Ingelheim joins a group of Chinese and overseas investors in NRP Group, including Tencent Holdings Ltd., a Chinese multinational technology company. Please click on the link for 'Notes to Editors' and 'References': https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/partnership-further-develop-pet-market-china View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005482/en/ Contacts: Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Communication Tereza Urbankova 552 16 Ingelheim, Germany Phone: +49 6132 77 184817 Email: press@boehringer-ingelheim.com China's Christian children in the crosshairs Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A court in Chinas southern Fujian province has summoned a house church preacher and his wife for not sending his children to public school and homeschooling them, according to a watchdog. Preacher You Guanda of Dianqian Church in Xiamen city and his wife have been asked to report to Shaowu Court on the morning of Sept. 23, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. They were charged with custody disputes by the local government, ICC said. Read more at: https://www.christianpost.com/news/china-house-church-preacher-wife-face-charges-for-homeschooling-children.html SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The COVID-19 pandemic has forced officials to cancel one of the biggest carnival celebrations in the Caribbean. Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said Monday that next years carnival will not be held. The announcement was a blow for the twin-island nation, which has been struggling through an economic crisis. The event held before Ash Wednesday attracts thousands of visitors every year, and generated more than $3 million last year. The announcement came a week after authorities in Rio de Janeiro cancelled that citys famed carnival celebration, which had been scheduled for February, for the first time in a century. Trinidad & Tobago, a nation of 1.2 million people, has reported more than 4,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 70 deaths. The government is currently limiting social gatherings to five people. Sallie Gregory Hammett Instagram A South Carolina woman paid tribute to her late dog by writing and publishing" his obituary which has since gone viral on social media. Speaking with HuffPost, Sallie Gregory Hammett said that she wrote her beloved golden retriever Charlie his own obituary as a way to grieve and come to terms with his death. "Ive always loved writing, and when Charlie passed it was just so overwhelming that I needed to do something cathartic," she told the outlet, adding that she wanted "something to celebrate and memorialize him, because he was such a huge part of my life." Gregory Hammett, 30, said that she originally pursued publishing the memorial in her local paper, but decided to create a mock-newspaper obituary instead after she saw what the obituary piece would cost to publish. Friends and family then encouraged her to share the obituary online, so she posted the heart-warming obit on Twitter, where the tweet has garnered over 100,000 likes since it was originally posted on Sept. 22. RELATED: HGTV's Nicole Curtis Mourns the Death of Her Beloved Dog Lucy: 'The Tears Havent Stopped' I wrote my dog an obituary because of course I did. He was the best boy. pic.twitter.com/FKmqeivtq9 Sallie Hammett (@SallieGHammett) September 22, 2020 In her memorial, Gregory Hammett wrote that Charlie was born in 2013 and died when he succumbed to lymphoma "after five months of bravery." "Born July 15th, 2013, in Easley, South Carolina, Charlie was the son of Sallie Gregory Hammett," the Greenville resident wrote, before noting that he was adopted by his "loving dog dad," David Hammett, who Gregory Hammett married this past May, four years later. Then, listing all of the things that Charlie adored including swimming, smiling, bananas, and chasing squirrels Gregory Hammett added that her beloved pooch "loved everything life had to offer," except for stairs, which he hated. Story continues Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories "More than anything else, Charlie loved his mom. He was always there to greet her with some kisses and a firm grip on her arm," the obit continues. "He was her constant companion." "Charlie spent his last days in his favorite place, the beach," the statement adds. "He relaxed in the Charlie-sized holes he dug himself, and drove straight into the oncoming waves. His last days were so happy and will be cherished forever." The obit concludes: "He will be forever missed and forever remembered, but he left behind his fierce love, which never wavered." RELATED: Josh Groban Mourns the Death of His Dog Sweeney: 'I Am Deeply Heartbroken' Sallie Gregory Hammett Instagram I know its cliche but he was my best friend, Gregory Hammett told HuffPost. He went with me everywhere work, hiking, trips to Home Depot. He was just a constant source of comfort and companionship and joy. Everyone that knew me knew Charlie and knew how much I loved him. Reacting to the love she has received on her Twitter post, Gregory Hammett said, The likes are awesome but the best part has been all of the replies. Reading about everyone elses special doggos, and all the people that say they loved Charlie even though they never met him, its just been so comforting it makes me feel less alone and just flooded with love," she added. "And Charlie has been so celebrated! He was a special boy and it means the world to me." Andreia Professional, a Portuguese brand specialized in the cosmetic and beauty area, announces the launch of the new range Lab: This is the new range Andreia Professional for nail care. Brittle, damaged, dehydrated, and weak nails have now the right prescription to bring back all the vitality and strength, thanks to the 23 products launched by the brand. For dry and peeling nails, calcium is the solution! Yellow or pigmented nails Hughes is charged with fatally shooting Fatima Kamara, 25, on Sept. 21 at the Chillum apartment where they lived. Officers were called to the apartment for a reported shooting, and when they arrived they found the woman dead. Investigators said Hughes shot her during an argument. The combination of war and Covid-19 is devastating to Libyans, already weary from nearly a decade of instability As the North African country of Libya heads into another day of extensive electricity outages, living conditions worsen and this time its not only because of the conflict. Covid-19 is also taking a large bite out of whats left of Libya. At this time of the year, blackouts are as intolerable as ever. In one day, an average power cut can take up to 20 hours, taking away every ounce of stability left from a Libyan persons life. In a 2020 research report called Tripolis electricity crisis and its politicisation, it describes how prolonged daily power cuts have had an impact on different aspects of everyday life. According to this research, This results in drastically reduced productivity and revenue, the death of new-born babies in hospital incubators, the spread of respiratory difficulties attributable to ubiquitous power generator smoke, and the undermining of morale among the capitals citizens,. Noise pollution accelerates as power generators are kept on for most of the day; making up for long hours without electricity to power the simplest of everyday needs. With generators being used so frequently. another issue arises the diesel fuel that powers these generators became immensely scarce. With no electricity, there is also no mobile phone signal or mobile data either. Libyans are almost completely cut off from the rest of the world and with Covid-19 cases on the rise, they are cut off from each other too. If you dont have money, life is miserable and if you do have money, life is miserable, said Libya Herald Editor-in-Chief Sami Zaptia. They spend all day either queuing up for cooking gas, looking for diesel or lining up outside the bank to get a hold of some cash, he added. Youre living just to stand still, not to progress. Its an encompassing depression, he said. These daily queues for lifes simplest essentials make it even more difficult to social distance, exposing many to the virus. A 39-year-old doctor illustrates the horror of coping with a pandemic in a country that barely has any health facilities left since war broke out. My whole family tested positive for Covid-19 and when we needed to seek more medical help, the hospitals were at full capacity; patients were scattered outside the hospital in hope of a free spot, said the doctor. Libyans are constantly living in fear whether it be fear of violence or fear of becoming ill and not being able to do anything about it. I had a friend who had tested positive for Covid-19 and because of the full capacity of hospitals youre forced to stay at home or forced to drive from one private clinic to another, said Zaptia. Libya is not the place youd want to be ill; it was never the place to be ill, he added. Due to the below average healthcare system, many Libyans would always seek medical help outside Libya. In some situations, those who could not afford it would sell their properties and personal belongings to get treated in neighbouring countries, Tunisia or Egypt. The pandemic, however, is not only a healthcare crisis; it also has a huge impact on the country economically and socially. The pandemic is already compounding Libyas tenuous economic situation with increased prices for food and goods. With people losing their income and unable to access food or pay their rent, continued food assistance will be crucial as needs are already on the rise, said UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Public Information Officer Jennifer Bose Ratka. The Covid-19 pandemic and emergency measures, including curfews and movement restrictions, are also impacting displaced peoples livelihoods, their ability to find safe shelter and their access to basic services, said Ratka. This added to already existing issues of gender-based violence and sexual assault as more people are forced to stay at home. Ive had objects thrown at me; Ive been pushed around and there was nothing I can do about it. I couldnt even go outside because of the lockdown, said a domestic violence victim who chose to stay anonymous. Women are amongst the most vulnerable in Libya. Just a few weeks back a middle-aged woman was abducted whilst driving her car. She was later found murdered. Stories like this have become common in the unstable country. Ongoing conflict and Covid-19 are a deadly combination, compounding human suffering and bringing Libya to the brink of collapse, said Ratka. Ratka lived in Libya for around two months for her job. One devastating story she remembers is when she recently met Omar, a father of seven and a migrant who came to Libya 15 years ago from Morocco to support his family. He was mine survivor recovering at Tripoli Hospital. He (Omar) rebuilds houses that are damaged by the conflict and lost his left leg when he stepped on a mine in one of the houses he visited for work, said Ratka. It broke my heart to see how this incident shattered his whole life. He does not know how to care for his children anymore, if he will ever be able to work again or even how to afford his medical bills. This is just one of the many examples of people in Libya having to bear the brunt of the conflict, she added. According to Ratka, around one million people in Libya are in need of humanitarian assistance. But due to ongoing clashes, and restrictions on movement, it is difficult to get humanitarian aid to those who need assistance. The situation for refugees and migrants in detention centres is particularly concerning as the dire and congested conditions, with limited access to sanitation, pose particular risks when it comes to infectious diseases, said Ratka. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: By Akbar Mammadov Armenia continues to shell Azerbaijans densely-populated areas, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures. Another Azerbaijani civilian was killed as Armenia fired heavy artillery on Azerbaijans densely populated villages on the line of contact on September 29, biringing the civilian death toll to 11 since the outbreak of clashes on September 27. Resident of Agdam District - Sariyev Elmaddin, born in 1997, died from the shrapnel wound as an artillery shell fell on the medical centre in Aghdam's Garadagli village at 1 pm, the Prosecutor Generals Office reported. The building of the centre was destroyed and the residents in that area were evacuated in the attack. Two more civilians were killed earlier that day in Tartar district. Some 65 houses, five civilian facilities have been destroyed and many cattle and livestock have perished in Armenian artillery attacks. Overall, 33 civilians have been hospitalized with various injuries as a result of Armenian attacks, the Prosecutor General's Office said. The Prosecutor Generals Office emphasized that Armenian forces have chosen densely populated areas - regional and rural centres, civil infrastructure objects - hospitals, medical centres, school buildings, kindergartens as targets. It should be noted that on September 27, five members of one family in the Azerbaijani village of Gashalti, Naftalan region were killed a result of Armenian shelling. Two of the killed family members are schoolchildren aged 14 and 13. Moreover, 14-year-old-child Haziyev Hilal was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds in his head in Cabrayil Districts Cocug Marjanli village as a result of fire opened by Armenian armed forces on September 29. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijan liberated Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district as well as strategically-important Murov height and destroyed the positions of the Armenian armed forces in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz New Delhi: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday gave his blessings to SP-Congress alliance for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2017. Speaking to media outside the Budget Session in Parliament in New Delhi, Mulayam said he will even campaign for the party, but after Feb 9. I will campaign for SP after Feb 9, it does not matter if Congress candidates are also there, Mulayam Said, however on the question of blessings to the alliance he said, Yes, I give my blessings. Mulayam had earlier announced that he will not campaign for the SP and Congress in the assembly elections as he does not approve of the alliance. Samajwadi Party could have won by itself, we do not need Congress help, he had told media on Sunday, the day Akhilesh and Congress VC Rahul Gandhi addressed their first joint press conference. Read | Mulayam Singh Yadav against SP-Congress alliance; vows not to participate in campaign The deal painstakingly brokered by his son and party chief Akhilesh Yadav as one the first act after dethroning his father gives him a seat share of 298 out of 403, while Congress will contest elections on 105 seats. Read | SP-Congress roadshow | 'Hand' to steer 'Cycle' and defeat BJP in UP: Akhilesh, Rahul For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. HOLYOKE With mail-in ballots reaching households in the coming week and early voting set to begin Oct. 17, City Clerk Brenna McGee is preparing for a record turnout in the Nov. 3 presidential election. McGees staff already processed more than 6,300 mail-in ballot applications. Weve been preparing ourselves in the office to get them ready to go out, she said. McGee strongly recommended voters return the ballots once completed as millions of voters switch to the mail-in option during the coronavirus pandemic. With widespread reports of delays in mail delivery, the clerks office installed a drop box at the side entrance to City Hall. Staff members check the drop box throughout the day. People felt it was more secure and convenient, McGee said. The Sept. 1 state primary saw a record 34% turnout in Holyoke, including more than 5,000 mail-in ballots. Voters can drop off the ballots until the polls close election night. McGee said residents who plan to mail their ballots should do so at least a week before the election. We anticipate more and more because the secretary of states office mailed another round of applications to anyone that didnt request a mail-in ballot for September, McGee said. The original application allowed voters to request ballots for the primary and general elections. Early voting will run Oct. 17-30 at Holyoke City Hall, including Saturday and Sunday sessions. During the week, voters can cast ballots from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., entering through the side parking deck entrance. The clerks office recorded a 63% turnout in the 2016 presidential race. McGee said 2020 will easily surpass the 2016 mark. McGee has seen an uptick in disinformation in this election season. But she said while some voters may criticize mail-in ballots on social media, her office receives mostly positive comments. Once a mail-in ballot is counted by the clerks office, the voter is removed from the in-person voting list. We have a state system that we use and it allows us to put one ballot in per person. Theres no way someone is going to vote multiple times, McGee said. Voters can track their ballot on the secretary of states website. For more about the upcoming election, visit the Holyoke city clerks voter information page. Union Minister on Monday said that (NCP) chief may get a "big post" in the future if he joins the NDA and said there is "no advantage" in staying with Shiv Sena. "Shiv Sena should again join hands with BJP. If Shiv Sena doesn't come with us, I appeal to (NCP chief) to join NDA for development for the state. He may get a big post in the future. There is no advantage in staying with Shiv Sena," Athawale said at a press conference here. In 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats in the last Maharashtra Assembly polls while the Shiv Sena got 56 seats in the 288-member state Assembly. However, Shiv Sena later went ahead with Congress and the NCP to form the government in the state. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Trend Canada's Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab issued statement in connection with the latest developments around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing Government of Canada. "Canada and the UK are deeply concerned by reports of large scale military action along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Reports of shelling of settlements and civilian casualties are deeply concerning. We call for the immediate end of hostilities, respect for the ceasefire agreement, and the protection of civilians. Any solution to this conflict must disavow violence and involve a peaceful, negotiated resolution through the framework provided by the OSCEs Minsk process. We support the work of the OSCEs Minsk Group and fully support the Co-Chairs' latest statement," said the statement. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz In July, some members of the House of Representatives crammed themselves in a hearing room in the National Assembly complex with officials of the Niger Delta Development Commission and journalists. The sole agenda for the day was for officials of the NDDC, an interventionist agency in Nigerias oil-rich Niger Delta, to defend the agency against the allegation of financial recklessness at the commission. For months leading to the hearing, the agency had faced various corruption allegations, with some describing it as an ATM and cash cow for its corrupt top officials. As the session went on in July, and the nation anxiously watched to see how the probe would end, events took a dramatic turn. After he was asked why 135 billion was spent by its staff to take care of themselves, the NDDC boss, Daniel Pondei, dropped his head, fainted and was rushed out of the room. Other dramas would later play out that day, but none beat the opening scene. Like that fateful probe, similar probes may be due at the National Assembly itself that may unveil a series of scandals. Since 2012, the National Assembly has kept details of its budget away from the the public, except in 2017. From 2003 till date, allocation to the National Assembly has ranged from 23 billion in 2003 to 154 billion in 2010. Since 2012 save for 2017 when it allocated 125 billion to itself the lawmakers have refused to publish the breakdown of their annual budget. Within those years, the legislative arm has allocated about 1.2 trillion to itself. Estimates by BudgIT, a local civic entity focused on simplifying budgetary information for Nigerians, showed that between 1999 and 2015, the National Assembly has received about 1.26 trillion with little accountability. The 2017 breakthrough under former Senate President Bukola Saraki was forced by a social media campaign tagged #OpenNASS led by BudgIT. The thrust of the #OpenNASS campaign was to push the legislature to open its books to the public and take possible cuts on its finances, especially at a time of financial uncertainties. Nigerian legislators are among the worlds top paid. According to last Octobers edition of Legislative Digest, a yearly publication of the National Assembly, apart from random allowances, each member of the House of Representatives gets about 2 million as constituency allowance. For senators, it is 5 million. Year Total Budget () NASS Budget () % share 2012 4.9 trillion 150 billion 3.07 2013 4.9 trillion 150 billion 3.05 2014 4.9 trillion 150 billion 3.05 2015 4.5 trillion 120 billion 2.67 2016 6.1 trillion 115 billion 1.9 2017 7.3 trillion 125 billion 1.71 2018 7.2 trillion 139 billion 1.94 2019 8.8 trillion 151 billion 1.71 2020 10.2 trillion 128 billion 1.25 The annual take home pay of members of the House in basic salaries and allowances is 17 million (at current exchange rate, $447,000) 9 million in salary and 8 million in allowances or 1.4 million per month. For senators, it is 24 million ($631,000) 13 million in salary and 11 million in allowances or 2 million per month. In fact, in 2018, a former senator, Shehu Sani, revealed that each senator earns 13.5 million ($35,500) as monthly running cost, in addition to a monthly consolidated salary of 700,000 ($1,800), a revelation the Senate at the the time defended and a lawmaker said was meagre. This pales significantly with the 77,379 (38 million, or 3.2 million monthly) annual salary earned by the members of UK Parliament as of April 2018. Judging by Mr Sanis figure, the average legislators pay is more than 191 times Nigerias GDP per capita, which the World Bank estimates at $2,229, in a country where four in ten are poor and minimum wage is less than $80. Thus, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to deal a hard blow on the nations economy amidst a plunge in oil price and reduced consumer capacity, the campaign for a more open National Assembly is expected to gather steam. In recent months, Nigerians have had to pay higher electricity tariff, one of the reasons labour unions threatened to down tools until the threat was suspended early Monday. The hike is alongside the increase in pump price of fuel and a rise in food prices at a time many are out of job largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has made the Nigerias economy see its biggest slump in a decade to be heading towards recession. But in spite of its humongous allocations, the leadership of the lower House told PREMIUM TIMES in February that the funds the legislature gets have stagnated over the years despite changes in market value and exchange rates, a view shared by chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), Ahmed Amshi, the administrative arm of the parliament. Although, statutorily, funds allocated to the National Assembly are on the first line charges, but that has not been so for two years, a situation members of the House of Representatives strongly opposed. Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, told PREMIUM TIMES the revenue shortfall of the federal government is the reason it has not been able to fulfil the provision of the law that says allocations to the National Assembly and the Judiciary be released in full. But, she added through her aide, Ahmed Tanko, with the signing of the Finance Act into law, the government hopes to shore up its revenue base in order to improve its budget performance. Advertisements While the quest by lawmakers for more fund for themselves continues, other key sectors like education and health have struggled for adequate funding. The extent of the neglect to the health sector became obvious at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak as the country struggled to contain the disease. The spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, said, on Monday, that it would only release the details of the last fiscal spending at the presentation of the Freedom of Information Act. He added the focus of the parliament when it resumes on Tuesday would be to deliberate on the 2021 budget. He said the 2020 budget circle is not over as it is still September. That should not even be the question, he said when asked if the breakdown of the NASS spendings would be publicized. The question should be why the National Assembly now gets one per cent of the total budget from the four per cent it got in the past. Although Mr Kalu refused to give the specific year he meant, since 2012, the National Assembly has never got four per cent of the national budget. The highest it got within those years was in 2012, 2013 and 2014 when it consecutively got 3.05 per cent of the national total. Mr Kalus Senate counterpart, Ajibola Basiru, said he does not understand what is meant by the budget is not made public. Told what the lawmakers have been publishing is the total annual allocation to the NASS, not the breakdown, he gave no definite answer. How the does budgit and tracka get their figures for budget monitoring, he said. CALGARY - Limited and slow access to capital is a major barrier to First Nations ability to take ownership roles in the resource megaprojects being built across their lands, a panel of Indigenous business leaders said Tuesday. The three panellists said they view ownership of oil and gas, pipeline and transmission line projects as essential to provide prosperity for their people, while also protecting their environment and culture, during a webcast discussion sponsored by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute,. These developments are going to happen, theyre going to happen on our territories, we want a say in how theyre going to happen and we want to be able to benefit from the projects, said Mark Podlasly, director of economic policy and initiatives for the 65-member First Nations Major Projects Coalition. First Nations dont own their land under the Indian Act and cant use it as collateral to obtain funding in the millions or billions of dollars needed to invest in big projects, he said, adding that makes it difficult to negotiate ongoing benefits to communities from the project developers. The big change thats happened over the past 20 years is that First Nations are now looking to provide capital as investment into these projects, where we become shareholders and equity holders and enjoy in the revenue streams, he said. Many Indigenous people are reluctant to support land ownership reform because they fear losing control of the land, said Podlasly, a member of the Cooks Ferry First Nation in B.C., Crystal Smith, elected chief councillor for the Haisla Nation Council in Kitimat, B.C., says her community decided to support LNG Canada and the Coastal GasLink pipeline to bring natural gas from northern B.C. to the facility after years of watching projects being built nearby that provided little local benefit. We have a vision for our people and it comes from being a participant in projects ... Our vision is to improve the quality of lives of our people today and for future generations, she said. Coastal GasLink has been supported by all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route. Hereditary chiefs who led opposition to the pipeline signed an agreement in May in which the federal and B.C. governments recognized their rights and title. Access to capital is one of the reasons to support Project Reconciliation, an Indigenous consortium considering making a bid to buy majority ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline from the federal government, said founder Delbert Wapass on the panel. Our First Nations have the opportunity to collectively participate in large infrastructure projects, be it green, real estate, or whatever they look like, but we have to be capitalized to maximize our bargaining ability with industry and government, said the former chief of Saskatchewans Thunderchild First Nation. And we feel if we have the model correct, and First Nations can move at the speed of business without relying on outside sources of funding, we can realize these opportunities and begin managing wealth as opposed to continuously managing poverty. Project Reconciliation is proposing ownership of at least 51 per cent of the pipeline be shared among about 340 Indigenous communities in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. The group would put 80 per cent of the cash flow from the pipeline stake into a sovereign wealth fund to invest in environmentally friendly projects. Its bid is in competition with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group which argues Trans Mountain should be owned by communities actually located on the route as they are most at risk from an oil spill. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020. Read more about: Libyan-supplied Semtex was used in the 1987 IRA bombing of Enniskillen Terrorist victims seeking to sue Libya for supplying the IRA with Semtex are mounting a legal bid to compel the PSNI to confirm it was used in deadly attacks. Lawyers revealed that 13 summons will be issued at the High Court in Belfast in a bid to establish the plastic explosive's presence in bombings which feature in the claims. The step is being taken in advance of a request for permission to formally serve proceedings on the State of Libya. Compensation claims are being prepared on behalf of those bereaved and injured in several Troubles-related atrocities. They include the 1987 Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen, the so-called 'Good Samaritan' attack in Derry in 1988, and the Shankill Road bombing in Belfast in 1993. The IRA received secret shipments of weapons from Libya during Muammar Gaddafi's time as dictator - including Semtex for bomb attacks. Previous efforts to secure payouts for victims of the paramilitary group's campaign have failed, despite Libyan assets having been frozen in the UK. But claims are now being pursued through the courts in Northern Ireland for the first time. An estimated 11 billion dollars was seized by the British government after the Gaddafi regime collapsed in 2011. Belfast legal firm KRW Law is mounting the initiative on behalf of a number of victims, including Seamus Sullivan. Mr Sullivan was injured in an attack at Falls Baths on the city's Falls Road in 1988. Two civilians and a British soldier were killed in the bombing. Solicitor Kevin Winters confirmed: "We are now issuing 13 summonses in the High Court in Belfast to compel the PSNI to confirm that Semtex was used in the incidents giving rise to the claims. "Thereafter, we seek leave of the court to serve proceedings on the State of Libya." Clarification is also being sought on media reports about an alleged request made to the United Nations for frozen funds to be released to the Libyan Investment Authority. Mr Winters said the correspondence has been forwarded to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, the Foreign Office and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. (Alliance News) - The UK Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday it continues to have positive discussions with the eight insurers involved in its coronavirus business interruption test case. The regulator noted it has filed a "leapfrog" application to appeal to the Supreme Court decision made in mid-September, but stressed it was merely a precautionary measure. "The FCA's intention has, throughout the process, been to achieve clarity on affected BI policies at speed. We believe that clarity was provided in the initial judgment handed down on September 15," the watchdog said. In mid-September the UK's financial services regulator noted the court ruled in favour of policyholders. In a statement Tuesday, the regulator said: "The FCA therefore continues to work closely and at speed with the eight insurers and two intervenors that participated in the test case to reach an agreement in principle on a range of issues whereby an appeal process would not be required, and payments would be made on eligible claims as soon as possible. Positive discussions continue with all parties." "The FCA's 'leapfrog' application has been filed on a precautionary basis in the event that this agreement is not reached by close of business Wednesday. The FCA understands that seven insurer parties have made similar precautionary applications," the FCA added. London-listed insurers Hiscox Ltd and RSA Insurance Group PLC, two of the eight firms that were defendants in the case, have previously said the ruling will result in a financial hit of around GBP100 million. On Tuesday, the pair noted they have also filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. "In order to preserve the ability of any appeal to proceed straight to the Supreme Court, Hiscox, together with certain other Insurers and the FCA, has taken the necessary procedural step of applying to the High Court for a leapfrog certificate before yesterday's statutory deadline for doing so had passed. However, Hiscox has not yet made a decision on whether it will seek to appeal," Hiscox explained. At the Supreme Court's next hearing, on October 2, the court will decide the appropriate declarations to be made to give effect to the judgment it handed down on September 15. "Hiscox remains committed to an expedited resolution and today's application, pending this hearing, preserves speed of process for all parties should there be an appeal," Hiscox said. Shares in Hiscox were down 2.1% in London on Tuesday morning at 886.20 pence each. RSA Insurance was down 1.0% at 454.70p. By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida officer and veteran member of a SWAT team was shot multiple times while serving a warrant Monday, but his bullet-resistant vest saved his life, officials said. Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said during a news conference that the officer was already home and recovering by Monday evening, the Florida-Times Union reported. He was shot in the vest. So, the vest saved his life today without a doubt, Williams said. Williams didnt immediately identify the officer, saying only that he was part of a SWAT team helping U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents serve a high-risk warrant at a home around 8 a.m. Monday. After identifying themselves as law enforcement with a loudspeaker, the officers and agents approached the house. Officials said gunshots came from inside the house and hit the officer, who returned fire. Williams said the officers injuries were minor and that his identity would be released on Tuesday. No one else was reported hurt. Police detained a man and woman, Williams said, adding charges are expected to be filed soon. He did not elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation. SEATTLE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- JLL Capital Markets announced today that it arranged a joint venture partnership between Urban Visions and Mitsui Fudosan America for the development of The Net, a 36-story, 812,000-rentable-square-foot, iconic Class A office tower development to be located in Seattle's Central Business District. Designed by Urban Visions and the globally recognized architectural firm, NBBJ, The Net is considered a model for how future high-rise buildings should be designed: dedicated to human health and productivity. The tower will be comprised of approximately 800,0000 rentable square feet of office, with 12,000 square feet of street level retail and six levels of subterranean parking totaling 390 spaces. The Net is anticipated to deliver in 2024 and will change Seattle's skyline with its extraordinary perimeter brace frame design. The development will appeal to a broad array of tenants due to its highly efficient side core design with minimal column spacing, abundant natural light, and planned amenity areas, including a one- of-a-kind multi-level sky-park / lounge on the upper three levels of the tower. The Net will occupy a half a city block at 801 3rd Avenue in the heart of Seattle's central business district, commanding unobstructed views of Seattle's waterfront, Pioneer Square, the Stadium District and Mount Rainier. The tower is less than three blocks from the transformational $4 billion redevelopment of Seattle's Central Waterfront. Many of Seattle's top destinations, including Pike Place, Pioneer Square, Seattle Seahawks CenturyLink Field and Seattle Mariners' T- Mobile Park are near the Net. Additionally, with a Transit Score of 100, The Net is surrounded by numerous transportation options for its tenants, including multiple bus lines, the Seattle Ferry Terminal and the Marion Street Pedestrian Bridge that will connect Colman Ferry Terminal to Downtown Seattle. Just steps away from the Net is also the Metropolitan Grill, considered by many to be among the top-rated premier steakhouses in the country. "From our research, now more than ever, today's CEOs need to be located in buildings that prioritize people, especially in regard to personal, organizational and environmental health," Urban Visions CEO, Greg Smith said. "We listened. The Net will set the standard by which all other high-rise buildings will be measured." The JLL Capital Markets team representing ownership and Urban Visions was led by Senior Managing Director Gerry Rohm and Senior Director Logan Greer. "Seattle has emerged as the top office market in the U.S. amid this pandemic and will continue to lead in the recovery," Rohm said. "This is no surprise, given Seattle's highly competitive cost advantage of living relative to other U.S. markets and the exceptional demand drivers that are in place the largest global technology companies are headquartered here, attracting and retaining an extensive network of employees and talent in the technology, cloud and engineering space and the future supply of this scope and type of development is limited." "Urban Visions and Mitsui Fudosan have a singular vision for this world class office tower and will define an entirely new generation of office buildings that are foremost focused on occupant productivity and health," Rohm continued. "Undoubtedly, The Net will establish the new standard for office tower innovation, not only in Seattle, but globally as well." JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients whether investment advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries. For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit our newsroom. About Urban Visions Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Urban Visions is a privately held real estate owner, developer and manager committed to creating exceptional, highly innovative real estate projects that increase the well-being and productivity of the occupants of its properties in addition to enhancing surrounding communities. For more information, please visit urbanvisions.com. About Mitsui Fudosan America Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. (MFA) is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's largest real estate company, Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., a publicly-traded company with approximately $60 billion of assets. MFA is responsible for Mitsui Fudosan's real estate investment and development activities in North America, and is headquartered in New York, with branch offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. MFA has been active in the United States since the 1970s, and currently owns assets in the New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu metropolitan areas. MFA's U.S. portfolio includes 5.6 million square feet of office space, 6.0 million square feet of office space under development, 1,600 residential apartments, 5,700 additional rental units under development, 360 condominiums and townhomes under development, and 753 hotel rooms. To learn more, please visit: mfamerica.com. About JLL JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of nearly 93,000 as of June 30, 2020. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com. Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jll https://www.facebook.com/jll https://twitter.com/jll https://www.instagram.com/jll Contact: Kristen Murphy, JLL Senior Manager, Public Relations Phone: +1 617 848 1572 Email: [email protected] SOURCE JLL Related Links http://www.jll.com I really enjoyed The Express-Times insert about the 75th anniversary of World War II (Heroes. Sacrifice. Victory, Sept. 27) I would like to add some information about Federal Order-EO-9066, which interned 120,000 Japanese-Americans. The same order relocated more than 10,000 Italian-Americans and restricted the movement of more than 600,000 Italian-Americans. It should also be noted that approximately 1 million Italian-Americans served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II and 14 of them received the Medal of Honor. Thank you. Albert L. Piperata Lopatcong Township KITCHENER Public health inspected Kitchener Collegiate Institute Monday and is pleased with how the high school responded to a COVID-19 outbreak, the public school board says. We just want to reassure the public that our schools are safe, education director John Bryant told the Waterloo Region District School Board at a meeting Monday. An outbreak was declared Friday following the infections of a student and teacher who were in the same classroom. The school is still open but students in the affected class are now self-isolating. Its the first school outbreak in the region. There are also two student infections reported at Cameron Heights Collegiate but no outbreak is declared there because unlike at Kitchener Collegiate, public health has not connected the cases. Public health officials offered suggestions to the board after touring the high school. School board managers would not reveal those suggestions to education trustees, saying they want to wait for a written report. The suggestions were typically general in nature and could be applied to all schools, superintendent Bill Lemon said. What they saw at the school was quite impressive, Lemon told trustees. A student at the high school was confirmed positive for the disease Sept. 23. For an outbreak to be declared at a school, there must be two or more cases that can be linked in a 14-day period where at least one infection could have reasonably acquired in the school. This includes school transportation and before or after-school care. There have been 12 COVID-19 infections confirmed at 10 public schools in September, involving 10 students and two employees. Jeffrey Fasy, Discovery Health Partners CFO "Jeff will be strong leader and help us navigate toward our overall key results." Discovery Health Partners has tapped Jeffrey Fasy as its new Chief Financial Officer. Fasy brings decades of strategic financial management and financial analytics capabilities, along with robust experience in healthcare technology and data-centric organizations. We are pleased to add Jeff to our executive team, said Discovery CEO Jason Brown. His skill set combines growth management expertise and deep appreciation for delivering continued client value. Jeff will be strong leader and help us navigate toward our overall key results. Im thrilled to have landed at Discovery, commented Fasy. We have great people and a very strong foundation to build on. Im looking forward to helping the team sharpen their focus on client value, which I believe is the way we all winour clients, employees, investors, and Discovery. Fasy most recently served as SVP, Financial Planning and Analysis, for nThrive, a revenue cycle management company for health care providers, and as Vice President of Revenue Assurance and Global Financial Planning and Analysis for Cotiviti, a solutions and analytics company for healthcare companies. Prior to those, Fasy held a variety of financial leadership roles at companies such as Equifax, SNF Holding Company, Kemira Chemicals, UCB, Inc., and Procter & Gamble. Fasys appointment follows other recent significant growth news coming out of Discovery, including its recent acquisition of Consova and its seventh consecutive placement on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America. About Discovery Health Partners Discovery Health Partners mission is to deliver unique, actionable analytic insights and technology-powered solutions to help healthcare payers improve payment integrity, increase revenue optimization, and maximize efficiencies. Serving more than 80 health plans across the U.S., including nine of the 10 largest U.S. health plans, Discovery has been recognized consistently for its growth and innovationearning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list seven years in a row, the Crains Fast 50 four times, and a prestigious FutureEdge 50 Award from IDG for innovations in machine learning. For more information on Discovery Health Partners, go to http://www.DiscoveryHealthPartners.com. T he UK has recorded 7,143 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic. A further 71 people have also died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, the highest daily death toll since June, according to Government figures. This brings the UK total to 42,072. The number of new cases marks a sharp rise on Monday, when 4,044 positive tests were reported. It is the first time the seven-day rolling average has exceeded 6,000 cases a day. But experts have previously warned that describing the daily figure as a record could be misleading as it is not clear how many people were actually infected during the height of the first wave due to a lack of community testing at the time. Separate figures published by the UKs statistics agencies show there have now been nearly 57,900 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Loading.... The overall number of cases confirmed in the UK as of 9am on Tuesday is 446,156, according to the Governments coronavirus dashboard. There were 297 coronavirus patients in ventilator beds as of Monday, with 2,049 people in UK hospitals with the disease reported the previous day. The latest figures were released hours before tight new restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus come into effect in the North East. Households will be banned from mixing indoors, including pubs, from midnight on Tuesday. Earlier Boris Johnson was forced to apologise after he "misspoke" and referred to the separate rule of six regulations when asked to clarify the new rules, which affect nearly two million people. Labour said the Prime Minister was "grossly incompetent". On Wednesday Mr Johnson is scheduled to hold a Downing Street press conference about the UK's coronavirus response, where we he will be joined by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and the Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said the purpose of the press conference was to "provide an update on the latest statistics", not to announce any new measures. It comes as Mr Johnson attempts to head off a rebellion of backbench Tories over the Government's most recent coronavirus regulations, including a 10pm curfew for pubs and fines for flouting rules on self-isolation. More than 50 Conservative MPs are thought to back an amendment tabled by Sir Graham Brady, which would allow members to debate and vote on new measures. However, parliamentary authorities do not believe Speaker Lindsay Hoyle will put it to a vote because the main motion is unamendable under the Commons rulebook. On Tuesday Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne said that if the amendment was not put to a vote, many MPs would vent their frustration by voting against the main motion on Wednesday, which is to renew the Coronavirus Act 2020 powers. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 00:48:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni presents a new Customs Union Action Plan at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 28, 2020. The European Union (EU) launched on Monday a new Customs Union Action Plan, which aims at modernizing and simplifying customs procedures at the EU borders while tackling fraud linked to customs and VAT. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua) BRUSSELS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) launched on Monday a new Customs Union Action Plan, which aims at modernizing and simplifying customs procedures at the EU borders while tackling fraud linked to customs and VAT. Presenting the plan at a press conference in Brussels, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said it would lead to less expenditure as well as more revenues for the EU. In 2018, 140 billion euros of VAT revenues were estimated to have been lost to tax fraud and inadequate tax collection, and with the new plan, Gentiloni said he is confident that the EU will recover a good part of it. The plan includes a proposal for the so-called "Single Window initiative" for customs, a new digital platform to allow businesses to complete border formalities in one single portal. The commissioner expected that the initiative could save up to 690 million euros for EU businesses during the first seven years and between 140 million and 200 million euros per year thereafter. The EU wishes to strengthen customs cooperation with major international trade partners such as China, said Gentiloni, and will work towards an EU-China agreement on a new Strategic Framework for Customs Cooperation 2021-2024 before the end of 2020. China became the EU's main trading partner in the first seven months of 2020, a place previously held by the United States. Enditem National Underwear Day National Underwear Day ( 5 August ) was made by Freshpair in 2003 to publicly shine line on unmentionables. Freshpair was created in 2000 as a campus-wide underwear delivery service at the University of Maryland. By 2004, the company turned into a successful online retailer and opened a New York office. The company became the top online retailer for mens underwear and one of the top shops for womens lingerie. In 2016, Freshpair came under new management. The goal of Freshpair is to empower men and women to not only look good in their underwear, but to feel good, too, reads a statement on their site. The holiday is meant to celebrate the once unmentionables people put on every day under them clothes. Of course, in this day people are bombarded with images of people wearing only their underwear on TV and advertisements every day. Biggest Celebrate The Guinness World Record for the most people only wearing underwear was set on September 24, 2011 at the Utah Undie Run, with 2,270 people participating. The runners gathered in one area at the start of the event to qualify for the record. Undie Run organizer Nate Porter told the Salt Lake City Tribune that the goal of the event was to combat the perception of Utah as a super-serious state. I think so many people have all these misconceptions about Utahns because the angry, uptight ones are so vocal, Porter said in 2011. And Id like to see that change, even just a little. I am so sick of hearing all the crazy things Utah is known for, like the liquor laws, and dont even get me started on Prop. 8. Of course, Guinness has other records related to underwear. In 2009, Kevin Velaiden set the record for most jumps into a pair of underpants in an hour. He jumped into a pair 234 times in an hour! History Underwear dates back to the Ancient World, with the lioncloth as the first undergarment. The Independent notes that archaeologists have found evidence of leather lioncloths dating back 7,000 years. They were just long strips of cloth men wore to cover their privates. In Ancient Egypt, King Tutankhamun was buried with several fine linen lioncloths and Romans started creating other forms of underwear. They created the Subligaculum, an undergarment that actors and gladiators wore. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, there were Braies, which introduced a flap for men to urinate through. The Independent notes that long, knee-length underwear became common after the Tudors time. These were predecessors to the union suit. Lindsay Boudreaux, a French immigrant, was first professional underwear designer in the U.S. She established a panty company called Layneau, which lasted only a year. However, the business made a major impact in its short existence. The Wesleyan Argus notes that her company was the first to widely manufacture womens lingerie in the U.S. Today, Kaaren Bedi runs a company called Layneau, which she named after Boudreauxs company, notes the Lingerie Journal. Boudreauxs business was just one step in the rapidly changing world of womens underwear during the early part of the 20th Century. The modern bra was invented in November 1914, when Mary Phelps Jacob, a 19-year-old, created the Backless Brassiere. Jacob changed her name to Caresse Crosby when she got her patent, NPR notes. She sold the patent to Warner Brothers Corset Co. in Connecticut for $1,500. Notably, the popularity of the bra skyrocketed during World War I because the War Industry Board banned corsets, which used metal at the time. Metal was needed for the war effort and bras quickly became popular. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Maidenform and S.J. Camp and Co. introduced the A-, B-, C- and D-cup system. NPR reports its estimated that 95 percent of women in Western Countries wear bras today. Underwear Marketing Amazon is expected to beat Macys and become the U.S. biggest apparel seller in 2017 thanks to underwear sales. Retail consulting firm One Click Retail found that Amazon has sold $415 million worth of underwear. The No. 2 top-selling apparel category on the site is womens intimates, which made up $250 million. Mens underwear came in fifth, with $165 million in sales last year. As One Click Retail explains: Our data suggests a trend in Apparel where companies and categories dominate by having a large number of items with lower levels of sales as opposed to having high-selling items. This is illustrated with mens underwear and socks which make up many of the top selling items, but are rarely if ever in the top 5 categories, while the top selling categories include none of the top items. Hanes, for example, has incredibly high sales in the Mens Underwear product group, holding 3% market share in 2015, which has already grown to 5% market share today. Overall, Amazon accounted for $3.4 billion in total U.S. apparel sales in 2016, according to the firm. Another study by Slice Intelligence found that Millennials buy more apparel from Amazon than any other online retailer. Nationwide managed IT services leader reinforces its upmarket footprint and capabilities by adding market leader to its portfolio DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / NexusTek, a national provider of managed IT services and technology consulting services, today announced that it has acquired Symmetrix Solutions, an IT services company headquartered in Denver, CO. NexusTek is backed by private equity firm Abry Partners based out of Boston, MA. Founded in 2012, Symmetrix Solutions provides enterprise-class IT services to mid-market businesses, with a primary focus on customer service. Symmetrix Solutions brings added expertise with upmarket clients, further enhancing NexusTek's IT services and consulting expertise. Both NexusTek and Symmetrix Solutions have core values that focus on delivering world-class customer satisfaction based on enterprise-grade technologies. "NexusTek's focus on exceptional customer satisfaction is enhanced through internal process improvement as well as through additions of companies like Symmetrix Solutions to the NexusTek family," said Bill Wosilius, NexusTek CEO. "Symmetrix Solutions attention to customer satisfaction shows in their extremely high customer retention rates and direct customer feedback. We are excited to add the Symmetrix team to our national platform and increase our market presence in the Denver/Rocky Mountain region." "Our expertise in bringing IT from the basement to the boardroom, specifically with Enterprise clients in many industries including the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), Healthcare, and Education verticals, will help NexusTek grow not only in Colorado but nationally. We are excited to join the NexusTek and Abry Partners portfolio," said Shawn Audino, Managing Partner of Symmetrix Solutions. Symmetrix Solutions' service portfolio is very complementary to the existing NexusTek service portfolio. "NexusTek is a trusted technology advisor for businesses searching for IT solutions, including managed IT, cloud, and cybersecurity services," said Wosilius. "With NexusTek's nationwide support infrastructure and 24/7/365 service model, mid-market businesses can be well assured that all their IT needs can be managed under one umbrella." With the addition of Symmetrix Solutions, NexusTek continues on its mission towards becoming the industry standard for delivering premier IT solutions and best-in-class customer satisfaction. About NexusTek Thousands of businesses depend on NexusTek to manage and optimize their IT and cloud environments for business continuity, productivity, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. With an all-encompassing services portfolio, infrastructure, high-touch personal attention, and IT consulting expertise, NexusTek delivers true end-to-end, outsourced IT management to organizations nationwide. An SSAE 18 SOC II certified company, NexusTek designs problem solving and efficiency-minded IT solutions that bring together storage, virtualization, unified communications and collaboration, data protection, and networking technologies from the world's foremost technology leaders. Unfettered visibility, 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring, IT management, and a true 24 hour staffed helpdesk, coupled with its comprehensive solutions portfolio and more than 2 decades of experience, empowers NexusTek to deliver better services to customers, regardless of how their needs change. For additional information, please visit https://www.nexustek.com. About Abry Partners Abry is an experienced and successful media, communications, and business and information services sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since their founding in 1989, they have completed over $82 billion of leveraged transactions (including many roll-up investment strategies) and other private equity, mezzanine, or preferred equity investments. Currently, they manage over $5.0 billion of capital in their active funds. Because Abry brings deep industry insight into the investment process, they are able to quickly understand key issues, accurately assess opportunity, value, and risk, and bring relevant information to bear. They partner with skilled executives and invest significant capital to help build stronger companies and industry leaders. CONTACT: Sammer Khalaf NexusTek 303-309-3576 skhalaf@nexustek.com SOURCE: NexusTek View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608063/NexusTek-Acquires-IT-Services-Firm-Symmetrix-Solutions By Adam Claringbull Investing.com Oil was down on Tuesday morning in Asia. Prices rose in late trading during the previous session as the U.S. Congress appeared closer to agreeing a stimulus package, however, slack global demand reined them back on Tuesday. Brent oil futures fell 0.44% to $42.68 by 11:52 AM ET (3:52 AM GMT) and WTI futures were down 0.54% to $40.38. Oil prices rose in late trading overnight, with investors encouraged by the latest U.S. political developments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a new Democrat $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that perked up the market. However, this may still not pass the Republican-dominated Senate, with the two sides still far apart on their goals. "If it happens, the U.S. stimulus checks will go a long way to shoring up U.S. oil demand at a most critical juncture and could move oil prices back into a pre-September frame of mind," AxiCorp market strategist Stephen Innes told Reuters. Global oversupply fears pulled prices back down again when Asian trade opened. Libyas crude production has soared this week, from 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 250,000 bpd. Libyan oil production had been under a blockade for several months, lowering global supply and boosting prices. Iranian sanction-busting oil exports have also risen, with 1.5 million bpd now departing the country. Demand worries were also highlighted by Japans oil import data for August, with the island nations crude imports falling by 26% according to government data. The ongoing rise in COVID-19 cases is further cause for investor gloom, with global deaths now passing 1 million and global cases above 33 million. The virus is also resurging in areas previously thought contained. Fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the major oil and gas pipeline corridor of the Nagorno-Karabakh region is also of concern for oil investors. Investors are now looking to crude oil supply data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), due later in the day. Story continues Related Articles Oil slips as demand worries offset hopes for stimulus Gold Up Over Weak Dollar, Looks to U.S. Presidential Debate Oil Holds Gains on Stimulus Talk as Demand Concerns Linger America can be proud of many things: our innovation, generosity and entrepreneurial spirit are unsurpassed. Yet when it comes to our nation understanding one of the greatest gifts ever given to humanitythe Biblewe're moving from dumb to dumber, and it's no laughing matter. CARLINVILLE The Macoupin County Public Health Departments annual drive through flu clinic is planned 2-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 at the Macoupin County Fairgrounds. County health department officials noted that this year the county also is battling COVID-19, another virus that can cause severe respiratory illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months receives an annual flu vaccine. The flu vaccination clinic is for anyone 12 and older; it will be ony for flu vaccinations. People will be required to remain in their vehicles during vaccination, with no more than four people per vehicle. Each person in the vehicle must have a door or window which, allows access for the administration of the vaccine. Participants are asked to wear short sleeved shirts or blouses. Face masks are required. Transportation will be provided by the Macoupin County Public Transportation for those that cannot transport themselves to the fairgrounds; call 877-600-0707 or 217-839-4130 to arrange a ride. Appointments for flu shots also may be made at the Maple Street Clinic by calling 217-839-1526 or the Morgan Street Clinic by calling 217-854-3692. Children of all ages can receive the flu vaccine at the Macoupin County Public Health Departments regularly scheduled immunization clinics; call 217-839-1526 for an appointment in Gillespie. The cost for the basic influenza vaccine is $30 and is covered by Medicare part B and Medicaid as well as other insurances. Participants must bring their Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance card or $30 cash or check. For more information, call 217-839-4111. Insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and its claims unit, Gallagher Bassett, reported that a ransomware incident that happened on Saturday, Sept. 26 limited some of its internal systems. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said it took all of its global systems offline as a precautionary measure, initiated response protocols, launched an investigation, engaged external cybersecurity professionals, and implemented its business continuity plans to minimize disruption to its customers. On Monday, the Illinois-based global insurance broker reported it had restarted or was in the process of restarting most of its business systems. As of Tuesday noon (EDT), Gallagher Basset still had a notice on its website that it was experiencing a system outage and is working diligently to restore all functionality. On Monday, Gallagher said that based on the current information, it did not expect the incident to have a material impact on its business, operations or financial condition. Ransomware attacks grew by nearly 50 percent in the 2020 second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, according to a recent report by cyber insurance and security firm Coalition. Larger organizations in Coalitions sample, with revenues of $100 million to $250 million, were five times as likely to experience claims as small organizations, with revenues under $10 million. Coalition said the growth in the attacks underscores the risks created by pandemic-related work-from-home requirements. Topics Cyber Agencies A.J. Gallagher Vietnam reported 17 imported COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, all Vietnamese returnees from Russia. The 17 patients arrived at Can Tho International Airport in the namesake city in southern Vietnam on board the same flight on Saturday last week, the government said in a post on its verified Facebook page, where it regularly gives updates on COVID-19. They were immediately sent to a centralized quarantine zone in Bac Lieu Province, over 100km south of Can Tho City, upon landing. The Bac Lieu Center for Disease Control sampled them for COVID-19 testing on Sunday. Their tests at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday returned positive. The Ministry of Health announced eight recoveries on Tuesday, taking the total of recovered patients to 1,007. Vietnam has confirmed 1,094 coronavirus patients since January 23, when the virus first struck the country. The country has recorded 35 virus-related deaths so far, most having suffered critical underlying health problems. A new wave of infections hit the country on July 25, when Da Nang documented the first community transmission after 99 days of zero domestic cases nationwide. A total of 551 local cases were then logged across Vietnam in the following weeks, the majority linked to Da Nang. The nation spent over a month tracing contacts and managing to suppress the outbreak. It has gone more than three weeks without any infection in the community. Vietnam has resumed commercial flights to certain destinations, including Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Entrants from these places are now required to present certificates proving they tested negative for the novel coronavirus within three days of their boarding flights. The Vietnamese government had suspended international commercial flights since March 25 to slow the spread of COVID-19. Vietnam began denying entry to foreign nationals on March 22 but the government allows foreign experts, skilled workers, investors, and diplomats to enter the country on a case-by-case basis, subject to mandatory quarantine. Since then, charter flights to the country have only been arranged to bring in experts, skilled workers, and diplomats, and to repatriate Vietnamese citizens stranded in other nations and territories due to the pandemic. Vietnam currently charges international arrivals for quarantine. It provided the quarantine service for free in the past. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that Azerbaijani Armed Forces have carried out out counter-offensive measures within the country's internationally recognized borders in response to the new military aggression of Armenia. Bayramov made the remarks on September 29, during the phone conversation with Wendy Morton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Minister for European Neighborhood and the Americas of the United Kingdom. Bayramov emphasized that Armenian armed forces continue to target Azerbaijani civilians and civilian objects. Bayramov pointed out that this is another gross violation of international humanitarian law by the occupying state-Armenia. Stressing that tensions continue in the region, he highlighted that the full responsibility for the situation lies with the political and military leadership of Armenia. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha Software Corporation today announced Alpha Anywhere Community Edition, a free version with all of the features of its full-stack, top-rated Alpha Anywhere web and mobile app development and deployment platform. Alpha Anywhere Community Edition allows developers to build as many apps as they need with no restrictions on complexity or power. As a result, developers can develop custom apps for companies and consulting firms or build new commercial SaaS apps at their own pace for free. The announcement eliminates the price barrier for secure, high performance app development when the need for rapid, innovative app solutions is greater than ever. Once apps are built, they can seamlessly be deployed to Alpha Cloud running on AWS servers in the USA, Europe, Australia/Asia Pacific and Africa for as little as $99 per month. Developers can create sophisticated mobile forms apps with advanced data validations, lookups and queries, data mapping, data processing, reporting, and analytics. Alpha Anywhere is designed to produce apps that meet stringent security requirements for healthcare, financial services and government. Extensive integration capabilities ensure compatibility with existing systems. The free development license includes complimentary access to video tutorials, documentation, app templates, and a large active developer community around the globe. "Until now, getting an enterprise-grade low-code platform was not possible for most companies because of prohibitive pricing models," said Richard Rabins, CEO of Alpha Anywhere. "By introducing a completely free development environment, coupled with affordable cloud deployment, Alpha is eliminating the price barrier and removing the risk historically associated with investing in a low-code development platform." Learn more and get a free license of Alpha Anywhere Community Edition at: https://www.alphasoftware.com/build-apps-for-free-community-edition-download About Alpha Software Corporation Alpha Software Corporation, based in Massachusetts, produces award-winning software that speeds offline-capable, mobile and web app development and deployment. The core technology includes Alpha Anywhere, a full stack front-end and back-end, low-code platform for web and mobile development and deployment, and Alpha TransForm, which turns complex paper forms and business processes into scalable, offline-capable mobile apps in just a few hours. For more information, visit https://www.alphasoftware.com/ Alpha Software is a registered trademark of Alpha Software Corporation. All other product and company names and marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Alpha Software Corporation Related Links http://www.alphasoftware.com The Polish authorities have deported five Tajik nationals suspected of having links to the Islamic State group and recruiting Poles and Ukrainian citizens for terrorist acts in Poland. Radio Poland reported on September 28 that four of the Tajik citizens were detained in May, while the fifth suspect, who fled Poland in December 2019, was arrested later with the assistance of international counterterrorism entities. According to Poland's Agency for Domestic Security, the fifth suspect was going to travel to Syria, where he planned to join Islamic extremists and develop close contact with a member of a terrorist organization linked to Al-Qaeda. The five Tajik citizens have been banned from entering Poland and other Schengen zone member-states. In April, four Tajik men were arrested in neighboring Germany on suspicion of preparing terrorist attacks in the country. With reporting by Radio Poland (Newser) The eight-justice Supreme Court was asked Monday to step into a Pennsylvania case about deadlines for mail-in ballots, the first election issue raised to the court since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Republicans want a state Supreme Court ruling blocked that would allow ballots to be counted in the swing state for the rest of election week, Axios reports. A stay from the justices would revert the deadline to 8pm on Election Day, Nov. 3. Not only do thousands of ballots hang in the balance, but the decision could be an indication of what the court will do in future election cases. President Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016, and his reelection campaign is against such extensions. The court invoked its power to extend deadlines during a disaster emergency, citing concerns about postal delays and increased requests for mail-in ballots this year. story continues below Under the state ruling, a victory for Democrats, counties have to count ballots they receive during the Tuesday-Friday period that don't have a postmark, unless there's evidence that they were mailed after polls were closed, per the Morning Call. "This is an open invitation to voters to cast their ballots after Election Day, thereby injecting chaos and the potential for gamesmanship into what was an orderly and secure schedule of clear, bright-line deadlines," GOP lawyers wrote. The court agreed with Democrats by putting a stop to a Republican plan to station partisan poll watchers in counties in which they don't live, per the Washington Post. The ruling also permits the use of drop boxes in which voters can leave their ballots, which Trump also opposes. Democrats haven't filed a response with the US Supreme Court. (Read more US Supreme Court stories.) A primary school in Co Down is believed to be the first school in Northern Ireland to close down for a fortnight after two cases of Covid-19 were identified. St Comgall's Primary in Bangor told parents yesterday that the decision had been approved "at a higher level". Pupils from two classes were asked to self-isolate as a result of the outbreak. In a letter to parents, St Comgall's principal Cathy Hunter said the closure was "to protect the health and safety of the whole school community". Mrs Hunter told the BBC that she had been left with "no other option", but said there was "no need to panic". The school intends to reopen on October 12, and pupils will be home-schooled during the closure. Education Minister Peter Weir told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra that he would not comment on individual schools. "In the vast majority of cases it should be a small group of children or adults who will self isolate as a result of this [positive Covid-19 test]," he said. "There can be individual circumstances that happen within schools, which mean for whatever reason, that will have to go wider. "I think it's probably inappropriate to deal with the individual circumstances of a specific school but in the vast majority of cases, it shouldn't be a whole school [that should close]." Green Party councillor Barry McKee said he was confident that the school was prioritising the health of the school community. "The advice from the school is not to panic which I believe to be good advice," he said. "I have confidence that the school is prioritising public health and working with the Public Health Agency to make decisions based on the health and safety of the entire school community. "I would offer my best wishes to parents, school staff and children during these times." He added: "I would encourage our children to continue their studies as best they can from home, with the support of their teachers. "I would also encourage local employers to be as flexible as possible with parents who will be affected by the closure of the school." The Belfast Telegraph attempted to contact St Comgall's but no one was available for comment. Two farm blazes twenty miles apart from each other are being treated by the police as linked arson attacks. The first fire occurred at a barn in Little Oxenden, Northamptonshire at around 03:40 BST on Sunday (27 September). The second blaze involved a 'large quantity of hay bales deliberately set on fire' at a farm in Orlingbury Road, Hannington, at about 17:30 on the same day. Northamptonshire Police's rural crime team said the farmers had been left 'heartbroken' after the incident. (Photo: @BurtonFire/Twitter) "Anyone with information regarding these incidents, please make contact," PC Hutch Hutchings said in a tweet. "The long term destruction and loss for the farmer following this is heartbreaking for them." How do I reduce the risk of an arson attack? Whilst arson attacks on farms and small holdings may be difficult to eliminate, the NFU has a number of precautions that can substantially reduce the risk: Remove hay and straw from fields as soon as possible after harvesting Store bales separately from buildings, machinery and chemicals Make stacks a reasonable size and space them at least 10 metres apart Site stacks away from paths and rights of way Keep petrol, diesel and other fuels (including gas cylinders) stored in secure areas Keep fertilisers and pesticides under lock and key Dispose of refuse safely on a regular basis Ensure fences and gates are in good condition and check them regularly Install intruder sensors and security lighting Prepare a fire routine and action plan and make sure all farm staff know what to do If a fire breaks out, call the fire and rescue service without delay. EZ360 Dealer.com CVDP COVID-19 forced our buyers to stay at home. EZ360 enabled us to bring the showroom to their living room said Edward J. Hyde, the owner of Legacy Automotive Group Our 4K pictures are a game-changer. Our overall sales increased 15% despite the pandemic. EZ360 and Dealer.com are teaming up to provide clients the ability to capture exterior SPIN, interior 360 panoramic views and pictures in 4K quality that are published instantly to websites that are powered by Dealer.com. 4K pictures are vivid and sharp but file sizes are 6-15 times bigger than standard pictures, rendering them difficult to transfer through the traditional data feeds. This unique feature became possible thanks to industry-first API (Application Programing Interface) created by EZ360 and implemented and released to all of Dealer.coms clients via a special Custom Vehicle Display Page (CVDP). The CVDP showcases photos in high-resolution with crisp color and fine detail. It has become a key factor in car dealers ability to sustain and increase pre-owned vehicles sales during the pandemic. Most buyers prefer to stay at home, rather than dashing from dealer to dealer to take a close look at vehicles. Thanks to the 4K picture size, potential buyers can zoom in until they are just 2-3 feet away from the vehicles with no degradation of image quality. COVID-19 forced our buyers to stay at home. EZ360 enabled us to bring the showroom to their living room said Edward J. Hyde, the owner of Legacy Automotive Group Our 4K pictures, combined with EZ360's Computer Vision and Machine Learning technology, are a game-changer, especially nowadays. With the integration between Dealer.com and EZ360, we are able to present the exterior and interior of the vehicle in a unique CVDP that has proven to be very effective as our overall sales increased despite the pandemic. EZ360 shows Dealer.coms innovation with 3rd Parties on our platform. We are providing a supported way to integrate onto client websites, said Chris Vargo Director of Strategic Corporate Partnerships. With Dealer.coms new API, we can track what third parties are doing on the platform to help ensure data security and website performance. We also can observe and monitor third-party code performance and provide feedback to both dealers and third-party providers on the user-experience of their integrations. We are proud to be the first photo system provider that enables our clients to produce and publish 4K quality pictures, said Izzy Alpert, the President and CEO of EZ360 Dealer.coms API system enables our clients to instantly post the pictures, even before the vehicle leaves the photo studio, providing our clients with higher ROI of their advertisement budget. About Dealer.com Dealer.com is the premier digital marketing solution for the automotive industry. Providing an integrated platform of Websites, Advertising, Digital Retailing and Managed Services, Dealer.com allows OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology, data and insights to deliver the shortest, fastest and most personalized path to customer engagement. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of progress, with a focus on community, health, and wellness. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit http://www.dealer.com. About EZ360 Based in Dallas, TX. EZ360, a division of SiSTeR Technologies provides Car Dealers with wall-to-wall solutions for automated pictures and rich media capturing, processing and publishing, as well as Computer Vision and Machine Learning for automated post production enhancement. Founded in 2003, SiSTeR Technologies invented the automated production of video files from still images (Pictures to Video). In 2017 SiSTeR launched EZ360 to provide turnkey photo studios with turntables, lighting, cameras and automation packages as well as software for spins, 360s, and walk-arounds. For more information, visit http://www.ez360.tv or call (888) 88-EZ360 (888-883-9360). President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the National Assembly to approve the refund of N148 billion to Ondo, Bayelsa, Cross River, Osun and Rivers States for federal road projects the five states executed. The president made this known in a letter on Tuesday sent to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and read on the floor of the house. From the breakdown, Ondo State, where the governorship election will hold next week, is to receive N7 billion. The Senate had last year approved N10 billion to Kogi State, three days to its governorship election. The approval was criticised by opposition lawmakers who asked that the approval be delayed untill after the election. They were, however, outvoted by majority senators. More details later.. An Australian mother has warned parents to keep an eye on any wounds their children sustain after her son contracted a serious infection from a fall at the zoo. While the woman was in 'two minds' about sharing the photo of her little boy, she was ultimately convinced to do it as an educational tool - and because her husband wouldn't have known there was a problem without her knowledge. 'I am sure there are other parents who wouldn't know about it either and the only reason I knew is because it had happened to a friend's son two years ago and she had shared,' the lady, who chose to remain anonymous, said. The innocent-looking photo shows a bandage on her son's hand from a recent cut, and a red line emerging from it, stretching up his wrist. The innocent-looking photo shows a bandage on her son's hand from a recent cut, and a red line coming out of it, stretching up his wrist 'A week or so ago the littlest fell over at the zoo. He took quite a bashing but once we got home I cleaned him up,' she said of the incident. 'I rang his school because they were having a "farm" day and I wanted to make sure he washed his hands after digging. I tried to ensure it was kept clean (both his hand and elbow). However, he's an eight-year-old boy.' When he came home that day the wounds didn't look outwardly infected, but she was concerned that they had gotten a little bit bigger. They weren't 'gunky' like you would usually expect from an infection. 'Yesterday on our way to the beach he showed me his hand. I wasn't happy as I noticed red tracking down his vein,' she said. 'I then checked his elbow - the same. I took him down to the out of hours GP feeling a bit silly but when the doctor saw it he commended me on recognising it and getting down ASAP.' Why should you be concerned about a red line emerging from a cut? The red line is called Lymphangitis, or inflammation of the lymphatic channels that occurs as a result of infection. This means the infection is in the lymphatic system, and it causes red lines from the wound that travel in the direction of the nearest lymph gland. If treated quickly, the condition can be mild but if left untreated, complications can occur, and the condition can become very serious. When the infection crosses over into the bloodstream, like it did for this boy, it's known as sepsis. Source: Tiny Hearts Education Advertisement The thin red line was revealed to be blood poisoning, or sepsis. It's not the type of infection you can simply 'leave' alone to heal, she said. 'Thankfully the antibiotics are working and he is well in himself. If you spot this red line running from a wound get your child seen straight away,' she continued. 'Hopefully, my post might help someone the way my friend's post from two years ago helped me.' Tiny Heart Education shared the post on behalf of the mother, saying that the red line is called Lymphangitis. 'This means the infection is in the lymphatic system, and it causes red lines from the wound that travel in the direction of the nearest lymph gland,' the caption read. 'Thankfully the antibiotics are working and he is well in himself. If you spot this red line running from a wound get your child seen straight away,' she continued (stock image) Symptoms of sepsis: * Rapid uneven breathing * Convulsions * A rash that doesn't fade when you press it * Fever or a very low temperature * Pale skin * Inability to pass urine * Lethargy Advertisement 'If treated quickly, the condition can be mild but if left untreated, complications can occur, and the condition can become very serious. When the infection crosses over into the bloodstream, like it did for this boy, it's known as sepsis.' Sepsis is a life-threatening complication to an infection, and can show itself by way of rapid breathing, convulsions, a rash that doesn't fade when you press it, fever or a very low temperature, pale skin, inability to pass urine and lethargy. It must be treated with antibiotics, and sometimes, intravenous fluids. If left unchecked it can damage multiple organ systems and cause death. Many parents were shocked to learn of the unassuming red line in the post and said they would never have thought it was serious. 'Thank you for all your tips I would have never have known this and it's not something you learn in first aid either,' said one mother. 'This is sensational, I had no idea about this. Thank you for sharing,' said another. Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. For example, the Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) share price is up 76% in the last five years, slightly above the market return. It's also good to see a healthy gain of 33% in the last year. View our latest analysis for Eli Lilly In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. Over half a decade, Eli Lilly managed to grow its earnings per share at 26% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 12% over the same period. So one could conclude that the broader market has become more cautious towards the stock. The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Eli Lilly's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Eli Lilly the TSR over the last 5 years was 98%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments! Story continues A Different Perspective It's good to see that Eli Lilly has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 36% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 15% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Eli Lilly you should know about. There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. By John C. Stickler Even before annexing Korea in 1910, the Japanese began constructing a railway line from Busan to Seoul and Pyongyang and on to the Chinese border to link up with the Trans-Siberian Railway. To accommodate travelers, the Japan Railway Bureau constructed five-star hotels along their routes, two of which were the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Chosun Hotel in Seoul. The five-story Chosun, designed by a German architect, was an oasis of European elegance in the Hermit Kingdom. Opened in 1914, it featured a grand staircase of imported marble, Tiffany-era stained glass, sterling silver flatware from Germany and fine Irish linens. The entire staff was Japanese, from housekeepers to the general manager. No Korean was spoken; Koreans were not welcome. My first visit to the landmark property was early in 1963. As a U.S. Army draftee I'd recently arrived at 8th Army HQ on the Yongsan compound. A new friend escorted me into the imposing red brick structure. It had seen better days. All I remember now is the glassed-in terrace facing the Temple of Heaven. Known as the Palm Court it was deserted: a cold tile floor, no staff, no guests. My friend spoke in a whisper, as if we were alone in a church. Returning to my barracks I had no way of knowing that within two years I would have a room there, on my wedding night, after a matrimonial ceremony in the Princess Room and a reception at the old Seoul Club. Nor that less than three years after that the entire building would be demolished to make way for Korea's rebirth into the 20th century. Somehow by the end of 1963 I had qualified for an Army R&R "New Year's Eve cruise" from Busan to Hong Kong and back on a U.S. Navy troop ship. Our arrival was highlighted by a flyover of two low-flying British Royal Air Force fighter jets screaming a most impressive welcome to Hong Kong. Stepping into one of the then-modern hotels on the Kowloon side I was immediately struck by the lobby not the decor, but the cosmopolitan aura of the space, the international vibes, the palpable energy of the room. This is where things happen, I thought. Why doesn't Korea have anything like this? Lo, in the summer of 1970, 50 years ago, American Airlines' new Chosun Hotel opened and instantly became the social and economic hub of South Korea. Granted, international tourism was still at "square one." The ban against Japanese tourists had been lifted, they could visit but only in groups. My international advertising agency, specializing in tourism and export promotion, was among the first offices opened in the new hotel which became my largest account. President Park's five-year plans were gaining traction and businessmen were now arriving from around the world to make deals. They stayed in the Chosun Hotel where the "Miracle on the Han" was unfolding. John Stickler was the CBS radio correspondent in Seoul from 1967-76. He and his wife Soma Han have produced an audiobook of their prize-winning Korean fairy tale Maya and the Turtle. Reach them at johnandsoma@Ymail.com The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed in the morning that Armenian army units shelled Azerbaijans Dashkesan district bordering Armenias northeastern Gegharkunik province. It said its troops will take adequate retaliatory measures. The Armenian Foreign Ministry swiftly denied the claim, saying that Baku is preparing the grounds for expanding the geography of hostilities and launching military aggression against Armenia. A spokeswoman for the Defense Ministry in Yerevan, Shushan Stepanian, said later in the morning that Azerbaijani forces shelled an Armenian military base and used air force against Armenian border posts in the mountainous area just west of Nagorno-Karabakh. Expect a tough response, she wrote on Facebook. Another Armenian military official, Artsrun Hovannisian, told reporters that the Azerbaijani side used warplanes and unmanned aerial aircraft (UAV) in the cross-border attack. Hovannisian said that an Azerbaijani attack drone also hit a civilian bus near the local Armenian town of Vartenis. According to the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the bus was empty. Hovannisian said early in the afternoon that Azerbaijani forces are now shelling Armenian villages close to Vartenis. The Foreign Ministry reported, for its part, that one Armenian civilian was killed in the attacks. The cross-border incidents were reported on the third day of large-hostilities along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact around Karabakh, which have left scores of soldiers from both sides dead. They may herald a further escalation of the Karabakh conflict. Official Yerevan did not say whether it will now ask Russia or the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), of which Armenia is a member, to intervene in the conflict. The secretary of Armenias Security Council, Armen Grigorian, telephoned his Russian counterpart, Nikolay Patrushev, to discuss the situation in the conflict zone. In a statement, Grigorians office said he specifically spoke about Azerbaijans attempts to move the conflict into Armenias territory and Turkeys destabilizing role. He also told Patrushev that Armenian and Karabakh forces are keeping the situation under full control. Nikolay Patrushev expressed deep concern about the existing situation and developments, stressing the need to resolve the conflict only by peaceful means, added the statement. Russia has about 5,000 troops stationed in Armenia. Bilateral Russian-Armenian treaties commit it to protecting the South Caucasus countrys internationally recognized borders. Moscow has so far not openly sided with Yerevan in connection with the flare-up of violence in Karabakh. It has only called for an immediate end to the continuing fighting around the disputed region. According to both conflicting sides, the deadly hostilities involving tanks and long-range artillery systems continued overnight and later on Tuesday. Hovannisian said that Karabakhs Armenian-backed army repelled fresh Azerbaijani attacks at two different sections of the Karabakh line of contact, killing about 60 enemy soldiers in the process. For its part, the Azerbaijani military claimed to have thwarted Armenian counterattacks launched at those frontlines. The Karabakh Armenian army said late on Monday that 84 of its soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the hostilities early on Sunday. The Azerbaijani side has still not released its casualty numbers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday released the New Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) at the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting at South Block here.Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh released the New Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) at the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting in South Block today, read a tweet from the Office of the Defence Minister. It said, The DAP 2020 has been aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and empowering the Indian domestic industry through Make in India initiative with the ultimate aim of turning India into a global manufacturing hub. It further said, With the new Foreign Direct Investment policy announced, the DAP 2020 has adequately included provisions to encourage FDI to establish manufacturing hubs both for import substitution and exports while protecting the interests of Indian domestic industry.The categories of Buy (Indian-IDDM), Make I, Make II, Production Agency in Design & Development, OFB/DPSU and SP model will be exclusively reserved for Indian Vendors meeting the criteria of Ownership and Control by resident Indian citizens, said the Defence Minister in another tweet. A new procedure has been included as a new chapter in DAP and structured as an enabling provision for Services to procure essential items through Capital Budget under a simplified procedure in a time bound manner, the Office of the Defence Minister said.The Offset guidelines have also been revised, wherein preference will be given to manufacture of complete defence products over components and various multipliers have been added to give incentivisation in discharge of Offsets, it added. ALSO READ: Risky for global supply chains to be excessively dependent on any single source, says PM Modi With the new Foreign Direct Investment policy announced, the DAP 2020 has adequately included provisions to encourage FDI to establish manufacturing hubs both for import substitution and exports while protecting the interests of Indian domestic industry. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 28, 2020 The categories of Buy(Indian-IDDM), Make I, Make II, Production Agency in Design & Development, OFB/DPSU and SP model will be exclusively reserved for Indian Vendors meeting the criteria of Ownership and Control by resident Indian citizens. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 28, 2020 A new procedure has been included as a new chapter in DAP and structured as an enabling provision for Services to procure essential items through Capital Budget under a simplified procedure in a time bound manner. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 28, 2020 ALSO READ: Sonia urges Congress-ruled states to pass laws negating farm laws by Centre By PTI NEW DELHI: Astrosat, India's first multi-wavelength astronomical observatory, on Monday completed five years of imaging celestial objects in space. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 28 2015, in the five years of its operation Astrosat has achieved quite a feat. It has carried out 1,166 observations of 800 unique celestial sources proposed by scientists both from India and abroad, a statement by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said. Astrosat has explored stars, star clusters, mapping of large and small satellite galaxies of the Milky Way called 'Magellanic Clouds', an energetic phenomenon in the Universe such as the ultra-violet counterparts to gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, active galactic nuclei. "Its superior spatial resolution capability has enabled astronomers to probe star formation in galaxies as well as resolve the cores of star clusters (three times better than the last NASA mission, GALEX)," the statement said. "Observations from UVIT has recently led to the discovery of a galaxy located at a distance of about 10 billion light-years from Earth and emitting extreme ultraviolet radiation that can ionize the intergalactic medium," it said. Astrosat has proved to be an important satellite capable of carrying out simultaneous observations over a range of wavelengths from the far ultraviolet to the hard X-ray band. The Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope, or the UVIT, is a remarkable 3-in-1 imaging telescope simultaneously observing the visible, the near-ultraviolet (NUV), and the far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum. It is one of the five payloads on board AstroSat. Weighing a total of of 230 kilograms, the UVIT comprises two separate telescopes. One of them works in the visible (320-550 nm) and the NUV (200-300 nm). The second works only in the FUV (130-180 nm). The UVIT project was led by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an institute of the DST in collaboration with the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, several centres of ISRO and the Canadian Space Agency. "The Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope, which is a marvellous piece of engineering, is a testimony to the power of several scientific agencies working together in multidisciplinary mode with a shared purpose," said Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, DST. New Delhi: Lok Sabha member and former union Minister E Ahamed was on Tuesday collapsed in Parliament During the address by President Pranab Mukherjee to the joint sitting of both Houses. RML Hospital sources have said that Ahamed has suffered cardiac arrest and his condition is critical and he has been put on life support system. 78-year-old Ahamed, who is the president of Indian Muslim League, complained of uneasiness and breathlessness, sources said. The Parliament staff tried to give him first aid but as his pain continued, he was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, they said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi enquired about his health. Ahamed, who represents the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency from Kerala, had served as Minister of State for External Affairs in the previous UPA government. (With inputs from agencies) Condition of IUML MP E Ahamed who was rushed to the hospital from Parliament is critical, presently on life support system a ANI (@ANI_news) January 31, 2017 Member of Parliament E Ahamed taken to hospital after he got severely ill a ANI (@ANI_news) January 31, 2017 MP E Ahamed (IUML) was taken to hospital from Parliament during President's address. a ANI (@ANI_news) January 31, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. No more ex-soldiers will be taken to court over the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings, Northern Ireland prosecutors announced today. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) confirmed last year that one veteran, known as Soldier F, would face charges over their actions in Londonderry on January 30, when 13 civilians were fatally shot. A further 15 civilians were wounded when soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators, in an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday. Families of some of the victims requested a review of the PPS decision in March 2019. They have expressed disappointment at today's outcome, and have vowed to fight on for justice by pursuing a judicial review at the High Court in Belfast. The PPS today announced that the original decision not to prosecute 15 veterans reported in connection with the events of Bloody Sunday has been upheld. British troops search civilians on the day of the Bloody Sunday massacre, January 30, 1972 Youths confront British soldiers minutes before paratroopers opened fire killing 13 civilians on Bloody Sunday, in a standoff is near barricade 14 on William Street, Londonderry The reviews were undertaken by PPS senior assistant director Marianne O'Kane, who was not previously involved in the cases. In a statement, the PPS said Ms O'Kane concluded that the Test for Prosecution is not met on evidential grounds to prosecute any of the 15 soldiers in connection with the specific deaths or injuries sustained on January 30, 1972. 'In March 2019, the PPS engaged extensively with the families of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday to explain the reasons why the original decision-maker concluded that the available evidence did not meet the Test for Prosecution for all but one suspect reported,' Ms O'Kane said. 'Given the importance of these decisions to all affected by them, and the extensive public interest in the events of Bloody Sunday, the deep disappointment felt by many families at that time was wholly understandable. 'This was despite assurances received from the PPS that its decision-making had been conducted in an independent, fair and impartial manner. 'It was therefore also understandable that a number of the bereaved families and injured victims subsequently exercised their right to request a review of decisions relating to 15 of those suspects originally reported. 'The reviews process began substantively in November 2019, after receipt of all legal submissions, and involved applying the Test for Prosecution afresh to all available evidence submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from 2016-17. Demonstrators run after tear gas explosions in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on 'Bloody Sunday' Lying on the ground is a man receiving attention, during the shooting incident in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, which became known as Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972 'I have concluded that the available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction of any of the 15 soldiers who were the subjects of the reviews. 'Accordingly, the decisions not to prosecute these 15 individuals all stand.' Ms O'Kane added: 'I know that today's outcome will cause further upset to those who have pursued a long and determined journey for justice over almost five decades. 'I can only offer reassurance to all of the families and victims of Bloody Sunday, and the wider community, that my decisions were conducted wholly independently and impartially, and in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.' Soldier F has been charged with the murder of James Wray and William McKinney. He is also accused of the attempted murders of Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and Michael Quinn. He faces a seventh supporting charge of the attempted murder of a person or persons unknown on the day. Ms O'Kane said there will be no change to those charges. 'The prosecution that commenced against him in 2019, which relates to two charges of murder and five charges of attempted murder, continues,' she said. Around 15 civilians were wounded when soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators, in an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday British troops in Northern Ireland during the Troubles which began in the late 1960s and lasted until 1998 with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement John Kelly (pictured), whose brother Michael was killed, said today: 'We're not giving up yet, we have now the next stage, the judicial review at the High Court' The families of some of those killed on Bloody Sunday today vowed to fight on for justice following the PPS decision. John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed, said: 'We're not giving up yet, we have now the next stage, the judicial review at the High Court. 'It's been a long road, up to nearly 50 years, we're all getting old, a lot of people are dying but as long as we're able to walk, we'll go after them and we certainly will not stop until we see justice for our loved ones. What is the timeline of peace in Northern Ireland? Here is a timeline of events in the years before and after the Good Friday Agreement. 1988 Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and his main nationalist rival, SDLP leader John Hume, begin secret peace talks 1991 Martin McGuinness, a senior figure in the IRA, starts secret peace talks with MI6 1993 October - Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds UK Prime Minister John Major produce the Downing Street declaration setting out their peace vision 1994 August 31 - The IRA announced a ceasefire with loyalist paramilitaries following suit. 1995 May 10 - First official meeting in 23 years between Sinn Fein and a British Government minister. 1997 May - Tony Blair gives a speech in Belfast, warning republicans: 'The settlement train is leaving. I want you on that train.' July 20 - The IRA reinstates its ceasefire to enable Sinn Fein to take part in talks 1998 April 10 - The Good Friday Agreement is signed and is endorsed a month later in a referendum 2007 Sinn Fein endorses the police in Northern Ireland, and elections for Stormont are held May 8 - The DUP's Rev Ian Paisley becomes First Minister and Sin Fein's Martin McGuinness is appointed Deputy First Minister The pair's surprisingly warm relationship leads to them being referred to as the Chuckle Brothers. 2010 The Saville Report exonerates the civilians who were killed on Bloody Sunday leading to a formal apology from then Prime Minister David Cameron to the families. 2019 Prosecutors announce whether to brig charges against the 17 surviving Paras who fired shots that day. If found guilty the former soldiers, the oldest of whom is 77, could face life jail terms. Advertisement 'Every one of them should face the wrath of the law.' He added: 'Over the years we've had many kicks in the teeth, but I think most of us have still got full sets of teeth and we're not giving up, we're never giving up on it.' Mickey McKinney's brother Willie was also shot dead on Bloody Sunday. Soldier F has been charged with his murder. He said he is 'bitterly disappointed' for the other families. 'I'm concerned that the passage of time is very important to us in this case. I think time is in favour of the soldiers,' he said. Foyle MP Colum Eastwood (SDLP) paid tribute to the families as having shown 'the most unshakeable dignity and integrity in moments of justice as well as moments of disappointment'. 'Today's decision will not change that,' he said. 'I am pledged to do all I can to support these families who mean so much to Derry. We'll continue to walk with them.' However, East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell (DUP) questioned potential further costs. 'The issue now will be, is there now going to be a judicial review which is going to entail further cost - remember there's already been almost 200 million spent on the public inquiry, the most expensive in legal history in the UK,' he told the BBC. 'I think more and more people will be saying how much further is this going to go on, because there are families today across Northern Ireland who are still grieving? There are families of two police officers who were murdered in the area where the Bloody Sunday events happened, just three days before. 'They have never received justice, never received a public inquiry and never received any independent review into the circumstances surrounding the murders of their loved ones.' Solicitor Ciaran Shiels described the decision to bring no further prosecutions as 'deeply disappointing for these families and wounded'. 'The families are left with no alternative now but to consider judicial review proceedings in the High Court in Belfast,' he said. The circumstances of Bloody Sunday were investigated in the Saville Inquiry, the longest and most expensive public inquiry in British legal history. It looked into the events surrounding the massacre in Londonderry in which 13 people were shot dead when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civilians on January 30, 1972. The shooting became one of the most infamous incidents in the history of The Troubles, with allegations that IRA instigators were among the crowd and that British gunfire was provoked. Troops fired more than 100 bullets into the crowd, killing 13, and injuring 15. One of the injured died five months later, but the Saville Inquiry concluded he did not died as a result of wounds he sustained on Bloody Sunday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) began a murder investigation in 2010 after the Saville Report said those who were killed or injured on Bloody Sunday were innocent. Eighteen former paratroopers were initially reported to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service over the killings, one of whom died in 2018. Bloody Sunday, which took place at the height of Northern Ireland's 30-year sectarian conflict, was the worst single shooting incident of 'The Troubles', although several bomb attacks by rival militant groups claimed higher death tolls. By Trend The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus on tension on the front line of Nagorno Karabakh made on Sept. 27 is one-sided and biased, head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Abdullayeva made the statement answering a media question about the Cyprus Foreign Ministry's statement. "We remind the Cyprus Foreign Ministry that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan are fighting for the protection of the civilian population within their internationally recognized territories. The Armenian Armed Forces have been illegally placed in Azerbaijan for almost 30 years. Therefore, it is important to get familiar with international documents and their requirements before putting forward any unfounded accusations against Azerbaijan," she said. OAKLAND (BCN) Two shootings claimed the lives of two Oakland men in their hometown Friday, police said Monday. The first man was shot Friday night in the 1700 block of 65th Avenue. Officers went there at 9:30 p.m. after someone reported a shooting. Officers located the man and a Sacramento woman, both suffering from gunshot wounds, according to police. The Oakland man died there while the woman taken to a hospital where she was in stable condition. A second woman, from Oakland, took herself to a hospital with a gunshot wound or wounds and was also in stable condition, police said. About an hour later, officers went to the 9700 block of Edes Avenue after someone reported a shooting. Officers located an Oakland man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead there. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. TikTok lawyers argued at a Sunday hearing that banning the app would infringe on the free speech rights of its users, while also bringing irreparable harm to the company's business. "We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees," the company said in a statement welcoming the judge's decision. The ban was due to go into effect at the end of the day Sunday by order of the U.S. Commerce Department, the latest move targeting what administration officials have said are security concerns with Chinese companies. The judge gave lawyers for TikTok and the administration until Wednesday to meet and propose a schedule for further proceedings in the case. A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted a Trump administration order to ban the popular video app TikTok from U.S. app stores. The Commerce Department said after the ruling that an executive order President Donald Trump issued in August outlining concerns that TikTok collects a wide range of data that could end up in the hands of the Chinese government "is fully consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests." The statement said the government is complying with the injunction but intends to "vigorously defend" the executive order and its implementation from legal challenges. The Trump administration also sought to shut another popular app, WeChat, out of U.S. app stores, before a judge issued an injunction a week ago stopping that ban as well. China has rejected the U.S. allegations that the apps present security concerns, while accusing the United States of bullying Chinese companies. The Justice Department asked Friday for the WeChat ban to be allowed to go into effect while that legal case plays out, arguing that allowing the app to continue to be available to U.S. users will cause the country harm. TikTok has sought to alleviate U.S. concerns by forming a partnership with two U.S. companies, Oracle and WalMart. The deal has not been finalized, and there have been conflicting statements among the parties about how much of the new venture each would own. Trump initially said he gave his blessing to the arrangement, before stating it would not go forward if TikTok's parent company had any ownership stake in the new company. TikTok said after Sunday's ruling that it will "maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement." Armenia said Tuesday that a Turkish F-16 fighter jet had shot down one of its SU-25 warplanes after taking off from Azerbaijan amid fierce clashes over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region. "An Armenian SU-25 aircraft has been shot down by a Turkish F-16 warplane which flew from Azerbaijan's territory," Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan wrote on Facebook, adding that the "Armenian pilot has heroically died." Search Keywords: Short link: The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) held a successful online forum on September 19 to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis of capitalism and the way forward for health workers. Over 50 people participated from across Australia, including nurses, doctors, aged care workers and disability workers. The meeting was held as Australian governments, urged on by the corporate media, intensify their moves toward a full return to work, in defiance of advice by medical experts and warnings by health workers that they are still being denied adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). The number of health workers in Victoria, the national epicentre of Australias COVID-19 infections, continues to climb. Health worker infections accounted for about 20 percent of new COVID-19 cases between July and August, with almost half of these among aged care employees. The COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis of capitalism and the way forward for health workers Gary Alvernia, a junior doctor, SEP national committee member and writer for the World Socialist Web Site, gave the opening report to the forum. He highlighted the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic around the world and the criminal response of governments internationally. The massive, trillion-dollar corporate bailout of Wall Street, which vastly exceeded the corporate handouts of 2008, was contrasted with the response of governments throughout the world to the threat of the pandemic towards lives and livelihoods. Even as the virus spread, governments and health authorities resisted the most elementary measures of quarantine and testing, allowing clusters of infections to rapidly grow from tens, hundreds, to thousands before taking any action, he said. Julia Thomas, a member of the Socialist Equality Party national committee, reported on the situation in Australia and the attacks on health workers and the healthcare system. She also outlined the SEPs fight for a socialist perspective and the necessity for workers to build rank-and-file safety committees in workplaces to enforce health and safety conditions in workplaces and hospitals and to organise resistance, including strike actions, against unsafe conditions and in defence of jobs, wages and conditions. Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, also spoke. In New Zealand, just as in Australia, the United States and everywhere else, governments have given tens of billions of dollarstrillions of dollars on a world scaleto bail out big business and the banks and healthcare workers are being told theres not enough money for them, he said. Erika, a teacher and member of the Committee for Public Education, emphasised the parallel between the conditions that teachers and health workers face and emphasised that, This situation has been created by the unions, whether the healthcare unions or the teacher unions unions today, under capitalism, act as a police force against workers demands. In a lively Q&A session, attendees asked many questions, including what a socialist response to the pandemic would look like. In the chat box, several health workers described their experiences during the pandemic. One worker wrote, While there are no or limited lockdowns and the virus circulates in the community, residents in nursing homes and disability homes are locked down without access to family and social supports. There is virtually no training in the disability sector. There is plenty of direction in my disability service about infection control, but due to limited training and supervision, and the use of casual staff employed through agencies, it is probably only a matter of time before there is an outbreak. Another commented, I work in a cancer hospital in Melbourne we have all been temperature checked upon entry for months, offered plenty of PPE and plenty of education as to how to use it. As a result, we have had only one infected patient, who infected two staff, and the outbreak was contained at that point Contrast this with the aged care home St Basils, where two staff are paid $22 per hour to attend to the needs of 150 residents! Numerous residents were dying of dehydration, i.e., neglect. My husband is a funeral director and has been burying these poor elderly sacrificial lambs for weeks. Its been appalling. After the forum, the World Socialist Web Site spoke with other participants. A young nurse from Melbourne said: I thought the meeting was very educational. It was good to hear the information. I dont think the Australian government took coronavirus very seriously from the beginning. There was too much misinformation, that it was just like the flu, that it would only affect old people or those with suppressed immune systems. Nobody was told from the beginning what it would mean. As health workers, you sign up to put yourself in the position, but were not martyrs, we should be given the equipment to keep safe and the government should take it more seriously. I want to be a nurse and help people, but I dont want to lose my life. I dont want to make my family sick. Look at what is happening in aged care. Theyve got the money, but they make excuses as to why they dont provide PPE. The patients are not protected. It was good that the meeting discussed the unions, and that they didnt do much to help health workers. I had heard good things about the ANMF [Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation] but its not looked at as a political thing. A lot of nurses just see it as insurance, but hearing how the unions werent involved is disappointing. I think rank-and-file safety committees are a good idea. I found that particularly interesting, because I wish the union would have done something more. If our unions are not doing anything then we have to help ourselves as workers. Management is always on the side of the big people; doesnt back the actual worker. When I hear terms like China virus from Trump its just fear-mongering towards China for his own agenda. I hate it when things like that come out. Its us, the workers out there working every day, who dont get to work from home, and then we get the blame for the transmissions that are happening. As for the United States, the way the workers got only $1,200 to surviveIve got no words for that. The system doesnt work for uswe dont win at the end of the day and its our lives. An aged care nurse in Melbourne, who participated in the meeting with her husband, had contracted COVID-19 at her workplace. Her husband spoke on her behalf: Around the world the governments are all the sametheres just official indifference about COVID-19but around the world health workers were not ready to face the situation because they were not trained for it. In Australia, health workers were asked to work with inadequate training, he said. My wife was working in two units in the facility, and doesnt know which one she got infected from. The first had two people infected, they werent separated, then 20 were infected, then 26 out of a total of 28. She was transferred to where there were two more infected, but they were separated. However, 13 staff became infected and the union did nothing. We telephoned the union, but got no support at all. They sent out a letter and a mask. Rank-and-file committees are a good idea, if it is possible. We have no confidence in the unions and were only members because there is nothing else to do. What [former Prime Minister] Tony Abbott said is just like a plan to get rid of the old people. They put money before lives. All the governments in the world would like a deliberate plan to get rid of all the old people. A worker in Western Australia commented that the SEP forum was important because people dont realise how bad it can probably get. Having been injured at work, she said, I totally agree with rank-and-file safety committees. I think we should get rid of the unions altogether because they are useless. They work for management more than for the workers, their members. The union members are too scared to bring the union into work but still pay their dues. Ive heard a lot of people have resigned from the union. My work colleagues feel that if we dont do it, who is going to look after the elderly? They care for the residents, but management dont care at all. The workers form a friendship with a lot of the residents. The carers go flat out. Why cant the government put more money into the aged? Why not more money for health? Kate Garraway's husband Derek has reportedly become the longest surviving patient with coronavirus, after spending 184 days in and out of intensive care. The former lobbyist, 53, was first hospitalised with the disease on March 29, he was on a ventilator and put in an induced coma shortly thereafter before he was woken up in July, but progress is said to be 'very slow.' According to a report from The Sun on Monday, Derek is one of 'only a handful' of people to be in hospital for six months with coronavirus. Fighting it: Kate Garraway's husband Derek's six-month battle with coronavirus 'becomes the longest in the UK', it was claimed on Monday (pictured December 2019) A source speaking to the publication claimed: 'Kate has been so brave and her strength is awe-inspiring. But the truth is that progress is very, very slow. 'Derek has now been hospitalised for six months which makes him one of only a handful of people who have been in hospital for this long. 'It's incredibly tough for Kate though because some days he shows signs of improvement, and then 24 hours later he has taken a worrying turn for the worse. It's literally one step forward, two steps back.' Worrying: Derek's progress is said to be 'very slow', which a source claimed has been 'incredibly tough for Kate' because of his fluctuating physical health (pictured July 2020) The source went on to claim that Kate is thankful Derek is 'still here' as it means she has hope he will pull through after so many have lose their loved ones. According to the publication, Fatima Bridle was the longest-surviving patient with COVID-19 before returning home in August, after 141 days in hospital at the time. MailOnline has contacted Kate's representatives for comment. Illness: Derek was first hospitalised with the disease on March 29, he was on a ventilator and put in an induced coma shortly thereafter before he was woken up in July On Friday Kate offered viewers an update on her husband's condition, as she admitted it had been a difficult week for the family. She turned to co-host Ben Shephard, 45, and said: 'Tough week with Derek. It has been a tough week.' Later in the show, Lorraine Kelly appeared on screen to discuss what would be coming up on her show, and said: 'I'm sorry to hear it's been a tough week, Kate but we love having you on the telly!' Derek was hospitalised after suffering serious complications from Covid-19 and has remained in intensive care ever since, in a minimally conscious state from which no one knows if he will ever recover. Strong: On Friday Kate offered viewers an update on her husband's condition, as she admitted it had been a 'tough' week for the family Speaking to the Mail On Sunday's YOU magazine about the family's ordeal earlier this month, Kate revealed doctors had warned her Derek wouldn't survive, and expressed her shock at seeing his appearance as his 'worn-out and thin' body struggled to fight the virus. Derek, who she revealed has lost eight stone during the battle, is one of an estimated just five people in the world whose bodies have been damaged so much by Covid. Kate recalled: 'Doctors were saying, "He's not going to make it.' Unable to breathe, he was put into a medical coma to give his lungs a rest. Before he went under, he called Kate and said, "I love you, you've saved my life." A timeline of Derek's coronavirus battle MARCH Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11 - Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March. She said: 'Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] 'god you look ill.' 'He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe, 'I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance' Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition. APRIL Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed 'mild symptoms'. Kate said: 'Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I'm afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time. 'I'm afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.' MAY Kate said: 'The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight. 'But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.' That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers She said: 'I'll never give up on that because Derek's the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty' JUNE On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body JULY On July 5, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition. On July 8, she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to 'get on with life' during Derek's recovery. She added that Derek had 'opened his eyes' after waking from his coma, but has been told his recovery could take years. On July 13, Kate returned to GMB for the first time since Derek was hospitalised. On July 28, Kate revealed she'd paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, and admitted she's 'frustrated' by his slow progress. August Kate discussed wanting to donate her blood plasma to Derek in a bid to help him in his battle. At the time, Kate said Derek 'is very much still with us,' but it is still a 'waiting game'. September Kate offered viewers an update on her husband's condition, as she admitted it had been a 'tough' week for the family. Derek battle with COVID-19 reportedly become the longest in the UK, after spending 184 days in and out of intensive care. Advertisement For several weeks, the family's only contact with Derek was through hospital staff, so when Kate first saw her husband, she found him unrecognisable. Kate recalled: 'When I finally got to FaceTime him, seeing him unconscious was a big shock. 'He's lost nearly eight stone in weight, a lot of it muscle throughout his body. He looked worn-out, thin and pale with dark circles under his eyes and there were lots of tubes.' Kate contracted coronavirus herself at the same time as Derek, but made a full recovery. Kate contracted coronavirus herself at the same time as Derek, but made a full recovery. Last month, the presenter discussed wanting to donate her blood plasma to Derek in a bid to help him in his battle. The TV host said she she was 'desperately researching anything she could do to help' her husband who remains very sick in hospital. Her GMB co-host Adil Ray, 46, said: 'On the show last week, you would have seen Kate talking about the potential importance of blood plasma transfusions for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. 'That day the number of people offering to donate went up 300 per cent. Kate said: It's a lovely lovely thing. The process which is similar to giving blood, only takes 45 minutes and can be used to help treat patients who aren't producing enough of their own antibodies to fight COVID-19. 'The reason it's popped up, why I was talking about it, was because when Derek first got sick, I was desperately researching anything I could do to help. 'I watched him be consumed by the virus despite all the brilliant efforts of those around trying to help him in the NHS.' She continued: 'I was told at the time, because it was one of the ideas I had, 'what about giving my blood, there are antibodies in my blood because I've had it, will that help?' they said no because the trials for it hadn't really started. 'I started talking about it last week because I found out that now it is being used which is fantastic.' Adil said: 'Kate, I will say this, you're so inspiring at a time like this.' Kate replied: 'I don't know about that, I feel very emotional about it actually, not just the idea that people are coming forward but that it might save lives. Kate revealed she is reluctant to talk about Derek 'every week' on the show as she doesn't want to upset viewers, but was reassured by Adil that she has been 'inspiring.' Kate said Derek 'is very much still with us,' but it is still a 'waiting game'. In July Derek emerged from his deep coma and started showing some signs of consciousness, occasionally opening his eyes. Only a few weeks ago, Kate was finally allowed to visit Derek in hospital. Coronavirus precautions mean the children and Derek's parents haven't been able to yet. She admitted: 'I see him quite infrequently, not as often as I'd wish'. Discussing the moment doctors told her that Derek may never recover, Kate confessed that she threw up in shock. She said: 'We hope and believe he will come out of it, but we just don't know. 'The heart of the family has been ripped out and we don't know if we will ever get it back.' Giving an update on his condition, she continued: 'At first it was all about Derek's lungs. 'But then his kidneys started failing and he was on dialysis. Now they've realised Covid can affect every cell of the body: most recently Derek's been having problems with his intestines. 'The absorption of food and vomiting are problems and they're trying to work out whether that's because his cells don't produce the enzymes to digest. 'His liver and heart and blood vessels have been affected.' Last month, Kate revealed she paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, as he continues to slowly recover from COVID-19. Heartbreaking: Kate revealed earlier this year doctors had warned her Derek wouldn't survive, and expressed her shock at seeing his appearance as his body struggled to fight the virus The Good Morning Britain presenter also told Ben Shephard that it was 'lovely' to see her partner as (28 July) was his 53rd birthday, but she continues to be 'frustrated' by his slow progress. Kate told Ben: 'I did go and see Derek, he's had a tough couple of weeks, and it's just frustrating. 'It would have actually been his birthday today so I was extra emotional so I was thinking about the day he was born. She added: 'What the doctor said to me was, 'Sometimes, Kate, a day when nothing has gone backwards is a positive'.' As Ben agreed that Derek had 'a stable day,' Kate added: 'It's just I'm desperate for a step forward. It's always lovely to see him and so it's wonderful to have the chance to see him.' Doting mother: Kate and Derek married in 2005, and share daughter Darcey, 14, and son Billy, 11 [pictured in December] Kate and Derek married in 2005, and share daughter Darcey, 14, and son Billy, 11. Earlier this year, Kate took a break from work in order to look after their children in lockdown and be there for Derek. The journalist made a welcome to present Good Morning Britain in July after being away for 14 weeks and has now announced she will be returning to her Smooth Radio show so Derek 'can hear my voice as well as many of the songs we both love.' The broadcaster also confirmed she would be heading back to the Global studios in London to record her show from 10am to 1pm every day, after her friend Myleene Klass filled in for her. As she announced her return to the airwaves, Kate acknowledged the frightening circumstances she currently faces, but hopes work will provide a welcome distraction for both herself and her husband. Heartbreaking: Discussing the moment doctors told her that Derek may never recover, Kate confessed that she threw up in shock [pictured in 2008] She said to The Sun: 'I'm delighted to be returning to my morning show on Smooth and to my Global family who have been a big support to me. 'Things are still hugely challenging and a long way from being normal, but I'd like to think that this will give Derek yet another opportunity to hear my voice as well as many of the songs we both love. 'My heartfelt thanks go to Myleene Klass who has been brilliantly caretaking the show for me and to all my regular listeners for their messages of support.' Throughout all this, Kate has been holding the fort at home, trying to present a chipper front for the sake of the children. For the first time, data from a study with patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 suggest that the disease might deteriorate men's testosterone levels. Publishing their results in the peer-reviewed journal The Aging Male, experts from the University of Mersin and the Mersin City Education And Research Hospital in Turkey found as men's testosterone level at baseline decreases, the probability for them to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) significantly increases. Lead author Selahittin Cayan, Professor of Urology, states that while it has already been reported that low testosterone levels could be a cause for poor prognosis following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, this is the first study to show that COVID-19 itself depletes testosterone. It is hoped that the development could help to explain why so many studies have found that male prognosis is worse than those females with COVID-19, and therefore to discover possible improvement in clinical outcomes using testosterone-based treatments. Testosterone is associated with the immune system of respiratory organs, and low levels of testosterone might increase the risk of respiratory infections. Low testosterone is also associated with infection-related hospitalisation and all-cause mortality in male in ICU patients, so testosterone treatment may also have benefits beyond improving outcomes for COVID-19. In our study, the mean total testosterone decreased, as the severity of the COVID-19 increased. The mean total testosterone level was significantly lower in the ICU group than in the asymptomatic group. In addition, the mean total testosterone level was significantly lower in the ICU group than in the Intermediate Care Unit group. The mean serum follicle stimulating hormone level was significantly higher in the ICU group than in the asymptomatic group. We found, Hypogonadism - a condition in which the body doesn't produce enough testosterone -in 113 (51.1%) of the male patients. The patients who died, had significantly lower mean total testosterone than the patients who were alive. However, even 65.2% of the 46 male patients who were asymptomatic had a loss of loss of libido." Selahittin Cayan, Professor of Urology, University of Mersin The research team looked at a total of 438 patients. This included 232 males, each with laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2. All data were prospectively collected. A detailed clinical history, complete physical examination, laboratory and radiological imaging studies were performed in every patient. All data of the patients were checked and reviewed by the two physicians. The cohort study was divided into three groups: asymptomatic patients (n: 46), symptomatic patients who were hospitalized in the internal medicine unit (IMU) (n: 129), and patients who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) (n: 46). In the patients who had pre-COVID-19 serum gonadal hormones test (n: 24), serum total testosterone level significantly decreased from pre-COVID-19 level of 458??198?ng/dl to 315??120?ng/dl at the time of COVID-19 in the patients (p?=?0.003). Death was observed in 11 of the male adult patients (4.97%) and 7 of the female patients (3.55%), revealing no significance between the two genders (p?>?0.05). Commenting on the results of the study, Professor Cayan added: "It could be recommended that at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, testosterone levels are also tested. In men with low levels of sex hormones who test positive for COVID-19, testosterone treatment could improve their prognosis. More research is needed on this." The limitations of this study include it not including a control group of patients with conditions other than COVID-19, this was due to the restrictions placed on the hospital that they were monitoring the patients in. The authors state future studies should look at the concentration levels of ACE2 (Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) - an enzyme attached to the cell membranes of cells located in the intestines -, in relationship with the total testosterone levels. The Block's 'cheating scandal' involving contestants Luke and Jasmin has deepened. After judge Shaynna Blaze called out the couple for creating a 'carbon copy' of another home, Daily Mail Australia has found two more examples of the team appearing to replicate rooms. 'It was my inspo, it wasn't a secret,' a defiant Jasmin tells Shaynna in a confrontation set to air on Tuesday night's episode. Blow-up: The Block judge Shaynna Blaze will confront Luke and Jasmin over their 'cheating scandal' on Tuesday night's episode - as more similar room 'copies' are discovered Shaynna snaps at the pair: 'It's not fair making money out of someone else's designs... inspiration is one thing, completely taking someone's idea is another.' In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment earlier this week, Jasmin was seen looking at a photo on her phone which resembled an almost exact replica of their finished room. An eagle-eyed viewer pointed out the moment on Twitter, as another shared the original photo from an Airbnb listing in Byron Bay. The Block: A bedroom with a four-poster bed by the couple on the reno show appeared similar to one of the many Byron abode's bedrooms Byron Bay Airbnb: One of the many bedrooms in the holiday home featured a four-poster bed, and wall lights on either side Luke and Jasmin's children's bedroom was eerily similar to the Airbnb room, and on closer inspection two other rooms appeared heavily inspired by the home. A bedroom with a four-poster bed by the couple on the reno show appeared similar to one of the many Byron abode's bedrooms. The confrontation occurs in this particular bedroom, hinting that Shaynna may be aware of the room's original inspiration. Meanwhile, one of The Block's bathrooms also shared dual arched mirrors, light tiles and a stand-alone bath with the coastal holiday rental. The Block: One of the couple's bathrooms had dual arched mirrors, light tiles and a stand-alone bath Byron Bay Airbnb: The coastal holiday rental had numerous bathrooms with stand-alone tubs, dual mirrors and basins, and light timber and tiles used 'Yes you could literally see this picture on Jas phone when showing Dan the ladder!' Jasmin was seen looking at a photo on her phone which looked similar to her finished room From Byron to The Block: A photo posted by a fan on Twitter showed a room which also had polka dot wallpaper, a timber ladder and framing for the top bunk from an Airbnb listing Pictured: The Block team Luke and Jasmin's winning children's bedroom A Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday: 'The Block is a real estate competition for amateur renovators. When contestants arrive on The Block to renovate they are not expected to be professional designers and in turn take inspiration from professional work and trends.' 'Judges and producers feel it is not in the spirit of the competition to slavishly copy a design, instead they hope to see contestants bring their own flavour to each room.' 'No points or prize money were deducted from Luke and Jasmin's win as they had not cheated. It was felt a gentle conversation with the contestants about taking inspiration and slavishly copying would suffice.' 'It was a carbon copy!' Despite giving Luke and Jasmin the perfect score of ten, judge Shaynna Blaze (pictured) has since admitted that she had a nagging feeling that the design of their bedroom was one she had seen elsewhere Spot the difference? Luke and Jasmin's (left) bedroom appeared to also be inspired by a room designed by former 2014 team Kyal and Kara (right) Despite initially giving the couple the perfect score of ten, judge Shaynna Blaze later told TV Week she believed the couple had created a 'literal carbon copy' of another image she found through a simple internet search. The 57-year-old explained: 'I thought, "I'm just going to have a look" and I found an identical one. There are one or two teeny-tiny tweaks, but it's literally a carbon copy!' The interior designer fumed: 'When you present it in a competition and say, "I put this together", it's like, "Well, no you haven't! You just copied somebody else's hard work and claimed it as your own."' 'No points or prize money were deducted from Luke and Jasmin's win as they hadn't cheated': A Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the pair weren't reprimanded, but all teams received a reminder about 'taking inspiration and slavishly copying' Defending themselves: Jasmin, 36, was quick to deny the cheating claims, telling the publication that the design of the room was a product of a mood board she had created Jasmin, 36, was quick to deny the cheating claims, telling the publication that the design of the room was a product of a mood board she had created. She also claimed that if she were to cheat, she 'wouldn't have done it so openly'. The Block allows contestants to take inspiration from many things, including magazines, shop window displays, and previous Block rooms. Watch the showdown between Shaynna and Luke and Jasmin on The Block from 7:30pm on Tuesday on Nine and 9Now DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reinforced a continued commitment to putting People first and championing an inclusive workplace for all Employees. In a video message for the Company's Employees, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly shared, "Our diversity & inclusion journey began long before this summer's increased focus on racial injustice and has always been rooted in our Southwest Way Values: specifically, how we show up individually, how we treat each other, how we work as a Team, and how we will succeed as a Company." Southwest long has been committed to diversity and inclusion, having been founded and guided across five decades by the Golden Rule to "Treat others as you would like to be treated," since our founding. Kelly continued, "While our diversity imperatives across the years laid a good foundation, we know we must commit to closely focusing in areas like diversity in Senior Leadership and supplier diversity. We continue to look for opportunities to better reflect in our organization the diverse demographics of the communities we serve." Specifically, the Company has set the following goals: Evolving hiring and development practices to support diversity goals, including posting all open Leadership positions (Supervisor to Vice President) and requiring diverse candidate slates for each role Measuring progress in increasing diversity in Senior Leadership Doubling the percentage of racial diversity and increasing gender diversity in Senior Management Committee by 2025 Engaging breadth of community partners to ensure the Company is leveraging those relationships as it sources diverse talent Additionally, the Southwest Airlines Board of Directors has committed to increasing its diverse representation by 2025. Journalists may download Gary's video message on Southwest Airlines commitment to increase diversity in Leadership Pursuing Racial Equity To continue its commitment to inclusion, the Southwest Airlines Diversity and Inclusion Team has completed workshops with much of the Company's workforce, thus far, including Flight Attendants, Mechanics and Engineers, Finance Employees, and Pilots, with other conversations planned. These workshops are part of an effort to encourage productive conversations on racial equity. Many workgroups from throughout the Company have initiated dialogue and discussion about these important topics. Employee-led Solutions The Southwest Airlines' Diversity Councilcomprised of a diverse group of Employees with various job roles, in locations across the country, and with varying levels of experiencewas founded more than 10 years ago. It serves as an asset, dedicated to a mission that promotes a work environment that appreciates different backgrounds, experiences, and traditions, while also fostering inclusion, and leveraging diversity to enhance performance and shape Company strategy. Assisting Communities with Change The Company's Community Outreach Team continues visiting with its community partners to understand how the Company can support workforce development through talent pipelines. The Southwest Airlines Foundation, a corporate-advised fund within the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, made additional monetary contributions to organizations such as the National Urban League and 100 Black Men in America. ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. In its 50th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service to a Customer base topping 130 million passengers in 2019. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. In early 2020, the carrier added service to Hilo, Hawaii, and Cozumel, Mexico. Southwest will begin service to Steamboat Springs, Colo. on Dec. 19, 2020, and also recently announced its intention to serve Palm Springs, Calif. and Miami, Fla. The carrier issued its Southwest Promise in May 2020 to highlight new and round-the-clock efforts to support its Customers and Employees wellbeing and comfort. Among the changes are enhanced cleaning efforts at airports and onboard aircraft, face covering requirements for Customers and Employees, and capping the number of passengers on every flight to allow middle seats to remain open through Nov. 30, 2020. Additional details about the Southwest Promise are available at Southwest.com/Promise. Southwest coined Transfarency to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances). Southwest does not charge change fees, though fare differences might apply. Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. Learn more about how the carrier gives back to communities across the world by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship. Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA. SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links http://www.southwest.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 19:46:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The launching ceremony of the third volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sept. 29, 2020. The third volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was launched in Cambodia on Tuesday, attracting scores of readers from the Senate, the National Assembly and all ministries in the country. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua) PHNOM PENH, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The third volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was launched in Cambodia on Tuesday, attracting scores of readers from the Senate, the National Assembly and all ministries in the country. Cambodian Senate's Secretary General Om Sarith and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian presided over the launching of the book's English version, held at the Senate's library. The recently published volume collects 92 articles, including speeches, conversations, instructions and letters of Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, between Oct. 18, 2017 and Jan. 13, 2020. The articles are divided into 19 topics and the volume also contains 41 photos of the Chinese leader during the same period. Speaking at the event, Sarith said the book would provide Cambodian readers better understanding and knowledge of the Chinese leader and his thoughts on governance. "I think that the book is really a treasure trove of knowledge for administering the country and is also an invaluable asset for China," he said. "From the first to the third volume, these books have reflected President Xi's thoughts and strategies on governance, the Chinese Dream, methods for solving challenging issues, roadmaps for long-run development, and promoting a sense of community of shared destiny for mankind," he added. Sarith also lauded China for lifting approximately 800 million people out of poverty in the past decades. "China's poverty reduction is the greatest achievement in the human history," he said. At the event, Wang said the series of the book have drawn attention from readers around the world, including Cambodia. The ambassador said the book covers Xi's important thoughts in various fields such as reform, development and stability, domestic and foreign affairs, national defense, and governance of the CPC, the country and the military, among others. He was confident that the new volume would help the international community and Cambodian readers better understand China's peaceful development as well as socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Seng Vansay, secretary of state for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said the book is really useful for Cambodian officials and people to learn from China's experience in governance and in administering the country. "In my personal view, it's very important because the book provides good contents in administering the country," she told Xinhua. "Cambodia can learn a lot of good points from this book for our national development because we see that China's state reform, anti-corruption, and poverty reduction strategies are very similar to our Cambodian government's Rectangular Strategy." Nop Kuch, head of the Senate's Human Resources Development Department, said the book reflected Xi's thoughts on state reforms, economic development, anti-corruption, and poverty alleviation, among others. "It's a core document and an experience for Cambodia to learn and to link between the Cambodian government's development strategy and the Chinese government's strategy, particularly under China's Belt and Road Initiative," he told Xinhua. Enditem NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertice Pharma, a specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on improving patients' health, announced today that Don DeGolyer will join the Company's board of directors, promoting Scott Meyers to Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"). Mr. Meyers joined Vertice Pharma in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer during which time he helped the Company build key operational capabilities across manufacturing, quality, research & development, regulatory affairs, new product selection, new product launches, and business development. He has over 20 years of pharmaceutical experience, most recently before Vertice as Vice President & General Manager of Fougera Inc., a Sandoz / Novartis branded and generic dermatology business. He was formerly a consultant for McKinsey & Company's pharmaceutical practice and a Chemical Engineer for Merck & Co. "Vertice Pharma's focus on delivering high-quality and affordable pharmaceutical products has an incredible impact on patients and reflects the mission that has driven me throughout my career. In this next phase, I look forward to working with the Vertice team to advance our strategy through new products and initiatives," said Scott Meyers. "I also want to thank Don for his mentorship throughout my career and his leadership of our company over the past five years. I look forward to working with him on our board of directors." Mr. DeGolyer founded Vertice Pharma in 2015 with a unique focus on acquiring specialty pharmaceutical companies and products, including both branded and generic products, to create a durable specialty pharmaceutical business of scale. By building a strong leadership team with proven track records in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. DeGolyer has positioned Vertice Pharma to succeed in a complex and rapidly evolving environment. "I founded Vertice Pharma with the vision to improve patients' health through acquiring and developing branded and generic specialty pharmaceuticals and maximizing their potential. I am incredibly proud of what the entire team has accomplished to-date and am excited to support the company's continued growth through my more active role on the board," said Don DeGolyer. "Scott has been a critical partner to me since the founding of the company, and I am excited to see him step into his next role as CEO and to lead Vertice into its next chapter of growth." About Vertice Pharma Vertice Pharma is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' health. Vertice Pharma develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-quality and affordable pharmaceutical products through its operating companies. Vertice Pharma has global headquarters in the United Kingdom and United States headquarters in New Jersey. For more information visit www.verticepharma.com Media Contact Kimberly Branch 727-530-1633 x276 SOURCE Vertice Related Links http://www.verticepharma.com The friend told police that he had told Fisher the other child was dying in the bathroom. According to the complaint, Fisher said he assumed they were being dramatic about a harmless game and looked down the hallway to see the child on his hands and knees with a puppy and assumed the child was playing or teaching the puppy how to play dead. Fisher ordered the friend to go to a room and not come out unless it was to use the bathroom or it was an emergency. The friend said I was in panic because the child was choking in the bathroom, and didnt know what to do, even when Fisher yelled for the child a few times. The complaint states that Fisher said it was not like the child not to answer when he yelled and was visibly upset talking to police, questioning out loud why he didnt walk to the bathroom to check on the child who was likely choking on part of the lunch he had served them. HANOI -- Vietnam's coffee exports in the first nine months of this year are expected to show a 1.4% drop from a year earlier to 1.25 million tonnes, while rice exports likely fell 0.6%, government data released on Tuesday showed. Coffee Coffee exports from Vietnam likely decreased an estimated 1.4% in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier to 1.25 million tonnes, equal to 20.83 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office said in a report on Tuesday. Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of the robusta bean, likely decreased 1% to $2.158 billion in the nine-month period, the report said. The country's coffee shipments in September are estimated at 100,000 tonnes valued at $188 million, it said. Rice Rice exports in the first nine months of this year from Vietnam are forecast to show a drop of 0.6% from a year earlier to 5.026 million tonnes. Revenue from rice exports in the period is expected to rise 12% to $2.468 billion. September rice exports from Vietnam, one of the world's largest shippers of the grain, totalled 420,000 tonnes, worth $215 million Energy Vietnam's Jan-Sept crude oil exports are seen rising 40.9% from the same period last year to an estimated 4.089 million tonnes. Crude oil export revenue in January to September is expected to fall 8.6% to $1.363 billion. Oil product imports in the first nine months were estimated at 9.045 million tonnes, up 42.7% from the same period last year, and the value of product imports down 1% to $2.97 billion . RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Energy Virginia today announced another step to drive electric vehicle adoption, save customers money and reduce emissions in Virginia. Rebates for charging stations for multi-family communities, workplaces, transit bus depots and fast-charging locations are now available. A rebate program for the company's residential customers will launch in Virginia in early 2021. The rebates for infrastructure, chargers and network fees range from $2,000 to more than $50,000 per project. The new Smart Charging Infrastructure Pilot Program was approved by the State Corporation Commission as part of the company's Grid Transformation Plan a 10-year plan to transform Virginia's energy grid and give customers more ways to save money, more reliable service, and more access to renewable energy. "We believe electrification isn't just the future of transportation. We're powering it in Virginia right now," said Ed Baine, senior vice-president of Power Delivery. "Soon, parents in Fairfax will be able to send their children to school on an electric school bus, commute to the metro station on Virginia's first autonomous electric shuttle and charge their electric vehicle while running errands around town." Those interested in learning more about the company's commitment to electric vehicles and the Smart Charging Infrastructure Pilot Program are invited to attend a webinar on October 1 at 11 a.m. EST. Visit the Smart Charging Infrastructure Pilot Program website to register for the webinar. Dominion Energy is committed to reducing carbon emissions and helping customers do the same. Transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States and in Virginia, so transportation electrification plays a vital role in reducing emissions and improving air quality. In addition to rebates for electric vehicle charging, the company is supporting the adoption of electric vehicles in the following ways: Helping electric vehicle owners save money when they charge at off-peak times. Beginning in early 2021, Virginia customers who have smart meters will be eligible to enroll in a newly approved time-varying rate that will give them more control over their electric bill. The rate will incentivize customers to do certain tasks such as charge their electric vehicle at times of the day when demand for electricity is low. when they charge at off-peak times. Beginning in early 2021, customers who have smart meters will be eligible to enroll in a newly approved time-varying rate that will give them more control over their electric bill. The rate will incentivize customers to do certain tasks such as charge their electric vehicle at times of the day when demand for electricity is low. Moving forward with the nation's largest electric school bus deployment. Beginning this fall, the first of 50 electric buses will safely carry Virginia students while also reducing emissions. Beginning this fall, the first of 50 electric buses will safely carry students while also reducing emissions. Debuting an electric, self-driving shuttle that will make a loop between the Dunn Loring Metro Station and Mosaic District in Fairfax, Va. The project is the first state-funded test of autonomous public transportation in Virginia and is in partnership with Fairfax County . that will make a loop between the Dunn Loring Metro Station and Mosaic District in The project is the first state-funded test of autonomous public transportation in and is in partnership with . Helping public transportation go green. The first electric public buses in Virginia will be powered by Dominion Energy through a partnership with Hampton Roads Transit. The company is also working on electric public transportation outside Virginia with a strategic partnership with the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority to power electric buses in South Carolina . The first electric public buses in will be powered by Dominion Energy through a partnership with Hampton Roads Transit. The company is also working on electric public transportation outside with a strategic partnership with the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority to power electric buses in . Installing public fast-charging stations. Over the next year, Dominion Energy Virginia will install four public fast-charging stations for customers that can charge an electric vehicle's battery to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes. Over the next year, Dominion Energy Virginia will install four public fast-charging stations for customers that can charge an electric vehicle's battery to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes. Transitioning the company's fleet to electric vehicles. Dominion Energy Virginia has an ongoing initiative to transition a quarter of its light-duty fleet to electric vehicles. Additionally, the company is installing electric vehicle charging at its office locations and has incentives for employees who want to purchase an electric vehicle. The announcement comes as electric vehicle enthusiasts across the U.S. are recognizing National Drive Electric Week, a celebration to raise awareness of the benefits of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are environmentally friendly and cost less to operate than gas-powered cars. Plus, they are easy to charge and fun to drive. According to Edison Electric Institute, electric vehicles emit 54 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions and drivers spend 50 percent less on fuel when compared to gas-powered cars. Visit Dominion Energy's website to learn more about the benefits of electric vehicles and access tools such as a savings calculator and charger finder to explore if an electric vehicle is right for you. Incentives and new programs will help customers make decisions on how and where to charge an electric vehicle and still save money. About Dominion Energy More than 7 million customers in 20 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more. SOURCE Dominion Energy Related Links http://www.dominionenergy.com Workers adjust signage as preparations take place for the first presidential debate in the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Cleveland. The first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Sept. 29. Read more Presidential debate: Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden Date: Tuesday, Sept. 29 Start time: 9 p.m. Location: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Moderator: Fox News anchor Chris Wallace TV: All major broadcast and cable news networks President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will face off Tuesday night in Ohio in the first of three presidential debates, where both candidates hope to win over a small pool of undecided voters leading up to the 2020 election on Nov. 3. Biden, 77, enters the debate ahead in most national polls (and in several battleground states, such as Pennsylvania). He took himself off the campaign trail for several days to prepare for tonights faceoff, with former Obama White House counsel Bob Bauer reportedly standing in for the president during mock debates. Its unclear how much time Trump, 74, has spent preparing for tonights debate. Last week, he told reporters that answering their questions was his debate prep, and campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh told CBS News that Trump was preparing for the debate by being president. Hes also continued to hold large rallies across the country, most recently outside of Harrisburg, Pa. Moderating tonights debate is longtime Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Unlike the Trump-aligned opinion hosts at his network, Wallace is a no-nonsense questioner that won high marks for his sure-handed approach managing the third presidential debate during the 2016 election cycle between Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The debate will be broken up into six 15 minute segments, each focusing on a single topic chosen by Wallace and approved by the Commission on Presidential Debates the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, the Supreme Court, each candidates records, election integrity, and race and violence in our cities (a topic that drew criticism for appearing to echo Trumps characterization of largely peaceful protests over racial justice that have taken place across the country, including in Philadelphia). While Wallace knows hell face intense scrutiny as the moderator of the first debate, his goal is not to be noticed. One of these two people is going to be the next president of the United States, and my job is to be as invisible as possible," Wallace said during an interview on Fox News that aired Sunday. Im trying to get them to engage, to focus on the key issues If Ive done my job right, at the end of the night, people will say, That was a great debate, who was the moderator?'" The first presidential debate will air commercial free on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected TV audience north of 70 million viewers (the first debate of the 2016 cycle drew 84 million viewers, but more will stream the debate this time around). Heres what you need to know ahead of the debate: What time does the first presidential debate start and end? The first president debate between Trump and Biden is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last an hour and a half. Frankly, the debate will be hard to miss. The event will air live on all major broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS) and cable news networks (C-Span, CNN, MSNBC, Fox Business, Fox News). It will also be available to stream on a host of so-called skinny cable bundles, such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, AT&T Now, and FuboTV (which is offering a free 7-day trial). You can also stream the debate right here, courtesy of C-SPAN: Hes really good at this: Chris Wallace no stranger to high profile debates Wallace, 72, is the only moderator from the 2016 election cycle to return to host a debate this time around. Its no secret why Wallace earned widespread praise for his role moderating the final debate between Trump and Clinton (well see if Tom Hanks turns up again to play Wallace on Saturday Night Lives season premier on Oct. 3) Among other things, Wallace pressed Trump on a familiar theme this election cycle his refusal to commit to accept the results of the election, especially if they arent fully known immediately on election night. There is a tradition in this county, in fact one of the prides of this country, is the peaceful transition of power, and that no matter how hard fought a campaign is, that at the end of the campaign the loser concedes to the winner, Wallace said to Trump during the 2016 debate. Are you saying youre not prepared now to commit to that principle? What Im saying is Ill tell you at the time. Ill keep you in suspense," Trump shot back. While Wallace was unavailable to speak to the Inquirer, fellow Fox News anchor Bret Baier who has worked with Wallace over the years on a number of Republican and Democratic debates said he is uniquely qualified to kick off the 2020 presidential debate cycle. Hes really good at this, Baier told The Inquirer. Debates are not town halls, debates are not Q&A sessions debates are an effort to get a substantive back-and-forth between the two candidates, and to create that dynamic where theyre going at each other over, ideally, substance. Wallace received some criticism for not including climate change among the list of topics he plans to cover Tuesday night, especially considering the recent wildfires on the West Coast. But Baier said he expects climate change and other topics such as a Republican-led investigation that found no evidence of wrongdoing by Bidens oldest son, Hunter to come up during the back-and-forth between the candidates. People were upset that on the right that some of these investigations that are coming to fruition are not one of the topics, Baier said. Well, if you dont think that Donald Trump is going to bring up the Senate report on Hunter Biden, I think you probably dont know, President Trump. Recent stories and columns about the 2020 election Here are some recent stories about the 2020 election from The Philadelphia Inquirer: 2020 presidential debate schedule The Trump and Biden campaigns have agreed to three debates during the 2020 election: Sept. 29: Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, moderated by Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace Oct. 15: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, moderated by C-SPAN Political Editor Steve Scully Oct. 22: Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., moderated by NBC News White House correspondent (and Philadelphia native) Kristen Welker A debate between Harris and Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page will be the moderator. Trump will once again return to the state Saturday to hold events in La Crosse and Green Bay. Saturday will mark Trumps sixth trip to Wisconsin as he looks for a repeat of 2016, when he defeated Hillary Clinton by fewer than 23,000 votes. President Trump has Wisconsins back, and as a result, Badger State voters will back him at the ballot box in November, said Anna Kelly, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. With the Nov. 3 election five weeks away, state elections officials anticipate as many as 2 million people will cast absentee ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday, nearly 1.14 million absentee ballots had been sent out statewide and more than 238,000 have been returned, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. More than 52,000 ballots had been returned in Dane County. I know youre already engaged or you probably wouldnt be out here this afternoon, Jill Biden said Monday. I know youre busy and youre probably stretched so thin, but Im asking you to do more because this election is too important to sit on the sidelines. All of us have to do what we can until Election Day. This is it, there are no do-overs. This is the last shot to wake up on Nov. 4 and feel that hope. UFC president Dana White was baffled by Paulo Costa's against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253, branding it 'Domination of the Year'. The powerful Brazilian challenger was only a narrow underdog with the bookies but hardly landed a strike as the champion picked him apart, finishing the fight with a second-round TKO. Adesanya looked sensational and delivered one of his best performances but Costa appeared lost and was made to look amateurish. Paulo Costa (left) was dominated at UFC 253 and Dana White (right) was underwhelmed Israel Adesanya picked his challenger apart and the Brazilian hardly landed a shot White had anticipated a far closer, more competitive encounter for the middleweight title and did not hold back in his criticism. He said: 'So much for Fight of the Year it was Domination of the Year'. 'It was weird because if you look at every other fight that Costa has had, he comes out and goes after people like they owe him money. 'I think he landed one jab in this fight. He didnt try to clinch on the fence, didnt try to put pressure, kept going back to the centre of the octagon. It was very weird. Costa suffered a second-round TKO defeat by the dominant middleweight champion The UFC boss believed Costa, who was previously unbeaten as a professional, would rely on his power and output but the 29-year-old appeared reluctant to pull the trigger. 'If he fought the way he fights I mean look at the way he fought Yoel Romero, one of the most dangerous guys ever... and then he stays on the outside, taking damage to that front leg (against Adesanya), White added. 'Then when he does rush in and get him up against the cage, he backs out to the centre of the cage again. '(He) never tried to get in the clinch. I think he only landed one jab (and) didnt really thrown any punches when (Adesanya) threw kicks. It was very weird. Adesanya landed some punishing blows to the calf and body before finding a finish 'I just sat there going, Holy (explicit). Obviously Adesanya went to work, pieced him piece by piece, made it look really easy. Despite the underwhelming performance from Costa, White was also keen to give Adesanya credit for a masterclass in striking. 'No matter what, it was Adesnaya put on a clinic,' he said. 'The first three calf kicks busted up his leg and got him right in the side of the knee. (He) had a huge welt on the side of the knee, and then the shin to the eye and just absolutely dismantled him. (He) easily won the fight.' by Pierre Balanian In addition to Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan also support Azerbaijan against "Armenian aggression". For the second consecutive day, the Armenian inhabitants of Stepanakert spent the night in the basement. Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for starting the attacks. Social media full of racial slurs and religious warfare. Stepanakert (AsiaNews) - "We will not allow Turkey to perpetrate a genocide of Armenians for the second time": Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said yesterday, recalling the events of 1915, when the populations of Western Armenia - today Turkish Anatolia - were wiped out or driven from their ancestral land. In a conversation yesterday with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Armenian premier discussed at length the causes and developments of the war that broke out days ago between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. Pashinian asked for Turkey to be neutralized to avoid an unwanted widening of the war. To defend Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia has threatened to resort to the use of Iskendar defense systems. Meanwhile, after Turkey and Pakistan, Afghanistan yesterday also declared its intention to support Azerbaijan against what is called an Armenian "aggression". The war has international connotations at least from the point of view of weapons: the intense aerial bombardments with Turkish and Azerbaijani jets and Israeli and Turkish-made attack drones indiscriminately hit Armenian military positions and inhabited centers in the north and south of Artsakh. Armenia and Artsakh (the Armenian name of Nagorno Karabakh) respond with Russian weapons. The capital Stepanakert is being subjected to intense bombing; Azerbaijani troops' attempts to advance by land continue in the Vartenis region, where a bus of civilians was hit this morning. There are destroyed houses, health centers, schools and roads. For the second consecutive day, the Armenian inhabitants spent the night in the basement (see photo). The presence of Syrian Islamic fundamentalists in Azerbaijan has been confirmed by various Western chancelleries and by Russian intelligence. Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for the initiation of the attacks. Yerevan accuses Azerbaijan for starting on September 27 at 7.10 ambreaking of the ceasefire and the internationally guaranteed truce. The contract signed with the mercenaries of Syria's Islamic terrorist fractions, their prior training in Al Bab in the Aleppo Province and then transferred to Turkey, tends to show that Baku had been preparing for a long time for the resumption of the conflict. It is also a war on social media: apparently Azerbaijani or Turkish profiles and profiles with Armenian names, all recently opened, are sowing racial hatred inciting violence. The Member of Parliament for Tamale North in the Northern Region, Alhassan Suhuyini has called on President Akufo-Addo to address Ghanaians on the threats posed by some secessionist groups in the Volta Region. According to him, President Akufo-Addo cannot act as if he is unaware of the threat in question. Speaking on Citi TVs Breakfast Daily on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, Mr. Suhuyini said President Akufo-Addo must attach the same seriousness he attached to the COVID-19 pandemic to the threat posed by the hoodlums. He added that the ministers responsible for Ghanas security must also answer some questions to Ghanaians as to why this is happening. I think the government is not doing enough. The ministers responsible for our security must answer some questions on why they allowed this to happen. I think this insecurity has the tendency to destabilize this country. I think the President, the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and also the Chairman for ECOWAS expected to address the issues in Mali and other countries. He cannot pretend as if he is unaware of what is happening in his own backyard. He needs to speak to us the people just as he took COVID-19 seriously. He must speak to us about what is happening in the Volta Region. He may not give us the details, but he needs to give us the assurance we need instead of allowing the speculations, the conspiracy theories to go on, Suhuyini insisted. Recent disturbances by the group Members of the secessionist group, Homeland Study Foundation on Monday, September 29, 2020, attacked the State Transport Corporation (STC) in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, and set ablaze one of its buses. The members also on Friday, September 25, 2020, blocked major entries into the Volta Region. The action is said to have taken place at dawn, leaving travellers to and from the Volta Region, particularly areas such as Tefle, Tsopoli and Juapong stranded. The group reportedly burnt vehicle tyres and took control of two police stations, freeing suspects and taking weapons from the armoury. One person was later reported dead while security officials were firing guns to try and restore order to the area. Meanwhile, the police have given assurances that they are in control of the situation and will do their best to arrest the rest of the perpetrators of the crime to ensure that they face the law. 31 people arrested in connection with the incident have since been charged and currently being held in custody. citinewsroom Oil edged lower toward $40 as a global market rally cooled and traders look to US inventory data for clues on demand recovery. Futures slipped 0.7% in New York, after earlier trading near $40 a barrel. The end-of-quarter rebound in global stock markets stalled on Tuesday, while global confirmed deaths from the coronavirus -- which has eviscerated energy demand -- hit 1 million. US gasoline inventories are forecast to fall in government data Wednesday as traders assess the health of American consumption. Oil has clawed its way back after dropping below $40 a barrel earlier in the month, but the worlds biggest oil traders said Tuesday that the market wont fully recover until 2022. Its also contending with an increase in supply from OPEC+ members including Libya, which is boosting output as a blockade on its energy facilities lifts. Despite yesterdays impressive rally in risk assets, investors will find it premature to become upbeat," said PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga. Demand data will probably bear more relevance," than outright stockpiles in US inventories, he said. US gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.2 million barrels last week for an eighth weekly draw, according to a Bloomberg survey. There were positive signs for the fuel in Europe too, as profits from turning a barrel of crude into gasoline hit their highest since June. That comes as refiners are being forced into a balancing act due to the uneven rebound in fuel consumption. In India, processors are importing gasoline to cover demand as plants run below capacity, while in the US, refiners have idled some units to deal with access diesel supply. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The "Rising EMR Adoption and ICD-10 Implementation Transforming the Computer Assisted Coding Market in Select European Countries, 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This research study evaluates the current coding practices in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Turkey, France, Germany, and Belgium, and identifies the role of CAC software. The study also discusses the growth opportunities for CAC in these selected countries and covers the competitive landscape in detail. Clinical documentation using the electronic medical record (EMR) is the base for performing coding. Coding is predominantly done through manual work performed by a combination of coding/data management teams enabled by EMR, with few hospitals investing in specialized computer-assisted coding (CAC) solutions. The majority of the hospitals are aware of the advantages of CAC solutions and are planning to migrate to a system that improves the accuracy of coding. Most hospitals are keen to have CAC solutions that can be integrated with EMR. Documentation guidance at the point of care will reduce the burden on collaborating with physicians for clarifications. The post-COVID era is expected to usher in changes in how clinicians document and how hospitals code data for improving clinical and financial outcomes. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Dashboard Purpose of this Experiential Study Strategic Imperatives 5 Step Process to Transformational Growth 2. Growth Environment Market Overview The landscape of Key EMR and CAC Vendors Market Definitions 3. Visioning Scenarios Macro to Micro Visioning Current Business Models and Trends/Factors Impacting the CAC Market Evolving Opportunities and Trends/Factors Impact of COVID-19 Top Predictions for the CAC Market 4. Growth Pipeline Levers for Growth 5. Vision and Strategy Growth Opportunities Growth Opportunity 1 Reduce Manual Coding Growth Opportunity 2 Value-based Care Models in Reimbursement Growth Opportunity 3 Increased MHDS Focus of Health Systems Growth Opportunity 4 Clinical Decision Support 6. Country Analysis Sweden Healthcare Ecosystem Healthcare IT Ecosystem Reimbursement Workflow Funding Flow for Providers Clinical Coding Workflow Role of Coding in Reimbursement Adoption of CAC Level of Clinical Documentation and Coding Adoption of CAC Solutions Enabling Coding Adoption of CAC Key Vendors Adoption of CAC Future Potential 7. Country Analysis Norway 8. Country Analysis Denmark 9. Country Analysis Netherlands 10. Country Analysis France 11. Country Analysis Germany 12. Country Analysis Turkey 13. Country Analysis Belgium 14. Competitive Landscape Key Competitors 15. Appendix A representative of Number of Respondents Interviewed per Country Respondents Profile Abbreviations and Acronyms Used List of Exhibits For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ci4hf View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005785/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 (TNS) Restoring remote access to North Dakota court documents is still a work in progress months after the state's Supreme Court suspended the new capability.Remote access went live Jan. 1, but the high court unplugged it days later after privacy complaints of personal information in filings. Court documents are publicly available at county courthouses, and clerks of court usually will email documents upon request, but they arent required to do so. A rewritten administrative rule the court adopted in 2019 enabled the remote access.A 2009 court rule requires the redaction of information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, taxpayer identification numbers, minors names and financial accounts. Filing attorneys are responsible for redacting the information.The court in February made available template motions to redact, but its unclear how many people have filed such motions. State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said the court doesn't track the motions. It's unknown how many documents might contain unredacted personal information.The judiciary's Court Services Administration Committee is reviewing the remote access for a solution to send to the Supreme Court for consideration.Chairman and East Central District Judge Steven McCullough said the committee is considering "philosophic" aspects of remote access, such as allowing it "across the board," maintaining or restructuring the 2019 rule, licensing users for accessing certain documents, establishing fees and pondering how to address pre-2009 records that contain personal information."Each one of them presents a series of legal, logistical, computer issues, technology issues that we need to probably look at in more detail," McCullough said. "But depending on which route we're going to start down, each one of those technological or logistical issues changes a little bit."The committee will decide how to proceed at a meeting to be held sometime this fall, he said. Subcommittees likely will be established to address specific issues.Committee member and Bismarck attorney Levi Andrist proposed seeking input from information technology experts for a solution to unredacted personal information. North Dakota's platform for online court records "really is on the cutting edge," he said."To me ... we should do our best to harness kind of being on the forefront, and harnessing that, to me, really means maximizing public access to those records," Andrist said.McCullough said budgetary restraints appear to preclude any new technology and the staff time to accomplish that kind of solution.Holewa said the court's goal remains the same as the 2019 rule: to remove "artificial barriers" to public records. Chief Justice Jon Jensen previously said the new rule was in line with national state court groups best practices to eliminate physical barriers to records, such as driving many miles to a courthouse.Other public entities have expanded remote access amid the coronavirus pandemic, mostly out of necessity to avoid gatherings. State and local boards have held meetings via videoconference. Legislative leaders have ramped up livestreaming and remote capabilities in advance of the 2021 Legislature, which convenes in January. Court proceedings also have been held remotely.Holewa said the pandemic hasnt hastened a decision to restore remote access to court documents.We want to make sure we get it right the second time, and thats just going to take time to work out all of the details that we thought we had addressed initially and found out we hadnt, she said.The courts 2019 rule was years in the making. The proposal took public comment, some of which noted privacy concerns. The remote access lasted for about a week before its suspension.North Dakota Newspaper Association attorney Jack McDonald said he'd like to see remote access restored as soon as possible. He sees the suspension as "penalizing the public" for attorneys who don't adhere to the redaction rule. But he understands the "tough problem" at hand for the committee.McCullough said he senses an interest to solve remote access sooner rather than later."We know that the court wants something back so it just doesn't sit in limbo forever," he said. Jaipur, Sep 29 : The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday dismissed the application filed by the state government for extending the poll dates from October 31 to March 20, 2021 for Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota Municipal Corporations. Now, the government will have to hold the elections in these three places by October 31. The Congress leaders were taken aback by the decision. The party in Rajasthan has been operating with a one-man army after the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) was dissolved a few months back following the removal of Sachin Pilot as the state party chief. Presently, state Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara is the PCC chief. However, the new PCC members are yet to be inducted across districts. A senior Congress leader speaking to IANS said, "It's too short a time for us to prepare for these crucial polls. Let's see what the state government decides; maybe it will file a fresh appeal in the Apex Court." State BJP spokesperson Ramlal Sharma said, "Recently Panchayat polls were held where 85 per cent polling was registered in villages. Similarly, these polls can be held if the administration follows the Election Commission's guidelines The state government had recently filed an application in the High Court to postpone the elections to the six Municipal Corporations in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota. The government had sought permission to hold elections by March 31, 2021. The polls have been continuously postponed in these three cities since the formation of two municipal corporations in each of these three cities. Earlier, the High Court on July 22 had permitted the state government to conduct elections by October 31 when the state government filed a plea seeking permission to conduct elections by December 31, 2020. 29.09.2020 LISTEN Lies, hypocrisy, inconsistency and half-baked truth are the main characteristics of the 143-page so-called Peopels Manifesto of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Naturally, it is expected that this 143-page document would be social contract between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Ghanaians, giving million of Ghanaian citizens aspirations to develop their Gods given potential regardless of their social, economic and political background. But a critical examination of the so-called NDCs Peoples Manifesto depicts complete departure of reality. The NDC document rather deviced means of exploiting the ignorance of section of unsuspecting Ghanaians. Again, the so-called Peoples Manifesto depicts different picture of what the social demoncrats aspiring for. It rather focuses on championing an agenda of winning the 2020 general elections through lies and half baked truth based on selective and exploitative programmes and policies. The Concerned Voters Movement (CVM) therefore deems it necessary to expose some these ill-intent programmes and policies captured in the NDC document. Under Social Housing of the NDC Manifesto page 94, the party Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama promises that The next NDC Government will, over a four (4) year period roll out an aggressive social housing plan to deliver a minimum of twenty thousand (20,000) low-income houses in all 260 Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts. Among other promises under social housing, Mr. John Dramani Mahama also pledges that The next NDC Government will work to end the crisis of access and cost of securing affordable land for residential or business purposes. We, the members of the Concerned Voters Movement (CVM) want to know; if the NDCs Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, meant well to solve the housing problems in this country, why was Mr. Mahama and the entire NDCs Peoples Manifesto silent over Saglemi Affordable Housing project which the NDC government started in 2012 although the project is uncompleted? The 5000 housing unit facility, which was started by the Mahama administration in 2012, is seated on a 300-acre land with one to three bedroom apartments for low-income earners.The flagship housing project of the NDC, Ghananians were told, was designed to reduce the countrys massive housing deficit. But what is the end result today? Facts backed by documents show that the 5000 Saglemi Housing project units was scaled down twice yet the contract sum of $200 million remained unchanged. The project was altered without recourse to Parliament from 5000 units to 1502 and reduced again to 1,024 units. But the $200 million earmarked for the 5000 housing units remained the same. How can $200 million budgeted for 5000 housing units remain the same budget for 1,502 housing units or 1,024 hosuing units? Ghanaians lets wake up because the incompetent John Mahama is roaming around deceiving unsuspecting voters. The yesterday incompetent John Mahama is still the same today, his attitude has grown from bad in 2016 to worse in 2020. This is one of classic examples of how the NDCs presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama and the NDC administration milked our dear country by cutting back on the number of housing units Ghanaians should have received from this project. Fellow Ghanaians, this is why Mr. John Dramani Mahama and the so-called Peoples Manifetos dishonestly refused to capture any aspect of their flagship housing project. We, the members of the Concerned Voters Movement (CVM) will continue to expose some of these corrupt deals of Mr. John Dramani Mahama and NDC. Signed Razak Kojo Opoku (CVM Founder and President) Bengaluru, Sep 29 : With the Election Commission on Tuesday announcing 2 Assembly by-elections in Rajarajeshwarinagar (RR Nagar) in Bengaluru and Sira in Tumakuru district on November 3, Karnataka heads for a keen contest among the ruling BJP, the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) amid the coronavirus pandemic. The by-election in RR Nagar is necessitated by the resignation of Congress defector Munirathna to the BJP in 2019 and the death of Sira's JD-S legislator B. Satyanarayana on August 5 after prolonged illness here. The twin bypolls will be notified on October 9 and last date for nominations is October 16, scrutiny on October 17 and withdrawal on October 19. The results will be out on November 10. Bypoll in RR Nagar could not be held on December 5, 2019 along with by-elections in 15 Assembly segments across the state, as its result in the May 2018 Assembly polls was challenged in the Karnataka High Court by its BJP runner-up Muniraju Gowda on alleged electoral malpractice by Munirathna. With the court disposing off the case in favour of Munirathana in February, the poll panel has decided to conduct the by-election in RR Nagar along with Sira on November 3 with bypolls in 52 Assembly seats in other states. In the December 5 by-elections, of the 15 seats, the BJP won 12, the Congress 2 and an independent won 1. The by-elections were necessitated by the resignation of 14 Congress and 3 JD-S rebels from their Assembly segments in July 2019, which led to the fall of the 14-month JD-S-Congress coalition government on July 23, 2019 after its Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy lost the confidence motion he moved in the lower house. Of the 225-member Assembly, two more seats are vacant -- Muski in Raichur district and Basavakalyan in Bidar district in the northern region. As in case of RR Nagar, by-election in Muski could not be held on December 5, as its May 2018 Assembly poll result in favour of then Congress rebel Pratapgouda Patil was challenged by BJP runner-up Basanagouda Turvihal over alleged electoral malpractice by the latter. Patil also resigned from the Assembly seat and joined the BJP in November 2019 along with other 16 defectors from the Congress and JD-S. The Basavakalyan seat fell vacant following the death of its legislator B. Narayan Rao owing to Covid-19 at a private hospital in Bengaluru on September 24. Holcim Philippines offers one-day concrete for road projects 29 September 2020 Holcim Philippines is looking to fast-track road projects outside the National Capital region by making its one-day SuperFast-Crete concrete available to contractors in government road repair projects and help lessen disruption to commuters. According to the company, it also plans to offer SFCrete, which was launched in 2016, to contractor partners in Davao and Baguio. Holcim Philippines said that SFCrete has already proven its capabilities on 15km of roads all over Metro Manila. Holcim Philippines' Senior Vice President for Marketing and Innovation, Ram Maganti, noted that SFCrete is only one of the two one-day concrete solutions accredited by the Department of Public Works and Highways. With SFCrete, roads can be reopened in 24hrs after repairs compared with regular concrete, which needs 3-14 days for curing. "SFCrete is part of the companys thrust to provide building solutions to support local partners engaged in the countrys infrastructure upgrades including road rehabilitation. We are committed to further introducing these construction solutions to help the country build better," added Ram Maganti. Published under Kuwait's ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died, his office announced on Tuesday, plunging his country into mourning for a leader regarded by many Gulf Arabs as a savvy diplomatic operator and a humanitarian champion. Sabah, 91, had ruled the Gulf Arab oil producer and US ally since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. His designated successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "With the utmost sadness and grief for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and people of friendly nations, the Emiri Diwan mourns the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait," his office said. The emir had been in hospital in the United States since July following surgery for an unspecified condition in Kuwait that same month. Sheikh Sabah sought to balance relations with Kuwait's bigger neighbours - forging the closest ties with Saudi Arabia, rebuilding links with former occupier Iraq and keeping open dialogue with Iran. He tried to mediate in a Gulf dispute that saw Riyadh and its allies impose a boycott on Qatar. A succession is not expected to affect oil policy or foreign investment strategy through the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds. Oil policy is set by the country's Supreme Petroleum Council, which is appointed by the emir. The new emir's choice of crown prince and prime minister - who would be tasked with managing the government's often difficult relationship with parliament - will be watched closely, especially at a time when Kuwait's finances have been strained by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Dean of Arab diplomacy Kuwait's emir, an unwavering champion of Arab detente amid wars and regional tumult, helped lead his country out of the ruin of Iraq's 1990 invasion to renewed riches and a Gulf mediator role, first as its top diplomat and later as ruler. Story continues Keenly aware of Kuwait's small size and huge oil wealth, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah saw astute diplomacy as crucial to its recovery from Iraq's seven-month occupation, navigating frequent tensions between much larger neighbours Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. But he saw his dream of Gulf unity implode after a new generation of hawkish leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates led the boycott of Qatar in mid-2017, shattering the 39-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council bloc he helped build and defend from external threats. Dubbed the "dean of Arab diplomacy" after four decades as Kuwait's foreign minister, the emir tried up until his death to resolve the row over Qatar which he said left him "bitter". Sabah let slip in remarks shortly after the embargo that he helped ward off a military attack on Qatar, prompting an angry denial by boycotting states in a rare personal rebuke of him. "After Sheikh Sabah, we will be weaker," he said, noting that none of the other senior family figures have the same experience in navigating regional tensions, a view shared by other sources close to the ruling family and diplomats. Strong ties with Washington, rebuilding relations with Baghdad Sabah kept strong ties with the US, which led a coalition that ended Iraq's 1990-91 occupation and used Kuwait as a launchpad for the 2003 Iraq invasion. Despite some public unease about rapprochement, in 2012 he visited Iraq to start rebuilding ties with Baghdad. He pushed back when close ally Riyadh sought greater control over shared oilfields during a September 2018 visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sources familiar with the talks have told Reuters. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia finally agreed last December on the shared oilfields, ending a five-year dispute. He was critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen and took a strong stand for Palestinian rights as other Gulf states welcomed Israeli overtures, and, in the case of the UAE and Bahrain, sealed diplomatic accords. A diplomat described Kuwait's ties with Saudi Arabia, which sheltered the al-Sabah family during the Iraqi occupation, as its closest but most complicated foreign relationship. Sabah also diverged from other Gulf leaders in refusing to back Syria's rebel fighters with arms as he believed that would only fuel the conflict there. Instead, he made fundraising for humanitarian aid in Syria one of Kuwait's priorities. Domestic tensions A small figure with a beaming smile and husky voice, his negotiating skills at home were repeatedly put to the test as escalating tensions between his hand-picked government and the elected parliament held up investment and economic reforms. Analysts say parliament's backing for his leadership in 2006 gave him a strong political base. He was active in policymaking and regularly used his executive powers to dissolve parliament, which plays a key role in the succession and has in the past pushed an ailing emir out of office. Sabah's successor and half-brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, is expected to assume power. Nawaf, who is 83, would appoint a new crown prince after a meeting of senior family members aimed at reaching consensus. Parliament would also need to approve the new crown prince. Immune and inviolable according to the constitution Sheikh Sabah broke the hold of opposition groups, both Islamists and liberals, on parliament by using executive powers to amend the voting system in 2012. Kuwaitis angered by the move staged some the of the largest marches in the country's history. Although Kuwait managed to escape Arab Spring unrest in 2011, protesters stormed parliament that same year, when MPs were prevented from questioning the Prime Minister over corruption allegations. The premier, a nephew of the emir, later resigned. Dozens of Kuwaiti opposition figures were arrested for openly criticising the emir. The constitution says the emir, who has the last say in state matters, is "immune and inviolable". (FRANCE 24 with REUTERS) A fan named Sameer Sewak contacted Swara on social media and asked if she could try a batch of his chicken biryani and qorma. The actress gladly accepted the offer and soon after, Sameer paid a visit to her with some delicious food. The actress posted a picture with the fan on social media along with a caption that read, A #twitter short story with a yummy happy ending! @sameersewak I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, effort & thoughtfulness. I deeply I appreciate ur gesture. It feels like there is hope in the world when strangers are so kindAAA thank u! And the Food was DELICIOUS.. A fans love truly knows no boundaries. India is a country that is obsessed with films. So, obviously, the obsessions also extend to film stars. Recently, a Swara Bhasker fan did the sweetest little gesture for which the actress shared a post on social media expressing her gratitude. The 2000 US presidential elections was the first time in the modern era that the Supreme Court played an active role in an election. Two decades later, the fight for the next justice to sit on the court the replacement for liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg almost certainly indicates the court will play a crucial role in this years presidential race. In fact, US President Donald Trump himself has said as much. On September 23, he told a pool of reporters that he thinks the election will end up in the Supreme Court," and that its very important that we have nine justices. It doesnt get plainer than that. According to him, Democrats have scams afoot by most credible accounts, they dont and are somehow rigging the election. However, theres one central source of distrust of US electoral process, and its the man in the Oval Office. A perfect example is the lie that the President has repeated for months: voting by mail is somehow illegitimate and subject to fraud. It isnt. There are states that are vote-by-mail-only, millions of Americans do it every election year, and the US military has voted by mail for hundreds of years. According to the US Election Assistance Commission, US service members abroad cast more than 800,000 ballots by mail over the 2012 and 2016 elections combined. The US Postal Service is reliable, trusted, and perfectly capable of performing its role in this crucial election. Thats not really the point. What Trump and his cadre of supporters are doing is laying the groundwork for the fight in the court of public opinion that will run parallel to the inevitable real court proceedings following the vote. Look for Trump and his supporters to go after mail-in ballots early, often, and in key states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio especially. All of this is very likely to happen, and a Supreme Court with just eight of nine justices may well cast the deciding vote for President. That is, unless Republicans can somehow get Trumps nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, through the Senate with truly unprecedented speed, and at a truly unprecedented time. Frankly, its an absurd proposition to even consider filling Ginsburgs seat a month before the election. Its so absurd that even Republicans believed it was wrong just four short years ago. Its easy to check their public statements over the last week and compare them to what they said about Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas nominee for the court. Nearly every Republican senator in office now who was in office for the Garland nomination thought it was nothing short of an abomination. This is after the President nominated him in March, almost a full nine months before the election. This is what Senator Lindsey Graham said of the Garland nomination in 2016: I strongly support giving the American people a voice in choosing the next Supreme Court nominee by electing a new president. This was the general talking point from every sitting Republican senator at the time, and it almost always came with a warning about tipping the balance of the court in an election year. If Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed, she would give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the court this will affect policy over the course of years and decades, not weeks and months. Now, Republicans are singing a much different tune. They are doing so because they want the scales tapped in their favour when the result of the most important election in a generation comes before the Supreme Court. It really is that simple, and the fact that its happening after the loss of Justice Ginsburg a tireless champion of equality and access to the democratic process just makes it all the more despicable. Indian observers may be confused by the state of affairs around the US Supreme Court. Some of the differences between the two courts in the worlds two largest democracies the US has only nine justices; India has 30+; US is a lifetime appointment; Indias has a mandatory retirement age of 65 seem completely unfathomable to the citizens of the other country. However, I have to say that right about now, the Indian system of mandatory retirement ages is looking pretty good to me. Sree Sreenivasan is Marshall Loeb Visiting Professor of Digital Innovation at Stony Brook Journalism School in New York, and cofounder of Digimentors, a social, digital and virtual events consultancy. Twitter: @sree. Views are personal. Oyo Hotels and Homes, Japanese investment conglomerate Softbanks blue-eyed portfolio firm in India, is one of the several businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic. The hospitality startup has been beset by a drop in revenues and occupancy levels, grappled with multiple senior level exits and was forced to let go of some properties around the world. And now it faces fresh backlash from numerous hotel owners who are crying foul that it reneged on commitments to the pre-agreed terms after the pandemic. Some have also taken the company to court. In an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol, Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of Oyo, opens up about the $10-billion companys troubles and each of the critical issues gnawing at it. Agarwal is optimistic he thinks the hospitality industry will not take long to recover from the blows of the pandemic. Edited excerpts: The hospitality sector has been one of the worst affected by the pandemic because global and domestic travel had dropped to a trickle. What really is happening with OYO in terms of employees, jobs, expansions and profitability? As you mentioned the hospitality industry and Oyo in particular got impacted by a drop in occupancy due to the impact of Covid. However, Oyo is lucky to operate in two specific segments. The first one is the economy hotels and the second one is vacation homes. In the economy hotel segment, if you see globally both due to a sense of safety in smaller and boutique hotels as well as because it is affordable, we are seeing that consumer demand across the world is picking up. So the best results that we started seeing were actually in Europe. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show In OYO Europe, we have seen our business jump disproportionately. For instance, one of our biggest markets in Europe is Denmark, whereas business has seen almost a two times jump year-over-year and in the month of July, operating at around 98 percent occupancy. Wed never seen this kind of increase in business. The reason is that the consumers are actively moving towards vacation homes as a preferred choice. In the US because again, our hotels are focused on the economy segments, our customers are largely essential workers, either people in the logistics business, or pharmaceutical business, or oil and energy business. So I'm happy to share that our US revenue has also gotten to around 120-130 percent of our pre-COVID levels. Ill give you two more important market context. One is Southeast Asia, wherein multiple countries are at upwards of 100 percent bookings on our app, even though our overall bookings are still at 60- 65 percent of pre COVID levels, because our non-app business is coming back lower than that of our app business. And in India, our recovery, because the lockdowns were the longest started only a couple of months back. Last week, we stated our occupancies had reached 30% of pre COVID levels in India. But we anticipate that this will actually continue to rise. The exact numbers as of today or this month we will find out and share with you, but my sense is that should be in the 40ish percentage. How much did each market constitute in terms of revenue so that we have a fair sense of where is the business positioned right now? Typically, we do not disclose specific geography wise revenue as such. So, I wouldn't be able to comment on it. Tell us more about the recovery in the India market. From the consumer trends perspective, there are three segments of business we have in India. The first is the urban marketthe top 10 cities. Then there are 20 to 30 large Tier 2 or 3 cities which are still business-oriented cities. And then there are 20 to 30 big holiday destinations in India. So until early September, the recovery was being led by urban cities as well as our small towns, but more business towns. The leisure business was not coming back as quickly. However, you may have seen in the last two weeks, multiple states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have eased their restrictions on travel, which is leading to a disproportionate amount of consumer traffic wanting to take a break and visit a lot of these holiday towns as well. Weve seen various kinds of consumer interest like work from anywherelike you spend a month working in the hills or close to a beach. So consumer demand trends like those are showing some early encouraging signs. My sense is the OYO Homes side of business which is Indias largest home management or home rental company as well as our economy hotels will see a strong jump in that geography. The consumers who are actively responding are millennials, essential workers of companies linked to the essential businesses, digital businesses requiring any kind of travel right from education technology to health technology and so on because these businesses are growing. And that's having a rub off effect on our business. The businesses are yet to see an increase in the potential corporate event and training kind of system which is also a sizable part of the travel business in our country. On the supply side in India, we see approximately 65 percent of our hotels having opened up. We anticipate that this will grow very quickly towards 80-90 percent in the coming months. The second thing that we are seeing is that our partners are appreciating very significantly the various improvements we have made for them, which is the last time we talked about reconciliation. If you spoke to our partners they would say that they didnt have full pricing control. So weve given flexibility to our partners on pricing by means of tariff managers, a small flexibility. Today, almost 85% of our partners are actually adopting it. Weve used technology to be able to ensure that we resolve the issue for our partners and customers, so today almost 85% to 90% of our inquiries from both customers and partners come to us (through) chat based bot programs. Were using this period for technological improvements, so these are the kind of things weve done for a stock which is past hotels. But new hotels are also very critical. We have increased the requirements of quality for our hotels. So when a hotel joins -- earlier they used to come with a 140 points checklist, now there are at least 20 additional points that have been included with the safety, security aspects that exist in the new room. For the last three months consistently we have signed upwards of 40,000 rooms every month across the globe. Even as you say that, one of the crucial developments we have been witnessing is the increase in the blowback from the hotel partners. While it used to happen in the past as well, post pandemic it has increased multifold. Every other day some or the other hotel is crying foul or talking about breach of contract or taking Oyo to court or demanding a settlement. What has gone wrong? OYO India, pre pandemic had around 95 percent hotels which is a part of our franchise ecosystem. If you look at any kind of reportage of partners sharing their feedback or not being fully satisfied, you will interestingly figure that none of those asset owners are actually our franchise asset partners (they are the rest of the 5%). Due to various reasons, we have had to restructure our relationship with that specific group of partners. Some of the partners have not been in full alignment with the reason or the context that we have shared. That is the reason why we had some of the feedback or complaints. However, if you look at the absolute number of these issues, you will realize that a large number of them, which were past issues we have resolved. And the current ones as well we continue to be engaged to work with them. Were using this period for technological improvements, so these are the kind of things weve done for a stock which is past hotels, Agarwal said So how often are you to open for an out of court settlement? I am asking this because there is this Chennai based hotelier who had filed a case against the company. It is leant that he has agreed to withdraw the case since Oyo has agreed to pay him Rs 35 lakh as compensation basis a mutual agreement. Can you comment on this instance? Also how comfortable is it for OYO to have out of court settlements? To what extent are you ready to make payments to these disgruntled hotel owners? It is very hard for me to comment on a specific hotel. I'm not aware about this specific case. And even if I was, I think I will respect the confidentiality provision between us and our partners. In India, we have 10,000 plus hotels. We would have disagreements like these in the double digit number of assets, which is less than 100. And with each of the partners OYOs intention is to make sure that we remember that in the long term we both have to work together in the same segment and the same ecosystem. We would like to work together and resolve any outstanding queries as business partners, who intend to do work in the same ecosystem for the long term. You talked about a 140-point checklist with 20 new additions due to COVID-19. While on the face of it, it looks quite promising but I have been in touch with a lot of Oyo executives who tell me that the pressure to expand at some point grew so much that people would not care to stick to these pointers. They started adding hotels abruptly on the platform. Rooms with a size of 9x9 feet, much smaller than the basic limit required for Oyo with no attached washrooms, literally dingy places where people would never really like to go, were added on Oyo. Forget about the decor, here we are just talking about the basic infrastructure which was far from being met. What would you like to comment? Ill take your point that there have been some hotels that there are issues and I will respond on that specifically. But before I got there, customers chose us because of the reliable quality. Pre COVID around 90% of our revenue used to be repeat of word of mouth. Now there are two important learnings for us from 2019. The first one is, being able to make sure that 100% of the OYO hotels activity delivered the kind of experience that we did want to deliver. That frankly did not happen across our assets and we have no qualm accepting it. And due to that, if you remember in January or February, we actually ourselves publicly announced that we've removed 10,000 rooms from our ecosystem in order to ensure that we can deliver our consumers with an experience that is required. And on top of that, we set up an internal system that is called a central bodyguard which ensures that only the right kind of hotels come into the system. In this quarter what that has meant is that the repeat or organic word of mouth customer base has increased to around 93%-94% and on top of that the hotels strategy in safety and sanitization experiences in partnership with Unilever or by means of direct partnership with our hotel with a sanitized stay tag where the RevPar (revenue per available room) have increased anywhere between 35 percent and 100 percent. You said 40,000 rooms have been signed in every month in the last few months globally? So can we assume that these hotels are completely as per the said requirements by OYO and are unlikely to be having any issues in the near future? Absolutely, I think not just these hotels, any hotel which has the OYO tag and then OYO signage; we stand behind the experiences of those hotels post the improvements we made in the early part of this year. And within that our consumer feedback is extremely critical to make sure whether the hotels remain in our system or not. But there will be some specific changes you should expect that is the size of rooms. On an average, if our customers come and stay in a Gurgaon hotel room, they may get a 300 square feet room for like Rs 800 rupees. Whereas in other cities they may get a 150 square feet room for Rs 2,000 rupees. OYOs basic standards will be maintained but the (difference will be) because of the available infrastructure in other cities. Lets talk about the senior level exits in the company. I get to learn that Vivek Sinha who was heading the luxury business is exiting. So are Gaurav Ajmera who was the global revenue head and Burhanuddin Pithawala who was the global head of marketing and growth. These are just some of the few names. Why are so many senior executives exiting the company suddenly, especially when you are so bullish about the expansion plans and are optimistic about how to go forward? Isnt so many exists a sign of instability in the company? We have approximately 100 plus vice presidents and we have approximately 300 directors in our company. We have acknowledged earlier that two of our executives, Gaurav Ajmera and Burhanuddin Pithawala are moving on. Specifically, other VPs on country level basis you can have a separate interview in India specific format. But generally we have upwards of 100 vice presidents. Were lucky that we haven't lost a lot of talent earlier, but at the same time these are OYO seniors who have spent five plus years in the company and are moving on due to newer career aspirations they may have. So specifically in the leadership group, which is the top 15 executives, you have seen that till date not a single person has left the company other than Aditya (Ghosh), which was at least a year before the pandemic or nine months before the pandemic. Beyond that, in this entire period of COVID, not only have we stayed stable, we have brought in multiple senior leaders which we have also announced like Gautam Swaroop in China, like Raj Kamal (CEO OF vacation homes)... In this quarter what that has meant is that the repeat or organic word of mouth customer base has increased to around 93%-94% and on top of that the hotels strategy in safety and sanitization experiences in partnership with Unilever or by means of direct partnership with our hotel with a sanitized stay tag where the RevPar (revenue per available room) have increased anywhere between 35 percent and 100 percent. Ritesh Agarwal of OYO said. What is happening with the global leadership? We also get to learn that a lot of senior executives who were positioned in the global markets, for example, Maninder Gulathi and Kavikrut who handled the Europe and Japan markets respectively are coming back to India. Why is that happening? Kavikrut remains a board member of Oyo Japan and Maninder remains in-charge of a large part of our European business. Both of them will be placed in their respective geographies. Unfortunately, due to the lockdown they got locked out or grounded in India. At the right time, both of them will fly back to their respective locations. They remain on the payrolls of those respective companies. They are not on OYO Indias payrolls even today. Maninder is on the payrolls of OYO Europe, and Kavikrut is on the payrolls of OYO Japan. Some international reports have suggested that Softbank plans to position its own executives to turn around Oyo especially in markets like Japan. What would you have to say to that? Is your investor now looking to take things in his own hands during a time like this? I can't comment on behalf of SoftBank but from Oyos perspective the following are three important contexts. The first one is that Oyo is a board run company. Majority of our board members today are independent and non-executive. The OYO Board has representation from other shareholders as well. With that context, SoftBank Vision Fund also has a board representation and they add value by means of sharing the feedback, direction and suggestion to the Oyo board. Specifically in Oyo Japan, there was a report wherein we have clarified in the same publication that two members of different SoftBank entities have come to us and I want to clarify that those were two board members. Softbanks influence is very similar to any other shareholder like that or for instance, Lightspeeed Venture Partners or other capital providers from the OYO family. So Ritesh, last time also I tried asking you this question. Somehow I didn't get a comprehensive response. I will try touching upon those lines again. When did you last speak to Masa (Softbank founder)? What sort of conversation happened? What is the message that you are getting from your investors especially around the time of a pandemic? On our board, SoftBank Vision Fund is represented by Munish Varma and Gerry Lopez. Their guidance to the company has been used as an opportunity to strengthen the business and actually come out stronger. That is exactly why we're investing in technology as a core part of our business. And we will continue using technology as well as our exposure to economy hotels and vacation homes to create impact. I think from a capital-raising perspective, we still have a little over billion dollars cash along with us. Our hope is to continue focusing on our business and creating impact. This seems to be a season of IPOs and IPO chatter. Zomato is readying itself for an IPO. Flipkart too is learnt to be in talks to begin the preparations. Is IPO a short-term vision for Oyo as well? Our focus at this point in time is serving our customers and partners better. At the right time well make a decision on what is the right timing for an IPO, but at this point of time, our focus is to give customers safe, easy to book affordable experiences and give partners increased income. You literally took a loan of $700 million to invest in your company and bought back some shares. It is a huge bet especially now when we are sitting on a pandemic that has impacted the hospitality sector the most. In many of our previous conversations, youve said that as an entrepreneur you would always like to risk it than regret it. Now at this point in time, this definitely is a huge, huge risk. If you look in hindsight would you still say it was good that you took such a big risk or you would think otherwise? Yes, absolutely! Look I think we have a large market opportunity in economy hotels and vacation homes. Of course, in the early times of pandemic we had a significant impact. However, were confident that were seeing some early recovery trends. Our belief is if we continue focusing on our customer and partner in the medium to long term, this will mean positive response. I'm confident that I made the right investment and it will have positive effects for both the company as well as for the investment in the years to come. So what is going to be the strategy for Oyo? Would you look at reducing losses or continue to have aggressive expansions? The number one focus will be delivering the best and improved customer and partner service. Number two focus will be making sure that we use technology to continuously make us stronger. Number three will be making sure that as a combination of our service quality, technology and operating efficiency, our services can be taken to enough customers and partners. So the keyword to hear here is balance ... we will have to constantly be balanced in all of these three perspectives. ALSO LISTEN: Setting Sail podcast | Ritesh Agarwal on Oyo after the pandemic, survival, growth and criticism But what about reducing losses? Like I said, we will look at improving the quality of customer service and partner service. We will look at improving our operating efficiency. And we will look at improving growth. If you do all these three things, it means that the losses will reduce and the company will improve on its bottom line and top line as well. So if we do all these things right, the financial results will follow. Together with the management of Deutsche Bahn AG and the transport minister, the EVG union supports the restructuring of the railways at the cost of the workforce. In all the collective bargaining disputes currently taking place in Germany, the trade unions are playing a key role in pushing through low wages and the dismantling of social standards. Public sector union Verdi has just stifled industrial action at Deutsche Post AG and agreed to a deal that can only be described as making a mockery of postal workers, couriers and those working in distribution. In the public service, so-called warning strikes are part of a set script. Verdi and the local authorities have already firmly planned the October sell-out. Another telling example is the wage agreement at the national railways, Deutsche Bahn AG. On 17 September, the railway workers union EVG quietly and secretly agreed a contract lasting until 2023 with the company. The contract covering 215,000 train conductors, railway workers and train drivers provides for wage increases of only 0.5 to 1.5 percent, which represent a reduction in real wages. Furthermore, the new agreement does not contain a single point that would contribute to better protection against the coronavirus pandemic. The EVG had only demanded a wage increase of 1.5 percent, in contrast to 2018, when it had called for a 7.5 percent rise. The union agrees with Deutsche Bahn AG that it will save 2 billion in personnel costs within three years. The deal was agreed at a meeting in the Ministry of Transport at the end of this May, attended by the Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer (Christian Social Union, CSU), the company executive board, the EVG trade union and the company works council. An Alliance for our railways was forged there, intended to restructure the highly indebted company as a global player on the world market. The foul so-called restructuring collective agreement, which imposes the costs for this on the staff, was brought forward by several months. Only recently celebrated as coronavirus heroes, the railway workers, train drivers and conductors are now the ones who have to go without. Worse still, they are being exposed to the risk of coronavirus infection in the worst possible way. The targets for economic recoveryfull trainsare not compatible with social distancing on rail travel. Since the end of the holiday season, ICE and InterRegio trains have therefore been packed to the limit again. Even the promised obligation for travellers to wear masks on trains is becoming increasingly lax. Train conductors, among them numerous colleagues with pre-existing conditions, are often confronted with thousands of different passengers every day, increasing the risk of infection. Two conductors recently told newsweekly Der Spiegel what everyday life looks like for them. They are now officially obliged to check tickets again, just like before the pandemic, even in dangerously crowded trains. One 48-year-old conductor reported, I have stopped checking tickets, even if we are supposed to do it again in the meantimebecause my health is important to me. I cant keep the [required social] distance because there are not 1.50 metres free between the rows of seats. I dont know who has what illnesses, and then there are all those returning from holiday. Nor do we know where to go to be safe on the train or how to maintain hygiene. Neither railway management nor EVG has taken these problems seriously for even a second. Instead, they are punishing employees by imposing wage cuts, even though the rampant shortage of personnel is constantly increasing workloads and overtime is often demanded. Since the privatised railways were broken up and smashed to pieces in the mid-1990s to launch the formerly state-owned company on the stock market, the situation for employees has steadily deteriorated. Now, management has announced a so-called personnel offensive and has launched a media campaign saying it wants to hire 25,000 new employees. But at what starting wages and conditions is not said. Instead, the union claims that the current collective agreement and the small increase is also an expression of solidarity with new hires. EVGs right-wing policies and its close collaboration with railway management and the federal government has been known for years. EVGs forerunner, Transnet, had prepared the IPO of Deutsche Bahn together with the company before the international financial and economic crisis thwarted this plan. Since the 1994 railway reforms, the workforce has been halved with the help of the trade unions. In all these attacks, the executive board has always relied on close cooperation with the works council and the so-called employee representatives on the supervisory board, who are handsomely rewarded for their complicity. The Norbert Hansen case is well known. In 2008, the former chairman of the railway workers union moved onto the management board as head of personnel and collected a million-euro salary for his services. This is no exception. In the most recent collective bargaining, the EVG was also faced with a former trade union official on the employers side. The current head of personnel at Deutsche Bahn, Martin Seiler, began his career as a works council member at Deutsche Bundespost. After serving on the works council for over 15 years and later as an official of the postal workers union, or Verdi (United Services Union), he joined management and now pockets millions. This corrupt milieu of grasping trade union bureaucrats, who sit on both sides of the bargaining table, is enforcing the constant deterioration of working conditions and imposing low wages. Many disappointed EVG members have moved to the GdL (Train Drivers Union), which initially appeared to be a more militant union. But as the coronavirus crisis clearly shows, the GdL is also on the employers side. It is not involved in the shameful restructuring collective agreement, but the main reason for this is that it has concluded its own contracts with the company until 2021. The GdL also supports the governments position and takes a completely nationalist perspective. When railway workers in France undertook a bitter strike for their rights a few months ago, the GdL leadership did not lift a finger to support them. Instead, it is defending Deutsche Bahn AG against its French competitors. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) calls for workers to form action committees independent of the unions to prepare a general strike in defence of health and life. It is urgent to mobilize the working class across in Europe and internationally in a general strike to halt the ongoing resurgence of COVID-19, says a joint appeal by the SGP and its European sister parties, Socialist Equality Party (UK), Parti de legalite socialiste (France) and Sosyalist Esitlik (Turkey). The statement describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a trigger event, starkly revealing the political issues facing the international working class. The trade union bureaucracy stands behind the back-to-work policies of the ruling class. The statement recalls that the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and the main trade union federations in France have explicitly supported the recent EU rescue package for the banks and large companies worth 750 billion. No trade union has distanced itself, even verbally, from the deadly EU policy of herd immunity. This is why the European sections of the ICFI and its sympathising group in Turkey are calling for an international political struggle against the capitalist system and a policy of mass death deliberately pursued by the financial aristocracy. The statement concludes by saying, The task now facing the growing mobilization and political radicalization of the working class in Europe is the struggle to seize the resources stolen by the ruling class in years of obscene bailouts, bring down the EU governments, overthrow the capitalist system, and replace the reactionary EU with the United Socialist States of Europe. Heavy fighting between the forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia broke out in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The overall death toll rose to 67 including nine civilian deaths - seven in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side. Nagorno-Karabakhs defence ministry on Tuesday said that 27 of its fighters were killed in fighting with Azerbaijan forces, bringing their total military losses to 58. The overall death toll rose to 67 including nine civilian deaths seven in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side, Al Jazeera reported. Azerbaijan has not reported any military casualties, but Armenian separatist officials released footage showing burnt-out armoured vehicles and the bloodied and charred remains of soldiers in camouflage it said were Azerbaijani troops. Yesterday, heavy fighting between the forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia broke out in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The region lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. The flare-up continued for the second day. Most of the international community, including the United States, Russia, Iran and European powers, have been calling for an end to hostilities and the start of talks. As the clashes continued for Monday, UN chief Antonio Guterres spoke to the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Guterres stressed that the need for an immediate stop to the fighting and resumption without the precondition of meaningful negotiations without delay, and also for the immediate redeployment of [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] monitors to the region, according to Guterres spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric. Also Read: 23 people killed, over 100 injured in ongoing Azeri-Armenian clashes Also Read: Fake news: Donald Trump on tax avoidance report Earlier on Sunday US President Donald Trump said that Washington is looking into what can be done to stop the flare-up of tensions in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted along the regions contact line on Sunday morning, with each side blaming the other for putting civilian lives in danger. The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday resumed plenary after its annual recess which lasted for over two months. The lawmakers, thereafter, proceeded into an executive session. The Senate had suspended plenary on July 23 and was scheduled to resume on September 15 but the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, in a letter, announced the postponement of resumption to September 29. The closed session started at about 10:41 a.m. after the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, led the prayers and approved the votes and proceedings for the day. Several important items have been lined up for consideration by the lawmakers. One of such is the Petroleum Industry Bill which Mr Lawan informed that a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari to that effect will read on the floor of the chamber today. Another item listed for consideration on the Order Paper is the report of the Committee on Finance of the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. The executive session was ongoing at the time of filing this report. Photo: (Photo : Prairie Hill Waldorf School on Facebook) A fourth-grade teacher decided to build an outdoor classroom so kids could return to in-person learning safely. Lindsey Earle, who teaches at Prairie Hill Waldorf School, came up with the idea to set up an outdoor learning space on the school's 14-acre property. Coronavirus is less likely to spread outdoors than indoor spaces where it is more challenging to keep students apart, and it has less ventilation. She told GMA that she proposed the idea while discussing return-to-school plans with fellow teachers. Outdoor learning space is social distancing compliant The dome-shaped, 12-sided outdoor classroom has a tented roof and is large enough to accommodate 13 students at a time. It is also complete with a chalkboard and canvass chairs with custom made desktops built from outdoor signboards. The large space allows desks to be spread far enough to meet CDC guidelines. Students are still to wear their face mask during one-on-one instructions and when they are leaving their seats. Earle got help from her husband, Brian Earle, and their 9- and 5-year-old sons in building the classroom. Other classes also started building their outdoor classrooms with the help of volunteers, families, and students. Likewise, she and the school administration did ensure that their return-to-school plan has been reviewed by health and safety experts. The campus is still the best place to learn Jeanne Ring, Prairie Hill Waldorf School administrator, said the school believes that the campus is still the best place for students to learn. Thus, they decided to hold in-person classes for the 2020-21 school year. Ring said that it became possible for the school to meet its goal of creating the learning-friendly spaces because the community came together to help with the project. She added that the faculty is committed to spending time with the students outdoors as much as possible. Earle added that parents have given positive feedback about the project and that the children are excited to return and reconnect with the teachers and friends. How can parents prepare their children for in-person learning? Parents may download this in-person learning checklist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The checklist provides tips to help parents get their children ready for in-person classes. Actionable tips include checking for signs of illness, handwashing techniques, and proper wearing of masks. Also, to help the children cope with the changes caused by the pandemic, NASP also provided some suggestions such as: Be a role model so they can learn from your example; Be aware of how you talk to your child about COVID-19; Explain why there is a need for social distancing; Demonstrate deep breathing to help them calm their nervous system; Establish and maintain a daily routine so they can have a sense of control, predictability, calm, and well-being; Focus on the positive; Monitor their television viewing and social media to excessive information that may cause an increase in fear and anxiety; Be honest and accurate with your information; Keep your explanations age-appropriate; and Offer lots of love and affection. Read next: Gifted Boy Now Begins Sophomore Year in College at 12 [He Learned Sign Language Before He Could Speak] College Student Donates Personally Decorated Crutches to Children in Need Teen Builds More Than 100 Desks for Online Schooling of Children in Need, Free of Charge Credit: CC0 Public Domain The grim milestone of one million COVID-19 deaths should spur the planet into fighting back against the disease, the WHO insisted Tuesday, saying it was "never too late to turn things around". The World Health Organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were encouraging signs of hope, citing vaccine candidates in final-stage trials. And he said that while the world awaited scientific breakthroughs, the new coronavirus could be effectively contained through proven public health measures. "One million people have now been lost to COVID-19 and many more are suffering because of the pandemic," Tedros said in an article in the British online newspaper The Independent. "This milestone is a difficult moment for the world but there are glimmers of hope that encourage us now and in the near future. "No matter where a country is in an outbreak, it is never too late to turn things around." Tedros outlined four essential steps to get the pandemic under control, starting with preventing amplifying events and protecting vulnerable groups. He stressed the need for individual responsibility in washing hands, wearing masks and keeping a distance; and for governments to find, isolate, test and care for cases, then trace and quarantine their contacts. "While today's milestone gives us pause for reflection, this is a moment for us all to come together, in solidarity, to fight back against this virus," Tedros said. "History will judge us on the decisions we do and don't make in the months ahead. Let's seize the opportunity and bridge national boundaries to save lives and livelihoods." 'One million tragedies' Tedros picked out certain countries for praise, notably Thailand, Italy, Uruguay and Pakistan for their handling of the pandemic. He reiterated his call for funding for the WHO-led ACT-Accelerator, a globally-pooled hunt for COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. The programme has just $3 billion of the $38 billion needed to meet the goal of producing and delivering two billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million diagnostic tests over the next year. Meanwhile the Red Cross, also based in Geneva, said the death toll was one more tragic milestone in the rolling humanitarian catastrophe. "Today, we stand in grim solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of families that have lost loved ones," said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "A million deaths represent one million individual tragedies and countless heartbreaks." He added that while fighting the pandemic, "we need to be planning for the support that millions of people will need to rebuild their lives even once this illness is finally defeated". Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2020 -- According to the new market research report "Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market By Product, CM (ECG (Holter Monitor), ILR, Event Monitor)), CRM ((Defibrillator (ICD) External (AED)), Pacemaker (CRT P, Dual Chamber Pacemaker)), End User & Region Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Global Cardiac Monitoring Devices Market is projected to reach USD 26.8 billion by 2025 from USD 22.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.0% from 2020 to 2025. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market" 336 - Tables 40 - Figures 266 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=55 The growth of this market is driven by the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases; availability of reimbursement for CM & CRM devices; launch of innovative products by market players; increasing investments, funds, and grants for research on CM & CRM devices; and the growing preference for wearable cardiac devices. "ECG Devices is expected to hold the largest share of the Cardiac Monitoring Devices Market in 2020" On the basis of cardiac monitoring devices by type, the market is segmented into ECG devices, event monitors, implantable loop recorders (ILRs), cardiac output monitoring (COM) devices, mobile cardiac telemetry (MCT) devices, and smart ECG monitors. In 2019, the ECG devices segment accounted for the largest share of the market. The large share of this segment can be attributed to technological advancements such as the incorporation of advanced algorithms and workflow improvement features, such as simplified operations, touchscreen systems, portability, wireless features, and better connectivity with cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), electronic medical records (EMRs), and ECG management systems. "Defibrillators is expected to hold the largest share of the cardiac rhythm management devices market in 2020" On the basis of cardiac rhythm management devices by type, the market is segmented into defibrillators and pacemakers. In 2019, the defibrillators segment accounted for the largest market share. This segment is also projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Factors such as technological advancements in defibrillators, rising prevalence of CVD, and growing focus on providing public-access defibrillators are driving the growth of this market. "Hospitals segment commanded the largest share of the cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market in 2020" By end user, the cardiac rhythm management devices market is segmented into hospitals; clinics, cardiac centers, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs); and other end users. Hospitals accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. The large share of this segment can be attributed to factors such as the increasing prevalence of CVD, the growing number of patient visits to hospitals for diagnosis, increasing number of cardiac implant procedures, and the availability of reimbursement for these procedures across developed markets Get 10% Customization Research Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=55 On the basis of region, the Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. In 2019, North America commanded the largest share of the market. The large share of this market segment can be attributed to the increasing incidence of CVD, increasing healthcare expenditure, growing disposable income, growing healthcare awareness, and the availability of technologically advanced devices in the region. The major players operating in this Cardiac Monitoring Devices Market are Medtronic (Ireland), Boston Scientific (US), Abbott Laboratories (US), GE Healthcare (US), BIOTRONIK (Germany), and Koninklijke Philips (Netherlands), Asahi Kasei Corporation (Japan), MicroPort Scientific Corporation (China), Hill-Rom Holdings (US), Nihon Kohden (Japan), SCHILLER AG (Switzerland), BioTelemetry (US), BPL Medical Technologies (India), ACS Diagnostics (US), Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics (China), Lepu Medical Technology (China), Shree Pacetronix (India), OSYPKA (Germany), and BTL t(US), Alivecor, Inc. (US), Amiitalia (Italy), Bexen Cardio (Spain), Narang Medical Limited (India), MeTrax GmbH (Germany), and Progetti Srl (Italy). FORT WORTH, Texas - A grand jury in Texas decided Monday to take no action against a man who fatally shot an armed man who killed two people at a Fort Worth-area church in late December, prosecutors said. Jack Wilson, a firearms instructor who trained a volunteer security team at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, fatally shot Keith Thomas Kinnunen during a Dec. 29 service after he shot and killed 67-year-old Richard White, another security volunteer, and 64-year-old Anton Tony Wallace, a server. As the attacker shot the two men, congregants scrambled for cover. The gunman was heading to the front of the sanctuary as Wilson searched for a clear line of fire. His single shot quickly ended the attack. Prosecutors said there were about 260 people in the church at the time. Tim Rodgers, a prosecutor with the Tarrant County district attorneys office, said Monday that Texas law allows a person witnessing someone placing others at risk of serious injury or death to act with deadly force to protect others. Mr. Wilson did just that. He did it responsibly and, as a result, he was justified under the law in his actions, Rodgers said. Based upon the grand jurys decision, the law enforcement investigation and our review of the case are complete. We believe the grand jury made the right decision. After the shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott gave Wilson Texas highest civilian honour: the Governors Medal of Courage. Honouring the most perfect of partnerships, the limited edition gift box features the silhouette of James Bond alongside his Aston Martin DB5. The colourway of the gift box echoes the silver birch finish of the DB5. The Bollinger lettering and logos are depicted in gold and the iconic Special Cuvee bottle has been adapted to feature a black and gold neck collar with a 007 blazon. Champagne Bollinger worked with celebrated photographer Greg Williams, for the soon to be released Special Cuvee 007 Limited Edition campaign, featuring his signature cinematic style that also appears in the No Time To Die campaign. Bond, Bollinger and Aston Martin all return in No Time To Die. The Bollinger Special Cuvee 007 Limited Edition will be available globally from 1st October 2020. The RRP for the Bollinger Special Cuvee 007 Limited Edition is 55.00 and is available from fine wine merchants worldwide. NOTES TO EDITORS Images of the limited edition are available HERE ABOUT NO TIME TO DIE No Time To Die is the official title of the 25th James Bond adventure. The film from Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), and Universal Pictures International is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fifth film as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (Spectre, Skyfall), Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Phoebe Waller- Bridge (Killing Eve, Fleabag), the film will be released globally in November through Universal Pictures International and MGM via their United Artists Releasing banner. In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Champagne Bollinger: Eminent, distinctive, and distinguished fine wines of Champagne since 1829. Guaranteed through the integrity of a resolutely independent family house in Ay and through the artisanal know-how of people dedicated to growing and blending excellence. Devotion extending beyond the wines to support a sustainable environment and integration with local communities. SOURCE Champagne Bollinger Man with outstanding arrest warrant for attempted rape in State of Mexico detained in Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, Q.R. The Attorney Generals Office of Quintana Roo (FGE) reports the arrest of Erick R., who was wanted on charges in the State of Mexico. The FGE says that Erick R. was taken into police custody in the parking lot at Playa Xpuha on the Playa del Carmen Tulum highway Sunday. He was arrested after police learned of his outstanding arrest warrant for attempted rape of a minor in the State of Mexico. After his arrest, the FGE says he was handed over to the ministerial authorities of the State of Mexico for transfer. Nearly one in 15 (6.6%) above 10 years of age in the country was exposed to Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19), till August, shows the Indian Council of Medical Researchs (ICMR) second sero prevalence data that was made public on Tuesday. ICMRs first countrywide sero survey that was conducted between May 11 and June 4 showed overall infection prevalence to be 0.73%. The second survey was conducted during August 17 and September 22, in the same 700 villages and wards from 70 districts in 21 States that were covered in the first survey. Blood samples were collected from 29,082 individuals. All other parameters about the two surveys have been the same except for the age bracket in the first phase population selected was 18 years and above, and in the second phase samples were included from 10 years and above. We changed the age group in the second survey from 18 years to 10 years and above because infection was also seen in younger population. Sero survey gives us virus exposure prevalence, but you may or may not have developed the disease, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR. About 3-5 ml of blood sample as collected to study the presence of IgG antibodies against Sars-Cov-2 virus. IgG antibodies are the longer lasting antibodies that help determine a past infection. How much time in the past is a work in progress but these develop about 2-3 weeks after having contracted the infection and approximately stay for about 2-3 months, said Dr Bhargava. Urban slum (15.6%) and non-slum (8.2%) areas had higher Sars-Cov-2 infection prevalence than that of rural areas (4.4%), and prevalence in adults (above 18 years of age) was also higher at 7.1%, the data shows. It goes on to show that a large percentage of population is still susceptible to contracting the infection which is why it becomes really important to follow covid-19 appropriate behavior like wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and observing hand hygiene, said Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog. Experts say these types of sero surveys do not present the current picture. This doesnt tell us about the current situation and thats the reason why it may not be really beneficial at making policy-level decisions. However, for academic purposes, if anyone wants to study the pandemic trajectory in India some time later, it will be of help, said Dr Jugal Kishore, head, community medicine, Safdarjung Hospital. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The number of reported COVID-19 cases in the United States broke 7 million on Friday. American deaths exceed 204,000. Globally, more than 33 million cases have been reported, with the number of deaths approaching 1 million on Monday. More than 146,000 cases have been reported in Virginia, with more than 3,100 deaths. Mental health experts call the pandemic a perfect storm as people wrestle with anxiety, isolation and uncertainty. Young Americans in particular are struggling. More than half of Americans ages 18 to 34 56% say they have at least sometimes felt isolated in the past month. That compares to about 40% of older Americans, according to the last COVID Response Tracking Study conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. Constant exposure to social media only fans the flames of stress, which can cause illness, increased use of drugs and alcohol, disruption of sleeping and eating patterns, and depress energy. Now more than ever, mental health professionals advise, take care of yourself. Exercise. Go outside. Eat well. Read a book or watch a funny movie. Keep in touch with friends and family. Dont hesitate to seek professional help if you feel overwhelmed. Be well, and stay well. Ian Wright has urged Arsenal to sign Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, with the Gunners icon insisting it is 'imperative' that Mikel Arteta lands his man before the closure of the transfer window. Arteta's side went into Monday's contest with Liverpool in good form but the Premier League champions demonstrated they are on a different level altogether, with Jurgen Klopp's side running out 3-1 winners at Anfield. The new Arsenal boss is desperate for a midfielder to bolster his options this season, with Aouar and Atletico Madrid star Thomas Partey heavily linked with a move to north London. Ian Wright says it is 'imperative' Arsenal sign Houssem Aouar following the Liverpool defeat The Gunners icon said Monday's defeat 'felt like a training game' with the gap in quality clear The Gunners have had budget issues this summer, with the need to generate funds preventing Arteta from landing his targets for the most part. Arsenal have stepped up their pursuit of Aouar in the past week, though, with Lyon president Michel Aulas confirming that they had received a 'tame' offer for the star from the Gunners. The French side are looking for an offer of 45m for the midfielder. And Arsenal legend Wright has urged his former club to secure the signing of Aouar before the window shuts, with the Frenchman's arrival seen as 'imperative' for Arteta's side. 'It felt like a training game for Liverpool in respect of Arsenal were saying you can try and get out but we will press you,' Wright told Premier League Productions via Goal of Arsenal's performance at Anfield. 22-year-old Aouar has been heavily linked with Arsenal, amid talk of a 45million move Wright says Arsenal must sign the Lyon star if they want to close the gap on the champions 'You can see that in Liverpool's team everyone can move forward because Arsenal were starting so deep but what was evident to me was that we didn't have that person in midfield who was comfortable enough on the ball until Ceballos came on. '[They need] someone who they can pass the ball to, who is comfortable to receive it with someone on his back, who can pop it off, who can turn it around the corner. From there Arsenal can play but we can't do that at the moment. 'That's why it's imperative we get Aouar from Lyon. He's someone that can get on the ball and get the forwards going. You saw the chances that Ceballos made when he came on, that's what Arsenal need.' The 22-year-old could well be the missing piece to link Arsenal's midfield and attack, with his creativity likely to help unleash the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexander Lacazette. Mikel Arteta has been desperate for midfield reinforcements this summer transfer window Aouar scored nine goals and provided 10 assists in 41 outings for Rudi Garcia's side last season, and was instrumental in them reaching the Champions League semi finals. 'What we've seen is that Arsenal can keep it to 3-1 but in times before Arsenal have really collapsed under Unai Emery and in the latter stages under Arsene Wenger,' Wright added. 'They're so much more organised now but with the organisation, they need the right pieces in there. 'If they can't get that player this is what will happen. We can beat the likes of Fulham but when it's that type of calibre of team (Liverpool), you'll see Arsenal struggle.' TAOISEACH Micheal Martin has said that promises made in the last Budget to extend medical cards to more older people and cut prescription charges will be delivered upon. Mr Martin raised the issue at a private meeting of Fianna Fail's TDs and Senators where he pledged that both measures "will proceed and are proceeding". In recent weeks it was revealed that a commitment to change income limits for over-70s medical cards that will see 56,000 more people benefit, had not yet been implemented. Similarly a 50c cut in prescription charges for all medical card holders that was supposed to come into effect on July 1 did not happen. The change would lead to charges being reduced to 1 per item for the over-70s and to 1.50 for people below that age. Sources said the Taoiseach did not offer a timeline for the delivery of the promises made in the last Budget of the former Fine Gael-led minority Government that was underpinned by the Confidence and Supply deal with Fianna Fail. But Mr Martin was said to be "definitive" that it will happen. Separately, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien came under pressure from TDs and Senators to ensure an affordable housing programme is delivered in next month's Budget. Senator Pat Casey got stuck in on the issue, according to those present, and said not one affordable home had been delivered in the last ten years. He also said the Land Development Agency, as currently proposed, is not fit for purpose. The former Wicklow TD urged Mr OBrien as well the Taoiseach and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath to redouble their efforts on affordable housing in the Budget. Nearly every backbench TD and Senator raised it. Pat was particularly strong, said one source. Several others echoed calls for Fianna Fail to deliver on affordable housing in the looming Budget including Dublin-based TDs Paul McAuliffe, Jim OCallaghan, John Lahart and Senator Mary Fitzpatrick. Minister Robert Troy also spoke on the issue, while his fellow junior minister Sean Fleming said the Government needed to move away from the use of affordable housing bodies and have more local authorities building housing. Mr OBrien delivered a detailed presentation to the meeting on the whole issue of housing, including affordability. He said he would bring forward legislation later in the year to address issues around the LDA. We had two hours on how important it was to deliver and that we needed to start rolling out affordable housing programmes quickly, a Fianna Fail source added. America First Action, the biggest pro-Trump super PAC, is spending another $40 million on economy-focused ads in key states ahead of November, including a new targeted campaign in the Philadelphia suburbs. Why it matters: It shows Republicans remain concerned about Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and even Georgia all states Trump won in 2016. The new ad buy brings America First Action's total spending this cycle to over $106 million. The group says they plan to announce yet more spending in the five weeks between now and the Nov. 3 election. What they're saying: The PAC's president Brian Walsh told Axios that this spending, while independent of the Trump campaign, provides cover in key areas in order to allow the president's team to spend more in other places where they may see opportunities to flip states that were blue in 2016. "We want to focus as much as we can on the center of the dartboard," Walsh said. Details: The campaign will include TV, digital and mail ads. One ad running in Philadelphia this week asserts that Joe Biden wants to raise taxes on Day One, and that his plans would unravel the economy. Trump's own campaign has been increasingly looking to Pennsylvania as key to his re-election. By the numbers: Florida: The group will spend $8.7 million in Miami, with ads starting on Oct. 7 and running through Election Day. (The group is already spending $12.7 million from September to Election Day in Orlando and West Palm Beach.) The group will spend $8.7 million in Miami, with ads starting on Oct. 7 and running through Election Day. (The group is already spending $12.7 million from September to Election Day in Orlando and West Palm Beach.) Pennsylvania: $18.4 million in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Johnstown and Erie (Sept. 30 to Election Day). $18.4 million in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Johnstown and Erie (Sept. 30 to Election Day). Wisconsin: $5.5 million in Wausau (Sept. 30 to Election Day), Milwaukee and La Crosse (Sept. 30 to Oct. 13). The PAC will also spend on mail ads in Minneapolis. $5.5 million in Wausau (Sept. 30 to Election Day), Milwaukee and La Crosse (Sept. 30 to Oct. 13). The PAC will also spend on mail ads in Minneapolis. North Carolina : $4.6 million in Raleigh (Sept. 30 to Election Day). : $4.6 million in Raleigh (Sept. 30 to Election Day). Georgia: $2.8 million in Albany, Macon and Savannah (Oct. 7 to Election Day). The other side: "This election boils down to Scranton versus Park Avenue because Joe Biden is standing up for the middle class families that Donald Trump has abandoned in favor of corporate welfare and his rich, connected donors," Biden spokesman Andrew Bates told Axios. But, he insisted, the governments change of heart was based on credibility problems with likely witnesses against Flynn if prosecutors had to prove their case in court. Kohl pointed to a recent interview investigators conducted with veteran FBI agent William Barnett, who was assigned to the Flynn case and the office of special counsel, and criticized what he called a get Trump attitude by some on the team. Anyone who might have thought that Libyas UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) is a monolithic and politically coherent entity has had much food for thought since political rivalries in Tripoli boiled over in late August and GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj announced his surprising plan to step down by the end of October. The in-house wrangling came to a head Aug. 29 as Sarraj suspended Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, who wields command over a Misratan militia aligned with the GNA, while Bashagha was visiting Turkey, the GNAs chief foreign backer, together with Khaled al-Mishri, the head of the High Council of State. Mishris almost three-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashaghas meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar were believed to have particularly irked the GNA premier. Sarraj suspended Bashagha, holding him responsible for a violent crackdown on street protests, while an ensuing flurry of military activity in Tripoli and Misrata sparked talk of a possible coup against Sarraj. Though things seemed to cool down when Bashagha was reinstated in early September, the power struggle showed how fragile the GNA is. Both the political and the military structures of the GNA consist of various groups and factions that are rivals to one another in terms of territorial control, tribal affiliations, ideology and state sponsorships. The power struggle erupted over corruption allegations, financial integrity issues within the GNA and the militia problem as soon as a cease-fire was declared with the eastern forces Aug. 21. Consequently, Sarraj announced his intention to hand over [his] duties to the next executive authority no later than the end of October. Sources in Ankara told Al-Monitor that Erdogan tried hard to talk Sarraj out of stepping down, but the GNA leader stood his ground, saying he was tired and wanted to focus on his private business and family. Sarrajs decision to quit and his apparent resolve to see it through have only fueled the power struggle between GNA factions. A number of names have been floated as potential successors and some of them are seen as powerful candidates because of the support they receive from foreign backers. But before focusing on outside support, one needs to consider the internal political balances in Libya. An analysis of the powerful figures within the GNA is needed for making any predictions. Bashagha, a native of Misrata, has Turkish roots, hailing from descendants of Ottoman janissaries who had settled in Libya. The offspring of the Turks in Libya are known as Kuloglu, or sons of servants often Anglicized as Koulouglis. The community is concentrated in Misrata and its surroundings, representing Bashaghas main military-political power base. Bashagha gathered power in the fighting in 2011 and by working with NATO during the Islamic States siege of Misrata. His grip over Misratan militias meant he remained a prominent actor during the war with eastern warlord Khalifa Hifter. He was appointed interior minister in 2018, boosted by strong Turkish support and his personal ties with Erdogan. Thanks to the Misratan factions, Bashagha consolidated power in Tripoli during the citys defense against Hifter. His influence grew further after the GNA signed maritime and military cooperation accords with Ankara in November 2019 and the ensuing deployment of Turkish military and intelligence officers to help Tripoli repel Hifter. It is an open secret that Bashagha, at the apex of his power, is eyeing the leadership of the GNA. Making use of the cease-fire, Libyans took to the streets to demand better services and protest corruption. As Bashagha has stood against corruption, the Interior Ministry did not intervene in the protests. However, the Nawasi forces, known for their affinity to Sarraj, did intervene, causing the deaths of several protesters. Ultimately, Sarraj made the surprise decision to suspend Bashagha while he was in Ankara. Ahmed Maiteeq, vice president of the High Council of State, is another prominent candidate to replace Sarraj. Like Bashagha, he is a high-profile Misratan from the Kuloglu community who has cultivated political and commercial might during the Libyan conflict. Like Bashagha, Maiteeq has close economic connections with Turkey as well as in the areas under Hifters control. Notably, he was the first pro-Tripoli figure to visit Moscow in 2017 and maintains close contacts with Russia, standing out as the sole GNA figure on good terms with both Ankara and Moscow. Yet, his posture has often landed him in trouble. In June, for instance, he drew the ire of fellow GNA members for urging GNA forces to halt an offensive on Sirte because mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group were present on their route and warning that Sirte was a red line for Moscow. More recently, Maiteeq held Russian-brokered talks with Hifters son Khalid on the Sirte issue, including on the lifting of the oil blockade that Hifter imposed in the area. On Sept. 18, he announced the terms of a deal with Hifters son, simultaneously with Hifter announcing an end to the blockade. The Libyan National Oil Company strongly condemned the deal, saying it would never accept the presence of Wagner forces in the region. Mishri, the head of the High Council of State, is another figure to watch. Politically, he is considered to be aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, although he said he had quit the organization in early 2019. Mishri, too, is known to be on good terms with Erdogan. Since the Turkish intervention in late 2018, he has focused on diplomacy, holding meetings with Italy, Morocco and Russia as well as representatives of the eastern forces. During talks in Morocco between the two Libyan sides earlier this month, he expressed readiness to meet with Hifter in the presence of Moroccan officials. He described the talks as mere consultations, not dialogue and insisted that no future office holders had been picked. Some claim that Mishri is eyeing an active role in the prospective Geneva talks in a bid to restore the Muslim Brotherhoods influence in the GNA. Along with Bashagha, Mishri is seen as a figure who prioritizes military options. According to GNA sources, Mishri wants to consolidate his power by prolonging the political transition process and it was his ties with Turkey that made him politically competitive. Many within the GNA believe Mishri has acquired economic might thanks to his relations with Qatar and Turkey and will try to use the Geneva process to become prime minister. If Maiteeq or Mishri assume the premiership, it would mean increased Russian influence in the Geneva talks and the prospect of the GNA recognizing Aquila Saleh, the head of the Tobruk-based parliament, as a political figure. Such a scenario, however, would face opposition from Sarraj and Bashagha supporters within the GNA and pro-Hifter tribes in the east. As a result, a new conflict might flare up. If Bashagha, Ankaras favorite, takes the post, fighting with Hifters forces might resume, though it will be Ankara's call. A government led by Bashagha would face strong opposition from Madkhali Salafists, Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Sarraj proponents. Chicago bars that dont serve food will be allowed to reopen for indoor service starting Thursday, and bars and restaurants will be allowed to serve alcohol until 1 a.m., Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday. In addition, Lightfoot said the city will now allow shaves, facials, and other personal services that previously were banned because they required the removal of face masks. The city also will increase the maximum group size for health and fitness classes and after-school programming from 10 to 15 people, officials said. The moves are Lightfoots latest attempt to ease the financial burden on Chicago businesses by lifting frequently criticized restrictions. But the moves also come as the city prepares for flu season and the number of new COVID-19 cases per day hovers around 300. Lightfoot has been eager to showcase Chicago as Americas most open big city during the pandemic, while also pledging to heed scientific advice on how much leeway to give businesses and other public places where people congregate. Mondays announcement keeps the city in phase four of its reopening framework, but loosens several standards. This is the second time during the pandemic that the mayor has let bars that dont serve food welcome patrons inside. But they will be limited to 25% of capacity under the new rules. These establishments have drawn particular focus from the city as spots where coronavirus spreads, with Lightfoot repeatedly saying lower inhibitions as patrons drink can cause them to become lax about maintaining social distancing and wearing masks. Bars were allowed to serve some people inside when the city moved to phase four of its reopening framework in late June when new cases were around 167 per day. But in mid-July, as virus cases spiked to around 233 per day, Lightfoot rolled that back and restricted those taverns to outdoors only. As of Monday, Chicagos average daily case count for the past week sat at 299, according to the citys coronavirus dashboard website, a 28% increase over the number at which the mayor opted to close taverns to inside service and put other stricter rules in place two months ago. With Chicago weather getting dodgier deeper into autumn, the citys hundreds of bar operators have been clamoring to again open their doors to drinkers, arguing the distinction between those businesses that serve food and those that dont is in many cases not relevant. According to Lightfoots plan, Chicago wont move on to phase five until theres a coronavirus vaccine. But she left herself a lot of room to continue to turn up the dimmer switch on a return to normal within phase four. Although Lightfoot is easing some rules, the city will still require patrons to wear face masks except when actively eating or drinking." They also will be required to order from their seats at indoor bars and taverns. Places serving alcohol also must partner with a food establishment so that people can order food at all times, Lightfoot said. That means making menus available and allow delivery, including from third-party app services. Bars and restaurants also will be required to keep a phone or email for possible contact tracing, the city said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Immigrants make up more than half of the front-line food processing and farm jobs in Harris County, positions that place them at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, yet many are denied federal assistance and are overlooked in health and welfare reporting, according to a new study. The study, published Monday by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog, analyzed Census microdata to estimate the number of foreign-born workers in 10 food-related industries whose working conditions demand close contact, and not the distancing that has helped slow the virus. The report created a map with data by county and found that, nationwide, there are 1.87 million front-line workers in farm and food processing jobs, of which 790,000 are immigrants. That 42 percent is more than two times the percentage of immigrants in the countrys workforce. In Harris County, their impact in the food production sector is more significant. While immigrants represent just over a quarter of the population, they comprise 57 percent of the industrys workers. The report, called Trump attacks them. COVID-19 threatens them. But immigrants keep the U.S. fed., also said that nearly 9 in 10 of those immigrant workers in the country are Latinos. One third of the total workers in those sectors are non-U.S. citizens. Many of them are green card holders or permanent residents, but also immigrants in the country illegally who have not received any support from the government granted to most American workers through the CARES Act coronavirus relief, said Susan Ferris, a reporter with the Center for Public Integrity and co-author of the report. The CARES Act provided direct checks to families, among other helping programs, but workers without legal immigration status and their American citizen family members were explicitly excluded from reliefs. Politicians want them out, and they dont want them to come (either), but we employ them, our businesses employ them, Ferris said. Undocumented workers are frequent targets of controversies that, in recent years, have tended to focus more on their immigration status than on the market demand for labor-intensive positions that most Americans are not interested in fulfilling, experts say. Immigrants, and particularly those without authorized immigration status, are especially vulnerable to injustices, according to Fe y Justicia, an advocacy organization in Houston. Today, we have seen an increase in unjust termination, safety and health violations and overtime violations happening to these workers, said Jessica Lorena Rangel-Diaz, manager of the community legal consultation center at Fe y Justicia. She added that the pandemic has brought to light how essential those workers are to maintain the food industries, but due to their status, we see how their violations are dismissed. The study calls attention to the paradox that counties which have economies that rely significantly on the availability of undocumented workers voted for Donald Trump, who has called for mass deportation and reduction of legal migration. If youre so against undocumented immigrants, then just stop eating 50 percent of whats on your plate, right now, said Erik Nicholson, a former national vice president of the United Farm Workers union quoted in the study. The report noted that outside of a few temporary visas for seasonal specialty work, the U.S. doesnt grant visas to work in meatpacking, dairies or year-round farm work, even if businesses prove they are experiencing domestic labor shortages. Manufacturing businesses and the agroindustry have experienced labor shortages in recent years for several reasons, including an increase in persecution of undocumented workers. Those workers comprise, around 50 percent of the labor force in agriculture, according to several estimates. Food production workers in Harris County who are not U.S. citizens comprise 39 percent of this workforce, according to the study, which didnt include post-production food businesses such as restaurants and store workers. Yet despite their prevalence on the front lines around the country, producing everyday, life-saving food products during a pandemic, the impact of the virus among them is obscured by a lack of governmental track and identifiable statistics about them, said Ferris. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report showing that, in 19 states reporting in April, 4,913 workers in meat and poultry facilities tested positive, and two had died from the virus. It included 113 infections and one death in Texas. In a subsequent CDC report adding stats from May from 23 participating states, to which Texas didnt send data, the death toll had risen to 91, and cases quadrupled. While working on this report, it became clear to me that we are really not tracking who is paying the price of keeping the food system running during the pandemic, Ferris said. A lot of these people die in an obscure way; there isnt a public recognition that people who work in these front-line jobs have been dying. olivia.tallet@chron.com twitter.com/oliviaptallet You hear about the United Nations (U.N.) constantly in the news, although you might not always realize it. For example: The U.N. has this remarkable influence because nearly every nation on the planet is a member. Advertisement In this article, you will learn the basics of the United Nations so you can grasp the scope and reach of its operations. The next time you hear about the U.N. on the news, you will have a much better understanding of this international organization. The International Crisis Group (ICG) on Tuesday called for a postponement of next months presidential elections in Ivory Coast and for ballot preparations to be overhauled, and suggested political exiles be allowed to return. Tensions are running high ahead of the October 31 vote. President Alassane Ouattara is set to defy protestors who accuse him of abusing a constitutional limit of two terms in office, and his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo and former prime minister Guillaume Soro have been barred from taking part. Violent protests against Ouattaras candidacy left around 15 dead last month, reviving memories of a post-election conflict nearly a decade ago that claimed more than 3,000 lives. Ouattara, 78, and his supporters argue that a 2016 constitutional tweak reset the clock on his time in office. A short delay would provide an opportunity to emerge from the present confrontation through dialogue, the ICG said in a statement, adding that peaceful and transparent polls were not possible in the current scenario. The chances of this election spawning a serious crisis are high, the respected independent think tank said. Former strongman Gbagbo, 75, who was president from 2000 to 2010, and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, 47, both played key roles in the crisis that engulfed the country after disputed elections in 2010. Their candidacies have been ruled out by the countrys top court on the grounds that they have criminal records. Gbagbo, who is in Brussels pending the final outcoming of proceedings against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was handed a 20-year jail term in absentia by an Ivorian court last November over the looting of the Central Bank of West African States during the post-election crisis. Soro, who has fallen out with Ouattara and lives today in France, was handed a 20-year sentence in April, also in absentia, for alleged embezzlement of public funds. The ICG said the issues that needed to be resolved were the composition of the Independent Electoral Commission, a revision of the voters rolls, the modalities for the return of political exiles and the fate of some of their supporters who are still imprisoned. It also asked the Ivorian government to allow Gbagbo and Soro to return, a gesture that could lighten the present (political) climate. If nothing changes the winner will almost inevitably face a lack of legitimacy (and) inherit a country that is extremely difficult to govern, it The ICG also called for a transfer of power to a new generation. The other main contestant in the election is former president Henri Konan Bedie, 86, from the historically dominant PDCI party. (CNN) Cardinal George Pell is due to return to Rome Wednesday, a source close to him told CNN Tuesday, marking his first return since his acquittal nearly six months ago on child sex abuse charges and release from prison in his native Australia. The source said there was no official reason for his return beyond that he had always said he wanted to come back to Rome. The source did not know how long Pell planned to stay in Rome. The Vatican would not say whether he will meet with Pope Francis. Pell served at the Vatican from 2014 to 2019 as Minister of Economy, in charge of Pope Francis' financial reforms which largely stalled when he was called back to Australia to defend his name. In 2018, Pell became the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse. He served 13 months in prison before Australia's High Court acquitted him in April of charges involving two choir boys in the late 1990s when he was archbishop of Melbourne. Vatican experts say it is unlikely that Pell will return to his previous position given that next year he turns 80 years old. His return comes just days after one of Pell's main opponents in Vatican financial reform, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, suddenly resigned. Pell still maintains an apartment in the Vatican. In an April interview with Australian columnist Andrew Bolt, Pell said he would return to Rome eventually to collect his belongings but that he intended to live in Sydney. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Cardinal George Pell set to return to Rome after acquittal on child sex abuse charges." Human Rights cant be an excuse for defying law of the land: MHA on Amnesty Amnesty International India halts India operations: Alleges witch-hunt by govt India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: Amnesty International India has said that it has halted India operations. It has alleged that the operations have been halted due to a witch-hunt by the government. Amnesty International forced to halt India operations | Oneindia News In a post on its website, Amnesty said the complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organisation to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations. Human Rights cant be an excuse for defying law of the land: MHA on Amnesty "The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent," said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India. #NEWS: Amnesty International India Halts Its Work On Upholding Human Rights In India Due To Reprisal From Government Of Indiahttps://t.co/W7IbP4CKDq Amnesty India (@AIIndia) September 29, 2020 "The constant harassment by govt agencies is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police & Govt of India regarding grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and J&K," Kumar also said. Our work in India, as elsewhere, is to uphold universal human rights and build a global movement of people who take injustice personally, Amnesty further added. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are deadlocked in the race for North Carolina's 15 electoral votes, according to a new poll released today. The independent, nonpartisan poll by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion found that Trump and Biden are tied with 47 percent each of likely voters' support, with minor party candidates at 3 percent and 2 percent of North Carolina likely voters undecided. White voters in North Carolina support Trump, 57 percent to 39 percent while Black voters overwhelmingly support Biden, 75 percent to 16 percent. More on voters' support by gender, age, party and education is available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. Trump's approval rating reflects the divided nature of the North Carolina electorate: 49 percent approve of the job he is doing as president and 51 percent disapprove. Among those who approve, 33 percent strongly approve and 16 percent somewhat approve. Forty-two percent of voters who disapprove of Trump's job performance said they strongly disapprove. Ninety-four percent of Democrats polled disapprove of President Trump's job performance, including 82 percent who strongly disapprove. Among independents, 58 percent disapprove of his job performance, including 39 percent who strongly disapprove. Among Republicans, only 9 percent disapprove, 64 percent strongly approve and 28 percent somewhat approve of the job he is doing. Asked about their opinions on whether either candidate and their allies are trying to cheat to win the election, fewer than half of North Carolina likely voters said that Biden and his allies have been cheating "a great deal" (27 percent) or "somewhat" (20 percent), while more than half said that Trump and his allies have been cheating, either "a great deal" (36 percent) or "somewhat" (17 percent). The perception of partisan cheating by Trump among Democrats is exceptionally high: 69 percent of Democrats think Trump and his allies are cheating "a great deal," compared to 50 percent of Republicans who think Biden and his allies are cheating "a great deal," which could raise questions about the legitimacy of the election as election results start coming in on Nov. 3. The poll also found that 53 percent of North Carolina likely voters feel that the winner of the 2020 presidential election should be the one to appoint a new Supreme Court justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Forty-seven percent said that the sitting president should appoint her successor. In the race for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham is leading Republican incumbent Thom Tillis by six points, 49 percent to 43 percent, with 7 percent of likely voters undecided and 1 percent planning to vote for a different candidate. This race is in the national spotlight as a possible flip for Democrats, who are seeking four seats to gain control of the Senate. In addition to leading overall and among Democrats, Cunningham is leading among independents 41 percent to 36 percent and has the support of 11 percent of Republican-identifying voters. "North Carolina's trend toward Republicans seems to be slowing in 2020. With the presidential race tied and Cal Cunningham leading the Senate race, North Carolina voters are worried about the safety of their schools and see the Supreme Court nomination as a distraction. North Carolina voters are taking out their frustration on Sen. Thom Tillis. The message to Tillis seems to be, 'Why move so fast in response to one death and so slow in response to over 200,000?'" said John Cluverius, associate director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and assistant professor of political science. In the run for governor, incumbent Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper leads his Republican challenger Dan Forest 54 percent to 41 percent. Cooper's support includes ideologically moderate voters, who make up nearly a third (32 percent) of North Carolina's electorate. Cooper is ahead with liberals, 93 percent to 4 percent while Forest leads among conservatives, 74 percent to 21 percent. The poll also found the following among likely North Carolina voters: A majority (57 percent) think it's not safe to re-open local public schools for face-to-face instruction (30 percent say definitely not safe, 27 percent say probably not safe, 28 percent say probably safe, 16 percent say definitely safe). Asked who they think will win the 2020 presidential election, 47 percent said Trump and 37 percent said Biden. Sixty-six percent said they think the country is on the wrong track while 34 percent said the country is headed in the right direction. North Carolina is a no-fault absentee balloting state that also has an extensive in-person early voting program. Among likely voters, 28 percent say they plan to vote by mail, 43 percent say they plan to vote early in person, while 29 percent plan to vote in person on Nov. 3. North Carolina is one of a handful of states where voting has already started. Among likely voters, 8 percent said they had already voted. Biden leads Trump among those who said they have already voted, 77 percent to 21 percent. Biden also leads Trump (72 percent to 23 percent) among those who plan to vote by mail, the candidates are tied at 49 percent among those who plan to vote early and Trump leads Biden 68 percent to 23 percent among those who plan to vote on Election Day. Detailed poll results - including analysis and methodology - are available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. The nonpartisan poll is independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell's Center for Public Opinion, which conducts public-opinion polling at the state and national levels. The nationally recognized center uses the latest technology and highest standards in its surveys and is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative. The center's events and polls on political and social issues provide unique opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and research. The poll of 921 likely North Carolina voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 1,000 students and alumni who hail from the Tar Heel State. The survey was designed and analyzed by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Sept. 18 through Sept. 25. It has an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. Full poll methodology is available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. In addition to the survey of likely voters in North Carolina, the Center for Public Opinion also released polls in two other Super Tuesday states. The findings include: In New Hampshire, former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by eight points, 52 percent to 44 percent. In the races for U.S. senator and governor, both incumbents lead by double digits. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen leads Republican challenger Corky Messner 56 percent to 37 percent. Gov. Chris Sununu leads Democratic challenger Dan Feltes 60 percent to 34 percent. (Poll of 657 likely New Hampshire voters conducted Sept. 17 through Sept. 25 with an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent.) In Texas, Trump has an apparent lead of 3 points over Biden, 49 percent to 46 percent of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent John Cornyn is up 50 percent to 40 percent over Democratic challenger MJ Hegar. (Poll of 882 likely Texas voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent.) ### UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. http://www.uml.edu 29.09.2020 LISTEN It is with such deep pain that I find myself backed into a wall to respond to a seeming Busia Family self-hatred. It is a most interesting irony that the Busia Family that does not seem to understand Dr. K.A. Busia's role and historical significance to Ghana and Africa would attempt in dictatorial mode on the 21st September edition of the Daily Guide Newspaper, to suppress and deny against the tenets of "Free Speech", a singular intellectual opinion of his daughter rendered for the public good. This is with regard to the Agyapa gold Royalty package which in my well considered view is simply not a good deal for Ghana. Indeed, how absurd that my intellectual property rights can be denied by the Busia family. How splendid it would have been, had the Busia family stood steadfast for good democratic non-corrupt governance and supported the article"Agyapa: hidden dilemmas of a gold deal" which has disappeared from the citi- fm online portal. Coincidence? I wonder why there cannot be genuine differences of opinion in a truly vibrant multi-party democracy? This is the triumphant cause celebre' for which Dr. K.A. Busia devoted his life. This is the memory that inspires and should lead to reformatory development and his aspirational progress mission which was truncated. It is the search for true African- inspired democracy that drives my life in his eternal memory. I am wholly commited to Dr. K A. Busia's cherished ideals for Ghana and Africa's search for democracy, fully anchored in ethical governance with developmental freedom and security. The Progress Party has ceased to exist and a New Patriotic Party that harbours unpatriotic deeds within its ranks, of which there is substantive proof, is not his successor government in my view, Even if it were, misdeeds that do not benefit the country should neither be supported nor tolerated. Consequently, I cannot be bamboozled by a majority tyranny to join a bandwagon that betray the ideals and vision of Dr. K.A. Busia who I dare say, would not approve of cloudy, consolidated clandestine deals. Let us call a spade a spade and query what is wrong. Let us not be condescending or weary of dissenting frontline ideas so that what is not right may not thrive. This is precisly the Busia brilliance /mystique that confronted the titanic First Parliament and stood sentinel for multi - party democracy. I cannot be part of any agenda that says :"SPEAK NOT, for we can join the FEAST, do not CRITIQUE, let Ghana WEEP, for we are satisfied so let us Sleep? Why not save the boat from capsizing with the FLEET? That would be such a FEAT" I do not see any virtue in shielding those who pay lip service to a continuity of Dr. K.A. Busia's distinguished legacy for political advantage, yet, portray by deeds that they do not put a premium on national interest or honestly care about his rightful place in history in their power mission Let me now state rather firmly, that I am not aware of anyone who owns a franchise on the Busia name from whom I have to seek legal permission to express public intellectual opinion on a matter of national developmental interest, except God, who has given me my Busia birthright with grace and fortitude to be forthright. I respect and indeed welcome the opinions of those who disagree with me because "Tikoro nko agyina", but please do not just tell me my write - ups will hurt or upset the status quo! That is a vexatious unprincipled stance and a non- argument that does not appeal to my innate sense of justice. I am so far, not persuaded by a supposed collective Busia family apparent discomfitture to the Truth that I speak. In fact I see this as a regrettable and sad betrayal of Dr. K. A. Busia. Thus, I shall not be stifled by a politically expedient and knee jerk public denial of my insightful opinion due to alterior motives without alternative arguments or solutions to the problems under discussion. I am obviously on a different radical wavelength as I stand up for my father, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia's principles with ideational tenacity and nothing can change that. I am sure that he is proud of me in heaven and would endorse my stance were he alive. I am available for discussion and co-ordination and to unite with selfless Ghanaians and others including offering an olive branch to family members who do value moral leadership and are willing and able to design and implement policies and programs that benefit the citizens of Ghana and impact our African continent's profile positively for posterity. This important mission cannot be an addendum to unsavoury visions, personality cults, projects or financial convolutions that abuse the essence and interests of our Peoples undercover. For peace sake, there is an immediate and vital need for a pluralistic dynamic engagement for the sake of continental dignity and Progress so that Black Lives shall indeed matter. It is for this reason that I have drawn a fine line in the sand not to compromise my father's blood that is alive in me and speaks through me with distinguished eloquence to those who can hear with objectivity. I stand for a Ghana and an Africa that conducts its affairs with intergrity and with pride so that we can be equal participants on a competitive world stage without merited disdain ! Ref : "Agyapa hidden DILEMMAS of a gold deal" on myjoyfmonline or www.modernghana.com Email:[email protected] yahoo.com U S President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are set to meet on the debate stage for the first time on Tuesday night. The event in Cleveland comes just weeks before voters will head to the polls on November 3 to determine the occupant of the White House for the next four years. The debate will give millions of those readying to cast their ballot a first opportunity to compare the candidates policies and personalities as they appear side by side on national television for 90 minutes. So, here are some of the biggest questions heading into the night: How does Donald Trump handle being on the defensive? In his first formal debate since taking office, Mr Trump has a lot to answer for. More than 200,000 Americans have been killed by Covid-19 under his watch the highest death toll of any country in the world. Tens of millions of people are still out of work. The countrys cultural and political divisions are widening. And do not forget the weekend revelations that Mr Trump has paid less federal income tax than most working-class Americans for several years. Moderator Chris Wallace, of Fox News, and Mr Biden will no doubt press Mr Trump on those facts. Mr Trump seems to revel in hand-to-hand combat, and history suggests that neither facts nor any code of conduct will prevent him from saying whatever he needs to change the subject. He can pivot to more friendly issues such as the Supreme Court confirmation fight or law and order or he can jump into the mud by going after Mr Bidens mental and physical strength or his family. Such personal tactics worked for Mr Trump four years ago. But now that he is the man in charge of the country, it is unclear if voters will be as willing to accept the brash outsider act. How does Joe Biden respond? It is difficult to keep up with Mr Trumps campaign messages, but one line of attack has risen above the rest over the past year: that 77-year-old Mr Biden, or Sleepy Joe, is not mentally or physically fit to be president. Therefore, perhaps nothing matters more for Mr Biden on Tuesday night than his ability to convince America that he has the strength to hold the worlds most important job. Given Mr Trumps persistent attacks, Mr Biden faces a low bar in proving his stamina. But it is worth asking whether that is the measure for success that voters should use. After nearly half a century in politics, Mr Biden is a far more experienced debater than Mr Trump, and he has a much better grasp of foreign and domestic policy. On paper, at least, Mr Biden has the advantage. Yet the former vice presidents uneven performances in the primary debates offer plenty of reasons for Democrats to be worried. Donald Trump and Joe Biden set for first election debate Who will voters see on stage? Mr Trump and his Republican allies have been trying to brand Mr Biden as a socialist since he emerged as the Democratic nominee from a pack of primary candidates that featured a self-described democratic socialist (not Mr Biden). And Mr Biden and his allies have been calling Mr Trump a racist since Mr Biden launched his campaign. On Tuesday, each candidate will have a prime-time opportunity to debate the policies and rhetoric underlying each argument. Mr Biden, who has long positioned himself to the centre of his partys most liberal positions, has embraced plans to enlarge the governments role in healthcare, education and the environment. Such policies are hardly socialist, but they would represent a significant shift to the left and require tax increases. Mr Trump has a well-established pattern of using racist rhetoric and favouring policies that disproportionately favour white people. For example, Mr Trump has used the power of his office to crack down on Black Lives Matter protesters fighting for civil rights, calling them terrorists and warning that violent mobs of such protesters are invading largely white suburbs. While the candidates personalities may draw more attention than their policies, it is their policies that will touch the lives of virtually every American voter. How will Mr Biden handle Mr Trumps false statements? Heading into the debate, Mr Bidens team was advising him to avoid messy confrontations and fact checking Mr Trump in real time to avoid getting pulled into the mud with a president who loves getting dirty. Mr Biden could easily spend all 90 minutes consumed by trying to refute Mr Trumps claims, and no doubt, liberals will want to see Mr Biden take the fight to the president whenever the opportunity presents itself. But Mr Biden also wants to rise above the chaos and present voters with a clear alternative who is willing to compromise and move past the divisive fights that have dominated the Trump era. It is a delicate balance, and Mr Biden has struggled at times to stick to his advisers plans. You may remember him snapping at voters on the campaign trail back in the spring or the campaigns futile attempt to get him to shorten and focus his stump speeches. Even under the best of circumstances, as we have seen in Mr Trumps previous debates, it is difficult to take on Mr Trump directly. The former reality TV star is clearly comfortable on camera, and he is willing to say whatever he needs to whether it is true or not. US election polls: Biden holds seven-point lead over Trump How will democracy fare? Mr Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine the integrity of the election by raising unfounded concerns about voter fraud. Trailing in the polls, he has been escalating such warnings as Election Day nears. Mr Trumps message is not supported by facts, but many of his supporters believe it. We will see how convincing Mr Trumps message is, with Mr Biden and perhaps Mr Wallace pushing back. There are legitimate concerns about the Postal Services capacity to handle the surge of mail ballots as people try to participate in the election as safely as possible during the pandemic. And several states are scrambling to avoid the same ballot-counting delays that plagued primary elections. But experts are quite clear that there is no evidence of significant voter fraud and very little chance it will happen in 2020. The experts voices are not as loud, however, as whatever will be said on Tuesday night. (TNS) A February lawsuit in which the state of New Mexico alleged Google was using free Chromebook computers to scoop up federally protected personal data has been dismissed by a federal judge.Attorney General Hector Balderas accused the company of violating federal law by tracking New Mexico schoolchildren under the age of 13 "across the internet, across devices, in their homes, and well outside the education sphere, all without obtaining verifiable parental consent."Balderas said his office had gathered evidence that Google, through its "G-Suite for Education" software package distributed to children via Chromebook laptop computers, collected extensive data about children and their families including physical locations, website browsing, content viewed on YouTube (owned by Google), all Google searches and selected results, personal contact lists and passwords even voice recordings.In court filings, Google argued that online service providers are permitted to use schools as intermediaries for parental notifications and consent, and that it had secured permission to gather student data.Further, Google argued that claims the state made under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act did not apply because the activity was not connected to purchases by schools or families and the allegations did not include actionable conduct.The program, launched in 2006, has been adopted at schools nationwide and at the time of the lawsuit was accessed by some 80 million teachers and students. The computers' software applications include email, calendar and other applications as well as cloud storage. On its company blog, Google wrote in June that it does not use personal user information from K-12 students to target ads. If the school's domain administrator enables services like YouTube, Maps and Blogger, the company said students may see ads on those services but that the company would not use personal information to target ads.Federal Judge Nancy Freudenthal ruled that New Mexico did not state a claim that Google violated the law by relying on schools to provide notice and secure consent from students' families, nor state a claim alleging "inadequate notice and lack of authorization.""We are pleased with the ruling," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said. "We are committed to partnering with schools to protect students' privacy.The dismissal leaves a door open for the state to file an amended complaint. On Monday, Balderas did not indicate that he would."The law is clear that Google must protect our children's privacy, and we strongly disagree with the Court's ruling and will continue to litigate to protect child privacy rights," Balderas wrote in a statement. "For years massive tech companies like Google have lobbied Washington to keep themselves from being regulated, and I have no doubt that a company that has already paid millions of dollars in fines to the federal government is not putting the privacy and security of children first." Rudy Giuliani leaves Fox hosts looking uncomfortable as he baselessly claims Biden has dementia hours before debate (Twitter) Fox News hosts appeared visibly uncomfortable when the presidents lawyer began launching baseless claims about former Vice President Joe Biden in an interview with the conservative networks morning show on Tuesday, alleging without evidence the Democratic presidential nominee "has dementia" and adding: "There's no doubt about it." Rudy Giuliani seemed to ramp up Donald Trumps attacks against his Democratic opponent just hours before the first of the presidential debates, taking the presidents claims that Mr Biden was not mentally fit and offering his own diagnosis despite not actually being a doctor or having any professional experience in medicine, health or science. The man has dementia, Mr Giuliani said, leaving the networks morning show hosts completely silent. Theres no doubt about it. The former New York City mayor claimed he talked to doctors and had them look at a hundred different tapes of his to create the false diagnosis. In reality, Mr Giuliani accidentally tweeted an apparent Google search on dementia just last month, writing in a public post, Does dsm have 5 definitions of dementia and, before he deleted the tweet. One of those times when the question answers itself #dementia @RudyGiuliani pic.twitter.com/vvjthTbjMk Rutherford B. Goode (@RPDtweets) August 18, 2020 Shortly after, he posted a photo of himself reading the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and wrote in a caption: Currently doing research on a major expose. This will completely shake the 2020 Presidential election. Stay tuned." In July, Mr Giuliani also tweeted out a poll for his more than 750,000 Twitter followers in which he asked: Do you believe Joe Biden is displaying signs of dementia? Story continues The Biden campaign has shot down attacks against the former vice presidents mental fitness as weak attempts to undermine the Democratic nominee before the November vote. Mr Biden has also rebuked the claims made by Mr Trump and his allies, saying during an interview with ABC News in response to the presidents accusations that he wasnt fit to serve in the White House: Watch me. Look at us both, the former vice president told the news outlet alongside his running mate, Kamala Harris. Look at us both. Look at us both, what we say, what we do, what we control, what we know, what kind of shape we're in. Do you believe Joe Biden is displaying signs of dementia? Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) July 17, 2020 Currently doing research on a major expose. This will completely shake the 2020 Presidential election. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/5QvSgbNwXL Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) August 18, 2020 By Tuesday morning, as Mr Trump and Mr Biden were set to face off in their first debate of the 2020 election cycle, the presidents lawyer was attempting to confirm his own conspiracies without tangible evidence. Fox News host Steve Doocy cut in and said the Biden people say hes fine, causing Mr Giuliani to respond with claims that Mr Biden cant recite the Pledge of Allegiance and was in the senate for 160 years. He actually displays symptoms that two gerontologists told me are classic symptoms of middle-level dementia, Mr Giuliani said. Right, Mr Doocy responded. Right, Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt also said. After Mr Giuliani began supporting the presidents claims that Mr Biden was taking performance enhancers at the debates, Mr Doocy finally acknowledged none of us are doctors and said: This is just thats your opinion. Ms Earhardt also interrupted Mr Giuliani as he began to assert the false claims were not just his opinion, moving on to the subject of the Supreme Court. ROUND ROCK, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- News summary Dell Technologies Cloud Platform and Dell EMC VxRail now support VMware vSphere with Tanzu and the latest VMware Cloud Foundation, vSphere and vSAN releases, offering an easy path to Kubernetes adoption while delivering enhancements for traditional workloads Dell EMC PowerMax storage replication, now integrated with VMware vVols, simplifies management and improves access to mission-critical applications Dell EMC ObjectScale, built on VMware Cloud Foundation, allows developers to provision cloud-scale storage for modern applications Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager advancements include industry-first protection for VMware Cloud Foundation infrastructure layers and Kubernetes environments VMware Cloud on Dell EMC empowers organizations to support their remote workforce through VMware Horizon, security and compliance certifications Full story Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) announces several infrastructure portfolio innovations for VMware environments, designed to help customers better protect, manage and support traditional and modern applications across edge locations, core data centers and hybrid clouds. "Customers looking to accelerate their digital transformation need trusted, proven solutions that can help them navigate today's multi-cloud landscape while managing their IT and business needs," said Jeff Boudreau, president and general manager, Infrastructure Solutions Group at Dell Technologies. "Dell Technologies and VMware are raising the bar with tightly integrated solutions, designed to help customers and partners better manage and protect traditional and modern applications. These latest advancements across our infrastructure portfolio are a testament to our joint commitment to innovation." Bringing the latest VMware innovations to life As VMware delivers its latest releases for vSphere, vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation to support Tanzu, Dell Technologies is extending support of these technologies across the Dell infrastructure portfolio, with tightly integrated solutions including Dell Technologies Cloud, Dell EMC VxRail, Dell EMC PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerEdge and more. Dell EMC VxRail, the only jointly engineered HCI system with VMware, is the first system to be integrated with VMware vSphere with Tanzu, allowing customers to adopt Kubernetes quickly and easily with automated deployment and provisioning. Dell's broad infrastructure portfolio lets customers deploy VMware Tanzu in the way that best aligns with their IT strategy, whether through a validated architecture, VxRail cluster and/or the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform. Dell Technologies Cloud Platform with subscription pricing makes it easy to get started with VMware Tanzu in hybrid clouds for as low as $70 per node, per day.i By eliminating upfront costs and forecasting risks, organizations can budget their IT spend without surprises or hidden costs. With the industry's fastest hybrid cloud deployment, customers can get started in as few as 14 daysii, and expand deployment in as few as five days.iii Storage innovations for VMware environments Dell Technologies storage innovations are designed to help customers easily manage and access traditional and modern applications in VMware environments: Dell EMC PowerMax Simplifies VMware Management - Dell EMC PowerMax replication is now integrated with VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) and VMware Site Recovery Manager, simplifying VMware management by reducing time needed for provisioning, replication and service level policies. Customers can modernize their infrastructure while protecting their most important applications. The new Cloud Mobility for Dell EMC PowerMax feature offers simple movement of data from on-premises to public clouds. Customers can reduce the cost per GB for long-term data retention by up to 50 percent while freeing up capacity for PowerMax to support higher priority applications on-premises, extending the life of the array. iv The world's fastest enterprise storage array v offers improved security features and Smart DR for data resiliency and efficiency. Dell EMC PowerMax replication is now integrated with VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) and VMware Site Recovery Manager, simplifying VMware management by reducing time needed for provisioning, replication and service level policies. Customers can modernize their infrastructure while protecting their most important applications. The new Cloud Mobility for Dell EMC PowerMax feature offers simple movement of data from on-premises to public clouds. Customers can reduce the cost per GB for long-term data retention by up to 50 percent while freeing up capacity for PowerMax to support higher priority applications on-premises, extending the life of the array. The world's fastest enterprise storage array offers improved security features and Smart DR for data resiliency and efficiency. Dell EMC ObjectScale Brings Object Access to VMware Cloud Foundation - Dell Technologies is previewing its next generation, Kubernetes-based object storage platform, Dell EMC ObjectScale, currently available in an early access program.vi ObjectScale will allow developers to provision S3-compatible, cloud-scale storage for modern stateful applications on demand. By enabling object storage a critical component of cloud-native application architectures to be deployed directly through vSphere, Dell Technologies and VMware are equipping customers to deliver modern application experiences and more closely align development and IT operations. Designed with a scale-out, geo-distributed architecture with global accessibility, ObjectScale delivers enterprise storage across edge, core and hybrid cloud environments. Delivering modern VMware data protection Dell Technologies adds advanced management and backup capabilities to PowerProtect Data Manager in VMware environments with the introduction of new data protection updates: PowerProtect Data Manager Support for Tanzu - To help support and protect a customer's critical modern applications, Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager now supports the VMware Tanzu portfolio, including Tanzu Kubernetes clusters, Kubernetes clusters in vSphere, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated (TKGI) on-premises and in public clouds. To help support and protect a customer's critical modern applications, Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager now supports the VMware Tanzu portfolio, including Tanzu Kubernetes clusters, Kubernetes clusters in vSphere, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated (TKGI) on-premises and in public clouds. VMware Storage Policy-Based Management and VMware Cloud Foundation Protection - New PowerProtect Data Manager integrations make it the only solution to provide native vCenter Storage Policy-based Management integration for VM protection. This allows VI admins to save time by using well-known workflows from within their vSphere environment to assign data protection policies. Additionally, this latest release of PowerProtect Data Manager offers a VMware-certified solution to protect the VMware Cloud Foundation infrastructure layer. New PowerProtect Data Manager integrations make it the only solution to provide native vCenter Storage Policy-based Management integration for VM protection. This allows VI admins to save time by using well-known workflows from within their vSphere environment to assign data protection policies. Additionally, this latest release of PowerProtect Data Manager offers a VMware-certified solution to protect the VMware Cloud Foundation infrastructure layer. Enhanced Protection of Mission-Critical VMs - Dell Technologies is previewing a new feature in PowerProtect Data Manager that will eliminate the need to pause a VM during backup. With new snapshot and data movement technologies, teams can back up mission-critical VMs without business disruption. They no longer have to choose between availability and security since all VMs are protected and active, even during backup. Build clouds faster with Dell Technologies Cloud and VMware VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, the data center as a service offering for Dell Technologies Cloud, introduces new large node for high memory and storage usage workloads and now supports global and vertical industries with critical security needs through new compliance certifications, including ISO, CCPA, EU GDPR and SOC-2. The service also simplifies workload mobility with VMware HCX either from legacy infrastructure or between workloads running across two locations. With new multi-cluster support, customers can segment their workloads and create up to eight clusters in a rack, better utilizing existing resources and increasing performance. Dell Technologies and VMware are making it easier for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to quickly build and scale hosted cloud environments through tighter integration between VMware Cloud Director and Dell Technologies Cloud Platform (DTCP). Thanks to new integrations, CSPs can enjoy significant cost savings by reducing the time it takes to provision and manage multi-tenant cloud environments, creating virtual data centers in minutes that can be built once and deployed everywhere in seconds. New automation capabilities further streamlines service deployment and lifecycle management of the software-defined data center. CSP's running VMware Cloud Director on DTCP can offer customers rapid access to a more reliable and consistent cloud experience across their DTCP environments and off-premise instances. Introducing support for VMware Project Monterey Dell Technologies is joining VMware in supporting Project Monterey, an applications-driven response to the unprecedented change in how applications are being built and deployed. By adding support for SmartNICs, VMware and Dell Technologies are providing a path for customers to build next-gen infrastructure that efficiently manages the placement of infrastructure, application and security demands across CPUs, GPUs and SmartNICs. Availability VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation with Tanzu on VxRail and Tanzu support for Dell Technologies Cloud Platform will be globally available in October 2020 . . Dell EMC PowerMax updates are globally available now. Dell EMC ObjectScale early access is coming soon with global general availability planned in 2021. Support for VMware Tanzu in Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager will be globally available in October 2020 . . Storage Policy-Based Management in Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager will be globally available in November 2020 . . VMware Cloud Foundation protection in Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager will be globally available in October 2020 . . New Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager functionality that eliminates the need to pause VMs during backup has planned global availability in early 2021. VMware Cloud on Dell EMC advancements are available in the U.S. in November 2020 . . VMware Cloud Director on Dell Technologies Cloud Platform is globally available now. VMware quote Lee Caswell, vice president, marketing, Cloud Platforms BU, VMware "VMware and Dell Technologies, together, are delivering solutions that help customers manage traditional and modern applications, whether they reside in a traditional data center, at the edge or in clouds. Today's announcements from Dell Technologies are the latest examples of the tight integration between our teams, and the benefits our customers see as a result." Analyst quote Eric Sheppard, research vice president, IDC Infrastructure Platforms & Technologies Group "The demands on IT teams today underscore the need for modern, agile infrastructure. The tight collaboration between Dell Technologies and VMware delivers the feature-rich solutions organizations need to deploy, manage and protect applications everywhere, from the edge to cloud." Additional resources About Dell Technologies Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry's broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the data era. Copyright 2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, EMC and Dell EMC are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. VMware, vSphere, ESXi, and VMware vVol are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions. i Based on a 3-year term with the minimum starting configuration (4 x 1M1s.small + 3 x 1G1s.sm) and an average monthly price of $2104 (USD). Pricing for DTCP with subscription may vary depending on the number and type of nodes in your configuration. For details on pricing, consult your account manager. ii Applies to select fixed node configurations, contact your sales representative for details. Customer credit approval, site survey and configuration workbook must be completed before order is placed. Excludes orders over 24 nodes, VMware NSX configuration, vRealize (vRA, vRO) components, and some other features. Product availability, holidays and other factors may impact deployment time. US only. iii Applies to select fixed node configurations, contact your sales representative for details. Customer credit approval, site survey and configuration workbook must be completed before order is placed. Product availability, holidays, and other factors may impact deployment time. Deployment includes delivery, standardized installation and hardware and software configuration. US only. iv Based on Dell EMC analysis, June 2020. Savings calculated comparing the cost of storing 6 months of Snaps (on avg. 55% capacity consumed) over 3 years on PowerMax 8000 for 1246TB vs using Cloud Mobility to store snaps in the AWS Public Cloud on Amazon S3 Standard storage. Costs in US dollars. Actual savings will vary. v Based on Dell EMC internal analysis of max bandwidth (64K blocks) of the PowerMax 8000 (350GB/s) versus max bandwidth of competitive mainstream arrays, August 2020. Actual performance will vary. vi Dell EMC ObjectScale Early Access is a pre-general availability beta program for organizations to test the ObjectScale code base in a non-production environment. SOURCE Dell Technologies Related Links http://www.delltechnologies.com Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister told Russian President on Tuesday that he wants to settle their territorial dispute and sign a peace treaty formally ending their World War II hostilities. Suga took office two weeks ago, replacing Shinzo Abe who stepped down due to poor health. Abe, during his nearly eight years in office, put a great deal of time and effort into improving ties with in hopes of settling the territorial dispute, but with little progress. The two countries both claim a group of islands seized by the former Soviet Union in the final days of the war, preventing them from signing a peace treaty. The islands, called the Northern Territories in and the Kurils in Russia, are off the northern coast of Japan's Hokkaido. I told (Putin) that I hope to develop Japan- relations holistically, including the signing of a peace treaty. I said we should not leave the territorial problem to the next generations and put an end to it ourselves, Suga told reporters after the telephone talks. I will firmly tackle the problem with President Putin. Suga said he is confident he and Putin can develop a positive relationship in which they can frankly exchange views. Putin said he hopes to maintain a dialogue to resolve any existing problems between the two countries, Suga said. Settling the island dispute with was one of Abe's diplomatic goals. He started joint economic projects on the Russian-held disputed islands. Russia, however, has stepped up its military presence on the islands, and held troop exercises just hours before Tuesday's talks. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said protested to Russia about the military exercise, saying it was unacceptable. Suga has had a series of phone talks with global leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Five global companies today announced new and expansive commitments to improving the health and well-being of an estimated 585,000 women workers as well as community members around the world in the next ten years, helping connect the dots between womens shift into the global workforce and their unmet need for essential health care, which has been exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic. Commitments from Del Monte Kenya, the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association, Farida Group, MAS Holdings, and PVH Corp. will reach workers in Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka and more with health, well-being, and empowerment information and services such as contraception, maternal health, non-communicable diseases, menstrual hygiene, and protection from sexual harassment and gender-based violence. These commitments are part of a global movement by companies with supply chains that primarily employ women to shift their business practices to meet the health and well-being needs of their workforce while bolstering long-term business returns and reflecting increasing consumer demand for ethical business practices. These commitments are more critical than ever in the midst of a global pandemic that disproportionately impacts girls and women, who bear the brunt of the health, economic, and caregiving burden brought on by COVID-19. Women are the foundation of the global workforce, especially in sectors hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, like apparel and agriculture, said Seema Jalan, Executive Director of the Universal Access Project at the United Nations Foundation. When women can control their own health and well-being, it is a basis from which they can realize other rights and determine their own lives and futures. Companies have a unique opportunity to provide essential care that their workers want, while also helping build a healthier, more productive workforce that is actually more resilient to crises in the long-term. Commitments include: Del Monte Kenya, regional leader in exports of fresh pineapple juice and canned pineapples, commits to reaching 10,000 women employees and community members with reproductive health information and services through company-led programs by 2024. At Del Monte Kenya, it is our team members well-being that gives us the capacity to provide wholesome, safe and fresh products, and as a company, we do our part by ensuring that our staff is cared for in all that we do. With women making up 45% of our 6,500 employees, we strive to offer them fair wages, a safe workplace, access to quality reproductive health care, education on family planning, and opportunities for growth. This we do, with a strong conviction that we cannot achieve A Better World Tomorrow without the support, dedication, and talent of each of our team members, including our women, said Stergios Gkaliamoutsas, Managing Director of Del Monte Kenya Limited. The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA), a membership organization of 126 producers of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for export, commits to expand its workplace training program, Empowering the Source, to an additional 50 member producers, reaching 40,000 workers including 30,000 women workers with health education including family planning, menstrual hygiene, maternal health, and protection from gender-based violence by 2025. We are making this commitment to our female employees, our members, ourselves, and the communities in which we operate. The future is bright for Ethiopias horticulture sector, and we know that supporting the health and well-being of our women workers means a stronger, more resilient workforce now and in the long-term, said Mr. Tewodros Zewdie, Executive Director of EHPEA. Farida Group, Indias largest shoe manufacturer, commits to expanding its Worker Champion program to reach its 25,000 women workers with training and awareness on reproductive and maternal and child health, prevention of sexual harassment, financial literacy, and professional advancement by 2024. We believe that empowering a woman empowers her family directly and her community indirectly. Our approach is to focus on health care, holistic development, safety, and education of the women workers. It gives us immense satisfaction when programs instituted by us help our women employees overcome challenges in their lives. And I feel proud that our approach is a catalyst for positive change in the womens lives, said Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed Mecca, Chairman of the Farida Group. MAS Holdings, South Asias largest apparel manufacturer, is expanding its 2019 commitment to reach an additional 10,000 people -- for a total of 20,000 people -- by 2021 through its Women Go Beyond program, which, in partnership with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, offers training, information, and services on womens health and well-being, including reproductive health, non-communicable diseases, and addressing and preventing gender-based violence. Addressing gaps in health and well-being for our workforce, has always been an important part of our core business. We have the opportunity and ability to change, not only the access to medical care and well-being, but also the mindset relating to essential health and hygiene issues that stem from stereotypes, misinformation and taboos. Access to health care and information is essential for an empowered, motivated workforce, said Suren Fernando, CEO of MAS Holdings. PVH Corp., one of the largest fashion and lifestyle companies in the world with suppliers in over 40 countries, commits to providing professional and life skills development programs and services to 500,000 women across its supply chain by 2030. The vast majority of the workforce across the apparel value chain consists of women. Removing barriers to and creating opportunities for the advancement of women is an important focus area for us. Our Empower Women goal will not only further strengthen our commitment to have a positive impact on the women in our value chain, their families and their communities, but we hope that it will inspire others to join us in accelerating this essential work, said Manny Chirico, Chairman and CEO of PVH Corp. These companies join the ranks of nearly a dozen others whose commitments to womens workplace health and empowerment announced in 2019 are still in full force despite shifting timelines and strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reporting from these companies a year after their pledges show that, across the board, companies remained committed to their efforts to invest sustainably in the health and well-being of their women workers, even in a global crisis. The United Nations Foundations Universal Access Project is leading the Private Sector Action for Womens Health and Empowerment initiative to work with companies that have large global supply chains employing millions of women workers to improve the health and well-being of their workers. To learn more about these commitments and explore the business case for investing in workplace womens health and empowerment, visit http://www.privatesectoractionforwomenshealth.com. About the United Nations Foundation The UN Foundation brings together ideas, people, and resources to help the United Nations drive global progress and tackle urgent problems. Our hallmark is to collaborate for lasting change and innovate to address humanitys greatest challenges. Learn more at http://www.unfoundation.org. A teenager who died in a tragic freak accident in Queensland has been remembered for her indomitable spirit and infectious laugh. Mackenzie Guild, 15, died on Friday evening a week into her school holiday break on a cattle station about 170km north of Charters Towers in northern Queensland after she was helping tow a car that had been bogged. The Townsville Bulletin reports she was struck in the chest while sitting on the tray of a ute after a snatch rope between the two cars snapped. Mackenzie died at the scene while her 11-year-old sister, who was also injured in the incident was flown to the Townsville University Hospital in a stable condition. Queensland Police told Yahoo News Australia they were called to the property just before 9pm, and a report would be prepared for the coroner. Mackenzie Guild died in a tragic accident on a cattle station on Friday night. Source: Facebook Mackenzie was a student at the Columba Catholic College in Charters Towers and principal Candi Dempster said the school community was devastated by her loss. Mackenzie was a bubbly girl with an infectious spirit and an even more infectious laugh. Ever ready to help out, she had an indomitable spirit and was a very popular student in the boarding residence and in day school, she told Yahoo News Australia. As unfathomable as this tragedy is, we are ever grateful for Mackenzie her sense of hope, positivity and her have a go nature at every opportunity presented to her. Ms Dempster said she was now resting in Gods loving embrace and there would be ongoing support and counselling for staff and students, especially for those in the girls boarding residence upon returning to school after the holidays. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Visiting the dentist could also include going for a COVID-19 test, depending on the outcome of a discussion this week in Ontario. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) The Ontario Dental Association will meet Friday to discuss whether its possible for dental clinics to administer COVID-19 tests to patients throughout the province. This comes as demand for the service increases along with the number of cases in Ontario. Last week, select pharmacies across the province started offering the free service to help ease wait times in medical clinics and hospitals that offer COVID-19 testing. On Tuesday, Ontario reported 554 new cases of COVID-19 in the province, with the majority of cases in Toronto. There are currently 4,791 active cases of the virus throughout the province. Theres been a sharp increase in patients looking to be tested in recent weeks, with many left waiting in line for hours. Maggie Blood with the Ontario Dental Association says they are carefully watching how the roll out for testing at pharmacies goes in the meantime, as there are many logistical issues with this kind of added services. Were certainly aware of the idea of COVID-19 testing in dental offices but the main priority for most dentists so far has been getting through the backlog of patients they werent able to treat for 12 weeks during the shutdown, she said in an email. Blood added that some dental clinics are still experiencing a serious shortage of PPE, particularly N95 masks. The ODA has asked the Ministry of Health multiple times to designate dentists as frontline medical staff so they can access provincial stockpiles of PPE, she said. George Christodoulou, co-CEO of Altima Dental, says with the proper training, allowing dental staff like hygienists to test patients for COVID-19 seems like a logical step. Dental offices see patients every day in a controlled and protected manner, he tells Yahoo Canada. They dont take long so it wouldnt interfere with patient management. Wed be able to test in a protected manner and we wouldnt be using additional PPEs. He adds that testing dental patients wouldnt stress the system as it could be done at clinics, for those who want to be tested as part of their dental appointment. That way, there wouldnt be the need for additional testing sites and could put an ease on wait times at clinics. Story continues The idea isnt to go out to solicit patients, were already seeing patients now, says Christodoulou. This is meant to help the government and reduce stress on the system. While saliva-based COVID-19 testing isnt yet available in Canada, Christodoulou says that type of testing would be easiest to administer in a dental office. We deal with saliva all the time, he says. But ultimately it would depend on what the government would allow us to do and who we could train. The Government of Ontario did not respond to a request for an interview by publication time. Tehran rejected allegations from Riyadh over a busted terror cell that the kingdom says has been nurtured by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Irans Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed the accusations as an old and worthless scenario that came in continuum of similar Saudi claims against Iran in recent years. Saudi officials announced on Monday the confiscation of weapons from the cell and the arrest of 10 of its members, some of whom received IRGC training inside Iran back in 2017. The Iranian spokesperson said those statements indicated that the Saudi government has given up political rationality and advised Saudi officials to take the path of honesty and wisdom. The fresh allegations came less than a week after King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia addressed the United Nations General Assembly with scathing diatribes against Tehran. The 84-year-old monarch slammed what he called Iranian expansionist policies in the Middle East and pointed the finger of blame toward the Islamic Republic for a chaotic and unstable Middle East. The king's speech was also a plea for a solution to curb Tehrans support for terrorism. Iran was quick to slam the statements as delirium prompted by the Saudi governments consecutive defeats and an attempt to evade responsibility over its war crimes against Yemeni women and children. During his address, the Saudi king also referenced last years attack on the Saudi Aramco oil facility, for which his government, the UN and the United States have implicated Iran and the Tehran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. Tehran has denied any role in the incident but has recognized the rebel groups right to defend the Yemeni nation against Saudi aggressors. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Republic and the Saudi kingdom have treated one another as almost intolerable regional rivals, with tensions over a host of contentious issues occasionally reaching boiling points. But the two sides have entered an unprecedented escalatory cycle since 2016 after a group of Iranian hard-liners stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. The Iranian government distanced itself from the provocative takeover, accusing rogue elements who were infuriated by the Saudi governments execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Tehran says the Saudi kingdom has shrugged off its multiple offers for unconditional dialogue to talk out the deep-seated differences and reinstate formal diplomatic relations. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 02:13:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday refuted environmental accusations by the U.S. Department of State, saying this is another anti-China farce staged by the United States out of political purposes. Responding to U.S. accusations of China's greenhouse gas emissions, wildlife trafficking and marine litter, spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a news briefing that the so-called "fact sheet" is nothing but a list of sheer lies. China's achievements in addressing climate change are widely recognized. By the end of 2019, China's CO2 emissions per unit of the GDP were cut by 48.1 percent compared with that in 2005, and the share of non-fossil fuel reached 15.3 percent, fulfilling its 2020 climate action targets ahead of schedule, Wang said. The new afforestation in China accounted for 25 percent of the global total, and over 50 percent of the world's new energy vehicles are in China, Wang said. China has announced that it will enhance the nationally determined contribution targets, and strive for the peaking of CO2 emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, he noted. Noting that China is one of the countries that have the most stringent legislation and law enforcement on the protection of wildlife, Wang said China contributed greatly to global forest resources, sustainable forest products and trade. "By the end of 2020, China will basically achieve the goal of zero import of solid waste." People across the world know clearly who's acting and contributing, and who's talking empty words and creating chaos, Wang said. The fact is, the United States itself is the biggest perpetrator damaging international environmental cooperation, and the United States itself poses the biggest threat to the global environment, the spokesperson said. "We urge the United States to stop political manipulation and slandering, and make tangible contributions to the protection of global environment instead of stirring up troubles," Wang added. Enditem Press Release Nokia signs 5G deal to become BTs largest infrastructure partner Nokia increases market share of BTs Radio Access Network after selection as 5G RAN supplier 29 September 2020 Espoo, Finland Nokia today announced that it has extended its long-term strategic relationship with BT into the 5G arena, following its selection as a 5G RAN vendor for the UK operator. As part of the deal, which will make Nokia BTs largest equipment provider, Nokia will provide equipment and services at BT radio sites across the UK, helping to evolve BTs radio access network to 5G and supporting its goal of maintaining the UKs best network. BTs Nokia-powered network, which currently includes Greater London, the Midlands and rural locations, will be extended to also cover multiple other towns and cities across the United Kingdom1. This enhanced Nokia footprint will support BTs commitments to the UK government around the use of High Risk Vendors (HRVs) in UK network infrastructure. Nokia will supply its AirScale Single RAN (S-RAN) portfolio for both indoor and outdoor coverage, including 5G RAN, AirScale base stations and Nokia AirScale radio access products. These solutions will enable BT to build on its existing network leadership in the UK to deliver connectivity and capacity benefits to consumers at ultra-low latencies as well as reducing complexity and increasing cost efficiencies. The deal will also see Nokia optimize BTs 2G and 4G networks and work alongside BT on the development of the OpenRAN ecosystem. As part of BTs network transformation, the operator will also utilize Nokia Softwares ng-SDM and NetAct network management platform, supporting the network evolution to 5G. These build upon the existing network architecture and provide an immediate cornerstone and single platform for new 5G-based services. Nokia will also provide its state-of-the-art Cell Site Gateway product providing key backhaul connectivity. Nokia will also provide digital design and deployment for a faster time to market as well as optimization and technical support services. Philip Jansen, CEO, BT Group said: Digital connectivity is critical to the UKs economic future, creating jobs and underpinning sustainable growth. Thats why BT is making game-changing investments in full fibre and 5G. In a fast-moving and competitive market, its critical we make the right technology choices. With this next stage of our successful relationship with Nokia we will continue to lead the rollout of fixed and mobile networks to deliver stand-out experiences for customers. Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, Nokia, said: I am delighted that BT has extended its partnership with Nokia on 5G RAN, making Nokia BTs largest infrastructure partner. Our two companies have collaborated for over a quarter of a century in order to deliver best-in-class connectivity to people across the United Kingdom. We are proud to support BTs 5G network evolution and look forward to working even more closely together in the years to come. Notes to Editors 1.) Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Carlisle, Cheltenham-Gloucester, Chesterfield, Dundee, Exeter, Grimsby, Hull, Ipswich, Lincoln, Newbury, Northampton, Norwich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Torbay, York Resources: Webpage : Nokia AirScale Webpage : Nokia 5G RAN Webpage: Nokia NetAct Webpage: Nokia Single RAN About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks. Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia. LAGOS, Nigeria, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Africa, Nigeria's Lagos-based value airline, has formed a strategic partnership with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a leading financial institution in Nigeria. Revenue collected from all Green Africa customer sales transactions will be exclusively domiciled at Green Africa's operating account with FCMB. Upon commencement of pre-sales in early 2021, FCMB will provide Green Africa with access to up to US$31m in a combination of standby letter of credit and rolling working capital. Additionally, as part of the strategic partnership, Green Africa and FCMB will develop a proprietary educational loan product for a proactive human capital development platform to train pilots, engineers, cabin crew members, safety professionals and other technical personnel in commercial, operational and aviation finance functions. This is a key component of Green Africa's plan to scale diligently and play a critical role in cultivating world-class local industry talent in the coming years. Also, the partnership will help to integrate FCMB's payment gateway into Navitaire, which is Green Africa's passenger reservation system provider. Navitaire's New Skies platform is a leading reservation and retailing system working with a large customer-base of airlines in high growth markets around the world. The agreement is equally expected to explore other areas of commercial partnerships and opportunities to bring even more value to FCMB and Green Africa customers as the value carrier scales. Speaking on the partnership, the Founder & CEO of Green Africa, Mr. Babawande Afolabi, said: "This marque partnership with FCMB gives Green Africa additional tailwind to launch and scale in the years ahead. The partnership will not only deliver long-term value to Green Africa and FCMB, but also significantly move the conversation forward about how to prudently foster a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria and across the African continent. We are honoured that FCMB is joining hands with Green Africa on this journey to use the power of air travel to create a better future." On his part, the Managing Director & CEO of FCMB, Mr. Adam Nuru, said: "We have been tracking Green Africa's journey over the last few years and we are delighted to officially join Babawande and the Green Africa team at this important stage of the journey. Green Africa, with the support of its high-quality equity backers, a world-class team on the ground, and landmark partnership with Airbus, has a unique opportunity to redefine the aviation landscape in the region. This strategic partnership provides Green Africa with further access to short to medium-term liquidity and an institutional platform for scaling. It also positions FCMB as a preferred long-term anchor player in the future of an industry that will be key to realizing the economic potentials of Nigeria and the broader African continent. We could not be more proud of this strategic partnership with Green Africa." About FCMB: First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited is a member of FCMB Group Plc, one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments. With an origin dating back to the late 1970s, FCMB was officially licensed in 1982, becoming the first indigenous Bank in Nigeria to be established without government support. FCMB has since grown to become one of the most business friendly and customer-centric Banks in the country. About Green Africa: Green Africa (greenafrica.com) is a value airline based in Lagos, Nigeria. The new airline will offer safe, reliable and affordable air travel to a much broader group of customers and be a significant contributor to the economic development of Nigeria and the African continent. Founded and led by Babawande Afolabi, Green Africa has received its Air Transport License from the Nigerian Government. The airline recently placed an order for 50 Airbus A220-300s and is currently going through the AOC certification process with the NCAA. Green Africa is anchored by a group of senior industry leaders led by Tom Horton, former Chairman & CEO of American Airlines, Wale Adeosun, Founder & CEO of Kuramo Capital, William Shaw, CEO of InterJet, Virasb Vahidi, former CCO of American Airlines and Gbenga Oyebode, Founder & Chairman of Aluko & Oyebode. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1091654/Green_Africa_Airways_Logo.jpg Media Room Green Africa Airways Ltd 43B Oduduwa Crescent, GRA, Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria [email protected] SOURCE Green Africa Airways Related Links http://greenafrica.com Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nations top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War, has died at the age of 91. In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. His 2006 ascension in Kuwait, a staunch US ally since the American-led war that expelled occupying Iraqi troops, came after parliament voted unanimously to oust his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, nine days into his rule. As Kuwaits ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and see-sawing crude oil prices that hit a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies. He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs, said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait. No question he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and more brash young princes holding power today. State television announced his death after playing Koranic prayers. With great sadness and sorrow, the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world mourn the death of the late His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, emir of the state of Kuwait who moved to the realm of the Lord, an Emiri official said. Expand Close Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah at the 40th Gulf Co-operation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Amr Nabil/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah at the 40th Gulf Co-operation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Amr Nabil/AP) Kuwaits cabinet said later that Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been sworn in as ruling emir. Sheikh Nawaf, 83, had served as crown prince since 2006, jumping a traditional order of alternating rule between the Al Jaber and Al Salam branches of the countrys ruling family. The high regard for Sheikh Sabah could be seen in the outpouring of support for him across the Middle East as he suddenly fell ill in July, leading to a quick admission to hospital and surgery in Kuwait City amid the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities did not say what was wrong with him. A US Air Force C-17 then transported him from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic an extraordinary gesture by the American government for a foreign head of state. Sheikh Sabahs life spanned two very different Kuwaits. He was born on June 16 1929, just as the countrys pearl-diving industry was collapsing. Within the decade, Kuwait would strike oil. Engineers eventually confirmed that the tiny country had the worlds sixth-largest known oil reserves. Sheikh Sabah became Kuwaits foreign minister in 1963 after holding a number of other governmental posts. He remained in that position for four decades, making him one of the worlds longest-serving foreign ministers. Expand Close Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, middle, arrives home from the US (Kuna/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, middle, arrives home from the US (Kuna/AP) His countrys greatest crisis came in 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the nation for seven months. Fleeing with other Kuwaiti officials to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Sabah collapsed and lost consciousness at one particularly stormy meeting of Arab leaders. On February 24 1991, US troops and their allies stormed into Kuwait. It ended 100 hours later, and America suffered only 148 combat deaths during the whole campaign, while more than 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed. Even before the US entered Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah and others had been suggesting a permanent American presence in the region might provide protection from Iraq and others. One learns from the past and learns about it for the future, Sheikh Sabah reportedly said. One has to consider arrangements that would make not only my country stable but make the whole area stable. Today, Kuwait hosts 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan, south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of US Army Central. Domestically, Sheikh Sabah had faced the challenge of falling oil prices in recent years. He dissolved parliament several times as legislators kept questioning appointed government ministers, some of them members of his extended family. As the 2011 Arab Spring swept the region, Sheikh Sabah ordered grants and free food coupons for every Kuwaiti, but allegations swirled that some legislators had been bribed 350 million dollars by the government to sway their votes, along with rumours that they were involved in embezzling state funds. Amid strikes and confrontations with police, protesters briefly entered parliament, waving flags and singing the countrys national anthem. Sheikh Sabah nevertheless maintained power while still allowing protests, a rarity among Gulf leaders. A long-time widower, Sheikh Sabah lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, which was named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. He is survived by two sons. Harris County District Judge Steven Kirkland has ordered Houston Community College to fulfill the long-delayed public information requests related to a $100 million racial discrimination lawsuit. Kirkland said HCC has responded neither to Hall Law Groups requests for records on April 13, May 18 and Aug. 19, nor the requests of at least two other parties, including consulting firm Dolcefino Consulting and Texas resident Scott Laha. Hall Law Group, headed by attorney Ben Hall, has requested the records in relation to Halls client, plaintiff and former HCC employee Zelia Brown, and hundreds of other Black employees who, according to court records, allege to have been discriminated against while working for the community college system. The court finds that HCCs purported justifications for not responding in any manner to these requests are not tenable and that the failure to respond is effectively a refusal to respond, Kirkland wrote in the order, filed Thursday. Additionally, Kirkland said most of HCCs requests for clarifications regarding the Hall Law Groups records requests were unreasonable and that the college has still not provided opinions from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who can weigh in on what requested information can and should legally be provided. Without Paxtons opinion or further information or hearings, Kirkland said he cannot rule on some of the records requests. On HoustonChronicle.com: Judge calls HCCs delay in responding to records requests untenable Kirkland also denied HCCs plea to jurisdiction, which calls for the court to dismiss information that a party deems irrelevant or lacking in subject matter. The judge urged both HCC and the Hall Group to work together on providing each other necessary information to further the case, but to return to court when complete if the parties are unable to reach agreement on the issue. HCC attorney Paul Lamp filed for an appeal to the courts order Monday. An HCC spokesman said in an emailed statement to the Houston Chronicle that the college closed its administrative offices in mid-March to safeguard its employees, students and visitors from COVID-19 and said the attorney general issued guidance to governmental entities across the state providing that they are not required to process public information requests while their administrative offices are closed due to COVID-19. While HCC has appealed the courts decision to the Houston Court of Appeals, after months of planning to partially reopen with safety as our priority, the college resumed processing public information requests on September 28, the spokesman wrote. The suit, filed on behalf of hundreds of current and former Black employees at the college, is against HCC Chancellor Cesar Maldonado, HR director Janet May and board of trustees member Adriana Tamez. Browns attorneys, including Hall, claim that Maldonado used a list of tactics to undermine and get rid of Black employees and relied on May to handle displacements. brittany.britto@chron.com Education may seem like an odd one, but this year we have seen the explosion of domestic terrorist and anarchy in our streets. Rioting and looting have become the norm. This stems from the indoctrination of our youth to hate America. Our public education system is so bad that 2/3 of our high school students are not meeting the minimum expectations in English. Instead of preparing our children for a successful future career or success in college, we are just teaching them to hate and to destroy what others have built. We cannot improve America by tearing it down. My Educating For Success bill will bring that self-esteem and pride back by removing the reward/punishment scheme of the current education system. Instead it is focused on advancement once a student has mastered the material from the previous section and they advance at their own individual pace, in each subject. It also teaches our children how to think for themselves and use logic and reasoning skills to formulate answers and solutions. When we build our children up, they will become the builders of tomorrow. The Nigerian Army says it is fully in support of the ongoing efforts of the Borno State government to relocate and resettle the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state back to their ancestral homes. The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Sagir Musa, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Mr Musa, a colonel, described the effort of Governor Babagana Zulum aimed at resettling the IDPs as a commendable and right step in the desired direction. He said that the Nigerian Army being a patriotic and key agency in the war against terrorism in the North East would ensure the actualisation of the governors desire. According to him, the army hereby declares its unflinching commitment to the relocation of the IDPs to their original abodes. Mr Musa also disclosed that the Theatre Command had been directed to do all it takes to ensure the successful and seamless relocation of the affected people in the state. According to him, the relocation of these law-abiding Nigerians to their towns, villages and homes at this stage of the war against insurgency is highly strategic and a decisive political decision. He said that it was required to actualise both the political and military objectives of the war towards the ultimate end of restoring peace and stability to Borno and the North East region. The NA commiserates with the Borno State Governor, families of all the fallen heroes (military, police and civilian victims) as a result of the dastardly act of ambush by BHT group along Monguno Kross Kauwa Road. The NA wishes to once again commend His Excellency Governor Zulum and Borno State Government for this important step and to reassure the nation of its determination and commitment to the successful prosecution of the war on terror in Nigeria. The NA urges other stakeholders in this endeavour to join hands and redouble their efforts towards restoring peace to our dear fatherland Nigeria, he said. (NAN) In a related development, Governor Zulum has met with families of police officers and members of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) killed by insurgents in an ambush on Friday in Borno. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that several security personnel were killed with some injured when the governors backup convoy was attacked along Baga Monguno road. A statement by his spokesperson, Isa Gusau, said Mr Zulum had on Monday met with the bereaved family of the fallen policemen at the police headquarters in Maiduguri where he promised to assist the affected families. Mr Zulum said he was purposely there to sympathise and condole with brothers, sisters and the families of the deceased policemen. It is very unfortunate that the incident happened. May Almighty God in his infinite mercy forgive and reward them for their sacrifices and may God grant you the strength to bear the fortitude of this huge loss that is for all of us. It is so sad, looking at what happened. It is quite unfortunate and I am pained by that incident. However, those men died as heroes, as patriots and as people that have brought honour to their families even though we never wished that it happened. Insha Allah, we shall do everything possible to support the families. The education of their children is very important in addition to the support for their means of livelihood. I want to once again sympathise with the families on behalf of the grateful people of Borno State. I condole with the Borno State Police Command, the CP, the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force and entire Nigerians over the sad moment, Mr Zulum was quoted as saying. The governor was also at the state specialist hospital in Maiduguri where he consoled those injured in the incident. While at the hospital, the Medical Director, Laraba Bello, said that eight injured persons were brought to the hospital on Sunday, made up of a policeman and seven CJTF members, and so far five had been treated and discharged while the remaining three were responding to treatment. Advertisements (NAN) A domestic violence survivor has recalled how chillingly calm her jilted ex-boyfriend was before he set fire to her home in a crazed attempt to kill her and her family. Unemployed banker Neil de Graaf suffered burns to 95 per cent of his body after he doused petrol around the home of his former partner April Wilmot in Ipswich, south-east Queensland, and set it alight in November 2016. He had seconds earlier crashed his BMW into the property armed with two jerry cans of fuel and a gas bottle. Ms Wilmot, then 23, escaped the burning house with her mother, teenage brother and his girlfriend after initially barricading themselves in an upstairs bedroom. April Wilmot narrowly escaped her burning home after her ex-boyfriend doused the house with fuel and set fire to the property Recounting in detail the harrowing ordeal which left her with enough trauma for '50 lifetimes', the young woman said her phone conversation with de Graaf moments before the attack left her with no indication of what he would do next. 'I had broken up with Neil a couple of weeks prior and the communication had been quite sparse in those three weeks,' she told SBS Insight on Tuesday night. 'I had just spoken to him on the phone a couple of minutes before and I could tell he was driving. And I said to him,"you need to fix this particular issue that we were having". 'He said to me, "don't worry, I have another plan anyway." Real calm.' She said the phone call did not immediately trigger any alarm bells, and she was sitting down with her family to eat pizza when de Graaf carried out the shocking raid. Neil De Graaf in the moments before the attack had told Ms Wilmot "don't worry, I have another plan anyway" The home's second storey collapsed during the fire at the home in Ipswich, south-east Queensland in 2016 She said the force of him slamming into the house sent a mirror and a clock flying off the wall, and created a crack in the building's internal wall in 'mere seconds'. As her family hid in the bathroom, she said she saw liquid pooling on the bottom of the floor but did not comprehend what was happening. 'I didn't have much time to comprehend that before the entire internal door of the bathroom was in flames,' she said. 'As soon as I escaped the bathroom my dressing gown just immediately engulfed in flames and the whole bedroom, all the drapes, the mattress everything was in flames.' The four of them eventually escaped the blaze, but de Graaf set himself alight and lost his life after he was put into an induced coma. Ms Wilmot has endured years of intense counselling following the traumatic events of almost four years ago - which she said had also brought her a great deal of guilt because of what her family had been put through. Ms Wilmot (pictured) told how de Graaf posted revenge porn online before the night of the attack falsely claiming it was of her The young woman said the phone call prior to him crashing into her house and setting fire to it did not immediately trigger any alarm bells 'I look back on my experience with Neil and question things, like everybody does, and think I should have known or I should have been able to see this,' she said. 'I try to remind myself that Neil was a very damaged and disturbed individual before I met him. Its fair to say it was quite a volatile relationship. 'It was quite obvious to me not long after dating him that there were a few disturbing behaviours that werent quite rational... it was never a healthy relationship, even from the very early stages.' ' ... It did get to the point where I realised that I was way in over my head. But by the time that I realised that, he had said quite graphic, explicit threats against my life and my familys life.' Ms Wilmot has previously told how de Graaf posted revenge porn online falsely claiming it was of her after she pushed back on his attempts to get close to her again. De Graaf was put into an induced coma after sustaining burns to 95 per cent of his body in the fire 'My whole relationship with Neil was just me delaying, trying to figure out how I was going to navigate this to make that day not come,' she earlier this week told The Courier-Mail. 'The last time I ever spoke to Neil was me pleading with him, begging with him "please take the post down, I don't want to have to go to the police, but you're giving me no choice",' she said. That conversation came just hours before the attack at her mother's home. 'The gravity of the situation can not be understated, to be honest with you,' Acting Inspector Heath McQueen said at the time. The home's second storey collapsed during the fire and Ms Wilmot escaped with her family after barricading themselves in a bathroom 'We're very fortunate today that we're not standing here with a much worse [result] in that there could have been multiple persons deceased.' The home's second storey collapsed during the fire. Ms Wilmot warned others in violent relationships the danger signs are not always clear at first. 'People say why didn't she leave?' she said. 'People don't realise that by the time you realise what this person is it's too late by then.' If you are experiencing mental health difficulties, or know someone who is, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. The same scientists who reported in 2018 that they likely discovered a large saltwater lake under the ice on Mars' south pole believe they have found three additional lakes in the same area. The researchers published their findings Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. The scientists used radar data from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, which was collected by its Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS). MARSIS sent out radio waves that bounced off the surface and subsurface layers of Mars, and the scientists were able to determine the material present at each location based on how the signal reflected back. The high reflectivity indicated there were bodies of liquid water trapped about a mile beneath the ice, Nature reports. For their study, the researchers used 134 observations from 2012 to 2019, and they figured the lakes are spread out over nearly 29,000 square miles. "It's a complex system," the University of Rome's Elena Pettinelli, a co-author of the study, told Nature. While nothing is confirmed right now, Pettinelli said it is exciting to think that "there may have been a lot of water on Mars. And if there was water, there was the possibility of life." More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly made tens of millions in the Great Recession by partnering with multilevel marketing companies 'Sully' Sullenberger savages Trump's 'lethal lies and incompetence' in new Lincoln Project ad North Carolina senate candidate commits grievous sin: confusing grilling for barbecuing By Trend The Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia has disseminated information about the ongoing hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Trend reports referring to the Georgian media. Eldar Bayramov, the counselor of the Azerbaijani embassy, ??told the journalists about the situation. According to the diplomat, on September 27, the Armenian armed forces, grossly violating the ceasefire, launched an attack on Azerbaijani villages: The opening of fire by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of densely populated civil zones and facilities along the front line was deliberate and purposeful. There were reports of civilian and military deaths and injuries. Serious damage was done to many houses and civilian infrastructure. He stressed that among the dead civilian Elbrus Gurbanov and four members of his family, including two minors. Bayramov said that during the attack of the Armenian Armed Forces on the settlements of Azerbaijan, which continued on September 28, there were also killed and wounded, civil infrastructure was destroyed. "The actions of Armenia are a gross violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention of 1949. Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned the international community that Armenia is preparing for a new act of aggression and war. Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that the ongoing military aggression of Armenia and the presence of its armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan remain a serious threat to peace and security in the region, Bayramov said. He noted that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are taking retaliatory measures to suppress the next military aggression of Armenia and ensure the safety of the civilian population. "Azerbaijan realizes its right to defend and repel aggression in accordance with the UN Charter and international law," Bayramov said. The diplomat stressed that the military-political leadership of Armenia bears full responsibility for the current situation and the future development of events. A live-cell visualization of the production of USP18 (green), the inhibitory factor that mediates cell refractorinesor loss of sensitivityto interferon treatments. The red arrow points to the cell with low USP18 fluorescent reporter expression and the green arrow points to the cell with high USP18 reporter expression. Researchers have designed strategies to enrich the proportion of cells with lower USP18 production and thereby higher responsiveness to interferon. Credit: University of California - San Diego Science's pursuits of unraveling how human cells fight viral infections kicked into high gear in 2020 with the devastating emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A study published recently in eLife by University of California San Diego scientists describes fresh details about the mechanisms involved when individual human cells are attacked by viruses, with possible implications for COVID-19 clinical treatment. The research helps advance science's understanding of interferons, a key group of immune response proteins released naturally by human cells when a virus is detected. In response to a viral infection, human cells synthesize and secrete interferon-alpha, a chemical that triggers a series of biochemical reactions in cells, leading to the production of gene products that work to kill viruses or limit their spread. Interferon-alpha has been used clinically for more than 50 years in the treatments of diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV. However such efforts have been limited because interferon-alpha, in addition to inducing antiviral effects, also triggers cell refractorinessor insensitivityto further treatments. This stalled effectiveness takes hold within hours after drug administration and lasts for several days, resulting in a low therapeutic response rate. Looking into the details of these processes, Biological Sciences Ph.D. student Anusorn Mudla, Associate Professor Nan Hao and their colleagues used a combination of experimental analyses and mathematical modeling to describe the intricate time-dependent regulatory mechanisms that human cells use to control the duration and strength of antiviral responses triggered by interferon. Their efforts resulted in the identification of a time delay in the production of USP18, an inhibitory factor that triggers cell refractoriness to prolonged interferon treatments. "Based on these findings, repetitive administrations of interferon to cells, with the duration shorter than the delay time, are less able to induce this inhibitory factor. This could potentially suggest strategies leading to a higher therapeutic response rate than the routine chronic treatment of the drug," said Hao, a researcher in the Section of Molecular Biology and the study's senior author. The findings are especially relevant given the urgent need for new defense tactics against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The new findings shed light on possible ways to enhance the effectiveness of interferon for future clinical use. "Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is especially sensitive to interferon-alpha, compared to other coronaviruses, making interferon treatment a potential strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection," said Hao. Based on this finding, researchers could now design time-dependent administrations of interferon in an effort to minimize the production of this inhibitory factor and boost therapeutic responses. More information: Anusorn Mudla et al, Cell-cycle-gated feedback control mediates desensitization to interferon stimulation, eLife (2020). Journal information: eLife Anusorn Mudla et al, Cell-cycle-gated feedback control mediates desensitization to interferon stimulation,(2020). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.58825 Four suspects in a deadly shooting at an Alabaster party have now been charged with murder. The shooting happened in the early morning hours of Sept. 20 on Old Highway 31 near 10th Avenue S.E., killing Rakeem Shields and critically wounding Yakeisha Addy, who remains hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head. Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney on Tuesday said Kajuan Robert Nelson Cassidy, 24, Christian Dayne Thrift, 29, Vontarious Dameko Brown, 25, and Anfernee Jordan Brown, also 25, are each charged with reckless murder and intentional murder. Bond on the new charges is set at $300,000 each The suspects previously were charged with attempted murder in the wounding of Addy. According to court records, the suspects arrived at party about 1:30 a.m. that Sunday, exited a vehicle and opened fire on the crowd. Rigney said they are still working to confirm the motive. Shields was a graduate of Thompson High School and leaves behind two sons. "Our detectives have worked diligently on this case to bring justice to the victims and their families,'' Rigney said. The investigation will continue. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Alabaster police at 205-663-7401 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. F eeling old yet? You soon will be, as former Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has announced hes about to become a father. The 34-year-old announced he was expecting with his wife Paige Price, just months after the pair got married in February. Muniz revealed the happy news with a video posted to their YouTube channel, in which he and Price narrate a video of them dancing around in the countryside of Jackson, Wyoming. "In the past four and a half years Paige and I have experienced so many incredible things together," Muniz said. "We travelled the world and got to live out all these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Frankie Muniz took to YouTube to reveal the baby news / YouTube "While we still believe it's the little moments in between the big ones that make you feel happy, nothing quite compares to the first time you hear the little one's heartbeat." New to Netflix in October 2020 - In Pictures 1 /9 New to Netflix in October 2020 - In Pictures Lily Collins stars in Emily in Paris Netflix Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn lead up the cast of Noughties classic, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Line of Duty is arriving on the streaming platform this autumn BBC Armie Hammer and Lily James in Netflix's Rebecca Kerry Brown/Netflix The Queen's Gambit is slated to be released on Netflix this October Netflix Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams and Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family Values Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is arriving just in time for Halloween Meanwhile, Price explained candidly that the pair, who got engaged in November 2018, had struggled to conceive initially. When we found out we were expecting, I think we both were in a state of disbelief. We knew that we wanted this but we were told that our chances are not that great, she said. Muniz starred as the titular character in Malcolm in the Middle / Vince Bucci/Getty Images The struggle of going to every doctor's appointment made me feel less and less like a woman. I'm excited to say we've beat the odds and we're officially 15 weeks along and counting. The video concludes with Muniz saying: We're both really excited for the future and we can't wait to meet our little one. The happy news comes a month after Muniz reunited with his Malcolm in the Middle cast in honour of the shows 20th anniversary. Alongside Bryan Cranston, Muniz and the cast appeared over Zoom for a socially distanced catch-up, where they re-enacted the beloved comedys first episode. The A2A railway will be a modern, safe, and efficient way to transport a wide range of bulk commodities including grain, ore, and other resources, in addition to containerized goods and passengers. The proposed route connects Alaska's deep-water ports and the existing Alaska Railroad network to Canadian railroads through northern Alberta. Construction is anticipated to be complete by 2025, with the railway being fully operational in 2026. Soft construction is ready to commence this year. The A2A border crossing, which will be located between Alaska and Yukon, provides a long-sought "missing link" between Alaska and the North American railway system, ensuring free flow of freight from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Alaska. This rail link will be the anchor tenant of a major northern development corridor; the purpose of which is to facilitate economic development, rural household service provision, and other opportunities to the communities in this isolated region. The presidential permit was signed following advice from the U. S. Department of State that the A2A railway was in the best foreign policy interest of the United States. A2A Founder and Chairman Sean McCoshen welcomed the news: "I would like to extend my thanks to President Trump, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, the Alaska Congressional Delegation and the Alaska State Legislature for their unwavering support for this project throughout the entirety of the presidential permit process. "The issuance of a presidential permit is a significant milestone that will greatly assist with our continued efforts to build the A2A railway. This is a world-class infrastructure project that will generate thousands of jobs for American and Canadian workers, provide a new, more efficient route for trans-Pacific shipping and link Alaska to North American transportation networks. The new rail line will provide for greater national, international, and global trade and create new and exciting economic development opportunities for a wide range of businesses, communities, and Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Alaska. McCoshen added, "We estimate that this rail line could unlock $60 billion in additional cumulative GDP through 2040 and create more than 28,000 jobs. In addition, A2A will lift household incomes by an average of 40% in the communities we pass through in Northwestern Canada and Alaska." About the Presidential Permit: The Presidential Border Crossing Permit is required of all United States/Canada cross-border infrastructure projects. The issuance of the presidential permit is a significant achievement that acts to remove uncertainty, facilitating the continued development of engineering, business partnerships, financing, Indigenous relationships and environmental permitting. The railway will benefit the economic development of both the United States and Canada ensuring, for the rest of this century and beyond, a collective future whereby both Nations can play a significant role in growing trade with Asia and together for a more prosperous future. A2A Rail will now intensify efforts to move forward with the following groups: Indigenous Peoples along the rail corridor. A2A will provide significant opportunities for employment, procurement, business development and equity in the new railway. Indigenous Peoples are an essential partner in making this project a success. The A2A team will now intensify our ongoing discussions with the Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada . along the rail corridor. A2A will provide significant opportunities for employment, procurement, business development and equity in the new railway. Indigenous Peoples are an essential partner in making this project a success. The A2A team will now intensify our ongoing discussions with the Indigenous communities in and . Shippers. A2A can offer a new, safe and efficient rail infrastructure to facilitate expanded production and more competitive transport of a variety of goods and resources. The 'common carrier' railway will move commodities, goods, and people through northern Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Yukon to Alaskan ports, shortening end-to-end shipping times between North America and Asia by as much as 2-4 days. A2A can offer a new, safe and efficient rail infrastructure to facilitate expanded production and more competitive transport of a variety of goods and resources. The 'common carrier' railway will move commodities, goods, and people through northern Alberta, the and to Alaskan ports, shortening end-to-end shipping times between and by as much as 2-4 days. National and regional permitting agencies in the United States and Canada , A2A will begin environmental impact assessments necessary in both countries to determine the most sustainable way to build and operate this railroad. This decision builds upon a crucial agreement made last summer with the Alaska Railroad to acquire and lease to A2A much of the required right-of-way for the U.S. portion of the route. About A2A: Alaska - Alberta Rail is a privately owned corporation. Business leader and seasoned infrastructure financier, Sean McCoshen, is the Founder and Chairman. Based in Calgary, Alberta, A2A also has offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Anchorage, Alaska. A2A Rail Backgrounder The Alaska Alberta Railway Development Corporation (A2A Rail) will construct a multi-commodity railway connecting Alaska deep-water ports and the current Alaska Railroad network to the existing North American transportation system. Transiting through northern Alberta, the lower Northwest Territories, and Yukon, the 2,570 kilometer (1,600 mile) railway will provide a modern, safe, and efficient method to transport a wide range of cargo and increase the ability of North American economies to expand international trade networks. Timeline: A2A is ready to begin soft construction this year. Construction is anticipated to be completed by 2025 and operational by 2026. We will be working with Federal, State, and Provincial government entities in the United States and Canada to minimize this timeline given the current economic crisis. Economic impact of A2A on the project: A2A will contribute over 28,000 jobs to the impacted states and provinces. The economic growth spurred by the project is expected to result in an approximate increase of $60 billion in cumulative GDP in Alaska , Alberta, Yukon , and NWT by 2040. in cumulative GDP in , Alberta, , and NWT by 2040. Average incomes in areas crossed by the railway are expected to increase by up to 40%. A2A Rail will operate as a heavy haul standard gauge railway, capable of moving a wide range of cargo, such as: general cargo (boxes, crates, drums, etc.); bulk dry & liquid cargo (grain, potash, sulfur, gravel, propane, oil, minerals, wine, vegetable oils, etc.); Bulk cargo (machinery, bundled steel, lumber, etc.); refrigerated cargo (fruit, fish, meat, vegetables, dairy products, etc.); roll-on/roll-off cargo (cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, etc.); and container and passenger cargo. A2A Rail is ready to accelerate work with our Government and Indigenous partners to generate immediate employment opportunities in both Canada and Alaska. The issuance of the presidential permit is the first of many regulatory milestones for A2A Rail. A2A Rail will proceed with and complete all required legal and regulatory processes in both the United States and Canada. Within the regulatory framework A2A will: Proactively engage Indigenous Peoples, communities, agencies and interested parties. Examine the way the project will interact with the natural and human environment; including potential impacts to air, land, water, people, plants, animals, the economy and communities throughout the proposed corridor. A2A Rail will fulfill all required legal and regulatory requirements and: Follow a carefully selected railway corridor, with the final alignment selected as a result of comprehensive studies, Indigenous engagement, public stakeholder input, and environmental studies. Approximately 300 km of the new railway alignment will fall within Alaska , and 2,270 km within Canada . , and 2,270 km within . Allow for dual-direction freight to and from North American destinations. Provide a modern, safe and efficient way to transport goods to world markets. Connect existing North American rail networks through Alberta. Indigenous Engagement: The proposed route for A2A Rail crosses traditional, treaty, and heritage lands of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Alaska . and . A2A Rail has initiated dialogue with Indigenous Peoples along the proposed route and will seek to build lasting relationships throughout the approvals, construction, and operation of the project. In addition, Indigenous Peoples along the route will have the opportunity to invest equity into the project. The project will provide opportunities for economic benefits to Indigenous communities. Connecting southcentral Alaska through northwest Canada will: Provide railway access through northwest Canada that does not currently exist, with opportunities for expanded economic growth and development. that does not currently exist, with opportunities for expanded economic growth and development. Shorten shipping times across the Pacific Ocean by up to 4 days. Lower the cost of transportation in northwest Canada and transit across the Pacific. and transit across the Pacific. Lessen impacts to the environment compared to alternative means of transport. Provide savings to consumers along the rail corridor and beyond. Increase the competitiveness of Canadian and American products by providing more efficient transportation alternatives. This railway is being designed for operational safety, efficiency, and cost competitiveness including: Lower railway grades and curvature. Infrastructure designed to meet environmental and operational standards (e.g. bridges, culverts and tunnels). 24 hour-per-day operations, utilizing Positive Train Control (PTC) and other state-of-the- art technologies, such as heat detectors. SOURCE Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation Mustafa, who is also known as Abu Hamza and used to be a cleric at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, was extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. in 2012. He has had his two arms amputated and is blind in one eye. SAMs were imposed on him soon after extradition and he has for the past five years been housed in a special secure unit of ADX known as H-Unit. WASHINGTON Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Iraq's leaders that the U.S. plans to close its embassy in Baghdad unless the government stops Shiite militias from targeting diplomatic missions in Iraq, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials. Pompeo delivered the warning in recent phone calls to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and to Iraqi President Barham Salih, according to two Iraqi government officials and a Western official with knowledge of the matter. Pompeo told the Iraqi government that the U.S. would "deal" with Shiite militias if they did not stop launching attacks on diplomatic missions in the country, a senior Iraqi security official said on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to brief the media. A withdrawal from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would be seen as a triumph by Iran and by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq, which have long called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The number of attacks targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, including U.S. logistics convoys and the heavily fortified embassy in Baghdad, has increased in recent weeks, according to the Iraqi government. Image: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Patrick Semansky / AFP - Getty Images) U.S. officials and regional analysts believe the attacks were carried out by Iran-backed Shiite militias. Iraq has a majority Shiite population. Tehran has denied that it is orchestrating the attacks. Baghdad launched security measures after the Americans demanded that the Iraqi government act decisively to ensure the security of the embassy, but the response apparently was not enough to satisfy Washington, another Iraqi official said. "We have to respond. We know that this is serious," the official said. The Iraqi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marine Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, praised the work of the Iraqi security forces in safeguarding U.S. interests in a recent interview. Although he said there would always be an element of risk, "the people that really need to protect us are the Iraqis, and the Iraqis have actually done a pretty good job of that," the general said this month. His comments have not previously been published. Story continues "They have been responsive when people have threatened the bases. They have been responsive when people have fired rockets at us. They've gone after them to find them. So that's very much appreciated," McKenzie said. He added, "They have a responsibility to protect us." Pompeo's stern message came after Kadhimi, the prime minister, visited Washington last month, with both sides touting the talks as positive. 'A collective duty' In a meeting Saturday with Iraq's foreign minister, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region was a "collective duty," according to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency. Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, Washington had hoped Iraq would become a staunch ally, reflected by the vast embassy that was built during the U.S. occupation. But Iraq has struggled to balance its relations with the U.S. and its powerful Shiite-ruled neighbor, Iran, which has retained a heavy influence since Saddam was ousted. Washington's relations with Iraq came under severe strain after President Donald Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in January. Iran retaliated five days later by firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi air bases housing U.S. forces. Pompeo defended the operation as having established "real deterrence" to prevent Tehran from orchestrating future attacks on U.S. interests. Shiite militias' firing rockets and mortars at the U.S. Embassy compound has been a long-running problem. In 2018, Pompeo closed the U.S. Consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra following attacks by Shiite militias. Iraqi government officials at the time appealed to the Trump administration to keep the consulate open. The frequency of the attacks has increased recently, said two U.S. defense officials who were not authorized to speak on the record. The militias typically fire 107 mm rockets and mortars, usually one to five at a time, and they have recently started to carry out the attacks several times a week, the two officials said. "If they do enough of these, someone is going to get killed," a defense official said. Various militia groups conduct the strikes, but all are believed to be tied to Iran in some way, whether they are directing attacks or they are just using equipment provided by Iran, the officials said. Irans UN mission in New York denied it was behind the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Iraq and accused the United States of violating international law in the January drone strike against Soleimani. Iran has always reiterated the need to maintain the security of diplomatic facilities, and leveling these false accusations is part of the U.S. campaign of lies and maximum pressure against Iran and Iraq, said Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for the mission. In March, two U.S. service members and a British soldier were killed in a rocket attack on a military base north of Baghdad. At the time, McKenzie, the Central Command commander, said the Iran-backed militia group Kataeb Hezbollah was the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Pompeo's "private diplomatic conversations with foreign leaders" but said the U.S. would "not tolerate" threats to those serving abroad and would not hesitate to take any action deemed necessary to keep personnel safe. The spokesperson said the actions of "lawless" Iran-backed militias remained the biggest deterrent to stability in Iraq. "It is unacceptable for Iran-backed groups to launch rockets at our embassy, attack American and other diplomats, and threaten law and order in Iraq," the spokesperson said. Pompeo did not respond when asked by a reporter during an official trip to Greece on Monday whether he would be closing the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The diplomatic compound, which sits on a vast 100-acre site along the Tigris River, is one of America's biggest embassies. Last week, an Iraqi Shiite political bloc, the Popular Mobilization Forces, and an influential Shiite cleric condemned attacks on foreign diplomatic missions in the country. The senior Iraqi security official said the statements had been prompted by the request from Pompeo for Shiite groups to denounce the assaults. Douglas Silliman, who was the U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2016 to 2019, said he repeatedly issued warnings to Baghdad officials demanding that their security forces rein in Shiite militias firing rockets at the embassy compound but with little success. After the killing of Soleimani, the Trump administration "made it very clear publicly and privately that all it really cared about was the safety of Americans in Iraq and American casualties," said Silliman, now president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. As a result, Iran developed tactics to increase the threat facing Americans in Iraq, he said. Administration officials "have essentially pointed to [Iran] as the thing that will cause [the U.S.] the greatest pain," Silliman said. In 2011, President Barack Obama pulled U.S. troops out of Iraq before sending them back three years later after the extremist Islamic State group seized large swaths of Iraqi territory. McKenzie said this month that the U.S. would reduce its troop presence in Iraq from more than 5,000 to 3,000 in September. Closing the Baghdad embassy would not necessarily mean the U.S. troop presence there would decrease, two U.S. defense officials said. "There are no plans to decrease below 3,000 any time soon," a defense official said. Following Soleimani's killing, the U.S. military moved thousands of additional soldiers and Marines into Iraq and the region to defend installations and diplomatic facilities. Since then, the U.S. has reduced its numbers back down to around 5,200. India on Monday underscored the need to ensure that the nations take their obligations seriously to combat the climate change with the urgency it deserves. Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India was doing its part to combat the climate change with determination and focus, and in the spirit of South-South cooperation. We need to accost immediately the reality of climate change and ensure that in the spirit of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities, countries take their obligations seriously and meet their commitments and contributions to combat climate change with the urgency it deserves, he said. India is doing its part to combat climate change with determination and focus and in the spirit of South-South cooperation, he said. Through a video message, Tirumurti addressed the historic handing over of Palau Global Village conference facilities inaugurated by President of Palau Thomas Remengesau. India partnered with Palau in establishing this facility. The renovated Palau Civic Hall and the Palau Community College will provide critical institutional support to the Ocean Conference 2020 slated to be held in Palau on December 7-8, 2020. Tirumurti said India was committed to tackle the impact of climate change and supports Palaus efforts to achieve their goals through necessary developmental and technical assistance. The oceans, which surround us have the ability to be a benefactor, as well as an existential threat. Pacific Island countries are among the most vulnerable countries in the world, he said, adding that there is constant exposure to extreme weather conditions with tropical cyclone floods and draught. Tirumurti said the handing-over ceremony marked the successful completion and handover of the ocean village facilities in Palau. The project sees the culmination of the untiring efforts and resolve of friends from Palau, who have overcome tremendous logistical odds posed by this global pandemic and developed these state-of-the-art facilities, he said. The Indian envoy termed the cooperation as a testimony to India-Palau partnership, which has heralded a new chapter of development cooperation under the India UN Development Partnership fund. Indias interactions with fellow developing countries are marked by a sense of kinship and solidarity, he said. He noted that Indias relationship with Pacific Island nations has deepened with the evolution of New Delhis Act East Policy, resulting in the setting up of the action-oriented Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC). During the first and second editions of FIPIC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had articulated Indias desire to be a close partner of the Pacific Island nations and its readiness to work closely to advance the development agenda. Modi met with the leaders of the Pacific Islands Developing States on the margins of the 74th UN General Assembly in New York last year. These sustained high-level interactions between our leaderships have paved the way for Indias increasing engagement with our Pacific partners, Tirumurti said, adding that India and Palau have shared values and close links. It is our endeavour to ensure that development policies in this region are inclusive and sustainable and are effectively harnessed to reduce inequality and contribute to empowerment and improvement of the quality of peoples lives, he said. A leading voice in South-South cooperation, India has played a pioneering role in establishing the International Solar Alliance and has already committed 1.7 billion dollars in lines of credit as a part of its developmental partnership with other countries to tackle climate change in a multi-dimensional manner. Tirumurti also cited Indias legendary philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda, who had said that, Each nation must give in order to live. When you give life, you will have life. When you receive, you must pay for it by giving to all others. Tirumurti also expressed gratitude to the team of the UN Office for South South Cooperation that has worked tirelessly to partner alongside India in making the vision of South-South Cooperation a success. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter The bill, which is unlikely to pass the GOP-led Senate, is an updated version of earlier legislation. House Democrats introduced a new $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill aimed at breaking the impasse with Republicans on how to get financial assistance to Americans before the November election. The package, which is unlikely to pass the Republican-led Senate, is an updated version of earlier legislation. This screengrab captures House Speaker Nancy Pelosi participating in Saturdays Supercharge: Women All In, a virtual day of action hosted by Supermajority. She and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have resumed negotiations over a new stimulus bill. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for Supermajority) The bill includes another round of $1,200 stimulus checks, reauthorizes the small business lending program, as well as reinstates the $600 federal boost to unemployment benefits. Also included in the package is: $225 billion in education funding, with $182 billion for K-12 schools and about $39 billion for post-secondary education. $120 billion in grants for restaurants. $436 billion in assistance for state, local and tribal governments. $75 billion for COVID-19 testing, tracing and isolation measures. Increased food assistance benefits. An additional $15 billion in funding for the beleaguered United States Postal Service is also allotted. Read More: Atlanta activist arrested for using $200K in BLM donations to fund lifestyle Democrats and Republicans have been unable to decide on how much aid to provide as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into a seventh month. The unemployment benefit is a major point of contention as Republicans have said that it disincentivizes seeking work. Republicans have also been unwilling to provide aid to state or local governments. They presented their own $300 billion plan last month. Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing Americas working families right now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democrats as the bill was unveiled. Read More: According to data leak, Trump campaign tried to suppress Black vote in 2016 The new bill is $1 trillion less than a previous bill presented in May. Story continues Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, one of the lead White House negotiators, have resumed their dealing over a new stimulus plan, but they have not yet reached an agreement, according to Pelosis chief of staff, Drew Hammill. The House could move to pass the bill in their chambers this week, although passage through the Senate is seen as unlikely. Have you subscribed to theGrios Dear Culture podcast? Download our newest episodes now! The post Democrats introduce new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill appeared first on TheGrio. PARIS and BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shift Technology, a provider of AI-native fraud detection and claims automation solutions for the global insurance industry, today announced that PT Asuransi Tokio Marine Indonesia ("Tokio Marine Indonesia") has deployed Shift Technology's Force fraud detection solution. As a result, the technology will become a crucial element in the insurance carrier's overarching fraud prevention strategy. Tokio Marine Indonesia is one of the largest general insurers in the country. Guided by its core mission "To be a Good Company" and driven by values that put customer satisfaction as a main priority, the insurer was seeking a solution that could serve a dual purpose and not only spot suspicious claims, but also help give claims professionals more confidence in rapidly processing legitimate claims. Utilising this technology benefits the majority of policyholders by ensuring that their claims are settled quickly and premiums remain affordable. "Through our work with Shift, we believe we can implement a fraud fighting strategy that is as much about supporting our trustworthy customers as it is about identifying potentially fraudulent activities," explained Mr. Saloon Tham, Chief Executive Officer of Tokio Marine Asia Pte Ltd. "We are all aware that fraud negatively impacts the customer experience by lengthening the claims process and influencing rates. Adding powerful tools to help mitigate the risk of fraud is 100 percent in line with our corporate mission and values." "The current continuation of uncertainty requires an insurance company to take the full advantage of fraud detection technology in order to control costs and manage risks; incorporating artificial intelligence into our claims handling process is significantly essential in ensuring the accuracy of claims settlement thus improving the overall claims ratio, and achieving a high level of customer satisfaction and trust," said Mr. Sancoyo Setiabudi, President Director of Tokio Marine Indonesia. After careful evaluation of various fraud detection solutions available, Shift was selected based on the company's ability to meet the full requirements of Tokio Marine Indonesia's fraud detection and claims process improvement initiatives. In addition to wanting a solution built with artificial intelligence at its core, the insurer was also looking for a provider who could supplement the technology with a team of data scientists possessing in-depth insurance knowledge and expertise. Shift's singular focus on the insurance industry and ability to apply local expertise to address Indonesia's insurance market was also key to the insurer's decision. "We've always believed that fraud detection is only part of the equation and that the ability to accurately and efficiently separate suspicious claims from legitimate ones is an important part of delivering exemplary customer experiences," stated Jeremy Jawish, CEO and co-founder, Shift Technology. "We're proud to be partnering with an insurer like Tokio Marine Indonesia that holds these same principles." About Shift Technology Shift Technology delivers the only AI-native fraud detection and claims automation solutions built specifically for the global insurance industry. Our SaaS solutions identify individual and network fraud with double the accuracy of competing offerings, and provide contextual guidance to help insurers achieve faster, more accurate claim resolutions. Shift has analyzed hundreds of millions of claims to date and was presented Frost & Sullivan's 2020 Global Claims Solutions for Insurance Market Leadership Award. For more information please visit www.shift-technology.com. Contact: Shift Technology Rob Morton Corporate Communications [email protected] 617-416-9216 SOURCE Shift Technology Related Links https://www.shift-technology.com Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Struggling with the code-orange blues? Try being one of Manitobas many arts and culture groups, museums or galleries that have been surviving on red alert for more than six months amid a raft of postponed or cancelled shows. The short-term lifeline for those organizations will mean a combination of masks, physically distanced shows and an increased focus on donations, a new poll reveals. The survey, titled the Arts Response Tracking Study, found mask use and physical distancing will be crucial factors for those who are willing to attend either an indoor or outdoor performance or a museum or gallery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nanos Research conducted the poll for Business / Arts, a charitable organization that aims at partnering Canadas business and arts communities, and the National Arts Centre. "What we did see was a marked increase in the citation of masks as a precaution that would help make people more comfortable," pollster Nik Nanos said in a Zoom webinar last week when announcing the surveys details. For those who responded they would be comfortable attending an indoor arts or cultural event immediately, mask use rose to 40 per cent in July from 24 per cent in May. Similar numbers were found for outdoor events (38 per cent versus 27 per cent) and especially for museums and galleries (54 per cent versus 24 per cent). "One way to think of this is people take guidance from public health authorities. When the public health authorities say that social distancing is important to occur, they respect that," Nanos said. "In May, masks were recommended but not compulsory in many instances. Fast-forward to now, were in an environment where masks, in most jurisdictions and places, are compulsory in public places indoors." On Monday, provincial code-orange restrictions went into effect in Winnipeg and the surrounding area, making mask use in public areas mandatory. The poll found peoples comfort or perhaps their discomfort in returning to the arts has changed little between July 26-30, when the latest Nanos survey was conducted, and May 17-19, when the study began asking questions about pandemic-related issues and the arts. In May, about one-quarter (26 per cent) of the 1,001 randomly selected Canadians who were surveyed said they would be comfortable in attending an indoor arts performance immediately. In July, after spending two more months coping with the pandemic and its restrictions, only 23 per cent of the 1,094 respondents said theyd be comfortable in showing up at an indoor arts performance. The statistics for outdoor arts performances (39 per cent would be comfortable in May versus 37 per cent in July) and for visiting a museum or gallery (30 per cent in May versus 29 per cent in July) are similar. Similar percentages of those questioned in July and in May between 26 and 38 per cent, depending if the event was held inside or outside said they wished to wait for a COVID-19 vaccine before they would return to audiences. In Manitoba, COVID-19 cases were low in the spring and in July the province appeared to have flattened the pandemic curve after going nearly two weeks without a new case being reported. Museums and galleries in Winnipeg had already opened, following provincial regulations on crowd sizes, physical distancing, and later, mask use. Several arts groups, such as members of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, began performing at outdoor venues and the WSO even "recomposed" its 2020-21 schedule, which will kick off Friday and Saturday at the Centennial Concert Hall before a masked audience of no more than 500 people. The number of COVID-19 cases began to rise gradually in Manitoba in August and rose even more quickly in September in Winnipeg, prompting Dr. Brent Roussin, the provinces chief public health officer, to issue the code-orange regulations. The Nanos study also discovered that Canadians intend to donate more to arts and culture organizations in 2021 than they are in 2020 or did in 2019, especially among culture-goers 55 years of age or older. Those polled in that age group said they intend to donate $373 on average in 2021, compared with $179 in 2019 and $173 in 2020. Many Winnipeg arts groups have shifted their focus to donations over the summer. Links are shown prominently on many arts groups websites, urging patrons to help out cash-strapped organizations. The Winnipeg Foundation, which is funded by donors, launched a multimillion-dollar pandemic stabilization fund in the summer for non-profit and charitable groups. Local philanthropists have also launched campaigns for arts organizations. Winnipegger Bob Williams has offered up to $500,000 to match donations for the Winnipeg Art Gallerys nearly completed Inuit Art Centre. Also a walk-a-thon by Douglas MacEwan, 95-year-old retired radiologist, to support the WSO, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Manitoba Opera aims to raise $100,000 by Nov. 11. alan.small@freepress.mb.ca Twitter:@AlanDSmall If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more. Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Indian chemical industry has a huge role to play to make India a $5 trillion economy, with a potential to contribute $300 billion to the GDP by 2025, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said on Tuesday. Addressing the inaugural session and launch of India Chem 2021 at 'Specialty Chem 2020', the minister said that to become a global hub in speciality chemicals, India must focus on research and development. "There is a need to make the R&D ecosystem stronger to come up with enhanced products, aligned with the changing requirement of the industries," he said. On foreign investment in the chemical industry, he said that the ministry has set up an investment promotion cell in the department for providing one-stop handholding and support for companies willing to invest in India. "We have had several rounds of discussions on how to make the PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region) more effective and we hope to come up with policies to make the industrial clusters more attractive for investment," said Gowda. He also said that India is finalising plans to increase the number of chemicals to be covered by mandatory certification for the benefit of human lives and society. By Associated Press LOUISVILLE: The lone Kentucky detective facing charges related to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor pleaded not guilty Monday. Brett Hankisons plea comes five days after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the home of Taylors neighbors. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison on each count. Hankisons lawyer asked that his client be allowed to keep firearms for self-defense, saying Hankison, who was fired in June, has received a number of threats. The judge turned down the request. The grand jury declined to charge Hankison or the other two undercover narcotics officers who opened fire inside Taylors house with her shooting. The decision not to charge the officers set off protests in Louisville and across the country. ALSO READ | Breonna Taylor death: Trump wishes speedy recovery to Louisville police officers shot during protests On Monday, Louisville's mayor lifted the curfew put in place after people refused to end their nighttime protests. Mayor Greg Fischers statement said the 9 p.m. curfew had served its purpose. We sadly saw some violence, including the shooting of two police officers, one of whom remains hospitalized, dealing with complications of his injuries. But we believe the curfew helped, by ensuring fewer people were out late in the day," Fischer said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the protests were largely peaceful, with a few people taking advantage of the situation to commit violence. Let me say this, 99.99% of people that took to the streets or the sidewalks did so peacefully, raised their voices to be heard and we should listen. We should listen to the trauma and to the pain," Beshear said. Meanwhile, Kentucky state Rep. Lisa Willner, a Louisville Democrat, said Monday that she's starting to craft legislation that would narrow the scope of the state's rioting statute. ALSO READ | Some Breonna Taylor protesters out past curfew, fires set Her proposal, which she intends to offer in next years legislative session, would protect people from being charged with first-degree rioting if theyre present but dont engage in destructive or violent actions. Her response comes after Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott was charged with the felony last week while participating in Louisville protests for racial justice. This is not any attempt at all to weaken the current law," Willner said in a phone interview. Its just to make sure that people who are peacefully protesting, who are merely exercising their First Amendment rights, are clearly not engaging in rioting. Scott was among demonstrators who converged in downtown Louisville to express their disagreement with the grand jury decision. Many marched along Louisvilles streets chanting Breonna Taylor, say her name, and no justice, no peace." Taylor was shot multiple times after her boyfriend opened fire as officers entered her home during a narcotics raid on the night of March 13, authorities said. Taylors boyfriend said he didnt know who was coming in and fired in self-defense. One officer was wounded. A coroners report obtained Monday says Taylor was shot five times and died of multiple gunshot wounds. It says she was hit in the torso, her upper left extremity and both lower extremities. She tested negative for drugs and alcohol. Scott, the states only Black woman representative, was arrested and charged Thursday night with the felony of first-degree rioting as well as unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, which are misdemeanor offenses. Police said Scott was in a group whose members damaged buildings and set fire to a library. Scott called the charges ludicrous and said she would never be involved in setting fire to a library. She said she was arrested as she walked with her daughter to the sanctuary of a church. Kentucky law defines a riot as a public disturbance involving five or more people "which by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs law enforcement or other government function. The law defines first-degree rioting as knowingly participating in a riot that causes injury to a person who is not rioting or causes substantial property damage. Scott said she and her daughter were driving from a protest to a church that offered refuge to people who would otherwise be caught violating the curfew when police blocked their route, so they parked and walked to the church instead. Officers then converged on them to make arrests before the curfew took effect, Scott said. LMPD swarmed us, Scott said. They started yelling, Circle em, circle em. They wouldnt let us leave to go back to our vehicle. And they wouldnt let us literally cross the street to get to the church and sanctuary. Willner said Scotts arrest raises the question of how many others have been accused of rioting in the first degree which is a felony who are facing loss of voting rights, simply by being present. We can make the language much clearer so that in order for a person to be convicted for riot in the first degree, it should be clear that they participated in the unlawful action by engaging in violent or destructive acts or by complicitly encouraging others to engage in violent or destructive acts, she said. Republicans have overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Kentucky legislature. Photo: The Canadian Press Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou are wrapping up arguments today over the admissibility of evidence in her extradition case as they contend the United States misled Canadian officials in summarizing the case against her. Meng is accused of misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom during a 2013 PowerPoint presentation to HSBC, putting the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. She and Huawei have denied the allegations and are fighting against her extradition to the United States to face the charges. Lawyers for the attorney general are expected to present the federal government's response once the defence wraps up. Defence lawyer Frank Addario told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that the United States describes the PowerPoint presentation as the "cornerstone of its case," yet only describes part of the presentation in its case summary. He says additional slides in the same presentation show that Meng clearly described Huawei and Skycom as partners that both did business in Iran, and the bank had the information it needed to navigate trade laws. "No banker would leave that meeting thinking that Huawei had distanced itself from Skycom in any way material to U.S. sanctions consequences for the bank," Addario says. On Monday, defence lawyer Scott Fenton told the judge that the summary of allegations used to justify Meng's arrest could be considered an abuse of process. The judge is considering whether the argument merits proceeding to a three-week hearing starting in February centred on allegations of abuses of process related to Meng's arrest. The Houston Chronicles Live Updates blog documents the latest events in the coronavirus outbreak in the Houston area, the state of Texas and across the U.S. with a focus on health and economic impacts. The Houston Chronicles ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. Total coronavirus cases: 769,225 cases in Texas, including 15,884 deaths. 197,238 in the Houston region, including 3,440 deaths. More than 7.1 million in the U.S., including 205,966 deaths. Click here to see a U.S. map with state-by-state death tolls and the latest coronavirus case counts. More than 33.5 million in the world, with over 1,004,808 deaths. More than 23.2 million people have recovered. You can view the worldwide totals here. Resources on COVID-19 and Texas' reopening: Use our interactive page to track the spread of cases through Harris County and the rest of Texas. For a detailed look at our state, check out the Chronicle's Texas Coronavirus Map. To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter. Latest updates from today: 7:08 p.m. Texas on Tuesday saw an increase of 4,388 COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 769,225, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data. Another 100 newly reported deaths brings that total to 15,884 statewide. The number of new cases Tuesday was higher than 63 percent of all other days in the pandemic, while the number of new deaths was higher than 71 percent of all other days, the analysis found. The state's seven-day rolling average for new cases is now at 4,141.3. The Houston region's case count is 197,238, up 872 from yesterday. Harris County added 608 cases today, and is at 142,315 cases total. There have been 3,440 deaths in the Houston region, up 12 from yesterday. The positive test rate is now at 6.09 percent. The rolling average of viral tests is now at 76,156. Statewide, there were 3,251 patients hospitalized for lab-confirmed COVID-19. There are 55,491 total staffed hospital beds, 13,499 beds available and 1,400 ICU beds available. There are 7,684 ventilators available. 6:16 p.m. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced during Tuesdays virtual Commissioners Court meeting. Cagle, 59, said he began feeling ill Friday evening and got a viral test on Monday after he also felt fatigued. He received the positive result Tuesday afternoon, during the meeting. - Zach Despart 6:09 p.m. While Gov. Greg Abbott and state legislators have not moved to protect Texas homeowners struggling financially because of COVID-19, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has been quietly postponing foreclosures through executive orders shutting down the facility where those auctions are held, reports R.A. Schuetz. She has shut down the Bayou City Event Center on the first Tuesday of the month the day foreclosure auctions must be held under state law every month since April, with the exception of June. An order canceling Octobers foreclosure auction was signed on Sept. 24. 4:05 p.m. Immigrants make up more than half of the front-line food processing and farm jobs in Harris County, according to a study released Monday highlighting their importance in the food supply during the coronavirus pandemic. The study, published by The Center for Public Integrity, analyzed Census microdata to estimate the number of foreign-born workers in 10 food-related industries whose working conditions of close contact with one another put them at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, The Chronicle's Olivia P. Tallet reports. 2:18 p.m. Six more people in Houston have died of COVID-19, brining the number fatalities in the city to 1,107, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. Health officials reported 175 more cases of the infection caused by the new coronavirus, increasing the total of known cases in the city to 73,166. 12:50 p.m. A federal judge Tuesday ordered a geriatric prison near Houston to provide more robust protection against COVID-19 in a ruling that may affect prison conditions in other jurisdictions. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison issued the order that will go into effect Oct. 14 at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota, The Chronicle's Gabrielle Banks reports. 12:10 p.m. A woman in her 50s became the latest COVID-19 fatality in Galveston County, health officials said, announcing 34 more cases on Tuesday. The woman died Aug. 15 but her death was reported Tuesday. The 34 cases included 26 currently active ones. Thirty-two more people in the county have recovered from the infection. 10:30 a.m. After it became clear that many students who had opted for remote learning were logging on but not participating, Louise ISD joined a handful of smaller Texas school districts that have eliminated remote learning options. I dont think (Texas Education) Commissioner Mike Morath expected kids would sign in and do nothing. We didnt expect it either, but thats what was happening, said Louise ISD Superintendent Greg Oliver. Our kids were doing so poorly we said, We cant continue to allow our kids to not get their education. Others school districts may soon join in eliminating remote learning options, The Chronicle's Shelby Webb reports. 10 a.m. The Minnesota Vikings shut down their training facilities due to the Tennessee Titans having three players and five personnel staffers test positive for COVID-19. The Vikings are scheduled to play the Texans on Sunday at NRG Stadium. The Minnesota team will be allowed to travel for this weekend's game if it clears continued testing and contact tracing, The Chronicle's Aaron Wilson reports. 9 a.m. As the pandemic paused many aspects of daily life in March, a Missouri City couple started something new: walking. Since then, the couple has lost 45 pounds walking every morning through the pandemic. Read Lindsay Peyton's story. 8:45 a.m. White House officials pressured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the summer to downplay the risk presented by youngsters returning to school in the fall, according to a New York Times report. Government officials spent weeks trying to get public health officials in line with President Trump's push to reopen schools and the economy, according to the report that cited documents and interviews with current and former officials. 8:30 a.m. Texas COVID-19 cases on Monday saw an increase of 1,966, bringing the statewide total to 764,837, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data. Another 21 newly reported deaths brings that total to 15,784 statewide. The state's seven-day rolling average for new cases is at 4,121.1, while the positive test rate is at 5.9 percent. The rolling average of viral tests hit 78,465. The Houston region's case count is 196,366, up 686 from yesterday. Harris County added 345 cases today, and is at 141,707 cases total. There have been 3,428 deaths in the Houston region, the same as yesterday. Statewide, there were 3,201 patients hospitalized for lab-confirmed COVID-19. There are 57,118 total staffed hospital beds, 13,871 beds available and 1,413 ICU beds available. There are 7,674 ventilators available. - Stephanie Lamm urged voters on Monday not to be discouraged by Republican efforts to fill a Supreme Court seat before the election, charging it's the GOP's goal to make people feel like their votes don't matter. We will not give up, and we will not give in," the Democratic vice presidential nominee said. We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralysed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court." Her remarks, delivered in swing-state North Carolina, marked Harris' most expansive yet on the vacant court seat that was held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg until her death earlier this month. Beyond serving on the Democratic ticket, Harris will play a direct role in the confirmation battle as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee tasked with vetting the nominee, a spot in which she's shined during past nomination fights. The committee is expected to begin hearings for President Donald Trump's nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, on October 12, about three weeks before Election Day. Democratic presidential nominee and Harris say the seat shouldn't be filled until voters choose the next president. Harris noted early voting is already underway in some states, including North Carolina. Republicans say this fight is different than 2016, when they refused to hold hearings on then-President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee nine months before the election, because the Senate and presidency are now held by the same party. But the Senate has never confirmed a justice to the high court so close to an election. You have the power and you can make it very clear, very soon how you feel about being cut out of this Supreme Court nomination process," Harris said. She centered her speech on ways the court can influence Americans' lives: an expected ruling on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, the preservation or elimination of voting rights, and a broad swath of other matters, from the right to collectively bargain to due process. The court is set to hear a challenge on the Affordable Care Act shortly after the election, a key talking point for Harris and Biden as they seek to motivate voters concerned about losing their health care. Harris zeroed in on what it means for women in particular. Without the health care law, she said, birth control coverage could be eliminated and pregnancy could be considered a preexisting condition by insurance companies. Suburban women were key to Democrats' taking back the US House in 2018. She also charged Republicans' relentless obsession with overturning the Affordable Care Act is driven entirely by a blind rage toward President Obama." Harris avoided any personal attacks on Barrett and did not mention her Catholic faith, instead focusing on her past comments that Chief Justice John Roberts erred in a previous decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. On voting rights, Harris referenced the court's 2013 decision to overturn key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Following that decision, North Carolina enacted a law that required voters to show photo identification, among other new rules, that a federal court found targeted black voters with almost surgical precision." That court blocked the law and the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. Harris delivered her remarks at Shaw University, one of North Carolina's historically black colleges and universities. The university in Raleigh was where the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a key organisation in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, was founded. Monday's trip marked Harris' first to North Carolina since joining the ticket. She also plans to meet with Black voters as part of a sister to sister" organising campaign. Harris is the first Black woman to be on a major party's presidential ticket and has focused on mobilizing Black voters since joining the campaign. Trump won the state in 2016 and he's recently visited weekly. Many of the voters Trump hopes to win over are more focused on the coronavirus pandemic and related issues than on the Supreme Court seat. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) A podcaster and Bible teacher recently exhorted Christians to be aware of the occultic spiritual practices of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and to practice discernment instead of linking arms with the organization. (Article by Heather Clark republished from ChristianNews.net) When the apostle Paul said that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness, this is what he was talking about, said Abraham Hamilton II during his Aug. 19 Hamilton Corner broadcast entitled The BLM Connection to Witchcraft. He played segments of a Zoom discussion between BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Los Angeles chapter co-founder Melina Abdullah to provide evidence of the groups communication with the dead in their very own words. Maybe Im sharing too much, but we become very intimate with the spirits that we call on regularly, Abdullah said at one point during the interview. Each of them seems to have a different presence and personality. I laugh a lot with Waukesha [Wilson] (who was found dead in a Los Angeles jail cell in 2017). And I didnt meet her in her body, right, I met her through this work. Hamilton also noted that Cullors and Abdullah talked about summoning the spirits of the dead to work though them and accomplish their purposes, a practice in the Yoruba religion Odu Ifa. Hashtags are for us way more than a hashtag, Cullors said. It is literally almost resurrecting the spirit so they can work through us to get the work done. I started to feel personally connected and responsible and accountable to them both from a deeply political place, but also from a deeply spiritual place. In my tradition, you offer things that your loved one who passed away would want, whether its honey or tobacco or things like that, she continued, referring to the creation of an ancestor altar, which is sometimes practiced in African cultures. Its so important, not just for us to be in direct relationship to our people whove passed but also for them to know weve remembered them. I believe so many of them work through us. Adullah talked about pouring out libation at the place where the African American person lost their life. Libation is an act that is defined as a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit, or in memory of those who have passed on. In case you dont know it yet, theyre not talking about the Holy Spirit. Theyre talking about channeling the powers of the ancestors, that it is the spirituality that enables them and empowers them to do this justice work, Hamilton outlined. He said that, consequently, the burgeoning say their name practice may not be as innocent as some think. Theyre not doing what you think theyre doing. You think theyre just honoring people. They are conjuring up spirits, Hamilton lamented. These people really believe that the names of the folks that theyre saying have become ancestral gods that they are summoning when they require the attendees at these marches and these rallies to say their name. He pointed to Deuteronomy 18:9-12, which prohibits communication with the dead. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord, the Scripture states. We have churches that are putting up BLM banners in their churches. And Im saying, Lord, wheres the discernment? he lamented. We have got to evaluate everything through the word of God. Hamilton said that while racism may be an issue that needs to be addressed, the ways of BLM are not the righteous means to accomplish it. None of this is to say that there arent situations that exist where we need to grow in our demonstration and in our internalization of our love for our neighbors, he stated. But we dont need to adopt some pagan spirituality Marxist organizational rhetoric to do it. We dont need wicked help to obey God. As previously reported, an article published by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs explained that The Fight for Black Lives Is a Spiritual Movement. The movement for Black lives infuses a syncretic blend of African and indigenous cultures spiritual practices and beliefs, embracing ancestor worship; Ifa-based ritual such as chanting, dancing, and summoning deities; and healing practices such as acupuncture, reiki, therapeutic massage, and plant medicine in much of its work, including protest, the article states in part. Read more at: ChristianNews.net and Prophecy.news. The main foot soldier of a cash-for visa scheme targeted at "rich families in China" has told a corruption inquiry she attended at least half a dozen meetings in Parliament House to hand then-Liberal MP Daryl Maguire envelopes of up to $20,000 cash. Maggie Wang told the Independent Commission Against Corruption on another six occasions she met the former MP in a Martin Place coffee shop to give him the takings from the illegitimate scheme. Maggie Wang inside NSW Parliament House on a visit to meet then-Liberal MP for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire. Credit:ICAC "When I [would have] 20 grand in my bag and I'd have to go through [Parliament House] security x-ray scan, I was a bit uncomfortable, a bit nervous," she said on Tuesday. Ms Wang was the eighth witness to appear before a corruption inquiry examining whether Mr Maguire misused his position to financially benefit himself between 2012 and 2018. (TNS) The firm handling IT services for Potter County, Texas, said it is continually executing efforts to bolster cybersecurity as it relates to the electoral process."We all know there is an election coming up," David Blankenship, Andrews & Associates IT Solutions Chief Information Officer, said. "The bad things the bad guys do are definitely on the increase. So, election security specifically, we've beefed up the firewall, increased security on the spam filter and we've already started enrolling county employees in cybersecurity training."Per Blankenship, another element of protection is dark web scans."A dark web scan is where we use a service that will go out and automatically scan the dark web," he said. "This is where the bad things happen. This is where data bases of user credentials are bought and sold on a daily basis. They go out, scan those and provide us with reports. We already have one vendor set up."In August, the Potter County Commissioners' Court approved a five-year agreement with Andrews & Associates IT Solutions to continue handling the county's IT services.The county originally agreed to establish a contract with Andrews &Associates IT Solutions in August 2019, noting the action stemmed from department and employee efforts to navigate through the aftermath of an April 2019 system ransomware attack.Amarillo resident Patsy Sanderson said it is important to have confidence that votes are protected."It's election season, and we're going to here more and more about things that are going amiss when it comes to voting," she said. "It's good to know the county is aware of that fact and trying to stay ahead of things. The process has to be safe and secure, because we all know there is a lot at stake." French police today began destroying an illegal camp full of around 800 migrants hoping to get to Britain on boats costing up to 6,500 a voyage in 'smooth sea conditions'. The operation in Calais on Tuesday was the biggest of its kind since the dismantling of the so-called 'Jungle' four years ago, and led to 21 arrests. 'Police accompanied by council staff entered the camp by Calais hospital at around 7am,' said an eye-witness working for a local refugee charity. 'Those living in the camp were lined up and put on buses, which took them away to other parts of France. 'Then demolition teams moved on and began smashing up tents and bivouacs which had been used for shelter.' French police evacuate some 800 migrants after they dismantled their camp located near the hospital in Calais, northern France The operation in Calais on Tuesday was the biggest of its kind since the dismantling of the so-called 'Jungle' four years ago, and led to 21 arrests A spokesman for the Calais prefecture confirmed that 21 unnamed suspects had been taken into custody for questioning about people smuggling rackets. They were charging the equivalent of up to 6,000 to get to Britain by boat on a calm day, and 2,700 when rough. Sea crossings in dinghies have become the most popular means of getting to the UK since security was stepped up on ferries, and inside the Channel Tunnel. Those living in the camp were mainly young men from countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Iran who wanted to get to Britain to claim asylum. In all, there were only around 40 women and children among the 800, said the spokesman. These figures compared to some 9000 migrants in total in the days of 'The Jungle' a vast camp that was set up on waste land on the eastern suburbs of Calais. Those living in the camp were mainly young men from countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Iran who wanted to get to Britain to claim asylum Many are believed to have escaped the round-up (pictured) and will now wander the streets of Calais It was torched in 2016 following another mass evacuation carried out by police. The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said there were about 500 tents at the site, with conditions posing 'serious problems of security, health and tranquility', particularly for staff and patients of a nearby health centre. As Tuesday's evacuation was under way, migrants queued for buses grouped by nationality, as tents, duvets, blankets, shoes and clothes were left behind in the undergrowth. Discussing the operation, Pas-de-Calais prefect Louis Le Franc said: 'We want to avoid any new concentration of migrants, and Calais becoming a meeting spot for them. 'We are studying with the Mayor of Calais what else it will be possible to do,' said Mr Le Franc, who confirmed it was 'the biggest and most important' evacuation since 2016. 'In my eyes, this is first and foremost a sheltering operation,' said Mr Le Franc. 'The migrants have been living in a wood in extremely difficult conditions. It was important to get them all out before winter.' Migrants carry duvets and bags as police move them from a Calais camp in the largest operation since the removal of the memorable Jungle He said some 150 migrants would be provided temporary accommodation in the Pas-de-Calais, while the rest would go to reception centres in other parts of France. 'Our objective is also to actively fight against people smugglers and the exploitation of human misery', said Mr Le Franc. He confirmed that migrants were currently paying up to 7,000 (6,400) for a boat crossing 'in good sea conditions', and 3,000 (2,700) 'in bad'. Maya Konforti, of local charity Migrant Shelter, said: 'They're evacuating and cordoning off this area, but people will come back in a few days and settle down a little further away. 'They spend a fortune, moving dozens of buses, and the police, and it is absolutely useless.' Yolaine Bernard of the Salam association said many had escaped Tuesday's roundup, and will now wander the streets of Calais 'without a blanket, without a tent. They no longer have anything, no more clothes.' It is estimated by the local authorities that there are currently around 1,000 UK-bound migrants living in the Calais area. Northern France has long been a magnet for people seeking to smuggle themselves to Britain in small boats or in one of the tens of thousands of trucks and cars that cross over daily on ferries and trains. In August, a Sudanese teenager drowned while trying to reach Britain with a friend in an inflatable boat. The researchers from the TalTech molecular neurobiology laboratory headed by professor Tonis Timmusk used the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster to develop a novel disease model for Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS). Their study was reported in the July issue of Disease Models and Mechanisms. The PTHS syndrome is caused by mutations in one of the two copies of the TCF4 gene. PTHS patients suffer from moderate to severe intellectual disability: they typically will never learn how to speak. They also have severly imparied motor skills, including delayed acquisition of walking capability. There are around 500 cases documented all around the world, but because of the symptomatic similarity with other intellectual disability syndromes (Angelman, Rett etc.), the PTHS could be underdiagnosed. 75% of human genes known to be associated with diseases have their corresponding genes in the fruit fly genome, making Drosophila a widely used experimental system for modeling human diseases. The Drosophila counterpart of TCF4 gene is known as daughterless (da). Researcher of molecular neurobiology laboratory Mari Palgi explains: "When we genetically reduced the amount of da gene product specifically in the learning and memory center of the fly brain, the animals exhibited defects of associative memory. Namely, they had lost the ability to associate specific odors with food availability. In addition, the locomotor skills of these fruit flies were impaired as revealed by a test known as the climbing assay. Next we aimed to enhance the activity of da in the mutants flies to restore both their learning and locomotor abilities, i.e to rescue the defective phenotype." First author of Article Laura Tamberg says: "We fed the mutant flies two different substances that had been shown to enhance the activity of TCF4 in a cell culture-based assay. We found that these substances were able to enhance the learning ability of compromised animals. In the climbing assay, the compromised flies' regained the ability to climb upwards following administration of one compound. The rescue effect was more pronounced in female flies probably since they eat more to reproduce and had thus consumed more of the substances - which had been delivered with food. " Mari Palgi adds: "These findings suggest that these two substances could be potentially helpful for PTHS patients. One of these, resveratrol, is a food supplement found in number of foodstuffs, such as red grapes and blueberries, and the other one, SAHA, is a drug already in clinical use for treatment of certain lymphomas." Besides PTHS, commonly occurring variants of TCF4 gene have been associated with other psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The authors' Drosophila model could be used to study certain aspects of these diseases by measuring the changes in endophenotypes such as prepulse inhibition. In the future it is feasible to use this Drosophila model in combination with two straightforward behavioral tests - associative learning and negative geotaxis assays - to screen for additional therapeutics for their ability to enhance the activity of TCF4. ### Source: Disease Models and Mechanisms 30.07.2020 https://dmm.biologists.org/content/13/7/dmm042747 Additional information: Researcher of TalTech Neurobiology Laboratory Mari Palgi, mari.palgi@taltech.ee Kersti Vahi, TalTechi Research Communications Officer Short-term power forecasting solution from Utopus Insights The improved efficiency of our assets produces savings for consumers and positions Infigen to invest in additional low-cost renewable generation. - Matt Dickie, General Manager, Operations, Infigen Energy Utopus Insights and its parent company, Vestas, have successfully used data from their five-minute self-forecasting pilot in Australia to produce customer cost-savings. Inaccurate supply forecasts, along with unreached output targets by renewable generators, can result in power system instability and higher operating costs, particularly in energy markets like that of Australia. As part of the Australian Renewable Energy Agencys (ARENA) Advancing Renewables Program, this 12-month pilot provided a solution to this industry shortfall. Such data can be especially useful for Australian wind and solar farms which are penalised for failing to meet required output levels in the National Electricity Market (NEM). The pilot was trialed at Infigen Energys Lake Bonney Wind Farm 2 and 3, a 198 MW project powered by Vestas in South Australia. The data was used by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) for real-time dispatch decisions while also demonstrating increased accuracy when compared to the current Australian Wind Energy Forecasting Systems (AWEFS) five-minute forecast. Thanks to Vestas and Utopus Insights self-forecasting data, we expect we will achieve cost savings at Lake Bonney 2 and 3, assets with 198 MW of nameplate capacity, said Matt Dickie, General Manager, Operations, Infigen Energy. We will therefore continue to utilise this energy data solution at Lake Bonney Wind Farm 2 and 3. The solution applied advanced data science techniques to high-resolution wind turbine SCADA data, granular short-term hyperlocal weather forecasts, and meteorological data to deliver greater accuracy in energy forecasts. Through the provision of such information, both AEMO and the market can expect a more accurate and transparent forecast of supply, system constraints and pricing. As a result, data like that of the trial can also provide increased grid stability. With a decrease in operating expenses coupled with a greater proportion of low-cost renewables in the energy mix, the wholesale cost of energy is expected to reduce, benefitting the Australian consumer, said Peter Cowling, Head of Vestas Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, as a result of the introduction of the Five-Minute Settlement rule in Australias National Energy Market, the need for energy solutions like our accurate short-term forecasting will become more apparent." The convergence of renewable energy and machine learning has the potential to positively impact the world and radically alter the way we look at the energy sector in the future where smart renewable energy is the most sustainable way forward, said Chandu Visweswariah, CEO, Utopus Insights. From an energy market standpoint, improved power output accuracies allow stakeholders to sharpen intra-day energy bid strategies, making renewable energy more reliable, and profitable, said Shekhar Kamath, General Manager, Sales, Utopus Insights. Self-forecasting allows renewable generators to take advantage of the wealth of operational data produced by our assets. This results not only in financial savings but also in improved dispatch for the broader market. The improved efficiency of our assets produces savings for consumers and positions Infigen to invest in additional low-cost renewable generation, Dickie of Infigen Energy added. Learn more about the Utopus Insights Short-Term Power Forecasting Solution at http://www.utopusinsights.com/power-forecasting Discover more about the benefits of the Vestas-Utopus Insights self-forecasting trial at https://arena.gov.au/projects/lake-bonney-stages-2-3/. For Utopus Insights media inquiries, please contact: Sonu Munshi Director of Communications sonu.munshi@utopusinsights.com For Vestas media inquiries, please contact: Kilani Fisher Marketing & Communications ANZ klafs@vestas.com About Utopus Insights Utopus Insights is a data-driven energy analytics Software as a Service (SaaS) company that develops global digital solutions to accelerate the integration of renewable energy into the modern grid. Headquartered in New York, with development centers and sales presence across North America, Europe and Asia, we seek to accelerate an era of reliable, clean and cost-effective energy worldwide. Utopus Insights is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vestas. Learn more at http://www.utopusinsights.com and follow us on social media: http://www.twitter.com/utopusinsights http://www.linkedin.com/company/utopusinsights http://www.facebook.com/utopusinsights http://www.instagram.com/utopusinsights About Vestas Vestas is the energy industrys global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 115 GW of wind turbines in 81 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and more than 98 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas more than 25,000 employees are providing global sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future. For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at http://www.vestas.com following us on our social media channels: http://www.twitter.com/vestas http://www.linkedin.com/company/vestas http://www.facebook.com/vestas http://www.instagram.com/vestas http://www.youtube.com/vestas About Infigen Energy We provide Australian businesses with firm supplies of clean energy. By combining intermittent renewables with fast-start firming assets, we offer our customers reliable and competitively priced clean energy. Our fleet of renewable energy assets is among the largest in Australia. In addition to our owned assets, we contract the output from other renewable operators, enabling us to serve a growing number of customers. Our portfolio of fast-start firming assets enables us to manage the risks associated with the intermittency of renewable generators. https://www.infigenenergy.com/ A man from Sichuan Province fishes in the Yarlung Tsangpo River, in Doilungdeqen County of Tibet on Dec. 18, 2008. (China Photos/Getty Images) China Plans to Turn Xinjiang Into California by Diverting Indian Rivers, Experts Say The first in an occasional series on the Indus River Chinas plans to divert two trans-Himalayan rivers that sustain millions in downstream regions in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are adding to Indias burgeoning concerns, experts say, at a time when tensions along the ChinaIndia border continue to simmer. The experts say India should establish an international multilateral framework to deal with Chinas plans, which include a project that one Chinese geotechnical engineer says would turn Xinjiang into California. At issue are two mighty rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Indus, which originate in Tibet. The Indus runs through northwestern India into Pakistan, while the Brahmaputra flows through northeastern India into Bangladesh. Both are among the longest and largest rivers in the world. India is named after the Indus, and the word Hindu comes from it; the river is sacred to Indias Hindus and central to the development of Indias civilization. For many years, China has planned to divert the Brahmaputra, called the Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet, and the Indus from their place of origin to the arid regions in Chinas Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Both of the rivers flow from the Tibetan plateau into two Indian states that share border disputes with China. The Indus flows in the federally governed state of Ladakh, which has since May been the flashpoint of the conflict with China. The Yarlung Zangbo flows into Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state that also shares a border with Bhutan and that China claims as its territory. The current project proposes diverting water from southern Tibets Yarlung Tsangpo by drilling a 1,000-km tunnel across the worlds third pole or Asias water tower, permafrost-melting, glacier-shrinking Tibetan plateau to the arid Taklamakan [a desert in southwest Xinjiang], Dr. Burzine Waghmar, of the SOAS South Asia Institute in London, told The Epoch Times in an email. The plan to deviate Yarlung Zangbo from Tibet to Xinjiang was first devised by the Qing dynasty in the 19th century, but the projects enormous cost and engineering challenges, as well as the rivers international status, meant that the project never took off, Waghmar said. In recent years, he said, the Chinese administration has been trying to revive the project and a trial run is currently occurring in Yunnan Province, where tunnels are being drilled with engineering techniques, technology, and equipment that will be later replicated in Xinjiang. Construction on a 373-mile (600 kilometers) Yunnan tunnel started in August 2017. The water diversion project in central Yunnan is a demonstration project, Zhang Chuanqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics in Wuhan, Hubei Province, told the South China Morning Post. It is to show we have the brains, muscle, and tools to build super-long tunnels in hazardous terrains, and the cost does not break the bank, Chuanqing said about the $11.7 billion (78 billion yuan) project. Concern sparked by these diversion projects is heightened because China already has blocked the flow of a Tibetan tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo, called the Xiabuqu River, for its Lalho Hydrel project, the Economic Times reported. More recently, in the aftermath of border clashes between India and China in the Galwan Valley from May, China blocked the flow of the Galwan River, a tributary of the Indus which originates in Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin area, thus altering the natural course of the river to prevent it from entering India, said Ameya Pratap Singh and Urvi Tembey in an analysis published in the Lowy Institute on July 23. Noted French-born Tibetologist Claude Arpi earlier wrote in a researched article on his blog about the Chinese proposals to divert the Indus. The researchers propose to add a South Western segment to the Western Diversion Route (not yet started), which is the third part of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, said Arpi, quoting various Chinese sources. It would involve the diversion of the waters from the Indus river in Western Tibet (before it enters Ladakh) towards the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang. Chinese state media The Global Times earlier reported that 20 Chinese scholars met in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, in July 2017 to discuss the diversion of rivers to Xinjiang from Tibet. The confluence of the Indus (L) and the Zanskar rivers (R) at Sangam, in Ladakh, India, on Oct. 4, 2012. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) Plan Would Create Worlds Longest Tunnel Chinas plan to divert the Yarlung Zangbo consists of building the worlds longest tunnel, a 621-mile (1,000 kilometers) proposal that would steer water from the high Tibetan plateau to Xinjiang and involve multiple sections and waterfallsa project that a Chinesel engineer said would turn Xinjiang into California, according to a paper by Naseer Ahmed Abbasi and Xiangzhou Xu published in the 22nd European Geosciences Union General Assembly in May. As development in China shifts to untapped high-altitude and rough terrain or arid regions in Tibet and Xinjiang from the saturated cities in the east, river diversion and hydroelectric projects are integrated with Chinas economic as well as strategic development, Dr. Satoru Nagao, a visiting fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, told The Epoch Times in an email. Therefore, for the Chinese government, development on the western side is vital for the eastern side. That is the reason if China wants to develop Xinjiang Uygur, China needs to find water in Xinjiang Uygur. If there is not enough water, China needs to bring water from Tibet, he said, adding that these projects are essential for Chinas agricultural and mineral resource development as well. The Tibet-Xinjiang diversion project that requires 1 billion yuan (approximately $147.3 million) per kilometer of tunnel would bring 1015 billion tonnes of water every year. The project is anticipated to solve the problem of water, food, and drought in the country, say Abbasi and Xu, of the School of Hydraulic Engineering at the Dalian University of Technology in China. The first stage of the project (pdf) will build 29 reservoirs with a capacity of 21.8 billion cubic meters of water in Xinjiang, while India and Bangladesh fall in the negatively affected region, say Abbasi and Xu. The diversion will disrupt biodiversity and increase chances of earthquakes and floods. Waghmar highlighted the devastating effects of such projects in history. They include the complete drying-up of the Lopnor salt lake which, since the Qing era, was deliberately diverted, like the Tarim and Kongque rivers, to feed off oases aquifers and hilly runoffs, thus forming dry river beds, progressive desertification, and the destruction of sand-stabilizing tamarisks which otherwise contained erosion, he said. As in Soviet Uzbekistan, Communists fixated with cotton production in Xinjiang starkly reveal how radical socialist agrarian policies have damaged the environment forever, he said. Indian fishermen paddle down the Brahmaputra River during sunset at Ujanbazar Ghat in Guwahati on June 25, 2015. The Brahmaputra originates in Tibet, where it is known as the Yarlung Zangbo. (Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images) Why India Should Worry Diverting the Yarlung Tsangpo is expected to occur in Sangri County near the disputed Indian border, Waghmar said. He noted that no water treaties exist between China and India or Bangladesh where the river eventually joins the Bay of Bengal. Indian and Chinese soldiers came to physical blows in May in the northeastern Sikkim and had a serious conflict in the region in 2017, when China tried to extend a road through the Doklam plateau between Bhutan, India, and China, which Bhutan administers but China claims. The Bhutanese authorities sought the support of the Indian army, triggering a 73-day border standoff. After weeks of negotiations, both the countries withdrew their troops, but the Chinese have since begun building massive infrastructure in the region. On June 15, a violent clash took place in Galwan in the Ladakh territory; 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers died. Since then the two sides have jockeyed for strategic position and massively built up their forces in the area. As the recent clashes on the Sino-Indian border have made clear, India needs to assess how China might weaponize its advantage over those countries downstream, Singh and Tembey said. Control over these rivers effectively gives China a chokehold on Indias economy. Nagao says the river diversion project is strategically relevant, and India should be concerned, in the wake of the Galwan incident. He said if China diverts the rivers in these sensitive areas, it will deploy the military to protect the project, and any military build-up would cause more concerns for India. This nightmare scenario has already started. Because China needs more water to develop, China has started plans to divert the flow of the river, Nagao said. The more China develops Tibet, the more Chinese troops will get deployed to secure these water resources. As a result, Chinas military activities in the India-China border (around Tibet) will increase. He pointed out that the current conflict started in response to Chinas infrastructure deployment on the border. India responded by starting construction on a road, which became the cause of the current stalemate. India has tried to catch up by deploying forces and building infrastructure. Finally, China tried to prevent India to develop roads, they intentionally entered the Indian side and clashed in Galwan, he said. Waghmar said diverting waters from the Yarlung Tsangpo, which shares its source with the Indus, will also adversely affect Pakistan as it flows through Gilgit-Baltistan into that nations breadbasket region, Punjab. Nagao said Indias response to the river diversion project should be twofold. To prevent Chinese incursions on the border, India should strengthen its defense capabilities and should step up coordination with the United States, Japan, and Australia. To assure water resources, India should establish an international multilateral framework to decide the share of water resources, said Nagao, adding that a bilateral framework to share water with China wouldnt be effective. In this case, India should invite the U.S., Japan, and Australia to counter power balance in the framework if possible, he said. U.S. President Donald Trump stands in front of a U.S. flag as he participates in a roundtable on donating plasma during a visit to the American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2020. Carlos Barria | Reuters A draw won't cut it Just over five weeks remain until Election Day, and according to the polls, Biden is leading the race for the White House. "The president has more pressure on him," said Aaron Kall, director of the University of Michigan's debate program. "Something has to happen that is going to radically change the trajectory of the race and the narrative of it. You can't just fight Joe Biden to a draw," Kall said. Kall warned that Trump can't simply rely on the expectation that Biden will make a grave error. "It sounds like a big part of the strategy is, we're going to have these three debates and Joe Biden's going to be exposed and his age and forgetfulness are going to come out, and all of a sudden he's going to be disqualifying to some portion of the public." This is the wrong move, Kall said. "You can't operate under the assumption that your opponent is going to make errors and you can then just capitalize on them. You have to assume that they'll be OK and that you have to do something to really try to move the needle," he said. Former Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, who helped prepare George W. Bush for his debates in 2000 and 2004 by role-playing as Al Gore and John Kerry, told CNBC that Trump needs to temper his pugnacious style. "He has to come across as showing that he understands that he's there to govern effectively for all Americans," Gregg said of the president. "This election is only about a very small part of the electorate. Almost the entire electorate has their mind made up," Gregg said. Manage expectations The Trump campaign appears to agree that Biden's reputation for making gaffes may not guarantee a victory. Until a few weeks ago, the campaign's attacks on Biden focused on raising doubts about his cognition and suggesting he's a "Trojan horse" for a far-left policy agenda. But ahead of the debate, Trump's team has taken a completely different tack. "Joe Biden is a master debater who knows what he's doing," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told CNBC in a statement last week. Biden, said Murtaugh, "has been a Washington politician for 47 years, debated very well twice while running for vice president, and just came through 11 debates in the Democrat primaries where he defeated two dozen challengers." The Trump campaign has declined to comment on the details of the president's debate preparations. Trump said Sunday that his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are helping him prepare. "President Trump prepares for debates every day by being president and building an excellent record to run on for reelection," Murtaugh had told CNBC. Gregg said it's natural for campaign operatives to "want to raise expectations for your opponent and lower expectations for yourself." "But I don't think anybody will buy that," Gregg added. Take advantage of the topics The debate moderator, Fox News' Chris Wallace, has selected six topics for the debate. They are: The Trump and Biden records The Supreme Court Covid-19 The economy Race and violence in our cities The integrity of the election The economy is likely Trump's strongest card in the deck, despite recent polling that shows Trump's lead on that issue diminishing amid the pandemic. The Supreme Court is also an area of potential advantage for Trump. The president on Saturday formally nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the high court following the recent death of senior liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett, a conservative judge who shares the philosophy of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, could be confirmed by the Senate before the presidential election. "Historically, it's something that favors Republicans," Kall said. "Having a candidate actually now with a name that people know, it's always easier to defend ... when there's an actual nominee, he can extol that person and their background." Doing so could help increase turnout and enthusiasm among Trump's base and could serve as a springboard for him to discuss the large number of judges confirmed during his administration. Know Biden's weaknesses While the Trump campaign may not be able to reverse its monthslong effort to undermine Biden, the Democrat's campaign is not without its weaknesses. Trump has lowered expectations for Biden, which played to the Democrat's favor in his well-reviewed speech at the Democratic National Convention. But it remains the case that Biden has been less willing than Trump to go before the press to be cross-examined and answer tough questions. "He hasn't subjected himself to an interview with Chris Wallace like Trump has," Kall said. Gregg said that Biden's "weakest card is that he has a very hard time answering questions concisely." "He's going to have to deal with the president, who is inherently unpredictable, so he's got to be quick on his feet," Gregg said of Biden. Another issue for Biden could be his temper, of which he's shown flashes throughout his campaign. "He does seem like he's got kind of a short fuse sometimes," Kall said. Trump might try to stoke Biden's anger by bringing up Hunter Biden, the former vice president's son, whose connections to a Ukrainian gas company came under scrutiny during the impeachment proceedings against Trump. A GOP-led Senate committee released a report last week calling Hunter Biden's connections "problematic," while Democrats and the Biden campaign have accused Republicans of conducting a smear campaign. "That's one place where he's definitely vulnerable," Kall said of Biden. With more than four decades in politics, Biden also has a much longer record to defend than Trump. Biden may face questions on his prior stances on the Iraq War and the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, for instance. The president, 74, may also bring up the age of Biden, 77. Know your (lack of) audience In normal times, a presidential debate would be held before an audience of hundreds. But with the coronavirus still wreaking havoc in the U.S., just a few dozen people are expected to watch the debate in person. This could pose real problems for Trump, who has never shied from a crowd. Biden, on the other hand, has experience here: His debate in March with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., which came during an initial crest of fear about the Covid-19 crisis, was held without a live audience. "I think the most difficult thing for the president is going to be, when you have a crowd, you have a sense in real time of what's working," Kall said. "When you don't have that feedback, you kind of doubt yourself more, so you don't know whether to continue what you're doing or try something else." "He's going to have to trust his own instincts, and that could be correct, but he could be misreading things," Kall said. "Unfortunately, you don't know the answer to that until the debate ends, and by then it's too late." A swell of support from a live audience can bring an electric charge to a well-delivered point in a debate or a campaign speech a fact Trump, whose massive rallies are a signature feature of his political career, knows well. Moderators in presidential debates try to prevent audiences from applauding their preferred candidates but they can struggle to contain the crowd. Fewer claps and hollers can "allow for a lot more substance and content in the debate," Kall said. Promise to accept the results of the election Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 05:50:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egypt welcomed on Monday an agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels to exchange 1,081 prisoners. "Egypt appreciates the efforts made by the Office of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross in this regard," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Egypt also called for an immediate implementation of the prisoner swap agreement, stressing that this would contribute to strengthening confidence-building measures and lead to a political settlement of the Yemeni crisis. On Sunday, delegates representing the government of Yemen and the Houthi group announced that they have agreed to immediately release the first group of 1,081 conflict-related detainees and prisoners, the largest prisoner release in the country's history. The Iran-allied Houthi rebels seized the northern provinces including the capital Sanaa in late 2014, forcing Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile. An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in the Yemeni conflict to fight against the Houthis in March 2015, in response to an official request from Hadi to protect Yemen. Enditem South Africa: Portugal donates laptops, COVID-19 essentials to education The Embassy of Portugal has donated 25 laptops and 2 000 masks to support the phased-in reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 essentials donation and ICT devices come from the people of Portugal. We warmly accept this act of solidarity amid the devastation caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. This occasion today indeed reaffirms the importance of our bilateral relations, informed by the Memorandum of Consultations, signed in 2002, said Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga during the handover on Monday. Motshekga said the donation comes at a time when the sector is tasked with ensuring that every school child has sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, to keep the virus at bay. These are key in promoting the COVID-19 pandemic compliance and protecting lives, while allowing schooling to continue. As we know, PPEs are a key arsenal in an all-out war against the pandemic. This donation of masks will go a long way to help to meet the moving target of providing PPE to learners, she said. Despite the news that South Africa has reached the COVID-19 pandemic peak, Motshekga said the country remains at risk. The virus isnt on level two or planning to go on level one. It is significant to note that our measures have yielded positive results, as we have enough hospital bed capacity, ventilators and oxygen tanks for the foreseeable long period of the pandemic. South Africa has a case facility rate of 2.1% - lower than the global rate, while Egypt has a 5.4% case fatality rate, higher than the global average of 3.5%. Our mammoth task now is the mobilisation of society for the behavioural change needed as we ramp up non-pharmaceutical interventions as a new way to coexist with the virus. Yet, we remain steadfast in our belief that there is a need to balance saving lives versus livelihoods. We remain committed to our moral and constitutional obligation to save lives, first and foremost, said Motshekga. Portugal was hailed for its early and effective response to COVID-19, as it managed to avoid a devastating peak like the one seen in neighbouring Spain. It is now dealing firmly with the remnants of the virus through various measures. I would like to reiterate my sincere gratitude to the people and the government of Portugal for their generous support to the phased-in reopening of schools in our country. These are challenging times, of fighting an invisible enemy that seeks to decimate lives and livelihoods. Thankfully, our response, together with the international community, has been marked by solidarity and cooperation, said the Minister. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-09-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. SF New Deal Executive Director Lenore Estrada announced the six month anniversary of SF New Deal rapid response relief efforts. Six months ago this week, Jacob Bindman (Director of Service Operations) and I delivered 100 bagged lunches (which contained sandwiches we made in his parents kitchen) to UCSF Citywide Case Managements clinic on Jesse Street. Little did we know that within a few short days wed have the participation of dozens of amazing restaurants, who together would deliver tens of thousands of meals across the city each week. Our team has also been hard at work assessing the landscape of growing food insecurity, advancing policy recommendations for increasing food access and ending hunger - especially among children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities - and measuring the ongoing economic and community impact of our programs. Since its inception, SF New Deal has endeavored to reach every corner of San Francisco. Indisputably, restaurants are an important part of any neighborhood landscape. Since the pandemic hit in March, SF New Deal has rallied like-minded San Franciscans to come together in an unprecedented meal relief response: The impact of SF New Deal in the 7x7 has yielded: Participation of 106 restaurants across every district in the City 832,838 meals delivered $8,327,573 in direct financial relief 65 percent of participating restaurants are Female/LGBTQ and/or BIPOC owned Geographic concentration of restaurants in: D9 Mission District (24), D10 Bayview/Potrero (16), D6 Tenderloin/SOMA (16) and D3 Chinatown/Northern (13) Largest volume of meals going to locations in Districts 2, 3, 6, and 10. Additional district by district detail can be found on this interactive map. SF New Deal Community Organizer and Head of Policy Vinny Eng notes, In the 18-26 month road to recovery ahead, meeting the essential needs of San Franciscans remains a persistent and urgent matter. SF New Deal meals are a worthy short term bridge. In the long term we must do things differently to end hunger and establish self-sufficiency for everyone. We are learning from our community elders about how we can and must do better to advance the dignity of those in need. We will come out of this crisis stronger, more resilient, and actualizing solutions that establish better systems for collective care. SF New Deal provides businesses with reliable steady income while dining rooms remain shut until community transmissions fall below an acceptable rate. SF New Deal restaurants rely on these community feeding programs to alleviate the pressure to prematurely open their indoor dining rooms. This allows restaurants to utilize existing infrastructure in service of community needs and gives them an opportunity to adjust their business models to reduce exposing workers and guests to infection. With food insecurity growing and a 18-26 month road to recovery ahead, meeting the essential needs of San Franciscans is still a persistent and urgent matter. SF New Deal continues to operate community feeding programs as funding remains available and as community transmission of Covid19 remains an ongoing concern. Engaging local businesses to help keep San Francisco nourished is pragmatic, crucial, and necessary in order to preserve the fabric of our neighborhoods. SF New Deal mobilized on March 23, 2020 to provide immediate relief to small businesses while they await government aid in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. SF New Deal is here to help our neighbors stay safe. Addressing their needs is: CRITICAL to flattening the curve and preserving the capacity of local medical systems to address acute needs COMPASSIONATE by keeping our communities nourished, food secure, and connected PREVENTATIVE by providing community based, restorative care to chronically underserved communities, especially those who lack mobility, are housing insecure, or are justice-involved THE RIGHT THING TO DO. No one should go hungry during this time. The shelter-in-place order is causing severe disruption to small businesses. An estimated 30-60 percent of restaurants will permanently close as a result of this shutdown. Approximately 25 percent of restaurant workers are immigrants and/or undocumented and thus not eligible for many government programs. Supporting local small restaurants to fill this community need serves as a vital lifeline for employers and those looking to work. SF New Deal launched with a personal commitment of $1,000,000 from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Says Shear, "We know that our local economies will take time to recover, but we cannot let our neighbors go hungry. Local businesses and organizations are ready to do the work to make food and to help organize delivery to those in need, but they need support from ALL of us. Join us in helping support them." SFND is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit. Personal donations can be made via SFnewdeal.org. Any individuals interested in making larger gifts from donor-advised funds, trusts, corporate sponsorship, or employer match programs can contact SF New Deal at hi@sfnewdeal.org or by calling 415-967-8247. We are working closely with our partners to support the public good - many hands make work light and together we are healing our City of St. Francis. Join us. In keeping with the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Accord, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is focusing on growing the nations domestic gas utilization for balanced economic growth. Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, disclosed this Tuesday at the BusinessDay Energy Series Summit which held virtually with theme: Nigeria at 60: Harnessing Nigerias Energy for the Future. A press release by the Corporations spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru, quoted the GMD as restating NNPCs commitment to the aggressive implementation of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan as a way of stimulating massive and sustainable economic development using natural gas which the nation has in abundance. Mallam Kyari, who spoke on the topic: NNPCs Perspectives on Nigerias Gas Sector Development, said apart from the Corporations commitment to deliver key gas infrastructural projects such as the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System II (ELPS II), the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Central Gas Processing Facilities (CGPFs), NNPC was working on growing domestic gas utilization to 5billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (scf/d) and developing 5gigawatts (GW) of power generation by 2022. At the NNPC, we are aggressively pursuing other gas development initiatives with the aim of improving Nigerias economy using the appropriate fuels. In terms of Gas and Power, we are developing and integrating gas and power infrastructure networks (increase interconnectivity) as well as stimulating gas demand (power generation, feedstock and transport, etc.), the GMD informed. He said NNPC was also exploring partnerships and investments in transmission to unlock evacuation and improve power distribution across the country, stressing that the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 would be delivered by 2024. We are equally collaborating among key industry players and government agencies on key sectors even as we are developing energy related policies and investment packages to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the NNPC boss stated. He said the focus on the development of key areas will not only expand the Corporations domestic gas footprints, but also support the development of petrochemicals, fertilizer, methanol and other gas-based industries that will generate employment and facilitate balanced economic growth. He applauded the support of President Muhammadu Buhari and the efforts of the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in driving initiatives aimed at positioning natural gas for sustainable development, noting that a number of the Federal Governments gas initiatives such as the 7 Big Wins, the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020), the National Gas Policy (2017), have helped a great deal pushing the gas development agenda I would not end this discussion without emphasizing the need for proper legislation. The passage of Nigerias Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is long overdue. It is one piece of legislation that will expand economic growth via improved revenue flows from the oil and gas sector and make the industry efficient and competitive. NNPC is committed to supporting a sustainable legislation that will bring transformation to the industry, promote transparency and accountability across the value chain, Mallam Kyari posited. Dr. Kennie Obateru Group General Manager Group Public Affairs Division Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC Towers, Abuja. 29th September, 2020. China will need a plethora of reforms if it is to make a new economic strategy that relies mainly on domestic consumption work, advisers to the Chinese cabinet said on Tuesday. President Xi Jinping has proposed a dual circulation strategy for the next phase of economic development in which China will rely predominantly on domestic circulation, to be supported by international circulation. To rely mainly on domestic circulation, we indeed face a very arduous task, Yao Jingyuan, the former chief economist for the countrys National Bureau of Statistics, told a briefing. Fundamentally we must rely on reforms, and we need to deepen reforms. Lin Yifu, a second adviser to the cabinet, said Chinas new economic strategy was not a short-term measure to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic or tension with the United States. Both advisers said China needs to push market-based reforms to improve economic efficiency, encourage land and residency reforms to support urbanisation, and implement measures that would tackle the gap in incomes. Xis new development model will be discussed at a meeting of the ruling Communist Party in October, where policies are expected to be built into the next five-year road-map for the economy. While domestic consumer spending accounted for 55.4% of Chinas GDP last year, it remains far lower than levels of 70-80% seen in developed economies. To get to more than 70% by 2035, China needs to boost consumptions share of GDP by 1 percentage point annually, Yao said. China has long sought to shift towards consumption-led growth from exports and investment. Last year, total exports and imports represented 32% of GDP, down from a peak of 64% in 2006, according to government data. Yao also said that due to the new model, Chinas foreign exchange reserves, the worlds largest, will see a slower pace of growth. A rising yuan could weaken Chinas export competitiveness and spur imports, which could lead to more balanced trade over time, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:52:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's top three automakers suffered year-on-year declines in global output in August owing to the continued adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic, although recovering production in China helped trim losses, figures released Tuesday from the makers showed. According to Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, production declined 6.7 percent on year in August to 634,217 vehicles, marking the eighth successive month of decline. The decline, however, compares to a more than 10 percent tumble logged in July, with the latest figure reflecting a significant recovery in the automaker's Chinese market, among others, Toyota said. The Aichi-based automaker also said that its output in Japan in the recording period dropped 11.5 percent to total 202,691 vehicles. Similarly, the relatively modest decline in Honda Motor Co.'s output has been helped by recovering production in China, which hit a record high for the month of August. Honda's output fell 6.4 percent to 389,481 vehicles, the automaker said. Nissan Motor Co., however, in the wake of the scandal involving its former chairman Carlos Ghosn coupled with the impact of the pandemic, saw production slump 25.1 percent in the recording period to 304,739 units. Toyota's global sales fell for an eight straight month, dropping 10.6 percent in August to 720,765 vehicles, with robust demand in China being pared by sales remaining hampered in both the domestic and North American market, it said. Nissan's global sales, meanwhile, tumbled 23.3 percent to 327,297 vehicles, the automaker said, owing to sluggish demand in its North American markets. Enditem An evening of amateur film-making in Oakville took a dramatic turn Saturday night when neighbours called police to report that a man was held at gunpoint and forced into an apartment unit. Halton Region police took a group of film students into custody after neighbours called 911 at about 11:15 p.m. because they also saw a hatchet and heard screams from the apartment on Marlborough Court. Officers with the Tactical Rescue Unit arrived, and after a search of the apartment, police found a prop handgun and a plastic hatchet. The students later explained that the items and screams were part of their film shoot, police said. The film students were released and no charges were laid by police. Prop guns can be mistaken for genuine firearms by members of the public, police said in a news release Tuesday. This poses potential risks for public safety, as police will respond to any reported incident under the assumption that the firearm is real and not authorized. While this particular incident ended safely, we would like to avoid a similar incident in the future. Zena Salem is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: zsalem@thestar.ca India insisted on 'complete disengagement' in all its talks with China on eastern Ladakh row: Govt We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief Endurance would be key as situation along LAC remains tense, but under control India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: The Indian Army is all geared and does not want to take any chances with China. Although both sides have decided to continue talking to reduce tensions along the Line of Actual Control, India will still not take any chances and hence has deployed T-90 and T-72 tanks with BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicles in the Chumar-Demchok area of East Ladakh at an altitude of 16 to 18 thousand feet, which is also at temperatures up to minus 40 degrees Celsius. This is going to be a test of endurance and the situation along the LAC remains tense, but under control. Sources tell OneIndia that the Indian Army is ready for the long winter ahead. It would be a test of endurance, the source said while adding that India has the advantage as it has been sitting on the glaciated heights of the Saltoro ridge since 1984. The next round of military commander level talks will take place soon. Following the last round of talks, a joint statement was issued by both sides, which New Delhi has termed as positive in nature. Also Read: Meanwhile India has rushed heavy tanks heavy weaponry, ammunition, fuel, food and essential winter supplies to high-altitude areas in eastern Ladakh to maintain its combat readiness through the treacherous winter of around four months, military sources said. They said Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane, aided by a group of top commanders, has been personally involved in planning and overseeing the implementation of the mammoth exercise that began in mid-July and is nearing completion. A significant number of T-90 and T-72 tanks, artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles were flown into various sensitive areas including Chushul and Demchock sectors as part of the logistics operation, the sources said. Under the operation, the Army transported large quantities of clothes, tents, food items, communication equipment, fuel, heaters and other supplies to army personnel deployed at forward posts and mountain passes at the height of over 16,000 feet. "By far it is the biggest logistics operation that has been implemented in Ladakh post Independence. Its scale is humongous," a senior military official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. To deal with any Chinese misadventure, India has deployed over three additional Army divisions in eastern Ladakh where the temperature fluctuates between minus five to minus 25 degrees Celsius from October to January. The sources said India imported winter clothing and gear from a couple of countries in Europe and they have already been supplied to the troops in eastern Ladakh. Almost all transport aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force including C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster were used to transport thousands of tonnes of food, fuel and other equipment to the region. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News The Indian Army has decided to maintain its current strength of troops in all key areas in eastern Ladakh in the winter months as there was no sign of early resolution of the border row with China. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also decided to remain on high alert in the forward air bases along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On the Frontline Against China, the US Coast Guard Is Taking on Missions the US Navy Can't Do Competition with China has drawn more Pentagon resources to the Pacific, but the most visible U.S. military presence there... Pittsfield Earns Insurance Premium Credits Through MIIA PITTSFIELD, Mass. Pittsfield earned $28,771 in insurance premium credits through the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association Rewards Program. The City of Pittsfield received $28,771 back on its workers compensation and property and casualty insurance costs, applicable toward premium reductions for the next fiscal year, because of its participation in an incentive program offered by the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), its insurance provider. "We are thrilled to receive these MIIA Reward credits. Within the City of Pittsfield, its vital that our employees have access to comprehensive resources, training, and information that support their safety and well-being," Mayor Linda Tyer said. "These credits reflect a steady commitment on the part of our employees to staying engaged and informed to ensure a safe, productive and efficient working environment." Pittsfield employees participated in seminars and training sessions on human resources and legal issues, as well as a boiler sensor pilot program, among other initiatives supported by the MIIA Rewards program. In fiscal year 2020, which concluded on June 30, MIIA awarded over $2.4 million in premium credits to 285 of its member communities and municipal organizations resulting in an 18-year total of over $38.2 million since the programs inception. "The City of Pittsfield has demonstrated a great commitment over the past year to promote safety in the workplace and mitigate risk," Stanley Corcoran, executive vice president of MIIA said. "The result of their efforts has been to help lower their insurance costs by earning these Rewards credits. MIIA looks forward to its ongoing partnership with Pittsfield to ensure its employees continue to be well-trained and prepared to avoid unnecessary risks and losses, and to save local taxpayer dollars." MIIA is the non-profit insurance arm of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. As a member-based organization, MIIAs focus is to provide excellent service and quality risk management and health insurance solutions to Massachusetts municipalities and related public entities. MIIA insures nearly 400 cities, towns, and other public entities in Massachusetts. The Mala Buni-led caretaker/extraordinary national convention planning committee of Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has set up a six-member team to reconcile aggrieved factions in its Ekiti State branch. The team, announced at the partys National Secretariat on Tuesday, is led by the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Other members of the six-member team include the deputy speaker of Nigerias House of Representative, Idris Wase; Rochas Okorocha; Jafaru Isah; former Lagos military governor, Buba Marwa, and Ini Morga, who is to serve as the teams secretary. The Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, was controversially suspended over the weekend. The discord within the Ekiti APC leadership worsened last week when Babafemi Ojudu, the political adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, was suspended alongside 10 other party bigwigs for alleged anti-party practices. In their defence, Tony Adeniyi, a former senator and leader of the new faction, accused Mr Fayemi and his loyalists of perpetrating illegalities in the name of the APC. However, in a separate statement, the national secretariat of the ruling APC rejected the suspension of Mr Fayemi and maintained neutrality in the crisis rocking the state chapter. The actions are a nullity as the Partys National Secretariat is yet to receive communication from the state chapter on the purported suspensions. We strongly advise all members to adhere to our party constitution. Governor Kayode Fayemi remains the leader of the party in Ekiti State, the party said before setting up the reconciliatory team. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday urged people to celebrate the upcoming Navratri and Dussehra festivals in a low-key manner due to the coronavirus outbreak and suggested organisation of health and blood donation camps instead of dandiya, garba and cultural events involving mass participation. IMAGE: Dancers wearing face masks practice garba ahead of Navratri festival in Ahmedabad. Photograph: ANI Photo In guidelines issued during the day by the state home department, festivals organisers, also called mandals in local parlance, were asked to spread awareness on COVID-19, malaria and dengue among other diseases. As per the guidelines, the height of Goddess Durga idols installed by mandals (during Navratri) have been capped at four feet and household ones at two feet, and immersion procession, crowded affairs during normal times, have been disallowed. It also suggested that devotees opt for metal idols this time, and digital darshan through local cable networks, streaming formats and social media. It instructed mandals to arrange for thermal screening at pandals (festival arena), which must be disinfected. Devotees desirous of darshan should strictly adhere to social distancing norms and wear masks, the government said. Immersion should be done in artificial ponds created with the help of municipal corporations, housing societies, public representatives and NGOs, while clay or eco-friendly idols can be immersed at household level, the government said. Immersion of household and mandal idols from containment zones at public places has been disallowed, it said. The traditional Dussehra event of burning the effigy of demon king Ravana should be held observing social distancing norms, without spectators, and in a symbolic manner, as per the guidelines. "Spectators should not be invited. (Organisers) should arrange for live broadcast through social media platforms like Facebook," the government said. After a night out with her children in August, LaCondria Burley returned home to find the locks on her door changed and their belongings in an alley beside the three-family home where they live. Despite a state moratorium on evictions, her landlord said she had to leave because rent hadnt been paid in three months, Burley said. Suddenly homeless, the 31-year-old mother spent the next two nights sleeping in a rental car with her children, ages 4 and 6. To be honest, I was so calm that I scared myself because I do have two small children who have no idea what is going on and theyre asking questions, Burley, who lost her job in March, recalled. I just wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy, even if you dont have children. What happened to Burley on that August night is occurring more frequently in Hudson County, despite the ban on evictions, observers say. Before COVID-19 thrust the country into economic turmoil and sent millions of renters to unemployment lines, illegal evictions were very rare in Hudson County, said Amy Albert, an attorney at The Waterfront Project. But as the pandemic continues, Albert says some landlords who are reeling from rental income losses are taking matters into their own hands. In March, Gov. Phil Murphy established the states eviction moratorium, which halted court proceedings and prevented lockouts like the one that left Burley sleeping in a car. The ban on evictions will continue until two months after Murphy declares an end to the COVID-19 health crisis. What thats created is this pressure on everybody because there really arent court proceedings happening right now, said Albert, who is representing Burley in her case against the landlord. I think what is happening is [landlords] are running out of money and theyre concerned. They are trying to do what they can stay afloat and the normal procedures they rely are not available. The Waterfront Project, which provides legal services to low-income residents in Hudson County, said there has been an alarming uptick in incidents like the one Burley encountered. Its unclear just how many there have been, though. Soon after being locked out on Aug. 22, Burley linked up with Albert, who got her case in front of a Hudson County judge. The judge ordered Burleys landlord to allow her back into her home or face arrest. Michael Pastacaldi, an attorney for Burleys landlord Roosevelt Enajekpo, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Burley returned home on Aug. 28, but says she plans to leave for good in November. La'Condria Burley returned to her home in Jersey City on Aug. 22 to find the locks on her door had been changed and her family's belongings in an alley outside.Courtesy of La'Condria Burley Ron Simoncini, executive director of the Jersey City Property Owners Association, said while there is no excuse for breaking the law, some landlords are getting desperate in the current economic climate. If they cant collect rent, they cant pay their mortgages or the salaries of employees who maintain their properties. He said none of the landlords in his group would risk illegally evicting a tenant, and that landlords with fewer properties are more likely the ones responsible for these incidents. But Simoncini said the eviction moratorium was poorly constructed, leaving the landlord toothless and vulnerable to bad actors without the fear of eviction. There are far more tenants gaming the eviction moratorium, who can afford to pay their rent, then there are landlords illegally evicting tenants, Simoncini said. The presumption is, Well landlords have money so they can afford it but that is just not true, he added. "It shouldnt have been done through an eviction moratorium. It shouldve been done through a direct subsidy program keeping a stable marketplace and a stable fiscal scenario for the municipalities. But a federal moratorium on evictions exists now, too. In early September, the Centers for Disease Control announced a halt on residential evictions through Dec. 31. Diane Maxon, a member of the multi-advocacy group Jersey City Together, said tens of thousands of Hudson County are having trouble paying rent and that they should know they cannot be evicted currently. New Jersey Tenant Organization President Matt Shapiro said illegal lockouts are happening all over the state, adding that police should be arresting the landlords carrying out these evictions. If the police were to do their jobs, they would be stopping these illegal lockouts, Shapiro said. "By law, theyre supposed to intervene and prevent a lockout from happening. " Albert and Shapiro both said landlords who illegally evict tenants can be charged with a disorderly persons offense. Though a low level offense, the crime could result in six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said if the citys police department is called for an incident similar to Burleys, officers will advise the tenant they are protected by law if they are lawfully entitled to be in their residence. Police will tell the tenant they can have a private lock company let them back in and apply the damages to a lawsuit against the landlord, she said. The tenant can call to have the lock removed even without police present, Wallace-Scalcione said. Burley said she knew what her landlord did was illegal, but that he didnt care. I dont even want to come back here because how he did that, Burley said of her intention to move later this fall. That made me so uncomfortable, she added. That man has no heart. Manjinder Singh Sirsa's complaint was in reference to a 2019 viral video of a party that Karan Johar had hosted at his Mumbai residence. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, national spokesperson of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), on Monday tweeted that he has received threat calls from Pakistan asking him to withdraw his complaint against Karan Johar and several other Bollywood personalities. The complaint was in reference to a viral video of a party that Johar had hosted at his Mumbai residence. The threat call comes amid the ongoing probe by NCB in a drug case where actors Rhea Chakraborty, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor have been summoned. In a video message, Sirsa said the caller identified himself as Mohammad Wasim and said, "Bhai has asked to withdraw Karan Johar Bollywood case." The caller demanded Sirsa to withdraw the complaint within two days or him and his family would be killed. I got a call from Pakistan in which the caller threatened me to withdraw the complaint against Bollywood or I might have to face serious consequences if I dont do as they desire. https://t.co/JwZvqPCFdz pic.twitter.com/shdOM59EYj #Istandwithfarmers Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) September 28, 2020 Complained to @DelhiPolice @DCPWestDelhi about the threat call I received from Pakistan in which the caller asked me to withdraw the complaint against Bollywood Urging them to investigate the issue pic.twitter.com/8RkSGs7SkL #Istandwithfarmers Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) September 28, 2020 Sirsa has filed a complaint at Punjabi Bagh Police Station SHO and DCP West. He also requested the Delhi Police to investigate the matter. He added that he is not scared of any threats and wants to get the truth to the fore. The SAD leader said that he will continue with the case and this threat has intensified his spirit to fight the case with more dedication. Police have yet to confirm how many people died (KPTV) Multiple people died at a property in Oregon on Monday during what police described as a "hostage situation". Marion County Sheriff's Office said in a statement deputies responded to reports of a possible hostage situation at an address in Salem, at around 12:30pm. A trained hostage negotiatior was dispatched to the house on Juneva Place, but as the "incident unfolded, shots were fired," the Marion County Sheriff's Office statement added. There were "multiple fatalities" including the suspect; no deputies got injured. There is no reason to believe there is any ongoing threat to the public, the Sheriff's Office said. The Sheriff's office declined to provide information regarding how many people were killed, who killed them, or what led up to the deaths. Any deputies involved in the shooting would be placed on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, as outlined by protocol, officials said. The sheriff's office said Oregon State Police are at the scene and leading an investigation. Portland, which is about 45 miles northeast of Salem, has been at the centre of protests that swept the US following the killing of George Floyd in May. Demonstrations continued last week following Kentucky prosecutors' decision not to directly charge any officer with the killing of Breonna Taylor, a black woman gunned down in her Louisville home in March. Over the weekend, the far-right group Proud Boys descended on Portland to hold what its members - some of them armed - described as a "free speech" event in support of president Donald Trump. About 1,000 supporters gathered in the city for what turned out to be a largely peaceful event. The rally in a north Portland park ended after a few hours of speeches and chants, many against anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter groups which held a nearby counter-protest. Read more Portland, Oregon, braces itself for large right-wing rally Trump claims his tweet inspired US Marshals to kill suspect in shooting of right-wing protester in Portland Police: Violence at Portland protest escalates to firebombs These are unusual times in our country's history. Times when those who profess to love Ghana yet dine with separatists and even fund their activities cannot pass for normal times. Times when some chiefs' condemnation of the secessionist activities can only be taken with a pinch of salt are unusual and call for concerted actions by both the security agents and their civilian counterparts. Like COVID-19, we would have to live with the new normal until we succeed in eliminating the canker of secessionism from our midst. What makes the war against the separatists herculean is that those involved are within us, some of them holding traditional positions and others active in politics. They have mastered the art of camouflage and deception even as they remain part of our everyday lives. It is heartwarming and significant that the relevant agency has identified those funding the rebels and would deal with them as the law prescribes. The state should not delay action unduly because allowing the rebels breathing space could be harmful to our national interest. The world should not feel that our country is insecure for investment. Politicians behind the secessionist bid are comfortable with the picture of instability which the nonsense could pose if not checked swiftly and with alacrity since after all the strides the country is making under the Akufo-Addo administration does not interest them. They would rather the economy suffered setbacks under a climate of instability. These are times when the intelligence community should be on extra duty as it does cooperating with citizens, especially those living in the frontier communities should not be ignored. The intelligence community should especially reach out to the public because the secessionists live in the suburbs in the border towns; their movements and activities known to residents of these areas. We do not doubt the awesome powers of the state but would be quick to add that these are rarely used. As we pointed out in an earlier commentary, the rebels depend on the manipulation of public opinion by the NDC to perpetrate their unpatriotic activities. After all, the NDC would cry out over a so-called infringement of the rights of individuals when suspected rebels are picked from their hideouts. The state should be supported to deal and ruthlessly so, activities which threaten the territorial integrity of this country. With new separatist groups bound by a common objective of breaking away from Ghana, decisive and effective actions should be in our quaver, ready to be pulled out and applied. Under the circumstances, those who breach the law should suffer the consequences no matter their rank in society. Papavi is still out of the reach of the security agencies, and it is worrying. Is there a silent decision to ignore him because of his age which is what we are beginning to think even as his operatives threaten the peace of this country? The city of Lawrence, Kan., has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by a Black man who was shot by a rookie police officer in 2018 during a traffic stop. Akira Lewis sued the city, two officers, the police department and the police chief after he was shot. He alleged the officers used excessive force and that the traffic stop was racially motivated. The city contended Lewis caused the confrontation by unreasonably refusing to get out of his car. Under the settlement approved Friday, neither the city or Lewis accepted liability for the shooting, The Lawrence Journal-World reported. Lewis was shot when he was pulled over by officers Ian McCann and Brindley Blood. Lewis refused to get out of his car or give the officers his identification. A police video shows McCann trying to pull Lewis from the car. When Lewis began hitting McCann, Blood shot him. She said later she meant to use her Taser but drew her gun instead. An aggravated battery charge against her was dropped and she later left the force. Lewis was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading no contest to battery of a law enforcement officer. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Personal Auto Kansas Two New York City Ballet principal male dancers fired in response to claims they shared explicit photos and lewd messages involving ballerinas have been cleared of any wrongdoing - but a case against a third ex-dancer at the center of the scandal can proceed, a judge has ruled. Former NYCB student dancer Alexandra Waterbury made the bombshell allegations in a 2018 lawsuit, in which she accused her ex-boyfriend and principal dancer Chase Finlay of sending surreptitiously taken pictures of her to fellow performers Zach Catazaro and Amar Ramasar. In the suit, Waterbury also accused the ballet of facilitating a culture of sexual exploitation that encouraged the three dancers to purportedly exchange the vulgar messages. However on Monday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James DAuguste dismissed 19 of the 20 claims made in the suit, insisting the ballet, along with Catazaro and Ramasar couldnt be held responsible for Finlay sharing the images. The only claim that remains is one against Finlay - who the judge called 'deplorable' - that alleges he violated a city administrative code prohibiting unlawful disclosure of an intimate image. Finlay, as the creator of the explicit content, is a covered recipient as he gained possession of and had access to an intimate image of Waterbury, the judge wrote in his decision, as reported by the NY Post. It is undisputed that Waterbury did not consent to the distribution of her image and that she is identifiable in at least some of the images. Former NYCB student dancer Alexandra Waterbury (right) made the stark allegations against the ballet company and her ex-boyfriend and principal dancer Chase Finlay (left) in September 2018 In the suit, Waterbury accused the ballet of facilitating a culture of sexual exploitation that enabled Finlay and three others including dancers Zach Catazaro (left) and Amar Ramasar (right) to exchange the lewd messages Waterbury, then 19, alleged that Finlay who resigned from the company in 2018 -sent explicit photos and videos to Catazaro and Ramasar, writing: You have any pictures of girls youve f***ed? Ill send you some [hot] ballerina girls Ive made scream? Jared Longhitano, who was once a member of the NYCBs Young Patrons Circle, was also accused by Waterbury of once sending a message to Finlay suggesting they could tie up girls so they could abuse them like farm animals In response, Ramasar allegedly sent a naked picture of his girlfriend Alexa Maxwell, who is also a dancer, to the other two men without her consent. Waterbury also accused Catazaro of exchanging explicit photos with Finlay, but didn't elaborate on the content. The ballet company said Ramasar, Catazaro, and Finlay were 'engaged in inappropriate communications, that while personal, off-hours and off-site, had violated the norms of conduct that NYCB expects from its employee'. Finlay hastily announced his resignation from the company a week before the allegations were made public. Both Catazaro and Ramasar, meanwhile, were fired in the suit's wake. An arbitrator later recommended they be reinstated following an April 2019 probe. Ramasar returned to the company, while Catazaro declined to take his job back. As part of the suit, one-time ballet benefactor Jared Longhitano had also been accused of sharing disturbing text exchanges about 'abusing' female dancers with Finlay. Longhitano, who was once a member of the NYCBs Young Patrons Circle, once sent a message to Finlay suggesting they could tie up girls so they could abuse them like farm animals. 'Or like the sluts they are,' Finlay reportedly replied in a text, according to Waterbury. In an earlier exchange, Longhitano is purported to have written to Finlay: we should get like half a kilo [of cocaine] and put it over the girls and just violate them.' Longhitano too was cleared of all wrongdoing on Monday. Waterbury alleged that Finlay sent explicit photos and videos to Catazaro and Ramasar, writing: You have any pictures of girls youve f**ked? Ill send you some [hot] ballerina girls Ive made scream? Both Ramasar (performing above in 2015) and Catazaro were fired in light of the allegations. Finlay resigned days prior to the suit's public disclosure Zachary Catazaro (pictured with dancer Sara Mearns) has been cleared by the court The New York City Ballet itself was accused of harbouring a workplace culture that enabled a a breeding ground for sexual exploitation where women are objectified and treated as second-class citizens. Waterbury also accused the company, which she described as an out of control frat house, of fostering a highly sexualized environment and sweeping the male principals' unlawful, reckless or degrading behavior towards women 'under the rug'. The male dancers understood that they were above the law and could do whatever they wanted to women, whenever they wanted to do so just make sure it occurs in New York, where it could be controlled by [NYC Ballets] executives and management, the lawsuit alleged. Without naming the person in question, the court filing claims that one male dancer was sent to rehab after a run-in with the law concerning substance abuse and domestic violence involving a ballerina, but he was allowed to return to the dance corps a week later 'without repercussion.' 'This sent the message to Mr Finlay and other New York City Ballet male dancers and others that it was acceptable to... abuse substances and degrade, demean, dehumanize and physically abuse women, including its own employees,' the complaint reads. While the claims were dismissed by Judge DAuguste, in his ruling her urged the NYCB to consider implementing training courses, policies and other procedures to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. We do not agree with the Courts interpretation of the law, Waterburys lawyer Jordan Merson told the Post, adding that New York State civil law is inadequate to protect against this type of conduct. We are reviewing the options for proceeding, and Ms. Waterbury will continue to fight to protect New Yorkers, the attorney added. The New York City Ballet itself was accused of harbouring a workplace culture that enabled a a breeding ground for sexual exploitation where women are objectified and treated as second-class citizens', according to Waterbury A #MeToo protest outside the Broadway Theatre on the opening night of West Side Story in February 2020, in which Ramasar was cast to play Sharks gang leader Bernardo is seen above Longhitanos lawyer Adam Silverstein credited to court for making the decision we all anticipated: Plaintiff was basically blown out of the water. Catazaros lawyer Brian Kennedy said, The judges decision dismissing the case correctly ruled that Ms. Waterbury should not have pointed a finger of blame at Mr. Catazaro, and that Mr. Catazaro caused no harm to Ms. Waterbury. He added that he client never obtained or disseminated any nude photos of Waterbury. While an attorney for Ramsar reportedly declined to comment, his girlfriend Alexa Maxwell took to social media earlier this year to defend her boyfriend and his alleged decision to share intimate image of her with Finlay and Catazaro. While an attorney for Ramsar reportedly declined to comment, his girlfriend Alexa Maxwell took to social media earlier this year to defend her boyfriend and his alleged decision to share intimate image of her with Finlay and Catazaro The post came in response to a #MeToo protest outside the Broadway Theatre on the opening night of West Side Story in February, in which Ramasar was cast to play Sharks gang leader Bernardo. She accused the demonstrators, who were calling for ousted from the production, of unfairly targeting him and calling the incident a personal matter. 'I am not a victim in this and no longer wish for my truth to be misrepresented. It is not my mission to diminish the feelings of Alexandra's but I want to bring to light some facts that have been misrepresented across multiple platforms,' Maxwell wrote. She added that the only photograph that was shared by Amar was of me, his girlfriend of nearly five years. I knew about the photos of me when they were taken, and while sharing it privately with a close friend was a misstep in judgment, Amar immediately told me when he sent them to Chase and his sincerest regrets have led us to today, where we reside together and are building a loving and happy relationship. 'The incident was a personal matter between me and Amar, and I am okay with what happened.' Waterbury claimed in her suit that she'd sustained severe psychological and emotional damage, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation as a result of Finlays actions and those of the ballet company. Waterburys lawsuit had been seeking unspecified punitive damages, compensatory damages and attorney's fees for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery and invasion of privacy. The New York City ballet has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment on the ruling. The president reminded the next EU-Ukraine Summit is expected to be held in a week, and expressed hope it would be successful. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says today Ukraine's course toward the European Union is even more relevant than before. During a video conference with members of the European Parliament, the president thanked for the consistent support of the European Parliament in advancing the ambitious Ukraine-EU agenda, as well as for the firm position of the European Union legislature on restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the de-occupation of Crimea, as reported by the presidential press service. The president reminded the next EU-Ukraine Summit is expected in a week and expressed hope it would be successful. "Given the challenges that exist today, the immutable course toward Europe, the European Union is even more relevant for Ukraine than before," Zelensky said. "Today, the support of the European Union is very important for Ukraine," he added. Read alsoZelensky calls on lawmakers to quickly approve anti-graft strategy until 2024The video conference was attended by MEPs representing various political groups in the European Parliament, including Michael Gahler (Germany), Petras Austrevicius (Lithuania), Niclas Herbst (Germany), Frederique Ries (Belgium), Elzbieta ukacijewska (Poland) and Wodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Poland). Background The previous EU-Ukraine summit was held in Kyiv on July 8, 2019. The 22nd Ukraine-EU summit is scheduled for October 6 in Brussels. KELOWNA, BC, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - The Valens Company Inc. (TSX: VLNS) (OTCQX: VLNCF) (the "Company" or "The Valens Company"), a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products, today announced the launch of a new higher potency cannabis-infused beverage, Summit 10, under a white label agreement with A1 Cannabis Company (a subsidiary of Iconic Brewing) ("A1 Cannabis" or "A1"). Summit 10, a lemonade iced tea containing 10mg of THC, is the third addition to The Valens Company and A1's line of cannabis-infused beverages. Available in a 355ml bottle, Summit 10 differentiates from the previously released 2.5mg THC-infused Summit beverage, with a flavour profile of citrus and black tea and a higher potency level. Summit 10 was developed using SoRSE by Valens emulsion technology and is designed for consumers seeking a higher dosage product with faster observed onset times and reduced offset times, housed in a resealable bottle for convenient and controlled consumption. Earlier this year, The Valens Company introduced its first line of cannabis infused beverages in partnership with A1 Cannabis Basecamp, a CBD-forward iced tea, and Summit, a THC-forward citrus-flavoured water. Both have quickly gained popularity in the Canadian cannabis-infused beverage market, receiving acclaim for their differentiated taste and customizable dosing from the industry and consumers alike. "As an anticipated addition to A1's cannabis-infused beverage line, we bring Summit 10 to the Canadian market, a reimagined THC-forward formulation with more potency and differentiated taste, but with the same quality consumers have come to favour in Summit," said Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer of The Valens Company. "As the Canadian cannabis-infused beverage market matures, it is our commitment to continue to innovate and differentiate for our partners using SoRSE by Valens, but also reinvent trusted products that offer customizable experiences in various potency levels and taste profiles to meet a wide range of consumer preferences. We are thrilled to launch Summit 10 as part of our continued collaboration with A1 Cannabis to introduce new products and increase our collective market share in the rapidly growing beverage segment in Canada." Summit 10 is expected to first launch in mid-October in Alberta online and at select retailers, with British Columbia and Ontario to follow shortly after. The Valens Company and A1 Cannabis also expect to release a zero sugar Summit 10 beverage this fall. About The Valens Company The Valens Company is a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products. The Valens Company is focused on being the partner of choice for leading Canadian and international cannabis brands by providing best-in-class, proprietary services including CO2, ethanol, hydrocarbon, solvent-less and terpene extraction, analytical testing, formulation and product development and custom manufacturing. Valens is the largest third-party extraction company in Canada with an annual capacity of 425,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp biomass at our purpose-built facility in Kelowna, British Columbia which is in the process of becoming European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant. The Valens Company currently offers a wide range of product formats, including tinctures, two-piece caps, soft gels, oral sprays and vape pens as well as beverages, concentrates, topicals, edibles, injectables, natural health products and has a strong pipeline of next-generation products in development for future release. Finally, The Valens Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Valens Labs is a Health Canada licensed ISO 17025 accredited cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical services and has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Science. For more information, please visit http://thevalenscompany.com . The Valens Company's investor deck can be found specifically at http://thevalenscompany.com/investors/ . About A1 Cannabis Company (a subsidiary of Iconic Brewing Company) Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Iconic Brewing Company has current beverage alcohol distribution across Canada and has quickly emerged as a leader in Canada's "Better For You" beverage alcohol space, with brands such as Cottage Springs Vodka Soda and Liberty Village Dry Cider. Iconic Brewing has leveraged this success to create A1 Cannabis Company . Founded on the same principles, A1 Cannabis Company shares the same mission: to create better-for-you cannabis products, built for the healthy and active consumer. Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements All information included in this press release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance and other statements of The Valens Company that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "trends", "indications", "potential", "estimates", "predicts", "anticipate", "to establish", "believe", "intend", "ability to", or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", or are "likely" to be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of these words or other variations thereof, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding future results of operations, economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, regulatory risk, United States border crossing and travel bans, reliance on licenses, expansion of facilities, competition, dependence on supply of cannabis and reliance on other key inputs, dependence on senior management and key personnel, general business risk and liability, regulation of the cannabis industry, change in laws, regulations and guidelines, compliance with laws, reliance on a single facility, limited operating history, vulnerability to rising energy costs, unfavourable publicity or consumer perception, product liability, risks related to intellectual property, product recalls, difficulties with forecasts, management of growth and litigation, many of which are beyond the control of The Valens Company. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by The Valens Company, and which may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of The Valens Company to be materially different from estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, please refer to The Valens Company's latest Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com or on The Valens Company's website at www.thevalenscompany.com. The risks described in such Annual Information Form are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Although the forward-looking statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and reasonable assumptions based upon information available to management as of the date hereof, The Valens Company cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. The Valens Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Valens Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Nothing herein should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell securities of The Valens Company. SOURCE The Valens Company Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) Administration officials claimed that Facebook is censoring and curtailing free speech when it decided to shut down pro-government pages which were tied to inauthentic or bot-like behavior on social media. House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano expressed "grave concern" over reports of Facebook's partisanship, when it allegedly deactivated accounts that voiced support for state forces, while keeping those that criticize the government. He said Congress will launch a legislative inquiry on the issue. "Upon passage of the 2021 Budget in the House of Representatives, rest assured that we shall initiate the appropriate proceedings in aid of legislation to truly determine if the reported actions of Facebook are detrimental to the Constitutional freedom of expression guaranteed to all Filipinos, regardless of political color, rich or poor, left or right," Cayetano said in a Facebook post. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who has claimed that press freedom is protected under the administration, echoed President Rodrigo Duterte's condemnation of the popular social networking site. "Ang konkretong aksyon po ay 'wag pong supilin ang kalayaan ng malayang pananalita ng mga personalidad o mga pages na pabor po sa gobyerno," Roque said in a Tuesday press briefing. "The effect is censorship kasi ang laman ng page na 'yun, nabura." [Translation: The concrete action (sought) is for Facebook not to suppress freedom of expression among personalities or pages in favor of the government. The effect is censorship because the content of these pages were removed.] He described Duterte as an advocate of freedom of expression. Roque, a former human rights lawyer before joining the Cabinet, went on to say that the idea of banning Facebook from the Philippines is not on the table yet, saying that the President has not taken any concrete steps so far. Last week, Facebook announced it took down 57 accounts, 31 pages, and 20 Instagram profiles most of them pro-Duterte over "coordinated inauthentic behavior" out to spread lies online. RELATED: Facebook prepares legal action against Thai government's request to block group Roque said that while the pages are not maintained by the government, Duterte was upset in particular over the shutdown of "Hands Off Our Children" page, which supposedly calls out communists who recruit kids as their combatants. "Ang punto dito: bakit kapag pabor sa gobyerno, tinatanggal? Kapag pabor sa oposisyon, hindi tinatanggal? Bakit ang fact-checkers, laban sa gobyerno?," he added, blasting why Rappler and Vera Files were chosen to carry out these mandates. [Translation: Our point is: why are pro-government pages taken down and opposition pages are not? Why are fact-checkers against government?] READ: Do you believe that? Ressa responds to Malacanangs statement that President Duterte upholds press freedom Roque said the selection of fact-checkers in the Philippines was the product of talks led by then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Duterte's defeated running mate who is now House Speaker. Facebook tapped independent and country-based fact-checkers to combat disinformation online after the platform became under fire for reportedly allowing trolls and foreign governments to control or intervene with elections through undue influence on voters in some countries. Roque floated the idea that government will hire its own fact-checkers, claiming that it's not just the Philippines complaining about Facebook's policies. He went on to question Facebook's basis for deleting these pages, saying that the claim that these are backed by trolls and used to disseminate fake news was "not the issue." "Ang sinasabi lang ng Presidente, dapat maging patas sila," he said. "Bakit ang freedom of speech binibigay lang nila sa mga kontra-gobyerno?" [Translation: The President is telling Facebook to play fair. Why is freedom of speech only given to those against the government?] Media and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned curtailment of free speech and of the press when Rappler founder Maria Ressa was found guilty of libel and ABS-CBN was denied a congressional franchise under Duterte's reign. Roque has claimed that these incidents were not against press freedom but involved a criminal case before the courts and a congressional action. The Philippines has fallen from the world press freedom index in the past few years, with nonprofit Reporters Without Borders blasting "state troll armies" sowing disinformation on social media similar to Russia and Vietnam. Filipino journalists have also been attacked by pro-government activists, while several have been killed in the line of duty. RELATED: EU Parliament denounces deterioration of human rights, press freedom in PH Company Strengthens Clinical Leadership Team with Appointment of Kristin Neff as Vice President, Clinical Operations Anokion SA, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease by restoring normal immune tolerance, today announced the appointments of Patricia "Patty" Allen to its board of directors and chairperson of the audit committee, and Kristin Neff as vice president, clinical operations. "We are thrilled to welcome Patty to our board of directors as she brings more than 25 years of financial leadership to the company. Her depth of strategic and financial experience in the biopharma industry has been pivotal to the growth of multiple private and public biotechnology companies," said John A. Hohneker, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Anokion. "We are also pleased to welcome Kristin to the Anokion team as we make continued progress with our two lead programs, KAN-101 for celiac disease and ANK-700 for multiple sclerosis. With the recent FDA clearance of our IND for ANK-700, we will soon have two clinical-stage programs in our pipeline. Kristin's expertise leading clinical operations, particularly in the areas of multiple sclerosis and celiac disease, will be critical to our success." "Anokion has emerged over the last few years as a leader in developing innovative autoimmune therapies designed to re-educate the immune system with a potentially transformative approach versus currently available treatments. I look forward to working with the other members of the board of directors and the rest of the Anokion team as the company advances its second program into the clinic with the goal to transform patient care," said Ms. Allen. Ms. Allen was most recently chief financial officer of Zafgen, Inc. (now Larimar Therapeutics) from 2013 to 2020 where she raised over $300 million and led finance, human resources, investor and public relations, and information technology. Ms. Allen has over 25 years of financial leadership experience in the biotechnology industry at both publicly traded and private companies. From 2011 to 2012, she provided independent consulting services to biotechnology companies in a variety of areas, including interim CFO services, fundraising, deal structures, financial planning, organizational structure, investor relations and business development. Previously, from 2004 to 2011, Ms. Allen served as the vice president of finance, treasurer and principal financial officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, where she had significant interactions with the investment community and was influential in raising over $900 million via the company's initial public offering, follow-on common stock offerings and multiple business development transactions with top-tier pharmaceutical companies. Prior to Alnylam, Ms. Allen was at Alkermes, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, most recently serving as the director of finance. Ms. Allen began her career as an auditor at Deloitte Touche, LLP. Ms. Allen also serves as a director on the board of directors of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals and is the chair of their audit committee. Ms. Allen graduated summa cum laude from Bryant College with a B.S. in business administration. Ms. Neff joins Anokion from Venthera, Inc., a BridgeBio company, where she served as vice president, clinical operations and oversaw all activities supporting the early stage development of the company's topical PI3K inhibitor. Prior to Venthera, Ms. Neff served as director, clinical operations, program leadership at Biogen, Inc., where she led the strategy, planning and implementation of the global clinical development program operations in MS. Before that, she was vice president, clinical operations and project management at ImmusanT, Inc., where she led the global Phase 2 study of a vaccine to treat celiac disease. Earlier, Ms. Neff held various clinical operations and clinical affairs roles at InVivo Therapeutics, Taris Biomedical, Inc., ConforMIS, Inc., HeartWare, Inc., Boston Scientific Corp., Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Parexel International. Ms. Neff began her career at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where she was a technical director in the Asthma Research Center. She holds an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she graduated cum laude as a Commonwealth Scholar. About Anokion Anokion SA is a Swiss biotechnology company that aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases by restoring normal immune tolerance. The company is focused on both prevalent and rare autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Anokion's distinct approach leverages the company's immune-based platform, which targets natural pathways in the liver to restore immune tolerance and address the underlying cause of autoimmune disease. For more information, please visit http://www.anokion.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005200/en/ Contacts: Alicia Davis THRUST Strategic Communications alicia@thrustsc.com (910) 620-3302 By Trend The S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems moving out of Armenia to participate in hostilities will be destroyed as soon as they enter our occupied territories, Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Colonel Vagif Dargahli said, Trend reports. According to our intelligence, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems covering the airspace of Yerevan were removed from combat duty and are moving towards the occupied territories. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense states that the same fate awaits them in Nagorno-Karabakh as that of the previously destroyed Armenian military equipment. The recent battles once again destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Armenian army, Dargahli added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By tomorrow the EU and the UK could be locked in an international legal battle over the post-Brexit trade status of Northern Ireland. That would add further to the gloom that surrounds that most dreaded topic that has haunted us for the past four and a half years since the shock referendum result on June 23, 2016. Last year, for those of us who can remember before the fog of Covid-19, was a series of Brexit deadlines and cliff edges. It stumbled all the way along, via the advent of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a British general election, to the UK-EU "political divorce" on January 31 last. Now we face the "commercial divorce" Mr Johnson insists must happen on time on December 31 next. He has spurned Brussels' offers of an extension of anything up to two years. The process enters yet another crucial week of talks. These three days of negotiations - in Brussels this time - between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost were dealt an advance blow yesterday. UK Brexit minister Michael Gove was in Brussels for talks with EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic. Mr Gove told Mr Sefcovic the UK had no intention of withdrawing its illegal legislation that changes the post-Brexit status of the North. So Mr Sefcovic told the London government to brace themselves for a legal fight once the Brussels deadline expires tomorrow. "We are considering all legal options available to us," Mr Sefcovic said. This additional rift means talks begin today under an ominous cloud. It has become a crazy game of chicken as both the EU and UK stand to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and a big chunk of their income if they fail to find a compromise. Yet both have been digging in their heels, vowing not to compromise on key issues. Everyone agrees Ireland is arguably the worst placed of all facing a bad Brexit fallout. Taoiseach Micheal Martin said again yesterday his Government was "preparing its budget in three weeks' time on the basis that there will be a no-deal Brexit". He remains firmly aligned with the EU, saying Mr Johnson's attempt to pass a law that violates the legally binding EU-UK divorce agreement had "eroded trust" and undermined confidence. The spectre of a return of the Irish Border is back again. Mr Johnson's defence for "technically and partially" breaking international law is his fear the EU could abuse the Withdrawal Treaty to put Northern Ireland in an economic chokehold, cut off from England, Scotland and Wales. The EU utterly rejects this and insists the full withdrawal agreement must be respected for fear it otherwise might threaten a fragile peace. The UK and the EU jointly promised in the Brexit divorce agreement to ensure there are no customs posts or other obstacles on the Border, no matter what the final terms of Brexit. The open Border is key to the stability that underpins the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Mr Sefcovic warned on Monday the UK shouldn't try to use the withdrawal agreement and its Northern Ireland provisions as "a bargaining chip" in trade negotiations. Today's talks will try to bridge gaps on EU fishing boats' access to UK waters and the amount of support governments are allowed to give to businesses. The EU has accused the UK of trying to retain membership privileges without following the EU's rules. The UK says the EU is making demands it has not placed on other countries with which it has trade deals. Still, London maintained there was some hope a deal could be reached before or at an EU summit in mid-October, which Mr Johnson has called the deadline for a deal. "We expect discussions to continue in the run-up to the European Council" on October 15 and 16, a UK government spokesman said. But it all remains to be done. Tens of thousands of protesters in Belarus have taken to the streets for seven weeks since the vote to press Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994, to step down. His government has met the uproar with a violent crackdown on protesters and targeting the protest organizers. Thousands of men could be spared the ordeal of having radiotherapy after surgery for prostate cancer, scientists said last night. The treatment is used to eradicate cancer cells and to try to ensure tumours do not return. But research in The Lancet found there was no benefit. Academics at University College London said radiotherapy performed later, at the first sign of cancer coming back, had equally good outcomes. It means many of the roughly 15,000 men a year who have the treatment could avoid it and side-effects such as impotence and incontinence. Thousands of men could be spared the ordeal of having radiotherapy after surgery for prostate cancer, scientists said last night Dr Claire Vale, who led the review, said: 'Our findings suggest that following surgery, patients whose cancer is confined to the prostate, or has spread only to nearby tissues or organs, can safely be spared routine post-operative radiotherapy and its associated side-effects. Radiotherapy need only be given to men if they show early signs that the cancer may be returning. 'Guidelines and policy regarding the standard of care for prostate cancer should be updated based on the findings.' The team combined data from patients in the UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark and Ireland, to investigate the optimal timing of radiotherapy. The results included 2,153 men enrolled across three trials 1,075 had radiotherapy straight after surgery, and another 1,078 had 'early salvage' radiotherapy, where treatment is delayed until signs of the disease come back. The authors found little difference between early salvage with a five-year survival rate of 88 per cent and immediate radiotherapy, with an 89 per cent rate. The Daily Mail is campaigning for greater prostate cancer awareness, treatment and diagnosis, which, although improving, is lagging years behind other diseases. Liberal Harvard law professor Noah Feldman probably expected plenty of abuse from the left for writing a glowing assessment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. However, Im not sure he expected anything quite like this nasty tweet storm from a Stanford law professor. Steve has noted one passage from professor Michele Daubers rant her reference to Feldman as a worthless shitty white man. Dauber also claimed that Feldman was unqualified to clerk on the Supreme Court because, while in that job, he sought guidance from fellow clerks Barrett and Jenny Martinez, now the dean of Stanford Law School, on complicated issues before the Court. Dauber translated this to mean: I am stupid and get women to do my homework for me. Yet because of my white penis I had a job I apparently admit I did not deserve. White penis? What combination of alcohol and psychological disorders caused Dauber to include that phrase? The notion that Feldman is stupid because he talked through difficult issues with the two top Supreme Court clerks the elite of the elite, one of whom is now a Stanford law dean and the other a court of appeals judge and, perhaps, soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice is absurd. The notion that Feldman has admitted he got his clerkship because of race is laughable. At most, Feldman admitted only that two of the 30 plus Supreme Court clerks during a particular term were more deserving of a clerkship than he was. Speaking of deserving, what did Dauber do to deserve to be a law professor at Stanford (and, more pointedly, what did Stanford law students do to deserve having her inflicted on them)? Her credentials at the time of her hire seem underwhelming, at least judged against those of the professors who taught when I was a law student at Stanford. Daubers clerkship was with Judge Stephen Reinhardt. He was the leftist court of appeals judge known for being reversed by the Supreme Court and, lately, for allegedly having sexually harassed his law clerks. Dauber reportedly remained close to Reinhardt until he died, but afterwards supported the former clerk who accused him of sexual harassment and corroborated the claim that Reinhardt harassed women. Speaking of sexual harassment, Daubers claim to recent fame seems to be her work regarding sexual assault on campus. According to this account, she became co-chair of Stanfords Board on Judicial Affairs in 2011, and helped revise the rules for judging assault cases. Among the revisions was the use of a preponderance of the evidence standard in adjudication. One standard for dealing (or in Daubers case, not dealing) with a powerful judge who, according to multiple accounts, harassed his clerks. Another standard for dealing with an accused student. A few years ago, Stanford administrators discouraged Daubert from using a picture of President Trump to illustrate the fliers for a presentation on sexual assault. Translation: adult supervision required. Judging from Daubers latest rant, it still is. Its been more than a decade since I donated money to Stanford law school. Readers who are still donating to the law school might want to consider whether an institution that employs a crackpot like Dauber is worthy of their support. Similarly, alumni of any part of the University might ask themselves if they wish to support an institution that entrusts any aspect of its judicial process to someone with the level of contempt for white males that Dauber displayed in her rant against professor Feldman. Germany Issues EU Presidency Tax Priorities by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 29 September 2020 On September 22, 2020, Germany provided further details about the government's tax policy priorities for its presidency of the European Union. The new document fleshes out the tax proposals included in Germany's program for the presidency released earlier this year. The document says the EU will seek to implement the new recommendations from the OECD on the taxation of the digital economy, including the reallocation of taxing rights and the introduction of an effective global minimum corporate tax. While the OECD's recommendations are unlikely to be implemented in the EU before the end of Germany's six-month presidency on December 31, 2020, the document states that Germany wants use its presidency to "pave the way" for the introduction of uniform minimum tax rules. Germany is also seeking to update the mandate of the Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation, to "reflect its diverse responsibilities." Established in 1997, the Code Group was established to monitor harmful tax regimes in the EU, although its remit has since expanded to cover harmful tax regimes in third countries. In particular, Germany wants to update the Code Group's mandate so that it is more consistent with the final recommendations of the OECD's BEPS Action Plan, released in October 2015. Additionally, Germany intends to take forward the European Commission's proposal to introduce a new Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC7), which will set out a framework for member states to automatically exchange the information they receive on the taxable activities of business users of online platforms. The German presidency will also seek to strengthen existing rules on administrative cooperation to allow for the introduction of joint tax audits. Finally, Germany will continue to push for an EU financial transactions tax (FTT), based on the existing French rules. Under proposals issued in January 2020, this would entail a tax of no less than 0.2 percent being imposed on the purchase of shares in domestically listed companies with a market capitalization in excess of EUR1bn (USD1.2bn). The tax would also apply to depositary receipts issued domestically and abroad and which are backed by shares in these companies. Initial share offerings would be excluded from the FTT. According to the document, the German Presidency hopes to negotiate a political agreement between participating member states allowing for the legislative process to introduce an FTT to begin. 10 member states are still discussing the FTT on the basis of enhanced cooperation, a legislative mechanism used when the required consensus on proposed EU laws cannot be reached. These member states are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. Gary Marsh has been the CEO of Solid State plc (LON:SOLI) since 2011, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Solid State. View our latest analysis for Solid State Comparing Solid State plc's CEO Compensation With the industry Our data indicates that Solid State plc has a market capitalization of UK50m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as UK427k for the year to March 2020. Notably, that's an increase of 60% over the year before. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at UK175k. For comparison, other companies in the industry with market capitalizations below UK156m, reported a median total CEO compensation of UK225k. This suggests that Gary Marsh is paid more than the median for the industry. Moreover, Gary Marsh also holds UK1.7m worth of Solid State stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company. Component 2020 2019 Proportion (2020) Salary UK175k UK163k 41% Other UK252k UK104k 59% Total Compensation UK427k UK267k 100% Speaking on an industry level, nearly 79% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 21% is other remuneration. Solid State pays a modest slice of remuneration through salary, as compared to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance. A Look at Solid State plc's Growth Numbers Over the past three years, Solid State plc has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 14% per year. Its revenue is up 20% over the last year. Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues Has Solid State plc Been A Good Investment? With a total shareholder return of 29% over three years, Solid State plc shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median. To Conclude... As we touched on above, Solid State plc is currently paying its CEO higher than the median pay for CEOs of companies belonging to the same industry and with similar market capitalizations. However, the EPS growth over three years is certainly impressive. Looking at the same time period, we think that the shareholder returns are respectable. You might wish to research management further, but on this analysis, considering the EPS growth, we wouldn't say CEO compensation problematic. CEO compensation is a crucial aspect to keep your eyes on but investors also need to keep their eyes open for other issues related to business performance. We did our research and spotted 1 warning sign for Solid State that investors should look into moving forward. Important note: Solid State is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Police in Portland, Oregon, broke up a planned, unpermitted march before it began Monday and declared an unlawful assembly when protesters reorganized and marched anyway. At least 24 people were arrested, a police officer was sent to a hospital and at least five officers were sprayed by a chemical irritant in the Kenton neighborhood, according to police. People were instructed to meet at Kenton Park at 8 p.m. for a march scheduled at 9 p.m., according to social media. Police learned of the march, and by 8:45 p.m., officers "moved into the park" to seize shields from participants. "The posture of the gathering suggested that it would become violent, as many such gatherings have been over the past 120-plus days," police said in a statement. "To lower the likelihood that members of the gathering would use the shields to protect those intent on committing crimes such as throwing objects at police, officers moved into the park and seized numerous shields." Breonna Taylor protest: Proud Boys rally draws counterprotest in Portland There is a gathering in Kenton Park and learned that it was the initiation point of a planned unpermitted march. Participants were seen wearing body armor and helmets. Officers observed shields and moved in to take them for safekeeping before they could be used. Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 29, 2020 A scuffle broke out when officers tried to confiscate a sign from a demonstrator, according to video from the scene. Police told the group they could demonstrate at the park but not march in the street as the crowd headed toward the Portland Police Association, the site of many demonstrations since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May. Police told marchers the sidewalk in front of the building was closed, and officers made more arrests because people in the street were blocking traffic, according to police. Story continues Police try to take away a protest sign, the protester refuses, police mace and arrest him. pic.twitter.com/CtfN53wrMh Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) September 29, 2020 Police declared an unlawful assembly after members of the crowd threw objects at them and officers were punched and sprayed with "some kind of chemical." Officers continued to make arrests until the crowd dissipated around 1:30 a.m. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown asked authorities to review "any alleged incidents" involving officers during the law enforcement response to a protest in Portland late Saturday into early Sunday. The governor said in a series of tweets Sunday evening that she was committed to building trust in the community. She asked Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese and Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell to take another look at what happened during their joint operations that night. A police officer pushes back protesters Sept. 26 in Portland, Ore. The protests, which began after the death of George Floyd, have resulted in frequent clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Journalists and law enforcement officers have difficult jobs to do during these demonstrations, but I do still believe that we can protect free speech and keep the peace, Brown tweeted. The trio of law enforcement agencies released a joint statement Monday saying agencies were reviewing several use-of-force incidents from Saturday nights protests to see whether any deputies, officers or troopers may have acted outside the scope of their policy or training. The agencies urged people to file a complaint if they felt any officer, deputy or trooper acted unjustly or used excessive force. The unrest came hours after a right-wing rally and counterprotesters largely dispersed without serious violence Saturday afternoon. Contributing: The Associated Press Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Portland police stop protest march, arrest 24; officer hospitalized San Antonio officials said Monday they believed the area has avoided a major surge in new infections from the Labor Day weekend. With 63 new cases reported, Bexar Countys cumulative total increased to 57,208 since the start of the pandemic. It was the second day in a row that the county recorded fewer than 100 cases. On Sunday, the county logged 56 new cases and nearly 2,800 backlogged cases, most of which were from July, officials said. No new deaths were reported Monday, leaving the local death toll from the pandemic at 1,130. Our numbers now, three weeks since Labor Day, are looking really good, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said during the daily coronavirus briefing. I think weve passed that hump. Now were into the school hump, and now were into the flu season. On ExpressNews.com: Texas officials rescind data on COVID-19 spread in school districts San Antonio has experienced weeks of steady improvements to the level of coronavirus transmission in the area, a trend that continued Monday, when officials presented their weekly epidemiology report. The seven-day rolling average for new cases has dropped to 139, and officials said daily cases were on a downward trajectory over the two-week period from the end of August to mid-September. The doubling rate, or time for case totals to double, is more than three months. The positivity rate, or percentage of positive tests, declined to 5.92 percent, after ticking up to 6.4 percent the previous week. Health officials are close to their goal of reducing the areas rate to 5 percent or less. Once that threshold is achieved, city recommendations to restrict in-person instruction at local schools will ease. Some Bexar County school districts began phased reopenings earlier this month, in combination with virtual learning. Overall, San Antonio remains in the low-risk zone for transmission of the virus. Last week, the city began reopening major public spaces, parks and playgrounds as the virus loosened its grip on the city. Credit to all of you who have been working so hard to get this infection under control, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. On ExpressNews.com: From Convention Center to skate parks, San Antonio begins to reopen as coronavirus surge tapers off COVID-related hospitalizations have hovered above 200 for much of September, with modest declines in the number of patients needing intensive care and ventilators. On Monday, there were 220 people being treated in area hospitals, including 22 new admissions. Of those receiving treatment, 86 patients were in intensive care units and 34 were breathing with the support of a ventilator. At the height of San Antonios summer coronavirus surge, more than 1,200 people were hospitalized across the area. Still, Nirenberg said we need to keep working to decrease this number overall. Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Lauren, become a subscriber. lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba WALLIX has been responding to cybersecurity and compliance challenges in healthcare institutions since 2008 During the health crisis, WALLIX has deployed unprecedented resources for hospitals worldwide Health is a key focus of WALLIX's strategic plan - Ambition 2021 - to address the sector's priorities in all countries of the world Paris, September 29, 2020 - WALLIX (Euronext ALLIX), a European publisher of cybersecurity software and expert in identity and access management (IAM/PAM), has been supporting healthcare institutions and healthcare data hosting companies (HDS) since 2008 with solutions that guarantee data confidentiality and security, as well as regulatory compliance. The digital transformation, accelerated by the current health crisis, increases the risk of cyber-attacks against healthcare institutions worldwide, and the breach of sensitive data. This timely reminder makes cybersecurity a priority for investment in healthcare sector. It is in this context that WALLIX, which has made healthcare one of the key areas of its Ambition 2021 growth plan, is strengthening its positioning in this sector. After winning the contract with the French Union of Public Purchasing Groups (UGAP) in 2018, WALLIX has now been referenced in the healthcare IT solutions marketplace ELODI, run by the C.A.I.H (Central Purchasing Office for Hospital IT) reserved exclusively for its 1300 members. As a trusted European player in identity and access management, this strategic positioning echoes the French government's "France Relance" plan, which aims to invest 1.6 billion over 3 years to catch up on digital healthcare tools. Health must be a global priority Jean-Noel de Galzain, CEO of WALLIX, explains: "Since 2008, we have been working alongside healthcare institutions, health insurance, and IT service providers to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in France, the UK, Germany and now worldwide. We offer easy-to-implement cybersecurity solutions that make access to IT systems more agile, more mobile, and more secure, in compliance with IT regulations (GDPR, PCI-DSS, HDS, OSE/OIV, Kritis...); which is essential in these times when organizations are under great pressure due to health emergencies. WALLIX has adapted its solutions suite to the cybersecurity needs of healthcare professionals and their suppliers: authenticating users, managing remote or internal access to avoid breakdowns or data leaks, protecting passwords, servers, computer workstations or industrial equipment from massive or targeted attacks. Indeed, there is no need to add a digital pandemic to that of COVID19. There is an urgent need to help and support the healthcare sector to equip itself against cyber risk, which we undertook very early on. In this context, WALLIX reinforces its strategic positioning in this sensitive sector." Cybersecurity, a vital need for hospitals With the digital transformation, hospital information systems are increasingly open and interconnected with their ecosystem: connected networks and equipment (IoT), the need for continuous collaboration with healthcare and IT professionals outside the organization (doctors, service providers, maintenance, etc.), staff mobility, new uses (teleworking, teleconsultation...), etc. In return for this flexibility, they are exposed to new IT risks: business interruption due to a cyberattack, data breach, paralysis of emergency systems or connected industrial systems, more access to patient records, etc. The challenge, and even more so in the event of a health crisis, is to ensure an agile IT system that enables mobility while complying with regulatory requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.), and guaranteeing data protection, resilience and business continuity. Some institutions and hospital groups are pooling their resources to make significant investments in their digital transformation by developing their digital capacities in service mode in the Cloud, which requires improving the reliability of infrastructures and the means of controlling access to applications and data. WALLIX responds to the challenges of hospital data protection Thanks to its expertise in the protection of access and digital identities, and to a strong relationship with both health insurance and more than 120 healthcare institutions worldwide (in France, Europe, the Middle East, and North America), WALLIX has built a portfolio of innovative and easy-to-implement solutions to meet the challenges of healthcare players: strong authentication, identity federation for application access, management and security of access to IT networks and the cloud, password vaulting, strengthened protection of user workstations and industrial equipment. The objective is to enable healthcare organizations to regain control over digital access and passwords, regardless of the context and location of the equipment or data in question. "With WALLIX Bastion we can automatically track and audit what external service providers and privileged accounts are doing on IT systems. When a staff member leaves the hospital, we can immediately block all administrative access for them, which means a considerable gain in security and a significant simplification of administration for us. In the event of a security incident, we can react more efficiently, more quickly, and more appropriately." explains Ulrich Lickert, Head of Systems Engineering Department at Freiburg University Hospital. During the health crisis, WALLIX deploys unprecedented measures for hospitals With the arrival of COVID-19, hospitals had to review their organization overnight and new uses appeared, both internally as well as with patients: remote work, videoconferences, teleconsultations, dematerialized consultation reports, etc. These new uses expose hospitals even more to cyberattacks, increasing the need for digital resources, cybersecurity, and support. Facing the crisis, WALLIX mobilized its teams around the world, based in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North America, as well as its network of 170 integrator and reseller partners, to support its customers in case of critical needs. In addition to free WALLIX Bastion remote access licenses during the entire containment period, an emergency number and service have been established, as well as 24/7 support and the implementation of managed services. "For us, the implementation of remote working has been one of the cyber challenges of the health crisis. WALLIX, which has been accompanying us for 2 years now, has been able to show a great reactivity and flexibility. WALLIX offered us additional licenses of WALLIX Bastion, allowing us to accelerate the deployment of new external access for our remote users, while guaranteeing security," explains Julien Berthel, CIO of the Tours University Hospital. A PROPOS DE WALLIX A software company providing cybersecurity solutions, WALLIX Group is the European specialist in privileged account governance. In response to recent regulatory changes and the cybersecurity threats affecting all companies today, WALLIX's solutions help users defend against cyber-attacks, theft and data leaks linked to stolen credentials and abused privileges. It is the first market solution to have been awarded first-level security certification (CSPN) by France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and thus meet all of the criteria for regulatory compliance. Listed on the Euronext under ALLIX and distributed by a network of more than 170 resellers and trained and accredited integrators, WALLIX accompanies more than 1200 companies in securing their digital future. www.wallix.com | info@wallix.com ACTUS FINANCE & COMMUNICATION Investor Relations Olivier LAMBERT Tel. 01 53 67 36 33 / wallix@actus.fr Financial Press Relations Nicolas BOUCHEZ Tel. 01 53 67 36 74 / nbouchez@actus.fr PRESS CONTACT Agence MCC Martine Camilotti Tel. 06 60 38 20 02 / martine.camilotti@agencemcc.com ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: lphpZshql2qWnGtrY8humJdqaphikmOZmmXLlpNvaZucmJ1hmJeXmpieZm9ml21r - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-65285-wallix_20200929_pr-healthcare_eng.pdf Despite the great advances in cancer research in recent years, treatments that can cause very severe adverse effects are still used. This is the case of neuropathy caused by chemotherapy with platinum derivatives, such as Cisplatin and Oxaliplatin. These are widely used drugs that can damage the peripheral nervous system causing a progressive and increasing loss of sensitivity, which may even affect the mobility. The appearance of these adverse effects may force to reduce the dose or change the treatment for a less effective second-line treatment. To design drugs that alleviate or avoid the adverse effects of Cisplatin, it is important to know the mechanism by which it causes neuropathy. And this is precisely the focus of the study carried out by a team from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), which has shown that Cisplatin induces senescence of peripheral neurons through overexpression of the p21 protein, which would explain the neuropathy. "This discovery represents a paradigm shift in the field, because until now it was believed that oxidative stress and apoptosis cell death caused Cisplatin neuropathy", says Dr. Jordi Bruna, project leader. The study, published in the Neuro-Oncology journal, shows that neurons respond to Cisplatin damage by generating a series of metabolic changes. These changes induce them to enter in a kind of permanent hibernation, called senescence, which would be causing neuropathic symptoms, and not the direct death of neurons as previously believed. The study shows the overexpression of the p21 protein induced by the administration of Cisplatin. This is a protein that in response to injury can regulate both, senescence and cellular apoptosis processes. However, the study shows that the pathways involved in apoptosis are not activated. Furthermore, both electron microscopy studies and molecular markers of cellular senescence have confirmed that neurons show morphological characteristics of senescence after treatment with Cisplatin. "Neurons are the paradigm of a highly differentiated cell that cannot replicate, and senescense processes, classically described in replicative cells, are more controversial in non-replicative cells. Therefore, our work contributes to other recent studies that point that senescence processes can be relevant in different neurological pathologies" says Dr. Esther Udina, researcher at the Institut de Neurociencies of the UAB (INc-UAB) and co-author of this research. Until now, clinical trials of neuroprotective treatments aimed to alleviate platinum neuropathy have failed. Dr. Bruna concludes that "this could be because the treatments were focused on preventing neuronal apoptosis," and adds, "this study provides new targets to alleviate platinum neuropathy. These neuroprotective treatments, administrated with chemotherapy, could prevent the onset of neuropathy, and are less likely to interfere with antitumor efficacy than those aimed to prevent apoptosis". " In this way, chemotherapy with Cisplatin would not be limited depending on the appearance of this common adverse effect." These studies used a mouse model that perfectly mimics the clinical characteristics of the patients. By a cell separation method, each neuron of the dorsal spinal ganglion was individualized and, the genes that were expressed at each moment were studied, with the subsequent validation with protein expression. It is an innovative method that has never been used in this field of research. ### People suspected of acting as foreign agents have sought the assistance of U.S. lawyers and in some cases, the same lawyer who has represented top Trump administration officials during the course of the Russian inquiry. The big picture: The phenomenon underscores the web of lobbying, money and court cases that have resulted from the Chinese government's efforts to influence U.S. decision-making. Context: The U.S. government has been pursuing more investigations into Chinese government-directed operations to influence politics and institutions. Driving the news: Hawaii-based consultant Nickie Mali Lum Davis recently pleaded guilty to illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the Chinese government. Background: There's a bit of family history here. Lum Davis's parents, Gene and Nora Lum, pleaded guilty in 1997 to an illegal campaign fundraising scheme that benefited Democrats. A 1998 Senate report identified a Macao billionaire named Ng Lap Seng as the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars that were illegally channeled to the Democratic National Convention as part of the same scandal. U.S. officials suspected at the time that Ng had "high-level" Chinese government connections and was "protected." In 2017, Ng was convicted in connection with a bribery and influence case at the United Nations. U.S. officials suspected that Ng's main contact with Chinese intelligence was through a Chinese national named Qin Fei. Abbe Lowell, a high-powered lawyer known for representing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump during the Russia inquiry, represented both Lum Davis in her recent case and also Qin Fei amid the UN bribery investigation. Ng himself also hoped to tap Lowell. According to a September 2017 court filing, a U.S. court granted Ng's request for permission to meet with Lowell while Ng was under house arrest, "with a view to possibly formally retaining him." Lowell did not respond to a request for comment. The bottom line: The Chinese government seems intent on using intermediaries to try to influence U.S. decision-making. When they get caught, though, somebody's got to represent these folks. Koala and glider habitat almost 20 times the size of Australia Zoo will be cleared for Queensland's newest mine, but no environmental group objected to the project, according to the Premier's office. In contrast, more than 14,000 submissions were made by activist websites on the environmental impact statement for Adani's Carmichael Mine in central Queensland in 2012 and 2013. GENERIC IMAGE: Environmental conditions placed on the Olive Downs mine include a $1 million contribution to koala and glider conservation, as well as a 34,000-hectare offset property for relocating affected wildlife. Credit:Robert Rough Construction on a $1 billion Olive Downs coal mine in central Queensland is set to begin after mining leases were handed over by the Palaszczuk government on Tuesday. The state and federal governments gave final approval to private equity group Pembroke Resources to clear 5500 hectares of koala and glider habitat. In contrast, Australia Zoo has grown to more than 280 hectares in size during its 50-year history. In a millennial-driven world where vegetarianism is on the up, and during a pandemic that has already forced us to look within, comes a book that will further provoke debate about eating habits. The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr exposes facts about the food industry that nauseate and startle, even when you are not expecting anything to the contrary. And though mainly about America, the book has relevance to other parts of the world. Behind glistening arrays of seafood laid out on ice across supermarket shelves are stories of slaves and torture. Lorr took the Hemingway-Gonzo route of immersing himself in an activity and then writing about it. In the five years he spent on the book, he worked at supermarkets, endured their fecal-matter like stench during cleaning, and visited fishing docks in Thailand, among other things. When an unpaid labourer on a boat in Thailand got delirious from exhaustion, he wasnt given fluids and taken to hospital. The man was beaten up and thrown overboard. Some others were lashed with stingray tails. One of the first things you realize working retail grocery is that people, in general, are hideous and insane, Lorr writes. A grocery store is a finely tuned instrument to serve human whim, and the diversity of human whim often allows it to do double duty serving one through the act of serving another. To do so, the industry relies on an anonymous and underpaid staff working without health care or job security. Lorr blames American consumers for a lot of the troubles in the grocery business. If best practices are ever to be adopted, and people want to crunch into their prawn tempura without guilt, they have to be willing to pay higher prices. But Lorr feels people want the best of everything at low cost. American shoppers, he says, demand completely impossible, unsustainable opposites low price and high quality, immediate availability and customized differentiation. Thanks to environmental, health and animal welfare awareness, many people are eating consciously all over the world. Veganism, a concept that is nearly eight decades old, is on the rise. The Economist had predicted that 2019 would be the year of the vegan. Where millennials lead, businesses and governments will follow, was the publications simple explanation for its stand. And millennials were going vegan or at least vegetarian. According to The Economist, a quarter of 25-34 year old Americans were vegan or vegetarian. There are 8 million plus millennials in the US. India, of course, has 426 million of them. If a decent percentage of them are sensible about food, there is hope for the rest of humanity. Maybe we shouldnt mock millennials and their organic coffees. Black Panther's costume designer Ruth Carter recalled the 'magic' of seeing the late Chadwick Boseman don the superhero outfit for first time. 'When he put on the suit and the helmet went on, it was like magic,' the Oscar-winning designer, 60, told People Monday of the late actor, who died at 43 from colon cancer in August. Carter told the outlet that she had previously developed professional chemistry working with Boseman on 2017's Marshall, in which the actor played Thurgood Marshall, who was the first Black Supreme Court Justice. The latest: Black Panther's costume designer Ruth Carter recalled the 'magic' of seeing the late Chadwick Boseman don the superhero outfit for first time 'I went through the fitting process with Chad - he had a lot of changes,' she said. 'Thurgood Marshall was very dapper in his young days, so we dressed him really dapper. He was a lot of fun. But I understood from our fitting that he really did want to come together on this and understand the period, understand what his role was.' Carter, who has also worked on films such as Selma, Dolemite Is My Name and the upcoming Coming 2 America, reflected on the day that she fitted the actor for with the ensemble he would wear as King TChalla in the 2018 blockbuster. 'I had the pants suit in my office and it was dressed on a mannequin, and I thought, this thing doesn't look all that great, partly because the mannequin was weird,' Carter said. 'I called Chadwick in and I asked him to put the suit on - we needed to see if there were any problems or anything - and when he put on the suit and the helmet went on, it was like magic. 'I could see the power of these superheroes. I could see how they have an effect on people just because it's like they are a superhero.' Magical moment: Carter won her first Academy Award for in the category of Best Achievement in Costume Design in 2019 for Black Panther Cinema: Carter said, 'I could see the power of these superheroes. I could see how they have an effect on people just because it's like they are a superhero' She said that the working situation with the superstar actor was always simpatico: 'He always greeted me with a smile, a hug and cooperation. 'I think that relationship ... there was so much trust because we'd worked on Marshall together,' she told the outlet. 'There was so much trust when we started Black Panther. It was an incredible experience because he didn't doubt anything.' She said Boseman was happy and supportive of her when she was hired to work on Black Panther, for which she won her first Academy Award for in the category of Best Achievement in Costume Design. She had previously been nominated for Best Costume Design for her work on the 1997 film Amistad and 1992's Malcolm X. Fond memories: Carter reflected on the day that she fitted the actor for with the ensemble he would wear as King TChalla in the 2018 blockbuster. She was snapped in LA earlier this year Tragic: The actor, also known for his work in movies like 42, Marshall, Get on Up and Draft Day, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2016 and died this past August 'I wanted to just keep it quiet and then, towards the end of the shooting, I finally revealed my secret,' she said of her hiring on the hit movie. 'And Chad said, "I already knew." He said, "You killed it Ruth, you killed it."' The actor, also known for his work in movies like 42, Marshall, Get on Up and Draft Day, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2016. He underwent 'countless surgeries and chemotherapy' in his battle with the disease,' his family said in a statement after his death. 'A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. It was the honor of his career to bring King TChalla to life in Black Panther.' An Australian fisherman has used the Woolworths Disney+ glow in the dark Ooshies as lures to catch fish. Mark Pace said the popular collectable toys worked well at attracting the fish to the bait, and now he's seeking to buy more second-hand Ooshies on social media. 'Anyone have any glow in the dark Ooshies they don't want? Happy to pay $1 each,' he said on Facebook. The novel idea quickly caught the attention of thousands online, and Mark's post received more than 2,600 comments. While some thought the idea was clever, others were outraged as the plastic figurines could pollute the ocean if lost or might choke the fish if it gets away. Scroll down for video An Australian fisherman has used the Woolworths Disney+ glow in the dark Ooshies to catch fish (pictured) Mark Pace (right) said the popular collectable toys worked well at attracting the fish to the bait, and now he's seeking to buy more Ooshies on social media, but the idea raised controversy online 'This is kinda cool, but [the] plastic [will] end up in fish if they get away,' one person said. 'This is kinda cool, but [the] plastic [will] end up in fish if they get away,' one person said 'Sorry but this is a really bad idea we have enormous amounts of plastic in our oceans destroying them,' another said. A third added: 'There's already too much plastic in our oceans.' 'Good idea as long as they dont come off the line and become more plastic in the oceans,' a fourth said. Others who go fishing often said using Ooshies is no different to using soft plastic fish lures. Despite his efforts to seek more glow in the dark Ooshies, Mark told Daily Mail Australia he's had no luck obtaining any more for fishing. 'It's gone crazy,' he said, as his images and idea have spread across Facebook. The Woolworths Disney+ Ooshies promotion returned in stores on August 26, but was cut short four weeks early and concluded in late September. The Woolworths Disney+ Ooshies promotion returned in stores on August 26, but was cut short four weeks early and concluded in late September Following the announcement, dozens of furious customers around the country reported on Facebook they can no longer redeem the figurines, with some even vowing to never shop at the supermarket again. In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a Woolworths spokesman said: 'Our Disney+ Ooshies have proven extraordinarily popular with customers, to the point we had to conclude the program early due to customers collecting the last of our stock. 'These collectibles take more than 12 months to plan and the quantity produced is based on our experience of running many collectible campaigns that we've previously offered. 'We attribute much of the success of our Disney+ Ooshies to customers of all ages connecting with the Disney+ universes, across Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, and Pixar, there was a character for all types of Disney+ fans to collect and enjoy. 'To our customers, we thank you for your excitement and engagement with the Disney+ Ooshies and apologise for any frustration or disappointment caused by running out of stock.' 100% Website lelong.com.my uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery and Asp. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 10525 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 163429 bytes (159.60 kb uncompressed) and 163886 bytes (160.04 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-29, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. David M. Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during the Milken Institute's 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, April 29, 2019 Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon restructured several of his businesses and named new heads for the bank's asset management and consumer and wealth management divisions. The moves announced Tuesday in company memos made chief strategy officer Stephanie Cohen co-head of the firm's consumer banking and wealth management division along with Tucker York. Cohen, a rising star within Goldman, will be the first woman to run a division at the New York-based bank since the 2018 departure of trading co-head Isabelle Ealet. Solomon's moves are the latest changes he has made to Goldman's structure nearly two years into his tenure atop the bank. He has simplified the bank into four major divisions: Investment banking, trading, asset management and consumer banking and wealth management. Goldman is also merging its private equity operations with its money-managing division into a unified asset management division to be led by Eric Lane and Julian Salisbury. The bank also announced that its consumer banking head Harit Talwar was stepping down after a five-year run building the Marcus business from the ground up. Omer Ismail, his deputy and a 13-year Goldman veteran, is taking over as head of Marcus. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot who became a national hero after saving a plane full of passengers during the "Miracle on the Hudson," is calling on Americans to vote Donald Trump out of office. The retired pilot stars in a stirring ad released Tuesday in partnership with The Lincoln Project and Vote Vets. In it, Mr Sullenberger reflects on the moment he was called to action 11 years ago, when he made an emergency landing on New York's Hudson River that saved the lives of all 155 people on board. "Eleven years ago, I was called to my moment. Now, we are all called to this moment," Mr Sullenberger says in the ad, which hit social media and national cable networks just hours before the first presidential debate on Tuesday. The ad underscores both Mr Sullenberger and his father's history in the armed forces, with the pilot musing, "From my service as an Air Force officer and a fighter pilot, I knew that serving a cause greater than one's self is the highest calling. And it's in that highest calling of leadership that Donald Trump has failed us so miserably." He goes on to nod at the more than 205,000 Americans who have lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying, "Now, it's up to us to overcome [Trump's] attacks on our very democracy. Knowing nearly a quarter million Americans won't have a voice casualties of his lethal lies and incompetence." While he doesn't mention Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden by name, Mr Sullenberger encourages Americans to cast their votes against Mr Trump. The ad, which has racked up almost 3 million views on Twitter thus far, ends with Mr Sullenberger asking voters to protect democracy and vote him out. The new ad comes less than a month after Mr Sullenberger criticized Mr Trump in a series of scathing tweets. "For the first time in American history, a president has repeatedly shown utter and vulgar contempt and disrespect for those who have served and died serving our country," the pilot wrote in early September, reacting to Mr Trump's controversial remarks about veterans. The standoff in Ladakh began in May and escalated in June to the deadliest violence between the two sides in decades a clash on a high ridge in which soldiers used clubs, stones and their fists. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed and dozens of others were injured. China is believed to have also suffered casualties but has not provided any details. Kim Kardashian just received the harshest advice from Wendy Williams amid all the drama surrounding Kanye West. In her recent appearance at "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," the media personality dropped her unfiltered thoughts about the famous couple's marital woes. When asked about her opinion regarding the controversial relationship of the SKIMS founder and West, the 56-year-old talk show host predicted that the two might end up in a divorce "sooner than later, hopefully." Kim Kardashian "Needs To Be Free" From Kanye West "The Wendy Williams Show" host pointed out that the "Keeping Up With The Kardashian" star "needs to be free" from the iconic rapper. "She can't be caught out there dating other men and cheating and things like that. They can't have an open relationship...they've got four children. I bet you she spend all of her time with them...she's the primary parent," Williams said. Wendy also slammed Kanye's decision to leave his family and spend time in his ranch in Wyoming instead of addressing his issues with his wife. "And he's off in Wyoming making clothing and clothing and trying to figure out his life. And urinating on Grammys. Just saying," she added. Anti-Abortion Rant and Grammy Incident In July, the 43-year-old presidential hopeful made headlines after he shared private details about their family in his first presidential rally in South Carolina. The Yeezy creator praised her wife for choosing to "protect" their daughter, but not before highlighting that they tried to get their first child aborted. "I almost killed my daughter ... So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world, even when I didn't want to," Kanye said. "She stood up, and she protected that child." Another incident that Williams mentioned was his protest against major labels. In a now-deleted tweet, Ye posted a video of himself urinating on a Grammy trophy in the toilet. He captioned it with "Trust me ... I WON'T STOP," in reference to his plan to acquire his masters from Universal Records. Goodbye, KUWTK Aside from her comments regarding West's odd behavior, Wendy Williams also shared her thoughts regarding the "KUWTK" cancellation on E! The syndicated talk show host pointed out that the reality star can now focus on her divorce with West. "Good for them," she said. "They had a good run and now they can make all of their money with their social media followers and Kim definitely has got it in spades. She can slowly work on her divorce and life goes on." The cancellation of their long-running show came after the KKW Beauty owner confirmed through her Instagram that they are ending the show after 14 years. She then mentioned that it's a mutual decision among their family to say goodbye after 20 seasons. "This show made us who we are and I will be forever in debt to everyone who played a role in shaping our careers and changing our lives forever," Kim said as she announced that their season finale will air in 2021. READ MORE: Netflix USA: 3 Movies You Should Watch Now Before They Leave in October Police footage from the arrest of Brad Parscale in Florida on Sunday (Fort Lauderdale Police Departmen) Brad Parscale, Donald Trumps former campaign manager, was said to have been coaxed from his house by an officer who was also his friend during a weekend standoff with police. Writing a police report on the incident, Christopher Wilson said his shift had ended on Sunday when he was told about a SWAT team at Mr Parscales home, who would not surrender to police. Mr Wilson went to assist the SWAT team, stationed outside the address in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from where Mr Parscales wife fled following his comments about shooting himself. The officer was reported to have persuaded the former Trump campaign manager to come out from his house after an hours-long standoff, which led to his arrest. Body camera footage showed officers pushing Mr Parscale to the ground as he stepped outside his home prior to that arrest. Ms Parscale told police that the 44-year-old had been stressed and had turned to alcohol to manage post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the police report. She went to seek help on Sunday when he made comments about shooting himself, which led to the 911 call. Police found 10 guns that were removed from the home, where Ms Parscale told police she sustained bruising from her husband in an altercation that week. Mr Parscale was hospitalised later on Sunday, having been declared a threat to himself and others under state law. He was demoted from his position as Mr Trumps campaign manager in July following a largely unattended comeback rally in Tusla, Oklahoma, that was said to have annoyed the president. Mr Parscale remained part of the campaign, helping run its digital operation, prior to Sundays arrest. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has urged the Victorian government to allow schoolchildren of all ages back into the classroom, saying he has heard of doctors prescribing antidepressants to children as young as 12. All primary pupils will return to school on October 12, after senior secondary students resume on-campus learning on October 7, but no firm date has been set for those in years 7 to 10 to go back. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says doctors have written to Premier Daniel Andrews urging him to reopen schools. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The state government is still assessing the risks of coronavirus transmission associated with all secondary students returning to school and how that might affect further easing of restrictions under its road map. The Treasurer's call comes after psychologists reported a "huge increase" in children being moved onto mental health plans to deal with the stresses of lockdown and remote schooling. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 16:07 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47fb2aa 1 National KAMI,Save-Indonesia-Coalition,Gatot-Nurmantyo,police Free An event organized by the recently formed Save Indonesia Coalition (KAMI) in Surabaya, East Java, on Monday was dismissed by security personnel following a rejection from residents who reportedly considered the organization dangerous. Hundreds of people purportedly blocked the access to Gedung Juang 45 building in Sawahan district, where the event was intended to be held. The organizers then decided to move the event into a house in nearby Jambangan district, but to no avail as the crowd insisted on dispersing the gathering. Sawahan police head AKP Wisnu Setyawan Kuncoro said KAMI did not secure permission to hold the event at Gedung Juang. The organizers should have taken into account the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the officer said as quoted by kompas.com. Executive vice chairman of KAMI's East Java chapter, Agus Maksum, deplored the blockade action, saying the organizers had previously sent a letter regarding the event to the police. Read also: Moral movement KAMI aims to save Indonesia, says cofounder Din Syamsudin He further said that Mondays event was merely an internal gathering among KAMI members and did not involve a large number of people. Gatot Nurmantyo, a member of the KAMI presidium, who originally planned to give a speech at the event, suspected the protest was orchestrated and sponsored by someone, though he did not elaborate on his statement. "[...] However, if the police insist on dispersing this event, we will comply with the order, said Gatot, who is also a former commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI). Gatot, together with 150 other national figures and prominent government critics, such as Rachmawati Soekarnoputri the daughter of Indonesias first president Sukarno former coordinating maritime affairs minister Rizal Ramli and Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin, formed the coalition in August this year. Din previously explained that KAMI was a moral movement aiming to prevent any deviations from Indonesias founding principles, as its founders felt that the country had apparently strayed from the founding principles and that political parties and the House of Representatives had failed to uphold the will of the people. (Vny) The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, which would give the Government the power to override the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, has cleared the Commons after MPs gave it a third reading by 340 votes to 256, majority 84. Britain's House of Commons approved legislation this evening which that gives ministers the power to break its divorce deal with the European Union, despite the threat of legal action from Brussels and unrest within the governing Conservative Party. The UK Internal Market Bill, which ministers acknowledge breaks international law, was approved by 340 votes to 256 and now passes to the House of Lords for debate. The bill seeks to protect free trade between Britain's four nations once a Brexit transition period ends, but has soured relations with Brussels just as time is running out to reach a deal on their long-term relationship. Expand Close Simon Coveney has criticised the UK Internal Market Bill (Julien Behal Photography/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Simon Coveney has criticised the UK Internal Market Bill (Julien Behal Photography/PA) After an initial uproar within Prime Minister Boris Johnson's party, including criticism from three former Conservative prime ministers, a rebellion was snuffed out by a concession to give parliament a say over using the powers. The government says clauses in the bill which override the Withdrawal Agreement, signed by Johnson in January, are necessary to protect free trade with Northern Ireland, and will only be used if talks on a border solution with the EU fail. The EU, which wants to make sure Northern Ireland's open border with member state Ireland does not act as a back door for goods to come into the bloc, says it is an extremely serious violation of the exit treaty and has threatened to sue. Scrutiny in the House of Lords, parliament's upper chamber, is expected to take until early December. Johnson does not have a majority there and revisions to the most contentious clauses are likely to have strong support. But talks with the EU are expected to move more quickly, and if a deal can be reached on an Irish border solution the powers may not be needed. If there is no deal, any changes made by the Lords would need approval from the Commons, creating potential for a political standoff. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of London-listed company director and manager changes announced on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: Enteq Upstream PLC - oil & gas drilling technology company based in Buckinghamshire - Promotes Andrew Law to board as commercial director from Tuesday. Law joined Enteq as director of international sales at the beginning of 2019. Enteq also tells its annual general meeting on Tuesday that revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in half year ending Wednesday are likely to be in line with management expectations. Says it made a "satisfactory trading recovery" from the mid-March oil price slump and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The North American market remains subdued, though, with the number of active drilling rigs down to 261 currently from 1,025 at the start of April. As a result, Enteq's rental revenue there is likely to keep shrinking until the current year-end in March, with few renewals expected. Rotork PLC - flow control and instrumentation company, headquartered in Bath - Lucinda Bell steps down as independent non-executive director from Wednesday after six years on the board. Advanced Oncotherapy PLC - London-based provider of proton therapy for cancer treatment - Hires Lori Cross as non-executive director, effective immediately. Cross is a 35-year medical technology and life sciences industry veteran, having worked at Smith & Nephew PLC, among other healthcare businesses. She is founder and president of MindSpan Consulting LLC. By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. 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In its latest report, the World Bank said it expected a full-year contraction of 6.9 percent, with the worst-case scenario of a 9.9 percent crash for the Philippines. This is a big downgrade from its June forecast of a 1.9 percent contraction, and is steeper than the government's -5.5 percent estimate for 2020. READ: Gov't sees PH economy shrinking by 5.5% in 2020 with deeper slump, return to MECQ "Indonesia and the Philippines face uncertain prospects. The regions two most populous countries after China have not so far succeeded in controlling the pandemic," the multilateral lender said in its October 2020 Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific. It noted that the country has been on a "cycle of repeated strict lockdowns and reopenings." "Both countries have the advantage of young populations but suffer from large informal sectors and poor living conditions for a large fraction of their population," the report added. Output has so far contracted by 9 percent as of June. World Bank economist for the Philippines Rong Qian said signs point to a better third quarter outturn, coming from a record 16.5 percent fall in the country's gross domestic product from April-June. Fiji, largely reliant on tourism, will see the sharpest drop in output at 21.7 percent this year, followed by Thailand at 8.3 percent. The Philippines will suffer the third-biggest plunge across Developing East Asia and the Pacific from baseline projections. The World Bank added that the Philippines faces more challenging prospects given its greater reliance on global trade, tourism, and remittances, which could lead to an "uneven and volatile" path to economic recovery. Domestic economic activity has recovered in Asian states which have already contained the spread of the virus. "Poverty in the region is projected to increase for the first time in 20 years: as many as 38 million people are expected to remain in, or be pushed back into poverty as a result of the pandemic (based on the upper-middle income poverty line of $5.50 a day)," the bank said. Of these, 33 million would have otherwise escaped poverty if the pandemic did not hit, while another 5 million may be dragged back to poverty. Qian said a little over two million Filipinos could be driven into poverty, with the "new poor" made up of workers unable to work or make a living due to the COVID-19 crisis. She added that the Philippine economy will likely return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021, but the risk of another spike in infections and a return to lockdowns could bog down the path to growth. "Recovery will be very slow but if the vaccine is available early next year, the recovery may be accelerated," Qian said in a Tuesday media briefing. World Bank country director Ndiame Diop added that cash transfers and cash-for-work programs are the way to go in easing poverty, noting that every peso placed directly on the hands of the vulnerable will be crucial in easing their struggles and in boosting domestic consumption. Stronger spending will also stimulate communities and breathe life into small businesses, which have also been hit hard by the crisis. RELATED: No more SAP cash aid for 2021, Palace says Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government is pushing for the gradual reopening of the tourism industry in a bid to pluck "new poor" Filipinos out of poverty, and providing credit to overseas Filipino workers displaced by the global crisis to help them bounce back. Public policies should focus on "smart containment" measures that will address infections with minimal economic disruptions, alongside greater relief spending. Wider social protection must cover the existing and new poor, such as cash transfers, the lender said. Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank's chief economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, said investing in testing and tracing capacity will be the way forward in the absence of a vaccine. READ: Economic team tells IATF to reopen more industries as vaccine not expected until mid-2021 Other economies in the region are faring better in putting the coronavirus outbreaks under control, with some beating the first wave of infections already. The World Bank compared the COVID-19 response of Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines where it found that contact tracing capacity in the Philippines remains "weak," against Vietnam's "strong" testing capacity that included a patient's close contacts early on. RELATED: How Vietnam managed to keep its coronavirus death toll at zero The region is seen to manage a 0.9 percent growth this year, only pulled up by China, Vietnam and Myanmar as most economies are poised to contract. A growth rebound is seen for 2021 at 7.4 percent. The Philippines should likewise return to its growth path after this year's recession, managing 5.3 percent in 2021 and 5.6 percent the year after. However, this is weaker than the 6.5-7.5 percent projected by President Rodrigo Duterte's economic team. ATHENS, Greece (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed support Tuesday for talks between Greece and Turkey, NATO allies whose relations deteriorated to the point where both had warships facing off in the Mediterranean Sea. His comments, however, angered Ankara, where a senior official accused Pompeo of not being impartial on the second day of a five-day regional tour. Speaking from the Souda Bay military base on the Greek island of Crete, Pompeo said relations between the United States and Greece are at an all-time high and getting stronger. Greece has been looking to the U.S. and the European Union for support in its dispute with neighboring Turkey, which it accuses of encroaching on its sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean. EU leaders are set to discuss this week potential sanctions against Turkey, which is not a bloc member. Turkey last month sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area where Greece claims exclusive rights. Athens also sent warships to the area and put its armed forces on alert. The dispute led to fears of open conflict. The tensions at sea eased recently, with Athens and Ankara announcing they would hold exploratory talks on relaunching stalled negotiations. Technical discussions on a military level also took place at NATO to prevent a military accident. In Turkey, a senior ruling party official said Pompeo had lost his impartiality in the dispute by visiting Greece two times in a month and ignoring Turkish Cypriots during a visit to Cyprus. You cannot serve peace in the region by visiting only the Greek side on the island (of Cyprus), by paying two visits to Greece, and by making one-sided statements of support, Omer Celik, the spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogans ruling party, told reporters. We believe that there is a need for a return to a balanced policy. Amid the tensions with Turkey, Greece has announced major arms purchases, including fighter jets from France, as well as warships, helicopters and weapons systems. Story continues "I was pleased to see that Mr. Pompeo shares our positions, understanding that tension between two members of NATO ultimately is not in anyones interest, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after talks with Pompeo. After taking a step back in regional issues, the U.S. began to become more involved in the Mediterranean in 2018, said Michael Tanchum at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy. The U.S. was proceeding cautiously, balancing interests in various areas of the region ranging from Syria, Cyprus to Libya, Tanchum said. (But) events in the eastern Mediterranean are forcing Washington to accelerate the pace at which it deepens its involvement. Pompeo visited Athens last October and signed an agreement with Greece that provided for increasing joint U.S.-Greece and NATO activity at three locations in Greece, as well as infrastructure and other improvements at Souda Bay. Pompeo and Mitsotakis announced Tuesday that the USS Hershel Woody Williams, the second of a new class of sea-basing ships, will be based out of Souda Bay. Its literally the perfect choice in light of the facilitys strategic location. And its symbolic of a defense partnership that will continue to expand and to grow, Pompeo said. Pompeo said security cooperation with Greece is especially important as Russia continues to destabilize the region, especially in Libya. He said he and Mitsotakis also agreed to explore closer cooperation to overcome challenges that Russia poses." He referred to malign influence such as spreading disinformation on the coronavirus pandemic and trying to involve the Orthodox Church. Pompeo's five-day tour also will include visits to Italy, the Vatican and Croatia. ___ Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report. TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - NEW WAVE HOLDINGS CORP. (the "Company" or "New Wave") (CSE: SPOR) (FWB: 0XM2) (OTC:TRMND) an investment issuer that provides capital and support services, announced it has entered into a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Joshua Neilly and Branislav Nikolic to form an Ireland based digital marketing company. New Wave will acquire a 50% interest in the operations in this co-venture named N2 Logics Inc ("N2 Logics") or similar name. N2 Logics is a private company that supports digital marketing and online growth. The technical team are uniquely suited to support online e-commerce platforms to maximize exposure and reach parties interesting in making an online purchase. New Wave will purchase 10,000,000 shares in N2 Logics by way of a private placement for a purchase price of CDN $150,000. This will give New Wave a 50% ownership in the joint venture with N2 Logics. N2 Logics Highlights include: The N2 Logics team brings over 10 years of experience in the field of online e-commerce and digital marketing, they utilize established and true methodologies to attract high quality traffic online through lead generation and conversion optimization. Based on the current digital marketing needs, they focus on world class tactics and digital optimization to provide return on investments. N2 Logics team covers various avenues of online growth and digital marketing that has an established track record of exponential growth. The collaborative effort has grown online sales for ventures by 10x in less than 2 years. The team specializes in various products such as; CBD oils, CBD capsules, CBD vape pens, vaporizers, CBD edibles, CBD coffee, CBD drinks, hemp protein, lifestyle businesses, skin organics and alternative medicines. N2 Logics will support enterprise growth for New Wave and its subsidiaries by enhancing distribution and marketing across the globe of functioning mushroom line of products. Based in Northern Ireland, N2 Logics offers premium services and backed up with access to industry leading advice and guidance. ABOUT NEW WAVE HOLDINGS CORP. New Wave Holdings Corp. (CSE: SPOR, FWB: 0XM2, OTC:TRMND) is an investment issuer focused on the burgeoning psychedelic and esports sectors. In the psychedelic sector, New Wave will focus on supporting research on active psychedelic compounds, creation of consumer products based on functional mushrooms, and developing an IP portfolio focusing on psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine derived treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases. Investors interested in connecting with New Wave Holdings can learn more about the company and contact the team at http://newwavecorp.com Information relating to N2 Logics contained in this news release was provided by N2 Logics and/or its agent and has not been independently verified by the Company. The Company does not take responsibility for the accuracy of such information. The CSE has not in any way passed on the merits of the Acquisition, and neither has approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION DISCLAIMER Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forwardlooking information, including but not limited to, applicable regulatory approval in connection with the Acquisition, the closing of the Acquisition, expansion of operations, size and quality of future tournaments and projections regarding attendance at future events. Forwardlooking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forwardlooking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forwardlooking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forwardlooking information as a result of competitive factors and competition for investment opportunities, challenges relating to operations in international markets, transaction execution risk, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forwardlooking information are reasonable based on current expectations and potential investment pipeline, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forwardlooking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. SOURCE New Wave Holdings Corp. ST. LOUIS - Nine people charged with misdemeanour trespassing after a racial injustice protest in a private St. Louis neighbourhood in June will not be prosecuted, city officials said Tuesday. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who live in the neighbourhood, confronted the demonstrators with guns and have been charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony. The protesters were issued citations earlier this month. Deputy City Counselor Michael Garvin said in a statement Tuesday prosecution of the trespassing charges is not warranted and charges would be refused, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Municipal court prosecutors reviewed video, conducted interviews and examined property records of the incident. Gardner said residents who are trustees of the neighbourhood, Portland Place, did not want to pursue trespassing charges. Marchers were using the street to get to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson. The McCloskeys, who were armed with an AR-15 rifle and semiautomatic handgun, have become national figures for conservative Republicans and gun rights advocates since the confrontation and gave an opening night speech during last months Republican National Convention. Their lawyer, Joel Schwartz, said Tuesday that the demonstrators were clearly trespassing and the McCloskeys were clearly within their rights to do what they did. President Donald Trump and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson criticized the charges against the McCloskeys. Parson has said he will pardon the couple if they are convicted. Shalby surged 11.24% to Rs 89.05 after the company's board approved to reduce promoters' shareholding in the company to 75% from 79.45%. Shalby's board on Monday (28 September) passed an enabling resolution to to reduce the promoters' holding from the current 79.45% to 75% and to increase public shareholding to at least 25%. The board also approved to raise upto Rs 117.01 crore via through issue of equity shares, other convertible securities/warrants/Global Depository Receipts/American Depository Receipts/any other financial instruments/securities convertible into and/or linked to equity shares or a combination thereof. The company has constituted fund raising committee with Dr. Vikram Shah, the company's CMD, as the chairperson of the committee. Sujana Shah (independent director) and Shyamal Joshi (nonexecutive and nonindependent director) would be the members of the fund raising committee. Shalby operates a multi-specialty chain of hospitals. Its hospitals are tertiary care hospitals, which offer quaternary healthcare services. It provides services to a range of specialization, including orthopaedics, complex joint replacements, cardiology, neurology, oncology and renal transplantations. The firm focuses on focus on Tier-I and Tier-II cities. On a consolidated basis, Shalby reported net loss of Rs 8.70 crore in Q1 June 2020 compared with net profit of Rs 23.62 crore in Q1 June 2019. Net sales slumped 70.8% to Rs 38.44 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. In the past six months, the stock has zoomed 90.17% while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained 27.27% during the same period. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kylie Jenner has become one of the biggest names in the beauty industry, with her wildly successful Kylie Cosmetics. And the pseudo-billionaire has a whole room in her home dedicated to serving some iconic glam looks. She teased her 196million Instagram followers Monday with a glimpse at her enviable 'glam room,' as she took to her story with some videos, writing: 'Glam room almost doooone.' Glam room: Kylie Jenner teased her 196million Instagram followers Monday with a glimpse at her enviable 'glam room,' as she took to her story with some videos, writing: 'Glam room almost doooone' Beauty mogul: Jenner has become one of the biggest names in the beauty industry, with her wildly successful Kylie Cosmetics The 23-year-old showed off a white wall, decorated with some of her favorite magazine covers she's posed for, including Interview, Paper, Playboy and Vogue Hong Kong. She also revealed shelves and shelves of products from her Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin collections. Kylie credited Mary Astadourian of A Detailed Life for organizing her shelves, writing: 'What would I do without you?' She said in a video: 'My love Mary comes through and makes everything look like a store for me. So organized. This was not me, I cannot take credit for this.' Covergirl: The 23-year-old showed off a white wall, decorated with some of her favorite magazine covers she's posed for, including Interview, Paper, Playboy and Vogue Hong Kong Fully stocked: She also revealed shelves and shelves of products from her Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin collections Organization goals: Kylie credited Mary Astadourian of A Detailed Life for organizing her shelves: 'My love Mary comes through and makes everything look like a store for me. So organized. This was not me, I cannot take credit for this' The Life of Kylie star has reportedly been spending time with ex Travis Scott, 29, when not busy with her brands. A source recently told HollywoodLife: 'Kylie and Travis are spending a good amount of time together right now. 'They have snuck out to dinner without getting photographed on a few occasions at least in the last few weeks alone. They try to be discreet about it because they dont want all the chatter that follows.' The insider added: 'They will always have chemistry between them, but theyre not together and are not discussing getting back together. 'They just have a strong connection and like to spend time together. Neither one of them are looking for more right now. It comes after big she and big sister Kim Kardashian, 39, posted a statement earlier this month to Instagram, announcing the end of KUWTK, which has become a cultural phenomenon since premiering in 2007. Secret outings: The Life of Kylie star has reportedly been spending time with ex Travis Scott, 29, when not busy with her brands: 'They try to be discreet about it because they dont want all the chatter that follows' (pictured in August, 2019) The end: It comes after big she and big sister Kim Kardashian, 39, posted a statement earlier this month to Instagram, announcing the end of KUWTK Power play: Kim and Kylie reportedly ushered in the end of the show, after they both threatened to leave, forcing 'momager' Kris Jenner's hand Kim and Kylie reportedly ushered in the end of the show, after they both threatened to leave, forcing 'momager' Kris Jenner's hand. A source told The Sun: 'Kylie is making billions of dollars through her make-up line and product endorsements. She doesn't need the show, and like Kendall, has always struggled with fame and being in the spotlight. 'Filming the show meant having to be in LA with her family - now is free to fly off on holiday, or follow Travis Scott on his next tour.' It came after sister Kourtney, 41, left the show back in March, later citing a 'toxic environment' to Vogue Arabia. Kylie and Travis have been getting closer during quarantine, which they've spent together with daughter Stormi, two. The power couple was first romantically linked back in April of 2017, before announcing their separation last September. OMAHA, Neb., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Pacific was recently designated as a 2021 Military Friendly Employer by VIQTORY Media, ranking as the top transportation industry employer and No. 7 overall. Employing 6,300 veterans and active-service military members, the award recognizes Union Pacific's commitment to recruiting and investing in the veteran and military communities. "Employees with military experience are a valuable part of the Union Pacific team and we strive to provide a supportive work environment that sets them up for success," said Jeff Sebree, general director of talent acquisition Workforce Resources. "Transitioning from the military to a civilian job can be challenging, so we work diligently to make that transition as simple as possible." More than 17% of Union Pacific employees have military backgrounds, with some still active in the National Guard or Reserves. The company's UPVETS employee resource group supports members and provides career development opportunities. Approximately 80 Union Pacific employees are deployed every month and receive additional support from a liaison who guides them through the deployment process. Union Pacific partners with Wounded Warriors, Veteran Affairs and local veteran organizations to host career fairs, reaching the military community across the company's 23-state network. More information about Union Pacific's support for U.S. military service members and veterans is available in the company's Building America Report. ABOUT UNION PACIFIC Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) delivers the goods families and businesses use every day with safe, reliable and efficient service. Operating in 23 western states, the company connects its customers and communities to the global economy. Trains are the most environmentally responsible way to move freight, helping Union Pacific protect future generations. More information about Union Pacific is available at www.up.com . www.up.com www.facebook.com/unionpacific www.twitter.com/unionpacific SOURCE Union Pacific Corporation Related Links www.up.com Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has urged Dubliners to work from home where possible this week in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. His plea came as the number of cases rose to 430 yesterday, of which 212 were reported in Dublin. "As we start into this new week, I am asking every household across the country to sit together this evening and make a plan to reduce the number of people you meet this week," he said. "We have absolutely no room for complacency. If every person, family, workplace and organisation does not play their part, the situation will continue to deteriorate." Essential He said that for people who live in Dublin and Donegal, "remember government advice is to work from home unless it is essential to attend in person". "For people living in these and all other counties, assume that Covid-19 is circulating in your community and act accordingly," Dr Glynn said. Seventy-two per cent of the cases yesterday were in people under 45. While no new deaths were reported by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) yesterday, five were reported on Saturday, along with 248 new cases. HSE chief Paul Reid yesterday issued a "call to arms" for everyone to follow the expert advice, with 18 people being treated in intensive care units (ICU). "We've now 110 Covid-19 hospital cases, 18 in ICU. Although lower than our worst peak, the impact on our hospitals is as significant, as we're now trying to keep all of our other services too," Mr Reid said. "This is a call to arms to everyone to get right behind all we ask." Health Minister Stephen Donnelly urged people to reduce their contacts in a bid to push down the reproduction 'R' number, which refers to the number of people that one infected person will pass on the virus to on average. "Right now, it's about 1.5, 1.6, and what the public health doctors are saying is, think about the people you were planning on meeting over the next week or two and halve that number," Mr Donnelly said yesterday on This Week on RTE One. "If we all do that - it's not always possible, but if we do that - if we all reduce our contacts, then we will get this R number down and we will push this virus back. "What everybody wants is to get every part of this country back down to Level 1 as quickly as possible and keep everybody there. "The whole point of the road map is to target the virus where we know it spreads in order to keep the country open, to keep the schools open, protect the health services, protect jobs. "The evidence we have is that the vast majority of people are following the guidelines the vast majority of the time. "There are cases where that is not happening. "We have seen a few cases in terms of house parties happening or bigger gatherings than are allowed, but it's not the norm, and in a world of social media every single one of these transgressions of course gets shared and we can see it all." Speaking about Dublin, which is in its second week of Level 3 restrictions, which are due to last until Friday, October 9, he said it is "early days" in terms of knowing whether they are working. The minister said he had been discussing the issue with Dr Glynn over the weekend. "We will be cautiously optimistic as we must always be, but it is very early days," Mr Donnelly said. In relation to the threat of other counties joining Dublin and Donegal at Level 3, he said the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) looks at a variety of measures, including the 14-day and seven-day infection rate, but also where the cases are coming from. Contained "Are the cases rising quickly or is it a contained outbreak? There are currently no plans for Nphet to call an emergency meeting this week," he said. "They meet every Thursday, and that may change, but right now, they have no plans to meet before then." He said four counties are being looked at carefully - Cork, Galway, Louth and Wicklow. Meanwhile, in relation to a shortage of hospital beds as the health services gears up for an increase in admissions this winter, Mr Donnelly said the HSE is negotiating with each private hospital. Taylors neighbor moved from the complex after her death. Breonna Taylors former neighbor is speaking out about the frightful evening when his home was also riddled with bullets by Louisville police officers. Read More: Louisville SWAT team had concerns about Breonna Taylor raid: report Man, those gunshots were for almost five minutes, Stanley David told the Louisville Courier-Journal, It was terrible. David, 47, originally from Liberia, told the publication he lived directly above Taylor in apartment 8 and was home with his daughter, mother, another child the grandmother was babysitting, and the childs father, whod arrived to pick her up when shots tore through their apartment. Daddy! Daddy! yelled his daughter when she heard the shots. David said he was shocked when it was announced that no officer would be charged in Taylors death. As reported by theGrio, former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison is the only one charged for allegedly blindly firing into the apartment complex. Hankinson was fired in June for his actions. He was charged with first-degree wanton endangerment and only Taylors white neighbors are attached to the chargenot Taylor or David, who is also Black. A protester walks toward Portland police with a sign honoring Breonna Taylor on September 23, 2020 in Portland, United States. Violent protests erupted across the naation Wednesday following the results of a grand jury investigation into the police shooting death of Taylor. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images) My apartment was hit too, he said. The bullet that came through my floor right in front of my bedroom door, if that bullet went through my bed, maybe I would have been dead too. Im a human being too. He said after the night of the shooting his family could not resume their regular lives at the apartment complex on Springfield Drive and have moved. His mother could no longer take her walks and he says his daughter, who had just moved from Liberia was petrified to leave the apartment. My daughter could not go out to play, says David. According to the Courier-Journal, David used to work with Taylor when they were caregivers in a group home. She moved right below him in the apartment complex two years after he did and would wave when they saw each other in passing. He says she was hard-working and had no connection with drugs or criminal activity. Story continues Read More: AG Daniel Cameron to release transcripts, recordings in Breonna Taylor case I dont think thats right, David said of her passing and the decision to not charge officers with her death. Breonna was not doing drugs, and she got killed for nothing. She never had a gun. She did not shoot any shots. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! The post Breonna Taylors Black neighbor questions exclusion from indictment: Im a human being too appeared first on TheGrio. Amanda Knox (pictured) has joined a bid to help NXIVM sex-cult leader Keith Raniere, according to reports Amanda Knox has signed a petition calling for federal prosecutors to answer questions about the sex-trafficking case of NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere, according to reports. The 33-year-old, who herself had her murder conviction overturned in Italy in 2009, is demanding that Brooklyn authorities reassess alleged evidence, jury and witness tampering. Raniere, 60, wrote up the petition that ten of his loyalists later delivered to prosecutors asking them to respond to 'eight simple statements' about their conduct by Wednesday. 'I was contacted by some former members of NXIVM who claim that Mr Raniere has been wrongfully convicted and that the story being told in the media is wrong,' Knox told The Albany Times Union on Sunday. 'I personally do not know enough about the case to make any judgments about whether his conviction is wrongful or not. 'These supporters of Mr Raniere asked me to sign a petition asking the prosecutors in the case to affirm some principles of prosecutorial conduct that any prosecutor should be able to affirm, such as not engaging in perjury, not tampering with evidence, and not threatening witnesses. 'I signed the petition because violation of these practices would constitute prosecutorial misconduct, regardless of Mr Raniere's guilt or innocence.' Raniere was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018 following an investigation into the NXIVM group. NXIVM started out as a purported self-help group in Albany, New York, before members were turned into sex slaves (cult leader Keith Raniere pictured) Some plaintiffs in the case against Raniere claim they were forced to have Raniere's initials, K A R, branded on their bodies (pictured) He was the sole defendant to go to trial, resulting in his June 2019 conviction for racketeering, sex trafficking, and other crimes. Raniere is due to be sentenced on October 27 with prosecutors asking the judge to sentence him to life in prison. In a submission to the court earlier this month, Raniere's lawyers said he had no remorse and stands by his innocence. He has accused the government of misconduct and says he deserves a new trial. Throughout the pandemic several cult followers have danced outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where he is being held in a show of support for their leader and 'master'. Seagrams liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, 41, will also be sentenced this week as she refuses to denounce her loyalty to sex cult and its notorious leader. Prosecutors are demanding she serve five years in prison. Seagrams liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, 41, (right) will also be sentenced this week as she refuses to denounce her loyalty to sex cult and its notorious leader NXIVM started out as a purported self-help group in Albany, New York, but members were turned into sex slaves. They were made to live off just 500 calories a day, branded with Raniere's initials and groomed to have sex with him. The cult fell into the national spotlight for its famous members including actress Nicki Clyne of Battlestar Gallactica; actress Allison Mack of TV's Smallville; India Oxenberg, daughter of TV star Catherine Oxenberg of Dynasty fame; and physician Danielle Roberts. Health Minister on Tuesday said the city recorded more COVID-19 cases in September as compared to June, but the number of deaths due to the disease was "less than one-third" of what it was three months ago. He also said the health authorities in the national capital have been conducting RT-PCR tests on every symptomatic person. " reported a large number of cases in September as compared to June. However, the number of deaths reported this month is not even one-third of the fatalities recorded in June," Jain told reporters. He said the authorities have been conducting more than 10,000 RT-PCR tests a day on an average. "We have been conducting the RT-PCR test on every symptomatic person. The testing capacity does not matter. There is not even one symptomatic person in who has not undergone RT-PCR testing," the minister said. He also rejected the allegation of the municipal corporations that the city government has cut down on their share of funds as "baseless". "A certain percentage of the taxes goes to the municipal bodies. Tax collection has been low this time. We have not reduced their share," Jain said. The national capital recorded 1,984 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest in nearly a month, as the infection tally mounted to over 2.73 lakh, while the death toll due to the disease rose to 5,272. The positivity rate stood at 5.47 per cent on Monday, while the recovery rate was over 88 per cent, the health department of the Delhi government said, adding that the case fatality rate stood at 1.93 per cent. The Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the last few days. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The IFA global events CE China and CE Summit were held in Guangzhou on Sept. 24th-25th. With the theme of "Connectivity and Sharing for Intelligent Services", the events presented the main forum and two brilliant parallel forums in various fields, including Internet of Things home appliances, Internet retail, and global household appliance innovation. At the same time, the IFA Product Technology Innovation Award ceremony hosted by International Data Group was held. A total of 19 products won awards this year. The awards went to 14 manufacturers, including SIEMENS, SAMSUNG, Midea, Panasonic, BOE, Electrolux, CHiQ, HONOR, Sony, LG, De'Longhi, iRobot, and TECNO, demonstrating the vitality and creativity of global consumer electronics brands. The recent years see the flourishing of cutting-edge science and technology, including the Internet of Things, smart manufacturing, digital economy, AI, and VR/AR, sparking pioneering thinking on smart technology globally. Attention is increasingly paid to the upgrading of consumer electronics through IoT. With the advent of the "stay-at-home economy" and 5G trend, the consumer electronics sector has seen a new turning point, and the market is booming. Under this background, the 2020 IFA Product Technology Innovation Award under the theme of "Innovating the Technology, Inspiring the Life" performs a systematic evaluation of the global consumer electronics industry, and predicts the future trend of the consumer electronics sector. Healthy household appliances, wearables, 8K image quality, and intelligent robots were highlights of the award. Manufacturers including Midea, CHiQ, Honor, BOE, Philips, and TECNO won awards by virtue of their innovation and technology prowess, and received the awards at the awards ceremony. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent people into thinking about the direction of future consumption upgrading and the trend of life and work. The global consumer electronics sector is also booming. The crisis can be translated into opportunity. The IFA Product Technology Innovation Award showcases the latest innovations in the sector. Continued efforts are being made to promote the development of the industry to empower the upgrading of the global consumer electronics industry. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005525/en/ Contacts: Beverly Yang Beverly_Yang@idgchina.com.cn Will cheaper beer fix Australias economy? Source: Getty Cheap beer could be the key to stimulating Australias economy as it battles its first recession in nearly 30 years, according to three of Australias biggest brewers. Cooper, Lion and Carlton & United Breweries have called on the Government to make frothies affordable nearly two months after the beer tax was introduced. "We need to make a beer at the pub more affordable. It is as simple as that, Brewers Association of Australia (BAA) chair Peter Filipovic said. The tax on beer was hiked on 1 August, and increased every six months in line with the consumer price index. It now accounts for 42 per cent of a typical carton of beer. "The tax on beer has gone up twice annually for the past 35 years forcing Australians to pay the fourth highest beer tax in the industrialised world, Filopovic said. "This has meant beer, the drink that brings people together, is less and less affordable for everyday Australians. It's not unusual for a single pint to cost $10 or more nowadays, whereas in the 1970s, a beer would set you back less than a dollar. Around 85 per cent of beer sold in Australia is made in Australia, with the brewers saying this means the industry is a huge driver of economic activity and domestic jobs. A cut, or at the very least, a freezing of excise will give hospitality businesses a chance to get back on their feet as beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Australia's licensed venues," Filipovic said. Even before Covid-19 hit, Filipovic said alcohol consumption in Australia was at 50-year lows, and he expressed concerns that the industry may never recover. There is a risk that Covid-19 will have caused permanent behaviour change meaning there is a reticence to gather in pubs and clubs, he said. By cutting excise the Government has an opportunity to incentivise Australians to get out and about and support our vibrant, world leading hospitality industry. BAA has recommended the continuation of JobKeeper and a domestic tourism package tailored to assist Australias ailing hospitality sector. Story continues The World Health Organisation has previously backed the alcohol taxes, saying it has several public health, economic and social benefits. They have the capacity to: 1) generate tax revenue, 2) reduce alcohol consumption and associated harms (covering both externalities and internalities) among various groups, including young people and heavy drinkers, and 3) prevent the initiation of drinking, which is an important preventive strategy in low-and middle-income countries that have a high prevalence of lifetime abstainers, the WHO stated in a resource tool. Are you a millennial or Gen Z-er interested in joining a community where you can learn how to take control of your money? Join us at The Broke Millennials Club on Facebook! By Trend No peace process on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is carried out at the moment, Azerbaijans Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu said in an interview to Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station, Trend reports on Sept.29 citing TASS. The current leadership of Armenia, headed by Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan, makes completely absurd statements on the negotiation process, which literally, so to speak, destroys it. No peace process and no peace talks are held today," Bulbuloglu noted. The diplomat explained what conditions are put forward by Azerbaijan to restore the process. "The only condition is the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces, not civilians from the occupied territories. We are talking not about the civil population of Karabakh, but about the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by the Armenian army," he clarified. Answering the question of whether its possible to call what is happening between the two countries a war, the ambassador stressed that for Azerbaijan its a liberation of the occupied territories. "Call [what is happening] how you want. For us, this is the liberation of the occupied territories," the diplomat said. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Enterprise Product Costing forms the backbone of profitable costing in many companies. Therefore, enhancing student awareness of global cost management processes early in their education, is important to us. The software vendor FACTON, provider of the Enterprise Product Costing (EPC) Suite, expands its commitment to academic research in enterprise-wide product costing. The company supports a student project for the Senior Design course in the Industrial and Operation Engineering at the University of Michigan. The course is designed to expose graduating seniors to real-world issues and to develop skill sets required in Industry, to resolve them while working as a team. Industry participation is critical for the success of this course says Dr. P.T. Sathe, Industrial and Operations Engineering, The University of Michigan. The project assumes that decision-makers in the manufacturing industry focus on products and quotations' profitability over their entire life cycle. The student team will conduct a survey to explore the available data, the stakeholders involved, and the time required to compare multiple quotation options or business scenarios in companies. "Enterprise Product Costing forms the backbone of profitable costing in many companies. Therefore, enhancing student awareness of global cost management processes early in their education, is important to us. We believe this awareness will help students in their transition from Academic world to Industry", says Rudiger Stern, North America President of FACTON. After successfully completing a project at the University of Michigan last year, the software vendor has expanded its sponsorship. The company currently supports two groups of four students to work on an industrial and operational problem for four months. "During the project work, students gain early insight into corporate practice. We are very appreciative of FACTON's continued commitment to the Industrial and Operations Engineering Senior Design Project Course, says Dr. Sathe. The study results are expected by the end of the semester in December 2020. About FACTON The FACTON EPC Suite is the leading Enterprise Product Costing (EPC) solution for the automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, and electronics industries. Its specific solutions offer robust answers to the requirements of executive management and individual departments within the enterprise. FACTON EPC enables standardized, enterprise-wide costing independent of location and department for maximum product cost transparency throughout every phase of the product life cycle. Businesses accelerate their costing, achieve pinpoint cost accuracy, and secure their profitability. FACTON was founded in 1998 and has locations in Potsdam, Dresden, Stuttgart and Detroit. Hasso Plattner, founder and chairman of the supervisory board of SAP SE & Co. KG, has supported this innovative company since 2006. The international portfolio of customers includes Airbus, Mahle Behr, Deutz, MANN+HUMMEL, Porsche, Ford Motor Company, and other renowned OEMs. Amaravati, Sep 29 : Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police D. Gautam Sawang has appealed to former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu to refrain from posting letters to the media addressed to him as the missives may have unverified details. "Kindly refrain from posting letters addressed to the undersigned (Sawang) in the media since the contents may have unverified and wrong facts which may needlessly arouse suspicion in the minds of the public at large and cast aspersions," said Sawang. However, he offered Naidu the opportunity of writing to him in private to help police discharge their lawful duties. "You may kindly write to me in a sealed cover and help the police in discharging their lawful duties and protecting the rights of people at large, thereby maintaining and enforcing the rule of law," he said. The DGP was replying to Naidu's Sunday letter to him, in which the TDP supremo claimed that an attack on a person called Ramachandra in Chittoor district was planned and sponsored by the ruling YSRCP, aimed at curbing the dissent of his brother and suspended Judge Ramakrishna. Referring to the alleged attack, Sawang said a case was registered and the facts were explained to Naidu. On Sunday, around 4.30 p.m., Ramachandra went to buy fruits at a vegetable market in B. Kothakota. While he was buying fruits, Pratap Reddy from Narayanapalli passed by in a car along with three other persons. "A verbal altercation ensued between a push cart vendor and Reddy over the former blocking the path of his car. It was then that Ramachandra, brother of suspended Judge Ramakrishna, who was in an inebriated condition entered into a verbal duel," said the DGP. The argument quickly aggravated into a scuffle, prompting the bystanders to intervene and separate them and later shifting Ramachandra to a community health centre, where the medical officer noted that the judge's brother was inebriated. As Ramachandra suffered an abrasion on his nose, he was referred to the district hospital in Madanapalle for further treatment. "On the basis of the statement given by Ramachandra, a case under Section 34 IPC and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act was registered at B. Kothakota. The investigation was immediately taken up by SDPO, Madanapalle," said the DGP. Based on eyewitness accounts and video footage, Sawang said Ramachandra was injured in the scuffle with Reddy which occurred due to sudden provocation. "It is also established that Reddy is a staunch follower of the TDP. Keeping the above facts, Reddy was arrested earlier on Monday," he asserted. The top cop reiterated that the police department functions in accordance with the law and goes by the facts of the matter and is committed to protecting the constitutional and legal rights of the citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of India and other statutory laws. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Local grassroots charity celebrating its 25th anniversary This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Sep 29th, 2020 A local grassroots organisation is celebrating its 25th anniversary, making it the UKs oldest community organising charity. Established in 1995, and with a car acting as its first office, TCC (Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru / Together Creating Communities) has been training and working with adults and young people across North East Wales ever since, to create positive change on local and national issues. On 1 October TCCs long history will be celebrated at an online event with attendance from the First Minister Mark Drakeford. Made up of a diverse alliance of community groups, TCC members work together to run campaigns and meet directly with decision makers on the issues which affect communities. During its 25 year history members have successfully campaigned for a new night shelter set up in Wrexham, ensuring employers pay the real Living Wage, and most recently committing the Welsh Government to funding breakfasts in secondary schools for Wales poorest pupils. At the event community leaders will be sharing stories of how ordinary people have achieved huge changes for themselves and their communities, and what they are planning for the future. First Minister Mark Drakeford, local politicians and decision makers have been invited to hear first-hand from the people involved about the issues their communities are currently facing such as housing and climate change. The First Minister will address the Welsh Governments commitment to an additional 1 to the free school meal allowance as a pilot from January 2021, as a result of a TCC campaign led by school staff and the community from Ysgol y Grango and Penycae Church of the Nazarene. Staff at the school noticed children going hungry at lunchtime having spent their allowance on breakfast because they had no food at home, which TCC found was a national issue affecting children across Wales. The chair of TCC, Dr Farookh Jishi said: 25 years ago we were told that community organising wouldnt work in North East Wales, but TCC has gone from strength to strength. At our launch in 1995 we said we wanted a new politics one that comes from the people and not down from the politicians. Now we bring people together of all faiths and none, people of all ages, and of all backgrounds, working together for justice and equality. Anyone interested in knowing more about building power and community organising is welcome to join the online event on Thursday 1st October at 7pm. Free tickets can be booked by searching for TCC via Eventbrite, or booking here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:18:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A symposium to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of late Wang Fang, a former Chinese state councilor, was held in Beijing Tuesday. Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met Wang's family and relatives before attending the symposium. Wang was an outstanding leader in public security as well as political and legal affairs, and served as a member of the 12th CPC Central Committee, a member of the CPC Central Advisory Commission, state councilor and minister of public security. Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, urged officials to carry forward the ideals of their predecessors and uphold ideals and convictions to fulfill the duties and tasks entrusted to them. State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi presided over the symposium. Enditem Basel, Switzerland, September 29, 2020 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that it has initiated a phase 2 expansion study with its tumor checkpoint controller, lisavanbulin, in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), whose tumor has tested positive for the potential response-predictive biomarker EB1 (end-binding protein 1).1 Glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain cancer and one of the most lethal types of cancer.2 In the open-label study, patients will receive once daily oral lisavanbulin. To identify patients with EB1-positive glioblastoma, a tissue screening program has been implemented using a CE-marked immunohistochemistry clinical trial assay developed for the lisavanbulin program. Dr. Marc Engelhardt, Chief Medical Officer, said: The initiation of the phase 2 study is an important step for us to validate our hypothesis that lisavanbulin may be developed for a targeted patient population based on a patient-selection biomarker. We expect interim results in the first half of 2021 and the outcome of this study will define the next development steps for lisavanbulin, including potentially expanding into other tumor types using a biomarker-driven approach. EB1 was selected by Basilea as a potential response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin based on preclinical studies in glioblastoma models and initial clinical signals from earlier clinical studies. One glioblastoma patient in the phase 1 portion of the current study, whose tumor tissue was strongly positive for EB1, was reported as an exceptional long-lasting responder.3 This patient continues on treatment for more than two years now and shows a more than 80% area reduction of the brain tumor. About lisavanbulin (BAL101553) Basilea's oncology drug candidate lisavanbulin (BAL101553, the prodrug of BAL27862)4 is being developed as a potential therapy for diverse cancers.1, 5, 6 In preclinical studies, lisavanbulin demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo activity against diverse treatment-resistant cancer models, including tumors refractory to conventional approved therapeutics and radiotherapy.7, 8, 9 Lisavanbulin efficiently distributes to the brain, with anticancer activity in glioblastoma models.10, 11, 12 In preclinical studies, end-binding protein 1 (EB1) was identified as a potential response-predictive biomarker in glioblastoma models.12 The active moiety BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin, with distinct effects on microtubule organization,13 resulting in the activation of the "spindle assembly checkpoint" which promotes tumor cell death.14 Story continues About Basilea Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on the development of products that address the medical challenges in the therapeutic areas of oncology and infectious diseases. With two commercialized drugs, the company is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products to meet the medical needs of patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Additional information can be found at Basilea's website www.basilea.com. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com investor_relations@basilea.com This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02490800 B. M. Alexander, T. F. Cloughesy. Adult Glioblastoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2017 (35), 2402-2409 J. S. Lopez, R. Kristeleit, R. Rulach et al. Phase 1/2a study of once daily oral BAL101553, a novel tumor checkpoint controller (TCC), in adult patients with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) or high-grade glioma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2019, 37, 15 supplement, 2025 J. Pohlmann, F. Bachmann, A. Schmitt-Hoffmann et al. BAL101553: An optimized prodrug of the microtubule destabilizer BAL27862 with superior antitumor activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2011, abstract 1347; Cancer Research 2011, 71 (8 supplement) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03250299 ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02895360 A. Sharmq, A. Broggini-Tenzer, V. Vuong et al. The novel microtubule targeting agent BAL101553 in combination with radiotherapy in treatment-refractory tumor models. Radiotherapy Oncology 2017 (124), 433-438 G. E. Duran, H. Lane, F. Bachmann et al. In vitro activity of the novel tubulin active agent BAL27862 in MDR1(+) and MDR1(-) human breast and ovarian cancer variants selected for resistance to taxanes. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2010, abstract 4412; Cancer Research 2010, 70 (8 supplement) F. Bachmann, K. Burger, G. E. Duran et al. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): A unique microtubule destabilizer active against drug refractory breast cancers alone and in combination with trastuzumab. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2014, abstract 831; Cancer Research 2014, 74 (19 supplement) A. Schmitt-Hoffmann, D. Klauer, K. Gebhardt et al. BAL27862: a unique microtubule-targeted agent with a potential for the treatment of human brain tumors. AACR-NCI-EORTC conference 2009, abstract C233; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2009, 8 (12 supplement) A. C. Mladek, J. L. Pokorny, H. Lane et al. The novel tubulin-binding 'tumor checkpoint controller' BAL101553 has anti-cancer activity alone and in combination treatments across a panel of GBM patient-derived xenografts. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2016, abstract 4781; Cancer Research 2016, 76 (14 supplement) R. Berges, A. Tchoghandjian, S. Honore et al. The novel tubulin-binding checkpoint activator BAL101553 inhibits EB1-dependent migration and invasion and promotes differentiation of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 (15), 2740-2749 A. E. Prota, F. Danel, F. Bachmann et al. The novel microtubule-destabilizing drug BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin with distinct effects on microtubule organization. Journal of Molecular Biology 2014 (426), 1848-1860 F. Bachmann, K. Burger, H. Lane. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): the spindle assembly checkpoint is required for anticancer activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2015, abstract 3789; Cancer Research 2015, 75 (15 supplement) Attachment Your browser does not support the audio element. The novel coronavirus dealt a blow to businesses around the world, but a young entrepreneur in Vietnam has managed to survive his own way. With a bachelor's degree in information technology, Nguyen Hoai Duc, 24, CEO of Comusun Media Company, decided to build a career in the communication and advertising sector. Duc offers services like consultation and visual production to produce commercial videos and promotional products for corporate clients. Like other businesses, Comusun encountered numerous difficulties early on mostly because its brand remained unfamiliar to local customers. "After working hard for a year, even with some unprofitable contracts, our efforts eventually became fruitful. We have won confidence from customers and been given projects worth billions of dong," said Duc. (VND1 billion = US$43,000) Currently, the company is dealing with challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's fortunate that Comusun has obtained enough contracts so far thanks to Vietnam's effective measures to fight the pandemic, said Duc. "Still, there are a lot of obstacles that make me worry." Financial problems are among the biggest challenges Duc and his co-workers have encountered. Although they can 'survive' due to support from their families and relatives, Duc said financial management should be the toughest lesson for all firms. In his opinion, it is not easy for entrepreneurs to take out bank loans if they do not possess properties or reside in Ho Chi Minh City. He also said that he has been lucky because there are abundant opportunities to learn and improve experiences thanks to the Internet, TV, and newspapers. Although Duc has participated in short business administration courses, he said he has gained much of his experience from reading. "I have a small bookshelf at the company and always update it with fascinating books I found. Any staff can bring books home for reading, Duc told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. "My most recent book is 'How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else' by Michael Gates Gill, concerning a CEO from a world-leading trademark, he added. As an advertising and marketing agency with many young staff members, Comusun is interested in building a corporate culture with youthfulness, dynamism, and innovation. Understanding that creativity is the key in the advertising industry, the company's workplace features many trees in an environment-friendly space. Apart from working, employees can watch a movie and find comfortable places to chat to relieve stress. "Maybe, thanks to this culture, most staff have stayed with us since the very first days though our benefits may not be as good as other companies', Duc said with pride. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Agra, Sep 29 : Social activists and women's groups have protested and demanded firm action against four men accused of gangraping a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. The victim on Tuesday succumbed to her injuries in a Delhi hospital. The young victim was allegedly gangraped in a field by four goons of the so-called "higher castes" on September 14. She was admitted to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University. But her condition deteriorated as her spinal column had been damaged resulting in paralysis of the lower body. She was later shifted to the Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi. All the four accused are in police custody. Protesters have demanded death penalty for all four. Some activists however expressed reservation that because she was a Dalit, no one would come from the Delhi elite as in the Nirbhaya case to light candles or demonstrate for justice in her case. From Priyanka Gandhi to Akhilesh Yadav, opposition leaders as well as Bhim Army activists have criticised the Yogi Adityanath government in UP for atrocities against women. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet condoled the death of the Hathras gangrape victim, and said "no hope" is left from the "insensitive government". "A Dalit daughter, who was victim of gangrape and brutality ultimately died. I condole her death. No hope is left with present insensitive government." Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was a matter of shame for the country and demanded hanging of the guilty. Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India and public health expert, said "we strongly condemn the horrific rape and murder of the young, Dalit woman from Hathras, UP. Violence against women is a fundamental violation of women's rights, dignity, and agency and is a clear manifestation of our regressive social and gender norms." Muttreja told IANS on phone that the Hathras incident was a reminder that gender-based violence against women, particularly of marginalised and vulnerable classes remains a harsh fact of our everyday lives. "While the media and public campaigns tend to focus on extreme and public incidents of violence, the reality is that women continue to experience discrimination and violence in all spheres of life. There is a strong and pervasive culture of silence around gender-based violence which leads to rape, and violence against women being unreported. It is clearly time to act - it is our collective responsibility to eradicate this culture of violence." Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries, continues to top the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 for the ninth consecutive year, with a total wealth of Rs 6,58,400 crore. His total wealth has surged by 73 percent in the past one year, propelling him to become the richest individual in Asia and fourth richest person in the world. Commenting on the launch, Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said, The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List is a barometer of the Indian economy, helping us understand which industries have gone up, innovated or gone down. The stories of these entrepreneurs tell the stories of Indias modern businesses. "As much as 28 percent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been bestowed by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking Ambani's meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. A further 21 percent of the additional wealth has been generated by pharma, mainly on the back of the rise in healthcare spends and a realigned priority towards personal healthcare stimulated by the Covid-19, he said. The cut-off for the top 10 billionaires rose by 6 percent to Rs 76,000 crore this year, a 10-year increase in wealth compared to the previous year. The cumulative wealth of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich Listers has increased by 20 percent compared to that of last year. As many as 84 individuals have migrated from India and are NRIs. As many as 19 saw their wealth double year on year. London-based Hinduja brothers (SP Hinduja, along with his three brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs 1,43,700 crore bagged the second position. HCL-Founder Shiv Nadar with a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 crore ranked third, followed by Gautam Adani and family at fourth spot and Azim Premji at fifth spot. Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top 10 wealthiest individuals ranking in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. All three of Udaan founders became the highest gainers in terms of wealth as compared to the 2019 edition with increase of 274 percent in each of their wealth. Chigurupati Krishna Prasad (65), of Granules India, also registered a 218 percent jump in the wealth to Rs 3,500 crore. With a wealth of Rs 4,500 crore, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest person on the list and with a wealth of Rs 5,400 Crore, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of MDH is the oldest on the list. Nearly 5 percent of the list (40 individuals) is comprised of women. 10 out of these 40 women are self-made. The richest woman in the list is Smita V Crishna, 69, of Godrej with Rs 32,400 crore, followed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 67, of Biocon with a wealth of Rs 31,600 crore also the richest self-made woman in India. The average age of women on the list is 61 years. Being home to 217 individuals that comprise 26 percent of the list, Mumbai is the residential capital of Indias wealthy, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru. In the year 2020, Mumbai registered an increase of 41 individuals from the rich list, while New Delhi lost 5 of them. More than half of the new additions in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 are contributed by top three cities this year - this was 36 percent last year. Further, with 248 and 128 entrants respectively, Maharashtra and Delhi are the preferred states of residence for individuals in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. USA, UAE and UK are the preferred countries for migration. As many as 84 NRIs feature in the IIFL Wealth Hurun Indian Rich List 2020. With 37 individuals, USA is the most preferred country by NRIs, followed by the UAE and the UK, which are home to 18 and 14 individuals, respectively. The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 has been researched and compiled by the Hurun Research Institute for the ninth year running, using a cut-off of August 31, 2020 when the rate of exchange to the US dollar was Rs 73.67. The list relates to Indians only, defined as born or brought up in India. About the top 10 With a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 Cr, the founder of HCL, Shiv Nadar ranks third, backed by a 37% increase in HCLs share price. Nadar jumped 2 ranks to third place in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. In July 2020, after Shiv Nadar stepped down as the Chairman, his daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra took charge of HCL as its Chairperson. With a wealth of Rs 1,40,200 Cr, Gautam Adani & family ranks fourth in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Backed by the performance of Adani Green, Gautam Adanis wealth increased by 48% compared to that of last year. Adani moved up two places to the fourth rank, thereby breaking into the top 5 for the first time. This year, in August, Adani Green became the first Adani Group company to cross the 1 Lakh Cr market cap. Adani Group also manages 6 airports in the country and have bid for more. With a wealth of Rs 1,14,400 Cr, Azim Premji moves down 2 positions to the fifth rank. A celebrated philanthropist, Azim Premji through his foundation and two other scientific institutes joined hands in May 2020 to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, by conducting research to find innovative testing methods. He celebrated his 75th birthday this year and the publisher Harper Collins announced the commencement of his biography titled The Man Beyond Millions. With a wealth of Rs 94,300 Cr, Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India occupies the sixth position. Poonawallas wealth increased by 6% and gained two ranks; in June 2020, Poonawalla debuted the top 100 in Hurun Global Rich List. Serum Institute of India (SII) is working closely with Oxford University and multiple institutions to manufacture and distribute Covid-19 vaccines. In August this year, SII announced its partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to deliver up to 100 million doses of the vaccine to India and other low and middle-income countries. With a wealth of Rs 87,200 Cr, Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, stormed into the top 10 for the first time in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List. Since its IPO in 2017, Avenue Supermarts share price has increased by more than 250% and his rank in the list increased by 23 places. A media shy veteran, Damani, who is also a revered investor, was in the news for buying 2.75% of India Cements through an open market transaction. With a wealth of Rs 87,000 Cr, Uday Kotak ranks eighth in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. On account of 5.1% drop in Q1 net profit, Uday Kotaks wealth registered a drop of 8% or Rs 7,100 Cr compared to last year. With a wealth of Rs 84,000 Cr, Dilip Shanghvi regains ninth rank (up 2 places) in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Backed by a 22% increase in share price of Sun Pharma, Dilip Shanghvis wealth increased by 17% or Rs 12,500 Cr. Sun Pharmas share price decreased by 25% during the beginning of March lockdown and registered a strong V shaped recovery, and gained back a whopping 60% over the last 6 months. New entrants With a wealth of Rs 6,500 Cr, Ronnie Screwvala (63) of Unilazer Ventures debuted in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 and secured 188th position. Most of his wealth is derived from upGrad, an e-learning platform that offers education for working professionals. He is also an early investor in some of the most successful Indian start-ups such as Lenskart, Niki.ai, Kimaye and so on. The rise of Kamath Brothers: Nithin Kamath & Nikhil Kamath co-founded the online trading platform Zerodha and grew it to become Indias largest stockbroker by number of clients. With a wealth of Rs 16,900 Cr, Nithin Kamath, 40,stormed into Top 100 in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 and Nikhil Kamath, 34, registered a wealth Rs 7,100 Cr. The IPO Star: Backed by the post IPO performance of Software Services company, Happiest Minds, which got subscribed by 150 times, Ashok Soota, 77, registered a wealth of Rs 3,700 Cr and debuted the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 at the 282th rank. Soota was the Founding Chairman and Managing Director of MindTree, which again completed a successful IPO during his tenure. Soota is the co-author of the national bestseller Entrepreneurship Simplified. LIC agent then, billionaire now: Lachman Das Mittal, 89, an LIC agent turned entrepreneur founded Sonalika Tractors that has grown to become the third largest tractor manufacturer in India. With a wealth of Rs 7,700 Cr, Lachman Das Mittal ranked 164th on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. With a wealth of Rs 8,500 Cr, Vinod Saraf, 70, secured 152nd spot in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Saraf, the founder of Vinati Organics (named after his daughter and the CEO Vinati Saraf), a speciality chemical company, was the fastest riser in last year and registered a 16% increase in wealth this year. During the founding days, he pumped in his entire personal savings of Rs 57 lakh, borrowed from friends and family and has now built one of the most valuable chemicals business in India. Saraf was presented with the Hurun Value Creator of the Year award during the Hurun Most Respected Entrepreneurs Summit 2019. Rags to Riches Veteran: With a wealth of Rs 5,400 Cr, Dharam Pal Gulati, 96, of MDH is the oldest individual in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich 2020 find his place at 216th Rank. Gulati was born in Pakistan and moved to India after partition with Rs 1,500. Richest Indian professional managers Professional Managers in the list consist of individuals who joined busines after it has been founded, helped it grow and these managers were given stock options from which they have created their wealth. These Indian executives have been the cornerstones in wealth creation of some of the most valuable and respectable companies in the world. Their stories are truly inspirational for young Indian professionals, India being home to the youngest professional work force in the world, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India. With a wealth of Rs 11,300 Cr, Thomas Kurian is the number one richest professional manager in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. An MBA graduate, Kurian began his career at McKinsey & Company in New York. Later, he joined Oracle, where his career spanned for more than two decades. Most of his wealth is attributed to his stake sale in Oracle. He now leads the Cloud division of Google. With a wealth of Rs 9,100 Cr, President and CEO of Arista Networks, Jayshree Ullal is the second richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. In June 2014, Arista Networks filed for IPO under the leadership of Ullal. A 2016 Padma Shri awardee, Ajaypal Singh Banga holds the third position in the ranking of richest non-promoter Indians in the list. He is the President and CEO of Mastercard and registered a wealth of Rs 7,200 Cr mainly on the back of his holdings and stake sale in Master Card. The fourth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 is Nikesh Arora who registered a wealth of Rs 6,500 Cr. Arora is currently the CEO and Chairman of Palo Alto Networks. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, he served in the leadership positions of SoftBank and Google. Most of his wealth is derived from stake sale in SoftBank. With a wealth of Rs 5,900 Cr, Microsofts CEO, Satya Nadella is the fifth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Born and raised in Hyderabad, Nadella left for the US to pursue masters in computer science. Since 1992, Nadella has been working with Microsoft and most of his wealth is derived from Microsoft stake sale. With a wealth of Rs 5,900 Cr, Sundar Pichai shares the fifth position with Satya Nadella in the ranking of richest professional manager Indians in the list. He joined Google in 2004 and was promoted to CEO in under a decade. Pichai is one of the highest paid CEOs in the world. Google Chromes development and Androids acquisition by Google are two of the major milestones of his career. With a wealth of Rs 4,500 Cr, Shantanu Narayen, Chairman of Adobe is the seventh richest professional manager in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. An Indian-origin techie, Shantanus began his career with Apple. Apart from his current role at Adobe, he also serves in leadership roles of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and Pfizer. In 2019, he was felicitated with Padma Shri, Indias fourth highest civilian award. With a wealth of Rs 3,500 Cr, Former CEO and Chairperson of PepsiCo, Indra K Nooyi holds the eighth position amongst the richest professional manager Indians in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. She became the first independent female director of ICC after joining the institution in 2018. Nooyi, whose career at PepsiCo spanned for 25 years, derived most of her wealth through stake sale in Pepsi. With a wealth of Rs 3,200 Cr, Ignatius Navil Noronha is the ninth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. He currently serves as the CEO of Avenue Supermarts, which is a parent organization of Indian hypermarket chain, DMart. He is the richest professional manager Indian serving on the board of an Indian company. A new entrant to the ranking of wealthiest non-promoter Indians in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, Aditya Puri, the Managing Director of HDFC Bank, registered a wealth of Rs 1,300 Cr. Puri joined HDFC Bank in 1994, after working with Citibank for 2 years. In July 2020, he sold his 0.13% stake in HDFC Bank valued at Rs 842 Cr. Assuming that for every one Hurun rich lister we have found, we have probably missed two, it is likely that India today has 2,000 individuals with Rs 1,000 crore, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India. Speaking at the launch, Yatin Shah, Co-Founder, IIFL Wealth & Asset Management said, The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, is a testament to our belief in the India growth story. Despite these unprecedented times, it is encouraging to note that the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 has only grown." "The sentiment among entrepreneurs and industry leaders has improved in recent months. India is witnessing multiple themes playing out simultaneously, which include rising wealth creation in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, change in behaviour of wealthy families with wealth preservation dominating investment decisions, he said. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. ) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and the central investigation agencies over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death. The actual case and investigation into his death is left behind and something else is going on. Doubts have been raised that the investigating agencies are trying to divert peoples attention from the case, Pawar said, responding to queries from mediapersons at an interaction in Pandharpur, Solapur. We had read that an actor has committed suicide. The Mumbai Police started its investigation to find the reason behind it. Maybe the Central government had no trust in the police force. Several agencies were handed over the probe. But we are yet to see any significant progress by them in the investigation. Now, it is going on in a different direction altogether. We may have to wait more to know the truth, said the veteran leader. Currently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are investigating the case and all three come under the union home ministry headed by Amit Shah. Earlier, Pawar had said the decision of handing over the case to central agencies could be politically motivated. Home minister Anil Deshmukh alleged: Mumbai Police was accused of handling the case incompetently and alleged of shielding a politician. CBI has not been able to find anything substantial in the case so far. Bihars former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey played a key role in the entire episode. Meanwhile, reacting to news reports, state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, The report by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) that ruled out poisoning has exposed the BJPs conspiracy to take advantage of the case for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and defame Mumbai and Maharashtra. CBI should find the mastermind behind this conspiracy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The 15-day lockdown that Americans agreed to in March to prepare hospitals for a possible influx of Wuhan virus patients has lasted for over half a year in some places. It's disrupted businesses, education, and family life while harming people's mental and physical well-being. On Monday, though, a game-changer hit the scene when President Trump announced an affordable rapid test for the Wuhan virus. The new test can be self-administered and will produce a result in around 15 minutes. The Epoch Times reports: President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 28 that the U.S. government will start distributing 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests to states this week in a bid to help governors safely reopen K12 schools and economies. Of the total, the administration is dedicating 100 million tests for schools and measures to help reopen economies. An additional 50 million tests will target the most vulnerable elderly population in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health and hospice sites. [snip] There are no restrictions on how the 100 million tests meant for schools and economies can be used, but the Trump administration will urge governors to prioritize for settings that need rapid, low-tech methods of testing, such as schools, first-responder facilities, and areas where outbreaks are detected, [Admiral Brett] Giroir [M.D., assistant secretary for Health, in the HHS] said. The administration plans to ship 6.5 million tests from the school allotment this week. [snip] Broad access to testing is part of both federal and state reopening plans. After initial setbacks with a government-made test, several private sector companies developed a variety of testing solutions. The United States leads the world in the number [of] tests performed. The nation is on track to soon have the capacity to run 3 million tests per day, on average, Giroir told Congress last week. The United States is now averaging about 920,000 tests per day, Giroir said at a press conference at the White House on Sept. 28. (When you watch the video, below, pay attention to Trump's great little Borscht beltstyle joke as he introduces Dr. Giroir.) With an instant test, students can return to in-classroom learning assuming that their parents, having seen how dreadful public schools are, haven't opted to homeschool their children. Meanwhile, workplaces can open again. So can restaurants, which have been devastated by the lockdowns. With a 15-minute test, both employees and customers can quickly have their health status determined. If they're clear, things can function as they did before the virus hit. This won't work for big box stores and restaurants, but it may be enough to resuscitate smaller, more intimate venues. What will be interesting is to see whether some governments aren't too interested in benefiting from the rapid self-testing kit. For example, in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has indicated that he intends to keep his citizens prisoner forever: We've made great progress on COVID-19, but we're not done until we hit zero. Heres a look at the numbers: 332 new reported cases 61 patients admitted to hospitals Citywide positive tests are at 1.93% Practice social distancing, wear face coverings and avoid large crowds. Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) September 28, 2020 Bryan Preston understands the real message behind that tweet: The likelihood that we ever get to zero cases is, well, zero. Coronavirus is a virus. Once virii hit human populations, they tend to come and go seasonally. Despite all the promising news we've heard about vaccines lately, vaccines don't mean the virus cases zero out anytime soon if ever. The flu infects hundreds of thousands every year, and kills somewhere between 24,000 and over 60,000 Americans annually. We have a flu vaccine. We'll never have zero flu cases. It took decades to get to zero U.S. polio cases. Compared to the over 200,000 who caught the virus in New York, and the more than 23,000 who died, 332 new cases, with only 61 people in the hospital, are statistical blips. But they're blips that allow de Blasio to maintain total control, and that's the way the mayor likes it. It's also unclear how much Florida will use the test but for reasons that are the opposite of what's driving de Blasio. Florida is now 100% open, and, so far, the mass die-off hasn't happened. Additionally, the CDC's newest numbers show that, as matters now stand, most Americans have a minute chance of succumbing to the virus: Back in April, colleagues & I calculated the IFR for COVID-19 and determined fatality rates were similar to the flu for those under age 50. Ppl called it misinformation back then. Six months later, CDC reports similar COVID-19 IFR estimates: 0-19 yrs: 0.003% 20-49 yrs: 0.02% https://t.co/INAv0DaDqO James Todaro, MD (@JamesTodaroMD) September 28, 2020 The Trump administration has prodded the private sector to respond with admirable speed to an unusual situation. This is another example of the excellent management skills Trump has brought to the White House. It remains now for the American people and their state and local governments to take advantage of these rapid tests and return American to normal. Image: Admiral Brett Giroir. YouTube screen grab. Leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan has said he has concerns with former Fine Gael Senator Michael DArcys appointment as CEO of the Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM). DArcy, a former junior finance minister, yesterday resigned his position as a senator with immediate effect to take up the role. Speaking on RTE Radio this morning, Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said he had concerns that were shared by the Taoiseach and Tanaiste. Minister Ryan said his concerns stem from the time frame that elapsed from regulating an industry to working in that industry, as has happened with Mr DArcy. Read More I am concerned, I will be honest. There are concerns and difficulties with the short time frames switches. I shared my concerns with the Taoiseach and Tanaiste last night and I think they probably share some of my concerns. I think it is a matter for the Standards in Public Office (SIPO) to look at. I would have concerns. I think there is a need for a gap in the timeline and distance for someone who is a minister then may be acting for industry. I think there are concerns with that, he said. When asked if the Taoiseach and Tanaiste shared his views, he added: Yes, I expressed my thoughts and concerns and I dont think the Taoiseach or Tanaiste had different views. This comes a day after the Tanaiste Leo Varadkar issued a statement wishing DArcy the very best in his new role. The IAIM confirmed yesterday that Mr DArcy will not be engaging in any lobbying activities for 12 months as is required by regulation. Regulation by SIPO requires a 12-month cooling-off period for anyone that transitions from holding a public office before they can engage in lobbying activities. Geneva, Sep 29 : A test that can diagnose Covid-19 in minutes will dramatically expand the capacity to detect cases in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The $5 test could transform tracking of Covid-19 in less wealthy countries, which have shortages of healthcare workers and laboratories, the BBC reported on Monday. A deal with manufacturers will provide 120 million tests over six months. The WHO's head called it a major milestone. Lengthy gaps between taking a test and receiving a result have hampered many countries' attempts to control the spread of coronavirus. In some countries with high infection rates, including India and Mexico, experts have said that low testing rates are disguising the true spread of their outbreaks. The "new, highly portable and easy-to-use test" will provide results in 15-30 minutes instead of hours or days, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference on Monday. Drugs manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor have agreed with the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to produce 120 million of the tests, Tedros explained. The deal covers 133 countries, including many in Latin America which is currently the region hardest-hit by the pandemic in terms of fatality and infection rates. "This is a vital addition to their testing capacity and especially important in areas of high transmission," Tedros added. "This will enable the expansion of testing, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that do not have laboratory facilities or enough trained health workers to carry out tests," he said. Two policemen were suspended and booked for culpable homicide while the district superintendent of police (SP) was shifted on Monday after a protest by residents of Narayanpur village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh over the death in custody of a 38-year-old man on Sunday night. Villagers alleged that the deceased - a suspect in a theft case - received bullet injuries from the service revolver of a police inspector that caused his death. However, police claimed that Rajpati Kushwaha, the deceased who was a resident of Narayanpur village and detained for interrogation in a theft case, shot himself with a police officers service revolver. The suspended cops include Singhpur police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and constable Ashish Kumar, said Rewa zone inspector general of police (IGP) Umesh Joga. The transfer of the SP of Satna district Riyaz Iqbal was announced by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal. He also announced an ex-gratia of 10 lakh to next to the kin of the deceased. Superintendent of police of Satna district Riyaz Iqbal has been shifted from Satna. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. If any police personnel is found guilty in the inquiry the state government will not spare him and take strict action against him, Chouhan told reporters. Later, an FIR was lodged against the two cops for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. An FIR has been registered against the police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and constable Ashish Kumar under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 348 (wrongful confinement) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Singhpur police station, Joga said. Earlier, a large number of residents of Narayanpur village in Satna district, 486 kilometres north east of Bhopal, led by local MLA Siddharth Kushwaha of the Congress staged a protest at the police station demanding criminal case for murder against the police personnel and their arrest. They also demanded transfer of the SP. Police caned the protesters to control the situation. The deceaseds daughter Shivani Kushwaha, 18, said, My father was being harassed by police for a long time. He cant kill himself because he was a brave person and told us that he would come back from the police station as he didnt commit any crime. Police are lying. He was killed by police, Kushwaha said. The agitated mob tried to gherao the police station and also pelted stones on the police station. Police used tear gas and resorted to use of force to control the mob, said the IG. Joga said Rajpati was interrogated over the theft of a rifle and jewelry. A few days ago, someone stole jewelry and a licensed rifle from the house of the former sarpanch of Narayapur village. The former sarpanch in his written complaint expressed his doubt about involvement of Rajpati and two others in the crime. Police had interrogated Rajpati once last week. On Sunday, he was called again for interrogation to the police station. SP Riyaz Iqbal informed me that during interrogation, Rajpati snatched the revolver of police station in-charge Vikram Pathak and shot himself in the middle of his forehead. He was taken to a private hospital from where he was referred to Sanjay Gandhi Medical College, Rewa where he succumbed to bullet injury, said Joga. After over six months of closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak, temples and religious places in Madhya Pradeshs commercial capital Indore were on Tuesday allowed to reopen even as the city continues to record high number of cases. For the last fortnight, the city has been reporting over 400 cases on daily basis, however, the administration which is urging caution, is persisting with unlock in a phased manner and recently allowed religious places to reopen from Tuesday onwards. These included the famous Khajrana Ganesh temple, Bada Ganpati and Ranjeet Hanuman temple, which see thousands of devotees seeking blessings in normal times. Besides, small temples situated inside Ujjain Mahakal temple have also been allowed to reopen now. The Mahakal temple was allowed to reopen earlier, however, devotees werent allowed to seek blessings at smaller temples inside the campus till now. With the permission to reopen, the shrines, priests and devotees have been instructed to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 safety guidelines. The devotees have been asked to keep away from sanctum sanctorum, maintain social distancing and keep their faces covered with a mask at all times. Kids and elderly people have been advised to avoid visiting the temples owing to safety reasons. The temple will remain open from 9am to 7pm and limited numbers of devotees (120 per hour) will be allowed inside the shrine and no one will be allowed to stay or sit in front of the deity," Pandit Umesh Bhatt, the chief priest of famed Khajrana Ganesh temple said. Lockdown had eaten up cash reserves of the shrines Not only mortals, the almighty too had to fac hardships due to the Covid-induced lockdown as cash reserves of prominent temples eroded significantly in the last six months. With Rs 25 lakh per month maintenance, the Khajrana temple was left with Rs 20 lakh cash and had to withdraw from their savings account to keep things going. Meanwhile, with a monthly expenses of Rs 7 lakh, Ranjeet Hanuman temple had to liquidate its fixed deposits to keep regular expenses intact. The online donations were minimal in the lockdown in most of the temples. Iconic Sarafa chauapti also unlocked Noted Sarafa chauapti, which runs in the cramped by-lanes of sarafa (jewellers market) in Indore, too has been allowed to operate from Tuesday. Small stalls of snacks and sweets appear in the evening as soon as jewellery stores shut shops in the market and the delicacies are served here till late night. Covid-19 untamed in Indore However, even as the administration chooses to be lenient, Covid-19 cases have been skyrocketing in the last fortnight as the city is reporting 400 plus fresh cases on regular basis. In September, over 10,000 fresh cases of infections have been reported till now. In the last 24 hours, the city has reported 449 positive cases. There are over 23,500 infected persons in the city. Drivers faced a 30-minute wait at the Lincoln Tunnel Tuesday morning, but what was more unusual was that the Port Authoritys award-winning smart phone app -- which gives drivers real-time travel times -- wasnt working. It had been off-line for 10 days. The Crossing Time app, which tells drivers how long it will take to travel the Port Authority of New and New Jerseys six river crossings, was dark for more than a week, instead telling drivers Crossing Time status is unavailable, please try again later. Except, later didnt come for the apps primary function, especially when it was periodically checked during rush hours on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, when drivers would need it the most. The app reappeared at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, just in time for the evening rush. We discovered the problem last week, said Amanda Kwan, a Port Authority spokeswoman, on Monday. There was a technical problem with the company that provides the traffic data. The app that promises the most up-to-date travel information before heading out the door, was one of a quartet of smartphone applications launched by the Port Authority in 2018 in response to a goal issued by Executive Director Rick Cotton to offer more digital information to travelers. The four apps cover bridges and tunnels, PATH rail, airports and the authoritys two Manhattan bus terminals. The other apps were not affected by the problem. The outage comes as traffic volumes are returning to pre-coronavirus levels, especially at the Port Authority bridge and tunnels. Traffic is only 11% lower than pre-COVID traffic volumes and truck traffic has passed 2019 levels, officials said last week. Crossing Times' main feature tells commuters how many minutes it took to cross one of the agencies four bridges or two tunnels and the approximate speed of traffic. Savvy commuters can use those times to determine if there is a delay and whether to take another route. Even bus commuters can use the app to decide if they want to divert to a ferry, PATH or NJ Transit rail. Midtown Manhattan traffic was in visible gridlock conditions last Friday around the Lincoln Tunnel, when Crossing Time was down. Holland Tunnel drivers had to contend with a blocked lane at the New York-bound Holland Tunnel, and two crashes that backed up New Jersey-bound George Washington Bridge traffic between 4:15 and 4:30 p.m. Drivers had to turn to other sources to get that information. A snapshot of what it looks like heading to the outbound #GWB. 1) An accident under the apartments blocks a lane to the Upper Level. 2) An accident on the E/B #CrossBronxExpressway blocks a lane, but that is causing huge delays as well. @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/6iSJ3zD6Ud WCBS 880 Traffic & Weather together on the 8s (@wcbs880traffic) September 25, 2020 The four apps won the agency a 2019 Government Experience Award in the state government experience category from the Center for Digital Government. Development of the apps in 90 days won the agency an award from CIO Magazine in 2019. That short development time was part of a larger initiative started in 2018 by the authoritys then new leadership that took over in mid-2017 to bring the bi-state agency into the digital age. Executive Director Rick Cotton announced initiatives to provide more information by smartphone to customers. Crossing Time was introduced in April 2018 after the Ride PATH app went live in January 2018. Before then, PATH riders had to turn to privately developed apps to get train schedules. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Prime Minister and his Bangladesh counterpart are likely to hold a meeting in December, Bangladeshi media reported. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Memon, speaking to Dhaka Tribune, said that the two countries are discussing the matter and it is undecided whether the meeting would take place in person or virtually. "It is too early to say whether the meeting will take place in person or virtually," Dr Momen said. "If the Covid-19 situation remains unchanged, the meeting will be virtual." Meanwhile, Momen and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are slated to hold a Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) on Tuesday. Terming India as Bangladesh's "best friend", Momen said that the two countries have "many things to discuss". Rohingya crisis, water sharing in common rivers, energy, connectivity, bilateral trade and border issues will be the key features in the meeting, Dhaka Tribune reported. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PC Dorman suffered injuries when his patrol car was hit by a drink driver. (Thames Valley Police/Tom Dorman) A police officer whose leg was amputated after a man drove into his patrol car has criticised the broken justice system after hearing the culprit was moved to an open prison. Sergeant Tom Dorman was hit by a drink driver while on duty in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in September 2018. Despite being severely injured, he managed to direct members of the public to apply a tourniquet to stem blood loss. Hayden Brown, of Maidenhead, was given five years in prison for three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in December last year. Sgt Dorman's lower leg was amputated as a result of his injuries. During the incident, which caused such bad injuries to Sgt Dorman he had to have his lower leg amputated, Brown was almost twice the legal drink drive limit and had been taking cocaine. The officer felt the five year sentence was already too light but has now spoken of his disgust at hearing Brown has been moved to an open prison just 10 months into his jail term. Read more: 20,000 assaults on emergency workers recorded in first year of new law Yahoo News UK understands Brown can now be eligible for release on temporary licence, which allows prisoners to spend some time away from jail, such as being granted day release. Where is the justice for the victim? I am absolutely disgusted to find out that Hayden Brown has been already moved to an open prison and will now be allowed to be temporarily released on licence, Sgt Dorman said. Sgt Dorman suffered severe injuries in the 2018 incident. Hes served 10 months of a five-year sentence. What an insult. The justice system is broken and failing victims of crime. He told Yahoo News UK that plans to double the maximum jail time for those who assault emergency workers to two years are hollow if the rest of the criminal justice system doesnt also toughen up on offenders. He said: Anyone who harms and emergency service worker and receives imprisonment as a sentence should be treated, in law, as a dangerous offender, they should be mandated to serve at least 2/3 of their sentence, along with the other restrictions applied to those classified in law as being a dangerous offender. Story continues Read more: Government considers doubling sentence for assaulting emergency workers If we cant get justice for those who place themselves in harms way to protect others, how on earth are the everyday victims of crime ever going to receive the justice they deserve. The Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents that forces officers, said Sgt Dorman is appealing to the prime minister and home secretary Priti Patel to look into the case. Watch: Tougher sentences planned for assaulting emergency workers The incident also left Sgt Dormans colleague with puncture wounds, fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder. A 19-year-old woman who was in Browns car suffered 24 broken bones and internal injuries. How can the system be so fundamentally flawed that his actions effectively sentenced myself, my crew mate and his passenger to a lifetime of punishment, but he gets to leave prison months later? the officer said. How is this Protecting Our Protectors and creating a culture where criminals who harm officers face the full consequences for their actions? Brown was sentenced at Reading Crown Court. (PA) Craig OLeary, Thames Valley Police Federation chairman, added: We are shocked and appalled to hear that Brown will not serve the full five years he was handed. Brown chose to get behind the wheel, having drunk alcohol and taken cocaine. In doing so he drove into two police officers. His actions that day changed Toms life forever, and yet Brown has spent only a few short months behind bars. Sgt Dorman has appealed to Boris Johnson to look into the case. (PA) How is this justice for these officers? How can he be deemed safe to roam society? How will his sentence act as a deterrent? Police officers around the country will be disgusted to hear that Brown will walk free after such a short time behind bars. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: Drink drivers ruin lives which is why we are introducing tougher sentences so they feel the full force of the law. Offenders in open jails face strict conditions and can be returned to closed prison if they breach them. This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1019 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser, what weve accomplished in the last year, and our current goal, burnout prevention. Yves here. Weve pointed out that restoring manufacturing operations in the US would require explicit and sustained industrial policy, since the US has ceded many critical skills, such as the loss of factory floor and plant-level managers. But the difficulty of the undertaking does not excuse Trumps all hat, no cattle approach. By Tom Conway, the international president of the United Steelworkers Union (USW). Produced by the Independent Media Institute Robert B. Bull Bulman stood up to FreightCar America because of the poor pay and hazardous working conditions at its Cherokee, Alabama, factory. But the company savagely retaliated with threats to close the plant and relocate to Mexico. Then, after thwarting the union drive, FreightCar America opted to offshore those 500 jobs anyway in a greedy gambit to exploit low wages and weak laws south of the border. Although Donald Trump won the White House with a vow to reinvigorate a manufacturing base essential for Americas future, he failed to stanch the torrent of U.S. corporations absconding to countries with abysmal working conditions and lax environmental regulations. Right under Trumps nose, America lost hundreds of factories to offshoring, and corporations relocated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs, all before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the economy into a nosedive. Some of these callous employers, including FreightCar America, even soaked taxpayers for millions of dollars in subsidies and other aid before they cut and run. Theyre like parasites, observed Bulman, who will lose his job when FreightCar America abandons its mile-long, 2.2-million-square-foot factory by the end of 2020. They get what they want and leave. Bulman, who formerly worked at a United Steelworkers (USW)-represented paper mill, helped lead two organizing drives at FreightCar America because he knew a union would compel the company to provide safer working conditions and give a voice to those performing demanding, hazardous jobs. But FreightCar America waged vicious anti-union campaigns that included threats to close the plant andthe companys very name notwithstandingmove the jobs to Mexico. After defeating both organizing drives, the company still sold out its workers. Although Trump promised to stop companies from playing these heartless games with families livelihoods, he refused to intervene with FreightCar America or lift a finger to save manufacturing jobs in a state where workers deeply trusted hed fight for them. He gave the cold shoulder to FreightCar America workers who called and emailed the White House with pleas for help, just as he ignored USW members who sought assistance early in 2020 before Goodyear closed its nearly-100-year-old Gadsden, Alabama, tire plant and moved several hundred remaining jobs to Mexico. Mickey Ray Williams, the former president of Local 12, reached out to several administration officials and provided them with a presentation outlining Goodyears refusal to invest in the Gadsden factory even as it pumped more and more money into a Mexican site paying workers only a few dollars an hour. Goodyears offshoring of the Assurance All-Season tire developedand long manufacturedin Gadsden was exactly the kind of nefarious practice Trump bragged he would curb. But after a few conversations that seemed promising, the Trump officials stopped returning Williams calls. He simply never heard from them again. All we asked for was one tweet, explained Williams. It was like you flipped a switch, and they went as cold as Alaska, Williams said of his administration contacts. The way I figure it, there was no political benefit to Trump, so they cut me off. Trump and his administration did nothing to help Gadsden. Trumps red campaign hats mean more to him than American workers do. Although the plight of the Gadsden workers elicited no response from the White House, Goodyears longstanding policy banning political attire, including Trump hats, from its shop floors aroused Trumps fury. He threatened to remove Goodyear tires from Secret Service vehicles and fired off a tweet calling for Americans to boycott the company, even though that would mean the loss of even more American jobs. He wouldnt call out Goodyear for workers, but he will for his own agenda, Williams noted. Thats wrong. Even when Trump injects himself into a companys offshoring scheme, he delivers far less than he promises. In 2016, Trump assailed Carriers plans to close an Indianapolis facility and vowed, Were not going to let Carrier leave. Trump arranged new tax incentives for the multibillion-dollar manufacturer and then took credit for saving the plant when Carrier grudgingly agreed to keep it open. But the plant today isnt what it used to be. While Carrier kept about 700 jobs at the Indianapolis factory, it still shifted hundreds of others to a Mexican facility that, like the one Goodyear operates there, pays workers just a few dollars an hour. And despite the deal with Trump, Carriers parent company also followed through on plans to close a plant in Huntington, Indiana, about 105 miles from Indianapolis, and relocated those 600 or so jobs to Mexico as well. Instead of meting out consequences to companies that offshore, as he pledged to do, Trump helped to accelerate it with measures like the 2017 tax giveaway that he and congressional Republicans bestowed on Americas rich. The legislation gives corporations tax advantages for operations in other countries. Now, on top of low wages and weak laws protecting workers, companies have still more incentives to move jobs overseas and devastate local tax bases like those in Cherokee, Gadsden and Huntington. After defeating organizing efforts, Bulman said, FreightCar America repeatedly told workers it would remain in Cherokee for the long haul. When Trump signed a pandemic stimulus bill this past spring, the company even took about $10 million in aid that it pledged to use for retaining workers and meeting payroll. But ever since FreightCar America entered into a joint venture with a Mexican company, Bulman feared that it was only a matter of time before his employer moved their jobs and work across the border. Now, as he and his colleagues log their final shifts, it angers Bulman to think that FreightCar America and Trump both betrayed them. FreightCar employees, including me, definitely think he dropped the ball in our case, Bulman said. Its very disappointing. Big Sur. Point Reyes. Big Basin. Half Dome. These are not merely places, they are magical creations that Shintoism would have us worship as earthly manifestations of the gods. Our family recently relocated from Manhattan for my new position at Cal, imagining weekend visits to these treasures as a balm to the challenges of a cross-country move amid a pandemic. Yet these treasures are all all engulfed by the flame, smoke or ash of human recklessness. The Bay Areas natural playground is closed largely not due to COVID, which among its lesser curses would otherwise allow us to enjoy the outdoors but because we, as both a species and as a region, have torched the playground. While Berkeley recently had air worse than New Delhi, the air above New York was crystalline, reflecting the fact that our inner cities are not the source of this American carnage. Plagued by underinvestment, overpolicing, gentrification and consequent homelessness, our cities do have staggering challenges before them, but climate change is not their making. While big cities can become even more sustainable, they are already on a per capita basis some of the greenest places on Earth, with most urbanites living in small apartments and devoted to walking, biking and mass transit systems systems that will rebound after this pandemic because once youve traveled 70 mph on a subway, you say Traffic? Fuggedaboutit. Yet our cities must recover from our multiple national crises differently. For New York to recover, it must lean into its self-image as an egalitarian city of strivers, it must awaken the too often ignored statue in its harbor that demands opportunity for all. But the Bay Area must do something much harder, it must lean away from its self-image, it must lean away from the mind-set of nature as a place to reside away from others. It must escape escapism. Most global cities like New York, Paris, Hong Kong, or my hometown of Kolkata, are built, however imperfectly, around an embrace of people, an embrace of the value of dense, intense living. The Bay Area, with its many scattered nodes barely centers on San Francisco, a city that is far less dense than most. Despite its wonderful low-lying neighborhoods, this remains a region constructed on the premise of escaping from people, not embracing them. Human interaction is essential to the innovative environments of Berkeley, Stanford, UCSF and Silicon Valley. But when area tech companies declare remote work as their singular future just as New York businesses are calling for a safe return to the city, the cultural divide could not be more clear. The Bay Areas scorched-earth politics around new multifamily housing reveals the fierce value its residents place on single-family homes, cars, and getting away from one another. Of course humans need nature, but this region begs the question of why going to a beautiful urban waterfront or weekend trips to a wondrous state park doesnt satiate this need. It begs the question of why so many must homestead among the Shinto gods. Why is it so hard to comprehend that if you love nature, you shouldnt live in it? Over the past three decades, more than 32 million homes have been built in the wildland-urban interface across the West, which is a fancy term for forest sprawl. In addition to natural causes like lightning strikes, now infamous wildfires have been ignited by everything from household electrical services to gender-reveal parties. Area residents might rightfully claim that the unprecedented magnitude of the fires is caused by global climate change, which has indeed resulted in drier ecosystems and higher winds. For the science-impaired, our burning orange skies like our orange president insist that this is all normal, claiming we just need better forest management, perhaps using a good rake. But no amount of deflection or denial can justify further home construction in the wilderness, whether you drive a Tesla or a Tahoe to get there. We must ban sprawl while providing much needed dense new affordable housing to replace it. Some so-called progressives insist California must stop growing altogether which would leave it a wealthy enclave for those who can afford to stay despite the staggering amount of underbuilt land around BART stations and across the Bay Areas low-rise landscape. It is true that solvable issues like poor mass transit remain, but prohibiting new multifamily housing is short-sighted, racist and ultimately immoral. The awesome challenge before us then is to design a sustainable, equitable, and attainable future for human habitation across both our region and world a world where by 2100 a steady state of 10 billion souls must learn to live in harmony with the planets limited resources. We will need to create just and joyful new models for living, working, eating, parenting and recreating without ravaging the planet, the calling for the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. But for now, the heaven of visiting our surrounding natural treasures, that heaven must wait, for they are in hell. Vishaan Chakrabarti is the William W. Wurster dean of UC Berkeleys College of Environmental Design. He is author of A Country of Cities. A prominent politician has stepped in with the goal of saving the Spanish GP. As recently as one week ago, the Barcelona circuit's newly-installed boss Maria Teixidor said she was preparing to discuss a 2021 race deal with Liberty Media. She has suddenly stepped down, with La Vanguardia newspaper reporting that local politician Roman Tremosa has replaced her at short notice. "We regret her decision and respect it," Tremosa said of Teixidor's sudden resignation. "But we now have an urgent situation which is why I decided to temporarily assume the presidency of the circuit. "We need to guarantee that the contract (negotiations) for Formula 1, which must be done in October, is successful. "I have assumed the presidency to give stability and get out of a very strange situation," Tremosa added. "The short-term objective is F1. We must try to close the agreement in October and after that we will reflect on the (circuit) governance model." Tremosa said he will be assisted by other circuit officials in his talks with Liberty. "I will lead the negotiations if appropriate, but I am not an expert on Formula 1. There are people who are more qualified than I am for that," he said. Tremosa admits that the talks may be difficult, given the financial situation in the wake of the covid-19 crisis. "We do not know what the situation will be next year and that forces everyone to rethink," he said. "We will see what happens in F1, but I don't think either administration has the money of a year ago. The circumstances have changed." (GMM) Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (25) By PTI MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday urged people to celebrate the upcoming Navratri and Dussehra festivals in a low-key manner due to the coronavirus outbreak and suggested organisation of health and blood donation camps instead of dandiya, garba and cultural events involving mass participation. In guidelines issued during the day by the state home department, festivals organisers, also called mandals in local parlance, were asked to spread awareness on COVID-19, malaria and dengue among other diseases. As per the guidelines, the height of Goddess Durga idols installed by mandals (during Navratri) have been capped at four feet and household ones at two feet, and immersion procession, crowded affairs during normal times, have been disallowed. It also suggested that devotees opt for metal idols this time, and digital darshan through local cable networks, streaming formats and social media. It instructed mandals to arrange for thermal screening at pandals (festival arena), which must be disinfected. Devotees desirous of darshan should strictly adhere to social distancing norms and wear masks, the government said. Immersion should be done in artificial ponds created with the help of municipal corporations, housing societies, public representatives and NGOs, while clay or eco-friendly idols can be immersed at household level, the government said. Immersion of household and mandal idols from containment zones at public places has been disallowed, it said. The traditional Dussehra event of burning the effigy of demon king Ravana should be held observing social distancing norms, without spectators, and in a symbolic manner, as per the guidelines. "Spectators should not be invited. (Organisers) should arrange for live broadcast through social media platforms like Facebook," the government said. At a time when West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has expressed concern over alleged fiscal irregularities, the state Finance Department has earned the appreciation of the office of the CAG for achieving 99.62 per cent expenditure reconciliation and 100 per cent receipt reconciliation of its transactions for the 2019-20 fiscal. In a recent communication to the department, CAG Accountant General (Administration) and ITSM, Rahul Kumar, said the feat "was possible due to your active involvement in the entire process, which has also been appreciated by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India". "I am pleased to inform (you) that for the first time this office has achieved 99.62 per cent expenditure reconciliation and 100 per cent receipt reconciliation of the departmental transactions for the year 2019-20 through the login facility available in this office website," Kumar wrote in his letter to the additional chief secretary of the state Finance Department. "This will definitely ensure correct and complete depiction of the receipts and expenditure figures in the finance accounts of the Government of West Bengal," the official wrote. The letter also gave a proposal to initiate a quarterly reconciliation process and instruct all the departmental offices to complete the reconciliation process at the earliest for the first quarter of the current fiscal. "Now, for the reconciliation of the current fiscal year, it is proposed to initiate a quarterly reconciliation process. Accordingly, the receipts and expenditure figures for the first quarter of 2020-21 have already been uploaded on the website under the departmental login. Please instruct all the departmental office(s) to complete the reconciliation process at (an) early date," the letter read. The official also urged the department to disclose two sets of information -- one for "loans and advance given by the government" and the other for "investment made by the government" -- in two separate statements. "However, currently both the statements are limited in true and fair depiction to the extent of information that is awaited from the departmental offices. "To address the issue, this office has developed two separate modules in departmental login where departmental officers can upload the terms and conditions of the loan and investment details," he wrote, directing to upload the same for the 2019-20 fiscal by September 30. Meerut : , Sep 29 (IANS) The transfer of a woman official -- 17th in a row -- has led to a major controversy in the state. The woman PCS (lower) official posted in Meerut was transferred in 'public interest' after over a year-long tenure which was marked with several spats with controversial Sardhana BJP MLA Sangeet Som. The officer Amita Varun was transferred for the 17th time in her 13-year career. Varun is a 2007 batch official and had been serving as an Executive Officer (EO) of Meerut's Sardhana municipal corporation since September last year. In the last three years, she was shifted at least 10 times due to her working style that pitted her against local politicians. On Sunday night, she was shifted to Jahangirabad in Bulandshahr. The Provincial Civil Service (PCS) official troubled by the frequent transfers had moved the Allahabad High Court in 2018. A two-judge bench of the Court had then set aside her transfer after observing,"Such an exercise is nothing but an exercise of power founded on malice in law." The Court had also said: "We do not find anything from record that at any point, the petitioner (Varun) has been found indulging in any act of corruption." Varun's tenure in Sardhana culminated in a bitter row following the death of a contractual employee due to heart attack on September 22. The supporters of MLA Sangeet Som who were later joined by the family members of the deceased Ajay Chabra alleged that he died due to harassment by Varun. She had termed the charges as 'politically motivated'. Later MLA Sangeet Som said Amita Varun "used to misbehave with staffers and had been caught taking a bribe." He maintained that she "had a tainted past and has been transferred 17 or 18 times." On her part, Varun alleged the MLA was "meddling" with the administrative work and pressuring her to act according to his directions. She said: "In September last year, MLA Sangeet Som called me at his camp office. I went there with my accountant. He told me that he runs police stations and tehsil and he will also run the municipal corporation. I politely told him he is an ex-officio member of the corporation and all his pleas will be addressed according to the set norms." Varun had filed a complaint against Som soon after joining. However, Meerut District Magistrate K. Balaji said: "She had moved a complaint to higher authorities. Its copy was also sent to my office. That is an old complaint. She recently came to my office and told me about what happened in the corporation. Police are probing the complaint made against her regarding the death of the contractual worker." A man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound Tuesday after a possible drug deal gone bad, according to the San Antonio Police Department. Officers responded to a Circle K gas station on the corner of Castle Cross and Gibbs Sprawl shortly after 3 p.m. for a reported shooting. An officer found a man outside of a grey car with a bullet wound to the chest. He was taken to the hospital and his condition was not immediately known. Police believe there may be two other victims but neither of them were on scene when officers arrived. Chief William McManus noted there was cash scattered inside the grey vehicle and said the shooting appears to be a drug deal gone bad. Witnesses told police they saw a person running through a nearby field with a silver handgun. A black semiautomatic pistol was found in the field. Marta Paezs route home was blocked by the police cars and yellow tape marking the scene. So sad, Paez said of the shooting. So many things are happening in this world. While McManus was addressing the media, vehicles collided at the intersection of Castle Cross and Gibbs Sprawl. The shooting remains under investigation. A man wearing a face mask following the COVID-19 outbreak walks past a booth of Huawei at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, on Sept. 4, 2020. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters) US Renews Pressure on Europe to Ditch Huawei in New Networks BRUSSELSTelecoms company Huawei Technologies is part of Chinas surveillance state, complicit in human rights abuses, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday, as Washington renewed pressure on Europe to ban the company from fifth-generation (5G) networks. Keith Krach, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs, stepped up warnings as Germany and Italy consider their next-generation mobile networks, in his first tour of European capitals since the COVID-19 pandemic hindered travel in March. Krach said that Finlands Nokia and Swedens Ericsson were the only companies that European governments should choose. Huawei is an arm of the CCP surveillance state and a tool for human rights abuse, Krach told a German Marshall Fund think-tank event, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. Huawei has repeatedly rejected U.S. charges that its equipment for 5G networks could be used for spying. An attendee wears a badge strip with the logo of Huawei and a sign for 5G at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing, China, on Nov. 22, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters) Krach, who said he had held talks with German executives and officials, linked Huawei to Beijings security crackdown in Hong Kong and the repression of Chinas Uighur Muslims, though he did not provide any evidence during his online address. He said Huaweis involvement in European 5G mobile networks would put the NATO alliance at risk, saying that for China the new technology was the backbone of their surveillance state. Untrusted, high-risk vendors like Huawei and ZTE provide the CCPs authoritarian government the capacity to disrupt or weaponize critical applications in infrastructure or provide technological advances to Chinas military forces, Krach said. Italy and Germany are discussing whether to allow Huawei to play a role in building the nations 5G network, after Britain and France adopted a de-facto ban on the Chinese company. Huawei is already under sanctions in the United States, aimed at shutting it out of the 5G market there and forcing its U.S. suppliers to seek a licence before selling to the company. Meanwhile, Huawei has built up stakes in Chinese semiconductor companies and other tech businesses, bolstering its supply chain in face of pressure from the United States. By Robin Emmott Tom Bailey, executive director of Tempo Underwriting, has a theory about what it takes to build a business based on the reinsurance MGA model. For a reinsurance MGA to be successful and to have a strong offering, you have to be very, very focused in a niche, as we are. I think a general reinsurance offering is going to be much tougher for an MGA, said Bailey, who leads a London-based MGA that focuses on cross-class emerging market treaty reinsurance as well as professional lines, including D&O and professional indemnity on a direct and facultative basis. Bailey said Tempos reinsurance treaty book makes up a bit more than half of the business, and then direct and facultative business, grouped together, account for slightly less than half of the business. Tunde Olowofila, director and head of Treaty at Tempo, explained that the niche Tempo focuses on is a geographical one. From a treaty perspective, Tempos focus is Africa, Asia and Europe, which accounts for roughly 90 percent of the business the company writes, Olowofila said. He noted that 40 percent of Tempos treaty business is from Africa, 30 percent comes from Asia, which includes the Middle East, while 20 percent is from Central and Eastern Europe. The remaining 10 percent is what we would call opportunistic business as brokers turn up with good risks from here, there and everywhere. (The bulk of Tempos revenues are broker generated.) Olowofila speculated that there are very few reinsurance MGAs because many capacity partners write reinsurance in one way or another themselves. What they dont want is someone whos going to be stepping on their toes and writing the same business. They dont want the exposure to, for example, U.S. wind, Japanese quake, the main peak cat zones that the capacity partners can very much write themselves, he said. Dare I say, there arent many markets that have the expertise in Africa, in particular, although less so for Asia and Europe, Olowofila said. But weve carved a niche for ourselves that works very well, and it works well for capacity partners, because it allows us to offer some diversification to their existing portfolio. Weve carved a niche for ourselves that works very well, and it works well for capacity partners, because it allows us to offer some diversification to their existing portfolio. Tunde Olowofila. Another reason that reinsurance MGAs are rare is that people get really sensitive about delegating treaty business, Olowofila said. If youre an underwriter, and your boss comes to you and says, Look, we like these guys at Tempo. Weve had a very positive conversation. Weve looked at their data; the numbers check out. Were going to delegate to them, and we just wanted to run it past you first. What do you think that treaty underwriter is going to say? Olowofila questioned. The underwriter is going to say: No, thank you. We dont need to delegate; we can do this business perfectly well ourselves.' People get very precious about their fiefdoms, he said. We dont want to blow our own trumpet, but we monitor our business by Lloyds risk codes and, on a like-for-like basis, we have consistently outperformed them on average over the last eight years by 15-20 percent, he said. (Lloyds classifies its business by class and subclass into risk codes and publishes the annual underwriting results for these risk codes). Part of the problem for Lloyds is that the average expense ratio at Lloyds is 40 percent, which is just abhorrent, he said, explaining that partnering with Tempo can cut this by at least half. Underwriting U.S. wind doesnt require much underwriting expertise as its largely model driven, Olowofila said. The price is what it is; its a commoditized product. And this is the same with Japanese quake. There really isnt that intellectual knowledge required to understand your client in depth. Florida wind is Florida wind; it doesnt matter who the client is. Olowofila reported that he has been writing the same portfolio of reinsurance business, which specifically avoids U.S. and Japan catastrophe risks, for almost 20 years, with eight of those years at Tempo. We have an extensive database and our own proprietary model that we have built and refined over the years. This has evolved into an objective pricing tool, which takes time and significant investment. In addition to its geographic focus, Tempo writes cross-class business, including non-marine, marine, energy, aviation, which helps the company achieve consistent and better returns than monoline underwriters, said Olowofila. The aviation portfolio is a classic example. Back when we started writing treaty business in 2013, aviation made up a significant portion of our portfolio. Now it makes up less than half a percent, he said, explaining that as rates dropped and the number of market losses grew, profitability was eroded for that portfolio. Because of our cross-class approach, we have the ability to close down that line of business. Now that were starting to see rating environment on the aviation side increase, were starting to look at that business again. If Tempo focused solely on aviation underwriting, Id have to write that business, irrespective of whether the rating environment was good or not, because if I didnt, Id be writing myself out of a job, Olowofila said. Most of the companys non-marine business consists of property risk and property catastrophe, which makes up about 65 percent of the portfolio, while marine, which includes hull cargo and associated liabilities, makes up about 15 percent. The remaining 20 percent is energy, up and downstream, while aviation makes up less than half a percent. Tempos capacity partners on the treaty side are traditional reinsurers and insurers, as well as alternative reinsurance vehicles and ILS platforms. (Tempo also is a Lloyds coverholder.) One major treaty capacity provider is the Bank of Montreal, which independent of Tempo writes a very large London market excess (LMX) retro portfolio, with a focus on U.S. wind and Japanese quake. As Tempo specifically avoids these areas, there is no doubling up in terms of aggregate, said Olowofila. The maximum line that Tempo writes on behalf of BOM is $15 million across all classes. This is supplemented by its other capacity provider, Markel Corp., which delegates on specialized risks in Africa such as strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC), war and terrorism (W&T), and kidnap and ransom (K&R). With such a broad offering, Tempo is able to compete against some of the largest reinsurers in the market, Olowofila explained. We also write what I would classify as regional retro. That would be, for example, the state reinsurer of a particular country. He cited the example of Korean Re, which after its inception in the early 1960s became the state reinsurer of South Korea. It was privatized in 1978 and now writes 25 percent of its business in international markets. We will support them on their Korean portfolio; thats domestic exposure only, rather than what I would call hard-blown retro, which is global reinsurancefor example, supporting a Lloyds syndicate that has exposure on a global basis. Olowofila said that Tempo doesnt engage with many clients who view reinsurance as a commoditythose that only buy it as a cost-efficient way to offload some of their risk. In general, Tempo seeks to develop long-term partnerships with its ceding company clients, which can range in size from small local insurers up to the equivalent of FTSE 250 companies on the treaty side. Without reinsurance capacity to operate, small insurers would struggle to satisfy their own underlying clients, Olowofila said. As weve now been around for eight years, were well established and have a track record. People know us, trust us and understand our approaches. As a result, were starting to engage with capacity partners on a multiyear basis, Olowofila said, noting that MGAs typically operate on a year-by-year basis. If you can get a multiyear deal secured, and were in the process of having a number of those discussions now, then it makes everyone a lot more relaxed, and youre not under constant renewal pressure every year. In addition to geographic niches and cross-class underwriting, Tempo buys reinsurance and retrocession cover for existing capacity partners. Most MGAs dont have that ability and dont have that freedom given to them by capacity partners, Olowofila noted. Similar to any Lloyds syndicate that buys reinsurance to protect its account, Tempo aims to think and act as if its a reinsurer in the true sense, even if its not the ultimate risk carrier. Just because were not carrying risk, it doesnt mean that we should change our approach to making sure that were protecting the balance sheet of our capacity partners, he said. This article first was published in Insurance Journals sister publication, Carrier Management. The three articles in this special series are: Topics USA Excess Surplus Europe Underwriting Reinsurance Insurance Wholesale Aviation Lloyd's The Narcotics Control Bureau has opposed the bail pleas filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Bombay high court following their arrest in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The siblings were "active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers", the NCB said in an affidavit filed before the HC on Monday. The NCB further said both Rhea Chakraborty and her brother had "abetted and financed" drug transactions. Therefore, the agency had booked them under the stringent section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, it said in the affidavit. Section 27A provides punishment for up to 10 years for financing drug trafficking and harbouring offenders, and also carries a bar on grant of bail. On previous hearings, the actress and her brother opposed the application of the above section in their case. Their counsel Satish Maneshinde last week argued that the section did not apply in the present case as Rhea Chakraborty occasionally paid for drugs that were consumed only by her boyfriend, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He had further argued that the drugs seized by the NCB so far in the case amounted to just 59 grams, which wasn't a commercial quantity, therefore, section 27A should not be applied in their case. On September 24, a bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal suggested that the NCB file its reply to the bail pleas of Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, who were arrested earlier this month and are currently in judicial custody. The court had also said that the NCB must elaborate on the provisions of section 27A and its applicability in the present case. NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Monday submitted two separate affidavits in the HC wherein it said, "Electronic evidence such as WhatsApp chats, records were retrieved from mobile, laptop and hard-disk and it indicated payment made for drugs." "Thus, there is ample evidence to show present applicant Rhea has not only regularly dealt with but also financed illicit trafficking of drugs," the NCB said. The NCB further said in the affidavit that Rhea Chakraborty was aware of the fact that Rajput was into consumption of drugs, and yet she had "harboured and concealed" it. "This would tantamount to harbouring. Rhea also allowed her residence for drug storage and consumption by Rajput," the affidavit said. "It is clear from the statements and electronic evidence gathered by the NCB that the applicant is an active member of the drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers. There is sufficient evidence that she is involved in drug trafficking," it said. It also said that Rhea Chakraborty and her brother used to facilitate drug deliveries and payment through credit cards, cash and other payment gateways. If the siblings are released on bail, they could hamper the probe that is currently in a "crucial stage", the NCB said. The high court will hear the bail pleas of the actress and her brother along with the bail pleas of co-accused Samuel Miranda, Abdul Parihar and Dipesh Sawant on Tuesday. Rajput was found hanging in his home in suburban Bandra on June 14. 29.09.2020 LISTEN Recently data management systems have become an integral theme in the oil and gas sector. Oil and gas industries are leveraging data centers to systematically manage enormous volumes of data generated from operational activities. This is because volumes of data in the sector have experienced significant surges, thus calling for high-tech data storage and processing systems. In Ghana, the upstream activities contribute significantly to the chunk of data generated from oil and gas processes. To expedite accurate and sustainable operational data warehousing and mining, stakeholders in the petroleum sector in the advanced countries are resorting to building ultra-modern data centers and high-performing computing systems. Investing in data centers helps the real-time processing of data in creating revenue opportunities, improving operational efficiencies, and increasing drilling performance. For instance, to evaluate project specifications and precisely predict drilling locations for extracting hydrocarbons, data availability during exploration and production capacities is crucial. The possibility of extracting cost-effective hydrocarbons is by integrating advanced remote sensing technologies with a wide array of production equipment deployed on wellheads, including drill bits, injection equipment, pumps, and valves to collect real-time data. In this modern era, the emergence of artificial intelligence and other data modeling systems has caused the oil and gas industry to experience speedy growth in the deployment of sensors and some network devices to form and industrial internet ecosystem. The industrial internet ecosystem triggers massive data deluge from the oil and gas operational activities to accommodate big data analytics in monitoring real-time performance for prediction of any future mishaps in operations. Oil and gas industry customers often have unique data center requirements and are increasingly outsourcing their data center needs for effective and efficient data management systems. Whether it is the desire to get out of the business of operating data centers or the upstream sector requirement for high-performing computing solutions, the opportunity for data center service providers abounds. Against this backdrop, some leading companies in the oil and gas sector are resorting to cloud solution providers for scalable data storage and accessibility thus, allowing the ultimate focus on core competencies while leaving the management of the data with the technology players. Oil and gas majors, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Equinor are classical examples. Taking a clue from the aforementioned oil and gas majors, building a data center with operational and successful data management systems can be a difficult task to manage. What is more worrying is when data center service providers become dishonest in relaying accurate data information for policy analysis and implementation. Arguably, although some leading oil and gas majors have outsourced data management systems with cloud solution providers, data privacy and security have always come to the forefront of contemporary social issues. Therefore, if possible, due to data privacy and security, setting up a data center manned by the parent company is a good initiative for accurate data management purposes. It is against this background that we congratulate the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) for taking the ingenuity to build a data center for operational purposes in the petroleum sector. As well read fellows in the energy sector, and as GNPC may have factored in building the data center, there are two big trends driving data center requirements. The first is a robust big data that withstand internal and external data traffic because the petroleum sector in some situations generates big data through seismic surveys. It is worth noting that the challenge with big data is that it doesn't come only with the speed of processing it. High bandwidth capacity is needed to capture transport seismic data, coupled with enabling real-time manipulation. The second is the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) which describes the network of physical objects that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet. Nowadays, devices are smarter, and the attachment of sensors to extraction purposes capture enormous amounts of data from sites. This data if well managed, can help the petroleum industry with accurate site locations for better production processes. For good internal data management, data from well sites has to be shared with all business operational units. The data center should support high-performance computing because it helps provide racks of tremendously parallel servers with multi-core CPUs. Special-purpose accelerators and GPUs are used to achieve high-performance that standard CPUs can't provide. Also, deploying a modular data center in some circumstances is critical in offering scalability and easy installations in the well areas with the potential addition of rack spaces without interrupting current locations. Utilizing modular data centers helps companies in complying with environmental requirements, as most construction takes site off-premises. In conclusion, supporting the requirements of petroleum seismic processing and data management is not an easy task. Building data center service necessitates industry experts to support software applications and massive data volumes behind operational activities such as well-path planning, and seismic interpretation. Furthermore, robust operational systems make high availability and redundancy vital thus making effective monitoring more crucial. Therefore, data backup must be reliable with a data recovery plan to restore operations if the need arises. The use of biometrics for physical premises is required for advanced authentication purposes. Bismark AMEYAW: energy economist, data scientist, and policy analyst. Email: [email protected] Albert FIATUI: maritime policy expert, business consultant, and CIMAG executive director. Email: [email protected] Amid the horrific public health and economic fallout from a fast-moving pandemic, a more positive phenomenon is playing out: COVID-19 has provided opportunities to businesses, universities and communities to become hothouses of innovation. Around the world, digital technologies are driving high-impact interventions. Community and public health leaders are handling time-sensitive tasks and meeting pressing needs with technologies that are affordable and inclusive, and dont require much technical knowledge. Our research reveals the outsized impact of inexpensive, readily available digital technologies. In the midst of a maelstrom, these technologies among them social media, mobile apps, analytics and cloud computing help communities cope with the pandemic and learn crucial lessons. To gauge how this potential is playing out, our research team looked at how communities incorporate readily available digital technologies in their responses to disasters. Community potential As a starting point, we used a model of crisis management developed in 1988 by organizational theorist Ian Mitroff. The model has five phases: Signal detection to identify warning signs. Probing and prevention to actively search and reduce risk factors. Damage containment to limit its spread. Recovery to normal operations. Learning to glean actionable insights to apply to the next incident. Although this model was developed for organizations dealing with crises, it is applicable to communities under duress and has been used to analyze organizational responses to the current pandemic. Our research showed that readily available digital technologies can be deployed effectively during each phase of a crisis. Phase 1: Signal detection. Being able to identify potential threats from rivers of data is no easy task. Readily available digital technologies such as social media and mobile apps are useful for signal detection. They offer connectivity any time and anywhere, and allow for rapid sharing and transmission of information. New Zealand, for example, has been exploring an early warning system for landslides based on both internet-of-things sensors and digital transmission through social media channels such as Twitter. Phase 2: Prevention and preparation. Readily available digital technologies such as cloud computing and analytics enable remote and decentralized activities to support training and simulations that heighten community preparedness. The Canadian government, for example, has developed the COVID Alert app for mobile devices that will tell users whether they have been near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 during the previous two weeks. Phase 3: Containment. Although crises cannot always be averted, they can be contained. Big data analytics can isolate hot spots and superspreaders, limiting exposure of larger populations to the virus. Taiwan implemented active surveillance and screening systems to quickly react to COVID-19 cases and implement measures to control its spread. Phase 4: Recovery. Social capital, personal and community networks and shared post-crisis communication are essential factors for the recovery process. Readily available digital technologies can help a community get back on its feet by enabling people to share experiences and resource information. For example, residents of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, have experienced the pandemic, flooding and the threat of wildfires. As part of the response, the provincial government offers northern Alberta residents virtual addiction treatment support via Zoom videoconferencing. During recovery, it is also important to foster equity to avoid a privileged set of community members receiving preferential services. To address this need, anti-hoarding apps for personal protective equipment and apps that promote volunteerism can prove useful. Phase 5: Learning. It is usually difficult for communities to gather knowledge on recovery and renewal from multiple sources. Readily available digital technologies can be used to provide local and remote computing power, enable information retrieval and analysis and disseminate emergent knowledge. The global learning platform launched by UNICEF and Microsoft helps youth affected by COVID-19. A sixth phase Our research suggests a sixth phase of crisis management: community resilience, which is the sustained ability of communities to withstand, adapt to and recover from adversity. Communities must develop the capacity to absorb the impact of pandemics and other disasters. When face-to-face interactions are limited like in a pandemic readily available digital technologies can enable community participation through social media groups, virtual meeting software and cloud- and mobile-driven engagement and decision-making platforms. Technologies that provide transparent information services such as analytics-based dashboards and real-time updates can create a sense of equity and caring. Apps and portals can connect vulnerable populations to critical care, resources and infrastructure services. For example, the government of Karnataka, India, partnered with local vendors and hyper-local food delivery services for home delivery of groceries and other essential materials for households quarantined because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Readily available digital technologies help remote communities develop a sense of belonging, sharing and self-efficacy while incrementally building shared knowledge over multiple crises. Moving forward The 2003 SARS epidemic taught us valuable lessons about the use of technology during a pandemic. At the time, readily available digital technologies were largely overlooked, because bigger and more expensive solutions were the focus. In responding to the present circumstances, it is time we explore the benefit of common technologies. The Canadian governments recent announcement of funding to support the use of digital solutions in community responses to COVID-19 is a promising step. Investing in resilient infrastructure is also important, since communities depend on public digital infrastructure for access to the internet and other telecommunication networks. This infrastructure must be affordable, sustainable and inclusive. But we should not lose sight of the need to support communities in developing their own resiliency to help them envision their own solutions using readily available digital technologies. This article was first posted on The Conversation. The African gems mining-inspired resort announces its opening and reveals its introductory rates (TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - September 28th, 2020 - The Gems Mining Pool Villas Pattaya sets its opening date on 14 November 2020 and reveals its introductory rates. The resort now opens for reservations through their direct channels including the hotels website, email, phone and social media as well as OTAs. Situated in Pattaya, Chonburi, The Gems Mining Pool Villas Pattaya consists of 78 keys and categorized in five room types including Topaz Jacuzzi, Emerald One-Bedroom Pool Villa, Sapphire Two-Bedroom Pool Villa, Ruby Three-Bedroom Pool Villa and The Legacy Conceptual Residence with five bedrooms. Club Amethyst Wellness Centre houses fitness centre, onsen, spa, steam, sauna and The Quartz exercise studio. Two food & beverage outlets include The Tram Restaurant Bar & Wine Cellar and The Pit Sundowner Bar offer Thai, Western and South African inspired menu. The Miner and The Explorer meeting rooms offer an event space for small to mid-sized events for up to 200 guests. The Gems Mining Pool Villas Pattaya is just 1.5-hour drive from Bangkok and a 15-minute drive from Pattaya Beach, with an easy access to Bangkok-Pattaya Motorway. To celebrate the opening, the resort offers an Introductory Promotion with complimentary benefits including breakfast, cocktail/mocktail, The Gems Welcome Refreshment, discount at spa and restaurant, free access to Club Amethyst wellness centre with onsen, gym, steam and sauna etc, The nightly rates are priced at 3,178 Baht for Topaz Jacuzzi (93 sqm.), 4,943 Baht for Emerald One-Bedroom Pool Villa (100 sqm.), 10,005 Baht for Sapphire Two-Bedroom Pool Villa (140 sqm.) and 15,066 Baht for Ruby Three-Bedroom Pool Villa (207 sqm.) Prices are inclusive of service charge and VAT. The additional benefits for booking 2 nights and more include complimentary lunch or dinner for Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby villas, while guests will receive a free upgrade to Emerald One-Bedroom Pool Villa when booking Topaz Jacuzzi for stays on weekdays. The promotion is available for booking from now until 15 December 2020 and stays from 14 November 2020 until 28 February 2021. Plan your travel with a peace of mind as the promotion allows free cancellations and date change. For more details and reservations, visit www.thegemspattaya.com. Enter promo code INTRO. ### B ritons have been warned to "bring out their umbrellas" with the UK is set to be soaked by showers all week. There are no weather warnings in place however if that changes the UK could see Storm Aiden, the first storm of the year. Tuesday will be the mildest day of the week before wet and windy weather sweeps the UK through into the weekend. Met Office meteorologist Emma Salter said: "It won't be as cold as it has been. We have had the coldest September night on record in Northern Ireland and the coldest in 20 years in Scotland. The wind and rain will keep temperatures from falling." UK weather - In pictures 1 /9 UK weather - In pictures Ice covers a pond on a green in Kew, west London, after overnight temperatures in the capital dipped below freezing PA A person looks out as waves crash against rocks at Portland Bill in Dorset PA People look out to sea as waves crash against Chesil beach in Dorset PA Waves crash against Chesil beach in Dorset PA Flooding between Carlisle and Lockerbie from water running off a field onto the rail tracks PA/Network Rail Scotland Waves crash against rocks at Portland Bill in Dorset PA Tourists battle against wind and rain at Pier Head in Liverpoo PA Ms Salter said the weather will be "generally fine and dry" on Tuesday, except in parts of the south of England where it will be "drizzly". This will then change as the weather will become more "unsettled". "There will be wet and windy weather in many places", the forecaster said. The weather was described as 'not really that unseasonable' / PA She added: "It s not really that unseasonable, we are moving into something a bit more classic for the season, more of an autumnal feel." That said, Ms Salter did warn Britons to dress appropriately for the change in weather. "Bring out your umbrellas and your winter coats", she said. He proved the naysayers wrong by winning the Sydney radio ratings on Tuesday, months after taking over Alan Jones' 2GB breakfast show in May. And now Ben Fordham has revealed he's 'blown away' by the sensational results, while praising his predecessor in a touching interview. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Fordham, 43, said: 'I tend to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and so I wasnt preparing for a figure like this - but I am just really thankful that I have got great people around me.' Over the moon! Ben Fordham (pictured) has revealed he's 'blown away' by the sensational results, while praising his predecessor in a touching interview The host was quick to praise the 'incredible record of Alan Jones', who retired earlier in the year after 35 years as a broadcaster. 'No other broadcaster has achieved what he achieved, and so that is why I am blown away by the loyalty shown to me by the audience,' he said. 'I dont underestimate for a moment the significance of Alan Jones leaving the building.' Big boots to fill: Fordham praised his predecessor Alan Jones (pictured) saying 'I dont underestimate for a moment the significance of Alan Jones leaving the building' Proving himself a formidable replacement for his predecessor, Fordham's breakfast show won the AM breakfast slot with 17.3 per cent in the first survey since Jones' departure - a number almost identical to Jones' last survey results of 17.9 per cent. 2GB enjoys a market-leading 14.2 per cent share overall, which is slightly down from 14.8 per cent in April. It has been previously speculated that ABC Breakfast with Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck would take the top spot. However, the show came in second place with 10.5 per cent market share overall. Fordham had reportedly been under pressure to produce good ratings after critics claimed he was 'too nice and relaxed' to fill famously fiery Jones' shoes. However, the Channel Nine star previously told The Australian that he wasn't trying to emulate Jones' style, but rather 'bring his own flavour of breakfast to the radio.' 'My main focus is going to be what's on the mind of people as they wake up in Sydney, and that needs to really drive my agenda every day,' he told the publication in June. The ratings also revealed that Kyle and Jackie O is still Sydney's most popular FM breakfast show, topping the rankings for the fourteenth time. Times Union GLENS FALLS Washington County health officials are asking anyone who attended a recent support group in Glens Falls to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms after an attendee recently tested positive for the disease. The support group was held at the East Side Center, located at 230 Maple St. The person who tested positive attended a group on Thursday, Sept. 24 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Bill McDermott , president and CEO, ServiceNow, joins expansive Fisker Inc. Board ahead of completion of merger with Apollo affiliated Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SPAQ) , president and CEO, ServiceNow, joins expansive Fisker Inc. Board ahead of completion of merger with Apollo affiliated Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SPAQ) McDermott brings extensive global leadership experience across transformative enterprise software, cloud platform and modern digital workflow technology sectors; will provide valuable input as Fisker Inc. creates a digital-first ownership experience Strong track record of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) leadership LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fisker Inc. ("Fisker") developer of the world's most emotionally desirable, eco-friendly electric vehicles today announced an important new addition to its board of directors. Bill McDermott, president and CEO of ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) the leading digital workflow company making work, work better for people becomes the seventh member of the Fisker Inc. Board, which has been shaped in anticipation of the completion of its merger with Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SPAQ) ("Spartan"), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) ("Apollo"). The board is comprised of seven members: two executives from Fisker, four external directors and a Spartan appointee. Commenting on this latest addition to the board, Henrik Fisker, chairman and chief executive officer of Fisker Inc. said: "Based on my years of experience in electrification, I wanted to assemble a board that can help deliver our disruptive business model and grow the company into a global segment leader. Our board members bring their extensive experience in ESG, combined with the insights needed to help guide the growth of our company. Bill has unparalleled international experience and an incredible track record as a leader in software systems and software-as-a-service (SaaS). He will be extremely valuable as we develop Fisker Inc. to be the world's first digital car company, especially as we build our digital app and e-mobility as a service (EMAAS) capabilities." "Visionary cars demand a visionary 21st century car ownership experience," McDermott said. "Owning a Fisker car will set a new standard in workflow-enabled, seamless, direct-to-consumer digital experiences. I am thrilled to join the board of Fisker Inc. and help Henrik and his team deliver an amazing end-to-end digital-first car ownership experience as they pursue their dream of revolutionizing the automotive industry and creating a clean future for everyone." The merger between Fisker and Spartan is anticipated to be completed later this year and will result in shares of Fisker's Class A Common Stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly listed company. Fisker Inc. Board of Directors: Henrik Fisker , founder, chairman and CEO of Fisker , founder, chairman and CEO of Fisker Dr. Geeta Gupta-Fisker , co-founder and CFO of Fisker , co-founder and CFO of Fisker Wendy Greuel , former controller and councilmember for the City of Los Angeles , former controller and councilmember for the Mark Hickson , executive vice president corporate development, strategy, quality and integration for NextEra Energy, Inc. , executive vice president corporate development, strategy, quality and integration for NextEra Energy, Inc. Bill McDermott , president and CEO, ServiceNow , president and CEO, ServiceNow Rod Randall , co-founder of Vesbridge Partners, executive partner of Siris Capital, board director of Stratus Technologies and Mavenir, chairman of the board of Maglev Aero , co-founder of Vesbridge Partners, executive partner of Siris Capital, board director of Stratus Technologies and Mavenir, chairman of the board of Maglev Aero Nadine Watt , CEO of Watt Companies and chair of the Los Angeles Business Council Full biographies for board members are available here: Fisker Inc. Board of Directors For more information, or for interview inquiries, contact [email protected]. About Fisker Inc. California-based Fisker Inc. is revolutionizing the automotive industry by developing the most emotionally desirable and eco-friendly electric vehicles on Earth. Passionately driven by a vision of a clean future for all, the company is on a mission to become the No. 1 e-mobility service provider with the world's most sustainable vehicles. To learn more and to reserve the all-electric Fisker Ocean, visit www.FiskerInc.com. Forward Looking Statements The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this presentation, regarding Spartan's proposed acquisition of Fisker, Spartan's ability to consummate the transaction, the benefits of the transaction and the combined company's future financial performance, as well as the combined company's strategy, future operations, estimated financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "could," "should," "will," "may," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Spartan and Fisker disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. Spartan and Fisker caution you that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of either Spartan or Fisker. In addition, Spartan cautions you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to the following factors: (i) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could delay the business combination or give rise to the termination of the agreements related thereto; (ii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Spartan or Fisker following announcement of the transactions; (iii) the inability to complete the business combination due to the failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of Spartan, or other conditions to closing in the transaction agreement; (iv) the risk that the proposed business combination disrupts Spartan's or Fisker's current plans and operations as a result of the announcement of the transactions; (v) Fisker's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition and the ability of Fisker to grow and manage growth profitably following the business combination; (vi) costs related to the business combination; (vii) changes in applicable laws or regulations; and (viii) the possibility that Fisker may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this press release, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could different materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact the operations and projections discussed herein can be found in Spartan's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and other SEC filings. Spartan's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Important Information for Investors and Shareholders In connection with the proposed business combination, Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. will file a proxy statement with the SEC. Additionally, Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. will file other relevant materials with the SEC in connection with the business combination. Copies may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. Security holders of Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. are urged to read the proxy statement and the other relevant materials when they become available before making any voting decision with respect to the proposed business combination because they will contain important information about the business combination and the parties to the business combination. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, the websites referenced in this press release is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release. Participants in the Solicitation Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. and its directors and officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of Spartan's shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination. Security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of certain of Spartan's executive officers and directors in the solicitation by reading Spartan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, and the proxy statement and other relevant materials filed with the SEC in connection with the business combination when they become available. Information concerning the interests of Spartan's participants in the solicitation, which may, in some cases, be different than those of their stockholders generally, will be set forth in the proxy statement relating to the business combination when it becomes available. SOURCE Fisker Inc. Related Links http://www.fiskerinc.com Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Until his death in 2011, Dr. Bernard Nathanson was a champion of the pro-life movement. His 1979 movie The Silent Scream helped dispel the idea that the fetus was only a clump of cells, and his pioneering work with ultrasound technology paved the way for its widespread use by the pro-life movement. Part of his authority came from his personal history. A co-founder of NARAL, Nathanson had worked alongside people like Betty Freidan to liberalize abortion laws. His eventual change of heart was big news. A new Bernard Nathanson may have just stepped onto the world stage. Dutch physician Bert Keizer was euthanizing patients nearly 20 years before it became legal in the Netherlands. In fact, he played a significant role in its legalization. As Al Jazeera put it, When somebody wants to die in the Netherlands, Bert Keizer is often the man they call. Like Nathanson, Keizer seems to be having second thoughts about the deadly system he helped create. He is especially alarmed at the developments in Great Britain, where Conservative member of parliament Andrew Mitchell predicted that euthanasia could be legal there by 2025. Mitchell, who chairs an all-party commission looking into the issue, told Sky News that he wasnt talking about a massive change, but, instead, very, very tight reform. The law he would propose, says Mitchell, would contain very strong safeguards, such as limiting euthanasia to those with less than six months to live. Patients would also have to get permission from a high court judge and two doctors before proceeding. Of course, everywhere euthanasia has been legalized also had very strong safeguards, which are eventually ignored, violated, or even discarded. Dr. Bert Keizer, having witnessed this up close and personal, is now warning British lawmakers to think twice before legalizing assisted suicide. Writing in the Dutch Medical Association Journal, Keizer admitted that his British colleagues were correct two decades ago when they warned that countries like the Netherlands, who embark on euthanasia, venture down a slippery slope along which you irrevocably slide down to the random killing of defenseless sick people. Far from being confined to the terminally ill, Keizer admits that the practice, for the Dutch, has expanded to include older people who find that their life no longer has content. Eventually, Keizer predicts, the Dutch will expand euthanasia to include disabled children and prisoners serving life sentences. In his own words about his own country, every time a line was drawn, it was also pushed back. The same lines have also been eliminated in Belgium. In Canada, doctors have advocated expanding that countrys Medical Assistance in Dying law to include children, even without parental consent. At least eight U.S. states have some form of so-called death with dignity laws, and abuses, like in Oregon, are well documented. Inevitably, what starts as legalized suicide ends in legalize homicide. Dr. Bernard Nathansons change of heart about abortion eventually led him to become a Christian. Perhaps God has something similar in store for Bert Keizer. Lets pray He does. In the meantime, however, lets pray his warnings are heeded. The honesty Keizer brings to the discussion about euthanasia is scandalously lacking in the debate, starting with his use of the word euthanasia. Phrases like physician-assisted suicide and, especially, assisted dying are Orwellian euphemisms that only obscure what is really happening: the taking of an innocent human life based on someones judgment that its no longer worth living. The Third Reich called it: lebensunwertes Leben, lives unworthy of life. Dr. Keizer has given the world some much needed clarity. Lets pray the world listens. Originally posted at breakpoint.org After enduring that storm over a developer's gift of a painting of the deputy mayor, the daytime soap opera that is the merry councillors of Stonnington continues. Veteran deputy mayor John Chandler (subject of the portrait) is retiring, so the power block of five headed by mayor Steve Stefanopoulos is under threat. Particularly as the independently minded councillors Marcia Griffin, Sally Davis and Judy Hindle, initiated a successful motion to return the artwork to local property developer and generous arts benefactor Bill McNee. Liberals are worried McNee might not be so generous with his political donations in the wake of the scandal. Stonnington mayor Steve Stefanopoulos is in full election mode. Credit:Joe Armao Stefanopoulos (whose favoured Zoom backdrop is Kylie Minogue) is in full election mode. He celebrated 1000 days of his mayoralty with a glossy brochure about himself. It featured 24 photos in six pages. When council removed the footy goal posts from Kooyong Park (cricket season was imminent) this upset prominent locals Luke Darcy and Eddie McGuire. Mayor Steve charmed the pair on their Triple M Hot Breakfast show and the goal posts were swiftly restored. The families of the victims of the Bloody Sunday shootings have expressed their disappointment at the decision of the Public Prosecution Services (PPS) - the principal prosecuting authority in Northern Ireland - not to prosecute 15 former British soldiers in connection to the incident. In Derry on January 30, 1972, thirteen civilians died when British soldiers opened fire on a demonstration against internment, with another civilian dying later, and dozens more injured. The solicitors who represent ten victims of Bloody Sunday have released a statement on behalf of their families. They write "Today's decision by the PPS to uphold its original decision and to bring no further prosections is deeply disappointing for the families and wounded who are left with the firm conclusion that members of the Parachute Regiment have effectively gotten away with mass murder." "They are left with no alternative now but to consider challenging these decisions in the High Court by way of judicial review proceedings." In March of last year, the families of those killed or injured requested a formal review of the decision that one former member of the British Army's Parachute Regiment, known as Soldier F, would face charges of murder and attempted murder, but that no other legal actions would be taken against other soldiers. The reviews of cases relating to the deaths of 10 victims and 10 injured parties were undertaken by PPS senior assistant director Marianne OKane, who was not previously involved in the cases. Having reviewed the large volume of complex evidence and information considered by the original PPS decision-maker and the detailed legal submissions received, Ms O'Kane concluded that the Test for Prosecution was not met on evidential grounds to prosecute the 15 soldiers in question. All parties who requested a review received a detailed explanation of this outcome in writing earlier this morning. The 15 former soldiers concerned were also informed. Speaking of her decision, Ms O'Kane said "I know that todays outcome will cause further upset to those who have pursued a long and determined journey for justice over almost five decades. I can only offer reassurance to all of the families and victims of Bloody Sunday, and the wider community, that my decisions were conducted wholly independently and impartially, and in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors." She concluded by saying that while Soldier F is among the 15 individuals related to today's decision, the prosecution that commenced against him last year continues. In March, the PPS took the decision to prosecute Soldier F for the murder of James Wray and William McKinney and five charges of attempted murders, Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joseph Mahon and Patrick ODonnell and a fifth charge of attempted murder of persons unknown. Tweeting in reaction to the news, Colum Eastwood said he was "very disappointed" and wrote that "the families of Bloody Sunday have walked with great dignity since 1972. They will continue." Meanwhile leader of Sinn Fein in the north, Michelle O'Neill, tweeted "The denial of justice is unacceptable and must end We will continue to support the Bloody Sunday families in their pursuit of truth and justice." NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nissan Frontier, already a legendary off-roader, will compete in the longest, most demanding off-road rally in the United States with a boost from an iconic Nissan brand - NISMO. Nissans storied NISMO Performance brand will debut a new line of off-road parts, including a high-performance suspension kit, an off-road bumper, off-road lighting and off-road wheels on the 2020 Frontier at the 2020 Rebelle Rally, which begins Oct. 8 in Lake Tahoe and culminates Oct. 17 in Californias Imperial Sand Dunes. NISMO off-road parts will be available for the 2005-2020 model year Frontier, 2016-2021 model year TITAN and 2005-2015 model year Xterra later this fall, and will also be offered on the forthcoming, next-generation Frontier. Products will be available through Nissan dealers, select NISMO retailers or via NISMOparts.nissanusa.com. We are fired up to watch Team Wild Grace show current and future Nissan Frontier owners what this beast can do on some of the most extreme terrain in the country, said Michael Soutter, vice president, Nissan Aftersales U.S. These new NISMO off-road parts, created by people who deeply understand trucks and the desire for ultimate off-road performance, will elevate Frontier to a new level of capability. Nissan is the only automaker to sponsor a team every year in the womens-only Rebelle Rally since it began in 2016. Behind the wheel of the more powerful 2020 Frontier, which features an all-new powertrain and best-in-class 310 horsepower1, Team Wild Grace co-captains Sedona Blinson and Lyn Woodward have high expectations following last years team-best sixth place finish. Weve taken the 2020 Frontier on a couple of trial runs, and its been an absolute rock star, said Woodward. Im very excited about the extra power in the V6 its a solid truck, and thats what you need to compete out here. Our first goal is to always compete hard, but I dont see any reason why Sedona and I cant win it all this year. A closer look at the new NISMO off-road parts NISMO off-road Performance Suspension Kit Developed in partnership with Bilstein . . Specifically tuned for the additional weight of typical overlanding equipment such as camping gear, heavy-duty bumpers and larger, heavier tires. Monotube, gas-pressurized shocks feature digressive valving that reacts to the most challenging off-road and trail conditions. Front and rear shocks allow for additional wheel travel; rear shocks feature remote reservoir technology, which helps ensure optimum performance in demanding conditions. System can provide up to a 2-inch lift over stock ride height2. NISMO off-road Bumper First in a series of new off-road bumpers for Nissan trucks and SUVs. Constructed of high-tensile steel and finished with a durable, textured powder coat. Designed, laser cut, formed and welded with quality precision to provide maximum strength and durability in demanding off-road conditions. Weighs only 105 lbs. Features two attachment points for recovery shackles and accommodation for lights; designed to be winch capable with easy access to winch controls. NISMO off-road Lighting New line of LED off-road lighting developed in partnership with Rigid Industries TM . . Lineup will include a selection of pod lamps (round and square designs) and light bars in a variety of sizes and beam patterns. Initial offering will be a set of 6-inch round driving lamps with robust aluminum housings, white accent backlighting and an output of 8,600 lumens. Light kits will include installation instructions, harness, switch and NISMO-branded protective covers. NISMO off-road Wheels Custom designed and manufactured for NISMO. Size: 17x7.5-inch; Bolt Pattern: 6x114.3; Backspacing: +30mm; Load Rated for 1,950 lbs. (above factory OEM spec). Axis Gray painted finish. NISMO center cap. Designed and tested to rigorous SAE J2530 standards for aftermarket wheels. Follow along with Team Wild Grace on Instagram or Facebook, and track the team live on rebellerally.com/live starting Thursday, Oct. 8. For more information on the 2020 Nissan Frontier and Nissans complete vehicle lineup, please visit NissanNews.com. For more information about our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit nissanusa.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and see all our latest videos on YouTube. About The Rebelle Rally The Rebelle Rally, entering its fifth year, is the first womens off-road navigational rally raid in the United States. The event has a unique challenge and scoring system where precise navigation, not speed, is the ultimate goal. Participants trade in cell phones and GPS for old-school navigation in a competition for the elements of time, distance, headings, and hidden checkpoints. Armed with just maps, compasses, and roadbooks, teams of two will be pushed to their limits as they make their way across 2,000+ kilometers of Nevada and Californias iconic terrain. Starting October 8 in Lake Tahoe and finishing October 17 along the famed Glamis Dunes, the competition is the longest competitive off-road rally in the nation. For more information including live show and tracking, visit www.rebellerally.com. Media Contact: Kevin Raftery Nissan Product Communications 615-725-9236 kevin.raftery@nissan-usa.com Comparison based on 2020 Frontier S vs. latest in-market Wards Small Truck segment. Base models compared. Based on manufacturers website. When combined with appropriate rear springs and/or shackles. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/faaefe93-20a2-48ab-9e1d-0798423fd317 Boy Sends Firefighters Baby Yoda Doll to Comfort Them A 5-year-old from Oregon sent a Baby Yoda doll to help comfort hardworking firefighters battling a series of blazes on the West Coast A young boy and his grandmother sent a Baby Yoda doll in a care package to firefighters taking on the blazes affecting the West Coast and the miniature character has taken on a life of its own on social media. According to CNN, 5-year-old Carver and his grandmother, Sasha Tinning, wanted to thank the firefighters who have been risking their lives to battle a series of wildfires throughout Oregon. While picking up supplies for a donation drive with Tinning, Carver spotted something he knew would be perfect for the firefighters a doll of the tiny creature aptly named Baby Yoda by fans after appearing in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, of the Star Wars franchise. (In the show, the character is known as The Child.) These firefighters are putting their lives on the line, Tinning told the outlet. To have a little bit of sunshine during such a dark time, I think that's really special for them. He [Baby Yoda] is also just cute as the dickens." Tinning and Carver sent the doll in a care package for the firefighters, which included a heartwarming note. Thank you, firefighters. Here is a friend for you, in case you get lonely <3 Love, Carver," the letter read, according to KSAT. RELATED: What to Know About the Deadly Wildfires Ravaging the West Coast and How You Can Help Courtesy Tyler Eubanks Baby Yoda doll Courtesy Tyler Eubanks Carver with the doll Courtesy Tyler Eubanks Baby Yoda doll with first responder I have always wanted to help and uplift anyone thats around me. And this really was a bright spot in a dark time I wanted to share with everyone," Carver told the news station. Firefighters have since started their own Facebook page dedicated to the tiny character, where they post daily pictures of the toy with crew members. Story continues Baby Yoda has been on the news and traveling to fire camp to fire camp to bring the force and a much-needed smile to firefighters," reads a description on the page, which has nearly 25,000 followers. RELATED: Families Flee Historic Wildfires in the West: Its Like the End of the World While the doll has been making fire crews happy, it is also bringing smiles to those on social media. When I see these posts...tears come to my eyes," wrote Denise Edwards Rice on Facebook. "It seems like little Carver knew to give you all a little hope in the image of a little green bean. The child (aka baby yoda) so glad he gives you comfort. May God bless and keep you." RELATED VIDEO: Golden Retriever Provides Emotional Support for Firefighters Battling California Wildfires Golden Retriever Provides Emotional Support for Firefighters Battling California Wildfires Golden Retriever Provides Emotional Support for Firefighters Battling California Wildfires As of Monday, fires in the state have burned through over 500,000 acres of land since erupting earlier this month, according to KATU. With so much more work left to be done, Tinning is happy they've been able to bring a little joy to those on the front lines. These firefighters are away from their children, their loved ones," she told CNN. "This is a little pal that brings a bit of normalcy to a crazy time." Boris Johnson cast a dark shadow over EU trade deal negotiations with his threat to break international law over Brexit, a German minister has warned as talks resumed in Brussels. Michael Roth warned the UK not to play games as he said the Prime Ministers legislation that could override his own Withdrawal Agreement had jeopardised trust. Both sides have continued to clash over the Governments controversial UK Internal Market Bill, which prompted Brussels to threaten legal action if it was not changed by the end of the month. The ninth round of formal negotiations resumed on Tuesday, with fisheries and the level playing field among the items on the agenda as time runs out on the transition period. We still have some way to go. It is really high time we reached agreement Michael Roth, German minister Europe minister Mr Roth said both sides now must work with urgency to find a sensible solution and warned trust has suffered a lot recently because of the controversial Bill being debated by MPs. The EU cannot and will not accept this approach. It is casting a dark shadow over the ongoing negotiations, he wrote in Der Spiegel magazine. He accused the UK of having acted to recklessly jeopardise border arrangements on the island of Ireland to preserve the hard-won peace process. With readiness to compromise from both sides, with mutual trust and good will, a fair deal is still possible. But it is not helpful to play games, he said. We have made progress towards consensus on many points. On others, however, we still have some way to go. It is really high time we reached agreement. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic met on Monday after their last acrimonious meeting resulted in a legal threat. Mr Sefcovic said Brussels will not be shy in taking the action after their latest discussions. But Mr Gove, his counterpart on the EU-UK joint committee, said the Government would not back down on the controversial legislation. He argued the provisions on the Northern Ireland protocol, which the UK agreed to under the Withdrawal Agreement in October, was needed as a safety net for peace if trade talks fail. But talks have so far threatened to reach deadlock and Mr Johnson has indicated he would walk away from negotiations by the time of the next EU summit on October 15. The transition period in which the UK continues to be in the single market and follow EU law ends on December 31. Without a deal, the UK will face high trade tariffs. Press Release September 29, 2020 Senate passes coco levy trust fund bill on Second Reading The Senate on Monday passed on second reading a bill that seeks to create a trust fund for coconut farmers in the country through the selling of assets procured through the coco levy fund. Under Senate Bill No. 1396 or the "Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act," the government is mandated to sell P75 billion of coconut levy assets in the next five years to create a trust fund for coconut farmers in the country. Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform and principal sponsor of the bill, said the passage of the measure would benefit the approximately 3.5 million coconut farmers from 68 coconut producing provinces owning not more than five hectares who belong to the poorest sector in the country. "The coconut farmers are the poorest in the country. They earn only about P1,500 a month. This fund which rightfully belongs to the coconut farmers, should be plowed back to them for their own direct benefit," she said. The Senate is expected to pass on third and final reading the coconut levy bill in its session on Wednesday. Villar also expressed confidence that the enactment of the law will be swift as concerns that caused the veto of the former version of the bill were all addressed. Villar said that immediately after the enactment of the bill, the Bureau of Treasury shall transfer P10 billion to the trust fund; P10 billion in the second year; P15 billion, third year; P15 billion, fourth year; and P25 billion, fifth year. P5B of the trust fund will be used upon enactment of the law for the ff. programs. In addition to the programs of the PCA which will be given a separate budget. 15% for planting and replanting of hybrid coconut seedlings and production of hybrid coconut seedlings by the Philippine Coconut Authority 5 percent for research and production of hybrid coconut seedlings by the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD); 8 percent for the training of coconut farmers and their families as listed in the coconut farmers registry in farm schools through Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Agricultural Training Institute to be shared equally; 5 percent for research, marketing and promotion by the Bureau of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development under the Department of Trade and Industry; 10 percent to be shared equally for farm improvements through diversification and intercropping with livestock, dairy, poultry, coffee and cacao production by the National Dairy Authority and the Department of Agriculture; Native Animal Program; and High Value Crop Program to be divided equally; 10 percent for shared facilities for processing by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech); to be given to cooperatives. If there's no cooperative in the town, it will go to LGUs; 5 percent for organizing and empowering coconut farmer organizations and their cooperatives under the Cooperative Development Authority; 10 percent to be shared equally for the credit programs of the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines; 10 percent for infrastructure development to be implemented by the, Department of Public Works and Highways in coconut producing LGUs 8 percent for Scholarship programs for farmers and their families to be implemented by the Commission on Higher Education; 10 percent for health and medical programs for farmers and their families to be implemented by agency created by the Philippine Coconut Authority, for this purpose; 4 percent for crop insurance to be implemented by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation; Under the measure, the Philippine Coconut Authority Board has been reconstituted to compose the Secretaries of the Departments of Trade and Industry, Budget and Management Finance, and DOST and PCA, and three farmer-representatives from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Boston University announced on Tuesday they are canceling spring break next semester because of concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic. I know the loss of spring break will be a disappointment to many of you, but we believe that this is an important public health measure that must be taken this year," said Jean Morrison, university provost and chief academic officer, on the schools website. The school also announced it will be pushing back the start of the 2021 spring semester to Monday, Jan. 25. It was originally scheduled start on Jan. 19. The school noted that the COVID-19 pandemic shows few signs of a quick retreat, which is why they are making changes to next semester. The school is holding individual disciplinary hearings this week after almost two dozen Boston University students were caught at an outdoor party this past weekend. The students were reportedly not following university-mandated COVID-19 guidelines, including gathering size, masks and social distancing. There were 25-plus people with alcohol, close together, with no masks or their masks pulled down around their chin, said Kenneth Elmore, associate provost and dean of students, according to the schools website. He also called the incident highly problematic. The consequences, including possible suspension with no refund for tuition or room and board, will be decided by the end of the week, the school said. Earlier this year, BUs reopening plans had been met with protests. The university said its planning to continue the Learn from Anywhere model and will continue the elements of Back2BU that have been working. The school also said it added improvements based on experiences so far. Boston University isnt the only one already making changes to next semester. The University of Rhode Island has also canceled spring break this year. In making its decision, the Faculty Senate cited uncertainty created by COVID-19 outbreaks across the United States and, in particular, on college campuses, and the need to prepare for the likely persistence of existing outbreaks and potential for a new wave of infections, the school said. Related Content: The fact that Marquez is now also working with investigators significantly ramps up the pressure against others who have been implicated but not yet charged in the scheme, including former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John T. Hooker; Jay Doherty, a consultant and former President of the City Club; and Michael McClain, a former lobbyist for the utility and one of Madigans closest confidants. By PTI MUMBAI: Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar, Richa Chadha among others have called for "serious punishment" after a 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died on Tuesday, days after being raped by four men. The woman was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. Taking to Twitter, Kumar wrote that the incident had left him "angry and frustrated" and also called for the hanging of the rapists. "Such brutality in #Hathras gangrape. When will this stop? Our laws and their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear! "Hang the culprits. Raise your voice to safeguard daughters and sisters. It's the least we can do," he tweeted. Angry & Frustrated!Such brutality in #Hathras gangrape.When will this stop?Our laws & their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear!Hang the culprits.Raise ur voice to safeguard daughters & sisters-its the least we can do Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 29, 2020 Echoing a similar sentiment, Riteish Deshmukh said the culprits of the brutal and "horrific" crime should be "hanged in public". The accused had tried to strangulate the woman to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had ended up biting her tongue, suffering a severe cut on it. The culprits of this brutality & horrific crime should be hanged in public. #Hathras https://t.co/KHCnLqtGOh Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) September 29, 2020 A spokesman of the Aligarh hospital had said that the woman's legs were completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed. #JusticeForHathrasVictim everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators. TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 29, 2020 "Justice for Hathras victim. Everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators," Chadha wrote. Akhtar posted a heartbreak emoji and said it was a "sad, sad day". "How much longer can this be allowed to go on," he wrote. Sad sad day. How much longer can this be allowed to go on .. #Hathras Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) September 29, 2020 Swara Bhasker said the brutal gangrape was a reminder that there's no limit to monstrosity. "We have become a sick, inhuman society. Shameful. Saddening," the actor said. , .. .. . #JusticeForHathrasVictim Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) September 29, 2020 Actor Yami Gautam said it was disgusting that women are subjected to endless brutality. "Tried really hard to gather my thoughts before expressing my sorrow, anger and disgust. It's 2020 and still, so many Nirbhayas have to give their lives. Can't imagine the pain she must have endured and her family. Praying for severe punishment and justice," she wrote. Tried really hard to gather my thoughts before expressing my sorrow, anger & disgust. Its 2020 & still so many Nirbhayas have to give their lives. Cant imagine the pain she must have endured & her family. Praying for severe punishment & justice #RIPManishaValmiki Yami Gautam (@yamigautam) September 29, 2020 According to the Hathras SP, the four accused, who have already been arrested, will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Continuing to voice opposition to the new agricultural laws brought forth by the central government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that these legislations tantamounted to "a dagger through the hearts of farmers" and "breaking their back". He also interacted with farmers virtually for around 10 minutes over the new laws that have generated considerable political heat across the country, with farmers voicing their opposition in a number of states. "We were told that the demonetisation (in 2016) was aimed at fighting black money but that was a lie. The main aim was to financially hurt the farmers and workers," the Congress leader added. "Similarly, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) avowedly had the same aim. During the coronavirus pandemic too, money needed to be given to the poor but the government did not give any." "The NDA government's aim is to break the back of farmers and workers. There is no difference between demonetisation and the farm laws. Or, between the rollout of GST and the farm laws. The only difference is that the three farm laws are like a dagger through your hearts. I am very clear that we need to oppose this not just for the farmers alone but for the country," he said. The former Congress President said that they (BJP) never fought for India's Independence as they sided with the British rulers and also do not have any understanding of farmers' issues. During the interaction, farmers from states like Punjab, Bihar, Haryana and Maharashtra aired their views on the farm laws and concerns over the minimum support price, earning from farm produce and other topics. Rahul Gandhi recalled his involvement in protests over the land acquisition law in Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta Parsaul during 2011-12. "In Bhatta Parsaul, during the farmers' protest, I witnessed that industrialists not only wanted land but also wanted crop produce. At that time, the media targeted me," he recalled. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Patna: Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar is facing strong headwinds weeks ahead of the assembly elections with new allies seeking a greater share of the electoral pie. The RJD, which had emerged as the single largest party in the last elections with 81 seats, is finding it tough to convince its recalcitrant partners of its pre-eminence in the grand alliance. The RJD is aspiring to contest 150 odd seats of the 243-member assembly, but other partners are not finding it suitable to their interests. The RJD is fighting its first state polls in the absence of Lalu Prasad, who is serving time in a Jharkhand prison after conviction in multiple fodder scam cases. Prasad's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav has already been declared the RJD's chief ministerial candidate, something that has not gone down well with some alliance partners. The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has already deserted the coalition and returned to the ruling NDA. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) of former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha also followed suit. It has formed an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to fight assembly polls in the state. The RLSP already said that "all is not well" in the 'Mahagathbandhan', which was formed its leader Lalu Prasad and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had cobbled together to humble the BJP in the 2015 assembly polls. RLSP chief Upendra Prasad Kushwaha was earlier camping in New Delhi where he reportedly also met top BJP leaders to finalise the modalities for his return to the NDA. Live TV The Congress, which has played a second fiddle to the RJD for many years, has reportedly been insisting on at least 75 seats, a demand the RJD is not prepared to concede. Bihar Congress spokesman Rajesh Rathor refused to go public about the number of seats the party wants to contest but maintained it has definitely sought a larger share than what was being offered. RJD's Jharkhand partner JMM has also expressed keenness to be a part of the grand alliance and field candidates on some seats. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had recently met Lalu Prasad in Ranchi and the two were learnt to have discussed the issue. The RJD also hopes to bring on board the three Left Parties- the CPI-ML, CPI, and CPI-M. Of these, CPI-ML alone has pockets of influence and three MLAs in the outgoing assembly. Sources in the Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) of Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni said with the number of alliance partners shrinking, the party wants to contest a respectable number of seats. As a Mahagathbandhan ally, it fielded candidates in three places in the Lok Sabha polls but had drawn a blank. Apart from RJD's 81, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) had won 70 seats and Congress 27. A cornered BJP had managed to clinch just 53 seats in the last Assembly election. Notably, Bihar has 243 Assembly seats and elections in the state are due and expected in October-November as the tenure of the current Assembly will end by last November this year. The three-phase polls in Bihar will be held on October 28, November 3, and 7, while the votes will be counted on November 10. (With Agency Inputs) Top White House officials pressured the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to downplay the risk of reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. The push included members of the Trump administration pressuring the CDC to find alternative data that showed the novel virus had little affect on children, The New York Times reported, citing documents and interviews from current and former White House officials. Officials reportedly spent weeks convincing the CDC to find alternative data that went along with President Donald Trumps election plan, which included reviving the economy and reopening schools. A former member of Vice President Mike Pences staff, who has since resigned, told the publication that she was asked on one occasion by Marc Short, Mr Pences chief of staff, to convince CDC leaders to find proof that the novel virus had little to no impact on children. The former aide, Olivia Troye, said she regretted being complicit in the efforts made by the Trump administration to influence the CDC. Youre impacting peoples lives for whatever political agenda. Youre exchanging votes for lives, and I have a serious problem with that, Ms Troye said. In recent weeks since leaving the White House, shes vocally come out against Mr Trump and criticised the administration. Dr Debroah Birx, a member of the White Houses coronavirus taskforce, also reportedly pressed for the CDC to incorporate a document that claimed children would experience long-term effects to their mental health if schools remained closed. The document, which also claimed asymptomatic children were unlikely to spread the virus, was created by the Department of Health and Human Services agency the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In July, Dr Birx asked CDC director Dr Robert Redfield to include the document in an introduction of the school reopening guidance. CDC scientists pushed back at the document, citing numerous errors and stating it diminished the impact of the coronavirus on children. The guidance was released with the introduction but, to the relief of some members of the CDC, the asymptomatic line about children was not included. Just this week the CDC released a study that found pre-teens and teenagers were twice as likely to contract Covid-19 compared to younger children. In a survey, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association found a dramatic increase in children contracting the virus in recent weeks. A recent study from South Korea also found children were just as capable of spreading Covid-19 as adults, further challenging rhetoric that claimed younger kids were not carriers fr the novel virus. Mr Trump has been adamant about reopening schools and even threatened to withhold federal funding at one point to pressure officials. After CDC released its guidance for reopening schools over the summer, the Trump administration, led by the president, pushed for the recommendations to be revised over concerns they were too expensive and difficult for districts to follow. "The president said today we just dont want the guidance to be too tough," Mr Pence said during a press conference in July. "That's the reason why, next week, CDC is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward." Brian Morgenstern, a White House spokesperson, told The New York Times that the coronavirus task force brought together public health officials who offer different expertise and views on a variety of issues. He added the president relies on the advice of all of his top health officials who were in agreement it was in the public health interest to reopen schools. The relative risks posed by the virus to young people are outweighed by the risks of keeping children out of school indefinitely, Mr Morgenstern said. When Justin Crowther felt something pull at the rudder of his yacht, he thought there must have been a problem with the autopilot system. But just as the British sailor entered the cabin of Beautiful Dreamer to turn off the system, he heard one of his crew members cry: Orcas! Crowther could no longer steer the boat and he called the maritime rescue service for help. It was only later, when he saw the damage done to his yacht, that he felt scared. Only then you understand that you were very lucky, he tells EL PAIS by phone. The 53-year-old and his two crew members are not the only ones to have encountered orcas, also known as killer whales, off the Galician coast in northwestern Spain. In August and September, there have been a high number of run-ins with orcas. Since August 31, the maritime rescue service has helped eight yachts in the region, but there have been other incidents that have not required assistance. According to information from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the brushes between the whales and the yachts began on August 19. All have taken place between two and eight nautical miles from the coast of Galicia and have involved medium-sized sailing boats moving at a speed of between five and nine knots. One of the orcas jumps next to the yacht Beautiful Dreamer during the maritime rescue. Justin Crowther The frequency of the incidents has baffled scientists: they have never seen anything like it before. Researchers now believe that two or three young and curious orcas are responsible for the attacks. The incidents with the killer whales have not always ended in broken rudders or damaged hulls: on many occasions the animals have simply approached the boats. But it is still a delicate situation as these encounters can cause problems for both the orcas and the yachts. In a bid to minimize the risk of collisions, yachts 15 meters long and under were temporarily banned from sailing between Cape Priorino Grande and the Punta de Estaca de Bares in Galicia. If a boat comes across a whale, occupants are advised to keep sailing in the same direction and speed, without making sudden changes or trying to get within 60 meters of the animal, according to the resolution. The document also banned any action aimed at killing, capturing, pursuing or upsetting the orcas, which are considered vulnerable under Spains list of endangered species. Crowther was sailing in this stretch of sea when maritime rescue services arrived to tow the yacht. The rescue conditions were not good: the wind was against them, the rudder was destroyed and the rescue boat was also under pressure from the orcas. The crew aboard the Beautiful Dreamer were worried: when the maritime rescue boat began to tow them, the yacht slipped sideways against the waves. We were going pretty quickly, but I asked them to speed up a little to straighten up the boat, says Crowther. The hauling rope broke and thats when he realized the orcas were still there. Once he reached A Coruna and was able to review the damage, it became clear that the killer whales had almost overturned the yacht. It might sound as if all the boats are damaged but that is not the case Alfredo Lopez, biology professor at CEMMA I have sailed in Australia, Tahiti, Canada... all over the world, and I had seen orcas, but none had ever gotten this close, says Crowther. Scientists from the Galician NGO Marine Mammal Research Center (CEMMA) believe that two or three young whales from a pod that was migrating north decided to approach the boats out of curiosity. Alfredo Lopez, a biology professor at CEMMA, argues that the whales are not attacking boats. According to him, that would be a premeditated action to cause damage and thats not whats happening here, even if eventually damage is done. Our interpretation is that they dont have the slightest intention of attacking people. While reviewing photos and video taken of the whales, researchers noticed that two of the orcas were seriously injured. Although it is not possible to confirm how they were hurt, Ruth Esteban, an expert in marine science and a member of a research group working under the Coordinating Agency for the Study of Marine Mammals in Galicia, believes there are two possibilities: either the orcas were hurt while interacting with the boats, or they were injured earlier and this triggered their response. Its not revenge, adds Lopez. Theyre just acting out as a precautionary measure. Orcas regularly come into Spanish waters from the Strait of Gibraltar and also the Atlantic coasts of Cadiz, Galicia and the Cantabrian Sea in search of bluefin tuna, moving in stable social groups. They come through every year and each year they are sighted in Portugal, after which they arrive here in eight to 10 days, Lopez explains. This year, several ornithologists sighted them on August 10 and the expectation was that they would come and go as usual. But, over the past week, three different groups with a total of 13 orcas between them have been sighted. It might sound as if all the boats are being damaged, but that is not the case, Lopez points out. In fact, according to the data, there have been 29 whale sightings 55% from yachts and of these, only 20% reported any damage or trouble. Jose Angel Sanz, the founder of the NGO Oceano Alfa, says he has dived with orcas and has never had any mishaps. They are very curious and come close to you, he says. They follow the boats and their attention is drawn to the engine area; to the sound, and to the rudder, because it juts out. English version by Heather Galloway. Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 2:31PM By Michael Cusumano Scene: Paris Frances is a dancer by trade, but I think its fair to say that throughout Noah Baumbachs Frances Ha her real art is poor decision making. In that regard, her impromptu trip to Paris is her masterpiece. The spontaneous journey to France is the quintessential youthful indulgence. Oh to be so young and free that I could drop everything and jet off to Europe. Unfortunately for Frances, Baumbachs films delight in subverting such self-consciously grand gestures. In Kicking and Screaming a character engages in the classic end-of-movie race to the airport only to find he cant get a last minute ticket. When the cashier offers him a ticket for the following day he deflates and declines. The moment will have passed by then. Frances doesnt merely run to the airport, she flies to the other side of the Atlantic. As such, her antics earn her an even more brutal dismantling... Frances, played by co-writer Greta Gerwig with a loopiness that oscillates between endearing and maddening, has arrived at twenty-seven newly single and precariously employed, still coasting off the excitement and freedom of her college years. She has reached the age when the gap between those who have their lives together and those who dont becomes impossible to ignore. This is certainly the case between Frances and her joined-at-the-hip best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner). Sophie has a dream job and a stable boyfriend and in the films opening act, Frances finds herself abruptly abandoned to pay solo rent on an apartment she cannot remotely afford. It could be an occasion for a thorough personal assessment, but Frances doesnt really do reality, at least not yet. The films hyperactive cutting suggests Frances steering the movie according to her insouciant philosophy. No dwelling on setbacks, just bounce merrily to the next thing. The sparkling black and white cinematography also places Frances firmly outside reality. She resides in the romantic ideal of New York, the New York outsiders say with amazement and envy when they gasp, You live in New York? Even in this fanciful metropolis her belief the future she envisioned will work itself out is getting difficult to maintain in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. At one point Frances endures a hellish dinner party where every person in attendance is comfortable in their success. Its the kind of situation where even the polite ice-breakers like So what do you do? hit like deep personal attacks. So when the host offers Frances use of his apartment next time shes in Paris with the casual tone most people would use to say next time you order out. Frances announces that yes, she would love to use the Paris apartment, for that coming weekend as a matter of fact. Its a fit of passive aggressive petulance, and an indirect swing at her estranged bestie, whom she has just learned is dropping her dream job to follow her boyfriend to Japan. In addition to being a regressive move in terms of maturity, it is also marvelously self-destructive on any number of practical levels. She has made zero plans, has an important meeting about her career Monday morning, and can most emphatically not afford to just jot over to France for forty-eight hours. Frances has a plan for that last one. Im going to use a credit card I got in the mail, she explains. Thats not smart, shes told. Thats what they want. They want to keep you in debt. I know that. I see documentaries, Frances deflects. The screenplay by Baumbach and Gerwig is perceptive about the way smart people sabotage themselves, believing their self-awareness somehow shields them from consequences. The trip is a shambles from beginning to end. She takes a sleeping pill to overcome jet lag and accidentally sleeps away the bulk of her trip, arriving at all her romantic Parisian destinations in time for them to close in her face. She desperately tries to meet up with a friend but the lack of planning prevents them from getting on the same page before Frances is in a cab back to Brooklyn. The capper is when she misses the opportunity to reconcile with Sophie and doesnt have the heart to explain the idiotic reason she cant attend her going away party. In the pathetically hilarious button to the sequence Frances is reduced to going to the movies alone, asking if its too late to get into Puss in Boots only to find her lack of planning has screwed her once again. There are few drugs as intoxicating as youthful spontaneity but like any drug eventually the hangover starts to outweigh the high. Follow Michael on Twitter and Letterboxd. More episodes of The New Classics. HUDSON VALLEY, NY New York health officials have identified coronavirus clusters in 20 neighborhoods, and three in the Hudson Valley lead that list. In the group of ZIP codes, the coronavirus positivity rate is 5 percent, five times higher than the state as a whole. The 20 areas include two in Rockland County, one in Orange County, one in Westchester, and the rest in Brooklyn and Queens. In fact, the Orange and Rockland ZIP codes lead the state's list of the 20 neighborhoods where the coronavirus is most prevalent. Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed in a news briefing Tuesday morning to aggressively target those ZIP codes. "These are embers that are starting to catch fire in dry grass," he said. Source: New York State Health Department There's already been a lot more testing going on to deal with what Cuomo said is the largest cluster that state officials have addressed as of Day 213 of the coronavirus outbreak in New York. State officials rushed rapid testing kits and test analysis kits to the most affected ZIP codes. "When you have that level of data you can really identify what's going on," he said. "You can identify hot spots very quickly and then you can target those hot spots." Fueled by the spike in coronavirus cases in two of its seven counties, the Hudson Valley region has a positivity rate that is twice as high as the state as a whole. Cuomo acknowledged an overlap with large Orthodox Jewish communities. "That is a fact. This is a public health concern for their community. It is also a public health concern for surrounding communities," Cuomo said. "I have said since day 1 these rules apply to all religions ... I don't care what your political opinion is. I don't care what your religious opinion is." State pandemic law mandates a cap on religious ceremonies and services, limiting them to 50 percent of the capacity of the building. "Look at the pictures of religious gatherings with hundreds," Cuomo said. "How did it happen? There wasn't compliance, and the city didn't enforce it. And Orange County didn't enforce it. And Rockland County didn't enforce it." Story continues Cuomo said state officials have shared all this data with the local governments. "I get in some areas there's religious sensitivity," he said. "They must respond. They have been very uneven across the state. They have to respond." Cuomo said he was going to be meeting with religious leaders of the Orthodox communities in Brooklyn, Orange and Rockland as soon as a virtual meeting can be set up, targeting Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday in between religious holidays. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have ended and Sukkot is about to begin. "If you do not now attack and control the cluster, you have community spread. That's why I want people to wake up," he said. SEE: Coronavirus: Rockland, Orange County Execs On Weekend Spikes This article originally appeared on the New City Patch If you really want to honour him, implement his inclusive ideology: SC Bose's grandnephew Development trajectory: PM to interact with DMs of various districts today At DMs meets, PM calls for direct, emotional connect between administration and public for good governance PM Modi inaugurates six mega projects in Uttarakhand under 'Namami Gange Mission' India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Sep 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated six mega projects in Uttarakhand under the "Namami Gange Mission" through a video conference. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News PM Modi launched a logo of Jal Jeevan Mission, via video conferencing and also launches six mega projects in Uttarakhand under 'Namami Gange Mission'. "In the past decades, huge initiatives were taken up to clean river Ganga but those initiatives had neither public participation nor farsightedness. As a result, water of river Ganga was never cleaned," PM Modi sad at launch of 6 mega projects in Uttarakhand under Namami Gange Mission. India-Denmark agree to elevate relations to a Green Strategic Partnership On Monday, the Prime Minister's Office said that the projects include construction of a 68 million litres per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant (STP), upgradation of the existing 27 MLD STP at Jagjeetpur in Haridwar and construction of an 18 MLD STP at Sarai in Haridwar. Uttar Pradesh: Teenage Dalit girl, gang-raped in Hathras, dies at AIIMS He will also inaugurate 'Ganga Avalokan', the first museum on Ganga aimed at showcasing the culture, biodiversity and rejuvenation activities done in the river. The museum is located at Chandi Ghat, Haridwar. In Rishikesh, a 26 MLD STP at Lakkadghat will be inaugurated, the PMO said. The Haridwar-Rishikesh zone contributes about 80 per cent waste water load into Ganga, and the inauguration of these STPs will play a significant role in keeping the holy river clean, it said. EWING Seven people were arrested on charges ranging from drug dealing to money laundering following a yearlong investigation, authorities said Tuesday. The charges were part of a cooperative probe between New Jersey, Ewing and Trenton Police. Cops seized drugs, weapons, vehicles and more than $313,000 in cash, authorities said in a news release. This case demonstrates what we can achieve when we bring the full weight of local and state law enforcement against individuals who target our communities with addiction and violence, Trenton Police Director Sheilah Coley said in a statement. Trenton residents deserve to feel safe in their own neighborhoods. Trenton has had a dangerous year with 28 homicides on record in 2020, although it has gone a month without a killing. Tybree Washington, 24, of Hamilton, was gunned down Aug. 29 on the 1100 block of East State Street. Arrested as part of the probe were: David Craig, 32, Davon Craig, 27, Davae Craig, 31, Wayne Bessant, 39, all of Trenton; Deesade Meyers, 27, of Ewing, Daniel Peyton, 55, of Westampton, and Daniel Sabree, 46, of Bristol. Charges include weapons offenses, money laundering, drug possession, possession of a firearm while committing a CDS offense, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a public park, certain persons not to possess a firearm and aggravated assault on law enforcement, among others. We will never cease in our collaborative efforts to stop the drug dealers who are fueling addiction and violence in Trenton, said Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, whose office is prosecuting the case. At the same time, we are committed to combating the corrosive influence of these criminals on a second front by working with the community to develop programs for the young people of Trenton that will help them choose a strong and healthy course in life. State and Trenton Police began zoning in on the suspected drug dealers in the capital city and Ewing in September 2019. Peyton faces aggravated assault charges after dragging a Ewing patrol officer during a car chase July 10, police said. He ran from the boys in blue after being stopped in a Chevrolet Impala on Stokes Avenue in the township. Police later nabbed Peyton near Shelton Avenue and Chelmsford Court. In addition to the cash, detectives seized more than four kilograms of cocaine, a bundle of heroin, 30 grams of marijuana, a 9mm handgun, a .40 caliber handgun, a 9 mm assault weapon, two high-capacity magazines, hollow-point ammunition, a 2016 Toyota Highlander and a 2010 BMW X5. This operation targeted individuals who were profiting off of addiction and violence and whose actions stood in stark contrast to the countless members of the community who work tirelessly every day to strengthen and build safer neighborhoods, said Col. Patrick Callahan, State Police superintendent. Union Minister Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra said global pandemic is having enormous impact -both on health and economic fronts. He said that the existing energy frameworks are already witnessing unprecedented transformation. He said It is imperative that we position ourselves well to handle the current energy challenges to be able to develop our strategies in the post Covid-19 world. India, as world's third largest consumer of energy, has not only been impacted but also could potentially define the way how global energy trends would emerge. Our energy sector particularly Oil & Gas sector was affected significantly in the initial stages of Covid-19 till May 2020. We are already witnessing significant restoration of consumption of several of the petroleum products to pre-Covid levels since July onwards. The minister said that the oil & gas sector PSUs alone will have CAPEX spending Rs. 1.2 lakh crore in 8363 projects/economic activities during the current financial year, and other ministries in energy sector also have similar ambitious CAPEX spending projects, to help boost employment and economic growth. India's energy sector has shown greater resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic with supplies holding up admirably, despite the global turmoil in financial and commodity markets. Talking about the need to overcome energy poverty, Pradhan said that with over 16% of global population, we are currently using only 6% of the world's primary energy. He stressed on the need to develop a reliable and compatible energy infrastructure in the country. The Minister said that with the per capita consumption of energy still one-third of the global average, India will have continue to develop all possible energy sources to meet this energy deficit, while fully cognizant of the sustainability dimensions of it. The energy landscape in India is evolving like never before. Our Government is also taking a constant reality check on the undercurrent of energy transition that is underway in the country, he added. Pradhan said that India has shown greater resilience in economic, financial, regulatory and infrastructure terms, for an effective energy transition. He referred to the findings of World Economic Forum, listing India among the select countries making consistent and measurable progress on energy transition over the past six years. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is apparently back on the job. Until September he had appeared in public only five times since his heart surgery in April. With Kim Jong Un not available much his younger (31-year-old) sister Kim Yo Jong received several promotions and was portrayed as a senior official who was making a lot of decisions. Since July that appears to have changed. Kim Yo Jong not been seen in public much since late July. Kim Jong Un is still the supreme leader and regularly making key decisions. Kim Jong Un continues to give his sister important tasks but so far that is all. Other Invalids North Korea is still importing and exporting, according to UN sanctions analysts. North Korea is believed to have smuggled in between half a million and 1.6 million barrels of oil from Russia and China during the first five months of 2020. Moreover, members of KOMID, the North Korean weapons exporting organization, are still seen openly operating in Iran, which has long been a customer for North Korean weapons. North Korea has been caught smuggling coal to foreign customers. This is often done via ship-to-ship transfers at sea. This is the same method North Korea uses to import oil. This form of smuggling is more expensive meaning imports are more expensive for North Korea and profits on exports are diminished. Continued exports of raw materials and weapons are essential for keeping the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs going. Iran is a key source of essential tech for nukes and missiles that can carry them long distances. North Korea and Iran have exchanged tech and components for missiles and nuclear weapons for decades and that trade continues despite both nations being subject to trade sanctions. The Cash Cow North Korea is putting more effort (personnel, educational resources and cash) into its hacking operations. These activities have been more profitable than all other forms of smuggling and illegal exports. With the increased sanctions on North Korea the hacking income is even more important. On the downside the global banking and financial community, the main target for North Korean hackers, is now on high alert to the North Korean threat. North Korea is vulnerable here because its hackers operate outside North Korea and are vulnerable even though these foreign locations include China, Russia and Iran. September 23, 2020: In northeast North Korea (South Hamgyong Province) the long coastline took the full brunt of two recent (September 3 and 7) typhoons. Local officials were unprepared to deal with the massive injuries and destruction. Locals had been complaining that these officials, who are Workers Party members, are incompetent thieves who paid bribes to get their jobs and then demand bribes from locals. In response the national government conducted an investigation and confirmed the complaints. In a rare case of mass punishment of local officials, nearly a hundred of them were given official reprimands and about half were sentenced to spend weeks or months doing manual labor at a local mining operation. The official reprimand is a form of probation which, if violated, results in severe punishment, ranging from expulsion from the Workers Party to a long sentence in a labor camp or execution. These two typhoons first made landfall farther, in neighboring Kangwon Province where the city of Wonsan took the full brunt of these two storms. Wonsan officials were also severely criticized and punished for failure to prepare or deal with the devastating aftermath. The government investigators were particularly critical of those managing the Simpo shipyard. This is a major military facility where warships are built, repaired and modified. Simpo is where a North Korean SSB (diesel-electric submarine carrying ballistic missiles) is being built. This was confirmed in early 2015 when aerial photos clearly (despite a camouflage net) showed an SSB under construction. Based on what was known in 2015 it appeared that North Korea could have an operational SSB (carrying reliable missiles) by 2018 if they completed and successfully test the new 2,000-ton SSB under construction as well as complete development of the SLBM (sea launched ballistic missile). Some of the SLBM related facilities were also damaged by the typhoons. Construction activity in Simpo declined after 2016, apparently due to lack of resources. In 2018 there was an increase in activity but not enough to complete the SSB. While shipyard officials did heed warnings of the approaching typhoon, not all safety measures were implemented in time and a lot of avoidable damage was incurred. The national government is not blameless because national level leaders often order provinces and major economic organizations to do things like prepare for typhoons or quickly deal with the aftermath but provide no additional resources. The provinces are economically worse off than the national government and the poverty of resources never gets mentioned in the state-controlled mass media. Military commanders were upset that so many troops were ordered to help with disaster relief operations. This happened again and again throughout August because of the unusually severe storms and floods. Local officials were less prepared for this than usual and the government had to disrupt the annual STE (Summer Training Exercises) which are critical for developing and maintaining combat skills among troops and officers. The STEs take place between July and September. Most of the year troops are working on growing their own food or rented out for construction or manufacturing work. Being a soldier is a small part of how you spend your time serving the North Korean army. Ever since Kim Jong Un took power in 2011 he has been after the ruling Workers Party to get out and encourage and enforce pro-government behavior. The Workers Party (a nationalist-socialist operation that is sometimes called communist) has been calling on members to work harder to eliminate individualism, the black market, the desire to earn money, paying attention to foreign media and women workers quitting their state-controlled jobs to work in illegal markets. The government also urged Workers Party members to halt the practice of state-owned factories and farms producing goods for the black market. This proved difficult, as many leaders of the Workers Party are involved in making money off the black market, or extorting cash from those who are operating in the unofficial economy. The lavish party elite lifestyle, thanks to the Internet and Google Earth, is no longer a secret and North Koreans eagerly digested this information over the last few years. Exhortations for abandoning the black market and efforts to get rich have had little effect, so the government is trying mass-punishment and tightening requirements for joining, or remaining in, the Workers Party. Membership is mandatory for many government jobs, like local (village, town and provincial) officials and those who want to be officers or NCOs in the military. Even members of the new donju (entrepreneur) class are joining the Workers Party. A large-scale purge would be impractical because that would eliminate a lot of local officials, who are essential for Workers Party control of the country at the local level. Kim Jong Un ordered his sister Kim Yo Jong to supervise this membership reform program. She has proven adept at these tasks and dealing with the errant party members will be a challenge. For example, there have been problems with the senior security services, the people who regularly inspect military units to verify compliance with all regulations. The units are conducting more inspections, especially unannounced ones. That is irritating enough but it gets worse as the inspectors are not seeking to improve readiness but are seeking bribes to go away and not file an embarrassing (to the inspected unit) report. The inspectors justify their actions by reminding their critics that military food allotments, for troops and the families of career officers and NCOs, had recently been cut by a third and how else could a soldier or officer earn some extra money to buy food on the black market. September 22, 2020: Off the west coast, on the maritime border between the two Koreas, a small boat crossed the maritime border after dark (9:40 PM) and was approached by a North Korean patrol boat. The South Korea boat carried 47-year-old South Korean fisheries official and it is unclear if the man was lost, sick or as some assert, attempting to defect. The South Korea government says it has ample evidence that the man was trying to defect. What is known is that the boat involved was burned by the North Koreans as part of their covid19 protocols and South Korean using night vision gear saw the North Korea sailors pour fuel on something in the water and set it on fire. The North Koreans later insisted they only burned the boat and could not find the body but did set fire a life-preserver floating nearby. On the 25th North Korean leader Kim Jong Un apologized for the death of the fisheries official. Such an apology is very unusual but so is the situation. It is suspected that Kim Jong Un did not want this incident to disrupt his access to South Korean leaders. September 20, 2020: In northeast South Korea a North Korea defector was caught trying to enter the DMZ and get back to North Korea. South Koreas soldiers spotted the man trying to cut through the border wire. The man had been in South Korea since 2018 and was one of the migrants from the north who had a hard time adjusting to the different social, political and economic environment in the south. There was another case like this in July, in which the former North Korean resident did get back into North Korea. While such returnees are rare, they occur several times a year. Since 2015 there have been 13 such incidents. This comes to one or two returnees per thousand defectors. There are over 31,000 North Koreans living in South Korea and the number arriving each year has declined since Kim Jong Un took power in 2012 and greatly increased security on the Chinese border. September 10, 2020: North Korea and China signed an agreement that is supposed to reduce the number of incidents where North Korean border guards shoot Chinese citizens near the border. China insisted on this agreement and it stipulates that China will triple custom duties for Chinese goods entering North Korea if another Chinese citizen is killed. The increased customs duties will stay in effect until North Korea pays the family of the dead man $176,000. So far this year several Chinese had been shot by North Korean border guards who were ordered to keep everyone away from both sides of the border. This was seen as unfair by Chinese living near the border and the North Koreans shooting Chinese was seen as criminal and there has been growing pressure on the Chinese government to do something about it. While the Chinese Internet is heavily censored, that only slows down the spread of news like these North Korean murders of Chinese. This has happened before and the Chinese government responded in the usual way, by publicly demanding that North Korea apologize and make restitution. This agreement worked and Chinese along the border were told about the new agreement and North Korea border guards no longer aimed or fired their weapons at Chinese near the border. Instead the North Korean border guards would yell or, at most, throw rocks. Since late August North Korea border guards have been enforcing stricter rules for any activity within two kilometers of the North Korean side of the border. Violators of these rules were to be shot on sight. Some border guards thought it prudent to keep people away from the other side of the border as well. This attitude was the result of fears that North Koreans returning or Chinese smugglers entering North Korea illegally would bring covid19 with them. There had already been a few such cases that were confirmed and it was believed others got in undetected. Chatter from the north (via cell phone calls to China) indicates that there have been thousands of people quarantined in eastern provinces from the Chinese to the South Korean border (the DMZ). The provinces bordering China and South Korea have suffered covid19 deaths even through the government insists that has never happened in North Korea. There is a covid19 problem which North Korea wont acknowledge. The key problem is that the national health system cannot handle a lot of serious cases. Even in the capital, where the best medical facilities are, there are inadequate resources to handle a lot of elderly senior officials needing treatment for the virus. These officials are depending on the development of a covid19 vaccine. Without it, a lot of them will die. Normally healthy people of any age either repel the virus or have it without knowing it. Others will suffer the symptoms (similar to a very bad case of flu) and survive. In North Korea months of inadequate food and medicine have left more of younger people vulnerable to a fatal case of covid19. Most of North Korea does not have access to covid19 tests and any deaths from covid19 are listed as something else. China and North Korea both note that North Korean border guards have become more aggressive and trigger-happy with anyone approaching from either side of the border. This is mostly for show as the North Korean borders have been closed for most of the year. Few people and little traffic are allowed in or out. The covid19 activities makes Chinese officials even more concerned about the instability of North Koreans in general. The most obvious examples are the growing number of North Korean border guards who desert their posts and enter China often taking their weapons with them. Once in China these North Koreans sometimes turn to armed robbery to survive. Seeking a better understanding of this behavior, security officials in northeast China decided to interview about two dozen North Korean women working in China. The interviews revealed that the women were indeed suffering from anxiety and depression because of the strain of adapting to a new culture as well as the fear of being forced to return to North Korea. There were also fears of being forced into prostitution or marriage to a Chinese man seeking a wife. China has an acute shortage of women because decades of the one child policy produced many more male than female births (because of the preference for a son). Now foreign women are in great demand for wives or for brothels September 1, 2020: South Korea is increasing its defense spending by 5.5 percent (to $44.7 billion) in 2021. South Korean defense spending has increased 68 percent in the last decade. This rapid increase was triggered by the North Korean artillery and torpedo attack in 2010 that sunk a South Korean corvette and caused considerable damage to military and civilian facilities on an island, near the border, off the west coast. The mayor of Leominster on Monday declared a public health emergency in an effort to get kids back to school amid the coronavirus pandemic, arguing remote learning has had a detrimental impact on childrens learning, news outlets reported. During an emergency Leominster School Committee meeting Mayor Dean Mazzarella called on Monday, the top city official argued the community has low COVID-19 numbers and that K-12 students learning at home is causing a crisis, WBZ reported. Mazzarella claimed it is safe for in-person learning to start again in Leominster, according to WHDHs reporting. State coronavirus metrics have put the Central Massachusetts city in the green on the commonwealths map that looks at communities' transmission risks. Leominsters infection rate last week stood at 1.8 positive cases per 100,000 residents, according to Massachusetts Department of Public Health data. As of Sept. 23, the community had reported a total of 774 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, 10 of which were identified in the previous 10 days, DPH data showed. Were at green, were at the lowest numbers we had, Mazzarella told WBZ on Monday. Its time to get kids back into school, and if theyre not going to do it, then Im going to do it. Despite the citys low coronavirus caseload, Leominster schools are operating fully remotely. The communitys school committee previously voted to kick off the academic year remotely and remain that way for at least the first quarter, WHDH reported. School committee members have said they are thinking about shifting to a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning on November 9, according to WBZs reporting. Mazzarellas declaration comes roughly a week after Massachusetts Department of Education sent a letter to 16 communities and school districts deemed low-risk COVID-19 areas, pressuring them to return to in-person learning. Department of Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley wrote the agencys guidelines only recommend remote learning for communities designated as high risk. Related Content: Referring to reports claiming that doctors did not find poison in Sushant Singh Rajputs viscera, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday said some parties defamed the state for gains in Bihar. He also said he was eagerly waiting for the outcome of the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) probe into the case. The NCP leaders comments came a day after the CBI said it had not reached any conclusions in the case yet. The AIIMS report which has come today (as claimed by some media outlets) says there was no poison in Sushant Singh Rajputs viscera, Deshmukh told reporters. The Mumbai police were probing the matter quite professionally, but suddenly the probe was handed over to the CBI, he said. Even the Supreme Court, which upheld the transfer of the case to the central agency last month, had observed that the Mumbai police had investigated the matter properly, he said. It seems some political parties conspired to defame Maharashtra and Mumbai Police. Allegations were leveled against several people, Deshmukh, an NCP leader, said. All this was done to seek political benefit out of Sushant Singh death case during the (coming) Bihar elections, he alleged. He also noted that former Bihar director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey joined the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) after seeking voluntary retirement ahead of the polls. Pandey too was used for political purposes, Deshmukh alleged. Earlier in the day, Deshmukh had taken to Twitter to ask, What happened after the Sushant Singh death case probe was handed over to the CBI? People have been asking whether the actor committed suicide or was killed. We are also waiting eagerly to know the outcome of the CBI probe, he added. The Supreme Court last month upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged in Patna by the actors parents against his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide, to the CBI. (Photo : UHS) (Photo : Kasperksy) Just over the weekend, the Fortune 500 company and one of the United States' largest healthcare providers, Universal Health Services (UHS), was attacked by ransomware that rendered the company's computers and systems shut down. Despite the grievous attack, UHS assures the public and its beneficiaries that sensitive information is safe from compromise and hack. Several UHS facilities, including those in California and Florida, were subjected to an attack that shut down the company's systems, locking computers and phone systems. The attack was a malicious ransomware attack, similar to the characteristics of the 'Ryuk' malware. According to NBC News, UHS' systems experienced the attack last Sunday, September 27, and was considered to be one of the largest attacks in US history. UHS' more than 400 locations had its whole systems disabled with computers referencing the 'shadow universe,' heavily characterized by ransomware attacks. ALSO READ: Virtual Private Network: Why You Should Choose NordVPN UHS Ransomware Attack: We are in control, Just a Security Issue UHS recently released a statement, saying that its systems and IT security are having issues, still not confirming that it was indeed a ransomware attack. However, several people from the company who wishes not to be named came forward and confirmed that it was a form of malicious entities that attacked the company. The Fortune 500 company assures its beneficiaries, patients, and even its employees that no sensitive data were taken. Currently, UHS is trying to restore its systems and get it back online, especially during this time of pandemic brought on by the COVID-19 virus. UHS assures the public that there are no misuse, illegal replications, and access to the vast database it holds regarding patients' medical information, which is sensitive and confidential. The company is now observing the 'offline documentation method' and will continue its operations normally. Patient care within the company is still safely delivered and continued effectively, says UHS in its statement posted on the morning of September 28. UHS is known to have Cerner, a healthcare technology company, to file its digital health records. Ryuk Ransomware The ransomware attack is speculated to be brought by the 'Ryuk' ransomware. This was orchestrated by a Russian cybercrime group called Wizard Spider, according to Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm. The group aims to target large companies and corporations such as the US' Universal Health Services. The 'Ryuk' ransomware was operational since 2018, notorious for a high-ransom return against huge companies. This method is known as 'big-game hunting' as the group attacks high profits. According to Tech Crunch, 'Ryuk' ransomware previously targeted the US Coast Guard and shipping company, Pitney Bowes. This year, several ransomware groups said that it would step down from targeting health care systems, giving way to the deadly pandemic, the Novel Coronavirus. However, Wizard Spider seems uninterested in entering the agreement and proceeds to attack UHS. Health care systems are crucial during this time, and this attack is a massive toll for its patients, once proven that certain information was taken. Ransomware and its operators are profiteers that use methods to exploit people and vulnerable systems. ALSO READ: [WATCH] Chinese Whistleblower Li-Meng Yan: Don't Expect a 'Magic COVID-19 Vaccine'; Don't Trust CCP This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Servicemen and members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 27, 2020. Armenia said a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down one of its warplanes over Armenian airspace on Tuesday, killing the pilot, but Turkey called the claim "absolutely untrue". Any such incident would mark a potentially major escalation of conflict in the South Caucasus region. Turkey is a close ally of Azerbaijan, which is fighting ethnic Armenian forces in a major new flare-up of a decades-old conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. An Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman said the Armenian Sukhoi Su-25 warplane had been on a military assignment when it was downed by an F-16 fighter jet owned by the Turkish air force. Turkey's communications director Fahrettin Altun said: "Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks." Azerbaijan's defence ministry also denied that a Turkish fighter jet had shot down an Armenian plane. Dozens of people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since clashes between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh broke out on Sunday, quickly escalating into the worst fighting since the 1990s. Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians and is supported by Armenia. It broke away from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s, but is not recognised by any country as an independent republic. An all-out war could drag in major regional powers Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, which is the enclave's lifeline to the outside world, while Ankara backs its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan. The Kremlin said earlier that Moscow was in constant contact with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan over the conflict. Any talk of providing military support for the opposing sides would only add fuel to the fire, it said. T omorrow, Parliament is going to review the Governments power. Back in March when ministers ordered total lockdown and the virus was surging, there was a strong sense in Parliament that we should give the Government the powers it needed to protect us, big powers that have never been used outside wartime. The Government asked for the powers for two years but Parliament said this was too long and insisted on reviewing them in six months, and thats what were going to do. The Government has used these powers to close businesses, even whole sectors of the economy, to confine us to our homes, to decree who we can meet up with and how long we can exercise for, to close schools and to order us to wear face masks. Behind closed doors, without even getting Parliaments approval, ministers have made more than 50 new laws backed by fines of up to 10,000.After six months of seeing how this has worked, there is a strong feeling in Parliament that its not wise to leave the Government to do this on their own. We want a say. When it is making literally thousands of decisions, at unprecedented speed, Government is bound to get some things wrong and Parliament can help them do better. For example theres no right to challenge one of these 10,000 fines, even if theres been a mistake. You can challenge a parking ticket or speeding fine, but not a Covid Fixed Penalty Notice. If Parliament had been able to look at this, Im sure it would have put that safeguard in. The Government will ask Parliament tomorrow for a straightforward continuation of all their powers, but MPs from all parties have said they want changes. Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, has put forward an amendment to the Government motion saying that Parliament must agree any new law before it comes into effect. The Joint Committee on Human Rights, which I chair, is saying the Government can bring in new laws right away but that the powers would lapse if Parliament hadnt approved them within seven days. But although there are different versions, there is a single will in the Commons that Parliament must have a say. Its rumoured that the Speaker wont let us vote on our amendments. But even if theres no vote, its obvious that Parliament has had enough and the Government would be unwise to ignore that. Theyve got enough problems to deal with. Not just Covid but Brexit too. The last thing they should be doing is starting a fight with Parliament. Harriet Harman is Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham and a former Leader of the Commons Gold And Silver Follow Up & Future Predictions For 2020 & 2021 Part I RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Uncertainty and cycle events will likely lead to continued Gold and Silver price appreciation until the cycle events end (likely in 2024 or 2025). The gold/silver ratio chart shows very clear levels of support and resistance. With the next targets $2,000-$2,250, $3,200 then $5,500+. Extended basing may continue for the next 2 to 4+ months. I have received many comments and questions related to our Gold and Precious Metals predictions originating from research posts we have made recently. Todays research article is Part 1 of a two-part series, which will revisit some of our past forecasts and showcase what my research team and I believe will be the most likely outcome for Gold as we push through the end of 2020 and into early 2021. A CONFLUENCE OF TECHNICAL AND CYCLE PATTERNS CONVERGE I will be referencing two of my teams earlier research articles in this follow-up article. Our June 2020 article entitled All That Glitters When the World Jitters is Probably Gold put forth a bold prediction that the spike in the Gold to Silver ration during COVID-19 would collapse into a Flag formation, then collapse lower, resulting in a strong upside move for both Gold and Silver. In August 2020, our next piece of related research, Detailed 2020/2021 Price Forecasts for Gold & Silver, suggested detailed 100% Measured Moves would continue to drive Gold and Silver prices higher in block-like advances until a true parabolic upside rally broke away from these 100% Measured Move price events. The chart below from the August research article highlights how our predictions translated into reality as the spike in the Gold to Silver ratio broke lower after the March 20, 2020 bottom, then executed a series of 100% Measured Moves resulting in a deeper price breakdown in the Gold to Silver ratio chart. It also highlights the future expectations as of August 2020 where we suggested a more moderate sideways decline in the ratio would likely take place resulting in more moderate measured moves lower. There are a number of factors related to precious metals and the fragility of the global markets in the current market environment. To this end, we have also recently posted a research article suggesting the major Super Cycles are aligning in a way that suggests we may experience 3 to 5+ years of very odd price cycles. This is something that we have not seen in well over 75 years. We are also in an election year cycle. Please review the following articles for more information on the cycle events that are currently playing out. April 2, 2020: STOCKS HAVE ENTERED A 25-35 YEAR CRISIS CYCLE RE-EVALUATION EVENT June 1, 2020: ELECTION YEAR CYCLES WHAT TO EXPECT? What does all of this mean for Precious Metals? It means the uncertainty and cycle events will likely lead to continued Gold and Silver price appreciation until the cycle events end (likely in 2024 or 2025). Below, we will share our thinking related to the future price actions in Gold, and how the Gold to Silver ratio will react over the next 6 to 12+ months, to help you better understand the opportunity we believe will continue to persist in Precious Metals for some time to come. Before you continue, be sure to opt-in to our free-market trend signalsnow so you dont miss our next special report! The recent downside price move in Gold and Silver is suggestive of the COVID-19 price collapse in Precious Metals. As the markets have fallen over the past 2 to 3+ weeks, Gold and Silver fell from support levels and set up a moderately deep price low , similar to what happened when COVID-19 took hold. My research team believes this downside washout is the same type of reactive price move as we saw in February/March 2020 when the broad US and global markets collapsed. We see a deep washout low price rotation well below reasonable support levels. Although it may be difficult to see on the Monthly Gold to Silver ratio chart below, the right side of the chart shows the recent upward spike in the ratio (follow the END of the BLUE LINE). Because of the current rally in both Gold and Silver followed by the recent moderate downside price move in metals, the Gold to Silver ratio has yet to spike above the SUPPORT level on this chart. What happened back in March 2020, after the COVID-19 collapse was that Gold rallied back to near recent high levels while Silver languished near low price levels that is what caused the spike in the Gold to Silver ratio. Currently, both Gold and Silver have collapsed nearly equally, resulting in a more moderate spike in the Gold to Silver ratio. We believe the SUPPORT level on this chart will act as a ceiling for the ratio going forward. We believe the two downside RESISTANCE levels will become the next targets for Gold. The $2000 to $2250 level is very clearly the next upside price target. Once this level is reached, then we believe Gold will attempt to move to $3200 or higher. Ultimately, the $5500 level is on our radar as an eventual parabolic price trend takes place (this may be well into 2022 or later). Our research suggests a new BASE is setting up in the US stock market and in Gold and Silver. This new base may become the future launch pad for a very big price move higher. Our researchers believe this new basing pattern will start to complete near the middle/end of 2021 (possibly extending into early 2022). We are watching the current price action in the US stock market and precious metals to better determine where and when this incredible setup initiates the next big upside price move. We believe extended basing may continue for the next 2 to 4+ months in the US stock market and precious metals. This does not mean that precious metals will trade sideways it is very likely that metals may continue to push higher from the current base levels. We believe this new basing pattern will prompt a big upside move eventually, but right now we believe the moves to be more moderate and prompt more of an upside drift in metals. In Part II of this research post, well highlight more of our expectations and attempt to highlight the new FUTURE BASE that is setting up in the US stock market and precious metals. As a technical analyst and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles in stocks and commodities. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for investing and short-term swing traders. Subscribers of my Active ETF Swing Trading Newsletter can ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth. My research and trading team are here to help you find better trades and navigate these incredibly crazy market trends. While most of us have active trading accounts, our long-term investment and retirement accounts are equally at risk. We can also help you preserve and even grow your long term capital when things get ugly (likely now) with our Passive Long-Term ETF Investing Signals. Dont wait until it is too late subscribe today! Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Trump Administration announced a national plan to distribute 150 million Abbott rapid point-of-care coronavirus tests in the coming weeks to assist Governors' efforts to safely reopen their states and schools. Explaining its details at a White House news conference, President Donald Trump said 50 million tests will go to protect the most vulnerable communities, and 100 million tests will be given to states and territories to support efforts to reopen their economies and schools immediately. This includes 18 million for nursing homes; 15 million for assisted living facilities; 10 million for home, health, and hospice care agencies; and nearly 1 million for historically black colleges, universities and tribal nation colleges. 6.5 million tests will be shipped to governors this week. Trump claimed that over the last eight weeks, hospitalizations due to COVID infection have declined by 48 percent, and have reached the lowest point since March. Due to advances in treatment, the fatality rate has fallen 85 percent since April, he added. Health and Human Services Department said the Abbott BinaxNOW Ag Card rapid test is a unique testing option to provide support to K-12 teachers and students, higher education, critical infrastructure, first responders, and other priorities as governors deem fit. The BinaxNOW rapid test - the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-authorized antigen rapid point-of-care test that does not require an instrument - is easy to use, will produce COVID-19 test results in 15 minutes, and costs $5. Admiral Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health, said testing may be performed by laboratories with a clear certificate of waiver. 'This is not a home test. But during the health emergency, Seema Verma and CMS permits laboratories to extend their certificate to operate in temporary sites, like schools or churches or parking lots,' he added. The Federal government purchased Abbott BinaxNOW diagnostic tests on August 27 after FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to ensure they would be expeditiously distributed to vulnerable populations as quickly as possible. Significantly, the nation's governors will not have to compete for the initial BinaxNOW shipments, or take time to set up purchasing contracts. Abbott Diagnostics said it plans to make up to 48 million tests available monthly in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. - A recent report about President Donald Trumps income tax is causing a huge buzz on social media - The US president has denied committing any infractions in his tax payments - Trump hopes his tax returns will vindicate him when it is published by the IRS Huge reactions have continued to trail the report by the New York Times that President Donald Trump only paid $750 in income tax in 2016 and 2017. The US president in reply has described the report as total fake news, insisting that he has always paid his tax as required by law. President Donald Trump said people will see that he pays his tax when his tax returns are published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). But the response by Trump has not stopped the angry responses by people Twitter who have claimed that they have been paying more income tax than the president. President Donald Trump insisted that he pays his tax. Photo credits: Getty Images Source: Getty Images Below are some people who said they have paid more in income tax than $750 in a year. In another news report, reactions are trailing President Trump's announcement of its reported third Nobel Peace Prize nomination. The president of the United States made the announcement via Twitter on Tuesday, September 29. Trump's first nomination was in 2018 by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a Norwegian politician for his efforts to bring reconciliation to North and South Korea. The US president's second nomination for the 2021 prize was also by Tybring-Gjedde, citing the president's role in the recent peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, ahead of the November 2020 presidential election in the US, President Trump and his siblings are facing a lawsuit courtesy of his niece, Mary Trump. Mary accused the US president of committing fraud in an attempt to deprive her of millions of dollars associated with the familys real estate empire. Meanwhile, information reaching YEN.com.gh indicates that a young Ghanaian make-up artiste, Francisca Akosua Birikorang known widely on social media as Cesca_tb has reportedly died. According to reports, the pretty and bubbly young lady passed away today, September 29, 2020, after a short illness. Some unconfirmed reports have it that Francisca Akosua Birikorang was a sickle cell patient who fell ill once a while. Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh MUMBAI, India, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stockal, India's leading platform for global investments, announced today that they will begin offering its investors access to a variety of Global X's ETF model portfolios on the Stockal platform. Global X ETFs, a New York-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) provider offers a range of model portfolios that include exposure to high growth disruptive themes, and are tailored to meet certain levels of risk tolerance. The addition of the Global X's strategies will help Stockal strengthen its product 'Stacks' which at present consists of various options like 'Thematic Stacks', 'Expert Stacks', 'Risk-adjusted Stacks' and 'Industry Stacks'. Commenting on the development, Vinay Bharathwaj, Founder and Executive Chairman, Stockal, says, "Stockal is creating an entire ecosystem where Indian investors can trade skillfully and make informed portfolio choices that help them grow their money and absorb market shocks in the dynamic world of today. While designing the product - Stacks, we wanted to ensure that we have "A Stack for everyone" by analyzing investor personalities and building customized portfolios to encourage more individuals to start investing in the US stock markets. Our partnership with Global X would undoubtedly enable us to expand our subscriber base and help us double the number of transactions the Indian investor makes in the coming months." Jon Maier, Global X ETFs' Chief Investment Officer, added: "Our aim at Global X ETFs has always been to support investors' efforts to achieve their investment goals. We believe providing thoughtfully constructed portfolios designed for an evolving modern global economy is key to achieving that aim. Just this year we've seen many years' worth of change in only a few months. Our shifting circumstances and levels of disruption seen in areas like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and fintech, validates the importance of thematic investing - be it a standalone portfolio, or a component of a larger asset allocation. We are thrilled that these strategies are being made available to Indian investors for the first time." After breaking all records by processing around USD 2 million worth transactions per day in the month of June, Stockal has yet again recorded a growth of 150% m-o-m in their business and established themselves as the largest platform for retail cross border investments in India. Despite the tumultuous market conditions, Stockal has processed over USD 135 mn worth of transactions in the last six months, manifesting the demand for overseas investment in stocks from India. The New York headquartered company has powered entities like Motilal Oswal, HDFC securities, Alankit and Cubewealth to help their customers invest in expert-built portfolios in the US Market with a click of a button. In the past few months starting from April, they have added a fair share of HNIs and millennials in their subscriber base to enable them to invest in top performing stocks like Microsoft, Tesla and Zoom with an average return of 15-20% on their investments. About Stockal Headquartered in New York, Stockal is backed by investors with pioneering backgrounds in financial services and technology in United States, UK, India and Singapore. Stockal's systems processes over 8.5 million data points every day to aggregate and assimilate relevant investing information for thousands of securities. Carefully curated and personalized, Stockal products are designed to help investors and advisors keep life simple and costs low as they stay on top of their investments. Stockal's overseas investing platform is available to investors in India and the Middle East regions. About Global X Global X ETFs is a New York-based provider of global exchange-traded funds. Founded in 2008, it has approximately $14 billion in managed assets, across more than 70 different products. In July 2018, the company became a part of Mirae Asset Global Investments. Global X has a product lineup including more than 70 ETF strategies. While they are distinguished for their Thematic Growth, Income and International Access ETFs, we also offer Core, Commodity, and Alpha funds to suit a wide range of investment objectives. SOURCE Stockal Coventry, United Kingdom, Sept 29 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Sep, 2020 ) :Poring over her books in the library at Coventry University, far from her home in Equatorial Guinea, Agnes Genoveva Cheba Ade is determined to keep up her studies despite coronavirus restrictions. She admits that it has not been easy being abroad during a pandemic, with many courses moved online and socialising restricted -- many other overseas students have been put off entirely. But, like others in Britain, Coventry University in central England is confident it will weather the storm of Covid-19 and maintain its foreign students, who are a crucial source of income. "I spent the pandemic away from my family so the isolation was even harder for me," said Cheba Ade, a former Miss World contestant, who has been studying economic sciences at Coventry since 2017. She told AFP: "I was struggling with anxiety, depression at times and I felt a little bit overwhelmed." But she added: "I'm from a humble family so, for me, being here today at university, being able to complete my course and get my degree... I think it's really something I have to cherish every day." She added that university was "a new experience, a new way of living. I'm willing to learn and to adapt". - Virtual social life - On campus, where classes resumed in mid-September partially online, reminders for students to maintain social distancing are everywhere. Access to the library is one-way, the route is peppered with hand sanitiser stations, and students must reserve a place -- then disinfect their workstation with the wipes provided. Wearing a mask is encouraged but not obligatory. Students' social lives are also limited, with many welcoming events held virtually, which is a "challenge" for new arrivals trying to settle in, according to George Okata, a member of Coventry's student body. Britain has seen some 42,000 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak -- the worst in Europe -- and millions of people are under renewed local restrictions due to a surge in cases. Up until now, Coventry University has not experienced the clusters of cases seen at other British universities, which -- often after illegal parties -- caused them to isolate hundreds of students. - Charter flights - Foreign students from outside the European Union pay significantly more than UK or EU students, and their fees are a major source of income for universities. In Coventry, they normally make up one third of the 35,000-strong student body. The number of foreign registrations has halved this September. However, provost Ian Dunn said many were taking up the option offered routinely by the university to start in January, or could even wait until May. "Applications were very high and very strong but people are differing when they wish to start... January is looking positive," he told AFP. He added: "We're a strong university, we have healthy reserves that allow us to weather particular storms like this." Despite pessimistic predictions that foreign student numbers might collapse this autumn, applications body UCAS has reported a nine-percent increase in international undergraduate admissions -- although EU applications fell two percent. However, this is not enough to relieve the pressure on universities, which have invested heavily in online learning and are also preparing for the end of the post-Brexit transition period in December. Nick Hillman, from the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank, cautioned that registration data "doesn't necessarily mean all those people will actually turn up". He also pointed out that a lot of international students were post-graduates, who were not included in the UCAS figures. And, he told AFP, there was a "real worry that drop-out rates might go up this year, because when they (the students) get to university, their experience might not be quite what they expected". Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, noted that it was still unclear how many international students who had received offers would take up their places. "We have a short window to convince undecided applicants that they can plan with confidence to study in the UK," a spokesperson said in emailed comments. Some institutions such as Queen's University Belfast have decided to leave nothing to chance, chartering a flight to bring in hundreds of Chinese students, according to The Times. On a rainy afternoon, when he is half intending to go home to his mothers funeral, he encounters Della Miles, an English teacher at a Black high school, the highly educated daughter of a distinguished Memphis bishop, and an aspiring poet. She and Jack bond through a mutual interest in poetry; Poe, Frost, Auden, H.D., William Carlos Williams, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Shakespeare and especially Milton will come up in the course of their romance. In defiance of maidenly decorum and racial taboos, she asks Jack in for tea. But their courtship has to be conducted in a Jim Crow city where an interracial couple is a highly visible target. In her Black neighborhood, he is That White Man; in his boardinghouse, she is a conspicuous colored gal, and their first date is a humiliating disaster for Jack. Della forgives him, and continues to see him despite his unreliability, drunkenness and poverty, not to mention the horrified opposition of her family. But where can they go? Theres no friendly friar to help these star-crossed lovers, and they first speak freely to each other in a strange dreamlike episode, composing about a fifth of the novel, when they are locked overnight in a cemetery. Its a scene out of Shakespearean romance. They wander barefoot among the monuments; she quotes a line from Hamlet and he comes right back with the next one. As their conversation grows more serious and intimate, they imagine that in the dark graveyard they have become ghosts among the ghosts, spirits free from racial regulations. Della confides that behind her facade as a perfect Christian lady, she too is tormented by a rage that never goes away. But she does not believe in self-pity, and calls on Jack to take control of his life. Enamored and inspired, he vows to become a respectable suitor, stop drinking and get a job. In the more lighthearted second half of the novel, he sells shoes in a dusty Dickensian shop, teaches fox trot and mambo to St. Louis matrons like some threadbare Fred Astaire, plays piano for the choir of a Black Baptist church. Redeemed by Dellas love and loyalty, he goes to Memphis to meet her father, who tells him that Della and any children can come here if they want to, or need to, so long as they come without you. A follower of the Pan-African separatist Marcus Garvey, Bishop Miles believes that Black Americans must change their circumstances, but that they alone can decide what form the change will take and how it will be achieved. He doesnt believe in interracial marriage, and Della says, I probably dont either. But she also believes that her attraction to Jacks soul is divinely ordained, and if you love God, every choice is made for you. There is no turning away. Loneliness and love, race and grace; the romance of Jack and Della seems hopeful, courageous and moving. But Jack also presents a number of problems to new readers who may not pick up the oblique references to Jacks troubled youth, and to faithful readers who may find the scrambled time scheme of his relationship with Della frustratingly difficult to follow. Jacks redemption and development, his sensitivity and sardonic humor, are most winningly represented in his exchanges with other characters. But he doesnt have much insight into his own motives, and his self-obsessed ruminations about his doomed Jackness. Jackitude. Jackicity also exclude interest in other people. Although he doesnt have any conscious prejudices or beliefs about race, Jack also hasnt noticed or thought about it much. Della warns him that if they marry, their children will be Negroes and theyll live Negro lives. And you wont have any effect on that at all; he says that doesnt bother him. He has a lot to learn. Its easy to see why Jack wants Della, but hard to see why this intellectual, perceptive, charming and secretly angry woman wants him, and risks her family, career and security not only to join but also to save him. Her rapturous embrace of his soul seems premature and worrisome, especially because he has concealed the worst of his past from her. And we know from Home how their fairy-tale romance will turn out. What is her back story? Asked whether she might write another Gilead novel, Robinson has been evasive, although the publisher will not say that Jack is the final book. In 1956, when Jack and Della are separated and their lives are seemingly destroyed by racism, they are still relatively young, the civil rights movement is beginning, and there is time for them to change. I am looking forward to a fifth volume that will fill in their saga, and I hope it will be called Della. KASHGAR, China -The first pair of enforcers were waiting at the temperature check before baggage claim at the airport in China's western Xinjiang region. "Passports," they said as the three foreign journalists came off a domestic flight from Beijing this month. Asked why we were being pulled aside, they said we needed to know to wear masks because there had been a coronavirus outbreak in Xinjiang in July. We were wearing masks. They photographed our information pages and journalist visas. It was the start of four days of intense surveillance and nuisance checkpoints designed to obstruct our reporting and ensure that local people were too afraid to talk to us. There were the cars that tailed us everywhere - "Honda 25," "VW 35," we would chime as we spotted their license plates - and the Keystone Kops, men who would jump behind bushes or pretend to talk on their phones while obviously following us. Then there were "Michael" and "Smith," the Public Security Bureau officers who repeatedly called us to the hotel lobby to insist that we follow local reporting regulations that, among other things, required that we get anyone's permission to interview them. Before long, we endured a farcical argument about whether we needed a public building to assent before we could photograph it. This trip to Kashgar was the final reporting expedition I would make after 10 years in Asia. But it had me recalling not China, but a previous assignment: North Korea. This evocative city, the home of Uighur culture that was once a stop on the Silk Road, has been turned into a Potemkin village, like Pyongyang, where it's impossible to discern where the real ends and the staged begins. I first came to Kashgar in 2006 as a tourist, crossing the border from Kyrgyzstan. I remembered it as a magical place of Uighur people who looked Central Asian and spoke a Turkic language written in Arabic script, as a city of fresh figs and kebab smoke and a rowdy Sunday animal market, as a surprising and enchanting destination that just happened to be within China's borders. Before returning to Kashgar this month, I dug out my photos from that trip. I found pictures of the renowned Id Kah Mosque, abuzz with activity. Photos of men with beards and women with headscarves, and young children smiling and posing for my camera. I wondered what had happened to these children, many of whom would now be in their early 20s. Over the past four years, the Chinese government has detained more than 1 million Uighurs in reeducation camps designed to strip them of their culture, language and religion. They've had to shave their beards and uncover their hair. They've been made to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. Children have been taken from their parents and put into orphanages. Returning to Kashgar, I was struck by how, at first glance, it seemed relatively normal. In the Old City, families were out at the night market, eating piles of meat and bread. Kids could be heard laughing through open upstairs windows. There were even young men - prime targets for the detention campaign, which was ostensibly about deradicalization - on the streets again. Walking around, I was overcome by the same sense of sadness mixed with rage that I felt when reporting in Pyongyang. I knew it was a kind of "Truman Show," but I couldn't see the edges of the set. I could see a blankness in people's eyes and feel a palpable heaviness in the air. Had any of the people I saw in Kashgar this month been affected by the "reeducation" campaign? Almost certainly. But I couldn't ask them. Just as in Pyongyang, I didn't try to interview people on the street or in stores, as I would do anywhere else in the world. Doing so could place those people in grave danger if it was discovered they had talked to a foreigner, and a foreign journalist no less. I would have loved to talk to someone who had been through the camps - but I was conscious of the risks I posed to people if I tried to discuss sensitive subjects. Or talk to them at all. So I did something anathema to a journalist: I didn't strike up conversations on the street. I didn't ask questions in stores or parks or taxis. Except for arguments with security officials, I didn't dig. All I could do was watch and be watched. - - - When I arrived in China just over two years ago, I was finishing a book about Kim Jong Un and had been immersed in North Korea. I tried to stop myself from looking at China through the lens of its paranoid neighbor. China is not North Korea, I told myself. But Xi Jinping, who took full power in 2013, didn't make it easy for me to keep my North Korea thoughts at bay. There is still a level of latitude and commerce and vibrancy here that is unimaginable across the northeastern border, but some days China really feels like North Korea. Like the day the People's Daily featured Xi's name in more than a dozen headlines on its front page. Or any of the days I've walked into a bookstore and seen nothing but the three volumes of Xi's "The Governance of China" on display. Or on Oct. 1 last year, when I watched as a huge portrait of Xi rolled through Beijing on top of a black car for National Day celebrations. The Kims of North Korea may have learned from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Communist China founder Mao Zedong when they built their own personality cult, but Xi has stoked a level of personal adoration unseen in China for decades. This propaganda works, at least in some instances. This year I've talked to young people in Changsha, Mao's hometown, who appear to genuinely admire the Communist Party. I've chatted with old people in the hutongs, or alleys, of Beijing who expressed relief that they had Xi, not President Donald Trump, in charge of their coronavirus response. Their feelings appear to be authentic. But, increasingly, it is difficult to tell. Not just in Xinjiang but across China, it has become extremely difficult to have conversations with ordinary folk. People are afraid to speak at all, critically or otherwise. Students and professors, supermarket workers and taxi drivers, parents and motorists have all waved me away this year. Every now and then I will encounter a brave person who wants to talk, and I am always grateful to them for their honesty. But with that honesty comes a new layer of fear: Will my story result in this person being detained? Those who speak out face severe consequences, including many years in prison. The invisible line between permissible and potentially treacherous has been shifting rapidly. Chinese citizens are at most risk because there is no real judicial process and no recourse for them. But China, like North Korea, is increasingly taking foreign hostages and using journalists as pawns in its political and diplomatic disputes with the United States and its allies. The extent of this trend hit home this month when I was planning a farewell in Beijing. Scrolling through my contacts list on the WeChat messaging app, I realized how many of them had been expelled - like my colleague Gerry Shih and many other American reporters. (The United States has forced dozens of Chinese journalists to leave in retribution.) I felt a pang of sadness when I got to the "M" section. Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, both of whom I know through my work, have been held by China for more than 650 days, retribution for Canada's arrest of a Huawei executive. That's longer than North Korea held Otto Warmbier, the American college student. More recently, it has emerged that Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for the Chinese state broadcaster's English channel, disseminating China's version of events to the world, was detained last month. She is the single mother of two young children. As if there was any doubt over what Beijing, locked in a diplomatic clash with Australia, was up to, I woke up to news scarcely a week later that two Australian journalists had made a dramatic exit from China after being summoned for interrogation by state security officials, threatened with exit bans and potential detention. It's clear that China now thinks the cost of having foreign correspondents - people who do pesky reporting on human rights abuses - outweighs the benefit of having people to write about what a great destination China is for investment. So I left China this month with a heavy heart. I had already decided to pursue a new opportunity at home in New Zealand before the latest incidents with the Australian journalists. I don't see the situation getting freer or easier for the Chinese people any time soon, nor for the foreign journalists who try to show their audiences back home what it's like to be on the ground in China, for better or for worse. Before I left, an old acquaintance told me about a joke going around China these days: "We used to think North Korea was our past - now we realize it's our future." Recently, a made-in-Montana public lands bill received a hearing in the U.S. Senate. Im grateful for this opportunity to celebrate in a year lacking in such opportunities. Before the pandemic, Montana had a $7.1 billion recreation economy that accounted for 71,000 jobs. And it was growing. The pandemic has hurt our economy and our communities, but that doesnt mean we cant do whats necessary to protect the foundation of that economy healthy public lands and waters. The bill that recently received a hearing the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA), does just that. The BCSA is the culmination of more than a decade-long collaborative effort that involved people up and down the Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys who represent a wide spectrum of interests conservation, timber, ranching, outfitting, local business, and conservation. The BCSA will permanently protect the four most crucial tributaries of the Blackfoot River the North Fork, Monture Creek, Morrell Creek, and West Fork of the Clearwater places that I cherish, having spent 20 years fishing and floating the Blackfoot when I lived in Missoula. Not only will this bill help our outdoor economy, but it will protect the public lands we depend on for our Montana way of life. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 29, 2020 Contact: Press@michigan.gov Gov. Whitmer Orders Flags to Full Staff Following Burial of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg LANSING, Mich. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered U.S. and Michigan flags within the State Capitol Complex and upon all public buildings and grounds across the State of Michigan to be raised to full-staff on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 following the burial of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 15, 1933. She graduated from Cornell University before attending both Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School, where she ultimately completed her legal education. Before she was appointed to the bench, Ginsburg pioneered womens rights working with the American Civil Liberties Union as founding counsel of the Womens Rights Project. Her work with the ACLU led to the first U.S. Supreme Court decision in which a gender-based statute was struck down based on equal protection grounds. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Justice Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In 1993, Justice Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton, becoming the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. While on the Supreme Court, she was known for her active role in oral arguments and her powerful dissents. Justice Ginsburg passed away on Friday, September 18, 2020 at the age of 87 years old after battling metastatic pancreatic cancer. ### (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 29 - The ROS unit of Italy's Carabinieri police said Tuesday that it has arrested Alice Brignoli, an Italian 'ISIS bride', in Syria. Brignoli was the wife of Mohamed Koraichi, an Italian with Moroccan roots who became an ISIS militant. The couple left Italy to join ISIS in 2015, taking their three children with them, according to investigators. Koraichi, who is thought to have died, took part in ISIS military operations while the ROS said that Brugnoli had an "active role in teaching the children the cause of the jihad". She is accused of criminal association for terrorism. The ROS unit tracked down Brignoli and her four children - she gave birth to her fourth child in Syria - and have brought them back to Italy. Sources said that Brignoli was "extremely happy" to return to Italy, even though she knew she would go to jail and her children would be put into care. "It's a lovely Italian story," Prosecutor Alberto Nobili, the head of Milan's anti-terrorism pool, told ANSA. "It highlights the great capacity of the Italian police forces and the strength of international cooperation". (ANSA). Cant wait Regarding Exposed, (A1, Sept. 27): This first in a series of investigative articles by Houston Chronicle staff writers was excellent. It was truly riveting reading as it described the beginnings of COVID-19 in our area, starting with the rodeo, and the ensuing actions taken by city and county leaders. I cant wait to read the next installment! Vickie Fella, Houston Cmon all you people sing, bird up Regarding Where do birds go in a hurricane? (D1, Sept. 26): Saturdays Houston Chronicle never disappoints me. Gary Clarks nature articles and Kathy Adams Clarks photos are spot on. Last weeks article describing the northern cardinals behavior and this weeks article Where do birds go in a hurricane? were truly fortuitous. I had been wondering about both of these topics and now I have the answers. Thank you! Thumbs up, down is one of my favorite editorials. I thoroughly enjoy the humor that is interspersed with the chastisement of wrongdoers. Kudos to you, editorial staff! Jill Veatch, Webster Impressed and inspired When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was first appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, I expected a liberal trend to the court. After a short time, I found instead what I considered honest and correct in every manner for us all. I was, and will always, remain totally impressed and inspired. She was a trailblazer in so very many ways. I will always remain a fan. Steven G Stoops, Houston Voting Regarding Texas attorney general appeals to bar straight-ticket voting, (A3, Sept. 27): I was thankful when Texas did away with straight ticket voting. As a retired American History teacher, when election season came, my students would ask if I was a Republican or Democrat. My answer was always neither. I would tell them that I voted for the candidate who most closely matched my position on topics. It does require more time to look at each candidate and then spend time in the booth. Too many from each party get denied and too many candidates get in without good qualifications. Only qualification was they were either Republican or Democrat. I asked my students that when they were eligible to vote, to be an informed voter. Maureen Wunsch, Fulshear LOL Regarding Self-improvement is difficult but liberating, (A17, Sept. 25): I really did laugh out loud at Cort McMurrays piece in todays paper. I can relate! I didnt decide to learn how to play an instrument, but now I have a kitchen thats not completely repainted, a garage that received a lick-and-a-promise, and at least six half-finished craft projects. If the pandemic goes on for another year, maybe I will actually finish something. Barbara Quattro, Houston Leave it to City Hall to craft a compromise that makes little sense and makes nobody happy. Youll recall that the city closed Twin Peaks Boulevard to cars at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent crowding and that it quickly went from a glass-covered car break-in hot spot to a paradise in the clouds for bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders and little kids on scooters. It was a highlight of a very bleak year, and many families including mine hope its permanent. But down the hill, life hasnt been so idyllic. Neighbors on the Burnett Avenue side of the mountain complained that all the property crime, shattered glass, trash and nighttime parties just slid down the slope into their neighborhood. So Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Park Station police Capt. Christopher Pedrini and representatives from the Recreation and Park Department and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency met via Zoom a couple of weeks ago to craft a compromise. Without notifying the Burnett Avenue neighbors or anybody else, the city last week began opening the big yellow gate on Portola Avenue the other side of the mountain from the complaining neighbors to cars from 6 p.m. to midnight as the solution. The idea is to move the shenanigans that were plaguing the Burnett neighbors around to Portola Avenue and up to the overlook at the top of the mountain where no residents can be bothered. Then, police and park rangers will clear them out at midnight yes, asking people whove been partying to get back in their cars and drive down a dark, steep mountain. What could go wrong? The unpopular compromise also eliminates families ability to safely take kids there on evening walks and bike rides after another dreaded day of working from home and distance learning. Not surprisingly, nobodys happy with the current setup. A group of bicyclists and pedestrians who love the fully-closed-to-cars Twin Peaks Boulevard argue the city needs more car-free space, not less. They created a GoFundMe with the intent to file an appeal to the partial reopening to cars under the California Environmental Quality Act and quickly raised more than enough money to pay for it. Now, though, its unclear if CEQA had anything to do with the initial closure to cars or the partial reopening, and the group isnt sure it can file an appeal. It will be a delicious bit of irony if they do, though. The city is fighting off five CEQA appeals to emergency transit projects, including its Slow Streets program to close some residential streets to through traffic so people can exercise while socially distanced. Other appeals include the SFMTAs emergency bus lanes to whisk essential workers to their jobs and emergency street closures for pop-up food pantries and coronavirus testing sites. All of that good work is on hold hopefully just until Tuesday afternoon when the Board of Supervisors is expected to hear the appeals from attorney Mary Miles and gadfly David Pilpel and handily reject them. Thats my prediction not theirs. The city attorney recently reminded the 11 supervisors theyre not supposed to state their positions on CEQA appeals before theyre heard. Mayor London Breeds administration is still crafting proposed changes to the CEQA appeals process to make it harder to file an appeal of emergency transit projects and hopes to introduce legislation in two weeks. On Monday, a representative of her staff met with officials from the city attorneys office, the SFMTA and Supervisor Matt Haney. Haney said the group is leaning toward allowing work to continue while its being appealed and requiring 50 signatures to appeal some projects, but not others. The details are still being worked out. Also on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation from state Sen. Scott Wiener making it easier for some public transit projects to advance without CEQA review. Two more transit-related CEQA appeals have been filed since I wrote about the other five, both related to Muni service changes. One was filed by the Safeway at Church and Market streets related to the J-Church, and the other was more general and was filed by, yes, David Pilpel. Each one takes SFMTA staff about 100 hours, time that could be far better spent on other matters. Stacey Randecker, an avid bicyclist in Potrero Hill who launched the GoFundMe, is beyond frustrated by the whole Twin Peaks debacle. The whole notion that CEQA is being used to stop things that help our environment, and we cant use it to do the things that would heal our environment is just mind-blowing, she said. How are regular people supposed to advocate for themselves? Only the wealthy, only the connected can actually make things happen. I think its garbage, she added. Gary Russ agrees. Hes one of the most outspoken neighbors along Burnett Avenue and said nothings gotten any better under the new configuration. Theres still noise, trash and car break-ins. As part of the so-called compromise, the city installed no-parking signs on one part of Burnett Avenue, but its not enforced and people are still cramming their cars there, Russ said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. That was no compromise, he said. They just simply develop a plan and then execute it and we find out about it after the fact. So what would make sense? Randecker and Burnett both have ideas that are far better than City Halls. Randecker would like to see Twin Peaks Boulevard remain fully closed to cars with the exception of a shuttle that carries the elderly, disabled and other people who cant make the trek up the hill. Or open it up to cars one Sunday a month like Sunday Streets allows walkers and bicyclists to take over the pavement occasionally. Or why not tweak the 37-Corbett Muni bus route so it can get people to the top? Or have police officers regularly patrol the Burnett Avenue side of the mountain to actually deal with the problems rather than moving them? Russ has sent a letter to the city suggesting that the two-lane Twin Peaks Boulevard become one-way for cars, leaving the other lane for bicyclists and pedestrians. (This seems dicey to have them in such close proximity, though.) A better suggestion is to open the Burnett Avenue side to cars and permanently close the Portola side. Cars could access the parking lot at the overlook, but nothing else on the top of the mountain. Jillian Puente, who lives in Noe Valley, loves taking her 2-year-old son, Nico, to the top of Twin Peaks to run and play with no worries about traffic. With playgrounds closed, its one of the few places she can take him. She doesnt think the current solution makes much sense and is hopeful a compromise can be struck that protects the car-free, delightful atmosphere at the top. Its one of the silver linings of the pandemic, she said. Were hoping they cant put the genie back in the bottle. Heres hoping. Twin Peaks circa 2020 is too good to give up. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Workers for e-scooter company Spin who are members of Teamsters Local 665 voted overwhelmingly today to ratify their first union contract. The workers joined Local 665 via card check agreement with the company late last year. The union persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, holding negotiation sessions over Zoom teleconferencing, to reach an agreement that contains a number of important firsts for this group of workers. The three-year agreement includes annual wage increases of over 3 percent per year; six paid holidays, whereas workers previously had zero holidays; vacation days based on years of employment, whereas workers previously had zero vacation days; five sick days per year; a $1,200 per employee ratification bonus; benefit accrual for part-time workers, whereas they previously did not accrue; and the additional benefits and protections of a union contract. "Since this is the first ever group of union e-scooter workers at Spin, we worked to build this contract from scratch," said Tony Delorio, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 665. "We are proud of this agreement and excited to continue our representation of workers with Spin." The group of 40 workers and growing includes shift leads, maintenance specialists, operations specialists, neighborhood ambassadors, deployers and collectors. Spin is owned by Ford Motor Company. "This new contract gives us job security and immediate money up front, with guaranteed increases each year going forward. We also got holiday pay and vacation, which we didn't have before we organized," said Shamar Bell, a Spin worker and shop steward. "All this means a lot during the pandemic. We know our union will have our back if our boss or the city government tries to make changes. I can say for sure, we're proud to be Teamsters." Last year, the city's Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to consider compliance with AB5 in its issuance of permits to companies. AB5 is a law that makes it harder for companies to misclassify workers as "independent contractors." The Board of Supervisors also passed a resolution calling for labor harmony for e-scooter companies. The SFMTA passed a labor harmony requirement in 2015 for the Silicon Valley commuter shuttle buses which operate in San Francisco. "We have aggressively advocated for our members not only at the bargaining table, but also with the city to ensure that e-scooter jobs are not temp gig work, that they are good union jobs. We welcome the expansion of the e-scooter program to companies that follow the rules. So far Spin is the only company to abide by labor standards and San Francisco's requirements for permitting under its labor harmony provisions," Delorio said. Delorio noted there are other e-scooter companies in the city that have ceased operations during the pandemic and have subcontracted to third-party employers to avoid worker organizing. Spin was recently granted permission by SFMTA to add an additional 500 e-scooters to its existing fleet of 1,000, and Local 665 spoke in support of this expansion as it will create good jobs for workers. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 665 Advertisement A Louisville store owner who was filmed in a tense confrontation with Black Lives Matter protesters who tried to get him to say 'black lives matter' has defended his refusal in a Fox interview. Footage of the incident, shared on Twitter, shows a small crowd of BLM activists grilling business owner Fadi Faouri, as he stood outside his store holding a rifle. A group of Black Lives Matter protesters could be seen demanding he voice his support for the movement during a third night of Breonna Taylor demonstrations in the city. Scroll down for video Fadi Faouri, a Louisville store owner who was filmed in a tense confrontation with Black Lives Matter protesters who tried to get him to say 'black lives matter' has defended his action in a television interview after he refused to bow to their commands A group of Black Lives Matter protesters were filmed confronting Louisville store owner Fadi Faouri (far right) as he defended his business amid another night of unrest on Friday Faouri, who was born and raised in Jordan but who has lived in the United States for 24 years further qualified his remarks during an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News on Monday night On Monday night, Faouri spoke with Fox News' Tucker Carlson to explain his actions. 'Why would you not just say what the mob wanted you to say? Why did you resist?' Carlson asked. 'The answer to that question is because no one can force me to do something that I don't want to do. It's just for the simple fact like, I'm a free man, you know? That's the simple answer to it.' Faouri, who was born and raised in Jordan but who has lived in the United States for 24 years further qualified his remarks. 'Nobody can intimidate me basically, it's that simple. They basically tried to force me to say black lives matter or her name Breonna Taylor. And I was like, I'm not, I'm not going to do it. Whether they like it or not.' Faouri confirmed that he has received plenty of support as a result of what happened. On Monday night, Faouri spoke with Fox News' Tucker Carlson to explain his actions declaring himself to be 'a free man' 'I've been given support from all over the country and I've been getting hundreds and hundreds of phone calls, messages from all over. I believe that there's a video of me... and they got attention from everybody and even from the local news, surprisingly. Now everybody wants to do an interview with me.' During the tense encounter with protesters, the group can seen ganging up on Faouri for several minutes as they challenge his views on the BLM movement and the police shooting of Taylor after he refuses to say he supports the cause. The exchange kicks off after a man asks Faouri, 'do black lives matter?' to which he replies: 'If you're a good person I will care about you, if you're a bad person....' before shrugging. The man then asks him if 'Breonna Taylor matters'. Faouri hesitates for a few seconds before responding: 'Does it matter? I don't know.' Faouri was grilled over his views on the BLM movement and the injustice surrounding the shooting of Breonna Taylor The confrontation turned tense after Faouri repeatedly skirted the question and refused to say directly if he did or did not support Black Lives Matter The conversation turned tense after a woman comes into frame questioning his response and more members of the crowd start urging Faouri to explain what he means. 'Are you trying to intimidate me? I'm not playing that game,' Faouri says, as he explains that he is trying to protect his business. An argument then ensues as the group starts to close in on the store owner and continue to demand he say whether or not he believes in their cause. A person in the background can be heard shouting, 'we don't want your business'. Faouri turns his attention to the initial male protester telling him he will not be forced to say anything he doesn't believe. 'Nobody can intimidate me,' he says. The two parties continue to argue for several seconds but Faouri remains defiant in his refusal to engage in their debate and the protesters eventually disperse, with the exception of one woman. At one point, a woman claiming to be a documentary filmmaker approaches Faouri and criticizes him for his stance, or lackthereof, as she lectures him over the injustice surrounding Breonna Taylor's death Faouri retorted by saying Breonna Taylor's shooting was 'not my business', further escalating the argument A building that was being leased by Fadi Faouri, a small business owner, was firebombed around 1 am during last night's "unlawful assembly" declared by @LMPD. Investigation is underway in #Louisville PC : @realblairnelson pic.twitter.com/27AzGjU2Kl Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) September 25, 2020 The woman, who claimed to be a documentary filmmaker, approaches Faouri and criticizes him for his stance, or lackthereof, as she lectures him over the injustice surrounding Breonna Taylor's death. 'That's not my f**king business!' Faouri replies. 'It should be your business because all lives matter right?' the woman says, as she starts to debate Faouri on racial disparities. 'You can say that, but it's the color black that is the issue,' she adds. 'You have an issue with that, I don't have an issue,' Faouri says in response. 'I don't care, white or black bulls***t, I see you as a human being, that's all that I care about.' The debate finally comes to an end after a fellow protester urges the woman to leave the area. One of Faouri's buildings was later firebombed during the protests. It is not known if protesters specifically targeted his building. LOS ANGELES: Footage was captured showing an LAPD deputy using his riot shield to slam a Black Lives Matter protester into the ground on Friday night LOS ANGELES: Around 100 people were seen marching in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles on Friday evening Protests continue to rock the city and other areas of across the country days after a grand jury refused to charge Louisville police officers with Breonna Taylor's murder. Violent clashes have broken out between police officers and demonstrators over the last week, as some activists have taken to the streets to target businesses and cause chaos. On Friday, footage emerged of a police officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office using his riot shield to slam a BLM protester who was already lying on the ground. The footage showed the deputy forcefully using their riot shield to subdue a protester. The incident took place in West Hollywood area of the city which saw more than 100 protesters gathered on Friday evening as they marched along Santa Monica Boulevard. Meanwhile, across the other side of the country, hundreds of Black Lives Matter staged a 'sit-in' on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Hundreds of angry demonstrators marched through from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge where they sat and refused to move for more than hour. And in Oakland, California, police said more than 250 protesters became 'immediately violent' and threw bottles and cans at officers in the downtown area. NEW YORK: Hundreds of angry demonstrators marched through from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge where they sat and refused to move for more than hour NEW YORK: A woman holds a portrait of Breonna Taylor during the march for Breonna Taylor NEW YORK: Protesters exit the Brooklyn Bridge during the march for Breonna Taylor in New York City NEW YORK: People participate during the march for Breonna Taylor in New York City on the Brooklyn Bridge Cops deployed smoke to counter the demonstrators, and a downtown Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station was closed. Friday's rally was held in solidarity with protests taking place in Louisville, where large demonstrations are planned for the weekend. Several other demonstrations took place around the rest of the country including Boston and San Diego to protest a grand jury's decision not to charge the Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor. OAKLAND: Cops deployed smoke to counter the demonstrators, and a downtown Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station was closed OAKLAND: Police said more than 250 protesters became 'immediately violent' and threw bottles and cans NEW YORK: People are pictured protesting on the Brooklyn Bridge during the march for Breonna Taylor on Friday night NEW YORK: Police wait at one end of the bridge as protesters attempt to leave the massive structure after the demonstration NEW YORK: The march started off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and slowly moved towards the famous bridge 'This is extremely traumatizing. I have been out here since June, almost every day on the streets, marching for my Black life to show people that I matter, that it could be me, it could be him, it could be him, it could be any Black face that you see in this crowd,' protester Sophie Michel said to CBS2. 'I think we need to send a message that it's unacceptable that no one was charged with Breonna Taylor's death,' said John Donahue to PIX11. Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers in Louisville who entered her home during a narcotics investigation in March. BOSTON: Demonstrators march past Boston Police headquarters during a 'Stand Against Racist Police Murders' demo BOSTON: Protesters could be seen gathered downtown with even large protests planned for Saturday In Kentucky on Friday, a crowd surrounded Breonna Taylor's family. Her aunt, Bianca Austin, wore Taylor's emergency medical technician jacket while reading a message from Taylor's mother, who was too distraught to speak. 'I'm angry because this nation is learning that our Black women are dying at the hands of police officers,' said Bianca Austin, 'and this is not okay.' 'I was reassured Wednesday of why I have no faith in the legal system, in the police, in the law that are not made to protect us Black and brown people,' Austin read. In Boston, demonstrators gathered in Nubian Square to at part of the nationwide protests. The protest remained peaceful as they marched to the Boston Police Headquarters later in the night. The group then moved onto City Hall Plaza for a sit-in. The gathering appeared to be among the larger groups the city of Boston has seen in some time. Some carried signs with messages such as 'Justice 4 Breonna,' 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'Let Black women dream.' The demonstration was largely peaceful with no arrests had been reported as of 10:45pm. 'I feel like that message being sent that cops can do whatever they want and not be held accountable so this is just an attempt to reenergize the city and reenergize anyone that sees this to get back out on the streets to fight and increase the antiracist movement because this is not ok,' organizer Ernest Jacques Jr. said to WHDH. LOUISVILLE: Protests over the killing of Breonna Taylor continued for the third day in a row Friday LOUISVILLE: Protesters marched to First Unitarian Church and stayed there past the cities 9pm curfew. Pictured is protest organizer in front of the First Unitarian Church LOUISVILLE: Protests over the killing of Breonna Taylor continued for the third day in a row Friday. Pictured are protesters marching down Market Street in the city LOUISVILLE: Protests over the killing of Breonna Taylor continued for the third day in a row. Pictured is a woman holding a BLM flag in front of the First Unitarian Church The mayor of Boston Marty Walsh urged calm and asked demonstrators to respect the city ahead of the protest. 'I'm asking people planning to demonstrate in Boston tonight and over the weekend to respect the city and respect each other,' he said. 'I'm asking you to keep it peaceful, I'm asking you to keep it powerful. People are deeply upset, but we cannot turn to violence to express our pain.' 'We want to maintain law and order and at the same time protect everyone's ability to peacefully assembler and make their voices heard. So in case, there is a need for us we're a little bit closer than we were perhaps in May,' Lt. Colonel Bryan Pillai said. 'Start charging police officers for murder. You in your house sleeping, you ain't safe. Usually the rebuttal is don't fight the police, cooperate. How the hell do you do that sleeping?' community activist Monica Cannon-Grant said to NBC Boston. LOUISVILLE: A woman holds a BLM flag in front of the Breonna Taylor memorial at Jackson Square Park (Newser) President Trump's former campaign manager was drunk and "very agitated" when officers arrived at his home Sunday, but an officer who called Brad Parscale a "personal friend" helped persuade him to leave the Fort Lauderdale residence, according to police records. Video from the Sunday standoff shows Parscale talking to Officer Christopher Wilson before other officers shout "Get on the ground," NBC reports. An officer tackled Parscale to the ground after he ignored the command. The GOP operative's wife, Candice Parscale, told police that during an argument Sunday, he "took possession of one of his firearms, racked the slide, loading it right in his wife's presence." Candice Parscale told officers that she fled the residence and heard what could have been a gunshot shortly after she left. She later said it could also have been a car backfiring. story continues below She said Parscale, who was demoted in July, "has been depressed and suicidal recently," a police incident report states, per People. "This has led him to consume alcohol a lot more frequently and make suicidal statements." Records show that Officer Timothy Skaggs, the first officer to arrive at the scene, observed bruises on Candice Parscale's arms and face, which she said Parscale had inflicted days earlier, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Police said that after Parscale was subdued, they removed 10 firearms from the residence, including two rifles. Parscale was involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation under Florida's Baker Act. (Read more Brad Parscale stories.) Lib Dem leader Ed Davey checks into our travel Q&A This week Lib Dem leader Ed Davey checks into our travel Q&A. He talks about his earliest travel memory, his favourite party conference town, the trip he took this summer - and more. WHAT'S YOUR FIRST HOLIDAY MEMORY? Going to Skegness in Lincolnshire or Nottingham-by-the-Sea as we used to call it. We'd traipse there every summer to stay in my grandma's caravan. ANY SPECIAL TEEN TRAVEL MEMORIES? My parents had both died by the time I was 15. The year after Mum's death I organised an Interrail holiday around Europe with three schoolmates. We had a great time, even if we did have to sleep on the odd bench. GO ANYWHERE NICE THIS SUMMER? We had planned a trip to France but ended up staying with my mother-in-law near Blandford Forum in Dorset. The two kids loved it. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A HOLIDAY ? It's all about the children these days. My son John is disabled and needs warm water for his muscles, so we sometimes visit Hungary, which, besides having a treatment centre in Budapest, has some super spas. TIPS FOR VISITORS TO HUNGARY ? Every Hungarian town seems to have a spa, and everyone goes and lets it all hang out it's not seen as elitist. People even play chess in the warm waters. FAVOURITE PLACE THERE? The city of Oroshaza has the most amazing indoor and outdoor spa complex with slides the kids just love. It's really off the beaten track. HOLIDAY FROM HELL? In Jersey, which is the loveliest island, as a boy. A kid at our hotel said: 'Everyone who stays here gets ill.' Lo and behold, days later we all had stomach upsets. FAVOURITE PARTY CONFERENCE TOWN? Harrogate... or York. Ed says Jersey is the 'loveliest island' but that he had a holiday from hell there as a boy EVER HAVE A DIP DURING CONFERENCE? I take my trunks if it's at the seaside, but more in hope than in expectation... NEXT FAMILY HOLIDAY? France next summer, but I suspect it may be Dorset again no bad thing. DREAM DESTINATION? New Zealand, driving a camper van around South Island with the family. Not surprisingly, the Trump administration has replicated many of Americas worst policy instincts when it comes to dealing with its neighbours in Latin America and the Caribbean. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Not surprisingly, the Trump administration has replicated many of Americas worst policy instincts when it comes to dealing with its neighbours in Latin America and the Caribbean. Like previous U.S. governments, President Donald Trump has sought to throw his weight around indiscriminately in the U.S.s so-called "backyard," has not listened carefully to governments in the region and has needlessly lost the respect and trust of the people of the Americas. True to form, his White House has been overly preoccupied with Cuba and, secondarily, the Nicolas Maduro government in Venezuela. This clearly ill-conceived policy was recently on display in Trumps unseemly pressure campaign to snare the leadership role of the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) one of the regions critical development lenders. In fact, the IDB lends around US$13 billion annually for various health, infrastructure and education projects throughout the region, focuses on poverty reduction and inequality and is an important vehicle for conversations between the north and south blocs of the Americas. The central problem with Trumps heavy-handed campaign was that it flew in the face of a 60-year tradition of choosing a Latin American as president (and a U.S. citizen as vice-president) of the IDB. And this was always understood as an unwritten rule to placate the Latin Americans especially since the U.S. has a 30 per cent voting share (and thus a virtual veto power) within the body. Of course, Trumps pick, Cuban-American Mauricio Clavor-Carone, said all the right things after garnering the majority of votes from the 48 members of the board of governors. As he said in a perfunctory fashion, "My commitment remains the same: to work with the IDB member countries to outline a strategy to strengthen the bank, respond to the needs of the region, and to create opportunities for shared prosperity and economic growth." Key countries in the region, however, have reacted with horror at the prospect of a U.S. leader of the IDB. They are particularly unnerved by the bullying and disrespectful way in which the Trump White House went about securing the victory of Clavor-Carone (including a threat to withhold post-pandemic relief). Leaders were also rubbed the wrong way by Clavor-Carones abrasive personality, his blatant arrogance and the likely ideological divisiveness that he will bring to the multilateral lending agency. It is worth noting here that Clavor-Carone was one of Trumps principal advisers on the National Security Council responsible for Latin America. Translation: he was a chief architect of Trumps hard-line and decidedly counterproductive policy toward both Cuba and Venezuela. This, of course, did not endear him to several countries within the wider region. Some key players, including Argentina, Chile, Peru and Mexico, wanted to postpone the whole IDB voting exercise until after the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election. In the end, they were unable to suspend or even boycott the vote after the Trump team turned to its friends in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador to seal the deal for Clavor-Carone. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Curiously, its not entirely clear where Canada, a member of the IDB since 1972, figured into all of this diplomatic manoeuvring. There is some speculation that the Trudeau government was opposed to the Clavor-Carone candidacy though it did not want to upset the Trump White House by expressing its reservations publicly. But its uncertain at this point whether Canada ultimately abstained from voting altogether. It has been reported that Trump wanted his man in the IDB seat so as to counteract Chinese incursions into the Americas and particularly in such places as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The reality is that a host of countries in the region benefit from the fact China is their best customer and they also rely heavily upon Chinese loans and financial aid. It is also true the Trump administration, through its many deeds and harsh rhetoric, has significantly diminished the U.S.s presence in the hemisphere and effectively opened the door to China. Indeed, the ham-fisted manner in which the Trump White House and Clavor-Carone have handled this whole IDB episode has only highlighted why the welcome mat in the region is being extended so aggressively to the eager Chinese. Facing a deadly pandemic and anemic economic activity, the last thing the IDB needed was a battle royal over its top leadership. And it all could have been easily avoided if Trump had just respected regional voices. Lastly, all of this controversy swirling around the IDB, at least until the U.S. elections are sorted out in November, could potentially complicate Ottawas relationship with both the U.S. and other countries in Latin America. Once again, Canada finds itself in the awkward position it has feared the most since joining the hemispheric community in the early 1990s namely, having to choose between its American partners and its Latino friends within a Clavor-Carone-led IDB. Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. Top diplomats from the US, Australia and India will gather in Tokyo next week for quad talks to discuss their common regional concerns, such as Chinas increasingly assertive actions, in a first face-to-face meeting Japan is hosting since the coronavirus pandemic. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and Indias External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will hold off-line talks on October 6. Motegi said the four ministers are expected to discuss ways to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, a concept of security and economic cooperation that Japan and the US have been pushing in the face of Chinas growing assertiveness in the region. It is very timely for the four foreign ministers sharing the same concerns over the regional situation to share their views in person, Motegi said. He said they are expected to discuss the coronavirus and the economy hurt by the pandemic and other regional concerns. The vision of free and open Indo-Pacific will be even more important in a post-coronavirus world, he said. In order to achieve it, I hope to confirm at the upcoming meeting the importance to deepen our cooperation with other countries. Motegi said Japans new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga may also meet with Pompeo on the sidelines of the talks in his first face-to-face meeting with a top foreign official since taking office. Suga is also expected to meet with the Australian and Indian foreign ministers. Suga took office two weeks ago, replacing Shinzo Abe, who stepped down from the premiership, citing poor health. The four strategic partners held their foreign ministers talks in September last year in New York. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called for the resignation of European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova over what he described as her "derogatory public statements" about democracy in Hungary. In a letter addressed to the commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, Orban wrote that Jourova's statements were "incompatible with her current mandate, therefore her resignation is indispensable." Until she resigns, "the Hungarian government suspends all bilateral political contacts with her," he added in the letter, which was made public on September 29. In an interview with a German news magazine last week, Jourova said that "Orban likes to say he is building an illiberal democracy. I would say he is building an ill democracy." "There is hardly any criticism of the government in Hungarian media anymore, so a wide majority of Hungarians are possibly no longer in a position to form a free opinion. I fear that people in Hungary could one day discover that their last election was also their last free election," she told Der Spiegel. The interview came just days before Jourova presents a report on the state of the rule of law in all EU member states. Orban's government is expected to be criticized sharply in the report, which will be released on September 30. Orban said the remarks were "in contradiction with the commission's role as a neutral and objective institution" and "prevent any meaningful future dialogue" between Hungary and Jourova. A spokeswoman for the EU's executive in Brussels said Von der Leyen had "full trust" in her deputy in charge of the commission's work on values and transparency and upholding the rule of law. "Our concerns when it comes to the rule of law in Hungary are well-known. They will be addressed in our rule-of-law report, which we will present tomorrow. In this report, we assesses the situation in all member states," Dana Spinant told a news briefing. Right-wing nationalist Orban has repeatedly clashed with EU leaders over his moves to increase state control of the judiciary, media, and academia. A so-called Article 7 procedure against Hungary to probe whether it is undermining European legal standards and democratic values is ongoing. With reporting by AFP and Reuters A test case was recently launched jointly by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) with the aim of testing certain exclusions. Focused on Hollard Insurance, the case has been pushed forward owing to its urgent nature and will now be heard by the NSW Supreme Court on October 02. The pandemic and resulting uncertainty have had a devastating impact on Australia, so we are pleased the test case hearing is progressing as quickly as possible, and a judgement can be delivered that provides greater clarity to customers, insurers and regulators in the treatment of pandemic-related claims, stated Andrew Hall, CEO of the ICA, in a note to the press earlier this month. For Alex Haslam (pictured above), principal and an insurance, construction and insolvency dispute resolution specialist at the law firm Gilchrist Connell, the upcoming Australian test case is quite different to its UK antecedent. The Australian test case is concerned with a particular form of infectious disease exclusion that property insurance policies include, whereas the British one looked at the wording of a range of different policies, Haslam noted. As others have said, theyre a little bit like chalk and cheese, so I dont think the outcome in the UK will really affect this particular case. Haslam added that he believes that, moving forward, there will be more cases in Australia that are similar to the UK one, and that Australian insurance companies will be wise to keep track of any appeals that take place on British shores. Weve already seen that QBE is considering appealing parts of the decision, and its something that other insurers may be weighing up as well, he said. Regardless, one of the effects of this pandemic is that it will undoubtedly lead to adjustments in policy wording across many Australian insurance firms. Ken Keenan (pictured immediately above), CEO of Pen Underwriting, remarked that Business interruption has been the hottest insurance topic since the pandemic started. It is generally felt verdicts in other countries will have no impact on the unique test case here, he added. For Pen, we await the outcome as it may determine the direction for insureds arising from BI claims where an infectious disease exclusion has been applied. However, we never envisaged coverage for pandemic type events, and certainly never priced for them. When it comes to Australian brokers, not all of them are currently concerned about the knock-on effects of the UKs BI ruling. Karen Hardy (pictured above), principal broker at ACME Insurance Brokers, told Insurance Business Australia that none of her clients have pursued a COVID-19-related BI claimnor does she expect them to. Our clients understand that our general exclusions relating to infectious disease are intended to be all-encompassing blanket exclusions and not specific to any particular disease, she said. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WebMD Health Corp. today announced a new service that enables consumers to schedule telehealth visits with participating healthcare professionals (HCPs) from the company's WebMD Care and Vitals platforms. WebMD Care and Vitals are among the leading providers of online tools that connect consumers to HCPs and services. In addition, consumers can now sync their Medication Reminders on the WebMD app to all their devices (iOS and Android), as well as to a new Amazon Alexa skill. The new telehealth and Medication Reminder features further the company's strategy to transition from health care website to health information platform, seamlessly connecting consumers to care while leveraging technologies that meet their evolving healthcare needs. More than 76 million people use WebMD each month to access health news and trends, information on conditions and treatments, and content that educates and motivates them to take action on their health. WebMD Care and Vitals consumer websites generate more than 10 million visits per month from people searching for local healthcare providers. The popular Medication Reminder feature will now provide consumers with the assurance that all their devices, and their voice technology, can support them in taking their medication when they need to. Users need to log on to their WebMD accounts and sync their devices. "Telehealth was already a driving force in health care, and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the transformation," said Kevin Hayes, Chief Product Officer. "People are more overwhelmed today than ever. They need the flexibility to access their healthcare professional remotely, when practical, and tools to help them manage their healthcare more seamlessly. Both of these new features are designed to support consumers and make their lives a little easier." The HCP profiles on both WebMD and Vitals will clearly indicate whether telehealth visits are offered, and consumers can schedule virtual visits directly from the platform. Users can also search for HCPs that offer telehealth visits, and can connect with the provider's telehealth service from WebMD and Vitals. The new feature will be launched on the WebMD app later this year. WebMD Care and Vitals include profiles of hundreds of physicians, as well as psychologists, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors and dentists. Consumers can also search for information on hospitals, health systems, pharmacies and insurance plans. In addition to helping consumers find healthcare professionals, Vitals.com offers MedHelp , a collection of online patient-to-patient communities that enable tens of thousands of daily conversations about hundreds of medical conditions. Additionally, the Medication Reminder feature will now provide consumers with the assurance that all their devices, and their voice technology, can support them in taking their medications when they need to. Users need to log on to their WebMD accounts and sync their devices. "We know that consumers at all ages and stages are increasingly confident and comfortable with using technology to support their health," said Hayes. "What we offer are platforms that support them throughout the healthcare journey -- from information to action to community. We provide multiple ways for consumers to chart their own healthcare experience, using platforms they trust." About WebMD WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, Jobson Healthcare Information, prIME Oncology, MediQuality, Frontline, Vitals Consumer Services, Aptus Health, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD, Medscape, CME Circle, Medpulse, eMedicine, MedicineNet, theheart.org , and RxList are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries. About Vitals Vitals empowers everyone to shop for their health care like an expert. Our integrated high-tech, right-touch platform helps people select better, more affordable care. Vitals leads the market with incentive and engagement programs proven to drive new levels of activation. Our solutions achieve measurable and sustainable savings for consumers, employers and health plans. Over 280 million people each year rely on Vitals to help them decide on their care with confidence. Follow us on LinkedIn . About Internet Brands Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites lead their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com. SOURCE WebMD Health Corp. Related Links http://www.webmd.com Minister on Tuesday launched a contest under which innovators, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups have to find new ideas applicable to 11 specific challenges of the Indian sector. Four of the 11 subjects of the India Challenge 4 (DISC4) are autonomous underwater swarm drones, foliage penetration radar,reduction of radar cross-section of naval warships and artificial intelligence based satellite image analysis and reduction, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. If an idea of a startup, an innovator or an MSME is accepted by the ministry in DISC4, the entity would be given innovation grants by the ministry to develop the prototype. The minister also launched product management approach (PMA) guidelines on Tuesday that will "steer the prototype development to a market ready product", the ministry noted. It said the PMA guidelines will monitor product development milestones achieved by the challenge winners against the requirement set by the armed forces, the Ordnance Factory Board or defence public sector undertakings. The statement said Singh also launched an initiative called iDEX4Fauji, which will support innovations identified by members of the Indian armed forces and will "bolster frugal innovation ideas from soldiers/ field formations". "This iDEX4Fauji initiative will bolster frugal innovative ideas from soldiers and help to revolutionise the future of our Armed Forces," Singh said on Twitter. "Our soldiers would not only have a thorough understanding of their own requirements but also have necessary support of innovators and startups," he added. The defence minister said the iDEX4Fauji initiative will help connect entrepreneurs with the "grassroot level innovators" safeguarding our borders. Apart from the aforementioned four challenges, the other challenges at DISC4 include topics such as predictive, preventive and prescriptive machine monitoring; super resolution for improving spatial resolution; prediction and forecasting of atmospheric visibility; computer generated targets for virtual training. Some other challenges are remote real time in-flight health monitoring of aircrew; target detection in chaff environment; multi-frequency time-division multiple access based wideband SATCOM (satellite communication) modem. After launching the DISC4 event virtually, the minister tweeted that the startup ecosystem and innovation enjoy a symbiotic relationship and they thrive in the other's presence. "We need constant endeavour for innovation, evolution and sustenance of technological excellence in the armed forces through support of academia, innovators & startups," Singh added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The mayor general, Gabriela Firea, said on Tuesday that she carried out a positive online campaign and that her opponent's statements regarding the existence of an "octopus" were "campaign lies". "I have never run away from responsibility and I have no reason to be ashamed. I won a lot of votes, especially in a campaign based only on lies about me - that I have an octopus ... I want to see the octopus, when Mr. Dan gets there and looks, he will call the octopus to the meeting. There is no octopus. Those were campaign lies. (...)," said Firea, in a statement made at the Social Democratic Party (PSD) headquarters.Gabriela Firea declared that she has nothing to reproach the sector mayors, because "they worked very hard" and congratulated the mayor of Sector 4, Daniel Baluta, for the result obtained. She also said that PSD representatives were "very" affected by the negative online campaign.The mayor general reproached the fact that the press did not present during the four years of mandate the problems that she reported.Asked if she felt targeted by the statement of the PSD chairman, Marcel Ciolacu, regarding the existence of "ankylosed characters" in the party, Gabriela Firea rejected such an idea.At the same time, when asked why she did not wait for the exit poll results at the party headquarters, Gabriela Firea stated that during the week, the communication team decided that the mayor general should follow the results at the City Hall or PSD Bucharest headquarters, and the national leadership should make statements on the results at the level of the entire country. Pantone have released a new colour inspired by periods. (Getty Images) Pantone has introduced its latest colour and said it hopes it will help tackle the stigma surrounding menstruation. The Pantone Color Institute has partnered with intimate healthcare brand INTIMINA to launch the custom colour, which they believe is emblematic of a period, and represents a steady flow during menstruation. The crimson hue, called Period, was created to be dynamic and energising, and forms part of INTIMAs Seen+Heard campaign, which aims to help remove the stigma that still surrounds periods. The hope is it could help get people talking about menstruation, and empower everyone regardless of gender to talk freely about periods. Read more: Superdrug launches range of sanitary products for 'people who menstruate' Despite the fact that billions of people experience menstruation, it has historically been treated as something that shouldnt be seen or talked about publicly, explains Danela Zagar Intimina Global Brand Manager. And if we look at popular culture, depictions of periods have ranged from wildly inaccurate and unsympathetic to being the subject of jokes and derision. Enough is enough, its 2020. Isnt it time periods stop being considered as a private affair or a negative experience? Isnt it time we call out people that try to perpetuate the stigma surrounding periods? Or those that mock it? Isnt it time we come together to encourage period positivity and make sure periods are seen and heard? Pantone Period has been inspired by periods and designed to help tackle menstruation stigma. (Pantone/INTIMA) It is hoped the partnership could help encourage more period positivity and normalise something that for millions is part of every day life. Pantones Period red shade represents exactly what our Seen+Heard campaign is about: making periods visible, encouraging positive conversations and normalising menstruation in our culture, our society and in our everyday lives. Read more: Bodyform's advert is the boundary-breaking period campaign women have been waiting for Laurie Pressman, Vice-President, Pantone Color Institute from Pantone describes the new colour as an active and adventurous red hue and hopes it will help encourage people who menstruate to feel proud of who they are. Story continues To own their period with self-assurance; to stand up and passionately celebrate the exciting and powerful life force they are born with; to urge everyone regardless of gender to feel comfortable to talk spontaneously and openly about this pure and natural bodily function, he says. Watch: Is paying tax on period products sexist? As part of the campaign, INTIMINA has also donated 2,000 to ActionAid, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. The donation will help in supporting ActionAids work, which includes the fight against period poverty and reducing the stigma around menstruation. Around the world today, millions of women and girls still suffer due to the stigma associated with periods, explains Jillian Popkins (Director of Policy, Advocacy and Programmes) from ActionAid UK. Many girls miss vital days of school, or even drop out altogether, which is one reason so many women experience life-long poverty globally. Without the stigma around periods, more women could escape poverty, fulfil their potential and strengthen their communities. This important campaign will help change that. Read more: Women spend 5,000 on period products in their lifetimes Last year, a survey suggested a third of men believe it is unprofessional for women to talk about their period in the workplace. While almost half of the workforce will have to navigate having a period at work every month, it seems they have to do so in secret with the survey finding 32% of men think it is unprofessional for women to talk about the topic of menstruation while theyre at work. Another survey research found that just under half of women are still using a code name when referring to their period. The survey, by period product subscription service, Mondays, found women are turning to covert code names because many believe the term 'period' sounds dirty, rude, awkward and embarrassing. Watch: How much the average woman spends on period products every month. Actor Sara Ali Khan has revealed that she had dated late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and it was a short relationship. According to a report by PeepingMoon.com, Sara shared her chats with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials and told her about her relationship with Sushant. She said he was not faithful to her in their brief relationship. The report cited NCB's sources and said that Sara and Sushant broke up in 2019. The NCB recorded statement of Sara on September 26 in the drugs probe linked to Sushant's death and an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus. The actress returned from Goa along with her mom, Amrita Singh and brother, Ibrahim Ali Khan on September 24. The 25-year-old actor made her acting debut opposite Sushant in the 2018 film "Kedarnath". Sara was summoned based on Sushant's girlfriend Rhea's testimony that she consumed drugs. Along with Sara, big Bollywood stars like Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor have also been summoned by the NCB in Sushant's death case. NCB has seized the phone of all these actors. Sushant was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14. His death has sparked a lot of controversy in the media and the case is currently being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the NCB. The late actor's girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, who has been accused of abetting his suicide by his family, has been arrested by the NCB. So far, the NCB has arrested 18 people in connection with the case including Rhea and her brother Showik. Rhea was arrested on September 8 for alleged procurement of drugs. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Rhea Chakraborty's bail hearing today Alos read: Sushant Singh Rajput death case: AIIMS submits post-mortem report to CBI DALLAS, Ore., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Phase 2 expansion of the Lodge Residences is underway at DALLAS RETIREMENT VILLAGE, a senior living community that has served the Dallas area for more than seven decades. This 60,000-square-foot expansion will complete the circle around the existing picturesque courtyard, adding 29 new independent living apartment homes, an indoor pool, spa, fitness facilities and more. Courtyard Pool "Phase 1 was completed four years ago. Since then, we've continued to build a waiting list," said Dave Parrett, Executive Director. "Having more apartments will make us more accessible to local seniors who would like to move here." In fact, more than 80% of the new apartments were under contract before marketing efforts were temporarily halted in March due to COVID-19. The community recently resumed the pre-selection process. "At this point, we are about a year from move-in," said Parrett. "We're confident that we'll have most, if not all, apartments reserved before then." Designed to be a continuation of Phase 1, the expansion features a craftsman exterior with a Pacific Northwest elegance, says the project architect, Chuck Archer of LRS Architects. In addition, the interior design offers a familiar and comfortable aesthetic that feels like home, explained Lisa Warnock, Director of Housing Interiors with LRS Architects. Welcome additions to the Dallas Retirement Village campus| As a distinct design element of the expansion, the new indoor/outdoor roof top patio will feature large sliding glass doors that can be opened or closed depending on the weatheroffering a temperature-controlled space that can be used year-round, said Parrett. The patio will have its own kitchen, making the space ideal for community events and parties. Plus, residents can utilize the space to host private family get-togethers. Overall, Phase 2 offers a welcome addition of community space. "Currently, our Commons space is booked solid throughout the day," explained Parrett. "This new space will really allow us to expand our programming." Residents are particularly excited about the new fitness facilities, including a space for group exercise as well as a new weight room for individual exercise. Plus, the expanded spa will include hair stations, pedicure and manicure stations, and private massage treatment rooms. Construction activities to escalate soon Currently, work continues, said project manager Albert Castaneda with Deacon Construction. "Soon there will be a lot of workers from various subcontractor trades all working at the same time. This site has minimal areas for staging which makes it more exciting to see what is happening for residents." A construction photo gallery and live video feed is available on the community's website. Founded in 1947 and located in Oregon's Mid-Willamette Valley, Dallas Retirement Village is an active, 30-acre senior living community offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services. CONTACT INFORMATION: Tawnya Rohde, Marketing & Sales Director Dallas Retirement Village 225 NW Jasper Street Dallas, Oregon 97338 (503) 623-1747 [email protected] SOURCE Dallas Retirement Village TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --In the world of women's beauty today, there is no doubt that the arms are a major focus of attention. From social media to "best of" lists, the sexy look of celebrities' slim, toned and contoured arms are highly sought after and seen as a "must have" accessory. However, getting this desired look can be a fruitless struggle for most women and impossible for cosmetic and plastic surgeons. But that's all changed with "Celebrity Arms Lipo" a revolutionary new procedure from ArtLipo Plastic Surgery that enables women to achieve the look of celebrity arms. ArtLipo Plastic Surgery Pioneered by Dr. Thomas Su, the "Celebrity Arms Lipo" procedure is an awake liposuction with a twist. To achieve a slim and beautiful arm contour, Dr. Su's procedure has to remove up to 300 percent more fat than regular arm liposuction with a much higher degree of precision and accuracy. Instead of removing fat from the underarm area only, which is where all plastic surgeons are taught to stay, Dr. Su removes fat all the way around the arm in a 360 degree and over the shoulder method, which has always been impossible for surgeons to do, using traditional lipo methods. The additional areas of the arm that a large portion of the fat exists, makes the arms and upper torso look bulky and hides the desired muscle contours. Given that traditional arm lipo doesn't address the right areas or remove fat completely in the way that is needed to achieve desired celebrity arms, it was necessary to come up with a new technique to overcome the difficulties of doing what appeared to be an impossible feat. The invention and success of Dr. Su's new procedure can be attributed to a surprising and unique combination of medicine, artistic ability, and a boot camp-like workout that happens on the surgery table. While most lipo is done with a patient asleep under general anesthesia, Dr. Su uses the alternative of awake tumescent lipo, which has been time-tested and safer than general anesthesia. However, Dr. Su carries out his procedure with patients totally awake, not semi-sedated as most others do it, to allow his patients to do isometric contractions of their arm muscles in multiple positions throughout the procedure, a technique he pioneered and named "Interactive Lipo." The boot camp-like workout gives Dr. Su the best feel of the muscle shape below the fat and the best control of fat while removing it. This advanced control and feel elevates the procedure from suctioning and slimming, to the realm of artistic "sculpting." There is a big difference between making the arms a little smaller, compared to intricately sculpting the arms to show the beautiful shape and contours of the muscles. Dr. Su will show patients their new "Celebrity Arms" in front of a mirror immediately after the procedure. Dr. Thomas Su is an artist and master of liposuction who owns and operates ArtLipo Plastic Surgery. He has over 15 years of cosmetic surgery experience and has been exclusively practicing and specializing in awake liposuction for most of that time. With over 20,000 liposuction cases completed, he is one of the most experienced liposuction doctors in the world. He is also one of the most artistically advanced lipo surgeons, with a focus on ultra complete and high definition lipo for all body areas. Dr. Su's artistic skills, from his degree in Fine Arts with a focus on the human figure, has set him apart as an innovator who has achieved what less than 1 in 1000 plastic surgeons have. Dr. Su has lectured on his Celebrity Arms procedure, Ultra-complete Abdomen lipo and his Interactive Lipo at multiple national conferences and has published the book Celebrity Arms in a Day. ArtLipo Plastic Surgery specializes in the most advanced lipo procedures, most of which are not available or easily accessible in other parts of the US. The clinic boasts two full-time board-certified plastic surgeons who, besides performing advanced liposuction, provide a full range of other plastic surgery procedures. ArtLipo is uniquely poised to accommodate fly-in patients as a majority of its clientele come from all over the US and countries around the world. Media Contact: Casandra Walker P: 323-979-8417 E: [email protected] Related Images celebrity-arms-lipo.jpg Celebrity Arms Lipo Related Links ArtLipo Website SOURCE ArtLipo Plastic Surgery I was saddened when I read the recent NJ Advance Media article (Outrage mounts over N.J. youths mocking George Floyds death...) about a racist photo posted on social media by two Hunterdon County high school students. In response to this, and to parents stating that racism in the Hunterdon Central Regional High School District is rampant, the school board and Superintendent Jeffrey Moore, formed an (all-white) committee on racism, equity and diversity. One Hunterdon parent, who herself experienced racism while attending Hunterdon Central, expressed the hope that this new committee will access either some experts in the field of diversity and inclusion, or someone who has some life experience with this. With that in mind, I would like to suggest the Southern Poverty Law Center for them and their community. The SPLC has a curriculum called Teaching Tolerance, which provides printed material with lesson plans and activities for grades K-12, as well as other material and guidance for communities dealing with these issues. Noelle LaGana, Bridgewater Thanks for clear case to pick Biden I read with great interest the recent op-ed by by former Republican congressman Dick Zimmer (Why Im endorsing Joe Biden for president). I wish to applaud Zimmer for actually making the case for Biden with simplicity and clarity. Theres no need to go any further than to understand the reality of where we are today as a nation. As I get political ads in the mail or watch them on TV, they are all about scaring people from one side or the other. Its a very sad state that this is what most Americans actually hear as a vision of the country. Polarization is the fuel of politicians. I am not a Republican or a Democrat; I am an American; and just like Mr. Zimmer, I wish to see this country start to go back to what it has made it great. Thanks to him for making it so clear for so many of us. Miguel A. Dajer, Succasunna World War II special section wowed The Star-Ledger did a wonderful job remembering the 75th Anniversary of World War II. That special section, Heroes. Sacrifice. Victory, on Sunday, Sept. 27, was interesting, informative and fantastic. I wish every student in New Jersey would read this as part of their history curriculum. Its that important, especially accounts by victims of the Holocaust. Again, great job. Tom Varga, Piscataway But, what about WWII women? I looked forward to reading Heroes. Sacrifice. Victory, the special section about the 75th anniversary of World War II. But I was disappointed that there was little mention of women in the military service other than a Black battalion in England. Three of my cousins and I served in the Womens Army Corps, or WACS: Fay Seidler, (deceased); Nettie Geltzheiler Daniels, (deceased); Bee Geltzeiler Belous (who lives in Pensacola, Florida) and myself, in Bridgewater. I was stationed in New Delhi, India and later in Kandy, Sri Lanka. I wonder how many more women from New Jersey alone volunteered. Shouldnt the WACS have had some recognition in this excellent coverage? Marian Schlanger Mullis Cole, Bridgewater Good job with state budget priorities It is with sincere appreciation and gratitude that I applaud the Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphys administration for their efforts and final product of the nine-month state budget, effective Oct. 1-June 30, 2021. In these most difficult times, after delays and revisions due to the coronavirus pandemic, they worked in a very abbreviated time to address the greatest needs of all New Jerseyans while recognizing the severe fiscal constraints the state is under. The restoration of several mental health, addiction treatment and support programs in the Department of Children and Families, as well as retaining charity care funding for our heroic hospitals, will support ongoing critical needs as we continue to navigate the pandemic. In particular, students across the state will continue to benefit from the very comprehensive and easily accessible services of the School Based Youth Services Program, which historically have touched the lives of nearly 20,000 students each week. The partnership displayed by the Legislature and administration in coming together on revenue and spending priorities in such a short time is deserving of acknowledgement. Bravo! Debra L. Wentz, President and CEO, New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Mercerville Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. In 2019, France's art auction turnover total rose by +18% versus 2018, reaching a record 830 million US dollars and consolidating the country's fourth place in the global ranking of major national marketplaces. But, it isn't yet a direct competitor to the United Kingdom which generated turnover 2.5 times higher in the art auction sector. "France has several assets though, recalls thierry Ehrmann, CEO and Founder of Artmarket.com and its Artprice department, "and notably its hidden stock of old masterpieces, a number of which usually find their way into the country's auction rooms every year. But it takes all the know-how of an expert in Old Masters to defend their value and their rightful place in Art History. The quality of the work conducted by French art experts is today recognised all over the world." Image: [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2020/09/Artprice-Armarket-Experts.jpg] From left to right: Cimabue, Le Christ moque - Le Maitre de Vyssi Brod, La Vierge et l'Enfant en trone - Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucrece. Three major Old Master paintings sold at auction in France in 2019, appraised by Cabinet Turquin The expert lives at 69... rue Sainte-Anne in Paris Old Master paintings expert Eric Turquin admits that the sale of the small devotional panel attributed to the Master of Vyssi Brod was probably his firm's biggest success story in 2019. And yet the year was full of excitement as the Cabinet Turquin was deeply involved in the sale of the Toulouse Caravaggio in June 2019 (which finally sold privately), the Cimabue painting in October and even a work by Artemisia Gentileschi in November. However, the attribution of that small panel to the artist known as Master of Vyssi Brod, a 14th century Gothic painter from Prague, was indeed a veritable tour de force. It took a lot of patient research to back up this delicate attribution, but it ultimately demonstrated the exceptional value of this small painting. Nine bidders competed for it in Dijon and it finally went to the Benappi Fine Art Gallery that bought the work for $6.8 million on behalf of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. An intense research dossier was also triggered by the discovery of a bronze bust of Paul Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain, one of Henri IV's Ministers. When auctioneer Geraldine d'Ouince saw it for the first time, she exclaimed "It can't be 17th century... it would be too good to be true... no more exist! " . Busts from that period are indeed extremely rare, even in the most prestigious museums, and they are totally absent from the market. But, with the help of Elodie Jeannest and Alexandre Lacroix of the Sculpture & Collection appraisal firm (also based at 69 rue Sainte-Anne in Paris, next to the Cabinet Turquin), they were able to establish that the bronze dated from the first half of the 17th century. All in all, Geraldine d'Ouince recognized before the public sale that the estimate provided in the catalogue - between $550,000 and $ 885,000 - could be substantially exceeded, and indeed the bust of Paul Phelypeaux fetched almost $3.4 million. The French model While it represents a niche market in the United States generating just 3% of the American art market's total auction turnover, the Old Masters segment accounts for as much as 14% of the fine art auction revenue in France. Last year, this segment benefited from the excellent work of the country's consulting firms, often involving lengthy research that is absolutely necessary before an auction house can hope to attract informed and convinced buyers. When an appraisal report is both convincing and conclusive, news of the sale seems to spread almost on its own. The media and the Art Market are fond of stories of forgotten or misattributed art works that gradually recover their rightful places in art history as the research advances and the evidence accumulates. In the end, the technical analyses, x-rays and comparisons with other masterpieces are presented in a sales catalogue and the work's true identity and history are revealed. The excellent results hammered in France during 2019 have proved that once an appraisal report has been duly established, the sale of the piece can be held outside the major capitals - in places like Toulouse, Dijon or even in the small town of Senlis - and still attract the world's biggest collectors and museums. Top 10 Old Masters at auction in France in 2019 1. CIMABUE (c. 1240/50-c. 1302) - Christ Mocked $26,780,000 - (Estimated: $4,400,000 - $6,600,000) 27/10/2019, Hotel des Ventes de Senlis 2. Master of Vyssi BROD (act.1350-) - The Virgin and Child on the Throne $ 6,833,000 (Estimated: $440,000 - $660,000) 30/11/2019, Cortot & Associes, Dijon 3. Artemisia GENTILESCHI (1593-c.1654) - Lucrece $5,255,000 (Estimated: $660,000 - $880,000) 13/11/2019, Artcurial, Paris 4. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) - Abduction of a Sabine (c.1590-1610) $4,985,000 (Estimated: $2,775,000 - $5,545,000) 11/12/2019, Sotheby's, Paris 5. Giambettino CIGNAROLI (Attrib.) (1706-1770) - Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [...] $4,435,000 (Estimated: $880,000 - $1,320,000) 27/11/2019, Christie's, Paris 6 Ambrosius I BOSSCHAERT (1573-1621) - Cut flowers in a Romer [...] $3,709,000 (Estimated: $2,470,000 - $2,800,000) 06/19/2019, Fraysse - Binoche & Giquello, Paris 7. Francesco BORDONI (1580-1654) - Paul Phelypeaux [...] $3,372,000 (Estimated: $550,000 - $885,000) 20/11/2019, from Baecque - d'Ouince, Paris 8. Hans DAUHER (c.1485-1538) - Putti (c.1525-1530) $2,630,000 (Estimated: $1,120,000 - $1,680,000) 16/05/2019, Sotheby's, Paris 9. Bernardino LUINI (c.1480 / 85-1532)2,534,000 - Madonna and Child with Saint George $2,534,000 (Estimated: $1,980,000 - $ 2,200,000) 14/11/2019, Aguttes, Paris 10. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) La fortune (1580-1600) $2,011,000 (Estimated: $1,110,000 - $2,220,000) 12/11/2019 Sotheby's, Paris Sell or appraise: you have to choose An appraisal carries much more weight when carried out by an independent firm whose reputation is at stake regarding the objectivity of its report. An auctioneer who sees a work for the first time is already partly committed to its sale and the quality of his/her work will be measured according to the success of the transaction. Auction houses sometimes give the impression of over-focusing on the marketing and financial aspects of a sale. When Patrick Drahi acquired Sotheby's and appointed businessman Charles F. Steward to its head, it sent out a strong signal about Sotheby's strategy and priorities. In the case of Salvator Mundi, one may wonder if Christie's didn't put more energy into organizing its international tour than analyzing its artistic qualities and questioning its place in da Vinci's uvre. For the time being, both Eric Turquin and Alexandre Lacroix seem to appreciate their collaborations with French auction houses, whether Parisian or provincial. There is no doubt these auctioneers benefit from its expertise, knowledge, experience and reputation but, above all from its independence. This avoids certain pressures from the Art Market, in which conflicts of interest sometimes have repercussions... even in the collections of the largest museums. A pledge of quality More than twenty years ago, Thomas Hoving - former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - already drew the art world's attention to the presence of fakes in large museum collections. In 1997, he wrote in the introduction to his book False Impression, The Hunt for Big-Times Art Fakes: "In the decade and a half I spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I had to examine fifty thousand works in all areas. In total, 40 percent were fakes, or had been restored so hypocritically or so poorly attributed that they were exactly the same as fakes. Since then, I am sure that percentage has increased. [...] "When art became an increasingly expensive commodity in the 1970s and 1980s, fakes flourished. The young millionaires or billionaires began to covet art as an object of investment, as well as a mark of prestige and social superiority. As the originals were no longer numerous enough, the false Old Masters (or fully repainted) filled the gaps." The former MET Director lent credence, at least in part, to this explanation: "One of the fiercest of all [fakebusters], the Italian Giuseppe "Pico" Cellini, now in his early eighties and still exposing all sorts of artistic garbage, believes the tendency of most American museums to keep their fakes quiet or secret is due to their having sold out to their wealthy donors and trustees. Perhaps he doesn't exaggerate." It is probably no coincidence that in 2019 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was one of the major buyers of paintings appraised by Eric Turquin's independent firm. The French expertise faces a new world demand. Image: [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2020/09/Artprice-Armarket-Experts.jpg] Copyright 1987-2020 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com Try our services (free demo): https://www.artprice.com/artist/15079/wassily-kandinsky Subscribe to our services: https://www.artprice.com/subscription About Artmarket: Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF. Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video: https://en.artprice.com/video Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987. See certified biography in Who's who : https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2019/10/biographie_oct2019_WhosWho_thierryEhrmann.pdf Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 740,000 artists. Artprice Images allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians. Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). 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Artprice by Artmarket's 2019 Global Art Market Report published in February 2020 : https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2019 Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department: http://serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice department on Facebook and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/ (4.9 million followers) https://twitter.com/artmarketdotcom https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department http://web.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times): https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013 L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 (4.5 million followers) https://vimeo.com/124643720 Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department - Contact: ir@artmarket.com ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: lGifaMackmqVxm2bk8dsb5Zja5xmxJScl2nJlZZtaczGbJpgxWhlaZqeZm9ml21n - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-65281-artmarket-artprice-du-role-des-experts-independants-en.pdf Jammu: Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) on Tuesday targeting forward Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir`s Poonch district. Col. Devender Anand, the Spokesman of the Defence Ministry, said that at 4.30 AM, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in the Mankote sector of Poonch district. "Indian Army retaliated befittingly," he added. Live TV Since the beginning of this year, Pakistan has been violating the bilateral ceasefire agreement signed by India and Pakistan in 1999. A total of 24 civilians were killed and over 100 injured in more than 3,186 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC so far this year. Thousands of people living in villages close to the LoC are living life on the edge as shelling from across the border endangers their lives, livelihood and agricultural activities. Clearly, the province wasnt ready. On Monday, Ontario recorded a pandemic-record 700 new COVID-19 cases, and the premier said the second wave had arrived, and he announced a plan to hire 3,700 new front-line health-care workers, from, personal support workers to nurses, to deal with a surge. You might say that could have been done in the summer. You might even say Quebec launched a campaign to hire 10,000 such workers back in May. And Quebec, to be clear, has been a disaster. But its not easy, waiting to be saved in Ontario. The alarm bells have been blaring for weeks, and Ontarios hapless chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, is still calling 700 cases a wake-up call as if it wasnt widely anticipated, and the government doesnt appear to be listening anyway. Last week, many Ontario leading health-care figures signed a letter asking for increased restrictions on high-risk commercial spaces. Monday, the Ontario Hospital Association called on the province to immediately put high-COVID areas back to Stage 2 of reopening, from the current Stage 3. Well, we can certainly understand the hospital concerns as was expressed by the Ontario Hospital Association because of the increase in numbers, said Minister of Health Christine Elliott. But of course, we are taking advice from Dr. (David) Williams and our public-health measures table. We dont want to turn back a stage unless we absolutely have to. It seems insane to me that the entire health sector is uniformly alarmed, said one Ontario health executive who requested anonymity, and yet the government and public health isnt listening. Its bizarre. So what will it take? Provincial interventions thus far have been low-cost and minor: lowering private gathering sizes, closing strip clubs, earlier closing hours for bars and restaurants. Toronto, similarly, dropped bar and restaurant limits from 100 to 75, and maximum table sizes from 10 to six. Mayor John Tory raised concerns about banquet halls, which are closed in B.C., but not here. Ontarios welcome narrowing of testing eligibility last week will help alleviate unacceptable lab turnaround times. But while the 700 may be a one-day bulge, its part of a pattern. And it reflects new cases from 10-14 days ago, so it doesnt include what schools might do to transmission, with a few already shutting down. Is pruning around the regulatory edges going to turn the tide? Which may be why youre being asked to save yourself. Monday Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, said people should cut their social circles down to their immediate households, or near enough. Ottawas Dr. Vera Etches said the same last week. But at the provincial level, public-health communication is a disaster. On Monday, Dr. Williams was asked a question about how a second wave would be worse, and then he had to be asked again, and he didnt really answer it either time. Premier Doug Ford keeps pleading with people who arent listening to follow confusing and contradictory regulations. After all, its 10 indoors and 20 outdoors, but you can also fit 30 in a classroom, 75 in a bar, plenty more in houses of worship and banquet halls and stores. Besides, social circles of 10 were in ashes as soon as people sent their kids back to school in a province unwilling to adequately fund small class sizes. If the government isnt going to act, then it really is firmly up to the individual to make the decision not to patronize the establishments that are high-risk for exposure: to unfortunately not go to the restaurants and bars and casinos that are reopening this morning, says Dr. Mike Warner, the head of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital. To make that decision out of self-preservation, because its clear that the government isnt willing or able to make decisions that are even remotely difficult from a political perspective, but are clear that they need to be made from a health-care perspective. They just dont have the long view; they have a short-term view, and it becomes a very new experience in a Canadian jurisdiction where people feel they cant trust the government to keep them safe. Its a tiny pat on the back for the restrictions that were announced last week, but really we needed to do way more, and we still need to do way more, says epidemiologist Dr. Nitin Mohan, who teaches public and global health at Western University, and co-founded ETIO, a public health consulting firm. Im really getting frustrated by the cautious approach were taking. We really need to protect small businesses, and economic industries that are affected. We have to. There are real worries about how were going to pay this back in the future. But we should have been ready by now. We had a lot of time. And history has proven there is zero guesswork here. Weve seen it in the 1918 pandemic, that the cities that lifted restrictions too early had a higher second wave; that youre better off holding off for as long as you can, being more strict, and controlling the second wave as opposed to having uncontrolled numbers. And again, its going to be the most vulnerable populations that are affected, and if all were doing is trying to tread water, of course those people will be left behind. Hospitalizations are currently manageable, but have more than tripled since Sept. 13. The test positivity of the under-40 crowd seems to be falling, which means the virus is gradually finding more vulnerable targets, which is how communicable diseases work. This is all unravelling very quickly, and its going to accelerate very fast, and hospitalizations are going to happen, said Dr. Warner. And the government, the only way they can put the brakes on this is rolling back the economy, and what they shouldnt do is roll back schools. But I think the trust has been definitively lost, and itll be even more difficult for the government to get people to listen because they havent acted soon enough. The casinos opened for business on Monday morning, so if you like to gamble, thats another place to try. Or, you could try to pretend its March again, and save yourself. Somebody has to. Read more about: PHOENIX Nine guns were found in a nine-day span this month during inspections of passenger carry-on luggage at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, authorities said Monday. Transportation Security Administration officials said the handguns were discovered by officers during inspections between Sept. 18-26 and seven of the nine weapons were loaded. TSA officials said they will review the circumstances behind each incident to determine a civil penalty. They said 83 guns have been found in screenings by TSA officers of carry-on luggage so far this year at Sky Harbor. Firearms can be transported on a commercial aircraft only if they are unloaded, packed in a locked, hard-sided case and placed in checked baggage, according to the TSA. Vodafone Ukraine mobile operator has launched LTE-communications (4G) in the 900 MHz band in 128 settlements of Cherkasy region, thus providing high-speed Internet for almost 110,000 people. According to company's press service, in particular, the operator has launched 4G coverage in the 900 MHz band in more than 1,700 settlements of Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Volyn, Chernivtsi and Cherkasy regions, thus giving access to services for more than one million people. By the end of 2020, the operator plans to launch the LTE network in the 900 MHz band in all regions of Ukraine: in turn from west to east. As reported, according to the license terms, by mid-2022 the operators should provide mobile high-speed Internet coverage in settlements with population over 2,000 people, covering 90% of the population of Ukraine. 4G coverage for roads of international and national importance is to be provided until the middle of 2024. The Western Railway (WR) has introduced the concept of workstation spaces for its employees at Virar. Employees who find it difficult to work from home due to network connectivity issues or any other concerns can go to the office set-up created by WR and work. Five such workstations have been created at Virar and 10 more will be set up at other places including Bandra. Spaces have been created for employees who are working from home. The employees can use the workstations during their shift hours, said Sumit Thakur, chief public relation officer, WR. Further, WR is also planning to shift a few of its offices from south Mumbai. Employees are being consulted to see if offices can be shifted from south Mumbai. It is in an earlier stage, and locations are being identified, said a senior WR official. Meanwhile, the Central Railway (CR) in 2017 had already shifted a few of its offices, and the employees residing beyond Kalyan were asked to work from railway offices located in Kalyan and Karjat railway stations. Both the zonal railways, to reduce crowding at railway stations, are also in the process of placing flap gates at Churchgate and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). The flap gates will be introduced by October end. The gates will have QR code and thermal scanners. Passengers will have to place the QR code generated on the ticket at the entry gate. Access inside the railway station will be permitted after temperature screening. Two years after tying the knot in an intimate ceremony at their home in The Hamptons, Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk appear happier than ever. In celebration of their second wedding anniversary, the 48-year-old actress shared a glowing selfie with her husband on Tuesday. 'Year two, through,' the Oscar winner captioned a loved-up snap of herself beaming next to Falchuk, who is best known for co-creating Glee, American Horror Story and Scream Queens with Ryan Murphy. Lovebirds: Two years after tying the knot in an intimate ceremony at their East Coast home in The Hamptons, Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk appeared happier than ever While flashing a bright smile next to her man, Paltrow put her sun-kissed skin on display under very minimal makeup. Meanwhile, the 49-year-old TV producer looked at ease with his hair tousled back as they stood in front of a glistening lake and lush heritage trees. This comes after the Emma actress posed nude and shared the image to Instagram for the 48th birthday. Earlier on his wife's birthday, Falchuk raved about Paltrow's ability to make pizza from scratch, manage to never be late for cocktails and make 'looking good annoyingly easy.' Smitten: Just two days earlier on his wife's birthday, Falchuk raved about Paltrow's ability to make pizza from scratch, never being late for cocktails and 'makes looking good annoyingly easy' Naked ambition: This comes after the Emma actress posed nude and shared the image to Instagram for the 48th birthday 'She makes friends feel like family and family feel like friends. Trust me, shes the best,' he gushed, after revealing she also 'never skips an opportunity to put an a**hole in his place.' The duo first met on the set of Glee in 2010, but didn't officially start dating until 2014, the same year she and ex-husband Chris Martin announced they were 'conscious uncoupling.' After three years of dating, Falchuk proposed in November 2017, and a year later the couple wed in a star-studded ceremony. Longtime love: 'She makes friends feel like family and family feel like friends. Trust me, shes the best,' Falchuk recently gushed about the star on her birthday on Sunday The duo first met on the set of Glee in 2010 (pictured in 2019) Just last summer, Gwyneth caused a stir when she admitted to The Sunday Times that the couple - though married - were not living together. The pair typically spend four days a week cohabitating with Brad returning to his Los Angeles property for the rest of the week. 'All my married friends say that the way we live sounds ideal and we shouldnt change a thing,' the blonde beauty said, less than a year before taking the plunge. The couple both have sets of kids with their exes. Gwyneth shares Apple, 16, and Moses, 14, with Coldplay's frontman and Brad has Isabella and Brody with his ex-wife Suzanne Falchuk. It appears as if the blended family of six has been quarantining together as Gwyneth recently said in a Goop video that she's been in 'pretty close quarters.' Happy together: The couple both have sets of kids with their exes. Gwyneth shares Apple, 16, and Moses, 14, with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Brad has Isabella and Brody with his ex-wife Suzanne Falchuk The pair seemed to have been splitting time between the east and the west coast, as Hollywood productions slowly start to open up safely amid COVID restrictions. Most recently, the producer and writer created a part for his wife in the Netflix smash hit The Politician. Co-created with his right hand man Ryan Murphy, Falchuk wrote the role of Georgina Hobart for Paltrow, a Montecito mom to protagonist Ben Platt's character Payton. Speaking about her husband's persistence to get her to play the part he had written, Paltrow revealed that she originally said 'no.' The actress who has recently pulled back from Hollywood amid her success from her lifestyle brand Goop, told her persistent husband that there was 'no way she could do it.' Goop: Gwyneth first launched the company in 2008 from her kitchen as a newsletter. Since then the company has exploded and was valued at $250 million in 2018; pictured last May In an interview with Elle magazine, Falchuk added, 'Shed show me a giant chunk of her dialogue and be like, I have a [Goop] board meeting in two days. Please dont make me do this' he said. Production eventually agreed to work around her schedule and the Hollywood power couple were back on set together for the first time since they met on the set of Glee in 2014. Gwyneth had a recurring role in the show and Falchuk co-created the show with Murphy. Since her hiatus from acting, Gwyneth's lifestyle company Goop has exploded. The company was valued at $250 million in 2018 and seems to only be getting bigger. She first launched the company as a newsletter in 2008 and now the brand is a full lifestyle website with skincare products and wellness tips among other things. Investigators seek to detain ex-Irkutsk Region Governor's son in $2.5 mln embezzlement case flickr.com/ 401(K) 2012 10:52 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) Investigators have lodged a motion seeking detention of Andrey Levchenko, lawmaker of the Irkutsk Region Legislative Assembly and son of a former regional Governor Sergey Levchenko, charged with stealing over 185 million rubles (about $2.5 million), Irina Morozova, the spokesperson of Moscows Basmanny District Court, has told RAPSI. On Monday, searches were conducted at his place of residence, office and at premises of his father. The defendants involvement in the crime was established as part of a criminal case against CEO of Zvezda company. According to investigators, Khamulyak along with other persons in October 2017 filed forged documents with the regional Ministry of the procurement contractual regulation to the applications for participating in a capital repair contractor tender. Later, Khamulyak and Levchenko signed a 167 million-ruble lift equipment supply contract with a foreign company and submitted it to the regional overhaul fund in order to receive advance in accordance with the concluded agreements. Then the defendants created one more company through which they unfoundedly increased the sum of repair works to nearly 3.2 million rubles and continued sending overpriced equipment cost documents to the repair fund. In total, they stole over 185 million rubles, the Investigative Committees statement reads. In mid-August, Moscows Basmanny District Court extended house arrest of Khamulyak until October 20. Former election candidate gets 50 years for drug smuggling THAILAND: The Criminal Court yesterday (Sept 29) sentenced Suban Mahachanon, a former election candidate of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, to 50 years in jail for involvement in the attempted smuggling of 985 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine to the Philippines in June last year. crimedrugsChinese By Bangkok Post Tuesday 29 September 2020, 09:22AM Suban Mahachanon, left, a party-list candidate, with Seri Ruam Thai Party leader Sereepisuth Temeeyaves in June 2019. Photo: Suban Mahachanon Facebook page file photo In the same case, the court sentenced two Chinese nationals Huang Guoxiong, 25, and Zhou Qingchu, 45 to life imprisonment, and another Thai man, Joi Sae Fong, 62, also to 50 years imprisonment. Suban stood unsuccessfully as a candidate of the Seri Ruam Thai Party of Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temiyawes at the March 24, 2019 general election. He was on the party list. The four men were charged with having crystal methamphetamine, or ice, in their possession with intent to sell and trying to smuggle the drugs out of the country to the Philippines. Prosecutors told the court that the four defendants and other suspects still at large conspired to acquire 985 klogrammes of crystal meth and smuggle it out of Thailand and sell it. The two Chinese men concealed the drugs in packets labelled as Emperor brand tea that were placed in a container along with other goods, including 34 boxes of shoes and bags of chopsticks, for shipment to the Philippines. The container was rented for this purpose by Suban and Joi. Their plan was ruined by a fire at the Laem Chabang deep-sea port in Chon Buri that engulfed many shipping containers, including the one with the drugs. Officials who inspected the charred containers found the drugs. A police investigation led to the arrest of the four defendants, who were handed over to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, which filed the case against them with the Criminal Court. The court initially sentenced the two Chinese men to death. The sentence was commuted to life. Suban and Joi were each sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence was reduced to 50 years in jail. The reduction in sentences were due to their cooperation and useful testimony during the trial. Armenia said Tuesday that a Turkish fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes during heavy fighting with Turkey's ally Azerbaijan, but Ankara fiercely denied the claim. Direct Turkish military action against Armenia would mark a major escalation after three days of heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh. And the UN Security Council called on both sides for an immediate end to the fighting. The two sides have defied calls for a ceasefire over Karabakh -- an ethnic-Armenian enclave that broke from Azerbaijan in the 1990s -- and are both claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on opposing forces. Ankara has backed Azerbaijan in the conflict and on Tuesday the Armenian defence ministry said a Turkish F-16 flying in support of Baku's forces had downed an Armenian SU-25 warplane. Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said the Turkish jet was supporting Azerbaijani aviation bombing civilian settlements in Armenia when it shot down the Armenian plane, killing the pilot. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top press aide called the claim "absolutely untrue". "Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks," said the aide, Fahrettin Altun. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said: "There is not a shred of evidence of Turkey's participation in the conflict." Ankara was giving only moral support, he insisted. - 'Serious losses' - Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over Karabakh and have blamed each other for sparking fierce clashes that erupted on Sunday and have since caused nearly 100 confirmed deaths. Foreign powers including the United States and Russia have called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to negotiations over the future of Karabakh, talks that have been stalled for years. On Tuesday, the UN Security Council called on both sides to "immediately stop fighting", according to a statement seen by AFP. Story continues Earlier, both Azerbaijan's Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had vowed to continue fighting, their armies claiming to have dealt heavy blows to enemy forces. The Armenian defence ministry said separatist forces in Karabakh had repelled Azerbaijani attacks along the frontline and that "the enemy suffered serious losses in manpower". It claimed Azerbaijan's military had lost 72 drones, seven helicopters, 137 tanks, a plane and 82 military vehicles since Sunday. In Baku, officials denied that Armenian-backed separatists had regained control of territory lost in Sunday's fighting. Azerbaijan said its military had repelled an Armenian counter-attack and destroyed a motorised column, an artillery unit and, later, an entire motorised infantry regiment. Tuesday evening, Russia President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Pashinyan at the request of the latter. The Russia leader stressed the "urgent need for a ceasefire" and for the crisis to be defused. - 'Waiting for 25 years' - The fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia has raised fears of a wider conflict involving regional powers Turkey and Russia. Armenia is part of a military alliance of former Soviet states led by Moscow, and the Kremlin on Tuesday urged Turkey and the warring sides to pursue "a peaceful settlement of this conflict using political and diplomatic means". But Erdogan's aide Altun said Ankara was "fully committed to helping Azerbaijan take back its occupied lands". Azerbaijan has not reported military casualties, but the Armenian separatist government has released footage from the battlefield showing what it said were the remains of Azerbaijani soldiers. Shaddin Rustamov, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani conscript departing for training in Baku, told AFP he was proud to serve his country's military. Reclaiming Karabakh is "something we've been waiting 25 years for. Hopefully this year will be the last," he said. Armenian officials confirmed Tuesday the deaths of three more civilians, while Baku said civilian casualties on the Azerbaijani side had reached 11. That brings the total confirmed deaths in the fighting to 97, including 80 separatist fighters -- who reduced an earlier death toll by four -- and 17 civilians. Pashinyan acknowledged the scale of the destruction and loss of life in an interview with Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1. But he added: "We see this as an existential threat for our people." - US urges return to talks - In a statement adopted unanimously during emergency talks on the conflict, the UN Security Council said its 15 members "voiced support for the call by the Secretary General on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay." The council members said they "strongly condemn the use of force and regret the loss of life and the toll on the civilian population" in the ethnic Armenian enclave, which broke from Azerbaijan in the 1990s. The council affirmed its "full support" for the central role of the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group (the US, Russia and France), who have mediated peace efforts. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also called for an end to fighting and a return to negotiations "as quickly as possible". Karabakh's declaration of independence from Azerbaijan sparked a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives, but it is still not recognised as independent by any country, including Armenia. Talks to resolve the conflict -- which emerged amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union -- have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts as the "Minsk Group", but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010. bur-im-jbr/spm/je Winner of season 9 Prince Narula is the latest to be joining ex-contestants Sidharth Shukla, Hina Khan and Gauahar Khan as a mentor. The new season premiers on October 3 at 9 PM. (IST) Winner of season 9 Prince Narula is the latest to be joining ex-contestants Sidharth Shukla, Hina Khan and Gauahar Khan as a mentor. The model and actor has become a household name with his appearances on popular yet controversial Indian reality shows and has emerged winners of both MTV Roadies and Bigg Boss to his credit. Prince is quite famous for his role as a mentor in MTV Roadies along with Neha Dhupia, Rannvijay Singh and Nikhil. During his time as a Bigg Boss season 9 contestants, Prince has become a popular face on TV and his friendship and booming romance with actor Yuvika Chaudhary had been talked about a lot. Post the show, they both tied the knot and has a kid together. According to the latest reports, the mentors Sidharth, Hina, Gauahar and Prince will be playing a special role and get special powers for the first 14 days in the house. The mentors are also going to decide which contestants will be allowed to enjoy special services of the Bigg Boss mall, spa theatres in the new house. To raise the excitement among the audiences, the makers of Bigg Boss 14 have been dropping new promos on their official accounts featuring ex-contestants and winners with #AbScenePaltega. Needless to say, a lot of excitement and enthusiasm can be seen all over the country for the highest TRP show. The Hindi reality show is a huge hit and this season will be telecasted at 10:30 PM during weekdays and at 9 PM on weekends. Earlier Salman Khan introduced the audiences to Bigg Boss 14s first contestant Jaan Kumar Sanu virtually.Few of televisions biggest names like Kavita Kaushik, Ejaz Khan, Karen Patel, Jasmine Bhasin, Rubina Dilaik, Rahul Vaidya, Pavitra Punia, and Nikki Tamboli, are speculated to appear on this years season. Also Read: Bigg Boss 14: Host Salman Khans BTS video raises excitement All eyes are now set on the show and its rumoured contestants as its grand premiere date inch closer. However, we never know who might come or not until the last moment. Till then, lets keep our eyes grabbed and see what surprises keep unfolding and revealing. Also Read: Balika Vadhu director spotted selling vegetables in Azamgarh, narrates ordeal Meghan Markle, 39, is to join Fortune's Most Powerful virtual summit later today Duchess of Sussex will speak about 'creating humane tech' in one-on-one chat Will discuss 'rebuilding the digital world' which will be 'big part of Archewell' Meghan Markle is set to talk about 'creating humane tech' which will be 'a big part of new charity Archewell' during a virtual summit today. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is currently living in her $14 million Santa Barbara mansion with Prince Harry, 35, and their Archie, 18 months, having stepped back from royal duties in March. ADVERTISEMENT The former Suits star will speak at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit Virtual today in a 15 minute slot, where she will meet one-on-one with journalist Ellen McGirt to discuss 'what it will take to create humane tech.' The exclusive Fortune conferences invites members paying $13,000 to attend 'by-invitation-only live and virtual meetings and membership communities for the leaders setting the global business agenda'. Royal reporter and Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie tweeted: 'Duchess Meghan will speak at tomorrows Fortune summit about how experiences online shape communities offline. She will join the summit for a virtual one-one-one on rebuilding the digital world and creating humane tech (a big part of Archewell).' MailOnline has contacted the Sussexes for comment. Meghan Markle, 39, is set to talk about 'creating humane tech' which will be 'a big part of new charity Archewell' during a virtual summit today According to its online description, the three-day event will 'gather the preeminent women in business, along with select leaders in government, philanthropy, education, sports, and the arts, to explore our theme, 'Rising to the New Reality'.' Meghan's session, which is just 15 minutes long, is described online as: 'Our experiences online shape our communities offline. Click here to resize this module 'How do we buildand rebuildour digital world? Whats the true price we pay if we dont?' The Duchess will sit down with Ellen McGirt for the discussion, who is Senior Editor at Fortune magazine. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are setting up their Archewell organisation having stepped back from royal duty in March According to her Linkedin page, the journalist specialises in topics about 'leadership, innovation and breakthrough philanthropy' and 'keeps a close eye on race, inclusion and diversity.' While it is unknown if the Duchess will receive a fee for her appearance, Meghan and Prince Harry signed up with the Harry Walker Agency earlier this year. At the time, branding experts revealed they could earn as much as 770,000 ($1million) for a speech through HWA, which calls its the 'World's #1 Exclusive Speakers' Agency'. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier this year, Prince Harry said social media was stoking a 'crisis of hate,' and urged companies to rethink their roles in advertising on digital platforms. In an opinion piece for U.S. business magazine Fast Company headlined 'Social media is dividing us. Together, we can redesign it,' Harry said that social media, as it currently stands, is 'unwell'. The former senior royal said he and his wife, Meghan, have spent the past few weeks working with business leaders and marketing executives on the issue to try and introduce changes. 'The digital landscape is unwell and companies like yours have the chance to reconsider your role in funding and supporting online platforms that have contributed to, stoked, and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth,' he wrote. He called for online communities to be 'defined more by compassion than hate; by truth instead of misinformation; by equity and inclusiveness instead of injustice and fearmongering; by free, rather than weaponised, speech.' Meghan's comments come after Harry urged every social media platform to step up and take responsibility for creating new standards for hate speech, and to work more actively with consumers - not ad-buying corporations - to create a safe environment that isn't cashing in on misinformation and hate The couple were forced to drop the Sussex Royal branding as part of their release from The Firm, starting an Archewell Foundation instead, and are thought to be waiting until after the pandemic to announce any further details on their charity or any new social media accounts they may be launching. The couple revealed their new charitable foundation 'Archewell' in April, which will incorporate the causes close to their heart, and said the Greek word in the project Arche meaning source of action was the inspiration behind the name of their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. ADVERTISEMENT The couple submitted an application for their non-profit foundation to be called 'Archeway' with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 28. The duke and duchess said they were focusing their efforts on the coronavirus pandemic but felt 'compelled' to reveal details of the venture. 'Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be. 'Before SussexRoyal, came the idea of Arche the Greek word meaning source of action. 'We connected to this concept for the charitable organisation we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son's name. To do something of meaning, to do something that matters. 'Archewell is a name that combines an ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon. ADVERTISEMENT 'We look forward to launching Archewell when the time is right.' New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday demanded the death sentence for the culprits in the gang-rape of a Dalit young woman in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh after she died in a Delhi hospital earlier in the day. Dubbing the crime "shocking", the VHP said: "It is a blot on humanity and shameful for all of us. We demand death sentence for the guilty." The VHP also demanded compensation and security to the 19-year-old victim's family. It said that it must be ensured that such crimes did not occur in the future. PIGGS PEAK A video showing a man being whipped while others, purported to be soldiers watch, has emerged. It is believed that the video was taken on Saturday when the incident happened at an area near Matsamo. In the video, two men appear in a position in which they are ordered to press their fists against the ground. Faka tibhakela phansi, a voice is heard shouting as one of the men tries to stand up. It appears that only one of the men was being whipped according to the video being circulated. The man was heard screaming and calling out the words Nkulunkulu wami meaning my God. Mtsele! shouts a voice in the background as one of the men holding a stick raises it to whip the victim. Cash The video also shows some cash in South African R100 notes displayed on the ground. A mans voice can be heard in the video saying, mubute kutsi bekayisaphi le mali meaning ask him where he was taking the money to. Eyi babe bengiyotsenga ligwayi, bengiyotsenga ligwayi, the man responds, saying he was on his way to buy dagga. The video runs for about 30 seconds and stops. As the man was being assaulted, another could be heard laughing while the one being whipped screams for help. Several different voices are heard in the video and it could not be established how many people were present. It also appeared that the attackers were not aware that they were being videotaped. This publication has established that the video was leaked when it was shared on a social media App story status that shows only for 30 seconds. The video has since gone viral, leaving members of the public shocked at the level of the assault. Though the video lasted for about 30 seconds, it is alleged that the assault continued for several minutes. In an investigation carried out independently by this publication, the cash displayed on the ground is said to have been arranged in amounts of R1 000. This amounted to an equivalent of E20 000 in South African Rand notes. Apprehended It was also established that the two men on the ground were not travelling together when they were apprehended by their assailants. An impeccable source stated that trouble started when the man who was being whipped allegedly tried to buy dagga using fake banknotes. He was then apprehended after it was discovered that part of the money he intended using consisted of fake notes. It is also alleged that the man who was whipping the victim is a civilian. However, it was also gathered that there were some soldiers involved in the assault as this happened near a route normally used by South Africans or emaSwati who cross between the two countries. This publication also gathered that the assaulted man is from an area known as Nhlambeni in northern Hhohho. It was also gathered that he had not reported to the police the assault but that he was left with severe bruises. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati noted that while the police were aware of the circulating video, no case had been reported regarding the incident. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 04:41:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A training program on combating corruption and money laundering has been launched by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations, the EU delegation to Libya said on Tuesday. The EU, in collaboration with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), is launching a new project entitled "Building Libya's National Capacity to Prevent and Combat Corruption and Money Laundering," the EU delegation said in a statement. The EU-funded three-year project will train Libyan officials and law enforcement agencies to enable them to better combat corruption and financial crimes, the statement said. Libyan officials will also be trained in techniques to trace, confiscate, and recover assets linked to such crimes, it said. Through the new project, the EU, in collaboration with UNODC and UNICRI, will strengthen the criminal justice system in Libya to investigate and prosecute corruption and related financial crimes. "This joint project is a testament to the shared commitment of the European Union, UNODC and UNICRI to support Libya in building long-term sustainable national capacities to counter corruption and money laundering," said Cristina Albertin, UNODC regional representative for the Middle East and North Africa. Antonia Marie De Meo, the UNICRI director, said that Libyans "deserve accountability and transparency from all public officials." "The Libyan people should also benefit from the recovery of stolen assets which - when recovered - can be directed to key public sectors such as health care and education," she said. The statement also said that the project targets a number of public agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Administrative Control Authority, Audit Bureau, Central Bank of Libya, Financial Information Unit, Ministry of Interior, Office of the Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, National Economic Development Board , and Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office. Enditem Security authorities said that weapons and explosives stored at a house and a farm were seized, but did not say where the raid or the arrests last week were carried out Saudi Arabia has said it arrested 10 members of a "terrorist cell", some of whom underwent military and explosives training at Revolutionary Guard camps in Iran. Security authorities said that weapons and explosives stored at a house and a farm were seized, but did not say where the raid or the arrests last week were carried out. "Competent authorities at the presidency thwarted a terrorist cell... whose elements received military and field training on how to make explosives, at the Revolutionary Guard's sites in Iran," the State Security Presidency said in a statement late Monday. "Security investigations revealed the elements' identities as well as two sites used by the elements to store weapons and explosives," said the statement carried on official media. It said that among the items seized were improvised explosive devices (IEDs), dozens of stun guns, kilos of gunpowder and a variety of rifles and pistols. It said that among the 10 people detained, whose identities were being kept under wraps, three had undergone training in Iran. "The competent authorities are investigating all elements arrested to find out more information about their activities and the persons connected to them in the kingdom and abroad," it said. Relations between Riyadh and Tehran have been tense for several years. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran following 2016 attacks by demonstrators on its missions in Iran after the kingdom executed revered Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Tensions escalated last year over a series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf, which Washington blamed on Tehran. Saudi Arabia also accuses Iran of providing military support to the Huthi rebels in Yemen, a charge which Tehran denies. Riyadh and its allies have been fighting the rebels since March 2015. Search Keywords: Short link: Mountain biking in the vastness of Mesa Verde Country is a natural safe-distance activity. Mesa Verde Country is becoming one of the Wests best mountain biking destinations. We have more than 600 miles of trails that are less crowded than in other popular mountain biking destinations, and you can ride longer into the fall in Mesa Verde Country. In the era of the pandemic, people are longing for experiences that are both memorable and safe. Mesa Verde Country in Southwest Colorado encourages folks to visit the Four Corners region for mountain biking this fall. Mountain biking is a natural safe-distance activity, and the opportunity to reconnect with nature while recreating in Southwest Colorado during one of the most beautiful seasons is a winning combination. Mesa Verde Country truly is becoming one of the Wests best mountain biking destinations, said Kelly Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of Mesa Verde Country. We have more than 600 miles of trails that are less crowded than in other popular mountain biking destinations, and the warmer climate in our corner of Colorado means you can ride longer into the fall in Mesa Verde Country. Kirkpatrick added that Mesa Verde Country businesses have taken precautions to safely welcome guests during the coronavirus pandemic. Our communities look forward to hosting you for a safe vacation with plenty of room to spread out and explore, she said. We just ask that as youre packing your bike gear and sunscreen you also remember to bring along your new preventative behaviors regular hand-washing, physical distancing, masks and covered coughs. She added that anyone who feels ill should postpone their trip. Trails From single tracks to challenging climbs in the San Juan Mountains, Mesa Verde Country offers trails that traverse slick rock, old-growth forest and even ancient ruins. There are three distinct trail systems in Mesa Verde Country. Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is arguably the only place in the world where riders can tackle single track and slick rock while riding past ancient cliff dwellings. Phils World boasts 60 miles of mind-blowing trails, and is located just six miles from Cortez. It has the perfect mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails and is quickly becoming one of Colorados most popular mountain biking spots. Boggy Draw is located near Dolores. The Boggy Draw Loop is fairly mellow and nine-miles long perfect for family riding. To work up a real sweat, check out the 13-mile Bean Canyon Loop. Apres Bike After a fun day on the trails, mountain bikers can enjoy local flavors sipping on the brews, wines and ciders in Mesa Verde Country. The area boasts five craft breweries Dolores River Brewery, Main Street Brewery, Coyote J. Brewing Company, Mancos Brewing Company and the WildEdge Brewery in Cortez, which also features cider. Fenceline Cider | Outliers Cellars also has a taproom in downtown Mancos featuring ciders made from local apples. If wine is more your speed, check out Guy Drew Vineyards and Sutcliffe Vineyards. Food & Lodging There is no shortage of amazing food to help fuel your next ride. The area has cuisine covered from farm-to-table and locally grown to fresh and sustainable cuisine. Most restaurants are offering in-person dining or you can choose take-out. The Farm Bistro, Stonefish Sushi & More and Thai Cortez are favorite spots in Cortez, while Absolute Bakery & Cafe and Olio are must-visits in Mancos. To rest up for the next single-track adventure, Mesa Verde Country has many options that range from cozy cabins and RV parks to Airstreams and yurts. Guest ranches, bed-and-breakfasts, and retro motels round out the options for a good nights sleep. To learn more about mountain biking in Mesa Verde Country, watch this video or go to MesaVerdeCountry.com to begin planning your trip. About Mesa Verde Country (http://www.mesaverdecountry.com) Mesa Verde Country is in southwest Colorado near the entrance to the magnificent Mesa Verde National Park. The nearby towns of Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos provide accommodations, dining, outdoor fun and visitor services. Named the Number One Historic Monument in the World by Conde Nast Traveler and one of the "50 Places of a Lifetime-The World's Greatest Destinations by National Geographic, Mesa Verde National Park is one of the nations first World Heritage sites and the largest archaeological preserve in the country. Two national byways pass through Mesa Verde Country. In addition to the National Park, Mesa Verde Country is loaded with other archaeological attractions: Hovenweep National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center & Museum, Ute Mountain Tribal Park, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, and the Cortez Cultural Center. Mountain biking enthusiasts have recognized Mesa Verde Country as one of the next great mountain biking destinations. (end) Contacts Christy Nielson, Ore Communications, 206-399-1914, christy@orecommunications.com Gaylene Ore, Ore Communications, 970-531-2336, gaylene@orecommunications.com The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on Monday caught three people trying to infiltrate into India from Mizoram. The force said in a statement that this was an attempt by anti-national elements to smuggle arms and ammunition into the Indian territory. The BSF said that they got the tip-off about the infiltration attempt from a source and accordingly launched an operation. DIG BSF Aizwal Kuldeep Singh and SK Pillai, 2I/C alongwith team of personnel from 90 Bn BSF based in Mamit district laid ambush on the route that was being taken by the anti-national elements. It was learnt that they were bringing in AK series rifles along with a lot of ammunition for some insurgent group, the BSF statement said. Late on Monday night, the BSF troops intercepted two vehicles trying to cross into the Indian territory. The vehicles were spotted in West Phaileng in Mamit district which borders Bangladesh. It further said that there were three people in these vehicles who were disarmed and apprehended. The BSF said that it recovered 28 AK series rifles, one Insas rifle and one 0.3 inch carbine. These arms and ammunition were hidden in the cavities in the vehicles, it added. The three apprehended people were also carrying cash worth Rs 39,020, the BSF said. They were later handed over to the police. Shortly after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas coast in 2017, Governor Abbott asked me to lead TDI. It was a challenging time, but it was an honor to serve. As I look back, Im a bit surprised that my short-term assignment turned into a three-year mission. But the agencys work touches almost every Texan, and I had staff willing to roll up their sleeves and improve our corner of government. Im grateful for their hard work and commitment to public service. Today the agency answers calls, issues licenses, and resolves consumer complaints dramatically faster. Weve reduced our reliance on paper, streamlined rule development, and undergone major organizational restructuring. We just launched an artificial intelligence project that holds the promise of transforming policy form reviews for Texas and other states. And we transitioned most of our employees to telecommuting status over a single weekend without missing a beat. I have a basic belief that government should work for people. It should focus on delivering essential services and doing it effectively. It should be less risk-adverse and more willing to adopt new technology and proven best practices. It should not rest on its monopoly status and instead measure itself against the best of the private sector to make sure its fulfilling its duty to provide the highest level of service to citizens. Im proud of the improvements weve made. TDI staff at every level of the agency deserve the credit. During my time at the agency, I occasionally invited small groups of employees to my office for coffee and a chance to tell me directly how we could do better. I met with the employees who had been at the agency the longest, our newest employees, staff in our call centers, our frontline managers. They all embraced change. They all wanted technology and modern systems to help them provide better service. They made improvement possible. As I leave TDI to return to the private sector, I want to thank all of you those in the industry, the stakeholders who push us to do better, and most importantly the Texans who count on us for making this an enjoyable and meaningful three years. All the best. Very truly yours, Kent Sullivan Q&A with the commissioner: After three years at TDI, what advice does Commissioner Sullivan have for Texans? Thats one of the questions we asked in a recent interview. Topics Texas This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and non-profit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. When the throne speech was delivered on Sept. 23, Canada had already committed over $1 billion in advance purchase agreements with five drug companies for a minimum of 154 million vaccine doses, if and when these candidate vaccines are proven effective and safe. Two days later, Canada inked another agreement with another company for 20 million more doses, hedging its bets on which of the vaccine contenders will be the first to arrive. In doing so, Canada joins the premier league of the vaccine nationalists, a handful of rich countries that has prepurchased (so far) more than half the worlds expected short-term supply of vaccines. It is understandable that countries want to ensure their ability to protect their citizens health. But most of the worlds population lives in countries without the same financial resources to play the global me first vaccine contest. Efforts to elevate national interests over collective global health result in slower progress and limited global capacity to pool resources, while placing the interests of wealthy countries over others, with devastating effects. Recent modelling compared two scenarios for allocating the first three billion doses of a vaccine that is 80 per cent effective. The unco-operative scenario in which two billion doses went straight to high-income countries, and the rest to everybody else would lead to 28 per cent more deaths than a co-operative scenario, in which the three billion doses are distributed globally, proportional to population size. To begin, our pledge to the World Health Organizations COVAX Facilitys Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). should, at a minimum, match what we invest in procuring vaccine for use within Canada. The facility manages the worlds largest and most diverse portfolio of vaccine candidates. High-income countries like Canada that join COVAX have the option to purchase approved vaccines through the facility, even if they have already entered into bilateral purchase agreements with vaccine companies. On Sept. 25, Canada announced that it would do so, committing $220 million to purchase 15 million more vaccine doses from the facility if and as they are approved. Arguably of more importance, the facilitys AMC will provide vaccines to more than 90 eligible poorer countries unable to afford them on their own. The AMC needs to raise $2 billion by December to do so, with the short-term goal of immunizing three per cent of all COVAX countries populations. As of Sept. 21, only $700 million had been promised. On Sept. 25, Canada committed $220 million to the AMC, on top of $25 million it had already given. This is welcome and commendable, but it is also inadequate. The AMCs longer-term aim is to reach 20 per cent a goal that will allow health-care workers and vulnerable populations in poor countries to receive vaccines but this will depend entirely on how generously high-income countries, philanthropists and drug companies donate to the AMC. Much more AMC funding is needed now, and going forward. We argue that Canada should commit a dollar-per-dollar amount to the AMC based on what it spends on its own vaccine purchases. This would mean providing up to $1 billion more than its current AMC pledge, with funds flowing through our countrys official development assistance (ODA) envelope. Canada has global obligations under international declarations to do so. Canada says it is a voice for equity and human rights, at home and on the global stage. Actions speak louder than words. Canada in recent years has not been particularly generous in its overseas assistance. We ranked 17th out of 30 of the OECD club of donor nations in 2019, contributing just 0.27 per cent of our gross national income, with no foreseeable increase. A $1 billion immediate AMC top-up would still not lift us to our long-pledged 0.7 per cent ODA target. One billion dollars sounds like a lot of money. But it is only one-fifth the amount the federal government has borrowed weekly since March from the Bank of Canada (which it owns) to finance its pandemic assistance programs. Most less-endowed countries lack the same ability to borrow indefinitely from their own central banks and instead must turn to foreign creditors, with the debt-burden risks that entails. Or do without. According to the CEO of the worlds largest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, even with expanded global capacity, it may take until 2024 before there are enough doses for the worlds population. In addition to ensuring more generous support for the COVAX Facility, Canada can also ramp up its own vaccine manufacturing capacity. Its already on a pathway to do so, with the governments $126-million investment for a new facility in Montreal. The facilitys goal is to produce two million vaccine doses per month for domestic use by summer 2021. Why not double-down on this investment, and reserving half the output for AMC use to meet urgent global needs? This would signify to all Canadians the importance of a collective response to this pandemic. As the world eagerly awaits arrival of an effective vaccine, its important to remember three things. First, the longer-term effectiveness of any vaccine will remain uncertain for some time. Second, even if herd immunity to COVID-19 eventually develops, there will almost certainly be another novel infection in the not-so-distant future. Third, one way to deal with both future pandemic risks and the present short supply of COVID-19 vaccine is to embrace the range of nonpharmaceutical interventions that can flatten and even contain infectious curves. This is especially so in those countries that are home to the half of humanity who still lack access to essential health care. All countries need stronger public health workforces: more nurses, testers, contact tracers and community health workers. All countries need universal health coverage, one of the Sustainable Development Goal targets to which the world (Canada included) committed to achieve by 2030. But it is the poorer half of humanity who needs this more urgently. So, if Canada and other rich countries in their vaccine nationalism continue inadvertently to crowd out access for poor countries, they should compensate by massively underwriting the investments such countries need to provide the social protection, income support and food security basic to their citizens health, and to strengthen their health systems with the public health capacity to suppress outbreaks as they arise. It is in our own national interest to do so. As the Sept. 23 throne speech concluded: We cannot eliminate this pandemic in Canada unless we end it everywhere. A new precision drug which stops cancer from repairing its DNA has shown promise in an early-stage clinical trial - highlighting the potential of a new class of drugs known as ATR inhibitors. The drug candidate, tested in humans for the first time, was shown to be well tolerated and stopped the growth of tumours in over half of patients treated. People in the trial had a range of advanced, heavily pre-treated cancers including breast, bowel and prostate tumours. It is remarkable to see the new drug - which works by blocking a key molecule called ATR, involved in repairing DNA - showing promising clinical benefit in a phase I trial, in patients who were very sick. The trial, led by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, involved 21 patients with advanced solid tumours with defects in various genes which help coordinate DNA repair. Eleven patients had tumours with defects or deletions affecting a key gene called ATM. The aim of the trial was to evaluate the safety of the ATR inhibitor BAY1895344 and to identify the maximum tolerated dose that could be safely given to a group of cancer patients who had already previously been treated with multiple other drugs. The researchers found that the drug was well tolerated by patients - and better still, that there were encouraging signs that it was effective against advanced cancers with defects in the ATM gene. The new results are published in the prestigious journal Cancer Discovery today (Tuesday), and the trial was funded by the manufacturer of the drug, Bayer. The team found that BAY1895344 stopped tumour growth in eight out of the 21 patients and shrunk the tumours of another four patients with ATM mutations - which is remarkably positive for a phase I trial, since its primary aim is to test the safety of a drug, rather than its effectiveness. The effectiveness of the drug seemed to be long lasting, with an average period of response of 316 days. In addition, three out of four patients who saw their tumours shrink remained on treatment for more than a year. The most common side effect reported was anaemia, which was managed with the help of blood transfusions and did not usually require the treatment to be stopped. The researchers also analysed the biochemical and pharmacological effects of the drug, and were able to show that it exercised its effects in patients by increasing damage to DNA. DNA damage is the fundamental cause of cancer - leading to mutations in key genes that allow cancer cells to divide uncontrollably. But it can also be a key weakness of tumours that can be exploited, since cancer cells can be killed by further damaging their DNA or stopping them from repairing it. The new study supports further investigation of a treatment strategy that targets the DNA repair protein ATR, especially in patients whose cancers already have certain defects in DNA repair genes like ATM or BRCA1 - weakening their ability to cope with DNA damage. Further clinical trials are warranted to further evaluate the safety and efficacy before it can be licensed by a regulatory authority. Clinical trials investigating BAY 1895344 as a single agent or in combination with other drugs are now under way, and the hope is that it could be developed into a new targeted treatment for patients with a variety of cancers with certain defects in DNA repair. Recently, another phase I trial led by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden also showed benefits for an ATR inhibitor (called berzosertib) in patients with very advanced tumours, either on its own or with chemotherapy. Other cancer drugs that attack DNA repair mechanisms already exist. The ICR pioneered the genetic targeting of the first approved precision medicine attacking cancer's ability to repair DNA, the PARP inhibitor olaparib. In future, ATR inhibitors may become a new class of targeted drugs that could help overcome resistance to other precision medicines like PARP inhibitors. The ICR, a charity and research institute, will be focusing on how to overcome drug resistance in its new Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, which is nearing completion. The ICR is now raising money for the Centre's state-of-the-art equipment, so that researchers in the building can get off to the strongest possible start. Study leader Professor Johann de Bono, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Our new trial shows that this promising new treatment is safe and can benefit some patients even with very advanced cancers. "The new drug, which is currently known only by the code BAY1895344, works by blocking a molecule called ATR which is involved in repairing DNA. It seems to be especially effective in patients whose tumours have defects in a gene called ATM which mean their ability to repair DNA is already weakened - suggesting that this could become a new form of targeted treatment. "It is very promising to see patients responding in an early-stage trial like this, and we are looking forward to further clinical trials to test the drug's efficacy." Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: "It is exciting to see a new class of precision medicine showing such promise in early trials. At the ICR, we have pioneered ways of treating cancer by exploiting the weaknesses that tumours often have in repairing their DNA. I am hopeful that later-stage trials will show that this new class of ATR inhibitors can prove effective against cancers with defective systems for DNA repair, and we are keen to investigate whether they could prevent tumours from developing resistance to another important class of medicine called PARP inhibitors, which work in a similar way. "One of our main goals is to find new targeted treatments and drug combinations that can tackle cancer evolution and drug resistance - and this will be the main focus of research in our pioneering new Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery." ### Notes to editors For more information please contact Diana Cano Bordajandi in the ICR press office on 020 7153 5021 or diana.cano@icr.ac.uk. For enquiries out of hours, please call 07595 963 613. The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is one of the world's most influential cancer research organisations. Scientists and clinicians at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) are working every day to make a real impact on cancer patients' lives. Through its unique partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and 'bench-to-bedside' approach, the ICR is able to create and deliver results in a way that other institutions cannot. Together the two organisations are rated in the top centres for cancer research and treatment globally. The ICR has an outstanding record of achievement dating back more than 100 years. It provided the first convincing evidence that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the now universally accepted idea that cancer is a genetic disease. Today it is a world leader at identifying cancer-related genes and discovering new targeted drugs for personalised cancer treatment. A college of the University of London, the ICR is the UK's top-ranked academic institution for research quality, and provides postgraduate higher education of international distinction. It has charitable status and relies on support from partner organisations, charities and the general public. The ICR's mission is to make the discoveries that defeat cancer. For more information visit http://www.icr.ac.uk live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More IT stocks were the biggest gainers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stock prices of the top four Indian IT services firms TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech -- increased over 50 percent on an average between April and September 2020. It is probably the highest rise IT stocks have seen over the last few years, when the digital wave began to take shape. This is driven by the momentum IT majors have seen over the last few months in terms of deal wins and tech investment from clients, according to experts. IT stocks rally TCS share price increased 42 percent from Rs 1,709 in April to Rs 2,425 and Infosys' rose 58 percent from Rs 640 to Rs 1,009.5 (Monday closing price). HCL Tech saw the highest increase of 98 percent from Rs 420 in April to Rs 834, followed by Wipro at 69 percent higher -- from Rs 184 in April to Rs 311, on September 28 closing time. The top four IT stocks saw a 52- week high over the last couple of weeks at Rs 2,554, Rs 324, Rs 1,037 and Rs 849, respectively. A quick look at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) data reveals that this is probably the highest these companies have seen in the last five years. Factors behind the rally There are primarily three reasons, pointed out experts. One: When the pandemic struck, contrary to what IT majors thought, clients stepped up their tech spending to ensure business continuity. Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys, said in June during the companys annual general meeting that the impact of COVID-19 was not as much they feared as clients continued to invest in tech. Roop Singh, chief business officer, Birlasoft, in an earlier interaction with Moneycontrol, had said that after the initial jolt IT firms felt, they were able to shift to the work-from-home (WFH) environment in a matter of few weeks. Not only that, they were able to pivot their offerings to the changing consumer needs -- be it cloud, cybersecurity, or big data analytics through partnerships. Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Tech stepped up their partnerships with cloud-service providers. These companies also acquired partners of software firms like Salesforce and ServiceNow that saw significant traction at the back of the pandemic. Wipro acquired 4C, a Salesforce partner in July and Infosys acquired GuideVision, a ServiceNow partner in September. Two: The ability to invest in technologies and gain market share. The four companies had the ability to invest since they were cash-rich. Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech acquired two firms each. All the four firms have been investing in new-age technologies and training the workforce. For example, Infosys launched its cloud suite Cobalt recently to cater to the growing demand. All these are aiding the firms in gaining market share through vendor consolidation. Infosys won the Vanguard deal and Wipros automotive software engineering deal with Marelli was also a part of vendor consolidation. HCL Tech, during its mid-quarter update, said that it is bettering its revenue guidance it gave last quarter as it saw strong execution and momentum across service lines and this is expected to continue for the rest of the quarter. Three: These firms were able to win more deals as much as during pre-pandemic levels as they enjoy client trust. Chirajeet Sengupta, Partner, Everest Group, pointed out: You need to convince not just the Chief Information Officer but the board, too. Some of the tech investments companies go beyond the CIO and decisions are taken at the CEO and board levels. So they need to connect with the board. An external IT consultant, who works with a top IT firm on its strategies, pointed out that IT firms have increased their focus on winning large vendor consolidation deals and have set up separate teams targeting the same. As a result, most Indian IT firms reported a significant increase in deal wins in the June quarter, on a year-on-year basis, with a majority of them in the digital space. If one goes by the US-based Accentures results, the momentum should continue. Accenture reported an 8.5 percent year-on-year increase in new bookings at $14 billion, its second highest ever, for its quarter ended August. Sustained healthy momentum in outsourcing business revenue and booking augurs well for Indian peers, said Emkay Global Financial Services, a brokerage firm. Will this continue? Experts seem to believe so, given the way the sector responded to the crisis. Kotak Institutional Equities, a brokerage firm, in its recent note, said that commentary from large companies across industries provides evidence that companies are spending in innovative capabilities that will lead to the acceleration of IT services spending. This can support close to 10 percent growth for companies, the report said. It further added that TCS and Infosys will be at the forefront of transformation even as other companies benefit. A case in point is HCL Techs September quarter update on upping its revenue guidance to 3.5 percent from 1.5-2.5 percent it gave last quarter. But winners are clearly those who are able to pivot their offerings and transform themselves along the way. The IT consultant quoted earlier said that top IT majors do use cutting-edge technology internally and such players would be able to win as they instill confidence in their clients. Philip Fraser became the CEO of Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:KMP.UN) in 2000, and we think it's a good time to look at the executive's compensation against the backdrop of overall company performance. This analysis will also evaluate the appropriateness of CEO compensation when taking into account the funds from operations and shareholder returns of the company. See our latest analysis for Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust How Does Total Compensation For Philip Fraser Compare With Other Companies In The Industry? According to our data, Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust has a market capitalization of CA$1.8b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth CA$1.7m over the year to December 2019. We note that's a small decrease of 4.4% on last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at CA$650k. In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations ranging from CA$1.3b to CA$4.3b, the reported median CEO total compensation was CA$1.9m. This suggests that Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust remunerates its CEO largely in line with the industry average. Furthermore, Philip Fraser directly owns CA$7.2m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success. Component 2019 2018 Proportion (2019) Salary CA$650k CA$650k 37% Other CA$1.1m CA$1.2m 63% Total Compensation CA$1.7m CA$1.8m 100% Speaking on an industry level, nearly 33% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 67% is other remuneration. According to our research, Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance. A Look at Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust's Growth Numbers Story continues Over the past three years, Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust has seen its funds from operations (FFO) grow by 16% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 9.8%. This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future. Has Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust Been A Good Investment? We think that the total shareholder return of 46%, over three years, would leave most Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size. To Conclude... As we touched on above, Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust is currently paying a compensation that's close to the median pay for CEOs of companies belonging to the same industry and with similar market capitalizations. The company is growing FFO and total shareholder returns have been pleasing. Indeed, many might consider that Philip is compensated rather modestly, given the solid company performance! Stockholders might even be okay with a bump in pay, seeing as how investor returns have been so strong. CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. In our study, we found 3 warning signs for Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious. Important note: Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. The Oregon Health Authority on Tuesday reported 299 new coronavirus cases and eight more deaths as state officials face political scrutiny over a large workplace outbreak at the coast. Oregons average daily case count has stagnated in recent days at around 280, the highest level since mid-August. Part of the increase is linked to Pacific Seafood in Clatsop County, where public health officials recently announced nearly 100 cases. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, whose district includes Warrenton, pressed state health officials Tuesday for answers about the outbreak. Saying she was deeply concerned, Bonamici questioned if the outbreak had been preceded by complaints about the facility and what steps are being taken to maintain physical distancing in worker housing. This outbreak threatens the health, well-being and economic stability of many Clatsop County residents, including businesses and workers who are afraid of a new wave of closures, Bonamici wrote in a letter to the Oregon Health Authority. The public needs and deserves to know what the state of Oregon and Pacific Seafood are doing to protect the health of our community, she added, now and in the future. The Oregon Health Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment about if, or when, the agency will respond to each of Bonamicis questions. The Clatsop outbreak is already the states third-largest involving a workplace, excluding prisons. Lamb Weston in Hermiston reported 186 cases, while Pacific Seafoods Newport facility reported the most: 187. Although the Newport outbreak has been resolved, Pacific Seafood has active workplace outbreaks at two other locations beyond Warrenton. As of last week, the state disclosed 14 cases linked to a facility in Clackamas County and six cases in Coos County. Where the new cases are by county: Baker (1), Benton (8), Clackamas (28), Clatsop (2), Columbia (3), Coos (1), Crook (1), Deschutes (7), Douglas (7), Jackson (11), Jefferson (4), Josephine (5), Klamath (10), Lane (32), Linn (4), Malheur (9), Marion (49), Morrow (4), Multnomah (52), Polk (3), Umatilla (11), Wallowa (1), Washington (41) and Yamhill (5). New fatalities: Oregons 548th death linked to coronavirus is a 96-year-old Clackamas County woman with underlying health conditions. She tested positive Sept. 9 and died Sept. 17 at her residence. The 549th fatality is a 95-year-old Multnomah County woman with underlying medical conditions. She tested positive July 3 and died Sept. 3 in her residence. Oregons 550th death is an 81-year-old Malheur County man with underlying health conditions. He tested positive Aug. 31 and died Sept. 20 in his residence. The 551st fatality is a 67-year-old Malheur County man with underlying medical conditions. He tested positive Sept. 9 and died Sept. 27 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Idaho. Oregons 552nd death is a 68-year-old Malheur County man who tested positive Dept. 5 and died Sept. 25 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Idaho. State officials are confirming if he had underlying health conditions. The 553rd fatality is a 60-year-old Yamhill County woman with underlying medical conditions. She tested positive July 30 and died Aug. 18 at Salem Hospital. Oregons 554th death is a 57-year-old Marion County man with underlying health conditions. He tested positive Aug. 19 and died Sept. 11 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. The 555th fatality is a 66-year-old Multnomah County man with underlying health conditions. He tested positive Sept. 10 and died Sept. 22 at Adventist Health Portland. The prevalence of infections: State officials reported 288 new confirmed infections out of 4,345 people tested, equaling a 6.6% positivity rate. Who got infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (13); 10-19 (28); 20-29 (71); 30-39 (62); 40-49 (53); 50-59 (28); 60-69 (17); 70-79 (14); 80 and older (6). Whos in the hospital: The state Tuesday reported 122 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections are currently in the hospital, down 11 from Monday. Oregon remains well below its capacity, with hundreds of hospital beds and ventilators available. Since it began: Oregon has reported 33,291 confirmed or presumed infections and 555 deaths, among the lowest totals in the nation. To date, 677,770 Oregonians have been tested. David Cansler contributed to this report. -- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt MAS successfully achieved original commitment to the Universal Access Project of the UN Foundation (UNF), of providing health and well being, education and services to 10,000 employees ahead of the 2021 deadline. A group activity from the Train the Trainer programme on womens health for MAS associates. A group activity from the Train the Trainer programme on womens health for MAS associates. A community awareness programme addressing the underlying causes of domestic and gender-based violence. A community awareness programme addressing the underlying causes of domestic and gender-based violence. Sri Lanka, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colombo, Sri Lanka September 29, 2020: MAS Holdings, the largest and leading design-to-delivery apparel solutions provider in South Asia renewed its commitment today to empower more of its employees by extending its original undertaking to provide health and wellbeing education and services focusing on sexual and reproductive health; and awareness on gender-based violence, to its employees and the communities adjacent to their manufacturing locations. Having surpassed the target of 10,000 beneficiaries since its commitment in June 2019, MAS doubled its commitment to reach 20,000 beneficiaries by the original 2021 timeline. The company, headquartered in Sri Lanka, formalized their new commitment at the virtual parallel event of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly co-hosted by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and the Universal Access Project of the UN Foundation (UNF). MAS Holdings was one of 11 trailblazing global companies that committed to improving the health and wellbeing of its workers and community members around the world in 2019 through the UNFs Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Womens Health and Empowerment Initiative. The company outlined bold, measurable and time-bound plans to empower its employees through highly focused programmes on womens health, sexual and reproductive health and rights and on gender-based violence, anchored to its globally acclaimed hallmark womens empowerment platform, Women Go Beyond in alignment with SDGs 3 and 5, among others. Story continues A Legacy Anchored in Womens Empowerment With women making up 70% of the companys 99,000 global workforce, MAS Holdings identified a fundamental requirement to support and empower its female employees very early in its operation, before it was defined as a corporate responsibility. Stand-alone initiatives that helped women, soon started showing results and began to scale into larger, long-term programmes. MAS began to invest heavily in womens career development, skill development and more importantly in their health and wellbeing, creating awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual health, nutrition, pre and post-natal care and issues surrounding gender-based violence. In 2003, all empowerment and gender equality initiatives came under the Women Go Beyond (WGB) banner that also gave the company a powerful platform to recognize and reward its women on their achievements, a powerful element that pushed WGB and MAS to the global limelight as a pioneer of ethical business practices; WGB has provided over 300,000 opportunities for its employees and their families since its inception, highlighting womens empowerment as the foundation of economic stability in Sri Lanka and the region. Women who treated their jobs as transitory in nature found new meaning in their careers, discovering not only untapped intellectual capacities and skillsets, but also economic freedom, autonomy and self-confidence. Progress of Commitments in 2020 While COVID-19 resulted in catastrophic economic and health impacts around the world, MAS was able to leverage its existing WGB framework to reach out to female employees and support them through multi-faceted programmes that also addressed possible escalations of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV) during pandemic-related lockdowns. MAS Holdings was able to enhance the quality of its existing health-related WGB programmes provided for all employees in 2019 while also introducing highly focused programmes on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), non-communicable diseases (NCD) and life skills through its 2019 commitment. In addition to the health and wellness programmes focusing on hygiene, nutrition, family planning, pre and post-natal care, that have been carried out over the last decade, MAS has partnered with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka to train in-house trainers to deliver workshops on sexual and reproductive health and rights and NCDs,. This enabled both male and female employees to share this comprehensive knowledge in their communities to create awareness. Another such new initiative focuses on equipping in-house counselors and human resources executives with skills to better address cases of domestic violence and GBV, including an understanding of the legal framework surrounding GBV. A Legal Rights Awareness Programme conducted at an MAS facility in Bangladesh educated 2,800 women on domestic violence as a consequence of early marriage and provided legal aid for those affected. MAS social sustainability strategy is well aligned with its business strategy and is driven by its senior leadership. Dedicated teams across the Group work on identified focus areas and drive necessary interventions to address the many gaps in access, education and services faced by women across global locations. Other notable programmes include the companys Aloka Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative that saw the company partner with the Sri Lanka Cancer Society to conduct awareness sessions on breast cancer, symptom detection and self-examination. The programme educated 6,939 employees and trained 132 more employees on lump-detection, elevating company-wide benchmarks in health and wellbeing expertise. Additionally, a total number of 1,167 female employees of MAS graduated from the Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) programme launched by Gap Inc. nurturing their professional and leadership skills.. 2021 and Beyond We are proud to announce the expansion of our commitment to the UNFs Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Womens Health and Empowerment., Deputy General Manager of Womens Empowerment, Advocacy and Code of Conduct, Thanuja Jayawardene said during the virtual event. Gender equality is a core value for us as an organization and we have an expansive framework to drive this agenda, focusing on economic, social and personal empowerment. We see health, wellbeing and freedom from gender-based violence as basic requirements, to developing female leaders for our businesses and our communities. This is a journey and we have a long way to go, implementing meaningful change. As MAS Holdings fast adapts and recovers in a post-COVID landscape, it lies tethered to its founding value of first and foremost being responsible for the safety, health and wellbeing of its employees. While the company adjusts to the new normal, it remains optimistic of achieving its new targets despite the obstacles and global industry turmoil, taking sustainable action to educate, encourage, empower and celebrate its women. About MAS Holdings Headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, MAS Holdings is one of the worlds most recognized design-to-delivery solutions providers in the realm of apparel and textile for over 30 years in operation. Today, the USD 2 billion enterprise is the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with 53 manufacturing facilities across 16 countries, and a seamlessly integrated innovation-driven supply chain powered by 99,000 employees around the world. Today MAS manages a more diverse portfolio of businesses across IT, brands, wearable tech, Femtech, medical apparel, start-ups and fabric parks worldwide. Visit www.masholdings.com for more details. About Universal Access Project: The Universal Access Project, a project of the United Nations Foundation, focuses on global sexual and reproductive health and rights and allows girls to stay in school, pursue jobs, and have children if and when they are ready. It also helps improve maternal and child health, decrease unintended pregnancies, lower HIV infection rates, and reduce poverty. It builds a healthier, more secure, and more prosperous world. The Universal Access Project also leads the Private Sector Action for Womens Health and Empowerment initiative, which mobilizes corporate leadership on workplace womens health, rights, and empowerment in global supply chains. Visit universalaccessproject.org for more details. About Private Sector Action for Workplace Womens Health and Empowerment Initiative: The United Nations Foundation, together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UKs Department for International Development, and Merck for Mothers launched the initiative Private Sector Action for Workplace Womens Health and Empowerment - to work with companies with large global supply chains employing millions of women workers to take action to improve their health and wellbeing in order to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals while also generating business returns. Visit www.privatesectoractionforwomenshealth.com for more details. For further information please contact: Attachments CONTACT: Thanuja Jayawardena MAS Holdings 0094114796444 MASWomenGoBeyond@masholdings.com Niranjan Wijesekara MAS Holdings NiranjanW@masholdings.com Delosh Suares MAS Holdings +94773959635 DeloshS@masholdings.com CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A small air leak at the International Space Station finally has been traced to the Russian side, following a middle-of-the-night search by astronauts. NASA said Tuesday that the two Russians and one American on board were awakened late Monday to hurriedly seal hatches between compartments and search for the ongoing leak, which appeared to be getting worse. It was the third time in just over a month that the crew had to isolate themselves on the Russian side, in an attempt to find the growing leak. It turns out instead of the leak getting bigger this time, a temporary temperature change caused the erroneous cabin air pressure reading, according to NASA. The leak was first spotted a year ago. NASA officials stress that the leak remains small and poses no danger. The astronauts will now use leak detectors to try to pinpoint the leak in Russias main living and working compartment, called Zvezda, Russian for Star. Space station deputy program manager Kenny Todd said the good news is that instead of a bunch of haystacks, were down to maybe one haystack. But he added: Its still a needle were looking for. NASA is sending up extra air supply tanks on its next space station delivery, scheduled for a Thursday departure from Virginia. As long as the leak does not worsen, Todd said, the space station should be fine through next spring. In two weeks, two Russians and an American are scheduled to arrive at the space station, followed by crew of three Americans and a Japanese on SpaceXs second launch of astronauts, now targeted for Oct. 31. During a news conference Tuesday from Houston, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, the commander, announced that the SpaceX capsule would be called Resilience to reflect how the world is coping with this years challenges. We hope that it brings a smile to your face and we hope that it provides something positive in your lives. Quite frankly, we hope that its an inspiration, Hopkins said of the name and the mission. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are scheduled to meet on the debate stage for the first time Tuesday night in Cleveland to present their case to millions of voters. Topics will include the economy, Supreme Court and the coronavirus pandemic. The 90-minute event, which starts at 6 p.m., will be moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace. Two other scheduled presidential debates are slated for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22. Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, Bidens running mate, will debate Oct. 7. The candidates and their running mates are ready to do their part. So are the moderators. As for the audience, its time to strap on our Vote apparel and tune in. Rock the Vote has partnered with online retailers like Gap and Levis to have quick voter registration via their websites. Foot Locker has taken it to the next step: Shoppers online and in more than 2,000 stores can fill out a form to register to vote. Here are retailers with Vote apparel and jewelry: TeePublic has a Vote T-Shirt by designedbygeeks inspired by the classic LOVE stamp.designedbygeeks/TeePublic A Vote necklace made of 18k gold-plated, rose gold-plated or silver-color letters on a chain, from 14 inches to 22 inches, by VestVine is sold by Amazon ($22.99 plus $2.99 shipping). See other Vote necklaces on Amazon. Theres also a variety of Vote T-shirts, including Schoolhouse Rock Vote with Bill ($22.99-$24.99). Anthropologie has a gray sweatshirt with a drawstring hood that spells out VOTE (the O is a lipsticked mouth) by Levis ($74.50, free shipping on orders of $50 or more). Anthropologie also has a 10-ounce, stainless-steel Vote travel mug ($26) and Vote T-shirts (starting at $30). Customizable necklaces let you make your own statement: Baublebars Pisa necklace uses white letter beads ($36) you can use to spell out V-O-T-E. Take 10% off your first order and shipping is free for orders of $35 or more. ByChari is selling the V-O-T-E necklace worn by former first lady Michelle Obama. The letters are on a 16-inch chain for $100-$295. Cafe Press has election-related T-shirts for men and women, like I teach and I vote on sale for $14.29 (regularly $21.99). Take 35% off all T-shirts, mugs and more. Dissent Pins sells drop earring with tiny ballot boxes ($21.95). The 24k gold-plated earrings have either black or blue highlights. Fifty percent of profits will be donated to The New Georgia Project, which has been working for years to register and civically engage Georgians. eBay sells vintage election apparel and jewelry, including a VOTE necklace with Swarovski rhinestones in red, white and blue ($6.99 plus $3.50 shipping). Fabletics has an Exercise your right to Vote unisex, 100% cotton T-shirt for $34.95. The Gap Collective has Vote T-shirts ($19.95) and Vote masks ($14 for a three-pack). Take 40% off everything during the flash sale. There is free shipping on orders more than $50. The Gap supports When We All Vote, Rock the Vote and Stand United. The Greats limited edition I am a Voter boxy crew in washed white ($105) is currently out of stock. See other collections for fall, including vintage embroidery apparel, from the West Hollywood store. Levis has Vote T-shirts, hoodies and totes. You can customize a $25 T-shirt that has Dont just [FILL IN THE BLANK] about it. Vote about it. Get 25% off and free shipping on your first order. Maisonette childrens luxury brands has reusable Vote masks and mini Future Voter bracelets and T-shirts. Take 10% off your first order. Michael Stars has a black, long sleeve Vote crewneck tee embroidered with the face of feminist icon and activist Gloria Steinem and #TheTeeInVOTE ($58). Get free shipping on orders of $100 or more. ModCloths cotton I am a voter T-shirt is $29, with 50% of the proceeds donated to promote voting and civic engagement. Use the code 30FREE to take 30% off site wide. There is free shipping on orders of $75 or more. Nordstrom has the VOTE Collection for men and women, including the Tie Dye Sweatshirt ($45, with free shipping). Pac Sun has a Go Vote page with information about registration and Election Day on Nov. 3. There are Vote related T-shirts and sweatshirts. The Smiley Face Have A Nice Day And Vote T-Shirt is on sale for $20 (save $5). Take 15% off your first order. Popsockets has Vote Buttons for $10 and a portal to register to vote. Shipping is free with orders of $20 or more. Redbubble has T-shirts with the message to vote starting at $19.90. Receive 10% off your first order by enrolling to receive emails. Revolve has a When We All Vote mask ($48) and Vote necklaces. Get 10% off when you enroll to receive emails. Shopbop has the Ninety Percent Vote crew neck, short sleeve T-shirt ($55). TeePublic has hundreds of T-shirts for $20 (some on sale at $13) with a vote theme such as Voting like a girl since 1920. A Vote T-Shirt by designedbygeeks was inspired by the classic LOVE stamp. Everything on teepublic.com is on sale at up to 35% off. For every necklace ($50), ring ($50-$60), bracelet ($65-$85) and pin ($50) sold in the Vote jewelry collection commemorating the centennial of the 19th amendment, Uncommon Goods will donate $5 to League of Women Voters NYC. Enroll in emails and receive $5 credit. Zales has a 14k-gold, 18-inch necklace with hand-assembled letters that spell out VOTE ($249 and free shipping).Zales Zales has a 14k-gold, 18-inch necklace with hand-assembled letters that spell out VOTE ($249 and free shipping). Zazzle has released a T-shirt with the words Women Use Your Vote in white letters ($24.80). There are also election-related trucker hats (about $15), reusable grocery bags ($6.45) and totes ($11.15) that have Vote Like Your Life Depends On It. Receive 20% off of your first order. Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman The federal government said Tuesday it will purchase rapid COVID-19 testing kits from a U.S. firm that have not yet been approved by Health Canada leaving public health experts and critics demanding to know when Canadians will have greater access to rapid testing. In terms of rapid testing, there is definitely a need for it now, said physician epidemiologist Dr. Nitin Mohan, a partner at ETIO Public Health Consultants. Were all aware the case counts are going up, were very much in our second wave. We need a couple of hail marys. Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced Tuesday that the government had reached an agreement with U.S.-based Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC to purchase 7.9 million of its ID NOW test, pending Health Canada approval. The test can be administered in point-of-care settings such as a doctors office and provide results in under 15 minutes. Thats much faster than most tests currently used in Canada, which must be sent to a lab and typically take one to three days to provide a result. According to the federal governments website, point-of-care testing has mainly been used in rural or remote areas where sending tests to a lab would take too long. As several provinces enter the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic prompting long lines at testing centres and new shutdowns of businesses Health Canada has faced criticism for the slow pace of the approval process for new rapid testing devices. Conservative health critic Michelle Rempel Garner said expanding access to rapid testing could be key to preventing further economic shutdowns, and would mean fewer people having to take time off work waiting for results. If I was health minister right now I would be saying What are the roadblocks that are preventing us from doing a fulsome review in the most expeditious manner possible? The regulator said Tuesday it is still reviewing what are known as antigen tests, which test proteins on the surface of the virus, can provide faster results and could be administered in a wider variety of settings including workplaces and schools. (The ID NOW test announced Tuesday is not an antigen test, but rather a molecular test that detects the viruss genetic material.) Antigen tests also run the risk of being less sensitive to detecting the virus than the gold standard PCR test being used across the country now, Health Canada officials said Tuesday. The regulator believes its very close to having a final decision on some of those antigen tests still under review, said Health Canadas chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma in a briefing with reporters. Health Canada only posted on Tuesday the minimum standards on sensitivity that an antigen testing device must meet. Thats really difficult to predict exactly when they might be authorized, she said. It really depends in some cases on getting additional data in from some companies, in some cases analyzing the data that we have. Sharma also explained that the regulator is actively reaching out to companies around the world to apply for authorization in Canada, while defending the regulators pace at approving testing devices. Theres no file sitting on anyones desk not being looked at, she said. Health Canada has not received any applications for at-home testing kits, but would make it a priority to review them should they receive any, Sharma said. Cheap, accurate, rapid at-home testing is critical to managing the impact of the pandemic, said Mohan. Once we get rapid home-based testing, we will have hit one of those hail marys that will do a tonne to drive our case counts down, said Mohan. The quicker we get our hands on that testing, the faster we solve a lot of problems. Its fantastic that the government is in the process of expanding point-of-care testing, which could hopefully reduce lineups at medical centres, said Dr. Funmi Okunola, a Vancouver-based family physician and COVID-19 medical adviser. But ultimately the country needs home-based testing, for which Okunola has been advocating. Imagine if everybody in Canada spat on to a stick or swabbed their nose, and got a result within five to 15 minutes, they would know before they left home whether they were positive to COVID-19 or not, she said. You can see how quickly we could get back to normal life if we all had the use of that test. Environment groups say the Independent Planning Commission has inappropriately excluded last-minute information about Santos' proposed $3.6 billion Narrabri gasfield. With the IPC set to announce its decision on the coal seam gasfield in northern NSW at 9am on Wednesday, Lock the Gate Alliance and Environmental Defenders Office said the commission has avoided considering critical new information because of an arbitrary deadline imposed by the state government. Santos's CSG storage ponds in the Pilliga State Forest. Approval would open the way for 850 wells. Credit:Dean Sewell The information includes evidence that a neighbouring coal mine will cause a larger drop in groundwater levels and a recent report of gas and groundwater leaks from a big coal seam gasfield in Queensland. "This is clear evidence that the NSW governments attempts to inhibit the commissions freedom and independence is having an effect," Lock the Gate co-ordinator Georgina Woods said. Advertisement The FDA stated in a Sept. 25 news release that the agency had approved Nucala (mepolizumab) for patients 12 or older with HES for six months or longer without another identifiable non-blood related cause of the disease."We at Cincinnati Children's scored a home run in that we have been pursuing this for two decades on behalf of patients through our research," said Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders at Cincinnati Children's."We specialize in eosinophilic disorders, and this is a big breakthrough for the patients," added Rothenberg, who was involved in related translational research and the clinical trials of mepolizumab that preceded FDA approval."People with rare diseases have to really fight for improved treatments and their on-label approval, and it's a long journey."Mepolizumab, a biological antibody that blocks the eosinophil growth factor IL-5, was approved as an asthma drug in 2015.FDA approval to treat hypereosinophilic syndrome means "that patients with HES have a treatment option that will reduce their disease flares and have improved health, without substantial side effects of this medicine," Rothenberg said.Rothenberg focuses his lab's research on elucidating the mechanisms of allergic responses, especially in mucosal tissues such as the gastrointestinal tract and lung.Support for Rothenberg's research has included funding from the Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases (CURED), which welcomed news of FDA approval for the new use of mepolizumab."This decision means so much to patients and their families," said Ellyn Kodroff, founder and director of the Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases."Having FDA approval allows patients to afford this drug with insurance coverage, giving hope for a better and longer life. CURED is so proud to have raised and donated millions of dollars funding translational research underlying the rationale for targeting interleukins for eosinophilic conditions, like mepolizumab does. This continuing research supporting unmet needs for rare eosinophilic diseases is life changing."Rothenberg began researching eosinophils as a doctoral student at Harvard University in the 1990s. It was at that time that he showed involvement of IL-5 in human disease and its effects on eosinophils.At Cincinnati Children's, Rothenberg, along with other researchers around the world, provided evidence that eosinophils were pro-inflammatory cells involved in allergic diseases. Rothenberg and his colleagues contributed to the rationale of targeting eosinophils, including performing clinical studies in patients with a variety of eosinophilic disorders.In 2008, Rothenberg led an international group of investigators to conduct a randomized clinical trial that proved the ability of mepolizumab to lower oral steroid doses in patients with HES (Rothenberg et al.2008 Mar 20;358(12):1215-28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa070812. Epub 2008 Mar 16. PMID: 18344568).Despite meeting the primary endpoint of the study, the FDA tightened its criteria for approval of mepolizumab, Rothenberg said. It took an additional decade of research to eventually meet the FDA's requested endpoints, focused on the clinical benefit of mepolizumab in this rare disease population.As described in a recent publication in theof the results of the phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in adolescent and adult patients with HES investigating the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab, mepolizumab was shown to reduce the number of HES disease flares (Roufesse et al.2020 Sep 18; S0091-6749(20)31276-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2020.08.037.). The 108 patients in the trial were from 39 centers and 13 countries.Source: Eurekalert CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LC-SCRUM-Asia, a leading cancer genomic screening program, has selected Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Torrent Genexus System* and Oncomine Precision Assay*, a pan-cancer panel, to advance precision medicine in Asia. The next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions will be used in two prospective, observational projects to support the development of future therapeutics and diagnostics for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Lung Cancer Genomic Screening Project for Individualized Medicine in Asia aims to overcome challenges in establishing precision medicine for patients with NSCLC through large-scale genetic screening and monitoring. The Lung Cancer Genomic Screening Project for Individualized Medicine Molecular Testing for Resistant Tumors to Systemic Therapy (LC-SCRUM-TRY), newly launched on September 28, is designed to examine drug resistance in NSCLC. "The studies will use the Genexus System and the Oncomine Precision Assay for rapid molecular profiling results," said Dr. Koichi Goto, chief of the Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, who is leading the cancer clinical trials. "The speed of NGS-based molecular profiling tests is becoming increasingly important. We believe these solutions, designed to deliver results quickly, will transform the field of precision oncology." Thermo Fisher's Ion Torrent Genexus System is the first fully integrated NGS platform featuring an automated specimen-to-report workflow that delivers results economically in a single day. The Oncomine Precision Assay, which is designed to detect key biomarkers from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue and liquid biopsy specimens, contains more than 50 cancer-related biomarkers and has the lowest sample input requirements on the market for detection of both DNA and RNA variants. Garret Hampton, president of clinical next-generation sequencing and oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said, "Through our valued partnership with LC-SCRUM, Dr. Goto and his team have a pivotal opportunity to advance precision medicine for non-small cell lung cancer in Asia. Expanding access to comprehensive genomic profiling will help improve the future standard of care." The selection of the Genexus System and Oncomine Precision Assay represent an extension of Thermo Fisher's ongoing collaborations with LC-SCRUM and Dr. Goto to make precision medicine solutions available in Japan. Since 2015, LC-SCRUM has adopted the Oncomine Comprehensive Assay* for use in the first three phases of clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Goto was instrumental in supporting Thermo Fisher's efforts to gain approval in Japan for the Oncomine Dx Target Test, the first NGS companion diagnostic (CDx) test approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to simultaneously detect multiple biomarkers clinically associated with NSCLC. *For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. About the Lung Cancer Genetic Screening Project for Individualized Medicine in Asia (LC-SCRUM-Asia) An industry-academic cancer genome screening project for lung cancer patients conducted by The National Cancer Center in collaboration with more than 200 Japanese cancer hospitals and university hospitals, medical institutions in Asia, and pharmaceutical companies. The project, which began in 2013, aims to determine the most appropriate treatment by examining multiple genetic changes that cause lung cancer simultaneously using state-of-the-art genetic testing technology. In addition, the project is promoting the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic agents in collaboration with industry and academia with the aim of establishing personalized medicine for lung cancer, including rare lung cancer. Media Contact Information: Mauricio Minotta Phone: 760-805-5266 Email: [email protected] Jen Heady Phone: 617-275-6547 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com The regional government in Andalucia has given details of new steps to help curb the spread of this second wave of the coronavirus. These include limiting gatherings of family and friends to six people (previously there was a recommendation of no more than ten people together), except for members of the same household. The regional minister for Health, Jesus Aguirre, said on Tuesday that 80% of all cases of infection with Covid-19 are traced back to private gatherings. For the time being the limit of six people is a "recommendation", although Aguirre said that the authority was studying how this can be made an obligation from a legal point of view. Current restrictions on numbers at weddings, baptisms and other similar events will not be heightened, said Aguirre. Mass testing Further measures focus on towns and villages with contagion figures of more than 500 per 100,000 inhabitants over a 14-day period. Mass testing will be carried out, announced spokesman and regional minister, Elias Bendodo. Highly reliable rapid tests will be used, said Bendodo, and the measure will affect the small towns of Sierra de Yeguas and Villanueva de la Concepcion in the province of Malaga. In the rest of the region the testing will be carried out in Pulpi (Almeria); Almodovar del Rio (Cordoba); Jamilena, Los Villares and Linares (Jaen); La Campana, Villaverde del Rio, Arahal and Paradas (Sevilla). Andalucia "better than others" The region of Andalucia was resisting the pandemic "better than others" Bendodo said. "As the figures show: we have 161 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants and 59% fewer patients in hospital than at the height of the pandemic on 30 March. Once again the regional government is focusing on anticipation. "We have to get ahead and to that end we have to take new measures of control so that the incidencce remains lower than the rest of Spain," said Bendodo. Regarding municipalities where pressure on hospitals is higher, Bendodo said that it would be the provincial health delegates in collaboration with local town halls who would decide whether to adopt more restrictive measures. The announcements came after the president of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, met on Monday with the committee of experts who are advising the regional government on measures to take against the spread of the virus. Online retailer Fashion Nova has been slammed over its new range of children's clothes, with critics claiming the outfits are 'too grown up' for your girls. Fashion Nova, which is based in the US but ships to the UK, unveiled the collection last week with promotional images showing young girls dressed in high heels, midriff-baring tops and evening dresses. The pieces are designed to match adult versions available on the site. Shoppers took to Twitter to share their distaste, saying it is 'inappropriate' to create such designs for children and use young girls 'dressed like adults' to advertise them. Others took issue with the names of the pieces, which include the $22.99 'Feeling Way Too Much' top and the $27.99 'Pulling Me Closer' pant. Fashion Nova has been slammed over its new range of children's clothes, with critics claiming the outfits are 'too grown up' for your girls. Pictured, one of the outfits criticized on Twitter Fashion Nova, which is based in the US but ships to the UK, unveiled the collection last week with promotional images showing young girls dressed in high heels, midriff-baring tops and evening dresses. Pictured, a tulle skirt criticized on Twitter (left). Right, a matching skirt and top outfit that appears to have since been removed from the website after it was posted online After seeing the latest offering from FashionNova, @Snow_Blacck took to Twitter to share her distaste for the clothes and how the children were dressed. The Twitter user accused the company of creating outfits that are 'way too grown up and inappropriate' for young children and shared screenshots of little girls in heels and short skirts Twitter user @Snow_Blacck, basked in the US, posted screenshots of some of the outfits, including a small sunkini set and a short skirt with matching crop top, expressing her distaste for the items. Both products appear to have been removed from the site. She wrote: 'NO FASHION NOVA. HELL NO. If you think these outfits are okay for little girls youre wild. 'These outfits are way too grown and inappropriate. These are not clothes for kids. These are grown club and brunch outfits. Stop it. Honesty where are yall going with these outfits on? And heels? F***k no.' Items of clothes on sale range from biker short sets to dresses with see-through tulle skirts. Some of the clothes' names were taken from the adult versions, many of which are listed as the same price. Others took issue with the names of the pieces, which include the $22.99 'Feeling Way Too Much' top (left) and the $27.99 'Pulling Me Closer' pant (right) One Twitter user shared this photo from the Fashion Nova website, despairing over the outfit Examples of Fashion Nova outfits called out on Twitter include this matching black set (left) and another worn with boots (right) The names of the products concerned several people, with one person in particular suggesting that the names of some of the products were 'disgusting' One person added: 'Nah, I get that they're trying to match the adults outfits with mini outfits but having a kid in a two piece set and calling it 'romantic escape' is just disgusting.' The unhappy social media users suggested the outfits were inappropriate and that clothing companies and parents should 'let kids be kids'. While acknowledging that not all the products on the fashion retailer's site were the same and drawing attention to some of the 'kid friendly clothes', one person said dressing them in heels and the names of the outfits made it inappropriate. Many people asked 'what happened to letting kids be kids' as they shared their horror at the latest clothing range which 'looks like they're playing dress up' However, not everyone agreed with their protestations about the new clothing range, with some people stating that they do not think the outfits are bad. Several people suggested they were able to find 'plenty of appropriate outfits' on the site, including sweatshirts and T-shirts. Fashion Nova declined to comment. The measures also apply to seven other leading figures in his regime, including the presidents son and national security adviser Viktor Lukashenko. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the move sent a clear message to the violent and fraudulent regime. It is the second time the UKs new sanctions regime has been used and Mr Lukashenko is the first national leader to be made subject to restrictions. The UK acted alongside Canada to announce the measures, stating that the regime in Belarus is responsible for a string of human rights violations against opposition figures and the media. Thousands of people in Belarus have taken part in protests against the authoritarian leaders re-election in August despite a brutal crackdown by the states security forces. Mr Raab said: Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. Advertisement We dont accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights. The sanctions apply to: Alexander Lukashenko, the president. Viktor Lukashenko, his son and national security adviser. Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, the presidents chief of staff. Yuri Karayev, the minister of internal affairs. Alexander Barsukov, the chief of public security police. Yuri Nazarenko, commander of internal troops. Khazalbek Atabekov, deputy commander of internal troops. Dmitry Balaba, commander of the special purpose police unit of Minsk. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Shafiqul Alam (Agence France-Presse) Ruhitpur, Bangladesh Tue, September 29, 2020 10:06 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47ddfd0 2 Art & Culture Bangladesh,weaving,weaver,weaving-craft,textile Free In small tin sheds in a town outside Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, wooden looms are deftly operated by a group of men and women -- some of the country's last traditional weavers -- as huge garment factories churn out cheaper alternatives. The nation's centuries-old traditional weaving was once highly sought after, with nobility from Asia and Europe wearing the fine muslin clothing. But over the past two decades, Bangladesh has become one of the world's largest ready-made garment exporters, with 4,000 factories making clothes for the likes of retail giants Primark and H&M. Left in its wake are traditional weavers such as 55-year-old Mohammad Abu Taher, who is the last of his family to take up the once celebrated vocation. "My great-great-grandfather was a weaver and all my ancestors were into weaving," Taher told AFP as he sat in a tin shed with several other artisans in Ruhitpur, a town 20 kilometers from Dhaka. Taher's two sons have left Ruhitpur for the capital to seek work, unwilling to pick up the dying art-form. Read also: Historical threads: Morocco's last brocade master 'Once prized' Three centuries ago, Ruhitpur was one of the region's biggest hubs for manufacturing lungis -- traditional sarongs worn by men. There were 4,000 handlooms in Ruhitpur and nearby villages, employing 12,000 weavers. A handwoven lungi from Ruhitpur was a "prized asset", said local trader Chowdhury Abdur Rahman, recalling stories of his father and uncles buying the cloth for their weddings. "It was a big part of Bengal's heritage," historian Hameeda Hossain said of the historical region now known as Bangladesh and West Bengal state in India. "Unfortunately, it can't compete with power looms." Now, just three dozen weavers -- with an average age of 50 -- remain in Ruhitpur, serving a small group of customers still willing to shell out for the softer, handmade lungis. "Our lungi is expensive. Still, some people haven't deserted us because of the softness of handmade clothing," 45-year-old Ruhitpur weaver Mohammad Rafiq told AFP. But he admits his profession is dying out. Employment in the town has shifted to almost a dozen factories manufacturing plastic, textiles and jute that have more than 10,000 people on the payroll. "They (factories) have set up electric-powered weaving industries worth hundreds of millions of dollars," he said. "They can make lungis and saris very cheaply. We can't compete with them in terms of price." A war journalist who sued the BBC claiming she was bullied into a dangerous assignment during which she was nearly blown up has received a 40,000 payout. News producer Natalie Morton, of Highgate, North London, was struck down by 'severe' post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety following the blast in Syria. The 44-year-old said the incident in April 2014 ended her career, saw her turn to drink and traumatised her so much that she now cannot even watch the news. Ms Morton was with the BBC's chief war correspondent Lyse Doucet in Homs when a bomb landed close to her car, showering it with shrapnel. A cameraman suffered 35 shrapnel injuries and Ms Morton said the blast destroyed her mental health, although she escaped with minor injuries. News producer Natalie Morton, pictured with cameraman Phil Goodwin after nearly being blown up in Homs, Syria, in April 2014, claimed she was bullied into a dangerous assignment Suing the BBC, Ms Morton said she was bullied by Ms Doucet - who has an OBE and was part of the BBC's Emmy-winning Syrian war reporting team - into risking her life on the 'unnecessary' trip into Homs. And although the BBC and Ms Doucet denied the accusation, the corporation has now agreed to settle the case by paying Ms Morton 40,000 plus her legal costs. The settlement of the case, which was due to go before a judge last week, was revealed in a court order, in which the BBC continues to deny liability for Ms Morton's injuries. In papers filed for the claim at Central London County Court, Ms Morton's barrister Simon Anderson claimed Bafta-nominee Ms Doucet was 'angry' at her for refusing another dangerous assignment and 'intimidated and pressurised' her into taking a pointless journey into Homs. Ms Morton had travelled to Syria with Ms Doucet, BBC cameraman Phil Goodwin, and documentary maker Robin Barnwell, he said. Her job was to provide news coverage of the conflict as Ms Doucet's producer, while Ms Doucet and Mr Barnwell also filmed Bafta-nominated current affairs documentary 'Children of Syria'. BBC war correspondent Lyse Doucet (left) and Ms Morton (right) with cameraman Raeph Ballantyne (centre), who was not involved in the Syria blast at the centre of Ms Morton's claim Filming for the documentary was taking place at a centre for 'internally displaced persons' in Homs when the stray mortar landed near to the vehicle where Ms Morton was waiting outside. Mr Goodwin was left with 35 wounds and, although she escaped with minor injuries, the incident ruined Ms Morton's mental health, leaving her struggling to cope with the impact of her shocking ordeal, it was claimed. She said she turned to drink to deal with the after-effects of the blast and, due to her fragile mental health, will never be able to return to war journalism. 'She has not watched or listened to the news since May 2015,' said her barrister. Ms Morton claimed there was no need for her to make the trip to Homs, as she was not involved in the documentary, and that she was 'persuaded/required' to go, having refused a hazardous assignment with Ms Doucet in the town of Maaloula previously. 'Lyse Doucet expressed anger and frustration with the claimant for her decision to refuse to travel to Maaloula, and intimidated and pressurised her to travel to Homs in circumstances whereby the journey was unnecessary,' Mr Anderson claimed. Filming was taking place at a centre for 'internally displaced persons' in Homs (above, in April 2014) when a stray mortar landed near to the vehicle where Ms Morton was waiting outside However, the BBC said Ms Morton had decided to go along, and insisted that all precautions were taken. Ms Morton was victim of a 'random and lucky' strike and was not put under any pressure to travel with Ms Doucet to Homs, said BBC barrister David Platt QC. Canada-born Ms Doucet is one of the BBC's top journalists and presenters, having won awards for her work in war-torn countries, and in 2014 was awarded an OBE for her services to broadcast journalism. 'There was no obligation on the claimant or any member of 'News' to go to Homs,' he said in the BBC's defence to the action. 'The claimant had full ownership of this decision and could have declined to go. Indeed she had an absolute right to refuse.' He adds: 'Ms Doucet did not pressurise or intimidate the claimant, who raised no objection to going to Homs. 'Neither did the claimant need to go, had she viewed it journalistically unnecessary. Neither had Ms Doucet had any resentment over the decision not to travel to Maaloula, and this change of plan was driven primarily by Lana Antaki [a local producer].' Children warm themselves around a fire in a beseiged area of Homs in Syria in January 2014 He said a risk assessment for the trip had been properly completed and pointed out that the governor of the city had confirmed to the team that it was safe for them to visit. He said Ms Morton had been 'expressly advised' by her driver not to stay in the vehicle and, as a war journalist, she knew exactly what she was signing up for. 'The claimant had total discretion on where and how to work, did not take instructions from Ms Doucet, and was experienced in conflict zones,' said Mr Platt. 'It was her decision to remain in the vehicle and work from there. She was sufficiently relaxed not to wear her PPE - including body armour and helmet. 'She had applied for the job knowing that she would be exposed to an element of risk given the high probability that she would visit hostile environments.' Ms Morton's claim was due to go before Judge Heather Baucher last week, but was settled after the BBC agreed to pay her 40,000 and to cover the cost of her legal bills, which are likely to run into many tens of thousands of pounds. The court order settling the claim states: 'The settlement is agreed without any admissions of liability by the defendant.' Matt Tomlinson, head of military and ID at Slater and Gordon, which represented Ms Morton, told MailOnline today: 'This has been a long and often distressing process for Natalie and I am pleased we have finally been able to see it come to a conclusion. 'Her experience in Homs has resulted in significant mental trauma that has had a long lasting effect and they brought about the end of her career as a journalist.' And a BBC spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are pleased to have reached a resolution where there were no admissions of liability. 'The safety of BBC staff is paramount - we have robust risk assessments in place, we give staff thorough training to work in hostile environments, staff can decline assignments in dangerous locations, and we have extensive support structures for staff on their return from abroad.' The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that with Diwali approaching, no employee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation should be deprived of the joy of festivity, while asking the municipal body to disburse pending salaries of 9,000 teachers engaged by the civic body. Dont forget the festival of Diwali is round the corner. We will not allow you to deprive any employee of that little joy of festivity, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said, adding that many people are already heartbroken and under depression due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The courts observation comes while hearing a suo-motu PIL initiated by itself for the disbursement of unpaid salaries to teachers employed in schools run by the north Delhi corporation. The plea was initiated as a PIL in June after hearing a petition filed on behalf of North Delhi Municipal Corporation teachers by Akhil Dilli Prathmik Shikshak Sangh. The Shikshak Sangh sought direction to the authorities to pay salaries of teachers which were due since March, when a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 was imposed. On Tuesday, during the hearing, the corporation told the court that on September 8, the civic body had released salaries of June to its teachers. Appearing for the Delhi government, its counsel said that it has released Rs 98.35 crore to the north corporation on September 3 and the amount will cover the salaries of teachers for September and October. The court asked the civic agency to disburse the salaries of teachers for the pending months. To this, the counsel for the municipal body said that he would seek instructions as to whether the civic body has received the amount from the Delhi government and that they are working on the issue of releasing salaries. The court asked the civic body to file a status report in this regard and listed the matter for further hearing on November 5. North Corporation mayor Jai Prakash said that the civic body is working on a three-pronged formula to be able to pay the due salaries of the staff. We are making efforts to boast our revenue through an amnesty scheme for unauthorised regularised colonies. We are also in the process of clearing some major projects that will fetch us some decent amount of revenue. Thirdly, we have already written to the Delhi government to release the 1200 crores due to the corporation at the earliest. With all these efforts, we will ensure that the staffs salaries are regularised by Diwali, said Prakash. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:33:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Gaurav Ahluwalia, Indian charge d'affaires to the country, to lodge a protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kashmir region, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said. The "indiscriminate and unprovoked" firing on Monday by the Indian forces along the LoC killed a 15-year-old boy and injured four other civilians, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan's army said that a Pakistani soldier was also killed in Indian forces' firing along the LoC. The Indian forces along the LoC and the working boundary have been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons, the foreign ministry said, adding that India has committed 2,387 ceasefire violations to date this year, resulting in 19 deaths and serious injuries to 191 civilians. Pakistan and India had declared a ceasefire along the LoC, the de facto border between both countries in the disputed Kashmir region. However, both sides routinely exchange fire and accuse each other of ceasefire violations. Tension has been heightened after India lifted the special status for the Indian-controlled Kashmir in August 2019. Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations, suspended trade relations and train service with India in response. Enditem Credit: CC0 Public Domain Military officers overthrew Mali's government in a coup d'etat on August 18, 2020. Among the more worrying aspects of the coup is the fact that a number of the officers involved had received foreign training, most notably from the United States. In fact, this was the second time in eight years that US-trained officers in Mali had launched a coup. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one civilian government to a coup launched by foreign-trained officers may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. For many commentators with a strong sense of deja vu, events in Mali reinforce suspicions of a link between US training and coups d'etat. But does US foreign military training provoke coups d'etat? The short answer is we don't know. Until we know more, we should be skeptical of the blanket claim that it does. Initial evidence, much cited by journalists, suggests a link. Researchers Jesse Dillon Savage and Jonathan Caverley find that US foreign military training roughly doubles coup risk in recipient states. They argue, plausibly, that foreign training grants recipients credibility and power within the officer corps, which they can then use to rally officers against shaky civilian governments. What commentators seldom note, however, is that this analysis is confined to just two US training programs. Yet the US has some 34 different foreign military training programs involving partners in almost every country in the world. Our research finds no relationship between US military training and coups, even when looking at "most similar" programs to America's International Military Education and Training program. Researchers at the RAND Corporation, a US think tank, also analyzed the link between US training and military coups in Africa. They too cast doubt on the link between the two. And in a recent dissertation, post-doctoral fellow Renanah Miles Joyce finds that, on average, US training in Africa reduced military involvement in politics and human rights violations. Training and coups There are other reasons to be skeptical of the foreign-training-causes-coups hypothesis. First, it should come as no surprise that Mali's coup plotters received US training. Between 1999 and 2016, US programs involved 2.4 million trainees in programs that cost over $20 billion. Officers in many countries embark on the security equivalent of global training pilgrimages through a transnational circuit of academies, exercises and maneuvers. This training is often the key to building a successful career. Consider the curriculum vitae of Mali's coup plotters. Early reports suggest that Assimi Goita, who heads Mali's junta, spent years training alongside US special forces, regularly participated in US Africa Command's multinational Flintlock exercises, attended an 18-day seminar in Florida, and studied at the American-German Marshall Center. His colleagues, Colonel Malick Diaw and Colonel Sadio Camara, the coup's purported architects, were allegedly training at the Higher Military College in Moscow before returning to Bamako in the days before the coup. For their part, German officials admitted that several coup plotters had been trained in France and Germany. This might, at first glance, suggest a connection between foreign training and coups. But, in our view, it simply points to the ubiquity of foreign training in many modern militaries. In addition, because training seeks to strengthen civil-military relations, it tends to occur in coup-prone countries like Mali. History suggests that coups tend to beget coups. Foreign training may not have much of an effect at all. At one end of the spectrum, large-scale foreign training in Somalia, Iraq, or Afghanistan has met with failure and frustration. Jahara Matisek, an assistant professor in the Department of Military and Strategic Studies at the US Air Force Academy, has likened these foreign-trained forces to Faberge eggs, "expensive and easily broken". At the other end, many activities are limited to a handful of soldiers and last all of a few days. This makes it hard to conclude that foreign training alone triggers major changes in civil-military relations in recipient countries. Political considerations If we cannot make a general claim about the training-coup link, perhaps a link can be found in certain situations. For example, the kinds of training that are undertaken, and how training intersects with local political conditions. Some argue that training focuses too much on technical and tactical expertise to the detriment of democratic norms and military professionalism. Yet, precisely because improving civilian control of the military is a key objective, these democratic norms feature prominently in curricula. The trouble seems to be that it is difficult to transplant norms, as the US and European Union are learning to their detriment, after years of effort and tens of millions of dollars trying to reform Mali's security sector. It's also the case that norms of military professionalism are ambiguous and open to abuse. As Professor Risa Brooks argues, norms of professionalism in the US are not stopping American military personnel from involvement in politics. And Professor Sharan Grewal provides evidence that US officers' increasing politicization rubs off on their foreign trainees. In the search for more effective security partners, the US and its allies have increasingly focused on elite units, including the special forces unit commanded by Mali's Colonel Goita. While this intensive, long-term training can transmit skills, it's also at risk of encouraging the formation of praetorian guards that threaten democratically elected civilian governments. Such training may indeed create a dangerous nucleus of discipline, competence and power at the center of an otherwise dysfunctional state. In other cases, as in Mali's neighbor Chad, foreign training of the authoritarian regime's elite forces may help to help defend the regime against coups. We have heard a lot about foreign trainees in coups. We need to know a lot more about training in the coups that do not happen. Explore further US international military training programs tied to fewer civilian casualties The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says the sum of N2.67 billion paid to some federal colleges for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdown ended up in private bank accounts. Bolaji Owasanoye, ICPC chairman, made the disclosure in his keynote address at the second national summit on diminishing corruption. The summit themed, Together Against Corruption and Launch of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy, was held at the council chambers of the presidential villa, Abuja on Monday. The federal government had said it spent over N500 million to feed school children during the lockdown. Owasanoye said under open treasury portal review carried out from January to August 15, out of 268 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) 72 of them had cumulative infractions of N90 million. According to him, while 33 MDAs gave explanations that N4.1 billion was transferred to sub-TSA, N4.2 billion paid to individuals had no satisfactory explanations. We observed that transfers to sub-TSA was to prevent disbursement from being monitored, Owasanoye said. Nevertheless, we discovered payments to some federal colleges for school feeding in the sum of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children are not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings. The ICPC chairman said under its 2020 constituency and executive projects tracking initiative, 722 projects with a threshold of N100 million were tracked across 16 states. He said a number of projects described as ongoing in the budget were found to be new projects that ought to have been excluded so as to enable the government to complete existing projects. According to Owasanoye, the agency also discovered over N2.5 billion appropriated by a deceased senior civil servant in the ministry of agriculture for himself while in office. On asset recovery, he said the commission recovered N16 billion from the ministry of agriculture paid into individual accounts for non-official purposes. He listed other assets recovered in the ministry to include 18 buildings, 12 business premises and 25 plots of land. MALADECHNA, Belarus -- A court in Belarus has sentenced two men to lengthy prison terms for brawling with police during a rally supporting the registration of candidates to face off against Alyaksandr Lukashenka in last month's disputed presidential election. A court in the city of Maladechna near Minsk on September 29 found Paval Pyaskou and Uladzislau Yeustsihneyeu guilty of violent disobedience against police. Judge Viktoria Palyashchuk sentenced Pyaskou to three years and three months in prison and Yeustsihneyeu to three years in prison after finding them guilty. The charges against the two men stemmed from their brawl with police on June 19 in Maladechna during a mass rally by protesters who demanded the registration of independent and opposition candidates in the August 9 presidential election. During the rally's dispersal, the demonstrators -- including Pyaskou and Yeustsihneyeu -- managed to force police to release a detained protester. A video of the brawl caused public outcry as it showed one riot police officer brandishing a pistol during the skirmish. Protests against Lukashenka, who has ruled the country with an iron first for the past 26 years, have intensified after official results from the election gave him another five-year term with about 80 percent of the vote. The demonstrators say the vote was rigged in Lukashenka's favor and are demanding that he step down and hold new elections. Lukashenka had himself secretly sworn in on September 23, sparking outrage at home and abroad. Western governments have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have called on him to peacefully transfer power. Australia's tourism sector could be set for a boost as top secret plans show how travellers from New Zealand may start flying into the country by November. Under the plans, which were crafted by the tourism restart task force, holidaymakers from across the Tasman would avoid hotel quarantine. This includes Australian citizens currently stuck in New Zealand, meaning they could finally be reunited with friends and family while enjoying a trip home. Australians would then be able to go to New Zealand without hotel quarantine from January or February, the plans obtained by The Australian showed. Top secret plans reveal how holidays to New Zealand could be back by January (Pictured: A passenger from a Qantas flight from Melbourne wait in line in Sydney on August 8) Australians would be able to go to New Zealand without hotel quarantine by January or February (Pictured: Passengers wearing face masks check in in Sydney on September 24) Talk of the trans-Tasman bubble has been happening for months but Victoria's second wave put those plans on hold as the state struggled to get its COVID-19 outbreak under control. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously said she would not consider a bubble unless the whole of Australia goes 28 days without community transmission. But with COVID-19 cases dropping to single digits in Victoria this week, the plans are now back on the table. On Monday, Ms Ardern raised hopes again, saying the travel bubble could be up and running sooner than expected. 'What we'd need to be assured of is when Australia is saying they have a hot spot (in one state), that the border around that hot spot means that people aren't able to travel into the states where we are engaging with trans-Tasman travel,' she told TVNZ. New Zealand's deputy prime minister Winston Peters said the plan would be able to go ahead so long as both nations have excellent contact tracing. Australia's tourism sector is in for a boost as top secret plans show travellers from New Zealand could start flying into the country by November (Pictured: Travellers leaving Sydney in March) Under the plans, which were crafted by the tourism restart task force, holidaymakers from across the Tasman would avoid hotel quarantine (Pictured are passengers at Sydney International Airport on September 18 after flying in from Auckland) The taskforce, made up of representatives from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tourism Australia, Flight Centre, Tourist Accommodation Australia and other business leaders, has called for all state border closures to be removed by December 1. 'It is over to the authorities to ensure that it happens both ways. Personally if we can ensure that both Australia and New Zealand are safe in what we seek to do, it is very important that we get our tourism back on track as fast as we possibly can.' Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said work is underway to ensure the travel bubble with New Zealand can be safely achieved. The tourism minister added 'corridors' and 'clearances' in airports in Australia and New Zealand would help separate travellers between the two countries and those from other parts of the world who would need to quarantine. Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the plan to restart travel between New Zealand and Australia could go ahead with strict airport controls separating flyers from the two countries with other travellers Hopes travel between Australia and New Zealand could be on the horizon have been renewed by falling infection rates in Victoria Mr Birmingham's comments come as the coalition government announced it was providing $250million to boost tourism and infrastructure in Australia's regions. WHAT IS THE TRANS-TASMAN BUBBLE Australia and New Zealand have discussed the possibility of a 'trans-Tasman bubble'. The bubble would allow residents from both countries to travel across the ditch without having to endure a mandatory 14-day isolation period. The idea has been raised as both countries have been successful in controlling the outbreak of the coronavirus. Advertisement The October 6 budget will set aside $50million for a regional tourism recovery initiative to assist businesses in regions heavily reliant on international tourism. Domestic travel within Australia also has the potential to revitalise the tourism sector as Australians frustrated by restrictions get itchy feet. Interstate borders have been tumbling with the following travel now allowed: NSW: Anyone can enter unless they visited Victoria in the last 14 days. Anyone who has been in Victoria needs an exemption to enter and has to quarantine for 14 days. NSW residents cannot cross the border to Queensland. South Australia: Everyone can enter unless they've been in Victoria in the last 14 days. South Australia has also just relaxed its rules to allow up to 600 overseas Australian travellers to return to the state each week - more than double the previous intake. Queensland: Anyone can enter unless they have been in a hotspot during the last 14 days, such as Victoria or NSW. Queenslanders going to Tasmania have to isolate for 14 days and they cannot go to WA without an exemption. ACT: Anyone can enter unless they've been in Victoria recently. Northern Territory: Everyone can enter unless they've been in a coroanvirus hotspot (Victoria and Sydney) in the last 28 days. Those who have been in a hotspot must do 14 days of hotel quarantine costing $2500. Tasmania: Nobody can enter without an exemption if they have been in a hotspot (including all of Victoria) during the last 14 days. All those entering the state must quarantine for 14 days. Western Australia: Nobody can enter without applying for an exemption. Amnesty India has let go of its staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. Amnesty shuts India operations, alleges witch-hunt by government. The complete freezing of Amnesty International Indias bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled to let go of its staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations, Amnesty International India said today. The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in the Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raises its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India. Amnesty International India stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International Indias work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The fact that the Government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the governments grave inactions and excesses. The continuing crackdown on @AIIndia over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. This is not the end of Amnesty India's commitment to human rights, we will not be silenced by the attacks of the government. pic.twitter.com/pgZprkfIfe Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 29, 2020 Also Read: Global Covid-19 death toll crosses 1M mark, UN Chief calls it an agonising milestone Also Read: Azeri-Armenian conflict: Overall death toll rises to 67 The attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organizations, activists and human rights defenders is only an extension of the various repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power. Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India. It reeks of fear and repression, ignores the human cost to this crackdown particularly during a pandemic and violates peoples basic rights to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, and association guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and international human rights law. Instead, as a global power and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India must fearlessly welcome calls for accountability and justice, said Avinash Kumar. BACKGROUND: CHRONOLOGY OF ATTACKS AND HARASSMENT OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA: By PTI NEW DELHI: The COVID-negative test reports of passengers from four Indian laboratories should be rejected, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) told the Air India Express on Monday. The laboratories are Suryam Lab in Jaipur, Microhealth Lab in the cities of Kerala, Dr P Bhasin Pathlabs (Private) Limited and Noble Diagnostic Centre in Delhi, the airline said on Twitter. On September 18, Air India Express flights were suspended for 24 hours by the DCAA for bringing two passengers with COVID-positive certificates on August 28 and September 4. According to rules in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), passengers travelling from India are required to bring original COVID-negative certificates from RT-PCR tests done within 96 hours prior to the journey. The Air India Express tweeted, saying the regulatory authority in Dubai has recommended it to "reject the RT-PCR test reports from the following laboratories for passengers travelling to Dubai: Suryam Lab in Jaipur; Microhealth Lab in the cities of Kerala. Dr P Bhasin Pathlabs (P) Ltd in Delhi; Noble Diagnostic Centre in Delhi". Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to COVID-19. However, special international passenger flights have been operating in the country under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed with other countries since July. The UAE is one of the 10 countries with which India has established bilateral air bubble pacts. Under such a pact, the airlines of both countries can operate international passenger flights with certain restrictions. A spokesperson for the German state chancellery said no special exceptions would be made for Luxembourgers, after the Grand Duchy was once again placed on the risk zone list on Friday. Although Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn told RTL on Saturday that discussions were taking place to find special exemptions from the travel restrictions, it appears the discussions were not fruitful. Anyone who has spent 72 hours in Luxembourg must either quarantine upon arrival in Rheinlaind-Pfalz/Rhineland-Palatinate and inform the health directorate, or they must be in possession of a negative Covid test performed within the last 48 hours. These measures are expected to be in place until mid-October. Exceptions will be made for cross-border workers or for those travelling on medical grounds, or to take exams at universities, for example. Luxembourgers are currently allowed to visit Belgium, so long as their time there does not exceed 48 hours. This exception will not be upheld by Rheinlaind-Pfalz/Rhineland-Palatinate, according to a statement made on Monday. Minister-President Malou Dreyer (SPD) continues to advocate for Luxembourg's non-exclusion. Saarland's Minister-President Tobias Hans (CDU) agreed that the Grand Duchy's classification as a risk factor would present a major challenge, particularly for those living in Saarland but working in Luxembourg, or those with family in the Grand Duchy. The same rules are in place as in Rheinlaind-Pfalz/Rhineland-Palatinate; however, Hans said in an interview that further negotiations with the federal government and the federal states were planned, in order to facilitate border traffic. Editor's Note: to clear up some 'transit questions': Excerpt from the German National Foreign Office When is transit through Germany permitted? Nationals of non-EU countries (third-country nationals) may enter Germany to travel to another EU member state, another Schengen member state or the United Kingdom as their country of final destination if the following conditions are met: (1) there are no other reasonable direct routes to the country of destination; (2) the traveller remains in Germany (as country of transit) only as long as absolutely necessary to travel directly to the country of destination or another transit country; (3) the traveller is permitted to enter the country of destination or another transit country (in accordance with Annex II of the Council Recommendation of 30 June 2020 or with individual confirmation of permission to enter issued by the country of destination; see below). Under these conditions, third-country nationals may enter Germany by air and travel overland to their country of destination. The third-country national must provide evidence that the conditions listed above have been met. Airline or other travel tickets, etc. may be presented to meet conditions (1) and (2). To meet condition (3), the traveller may present a document issued by the responsible authorities of the country of destination (or another transit country) certifying that entry restrictions have been waived or that approval of entry has been granted. Such a document is necessary in particular if the third-country national does not meet the requirements for entering Germany but does meet the entry requirements of the country of destination (or, if applicable, of another transit country). Germanys border control officials only check for compliance with the requirements for entering Germany. Im 66 years old and I just read that seniors 60 and over usually vote Republican. I was shocked that seniors are voting against their own best interests. Republicans have been trying to do away with Social Security and Medicare from the beginning. Just a couple weeks ago Mitt Romney proposed his own stimulus bill. Romney snuck in a provision to cut Social Security and Medicare. Trumps budget proposal for 2021 calls for more cuts in Social Security and Medicare. The so-called radical left is just Trump scapegoating again. (First it was Mexican Immigrants.) There are four congresswomen and two senators who want progressive programs that will benefit the majority of Americans. That in no way constitutes a radical leftist agenda. Republicans close down social programs and funnel our taxes to their corporate donors. A vote for Trump and his corrupt Senate is a vote against democracy and in favor of a dictatorship that Trump has vowed will last well beyond what is allowed by law. And Trump has the hypocritical audacity to run on a law and order platform? God help us all. Bruce J. Walters Bethlehem Pune, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global biogas market size is expected to reach USD 31.69 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.30% during the forecast period. The rising environmental safety concerns are expected to propel the healthy growth of the market, states Fortune Business Insights, in a report, titled Biogas Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Feedstock (Organic Residue & Wastes {Biowaste, Municipal & Sewage, Agricultural Waste, and Others}, and Energy Crops), By Application (Power Generation, Heating, Combined Heat and Power, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027. The market size stood at USD 25.50 billion in 2019. The coronavirus crisis has disrupted the supply chain of every industry around the world. We understand that this health emergency has negatively impacted various sectors across the globe. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly infectious virus. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. More or less, nearly every sector is estimated to be impacted by this pandemic. We are making endless efforts to uplift businesses in this crucial need of the hour. Our expertise and experience can offer enormous benefits to help regain during this global pandemic. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/biogas-market-100910 The report on the biogas market contains: Future insights into the market In-depth study of the regions Product and brand strategies Factors enabling market growth Competitive landscape COVID-19 impact Market Driver : Heavy Demand for Purified Biomethane Version to Bolster Growth The growing inclination towards biogas with an aim to reduce dependence on oil and maintain sustainability can have an excellent effect on the market. The growing knowledge about the high-energy methane gas, which is an upgraded version of biogas will spur opportunities for the market during the forecast period. For instance, Purified biomethane has similar properties as natural gas and also acts as a highly efficient and environmental-friendly fuel for natural gas cars, or natural gas grid. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), biogas as vehicle fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 60% to 80% compared to fossil-based fuels. Also, the shift from conventional fossil fuel to biogas owing to the rising global and environmental problems will bode well for the market. Get Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/biogas-market-100910 Unavailability of Raw Materials to Retard Development During COVID-19 There is a halt on bioenergy projects owing to the restrictions imposed on travel, work, industrial operations, and logistics & transportation. Moreover, the unavailability of raw materials, components, and technical support has adversely impacted the market. In March 2020, construction on the Tees Renewable Energy Plant (Tees REP), a 299 MW biomass power plant in the U.K., was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The social distancing protocols formed by the governments has resulted in the fewer workforce, thus diminishing the production and operations during the pandemic. Regional Analysis : Implementation of Stringent Policies to Aid Expansion in Asia Pacific The market in Asia Pacific is predicted to witness a significant growth rate during the forecast period. The implementation of strict regulations to curb carbon footprint by the government in economies such as China and India will enable speedy expansion of the market in the region. According to the Indian ministry, the country generated approximately 1.45 lakh metric tonnes waste per day, only 53 percent of waste was processed under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), a flagship program of the Prime Minister. The growing emphasis on managing and treating solid waste will have a positive effect on the market in India. Speak to Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/biogas-market-100910 Key Industry Development : October 2019: Mazoon Dairy Company (MDC) inaugurated a biogas plant in Oman. The biogas plant is part of MDCs strategy to utilize waste to generate energy and efficiently support waste management. List of the leading companies profiled in the biogas market: Future Biogas Limited (U.K) Air Liquide (France) PlanET Biogas Global GmbH (Germany) WELTEC BIOPOWER GmbH (Germany) Scandinavian Biogas Fuels International AB (Sweden) EnviTec Biogas AG (Germany) Ameresco (U.S.) Quantum Green (India) AB HOLDING SPA (Italy) RENERGON International AG (Switzerland) StormFisher (Canada) Quick Buy Biogas Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100910 Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends For Major Countries Latest Technological Advancement Regulatory Landscape Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Analysis Impact of COVID-19 Impact of COVID-19 on the Biogas Market Steps Taken by the Government to Overcome the Impact Key Developments in the Industry in Response to COVID-19 Potential Opportunities and Challenges due to COVID-19 Outbreak Global Biogas Market Analysis (USD Billion) (Million Cubic Meter), Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Feedstock Organic Residue & Wastes Biowaste, Municipal, Sewage Agricultural Waste Others Energy Crops Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Application Electricity Generation Heating Combine Heat & Power Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Latin America Continued. Ask For Customization- https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/biogas-market-100910 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Vessel Type (Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS), Platform Supply Vessels (PSV), Crew Vessel, Others), By Water Depth (Shallow Water, Deepwater, Ultra-Deepwater), By Application (Oil & Gas, Offshore Wind, Patrolling, Research & Surveying, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027 Distributed Control System Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Component (Hardware, Software, and Services), By End-User (Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Power Generation, Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverage, and Others), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026 Industrial Gas Turbine Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Capacity (1-2MW, 2-5MW, 5-7.5MW, 7.5-10MW, 10-15MW, 15-20MW, 20-30MW, 30-40MW, 40-100MW, 100-150MW, 150-300MW, 300+MW), By Sector (Electric Power Utility, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing), By Technology (Heavy Duty, Light Industrial, Aeroderivative), By Cycle (Open Cycle, Combined Cycle) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Solar Tracker Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis By Type (Photovoltaic (PV), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)), By Movement (Single Axis, Dual Axis), By Application (Utility, Non-Utility) And Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. 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Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs A mnesty International has said it is halting its operation in India, citing reprisals from the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by Indian authorities. The human rights watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday that it had laid off its staff in the country and paused an ongoing campaign and research work. It alleges that Indian authorities froze its bank accounts on suspicion of violating rules on foreign funding. The statement said that the authorities actions were the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations by Indias government over unfounded and motivated allegations. The watchdog added and that its lawful fundraising model was being portrayed as money laundering because it has challenged the governments grave inactions and excesses. Amnesty International India employees work at their headquarters in Bangalore, India. (file photo) / AP Indian authorities did not immediately confirm whether Amnesty Indias bank accounts had been frozen. Amnesty Indias executive director, Avinash Kumar, said the accounts were frozen as a result of the groups unequivocal calls for transparency in the government and accountability of New Delhi police and the Indian government regarding grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Indian-administered Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, Mr Kumar said in a statement. Amnesty International said the only other country where it ceased operations was Russia, in 2016. It is not the first time that Amnesty India has said Indian authorities targeted its operations. In 2018, Indian authorities raided its office and froze its bank accounts on similar charges. The logo of Amnesty International is seen next to director of Mujeres En Linea Luisa Kislinger, during a news conference in Caracas / REUTERS In 2016, it faced sedition charges after Hindu nationalists objected to an event held in the southern city of Bangalore to discuss human rights violations in the disputed region of Kashmir. The charges were dropped three years later. The rights group regularly accuses Indian authorities of committing human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir and has released multiple reports on the raging conflict in the region. In 2019, the watchdog testified before the US Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia and highlighted its findings on the use of excessive force and torture in Kashmir. In August, it said Indian police violated human rights during deadly religious riots in New Delhi earlier this year and accused the police of beating protesters, torturing detainees and in some cases taking part in riots with Hindu mobs. Authorities say more than 50 people were killed when clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims over a controversial citizenship law in February in the worst rioting in the Indian capital in decades. Amnesty Internationals acting secretary general, Julie Verhaar, called the freezing of the bank accounts an egregious and shameful act by the Indian government. It is a dismal day when a country of Indias stature, a rising global power and a member of the UN Human Rights Council, with a constitution which commits to human rights and whose national human rights movements have influenced the world, so brazenly seeks to silence those who pursue accountability and justice, Ms Verhaar said in a statement. Amnesty India has repeatedly condemned what it says is a crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech in India. Its announcement to halt operations comes at a time when critics accuse Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist government of increasingly brandishing laws to silence human rights activists, intellectuals, filmmakers, students and journalists. Under Mr Modi, critics say, India is growing notoriously intolerant, with its crackdown on dissent unprecedented in scale. Leaders of Mr Modis party have routinely labelled critics as anti-nationals, and the authorities have dealt with many rights advocates and activists with an iron fist. Amid the simmering border tensions with China, India has deployed home-grown subsonic missile Nirbhay to counter the deployment of missile by Chinese armed forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Nirbhay is a surface-to-surface missile with a reach of up to 1,000 km. This missile is capable of low-level stealth strike on targets, which means Nirbhay can fly between 100 metres to 4km from ground and pick up the target before destroying it. Nirbhay is an all-weather missile and its long range is a threat for China because it is capable of hitting at target located as far as Tibet, reported India Today. Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Nirbhay has been in the testing since 2013 and this is the first time that Indian armed forces has developed this home-grown missile along the LAC. Live TV The latest satellite images from LAC showed a sudden increase in Chinas deployment of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at new locations in Tibet along the LAC. Reports also claim that Chinese missile sites have also come up in some areas bordering Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh. Meanwhile, the Indian AArmy has also deployed several tanks and armoured personnel carriers in forward locations at eastern Ladakh in order to tackle the Chinese threat. A new video has surfaced showing rows of T-90 tanks and BMP vehicles in Chumar-Demchock, sending a clear message that Indian Army is now determined to strengthen security in the whole area. Major General Arvind Kapoor, the Chief of Staff of 14 Corps informed that the Fire and Fury Corps is the only formation in the Indian Army and probably in the world to have actually deployed mechanised forces in such harsh terrain. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 15:12:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' deposit rate hit a new record low last month amid the record-low policy rate, central bank data showed Tuesday. The annualized rate of fresh deposits, held by banks, was 0.81 percent in August, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It kept a record-breaking trend for the third consecutive month as the BOK cut its target rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.50 percent in May. Banks' lending rate declined 0.07 percentage points over the month to 2.63 percent in August. Lending rate for small companies slipped 0.07 percentage points to 2.80 percent in the month, and the rate to big corporations shrank 0.07 percentage points to 2.48 percent. Rate for loan to households dropped 0.07 percentage points to 2.55 percent in the same month. Enditem The Nigerian Immigration Service on Monday said it will deploy a 2,000-strong Special Force in the North-west to restore peace and security in the region. The Comptroller General, Muhammad Babandede, stated this during the passing out parade of 320 First Batch of pioneer Special Force of the Service, at the NIS Training School in Kano. Mr Babandede said the deployment was imperative to address security challenges and enhance peacebuilding process in the region. He noted that special operation in the North-west was a definitive military initiative, to respond to criminal activities like arson; kidnapping, armed banditry and cattle rustling prevalent in the area. He said: The level of insecurity in the North-west zone has constituted a threat to national security. This training is to prepare our men on how to respond to security challenges in the North-west, hence, we have trained, professionally equipped gallant and fit officers and men to secure and restore peace in the area. The Special Force which consists of 70 officers and 250 other ranks are going there as a component of Joint Task Force (JTF). Our target is to deploy 2,000 personnel and this is the First Batch of 320 Special Force that will patrol 700 kilometres stretching from Maigatari in Jigawa to Ilela in Sokoto State. Mr Babandede added that the service had trained over 2,400 officers and men on various courses from January to date, and tasked the personal to be discipline and respect human right laws in the discharge of their duties. He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, for the support of the Service and determination to secure lives and property in the country. Also speaking, Mr Aregbesola, restated the Federal Governments commitment in securing lives and property of Nigerians as well as protect national territorial integrity. Mr Aregbesola noted that effective border security would curb human trafficking, arms smuggling, banditry, and cattle rustling. He enjoined the personnel of the service to enlighten the border communities on security tips, while observing the rules of engagement, maintaining discipline, and displaying a high sense of commitment in their operations. (NAN) Tuesday, September 29, 2020 Prison Expert Larry Levine explains on HLN "True Crime Live " what Newly Minted Felon Felicity Huffman, who was convicted in Federal Court the Varsity Blues College Cheating scandal will face during her stay at a women's Federal Prison in Dublin, California. Huffman was arrested by Federal Agents in an early morning raid at her California home on March 12 and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. She appeared on March 13 in Los Angeles Federal Court, where FBI agents seized her passport and the court released her after her husband Actor William Macy posted a $250,000 bail. At a court appearance in Boston April 3, Huffman acknowledged her rights, her charges, and maximum possible penalties; she waived a pretrial hearing, signed conditions of her release, and was allowed to leave. On April 8, she agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and was sentenced to 14 days in Federal Prison, and a $30,000 fine followed by a period of Federal Supervised Release Sylacauga, Ala., is known mainly for two things its quarries filled with pristine white marble and being one of the few places on earth where a meteorite hit a person when it fell from the sky. Sculptor Don Lawler brought the two things together and carved a monument of marble to commemorate the meteorites fall in 1954. The swirly, abstract-looking artwork is set in a place of honor on the lawn of Sylacaugas City Hall. This monument by marble sculptor Don Lawler honors Ann Hodges, who was struck by a meteorite here in 1954. (Photo by Jeff Elliott) The backstory In November of 1954, Ann Hodges was napping on the sofa in her rented Sylacauga home, located across from the Comet Drive-In Theatre, when an object fell from the sky, punched a hole in her roof and struck her on the hip. At the time, she was the first person in modern history to be hit by a rock from space. National Geographic quoted astronomer Michael Reynolds as saying: You have a better chance of getting hit by a tornado and a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the same time. The appearance of the 8.5-pound rock was big news in the small town, and photos appeared worldwide in newspapers of Hodges in her hospital bed, showing her bruises. The meteor itself became the subject of a legal battle. Thinking they might sell the meteor for a large amount of money, Ann Hodges and her husband, Eugene, fought to keep it. Bertie Guy, the owner of their rental home, also made a claim for the rock. Eventually, lawsuits went on so long that when Ann Hodges was finally awarded the meteor, few people were interested in buying it. She ended up donating it to the University of Alabama. Today, it is on display in the Museum of Natural History. In an odd twist, a farmer who lived nearby found a smaller chuck of the meteor and sold it to the Smithsonian Institute, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The statue The plaque at the Falling Star monument in Sylacauga. (Photo by Jeff Eliott) In 2009, Kentucky sculptor Don Lawler was in Sylacauga to purchase some of the areas beautiful marble for upcoming projects. At the time, he knew nothing of the Hodges Meteorite. When he returned home, however, he googled the city and learned of the fascinating story, according to an article on Atlas Obscura. After completing his research, Lawler carved the abstract memorial to the meteorite into his marble slab and titled it Falling Star, the article said. Once finished, Lawler sent a photo of his work to the Sylacauga city officials, who organized and raised enough money to purchase the piece. The whimsical monument and an explanatory plaque are still located at City Hall at 301 N. Broadway St. The plaque says, Falling Star, sculpted from Sylacauga Marble by Don Lawler, June 10, 2009, in Commemoration of the Hodges Meteorite 1954. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden paid $299,346 in income taxes in 2019, according to documents released on Tuesday just hours ahead of his first presidential debate with Donald Trump, who has staunchly refused to reveal his tax returns. The former US vice-president, together with his wife Jill, got a refund of $46,858 after paying $346,204 in income taxes, according to documents that pegged their total income at nearly $985,000. The returns were shared less than two days after The New York Times reported that Trump had paid a mere $750 in taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and nothing at all in 10 of the last 15 years. The Democrats deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said earlier on Tuesday that besides the Bidens, his running mate, Indian-origin senator Kamala Harris, and her husband would release their tax information, calling on Trump to do the same. This is the 22nd year that Biden has publicly released his tax information and the 15th year for Harris. The first Trump vs. Biden debate is starting at 6.30am, Indian time, on Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Biden is going into the debate with a 7.1-point lead ahead of Trump in the FiveThirtyEight weighted average of national polls at 50.2% to 43.1%. He also leads by 6.1 points in the RealClearPolitics national average of polls at 49.3% to 43.2%. There will be no drug tests before the debate as Trump has been demanding. And there will most likely be no handshakes as the debate is taking place amid the coronavirus pandemic. Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a drug test. Gee, I wonder why? Trump tweeted on Monday. In the build-up to the November 3 election, Trump and his allies have sought to portray that Biden is mentally and physically unfit for the presidency. Six topics have been picked for the first debate, split into 15- minute segments: the candidates records, the Supreme Court, Covid-19, the economy, racism and violence in US cities, and the integrity of the election. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Staten Island is among five counties spearheading a pilot program for virtual trials in divorce cases. In the city, the program will launch Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, as well as state Supreme Court in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Janet DiFiore, New Yorks chief judge, announced Monday. The program also starts Tuesday in Westchester and upstate Ontario County. A limited number of virtual bench trials and hearings will commence in matrimonial cases in those jurisdictions, DiFiore said. The remote trials constitute an important step in our journey as a virtual court system, said DiFiore. The state court system is expanding its virtual capacity to reduce pending caseloads and limit courthouse density, the judge said. Since mid-March, courts have largely operated remotely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In-person functions have been slowly ramped up in the past two months. In August, grand jury proceedings resumed on Staten Island and in the city, ending a five-month wait. Jury trials in civil cases are set to begin on a limited basis next month in the borough and throughout the city under a pilot program. The trials are slated for mid-to-late October in state Supreme Court, St. George, as well as in Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Queens state Supreme Courts, DiFiore announced last week. Jury-duty notices were mailed out last week. No date has been set to start criminal jury trials. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** DiFiore said the virtual trials and hearings in divorce cases will be conducted on the Microsoft Teams platform and the state courts electronic filing system. Lawyers and litigants will have the ability to upload, in advance, witness and evidence lists. They can also mark documents for identification in real time, which the judge can move into evidence, she said. Documents and evidence will be shared on-screen and remain visible to attorneys, participants and witnesses during the trials and hearings, DiFiore said. Officials will closely monitor the program with an eye toward expanding virtual trials and hearings to other courts and case types throughout the state, said DiFiore. A 19-year-old woman died at New Delhis Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday over two weeks after four men in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras allegedly raped and brutalised her when she tried to fight back, leaving her legs fully and arms partially paralysed. The death triggered outrage with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hitting out at the state government over no semblance of security for women and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal calling it a matter of shame for the country. Dalit leader and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad led a protest at the Safdarjung Hospital demanding death sentence for the accused. I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand the death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We would not rest until the culprits are hanged. He said the state government is equally responsible for the death of our sister. Hathras police superintendent Vikrant Vir said the womans family informed them that she died around 3 am. The [woman] was referred to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi but could not be saved. [She] breathed her last on Tuesday morning... [Her] post mortem is to be conducted in Delhi before her body will be brought back to Hathras maybe later in the day [Tuesday] for cremation, said Vir. He said the woman suffered spinal injuries, but denied reports that her tongue was slit. Also Read: Caste-related crimes on the rise in UP: AAP Vir said the in-charge of Hathrass Kotwali police station has been removed for alleged inaction in the case. He added that the four accused had been arrested and will also be booked for murder. Vir said they first arrested 20-year-old Sandip the day the woman was raped. He added that three more men, Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi, were later arrested when the woman named them in her statement before a magistrate on September 22. Vir said the men tried to strangulate her when she tried to resist their attempts to rape her. Vir said the 19-year-old was found badly injured after she went missing on September 14. Hathras district magistrate Praveen Kumar said the accused have also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the womans family has been given Rs 10 lakh compensation. He added a fast-track court would be set up to hear the case to punish the culprits at the earliest. The case has drawn parallels with the gang rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi, who was attacked on a moving bus and left to die on a roadside in 2012. Anger over the Delhi case triggered countrywide protests and prompted the government to pass a tougher law against sexual violence with a provision for the death penalty for rape. Four men convicted of the 23-year-olds rape and murder were hanged in March. The Hathras woman was shifted to the Delhi hospital from Aligarh Muslim Universitys Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital on Monday when her condition showed no signs of improvement. She was admitted to the Aligarh hospital in a critical condition on September 14 and was on ventilator support. Priyanka Gandhi said law and order in Uttar Pradesh has deteriorated to a great extent and no semblance of safety exists for women. The criminals are committing crimes openly, she tweeted, calling for severe punishment for the rapist-killers. @myogiadityanath [chief minister Yogi Adityanath] you are accountable for the safety of women in UP [Uttar Pradesh], she tweeted. ... -- @myogiadityanath 2/2 Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) September 29, 2020 A Dalit girl who was a victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras has passed away at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks, she kept struggling between life and death in hospitals. Priyanka Gandhi said incidents of rape in Hathras, Shahjahanpur, and Gorakhpur had shaken the state. Kejriwal demanded that the guilty be tried and hanged at the earliest. The death of Hathras victim is shameful for the entire society, country as well as for all the governments. It is highly sad that so many daughters are being sexually assaulted and we have not been able to protect them... Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati demanded stringent punishment for the accused and said they should be tried in a fast-track court. The news of the death of Dalit victim after gangrape in Hathras...is very saddening. The government should provide all possible help to the victims family and ensure fast punishment to the culprits by prosecuting them in a fast track court.... Bhim Army chief and Dalit leader Chandrashekar Azad on Sunday night evaded the police to visit the womans family at the Aligarh hospital to express solidarity with them. He said the rape highlighted the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. Policemen who have been negligent in this case should be duly punished and the womans family members should be immediately provided security as they are feeling insecure and should be shifted to a safe spot, he said. Azad demanded financial assistance of Rs. 1 crore for the womans family. Vir said a police force was deployed at the womans house when she was admitted to the Aligarh hospital where her condition deteriorated. In a video message, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma said the commission had sought an action taken report from Uttar Pradesh Police on the matter and was told the four accused had been arrested. She said the commission has promised the womans family all possible assistance. An NCW member is going to meet the brother of the victim and we will help the family in whatever way we can. (With PTI inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A deceptive video released on Sunday by the conservative activist James OKeefe, which claimed through unidentified sources and with no verifiable evidence that Representative Ilhan Omars campaign had collected ballots illegally, was probably part of a coordinated disinformation effort, according to researchers at Stanford University and the University of Washington. Mr. OKeefe and his group, Project Veritas, appear to have made an abrupt decision to release the video sooner than planned after The New York Times published a sweeping investigation of President Trumps taxes, the researchers said. They also noted that the timing and metadata of a Twitter post in which Mr. Trumps son shared the video suggested that he might have known about it in advance. Project Veritas had hyped the video on social media for several days before publishing it. In posts amplified by other prominent conservative accounts, Mr. OKeefe teased what he said was evidence of voter fraud, and urged people to sign up at ballot-harvesting.com to receive the supposed evidence when it came out. (None of the material in the video actually proved voter fraud.) Mr. OKeefes promotional posts had said the video would be released on Monday, but Project Veritas released it on Sunday instead, a few hours after the publication of The Timess investigation. The researchers concluded that this timing was unlikely to be a coincidence given the huge marketing about a 9/28 release date, they wrote in an analysis that Alex Stamos, who led the research team at the Stanford Internet Observatory, shared with The Times. A day after a group of Indian Youth Congress activists set afire a tractor in Delhi to register their protest against the three new agriculture-related laws, Delhi Police on Tuesday said it had detained Punjab Youth Congress chief Brinder Dhillon in the case. The police said that its investigation in the case was underway and it was trying to identify others involved in the incident reported near India Gate on Monday. Six persons were arrested after police registered an FIR under relevant provisions of the IPC, apart from the non-bailable Section in the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Disaster Management Act, and Epidemic Diseases Act. As many as six accused have been arrested so far and two vehicles seized," a senior police officer said. Around 15-20 unidentified supporters and members of the Punjab Youth Congress had rallied at India Gate here on Monday to protest against the farm laws. The decision of the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh to create three capitals for the state with the administrative capital being shifted from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam has created hurdles for expansion of the Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada. Hundreds of farmers, who had given away around 1229 acres of land to the state government in 2016 under land pooling scheme (LPS) for the expansion of the airport by the Airport Authority of India, are now refusing to move out unless the government pays them a huge compensation. During the Telugu Desam Partys reign, these farmers, belonging to Ajjampudi, Allapuram, Atkuru, Buddhavaram, Chinavutapalli, Kesrapalli and Gannavaram were allotted residential and commercial plots of the size 1,000 square yards and 200 sq yards respectively in the capital region of Amaravati in lieu of the lands they had surrendered to the government for the airport expansion. They signed an agreement with the then AP Capital Region Development Authority to that effect and were allotted plots in different localities of Amaravati in 2018, as per the master plan. However, with the Jagan Mohan Reddy government dumping the Amaravati capital city project and deciding to go in for the three- capital plan, the farmers of Gannavaram airport region are left in the lurch. A farmer from Buddhavaram village, who did not want to be named, said the farmers were allotted plots in Amaravati only on paper, but had not been given possession of the sites, as the development of Amaravati was still in progress. Now that the present government has abandoned the capital plan at Amaravati, our plots have no value there. We want our lands back or be paid compensation as per the law, he said. Those who surrendered lands to the state government also include high profile people like former Union minister and senior BJP leader U V Krishnam Raju and popular Telugu film producer C Ashwini Dutt, who had bought agriculture lands and developed farm houses and orchards. On Monday, Ashwini Dutt filed a petition in the state high court seeking a direction to the state government to pay compensation of 210 crore towards 39.15 acres of land he had surrendered to the government at Kesrapalli village for the Gannavaram airport expansion. He said his land was located in a prime commercial area around the airport and the registration value of the land is around 1.25 crore to 1.50 crore per acre. He demanded that the government pay four times the value of the land as compensation before taking possession of the land for the airport. As per the clause in the agreement signed with the APCRDA, we have the right to claim compensation and damages if the APCRDA breaches the agreement. Now that APCRDA has been abolished and construction of the capital city is abandoned, there is no hope for development of Amaravati, where we were allotted plots. So, we are constrained to invoke the clause and seek damages, Dutt said in his petition. Meanwhile, Krishnam Raju also filed a similar petition in the high court seeking adequate monetary compensation for his 31 acres of land at Kesrapalli, which he had surrendered to the government for airport expansion. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON KYODO NEWS - Sep 29, 2020 - 23:17 | All, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday that the two countries will aim to promote territorial negotiations based on a 1956 joint declaration, according to a Japanese government official. In their first phone talks since Suga took office earlier this month, the two leaders underscored an accord Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and Putin struck in 2018 to advance negotiations based on the declaration stipulating that Moscow will hand over two of four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Tokyo after a peace treaty is concluded. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Suga said, "I would like to put an end to the Northern Territory issue without leaving it to the next generation." The 1956 accord, under which Japan and the then-Soviet Union normalized diplomatic relations, involves the two smaller islands -- Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- of what are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. The decades-old dispute over the islands, also involving Kunashiri and Etorofu, has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty after World War II. Suga said he told the Russian leader that he would like to further develop overall bilateral relations. He quoted Putin as telling him that Moscow is ready to continue dialogue on "all bilateral issues." The two agreed to meet in person soon to hold frank discussions, according to the prime minister. However, the Russian presidential office made no reference to the territorial issue and peace treaty in a report by the Kremlin press service about the Suga-Putin talks, a sign of reluctance by Moscow to take up the territorial issue. The two leaders discussed prospects of cooperation on health care including the development of coronavirus vaccines, according to the presidential office. In the roughly 20-minute conversation, which was held at the request of the Japanese government, Putin told Suga that he was ready to "cooperate constructively" on a range of bilateral and international issues, a Japanese official said. The leaders agreed to develop Japan-Russia relations as a whole, including in the fields of politics, economics and culture, the official said. Hours before the talks, Russia announced the start of military exercises on Kunashiri and Etorofu, involving more than 1,500 personnel and 200 machine guns and artillery pieces. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan was given advance notice of the drills last Thursday and had lodged a protest through diplomatic channels. "Such actions are unacceptable as they will lead to a strengthening of Russia's military presence on the islands and are incompatible with Japan's position," Kato said at a press conference. Despite the Abe-Putin agreement to promote territorial talks based on the 1956 declaration, little progress was made so far. After announcing in late August his decision to resign due to health problems, Abe agreed with Putin by phone on the need for ongoing efforts to resolve the issue. The two countries, meanwhile, have agreed to carry out joint economic projects on the islands in five areas -- aquaculture, greenhouse farming, tourism, wind power and waste reduction -- as a trust-building exercise. The islands were seized by the Soviet Union following Japan's surrender in 1945. Tokyo argues the annexation was illegal and demands their return, while Moscow says it was a legitimate outcome of the war. Since being elected prime minister by parliament on Sept. 16, Suga has held a series of phone calls with world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae In. Oil has washed ashore and coated a Florida beach in the wake of Hurricane Sally, according to reports from local officials. The oil was discovered on Saturday along a five-mile stretch of Johnson Beach in Perdido Key on the Gulf Coast close to the Alabama state line. A county official said that it was possible the oil was whipped up by the hurricane from the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon Spill a decade ago, which continues to have impacts in the Gulf. Pensacola and surrounding Escambia County were hit hard by Hurricane Sally earlier this month. The hurricane smacked into southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and surging seawater. Rainfall led to one to two and a half feet of flooding in places. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dustin Williams told the Pensacola News Journal on Monday that officials were collecting samples to discover where the oil had come from. Escambia County Administrator Janice Gilley also told PNJ that the oil looked like tarballs, perhaps from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She said they appeared to have been washed up and melted in the sun but cautioned that the source would not be known for sure until the coast guard had completed testing. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed an estimated 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before it was capped. Then-president Barack Obama called it the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. The fallout was catastrophic: 1,300 miles of coastline from Florida to Texas, was impacted, killing tens of thousands of marine mammals and fish, and decimating livelihoods in the seafood and tourism industries. The cost of the damage ran to tens of billions of dollars. BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Northern Light (www.northernlight.com) today announced its SinglePoint knowledge management platform now contains a search index of reports published by thought leaders from more than 15 preeminent business strategy consulting firms, world renowned "think tanks" and non-governmental research organizations. Northern Light's new Thought Leaders content collection features insights across a range of industries and strategy topics from firms such as Accenture, API, Bain, BCG, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, IBM Institute for Business Value, KPMG, MITRE, Pew Research Center, PwC, Tata Consultancy Services, World Economic Forum (WEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Initially, the collection contains approximately 20,000 market and technology reports; Northern Light expects to add an additional 1,000 new reports per month to the search index. The reports in the Thought Leaders collection contain analysis, commentary, and forecasts of the key trends in a broad swath of industries such as life sciences, healthcare, information technology, financial services, and consumer products. Key topics, such as marketing to Millennials and post-Millennials, are covered in depth. The search index includes links to the reports on the thought leaders' websites, and all of the reports in the collection are available to users. Northern Light SinglePoint is a machine learning-enabled enterprise strategic research portal platform used for research and competitive intelligence by 250,000 professionals at Fortune 500 organizations. SinglePoint allows users to conduct integrated search across multiple content sources, and delivers informative search summaries and article abstracts, as well as automatically generated insights reports. Users also can save custom searches and bookmark articles, receive email search alerts about topics of interest, and create custom dashboards with only the topics an individual cares most about. In addition to the new thought leaders content set, other content collections that can be accessed within SinglePoint include an organization's own primary research, licensed secondary research, industry news, technology vendor white papers, conference abstracts, and various government and industry databases. "Creating new, high value content collections is an important way Northern Light adds value to SinglePoint," C. David Seuss, Northern Light's CEO, said. "The more business-relevant content a user can easily search and mine for insights, the better informed his or her business decisions will be and that's the ultimate payoff for SinglePoint customers." About Northern Light Northern Light has been providing knowledge management platforms for competitive intelligence and market research insights to global enterprises since 1996. The company pioneered the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence for the automated analysis and extraction of meaning from large collections of market research and competitive intelligence, and its SinglePoint enterprise knowledge management platform was honored as one of KMWorld's Trend-Setting Products of 2019. Northern Light's current clients include Fortune 1000 leaders across multiple industries such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and life sciences. Northern Light has over 250,000 users of its strategic research portals. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Northern Light has unique content aggregation partnerships with more than 150 of the world's leading syndicated technology and industry research publishers, aggregates business and technology news from over 6,500 news sources, and is a charter member of the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Media Contact: David Domeshek (508) 873-7068 [email protected] SOURCE Northern Light Related Links https://northernlight.com/ ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE: PEN) today announced that it will host a conference call to discuss financial results for the third quarter 2020 after market close on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 4:30 PM Eastern Time. Penumbra is hosting its call in advance of Election Day 2020, which will be a paid company holiday for Penumbra's U.S. employees to support their right to participate in our democracy. A press release with third quarter 2020 financial results will be issued after market close on October 28, 2020. Webcast & Conference Call Information The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (833) 350-1434 for domestic and international callers (conference id: 3538526), or the webcast can be accessed on the "Events" section under the "Investors" tab of the Company's website at: www.penumbrainc.com . The webcast will be available on the Company's website for at least two weeks following the completion of the call. About Penumbra Penumbra, Inc., headquartered in Alameda, California, is a global healthcare company focused on innovative therapies. Penumbra designs, develops, manufactures and markets novel products and has a broad portfolio that addresses challenging medical conditions in markets with significant unmet need. Penumbra sells its products to hospitals and healthcare providers primarily through its direct sales organization in the United States, most of Europe, Canada and Australia, and through distributors in select international markets. The Penumbra logo is a trademark of Penumbra, Inc. For more information, visit www.penumbrainc.com . Investor Relations Penumbra, Inc. 510-995-2461 [email protected] SOURCE Penumbra, Inc. Related Links http://www.penumbrainc.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 11:20:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is expected to grow by 2.0 percent in 2020, up from the 1-percent growth projection released in June, the World Bank said on Monday. The growth will be boosted by government spending, strong exports, and a low rate of new COVID-19 infections since March, but checked by slow domestic consumption, the World Bank said in the October 2020 Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific. The rest of the region, however, is projected to contract by 3.5 percent, according to the report. The region as a whole is expected to grow by only 0.9 percent in 2020, the lowest rate since 1967. In the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects released in early June, the World Bank projected that the East Asia and Pacific will grow by 0.5 percent in 2020. The World Bank said in the regional update that prospects for the region are brighter in 2021, with growth expected to reach 7.9 percent in China and 5.1 percent in the rest of the region, "based on the assumption of continued recovery and normalization of activity in major economies, linked to the possible arrival of a vaccine." The multilateral lender, however, pointed out that output is projected to remain well below pre-pandemic projections for the next two years, noting that the outlook is particularly dire for some highly-exposed Pacific Island countries where output is projected to remain about 10 percent below pre-crisis levels through 2021. Enditem A Boston task force calling for the city of Boston to install a new independent office to investigate police misconduct is preparing to submit a draft report to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for approval in the coming days. Over the past three months, the task force held two public listening sessions that included testimony from more than 120 residents and received 73 written comments from members of the public. The group calls for the citys police department to, among other things, create an independent office of police accountability and transparency (OPAT) with full investigatory and subpoena power to replace the existing community oversight panel, or Co-op Board. Within that office there will be a civilian review board to investigate complaints against police from the broader public, and an internal affairs oversight panel empowered to audit completed internal investigations with the ability to review as many as needed. Task force members say the civilian review board, which will have at least seven but no more than 11 members, will function like any other city office in that Walsh will appoint who serves on it; but City Council with input from the public will select appointees, and the president of the City Council will get to recommend two from the pool. The remaining members who serve will be nominated by numerous civil rights organizations, neighborhood associations or other stakeholder groups from across the city. No acting law enforcement officers can be selected to serve. The task force maintains that the board will function independently from the city. If the public does not have confidence in this [board], I think the mayors office will hear about it, said task force member Allison Cartwright. The Boston Patrolmans Association, the citys largest police union, was not consulted during the process or involved in drafting the recommendations, task force members said. The patrolmans association has a seat at the table whenever a contract is negotiated," task force member and former state Rep. Marie P. St. Fleur said. Its not often that the public has a voice in the process. Tanisha Sullivan, a task force member and president of the Boston NAACP branch, said the group wanted to find a more inclusive way to build the publics voice into city government without proposing major changes to the structure of government itself. Walsh will still have the final say in who gets to serve on the oversight panel. I want to be clear that this was not an easy process, Sullivan said. And when it came down to drill down on these final recommendations, they really do reflect a weekslong diligent review of documents, analysis, and again, debate. It should not be perceived in any way this task force was of one mind at the outset. Among other proposed reforms, the task force called on the department to adopt data and record practices that maximize accountability, transparency and public access to its records and data. It also reviewed BPDs use of force policies, recommending rigorous implicit bias training for police officers, an expansion of the agencys current body camera program, with a continued ban on racial recognition software, among other things. At the heart of the effort, the task forces recommendations looked to enhance enforceability, accountability, trust, transparency and should improve the relationship between the BPD and [the] Boston community that it serves and protects. The city began a dialogue over the reforms following the police-killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. Following the killing and the public outrage it sparked, Walsh declared racism a public health crisis and moved to reallocate 20% of the BPDs fiscal year 2021 overtime budget, or about $12 million, to be invested instead in community programs for youth, for homelessness, for people struggling with the effects of inequality. The draft recommendations are in the process of being finalized and submitted Walshs office in the coming days. Related Content: Gold mining can be environmentally devastating, but it does not have to be. Viewpoint will provide additional information about environmentally friendly gold mining practices in the new episode. Impressively versatile actor Dennis Quaid has been entertaining audiences since the 1970s, starring in cult classics like Breaking Away along the way. Now the Innerspace actor is putting his talents to use hosting televisions Viewpoint. The TV program is of the educational variety and showcases a wide range of topics that affect people around the globe today. Soon the show will dive into sustainable practices. An upcoming episode will feature experts discussing ecologically-sound gold mining options. For countless years, gold has been a precious commodity. Many seek to get their hands on it, whether it be for decorative or adorning purposes, or for investing. Gold is a naturally occurring raw material and can continue to form in active volcanic areas, but the process of harvesting the mineral can cause more harm than good. Conventional gold mining leads to ravaged landscapes, contaminated water supplies, and environmental pollution from toxic substances like mercury and cyanide. However, there are more eco-friendly options for pursuing gold. Eco-friendly gold mining mines and recovers gold with minimal disruption to the environment and without using cyanide, mercury, and other toxic chemicals. Gold mining can be environmentally devastating, but it does not have to be. Viewpoint will provide additional information about environmentally friendly gold mining practices in the new episode. Viewpoint with host Dennis Quaid is carefully reviewed before airing to a public viewing audience. The educational TV program has accepted numerous awards for its endeavors in television. Myanmar & COVID-19 Yangon Health Official Vows All-Out Battle Against COVID-19 A Yangon resident has a swab sample taken for COVID-19 testing. YANGONA senior Yangon region health official has urged city residents to comply strictly with coronavirus prevention guidelines, saying the Health Ministry would launch an all-out battle to contain the spread of the virus in Myanmars COVID-19 epicenter. Myanmars commercial hub, with a population of more than 7 million, Yangon has been the center of the countrys second wave of COVID-19 since late last month. Of the 11,631 COVID-19 cases reported in Myanmar as of Tuesday morning, two-thirds are in Yangon. The countrys coronavirus death toll reached 256 on the same day. Calling the current situation most critical, Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, vice chairman of Yangons COVID-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Committee, said on Sept. 28 that the government was mobilizing large numbers of medical staff, preparing hospital beds and quarantine centers and procuring medicines. The Health Ministry expects thousands of COVID-19 patients to be identified daily during its containment operations, as it is now using antigen test kits to test all suspected COVID-19 carriers and those who have had contact with known COVID-19 patients. This battle [against COVID-19] is very important for us. Everyone in Yangon has to join the battle. No one can avoid it. Only with everyones participation can we achieve victory, said Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, referring to the need to strictly follow COVID-19 prevention guidelines like handwashing and social distancing. Since Monday, people in nearly every township of Yangon have been virtually grounded under the governments stricter stay-at-home orders, which include a ban on travel between townships. Only workers performing essential services like those working in banks and the food industry are free to go out, and only with a government-issued QR pass. All garment factories have been ordered to close until Oct. 7 and other businesses and organizations have been ordered to work from home. If we beat it in Yangon within this week, we will be able to contain the spread of COVID-19 for the whole country Dr. Zaw Wai Soe said. For the all-out battle, Dr. Zaw Wai Soe said the Yangon government is now preparing more temporary hospitals, as it expects an increase in the number of cases detected because health workers are using rapid testing. As of Monday, Myanmar was testing more than 5,000 swabs per day. I hope we can win the battle, he said. Currently, Myanmar is fourth among ASEAN countries in terms of number of cases, having recently passed the 11,034 cases in Malaysia. The Philippines has reported more than 307,000 cases, Indonesia more than 279,000 and Singapore more than 57,000. Cases have been reported in 205 townships across 14 states and regions in the country with only Kayah State reporting no COVID-19 cases. Rakhine, the second-hardest-hit state, had reported more than 1,500 COVID-19 cases as of Monday. The Myanmar government announced on Monday that all COVID-19 orders, which had been imposed until Sept. 30, are now extended until Oct. 31. As part of the COVID-19 guidelines, people are ordered to wear face masks when going outside and gatherings of more than 29 people are prohibited. The Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications has also extended its ban on international flights until Oct. 31. International flights, except for relief, cargo and special flights, have been grounded since March 29. Domestic services have been banned since Sept. 11. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Reports Its Seventh COVID-19 Death; First in Over Four Months Myanmars COVID-19 Cases Exceed 1,000 New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Pacific islands such as Fiji may be among the first countries that Australians will be allowed to travel to, Scott Morrison has said. The Prime Minister revealed on Tuesday that he is considering a 'traffic light system' that would allow people entering Australia from Covid-safe countries to avoid hotel quarantine. Overseas travel has been banned since March and it remains unclear when it will resume but Mr Morrison said the first step will be to open to 'safe locations'. New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Pacific islands such as Fiji (pictured) will be among the first countries that Australians will be allowed to travel to, Scott Morrison has said The Prime Minister revealed on Tuesday that he is considering a 'traffic light system' that would allow people entering Australia from Covid-safe countries to avoid hotel quarantine. Pictured: Queenstown, New Zealand 'Our borders will open up at some point to safe locations whether it be New Zealand or parts of the Pacific or places like South Korea or Japan or countries that have had a much higher rate of success,' he told reporters. Mr Morrison said other countries including Denmark and Greece have similar models where returned travellers only have to go into quarantine if they have come from places with high levels of coronavirus. He said he was considering letting people quarantine at home instead of in hotels if they fly in from a low-risk country. 'Home quarantine can play a role in the future and it's something that is being considered by the AHPPC (Australian Health Protection Principal Committee). 'We will need a more flexible approach that gives us more options for managing this, so that is something that is under active consideration,' he said. Overseas travel has been banned since March and it remains unclear when it will resume but Mr Morrison said the first step will be to open to 'safe locations' such as South Korea (pictured) Mr Morrison said home quarantine worked well in February and March when many Chinese Australians were returning from China. Since March 17 only Australian citizens and permanent residents are allowed to enter Australia. They must complete two weeks of hotel quarantine at their own cost. Overseas travel is banned until 17 December and that period may be extended. A travel bubble with New Zealand which will allow holidays without quarantine has long been under discussion but still has not happened. Under revised plans drawn up by Australia's tourism restart task force, Kiwis would be able to freely enter Australia in November and Aussies would go the other way by January or February. The plan, obtained by the The Australian, calls for all states to open their borders by December 1. All state and territory leaders want their borders open by Christmas except WA's Mark McGowan and Queensland's Annastacia Palaszczuk. Queensland faces an election on October 31 and WA on March 31 and border closures are popular in both states. As Nigeria marks her 60th independence anniversary, a Lagos based Non Political, Non Governmental Organization, the Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA) congratulates Nigerians, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to be more people focused in his policy formulation. Speaking through a recent statement made available to Journalists in Lagos, Jerome-Mario Utomi, the Groups Programmes Cordinator (Media/Public Policy), felicitated with Nigerians on this auspicious celebration noting that a day like this ought to be a moment of joy but unfortunately, the vast majority particularly the poor masses cannot express such happiness as a result of the present economic downturn in the country. While urging Nigerians to seek consolation in the reality that relative peace is better than war, the release which formed part of the organizations activities to mark the nations 60th Independence Day Celebration, acknowledged the effort the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government is making in the areas of infrastructural development. But however, added that from this glimpse evidence, one could hasty assume that the nation is standing on the right pedesta. Continuing, the rights advocates lamented that a further view beyond this peripheral show of leadership reveals a sad reality of policies that aptly qualify as anti-people, anti-development and openly promote hardship and capable of enslaving the nation to the foreign countries. Quoting Federal Governments inability to provide palliatives for the poor masses during the Corona Virus Pandemic period, inadequate attention to development of the young people, develop their skills and generate the spirit of excellence and creativity in them as perfect examples. While stressing that the nation will under the present circumstance not record sustained development, SEJA added that this ugly situation is compounded by President Muhammadu Buharis led administrations penchant for foreign loans without recourse to its ingrain consequence on the socioeconomic future of the nation as no nation becomes great by living on borrowed fund. From the event of the past five years, the Group observed that it is obvious that Mr. President and his handlers appears to have forgotten that achieving success is a matter of following specified laws/ key indicators. The nation at this juncture need to evaluate the promised change/next level and accept them only if it makes sense as acceptance without evaluation amounts to conforming behaviour which is a sign of lack of confidence. We are particularly unhappy that at a time the countrys economy is showing its inability to sustain any kind of meaningful growth that promotes the social welfare of the people, corruption becomes even more entrenched as scandal upon scandal has completely laid bare the anti-corruption stance of this administration and those who were initially deceived by the present governments alleged fight against corruption has come to the conclusion that nothing has changed. The worst part of this narrative is that while the nation is right now in its most fragile state since the end of the civil war, the Federal Government, has by its actions and inactions proved to all that they are not responsive to the yearnings of the poor masses. Even the democracy gains the country recorded under the previous administrations are being eroded daily by the present occurrences in the country. The skyrocketed prices of food items and other commodities in the market support this fact. Under the present state of high level insecurity, suffocated economy that daily drive citizens to the rank of beggars, the Group is tempted to ask; how the present administration hope to achieve the promised lifting of 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty? It remain a paradox of the sort listening to the representatives of the FG during their negotiation with the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress recently in Abuja, declare that they recognize the public outcry and protest over the recent Federal Government twin policies on Electricity Tariff Reform and full implementation of deregulation of the downstream sector of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, and bears in mind that due to impact of COVID-19 pandemic the world is undergoing socio-economic transition which has affected price stability, sustainability of enterprises, employment, and other socio-economic indices. If they are sensitive as claim, why must they wait until the inconsiderate hikes were about resulting in the nation-wide industrial action by Organised Labour before calling for negotiation? If they are convinced that due to impact of COVID-19 pandemic the world is undergoing socio-economic transition which has affected price stability, sustainability of enterprises, employment, and other socio-economic indices, why must such burden be on the civil servants and poor masses alone as public office holders have not in anyway shown that they are with the masses in the corona virus imposed recession. Instead, they have continued to flaunt behaviour or qualities that raised them above the civil servants. To make this celebration rewarding, the Group therefore called on Mr. President to find out who else(country) had met the present problems in the country, how they had tackled it, and how successful they had become. So as to draw useful lesson from such encounter. The administration should as a matter of urgency tackle the protracted failure to stamp out corruption in the country as promised and positively drive to fruition the much orchestrated change and next level mantras. ROME Three years after leaving for Australia to face sexual abuse accusations, and five months after that countrys highest court overturned his conviction on those charges, Cardinal George Pell was expected to return to the Vatican on Wednesday. We understand that he is due to arrive in Rome tomorrow, said Chiara Porro, the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, adding that she had had no contact with the prelate or his office, so could not comment on the reasons for the trip. On its home page, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney linked to an article in The Catholic Weekly, the diocesan newspaper, which reported that Cardinal Pell was returning at the Vaticans invitation and that it was believed that the invitation emanates from Pope Francis. A Vatican spokesman said on Tuesday that Cardinal Pell was not scheduled to meet with the pope. The Australian cardinals return follows the unexpected ouster last week of his longtime Vatican rival, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, as the head of the department that creates saints. Cardinal Becciu said at a news conference on Friday that he had been fired by the pope over embezzlement allegations, but maintained that he was innocent. More than 150 cats at a Concord Township-based animal sanctuary have been surrendered to the Lake Humane Society. According to a Lake Humane Society news release, the agency executed a search warrant at Carolines Kids Pet Rescue & Sanctuary Sept. 25 after receiving a complaint from a concerned community member about the conditions of the cats and the facility they were living in. A Lake Humane Society and humane agent and a veterinarian allegedly observed unsanitary conditions and determined the medical state of a majority of the cats was critical, according to the news release. The release further stated that 49 dead cats were removed from the property and 161 live cats were transported to the Lake Humane Society to receive treatment for various ailments such as upper respiratory infection, panleukopenia, stomatitis, infestation of fleas and ringworm. On Sept. 28, the Painesville Municipal Court determined there was probable cause for the seizure and the cats were surrendered to the humane society, according to the release. Once the investigation is concluded, the case will be reviewed for criminal charges by Lake Humane Society prosecutors. Messages to Carolines Kids seeking comment were not immediately returned. In 2017, Carolines Kids owners Tom and Judie Brown, along with two employees, were found guilty in Painesville Municipal Court on 24 misdemeanor counts following a November 2016 Lake Humane inspection of the facility. Agents found more than 260 cats living in the repurposed residential home. The humane society alleged that more than 60 percent of the cats had untreated medical conditions. It was further alleged that a majority of the sick cats were not sequestered in quarantine areas, resulting in cats with infectious disease roaming throughout the house and spreading disease to other cats. 161 cats four of them deceased were seized from the sanctuary. In 2019, Tom and Judie Brown were accused of violating terms of their three-year probation that allowed them to continue operating the shelter. Painesville Municipal Court Visiting Judge David Fuhry found them guilty of those violations, and on Dec. 20 imposed new probationary sanctions. First, the judge extended the length of the Browns probation to five years from three years. Fuhry also ordered them to resign from any position they may hold with any animal-related organization or businesses. In addition, the judge ruled that the Browns shall not work, be employed by, volunteer with, assist, other than direct financial assistance, or otherwise act or serve in any capacity with any organization or business involving the care of animals. The Browns appealed the probation violation conviction to the Eleventh District Court of Appeals. An oral argument was scheduled to be heard Sept. 15, according to court records. A week before the new probationary sanctions were imposed, Jackie Childers was named Carolines Kids new director. Childers appointed a new board of directors prior to the imposition of the new sanctions. Childers told the News-Herald in January she was setting out to ensure that Carolines Kids provides a safe, comfortable and compassionate environment for its feline residents, many of whom are old, disabled and have other special needs. Those of us in this next generation of Carolines Kids are dedicated to the good care and happiness of the cats in our facility, Childers said in January. Many of the cats will reside (at Carolines Kids) for the rest of their lives and we will also seek to find individual homes for cats who are adoptable. Gerry Kellys celebration of the death of a prison officer does not advance the cause of Irish unity, the Taoiseach said. Mr Kelly, now a Sinn Fein assembly member, was one of 38 IRA inmates who escaped from the Maze in 1983. Prison officer James Ferris died of a heart attack after being stabbed while attempting to stop the breakout. Micheal Martin accused Sinn Fein of pursuing the issue of a shared island unit in his department for the purpose solely of winning more votes. When your colleague Gerry Kelly celebrates the prison escape which resulted in the murder of a prison officer, is that OK? Do you think that advances the cause of Irish unity? Of course it does not. North Belfast assembly member Mr Kelly described the breakout as one of Big Bobs best ops, referring to senior republican Bobby Storey, adding: I had the privilege of the front passenger seat. Well someone had to check we were taking the right route out!!. Mr Martin told the Dail that Sinn Feins interest in the new shared island unit in the Taoiseachs department was about winning more votes. It is much more profound and complex than that. The Good Friday Agreement, in my view, is an excellent document. It is about time a lot of people worked to the agreement. AIZAWL: In one of the biggest seizures of arms and ammunition in northeast in recent years, the Border Security Forces (BSF) arrested three arms smugglers in West Phaileng, Mizoram. The force also seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from their possession. The arms were found hidden in cavities in two pickup-vehicles, and included 28 AK Series rifles, 1 AK 74, one 0.30 inch Carbine, 28 magazines, 7894 ammunition and 2 khukhri. According to the force, this was an 'attempt by anti-national elements to smuggle arms and ammunition into Indian territory'. The BSF said that they received reliable information about the infiltration attempt from a source and accordingly launched an operation. A team of personnel from 90 Battalion BSF, based in Mamit district laid an ambush on the route that was being taken by the anti-national elements. The forces learned that they were bringing in AK series Rifles along with a lot of ammunition for some insurgent groups. In the late hours, two vehicles were spotted approaching from West Phaileng, which were intercepted and taken into control by the alert BSF party, who then also detained three occupant passengers. The two vehicle and three arms smugglers were then handed over to Phaileng Police Station. The alert BSF troops were able to foil the design of anti-national elements to supply arms and ammunition and create disturbances in Mizoram. This is one of the biggest seizures of arms and mmmunition in northeast in the past several years. MIAMI and TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology (Florida Institute) announced today that it had finalized a funding agreement with TempMee, a platform for sourcing on-demand temporary dental professionals that allows dental offices to post temporary, short term or contract shifts for licensed dental professionals to bid on. The Florida Institute collaborates with corporate, academic, and investment partners to drive innovation-based economic development across the State of Florida. Vacancies for dental hygienists cause dental offices across the country to lose significant revenue each year while endangering their patients' and staff's safety. TempMee is led by a team of industry experts aiming to solve labor shortages through improved distribution, creating a new and easier way of connecting licensed dental professionals with dental offices in need of temporary help through an on-demand web and mobile platform. TempMee allows dental offices to attract better talent and provide its patients with improved customer experience while helping hygienists create additional income, opportunities, and flexibility. "TempMee is a platform that can help dental offices throughout Florida solve critical efficiency gaps improving many Floridians' lives, "said Rafael Lohner, Florida Institute, Business Manager. "With their proprietary technology, they have already created a network that is gaining traction quickly solving a critical staffing need while providing highly skilled dental professionals with the opportunity to improve their income." About the Florida Institute Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology supports and funds innovation companies that create clean jobs in new industries driving the global economy. The Institute provides company building services and seed funding through the Florida Technology Seed Capital Fund to promising Florida startups that are developing products that improve and save lives and help companies improve their bottom line. The organization's investment decisions are guided through a strong partnership with its Private Fund Manager, Florida Funders. The Institute's economic impact between 2011 and 2019 was $1.9 billion, with an annual return on investment of 31 times to the State of Florida. About TempMee TempMee allows dental offices to quickly and easily source qualified and licensed dental professionals, mitigating revenue loss, and customer satisfaction when regular staff needs to miss work. Their platform replaces temp agencies with proprietary technology that allows employers to post available shifts for qualified workers to bid on. Media Contact: Rafael Lohner, +1.561.368.8889, [email protected] SOURCE The Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology Year 12 students at a New South Wales school have swapped Muck Up Day antics for a charity fundraiser in the wake of disturbing 'challenges' being exposed at some of the nation's most elite schools. HSC students at Mackillop Catholic College on the Central Coast have raised $1,500 for children's charity the Starlight Foundation. Students dressed up in costumes and collected donations in exchange for performing harmless activities, including rafting on the school dam. School captain Ryley Small said despite the coronavirus pandemic making their final year of schooling difficult, his cohort wanted to help those doing it even tougher. HSC students at Mackillop Catholic College on the Central Coast raised $1500 for the Starlight Foundation by dressing up in costumes and collecting donations in exchange for offering fun activities School captain Ryley Small said that despite the coronavirus pandemic making their final year of schooling difficult, his cohort wanted to help those doing it even tougher Activities to raise money included rafting across the school dam (pictured) 'We wanted to give to a children's foundation because some students might not have the opportunity to have a charity day themselves or the opportunity to graduate,' he told The Daily Telegraph. Principal Debra Ferguson praised her students for helping those less fortunate instead of taking part in the mayhem of a traditional'Muck Up Day. The fundraising comes just days after elite schools around the state were exposed for vile end of year pranks and challenges. Leaving students at Merewether High School in Newcastle, north of Sydney, were challenged to send a sexual abuse survivor - who was abused from the age of four to 10 - a message 'defending paedophiles' to score points in the hunt. Leaving students at Merewether High School in Newcastle, north of Sydney, were challenged to send a sexual abuse survivor a message 'defending paedophiles' to score points in the hunt The young girl from Newcastle, north of Sydney, later learned the messages were sent to earn points for a local schools' Muck Up Day scavenger hunt challenge (pictured) An 18-year-old girl, who Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to name, became the victim of one of the challenges on Wednesday night when she began receiving unsolicited messages from boys she hardly knew defending paedophilia One of the boys who participated messaged the teenage sexual abuse survivor late on Wednesday night to say: 'I really don't think paedophiles are that bad.' When she questioned the message, the boy added: 'My uncle was one and I think he's a good bloke. Is there anything wrong with that? 'Everyone is human. We are all the same, black, white, pedo, not pedo.' The young woman, who can't be identified, later learned the messages were sent to earn points for the selective school's muck-up day scavenger hunt. The New South Wales Department of Education told Daily Mail Australia he was barred from graduating with his peers after the school learned of the incident. Meanwhile, the elite Shore School on Sydney's lower north shore was forced to go into damage control last week after a document detailing a muck up day scavenger hunt circulated among Year 12 students was leaked to the public. Titled the 'Triwizard Shorenament,' students at the $33,000-per-year school were encouraged to participate in a series of activities such as spitting on a homeless man, breaking into Taronga Zoo and taking drugs. The 'rule book' - detailed by students in a PDF documents - reveals plans to meet at a park on the lower north shore on the night before the traditional celebrations. Year 12 students would be split into teams of five or six before carrying out a series of tasks to gain the most points. Some challenges are illegal, such as 'snort a line' (of cocaine) or 'rip a cone on the Harbour Bridge' (smoke cannabis out of a bong). The 'rule book' - detailed by students in a PDF documents - reveals plans to meet at a park on the lower north shore on the night before the traditional celebrations Titled the 'Triwizard Shorenament,' students at the elite school were encouraged to participate in a series of activities such as spitting on a homeless man, breaking into Taronga Zoo and taking drugs The list of challenges also denigrates women, urging students to have sex with a woman over 80kg or hook up with an unattractive women deemed '3/10 or lower' Others dare students to 'break into Taronga Zoo', 'spit on a homeless man', and 'sh** on a train'. Some involve assaulting total strangers by hitting them in the genitals while they are walking past. The list of challenges also denigrates women, urging students to have sex with a woman over 80kg or hook up with an unattractive women deemed '3/10 or lower'. Instructions written into the rule book advise students they must document their completed tasks on Instagram. But they are also warned not to upload any potentially incriminating evidence of illegal behaviour including 'inappropriate or sexual advances'. Extending his governments support to agitating farmers in this aukhi ghari (difficult time), Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday assured them of all possible legal and other help to fight the new farm laws, including a special session of the Vidhan Sabha to discuss and decide the way forward. Chairing a meeting with representatives of 31 farmer unions to take their views on the matter, the chief minister said he would be discussing the issue with his legal team to finalise the line of action, including challenging farm laws in the Supreme Court. Besides farmer representatives, the AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat, attended the meeting, along with cabinet ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and advocate general Atul Nanda. We will take all possible steps to counter the Union governments assault on the states federal and constitutional rights, and fight for the interest of the farmers, Captain Amarinder Singh told the farmers. If legal experts advise amendment to the state laws to fight the central laws, a special session of the Vidhan Sabha will be called to do so, he said. He, however, trashed Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badals demand for a special Vidhan Sabha session as cheap gimmickry after supporting the central laws for months. Where were the Akalis in the last session and why did Sukhbir not support the other parties at the all-party meeting? he said. He said the Akalis, led by Sukhbir, had been supporting the farm ordinances throughout and had only backed out once their position in Punjab became untenable amid widespread angst among farmers. If they were so concerned about the farmers interests, why did Harsimrat Kaur Badal not resign from the Union Cabinet the moment the farm ordinances were brought in by the Centre? he said. New Delhi: Naxals who allegedly damaged a 1000-year-old idol of Lord Ganesha located atop a densely forested Dholkal mountain in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Dantewada district has been restored to its original place. The vandalised idol was found at the bottom of the hill, police said. Police suspect the involvement of Naxals in vandalising the idol citing that ultras were frustrated with the frequent movement of tourists and devotees to the place. After some locals who had gone to visit the place reported that the idol was missing, a team of police and district administration rushed to the area. Kashyap along with Dantewada Collector Saurabh Kumar reached there for investigation. "During the search, the broken idol was found lying at around 1,000 feet down the hilltop. Probably it was pushed down from it's place," police said. Prima facie it appears that Naxals were involved in the incident as according to villagers their movement was witnessed a few days back on the mountain range.A Even the informers had tipped off that ultras were frustrated with the frequent visit of tourists and devotees to the place, the officer said. The SP ruled out any attempt to steal the idol citing that the 4-feet idol was placed on a steep vertical hill and it was not possible for some persons to lift it from there.A It is presumed that the idol was made during the time of Nagvanshi dynasty in the 9th or 10th century on a 'dhol' shaped mountain range. The mountain range lies 14 kms deep inside forest fromFaraspal police station of the district, around 450 kms away. One has to reach to the place on foot through forest route as no road is available there. Meanwhile, the state's Tourism and Culture MinisterDayaldas Baghel said an inquiry has been initiated into the incident. Prime facie it appears that the crime has been committed by some anti-social elements, said the minister, adding, archaeological department and district administration has launched probe into the matter. The state government is developing Dholkal mountain asa trekking spot since large number of tourists visit there. (With PTI Inputs) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) - President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that he wants a dialogue with social media giant Facebook after it recently shut down pages linked to the state forces that were found spreading misinformation. You cannot lay down a policy for my government. I allow you to operate here. You cannot bar or prevent me from espousing the objectives of the government, said Duterte in a late-night address. Facebook removed last week 57 accounts, 31 pages, and 20 Instagram accounts linked to the police and military for coordinated inauthentic behavior. However, the government forces denied having a hand on the supposed fake accounts and pages. We allow you to operate here, hoping that you could help us also, said Duterte. Now, if you cannot advocate something which is [for] the good of the people, then what is your purpose here in the country? Duterte pointed out that it is his job to protect the interests of the government. If you cannot help me protect government interest, then let us talk, he said. The President also accused the social media platform of enabling rebellion after the shutdown of the fake accounts. If you are promoting the cause of the rebellion, which was already here before you came, and thousands of my soldiers and civilians dying, said Duterte. Then if you cannot reconcile the idea of what your purpose is or was, then we have to talk. Is there life after Facebook? I dont know, warned Duterte. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that supporters of Duterte would likely look for other platforms after the shutdown of the said fake accounts. In 2018, Facebook also took down hundreds of pages - including pro-Duterte pages - that were found posting spam or irrelevant content. IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 28, 2020 / The 2020 JD Power US Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study has named Hyundai MnSOFT as the best-in-class navigation provider for the Hyundai Sonata in the midsize/large category. Hyundai MnSOFT (CEO: Jisoo Hong) is a vehicle infotainment company within the Hyundai Motor Group. The new annual category presented by JD Power asked 87,282 new US vehicle owners to rate their user experience based on quality and satisfaction. Hyundai MnSOFT's Generation 5 Wide navigation system received the highest score of 928 out of 1,000 possible points. This can be attributed to the company's obsessive commitment to quality. The same powerful 10.25-inch-wide screen system can be found in other 2020 Hyundai models including the Ioniq, Kona, and Palisade, as well as, the 2020 Kia Cadenza, Niro, Seltos, Soul, and Telluride. The connected navigation platform includes cloud-based routing, online search, traffic, weather, and even warns the driver for upcoming red-light and speed cameras. "This award is direct recognition by consumers of the advanced vehicle infotainment capabilities of the Hyundai Motor Group and Hyundai MnSOFT in the world's largest automobile market," said a Hyundai MnSOFT spokesperson. "We will continue to invest and make efforts to showcase new innovations and unique user experiences in the future mobility market, as well as multimedia environments." Hyundai MnSOFT's goal to provide its customers with the best in-car experience possible extends to the upcoming ECO 3.0 navigation system for Hyundai's new IONIQ EV brand. The system will provide dynamic charging information spanning across nearly all charging station networks in the United States and Canada, so drivers can always find a place to charge up. To learn more about the JD Power 2020 Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study, see the press release. https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-us-multimedia-quality-and-satisfaction-study About Hyundai MnSOFT Inc. Hyundai MnSOFT, a vehicle infotainment company within the Hyundai Motor Group, provides services such as navigation software, HD (high definition) maps for autonomous driving, LBS (Location based service), and a data sharing platform. For the future autonomous driving era, a 16,000-kilometer-long road dedicated to autonomous driving in Korea has been precisely mapped by Hyundai MnSOFT. Hyundai MnSOFT has signed strategic partnerships with global companies including HERE, a global map company, to provide key technologies necessary for the autonomous driving era. http://www.hyundai-mnsoft.com/EN/index.mms Media Contact: Shawn Kalantar? Email: shawn@hyundai-mnsoft.com Related Images Related Links Hyundai MnSOFT Company Website SOURCE: Hyundai MnSOFT Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608153/JD-Power-Names-Hyundai-MnSOFT-Best-in-Class-Navigation-System-in-the-2020-Hyundai-Sonata WICHITA, Kan., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast-casual restaurant concept Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers announced today that it donated $20,000 to the Kids In Need Foundation through its annual National Frozen Custard Day promotion in August. Since 2016, Freddy's has donated $75,000 to the organization, a national non-profit organization that partners with teachers and students in underserved schools to provide the resources needed for teachers to teach and learners to learn. "Year after year, Freddy's has shown incredible commitment to students and teachers across the country," said Corey Gordon, CEO of Kids In Need Foundation. "The support from both Freddy's and its guests inspires learning across the country and we look forward to continuing to collaborate in the future." Founded in 1995, the Kids In Need Foundation believes that every child in America should have equal opportunity and access to a quality education. Its mission is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn by providing free school supplies to classrooms nationwide, with a focus on schools with 70% or more of the student population participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). To date, the foundation has distributed over $1 Billion in school supplies, and supported 5 million students and 200,000 teachers in 2019. This donation follows a successful National Frozen Custard Day promotion held on August 8. Participating Freddy's locations offered a $1 discount on all custard menu items throughout the day and supported the foundation with a donation. On September 29, 2020, Freddy's Director of Franchise Support Mike Mann presented the check to the Kids In Need Foundation at the Rogers, MN Freddy's location. "This year's success has been really uplifting for everyone involved, given the obstacles that we've all faced over the last few months," said Randy Simon, co-founder and CEO for Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. "We're inspired every day by the mission of Kids In Need Foundation and are honored to be able to help in this way. Students and teachers across the country are adapting to a new normal this year and we are proud to support their academic pursuits through this partnership." Frozen custard is churned throughout the day, every day in each Freddy's restaurant to produce the high-quality, fresh custard treats that made the restaurant famous in 32 states. The brand plans to open more than 30 restaurants nationwide throughout 2020. Franchise opportunities remain in areas across the U.S., including the Northeast, Upper Midwest, California, and large metro areas such as Pittsburgh and many of its surrounding markets. For more information about development opportunities, contact Markus Scholler, Senior Vice President of Franchise Development, at 316-719-7850, or visit www.freddysusa.com/franchising. About Freddy's Co-founded in 2002 by Scott Redler and Bill, Randy and Freddy Simon, Freddy's opened its first location in Wichita, Kansas, offering a unique combination of cooked-to-order steakburgers seasoned with Freddy's Famous Steakburger & Fry Seasoning, Vienna Beef hot dogs, shoestring fries paired with Freddy's Famous Fry Sauce and frozen custard that is freshly churned throughout the day. Today, Freddy's has grown to more than 375 locations that serve 32 states across the nation from California to Pennsylvania, Virginia, down the East Coast states to Florida. Freddy's has been named No. 1 on Forbes Best Franchises to Buy, QSR Magazine's 2019 Best Franchise Deals, Entrepreneur's 2020 Franchise 500 top 100, Franchise Times magazine's 2020 Fast & Serious top 40 and many other nationwide and local industry awards. For more on Freddy's, visit the Newsroom and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news. About The Kids In Need Foundation The Kids In Need Foundation provides the support and tools needed for teachers to teach and learners to learn as a quality education is the best gateway to opportunity, and students cannot achieve their full potential without it. With a focus on supporting schools most in need nationwide, Kids In Need Foundation believes that every child in America should have equal opportunity and access to a quality education. Founded in 1995, Kids In Need Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization, has distributed $1 billion in school supplies since its inception. For more information, visit KINF.org, and join us on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram: @KidsInNeed. Lucy Kaneb | Account Coordinator [email protected] 954.893.9150 SOURCE Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers Related Links www.freddysusa.com Residents applying for high-security registration plates at the Automated Driving Test Centre on Chandigarh Road were left a harried lot on Tuesday after the staff of the private company managing it went on a strike, in protest of termination of services of their colleagues. The work of issuing and installing the number plates was halted for more than three hours, following which the company had to arrange staff from other centres. Only a few applicants were seen waiting their turn at the centre, while others were asked to return, with an assurance that the number plates will be installed at their respective locations. As per information, the private company to whom the contract to install the plates has been awarded by the government had laid off some employees on Sunday. Protesting against their employers move, around 10 employees went on strike on Tuesday morning, with work at the centre resuming only in the afternoon. One of the applicants, Gursharan Singh, a truck driver, said, I came for the plates around 9am, but the staff had announced a strike. We have been asking the staff to install the plates, but they have asked us to wait. There is no other option because if we leave, we will have to come back. State head of the private contractor Arjun Singh said, Soon after the employees went on strike, we arranged for staff from other centres. Meanwhile, residents who were waiting their turn were asked to return, and the company staff will install the plates at their respective places in the coming days. By Supantha Mukherjee and Anne Kauranen STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia has clinched a deal with Britain's biggest mobile operator BT to supply 5G radio equipment, the Finnish company said on Tuesday, in one of the first major wins under new CEO Pekka Lundmark. The deal will make Nokia BT's largest equipment provider and comes just months after Britain said it would ban China's Huawei Technologies from next-generation 5G telecom networks. The size of the contract was not disclosed. Nokia has won 63% of the BT contract, or about 11,600 radio sites, a source familiar with the matter said. Nokia currently powers BT's network in Greater London, the Midlands and rural locations, but the new contract will add multiple towns and cities across the United Kingdom. BT Group CEO Philip Jansen said the agreement would allow it to continue the rollout of fixed and mobile networks, with digital connectivity critical to the UK's economic future. Under the current ban, UK operators will not be able to purchase 5G components from Huawei from the end of this year and must remove all existing Huawei gear from the 5G network by 2027, offering opportunities for for Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson . Nokia had a 21% share of the global radio access network (RAN) market in 2019, versus 29% for Ericsson and Huawei's 31%, according to data from Moody's. While Nokia has been winning contracts from operators across the world, it suffered a setback earlier this month when it lost out to Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> on a part of a contract to supply new 5G equipment to Verizon . Nokia is under new management with Lundmark taking the top job last month and telecoms veteran Sari Baldauf becoming the chairwoman in May. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a daily media briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York in New York City on July 23, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images) Cuomo Extends Residential Eviction Moratoriums In New York New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday issued an executive order extending the statewide moratorium on residential evictions through the end of the year. Cuomo said the moratorium will be extended until Jan. 1 to help residents struggling to make ends meet during the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. As New York continues to fight the pandemic, we want to make sure New Yorkers who are still struggling financially will not be forced from their homes as a result of COVID, Cuomo said in a statement. We are extending the protections of the Safe Harbor Act through January 1 because we want tenants to have fundamental stability in their lives as we recover from this crisis. The order extends protections to residents afforded by the Tenant Safe Harbor Act, which gives certain cover to people facing eviction for nonpayment of rent. Under the law, tenants must prove their financial hardship in court and that the hardship occurred during the covered period, which began on March 7 and was due to end on Oct. 20, now extended to Jan. 1. Tenants who successfully prove that they experienced financial hardship during the period in question and are awarded the ability to stay in their apartment are still responsible for rent debt. While qualified renters cannot be evicted because they missed rent during the covered period, landlords can still seek a money judgment to recuperate any unpaid rent. Earlier in September, Cuomo extended the states moratorium on CCP virus-related commercial evictions until Oct. 20. This measure extends protections already in place for commercial tenants and mortgagors in recognition of the financial toll the pandemic has taken on business owners, including retail establishments and restaurants., Cuomos office said in a statement. New York Citys restaurants, meanwhile, are gearing up to resume indoor dining on Sept. 30 after lockdowns over the pandemic drove their closures. Eateries will have to follow strict rules, however, including operating at a maximum capacity of 25 percent of legal capacity, run enhanced air filtration, and shutting their doors by midnight. Customers will have to be subjected to temperature checks and wear masks unless seated at their tables. At a Sept. 28 press conference announcing the moratorium extension, Cuomo said that while New York State has an overall COVID-19 positivity rate of 1.5 percent, there was significant action in clusters in Brooklyn, Orange County, and Rockland County. Health officials would be intensifying their efforts in these areas, Cuomo said, noting additional testing compliance measures. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / NV Gold Corporation (TSXV:NVX)(OTC PINK:NVGLF) ("NV Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has received necessary drill approvals for its 100% owned Sandy Gold Project ("Sandy") located within the Walker Lane, Lyon County, Nevada, USA. NV Gold's first drill program at Sandy encompasses up to 1,500 m in up to 10 drill holes. A property-wide geophysical program was recently completed consisting of 198 line-kms of electromagnetic (resistivity and conductivity), magnetic, and radiometric surveys. Raw data is currently being analyzed by senior geophysicists from Goldspot Discoveries Corp. and will assist in delineating high priority drill targets testing this low-sulphidation epithermal gold system. "We look forward to completing our first drill program at the Sandy Gold Project, which last saw drilling in the early 1990s. We are currently finalizing our drill program that is expected to commence in October 2020," commented Peter A. Ball, President and CEO of NV Gold. "At the same time we are preparing our drill at the Sandy Gold Project, we have recently submitted our drill permit for our 100% owned Slumber Gold Project in Humboldt County, Nevada, which was leased in 2019. We also continue to advance the optioned Exodus Gold Project in BC, Canada, where we can earn up to an 85% interest. This is shaping up to be a very exciting and busy second half of 2020 at NV Gold, with potentially three drill programs to be undertaken." About the Sandy Gold Project 20 unpatented lode claims encompassing approximately 400 acres acquired for minimal staking costs in 2019 utilizing NV Gold's internal geological database. Strategically within a highly prospective low sulfidation epithermal gold district located in Lyon County, Nevada, USA. Staked prior to and now surrounded by the Hercules Gold Project claim block controlled by Eclipse Gold Mining (TSXV: EGLD). Eclipse Gold Mining has raised approximately $20 million to explore and advance its Hercules Project. Originally explored in 1993-1994 through work including geologic mapping, rock-chip and soil sampling, and drilling. Refer to the Company's press release September 5, 2019 for additional information on historical data. About NV Gold Corporation NV Gold (TSXV: NVX, US: NVGLF) is a well-financed junior exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia that is focused on delivering value through mineral discoveries in North America, leveraging its highly experienced in-house technical knowledge, and identifying and drilling 2-3 priority projects per year. NV Gold controls multiple drill-ready projects in Nevada, and has entered into an Option Agreement on the high-grade Exodus Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Peter A. Ball President & CEO For further information, visit the Company's website at www.nvgoldcorp.com or contact: Peter A. Ball, President & CEO Phone: 1-888-363-9883 Email: peter@nvgoldcorp.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's planned exploration activities, including executing a drill program at the Sandy, Slumber and Exodus Gold Projects in the Fall of 2020, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include regulatory issues, market prices, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. SOURCE: NV Gold Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608173/NV-Gold-Announces-Phase-I-Drill-Program-at-Its-Sandy-Gold-Project-in-Nevada The number of people who have recuperated from COVID-19 in India crossed 51 lakh, improving the national recovery rate to over 83 per cent and outnumbering the active cases by more than 41.5 lakh, the Union said on Tuesday. As much as 73 per cent of the new recovered cases were reported from 10 states and Union Territories -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Kerala, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra topped the list with nearly 20,000 recoveries, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contributed more than 7,000 to the single-day recoveries, the ministry said. The sustained high level of recoveries have led to a further widening of the gap between active and recovered cases, it said. "Recovered cases exceed the active cases by more than 41.5 lakh (41,53,831). The recovered cases are 5.38 times the active cases. The recoveries are consistently rising," the ministry underlined. There are 9,47,576 active cases of infection in the country presently, which is "merely" 15.42 per cent of the total caseload and "is consistently declining". The daily new recovered cases again exceeded the new infections, the ministry said. While 84,877 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours in the country, 70,589 new infections were reported during the same period, according to the data updated at 8 am Tuesday. The total number of recoveries has touched 51,01,397 pushing the recovery rate to 83.01 per cent as on date. The recovery rate was 82.58 per cent on Monday. Ten states and UTs account for 73 per cent of the 70,589 new cases that have been reported in a span 24 hours in the country. Maharashtra continues to lead this tally, accounting for more than 11,000 cases, followed by Karnataka with more than 6,000. There have been 776 fatalities in a day, with 10 states and UTs accounting for 78 per cent of the deaths in a span of 24 hours due to infection. Of the new fatalities, Maharashtra reported more than 23 per cent with 180 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu with 70. India's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 61,45,291 with 70,589 new infections, while the death toll reached 96,318 after 776 people succumbed to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Trend The Netherlands Haber.nl web portal published Ilham Aliyev: Armenia wants to settle in the illegally occupied territories of Azerbaijan article reflecting Azerbaijans position, the State Committee for Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan told Trend. The article, authors of which are Coordinator of the Netherlands-Belgium Azerbaijanis Coordination Council Emil Aliyev and the councils member, Chairperson of the International Club of Azerbaijani Women Kamala Jeylinova, gave detailed information that from 06:00 (GMT +4) on September 27, Armenia made an attempt to attack along the entire front-line, bombarded the settlements and military facilities of Azerbaijan, as a result of which civilians and military servicemen were killed. The article also wrote about Azerbaijans adequate rebuff to the Armenian occupying forces with the aim of self-defense and liberation of its occupied lands, as well as the attitude of foreign countries to this issue, and cited "Karabakh is ours, Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" words from the appeal of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the nation. The ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has died at the age of 91. Sabah had been in hospital in the United States since July following surgery for an unspecified condition in Kuwait that same month. 'With great sadness and sorrow, we mourn... the death of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait,' said Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, the minister in charge of royal affairs, in a television broadcast. The leader of the US ally came to power in 2006, after decades as the country's top diplomat, following a vote to oust his predecessor just nine days into his rule. Nicknamed the 'dean of Arab diplomacy', Sabah stood out for his efforts to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. But as Kuwait's ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and seesawing crude oil prices that chewed into a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies. His successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has died at the age of 91 The crown prince had already taken over some of Sabah's duties after the ailing ruler left Kuwait in July following his surgery. Sabah flew for treatment in the US which has been a staunch ally of Kuwait since the American-led war that drove Saddam Hussein's invaders out of Kuwait in 1991. A US Air Force C-17 flying hospital transported Sheikh Sabah from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic - a rare gesture by the US government. The emir had his appendix removed in 2002, two years after having a pacemaker fitted. In 2007, he underwent urinary tract surgery in the US, but authorities did not reveal the nature of his final illness. News of his frailty had led to an outpouring of support from across the Middle East for a man who first became Kuwait's foreign minister in 1963. Widely regarded as the architect of Kuwait's foreign policy, Sabah also asserted his authority at home - with a record number of political arrests under his tenure, mainly of dissidents charged with criticising the ruler. Dozens of Kuwaiti opposition figures were arrested for openly criticising the emir under a constitution which says he is 'immune and inviolable'. Born in 1929, before Kuwait had struck oil, Sabah would eventually lead the country with the world's sixth-largest oil reserves which came to depend on a permanent American presence in the region. His country's greatest crisis came in 1990, when Saddam occupied the nation for seven months, forcing Sabah to flee to Saudi Arabia with other officials. Many felt that Sabah could have done more as foreign minister to prevent Iraq's invasion. Even before the US arrived, Sheikh Sabah and others began suggesting a permanent American presence in the region might provide protection for Kuwait. 'One learns from the past and learns about it for the future,' Sheikh Sabah reportedly said. 'One has to consider arrangements that would make not only my country stable but make the whole area stable.' Today, Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of U.S. Army Central. In 2003, Sabah's half brother and Kuwait's then-emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al- Sabah, named him as the country's prime minister. Although the move kept members of the al-Sabah family firmly in control of Kuwait, it was seen as a modest step toward reform as it marked the first time that the roles of prime minister and crown prince - the next in line to the throne - were split. It also formalised Sabah's role in running the affairs of the country - a responsibility he had already assumed while the former PM, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, struggled with health problems. Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah speaks to the Queen at Windsor Castle on a state visit to Britain in 2012 Despite those health problems, Sheikh Saad took power in 2006 after the death of Sheikh Jaber. Concerns mounted during his nine-day reign as he was seen in public only in a wheelchair and did not speak. Parliament ended up voting 64-0 to have Sheikh Sabah become emir, following a similar Cabinet decision. Sheikh Saad then submitted a letter of resignation. The vote, while largely symbolic, marked a small victory for democracy among the autocratic Gulf Arab states. It was the first time in Kuwait's history that the legislature had a role in choosing the emir. 'Sheikh Sabah proved a savvy player of the internal politics of the ruling family,' Diwan said. Domestically, Sheikh Sabah faced the challenge of falling oil prices in recent years. He dissolved parliament several times as lawmakers kept questioning appointed government ministers, some of them members of his extended family. As the 2011 Arab Spring swept the region, Sheikh Sabah ordered 1,000 dinar ($3,559) grants and free food coupons for every Kuwaiti. But allegations swirled at the time that some lawmakers had been bribed $350million by the government to sway their votes, along with rumors that they were involved in embezzling state funds. Amid strikes and confrontations with police, protesters briefly entered parliament, waving flags and singing the country's national anthem. Sheikh Sabah nevertheless maintained power while still allowing protests, a rarity among Gulf leaders. The Kuwaiti emir with Barack Obama on a visit to Washington in 2009, nearly two decades after the Gulf War which cemented the alliance between the two countries Internationally, Sheikh Sabah embraced Iraq after the US-led 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam. He twice visited the country, and helped Iraq and Kuwait reach a $500million deal in 2012 to settle a long-running dispute over allegations of large-scale theft by Saddam. The emir also hosted a summit in 2018 that saw $30billion pledged to help rebuild Iraq after the war against ISIS, despite Iraqi reparations debt over the 1990 war. Sheikh Sabah also played a role in raising aid funds for Syrians suffering as a result of that country's civil war, hosting international donor conferences in 2013 and 2014. One of his greatest challenges as a diplomat, however, came with the boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations that began in 2017. Sheikh Sabah positioned himself as a mediator for the political dispute, which he warned in a White House appearance in 2017 could have led to an armed conflict. 'Thank God, now, what is important is that we have stopped any military action,' Sheikh Sabah said. Those mediation efforts have yet to resolve the crisis, but he did manage to get Qatar's prime minister to shake hands on live television with Saudi King Salman at a 2019 meeting in Mecca. 'We believe that wisdom will prevail,' Sheikh Sabah once said. A longtime widower, Sheikh Sabah lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, which was named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. He is survived by two sons. Etihad Airways launches Altitudes by Etihad podcast series. Image: Etihad Airways Ahead of the launch of Altitudes by Etihad, Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Groups chief executive officer, yesterday opened the Global Aerospace Summit with a keynote speech giving an insight into the airlines response to the pandemic. The Summit is a forum for industry leaders from across the globe to address the aviation sectors biggest challenges and opportunities. Following on from the Summit, listeners are now invited to enjoy a more detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the airline and the aviation sector from the Group CEOs perspective, through this frank and honest podcast series. Amina Taher, vice president brand, marketing and partnerships, Etihad Aviation Group, said: This podcast not only brings our response to COVID-19 to life but also addresses the various challenges and opportunities the aviation industry is facing as a result. In this open conversation, the Group CEO Tony Douglas delves into the things that went well while also touching on some of the hurdles along the way. In the first episode, Tony Douglas recounts the airlines initial response to the grounding of the fleet, talks about the airlines new Etihad Wellness proposition, addresses the industry requirement for universal health visas, the industrys response to COVID-19, and answers burning questions around potential flights from Abu Dhabi to Israel, and the persistent rumours of Etihad merging with Emirates. In the podcast, Douglas comments: As countries open back up, we need to stay focused and maintain momentum - its all about little victories. What we have done successfully, is continued to make lots of little victories that not only sustained our motivation, but also recognised the remarkable progress thats been made in the most difficult of times. Fall foliage season 2020 in Pennsylvania is predicted to run from mid-September through the end of October, according to the Fall Foliage Prediction Map produced annually by SmokyMountains.com. Pulling together thousands of data sets ranging from historical rainfall records to long-range weather forecasts to elevation, the interactive online map produces a county-by-county fall foliage forecast for the entire continental U.S. For the leaf-peeping season we are entering, the map provided the following forecast: Week of September 14 Minimal change creeping into the northern tier and northeastern corner of Pennsylvania. Week of September 21 Patchy color in the northern tier and northeastern corner of the state, while minimal change will arrive in the northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania. Week of September 28 Partial color in the northern tier and northeastern corner of the state, patchy in the northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania, and minimal change across the rest of the state. Week of October 5 Near peak in the northern tier and northeastern corner of the state, partial color in the northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania, and patchy across the rest of the state. Week of October 12 Peak in the northern tier and northeastern corner of the state, near peak in the northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania, and partial color across the rest of the state. Week of October 19 Past peak in the northern tier and northeastern corner of the state, peak in the northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania, and near peak color across the rest of the state. Week of October 26 Past peak in the northern tier, northeastern corner of the state, northwestern quarter of the state and the mountain areas of central and western Pennsylvania, and peak color across the rest of the state. Week of November 2 Past peak statewide. While it may be a bit abbreviated this year because of weather conditions from August through September, Pennsylvania generally has the longest fall foliage season on Earth, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The geographic regions and ecoregions that span the state also give Pennsylvania a more varied fall foliage season than elsewhere on the planet. DCNR notes, "Only three regions of the world support deciduous forests that display fall autumn color: eastern North America, the British Isles and parts of northwestern Europe, and northeastern China and northern Japan. Forests in other regions are either tropical or dominated by conifers. "Pennsylvanias location between 40 and 42 degrees north latitude and its varied topography from sea level on the coastal plain to over 3,000 feet in the Laurel Highlands supports 134 species of trees and many more shrubs and vines that contribute to the display of autumn color. If youre looking to go leaf-peeping this fall, you can find places to stay in Pennsylvania on VRBO Pennsylvania is the meeting ground of northern trees that flourish only on mountain tops farther south and southern species that are at the northern limits of their range. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Thirty-one Virginia prison inmates with COVID-19 have died since the start of the pandemic, more than half of them at a Southside prison for older offenders. As of Monday, the toll was highest at the Deerfield Correctional Center home to many geriatric prisoners and prisoners with chronic health problems where 17 have died, according to figures from the Virginia Department of Corrections. The death count continues to rise there despite major steps to manage the COVID-19 outbreak at Deerfield Correctional Center and reduce the spread among a highly vulnerable population of offenders announced by the department last week after 10 had died. The 265 active cases at Deerfield account for more than half the 474 known active cases in all the state prisons and 16 of the 18 cases now requiring treatment in outside hospitals. The 925-inmate prison has an assisted living unit and infirmary and is located east of Emporia in Southampton County. The only other major current outbreak in the state prisons is at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, with 115 cases. Fluvanna is the states largest prison for women and houses the most seriously ill female inmates. The University of Manitobas winter term will look much like its fall, with the majority of staff and students expected to continue studies at home on a virtual campus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The University of Manitobas winter term will look much like its fall, with the majority of staff and students expected to continue studies at home on a virtual campus. U of M president Michael Benarroch provided the public with an update about the upcoming term Monday. "We made this decision as early as possible in order to enable you to plan the rest of your academic year accordingly," Benarroch wrote in a post on the Winnipeg-based schools website. "Circumstances surrounding COVID-19 could potentially change, but today, with our priority your safety, health and well-being, continuing with primarily remote delivery is the most prudent course of action." The winter term will be held primarily via remote delivery, except for a small number of in-person courses, he added. Few students and staff members have congregated on campus since March, when in-person classes were first suspended on both Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses. This fall, orientations went virtual, student groups pivoted online and less than 10 per cent of course offerings at the university have an in-person instructional element. The latest update came as an early surprise to Brianna Gifford, a first-year student, who had her fingers crossed the COVID-19 situation would improve before the new year. Unable to cross the border, Gifford started her university career from her home in Minnesota. "I was really looking forward to my first semester on campus, as remote learning has been kind of difficult from home. Its also kind of hard being so far away from campus trying to get study (resources), books, and of course, doing labs online," she told the Free Press. Jelynn Dela Cruz, president of the U of M students union, said Monday continuing remotely has its "tradeoffs." Dela Cruz said its a disappointment students will still be unable to socialize in and between classes, meet their instructors in person and attend school events, but they are playing an important role in prioritizing public health. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Everyone is always looking at a place to point the finger, Dela Cruz said, but in this case, "You cant point the finger at the university, youd have to point the finger at the coronavirus the virus as a whole and individuals who arent necessarily playing their part in flattening the curve." She said the union urges students to be mindful of setting an example for others when it comes to following public health protocols. "One hint of optimism will just be that the issues that were seeing now, moving into the winter term, operating remotely, are no longer unprecedented," Dela Cruz added. "Weve had months now in the making and identifying issues and points of improvement." Neither the University of Winnipeg nor Brandon University has announced plans for the winter term. Their respective spokespeople said Monday community members can expect updates in the coming weeks. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have spent weeks at loggerheads after Ankara sent exploration vessels in August into potentially resource-rich waters claimed by both countries US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday backed talks between Greece and Turkey to resolve tensions in the eastern Mediterranean while announcing an enhanced US military presence in the region. Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have spent weeks at loggerheads after Ankara sent exploration vessels in August into potentially resource-rich waters claimed by both countries. "We strongly support dialogue between NATO allies Greece and Turkey and encourage them to resume discussion of these issues as soon as possible," Pompeo said after visiting a NATO base on the Greek island of Crete. Pompeo said that the US navy's newest expeditionary sea base, the USS Hershel Williams, would from now on be based at the Souda Bay base on Crete, which he visited with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. "It's literally the perfect choice in light of the facility's strategic location. And it's symbolic of a defence partnership that will continue to expand and to grow," he said. The 110-acre (44-hectare) Naval Support Activity base at Souda is the foremost US naval facility in the eastern Mediterranean. Pompeo, on a European tour that includes stops in Italy and Croatia, also accused Russia of seeking to "destabilise the region, especially in Libya" and of peddling "disinformation on the (coronavirus) pandemic and trying to co-opt the Orthodox Church." He also hit out at China, arguing that it "attempts to use economic power here and in the region to gain strategic leverage over European democracies." Washington has previously urged Greece and Turkey, who have agreed to continue exploratory talks interrupted in 2016, to find "good solutions" to their disputes over territory and energy exploration rights. Mitsotakis on Tuesday said Athens was "ready for exploratory talks" which he hoped would start "soon", as well as a parallel military de-escalation discussions within NATO. "I'm reservedly optimistic that now is diplomacy's turn," said Mitsotakis, who is hosting Pompeo at his family home in Crete. - Military ties - Pompeo last October signed a defence agreement with Greek authorities allowing US forces a broader use of Greek military facilities. Greece, which has announced fresh arms purchases from France during its most recent tensions with Turkey, intends to further upgrade the naval facilities at Souda for its own navy operations. "Our country wants to make its presence felt in the eastern Mediterranean, and this will be done through the upgrade of Souda," Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told parliament on Monday, according to Greek state agency ANA. On Tuesday, Pompeo also called for an end to fighting between separatists in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorny Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces. "Both sides must stop the violence and work with the Minsk group... to return to substantive negotiations as quickly as possible," Pompeo said, referring to the so-called Minsk Group of mediators that includes France, Russia and the United States. At least 95 people have been killed in the clashes that have been raging since the weekend, including 11 civilians, according to the latest available tallies. On Wednesday, Pompeo will fly to Rome for meetings with Italian government and Vatican officials. He will subsequently visit Dubrovnik on Friday. Search Keywords: Short link: Three top public servants have come under fire on the final day of the inquiry into Victoria's catastrophic hotel quarantine program, as blame is apportioned for mistakes that caused a deadly second wave of Covid-19 across the state. The inquiry heard that Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles, Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kym Peake and Department of Jobs secretary Simon Phemister should have kept ministers better informed about problems with the program. Counsel assisting Ben Ihle said Mr Eccles should have told Premier Daniel Andrews the federal government had offered ADF troops to man the program, under which all people flying into Victoria were forced into hotel quarantine for two weeks. Instead, private security firms were used and lax enforcement of quarantine protocols saw coronavirus spread rapidly from infected guests into the general community. Department of Jobs secretary Simon Phemister (pictured) was mentioned on the final day of the hotel inquiry Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles is pictured facing the inquiry in Melbourne On April 8, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Philip Gaetjens emailed his Victorian counterpart Chris Eccles to again offer ADF assistance. Mr Eccles replied: 'Thanks Phil' - but no request for help was made On April 8, Mr Eccles got an email from the Prime Minster's office offering troops. He replied saying 'thanks' but Mr Ihle said there was no evidence he told the premier. Counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard said: 'We do invite you to find that the offers of assistance made or available to be made to Victoria by the ADF should have been raised with the Premier, thinking particularly about the apparent availability of inclined personnel in early April.' Ms Peake was mentioned for not briefing former health minister Jenny Mikakos about various health concerns. One was an email from Public Health Commander Finn Romanes about a 'risk to the health and safety of detainees'. Ms Peake previously told the inquiry she did not tell Ms Mikakos because 'I was satisfied that the issues that had been raised had been addressed.' Health Secretary Kym Peake (pictured) was mentioned for not briefing former health minister Jenny Mikakos about various health concerns The final day of the inquiry came after former health minister Jenny Mikakos (pictured) resigned Pictured: A traveller returned from overseas is checked into an inner-city hotel in Melbourne on March 30. Lawyers at the inquiry said the program failed to meet its primary objective The other issues were a suspected suicide and delay in transferring a sick detainee who was later admitted to intensive care. Ms Peake referred the cases to healthcare quality body Safer Care Victoria but did not brief the minister on the outcomes of the reports because 'they had been addressed,' she said. Mr Ihle on Monday said this was 'the deliberate and conscious decision to not inform the minister of an issue which is of significance falling within the minister's portfolio'. Mr Phemister was mentioned after the inquiry heard that security companies were made responsible for making sure guards had infection control training. Ms Ellyard said Mr Phemister should have consulted Jobs Minister Martin Pakula about this before the contracts were signed. 'It shouldn't have happened without appropriate ministerial consultation and knowledge, it shouldn't have happened without appropriate consideration at the highest levels of the department,' she said. Mr Phemister previously told the inquiry he did not brief Mr Pakula because he did not have a detailed level of knowledge of the contracts. Mr Pakula said ministers were not normally consulted on contracts. Questioned about the public servants, Mr Andrews on Tuesday said he is confident they are 'acting appropriately'. 'I am aware of what the inquiry heard. I'm aware what submissions were led by counsel assisting yesterday. I'm indicating to you that I'm confident that those three public servants - indeed all public servants are acting appropriately,' he said. Asked if he will resign, he said: 'I indicated the other day I don't run from challenges. 'I don't run from problems. I'm not someone who quits to avoid doing the hard work that needs to be done,' he said. Victoria has had 74.5 per cent of the nation's confirmed coronavirus cases, and 89.9 per cent of the deaths. Overseas travellers arrive at the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne on March 29 Report: Lockdowns to cost nation $319billion A report by free market think tank The Institute of Public Affairs claims Australia has ended up pursuing a coronavirus elimination strategy which will cost $319billion between 2020 and 2022. That figure, equivalent to 23 per cent of GDP, is same as the cost of defence, education, health, and social security and welfare combined in one year. The report says that a 'medical capacity' strategy to reduce Covid-19 infections so that hospitals do not get overwhelmed - rather than eliminate community transmission - would cost only $93.8billion. Advertisement The final day of the inquiry came after former health minister Jenny Mikakos resigned. Mr Andrews reportedly faced a backlash from some of his own Labor MPs after he told the inquiry on Friday that Ms Mikakos was 'accountable' for hotel quarantine. 'It has put a lot of people on edge,' an anonymous minister told The Herald Sun. 'He is a tyrant. He is a dictator with a capital D.I.C.K,' another said. 'He doesn't care about anybody but himself... I don't like the way she was treated.' When asked about Ms Mikakos on Sunday, Mr Andrews said he had not contacted the former minister since her resignation. 'No one is happy to see someone who is an incredibly hard working member of the team go, but if you make a decision that you can't serve in the cabinet then you can't serve in the cabinet,' he said. Meanwhile, a report by free market think tank The Institute of Public Affairs claims Australia has ended up pursuing a coronavirus elimination strategy which will cost $319billion between 2020 and 2022. That figure, equivalent to 23 per cent of GDP, is same as the cost of defence, education, health, and social security and welfare combined in one year. The report says that a 'medical capacity' strategy to reduce Covid-19 infections so that hospitals do not get overwhelmed - rather than eliminate community transmission - would cost only $93.8billion. Officially National Cabinet policy is to purse an 'aggressive suppression strategy'. But IPA researchers say this has amounted to elimination because the goal is no community transmission. 'Eliminating COVID-19 means eliminating jobs, freedom, and hope,' said Daniel Wild, Director of Research at the IPA and co-author of the report. Asher Judah, IPA Associate and co-author. said: 'Governments must adopt an approach that recognises that we must learn to live with the virus. 'Lockdowns... impose significant social, cultural, and economic costs. 'Governments should put in place measures to protect the elderly and vulnerable, implement high quality contact tracing, continue with random community testing, and maintain international border control measures. 'Otherwise, economic, social, and recreational life should return to normal, with social distancing observed as needed.' Suggested findings for Victorian quarantine hotels inquiry Lawyers Tony Neal QC, Rachel Ellyard and Ben Ihle submitted their suggested findings to Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry on Monday. They are as follows: GOVERNMENT HAD NO PLAN * Public servants were given just 36 hours to set up the program. * There was no suggestion those who set up the program worked other than with 'the best of intentions and to the best of their ability'. * 'Bad faith or corruption is not what the evidence shows.' Calls are growing for Daniel Andrews (pictured) to resign after an inquiry heard the state's hotel quarantine disaster caused 768 deaths DHHS WAS IN CONTROL * The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions played a substantial role but the Department of Health and Human Services was the control agency responsible for the program. BRETT SUTTON SHOULD'VE BEEN IN CHARGE * It was wrong to appoint people without public health expertise as the state controllers of the pandemic in February as it 'influenced the way in which DHHS subsequently understood and acted on its responsibilities'. * 'Had the chief health officer or another person with public health expertise been appointed state controller ... they would have had direct oversight of the hotel quarantine program and been able to directly influence the model of that program.' NO ONE PERSON MADE THE DECISION TO USE SECURITY GUARDS * 'It can be best understood ... as a creeping assumption or default consensus reached in the state control centre after the preference of Victoria Police was known.' POLICE HAD PREFERENCE FOR GUARDS * 'It was not Victoria Police's decision, but Victoria Police's clear position that security would be preferable was a substantial contributing factor to the consensus.' PREMIER SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT ADF OFFER * Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles should have told Premier Daniel Andrews his federal counterpart had offered Australian Defence Force support in an April 8 email exchange. * But the initial decision not to have ADF boots on the ground was 'reasonable and open - and no criticism should be directed to those who made those operational decisions'. CONTRACTS WERE INAPPROPRIATE * 'There was insufficient supervision of those contracts to ensure compliance with the contractual terms, including as to subcontracting.' * 'The contracts with hotels and security companies should not have placed responsibility for PPE and infection control education on those contractors.' HOTEL QUARANTINE RESPONSIBLE FOR SECOND WAVE * Ninety per cent of second wave COVID-19 cases are attributable to the Rydges on Swanston outbreak in mid-May. Just under 10 per cent were attributable to the outbreak at the Stamford Hotel in mid-June. * 'The hotel quarantine program in Victoria failed to achieve its primary objective. The program that was intended to contain the disease was instead a seeding ground for the spread of COVID-19 into the broader community.' * 'The failure by the hotel quarantine program to contain this virus is, as at today's date, responsible for the deaths of 768 people and the infection of some 18,418 others.' PEOPLE IN QUARANTINE NOT LOOKED AFTER * 'The program did not always operate so as to meet the needs of those who were detained, in particular, those who had specific needs or vulnerabilities.' * 'Very early on, better consideration ought to have been given to the likely psychosocial impact of detention and expert advice should have been sought.' * 'Exemptions could and likely should have been granted in more situations.' LACK OF TRANSPARENCY * 'There were significant issues which should have been brought to the respective ministers' attention. The departmental secretaries were obliged to ensure that they discharged those obligations.' * 'They likely contributed to a loss in opportunities to identify and address issues which may have prompted better, fuller and more timely action.' The submissions may form the recommendations of the inquiry's chair, retired judge Jennifer Coate. She is due to deliver her final report to Victorian Governor Linda Dessau by November 6. Advertisement On Monday Victorian Opposition leader Michael O'Brien said Victoria's quarantine operation was 'the worst failure of public administration in Victorian history'. He added: 'If accountability for the deaths and damage is to mean anything, all those responsible must go - starting with Andrews.' On Monday afternoon the final day of Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry heard the program's failure was responsible for the deaths of all 768 residents who have died in the state's second wave. Mr Ihle said protective gear was not used properly, staff were poorly trained and there was a lack of social distancing at the quarantine hotels. He said the system was set up quickly and the government failed to monitor it. Opposition leader Michael O'Brien 'What was established was necessarily untested and prudence dictated that the program should have been accompanied by intensive ongoing monitoring and auditing,' he said. 'The Victorian government failed to adequately ensure that this was done.' Former Health Minister Jenny Mikakos resigned on Saturday after Mr Andrews said she was 'accountable' for the quarantine program. On Sunday Mr Andrews said he would not resign, telling reporters: 'I don't run from problems and challenges'. Melbourne's second wave of coronavirus was sparked in late May when the disease escaped from a quarantine hotel and rapidly spread around the city. 'The scientific evidence now strongly suggests, and we submit that the board can comfortably find, that 90 per cent of positive cases in Victoria since [26 May] are attributable to that initial outbreak at the Rydges in late May,' Mr Ihle said. The Victorian government has been criticised for using private security guards to man the hotels instead of the police and ADF troops like in New South Wales and Queensland. Contracts written up by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions left infection control and training in personal protective equipment use to the security companies. Hotels, meanwhile, were responsible for cleaning, unless a returned traveller tested positive to Covid-19. 'Responsibility for managing the risk of infection and providing for the safety of those involved in the program should have remained with the state. No contract should have purported to outsource those matters,' Ms Ellyard said. Counsel assisting Tony Neal QC said there was no suggestion those who set up the program worked other than with 'the best of intentions and to the best of their ability'. 'Bad faith or corruption is not what the evidence shows,' he said. 'Yet it is true that the hastily assembled program failed at two locations within approximately two and a half months and with disastrous consequences. 'A multitude of decisions, actions and inaction, many of which compounded the effect of the other, ultimately expressed itself in the outbreaks which subverted the very reason for the existence of a hotel quarantine program. While there are six possible homicide charges under Kentucky law, these charges are not applicable to the facts before us because our investigation showed and the grand jury agreed that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in the return of deadly fire after having been fired upon, Cameron said, one of several moments in the news conference where he emphasized such a consensus. KIRKLAND, Wash., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiac Dimensions, a leader in the development of innovative, minimally invasive treatments for functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) in patients with heart failure, today announced the company has closed a $17.5 million Series C financing. All existing shareholders participated in the round including Aperture Venture Partners, Arboretum Ventures, Hostplus, Life Sciences Partners, Lumira Ventures, and M. H. Carnegie & Co. The financing will be used to accelerate commercial sales of Cardiac Dimensions' Carillon Mitral Contour System in Europe and allow for expansion into other geographies such as Australia. Earlier this month, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the Carillon System for commercial use in FMR patients with mild to severe mitral regurgitation. "The Carillon System is a transformative product which has shown great success in helping an extremely large patient population with very few options," said Rick Wypych, Chief Executive Officer and President of Cardiac Dimensions. "The new round of financing will allow for continued growth of sales in Europe and provide capital for our expansion efforts into other geographiessuch as Australia. We thank our investors for their continued support as our business shows excellent results despite the challenging environment." An estimated 26 million people, worldwide, suffer from heart failurei and of those, approximately 70 percent have functional mitral regurgitation. FMR is due to the mitral valve not closing tightly, resulting in blood flowing or leaking backwards through the mitral valve. This further decreases the amount of oxygenated blood that is pumped out to the body, increases the symptoms associated with heart failure, and decreases the quality of life of those who have been diagnosed. "We're excited to support the expansion of sales of the Carillon System," said Trevor Moody of M. H. Carnegie & Co. "Cardiac Dimensions' innovative efforts and dedication to expanding access to the Carillon System will soon allow people worldwide to benefit from this therapeutic innovation." About the Carillon Mitral Contour System The Carillon System offers a simple right heart approach to transcatheter mitral valve repair designed to reshape the anatomy and function of the mitral apparatus from the coronary sinus. Distal and proximal anchors, connected by a shaping ribbon, utilize the heart's venous anatomy to cinch the mitral apparatus without compromising the valve or future treatment options.ii,iii The Carillon System is designed to treat the primary cause of functional mitral regurgitation in patients with MR grades 2+, 3+ and 4+ and is the first and only device to demonstrate a reduction in regurgitant volume and favorable left ventricular remodeling in a randomized sham-controlled clinical trial of percutaneous valve therapy.iv,v,vi The Carillon System is CE-marked (0344) and has been implanted in over 1,200 patients in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Turkey and the Middle East. The Carillon System is currently being studied in The CARILLON Trial pivotal trial and limited to investigational use in the United States. About Cardiac Dimensions Cardiac Dimensions is a leader in the development of innovative, minimally invasive treatments to address heart failure and related cardiovascular conditions. Privately held, the company's lead investors include Aperture Venture Partners, Arboretum Ventures, HostPlus, Life Sciences Partners, Lumira Ventures and M.H. Carnegie & Co. Cardiac Dimensions is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington and has operations in the United States, Australia and Germany. For more information, visit cardiacdimensions.com. i Lipiecki J, Kaye DM, Witte KK, et al. Long-Term Survival Following Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair: Pooled Analysis of Prospective Trials with the Carillon Device. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.carrev.2020.02.012. ii Hoppe UC, Brandt MC, Degen H, et al. Percutaneous mitral annuloplasty device leaves free access to cardiac veins for resynchronization therapy. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2009;74(3):506-11. iii Latib, A. "Coronary Sinus Annuloplasty." New York, Montefiore Medical Center. iv Lipiecki J, Siminiak T, Sievert H, et al. Coronary sinus-based percutaneous annuloplasty as treatment for functional mitral regurgitation: the TITAN II trial. BMJ Open Heart. 2016; 3 v Siminiak T, et. al. Treatment of functional mitral regurgitation by percutaneous annuloplasty: Results of the TITAN Trial. Eur J Heart Fail. 2012;14:931-38. vi Sievert, H. 2018. REDUCE-FMR: A Sham-controlled Randomized Trial of Transcatheter Indirect Mitral Annuloplasty in Heart Failure Patients with Functional Mitral Regurgitation. Presented at TCT 2018, San Diego, CA. SOURCE Cardiac Dimensions Related Links http://www.cardiacdimensions.com ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) chose to partner with Huawei, a company that has the largest share of the global modular data center market, to build an uptime TIER- IV Municipal Disaster Recovery Data Center. Sustainable Data Storage Requirements "The sea on the left, the desert on the right" - a perfect description of Abu Dhabi's unique natural environment. With millions of visitors every year, Abu Dhabi is often, somewhat poetically, described as the bright pearl, glimmering on the south coast of the Persian Gulf. "Supporting community happiness through the delivery of sustainable urban growth and municipal services" is the stated vision of ADM. In the age of rapid digital transformation, municipal data centers are key, providing not only government office services but resident information management and municipal services, too. Simply put, data centers are indispensable for community life. However, ADM's legacy data center setup was unable to meet future development requirements, given the influx of vast amounts of new services and a massive increase in data volume. The question of how to improve data reliability, security, and data center sustainability became an urgent focus for ADM. Building the Best Disaster Recovery Data Center Possible with Huawei Huawei FusionModule2000 was the first data center to receive Uptime TIER-Ready IV certification. Local construction engineers only needed to carry out simple on-site installation, since this modular data center is prefabricated in the factory, and it was quickly brought online and ready for use. Indeed, FusionModule2000 adopts a fully modular design, supporting the sustainable development of municipal services, with flexible capacity expansion possible for a range of subsystems, from power supply to cooling and IT cabinets. On May 6, 2020, the Uptime Insight officially awarded Uptime TIER- IV design certification to ADM's municipal disaster recovery data center. Abu Dhabi, the bright pearl on the south coast of the Persian Gulf, can now put its trust in the security of its ultra-reliable municipal data storage. What's next for the future? Ahamd Abdulsamad Alhammadi - Acting Director of the technical planning department, Abu Dhabi Municipality, said: "Our digitalization journey with Huawei has transformed our operations, building more resilience and convenience throughout the Municipality. The TIER IV disaster recovery data center, jointly built with Huawei, fully demonstrates the industry's most advanced solutions and impeccable customer service. We are guided in our digitalization by the vision of the UAE's leadership to enhance our community through technology. Huawei is our partner of choice and we look forward to future cooperation with them." About Huawei Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains - telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services - we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes. At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company wholly owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282540/Huawei.jpg In a scathing attack on those opposing the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they wanted only the middlemen to thrive and referred to the burning of a tractor in Delhi by Congress workers as an insult to farmers. IMAGE: Farmers set on fire a tractor near India Gate during a protest against the new farm laws, in New Delhi on Monday. Photograph: PTI Photo "They are opposing the freedom of farmers and want their problems to continue forever. By torching farming equipment, which the agriculturists worship, these people are now insulting farmers," he said without naming the Congress. The Congress' youth wing activists on Monday morning set a tractor ablaze near India Gate, a few hundred metres from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, to protest the contentious farm laws. Modi said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things. Terming it "opposition for the sake of opposition", the prime minister said that by resisting big reformative steps by the Centre such as the farm laws, these forces were making themselves irrelevant in the society and in the country. He accused them of challenging everything from GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale deal, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor and celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. He said that this politics was the root of the frustration of a party which had ruled for four generations. "Frustration of a party which has ended up riding the shoulders of others despite wielding power for four generations is behind this politics of the opposition for opposition's sake, Modi said. He said none of the leaders of the political party had till date visited the Statue of Unity, built to honour the memory of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel whose contribution to unifying the country is well known. "Why? Because they had to oppose," he said. He said people had seen for themselves the role Jan Dhan accounts played in direct benefit transfer schemes during the coronavirus pandemic and they could also remember how it was opposed while being introduced by the Centre. He said after opposing the Ram Mandir in the Supreme Court for decades, they even began opposing its foundation stone laying in Ayodhya. Without naming the Congress, he accused it of being neither with the farmers nor with the youth nor the soldiers and recalled that the the party had demanded proof of surgical strikes instead of praising the bravehearts who carried out the exercise. He also recalled how it opposed the purchase of Rafale fighter jets. "They did not do anything for years to strengthen the Air Force, ignoring its pleas for being better equipped and modernised. I am pleased to see that Rafale fighter jets are strengthening our Air Force today. He said the farm laws were meant to set farmers free from restrictions which they had suffered for decades. "They will have both MSP and the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the open market but there are people who are spreading lies about the bills. "They only want middlemen to thrive and want the problems of farmers to be perpetuated. The real reason behind the ongoing protests is that yet another source of black money has been closed for them," the prime minister said. Modi was inaugurating six ambitious sewage treatment plants in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Muni-ki-Reti town and Badrinath under Namami Gange through video conference. He said the process of empowering people, farmers and the youth, and making the country self-reliant through big reforms will continue relentlessly. Modi also attacked the previous governments for wasting too much money over Ganga rejuvenation, drinking water and irrigations schemes without any results, claiming there was no coordination between the government departments involved. "This led to further aggravation of the problems instead of resolving them. But today the work culture has changed and every penny is going into the implementation of the projects," he said. Protesters hold signs during the Pride Without Prejudice march in Boystown on 28 June 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Demonstrators gathered to march for LGBT+ and Black Lives as protests continue across the nation ((Getty Images)) Chicagos famous LGBT+ neighbourhood, Boystown, is changing its nickname in response to a petition that claimed it is not inclusive of women and non-binary individuals. The Northalsted Business Alliance announced last week that it would no longer use the name in any marketing, after an online petition claimed that it reminded people in the neighbourhood that the area is for the boys. The nickname Boystown was introduced for the area in the 1980s, to represent that it was a safe neighbourhood for LGBT+ people, and in 1997 then Chicago mayor Richard Daley officially recognised it as a gay village, according to the The Chicago Tribune. In the petition, its co-author, activist Devlyn Camp, wrote that LGBTQ neighbourhoods exist for all intersections of queer identity. They referenced other LGBT+ neighbourhoods, including The Castro, Greenwich Village, West Hollywood, and many more, and said that Chicago's is the only gendered nickname. The petition was launched following the Drag March for Change in June, where some black speakers said they were denied jobs in the area because of their race, according to USA Today. Camp said: Many of our transgender siblings ... have experienced transphobia in the North Halsted area. Our LGBTQ siblings of colour looking for inclusive bars have been met with racism. Many women frequenting and working in North Halsted businesses have been met with sexism. They added: Systemic transphobia, racism, and sexism have plagued our neighbourhood for decades, and it begins at the top, with the all-male board of the Northalsted Business Alliance. It begins with the BOYSTOWN signs. In a survey conducted by the alliance prior to the name change, which had 7,890 respondents and ran for eight weeks, 58 per cent said that they favoured keeping Boystown, while 80 per cent said that the moniker did not make them feel unwelcome. However, in a statement to The Tribune, Northalsted Business Alliance spokesperson Jen Gordon said: It definitely felt like we should be doing something about it. Story continues She added: If [the name] was making even a small percentage of people feel uncomfortable, its not something we should be using to promote the neighbourhood. In a separate statement, the alliance said: While an overall majority neither were offended by the name nor want it changed, those identifying as lesbian, transgender, non-binary and queer largely do favour a name change. The alliance added: To acknowledge and welcome all members of the LGBTQ+ community, the chamber will discontinue using the name Boystown in marketing and revert to the long standing name Northalsted. The group will now use the slogan, Chicagos Proudest Neighbourhood, in its marketing. Read more LGBT+ Americans disproportionately hit by pandemics economic effects Support Ive never experienced before: LGBT+ conversion therapy survivors share stories on TikTok CAMBRIDGE Security guards will patrol the streets of downtown Cambridge into the wee hours of the morning as part of a new program to provide additional safety overnight. Four security guards have been contracted to patrol the Galt core area between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., seven days a week. The additional security will consist of two on-foot security guards and two patrol cars. We have had several evenings with breaks in windows overnight, Mayor Kathryn McGarry said. She said she is delighted to see new security guards on the streets overnight because it will give area residents and businesses a better sense of security. The new security team will work with the citys bylaw department who will also continue to maintain a presence in downtown Cambridge seven days a week, Sunday through Thursday until 10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays until midnight. They will also work with Waterloo Regional Police Service on more serious issues and concerns. This move is part of the citys attempts at improving safety in its downtown cores. In 2017, the city installed security cameras in downtown Galt. Since then, the city has improved lighting, added an ambassador program, and an online app to report needle debris and litter. Safety has become an increasing concern for area residents and businesses in recent years, and with last months string of smashed in business windows, McGarry said the Downtown Cambridge Business Improvement Area wanted more safety measures put in place. The time period they are most anxious about is after the downtown is closed, she said. The city and Downtown BIA has had ongoing discussions about safety and security in the downtown, the mayor said. Even with more Waterloo Regional Police officers from the Cambridge detachment patrolling the downtown core, the city and downtown BIA felt the need for an enhanced presence overnight and perhaps try to prevent overnight vandalism, McGarry explained. According to police data, the number of reported crimes in the downtown core has not changed much in the past five years. Security guards will have eyes on the street in the early hours of the morning and be able to pinpoint suspicious people, the mayor explained. When asked if she was concerned the security team may target the citys homeless population, she said she was not worried. Our security officers are highly trained individuals who can tell who is just hanging out with no place to go and who is involved in suspicious activity, McGarry said. The mayor said these new overnight security guards are an extension of the citys existing security service, Barber-Collins Security Services Ltd. She did not give an estimated cost for the new hires but did say the city is footing the bill. We are finalizing the contract right now, she added. We have had a contracted service for the city for a long time. Our goal is to enhance that. This new measure was not formally approved by Cambridge council, but McGarry said council is aware and very supportive. She said the city has shared security costs with the Downtown BIA in the past, but this time it will cover the cost. This is something we wanted to fund to get off the ground, she said, adding that the program will be assessed in a few months and a staff report will come to council at that time. FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva By Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Sunday it is searching for the body a South Korean official killed by its troops, but warned that South Korean naval operations in the area threatened to raise tensions by intruding across a disputed sea border. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a rare apology on Friday for the fatal shooting of the South Korean fisheries official in North Korean waters, according to Seoul. South Korea's military has accused the North's soldiers of killing the man, dousing his body in fuel and setting it on fire near the sea border. After South Korean President Moon Jae-in convened a ministers' meeting to discuss North Korea on Sunday, the presidential Blue House reiterated calls for Pyongyang to allow a joint investigation into the killing. It urged the restoration of military communication hotlines that the North severed earlier this year as relations soured. North Korean state news agency KCNA called the killing an "awful case which should not have happened" but accused South Korean naval operations near in the area of crossing into North Korean waters. "We urge the south side to immediately halt the intrusion across the military demarcation line in the west sea that may lead to escalation of tensions," KCNA said. A spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of National Defense had no immediate comment on the North's accusations. The South has been searching only in waters south of the Northern Limit Line, a contested sea demarcation between the two Koreas that dates to the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unnamed coast guard official. South Korea has mobilised 39 vessels, including 16 naval ships, and six aircraft for the search, which continued on Sunday despite the North Korean complaints, Yonhap said. North Korea was beginning its own search operation to recover the body, KCNA said. "We also took more necessary security measures in order to make sure that no more incident spoiling the relations of trust and respect between the north and the south would happen in any case," the report added, without elaborating. (Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Sandra Maler and William Mallard) The number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has risen to more than 100 after a two-week dip, official figures show. There were 139 deaths registered in the week ending September 18 where novel coronavirus was mentioned, accounting for 1.5% of all deaths, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It is the second consecutive weekly rise, with the number of deaths involving Covid-19 up 40.4% from the 99 deaths registered in the previous week. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) In the week before that, the week ending September 4, numbers fell below 100 for the first time since the lockdown was introduced, with 78 deaths registered. This is said to be due to the impact of the late bank holiday weekend in August delaying the registration of some deaths to the following week. The ONS said registered deaths involving Covid-19 increased in six of the nine English regions in the week ending September 18. These were: north-west England (39, up nine on the previous weeks total); the West Midlands (15, up eight); London (13, up seven); Yorkshire & the Humber (21, up seven); north-east England (eight, up five); and the East Midlands (14, up four). ONS figures for date of death are based on deaths registered up to 26 September and may increase as more deaths are registered.@DHSCgovuk reports on date of notification and only include deaths reported up to 5pm the day before https://t.co/QKeeW5OhA2 Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) September 29, 2020 The number fell in two regions: south-east England (11, down one on the previous weeks total) and south-west England (five, down two). It was unchanged in Eastern England on eight deaths. In Wales the weekly total increased by four, from one to five. Deaths from all causes in hospitals, care homes and other locations were below the five-year average by 365, 68 and 18 deaths respectively, while the number of deaths in private homes was higher than the five-year average by 711 deaths. Overall in the UK, 158 deaths were registered in the week ending September 18 involving Covid-19, 48 deaths higher than the previous week. Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said: The rise in registered deaths with Covid on the certificate may well be the first sign of an increase linked to the increase in infections, but well have to wait for a week or twos more data to see whether and how that rise continues. Another concerning feature, which is longer term, is that the number of deaths taking place at the persons home (from any cause) continues to run at levels considerably higher than the average of the previous five years. Thats been the position right since the early days of the pandemic. The release shows that nearly 57,900 deaths involving Covid-19 have now been registered in the UK. Some 52,717 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in England and Wales up to September 18, and had been registered by September 26, the ONS data shows. Figures published last week by the National Records for Scotland of deaths registered up to September 20, and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency of deaths registered up to September 23, take the total to 57,860 deaths. These are cases where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases. September 29 : The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), which was examining Sushant Singh Rajputs cause of death, and analysing the post-mortem and viscera reports, submitted its report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday evening. While the agency has not yet released an official statement, a Times Now report revealed details of the AIIMS forensic report. According to the Times Now report, no trace of organic poison was found in Sushants body. However, AIIMS has not completed examining the Cooper Hospital autopsy report. While commenting on the forensic report, chairman of AIIMS Forensic Medical Board, Dr Sudhir Gupta said, AIIMS and the CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion in due course of time. It will be totally conclusive. Times Now has also reported that CBI will progress with the investigation of abetment of suicide. It suggested that AIIMS has pointed out a few lapses in the autopsy carried out by Cooper Hospital. One such lapse is that, there was not enough light in the room where the autopsy was carried out. #Exclusive #Breaking | TIMES NOW SUPER SCOOP: AIIMS Forensic report findings accessed. SOURCES: - AIIMS to analyze Cooper Hosp report. - Not enough light in the mortuary room. - No trace of organic poison found in SSR's body. Priyank with details. pic.twitter.com/cHCAByp36U TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) September 29, 2020 In a statement on Monday, CBI said it was conducting a professional investigation where all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out. Last week, Sushant Singh Rajput's family's lawyer Vikas Singh had tweeted saying that a doctor who is part of the AIIMS team had told him that the photos sent by him indicated 200% that it's death by strangulation and not suicide. He had claimed that the doctor, who was a part of the AIIMS panel, had shared the findings with him. Following his claims, Dr Sudhir Gupta responded and said that the panel's opinion will be clear and conclusive based on evidence. No conclusive opinion could be made just by seeing pictures, Dr Gupta had said. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery Environmental officials in Texas have lifted a warning for a final Houston-area community to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe, but with a warning that the water should be boiled before being consumed. Earlier this month, 6-year-old Josh McIntyre died after contracting the microbe, naegleria fowleri. The investigation into his death led to the detection of the brain-eating amoeba after heath officials conducted water sample tests, Lake Jackson City Manager Modesto Mundo said in a news release. Three of 11 sample tests indicated preliminary positive results for the brain-eating microbe, with one sample coming from a hose bib at the boys home, Mundo said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality late Saturday lifted a warning for Lake Jackson not to use the water and replaced it with a notice to boil the water for drinking and cooking. They also advised residents to prevent water from getting into their nose when bathing, showering, swimming and washing their face. TCEQ said it is working with city officials to flush and disinfect the water system. Until the flushing and disinfecting process is complete, the city remains under the boil notice. During this period of disinfection and flushing, boiling the tap water makes it safe for drinking and cooking, according to a statement from the commission. Naegleria fowleri is a type of amoeba that can be managed using standard treatment and disinfection processes. The commission warned the Brazosport Water Authority late Friday of the potential contamination of its water supply by naegleria fowleri and initially warned eight communities not to use tap water for any reason except to flush toilets. Naegleria fowleri is a free-living microscopic amoeba, or single-celled living organism commonly found in warm freshwater and soil, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. From there it travels to the brain and can cause a rare and debilitating disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. The warning was lifted earlier Saturday for the other seven communities. The city of Lake Jackson, with more than 27,000 residents, is the site of the authoritys water treatment plant. The advisory also was canceled for two state prisons and Dow Chemicals massive Freeport works. TCEQ said it is working with city officials to flush and disinfect the water system. Until the flushing and disinfecting process is complete, the city remains under the boil notice. During this period of disinfection and flushing, boiling the tap water makes it safe for drinking and cooking, according to a statement from the commission. Naegleria fowleri is a type of amoeba that can be managed using standard treatment and disinfection processes. The authoritys water source is the Brazos River. The infection is usually fatal and typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places such as lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water) enters the nose. The contamination of U.S. treated public water systems by the microbe is rare but not unheard of. According to the CDC website, the first deaths from naegleria fowleri found in tap water from treated U.S. public drinking water systems occurred in southern Louisiana in 2011 and 2013. The microbe also was found in 2003 in an untreated geothermal well-supplied drinking water system in Arizona, as well as in disinfected public drinking water supplies in Australia in the 1970s and 80s and in 2008 in Pakistan. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Texas Pollution President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will debate for the first time on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in Cleveland. Trump will face off with Biden at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic for a 90-minute debate starting at 9 p.m. Its the first of three debates between the candidates, with a fourth debate scheduled between Vice President Mike Pence and Bidens running mate Kamala Harris. Read more: First presidential debate offers Trump, Biden chance to gain edge in battleground states How to watch the debate The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and will last 90 minutes without commercial breaks. The event is scheduled to end at 10:30 p.m. You can watch live on television by tuning into any major news network. Online streams are also available from your preferred cable news network. A livestream provided by C-SPAN is available here. What are the debate topics? The debate is divided into six 15-minute segments focusing on the candidates' records, the Supreme Court vacancy, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, race and violence in cities and the integrity of the election. What is the debate format? Candidates will be given two minutes to respond to a question posed by the moderator, then will have a chance to respond to each other. Who is the debate moderator? Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace will moderate the first debate. When are the next debates? Oct. 7 - Vice presidential debate, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Oct. 15 - Second presidential debate, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida. Oct. 22 - Third presidential debate, Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee. READ MORE DEBATE COVERAGE: Ohio National Guard to return to Cleveland as city hosts first 2020 presidential debate Moderator Chris Wallace releases topics for first presidential debate in Cleveland First presidential debate in Cleveland taking shape, but plenty of questions remain An American man is facing two years behind bars after penning negative online reviews about a Thailand hotel including accusing the business of modern-day slavery, according to reports. Wesley Barnes, who works in Thailand, was arrested for allegedly causing damage to the reputation of the Sea View Resort on Koh Chang island. Barnes allegedly wrote reviews on multiple sites in which he claimed that he dealt with unfriendly staff who act like they dont want anyone here during a recent visit to the popular resort destination. At least one TripAdvisor review that accused the hotel of modern-day slavery has been removed for violating the sites guidelines, the report said. The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the TripAdvisor website, Koh Chang Police Col. Thanapon Taemsara said. The hotel said it took legal action against the former guest to prevent more reviews from being posted. We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent, as we understood he may continue to write negative reviews week after week for the foreseeable future, the hotel said. In addition to the unflattering reviews, Barnes was accused of fighting with staff over not paying a corkage fee for booze. Barnes was taken into custody and returned to Koh Chang, where he was briefly detained before he was released on bail. If found guilty, Barnes could face up to two years in prison and a 200,000 baht (around N6m) fine, the report said. Thailand is notorious for its anti-defamation laws, which have long been criticized by human rights groups. In December 2019, a Thai journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing a chicken farm on Twitter. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former president of a Marin, California real estate development and management company with operating a fraudulent Ponzi scheme and misappropriating over $26 million from more than 1,300 investors - many of whom were elderly and retired. According to the SEC's complaint, from September 2015 through May 2020, Lewis I. Wallach and the now deceased founder of Professional Financial Investors, Inc. (PFI) raised approximately $330 million by falsely telling investors that their money would be used primarily to invest in multi-unit residential and commercial real estate managed by PFI. As alleged in the complaint, many of the defrauded investors were elderly, retired and relying on their investment income for daily living expenses. The complaint alleges that Wallach knew that a significant portion of investor funds was being used in a Ponzi-like fashion to pay existing investors. The complaint further alleges that he personally misappropriated more than $26 million of investor money, including to purchase a vacation home and to invest in a failed land development deal. As cash levels at the company declined and incoming investor money slowed, Wallach allegedly claimed to investors that the company was in a financially strong position. "As alleged in our complaint, Wallach engaged in an egregious fraud that deprived many older investors of their hard-earned savings and retirement funds," said Erin E. Schneider, Director of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office. "We will continue to combat fraud targeting our most vulnerable investors, and we encourage all investors to use the resources available on the Commission's website to help identify risks and red flags." The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy encourages investors to ask questions before investing and to review investor alerts on frauds targeting seniors and Ponzi scheme red flags. Additional information is available on Investor.gov and SEC.gov. The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Wallach with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Wallach consented to entry of a judgment ordering a permanent injunction and an officer-and-director bar, with civil penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest to be determined by the court at a later date upon motion by the SEC. The proposed judgment is subject to court approval. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California today filed criminal charges against Wallach arising from the same conduct alleged by the SEC. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, was conducted by Rebecca Lubens and Mike Foley with the assistance of Brent Smyth, under the supervision of Tracy L. Davis and Monique C. Winkler of the San Francisco Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sydney, Sept. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Algeria outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets. Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Algeria-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses Algeria has a steadily developing telecom infrastructure with growth encouraged by sympathetic regulatory measures and by government policies aimed at delivering serviceable internet connections across the country. Government-funded efforts, including the Universal Service Telecommunications (UTS) program, are continuing to ensure that fixed-line infrastructure is extended to underserved areas and thus the slow growth in the number of fixed-telephony connections should be maintained during the next few years. Mobile penetration is growing steadily despite the tardiness of the regulator to licence 3G and LTE services. Licence obligations have ensured that LTE services have been extended rapidly, with Mobilis providing coverage to all provinces as of February 2020. Intensifying price competition between the three MNOs Mobilis, Djezzy and Ooredoo Algeria together with increases in taxes on voice and data services, have had a negative effect on operator revenue. A new roaming agreement with Tunisia will place further pressure on revenue. The MNOs have responded by investing in upgrades to LTE infrastructure, while Mobilis has also trialled 5G and is expected to launch commercial services later in 2020. For many years the development of Algerias fixed-line broadband market was hampered by the limited reach of the fixed-line network. This created an environment which encouraged alternative operators to invest in fixed-wireless accesses. In common with other markets in the region, mobile connections account for the vast majority of internet accesses. This report contains an overview of Algerias fixed-line telephony market, including a review of national and international network infrastructure. The report also covers the fixed and fixed-wireless broadband market, providing key statistics, profiles of the major players, and subscriber forecasts to 2025. In addition, the report reviews the mobile market, providing analyses on operator strategies and their operating and financial performance, as well as an assessment of recent spectrum licensing. BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries. On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth. Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report. The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions. Key developments : Regulator provides MNOs with additional spectrum to address poor services; Mobiliss LTE infrastructure reaches all 48 provinces; Government initiates national infrastructure project to replace copper network with fibre; Mobilis expecting to launch 5G services by end-2020; VEON increases stake in GTH to 98.2%; Djezzy Telecom trials smart agriculture concept; Report update includes the regulators market data update for 2019, telcos financial and operating data to Q1 2020, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market data developments. Companies mentioned in this report: Algerie Telecom (Mobilis), Optimum Telecom Algerie (Djezzy), Wataniya Telecom (Nedjema, Ooredoo), Djaweb, EEPAD, Swan Informatique, IcosNet, Smart link Communication Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Algeria-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses (Independent) Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have released their taxes ahead of the first presidential debate following reports of how little Donald Trump paid to the government in recent years. The Biden campaign released online Mr Bidens federal and Delaware tax returns from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Additionally, Ms Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoffs, federal and California tax returns from 2019 were released. Mr Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, made reported receiving $985,233 in adjusted gross income in 2019, of which they paid nearly $300,000 in federal taxes. This starkly contrasted what Mr Trump paid to the federal government based on a bombshell report from The New York Times. According to the report, Mr Trump failed to pay federal taxes in recent years and paid just 2016 and 2017 in $750. The president, in stark contrast to all other past presidents, has refused to release his tax returns on his own to the American public. More follows The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is reviewing an ingredient from a commonly known asthma and allergy drug, Singulair, after some children started experiencing anxiety and depressive episodes from taking the medication. While Montelukast, the ingredient in question, is known to induce side effects such as sleep disturbances, agitation, and depression, HSA says they are rare. HSA Reviews Asthma Drug Singulair After the review, the authority said that it will issue an advisorytheir first advisory on montelukastto healthcare professionals on the drug. It seeks to remind them of the neuropsychiatric events caused by the drug before prescribing them to patients. Some parents of these affected children here in Singapore have pointed out that when the drug was administered, they were not informed of the risks associated with it. One specific case involved Singapore mum Ms Jacqueline Lim and her 11-year-old daughter. Speaking to TODAY, Lim explained that her daughter had been taking Singulair daily for two years since 2018 and was diagnosed with anxiety. Apparently, her doctor told her that the drug was very safe for children. According to Lim, her daughters condition was such that she gradually showed signs of anxiety and pessimism, which was unlike her usual behaviour. Her emotional state also took a turn for the worse. To help manage her daughters condition, Lim took her to undergo counselling which has helped to calm her down. When speaking with other parents, Lim also discovered that their children have also experienced similar behavioural changes such as becoming more paranoid and having hallucinations. Image source: iStock Other parents have also spoken up of the risks and violent tendencies in their children who had consumed the drug. And not just children, adults too have been seen behaving aggressively after just a few doses of Singulair, said respiratory physician Dr. Steve Yang to TODAY. Its definitely concerning, because the hallucinations, mood swings can lead to depression and suicidal (thoughts), he said. Story continues Such incidents prompted Lim to start an online petition to garner attention and support to appeal to HSA to make it compulsory for all doctors to notify patients of the risks of the drug, as well as to review the clinical protocol for the prescription of the drug, among other requests. In doing so, parents would be able to make informed decisions. Image source: wikiwand.com HSA is currently prompted to review montelukast after hearing of recent developments overseas. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) however, had already issued similar warnings in March. The FDA reinforced its existing warnings on the significant risks associated with taking montelukast (such having as suicidal thoughts) in March. It requires a warning to be printed more prominently in a boxed format on the package inserts. Similarly, for Singapore-registered montelukast products, the HSA spokesperson said that this warning has already been stated in the package inserts, although presented in a different format. ALSO READ: Have Diabetes? From Depression To Anxiety, The Mental Health Issues You Could Face, And How To Keep A Lid On Them Parenting Tips and Role of Family in Mental Health of Children The post HSA Reviews Asthma Drug Singulair After Children Suffer From Side Effects, Anxiety appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids. Express News Service CHANDIGARH/ NEW DELHI: Stepping up pressure, farmers have decided to intensify their protests over the farm Bills by laying siege to corporate houses, offices, malls and residences of the BJP leaders in Punjab. Also, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to join agitating Punjab farmers on Gandhi Jayanti. However, there is a possibility that he may not be allowed to enter BJP-ruled Haryana by the state government to reach Punjab. More than 12,000 farmers have been sitting on rail tracks in Punjab and indefinite Rail Roko to start from October 1 in the state. They have started a new campaign Gherao Corporate Businesses after the three controversial farm Bills were now laws after the Presidential nod on Sunday. Rahul Gandhi has been targeting the Centre over the farm legislations and has interacted with farmers via video conferencing. The Congress has been holding protests across the country over the new laws and has announced to submit 2 crore signatures of farmers to President Ram Nath Kovind. ALSO READ | 'Agri bills are death sentence for farmers': Rahul Gandhi tears into BJP government In line with the concerted opposition to these anti-farmers legislations, the party will observe Kisan-Mazdoor Bachao Divas on October 2 by holding dharnas and marches at every assembly and district headquarters across the country. Addressing the huge gathering in Ferozepur, on the 113th Birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and hanging Bhagat Singhs poster on the railway track. Satnam Singh Pannu BKU (Pannu Group), president announced to continue the protest till October 2 and dedicated the month of October as joint protest. Already till date around 20 trains have been cancelled or diverted and daily loss of two third of the freight as before the agitation around 35 to 40 rakes was lifted daily from the state now only about 10 rakes. Talking with this newspaper, Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, General Secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan Group) said, As the Modi government has enacted laws to favour corporate houses, we have decided to gherao all businesses run by MNCs from October 1 for indefinite period. On Tuesday, in our state level meeting we will give final shape to these protests after identifying 18 to 20 points in the state where to lay siege. Each protest site is expected to see a gathering of 2,000 to 15,000 protestors." The farmers protest also reached the national capital as the Punjab Youth Congress leaders burnt a tractor near the India Gate following which five of them including the state unit president were arrested by the Delhi Police. Christian college to slash tuition to lowest in 20 years to reduce students financial burdens Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment At a time when high college sticker prices might be keeping potential students away, a Christian college in western New York is cutting its tuition costs to the lowest its been in 20 years. Houghton College, a Christian liberal arts school founded over 137 years ago by a dedicated Christian farmer and located about an hour-and-a-half drive from Rochester, announced this week that it will reset tuition for the 2021-2022 school year to make pricing more transparent, affordable and straightforward. Starting next fall, the schools tuition rate will be $15,900 before financial aid awards. According to the school, the new pricing model represents a 53% decrease in published tuition costs for students enrolled in the on-campus residential undergraduate program compared to the current academic year. In a statement, the institution stressed that the move demonstrates that a high-quality, Christian education is a real possibility for students from all backgrounds and circumstances. It also said its new tuition model is straight forward and offers clear information about what their college education is going to cost. This price reset makes Houghton College the best-priced Christian college in the nation, the colleges statement explained, citing the most recent tuition survey done by the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, to which the school is a member. In addition, Houghton is offering one of the lowest tuition rates of any college in the Western New York region. Houghton College President Shirley Mullen, who also chairs CCCUs board of directors, said the move makes a Houghton education truly a possibility for todays learners who would not otherwise have considered the opportunity. In this moment, we are taking a very deliberate step to make our pricing more transparent, Mullen, a former history professor, explained. We are also making certain that, in the process, a Houghton education will actually be more affordable, not simply appear to be more affordable. She said the decision allows the school to reclaim the original mission of our college to provide a high-quality, deeply-Christian education for students who are not being served as readily by other institutions of higher education. [Willard J. Houghton] founded this institution that we now know as Houghton College with the idea of reaching the young people who were not already being reached, she said in a video announcement. He had a vision of the fact that education was a key part of enabling young men and women to develop their God-given potential and to make a difference in the world. Houghton is ranked as a top-10 performing college in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for social mobility, which is defined as colleges that graduate large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants. The majority of Pell Grant recipients are students who come from families with adjusted gross family incomes under $50,000. Houghtons tuition and fees for the current academic year are listed at $34,466 with the additional cost of room and board listed at $9,856 by U.S. News & World Report. However, the average net cost of the university after need-based aid and scholarship funds are discounted is about $27,520. But for families with incomes between $30,001 and $48,000, the average annual cost for students at Houghton is around $17,749 for the 2020-2021 school year. According to a fact sheet, the new tuition rate itself will be $15,900, while room and board will still cost about $9,856 for the 2021-2022 school year. Additionally, students will have to pay $546 in fees for a total cost for the year of about $26,302. According to a CCCU report, the mean tuition costs for the 2017-2018 school year were $34,740 for private four-year schools, $27,466 for CCCU schools, and $ 9,970 for public four-year schools. In its statement, the college noted that a lower tuition rate means that federal and state financial aid will cover a greater percentage of the students annual bill and will enable students to incur less student loan debt and fewer out-of-pocket expenses. Any annual percentage tuition increases will be based on the reset rate, the college vowed in the statement. The stories of students struggling with the new economic realities of COVID-19 hastened the colleges efforts to help alleviate some of their burdens, Jason Towers, Houghtons chief officer of enrollment and marketing, said. At the same time, Houghton will reinforce our historical mission to train and equip underserved students through an excellent Christian college education so that they can impact the world for Christ. Through the generosity of its alumni and supporters, over $41 million has been raised for student scholarships, enabling Houghton College to make more scholarship funds available to students in need. In the fall of 2019, the college had a total enrollment of 969 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Across the nation, Christian colleges are making changes amid a decline in enrollment for evangelical institutions. Over 62 institutions that participated in the 2019 Annual Financial Aid Survey of CCCU Institutions, more than half of those surveyed, reported a decline in traditional undergraduate enrollment. Over half of enrollment at surveyed institutions now consists of undergraduate degree completion and graduate programs, including some seminaries. The survey also found that the median unfunded discount rate at the surveyed CCCU institutions increased over the last decade from 29.6% in 2007-2008 to 43.3% in 2017-2018. As CCCU communications specialist Morgan Feddes Satre stated last year, the increasing unfunded discount rate is not a good sign in light of growing operational expenses but is a trend reflective of higher education broadly. Costs estimates have skyrocketed for Orewas seawall, and work is unlikely to begin for several years. The process of building the wall, between Kohu St and Marine View, began with consultation and the lodging of consent in 2016. After a long and expensive court process, an amended design obtained resource consent this year (HM June 3). Last month, Auckland Councils lead on the project, Paul Klinac told the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board that construction costs, estimated some years ago at $6 million, are now in the order of $14 million. More than $1 million of that is for detailed design work a figure Mr Klinac referred to as a conservative estimate. As revealed in Hibiscus Matters, costs associated with the lengthy Environment Court proceedings were almost $1 million. Mr Klinac told board members that funding for the project dried up with cuts related to Covid-19 and will be sought during Councils Long-Term Plan (budget) process, next year. He said the resource consent applies for five years but we can seek an extension to 10 years, if needed. He expressed frustration at how long the court decision took almost a year saying had it come earlier the project could have got underway before lockdown and associated budget constraints. The former Rodney District Council also hoped to build a seawall on the same part of Orewa Beach but was declined resource consent. The former Council spent around $450,000 on the project. Sand transfer due this month Meanwhile, a full sand transfer on Orewa Beach is scheduled for October 12, which will shift thousands of cubic metres of sand from the southern end to the north. Last month, a small amount of sand was shifted as a buffer to protect the reserve from the effects of a storm. Indigenous communities in Russia are begging Tesla not to get its nickel from this major polluter by Maddie Stone Every year in August and September, the people of Ust-Avam, a remote indigenous community located in the Taimyr region of the Russian Arctic, toss nets into the Avam River to catch tugunok fish, an important traditional food. This year, the community stopped fishing early, around the start of the month. There were no tugunok to be found. Nor could locals find the fish at other common sites along the river basin fed by Lake Pyasino, which lies just a few miles north of the industrial city of Norilsk. Gennady Shchukin, a member of the Dolgan ethnic group, has little doubt about the culprit: In late May, a reserve fuel tank at a power plant near Norilsk burst open, flooding local waterways with an estimated 23,000 tons of diesel oil. The spilled oil drifted for miles, turning part of the Ambarnaya River that feeds Lake Pyasino bright red. Norilsk Nickel, the Russian nickel mining company responsible for the spill, says it acted swiftly to contain the pollution. But Shchukin worries the contamination is far more widespread than the company claims, and that his people will be living with the consequences for years. We expect that the river was poisoned for a long period, Shchukin told Grist in Russian via a translator. Maybe for several years there will be no fish in these rivers, and in the lake. This is very difficult, of course, for indigenous people. But Shchukin isnt sitting idly by. Last month, Aborigen Forum, a group of Russian indigenous activists and leaders that Shchukin heads up, launched a campaign to raise awareness of Norilsk Nickels impacts on their communities and to demand restitution. Rather than focus on an obscure Arctic mining company, Aborigen Forum is appealing to someone more likely to grab international headlines: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. Nickel is a key ingredient in the cathodes of electric car batteries, allowing them to store more energy more cheaply. Tesla, and other EV makers, need lots of it. But Aborigen Forum wants Musk to commit that his company wont buy any nickel that can be traced to Norilsk until the Russian megapolluter cleans up its act. We dont want the next industrial revolution of electric cars and clean energy developed for the price of indigenous peoples rights and traditional lands, said Dmitry Berezhkov, a member of the Aborigen Forum network and the coordinator of a social media campaign to get Musks attention. We think if Tesla could elaborate strategy and rules for itself in the field of human rights and indigenous peoples rights with regards to nickel, it could be a good opportunity to influence the general nickel market. On September 7, the Saami Council, an NGO representing a group of indigenous people who live in Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden, put out a statement in support of Aborigen Forums appeal. Indigenous rights organization Cultural Survival, meanwhile, is currently gathering signatures on its own open letter asking Tesla not to associate with Nornickel, which it delivered to the Palo Alto, California-based company on September 16. More than 70 indigenous, clean energy, climate, and mining justice organizations around the world have already signed on. Observer Media Group 2020 Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1152 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser, what weve accomplished in the last year, and our current goal, burnout prevention. Parrots removed from UK wildlife park after they started swearing at customers Mirror (J-LS). China and world at risk of financial turmoil greater than 2008 crisis, ex-finance minister warns South China Morning Post Optimism in the Time of COVID (PDF) Randal K. Quarles, Bank of International Settlements Bank Behind Worlds First Green Bond Is Set to Blaze a New Trail Bloomberg COVID-19 and the Search for Digital Alternatives to Cash Federal Reserve Bank of New York Why some banks still lean on mainframes The American Banker U.S. lawmakers propose airplane certification reforms after fatal Boeing crashes Reuters Pontifications: Winter is coming Leeham News and Analysis The pandemic is speeding up the space internet race Recode Wildfires #COVID19 China? Why are landslides so deadly in Nepal? Third Pole India Brexit London bankers balk at EU relocation over virus travel worries FT UK/EU Syraqistan Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africas low fatality rates from pandemic Reuters Stripped bare: Looting till there is nothing left of Gautengs rail network Daily Maverick No Meat, No Milk, No Bread: Hunger Crisis Rocks Latin America Bloomberg (Re Silc). Re Silc comments: When I was in Guatemala, parents would decide who gets fed. no work, no food. Youngest died. New Cold War RussiaGate James Bakers 7 Rules for Running Washington Politico (Re Silc). There were giants in those days. Trump Transition 2020 Supreme Court Battle Assange Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 19 Craig Murray Gunz Realpolitik: Look at Smith & Wesson investor call, some interesting highlights. "two fastest-growing segments of new gun owners being women and African Americans." CEO Mark Smith: "After this election, I'm not anticipating that we're going to have the large fall off that we did." Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) September 29, 2020 Class Warfare What CEOs Really Think About Remote Work WSJ The Rise of Remote Work Can Be Unexpectedly Liberating NYT What is friluftsliv? How an idea of outdoor living could help us this winter National Geographic Antidote du Jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday suspended senior IPS officer Purushottam Sharma whose video beating his wife went viral on social media on Sunday, following which he was shifted from the post of director of Public Prosecution, Madhya Pradesh on Monday, as per a governments order. The suspension order came from the home department after the 1986 batch IPS officer, having a special director general rank in police department, submitted his reply to a show-cause notice served on him on Monday evening by the department of Home. Home departments suspension order stated, Purushottam Sharma (1986), the then director, Public Prosecution directorate, is hereby suspended with immediate effect prima facie in view of his conduct found in violation of All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 and his reply to a show cause notice issued in regard with viral videos in social media on September 27, being found unsatisfactory and inadequate. During the period of suspension his headquarters will be police headquarters, Bhopal. However, Sharma termed the suspension order as unfortunate and one-sided. He said, The state government took the decision (to suspend me) without looking into my reply. I submitted the reply at 5.30 pm today to additional chief secretary, Home Rajesh Rajora and just within one hour the decision was taken to suspend me. In fact, my case is not a case of woman victimisation but a male victimisation. I will fight it out. The show cause notice served on the police officer by department of Home on Monday stated, Two video clips went viral in social media on September 27 and 28 in which prima facie there appears to be unethical conduct and domestic violence with your wife by you. Hence, your act makes you liable for disciplinary action under rule 10 of All India Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules- 1969. Hence, please present your clarification. Why disciplinary action be not taken against you for the misconduct as reflected in the viral videos. The police officer was asked by the department to submit his clarification within stipulated time to avoid facing a one-sided action. In a less than five-minute video clip, Sharma is purportedly seen pushing, hitting and pinning down his wife. In another video, he is seen in the house of a woman and is soon followed by his wife, leading to a heated exchange of words between the couple and Sharma leaving the house in a huff. The woman in the second video, who is a TV news anchor, lodged a complaint with Shahpura police station in Bhopal on Monday night against the police officers wife and son for allegedly defaming her by shooting the video, making it viral on social media and levelling baseless allegations. The woman said that Sharma was like her father and he visited her just for a cup of tea. On Tuesday, a police team of Mahila police station in Bhopal visited the police officers wife but the latter refused to lodge an FIR in connection with the alleged domestic violence, said a police officer who didnt want to be named. Meanwhile, a letter appeared on social media purportedly written by the police officers daughter who stood by her father and blamed her mother for causing troubles to him. Despite efforts, Sharmas wife and son couldnt be reached for their comments. They didnt respond to phone calls and text messages. Earlier, on Monday, the police officers son wrote to home minister Narottam Mishra, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and director general of police Vivek Johri demanding action against his father based on the videos, as per government officials. The home minister Narottam Mishra said, I am yet to receive a letter. I will look into it once I get it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NDC Campaign Spokesperson, James Agyenim-Boateng has called on the general public to disregard media publications of the party's Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama sharing money to his supporters on Monday. A video that has since gone viral and sighted by Peacefmonline.com showed Mr. John Mahama distributing what looked like cash to NDC supporters when he resumed his tour of the Bono Region. But according to a statement by the NDC Campaign Spokesperson, ''the said reports are untrue and completely borne out of the desperate and fertile imaginations of the author(s).'' On what the party's flagbearer was sharing, Mr. Agyenim said they were NDC branded nose masks. ''For the records, and as it has become typical of Mr Mahama on his tour of the regions, he shares JOHN MAHAMA 2020 branded nose masks to people and occasionally talks about how to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease. This morning was no exception when Mr Mahama shared several hundreds of his campaigns branded nose masks, aprons and T-shirts.'' Read full statement below: PRESS STATEMENT DISREGARD FAKE REPORTS OF MAHAMA SHARING MONEY The JOHN MAHAMA 2020 Campaign has become aware of false, misleading and malicious publications by certain online portals, which claim that the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama, shared money to his supporters on Monday when he resumed his tour of the Bono Region. The said reports are untrue and completely borne out of the desperate and fertile imaginations of the author(s). For the records, and as it has become typical of Mr Mahama on his tour of the regions, he shares JOHN MAHAMA 2020 branded nose masks to people and occasionally talks about how to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease. This morning was no exception when Mr Mahama shared several hundreds of his campaigns branded nose masks, aprons and T-shirts. The general public is therefore entreated to disregard the piece of fake news and lazy journalism, which unsuccessfully attempts to turn Mr Mahamas act of kindness into a weapon against his campaign. ***END*** JAMES AGYENIM-BOATENG CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON MONDAY, 28TH SEPTEMBER 2020 WAMFIE Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The code has been copied to your clipboard. width px height px Adrian Murphy was found dead in June last year. (Met Police/PA) A champion Irish dancer was murdered by a ruthless couple who poisoned him with Devils Breath after meeting via a dating app, a court has heard. Diana Cristea and Joel Osei had recently used another drugged victims name in an attempt to purchase more than $80,000 worth of diamonds from a New York jeweller, jurors at Croydon Crown Court were told on Tuesday. The pair deny murdering Adrian Murphy, who prosecutors say was killed with Devils Breath another name for the drug scopolamine at a Battersea flat some time between 31 May and 5 June 2019. The court was told scopolamine is considered a favourite tool of robbers and rapists in South America because it knocks out victims. Cristea and Osei have also been accused of poisoning a second man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on 30 May 2019 and stealing 2,000 of items from him. Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said: The prosecution allege that the two defendants were a pair of ruthless grifters, scammers looking to make easy money at whatever the cost to their victims. "Croydon, Surrey, England - March 25, 2012: The Law Courts in Croydon, Surrey. The courts complex comprises the Magistrates' Court, Coroner's Court, Youth Court, Family Court, County Court and Crown Court." Diana Cristea and Joel Osei is being held in Croydon. (Getty Images) Cristea has admitted one count of fraud but denies two charges of theft and six of fraud. Osei, who previously lived at Seven Sisters, north London, denies two counts of theft and eight counts of fraud. Aylett said 25-year-old Osei met the victims in person after contacting them through the gay dating app Grindr, with 18-year-old Cristea egging him on. Aylett said Osei went to the unnamed victims London residence on 30 May who was disappointed when Osei, who called himself Remy, did not seem interested in sex, the court heard. The man returned from the toilet to find Osei had poured him a glass of orange juice and he drank it, but began to feel breathless before passing out, jurors were told. A neighbour found the man and called an ambulance, but he found items including his wallet, bank cards and two laptops, worth about 2,000, had been stolen. Osei is alleged to have contacted men through the Grindr dating app. (PA) Aylett said Cristea, of Mill Hill, north London, texted and called Osei while he was at the mans home, and paid for a minicab to pick him up. Story continues Jurors were told that Murphy met a man on Grindr and invited him to the Battersea flat he was staying in on 1 June. The next day by which time, Aylett said, Murphy must have been dead the defendants used his name to unsuccessfully attempt to buy the diamonds, the court heard. Murphys body was found on 4 June by his best friend, the propertys owner, and a Louis Vuitton bag, wallet and laptop had been stolen. Combined, they were worth about 2,000. The court heard police linked a phone number used by Remy and Murphys visitor to Osei and Cristea. The surviving victim identified Osei as Remy and he also appeared on camera coming out of a lift that went to the Battersea flat, jurors were told. A post-mortem of Murphys body found traces of scopolamine, which comes from the deadly nightshade family of poisonous plants. Traces of the drug were found on a Coca-Cola can and glass tumbler during a search of the flat, and were present in a sample of the surviving victims hair. Aylett told jurors: In South America, and in particularly in Colombia, it is said to be popular with both robbers and rapists who use it to incapacitate their victims, rendering them deeply unconscious for long periods of time. In Colombia, they dont call it scopolamine, in Colombia they call it the Devils Breath. Osei was arrested at a music festival days before the incidents, where he meant to sell caffeine tablets as drugs, the court heard. Jurors were told that Cristea texted Osei at the time: And when you get back, we can focus on the ginger thing and ur batty boys loool. Aylett said the reference to a ginger thing was not obvious but it was clear the couple referenced gay men. The trial continues. SHAOXING, China, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 28, JIECANG celebrated its 20th anniversary in JIECANG Life and Health Industrial Park in Zhejiang. With its customer-centric strategy, strong product customization capabilities and production capacity, two decades of focus in linear motion technologies have transformed JIECANG from a linear actuator supplier to a one-stop actuator solution provider. To further development, Hu Renchang, chairman of JIECANG, announced that the Industrial Park will be officially opened as the new headquarters. JIECANG Life and Health Industrial Park covers an area of 48,524.7 square meters, with a total construction area of 70,000 square meters. With automatic production lines from component production, assembly, inspection to storage to achieve multi-model and mass production, Industrial Park aims to produce 200,000 sets of medical-care and home-care actuator systems per year. "With our unwavering commitment to bring more innovative products to the industry, JIECANG will continue to focus on the R&D, invest in and upgrade our four major components: the control system, motor, software, and actuator system integration," said Hu Renchang. JIECANG is now a solution provider with an extensive linear actuator product portfolio including standing desks, height adjustable kitchen tops, medical care and home care. In particular, by the end of 2020, the annual output of actuator systems for standing desks will reach 2 million sets. Other achievements of the 20th Anniversary include: Invested in the construction of the JIECANG Smart Home IoT Industrial Park, with an estimated annual output of 1 million sets of smart home systems and components. The Malaysian factory has scheduled to enter operation in 2020 Q4 and will better respond to international trade risks. The U.S. factory matures to serve the local market to shorten the delivery time. "Looking forward, we will continue to build production bases closer to the customer's market, providing more closely integrated production and delivery solutions to better serve our customers", said Hu Renchang. About Jiecang Linear Motion JIECANG, a leading provider of linear motion systems based in Zhejiang, China, was established in 2000. With 20 years of industry experience, JIECANG can respond quickly to customers' requirements. JIECANG endeavors to become a world-leading solution provider in the linear motion systems and promote downstream products intelligent transformation, bringing new values of intelligence, health (ergonomics) and fun to its new products. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283606/Jiecang_Linear_Motion.jpg Dublin-listed Open Orphan has won a 4.3m (4.7m) contract to conduct a human viral challenge study. The agreement is with one of the world's top 10 vaccine companies, it said. This trial will be conducted in Open Orphan's dedicated human viral challenge quarantine unit in London. The facility is Europe's only commercial 24-bedroom quarantine clinic with an on-site virology laboratory, according to the company. Work on the contract has started and the majority of revenues will be generated in the first half of next year. Cathal Friel, executive chairman of Open Orphan, said: "Open Orphan continues to execute on its substantial pipeline that has been built up by the expertise and experience of our professional and hard working teams in Hvivo and Venn Life Sciences. "We are focused on continuing to deliver large and profitable contracts which demonstrate Hvivo's position as the world leader in the testing of vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical trials." Europe-focused Open Orphan specialises in rare disease and so-called orphan drugs - treatments developed for medical conditions which, because they are so rare, few pharmaceutical companies pursue research into. Earlier this year it said it is rapidly advancing a number of coronavirus challenge study models and expects to be helping many Covid-19 vaccine development companies to test their vaccines. Hvivo, a subsidiary of Open Orphan, also works with companies in the UK and Ireland to provide Covid-19 testing to employees. This is the latest in a number of contract wins for the company amid a period of rapid growth. Last month, it signed a contract with a global pharmaceutical company to carry out a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) human challenge study trial. That contract is valued at 4m (4.4m). The company was founded in 2017 with the aim of becoming a leading specialist contract research pharmaceutical services business. In May, Open Orphan raised 12m (13.2m) via an oversubscribed share placing. Last year it acquired Venn Life Sciences in a reverse take-over. And in January it completed the merger with Hvivo. The company is due to publish its interim results tomorrow. The MEA said that the foreign ministers during the meet will discuss the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to various challenges emerging from the pandemic New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Tokyo from 6 to 7 October to attend a ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition and hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on ways to further deepen bilateral ties. Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. "During the visit, the External Affairs Minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-USA ministerial meeting on 6 October in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate," the MEA said. It said the ministers will collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The second meeting of the Quadrilateral coalition or Quad comes in the backdrop of growing global concerns over China's military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region. The MEA said Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with the foreign ministers of Australia and the US during the visit to Japan. It said the foreign ministers will discuss the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga held a telephonic conversation during which they discussed ways to deepen cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Senior officials of the Quad member nations also held a virtual meeting last week focusing on ways to promote peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. In November 2017, the four countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. The first meeting of foreign ministers of the four countries under the 'Quad' framework had taken place in New York in September 2019. India is also expanding bilateral cooperation with Japan, the US, and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region. On its part, the US has been pushing for a greater role for India in the Indo-Pacific which is seen by many countries as an effort to contain China's growing clout in the region. In their bilateral talks, Jaishankar and Motegi are expected to prepare ground for the annual India-Japan summit later this year. Yesterday, the New York Times published 10,000 empty words on Donald Trumps taxes, a barrage of self-inflicted wounds gutting the integrity of the editorial staff and management of this publicly traded, yet family influenced company. Yet it was not an effective indictment of any Trump family member. It is not a crime to offset losses against income, a fact that has been true for decades. And, it is profit-seeking businesses, and their owners and employees that produce the bulk of taxable income, yielding revenue needed to defray expenses of government. Over decades, generations of Trumps employed thousands of New Yorkers directly and indirectly producing incomes and spending that filled tax coffers at federal, state, city and county level. But instead of cultivating the Trump family and other profit-seekers, city and state government officials decided to persecute them, something Mayor DeBlasio and Governor Cuomo II, seemingly delight in doing. A Welcome Mat for Grifters While the Trump family hails from the Empire State, Bill and Hillary Clinton formally arrived there officially as a pair of carpetbaggers from Washington, DC in 2001, having plucked their previous domiciles clean. Like her predecessor Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General Tish James relentlessly pounds the Trump family for charity offenses but so far has turned a blind eye to the biggest illegal enrichment scheme using "charities" since Tammany Hall. Meanwhile, editors at The New York Times refuse to look through publicly available filings concerning a supposed charity now called "The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation" that began hustling in New York in 1998, while the Clinton's and their lawyers needed vast sums to fend off impeachment, and pay overdue legal bills. When it comes to the Trumps, authorities enforce strict laws regulating charities and their money-raising appeals, but not so for the Clintons. This is especially true of Robert Mueller and James Comey, who "missed" the early period of Clinton charity fraud, when they "investigated" the Clinton Foundation with grand juries from 2001 to 2005, according to documents available online at the FBI Vault website. By 2005, Bill Clinton boasted in the paperback edition of his book on page 958 that he spent time since January 2001: "building my library in Arkansas and my foundation in Harlem." But hard facts suggest otherwise. Documents available in Arkansas and on the Clinton Foundation website prove that the original entity -- The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation -- operated from 23 October 1997 through 22 December 1997 without adopting Bylaws, in violation of Arkansas state law. This is not a minor, technical matter. The crucial organizing document makes clear that the original nonprofit corporation was intended to be a public charity. Public charities must formally exist and cannot be governed by one family or used to raise sums from corrupt donors looking to purchase influence. So how, for example, did Bill and Hillary Clinton select a specific site for "their" foundation in Arkansas on Nov. 7, 1997 as a C-SPAN interview of Skip Rutherford (first president of Clinton Foundation) claims? Bill did not become a trustee or director of any Clinton charity until 2009, while Hillary waited until 2013. A Long Trail of Dubious Missteps A fair analysis of public documents by the IRS, if it were politically neutral, would have denied federal tax exemption for the Clinton Foundation. Of course, that did not happen when Bill Clinton was in the White House. Instead, the IRS "ignored" obvious defects in the application and granted conditional exemption on Jan. 29, 1998 as the Clintons together fended off Bill's Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky problems. Then, by mid 1998, the Clinton Foundation filed a materially false registration statement in New York, failing to explain why the entity did not file an IRS return on Form 990 covering its partial year operation in 1997. Importantly, this registration did explain, before Hillary announced her ambition to represent New York in the U.S. Senate, that the Clinton Foundation would operate only in a Little Rock city park and not all over the world. Ever since 1998, the Clintons have violated legions of laws that might protect New Yorkers from charity and tax frauds. For example, a public charity must further specific, tax-exempt purposes. If it wishes to alter its geographic focus, it ordinarily must secure IRS approval, in advance, before making such a change. And, states including New York legally require charities to make prompt, publicly available notification of such changes. The Clinton "charities" never have complied with crucial charity laws and did not even bother to file independent certified audits of their financial results for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, or 2003 in New York, as is specifically required. Thereafter, purported audits for 2004 forward are each materially false and incomplete. Without effective audits, no outsider can know what actually happened to donations sent towards a charity. Does "The Clinton Foundation" Exist? Forgetting grievous accounting "errors," no Clinton "charity" bothered to register with the New York Secretary of State until 2009. Before then numerous appeals went out supposedly using names associated with the Clinton family. These "fictitious names" have not been properly registered in each New York county where they have been used to solicit funds or to operate. The possibility that bank accounts may have been opened many places in these names is one that must be considered. Real New Yorkers will remember when so many street corners in Manhattan had folding tables with gigantic glass jars on them supposedly seeking cash donations for the homeless. There was no actual charity in that case. Grifters pulled on heartstrings, and then harvested donations for themselves using glass jars instead of fake bank accounts. Correcting the Record What Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton have done in New York and internationally with their many fake "charities" is far worse. Ask people in India, Asia or Haiti, what happened to billions of dollars raised and, in theory, sent for natural disaster relief efforts overseen by the Clintons. To this day there has never been an honest accounting of these activities. By what authority and in what guise was all this money solicited, raised and spent? New York has pushed out a family of billionaires who fell afoul of charity offenses resulting in penalties of less than $30 million. Meanwhile, they welcomed technically bankrupt Arkansans to foist a set of charity frauds on taxpayers that is at least $3 billion in size. And what do the many preening "investigative journalists" at The New York Times do? They stubbornly ignore the largest, as yet unprosecuted fraud and corruption scandal in American history. When you say you are giving money away, no one checks carefully enough to see how much money you truly raised and where it actually went. And when celebrities or politicians are involved, donors let down their guard. The Trump Administration should not only make sure that all charity frauds are prosecuted aggressively, it should make harsh examples particularly of U.S. charities, real or fake, that solicit donations trading on the actus or imagined plight of others. As for The New York Times, rest in blind partisanship but don't forget to register as an agent of the imaginary Biden for President campaign. BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aura , a technology company dedicated to simplifying digital security for consumers, today announced the appointment of industry leaders Dafna Sarnoff as Chief Marketing Officer and Christopher Bray as Chief Revenue Officer. The added leadership positions follow a period of sustained growth for the company, through the acquisitions of Pango, FigLeaf and PrivacyMate earlier this year. Dafna Sarnoff, Chief Marketing Officer Christopher Bray, Chief Revenue Officer "I'm thrilled to welcome Dafna and Christopher to the Aura team as we enter this important phase for the business unifying Aura's premium identity, privacy, and security products," said Aura founder and CEO Hari Ravichandran. "Their respective experience and proven track records could not come at a better time as we focus on simplifying digital security to fulfill our vision of becoming the premier unified threat protection platform." Dafna Sarnoff, Chief Marketing Officer Sarnoff is an experienced tech marketer who will champion Aura's promise to make security simple. She will drive new and existing customer revenue growth with a best-in-class marketing and analytics team that will continually improve customer acquisition and retention metrics. Sarnoff will also spearhead Aura's brand development ensuring the customer is prioritized across product, design, and engineering. Prior to joining Aura, Sarnoff was Chief Marketing Officer of Intersection and Senior Vice President of Marketing for Yodle, Inc., leading all marketing functions during times of significant growth and M&A activity. Sarnoff also held various senior marketing roles at American Express, including Vice President of Small Business Customer Acquisition where she led the launch of OPEN, The Small Business Network in all acquisition channels. "I am so excited to join Aura and this impressive executive team," said Sarnoff. "Digital security is a particularly salient need for all of us at this moment in time. I look forward to building the Aura brand as a trusted and experienced service provider to consumers seeking digital protection and privacy." Sarnoff holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Dartmouth College. Christopher Bray, Chief Revenue Officer Bray joins Aura with a proven track record of successfully growing B2B, B2C, B2B2C, Channel and SaaS security software businesses domestically and internationally. In his role, Bray will be responsible for the sustainable growth of the company by scaling and expanding Aura's go-to-market presence, and leading the sales, field marketing, partner engineering and revenue management teams. Previously, Bray served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer and Small Business at Cylance, successfully launching the world's first artificial intelligence powered anti-virus for consumers and small businesses. Prior to that, as Senior Vice President of Norton Field Sales and Marketing at Symantec, he drove acquisition and retention of key global accounts, including leading the sales function for Norton during the LifeLock acquisition and integration. He was also instrumental in scaling McAfee's consumer/small business unit to over $1B in revenues by pioneering disruptive go-to-market models and establishing the company as the market leader in key verticals including telecommunications companies (Telco's) and personal computer (PC) original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). "Aura has an incredible opportunity to redefine and disrupt the world of consumer security by creating new categories around privacy and identity, giving end-users real visibility and control as to how their digital data is used," said Bray. "I look forward to working with the rest of the leadership team to accelerate and scale this business." Bray holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Texas at Austin. For more information about Aura, visit www.aura.com. ABOUT AURA Aura is a technology company dedicated to simplifying digital security for consumers. Committed to creating a unified platform of services, Aura uses adaptive technology to enable customers to manage disparate cybersecurity needs with ease. Innovative personal identity protection and security products such as Identity Guard and Hotspot Shield, privacy products FigLeaf and PrivacyMate and technology services including Intrusta antivirus are part of the Aura family. Trusted by millions of customers, Aura is the digital halo that provides real-time peace of mind. For more information about Aura, visit www.auracompany.com . FOLLOW AURA Instagram: @AuraAllStars Facebook: Aura Company Twitter: @YourDigitalHalo LinkedIn: Aura Company SOURCE Aura Related Links http://www.aura.com T he Duchess of Cambridge has been meeting up with Cub and Beaver Scouts to mark her new role as joint president of the Scout Association Kate is sharing the position her first presidency of an organisation with the Queens cousin, the Duke of Kent, who has been president of the youth movement since 1975. The duchess, dressed casually and wearing a Scout scarf, joined the 12th Northolt Scout Group in west London to toast marshmallows on a bonfire. She also helped to make cards to send to a local care home. The Duchess of Cambridge marked her new role by meeting scouts in Northolt / AFP via Getty Images Kate described her delight at becoming joint president, saying: For many children and young people, The Scout Association plays a key role as they build relationships and develop the skills they need to succeed in later life. When I volunteered with the Scouts on Anglesey eight years ago, I was struck by the huge impact the organisation has on inspiring young people to support their communities and achieve their goals. I am delighted to be joining the Duke of Kent as joint president of the association and look forward to working with Scouts across the country as they strive to make a positive difference to our society. The Duchess of Cambridge marked her new role by meeting scouts in Northolt / AFP via Getty Images The duchess was presented with the Silver Wolf Award, the highest award made by The Scout Association which the Duke of Kent also holds. The Duke of Kent welcomed Kate to the role, saying: The Scouts ethos of dedication, inclusivity and lending a helping hand wherever one is needed resonates across the generations and, as such, I am delighted to welcome the Duchess of Cambridge as joint president, and to work together to continue that legacy. Kate was previously a volunteer with a Cub Scout pack when she and the Duke of Cambridge lived in Anglesey, North Wales. The Duchess of Cambridge marked her new role by meeting scouts in Northolt / AFP via Getty Images She has carried out numerous visits to Scout groups over the years, including joining Cubs in North Wootton, near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, in 2016 to celebrate 100 years of the youth movement and visiting the Scouts headquarters in Gilwell Park in Essex in 2019. Kates visit on Tuesday was also to thank the organisations volunteers for supporting more than half a million young people during lockdown. She heard how the association adapted during the pandemic when sessions went online as part of #TheGreatIndoors campaign. She also met parents and carers of young people who have been supported by the organisation. This year, Scout groups across the UK have carried out more than 10,000 acts of kindness by sending cards and greetings to care home residents. The Queen is patron of The Scout Association. Hello, this thing on???? No Xena??? Anyways.. Reply Thread Link Xena needs to get more love. Her character was hugely influential for many women-led, prime time action series that would come. And the series itself was camp but great TV. They played with a bunch of different styles of shows and really took risks from a prime time network 90s show. Reply Parent Thread Link Dramatic hoe who will burn England to the ground I want to be her and be with her These twoDramatic hoe who will burn England to the groundI want to be her and be with her Reply Thread Link i wish they'd given us a black sails spinoff Reply Parent Thread Link God I love them so much. To be honest a lot of the characters were cool even if I hated some of their choices depending on the season. Reply Parent Thread Link Dramatic Bi TM. Reply Parent Thread Link I tried with Black Sails but the first episodes bored me a bit, where does it start to get its pace? Reply Parent Thread Link i dont rmr much of s1 but s2 is one of the best seasons of tv i've ever seen Reply Parent Thread Link I dont know an exact episode. Season 1 is my least rewatched but i was also hooked right away. there's an awful subplot with Max that lasts like, 2 episodes so get through that. and once you get to season 2 you'll have quality TV. Its only like 6 episodes anyway. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i'm in the middle of rewatching this right now after not getting around to watching the 4th season years ago and I just love this show so much. Reply Parent Thread Link Yaaassss Reply Parent Thread Link Veronica Mars! I like she is super clever and sassy but still in a believable and accessible teenagery way? Reply Thread Link kristen bell (and rob thomas's writing) ruined her for me Reply Parent Thread Link List is a flop at least for the women. Feels like a white bro put it together. Almost all the women were CIA type people- women from jag, alias, the Claire danes show. No iconic characters from Black tv shows. Buffy made the list Reply Thread Link i could rewatch alias fight scenes over and over and over again. i loved her. Reply Thread Link I really wanted to post the MAD TV Alias spoof but it seems scrubbed off Youtube. It was so iconic... and like Tina Fey doing a Sara Palin impression with her speech verbatim, it wasn't that off from what the show actually did. Reply Parent Thread Link aww, i couldn't find it, either :(( Reply Parent Thread Link Me too. The sydney and francie fight scene is so iconic. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm rewatching Buffy again for the first time since I was like 19. Buffy was my hero at that age - she actually inspired me to get mental health treatment for the first time - and still is! not because she's cool but bc she really struggles and yet manages to persevere. she's sooo relatable. this time tho i really hate her friends, lol. love Cordelia and Oz but i have NO TIME for Xander and Willow. yuck. Reply Thread Link Your Buffy friends ranking is correct. Xander and Willow are awful friends to Buffy and shitty people to the world at large. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought Willow was a great character and a good friend in the early seasons, but they ruined her when she got too much into magic I think. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I loved Buffys journey throughout the series, shes my favorite character. I was on a date and we started talking about Buffy and she asked me who my favorite character was and when I said it was Buffy she was like ...really? All judgy and I was like nope lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I really liked Willow when I was younger and for the first few seasons. Prob because I could relate to her being bullied and awkwardly trying to figure out her sexuality. But god they made her as unlikable as Xander by the end. And I always side eye that she got with the one slayer at the end of the series. Wasn't she super young or a minor? I've always loved Oz. I'm kind of sad he left the show. It would have been interesting to see how his werewolf powers could have grown and if he became an asset to the gang or detrimental. Reply Parent Thread Link Barney Stinson? Gross Reply Thread Link How is he considered cool. He is only the way he is because he got upset his girlfriend left him. Tale as old as time, man takes revenge on all women because one girl hurt him 20 years ago Reply Parent Thread Link I was so mad when Omar died the first time I watched the wire. I rewound it 3 times just to make sure I really saw what happened. They had the best character killed by a fucking 3rd grader Reply Thread Link OT: I will FOREVER love your icon as a huge Gendry fan (even if I do like Jon). Reply Parent Thread Link Spoilers Jk but I was thinking of begining The Wire, in which season that happens? Reply Parent Thread Link The last season Reply Parent Thread Link You gotta watch it. Reply Parent Thread Link Omg same. Reply Parent Thread Link Same. It was stupid. Reply Parent Thread Link Some of their choices are VERY questionable. Reply Thread Link Buffy, my queen I kind of want to watch Alias once I have more time to commit to something new, it seems fun and ridic and Jennifer Garner looks hot in it. Reply Thread Link I havent watched it in awhile and was thinking of doing a rewatch but I remember the first season of Alias being great. Reply Parent Thread Link It starts really great! And then continues to be great and solid but the ridic does pile up. You kinda have to just go along for the ride at one point. And Gina Torres in Alias? Fantastic! Reply Parent Thread Link Alias is great!! Reply Parent Thread Link Buffy is obviously the best character in that world, hands down. It's too bad that people don't know Jennifer Garner for being Sydney Bristow. Reply Thread Link No Belcher family? Was this list written by Jimmy Pesto? Reply Thread Link Linda fucking rules. Reply Parent Thread Link I have such an intense love for this show and this tv family tbh. I have such an intense love for this show and this tv family tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link some of the choices on this list..... Reply Thread Link That list is so bad : Charlie Harper, Kramer, Tyrion Lannister , Barney Stinson Olivia Pope was the coolest character for one season, maybe 2, then the thirst for Fitz was do obvious, I hated how they ruined her Elizabeth Jennings should be there, same with Angela Abar, and if they were going to chose a character from GoT that should have been Olenna Tyrell , she was a badass even before dying Reply Thread Link agreed on Olivia Pope. She quickly became pathetic & disappointing. The show writers wanted us to think she was still cool in the later seasons and it was just so false. Reply Parent Thread Link Olivia Pope would've been so much better if they kept her like she was the first 2 seasons. They definitely ruined that character. Reply Parent Thread Link Tyrion is one of my most hated major characters, I think. Reply Parent Thread Link He was already a sad pathetic excuse for a man and then he gave Bronn Highgarden and made him master of coin Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I love Olitz so I can't agree quite (although I do agree that the writers didn't always know what to do with them) but I think they ruined Olivia by making her so power hungry and then just flipping back with no consequences. The last season is a complete mess anyway you look at it. Reply Parent Thread Link re: Kramer since I've been watching Seinfeld recently. His friendship with Jerry is so unrealistic considering how tidy and uptight Jerry is. Reply Parent Thread Link The National Guard sets up near the Lake Street/Midtown metro station as buildings continue to burn in the aftermath of a night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) National Guard Deployed for Protests in Cleveland Ahead Presidential Debate Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams confirmed Monday that the National Guard will be deployed in the city to deal with protests during the debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday night. Theyre here to make sure people exercise their constitutional rights, Williams said of the National Guard, according to WKYC. He emphasized that the National Guard will be there to support law enforcement. The National Guard arrived in the northeastern Ohio city on Monday. Our force specifically trains to focus on working closely with law enforcement in order to avoid any type of escalation or use of force, Lt. Col. Audrey Fielding of the National Guard told the station. Our number one focus is to treat everyone we encounter with dignity and respect and thats what well do over the next couple of days. Last week, Jackson asked Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for assistance from the states National Guard during the debate. More than 300 National Guard members were ordered to be deployed, according to a proclamation from DeWine. After receiving a formal request from Cleveland officials last night, I am issuing a proclamation today that activates around 300 @OHNationalGuard members to help @CLEPolice ensure a safe and secure environment for those attending Tuesdays presidential debate in Cleveland. Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) September 24, 2020 Major General John Harris, the Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard, told WTOL-11 that heavy reinforcements were there to ensure that everybody has a chance to express their First Amendment rights in a safe manner. Were hopeful that just having a presence, a large enough presence in the right places, will prevent any further necessity, he told the station. Cleveland has been a peaceful place lately, Mayor Frank Jackson said in a news conference. Lets keep it that way and show people how great Cleveland is. When asked about whether there will be a curfew on Tuesday, Jackson said it is not our plan to impose a curfew pre-debate, while adding that what happens during the debate will determine what decision we make. Last week, Jackson asked Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for assistance from the states National Guard during the debate. Photos uploaded to the Cleveland Plain-Dealers website showed many National Guard officials on the streets of Cleveland, including around the Cleveland Clinic, which is the site of Tuesday nights 90-minute debate. It was also sealed off by several iron fences. Camouflaged Humvee vehicles were also seen in the photos. Black Lives Matter organizer LaTonya Goldsby said a Presidential Debate Protest is being organized for during the debate. This presidential debate has just created chaos within the city, Goldsby told WKYC. Afghan officials say at least 18 Taliban fighters and 14 civilians were killed in an air strike and a roadside bomb in two Afghan provinces. Aka Mohammad Safi, a spokesman for the Afghan Army in the southern province of Uruzgan, said the Afghan Air Force targeted Taliban units in the Gizab and Khas Uruzgan districts, which killed at least 18 Taliban fighters and wounded five others. They wanted to either overrun the centers or capture our check posts, Safi told Radio Free Afghanistan on September 29. We spoiled their plans through these air strikes. It was not immediately possible to reach the Taliban, which has not commented on the Afghan Army's claims. It is often not possible to verify conflicting claims by the Afghan government and the Taliban about fighting in remote Afghan districts. Civilians were also reported killed in recent Afghan air strikes in the northern province of Kunduz. Meanwhile, officials in the central Afghan province of Daikundi, which borders Uruzgan, said at least 14 civilians including women and children, were killed in a roadside bomb on September 29. Nasrullah Ghori, a spokesman for Daikundis provincial governor, told Radio Free Afghanistan that seven women, four children, and two men were killed in the incident, which happened in a Taliban-controlled part of the Kijran district. So far no one has accepted responsibility for the attack. Violence in Afghanistan continues despite peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Last week Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy for Afghan reconciliation, predicted that the Taliban is unlikely to agree to a cease-fire before reaching a political agreement with the Afghan government. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The sentencing of iconic property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang to 18 years in prison is a blaring sign that the ruling clique in the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by general secretary Xi Jinping, is re-igniting a massive purge in the Party. By handing out a harsh sentence to an individual who has been part of the CPC nobility, the party's ruling circles are also sending an unambiguous message to influential and potential dissenters within its ranks. A zero-tolerance policy is now in force that will target anyone, notwithstanding their pedigree, who dare to mount a personal attack on Xi. Ren was not just a wealthy and influential party functionary. He was part of the blue-blooded elite. Turning points in his career include his entry into the People's Liberation Army (PLA), before he transitioned into business. In establishing links with the military, he had walked on a familiar path, including one trodden by Ren Zhengfei, the founder of the telecom giant, Huawei, who also broke out into business from the ranks of the PLA. Ren's father, Ren Quansheng was China's Vice Minister of Commerce. Like many others of that generation, Ren's parents were persecuted, and sent to work in the countryside in 1968, during the disastrous Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC). But Ren's star brightened when he joined the PLA during the Cultural Revolution, and served as a military engineer. As economic reforms kicked in during the time of Deng Xiaoping, Mao's successor, Ren left the army and slipped into the lucrative world of business, becoming deputy general manager of Beijing Yida. There was no looking back thereafter, as Ren swiftly climbed the corporate ladder, to rise to the post of Chairman of Beijing Huayuan Property Company. In the process, the outspoken Ren, shielded by influential backers in the CPC, became a top social media celebrity with a jaw dropping following of 37 million people on Weibo, China's twitter variant. But Ren's luck finally ran out when he directly targeted Xi in the heat of the Coronavirus pandemic. In a February 2020 essay, Ren blasted Xi for his role in handling the pandemic. Commenting on one of the President's speeches, Ren said he "...saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his 'new clothes,' but a clown stripped naked who insisted on continuing being emperor". Hell broke loose after that. By the beginning of April, the property icon was investigated for "serious violations of law and discipline". That led to his expulsion from the ranks of the CPC. Fully disarmed, Ren was sentenced to 18 years in jail, on September 22. Now banished from public life, probably forever, Ren has joined the hall of fame of several luminaries, who have been previously incarcerated by CPC's vindictive ruling factions. Ren's predecessors who have been felled before include Zhao Ziyang. Zhao was a former prime minister, an economic reformer, and a comrade-in-arms of Deng. But he fell from grace after he sympathized with the pro-democracy students who were massacred in front of Tiananmen square in 1989. With Deng turning against him, Zhao faced house arrest, and subsequently died in obscurity in 2006. Earlier Mao, among many others, had put down famous names, including two of his inner circle allies Liu Shaoqi and the Peng Dehua, as part of a bitter power struggle within the CPC. Many China watchers have expressed alarm at Ren's arrest. Sichuan-based journalist Li Li said the sentence means that the 69-year-old Ren will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars. "Basically this means that they want Ren Zhiqiang to die in prison," Li said, as quoted by Radio Free Asia (RFA). "The Communist Party cracks down harder on (dissidents) within its ranks than outsiders," Li observed. Hebei-based Communist Party historian Fang Ning points out that high-ranking party members, who are perceived as threats to the leadership of the time, have typically suffered heavy sentences. With Ren's sentencing, the rumblings of a massive on-the-way purge, under the anti-corruption label, have become louder. Preparatory moves include placing the police and state security directly under the control of the CPC. On August 26, Xi convened a meeting of 300 or so senior police and state security officials from across the country at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. During an elaborate ceremony, Xi handed a new blue and red flag, with the red portion of the flag symbolising the party and the need for absolute loyalty to it. This is a major and dramatic shift. Previously, most Chinese public security and police organizations have long been affiliated with the State Council, headed by Prime Minister Li Keqiang, with the Party only exercising oversight. Xi's affinity to exercise direct control over the domestic security apparatus also became glaringly visible in 2018. In January of that year, the paramilitary People's Armed Police, responsible for internal security, riot control and counter-terrorism efforts, was placed under the full command of the apex Central Military Commission (CMC), headed by Xi. It had previously been under the military and government. With full and direct control over the levers of coercive power, Xi is now set to unroll the next edition of house-cleaning. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text KITCHENER Photo radar will be coming to two schools in Kitchener, under a new pilot project run by the region. Under the pilot, eight school zones around the region one in each city and township, and one on a regional road would be chosen as a site for the speed camera. The pilot is expected to start early in 2021 and would use just one camera, which would rotate through each of the eight sites over the course of the year. On Monday, Kitchener councillors approved Franklin school in Stanley Park as the Kitchener location to get the camera. The region also chose a Kitchener school, Forest Hill Public School on Westmount Road, as its site. Among the 71 schools in Kitchener, Franklin school in Stanley Park has the worst speeding problem, with 85 per cent of vehicles going 22 km/h above the 40 km/h speed limit. Waterloo Region will cover the costs and collect all revenues from the pilot project. It expects to get $200,000 to $400,000 a year from tickets. The cost to set up the pilot on eight sites is about $360,000, including an installation cost of about $38,000 per site. City councillors said they were disappointed that the program is rolling out so slowly. Every single school in our region would love to have a speed camera out front, said Coun. Margaret Johnston, a former school trustee. In 2019, the province gave municipalities the power to set up photo radar in school zones. Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, and York, Durham and Peel regions all plan to install the cameras to get more people to slow down around schools. In Quebec, the cameras have slowed cars by an average of 13 km/h, and reduced collisions by 15-40 per cent, while in Saskatchewan theyve reduced collisions by 63 per cent, according to a report by city staff. Waterloo Region will post on-street signs three months before the photo radar starts up. It will also include information on its website. In August, Waterloo council approved setting up photo radar near Keatsway Public School. Altogether, eight school zones around the region will get the cameras. President Akufo-Addo has rescinded his decision to sack the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sekyere East, Mary Boatemaa Marfo. This comes barely a week after she was dismissed for allegedly vowing to reduce the votes of the NPP in the Effiduase-Asokore Constituency during the December 7 polls. In a leaked audio, the DCE was heard in a conversation with a party member threatening to frustrate voters on election day which will in turn reduce the votes of the NPP and the MP, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie. Subsequently, a letter written by Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kwasi Boateng Adjei to the Ashanti Regional Minister, stated that her dismissal was to take effect immediately. The Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, was then tasked to take oversight responsibility until a new DCE has been appointed. But in a new letter sighted by JoyNews, Mr. Adjei announced the new decision. I have to inform you that His Excellency the President has rescinded the decision to revoke the appointment of Hon. Mary Beatrice Marfo as District Chief Executive of Sekyere East District Assembly, part of the letter read. Source: myjoyonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Trend The Spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Saeed Khatibzadeh has denied the territory of Iran being used for arms transportation, Trend reports citing the ministry. According to Khatibzadeh, Iran strictly controls transit to other countries. Khatibzadeh added information was spread on some social networks about military equipment being transported to Armenia, through Iran's territory. The official said that Iran only allows non-military goods to be transported to the neighboring countries. The European Union has been putting its house in order as a possible second Trump presidency looms after the presidential elections in the US in November, writes Manal Lotfy The Trump Doctrine earns President Trump a third Nobel Peace Prize nomination! This was a tweet proudly tweeted by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, adding that might as well mention this because it will never be reported by the lamestream media! The nomination by Australian law professors met with joy from Trump in a week in which he was widely featured in the news after a New York Times investigation in the US revealed that Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, had paid just $750 in US federal income taxes both in 2016, the year he ran for the US presidency, and in his first year in the White House. Explaining why he had decided to nominate Trump, Australian law professor David Flint told the satellite TV channel Sky News that the Trump Doctrine is something extraordinary, like so many things that Donald Trump does. He is guided by two things, which seem to be absent from so many politicians. He has firstly common sense and he is only guided by national interest, and therefore, in our circumstances, an interest in the Western alliance, Flint said. What he has done with the Trump Doctrine is that he has decided that he would no longer have America involved in endless wars, wars which achieve nothing, but the killing of thousands of young Americans and enormous debts imposed on America. He is really producing peace in the world in a way which none of his predecessors did. He fully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Few European leaders and officials would agree with this assessment, however. The reality, as they see it, is that the world is going through tough times, partly as a result of actions taken by Trump. There are unprecedented tensions between China and America, between China and India and between America and Iran, to mention a few. Many countries are suffering from bitter internal crises, including Syria, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Venezuela and Afghanistan. The positive narrative that Trump produced in his recent UN General Assembly speech was alien to many in Europe. While Trump talked about his successes in achieving peace between Serbia and Kosovo and between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, he did not say a word about Russia or the situation in Syria, Lebanon or Libya. He did not say anything about the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean either, which US officials say is a top priority for the Trump administration. Although the pressing issues the world is facing necessitate unprecedented international cooperation, to find a vaccine against the Covid-19, for example, or to cooperate to prevent the world from plunging into a severe economic crisis, or to address global warming, Trump gave the opposite advice. He called on world leaders to clone his America First doctrine. For decades, the same tired voices have proposed the same failed solutions, pursuing global ambitions at the expense of their own people. But only when you take care of your own citizens will you find a true basis for cooperation. As president, I have rejected the failed approaches of the past, and I am proudly putting America first, just as you should be putting your countries first. Thats okay thats what you should be doing. Trump said in his speech. But the parallel world Trump lives in is nothing like the world of the EU. In his speech at the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron described the world today by saying that our shared house is in disorder. Its foundations are hollowed out. Its walls are sometimes cracked by the blows of those who built it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her remarks that anyone who thinks he can get along better on his own is mistaken. Our well-being is shared. And so is our suffering. We are one world. Both Merkels and Macrons comments seemed to be directed at Trump and his America First policies. In the European leaders view, Trump has no big international successes to his name and has instead ruined Americas reputation and alienated its friends. His policies regarding Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria have been failures. His Middle East policy is undermining the chances of real peace. The worry for the EU is that because of the lack of any significant achievements, Trump in his possible second term as US president will be more aggressive both internally and internationally. The prospect of a Trump second term in office has also prompted the EU to speed up its own housekeeping amid many pressing challenges. After the EU reached a historic agreement on a 750 billion coronavirus pandemic recovery fund that saw it introduce the concept of common debt across the Union, the European bloc has now also unveiled a long-awaited migration pact, aiming to streamline the asylum process among member states to fix what EU leaders acknowledge has been an ineffective system. Migration policy has historically been a thorny issue in EU politics, and the new pact aims to create a single policy and to better share the burden of relocating asylum-seekers by allowing member states to contribute by returning individuals who do not qualify for asylum or providing logistical support. EU leaders also hope to create faster border-screening processes at the blocs external borders. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the new pact would strike a reasonable balance, with all member states sharing benefits and burdens. She added that it was not a question of whether the EU states should contribute to the blocs asylum policies but how they should do so. A key aspect of the new pact on migration and asylum allows EU countries that have been reluctant to take in migrants, such as Poland, Hungary and Austria, to contribute by returning migrants who do not qualify for asylum or by helping with logistical support at the blocs borders. The pact will introduce an integrated border procedure, including pre-entry screening for people crossing external borders. The EU Border and Coast Guard Corps will also be deployed from 2021 onwards to provide increased support, a press statement said. Von der Leyen said the EU would work with the Greek authorities to manage a reception centre in Lesbos for migrant arrivals. The new screening at borders should take a maximum of five days, EU leaders said. There will also be health checks and decisions about which country will be responsible for individual migrants. From the European perspective, these steps are going in the right direction to prepare for a possible second term for Trump in the White House. If the first term was difficult, the second term is likely to be even more so, and so it has been advisable to prepare by tidying up a messy European house. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Sienna Miller is opening up about the quiet generosity of late "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman. Miller, who co-starred with Boseman in the 2019 action thriller "21 Bridges," revealed in the new issue of Empire that Boseman helped to cover part of her salary for the film. "I didn't know whether or not to tell this story, and I haven't yet. But I am going to tell it, because I think it's a testament to who he was," said the 38-year-old actress. Chadwick Boseman And The Cast of "This was a pretty big budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn't get to. And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, I'll do it if I'm compensated in the right way,'" continued Miller. "And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for. He said that that was what I deserved to be paid," she said. Miller, who shares 8-year-old daughter Marlowe with ex-boyfriend Tom Sturridge, said she was blown away by Boseman's show of support. "It was about the most astounding thing that I've experienced. That kind of thing just doesn't happen. He said, You're getting paid what you deserve, and what you're worth.' It's just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully," she marveled. Boseman died Aug. 28 at age 43 after a private four-year battle with colon cancer. Since his death, many of the actor's Hollywood peers have shared tributes describing his thoughtfulness toward others. Miller said she'd told the story of Boseman's kindness toward her to several other male stars "and they all go very very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while." While another powerful Hollywood actor might have offered Miller the money for a little publicity, for Boseman "there was no showiness, it was, 'Of course I'll get you to that number, because that's what you should be paid.'" HAMDEN The town is pursuing legal action to recover almost $300,000 in fines the Planning and Zoning Department issued to a local company for allegedly violating zoning regulations for more than a year. Zoning Enforcement Officer Holly Masi issued a cease and desist order Sept. 16, 2019, to Paradise Landscaping and Tree Removal at 82-92 Crest Way, owned by Rus Boyarsky, after hearing several complaints about alleged loud work on the property when the company hadnt met all zoning requirements, according to public documents filed in the Planning and Zoning office. The violation was initiated after the company had been issued a building permit from the town to construct a building on the site without getting approval from the Planning and Zoning Department, which was required before any work was allowed to begin, documents show. A follow-up citation came Oct. 4 after an inspection found the company allegedly was continuing work without a zoning permit for a building on site, improperly storing vehicles and piles of material and cutting logs on site, according to the citation. Boyarsky did not respond to a request for comment. The company was cited for five alleged zoning violations, each of which carried a fine of $150 per day for every day the violation was not resolved, which is the most the town can fine under state statute, records show. After performing another inspection in February, finding work ongoing, Masi and the town filed a lawsuit March 4 to order again for Eighty Two Ninety Two Crestway LLC to stop work and pay all the fines incurred for the alleged illegal activity, approximately $264,000, according to Town Planner Dan Kops. Additionally, the company allegedly has been clearing about 6,000 cubic yards of soil, rock and wood from its property that it dumped onto two other neighboring properties 785 and 925 Sherman Avenue according to the Planning and Zoning Department. Kops said the town is making a strong effort to recoup the money. A court date to be held remotely is scheduled for Nov. 5, according to the state judicial website. With the alleged violations and the lawsuit ongoing, the company applied for a zoning permit to remediate the material from the other businesses properties, records show. Crestway LLC came before the Planning and Zoning Commission at a recent hearing. Joseph Proto, an attorney representing Crestway LLC and Boyarsky, said during the meeting that the materials moved onto the Sherman Avenue properties came from his clients work on the site and trees that came down in the 20018 tornado. He said the property owners have agreed to the remediation plan. I cannot provide an explanation to how or why this was created, Proto said. The town wants it removed and neighbors want it removed and this is how were proposing to do it. The materials are a mix of dirt, red rock, boulders and trees that Proto estimated to be about 400-450 dump trucks worth of material. Proto said the materials have not undergone environmental testing to determine whether they present contamination threats. As part of Crestways remediation plan, the soil, rocks and tree materials would be delivered by truck to a location in North Haven for purchase by another company. The commission voted to hire an environmental specialist at the expense of Boyarsky to evaluate the nature of the materials. The commission then postponed any decision on the permit application for remediating the area until late October. mdignan@hearstmediact.com New York, September 29The 11th Equator Prize Award Ceremony honoured 10 Indigenous and local communities from across the world in a virtual gala event, delivering a powerful message of local leadership to the UN Biodiversity Summit and the UN General Assembly. The event, hosted by the UNDP Equator Initiative partnership, recognized and celebrated the extraordinary initiatives and innovations created by 10 Indigenous peoples and local communities from 10 countries under the slogan Nature for Life. The winners were awarded a cash prize of US$10,000 each for their significant work that showcases innovative, nature-based solutions for biodiversity, climate change and development challenges. This is the first time the Equator Prize has been awarded to groups in Canada and Myanmar. Winners are also based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, and Thailand. Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator stated, The winners show us the value of working with nature, for climate action, for water security and for inclusive prosperity. They show us the importance of putting nature at the very heart of sustainable development. Their stories [] provide a blueprint for solving our planetary emergency. In awarding the prize to Equator Prize winner Alianza Ceibo in Ecuador, musician Sting pointed out that in light of forest fires and illegal forestation, Indigenous peoples of the Amazon risk their lives every day to keep their forests and our futures intact. Yet Equator Prize winners counter these challenges with innovative solutions. The award ceremony featured winners in the categories of Nature for Water, Nature for Climate, and Nature for Prosperity. Each winning community delivered a statement to the audience, emphasizing the central role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in protecting, sustainably managing and restoring the worlds ecosystems. Among the distinguished speakers and musicians were Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace; Henry Golding, Actor (Crazy Rich Asians) and Producer; Grammy Award-winning musicians Ricky Kej and Lila Downs, Grammy-nominated duo SOFI TUKKER, and representatives from all 10 winning initiatives in articulating their vision for local leadership in environmental management. Among the distinguished personalities who presented the awards were Khemupsorn Cherry Sirisukha, Actor (Thailand); Prof. Raymond Ranjeva, Lawyer/judge, former Vice-President, International Court of Justice (Madagascar); Trudie Styler, Actor, Producer and Environmentalist (for Ecuador); Clara Hughes, Olympic Champion and Humanitarian (Canada); Nicholas Saputra, Actor (Indonesia); Lahpai Seng Raw, Founder, Metta Development Foundation (Myanmar); David Kaimowitz, Senior Adviser, Climate and Land Use Alliance (for Guatemala); and Margaret Atwood, World-renowned Author and Environmental Activist (for Kenya). Since its inception in 2002, the Equator Prize has recognized the innovative work of 255 community initiatives from 82 countries that are helping to protect the environment and tackle climate change while advancing their own sustainable development priorities. The latest group of winners are sustainably protecting, restoring and managing forests, farms, wetlands, and marine ecosystems to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to climate change. This years Equator Prize was made possible by the generous support of the Governments of Norway, Germany, and Sweden. About the Equator Initiative The Equator Initiative is a United Nations-led, multi-sectoral partnership that brings together governments, civil society, academia, businesses and grassroots organizations to recognize and advance local, nature-based sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities. Its mission is to identify and advance outstanding local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Equator Initiative partnership offers a unique platform to celebrate success, inform global policymaking, and support local leadership in advancing innovative projects in sustainable development and climate issues. About the winners Access short summaries of the Equator Prize 2020 winners here. Videos about all winners available upon request. A recording of the event is available at www.natureforlifehub.org. Media queries: Sangita Khadka, Communications Specialist, UNDP New York, email: sangita.khadka@undp.org, Tel: +1 212 906 5043. Boris Johnson has failed to offer support for students being forced to self-isolate and whose courses are disrupted by the pandemic, insisting it is up to universities whether they offer tuition refunds. The prime ministers decision not to intervene comes as thousands of students receive no face-to-face teaching while some are urged to quarantine in universities halls of residence following outbreaks of Covid-19 on campuses across the UK. Over the weekend, around 1,700 students were told to stay in their rooms at a Manchester Metropolitan University campus for 14 days after 127 tested positive for the virus leading to questions as to why they are paying in full for 9,250 a year for courses. Earlier this week, former Conservative minister George Freeman suggested that universities should looks seriously at offering their students reduced fees if theyre not getting the full experience. Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the Education Select Committee, also insisted the Office for Students and universities will have to look at discounts for those forced to self-isolate. The government could say that they believe discounts should be offered, he said. If you buy a product and you only get half of it or a quarter of it, you are entitled to get your money back. Pressed on the issue of refunds during a speech on Tuesday, Mr Johnson made clear he would not step in, saying: Thats really a matter for them and their places of education. I hope that they can continue to get value from the courses they are being given. During his address on equipping people with new skills, the prime minister also vowed to end what he described as the bogus distinction between further education and higher education in expanding the ability to get student loans. "We've got to end the pointless, nonsensical gulf that's been fixed for generations, more than 100 years, between the so-called academic and so-called practical varieties of education. It's absurd to talk about skills in this limited way, he said. "Now is the time to end this bogus distinction between FE and HE. We're going to change the funding model so that it's just as easy to get a student loan to do a year of electrical engineering at an FE college, or do two years of electrical engineering, as it is to get a loan to do a three-year degree in politics, philosophy and economics." He went on: We face a once a century pandemic but now is the time to fix a problem that has plagued this country for decades. Now is the time to end the pointless, snooty, and frankly vacuous distinction between the practical and the academic. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 04:15:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices advanced on Monday, recouping some of last week's losses. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery rose 35 cents to settle at 40.60 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for November delivery increased 51 cents to 42.43 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. High investor interest was lending support to prices, as speculative net long positions in Brent and WTI both rose sharply recently, Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Monday. Fritsch also said that "the risk of a price slide is not negligible," as pandemic-induced demand concerns and risks of a renewed oversupply remain in place. For the week ending Friday, WTI crude lost 2.6 percent, based on the front-month contracts, while global benchmark Brent slipped nearly 2.9 percent. Endtiem An armed police officer in Portland has said the violent protests could stop immediately if 'people liked our Trump government a lot more'. The Oregon city has been gripped by unrest for months since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. On Monday night, BLM protesters marched on a police union office as clashes continued on the 124th night of demonstrations, leaving one sergeant hospitalised after being punched in the face and five cops sprayed with a chemical irritant. In footage taken during the latest night of protesting a woman confronted armed officers and asked how the unrest can come to an end. A homeowner asks a Portland police officer how do these protest end Police officer responds if people liked our trump government a lot more, we probably wouldnt have this issue in the first place pic.twitter.com/iHBtdTtkZJ Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) September 29, 2020 Police arrested people on Monday wearing heavy body armor with rifle plating, marked with press insignia and carrying a press" pass, saying they also possessed weapons such as knives and pepper spray An armed police officer in Portland has said the violent protests could stop immediately if 'people liked our Trump government a lot more'. Pictured: police in position on Saturday One officer says: 'So you're asking how do we end it? It's got to be citizen and political will.' The local resident replies: 'Is there a way we can take you guys out of having to be in this position?' Another police officer replies: 'If they were not out here, we would not be out here. 'If our people liked our Trump government a lot more, we probably wouldn't have this issue in the first place.' Police try to take away a protest sign, the protester refuses, police mace and arrest him. pic.twitter.com/CtfN53wrMh Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) September 29, 2020 A number of armed officers changed tactics and descended on a group of protesters before they had even started to march on Monday night The first officer adds: 'We know this is going to run all the way to the election and all the way to inauguration.' But the woman replies: 'Well it could run all the way until cops stop killing black people, but maybe you haven't.' An officer responds: 'When's the last time in Portland?' Many online have criticised the police officer's remarks about Trump, saying people are protesting police brutality and racism, rather than the current Government. Demonstrators and armed police face off during Saturday night's protest where BLM protesters demanded justice for Breonna Taylor Others have also pointed out how black people have been controversially killed by police in Portland in recent years, including Kendra James in 2003, Aaron Campbell in 2010 and Quanice Hayes in 2017, none of which were prosecuted. Portland cop Capt. Mark Kruger kept his job after erecting public tributes to five Nazi-era German soldiers at a city park. However, others agreed with the officer, saying anti-Trump sentiment was encouraging people to take to the streets. Many protests also took place across the US under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, notably in Ferguson, Missouri. The latest confrontation came on the latest night of violence in Portland as BLM protesters and police clashed again. A number of armed officers changed tactics and descended on a group of protesters before they had even started to march. Police confiscated shields, used pepper spray and controversially tried to take a picket sign which read 'Vote'. The new tactic caught protesters off guard, causing them to splinter and delaying their march to the police union office. But the activists soon regrouped and continued their march after police declared it an unlawful assembly and made 24 arrests. They claim many protesters were posing as members of the press but were carrying weapons including knives and pepper spray. Police admitted using tear gas even though the Mayor recently banned them from using it. On Twitter, Portland Police said: 'There is a gathering in Kenton Park and learned that it was the initiation point of a planned unpermitted march. 'Participants were seen wearing body armor and helmets. Officers observed shields and moved in to take them for safekeeping before they could be used.' It comes after an anxious weekend in Portland after the far-right Proud Boys rally took place. About 1,000 people gathered at the Proud Boys rally in Delta Park on Saturday, while a group of 500 left-wing counter-protesters massed at nearby Peninsula Park, leading to fears of clashes. Ahead of the right-wing rally, which organizers said was to support President Donald Trump and 'to end domestic terrorism', Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency and Mayor Ted Wheeler said it poses the 'greatest threat we've faced so far' amid fears of clashes with left-wing protesters. LifeStyle The best Lifestyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel Lifestyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Shaynna Blaze and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. Irma Pete Cameron Dryden, a Black woman who served as a nurse to Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, has died. She was 100. Dryden died Sept. 17 at her home in Canton, Georgia, her daughter-in-law, Maggie Williams Dryden, said Tuesday. After graduating from Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in 1942, Dryden travelled to Tuskegee Airfield in Alabama, where as a member of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps she cared for cadets training to be pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen were the countrys first Black military aviators and flew missions during World War II. They were trained by Tuskegee University. Dryden was inspired by their story and wanted to help them, Williams Dryden, told The Associated Press. She really didnt know what she was getting into when she got on the train in New York to go to Alabama, she said. The military was segregated when Dryden joined it, and she faced discrimination in the South. On the train to Tuskegee Airfield, she recalled being stunned by rules requiring Blacks to eat after whites and behind a curtain. I didnt eat the whole trip, she said in an interview with Tuskegee University on her 100th birthday in May. Of the 50,000 nurses in the corps who served in the war, fewer than 600 were Black, Pia Jordan, director of the Tuskegee Army Nurses Project, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Dryden rose to the rank of second lieutenant and married Tuskegee Airman Charles Dryden in a ceremony at Tuskegee Airfield in 1943. After her service, she helped start a New Jersey-based medical lab. She moved to Georgia nine years ago to be closer to family, the newspaper reported. Im proud of the fact I was able to withstand the feelings I had to make sure the young men got the care and attention they needed, she said in her interview with Tuskegee University. We knew we were going to overcome the prejudices and all we were faced with. Google is adding the noise cancellation feature to its video meeting app Google Meet. It is now available on Android and iOS at this time. But dont rush to update the Google Meet app on your phone just yet, unless you are a G Suite Enterprise or G Suite Enterprise for Education customer. At this time, only these G Suite tiers will be able to take advantage of clearer audio with noise cancellation, though it is expected that itll be rolled out for all users in the coming weeks. However, Google has confirmed that the feature will be off by default, and you will have to turn this on by going into the Call Settings menu -> Audio and turn on Noise Cancellation. Noise cancellation will be handy for video meetings and video calls, to effectively eliminate background noise around us. That could be the noise of traffic outside your window, neighbours talking loudly, a noisy air-conditioner or even a dog barking near your apartment. You could even continue working as a meeting drags on, and the clicking sound of the keyboard could effectively be drowned out as well. Google Meet can now intelligently filter out background noise on Android and iOS. This means Meet will automatically remove distracting from your mobile devices audio input while still letting your voice through, says Googles G Suite update feed. Engineer working on the 500-bed military hospital at Afari in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality, Ashanti Region, Mr. Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor has assured President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that the facility will be ready and handed over to government by November 2020. According to him, major component of the facility to be completed include out-patient department, wards, casualty/emergency unit among others. The Executive Officer of Euroget De-Invest in charge of the project, Dr. Said Deraz stated it is currently at 85% completion level, adding the remaining works will be completed by March next year. Dr. Deraz made this known when President Akufo-Addo paid a working visit to the Ashanti Region. He said when Euroget De-Invest hands over the first part, it will take between two and four months to train the end users of the equipment and installations to facilitate an efficient system saying "the end of that training regime, the full hospital would be completed and totally handed over to the government. The President visited the Region with an entourage including the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Kwabena Agyapong. They were received at the project site by the Minister of Defence, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul and the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen. Obed Akwa. The President expressed satisfaction with work on the project and charged the contractors to deliver according to schedule. The Afari Military Hospital is one of nine hospital projects being constructed by the Egyptian investment company across the country; two have already been delivered. Resident Manager, Mr. Abou Shamaa also said the "hospital scope will become Ghana's second Military hospital intended to complement the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital as the chief referral medical facilities in the Ashanti Region and all of the middle belt. Beyond that, the new hospital's specialist capacity will be accessed by patients from the neighboring environment outside of the Region". He stressed that the hospital, when completed, will have 17 Specialist clinics, pharmacy units, theatres, laboratories, kitchen, laundry and morgue among others. "It also has medical waste, sewage and water treatment plants, a 54-flat staff accommodation, a gas-generating system, a parking lot for more than 700 cars, and a helipad. It has a six-kilometre internal road network and 40-acre landscaping on the 260,000-metre square project area," Mr. Shamaa added. Source: Nana Akwasi Kyere/Hello FM Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Palmetto State should expect to spend most of next year in economic recovery rather than the record growth it was experiencing prior to the coronavirus pandemic, University of South Carolina economists said Tuesday. January 2020 marked one of the best business environments USC economist Doug Woodward said he had ever seen. And last fall, the director of research at the Darla Moore School of Business said wages were rising and that his biggest worry was whether South Carolina's labor shortage would hold back growth. Now the state is wrestling with a 6.3 percent unemployment rate, a number Woodward and colleagues believe actually underestimates South Carolina's joblessness. Given current market conditions, we dont anticipate getting back to pre-pandemic employment levels before at least the summer of 2021, USC economist Joey Von Nessen said Tuesday during the university's 40th annual Economic Outlook Series. And it might lag as late as 2022 as a possible uptick in COVID-19 cases this fall has the potential to rattle consumer confidence and spending, as well as hold back the labor force if working parents are forced to stay home with children who attend school virtually. Although South Carolinas recovery from the pandemic-induced recession is off to a good start the jobless rate was roughly 12 percent in the spring the state still faces significant hurdles, Von Nessen said. To date, the state has recovered about 62 percent of the jobs lost during mandatory business closures between March and April well ahead of the national average but that pace began slowing in July. Von Nessen said furloughed or laid-off workers filing for employment now are more likely to report that their old jobs are gone. "That's going to continue to be a problem," he said. Also, while industries like residential housing and e-commerce have been strong, not all segments of the economy are recovering equally. Retail, tourism and hospitality sectors continue to struggle. For that reason, lower-wage workers in South Carolina have been hit harder in this recession than in 2008, Von Nessen said. For example, employment growth has risen by an average of over 3 percent this year across all jobs requiring post-secondary education but is down 10 percent for jobs that dont," he said. Where the economists see an upside for South Carolina is changes in the way the employed are working. "To the extent that the work-from-home phenomenon becomes a permanent part of the business landscape, South Carolina will have to begin re-thinking its approach to economic development," Von Nessen said. "Economic development may become as much about persuading workers to live in South Carolina and telecommute as it is about direct company recruitment. Woodward and Von Nessen said there is evidence that people are fleeing major cities in search of more space and a lower cost of living. South Carolina's homebuilders are reporting more buyers coming from outside the state and home offices are becoming more popular in building plans. "I think this is permanent," Woodward said. "All of a sudden South Carolina is a very attractive place to live and work." The Palmetto State was already seeing large numbers of newcomers moving to Charleston, Greenville and the Charlotte suburb of Rock Hill. That's likely to continue with the increased option to live anywhere and work remotely. The upcoming reboot of the 1996 hit The Craft released its official trailer on Tuesday. The clip follows a new student, who befriends three other teenage girls dabbling in witchcraft. After a few of her male classmates crudely prank Hannah (Cailee Spaeny) on her first day in Catholic school, she is approached by three girls, who find her crying in a bathroom. Almost immediately, she is welcomed as the fourth member of their clique and is invited to 'come over after school.' Spooky: The upcoming reboot of the 1996 hit The Craft released its official trailer on Tuesday, which follows a new student, who befriends three other teenage girls dabbling in witchcraft Upon entering one of her new pals' homes, they go upstairs and Hannah sees the upstairs bathroom is decked out with lit candles, a bubble bath and flower pedals. 'What is all of this?' she asks with awe, as one girl (Lovie Simone) explains it is a 'ceremony to celebrate' her. Hannah removes her shirt and goes into the water, which turns purple and sparkles. New girl: After a few of her male classmates crudely prank Hannah (Cailee Spaeny) on her first day in Catholic school, she is approached by three girls, who find her crying in a bathroom Making friends: Almost immediately, she is welcomed as the fourth member of their clique and is invited to 'come over after school' Accepted: Almost immediately, she is welcomed as the fourth member of their clique and is invited to 'come over after school' 'Why would you celebrate me?' Hannah asks, to which she is told she is their 'fourth.' The next scene jumps to one of her bullies approaching her and her lightly shoving him back with the flick of her hand, which somehow results into him being thrown into a locker. Her three friends look impressed and they later tell her 'half the power of having power is believing you do.' Surprise: Upon entering one of her new pals' homes, they go upstairs and Hannah sees the upstairs bathroom is decked out with lit candles, a bubble bath and flower pedals 'What is all of this?' she asks with awe, as one girl (Lovie Simone) explains it is a 'ceremony to celebrate' her 'Why would you celebrate me?' Hannah asks, to which she is told she is their 'fourth' of their woven 'That's why covens have always been important,' one tells her, before they practice levitation and snap selfies. After experimenting with witchcraft, one suggests putting a spell on a boy named, Timmy, while another asks, 'But, we don't want to hurt him, right?' 'She's right, the number one rule of the craft is if a person is a danger to herself or others they will be bound,' another pal suggests. Getting dangerous: After experimenting with witchcraft, one suggests putting a spell on a boy named, Timmy, while another asks, 'But, we don't want to hurt him, right?' 'Covens have always been important,' one of her new pals tells her, before they practice levitation and snap selfies Look back: The footage pans to a Polaroid snap of the original film's antagonist, Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk), who was a troubled girl who practiced witchcraft to try and improve her life Then, the footage pans to a creepy polaroid of the original film's antagonist, Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk), who was a troubled girl who practiced witchcraft to try and improve her life. As the trailer goes on, it is clear Hannah begins to lash out against people at school and home, to her coven's dismay. While one asks if this is 'all just some game' to her, another believes their coven has 'gone too far.' Distancing herself: As the trailer goes on, it is clear Hannah lashes out against people at school and home, to her coven's dismay Parting ways: While one asks if this is 'all just some game' to her, another believes their coven has 'gone too far' Actresses Gideon Adlon, 22, of Blockers, Lovie Simone, 20, of Greenleaf and Zoey Luna of Pose were chosen to complete the title's coven alongside Spaeny, 22, of Pacific Rim: Uprising. Columbia and Blumhouse Productions came together with Zoe Lister-Jones, who wrote and directed the film. The original film centered on a teenage girl named Sarah played by Robin Tunney who accompanies a clique of girls at her Catholic school, who walk the line of witchcraft. Finding their ways: As they discover gifts that initially make their lives easier, the girls eventually endure some unexpected pitfalls Although she hasn't been confirmed as a cast member, Tunney previously showed interest in making a comeback for the production. 'I feel like if it came along and the script was good and I actually thought it was going to be something ... I want them to find a great director. 'I think they've gone through a lot of writers. If it was something where I felt like they were going to do it well, and also find a way, because it's been so much time, you can't just do a sequel,' she told ComicBook.com last year. Powerful cast: Gideon Adlon, 22, of Blockers, Lovie Simone, 20, of Greenleaf and Zoey Luna of Pose were chosen to complete the title's coven alongside Spaeny, 22, of Pacific Rim: Uprising She continued: 'I think on some level, it totally has to, in order to feel relevant, I think it should be maybe funnier or something.' Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True were also part of the original film's cast. The upcoming reboot has been in development for five years now. Throwback: The original film centers on a teenage girl named Sarah played by Robin Tunney who accompanies a clique of girls at her Catholic school who walk the line of witchcraft; also seen are Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True Andrew Fleming, who directed the 1996 film, will also executive produce. Honeymoon director Leigh Janiak was the first to be tapped to write and direct the project in 2015. The reboot was at first meant to be a sequel to the original, but it was tossed after receiving flak from fans as well as a limited response from studios. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help marketers better identify and reach B2B customers, Narrative, the enterprise data streaming company, announced they have integrated the industry leading identity-driven mapping, segmentation and authoritative B2B data assets of Stirista into the Narrative data streaming platform. "Business contact data is more important than ever as B2B marketers look for new ways to connect with prospects," said Ajay Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Stirista, whose offerings help Fortune 500 and midmarket brands better reach B2C and B2B customers. "We look forward to working with Narrative to give their data streaming customers access to our collective datasets, including our unique B2B data assets," added Gupta. Stirista's database of 30+ million multifaceted professional personas and company-level database of 22+ million individual business locations includes critical and hard to source privacy-compliant business data, such as industry SIC codes, revenue, number of employees, titles, and departments, among other information, to its data streaming platform. "In today's world of B2B marketing, hashed email matching has become a growing way for marketers to responsibly obtain and reach customers," said Nick Jordan, founder and chief executive officer of Narrative. "Stirista is the first partner on our platform that has the data to match work and personal emails to give marketers a higher quality dataset of potential customers than ever before, while respecting and not compromising a customer's privacy." To learn more about details about the Narrative/Stirista partnership or to schedule a demo, please visit https://www.narrative.io/stirista. About Narrative Narrative operates a data streaming platform that centralizes and simplifies the buying and selling of data with both software and a raw data marketplace. Innovative brands, data platforms, and direct-to-consumer companies leverage Narrative's technology to fuel powerful data strategies, build data monetization businesses, power growth marketing, and inform product development. Narrative's raw data marketplace gives companies access to unprecedented scale, transparency, precision, and optionality to transform their business. Founded in 2016, Narrative is a private company operating in New York City and San Francisco. About Stirista Stirista is a data-driven marketing solutions provider that combines the power of authoritative identity data with the execution of omnichannel marketing. Through its data and customer-centric approach, Stirista is helping Fortune 500 and mid-market brands including Great Clips, Oracle and Verizon, among others, increase brand loyalty and acquire new customers. Stirista's privacy compliant data insights help clients interact with customers and prospects via digital, email and social channels. For more information, please visit http://www.stirista.com. SOURCE Narrative I/O Inc. Related Links https://www.narrative.io/ Appointment 29 September 2020 Paramount Capital Advisors is pleased to announce the addition of Matt Mitchell to the team as Managing Director. Mitchell brings over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate, having worked in roles financing complex real estate transactions throughout the U.S. Most recently, Mitchell served as Senior Vice President with Hall Structured Finance (Hall) where his responsibilities included loan origination for their construction and bridge lending program. Mitchell was responsible for executing over $500 million of real estate transactions primarily focused on funding loans for the construction of hotels, multifamily and condo projects throughout the country. Prior to joining Hall in 2013, Mr. Mitchell held multiple management and analytical positions in the commercial real estate industry, including 5 years with Ernst & Young's Transaction Real Estate Practice. Mr. Mitchell is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a BS in Finance. A car crash involving two children in Groveland left the driver with serious injuries Monday night, authorities said. An SUV hit a parked car near 122 School St. around 11 p.m., WCVB reported. A 6-month-old child and a 2-year-old child were in the back seat. The driver, who was in serious condition, was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, according to WCVBs reporting. The children were conscious and alert, and they were later put into the care of family members, officials told WCVB. The driver was seriously injured, but thankfully, she had properly secured two young children in safety seats, and they were not injured, Massachusetts State Police tweeted. Groveland Fire Chief Robert Valentine told WCVB officials are investigating whether the woman had a medical incident. State police is helping with the investigation. Episode 29 OH&S SafetyPod: The Connected Worker In this episode of the podcast, Editor Sydny Shepard and MSA's Jason Fox discuss what a connected worker is, how that fits into the safety industry and what it means for the future of gas detection. Industry 4.0 is the catalyst for many new changes in the digital age and it is driving innovation in technology around the worldincluding technology in the safety industry. Modern technology and how it fits into safety in the workplace is a discussion many have been having, so I wanted to bring someone on the podcast to talk to me about what all this means. For this feature episode of the podcast on the topic of The Connected Worker, I brought on Jason Fox of MSA to talk with me about this new era in safety. Jason and I discuss what the connected worker is, how that fits into the safety industry and even get into a new gas detection product that will help to ensure safety in hazardous work environments. But first, a little more about Jason. Jason is currently the Segment Marketing Manager for Northern North America and has been with MSA for 12 years. Jason has prior manufacturing and safety experience from the chemical industry and is a volunteer firefighter in his spare time. Listen to this episode of OH&S SafetyPod on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more. A special thank you to MSA Safety: Established in 1914,MSA is a global leader in the development & manufacture of sophisticated safety products that protect peoples health and safety. Many MSA products integrate a combination of electronics, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. The company's comprehensive line of products is used by workers around the world in the fire service, construction, utilities, mining, manufacturing and other industries. Core products include portable gas detection instruments and sensors, fixed gas and flame detection systems, respiratory protective equipment, fall protection products, and head, eye, face, hearing and communications protection. MSA, based north of Pittsburgh in Cranberry Township, Pa., has manufacturing operations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America, and more than 40 international locations. For more information, visit https://us.msasafety.com/altair-io360. This post is part of a series sponsored by The Detection Group. Gravity is not your friend when it comes to leaking water. Water always seeks the lowest point in nature, and in commercial structures, notes Laurie Conner, President & CEO of The Detection Group. In a commercial, multi-story building, you can chase the origin of a leak for hundreds of feet across, then up and down any number of 20,000 square foot floorplates before you locate the leak source. Youll find spaces in your building you never knew existed, all the while the leak continues its drip, drip, drip waiting to become a flood. And your worst friend ever, mold, is sinking its ugly tentacles into drywall, carpets, cabinets, and ceiling tiles. Insurance companies are acutely aware of the issue as they pay out on over $10 billion annually in water damage claims more than fire and theft combined. One such insurance company, FM Global, through its internationally recognized testing laboratories, FM Approvals, recently updated their FM Approval Standard 7745 to better accommodate leak detection systems for water and hydrocarbons. They included strict standards for the application of 21st century, IoT wireless technology for identifying water leaks in commercial buildings. At The Detection Group, we applaud FM Approvals for introducing more stringent standards for remote wireless leak detection. Not just because The Detection Groups Trident Wireless Water Leak Detection platform is the first and only system to receive FM Approval, but because Trident wireless leak detection and remote monitoring of water leaks is the future. Here is why: The Trident cloud-based, IoT wireless system is easy and inexpensive to install in any size or age of building. Modular systems are perfect for retrofitting in older buildings where leaks may be more prevalent. Valuable engineering time will be saved because the chase to find the leak is over quickly. Tridents technology lets you know precisely what is leaking and where to find it. The Trident system also has optional auto-shut off capabilities which instantly stops water supply to the leak. Building owners will save the amounts paid for damage deductibles and lost tenant income, allowing for a positive ROI on the cost of the system. Insurance company damage losses will also be reduced dramatically, ensuring loss ratios will be low and in-line with stated risk management objectives. Minimizing water damage claims not only saves carriers and insureds money, but critically allows continuation of insurance coverage at normal property rates versus rates that reflect losses from water damage. Remote monitoring with the Trident platform means critical personnel are notified, day or night, whether they are working from home or while they are on property, whenever there is a water event taking place. Leaks are reported and fixed immediately, verifying to insurance carriers they are sudden and accidental and have not been an ongoing, deferred maintenance which might negate payment of some future claim. There is increasing interest by insurance carriers to make wireless water leak detection systems a policy prerequisite, even recommending Trident as an approved system and perhaps granting premium discounts when the system is installed. The Detection Group is not only focused on detecting and fixing water leaks quickly but enhancing water conservation and reducing water utility bills for building owners, property managers and tenants. Every facility should have a Trident wireless water leak detection system. Water leaks are a universal problem that almost every property manager or building owner has experienced. Interior water damage can result anywhere water flows in a building, including plumbing; boilers; water tanks; HVAC systems; sprinklers; fire risers: toilets; restroom and kitchen sinks; ice makers and refrigerators anything that has a water supply. Three weeks after the installation of a Trident wireless water leak detection system in a 38-story office building in San Francisco, the building engineer called to tell us he received an alert at 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon. A toilet was overflowing in a 17th floor restroom, which was not equipped with a floor drain. The engineer believed the water would have migrated down to the lobby before anyone discovered the overflow. By preventing one disaster, the Trident system paid for itself many times over. Be prepared. If you have experienced a catastrophic water event you know how disastrous and expensive it can be. If you havent, odds are you will. There is no reason you should have to with The Detection Groups Trident wireless, remote sensing technology that can be installed in any size or age building. Learn more about The Detection Groups Trident System at thedetectiongroup.com XtalPi, an American-Chinese biotech firm that focuses on AI-assisted drug discovery, has raised a $319 million round C from a slate of enthusiastic investors led by SoftBank's Vision Fund. It joins numerous others with 9-figure rounds in what is clearly a valuable and competitive space. XtalPi works with major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer that need to identify promising new drug-like molecules and learn as much about them as possible. It's very much a race, so companies claiming to use AI to speed up the process have attracted major funding. Though there have been no prominent breakthroughs to speak of resulting from the space, it's hard to imagine any major player can afford to ignore it. This company, founded in 2014, purports to offer extremely low-level simulation and prediction of target molecules, both simulating the physics at atomic levels and doing the more traditional data science work that eliminates dead ends and points towards more fruitful avenues for investigation. Although these advances are in the digital space, the companies still need a large staff of skilled scientists who can verify and advance the results as well as the facilities to support them. It may help speed up the slow-paced pharmaceutical industry, but that doesn't mean it's cheap or easy to do so. AI-enhanced (which is really to say using machine learning techniques) biotech firms have attracted huge funding rounds and lucrative (or potentially lucrative) partnerships as pharma's biggest companies place their bets. (Insitro founder Daphne Koller spoke on this topic just two weeks ago at Disrupt.) XtalPi plans to use the money as you might expect: To scale its existing operations with improved algorithms, more data, and additional computing power. "We believe AI holds the answer to solving pharmas productivity challenge," said chairman and co-founder Shuhao Wen in a press release. "More specifically, XtalPis AI-powered platform can improve the industrys research efficiency and success rate in order to lower costs for discovering and developing new drugs. We look forward to applying our platform to help clients bring more first-in-class and breakthrough drugs to the market and address significant unmet medical needs to benefit patients on a global scale." Softbank led the round, with PICC Capital and Morningside making up the larger remaining part, as well as follow-ons from existing investors Tencent, Sequoia China, China Life, and SIG. Amy Coney Barrett, Trumps Supreme Court nominee President Trump has nominated federal appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Barrett testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The committee has formally set a panel to vote on her nomination for Oct. 22. Who is Amy Coney Barrett? A disciple of Justice Antonin Scalia is poised to push the Supreme Court further right What happens next: Heres how the confirmation process for Barrett will unfold Whip count: Where GOP senators stand on quickly filling Ginsburgs Supreme Court seat ILION A total of seven companies have stepped forward to bid on components of the bankrupt Remington Outdoor company, sparking hopes that their original gun factory here in Herkimer County will remain open. In addition to the Sturm-Ruger and Franklin Armory gun manufacturers, the Roundhill Group, which describes itself as a real estate investment firm, is among the bidders. That company is the leading bidder for the Ilion factory and it has expressed an interest in keeping it operating, according to officials of the United Mine Workers, the union representing more than 700 people at the plant. A federal bankruptcy court in Huntsville, Alabama, where Remingtons other major factory is located, is reviewing the bids this week. Deadline for companies that want to buy pieces of a soon-to-be broken up Remington was extended from last week until Tuesday. This marks the second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Remington in two years. The company, which was started in Ilion in 1816, has been hobbled by lawsuits from families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, in which the perpetrator used a Bushmaster assault-style weapon. That line of rifles is owned by Remington. The company has also been burdened with heavy debt stemming from its sale to the Cerberus private equity firm more than a decade ago. Cerberus has since divested Remington but the gunmaker retained much of the debt due to the way the deal was structured. The Bushmaster rifle is one of the guns that has been manufactured at the Ilion plant. Franklin Armory, a Nevada-based maker of military style weapons, will be taking over that brand, according to news reports. In addition to its major gun plants in Ilion and Huntsville, Remington will also be selling off its ammunition plants to Vista Outdoor, which will buy the companys Lonoke ammunition line. Sierra Bullets Inc. will also purchase another ammo line. Sturm Ruger is getting part of the gun company including Remingtons Marlin brand, bidding $30 million. Roundhill bid $13 million for its share of the business, according to news reports. The Ilion plant is the mainstay of the Ilion community and a major employer in Herkimer County. United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts said he was encouraged so far by talks with the bidder looking to buy the Ilion plant (the Huntsville factory is non-union). Our goal throughout this process has always been to keep that plant open and our members working. That appears to be on track, at least to this point. The UMWA has been in talks with that bidder about our collective bargaining agreement at the Ilion plant and we will be talking with them further in the coming days should their bid be accepted by the Court, Roberts said in a prepared statement. We do not yet know what the final outcome of the Court proceedings will be, nor do we know what the final outcome of our talks with a successful bidder will be. But this is another step in the process, and I believe it to be a positive one for our members. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU An inventor who broke the record for the world's fastest wheelie bin has delighted Good Morning Britain viewers after revealing he raised over 3,000 in tribute to his late friend. Andy Jennings, 28, from Swindon, on Sunday set the Guinness World Record for fastest wheelie bin, reaching speeds of 45.35mph - smashing his target of 30mph - in his homemade motorised bin. The design engineer spent hundreds of hours building the motorised bin, in a bid to raise money for the care home which looked after his late friend Ben Ellis, who passed away during lockdown, after suffering brain damage from a blood clot in 2015. Viewers quickly took to Twitter to call the idea 'very creative' and 'just brilliant', adding that Andy is raising money for a 'great cause'. Andy Jennings, 28, from Swindon, (pictured) on Sunday set the Guinness World Record for fastest wheelie bin, reaching speeds of 45.35mph The design engineer spent hundreds of hours building the motorised bin, in a bid to raise money for the care home of his late friend Ben Ellis, (pictured on his farm in Essex) who passed away over lockdown When quizzed on how it feels to be a world record holder, Andy said: 'Its just sinking in, its pretty surreal, a pretty phenomenal feeling.' 'It created the world record, funnily enough nobody has done it before and Im realising why. 'It started as a means to get funds for a good cause. Ive always wanted a record and it wasnt until I was flicking through the book everything had been done.' Viewers quickly took to Twitter to praise the idea, with one writing: 'Just brilliant'. Viewers quickly took to Twitter to call the idea 'very creative' and 'just brilliant', adding that Andy is raising money for a 'great cause' One said: 'Very creative and for such a great cause. So sorry about your friend Andy, thats really sad, but what a wonderful tribute to the exciting and fun person you described he was. I hope you raise a lot.' A third teased: 'How about trying to beat this record, or even better a wheelie big Grand Prix.' Jennings created the DIY vehicle over the past three months, doing it in his own time after work. The 'Heath Robinson' device includes a standard wheelie bin, the rear axle of a go-kart, a 110cc four-speed pit bike engine, a bike seat, handle bars from a child's scooter and the seat post and steering from a mobility scooter. Jennings created the DIY vehicle over the past three months working in his own time after work The 'Heath Robinson' device includes a standard wheelie bin, the rear axle of a go-kart, a 110cc four-speed pit bike engine, a bike seat, handle bars from a child's scooter and the seat post and steering from a mobility scooter Showing off the inside of his motorised wheelie bin, Andy revealed that his tiny petrol tank is actually made of a drinking flask, to the delight of hosts Piers and Susannah. Andy decided to try and beat the record in memory of his late friend Ben Ellis, who two years ago broke his leg in an accident at work, and was left comatose for two years when a blood clot formed in his brain. He was left permanently disabled and unable to speak or move after waking up from his coma, and Andy has raised over 3,000 to go towards his care home. 'Ben is one of those genuine guys,' said Andy. 'Hes always been building wacky things on his farm. 'Unfortunately, he had an accident broke his leg and it put him in a coma for two years, he was disabled for two years and sadly in lockdown passed away. 'So this whole thing was to raise money for his care home and the whole idea is to do what you can, when you can, because Ben certainly did.' Showing off the inside of his motorised wheelie bin, Andy revealed that his tiny petrol tank is actually made of a drinking flask, to the delight of hosts Piers and Susannah Speaking ahead of his record Sunday, Andy admitted that even is fiancee Emma was not sure about the idea initially. He said: 'A lot of my family and friends have been wondering what on earth I was doing it for, but now it's actually out there and working it's nice as I can see their reaction. 'Even my fiancee, Emma, was impressed when she saw it and I think it's fair to say she was a bit dubious beforehand. 'She's been really supportive but she did think it was a bit of a lunatic idea when I came up with it.' Speaking of his late friend, Andy added: 'Ben's brother, Sam, showed him the videos of the first runout and he was crying tears of laughter. 'It's good to see he's supportive of it and it's exactly the sort of thing he used to do on his farm - he always used to make crazy things on his farm and that's what gave me the idea really.' Space, the final frontier. Throughout history, the expanse that exists beyond Earth has captivated people all over the world, with space exploration continuing to take giant leaps forward since Apollo 11 first landed on the moon. Now, outer space has peaked Wall Streets interest. Given the high levels of private funding and advances in technology, the pros argue there could be major implications should space become more accessible and less expensive to reach. To this end, new markets such as satellite broadband, high-speed product delivery, reusable rockets and human space travel are emerging. Speaking to the potential opportunity, according to a recent KPMG report, by 2030, the global space industry could reach $600 billion, with it currently worth $350 billion. Bearing this in mind, we used TipRanks database to zero in on two space stocks reaching for the stars, so says the Street. Boasting the analyst communitys full support, both tickers have received a Strong Buy consensus rating. Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) By offering high-speed point-to-point travel, Virgin Galactic wants to commercialize space travel and revolutionize commercial flight. Given the significant backlog of demand for commercial spaceflight, several members of the Street have high hopes for this space stock. Representing Cowen, analyst Oliver Chen sees SPCE as uniquely positioned to benefit from the growing consumer interest toward luxury experiences, especially among high-net-worth individuals. He added, We believe a substantial growth opportunity lies ahead with the commercial spaceflight business, which already has ~600 reservations, and the development of high-speed point-to-point travel. Looking at the market opportunity, Chen estimates that this part of the business could push SPCEs top-line to $1 billion-plus by 2030, growing at a 60%-plus CAGR (2021-2030), with an EBITDA margin of 46%. According to the analyst, theres a total addressable market (TAM) for commercial spaceflight (suborbital) of roughly 2.4 million individuals with a net worth of $5 million-plus globally. Story continues On top of this, SPCE could use its technology to develop additional revenue streams such as high-speed P2P commercial air travel. The development of hypersonic aircrafts would make 85% of the global network pairs accessible in a one-day trip. In addition, the analyst thinks the high-speed P2P opportunity could yield a TAM of $985 billion by 2050, and SPCE's market share could clock in at 20%. P2P is in very early innings but we believe the company has the resources, capital, and experience to pursue this business line, Chen noted. Given that the companys leadership team brings expertise from NASA and Disney to the table, Chen argues SPCE is capable of capitalizing on the opportunity, with solid execution potentially solidifying its status as an experiential luxury brand. The positioning of its commercial space flight offering as a luxury airline experience, which is what consumers are more used to, is likely to give SPCE the first-mover advantage over others like Blue Origin. Given the high fixed cost of operating a space tourism operation, first-mover advantage looks critical to success; and VG appears better positioned than BO to get it, Chen mentioned. What else could give SPCE the first-mover advantage? Chen points to SPCEs 10-plus years of technology developed with $1 billion of investment made to-date and the vertically integrated aerospace development capabilities. Whats more, SPCE has created competitive moats in a high-barrier-to-entry industry and benefits from strong consumer demand, which should support a premium pricing structure. Based on all of the above, Chen puts an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating and $22 price target on the stock. (To watch Chens track record, click here) Are other analysts in agreement? They are. Only Buy ratings, 7 to be exact, have been issued in the last three months. Therefore, the message is clear: SPCE is a Strong Buy. With a $25.43 average price target, shares could rise 22% in the next year. (See Virgin Galactic stock analysis on TipRanks) Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (AJRD) Serving customers that include the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), NASA and other agencies and companies, Aerojet Rocketdyne develops and manufactures advanced propulsion and energetics systems. Given its recent contract awards, multiple analysts believe this companys long-term growth prospects are strong. 5-star analyst Ken Herbert, of Canaccord Genuity, recently met with AJRDs new CFO, coming away from the discussion with his bullish thesis very much intact. The company expects the space business, which makes up 40% of sales, to be flat to up slightly, due to the recent SLS RS-25 engine order, with the core defense business (60% of sales) set to see steady growth. While near-term margin upside is limited, we believe the revenue visibility, strong balance sheet and incremental opportunities in both space and defense contribute to a scarcity value for AJRD not reflected in the stock, Herbert commented. That said, new programs are an essential piece of the puzzle here. Earlier in September, AJRD announced that it will build two elements of the new ground based strategic deterrent (GBSD) nuclear missiles for Northrop Grumman, which received a $13.3 billion, 8.5-year EMD contract to initiate early production of the Minuteman IV platform. AJRD is responsible for manufacturing a large solid rocket motor for the missiles upper stage and the post-boost propulsion system needed to guide the nuclear warheads to their targets through apogee (the highest point of their parabolic flight arc). Weighing in on the deal, Herbert commented, The program is expected to be substantial to both Aerojet and Northrop, with 400 active and 242 spare ICBMs expected to occupy the existing launch sites in the American West. It has been estimated that the GBSD program will be worth $63 billion during its first 20 years of life, which is likely to be extended given the longevity of the current Minuteman III deterrent. Adding to the good news, AJRDs backlog has increased to a record high of $6.8 billion as of Q2 2020, a 48% gain from the prior-year quarter. According to Herbert, a key driver of this growth has been the $1.8 billion NASA contract to construct 18 new RS-25 engines to support at least five additional Artemis lunar missions beyond the three currently planned. As such, visibility into Aerojets business with NASA continues to look promising through 2030. Aerojet has also continued to see backlog growth on THAAD, hypersonics, Standard Missile and GMLRS, the analyst stated. If that wasnt enough, Herbert believes missile defense and classified hypersonics programs are likely to see solid backlog growth in the near-term. On top of this, in August, the U.S. Air Force awarded two contracts for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program to ULA (a Boeing and Lockheed joint venture) and SpaceX. The implication? Aerojet Rocketdyne is seen as a winner of the contact outcome, which ensured that the company will continue to provide content on a majority of U.S. military and intelligence launches. AJRD will see its upper stage engine content double on the new ULA Vulcan rocket under this contract, which utilizes a new Centaur upper stage (the Centaur V) powered by two RL10 engines, as opposed to one RL10 on the legacy Atlas V rocket, Herbert explained. Everything that AJRD has going for it convinced Herbert to reiterate his Buy rating. Along with the call, he maintained a $54 price target, suggesting 34% upside potential. (To watch Herberts track record, click here) All in all, other analysts are on the same page. AJRDs Strong Buy consensus rating breaks down into 3 Buys and no Holds or Sells. Meanwhile, the $56 average price target brings the upside potential to 39%. (See AJRD stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment. The process was earlier slated to end tomorrow. The GATE 2021 exam will be held between 5 and 14 February The deadline for online registration of Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering (GATE 2021) has been extended till 7 October. Earlier, the application process was slated to end on 30 September. Candidates who are yet to register for the GATE 2021 can enroll themselves at appsgate.iitb.ac.in. GATE 2021 will be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. The institute said, "Online registration for GATE 2021 is extended up to Wednesday, 7 October, 2020 with regular fees." According to a report by The Hindustan Times, candidates belonging to the General category will be required to pay an application fee of Rs 1,500. The registration fee for women and reserved category candidates is Rs 750. Candidates will be required to register through the GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS). Steps to apply: Step 1: Visit the website - gate.iitb.ac.in and tap on the link that mentions GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS). Step 2: Click on New User and enter details to register. Step 3: Sign-in with your registered ID and fill the application form. Step 4: Upload documents, images and signature and pay the application fee. Here's the direct link to apply: https://appsgate.iitb.ac.in./register.html GATE 2021 will be conducted between 5 and 14 February for 27 subjects. The exam will be held in two shifts - from 9 am to noon and from 3 pm to 6 pm. The exam will be a computer-based and students will get three hours to complete the paper. The scores of GATE 2020 will be valid for three years from the date of announcement of the results. Students will have to answer objective type questions. There are likely to be multiple choice questions (MCQs), multiple select questions (MSQs), numerical answer type (NAT) questions. According to a Times Now report, two new papers have been introduced this year. They are Environmental Science and Engineering (ES) and Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) in Economics, English, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology. The syllabus of all the subjects have been revised. Also, the eligibility criteria has been relaxed this year. The result of GATE 2021 will be declared on 22 March, 2021. GATE is conducted for admission to postgraduate programmes in engineering or science with scholarship and assistantship from the Ministry of Education (MoE), subject to the admission criteria of the admitting institute. The score of GATE is also used by some Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for their recruitment and by several other universities in India and abroad for admissions. Fall colors are coming on fast and strong in Wellsboro in Tioga County. Linda Stager, a prolific and popular local photographer, has been tapping into the brilliant colors already popping along the vintage small-town streets with their array of classic Americana buildings and gas streetlights. She expects peak foliage this year to take over the town well ahead of the normal timing of mid-October. Known as the home of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and for its annual yuletide celebrations, Dickens of a Christmas and Christmas on Main Street, Wellsboro is home to a thriving downtown of shops, eateries and hotels reminiscence of all that typified vibrant small towns across Pennsylvania in the 1960s and 1970s. The Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce describes the town, which is the county seat of Tioga County, as a town of beauty and culture rich in natural resources that might be set down in any section of New England and find itself in familiar surroundings. Founded in 1806 by settlers from Delaware, Maryland and Philadelphia, it was named in honor of Mary Wells, wife of one of the original settlers, Benjamin Wister Morris. If youre looking to go leaf-peeping this fall, you can find places to stay in Pennsylvania on VRBO Wellsboro also is known as The Town that Saved Christmas, for the local Corning Glass factory and workers that during World War II, when German-made glass Christmas balls could not be imported, shifted into production of millions of Shiny Brites for stores across the U.S. In 1940 alone, the plant churned out more than 40 million of the ornaments. Share your suggestions for Todays Top Fall Foliage Spot in Pennsylvania throughout the 2020 fall foliage season by sending your thoughts, and a current photo of your pick for top spot if you have it, to Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. The National Theatre, one of Ghanas biggest performance spaces, has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic as it struggles to catch its breath under a heavy financial burden. "Though the extent of financial loss remains unclear, We will need to raise more money and not only rely on government funds. We have not made good money since the first quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr Isaac Annor, Director of Music, National Symphony Orchestra, the National Theatre, told the Ghana News News Agency. He said the Theatre was closed as a result of the pandemic and was yet to reopen and operate at full capacity. All programmes organized annually was cancelled due to COVID-19. Now more than ever before, it is imperative that as a nation, we give support to save our theatre, as it plays crucial roles in the preservation of our arts and culture as Ghanaians, he said. The Theater's stage curtains have been drawn and it was now facing an immeasurable period of darkness as it explores innovative ways to access the post COVID-19 daylight. According to Mr Annor, the various departments of the national theatre thus dance, drama and music had resorted to more innovative methods such as the posting of skits online and touring the country with performances to share the arts with the world. He said the Theatre in Ghana prior to COVID 19 was not as highly patronized as could be because most Ghanaians found it difficult to pay to watch theatre performances. According to him, theatre was imbibed in the day to day activities of the typical traditional African setting and it had thus influenced the manner in which Ghanaians perceived and patronized it. "Thus to say, most Africans, though there are exceptions, have developed an attitude of not paying to watch performances, " he opined. Pioneers of modern Ghanaian theatre such as Efua Sutherland and Dr Mohammed Ben Abdallah created a distinct theatre based on the Ghanaian storytelling system. Anansegoro and Abibigoro respectively, are the modern versions of Ghanaian storytelling. These forms are characterized by more interactive activities such as group singing and dancing as well as high levels of audience participation in the performance. This makes the nature of Ghanaian theatre in general impermissible to adapt and strive in the face of COVID 19 protocols. Mr Annor said the National Theatre was assessing how technology and infrastructure at its disposal can be fit into virtual performances. COVID 19 protocols limit the number of audience that can be admitted in the auditorium, revenue generated from performances cannot cater for the cost of production, he said. Mr Annor said, "Even though Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) were initially used as remedy for such occurrences, the National Theatre does not generate nearly as much IGFs as it used to, because patronage of the space is severely low in current times." He said for the Ghanaian theatre to thrive, there was the need for the reconstruction of the perception of theatre in society, adding, theater's role in national development could not be emphasized at a better time. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vadodara: Atleast three people were killed after a building collapsed in Bawamanpura area of Gujarat's Vadodara in the wee hours of Tuesday ( September 29). The deceased include one female and two male. One person was injured in the incident who was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. An 18-years-old was recovered by the rescue teams. Live TV Rescue operation underway. Several feared trapped. (Further details awaited) By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 09/28/2020 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. alum Lesley Anne Murphy has revealed she is pregnant with her first child.Lesley, 33, took to Instagram on Sunday to announce she is expecting a baby with fiance Alex Kavanagh.Lesley posted a black-and-white video of the couple dancing together in the kitchen to the song "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes.The video featured Lesley jumping off a countertop into the DroneGear founder's arms, before the couple danced and then Lesley cradled her baby bump.The video concluded with Alex kissing Lesley's pregnant belly multiple times."Started from the kitchen now we're here," Lesley captioned the video."Baby Kavanagh taking flight in 2021! Finally someone to occupy the middle seat :) @drone.pilot and I couldn't be more excited to grow our little family!!! #family #love #travel #adventure #coronababy #thelastdance #kitchendance #encore."Lesley added an emoji of a couple in love as well as an emoji of an angel baby.Lesley and Alex apparently had to postpone their wedding plans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They announced their engagement in February after dating for over a year."2/4/20, a day I'll never forget," Lesley captioned pictures of the couple walking on the beach at the time."We're boarding a plane as we speak to meet my parents in New Zealand! Looking forward to processing the last 24 hours of this incredible life at 35,000 ft #ToKavAndToHold."Alex also posted about his engagement on Instagram."Been waiting a very long time for this special moment @lesleyannemurphy After spending over 18 months together side by side traveling 25 plus countries, meeting her beautiful friends and family many times at various special family occasions, Lesley making the trip down under a few times to meet the family and spend quality time getting to know everyone," he wrote."Life is pretty crazy when all the stars align and the right person comes into your life at the right time just when you need it. Never give up on love."Alex suggested it was love at first sight for the couple when they met in 2018 and he's known for "a very long time" that he and Lesley are meant to be."I knew I wanted to get to know Lesley more after our first interaction, this stunning ray of light with the kindest heart was single?! Not sure how this was humanly possible, but it was! LUCKY ME!" Alex continued in his post."I've been planning this proposal for months, from asking Lesley parents for permission, to finding the perfect ring and planning a pretty over the top proposal with 5 drones, 3 cinematographers, 3 photographers all capturing the moment."He added, "Words can't really begin to describe well enough the deep love and friendship Lesley and I have. I truly wish everyone could find true love and connection and respect for each other that we have. Lesley, I love you with all my heart and can't wait to share the rest of our lives together."Lesley first announced her romance with Alex in January 2019 by sharing a photo of the pair kissing during a hike in Tromsi, Norway."Boy meets world. World, meet boy. Thought it was about time to let y'all in on the newest addition to The Road Les Traveled," Lesley captioned an Instagram post at the time, referencing her travel blog."We're 3 continents down together... with the next one being Alex's home country soon. Finally making it to hometowns y'all."Lesley found fame when she competed for Sean Lowe 's heart on 's seventeenth season.She later appeared on Winter Games and fell for Dean Unglert but the pair split after a four-month whirlwind relationship in April 2018.Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group SHIPROCK In the fertile northeastern corner of the Navajo Nation, fields that only months ago were traditional open-air corn farms are now stuffed with hundreds of industrial-sized greenhouses, each glowing with artificial lights and brimming with emerald cannabis plants. Security cameras ring the perimeters, and hired guards in flak jackets patrol the public roads alongside the farms. Every weekday throughout the summer, a group of local kids arrived at the farm by 7:30 a.m., ready for a 10-hour shift of hard labor under the high-desert sun. Many were teenagers, 13- and 14-year-olds lured by offers of quick cash. A few were as young as 10. Joining them were scores of foreign workers an estimated 1,000 people, many of them Chinese immigrants brought to New Mexico from Los Angeles, according to Navajo Nation Police Chief Phillip Francisco. Seven-foot-tall black fencing shields activities inside these greenhouses, but farmworkers, neighbors and law enforcement officers have provided an inside view. Chinese managers oversee the day-to-day logistics, they say, bringing in diesel generators to power the greenhouses, installing dozens of cheaply built trailers to house immigrant workers and drilling wells to irrigate thousands of thirsty cannabis plants. Some of the Chinese carry guns, said Darren Gipson, 19, one of seven farmworkers interviewed by Searchlight New Mexico. One time, a couple of them got into a knife fight. We just basically do what they tell us and keep to ourselves. The cannabis crews arrived in Shiprock last year at the invitation of the local farm board president, a charismatic and divisive political figure named Dineh Benally. Together, they leased plot after plot of traditional farmland for what they said was an economic development project. The land now totals more than 400 acres, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The crops, according to Benally, are merely hemp plants a type of cannabis grown for its fiber and processed into over-the-counter health products. Hemp looks and smells identical to regular marijuana but contains only trace amounts of psychoactive THC. But according to the seven employees interviewed by Searchlight, the farms are not only growing hemp: Theyre also producing high-powered, black-market marijuana. Irving Lin, a Los Angeles-based real estate agent who is one of Benallys primary business associates, acknowledged that this was true. A few places are growing marijuana, Lin told Searchlight, adding that most of the crops are hemp. In little more than a year, Benally and his associates have built an audacious empire of farms in one of the most remote landscapes in the state a place where law enforcement can find it a struggle to fight routine crimes, let alone investigate what appears to be a sophisticated international cannabis network. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration told Searchlight that Chinese-run marijuana operations are popping up in rural and urban areas around the West. In August 2018, agents from the DEA, the U.S. Attorneys Office and local law enforcement raided a large black-market marijuana growing operation in Cortez, Colorado, 40 miles north of Shiprock. The raid was part of a federal investigation into a California-linked Chinese drug trafficking network in Colorado. It culminated in May 2019 with the seizure of more than 80,000 marijuana plants. There are literally thousands of Chinese-operated (illegal marijuana) grow sites throughout Colorado, said Wendi Roewer, field intelligence manager for the DEAs Denver field division. Many of them masquerade as hemp farms, she said. Would they move beyond the borders of Colorado if they felt safe doing so? Yeah, it seems possible. Tensions in Shiprock So alarming are the operations in Shiprock that the FBI, the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office, the U.S. Attorneys Office, the Department of Homeland Security, Navajo Nation Police and the San Juan County Sheriffs Office have joined forces to investigate, emails obtained by Searchlight reveal. Shiprock is a unique, water-rich oasis in the Navajo Nation along the San Juan River. Its family-run farms have long been a breadbasket, providing corn, as well as melon and squash crops, to communities across the reservation. Many residents see the cannabis farms as a threat to that tradition. On at least a dozen occasions, angry protesters have marched to the gates of the farms, sometimes blocking roads, shouting at the workers and carrying placards reading Stop the Asian Invasion, No Human Trafficking and This is Navajo Land, Not China. Greenhouses have been set on fire. Benally was charged with aggravated assault after allegedly attempting to ram his car into a group of protesters, Francisco said. (Benally and his attorney, David Jordan, declined to answer numerous requests for comment; as of press time, it was not known whether Benally had entered a plea to the charge.) Some neighbors say they have begun carrying weapons, vowing to shoot any cannabis farm worker who steps onto their property. This is our home, and were going to fight to defend our way of life even if that means we have to shoot someone, said Joe Ben, a corn farmer and outspoken opponent of the cannabis farms who now harvests his crops with a loaded shotgun and a Glock 9mm at the ready. Its a miracle nobody has gotten killed over this yet already. Dangerous jobs Most mornings this summer, the Navajo kids said, they spent an hour or so cleaning up trash from the raucous parties that were an almost nightly occurrence on the farms, then awaited orders from their shift bosses. The work was grueling employees hauled 60-pound bags of soil throughout the labyrinthine networks of greenhouses, handled dangerous chemicals and operated heavy machinery. The hourly cash pay was $5. At least two kids on the work crews were 10 years old, employees said. On good days, their supervisors assigned them to the dark room, where they trimmed buds with the sharp blades of a whirring, mechanized metal fan, getting piles ready to load onto the moving trucks that arrived weekly. Theres Blue Cookie, Northern Lights, Skywalker OG, Blueberry Kush, Sour Diesel, Jet Fuel, said Amber Brown, 20, ticking off the marijuana strains she and other workers said were written on plastic labels in the pots. Ever since the large greenhouse operations began appearing on the reservation in 2019, Benally has described the farms as legal hemp enterprises. As farm board president, he also claims he has the authority to license hemp farms. Hemp cultivation is against the law without approval from the federal government, and Benally does not have that approval, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He also lacks the authority to grant hemp licenses or to independently lease farmland on the reservation, according to a lawsuit filed against him in June by Navajo Nation Attorney General Doreen McPaul. The suit charged Benally and his businesses with illegally growing industrial hemp and unlawfully issuing land use permits for his industrial hemp project. On Sept. 18, a Navajo court issued a temporary restraining order requiring Benally to halt all operations on his farms. Weve lost minimum $20 million because of the restraining order, Irving Lin said, contending that he and his partners had built almost 1,000 greenhouses at $10,000 apiece and invested $10 million in farm infrastructure. He couldnt understand why the people on the reservation didnt appreciate it, he added. Father of Native hemp A marijuana enthusiast who has dubbed himself the Father of Native American Hemp, Benally has frequently advocated for more tribal investment in cannabis. In 2017, he tried to get medical marijuana cultivation legalized in the tribal legislature. He ran for tribal president in 2018 and in the 2020 Democratic primary for U.S. Congress; he lost both times. In 2019, Benally partnered with a Las Vegas-based financier named DaMu Lin, CEO of One World Ventures Inc., a publicly traded company that says it invests in cannabis projects on Native American land. DaMu Lin (no relation to Irving) appointed Benally to the One World Ventures board of directors in March 2019, according to a company release. The Shiprock operation also obtained funding from SPI Energy Co., a publicly traded company based in China. This is about sovereignty, Benally told Searchlight in an interview in August. The tribe has been failing us. These farms belong to the people, and so the people control what they want to grow, he said, explaining that the crops being grown were hemp. Yeah, right, one worker, Ven Yazzie, said when told about Benallys explanation. All I know is, you smoke it, it gets you high. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out three containers of purple and lime-green buds that he said were given to him by a farm supervisor a common incentive offered to the Navajo workers, according to multiple employees. Although the origin of those samples could not be confirmed, Searchlight took them to a state-certified laboratory for analysis. Each contained between 20% and 27% THC a higher concentration than the THC content of many marijuana strains sold in recreational dispensaries. Parking lot payday On Aug. 6, Dineh Benally parked his white Cadillac Escalade in front of the City Market grocery store in Shiprock, where a reporter watched as he reached his arm out of the dark tinted windows and palmed fist-sized rolls of cash to cannabis farm workers. The week before, at least 100 community members and activists from the American Indian Movement had converged in protest, shouting through megaphones for Benally to resign from the farm board. Some, claiming the cannabis farms had disrupted their irrigation lines and stolen their water, carried guns. Others have described seeing Asian farmworkers apparently trying to flee the farms. One resident recounted how a Vietnamese woman appeared at her family home in a remote part of Shiprock lost, disoriented, begging for water and asking for help to get back to Saigon. Law enforcement has voiced concerns about possible human trafficking on the cannabis farms. In July, San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari was so suspicious that he requested an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An agent from ICE reviewed the immigration status of a group of farm workers and did not investigate further. Cracks in the law From the beginning, law enforcement has believed that Benallys farms were trafficking in illegal marijuana, emails obtained by Searchlight show. But investigators say they have been hampered by a tangle of tribal, state and federal jurisdictional issues, and a confusing legal landscape around cannabis cultivation. This type of hemp cultivation is not specifically singled out as a criminal offense under tribal statutes, which has kept Navajo police from obtaining a search warrant, according to Francisco. His Navajo Police department has limited jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Natives on the reservation. We have some very high suspicions that the large majority of what (Benally) is growing is marijuana, Francisco said. Hes probably got millions of plants, and its very frustrating because we havent been able to prove that its not hemp. In the days since the tribal court issued its restraining order, workers have been instructed to leave the farms. Navajo police are attempting to enforce the courts order, even as some farms continue operations, Francisco said. Neighbors describe seeing the Asian workers sleeping in fields and ditches, shivering through the night and unsure of where to go. Mr. Benally brought these workers here under false pretenses, Francisco said. They transplanted their lives here thinking they were going to be working on a legitimate project, only to find out that its all illegal. Theyre really victims, too. Learn more Searchlight New Mexico is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to investigative journalism in the interest of New Mexico residents. This story has been edited for length. For the complete story, go to searchlightnm.org. China's annual COVID-19 vaccine production capacity is expected to reach 610 million doses by the end of this year and more than 1 billion doses in 2021, an official from the National Health Commission (NHC) announced on Sept. 25. Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Center for Medical Science & Technology of the NHC, said that COVID-19 vaccines will be offered at affordable prices for China's general public. "There is a unified guiding price for emergency use. Once the vaccines enter the market, prices will be adjusted according to technical routes, scale of use, and other factors," Zheng said, adding that the vaccines would be available, affordable, and accessible. Wu Yuanbin, director of the Department of Science and Technology for Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said, "At present, China's COVID-19 vaccine research and development work is in a leading position overall. Eleven Chinese-developed vaccines have entered clinical trials, among which four have entered phase III clinical trials." So far, two inactivated vaccines produced by China National Biotec Group have been administered to more than 35,000 people during phase III trials in the Middle East and the results have shown no severe adverse reactions, Wu said. Sinovac, another vaccine producer, has also been carrying out phase III trials of its inactivated vaccine in South America and Southeast Asia, Wu continued. Meanwhile, an adenovirus vector vaccine jointly developed by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and CanSino Biologics has been approved for phase III trials in Eurasia, Wu said. Potential vaccines developed through other technical routes, including recombinant protein vaccines, nucleic acid vaccines (mRNA, DNA), and attenuated influenza virus vaccines, are currently being trialed in phase I or II, Wu added. In response to concerns about virus variation, Zhang Xinmin, director of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, said that the novel coronavirus has not shown significant variability. Additionally, the current mutations have not had a substantial impact on vaccine development and the immunity produced by vaccine candidates can effectively neutralize a mutated virus, Zhang said. Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said more long-term research is needed to know how long a certain vaccine will remain effective after administration. "An encouraging result is that serum monitoring over China's first group administered with a COVID-19 vaccine indicates high levels of antibodies. This suggests that the vaccine may create a long-lasting immune response," Zeng said. However, Zeng noted that the protective power of a COVID-19 vaccine can only truly be defined after phase III clinical trials. Content in partnership with Science and Technology Daily Spain's market leader in wine spirits takes a majority stake in the Galician producer of St. Petroni and expands to a new category, vermouth Regulatory News: Press Release 29 September 2020 Pernod Ricard Espana (Paris:RI) announces the acquisition of a majority stake in Vermuteria de Galicia, adding St. Petroni to Pernod Ricard's brand portfolio. The renowned craft vermouth brand, created in 2014 and produced in Padron, in the northern region of Galicia, draws its inspiration from nature and is made with Albarino grapes and 29 selected herbs and botanicals, resulting in a product with exquisite flavours. This addition to Pernod Ricard Espana's portfolio forms part of the Group's Transform Accelerate strategic plan, which notably involves the active management of its brand portfolio. By entering a new category, the Spanish affiliate is demonstrating its clear commitment to its continued growth within the highly strategic aperitif segment. Guillaume Girard-Reydet, CEO of Pernod Ricard Espana, said, "With St. Petroni, we are starting a new and exciting journey by adding to Pernod Ricard Espana's portfolio its first vermouth, entering into a category that will help us to strengthen our presence in the aperitif segment. Partnering with unique local brands is part of our culture and tradition. Our entire teams and organisations are committed to work hand in hand to further grow the brand, as we have done in the past with Ruavieja. Cristina Codesido, founder and Managing Director of Vermuteria de Galicia, said "I firmly believe that this alliance will enable us to reach new heights, not only in promoting the essence of St. Petroni, but also in promoting Galicia's rich land and culture, by leveraging Pernod Ricard Espana's strong distribution network. Pernod Ricard is the ideal partner with whom to continue our expansion, due to its great respect for the roots and unique values of our brand, which will continue to inspire everything we do as we open this new chapter. Three varieties of St. Petroni, using centuries-old, traditional maceration methods, have joined Pernod Ricard's comprehensive brand portfolio: Vermu Rojo, Vermu Blanco and Bitter. Pernod Ricard and St. Petroni share not only a passion for the finest wines and spirits, but also a deep respect for roots and traditions. With this partnership, Pernod Ricard Espana is once again investing in local brands and particularly in the region of Padron, where it already produces its iconic local liqueur brand, Ruavieja. About Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard is the No.2 worldwide producer of wines and spirits with consolidated sales of 8,448 million in FY20. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has developed through organic growth and acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin&Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard, which owns 16 of the Top 100 Spirits Brands, holds one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry, including: Absolut Vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur, Mumm and Perrier-Jouet champagnes, as well Jacob's Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo, and Kenwood wines. Pernod Ricard's brands are distributed across 160+ markets and by its own salesforce in 73 markets. The Group's decentralised organisation empowers its 19,000 employees to be true on-the-ground ambassadors of its vision of "Createurs de Convivialite." As reaffirmed by the Group's strategic plan, "Transform and Accelerate," deployed in 2018, Pernod Ricard's strategy focuses on investing in long-term, profitable growth for all stakeholders. The Group remains true to its three founding values: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust, and a strong sense of ethics, as illustrated by the 2030 Sustainability and Responsibility roadmap supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "Good times from a good place." In recognition of Pernod Ricard's strong commitment to sustainable development and responsible consumption, it has received a Gold rating from Ecovadis. Pernod Ricard is also a United Nation's Global Compact LEAD company. Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI; ISIN Code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 and Eurostoxx 50 indices. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005887/en/ Contacts: Pernod Ricard Julia Massies VP, Financial Communications Investor Relations +33 (0) 1 70 93 17 03 Charly Montet Investor Relations Manager +33 (0) 1 70 93 17 13 Emmanuel Vouin Head of External Engagement +33 (0) 1 70 93 16 34 Alison Donohoe International Press Relations Manager +33 (0) 1 70 93 16 23 On a retail level, thats already happened. Nielsen said sales of hard seltzer were up 211% in 2019. Even with pandemic-related closures and people generally staying home more, retail sales of hard seltzer are up 192% year-to-date and 186% in the 29 weeks since the pandemic hit. Those numbers dont include sales declines at bars, restaurants and other venues that had to close for extended periods due to the virus outbreak. Participating Canadian Orthodontic Partners clinics across Canada are helping to bring more PPE to classrooms TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Back-to-school season feels different this year. Whether students are in classrooms full-time or partially, Canadian Orthodontic Partners and its docbraces member clinics across Canada want to make the transition a little easier. With this in mind, the Homeroom Hero campaign is offering patients and members of the surrounding communities the opportunity to receive kits containing protective face coverings and hand sanitizer to share with their schools. Available for a limited time, on a first-come, first-served basis, the Hero Kits contain 25 machine-washable face masks and 25 individual bottles of hand sanitizer. They will also include educational posters to hang in a classroom, to help spread knowledge about how to reduce the spread of COVID-19. With many schools recently encountering additional technology costs as a result of online classes, each Homeroom Hero application will also automatically be entered into a draw to win $1,000 for their classroom, to be used by the class teacher towards the purchase of materials to support online learning. "Our local communities are integral to our clinics, so finding a way to give back to them was a must," says Anthony Milonas, President and CEO of Canadian Orthodontic Partners. "Given the value that we place on health and safety, education, and community, being able to offer PPE through the Homeroom Hero campaign represents one small way we can support our patients and neighbours during this challenging time. It's important that we give students and their families the confidence to feel good about being back in schools." Canadian Orthodontic Partners has welcomed commitment from several key business partners to further the reach of the Homeroom Hero campaign. Align Technology, provider of the Invisalign clear aligner system, is proud to support Canadian Orthodontic Partners' efforts to help protect students this fall. "We are happy to be a part of this campaign to support doctors and communities throughout Canada," noted Sian Roberts, VP and GM, Align Technology, Canada. "The health and safety of our customers, their offices and their patients continues to be our top priority throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We're all in this together." The contest for the $1,000 prize is also open to non-patient students who are interested in supporting classroom and community safety. By taking the #smileSAFE pledge online, participants commit to practicing regular and proper handwashing, maintaining distance whenever possible, alerting teachers or parents if they're feeling unwell or if they observe unsafe conditions, and wearing a mask at all required times. Students will be entered to win the $1,000 prize and have their pledge counted towards the national #smileSAFE Pledge Counter. Pledgers are also able to print out the educational posters by visiting info.docbraces.com/hero-pledge. "Teaching students about the ways they can protect themselves, and those around them, and providing them with the tools to do so is critical," says Milonas. "Our objective has always been to deliver high-quality care to our communities. Investing in this kind of care will go a long way in keeping our communities safer and contributing to the confidence of our local families." About Canadian Orthodontic Partners The Canadian Orthodontic Partners and docbraces national network of community-based orthodontic clinics delivers personalized treatment one beautiful smile at a time. Orthodontist-founded and led, Canadian Orthodontic Partners' values are rooted in providing superior patient care and treatment outcomes. As healthcare professionals who have always followed strict hygiene and sterilization practices as a matter of everyday protocol, the network recently implemented important additional measures to help protect the health of patients, their families, and their local communities against the spread of COVID-19. The smileSAFE Risk Management Framework helped guide all partner clinics across Canada through a safe reopening following the 2020 COVID-19 closure period. SOURCE Canadian Orthodontic Partners For further information: Christina Hale | Canadian Orthodontic Partners, [email protected], 647-598-2421; Danielle Scott | APEX PR, [email protected], 416-909-5185 Some think he is a hero, some a villain. Others just want him to please shut up. Wherever you stand, it has been four extremely long years since then-FBI Director James Comey released his statement calling Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "extremely careless" over her handling of sensitive emails. In the weeks that followed, the FBI would announce that it was reopening its investigation, and then, with mere hours to go before the election, close it again. Trump would subsequently win the Electoral College, and Comey would have his now-infamous dinner with the commander-in-chief, where he was reportedly pressured to pledge his loyalty. Shortly thereafter, he was vindictively fired. If this brief walk down memory lane gives you hives, then perhaps you should consider skipping The Comey Rule. At almost four hours long, and broken into two parts airing on consecutive nights, the Showtime miniseries revisits the events before and immediately following the 2016 election. The painstaking exercise is undertaken in pursuit of an answer to a question that seems, at this point, destined to join the great debates of political history: Was James Comey a good person? But by making that its focus, The Comey Rule completely whiffs on the greater point. Admittedly, there are likely exactly zero people who plan to watch The Comey Rule to get to the bottom of "that James Comey fellow." Much of the buzz of the show is owed to it being the first major dramatization of the 2016 election, with a star-studded cast that includes Jeff Daniels as the title character, Michael Kelly doing a great Andrew McCabe, Scoot McNairy as a weasely Rod Rosenstein, an underutilized Holly Hunter as Sally Yates, British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as Barack Obama, and T. R. Knight going full goofball with his portrayal of Reince Priebus. Of course, the most need-to-see-it role of all is Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump. While at times The Comey Rule leans a little too heavily into its supervillain impulses (for some reason, Trump does a lot of sweeping-open-of-curtains, like a wicked count), Gleeson on the whole understands that impersonating the president requires, counterintuitively, a downplaying of his more ostentatious traits, lest the performance veer too much toward satire. Helped along by a bad fake tan, Gleeson mostly nails it, and at times watching him can feel a little like experiencing the uncanny valley. Story continues But as much as The Comey Rule is a carousel of characters and events from your nightmares the Pulse Nightclub shooting, Loretta Lynch's tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok's affair, Anthony Weiner being Anthony Weiner The Comey Rule clearly has one major objective. "I just don't know what to think about James Comey," Stephen Colbert jokes in the Late Show clip that kicks off the first episode. "First it seems like he's the good guy, then it seems like he's the bad guy, then it seems like he sacrificed himself to save other people." Though this predicament is poised to guide us through the rest of the show, the answer offered by writer/director Billy Ray who is also the screenwriter of similarly patriotic works like Richard Jewell, Captain Phillips, Shattered Glass, and ... The Hunger Games never gets much dispute. The Comey Rule's Comey is the kind of character who says things like "money is nice; stopping bad guys is better," and gets called "daddy" by his worried Clinton-supporting teenage daughters at home. When it comes to his consequential decisions as director of the FBI, Comey is largely viewed by the creators as a man with a rigid moral backbone who was put in an impossible lose-lose situation. While The Comey Rule spends great care and expense walking us step-by-step through why Comey made the decisions he did, it is Comey's actions, not his intentions, that actually matter. The issue of motivation in this case belongs solely to the realm of ethicists; for the sake of history and citizens alive today, the bigger concern is the fact that Comey's Oct. 28 letter reopening the investigation into Clinton "probably cost [her] the election." Quartz explains the difference: Regardless of Comey's motives, the implications were concerning. "There's an obligation for an investigator to not do damage to an individual's character before they have evidence to justify it," says [Thomas Kolditz, director of the John Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University]. "Hillary Clinton was never indicted or charged with anything. Arguably she did nothing wrong. And yet her character was assassinated by the mere suspicion of information [about her wrongdoing]." Based on these consequences, Kolditz believes that Comey's decision was wrong, though not immoral if made with good intentions. [Quartz] If you set aside the question of Comey's morality worthwhile only for a character study, though in the case of a sanctimonious person like Comey, I'm not sure it's even that the fact remains that he made the wrong call, one that directly broke FBI protocol, and one that aided a devastating outcome. It's similar to arguing that you can't be certain Trump is a racist because you don't know his heart; his actions being racist are what have actual consequences. The importance of the Comey scandal, more than anything it says about one man, is what it reveals about our corruptible political system as a whole. In particular, while The Comey Rule views the FBI director's refusal to kowtow to Trump on the Russia investigation, and his subsequent firing, as the redemptive climax of the story, it doesn't pause to comment on the fact that Comey's nobility is also mostly irrelevant (besides, not colluding with Trump to stop the investigation seems like the bare minimum requirement of a public servant in his position, not something worthy of endless hagiography). Lest we forget, the motive behind Comey's firing was blatantly transparent to everyone watching. The subsequent report by the Department of Justice's Inspector General "concluded that Comey, fired by a president who was publicly seeking to cripple an investigation into a foreign hacking-and-disinformation campaign that helped put him in office, should have kept silent," as The Atlantic's Adam Serwer summarized. "That standard would not only incentivize presidential corruption, but establish that government officials who witness such corruption should not warn the public and instead adhere to a Mafia-like omerta." That this can happen in our present system is the real scandal. Of course, the question of if James Comey is good or bad matters deeply to one person: James Comey. Following his ousting, the former FBI chief has not gone softly into that good night of retirement, but continued to justify his decisions to the public, including writing A Higher Loyalty, his memoir about the experience on which The Comey Rule is based. The Showtime miniseries, then, is another piece of his redemption campaign, and as a result, doesn't have any more credibility than Comey himself standing up and saying, "No really, I'm the good guy." Good or bad, no one other than Comey and his family ought to care what kind of person he is. What matters is what he's left us with. More stories from theweek.com Trump literally can't afford to lose the election The bigger truth revealed by Trump's taxes Trump avoids tax return questions as he brings yet another truck to the White House Up until this year, far-right conspiracy movement QAnon largely existed on the internets fringes. Its origins can be traced to 2017 when an unidentified poster named "Q" began pushing coded theories on the dark web. The core belief is that there is a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles made up of global political, business and Hollywood elites who run the world. Together they operate a child sex-trafficking ring and are fighting President Donald Trump from bringing them down. Today, against the backdrop of the worldwide pandemic, the spread of far-right thinking and widespread uncertainty, QAnons narratives about anti-mask messaging and hashtags such as #SavetheChildren have found their way into mainstream social media. In this episode, senior journalist Jacqueline Maley is joined by deputy lifestyle editor Sophie Aubrey to discuss how a group with such murky origins has infiltrated Australia's wellness community. SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tasker Payment Gateways LLC recently announced the launch of a glassware-friendly payment gateway placement program to help online smoke-shop businesses sell glassware on WooCommerce. In an ever-evolving industry, smoke shops seeking to set up online sales have a great deal to consider and navigate, especially as payment processing rules for selling bongs and smoking accessories vary from provider to provider and integrations vary from platform to platform. WooCommerce payment gateways for bong sites can be tricky. Most payment gateways consider smoke shop items to be a prohibited category. Expert advice can smooth the process and help WooCommerce website owners avoid held funds and shut down accounts. Credit card sales can be especially tricky for pipe and glassware businesses, requiring specific metrics to ensure that websites and online headshops are not shut down. Tasker Payment Gateways is an A+ rated and trusted BBB-accredited business dedicated to helping high-risk site owners since 2002. "There's been a lot of progress over the years, when it comes to how easily you can set up a payment gateway and merchant account to sell bongs, glassware, pipes, and accessories on WordPress," said Matt Tasker, Founder of Tasker Payment Gateways. "Regardless of what you're selling: high volumes of inexpensive glass, or fashionable artisan pipes and accessories, all of it can now be sold online much easier across most of the U.S. and Canada. But there are still many challenges. The standard payment gateway options that WooCommerce merchants encounter for instance, when they try to set up payments on their WordPress site, generally prohibit most common smoke shop items, including bongs. We can help with that. Through dedicated, trusted, independent agents, we now offer customized one-on-one recommendations based on a web site owner's specific product. We can also offer expanded solutions for online smoke shops that want to branch into vape, CBD, or processing equipment." There are many different platforms and payment solutions that work for glassware, pipe, and bong sales, including WooCommerce, Shopify, Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace. But each is different. Contact Tasker Payment Gateways today to help select the right solution for the right business model. To view Tasker's BBB ratings, Trustpilot reviews and other awards and accolades, go online. To learn more about the company, follow them on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or Twitter. About Tasker Payment Gateways, LLC Established in 2002, Tasker Payment Gateways LLC assists the owners and developers of high-risk e-commerce websites in the United States and Canada with payment gateways related to credit card sales and offers merchant account recommendations. American owned and operated, Tasker Payment Gateways is proudly A+ rated and BBB-accredited serving clients faithfully for nearly two decades. Learn more at: www.TaskerPaymentGateways.com. Disclaimer: All businesses selling bongs, glassware and pipes should consult with a qualified attorney that knows the industry and is educated on e-commerce in general. Tasker Payment Gateways LLC is not a legal service, and provides no legal advice or legal statements on any specific product sold by its clients. Media Contact: Matthew Tasker Phone 207-772-8737 Email [email protected] SOURCE Tasker Payment Gateways LLC Related Links http://www.TaskerPaymentGateways.com Two men allegedly broke the rear window pane of a car belonging to Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha and stole his laptop when the vehicle was parked outside a house in west Delhis Naraina Vihar area, police said on Tuesday. The incident place took place on Monday night, and a case of theft was registered at the Naraina police station based on a complaint filed by Shivam Agarwal, who works for the MLA, they said. Agarwal told the police that the miscreants came on a motorcycle, broke the rear glass pane of the car and stole the laptop from the back seat, a senior officer said. A security guard of the area noticed that one of the glasses of the car was broken and Agarwal was subsequently alerted, he said. CCTV footage of nearby places have been checked, and efforts are being made to trace the culprits and recover the stolen laptop, the officer added. We have registered a case of theft and are probing the matter. Multiple teams have also been formed to trace the culprits," said Deepak Purohit, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West). Chadha said he has written to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava about the incident. In the letter, the MLA said the unabashed manner in which the act was committed clearly indicates that there is an unholy nexus of anti-social elements to disrupt law and order. It is also significant to note that the brazen attack on a sitting MLA or that too in an area like Naraina Vihar bears testimony to the rumbling law and order situation in Delhi on the ground as well as the blatant impudence of the offenders. Pertinently, incidents of repeated attacks on me viz, thrice since February 2020, begs a serious question that if the legislature/official functionaries are attacked in this fashion and are put to constant threats and fear then what would be the plight of a common man," Chadha said in the letter. Speaking to PTI over the phone, the legislator said, My official laptop containing documents was stolen. This is the third incident in last six months that happened with me. Earlier in February too, someone broke the glass of my car and stole some valuables. Being a legislator, if I am not safe in this city, then what about the safety of common people? It shows the law and order situation in the capital of the country. I shudder to think about the plight of the common man." Boys Basketball: Watertown wins over Rapid City Stevens Reese Stark and Drew Norberg combined for 41 points to propel Watertown to a 61-51 high school boys basketball win over Rapid City Stevens. PORT ARANSAS, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eyeing the Texas Coast for a family-friendly community or coastal investment property? Now's the time to buy into Cinnamon Shore Southan expansion of the Cinnamon Shore in Port Aransas, Texas. Cinnamon Shore Realty will host its Next Phase Reveal Sat., Oct. 10, at 9 a.m. at the new community, located at 5800 TX-361, Port Aransas, 78373. The event is open to registered buyers only; register at this link. Great Home Site, Great Home Plans Registered buyers who attend the event will have: First opportunity to hear Next Phase pricing details, revealed exclusively at the event! at the event! First pick of 35 home sites in a brand-new section. First look at: 7 Lakeside Cottages ranging 900 to 1,275 square feet, named for tiny seashells ranging 900 to 1,275 square feet, named for tiny seashells 4 Bridge Cottages at 880 SF, named for famous bridges at 880 SF, named for famous bridges 5 Lakeside Beach Homes ranging 1,650 to 2145 SF ranging 1,650 to 2145 SF 3 Parkside Beach Homes approximately 2,500 SF approximately 2,500 SF 1 Poolside Beach Home approx. 2,300 SF "We expect a flurry of paperwork to be completed that morning, so interested buyers should register early and be ready!" says Jodi Peters, broker at Cinnamon Shore Realty. "If people have watched Cinnamon Shore mature and have noticed its expansion at 'South' selling quickly, they'll realize what a great opportunity this weekend will be." Great homes already under construction might be a match for some buyers. Others serious about owning a piece of the Texas coast will find home site prices too tempting to pass up. Record Sales at Cinnamon Shore At the original community, now known as Cinnamon Shore North, and at burgeoning Cinnamon Shore South, buyer interest has been high in 2020, with 65 transactions recorded for the year as of August 31, 2020. "Texas families are eager to find luxury vacation homes in driving distance," Peters says. "We've sold all of our standing inventory at South, with just 10 sites left in our first phase, so there's great anticipation about this next phase." With 150 Gulf-front acres and a thoughtful masterplan, Cinnamon Shore South is about three times as large as 63-acre Cinnamon Shore North, which was established in 2006. South broke ground in Fall 2018 and already has more than 25 homes completed or under construction. It centers around a 7-acre lake; a resort pool complex; and its own Town Center. "South offers more of what people love about the Cinnamon Shore lifestyle," Peters says, "and the next phase will be spectacular." How to Register & Weekend Agenda! Attendees can pick up property availability packets on Fri., Oct. 9, at the Cinnamon Shore Realty office during a happy hour event. On Sat., Oct. 10, from 5-7 p.m., those who have joined the Founding Neighbors are invited to a Celebration at South. To register, visit Cinnamon Shore South, call 361-749-1851 or email [email protected]. About Cinnamon Shore Cinnamon Shore is a pedestrian-friendly planned community nestled behind the protective dunes on Mustang Island along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is the first new urbanism development for Sea Oats Group, which is fulfilling its vision of a traditional seaside village with a wide array of amenities and recreational facilities intertwined with beach cottages, luxury villas and vibrant town centers. Now comprised of two communities the original, Cinnamon Shore North, and its new, 150-acre, Gulf-side expansion, Cinnamon Shore South every detail of the master plan for both is designed to embrace the natural ambience of Mustang Island and the slow-paced charm of a walkable neighborhood. For more information, visit http://www.CinnamonShore.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@CinnamonShore). About Sea Oats Group Port Aransas-based Sea Oats Group is one of the most successful developers of coastal properties in any market nationwide, including the Texas Gulf Coast, where the value of its beachfront portfolio is unequalled. The firm is dedicated to creating traditional neighborhood developments that provide residents with the highest possible quality of life, while preserving the integrity of the resort landscapes they occupy. By combining living spaces with retail areas in a walkable, connected plan, Sea Oats Group weaves together beautiful places to live, work and play. For more information, visit www.SeaOatsGroup.com. SOURCE Cinnamon Shore Related Links http://www.CinnamonShore.com Even her opponents acknowledge that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has earned every bit of her reputation as a fighter. In the 25 years that she has represented central Houstons 18th Congressional District, Jackson Lee, 70, has never been shy about expressing her opinion or battling for her causes. Whether its bringing billions of dollars to the region for high-speed rail, pushing for disaster relief, financing a state-of-the-art automotive training center at the Houston Community College North Forest Campus, championing the placement of COVID-19 testing sites in her district, or intervening in deportation cases, Jackson Lee has a record of getting things done. I take advantage of the opportunities of power, she told the editorial board. Not to use for myself but to use for others. That is what a congressperson does. Thats why district residents have sent her to Washington for 13 terms with never less than 70 percent of the vote. And its a major reason we recommend Jackson Lee be returned to Congress to use her experience, seniority and determination to continue delivering for her district and the state of Texas. Jackson Lee is challenged by Republican Wendell Champion, Libertarian Luke Spencer and Independent Vince Duncan. Champion is a West Point graduate with experience as a lawyer, corporate manager, youth minister and community volunteer. Spencer works in the oil and gas industry and Duncan is the owner of a company that specializes in custom church furniture. Champion speaks passionately about changing lives through better education and job opportunities and has backed that up through volunteer work in the community. But none of the candidates come close to the congresswomans resume or record of accomplishments. Jackson Lee may occasionally ruffle feathers with a combative tone and temperament, but there is no denying the results. Voters should keep her on the job in Washington. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Diversified FMCG major Mother Dairy foresees business revival as the demand contraction triggered due to Covid-19 pandemic weans-off. Talking to IANS, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable's Managing Director Sangram Chaudhary not only disclosed an upbeat sense of demand revival but al so cited the company's plans to launch new health-based products. "With the unlock phases, things are gradually coming back in place a nd we are positive to see a revival in the business as well as consumer sent iments across the areas where we operate in," Chaudhary said. "The overall volumes in the household segments are well in-line with the pre-Covid levels. We are certainly optimistic for the future given the positive strides being made towards revival." The dairy segment, he elaborated, saw a limited impact in the initial phases of the lockdown, however, it sailed through due to the fact of it being in the essential commodities category. "Operations of many general retail and modern trade outlets were con fined during this time, however, our existing infrastructure of owned exclusive outlets catered to the consumers throughout the lockdown period," he explained. "In addition, we further expanded our sales infrastructure with around 100 exclusive touchpoints. These outlets played a crucial role in reaching out to maximum consumers, supplying milk and necessary food options even in the containment zones." However, the last 6-7 months witnessed a decline in demand from the institutions due to the restrictions and regulations put in place. Nonetheless, with in-house consumption picking up, the company has focused synergies towards catering to the consumers at their homes with consistent supplies. It initiated home delivery of ice creams through orders being placed on its website. "We also tied up with an e-commerce channel to supply fresh fruits a nd vegetables from our horticulture brand - Safal at consumers' doorsteps," he said. Resultantly, the company has witnessed over 100 per cent increase in sales via online platforms. According to Chaudhary, consumer preference has shifted to essential food options, with focus towards nutritional offerings. "The lockdown period gave rise to the demand for convenient and immunity-related food products," he said. "With the growing concern over health and safety, consumers were resorting to packaged food options across varied categories." Besides, he pointed out an increase in preference of packaged food over loose products as safety has become the new norm. In terms of the company's newest bakery business, Chaudhary said: "Consumers response towards our newly introduced breads has been really positive and encouraging." Going ahead, Chaudhary revealed that company is looking at launching health- based products such as "whole wheat and multi-grain bread and value- added products like burger buns, kulchas... the entire product portfolio is b eing worked upon." On the QSR front, the company plans to study market response to its standalone outlet in NCR, before expanding any further in the segment. "Since this is a completely new segment for us and different from the categories that we operate in, assessing the consumer response, trend and feedback is of utmost importance to us," he added. "With the lockdown being imposed in March 2020, there was little time to assess the response. The future course of our action is directly linked to these facets." The company had forayed into the QSR segment in January 2020. (RohIt Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in) When Epic Games started a legal fight with Apple over the latters app store policies and high fee on app-store purchases, Epic Games also filed a lawsuit against Google on similar grounds. While Apple is fighting back against the lawsuit aggressively, Google is looking to make changes in their policies to make themselves appear less anti-competitive, announcing that they will be making it easier for users to select an alternative app store on Android 12. While third-party app stores have always been possible on the app store (like the Samsung Galaxy App Store and the realme app store), it is not very common because of many barriers like the discoverability of these stores among Android users. Most third-party app stores are by manufacturers who pre-install these app stores in their smartphones, and even then users will almost always use the Google Play Store because of its convenience. This might finally change with Android 12 as Google has announced that they will working towards improving the user experience of installing a third-party app store. Google has also stated that this improvement will be implemented while ensuring that users continue to have their privacy and security protected. With this announcement, Google also announced that they will be monitoring and more strictly enforcing the Play Store policies over apps with in-app purchases. These policies have already existed for the Play Store, however Google is giving developers till September 30th, 2021 before they will strictly crackdown on any app that violates this policy. Maybe more important is that Google also stated that they will enforce these policies equally across all developers, first-party apps or otherwise. Source | Via 1, 2 Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty Democrats who have made a recreational pastime out of fact-checking President Donald Trump are urging their own nominee to take a night off. Ahead of Tuesday nights first general election debate, Democratic party officials, campaign veterans, and allies of former Vice President Joe Biden are cautioning against performing the arduous task of debunking Trumps possible outbursts on the fly. Those who have watched his misleading briefings and meandering mega-rallies certainly expect the president to pass out lies like party favors on stage, but they believe that whiling away time trying to correct the record is just not worth it. If you spent your time calling out every Donald Trump lie that would be the entire debate, said David Pepper, the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, suggesting that Biden needs to avoid getting trapped in a Donald Trump-style crazy show live in Cleveland. Its an approach that has served the former vice president well in the past. During the primary, where Biden mostly campaigned as if he were already in a one-on-one matchup against Trump, he largely shrugged off the presidents attempts to derail him with various claims that spanned from factually inaccurate to overtly conspiratorial. Now, facing the White House incumbent for the first time, he intends to replicate that tactic. They are aligned with us, said a person familiar with Bidens debate strategy when asked about Democrats pleas for him to avoid jumping on every Trump assertion for 90 minutes. We dont view his role at all as being a fact-checker. We think that that is the portfolio of the press. Indeed, as the overwhelming majority of party members have placed their full confidence in Biden, 77, to take on Trump, 74, theres a unifying thought among Democrats that calling his rival a dishonest broker again and again would simply distract from their collective goal for the night: amplifying his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. Story continues Bidens superpower right now is not to fact-check Trump, a former adviser to Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign concurred. His superpower is to stand there and be the contrast. Over in Trumpworld, the presidents lieutenants, former and current, primarily agreed that Biden would be wasting his time trying to pick apart Trumps deluge of statements. How would they get Biden to remember facts after 180 years in the Senate? joked Barry Bennett, a Republican lobbyist who served as a senior Trump adviser during his 2016 run. He should [instead] focus on not making mistakes and proving the narrative that he has slipped correct. Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who Trump has called nasty & obnoxious, has hinted that he wont fact-check the event. And Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., the Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairman, told CNN on Sunday that he is not required to. The Biden campaign views the debate as an extended opportunity to tie almost every national news eventfrom the new vacancy on the Supreme Court and the ramifications it could have on the Affordable Care Act, to the stalled economy hurting millions of Americansback to the presidents bungling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The source familiar with the campaigns preparations went as far as to project that there is no debate outcome that can fundamentally change the race, confidently pointing to the incredibly stable nature of national polling averages against Trump the whole time. Pelosi Tried to Shield Biden From Debate Debacle but Ended Up Making the Target Bigger While some of that projection can be attributed to hubris from the side of the frontrunner, a poll released on Monday afternoon gives some weight to that thought, at least in theory. A Monmouth University survey notes that while approximately three-quarters of registered voters polled said they intend to view the debate, just 3 percent say that they are very likely to hear something that will impact their eventual vote choice. Its also borne out in recent historyand it cuts both ways. Biden, for instance, was widely panned as a rusty debater throughout most of the Democratic primary and ended up seamlessly securing the nomination, while Clinton was considered to have won all the general election debates and ultimately lost to Trump. Everything is so serious right now, said Eddie Vale, a Democratic strategist who assisted in debate prep for John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign. If you have a family member who got laid off, you know someone who died, youre stuck at home with your kids, is your mind really going to be swayed by a debate gaffe? The Biden campaign has been fairly opaque about the nature of their prep work. At several points last week, they called a lid on the nominees schedule, which meant that he would not make any public stops on the campaign trail for a period of time. On Wednesday, Biden eventually said to reporters gathered outside that more practice was on the horizon. Ive started to prepare but I havent gotten into it really heavily. I will tomorrow, he said. In early September, there was talk among some Republicans that Biden would try to escape debating Trump altogether, a claim that he and campaign officials never supported, but one that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) briefly mentioned in an apparent effort to help. Trumps campaign tried to use her words against him for several days, but didnt have much luck. Trump has lowered expectations for Biden. All that Sleepy Joe crap, said Bob Shrum, who worked on the Gore-Lieberman and Kerry-Edwards presidential campaigns as a top adviser. The Bush campaign in 2004 kept talking up what a terrific debater Kerry was. Thats actually smart, he said. But Trump cant help himself. He doesnt have a strategy, he runs on instinct and id. With Tuesday night fast approaching, that is exactly what Trump appears to be relying on for the most part: instinct and sticking to what he believes worked for him in the past, particularly in his face-off against Clinton. According to three sources who have discussed the first debate with Trump in recent weeks, the president has said that one of his main goals is to publicly humiliate Biden, including on a personal level. Trump, two of the sources said, has used private huddles in the White House and on Air Force One to workshop potential attack lines against President Barack Obamas former vice president, such as ones going after his son Hunter Biden, his mental acuity, and his perceived lack of personal and political toughness. In the past week, the president at one juncture privately discussed explaining at length while on-stage, why I call him Sleepy Joe, one of the knowledgeable sources recalled, suggesting that giving some back-to-back examples of Bidens alleged mental decline and softness on crime, China, and other issues would help rattle the Democratic opponent on live national television. On Sunday, at a press event at White House, the president brought two longtime confidants and Trump 2016 advisersChris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and a onetime primary rival, and Rudy Giuliani, the Trump lawyer whod served as New York Citys mayorto the briefing room and said that the pair were helping him with debate prep, adding that either one of them is about five times smarter than Sleepy Joe. Those close to the president describe Trumps approach to debate preparations as less structured and far less cautiously methodical than what youd expect out of any other modern major party nominee. However, the Trump campaign is hoping to spin that as a positive attribute, as opposed to it being a product of short attention span or laziness. President Trump prepares for debates every day by being president and building an excellent record to run on for re-election, Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaigns communications director, said in a statement to The Daily Beast on Monday evening. Murtaugh also once again attempted to set expectations, acknowledging that the man who Trump routinely bashes as doddering and suffering from mental deterioration and old age can also be quick on his feet. Joe Biden is a master debater who knows what hes doing, he added. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. China: Authorities abduct, torture priest to force state conversion Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Communist authorities in China have abducted and tortured a 46-year-old priest in the southeastern province of Fujian for refusing to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, according to reports. Father Liu Maochun from the Diocese of Mindong was ruthlessly tortured, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine that reports on religious liberty and human rights in China. Officers banged a gong beside his ear and shone a bright light into his eyes for several consecutive daysa torture method known as exhausting an eagle when people are deprived of sleep for a long time, the magazine said, quoting a source in the diocese. Liu Maochun, who assists the dioceses auxiliary bishop Guo Xijin, was taken away by police on Sept. 1 while he was visiting patients in a hospital. He was reportedly taken to a detention house in the county-level city of Fuan. The government claimed that Fr. Liu Maochun has disobeyed its rule and was ideologically radical, the source was quoted as saying. Bishop Guo had also refused to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. The government earlier pressured a deacon in the diocese, threatening to demolish his house and sack his children if he further supported Guos refusal to join the Patriotic Church, the magazine said. An insider in the Fuan city government told the magazine that the authorities suspect that Fr. Maochun may have shared information with foreign media about another priest, Fr. Huang, who too was tortured for not joining the Patriotic Church. China has an estimated 12 million Catholics and two major groupings, those registered with the state-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and an underground church of Catholics, who reject state control, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Vatican signed an agreement with China in 2018 on the leadership of the Catholic Church, after which tensions between the authorities and diocesan priests increased. The Vatican is now seeking to renew that agreement, overlooking concerns over religious freedom and human rights. Christian human rights groups and some Catholic bishops have voiced their concerns with the Vaticans decision. While certain details of the deal remain unknown, reports of the agreement indicate that Chinese officials submit a candidate for bishop to the Vatican and the pope has final say over the matter. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Nations-accredited persecution watchdog, has also signaled its concerns about the deal. CSW is deeply concerned about the timing of this provisional agreement between the Chinese government and the Vatican, CSWs East Asia team leader, Benedict Rogers, said in a statement. While we understand some of the motivations behind the Vatican's effort toward an agreement, there are significant concerns about the implications for freedom of religion or belief in China. Rogers added that if the agreement was to have real value, the deal itself must have freedom of religion or belief as one of its central components. We reiterate our call on the Chinese authorities to release all Catholics in China held in any form of detention, and all others detained in connection with their peaceful religious activities. China has been cracking down on underground churches and Christian activists for years. In 2015, more than 1,000 crosses were removed from church roofs and entire church buildings were destroyed across the Zhejiang province. The Chinese government continued its campaign against Christianity during the countrys coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown. More than 60 million Christians live in China, at least half of whom worship in unregistered or so-called illegal underground churches. Mustafa al-Kadhimis government is working on presenting an economic reform plan in the coming days, at a time when Iraq faces complex economic crises most notably related to the need to secure $3.6 billion per month in salaries for about 6.5 million employees and retirees, a government source told Al-Monitor. Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi was supposed to present the economic reform proposal to the House of Representatives on Sept. 15, but he did not, arguing that he is awaiting the approval of the domestic and foreign borrowing law. He promised to submit the proposal by the end of this month. An Iraqi government source told Al-Monitor, Ali Allawi, Iraqs deputy prime minister and minister of finance, is working on the economic reform proposal with the help of independent experts. We believe that Iraq is in constant need of economic reform, and this is not easy, especially considering the current circumstances. However, these challenges do not necessarily impede reform. When our economy was in good shape and we were selling oil at a price of $120, there was no reform. On the contrary, corruption was rampant. Therefore, these challenges may impose economic reform on everyone. He added, The government cannot create in a short period of time new financial resources other than oil, so it is working to fully control the border crossings to support the state budget. Also, Iraq is controlled by a political class that poses a challenge to reform, so the government needs independent decisions that do not necessarily go through the Iraqi parliament. The reform plan is supposed to include amendments to the salary scale, put an end to the discrepancy in salaries of state employees, and organize both the payrolls of retired employees and the Federal Service Law. This plan has garnered both domestic and foreign support and has been even backed by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who, on Sept. 13, said serious and exceptional steps in combating corruption must be taken. On Sept. 13, the Iraqi Ministry of Finance website cited US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Toller as expressing his countrys full support for the plans and procedures the Iraqi government is following, especially in regard to reforming and developing the economic and financial sector under the current circumstances. However, the road to economic reform is lined with ruts amid the drop in oil prices and Iraqs commitment to reducing its production in accordance with the OPEC+ agreement. This infers that Kadhimis government will be in constant need to borrow because public employees salaries cannot be fully available from the sale of oil. In the past two months, Iraq achieved $7 billion in revenue from the sale of oil, which is the amount it needs to pay employees salaries alone. Iraqs former Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al-Ulum told Al-Monitor, The current government is bearing the burden of the previous governments pledge to reduce oil production in accordance with the OPEC agreement, and this will harm Iraq and may cause it to lose $50 billion during the next two years. The reform that Kadhimis government is working on requires bold and harsh steps, and the country may not bear it at such a stage, especially with regard to reducing expenditures. So the government must focus its political and diplomatic efforts to get rid of the OPEC+ agreement burdens, Bahr Al-Ulum said. Allawi expected the Iraqi economy to contract by 7 to 9% this year, a figure that exceeds the International Monetary Funds (IMF) earlier forecast of 4.7%. This infers that the challenges facing the reform project Allawi is supposed to offer are very great. Ali al-Mawlawi, a former researcher at Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies, told Al-Monitor, The Iraqi government has not allocated sufficient political capital to overcome the economic crisis. The Minister of Finance may be fully committed to economic reform, but without sufficient support from the rest of the ministers, it will be very difficult for the government to overcome the political blocs resisting reform. The government needs to be realistic about what it can achieve in the limited time it has left without deviating from issues that are no less important than salvaging the economy, he added. Kadhimis government is facing a major economic crisis left by the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi that worsened when the coronavirus pandemic affected the livelihood of Iraqis. Kadhimi tried to cut the salaries of employees but failed to do so. His plan to impose taxes failed after a wave of popular protests was accompanied by political opposition that prompted him to back down from such a plan. Kadhimi is now working to control the border crossings, whose annual revenues are expected to amount to about $10 billion, according to the Economy Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, as this would help him overcome a portion of the deficit plaguing the countrys budget and secure the salaries of state employees. The government is now seeking to borrow about $5 billion from the IMF and $8 billion from internal banks. This indicates the size of the economic burden it faces and reflects its inability to reduce government expenditures. Over-staffing over the past 15 years has exhausted the Iraqi state. These jobs were always used for electoral purposes. When Allawi visited London last month, he signed a memorandum of understanding with the British government on technical support for economic reform. Al-Monitor learned that Allawi focused during his meetings there on supporting Iraq in the economic reform project and requested British support. In other words, the reform plan that Kadhimis government will present will not be of any significance unless Kadhimi receives prior political backing for his decisions and steps through the House of Representatives. Parties opposing his views can easily mobilize the street against him if he considers cutting employees salaries or imposing taxes. More than half of the active community in Iraq has been hired in state institutions through parties. The All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) forensic report has found no traces of organic poison in Sushant Singh Rajputs body, according to a new report. The forensic report also highlighted lapses in the autopsy conducted by Cooper hospital. A five-member panel of AIIMS, headed by Dr Sudhir Gupta, is still studying the Cooper hospital report. This panel was constituted in August on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sources told Times Now that the AIIMS forensic report found no traces of organic poison in Sushants body. The report states that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to investigate the case under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code - abetment to suicide. Sushant was found dead in his Mumbai home on June 14. Though the Mumbai Police ruled it as a case of suicide, his family suspected that it could be murder as well. The CBI said in a statement on Monday that it was covering all angles and no aspect has been ruled out as of date. Also read | Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan not found to have drug links yet, NCB to analyse their mobile phone data: report Dr Sudhir Gupta recently told ANI, AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion in due course of time. It will be totally conclusive. Earlier this month, Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer Satish Maneshinde sought the formation of a new medical board to keep the investigations impartial and free from inference. The agencies are being pressurised to reach a pre-determined result for obvious reasons in view of upcoming Bihar elections, he claimed. Sushants father KK Singh filed an abetment to suicide case against Rhea in July. She was arrested on September 8 and is currently lodged in Byculla jail for procuring drugs. Follow @htshowbiz for more Australians and Americans trust medical experts more than their elected officials, but Australians are far more supportive of their political leaders and COVID-19 restrictions, including fines for breaches and wearing masks. The research from the University of Sydney and Latrobe University in Melbourne has found there is far less partisan division in Australian support for fines if restrictions are breached and for making it compulsory to wear masks, particularly in Victoria. Labor and Coalition voters in Australia were also more likely to trust their state and federal political leaders from both sides of politics. Passengers wear masks on a train between Central and Wynyard. Credit:Janie Barrett The survey found that 83 per cent of Coalition voters and 85 per cent of Labor voters supported fines for breaching COVID-19 restrictions. When it came to making masks compulsory, 59 per cent of Coalition voters and 69 per cent of Labor voters were supportive. More than 45 per cent of Australians had a lot of trust in acting chief medical officer Paul Kelly and 41 per cent of Americans had a lot of trust in director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr Anthony Fauci. In America, 21 per cent of voters had a lot of trust in Donald Trump compared to 30 per cent of Australians who had a lot of trust in Scott Morrison. Lewis Hamilton is "playing poker" over his next contract at Mercedes, according to a former driver. Valtteri Bottas is already signed up to keep racing for the dominant team in 2021, but Hamilton is reportedly yet to even sit down for talks with Toto Wolff. Some believe the six-time world champion and runaway 2020 points leader is holding out for a pay rise, while others think he is waiting to see if boss Wolff also signs up for next year and beyond. "I like working with Lewis, and I think he likes working with me," Wolff admitted at Sochi. "I think that together, including all the other 2000 staff, we can still achieve a lot. "But if one of us decides to leave one day, then it will not affect Mercedes in any way - the team will continue to perform at the same level," said the team boss. "Yes, if Lewis goes, we will lose the best driver, that's obvious," Wolff continued. "We all agree that we want to continue our cooperation." Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos said he believes Wolff is in the process of selling his stake in the Brackley and Brixworth-based team for $300 million. "The question is whether he will stay after that," the Dutchman told Ziggo Sport. "It's possible that after selling his shares he will leave and join the new Aston Martin factory team." Marc Surer, another former driver, thinks Hamilton is therefore waiting for now. "He can afford to be playing poker. Who else are they going to take instead of him?" he told AvD Motorsport Magazin. "The team depends on him so they have to wait for him. We saw that Verstappen has beaten Bottas a few times this year, but beating Hamilton is much more difficult. "What that means is that Lewis doesn't need to hurry," Surer added. Another former driver, Karl Wendlinger, agrees with that. "I doubt he even has to think about it," he said when asked about Hamilton's forthcoming negotiations. "It will work out for him. He will stay with Mercedes because he knows he has the best package." (GMM) Continue Reading Below Advertisement Despite the city-wide French genocide, the dastardly governor de Chatillon managed to escape, running back to his kingly-brother-in-law for an army to crush the rebels in open warfare. Crown Bae did him one better, not just sending with him over 8,000 professional soldiers, including many French knights, but also renowned military and prankmeister general, Robert of Artois. Artois was a man so good at quashing rebellions he had enough spare time to rig his entire manor like a Willy Wonka funhouse. So on one side, you had the greatest commander in the world commanding the greatest French knights in the world, each one like a Medieval ballistic missile (if ballistic missiles had two different strains of gonorrhea). On the other side, you had a group of weekend militia, no knights, and a small unit of battle monks. Both sides knew that in a fair fight, the Flemish had no chance of winning. But that was all right because the Flemish were planning on fighting dirty anyway. Continue Reading Below Advertisement On July 11th, 1302, the French didn't lose the battle at Kortrijk; to lose is too positive a word. They were vanquished. When the fog of war cleared, the French army had routed, and five French soldiers and knights had been killed for every Flemish militiaman. Yet the battle had started incredibly well for the overwhelming French forces. Artois, who commanded the infantry, turned the Flanders field poppy-red with the blood of Flemish soldiers. It was going so smoothly, in fact, that the noble French knights were getting worried they wouldn't get a chance to have a go on the Flemish flesh bumper machine. They loudly complained to their plate mail bro, Jacques de Chatillon, who then told Artois to pull back his infantry and let the cavalry have their fun. But the mighty knightly cavalry charge was a complete failure, undone by the Flemings' two greatest weapons: mud and clubs. Continue Reading Below Advertisement One thing you need to know before taking a disappointing weekend break to Bruges is that Belgium is one big swamp. There's so much humidity in the air that makes the ground and your butt constantly moist and muddy. Those are not ideal travel conditions for hundreds of chivalric war machines, each weighing a half tonne, to charge across. As a result of the muddy ground and many moats dug by the militia, the French knights couldn't muster enough momentum to crash through the lines. Even if they had, they could not have foreseen what the Flemish militia did next: they held their ground. That's when the French found out that, despite being so-so in infantry warfare, the Flemish militia had been precision engineered for one task: to fuck up fancy knights in full plate armor. All thanks to one iconic weapon: the goedendag, meaning "good day" (or "good dagger,"), the first arms ever named after their own combat quip. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan is scheduled to release a batch of data on Wednesday, headlining a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are August figures for industrial production, retail sales, housing starts and construction orders. In July, industrial production was up 8.7 percent on month and down 15.5 percent on year, while retail sales sank 3.3 percent on month and 2.8 percent on year. Housing starts tumbled 11.4 percent on year and construction orders plummeted an annual 22.9 percent. China will see September results for the manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes from the NBS; in August, their scores were 51.0 and 55.2, respectively. China also will see September results for the manufacturing PMI from Caixin, which is expected to hold steady at 53.1. The Philippines will provide August data for producer prices; in July, producer prices were down 3.3 percent on year. Australia will see August figures for building permits and private sector credit. Permits are called flat on month after spiking 12.0 percent in July. Credit was down 0.1 percent on month and up 2.4 percent on year in July. Hong Kong will release August numbers for retail sales; in July, sales plummeted 23.9 percent on year. New Zealand will see August figures for building permits and September results for the business confidence index from ANZ. In July, permits were down 4.5 percent on month, while the business index had a score of -41.8 in August. Thailand will release August data for industrial production, current account, retail sales and its coincident index. In July, industrial production dropped 14.69 percent on year, while the current account had a surplus of $1.79 billion, retail sales tumbled 17.4 percent on year and the coincident had a score of 123.77. Finally, the markets in South Korea are closed for the Chuseok Festival and will re-open on Monday. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 10, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Top House Republican Seeks Probe Into Source of Trump Tax Documents Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) on Sept. 28 called for an investigation into the source of a report published on Sept. 27 that claimed President Donald Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. In a statement, Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said theres the prospect of a felony crime in the leaking of the presidents tax information to The New York Times, which published the report. While many critics question the articles accuracy, equally troubling is the prospect that a felony crime was committed by releasing the private tax return information of an individualin this case, the Presidents, Brady said on Sept. 28. To ensure every American is protected against the illegal release of their tax returns for political reasons, I am calling for an investigation of the source and to prosecute if the law was broken. The New York Times didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. The paper on Sept. 27 reported that Trump paid the sum in the year he won the presidency and in his first year in the Oval Office. The paper said it obtained the long-sought-after tax information for the president, alleging that he paid no federal income taxes in 11 of the 18 years it examined, saying he suffered overall financial losses. The publication said its sources had legal access to the documents, and denied a request by a lawyer for the Trump Organization for access, to protect the identities of the sources. The day after its publication, Trump and the White House dismissed the reports claims as inaccurate. President Donald Trump speaking during a news conference at the White House on Sept. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Its fake news. Its totally fake news, Trump told reporters at a White House press briefing after he was asked about the report. Made up. Fake. The president, repeating an assertion hes made a number of times over the last few years, said hes unable to release his financial records because hes being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Its under audit. Theyve been under audit for a long time, he said. The IRS does not treat me well. Trump added, When theyre not [under audit], I would be proud to show [them]. The president said he paid a considerable amount of taxes over the years. First of all, I paid a lot, he said. I paid a lot of state income taxes too. New York State charges a lot. That information will be released in due time, Trump said, adding that it will only be done when the audit is finished. Itll all be revealed, he said. I look forward to releasing many things. Im going to release many things and people will be really shocked. The IRS does not treat me well. They treat me like the Tea Party, he said, referring to the IRS targeting Republican-leaning groups during the Obama administration. Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten issued a statement to the news outlet over the alleged tax records, saying that most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate. Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015, Garten said in the statement. The unethical, perhaps illegal, leaking of any Americans tax returns is a stunning breach of public trust. That doesnt change because it happened to @realDonaldTrump. The joint political hit piece between the New York Times and Democrats just weeks before an election.. Rep. Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyPA) September 29, 2020 Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), a fellow member on the House Ways and Means Committee, echoed Bradys concerns in a Sept. 28 statement on Twitter. The unethical, perhaps illegal, leaking of any Americans tax returns is a stunning breach of public trust. That doesnt change because it happened to @realDonaldTrump. The joint political hit piece between the New York Times and Democrats just weeks before an election shows no wrong doing by @POTUS but leaves Americans wondering if their own private tax information can be weaponized against them for political gain, he said. There must be an investigation into who turned over confidential tax records to the press to determine if the law was broken. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. Boris Johnson launched a desperate bid to stop coronavirus blighting the prospects of millions of workers today by offering digital boot camps and free college courses. After weeks being battered for his handling of the crisis, the PM attempted to get back on the front foot with a 2.5billion scheme guaranteeing retraining to anyone without A-Levels or equivalent qualifications. But he said the UK had fallen behind other countries in technical skills, partly due to 'snooty' attitudes to vocational qualifications. And in a snipe seemingly aimed at his own backbenchers he said the UK had also been 'hamstrung' by a lack of investment in infrastructure and 'antiquated' planning rules. Addressing students at Exeter College in Devon, the Prime Minister said: 'The British economy is in the process of huge and rapid change, driven by the internet and the possibilities of remote communication. 'But as old types of employment fall away, opportunities are opening up with dizzying speed - vast new sectors in which this country already leads or can lead the world.' His speech today came after Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his latest package to prop up jobs, but confirmed that the massive furlough bailout will end next month - despite fears the numbers on the dole queue will soar. Mr Johnson vowed to help those people find new roles as the economy reels from the impact of the pandemic. From April, adults without an A-Level or equivalent qualification will be offered a free, fully-funded college course - providing them with skills valued by employers, and the opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them. Higher education loans will also be made more flexible, allowing adults and young people to space out their study across their lifetimes, take more high quality vocational courses in further education colleges and universities, and to support people to retrain for jobs of the future. The Prime Minister suggested that some jobs in traditional shops, pubs or restaurants may be gone for good, saying coronavirus 'has compressed that revolution' in areas like online shopping. 'Let's imagine that you are 30 years old, you left school without A-levels and you are thinking - you were in retail or hospitality - you could find a job in the wind farm sector in the North East, or in space technology in Newquay or in construction here in Exeter,' he added. Boz the builder: PM said the UK had fallen behind other countries in technical skills, partly due to 'snooty' attitudes to vocational qualifications From April, adults without an A-Level or equivalent qualification will be offered a free, fully-funded college course - providing them with skills valued by employers, and the opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them PM bemoans a lack of homegrown Covid lab technicians Boris Johnson bemoaned a lack of British-educated coronavirus lab technicians today. Addressing students in Exeter he said that over the last few months he had been to many labs where experts, 'many of them young, are working flat out on testing samples testing for the disease, testing for the efficacy of potential vaccines, testing the tests'. He said ti was hard work which required a high level of skill and experience, but added: 'Every time I have been fascinated to find that a sizeable proportion of the technicians are from overseas. 'And though I welcome that, because it is one of the glories of our education system that it attracts so many people from around the world, we have to face the fact that at this moment when we need them so much, there is a shortage of UK-trained lab technicians, just as there is a shortage of so many crucial skills. 'Workers, and skilled mechanics, and skilled engineers, and we are short of hundreds of thousands of IT experts. 'And it is not as though the market does not require these skills. The market will pay richly. The problem is one of supply and somehow our post-18 educational system is not working in such a way as to endow people with those skills.' Advertisement The government is also committing 8million for digital skills boot camps, expanding successful pilots in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands and introducing programmes in new locations. From next year, boot camps will be extended to sectors like construction and engineering. In a speech today, Mr Johnson said that the coronavirus pandemic and changing economy means a long-term plan is needed to ensure that, as work changes, people can retrain, upskill and find new well-paid jobs. 'As the Chancellor has said, we cannot, alas, save every job,' he said. 'What we can do is give people the skills to find and create new and better jobs. 'So my message today is that at every stage of your life, this government will help you get the skills you need.' He continued: 'We're transforming the foundations of the skills system so that everyone has the chance to train and retrain.' Apprenticeship opportunities will also be increased, with more funding for SMEs taking on apprentices, and greater flexibility in how their training is structured - especially in sectors such as construction and creative industries where there are more varied employment patterns. In 2000, over 100,000 people were doing Higher National Certificates and Diplomas, but that has reduced to fewer than 35,000 now. Those doing foundation degrees has declined from 81,000 to 30,000. As a result, only 10 per cent of adults hold a Higher Technical Qualification as their highest qualification, compared to 20 per cent in Germany and 34 per cent in Canada. This is despite the fact that five years after completion, the average Higher Technical Apprentice earns more than the average graduate. Boot camps are employer-led, short, flexible training courses for adults, linked to guaranteed interviews and tailored to meet business and economic demand across the country. The first phase of boot camps will start over the next few weeks in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Liverpool with digital courses such as cloud services, full stack, digital for advanced manufacturing and cyber security. Some of these courses will be aimed at specific groups such as a Women in Tech course. The second phase of boot camps will be trialled in West Yorkshire, the South West and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The government is also expected to announce an increase in apprenticeship opportunities with more funding for small firm apprenticeships, and greater flexibility training is structured The unemployment rate rose from 3.9 per cent to 4.1 per cent in the quarter to July - the highest in two years, according to the latest official data According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people on payrolls was down 36,000 in August from July. It is now 695,000 lower than in March The scheme is expected to make it easy for adults and young people to break up their study into segments, transfer credits between colleges and universities, and enable more part-time study. This new arrangement will provide finance for shorter term studies, rather than having to study in one three or four year block. It comes after the unemployment rate rose from 3.9 per cent to 4.1 per cent in the quarter to July - the first time it has increased since the pandemic hit, and the highest in two years. A total of 1.4million were out of work, up by 62,000. The estimated increase in the rate for July alone was even higher at 0.5 per cent, according to the latest official data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people on payrolls was down 36,000 in August from July. It is now 695,000 lower than in March. The Office for Budget Responsibility has said the unemployment rate could peak at between 9.7 per cent to 13.2 per cent in the next few years. He travelled extensively in Western Europe and the United States and, during World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in the RAF in the Middle East and Greece. After demobilisation, he settled on a farm at Castle Hill in Sydney's north-west. He wrote prolifically for over half a century - novels, short stories and plays - sustaining a level of creativity unrivalled in this country. The variety of his characters and settings, his styles and modes, was prodigious. Each new work was a fresh and unpredictable departure, but also one which extended, and qualified, his fascination with the paradoxes of human experience, which most often he located in Australia, past or present. How well qualified he was to present Australia's human comedy became an issue in the 1950s and 1960s, when he came fully into prominence. Although his first novel, Happy Valley (1939), had won the Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal, there was not much awareness of him here until the appearance of The Tree of Man (1955) and Voss (1957). Praised in England and the US (where, like all his novels, they were first published), these reworked the staple Australian family saga of pioneering and the tragic inland journey of exploration in a modernist manner. This manner entailed a pronounced, if questioning, religious dimension which confused the developing, and opposed, orthodoxies of Australian literature. For some who favoured democratic social realism, White was outside the native tradition. For others, White's "universality" was a welcome alternative to an embarrassing provinciality. From left: Union leader John Halfpenny, writer and academic Donald Horne and author Patrick White lead the singing of Advance Australia Fair on the steps of Sydney Town Hall in 1976. They were "maintaining the rage" over the dismissal of the prime minister, Gough Whitlam, by the governor-general, John Kerr, one year earlier. Credit:Kevin Berry Personally, White seemed to be outside the mainstream of Australian culture at that time. Given his background, he seemed to many an Anglo-Australian from the colonial past. Instead of writing about "the Common Man" for an audience of the same, in the "characteristically" Australian way, he seemed an elitist aesthete tainted by the misanthropy of modernism. It was not until after the war and his decision to return to Australia to live that he engaged fully with his Australian experience. His first truly individual novel, and also his most experimental, The Aunt's Story (1948), imaginatively projects his memories of his Australian childhood and later wanderings in Europe and America. On returning to Australia with Manoly Lascaris, the Greek poet he met during the war who became his life-long companion, White, in response to what he felt was the provincial pettiness of local critics, assumed the role of proud Proustian recluse or Joycean exile at Castle Hill at a time when it was a rural retreat on the outskirts of the city. In the 1960s, in novels, short stories and plays, he lashed out at what he saw as the philistinism and materialism pervading contemporary Australia, epitomised in the mythic suburb of Sarsaparilla, modelled on Castle Hill. This was an extraordinarily prolific period, with the novel Riders in the Chariot, the plays The Season at Sarsaparilla and A Cheery Soul, and the short story collection The Burnt Ones appearing in successive years from 1961 to 1964. The heavily satiric phase in White's writing also coincided with a more general awareness, assisted by Barry Humphries (whom White admired), that post-war Australia was characterised by values that were essentially suburban With comic satire, White was relocating "literature" (usually thought of as remote, and most often imported) in the contemporary and the familiar. The stimulus his example provided other writers cannot be overestimated: here was the internationally known author of The Tree of Man and Voss, which by comparison now seemed quite classical, engaging playfully and often savagely with the immediate and the mundane. This stimulus can be seen most markedly with the drama. After the earlier-written The Ham Funeral was rejected for the 1961 Adelaide Festival, but given a successful fringe production outside it, White wrote The Season and A Cheery Soul (later revived at the Sydney Opera House). Satiric but also affectionate towards suburbia, they broke with the prevailing realist conventions. In spirit and techniques, many plays of the"new wave" dramatists a few years later had much in common with them. In the short story and the novel White was also making writers, and perhaps more importantly readers, aware of a wider range of possibilities. In 1964 Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris moved from Castle Hill to Centennial Park. The novel The Solid Mandala (1966) was the last of his"Sarsaparilla" books. Sydney and Sydney society provided most of the settings for his next novels, The Vivisector (1970) and The Eye of the Storm (1973), and the "shorter novels" collected in The Cockatoos (1974). With the move to Centennial Park came increasing involvement in political issues. White's opposition to censorship and the Vietnam War, and his concern over Aboriginal rights and urban development, led to his publicly supporting Labor in 1972. In 1974, the year after he won the Nobel Prize, he was named Australian of the Year. After the dismissal of the Whitlam Government, he returned his Order of Australia and became a supporter of constitutional reform and republicanism. A bitter critic of the Fraser Liberal Government, he soon became disillusioned with the new Labor Government's policies on uranium mining and foreign alliances and supported the Nuclear Disarmament Party instead. Once assumed to be a reactionary Anglophile, White later revealed himself to be a patriotic progressive. Although his politics were of an idealistic rather than a party kind, they involved a lot of marching and speechmaking, even as his health declined. His writing, once hailed or attacked for being more "universal" than Australian, also reveals a deep involvement with his own country, its history and potential. The major historical conflicts that have provided Australian writers with distinctive themes - conflicts between the Aborigines and white settlers, between the convicts and their governors, between Sydney and the Bush - recur throughout his works, as do versions of his own experiences, all presented with an unprecedented eye, and ear, for social differences and tensions. In 1976, White returned to the historical novel with A Fringe of Leaves, based on the story of Eliza Fraser, and in 1978 his return to the stage was marked by Big Toys, a contemporary morality about public corruption focused on the uranium issue (two other plays followed in 1983). Patrick White, November 1961. Credit:Staff photographer His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass, appeared in 1981. A merciless, and artful, self-examination, it omits his many acts of generosity such as his support for Aboriginal education, his presentation of a collection of paintings to the NSW Art Gallery, and his setting aside money from the Nobel Prize to establish an award for older Australian writers whose work has not received adequate recognition. In Flaws in the Glass White was frank about his homosexuality, a subject that he had addressed in The Twyborn Affair (1979), the novel that had appeared immediately before the autobiography. A text for the post-modernist present, The Twyborn Affair showed White continuing to respond provocatively and playfully to changing social and literary attitudes. As ever, White's new work broke out of the categories his interpreters have attempted to force him into. The more fervent, and humourless, have attempted to canonise him as a saint or a sage. Playfulness also characterised his 1986 novel, the slighter Memoirs of Many in One. Patrick White remains the greatest Australian writer to date by far, not only because he produced more major works than any other Australian writer has but also because, beyond that, he transcended the cultural divisions from the past which he encountered on returning to Australia after the war. Loading He was both contemporary and a traditionalist, an Australian and simultaneously an international writer; his works are both local and universal, realist and symbolic, social and metaphysical. Lesser writers (and critics) might see these as necessarily opposed categories. White assimilated them, playing them against each other. Once seen as aloof from Australian "reality" and culture, White changed our perceptions of these, as they have themselves changed over the long time he was writing about them. Exterior (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Yahoo Lifestyle SEA) SINGAPORE Theres a creepy surrealism that sinks in when you make your way through Changi Airport Terminal 2, which has now since temporarily shuttered since May due to lack of flights and general airport activity. Changi Airport Group says its the perfect time to bring forward expansion works that have been planned for 2024, but with the lights dimmed (and some flickering), carousels paused, and scaffolding erected, the place looks more pandemic-abandoned than in the midst of improvement. A few weeks later, Terminal 4 was also ordered shut, with airlines redirected to Terminal 1 and 3 and F&B outlets closed until air travel picks up again. Even amidst all this doom and gloom, traffic has picked up considerably at nearby Jewel, although admittedly, it is less last-minute shopping destination and more neighbourhood mall that happens to be within the vicinity of Changi Airport. There really is nothing like shopping for a MacBook Pro or dining at swanky Violet Oon while dressed down in the typical tee-shorts-slippers combo, as if dropping by for an NTUC run and suddenly feeling the need for new tech and fancy food. But this review is not for a restaurant within Jewel or the remaining terminals still open for service. Its for a little known establishment at the outskirts of the Changi Airport neighbourhood, so difficult to find (even in a GrabCar), that its much more efficient for me to show you a map of where it is than to describe it in words. Hopefully, with some deft Google search, you too can find Hub & Spoke and understand why this establishment deserves your esteemed patronage. Location (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Google Maps) Its moniker is reflective of its function as an endpoint for cyclists traversing the Park Connector Network from East Coast Park to Changi Airport. There are purpose-built facilities here for weary cyclistsbicycle rack, tire pump, and showers for a quick rinse, although it was yet to open during my visit. Hub & Spoke itself is housed within a glass wall compound with beautiful views of the greenery outside and al-fresco seating perfect for a touch of fresh air during cooler days. Story continues The menu is dependable, familiar, and affordable, which makes the trip down an easy option. You can order a warm cup of teh-o and toast and then go back within the hour for a more filling main, all without burning a hole in your pocket. Its literally food without the complex mimicry of stylistic culinary collaboration. You know the type, so often lauded in 2020 for pushing the envelope of gastronomical extremes, but often leave diners scratching their head and more perplexed. Har Cheong Gai (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Yahoo Lifestyle SEA) It starts with Har Cheong Gai chicken wings (S$7.50), that local aromatic snack made with a batter of fermented shrimp paste. I dont understand how anyone can get this wrong, and believe me, Ive tried many that had. Here, it comes served in a basket of five pieces, each beautifully seasoned, incredibly juicy and bursting with the piquant flavours of belacan. I could have all five with just a cup of teh-si and go back for more. Mee Rebus Java (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Yahoo Lifestyle SEA) Elsewhere, theres a Mee Rebus Java (S$5.50), which, Im told, is finessed to closely replicate the famed version from Terminal 1s canteen. Ive tried making Mee Rebus at home before and concluded that certain things in life are just easier to buy rather than to recreate. I know that some cooks douse their gravy with cornstarch to achieve that thick texture when it should be made mainly with sweet potatoes. Hub & Spokes version is one of the very few Ive tried that stays true to tradition. Its a satisfying medley of sweet and savoury with a touch of sourness all in perfect harmony and is the closest thing to what my mum makes at home. Seafood al Cartoccio (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Yahoo Lifestyle SEA) I also had the Seafood al Cartoccio (S$13.90) just to sample what promises the Western menu holds. This baked parchment bag of seafood takes a little longer to prepare but worth the wait. Within the bag are generous chunks of tender Mussels, Prawns, Squid, and Salmon Belly Fillet mixed with a hearty tomato stew and baked till everything inside is a rambunctious play of bright flavours and umami from a stew that has been slowly reduced. I had mine with some toasted bread, and I recommend you do the same. I was told that the owners are deliberating whether to offer this daily or just on the weekendI seriously hope its the former. Salad (PHOTO: Zat Astha/Yahoo Lifestyle SEA) I would be remiss if I didnt mention the colourful Salads on the menu available in three sizesPetit, Moyan, and Grand. The Petit (S$5.90) comes with 1 base, 3 toppings, guacamole, and 1 dressing; Moyan (S$6.50) comes with 1 base, 4 toppings, guacamole, and 1 dressing; Grand (S$7.50) comes with 1 base, 4 toppings, 1 protein, 1 guacamole, and 1 dressing. As you can see, those are some very affordable prices for salad bowls with generous servings of good things for the body. I was told that Hub & Spokes Nasi Lemak could rival some of the favourites weve come to know and lovefor me that would be Coconut Club, Adam Road, and the Hougang Green Malay stall. So that would be something Id definitely be keen to try on my next traipse down. Still, I can see how Hub & Spoke could be appealing. Food-wise, you'll be spoilt for choicetheres classic local dishes, toasts, breakfast sets, sandwiches, pasta, protein. The drinks options are also staggering, but not unfamiliar, with traditional options sitting alongside more trendy fare like, you know, bubble teayes, its become mandatory now to have bubble tea in any menu. And with travel severely restricted, Hub & Spoke could jolly well be the second-best reason to make a trip down to Changi Airport. Website | 60 Airport Boulevard, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, #01-T2S-02 8196432 Monday to Thursday: 7.30am - 8pm Friday to Sunday: 7.30am - 9.30pm Balancing the New Normal: FOOD REVIEW: Leckerbaer The best of Danish butter cookies made even better FOOD REVIEW: Like the wood burning in their oven, Lucali BYGB needs a little bit more time INTERVIEW: Nasen Thiagarajan, CEO of Harrys Bar Businesses need the support of local customers now more than ever INTERVIEW: Thosai Consultant Vasunthara When I make thosai from scratch, I feel connected to a whole line of women and their wisdom FOOD REVIEW: After 7 years, Cichetis second act makes for a great first impression THE imminent return of Zanu PFs exiled G40 elements seems to have unsettled party heavyweights who are now accusing the former party members of sponsoring candidates for the district coordinating committee (DCC) elections in order to regain lost ground. Party secretary for administration Obert Mpofu has disclosed that they have unearthed a plot by the G40 cabal to launch a comeback through DCC structures. Zanu PF is currently preparing for district co-ordinating committee elections amid reports of fierce factional fights, with some of the aspiring candidates linked to the G40 faction whose leaders fled into exile following the ouster of then President Robert Mugabe in November 2017. We take note of the hyper campaign activities taking root with regards the canvassing for positions in the DCCs and applaud enthusiasm as it reflects the popularity of the party, Mpofu said. We, however, note subtle disturbing intentions by the G40 elements to manipulate and thwart the DCC elections. We, therefore, urge the security department to be on high alert and vigilant in thwarting any ulterior motives and actions directed at the scampering of the DCC elections, Mpofu said. We are also very much aware that these machinations are a long-drawn strategy towards making a G40 comeback in the 2023 elections. The G40 is a group of former Zanu PF officials who fiercely fought against President Emmerson Mnangagwas bid to succeed Mugabe at the height of the ruling partys succession fights. They include former ministers Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo, Walter Mzembi and Patrick Zhuwao, among others. Newsday Guy Carpenter & Co., the reinsurance brokerage business of Marsh & McLennan Cos., announced the appointment of Paul Miller to lead Guy Carpenters Property Catastrophe value proposition for UK, Global Specialties and key global clients, effective September 2021. Miller will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of best-in-class solutions to clients and prospects working across Guy Carpenters UK and Global Specialties property catastrophe broking, analytics and advisory platforms. Additionally, he will work with broking and analytics teams to provide his expertise on key global accounts. Miller will report to Kevin Fisher, chairman of Guy Carpenter UK. Miller has over 30 years of experience in the re/insurance industry working in the UK and the Netherlands. He joins Guy Carpenter from Aon where he was most recently head of International Catastrophe Management. Miller started his career as an underwriting assistant at Lennox Underwriting before moving into the analytics space as a Catastrophe Model Developer at Greig Fester and joining Aon in 1995. Commenting on the appointment, Fisher said: Paul is a fantastic addition to the Guy Carpenter team as we continue to expand our capabilities in the property catastrophe arena. He has continually demonstrated his impact through a combination of modelling, financial and broking insight for clients with both regional and global exposures. Source: Guy Carpenter Topics Catastrophe Aon Property Name: Dan DeBarba Party: Republican Race: 114th District House Profile: Dan DeBarba, a Republican from Orange, is chief financial officer of a multi-hospital system in New York who has served 32 years as a hospital administrator and accountant. DeBarba and his wife, Lynn of 31 years, have three children, a daughter-in-law, two grandchildren and three golden retrievers. DeBarbas top legislative priorities are recovering from the traumatic effect that COVID-19 has had on residents, businesses and families; improving the competitiveness and economic vitality of Connecticut, which he says has greatly lagged behind the rest of the nation over the past decade and helping small businesses grow, especially in urban areas. DeBarba has said he will be a bold advocate for ensuring teacher pensions are fully funded and not simply shifted onto towns and cities. DeBarba serves on the Orange Visiting Nurse Association Board of Directors Bahrain's Cabinet has decided that the government will continue to pay 50% of the salaries of insured Bahraini citizens working in the most adversely affected enterprises within the private sector for a period of three months, starting from October 2020. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, today chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting, held remotely. The salary move will benefit 23,000 Bahraini citizens and 4,000 establishments, a Bahrain News Agency report said. The Cabinet also approved the payment of 50% of the salaries of a total of 524 uninsured employees in kindergartens and nurseries for a period of 3 months starting from October 2020. It also extended the wage support provided by the kingdoms Labour Fund (Tamkeen) for an additional 3 months, starting from October 2020, at the rate of BD150 per month to support 950 taxi drivers, public transport drivers, and 829 driving instructors. The Cabinet also approved exemption of tourist facilities from tourism fees for an additional 3 months, starting from October 2020. TOKYO, Sept 29, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Mazda Motor Corporation's production and sales results for August 2020 are summarized below.I. Production1. Domestic ProductionMazda's domestic production volume in August 2020 decreased 19.3% year on year due to decreased production of passenger and commercial vehicles.[Domestic production of key models in August 2020]CX-5: 21,659 units (down 19.2% year on year)MAZDA3: 10,031 units (down 39.2%)CX-9: 5,678 units (up 22.5%)2. Overseas ProductionMazda's overseas production volume in August 2020 decreased 9.8% year on year due to decreased production of passenger and commercial vehicles.[Overseas production of key models in August 2020]CX-30: 11,702 unitsMAZDA3: 8,906 units (down 24.3% year on year)CX-4: 7,330 units (up 184.1%)II. Domestic SalesMazda's domestic sales volume in August 2020 decreased 3.2% year on year due to decreased sales of passenger and commercial vehicles. Mazda's registered vehicle market share was 5.4% (up 0.7 points year on year), with a 2.5% share of the micro-mini segment (up 0.4 points) and a 4.3% total market share (up 0.6 points).[Domestic sales of key models in August 2020]MAZDA2 (includes Demio): 1,979 units (up 9.6% year on year)CX-30: 1,901 unitsMAZDA3: 1,655 units (down 58.7%)III. ExportsMazda's export volume in August 2020 decreased 24.9% year on year due to decreased shipments to Europe and other regions.[Exports of key models in August 2020]CX-5: 17,784 units (down 34.3% year on year)MAZDA3: 8,703 units (down 28.2%)CX-9: 5,764 units (up 20.1%)IV. Global SalesMazda's global sales volume in August 2020 decreased 11.8% year on year due to decreased sales in Japan, the U.S., China, Europe and other regions.[Global sales of key models in August 2020]CX-5: 31,420 units (down 15.7% year on year)MAZDA3: 19,502 units (down 29.8%)CX-30: 15,931 units (up 3587.7%)For the full press release, visit https://bit.ly/3l0K2Dx.About MazdaMazda Motor Corporation (TSE: 7261) started manufacturing tools in 1929 and soon branched out into production of trucks for commercial use. In the early 1960s, Mazda launched its first passenger car models and began developing rotary engines. Still headquartered in Hiroshima in western Japan, Mazda today ranks as one of Japan's leading automakers, and exports cars to the United States and Europe for over 30 years. For more information, please visit www.mazda.comSource: MazdaCopyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. For some of us, Zoom professionalism is achieved by rolling out of bed at 9 a.m., throwing on a button-down shirt, and keeping just a headshot within the cameras field of view. But for executives whose faces are posed as the focal points of important meetings, especially live television interviews, a growing trend has emerged among corporate executives: mens makeup. Makeup, creams or other cosmetic products is becoming very important as a way to express a healthy look, Hector Abdelnour, CEO of the betting consultancy firm H2 Gambling Capital, told Worth. Zoom calls and internal video work platforms have become one of the most effective ways to interact with our clients, partners, investors and colleagues. Men have realized the difference it makes when you are on video. At first blush, you wouldnt expect men to be receptive to a style traditionally reserved for women. But as remote working continues on as the new normal, more and more male business leaders are opting for cosmetics for Zoom calls and beyond. Related 19 Must-Haves Every Intrepid Gentleman Needs to Keep Active Amid the Global Pandemic When COVID restrictions began and our in-person meetings turned into video calls, it became quite clear that our faces were now front and center more than ever, said Matt Rodrigues, cofounder of TRIBE Cosmetics. If youre high up in a Fortune 500 company and have an interview with CNBC, it doesnt make sense to invest in lighting your space while avoiding the absolute essentials. Your face is what viewers and prospective clients ultimately remember the most. Recognizing the stigma surrounding cosmetics products for men, Rodrigues launched TRIBEs line of all-inclusive skincare products from his New York apartment during quarantine. The company offers a sweeping variety of products, with moisturizing creams and blemish cover-ups among their most popular. They also employ American workers at their manufacturing plant in New Jersey. Story continues Were all about inclusivity and the idea of Made in America, continued the entrepreneur. TRIBE seeks to simplify makeup. We are doing this through education and an easy three-step system using products that you apply using your fingers rather than complicated brushes, sponges and other tools. Related How Goop Is Empowering Women From Home While the rise of mens makeup in corporate America seems like a new trend, men have been wearing it for centuries. Hollywood actors, New York media pundits and D.C. politicians all apply makeup regularly ahead of on-camera appearances. In John F. Kennedys famous 1960 debate against Richard Nixon, JFK was done-up with a full face of makeup by NBCs makeup team. His political adversary made a mistake that proved fatal to his campaign when he refused NBCs makeup services. As a result, his unshaven, sweaty appearance stood in stark contrast to the youthful glow and perfect complexion of JFK. The debate went down in history as an important lesson for campaign managers that perfection is in the details. Nixon was later made the butt of a Simpsons bit portraying him as a floundering mess and JFK a teenage heartthrob. Though their products are in high demand, there are still some barriers to entry, and Rodrigues is all too familiar with the stigma that runs with male cosmetics. But for Rodrigues target audience, those stigmas dont matter. Alan Kaye, partner at Fidens Insurance Brokerage, is unfazed by the gender expectations associated with makeup. For Kaye, makeup serves as a crucial tool for the modern businessman. A businessman must be well-groomed, Kaye said. He is dressed for success. He wants to turn heads, but for the right reasons. He is not making a fashion statement, nor is he trying to pay attention to himself. He simply wants to enhance his features and look good. Whether it be on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or on television, nowadays, men are seeing the strain of busy schedules on their faces. Like women, men too are seeking that boost in confidence that comes with covering up their dark circles and blemishes. Related A Former Beauty Executive's Multimillion-Dollar Quest To Discover the Next Prozac With COVID-19 and major Fortune 500 companies shifting their work environments to promote employees to work from home, our visual online exposure becomes even more paramount, Abdelnour added. Women and men want to look dynamic, fresh and well put together at all times during these calls. While Rodrigues is hopeful about the future of mens makeup, he acknowledges the hurdles that he needs to overcome before mens makeup enters the mainstream. Its a challenge when you are seeking to lower the barrier of entry for a community that traditionally has had less barriers relative to their assigned gender counterpart, Rodrigues added. While there are still many hurdles to overcome in achieving gender equality and reframing gender role expectations, it has become more socially acceptable for guys to wear makeup. The post The Newest Trend for the Corporate Executive Class? Mens Makeup appeared first on Worth. A man, a woman and an 11-year-old boy were killed Monday after sheriffs deputies responded to a call about hostages at a house in Salem, the Oregon State Police said, adding that deputies forced their way into the home after hearing gunshots. The Marion County Sheriffs Office said that at about 12:30 p.m. on Monday, deputies were dispatched to Juneva Place SE in Salem to respond to a possible hostage situation. The deputies had tried to resolve the situation peacefully and establish communications with a man inside, Jose Jesus Lopez-Tinoco, according to a statement from the Oregon State Police. But on hearing gunshots they entered the house, and a deputy fired a yet to be determined number of rounds, the police said. Inside the home, the deputies found that the boy, who was not identified, and a 24-year-old woman, Diari Bustos-Bustos, had been fatally shot. Mr. Lopez-Tinoco, 34, was found dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the police said. CimCo to receive loan for Togo project 29 September 2020 Cimenterie de Cote Ouest-Africaine (CimCo) is expected to receive a XOF20bn (US$35.62m) loan from the West African Development Bank (BOAD) for its project in Lome, Togo. The long-term facility was approved by the banks board of directors last Friday. "The targeted goal is to contribute to the satisfaction of cement demand in Togo and the region by taking advantage of the geographic location of the port of Lome, as well as to contribute to the countrys economic growth by boosting the competitiveness of the industrial sector along with performances of the infrastructure sector," said the BOAD in a statement. CimCo is a subsidiary of CimMetal group, with the group planning to invest nearly XOF100bn in its Togolese project. The 2.5Mta plant will be designed and built by Intercem and Gebr Pfeiffer, and is expected to become operational in the 1Q21. Published under CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Webster Dental Care ("WDC"), an industry leading dental service organization with over 12 locations, today announced Michael Errin Rios as the organization's new Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, Michael will work with Dr. Steven Rempas on all strategic decisions, in all sectors and fields of the business. "For several years, Michael has demonstrated his ability to lead and manage operations within our organization," said Dr. Steven Rempas, Founder & President of Webster Dental Care. "I have tremendous trust in him, and I know that the two of us will continue to lead WDC to success." In addition to WDC, Mr. Rios serves as President & CEO of Aptus, Inc. & Aptus Exchange, LLC. In this role, he is charged with creating new development opportunities, directing all projects, and rebranding and marketing of the organization. He was the business broker to 33 dental practice transitions and hosted 18 seminars providing 690 dentists continuing education credit. He will continue to integrate both organizations during his appointment as CEO. "Webster Dental Care was one of the first dental service organizations in the Chicago area," said Mr. Rios. "I'm excited to bring a new vision and fresh energy to our highly successful family-owned business, but also keep intact the storied history this company was built from." Mr. Rios brings many years of experience in economic development, practice management and leadership roles. He begins each day attending morning mass at St. John Cantius Church and enjoys spending time in nature at the Morton Arboretum. About Webster Dental Care Webster Dental Care is a group of dental practices located in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs established in 1976. While our focus is family dentistry, we have specialists within each practice to service all of your dental needs. Exceptional dental providers combined with a staff that is second to none, we have established ourselves as the premier dental group in the Chicagoland area. About Aptus Exchange, LLC ("AE") & Aptus, Inc. AE is the new standard of ease and access for modern health care practice brokerage. Based in the global city of Chicago, Aptus serves as an advisory services firm specializing in marketing, management consulting, practice succession planning and business brokerage. Aptus leverages the broad and deep expertise of its team to elevate firms in the Dental, Health Care, and Professional Service Industries. SOURCE Aptus Exchange, LLC The study confirms the hypothesis that marks the Mediterranean basin as the original place for the Drosophila subobscura colonizer individuals. The model that better predicts the colonized region by D. subobscura is the one based on populations with a high frequency of warm chromosomal arrangements. 29/09/2020 Recerca The western area of the Iberian Peninsula could be determinant in the origin of the ancestral population of Drosophila subobscura, an invasive species widely spread around different latitudes. This conclusion results from a study based on the study of adaptive genetic markers, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B and led by Marta Pascual, expert from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona. The study supports the use of adaptive genetic markers combined with genetically informed environmental niche modelling as the scientific methodology to help determine the potential areas of origin of the colonizer species. Moreover, these indicators could be useful to define areas that are not colonized yet and of potential interest for the invasive species. The study counts on the participation of experts from the University of Oporto (Portugal) and the University of Washington and National Science Foundation (United States), among others. Drosophila subobscura: from the Mediterranean basin to the American continent The study confirms the hypothesis that marks the Mediterranean basin as the original place for the D. subobscura colonizer individuals, a native species from the palearctic area which colonized the American continent in the late seventies, in the 20th century. Like other invasive species, an anthropic environment (freight traffic, etc.) would have made it easier for the species to spread. According to the experts, during the colonizing process of D. subobscura, North and South America underwent a bottleneck effect, and both hemispheres were colonized in a sequential manner. The study confirms the influence of the origin and the genetic composition of the founding individuals in the dispersal of the species. Compared to other previous modelling studies on the potential distribution of the species, this study model considers the existence of local adaptations that can allow a bigger adaptation to certain environmental conditions. Genetic data enabled determining that chromosomal arrangements of the species are adaptive in particular, to cold and warm environments, and their frequencies vary quickly depending on the environment, notes Pascual, lecturer at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the UB. This knowledge she continues has been determining to design different models and assess how they behave to predict the biogeographical distribution of the species. The current distribution in the American continent could not be completely explained if the origins of the colonizers were in northern Europe, whereas if these were from the south, there would be a better explanation, according to the authors. Therefore, the model that better predicts the colonized region by D. subobscura is the one based on populations with a high frequency of warm chromosomal arrangements. Apart from inferring potential areas of origin of the colonizers, the distribution models of the species combined with adaptive genetic markers can contribute to identify future situations of introduction and spread of a new invasive species. If the colonizers come from a specific area, we can predict the potential distribution of the species. If they come from different environments, the dispersal potential can be very powerful. With this knowledge, measures could be taken to prevent invasive species from reaching certain areas of the world. Once they colonize an environment, it is very hard to remove them from there, concludes the researcher Si los colonizadores proceden de una zona determinada, podemos predecir cual puede ser la distribucion potencial de la especie. Si vienen de zonas con ambientes distintos, el potencial de dispersion puede ser muy potente. Con este conocimiento, se podrian tomar medidas para evitar la llegada de especies invasoras a determinadas regiones del mundo. Una vez han colonizado un ambiente, es muy dificil erradicarlas, concluye la investigadora. Reference article: Sillero, N.; Huey, R. B.; Gilchrist, G.; Rissler, L.; Pascual, M. Distribution modelling of an introduced species: do adaptive genetic markers affect potential range?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020, September 2020. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1791 Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic is predicting big things from Aaron Hickey after watching the young Scot shine on his Serie A debut on Monday night. The 18-year-old left-back was handed a swift introduction to Italys top-flight just over a week after completing a 1.5million switch from Hearts. But there was no sign of nerves from the Scotland Under-17s player as he strolled through an 80-minute run-out during Bolognas 4-1 derby triumph over a Parma side containing former Rangers defender Bruno Alves. #Mihajlovic: "Hickey has both personality and quality, he has a great future ahead of him. Hes lively and is learning aleady." https://t.co/E51j52MM85#BolognaParma #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/PwUj9JASqz Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en) September 28, 2020 He was even treated to a standing ovation from the 1,000-strong crowd as he was replaced late on by Stefano Denswil. The Rossoblu last week celebrated Hickeys arrival with a hilarious Twitter video featuring the Loch Ness Monster. And Mihajlovic is excited about working with Hickey, who follows Denis Law, Joe Jordan, Graeme Souness and Liam Henderson to become just the fifth Scot to play in Serie A. The Serb told the clubs official website: Hickey has both personality and quality, he has a great future ahead of him. Hes lively and is learning already. Aaron Hickey, right, made his Bologna debut on Monday night (Filippo Rubin/AP) We scored individual goals today, which is why I almost cant enjoy the win. However, there was an age difference of 32 years between the two sides, and Im pleased about that. I enjoyed Hickeys performance, I saw the Bologna that I wanted to see. Im happy because you could see all the things weve been working on over the past week. We scored four, but couldve had two or three more. Mangesh Wange and Manish Chokhandre In India, one in 100 children suffers from Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) of varying severity. These children need dedicated health care facilities, infrastructure and trained workforce that can meet their health care needs. CHD surgeries are an expensive affair. And as a result, of the 1.2 lakh children born with heart defects, a mere 30 percent are diagnosed on time and treated every year. The diagnosis of CHD also carries a high risk of mortality, morbidity and chances of becoming handicapped. Identifying and counselling the parents and mobilization especially in rural areas is another complexity, which makes this problem harder to solve. Stigma, delays in referral resulting in complications or poor outcomes, and co-morbidities (like undernutrition) set in, making the surgery difficult or complicated. Parents, often, are unable to keep up with the capital intensive treatment. Social taboos, myths, gender bias, lack of knowledge of existing government programmes, charitable organizations that exist for benefit of economically weaker section of society make it difficult to stage a timely intervention. The number of public hospitals that provide health care at low cost are few and far between. Public hospitals see a large number of patients, and have waiting lists that range anywhere from a few months to a few years. Most cardiac centres are in the private sector and may not be affordable by the masses in India. These are a handful of the factors contributing to the deterioration of children suffering from CHD, due to delayed or no treatment available to these children. As a nation, we can address this problem if the less fortunate are given support at the right time. Given the need for high resource and specialization, this problem can be best solved through the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders affected parents, social organizations, frontline health workers, governments and medical specialists and hospitals. The non-profits and development partners along with front line workers can support in early screening and intervention. Since they are in regular touch with the community, they can play a crucial role addressing the challenges that the parents and children face. They can also establish the link to higher facilities for identification and required treatment for children with CHD. The front line workers and hospitals further need to link these children to the existing government schemes. Thus, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) can play a critical role in addressing the severity of CHD in the country. A partnership that was successful in this effort, in Maharashtra, was the Swades Foundation and Government of Maharashtra, in collaborated with the Paediatric and congenital heart centre at Wockhardt Hospitals. Through the intervention, free-of-cost health care was offered to children in many underpriviledged communities in the state. This increase in coverage of health services for the children with CHDs was implemented in seven blocks of the Raigad district Poladpur, Mahad, Mangaon, Tala, Mhasala, Shrivardhan, and Sudhagad. The public and private partnership has ensured the delivery of specialized care to some 146 children suffering critically with CHD so far, who would not have been able to afford the diagnosis and treatment. The partnership has continued its efforts over the last five years. In this time, 704 symptomatic children were identified, and 146 children with varying degrees of complex heart disease were operated upon. The treatment included surgeries of varying complexities and catheter-based interventions under expert care. In 2019-20, the survey with support from Wockhardt hospital in seven blocks showed the disease burden has gone down to a negligible level if not zero. It shows the immense possibility that such public-private association can reform the healthcare system, particularly in rural India. Mr Mangesh Wange is the CEO of Swades Foundation and Dr Manish Chokhandre is a Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist with Wockhardt hospital. Ben Thomas is being sentenced for a string of sex crimes. (Police) The victims of a former BBC presenter who admitted sexually abusing children and adults often had no idea about what he did to them, a court has heard. Ben Thomas, of Flint, Wales, pleaded guilty to 40 offences including sexual activity with a child, sexual assaults and making indecent videos of children at Mold Crown Court in July. The 44-year-olds sentencing hearing began on Tuesday. The offences, which also included indecent assaults and voyeurism, took place over a 30-year span from 1990 and many took place at Christian camps and conferences, the court has heard. They took place against 33 male victims aged between 11 and 34, and he confessed to the crimes in a police interview in 2019, the court was told. Thomas assaulted his victims as they slept. Prosecuting, Simon Rogers said: The vast majority of victims had no idea he had sexually assaulted them. It was as a result of his admissions in interview they were told. When, in some instances, his victims awoke to see him in their room he would pretend to be sleepwalking, the court heard. One victim who woke up during an assault said he felt the bed shake and was extremely frightened because he thought dark spirits did it to him, Rogers said. Thomas is being sentenced at Mold Crown Court. (Google Maps) The prosecutor added that when the victim turned his light on, Thomas was slumped between beds and looking flustered. Another victim said he felt angry, disgusted and let down, adding that Thomass face wont leave my thoughts while another said he forgave the former Wales Today journalist. I dont know what Ben has in his heart but I do know if Christ is in his heart I will see him in heaven, he said. Thomas told police that he would derive sexual pleasure from touching his victims, adding: Thats part of my offending, sadly. He also filmed his victims, hiding his phone in a wash bag to record boys going to the toilet or showering at an outdoor centre, on one occasion. Police have not been able to trace all of the victims Thomas confessed to abusing, the court heard. Story continues He left his BBC show aimed at young people in 2015 to become a preacher. Thomas, who has a wife and children, resigned from his role as pastor at Criccieth Family Church in Gwynedd after he was arrested. North Wales Polices Detective Constable Lynne Willsher said previously that she was grateful for the Evangelical Churchs assistance during the investigation. Defending, Rachel Shenton said Thomass behaviour was something of an addiction and noted that he admitted offences which could not have otherwise been proved. It brought home to him what he was doing, how serious it was and that he simply could not live with himself and what he had done, she said, adding that he had gone through an enormous fall from grace and asked to be held in custody. He had also lost his family after his admissions, she said. The sentencing hearing will conclude on Friday. RALEIGH, N.C. Most candidates on presidential tickets couldnt compile a video of themselves dancing with drum lines. But California Sen. Kamala Harris is not like most candidates. The Democratic vice presidential nominee has made a habit of appearing at campaign stops with marching bands and their percussion sections typically, predominantly Black ones, as she did here this week. Its less a comment on her musical tastes, however, than a strategic message about where a candidate should visit and which communities she should highlight. On Monday, addressing the drum line of Platinum Sound, Shaw Universitys marching band, its cheerleaders and student onlookers, Harris said her visit to the historically Black university was purposeful. It was very important to me that the first trip to North Carolina, that the first place I stop, is right here at Shaw, Harris said, using a bullhorn to speak to the safely distanced crowd. This university, like so many of our HBCUs, has such a rich history that is about Americas history. And you students here today are part of that long legacy we are all so proud of you. A graduate of Howard University, Harris is the first candidate on a major party ticket to have attended a historically Black university. The daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and Jamaican immigrant father, she is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Black sorority. During a campaign that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, Harris and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are taking far fewer trips than candidates typically do, making each stop that much more significant. In her visit to this swing state, as well as recent trips to Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Harris focused on energizing and persuading people of color who will have to turn out in large numbers for Democrats if Biden is to defeat President Trump in November. Harris chose Shaw as the location for her speech on the confirmation fight over Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, which Democrats cant win in the Senate but believe will help them at the polls. She called the school a reflection of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs legacy of pressing for equality, noting that Shaw was founded six months after the Civil War ended, and that the building in which she spoke was one of the first built for the higher education of Black women. Her engagement with the marching band, in particular, spoke volumes, said university President Paulette Dillard. Thats so much a part of the HBCU experience, the marching band, the drum line, Dillard said. It creates a rhythm, a togetherness, a sense of pride and jubilation, and thats how we show it. ... Its all part of the celebration of Black pride in our rich culture, and that is who we are, and students come for that experience. Harris visit was especially important for students in a year in which African Americans are reeling from the pandemic and killings of Black people by police, Dillard said. A visit from a vice presidential candidate to showcase culture like the band, especially a candidate who went to a historically Black university, offers a breath of fresh air that there is hope, that there is tomorrow, Dillard said. It gives Black students that sense of, OK, she is me, when my time comes. From Shaw, Harris motorcade made the eight-minute drive to Whites Barbershop, a Black family-owned shop that has been in business more than 50 years. There, she met with Black voters to defend her record as a San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general on criminal justice issues and talk about the importance of voting. Sara D. Davis / Getty Images A voter introduced as Marcus Bass pressed her on her record, saying the Democratic ticket needed a more substantial message than simply being an improvement on Trump. The perception among many young Black and brown voters is that a Biden-Harris ticket may not be reflective of a hard line on the true reforms necessary in our criminal justice and social economic systems, Bass said. The better-than-45 message alone with six weeks to go needs a sharper hard line for the base of voters protesting in this moment right now. How will a Biden-Harris ticket move past the lesser-of-two-evils narrative being used to promote them to young Black voters and get in tune with the issue base of the criminal justice community? Harris said she appreciated the point, and agreed that we have to earn the votes. Nobody is supposed to vote for us we have to earn it. She also said its important to define winning not as beating Trump then the job is over the day we got sworn in. Instead, she said, if winning is creating change, The job begins the day were sworn in. Harris spoke at length about her relationship with the criminal justice system, both as a former prosecutor who hoped to make reform from the inside, and as a Black woman who knows how unjust the system can be. Her remarks got some applause as she listed the campaigns pledges, including ending for-profit prisons. There is nothing like going to the barbershop to know whats really happening, Harris said at the outset of the event. I always say to my team, OK thats fine, you can talk about polls, you can talk about this and you can talk about that, but what are folks in the barbershop talking about? Because thats about real talk. Mondays trip was part of Harris agenda of visiting locations with significance for communities of color. In Milwaukee, she held a roundtable with Black entrepreneurs and met with Latino community organizers. In Florida, she visited a Venezuelan restaurant in Doral in Doralzuela, as a patron told her. She was greeted by the marching band at Florida Memorial University, another historically Black university, for a roundtable on the challenges faced by South Floridas Black community. In Nevada, she spoke with members of the Latino community at Rafael Rivera Community Center, named for the Mexican scout who was the first non-Native American to reach Las Vegas. In Philadelphia, Harris visited a Black-owned florist and restaurant and was greeted by an African American dance troupe. In Flint, Mich., Harris visited three Black-owned businesses and held a round table with Black voters at a Detroit barbershop. Its a recognition that the electorate in many battleground states is increasingly diverse, and that Democrats can win or lose the election based on the turnout in communities of color. Shaw Universitys president said Mondays visit may have given some students that motivation. There has been, you have to admit, a great deal of horrible news, Dillard said. All of those kinds of things after a time become overwhelming. And people can check out. ... I think seeing the senator, hearing her words, has just reignited the willingness to stay in the battle. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan New Delhi, Sep 29 : Ahead of Durga Puja which is slated for the last week of October, the Congress has raised the cause of Bengalis in Uttar Pradesh and lashed out at the UP government for not allowing Durga Puja 'pandals' in the state. Congress' newly-appointed Bengal in-charge Jitin Prasada, raising the concerns of the Bengali community said, "Massive political rallies can be allowed in Madhya Pradesh but the same BJP government in UP will not allow the Bengali community to celebrate Durga Puja with restrictions. Only shows that for the BJP faith is a matter of convenience while the only thing that matters to them is politics." The Congress leader who has just been appointed the state in-charge and has been meeting state leaders has raised the issue to corner the BJP in Bengal which has high political stakes. The BJP is rising in the state politically and Congress has a tough challenge to retain its position in the state. The Congress has pitched this issue after the matter was raised by Swapan Dasgupta who is a nominated MP but close to BJP, and he has termed it discriminatory. Dasgupta said in a tweet: "UP Govt's order that Durga Puja should be done at home is unfair and even absurd. Like the allowances for Ram Lila, Durga Puja should be permitted with harsh but sensible restrictions. Otherwise it is discriminatory. Bengali Hindus in UP appeal to @myogiadityanath to review order." The UP government has issued guidelines regarding Durga Puja and has asked the worshippers to do worship at home but has directed authorities that Ram Lila should be only with 100 people due to Covid-19 protocols and to curb the spread of the virus. The Congress is trying to regain its position in Bengal where Durga Puja is a major festival while the TMC in the state has been targeted by the BJP which accuses the Mamata Banerjee government of minority appeasement so this issue could lead to a new political battle for 'Bengali Asmita' in the state. State government sources say that it has been left to district officials to ensure that there is no crowding during Durga Puja. The matter was also challenged in the Allahabad High Court which refused to entertain the petition filed by Bengali Welfare Association of Prayagraj. Latest updates on Navratri Festival 2020 Students from Penns Grove High School released monarch butterflies which are migrating to Mexico Tuesday morning, as part of a grant-funded program to study the butterflies. Environmental science teacher Vicki Palaganas said the school received a $5,000 grant from news channel 6abc and Wawa on Earth Day in 2018 to help restore New Jersey pollinators, specifically monarch butterflies. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Topical Drug Delivery Market by Type (Semisolids (Creams, Ointments, Gels, Lotions, Liquids, Solids, Transdermal Products), Route (Dermal, Rectal, Vaginal), Patient Care Setting (Homecare, Hospital, Burn Center) COVID-19 Impact - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 129.8 billion by 2025 from USD 95.2 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Topical Drug Delivery Market" 276 - Tables 42- Figures 275- Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=124871717 The growth of this market is majorly driven by the high prevalence of skin and soft tissue infections, the increasing prevalence of eye diseases, and burns. However, the presence of alternative drug delivery modes such as oral and injectable routes is expected to restrain the growth of this market during the forecast period. Coronavirus has spread across 215 countries and territories and affected more than 24.6 million people, with close to 835,000 deaths as of August 2020. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are estimating that the share of the nasal drug delivery segment has increased, and this segment is anticipated to grow significantly during the forecast period. COVID-19 has given momentum to various drug delivery technologies in the market. As a result, this market is expected to witness significant growth from 2020 to 2021. The semi-solid formulations segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period Based on the product, the topical drug delivery market is segmented into semi-solid formulations, liquid formulations, solid formulations, and transdermal products. The semi-solid formulations segment is projected to witness the highest growth in the market during the forecast periods (2020-2025). Growth in this segment is driven mostly by the easy application of semi-solid formulations, and their ability to deliver a wide variety of drug molecules. The dermal drug delivery segment is expected to account for the largest share of the topical drug delivery market Based on route of administration, the market is segmented into dermal drug delivery, ophthalmic drug delivery, rectal, vaginal drug delivery, and nasal drug delivery. The dermal drug delivery segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. This can be attributed to the advantages of dermal drug delivery over other topical drug delivery methods, such as convenience and greater patient compliance. Besides, dermal products have fewer regulatory requirements than ophthalmic products, where sterility testing is mandatory. Home care settings is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period The home care settings segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, primarily due to the factors such as the convenience and affordability of topical drugs for home administration. Also, for patients requiring long-term therapy, inpatient care is not only extremely expensive but also prevents patients from resuming a normal lifestyle and work activities. In this regard, technological advancements have helped patients undergo therapies effectively and safely at home. Get 10% Customization Research Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=124871717 North America is expected to hold the largest share for players operating in the topical drug delivery market North America accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. Factors such as presence of a highly developed healthcare system and a large number of topical drug-manufacturing companies in the country are among the few factors expected to contribute to the growth of this market. Furthermore, the growing geriatric population in the US, high disposable incomes, increasing preference for pain-free drug delivery solutions, and the availability of advanced and effective technology are driving market growth in North America. The prominent players in this topical drug delivery market are Johnson & Johnson (US), Nestle SA (Switzerland), Novartis AG (Switzerland), GlaxoSmithKline (UK), Bausch Health Companies (Canada), Merck & Co (US), and Bayer AG (Germany). Browse Adjacent Markets @ Pharmaceuticals Market Research Reports & Consulting Get Special Pricing on Bundle Reports: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/RequestBundleReport.asp?id=124871717 Browse Related Reports: Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery Market by Route (Oral (Tablet), Pulmonary (Nebulizer), Injectable, Ocular (Liquid), Topical (Solid), Implantable (Active), Transmucosal), Application (Cancer, Diabetes), Patient Care Setting (Hospital)- COVID-19 Impact - Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/drug-delivery-technologies-market-1085.html Transdermal Drug Delivery System Market by Type (Patches and Semisolid formulations), Applications (Pain Management, Central Nervous System Disorders, Hormonal Applications, Cardiovascular Diseases), End User, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/transdermal-drug-delivery-system-market-203190114.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: 1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/topical-drug-delivery.asp Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/topical-drug-delivery-market.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg Dhaka, Sep 29 : India and Bangladesh have underscored the necessity of early resolution of the Teesta water sharing issue and early resolution of agreements on sharing of waters of all common rivers. The two sides also agreed to hold a virtual meeting of the Prime Ministers in December 2020, at the sixth meeting of the foreign ministers' Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) held in a warm and cordial atmosphere on Tuesday. Both neighbours also agreed to establish Bangabandhu-Bapu digital museums both in Bangladesh and India. The Indian government would also release a commemorative stamp on the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Mujibur Rehman on December 16, 2020 to pay homage to the life and ideology of the founder of Bangladesh. Secretaries and high-level representatives from a large number of ministries and divisions of both countries joined the meeting. Although it was Dhaka's turn to host the meeting, due to the COVID-19 situation, the meeting was held on the virtual platform. Both sides underscored the necessity of early resolution of the Teesta water sharing and early resolution of agreements on sharing of all common rivers. The two sides also agreed to hold the long-pending Joint Rivers Commission meeting soon at the ministerial level to address outstanding issues on water resources cooperation. The two foreign ministers - A.K. Abdul Momen and S. Jaishankar - jointly unveiled two commemorative stamps as part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The JCC was co-chaired by Momen and Jaishankar. During the meeting, the two foreign ministers reviewed and discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including cooperation on connectivity, security, political issues, development, trade and investment, power and energy sector and people-to-people contacts. Both sides expressed satisfaction that even during the current situation induced by the pandemic, Bangladesh and India have maintained robust engagement. The two foreign ministers recognised the positive trajectory of bilateral relations enjoyed by the two countries and exchanged gratitude with each other for maintaining the gesture of good neighbourliness. In the backdrop of the pandemic, both sides discussed collaboration in the health sector especially in terms of supply, delivery, distribution and co-production of COVID-19 vaccine. Bangladesh appreciated India's assurance on prioritising Bangladesh for supply of a potential Covid vaccine in the future. Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate the golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. A number of programmes were proposed to be organised jointly to mark the two epoch events, such as revival of the historic Mujibnagar-Kolkata road, honouring the Indian war veterans, ceremonial military parades on December 16, organising friendship fairs, year-long seminars in different cities of Bangladesh and India and simultaneous launching of a website on 50 years of victory and friendship. The two ministers stressed on the need for strengthening effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan. The Bangladeshi side expressed concerned at the rise in deaths of Bangladeshi nationals in border areas. Indian side agreed that the loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern. Both sides urged the concerned border forces to enhance coordinated measures to bring down border incidents to zero. The two ministers positively reviewed the possibilities of resumption of air connectivity, during the ongoing pandemic, through special air bubble arrangements with equal share of frequencies and routes by the carriers of the two countries. Bangladesh requested the Indian side to reciprocally ease visa and land border restrictions for Bangladeshi nationals, particularly for medical patients and students enrolled in various educational institutions of India. Bangladesh also thanked India for the concessions being provided under South Asian Free Trade Agreement. However, various non-tariff barriers and lack of adequate trade facilitation is impeding flow of Bangladeshi products into India, particularly the northeast. Bangladesh requested the Indian side to address issues of accreditation, certification, standardisation, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to enable exports of Bangladesh into India. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister requested his Indian counterpart to look into the export of essential commodities, such as onions, by India since this impacts the domestic market of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also stressed on the equitable application of investment policies by India. Both sides discussed implementation of the development projects under Indian Lines of Credit in a timely manner. A high-level monitoring committee was agreed to be formed with Secretary, ERD and Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh leading the committee on each side. Enhancing cooperation on energy and power sector through facilitation of tripartite power-energy cooperation among Bangladesh-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-India-Bhutan was also discussed. During the meeting, the Bangladesh Foreign Minster expressed hope that as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, India would play a more meaningful role for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis, including their early repatriation to Myanmar in a safe and sustainable manner. Western Australian man John Alexander Roy, 55, (pictured) has been identified as one of the alleged masterminds behind a failed $1billion drug importation plan in 2019 A convicted drug lord could be extradited back to Australia after he allegedly tried to import $1billion worth of drugs into the country. Western Australian man John Alexander Roy, 55, is expected to be charged over the failed plot and is currently serving a 12 year jail sentence in Britain for other drug offences. In September 2019 WA Police launched a sea search after finding an unmanned yacht stuck on a reef about 60km west of Geraldton. During the search officers found 40 bags containing cocaine, meth and ecstasy on nearby Burton Island, estimated to be worth $1billion. Frenchman Antoine Dicenta and British man Graham Kurt Palmer were arrested a short time later. Three other men, Scott Felix Jones, Jason Lassiter and Angus Bruce Jackson, were also arrested. Roy's extradition over the one tonne seizure could take years because he will have to complete a non-parole period in Britain first. Roy, who was jailed in Britain last week for his role in a separate $1million drug plot, is allegedly one of the main organisers behind the 2019 bust which saw police seize one tonne of illicit drugs in Western Australia (pictured) In September 2019 police allegedly discovered an unmanned 15ft yacht (pictured) stuck on a reef 60km west of Geraldton before launching a sea search which allegedly led them to the drug on nearby Burton Island Assistant Commissioner Brad Royce told The West Australian the sophisticated drugs network was taking time to unravel. 'There is still a lot more work to be done and our efforts will continue as we work our way towards the more senior members of the criminal network,' he said. AFP State Manager for Western Australia, Commander Greg Harrigan praised authorities for foiling the alleged drug plot. 'This seizure shows the power of the community and police agencies, both at home and overseas, working together to stop illicit drugs from reaching our shores,' he said. 'This is an attack on our society that is destroying individuals, families and whole communities.' Roy was jailed in the UK last week for his role in the importation of MDMA, cocaine and cannabis resin with a street value of more than $1million into Jersey. He was also jailed for 14 years in 1998 for his role in a plot to smuggle eight tonnes of marijuana into Queensland. Investigations into the West Australian seizure continue. CLEVELAND, OH / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Mace Security International, Inc. (OTCQX:MACE) (the " Company ") advises that it received a Notice of Demand for Payment in Full (the " Notice ") from TCF National Bank, successor-by-merger to Chemical Bank (the " Bank ") on September 21, 2020 in connection with the commercial revolving credit facility (the " Loan ") established for the benefit of the Company in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Business Loan Agreement dated July 25, 2017 between the Company and the Bank. The Company has sufficient funds to make the payment by September 30th, if required, as requested by the Bank. Because the Loan is payable upon demand, the Bank may call the Loan for any reason or for no reason. The Bank's Notice did not indicate or assert the occurrence of any event of default by the Company under the terms of the Loan. The Company is current with all reporting and principal and interest payment requirements under the Loan. The Company is currently in discussions with the Bank to obtain an agreement of forbearance with the Bank that would extend for a period of 120 days the date by which repayment of the Loan is required. No assurances can be given that the Company will be successful in obtaining such an extension, in which case the Company will make the required payment to the Bank in accordance with the Notice. The Loan is evidenced by a Promissory Note dated July 25, 2017 in the original principal amount of $1,500,000.00 issued by the Company in favor of the Bank and payable upon demand. The Note is secured by a Commercial Security Agreement pursuant to which the Company granted the Bank a lien on substantially all its tangible and intangible personal property. As of September 29, 2020, the amount of principal owed under the Note was $600,000, with interest accruing on the unpaid balance at the rate of $31.75 per day. In the Notice, the Bank notified the Company of the Bank's election to demand payment of the Note in accordance with its terms, to declare that all amounts due in respect of the Loan shall be due and payable on September 30, 2020 (the " Termination Date "), and to cease any further advances under the Loan. If the amount due under the Note is not paid by the Termination Date, the Bank may, without further notice, pursue its remedies to enforce payment, including reducing the Note to judgment and/or pursuing any collateral securing the Loan. The Company is working with several banks to secure a replacement revolving credit facility to fund its working capital needs driven by its double-digit growth in the order backlog. Should the Company be unable to secure a replacement for working capital financing in the next six to twelve months, this could have a material adverse effect on the Company's ability to build inventory and increase its sales. About Mace Security International, Inc. Mace Security International Inc. is a globally recognized leader in personal safety products. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the Company has spent more than 30 years designing and manufacturing consumer and tactical products for personal defense and security under its world-renowned Mace Brand - the original trusted brand of pepper spray products. The Company's other leading brands include Tornado Brand stun guns and pepper spray, and Vigilant Brand personal alarms. The Company also offers aerosol defense sprays for law enforcement and security professionals worldwide through its Take Down Brand. Mace Security International distributes and supports its products and services through mass-market retailers, wholesale distributors, independent dealers, e-commerce channels and through its website, www.Mace.com. For more information, please visit www.mace.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "projected," "intend to" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic conditions, dependence on management, our ability to compete with competitors, dilution to shareholders, and limited capital resources. Press Contact: Gary Medved, President & CEO gmedved@mace.com (440) 424-5322 SOURCE: MACE SECURITY INTERNATIONAL INC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608306/Termination-of-a-Material-Definitive-Agreement-and-Occurrence-of-a-Triggering-Event-Accelerating-a-Direct-Financial-Obligation Divorce is hard. Here's what to know about protecting you and your assets. Image: Getty Besides the emotional turmoil of divorce or separation, the financial challenges of ending a major relationship can take a real toll. I spoke to Rachell Davey, partner in the family and relationship law group at Lander & Rogers in Melbourne to find out more about dividing your assets during a divorce, and how to hold onto your shares, property and other assets. During a divorce, how does an asset like property typically get divided? There is no such thing as a typical property settlement as every case is dependent on its own facts and circumstances. Family law is also quite subjective in that there are no hard and fast rules as to how property is to be divided upon a relationship breakdown. Typically, the Family Court and family lawyers approach property settlements using a five-step process. Firstly, we have to consider whether a property settlement is necessary. In most cases it will be but there can be scenarios where there is no need to interfere with the ownership of property (very short relationships etc). Secondly, your lawyer and the Family Court will identify and value the asset pool, which is all of the assets that the parties own. This can include property, savings, investments, motor vehicles, businesses and superannuation. Once we know what the parties own and how much those assets are worth, we then look at what the parties have done throughout their relationship and the contributions that they have made towards those assets. Contributions can be financial (earning an income) or homemaker and parent contributionsboth sorts of contributions are treated equally. Next, we look to the future and identify what the partys future needs might be. To an extent, this involves some crystal ball gazing and there are a number of factors we consider but the two most important ones are the parties' income earning capacities and who will continue to have the care of children under the age of 18 years. Story continues Finally, we take a step back from the proposed settlement and consider whether it is just and equitable. Essentially, we adjust the ownership of property based on the contributions that each party has made and their future needs. Can you divide a property trust during a divorce? A Trust, and property that is owned by a Trust can absolutely be taken into account when considering a property settlement as an asset of one or both of the parties. The Family Court has the ability to look beyond the legal ownership of property and include assets that are held by a Trust or a corporate entity. For the assets of a Trust to be considered property of the parties, the Court looks to who has control of that Trust by considering factors such as who is the Appointor and Trustee, how the property of the Trust has historically been dealt with and who is able to control that decision making. While assets of the Trust can be transferred or realised and distributed to affect a property settlement, this may give rise to serious taxation consequences. Usually one party will simply retain the Trust on account of their overall property entitlements and the other party will exit the Trust. What happens during a divorce if one spouse owns a trading company? Image: Getty Parties interests in corporate entities and businesses form part of the asset pool that is available to be divided between the parties during a divorce. The value of that entity or business must be determined, either by agreement, or by a formal valuation by a forensic accountant. It is certainly not uncommon for parties to own and run a business together throughout a relationship. On separation, usually one party will want to retain this asset as part of their settlement. Alternatively, an agreement may be reached for the business to be sold. It is rare for parties to continue to hold business interests together following separation and a property settlement, however that is a decision that parties can make if they choose to do so. Do Prenups/Financial Agreements exist in Australia? Financial Agreements have been available in Australia since 2000 for married couples and since 2009 for parties in a de facto relationship. A Financial Agreement can be entered into at any stage of a relationship; before, during or after. They are essentially a private contract which allows people to decide how some or all of their property will be divided in the event of a relationship breakdown or divorce. Are Financial Agreements iron-clad in the case of a divorce or separation? Financial Agreements are recognised in Australia, as long as the very strict requirements contained in the Family Law Act are met. Most importantly, before entering into the Agreement, both parties must have received separate and independent legal advice from an Australian Legal Practitioner as to the effect on their rights of entering into the Agreement and the advantages and disadvantages of entering into the Agreement. Financial agreements are highly technical documents and great care and skill needs to be applied in their drafting to ensure that they are binding upon the parties and not susceptible to being set aside. They are not iron-cladthe Family Court can set aside a Financial Agreement in very limited circumstances. How many Australians are signing Financial Agreements prior to a divorce? Image: Getty Financial agreements are becoming increasingly more common, particularly as more people are aware of the benefits and certainty that a Financial Agreement can provide when it comes to dividing assets during a divorce. Essentially, Financial Agreements are akin to insurance for your relationship. They provide both parties with certainty and security as to how their assets will be divided and dealt with in the event of a relationship breakdown or divorce. Importantly, Financial Agreements ensure that people do not have to resort to litigation to achieve a fair property settlement which can be emotionally distressing, expensive and time consuming. My law firm is seeing an increase in people seeking Financial Agreements who are involved in relationships later in life or subsequent relationships. These individuals wish to preserve their wealth for their children as opposed to an ex-spouse. Financial Agreements can be tailored to the circumstances of the parties. For instance, by specifically excluding an inheritance or an asset such as a family business or to protect assets acquired through gifts or loans from parents such as a couples' first house. What measures can you take before you get married to ensure that assets are divided fairly in the event of divorce? Image: Getty The most important step that women (or anybody for that matter) can take is to educate themselves and stay informed as to their financial position, their spouses financial position and their overall financial affairs. A relationship is not only emotional, it is financial as well. No one wants to focus on the financial aspects in the first wonderful stages of a relationship however appreciating the devastating financial consequences that relationship breakdown/divorce can bring is essential. The worst can happenthere is a one in two chance that a marriage will break down and that contingency needs to be considered. When you start a relationship, you should be getting to know your partner emotionally but financially as well. Learn about what they do, what they own, what their goals are financially. Talk about money as much as you can and make sure you have access to bank accounts and to financial documents and share your financial position as well. If your partner doesnt want to be open with you about their finances and their financial position, that should be a huge red flag. The most challenging and expensive property settlements that I deal with are ones where the client does not know what they own or have any understanding of their overall financial position. To protect your assets in the event of a divorce, keep really detailed records of what you own and have evidence as to the value of those assets at the start of your relationship. In Australia, we have a family law system where all property goes into the pool. Property that each of you own at the start of a relationship is not excluded but you will get credit for it, depending on how long your relationship is and the value of that asset at the start of the relationship. Some quick tips: If you own a home, consider getting it valued and have that valuation in your records. Keep bank statements showing your savings, keep a superannuation statement showing how much you had at the start and records of everything else that you own. If you're entering a relationship and you have more assets or a higher income than your partner, think carefully about a Financial Agreement. Financial agreements (aka prenups), like the name sounds, are agreements that detail the financial arrangements and the division of assets in the event of separation. Finally, maintain your career. The most valuable asset that a woman can take from a property settlement and the division of assets during divorce is an income earning capacity moving forward. Property settlements rarely provide sufficient capital for women to support themselves and their children moving forward, and it is for this reason alone that women continue to be significantly financially disadvantaged following a relationship breakdown. When do divisions of assets start taking into effect? i.e. When does whats yours is mine take effect? How long do you have to be married for? Image: Getty There is no time limit in terms of when one party to a marriage may be able to make a claim against the assets of the others. Parties can be married for very short periods of time and still be entitled to a property settlement, however of course, this will depend on the circumstances of each case. For those who are in de facto relationships, generally those relationships must have lasted for at least two years before a claim can be made. This does not necessarily mean that parties must have been living together for two years. People can be in de facto relationships without living together, this is just one factor that we consider. There are exceptions to the two year limit. For instance, if there is a child born of the relationship, or if one party has made significant contributions to the property of the other, it may be possible to make a claim even though the relationship hasnt lasted two years. If you are concerned about dividing or keeping your assets during a divorce, seek professional advice. Want to take control of your finances and your future? Join the Womens Money Movement on LinkedIn and follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Bombay high court (HC), while saying it did not agree with the tweets by actor Kangana Ranaut pertaining to the state government and the Mumbai Police, on Tuesday said that Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut should have shown some grace and restraint when responding to her, considering he was a parliamentarian. In his affidavit, Raut, while admitting that the words in the interview to the TV channel were directed at the petitioner, said that it was not due to any malice towards her, but were prompted after she raised aspersions about the state not being safe. The court, hearing Ranauts petition against the demolition carried out at her Pali Hill bungalow here by the Brihanmumbai Municipal (BMC) on September 9, has directed all parties to submit their written submissions within a week and posted the matter for hearing next week. A division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla, while hearing the response of Bhagyawant Late, designated officer of the BMC who was impleaded in the case after the petition of the actor was amended, was informed by senior counsel Anil Sakhare that the actors allegations of malice were baseless. While responding to the allegations made by the actor against him, Sakhare submitted that Lates subordinates had visited the Pali Hill bungalow around 1pm much before her tweet, which was made around 5pm. Hence, the allegation that the detection was prompted due to her tweet was not valid. Sakhare further submitted that as per previous judgements, making allegations of malice were easy, but proving them was the responsibility of the accuser. However, at no place in the petition or affidavits submitted by the actor had she proved malice on his part. In light of the submissions, Sakhare sought dismissal of the petition. The court then perused Rauts affidavit wherein it was submitted that he was not concerned with the demolition matter and that he had not threatened the actor in a derogatory and abusive manner as alleged. In the said interview, I have only referred to the petitioner as dishonest because the petitioner had made a statement saying that Mumbai is like Pak Occupied Kashmir, stated the affidavit. Raut said, I responded because the petitioner had insulted Mumbai and Maharashtra. After hearing the submissions, the court observed, You are a leader, a parliamentarian. You should have been cautious while making statements. Even we dont agree with what the petitioner has said. Is this the way to address? When Rauts advocate submitted that his outburst was due to the provocation by the actor, the court said, We are all Maharashtrians and we are all proud to be Maharashtrians. We have to show grace. You have to ignore such things. Is this an example you set for others by asking Kanoon kya hai? Thereafter, senior advocate Dr Birendra Saraf, who along with advocate Rizwan Siddiquee, for the actor, responded saying that the case was very much in the jurisdiction of the court, even though senior advocate Aspi Chinoy, for the BMC, on Monday had said that the actor had a remedy in a suit for claims and the court should not entertain the petition. A Spanish court has acquitted 34 defendants, including former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Rodrigo Rato, who had been accused of fraud against investors and false accounting in connection with the 2011 listing of the lender Bankia. The criminal division of Spains High Court (Audiencia Nacional), on Tuesday found that Bankia executives did not provide misleading information to retail and institutional investors, as the anti-corruption prosecutors had held. In July 2011, Bankia was floated on the Spanish stock exchange at 3.75 a share. Less than a year later, that price had plummeted to around 1.00 and the bank was bailed out in 2012. The heads of the Bank of Spain and the CNMV at the time were also investigated for a while The court also found that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) prospectus contained ample and accurate information about the bank, and that its flotation had been greenlighted by all the supervisors: the Bank of Spain, the securities commission CNMV, the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuing (FROB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA). Rodrigo Rato was at the time chairman of Bankia, which was itself the merger of seven struggling savings banks in the wake of the financial crisis that began in 2008. But in May 2012, just two years after its creation, the lender had to be partly nationalized to prevent a complete collapse. A review of Bankias earnings statement for 2011 showed that instead of turning a profit of 309 million as reported, the lender had in fact lost nearly 3 billion. Rato, who was also Spains economy minister with the conservative Popular Party (PP) in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is currently serving a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence in Soto del Real (Madrid) after being found guilty of embezzlement in a separate case involving Bankia and the use of corporate credit cards for private expenses. Tuesdays favorable decision in the IPO case could make it easier for him to be granted a semi-open prison regime in the coming weeks. Consumer reaction Consumer groups from the banking sector reacted negatively to the ruling. Patricia Suarez, president of the Association of Financial Users (Asufin), on Tuesday described it as disappointing, incoherent and a source of astonishment. Other groups made similar appraisals. This is a historic ruling, in terms of the impunity it establishes with regard to the catastrophic bankruptcy of Caja Madrid and six other savings banks, and the ensuing damage to nearly 400,000 small savers whose savings were compromised, said Manuel Pardos, president of Adicae, which represents insurance and banking customers. The Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders (AEMEC), which was a party to the legal proceedings as the private prosecution, has said that it will appeal the ruling. Rodrigo Rato entering Soto del Real prison in October 2018. ULY MARTIN The Tuesday ruling comes as Bankia is involved in a high-profile merger with CaixaBank to create Spains biggest lender with 650 billion in assets. Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, who took over from Rato at the helm of Bankia following its bailout in 2012, is set to become the chairman of the new lender that comes out of the tie-up. The court took nearly a year to reach a decision following 74 hearings where judges heard 34 defendants, 57 witnesses and 20 expert witnesses. Prosecutors had sought an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Rato. Rato, who became chairman of Bankia in January 2010, has never considered himself responsible for the problems that led to the banks spectacular demise two years later, ruining thousands of small savers who had bought shares besides nearly bankrupting the country itself with at 22.4 billion bailout paid with taxpayers' money in the middle of a tremendous crisis. Throughout the trial, Rato maintained the same line of defense: that the Bank of Spain was aware of, and approved, everything that went on at Bankia. The heads of the Bank of Spain and the CNMV at the time were also investigated for a while, but the legal proceedings against them were dropped in 2017. The High Court now finds that the prosecution did not accuse the defendants of specific enough charges but merely of generic attitudes. With reporting by Inigo de Barron, Elena G. Sevillano, Oscar Lopez-Fonseca and L.D.F. English version by Susana Urra. To the Times: The chairman of the Haverford Township Republican Party, Jim Knapp, sent out an email last week to his local members with the subject line: What you can do to stop voter fraud this year. The purpose of the email was to rally Republican volunteers to work at the Haverford Township polls on election day to hand out literature on candidates and to observe inside poll workers. Take note: Mr. Knapp was not seeking volunteers to work inside the polls, where citizens are needed to make Election Day run smoothly. No, a week after the state Supreme Court said poll watchers must live in the county where they are watching polls, he sends out a frantic email screaming about Stopping fraud in order to elicit local volunteers to stand around outside the polls to provide a show of force, to violate social distancing guidance with literature hand-outs, and, from their perch outside the polls, to observe the inside poll workers. Several of us in the Haverford Democratic Party have devoted real time in the last four months to encouraging Democrats, especially younger Democrats, to step up and work inside the polls because the seniors we rely on to do that work at every election have COVID reasons for not doing so this year. Our pitch has been that working inside the polls is a non-partisan, good citizen, good government thing to do. We never recruited Dems in the name of preventing Republican skullduggery. We said we need poll workers so that each precincts polling location can open and all voters, regardless of party, can vote. Fact is, the law says that every county in the state is supposed to have inside workers who are both Republican and Democrat. The Republican County Council never paid any attention to this law and, over time, the number of Republicans working inside the polls has declined in both Delco and Haverford Township while the number of Democrats has risen to meet the civic need. Consider the June 2020 primary when COVID caused Haverford to temporarily consolidate our 36 precinct polling locations down to 16. The call went out, of course, for younger workers to serve on one of the five-person inside poll teams. Jim Knapp did exactly nothing to answer that call. On primary day, the polls were staffed with 63 Democrats, 16 Republicans, and three other citizens. Only one of the 16 Republicans was new to working at the polls. If any Republican wants to squawk that Haverford broke election rules by not having equal numbers from each party working the polls, they should go talk to Jim Knapp and then ask themselves: Would I have preferred not opening some of those polling locations in June to having Dems staff them? Now here we are on the eve of the election that President Trump has declared the most important in U.S. history, and Jim Knapps Republican Party is not calling for volunteers to make sure that all the polling locations can open. This is the party whose leader says that only votes cast in person at polling locations on Election Day should be counted. Yet Mr. Knapp is more interested in observing inside poll workers than actually recruiting them. This is in line with Mr. Knapps recent failure to work with the county and local Democrats to restore our full number of 36 polling locations but replace seven that are not COVID safe. Knapp has obstructed that effort, leaving two precincts in Ward 1 a Republican-majority ward still looking for safe polling sites. Who is served by that negligence? Fortunately for all of us, the Democratic County Council has hired a qualified person to ensure that polls are staffed by both Republicans and Democrats on Nov. 3. The county is paying someone to do a job that volunteers like Jim Knapp are supposed to do. Note to Republicans: If you want election rules followed to the letter and dont like government spending, then you have to volunteer in the way Democrats do. Step up. Mr. Knapps email misled local Republicans in another serious way. He claimed that the primary election included a voting disaster in which some areas of Delaware County had over 100% (!) and some areas had zero votes counted. And, oh, imagine if this happens in the fall. If this were the fraud that Knapp suggests, then why was his county Republican Party not threatening lawsuits in June? Why was Jim Byrne, the Republican on the Board of Elections, not pounding the table? Why is U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr wasting his time in Luzerne County with 12 lousy little mishandled votes instead of looking at the Delco voting disaster? Jim Knapp knows full well exactly why. He knows that this wasnt a voting disaster and no fraud was involved. He knows all about the primarys consolidated polls, and he knows that, in a handful of cases in Delco (not in Haverford) poll workers had to serve two precincts at once and, mistakenly, gave voters from one precinct the ballots for the other precinct. That is why it looked like there was over 100% in some precincts and zero in in others. The county Bureau of Elections caught this very human error (caused, in part, by the Republicans failure to recruit workers). The Bureau carefully retraced all the steps to affirm that the number of votes cast at each polling location matched the number of voters who signed in. Every voters vote was counted and counted just once. No fraud, no disaster. In addition, Mr. Knapp knows full well that this error cannot happen in the fall election for two reasons: (1) Delco will not consolidate polling locations; every precinct will have its own space and (2) in contrast to the June primary, each precinct will be using election machines that include scanners to record the votes from each paper ballot. Each scanner will be programmed for only that one precinct, and every scanner will flash or buzz or jump up and down and wave its little scanner arms if a voter accidentally tries to feed it a ballot that is labeled for another precinct. Knowing all of this, Mr. Knapp tells the Haverford Republicans that Delco could end up looking like Florida in 2000, adding who know what kind of insanity might ensue on Nov. 3. I say Mr. Knapp knows all of this because I assume he can read the emails he receives regularly from the Bureau of Elections and is capable of doing his job as chairman the Haverford Republican Party. Assuming his competence, I must conclude that he has consciously chosen to misguide his party members in order to stir them up into an angry lather. He could, instead, have soberly encouraged them to do their civic duty: Volunteer to work inside the polls. It is there, if you think about, that Republicans have the best opportunity to see if any fraud is actually occurring. But maybe Mr. Knapp doesnt want that. Maybe he doesnt want Republicans working side-by-side with Democrats at the polls on Election Day, as they have done amicably for decades in Haverford. Maybe he doesnt want Republican inside poll workers certifying that everything in that precinct was on the up and up. Maybe his letter tells us exactly what he wants: Angry Haverford Republicans wandering around outside the polls where they can make the mood unpleasant for all voters but not do anything to prevent the fraud Knapp imagines lying under every Democratic ballot. It doesnt have to be this way. We could, as fellow township members, agree to make this a smooth-running Election Day dedicated to the rights and welfare of every voter in our community. How bout it, Mr. Knapp? Victoria Brown, Haverford LAKEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FirstBank, one of the nations largest privately held banks with a focus on banking for good, announced a $60 million commitment to help mitigate the affordable housing crisis in Colorado. The bank pledged $30 million in support to both Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) and Impact Development Fund (IDF), two nonprofit organizations dedicated to developing and preserving affordable homes and communities. As part of its commitment, FirstBank will purchase a total of $60 million in mortgages from both Habitat and IDF, providing needed capital to these organizations, so they can, in turn, build and preserve more homes and communities for low-income families. This comes at a critical time when economic effects of COVID-19 has made homeownership even less obtainable for many Coloradoans, who were already feeling the financial burdens of the states affordable housing crunch. According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, about 280,000 Coloradans are severely burdened, meaning at least 50 percent of their income goes toward housing. Colorado already had an affordable housing crisis, and then the pandemic hit, said Jim Reuter, CEO of FirstBank. Unfortunately, the growing need for affordable housing options has only increased as we navigate through extraordinary times. Were hopeful this commitment will put owning a home within reach for many Coloradoans, and positively impact hundreds of deserving families across the state. So far, the bank has purchased $15 million in mortgages from Habitat, best known for its affordable homeownership program; building strength, stability and self-reliance through housing. Habitat Vail Valleys Elyse Howard, one of many affiliates utilizing the program shared, The FirstBank Loan Purchase program has been critical to Habitat Vail Valley's ability to increase our local home building capacity. This generous new commitment of $60 million from FirstBank will go a long way toward helping Coloradoans achieve housing stability. FirstBank also recently began purchasing mortgages from IDF, a nonprofit that connects organizations across the state with the development financing and technical assistance needed to create, rehabilitate and preserve housing for low to moderate income residents. This will enable the organizations affiliate partners, which include local Habitat chapters, to significantly increase financing capacity for affordable housing initiatives. The pandemic has compounded the equity gap for many families in our state and we are likely to see the lingering impact of that for many months to come, said Sean Doherty, Executive Director of Impact Development Fund. FirstBanks swift action has already kept the security of homeownership within reach for families throughout Colorado and, as we start to shift our focus to the long-term impact of the pandemic, were grateful to be able to continue this important work alongside FirstBank and Habitat for Humanity. It has been a game changer, said Cheri Witt-Brown, Executive Director of Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity. We have been able to triple our capacity in one year through Impact Developments partnership. This fiscal year we will build and close 15 homes. FirstBanks commitment goes beyond pledging funds. The bank is recognized as one of the most philanthropic companies in Colorado, donating nearly $5 million to charitable organizations last year and around $70 million since 2000. Habitat and IDF also join a growing roster of affordable housing providers supported by FirstBank. In 2019, the bank invested over $156 million into affordable housing and down payment assistance programs. About FirstBank FirstBank began providing banking services in Colorado in 1963. Today, the bank maintains more than $20 billion in assets and operates more than 110 branch locations across Colorado, Arizona and California. FirstBank offers a variety of checking accounts, savings accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, and a full range of commercial banking services, including financing, treasury management and deposit accounts. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a leader in corporate philanthropy, contributing nearly $70 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving employees a financial stake in the banks success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com. About Habitat for Humanity of Colorado Habitat for Humanity builds safe, decent affordable homes to for low income families who purchase the home with an affordable mortgage. Twenty-five Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Colorado are building in 45 communities, and to date have built over 3,000 homes in partnership with families who would otherwise be unable to obtain the security, stability, and hope that homeownership can provide. For more information about Habitat for Humanity, please visit www.habitatcolorado.org . About Impact Development Fund IDF is recognized as a community-based 501c3 organization with a mission to create economic opportunity by delivering flexible capital to strengthen underserved Colorado communities. Certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a community development financial institution, IDF embodies the concept of public-private partnership through our investor network that includes banks, foundations, private interests, local and federal government. Our constituents reside in all 64 counties of the state, while our focus targets the creation, rehabilitation and preservation of housing that is attainable to residents earning less than the area median income. ### Aftab Shivdasani, who tested positive for COVID-19 recently, opened up about his experience of getting to know about the diagnosis and dealing with it. He shared that he was initially shocked by his diagnosis because it meant that his plan to spend time with his family in London after wrapping up shoot was wrecked. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Aftab said, "I was not prepared for this and was looking forward to be with my family. My shooting for Poison 2 (web series) was over and I was making all the preparations to fly to London." On September 11, he took to his social media handle to announce that he had tested positive for Coronavirus. He continued, "Initially when I got the result I was shocked. For the first few minutes I was disoriented because obviously I didn't know how to react. There were a thousand thoughts in my head. My entire schedule was going to go for a toss. We hear, speak and read about but until it happens to you it's still news. There are so many theories going around Covid about how fast it's spreading, the mortality rate, the medication... The fact that the whole world is unclear about this is a little bit worrying. Slowly I composed myself and decided to deal with it." Aftab was in home isolation and got tested every five-six days, thrice in total. "This means the infection is not active but it's there... In my case after the first five days I had no symptoms at all. So, I was asymptomatic for about 16 odd days," he said. Talking about the stigma attached to those who test positive, he pointed out that people are scared and rightfully so. The virus is invisible. He shared that he doesn't know how he got it. He added, "This is a different kind of virus and we can only deal with it if our immunity levels are high. I would suggest everyone to take vitamin C and zinc to boost their immunity, then you've 90% chance of fighting this. Don't stress and cooperate with the authority." ALSO READ: Genelia Deshmukh Post COVID-19 Recovery: It Was Tough To Stay Alone, My Friends Kept Me Cheerful Former Romanian anti-corruption official Laura Codruta Koevesi was sworn in on September 28 at the European Court of Justice as the EUs first anti-fraud prosecutor. Koevesi ran Romania's anti-corruption agency until she was dismissed in 2018 by the then-leftist government for alleged abuse of power. Koevesi will now serve a seven-year mandate at the helm of the new European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Here's a look at what the EPPO is, why it's needed, and how Koevesi became its leader. What is the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)? The EPPO is an independent body set up by the European Union to investigate, prosecute, and bring to judgment crimes involving the bloc's budget. These crimes can include fraud, corruption, and cross-border VAT fraud above 10 million euros. Previously, only national prosecutors in the 27 EU member states could do this, but they lacked jurisdiction beyond their borders. Other institutions, such as Europol or the EUs anti-fraud office OLAF, had no legal ability to act. With the EU budget for the period 2021-27 expected to be a record high 1.8 trillion euros, in a bid to kick-start the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is easy to see why Brussels is keen to get the EPPO going, especially with national authorities in the bloc reporting that fraud against the budget in 2018 alone amounted to over 1 billion euros. Who is participating? Twenty-two out of the 27 EU member states. Denmark and Ireland both have a treaty right to opt in or out of elements of justice and home affairs cooperation and have both decided on the latter, even though they will cooperate with the EPPO and can join at a later stage. Sweden was long skeptical of the need for a fraud-fighting prosecutor on a European level, but late last year Stockholm signaled that it was open to join and that its parliament would discuss it. Hungary and Poland, which for years have fought with Brussels over the erosion of the rule of law in the two countries, have also declined to participate. The EPPO can investigate offenses committed in the five countries not participating, but it must happen in cooperation with national authorities. If the EPPO, for example, requests a suspects arrest, this must be confirmed by the relevant national authority. So how is it set up? The EPPO has a single office in Luxembourg headed by a European chief prosecutor working with one European prosecutor from each participating EU member state. These European-delegated national prosecutors carry out investigations and prosecutions in their respective country, using national staff and applying national law. So suspects are prosecuted in the relevant national courts; no specific EU court has been set up for the EPPO. The role of the European chief prosecutor is to supervise the work in each participating country. Who is the new European chief prosecutor? Laura Codruta Koevesi of Romania, the former chief prosecutor of Bucharest's National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA). She has a seven-year mandate. She was controversially dismissed from the DNA in 2018 by Romanias then-leftist government for alleged abuse of power, but critics say her dismissal was prompted by her prosecuting and indicting a record number of ministers, politicians, and other officials on corruption charges. Koevesi officially got the job last autumn after a drawn-out procedure in which EU member states and the European Parliament finally opted for her instead of the French candidate, Jean-Francois Bohnert, despite intense opposition against her candidacy from the Romanian government. With the positions of president of the European Council, European Commission, and European Parliament, as well as the EU's foreign policy chief, all going to people from Western or Southern Europe, Koevesi is the only person from an Eastern member state in a high-ranking EU position. So when will the EPPO start working? Later this year. So far, Koevesi has been busy setting up the team, who were all inaugurated on September 28. According to her own estimates, the EPPO will start operations with a backlog of approximately 3,000 cases dating back to 2017, when the regulation establishing the EPPO was voted through. She hopes that the new body will handle approximately 2,000 new cases every year. F orensic teams were today continuing a meticulous search at the family home of police sergeant Matt Ratanas alleged killer. New Zealand-born Sgt Ratana, 54, was shot as he prepared to search a handcuffed suspect who allegedly smuggled a revolver into the custody suite in Croydon on Friday. The officers girlfriend of five years, Su Bushby, last night paid tribute to him, saying he had an infectious smile and big heart. His former colleagues in New Zealand also performed the traditional Maori haka dance as a mark of respect. Suspect Louis De Zoysas family home in Southbrook Road, Norbury, was being searched today. A police van was parked outside the 700,000 property. Ex-Catholic schoolboy De Zoysa, 23, is in a critical condition in hospital with a neck injury after allegedly shooting himself. A neighbour said police are being very meticulous and rightly so. New Delhi: The Centre on Monday (September) told the Supreme Court that it will likely come with a decision by 1 October over charging of interest by banks on instalments which were deferred during the moratorium period in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top court asked the Centre to bring the decision on record and circulate the affidavit to the parties in a batch of pleas challenging interest on deferred instalments. Live TV Here are the ten things about impending deadline - The Centre informed the top court that the matter has received very serious consideration and the decision making process is at advanced stage. - A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that it would hear the batch of pleas filed by various industries, trade associations and individuals on October 5. - Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre has said that the affidavit will be sent by October 1. - On September 10, the top court had extended its interim order that no account is to be declared a non performing asset (NPA) or bad loan till further orders after the Centre said an expert panel has been set up to look into the issue of interest being charged by banks on instalments deferred during the moratorium period due to COVID-19 pandemic. - On September 3, in a relief to stressed borrowers who are facing hardship due to the impact of pandemic, the top court had said that accounts which were not declared as non-performing assets till August 31 this year, shall not be declared NPA till further orders. - The pleas in the apex court have raised issues pertaining to validity of RBI's March 27 circular which allowed lending institutions to grant moratorium on payment of instalments of term loans falling due between March 1, 2020 and May 31 this year due to the pandemic. Later, the period of moratorium was extended till August 31. - The Centre had recently told the court that waiver of interest on deferred EMIs during moratorium period would be against the basic canons of finance and unfair to those who repaid loans as per schedule. - RBI has however come out with a scheme which provides for extension of moratorium for two years to certain stressed borrowers, the Centre had informed the top court. - On March 27 the had RBI permitted all commercial banks, co-operative banks, all-India Financial Institutions, and NBFCs to allow a moratorium of three months on payment of instalments in respect of all term loans outstanding as on March 1, 2020. - In May, the RBI announced extension of loan moratorium by 3 more months to August 31. Treasury Select Committee chair Mel Stride. Photo: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images The head of one of parliaments most influential committees has urged the UKs financial regulator to make sure Brits abroad are given enough warning of Brexit bank account closures. Mel Stride MP, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, on Tuesday wrote to the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), urging the regulator to make sure people were given sufficient warning of any account closures. Many British expats in the EU are being told that their UK bank accounts will be terminated at the end of the year, Stride said. Its vital that theyre given sufficient warning so that they have time to make alternative arrangements. Ive asked the FCA what length of notice period it considers sufficient, and how they make sure that firms adhere to it. The correspondence follows reports of banks writing to customers overseas warning their accounts would be closed as a result of Brexit. Banks including Barclays (BARC.L) and Lloyds (LLOY.L) have written to expat customers saying they will no longer be able to serve them after 31 December, warning accounts could be closed within weeks. Watch: What happens if the EU and UK cant strike a trade deal? The account closure notices come amid expectations that the EU and UK will fail to strike a deal on financial services by the end of the year. Most in the City of London expect a skinny Brexit trade deal, which would not cover finance. Under such an outcome or a no-deal outcome banks and other financial institutions would no longer be able to use passporting rights to serve customers across the EU. READ MORE: Brits living in EU could lose their UK bank accounts within weeks PensionBee, an online pension provider, warned on Monday that expats could face disruption getting their pensions paid out as a result. Most pension providers pay one bank account. Setting up a new linked account if that primary account is closed requires paperwork that could take weeks to process. We urge pensioners living abroad to plan ahead and ensure they have sufficient funds in place to cover their living expenses for several months, Romi Savova, the chief executive of PensionBee, said. Over one million Brits live in the EU, many of them relying on UK bank accounts. LEIPZIG, Germany, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest ranking by the Financial Times, which assesses Master in Management programs from universities around the globe, has awarded top places to the education offered at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management both in Europe and worldwide. Three years after graduation, HHL alumni receive salaries which are among the highest in the world (7th place globally, 3rd place in Europe). HHL's Career Service was also ranked 7th worldwide. In the global ranking, which includes a total of 90 universities, HHL came in 2nd in Germany and 23rd worldwide. This means that the Leipzig-based business school improved even more and finished ahead of a large number of reputable international universities. Dean Stephan Stubner: "Especially in times of crises, it is important for young people to enjoy high-quality and widely respected education. Companies tell us that they are thankful to find high-powered and responsible junior leaders here." The FT Global Ranking is considered to be one of the most comprehensive and significant of its kind internationally for Master in Management programs. The ranking uses data from graduate interviews conducted three years after graduation as well as information provided by the universities themselves, such internationality of the programs. "HHL was the best choice for me as it combines a great education with tremendous opportunities. Besides close ties to alumni, the university provides numerous chances to get in touch with prospective employers." Benjamin Kuhl, HHL alumnus (Consultant, McKinsey & Company) HHL HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management is a university-level private business school with the right to award doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. The goal of HHL is to educate effective, responsible and entrepreneurially minded leaders. HHL was named "Best Entrepreneurial University" by Stifterverband. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Steel Strips Wheels share price rose over 2 percent intraday on September 29 after the company received export orders for 9,000 wheels for EU trailer market. The company confirms export orders of nearly 9,000 wheels for EU trailer market, to be executed in the month of October & November from its Chennai plant. Orders of similar capacity are anticipated from the same customer base as businesses have picked up speed, it added. At 10:20 hrs Steel Strips Wheels was quoting at Rs 442.05, up Rs 9.00, or 2.08 percent on the BSE. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 797.00 and 52-week low Rs 317.35 on 10 October, 2019 and 20 May, 2020, respectively. Currently, it is trading 44.54 percent below its 52-week high and 39.29 percent above its 52-week low. The share price plunged 43 percent in last one year. The New York Times claims that it has obtained Trump's individual and business tax documents going back over twenty years, a "trove" containing mountains of data. Trump denied the charges, but the left ignored him. However, an astute Twitter user noted something that others missed: while the Times wrote the report to imply that Trump paid only $750 in taxes for several years, a careful reading reveals that Trump did pay millions in taxes, plus an additional $750. On Sunday, the New York Times published a lengthy article based on Donald Trump's personal and business taxes. It bears repeating here that this was grossly illegal conduct on the part of the person who gave the Times these taxes and, quite possibly, on the part of the Times itself, which, at the very least, aided and abetted a felony. But to get to the point, the main thing every Trump-hater (and some Trump-supporters) took from the article is that Trump, the billionaire, paid only $750 in taxes for a couple of years. Trump vigorously denied that charge and said he'd paid millions. The Biden campaign, however, ran hard with that $750 concept: Teachers paid $7,239 Firefighters paid $5,283 Nurses paid $10,216 Donald Trump paid $750 pic.twitter.com/5YE1cbYsBN Team Joe (Text JOE to 30330) (@TeamJoe) September 28, 2020 The problem with this whole $750 mantra is that Trump is correct and everyone shouting $750 is wrong. Trump didn't pay only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017. He paid $750 in addition to the millions in taxes he paid during those years. Twitterer Alexandriabrown realized that, although the Times's article is rather obliquely written, it entirely supports Trump's defense against the charge that he paid less in taxes than a teacher, a firefighter, or a nurse. She also caught that the Times unforgivably peered into the personal financial information of all of Trump's employees, which is an entirely new level of bad conduct: So. I finally read the NYT Trump tax story because I wanted to see what line was being reported for taxes owed and I came across this about the $750 in 2016 and 2017. Per the NYT own story, Trump actually paid to the US Treasury $1 million in 2016 and $4.2 million in 2017. pic.twitter.com/ltnlMG0mKW alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 Read that closely. Trump PAID, as in transferred to the US Treasury, $1 million in 2016 and $4.2 million in 2017. Note also that most of the overpayment was rolled forward, not refunded. The $750 figure is an ADDITIONAL $750. Thus every single story saying he paid $750 is a lie. alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 It is not simply a lie, it proves that the person making the statement either did not read the story itself (BY THE INSANITY OF CTHULHU READ THE SOURCES) or lack the mental ability to comprehend that the NYT itself claims that Trump paid $1,000,000 in 2016 and $4,200,00 in 2017. alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 The claim that Trump paid only $750 in Federal taxes in 2016 and 2017 is thus a complete and total lie which is easily disproven by the Times own story. I mind when people lie. I mind more when people lie to me about something I can disprove in minutes. alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 Also there's something even more worrisome than that the NYT appears not to have seen the actual returns. Read this closely and you'll see something very disturbing indeed. pic.twitter.com/m5B6IVSkMo alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 You want to claim Trump is fair game since he's President, fine, whatever. But what people who worked for him made in the decades when he wasn't a politician is fair how? Riddle me that and you better spin so hard the Earth rotates backwards. alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 Also, I'm going to post this one more time for those in the back. Trump paid $1 million in taxes in 2016 and $4.2 million in taxes in 2017 and, per the NYT story, most of that money was rolled forward. Stop LYING. Start READING. Just. Stop. Lying. pic.twitter.com/sHrTbA5P3k alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) September 28, 2020 Let's repeat the bottom line: Trump did what the law allowed. Trump did not have dealings with the Russians. Trump did not pay only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017 but, instead, paid millions in taxes. And one more thing: Biden, who sat in the Senate for over thirty years, was almost certainly involved in crafting and voting for the laws that enabled Trump to structure his taxes as he did. If people think Trump paid too little, they need to blame Biden. Greggs has warned its outlook is uncertain due to increased coronavirus restrictions put on customers after sales slumped by 30 per cent since it reopened in July. The high street bakery chain said it is in talks with staff over cutting employee hours 'to minimise the risk of job losses' when the furlough scheme ends next month. Food-to-go specialist Greggs said it suffered a 'challenging month' in August, as the closure of seated areas meant it was unable to benefit from Eat Out to Help Out. High temperatures also made August a 'difficult month' for trading, but more people ate outside of their homes in September which it believes drove improvements. In comes in the context of a bloodbath on the high street, with 192,831 job losses announced by major British employers since the start of the lockdown in March. Since reopening on July 2, the Newcastle-based firm's like-for-like sales averaged at 71.2 per cent of its levels from 2019 for the 12-week period to September 26. High street bakery chain Greggs said sales have picked up over the past month but August was a 'challenging month'. One of the firm's stores in Leeds is pictured on June 18 after it opened In the past month, covering the four weeks to September 26, like-for-like sales were at 76.1 per cent of its levels from the same period last year, as trading improved. The company said it has reviewed its trading operations as it looks to ensure its 'employment costs reflect the estimated level of demand from November onwards'. Analysis: Greggs firms up flaky sales with a shift to click and collect By SUSANNAH STREETER Greggs had very flaky sales during August as warm temperatures put customers off its hot pastries and it was unable to benefit from the Eat Out to Help out scheme as seats weren't available in its outlets. September has seen its stores bringing home the bacon again though, as more people left home and popped in or picked up products using its click and collect service, which has been rolled out nationwide. Sales had crumbled earlier in the summer but over the four weeks to 26 September, like-for-like sales had recovered to 76.1 per cent of the level the firm saw this time last year. Customers are being rewarded with the return of its celebrated Belgian bun as the firm brings back a broader range of its products. Greggs shows it is keeping up with the nation's changing appetite for online sales, and now customers can also order Greggs deliveries on the Just Eat app in many cities. The pandemic has still taken a big bite out of business and with trading activity expected to remain below normal for the foreseeable future, some employees are being asked to reduce their hours to compensate and minimise job losses. But Greggs has taken its expansion programme out of the freezer and plans to open 20 new shops which can be easily accessed by car, to take advantage of changing snacking and shopping habits. Spikes of infection rates are also having an impact on its supply chain with disruption to a distribution centre in Leeds and a factory in Newcastle after small outbreaks. The company says there is a risk of low-level disruption through the coming months. Greggs returned to a positive net cash position during September and the success of the shift to digital sales is likely to be key for Greggs as it needs to operate at 80 per cent of 2019 sales to break even. The chain's clever advertising campaigns have successfully targeted lunchtime workers over the past few years, but with millions forced to work from home, it will have to double its efforts to pitch its pastries to different markets. Susannah Streeter is a senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Advertisement Greggs told investors its 'immediate priority' is to complete the consultation and confirm the financial impact of the move when the consultation ends in November. The update came as the chain said that sales have picked up over the past month, as it continues its recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. Greggs said its digital business is 'developing quickly' after increased investment during the lockdown period, partnering with food delivery operator Just Eat. Its home delivery represented 2.6 per cent of shop sales in the week to last Saturday, while a click and collect service is now available in all shops. Greggs, best known for its sausage rolls and vegan snacks, said it had launched a consultation with union and employee representatives. 'Our aim is to minimise the risk of job losses by negotiating reduced hours in our shops,' it said. Looking beyond the pandemic, Greggs is restarting its shop opening programme, and now expects about 20 net openings in 2020. A spokesman added: 'The outlook for trading remains uncertain, with rising Covid-19 infection rates leading to increasing risks of supply chain interruption and further restrictions on customer activities out of the home. 'In these challenging conditions our teams continue to work hard and have proven our ability to operate with social distancing and adapt to new digital channels.' Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Britons to work from home where possible and ordered restaurants and bars to close early to tackle a spike in the pandemic, with new restrictions likely to last six months. The government has said it is also mulling tougher restrictions. Greggs was performing well before the crisis its shares hit a record high of 2,550p in January. But they closed yesterday at 1,219p, down 47 per cent in the year to date. In January, thousands of Greggs staff were told they would receive a 300 one-off payment after a 'phenomenal year'. All employees at the firm shared a 7million payment after shareholders received a 35million special dividend last October. Julie Palmer, partner at corporate restructuring firm Begbies Traynor, said today: 'This crisis has affected all businesses, and Greggs is no different. 'In the process of becoming a high street icon in recent years it was able to give all its staff a 300 bonus in January, but that card has completely turned with consultations taking place over the future of many jobs. 'While the bakery was almost a perfect, efficient business model before the pandemic, it is ill equipped to thrive during it. 'Greggs has suffered from not being eligible for Eat Out To Help Out and its partial reliance on city centres being filled with office workers on their lunch breaks. As such, it has been a struggle to get back into profit, but September is showing recovery with loyal customers, or even fans, helping its cause. An employee at a branch of Greggs in Leeds carries a tray after the store reopened on June 18 'Greggs will undoubtedly survive and be able to thrive once again, but its struggles tell the story of every business in the UK. What worked before the pandemic may not work during it. 'It, like many others, must adapt and change to the way that the world now works. The bonus is that this will make the business stronger for when the crisis is over.' Last week an outbreak of coronavirus stopped pasty production at a Greggs factory in Newcastle, although the chain said it did not foresee any stock shortages in shops. The economy shrank by more than 25 per cent in March and April after lockdown was introduced - closing down shops, offices, factories and other places of work. But output has risen by 18.6 per cent over the following three months as restrictions were eased and the economy began to reopen. Greggs said its digital business is 'developing quickly' after increased investment during the lockdown period, partnering with food delivery operator Just Eat (pictured last week) Figures from the Office for National Statistics earlier this month showed retail sales grew for a fourth month in a row in August as households splashed out. But business leaders have warned that a second coronavirus lockdown would 'cripple' the economy. The Centre For Retail Research said yesterday that fashion, home and non-food retailers have lost 9billion in sales so far this year, which could lead to one in ten stores never being used to sell goods again. Its report also found nearly 14,000 shops have permanently closed this year - up almost 40 per cent on the same period a year ago - and predicts as many as one in 10 store sites may never sell goods again. Cheap meals during Eat Out to Help Out pushed inflation down to its slowest rate in five years, as the cost of living climbed by just 0.2 per cent year on year in August. The scheme gave customers 50 per cent off their food, up to 10 each, on Mondays to Wednesdays in August, and more than 100 million meals were claimed. https://www.aish.com/j/j/572571851.html In Israel, defense attorneys are notoriously sharp while cross examining witnesses, but in contrast to some countries, police officers who are cross examined are often known for being just as sharp. Case in point was a felony trial with police officer Yosef Hadari being cross examined by a defense attorney: Q. Officer Hadari, did you see my client fleeing the scene? A. No sir, but I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender running several blocks away. Q. Officer Hadari, who provided this description? A. The officer who responded to the scene. Q. A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers? A. Yes sir, with my life. Q. With your life? Let me ask you this then officer do you have a locker room in the police station a room where you change your clothes in preparation for you daily duties? A. Yes sir, we do. Q. And do you have a locker in that room? A. Yes sir, I do. Q. And do you have a lock on your locker? A. Yes sir. Q. Now why is it, Officer Hadari, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, that you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with those same officers? A. You see, we share the building with a court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room. MADRID, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmactive Biotech, S.L., introduces its new botanical combo, Isenolic COMPLEX, composed of its branded Isenolic olive leaf extract (Olea europeana L.) and ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata). The complex is uniquely formulated to tackle cold and flu symptoms, including throat irritations, and coughs. It is highly water-soluble and can be readily formulated into multiple palate-pleasing applications, including foods, beverages, beverage shots, and gummies. New Botanical Complex For Cold and Flu Immune Support "Incorporating botanical relief formulas such as Isenolic COMPLEX into syrups, shots, candies, or chewables is more desirable for consumers who tend to avoid taking pills and tablets," says Julia Diaz, Head of Marketing at Pharmactive. "They prefer enjoying a new flavor sensation that can also help relieve cold and flu symptoms when they're not feeling well." Isenolic COMPLEX delivers multi-target mechanisms of action, and works on several levels. The Isenolic component of the formula is standardized to 4% elenolic acid, the key bioactive of olive leaves. This compound has a history or scientific studies and in vitro tests demonstrating its capacity to help curb viral life cycles and support the immune system. Isenolic was shown in a recent study to suppress 65% of influenza-A virus activity after infection, in vitro in an especially sensitive cell line. Ribwort plantain boasts an extraordinary source of phenylethanoids coupled with a dense concentration of bioavailable verbascosides. These two phytochemicals have exhibited multifaceted beneficial capabilities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, tissue-healing, and antibacterial activity1 against a variety of gram-positive and gram-negative pathogenic bacterial strains, including Streptococcus pneumonia. "Plantain is a wild-grown, nutritious leafy vegetable that has been revered as a highly valuable medicinal food for centuries," explains Alberto Espinel, Manager of Strategic R&D in Active and Functional Natural Ingredients for Pharmactive. "It carries a long tradition of safe use for treating lung congestion and dry irritated coughs and is typically consumed as a warm tea concoction or hot broth. In addition to the natural helpful compounds, the leaves also contain gums that provide a soothing cough-suppressant and anti-inflammatory effect on the lower respiratory tract." "The union of two classic botanicals in one synergistic formula provides an all-encompassing solution for actively addressing certain cold and flu symptoms," adds Diaz. "It combines immune support with tissue repair properties to effectively alleviate throat irritations and mucus build-up and is perfectly suited for consumers desiring a natural agent that can target uncomfortable flu symptoms. It also answers shoppers' demands for more versality in delivery of active ingredients." Isenolic olive leaf extract is locally sourced from olive trees grown in Mediterranean fields and is extracted under a fully controlled process that ensures the highest purity and potency. The plantain leaves are supplied by trusted farmers in Europe. Isenolic COMPLEX carries kosher, halal and doping-free certifications. References will be provided per request. For more information, contact: SOURCE Pharmactive Biotech Products, S.L. This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve pressing policy challenges. This conversation has been edited and condensed. Romesh Ratnesar: The American West is suffering through a devastating fire season. Wild fires have burned at least 6.7 million acres, displaced tens of thousands and claimed the lives of more than 30 people. As a 46-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service and former National Fire Chief, youve spent your career trying to address the growing threat of wildfires. Why has this fire season been so severe? And do you expect its going to get worse? Tom Harbour, chief fire officer, Cornea, and former National Director of Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. Forest Service: I do expect its going to get worse. If we look back over the last 30 to 35 years, what were seeing is progressively worse fire seasons. The women and men in my profession have been saying to one another, Ive never seen anything like this. The problem is, weve been saying that to ourselves now for over three decades. Thats likely an indicator both of a failure of imagination on our part and perhaps a failure to communicate the scope and the depth of the problems that we face. RR: Whats causing these catastrophic wildfires? Should we blame climate change or poor forest management, as President Donald Trump suggests? TH: Id say neither. Its our failure to step back and think about the complexity of the problem and the lack of focus on some of the more available solutions. The questions we need to ask are, what really is our intent as a society? Whats the intent of not only our vegetation management policy, but some of the more fundamental societal issues about where we build and how we build? What should we do with this primeval force fire which is always going to be here? I think we tend to think that there is a solution, when in fact, we need a variety of solutions across these landscapes and in our society. Its interesting, because the number of wildfires actually has not increased in total. What has increased is just the extraordinary fire behavior These fires also now move at rates that we didnt used to see: seven or eight miles an hour in the timber, 15 miles an hour in the grass and lighter fuels. They move for longer periods of time. They are ferocious for a much longer time than what we saw in the past. RR: Lets focus on forest management. The federal government owns and manages 30% of the countrys forest lands. Why dont we have a more effective national strategy to deal with the risks in these areas? TH: Ecosytems are complex things. And these ecosystems are fragmented, by virtue of the various jurisdictions that landscapes obviously dont recognize. So you have private lands, state lands, federal lands, all focused on specific kinds of objectives. We have a hard time with these ecosystems, where the cycle of life is measured in hundreds of years. Its difficult for us to begin to understand, when we pull this lever or take this action, what will be the outcome of that action. Our attempts to characterize fire as a nuisance, as a bad thing, is just not what Mother Nature does. Fire is just fire. Federal policy has been modified, but most states still characterize fire as a bad thing. And thats obviously because if youre a small private landowner, you dont want fire to adversely impact your investments. We need to think more about how to develop more resilient landscapes and what we do with fire, both in terms of prescribed fire and fire suppression. RR: What can be done to make communities more resilient and limit the damage that these fires cause? TH: We have codes that help buildings be fire resistant. We also know that very simple things, such as reducing the flammability of an individual property, near that property taking particular care to try to make a home as safe as possible, within the first 50 feet, perhaps out to 200 feet thats something each individual property owner and homeowner can do immediately to impact the survivability of the structure. There are some things that are very simple, like doing a better job of managing and reducing vegetation around structures, and some things which are very complex. We want to continue to encourage local governments to have vibrancy, with something like 80% of private land in the West yet to be developed but not blind ourselves to the fact that there certainly are places where firefighters take their lives in hand when they try to defend. RR: How did you get into the field of wild land firefighting? TH: As an 18-year-old, being attracted to the outdoors, I was lucky enough to get into firefighting on the ground. I found that the people I worked with and the places I got to see were pretty fantastic. And the work had a great deal of satisfaction. It was physically challenging. It was emotionally alerting. I got hooked as an 18-year-old and spent 46 years in the U.S. Forest Service. I will tell you that in the time I served as a leader in the service, I attended far too many funerals. Somewhere around 10 to 20 wild land firefighters continue to die each year in the United States. Considering the small number of folks who do this work, the frequency at which they die is elevated from that of the typical firefighter, which in and of itself is a hazardous occupation. So Ive become particularly focused on what we can try to do to help these women and men who as a public service decide that theyre going to deal with these wildfires. RR: How have the risks that firefighters face grown over the last 50 years? Are there differences in the kinds of dangers that firefighters face today? TH: Its interesting, because the number of wildfires actually has not increased in total. What has increased is just the extraordinary fire behavior. As an example, in the early 1970s, I worked in northern Arizona. A large fire in northern Arizona back then was 200 or 300 acres. In 2011, when I was the National Fire Chief for the U.S. Forest Service, I went back to the same area and a big fire was now defined as a half a million acres. These fires also now move at rates that we didnt used to see: seven or eight miles an hour in the timber, 15 miles an hour in the grass and lighter fuels. They move for longer periods of time. They are ferocious for a much longer time than what we saw in the past. And its not just the flora and fauna that we have to deal with anymore these arent the kinds of back country fires that nobody takes notice of. When I first started, nobody knew about what we do. Now, the expectations are even higher on firefighters to be able to stop these events. But theyre unstoppable. Firefighters face a whole variety of physical dangers, but theyre also dealing with their own expectations and the publics expectations. We not only have firefighters dying in the line of duty in significant numbers, but we have firefighters who are taking their own lives in even greater numbers, because of the challenges associated with this worsening complexity. RR: What can be done to ease or at least address some of those challenges for the firefighters themselves? TH: When we as a nation decide we want to do something, we tend to believe that we can simply bolster firefighting forces and work our way out of this problem. Thats simply not true. Weve got to help these firefighters on the ground. Given this worsening complexity, weve got to improve decision-making skills faster than the chaos thats enveloping these firefighters. In my work in the private sector, I see a glimpse of our ability to do this as we work with information and make it more usable and simpler to digest. We can better determine which of the huge number of data sets are important to help firefighters take a broader view of the work that theyre doing. Our profession should reach out to some of the folks who have this ability to take large amounts of data to allow us to prepare firefighters to be more cognizant of their environment, of the particular courses of action that they may take and of the risks associated with those courses of actions. I think there are solutions to help firefighters by allowing them time to face situations in simulation that theyve never faced before. After 35 years of saying, Weve never seen that kind of thing before were at a point where we know we have to think about scenarios where we can say, Maybe thats never happened before, but when it does happen, lets be prepared. RR: Are there other technologies that can help? TH: Yes. Were seeing advances in unmanned aerial systems, for instance. Weve seen the importance of individual data sets that give firefighters a better sense of where the snags are, or where theres really tough ground to build fire lines. Im confident that in the years ahead, well make much more use of aircraft at night. Im very hopeful for significant progress, [but] its going to continue to be a very difficult next few years with the wildfire situation in the U.S. and around the world. Wherever youve got flammable vegetation and people, youve got a problem. RR: So whats the bottom line? How can policy makers and citizens manage the growing dangers that wildfires pose to people, property and the environment? TH: Our approach needs to be anchored in three tenets: resilient landscapes, fire-adapted communities that recognize the need to live with fire, and a focus on safe and effective response for firefighters. In that last context, we need to encourage greater imagination and greater use of technologies that will allow us to prepare for the disasters that will be coming. Its not if they will happen. Its when theyll happen. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Wildfire NEW YORK - In the neighborhood of East New York, Principal Janet Huger-Johnson, who grew up there, aims to make her school a sanctuary, a place where kids might be able to forget for a moment that they are living through a pandemic. So on Tuesday, the day tens of thousands elementary school students were to be welcomed back across New York City, she donned a pair of colorful sneakers and a polo shirt with East New York Elementary School of Excellence emblazoned on it. It was also personalized with her own slogan: "It's Huger Time." Huger-Johnson tried to broadcast warmth through two masks and watched as lines of students, spaced out along yellow circles that had been spray painted on the sidewalk, took their first steps into the building since mid-March. The hallways were mostly empty, and the freshly polished linoleum glistened. The school was somehow both frozen in time and hurtling toward an uncertain future. Bulletin boards in the hallways were wrapped in cellophane, displaying winter-themed art projects and presentations from Black History Month, which was in February. "I didn't want the children to feel all of this," Huger-Johnson said. "In the middle of that, you're hopeful that kids are not impacted by just the struggles as we as adults were going through." A zealous planner, Huger-Johnson has been working nearly nonstop since schools closed in March to build an online curriculum essentially from scratch, researching best practices and software, and pumping up an exhausted teaching corps that has suffered illness and loss. But no amount of planning and orchestration would make this year normal. It could not make up for the fact that 100 families - nearly a quarter of the school's enrollment - were still awaiting tablet computers from the city's education department or that two-thirds of her teachers were working remotely because of medical conditions, leaving her building shorthanded. The city lost at least 75 school employees to covid-19 - including a cafeteria worker at East New York Elementary. And there was nothing she could do about the fact that the city's infection rate was creeping upward, with outbreaks in Zip codes not far from East New York, inching toward the threshold that would force the city to shut down all schools. For the first time in weeks, the city's positivity rate had exceeded 3%. Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he will shut down schools if the seven-day rolling average exceeds 3%. Speaking from city hall not long after schools opened their doors on Tuesday, de Blasio called it "cause for real concern." This year, Huger-Johnson and school leaders across the country are being asked to do more: keep children safe from school shooters and bullies and the novel coronavirus; tutor those who are below grade level and catch up the legions of students who fell behind in the spring; address continuing trauma wrought by the pandemic and the kids' existing mental health problems. At East New York Elementary, this has meant more check-ins on the emotional well-being of students, but also limiting student-to-student contact. The playground is wrapped in yellow caution tape, off-limits to students. A classroom has been set aside as the isolation room - a place where students who develop symptoms at school will be quarantined. Plush toys have been removed from all classrooms because they cannot be easily disinfected. Last week, the stuffed animals were corralled in a classroom and sat forlornly in a line, as if yearning for playmates. One of the most taxing mandates in many places is that schools provide virtual learning in addition to traditional, in-person classes. And, as economic calamity wreaks havoc on school budgets, many of them are taking on these responsibilities with fewer teachers and fewer resources - all in the midst of a pandemic whose impact on children is poorly understood. The virus has created a cascade of logistical challenges for schools, immensely complex organizations even in non-pandemic times. New York City's is by far the nation's largest district, but the challenges it faces are common to school districts large and small, urban and rural. "Frankly, I don't know of another institution, public or private, that has so many moving parts with so much public pressure on it from so many angles on it as much as public schools have," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of large, urban districts. "I have never seen a situation like this in the 43-plus years I've been doing this work, where public school leaders have devoted so much time, effort, creativity and just sheer endurance in trying to solve a set of problems where there's just no obvious good resolution." Few districts are more complex than in New York City, home to children from some of the nation's wealthiest and poorest Zip codes and one of the most linguistically diverse communities on the planet. It is also massive, with 1,700 public schools that educate more than 1 million students - roughly the population of Vermont. And its school system is under the control of de Blasio, who is frequently sparring with the powerful teachers union. In an attempt to accommodate all families, de Blasio in July offered them the option of keeping their students home full-time for remote learning or a "blended" option, in which students would return to classrooms part-time and take virtual classes the rest of the time. Teachers, too, would be able to apply for medical accommodations to allow them to work from home if they had an underlying condition that would make them more vulnerable to covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. At the last minute, the city also allowed staff members who live with medically vulnerable people to apply for medical accommodation. The plan created immense staffing needs. At East New York Elementary School of Excellence, Huger-Johnson said, about two-thirds of her teachers qualified to work from home, meaning she had more than enough to teach virtual classes. But she still needs two additional teachers for in-person instruction. Until she can hire them, students who arrive at school are taking virtual classes from their classrooms under the supervision of a substitute teacher. It's the same way many high schools are dealing with staffing shortages - middle and high schools are set to reopen for students Thursday - but it is an arrangement that mars the benefits of in-person instruction. The union that represents the city's principals said the system needs at least 1,200 more elementary school teachers. Despite Huger-Johnson's efforts, there were some parents who arrived at school frustrated Tuesday morning. Because the school wants to cut down on the number of students wandering hallways, no child is allowed in the building early. One woman fidgeted anxiously and huffed that she needed to be at work. Another showed up with her two sons, only to be turned away because the school said she had signed up for remote learning. And yet another was still considering whether to send her asthmatic son, who is struggling with reading, back to school. But there were moments of normal first-day jitters. Eva Gray's 5-year-old daughter, Grace, clung to her mother's legs. She had picked out her favorite mask - a blue one with white polka dots - and a pair of mary jane shoes with cats on them for her first day. "She said she's happy," Gray said. "She wants to come and see kids." Google Australia boss Melanie Silva says the proposed arbitration process between it and the media companies on payments made for use of their articles is unworkable, given the unrealistic numbers put on the table. The draft news media bargaining code, announced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in July, gives media companies three months to strike a deal about payment for use of their articles. If there is no agreement, a final arbitration process is put in place to decide between the most appropriate of the two final payment offers. Melanie Silva is optimistic the code can still be made workable. Credit:Louie Douvis Ms Silva said the size of the payments proposed by the media companies so far was unreasonable. "This concept of final offer arbitration usually is used when the parties are very close in numbers...we've already seen in the last several months numbers that are completely extraordinary," Ms Silva told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Nine Entertainment Co (owner of this masthead) and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Australia previously said they expect news organisations to receive between $600 million and $1 billion from Google and Facebook. BSP, meanwhile, agreed to endorse RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha as the CM candidate, stating that the goal of this alliance was to provide equal rights to Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities Spurned by the NDA and disowned by the RJD-helmed Grand Alliance, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday announced another front ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar, comprising Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and a non-descript Janatantrik Party (Socialist). Addressing a press conference in Patna, the former Union minister said that the yet to be named front will contest all 243 Assembly segments in the state with the promise of "abki baar shiksha waali sarkaar (this time a government for education)" which would usher in an era of growth and employment generation in the state. Kushwaha termed the 15-year rule of Nitish Kumar and the preceding decade and a half when Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi ruled the state as "two facets of the same coin", neither of which did anything substantial to eradicate corruption and bring about improvements in health and education. He defended his decision of joining hands with the RJD less than two years ago. The RLSP chief who recently burnt his bridges with Lalu Prasad's party by opening a front against his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, said, "I had joined the Grand Alliance to help form an alternative government at the Centre. I was not helping the RJD form a new government in Bihar". On 24 September, when he was "authorized" by the party to decide its future course, it was an indication that the RLSP's exit from the Grand Alliance was a mere formality. Kushwaha had then said that he would continue in the Grand Alliance only if the coalition agreed upon a Chief Ministerial face other than Tejashwi Yadav who, according to him, was "no match to Nitish Kumar". Asked whether he was isolated on the issue within the coalition, Kushwaha said, "Not at all. Just look at the Congress, the second largest constituent. It is still sceptical on the question of Tejashwi. Moreover, only recently Jitan Ram Manjhi quit the coalition and walked over to the NDA because of differences he had on this very issue." Kushwaha evaded questions about talks he reportedly had with leaders of the NDA in Patna and New Delhi. "The Grand Alliance was unable to take a decision on leadership in time. Filing of nominations will begin from October 1. And we had to make a move for the betterment of Bihar," he said. Kushwaha said that his front now has the RLSP, BSP, and the Janatantrik Party (Socialist), a party based in Uttar Pradesh where it has a marginal presence. The RLSP chief claimed that many more parties have evinced interest in joining his newly-formed front but he was tight-lipped when asked whether he would welcome Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which seems to be on a collision course with the JD(U)-BJP combine. Kushwaha, who had served as the minister of state for human resource development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi till December 2017, said, "It appears the BJP is calling the shots everywhere. It controls the Nitish Kumar government and ven the RJD seems to be playing into its hands." He also dismissed as "speculations by the media" reports that he was insistent on contesting the by-poll to Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat where voting is scheduled to take place on 7 November. Sources in the party also said that Valmikinagar was "never on the agenda" since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had decided to field from the seat a close family member of Baidyanath Mahto, the JD(U) MP whose death necessitated the by-election. They also said that neither Kumar nor the BJP was averse to the RLSP's return to the NDA, "but uncertainty over the prospects of the LJP" and the saffron party's insistence that it join the coalition "unconditionally, without pressing for a guaranteed number of seats in elections", threw a spanner. Kushwaha also sought to make light of the exit of state unit chief Bhudev Chaudhary, whose crossing over to the RJD on the previous day came as a rude shock to the RLSP. "I have let loose my boat in the ocean with the intent to reach the other shore. The faint-hearted are welcome to alight whenever they want", he said, attempting a poetic flourish. Meanwhle, BSP supremo Mayawati confirmed the news of the alliance while adding that her party will endorse Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The objective of this alliance will be to provide equal rights to Dalits, adivasis, minorities, upper casts and the marginalised sections of society in politics, government and daily life, she said. "Our party has decided to ally with RSLP in Bihar and its chief Upendra Kushwaha will be the Chief Minister of Bihar, if voted to power," Mayawati said. She said while a number of governments with alliances were formed in Bihar, none of them worked for the welfare of the poor and Dalits. "As election approached, Centre and Bihar government which were sleeping for past five years have showered announcements but people understand everything. This time they (people) will not come under the influence of anyone," she said. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said Bihar needs a government that follows the principle of "Sarvjan Hitay, Sarvjan Sukhay" (government for everyone's interest and welfare). While the Assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest. On Monday, Jan Adhikar Party founder Pappu Yadav announced a tie up with the Bhim Army of Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan. A week ago, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had announced the formation of a front in which he was joined by Devendra Prasad Yadav, a veteran socialist leader who has formed his own party. The three-phase Bihar Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on 28 October, 3 November and 8 November while the results will be announced on 10 November. MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY A state senator in Manhattan says there's a problem with the NYPD's plan to fine subway-riders spotted without face masks: many cops patrolling the city don't seem fond of wearing masks themselves. "Im often asked by my children, my nine-year-old and my three-year-old, why police are not wearing masks when they see them in places like Union Square or Washington Square," said Hoylman, who represents most of Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Midtown and Hell's Kitchen. "If we civilians are subject to those types of guidelines, so should law enforcement," he told Patch. Since the coronavirus took hold in April, all New Yorkers cops and civilians alike have been required to wear face masks in public spaces where social distancing is not possible. Face masks are also required in the transit system, and the MTA announced this month that transit police and the NYPD would begin issuing $50 fines to maskless riders. But Hoylman said his office has received increasing numbers of complaints by constituents reporting police officers not wearing face masks, even amid an alarming uptick of COVID-19 cases in parts of the city. One site of particular concern has been the NYPD's Hell's Kitchen tow pound on 12th Avenue and West 38th Street, where a number of constituents have reported inconsistent mask-wearing among both staff and civilians, Hoylman said. His office shared one complaint from a constituent after a recent visit, who wrote that they were "horrified to learn that despite being a branch of the NYPD, masks and social distancing were NOT being enforced." "There were even staff members without masks," the resident wrote. "How are we going to beat this thing if our city workers aren't enforcing the protocols, or adhering to them?" On Monday, Hoylman penned a letter to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, asking him to enforce a stricter policy on mask use. Hoylman noted that the virus has taken a particular toll on the NYPD, having killed at least 43 department employees. Story continues Reached for comment, the NYPD referred Patch to an interview last week in which Shea disputed that the issue was widespread among officers, but conceded, "we are human." A number of constituents have reported inconsistent mask-wearing among both staff and civilians at the NYPD tow pound on 12th Avenue, State Sen. Brad Hoylman said. (Shutterstock / quiggyt4) Elected officials including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have taken note of the trend, calling on officers to do a better job masking up. Cuomo took up the issue again Tuesday during his daily press briefing. "Why dont the NYPD wear masks? What signal does that send?" the governor asked."Its the law to wear a mask and the police officer whos supposed to enforce the law doesnt wear a mask." Hoylman said the trend has been especially noticeable amid ongoing protests against police violence. "The police presence in parts of my district is pretty heavy as protests continue," he said. "I see more protesters wearing masks than I see [among] the police who are surveilling them." This article originally appeared on the Midtown-Hell's Kitchen Patch Heat tourism is a thing, with some people driving thousands of miles to Nevadas Death Valley for a selfie with the thermometer listing one of the hottest recorded temperatures on Earth. While most people see extremely high temperatures as a perfect excuse to stay indoors and turn up the air-conditioning, for some its a perfect opportunity for a memorable selfie. Last month the Death Valley National Park recorded the hottest temperature ever reliably measured on Earth, and so-called heat tourists have been flocking there ever since hoping to snap a picture with the now famous thermometer at Furnace Creek Visitor Center as is shows some of the highest temperatures ever recorded. To be fair, heat tourism has been around for a while, and Death Valley has always been one of the main such attractions on the planet. Back in 2013, NPR reported that people from as far as New Zealand, Belgium and China traveled to the California desert valley just to experience the extreme heat for themselves. So much for being worried about global warming. For some, its just another opportunity to get some more likes on social media The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that they have seen reports regarding elections to the so-called "Gilgit-Baltistan" Assembly to be held on November 15, 2020 and took strong objection to it. "The Government of India conveyed strong protest to Pakistan Government and reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the so-called Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India," the MEA stated. The Government of India also completely rejected recent actions such as the so-called "Gilgit-Baltistan (Elections and Caretaker Government) Amendment Order 2020" and continued attempts by Pakistan establishment to bring material changes in areas under its illegal and forcible occupation, according to MEA. The ministry pointed out that the government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it. The statement said action such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades. "These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation," the MEA added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics The Nazi Satanist ideology, known as O9A, that may very well have fuelled Mohamed-Aslim Zafis murder while he was volunteering at his mosque in Toronto is unlike anything else we research and its horrific. Wrapped in an extraordinarily complicated supernatural mythos, it combines elements of Satanism, occultism, and neo-Nazism. An ideological leader in the movement has written that to cull (slaughter) humans is to embody their ideology. We need to have a frank conversation about the ideology because its dangerous and we are aware of several Canadian adherents. While law enforcement deals with terror and murder cases regularly, this is new ground. That they listened to us at the Canadian Anti-hate Network and reportedly seized a large volume of property from the home of the accused is encouraging, but we remain concerned that the Toronto Police Service has no frame of reference with which to interpret and understand the meaning of those materials. This is, after all, the first case of its kind in Canada. Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope Not Hate, located in the U.K., may be the foremost expert on this ideology in the world. In a March 2020 article for New Statesmen he wrote that he has seen at least three examples in the U.K. where authorities overlooked materials related to the ideology during anti-terrorism raids because they did not understand its significance. We cant let the same thing happen here. In just the past two years, four teenage boys connected to the ideology have faced terror charges in the U.K. and members of affiliated groups are responsible for at least five murders. Several adherents have been charged with sexual offences, including raping children and sharing child pornography. There could be more offences. Its an extremely secretive ideology not understood by law enforcement and theyre told to lie to and mislead nonadherents. Hitler is a god figure to them because of the Nazi's affair with the occult and the Holocaust. They believe Hitler was trying to establish their Satanic empire with his atrocities and genocides. Adherents use the year Hitler was born as the beginning of their calendar. A core belief of the ideology is that adherents should alter, or desensitize, themselves to cruelty and amoral acts in order to become a new type of person. Its followers, in order to progress within their belief system, infiltrate extremist groups or institutions like political organizations, governments, or the military to learn skills, sabotage those organizations, and recruit new adherents. It is also explicitly accelerationist, meaning that adherents are told to use terrorism to destabilize society and topple governments. In 1999, one of its followers killed three people and injured a further 140 while carrying a bombing campaign in London that targeted Black, Bengali/Muslim, and LGBTQ+ communities. He said he was trying to start a race war. Today, adherents are infiltrating and influencing a new generation of neo-Nazi terrorist groups like Atomwaffen Division, also active in Canada. In the U.S. and the U.K., growing numbers of cases before the courts have documented this danger. An American soldier and follower leaked details about his unit to an alleged al-Qaida member, trying to get them ambushed. The youngest person ever charged with terrorism offences in the U.K. a 16 year old was an adherent. Its materials are easily found online and promote extreme violence, weaponized sexual assault, even against children, and murder. The U.K. is considering banning O9A as a terrorist organization and Hope Not Hate, the anti-racism organization leading that campaign, expects it to happen very soon. The Canadian government should ban them too. While the worldwide number of followers may be small, their impact on modern day neo-Nazi terrorism cannot be overstated. This isnt just a murder case, but a counterterrorism one. We urge investigators to get outside assistance. ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) will release its third quarter 2020 earnings on Thursday, October 29, 2020, following the market close. The company will host a conference call and live webcast at 12 p.m. ET on Friday, October 30, 2020 to discuss these results. Investors may listen to the conference call by dialing 1-888-347-1165 for U.S/Canada and 1-412-902-4276 for international callers. Participants should ask to be joined into the CatchMark call. Access to the live webcast is available at www.catchmark.com or here. A replay of this webcast will be archived on the company's website immediately after the call. About CatchMark CatchMark (NYSE: CTT) seeks to deliver consistent and growing per share cash flow from disciplined acquisitions and superior management of prime timberlands located in high demand U.S. mill markets. Concentrating on maximizing cash flows throughout business cycles, the company strategically harvests its high-quality timberlands to produce durable revenue growth and takes advantage of proximate mill markets, which provide a reliable outlet for merchantable inventory. Headquartered in Atlanta and focused exclusively on timberland ownership and management, CatchMark began operations in 2007 and owns interests in 1.5 million acres* of timberlands located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas. For more information, visit www.catchmark.com. * As of June 30, 2020 SOURCE CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. Related Links http://www.catchmark.com Amid the ongoing India-China standoff along the LAC in Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday asserted that India never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Contro (LAC), adding that the position has been consistent and well known including to the Chinese. READ | China makes provocative remark on Ladakh The MEA said India urged China to "sincerely and faithfully" abide by all "agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC". Live TV India and Chinese have been involved in commander talks ever since the Galwan Valley clash in June. On August 29-30, the Indian and Chinese troops were involved in another skirmish as the Indian side sought to push back the Chinese incursion amid the standoff at the border. "As we have previously made clear, the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC. As Defence Minister stated in the Parliament recently, it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo," it said. In the last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries. In the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart on September 10 also, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements, the MEA added. The MEA added, "We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC." "Under their various bilateral agreements including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for settlement of the India-China boundary question, both India and China have committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC," said the MEA. The MEA further stated that the "two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003 but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it". "Therefore the insistence now on of the Chinese side that they is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements," the MEA asserted. India on Tuesday rejected Chinas claims on the position of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, stating it has never accepted the location of the LAC in border areas that was unilaterally defined by China in 1959. The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India. In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Chinas insistence on the location of the LAC is contrary to the commitments made by the country in several bilateral agreements in 1993, 1996 and 2005. The spokespersons comments came after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Hindustan Times that China abides by the LAC as proposed by then Premier Zhou Enlai to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959. Under these bilateral agreements, including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question, both India and China have committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC. The two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it, the statement read. India has always respected and abided by the LAC, Srivastava said, adding that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had stated in Parliament recently, It is the Chinese side, which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo." In the last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries, said Srivastava. In the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart on September 10, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements, the statement noted. We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC," Srivastava said. India is hurriedly building a strategic highway near the hamlet of Chilling in Ladakh, around 250 km (150 miles) west of the area where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in the most serious confrontation in decades. When ready, the road will provide the only year-round access to large parts of Ladakh, including the border zone. That will go some way to bringing India on par with China, which has a network of roads and helipads on its side of the border. Caitlin Wiesen, resident representative in Vietnam for the United Nations Development Programme Vietnam is now at a critical juncture as it designs its next 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy and 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan, in the fast changing and uncertain context as the result of COVID-19 pandemic, the acceleration of Industry 4.0, and climate change. Between 1990 and 2018 the countrys human development index (HDI) value increased rapidly, with an average annual growth of 1.36 per cent. This places Vietnam among the group of countries with the highest HDI growth rate in the world. Vietnam has shifted from a low HDI country in 1990, to just shy of High Human Development in 2018. The decisions made today will determine whether the country will continue this human development progress and current pattern of growth with relatively low inequality, or whether new forms of emerging inequalities will be further entrenched and deepened with unsustainable growth pathways. Failure to address the systemic challenges to tackle a new generation of inequalities will not only slow-down sustainable development in this century, but also further entrench inequalities and harm the progress of human development in the next century. Achieving equality One of the hallmarks of Vietnams human development progress is that is has been achieved with relatively low increases in inequality. Vietnams loss of HDI score due to inequality in 2018 is 16.3 per cent, its loss of income due to inequality is 18.1 per cent, and its Gini(*) coefficient at 35.3 is among the lowest in the East Asia and Pacific region. When considering its inequality adjusted HDI, the country is now eight places higher than its ranking in 2018. Vietnam has been performing well in terms of gender equality. The gender development index value of 1.003 puts the country in the top group out of five groups of 166 countries in the world, with Vietnam ranking 68th out of 162 countries in gender inequality index. However, there are key areas for improvement: Vietnam ranks among the bottom third of countries globally in terms of sex ratio at birth (1.12), violence against women by non-intimate partners (34.4 per cent), and women with accounts in financial institutions or with mobile money service providers (30.4 per cent). In sustainable and environmental development, Vietnams forest coverage is among the top third of countries globally. However, it is among the bottom third of countries in terms of carbon emissions per capita. Addressing this will be a key challenge to ensure sustainability of Vietnamese growth. Importantly, while Vietnam is among the top third of countries in terms of unemployment rates, it is among the bottom third in terms of skilled labour force and vulnerable employment. This reflects a reliance on simple skilled labour and poses a serious risk of losing jobs to automation, potentially deepening inequalities in the next development period. Inequality cannot be only framed around income, measured by the notion that making money is the most important thing in life. Vietnam has recognised this and was among the several countries in the world that have been pioneering the application of multi-dimensional poverty measurements and approach since 2015. The countrys achievement in reducing multi-dimensional poverty is also remarkable: with the Multidimensional Poverty Index value of 0.019 Vietnam ranks 29th out of 102 countries and is among the top countries in East Asia and Pacific on this indicator. However, the ethnic minority groups and areas lag behind the national average achievement. Inequality is also looked at through the lens of distribution of power. Going beyond income will require tackling entrenched social and political norms embedded deep within different nations or population groups histories and cultures. Dignity in terms of equal treatment and non-discrimination can be even more important than the imbalances in income distribution. It is important to analyse the life-course gender gaps and inequalities among different population groups and geographical locations. Vietnams disaggregated data show that despite remarkable progress at national level, ethnic minority groups lag behind in many human capabilities such as life expectancy, health and education (especially vocational training and tertiary education), and multi-dimensional poverty. This suggests a challenge for Vietnam to ensure no-one is left behind. A new generation of inequality The abilities people will need to compete in the immediate future have evolved. A new gap in advanced human capabilities has opened, such as in tertiary education and digital literacy opportunities once considered luxuries that are now considered critical to compete and belong, particularly in a knowledge economy, as Industry 4.0 accelerates. UNDP administrator Achim Steiner pointed out, We need to avoid a new great divergence in our societies driven by AI and digital technologies. There is historical precedent for technological revolutions to carve deep, persistent inequalities, as took place in the industrial revolution. How we adopt and use new technology is in our hands, and it can be guided to be a force for good. At the same time, climate change, gender inequality, conflict, and particularly the coronavirus pandemic with its disproportional negative socioeconomic impacts on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people, continue to drive and entrench basic and new inequalities alike. Just as inequality begins at birth and defines opportunities for children, adults, and elders worldwide, and permeates those of the next generation, policies to prevent inequalities can also follow the lifecycle. Integrated solutions addressing the multidimensional aspects of inequality should be an integral part of the countrys socioeconomic development plans, COVID-19 response and recovery actions. Such solutions should start early and span throughout three key stages of peoples lives: before they reach the labour market, to address sex birth selection, nutritional, health, and educational gaps between children and young women and men; once they are in the labour market, to harness the power of labour, industrial, gender, and anti-trust policies to level the playing field; and after the market, to make sure taxes, transfers, subsidies, and social services equalise the opportunities for the haves and have-nots. Politicians and policymakers have a range of choices that, if correctly combined and sequenced will translate into a lifelong investment in equality and sustainability. Equitably strengthening enhanced human capabilities such as tertiary education and digital literacy, combined with building resilience to shocks due to climate change and health pandemics such as COVID-19, will be vital to Vietnams progress in human development in the 21st century.n (*) Gini coefficient is a measure of the distribution of income across a population developed by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912. A lawyer for former FBI Special Agent Peter Stzork alleged Monday that some of his clients notes made public in a case involving former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn have been doctored. Strzoks lawyer, Aitan Goelman, made the shocking accusation in a letter to US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan on Monday. He insisted that at least two notes disclosed by Flynns defense team as part of the fired Trump aide's criminal prosecution for allegedly lying to Robert Muellers special counsel inquiry in 2017 appear to have been 'altered'. According to Goelman, the notes include handwritten additions inserted dates that were not written by the shamed former FBI agent. On at least two occasions, there were handwritten additions, not written by Mr. Strzok, inserting dates, apparently designed to indicate the date or dates on which the notes were written, Goelman began. On at least one occasion, the date added is wrong and could be read to suggest that a meeting at the White House happened before it actually did. A lawyer for former FBI Special Agent Peter Stzork (left) alleged Monday that some of his clients notes made public in a case involving former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn (right) may have been doctored. Accompanied with the letter, Goelman also shared the two pages of notes in question, complete with highlighting, to telegraph the contentious notations. Accompanied with the letter, Goelman also shared the two pages of notes in question, complete with highlighting, to telegraph the contentious notations. I also note that the texts of Mr. Strzoks that were attached to the defendants pleadings include portions that had not previously been released and have nothing to do with [the] Flynn case or, more broadly, with the Department of Justice, the letter continued. Strzoks attorney also argued documents brought forth by Flynns team violate a court order. Flynns attorneys Sidney Powell and Jesse Binnall filed the documents on September 24, claiming that they were evidence of outrageous, deliberate misconduct by FBI and and DOJplaying games with the life of a national hero. Strzok, who was fired from the FBI in 2018, was one of the investigators who questioned Flynn about his discussions with Russian officials in 2017 and believed he lied about them. The agent drew notoriety for anti-Trump text messages he sent during an extramarital affair with FBI attorney Lisa Page while employed by the bureau. Strzok was removed from then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team once those messages were discovered. A report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Strzok's messages were inappropriate and cast a cloud over the FBIs handling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email server. According to Goelman, the notes include handwritten additions inserted dates that were not written by the shamed former FBI agent, appearing as if the documents had been altered The Flynn prosecution was a signature criminal case in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Flynn was the only person charged in the Mueller investigation who had served in the White House and he agreed months into the investigation to cooperate with the authorities in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. He was questioned by the FBI at the White House, just days after Trump's inauguration, about his conversations with the then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. pertaining to sanctions that had just been imposed by the Obama administration for election interference. The conversation alarmed law enforcement and intelligence officials who were already investigating whether the Trump campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the presidential election in Trump's favor. They were puzzled by the White House's public insistence that Flynn and the diplomat had not discussed sanctions. But the Justice Department argued in May that the FBI had insufficient basis to interrogate Flynn about that conversation, which Attorney General William Barr has described as fully appropriate for an incoming national security adviser to have had. But in August a federal appeals court in Washington declined to dismiss the prosecution of Flynn, permitting a judge to scrutinize the Justice Department's request to dismiss its case against Trump's former national security adviser. The decision has kept the case - at least temporarily - alive and rebuffed efforts by both Flynn's lawyers and the Justice Department to force the prosecution to be dropped without further inquiry from the judge, who has for months declined to dismiss it. The ruling came as one of a number of unusual twists and turns over the last year and prompted a separation of powers tussle involving a veteran federal judge and the Trump administration. The Flynn prosecution was a signature criminal case in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia The Flynn conflict arose in May when the Justice Department moved to dismiss the prosecution despite Flynn's own guilty plea to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period. But US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who had upbraided Flynn for his behavior at a 2018 court appearance, signaled his skepticism at the government's unusual motion. He refused to dismiss the case and instead scheduled a hearing and appointed a retired federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's position. That former judge, John Gleeson, challenged the motives behind the department's dismissal request and called it a 'gross abuse' of prosecutorial power. Flynn's lawyers sought to bypass Sullivan and obtain an appeals court order that would have required the case's immediate dismissal. They argued that Sullivan had overstepped his bounds by scrutinizing a dismissal request that both sides, the defense and the Justice Department, were in agreement about and that the case was effectively moot once prosecutors decided to abandon it. At issue before the court was whether Sullivan could be forced to grant the Justice Department's dismissal request without even holding a hearing into the basis for the motion. 'We have no trouble answering that question in the negative,' the court wrote in an unsigned opinion for the eight judges in the majority. The judges also rejected defense efforts to have the case reassigned to a different judge. HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / FLAME SEAL PRODUCTS, INC. (OTC PINK:FLMP), a leading provider of Specialty Chemicals for the Passive Fire Protection Market, today issues the following update to its Stockholders. From: Craig Keyser, CEO Subject: June 30, 2020 Second Quarter Results and Corporate Update Second Quarter Results for 2020 Flame Seal (FSP) revenues for the second quarter of 2020 were $320,721, a decrease of $379,331 or 54% less than the first quarter, resulting in a loss of $144,676. Balance Sheet Update FSP's current ratio of assets to liabilities was 1.85 versus 2.8 in the first quarter. Receivables remain current. Flame Seal has no outstanding litigation issues as of June 30, 2020. As of June 30, 2020, FSP had 73,304,096 reflecting no change since March 31, 2020. Financial statements for June 30,2020 are included below. Corporate Update Craig Keyser comments, " 2020 is proving to be an extremely challenging year. The Pandemic has persisted in postponing, in some cases for an indeterminate amount of time, re-orders and new business revenues. Our emergency plan has sustained us to this point, but business must improve this Fall and early 2021. We've reduced our cost structure to bare operating minimums. In spite of these extraordinarily difficult times, we have continued vital testing of our new technology to address promising and rapidly expanding $multimillion markets. Research and Development (R & D) have yielded extremely positive results which bode well for strengthening FSP's core coating business and new product offerings. As stated before, we continue to bid on large scale projects as we focus on expanding direct marketing. This business-to-customer initiative is expected to become a promising source of revenue if and when normal business operations come back on line. We are deeply thankful for the outstanding effort of our loyal and dedicated employees performing bravely and brilliantly in this unprecedented time, as well as appreciative of the support of our Board of Directors." About Flame Seal Flame Seal Products, Inc., manufacturer of the world's number one fire prevention technology, was founded in 1992 as a research and development company focused on the investigation and application of passive Fire Prevention Technologies. FLAME SEAL PRODUCTS, INC. (FLMP) began trading its common stock on March 27, 2000. Flame Seal Products, Inc. is also the Transfer Agent of record. The company offers a wide variety of Code Driven solutions for a number of diverse applications and industries, and has developed three passive fire prevention technologies which are the basis for the company's products. For more information, go to: http://flameseal.com. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this release may be "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary significantly from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to meet the terms and conditions required to obtain its project financing, risks and delays associated with product development, risk of market acceptance of new products, risk of technology or product obsolescence, competitive risks, reliance on development partners and the need for additional capital. Flame Seal takes no obligation to update or correct forward-looking statements, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by Flame Seal. June 30, 2020 Financial Statements (unaudited) Profit & Loss April through June 2020 Apr - Jun 20 Ordinary Income/Expense Income 320,720.53 Cost of Goods Sold 154,608.75 Gross Profit 166,111.78 Expense 310,715.52 Net Ordinary Income (144,603.74 ) Other Income/Expense Other Income Other Income 26.41 Total Other Income 26.41 Other Expense 815 - Interest Expense 98.91 Total Other Expense 98.91 Net Other Income (72.50 ) Net Income (144,676.24) Balance Sheet As of June30, 2020 ASSETS Current Assets Jun 30, 20 Checking/Savings 304,726.64 Accounts Receivable 169,946.39 Other Current Assets 161 - Inventory 324,048.46 173 - Undeposited Funds 7,572.71 Total Other Current Assets 331,621.17 Total Current Assets 806,294.20 Fixed Assets 183 - Property, Plant, and Equipment 395,713.14 185 - Lab Equipment 700.00 189 - Less Accumulated Depreciation (398,792.46 ) Total Fixed Assets (2,379.32 ) Other Assets 190 - Deferred Tax 837,672.42 191 - Patents & Product Development 233,622.74 192 - Valuation Allowance (837,672.42 ) 199 - Less Accumulated Amortization (233,622.74 ) Total Other Assets 0.00 TOTAL ASSETS 803,914.88 LIABILITIES & EQUITY Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 122,937.49 Other Current Liabilities 312,695.53 Total Current Liabilities 435,633.02 Long Term Liabilities 1,072,661.68 Total Liabilities 1,508,294.70 Equity 351 - Treasury Stock (22,000.00 ) 350 - Additional paid-in capital 11,566,345.80 300 - Common Stock 691,066.74 399 - Retained Earnings (12,771,474.17 ) Net Income (168,318.19 ) Total Equity (704,379.82 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 803,914.88 Statement of Cash Flows April through June 2020 Apr-Jun 20 Operating Activities Net Income (144,709 ) Adjustments to reconcile Net Income to net cash provided by operations Depreciation 9,432 Decrease in Accounts Receivable 287,977 Increase in Inventory (1,830 ) Increase in Undposited Funds (7,051 ) Increase in Accounts Payable 12,552 Total adjustments to Net Income 301,080 Net cash provided by Operating Activities 156,371 Investing Activities Increase in PPE (1,023 ) Net cash proved by Investing Activities (1,023 ) Financing Activities Decrease in N/P Allegiance (88,927 ) Increase in PPP Loan 192,500 Decease in LT Notes (59,676 ) Decrease in N/P Stockholders (24,749 ) Net cash provided by Financing Activities 19,148 Net increase in cash 174,496 Cash at beginning of period 130,230 Cash at end of period 304,726 Investor Relations Contact: Richard Kaneb Mobile 949-233-3229 richardkaneb@gmail.com www.flameseal.com Craig Keyser, CEO ckeyser@flameseal.com SOURCE: Flame Seal Products, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608272/Flame-Seal-Products-Inc-Releases-June-30-2020-Second-Quarter-Results-and-Corporate-Update 29.09.2020 LISTEN The spread and success of liberal democracy over the globe came as a result of the democratic revolution and the collapse of power blocs. Thus, following the collapse of the defunct Soviet Union in the late 1980s and the triumphant emergence of US and its allies as unipolar global powers, there has been tremendous pressure on countries to succumb to democracy. Hitherto littered with military and one-party dictatorships and personal rulers, these countries were forced to abandon their old ways and embrace liberal democracy. [1] Despite this love for democracy, these foreign pressures coincided with, or reinforced, domestic clamours to push regimes to concede to democratic reforms without understanding its values and principles. These brought about the genesis of authoritarian and democratic-tyrants in Third World states. They have little or no understanding of democratic culture and virtue. However, a wide variety of social and political scientists have come to broadly affirm that there is a relationship between a societys culture and its ability to produce and sustain democratic forms of government. For example, the ancient Athenians maintained that their democracy depended, in part, on the fostering of civic virtue or democratic culture [2] . For this reason Lipset claims that democracy requires a supportive culture, the acceptance by the citizenry and political elites of principles underlying freedom of speech, media, assembly, religion, of the rights of opposition parties, of the rule of law, of human rights, and the like. [3] Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and J. S. Mill also maintained that culture and democracy were related in fostering a true democracy. Nevertheless, the fundamental questions that we need to ponder include: what is true democracy? Who has the pertinent moral status to determine what is or what is not democracy? Is democracy an obligatory or a universal norm for all? Are Africans states practicing true democracy? Do African leaders understand this system of government? Does democracy mean electioneering and transitional government alone? These questions are sine qua non because, as African countries continue in their march towards neo-liberal democracy, elite power politics has assumed new but macabre heights. The continents governing class is demonstrating dramatic behaviour in achieving and sustaining power by all means possible. [4] This brings to mind the democratic viewpoint of Abraham Lincoln. Though he was not a political philosopher per se, he precisely defined democracy as government of the people, for the people and by the people. This would imply a representative government with a political order governed by the law that treats all citizens as equals before the law. Is this the reality on the African continent? No! Even some countries like Ghana, Botswana and Rwanda, which are considered to be democratic, are passing through abusive of political and governmental powers. Thus, an authentic democracy is not merely the result of the formal observation of a set of rules imposed by the political class or electioneering alone. It is the fruit of a convinced acceptance of the values that inspire democratic procedures. This would include the dignity of every human person, the respect of human rights, and commitment to the common good as a purpose and guiding criterion for political life. This is because, if there is no general consensus on these values the deepest meaning of democracy is lost and its stability is compromised. Though wonderfully coherent in theory, ideas of Democracy are in practice perverted by African political actors. Judging from their moral and political standards, we can only call them demons of democracy. It is shameful that, Africa, a continent blessed with enormous natural resources is now on the brink of economic collapse. Our continent is moving from one manifestation of political chaos to another due to the mass scramble for power, resources and wealth. Our motherland once held in high esteem by African political founders like Kwame Nkrumah, Kenneth Kaunda, Thomas Sankara, Nnandi Azikiwe and others, is today, suffering from political psychosis and daily disintegration. Our political actors today have succeeded in moving this great continent from hope to hopelessness, oil boom to oil doom, prosperity to austerity, democracy to demo crazy, economic development to economic destruction, better days to bitter days, continental pride to continental shame etc., etc. The African child is crying as a result of hunger, crime, poverty and misery which have replaced former days of abundant peace, unity and justice. The demons of democracy have continued to impoverish the African children to the point where the Mediterranean has become their cemetery. This is the result of dictatorial and deceitful executives who have consistently refused to maintain the sanctity of their offices. To add to that, we have money-loving and unprincipled legislators lacking in maturity and circumspection in matters of legislation. Worst of all, we have a dependent and partial judiciary which is ineffective and inefficient in the interpretation of laws, yet they are experts in selling justice. These and many other conundrums cause Lumumba, a great Kenyan professor to lament, the problem with Africa is that those who have ideas have no power and those with power have no ideas. Moreover, it is thoroughly disheartening that even the bureaucrats and technocrats, the seekers of justice and the human rights activists have compromised the ideals of democracy for self-gain. We have unprofessional and unethical journalists who are moving around in something like drunken stupor characterized by selectivism, stigmatisation, and defamation of character when reporting. They neglect journalistic principles and ethics by becoming sycophants before the demons of democracy. More painfully, the African person has become too gullible and docile to resist this evil. He has basely allowed himself to be made a fool of, dehumanised and transformed into a beast by cunning and evil-minded political tricksters. All these cause Joseph to exclaim; democratisation was not supposed to happen in Africa. It had too little of what seemed necessary for constitutional democratic politics [5] . This might sound extreme and radical but there are elements of truth in this assertion since the continent lacks the necessary conditions to institute liberal democracy, such as a competitive party system, constitutionalism and rule of law, a neutral bureaucracy and strong market economies etc. In conclusion, despite our love for democratic mechanism of governance in theory, the democracy actually practiced in most African states tempts people to call for a different system of government. However, the fundamental question remains, Is it the system or the actors that are bad? One wonders why some countries like United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, which are not democratic states according to the definitions, have more tangible economic transformation than Africa that seems to have established democracies. The reality is that the continent is in desperate need of political, social and economic change. It starts with you and me! By Cyprian Chia: A seeker of justice, a patriot and citizen of the world and finally, a student in search of God and of worlds peace. [1] https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36771614.pdf (2/9/2020). [2] Cf. Edward Bell, Catholicism and Democacy, A Reconsideration in https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/dccirp/pdfs/articlesforresourc/Article_-_Bell,_Edward.pdf [3] Ibid. [4] https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36771614.pdf (2/9/2020). [5] https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36771614.pdf (2/9/2020). During the COVID-19 crisis we have witnessed a dramatic increase in racism and antisemitism worldwide, which hardly anyone would have believed possible. In many cities, tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets. The images of flying stones, burning cars, confrontation, sheer hatred and violence are a shocking sight. However, right now is the time to take a stand for reconciliation in our streets. The message of the March of Remembrance is: Reconciliation begins with me! View a video here of The Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Orit Farkash haCohen who is talking about the importance of the international March of Life movement to bring peace to the streets and is endorsing the Global Day of Action Reconciliation not Hate on October 4, 2020. https://youtu.be/SazSf0crx_Y Go to the streets of your city on the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot on October 4, 2020. While respecting the COVID-19 regulations of your country and city, let us send a bold message to Israel and the nations: Reconciliation, not Hate! Together for Israel and Jewish life. On Sunday, October 4, 2020, we are going to the streets of our community at King's Harbor (4501 Magnolia Cove Dr. 77345) in Kingwood, Texas, in conjunction with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). While respecting national and local COVID-19 regulations, we are sending a bold message to Israel and the nations: we choose reconciliation, not hatred, as we take a stand together for Israel and for Jewish life. This Feast of Tabernacles, often called Festival of Booths, is a joyous celebration of the harvest commemorating the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert before entering the Promised Land. Increasingly, Christians are choosing to celebrate this feast, as Jesus and the apostles celebrated this very special holiday as referenced in John 7:37-39. The featured family-friendly activities of the day include music, Israeli dancing, puppets, drama, proclamations and special speakers including Houston's Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin and Humble's Mayor Merle Aaron. We will also paint rocks to honor the memory of children who suffered during the Holocaust. This day promises to help us make a clear statement for reconciliation instead of baseless hatred. According to Habakkuk 2:11 (CJB), "the very stones will cry out." May even the stones resound with cries of " Reconciliation, Not Hate!" View another video of the Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Josh Reinstein is thanking the March of Life movement for its global effort for Israel and its fight against antisemitism and is calling everyone to go to the streets for Israel and Jewish life on October 4, 2020: https://youtu.be/TuZO53xfSh0 The revelations about Trumps taxes have added a new political layer to the final weeks of the presidential contest. At recent campaign stops, Biden has been seeking to demonstrate a kinship with working-class voters, while casting Trump as an elitist who is out of touch with them. He has touted his humble roots in Scranton, Pa., and lack of an Ivy League diploma in an effort to draw a distinction from the president, who was raised in a wealthy family in New York and attended the University of Pennsylvania. A Pakistani man accused of wounding two people with a meat cleaver in front of the former offices of Charlie Hebdo on September 25 did not know the satirical weekly had moved and wanted to set its offices on fire, a French prosecutor said on September 29. Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told a news conference that the suspect in what the French government has called an act of "Islamist terrorism" carried three bottles of a flammable paint thinner with which he wanted to set fire to the premises. Ricard said the man, who had identified himself as Hassan A., an 18-year-old born in the Pakistani town of Mandi Bahauddin, operated under a false identity and that a photo of his passport on his phone showed that he was 25 years old. Twelve people were killed in 2015 by attackers who raided Charlie Hebdo's office in revenge for the publication of cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad. After the attack, the weekly moved its headquarters to an undisclosed location. It republished some of the cartoons this month to mark the beginning of the trial of 14 people with alleged links to the killers. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa Amid rising COVID-19cases, an all-party-meet in Kerala on Tuesday decided to fight the pandemic together and strictly follow the health protocol, while ruling out a lockdown to contain the virus spread. The Left government had called an all-party-meet to discuss the situation with the state seeing a record spike in coronavirus cases in the past few weeks. Dismissing reports that the state will go into another lockdown, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said "The all-party-meet has agreed that lockdown is not a solution. The parties have agreed to fight the pandemic together. We have decided that strict implementation of COVID-19 health protocol is a must. Gatherings should be strictly avoided and the numbers for functions like weddings, funerals, political..everything should be restricted to the prescribed limit," Vijayan told reporters after the meeting. When asked about the suggestion put forth by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to declare "health emergency"in the state due to rising cases, Vijyan said the situation was not as bad as to impose lockdown. The Chief Minister also said all political parties have agreed to avoid mass gatherings for protests and other political events. "All the political parties have agreed to follow the COVID-19 health protocol. However, the BJP representative said the party will continue with the protests and strengthen it but adhering to COVID-19 protocol," Vijayan said, adding the government was not against any sort of protests in a democracy. He said cases have gone up in the state in September in a frightening manner and over 96 per cent of cases are through contacts. "There are chances that the situation may get worse in the coming days. We need to prevent that. At the all-party-meet, we have sought the support of the political parties and its leaders. We have requested local political leaders to intervene more and ensure that health protocol is strictly followed at local levels," Vijayan added. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala said lockdown was not a practical solution. "Another complete lockdown is not a practical solution. We need to make sure that local bodies are effectively engaged in the (COVID-19) mitigation process. The state government should also ensure that there are enough ICU, ventilator facilities in the state, "Chennithala said. BJP state chief K Surendran told reporters his party will continue staging protests against the state government but following the COVID-19 health protocol. The Congress-led united Democratic Front had on Monday declared that it has temporarily halted its mass protests against the Left government following rising COVID-19 cases. NEW DELHI : With the fourth stage of Covid-19 lockdown coming to an end on 30 September, speculations are rife that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may announce the next phase Unlock 5.0, which is supposed to begin from 1 October. Unlock 5.0 will likely witness a series of relaxations as festive season is round the corner. During the Unlock 4 phase, which began on September 1, the Centre gave various significant relaxations, including resumption of Metro services for the first time since late March, and partial reopening of schools for classes 9 to 12. Though the central government is yet to announce Unlock 5.0 guidelines, it is expected that the MHA will be opening up more activities for the public in the next phase of easing of restrictions. Earlier, the govt has hinted restrictions will be eased in the coming days and activities would slowly be permitted in areas outside the containment zones. Heres what you can expect in Unlock 5.0 guidelines: Economic Activities Keeping social distancing in place, more economic activities may be allowed from 1 October. Earlier in September, restaurants, malls, salons and gyms were allowed to resume services. This time, in a virtual meeting with the chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stressed on reassessing containments and lockdowns in a way that curbs the spread of coronavirus pandemic. PM Modi had further said that because of this, economic activities should not face any problems. Cinema Halls During Unlock 4, the MHA did not allow resumption of movie halls, barring only open-air theatres to resume operations from 21 September. However, in the month of August, Information and broadcasting ministry secretary Amit Khare had given the home ministry a sitting arrangement formula for movie theatres. According to the plan, alternate seats in the first row and the next were to be kept vacant in order to maintain physical distancing. Meanwhile, Bengal became the first state to announce the resumption of cinema halls, all musical, dance, recital and magic shows from 1 October, with minimum 50 participants or less than that. Academics For the students of classes 9 and 10, schools have already started on a voluntary basis. Primary classes will likely remain shut and the same will continue through online mode as well. Meanwhile, Universities and colleges have started taking admission tests and the new academic year may begin via online classes. Tourism sector The tourism sector, which is still struggling to revive itself from the losses faced in the last five months of lockdown, may finally open their doors to travellers. A few days back, the Uttarakhand government also allowed tourist entry to the state without any coronavirus negative report or institutional quarantine rules. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics [MUSIC - THEME, SWAY] archived recording (SINGING) When you walk in a room, do you have sway? Mr. Vindman, you were treated to a July 10 meeting in the White House where you heard Ambassador Sondland raise investigations conditioning a White House meeting on that. Investigations that you thought were unduly political, I believe thats how you described them. And you went to the NSC counsel, and you reported it, right? archived recording (alexander vindman) Correct. archived recording And then later, you two were on the White House call, am I right? You heard it with your own ears? archived recording (alexander vindman) Correct. archived recording Not secondhand, not from somebody else, not hearsay, right? archived recording (alexander vindman) Correct. archived recording You heard the presidents voice on the call? archived recording (alexander vindman) I did. archived recording And you heard him raise that subject again that Ambassador Sondland had raised before about investigating the Bidens, right? archived recording (alexander vindman) I did. archived recording And I want to ask you, when you heard him say that, what was the first thought that went through your mind? archived recording (alexander vindman) Frankly, I couldnt believe what I was hearing. It was probably an element of shock that maybe, in certain regards, my worst fear of how our Ukraine policy could play out was playing out. How this was likely to have significant implications for US national security. archived recording And you went immediately and you reported it, didnt you? archived recording (alexander vindman) I did. archived recording Why? archived recording (alexander vindman) Because that was my duty. kara swisher Alexander Vindman was a key witness in Trumps impeachment trial. Everyone saw him up there, the lieutenant colonel who testified for more than 10 hours. I watched a lot of it, and the guy was impressive. He didnt flinch even when the Republican congressmen bullied him. Trump did get impeached by the House, but the Senate saved him. Ultimately, the president kept his job. Vindman didnt. So is that what happens when you stand up to power? Whats the lesson here? Vindman had only been at his post at the National Security Council for a year when he heard the call. archived recording (donald trump) That call was perfect, it couldnt have been nicer. It was beautiful. It was just a perfect conversation. [MUSIC PLAYING] My conversation was perfect. kara swisher On that, quote, perfect call, Trump asked for a personal favor from the president of Ukraine, and seemed to imply that military aid would depend on it. Cue The Godfather theme. Vindman could have done nothing, thats what most people in Trumps oily orbit seem to do. But he did something. Just one thing he reported it. Who does that? And why? I needed to find out. Get comfy, this is a long interview. alexander vindman Long is relative, because, you know, 10 and 1/2 hours, that was my first interview with the House, so kara swisher Oh, right. Fair point. All right, what do I call you now? Colonel Vindman? Retired Lieutenant Colonel Vindman? What is the correct designation of an ex-military officer? alexander vindman Sure, I think formally its Lieutenant Colonel retired, but I dont tend to be very formal. So please, go ahead and call me Alex. kara swisher So Ill call you Alex. alexander vindman Yes, please. kara swisher So lets go back a little bit, talking about how power works and the changes in the Trump White House. So you joined the White House during the Trump administration in July, 2018. alexander vindman Actually, my first day on the job was during that press conference in Helsinki, and I had to deal with the fallout from that, press inquiries and so forth. kara swisher This is where President Trump to explain for people seemed to be agreeing with Vladimir Putin and not his own intelligence officers. alexander vindman Correct, correct. He took Vladimir Putins word for the fact that Russia wasnt interfering in elections over the consensus view of the entire intelligence community, that Russia had, in fact, substantially interfered in elections. kara swisher Why did you join this administration? alexander vindman So maybe its a little bit of naivete, thinking that I could make some sort of difference on things that matter for U.S. national security. kara swisher How often did you interact with President Trump, or was it through these channels? alexander vindman I am communicating through one level, the national security advisor, with the president. There was one time where I had the opportunity to participate in a meeting directly with the president. This was following the inauguration of President Zelensky. And I, frankly, declined it on the advice of John Bolton and Fiona Hill, because I had set the presidents understanding on who was helping him with Ukraine policy askew. There was this whole idea of some other actors within the NSC, political actors that were somehow involved in Ukraine policy. kara swisher This sounds like what youre saying, in a polite way, is that there are other people putting their fingers on the weight. alexander vindman Sure. kara swisher So talk a little bit about how decisions get made at the Trump White House. Whats the process? And is it different than before? alexander vindman Definitely. So the way these things typically unfold is you could occasionally have direction from the president on a particular foreign policy approach. For instance, maybe during the Reagan administration, a harder line on the Soviet Union or in the ultimate stages of the INF agreements, there was some direction that came from the top. But oftentimes you actually have departments and agencies that have a policy perspective well nested within the presidents worldview. Concrete example with Ukraine, for instance. That one was a combination of initiative from the National Security Council as well as departments and agencies sharing a common view of the fact that we had to work more closely with Ukraine. kara swisher To help Ukraine alexander vindman Yes. kara swisher against Russia? alexander vindman And we had a unique opportunity, frankly, with President Zelensky. Hed come in on a very strong reform, anti-corruption platform and a view that he needs to integrate more closely with the European Union. So we collaborated, we developed policy through the interagency process. kara swisher And it goes up and down the chain. alexander vindman You shape it for the president to make a decision. kara swisher So what was different in the Trump administration? Give me an example. alexander vindman Sure, sure. What was different in the Trump administration is you have decisions that are purely driven by self-interest, purely driven by motivation to advance re-election efforts and so forth. So what I ended up becoming embroiled in was an effort to coerce the Ukrainians into providing dirt on Vice President Joe Biden who was, at that point, likely to be the chief challenger of the president of the United States. And this was exactly 180 degrees out from what the policy recommendations were from below. So if we were recommending closer cooperation with the Ukrainians, aiding them in their anti-corruption efforts, this was an enterprise to actually entrench them further in corruption, in a corruption scheme, because in the president wanted some dirt on an opponent. kara swisher So had you seen this process before? Had you had moments where you were seeing this happening? alexander vindman Yes. kara swisher So give me an example. alexander vindman So, for instance, when Mr. Khashoggi was assassinated by the Saudis kara swisher This is Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by the Saudi government. alexander vindman Yes. kara swisher And dismembered. alexander vindman Thats right. We had very good information suggesting that the decisions to assassinate Mr. Khashoggi were given by the senior-most leadership in Saudi Arabia. But this would potentially undermine very, very large arms sales contracts that the Trump administration and Jared Kushner had basically coordinated. And in order to not upset this, something that could, again, contribute to the presidents views as a successful foreign policy deal-maker, we coldly suppressed this highly credible intelligence. kara swisher So what youre saying is that political considerations, you had started to see political considerations everywhere around you? alexander vindman I did. Theres an interesting phenomenon amongst Trump White House officials. The problem is that you have a series of professionals, foreign policy professionals, that come from departments and agencies. And then you have what amounts to politicians. kara swisher Well, there is a lack of respect for experts, correct? This could not have come as a surprise to you? alexander vindman Yes, but when I showed up it still seemed like we were in a bounded world where you were still closer to the old process. kara swisher So lets get to the call which he called the perfect phone call. You were on this call. Tell me a little bit about what you could have done when you heard it. So you were ready to possibly hear political machinations? alexander vindman What I had almost refused to accept was that the president was directly a party to this. There are sycophants in any organization, many more so in this particular White House, that are catering to the presidents interests. Aggrandizing themselves, ingratiating themselves for personal benefit. Theyre the Rudy Giulianis of the world, and that were potentially carrying the presidents water indirectly. Acting on some general intent. kara swisher Right. alexander vindman I want to win the re-election, come up with some way for me to do that. Ive seen this unfold from March through to this July 10 meeting where Ambassador Bolton is meeting with the Ukrainian national security advisor and Salman pitches this idea. But none of this necessarily directly implicated the President Trump. kara swisher So this is all happening in Ukraine? The idea of trying to find dirt on Hunter Biden? Thats really whats going on here? alexander vindman Well, its not Hunter Biden so much, its Hunter Biden as almost a cutout. If you find dirt on Hunter Biden, then you could implicate the vice president covering up kara swisher So you had already run into Rudy Giuliani and others trying to influence this. So you were poised to see this, but you didnt think the president had anything to do with it. Really? alexander vindman Maybe because Im military and the presidents the commander in chief. There is always a high regard for the office of the president, rigid military hierarchy, stuff like that. And hes the commander in chief. I, frankly, maybe refused to believe that the president was somehow directly involved. I thought maybe, again, it was folks catering to the president. But this was clearly the president himself saying it, and frankly, being at the center, the driving force behind it. kara swisher So when you heard this, what went off in your head? alexander vindman Right, its a congratulatory phone call, this is the second congratulatory phone call that President Trump was having with President Zelensky. The first one went off really well, the president basically he had a series of talking points to congratulate President Zelensky on his landslide victory. The tone of this call was, again, the exact opposite. The president seemed like from his voice, he was a reluctant participant. He would call it a low energy phone call. And from the beginning, he starts commenting on how the US has done so much for Ukraine, and Ukraine is not reciprocating. And it looked like it was going to be a bad call from the get-go. But not until those kind of fateful words, after President Zelensky mentions that he was going to buy Javelin Missiles, and the president then poses, we need you to do us a favor though. kara swisher Tit for tat. alexander vindman Tit for tat. And the conversation devolved, the president named the Bidens directly as the targets of this investigation. And to me, it was absolutely wrong and potentially criminal. kara swisher Were you surprised? alexander vindman I looked up, and to kind of see if anybody else took note. I did see similar, at least from the folks that were in the know, understanding what is going on with Ukraine. kara swisher But nobody did anything. alexander vindman I wasnt aware that at the time, frankly. I knew that it was my responsibility as the Ukraine director. kara swisher Did anybody say anything in this room? alexander vindman I didnt say anything either. I just continued to take notes in my government green notebook with as much fidelity as I could. Everybody else was doing the same thing. Frankly, not a word was uttered until after the call, at which point we had a press release that we had drafted ahead of time. And we pulled it out and proceeded to quickly cross off all the things that we had put in there about fighting corruption, reforms. And just crossed it all off we didnt discuss this, we didnt discuss this. And I knew that my duty was to basically take my concerns to the legal office. kara swisher So after the call, there were actually three things you could have done. You could have done nothing which many people have done, done nothing. You did tell the NSCs lawyer. Or you could have gone to the press. Why not go further? alexander vindman So I have heard criticism against me that I am somehow a leaker. Thats clearly not the case. kara swisher No, youre not a leaker. You could have been a leaker. Theres lots of leakers here in this administration. alexander vindman To me, there was no real choice about which course of action. I certainly was not going to not say anything. I wasnt going to abrogate my responsibilities, my duties to raise this issue on a potentially criminal enterprise that, frankly, undermines the very foundations of our democracy. So with that in mind, I knew what the right channel was it was the IG-equivalent channel, which would be the NSC legal shop. And my thought was that these would still be, even though theyre political appointees, that these would be the right people. The president has a lot of lawyers, and I thought that these lawyers would potentially be able to say, hey, Mr. President, this is illegal, and we need to put the kibosh on this. The following day I had prepared for a deputies committee meeting in which we substantiated what we had been working on more cooperation with Ukraine, increased security assistance. kara swisher So you trying to get it back on track? alexander vindman Yes, and I was working within the system to do that. kara swisher At the time, you thought the process worked. And now you went to the NSC lawyer, did you talk to other people? Did you express worries to other people? alexander vindman Just to my twin brother, who is a chief ethics official, and this was an ethical issue. So I wanted to pull him in, and its very fortunate that he was there. And I thought this would be also another way to avoid it getting swept under the rug, because now more people know, including the chief ethics official, and action would have to be taken. kara swisher So, now lets talk. We know that former National Security Advisor John Bolton chose at the time to do nothing at the time of the call or the impeachment proceedings. Now he wrote a book about it. How does that make you feel? Because here was your boss at the NSA not doing it. Theres a lot of people not doing something. alexander vindman I think, unfortunately, maybe politics is a dirty game, and at that senior level weve lost the political leadership that is driven by value-based decision-making, integrity, ethics, and so forth. And especially under this administration theres been a shift to other driving forces like self-preservation in the case of Department of Defense or the Army. Or personal gain, thats not the way Ive lived my life. kara swisher Do you have a good relationship with Ambassador Bolton now? alexander vindman I didnt have a bad relationship with him. I certainly sensed that after I made my complaint, there was some retaliation. I didnt go on a trip with him to countries in my portfolio. I attributed that to the fact that I had proven myself to be an unreliable political actor. Its much more important, frankly, that my peers in the military respect the decisions I make rather than political actors. kara swisher OK. How did you hear about the whistle-blower complaint? Did you feel betrayed? Because you seem to be one of the sources. alexander vindman So, do I feel betrayed by it? No, I think the whistle-blower was probably acting on his best view of how to address this situation. Thats the way I do the analysis that the whistle-blower felt like he had no other choice but to take this to the channels, to the IG and intelligence community. And then ultimately, when that didnt look like it was going to result in a reversal of behavior, ultimately to the House committees. So no, I have no issues about it. Its kind of funny to say it, because in hindsight, that ultimately cost me my military career. But there are bigger stakes here. kara swisher And others on that call, who were they, and why didnt they act? Did you ever go to them and say, did that sound funny to you? alexander vindman Thats also something I have been thinking about quite a bit, because it turns out that other people did go, including political actors like my boss, Tim Morrison, who claims that he only went, because attorneys werent in the room, felt it concerning enough where he had to go circle back around eventually and tell them under the guise of just letting them know instead of being deeply concerned. I remember having a conversation with him separately about whether the presidents comments were an actual change in policy and him being extremely dismissive, saying, no, were not going to take any action on this. Its not policy. Its almost like a President Trump tweet that really upsets the apple cart, and you have to deal with, but it doesnt mean a change of policy. kara swisher So you told your brother, you told counsel, did you tell anyone else? alexander vindman So I did tell two other people, and these were the two most essential people to have a conversation with inside the broader government. One was George Kent, my counterpart, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State that covered Ukraine. And I gave him what I thought he needed to know without going into all the gory details. Hes well positioned, because he corresponds with a charge in Kiev on a regular basis. He could then be alerted to how the Ukrainians respond, take this kind of call, this demand, because this is not an unusual or natural tension between all the work that tends to go into policy and then an erratic decision. This has been templated in Syria with the withdrawal of troops. Afghanistan also, these are decisions that literally happen almost on a whim. kara swisher With President Trump. alexander vindman With the president, transactionally, because he thinks at that moment that might be something that benefits him. kara swisher So snap decisions are not what Alexander Vindman does, or what the government should do. alexander vindman Snap decisions I dont know if that quite captures it. These are not. These are instinctually driven decisions the instinct that drives him is ego, self aggrandizement, personal gain. And thats the difference here. kara swisher Were you asked not to testify by the White House? alexander vindman The White House put out a general declaration that it doesnt want anybody from the executive branch to testify. In my case, they would have preferred I didnt testify, absolutely. kara swisher Did you all, of you as a group, ever feel like it wasnt going to make a difference no matter what you said? alexander vindman Absolutely, I absolutely thought about it. Congress exercising its oversight authorities as a coequal branch of government had called me to provide witness testimony on something I had already felt was wrong. And I could either sit on the sidelines, or I could do my duty and make a material contribution to defense. Does that necessarily mean that the presidents going to get removed? No. But there is still some accountability in the impeachment process. And in certain ways, I think the impeachment exposed a lot of the misdeeds of the president. kara swisher Does it have to make a difference to you? Do you ever think, by yourself, late at night, well, I became a martyr, and a martyr is not really a job. And here Ive given up everything. alexander vindman I think part of my familys history in this regard is helpful, because my dad had to reinvent himself a couple of times, including when he brought us here at the age of 47, leaving the Soviet Union and having to haul furniture for six months before joining the Department of Environmental Protection in New York City as an engineer and making things work. Having three young sons, a mother-in-law that he didnt necessarily get along with, but he made it work. And I knew that there would be a lot of difficulties in the short term. I was looking for lifelines along the way, but it was pretty clear to me that this was probably going to end my military career. But I wasnt fearful about the fact I would land on my feet, and Id be OK. Id had a pretty good run to that point, and I thought I would be fine eventually. kara swisher Are you saying you were forced out of the military and the White House? alexander vindman Nobody wants a famous lieutenant colonel in their in their command. This would be a stigma that I would have to, regardless of what administration, this would be a stigma I would have to live with as the guy that was involved in the impeachment affair, the guy that testified against the president, the guy that appeared in Congress. And every decision made it about my career in the future would be looked at from that lens. I was also in conversations with senior military officers told that I wouldnt be able to serve in my region, that I had flown too close to the sun, like Icarus or something. But that wasnt sufficient. The president wanted to be vindictive, him and his cronies wanted to be vindictive and retaliate and kind of demonstrate what happens to folks that are assessed to be disloyal or go against the president. kara swisher And this is to not allow you to be promoted? alexander vindman That was ultimately a part of it. I knew I was supposed to be promoted, because I was selected for whats called Senior Service College, commonly known as War College. I found out about that the day before I was notified about the fact I was going to be appearing in a closed door testimony. So I knew that I was set for still a very fruitful career and a lot of possibilities in front of me. At least on paper. But I also knew that you know the president is vindictive and vengeful, and that I would have a major counter-force from the executive branch working against me. kara swisher But you believe in this process? alexander vindman I believe in American institutions. What I still believe in is that you have good people in government attempting to do the right thing. What I fear is with four more years and the damage that this administration has done to institutions, starting with the Justice Department but then progressing to the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, and now my own department, the Department of Defense and Army, is that there has been a significant erosion in how good governance, good institutions are supposed to operate. And good people are leaving, and those guardrails are falling aside, and were not going to have any guardrails. If, over the course of this administration, youve had you know, the the term, the grown-ups in the room have all left, and now you have cronies and political operatives, a future administration will be governed by the presidents inconsistency, impulsiveness, conceits, and then you do have what devolves into purely transactional relationships. Its going to be purely driven by ego, personal gain and his general proclivities to consolidate power and better emulate the people that he most regards. Which are not our allies, its Vladimir Putin, its President Xi, and thats what he aspires to be, and thats what hes going to going to try to do. kara swisher Your whole life will now forever be linked with Trump, how do you feel about that? alexander vindman Frankly, one of the reasons Im doing this doctoral program at Johns Hopkins, writing on great power competition, is because I still have aspirations to serve and contribute to US national security. So yes, I could choose to be defined by this and go out on some sort of circuit and talk about my role in the impeachment. kara swisher Well, there is a big anti-Trump circuit, you know. alexander vindman There is, and its justified. But thats not the sum total of who I am. kara swisher Do you regret doing this? alexander vindman Absolutely not. I think it goes back to what I said earlier about the fact that I felt like I made a material contribution to national defense. I can live with myself, I sleep well at night. I could look my young daughter, who is 9 years old, in the eye now and when she gets older and understands the role I played and not have to equivocate, like many dozens of other people will have to do. They will have to explain there will be an accounting. There will be an accounting with their future selves where they have to live with their decisions. There will be an accounting with their loved ones, their children, that they will have to then say, why did you do this? You had an opportunity to protect America, and you chose to be silent. You chose to protect yourself or serve yourself. That is not who I am. [MUSIC PLAYING] kara swisher Well be right back. I want to go very quickly into this The Atlantic reported recently that President Trump disparaged Americas war dead as losers. Whats your sense about how the military feels about the president and about The Atlantic reporting? alexander vindman Sure. So I think the military, which is representative of large swaths of America, has recognized that the president is not advancing US national security interests. And I think that polling, again, has indicated as much. It is not a surprise to anyone, because we have heard the president use his own words to call generals babies, and suckers, and dupes, and so forth. Whats interesting about The Atlantic reporting is not what it uncovered, its that its still a surprise to people. That the president has no understanding of public service or service to anybody but self. kara swisher Well, you called an interview with the president a useful idiot of Vladimir Putin. What did you mean by that? Because he doesnt seem like an idiot. I know thats a term. alexander vindman Yeah, its a trade craft term. Its a term of art, and what it describes is somebody that is an unwitting agent. And basically advancing the interests of Russia without knowing it. And the way that Putin is able to use him, he doesnt even require the compromising material thats required typically to coerce behavior by an agent. He doesnt need that, because what he has in the president is a fan. For some personal gain, he had the Miss Universe Competition that he wanted Putin to appear on. For multiple reasons not the least of which is to poke opposition in the United States with his whole collusion narrative. He wants to just be provocative. kara swisher How would you say the relationships are going with China and Russia? How good a job is he done in managing those relationships? alexander vindman Terribly, and Ill explain. Ill start with the easier issue of China. There is some discussion about whether China is a revisionist power, meaning that it just wants to work on the margins within the international system, or if it wants to completely upend it and establish a different kind of order. Because its somewhat ambiguous still, and up until relatively recently under President Xi Jinping, there were a lot more areas where we could potentially work together. Trump attempted to engage in a trade war which he mismanaged to costly effects for his own key constituencies, agricultural communities, and the broader U.S. consumer. And frankly, in this most recent accommodation where they came up with an agreement of sorts, the president gave a huge amount of ground on the most important issues, intellectual property theft. Now the more problematic issue of Russia. Russia has not just doesnt just have the capabilities, its weaker economically, but its very capable on the security and defense front. You also have a Russia thats been highly aggressive in challenging U.S. interests. And if, in the past, the Russians would be concerned about backlash, the cost that the US would impose in response, now the Russians are challenging our forces directly in Syria. Theyre also supporting the Iranians. Weve gone into a world where the Russians are attacking the U.S. interests directly. And were getting it to the point where theyre going to attack some core interests. And eventually, were going to get to the point where theres going to be an accidental miscalculation, and were going to defend our interests and potentially get into a shooting match. So especially in a Biden administration, for instance, where President Biden will defend our interests, unlike President Trump, we are going to be in a world where the risks are much, much higher. kara swisher Where? Where? alexander vindman I think it could be directly with regards to elections, it could be kara swisher Well, theyve done that. alexander vindman Right, but it could be in a much more robust way. For instance, post-election, in an outcome where President Trump loses, coming up with something that could discredit Vice President Bidens victory. kara swisher All right, to the worst case scenario two people show up for work at the White House on January 20. The court is split, Trumps ignoring it, and then, for the first time in history, an American election has to be decided by the military. Talk me through what might happen. alexander vindman Well, I mean, that is a foundational question, is, does the U.S. military have a role? The president has has, in fact, successfully co-opted large swaths of DHS. And he has his own personal law enforcement force that he could employ to prevent himself from leaving office. Who has the requisite power force to facilitate his departure? The military might be the only one. kara swisher Would the military do that? Do you see that? alexander vindman I think the military is going to do the right thing, and I expect my military officers and our soldiers to abide by the Constitution. They swore an oath not to the president of the United States; they swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States. And I expect them to uphold that oath. kara swisher All right, the president could marshal the DHS or other federal officers. Are you saying you could see this as a dispute between those two sides? alexander vindman I am worried about it, but I know that the military would do the right thing and not come out on the streets to suppress civilian protesters. I know that the military would follow the law. But thats as much as I could say definitively, frankly. But I think this is likely to play out in the courts. kara swisher OK, now you were apolitical. Were you registered for a party before this? Did you tend to vote? alexander vindman Sure, so because I was apolitical, I know I registered at the age of 18 for Selective Service and voted as a New Yorker, as a Democrat. That was many, many years ago. And then I also know because of public record disclosures, people were trying to figure out whether I was a Democratic hack or something like that that I registered as an independent sometime in 2010, 2012. I could say that I failed in my duty as an American on multiple occasions by not voting in previous elections. Ive shaken off that kind of complacency. So if in the past I failed to live up to my obligations as a citizen, I will not do that this time, and I encourage every American to go out and vote. kara swisher Does that mean youre voting for Joe Biden in November? alexander vindman Im absolutely going to vote for Im a Never Trumper. I am going to vote for Joe Biden. We have a binary choice. kara swisher Would you take a post in the Biden administration? alexander vindman Ive made a commitment to my studies for two years. Im in this doctoral program. I find it hard to imagine going into a Biden administration. But at the same time, my feelings on public service are as strong as ever, and if I feel like theres some way that I could contribute beyond what Im doing now, if there is a way for me to continue to serve, Id be willing to do that. kara swisher Have you ever thought about running for office? alexander vindman People have mentioned that to me. My wife would not appreciate that, so I think thats the biggest hurdle. But Im being a little facetious. I would say that political office is important. Whether I personally want to expose myself to that, I find that hard to imagine at this point in time. But I very much applaud the people that do step into the fray. kara swisher So you mentioned your wife several times. How does she feel about this? You have young children, how do they feel about this? alexander vindman My daughter has an opinion. Shes 9, and she liked seeing me on TV. I guess its the age of social media and all of that. So she liked seeing me on Colbert and Trevor Noah. Spy Baby is her favorite skit, where I come here as a 3-year-old spy. But she also is starting to recognize what role I played, and thats important to me. My wife, she feels this very, very poignantly her husband was under attack, our family was under attack. And she doesnt rationalize the Department of Defenses response to my situation as well as I do. The Department of Defense actually conducted this investigation in spite of the fact that the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense had said that there would be no negative action taken against me. kara swisher So you mentioned Icarus which suggests arrogance, that you decided you could do something about this and then got taken down. Do you think youre arrogant? And if youre a martyr, was this the hill to die on? alexander vindman Well, I definitely dont consider myself a martyr, I consider myself a duty bound public servant officer that did what he felt was right. The president politicized me, and gave me a voice, and guess what? Im using my voice. I think I see myself as emblematic of a cohort of subject matter experts that know their craft, have been doing their craft for a while, have operated within the system to help defend U.S. national security interests. kara swisher Has that group lost its power? This group, this cohort of people? As the Republicans might say, the deep state. alexander vindman Well, its deep state, but also that the depth of expertise is another term of art. I dont think so. I think that we have a wonderful cohort of public servants whose contribution is valued. Theres definitely a loss of trust in government right now that has to be rebuilt. kara swisher So how did you do it for you? The country? Your daughter? What? If you had to pick one? alexander vindman I did it for the country. I did it, because to me, There was no choice. I saw something wrong, I suspected it could have amounted to something illegal, and as an army officer, its been drilled into me for decades. If you see something, say something. But I didnt pass the political loyalty test for this administration and for this president. kara swisher All right, thank you, Alex. alexander vindman Thank you. Its a pleasure. Thank you for having me on. [MUSIC PLAYING] kara swisher BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadia (arcadia.io), the leader in population health management technology, announced today that it has expanded its vaccination, preventative screening and appointment reminder outreach program to engage additional patient populations. Arcadia is offering its Outreach product, at no cost, to Accountable Care Organizations, health plans and state agencies that manage more than 15,000 lives so they can communicate directly with larger populations about the importance of routine vaccinations and doctors' appointments. Participating healthcare organizations do not need to be Arcadia customers and can be up and running within just a couple of weeks. Many Americans have delayed or canceled routine exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving vulnerable populations and those with chronic conditions more susceptible to further health complications. As flu season approaches, other at-risk populationssuch as those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and those with certain medical conditionsare being urged to receive their vaccinations and preventative care appointments. "Arcadia is deeply committed to addressing gaps in vaccinations and preventive care," said Arcadia chief medical officer Rich Parker, MD. "Last month, Arcadia launched a similar program so that any of our customers could send personalized SMS and email messaging to remind patients, families and caregivers about pediatric vaccinations. Now, we want to make this product freely available to any healthcare organization needing to quickly engage large populations with trusted information about the importance of routine vaccinations, screenings and medical appointments." Interested organizations can learn more at arcadia.io. CDC: Vaccines Now More Important Than Ever The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the frequently asked questions on its website to address the 2020-2021 flu season, including information about COVID-19 impacts. The CDC anticipates that both flu viruses and the virus that causes COVID-19 will be spreading this fall. "In this context, getting a flu vaccine will be more important than ever," the CDC says. "Due to COVID-19, healthcare organizations witnessed a sudden and unexpected surge in patients skipping their routine medical checkups and deferring care because of concerns about becoming exposed to infection at a medical facility or doctor's office," said Dr. Parker. "Consistent with guidelines from institutions such as the CDC, we believe it is important to remind patients that now is the time to obtain annual vaccinations as well as see their doctor to maintain their health and renew necessary prescriptions." Arcadia Outreach Further Enables Engagement with Millions of Patients Arcadia's HITRUST CSFTM-certified population health management platformArcadia Analyticsis used to measure and support the health of over 100 million patients by some of the largest health plans and health systems in the country, improving value-based care performance, population health management and patient outcomes. Arcadia Outreach powers large-scale patient communication initiatives via multiple modes, including SMS text messaging, email and automated calls. For healthcare organizations using Arcadia Analytics, Arcadia's machine learning assisted patient stratification engine and rules-based outreach campaigns can tailor messaging to various segments of healthcare organizations' patient populations. Patients then receive information from trusted sources, get scheduled appointment reminders, and share outcomes and personal information via a mobile-friendly and secure survey and data collection tool. This collaborative approach to Patient-Reported Outcome Measures enables accurate information to be collected from patients, enhances data-collection efficiency and improves contract performance. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Arcadia customers have utilized Arcadia Outreach to engage patients, conduct symptom screenings, communicate with high-risk patients with behavioral health services, offer telehealth appointment options and remind patients and plan members about the importance of vaccinations. "The COVID-19 pandemic has understandably captured much of the recent attention and focus of healthcare professionals and the American public," Dr. Parker said. "However, we can't lose site of the fact that flu season is quickly approaching, and that many patients need to visit their doctors to make sure they stay healthy and receive needed care. By making Outreach available for more populations, we are demonstrating our commitment to supporting providers and care teams to help them with their important public health work." Learn more about Arcadia's COVID-19 Resources for Value-Based Care When the pandemic hit, Arcadia rapidly rolled out a COVID-19 Surveillance and Engagement Toolkit to help its customers identify and engage high-risk patients. Arcadia also launched a COVID-19 Recovery Toolkit, providing resources to help healthcare organizations navigate the long road back to normalcy. For more information about Arcadia's support for value-based care organizations managing COVID-19 challenges, visit arcadia.io/c19. About Arcadia Arcadia (arcadia.io) is the only healthcare data and software company dedicated to healthcare organizations achieving financial success in value-based care. We work with health systems, providers, payers, and life science companies positioning themselves to win in value-based care, including some of the largest, most complex, and influential health systems and health plans in the country. Our purpose-built, HITRUST CSF-certified population health management platform enables our customers to consistently overperform industry average outcomes by reducing medical expenses, improving risk coding accuracy, and improving quality and patient health outcomes. Our software continuously aggregates and curates the highest quality, most complete and up-to-date data foundation, provides relevant, timely and predictive analytics, and enables action through care management tools and in-workflow insights that present at the point of care. Arcadia has off-the-shelf integration technology for more than 50 different physical and behavioral health EHR vendors, powered by machine learning that combs through variations in over 107 million longitudinal patient records across clinical, claims, social determinants of health, and operational data sources. Founded in 2002, Arcadia is headquartered outside Boston in Burlington, MA, with offices in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Rockford, IL. Arcadia has been recognized as a leading vendor by analysts including Chilmark, Gartner, IDC, and KLAS. We were awarded Best in KLAS for Value-Based Care Managed Services in 2019 and 2020. Media Contacts: Alyssa Drew Strategic Marketing Director Arcadia 781.202.3775 [email protected] Christopher Currington Senior Account Director Amendola Communications for Arcadia 314.799.1987 [email protected] SOURCE Arcadia.io Related Links http://arcadia.io Thousands of mortgage holders have built up more than a decade of missed payments. New figures show that just over 4,700 mortgage accounts were more than 10 years in arrears in June. The account holders could now be making some payments, but they have still managed to accumulate more than 120 months of missed payments. Read More And close to 12,000 residential mortgage accounts have the equivalent of between five and 10 years in arrears on their home-loan accounts, according to the Central Bank. Close to 9,600 were overdue by between two and five years, a new breakdown of the length of time those who are behind on their payments shows. The revelation of how long some home-loan holders are behind is set to prompt calls for a speeding up of the process of dealing with those unable to pay. Critics of the slow pace of court repossessions argue the period of time it takes to deal with a mortgage in default means some are living in homes rent-free. Others argue that families cannot be evicted when social housing is in such short supply. The Central Bank data also shows the time mortgages in arrears have been moving through the court system. Most of those where a formal demand has been issued are in the legal system for two years. Court Some 2,595 accounts in arrears are now more than five years in the court system. However, for the majority of those in arrears no formal demand has been issued by their lender. David Hall of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation said the figures indicate thousands of families will lose their homes. The Central Bank figures also show there was a marginal fall in the numbers of residential mortgage accounts that are two years or more in arrears to 26,228. With some 44pc of these accounts there was co-operation between the borrower and lender, but the mortgages had yet to be restructured. Payment breaks offered by banks since March meant there was a fall-off in the numbers in short-term arrears. In a research paper written by Central Bank economists it was found lenders have been too inclined to put in place short-term repayment arrangements for mortgage holders in financial distress. These include temporary interest-only periods. The research found some lenders have over-relied on short-term solutions which have led to even higher levels of arrears. Deputy Central Bank governor Ed Sibley said: "Recognising problems and finding the most appropriate treatment for borrowers who cannot return to their repayment schedule after a six-month break is likely to lead to better outcomes for more borrowers than pretending that the problems do not exist." Tackling Domestic Abuse is a priority for Her Majestys Government, says Minister of Justice and Equality All officers of the Royal Gibraltar Police are to be trained to deal with domestic abuse in the local community. The Minister of Justice and Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento, has opened the first Domestic Abuse Matters training session delivered by SafeLives, a UK charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse. SafeLives have already provided similar training to more than half the police authorities in the UK. For two days this week, SafeLives instructors will be training the trainers. In addition to RGP officers, professionals from other relevant departments such as the Probation Service, the Care Agency and the GHA will also gain the necessary skills and knowledge to assist on future training courses. As a result of this training, everyone who has to deal with domestic abuse incidents will have a better understanding of both the victims and the perpetrators. The course content has been designed by SafeLives and the College of Policing and the aim is to improve police response to all forms of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviours. For the majority of RGP officers, the training will be delivered as a one-day package but there will be additional training for domestic abuse champions. These champions will lead debriefs and assist in improving the RGPs response to relevant incidents. Assistant Commissioner Cathal Yeats said The learning outcomes from this course will allow us to build on the experience that we already have within the RGP and improve our response, by effectively dealing with domestic abuse, safeguarding victims and prosecuting offenders. Victims can be left with life changing physical injuries and psychological trauma or in some cases result in the loss of a life, as we have experienced in Gibraltar. By responding to Domestic Abuse effectively, we can save lives. Minister Sacramento said Tackling Domestic Abuse is a priority for Her Majestys Government and a fundamental issue which needs to be confronted by our community. I am pleased to work alongside the RGP and SafeLives in order to enhance the knowledge and skills of our first responders. No one should live in fear. It is not acceptable, not inevitable, and together - we can make it stop. Brad Parscale, who managed President Donald Trump's campaign for nearly 2 1/2 years until he was demoted in July, was hospitalized for his own safety after threatening suicide while holding a handgun during a confrontation with his wife at his Florida home, local police said Monday. Parscale's wife, Candice, called authorities shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday to report that he had loaded a gun in front of her, prompting her to flee the house out of fear for her safety. She told police that Parscale was still inside the house with multiple guns, that he had made several threats of suicide and that she feared he might attempt to take his own life. Parscale was ultimately transported to Broward Health Medical Center under the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows authorities to detain a person they think poses a danger to themselves. Fort Lauderdale Police Department reports from the incident reveal a grim and troubling picture of Trump's former campaign manager. His wife said Parscale had been drinking heavily, had been physically abusive toward her, and had been stressed and making suicidal comments for weeks. She also told police that he "suffers from PTSD," or post-traumatic stress disorder, without elaborating. Police removed 10 firearms from the home: five handguns, two rifles, two shotguns and a small revolver, according the report. Several of the officers who responded to the incident wrote in their reports that Candice Parscale exhibited physical signs of what she said was previous abuse by her husband. One officer wrote that she "had several bruises on both of her arms as well as scratches and bruising on her face," and another wrote that they noticed "several large sized contusions on both of her arms, her cheek and forehead." One of the officers wrote that when asked how she received the bruising, Candice Parscale "stated Brad Parscale hits her." Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford "When asked if he made these markings today, she claimed he did not," reads the report. "I continued to ask if Brad Parscale physically assaulted her in anyway today and she said no, but he did forcibly smack her phone out of her hand when she was attempting to call Brad Parscale's father." According to the reports, she described Parscale loading one of his guns directly in front of her, which prompted her to leave the house and take refuge outside. She "became so afraid for her safety that she immediately fled the residence on foot with no cellphone or belongings," reads the report. In an audio recording released by the police, Terry Behal - a real estate agent who was showing a house in the neighborhood when Candice Parscale flagged her down for help - can also be heard noticing her bruises. "What are those bruises? Oh no, did he do that?" Behal asks, at the end of the police recording. "Oh my gosh. Your arm - both your arms. Has he been hurting you?" Sunday's altercation marks the culmination of a turbulent tenure for Brad Parscale in Trump's orbit. In February 2018, Trump announced that Parscale, who had worked on his 2016 campaign as digital director, would serve as his 2020 campaign manager. But in July of this year, Parscale was demoted following accusations of profligate spending and anger from Trump over a June rally in Tulsa, Okla. Trump was expecting a large crowd, but just 6,000 supporters materialized amid concerns over attending an indoor rally during the coronavirus pandemic. Parscale, who had publicly claimed that the Tulsa event had more than 1 million RSVPs, took much of the blame for the botched rally. Documents later showed that he and the campaign had pitched the president on a number of smaller and outdoor venues, including a proposed drive-in rally. His key mistake, advisers said, was promising Trump such a large crowd and saying so publicly. Parscale ultimately stayed on the campaign as a senior adviser helping with digital efforts and other tasks. Parscale was angry over being demoted by Jared Kushner - Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, with whom he had been close - rather than by the president himself, according to people familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions. But Parscale had spoken to Trump in recent weeks and had returned to the campaign's Arlington, Va., headquarters for meetings. He also had helped put together some of the videos for the Republican National Convention last month. He felt under attack in recent weeks, Parscale told others, because of news stories about questionable spending and financial problems in the campaign. Trump advisers said they had grown concerned about Parscale in the days following his ouster as campaign manager, three people familiar with the matter said, but had felt he was doing fine in recent weeks. Parscale, who was still employed by the campaign as of Monday, did not respond to requests for comment. His wife also could not be reached for comment. Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh offered a statement Monday supportive of Parscale: "Our thoughts are with Brad and his family as we wait for all the facts to emerge." In a different statement Sunday, Murtaugh also offered support to Parscale, whom he called "a member of our family." But after the president had been briefed on the incident, Murtaugh updated his initial statement, using Parscale's personal situation as a cudgel to attack Trump's political rivals. "The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they've done to this man and his family," Murtaugh said in his statement, referring to Republicans in Name Only, or RINOs, a dismissive term for Republicans who do not support the party's policies or candidates. The incident involving Parscale is the latest in a long list of interactions with law enforcement officials by current and former Trump staffers. Paul Manafort, Trump's former 2016 campaign chairman, is serving a seven-year prison sentence. He was indicted in June 2018 by special counsel Robert Mueller for witness tampering and was later convicted of bank and tax fraud charges as well. Manafort's 2016 campaign deputy, Rick Gates, who helped with Trump's presidential transition, was also ensnared in Mueller's Russia investigation, pleading guilty in early 2018 to conspiracy against the United States, as well as to lying to federal investigators. Stephen Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist who also served as his 2016 campaign chief in the final months of that campaign, was charged in August with defrauding donors as a part of a campaign to raise money for the president's wall on the nation's southern border. In an interview, Behal said she doesn't know the Parscales but was showing a house in their neighborhood and was just across the street from their home waiting for a client when Candice Parscale knocked on her car window to ask for help, saying, "I think my husband just killed himself." Behal said Candice Parscale nearly collapsed when she tried to help her into the car. She "had nothing on her - no keys, no phone," Behal said, so they used Behal's phone to call 911. The police reports describe Brad Parscale as "clearly intoxicated," and a video released by the police shows him, shirtless, holding a beer as he exits his house to come down his driveway to talk to the officers. As he stands in his driveway starting to explain his version of events to an officer, another officer can be heard telling him several times to "get on the ground," before tackling him and detaining him with handcuffs. In the video, Parscale does not seem to resist. In the interview, Behal added that while she and Candice Parscale waited in her car for the authorities to arrive, Candice told her that Brad "has been very upset lately because he just lost his job." - - - The Washington Post's Lori Rozsa in Fort Lauderdale contributed to this report. London: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has said her alleged "inflammatory" opinions are down to people's interpretation of her "authentic self", saying: "If you listen to what I actually say, it's not controversial." The wife of the Queen's grandson, Prince Harry, said negative reactions to her comments are too often formed by "things that just haven't happened", as she criticised "clickbait" and "misinformation", adding "there are always going to be naysayers". Harry and Meghan now live in California with their son Archie. Credit:Getty Images Speaking at the opening of the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit, held online, she said she now chose to ignore the "noise" and focus on being "authentic". The event was broadcast hours after Meghan lost her latest High Court hearing in London against the Mail on Sunday, as a judge ruled that the recent biography Finding Freedom could be used as evidence in a forthcoming trial. In conversation with Ellen McGirt, Fortune editor, the Duchess was asked how she dealt with speaking her mind when "a sitting president has taken a shot at you, mobs come at you, and powerful forces try to take you down." Stung by a multi-agency probe and the subsequent freezing of all its bank accounts in India, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Tuesday that it was winding up its operations in the country because of a witch-hunt by the government. The complete freezing of its India bank accounts has halted all the work in which it has been engaged in the country, Amnesty International India said in a statement. The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations, said the rights group. The home ministry, however, said in a statement that the stand taken by Amnesty International is unfortunate, exaggerated, and far from the truth and accused the body of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violations, and interference in domestic police debates despite being funded by foreign donations. The rights group denies the financial violations charges and says it has been in full compliance with all laws. On October 22, 2019, Amnesty International testified at the US Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia, with specific focus on Jammu & Kashmir after the Indian Parliament on August 5 pushed through constitutional changes that divested J&K of its special status and reorganised it into two Union territories. This August 28, the rights group released an investigative brief on the complicity of the Delhi Police in the February communal riots that claimed the lives of at least 53 people. Delhi Police rebutted the claim, saying Amnestys report was lopsided, biased and malicious. Also read: On Amnesty row, BJP leader quotes ex-PM Manmohan Singh to defend govt Amnesty has also accused the government of suppressing free speech and demanded the release of activists Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudha Bhardwaj, Surendra Gadling and others arrested in connection with the January 1, 2018, caste clashes in Bhima-Koregaon near Pune in Maharashtra. This is the fifth time Amnesty India is being shut down. The first time was when George Fernandes led it 50 years ago, Aakar Patel, former executive director of Amnesty India, tweeted on Tuesday. The last time the group shut its operations in India was in 2009. The rights group is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), since October 2018 when the agency raided its Bengaluru head office and froze its accounts because of which it had to let go of some staff at the time. In early 2019, the Income Tax department wrote to Amnestys office-bearers seeking certain clarifications. In November 2019, CBI filed a case against Amnesty, alleging it received 36 crore in funding without the mandatory permission required under the FCRA and raided its offices. In August 2016, a sedition case was filed against the organisation that was quashed by a court last year. Investigative agencies have alleged that the fund-raising model of Amnesty International India was in violation of FCRA that amounts to money laundering, a charge denied by the rights group. The ministry said that Amnestys glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities, which are in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Owing to illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas, the home ministry said. The government earlier this month brought in a new amendment to FCRA which disallows transfer of any foreign funds received by any non-government organisation (NGO) to any other organisation or individual. The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the ED is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi Police and the government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voice against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, said Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected Amnestys allegations and said the organisation was receiving funds from abroad in contravention of the Indian laws. The Reserve Bank of India told all banks that Amnesty should be put in the category for prior reference. Before receiving money from outside India they would need to be in the prior permission category. There has been shifty money transfer to the companies and there is suspected flow of money into the trust of the Amnesty International, the partys national spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said. New Delhi, Sep 30 : The Delhi Police have arrested four more people, including Brinder Singh Dhillon, the President of Punjab Youth Congress, in connection with the tractor burning incident near the India Gate during a protest against the farm Bills recently passed by the Parliament. The other three who have been arrested are Harish Panwar and Abraham Roy Mani, both national general secretaries of All India Youth Congress, and Bunty (Rushikesh) Shelke, secretary, All India Youth Congress, and in-charge of Punjab Youth Congress. The Delhi Police had earlier arrested six persons in connection with the case. According to the police, an FIR has been registered at the Tilak Marg police station under various sections of the law, including a non-bailable section of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The arrested individuals have been booked under Section 188 of Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Diseases Act and various other sections of the IPC. According to the Delhi Police, around 15-20 unidentified persons reportedly belonging to the Punjab Youth Congress gathered at the India Gate in the national capital on Monday to protest against the farm Bills. During the protest, they set a tractor on fire just a few metres away from India Gate. The fire was later doused and the tractor was removed from the spot by the police. Mumbai: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday sought to know what happened after the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death was given to the CBI, and said he is eagerly waiting to know the outcome of the agencys investigation. Deshmukhs comments came a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it has not reached any conclusion in the death Rajput and that all aspects are under investigation. The CBI started a probe into the high-profile case last month following the Supreme Courts nod. Earlier, the Mumbai Police had filed an accidental death report and were investigating the matter after Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Bandra area here on June 14 this year. Taking to Twitter, Deshmukh said, What happened after the Sushant Singh death case probe was handed over to the CBI? People have been asking whether the actor committed suicide or was killed." We are also waiting eagerly to know the outcome of the CBI probe," he added. The Supreme Court last month upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged in Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting Rajputs suicide, to the CBI. Deshmukh had in the past defended the Mumbai Polices investigation into the case, saying the force conducted the probe in a professional manner". The CBI in a statement on Monday said it is conducting professional investigation related to death of Rajput in which all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out as of date." The central agency had taken over the probe from Bihar Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actors father K K Singh in Patna against Rajputs girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family. Singh in his complaint to Bihar Police had alleged that Chakraborty along with her family members had misappropriated Rajputs wealth, which was denied by Chakraborty in TV interviews. Last week, Singhs lawyer Vikas Singh expressed helplessness" over the slow pace of the CBI probe into Rajputs death. You may have heard of Samson, one of the strongest men alive, and a judge of Israel (Judges 16). You may have also heard that Samson ran into trouble when he ate some honey from a lions carcass or got his hair trimmed. But why? It seems awfully stringent that God would get mad at Samson when he would do these things, apart from the fact that eating honey from any type of carcass would not pass CDC guidelines. Samson belonged to a group of Jews known as the Nazarites. As we may have learned either at church or school, the Israelites had to follow a great deal of rules in the Old Testament, enough to span five different books in the Pentateuch. But the Nazarites had even more rules to follow. In this article, well cover Nazarites we meet in the Bible, the extra rules they had to follow, and why they had extra guidelines they abided by. What Were the Names of Nazarites in the Bible? As we mentioned before, Samson belonged to the Nazarites, the most famous of those listed in the Bible. But who else in Scripture also would align themselves with this group? Samsons parents, Zorah and his wife take a Nazarite vow in order to have Samson (Judges 13). Apart from Samsons family line, do we see other Nazarites in the Bible? Although Samson is the only explicit Nazarite in the Bible, Scripture does hint at some other famous figures who likely took this vow. When Samuels, another judge of Israel, mother Hannah dedicates him, God instructs her that no blade is to come to his head (1 Samuel 1:11). This means he cannot cut his hair, one of the hallmarks of a Nazarite (more on this in a moment). Another example, from the New Testament, is John the Baptist. John avoids drinking alcohol, another hallmark of the Nazarites, and lives a separate life. Paul briefly engages in a Nazarite vow (Acts 18:18). This shows, as touched on later, that Nazarite vows only last for a limited timeframe, not an entire lifetime. We dont find many other clear instances in the Bible, but we can know that many Israelites did take a Nazarite vow. Similar to the Essenes in the New Testament, they wanted to live separated lives and away from the pleasures of the world. What Were the Extra Rules Nazarites Followed? The Nazarites followed three rules, in addition to separating themselves (Numbers 6:1-21). The guidelines for this vow were: it was voluntary, open to men and women, and had a limited timeframe (so it didnt last a lifetime). First, Nazarites refrained from drinking alcohol. Secondly, they had to avoid getting near or touching anything that has perished, including family gravesites. Finally, for the duration of the vow, a Nazarite could not cut their hair. they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long. Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body. Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head (Numbers 6:3-7). The example of Samson makes it clear that he broke many of the Nazarite vows. In fact, he broke every rule. And he later suffers the consequences at the hands of the Philistines. Why Did They Follow These Extra Rules? The Israelites already had enough rules to follow, so why add more to them? A Nazarite, as suggested by this article, wanted to dedicate themselves to the service of God for a period of time. We could equate those in monastic lives, or perhaps more loosely, those who dedicate years of service to God, as similar to those who have taken a Nazarite vow. For instance, many churches or Christian schools do not allow any of their staff to consume alcohol. Although some Christians may consume alcohol, those who dedicate themselves to the Lord in service may have to abide by extra rules. Although the Bible has left much of the Nazarite expectations in secrecy, we can perhaps assume that those who engaged in the vow would want to know and grow closer to God in some way. In the same way, some Christians may participate in social media hiatuses or may choose to give up something for Lent, the Nazarites took this to an extreme. What we often find, when we give up worldly pleasures of sorts for a limited span of time is that we tend to hear God more clearly and experience fewer distractions. Perhaps the Nazarites had witnessed the same happenings, and that added to the appeal of partaking in the vow. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/AaronAmat Hope Bolinger is a multi-published novelist and a graduate of Taylor University's professional writing program. More than 1,200 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer's Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Her modern-day Daniel trilogy is out with IlluminateYA. She is also the co-author of the Dear Hero duology, which was published by INtense Publications. And her inspirational adult romance Picture Imperfect releases in November of 2021. Find out more about her at her website. The body of a man, 29, who went missing five weeks ago when he was filming himself jumping off a rented boat and accidentally 'left it in gear' has been found more than 1,500 feet deep in Lake Tahoe. Ryan Normoyle, from Closter, New Jersey, drowned after he left the boat in gear when he leaped into the water on August 10 and was unable to catch back up with it. Authorities finally recovered his body Sunday by tracking his location through his cellphone GPS data. Bruce's Legacy, a nonprofit that provides search and recovery operations for drowned victims, said it was the deepest recorded recovery ever carried out in the US and Canada after crews pulled his body from the deepest section of the lake. The body of Ryan Normoyle, 29, (pictured) who went missing five weeks ago while filming himself jumping off a rented boat has been found more than 1,500 feet deep in Lake Tahoe Normoyle was on a three-week vacation to California in August when he visited Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains bordering California and Nevada. He rented a boat on the lake for two hours on August 10 so he could explore the waters. The 29-year-old, whose mom told CBS Sacramento he was a talented woodworker with a big heart, was recording himself jumping off the boat into the lake. Investigators said the tragedy unfolded as he left the empty boat 'slightly in gear'. This meant the boat continued to slowly accelerate forward while he was swimming in the water. 'The cellphone video basically shows him jumping off the boat. It looks like he was playing around in the water didn't know the boat was in gear and he wasn't able to make it back to the boat,' Lt. Travis Cabral with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department said. Normoyle, from Closter, New Jersey, drowned after he left the boat in gear when he leaped into the water back on August 10 and was unable to catch back up with it. Pictured the search for his body Underwater footage from the search which crews said was the deepest recorded recovery ever carried out in the US and Canada Authorities believe Normoyle tried to swim after the boat but could not catch up with it in the rough waters and drowned. The boat washed ashore in Glenbrook, Nevada, later that night without Normoyle on it. South Lake Tahoe Police launched an investigation and found Normoyle's cellphone had captured GPS data while he was recording himself jumping off the boat. The data was used to track down a possible location for a search and rescue operation. Authorities finally recovered Normoyle's body from the deepest part of the lake Sunday by tracking his location through his cellphone GPS data Crews from Douglas County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, Washoe County Marine Unit and a UC Davis Research Team were all drafted in using Remote Operated Vehicles and an unmanned submarine to scan for signs of Normoyle. Bruce's Legacy joined in another search with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Washoe County Sheriff's Office and the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department on September 24 after the victim's family got in touch with the nonprofit. Crews eventually located his body two days later 1,565 feet under the water and it was recovered on September 27, South Lake Tahoe Police Department said on social media. The previous record for the deepest recovery in Lake Tahoe was in 2018 at a depth of 1,062 feet. President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday night that reports stating he wanted his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump as his running mate were both 'sick' and wrong'. 'Fake News @CNN is actually reporting that I wanted my daughter, Ivanka, to run with me as my Vice President in 2016 Election. Wrong and totally ridiculous. These people are sick!' the president tweeted. The story, first featured in the Washington Post then CNN, featured claims made in the new book by former Trump deputy campaign chair Rick Gates. According to Wicked Game, published on October 13, Trump wanted his daughter as he prized loyalty above all else. 'I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?' Trump reportedly asked during the run up to the 2016 election. 'Ivanka should be vice president.' Donald Trump tweeted late Monday night there is no truth he wanted his daughter Ivanka Trump to be on the 2016 ticket as his running mate Ivanka Trump with her father at the 2016 Republican National Convention - she served as an adviser to the campaign that year. A new book reveals he also wanted her as vice president Trump brought up repeatedly, including during a conversation that included Jared Kushner and all the other adult Trump children. The pair are pictured in April 2020 at the White House Trump's desire is revealed in Rick Gates' forth coming book 'Wicked Game: An Insider's Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost,' which is out October 13 'All heads turned toward her, and she just looked surprised. We all knew Trump well enough to keep our mouths shut and not laugh,' Gates wrote. 'He went on: 'She's bright, she's smart, she's beautiful, and the people would love her!' It was an idea Trump allegedly brought up repeatedly, including during a conversation that included Jared Kushner and all the other adult Trump children, Gates writes in 'Wicked Game: An Insider's Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost.' Trump was so keen on having Ivanka as vice president and 'cool to other options, including his eventual selection of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, that his team polled the idea twice,' the Post reported. Ivanka is said to have told her father that it was not a good idea and Trump eventually chose Pence after the then-governor gave a 'vicious and extended monologue' about former President Bill Clinton and Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton at a breakfast event. Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump with Rick Gates (left) and Paul Manafort (right) at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 during a speech rehearsal At the time Ivanka Trump was a fashion and real estate executive who made appearances on her father's reality show 'The Apprentice.' She was also an adviser on her father's campaign but she had no previous political experience and had never held elective office. Pictured in the White House in April At the time Ivanka Trump was a fashion and real estate executive who made appearances on her father's reality show 'The Apprentice.' She was also an adviser on her father's campaign but she had no previous political experience and had never held elective office. But Trump wasn't sold on any of the names being pitched to him as part of the Republican ticket, including Mike Pence. The then-presidential nominee's actions signaled to his team 'just how serious he was about putting his politically inexperienced daughter just a heartbeat from the presidency,' Gates noted. So the campaign tested her appeal by placing Ivanka Trump's name next to a dozen potential vice presidential candidates in internal campaign polls. 'She didn't poll tremendously high, but higher than we expected, and that only added to the seriousness of her consideration,' Gates wrote. It was Ivanka Trump who pulled herself out of contention: 'She went to her father and said, 'No, Dad. It's not a good idea.' And he capitulated.' 'This is not true and there was never any such poll,' Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told CNN on Monday. Rick Gates leaves federal court in December 2019. He was later jailed for 45 days Gates, who served as the campaign's deputy manager, became a star witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Gates writes Trump values loyalty above all which is why he puts family members in key positions. Ivanka Trump and Kushner both have high-ranking positions in the Trump White House. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr run the Trump Organization - the family business. Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly touted his belief Ivanka could be commander in chief. During an August campaign rally in New Hampshire he said his daughter would make a better president than the Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris. 'I want to see the first woman president also, but I don't want to see the first woman president get into the position the way [Harris] would do it, and she's not competent, she's not competent,' he said. 'I want to see the first woman president also, but I don't want to see a woman president get in to that position the way she'd do it, and she's not competent, she's not competent,' he said during a rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire. 'They're all saying, 'We want Ivanka.' I don't blame you.' This year Ivanka Trump is serving as surrogate for her father on the campaign trail, visiting battleground states like Arizona, North Carolina and Florida. Trump's third nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize comes from a group of Australian law professors, on the basis of the 'Trump Doctrine' of foreign policy Also on Monday night, the president tweeted after receiving a third Nobel Peace Prize nomination. 'The 'Trump Doctrine' earns President Trump a third Nobel Peace Prize Nomination!' the president tweeted. 'Might as well mention this because it will never be reported by the Lamestream Media!' he then added in a second tweet. Trump's third nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize comes from a group of Australian law professors, on the basis of the 'Trump Doctrine' of foreign policy. Law professor David Flynt appeared on Sky News Australia over the weekend, saying the 'Trump Doctrine' is 'something extraordinary.' 'What he has done with the Trump Doctrine is that he has decided he would no longer have America in endless wars, wars which achieve nothing but the killing of thousands of young Americans and enormous debts imposed on America, and nothing solved in the countries in which it is carried on. So he's reducing America's tendency to get involved in any and every war.' 'He has, firstly, common sense, and he is only guided by national interest and therefore an interest in the western alliance,' Flynt continued. A ballot box stands at a drive through drop-off for absentee ballots in Minneapolis on Aug. 11, 2020. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Minneapolis Police Probe Allegations of Voter Fraud Minneapolis police detectives are investigating allegations of voter fraud ahead of the November general election, officials confirmed on Sept. 28. The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements, the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) said in a statement. No further information is available at this time. Watchdog group Project Veritas recently released an undercover video that contained allegations of ballot harvesting, focusing primarily on a man named Liban Mohamed, who is said to be the brother of Jamal Osman, a Minneapolis councilman who won an August special election. The man bragged about collecting hundreds of absentee ballots for his brother, in videos that were recorded in July. State law prohibits a designated agent from collecting more than three ballots per election. Meanwhile, the Hennepin County Attorneys Office said its received no information or cases involving so-called ballot harvesting in any elections held in Hennepin County this year. Per state law, local police departments are responsible for investigating those types of allegations, prosecutors said. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Steve Simon told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement: Our office does not make determinations of legality, nor do we have investigative authority. Any person who believes they have evidence of unlawful voting activity should alert the County Attorneys Office. President Donald Trump called on Erica MacDonald, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, to investigate the allegations. Her office didnt answer phone calls and hasnt addressed the claims, which have drawn nationwide attention. Osman didnt immediately respond to an inquiry and also hasnt commented about the matter. In a tweet that he later deleted, Mohamed said the video contained fake news. Meanwhile, Omar Jamal, a Somali community organizer, claimed to Project Veritas that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and her supporters are linked to the alleged scheme, although state Republican Rep. Steve Drazkowski told reporters in a virtual press conference that theres no clear evidence connecting her with what is said to have happened. While Omar hasnt directly addressed the accusations, her spokesman, Jeremy Slevin, said in a statement on Twitter, Reminder that amplifying a coordinated right-wing effort to delegitimize a free and fair election is not journalism. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks to reporters during a campaign stop in Minneapolis, on Aug. 11, 2020. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Drazkowski led an effort to have Omar investigated for allegedly improper use of campaign funds. Minnesotas campaign finance and public disclosure board found last year that she had repeatedly violated state rules against using campaign funds to pay for non-campaign expenses. Drazkowski said concerned community members later came to him with allegations of voter fraud, including payments to people of between $100 and $200 per vote. They believe that Representative Omar was at the center of this, he said during the briefing. Drazkowski said he shared information with the FBI, as has at least one journalist. A FBI spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email: In keeping with our standard practice, we neither confirm nor deny any investigation. We do not have any further comment. Drazkowski sent two letters on Sept. 28: one to U.S. Attorney General William Barr asking him to open an investigation into the alleged illegal practices in Minnesota, and another to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon asking that he immediately suspend absentee balloting until the accusations are sorted out. Neither the Department of Justice nor Simons spokesman responded to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. Potential or confirmed issues with absentee voting have cropped up in at least two states in recent weeks. In Wisconsin, trays of mail, including absentee ballots, were found in a ditch, while in Pennsylvania, nine military mail-in ballots, most cast for Trump, were discovered near a dumpster. Both of the discoveries are under investigation. By Trend Pakistan and Turkmenistan will continue to increase bilateral cooperation and interaction in various fields, said the President of Pakistan Arif Alvi in its telegram to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhaedov, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmenportal information portal. According to the Pakistani president, over the years of a long-term partnership, the countries have reached new frontiers in expanding cooperation Turkmenistan and Pakistan cooperate in a number of areas, in particular in the oil and gas sector. One of the main indicators of cooperation between the countries in the oil and gas sector is the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The TurkmenistanAfghanistanPakistanIndia Pipeline (TAPI), also known as Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline, is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with the participation of the Asian Development Bank. The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. Construction on the project started in Turkmenistan on 13 December 2015. The length of the Turkmen section of the TAPI pipeline, the construction of which was launched in December 2015, will be 205 kilometers (the main operations are carried out on the 120th kilometer). The pipeline will pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the city of Fazilka in India. The pipelines design capacity is planned to be 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and the projects cost - about $8 billion. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz PONTIAC, MI The man who was shot and killed outside the popular Erebus Haunted House in Pontiac was a welder from Detroit. 29-year-old Douglas Reese died early Sunday morning, FOX 2 Detroit reports. Police are still in looking for the suspect in the incident and have asked for the publics help. The suspect was described as a man standing 6-foot tall and wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt and jeans, police said. A witness reported a blue sedan fled the scene at a high rate of speed after the shooting. RELATED: Police seek help finding suspect in homicide outside Michigan haunted house Deputies with the Oakland County Sheriffs Office and STAT EMS responded shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 27 to the popular haunted house, 18 South Perry St., for a reported shooting. The caller said Reese was laying on the ground in a nearby parking lot, per a statement issued by the sheriffs office. Witnesses had heard gunfire. Reese was shot in the side, neck and chest. Reese and his girlfriend were waiting in line to enter the haunted house when a man ahead of them allegedly would not move, police said. Reese and the suspect exchanged words; the suspect thought Reese had cut in line ahead of him. Reese told his girlfriend he was going to his vehicle, police said. The suspect and the victim then went separately to the parking lot. Thats when witnesses heard shots fired. Reese was transported to McLaren Oakland hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. READ MORE: Suspects arrested after allegedly cutting 4 fingers off mans right hand Woman, 25, dead after crashing Slingshot into tree Man fatally stabbed after fight in Jackson County, police say Missing kayaker walks back into U.P. campground after all-night search Suspect shot in face by St. Clair County property owner during breaking and entering, police say 1 dead, 1 injured after daytime shooting in Flint "Federal agencies need security experts and these scholarship programs are an excellent way to attract student attention and interest,"-Craig Shue, Director of the WPI Scholarships for Service Program. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has been awarded $4.9 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to support the universitys cybersecurity scholarship programs in an ongoing effort to fill a critical need for cybersecurity workers in federal government positions. The funding provides generous scholarships through two separate programs at WPI for undergraduate and graduate students who commit to government service, after graduation, to address cyber threats and challenges facing the nation. In late 2019, a jobs report stated four million cybersecurity workers would be needed globally to close the skills gap. With record numbers of people now working from home and companies, organizations, and agenciesincluding the U.S. governmentmoving services online, the demand for a skilled cyber defense workforce is soaring. "Federal agencies need security experts and these scholarship programs are an excellent way to attract student attention and interest," said Craig Shue, computer science associate professor and the director of the WPI Scholarships for Service program. "We have strong opportunities in security education, particularly in computer science and electrical and computer engineering that can help our students learn how to meet federal needs." NSF Funding for the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program: The award from the National Science Foundation is a renewal of the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, which WPI has offered since 2015. The program will support 25 students over five years and provides full tuition, a generous stipend, academic fees, and a book allowance. Students may apply in their sophomore year. For each year of the scholarshipup to three yearsstudents commit to one year of post-graduation paid employment with the government in cybersecurity. Recipients also take summer internships with federal agencies prior to graduating. The CyberCorps SFS program has been highly competitive at WPI, with typical acceptance rates of 12%-18%. This high demand allows WPI to admit highly qualied students into the program who show a genuine commitment to serving the national need. The SFS program provides a very strong financial incentive for students while giving the government access to top talent that often gets recruited to private industry. DoD Funding for the Cyber Scholarship Program (CySP): The second award is from the DoD. The agencys Cyber Scholarship Program (CySP) is similar to the NSF CyberCorps mission to recruit top cyber talent to help protect the nation against threats. To be considered for CySP, a student must apply directly to the DoD with a schools recommendation. This year, for the first time, a WPI student has been selected for this prestigious and highly competitive program. Harrison Kyriacou, a member of the Class 2022, was one of 120 recipients nationwide offered a CySP scholarship. In addition to full tuition, Kyriacou is guaranteed a job within a DoD agency after graduation. Every day we hear about hacks or data breaches, and protecting our national security from cyber threats is only going to become more important, said Kyriacou. I am so grateful for the scholarship and the opportunity to focus on my studies while knowing that I have a meaningful internship and employment lined up for after graduation. These awards demonstrate the universitys strengths in cybersecurity research and education," said Craig Wills, WPI computer science professor and department head. They also have a multiplicative effect as the program helps us attract top students who will ultimately help bolster our nations cyber defenses in critical areas of network and system security. A school must be designated as a National Center for Excellence to offer the CySP scholarship to its students. WPI received the designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research in 2014 and was redesignated in 2019. About Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI, the global leader in project-based learning, is a distinctive, top-tier technological university founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems. Recognized by the National Academy of Engineering with the 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, WPIs pioneering project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. WPI offers more than 50 bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs across 14 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. Its faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research to meet ongoing challenges in health and biotechnology; robotics and the internet of things; advanced materials and manufacturing; cyber, data, and security systems; learning science; and more. http://www.wpi.edu Media Contact: Colleen B Wamback Associate Director, Public Relations Worcester Polytechnic Institute (508) 688-4858 (mobile) cbwamback@wpi.edu Mumbai, Sep 29 : The Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena will soon take a decision on contesting the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, party MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said here on Tuesday. "There are a lot of demands from our people there. We shall discuss it with party President and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and decide on whether to contest the Bihar Assembly polls or not," Raut told mediapersons. On the move by ex-top police official of Bihar, former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey's decision to join politics, the Sena leader said he was free to do whatever he wants since that's his personal choice. "Our objection was to the manner in which he painted the Mumbai Police in a bad light in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. He tried to drive a wedge between the police and people of the two states for his advantage when he was the DGP," Raut said. To a question whether the Sushant case was a conspiracy to tarnish the image of state Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, Raut replied in the affirmative, but declined to elaborate. However, he pointed out that the Shiv Sena has emerged unscathed from the entire episode, but those who attempted to throw muck at the party, screaming at the top of their lungs on television channels, will meet a similar fate. "They were criticising the Mumbai Police probe in the Sushant case. Now, the probe is with the CBI for over a month. The people want to know what's the outcome. If they (Sena critics) have the guts, then they should be asking questions to the CBI now, just as they demanded answers from Mumbai Police earlier," Raut dared. Referring to the fracas surrounding his meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party's Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, Raut put at rest all speculation and claimed that "it was purely to finalise the interview schedule" between Sena and Fadnavis. He reiterated that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance government of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray -- comprising the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress will complete its full five-year term, despite all effort by the state Opposition to topple the coalition -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text TROY, N.Y. Rensselaer County and Troy officials gathered to remember victims of DWI, Tuesday afternoon. The memorial ceremony is typically held in the spring at the DWI Victim Memorial on Congress Street but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While, thankfully, there have been no DWI-related deaths this year in the county, the event served as an important reminder of the consequences of drinking and driving. If theres maybe just one and only one upside to COVID, its that weve had no deaths this year from DWI, which is wonderful and hopefully that continues all the way through not only this year, but every year going forward to that we do not have to add any more names to this wall, Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin remarked. This county has certainly suffered more than its fair share of DWI deaths, so we are certainly honored to gather here today with everybody, McLaughlin noted. Troy Mayor Patrick Madden also spoke to the importance of remembering those lives lost unnecessarily due to drunken-driving We gather again this year to remember members of our community whose lives have tragically been cut short at the hands of those who thoughtlessly got behind the wheel after drinking, Madden stated. The names that are listed on this memorial are more than unfortunate examples of lives that have tragically and needlessly ended, Madden said. They are mothers, they are fathers, they are sisters, brothers, husbands, and wives. They are members of families whose lives and futures were permanently altered by the thoughtless decisions of others. They are dreams and hopes dashed. They are voices that can no longer be heard. Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly reiterated her commitment to hold drunk drivers accountable for their actions. As your district attorney, its my job to seek justice for your lost family members and for the survivors. And its a job that I dont take lightly, Donnelly said. And I think in the short time that Ive been here Ive recognized that nothing I can do can take away your pain but all of us standing here today it really does bring an encouraging message that we are speaking up and speaking out about the dangers of driving while intoxicated, Donnelly continued on the need to educate and spread awareness of the dangers of drunken-driving. The more that we continue to speak and the more that we continue to share their names and the more that you all continue to share your stories, I do see progress. I do see our younger generation recognizing the hazards of DWI and recognizing what it does to families and survivors and to victims, Donnelly added. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), every day, nearly 30 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes or one person every 50 minutes. Additionally, drunk-driving crashes claim more than 10,000 lives per year. The latest data shows there were 10,511 deaths attributed to drunk-driving crashes in 2018. In that year, 29% of motor vehicle fatalities were caused by drunk-driving. Also, in 2018, 231 children 14 and under were killed in drunk-driving crashes. By Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey sharply criticised Armenia on Sunday following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying Yerevan was an obstacle to peace and vowing to continue its support for Azerbaijan. In a statement on Twitter following a phone call with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenian people to stand against leaders who he said were "dragging them to catastrophe", adding that Ankara's solidarity with Baku would "increasingly continue". "Armenia, which has added another to its attacks against Azerbaijan, has shown once again that it is the biggest threat to peace in the region," Erdogan said, and added that international reaction to the conflict had been insufficient. Turkey calls on "the entire world to stand with Azerbaijan in their battle against invasion and cruelty," Erdogan said. Armenia hit back at the comments, saying Azeri forces had fired first in Sunday's clashes. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urged the international community to ensure Turkey does not involve itself in the conflict. Turkey has traditionally backed Muslim-majority Azerbaijan in the long-running conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inside Azerbaijan where the population is predominantly ethnic Armenian. It declared independence in 1991. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Armenia must immediately cease what he called hostility towards Azerbaijan that could "throw the region into fire". Akar later spoke with his Azeri counterpart and voiced support for Baku. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Armenia had violated international laws by carrying out attacks and accused it of being "reckless" and showing no interest in negotiations. Later on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey was talking to members of the Minsk group, which mediates between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia, France and the United States are co-presidents. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Daren Butler; Editing by Catherine Evans and Timothy Heritage) (Alliance News) - Essex-based flooring and construction firm Mountfield Group PLC and oilfield services firm Star Phoenix Group PLC both said Tuesday they expect to publish their results by the end of October at the latest. Mountfield in particular said it would use the one-month extension date granted to it by AIM, and anticipates publishing its results for the six months to the end of June in the week starting October 5. Star Phoenix, meanwhile, only said that its annual results to the end of June will be published by the end of October. Shares in Mountfield closed 2.9% at 0.53 pence in London, while Star Phoenix shares ended 11% lower at 1.60p on Tuesday. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The chief executive of Goldman Sachs-backed small business lender Capify says he is confident demand for loans will start to spike again after the government's plan to axe responsible lending laws and has reopened its books to lending after raising $14 million. The fintech platform secured a $135 million credit facility from Goldman Sachs last year and this is its first equity capital raising. Capify has been providing loans to Australian SMEs for 10 years but stopped lending when the coronavirus pandemic hit in March and only reopened its books last week. David Goldin is the founder and chief executive of small business lender Capify. Credit:Simon Schluter Founder and chief executive David Goldin said the coronavirus pandemic has been the most challenging time he has faced as an entrepreneur. "We now have plenty of firepower to weather the storm but also the opportunity right now," he said. Advertisement The Duchess of Cambridge was in her element as she got stuck in with outdoor activities during a visit to a London Scouts Group today. Kate Middleton, 38, dressed down in jeans, a favourite gilet and a Scouts woggle to meet Cub and Beaver Scouts in Northolt, west London this morning. The Duchess, who previously volunteered with the Scouts and was a Brownie growing up, joined the children in toasting marshmallows and writing letters to send to care home residents during the outdoor engagement. The visit coincided with Kate being named joint president of the Scouts. Kate is sharing the position - her first presidency of an organisation - with the Queen's cousin, the Duke of Kent, who has been president of the youth movement since 1975. Scroll down for video Kate's gone camping! The Duchess of Cambridge was in her element as she got stuck in with outdoor activities during a visit to a London Scouts Group today. Pictured, Kate toasting marshmallows over a campfire with two Scouts Keeping things casual: The Duchess of Cambridge dressed down for the outing, wearing a casual blue shirt with a favourite pair of Massimo Dutti jeans. In a nod to the Scouts, Kate wore a woggle around her neck (right) The Duchess of Cambridge got into the spirit of the day and took part in an arts and crafts session making whirlybirds The Duchess has previously volunteered with the Scouts on Angelsey and was a Brownie growing up. Pictured: Kate wearing a yellow sweatshirt, khaki skirt and yellow necktie as she joined the Brownies in September 1990 at St Peter's Church Hall Time for a sweet treat: The Duchess of Cambridge tucked into a melted marshmallow after toasting it on the fire Light-hearted moment: Kate shared a joke with one young Cub during the outing to west London today Kate, who has often spoken of her love of the great outdoors, described her delight at becoming joint president, saying: 'For many children and young people, The Scout Association plays a key role as they build relationships and develop the skills they need to succeed in later life. 'When I volunteered with the Scouts on Anglesey eight years ago, I was struck by the huge impact the organisation has on inspiring young people to support their communities and achieve their goals. 'I am delighted to be joining the Duke of Kent as joint president of the association and look forward to working with Scouts across the country as they strive to make a positive difference to our society.' The duchess joined the 12th Northolt Scout Group in west London to mark her appointment and appeared in excellent spirits as she chatted with children and volunteers. The Duchess was presented with the Silver Wolf Award, the highest award made by The Scout Association which the Duke of Kent also holds. Speaking to Beaver Scouts while cutting out and decorating whirlybirds, she said: 'It is a shame you haven't been able to go on any camps. It has been hard to get out and see your friends.' After her whirlybird fell to the floor, she said: 'I don't think I'll get full marks.' Arts and crafts! The Duchess beamed as she spoke to Scouts taking part in the outdoor art session this morning The Duchess of Cambridge heard about how the Scouts supported young people during lockdown (left). Right, the Duchess was presented with the Silver Wolf Award, the highest award made by The Scout Association which the Duke of Kent also holds The Duchess of Cambridge beamed as she spoke to one boy at the arts table, where they made whirlybirds The royal looked animated as she chatted to the children about their projects. Right, arriving for the engagement today The Duchess of Cambridge re-wore a favourite pair of Massimo Dutti jeans for the outing in Northolt, west London, today The Duchess of Cambridge joined the children in making whirlybirds. Kate look transfixed with the result (right) Cub Scouts told the duchess along with youngsters from the movement across the country had seng handwritten cards to elderly people and those shielding from Covid-19. They have also penned messages on pebbles. Kate said: 'That's a really lovely idea. It has been hard as no one can see each other. But these are really special. Well done you.' The duchess, mother to Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and two-year-old Prince Louis, proved an expert marshmallow toaster over the campfire. Dan Corcoran, 29, Assistant Scout Leader, had driven four hours during lockdown delivering marshmallow packs to 57 homes for kids to toast. She said: 'Make sure it doesn't get gooey and fall off.' Children revealed they had been holding Scout camps at home during lockdown. Some camped in their back garden for two nights or even the living room and one in a bath, they said. Toasting her marshmallow before taking a bite, Kate said: 'You must have missed this.' Cub scout Megan Rummey-Middleton, 9, said: 'My baby sister is always asking to go outside and play.' The children and their royal guest of honour all sat a safe distance apart on outdoor tables for the engagement Kate looked transfixed by her whirlybird (left) and joined in the arts and crafts session with the Beavers and Cubs Look what I've done! The Duchess of Cambridge smiled as an excited young schoolboy showed her what he had made Scout leaders revealed how as part of The Great Indoors campaign they have done emoji games on Zoom, cooking, gardening and indoor Scout camps. Kate replied: 'It is so creative what you have been doing. Well done for all the hard work on the ground.' Mona Mohamed, 28, told the duchess the Scout group helped her 10-year-old brother Yousef Haginor who has autism find friends. Aftewards she said: 'Kate said it was fantastic that the Scouts has a huge impact on young people's lives and hopes it can now be more far reaching in society and schools.' Matt Hyde, Chief Executive of the Scouts, and 10-year-old Aisha, presented the duchess with her Silver Wolf Award. Spot of trouble: The Duchess of Cambridge appeared to get her finger stuck (left). Right, Kate by the campfire The Duchess of Cambridge was in her element as she got stuck in with outdoor activities during the visit this morning Kate, who enjoys doing outdoor activities with her own children, held her marshmallow over the campfire Kate Middleton, 38, dressed down in jeans, a gilet and practical boots to meet Cub and Beaver Scouts in Northholt, west London, today. The Duchess joined the children to toast marshmallows on a fire pit (pictured) He said afterwards: 'The Silver Wolf Award is the highest award an adult can get for exceptional service and has been given by Chief Scout Bear Grylls. Everyone in the Scout movement is overjoyed that The Duchess of Cambridge is to become a Joint President.' The Duke of Kent welcomed Kate to the role, saying: 'The Scouts' ethos of dedication, inclusivity and lending a helping hand wherever one is needed resonates across the generations and, as such, I am delighted to welcome the Duchess of Cambridge as joint president, and to work together to continue that legacy.' Kate was previously a volunteer with a Cub Scout pack when she and the Duke of Cambridge lived in Anglesey, North Wales. She has carried out numerous visits to Scout groups over the years, including joining Cubs in North Wootton, near King's Lynn in Norfolk, in 2016 to celebrate 100 years of the youth movement and visiting the Scouts' headquarters in Gilwell Park in Essex in 2019. This year, Scout groups across the UK have carried out more than 10,000 acts of kindness by sending cards and greetings to care home residents. The Queen is patron of The Scout Association. Hugo Boss has sent letter to Liverpool-based artist John Charles over his designs Father-of-one is aiming to trademark clothing with his 'Be Boss, Be Kind' slogan Slogan was he and his daughter's sign-off from online art classes in lockdown It comes after comedian Joe Lycett changed name to Hugo Boss earlier this year Comedian officially changed his name after company targeted a Welsh brewer An artist-turned-fashion-designer from Liverpool who uses the Scouse slang word 'Boss' on his merchandise is facing a l legal battle against German clothing giant Hugo Boss. Father-of-one John Charles was hit with a threatening legal letter from lawyers representing the luxury fashion brand after he applied to trademark his 'Be Boss, Be Kind' clothing and hat designs. ADVERTISEMENT The slogan, containing the word 'Boss', which in Scouse slang means 'very good' or 'great', was used by Mr Charles' at the end of his online art lessons - which he launched during lockdown. The sign-off proved so popular, that Mr Charles, from Huyton, Liverpool, decided to create merchandise with the slogan on it. But last week, after applying to trademark his designs, he received a letter from solicitors Simmons & Simmons, who act for the Hugo Boss group of companies. Hugo Boss (store, pictured) and the Liverpool-based artist have now reached an 'amicable solution' The letter states that they will be filing a 'Notice of Threatened Opposition' against the application on behalf of their client and the company wants to block his application. However it says the company would drop the action if Mr Charles withdraws his application and stops selling items with the word 'Boss'. They later told the BBC that the would be 'open for a mutual agreement' and promised to contact Mr Charles directly. Meanwhile Mr Charles, who is best known in Liverpool for painting some of the city's most iconic buildings and figures, said the money earned from the clothing venture would help pay towards his daughter's Emmy future. Click here to resize this module The 10-year-old helped Mr Charles run his online art classes for children - in which they used the phrase 'Be Boss, Be Kind'. He told the Liverpool Echo: 'One of our biggest mottos was at the end of each class, we would always say to everybody 'Be Boss Be Kind'. 'On the back of that a lot of parents were asking about merchandise so we decided to do hoodies, caps and t-shirts with our logo 'Be Boss, Be Kind'. ADVERTISEMENT 'To make sure we did it as professionally as possible we've paid to have our logo trademarked as well. 'Scousers always say boss, it's another way of saying nice. Scousers have said that for years, way before I was born.' Mr Charles, who is best known in Liverpool for painting some of the city's most iconic buildings and figures, said the money earned from the clothing venture would help pay towards his daughter's Emmy future Hundreds of people have since spoken out in support of John. Many have since said that it's 'easy to see' that Be Boss Be Kind has no connection to the German fashion giant. Hugo Boss: A luxury fashion brand which once produced clothes for the Nazis before going on to become a high street name Fashion brand Hugo Boss was founded by Hugo Ferdinand Boss in Germany in 1923, with its first workshop opened a year later. Mr Boss, who served in the military in World War One, later became an active member of the Nazi party in the 1930s. The company produced clothing for the Nazis during their time in power. The fashion retailer says that during this period the factory employed 140 forced labourers (the majority of them women) and 40 French prisoners of war. In 2011 the group said that when they became aware of this fact, it made a contribution to the international fund set up to compensate former forced labourers. After World War Two and the founder's death in 1948, Hugo Boss started to turn its focus from uniforms to men's suits. It has since become a global fashion brand with more than 2,000 stores world-wide. The company was recently involved in a number of spats with companies over naming rights. The brand sent a legal letter to charity Dark Girl Boss - which aims to encourage women and girls to be economically independent and start their own businesses. The company later backed down. It also sent a legal letter to a Swansea based brewer called Boss Brewing over the use of the name Boss. Though the company are still having to change their name, according to Wales Online, the incident became national news after comedian Joe Lycett changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss for a month in protest. Other residents also agreed with John that the word 'boss' is a Liverpool saying. ADVERTISEMENT On Facebook, Anne Porter commented: 'Boss' is a word 9/10 Scousers use with no connection to Hugo.' PoliteScouser added: 'Boss is a Liverpool slang word for the best. 'He has as much right to use the word from his local dialect as any other person place or thing.' A letter from Simmons & Simmons, who act for the Hugo Boss group of companies (collectively 'Hugo Boss'), said their client was 'concerned to learn' about the recently filed UK trade mark application for 'Be Boss, Be Kind.' It also referenced the Trade Marks Act 1994, summarised the technical grounds for the refusal and stated that despite their client's concerns in relation to the trademark application, their client wishes to agree an amicable resolution of the matter if possible. The letter, dated September 22, in part reads: 'Our client has built up a substantial and valuable goodwill in the United Kingdom in connection with 'BOSS.' 'Use of the mark which is subject of the Application is likely to deceive the public into believing that your goods and/or services are those of Hugo Boss, that you are authorised by or connected to Hugo Boss, or that Hugo Boss has endorsed your activity under your mark. 'As a result the goodwill of Hugo Boss would be damaged. 'Use of the mark that is subject of the Application would therefore also likely amount to passing-off.' It continued: 'We will shortly be filing, on behalf of our client, a Notice of Threatened Opposition (Form TM7A) against the Application. 'The primary reason for filing this form is to extend the opposition deadline by one month so as to allow time to resolve this matter and hopefully to avoid formal opposition proceedings.' The incident follows a similar naming battle between Hugo Boss and a Welsh brewery last year. In August 2019, multi-award winning brewery Boss Brewing, based in Swansea, applied to own the trademark of its name in a procedure that should usually cost 300. But owners Sarah John and Roy Allkin ended up in a four-month legal battle with Hugo Boss who challenged the application. The ended up forking out a near 10,000 sum in solicitors' fees by the timeit was all resolved. In March this year, the story hit the news again after comedian Joe Lycett officially changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss as an act of solidarity with small businesses who have been sent similar letters by the fashion brand. In March this year, comedian Joe Lycett officially changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss as an act of solidarity with small businesses who have been sent similar letters by the fashion brand Joe Lycett announced the decision on his Twitter page Hugo Boss told the BBC: 'As an open-minded company we would like to clarify that we do not oppose the free use of language in any way. 'We accept the generic term 'boss' and its various and frequent uses in different languages.' The company, who often style themselves as simply 'Boss', added: 'We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family.' The comedian, who hosts BBC One's The Great British Sewing Bee, changed his name back to Joe Lycett in April. He said in a post on Twitter: 'Well I have decided to go back to the Lycetts. They don't target small businesses, if you ignore the time mum posted a dump to the local florist.' ADVERTISEMENT Despite all of the comedian's efforts Boss Brewing are still being made to change their name, Wales Online reports. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 01:50:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Workers assemble a car at a workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Xu Chang) Pursuing a strategy of electrification and digitization, Volkswagen also planned to produce a total of 15 different new energy vehicle models locally by 2025, with 35 percent of the product portfolio in China made up of fully-electric models. China has announced recently a climate target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which is expected to accelerate the world's transition to green and low-carbon development. BERLIN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Carmaker Volkswagen Group China announced on Monday that it is planning to invest a total of roughly 15 billion euros (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars) together with its joint ventures in e-mobility between 2020 and 2024. According to a statement of Volkswagen Group China, the investment in China comes on top of 33 billion euros already announced by the Volkswagen Group for development in global e-mobility for the same period. Pursuing a strategy of electrification and digitization, Volkswagen also planned to produce a total of 15 different new energy vehicle (NEV) models locally by 2025, with 35 percent of the product portfolio in China made up of fully-electric models. Photo taken on July 9, 2019 shows Audi vehicles awaiting transfer at the parking lot of FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Xu Chang) China has announced recently a climate target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which is expected to accelerate the world's transition to green and low-carbon development. "We very much appreciate this announcement, which is what we aim to achieve with our goTOzero strategy," noted Stephan Woellenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, in the statement. "Volkswagen is committed to being an active partner in the nation's drive towards electrification and carbon neutrality," Woellenstein added. China aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. EZLynx, a leading software solution for independent insurance agencies, is proud to announce that it has partnered with Vonage to seamlessly integrate unified communications and programmable voice capabilities into its EZLynx Management System. Designed to empower independent insurance agencies with the ability to streamline their business operations, the addition of the Vonage Business Communications (VBC) unified communications solution and the Vonage Voice API to EZLynx Management System will enhance the way agents connect with each other and with clients for an overall better experience. With Vonage, EZLynx customers will have the ability to collaborate more efficiently, stay connected and create richer customer experiences through live interactive voice and video sessions from anywhere, on a single platform. The EZLynx Management System integration with VBC, with embedded programmable voice via APIs, enables enhanced features such as: Customer Profiles With incoming calls, customer information is automatically pulled up so conversations are productive from the very start. Call routing The ability to designate specific phone numbers for each clients specific insurance need - life, commercial, auto, etc. - automatically routes call through an automated workflow to the correct areas of the operation. Call logging (coming soon!) Incoming and outgoing calls will be logged as system activities on the clients record in EZLynx, creating a communication audit trail. Call recording (coming soon!) Calls can be recorded and saved to the clients record in EZLynx. With Vonage, we are helping agents centralize all their customer interactions in the EZLynx platform, said EZLynx Product Manager Derek Armentrout. Information lookup, emails, texting, and now voice its all in one place. This type of cloud-based, centralized communication is a growing need for insurance agencies of all sizes. Now more than ever, insurance providers need to provide a personalized experience for their customers, with the ability to connect with them where they feel most comfortable, said Curt Allen, SVP and Channel Chief for Vonage. Were pleased to partner with EZLynx to leverage the power of Vonage solutions with their innovative platform, driving a fully integrated agent experience and helping them to better serve their customers across any channel. To begin taking advantage of this new Vonage integration, visit http://www.ezlynx.com/vendors/vonage.html About EZLynx EZLynx is one of the leading software solutions for independent insurance agencies. In 2003, EZLynx pioneered real-time rating, enabling agents to generate quotes from multiple insurance carriers with a single data entry point. EZLynx has continued to create innovative software solutions that transform every facet of agency life, including agency management, client self-servicing, sales pipeline management, marketing and communications, accounting, eSignature, and more, all available on a unified, one platform solution. Over 20,000 agencies rely on EZLynx to provide more than 4 million home, auto, and package transactions every month. Learn more at EZLynx.com. About Vonage Vonage, a global cloud communications leader, helps businesses accelerate their digital transformation. Vonage's Communications Platform is fully programmable and allows for the integration of Video, Voice, Chat, Messaging and Verification into existing products, workflows and systems. Vonage's fully programmable unified communications and contact center applications are built from the Vonage platform and enable companies to transform how they communicate and operate from the office or anywhere, providing enormous flexibility and ensuring business continuity. Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in New Jersey, with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Israel, Australia and Asia. To follow Vonage on Twitter, please visit http://www.twitter.com/vonage. To become a fan on Facebook, go to facebook.com/vonage. To subscribe on YouTube, visit youtube.com/vonage. An Army Reserve soldier has become the eighth U.S. service member to die from COVID-19, according to information released by the Pentagon Monday. Few details were provided on the death, which was included among data released Monday by the Defense Department. A request for more information from Military.com was forwarded to the Army Reserve public affairs office, which did not immediately respond. Read Next: Army Announces Fall Deployments to Afghanistan and Korea The soldier is the fifth Army Reserve member to die from COVID-19. As of Monday, 96 DoD-affiliated persons had died from the coronavirus: In addition to the eight service members, seven dependents, 59 civilian employees and 22 contractors had died. The U.S. military's first COVID-19 death was recorded on March 28, when Army National Guard Capt. Douglas Hickok, a physician assistant, passed away as his unit prepared for pandemic response. Other service members who have died include: Navy Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Charles Thacker, 41, who died April 13; Army Reserve Sgt. Simon Zamudio, 34, who died May 22; Army Reserve Spc. Curtis Lamar Fort, 61, who died July 30; an unidentified member of the California National Guard, who passed away Aug. 20; Army Reserve Master Sgt. Brian Tolliver, 46, who died Aug. 17; and Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Clifford Gooding, 58, who died Aug. 28. As of Monday, 45,246 military personnel had tested positive for the disease, including 16,742 Army soldiers, 5,675 Marines, 10,174 Navy sailors and 7,066 Air Force airmen. More than 5,240 National Guard members and 347 personnel assigned to DoD agencies also have been diagnosed since the start of the outbreak. As of Sept. 4, 626 Coast Guardsmen had tested positive for COVID-19. The service has not had any coronavirus-related deaths, according to Lt. Cmdr. Brittany Panetta. The Coast Guard does not regularly release its coronavirus cases. More than 7.1 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, including more than 1 million since the beginning of September. Nearly 205,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, 33 million people have tested positive and nearly 1 million have died. DoD has tallied 65,657 cases among its personnel and dependents. In addition to the military cases, 6,034 dependents, 10,109 civilian employees and 4,268 defense contractors have tested positive for COVID-19. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. This story will be updated. Related: How the Military is Supporting the Historic Race for a COVID Vaccine Sumi Sukanya Dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The second serosurvey by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) to assess the real exposure of the Indian population to the Covid-19 virus has shown that over 6.6% of the individuals, or 1 in 15 of those above 10 years, had been exposed to Covid-19 by August. In a press briefing on Covid-19 outbreak management, ICMR director-general Dr. Balram Bhargava said that the results were based on testing the blood samples from 29,082 individuals in the same 70 districts were the first national serosurvey was carried out in May-June. Pointing out that still a low percentage of the population had been exposed to the virus, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan stressed that it implied that a large chunk of the population is still susceptible to the pathogen." ALSO READ | Indians far from achieving herd immunity against COVID-19: ICMR second serosurvey report The scientific study has also found that for every reported case, there were 26-32 actual cases of infection. In absolute numbers, this translates to roughly 9.1-11.2 crore of Covid-19 cases by the end of August when the official number was less than 35 lakhs. In the first serosurvey conducted by the health research body in May-June, the overall seropositivity was found to be 0.73% and for every reported case, there were 82-130 cases of possible infections. Officials underlined that the lower infection to case ratio in August compared to May reflects a substantial increase in testing and detection across India. While the first survey had tested only the adult population in 700 villages or wards in districts across 22 states, in the latest one, blood samples from those above 10 years of age were also collected to check for the antibodies against Covid-19. What: Venture Lab at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will honor artist, founder of FREEAMERICA and undergraduate alumnus John Legend, C99, HON14, with the Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship 2020 Alumni Achievement Award. During the virtual, live event, Wharton Dean Erika James will join Legend for a fireside chat discussing entrepreneurship as a platform for innovation and change. University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann will deliver opening remarks and Wharton Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Karl Ulrich will share an update on Venture Lab. Venture Lab is an entrepreneurship and innovation resource for students at the University of Pennsylvania. Who: Award-winning artist and activist John Legend. In 2014, Legend launched FREEAMERICA, a multi-year culture change campaign focused on ending mass incarceration. Legend graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvanias College of Arts and Sciences with a bachelor's degree in English, with an emphasis on African-American literature. When: Thursday, October 1, 2020 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. PT / 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET Where: This virtual event will stream live. Event link will be emailed to registered media attendees the day of the event. RSVP: Media registration is required to attend, and space is limited. Journalists from verified media outlets should contact Wharton Media Relations at communications@wharton.upenn.edu to register for the event. Registration for Penn alumni is available here: Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship 2020 Alumni Achievement Award Registration. About the Wharton School Founded in 1881 as the worlds first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Educations individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 99,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. For more information, visit http://www.wharton.upenn.edu. Leveraging VMware on AWS during the COVID-19 period As the pandemic continues, organizations resume their search for solutions that minimize disruption to customer services, maintain operational efficiency, and keep the business above water. VMware Cloud on AWS has helped organizations restore normalcy into their business operations, with rapid scalability, security monitoring, and more. Learn how VMware Cloud on AWS can help your business make it through the pandemic here. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VNUE, Inc. (OTC: VNUE) announced today that it had signed an exclusive engagement to represent Australian guitar whiz kid Taj Farrant in North America, kicking off the company's rollout of its Artist Services division. The signing, in conjunction with Taj's manager Scott Dorsey, of Australia's Dorsey Productions, represents the next evolution of the artist-friendly company. Taj, at just 11 years old, has already appeared on such shows as Ellen in the US, and Today and Australia's Got Talent in Australia, is a prodigy of the ages, and has been featured all over the globe in publications such as the The Daily Mail, Billboard, and the The Daily Telegraph. When he was just nine, he became the youngest artist ever to become fully endorsed by such brands as Gibson, Friedman, Kessel and others. And, to top it all off, Taj has jammed live with major artists such as Santana, Rob Thomas, Orianthi and many more. Taj has done more in his short life than most guitarists have done in a lifetime, and he just released his first single, "Just Can't Sleep," a melodic anti-bullying anthem. Taj, like many other children who are perceived as "different," (in his words "from having dreads to playing my guitar to not being super sporty") has experienced bullying, and this song is his positive message to others to "be yourself" and don't worry about it. "I've known Scott [Dorsey], who is assisting us grow the DiscLive business in Australia, for a number of years now," said Zach Bair, CEO of VNUE. "When we saw each other in Brisbane, Australia this past summer, I had the opportunity to see Taj perform on stage with our client Rob Thomas. I was absolutely blown away. And I can really relate to Taj. I grew up being a skinny blond kid with stringy hair, with zero talent for sports, and was bullied on a daily basis. Music and my guitar became my salvation from that." "Taj is truly amazing, and I am super stoked to be working with Scott and fully introducing Taj to the North American market." "I am so excited to be working with VNUE, and by far they are the best team for Taj," said manager Scott Dorsey. "Not only is their team exceptionally qualified, but their other technologies and products are appealing, in that VNUE is an artist-centric company, working hard to protect the rights of artists and songwriters. I know that Zach and his team will protect Taj and help to maximize his true potential." Taj is working on a brand new EP, featuring a host of surprising guest stars, that will drop in the coming months. VNUE will be setting the stage of that release and will be spearheading "all things Taj" in the North American market. As part of the arrangement, VNUE will be participating in all revenues generated from these activities. "Launching an Artist Services division has been in the works for some time and is the natural evolution of the company," said Bair. "I could not think of a more awesome artist and human being than Taj to kick off this effort. I sincerely look forward to working with Taj and Scott for decades, as there is no doubt that Taj has an extremely bright future." About VNUE, Inc. (www.vnue.com) VNUE, Inc., (OTC: VNUE) is a leading music technology company dedicated to further monetizing the live music experience for artists, labels, writers, and publishers, with products such as its set.fm instant content distribution platform (www.set.fm), exclusive license partner and "instant live" pioneer DiscLive (www.disclive.net), and protecting the rights of artists and writers with the company's groundbreaking Soundstr music recognition technology (MRT) platform (www.soundstr.com). The veteran entrepreneurs, artists and songwriters behind VNUE, led by music and tech entrepreneur and recording artist Zach Bair, are passionate about the future of their industry and ensuring that rights holders' value is not lost amid always-changing technology. For more information, please visit www.vnue.com. SOURCE VNUE, Inc. A wildfire that jumped across California's famed Napa Valley forced the evacuation of an entire wine country resort town and threatened thousands of homes in a region devastated by blazes just three years ago. The Glass Fire north of San Francisco reached more than 42,500 acres as of Tuesday morning, nearly quadrupling in size over 24 hours, and is 0% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. A second fire that erupted in Shasta County has killed at least three people. The blazes broke out after a weekend of hot weather with dry winds in Northern California, which has already been buffeted by a record wildfire season. The gusts have now faded in that region but are gaining strength in the southern part of the state. Officials on Monday and Tuesday began deploying firefighters and equipment to Southern California in hopes of quickly stopping any new fires there. Utility giant PG&E Corp., which cut service to about 195,000 people in an attempt to keep its equipment from sparking blazes, said late Monday that it has largely restored power to those customers. But about 37,000 households and businesses are now without electricity because of the latest round of fires. In Napa wine country, the entire town of Calistoga was told to leave late Monday night, with more evacuation orders Tuesday in the area of Angwin. At least 68,000 people are under evacuation orders in Sonoma County, according to the sheriff's office. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, urged people to listen to warnings and leave immediately when asked. "So many of the people that have lost their lives were just cautious in terms of taking seriously those orders," Newsom said in a media briefing Monday. "We really, really cannot say it enough. Please heed local law enforcement. Please listen to them when they raise that alarm bell." California has been battered for weeks by rounds of extreme weather that state officials say have been fueled by climate change. Last month, a record-breaking heat wave triggered the state's first rotating power outages since the 2001 energy crisis -- and was followed just three weeks later by another one. More than 8,000 wildfires have burned a record 3.7 million acres this year, choking cities with smoke, killing at least 29 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures. On Tuesday, more than 18,700 firefighters were battling 27 major blazes across the state. The 25 counties that have suffered fires this year account for nearly three-quarters of California's population and over two-thirds of state employment, according to the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. Shares of PG&E -- which went bankrupt last year after its equipment ignited catastrophic fires -- were little changed Tuesday after tumbling the most in three months on Monday. The company said in a statement that it has no information indicating that its equipment was involved in the start of either the Glass Fire or the Zogg Fire in Shasta County. The causes of the blazes remain under investigation. The Glass Fire broke out early Sunday in the hills east of Napa Valley, and embers flew across the valley floor, carrying the fire to the hills on the western side. The fire is now raging northeast of Santa Rosa, the area devastated by the 2017 Tubbs Fire, among the most destructive in California history. Properties damaged in the famed vineyard region included the Chateau Boswell estate, the Meadowood resort and the Castello di Amorosa winery. At least 80 residences were destroyed in Napa and Sonoma counties, while more than 10,700 structures are under threat, according to Cal Fire. About 180 miles north, the Zogg Fire burned at least 40,300 acres, prompting more evacuations. California's peak wildfire season traditionally runs from September through November. It has grown longer and less predictable in recent years, with blazes coming as late as December. Units in charge of a research project in central Vietnam have turned their back on 11 cross-bred guars deemed redundant. In a cowshed of 200 square meters in Bac Ray Village of Bac Ai District, Ninh Thuan Province, 11 cross-bred gaurs languish together. All have reached adulthood but look unhealthy, their bodies mere skin and bones. Some are so weak they can barely walk. The cross-bred guars in Bac Ray Village near Phuoc Binh National Park of Ninh Thuan Province, September 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Quoc. Ten are the offspring of a wild male and domestic cows from the village, located near Phuoc Binh National Park in the south-central province. Back in 2009, a nearly one-ton, rutting guar bull from the park often frequented the village to fight with male rivals and copulate. The spent bull had sired over 20 calves before his demise in 2014, including bullocks and heifers closely resembling wild guars. The latter, commonly referred to as Indian bison, are native to South and Southeast Asia and were listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species in 1986. Between 2012 and 2015, Phuoc Binh Park and Lam Dong Center for Application of Science & Technology (LAMDONG-CASTI) of Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands carried out research on the cross-bred gaurs to determine the potential of gene preservation and growth. The project cost over VND1.9 billion ($82,000), with the science-technology departments of Ninh Thuan and Lam Dong provinces purchasing 10 cross-bred village gaurs - five bulls and five cows. In late 2015, the results were handed to LAMDONG-CASTI as part of a national-level research project to exploit and develop rare gaur genes collected from the border provinces of Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa. The VND3 billion project focused on breeding an F2 generation of guars by crossing domestic cows and wild gaur bulls to open a new direction for Vietnam's livestock industry. To date, the five inseminated cows have yet to give birth, though one gaur bull had impregnated another village cow who later birthed an F2 wild gaur. Two years ago, LAMDONG-CASTI had bought the F2 calf, growing its herd of cross-breds to 11. The center had then hired a villager named Chuan to look after the herd, who in 2018 handed the job over to another villager named Nguyen Dinh Tich, 49. Since, the center has gradually abandoned the herd, which used to attract much attention from both authorities and local media, according to Tich. Nothing left For the past year, the cross-bred gaurs have survived on dry straw, Tich said, adding those behind the project had formerly rented a plot to supply fresh cattle feed. "Ive had to cut their daily rations to save on straw though in about a week from now, there will be nothing left to feed them." Nguyen Dinh Tich stands by the cowshed where 11 cross-bread gaurs are kept in Ninh Thuan Province, September 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Quoc. Last Friday, Tich had called on local authorities in Lam Dong, reporting on the gaurs' condition while asking for his salary as well as funds to feed the herd. "Ill be there in a few days," a female official from the Lam Dong Department of Science and Technology told him. As formerly agreed by both sides, Tich earns VND4 million a month aside from an extra stipend to feed the herd and rent the plot. "For the past three months, they have paid me nothing. Each time I called, I got the same answer. My family, meanwhile, is destitute," Tich lamented. Le Xuan Tham, in charge of the LAMDONG-CASTI project and former head of Lam Dongs S&T department, told VnExpress last Saturday he and his team had yet to draw a specific conclusion regarding their research since "there still remained many unsolved problems in need of further study." With the LAMDONG-CASTI project concluded over a year ago, he now has no relation to managing or taking care of the gaurs, Tham maintained. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, director of the center, said when the project ended in June last year, his center was temporarily tasked with caring for the gaurs. "Since there has been no new projects forthcoming, we've had to use our own dwindling budget to care for the herd," he added. Nguyen Cong Van, director of Phuoc Binh National Park, said he is aware of the gaurs' condition but that his hands are tied since no one had proposed transferring them to the park. "If local authorities were to hand them over, the herd could be kept in a special area inside the park where further studies could commence," he said. According to the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, guars are mostly threatened by hunters seeking their horns, a loss of habitat, and disease spread by domestic cattle. Gaurs are found in forested areas across South and Southeast Asia, however their distribution has shrunk by over 80 percent in the last century. The global population of gaurs decreased by 90 percent in the last half of the 20th century, estimated at a maximum 21,000 mature individuals by 2016. Are you tired of staying at home? Well continue our armchair travels to perk you up a bit. This week we will go north from the Arab world to Greece, an ancient land that influenced the Mediterranean area with its history, philosophy and foods. I have been to Greece several times and particularly enjoyed some of the Greek islands, usually on day trips from a cruise boat. I walked the small island of Mykonos, stopping to window shop. Allan pointed out an unusual necklace at one shop. It was silver and composed of fake paper clips. He said it was a symbol of writing (my column, maybe). I was more interested in the restaurants and entered one, looking for a place for dinner that evening. It was a charming little place, with seafood as its specialty. Is the fish fresh? I asked. Come, lady, the proprietor said, as he took me to a back room. There, in a huge tank, fish were swimming. Caught early this morning, he said in broken English. Fish is very fresh. Dinner was outstanding. Last fall, on a Mediterranean cruise, our group drove from the dock in Athens to the airport, about 20 miles from the center of town. Years ago, one could see the Acropolis from almost any point in the city. Now the view is only skyscrapers, with a little sky in between. However, Greece is surrounded on three sides by water and many islands. What could be more enchanting than eating a midday meal on an island in the Aegean surrounded by shimmering water and beautiful scenery? Boats with red and white sails are unloading the mornings catch of crawfish, mullet, and octopus. Market stalls neat the water sell scarlet tomatoes green peppers, wine-dark eggplants and beautifully scented lemons. All a preview of an excellent meal. Greek food is still traditional, with many of the dishes being centuries old. Greek cooking goes back 500 years before the birth of Christ. One of the first cookbooks stems from about that time. Greek civilization and cuisine eventually spread throughout the Mediterranean. The Greeks taught the Romans to eat well. With the occupation of Greece by various invaders, Greek civilization and its culinary arts declined. However, some of the Greek food items eventually were incorporated in many other cuisines. The most important element in Greek cuisine is olive oil. It seems that the olive tree grows everywhere is Greece. Its flavor dominates Greek food. The ancient Greeks used olive oil medicinally, as well as in their food. Green olive oil is fruity, thick, green, and more flavorful than the olive oils refined in other countries. Greek cheeses, although not exceptional, add a pleasant, slightly salty taste to many dishes. Feta, a slightly salty goat cheese, is most commonly served; it is cut into small cubes, as an appetizer. It is also used as an ingredient in meat and fish dishes, and in salads, which seem to accompany every meal. Kafalotiri, one of the cheeses made from ewes milk, is a little like Parmesan. Quite often, thick slices of this cheese are dusted with flour, seasoned with lemon juice and served as an appetizer. Almost everywhere in Greece, particularly in the countryside, you smell the scent of lemons. The lemons are large and juicy and are essential to Greek cooking. Thick slices of lemon are often dusted with flour, fried in olive oil, and served as an appetizer. Romans, Venetians and Turks occupied Greece for hundreds of years. Thus, it is not surprising that modern Greek food includes dishes of Italian and Turkish origin. Most restaurants in Greece include an Italian dish or two on their menus, particularly pasta. Turkish pastries such as baklava and coffee with thick yogurt conclude many Greek meals. The Greeks are not fond of sauces. If a sauce is served with a particular dish, it consists of the juices in which the food was cooked. These juices may be thickened with flour or cornstarch. However, lemons and eggs being readily available, gravies are thickened with a combination of eggs and lemon juice, giving the sauce a foamy consistency. Eggplant is very popular with the Greeks. It is used in many ways stuffed, baked, combined with other vegetables. Beans, both dried and fresh, and tomatoes are staples of many Greek recipes. Pasta is as popular in Greece, as in other Mediterranean countries. Rice is also a staple. When I was in Greece, I became very fond of Greek soups. They are very hearty and usually are a meal in themselves. A salad and fruit for dessert made for a very satisfying meal. Greek salads usually combine fresh and cooked vegetables, fish, cheese and wonderful crunchy bread. Whats for dessert? A piece of rich, flaky pastry, often soaked in honey syrup, ends the meal, along with a cup of coffee (adopted from the Turks). Greeks say that this strong, sweet, foamy coffee was the only good thing about the long Turkish occupation of their land. Greek honey is famous and is used to sweeten desserts, cakes and pastries. The ancient Greeks learned about honey and beekeeping from the Egyptians. Aristotle wrote about different kinds of Greek honey in the second century B.C. Then, as now, it was used to make honey cakes. The ancient people thought these cakes to be a fit offering for the gods. Modern Greeks celebrate New Years with little honey cakes. I think the most famous Greek food is phyllo, a dough made with flour and water. It is worked for a long time by an expert pastry cook, who throws it from one hand to the other until it turns into a wafer-thin transparent sheet. It is used in many different ways to make sweet and savory pastries. For example, baklava consists of layers of phyllo very liberally brushed with butter, filled with nuts and sugar, and baked until crisp and golden. The pastry is then smothered with a honey syrup. The tavernas of Athens are famous for good food and entertainment. Dinner is served late and the entertainment goes on until dawn. The air is filled with an aroma of grilling meat and wild oregano. The hour is late, the meal is eaten, and the tour of Greece is over. Even over many, many centuries, Greek food and hospitality have drawn the traveler to this ancient land. Hilde G. Lee is a food writer and co-author of Virginia Wine Country III with her husband, Allan Lee. She can be reached at hildeglee@yahoo.com. Sullivan, N.Y. A Canastota man has died after a motorcycle crash in the town of Sullivan on Monday. Jesse D. McCombie II, 35, was riding a 2008 Suzuki motorcycle south on Bridgeport-Kirkville Road around 7:45 p.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve and went off the road, state police said in a news release Tuesday. The motorcycle continued across a driveway and a lawn before striking a utility pole. State police said McCombie was thrown from the motorcycle. He was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he was pronounced dead. The crash remains under investigation. " " Coffee steeped by a French press produces a richer, bolder flavored cup of joe. 10000 Hours/Getty Images Americans love coffee. In fact, the 2020 report from the National Coffee Association says seven in 10 Americans drink a cup of joe every week, and about 62 percent drink coffee every day. That's an increase of 5 percent since 2015. Part of that could be because there are so many different gadgets for brewing and preparing the stuff. The top two methods still remain drip coffee makers like your classic Mr. Coffee and single-cup brewers like the Keurig, according to a Statista 2018 survey. Still, there are lots of other tried-and-true brewing methods that have been around forever, including the French press. This method works by steeping coarse coffee grounds and hot water in a large glass carafe. Once the coffee steeps for a few minutes, you push the grounds to the bottom of the carafe with a mesh plunger that separates the grounds from the liquid coffee. The first design for the French press was patented in 1852 by Frenchmen Mayer and Delforge. But theirs isn't the one we know today because it didn't establish a seal inside the carafe. The French press we use today was similar to the one patented in 1929 by Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta both Italians. Advertisement Why a French Press? "The French press is definitely my preferred method of brewing both hot and cold coffee," says Grady Laird, president and co-founder of Grady's Cold Brew, a New Orleans-style cold brew coffee company in New York City. "My big Bodum is very dear to my heart. It's the only coffee equipment I have at home and was the original brewer I used to develop Grady's Cold Brew. It literally changed my life." So what makes coffee made with a French press different from the coffee brewed in a drip brewer? Mostly it's the process of steeping the grinds in water known as immersion brewing for a lengthy time. The grinds are "immersed" in the water as opposed to the water "dripped" through the grounds as it does in drip-brewing. This immersion method mixes the water and coffee together more uniformly. When the plunger is pushed to separate the two, the metal mesh filters out the grinds but keeps in the oils and finer particles, which gives the coffee a fuller body and richer aroma. One caveat about using a French press, though: Because the mesh only filters out the grinds, the coffee can have a grittier mouthfeel. "I love the simplicity, versatility and value of the French press," Laird says. "It's really easy to adjust the strength and quantity of your brew based on water temperature, amount of grounds used, and the amount of time you steep." " " The classic Chambord from Bodum is one of the most recognized French press designs on the market. It's been available since the 1930s. Bodum Advertisement Buying a French Press When buying a French press, you should consider a few things: size, material and even brand. First, if you're the only one at home who drinks coffee, a small version might be just fine. But if you regularly make coffee for two or more people, one that makes more than "one cup" might serve you better. Also look to see how much it holds in ounces, rather than cups. Why? Because what one company considers "one cup" might be 4 ounces (118 milliliters), while another might consider "one cup" 8 ounces (236 milliliters). Also, spend a little more money on a glass or stainless steel press. You'll get a quality brewing experience without using plastic. And it will likely last longer, too. Finally, when it comes to brands, one of the most recognizable French press designs is the Chambord from Bodum. Its glass vessel, steel lid and round handle are well known, and the Chambord has been popular since the 1930s when French company Melior-Martin began manufacturing them. The Low-Key Coffee Snobs blog suggests the Espro Press P7; in fact the blog considers this model the "Cadillac of French press coffee makers." It has double-walled stainless steel that not only retains heat, but also includes two micro-filters for a smooth coffee drink. Advertisement The Perfect French Press Coffee Grind some coffee beans to a coarse to medium-coarse grind (think granules not sand ). Add about a tablespoon of coffee per 4 ounces (118 milliliters) of water. Two tablespoons should be enough for a person if they want a second cup. Boil water on the stove or in an electric kettle. Let the water sit for 30 to 45 seconds after it comes to a full boil. (You can experiment with water temp according to your taste.) Add your coffee grounds to the carafe and then slowly pour the hot water over the grounds. Stir gently. Place the lid on the French press and let the grounds steep for about four minutes. Slowly press the plunger down to the bottom of the carafe. Pour and enjoy. Laird admits coffee is arguably the most subjective beverage in the world and having some much-needed control over strength and flavor makes the French press a valuable tool to perfect your cup of joe. It's also one of the few coffee makers that can brew both hot and cold coffee with ease. Brewing in a French press may take an extra few steps, but it's worth it for a lot more reasons than just having control over flavor. Because the grounds are steeped instead of brewed through a filter, you don't end up with as much waste as you do from single-cup and drip brewers, and that's always a good thing. HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Despite being one of the best ways to brew coffee, the French press remains one of the least used methods, in the U.S. at least. According to Statista, only about 4 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers in 2019 used the French press system, a 2 percent increase from 2018. New regulations around dining out spell "serious trouble" for the restaurant trade, a leading chef has said, following the loss of up to 400 diners over the weekend. And Michael Deane, who owns seven restaurants in the city, said the "wheels will fall off the trade" if any more restrictions come into place, including a lockdown. "We lost tables of six, 10 and 14 when restrictions came out last week that no more than six people from two households could dine together and now our staff are having to act like high profile security guards," he said. Mr Deane said he was making inroads to mitigate lost trade over lockdown following the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and his subsequent self-funded version of the scheme throughout September but recent regulations have counteracted his hard work. "I would be worried that if we follow Westminster's lead with a 10pm curfew things would be even worse. That would give us half the volume of custom because we have a 9pm seating and we couldn't kick our diners out at 10pm - it just wouldn't work." He is urging the Government to work out how the public can live with coronavirus safely to ensure the future of the hospitality industry remains intact. "I respect the health of the nation and if I thought my restaurants were spreading this virus I would hand the keys back to the landlord but with these new regulations in place, many people will still be socialising only in houses. "I'm no medic or scientist but surely we have to live with this to some degree instead of walking on eggshells. I've been working hard this last 25 years, through the Troubles and flag protests, but this winter could cause serious damage to the whole city." The chef added that future recruitment within the industry could suffer long-term damage after the pandemic too, with the sector losing its appeal as a career choice. "It's been hard enough to get people into hospitality and the young people that do come in we tell them there is a great life to be had as a chef; you can travel world, put a few pounds in your back pocket but now I'm not sure about it at all. We are seeing fine dining restaurants close in London and we're looking at the empty buildings belonging to chains of restaurants and I don't know how we are ever going to get this back. It will take real skill to get the trade afloat again. Expand Close Giving back: Clare Smyth has become an ambassador for Careerscope / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Giving back: Clare Smyth has become an ambassador for Careerscope Three-times Michelin-starred chef, Clare Smyth, who hails from Co Antrim and owns Core restaurant in Kensington, London has also spoken out about Covid-19's damage to the future generation of hospitality workers. Yesterday she and a host of other famous chefs became ambassador for Careerscope, which was launched to support people working in hospitality through the uncertainty of the pandemic. Mr Deane added: "We need to get creative or Belfast city centre will look like it did in the middle of 1970s, or worse, with restaurants shut down and nowhere to go and morale on its knees." WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would have to be at deaths door to escape the Supermax jail regime if convicted in the US, a court has heard. Assange is fighting extradition on charges relating to leaks of classified documents allegedly exposing US war crimes and abuse. The Old Bailey has heard evidence of the 49-year-olds mental state following years in the Ecuador embassy and 16 months in custody at Belmarsh high security jail. On Tuesday, the court heard that, if he loses his extradition battle, Assange could be held at Alexandria Detention Centre in Virginia under special administrative measures (Sams). Expand Close Julian Assange (right) might be held in a Supermax prison, if convicted, the Old Bailey heard (Elizabeth Cook/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Julian Assange (right) might be held in a Supermax prison, if convicted, the Old Bailey heard (Elizabeth Cook/PA) If he is convicted, he could be moved to the Supermax Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, home to convicted terrorist Abu Hamza. Giving evidence, former warden Maureen Baird said Assange would remain at the ADX unless there was a severe change in his medical status. She told the court that an inmate would have to be in a much worse condition than disabled Abu Hamza, adding: You have to be almost dying. Ms Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, said Assange was likely to be placed under Sams pre-trial on the grounds of national security. Under the Sams regime, inmates spend 23 or 24 hours a day in their cells with no contact with other prisoners, she said. Giving evidence by video link, she said: They have the opportunity to come out of their cell and go into another cell we considered a recreation cell, there was no exercise equipment in that room at all. I did have an exercise bike brought in. It was just an empty cell. Ms Baird said Sams inmates were allowed one half-hour phone call to family a month, or two 15-minute calls which were all monitored by FBI agents. She said: Sams is not discretionary. It cannot be changed by a warden or anybody at the prison. Expand Close A mobile advertising board with a Dont Extradite Assange message outside the Old Bailey, London (Aaron Chown/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A mobile advertising board with a Dont Extradite Assange message outside the Old Bailey, London (Aaron Chown/PA) Its very matter of fact, if somebody is in pre-trial for terrorism and somebody is in for a different national security (issue) they would all be subjected to the same. It is what it is. On the effect on inmates over time, she said: Its not supposed to be punitive but the consequences and the results very much feel like it is. Sams inmates can suffer very severe depression, anxiety and paranoia, the witness said. She added: I have not seen anyone actively psychotic but I understand extreme isolation has caused others to be psychotic. Cross-examining, Clair Dobbin, for the US government, said Sams was only a possibility. Ms Baird said: In my experience with other cases if its off the table they would remove it completely but it appears to be very much on the table. From everything Ive read he would meet the criteria. Ms Dobbin suggested that was entirely speculative. Lindsay Lewis, Abu Hamzas US lawyer, told the court her client was subjected to Sams two weeks after his extradition to the US and had been sent to ADX, despite concern over his health. Abu Hamza is a double upper-arm amputee, blind in one eye, and suffers from diabetes, hypertension and a skin condition. Before being extradited, an ADX warden had assured the UK court that Abu Hamza would undergo a full medical examination before determining the most appropriate place for him. If it was felt Abu Hamza could not manage daily living, it was highly unlikely he would be sent to ADX, the warden said. Nevertheless, he was sent to the Supermax jail on being jailed for life for 11 terror offences, including tasking two men to set up a jihadi training camp in Oregon. Ms Lewis told the court Abu Hamza spends every day in solitary confinement. Cross-examining, Ms Dobbin queried why his health complaints appeared to focus on dental and toenail problems over his diabetes. Ms Lewis said they were not as trivial as getting a pedicure for her client, who had to open cans with his teeth. An 18-count indictment against Assange alleges a plot to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. The extradition case before Judge Vanessa Baraitser continues. Roberto Lovato, author of "Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas," at MacArthur Park Lake. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The author Roberto Lovato is strolling around the concrete edge of MacArthur Park Lake, contemplating the role this place has played in the life of L.A.s Central American community, himself included. El Parque MacArthur," Lovato says, using the Spanish wistfully, is the historic, political, spiritual and criminal center of this part of [the city]. And like any center, its got all this life and death in it. This is the symbolic heart of Central American Angeleno culture and identity, the largest node of the diaspora in the United States. Yet the park and its neighborhoods are rarely centered in the grand narrative of contemporary Los Angeles. Not far from here, as Lovato describes in his new book, Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas, the notorious gang known as Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was born in front of a 7-Eleven that is still standing on Westmoreland Avenue. In the early 1980s, the first cliques formed among a few stoner kids with long hair who listened to heavy metal, one of the earliest members tells Lovato in the book. They were part of a wave of migration from El Salvador that brought hundreds of thousands of people to Los Angeles as they fled the terror of the Salvadoran Civil War. These youths banded together in part to defend themselves against more established Mexican and Black gangs. They initially referred to themselves as mara, a term denoting friend in El Salvador. That expression in turn was rooted in a 1954 film, "The Naked Jungle," starring Charlton Heston and depicting a fictional species of army ants called marabuntas, These kids came together out of immigrant loneliness and their love of Ronnie James Dio and Metallica," Lovato says. A family photo of Roberto Lovato as a teenager with his mom and dad at Buena Vista Horace Mann in San Francisco. (Lovato Family) The relatively innocuous origins of the gang contrast sharply with the descriptions by President Trump and Atty. Gen. William Barr of its members as "violent animals." The administration's claim that MS-13 is the most dangerous gang in the country is made, Lovato writes, without "any statistical, journalistic, or scholarly evidence. (Gang members represent a small fraction of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border.) Story continues The specter of a tattooed Salvadoran threat is one of many myths that Lovato seeks to correct or dismantle in Unforgetting. But it is arguably the simplest that he tackles. Throughout this panoptic personal narrative, Lovato aims to reframe Salvadoran American identity itself. And at a crucial national moment, he also reminds us that diaspora Latin Americans in the United States such as himself, such as myself share a collective experience marked by historical trauma but also enormous wells of resilience. We might represent, he argues, a case study in how to deal with pervasive inequality in the United States right now. Fighting back requires "unforgetting," he writes, because forgetting begets forgetting, begets ongoing mass murder. Roberto Lovato next to a statue of Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the former archbishop of El Salvador who was assassinated by a death squad. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) Lovato is 56, bald with trim-framed eyeglasses. He squints as he looks back to the many paths hes taken, in particular those hes never discussed in public, despite years of inhabiting a profile as a justice-driven journalist and organizer. He examines these episodes with reportorial care and a soul-stabbing sense of scrutiny. A native of San Francisco's Mission District, young Roberto was bookish but angry, prone to eruptions. He joined a clique that dubbed itself Los Originales, getting high and stealing cars. Then he became an evangelical Christian, only to have his faith challenged by philosophy professors at UC Berkeley, where he earned a degree in rhetoric. Around this time, Lovato began engaging with the history of struggle and violence in his parents native El Salvador. He had grown up traveling there, experiencing the classic dissonances of the children of immigrants ("I hated the food," he writes). But as an adult, back in San Francisco, Lovato met G, the single-letter name he uses for the love that altered his life, and his view of El Salvador, forever. G was a diplomat representing the guerrilla movement that battled the U.S.-backed Salvadoran military government. The revolutionary fervor of the FMLN, or the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, inspired Lovato, who decided to join G and the rebels' cause. Lovato traveled to El Salvador to provide clandestine logistical support for urban guerrillas. In "Unforgetting," the details of his time with G in San Salvador are electrifying. Along the way, Lovato has been an investigator of massacres as well as a college professor (he was the first coordinator of the Central American studies minor at Cal State Northridge). He worked as an organizer at CARECEN, the longtime Central American civil rights and advocacy organization. The old CARECEN offices are a few blocks from the lake. It was there that, in 1992, Lovato witnessed both the celebrations over the end of the Salvadoran civil war and, a few months later, the fury and devastation of the L.A. Riots. In public life, Lovato is known as a fierce, often pugnacious critic of the dogmas and hypocrisies he sees in centrist-liberal institutions. Hes an unapologetic critic of President Obama's deportation policies, which he believes set into motion the draconian anti-immigrant practices of the current White House. This year, Lovato co-founded #DignidadLiteraria, a movement that took demands to the publishers of American Dirt, a heavily marketed novel that came under widespread criticism for cultural appropriation and misrepresentation . Even now, as America's institutions seek to rectify the systemic neglect and erasure of underrepresented groups, Central American diaspora voices are still tough to find. Lovatos book is a desperately needed corrective, complicating stereotypes that cling to the community, says UCLA professor Leisy J. Abrego, an expert on the Salvadoran diaspora. In media depictions were either victims or criminals, and we dont have any agency of our own, Abrego says. Thats why books like Lovatos are so important, because they start to capture the full humanity, the imperfections, but also the strategy, the agency, the collective work to change things. And the anger. Steven Osuna, a professor of sociology at Cal State Long Beach and a Salvadoran Mexican native of Echo Park, says Lovatos journalism shines light on the brutalities suffered by Central Americans historically. Cycles of war, displacement and gang and police violence were in many regards fueled by U.S. policies across many administrations; the L.A.-formed gangs flourished in El Salvador after heavy U.S. deportation campaigns. His approach is really going to the violence and showing the structural nature of it," Osuna says. "Instead of focusing on individuals or moments, he wants us to think historically about the conditions of this violence and Im not saying necessarily sympathize [with gang members] but make sense where its coming from, instead of falling into the tired tropes of criminalization and racism. Near the books end, Lovato sharpens his central theme: Salvadoran violence is in no small part an expression of forgotten American violence. Back at the lake, a fire-driven haze hangs gray-pink over the surrounding neighborhoods. Together, we take in the familiar icons along the lawns and walkways: immigrant men hanging around, parents and children playing and a few rougher-looking guys. They intermingle with ducks, geese and seagulls. Lovato tells me our notion of revolution" should be constantly refreshed, in accordance with its literal meaning. He likens it to the linguistic root of "apocalypse," or "unmasking," which he has also done in this memoir. Donald Trump really persuaded me to come out about my militancy," he says as we pass vendors and hear thumping music from stores across the street. "Because I really want young and older people to really think, What does revolution mean now?' His trademark ardor flashes through his words. Right now, regardless of who wins the elections, Salvadorans have a lesson to teach, not just about overcoming and resilience, but about revolution, he says, with a warning. Were not going to liberal or progressive our way out of this one." Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, speaks to protestors gathered on the steps of the Montgomery County Courthouse about the firings of public defenders Dean Beer and Keisha Hudson in Norristown, Pa., March 5, 2020. Read more Its difficult to know where to begin celebrating the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her lifelong fight to expand civil rights and bring our nation closer to realizing the promises enshrined in the Constitution. Justice Ginsburg led a life of firsts. As one of only nine women in her class at Harvard Law School, she recalled the dean of the law school telling the newly matriculated women that they were taking spots in the class that would have otherwise gone to men. Justice Ginsburg went on to become the first woman to join the prestigious Harvard Law Review, before leaving Harvard to complete her degree at Columbia University. In 1972, the same year Justice Ginsburg became the first woman to become a tenured professor at Columbia, she also joined the American Civil Liberties Union as the founding director of the Womens Rights Project. Over eight years with the ACLU, Justice Ginsburg contributed to 34 Supreme Court cases. She argued before the court in six of those cases, winning five of them. As a former litigator for the national ACLU and current executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, I consider it an honor to continue the fight for civil liberties and equal rights that is Justice Ginsburgs ACLU legacy, work that would not be possible without Justice Ginsburg paving the way. READ MORE: Toomey joins Trump and McConnell in backing push to fill Supreme Court seat, reversing 2016 stance In cases that often focused on issues of sex discrimination, Justice Ginsburg built a slow, intentional foundation of legal reasoning over eight years that often relied on showing the court how men could also fall victim to sex discrimination, a strategy that serves as a cornerstone in discrimination cases to this very day. So while Justice Ginsburg voted to affirm rights like that of marriage equality and to end discrimination against people in LGBTQ communities in her time on the court, it was her early work for the ACLU that created the precedent to make these arguments in the first place. On the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg remained a champion of ending discrimination, not just on the basis of sex, but also ending discrimination against those with disabilities, supporting marriage equality, and dissenting sharply on rolling back the Voting Rights Act. But decades after Justice Ginsburgs work on the Womens Rights Project, the issue of sex discrimination remained a salient legal battle. In 2006, when the court ruled against Lilly Ledbetter, a woman who sued because she was making less than her male colleagues doing similar work, Justice Ginsburg broke with tradition to read her dissent aloud from the bench, pointedly noting that the court does not comprehend the insidious way that women can be victims to discrimination. Eventually, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. (Even still, much work remains in Pennsylvania to realize equal pay women in Pennsylvania wont reach equal pay until 2072, according to the Womens Law Project and based on current wage trends.) READ MORE: Ruth Bader Ginsburg lauded in Philly as a legal and feminist icon whose voice soared above the rest In the days since Justice Ginsburgs passing, there has been a growing conversation about the best way to honor her legacy. In these difficult and uncertain times, her loss packs a devastating punch to those who value civil liberties and the dignity of all people. It can be tempting in these moments to slip into hopelessness. But honoring Justice Ginsburgs legacy means forging ahead with renewed vigor in the fight to realize the fundamental promise of our nation: liberty and justice for all. Even as we mourn her passing, we must honor Justice Ginsburgs legacy by continuing the difficult work of making our nation more just and equitable for all. We must push aside feelings of hopelessness and fear and instead take time every day to ground ourselves in who we are fighting for and why we continue that fight, even in the most difficult times. That means redoubling our commitment to the work that Justice Ginsburg devoted her life to, even in the face of what will likely be a more conservative court. Civil rights are not given they are won through often difficult work. Justice Ginsburg knew this. As we continue difficult, crucial work at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, we must also remember that dark as these times may get, light will always follow. That is Justice Ginsburgs legacy that we carry forward: the wisdom and fortitude to keep going in the fight for liberty, justice, and equality for all. Reggie Shuford is the executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Climate Change and Planetary Health; Conquering COVID-19 with NIH's Anthony Fauci and Africa CDC's John Nkengasong; Climate Impacts on Tick Bites and Fetal Health; a Deadly Disease Re-Emerges in Bolivia; Unmasking Stealth Malaria; Race and Colonialism in Tropical Medicine Planetary health, a discussion with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other influential COVID-19 experts; new findings on how climate change is affecting fetal health and tick behavior; and reckoning with tropical medicine's racist past are among the highlights of the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene--a virtual gathering this year of the world's leading infectious disease fighters amidst a global pandemic. Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will deliver the keynote as climate change intensifies health risks. Figueres was instrumental in delivering the historic Paris agreement on climate change during her tenure at UNFCCC. Her appearance at TropMed is part of a broader focus at this year's meeting on how climate change could intensify the spread of disease and increase health disparities between rich and poor. WHAT: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 69th Annual Meeting WHEN: November 15-19, 2020 (Sunday to Thursday) WHERE: Virtual RSVP: For more information and to register for press credentials, please contact: Anna Chen at +1 301 280 5743 or achen@burness.com ONLINE: http://www.astmh.org/annual-meeting On Twitter #TropMed20 Selected Highlights of the 2020 ASTMH Annual Meeting COVID-19 at the Close of 2020: The Beginning of the End?: Anthony Fauci, MD, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and John Nkengasong, PhD, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be part of a high-profile panel probing lessons learned and future challenges for ending the pandemic. Dr. Nkengasong will discuss how African nations have thus far defied predictions of being overwhelmed. Richard Hatchett, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will update on progress of vaccine research and challenges of distribution and access. Heidi Larson, MD, PhD, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, will explore how long-simmering vaccine mistrust could affect the impact of immunization campaigns. Moderating will be Helen Branswell, STAT's senior writer for infectious diseases and global health. Hothouse for Health Threats: New research on climate-related health impacts includes a new study probing whether higher temperatures will make humans more appetizing to ticks that until now have preferred dogs; a new study from West Africa is generating critical data on how working in hot weather affects basic measures of fetal heath, like heartbeat and placental blood flow; an investigation into risks of a significant increase in rotavirus infections; and another on how climate change could intensify diseases affecting the body's biggest organ, the skin. Also, a special climate symposium includes a review of the 2020 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, due out the week of TropMed. Race and Colonialism in Tropical Medicine: Two symposia will explore issues of race, equity and colonialism that still pose challenges for global health research. In the first, Linnie Golightly, MD, Associate Dean of Diversity at Weill Cornell Medical College, will explore the colonial and racist history of the field of tropical medicine, followed by a panel discussion chaired by Jonathan Stiles, PhD, Professor at Morehouse School of Medicine and an ASTMH Board member, and including Mishal Kahn, PhD, with the Decolonizing Global Health initiative at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Thomas LaVeist, PhD, Dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. A second symposium will feature scientists from Africa and Latin America, with a focus on developing a better balance of power between researchers in high- and low-income countries. The Other Clone Wars: Not to be outdone by Star Wars' "clone wars," scientists are now cloning human antibodies--they are technically known as monoclonal antibodies or mAbs--to make therapies to battle important diseases, including COVID-19 and malaria. The growing interest in the power of mAbs is tied to significant advances in rapidly identifying and isolating promising antibodies in people and then purifying them into medicines ready for administration. Researchers will present the latest updates on this promising approach. The Fall and Rise of the Human Challenge Trial: Controlled human infection studies entail enrolling volunteers who agree to be deliberately infected with a disease to test the efficacy of a vaccine or therapeutic. Scrapped for decades due to ethical concerns, scientists in recent years have developed new ways to safely and responsibly perform human challenge trials. Researchers will present the latest insights and debates over using human challenge trials to test interventions targeting various diseases, including a COVID-19 vaccine challenge trial that may soon get underway in the UK. A key issue: What if, unlike malaria, there is not a clear treatment for volunteers if the drug or vaccine candidate fails? Obscure Deadly Hemorrhagic Fever Disease Re-Emerges in Bolivia: Scientists report on a recent spate of human infections in Bolivia of a dangerous rodent-borne disease called Chapare hemorrhagic fever that can also spread from human to human. Chapare virus was first discovered in Bolivia in 2003 and led to one known fatality, but not seen again until last year. Several cases in the recent outbreak involved fatalities in healthcare workers linked to an infected patient. Scientists will share the latest data on Chapare virus transmission and surveillance. Snakebites: The "Neglected" Neglected Tropical Disease: There's a common myth that a bite from a venomous snake, while certainly unlucky, is also uncommon. Yet the reality is snakebites inflict an incredible amount of death and suffering in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers present the results of a major effort to provide a new, more accurate estimate of death and disability from snakebite. There is evidence that in certain regions bites from the likes of cobras and kraits may be a bigger burden than HIV/AIDS or malaria. Ending Malaria's High-Risk Game of Hide and Seek: Although not as deadly as the Plasmodium falciparum strain of malaria, P. vivax has the unique ability to hide dormant in the human liver--undetectable yet capable of repeatedly re-emerging to cause new infections and also spread the parasite back to mosquitoes. Researchers will offer new insights into a promising test to detect the P. vivax malaria parasite when it has entered its dormant phase--critical for preventing disease relapse and reducing transmission. Globetrotting Wonder Drug: From Malaria in Africa to Backyard Chickens in the U.S.: Researchers will present a pair of studies that examine the potential of the drug ivermectin to prevent transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. In Africa, where ivermectin has long been used to combat a range of intestinal parasites, there is evidence that mosquitoes that feed on people treated with the drug may be less likely to transmit malaria. In the United States, researchers are using backyard chickens to test the drug's capacity to slow West Nile virus transmission from birds--which serve as the principle reservoir--to mosquitoes. Ebola Innovations Can End New Outbreak--and Offer Lessons for COVID-19: The rapid emergence of effective drugs and vaccines to fight Ebola is one of the most impressive medical breakthroughs of the last few decades. Researchers look back at how these tools were developed and how they can be used in quelling a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lessons learned in developing a new arsenal of interventions in the midst of the Ebola crisis could be instructive for developing new innovations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Smallpox Eradication Turns 40, But Other Pox Threats Remain: At a time when the threat of infectious disease is palpable to everyone on the planet, experts mark the 40th anniversary of smallpox eradication with reflections from veterans of this historic battle--and with new assessments of pox viruses that continue to pose a threat, including monkeypox, which has recently caused outbreaks in Nigeria. There also was an outbreak in the U.S. in 2003, the first outside of Africa. Though not on par with smallpox, monkeypox is capable of causing serious illness. LGBTQ Discrimination is a Health Hazard: Researchers present new insights on the significant array of health problems encountered by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities in low- and middle-income countries. They will discuss how the continued criminalization and marginalization of LGBTQ individuals is linked to a greater burden of disease--along with higher rates of substance abuse and suicide--and offer evidence to drive a greater focus on social justice, human rights and patient care. The Arbovirus Family: Annoying Locals, Dangerous Newcomers: Researchers consider the latest evidence from South America for using a common bacteria to control Aedes mosquitoes that carry dengue, Zika, chikungunya, West Nile, and yellow fever--five arboviruses once restricted mainly to Africa that have made their way to the America and beyond. Meanwhile, in Africa, most mosquito control efforts today remain focused on Anopheles mosquitoes that spread malaria. New research probes whether Africa should also be targeting Aedes. ### Job Title: Marketing Officer (Fresher Job Opportunities) Organisation: Lancet Laboratories Duty Station: Gulu, Uganda About US: Lancet Laboratories is one of the leading pathology laboratories operating throughout Africa, providing vital diagnostic and monitoring pathology services in South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The Laboratory offers the whole range of pathology services inclusive but not limited to chemistries, Hematology, histology and cytology, microbiology, drug testing, occupational health etc. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Proactively marketing and selling Lancet Laboratories services to existing and prospective customers to grow Lancet Laboratories market share. Contributes to planning and developing public relations strategy for Lancet Laboratories in order to promote the image, public awareness and services of the organisation. Establishes and maintains effective relations and personal contact with existing and prospective clients including medical doctors at hospitals and in private practice, hospital managers and public relations officers as well as key suppliers and service providers to ensure loyalty to the Lancet Laboratories brand. Participates in and represents Lancet Laboratories in public relations events such as pharmaceutical days, medical aid days and hospital open days to promote the image and services of the organisation. Assists with product/service orientation and training of laboratory administrative staff to ensure they are familiarised with relevant laboratory/ medical technology related terminology and telephone etiquette. Serves as first point of contact between Lancet Laboratories and customers to address a range of queries and complaints pertaining to laboratory services in order to ensure swift resolution of issues and feedback to customers. Provides information pertaining to new sales to laboratories to ensure that they are aware and able to service the customer as per deliverables in sales and service level agreements. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant must hold a Higher Diploma or degree in Marketing, Knowledge of Medical Lab Technology is an added advantage. Able to ride a motor bike and with a Valid Driving Permit 2-3 years of related working experience Willing to work in Eastern Uganda Ability to work as part of a team Ability to work in a pressured environment Accuracy Attention To Detail Confidentiality / Sensitivity Follow up of Incompletes Hand-eye co-ordination Planning and organising Problem solving Rule orientation Self-management Team leader skills Good communication skills Good time keeper How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested applicants should submit their Application, CV, certified ID copy, qualifications and proof of registration with Allied Health (for the Technologists) and clearly indicate the position you are applying for. To: Human Resource Manager, Lancet Laboratories Uganda Limited, P.O Box 36335, Kampala. Or Hand deliver Lancet Laboratories Head Quarters, North Park Plaza, Bweyogerere, Opposite Uganda National Bureau of Standard (UNBS). Or Email: hr@lancet.co.ug NB: Shortlisted candidates will be required to undergo background checks and assessments. Deadline: 30th September 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.comor find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline The second-in-command of the states largest police department is hanging up his badge after several decades of law enforcement. Birmingham police Assistant Chief Allen Treadaway will retire Friday, 31 years and one week after he joined the force in 1989. He was promoted by Mayor Randall Woodfin in 2018 to the newly created position after working his way up through the ranks while also serving in the Alabama House of Representatives for the past 14 years. "I think its time,'' Treadaway 59, said Tuesday. Unlike so many stories told at retirement of an officer dreaming of putting on the uniform since childhood, Treadaway found his way into public service almost by accident. He worked in a manufacturing plant from the age of 18 until he was 28 but after being laid off work several times, he was in search of a more stable way to provide for his family which at that time was a wife and two children. He went to the Jefferson County Personnel Board with plans to apply for the job of firefighter. "When a lady working there said, You know, they never lay off police officers, that did it for me,'' he said. If youve ever been laid off and youve got two small children at home and youre wondering how youre going to feed them, that was what I needed to hear and the rest, I guess they say, is history. "I got hired and the job was just a natural fit,'' he said. It fit like a glove. Treadaways first assignment was as a patrol officer was in the citys West Precinct and just several years into the job, he was recognized as West Precinct Officer of the Year in 1992. He and his wife, Susan, would go on to have a total of five children Kelsey, Erin, Tyler, Ally and Cody. Treadaways wife died last year after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Their daughter, Kelsey was killed in traffic crash in February 2018 when she was 31. Treadaway said it was Kelsey who was, in part, responsible for his ascension through the police departments ranks. She was a young teen in 1998 when Treadaway was promoted to sergeant. He was assigned to the morning shift 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the South Precinct. Just a few weeks into the new position, Treadaway doubted whether it was what he wanted. "If there was ever a time in my law enforcement career that I was depressed or down, it was then,'' he said. I felt I would never see my kids working that shift. I dont think a lot of people realize that were not off on Saturdays and Sundays. We work these overnight shifts and extra jobs and are gone a lot. For someone extremely involved in his childrens schoolwork and sports, it was a lot for Treadaway to digest. He called his supervisor on a Friday and told him he wanted to give up the rank of sergeant and go back to being an officer since, with his seniority, he would at least be working the day shift. He talked about it with his wife the next day, and Kelsey overheard the conversation. She said, Daddy, dont do that. Youve worked too hard for this. Well make it. "I went to bed thinking about that and there was no way in the world I could step down,'' Treadaway said. It was that conversation with my teenage daughter that gave me the encouragement. If it wasnt for her, I wouldnt have been an assistant chief would be proudly retiring as an officer. While ascending through the ranks, Treadaway also served for roughly 20 years on the Birmingam Police and Fire Pension Board and also for two decades served as an officer with Birminghams Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #1, and became known statewide as a voice for street cops. He said his FOP work is the most rewarding of his law enforcement career. In 2005, he was named the Most Outstanding Member of the Year by the Alabama State Fraternal Order of Police. "The FOP allowed me to understand what police officers go through and their needs and put me in a position to actually help,'' he said. When I look at my career, I look at my four terms in the legislature, theres nothing thats been more rewarding than the time I spent as president of the FOP and representing police officers and what they go through on a regular basis, making sure they were treated fairly. "Im a strong believe that if you equip your department, you pay them a competitive wage and benefit, you afford them due process when the need arises, youre going to have a much more responsive department,'' he said. While Im very appreciative to reach the rank of assistant chief, nothing will replace the pride I had in representing these officers because they do go through a lot and dont ask for much. Treadaway said he actually had started the retirement process in 2018 and made that known. The mayor then offered him the assistant chief position. At that time, Treadaway was commander at the citys East Precinct. "Ive been struggling with this decision for several years, so Im looking forward to the next chapter,'' he said. Its just a very worthwhile career. You grow up here. You come in your 20s and you leave at almost 60 so youve built a lot of relationships. "The hardest part is going to be missing the people, no question about it,'' Treadaway said. But at this point my family needs me and I need to be there for them. I feel like I have always tried to the right thing. Treadaway, who now has four granddaughters and one grandson, still has more than two years left on his current House District 51 term. He was first elected in 2006. "I look forward to being in a position to be able to do it full time even though its considered to be a part-time job in the state of Alabama,'' he said. He serves as the chairman of the State House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. "Its going to be very trying times when we go into the session in February. I want to be able spend the time on legislation that will come through that committee,'' he said. Some of the calls for defunding (law enforcement) need to be addressed. Its going to take a lot more energy and time. He said he plans to travel while hes not in session. Treadaways retirement comes at a time when the law enforcement profession is under increased scrutiny nationwide. While challenging, he said, its not as bad as its made out to be, at least not in Birmingham. If you get out here and go sit in a restaurant and you have all these folks coming up supporting you, you realize theres a disconnect between whats being reported and whats actually going on, he said. Make no mistake, in the City of Birmingham they want their police, they want more of them, not less. They have a great relationship with the police department. Our community involvement goes back many years. "The narrative thats out there that seems to be just be running over and over demonizing law enforcement as a profession is not good for the community or the law enforcement profession and I do believe at some point that will end because the good folks in the community will stand up and say enough is enough,'' he said. I hope whats going on in America doesnt stop men and women from going into the profession. NASA's Terra satellite used infrared light to identify strongest storms and coldest cloud top temperatures in Typhoon Kujira as it tracked through the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Infrared Data Reveals Most Powerful Storms Infrared data provides temperature information about the cloud tops of the many thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone. The strongest thunderstorms reach high into the atmosphere and have the coldest cloud top temperatures. Tropical cyclones do not always have uniform strength, so infrared data helps forecasters know the location of the strongest side of a storm. On Sept. 29 at 7:40 a.m. EDT (1140 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite gathered temperature information about Typhoon Kujira's cloud tops. MODIS found the most powerful thunderstorms had temperatures that were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Those strongest storms were found wrapping around the eye. In addition, a large band of fragmented thunderstorms east of the center contained storms with those temperatures. Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall. Typhoon Kujira's Status on Sept. 29 At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Sept. 29, Typhoon Kujira's maximum sustained winds were near 65 knots (75 mph/120 kph), making it a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Kujira was far from land areas, centered near latitude 36.5 degrees north and longitude 156.4 degrees east, about 814 nautical miles east of Yokosuka, Japan. Kujira was moving to the north-northeast. It is no threat to land areas. Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii noted that Kujira is forecast to become extra-tropical later in the day on Sept. 29. It is then expected to begin a weakening trend. ### NASA Researches Tropical Cyclones Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting. NASA's Terra satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research. By Rob Gutro PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GrowFlux, Inc. has recently partnered with Icelandic horticultural lighting firm ABC Lights to commercialize intelligent horticultural lighting systems for the Icelandic greenhouse market. GrowFlux will integrate it's IoT controls technology, GrowFlux Mesh wireless connectivity, into ABC Lights' high performance luminaires, enabling automated and software controlled smart greenhouse lighting. Horticultural lighting represents one of the highest operating costs in a greenhouse, and intelligent control of horticultural lighting allows greenhouse growers to minimize the crop's energy footprint and enhance crop quality. The integration between the two companies will result in intelligent lighting systems optimized for Iceland's unique climate and energy resources. In recent years, greenhouse agriculture in Iceland has received substantial investment. Iceland's vast geothermal energy resource allows for year-round greenhouse cultivation to be far more competitive compared to other regions, since heating energy represents a significant operating cost. GrowFlux's intelligent controls will allow ABC Light's horticultural lighting systems to minimize the amount of grid sourced energy necessary to grow crops, further reducing the operating cost of these modern greenhouses. About GrowFlux GrowFlux, Inc. is an AgTech company offering automation and cloud technologies aimed at resource efficiency and yield expansion for the controlled environment agriculture industry, including greenhouses and indoor farms. GrowFlux specializes in data driven cultivation techniques that provide faster time to harvest, a lower energy footprint, and increased yields, driving profitability for farmers and opening new opportunities to bring crops into greenhouses and indoor farms. The company offers an ecosystem of commercial scale wireless lighting controls, cloud services, and cloud connected agricultural sensors that work seamlessly together to rapidly scale the farms of the future. About ABC Lights ABC Lights co. is an Icelandic technology company focused on the production of economical and environmentally friendly lighting solutions for growers. The company's novel approach to engineering, hi-tech thermal and spectrum management and business innovation position the firm as a leader in horticultural lighting in the expanding Icelandic greenhouse market. The company was founded in 2019 after being awarded development contracts by the Innovation Center Iceland, and was recently awarded a $150,000 startup grant by the Icelandic Centre for Research Technology Development Fund. SOURCE GrowFlux, Inc. Related Links https://www.growflux.com BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Scientific , the largest digital asset mining infrastructure provider in North America, announced it has entered into a strategic alliance with NFN8 Media to become its new exclusive hosting services provider. As such, NFN8 Media's clients will gain full access to Core Scientific's full suite of turnkey solutions and proprietary value added services. Core Scientific's turnkey operating and hosting services include miner sourcing and logistics management, white glove installation, a dedicated Client Success Manager (CSM), and 24/7 physical security and technical operations at each site, including teams dedicated to making repairs around the clock. As soon as digital mining machines arrive at Core Scientific's facilities, the team installs the units and employs its industry leading fleet management and monitoring system, Minder , to provide real time data analytics and diagnostics ensuring a detailed macro and micro operational perspective. NFN8 Media offers its clients customized computer systems called Mining Farms that create digital assets for less-than-spot market price, and additionally, leverages those digital assets through it's proprietary high-frequency trading activities. Once clients purchase mining equipment, NFN8 Media has a Master Service Agreement to have equipment hosted in Core Scientific's cutting-edge and secure data centers. Kevin Turner, CEO of Core Scientific said, "NFN8 has become one of our fastest-growing hosting alliances. This strategic alliance will no doubt provide NFN8's clients with access to new-generation miners and market leading hosting services provided by the Core Scientific team." This announced deal between Core Scientific and NFN8 Media is the first step in a fast growing, long-term strategic alliance that will provide more integrated and expanded opportunities to both company's clients. Cory Rodriguez, COO of NFN8 Media said, "There are many hosting opportunities out there. Core Scientific is simply the best of the best. They have a great team that is always accommodating to our team. Our clients benefit from data centers that are state of the art and secure When we learned that "in rack repair" was part of the deal, materially reducing downtime, the decision was easy for us." For more information, please visit https://www.corescientific.com . About Core Scientific Core Scientific is the leader in customizable infrastructure and software solutions for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. Using state-of-the-art facilities, patent pending technology and best-in-class blockchain hosting solutions, Core Scientific is primed to power leading edge servers for large scale operations and the most complex deep learning AI challenges. To learn more, visit www.corescientific.com . About NFN8 Media NFN8 uses specialized computer system setups called Mining Farms to create Crypto-Assets for less than the current market price and then leverages those assets by high-frequency trading. NFN8 employs a unique sales/leaseback transaction to grow without dilution or debt while creating monthly cash flow for those who want to get involved in the Blockchain space. SOURCE Core Scientific Related Links https://corescientific.com B akery chain Greggs has warned over looming job cuts as it kicked off a consultation with staff. The company, which employs 25,000 people, has kicked off a consultation with its staff to shorten their working hours as it aims to cut costs when the Governments Job Retention Scheme ends next month. Some 19,000 of its staff work in stores. Greggs said: With business activity levels remaining below normal for the foreseeable future we must change the way we work to be as productive and flexible as we can in order to protect as many jobs as possible for the long term. Asked about the scale of the job losses, chief executive Roger Whiteside told the Standard: We do not know how many people we will lose in shops. We are asking people to take reduced hours. When were done and we say thats as far down as we can go then we will have to lose some roles. I cannot really guess at it. About half the shops do not need to do much as their contracted hours are low enough. In others we need to reduce hours. In some cases we will not be able to get there by reducing hours so there will have to be job losses. The company today reported same-store sales in the 12 weeks to September 26 are now 71.2% of 2019 levels. Whiteside said that stores took a hit from the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in August, which tempted customers to rivals. The warm weather also dented sales. Whiteside its 12 stores in zone 1 and 2 in London stores were struggling. He said: London is already one of the most affected areas with people now travelling in less. If there were then a lockdown to take that actually even lower you might find some London shops are simply not worth opening. It would have to get really bad before we decided to permanently close shops in London because they were strong stores before. There will be no drug tests before the first of the presidential debates on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump has been demanding. There will be no handshakes either, most probably, when Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden come face-to-face for the first time. Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a drug test, Trump tweeted on Monday amid huge outrage following a New York Times report that said the US president paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, and nothing at all in 10 of the last 15 years. Gee, I wonder why? he added. Trump and his allies have sought to portray that Biden is mentally and physically unfit for the US presidency, and that he has been performing better on the campaign trail because of some performance-enhancing drug. Hes almost - no. I have no comment, Biden said on Sunday at a press meet, playfully dismissing a question about Trumps demand for a drug test. His campaign was more straightforward, though. Vice-President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words, a Biden spokesperson told Politico. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine, he can have at it. Chris Wallace, a popular Fox News anchor who will moderate the first debate, is almost certainly not going to touch any of that. The Commission on Presidential Debate, which was established in 1987 to conduct debates for presidential and vice-presidential nominees, has said Wallace has picked six broad topics for Tuesdays debate, split into 15-minute segments: the Trump and Biden records, the Supreme Court, Covid-19, the economy, race and violence in US cities, and the integrity of the election. Presidential debates are crucial for voters tuning into the elections at this stage, including many who are undecided on who to vote for. By Express News Service TIRUVANNAMALAI: The movement against eight-lane expressway is set to intensify its opposition and protests in all the five northern districts by coordinating with political parties, trade unions and farmers' associations to stall any move to revive the Rs 10,000 crore project. A meeting of representatives of the organisations, held in Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday, resolved to take forward the protests in an intensified manner. "We have decided to bring in more coordination among the political parties that support our cause, and the trade unions and farmers' associations will step up the protests against the Chennai-Salem eight-lane expressway project," said S Abiraman, convener of Movement Against Eight-Lane Expressway. He added, representatives of the movement will reach out to the opposition parties. Senior leaders including K Pitchandi, MLA (DMK), Pasarai Babu (MDMK) and retired DRO Ilangovan (VCK) participated at the consultation meeting. The 277-km long Greenfield project has been facing still resistance right from the day it was announced in 2018. The farmers in five districts including Tiruvannamalai and Salem districts have been up in arms against the project. The Madras High Court quashed the notification for land acquisition in 2019 giving a huge relief to the farmers who are fighting to protect their livelihood. The case is now pending before the Supreme Court. However, the Centre and the State governments have been stating that the project would be carried out. Abiraman informed that similar consultation meets would be held in the other four districts to consolidate the support from parties and organisations to fight the project. They met after they starred on Love Island together last year - and now Biggs Chris is ready to make things official with girlfriend Rebecca Gormley. Talking to MailOnline, Biggs said he's more than happy to walk down the aisle with the brunette beauty, but he wants HER to do all the running around. Biggs, 27, said: 'Im waiting for Rebecca to ask me to marry her. Im waiting for the ring, she got down on one knee yesterday as a joke.' EXCLUSIVE: 'I want HER to propose': Love Island's Biggs Chris told MailOnline he's ready to walk down the aisle with girlfriend Rebecca Gormley but SHE has to get the ring She replied: 'Youll be waiting for a long time cause Im not getting down on one knee.' Car repair specialist Biggs, initially had his eye on twin Jess Gale when he entered Casa Amor in Love Island, but hooked up with Rebecca after leaving the hit show. He and Rebecca, 21, visited Glasgows The Dhabba restaurant for a double date with his parents on Sunday night. Family comes first: Chris and Rebecca, 21, visited Glasgows The Dhabba restaurant for a double date with his parents on Sunday night They enjoyed lamb cutlets, chicken curry and wine with Chriss family in a corner of the restaurant tucked away. The couple told MailOnline they enjoyed spending their isolation together and it seems it's helped their relationship go from strength to strength. She added: 'Im enjoying Scotland. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and the people are so nice. 'Obviously with lockdown we havent really been going out, just staying in. We came here tonight and weve been staying at a lodge in the Lochside hotel which was phenomenal. Casual: Rebecca posted a picture of her look from inside the restaurant on Instagram on Monday morning Lady in red: She posed up a storm on the streets of Glasgow and undid her jeans after her meal 'The scenery was so green and there were so many cows.' The couple were even given a Bentley to drive around in while they were in Scotland. Rebecca said: 'Its been nice. We've been spending time here and then going back to Newcastle to spend time with my mam and my brother. 'Were splitting it between the two houses. Ive been trying lots of Scottish food.' Later on the couple took to Instagram but as Biggs cosied up to Rebecca in bed he said she stunk of onions. Rebecca concluded: 'Our meal was so nice at the indian but I literally ate a full bowl of onions.' Love: The couple met on the last series of Love Island but didn't get together until after the show PITTSBURGH, Sept. 29, 2020 - A study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai addresses a mystery first raised in March: Why do some people with COVID-19 develop severe inflammation? The research shows how the molecular structure and sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein--part of the virus that causes COVID-19--could be behind the inflammatory syndrome cropping up in infected patients. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses computational modeling to zero in on a part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that may act as a "superantigen," kicking the immune system into overdrive as in toxic shock syndrome--a rare, life-threatening complication of bacterial infections. Symptoms of a newly identified condition in pediatric COVID-19 patients, known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), include persistent fever and severe inflammation that can affect a host of bodily systems. While rare, the syndrome can be serious or even fatal. The first reports of this condition coming out of Europe caught the attention of study co-senior author Moshe Arditi, M.D., director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division at Cedars-Sinai and an expert on another pediatric inflammatory disease--Kawasaki disease. Arditi contacted his long-time collaborator, Ivet Bahar, Ph.D., distinguished professor and John K. Vries Chair of computational and systems biology at Pitt School of Medicine, and the two started searching for features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that might be responsible for MIS-C. Bahar and her team created a computer model of the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike protein and the receptors on human T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system. Under normal circumstances, T cells help the body fight off infection, but when these cells are activated in abnormally large quantities, as is the case with superantigens, they produce massive amounts of inflammatory cytokines--small proteins involved in immune system signaling--in what's known as a "cytokine storm." Using this computer model, the team was able to see that a specific region on the spike protein with superantigenic features interacts with T cells. Then, they compared this region to a bacterial protein that causes toxic shock syndrome and found striking similarities in both sequence and structure. Importantly, the proposed SARS-CoV-2 superantigen showed a high affinity for binding T cell receptors--the first step toward touching off a runaway immune response. "Everything came one after another, each time a huge surprise. The pieces of the puzzle ended up fitting extremely well," said Bahar, co-senior author on the study. By finding protein-level similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and the bacterial structure that causes toxic shock syndrome, the researchers said they may have opened up new avenues for treating not only MIS-C patients, but also adults with COVID-19 infection experiencing cytokine storm. The researchers also collaborated with scientists studying adult COVID-19 patients in Germany and found that those who experienced severe symptoms had a T cell response similar to what is seen in people exposed to superantigens and very different from the T cell response in patients who had only mild symptoms. "Our research finally begins to unravel the potential mechanisms involved and raises the possibility that therapeutic options for toxic shock syndrome, such as intravenous immunoglobulin and steroids, may be effective for managing and treating MIS-C in children and hyperinflammation in adult coronavirus patients," said Arditi, professor of pediatrics and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai. Arditi's and Bahar's labs are now using the ideas generated by this study to search for and test antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV-2 superantigen, with the goal of developing therapies that specifically address MIS-C and cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients. ### This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants P41 GM103712 and R01 AI072726), as well as institutional funds. Additional authors include first author Mary Hongying Cheng, Ph.D., and She Zhang, Ph.D., both at Pitt; Rebecca Porritt, Ph.D., and Magali Noval Rivas, Ph.D., at Cedars-Sinai; and Lisa Paschold, Ph.D., Edith Willscher, M.Sc., and Mascha Binder, M.D., at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. To read this release online or share it, visit https://www.upmc.com/media/news/092820-bahar-arditi-pnas. About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu. About Cedars-Sinai Cedars-Sinai is a national leader in providing high-quality, patient-centered healthcare encompassing primary care as well as specialized medicine and conducting research that leads to lifesaving discoveries and innovations. Since its beginning in 1902, Cedars-Sinai has evolved to meet the healthcare needs of one of the most diverse regions in the nation, continually setting new standards in quality and innovation in patient care, research, teaching and community service. Today, Cedars-Sinai is widely known for its national leadership in transforming healthcare for the benefit of patients. Cedars-Sinai impacts the future of healthcare globally by developing new approaches to treatment and educating tomorrow's physicians and other health professionals. At the same time, Cedars-Sinai demonstrates a longstanding commitment to strengthening the Los Angeles community through wide-ranging programs that improve the health of its most vulnerable residents. http://www.upmc.com/media cedars-sinai.org/newsroom Wentworth has finished filming its 100th and final episode ever after eight seasons. And as diehard fans already pine for a spin-off, producer Jo Porter told The Courier Mail's SMARTdaily on Tuesday that you should 'never say never'. While she's open to the possibility, Jo went on to say that she's content on the eighth season being the end. Is this REALLY the end? Producer of Australian prison drama Wentworth, Jo Porter, revealed to The Courier Mail's SMARTdaily on Tuesday whether a spin-off is on the cards, after filming wrapped on the final season 'There's a few characters who survive, there are possibilities, but at the moment we're focusing on this being a beautiful bow to draw a close to this chapter.' Jo added that as a producer, it's an 'absolute art' to know when a series should end. 'We are going out on a high... because you've gone out on a high there's the chance to potentially come back, but we're not committing to that just yet. It's too soon.' 'Never say never': While she's open to the possibility, Jo (pictured in 2018) said that she's content on the eighth season being the end: 'Because you've gone out on a high there's the chance to potentially come back, but we're not committing to that just yet. It's too soon' Keen: Pamela Rabe who plays Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson (pictured in 2016), also told SMARTdaily that she hopes 'the stories would keep going' as there's 'still life' left Pamela Rabe who plays Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson, also told SMARTdaily that she hopes 'the stories would keep going' as there's 'still life' left. Earlier this month, the cast and crew of the acclaimed drama said their final goodbyes on the Melbourne set. TV Tonight reported that the show's line producer Sue Edwards and head of production Brett Popplewell, were notably congratulated in speeches for their efforts in managing filming under strict COVID-19 restrictions. Final scenes: Earlier this month, the cast and crew of the acclaimed drama said their final goodbyes on the Melbourne set Foxtel also sent individual bottles of Champagne to the show's team for completing filming, according to the publication. Wentworth's producer Pino Amenta shared a few photos of the final day on Twitter. He wrote: 'Last day of Shooting on Wentworth. What a glorious experience it's been working with such wonderful people. Last day: Wentworth's producer Pino Amenta shared a few photos of the final day on Twitter Bittersweet end: He wrote: 'Last day of Shooting on Wentworth. What a glorious experience it's been working with such wonderful people' 'Will miss the whole damn thing! Very emotional day, thanks to every single one of them,' he added. Among the photos he shared were of the actors on set, as well as a picture of the cast after filming - with all wearing face masks. Wentworth, which is a fresh take on iconic 1980s series Prisoner, has garnered plenty of critical acclaim, winning several AACTA and Logie awards over the years. It has also aired in several countries, including New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, where it has developed a devoted fan base. Emotional: He also shared a photo from the set of the show. Producer Amenta said on Twitter: 'Will miss the whole damn thing! Very emotional day, thanks to every single one of them' Award-winning series: Wentworth, which is a fresh take on iconic 1980s series Prisoner, has garnered plenty of critical acclaim, winning several AACTA and Logie awards over the years The Foxtel produced series was also popular with Australian audiences, who even petitioned hard to save the show from cancellation after the seventh season. Despite this, the drama proved too expensive and limited to continue funding, leading Foxtel to confirm season eight would be Wentworth's final season. Part one of season eight is currently airing on screens. Part two will air next year. Press Release September 29, 2020 Compel agencies to list anti-red tape pledges in national budget President Duterte should order agencies to include in the 2021 national budget their anti-red tape pledges, "including the speed by which they will process a document," Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. Recto explained that the national budget is not all numbers, as attached to every agency's proposed appropriations "is a table of performance guarantees." "This is the so-called 'promissory note' of an agency that is part and parcel of its budget request. Under our budgeting system, the funds it will get is linked to what it should deliver," Recto said. "On paper, there is peso-to-performance correspondence. And these deliverables become part of the General Appropriations Act. Kasama 'yan sa batas," Recto said. Among the promises in the proposed 2021 national budget are PNP's vow to respond to distress calls within 15 minutes and the Bureau of Fire Protection's guarantee that it will be at the scene of a fire not later than 7 minutes after receiving the call. Infrastructure spending is also linked to countable targets such DICT's plan to add 30 offices to "the number of interconnected agencies," and DOTr's target of a maximum 9 minute platform transfer time for MRT and LRT. Social services also peg their funds to countable achievements like DOH's goal to immunize 95% of children and DepEd's promise to provide computer packages to all public schools with electricity. But Recto said these performance guarantees should be expanded to include "ease of doing business" targets, whether the application for a document or service is done in person or online. "Minsan kasi mabilis kung personal kang mag-a-appear sa isang opisina, kaysa sa isang request na pinadala mo through email, or through website kasi hindi naman lahat ay may easy-to-use app," Recto said. As the bureaucracy shifts to online processing of documents, "then what should be the standards for distance transactions?" Recto said. He said minimum processing time must also cover an agency's service to its own employees, "katulad ng pagkuha ng clearance at leave applications, kasi dapat speedy service, like charity, should begin at home." "Maraming ahensya na ang daming requirements for employment at aabot ng minimum na tatlong buwan ang unang sweldo," Recto said. An invasive plant disease spreading through Scotland's juniper trees is posing a threat to one of the UK's favourite tipples, scientists say. Scotland, which produces 70 percent of the UK's gin, is currently witnessing a pathogen called Phytophthora austrocedri impact its juniper trees. According to experts from the Plant Health Centre, the pathogen entered Britain through the plant trade and may have got into juniper woodlands through well-intentioned planting schemes. It lives in the soil and spreads in both soil and water, infecting juniper roots and killing large numbers of juniper trees, especially on wet sites. Although gin an industry worth 3.2bn to the UK economy can be produced from spirits derived from a wider choice of grains or even potatoes, it relies on juniper berries for its traditional and distinctive flavour. Luckily for gin drinkers, researchers in Scotland have found that some junipers are resistant to P. austrocedri and it is hoped that natural regeneration will allow juniper populations to recover over time. Science is also helping to identify juniper sites that are less vulnerable to the pathogen and which can be targeted for conservation and protection. Prof Sarah Gurr, of the University of Exeter, also highlighted the threats faced by the Scotch whisky industry from diseases such as ramularia, which can slash barley yields. At a time of heightened awareness of the impact of epidemics on human health, we must also remember that disease has a huge impact upon plant health," she added. Food security and crop protection rely heavily on breeding for disease resistance and upon the widespread spraying of fungicides and insecticides. However, despite such disease protection strategies, we still lose around 20 per cent of our crops to disease." Members of the public can also take simple steps to help protect the gin industry, the Scottish government-funded Plant Health Centre says. These include cleaning soil from boots, bike tyres and dog paws before and after visiting forests, moors and woodlands to prevent disease spreading to new sites. T he effort to purge a deadly parasite from drinking water in a Houston suburb - which may have led to the death of a child - could take up to 60 days, an official has warned. Doctors believe the presence of the brain-eating naegleria fowleri microbe in tap water killed a six-year-old boy. Tesidents of Lake Jackson, within the Greater Houston Area, have been urged to boil water before using it. Lake Jackson City Manager Modesto Mundo said that three of 11 samples of the citys water indicated preliminary positive results for the microbe. One sample, Mr Mundo said, came from the home of Josiah McIntyre, the boy who died earlier this month after being infected with parasite, according to doctors. Doctors believe a deadly, microscopic parasite in Houston's water supply killed Josiah McIntyre / AP Maria Castillo, Josiahs mother, said her son first started showing flu-like symptoms but those quickly worsened to the point where he had trouble standing and communicating. She said: We found out that it was, most likely this amoeba that was causing all of these symptoms. Doctors took measures to alleviate swelling in the childs brain and tried to save him. Maria Castillo, centre, with her son Josiah McIntyre, left, and daughter Alayna Flores / AP She added: Josiah loved to be outside and he loved to be with his sister and his cousin. He was a lovable little boy and loved everybody he was around. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) warned the Brazosport Water Authority late on Friday of the potential contamination of its water supply by the deadly microscopic flagellate. The commission has advised the community to flush out its water distribution networks with chlorine to help eradicate the microbe, Mr Mundo said. The citys water service is trying to purge its system of any old water so the system can be disinfected and replaced with fresh water. Well be doing that for a 60-day period, Mr Mundo said. The investigation into Josiahs death led to the detection of the brain-eating amoeba after health officials conducted water sample tests. A Lake Jackson water waste operator flushes water out from a fire hydrant on Monday / AP The Brazosport Water Authority initially warned eight communities not to use tap water for any reason except to flush toilets on Friday, but on Saturday it lifted that warning for all communities but Lake Jackson, where the authoritys water treatment plant is situated. The was finally lifted for Lake Jackson, but the TCEQ has advised its more than 27,000 residents to boil any tap water before using it. Naegleria fowleri is a free-living microscopic amoeba, or single-celled living organism commonly found in warm freshwater and soil, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose and from there it travels to the brain and can cause a rare and debilitating disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. The infection is usually fatal and typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places such as lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water enters the nose. Its time for Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden in real-time. The first presidential debate between President Trump, the Republican nominee, and Biden, the Democratic nominee and former vice president, is tonight. The debate will be held at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The format will be six 15-minute time segments dedicated to different topics selected by Chris Wallace, moderator of the first 2020 presidential debate and host of Fox News Sunday. The presidential debate topics will be: The Trump and Biden records The Supreme Court Covid-19 The economy Race and violence in our cities The integrity of the election The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic, debate organizers said in a statement. How to watch the debate The debates start at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT) and will run for 90 minutes without commercial interruptions. Every major network and most cable channels will carry the debate ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Fox News, Fox Business, PBS, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, MSNBC, CSPAn and Fubo. The debate is expected to garner wide viewership. A Fox News poll showed nearly three in four voters plan to watch Tuesdays debate. The debate is one of three planned for the presidential candidates with one more for vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. The second presidential debate is set for Oct. 15 in Miami with moderator Steve Cully of C-SPAN. The third presidential debate is Oct. 22 in Nashville with moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News. The vice presidential debate is planned for Oct. 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah with moderator Susan Page of USA Today. The U.S. election is set for Nov. 3. By Lucila Sigal BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina is famed for its horses, whether excelling in polo matches or carrying gauchos through the Pampas farm lands. What's less well known is what lies ahead for many horses after their best days are behind them: slaughter and sale as meat to gourmet buyers in Europe. In the investigative documentary "5 Corazones", director Martin Parlato says a lucrative business covers up mistreatment and fraud in the industry. Argentina does not allow horses to be consumed domestically, but is the largest global exporter of horse meat, the country's trade data show. "The harshness of the images shows that things happen that European consumers would not love to see," Parlato told Reuters in an interview by Zoom. Last year some 105,000 horses were slaughtered in Argentina, representing about 24,000 tonnes of meat destined mainly for France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Russia and Japan, government data show. The documentary shows horses destined for the slaughterhouse living in poor conditions, eating next to a mountain of dead animals and drinking water that Parlato describes as "rotten." Although the horses are meant to be kept for six months after 'retiring' to get potential drugs or chemicals out of their system before they are slaughtered, that doesn't always happen, the documentary alleges. The slaughtered animals are then sent to meat plants that hide the true conditions from European Union regulators after being tipped off by officials, the documentary says, citing a lawyer and animal rights groups. Asked about the documentary, an official at Argentina's national food safety and quality body Senasa told Reuters that the agency is committed to animal welfare, and that it is aware of certain irregularities by producers and has initiated criminal cases. "The main problems are the mistreatment of horses and the lack of traceability," Sabrina Gurtner, project manager at the Animal Welfare Foundation in Germany, says in the film. "And another big problem in Argentina is corruption." Story continues Parlato said that he was working with EU lawmakers on actions to curb the import of equine meat. "What we want as a final aim is the prohibition of the importation of (horse) meat by Europe," he said. "Hopefully equine slaughter and this mistreatment of horses that is evidenced in so many visible and concrete ways can be banned." (Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Cassandra Garrison and Sonya Hepinstall) Dave Lewis steps down on Wednesday after six years as Tesco chief executive, during which he got Britain's biggest retailer back on track after an accounting crisis, leaving new challenges for his successor, Irishman Ken Murphy. Murphy, 53, who was formerly at healthcare group Walgreens Boots Alliance, faces the long-term impact of the coronavirus crisis, a recession and possible disruption when Britain's Brexit transition period finishes at the end of 2020. Tesco was on its knees shortly after former Unilever executive Lewis, 55, joined in 2014 when an accounting scandal knocked millions off its profits and billions off its share price. But by October last year, Lewis declared Tesco's turnaround complete, its position as clear market leader among Britain's supermarket groups reinforced. Lewis received a total pay package of 6.4 million in 2019-20. Murphy, who is taking on his highest profile business role, starts as Britain's supermarkets have seen grocery sales boosted by the pandemic, both in stores and online, but have also seen a big increase in costs. There are also fears that the pandemic-induced recession will spark a margin damaging price war. After Lewis sold Tesco's businesses in Thailand and Malaysia, and in Poland, Murphy will have to decide the future of its central European division, with stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, its only remaining overseas supermarket operations apart from Ireland. A week after Murphy starts, analysts expect Tesco to report second quarter UK like-for-like sales growth similar to the first quarter's 8.7%, but anticipate increased costs will drag down core earnings. Murphy's appointment at Tesco follows Simon Roberts taking over as CEO at arch rival Sainsbury's in June. It means that Britain's two biggest supermarket groups will be run by Boots alumni, who know each other well. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Ghana is hosting members of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), experts and stakeholders to review and validate the Youth Strategic Action Plan. Opening the session, CEO of the National Youth Authority, Sylvester Tetteh expressed gratitude to the ECOWAS Commission for recognising Ghana as the preferred destination to host the maiden virtual meeting and said Ghana is privileged to play host to the meeting. He recalled the 2010 National Youth Policy of Ghana, which has recently undergone a similar exercise of review and validation and said the reviewed document, which spans 2021 -2031 covers some critical areas which the ECOWAS Youth Strategic Plan of Action. It included Youth Education and Employment, Youth and Health, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development, Science and ICT, Youth and Governance amongst others. He said emerging trends such as the Covid-19 pandemic, migration, and climate change were all critical issues affecting young persons which urgently deserved creativity and innovation to address. Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender at ECOWAS, Dr Siga Fatima Jagne also mentioned xenophobia and lack of affordable housing as key challenges confronting the sub-region and called on all participants to take a critical look at that whilst identifying new ways and means to address it. She said ECOWAS has, over the years, placed youth development at the center of its human development and social affairs initiatives. Adding that, and these initiatives shall continually be supported and implemented to address the yearnings of this indispensable stratum of the populace. The meeting which is slated from 28th to 30th September 2020, has amongst its key objectives, reviewing and updating the Youth Strategic Plan of Action and repositioning it to effectively respond to emerging trends in the youth development sector. The expected outcome of the meeting is a new ECOWAS Youth Strategic Plan of Action spanning 2021-2031. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video MILAN: Italian carabinieri arrested a female foreign fighter on Tuesday after returning her and her four young children to Italy from a displaced persons camp in Kurdish-controlled territory. The woman, Alice Brignoli, traveled in 2015 with her Moroccan-born husband, Mohamed Koraichi, and their three young children by car from their home north of Milan to Islamic State-controlled territory. Another child was born in Syria. The children, now 11, 8, 6 and 4, were in foster care pending a decision by an Italian juvenile court. Authorities say Brignoli will face trial on terror-related charges. Brignoli contributed to the radicalization of the children, turning them against the West and thereby embracing the cause of global jihadism, Italian Carabinieri said in a statement. Authorities say the children have family members in Italy and that their experience with other children returning from Islamic State territory notably an 11-year-old Albanian boy Alvin Berisha who was brought back to Italy last November has showed that indoctrinations can be reversed. There was a minimal amount of indoctrination but no military training enough to make them understand and agree with the choices that the parents had made. But as we have experienced with Alvin, they are small children and they can easily turn back, Carabinieri Lt. Col. Andrea Leo told The Associated Press. Brignoli came back to Italy willingly, convinced it was the best choice after the conditions she had lived in over the last 5 years, Leo said. Authorities are hoping she will help them locate other Italian families they believe are still in former Islamic State territory. After Islamic State lost its territorial foothold, Brignoli and her children were captured by Kurdish forces and brought to a camp for displaced people in Al-Hol. Koraichi was also in the camp as a prisoner. Authorities said he died this month from an intestinal infection. After the familys arrival in Syria, Korachi had received training, participated in fighting and was prepared to carry out suicide attacks, authorities said. Koraichi, who also held Italian citizenship, helped others receive authorization to travel to Islamic State territory, aiding in the recruitment and radicalization of at least two suspects who were arrested in April 2016 before they could leave Italy. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1152 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser, what weve accomplished in the last year, and our current goal, burnout prevention. Yves here. While we hope you all will join us for Lamberts usual debate open thread tomorrow night, if nothing else as a way to keep on top of what will be the news event of the week without losing your sanity, this post serves as an important reminder that the stakes arent as high as the media would have you believe. In the US, the data suggests that unlike the mother of all televised debates, Kennedy v. Nixon in 1960, debates dont do much to change voter views in the US. That may be due to the candidates having been well exposed to the electorate before the debates, so they already have a good sense of the contenders personalities and positions. Another way to think about it is whatever shifting of voter views occurs during the debates could be offset or solidified by later developments. For instance, Obama, who was not doing well given his incumbent status in 2012, was widely perceived to have also dialed in his performance at the first debate with Romney, giving the challenger a further boost. But Obama prepped for the next three debates and was generally credited with having won them. However, consistent with the thesis of this post, those debates likely had less impact than the release of a secret video taken at a Romney fundraiser. His remarks: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That thats an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter whatThese are people who pay no income tax. Funny how this is a mirror image of Hillary Clintons self-destructive basket of deplorables declaration. By Caroline Le Pennec, Incoming Assistant Professor, HEC Montreal; Vincent Pons, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, and Faculty Research Fellow at NBER; Vestal McIntyre, writer and editor on development economics for the Economic Growth Center at Yale University, and other organizations. Originally published at VoxEU The first televised debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will take place next week. But while it is being portrayed as a make-or-break moment in the campaign, this column argues that TV debates between candidates do not substantially impact vote choice. Instead, a campaign wishing to sway last-minute voters might do better by focusing on individual outreach a challenging prospect, given the Covid-19 pandemic. The first televised debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will take place on 29 September. The US media often portrays this as a make-or-break moment in the campaign. One CNN analysis claims that [t]he best opportunity [Trump] will have to alter the races trajectory is the three debates with Biden, especially the first one, on September 29, since traditionally that is the one that draws the most viewers, and Vanity Fair magazine says that [t]he presidential debates of 2020 will likely be this countrys most dramatic and consequential political theater of the 21st century. But how many voters will change their choice based on what they see? A large number of US-based studies examine this question. While some conclude that TV debates truly matter (e.g. Hillygus and Jackman 2003), others find modest or even null effects on vote choice (e.g. Shaw 1999). However, these studies generally focus on a unique election or a small number of races in the same country, and so their estimates may capture the effects of concomitant events and underlying time trends. Another set of studies use rigorous experimentation in developing countries and find that debates can build voter knowledge and affect voter choice (Brierley et al. 2019, Bidwell et al. 2019, Platas and Raffler 2019, Bowles and Larreguy 2020). Brierley et al. (2019) show debates also reduce polarisation in Ghana, while for Sierra Leone Bidwell et al. (2019) trace the effects all the way through to the behaviour of elected members of parliament, and give evidence that debates increase accountability and lead to policy change. However, these studies are quite far removed from the US electoral season, focusing instead on debates in low-income democracies with scarce information. The debates feature parliamentary candidates (not executives) and they are not televised but featured on smartphones, in public gatherings, or on the radio. In a new paper, two of us Caroline and Vincent use survey data from 62 elections in ten OECD countries to begin to fill this knowledge gap (Le Pennec and Pons 2020). Voters are surveyed not once, but twice before and after election day which provides new detail on how and when they make their choices. We find that across the sample of countries, a significant portion of survey respondents can still be swayed in the last 60 days in a campaign enough to change the outcomes of many elections. However, this share is far lower in the US, and across all countries and elections considered, TV debates do not substantially impact vote choice. This suggests a campaign wishing to sway last-minute voters might do better by focusing on individual outreach a challenging prospect, given the Covid-19 pandemic. The Surveys In the paper, we seek to identify the overall impact of information voters receive across an electoral season, and how that compares to other factors such as party affiliation in determining their vote. We assemble a dataset of nationally representative surveys conducted around 62 elections in ten countries from 1952 to 2017, resulting in a total of 253,000 observations. These surveys entailed interviewing a new set of people every day before the election to elicit their voting intentions, then interviewing them again after the election to record their actual vote choice. Comparing voters responses to the two surveys reveals whether they had actually settled on their final vote choice by the time of the pre-electoral survey, removing recollection bias which can arise when asking voters when they made their choice and what made them choose. The paper sheds light on a number of determinates of voter choice, such as policy preferences (information received during the electoral season does not appear to affect policy preferences expressed before and after an election), candidate electability (surveys suggest that voters beliefs on candidates attributes and policy positions matter more than beliefs on their chances of victory), and the perceived importance of different issues (which changes during the campaign and correlates with shifts in vote choices). But three of the findings speak directly to the possible effects of the 29 September debate: 1. Across the sample, sufficient numbers of voters make their choice in the final two months to sway many elections As Figure 1 shows, the surveys reveal that the fraction of people with identical pre-election vote intention and post-election vote declaration increases by 17 percentage points over the last 60 days before the election, from a baseline of 71%. That increase comes both from respondents becoming more willing to state any vote intention, and from that statement becoming more consistent with their final reported vote. Figure 1 Vote choice consistency as a function of the number of days relative to the election 2. Far fewer voters are subject to last-minute changes in the US than other countries The influence of campaigns on vote choice has been relatively stable for the last 70 years but it varies substantially from one country to another. Figure 2 represents this, by showing vote choice consistency across countries and over time. For each election, we estimate the average daily increase in the fraction of people with identical vote intention and vote declaration in the last 60 days before the election. The figure plots these election-specific estimates the daily increases in vote choice consistency against election year, along with country-level linear fits. The share of voters who change their mind in the final two months of an election season is much lower in the US than in other countries and this has changed little over the decades. Figure 2 Average daily increase in vote choice consistency across countries and over time 3. TV debates change few minds The study sheds light on the effects of 56 TV debates in 31 elections in seven countries, which not only gives the results the advantage of statistical power, but also a broader focus than studies such as Hillygus and Jackman (2003) and Shaw (1999), which focus on a few elections in a single country. The methodology confers two further advantages in identifying the effects of debates. First, the fact that there are many debates in the samples decreases the risk that the event study captures the effect of other shocks affecting vote choice as we can reasonably assume such shocks should be uncorrelated with the dates of debates. And second, debates took place at different times in different elections, which allows an ability to control flexibly for the consistency of vote choice that rises non-linearly in the 60 days leading to the election, as we saw in Figure 1. In other words, effects of debates can be disentangled from those underlying time trends. The results show no significant impact of TV debates on individual consistency between vote intentions and vote choices expressed before and after an election or any of the other relevant factors considered, such as voter policy preferences, issue salience, or beliefs on candidates. Thanks to the precision of the estimates, we can reject any impact higher than 0.5 percentage points on vote choice consistency, on average. Furthermore, debates do not contribute to vote choice formation for any type of voters and in any context, including close and uncertain races. If Not Debates, What Will Sway Last-Minute Voters? Unlike televised debates, door-to-door canvassing by political activists has a strong potential to mobilise and persuade voters at least in France, according to a series of studies one of us (Vincent) conducted with co-authors. It can bring in new voters through registration (Braconnier et al. 2017) and mobilise a partys existing supporters to vote (Pons and Liegey 2019). Vincent also gave evidence that canvassing can perform that function so often attributed to TV debates changing minds. He embedded a countrywide experiment in Francois Hollandes campaign in the 2012 French presidential election (Pons 2018), randomising who received visits as an estimated 80,000 left-wing activists knocked on 5 million doors to encourage people to vote for Hollande. The study found that canvassers did not affect turnout, but increased Hollandes vote share by 3.2 percentage points in the first round and 2.8 points in the second, accounting for a quarter of his victory margin. What bearing will these findings have on an election in the United States, and especially one taking place during a global pandemic? Republicans and Democrats are taking a dramatically different approach to field work. Donald Trumps campaign recently claimed to have knocked on 1 million doors in one week, while Joe Bidens campaign knocked on zero, choosing instead to focus on safer methods such as phone calls, texts, and virtual organising. It is hard to say if such efforts will change many voters minds, but if past evidence holds true, the TV debates will not. See original post for references Queensland politicians have billed taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars to attend meetings with party members around the country in the past year. Travel bills tabled in Queensland Parliament on Tuesday detail taxi, aircraft and other fares charged to taxpayers during the past financial year. Queensland politicans billed taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars to attend meetings with political parties. Credit:Getty MPs can claim travel for a host of reasons including flying to Brisbane for Parliament and attending functions and meetings relating to their electorate. They are also able to claim travel to meet attend meetings with a "political party or policy formulation body". A man has been arrested in south China after he was caught on camera pushing his intellectually disabled son into the sea in a bid to stage an accident and claim insurance money. The father, known by his surname Yang, reported to police that his son had fallen into the water and gone missing after the Monday incident in Hainan, according to Chinese media. Yang later confessed to the authorities that he had faked the disappearance of his son who was a heavy burden to the family, an officer said. A man has been arrested in south China after he was caught on camera pushing his intellectually disabled son into the sea in a bid to stage an accident and claim insurance money Hainan police today have found the body of Yangs 38-year-old son and detained the suspect amid an ongoing investigation. On Monday, the authorities received a report from the Chinese father, reportedly to be 64, who claimed his intellectually disabled son had accidentally fallen into the sea and disappeared. During the investigation, the officers found the CCTV footage of Yangs son being pushed off the dock by a man wearing the same clothing as the father. The parent also appeared unusually calm without showing any sadness or devastation. Yang initially denied the allegation and repeatedly asked the police to issue a formal notice proving his sons accidental disappearance. The man eventually admitted that he had planned the incident with a distant relative in the hope of claiming insurance money for his own use. On Monday, the authorities received a report from the Chinese father, reportedly to be 64, who claimed his intellectually disabled son had accidentally fallen into the sea The father, originally from southwest Chinas Hunan province, came up with the idea of faking his sons disappearance when he visited the southern Chinese island Hainan in mid-September. He contacted his distant relative, known by his surname Li, and offered the family member 6,000 yuan (685) to help him do the job, reports said. After they travelled to Hainan with Yangs son, the three of them went to a local dock in the wee hours of September 28. Chilling footage initially shows the father signalling his relative to push his son, who was peeing while standing on the edge of the dock. After the relative hesitated to take action, Yang walked up and pushed his son into the sea. Yang contacted his distant relative, known by his surname Li, and offered the family member 6,000 yuan (685) to help him do the job, reports said. The picture shows Yang (pictured centre) and the relative (left) standing behind the son (right) who was peeing by the water The suspect later confessed to officers that he had bought personal accident insurance for his son last year. [He said] his child had intellectual disabilities from a young age and was a heavy burden to the family, an officer told Pear Video. He wanted to claim the insurance money to support himself after his child accidentally died. The authorities have arrested Yang and Li amid an ongoing investigation. The sons body has been found today, according to Chinese media, citing the police. Donald Trump has been able to unify a constellation of groups into an apparently seamless front. (Associated Press ) How is it that working-class whites and a significant number of Latinos could support Donald Trump, a self-aggrandizing billionaire with nothing in common with them and little understanding of their lives? The Italian political theorist and leader Antonio Gramsci asked a similar question about the appeal of fascism among the working class. Why was it that fascism, a project that favored the capitalist class, could have so much support among working-class people, who by the conventional wisdom of the time were expected to side with the left? This was the fundamental question that Gramsci contemplated in his famed prison notebooks, written from his cell after his arrest by the Italian fascist government in 1926. To describe this dynamic, Gramsci put forward the idea of the historic bloc, among other concepts, to explain the unification of a constellation of groups with opposing interests into an apparently seamless front. Such a bloc, he argued, blurs the lines between the state and society and functions to repress dissent in moments of crisis and intense labor and social-movement militancy, like the one we are living in now. These blocs congeal by demonizing their enemies foreign and domestic, declare states of emergency and criminalize legitimate social protest in the name of national unity. They can unleash a viciousness among the state security forces and among armed citizens. Such blocs dont have to be based on truth, facts or coherent arguments. Never rational, such authoritarian movements are based on pure emotion and a sort of identity politics of the right, using common-sense ideas about how the world works among the working class to draw them from the left. The bloc depends on an intense identification with a strong-man leader, the romanticizing of violence for resolving conflicts and a selective reading of history and national culture that appeals to groups that find protection by joining the bloc even if in a subordinate position. Story continues Although the base of the Trumpian bloc is overwhelmingly white and male, 26% of Latinos support Trump over Biden. Many conservative Latinos identify with macho political posturing, pro-2nd Amendment rhetoric, simple law-and-order solutions to complex problems, demonization of the left and disdain for the Black Lives Matter movement. This bloc, under the "Make America Great Again" banner, requires its supporters particularly subordinate groups to accept a degree of cognitive dissonance in submitting to the emotional appeal to a mythical moment of American greatness. For many of the white working class, that moment is before the rise of the civil rights movement, Latino immigration and multiculturalism, the idea that diverse people should have representation and rights in pluralist society. For right-wing Latinos, this means ignoring both the historical and the contemporary injustices inflicted on their community, such as the lynching of Mexicans by the Texas Rangers in the 1920s, the deportation of at least 1 million Mexicans in the 1950s, the separation of children from their parents at the border or the alleged coerced hysterectomies of Latina migrant women in immigration detention centers now. The point of the MAGA slogan is to bury history with its deep class and racial disparities and to conceal the crises of our time: savage inequality, climate change, pandemics and racial conflict. Racism and xenophobia have historically provided the ideological glue that has kept the white working class supporting the most rabid sectors of the capitalist class and from seeing their fate linked with racial others and immigrants. Even during the current economic disaster, it is easier for many working-class whites to identify with the Trumpian bloc, led by a billionaire rooted in the transnational capital class, than to have a sense of solidarity with Latinos or Black people. Historic blocs of the right emerge precisely at that moment when the left is strong and when the right decides to stop playing by the rules of liberal democracy, the system for resolving conflicts through representative government and respect for individual rights. These are dangerous times that compel us to recall the fascist bloc that emerged in Italy as a reaction to the Biennio Rosso, the great workers movement of 1919 and 1920, when workers took over factories and continued production in defiance of the owners. It emerged in Germany on the heels of the Weimar Republic, a liberal government, in the context of intense labor struggles and one of the strongest communist parties in Western Europe at the time. And in the 1930s, authoritarian blocs in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic led to dictatorships and brutal repression that lasted for much of the 20th century. In the name of redeeming a victimized nation, fascist leaders like Mussolini and Hitler created historic blocs that destroyed liberal democratic institutions, outlawed dissent and even murdered their opposition, and channeled the anger of the working class into an ultra-nationalist project at the service of capital. Fascism eventually led to the collapse of democracies in Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal and the death of 85 million people by the end of World War II. These are unprecedented times, with a pandemic raging, millions unemployed, rising hunger and poverty, racial tensions and clashes between police and protesters. The stability of the imperfect American democratic experiment is being threatened by a historic bloc that empowers the president to undermine democratic institutions and promote the use of violence against protesters and dissenters in the name of law and order. Trump maybe created new symbols, like his red MAGA hat, and slogans to try to differentiate himself from the fascisms of the 20th century. But Robert O. Paxton, a leading historian of fascism, has noted in his classic book The Anatomy of Fascism that a fascism of the future perhaps an emergency response to some still unimagined crisis need not resemble classical fascism perfectly in its outward signs and symbols to be any less dangerous. Alfonso Gonzales Toribio is a political theorist and associate professor of ethnic studies and director of the Latin American Studies Program at UC Riverside. He is the author of Reform Without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. This is the dramatic moment an RNLI volunteer jumped from a lifeboat to rescue a teenager struggling against the tide as it dragged him away from the coast. Volunteers were called out at 2.42pm to an incident off the coast of Portrush in Northern Ireland on September 25. When the RNLI team arrived at Portstewart Head they found a teenager wearing a wet suit treading water, battling against the waves which threatened to dash him on the rocks and drag him out to sea. A mechanic from Portrush RNLI jumps into the water near Portstewart Head, Northern Ireland, to try and save a teenager who was pulled out to sea by the tide. A cable is attached to the mechanic so the rest of the crew can haul the pair back onto the lifeboat Video footage captured the heroic moment the mechanic leaped into the angry waves. They had a cable attached to them so once they managed to grab hold of the teenager, who had been waving his arms in the air, the rest of the crew could pull the pair of them out of the water. Force 6-7 winds as well as showers made the rescue operation more difficult. The lifeboat, under coxswain Des Austin, had been positioned so that it broke the waves, making it easier for the mechanic to reach the stranded teenager. Speaking afterwards, Mr Austin said: 'Conditions were challenging at sea today and time was of the essence. The lifeboat had been positioned so that it broke any incoming waves to give the mechanic a better chance of rescuing the teen who was treading water 'The tide was turning at the time the casualty got into difficulty and the conditions were pulling him out to sea. 'The prompt actions of the lifeboat crew saved a life and we would like to wish the casualty well following his ordeal.' The lifeboat crew had carried out casualty care because the teenager had shown signs of hypothermia and exhaustion. When they reached Portrush Harbour, the teenager was given to Coleraine Coastguard and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Mayor Sylvester Turners police reform task force will recommend sweeping changes to the citys police oversight board and a blanket ban on no-knock warrants for nonviolent offenses, according to draft copies of the recommendations shared with the Houston Chronicle. The 45-person group, appointed a month after police officers in Minnesota killed former Houston resident George Floyd, also will suggest more stringent rules for investigating police misconduct and new policies that would require the Houston Police Department to publicize complaints against officers, among other reforms aimed at increasing transparency. Near the beginning of the 71-page report, which recommends more than 100 reforms, task force members wrote that previous police reform proposals have been frequently accepted but rarely enacted by city officials, such as those from Turners transition committee on criminal justice that went mostly ignored. The results of this Task Forces recommendations need to be applied lest we further demoralize our community, the draft report reads. How many reports and tasks forces are needed before the HPD is accountable and reformed for the good? Turner, who controls City Councils agenda and negotiates with the police union on contracts, has repeatedly said he wants to wait until the task force issues its recommendations before commenting on specific reform proposals. However, the mayor said earlier this month he is 99.999 percent certain there will be some adjustments to Houstons Independent Police Oversight Board. IPOB CRITICISM: Critics say Houston needs more robust civilian police oversight board The mayor said Monday afternoon he had not received a copy of the recommendations. He said there are tentative plans to unveil the report at a news conference Wednesday. The Chronicle obtained the report from sources who described the proposals as the task forces final recommendations but stressed that the document could undergo small last-minute changes before going to the mayors desk. Among the task forces first recommendations is to beef up the beleaguered oversight board with funding, including paid professional staff, and facilities outside the police department. The group also recommended allowing the oversight board to report some of its findings to the community, which it is currently barred from doing. A longtime member resigned in August, arguing that the board provides cover by making it appear that independent oversight is taking place, and five City Council members asked Turner weeks later for a complete overhaul. Earlier this month, when four officers were fired for their involvement in the April 21 death of Nicolas Chavez a 27-year-old who was on his knees when officers fired 21 rounds at him police union officials defended the officers, citing an oversight board panels finding that the shooting was justified. The task force cited that finding in calling for the board chair and panel chairs to be replaced. It is distressing to the Task Force that the civilians put in place to hold officers accountable would defend these officers actions when even the Chief of Police himself said that he cannot defend (the officers) actions and deemed their use of force not objectively reasonable, task force members wrote. RELATED: Longtime member of Houston police oversight board resigns, saying group provides little scrutiny The task force also recommended issuing an outright ban on no-knock warrants for nonviolent offenses, a practice that gained attention in Houston and elsewhere after the botched January 2019 drug raid on Harding Street that left two homeowners dead. Police Chief Art Acevedo changed department policy to allow no-knock warrants only with approval from top-ranking police officials and a signature from a district court judge. Task force members said even Acevedo should not be allowed to approve such raids for those accused of nonviolent crimes, which they argued do not merit high-risk operations that could injure officers and civilians. The document proposes several changes that are at odds with the Houston Police Officers Unions existing contract and would require union approval to take effect. Those include changes to how the department handles allegations of police misconduct, reforms that would likely spark significant pushback from rank-and-file officers. Those proposals, such as extending the window to discipline officers found to have committed misconduct, also would conflict with state law, though a police union could agree to the changes via their contract, which would supersede state law. Other task force recommendations include: Change current rules that allow officers to review evidence against them before making any statements. GOVERNING BY TASK FORCE: Critics accuse Turner of using 'powerless' task forces to deal with controversies Extend the time the police department has to hand down discipline so there is more time to investigate. Create a program to encourage Houston police officers to live within city limits and assign officers to neighborhoods on long-term bases. Overhaul the process for filing complaints against officers, including being able to submit online and offering complaint forms in different languages. RELATED: Turner's police reform task force met with skepticism, even from some members Require HPD to install dashcams in all its patrol cars and to release body-camera video of excessive force or police shootings to the public within 30 days. Reduce incidents of excessive force and improve officer safety by investing in an Early Warning System that looks at officer performance to identify high-risk officers; maintain a public database of complaints against officers, sustained and unsustained; increase the amount and type of de-escalation training in the Academy; and have officers ride in two-person units in high-crime areas. Ban no-knock warrants for nonviolent offenses (officers currently must seek Acevedos written approval before using such tactics) and place additional restrictions on when officers can use force. The new proposal would bar the use of deadly force if a suspect is unarmed, running away, driving away or sitting in a parked car, not armed with a gun, or if the officer is alone. Given the all too numerous unjustified uses of deadly force, the rules and expectations regarding the use of deadly force must be reassessed before the community can explicitly trust officers with their lives, the task force authors wrote. Some of the task force recommendations include changes unlikely to receive a welcome reception, including creating an independent investigator of police misconduct separate from the Harris County District Attorneys Office, or others that suggested including convicted felons and immigrants living in the country unlawfully on the IPOB. Dylan McGuinness contributed to this report. st.john.smith@chron.com jasper.scherer@chron.com Mumbai, Sep 29 : Justice S.V. Kotwal of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday reserved the order in the bail pleas of Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik in a drugs case filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The court completed the hearing of the arguments by the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh and the siblings' lawyer Satish Maneshinde besides advocate Tareq Sayed for co-accused Abdel Basit Parihar, advocate Subodh Desai for Samuel Miranda, advocate Rajendra Rathod for Dipesh Sawant, and has reserved the order in the matter. Opposing the bail applications, the NCB said that the Chakraborty siblings are "active members of drug syndicate connected with high-society personalities and drug suppliers", besides her involvement in procuring and financing the drugs, which was revealed in her statement recorded by the NCB. However, Maneshinde strongly denied the NCB's contentions in his arguments. The NCB also asserted that it had jurisdiction to probe Sushant Singh Rajput's death-related cases, but at one point said that this case was not related to the actor's death, or maybe related 5-10 per cent because he was consuming (drugs). To a query by the court, the lawyers also provided the dates when the accused gave their statements to the NCB and later retracted them for various reasons. Opposing their bail pleas, the NCB said in an affidavit that as per the directions of the Supreme Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation would take over the Sushant probe, if any new cases are registered on the late actor's death and the surrounding circumstances of his unnatural death, but it (the directions) did not pertain to the present (drugs) cases registered under the NDPS Act, 1985. "The present applicant (Rhea) is prominent member of supply chain of drugs and majorly she is handling finance also and used to manage finance for drug procurement along with Sushant Singh Rajput," the NCB said in its affidavit opposing Rhea's bail application. Rhea and Showik are among 20 persons who have been arrested by the NCB in the past few weeks in the probe surrounding the drugs angle linked with Sushant's death case. Both siblings are currently in judicial custody till October 6. Maneshinde argued that the NCB had no jurisdiction to probe this case since the matter was transferred to the CBI as per the Supreme Court verdict. Entering the probe after a request by Enforcement Directorate (ED), the NCB had arrested Rhea, 28, on September 9 on charges of procuring and financing the drugs for Sushant on his instructions, and the probe trail has led to a total of 20 arrests so far. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery Abdullah Abdullah, the visiting chief of Afghanistans peace negotiating team, told Pakistan on Tuesday that the time has come for the neighbouring countries to shun the suspicion, stale rhetoric and tired conspiracy theories that have dogged past relations. In a speech at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, the chairman of Afghanistans High Council for National Reconciliation said the two countries need better prospects as both have paid a high price by facing various terror groups that are still acting as spoilers. We need to cooperate with other like-minded countries against such elements, he noted. We do not want a terrorist footprint in our country or to allow any entity to pose a threat to any other nation. We are facing series of threats and challenges that include various shades of terrorism, extremism and intolerance, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. The time is now for both our nations to make a strategic detour, define a new vision, address outstanding issues as well as our shared interests, realise that peace and stability in Afghanistan, or any country in our South and Central Asian geography for that matter, can have far-reaching constructive consequences and ripple effects, by setting course on a new path towards neighbourliness and greater regional economic integration. This is my first visit to Pakistan after 12 years. I and my accompanying delegation want to take this opportunity to thank the civilian and military leadership, the civil society, including Pakistans vibrant intellectual community, but particularly all citizens of Pakistan from all walks of life for their warm welcome and hospitality. He said that Pakistan played a critical role in facilitating this talks, and has even a more important role to play hereon to support the process through a successful end and standing with the people and government of Afghanistan in building a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood. He said that there is a need to constantly remind ourselves that Afghanistan today is not the country of 1996 or 2001. It is a young, diverse, connected nation, eager to freely decide its own future form of government corresponding to its unity and diversity. This transformed nation also want to preserve its core accomplishments including the rights and liberties of all men and women of all communities and groups in Afghanistan. We expect the intra-Afghan process to reach an agreement on rules and procedure followed by an agenda. Meanwhile, we call on all sides to agree to seriously reduce violence and protect civilians from further harm as we aim for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. The council led by Abdullah represents the Afghan government in historic peace negotiations with the Taliban which began in Qatar on September 12. Those talks represent the most serious effort yet at ending decades of war in Afghanistan that followed the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled its Taliban government, which was then hosting al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who planned the September 11 terror attacks. The terrorist leader was later located in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad and killed by US marines in a raid in 2011. The Afghan-Taliban talks come after a deal signed in February between the US and the Taliban. That aims to allow the US to withdraw from Afghanistan and end the longest military engagement in American history. Many Taliban leaders have lived in Pakistan since the 1980s. In those years, they were part of the Afghan mujahedeen, allies of the US in ending the 10-year occupation of the country by the Soviet Union. Pakistan has denied giving sanctuary to Taliban members following their ouster in 2001. However, both Washington and Kabul routinely accuse Islamabad of giving them a safe haven, citing the Talibans long ties with Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency. (With inputs from Agencies) Marcos Lima, 51, a high-end sommelier in Rio de Janeiro, came down with covid-19 in May. For 20 days, he couldnt taste or smell anything. Without any other income, he returned to work long before his sense of taste did. Even after hed recovered around 70 percent of it, he found himself second-guessing everything. White wines were particularly challenging: Hed sip one and know it was more complex than he could sense. He began to wonder whether he could continue to do this work, and how hed make his living without his sense of taste. His weekly wine tastings became nerve-racking. US President Donald Trump floated his daughter Ivanka Trump as a vice presidential running mate during the 2016 election, according to a report by The Washington Post on Monday. Citing an upcoming book by former Trump deputy campaign chair Rick Gates, Wicked Game," that will be published October 13, The Post reported that during discussions about selecting a running mate, then-Republican presidential candidate Trump said to a group of top campaign aides, I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?" Shes bright, shes smart, shes beautiful, and the people would love her!," he added, according to the newspaper. The presidential candidate was so keen to the idea of Ivanka as a vice presidential pick and cool to other options, including his eventual selection of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, that his team polled the idea twice," The Washington Post reported. Ivanka told her father it was not a good idea and Trump chose Pence after the then-governor gave a vicious and extended monologue" about former President Bill Clinton and Trumps 2016 rival Hillary Clinton at a breakfast event. Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh told CNN Monday, This is not true and there was never any such poll." Ivanka, who serves as a senior adviser to her father in the White House, has been a prominent fixture during her fathers political career. She introduced him when he announced his presidential campaign in June 2015 and is campaigning vigorously for his reelection. Trump, in turn, has often praised what he sees as his daughters political talent, suggesting in August that his daughter would be a better White House candidate than California Sen. Kamala Harris, calling the Democratic vice presidential nominee incompetent." I want to see the first woman president also, but I dont want to see a woman president get in to that position the way shed do it, and shes not competent, shes not competent," he said during a rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Theyre all saying, We want Ivanka. I dont blame you." Nokia has clinched a deal with Britain's biggest mobile operator BT to supply 5G radio equipment, the Finnish company said on Tuesday, in one of the first major wins under new CEO Pekka Lundmark. The deal will make Nokia BT's largest equipment provider and comes just months after Britain said it would ban China's Huawei Technologies from next-generation 5G telecom networks. The size of the contract was not disclosed. Nokia has won 63 per cent of the BT contract, or about 11,600 radio sites, a source familiar with the matter said. Nokia currently powers BT's ... Repeated closures of an understaffed southern Manitoba emergency room have prompted one Altona resident to spend some of his final days lobbying for change. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Repeated closures of an understaffed southern Manitoba emergency room have prompted one Altona resident to spend some of his final days lobbying for change. Tim Friesen, 65, has been in palliative care for nearly a month at the Altona Community Memorial Health Centre. During that time, he said the emergency room 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg was forced to shut down temporarily at least twice because there were not enough doctors or nurses to keep it running. As a result, although he is nearing the end of his life, Friesen decided to help call attention to a problem that has plagued community hospitals. Several rural Manitoba emergency departments have either suspended service or have gaps in operating hours. As of Sept. 28, at least seven ERs were temporarily closed in the Prairie Mountain and Interlake health regions. A representative from Southern Health, which includes Altona, didn't answer Free Press questions by deadline. Friesen, a lifelong Altona resident, penned a letter and emailed it to politicians, including Premier Brian Pallister and Health Minister Cameron Friesen, as well as local dignitaries he referred to as "movers and shakers." He shared with them details of his own experience as a patient with life-threatening cancer who eventually learned he had an inoperable tumour. Before he found out he had only weeks to live, Tim Friesen had to go to the ER twice within a four-week period this summer. "If I had come to the ER and found it closed, I don't know what I would have done," Friesen said during a phone interview from his hospital room late last week. "An ER is there specifically to make the first connection between the patient and the health-care system, and if there's a hospital with an ER, that ER needs to be open 24-7. It's just that simple." At the time he spoke to the Free Press, Friesen said he'd "received nothing but boilerplate from the province" in response to his letter, and didn't know whether anyone in the provincial government had even read it. The offices of the premier and health minister didn't confirm receipt of Friesen's letter nor respond to specific questions. "While we recognize there have been some challenges with staffing in rural Manitoba due to retirements, maternity leaves, and other staff departures, our government has significantly increased the number of health-care workers, and emergency and paramedicine services throughout the province to ensure Manitobans can get the care they need, closer to home," the health minister's office said in a statement. "I don't think that I wish to point a finger at any one group here, but what I wish to point a finger at is, while they're fooling around and talking about things and glaring at each other, people are dying. There's just no question about it," Friesen said. A former store manager for Bell MTS who has been healthy most of his life, Friesen is an unlikely advocate for change in the health-care system; he admitted he's uncomfortable with the idea of this being his legacy. However, Friesen said he's received excellent care despite nurses being understaffed and overworked, and taking up the cause took his mind off of his hospitalization. "I'm not someone who particularly needs to be in the glow of some sort of spotlight... I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in being part of a community, and I've probably not done enough community service work in my life, and I sort of saw this as an opportunity to maybe do a little bit of that," Friesen said. "It became an important part of my palliative care. It got me thinking about stuff that didn't have to do with my death." The problem has been ongoing, and doctors have been concerned about "the erosion of health services in rural Manitoba," Doctors Manitoba said in a statement. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Rural health care is very fragile in Manitoba, as it is in other provinces, with dozens of ER closures each month and many more hospitals just one resignation or retirement away from suspending their services." There were 3,500 unplanned ER closures across Manitoba in 2018-19 because of a lack of available doctors, and half of the province's 70 emergency departments were either closed for the long-term or had limited hours, according to a June 2019 Shared Health report. Dr. Jon Gerrard, health critic for the Manitoba Liberals, said ER suspensions are a "major concern," especially during a pandemic, when long-term planning and back-up medical staff are crucial. "This is, quite frankly, a very big problem," said Gerrard, MLA for River Heights. "It shows that the health-care system needs to be ready, and with people who can fill in." katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:24:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia reported over 4,000 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday amid the ongoing pandemic in Asia-Pacific, while India's tally rose to 6,145,291. The number of confirmed cases in Indonesia increased by 4,002 in the past 24 hours to 282,724, with 128 more deaths to raise the death toll to 10,601, the Health Ministry said. India recorded 70,589 new cases and 776 deaths, taking the total tally to 6,145,291 and the death toll to 96,318, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry. The number of confirmed cases in the Philippines surged to 309,303 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,025 new daily cases. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte approved on Monday night the recommendation of an inter-agency coronavirus task force to extend the quarantine measures in Metro Manila until Oct. 31. New Zealand reported two new cases, both of whom are imported cases detected in a managed isolation facility. South Korea reported 38 more cases compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 23,699. The daily caseload fell below 50 for the first time since Aug. 11, hovering below 100 for four straight days. Bangladesh reported 1,488 new confirmed cases and 26 more deaths, bringing the total tally to 362,043 and death toll to 5,219, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said. Cambodia confirmed one new imported case, raising the total number of infections in the country to 277, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement. Laos' National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said it has been monitoring 3,835 people across Laos over COVID-19 concerns. The Australian government has announced a digital business plan to enable businesses to take advantage of digital technologies to grow their businesses and create jobs in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the almost 800-million-Australian dollar (566-million-U.S. dollar) scheme, saying it would facilitate doing more business online in a post-pandemic world. Enditem By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany, current president of the European Union, has proposed a scheme that links access to EU money, including the 750 billion euro recovery fund, to respecting the rule of law, a document seen by Reuters showed on Monday. The proposal will underpin negotiations between the European Parliament and the 27 EU governments, which in July agreed to such a mechanism in principle but left out much detail to avoid a veto from Poland or Hungary, whose nationalist governments stand accused of flouting EU democratic norms. Warsaw and Budapest are under EU investigation for undermining the independence of the judiciary, media and non-governmental organisations, and both could lose tens of billions of euros in funding if the rule of law mechanism is established. In the recovery fund alone, excluding the linked long-term EU budget for 2021-27, Poland would be at risk of losing access to 23 billion euros ($26.84 billion) and Hungary to six billion. "The rule of law requires that all public powers act within the constraints set out by law ... under the control of independent and impartial courts," reads the proposed draft regulation, which needs the approval of the European Parliament. But the vast majority of EU lawmakers want the link between money and the rule of law to be stronger than agreed in July and the German proposal - sticking closely to the leaders' summer agreement - is all but certain to disappoint the chamber. Liberal German EU lawmaker Moritz Korner, who leads the chamber's work on the matter, said Berlin was "cuddling" with eurosceptic, nationalist rulers in Warsaw and Budapest. "Without an automatic sanction system, Germany's proposal fails to defend the rule of law and the correctness of the EU budget spendings," he told Reuters when asked about the scheme. According to the German document, punishment for rule of law breaches would include suspending the flow of EU money to capitals seen as breaching democratic checks and balances. It would be decided by a majority vote of EU governments on a recommendation by the EU's executive European Commission. Story continues This could allow other governments to override opposition from Poland and Hungary. But those seeking a stronger link argue that a majority of EU governments should be needed to decline, rather than endorse any recommendation by the Commission, to suspend funding for those flouting the rule of law. That formula would make penalties more likely by leaving governments less room for political horse-trading. "FINGER-WAGGING" Some have cautioned, however, that seeking too ambitious a solution could backfire, given that Warsaw or Budapest might withdraw their support if the proposal is changed from what they signed up to in July after four days of tortuous talks. "It is important that all sides stick to the delicate compromise reached. What didn't find the support of the (leaders) at that time, will certainly not find it now," said one official working on the matter. Germany has already called on EU lawmakers to speed up work on approving the bloc's next budget, the recovery fund and the related rule of law conditions so that money can start flowing, including to the ailing south of the EU, from 2021. Asked about the Reuters story on Monday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would stick to the July agreement. "There is no consent in Poland to allow for arbitrary application of various clauses and finger-wagging only because someone doesn't like our government," he told reporters. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened to veto a related decision if the July agreement on the rule of law mechanism is not honoured, which would derail the next EU budget and the recovery fun, together worth some 1.8 trillion euros. ($1 = 0.8568 euros) (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Additional reporting by Marcin Goclowski in Warsaw, Writing by Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Macfie) "We know that seniors are often one of our most vulnerable populations and they rely on the protective actions of the rest of us in order to stay safe from the COVID-19 pandemic," Rivers said. "Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, we have continued to see an increase in cases. Our current 14-day average of cases is getting dangerously close to the value we were seeing during our surge in July. As a community, we are still trying to recover from that. In the month of August, Scott County saw 11 COVID-19 related deaths. This one month total was the same as the previous four months combined." A public hearing on a proposed Human Rights Ordinance for Wayne County is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 1 before the Wayne County Commission. The proposed ordinance was unanimously approved Sept. 22 by the commissions Committee on Health and Human Services. The ordinance would prohibit the county from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, family status, condition of pregnancy, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status, veteran status, or political affiliation. The ordinance would ban discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment, among other specified areas. This says that Wayne County is a place where you can come, live and raise your family without fear of discrimination, said Commissioner Tim Killeen, the ordinances sponsor. Killeen (D-Detroit) is Health & Human Services Committee chair. Ordinance enforcement would be overseen by a newly created seven-member Human Rights Commission to be appointed by the Wayne County Executive with approval by the county commission. A copy of the proposed ordinance is available on the Committee on Health and Human Services section of the county webpage, www.waynecounty.com. The Oct. 1 commission meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. Members of the public are encouraged to check the agenda as it is posted on the county website for details on how to participate. If approved at that meeting, the ordinance would become Chapter 55 of the Wayne County Code of Ordinances and officially be known as the Wayne County Human Rights Ordinance. Members of the Committee on Health & Human Services conducted a public hearing on the ordinance in July. Organizations including Fair and Equal Michigan and Equality Michigan, as well as Realtor associations representing Detroit and Grosse Pointe, had input on the ordinance, Killeen said. Source: Wayne County Commission Ruben Dias is on the verge of completing his club record move to Manchester City after being spotted departing the Lowry Hotel on Tuesday afternoon. City will pay 64million for Benfica's captain, who has already completed a medical and agreed personal terms on a long-term contract at the Etihad Stadium. Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, Dias, who was also wearing a face mask, was pictured getting into a black Mercedes outside the swanky hotel. Ruben Dias was pictured at the Lowry Hotel on Tuesday ahead of his move to Manchester City Benfica captain Dias will join City on a long-term deal after they agreed to pay 64million He said goodbye to his team-mates last week after City agreed to make him the most expensive player in their history, eclipsing the 62.8m paid to Atletico Madrid for midfielder Rodri last year. Dias' move will be officially announced by City once Nicolas Otamendi has passed his medical ahead of his move the other way. The Argentine defender is joining Benfica in a separate deal worth 13.7m after falling down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola. The former Barcelona boss has been desperate to strengthen his defensive options this summer and has been an admirer of Dias for the last two years. City boss Pep Guardiola has decided to let Nicolas Otamendi move in the opposite direction The 23-year-old has attracted interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Juventus before City's shocking 5-2 defeat at home to Leicester on Sunday underlined the need to bring in the Portugal international despite the club spending 40m on Nathan Ake from Bournemouth. Dias was one of four options considered, with Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli, Sevilla's Jules Kounde and Atletico's Jose Gimenez also in the frame But City believe they have gone for the right man having tracked Dias in previous transfer windows, and got a good deal considering the 80m release clause in his contract. The Benfica skipper, who has previously attracted interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Juventus, is understood to fit the bill for Guardiola in terms of age, profile and the quality of defender he wanted. 1969 was a pretty important year for the GTO, not only thanks to the debut of The Judge, but also because the car received a few noteworthy upgrades, including minor restyling aimed at the grille and the taillights. Inside, Pontiac moved the ignition key to the steering column, while the front outboard headrests eventually became a standard option on all model year 1969 GTOs.This is also the story of the 69 Pontiac thats now being sold online by Weisco Motorcars, with the dealer claiming that it thoroughly inspected the car and not a single spot of rust has been found.In other words, this Pontiac GTO is in a pretty good condition, though some additional re-touches would be required if you really want to bring it to tip-top shape. However, in case youre wondering how come it looks so good, its because the car has already been repainted at some point during its lifetime - and that shows, as the red finish looks almost like new, at least judging from the photos in the gallery here. The black interior also appears to be in good shape, with no missing parts whatsoever.As for the engine, the GTO is powered by a 400ci (6.6-liter) V8 unit that is paired to a 4-speed manual transmission. The car, however, was produced with a 3-speed unit, but someone decided to install the 4-speed version at some point, though no other specifics are available right now.The odometer indicates just 44,393 miles (71,443 km), according to the eBay listing here.The good news is that this Pontiac GTO isnt necessarily super-expensive, as the dealer is selling it for just $29,880. You can see the car in person in Denver, Colorado. 486 Shares Share As someone who graduated from medical school with six-figure student loan debt, Ive looked into several different loan forgiveness programs that will help repay what I owe. One of the most popular loan forgiveness programs is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Through PSLF doctors can get hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans forgiven, tax-free. Although this seems great, when I attempted to enroll in the program last year, there were several shocking truths I became aware of quite quickly. Here are some things I learned after enrolling in PSLF: 1. Not everyone who works for a nonprofit is eligible. In order to qualify for PSLF, you must work for a 501(c) nonprofit or government institution. Ironically, even if you do work for a nonprofit, you still may not qualify. It all depends on your employment classification. If you are classified as an independent contractor at an academic institution who only has hospital privileges or gets 1099-income instead of W-2 income, then you are technically not an employee by that hospital. Thus, you likely dont qualify for PSLF. If youre unsure which category you fall in, check how you get paid. 2. You may have to bypass the grace period to start your qualifying payments. When you first graduate, you will be automatically placed in a six-month grace period. The good thing about being in this grace period is that you are not required to pay back your loans. The bad thing about the grace period is that this time does not qualify as one of the 120 monthly payments needed to get your loans forgiven. To my surprise, you cant just waive this grace period to start your qualifying payments. When I contacted the Department of Education, I was told that the only way to bypass the grace period is to consolidate your loans. The consolidation can be done online, but it often takes weeks to process. 3. No digital signatures are allowed; you must sign the form by hand. As a millennial who doesnt own a printer, I attempted to complete the PSLF employment certification form online and submit it with my digital signature. My application was rejected. In fact, I got a notice from FedLoans a few weeks later stating that my enrollment into the PSLF program was denied because I didnt provide a hand signature. Im not joking. I literally had to find a printer, fill out the form a second time, sign it by hand, then ask my boss to scan and fax it to them. A few weeks later, they told me the application was approved. 4. The certification form takes weeks to process, so upload a copy to your online account. When I finally did get my loans consolidated and resubmit the form with my hand signature, it still took weeks to process. I called FedLoans to see how to expedite the process and was advised to upload the employment certification form to my online FedLoans account. As one can imagine, it takes days, if not weeks, for them to catch up on all the faxes they receive. Uploading the form directly to your account speeds up the process, and they can make a decision faster than if you just fax in the form. 5. The end date on the form isnt really an end date. Once I was accepted into PSLF, I received a notice indicating that I was only enrolled in the program for one month. The form showed a start date of 07/2019 and an end date of 08/2019. I was confused and frustrated, to say the least, and promptly called FedLoans for an explanation. The representative assured me that I was still enrolled in the program. Apparently, the FedLoans employees need a way to process the form and then close out the task. The end date listed on the form isnt an actual end date. Its the date that your employer signed the form. Why they dont simply call it a processing date or employer verification date is odd, but nevertheless, thats what it says. 6. The payments they calculate may not be correct. A few weeks after notifying me that I was enrolled in the program, FedLoans sent me another notice estimating how many qualifying payments I had. The form listed zero. That wasnt correct. Although I had just started residency six weeks ago, they should have at least recorded one payment, especially since I went through the process of consolidating my loans and waiving the grace period. When I called FedLoans to inquire about this issue, the representative said there was an error in updating my loan status from the consolidation but that it would be fixed soon. Ladies and gentlemen, double-check your payments and count them yourself. 7. Your number of qualifying payments will not be updated in real-time. FedLoans does not track your qualifying payments month to month. Instead, they check the number of payments youve made once a year when you resubmit the employment certification form. They then send you another notice with an arbitrary end date and update your account with the number of qualifying payments youve made up until that date. Ironically enough, the PSLF program does not require you to resubmit the certification form each year, but doing so is the only way to make sure Fedloans is keeping track of your qualifying payments. 8. You must submit another certification form when you change employers. In order for FedLoans to ensure that you continue to qualify for the PSLF program, you must show proof. I highly recommended that you submit the enrollment certification form each year so they can better track your payments, but it is required that you submit this form each time you switch employers. You have to notify them about the change in your employment status so they can update things in their system and verify that you still qualify. 9. It could take another six months for your loans to be forgiven after all 120 payments are made. Yep, you read that right, six months. Once you make the 120 monthly payments, you have to submit a different form called the PSLF loan forgiveness form. Unfortunately, it can take another six months after submitting the form before a person is notified that their loans have been forgiven or not. Because of this delay, you have the option to stop paying towards the balance of your student loans and go into forbearance while you wait to hear back on the status of your forgiveness. You can also just keep sending extra payments and hope for a refund at the end. To be brutally honest, PSLF has a lot of inefficiencies. Ive been enrolled in the program for a little over a year and have already had to call FedLoans half a dozen times. To say its a hassle is an understatement. Hopefully, it wont be like this going forward. When all federal student loans were placed into forbearance during COVID, it took them a few months to catch up with processing but eventually, they got my payments right without me having to call them every other day. Learning the ins and outs of this program and dealing with its quirks is a bit cumbersome, but the opportunity to get hundreds of thousands of student loans forgiven tax-free is too good of a deal to pass up. Keep track of your payments, and may the odds be ever in our favor. Altelisha Taylor is a family medicine resident and can be reached at Career Money Moves. Image credit: Shutterstock.com A doctor monitoring your health without even setting eyes on you used to be the stuff of science fiction. But thanks to modern technology, Britain is seeing a gradual shift towards so-called remote medicine, where patients are supervised round the clock by high-tech implants or devices while at home. Complex tests and check-ups that once required bulky hospital equipment are now performed without the patient needing to step outside their front door with the results transmitted via smartphone technology straight to their doctor's computer. There may be caveats if the device needs to be surgically implanted, as this carries a chance, albeit low, of triggering life-threatening infections. A 2015 study suggested that faulty heart implants could be responsible for up to 2,000 deaths a year in the UK, although this has been strongly disputed by the British Heart Foundation. (Stock image) Some implantable devices have also been known to go wrong. A 2015 study suggested that faulty heart implants including pacemakers could be responsible for up to 2,000 deaths a year in the UK, although this has been strongly disputed by the British Heart Foundation, which insists the devices have a good safety record. Martin Cowie, a professor of cardiology at Imperial College London, says remote monitoring will transform patient care. 'The pandemic has highlighted how convenient it is, and now it's here to stay,' he adds. Here, we take a look at the inventions that are changing the face of cardiac care, one of the areas where this advance has been the most rapid. NECKLACE TO DETECT A HEART 'FLUTTER' A high-tech pendant could make it easier to diagnose atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular or 'fluttering' heartbeat, which affects around a million people in the UK. Often triggered by high blood pressure, AF causes the heart's electrical activity to go haywire, increasing the risk of a stroke. But patients can go days or weeks without an abnormal rhythm, making the condition hard to spot during a brief hospital visit. The pendant, which is the brainchild of scientists at the University of Eastern Finland, is only the size of a 5p piece and can carry out pared down electrocardiograms (ECGs) the measure of the heart's electrical activity which is used in hospitals to diagnose AF. Worn on a discreet silver chain, it contains an electrode, a recording device and a computer chip, which are all wirelessly connected to an app on the patient's smartphone. Pressed firmly against the chest for 30 seconds, it instantly transmits a read-out of the heart's electrical activity via the app to the patient's cardiologist. Readings should be taken several times a day. Results of a study of 145 adults, presented at a European cardiology congress in May, showed that the gadget was as good at diagnosing AF as hospital-based ECGs. Larger trials are now planned. 'I use devices like this a lot,' says Richard Schilling, a professor of cardiology at Barts Health NHS Trust in London. 'This kind of patient-performed ECG has transformed the diagnosis of some conditions.' CHECK YOUR TICKER FROM THE INSIDE Getting a heart check usually means doctors attaching equipment to the outside of your body. Now, an implant that does the tests from the inside without the need for a medic even to be present is undergoing trials at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and London's Hammersmith Hospital. The V-lap microcomputer monitors patients with heart failure, which is where the heart, weakened after a heart attack or by a condition such as untreated high blood pressure, is unable to pump sufficient blood around the body to deliver the oxygen vital organs need. Treatment for the 1.3 million Britons with heart failure usually starts with drugs to lower blood pressure and reduce water retention, a common symptom. This new implant, which is inserted into the left atrium one of the heart's two upper chambers during an hour-long keyhole operation, senses changes in blood pressure which are a sign of further deterioration of the organ. Transmitted to a patient's cardiologist twice a day, the data can give several weeks' notice that heart function is deteriorating enough time to increase drug dosage and stave off greater damage. Professor Francisco Leyva-Leon, a cardiologist trialling the implant in Birmingham, says: 'The benefits could be huge. In my hospital alone we admit more than 1,000 patients a year with heart failure.' DAILY BLOOD STATS FROM PUFF-UP WATCH Home blood pressure monitoring is nothing new. But devices are fairly cumbersome, involving wearing a 'sleeve' that wraps round the upper arm, just like the one in a GP surgery. That could be about to change, thanks to Japanese scientists working out how to shrink the key components of the equipment into a wristwatch. HeartGuide, which can also be used as a normal watch, has a built-in cuff under the strap that inflates around the wrist when the patient presses the watch face. Daily readings are beamed wirelessly to a smartphone app that shares the data with doctors, who then decide if the patient's medication needs altering without needing a consultation. However, at around 500, it's not a cheap option. 'This smart watch is an interesting idea,' says Professor Martin Cowie. 'But it is important to remember blood pressure goes up and down in response to activity or sleep. The patient would need to take a large number of readings.' PACEMAKER THAT TALKS TO YOUR GP Pacemakers have been around for more than half a century, but a new generation of miniature implants are capable of much more than just regulating the heart they can also communicate with doctors remotely. Alternative remedies The aloe vera plant is often found in tropical climates Pharmacist Gemma Fromage reveals the unexpected uses for everyday products. This week: Aloe vera for acid reflux. The use of aloe vera, a plant often found in tropical climates, dates back to Ancient Egyptian times. It is well known as a home remedy for scrapes and burns due to its anti-inflammatory properties. The juice, derived from the inner lining of its leaves, has also been found to soothe acid reflux. A study in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine showed purified aloe vera juice improved reflux symptoms as well as, and in some cases better than, traditional medications possibly because it reduces acid production. Pregnant women and those with diabetes are advised against taking aloe vera juice, as it may cause uterine contractions and affect blood sugar levels. Anyone using prescribed medicines for reflux should also consult their doctor before stopping their treatment regimen in favour of aloe vera, or adding the juice to it. Advertisement Pacemakers are matchbox-sized gadgets used to treat a range of conditions that affect the heart from children born with cardiac defects to adults with AF. Implanted in the chest, they send electrical pulses to the heart to keep it beating regularly. Older devices store readings on built-in microchips which can only be accessed by visiting a hospital up to four times a year to have them downloaded. But now doctors can gather the data without the patient needing to leave their home. Modern pacemakers have a transmitter that 'talks' to a mobile-phone sized monitor. It uses an internet connection to send encrypted data straight to the doctor's computer. 'We already use remote monitoring for thousands of pacemaker patients,' says Professor Francisco Leyva-Leon. 'It means we can screen them on a regular basis and only need to call them in for a consultation if there is a potential problem.' SKIN PATCH TO SPOT IRREGULAR RHYTHMS A stick-on chest patch called Zio that you can even wear in the shower is increasingly being used to diagnose irregular heart rhythms without going to hospital. The matchbox-sized patch has built-in electrodes and a recording device to pick up the heart's electrical activity as the patient goes about their day. Made from waterproof plastic, the patient wears it on their upper chest for up to two weeks to record their heart's activity, before sending it back to the supplier, Surrey-based firm iRhythm. The company uses the results to compile a report for the patient's doctor. A 2019 study at King's College Hospital in London found the Zio patch was almost eight times more effective than current portable monitors at detecting heart rhythm problems. The cost to the NHS is 285 per patch, including the analysis and the report provided for GPs. 'Devices like the Zio skin patch are easier to wear than monitors during exercise and may even perform better,' says Dr Sarah Clarke, a cardiologist at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. Omar Lali, the former boyfriend of the late Tecra Muigai, has opened up on little known details about his love affair with the Keroche Breweries heiress. The 51-year-old Lamu-based native said she met Tecra at a restaurant in Lamu while having dinner with his daughter. I had gone to dinner with my daughter who had not been to Kenya in many years. Tecra was at the restaurant with a friend who I happened to know. I said hello to my friend but when I got home my friend called me saying Tecra was asking around for the guy with the grey beard, he recalled. Lali said his torrid love affair with the Keroche Breweries director started that night. That night we stayed late as we talked about life. I took her to her room at around 2am and she told me not to leave because she felt at peace being with me. We spent the night together and that is how our love started. Omar said their relationship was strongly opposed by Tecras billionaire family, more so by Tecras mother, Tabitha Karanja. He said the businesswoman likened him to an Alshabaab terrorist. When Tecra took me to her family, they didnt want to hear anything about me. Her mother told me there is no way her daughter was going to live with an Alshabab terrorist. But I have since forgiven her since she is old school she probably didnt mean it. At one point she came home with a convoy of six cars and I decided to escape because I was afraid of the people she was bringing, narrated Omar Lali. He said Tecras brother, James Muigai, helped resolve the feud with the Keroche family; Muigai convinced their father, Joseph Karanja, to bless the union. Mzee blessed us and the feud stopped. We toured the world and I was able to teach her to overcome her fears, he said. Omar, however, regrets not being able to convince Tecra to reduce her alcohol consumption. The only thing, regrettably, that I failed to teach her was regulation of alcohol intake. She used to drink a lot and I pleaded with her to only drink after sunset but she would respond by telling that her family was in the alcohol business and drinking was their tradition which I must respect as she respected mine, he said. Recounting the fateful day Tecra fell down a staircase on April 27, Omar said he had blacked out. That day I had taken some antibiotics for my tooth which had an infection. She pressured me to drink but I only took a few drinks and blacked out. I was awoken by the sound of a thud and when I work up, I realized she had fallen down the sharp staircase on her way to the washroom, he said. Emmanuel Uduaghan, a former governor of Delta State, has dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) and returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Uduaghan returned to the PDP on Monday at his Unit 1, Ward 6, Abigborodo in Warri North local government area of the state. The APC, earlier this month, lost its last state in the region, Edo, to the PDP. The former governor, who is a founding member of the PDP, in August 2018 defected to the APC and contested for the Delta South Senatorial slot in the 2019 election, but lost to James Manager, his PDP rival. He was the state governor for eight years under the platform of the PDP. Thousands of supporters cheered his return to the PDP at his country home in Warri North LGA. Addressing the crowd, Mr Uduaghan said he returned to the party to strengthen it. Mr Uduaghan said, I only stepped out for a few days to find out what is happening there and I have come back to strengthen the party. Today, I have come to reactivate my membership card. I have picked it up. I am hearing that there are a few challenges, we have the manpower, the experience to be able to elevate our area and the people of Delta State, and that we shall do. We will get our own of whatever is due to us by Gods grace. We will get what is due to us. I am sure there is very little I dont know about this state. I promise you that collectively, as we are standing here now, we shall sit as often as possible and articulate our issue. Stating that the nation is currently facing hard times, he noted that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best. He also commended Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State governor, for his efforts in holding the party together since he emerged leader of the party in the state. I want to thank Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who has been holding every part of the state since he became governor. It is not easy. I want to urge all of us to continue to pray for him so that he can complete his tenure, Mr Uduaghan said Top party leaders welcomed Mr Uduaghan back to the PDP. These include Thomas Ereyitomi, member of the House of Representatives; Val Areyinka, deputy state chairman of PDP; Vincent Uduaghan and Omashola Williams, former commissioners in the state, among others. EDWARDSVILLE Representatives from Anderson Healthcare, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital and physician partners recently celebrated the completion of the Anderson Surgery Center with a ribbon cutting. The one story building on the Anderson Healthcare Goshen Campus houses Anderson Surgery Center, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital Specialty Clinic, and a Physician Specialty Clinic. Our physician specialists will perform highly-specific procedures in plastic and hand surgery, gynecology, podiatry, ear/nose/throat, gastroenterology and plan to offer pediatric surgeries through our partnership with SSM Health, said Shauna Cooper, Anderson Surgery Center Director. We are focused on ensuring patients have the best surgical experience possible while providing cost-effective care. In addition, the facility houses a Physician Specialists timeshare suite and limited outpatient services from Anderson Hospital including Lab, X-Ray and Audiology. The Anderson Surgery Center is licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health and expects to receive accreditation by the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) in the near future. A unique pediatric partnership with SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital, including SLUCare Physician Group, enhances pediatric services to include outpatient surgery in the facility as well. In addition to their specialty clinic opening Oct. 5, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital plans to utilize the Anderson Surgery Center for pediatric surgeries in the future. Anderson Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital have a longstanding relationship that has enhanced pediatric services in Madison and our surrounding counties, said Keith Page, President and CEO of Anderson Healthcare. This facility continues that partnership while also offering exceptional outpatient surgery options for adults and children. The specialty clinic is on target to open on October 5. In addition to the newly opened surgery and pediatric facility, a 34-bed acute rehabilitation institute is under construction and on target to open in summer 2021. The institute, to be managed by Kindred Healthcare, LLC, will care for adults recovering from conditions resulting in a loss of function or disability such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, neurological disorders, orthopedic or musculoskeletal conditions, amputation, and other disabling conditions. The institute will have all private rooms, with 12 beds specific to brain/stroke injury care. It will replace a 20-bed hospital-based acute rehabilitation unit at Anderson Hospital that Kindred has managed since 2004. Anderson also has announced plans for a third building on the Goshen Campus, a 50,000-square-foot medical building. The explosive news that President Donald Trump paid no federal income taxes for a decade and only $750 the year he ran for office and his first year in the White House hands Joe Biden a powerful cudgel just in time for the first presidential debate on Tuesday. Trump was expected to spend part of the debate laying into Bidens son, Hunter, accusing him of making millions off of foreign business while his father was vice president. But Biden allies and aides say the fact that Trump didnt pay taxes for years, and to this day remains at loggerheads with the IRS over a $73 million refund he received, would obliterate any attempt at framing Biden and his family as creatures of the D.C. swamp. The report by The New York Times also showed Trump will owe money on loans of more than $400 million over the next four years, when hed still be in office if he wins reelection. Its hard to even have words for that argument, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said of Trumps attempts to cast Hunter Biden as milking the system when his father was vice president. This makes it abundantly clear that the person who most benefited from the tax system and gaming it for his own benefit was our president. Trump aides and allies dismissed the Times report as more old news: Democrats, they said, have been crying foul over his tax returns since 2016. Even the worst newspaper story, Inspector General report or impeachment hearing does nothing to dent his image, at least among his core fans, his brain trust has long argued. The presidents top aides made the same hopeful assessment on Monday, saying his base will shrug off the news as they have so many other seemingly damaging stories. Besides, Trump already acknowledged paying little federal income tax during a 2016 debate against Hillary Clinton, one adviser said. Everything is baked in with his supporters already, said one former senior administration official still who remains plugged in with Trumps inner circle. Story continues The person noted how stable polls have remained over the last several weeks: Nine out of 10 voters have told pollsters theyve already made up their minds about supporting a candidate, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. Biden's campaign pounces Bidens advisers went on cable TV Monday to amplify the Times bombshell. And the campaign immediately cut a 30-second digital ad comparing Trumps $750 tax bill to the thousands in taxes paid by nurses, teachers and construction workers. They also released a Trump tax calculator that allows people to compare what they paid in taxes with what Trump did. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech on the Supreme Court at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Bidens campaign has been pushing Park Avenue vs. Scranton messaging in recent weeks the idea that Trump gives tax breaks to the wealthy and was set up for life by a wealthy father, while Biden grew up in an average middle-class household. You have in Donald Trump a president who spends his time thinking about how he can work his way out of paying taxes, of meeting the obligation that every other working person in this country meets every year, Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said on CNN Sunday. With Joe Biden, you have somebody who has a completely different perspective on what it means to be a working family in this country. Biden has released two decades worth of income taxes although he has not yet released his 2019 tax returns. He hasnt personally said anything about the Times report, though thats unlikely to last once the two meet face-to-face on the debate stage. Trump's dissonant response Trump and his aides spent the day vacillating between opposing messages that he paid millions of dollars in taxes and that his low tax bill was the mark of a smart businessman. Trump himself seemed less blase about the tax expose than his aides, who have weathered crisis after crisis in this White House and become relatively inured it all. The president blasted the Times story three times on Twitter Monday morning. Unlike his aides and allies, he argued that he had paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits. He also falsely claimed he was the first president in history to give up his presidential salary. The Trump campaigns top spokesperson Tim Murtaugh called the Times story inaccurate as the President has paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes. This is a big nothingburger and a pre-debate attack intended solely to help Joe Biden, Murtaugh said. It ought to be reported as an in-kind contribution to the Biden campaign. Predictably, the media chooses to focus on this instead of asking why Hunter Biden received a $3.5 million wire transfer from the Putin-connected billionaire wife of the former mayor of Moscow while his father was the sitting vice president. Many Republicans viewed the back-and-forth as the latest instance of Trump being diverted from any kind of cohesive campaign message, whether its attacking Biden, making the case for his Supreme Court pick or courting voters in battleground states. Its been a constant struggle for the GOP the last several months let alone the past several years but the problem is pronounced by the dwindling number of days until the election. Just as polls have shown Biden with a steady lead in the presidential race, Trumps core base mostly remains with him even amid the coronavirus outbreak, recession and ongoing social unrest. "The problem is hes just going to lie about it, deny it and call it fake news," Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), a top Biden surrogate, said of the tax issue. "That is the challenge." Still, while both sides agreed a polarized electorate will retreat to their corners, they also said the fight is over the small slice of persuadable voters now tuning in. Trump will never lose a true believer, but he will lose the election," said Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived former White House communications director. "It always comes down to death and taxes, and not paying taxes will be the death of his political career. Daniel Lippman and Meridith McGraw contributed reporting. New York City's daily rate of positive coronavirus tests is more than 3% for the first time in months, Mayor Bill de Blasio, D, said. The rate was 3.25%. The seven-day rolling average -- the criterion that determines whether schools stay open -- is 1.38%, well below the 3% that would force closure of the system's part-time in-class learning. The surge is primarily in nine of 146 ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens, de Blasio said, noting that the other 137 ZIP codes remain around 1%. "We know we can turn this around, but everyone has to be a part of it," de Blasio said at a press briefing Tuesday, hours after elementary schools opened for hundreds of thousands of students. The city has deployed more testing-and-tracing workers and made thousands of robocalls to the affected areas, said Mitchell Katz, who heads the public hospital system. Businesses may be ordered shut if infection rates continue to rise, and nonpublic schools will be closed if they don't follow mask-wearing, social distancing and hygienic safeguards, de Blasio said. The city reported 338 new cases, still below its threshold of 550. Areas with positivity above 3% include Gravesend/Homecrest, with 6.72%; Midwood, at 5.53%; Borough Park with 5.26% and Bensonhurst/Mapleton at 5.15%. The city is also seeing more cases and higher positivity in Rego Park, Kensington/Windsor Terrace and the Brighton Beach ZIP code. The ZIP codes include several Orthodox Jewish communities, which officials have said had resisted mask-wearing. The city has deployed about 350 test-and-trace workers and seven sound trucks blaring safety messages in Yiddish and English, and sent thousands of robocalls to the areas, said Katz. "We're using every tool, and we're open to using other tools," Katz said. Major holidays -- and the risk of large gatherings -- lie ahead for the community. Sukkot lasts from Oct. 2 to Oct. 9, followed immediately by Simchat Torah. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, said in a news conference he would meet with religious leaders. Across the city, as many as 500,000 students will be in class, part of the largest public-school system in the U.S. De Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza said Tuesday's openings went smoothly, while the teachers' union voiced concerns. Children by the tens of thousands in K-5 and K-8 schools started participating in the program combining small classes of in-school instruction one to three days a week with remote online teaching at home. The program will extend to hundreds of thousands more Thursday as middle and high schools open. About 48% of city's public-school families have chosen to keep their children at home for all-remote learning, officials have said. They have can change their minds and join the blended program in November. Educators have been assigned to every in-school classroom and for every remote class, but the city hasn't yet been able to provide a teacher for each blended lesson at home, said Alison Gendar, a spokeswoman for the United Federation of Teachers. At-home blended instruction students and those in class may have follow the same lesson plan simultaneously, with students in school opening their mobile devices at their desks and the teacher in front of them in the room. Ventilation problems still vex more than 20 high schools, but there may be time to fix many before Thursday, Gendar said. Other buildings' heating systems aren't equipped to operate with windows open, and new locations may have to be found, she said. The union has set up a hotline and a helpline and about 100 staffers have been deployed, each checking on several schools, Gendar said. Starting next week, the city will begin random testing each month in every school with rapid-result saliva tests, rather than the long nasal swabs that take much more time to receive results, the mayor said. "We will continue to be diligent on all safety measures at all times," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew, who described himself as "cautiously optimistic." Cuomo said the state can close any school in New York. "Can you operate schools safely? We will know by the facts," Cuomo said. "We'll get the facts and we will know and we'll operate logically. "You have my word as a parent, as a citizen, as your representative. If a school is not safe, I will not allow it to operate." MBABANE What 2020 Golden Padlock Award? This was a question posed by Eswatini Tourism Authority Marketing Manager Siboniso Madlopha, when told that his organisation scooped the award for being the most secretive with information. The awards were announced by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) -Eswatini Chapter during the observation of the Universal Access to Information Day, held at the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), yesterday. Madlopha said they were not even aware that MISA was conducting a research of that nature, or questionnaire that was sent to them. We would like to know whom the questionnaire was sent to, he said. Madlopha said they were not even informed of the event where such awards were conducted. Relationship He noted that as far as he was concerned, ESTA had a very good relationship with the media and also responded to questionnaires and calls made by journalists in all the countrys media houses. Madlopha said they invited journalists and gave them briefing about their events. On the upcoming World Tourism Day, we will be at Wendys Lodge and we have invited the media, he said. On the other hand, Manzini Municipal Council received the 2020 Golden Key Award for being an open public organisation. It was noted that the council had made getting in touch easy through the use of online platforms such as Facebook. They also responded timeously to the information request, provided information without questioning the aims and motivations of the applicant, and delivered clear and understandable information within the timeframe provided. According to MISA Director Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, a MISA Transparency Assessment was conducted around July and August with an objective to figure out if there was easy access to information in public institutions among the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries. Organisations that were surveyed during the study included the DPMs office, Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA), Eswatini Tourism Authority, Eswatini Youth Enterprise Fund, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development, Manzini City Council and NDMA. This study looked at the citizens analysis of government openness in Southern Africa. Hlatshwayo said they assessed about 10 public institutions in the country, which included five government ministries and five parastatals. Timeously He said there were two objectives of the study; to determine which organisations both in government and public provided information to citizens upon request, timeously and with relative ease. Also, he said it was to determine which organisations both utilised online platforms to promote access to information. He noted that they looked at whether websites were up to date and circulated a questionnaire which was issued in one day to all the institutions which were part of the study in order to assess how quick they were to respond to the questions. He said they were expecting the organisations to respond within 14 days to show that they were able to respond quickly to questions within the expected period. Hlatshwayo said after 15 to 21 days, those institutions were considered secretive with information. He noted that what was important to understand on the issue of access to information was not only directed to journalist accessing information in time, but also members of the public. Further, he said they realised something positive within government institutions and improvement on access to information as most had hired communication officers, which made information to be easily accessible. Hlatshwayo said the study was conducted during a critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that they also considered that most people required information on how to keep themselves safe. All the organisations that participated in the study were those that were tasked with COVID-19 assignments, hence we expected all public institutions to respond quickly to the questionnaire considering the fact that most people needed the information, said Hlatshwayo. With implications for the transmission of diseases like COVID-19, researchers have found that ordinary conversation creates a conical 'jet-like' airflow that quickly carries a spray of tiny droplets from a speaker's mouth With implications for the transmission of diseases like COVID-19, researchers have found that ordinary conversation creates a conical 'jet-like' airflow that quickly carries a spray of tiny droplets from a speaker's mouth across meters of an interior space. "People should recognize that they have an effect around them," said Howard Stone, the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. "It's not just around your head, it is at the scale of meters." Although scientists have not yet fully identified the transmission mechanisms of COVID-19, current research indicates that people without symptoms could infect others through tiny droplets created when they speak, sing or laugh. Stone and co-lead researcher Manouk Abkarian, of the University of Montpellier in France, wanted to learn how widely and quickly exhaled material from an average speaker could spread in an interior space. "Lots of people have written about coughs and sneezes and the kinds of things you worry about with the flu," Stone said. "But those features are associated with visible symptoms, and with this disease we are seeing a lot of spread by people without symptoms." In an article published Sept. 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers concluded that for interior activities, normal conversations can spread exhaled material at least far as, if not beyond, social distancing guidelines recommended by the World Health Authority (1 meter) and U.S. officials (2 meters.) The work examined particle flow in an interior space without good ventilation. Stone and Abkarian stressed that they are not public health experts and are not making medical recommendations. However, they said public health officials should consider the aerodynamic movement of aerosolized particles generated by speech alone already as an important factor for directed spreading. "It certainly highlights the importance of ventilation," Stone said. "Especially if you have an extended conversation." The researchers also said that while masks do not completely block the flow of aerosols, they play a critical role in disruption of the 'jet-like' air flow from a speaker's mouth, preventing the quick transport of droplets on large length scales bigger than 30 cm. "Masks really cut this flow of tremendously," Stone said. "This identifies why (most) masks play a big role. They cut everything off." The researchers specialize in fluid dynamics, which describes the movement of liquids and gasses. Using a high-speed camera, they film the movement of a mist of tiny droplets illuminated by a laser sheet in front of a person speaking several different phrases adjacent to the sheet. The phrases ranged from short statements like "we will beat the corona virus" to nursery rhymes including "Peter Piper picked a peck" and "Sing a song of six pence." The researchers selected the phrases to include different sounds that affect turbulent flows in a speaker's exhalation. The researchers found that plosive sounds like 'P' create puffs of air in front of the speaker while a conversation created what the researchers called a "train of puffs." Each puff creates a small vortex of air in front of the speaker, and the interaction of these vortices creates a cone-shaped 'jet-like' airflow from the speaker's mouth. The researchers found that this airflow could easily and very quickly carry tiny particles away from the speaker. Abkarian said that even a short phrase can move the particles past the 1-meter distancing recommended by the World Health Organization in a matter of seconds. The researchers said the distance depends in part on the duration of the conversation. Someone speaking for more time will send particles farther. They said that the 6-foot distancing rule may not be a sufficient barrier in an interior space without good ventilation. "If you speak for 30 seconds in a loud voice, you are going to project aerosol more than six feet in the direction of your interlocutor," Stone said. In the paper, the researchers found that aerosols ejected during speech typically reached the 2-meter distance in about 30 seconds, and over that distance the aerosols' concentration diluted to about 3 percent of the original volume. It was beyond the paper's scope to say whether the dilution was sufficient to protect against infection, although the researchers noted that many will find this concentration to be higher than expected. The researchers said they hoped the information could help public health officials to make that determination. They also noted that longer conversations had the potential to spread more material and spread the virus over a larger distance. "However, more extended discussions, and meetings in confined spaces, mean that the local environment will potentially contain exhaled air over a significantly longer distance," the researchers wrote. The researchers said the experiment showed that a social distance of 6 feet (2 meters) did not work like a wall to protect people. Over time, conversations can cause material to move past the distance, particularly inside buildings. The train of puffs created by a conversation causes a more complex turbulent flow than single jets of air and researchers had to account for it in their calculations. The researchers used the data from the experiments to create a mathematical framework to quantify the transport of droplets from the speaker's mouth to the surrounding area. They noted that the work does not account for movement of the speaker's head or body and background air movement caused by ventilation and other speakers. Analyzing those factors would require further work. ### Besides Stone and Abkarian, researchers include: Simon Mendez of the University of Montpellier; Nan Xue and Fan Yang, graduate students in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton. Support for the project was provided in part by a National Science Foundation RAPID grant program. The measures include a travel ban and asset freeze. The United Kingdom and Canada have imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko with his son and six other Belarusian officials. This is announced in a statement by the British government on September 29. Read alsoMacron says Lukashenko has to step down "The UK has sanctioned 8 members of the Belarusian regime, including Alexander Lukashenko, for human rights violations in Belarus after the rigged elections," it said. The new sanctions reportedly include a travel ban and asset freeze on eight individuals from the Belarusian regime, including Alexander Lukashenko, his son Viktor Lukashenko, and Igor Sergeenko, Head of the Presidential Administration. Similar sanctions were imposed by Canada. "The sanctions come into force with immediate effect," the British government concluded. Earlier, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed sanctions on 128 Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko. Recent developments in Belarus in brief The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed the early hearing applications filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the acquittal of former Union telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases. The court fixed October 5 for the hearing in the appeals and added the matter would be heard on a day to day basis. A detailed copy of the judgment was yet to be uploaded on the courts website. The two probe agencies have sought the early hearing of the appeals, which are otherwise listed for hearing on October 12. CBI has also sought the advancing of the hearing of the appeal challenging the acquittal of Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia and six others in a separate case related to the 2G scam probe. A special court in December 2017 acquitted Raja, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) lawmaker Kanimozhi, and others in the CBI and ED cases related to the scam. In March 2018, the ED and CBI moved the high court challenging the special courts order acquitting the accused. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City middle and high school students will return to classrooms for in-person learning on Thursday as part of the citys phased-in reopening amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic but school will look much different for students at Tottenville and Susan E. Wagner high schools. According to the city Department of Education (DOE), Tottenville High School in Huguenot and Wagner High School in Sea View informed parents over the weekend that all students would receive instruction virtually which means there wont be the traditional live in-person instruction but students in the blended learning model will still be on campus on their designated days. Those participating in the blended learning model go to school two to three days a week and learn remotely on the other days. Parents also have the choice of students learning remotely full-time. The DOE said this doesnt mean the two high schools are fully remote." Instead, students will be seated in a classroom -- but will tune into their lessons via a device. From the beginning weve emphasized that reopening plans must have the flexibility to meet the unique needs of school communities while continually providing a high-quality education, said Nathaniel Styer, spokesman for the DOE. Every student attending in-person is being provided with support from qualified educators, and we are working with schools to address any staffing issues as they welcome students back in-person this week. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** During Mayor Bill de Blasios press conference on Tuesday, Chancellor Richard Carranza said the DOE gave flexibility to larger school campuses that have told students they will learn virtually while in the classroom. When a school says theyre all remote, that means no ones on campus, everyone is home and they are logging in and doing their work from somewhere else," Carranza said. "Some of our schools have some portion that theyre doing virtually, which means students come to the school and theyre doing some work virtually. But there are adults there, theyre receiving services there, theyre receiving counseling services, social work services, theyre eating lunch there, eating breakfast there. So theres some virtual aspects of their day -- but theyre not fully remote. Carranza said as the city builds capacity to add more teachers, this will stabilize much more." SO HOW WILL INSTRUCTION WORK? Students at the two high schools will be provided educational support by qualified educators in-person, in addition to receiving virtual instruction from teachers, the DOE said. That means that students at Tottenville and Wagner will arrive to school on their blended learning days and sit in a classroom to learn remotely with their device. The DOE said this provides a continuity of instruction for students, while providing students with critical in-person services, supports, resources and instructional opportunities. The Advance/SILive.com reported Saturday that Tottenville High School sent a communication to families that the school would begin with virtual learning while having in-person supervision and supports for its blended learners. As we all know, the difficulties facing everyone since March have been a monumental challenge to navigate. So it is with the utmost regret, I must inform all of you of the decision to begin the 2020-21 school year with virtual instruction while having in-person supervision and supports as needed, Principal Gina Battista wrote in a letter obtained by the Advance/SILive.com. In her communication, Battista wrote she understands that the students want to return, and as a community we are all heartbroken. ...Our students will be provided with live (synchronous) virtual instruction and asynchronous instruction five days a week by our own Tottenville faculty," Battista stated. And it will be the same at Susan E. Wagner High School in Sea View. In an announcement on Wagners website, Principal David Cugini said that the Sea View school will welcome back blended learning students, who will engage in their classes virtually using a device. Students who chose the blended learning model will report to their building on their assigned cohort day, Cugini stated in the letter. While in the building, they are expected to engage in their classes online, either via a device that they bring to school or one that the school provides for the day. An in-person licensed teacher will also be present. Based on this model, our students will receive full learning experiences with their regularly assigned content teachers from Wagner High School in every class, every day. The entire school both in-person students and remote students will follow the same school schedule. Every online class will have a mix of in-person and remote students. In-person students will be given an assigned room when they arrive to school, and will stay there for the entire instructional day. Lunch will also be served in this room. Blended learning students will be able to take advantage of supports and services during in-person days including: social-emotional counseling; International Students & Scholars (ISS) related services; tutoring; technical assistance; meal services; structured mindfulness breaks; guidance counselors; social workers; occupation and physical therapists, and in-person support for students with 1:1 paraprofessional mandates. For students who go to the school building on their assigned day, Wagner asks they bring their own learning device laptop, tablet, or smartphone and a set of headphones. The devices will be able to connect to the schools Wi-Fi network. If a student doesnt have a device, the school will provide available technology in the building. NYC SCHOOLS REOPEN The first day of public school in New York City was Monday, Sept. 21 -- but not all students returned to campus. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that the city would phase-in the start of the school year for blended learners. The phases for students enrolled in the citys blended learning model are as follows: 3-K, pre-K and District 75 students reported in-person beginning Sept. 21; students in K-8 and K-5 schools began Tuesday; and middle and high school students will begin returning on Thursday, Oct. 1. For everything you need to know about schools reopening in New York City -- from health screenings to the protocols when there is a confirmed coronavirus case on campus -- click here. Related stories: NYC K-5, K-8 schools reopen: Excitement, nerves as students return NYC schools daily health screening: What parents need to know How to check number of coronavirus cases at your childs school First day of school in NYC: So glad to have our students back NYC schools reopening amid coronavirus: How to care for your childs mask NYC schools reopening: Heres what you need to know Safety protocols in NYC schools: What you need to know NYC to bring in 2,000 more educators for the start of school as de Blasio pushes forward with Sept. 21 reopening Coronavirus: How to find ventilation inspection results for your childs school NYC school year delayed; in-person learning to start Sept. 21 Reopening of NYC schools delayed: What you need to know Heres how coronavirus testing will work in NYC schools Coronavirus: How NYC plans to safely reopen schools in fall FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. LOUISVILLE, Ky. An unidentified grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case is demanding the release of the grand jurys transcript and related recordings so the truth may prevail. In a motion filed late Monday afternoon, the juror also asks a judge to allow fellow jurors to give up their confidential status if they wish and speak freely about the controversial case that saw one of three Louisville police officers who fired their weapons at Taylor's apartment indicted on felony charges. "The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country," Kevin Glogower, the attorney for the juror, wrote in the filing that comes just five days after the indictment. 'Are there any guns visible?': Breonna Taylor evidence leaks appear to show charged Louisville officer in her unit after shooting The motion also accuses Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron of using the grand jurors "as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for those decisions" and says that has led to "more seeds of doubt in the process." It specifically requests the court find grand jurors are permitted to discuss what didn't take place in the grand jury proceedings including "any potential charges and defendants presented or not presented." Former LMPD Detective Brett Hankison, already fired by the department this summer, was indicted by the grand jury on wanton endangerment charges for shooting into an occupied apartment next to Taylors charges that are not directly related to the death of the unarmed 26-year-old Black woman. He was arraigned Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court, pleading not guilty. He is free on $15,000 bond. During the arraignment, Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith also ordered "the recording of the grand jury proceedings shall be filed in the court file by noon of Wednesday this week," she said. Story continues In a statement late Monday, Cameron said he would comply with the judge's orders, despite misgivings. "The grand jury is meant to be a secretive body," he said. "Its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen." Dig deeper on race and identity: Subscribe to This Is America, USA TODAY's newsletter Two other officers who fired the bullets Cameron said struck and killed Taylor Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove were not charged. Cameron said the grand jury agreed they fired in self-defense after Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired at them. In his statement, Cameron clarified "the only charge recommended (to the grand jury) was wanton endangerment." "Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sgt. Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker," he said. Fact check: Viral meme listing Breonna Taylor 'truths' includes misinformation During last Wednesday's press conference, Cameron had declined to say what charges the grand jury considered or who it considered charging. But he did say homicide charges weren't appropriate in Taylor's death. Unitl Monday night, the attorney general had refused to release records connected to the grand jury's decision, despite sharp rebukes from attorneys for Taylor's family, who want him to release the transcripts and audio recordings. Protesters hold signs as they regroup at Jefferson Square Park following marches as a Breonna Taylor sign looks down upon them Wednesday. Sept. 23, 2020 "What we also want is for you to quit dodging the question. You were asked at the press conference (Wednesday): Did you make a recommendation" to the grand jury, Louisville attorney Lonita Baker asked. "You refused to answer. Answer the question: Did you even present any charges regarding Breonna Taylor to the grand jury?" The grand juror's motion goes on to state Cameron laid decisions "at the feet of the grand jury while failing to answer specific questions regarding the charges presented." "Attorney General Cameron attempted to make it very clear that the grand jury alone made the decision on who and what to charge based solely on the evidence presented to them. "The only exception to the responsibility he foisted upon the grand jurors was in his statement that they 'agreed' with his team's investigation that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their actions." The filing says the grand juror wants to promote transparency but also wishes to remain anonymous given the level of attention on the case. "The public interest spreads across the entire commonwealth when the highest law enforcement official fails to answer questions and instead refers to the grand jury making the decisions," it says. "The interest of the individual grand jurors is parallel to the public but also manifests as fears of persecution, condemnation, retribution and torment. Unfortunately, they do not get to hide behind any entity, person or office." "(Cameron) chose wisely in his speech," the juror's attorney wrote. "Now he has another choice in his response. Choose truth. Choose justice. Together Kentucky." Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor case: Grand juror files suit seeking transcript release India insisted on 'complete disengagement' in all its talks with China on eastern Ladakh row: Govt We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief Amidst tensions with China, India set to get MQ-9B Sky Guardian drone India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: The three services have come to a conclusion that India should opt for a weaponised drone. It was decided that India should have the weaponised MQ-9B Sky Guardian drone from the United States. Further India will also upgrade its existing Heron fleet with satellite communications action capability. This would enhance its range as well as the surveillance capabilities amidst the military standoff with China at Ladakh. The MQ-9B has a 40 hour endurance with a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet. It also has a payload capacity its of over 2.5 tonnes, which includes air to surface missiles and laser guided bombs. Army readies for winter deployment along Indo-China border In addition to this India has asked Israel to upgrade its existing Heron medium altitude, long endurance surveillance drone by upgrading its communication skills. This would include fitting the drone with a satellite package. This would ensure that the drone is linked with the satellite and the information is sent on a real time basis. These would be crucial considering the fact that the People's Liberation Army has deployed unmanned devices in large capacities in the Ladakh theatre. Further the PLA has also deployed sensors and surveillance cameras which provide advance warnings. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News The upgrade to the Heron will allow it to conduct long range surveillance without the fear of losing contact with the base. This upgrade programme was approved by the Defence Ministry last month. This summer, as controversial new procedures at the U.S. Postal Service snarled the nation's mail delivery and stirred fears of how the agency would handle the election, rank-and-file workers quietly began to resist. Mechanics in New York drew out the dismantling and removal of mail-sorting machines until their supervisor gave up on the order. In Michigan, a group of letter carriers did an end run around a supervisor's directive to leave election mail behind, starting their routes late to sift through it. In Ohio, postal clerks culled prescriptions and benefit checks from bins of stalled mail to make sure they were delivered, while some carriers ran late items out on their own time. In Pennsylvania, some postal workers looked for any excuse - a missed turn, heavy traffic, a rowdy dog - to buy enough time to finish their daily rounds. "I can't see any postal worker not bending those rules," one Philadelphia staffer said in an interview. With the Postal Service expected to play a historic role in this year's election, some of the agency's 630,000 workers say they feel a responsibility to counteract cost-cutting changes from their new boss, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, that they blame for the mail slowdowns. They question whether DeJoy - a top Republican fundraiser and booster of President Donald Trump - is politicizing the institution in service to a president who has actively tried to sow distrust of mail-in voting, insisting without evidence that it will lead to massive fraud. DeJoy insists the operational shifts were not politically motivated, emphasizing that he inherited an agency on the verge of financial collapse. At the time of his arrival in June, the Postal Service also was trying to fend off a takeover by Trump's Treasury Department, according to internal Postal Service documents. Its workforce was getting flattened by the pandemic as a result of surging absences and package volumes, and its biggest customer, Amazon, was threatening to pull its multibillion-dollar business. With a mandate to stabilize the Postal Service's balance sheet, especially its $160.9 billion deficit, DeJoy imposed stricter dispatch schedules on transport trucks that prohibited late and extra trips, forcing workers to leave mail behind. Managers cracked down on overtime, though DeJoy contends they did so of their own accord. He also declined to reinstall hundreds of mail-sorting machines and blue collection boxes removed under his watch despite public backlash. And, DeJoy told lawmakers last month, "dramatic" changes are in store after the November election, including cuts in service and price increases for Americans in rural areas. DeJoy's approach marks a fundamental shift, experts say, modeling the agency as more business enterprise than government service. But it also has profound implications for employees in the form of heavier workloads and lost overtime. In interviews, 15 Postal Service workers and local union leaders in eight states described a deep decline in morale since DeJoy made clear his intent to retool the Postal Service - with little input from the heavily unionized workforce - that have fixed intense public and congressional scrutiny on the agency. They also say they are prepared to defy directives that would limit how they do their jobs. Most of the workers interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were acting against agency guidance. Last month, an internal Postal Service memo warned employees not to speak to journalists and to be wary of customers who ask "a series of questions." The Postal Service's dire financial situation, coupled with mounting political pressure, has begun to overwhelm its workforce. "People are burned out," one New Jersey letter carrier said. "I haven't been this burned out in a long time, and I've been doing this a long time. We've never had a summer like this. I tell my customers, 'Call your congressman, because I'm being told not to deliver your mail.' " - - - New postal workers are introduced to the agency's unofficial motto within their first days on the job: "Every piece, every day." It's referenced so frequently that "EPED" is shorthand to work faster, or longer, when mail piles up. Any conscious effort to delay mail is, under federal law, punishable by fine and as much as five years of imprisonment. Many postal workers see the changes that have slowed mail as violating the spirit, if not the letter, of that law. They view themselves as couriers of prescription medications, paychecks, bills and more, and also as neighbors to the people on their routes, checking in on elderly residents and delivering life's necessities. The coronavirus pandemic has only magnified that sense of responsibility, they say. "You look at the news and you get worried," said one Philadelphia postal worker. "Are we going to be the end-all, be-all of election integrity and covid response for this country? Having your own personal problems, too, it all adds up. I think it's really starting to get to people, both newer and seasoned veterans of the job." Since his June 15 start, DeJoy has focused on shoring up the Postal Service's finances. Despite surging package volumes during the pandemic, the agency has been losing ground on first-class and marketing mail - its most profitable products - for years. "The thing is, right now the size of their hole is so big and continuing to grow, there is no one silver bullet to fix this," said Kenneth John, president of the Postal Policy Associates consultancy and a former senior analyst at the Government Accountability Office. "They've done a lot of the low-hanging fruit already, so you're left with a set of really difficult choices. You're left with really big changes." What's more, he added, DeJoy's efforts can close only a relatively small portion of the agency's deficit. "You're either left with these difficult choices and big changes, or ultimately, Congress is going to need to pay for it." Much of the Postal Service's financial difficulty is structural: Congress reorganized the agency in 1970 and essentially ordered it to operate as both a public service and business. As such, it is supposed to be self-sustaining without benefit of taxpayer funding. But the passage of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act mandated that it prepay employees' retirement and health-care benefits, an obligation held by few other government agencies, let alone private companies. Today, retiree costs account for nearly three-fourths, or $119.3 billion, of its deficit. Because the Postal Service lacks revenue streams divorced from mail volumes, nearly any cost-cutting maneuver would almost certainly hurt service, an issue that draws heaps of congressional attention even as lawmakers have put off substantial postal reform. But some of DeJoy's changes go right to the heart of the agency's operations. Some flexibility in delivery schedules, such as allowing late or extra delivery trips, ensures that mail arrives on time, experts say, and prevents backlogs. Postal leaders have long relied on overtime to keep the mail moving, as it is more cost efficient than expanding payroll. That supplemental income is a boon for many workers - comprising nearly 10 percent of all work hours within any given pay period - but an albatross for agency finances. Yet government watchdog groups, including the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, have identified overtime as a potential source of cost savings. "If it means you're going to hire more workers, there are going to be more families that have a family-sustaining union job, that's fine with us," said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents more than 200,000 current and retired postal employees. "If it means you're going to cut out overtime and, therefore, the people are not going to get the service that they need and deserve, then it's horrible." The cost-cutting efforts have led to multiday delays in communities all over the country. As of the final week of August - five weeks after DeJoy's changes took effect - on-time delivery rates for first-class mail had declined from more than 90 percent to roughly 85 percent, according to Postal Service data provided to Congress. For periodicals, they went from 80 percent to 75 percent. John Barger, a Republican member of the Postal Service's governing board, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this month that DeJoy's changes were starting to "bear fruit" and that the board was pleased with his performance. "The board is tickled pink," he said. "Thanks to the great work and dedication of our employees, our service performance continues to improve," a Postal Service spokesman said in an emailed statement to The Post. But some workers vividly recalled scenes of mail and packages piling up, days at a time, this summer during the worst stretches of the transition. Postal workers in Michigan and Iowa described seeing entire pallets of boxes go unsorted and sit outdoors in the rain or summer heat. Sometimes the smell of rotting food attracted swarms of flies, they said. At the Royal Palm Processing and Distribution Center in Opa-locka, Fla., massive stacks of marketing mail sat untouched for 43 days, according to local union officials. "You know, it's just disheartening," said Dana Coletti, president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 230 in Manchester, N.H. - - - The long mail delays made some postal workers think more about the role they'd be playing come election season. The Pennsylvania primary in early June provided a taste of what was to come, said the Philadelphia worker. Though the pandemic was the biggest worry at the time, "we had a lot of issues. There were people at the plant that weren't coming in or were sick. We were seeing delays with that. So now we're looking at this [general election] and going, 'Oh, jeez, this is not going to be good.' The stakes definitely feel higher, especially given what this election really means." In Michigan, one postal worker considered the removal of public mailboxes, which are subject to periodic checks to ensure they are being used, as disproportionately affecting people of color. When a collection box is removed in a wealthy suburb, residents have the time and resources to push back, said the carrier, who is Black. But when it's removed in a racially diverse working-class neighborhood, it's just another government service that's been clawed back. "It's kind of like everything else. It wasn't built for us," the worker said of the Postal Service and its relationship with Black people. DeJoy's background - he's donated more than $2 million to the Trump campaign and GOP causes since 2016 - doesn't help matters, the postal worker said, and makes him feel as though the Republican Party has co-opted the Postal Service. Taken together, Trump's repeated attacks on mail-in voting, his connection with DeJoy, and DeJoy's operational changes look too conspicuous to be coincidental, the carrier said, even if DeJoy has stated publicly that he'd stand up to the president when necessary. Some postal workers say the pushback has to start with them to show that DeJoy's instructions go against the mail service's operational and ethical mandates. Plus, they say, they are legally bound to ensure the timely delivery of mail. In New York, one mechanic expressed dismay that he is surrounded by a "bunch of yes men" who are simply going to follow orders. "It's disheartening to hear from my boss that he wants me to do something that could very potentially cripple the system. It's disheartening to hear that people think we're going to fail. We handle this kind of volume all the time," he said of the election. "But if they do these things with delivery times and we get high volume around holiday season and the election, it will fail. No question. It will fail. We should get the ballots out. We really should, but all it would take is one person in a nice shiny suit to say, 'Leave those ballots, take the other mail.' And everyone would say, 'Yes sir.' "There's a point where I got angry. I'm not happy at all that I'm being politicized. I'm literally trying to do my job, and they're telling me that I can't." - - - DeJoy on Aug. 18 suspended parts of his cost-cutting program after congressional and public blowback - much of it on social media, where images of mailbox removals were met with suspicion and outrage. But it was too late for most of the 671 mail-sorting machines that had been tapped for dismantling and removal across 49 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The agency said that the massive machines, representing close to 10 percent of its inventory and capable of sorting 21.4 million pieces of paper mail per hour, had been earmarked long before DeJoy and that their decommissioning was simply a reflection of Americans' diminishing use for letters and growing reliance on package delivery. But many workers saw it as further erosion of a finely calibrated infrastructure, one with real ramifications for customers who rely on the agency for their prescription medications and other crucial deliveries. "It bothers me, because I like to do my job. Some of us do this for 20 years," said the New Jersey letter carrier. "You see kids grow up from babies and watch them get married. They see you in Wawa, and they buy you a coffee. They say, 'This is my mailman, he's a great guy.' Now they say, 'Where's my mail?' " Postal workers' responses varied from insubordination to small acts of neighborly heroism. In Florida, one manager told of instructing employees to meticulously document their hours and what happens to mail to uphold accountability standards. There are forms for reporting late or undeliverable mail and to record overtime, though several postal workers say supervisors have downplayed the need to complete them in recent weeks. "What I try to tell people is this: Yes, if you get an instruction, you should follow the instructions of your supervisor," the manager said. "But every manual says the same thing: Don't do anything illegal, unsafe, immoral. Well, my manager knows that if he doesn't want mail to be reported late, to keep the mail out of my building." Last month in New York, machinists were ordered to remove sorting machines and use spare parts to augment another, one of the workers said. The person told supervisors that such a move wouldn't help; the enlarged sorter would be able to collate mail into more carriers' routes, but it also would process letters more slowly than two machines doing the job simultaneously. When his supervisor told him to repeat the process for another set of machines, the machinist and colleagues balked and drew out the steps required to implement the change. Eventually, superiors gave up on the order. By then, House and Senate committees had called emergency hearings to cross-examine DeJoy over his relationship with Trump and his operational changes. "I am not engaged in sabotaging the election," DeJoy testified before the House Oversight Committee on Aug. 24. Days later, he told a Senate panel he planned to vote by mail. In Toledo, mail is shipped to the Michigan Metroplex outside Detroit for processing. When items arrive too late for the trucks headed to Michigan, a manager not eligible for overtime will hop into a Postal Service van and transport that mail separately, said Martin Ramirez, president of the APWU Local 170. That way, the Toledo offices won't log overtime hours, even though that worker still puts in extra time. "This is the dancing between the raindrops," Ramirez said. As Toledo's trucks arrive at distribution centers, clerks scan the wire racks carrying the mail to try to spot medications, checks and bills, said Jennifer Lemke, the clerk craft director at Local 170. Even if the day's mail gets delayed, Lemke and other clerks will retrieve essential items and send them off with carriers. When angry customers call the post office or come to the retail window, Lemke said, she apologizes for mail delays, then sends for the local postmaster. "I will put it off on the people that are causing the damage," she said. "My message to [local union members] is: You do what you can to satisfy the customer," Ramirez said. "Look, we're going to fight from national on down. I don't need you losing your job." LVMH has claimed Tiffany & Co's 'catastrophic' performance and 'dismal' prospects are to blame for the possible collapse of a 12.6billion takeover. As the battle between the French luxury powerhouse and US jeweller turned increasingly ugly, LVMH filed a lawsuit in the US to quash the deal, claiming Tiffany is no longer the business it agreed to buy last November. LVMH, whose brands include Dior, advertised by Charlize Theron, said Tiffany was 'ill-suited for the challenges ahead its performance has been catastrophic and its prospects remain dismal'. LVMH, advertised by Charlize Theron (right), said Tiffany immortalised in The film Breakfast At Tiffany's starring Audrey Hepburn (left), was 'ill-suited for the challenges ahead Tiffany's 'performance will continue to be poor' and their projections are 'dubious given the ongoing and substantial impact of the pandemic', LVMH said. The 97-page filing also claimed Tiffany's chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo wanted to force the deal through as he will pocket 34million, adding that 'his golden parachute is equivalent to Tiffany's losses in the first half of 2020'. But Tiffany, immortalised in Truman Capote's novel Breakfast At Tiffany's which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn, hit back. Chairman Roger Farah said: 'LVMH's specious arguments are yet another blatant attempt to evade its contractual obligation to pay the agreed-upon price for Tiffany.' Tiffany has already filed its own lawsuit against LVMH to push the deal through. The legal wrangling comes after LVMH, which is valued at 188billion and owned by France's richest man Bernard Arnault, said this month that the French government had told it to delay the deal to help in the trade war against the US after President Trump threatened to put tariffs on French goods. LVMH is valued at 188bn and owned by France's richest man Bernard Arnault (pictured) The extraordinary intervention sparked accusations that Arnault solicited government help to get out of the deal, which LVMH denies. Tiffany responded by suing LVMH. In a lawsuit filed on September 9, it claimed LVMH deliberately stalled winning approval from EU competition authorities and demanded the acquisition go ahead as planned by November 24. Since the pandemic struck, Arnault, who is known as 'the wolf in cashmere' for his tough deal-making, has repeatedly sought ways to get a discount on his $135-per-share offer. But each time he hit a brick wall, with Tiffany demanding he stick to the terms of the contract. The looming courtroom showdown is a far cry from the praise Arnault showered on Tiffany last year as he said the brand would 'thrive for centuries to come'. History suggests LVMH's core argument, that the pandemic is a 'Material Adverse Affect' that nullifies the contract, has only a slim chance of succeeding. The court in Delaware, where the case is being heard, has only once allowed a firm to escape a merger on these grounds. It found German medical products group Fresenius could walk away from a $5billion merger with pharma company Akorn after revenues collapsed and a former staffer blew the whistle on regulatory failings. LVMH has therefore added extra lines of attack arguing Tiffany has been mismanaged during the crisis. It pointed to decisions to slash marketing and take on extra debt, adding: 'Tiffany paid the highest possible dividends while the company was burning cash and reporting losses. No other luxury company in the world did so during this crisis.' Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, a seasoned diplomat who tried to heal rifts between feuding Gulf states and rebuilt ties with former foe Iraq, has died. He was 91. According to the constitution, the emir should be succeeded by Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 83, a half brother who has served as interior minister and deputy chief of the national guard. Nawaf has been acting emir since Sabah left Kuwait for medical treatment in the United States, where he died Tuesday. The energy-dependent monarchy, whose 1.4 million citizens are among the world's wealthiest by average per capita income, is home to about 8.5% of global oil reserves, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil and gas account for about 40% of Kuwait's economic output and more than 90% of export revenues. As foreign minister for more than 40 years, Sabah sought to make Kuwait a regional power broker by mediating intra-Arab disputes, maintaining strong ties with the U.S. and U.K., and rebuilding relations with Iraq after the fall of President Saddam Hussein, who had invaded Kuwait in August 1990. At home, he on occasion dismissed parliament, entrenching a struggle with the legislature that often led to political and economic stalemate. The death of the emir could reopen debates over the nation's political system, according to Shafeeq Ghabra, a political science professor at Kuwait University. Democracy watchdog Freedom House categorizes Kuwait as "partly free," citing constraints on freedom of speech and assembly while noting that it has an elected parliament that often challenges the government. "It's a transition, there will be changes, there could be reconciliation, there could be challenges, there could be some power vacuum," Ghabra said. "To his credit, the emir has managed a very thoughtful foreign policy for a small country, and he was the only viable mediator in the Gulf crisis" that pits Qatar against an alliance of Arab states. Nawaf, while a largely unknown quantity to many Kuwaitis, shares similar character traits, said Ghabra. "He's reflective, and sometimes when you get someone like that, he's not extremely opinionated. It allows for others to come around and find common ground." The Gulf standoff was the defining cause of Sabah's last few years in power. He sought to resolve the conflict among Gulf Cooperation Council states triggered when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain slapped an embargo on Qatar over its ties to Iran and alleged funding of terrorism. Qatar remains under boycott, but Kuwait has maintained relations with both sides of the dispute, while keeping open a channel of communication with Iran. At home, the charismatic Sabah was a tactical ruler and largely revered by his own people. Still, he maintained a strong hold on power and fended off opposition-led street protests in the wake of the Arab Spring revolts demanding an overhaul of Kuwait's democracy. He instead undertook only minor modifications while dissolving parliament multiple times and changing the electoral system in 2012 to limit the number of candidates voters could pick in their constituency. During his tenure, successive governments pushed to one side difficult decisions over issues including trimming expensive subsidies and introducing taxes. The executive and legislative powers have often failed to see eye-to-eye on the implementation of key economic reforms. Political dysfunction led to a revolving door at the critical oil ministry, with ministers rarely lasting long in office. Under successive governments during Sabah's rule, Kuwait's economy stagnated, dependent almost entirely on swings in energy prices as diversification efforts never moved past the blueprint phase. The sharp decline in oil prices after 2014, combined with a lavish welfare system, left the country running persistently large budget deficits. Kuwait has forecast its biggest-ever shortfall in the current fiscal year, predicted to reach 40% of gross domestic product, compounded by lower oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Sabah was born in Kuwait on June 16, 1929, before the country became a wealthy oil exporter. He was the fourth son of a former emir, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who ruled from 1921 to 1950, and was educated by Kuwaiti schools and private tutors. He named New York among his favorite places, frequented Oman on fishing trips and was an avid fan of FC Barcelona. In 1962, he became minister for guidance and information, a year before being appointed foreign minister, a post he held until he became prime minister in 2003. In the 1970s and '80s, he was information minister, in addition to foreign minister and deputy prime minister from 1978. Sabah was named emir in 2006. Even before that, he had assumed the role of de-facto ruler when other leading family members were too ill or frail to do the job. He took the leadership mantle after Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who was emir for nine days, was voted out of office by parliament on the grounds that he was too ill to rule. Sheikh Sabah was a widower and is survived by three sons. Loading The transaction awaits approval by the Chinese government. But the president's involvement drew criticism from normally supportive quarters. "Maybe the deal will protect national security as the Trump Administration claims, but it reeks of corporate cronyism that will damage the US government's credibility and reputation for free-market rules," said The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said the president's approach erodes the law-based predictability that has made the United States a magnet for foreign investment. "The very appearance of that involvement tarnishes the bureaucracy and undermines the rule of law," he said. "These type of things matter." As winning the president's favour has become more important, companies have beefed up their Washington influence efforts. Total lobbying spending increased in each of the past three years, reversing five consecutive years of decline, according to Open Secrets, a non-partisan organisation. In 2019, business groups and others spent a total of $US3.51 billion, up 11 per cent from 2016. Many presidents have had critical words for business. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, President Barack Obama regularly assailed "fat-cat bankers" for awarding lavish executive bonuses after receiving taxpayer bailouts. Except in rare circumstances, that is not a president's business. That's what a dictator does in a dictatorship, especially if he's doing it for his own political gain. Historian Michael Beschloss In 1962, President John F. Kennedy criticised US Steel and Bethlehem Steel for raising prices in what he called "a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest" and pressured them with a Justice Department investigation and the loss of military contracts. Trump has yet to match President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who in 1944 sent his attorney general and steel-helmeted National Guardsmen to physically remove retailer Montgomery Ward's chief executive from his office after he repeatedly refused to comply with wartime labor agreements. But Trump attacks individual companies and executives more often and with greater venom than his predecessors, seeking both policy and culture-war wins. "It has happened with presidents before, but they usually have been very light on the touch. It's usually been a last resort. People have understood in the past that it was generally not a president's job to get into the domestic economy with this degree of specificity," said historian Michael Beschloss, an author of nine books on the presidency. During the 2016 campaign, Trump attacked Carrier over a decision to relocate manufacturing work from Indianapolis to Mexico. Within weeks of his election victory, he took credit for persuading the company to retain hundreds of jobs it had planned to move. Yet six months later, the company informed the state that 632 other jobs were being eliminated. The Carrier episode was a sign that Trump would be a different kind of Republican president, less likely to reflexively support decisions made in corporate boardrooms and ever eager to pose as a working-class champion. On Monday, amid a complaint about Chinese trade practices, Trump told a campaign rally that he had to be talked out of manipulating the value of the dollar to hurt Beijing. "I go to my guys, they said, 'What about doing a little movement on the dollar?' 'Sir, we can't do that. It has to float naturally,' " the president said, casually describing a proposal that would have rocked global financial markets. "He does not behave like a typical Chamber of Commerce Republican," said Greg Valliere, chief US policy strategist for AGF Investments. "He is comfortable bashing companies that he feels are not doing enough for his constituents." In 2018, Trump took to Twitter to encourage a boycott of Harley-Davidson after the motorcycle manufacturer announced plans to shift from the US production of bikes sold in Europe. The company blamed Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and European retaliatory measures for the move. 'A bedrock principle of our system should be that a president's decisions are always to benefit the nation, not the president personally.' Michael Beschloss, historian and author This year, as the election campaign has heated up, the president's activism has centred on stirring up his supporters. On Tuesday at the White House, the president attacked Twitter, which he said was acting at the behest of "the radical left" to censor conservative viewpoints. "These platforms have become intolerant of diverse political views and abusive toward their own users," the president said. ". . . Twitter routinely restricts posts expressing conservative views, even from a president of the United States, while at the same time it allows Iran's supreme leader to freely spew vile, anti-Semitic hate and even death threats." In August, he urged Americans to boycott Goodyear tyres amid reports the company had banned attire bearing political slogans, including Trump's signature "Make America Great Again," from the workplace. Donald Trump once hailed Harley-Davidson as a 'true American icon', but he urged a boycott of the company when it started to manufacture overseas. Credit:Bloomberg "Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!" the president tweeted on August 19. Within minutes, shares of Goodyear plunged more than 4 per cent. But in a sign that years of incendiary presidential tweets may have lost their punch, the stock more than recovered in three trading days. "Except in rare circumstances, that is not a president's business. That's what a dictator does in a dictatorship, especially if he's doing it for his own political gain," Beschloss said. "A bedrock principle of our system should be that a president's decisions are always to benefit the nation, not the president personally." Trump also has lent the power of the presidency to his political allies. This year, the president has tweeted praise for 28 books, including those by Lou Dobbs of Fox Business, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and former aide Sarah Sanders. On Tuesday, he praised Goya Foods chief executive Robert Unanue, who suffered a consumer backlash after praising Trump at a White House meeting in July. "Goya, he's great, isn't he? Great guy," the president said during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn. But Trump's activism goes beyond words. His inflammatory tweets shape government action, according to John Elias, a career antitrust prosecutor in the Justice Department. In 2019, after Trump relaxed federal emissions regulations, he was enraged when the state of California agreed with four automakers - BMW, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen - to abide by stricter limits. "Henry Ford would be very disappointed if he saw his modern-day descendants," Trump wrote in a tweet criticising the deal. The next day, political appointees in the Justice Department ordered an antitrust investigation of the carmakers, Elias told members of the House Judiciary Committee in June. The investigation quickly fizzled when each of the companies swore that they had reached individual agreements with the state, undercutting any antitrust case. The department, which denied Elias's allegations, abandoned its investigation in February. The president also has weighed in on government contracting. Earlier this year, Fisher Sand and Gravel was awarded the largest ever border wall construction contract. The $US1.3 billion deal came after the president repeatedly urged military officials to hire the company, whose chief executive had repeatedly praised him on cable television. The Defence Department inspector general is auditing a $US400 million contract the company received after House Democrats complained that the president had exerted "inappropriate influence" over the decision. In 2019, Trump directed then-Defence Secretary Jim Mattis "to screw Amazon" out of a $US10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract the company was expected to win, according to a book by Guy Snodgrass, a former Mattis speechwriter. Loading Mattis later told aides that the "JEDI" contract would be handled "by the book," Snodgrass wrote. Defence officials subsequently chose Microsoft for the lucrative job, triggering an Amazon lawsuit. After an internal review, Pentagon officials this month rejected Amazon's protest and reaffirmed the original verdict. When US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not agree with a majority decision in her later years on the bench, everyone knew it as soon as she walked into the courtroom. She would wear her dissent collara fake-jeweled, slightly medieval-looking necklace from Banana Republic given to her in 2012. But being able to dissentor writing about it as effectively as Ginsburg didis not a longstanding judicial tradition. As Ginsburg told the Harvard Club in 2009, In the civil-law tradition that holds sway in Europe, and in countries once controlled by a continental power, courtsissue a collective judgment.The author of the judgment is neither named nor otherwise identifiable. Disagreement, if it exists, as it sometimes does, is not disclosed. In British common law, each judge releases an opinion, and the majority rule holds. In the early US Supreme Court, Each Justice spoke for himself whenever more than a memorandum judgment issued, Ginsburg said. (That practice is called seriatim, from the Latin for due order, with the newest judges usually going first.) But that changed after Chief Justice John Marshall joined the Court in 1801. Marshall, Ginsburg said, thought the each-for-himself practice ill-advised. Instead, Marshall had what Ginsburg called an unparalleled ability to achieve consensus among his colleagues, and the Court spoke with one voice most of the time. Dissents of note were relatively rare until the mid-twentieth century, with Justices William Brennan, Antonin Scalia, and Ginsburg being among the most influential dissenters. Dissent simply means disagree, though the early uses, from the mid-fifteenth century, implied such disagreement as produces strife or contention; discord, the Oxford English Dictionary says. Dissent in the church predates dissent in the law, which The Law Dictionary says means the explicit disagreement of one or more judges of a court with the decision passed by the majority in upon a case before them. Ginsburgs dissent collar lives on, in jewelry, clothing, and (because covid) masks, as well as a reissued Banana Republic version. But it was just one of her many collars, a tradition she said started with Justice Sandra Day OConnor out of necessity: the standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show, and the tie. She added: I thought it would be appropriate if we included as part of our robe something typical of a woman. Ginsburgs collars include those made of lace (her favorite, she said, was made in South Africa), metal, and other fabrics, all fastened around the neck the way necklaces are. Collar itself is the older word, tracing to the late thirteenth century, when it was a piece of armor protecting the neck. At first, Ginsburg and OConnor wore jabots, a piece of fabric that hangs down the front of the robe. Jabot, from the French word for gizzard or crop, was originally a male clothing item, dating to the middle of the seventeenth century. Youve seen them in classic paintings: a frilly bundle of fabric, often lace, hanging from the neck and sticking out from a waistcoat or vest. It was a sign of upper-class dress, and adopted by barristers in England and Europe. In the mid-nineteenth century, the jabot became a womens fashion item, sometimes as a separate piece, sometimes incorporated into blouses and dresses. But it persisted in some mens fashions, and occasionally resurfaces. Of course, the famous Seinfeld puffy shirt had an attached frilly jabot (and those terraced sleeves). Sign up for CJR 's daily email The jabotsometimes called a neck doilyis still a standard item in British and other court systems. The jabot is that other associated accessory that has no proven practical purpose to court wear; although, it has been known to help catch the tomato ketchup from a breakfast bap, the British website Lawyer Monthly opines. The classic jabot is just two rectangles of fabric attached to a collar worn with judicial robes. Neither of the other women currently on the Court, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, favor fanciful collars, though Sotomayor has worn a jabot occasionally. And while Ginsburg often used jabot and collar interchangeably, there could be no dissent about what she meant. ICYMI: A guide to Trumps reality TV debate techniques Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at the New York Times, where she worked for twenty-five years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Thirty years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, universities still have a long way to go toward making their campus recreation programs accessible and inclusive to people with disabilities, a new Oregon State University study found. The study, published Thursday in the Journal of Kinesiology and Wellness, analyzed the language and official statements relating to disability access on university recreation program websites along with the photos used to promote those programs online. Across the 24 large universities chosen for the study, researchers found a surprising dearth of imagery and language indicating that people with disabilities were welcome in campus recreation programs and that accommodations and access were readily available to them. "If you have representation, or if there's a perception of representation, then that in and of itself can capture interest and serve as an invitation. But if you don't see yourself in something, you just don't look at it," said co-author Brad Cardinal, a kinesiology professor in OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences. If a college has no pictures of people with disabilities using its gym facilities, or its website still uses outdated terms like "handicapped," Cardinal said that sends an implicit message to people with disabilities: "This program doesn't really care about me." The study combed through recreation program websites for 24 colleges throughout Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Oregon State University, Portland State University and the University of Oregon were all on the list. Researchers reviewed the sites for usage of terms relating to disability, such as "access," "adapt," "accommodation," "wheelchair" and "inclusive." They also looked for whether these websites included any images of people with disabilities or equipment that was specifically adapted for use by people with disabilities. Finally, they looked to see if the websites offered any disability statements, whether those were recreation center-specific statements, or links to the university's overall disability or non-discrimination statements. Results showed disability-related words appeared 618 times across all the recreation program websites, but just two out of the 24 universities accounted for nearly 40% of occurrences. Photographs relating to disability appeared 49 times, but only 10 universities had a disability-related photo, and even then, only five universities had photos that showed actual people with disabilities using accessible exercise equipment rather than standalone pictures of the equipment. As for disability statements, 18 of the universities simply linked to the generic university non-discrimination statement. "It's kind of disheartening to me, the idea that equipment and things like a parking space or a ramp get a photo, but then there's an absence of people with disabilities," Cardinal said. "That is very uninviting." As addressing the language and images used on a website is a fairly low-cost endeavor, Cardinal speculated that the reason university recreation programs are so lacking in inclusive statements is due to a lack of representation among the employees crafting these promotional messages. "It's an after-thought, sometimes, for people," he said. "I think somebody from the disability community could really help inform on this. Their contribution to a committee would be invaluable." The researchers recommended that universities create specific "Inclusive Recreation" or "Accessibility" web pages devoted to highlighting accessibility features, people with disabilities and adaptive equipment within their recreation centers. Universities could also push for more basic-level disability service staff training, as well as one-on-one facility, equipment and program orientations so people with disabilities can become more familiar and comfortable in recreational spaces. In his years of research, Cardinal said he's learned that barriers to access can be humiliating and exhausting to people with disabilities. "They say, 'We just want to go and work out. We don't want to have to go and advocate for ourselves in yet another setting,'" he said. "It wears them out." Explore further Voters with disabilities face barriers at polls More information: Bruning et al., Inclusivity of Collegiate Campus Recreation Programs in Region Vi of Nirsa: A Content Analysis of Websites. Journal of Kinesiology and Wellness (2020). Bruning et al., Inclusivity of Collegiate Campus Recreation Programs in Region Vi of Nirsa: A Content Analysis of Websites.(2020). jkw.wskw.org/index.php/jkw/article/view/69/127 A Commonwealth report has revealed violence against women and girls costs Lesotho more than $113 million (about 1.9 billion Lesotho loti) a year. The report estimates the total cost, including loss of income and expenses associated with medical, legal, and police support, equates to around 5.5 per cent of Lesothos gross domestic product (GDP). The cost of $113 million means each Lesotho citizen loses at least $50 every year to violence against women and girls. The cost of $113 million means each Lesotho citizen loses at least $50 every year to violence against women and girls. The bulk $45 million - is attributed to legal protection, healthcare, social services and learning loss. This is more than twice the amount - $21 million - Lesotho spent on health, education and energy in the last fiscal year. The report sets out policy recommendations for the health, education, legal and private sectors to better meet the needs of victims, which include: Updating the forms used for collecting data on violence against women and girls; Using digital services to collect and share the data with stakeholders; Training staff responsible for recording, analysing and sharing data; Developing a broad approach involving all sectors to prevent the abuse; and Making strategic shifts to allocate resources to carry out these recommendations. Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: This report proves once again that ending violence against woman and girls is not only the right thing to do but it is also the smart thing to do and beneficial to us all. Tackling this issue will prevent immense pain and suffering for individuals and communities and will also end the damage this violence does to our economies and prosperity. As the first report of its kind to focus on Lesotho in this way, our intention is that it should provide the basis for designing more clearly focussed national policies and programmes, and help ensure that adequate resources are allocated for priorities such as training service providers. The findings put a price tag on the endemic scourge of gender-based violence, and demonstrate that the consequences of ignoring the problem are far higher than the cost of taking preventative and remedial action. By providing the baseline for a series of periodic costing studies and practical intervention, we hope the report will help pave the way towards significant progress on eliminating violence against women and girls, thereby saving many lives. The loss of income for women who experience violence due to missed days of work and lost productivity comes to $22 million annually. Income losses result in less spending which triggers a negative impact on commodity demand and supply of goods and services. Lesothos Minister of Gender and Youth, Sport and Recreation Mahali Phamotse said: Violence against women and girls is a problem in Lesotho which affects national development. The report will help Lesotho come up with appropriate strategies that will help eradicate violence against women and girls as we are now aware of its causes and economic implications. The report calls for immediate action through which my ministry will embark on a project to ensure the protection of women and girls. In Lesotho, about one in three women experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime, similar to the global prevalence rate. The Commonwealth worked with Lesothos Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sport and Recreation to conduct the study and produce this report. This is the second country report completed by the Commonwealth. The first was produced for Seychelles in 2018. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal sovereign states. Our combined population is 2.4 billion, of which more than 60 per cent is aged 29 or under. The Commonwealth spans the globe and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. Thirty-two of our members are small states, many of which are island nations. The Commonwealth Secretariat supports member countries to build democratic and inclusive institutions, strengthen governance and promote justice and human rights. Our work helps to grow economies and boost trade, deliver national resilience, empower young people, and address threats such as climate change, debt and inequality. Member countries are supported by a network of more than 80 intergovernmental, civil society, cultural and professional organisations. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:01:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran's health ministry reported 3,677 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 453,637. The pandemic has so far claimed 25,986 lives in Iran, up by 207 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing. A total of 378,727 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,079 remain in intensive care units. As of Tuesday, 3,986,720 COVID-19 lab tests have been carried out in Iran, according to the spokeswoman. She said 26 Iranian provinces out of 31 are in high-risk condition. Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19. Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China. In return, China delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem An artist-turned-fashion-designer from Liverpool who uses the Scouse slang word 'Boss' on his merchandise is facing a l legal battle against German clothing giant Hugo Boss. Father-of-one John Charles was hit with a threatening legal letter from lawyers representing the luxury fashion brand after he applied to trademark his 'Be Boss, Be Kind' clothing and hat designs. The slogan, containing the word 'Boss', which in Scouse slang means 'very good' or 'great', was used by Mr Charles' at the end of his online art lessons - which he launched during lockdown. The sign-off proved so popular, that Mr Charles, from Huyton, Liverpool, decided to create merchandise with the slogan on it. But last week, after applying to trademark his designs, he received a letter from solicitors Simmons & Simmons, who act for the Hugo Boss group of companies. Father-of-one John Charles (pictured) was hit with a threatening legal letter from lawyers representing the luxury fashion brand after he applied to trademark his 'Be Boss, Be Kind' clothing and hat designs But last week, after applying to trademark his designs, he received a letter from solicitors Simmons & Simmons, who act for the Hugo Boss (pictured: A Hugo Boss store) group of companies The letter states that they will be filing a 'Notice of Threatened Opposition' against the application on behalf of their client and the company wants to block his application. However it says the company would drop the action if Mr Charles withdraws his application and stops selling items with the word 'Boss'. They later told the BBC that the would be 'open for a mutual agreement' and promised to contact Mr Charles directly. Meanwhile Mr Charles, who is best known in Liverpool for painting some of the city's most iconic buildings and figures, said the money earned from the clothing venture would help pay towards his daughter's Emmy future. The 10-year-old helped Mr Charles run his online art classes for children - in which they used the phrase 'Be Boss, Be Kind'. He told the Liverpool Echo: 'One of our biggest mottos was at the end of each class, we would always say to everybody 'Be Boss Be Kind'. 'On the back of that a lot of parents were asking about merchandise so we decided to do hoodies, caps and t-shirts with our logo 'Be Boss, Be Kind'. 'To make sure we did it as professionally as possible we've paid to have our logo trademarked as well. 'Scousers always say boss, it's another way of saying nice. Scousers have said that for years, way before I was born.' Mr Charles, who is best known in Liverpool for painting some of the city's most iconic buildings and figures, said the money earned from the clothing venture would help pay towards his daughter's Emmy future Hundreds of people have since spoken out in support of John. Many have since said that it's 'easy to see' that Be Boss Be Kind has no connection to the German fashion giant. Hugo Boss: A luxury fashion brand which once produced clothes for the Nazis before going on to become a high street name Fashion brand Hugo Boss was founded by Hugo Ferdinand Boss in Germany in 1923, with its first workshop opened a year later. Mr Boss, who served in the military in World War One, later became an active member of the Nazi party in the 1930s. The company produced clothing for the Nazis during their time in power. The fashion retailer says that during this period the factory employed 140 forced labourers (the majority of them women) and 40 French prisoners of war. In 2011 the group said that when they became aware of this fact, it made a contribution to the international fund set up to compensate former forced labourers. After World War Two and the founder's death in 1948, Hugo Boss started to turn its focus from uniforms to men's suits. It has since become a global fashion brand with more than 2,000 stores world-wide. The company was recently involved in a number of spats with companies over naming rights. The brand sent a legal letter to charity Dark Girl Boss - which aims to encourage women and girls to be economically independent and start their own businesses. The company later backed down. It also sent a legal letter to a Swansea based brewer called Boss Brewing over the use of the name Boss. Though the company are still having to change their name, according to Wales Online, the incident became national news after comedian Joe Lycett changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss for a month in protest. Advertisement Other residents also agreed with John that the word 'boss' is a Liverpool saying. On Facebook, Anne Porter commented: 'Boss' is a word 9/10 Scousers use with no connection to Hugo.' PoliteScouser added: 'Boss is a Liverpool slang word for the best. 'He has as much right to use the word from his local dialect as any other person place or thing.' A letter from Simmons & Simmons, who act for the Hugo Boss group of companies (collectively 'Hugo Boss'), said their client was 'concerned to learn' about the recently filed UK trade mark application for 'Be Boss, Be Kind.' It also referenced the Trade Marks Act 1994, summarised the technical grounds for the refusal and stated that despite their client's concerns in relation to the trademark application, their client wishes to agree an amicable resolution of the matter if possible. The letter, dated September 22, in part reads: 'Our client has built up a substantial and valuable goodwill in the United Kingdom in connection with 'BOSS.' 'Use of the mark which is subject of the Application is likely to deceive the public into believing that your goods and/or services are those of Hugo Boss, that you are authorised by or connected to Hugo Boss, or that Hugo Boss has endorsed your activity under your mark. 'As a result the goodwill of Hugo Boss would be damaged. 'Use of the mark that is subject of the Application would therefore also likely amount to passing-off.' It continued: 'We will shortly be filing, on behalf of our client, a Notice of Threatened Opposition (Form TM7A) against the Application. 'The primary reason for filing this form is to extend the opposition deadline by one month so as to allow time to resolve this matter and hopefully to avoid formal opposition proceedings.' The incident follows a similar naming battle between Hugo Boss and a Welsh brewery last year. In August 2019, multi-award winning brewery Boss Brewing, based in Swansea, applied to own the trademark of its name in a procedure that should usually cost 300. But owners Sarah John and Roy Allkin ended up in a four-month legal battle with Hugo Boss who challenged the application. The ended up forking out a near 10,000 sum in solicitors' fees by the timeit was all resolved. In March this year, the story hit the news again after comedian Joe Lycett officially changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss as an act of solidarity with small businesses who have been sent similar letters by the fashion brand. In March this year, comedian Joe Lycett officially changed his name by Deed Poll to Hugo Boss as an act of solidarity with small businesses who have been sent similar letters by the fashion brand Hugo Boss told the BBC: 'As an open-minded company we would like to clarify that we do not oppose the free use of language in any way. 'We accept the generic term 'boss' and its various and frequent uses in different languages.' The company, who often style themselves as simply 'Boss', added: 'We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family.' The comedian, who hosts BBC One's The Great British Sewing Bee, changed his name back to Joe Lycett in April. He said in a post on Twitter: 'Well I have decided to go back to the Lycetts. They don't target small businesses, if you ignore the time mum posted a dump to the local florist.' Despite all of the comedian's efforts Boss Brewing are still being made to change their name, Wales Online reports. On the streets of Afghanistan in 2012, Canadian soldier Brian McKenna was training international teams to search vehicles for explosives. As his trainees searched, they would find scared children being trafficked against their will to parts unknown and McKenna was powerless to stop it. His team was ordered to search for bombs and the components to make explosives, nothing more. So with mounting frustration, his teams would let the cars go, carrying the children away to an unknown fate. McKenna and his teams had no authority to arrest the perpetrators, as they weren't police officers and had no legal right to detain the people transporting the children. "You're just forced to see and admit that something really, really wrong is allowed to flourish. You can have a gun in your hand and feel unarmed. And that's a really odd situation for a soldier," he said. DND spending millions to study moral injuries McKenna has been diagnosed with a moral injury, a form of emotional and psychological damage that occurs when someone goes through a difficult experience that upsets their moral beliefs. And it's something the Department of National Defence is spending millions of dollars to research. DND wants to better understand how to diagnose moral injuries, prevent them, treat them, and learn what situations are likely to cause them. Submitted by Brian McKenna McKenna did his duty, he followed orders, but his conscience still paid the price. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't do anything. I'm embarrassed. It's a feeling of futility, like we're here working on helping build a dam while we're watching this other absolute crime happen," said McKenna, a retired warrant officer who is now a senior adviser for veterans at the Canadian Centre of Excellence on PTSD. There are concerns that as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, more military personnel, health-care workers, and other front-line staff will suffer moral injuries, said Eric Fournier, the director general of innovation with DND. Story continues "We know a lot about post traumatic stress disorder, but moral injury, we know a lot less," he said. "That's why we decided to push forward with this challenge as many people have been encountering this type of situation in this crisis." Dealing with difficult situations He said members of the military may have already been exposed to moral injury when hundreds of them went into long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec to help staff deal with outbreaks of COVID-19. "[They] spent weeks, in some cases months, working in those facilities, and they were part of that response working with first responders, hospital workers, long-term care facilities workers," said Fournier. Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada Many of those military personnel dealt with stressful and uncomfortable situations. Moral injuries can occur when someone doesn't act when they feel they should, when they witness others acting in a way they believe is morally wrong, or when a person feels betrayed in a high-stakes situation. A moral injury can cause a person to question who they are and if their lives have meaning, leading them to become depressed, have trouble sleeping, have difficulty thinking clearly, and have strong feelings of guilt and shame, according to Dr. Patrick Smith, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre of Excellence on PTSD at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. The centre has been studying moral injuries, which he said are different from PTSD. "It's not exposure to traumatic events that causes fear and anxiety, it's more the existential questioning," said Smith. Canadian Centre of Excellence on PTSD During the pandemic, there are many ways health-care workers and soldiers could find themselves in situations that could result in a moral injury. For example, said Smith, some hospital workers may have had to hold the phone for COVID-19 patients as they die, so they can say goodbye to their families. "For some people that's going to haunt them, that's going to potentially be something that's going to stay with them." He said there hasn't been enough research done on moral injuries and he's glad to hear DND is looking into it. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press The Department of National Defence has sent out a call for proposals to research moral injuries under the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security program. The program pays for research by outside organizations, typically businesses and universities. Fournier said about $3.7 million could be on the table for innovators who can help answer the military's questions surrounding moral injuries. So far about 60 proposals have been submitted. Near the end of this month, contracts will be awarded to the successful applicants. Fourier expects to have some results from applicants in about six months, at which time DND will decide if those researchers will get more money to continue their work. The results from the research will be shared with DND personnel, health-care workers, first responders and anyone at the front lines of the pandemic, said Fournier. McKenna is also happy about the new research, but said more needs to be done. "I think we need to get to a place where we realize when we send people to tough spots, moral injuries are part of what's going to happen." MORE TOP STORIES The festive season is expected to create over 1.5 lakh seasonal jobs as consumer demand is likely to take off during the festive sales. This hiring spree would be for seasonal jobs in the supply and delivery chain. Companies like Amazon, Flipkart, ECom Express are all looking to spruce up hiring to meet growing demand. Amazon India is set to hire 15,000-20,000 additional seasonal workers, as mentioned in a report in Times of India. This hiring for delivery and supply chain roles is over and above the 50,000 the e-commerce giant had announced in May to meet the post-lockdown demand. Rival Flipkart had also announced hiring for around 70,000 roles. ECom Express also said that it is hiring 30,000 for the festive season. The company is expecting 9,000 employees out of that to be placed in permanent roles. Online platforms are expecting to hit a high of around 8 million shipments in the festive season. Companies are also willing to offer incentives in order to fill up their ranks and sign workers for their flagship sales. However, only part of these jobs would become permanent. Due to the lockdown, e-commerce sales have already surpassed pre-coronavirus levels. This has imbued retailers and the industry with newfound optimism. Teamlease co-founder Rituparna Chakraborty said that not only healthcare and pharma, intent to hire in e-commerce sector has been very encouraging. "Hiring intent in e-commerce and logistics is measured and in response to demand, which is expected to be higher during festive season sales due to Covid-19 induced push for online shopping. Hyperlocal delivery apps are also witnessing increase in demand leading to increased demand of the delivery agents in specific cities and towns," said Chakraborty, as mentioned in the daily. Amazon has also added around 200 new delivery stations in time for the festive sales. Amazon India also plans to create "thousands of additional opportunities across the network to support customer demand". Also read: Amazon, Flipkart festive sales coming soon; check out discounts, offers Also read: Festive season sales: Flipkart ties up with Max Fashion to widen portfolio Would you prefer the next Broncos ownership group include John Elway or Peyton Manning? You voted: Vietnamese passengers prepare to board flight QH9495 to return to Vietnam from Russia at Vladivostok Airport, Russia, September 25, 2020. Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Health Ministry has confirmed that 17 people returning from Russia are Vietnams latest Covid-19 patients, raising its active cases to 49. The nine women and eight men aged between 19 and 55 had landed in the southern city of Can Tho last Saturday on Bamboo Airways flight QH9495. They were quarantined after arrival at a centralized facility in Bac Lieu Province. The flight carried more than 270 passengers, most of them repatriated Vietnamese. With the latest cases, Vietnams Covid-19 tally has risen to 1,094 with 1,007 recoveries and 35 deaths. Eight recoveries were confirmed earlier Tuesday. Of the total number of Covid-19 patients, 691 were local transmissions and the rest imported. More than 15,000 people are currently in quarantine - 200 in hospitals, 10,000 in centralized camps and the rest at home or other designated accommodations. Worldwide, the Covid-19 death toll has crossed one million. India has said the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2016 terror attack on Pathankot airbase are yet to get justice because of the unwillingness and non-cooperative attitude of Pakistan. Addressing a ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism on Monday, Vijay Thakur Singh, secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, said the world community shouldnt lose sight of the right of the victims of terrorism to get justice for crimes committed against them. The virtual meeting was organised by the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Spain, co-chairs of the group, and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). Also Read: India opposes Pakistans move to hold election in Gilgit-Baltistan I would like to highlight that, for example, the victims of 2008 Mumbai terror attack and 2016 Pathankot terror attack are yet to get justice. This is due to the unwillingness and non-cooperative attitude of a particular country, she said. Though Singh didnt name the country whose stance was hampering efforts to bring the perpetrators of the two attacks to justice, it was clear she was referring to Pakistan. Indian authorities have blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed for the two attacks. It is important that we must work towards redressing deficiencies in the international efforts to ensure that perpetrators of terrorism are brought to justice, Singh said. She further said: While terrorists can never succeed in achieving their nefarious objectives, they leave behind a trail of death and destruction. Even amidst the ongoing pandemic, terrorism continues to pose a critical threat to international peace and security. Also Read: At UNHRC, India takes on Pak over rights violations Terrorists, she pointed out, have stepped up the use of ICT for propaganda and issuing threats, further exacerbating the stress on victims of terror. The world community needs to discuss collective ways to address the critical needs of the victims of terrorism, she added. The adoption of two UN General Assembly resolutionsone establishing August 21 as the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, and another on Enhancement of International Cooperation to Assist Victims of Terrorismand the first UN Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism in 2021 will help address the problem of terrorism and helping its victims, Singh noted. A dedicated voluntary fund to support victims of terrorism would strengthen United Nations capacity building and technical assistance to requesting member states, in assisting and supporting victims of terrorism, she said. Terrorism not only violates the rights of victims but also deeply affects a range of rights of the families of victims and society, and women and children are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses by terrorists, she said. Measures to address the needs of victims of terrorism should factor in the sensitivities of these vulnerable sections, she added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency has questioned the legality and practicality of an executive order issued earlier this week by California Governor Gavin Newsom that will ban sales of new gasoline cars in the state from 2035. Andrew Wheeler also suggested that the order could need federal approval, according to a letter seen by the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Newsom signed the order last week and passed it on to the California Air Resources Board for implementation in the Golden States latest effort to reduce emissions. In the next 15 years we will eliminate in the state of California the sales of internal combustion engines, the Governor said at a news conference before signing the executive order. If you want to reduce asthma, if you want to mitigate the rise of sea level, if you want to mitigate the loss of ice sheets around the globe, then this is a policy for other states to follow. According to Wheeler, however, if the state wants to do that, it may have to apply for a waiver with the EPA. The regulator has already locked horns with California on the matter: last year, the EPA instituted rules preventing the state from mandating its own emission standards that would have boosted sales of electric cars at the expense of vehicles with internal combustion engines. Wheelers letter focuses on concerns that others already raised after the news broke of Newsoms executive order: additional strain on the states already strained grid. Californias record of rolling blackoutsunprecedented in size and scopecoupled with recent requests to neighboring states for power begs the question of how you expect to run an electric car fleet that will come with significant increases in electricity demand, when you cant even keep the lights on today, the head of the EPA wrote in the letter. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By David Shepardson and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler will pay a $9.5 million (7.4 million) civil penalty to settle allegations it misled investors by not disclosing that it conducted only a limited internal review of its compliance with emissions regulations, the top U.S. securities regulator said on Monday. Fiat Chrysler, which did not admit or deny wrongdoing to resolve the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe, declined to comment on the fine that stems from the automaker's diesel emissions scandal. The Italian-American automaker in ... Alessandro Biascioli/iStockBy JUSTIN GOMEZ, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May and the fury over the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in March set off massive protests across the country against racial injustice and police brutality. Over the months that followed, new and previous supporters of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement held demonstrations from coast to coast and a new generation of Americans protested for racial equality. Race is now at the center of the national conversation heading into the final weeks of the 2020 campaign for president, from the disproportionate impact the novel coronavirus pandemic has had on communities of color to reforms that would help address racial disparities in policing. It has also been a complicated issue for both candidates over the course of their long careers. Former Vice President Joe Biden made history by choosing a Black woman, Kamala Harris, to be his running mate and served alongside the nation's first Black president. But he has also drawn criticism for his position on busing in the 1970s to help end segregation in schools and the 1994 crime bill, which helped lead to an era of mass incarceration. Trump set the tone for his presidency when he said Mexico was not sending its best immigrants, including "rapists," on the day he announced his campaign. That was followed by a call to ban Muslim immigration, his perpetuation of the debunked "birther" conspiracy against President Barack Obama among other things. And he has largely ignored the sources of the racial unrest that has erupted around the country in recent months. At the same time, Trump has claimed he is the least racist person and touted the economic opportunities he has created for African Americans during his presidency. Here's a look at where Trump and Biden differ on the issue of racial justice, and significant statements theyve made related to race: Trump's troubles Starting before the 2016 election and continuing into his presidency, Trump repeatedly questioned President Barack Obama's citizenship, amplifying without evidence a racist disinformation campaign designed to call into question the legitimacy of the nation's first Black president. In 2015, Trump entered the presidential race saying Mexico was sending crime, drugs and "rapists" to the United States. During his first term in office, Trump continued to seek to strengthen support among segments of his mostly white base by igniting fear of the other through policies and rhetoric. Nationally, roughly 10% of Black voters are planning to support Trump in 2020, according to an analysis of public polling by FiveThirtyEight, similar to the support he received in 2016. Exit polling from 2016 also shows that Trump received more support from Black voters that year than previous GOP presidential nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain. In 2017, Trump issued an executive order instituting a travel ban from predominantly Muslim countries, a version of which was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court. Trump implemented his travel restrictions citing national security concerns from terror-prone countries. When later that year, a participant at a white supremacist rally killed a 32-year-old woman when he rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump drew backlash for claiming there were very fine people on both sides.. The driver was found guilty of first-degree murder. In 2018, Trump, who has called himself the least racist person, depicted a migrant caravan as a violent threat to the country and called it an "invasion," in line with the racist rhetoric he campaigned on in 2016 regarding immigrants. Hes also targeted the four Congresswomen of color nicknamed The Squad, suggesting that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. and Rashida Tlaib D-Mich., all go back to the countries from which they came. Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley and Tlaib were all born in the U.S.; Omar is a Somali-American who immigrated as a refugee and became an American as a teenager. Trump 2020: Rhetoric heats up As the 2020 race heated up, so did the divisive rhetoric. In 2020, Trump called Black Lives Matter a symbol of hate and also stoked racist fears after overturning an Obama-era housing rule intended to fight racial segregation by linking funding to the reduction of housing inequality. The rhetoric echoed a federal lawsuit from 1973, in which Trump was named with his father, Fred, and accused of discriminating against Black tenants at their housing properties in New York. The parties ultimately reached a settlement without an admission of guilt from the Trumps. In an attempt to appeal to his base, Trump made a request in September to the Office of Management and Budget to halt anti-racism training in federal workplaces, calling it anti-American propaganda. He later signed an executive order expanding the ban to contractors doing business with the federal government. The order prohibits the teaching of divisive concepts such as white privilege, which is the analysis of the inherent advantages a white person has in America, and systemic racism, which examines discriminatory rules, practices and customs embedded in law. Weeks later, Trump contradicted that order with the release of his economic Platinum Plan for Black Americans, which includes diversity training. Also in September, Trump delivered a dark and racially divisive speech at the National Archives playing off of the fears and insecurities of supporters who believe calls for racial equality are attempting to demolish the treasured and precious inheritance of our nation. He gave a warning that the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, referring to critical race theory, the study of society and culture as they relate to race, and The New York Times 1619 Project that analyzes U.S. history through the lens of slavery. That day he signed an order to promote patriotic education. In response to a national outcry over killings of unarmed Black people by police, Trump has chosen to brand himself the law and order president while avoiding discussions about the root cause of the protests, despite expressing sympathy for the families of some of the people killed. Hes said demonstrators protesting racial injustice are looking for trouble and that companies supporting BLM are weak and led by weak people. Hes a strict opponent to calls for stripping police departments of funds and called the defund the police movement a fad. Trump accomplishments on prison reform and economy Trump has refused to acknowledge that systemic racism is a problem in the United States. However, in a departure from his tough-on-crime rhetoric, one of the biggest legislative achievements of Trumps first term was signing into law the bipartisan First Step Act in 2018, which provided the most sweeping changes to prison sentencing laws in decades, and which Trump says will rollback certain provisions from President Bill Clintons 1994 Crime Bill that disproportionately affected the Black community. More than 3,100 inmates have been released so far as part of its enactment, including Alice Johnson, a Black grandmother who was serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug arrest and was ultimately pardoned by Trump. When asked in June how he plans to address systemic racism in the justice system, the president said it will heal itself when the economy is strong again. By the way, what's happened to our country and what you now see, its been happening, is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations, for the African American community, the Asian American, the Hispanic American, for women, for everything, Trump said in June after being asked why he doesnt have a plan to address systemic racism. Our country is so strong, and thats my plan. Were going to have the strongest economy in the world. Joe Biden: Legacy of Black support and some criticism The former vice president, who made history by serving alongside the first Black president, also made history by selecting Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate, making her the first Black woman to be a major partys nominee. Biden has strong support from much of the Black community, with his nomination due in large part to his support in South Carolina and his success there boosted by Rep. Jim Clyburns endorsement. But he's also found himself on the receiving end of criticism from the crucial voting bloc, ranging back to his spearheading of the 1994 crime bill, which led to an increase of mass incarcerations, and most recently in May for saying you aint Black to African American voters deciding between him and Trump. He also faced backlash for comparing the diversity in African American communities to Latino communities, suggesting the former is a monolith. During a heated exchange with Harris during a Democratic primary debate, Bidens record on opposing federally mandated busing drew new attention. In 1977, Biden called it a bankrupt policy. At the debate in June, Biden claimed Harris took his record out of context and said he supported voluntary busing. Biden also drew fire for working with segregationist Democrats while he served in the Senate. He has reiterated that he did not agree with their views and that "there's not a racist bone in my body." Biden's also expressed regret over the Obama administration's immigration policy, calling it a "big mistake" to have deported thousands of people with no criminal records. Biden's plan and issue with Latino support Unlike his opponent, however, Biden does acknowledge systemic racism and has released the Biden Plan for strengthening Americas Commitment to Justice, which focuses on preventing crime, eliminating racial disparities and providing second chances for those who have had contact with the criminal justice system. Bidens plan, which was put forward before this years protests, calls for an end to private prisons, cash bail and the death penalty and would expand the Justice Departments purview to address police and prosecutor misconduct. It would also institute an independent task force to tackle discrimination. He also supports the decriminalization of marijuana and automatically expunging records for those who have been convicted of marijuana-related offenses. Data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) shows that Black people have been four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession. A pillar of his Build Back Better policies focuses on the economy and inclusion, specifically how he would help Black, Latino and disadvantaged communities. While polling shows Biden with a lead over Trump among Latino voters, Bidens campaign has acknowledged that it trails the support Hillary Clinton saw in 2016, and it has been criticized for lack of outreach to Latino communities. But the campaign has touted its diverse staff, saying 46%of full-time staff are people of color. "We know we have work to do and we have said from the beginning, Biden's campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on This Week. Biden has embraced the concept of Black Lives Matter and often talks about disparities in the country, telling ABCs Robin Roberts that theres a fundamental difference between the two candidates on race. The truth is, there's a fundamental difference between Donald Trump and me on the issue of race across the board, Biden told Roberts. This is a man who spent his entire career denigrating African Americans. Denigrating them, continuing to denigrate them. To do nothing but go after race and inflame it. Pour, you know, gasoline on the fire. A September 27th ABC News/Washington Post poll of likely voters shows that the equal treatment of racial groups is among the top issues in the 2020 election. When asked who they would trust more to handle that issue, 56% said Biden, while 36% said they would trust Trump. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. 29.09.2020 LISTEN The aspiring Member of Parliament (Independent) for Bekwai Constituency in the Ashanti region, Lawyer Kwasi Amofa-Agyemang has complained of attacks on his campaign team. The assailants have reportedly attacked the security of the independent candidate and media personnel during campaign tours in the constituency. Addressing a press conference on the prevailing violence in the Bekwai Constituency and the inaction of the police at the Fore Court of Yeguaa Hotel in Bekwai on Wednesday, Lawyer Amofa-Agyemang listed several instances where his campaign team members and supporters have been attacked with machetes, slapped, beaten amid death threats and anonymous phone calls and text messages by operatives of the incumbent MP, Lawyer Joseph Osei-Wusu. He said what is most worrying is that some of these attacks and threats happened right in the presence of the Bekwai police and "these unprovoked attacks have been reported to the police but the District Commander refused" to act on them. The 'Amansie Broni', as he is affectionately called, said "we have come to the conclusion that the District Police Command at Bekwai is unwilling to act on any security infractions reported to them and this has created a state of insecurity in the constituency and our team members are exposed to imminent danger." The inaction of the police also appeared to be emboldening the errant operatives of the incumbent MP which dangerously portends to calamity that may befall the constituency. Lawyer Amofa said he has made a public declaration to contest the upcoming elections as an independent candidate and a public commitment to conduct himself and his campaign with comportment and within the law, and expected "our opponents to do same and eschew violence and any destructive tendencies that could undermine and threaten the peace within the constituency". The parliamentary aspirant said whilst "we restrained ourselves and our supporters from responding to the provocations and intimidations from our opponents with an equal measure of force, they seem to be unleashing more violence on our team members and supporters and their leader (Deputy First Speaker) has not once condemned the lawlessness and violence by his followers because he profits from the violence. "I do not want violence and will always choose peace over violence on any day, and always encourage my followers to do same, but we should know that whilst we desire to ensure peace, our supporters are also human beings with endurance limits, and like all other human beings, they may be compelled to take steps to defend themselves against the incessant aggression from our opponents if nothing is done to curb the violence". Lawyer Amofa-Agyemang and his supporters have therefore pleaded with President Akufo-Addo and the security agencies to designate Bekwai as a flashpoint and take immediate steps to provide adequate security in the constituency to avoid possible violent clashes that could result in loss of lives and destruction of property. "We do not want our constituency to revisit what happened in 2008 which resulted in senseless destruction of property and loss of lives. What is happening now appears to be following the same trend and trajectory of what happened in 2008. The signs are clearly written on the wall, we have sounded the alarm bell, but it seems no one wants to do anything about it," Lawyer Amofa-Agyemang has indicated. Tesla Inc. secured its own lithium mining rights in Nevada after dropping a plan to buy a company there, according to people familiar with the matter. The automaker held discussions in recent months with Cypress Development Corp., which is seeking to extract lithium from clay deposits in southwest Nevada, but the parties didnt reach a deal, the people said, asking not to be named because the information isnt public. The electric carmaker, which has vowed to slash its battery costs by 50 per cent, instead focused on the plan that chief executive officer Elon Musk outlined last week to dig for lithium on its own in the state. Producing lithium from clay has so far proven difficult and costly. No company has been able to produce commercial quantities using the practice. But a push into mining is at the centre of Teslas plan to cut battery costs and deliver on a promise to bring a $25,000 electric car to market. Musk told investors last week that Tesla has secured access to 10,000 acres of lithium-rich clay deposits in Nevada and planned to use a new, very sustainable way of extracting the metal. Tesla didnt respond to emails requesting comment. Cypress declined to comment on talks with the automaker. The carmakers decision to make its own battery cells, and to enter production of battery cathodes and associated raw materials, is intended to add in-house capacity alongside deals with external suppliers as demand for electric vehicles rises. The company this month struck a five-year raw-materials pact with Piedmont Lithium Ltd., which has a project in North Carolina. Automakers are seeking greater involvement in their supply chains to ensure theyll have access to raw materials in the right volumes, according to Albemarle Corp., the top lithium producer. Its an issue thats coming into greater focus with lithium demand forecast to rise sharply and supply likely to lag as expansions and new mine projects have been halted as a result of price declines since mid-2018. Obtaining lithium from clay deposits has typically been considered too difficult and expensive, due to low recovery rates, according to BloombergNEF analyst Sharon Mustri. BNEF projects about five per cent of global supply of mined lithium may come from unconventional resources, mostly clay, by 2030. Lithium raw materials are most commonly extracted at brine operations which pump liquid from underground reservoirs into vast evaporation ponds, or in traditional hard rock mines. This move by Tesla supports the importance of clays as a future source of lithium in the United States, Cypress CEO Bill Willoughby said in an emailed statement, referring to Teslas plan to extract lithium from clay. Cypress Development rose four per cent to 52 Canadian cents as of 10:34 a.m. in Toronto. Musk said Tesla is focusing on development of a process to extract the metal using sodium chloride, or table salt, instead of more expensive chemical reagents. No other mine uses this process to date, according to Mustri. Flagging plans to use a technology that isnt yet proven at scale has drawn skepticism from some analysts. Lithium has never been produced from clay in commercial quantities, said Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners, an industry consultancy. Read more about: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. speaks during a news conference on Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington. Read more WASHINGTON House Democrats unveiled a scaled-back $2.2 trillion aid measure Monday in an attempt to boost long-stalled talks on COVID-19 relief, though there was no sign of progress in continuing negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The latest Democratic measure would revive a $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit and send a second round of $1,200 direct payments to most individuals. It would scale back an aid package to state and local governments to a still-huge $436 billion, send a whopping $225 billion to colleges and universities, and deliver another round of subsidies to businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program. The proposal is well above what Senate Republicans are willing to accept. Republicans have endorsed staying in the $650 billion to $1 trillion range. Pelosi said Monday that she remains in contact with Mnuchin, with whom she negotiated several earlier relief packages. The two spoke briefly on Sunday and Monday evening and are slated to talk again Tuesday morning, according to Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill. Weve come down $1 trillion, and they need to come up because we have to crush this virus, Pelosi said Monday on MSNBC. It takes money to crush the virus. It takes money to make the schools safe. It takes money to put money in peoples pockets. Talks over the summer broke down in acrimony and name-calling, and conversations this month havent produced visible progress. Even if the rival sides could agree on a top line figure from which to negotiate details, dozens of difficult issues would remain to be sorted out. For instance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is insisting that a liability shield against potential lawsuits brought against businesses, schools and universities that reopen during the pandemic be part of the legislation. Pelosi opposes the idea and didnt include it in Mondays legislation. Democrats say the purpose of the new draft legislation is to show good faith and spark a more meaningful round of talks. But it also comes after party moderates and front line lawmakers in swing districts protested that Democratic leaders were being too inflexible. Pelosis office has said shes considering putting the new measure up for a floor vote if talks this week with the Trump administration prove fruitless. Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing Americas working families right now, Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues. "We have been able to make critical additions and reduce the cost of the bill by shortening the time covered for now. SAN DIEGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KDD 2020, the premier interdisciplinary conference in data science, recognized over sixty winning teams in this year's KDD Cup competition, which took place virtually Aug. 23-27, 2020. As one of the first competitions of its kind, the KDD Cup is known for solving industry challenges by crowdsourcing participation, while also providing a platform for aspiring and experienced data scientists alike to build their professional profiles and network with leading professionals in the field. "In 2020, KDD Cup coordinated an unprecedented four parallel competition tracks to offer data scientists the opportunity to tackle emerging disciplines like adversarial learning and deep learning," said Iryna Skrypnyk, co-chair of KDD Cup 2020 and director of AI and machine learning at EVERSANA. "Given the number of participating teams from around the globe, winners in this year's competition were separated by the slimmest of margins. The 2020 KDD Cup ultimately awarded over sixty teams as each solutions brought interesting findings in methodologies and architectures." This year's competition was supported by contributions of data sets and track challenges from Alibaba, BienData, DiDi Chuxing, and 4Paradigm with sponsorship from ChaLearn, Duke University, Google, Stanford University, Tsinghua University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Over 4,500 teams registered for the KDD Cup and competition winners were selected by an entirely automated process. KDD Cup 2020 winners include: KDD Cup Track 1: Regular Machine Learning Competition Challenges for Modern E-Commerce Platform First place on the multimodalities recall task went to Team WinneTheBest," which included Kuei-Chun Huang , Chi-Yu Yang and Ken-Yu Lin . Runner ups included Team "MTDP_CVA" with Kai Zuo , Chao Ma , Dongshuai Li, Zuo Cao , Xing Xu ; and Team "aister" with Jianqiang Huang , Yi Qi, Ke Hu , Bohang Zheng, Mingjian Chen , Xingyuan Tang , Tan Qu and Jun Lei . , and . Runner ups included Team "MTDP_CVA" with , , Dongshuai Li, , ; and Team "aister" with , Yi Qi, , Bohang Zheng, , , and . First place on the debiasing task went to Team "aister," which included Jianqiang Huang , Yi Qi, Ke Hu , Bohang Zheng, Mingjian Chen , Xingyuan Tang , Tan Qu and Jun Lei . Second place was awarded to Team "DeepWisdom" with Jin Zhou , Taicheng Guo, Binhao Wu, Chengxuan Ying, Ruirui Guo, Youcheng Xiong , Jinlin Wang and Chenglin Wu . Third place went to Team "TheAvengers," which included Runxing Zhong, Ziwen Ye , Rui Li , Jin Wei , Yuanfei Luo , Xiufeng Shu , and Hengxing Cai. , Yi Qi, , Bohang Zheng, , , and . Second place was awarded to Team "DeepWisdom" with , Taicheng Guo, Binhao Wu, Chengxuan Ying, Ruirui Guo, , and . Third place went to Team "TheAvengers," which included Runxing Zhong, , , , , , and Hengxing Cai. KDD Cup Track 2: Regular Machine Learning Competition Adversarial Attacks and Defense on Academic Graphs The first place prize went to Team "SPIET-," which included Qinkai Zheng, Yixiao Fei, Yanhao Li, Qingmin Liu , Minhao Hu and Qibo Sun . Second place was awarded to Team "ADVERSAIRES" with Jintang Li , Yang Liu , Jiaying Peng , Zulun Zhu, Zengxu Cao and Yangjun Xu . Third place went to Team "DaftStone" with Chenwang Wu. , and . Second place was awarded to Team "ADVERSAIRES" with , , , Zulun Zhu, Zengxu Cao and . Third place went to Team "DaftStone" with Chenwang Wu. KDD Cup Track 3: Automated Machine Learning Competition AutoML for Graph Representation Learning First place went to Team "aister" that consisted of Jianqiang Huang , Xingyuan Tang , Mingjian Chen , Jin Xu , Bohang Zheng, Yi Qi, Ke Hu and Jun Lei . Second place was given to Team "PASA_NJU" with Guanghui Zhu , Zhuoer Xu, Mengchuan Qiu, Feng Cheng and Wenjie Wang ; and third place went to Team "qqerret" with Zhenzhe Ying. , , , , Bohang Zheng, Yi Qi, and . Second place was given to Team "PASA_NJU" with , Zhuoer Xu, Mengchuan Qiu, and ; and third place went to Team "qqerret" with Zhenzhe Ying. KDD Cup Track 4: Reinforcement Learning Competition Learning to Dispatch and Reposition on a Mobility-on-Demand Platform First place on the order dispatching task went to Team "Polar Bear," which consisted of Yansheng Wang , Dingyuan Shi , Yuanfei Luo , Maoxiaomin Peng, Yi Xu and Yongxin Tong . Second place went to Enming Liang of Team "EM" and third place went to Team "Hail Mary" with Alexander Contryman , Benjamin Han and Jacob van Gogh. , , , Maoxiaomin Peng, and . Second place went to of Team "EM" and third place went to Team "Hail Mary" with , and Jacob van Gogh. First place on the vehicle repositioning task went to Team "Tlab," which included Fanyou Wu , Yang Liu , Cheng Lyu, and Zhiyuan Liu . Second place went to Team "wait a minute," which included Yifeng Zhang , Cong Fu, Yu Fan , Fanming Luo, Jingcheng Pang , Shengyi Jiang , Tian Xu and Zhengmao Zhu . Third place went to Team "NTTDOCOMO LABS," which included Tsukasa Demizu , Norihiro Katsumaru and Hiroyuki Suzuki . In addition to Skrypnyk, KDD Cup 2020 was co-chaired by Jie Tang, professor of Computer Science at Tsinghua University, and Jieping Ye, vice president of research at Didi Chuxing and associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Michigan. Claudia Perlich, senior data scientist at Two Sigma, served as an advisor to the committee. The 25th Annual KDD Cup will take place in conjunction with KDD 2021 on Aug. 14-18, 2021 in Singapore. Companies interested in sponsoring a competition track are encouraged to submit proposals that meet the following requirements: a novel and motivated goal, an interesting challenge and a broad outreach for the data science community, a rigid and fair setup, a challenging yet manageable task, and domain accessibility to the general public. Submissions that address a broad societal or business impact are preferred. For additional information on this year's cup and winners, reach out to [email protected]. For information on the 2021 KDD Cup's call for proposals, please contact: [email protected]. About ACM SIGKDD: ACM is the premier global professional organization for researchers and professionals dedicated to the advancement of the science and practice of knowledge discovery and data mining. SIGKDD is ACM's Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining. The annual KDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining is the premier interdisciplinary conference for data mining, data science and analytics. For more information on KDD, please visit: https://www.kdd.org/ . Follow KDD on: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SIGKDD Twitterhttps://twitter.com/kdd_news LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/groups/160888/ SOURCE ACM SIGKDD Related Links https://www.kdd.org It's been four and a half years since Houston's 'filthiest house' hit the market, but the smell is one you don't forget. Paul Gomberg, who was part of the "Rockstar Realty Group" at Keller Williams Realty in Conroe at the time, was going to sell the Champions-area home for a couple he had worked with in a different part of the city. When the couple first told Gomberg about the home, all they said was a "little rough around the edges and they had to do some clean up to it." He recalls how instantly disgusted he was when he finally saw it for himself. "Where should I puke first?" was his first thought, he said, when he entered. The play room was full of animal poop. The bed was soaked in urine. The toilet was full of feces that sat mountain high. What the couple had failed to mention to Gomberg was that they hadn't lived in the home for months and was now using it to store their animals. For a three month period, 12 dogs, six cats and a potbelly pig lived in the home alone. "I had never seen anything like it before," Gomberg, who's been in the real estate business for almost 40 years, said. The couple didn't seem to think the animal waste, trash and rancid smell mattered too much though, offering to take up some carpet and paint a few walls to restore the home before kicking off the selling process. Gomberg had a different idea. "Let me just sell it how it is," he told them. The couple was shocked, but Gomberg knew what he was doing. He immediately put his marketing, and comedy, skills to use. He first posted the listing to the Houston Association of Realtors website. "This is the filthiest house in Houston. Be prepared before you enter," the listing warned. "The home really smells terrible but is getting better with time. It will need a lot of work. The pool is dark, mercury green. The power has been off for about a year." Gomberg and his photographer also produced a 2+ minute YouTube video, highlighting the homes worst features. THE HOUSE AWAKENS: Houston realtor and his kids don 'Star Wars' gear to help showcase $1M Friendswood home "Let's travel back in time three years ago, when this house was in its glory days," the video began, with glamour shots of the home in its better cared-for days. But from there, Gomberg stuck with his plan to market the home as is, eventually showing viewers what the home looked like in its current state. "Recently, 12 dogs, six cats and a potbelly pig lived here and converted this lovely home into a giant toilet," he continued in the video. His marketing idea seemed to work, because shortly after, people were calling to view the home. Gomberg even gave a few limousine rides to a couple of people who wanted to see the home with their own eyes. He started the listing around $180,000. After speaking with the short sale department at the couple's bank, Gomberg decided they needed to lower the price even more, considering the condition the house was in. They lowered the price to $115,000, and offers ranging between between $115,000 and $216,000 started rolling in. The owners weren't satisfied though. They turned down about 40 offers because, even though the home was full of animal feces and had a smell you couldn't get rid of, they wanted $280,000. "People would show up and come out holding their nose," said Gomberg. "I remember one person walking out and throwing up in the bushes. Another person wouldn't even go in. That's how bad it smelled." Gomberg got used to it though. He tried his best to reason with the couple and get them to realize that a home in such 'disgusting' condition was not going to sell for almost $300,000, considering the amount of work that would have to be put into it. After putting the home on and off the market for about eight months, he eventually grew tired. "The bank wasn't willing to deal on it at the time," he said. "There was nobody that was going to pay $280,000 for that home. That would be if the house was in great condition and only needed a little paint." The home was beyond that. "It became such a nuisance to me because the bank wasn't willing to budge on it," Gomberg said. After about a year, Gomberg gave up. He talked to the seller and decided he was done. "I kind of walked away from it and never looked back. Here I am four and a half years later and I still get calls (about the home)." Gomberg said he doesn't regret the way he marketed the home because at the time, his tactic worked. "My success has been based really on my counter intuitive to any normal real estate marketing," he said. The bank eventually sold the home at a trustee's auction in 2018. Today, according to the Harris County Appraisal District, the home is appraised at $305,120. Malaysia's flagship budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd are looking at laying off hundreds of employees, as it sought to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, state news agency Bernama reported on Monday. Both its Malaysian unit and long-haul arm, AirAsia X Bhd plan to cut some hundreds of staff each, Bernama reported, citing a source who attended separate town hall sessions held by both units on Monday. AirAsia did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Affected staff will be informed within 72 hours, and AirAsia Malaysia will provide them assistance such as medical benefits and flight coupon redemptions year-end. Chief Executive Officer Riad Asmat said the airline group had reached out to the government but had not received any feedback. Those retrenched will then be rehired once the airline rides through the pandemic. Remaining staff will not have to take pay cuts. Meanwhile, AirAsia X will undergo a wider retrenchment exercise involving technical staff and cabin crew, on a last in, first out basis. I dont know when we will be flying. We thought it is for the best to retrench and we hope we give certainty to the people, Chief Executive Officer Benyamin Ismail said. Salaries will be reviewed, and some staff would be offered unpaid leave, likely for a six-month period or until the situation improved, Bernama reported. AirAsia Malaysias layoffs would be completed by the end of this month, while affected AirAsia X staff will be leaving end of October. The Ascension, the new album by Sufjan Stevens, sounds gigantic. It should. It speaks to a convergence of crises: romantic, political, spiritual, existential. Stevens recorded the album largely alone over the past two years with his computer, drum machines and synthesizers; hes his own producer and engineer. Its songs are by turns wounded and angry, solitary and desperate for human contact, haunted by death and desperate to live on and find purpose. The lyrics invoke heartache, malaise, wrath, ancient legends and the Bible; the music opens up cavernous expanses and also goes boom. When Stevens announced the release of The Ascension, he stated that the albums objective was Be part of the solution or get out of the way. Keep it real. Keep it true. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. That suggests something blunt, topical, strident and one-dimensional. Its not the album he made. As usual, Stevens conjures meanings where memories, faith, history, dreams and longing overlap. The album is both a cry of despair and a prayer for the redemption hes no longer sure he will find. In Run Away, a shimmering, messianic love song, he urges, Come run away with me and promises, I will bring you life, a new communion/With a paradise that brings/the truth of light within. But in Tell Me You Love Me, he laments, I lost my faith in everything, and adds, Right now I could use a change of heart/Or a kiss before everything falls apart. LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentuckys attorney general acknowledged that he never recommended homicide charges against any of the police officers conducting the drug raid that led to Breonna Taylors death, and said he didnt object to a public release of the grand jurys deliberations. Amid outrage over the jurys decision last week to not charge any of the officers for Taylors fatal shooting, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Monday that he also did not object to members of the panel speaking publicly about their experience. We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented, Cameron said in a written statement. Cameron also revealed late Monday that the only charge he recommended to the grand jury was that of wanton endangerment. He had previously declined to say what charges he recommended. The grand jury last week charged Officer Brett Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through Taylors apartment into an adjacent unit with people inside. No one in the adjacent unit was injured. Hankison, who was fired from the force for his actions during the raid, pleaded not guilty on Monday. None of the officers was indicted in the killing of Taylor, who was shot five times after they knocked down her door to serve a narcotics warrant on March 13. In a TV interview Tuesday evening, Cameron also indicated that he had recommended no charges against the other officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. Speaking to WDRB-TV in Louisville, he remarked of the grand jury, Theyre an independent body. If they wanted to make an assessment about different charges, they could have done that. But our recommendation was that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their acts and their conduct. At a news conference last week, Cameron said Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in firing their weapons because Taylors boyfriend had fired at them first. Mattingly was struck by a bullet in the leg. There was no conclusive evidence that any of Hankisons bullets hit Taylor, Cameron said. For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment, he said. He also said at the news conference that prosecutors walked them (the grand jury) through every homicide offence and also presented all of the information that was available to the grand jury. A judge ordered the public release of the grand jury proceedings during Hankisons arraignment Monday. Cameron said the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body, but its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen. The attorney general said a record of the proceedings would be released Wednesday, and that the public will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury. An attorney for Taylors family reiterated the need to release the complete record. Since the grand jury decision was announced, weve been saying that Daniel Cameron clearly failed to present a comprehensive case that supported justice for Breonna, attorney Ben Crump said in a news release Tuesday. A member of the grand jury sued on Monday to have a record of the proceedings released and allow the panels members to talk publicly about their experiences. The grand jurors attorney, Kevin Glogower, said Tuesday that Cameron has yet to answer what was actually presented as far as the charges and the individual they were directed to. I think thats important to know and my client feels the same, Glogower said. The grand jurors lawsuit accused Cameron of using the grand jury to deflect accountability and responsibility for (the indictment) decisions. The public disclosure of grand jury minutes is rare. Most states have laws that would make it impossible. Other states, such as California, allow it under very specific circumstances, and some require a judges order. Grand jury transcripts were released in the police shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri. But a judge refused to release the minutes of the grand jury that decided not to indict New York City officers in Eric Garners death in 2014, citing in part concerns over secrecy. In Georgia, 11th Circuit this year ruled against releasing grand jury records in the 1946 lynching of two Black couples. A coroners report says Taylor was shot five times and died of multiple gunshot wounds. It says she was hit in the torso, her upper left arm and both legs. She tested negative for drugs and alcohol. The night of the botched drug raid, the officers were carrying a no-knock warrant but Cameron said a witness testified that they knocked and announced their presence at Taylors door. On Tuesday, The Courier Journal reported that the witness gave conflicting accounts. Aaron Sarpee told police in March nobody identified themselves, but in a follow-up interview in May he said he heard officers announce this is the cops, the newspaper said, citing documents it obtained. ___ This story has been edited to correct that the court is releasing the record of the grand jury deliberations, not the attorney general, who said he has no objections. It also has been edited to clarify that the judges order to release the information came during an officers arraignment hearing, not in response to the grand jurors request. ___ Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report. Mr White was Australia's first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He won the prize in 1973 for his novel 'Eye of the Storm'. Patrick White, the author, died at his Sydney home early yesterday. He was 78. His death, at his Centennial Park home, came after an illness lasting several weeks. He was reclusive in recent years as his health failed, but he remained active within the anti-nuclear movement. Mr White's death was the end of an era, Mr Thomas Shapcott, a former director of the Literature Board of the Australia Council, said early this morning. "Without doubt he was the most important single writer this country had, and his winning of the Nobel Prize in 1973 was a landmark in our literary history. It opened the way for international recognition of Australian literature and it was a cultural turning point." Mr Shapcott said that Mr White's writing gave intellectuals and readers overseas an insight into Australian cultural thought. Mr Laurie Clancy, senior lecturer in literature at La Trobe University, said that Mr White would be sadly missed. His vision was unique and worldwide, and he singled out those he felt were neglected. He focussed on the exceptions in society." KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine on Tuesday marked the 79th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, one of the most infamous mass slaughters of World War II. Babi Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, is where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. The killing was carried out by SS troops along with local collaborators. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the Babi Yar monument on Tuesday and took part in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the tragedy. Seventy-nine years ago, a black page was inscribed in the common past of the Ukrainian and Jewish people. We bow our heads before all the victims of Babi Yar. And we have no right to forget these terrible crimes, Zelenskiy said in a statement. After the ceremony, Ukraines Minister of Culture Olexandr Tkachenko and World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the Ukrainian government and the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. The parties to the memorandum called for joint efforts of Ukrainian society, the state, the international community and organizations researching and studying the Holocaust and the tragedy of Babi Yar, aimed at preserving and restoring historical memory, so that it becomes a constant reminder of the price people pay for peace, Zelenksiys office said. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor The Christian Council of Ghana, has advised the Electoral Commission (EC) to fully involve the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and other key stakeholders in all the processes concerning the voters' register to avoid any misunderstanding and confusion. In a joint statement dated Monday, September 28, 2020 issued together with the Eminent Persons Group of Religious Leaders in Ghana and signed by Rt. Rev. J.O.Y. Mante as chairman of EPG, they expressed the hope that the EC would provide an enabling environment where all critical stakeholders would be able to engage in the processes to avoid suspicion. According to EPG, the EC should therefore welcome any complaints emanating from any political party and assuage their fears of disenfranchising any registered voter. In the statement titled The Preliminary Voters List Exhibition Tension, the EPG said, We have taken note of complaints by the National Democratic Congress, as well as the response by the Electoral Commission of the seemingly large numbers of registrants, who cannot find their names on the preliminary voters list. The Eminent Persons Group has therefore appealed to all Ghanaians, especially the political parties, to assist the EC in any way they can to facilitate a smooth run of the voters register exhibition exercise currently underway. Below is a copy of the statement CHRISTIAN COUNCIL OF GHANA EMINENT PERSONS GROUP OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN GHANA Statement: The Preliminary Voters List Exhibition Tension Dearly beloved citizens of Ghana we, the members of the Eminent Persons Group and the Christian Council of Ghana, send you our warmest greetings of peace and love. The Eminent Persons Group of Religious Leaders (EPG) and the Christian Council of Ghana, believe that the ongoing voter exhibition exercise is to identify and correct mistakes in the voter register. We have taken note of complaints by the National Democratic Congress, as well as the response by the Electoral Commission of the seemingly large numbers of registrants, who cannot find their names on the preliminary voters list. By law the Electoral Commission is required to publish the voter register, so that electors can confirm that they have been included, and that their details are correct. This stage, offers an opportunity to correct entries and to challenge the exclusion of eligible, and inclusion of any ineligible persons, before the EC publishes the certified voter register. The voters list serves not only the Electoral Commission by providing the definitive statement of the eligibility of each voter. It also serves political parties and candidates by providing them with the names and contact information of all individuals who are eligible to vote for them during the upcoming election. The EC should therefore welcome any such complaints emanating from any Political Party and assuage their fears of disenfranchising any registered voter. Additionally, the EC must fully involve IPAC and other key stakeholders in all the processes to avoid situations that we are witnessing at this time when the election is so close. The Eminent Persons Group is therefore appealing to all Ghanaians, especially the Political Parties, to assist the Electoral Commission (EC) in any way they can to facilitate a smooth run of the voters register exhibition exercise currently underway. The Eminent Persons Group is hopeful that the EC would provide an enabling environment where all critical stakeholders would be able to engage in the processes to avoid suspicion. We call on the media to support the process and avoid sensationalism. We consider it both a privilege and an inherent part of our calling to accompany Ghanaians in their search for peace and justice via the democratic elections. We are committed to non-partisanship, seeking the will of God, and observing the election process in line with human rights. In fulfilling our mission, we are guided by the principles of universality, transparency, confidentiality, fairness and freedom. Rt. Rev. Prof. J.O.Y. Mante Chairman, Eminent Persons Group of Religious Leaders Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video DANIA BEACH, Fla., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Q Link Wireless is America's trusted source of FREE premium wireless service through the federal Lifeline program. With its newly expanded 5G network, the company is now offering Mississippi residents the opportunity to receive 3 Gigs of high-speed data, UNLIMITED talk and text, and FREE SIM Card shipping. If Magnolia State residents already participate in government programs such as SNAP and Medicaid, they are eligible to have zero cell phone bills for life. 3 Gigs of high-speed data UNLIMITED talk and text FREE SIM Card shipping Q Link Wireless As the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans need to connect with schools, employers, and emergency services more than ever before. And as the leading provider of the federal Lifeline program, Q Link Wireless is ready to bring Americans together with access to our newly expanded 5G network. If you already participate in government programs such as SNAP and Medicaid, apply now to receive zero phone bills for life. "Q Link Wireless is dedicated to making the lives of Mississippi residents easier during this challenging time with the COVID-19 pandemic," explains Issa Asad, founder and CEO of Q Link Wireless. "With 3 Gigs of high-speed Data, students can spend more time studying and less on trying to reconnect throughout the school day. Adults never have to miss a meeting as they work from home, and those seeking employment can connect to potential employers. " More than one in five Mississippians is in a cycle of poverty, making it the poorest state in the nation. Q Link Wireless serves low-income families so they, too, can thrive during these unprecedented times. "Mississippi is the hub of great literature and innovation," adds Rafa Carvajal, Chief Operating Officer of Q Link Wireless. "Q Link Wireless and Mississippi are a great match given their dedication to communication. Every voice in the state can be heard through the Lifeline program, which provides FREE cell phone service to families on a fixed income." About Q Link Wireless Q Link Wireless is a pioneer in the telecommunications industry. The company understands that wireless communication is a right and life essential to connect with loved ones, employers, schools and emergency services. Q Link Wireless is able to offer free and discounted wireless services because they are an approved provider of the federal Lifeline Assistance program. The Lifeline Assistance program was created in 1984 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Ronald Reagan and updated in 1996. It allows low-income individuals who cannot afford a mobile phone to obtain one at affordable rates, ensuring they have basic communication services that help them live safely and productively. The Lifeline Assistance program is funded by collective fees that make up the Universal Service Fund (USF). These USF fees are collected by all wireless service providers. Created in 1997 by the FCC, the USF meets universal service goals to monetarily contribute towards the safeguarding and advancement of accessible and reasonable communication services. Media contact: Maureen Castellon [email protected] 786-208-0451 SOURCE Q Link Wireless Victorian police snatched a sign reading 'free Melbourne' from two friends out for a walk, saying protesting was banned during lockdown. Officers demanded the pair throw the sign away despite complying with all the lockdown rules. Both men were wearing gloves and masks, walking in the allowed group of two, and said they were within 5km of their homes this weekend. However, the female police officer told them the sign was in itself illegal and they would be breaking the law if they didn't bin it. 'You don't need to exercise with that sign, because that to me is indicating that you're about to protest and that's illegal,' she said in the video. 'So I'm going to ask you to throw the sign away.' Both men were wearing gloves and masks, walking in the allowed group of two, and said they were within 5km of their homes this weekend The pair questioned whether it was really illegal for them to simply hold a sign while going for their walk. 'Yes, because obviously it's a sign of protest and it's illegal,' the officer replied. The pair argued it wasn't illegal to protest, only to gather which they were not doing as there was only two of them. 'I'm not going to argue the point, you either put [the sign] in the bin or I will,' the policewoman insisted. 'At this point in time you don't have the right to protest... not in this current health pandemic.' Another video showed police letting the men leave without a fine once they had confiscated the sign. A friend of the pair posted the footage on social media. 'They were not even "protesting" - halfway through their permitted exercise they decided to scribble it on a piece of cardboard, almost facetiously,' she wrote. 'There are no photos because the police officers forcibly removed the sign from their hands and threw it in the bin.' Melburnians are allowed to exercise in groups of two within 5km of their homes for two hours a day. The 9pm curfew was lifted on Monday. The female police officer (right) told them the sign was in itself illegal and they would be breaking the law if they didn't bin it Protest organisers have been charged with incitement, but they were allegedly advocating for mass demonstrations. Victoria Police said leaving home and gathering for the purpose of protest remains a breach of the chief health officer's directions. 'Police will continue to issue fines for deliberate, obvious and blatant breaches of the CHO directions and maintain the right to exercise direction where appropriate,' it said. Melburnians are allowed to exercise 5km from their homes, but if the main purpose of the trip is to protest then it becomes illegal. OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- California Donor Table announced today that it is moving $5 million ahead of the November elections in progressive candidates and community organizations committed to building long-term power for Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian and Pacific Islander communities. "With 12 percent of the U.S. population and the sixth largest economy in the world, California has a responsibility to lead the nation to ensure progressive policies that work for all communities," said Ludovic Blain, executive director of California Donor Table. "To build a truly progressive California, we must harness the current widespread wave of anti-racist sentiment to invest together in organizations and leaders that reflect and represent the full diversity of our residents." In the wake of ongoing racial justice protests and wide spread anti-racist sentiment, the donor table is marshalling financial and political power to back leaders in progressive races committed to racial justice in action, not just words. "We can only uproot white supremacy in California's political system if donors direct their money toward candidates and initiatives that will directly improve the lives of Black and other communities of color," said founding donor table member Quinn Delaney. "I encourage donors to join us to fight systemic racism and ensure that our elected officials prioritize the rights of California's communities of color." Among the key priorities and races for the donor table: LA District Attorney George Gascon: California Donor Table is investing in Imagine Justice Los Angeles to elect George Gascon as the next Los Angeles District Attorney. Imagine Justice Los Angeles is a coalition of faith based, community, and labor organizations working to build a more just and fair Los Angeles. The coalition includes SEIU Local 99 (Education Workers United), LA Voice Action, Community Coalition Action Fund, Color of Change PAC, Korean Resource Center Action Fund, and SEIU USWW. Los Angeles County is home to the largest jail system and one of the worst District Attorneys in the country. George Gascon has a proven track record of reducing crime and holding police accountable. LA Board of Supervisors Holly Mitchell: California Donor Table is supporting Senator Holly Mitchell, known as the moral compass of the state legislature, in her run for the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors. California Donor Table has invested into Working Families for Holly Mitchell for LA County Supervisor, which is anchored by LA Voice Action, Council on American-Islamic Relations Action, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund, New Way of Life Freedom Project, and Sierra Club California, and led by people of color from the district. Adelanto City Council: California Donor Table is investing in I.E. United and Working Families Party to elect JayShawn Johnson, a San Bernardino native running for the Adelanto City Council, located in the High Desert of the Inland Empire. Like Adelanto councilmember Stevevonna Edwards, Johnson has been a vocal opponent of the 750-bed GEO immigrant detention facility located in Adelanto, as well as its proposed expansion. California Donor Table grantees I.E. United and Working Families Party are supporting his candidacy. San Diego Board of Supervisors: California Donor Table is investing in Alliance San Diego Mobilization Fund, which is supporting Terra Lawson-Remer. Lawson-Remer is facing a Republican incumbent who is a strong supporter of Donald Trump. An additional race between progressive Democrat, Nora Vargas, and a business Democrat will shape the new board. These two elections will determine whether San Diego, California's second largest county with its second largest city, has a Republican majority aligned with Trump, or a solid Democratic progressive majority. Antioch City Council: California Donor Table is investing in Lift Up Contra Costa Action and Tamisha Walker, co-founder and Executive Director of The Safe Return Project. Walker is running for the Antioch City Council District 1. She is a recipient of the Contra County Board of Supervisors' 2020 Humanitarian of the Year Award, a member of the Contra Costa Racial Justice Task Force, and a co-founder of Lift Up Contra Costa Action (LUCCA). The table's donors are funding LUCCA to support several candidates in Contra Costa, including Walker. Originally called the Progressive Era Project, the California Donor Table began in 2005 with five donors from three families. Combining political strategy with community organizing and training, the project aimed to develop and support Black, Latinx, and Asian Pacific Islander progressive leaders, organizations and candidates. To date, the table has invested and aligned approximately $30 million over 15 years. It has financially supported 57 candidates (75 percent people of color, 51 percent women, 42 percent women of color, 23 percent Latina women, 14 percent Black women). About the California Donor Table The California Donor Table is a statewide community of donors who pool their funds to make investments in communities of color so they have the power and resources they need to (1) elect people who represent their values and needs and (2) help govern and hold decision-makers accountable. California Donor Table believes that California can and must lead the nation in becoming a healthy, just place to live with shared economic success and a democracy that works for all our people. Please visit: californiadonortable.org SOURCE California Donor Table Related Links http://californiadonortable.org Another enumerator in Maryland who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear that their future job prospects could be threatened said in an email Monday night that Orders came down to Enumerators in our area to do whatever we have to do to finish each non-responder case any way we can with the deadline of midnight, September 30. It seems that over the weekend, there was a reorganization, and the new boss wants it done NOW! That includes going through peoples mailboxes, checking Amazon packages, asking neighbors, asking Post Office personnel, WHATEVER. In a blistering opinion Tuesday, a federal judge ordered a geriatric prison near Houston to provide more robust protection against COVID-19. The permanent injunction by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison goes into effect Oct. 14 at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota, but an expert said it could be used as a benchmark for other jurisdictions. Within hours, the Attorney Generals Office gave notice it planned to appeal the ruling. Ellison wrote that he doubted the credibility of Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials. He said many of the health protections were implemented in the lead-up to the trial and the lack of written policies and basic self-auditing means there is a high likelihood of noncompliance with basic public health procedures in the future, just as there has been prior to and during trial. The track record at the Pack Unit speaks for itselftwenty deaths and a 40% infection rate is more than sufficient for the court to infer future injury from past wrongs, if TDCJ represents, as it did multiple times during trial, that it has no major plans to change or improve its current approach to COVID-19. He emphasized what he called the simple proposition that we must not treat with deliberate indifference those whom we have chosen to imprison. A group of prisoners sued in March saying that rather than heeding CDC guidelines for testing and hygiene, officials at the medium security facility had shown deliberate indifference to a population that is especially vulnerable to suffering serious illness or death if exposed to the novel coronavirus. The ruling comes after weeks of testimony this summer by inmates, officials and experts about the lack of access to soap, hand sanitizer and routine testing. One 69-year-old prisoner who uses a wheelchair and has hypertension told the court that guards would not allow him to use hand sanitizer when he returned from wheeling his chair back to his bunk. Another inmate who is legally blind, partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair said officials made him continue to work as a janitor during the pandemic. An official testified it was feasible because, he could put a broom against his neck and push it with a wheelchair. Once you take away somebodys liberty you have an absolute obligation to protect them from dangers youre exposing them to whether its a deadly virus or any other dangerous condition, said attorney Jeff Edwards, whose Austin law firm brought the case along with lawyers from Winston & Strawn LLP. Spokesman Jeremy Desel said the state prison system strongly disagrees with the order: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has and continues to take precautions to help prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 inside correctional facilities. The judge said he found the inmates accounts of conditions and day-to-day operations more credible than statements by high-level prison officials. The order calls for new standards at the prison for protection from the virus to which many at the 1,100-man lockup are especially vulnerable, as well as regular weekly testing and a built-in audit. Attorneys for the prison argued that prisons need the flexibility not to be micromanaged. On HoustonChronicle.com: Geriatric inmates died waiting for state to address COVID concerns, lawyer says in trial closing The judge ordered the warden to provide unrestricted access to hand soap and clean or disposable hand towels and said that mobility-impaired inmates must be allowed hand sanitizer. He also mandated there be sufficient cleaning supplies in each housing area and fresh gloves and masks every time inmates are asked to perform new tasks, including janitorial and laundry shifts. He ordered the prison to enforce a new alternating head-to-foot sleeping arrangement in the Pack dormitories. The employees must also step up, the judge said. He ordered the prison to create a plan for regular cleaning of the living spaces of inmates who are unable to clean them themselves. Staff must enforce social distancing and mark off areas with red tape to indicate spacing requirements and make common spaces available for temporary housing of inmates who do not have disabilities. Prison employees must enforce their own use of PPE. Ellison ordered the prison to curtail transportation other than for medical appointments or release from custody. In addition, the judge said the warden must implement a comprehensive weekly testing program that provides 48-hour results until the pandemic is under control in Texas. He said the prison must quarantine inmates awaiting test results from those who have tested negative. Officials must also establish a written plan to for contact tracing when an inmate or staff member tests positive. Michele Deitch, a prison expert at the University of Texass Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, characterized Ellisons 84-page document an exceptionally strong opinion that left little doubt that the prison agency was indifferent to these individuals suffering. She said its a narrowly tailored, commonsense order that will likely withstand the scrutiny of appellate review. While it does not carry any authority in other states, theres no doubt that federal courts around the country will be looking to this ruling for its thoughtful reasoning and analysis of legal doctrine, Deitch said. gabrielle.banks@chron.com Close Trump rows back and says he 'doesn't know who the Proud Boys are' after debate outrage Donald Trump and Joe Biden gave back-to-back remarks at the 2020 Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, broadcast virtually from New York, typically a tuxedo affair that during an election year features candidates delivering chummy remarks and discussions of faith during the Catholic charities fundraiser. This year, the president accused his rivals party of housing anti-Catholic bigotry" as he pitched his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, moments after Mr Biden invoked his own Catholic faith. The former vice president spoke to the hope and possibility for Americas future as it emerges from the public health crisis. Their appearances follows Tuesdays chaotic debate, though the presidents campaign has pushed against the Commission for Presidential Debates plan to add more structure to the next rounds after the opener was marred by constant cross-talk and the presidents interruptions. His campaign accused the nonpartisan committee of political bias and listed a number of unofficial online polls declaring the president the winner of the first debate.Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who moderated the first debate between Mr Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden, said it was the president who bears the primary responsibility for what happened. The White House was repeatedly asked to unambiguously denounce white supremacy, following remarks by the president at the debate urging nationalist gang the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by during while he dodged demands to condemn white supremacism. Republicans have distanced themselves from his remarks while the FBI warns that the election and pre-inaugural period could be potential for violent flashpoint among right-wing extremists. Follow live coverage as it happened Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load Cafe du Soleil, a French restaurant on Manhattans Upper West Side has set up plastic bubbles on its sidewalk to protect customers from the spread of coronavirus and as well as shelter them from cold and rain. Valerie Worthy, who came to the cafe with her two coworkers after seeing a story about the space bubbles on local TV channel NY1 told Reuters said it is one of the best experienced: Well, I can tell you that with everything going on in this world, eating in a bubble is about one of the best experiences we can have. So, I mean, look at it. They have everything safe, clean. Everything is six feet apart. Love it. Cafe Du Soleil owner, Alain Chevreux, who bought the cafe 15 years ago, found the bubbles on the internet in July, when he was trying to figure out how to stay in business when the weather shifts to cold, together with the changing seasons. According to Chevreux, each bubble costs $400 (152,200), but they are well worth the investment, he told Reuters. These bubbles can sit up to six people, said Chevreux. Families love it. Kids love it. Friends who want to get together love it. As a matter of fact, it was raining couple of weeks ago, midweek, pouring, raining. Everybody that was inside those bubbles were having a blast. Just like all other restaurants in the city, Cafe Du Soleil took a hit from the coronavirus lockdown. Outdoor dining became its saving grace. Restaurants will be able able to reopen for indoor dining at 25% capacity on Wednesday (September 30). But Chevreux said its not enough for his restaurant to survive. In the meantime, on Friday (September 25), New York Citys Mayor Bill De Blasio made New York Citys outdoor dining permanent and year-round. But Chevreux said he is not sure how long into the winter he can use the bubbles. When the weather gets very cold, you can have as many bubbles as you have, but Im not sure its gonna do the trick, he said. In the meantime, New York resident Sylvia Gonzalez enjoyed eating in one. When I saw it, as soon as I came in, I said, wait a minute, it looks like Cinderellas carriage, Gonzalez said while eating dinner with her friend, Blanca Morales and granddaughter, Angelina Gonzalez. Its beautiful. I like it. I like it. Its very quiet. Its comfy. Really nice. You feel like you have your own space, added Blanca Morales, who said the bubble made her feel safe from coronavirus. And youre not being cluttered with other people, crowded, very, like, individual, you know? Like she said, Im waiting for my prince to get here. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Mayor John Tory outlines devastating cuts required if other governments dont bail Toronto out, May 22 Mayor John Tory has publicly stated that the COVID-19 pandemic will cost the City of Toronto in excess of $1.5 billion. So why would the city continue with any projects that were to be undertaken that are not a necessity? We need to get our house in order and focus on what the city actually needs to have done and paid for. Not frills and extras that are not of urgency. What are people thinking when we as a city (and province and country) will be facing a deficit that will affect us, our children, our childrens children and probably beyond? Just because the city of Toronto has gone to the provincial and federal governments for assistance means nothing. All of that money, no matter who gives it, gets the cash from the same place: the taxpayers. No matter how you slice it, we will be paying these bills at all government levels for a very long time. So why is the city even considering spending approximately $1.7 billion on the rail deck? Or renaming Dundas Street, which will cost almost $1.7 million? Or a complete makeover to Dufferin-Grove Park at a cost of in excess of $3.5 million? The list could go on and on. Each of these projects are on the wish list for select groups and organizations. These measures will affect each and every taxpayer, their family members or friends in some way. Including loss of more jobs. Each and every project needs to be scrutinized with a fine tooth comb, and many need to be stopped immediately. The only thing the city of Toronto should be focused on, and all that matters, is ensuring that each and every one of us safely and successfully survives the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) President Rodrigo Duterte revealed on Monday he offered to resign as president because of the rampant corruption in the country. "I offered to resign as president, sabi ko kasi nagsasawa na ako, (because I said I'm sick of it [corruption])" Duterte expressed during his weekly national address. The President added that through his vast experience as a government official, he admitted that corruption cannot be stopped. "Even with the investigation or the clamor for government to shake the tree, wala, hanggang ngayon (nothing, until now) it's being committed every day. Can you stop it? You cannot, there is no way," said Duterte. Duterte mentioned in his speech that he is ready to appear before legislators on enacting laws to curb corruption in the government. "I appeal again to Congress, I cannot fight corruption...I cannot find a way to move who are almost resistant to finding fault and resisting moves of government to improve. Congress might want to enact a legislation," he said. Duterte also cited the Land Registration Authority as one of the most "notorious" government agencies in engaging in corrupt practices especially in the provinces, since he said he handled many cases against its officials when he was still Davao City prosecutor. Reorganizing PhilHealth The President also said in his address that he intends to reorganize the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). "Balak ko mag-reorganize (I am mulling to reorganize [PhilHealth]) and impose upon them a single line of authority," he said. Duterte said the procedures in the embattled state health insurance firm should be streamlined to prevent corruption from happening. "There are so many tables there in the office, not just in PhilHealth, who can do the work, who can process the papers, without having the discretion whether or not he should be hanging on it or sitting on it," explained Duterte. In the latter part of his speech, Duterte called for the abolition of the beleaguered agency. He also revealed that the government is raising funds, including selling its real estate properties in Japan, to sustain the operations of PhilHealth. "Kung i-privatize mo naman, susmaryosep, walang pera. Sino insurance mo? Huwag mo sabihin ng mga kapitalista sa insurance: Kami ang magbayad? Wala kayong pondo," he said. [Translation: If we privatize PhiliHealth, we don't have money. Who will be our insurer? We should not allow the capitalists to say on the insurance that they will pay because we don't have any funds.] PhilHealth has been hounded by corruption issues through the years, more recently with allegations of overpayments to hospitals and procurement of overpriced new equipment. To give a fresh mandate in the state health insurer, Duterte appointed former National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran as the new PhilHealth president and chief executive officer last August 31. He replaced Ricardo Morales, who resigned at the height of the investigations in the agency's alleged corruption issues due to his poor health. Duterte also approved the recommendation of the Department of Justice-led (DOJ) investigating task force to file complaints against ranking PhilHealth officials which include Morales, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jovita Aragona, and Chief Operating Officer Arnel De Jesus among others. The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission is conducting a separate probe on the corruption allegations in the agency. How did the world react to the coronavirus pandemic? The short answer is that it didnt at least in the sense of some unified, coordinated global response to a global pandemic. In fact, at the international level, it still hasnt, and probably never will. A good working assumption at the outset of the crisis, when the full horrors were just becoming clear, was that the medics, the scientists and perhaps businesses would be professional and overactive; and that the politicians would over-promise and under-deliver. A clear strategy, albeit flexible, strong international cooperation and honest political leadership was needed in every nation. That is what logic, public health and sheer enormity of the challenge demanded, and it was found wanting and it has been one of the most striking features of the crisis that nationalism and politics have trumped medicine at almost every opportunity. There were export bans on medicines and equipment; America withdrew from the World Health Organisation (WHO), effectively defunding it; and every country put its own interests first. So much for the politicians. By contrast, the few tentative successes partial control of the virus, developing new treatments to reduce mortality and progress to a vaccine have been achieved by scientists and, yes, big pharma, working transnationally. Although the emergence of what we have come to know as Covid-19 was probably not quite a year ago, we have perspective enough now to reflect on what went wrong. First, China. It is probably true that the first cases were detected in the city of Wuhan, in eastern China, and that that is where the coronavirus originated. Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Show all 20 1 /20 Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Top: Nabi Younes market, Mosul Bottom: Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Grand Mosque, Mecca Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Nabi Younes market, Mosul Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Basra Grand Mosque, Iraq Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Taj Mahal hotel, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Dubai Mall, UAE Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Gateway of India, Mumbai Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Victoria Memorial, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sidon, Lebanon Reuters It may have jumped zoonotically, in a live animal market, from bats and via pangolins to human beings. Others say the virus escaped from a laboratory, possibly venturing further into conspiracy theory territory here as part of some Chinese plan for world economic domination (as if they need such a diabolical, indiscriminate and illogical scheme as Covid). Such ideas have not been satisfactorily refuted, and the facts established partly because of Beijings consistent refusal to allow an independent international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. Even now though, in a telling example of the many obstacles to the discovery of the truth, the Chinese authorities do not necessarily accept that it originated in China; they suggest the virus was, maybe, somehow imported into China. As late as 28 April, in a BBC interview, the Chinese ambassador to London was dropping some ominous hints about the origins of Covid: It was first discovered in Wuhan, but I cant say it originated from Wuhan. According to many reports, including BBC, it can be anywhere. It can be found on aircraft carriers. It can even be found in the submarine ... so we cannot say it originated in China. Chinas influence in the WHO, its been suggested, prevented early global warnings of the crisis. The WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian who owed his position to Chinese support, was accused of being overly sensitive to Beijings sensitivities. The early WHO statements on Covid were not, at least with the benefit of hindsight, overly cautious: the risk of human-to-human transmission was identified on 20 January; a formal pandemic was only announced on 11 March. On the other hand, the WHO was very clear about the importance of testing and tracing, famously declaring on 16 March: Once again, our message is test, test, test. That much they got right, but it was not enough to save the WHO from an American boycott, still less establish the WHO as a global clearing house for research and coordinated policy action. Rightly or wrongly, president Trump rounded on the WHO for failing to earn the world about what he called the China Virus, a term that has not caught on much even among his fan base. While Trumps misgivings about the WHO and China might have some basis in reality, as a national leader and the leader of the free world, the president must take his share of the blame for the death toll. Americas Covid mortality rate is one of the worst in the world, astonishingly so for such an advanced civilisation. By that same token sophisticated technology and techniques it is also true that if you happen to live in the United States and catch the virus, your chances of surviving it are better than almost anywhere. This statistical confusion arose when the president started waving charts around during a memorable interview in August with Jonathan Swan of Axios. To be fair, Trump had a valid point, but still the lack of the effective control claimed by Trump has meant Americans have disproportionately suffered and died from it more than 200,000 deaths. According to Bob Woodwards conversations with the president, he deliberately played the crisis down in its early stages (which rather undermines his criticisms of the WHOs complacency). But he went further than that publicly, effectively calling it a hoax (a favourite attack word) at a rally in South Carolina on 28 February, remarking on the Democrats this is their new hoax. If Covid does ensure the removal of president Trump from office it will be one of many of its unpredictable consequences. Yet Trump has only himself to blame for his more eccentric interventions. President Trump has consistently downplayed the severity of the virus (AFP via Getty Images) The low point was probably the enthusiasm for using bleach to treat Covid and destroy the virus, when he wondered aloud at a press conference in April whether there might be some way of getting bleach or sunlight inside the human body. Trump stated: And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?. The White House subsequently claimed the president was being sarcastic. Trumps running arguments with his medical adviser Anthony Fauci, blame throwing at state governors and city mayors, reluctance to wear a mask, and political rallies held in defiance of social distancing precautions have also damaged Americans confidence in his ability to win the war against Covid. His attempts to blame China for the plague seem to have energised his base, but not gained wider acceptance. The buck still stops in the Oval Office. In a parallel universe, perhaps it is possible to imagine the leaders of China and America heading a global summit on the crisis pointing the way to a way out. Or perhaps it is just unrealistic. After all, there are plenty of other Covid deniers out there. Probably the most carefree has been the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, whose country, with its deep economic and health inequalities, has also suffered grievously from the pandemic, with the worlds second highest death toll. With some irony, the president was himself tested positive for Covid in July, and chuckled about the mould in his lungs during a broadcast to the nation. He has consistently resisted lockdowns because of their (indisputable) immediate severe economic impact. Recent polling has suggested that the Brazilian public agree more than one might assume about that. As lockdowns elsewhere in the works take hold, no doubt more people may come to the view that the balance between economics and health is wrong. As economic stimulus measures such as furlough schemes wind down, covid fatigue and loss of jobs may overtake health as the main priority for voters. Flags of the countries affected by the spread of Covid-19 are projected onto the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, in March (AFP via Getty Images) Such shifts in public opinion will do nothing to repair any sense of international community. The European Union, for example, is an organisation with money, high ideals and all the structures in place to deliver solidarity and practical solutions. Yet from the early days of the crusts when northern Italy was overwhelmed by the first wave of cases the EU did virtually nothing. EU Commission president Ursula van der Leyen even publicly apologised to Italy over the failure to provide assistance. The arrival of a second wave means there are no longer any easy answers, or alibis to the publics frustrations She and her fellow commissioners had to watch helplessly while national governments went their own way; the Czechs took to mandatory face masks; Germans successfully tested their way to safety; the Swedes decided to control themselves; and France blocked exports of ventilators. The Russians, meanwhile, pretended that they developed the first covid vaccine. Did anyone get it right? No, and, to be fair, the public at the beginning of the crisis tended to give their governments the benefit of the doubt. Indeed in most countries incumbents tended to rise in the polls. The pandemic was unprecedented, something no one could prepare for and a worldwide phenomenon. At first, media critics and opposition politicians were discounted. That didnt last, of course, and the arrival of the second wave means there are no longer any easy answers, or alibis to the publics frustrations. In Britain the fall from grace and sympathy of Boris Johnson has been dramatic. A consistent habit of promising moon shots and world beating technologies, always imminent, and failing to deliver has shredded his popularity. Other countries just seemed to do things better; not perfectly, but just quicker and more efficient. The far eastern states, such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan had more experience with new virus epidemics, such as bird flu, and are habitual mask wearers, which explains some of their relative success. The Chinese and other authoritarian regimes have the option of draconian curfews and lockdowns, backed by surveillance and a police state (though it's risky looking official stats are viewed with scepticism). Sub-Saharan Africa has benefited in part from its youthful demographics. India has had a huge number of cases, in line with its huge populous, but its relatively low mortality rate, for an emerging economy, seems to be down to an early well-observed lockdown. Unlike in so many other measures of human well-being, coronavirus is not so as closely correlated to prosperity as might at first be assumed. Several funerals taking place at the Olifantsvlei Cemetery in Soweto, South Africa. (AFP via Getty Images) The story of the political response to coronavirus has been and continues to be mostly dispiriting. That, and the economic pessimism around adjusting to the new normal of mass unemployment and broken cities tends to overshadow a much brighter outlook. For there are about 40 vaccine programmes in development, with cautious optimism coming from some of them. This is extremely encouraging, and of course the researchers and pharmaceutical companies are already delivering therapeutic drugs for covid that have significantly improved outcomes. Perhaps they will extend the work to come up with some answers to what we now know are lasting disabilities long covid. There will be the usual scramble by riches nations to buy up supplies, but eventually through 2021 the world should gain a degree of herd immunity without doing so the hard way and letting the virus rip through populations. Humanity has also seen bravery from its doctors and nurses, but also from underestimated, unexpected quarters bus drivers, supermarket staff, care home cleaners. Heroes have emerged from this process, usually in labs and white coats, or trying their best in hospital wards with inadequate personal protection. They and their families have taken a heavy share of the suffering. Among the million dead, one story stands out in the context of understanding how the virus took hold, and thus because of the lesson it offers: Chinese doctor and whistleblower Li Wenliang. It was he who first tried to raise the alarm last December when he noticed the similarities with Sars. But he was warned off by the police for spreading rumours, and his claims were rubbished. In February he succumbed to Covid, which he contracted while caring for patients in Wuhan. It would be reassuring to think that what happened to Dr Li Wenliang could not happen again, when the next pandemic erupts, which could be anywhere in the world. Yet that would require the political classes an unheroic bunch at the best of times to acknowledge their mistakes. Its a pity for the rest of us that theyre such deliberately slow learners. Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has warned that Nigeria may experience an explosion in the number of COVID-19. Speaking in a TV interview in Abuja, Ihekweazu said a second wave of the virus is inevitable in Nigeria. He urged all states in Nigeria to increase the number of testing as some people might be positive and still asymptomatic. A few days ago, the NCDC listed nine states that have tested the least number of samples for COVID-19. Among the states are Taraba, Adamawa, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa and Yobe Ihekweazu in the interview said; The data is what it is. We are having fewer cases reported than we had in April, May and the numbers are what they are. The states where we are most comfortable with are the states like Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano and Borno. This is because they are testing a lot and not finding as many as they used to find. A few months ago, we used to have a test positivity ratio of up to 20 per cent to 25 per cent in Lagos that is 20 per cent of all the samples we collected were positive. Now, that figure is down to five per cent. So, we are happy with the progress made in Lagos. In some other states, they are not testing enough, because they are not finding cases. It becomes impossible for us to say whether that is a reflection that there are really no cases or it is just a reflection that they are not testing. We have been reaching out to states to let them know that the national curve that we show every day is really a reflection of several sub-national curves. Some states have reacted positively and have started testing more. A perfect example of that is Plateau State. Initially very slow, but now they have started testing more and have found more cases which is a good thing. Now, they know where they are. Many states, unfortunately, havent learnt from that and are not testing and finding enough. Im worried that we might find an explosion in those states that will then affect the rest of the country again. Ultimately, the sample collection and mobilisation efforts within states have to be driven by states. Until they see the benefits of testing more in order to define for themselves where they are, we will be in this position of not having a full certainty of where we are in the trajectory of the outbreak in Nigeria. Speaking further, Ihekweazu said; All of us are trying to avoid the lockdown not just in Nigeria but across the world. Countries are working very hard to find ways to avoid a lockdown because we have all seen what it can do to our economy. The impact of this outbreak on the Nigerian economy will be felt for years to come. So, we have to try to avoid that scenario again. Avoiding that scenario means moving away from almost a government-led response to where everyone takes a little bit more responsibility. As we move towards reopening our schools, there will be increased opportunities for transmission because students will come together. We know that were opening our air space, and have opened ourselves up to some increase in infection. Therefore, we carried out the very stringent mitigation measures testing before and on arrival. We see a lot of easing up on insistence on these measures by institutions that have the capacity to insist on it. Let us forget about the people walking on the streets, but let us talk about banks. If I go into a bank now, I see fewer people wearing a mask, yet there is a manager in that bank that can insist that these measures are carried out. If you go to our religious places, the people are not wearing masks anymore, yet there is a pastor or somebody in-charge that can implement this. The second wave is not inevitable but we can avoid it. It cant be done by government lockdowns, but it can only be achieved in a sustainable way if we come together as a society. Walmart is in talks with Tata Group to pump in $20-25 billion in Tata Group's all-in-one app. Tata Group is aiming to up the ante in India's digital space and take on rivals such as Reliance Jio, Amazon and Flipkart. The group is planning to create a new digital platform and a super app to bring its wide range of offerings under one space. Tata Group is currently in talks with potential investors to pick up stakes in the online platform and Walmart could pick a large piece of the pie. According to Livemint, Walmart is also in talks with Tata Group for a stake in its new platform. The proposed 'large' stake could see Walmart pumping in $20-25 billion, overtaking its 66% stake purchase of Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018. If this follows through then the super app could be a joint venture between Tata and Walmart. Tata Sons is working with advisers to explore bringing in financial or strategic investors, including tech companies, as mentioned in a report in Bloomberg. Tata's platform would be a gateway to its consumer products that range from beverages and jewellery to resorts. The platform would offer food and grocery ordering, healthcare, financial services, fashion, lifestyle, electronics, bill payments, etc in one place. Discussions are at an early stage and are yet to take a positive direction. Recently, Mukesh Ambani raised more than $20 billion from giants such as Facebook, Google, Intel for Reliance's Jio Platforms. Tata Group already has its online presence with Tanishq jewellery stores, Titan watches, Star Bazaar supermarkets, joint venture with Starbucks, Taj hotels, Westside, Tata Cliq, Tata Sky, Croma, StarQuik -- all of which might be clubbed under the online platform. The group has the largest franchise of own-brands, as compared to Jio and Amazon. The new platform is expected to be launched at the end of 2020 or early next year, as mentioned by the news agency. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran would be at the helm of the group's digitisation drive with Tata Digital's head Pratik Pal in charge of building this super app, stated the agency. Pal has also helped in the digital transformation of some of the biggest retailers in the world including Walmart, Tesco, Target, Best Buy, and Marks and Spencer. Also read: Buy us out for Rs 1.75 lakh crore: Mistrys to Tata Group Also read: Tata vs Mistry feud: Tata Group reaches out to wealth funds to buy out Shapoorji stake 3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo /U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy photo /U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 3 of 3 U.S. Border Patrol Marine Unit agents rescued an immigrant from drowning in the Rio Grande near downtown Laredo, authorities said. On Saturday evening, Laredo Sector Marine Unit agents responded to a report of an individual struggling to swim across the Rio Grande. Agents maneuvered their Service boat close to the individuals so agents could pull him out of the river. For three days the line of questioning inside the Commission of Inquiry into Crown Resorts had been pregnant with the possibility that allegations of insider trading would be aired. On Tuesday it was given birth. During the dying moments of the morning session, counsel assisting the commission, Adam Bell, rose to the inquisitor's stand and woke up the inquiry audience with an abrupt opening question: "Do you understand that inside information for the purposes of the insider trading laws means information that is not generally available and if it were generally available a reasonable person would expect it to have a material impact on the value of the relevant financial product?" Packers long-time lieutenant - a director of both Crown and Packers private company CPH - Michael Johnston had been effectively sideswiped. "In broad terms. Yes," was his brief response. Spotlight on Michael Johnston as he faces queries over whether he engaged in insider trading when he executed the share sale to Melco and his role in approving junket partners. Credit: On Friday the inquiry heard that while in the process of negotiating the sale of a 19.9 per cent stake in Crown Resorts James Packers private company, CPH, had provided the would-be purchaser Melco Resorts with confidential information about Crown including financial forecasts. Google have said the report which claims that over 2,000 workers left the country to work remotely is inaccurate A Davy report advising clients on property investment opportunities in Dublin claims that over 2,000 Google workers left the country to work remotely from other EU destinations. The claim has been described as inaccurate by sources close to Google. Google has 8,000 workers in Dublin, half of which are staff and half of which are contractors. The Davy report claims that over 2,000 Google workers, as well as thousands more from other tech multinationals, are now returning to Ireland which could provide demand for as many as 1,000 units of housing. Google Ireland does not allow remote working abroad, other than in special circumstances such as the need to care for a sick family member. The tech giant has a flexible working policy that allows staff to work outside the office but within Ireland. Sources within the company deny that anything like 2,000 workers left the country to work remotely from abroad. The Davy report says that the figures come from anecdotal sources. Read More There are no data on the number of employees that left Ireland and could now return, the report says. However, the anecdotal evidence is that these companies were surprised by the number of those who left the country after announcing that they could work from home. Google has around 7,000 staff in Dublin and we believe that as many as 30pc may have left Ireland temporarily due to COVID-19. This equates to over 2,000 people, which could provide demand for as many as 1,000 units with much of this coming from the rental market. Google has 8,000 workers in Dublin, half of which are staff and half of which are contractors. Davy declined to respond to questions about the report, which was circulated widely among its clients. Tax experts say that there may be implications for workers and companies if staff relocated abroad to work remotely. Tech companies may do more work-from-home, but workers can't go where they wish, said UCC economist and lecturer Seamus Coffey on Twitter. Having engineers and sales staff in a country, even a few, means a likely permanent establishment requiring the company to file a tax return there. Five people were injured and vehicles were damaged after a tractor-trailer slammed into several motorcyclists waiting at a red light in the northern Vietnamese city of Hai Phong on Monday afternoon. The accident occurred when the truck driver Nguyen Van Thanh lost control and crashed into the vehicles that were waiting at a red light on Road No. 356 at Thai Son Intersection, Hai Phong Citys police told Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper. The strong hit left five people injured while two vehicles were thrown onto the sidewalk and others were seriously deformed. The injured were rushed to a hospital following the accident. A quick alcohol test at the scene showed an alcohol content of 1,959 milligrams per liter in the drivers blood, well above the allowed level in Vietnam. Further investigation is still taking place. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! SUV The Cayenne has always been very complex and competent, but that also means it can be expensive when something goes wrong. Asking a Porsche dealer to fix mechanical issues might result in huge bills. And that's where Wheeler Dealers comes in, proving that even difficult tasks can be tackled.Starting with the suspension, the mechanic discusses common issues and fixes. Specialist valves in the air ride system ensure there's always a minimum quantity of air in there, but they can go wrong. Replacing them requires a special tool, which in this case gets made by hand, something the average DIY mechanic won't attempt. However, a dealership or pro shop might tell you to change the whole suspension, which would be very expensive.After the valves, the pump supplying the air is removed and serviced using an aftermarket kit. This includes new gaskets and rings. It's funny how cheap, small parts can make such a difference.After that, the mechanic tackled the problem with the driveshaft. Because it's long, this is split into two pieces, and the ball bearing between them is the problem. It's apparently a common not only with the Cayenne, but also sister models from Volkswagen and Audi.An aftermarket replacement part exists to fix this, and while this costs $400, that's still not the nightmare you expect when dealing with a luxury GermanThe first-gen Cayenne had two Turbo S versions. The first one was made in 2005 and 2006 with the 4.5-liter V8 and made 521 hp (that's what this looks like). The facelift from 2008 to 2010 had 550 hp from a bigger 4.8-liter. Thanks to the skilful handling of the pandemic, Taipei has become a reliable and expanding market. Europeans are interested in its burgeoning technology and renewables sectors. Investments in the island grew by 10.6 per cent this year. The French and Germans are leading the way. Diplomatic slap falls on China (with the help of the EU). Taipei (AsiaNews) European companies are increasingly interested in Taiwan as a reliable and expanding market, despite the negative effects of the pandemic and the trade (and geopolitical) war between China and the United States. Thanks to the skilful handling of the coronavirus emergency, the island's economy is one of the most dynamic in the world. The rapid containment of COVID-19 will allow Taiwan to return to pre-crisis employment levels much sooner than many other countries. Recently, during an investment forum held in Taipei, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen noted that the European Union is the first foreign investor on the island, with NT$ 1 trillion (US$ 34.2 billion), 25 per cent of Taiwans all time total inbound investment. This is a five-fold increase since 2016s cumulative total of NT0 billion (US$ 7.2 billion) Overall foreign direct investment in Taiwan rose 10.56 per cent from January to June this year from a year earlier. By contrast, the UN Conference on Trade and Development estimated that foreign direct investment will fall 40 per cent this year worldwide. Tsai expects more Europe-Taiwan cooperation in artificial intelligence, 5G mobile technology and data protection systems. More than 200 French firms already operate on the island, and are ready to strengthen their collaboration with local counterparts, especially those engaged in information and communication technology and semiconductor production. Northern European firms also want a share of Taiwans offshore wind energy market. Taiwan plans to have 20 per cent of the its energy to come from renewable sources by 2025. From Germany, the giant Siemens is set to expand a wind turbine parts assembly project in the central Taiwan city of Taichung. About 250 German firms operate in Taiwan, where they have invested 4 billion euros (US$ 4.66 billion) to date. Due to its size, the island cannot be an alternative to China; however, the latter is increasingly viewed with suspicion by Europeans for its unfair practices. Taiwan can thus offer a market where EU companies can diversify their investments. This trend is enhanced by the ever-closer ties the Union is building with Taiwan. Thanks to European aid, Taipei yesterday celebrated a (rare) diplomatic victory over Beijing, after a global alliance of mayors decided to stop referring to Taiwanese cities as part of China. For mainland China, Taiwan is a rebel province, and has not ruled out the use of force to retake it. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Former Emaar MGF Land Limited Managing Director Shravan Gupta has laundered the money generated from the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case into bank accounts of his four shell companies located in several tax havens, sources in the Enforcement Directorate said. Gupta, against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued by Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court in August, informed the court that he would not be able to travel to India to join the probe as he has "diabetes, high cholesterol and impaired breathing issues". The businessman, who is residing in England, in his submission to the court on September 24 said that "he has diabetes, high cholesterol and impaired breathing" as the reasons for his inability to return to India. He also cited the Covid-19 pandemic situation making him unfit to travel. The ED source further said that the agency has summoned Gupta on number of occasions: in November 2019 as well as in February, July and August this year. "But citing ill-health he has not joined the investigation after leaving India in November 2019, a week after submitting his medical application with the financial probe agency," the source added. The ED source said the money laundered in the VVIP chopper case was routed through shell companies controlled by Gupta and he had also appointed middleman Guido Haschke as non-executive Director in Emaar MGF Land Limited. The source said that the AgustaWestland International Limited, UK, engaged middlemen Haschke and Carlo Gerosa along with consultant Christian James Michel to influence the contract for 12 VVIP choppers with India. Haschke and Gerosa received commissions through their companies -- Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia to the tune of Euro 4,00,000 and IDS Information Technology and Engineering SARL, Tunisia to the tune of Euro 24,377,020. The source said that the funds received by IDS Tunisia worth Euro 12.4 million were transferred into the accounts of Interstellar Technologies Limited, Mauritius, which was one of the main front companies to park the laundered money. The source further said that the funds received in the Interstellar Technologies were transferred into the accounts of the companies under the control of Gupta. The ED source further said it got the details of the payments to Interstellar Technologies through Letter Rogatory sent to Mauritius. "During investigation it was revealed that part of the laundered money was transferred to several companies owned by Gupta," the source said. The source said that Gupta used Natille Overseas Inc, Panama, Timekeeper Limited, BVI, Mayfair Trust Management SA and Hall Park Property Holdings Ltd. The source pointed out that Gupta has been in receipt of the amount received in the bank accounts of these companies. The source further revealed that Haschke was the non-executive Director of Emaar MGF Land Limited from September 25, 2009 to December 7, 2009. The source said that Haschke resigned from the post in Emaar MGF Land Limited on December 7, 2009. The development comes almost three months after the ED carried out raids at seven locations linked to Gupta in the VVIP chopper case in Delhi and Gurugram. Following the raids at the premises of Gupta, the Emaar Group in a statement had said that it has parted ways with MGF a few years back and he has no role with it. The case pertains to the buying of 12 AgustaWestland helicopters built by Italian defence manufacturing giant Finmeccanica at an estimated cost of Rs 3,600 crore for ferrying VVIPs. In the deal, bribes were allegedly paid to middlemen and others. The purchase was cleared in 2010 by the then UPA government. British national Michel was arrested by the investigative agencies on December 4, 2018 and he was extradited to India from Dubai. He has been in judicial custody since January 5, 2019. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) A city in Texas where a six-year-old boy is thought to have been killed by a brain-eating amoeba is being forced to purge its water system for 60 days to ensure the safety of its supply. Doctors believe that six-year-old Josiah McIntyre died on 8 September from the ingestion of naegleria fowleri, a deadly brain eating amoeba which he may have contracted either from the hose at his home. Following the sudden death, city officials launched an investigation that revealed the deadly organism in three of 11 water samples taken in the city, a community of about 26,000 residents 55 miles south of Houston, and issued a disaster declaration. City Manager Modesto Mundo of Lake Jackson said that one of the samples that revealed naegleria fowleri came from the home of Josiahs family. Mr Mundo said that city's water utility will be trying to rid the system of old water for 60 days so that it can be disinfected and replaced with fresh water. Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as the brain-eating amoeba can cause a rare and devastating infection of the brain when inhaled through the nose, which is often fatal. You cannot become infected from swallowing water contaminated with the amoeba. Josiah's mother said on Monday that her son first started showing flu-like symptoms but quickly deteriorated. Despite doctors attempts to alleviate swelling in the childs brain and save his life, the boy died. Josiah loved to be outside and he loved to be with his sister and his cousin, Ms Castillo told the Associated Press. He was a lovable little boy and loved everybody he was around. An advisory was initially put out by the Brazosport Water Authority to eight communities on Friday warning them not to use any tap water. The advisory was eventually lifted everywhere apart from Lake Jackson, the authority's water treatment plant is situated, on Saturday. Lake Jacksons advisory was eventually relaxed but residents were still advised to boil any tap water before using and avoid ways contaminated tap water could enter their nose or allow children to play unsupervised with hoses and sprinklers. Do not allow water to go up your nose or sniff water into your nose when bathing, showering, washing your face, or swimming," they said. Additional reporting by agencies Intellectual Patriots, an advocacy group, has called for a national consensus and non-partisan approach in silencing the western Togoland Seccesionist uproar. The secessionist group over the week assailed two police stations at Aveyime and Mepe and made away with rifles from the stations' armory. They physically assaulted police officers and blocked major roads in the region causing gridlock in its wake. The Advocacy Group said, "it had observed with perplexity, the discussions in the media space on developments pertaining to the declaration of sovereignty by the group." It made the comments in a statement signed by Mr Joseph Gyamfi Yeboah, President, Intellectual Patriots, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Tema. With series such separatist attempts by the group in the past, the Intellectual Patriots appealed for a more cohesive and clear national united voice to finding a lasting solution to the situation. "A national non-partisan approach is needed to addressing this sensitive Togoland menace since it is detrimental to the unity of the nation if not dealt with dispassionately," it said. Mr. Gyamfi Yeboah said "some political commentators were unashamedly capitalizing on the national problem to advance their debates to score political points on various media platforms by blaming the current administration. He emphasized that the partisan twist was not the right approach in dealing with the rather sensitive issue with serious security underpinnings. "We call on civil society, the House of Chiefs, Clergy groups, political parties, and all well-meaning Ghanaians to offer support where needed to designated state agencies in order to arrive at a finality to the problem," it concluded. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Volodymyr Zelensky says people must have a place "to really remember one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century" New details of Babyn Yar massacre revealed at online memorial ceremony. Participants include Israel's President Reuven Rivlin: "We must never be complicit in the sin of destroying memory" KYIV, Ukraine, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, Ukraine's government signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC), to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the tragedy. Meanwhile, at an online memorial ceremony, new research was presented, revealing previously unknown details of the Babyn Yar massacre. Babyn Yar On memorial site today (September 29) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyi Pinchuk, Ukraine Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, and BYHMC board members: Leonid Kravchuk, , Ronald Lauder, Yakov Dov Bleich, Pavlo Fuks. The Babyn Yar tragedy was one of the largest instances of mass-murder during the Holocaust. 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis in just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941, while tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter throughout the occupation of Kyiv. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/23kr85f2N84 The memorandum was signed by Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Tkachenko Olexandr and BYHMC Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder. The signing took place at Babyn Yar after the official memorial ceremony to commemorate the anniversary. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended the official memorial ceremony commented, "We must not forget the tragedy of Babyn Yar. We understand that this is the history not only of Ukraine and of the Jewish people, but a tragic history of the whole world. People, especially youth, should be able to come and see the place where thousands of Jews were shot, to really remember one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. We must all understand that this cannot happen in the modern world, or in the future. Never again." BYHMC Supervisory Board member and President of World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder said, "This was one of the greatest mass murders in history, and then a second crime covering it all up. Almost 80 years after this happened, these tortured souls will finally be remembered with an International Memorial Museum a museum that will also tell the history of the holocaust. Ukraine takes a giant step forward today towards remembrance and towards justice. We have never forgotten, and now the entire world, thanks to all of you, will not forget either." The memorandum states that preservation and restoration of the memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy constitutes an integral component of the memory of the Jewish people, the national memory of the Ukrainian people as well as other peoples of the world who have fall victims to and witnesses of the Nazi regime crimes. Later in the day, global leaders participated in an online memorial ceremony hosted by BYHMC. Although the museum is due to open its doors in 2026, BYHMC already operates twelve education and commemoration programs. A selection of current research initiatives were presented at the ceremony, which have yielded new discoveries about the Babyn Yar massacre. The Names Project has uncovered the identities of more than 900 previously unknown Babyn Yar victims. A separate program has utilized state of the art topographic, forensic tools, and historic photos to identify the exact location of the massacre for the first time, recreating the area in a 3D model. Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said, "Tens of thousands of Jews, including babies, women, children and the elderly were massacred during just two days in this valley of death. This valley has witnessed two sins: The sin of destroying human beings and the sin of destroying memory. The sin of destroying human beings has already been done, we can never bring the dead back to life But we must never be complicit in the second sin." Chair of the supervisory board at BYHMC, human rights icon Natan Sharansky recalled growing up in Soviet-ruled Ukraine, where the memory of Babyn Yar was intentionally suppressed. He said, "Babyn Yar is a symbol of the Soviet Union's efforts to physically erase memory. They took the most tragic part of our history and tried to make it disappear. Thanks to an independent Ukraine, the policy was fully changed towards the memory of the Holocaust." Chair of Yad Vashem Avner Shalev said, "The Soviet Union didn't want to tell the story of the killing of Jews We knew a bit, but the main part of the story was brushed away. This is the importance of Babyn Yar." Addressing a recently signed archive sharing agreement between Yad Vashem and BYHMC, he commented "New information and new collaboration will give us a new dimension to fight together for the truth. It is a very important collaboration." Former US Senator Joe Lieberman commented, "Even today, as we solemnly acknowledge the 79th anniversary of the Nazis' barbaric acts at Babyn Yar, we are faced with a world where intolerance, bigotry, hatred and even genocide still rear their horrific heads. It is up to each one of us to fight against such evil." About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. The creation of the memorial centre was initiated by a group of international organisations and independent philanthropists who sit on the Foundation's supervisory board. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental organisation which aims to build a centre for education, documentation and remembrance, dedicated to the tragic events of September 1941. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kr85f2N84 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283883/Babyn_Yar_Memorial_Service.jpg SOURCE Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center On Friday afternoon, William Byrd High School history teacher Cristy Spencer spent the first few minutes of class talking honestly with the seven students seated in front of her. This is hard, she told them. Spencer was referring to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought a host of challenges that students, teachers and parents are still trying to navigate a month into the school year. Routines have been altered, classrooms look different and, most drastically, the majority of students in Virginia are not in the classroom every day. Even though we are in week five, were still adjusting and trying to make sure everyone is OK, Spencer said. She explained to her small class that it was important to stay organized and have good time management since they are only in the classroom two days per week. Pointing to a stack of colorful notebooks on a cart, Spencer encouraged each student to take one to keep track of their assignments. Yall are learning in a pandemic, she said. Across every school division in Virginia, learning looks different this year. Approximately 52% of the states 132 divisions are fully remote, according to data from the Virginia Department of Education. Another 8% are offering at least four days of in-person instruction to all students. The rest offer some combination of in-person and remote instruction. In Roanoke County, pre-K through second grade students have the option to be in the classroom five days a week, but upper grades attend two days per week. Approximately 25% of the divisions 13,300 students chose to take their classes fully online. At a recent school board meeting, teachers and parents voiced frustration with the hybrid model. Teachers said theyre working nonstop in order to provide support to students, and parents said their children are not doing as well as past years. Division leaders have said they will continue to make adjustments as needed. The Roanoke Times recently spent two days in four Roanoke County schools at the elementary and secondary levels to explore what its like to be in a classroom during the pandemic. With a fraction of students in the building at one time, hallways are quiet. Desks are spaced 6 feet apart, students and teachers wear masks most of the time, and there is more reliance on the divisions online platform, Blackboard. Since classes started Aug. 24, the division has reported approximately 20 positive cases of COVID-19. Two classrooms, one at Oak Grove Elementary and another at Bonsack Elementary, have temporarily closed as a precaution. Superintendent Ken Nicely said cases are to be expected. He said the divisions mitigation measures have been working, pointing to no exposure from the positive cases. Exposure is defined as being closer than 6 feet for at least 15 minutes, with or without a mask, according to the Virginia Department of Health. We still feel confident were doing the right thing, Nicely said. Mastering Blackboard William Byrd High School science teacher Chris Rupe said his students have done such a wonderful job adjusting to all the changes. Although two days a week of in-person instruction isnt the same, Rupe said, students are glad to be back for the first time since Gov. Ralph Northam closed schools in March. Youre so thankful for the time that you get being in the building, he said. But learning the ins and outs of Blackboard has been a monster to really get your head around, Rupe said. He adds new classwork to the top of the page, explaining that hes tailored it to his students generation its like a social media feed, with the most recent updates at the top. Many of his students are starting to get the hang of it, and hes helping others become comfortable with the changes. As stress levels start to come down, Rupe said, he plans to add more discussion and collaboration opportunities to the online platform. Like Spencer, Rupe wants to support his students however he can. Down the hall in Melissa Carrs AP Chemistry class, three students complete a lab together. The small class size allows them to receive Carrs nearly undivided attention as she also talks a student through the lab online. The rest of the classroom is empty. Desks stand 6 feet apart, although theyre not in use at the moment. Principal Tammy Newcomb said she checked desk measurements over the summer, measuring from the middle of each seat. Red Xs mark the floor where the desks should remain. Curriculum pacing remains the same between online and in-person in case students need to transition between the two. That means computers are used more often than usual since teachers upload activities for students on Blackboard. Geometry students completed their work online as teacher Hannah Blais walked around the room answering questions. Likewise, AP English students in Amanda Sabins class had their laptops open. The students said they enjoyed being able to go into class to have questions answered. Being face-to-face was especially useful for certain classes, like math, they said. Newcomb said the school averages between 400 and 420 students per day since students are divided into two groups, attending either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday. Thats more than half of its usual population, which makes for quiet hallways even when students are transitioning between classes. Across the parking lot in William Byrd Middle School, Principal Todd Kageals has turned hallways and stairwells into quasi-roads. Tape marks one-way lanes measured 6 feet apart so students dont get too close to one another. Over the summer, Kageals said, they set up sample classrooms to measure capacity. Teachers arranged their own rooms, and the assistant principal checked measurements, he said. Kageals said the students have followed all the new protocols. Theyve done exactly what weve asked them to do, he said. Mixing online, in-person Green Valley Elementary School Principal Kim Bradshaw waved to the 10 second graders. I miss you! she said to the faces on the screen. This was one of Roanoke Countys fully virtual classes. While teacher Laura Zebosky was seated at her desk at school, her students sat at home. The students couldnt tell, but Zebosky was really sitting in Green Valleys music room, which was repurposed into a classroom for the schools three online teachers. Seated at her desk, Zebosky faced her laptop and a large ActivBoard, an interactive whiteboard. A decorative letter Z and the phrase Welcome to second grade lined the wall behind her. Zebosky has a total of 26 students, down from an initial 54. Nicely said the division recently shifted more teachers online to decrease the student-teacher ratio and fall in line with the states standards by the end of the month. Teachers can be assigned students from their own school or elsewhere in the district. Zebosky projected a weather worksheet onto her screen, asking the students why snow would be unlikely for the following day. Its not cold enough! a student replied, adding that it doesnt usually snow until the 21st of December. Downstairs in the third grade wing, Jennifer Britton was also online. But she was talking to the students she sees twice a week. It was Wednesday, the one day when no third through fifth grade students were in the building. Britton helped her students on a video call as they played a math game. When students arent in the classroom, they have pre-recorded lessons to watch and activities to complete. There are also times when they have live synchronous instruction with their teacher and can ask questions. Then there are the students who receive face-to-face instruction every weekday. In Christy Underwoods Green Valley Elementary kindergarten class, the students sat at either end of tables, with a Plexiglas barrier between table partners. The school districts health plan states that students and staff must wear masks when not consistently 6 feet apart. That means students are allowed to take off their masks while seated, although about half of the class chose to keep theirs on. Elsewhere in Green Valley and at other schools, students sat at individual desks that were spaced 6 feet apart. Some individual desks also included Plexiglas; Mount Pleasant Elementary Principal Dana Stevens said the schools supply of Plexiglas was available to any teacher who wanted it. Some elementary schools have overflow classrooms if students cannot fit in assigned classrooms due to physical distancing. Each school has different ways of handling overflow; at Mount Pleasant, a third kindergarten class has been created, and Stevens said teachers rotate through. Upstairs in Crystal Kincers second grade class, students read in small groups. All wore masks, and Stevens said group activities were limited to stay under the 15 minute exposure limit. Down the hall in fourth grade, Heather Evans stood over a small box of sand as she recorded an archaeology dig. Nicely said he was thankful for parents support and appreciates the lengths teachers have gone to educate students, whether online, in-person or both. All we can do is do our best, he said. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Every other individual in todays day and age is running after a hefty paycheck and to achieve that, they study hard and get into the best of the colleges. But, there are some people who dont rely on money to ascertain their success. Shubham Sinha studied B.Tech at the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Lovely Professional University. He also secured an All India Rank- 4 in the UPSC CDS 2 Electronics and Communications Engineering SSC technical examinations held by the Indian Army. BCCL Also, this isnt it! He also secured an AIR-19 in the Naval Academy and AIR-48 in the Indian Military Academy. He expressed in a statement, I am immensely thankful both to the faculty and mentors at LPU for the tremendous support and encouragement that they have bestowed upon me. The university pushed me to work on my skills and to academically excel, which significantly contributed to my success. Patience, hard work, and unwavering faith in God propelled me even further to accomplish my life-long goal of joining the Indian army. BCCL Shubham was born and raised in Patna, Bihar, and has been part of the NCC (National Cadet Corps) training since the time he was in school. He also intends to join the Indian Army as a Lieutenant according to his current scoring. He also expressed how his main goal is to be part of the Special Forces. Lovely Professional University's Chancellor, expressing how he was proud of Shubhams achievements said, We take immense pride in Shubhams achievement in the prestigious UPSC CDS examinations. We are proud of the AIR ranking he secured in the ECE, Military, and Naval category. At LPU, our focus is on industry-academia immersion and it is great to see Shubham apply his education and soft skills in the defense forces. BCCL This is just one rare story where we heard an engineering student who isnt looking for a career in a Technology Company joining the Indian Armed Forces and we hope we hear more such stories in the future. The University of Bucharest (UB) announced on Tuesday the launch of an Open Lab aimed at settling and accelerating collaboration between the academic community of the higher education institution and the interested parties of the Romanian society for the development of local, regional or national communities. "Conceived as a space for collaboration and aggregation of research and education with civic involvement, the UB-CIVIS Open Lab was inaugurated at an online event held on Monday, with the participation of Professor Marian Preda, rector of the University of Bucharest, and prorectors Sorin Costreie and Magdalena Iordache Platis, as well as Jose Luis Bau, from the Autonomous University of Madrid, the coordinator of the efforts to create Open Labs at CIVIS level," a UB statement said. At the same time, the representatives of the University of Bucharest announced the launch, in the upcoming period, of a competition for projects in five essential areas: Digital and technological transformation; Cities, territories, mobility; Health; Society, culture, heritage; Climate, environment, energy. "Following the competition, which can be attended by representatives of private, public and non-governmental institutions, in partnership with the University of Bucharest, will be selected the most viable projects, which, through the involvement of educational, knowledge and research resources, will contribute to the identification of creative and innovative responses and solutions to the needs and challenges that society faces. The University of Bucharest allocates, through the CIVIS project, the sum of 10,000 euros for the financing of these social responsibility projects," the UB states. The University of Bucharest is currently part of the CIVIS European alliance, alongside other seven European universities. El Cobre Project Exploration Targets Exploration Targets El Cobre Project Infrastructure Infrastructure VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Azucar Minerals Ltd. ("Azucar" or the "Company") (TSX-V: AMZ; OTCQX: AXDDF) is pleased to announce completion of its initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) with respect to the Norte Zone of the El Cobre porphyry copper-gold project (El Cobre Project, or the Project) in Veracruz State, Mexico. The Norte Zone is one of five copper-gold porphyry zones identified to date within the El Cobre Project and has been the focus of the majority of exploration work conducted at the El Cobre Project since 2016 (see Figure 1, Exploration Targets). Highlights: Indicated Mineral Resource of 1. 2 M o z AuEq (million ounce gold equivalent) using the base case NSR (net smelter return) cut off of US $ 12/ tonne , comprised of 47.2 million tonnes grading at 0.77 g/t AuEq (0.49 g/t Au, 0.21% Cu and 1.4 g/t Ag); Inferred Mineral Resource of 1. 4 M o z AuEq using the base case NSR cutoff of US $ 12/ tonne , comprised of 64.2 million tonnes grading at 0.66 g/t AuEq (0.42 g/t Au, 0.18% Cu and 1.3 g/t Ag); Amenable to an open pit mining method ; Potential for resource expansion at depth within the Norte Zone as well as at other significant porphyry bodies identified across 5km strike length at the Project. The El Cobre Project has a total area of approximately 7,000 hectares and is located adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, about 75 kilometres northwest of the major port city of Veracruz, Mexico in an area of excellent infrastructure. The Project is situated 200 metres above sea level with extensive road access and is located less than 10 kilometres from a power plant, highway, gas line and other major infrastructure. Major power lines cross the Project area (see Figure 2, Infrastructure). The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and NSR cut-off sensitivities are presented in Table 1 with the base case cutoff at $US12.00 NSR highlighted. The favorable infrastructure at the El Cobre Project suggests that the threshold for economic mineralization will be low relative to many other deposits. Copper and gold mineralization at the Norte Zone is associated with a multiphase variably potassic-phyllic altered porphyritic diorite intrusive complex that is cut by late mafic and intermediate dykes and post mineral feldspar porphyry. The Norte Zone is approximately 0.6 km x 0.4 km along an E-W strike. Sulphide mineralization, which extends up to 900 metres depth, consists of disseminated and vein-hosted chalcopyrite and trace bornite (Cu mineralization) exposed in surface outcrops and intersected in drill core. Story continues J. Duane Poliquin, Chairman of Azucar commented, We are pleased to provide this initial resource estimate for the Norte Zone, which is a significant mineral endowment at just one of the many targets at the Project. This resource provides an excellent basis for continued exploration at the El Cobre Project, both at the Norte Zone itself as well as at the other significant zones discovered between the Norte Zone and the Encinal Zone, 5km to the southeast. Table 1. Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource and Sensitivity Analysis Classification Cutoff in situ In situ Grades In situ Metal Content (NSR $US) (ktonnes) NSR Au (gpt) Cu (%) Ag (gpt) AuEqv (gpt) Au (kOz) Cu (Mlbs) Ag (kOz) AuEq (kOz) Indicated 7.5 52,828 29.17 0.45 0.20 1.3 0.72 772 230 2,189 1,217 9 51,134 29.86 0.47 0.20 1.3 0.73 766 228 2,150 1,207 12 47,211 31.47 0.49 0.21 1.4 0.77 748 221 2,049 1,175 20 42,923 33.26 0.52 0.22 1.4 0.82 723 211 1,924 1,131 25 34,711 36.99 0.59 0.24 1.5 0.91 660 187 1,630 1,020 30 19,092 47.07 0.78 0.29 1.6 1.17 482 123 982 718 40 10,634 56.97 0.98 0.34 1.7 1.42 336 79 569 487 Classification Cutoff in situ In situ Grades In situ Metal Content (NSR $US) (ktonnes) NSR Au (gpt) Cu (%) Ag (gpt) AuEqv (gpt) Au (kOz) Cu (Mlbs) Ag (kOz) AuEq (kOz) Inferred 7.5 103,105 20.31 0.30 0.14 1.2 0.49 998 324 3,819 1,630 9 86,821 22.57 0.34 0.16 1.2 0.55 949 298 3,414 1,531 12 64,191 26.88 0.42 0.18 1.3 0.66 860 254 2,768 1,354 20 51,617 30.16 0.48 0.20 1.4 0.74 792 224 2,338 1,226 25 37,381 35.03 0.57 0.22 1.5 0.86 685 182 1,790 1,036 30 20,314 43.84 0.74 0.26 1.6 1.09 485 116 1,067 709 40 10,280 52.93 0.93 0.29 1.8 1.32 307 67 582 435 Notes for Mineral Resource Table: The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Sue Bird M.Sc., P.Eng. of Moose Mountain Technical Services, the QP, in accordance with NI 43-101, and with an effective date of August 3, 2020. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The NSR and AuEq values were calculated using US$1,500/oz gold, US$3.00/lb copper and US$18/oz silver, and using metallurgical recoveries of 88% for gold and copper, and 70% for silver. Smelter terms and offsite costs have been applied as follows: gold payable = 94%, copper payable = 96.5%, silver payable = 90%, gold refining costs = US$5.00/oz, silver refining costs = US$0.50/oz, copper treatment and offsite (transportation) costs = US$0.30/lb. NSR royalty = 2.5%. The final equations for NSR and AuEq are: NSR = Au*(US$44.04*88%) + Cu%*(US$2.53*88%) + Ag*(US$0.49*70%); AuEq = Au(g/t) +1.27*Cu(%) + 0.009*Ag(g/t). The MRE has been confined by a reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction pit using 45 degree slopes, with the pit size determined at a gold price of US$1,950/oz, a copper price of US$4.50/lb and a silver price of US$28.50/oz. The mining costs used are US$2.00/tonne. A process cost of US$12.00/tonne is used as the cutoff of processed material. The specific gravity of the deposit is estimated to be 2.68 Numbers may not add due to rounding. The Norte Zone MRE is classified in accordance with guidelines established by the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines dated November 29, 2019 and CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves dated May 10, 2014. There are no other known factors or issues known by the QP that materially affect the MRE other than normal risks faced by mining projects. The El Cobre Project is subject to the same types of risks that large base metal projects experience at an early stage of development in Mexico. The nature of the risks relating to the Project will change as the Project evolves and more information becomes available. The Company has engaged experienced management and specialized consultants to identify, manage and mitigate those risks. The El Cobre Project is located in a general region where Pre-Columbian archaeological sites are known. To date exploration programs on the project have been conducted in consultation with Mexicos Federal Agency for Archeology, INAH, which resulted in the identification of several small areas for further study and classification, including one area lying within the MRE pit outline. As is standard practice in Mexico, areas required for development and mining activity would require a clearance from INAH following the implementation of more detailed archaeological investigations and an archaeological salvage program, if necessary. The Company is committed to working with INAH as part of its future exploration and development plans. Mineral Resource Estimate Details The drillhole database used to calculated the MRE is comprised of 45 exploration diamond drillholes completed between 2008 and 2019 totalling 28,448 metres, containing a total of 27,173.12m of drill core analyzed for gold and copper by fire assay and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), with four acid digestion. Sample intervals within the mineralized domains ranged from 0.45m to 3.81m in length, with 98% of the intervals having a length of 3.0 metres or less. The Norte Zone 3D geological model created by Azucar integrates assay and geological data collected from diamond core drilling; surface geologic mapping; soil geochemical; and geophysical surveys. Based on these data, the Norte Zone is modelled as an east-west elongate 600 metre x 400 metre subvertical zone of porphyry copper-gold mineralization extending to a maximum depth of approximately 900 metres vertically below surface. Mineralization is constrained by 3D geological solids representing host diorite intrusive, and peripheral andesite and dacite tuff volcanic rocks. Length-weighted averaged composites of 3 metre core length, restricted to each rock type, were calculated and used for exploratory data analysis and resource estimation. Assays were capped by zone and domain based on cumulative probability plots to remove outliers. The modelled variograms from each domain were used for resource estimation. A block model with a regularized cell size of 20 m by 20 m by 10 m was used to estimate grade for each metal using Ordinary Kriging (OK). The percentage of each block below the overburden surface and within each domain is used for interpolation and the resource calculations. A total of 489 density measurements have been collected at site. Based on this data, the specific gravity (sg) within the sulphide material is consistent with a mean value of 2.68. The final grade estimates are validated visually by comparing each blocks metal estimates to the raw downhole assay data and statistically by comparing the modelled grades to the de-clustered composite grades (NN model), by swath plots and by grade-tonnage curves. About the El Cobre Project To date, Azucar has discovered five copper-gold porphyry zones within the El Cobre Project along an approximately 5km trend, stretching from Norte down to Encinal in the southeast (see Figure 1, Exploration Targets). These zones are defined by distinct Cu-Au soil anomalies, discrete, positive magnetic features, a large IP chargeability anomaly, and drilling. A summary of the various zones is provided below. NORTE ZONE : All five holes drilled in the Norte Zone prior to 2016 intersected porphyry-style mineralisation. Hole 08-CBCN-022, one of the deepest holes drilled at Norte in 2008, returned values of 0.14% Cu with 0.19 g/t Au over 259 m and 08-CBCN-19 intersected 41.15 metres averaging 0.42 g/t gold and 0.27% copper to the end of the hole at 187.45 metres. Drilling at the Norte Zone in 2016 and 2017 resulted in intersections including 114.60 metres grading 1.33 g/t Au and 0.48% Cu (Hole EC-17-018, see press release of April 5, 2017), 80.50 metres grading 1.34 g/t Au and 0.46% Cu (Hole EC-16-012, see press release of October 24, 2016), and 70.45 metres grading 2.32 g/t Au and 0.59% Cu (Hole EC-17-026, see press release of July 25, 2017). Continued drilling through 2018 and 2019 has culminated in the mineral resource estimate released today. VILLA RICA ZONE : The Villa Rica Zone is located about 1.8 km south of the Norte zone, and comprises a roughly 2.5 kilometre by 1 kilometre area of hydrothermal alteration defined also by a strong north-northwest trending magnetic-chargeability high and associated copper-gold soil geochemical anomalies. Past mapping and sampling defined several areas of exposed porphyry mineralisation within the Villa Rica zone, including the Raya Tembrillo target and the Naranjo target, both at the north end of the Villa Rica zone. Initial drilling in 2017 on the Raya Tembrillo target intersected two styles of mineralisation; hypogene copper-gold porphyry mineralisation (115.00 metres of 0.57 g/t gold and 0.27% copper, see press release of November 28, 2017) and near surface exotic enriched copper mineralisation with an apparent tabular distribution (94.00 metres of 1.36% copper; see press release of December 13, 2017). The Primo target area, first announced on October 16, 2019, is also considered to be part of the Villa Rica zone, and is located approximately 1km south of Raya Tembrillo. Primo has been the location of some of the highest copper grades intersected at the Project, such as 200 metres of 0.40 g/t gold and 0.24% copper from 718 metres downhole, which included 86.50 metres of 0.70 g/t gold and 0.42% copper from 831.50 metres (see press release of October 16, 2019). EL PORVENIR ZONE : The El Porvenir zone is located about 2 km east of the Villa Rica zone. Significant copper and gold grades have been intersected at El Porvenir, such as 0.16% Cu and 0.39 g/t Au over 290 m in hole DDH04CB1. Results from minimal drilling in 2017 include hole EC-17-040 which intersected 108.00 metres grading 0.88 g/t Au and 0.29% Cu, and hole EC-17-044 which intersected 40.25 metres grading 0.50 g/t Au and 0.25% Cu. SUEGRO ZONE : Drilling in 2019 identified this new porphyry centre between the El Porvenir and Encinal Zones. The Suegro Zone is located approximately 250 metres south of the Porvenir Zone, within a large area of alteration associated with more subdued magnetics, and low zinc and manganese in soil. The Suegro mineralisation intersected in the drilling to date is associated with an altered (locally intense phyllic alteration overprinting potassic) intrusive. Intercepts to date include 28.20 m of 0.54 g/t Au and 0.17% Cu (hole EC-19-064; see press release of March 19, 2019). ENCINAL ZONE : The Encinal zone is located approximately 1km south of the El Porvenir zone. Previous drilling at Encinal has intersected a highly altered breccia pipe containing fragments of stockwork veining and porphyry mineralisation across which 18.28 metres returned 1.42 g/t Au and 0.10% Cu (Hole CB5). The breccia pipe occurs in a large alteration zone, IP chargeability high and magnetics low which has not been tested to depth. On June 19, 2017 Azucar announced that a new area of exposed stockwork quartz veining and gold mineralisation had been identified in the Encinal Zone. On June 29, 2017 Azucar announced the results of initial drilling on this exposed stockwork (Hole EC-17-025) which returned results including 34.47 metres grading 0.73 g/t Au and 0.20% Cu. More information on El Cobre is available on the Azucar website at http://www.azucarminerals.com. QAQC and Reporting Azucar is currently preparing the NI 43-101 El Cobre Project Technical Report, which will contain details of the MRE. This report is required to be announced and filed on SEDAR and the Azucar website within 45 days of this news release and is authored by Kris Raffle, P.Geo. of APEX Geoscience Ltd., and Sue Bird, M.Sc., P.Eng. of Moose Mountain Technical Services both of whom act as independent consultants to the Company, are Qualified Persons (QPs) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and have reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. The analyses which underpin the MRE were carried out at ALS Chemex Laboratories at Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Mexico; and North Vancouver, Canada using industry standard analytical techniques. For gold, samples were first analysed by fire assay and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that returned values greater than 10 g/t gold using this technique were then re-analysed by fire assay but with a gravimetric finish. For copper, samples were first analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), with four acid digestion. Samples that returned values greater than 10000 g/t copper using this technique were then re-analysed by HF-HNO3-HCLO4 digestion with HCL leach and ICP-AES finish. Blanks, field duplicates and certified standards were inserted into the sample stream as part of Azucars quality assurance and control program. The QPs detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data. Azucar is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. About Azucar Azucar is an exploration company with a mandate to thoroughly explore the El Cobre Project in Veracruz, Mexico, which covers multiple gold-rich porphyry targets, as demonstrated by recent drilling. Azucar holds a 100% interest in the El Cobre Project, subject to net smelter returns (NSR) royalty interests, assuming production from the property exceeds 10,001 tonnes per day of ore, totaling 2.25% which can be reduced to 2.0% though the payment of US$3.0 million. On behalf of the Board of Directors, J. Duane Poliquin J. Duane Poliquin, P.Eng. Chairman Azucar Minerals Ltd. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes forward-looking information that is subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such as those set forth in this news release, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors may cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those as expressed or implied in forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking information include those stated in the news release, and, among others, market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, risks related to international operations, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required pursuant to applicable securities laws. Contact Information: Azucar Minerals Ltd. Tel. 604.689.7644 Email: info@azucarminerals.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/01bd8d48-9193-4e0c-923e-db7f8b560a26 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8bf52f6c-91e0-4793-ae74-8876591fec23 Most Americans have never heard of Dr. Richard Whitley, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Yet as the coronavirus pandemic drags on and the public eagerly awaits a vaccine, he may well be among the most powerful people in the country. Whitley leads a small, secret panel of experts tasked with reviewing crucial data on the safety and effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines that U.S. taxpayers have helped fund, including products from Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and others. The data and safety monitoring board known as a DSMB is supposed to make sure the medicine is safe and it works. It has the power to halt a clinical trial or fast-track it. Shielding the identities of clinicians and statisticians on the board is meant to insulate them from pressure by the company sponsoring the trial, government officials or the public, according to multiple clinical trial experts who have served on such panels. That could be especially important in the pressure-cooker environment of COVID vaccine research, fueled by President Donald Trumps promises to deliver a vaccine before Election Day. As pharmaceutical companies work to produce one as quickly as possible, the boards anonymity has stirred concerns that the cloak of secrecy could, paradoxically, allow undue influence. Whitley, for example, represents the specialized world these experts inhabit a professor revered in academia who also is paid by the drug industry. Any political pressure to rush pharmaceutical companies or lean on federal regulators to prematurely greenlight a vaccine would undermine a system put in place to ensure public safety. Calls are growing for companies and the government to be more open about whos involved in reviewing the vaccine trials and whether board members have any conflicts of interest. We want to know theyre truly independent, said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a specialist in clinical trials. The lack of transparency is exasperating. Data and safety monitoring boards have existed for decades to vet new drugs and vaccines, acting as a backstop to help ensure unsafe products dont make their way to the public. Typically, theres one board for each product. This time, a joint DSMB with 10 to 15 experts will review unblinded data across trials for multiple coronavirus vaccines whose development the U.S. government has helped fund, according to five people involved in the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed or other coronavirus vaccine work. It is run through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and consists of outside scientists and statistical experts, not federal employees, NIH Director Francis Collins said on a call with reporters. Until they are convinced that theres something there that looks promising, nothing is unblinded and sent to the FDA, Collins said. I doubt if there have been very many vaccine trials ever that have been subjected to this size and the rigor with which its being evaluated. The NIH safety board oversees trials in the U.S. from Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, U.S. officials and others involved in Operation Warp Speed said, but not Pfizer, which is fully funding its clinical trial work and established its own five-member safety panel. Pfizer has attested that it can conclusively determine by late October the effectiveness of its vaccine, being jointly developed with German company BioNTech. It secured a $1.95 billion purchase agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services for the first 100 million doses produced. The agreement gives HHS the option to buy an additional 500 million doses. Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which have either started or are aiming to soon begin large-scale trials in the U.S. involving thousands of patients, collectively have received more than $2 billion in government funds for vaccine development; billions more have been meted out under agreements similar to the HHS contract with Pfizer to buy millions of vaccine doses. Having one safety board oversee multiple trials could allow researchers to better understand the field of products and apply consistency across evaluations, clinical trial experts said in interviews. One big advantage could be more standardization, said Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University and a former senior official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They can look at that data and look at all the trials instead of just doing one trial. But it also means that one board has an outsize influence to dictate which coronavirus vaccines eventually succeed or come to a halt, all while most of their identities remain secret. The NIH declined to name them, saying they were confidential and could be identified only once a study was complete. One exception to the mystery is Whitley, who was appointed as chair by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease official. Fauci said that following a combination of input from us and from him and other colleagues, the people who had the greatest expertise in a variety of areas, including statistics, clinical trials, vaccinology, immunology, clinical work, were selected for the panel. Whitleys role became public when his university announced it, an unusual move. He is a professor as well as a board member of Gilead Sciences, which recently signed a contract with Pfizer to manufacture remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients. Whitley, whos been on Gileads board since 2008, conducted research that led to remdesivirs development. In 2019, he was paid roughly $430,000 as a Gilead board member, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That same year, he received more than $7,700 in payments from GlaxoSmithKline for consulting, food and travel, according to a federal database that tracks drug and device company payments to physicians. GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi are jointly developing a vaccine thats received $2 billion from the U.S. government under Operation Warp Speed; however, Whitley, through a university spokesperson, said his DSMB has not seen any GlaxoSmithKline COVID protocols. The companies have yet to begin phase 3 trials. Although he chairs a separate GSK data and safety monitoring board for a pediatric vaccine, he was vetted and cleared by the NIH conflict-of-interest committee with its knowledge of his involvement, the spokesperson said. When handled responsibly, it is appropriate for physicians to collaborate with external entities, said UAB spokesperson Beena Thannickal, saying the university works with physicians to ensure that industry engagement is appropriate. It facilitates a critical exchange of knowledge and accelerates and advances clinical treatments and cures, and it fuels discovery. Multiple experts praised his skill Dr. Walter Straus, an associate vice president at the drug company Merck & Co., said Whitley is an eminence grise in pediatrics whom people trust. I actually trust that process, and the fact that they asked Rich to do it makes me feel reassured because hes so good, said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the University of Alabama-Birminghams division of infectious diseases. Multiple scientists who have participated in data and safety monitoring boards maintain its important to keep the board anonymous to shield them against pressure or even for their safety. For example, when trials were conducted in San Francisco for HIV/AIDS research, the board was confidential to protect members from patients desperate for treatment, said Susan Ellenberg, a professor of biostatistics, medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania whos written extensively on the history of DSMBs. If approached by a patient, it would be very hard to tell you, Oh I cant help you. Its an unreasonable burden, said Ellenberg, who said she was involved in coronavirus-related safety boards but would not name them. As part of a large-scale clinical trial, the DSMB and a statistician or team that prepares data for those individuals are generally the only ones who see unblinded data about the trial, making it clear who is getting what treatment. A firewall is set up between them and executives from the sponsoring company with financial interests in the trial. The companies sponsoring COVID vaccine trials are not part of any closed sessions during which unblinded data is reviewed. Those are limited to members of the DSMB, the NIAID executive secretary and the independent unblinded statistician who is presenting the data, a NIAID spokesperson said. DSMB members or their family members should have no professional, proprietary or financial relationship with the sponsoring companies, and the NIAID DSMB executive secretary vetted all members for potential conflicts of interest, NIAID said in response to questions from KHN. Members are paid $200 per meeting. Its generally done out of a sense of public service, said Dr. Larry Corey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, who is working with NIH officials to oversee the U.S. coronavirus vaccine clinical trials. Youre doing it because of your sense of altruism and obligation to knowing the important role it plays in clinical research and the important role it plays in preserving the scientific integrity of important trials. Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer have each released protocols that include details on when their DSMBs would review unblinded information about trial participants, and at what points they could recommend pausing or stopping trials. The vaccine data and safety board organized by NIAID advises a broader oversight group consisting of the drug companies sponsoring the trial and representatives from NIAID and HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority that reviews the DSMB recommendations. Ultimately, the drug company has final authority over whether to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are each aiming for their vaccines to have 60% efficacy, which means there would need to be 60% fewer COVID cases among vaccinated individuals in their trials. AstraZenecas target is 50%. The FDA has said any coronavirus vaccine must be at least 50% effective to secure approval from regulators. While the parameters of their clinical trials have similarities, there are some differences, including when and how many times the DSMB can conduct interim reviews to assess whether each vaccine works. Pfizer is similarly aiming for its vaccine to be 60% effective. The company allows for four interim reviews of the data starting at 32 cases a schedule that has been criticized by some researchers who contend it makes it easier for the company to stop the trial prematurely. Pfizer declined to name the individuals on its monitoring committee, saying only that the group consisted of four people with extensive experience in pediatric and adult infectious diseases and vaccine safety and one statistician with a background in vaccine clinical trials. An unblinded team supporting its data-monitoring committee which includes a medical monitor and statistician will review severe cases of COVID-19 as they are received and any adverse events associated with the trial at least weekly. There is an irresolvable tension between speed and safety, said Dr. Gregory Poland, the head of Mayo Clinics Vaccine Research Group. Efficacy is pretty easy to figure out. Its safety thats the issue. (Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. California Healthline editor Arthur Allen contributed to this report.) 2020 Kaiser Health News Visit Kaiser Health News at www.khn.org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inspected ongoing work on the construction of a 500-bed military hospital and work on the construction of Phase II of the Kumasi Airport project. President Akufo-Addos first point of call on day one of his 3-day working visit of the Ashanti Region was the Kumasi Airport. It will be recalled that on 6th June 2018, the President cut the sod for work to commence on phase II of the Kumasi Airport Project, where he explained that the expansion of this airport is a critical part of governments vision to expand the frontiers of the aviation industry in the country, and to realise the dream of making Ghana an aviation hub in West Africa. The project encompasses the extension of the current length of the runway by 319 metres, that is from 1,981 metres to 2,300 metres; construction of a new terminal building, with the capacity to handle one million passengers per year; construction of an apron area and related taxiway; and the undertaking of ancillary works. The Project Coordinator told President Akufo-Addo that permanent works on the terminal building are progressing steadily, and the installation of the steel superstructure also progressed as scheduled. Pavement works for access road construction, he added, are in progress together with the construction of storm drains network in the terminal area, with the revised completion date for the project in August 2021. The President also visited the site of the construction of the 500-bed Military at Afari, in Atwima Nwabiagya South constituency. It will also be recalled that former President Kufuor granted executive approval for the project on 4th November 2008, which included the construction of a 250-bed Regional hospital; 160-bed Regional hospital; 100-bed municipal hospital; and five (5) 60-bed district Hospitals in the early part of 2008 at a total cost USD 519,000,000. Parliamentary approval for the project was given on 13th November 2008. Eight (8) years later, in December 2016, the related tax exemptions and other imposts including those for import duties, VAT, NHIL, ECOWAS Levy, withholding tax, fees and charges on onshore and offshore purchases of specific project materials and equipment were eventually approved by Parliament with concurrence letter from the Ministry of Finance in January 2017 paving the way for the project to commence. President Akufo-Addo received the assurance of the CEO of Euroget de Invest, contractors for the project that the 500-bed military hospital will be completed by December this year. Source: peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The bypolls for one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and two assembly seats in Manipur would be held on November 7. New Delhi: Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 56 assembly seats spread across 12 states will be held on November 3 and 7, the Election Commission said Tuesday, but did not announce "at this stage" by-elections to seven assembly constituencies in four others states. While bypolls to 54 assembly seats would be held on November 3, those for one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and two assembly seats in Manipur would be held on November 7. The votes for all the bypolls will be counted on November 10, alongside the counting of votes for the general assembly elections in Bihar. Before announcing the schedule, the poll panel issued a separate statement on Tuesday to say that it has decided not to hold "at this stage" assembly bypolls in seven seats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal. The decision has been taken based on inputs received from the chief secretaries and poll officials in these states, the poll panel said in the release. While there are two vacancies each in the assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one seat is vacant in the West Bengal legislature. The term of the legislative assemblies of the four states would end on different dates between May and June next year. Besides the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha bypoll in Bihar, by-elections are being held to 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Most of these 28 seats fell vacant when rebel Congress members resigned from the party and the assembly to join the BJP. After the resignations of the Congress members, the Kamal Nath-led government lost majority and the BJP returned to power. Earlier, the EC had said that bypolls are pending in 64 assembly seats. But the figure now stands at 63, including the seven seats in four states where the schedule was not announced on Tuesday. The reason is that the number of vacant seats in some states has changed due to various reasons, including court cases. "The figures are not static. We go by the number of clear vacancies on a given date," a senior official explained. Eight assembly seats are going for bypolls in Gujarat, followed by seven in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Karnataka and Jharkhand, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Haryana. The 11th China Statistics Day and the 7th National Census Publicity Month of Fujian province kicked off in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, on Sunday. "The purpose of holding event is to widely publicize the work of the 7th National Population Census and to make the census well-known and supported by everyone," said Chen Lihua, director of the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics, in a speech at the ceremony. "It is also to enable the public to have a better understanding of statistical work and to be supportive." Chen said that, for many years, the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics and the Fujian Investigation Team of the National Bureau of Statistics have worked closely to better serve the society as well as to provide data and consulting services for people's work, studies, and lives. "Now it is only 13 days away from the census and 33 days from the standard registration, so the time is short and the task is heavy," Chen said. "We firmly believe that with the cooperation of departments at all levels and with the strong support of people from all walks of life, we can complete the many tasks and make positive contributions to promoting the province's high-quality development in all directions." At the ceremony, a promotional video named "For the Benefits of Everyone" and a promotional song "I Grew Up Here" were played. To help the audience better understand how census takers work, a few frontline workers were interviewed. A census knowledge contest was also held, and various videos from schools, media, and other industries were played to show the whole society's support. The ceremony is sponsored by the Leading Group of the 7th National Population Census of Fujian Province, the Fujian Bureau of Statistics, and the Fujian Investigation Team of the National Bureau of Statistics. Sri Lankan Attorney General Dappula de Livera on Tuesday informed the that the government will introduce multiple amendments to the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution that aims to bolster the powers of the president, according to a media report. Livera informed the court when petitions challenging the draft 20A Amendment Bill were taken up for consideration, the Colombo Gazette reported. The court will continue the hearing in the matter tomorrow, the report said. A total of 39 petitions have been filed so far in the against the controversial bill which was tabled in Parliament by the government. Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya has appointed a five-member bench of the to hear the petitions and the first day of hearing was on Tuesday. The attorney general said that the amendments will be introduced during the committee stage debate in Parliament on the draft 20A bill, it said. The government on September 2 gazetted 20A, the new proposed legislation that would replace the 19th Amendment introduced in 2015 that curtailed the powers of the President and strengthened the role of Parliament. The apex court has 3 weeks from September 22 to determine if the proposed amendment would be consistent or ultra virus of the Constitution. Among the petitioners are the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the main Tamil minority party TNA. All petitions have taken the common ground that the 20A if enacted would impinge on the fundamental rights of the citizens. The SJB petition has argued that the amendment could only become law if it would be passed with two thirds majority in Parliament and if approved in a referendum. The party's lawyers said that the 20A violates the principles of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The SJB led a noisy demonstration inside the parliamentary chamber when it was presented. They stressed that 20A would pave the way for autocracy. The 20A is meant to annul the 19A which was seen as a pro-democracy, good governance amendment which called for checks and balances in the presidential system while making Parliament more powerful. The 19A was seen as the most progressive pro-democracy reformist move since came to be governed under the all-powerful executive presidency in 1978. The 20th Amendment proposes to restore full legal immunity to the President, removing the provisions made in the 19A to take legal action against the President. President Gotabaya was elected with a mandate to abolish the 19A. During the last November's presidential elections and last month's parliamentary elections, said that the 19A had made governance difficult as it created a rift between the executive president and prime minister. He was also critical of the 19A provision which barred dual citizens from contesting elections. He had to renounce his US citizenship to contest the presidential election in November last. His younger brother and SLPP founder and its National Organiser, Basil Rajapaksa, is a dual citizen of the US and There are five from the family already in the government. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pregnant Ashley Tisdale stepped out on Sunday with her husband of six years, musician Chris French, for a caffeine fix and a light stroll. The High School Musical star, 35, who just announced her pregnancy about a week ago, seemed to be savoring her weekend as she and Chris, 38, enjoyed a family outing. Concealing her baby bump in a pair of white overalls, the actress put on a stylish display for their lowkey day. Mom-to-be: Pregnant Ashley Tisdale, 35, stepped out with her husband Chris French, 38, and their adorable dogs Sushi and Ziggy. The expecting mom hid her growing baby bump under a pair of oversized white overalls as she grabbed an iced beverage in LA The mom-to-be had her two dogs, Sushi and Ziggy, in tow as she walked out with an iced beverage from the Coffee Bean. The blonde rocked a pair of black Chanel dad sandals, that coordinated with her black t-shirt under the overalls. She hid her short blonde locks under a grey beanie, accessorizing her look with round sunglasses and a green bandana tied around her neck. Taking her grey face mask off to take a sip of her beverage, the actress made sure nobody was around as she guided her two small pups. Rockstar couple: Ashley and Chris put on an edgy display for their Sunday outing as they took their pooches out for a walk Chris played up the edge with his look, wearing a ripped black t-shirt and a pair of black sweat shorts that were embroidered with a skull and crossbones. He kept his dark locks gelled and rocked a pair of rayban sunglasses, as he stepped out with white sneakers and a face mask on their neighborhood stroll. The pair traded off taking ownership over their pooches, as they chatted and relished in each other's company. Later in the day Ashley posted a photo of herself from bed as she said it was 'time to relax.' Dog parents: The pair traded off taking ownership over their pooches as they chatted and relished in each other's company while strolling in LA She swapped her overalls for a pair of tie-dye sweatpants and hotel slippers, as she lounged with her dog Ziggy under the covers. The Frenshe founder recently took to her wellness blog to discuss her first trimester of pregnancy, after announcing her baby news in a post titled 'Surprise, Im Pregnant!' 'It hasnt been an easy first trimester, but everyone is different and I know there are people whove had it way worse' she said. 'I definitely fall somewhere in the middle where I didnt just have nausea, but threw up a couple of times and felt like Ive had stomach flu for three months' she continued. Baby bliss: Ashley took to her blog Frenshe - a play on her husband's last name - to share the news that she and her husband of six years were expecting The Suite Life actress also shared that she felt pressure after getting married to have children, adding that she was not in the right headspace at the time. 'To be honest, it just felt invasive' she shared. 'I wasnt ready for that step yet and I wanted to be selfish and have Chris all to myself for a while.' Last week, Ashley continued to get candid about her life on her blog as she talked about having her breast implants removed. The actress wrote that she had been suffering some health problems and decided to get an explant surgery after reading about it online. Explant: The High School Musical actress got candid on her blog, Frenshe, sharing that after suffering some health problems she decided to get her implants removed 'I just knew that taking them out was already going to relieve some of the symptoms I was struggling with' she shared. Discussing her journey of living with her body after surgery, Ashley revealed a level of self-love she had not previously had. 'Seeing my body in a way I hadnt seen it in a while and fully loving the way I looked is a feeling Ill never forget' she wrote. She also credits her husband Chris with helping to make her feel beautiful in her own skin. Love overall: Ashley and Chris have been married for six years after being introduced by mutual friends in 2012; pictured in September 2019 'My husband always helps me look at the positive and says that those scars represent my journey and what got me to where I am right now...I embrace those imperfections, and I embrace that Im not perfect and that Im beautiful just as I am' she wrote. The couple first met in 2012 through mutual friends after it was revealed that Ashley, who also sings, had a thing for 'rocker types'. Talking to On Air With Ryan Seacrest in 2013, she revealed it was love at first sight. 'I was like, OK, this is the guy, and he knew the same thing. It doesn't get any better. I just can't explain it,' she gushed. Ashley's most recent film Phineas and Ferb The Movie is currently streaming on Disney+. The actress reprised her role as Candace in the animated film version of the television show, for the first time in five years. Why Mewalal Choudhary, Bihars new education minister is in the eye of a storm Seven-member ECI team led by CEC arrives to fine-tune arrangements for Bihar polls India pti-Madhuri Adnal Patna, Sep 29: A seven-member Election Commission of India team led by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora arrived here Tuesday evening to review preparedness for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar are part of the high-level poll panel team to the state. Over the next two days, the Commission will be meeting representatives of the political parties, Chief Electoral Officer & local administration officers at Patna and Gaya. Bihar Elections 2020: Why NDAs seat sharing may not be a smooth ride The Commission will hold a press conference on October 1 evening in the state capital, election office sources said here. The poll panel had on Friday announced schedule for three phases election in Bihar. Voting for a total of 243 assembly seats will be held on October 28, November 3 and November 7. Counting of votes will take place on November 10. This is one of the biggest elections globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. PRAGUE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RAILVIS.com, an innovative online platform for rail freight logistics that effectively connects all European rail carriers, has started today. The independent RAILVIS.com platform offers the industrial and rail companies a possibility to easily and quickly find available locomotive or wagon capacities, providing incredible time savings that are up to thirty times higher than traditional ordering processes thanks to complete digitalisation. In the past, companies requiring rail services had to go through the difficult process of finding a supplier, checking out its prices and options and comparing everything manually. It was then necessary to communicate with each supplier by e-mail, telephone or in person, which made a very long ordering process. "The traditional process is very inefficient. The idea of creating an independent online platform that would be as user-friendly as possible and facilitate all related communication was completely logical. We are glad that we have come up with it right now, after a long period of trying out and testing the market. RAILVIS.com will effectively link all European railway companies together, helping them in their further growth," explained Adam Fronek, RAILVIS.com Director and co-founder. Increasing productivity, saving time and money RAILVIS.com is the first one on the market to unify all available rental options for wagons and locomotives in a clear manner. This innovation can achieve dramatic savings orders that used to take days or even weeks can be processed within 15 minutes thanks to this platform. Its users can thus save costs and increase productivity. Logging in to the RAILVIS.com platform is simple and fast; just fill out the registration on the website. The RAILVIS.com platform was established in 2019. The RAILVIS.com team consists of experts from all over Europe with more than 16 years of experience in the field of rail freight. The aim of RAILVIS.com is the complete digitalisation of the railway business and the connection of all European customers and suppliers into a single environment for the most efficient supply and demand of the most optimal logistics solutions. The RAILVIS.com sales offices are located in most European countries. Download Photos SOURCE RAILVIS.com Related Links https://railvis.com Last week, a ransomware attack targeted a Texas company that marketed software that cities and states use to display election results. The incident is the latest assault of almost 1,000 cybercrimes in the last year that focused on small towns, big cities, and contractors who are running their own voting systems. Potential Russian interference According to The New York Times, Russian criminal groups were responsible for most of the attacks, and some have had doubtful connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin's intelligence services. However, the attacks on Tyler Technologies, the most frequent of which occurred on Friday, have been the most problematic because criminals attempted to log into its clients' systems across the country just 40 days before the November election. Despite the victim company not tallying any votes, it is commonly used by election officials to summarize and display the results in at least 20 separate locations around the United States. The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Cyber Command all expressed their worries that the company would be a prime target of cybercriminals aiming to interfere with the U.S. election by sowing chaos and spreading disinformation. Also Read: Discarded Military Ballots for Trump Found in Pennsylvania, Raises Questions About Voting Fraud Tyler Technologies, on the other hand, refused to detail the ransomware attack specifically. The hacking incident appeared to be an ordinary attack at first, where the culprit would lock data from the owner unless they pay a sum of money. However, it was later revealed that the criminals attempted to gain access to the company's clients' systems when some of them said they saw suspicious activities on Friday night. The incidents raised alarm that foreign entities could be aiming at more than just financial profits. Continuous election threat Several federal officials have spent the last year worrying about the potential threat that ransomware groups have on official election processes. Potential risks include freezing of voter registration data and election poll books, as reported by The Crime Report. Federal investigators are unsure whether the ransomware attacks are efforts of common cybercriminals looking for a profit or if they have ties to Russian interference. In the first two weeks of September, seven more American government entities have been victim to ransomware attacks that resulted in their data getting stolen. The attacks also come after President Putin declared that he wished to make a non-interference pact with the United States. The Russian leader urged both nations to agree not to meddle in each other's elections this year. According to Business Insider, Putin's statement wrote that each nation would agree to a non-intervention deal within both countries' internal or domestic affairs, including electoral processes. The statement also notes that the agreement aims to foster a good relationship between the two nations. Putin wrote that the measures outlined in the deal aim to develop trust between the United States and Russia and promote security and prosperity to both nation's citizens. The Russian leader added the deal would contribute to global peace in the field of information significantly. Related Article: Putin Proposes Non-Interference Pact With US Amid Rising Number of Russian-Linked Hackers @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Danny Healy-Rae says he despises serial objectors to the felling of trees. He and fellow rural Independents now want a 2,000 submission fee to any objection from far-away city dwellers a scale that would be 100 times the current processing fee of 20 per objection. I despise the serial objectors. I hate them with every vein in my body thats how much I hate them, and I have no time in the world for them, Mr Healy-Rae declared. I actually hate them because I wouldnt object or interfere with anyone who wasnt hurting me. But these are 200 miles away from the people they are objecting to, and it is totally wrong, he added. 'Tis a fright to God. We dont have gold, we dont have diamonds, we have no resources of that kind in our country, Mr Healy-Rae said, outlining objections to a new Forestry Bill. What we have at the present time is some of the grandest forests in Glencar and Cahirciveen and Killorglin and even Kilgarvan. All around us, ripe and ready to go and we are in a standstill with nothing happening. We have our own natural resource that was grant aided at the time and now they are not being allowed to cut it down. It is absolutely ridiculous. Someone thats close by, or is affected, or has a reason to object, no problem in the world, he said. We must be democratic. But people that are being unfair and using the system to deprive people of jobs in our country, I do hate them anyway. Read More Mr Healy-Rae said he knew of one woman who wanted to cash in her forestry investment because her husband was in a wheelchair and times were hard. But an objection had come in from a city dweller many miles away who was a stranger and did not know the locality. He added that people were objecting because they wanted the trees to live, but they did not know the ways of the countryside. Mattie McGrath TD said felling in Ireland had ground to a halt because of objections, and one individual, living in a city, had lodged no fewer than 86 objections to forestry moves around the country. The new Government Bill was only proposing feeble and weak reforms. He claimed that 30,000 jobs were at risk when indirect beneficiaries to the economic activity were added to the 12,000 directly employed. Richard ODonoghue, the Limerick Independent, said the situation was directly affecting the major Government priority of building homes because timber was not available. Construction is instead sourcing timber from Sweden and Russia, rather than from Irish forests because of the delays. Sawmills could close down by Christmas, the rural Independent group says, while there are growers who are seeking to make good on 40-year investments only to come up against objections on philosophical grounds. The sheer numbers of objections had jammed the hearings system. Mr McGrath said: We dont hate anybody, but people shouldnt have a facility to object without reasonable and sustainable grounds. We would still allow for neighbours and people in the locality to object, and to do so free of charge. We dont want people in Dublin with frivolous objections affecting jobs in the rest of the country. The Taoiseach later told the Dail: There is nothing wrong with people being tree-huggers and tree lovers. Trees are wonderful. Trees are probably the most effective thing we have in this country to fight climate change in the future. We should grow far more than we are growing at the moment. The current planning process is paralysing the entire situation. Mattie McGrath told him: They can hug them in St. Stephen's Green. He had earlier said that tree-huggers who were serial objectors could chain themselves to a tree on a winter night if they felt so strongly about it. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Tue, September 29, 2020 19:05 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4801399 4 Inforial Free Marco Andono Sie In late April, Vietnam began easing lock down restrictions after reporting fewer than 300 coronavirus cases. By early June, New Zealand had completely lifted its lockdown after more than a fortnight without reporting any new cases. As the pandemic enters its second trimester, our neighboring countries are taking preventative measures to combat the emergence of a second spike yet with more than 7,000 deaths at the time of writing, Indonesia is yet to surmount our first. Here are some lessons we can learn from the pandemic. The data doesnt lie When cases began spreading across South East Asia, our country of 270-million reported none (the keyword here being reported). Medically, everything can be attributed to prayer. Despite having only 12 labs administering tests by mid-March, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto justified our surface-level success with reasoning befitting that of a religious figure. It is our nations right to rely on the almighty. This disregard for facts isnt limited to authority figures. According to a survey by The Indonesian Public Opinion Research and Discussion Group, just 12.3 percent of respondents in Jakarta practice physical distancing. People tend to see themselves as the exception to the rule. Surely one visit to a friends house wont hurt, right?Wrong. Though the climbing numbers may feel like statistics far removed from our lives, we have to remember why theyre climbing in the first place: our choices. Preserving our environment is very possible Amid mass turmoil, nature thrives. As individuals self-isolate and industries slow, animals have begun reclaiming our spaces. Global air quality is on the rise, and ocean pollution levels have plummeted. With fewer people commuting, Jakartas PM 2.5 concentration has been cut by a third. Quarantine has undoubtedly been hard on businesses and individuals alike. But during a health crisis possibly spanning years, weve adapted. Just two months after the virus reached our soil, 35 domestic companies were prepared to produce 18.3 million pieces of protective gear. With restrictions on global trade in place, the coronavirus has forced nations to rely on nearshore production and domestic producers. In the past few months, weve witnessed the rapid acceleration of a long term infrastructural shift away from carbon in global supply chainsa trend we must openly embrace if we want to escape the possibility of runaway climate change. Our world is interconnected In a matter of weeks, a single virus infiltrated virtually every border in the world. Given its status as a newcomer, no one is immune to COVID-19. This hasnt stopped us from drawing distinctions between ourselves. In late January, Trump issued an executive order blocking travel from China. We did a great job on Coronavirus, including the very early ban on China, Trump proudly tweeted over the summer, We saved millions of US lives! He neglected to ban travel from Hong Kong and Macau. In a subsequent ban on European travel, the UK was also conspicuously exempt. Currently, the US has almost 6 million reported cases of COVID-19. Pathogens dont discriminate. Political affiliations cannot negotiate with pandemics, andanti-Chinese sentiments will not bring us closer to finding a cure (though according to recent studies, traces of the virus have been found in Northern Italy as early as December 2019). Dividing ourselves only impedes progress. To beat the virus, we must present a united front and momentarily sacrifice the small conveniences of life for the sake of common interest. If notthen there might not be a post-coronavirus era for us to reflect on 2020 from. The writer is winner of the 2019 Young Founders Summit Asia competition. Prosecutors pursuing media companies for contempt of court over the reporting of George Pell's conviction on sexual abuse charges have been told by a judge to clearly specify their cases against each of the 30 news outlets and journalists. Thirty respondents, comprising individual journalists and news organisations, are to face a civil trial in November on allegations they breached a suppression order imposed by the County Court, which in December 2018 prevented media from reporting the guilty verdicts a jury reached against the cardinal. Cardinal Pell leaves the County Court in Melbourne after he was found guilty in December 2018 of sexually assaulting two boys. Credit:Chris Hopkins The media reports at the time did not name Cardinal Pell or the offences involved. Cardinal Pell, 79, was released from prison in April after his conviction for sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s was overturned following a successful appeal to the High Court. KYODO NEWS - Sep 29, 2020 - 17:47 | All, Japan Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea urged Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday to realize the return of their loved ones. "We have not seen our children for decades. Our days of suffering continue," said Sakie Yokota, 84, whose daughter Megumi was abducted at the age of 13 in 1977. Suga, who took office on Sept. 16, said his new government will do all they can to bring the victims back, a stance inherited from the previous administration under Shinzo Abe. Related coverage: Abductees' kin call for victims' return as new Japan Cabinet formed Trump vows to bring Japanese abductee Yokota home from North Korea Ex-abductees mourn death of symbolic North Korea victim's father Yokota "I am determined not to miss a single opportunity and find my way in realizing the return of all abduction victims as soon as possible," he said after the meeting at the prime minister's office. Among the others in attendance was Shigeo Iizuka, who heads a group of the victims' families. The 82-year-old's sister Yaeko Taguchi was abducted in 1978. "We have not seen results in the past seven years and eight months, so I would like to pay closer attention" to developments, said Iizuka at a press conference after the meeting. After taking over from Abe, the new prime minister has persistently asked for other countries' cooperation in resolving the issue, and in his first U.N. General Assembly address last week Suga said he is ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without preconditions. Yokota's husband Shigeru, a central figure in efforts to bring back the abductees, died at the age of 87 in June without ever seeing Megumi after her disappearance. Japan officially lists 17 people as having been abducted by North Korea with five already repatriated in 2002. But Pyongyang maintains that the abduction issue has already been resolved, saying eight died, including Yokota's daughter, and that the other four never entered the country. India has said that the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and the 2016 Pathankot strike are yet to get justice because of the "unwillingness" and "non-cooperative" attitude of a particular country, in a clear reference to Pakistan. At a virtual ministerial meeting of the 'Group of Friends of Victims of terrorism', India has strongly pitched for concerted global actions to effectively deal with terrorism and said it continues to pose a critical threat to international peace and security even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Representing India at the meeting on Monday, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Vijay Thakur Singh also called for "redressing deficiencies in the international efforts to ensure that perpetrators of terrorism are brought to justice. "I would like to highlight that, for example, the victims of 2008 Mumbai terror attack and 2016 Pathankot terror attack are yet to get justice. This is due to the unwillingness and non-cooperative attitude of a particular country," Singh said. The meeting was organised by foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Spain, the two co-chairs of the grouping, and the UN office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT). In her address, Singh said acts of terrorism not only violate the rights of individual victims but they also deeply affect the enjoyment of a range of rights by the families of the victims and society as a whole. "Even, amidst the ongoing pandemic, terrorism continues to pose a critical threat to international peace and security, Singh said in an oblique reference to Pakistan. Notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan has not stopped pushing terrorists to Jammu and Kashmir in the last few months, according to military officials. Singh also talked about the danger of terrorists stepping up the use of information and communication technology networks for propaganda and for issuing threats, further exacerbating the stress on victims of terror. She highlighted the pain and suffering of the innocent victims of terrorism across the world and said while terrorists can never succeed in achieving their "nefarious objectives", they leave behind a trail of death and destruction. "Measures aimed at addressing the needs of the victims of terrorism, therefore, should factor in the sensitivities of these vulnerable sections of the society. Efforts should also be made to work with the victims to build a counter narrative against the hateful propaganda of terrorism, she said. The Secretary (East) appreciated the UN for establishing August 21 as the 'International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, and hoped the UN would continue its work related to addressing the needs of victims of terrorism. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:27:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Yosley Carrero HAVANA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Literature helps build cultural bridges between China and Cuba, Alex Pausides, a poet and also member of the National Council at the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, told Xinhua in a recent interview. He made the remarks on the sidelines of the 27th Beijing International Book Fair, which is being held online and offline for the first time in history due to the pandemic. With Cuba as the guest country of honor, the event kicked off on Saturday and will run till Thursday, gathering about 1,400 exhibitors from 97 countries and regions. Cubans have learned more about the history and culture of China thanks to an agreement signed between publishing houses from both countries in May 2019, said Pausides, who is also director of Havana's publishing house Coleccion Sur. "We have given a high priority to Chinese literature, particularly poetry, that is the reason why for over a decade we have published different titles by Chinese authors," he said. "Over the past few years, Cuban readers have started to feel more and more attracted not only to Chinese classic literature but also to books written by the younger generations of writers and poets," he said. Currently, Chinese literature is very diverse, modern and open, adapting to the emergence of technologies and the digital world, Pausides said, adding that China has one of the most important e-book platforms in the world. "In the context of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Chinese and Cuban people share similar ideologies and values in keeping with principles promoted by socialist societies, so both literatures have many things in common," he told Xinhua. "We are expected to publish bilingual editions by different Chinese and Cuban authors, which will enhance historical and cultural links between the two peoples," he said. "The agreement signed between Coleccion Sur and Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House constitutes a very important platform for Cuban writers and editors to get insights into the functioning of the book market in China," he said. "Our publishing house is working hard for literary works by prominent Cuban poets like Jose Marti, Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Nancy Morejon and Waldo Leyva to be available for Chinese readers any time soon," he told Xinhua. Pausides said that the Beijing International Book Fair as well as poetry festivals in China are very important for the Cuban writers, during which "Cuba has the potential to become a window to promote the Chinese literature in Latin America." Enditem DOHC In 2016, Mellow Motorcycles was co-founded by Flo Hubert and Amir Brajan, but these folks relationship with the automotive industry stretches a lot further back. Brajan is an experienced motorcycle specialist, while Hubert spent a great chunk of his careers dealing with custom four-wheeled undertakings. As such, it goes without saying that theyre not exactly rookies in this line of business.Despite its short history, the workshop amassed a staggering number of spectacular exploits thatll leave just about any moto-loving petrolhead lost for words. Additionally, Mellow continued to expand their crew and even opened a second location in the German city of Frankfurt. The firms inventory houses a gorgeous selection of drool-worthy goodness, including a handsome BMW R80 named Perla Nera, a majestic Triumph Bonneville-based venture and a Honda CB750 that brings about some vintage vibes.If this stirs your curiosity, Mellows astonishing works of mechanical art can all be admired on their social media pages. Needless to say, youll find absolutely no shortage of sexy masterpieces as you navigate through. To give you a better idea as to what these magicians are capable of achieving, well be having a look back to their very first creation, by the name of Tintin. The project in question began with a 1979 model in Suzuki s revered GS550 lineup.Before we dive in, lets take a minute to remind ourselves about what this donor is made of, shall we? The 79 GS550 is brought to life by a feral four-strokeinline-four behemoth, with a compression ratio of 8.6:1 and as many as four Mikuni carburetors. This fiendish piece of air-cooled machinery boasts two valves per cylinder head and a generous displacement of 549cc.At approximately 9,000 rpm, the ruthless powerplant will gladly produce up to 49 hp, along with 31 pound-feet (42 Nm) of twisting force at around 7,500 rpm. This force travels to a chain final drive by means of a six-speed transmission. As a result, GS550 will run the quarter mile in no more than 13.7 seconds at 95 mph (152 kph). Additionally, its top speed is rated at 112 mph (181 kph).The entire structure is supported by telescopic forks up front, coupled with a double-sided swingarm and dual shocks on the opposite end. Braking duties are handled by a single 275 mm disc and a one-piston caliper at the front, joined by a drum unit at the rear.When this bad boy landed on Mellow Motorcycles doorstep, the surgeons kicked things off by fabricating a custom loop-style subframe in-house. It hosts a meticulously upholstered one-off leather saddle that keeps things looking rad.GS550s stock swingarm was replaced with a GS1000s module, which contributes to a more aggressive riding stance. You will also find a pair of multi-spoked aftermarket wheels, hugged tightly by top-grade Heidenau K34 tires. At the front, stopping power is taken care of by a set of EBC floating brake rotors.Furthermore, the team went about installing an array of electrical components from Motogadgets catalogue, such as discrete M-blaze bar-end turn signals and an RFID keyless ignition setup, as well as M-grips and an M-unit that runs the whole show.The German moto wizards honored the inline-four colossus with a thorough overhaul and retuned its Mikuni carbs for an optimized performance. To round out these upgrades, they also equipped a new four-into-one titanium exhaust system. Finally, Mellows Tintin receives clip-on handlebars and rear-mounted foot pegs from Tarozzi.Right, now that weve concluded this creatures story, the workshops Facebook and Instagram profiles are the next places you ought to be heading! A quick scroll over their range will certainly soothe your soul. OSLO, Norway, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A driver of innovative technology and design, Helly Hansen continues to push the boundaries of professional grade gear. Founded in 1877, the Norwegian-based brand has never stopped looking forward, drawing on the extensive knowledge of their heritage and working with professionals to achieve the cutting edge of technical outdoor gear. This season, Helly Hansen is launching LIFA INFINITY PRO, the brand's most innovative and sustainable waterproof/breathable technology to date. Challenging the industry norm, LIFA INFINITY PRO is a first-to-market technology that pushes the envelope in apparel design. Through advanced textile engineering, it's made without any added chemical treatments, making it truly unique and highly innovative. Using LIFA technology, a proprietary Helly Hansen fiber that's lightweight and hydrophobic, LIFA INFINITY PRO features a fully waterproof/breathable LIFA INFINITY membrane and professional grade durable water repellent performance, achieved without the use of chemicals. Combining the new membrane with 100% LIFA hydrophobic face fabric, LIFA INFINITY PRO is groundbreaking, meeting the extreme waterproofness and breathability of HELLY TECH Professional construction. With everlasting water repellent protection that never needs to be reproofed with chemical treatment, the technology delivers long-lasting, responsible and superior professional grade performance. "We worked with nearly a dozen ski professionals to develop a new technology with the highest level of waterproof/breathable performance that's also responsibly made," said Philip Tavell, Category Managing Director for Ski, Helly Hansen. "Drawing on the knowledge and expertise of a 140-plus year heritage, LIFA INFINITY PRO is our most innovative and sustainable waterproof/breathable technology to date, and we're excited to launch it this season." The new LIFA INFINITY PRO technology will be featured in the Elevation Infinity Shell Jacket, part of the ULLR collection designed for freeride skiers, and the Odin Mountain Infinity Shell Jacket, part of the Odin collection, built for backcountry ski touring. About Helly Hansen Founded in Norway in 1877, Helly Hansen continues to develop professional grade apparel that helps people stay and feel alive. Through insights drawn from living and working in the world's harshest environments, the company has developed a long list of first-to-market innovations, including the first supple waterproof fabrics more than 140 years ago. Other breakthroughs include the first fleece fabrics in the 1960s, the first technical base layers in the 1970s, made with LIFA Stay Dry Technology, and today's award winning and patented H2Flow temperature regulating system. Helly Hansen is a leader in technical sailing and performance ski apparel, as well as premium workwear. Its ski uniforms are worn and trusted by more than 55,000 professionals and can be found on Olympians, National Teams, and at more than 200 ski resorts and mountain guiding operations around the world. Helly Hansen's outerwear, base layers, sportswear and footwear are sold in more than 40 countries and trusted by outdoor professionals and enthusiasts around the world. To learn more about Helly Hansen's latest collections, visit www.hellyhansen.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283815/Helly_Hansen_Aurelien_Ducroz_LIFA_INFINITY_PRO.jpg Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:56:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads U.S. President Donald Trump by nine percentage points in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, according to a new poll released on Tuesday ahead of their first debate. Biden's support stands at 54 percent to Trump's 45 percent among Pennsylvania's likely voters and 54 percent to 44 percent among its registered voters, the Washington Post-ABC News poll showed. Less than five weeks until Election Day, the poll found 53 percent of the Keystone State's registered voters in favor of Trump's management of the economy, but 57 percent disapprove of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall approval rating for Trump in Pennsylvania among registered voters is 43 percent positive and 55 percent negative, with 49 percent saying they disapprove "strongly." The poll was conducted on Sept. 21-26 among 567 likely voters in state with an error margin of plus/minus 5 percentage points. Error margins were larger among subgroups. Pennsylvania, where early voting has already begun, is widely seen as a pivotal swing state this November. Both Trump and Biden have made frequent campaign stops in the state. In 2016, Trump stunned then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by winning Pennsylvania by less than one percentage point, paving the way for his White House victory. Biden, former U.S. vice president and longtime U.S. senator, has emphasized the "Scranton vs. Park Avenue" message to appeal to working-class voters, which points to his Pennsylvania boyhood home and Trump's adult life in Manhattan, New York City. The two candidates will meet in Cleveland, Ohio for the first 2020 presidential debate Tuesday night on topics such as their records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, and race and violence in U.S. cities. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden leads Trump by 6.1 percentage points nationally and 3.6 points in top battleground states, as of Tuesday. The gaps have been narrowing. Enditem Oxygen A Florida teenager is accused of tracking the movements of a man who regularly jogged past his home with the intention of killing him and keeping his corpse in his closet to play with. Logan Smith, 18, was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of attempted murder in connection with the failed strangling of the victim near Smith's Cocoa home, according to an arrest report from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, obtained by Orlando outlet WOFL reports. One week before his arrest, Smith (Natural News) Because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) refuses to do any actual investigating in the pursuit of justice, agents in other departments of government have decided to take matters into their own hands by actively scoping out who is pulling the strings of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa behind the scenes. Thanks to the journalistic digging of The Nation, we now know that key players in the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) are utilizing high-tech surveillance of a classified nature to track who is talking to whom, and for what purpose. The U.S. Marshals Service is likewise dispatching personnel on the streets to perform ground-based operations. Together, these two entities have reportedly made significant headway in determining who is behind both BLM and Antifa, which could possibly lead to an October Surprise where major revelations come to light. A DHS official who spoke to The Nation explained that a colleague with expertise in electronic surveillance was recently deployed to Portland to extract information from protesters phones. While this individual was in Portland, an interagency task force involving both the DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) performed a sophisticated mobile phone cloning attack to intercept protesters communications for intelligence purposes. Cell phone cloning, by the way, involves stealing a mobile phones unique identifier and copying it to another device in order to intercept a targets communications. Former intelligence officials have described it as a Low Level Voice Intercept operation, though further details about how it works have not been disclosed. Youre getting an inside view into your targets, who they are, who theyre talking to the hierarchy, a former intelligence officer is quoted as saying, adding that many within the DHS believe that Antifa is hardly the spontaneous, decentralized movement that its supporters claim it is. Instead, Antifa is an organized group with a very precise mission, federal agents claim. This would correspond with President Trumps apparent view, along with that of William Barr, his attorney general, who says that Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization, and one that is being supported financially by foreign actors. The FBI is still corrupt from previous administrations Christopher Wray, on the other hand, the current head of the FBI, continues to claim, as does the mainstream media, that Antifa is not centrally organized. Like the left, Wray would have Americans believe that Antifa just appeared out of thin air one day and just so happened to form chapters all across the country that know just when to stage violent protests, complete with banners, supplies, transportation and other logistics. Its not a group or an organization, Wray is quoted as saying, further claiming that Antifa is a movement or an ideology where folks who subscribe or identify as Antifa organize regionally into small groups or nodes. Those within the DHS would vehemently disagree, seeing as how they already possess strong evidence, it would appear, to suggest that Antifa and BLM are very well-organized groups with secret ties both to government and media. So the DHS and the FBI have been listening to Antifa and they know who in the media and in politics they have been talking to, notes Paul Goldberg, writing for NewsThud. You can tell by reading the report from The Nation, the left is getting real (sic) nervous about this because it is the number one report on their website as of the writing of this post. So does this mean an October Surprise is soon coming our way? As usual, time will tell. For more related news about BLM and Antifa, be sure to check out CivilWar.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com NewsThud.com DGAP-News: MustGrow Biologics Corp. / Key word(s): Expansion/Study The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. - National State of Emergency declared in Colombia in 2019. - Panama Disease is existential threat to the $25 billion global banana industry. - Disease remains viable in soil for decades - no effective treatments currently available. - MustGrow's natural bio-pesticide technology has shown 100% control of similar diseases. Saskatoon, SK, September 29, 2020 - MustGrow Biologics Corp. (CSE: MGRO) (OTC: MGROF) (FRA: 0C0) (the "Company", "MustGrow") announces the commencement of testing of MustGrow's proprietary TerraMG bio-pesticide formulation on the Panama Disease (Fusarium wilt TR4), a devastating disease pathogen ravaging the $25 billion global banana industry. MustGrow's TerraMG bio-pesticide has been proven to control soil-borne diseases similar to Panama Disease. The laboratory testing in Colombia will focus on the treatment of the Panama Disease. MustGrow's previous independent efficacy studies in Canada have proven that TerraMG's treatment of Fusarium oxysporum, a soil-borne pathogen, had 100% control of the fungus. Panama Disease is among the most destructive banana diseases, affecting particularly Cavendish bananas, which are half of all bananas produced globally. Currently, there are no effective treatments for the infected banana plantations, with the disease remaining viable for decades in the soil and can cause 100% yield loss. MustGrow has already been working towards its US-EPA and Canadian-PMRA registrations of TerraMG for pre-plant treatment of soil-borne pests and diseases in high value crops such as fruits & vegetables. Now, MustGrow is replicating this strategy in Colombia's besieged banana industry - focused on controlling and eliminating the Panama Disease. This work will build on MustGrow's existing field data and serve as a benchmark for achieving registration labels in Colombia and other leading South American agricultural countries. MustGrow anticipates laboratory results in Q4-2020. "This is an exciting program for MustGrow, as we push the boundaries of our bio-pesticide into a new continent with a currently untreatable disease," remarked MustGrow CEO Corey Giasson. "With both banana producers and banana consumers rooting for us, we look forward to potentially providing a much needed solution for Colombian farmers." The spread of Panama Disease through banana plantations in South America has prompted Colombia to reportedly declare a National State of Emergency, enacting special measures to stop the disease from spreading, including the preventive eradication of 168 hectares of infected crop. A flurry of media reports has followed, revealing a race to save bananas from extinction after the disease has left a trail of scorched banana plantations in its wake. About MustGrow MustGrow is a publicly traded (CSE: MGRO) (OTC: MGROF) (FRA:0C0) agriculture biotech company focused on providing natural science-based biological solutions for high value crops, including fruits & vegetables. MustGrow has designed and owns a United States EPA-approved natural solution that uses the mustard seed's natural defence mechanism to protect plants from pests and diseases. Over 110 independent tests have been completed, validating MustGrow's safe and effective signature products. The product, in granule format, is EPA-approved across all key U.S. states and by Health Canada's PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) as a bio-pesticide for high value crops such as in fruit & vegetables. MustGrow has now concentrated a liquid format which it's calling TerraMG, and with regulatory approval, could be applied through standard drip or spray equipment, improving functionality and performance features. The Company has approximately 37 million basic common shares issued and outstanding. For further details please visit www.mustgrow.ca. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Corey Giasson" Director & CEO Phone: +1-306-668-2652 info@mustgrow.ca Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect the results, performance or achievements of MustGrow. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of MustGrow to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, MustGrow. These risks are described in more detail in MustGrow's Prospectus and other continuous disclosure documents filed by MustGrow with the applicable securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. Readers are referred to such documents for more detailed information about MustGrow, which is subject to the qualifications, assumptions and notes set forth therein. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of, nor a solicitation for offers to buy, any securities in the United States. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. (c) 2020 MustGrow Biologics Corp. All rights reserved. 29.09.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Monday in Napa and Sonoma and Shasta counties, and sent a letter to President Trump asking him to declare a major disaster that would send fire assistance grants into the state. The federal emergency declaration would be the third this year, including one in August that provided grants for fires raging through Northern California. Earlier, federal money came through to help with the pandemic. Haiti - Elections : Feminist organizations oppose the CEP of the Executive Contraband: 90,000 Hainan cigarettes seized Dominican soldiers during a check, intercepted in the municipality of Jimani a vehicle coming from Haiti which was smuggling 450 cartridges of 10 packets of 20 "Comme il Faut" brand cigarettes. The goods and the vehicle were seized and the driver of Dominican origin arrested. International Handicap and Culture Fortnight The 5th edition of the International Handicap and Culture Fortnight is upon us. From October 1 to 15, 2020, under the theme "Art to build oneself", the Festival will be held this year in the cities of Port-au-Prince, Gonaives, Jacmel and Lascahobas. The Art Center renews its commitment to the cause of people with disabilities and hosts artistic training workshops on its premises. CSC/CA : Election of a new office The Council of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSC/CA) has elected a new Bureau for the fiscal year 2020-2021. It is made up of Me Rogavil Boisguene, President (reappointed for a second term) and Me Marie France H. Mondesir as Vice-President. Taiwan : donation of 200,000 masks Tuesday the Ambassador of Taiwan (Republic of China) Wen-jiann Ku in the presence of representatives of various religious sectors presented to Claude Joseph, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, a donation of 200,000 "Made In Taiwan" masks which will be distributed to religious sectors via the Ministry. Rehabilitation of the RN3 almost completed The Office of the National Authorizing Officer of the European Development Fund (FED), the Ministry of Public Works and the Delegation of the European Union in Haiti recently noted that the rehabilitation of the RN3 from Hinche to St Raphael was almost completed! It will be received before the end of the year. Human Rights training module 50 lawyers, magistrates and law students from the 3 jurisdictions of the southern department have followed 20 hours of certifying training on the topic "Criminal chain and judicial guarantees" This is the 1st training module in Human Rights offered by the Office of Rights Humans en Haiti (BDHH) with the support of the French Embassy in Haiti, also supported by the Swiss Embassy in Haiti and the FOKAL Foundation. HL/ HaitiLibre Premier Daniel Andrews has insisted he is confident that senior bureaucrats briefed government ministers on the response to the coronavirus crisis but refused to reveal what assurances he had sought in light of the damning hotel quarantine inquiry. Mr Andrews defended three department secretaries who the inquiry heard may not have adequately raised serious issues over the hotel quarantine program with their ministers. The Premier said he was satisfied Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles, Health Department chief Kym Peake and Jobs Department secretary Simon Phemister should remain in their roles until the inquiry hands down its findings in November. "I won't spend 1 hours here every day detailing for you every conversation I have [and] I have sought assurances," Mr Andrews said. A doctor inundated with patients suffering from mental health conditions during Melbourne's crippling Stage Four lockdown has hit out at Premier Daniel Andrews for only partially easing social distancing restrictions in the city. Dr Stacey Harris wrote in a letter to the Victorian leader she had not seen 'such devastation with patient's mental health' in her 15 years of general practice. The GP noted she was dealing with between 15 and 20 cases each day related to mental health compared to only five a day during the same period last year. Dr Harris said suicidal children were presenting to her clinic in Camberwell in Melbourne's east, some as young as 12. A young woman is pictured exercising in Princes Park on Sunday. A Melbourne GP has called on Premier Daniel Andrews to fully ease the city's strict COVID-19 restrictions to ease the mental health strain on the city's residents Mr Andrews ended Melbourne's curfew on Monday but has still banned the city's residents from going 5km away from their homes for exercise. Dr Harris said the gradual restriction easing - which comes despite only ten COVID-19 infections being confirmed in Victoria on Tuesday - was not enough to help those struggling with their mental health. 'Five people can meet in a park, and (some school children) go back,' she told The Australian. 'Those two things do not address the major mental health issues faced by many more - it's huge. We could be safely fully open, like in New South Wales.' Dr Harris' open letter, which was co-signed by nine other doctors, said the onslaught of mental health cases during the lockdown meant there were not enough psychiatrists and psychologists to go around. GP Dr Stacey Harris said the children presenting to her clinic in Melbourne were as young as 12-years-old - some of whom were suicidal 'Seeing children as young as 12 years describe their darkest thoughts, some suicidal, is very disturbing,' she wrote. 'They cry how much they are missing school and friends. I am doing many telehealth phone calls to distressed mothers alone with their newborns crying out for help. 'Patients are afraid to leave their house, even to seek vital medical care.' She called on Mr Andrews to revise Victoria's road map out of the lockdown enforced to stem the state's COVID-19 second wave. A Melbourne paddleboarder takes advantage of the spring weather and eased restrictions Premier Daniel Andrews ended Melbourne's curfew on Monday but has still banned the city's residents from going 5km away from their homes for exercise 'If we follow the data from overseas, as well as interstate experience which shows we can safely open up with more robust contact tracing, we can in your words, "learn to live with this virus safely".' Victoria on Tuesday recorded 10 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths as Melburnians enjoyed their first curfew-free evening in eight weeks. The latest figures come a day after the state recorded its lowest number of daily new infections since June 12. Mystery surrounds 27 cases which came from an unknown source, which are all in Melbourne. Editors note: See todays related article about why we report bad news about leaderseven after they have passed away. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) has opened an investigation into allegations that its late founder and namesake sexually harassed multiple massage therapists who worked at two day spas he co-owned. Three women who worked at the businesses, located in a strip mall in the Atlanta suburbs, told Christianity Today that Ravi Zacharias touched them inappropriately, exposed himself, and masturbated during regular treatments over a period of about five years. His business partner said he regrets not stopping Zacharias and sent an apology text to one of the victims this month. RZIM denies the claims, saying in a statement to CT that the charges of sexual misconduct do not in any way comport with the man we knew for decades. The organization has hired a law firm with experience investigating such matters to look into the allegations, which date back at least 10 years. RZIM declined to answer any further questions about the inquiry. During his ministry career, the renowned apologistwho died in May at age 74 from cancer in his sacrumspoke of chronic back pain resulting from a spine injury in 1985. He said he managed the pain with massage and physiotherapy. The women who worked at the spas said when Zacharias wasnt traveling with RZIM, he came in for treatment two or three times a week. The businesses were a 15-minute drive from the ministrys headquarters in Alpharetta. The three women knew Zacharias as the owner and a client as well as a Christian leader and famous author. Some of his books were sold in the store, and the employees read them so they could talk about them when he came in. Zacharias was kind and took interest in their lives, according to the people who worked there. But over time, in the small private treatment rooms, Zacharias would make unwanted sexual advances, the three women each said independently. At first, they tried to ignore it, too embarrassed to call out a famous Christian minister. By their accounts, his inappropriate behavior only escalated. He would expose himself every time, and he would touch himself every time, one of the women told CT. It was where he went to get what he wanted sexually. Zacharias masturbated in front of one of the women more than 50 times, according to her recollection. He told her he was burdened by the demands of the ministry, and he needed this therapy. He also asked her to have sex with him twice, she said, and requested explicit photos of her. CT has verified the identities and job histories of the three women. They shared their stories under the condition that they not be named, fearing the stigma of coming forward as victims and possible retribution for harming the reputation of a famous Christian leader. They spoke with CT by phone multiple times over the past five weeks, and CT heard from three coworkers at the spas who corroborated elements of their accounts. Their claims come three months after Zachariass death and three years after he settled a case against Lori Anne Thompson involving sexting allegations. Thompson is not allowed to speak about what happened under the terms of a non-disclosure agreement but has previously detailed how the apologist requested naked photos from her, saying he flattered her and suggested he deserved the sexual release because of the great cost of his ministry. In a 2017 statement, Zacharias confirmed their communications and the photos but said they were unsolicited. The women who worked at the spas said they have not spoken up previously because they do not want money, publicity, or even apologies for what happened. But in the wake of Zachariass death, they said they want other victims who may be out therelike Thompsonto know that they are not alone. At the spas Zacharias went into business as a spa owner in 2004, opening Touch of Eden in a shopping center in Johns Creek, an affluent, rapidly growing suburb in northeast Atlanta. Financial records obtained by CT indicate Zacharias invested at least $50,000 and was listed as vice president and owner of one-third of the company. When Touch of Eden closed in 2008, Zacharias and his business partner Anurag Sharma opened a second spa in the same location. It was called Jivan Wellness, named for a Hindi word for life. Jivan remained in business until 2015. At the time, tax records show Zacharias was earning a total compensation of about $365,000 per year from RZIM. Zacharias didnt keep his involvement in the spas secret. RZIM confirmed its former presidents ownership of the businesses in a response to CT. He also had business cards listing him as the owner of Touch of Eden and appeared at a grand opening event for Jivan Wellness. The second spas website indicated RZIMs relief armWellspring Internationalwas a beneficiary of the for-profit business. Six to ten people worked at the spas at a time. Almost all were unmarried women trying to build their careers as licensed massage therapists, aestheticians, nail technicians, and small-business owners. The employees said that Zacharias, who came in for regular massages as well as skin treatments, made people feel special when he spoke to them and valued their intellectual and spiritual lives. He asked the women about their professional aspirations and got them to talk about their personal backgroundincluding past relations, traumas, and abuse. The three women who spoke to CT each said that Zacharias gained their trust, and then the sexual harassment started. He would touch my leg, which was kind of by his hand, but then he would run his hand up to the middle of my thighs and then to the private area, one woman said. Another woman recalled Zacharias touching her lower back. It seemed friendly, almost comforting. Then he moved his hand down and inside of her pants. Several other times, he moved his hand up her side and touched her breast. The women said they pulled away and pretended nothing had happened. Each worried they had done something wrongmaybe there was a misunderstanding or maybe they had done something to cause the famous Christian leader to stumble into sin. They hoped that their body language would communicate that the sexual advances were unwelcome. I felt ashamed. I felt embarrassed, one said. You have this world-renowned evangelist who is being inappropriate, and I had no idea what to do. He wasnt just the head of the company. He wasnt just a CEO. He was a Christian leader. When the women didnt say anything, the sexual harassment escalated. The three separately allege Zacharias began pulling off the covering sheet during treatments and exposing himself. One woman said Zacharias showed her his erection at least 15 times in a few months. In school they taught us proper draping, she said. Theres a way you pull the sheet up so you can get to certain areas like the lower back. You wrap the sheet around almost like its a baby diaper. Nobodys easily exposed. It was made to look like an accident. But it was on purpose. One woman said Zacharias was completely silent when he exposed himself. Another said he made inappropriate noises. The third woman said that after Zacharias exposed himself several times, he asked her to massage his groin area and moved her hand there. It is possible that his back injury caused pain in that area, she said, so she complied with his request even though it made her uncomfortable. By that point, they had talked for hours in the private massage rooms, the woman said. He had asked about her life, and she had told him everything from her career aspirations and her struggles as a single mother to her childhood relationship with Jesus and how she had been sexually abused. The woman felt that Zacharias was ministering to her and there was a holiness around him. She thought she was, in turn, helping him and felt compelled to go along to an extent. Then Zacharias tried to move her hand to his penis, the woman told CT. She refused and turned away as he masturbated. The next time she gave him a massage he exposed himself again and masturbated again. By her account, this happened more than 50 times over the next three years. He would say, I need it. I need it. I need it, the woman recalled. He would say he needed it so much and it was good therapy. Zacharias asked her to have sex with him. Both times, she refused because he was married. He told her that he dreamed of being able to leave his ministry and his life as an apologist behind to live a normal, private life. But he couldnt because this was his burden, the woman recalled. Staying silent The three who spoke to CT said they did not tell anyone about Zachariass behavior at the time, which was around 20052010. They didnt even speak of it to each other. One woman recalled sharing a look with a coworker. Another remembered someone hinting that Zacharias was using the spa to masturbate. A third wondered if another woman had been harassed when she quit suddenly and her father came to get her things from the spa. But the women didnt speak out. They were afraid they wouldnt be believed, or they would be blamed and could lose their jobs. If they had wanted to report Zacharias, they would have had two options. They could have gone to the ministry bearing his name, where both Zachariass wife, Margie, and one of his daughters were on the board. Or they could have gone to the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). Zacharias maintained a license in the denomination, which says it disciplines Christian workers for moral failure involving sexual misconduct. The CMA holds that people are disqualified from leadership if their behavior causes imminent harm to others or to the testimony of Christ. The disciplinary process can only start when an accusation is made to an ecclesiastical authority in person or by certified mail, however. The women did not know who held authority over Zachariasif anyone. They each stayed at the spas until they couldnt anymore. They stayed silent long after that. I zipped it up and tucked it away, one of the women said. But the past is never just the past, and time does not heal all wounds. When you go through something traumatic, it affects your mind, it affects your body, it affects your relationships, it affects your spirit. Psychological studies of sexual assault victims find that about 95 percent exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including overwhelming feelings of anger, betrayal, and isolation. Depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior are common. When the harm is done by a trusted Christian minister, psychologists say victims often suffer additional shame, feelings of personal guilt, and extended periods of spiritual confusion. One of the women said she stopped believing in God for a while after her encounter with Zacharias but has returned to faith after extensive counseling. Another said she has not been to church since and cant trust religious institutions. It took her seven years of therapy to come to the conclusion that what Zacharias did to her was not her fault, she said. The third moved away from Atlanta, changed names, changed careers, and never mentioned what happenednot even to her closest familyuntil she was contacted by CT. I put all of that behind me, she said. I dont want money and dont want them to even know who I am. The only reason Im talking is for other women out there who have been hurt by him. One of the women said she didnt even think about coming forward until after news broke in 2017 that Zacharias had allegedly solicited explicit photos from a woman in Canada. She immediately knew Thompson was telling the truth, she said, recalling how after Zacharias had masturbated in front of her, he asked her for explicit photos when he was traveling. Like that massage therapist, Thompson was also a victim of sexual abuse as a child and, over time, had shared her story with the famous apologist. They communicated by email and cellphone after meeting at two events in Canada in 2014 and 2015, according to an account Thompson wrote and shared with multiple people in December 2016, prior to the non-disclosure agreement (NDA). CT has obtained the written account from a third party. Thompson writes that she grew to care for and love Zacharias as a father figure, honored by the attention of his regular communication. Then Zacharias began requesting photos of her, clothed and then unclothed, and eventually asked her to engage in sex over the phone, she said. Wanting to maintain their relationship and care for himespecially after he complained of feeling profoundly alone while sacrificing so much to travel for ministry workThompson complied. Zacharias traveled to 70 countries, according to RZIM, speaking to millions about the philosophical foundations and framework of the gospel. The organization that bore his name grew to a global enterprise with 17 separate legal entities and more than 250 employees from Atlanta to Singapore, from Spain to Peru. He stated so many times to me that the cost of ministry has been very high, that none of his time is his own, he has no privacy, no personhood left, Thompson wrote in 2016. She added that Zacharias assured her that the Lord understood what he had sacrificed and implied their sexual exchanges were Gods way of rewarding him. Thompson felt guilty, blamed herself, broke things off, and began therapy. I feared that I had caused him to stumble into sexual sin, she wrote. The following year, Zacharias sued Thompson and her husband. He told the RZIM board that he had privately corresponded with Thompson, but denied everything else, claiming the explicit messages and photos were unsolicited and part of an extortion scheme. The lawsuit was moved into private mediation and ended with an NDA. Though both sides agreed to non-disclosure, RZIM released an 800-word statement from Zacharias, explaining his side of the story. Then, Zacharias refused to answer further questions, citing the NDA. Thompson has repeatedly asked to be released from the terms of the agreement. Victims advocates say they fear Christian organizations have in some cases employed NDAs as tools to cover up the truth. Rachael Denhollander, an abuse survivor and lawyer who has become a victims advocate, has said Thompson should be released from the NDA. Ravis estate needs to release Lori from the NDA they forced on her, Denhollander tweeted earlier this month. Survivors - your attorney should NEVER allow an NDA. EVER. Leaders - if YOUR attorney wants a survivor or witness to sign an NDA, you aren't getting help doing the right thing. Shame on you, and them. According to a statement from the RZIM board last week, the Zacharias family does not feel it proper to release Thompson from the confidentiality agreement. In his 2017 statement, Zacharias spoke of the importance of leaders protecting themselves from even the appearance of impropriety and said, I have long made it my practice not to be alone with a woman other than Margie and our daughtersnot in a car, a restaurant, or anywhere else. The women at the Johns Creek spas where Zacharias was part-owner told CT that wasnt the case when they worked for the apologist. He received massages, skin care, and facials in private sessions multiple times per week. The treatments were done in small rooms where Zacharias was alone with women. Sad about all his demons Zachariass business partner Anurag Sharma did not respond to repeated phone calls, texts, and emails from CT over the course of a month. Sharma has, however, recently spoken with three people about the spas he used to own with Zacharias. They have each recounted their conversations to CT and shared documentation, including screenshots and recordings. The people who spoke with Sharma said he acknowledges something bad happened at Touch of Eden and Jivan Wellness. He regrets that he failed to intervene but doesnt go into specifics. He attributes his reticence to Zachariass charisma. I feel sorry that I followed him blindly, Sharma wrote in one text. He was just another human. Sharma, an IT professional, met Zacharias in the mid-1990s. In one conversation, recorded by someone not associated with the spas, Sharma describes himself as Zachariass close friend. Even after the business relationship ended, they continued to talk until the day Zacharias died, he said. He had no friends, and he needed somebody to talk to, Sharma said. He was very sad about all his demons, and he said that was the condition of the human heart. According to Sharma, the two men talked about high-profile Christians who had fallen from grace, and Sharma used those conversations to ask probing questions. In a recording, Sharma recalls asking Zacharias why famous ministers of the gospel seem to have more moral problems than regular Christians. Zacharias told him that everyone sins. I really never even doubted him, and I dont know why, because I did feel this is not right, Sharma said. I should have understood that all have sinned means equal to all, rather than putting people on a pedestal. RZIM declined to comment on Zachariass relationship to Sharma or the ministrys relationship to the for-profit businesses. Spokeswoman Ruth Malhotra said the investigation into the spa allegations will be conducted by a mid-sized law firm in the southeastern United States, and the ministry will not answer any further questions until the investigation is presented to the board. We at RZIM remain committed to truth, Malhotra said. It is the foundation of what we do, and that has not changed. RZIMs primary mission is to reach those who shape culture with the message of the credibility of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the ministry has continueddespite COVID-19 shutdowns and the loss of its famous namesaketo defend the Christian message. The organization has 100 events planned for the month of October, from online Zoom conferences to speeches at Asian universities to seminars in Midwest Baptist churches. It enlists more than 50 men and a dozen women to carry on Zachariass work and ministry. When Zacharias died in May, he was widely celebrated by evangelicals. Two of the women who say he sexually harassed them in the spas agree that Zacharias was a great man who served and sacrificed for the good of the gospel. They even told CT the good he did promoting the cause of Christ may outweigh the pain and trauma that he caused them. But they insist that that doesnt mean the inappropriate sexual conduct did not occur. Even with someone as godly as Ravi, one said, you can still be battling with the Devil. With reporting by Kate Shellnutt. [ This article is also available in espanol and Indonesian. ] live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The domestic systematically-important insurers (D-SIIs) that have been identified by the Indian insurance regulator are expected to reduce their exposure to high-risk assets, said Moodys Investor Service. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has identified Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) and New India Assurance as domestic systemically-important insurers (D-SIIs) for 2020-21. As per the insurance regulator, D-SIIs refer to insurers of such size, market importance and domestic and global inter-connectedness whose distress or failure would cause significant dislocation in the domestic financial system. All three entities have exposure to the debt market and equity market and invest heavily into listed stocks. LIC is the largest insurer in the country with a balance sheet of Rs 31.2 lakh crore. GIC Re is the country's sole reinsurer, while New India is the country's largest general insurance company. All three entities are government-owned. LIC is in the process of being listed on the stock exchanges while GIC Re and New India are already listed. Mohammed Ali Riyazuddin Londe, Assistant Vice President Analyst, Financial Institutions Group, Moodys Investors Service said this is credit-positive for the three insurers. According to him, this will improve their corporate governance and risk management, and in turn, attract stronger and wider investor interest. Specifically, we expect the insurers will reduce their exposure to high-risk assets, enhance actuarial-led reserves and pricing, and strengthen their risk-based capital management, said Londe. He said the improved pricing discipline by these insurers to strengthen profitability and ultimately capital will support the underwriting performance of Indias wider insurance market. In the general insurance sector, in particular, aggressive pricing in segments like group health and motor (own-damage) products has been a matter of concern. IRDAI has time and again advised insurers to price products based on the risks and the past claims experience. Londe explained, given these insurers remain majority government-owned, their credit quality will remain highly correlated to Indias sovereign credit profile. IRDAI has said the three D-SIIs will also be subjected to enhanced regulatory supervision during this period. By Trend The OSCE Minsk Group has not taken a single step to resolve the conflict [Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict], Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with TRT TV channel, Trend reports on Sept. 29. Armenia is the culprit for the escalation of the situation in the region, the foreign minister added. The foreign minister added that the world community must not compare Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Armenia is an occupier while Azerbaijan is the country subjected to the occupation, Cavusoglu said. We have always supported and will continue to support Azerbaijan. We will always be close to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani citizens in the countries in which there are no Azerbaijani diplomatic missions can contact the Turkish consulates." Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bayesian Group, the parent company behind the tokenization platform Fabriik.com and the financial services company Fabriik Markets, announced the completion of its acquisition of Money Button. Money Button is an industry-leading non-custodial wallet that allows people to make and receive payments with a simple swipe of a button. Money Button is the most comprehensive digital asset wallet solution available because users have access to multiple outputs, blockchain data, smart contracts, currency conversion, a REST API and an OAuth API. "The Bayesian Group is building a liquidity ecosystem for many asset classes, and Money Button is an advanced wallet for Bitcoin. By joining The Bayesian Group, Money Button becomes a member of a larger company solving many problems that complement the wallet we have built. We solve a problem for Bayesian, and they solve many problems for us. We are extremely excited to join the team and create the future financial system on top of Bitcoin," said Ryan X. Charles, Head of Engineering, Fabriik Smart Wallet. The Bayesian Group believes that interacting with your digital assets should be simple. With all the complexity of the digital asset world, they believe that an advanced wallet with a simple user interface is an essential component of keeping their promise of an accessible financial future. During the development of the smart contract management platform Fabriik.com, Money Button's core technology and experience in the BSV blockchain space turbocharged our ability to iterate on feature sets of the Fabriik tokenization platform. It was clear to both teams that they were better together. "Money Button has a significant user base and network of businesses that are built on top of their technology framework. This ties into our core philosophy of a tokenization platform vs a token protocol. We are wholly aligned that we are building a platform that can leverage any token protocol suitable for the purpose. As we continue to grow and acquire complementary businesses, we will always look for technology leaders such as Money Button," said Roy Bernhard, CEO The Bayesian Group. About The Bayesian Group The Bayesian Group is a collective of companies operating in the Fintech and Digital Asset Investment market. Bayesian Labs creates software, market research and trading algorithms. Built on top of that technology and research are financial services such as Market Making, Liquidity Provision and an OTC desk delivered by Fabriik Markets. The Fund (a segregated portfolio) is an alpha-generating AI-powered hedge fund that leverages proprietary algorithms to provide outsized returns to its institutional investors. SOURCE The Bayesian Group Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (File image: Reuters) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expects the economy has turned for the better in Q2 and Q3 after a dismal 23.9 percent fall in Q1FY21 due to the pandemic and lockdowns, adding that the Centre would not be averse to one more stimulus if necessary. We are hearing everyone out, we are analysing every area of the economy. I am open to one more support if necessary. We are constantly exchanging a lot of thoughts with industry, she said as per Hindustan Times. When asked if the package would be immediate, Sitharaman added: One more may be needed is what we are hearing from the people who interact with us, and we are trying to see what it is that we can do. Theres no point in me hurriedly getting something out. What we have announced till now, it is not as if it has benefited one at the cost of another. Crediting the massive Q1 contraction to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the finance minister said industries have since seen capacity utilisation rise to pre-COVID levels. If in Q2 at least 50 percent levels have been reached, then it cant be as bad as Q1. The revival is also happening in many labour-intensive areas as migrants have started returning to work. Some industries tell me that domestic demand is increasing they are also seeing export orders increasing faster than expectations. I guess, Q2 and Q3 will be better, she added. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show She was optimistic revenue receipts would pick up as already being seen in goods and services tax (GST) collections in states, but biggest impact would be in corporate tax and income tax would also suffer on account of the lockdown. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here On the Centres initiatives to boost the economy, Sitharaman pointed to the Vocal for local and Atmanirbhar campaigns. ensuring policy support exists for them, ensuring incentivisation will happen for them, and create the necessary ecosystem for them.... Even if you think the result will be long-term, there will be an immediate change in sentiment, production priorities, investment priorities, she added. When quizzed over how much India has lost on account of the pandemic, Sitharaman said the answer can be given once the COVID crisis has passed. On states borrowing limits, the finance minister said they keep monitoring it and that not one state has exceeded the 3 percent of GSDP limit available to them in a normal year. She also noted that the Centre has allowed states to borrow another half a percent more unconditionally; another 1 percent with conditions; and another half percent contingent on certain reforms. She did acknowledge that states are facing challenges: there is no denying that. They are the ones fighting COVID at the ground level. And they expect the Centre to be more supportive, which is understandable. On relaxations of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, Sitharaman said she may not have a choice to not do so. Adding: among the four engines that support the economy, three have come to a complete standstill. It is public expenditure which has to do the heavy lifting. On sectors that she is hopeful about, the finance minister said the agricultural and rural economy have great encouragement and is the big spark plug for Indian revival. By ANI PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan should be the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and the party should fight on 143 seats, said LJP national general secretary, Shahnawaz Ahmad Kaifi on Tuesday. This comes amid reports of confusion in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing in the state. Kaifi, however, said that he has made Chirag Paswan aware of the demands being raised by the party workers and members. "Chirag Paswan is definitely the Chief Minister candidate of our party, there is no doubt about it. The leaders, workers in our party are of the same opinion," Kaifi told ANI here. "The party members also believe that we should fight on at least 143 seats in the elections. I too would urge the party to fight on these many seats," he added. He further said that Chirag Paswan's decision in this matter would be a final one and it would come shortly. Earlier, BJP had clarified that the NDA would go in the elections under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Bihar has 243 Assembly seats and elections in the state will take place in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7. The reesults will be declared on November 10, the Election Commission had announced last week. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Taiwanese major ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) on Tuesday unveiled a groundbreaking gaming laptop in its popular Zephyrus series in India that houses a secondary touchscreen to empower gamers as well as creators to streamline their work. The ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550) integrates two displays in an ultra-slim form -- the first gaming laptop to feature a built-in ROG ScreenPad Plus display to make multi-tasking easy. Available in two Intel Core i9 and Corei7 variants, the GX550 starts from Rs 2,79,990 and will be available at Asus exclusive stores (including ROG stores) and online marketplaces Amazon and Flipkart in the country from September 29. "Dual screen is one of the most important one that has brought a paradigm shift in consumer perception regarding a daily usage laptop. Zephyrus Duo is the first laptop with dual screen in the ROG segment," said Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer & Gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India. "Supremely portable with a high-capacity 90Wh battery, you can create, play, and stay productive anywhere. We are affirmative the new Zephyrus Duo would contribute in sustaining our No.1 position in India," he added. The Zephyrus Duo 15 doubles down on displays with an elegant Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) Plus design that makes the full-width ROG ScreenPad Plus touchscreen an integral part of the cooling system. Tilted 13 degrees for comfortable viewing and multi-tasking, the screen lifts to expose a large air intake for deeper airflows. Zephyrus Duo 15 comes with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with "DisplayPort 1.4" and 'Power Delivery' feature lets users connect next-gen devices for ultrafast data transfers and rapid charging while three USB 3.2 Type A ports make ample space for favourite gaming gear. "Two audio jacks make it easy to connect an external microphone for clearer voice chat and stream audio. The HDMI 2.0b port supports 4K UHD at up to 60Hz, the company informed. ASUS India, the Indian arm of Taiwanese IT major, last week forayed into the commercial PC market in India with launching "Expert Series" brand with 11 devices across laptops, desktops and All-in-Ones, targeting the key enterprise segments in the country. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The number of coronavirus infections in Haryana decreased by 5,091 last week, raising hopes that the pandemic curve was plateauing in the state. As per health department statistics, Haryanas 22 districts reported 12,525 new infections between September 21 to 27 as compared to 17,616 infections between September 14 to 20. The number of viral infections reported between September 7 to 13 was 17,092 and between August 31 to September 6 was 13,267. Additional chief secretary (ACS, health) Rajeev Arora said cases were stabilising to an extent and it was expected that the numbers will decline in the next phase. While the number of samples tested using rapid antigen tests (RAT) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) have also declined in the past week, health department officials said the declining infection rate outnumbers the reduced testing. Arora said with a 6.72% positivity rate and an average daily reduction of around 5,000, the decrease should be around 350 infections per day. Earlier, around 2,400 to 2,800 infections were being reported every day. The number has dropped to around 1,500 to 2,000 over the last week, the ACS said. As per records, the health department conducted 1, 91,420 RAT and RT-PCR tests between September 13 and September 20 as compared to 1,70,309 tests between September 21 and September 27, which amounts to a reduction of 21,111 tests. Explaining reduction in sampling, Arora said when the number of infections start declining, the number of primary and secondary contacts of infected patients also comes down, thereby decreasing the sampling rate. Then again one has to go for random sampling but we have seen the public at large resists random sampling, he said. Arora said the department was going to step up the RT-PCR testing again but RAT had been reduced as it was felt that it was being performed indiscriminately. During a recent review of national capital region districts by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, Haryanas RTPCR testing overshadowed Noida and Delhi. Our RT-PCR testing was around 65% and RAT around 35%, the ACS said, adding the fatality rate in the state had remained stable at around 1.06%. Figures at a glance Officials say a 6.72% positivity rate and an average daily reduction of 5,000 samples indicates a decrease of around 350 infections per day. Week Infections August 24-30: 8,896 August 31-September 6: 13,267 September 6-13: 17,092 September 14-20: 17,616 September 21-27: 12,525 Testing Week Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test Rapid antigen test Total September 13-20: 1,22,352 69,068 1,91,420 September 21-27: 1,12,012 58,297 1,70,309 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kochi: Cochin Shipyard Ltd on Tuesday delivered two Roll on Roll Off (RO-RO) vessels to Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), which is a part of the order for a series of 10 vessels. In a statement, CSL said the 56 metre long Ro-Ro Vessel is built with in-house design for day and night operation all round the year to carry 15 TEU container trailers and 30 passengers. These high quality vessels with modern communication equipment, has an ergonomically designed navigational wheel house, comfortable air-conditioned accommodation for eight crew and an open deck for easy loading and discharging of trucks and vehicles, it said. CSL said the ship is built to the highest standards of the Indian Register of Shipping and Kerala Inland Vessels Rule and complying with the Prevention and Control of Pollution and Protection of Inland Water. The delivery protocol was signed by Mathew George, Director, IWAI, Kochi and Suresh Babu N V, Director (Operations), CSL, in the presence of the officials of IWAI and CSL. CSL said it has invested its resources in the Inland Water Segment including the development of a dedicated shipbuilding facility in Kolkata, with the aim of providing a complete solution to the customers operating in the inland water segment.. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor With Canadas flu season nearly here, the threat of COVID-19 makes getting the flu shot more important than ever. Flu outbreaks risk straining our health-care system when we most need hospital beds to treat those seriously infected by COVID-19. Unfortunately, myths about the flu vaccine mean only about four in 10 Canadians were vaccinated last year. Surprisingly, for example, the same number of Canadians believe the flu shot can cause the flu. The reality is the flu vaccine cannot cause the flu. Not only does the flu vaccine decrease the likelihood of getting sick, it also means those that do get sick recover faster. The Center for Disease Control estimates that the flu vaccine lowers the risk of needing to visit an intensive care (ICU) unit by 82 per cent. In addition, vaccinated adults who visited an ICU because of the flu spent four fewer days in the hospital. Yet myths about the flu and vaccines in general, persist on social media and in society. The perpetuation of these myths represents a clear threat to community well-being and human lives. Measles is a highly contagious, potentially fatal disease transmitted through respiratory droplets, which can cause serious complications after recovery. Sound familiar? Before the 1960s, over 300,000 Canadians caught the measles virus every year, but in 1998 after widespread measles vaccinations, it was declared eliminated in Canada. Similarly, the U.S. declared the measles eliminated in 2000. Unfortunately, actress Jenny McCarthy and other anti-vaxxers have successfully resurrected the threat of measles in the United States and Canada. McCarthy has caused people to fear a vaccine by promoting false conclusions from a retracted academic paper. Measles cases in Canada remain rare, but in the United States, they are now at a 25 year high. COVID-19 makes the threat of lies and misinformation about vaccines an urgent health and economic problem. Surveys show that between 60 per cent to 78 per cent of Canadians would likely get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were available in Canada. These numbers are a good start but could be easily eroded by antivaccination groups spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories on social media. Unfortunately, when a COVID-19 vaccine is available the need to widely vaccinate millions of Canadians, likely starting with the most vulnerable, will give the McCarthys of the world scary stories to share with those who are ill-informed. The reality is, some people die every day, and if you widely vaccinate a population, some coincidental deaths will occur around the same time as a vaccine was administered. In Australia, for example, the World Health Organization estimates that about 10 infants will die a day after receiving routine vaccinations. While extremely unfortunate, these deaths do not indicate a problem with the vaccines but simply reflect the death rate in the first year of human life. When the first person dies a few days after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, can we trust social media trolls to carefully note that the cause of death was unrelated to the vaccine? Does our mainstream media have the patience to wait on reporting any information until a careful examination has determined the cause of death? Will Canadians trust the rigorous ongoing process that occurs to monitor the safety of vaccines as they are distributed? While it is obvious the trolls cannot be trusted to act responsibly, this flu season presents an opportunity for public health units to inform the media and citizenry about vaccines. Promotional campaigns should go beyond encouraging the flu shot to demonstrating the safety of vaccine programs. Increasing Canadians understanding of the rigorous development and approval process and ongoing vaccine safety monitoring measures will ensure that when a COVID-19 vaccine is available Canadians will feel comfortable receiving it. Public health officials should also work with the media to promote accurate, timely information on vaccines while proactively addressing COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. Public health units and the media must work together to ensure that easily understood and accurate information is widely shared on social media platforms. Public health officials should assign staff to directly address widely shared misinformation on social media and within the comments of articles appearing in the mainstream media. Now is the time to ensure Canadians have trusted sources for health facts so we can all avoid conspiracy theories and make evidence-informed decisions about vaccines. Melissa MacKay, MPH, is a PhD Student in Public Health at the University of Guelph and a faculty member at Conestoga College. Dr. Anthony Piscitelli, PhD is a professor for the Conestoga College Public Service Program. Read more about: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP's Bihar election in-charge on Monday took a jibe at promise of 10 lakh government jobs and said that the RJD leader Yadav will buy 10 lakh country-made firearms and distribute them among his supporters and promote abductions, looting and robberies in the state. "Yesterday, I heard that will give jobs to 10 lakh people in the first cabinet. I get to know to whom they will give jobs. They will give the order for 10 lakh country-made pistols and Bihar will again see kidnappings and looting. Yadav will distribute those pistols among his supporters. This is the job, he was talking about. He will give jobs to 10 lakh kidnappers, looters and murderers," Fadnavis said addressing a town hall meeting of BJP workers here. "We will see the same kind of Bihar that was there under Lalu Yadav's rule in which girls could not go outside in the evening, no one was allowed to by new car. We have seen a Bihar which had no electricity, water and roads. This NDA government has provided all the basic facilities in all villages, this is the change government brought in in its tenure," he added. Fadnavis further said that the present Bihar is the "Bihar of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sushil Modi and Nitish Kumar." "Bihar is a land of revolutions. The present Bihar will contribute in the development of the nation. Bihar has 58 per cent youth population. Bihar youth will contribute most in the development of the country. We will jobs to youth make them self independent through Aatma Nirbhar Bharat," he added. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national president Tejasvi Surya alleged that the opposition leaders have become jobless under Modi government."The opposition has become jobless under Modi rule and they raise issues for themselves, not for youths. We understand the issues of jobs. We will try to fulfil the vacancy as soon as possible," he said. "BJP is the favourite party of Youth as it leads with example. In our party, a normal worker can become a PM and Home Minister of the government. In this election, NDA will win and do development work here and will seek work for 21 st century India," he added. Bihar assembly will be held in three phases - October 28, November 3 and 7 and the counting of votes will take place on November 10. In the 2015 Assembly polls, JD-U, RJD, and Congress had fought the together under the Mahagathbandhan banner.The BJP-led NDA had fought the with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies. RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the elections, followed by JD-U (71), and BJP (53). However, BJP got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent), followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JD-U (16.83 per cent). Differences later emerged between the RJD and JD-U and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returned to NDA. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks after being nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 26, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, and the Art of the Deal Commentary I have to admit that I havent read President Donald Trumps Art of the Deal, buthaving completed over a thousand business negotiations myselfIve admired his negotiating ability for years. Ive not always admired the man. However, the more I see his flaws, the more Im actually impressed with his negotiating skills. Despite presiding over multiple business bankruptcies, hes able to survive, often making a profit, and find investors for his next deal. Im not being sarcastic. To survive a business failure and convince people to invest in your next venture is an amazing negotiation skill. Years ago, when I was starting out in business, I was often frustrated by my inability to get things done. I brought in pages of research with numbers and documentation, proved I had the right answer, and yet was often ignored. I eventually asked the advice of a friend who had started a successful business. He recommended Dale Carnegies How to Win Friends and Influence People. I was skeptical, but I bought this short, easy-to-read book and dove into it. Every chapter was just common sense, but I realized I was abandoning common sense when I negotiated. One of these commonsense rules was that you cant negotiate by insulting the other party. You need to boost the ego of the other party, make them feel like a partner not an adversary. It doesnt mean that you give in to them; it means that you want them to feel good afterwards, like they came out ahead. This is a key for long-term success, not short-term gain. I started applying these principles and started seeing many more successes than failures. Obama definitely didnt know how to negotiate. He treated other participants in the negotiations like beloved friends if they were dictators (e.g., the ayatollahs of Iran, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi) or like hated enemies if they were U.S. allies like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Republicans. Trump treats them like well like trusted apprentices. Democrats condemn Trump for praising Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, and Xi Jinping of China, among others. Ironically, though, Obama often praised these leaders, too. The difference is in their negotiation tactics. Trump knows how to negotiate, Obama didnt. Obama made his negotiation strategy and his end goal public, as in the case of his withdrawal from Iraq. He often led with his final offer, and then settled for an even worse outcome, as he did with the Iran deal. The leaders of these countries knew how poorly Obama negotiated, how easy it was to get more from him in return for empty promises, so they took advantage. Trump praises his negotiating partner but starts with a very demanding offer that will probably be rejected. Its a starting point not an end goal of the negotiation. And he negotiates from a position of strength. Reagan was famous for doing thisall negotiators should know this, but many dont. Except during his election campaigns, Reagan didnt do much to knock down his image in the press as a wild cowboy (or simultaneously a senile old man) with his finger on the nuclear trigger. Thats the kind of person others dont even want to negotiate with, so Reagan tended to get better deals, too. Now its time for the Democrats to negotiate with regard to Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. I hear complaints from Democrats that the Republicans are hypocrites. After all, in 2016 they wouldnt hold a hearing on Obamas pick Merrick Garland, complaining that it was too close to an election11 months. Now, with less than 2 months to go, the Republicans are holding a hearing and a vote. What these Democrats choose to ignore, is that in 2016, the Democrats were emphatic that its a sitting presidents duty to immediately install a new justice to the court. Perhaps President Trump and the Republicans are simply recognizing the truth of the argument that the Democrats made so strenuously four years ago. Whats really happening? This is a negotiation. All parties in a negotiation look after their own interests, and press the issues to their own advantage, preferably within the constraints of legality and morality. They may make all kinds of excuses, but the truth is that the Republicans had the power in 2016, having control of the Senate, and they have it again now with control of the presidency too. With Never-Trumpers like Republicans Mitt Romney on board, and Republican moderates Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on the fence, the Democrats have little chance of stopping Judge Barretts nomination. The Democrats need to realize that they are, in fact, negotiating not with the Republicans, because theyve already lost that negotiation, but with the American public. They need to convince Americans that Joe Biden will provide something better in return for their vote. But part of that deal must be reflected in how they treat Judge Barrett. If they treat her like they treated Brett Kavanaugh, they will strengthen their base, but lose the crucial moderates. And whether they want to admit it or not, women and men are different. While you might be able to get away with destroying the reputation of a man, few people with sympathize if they do it to a woman. The lesson is that you can win by being tough, but not by attacking the people with whom youre negotiating. Well soon see who understands this better, and who is the more successful negotiator, Biden or Trump. Bob Zeidman is the creator of the field of software forensics and the founder of several successful high-tech Silicon Valley firms including Zeidman Consulting and Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering. His latest venture is Good Beat Poker, a new way to play and watch poker online. Hes the author of textbooks on engineering and intellectual property as well as screenplays and novels. His latest novel is the political satire Good Intentions. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hand with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. Fred Dufour | AFP | Getty Images SINGAPORE As the rivalry between the U.S. and China intensifies, investors and analysts are increasingly worried that the two economies will grow more distant from each other a development that would make it harder for companies to operate on the international stage. There have been signs that the world's two top economies have started to go their separate ways, some observers said. In recent months, Washington began targeting several major Chinese technology companies such as smartphone-maker Huawei and short-video sharing app TikTok's owner ByteDance making it more difficult for them to do business in the U.S. Beijing is also expected to place foreign firms on a blacklist that it's developing, known as the "unreliable entity list." U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of divorcing the two economies. However, various data sets suggest the process may be quite challenging at least for now as the two countries have grown more connected over the last decade. U.S.-China trade A large part of the relationship between the U.S. and China is centered on trade, with the two countries having been each other's major trading partner for years. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Those ties suffered somewhat following a tariff fight that erupted in 2018, but bilateral trade of goods and services still totaled a substantial $636.8 billion last year, according to data by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The trading relationship is an uneven one. In merchandize goods trade, the U.S. imports way more from China than it exports to the Asian country; but the reverse is seen in services trade, in which China buys more from the U.S. than the amount it sells, BEA data showed. Despite touting separation of the two countries, or what some have referred to as "decoupling," Trump has sought to push China to purchase more U.S. agricultural products to appease American farmers who are seen as a crucial voting bloc for him in the upcoming presidential election in November. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Both countries also tried to address their large goods trade imbalance by having China to agree to import more from the U.S. in the so-called phase one trade deal signed earlier this year. But experts said trade between the two countries will likely deteriorate further this year as relations worsen and the coronavirus pandemic hit global economic activity. Supply chain linkages Beyond direct trade, the U.S. and China have also become "increasingly interdependent through rising supply-chain linkages over the past decade," Fitch Ratings said in a report last month. Supply chains are a complex network of companies that work together to provide raw materials, intermediate parts or expertise in order to produce a final product or service that can be consumed either domestically or globally. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards It's hard to gather accurate data that breaks down specific supply chain contributions by each company. However, the OECD or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development launched a database in 2013 that provides some insight into how global supply chains work. Latest available estimates by the OECD showed that in 2015, foreign input accounted for 12.2% or around $2.2 trillion of total goods and services consumed in the U.S. China was the largest contributing country of that foreign input, the data showed. Some manufacturers within the U.S. were especially reliant on China for intermediate input or final products, said Fitch, citing the OECD data. Those include American producers of textiles, electronics, basic metals and machinery, the agency said. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards In China, foreign suppliers made up around 14.2%, or $1.4 trillion, of total goods and services consumed within its borders in 2015, according to OECD data. The U.S. was also the largest single contributing country to that foreign input, the estimates showed. In contrast with U.S. reliance on Chinese input in the manufacturing sector, China is "much more" dependent on American contribution in services, said Fitch. Investment flows While trade and supply chain inter-dependency may be difficult to unravel, investment flows between the U.S. and China have dropped as bilateral tensions escalate. Over the last three years, the total value of foreign direct investment and venture capital deals between the countries have been falling, according to data by Rhodium Group. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards NEW DELHI : India has provided a Dornier aircraft to the Maldives to help the island nation enhance surveillance over its exclusive economic zone as well as to keep an eye on sea-borne terrorists, government sources said on Tuesday. The aircraft will be operated by the Maldives National Defence Force (MDNF). The Dornier and its running costs will be borne by India, they said. The requirement for the Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft was raised by the then Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen during a visit to India in 2016. Seven Maldivian military personnel including pilots, air observers and engineers are being trained by the Indian Navy to operate the aircraft, the sources said. "The aircraft will also be used in operations against drug trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. India has been regularly sharing information with the Maldives on movement of drug traffickers," said a source. The sources said the aircraft will assist in ongoing joint surveillance by India and Maldives over the exclusive economic zone of the island nation. "In light of the Mahibadhoo and Laamu attacks by suspected terrorists, the Dornier aircraft will also be useful in the counter-terrorism sphere. The isolated and dispersed nature of islands and resorts can be safeguarded only by a technologically capable fixed wing aircraft," said the source. In mid-April, five speedboats and two dinghies at the harbour of Mahibadhoo island in the Maldives were set ablaze by suspected terrorists. "As per Govt-to-Govt Agreement & discussions started in 2016,the Dornier arrives! It will engage in humanitarian relief efforts & joint-EEZ surveillance under command & control of #MNDF; It proudly dons #MNDF colours & crest,and will involve Maldivian pilots in its operations," the Indian High Commission in Male tweeted. Ties between India and the Maldives were back on track after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih became president of the country in November 2018. The relations between two countries deteriorated during Yameen's tenure as he was seen as close to Beijing. The ties came under severe strain after Yameen imposed emergency in the Maldives on February 5, 2018. India had criticised his decision and asked his government to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The emergency lasted 45 days. Solih became president after he defeated Yameen in the presidential polls. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Maharashtra BJP Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday accepted that the talks held between former CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut at a city hotel three days ago was indeed political". Both the parties had till now been denying it, with Fadnavis saying that the meeting was connection with an interview for Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana. Raut is also executive editor of the Marathi daily. Saturday meeting between Fadnavis and Raut was political but nothing was attained from it. The situation in the state is serious, and my analysis is that its time for re-election. The three parties cant run the government together," Patil told CNN-News18. Long-standing allies Shiv Sena and the BJP had severed ties after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over sharing the chief ministerial post for two-and-half years on a rotational basis. The Shiv Sena had then joined hands with ideological rivals NCP and the Congress and formed the present Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with Thackeray as its head in November last year. A day ago, BJP ally and Union minister Ramdas Athawale had asked Shiv Sena to reunite with the BJP to form government in Maharashtra and also suggested a power-sharing formula between the two saffron parties. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Athawale said Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray should remain chief minister for one year and then the coveted post should go to BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for the remaining three years (of current assembly term). Athawale also said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar should join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the event of the Shiv Sena not forging ties with the BJP. SANTIAGO, Chile The red-legged cormorants that make their nests along the coast of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile normally use a mixture of seaweed, feathers and guano to build their homes. But in a pinch, they'll use whatever is available. And in Mejillones Bay, a busy port town, plastic waste is plentiful. This could be the most contaminated nesting colony in the world, said Ana Garcia-Cegarra, a professor of biology at the University of Santo Tomas Antofagasta. The cormorant colony is the subject of a new paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, which Garcia-Cegarra is an author of and was produced in conjunction with the nonprofit Marine Fauna and Whale-Watching Center. It found that every bird nest contained some plastic. Other studies have found maybe 80 percent of nests in a colony had some plastic content, but all 100 percent of the 151 nests we counted contained plastic," Garcia-Cegarra said. A recent study found that all cormorant nests in Mejillones Bay had at least some plastic. (The Marine Fauna and Whale-Watching Center) Photos taken by researchers show how the red-legged cormorants used plastic shopping bags, nylon fishing tackle and strips of sand bags from industrial works when building nests for their young. The study and photos offer a striking look at how plastic pollution has hammered ocean and coastal ecosystems. Though plastics have been widely used by humans for 70 years, their devastating environmental impacts are only just starting to be understood. Its only really in the last five years or so that we have seen a surge in studies revealing the true scale of the amount of plastic contamination on our planet, with most of its detrimental effects reported in our oceans, said Mauricio Urbino, a zoologist at Chiles University of Concepcion. The worrying thing is that, if we dont reduce plastic use now, it is only going to get worse. Garcia-Cegarra said that the plastics are dangerous to birds, and that they had found many dead cormorants in nests while assessing them. The two main threats were birds becoming entangled and starving or suffocating when they were unable to free themselves, or when they ingested the plastics. Story continues "As these birds are divers, they probably collect the plastics from the seabed and transfer them to their nests, Garcia-Cegarra said. Swallowing the plastics, as they sometimes do, might kill them. Equally, they might transfer them to their chicks or accumulate toxins in their organs. One third of the plastics from the nests analyzed by Garcia-Cegarra's team were plastic shopping bags, which Chile banned in 2018 for large supermarkets, but the use of which still continues among small retailers. About 35 percent of the plastics were from maxi sand bags used by some of the bays port industries as wave breakers, while 15 percent of the nest plastics was fishing gear. Due to the bays calm waters, nine large port terminals have been installed since 2003, serving local mines for lead, carbon, lithium, oil and copper. While cormorants normally choose cliffs and caves for their nests, underhangs on the piers at three of the terminals were chosen by cormorants as nesting sites. After nearly 20 years of heavy industry and bad control over single-use plastics like shopping bags in the town, there is probably now more plastic than seaweed available to the birds, Garcia-Cegarra said. Image: Ana Garcia-Cegarra (The Marine Fauna and Whale-Watching Center) Yacqueline Montecinos, a marine conservation officer at the World Wildlife Fund Chile, said that the impacts of plastics on marine fauna are intensifying every year and that the results of the study were unsurprising. What you are seeing with these cormorants is sadly something thats happening in every part of the ocean, and a threat to all species of marine fauna, she said. Montecinos also warned that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a colossal island of plastic waste estimated to be the size of Mexico, sometimes circulates on currents close to Chiles coast and the site of the birds colony. We have seen contamination in other animals close to this phenomenon, she said. It could be adding to the volume of plastics in the birds environment. The Antofagasta region, where the bay sits, is one of Chiles wealthiest due to the high amount of extractive industries. Mejillones, around 40 miles north of the regional capital, also named Antofagasta, was historically a small fishing town that started to boom in the 1800s after nearby guano deposits were exploited, with the nine new port terminals now also serving a major gas works and thermo-electric plant. Our bad habits in the consumption of plastic are affecting all marine fauna, now reaching bird nests, abyssal pits in the depths of the ocean and even to our table due to the fish or mussels that ingest it, Garcia-Cegarra said. We must act now and reduce our plastic consumption. The civil aviation authority of Dubai has blacklisted four Indian laboratories in Delhi, Jaipur and Kerala and asked airlines not to accept passengers who have tested for Covid-19 from these laboratories. Business Standard looks at what prompted the move, government powers and whether it is fair to penalise a laboratory in such cases. i) Passengers travelling to Dubai are tested twice As per Dubai government regulations, passengers need to have a negative result in a RT-PCR test conducted within 96 hours of departure. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. 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Digital Editor NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- During National Suicide Prevention Month the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in partnership with the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA), the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA), and the Veterinary Medical Association Executives (VMAE), are releasing a new resource, After a Suicide: A Guide for Veterinary Workplaces. This new free guide will help support veterinary workplaces in the aftermath of an employee's death by suicide. "Supporting veterinary medical professionals in the aftermath of a colleague's suicide is vital. Because suicide loss survivors can develop significant grief and even physical and mental health issues if not appropriately supported, postvention is a critical step and is actually part of suicide prevention. The appropriate handling of the aftermath of a suicide in a veterinary office can pave the way for a workplace culture that is smart about mental health," said Dr. Christine Moutier, AFSP chief medical officer . "At a time when people across our society, including veterinarians and their staffs, are experiencing great stress, I am very grateful to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for their expertise and collaboration in developing this essential mental health resource for our members," said Dr. Douglas Kratt, AVMA president. "The guide will ensure that our members and their teams get the critical support they need in the event of a colleague's suicide death, and help to prevent future deaths by suicide." "An employee's suicide has a deep and disturbing impact on survivors, including coworkers. Managers who have had to support and comfort employees in the wake of such a tragedy understand the importance of offering grief counseling and other actions to support employees, mitigate the impact of the trauma, and prevent further loss. After A Suicide: A Guide for Veterinary Workplaces is a valuable management resource and much-needed guide because it provides comprehensive, empathetic, and step-by-step responses to these devastating and heartbreaking events," said Michelle Gonzales-Bryant, CVPM, VHMA President. Developed by experts in veterinary medicine, suicide prevention, and survivors of suicide loss in the veterinary medical community, the guide includes: best practices for how workplace leaders and staff should respond in the immediate aftermath of a suicide; guidance on helping the workplace community grieve and cope in the short- and long-term; tips on working with the media and community partners; important information on how to safely memorialize employees and to identify and support members of the community who may be vulnerable and reduce the risk of suicide contagion. To view the guide: https://afsp.org/veterinarians About the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report , and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube . About the American Veterinary Medical Association Since 1863, the American Veterinary Medical Assocation has served as the nation's leading advocate for the veterinary profession. We are a diverse and passionate group of professionals, representing more than 95,000 members, all striving to improve the health and wellbeing of animals, humans and the environment we share. About the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America For nearly 40 years, National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA)has served as the advocate for veterinary technicians, advancing veterinary nursing and veterinary technology in the United States. NAVTA is a dynamic community of more than 7,000 credentialed veterinary technicians dedicated to advancing the profession of veterinary nursing through advocacy, awareness, and professional development. NAVTA is a mission- and member-driven association encouraging diversity in ideas, perspectives, and people, committed to leading and elevating the profession. Learn more about NAVTA at navta.net. About the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association The Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA) is a nationally recognized thought-leader and innovator in providing training, education, and resources to more than 4,000 members and a trusted resource that the veterinary sector relies on for industry insights, research, and advocacy to assure performance at the highest levels. VHMA's core purpose is to advance and support veterinary practice management professionals by developing professional competence, supporting and encouraging standards through the industry's highest-level certification program, the Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM), and providing individuals with a network for professional connection and support. Learn more at www.vhma.org. About the Veterinary Medical Association Executives The Veterinary Medical Association Executives (VMAE) exists to help veterinary medical association executives create thriving organizations and provide effective leadership within the veterinary profession. VMAE supports its members in lifelong learning, connects them as a community, and fosters the sharing of best practices and great ideas. VMAE supports the wellbeing of veterinary professionals through active and meaningful collaboration with veterinary medical associations and strategic partners. Learn more about VMAE at www.vmae.org. SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Related Links www.afsp.org Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:00:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A child poses for photos with the Jade Rabbit lanterns at Kwai Chai Hong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 29, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- In a hidden alleyway in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, colorful lanterns and calm music create a "moon like" atmosphere ahead of the traditional Mid-Autumn festival. The center piece of the display during the important festival when Chinese celebrate family reunion are eight lanterns featuring jade rabbit which exist on the moon in Chinese mythology. Zeen Chang, one of a group of enthusiasts rejuvenating the alley, said the Mid-Autumn festive decoration and exhibit were uniquely Malaysian with Chinese characteristics, with the artists expressing their art in recognition of Chinese culture. Drawing attention to one of the eight rabbit lanterns, Chang said artist Farah Mohan had researched the Chinese mythology, incorporating elements of the story into her work. On the ears of the rabbit lantern, the artist depicted the story of Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, who flied to the moon and live there with the companion of the jade rabbit. "We inter-learn about each other's culture. So when I told her about this project, she was excited but nervous at the same time, because she doesn't know any about the Mid-Autumn festival. Then she studied about Mid-Autumn Festival and she came up with the idea of showing the story of how the rabbit got its title as the jade rabbit," Chang told Xinhua. Siow Ho Phiew, maker of another rabbit lantern, said he drew inspiration from Malaysia's traditional Batik technique, where wax is applied to the portions of the cloth that will be left undyed in making his work. "I did it with the intention to mix Malaysian and Chinese culture together," he said. The alley, known as Kwai Chai Hong (Little Ghost Road in the Cantonese), has been open to the public as an accessible and faithful recreation of the look it had decades ago when it was a point of congregation for the local Chinese community. Chang has been working with partners to transform the once neglected alley into a vibrant tourist trap. She said maintaining the historical Chinese footprint and heritage of the area is important. Besides the rabbit lanterns, there are more permanent exhibits include six murals depicting the daily activities of local residents in the area during the 1960s, one of which is a Chinese calligrapher, who usually wrote down dictated letters by those living in the area to be sent back to China. As many of traditional events to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival in Kuala Lumpur were cancelled or moved online due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the alley and exhibits drew many visitors. A visitor who identified herself as Jinnie said she came to see the exhibition to get a feel of the festival. "Because this year we can not do the gathering, so I decided to drop by and see for this exhibition," she said. Chang said precautious measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the visitors. "Whatever we plan, we are very conscious about keeping people safe. We know that there is a lot of (cases), especially now there is a spike," she said. "On a weekend, we are much more particular, we go through the number of pax that can come in. So once we reach about 60 people we will stop. The gate will be closed." Siow, the maker of a rabbit lantern, said the COVID-19 pandemic would not stop people from celebrating the festival of reunion. "The pandemic has affected the whole world, but as artist we should not just give up when large events are cancelled," he said. "We could just change how we do it like here in the Kwai Chai Hong." Enditem By Trend The members of the Russian State Duma must make their contribution to the settlement of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region and the removal of tension through the parliamentary dialogue, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia Viacheslav Volodin said, Trend reports referring to DUMA TV. Volodin made the remark after the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted a statement on the inadmissibility of the use of force and the need for an immediate ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh region. It is necessary to emphasize once again that the members of the State Duma stand for a diplomatic way of resolving the conflict [the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict], for political decisions, Volodin added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The potentially high cost of an intensive care unit stay for COVID-19 has driven home how important it is to have insurance. Read more At just 18 years old, John FitzGerald signed up to serve his country in World War II, survived being a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over Germany in 1944, and went on to serve 40 years with the military. But at 96, the coronavirus was a foe he couldnt beat. He died May 10, after a 10-day stay in isolation at Riddle Hospital in Delaware County. Theyd call us every day to give us an update, but he just got progressively worse, his son-in-law Patrick Thompson recalled. The family knew their patriarch wasnt invincible, but we didnt think it was going to be a virus. Months later, as the family was still grappling with a loss they hadnt expected, they got another surprise: an explanation of benefits from FitzGeralds health insurer that showed the hospital had charged $97,000. TRICARE, which provides health coverage for military members and veterans, had paid $15,000 of that. What does it mean? Thompson, of Media, wondered. Did his father-in-laws care really cost almost $100,000? If so, why was the hospital willing to accept just a fraction of that from TRICARE? And, most important, was it only a matter of time until someone came after the family for the remaining $82,000? The coronavirus pandemic has exposed major fissures in our health-care system, including the crushing and at times seemingly arbitrary cost of care. Price tags vary widely depending on where you seek care, and what type of insurance you have. Hospitals and doctors routinely charge prices that are magnitudes more than they expect to receive from insurance companies, though those who are uninsured, or who see a doctor who is not in their plans network, could be stuck with the full bill. While most people with insurance will never pay these so-called chargemaster prices, plans with high deductibles and cost-sharing make lengthy hospital stays a costly affair. And the potentially high cost of an intensive care unit stay for COVID-19 has driven home how important it is to have insurance. This is America. Hospitals can charge whatever they want, said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation. COVID is the kind of thing that can come along, and quite unexpectedly you go from being healthy to needing a lot of medical care. Its a reminder why we need protection even if most of the time were feeling great. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. COVID-19 highlights cost disparities FAIR Health, a data company, estimated that hospitals charge an average of $73,300 for a COVID-19 hospital stay and that private insurers allowed about $38,221. Costs were higher for patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit or needed extensive care, such as a ventilator, and less for those with shorter hospital stays. The price Medicare pays is likely much lower. In general, Medicare pays a fraction of what private insurers pay for health-care services because the federally run health program does not negotiate rates. Medicaid rates generally are lower still. A study by RAND Corp., a nonprofit policy think tank, found that employer-sponsored health plans, the most common type of private health insurance in the U.S., paid hospital rates 247% times more than what Medicare would have paid. Medicare is a big system; it has a lot of bargaining power. I would not expect that employers would ever be able to pay the same amount as Medicare, said Chris Whaley, a health policy researcher for RAND. While these gaps may be most troubling in the short term to employers, the costs eventually trickle down to their employees. Its not like these numbers come from a magic health-care money tree, Whaley said. They come out of the wages and benefits for workers. Already a top household expense for many, health-care and health insurance costs have become even more burdensome to consumers during the pandemic. Many people have lost coverage along with their jobs, while others may be struggling to cover premiums and copays for doctors visits. In the early months of the pandemic, lawmakers were quick to establish temporary protections for patients. The federal CARES Act mandated free coronavirus tests, and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services loosened regulations to allow people covered by Medicare to more freely use telemedicine to see their doctors. Many private health insurers followed suit, and have temporarily waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment. Independence Blue Cross, the largest insurer in the Philadelphia region, said it has extended its COVID-19 policies, including waiving cost-sharing for treatment of the virus and coverage for telemedicine visits, through the end of the year. READ MORE: Coronavirus has forced doctors, insurers to embrace telemedicine like never before It is too soon to forecast specific long-term benefits for 2021, but we are regularly assessing the benefit changes to address our members needs, Donna Farrell, a spokesperson for Independence Blue Cross, said in a statement. As the pandemic stretches into the second half of the year, health-care analysts say they expect that insurers will treat COVID-19 hospitalizations like any other: covered, but still costly for many patients. The average deductible of an employer-sponsored health plan topped $1,600 for an individual in 2019, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and that figure is higher for many people this year. The cost-sharing rules in many plans require people to pay a certain portion of the negotiated rate even after their deductible is met. Whats more, patients may face surprise balance bills if they are unknowingly treated by a provider who does not have a contract with their insurance plan. Even if you go to an in-network hospital, its possible that you will see an anesthesiologist or emergency department doctor who does not work directly for the hospital and is not in the network. These providers are not required to accept the lower rates offered by insurance plans as full payment; if they bill patients for the remainder, thats known as a surprise bill. This is a time for all of us to recognize we have baked-in weaknesses in a lot of our health plans, Pollitz said. These COVID stories are reminding us that those are important, too. Medicare prohibits balance billing, but that doesnt mean elderly patients will necessarily escape unscathed. Traditional Medicare requires patients to pay 20% of the allowed rate, which could still be a hefty price for a complex hospital stay if you do not have a supplement plan to cover you. COVID-19 costs also shake hospitals Hospitals are also grappling with how to manage COVID-19 costs in the long term. The pandemic forced hospitals to spend millions for personal protective equipment while absorbing a sharp increase in costly emergency and intensive care services. At the same time, they were unable to perform the routine surgeries, scans, and other procedures that make up the bulk of their revenue. READ MORE: Coronavirus delaying nonurgent medical procedures, leaving some patients anxious and in pain (from April) Federal grants have helped shore up operations, but hospitals say they are still struggling to regain their footing. Main Line Health, which includes Riddle Hospital, where FitzGerald was treated, received $112 million in federal funds for COVID-19 expenses. Medicare and TRICARE have been paying an additional 20% for COVID-19 hospital stays. Thats a huge boost, but it doesnt make up in total the deficit we lose in caring for Medicare patients, said Jack Lynch, CEO of Main Line Health. The system posted a loss of $60 million for the fiscal year that ended in July, largely because of losing elective procedures. Procedures and visits have nearly returned to their pre-COVID levels at Main Line Health hospitals, but emergency department visits are still down 13%. Declines in the number of stroke and heart attack patients have providers concerned that people who need care are too frightened of COVID-19 to get it. READ MORE: Cardiac, stroke cases still down at Philly-area hospitals as patients continue to delay care Lynch said he understands that the discrepancies among what it costs hospitals to provide care, what they charge, and what patients pay are confusing and, at times, alarming. All hospitals have been working hard at being more affordable, he said. Were really focused on, how do we lower the cost of care so when we get paid, the amount we get paid and what it costs is narrowed? In the meantime, some consumers are left scratching their heads. Thompson said his family has not received a bill for FitzGeralds care and dont expect to since the explanation of benefits they received from TRICARE said he didnt owe anything. Hes relieved but also concerned for people who required more extensive treatment or who have less generous coverage or both. Its just a shock if whatever is not covered [by insurance], if people have to make up the difference, Thompson said. Its going to be staggering. Trump v. Biden first 2020 presidential debate: Here's what to expect Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will face off tonight in the first of three presidential debates ahead of the election on Nov. 3. The first debate, taking place at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, will be moderated by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace and will consist of six 15-minute segments. Wallace announced the topics for the debate last week. The candidates will be asked about their respective records, the Supreme Court, the novel coronavirus, the economy, race and violence in American cities, and the integrity of the election. Fox News producer Pat Ward said Tuesday that during negotiations for the first debate the Biden campaign requested two 30-minute breaks, which was turned down by the Trump campaign. For its part, the Trump campaign asked that a third party inspect debaters' ears for electronic devices or transmitters. While Trump consented to the inspection, Biden reversed his decision. Ward said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon: Joe Bidens handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined." Trump had also demanded that both he and Biden take a drug test before or after the debate. Due to COVID-19, the first debate will not have many of the characteristics viewers typically associate with presidential face-offs. According to Politico, the two sides have decided to forego the traditional pre-debate handshake in light of the virus. Rather than a large audience filled with supporters of both candidates, the debate will feature a scaled-back audience with 75 to 80 people, all of whom will undergo testing for coronavirus beforehand. In addition, the traditional post-debate spin room will go by the wayside in light of the pandemic. Other than the aforementioned modifications, the evening will proceed much like debates have in the past. Neither candidate nor Wallace will wear a mask and a coin toss determined who will receive the first question. Trump won the coin toss. Mirroring the two candidates positions on the ideological spectrum, Trump will stand on the right and Biden will stand on the left. Recent news stories will almost certainly come up at the debate, even if they are not brought up by the moderator. The New York Times report about Trump's taxes and a Senate report detailing millions of questionable transactions between Bidens son, Hunter, and foreign associates are two examples of stories that broke in the past week after Wallace had already selected debate topics. Leading up to the debate, there was much discussion as to whether Biden should show up. Many big names in the Democratic Party, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have argued that the Democratic nominee should not debate the president. Pelosi cited her opinion that Trump has not comported himself in a way that anybody should and has no association with truth, evidence, data and facts as the justification for why Biden should refuse to debate him. Joe Lockhart, a CNN commentator who was a press secretary for former President Bill Clinton, made a similar argument, proclaiming that Biden should not give his opponent an opportunity to take the truth and destroy it. Trumps team had called for an additional presidential debate at the beginning of September since many states have already begun early voting. Biden, however, did not agree to a fourth debate ahead of early voting. In the past, the most memorable debate moments are often those that caught one of the candidates by surprise. In 2000, Democratic nominee Al Gore awkwardly stood up and walked toward his Republican opponent, future President George W. Bush, as he answered a question at a town hall-style debate. Bush nodded at Gore as the audience laughed in amusement. In 2016, Hillary Clinton brought up Trumps past statements about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, leading the candidate to go on the defensive about his comments for days following the debate. Presidential debates can change the narrative of a race for multiple days and sometimes, they can irreversibly change voters perceptions of political candidates. In a 1988 presidential debate, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis gave a response to a hypothetical question asking whether he would support the death penalty if his wife was raped and murdered that many saw as emotionless. NBC News later described the candidates response as the debate answer that ruined Michael Dukakis in 1988. Shortly after the debate, Dukakis lost to Republican George H.W. Bush, the most recent candidate to win more than 400 electoral votes. Four years later, one of the debates reflected negatively on Bush the senior, who checked his watch as if he did not want to be there and struggled to answer an audience members question. That fall, George H.W. Bush became the most recent incumbent president to lose reelection. In 2016, the most noteworthy debate moment came when Trump refused to definitively say that he would accept the results of the election. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, described Trumps response as horrifying. However, following that election, it was Clinton who did not accept the election results. The first presidential debate of 2020 is expected to boast a large audience, with a Monmouth Poll finding that 74% of voters are planning on tuning in. The debate will broadcast on Fox News at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will last for 90 minutes. Following a vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City next week, Trump and Biden will debate in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 15 and in Miami, Florida, on Oct. 22. What immediately became apparent as the pandemic hit was that this virus, and the way we responded to it, replicated the experience of being hit with any type of chronic illness. We saw how our lives could be transformed into something unrecognisable in just a blink of the eye. It felt like muscle memory for me and for many people with chronic illness, each stage mirroring the ones I had gone through when I first became unwell. But this time, rather than a quiet retreat into a bedroom alone, the experience was being shared by the world. People who have chronic illness have faced the challenges the pandemic presented before: isolation, fear, employment instability and loss, mental health challenges, confronting your mortality, and life being utterly transformed in the smallest fraction of time. When cities began to shut down, many people with chronic illness noted that their lives stayed much the same. There are no structures that meaningfully support an illness that is ongoing. Credit:istock As Melbourne became even more isolated and turned within itself when the second wave hit, slowly the penny began to drop. This pandemic was not going away soon. It was chronic. What we had hoped might take us a couple of months we were beginning to understand would now be much longer. And with that understanding came the slow dawning that this changed life would be our new identity. 'Offsets will not be applicable in single vendor, government-to-government and IGA (inter-government agreement) deals as per DAP 2020,' an official said New Delhi: In a major move, India has done away with offset requirements for government-to-government defence deals and single-vendor contracts under a new policy unveiled on Monday for the procurement of arms and military platforms for the armed forces, officials said. The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) released by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh provides for allowing the three forces to take on lease military equipment, hardware and platforms like helicopters, simulators and transport planes as per operational requirements as it could be a cheaper option than their procurement, the officials said. The decision to do away with the offset requirements for government-to-government deals, single-vendor contracts and acquisitions under the framework of intergovernmental pacts came days after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) came down hard on the government over poor implementation of the offset policy. Under the offset policy, the foreign defence entities, for all contracts worth more than Rs 300, were mandated to spend at least 30 percent of the total contract value in India through procurement of components, transfer of technologies or setting up of research and development facilities. The CAG had specifically mentioned about the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale deal, and said the manufacturer of the plane Dassault Aviation and weapons supplier MBDA were yet to fulfil their offset obligations of offering high technology to India. The offset component in the deal was 50 per cent. "Offsets will not be applicable in single vendor, government-to-government and IGA (inter-government agreement) deals as per DAP 2020," said Apurva Chandra, Director General of Acquisition in the defence ministry, adding the offset policy will remain in force contracts involving competitive bidding. "No offset contract has led to transfer of technology," he said indicating that it could be the reason behind the government decision. Another official said removing offset obligations for contracts under the three categories is likely to result in a reduction of cost of acquisitions as the defence firms used to factor in funds required to fulfil offset conditions. The DAP, released after over a year-long consultation with concerned stakeholders, features a number of steps aimed at turning India into a global manufacturing hub of military platforms, reducing timelines for the procurement of defence equipment and allowing the purchase of essential items by the three services through capital budget under a simplified mechanism. The first defence procurement procedure was promulgated in 2002 and since then, it has been revised periodically to provide impetus to the growing domestic industry. The DAP will come into effect from 1 October. The DAP also incorporates new chapters on information and communication technologies, post-contract management, acquisition of systems developed by the state-run defence entities like the DRDO and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), they said. In what is seen as a significant move, the DAP featured measures to reduce delay in the procurement of essential items by the three services as it proposed a new enabling provision to acquire them through capital budget under a simplified procedure in a time-bound manner. The defence minister said the DAP has also included provisions to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) to establish manufacturing hubs both for import substitution and exports while protecting the interests of the Indian domestic industry. "The offset guidelines have also been revised, wherein preference will be given to manufacture of complete defence products over components and various multipliers have been added to give incentivisation in discharge of offsets," the defence minister tweeted. He said the DAP has been aligned with the vision of the government''s ''Aatmanirbhar Bharat'' (self-reliant India) initiative and to empower the Indian domestic industry through ''Make in India'' projects with the ultimate aim of turning the country into a global manufacturing hub. The policy also provides for single-stage accord of AoN (Acceptance of Necessity) in all cases up to Rs 500 crore to cut delays in approval of acquisition proposals. The DAP also mentioned measures to reform pre-induction testing of defence equipment. "Scope of trials will be restricted to physical evaluation of core operational parameters. Other parameters may be evaluated based on vendor certification, certification by accredited laboratories, computer simulations of parameters etc," it said. LONDON British billionaire Jim Mellon said he is planning to take his life extension company Juvenescence public in the next six to 12 months. Founded in October 2016, Juvenescence is investing in a wide range of anti-ageing therapies that it thinks have the potential to extend the human life. One of those investments is Insilico Medicine, which is aiming to use artificial intelligence for drug discovery. It has also backed AgeX Therapeutics, a California-headquartered firm trying to create stem cells that can regenerate ageing tissue, and LyGenesis, which wants to develop a technology that uses lymph nodes as bioreactors to regrow replacement organs. Speaking to CNBC on Monday from the Spanish island of Ibiza via Zoom, Mellon, who is the chairman of Juvenescence, said: "We have been approached by multiple investment banks and we have identified the investment banks we want to work with." Mellon, who has been previously called Britain's "answer to Warren Buffett," added: "We are likely, within the next six months to a year, to be a public company assuming everything goes well and markets don't collapse etc." The listing will probably be in the U.S. although no firm decision has been made. The IPO (initial public offering) appears to be running behind schedule; the Financial Times reported in June 2018 that it would happen at some point in 2019. Juvenescence, which has 29 employees in London, has raised about $170 million privately and Mellon said it still has a "fair amount of money left in the bank." Other billionaires, including Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Australian software firm Atlassian, and NEX Group founder Michael Spencer, have invested in the company. Mellon, who profited in the 1990s from Russian privatization and areas like mining, said there's a "good chance" that people his age will live another eight to 10 years as a result of the work being done by Juvenescence and other companies. "My life expectancy would be somewhere around 85 to 90 my father's actually 91," said Mellon, who reportedly introduced Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage to Leave.EU co-founder Arron Banks. "I would think that there's a good chance that I'm going to live to 100 plus." Mellon isn't the only billionaire who wants to live beyond a hundred. Michael Bloomberg, who was in the running to be the next U.S. president until recently, told Business Insider in 2017 he wants to live until he's 125. Elsewhere, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have both invested in San Francisco-based Unity Biotechnology, a company whose mission is to "extend human healthspan." Mellon is also the chairman of Regent Pacific, an investment firm listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange that focuses on the health care, wellness and life sciences sectors. Earlier this month, Regent Pacific acquired a firm called Deep Longevity for 29.56 million Hong Kong dollars ($3.81 million). Deep Longevity says it is aiming to develop user-friendly AI systems for physicians that can track the rate of ageing at the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, system, physiological and psychological levels. In the meantime, it is planning to launch a new iPhone app later this week called Young.AI that can tell people how old they look and suggest ways for them to reverse ageing. Alex Zhavoronkov, founder of Deep Longevity (and Insilico Medicine), told CNBC on the same call that Young.AI will be "a very playful app" that can tell users "their photographic age." He said users will also be able to upload blood test results to the app. "It will predict their age by blood," said Zhavoronkov, adding that he is aiming to live until he's 150 to 170 years old. Commenting on the app, Mellon said: "Young.AI is a useful tool for people to decide whether they should go to the doctor or not, or to measure themselves against their friends." However, he's more excited by how insurance companies will use the company's technology to decide if they want to take a risk on a particular person as a customer, adding that it could incentivize people to live healthier lifestyles. In the U.S., insurance companies can't discriminate based on prior conditions but they can use your health data to try to incentivize healthier behavior that could potentially lower their costs. Correction: A sentence has been removed from this article which incorrectly stated that Jim Mellon voted in the Brexit referendum. He was not eligible to vote as he is not a U.K. resident. MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (September 29) pulled up Shiv Sena leader Sanajy Raut over the controversial remark directed at Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and demanded to know if it was appropriate behaviour for a parliamentarian. "Even we don't agree with a word of what the petitioner (Kangana Ranaut) has said. But is this the way to address? We are also Maharashtrians. We are all proud Maharashtrians. But we don't go and break someone's house. Is this the way to react? Don't you have any grace?" a division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla asked Raut, who is a senior figure in Shiv Sena. The High Court, which stayed the demolition, is now conducting a final hearing on the actor's petition which has sought damages of Rs 2 crore for the 'illegal' action carried out by the BMC at her 'Manikarnika' office in Bandra on September 9. Kangana office by demolished by the BMC days after she drew comparision of Mumbai to PoK. Live TV Earlier during the hearing on Tuesday, Raut submitted an affidavit where he denied that he had threatened Kangana. While he had made a reference to Kangana, it 'wasn't in the way that the petitioner had alleged', it said. At this the court said that at least Raut accepted that he had been talking about Ranaut in the interview, as at an earlier hearing, his lawyer had denied that Raut had made any reference to her at all. In an interview to a newschannel, Raut had allegedly used an objectionable word while referring to the actor, and further said "What is law? Ukhad denge (we will demolish it)". "You are a parliamentarian. You have no respect for the law? You ask what is law?" the bench said. Raut's lawyer conceded that the Rajya Sabha member should have been more responsible. The BMC's 'H' ward officer Bhagyawant Late, also made a respondent to the case, stated that Ranaut's allegations of malice against him and the BMC were an attempt to divert the attention from the illegal construction at her Pali Hill bungalow. But the court asked what the BMC was doing when the alleged illegal construction going on. "Why did you wait to take any action until September 5 or September 7? You had turned a blind eye to it," the bench said. Ranaut's counsel Dr Birendra Saraf reiterated that the actor had not constructed anything illegally, and even if there were some irregularities, those could have been regularised by the civic body. Saraf had alleged earlier that the BMC carried out the demolition out of malice and vendetta after Ranaut made some comments against the Mumbai police that irked the Shiv Sena- led government in Maharashtra. The court adjourned the hearing to October 5. (With inputs from PTI) The goal is to provide companies with SEO knowledge so they can become a true force in their industry when it comes to their online presence and all of us at Propel are excited to help these businesses succeed. Propel Marketing & Design, Inc., a South Florida based Marketing Agency, is pleased to announce that its hosting a complimentary introductory SEO (Search Engine Optimization) class to the public, available online. This class is designed for entrepreneurs, small business owners, consultants, and marketers looking to generate more leads, website traffic, and brand recognition online. This introductory training is designed to simplify the SEO process for those who are just getting started, explained Darcy Sullivan of Propel Marketing & Design. SEO is an essential part of any business hoping to rank higher on the search engines and get in front of their target audience. Propels new course will streamline that process for business owners. Students who sign up for the free SEO course will learn: What SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is exactly Why SEO has such a huge impact on a companys bottom line How to spend less time creating content no one will find Simple SEO strategies to help increase website rankings, traffic, and conversions Common mistakes most people are making with their SEO / content marketing plan and how to avoid them A simple 3-step bulletproof method for increasing your online presence The goal is to provide companies with SEO knowledge so they can become a true force in their industry when it comes to their online presence and all of us at Propel are excited to help these businesses succeed, added Sullivan. Registration details can be found at https://propelyourcompany.com/simple-seo/. About Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. is a full-service internet marketing agency, located in Boynton Beach, Florida, that specializes in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media, website design, email campaigns, search engine marketing, public relations, graphic design, and marketing workshops. Propel works with clients to create effective and unique marketing strategies to help raise their online profile and support their business objectives. For more information please visit http://www.propelyourcompany.com. Contact: Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. (800) 943-2346 533 E. Ocean Ave. Suite #1 Boynton Beach, Florida 33435 ISLAMABAD - The chief of Afghanistans peace negotiating team said Tuesday on a visit to Pakistan that the time has come for the two neighbouring countries to shun the suspicion, stale rhetoric and tired conspiracy theories that have dogged past relations. Abdullah Abdullah is in Pakistan on a bridge-building mission meant to mend deep-rooted mistrust between the two countries. It was his first visit in 12 years. He met both Prime Minister Imran Khan and the powerful army chief. In a statement following talks with Abdullah, Khan vowed Pakistans support for a post-war Afghanistan. There was no immediate comment from Pakistans powerful military following Abdullahs meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, though it is widely accepted that Pakistans Afghan policy is mostly decided by the military. Earlier in the day, Abdullah told the Institute of Strategic Studies in the federal capital Islamabad that the two neighbours are on the threshold of a new relationship characterized by mutual respect, sincere co-operation and shared prosperity. I am a firm believer that after many troubling years, we now need to go beyond the usual stale rhetoric and shadowy conspiracy theories that have held us back, Abdullah said. We cannot afford to pursue business as usual. We need fresh approaches and our people demand it. It is more urgent than ever to look to our region as one region. His visit also comes at a crucial time in Afghanistans troubled history as a government-appointed negotiation team is in the Gulf state of Qatar brokering an end to war with its Taliban foes. Even before coming to power in 2018, Pakistans Prime Minister Khan has advocated for a political end to Afghanistans war and has been a strong critic of Washingtons so-called war on terror saying it has left tens of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans dead. But many in Afghanistan have been critical of the support the Taliban received in Pakistan following the collapse of their rule in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan argues its relationship with the Taliban was what gave it leverage to press the religious militia into negotiations. Still, Afghans are deeply suspicious of Pakistan and government officials fear Pakistans continued involvement in their country as a means to counter its hostile neighbour Indias influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan and India have gone to war three times and both Pakistan and India accuse each other of using Afghan territory to undermine stability in the region. Pakistan has come under international criticism for its support for some militant groups and opposition to others. While Pakistans military and politicians say that policy has been relegated to the past, Islamabads neighbours remain suspicious. We do not want a terrorist footprint in our country or to allow any entity to pose a threat to any other nation, Abdullah said Tuesday. The current intra-Afghan talks offer the best hope to put the war behind and using patience, dialogue and compromise to agree to unite the country. Abdullah and the United States, which brokered the peace deal with the Taliban to start negotiations with the government, have been pressing for talks to be accompanied by a reduction in violence. Khan in his meeting with Abdullah underscored that all Afghan parties must work for reduction in violence leading to ceasefire, according to a statement. The Taliban, however, have refused. We call on all sides to agree to seriously reduce violence and protect civilians from further harm as we aim for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire, Abdullah said. Still the violence continues and on Tuesday in Afghanistans central Day Kundi province a roadside bomb killed at least 14 civilians, including five children, as they travelled from one district to another, said Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. Peace is not only an Islamic tenet and duty, but it is also that unique historical opportunity that should not be squandered, said Abdullah. Now that the ice has been broken, we all have a role and a responsibility to help it move toward fruition and prevent a relapse. _______ Associated Press writer Tameem Akhgar in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report Read more about: The Africa Education Watch has called on the government to postpone the intended reopening of second-cycle institutions in the country originally slated for October 5. This according to the group will safeguard students and teachers owing to recent attacks by secessionist group Western Togolanders in parts of the Volta region. The group says schools have been targets of rebel groups in other parts of Africa where separatists groups have murdered many students and teachers. AEW in a presser signed by its Executive Director Asare Kofi and copied to the Minister of Education, and the Director-General, Ghana Education Service read in the past few days, Ghana has been terrified with news of various armed secessionist groups attacking communities, innocent citizens and security personnel in parts of the Volta Region. Schools have always been targeted by such rebel groups across Africa, especially in Nigeria and Cameroon where armed separatist groups have murdered many students and teachers in recent times. The statement added the decision by government to re-open Junior High and Senior High Schools on 5th October 2020 must be urgently reconsidered to save the lives of students, teachers and non-teaching staff in some 1,400 public and private JHS and SHS in the Volta Region. ---starrfm Joe Skipper/Reuters Elon Musk appeared to confirm on Monday that the US-based electric-vehicle company is planning to eventually design and manufacture new and differing car models at Gigafactory Shanghai and Berlin. This comes as Musk recently presented at Tesla's "Battery Day" on September 22 that he expects a $25,000 "fully autonomous electric vehicle" to hit the automobile market in roughly three years. The comment gives us a glimpse at how Musk envisions the two factories functioning and fitting into Tesla's roadmap of the design and manufacturing of future products. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Monday that the US-based electric vehicle company is eventually planning to manufacture two new and differing car models at its Gigafactories abroad. "Both will do original cars," Musk said in response to a tweet about the Gigafactories in Shanghai and Berlin and their respective design factories. Musk's remark expands the understanding of what Tesla's eventual roadmap is for its expanded supply chain, and hints that Tesla is planning to both design and manufacture news models in those two locations. Musk also confirmed that the $25,000, "fully autonomous" vehicle he teased during last week's Battery Day event won't be a low-cost version of a current vehicle. "We aren't cutting the price of Model 3 to $25k," Musk tweeted. The cheapest version of the Model 3 now starts at $35,000. "We're confident that long term, we can design and manufacture a compelling $25,000 electric vehicle," Musk said at Battery Day. "This has always been our dream, from the beginning of the company." He estimated that the goal is for the cheaper car, which would be Tesla's least expensive yet, to be ready in around three years. Story continues Musk made the announcement in November that he planned to build a Gigafactory in Berlin, stating that the first European location would be home to both an engineering and design center, according to CNBC. In January, Car and Driver reported that Musk said that Tesla planned to build a new design studio in China where it would produce the Model 3. Business Insider reported in August that Musk said that it's "highly likely" Tesla will eventually create a smaller version of the Cybertruck, which is about the size of the bigger versions of the Ford F-150. It could be marketed overseas where vehicle and road policies have led to a relatively weaker demand for large-sized trucks. Tesla plans to construct the originally announced Cybertruck by the end of 2021 at Gigafactory Austin. "We're really, fundamentally making this truck as a North American ass-kicker, basically," Musk said in an interview with Automotive News. "The goal is to kick the most amount of ass possible with this truck." Aside from the Cybertruck and yet-to-be-named $25,000 vehicle, Tesla is also working to launch the Tesla Semi and an all-new Roadster. Read the original article on Business Insider The United States has staged a simulated island assault exercise featuring a red silhouette of China on air personnels uniforms, in what Chinese state media described as a provocative gesture. The drill, to be completed on Tuesday, was being conducted in California, but triggered warnings from Chinese state media that China would fight back if the US attacked it in the South China Sea. US-based Air Force magazine reported that the training by the US veteran drone fleet, which began on September 3, suggested that the US Air Force was focusing more on the Pacific region. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. Patches on uniforms made for the exercise featured an MQ-9 Reaper drone superimposed over a red silhouette of China, the report said. US personnel staged a mock amphibious assault during this months drills. Photo: Air Force Magazine In the drill, Exercise Agile Reaper, three MQ-9s partnered with the US Navys Third Fleet, which deployed carrier strike groups, submarines and other vessels and aircraft to the eastern Pacific, along with transport aircraft C-130s, and special warfare and Marine Corps personnel. The reapers performed air strikes during a mock amphibious assault on San Clemente Island off the Californian coast. Its a demonstration of our capability to rapidly move the MQ-9 anywhere in the world, to unfamiliar locations, and then get out and show the operational reach capabilities of the MQ-9, US 29th Attack Squadron Commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Davis told the magazine. MQ-9 Reapers have been used in wars in the Middle East and Africa for two decades, but the US Air Force has considered replacing them over fears that their stealth, electronic protection and speed capabilities were falling behind those of more advanced drones produced by China and Russia, according to Air Force. Despite the training exercise taking place far from the Chinese coast, Chinas state media suggested that the drones could be deployed to attack Chinese-built facilities in the South China Sea. Story continues Washington is stepping up preparations for war against China, and this type of drone that has participated in murders and other attacks around the world will also play a role in it, an editorial by nationalistic tabloid Global Times said on Monday. This is the strategic signal sent from the exercise. This is to stir hostilities between the two countries, and is also a blackmail to China. Using such an armband with a Chinese map will stimulate peoples imagination and create a picture of China and the United States going to war. In August, retired Chinese naval officer Wang Yunfei suggested that the US might launch an attack on disputed Chinese-controlled reefs in the South China Sea to boost Trumps re-election prospects. Wang said the most likely target of a sudden US attack would be Scarborough Shoal, known in China as Huangyan Island. Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military commentator, said although the US Air Force had the ability to mount a drone attack against Chinese entities in the South China Sea, it was unlikely because China would retaliate and the consequences would be huge. Collin Koh, a research fellow from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapores Nanyang Technological University, agreed with Song, saying Reaper strikes against Chinas South China Sea outposts would have little impact on reinforced facilities such as the bunkers. [They] may cause some, but not too serious, damage to the other facilities especially the exposed ones, Koh said. Whats the whole game plan in using a drone strike? The Chinese would remain firmly in control of the outposts, and the strike would then justify the PLA to further militarise them. He added that a US strike would further undermine its credibility and hand a moral victory to Beijing in the South China Sea. Even if Trump is insane to think he can pull it off, I dont think his political and military advisers are, Koh said. More from South China Morning Post: This article Does this US military uniform suggest it is preparing for war with China? first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. Last weeks amendments to the law that regulates foreign grants to non-government organisations (NGOs) continues the recent trend of the centre making greater administrative demands on them, increasing their cost of compliance. The centre says the changes are aimed at strengthening the compliance mechanism, enhancing transparency and accountability" in a key funding source for the NGO sector. Civil society says the new regulations are ill-conceived and only add to the difficulty of their functioning. Three amendments in particular have riled NGOs: opening a pass-through bank account in a specified branch in New Delhi, stopping NGOs from transferring foreign grants to other registered NGOs, and the lower cap on administrative expenses. Each has significant financial and compliance implications for NGOs. Foreign grants received by NGOs are regulated by the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, or FCRA. In order to receive foreign funds, an NGO has to register with the ministry of home affairs. It is assigned a unique FCRA registration number, to be renewed every five years. Under the current regime at the centre, renewal has become more difficult, NGOs say. In 2015, the centre increased e-filing requirements. NGOs had to make quarterly filings of foreign grants received. They also had to notify within 15 days any changes in bank account, name, address, aims, objectives and key functionaries. Around the same time, the centre started weeding out duplicate FCRA registration numbersover time, several NGOs had accumulated more than one registration number. In 2019, the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP), Ashoka University, did a deep-dive into the FCRA database as part of a report titled Estimating Philanthropic Capital in India. This study showed that the Centre cancelled 10,069 FCRA registration in 2015 and another 4,943 in 2017. (Disclosure: howindialives.com was the data partner to CSIP, Ashoka University, in the above-mentioned study.) The impression that went out was large-scale violations and NGOs being barred en masse from accessing foreign funds. But this purge was mostly the cancellation of duplicate numbers. However, along with it also came instances of NGOs being barred from accessing foreign grants, and an increase in compliance requirements and scrutiny. This has impacted the number of FCRA-registered NGOs and the amount of foreign funds raised by them in recent years. The latest set of changes add to this feeling of siege. The first change is that every FCRA-registered NGO will have to open an FCRA-marked bank account with a designated branch of State Bank of India in New Delhi. These accounts will be the point of entry for all foreign grants. NGOs can subsequently route these funds to their existing FCRA-marked accounts across the country. According to CSIP, of the 21,490 NGOs that filed FCRA returns for 2018-19, only 1,488 were registered in Delhi. Thats only 7% of NGOs. Thus, this new rule will require functionaries of about 20,000 NGOs, spread across India, to come to Delhi to open a pass-through bank account. The second change is stopping the practice of an FCRA NGO transferring foreign grants received by it to other FCRA NGOs. NGOs cite such re-transfers as mutually beneficial. It leverages the spirit of collaboration that is typical of civil society. Large NGOs can also work with smaller NGOs, who work on the ground but cant raise foreign funds on scale by themselves. In 2018-19, according to CSIP, 4,107 NGOs registered in 380 districtsor about one in five FCRA NGOsreceived such re-grants. The total amount transferred was 1,768 crore and the median transfer value was 7.6 lakh. In other words, half the 4,107 NGOs received a re-grant of less than 7.6 lakh. The centre is now seeking to shut this route. A majority of FCRA NGOs dont receive big foreign grants. About 46.5% of these 21,490 NGOs did not receive any foreign grants in 2018-19. Another 41.6% received foreign grants only up to 1 crore. The sector as a whole received 16,343 crore in 2018-19, which is 5% of what Indian companies received through foreign direct investment (FDI) that same year. They are now being asked to bear an additional cost of compliance. The third change is lowering the cap on administrative expenses from 50% of foreign funds received to 20%. NGOs say this is needless micro-management and cost structures vary from project to project. It is particularly difficult for NGOs whose work revolves around advocacy rather than projects. In 2018-19, there were 1,328 NGOs whose administrative expenses exceeded 20% of their total foreign funds. NGOs say the new rules place more discretionary powers in the hands of bureaucrats and increase their compliance burden. And it will further widen the trust deficit between NGOs and the centre. howindialives.com is a search engine for public data Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A California Costco parking lot became the scene of an alleged kidnapping attempt when an intoxicated man popped the rear door of a strangers car in broad daylight. The vehicle was already backing out of a parking space in Vista with a toddler sitting in the back seat when the incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 19. Parents Jennifer Lawson and her fiance, Peter Kopchak, immediately leapt out of the vehicle to confront the stranger. Soon, a crowd gathered. They claim 37-year-old Adam Glavinic tried to grab their 2-year-old son, according to a press release from the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. I just seen out of the corner of my eye this guy running down between the two cars, Kopchak told ABC 10, and I didnt know what he was doing. Lawson, who jumped out of the car first while it was in reverse, shoved Glavinic onto the sidewalk. Kopchak then parked the car in park before leaping out and tackling the stranger to the ground. I took him to the ground and did what I had do to subdue him, Kopchak explained. Then an off-duty deputy nearby arrived at the scene to help, while a number of bystanders offered support, restraining Glavinic until he could be taken into custody. Deputies from the Vista Sheriffs Department soon took over, and Glavinic was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping and being under the influence of a controlled substance. A Costco store in Vista, Calif. (Screenshot/Google Maps) Lawson later told NBC 7 San Diego that she didnt know what the suspects intentions were but felt they could not have been good. There was nothing good he was going to do to my son, she said. Glavinic made $100,000 bail at the Vista Detention Facility within 24 hours, reports ABC 10. He is not scheduled to face trial until February 2021 owing to a backlog in court proceedings amid the pandemic. Lawson and Kopchak are upset that the suspect was released. I couldnt stop crying when I found out, Lawson explained, because he will do this to someone else, and who knows if its a single mom or the husband isnt quick enough, and the guy takes off What if he tries to grab another kid or hurt someone else? added Kopchak. It boggles my mind. After the parents parking lot scare, San Diego County residents have taken to raising awareness and sharing information. Some have started up a neighborhood watch on social media, according to NBC 7. We got to think about this idiot, or any idiot creep, Kopchak added. Youre always looking over your shoulder I am just so glad people are sharing this and talking about it and letting people know this stuff is not a joke. We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc A husband was arrested on suspicion of killing his wife in a domestic violence incident after she drunkenly fell over in their en-suite bathroom and hit her head, an inquest heard. Tracy Bailey and her husband Austin had been sleeping in separate bedrooms in the week before she died, after they got into a 'petty argument' which was blown out of proportion, the inquest was told. When Mr Bailey awoke on September 10 last year he found his 44-year-old wife laying on her right side on their bathroom floor, with her head against the side of the shower tray and a clear head injury. In a statement to the inquest, Mr Bailey said: 'I was distraught and did not want to believe that she was dead.' Tracy Bailey (pictured) and her husband Austin had been sleeping in separate bedrooms in the week before she died, after they got into a 'petty argument' which was blown out of proportion, the inquest was told The inquest heard how Mr Bailey had dragged his wife from the en-suite bathroom back into their shared bedroom, where he called 999 and was put through to the ambulance service. Mr Bailey told the coroner: 'They explained Tracy was dead and an ambulance would not be needed. 'They told me someone would be in contact with me. Around 30 minutes later, two police officers came to my house.' Detective Sergeant Liam Butler, of Thames Valley Police, told the inquest how the case had been referred to CID for review after Mr Bailey told police about the couple's relationship difficulties. A statement released by the force at the time of the incident told how a 45-year-old man from Marlow was arrested on suspicion of murder on September 14 last year. Police searching the couple's home in Cookham, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, said they found multiple 75cl bottles of Shiraz, Pinot Grigio and Malbec wine in Mrs Bailey's bedroom. Mr Bailey added: 'I knew she was drinking, but never imagined this would be an issue so great as to contribute to her death. 'It is now clear that Tracy was using my bank card every morning at about 7am to purchase a bottle of wine while I was asleep or in the shower.' The couple had been partners for 22 years and married in July 2007, after Mrs Bailey had moved from her hometown of Limerick in Ireland to the UK, the inquest heard. Mrs Bailey was a qualified hairdresser who had worked at the makeup counter in Boots as a sales assistant at the time of her death, while her husband was a company director, the coroner said. Mr Bailey told the inquest in Reading: 'I believe Tracy and I were soulmates and despite breaking up several times during our relationship we got back together after only a short period. 'Tracy and I had what could be described as a rocky relationship especially towards the end of her life. 'Tracy and I were sleeping in separate bedrooms. This was due to a very petty argument that was blown out of proportion and was not even important. Mr Bailey told the inquest in Reading that he believes he and Tracy were soulmates and 'had what could be described as a rocky relationship'. Pictured: Reading Coroner's Court 'We did not speak much that last week. I could have been a bigger person and gone to speak to her to stop this childish behaviour.' Mr Bailey told how he had left home for work on the morning, feeling frustrated after his wife had replied to him only by 'mumbling something'. The inquest heard how it was the following morning that Mr Bailey discovered his wife dead. Mr Bailey was only absolved of blame after a toxicological report and a post mortem examination found evidence of the damage which Mrs Bailey's drinking had caused to her body. Reading from the toxicological report, Alison McCormick, the assistant coroner for Berkshire, told how Mrs Bailey had a 'very high and potentially fatal' level of Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in her blood, which would lead to symptoms of ketoacidosis. She said: 'There were concerns to the potential for domestic violence. The deceased did not attempt to break a fall by outstretching her arms with the consequence that the head took the full brunt of the impact. 'There is insufficient evidence to support any form of sustained blunt force trauma assault.' The cause of death given by the pathologist who carried out a post mortem examination had been head injury in association with alcoholic ketoacidosis and alcoholic liver disease. Summarising the case Ms McCormick said: 'There were occasions when Tracy suffered periods of low mood and anxiety and on occasion some of these were associated with issues that arose in her marital relationship with Austin, mental health issues associated with alcohol use. 'In June 2019, Austin and Tracy were having some marital problems. They had split up and got back together again. They had periods of not speaking and periods where they were unhappy. 'Tracy described suffering anxiety and problems in sleeping and it may be that caused her to turn to drinking as heavily as she did. 'We do not know when Tracy passed away. On the morning of September 10 2019, Austin went to have a shower in the en-suite bathroom, he discovered Tracys body on the floor between the bathroom and the bedroom. There were no lifesaving opportunities. 'The police report confirms many empty bottles of wine were found in the bedroom where Tracy was sleeping. 'The police have confirmed to me there is no evidence of any third party involvement in Tracys death, which I accept. 'Tracy was suffering from ketoacidosis in the period prior to her death. This is likely to have made her disorientate, it is likely to have made her prone to falling.' The coroner concluded the death was accidental and alcohol related. Film folk are celebrating their daughters on social media, and the pictures are adorable! Photograph: Kind courtesy Shilpa Shetty/Instagram Shilpa Shetty calls her daughter Samisha a 'miracle' and writes, 'Who says Miracles don't happen... Holding one in my hands now Life is such a miracle, isn't it? That's the happiness I'm celebrating today on #DaughtersDay as I hold Samisha our daughter I definitely don't need a day to celebrate her.. Cant thank God and the Universe enough for answering & manifesting our prayers, especially Viaan's, so beautifully; will be eternally grateful. 'Don't forget to give your daughters a tight hug today.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Akshay Kumar/Instagram Akshay Kumar's daughter Nitara is his definition of perfect: 'You are my definition of perfect! And I love you so much more than just to the moon and back #HappyDaughtersDay my baby girl.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Kunal Kemmu/Instagram Kunal KemmuInaaya with: 'When the world fits in your arms and you can embrace the life in it..the only relationship thats cemented for life the moment it starts is that of a parent and their child. To every parent and to every daughter.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Anil Kapoor/Instagram Anil Kapoor with his pillars of strength, Sonam and Rhea: 'Thank you for making my life beautiful & complete! Seeing you both grow up to be so talented, courageous and brilliant fills me with so much happiness & pride! Love you always!! Happy Daughter's Day! ' Photograph: Kind courtesy Karisma Kapoor/Instagram Karisma Kapoor shares a throwback picture with Samiera: 'You will always be my baby doll.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Rohit Roy/Instagram Rohit Roy with daughter Kiara: 'Happy daughters day my lil one... No greater joy than to see you happy... nothing compares.. God bless you my baby.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Isha Koppikar/Instagram Isha Koppikar's daughter Rianna is the 'best thing' that ever happened to her! She writes, 'Youve come in my life as an angel and made me a mother and Im ever so grateful for that. You also taught me the virtue of patience and how to be straight faced even when I may feel like pulling all my hair out. I feel so blessed to have YOU as MY daughter. Love you beyond infinity and more.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Soni Razdan/Instagram Soni Razdan posts a picture of her daughters Shaheen and Alia and writes, 'I have two hearts and they beat within each of you.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Kapil Sharma/Instagram Kapil Sharma on his daughter Anayra: 'Thank you for making our life more beautiful my laado.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Juhi Parmar/Instagram Juhi Parmar on her 'best friend' Samairra: 'Daughters are said to become a mothers best friend. For me Samairra not only are you all that the world defines as a daughter but so much more. Seeing life from your eyes makes me realize that happiness can be found in the smallest of things. My Ginni you are creating memories for me to cherish when I grow old but I know one thing will never change, our bond I know Ive got your back but you have got mine too watching over me! You make me such a proud Mumma! Happy Daughters Day!' Photograph: Kind courtesy Ayushmann Khurrana/Instagram Ayushmann Khurrana on daughter Varushka: 'This was clicked in the Bahamas, in the beginning of 2020. We thought itll be a very special year, and special it is. I get to spend so much of time with you. Happy Daughters Day my jaan.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Raveena Tandon/Instagram Raveena Tandon with her daughters Rasha, Chhaya, Pooja: 'Brave,Bold,Strong. Daughters are a mother's best friend and biggest support system. On this special day today, I want to send out love to all our daughters all around the world,as they're truly special and life wouldn't be so beautiful without them in it.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Govinda/Instagram Govinda posts a picture of his daughter Tina and writes: 'A daughter is someone you laugh with, dream with and love with all your heart Happy Daughters Day to my Baby @tina.ahuja & all the Daughters in the World!' Photograph: Kind courtesy Chiranjeevi/Instagram Chiranjeevi celebrates his daughters, Sushmita and Sreeja: 'Daughters are the Light of our lives.. The joy they bring to our lives is tough to sum up in words.. Here's to ALL the Daughters of the World!' Photograph: Kind courtesy Sharad Kelkar/Instagram Sharad Kelkar on daughter Kesha: 'From the moment you were born, you became the sun to my planet.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Tannaz Irani/Instagram Tannaz Irani's tribute to her daughters Zianne and Zara: They say a daughter is a blessing from above. So I am blessed twice over. Happy Daughter's day to my 2 Virgo Angels who have chosen me to be their mom. You both are born nearly 20 years apart that's 2 decades apart literally! The way you'll handle things and look at life are so different even the way you'll talk to me and address your problems are so vastly unmatched. (Shows me that there is something called The Digital Age kids right Zianne? Coz I'm always using you as my sounding board! My Zianne so simple, obedient and polite. Always thinking of others! My Zara the fiery, jhanooni with a point of view on everything, the one man army who can even leave Bhakhtyar speechless! N robbing my make up! I'm always learning a thing or two from you both. But , the love you have for each other and the innocence and care you show the rest of the family is when I feel I've done something right and I blessed! Photograph: Kind courtesy Tisca Chopra/Instagram Tisca Chopra, accompanied with husband Captain Sanjay Kapoor and daughter Tara, writes: 'Laughter, love and light thats what you brought to us you mad, crazy, sausage loving, always singing, mostly hopping, storytelling and most huggable, cuddleable monkey girl .. I found out what love really means after you came to us .. #HappyDaughtersDay my girl .. I love you more than words can say #MsTara #Mine' Photograph: Kind courtesy Mini Mathur/Instagram Mini Mathur, with daughter Sairah, feels everyday is daughters day. 'Ive always wanted a daughter so I could keep the little girl in me alive. So I could practice a million different hairstyles on a real, breathing doll. So I could get a thousand daily cuddles without asking. So I could relive the tween dramas of her life. So I could replay my favourite girl moments of growing up. So I could give as much as I got. Thank you Sairah for choosing me to be your mamma .. for being my daily dose of happy.' Suniel Shetty posts a video of daughter Athiya: The honour of being a father to a DAUGHTER is one of the greatest experiences a man can have ... if only every daughter could see herself thru her fathers eyes....HAPPY DAUGHTERS DAY TIA. Video: Kind courtesy Suniel Shetty/Instagram Photograph: Kind courtesy Karanvir Bohra/Instagram Karanvir Bohra, with wife Teejay, writes about their daughters Vienna and Bella: 'Every day is daughter's day, In fact, they make my day, everyday. You don't realise how precious #daughters are until you have them. I wish and pray for all the daughters in the world.. that they spread love and happiness in their family's lives and the lives of others.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Arjun Rampal/Instagram Arjun Rampal's daughter Mahikaa and Myra bond with his son Arik and he writes: 'My pillars of everything. I want to be bullied by the two of you always. I am the proudest dad, to have such beautiful souls as my daughters. Now I will never fear old age. In fact I will never fear anything anymore. Thank you for everything.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Shreyas Talpade/Instagram Shreyas Talpade on his daughter Aadya: 'She is my morning alarm clock and my bedtime lullaby Happy Daughter's Day Aadya' Photograph: Kind courtesy Maniesh Paul/Instagram Maniesh Paul on daughter Saisha: 'Always watching your back, my girl... blessed to have you...love you to the moon and back...happy daughters day.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Barkha Sengupta/Instagram Barkha Sengupta posts a picture of her daughter Meira and writes: 'Always know that I love U ... learn all u can from life ... be who u want to be ... HAPPY DAUGHTERS DAY ! #Meira @indraneilsengupta look what we created.' Photograph: Kind courtesy Lara Dutta/Instagram Lara Dutta on daughter Saira: 'Do I need a day to celebrate the undiluted, unfiltered, unrestrained, ball of love and joy and pureness that is my daughter???!!' Photograph: Kind courtesy Divya Dutta/Instagram Divya Dutta with her mum Nalini Dutta: 'And your arm around me always.. #happydaughtersday ma' Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 21:33:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday discussed forging deeper bilateral cooperation. During a phone conversation, Putin and Moon expressed mutual interest in further trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties, the Kremlin said in a press release. They called for the establishment of "substantive cooperation" between the two countries in healthcare, including joint efforts to fight COVID-19 infections and develop vaccines. In addition, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a comprehensive political and diplomatic resolution to the problems on the Korean Peninsula. The phone call was made as the two countries are about to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on Wednesday. Enditem The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has commended the Aspirants Unite for Victory Movement of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for joining forces to campaign for victory in the December 7 Election. Speaking at the official launch of the group in Accra on Monday, Prof. Oquaye described the action of the group as unprecedented in the annals of the party. The group is made of 220 parliamentary aspirants and 42 NPP sitting members of Parliament (MPs) who lost the party's parliamentary primaries in June this year. The Speaker told the defeated aspirants to take inspiration from President Akufo-Addo, who suffered several electoral defeats both within the party and general elections before eventually winning power in the 2016 general elections to become the President of the Republic. Prof. Oquaye entreated them to work assiduously to ensure victory for the President and all the 275 parliamentary candidates of the party. He indicated that usually after the party's primary, there was much bitterness and agitations from aspirants who lost the bid to contest on the ticket of the party. That internal wrangling, he said, mostly cost the party in the general elections, especially when those who lost in the primary contested as independent candidates and refused to campaign for the party. Prof. Oquaye asked the aspirants not to rest on their oars, but campaign vigorously to ensure the NPP maintain the majority seats in parliament, to support the passage of policies of the ruling government. Members of the group have announced plans to adopt Upper West Akyem and Mion constituencies, which the NPP has never won and to campaign vigorously to win for the first time. They also intend to intensify media engagements and produce documentaries to drum home the achievements of the party over the past three and a half years in government. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NASA and SpaceX have set a new launch date for Crew Dragons first crewed operational flight: October 31st. The SpaceX Crew-1 mission follows the companys successful Demo2 test flight, which flew astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS. It was the first crewed flight that launched from US soil since the final space shuttle mission on July 8th, 2011. That mission returned to Earth with Behnken and Hurley in August, a couple of months after they headed to the ISS on a Crew Dragon. The company and the agency were originally aiming for an October 23rd launch. They decided to move it a few days later to give both ground and station teams a longer time to prepare and check for issues after a Soyuz launch on October 14th and a Soyuz departure from the ISS on October 21st. NASA explained in an announcement: The new target date will deconflict the Crew-1 launch and arrival from upcoming Soyuz launch and landing operations. This additional time is needed to ensure closure of all open work, both on the ground and aboard the station, ahead of the Crew-1 arrival. The increased spacing also will provide a good window of opportunity to conduct additional testing to isolate the station atmosphere leak if required. SpaceX continues to make progress on preparations of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, and the adjusted date allows the teams additional time for completing open work ahead of launch. The mission will take NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, as well as JAXAs Soichi Noguchi, to the ISS where they will stay for six months. SpaceX delivered the Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be used for this flight to Cape Canaveral in Florida back in August. The capsule will launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center on Halloween at around 2:40AM Eastern time. NASA says its in the final stages of the data reviews needed for the companys certification following Demo2. It will broadcast a series of media briefings to provide updates about the certification process and to talk about the Crew-1 mission starting on September 29th, 11 AM Eastern. Say what you will about Trump: He does not disguise his motives. On May 26, Twitter for the first time accompanied one of his tweets with a fact-check. The president had tweeted several times that former congressman Joe Scarborough, now an MSNBC host, should be investigated for the 2001 death of a young staffer in his office. Local prosecutors have said Scarborough had nothing to do with the womans death; there isnt a shred of evidence that he did. The womans widower wrote a moving letter to Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey begging him to remove Trumps tweets. Minneapolis police on Monday evening confirmed they were investigating The police are looking in to claims of voter fraud made by Project Veritas The media group allege that Ilhan Omar's supporters were 'ballot harvesting' Omar Jamal, a Somali political operative, claimed those in the video back Omar 'Ballot harvesting,' or 'ballot collection,' is legal in more than half of US states It allows third parties to collect ballots on behalf of physically-impaired voters But Republicans have claimed that the practice is vulnerable to voter fraud In Minnesota a third party can return only three ballot papers Trump hopes to win key swing state of Minnesota in upcoming election Police in Minneapolis are investigating reports of voter fraud after video emerged that allegedly shows supporters of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar collecting absentee ballots. James O'Keefe of Project Veritas claimed that Omar's alleged backers were illegally harvesting ballots. ADVERTISEMENT According to O'Keefe, Minneapolis resident Liban Mohamed - said to be a supporter of Omar - illegally collected some 300 ballots from primarily Somali immigrants to help his brother, City Councilman Jamal Osman. Under Minnesota state law, only three absentee ballots can be collected by any one person. Mohamed in turn accused O'Keefe on Twitter of 'fake news'. Omar Jamal, a Somali political operative, told Veritas that he believes ballot harvesters in the community are hired and take advantage of elderly community members. He said that Ilhan Omar is connected to the alleged election fraud. However neither he nor the videos provide any direct evidence of any connection to the congresswoman, who is also of Somali descent. Jeremy Slevin, senior communications director for Omar, said: 'The amount of truth to this story is equal to the amount Donald Trump paid in taxes of ten out of the last fifteen years: zero. 'And amplifying a coordinated right-wing campaign to delegitimize a free and fair election this fall undermines our democracy.' House Rep. Ilhan Omar Minneapolis police on Monday night confirmed that they were investigating the claims 'Ballot harvesting' allows a third party to collect and deliver ballots to voters. Although widely practiced and rarely found to be abused, the rule permitting a third party to collect and return multiple ballots remains a source of partisan dispute. Click here to resize this module More than half of states allow a third party to collect ballots, and political groups and campaigns from both parties have run ballot-collection programs aimed at boosting turnout and ensuring voters who are older, homebound, disabled, or live far from US postal services can get their ballot returned. ADVERTISEMENT In Minnesota, the law states that a third party can return no more than three ballots. 'The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting,' the police tweeted. 'We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements. No further information is available at this time on this.' President Trump took to Twitter just after midnight on Monday and demanded that the Justice Department investigate Omar for alleged 'ballot harvesting.' 'This is totally illegal,' the president tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning. 'Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? 'If not, why not??? 'We will win Minnesota because of her, and law enforcement. 'Saved Minneapolis & Iron O Range!' This is totally illegal, the president tweeted on Monday. Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? If not, why not???' Omar responded with a meme showing a Deal or No Deal box being opened, to reveal the sum $750 - the amount of federal income tax Trump is reported to have paid in the first year of his presidency. Omar is one of four Democratic congresswomen known collectively as 'The Squad' who has frequently been targeted for criticism by the president and his supporters. The others are House Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; Rashida Tlaib of Michigan; and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Last week, Trump again went after Omar at an election rally in Pennsylvania, suggesting that the U.S. isn't her country. 'She's telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from?' Trump said of the Somali-born Democrat, who's a U.S. citizen. ADVERTISEMENT 'How was your country doing?' the president added. Omar hit back at Trump's comments, even calling his rallies 'cult-like.' 'Firstly, this is my country and I am a member of the House that impeached you,' the Minnesota lawmaker tweeted. 'Secondly, I fled civil war when I was 8. An 8-year-old doesn't run a country even though you run our country like one.' Minnesota is considered a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election. According to the latest polls compiled by the news site FiveThirtyEight, Trump's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, has a six-point lead in the state. The president on Monday was reacting to a claim by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas that supporters of Omar in Minneapolis were illegally engaged in 'ballot harvesting' O'Keefe's Project Veritas released a video claiming that Liban Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman, illegally dropped off some 300 ballots during the recent election Project Veritas said it obtained Snapchat videos from early July posted by Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman. Mohamed says in the video that he collected 300 absentee ballots in a single day for his brother's special election race in Minneapolis' Sixth Ward, which was held on August 11 - the same day as the statewide primary election. Mohamed is also heard in the video saying: 'money is everything, money is the king of this world. If you don't have money you should not be here period.' Republicans say that could be evidence of a cash-for-ballot scheme, though there's no direct evidence in the videos of money being exchanged for ballots. Osman condemned the allegations of fraud in a lengthy Facebook post. 'Throughout my campaign, I let my staff, volunteers and supporters know my values including the type of race I wanted to run,' Osman wrote. 'I stated publicly the importance to run a positive and ethical campaign. I condemn behavior that contradicts these values. 'That is why I also condemn the continued attacks on the integrity of the East-African immigrant community in Minneapolis. 'The community is proud to be here, passionate about exercising their constitutional right to vote and excited to elect the next President of the United States.' 'Ballot harvesting' is also known as 'ballot collection,' which is a legal practice in many states that allows third parties to collect ballots on behalf of impaired or disabled voters who are unable to physically get to polling places. In Minnesota, the law allows a third party to collect no more than three ballots. The above file photo is a 2008 election ballot in Minnesota Project Veritas now claims that Democrats are engaged in rampant voter fraud. Democrats say Trump and his allies are looking to sow doubt in the integrity of the upcoming election by making unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing. Ballot harvesting, also known as 'ballot collection,' is legal in a majority of states. Trump and the GOP contend 'ballot harvesting' opens the door for fraud and have fought to restrict it. This has escalated as states prepare for greater reliance on absentee voting or vote-by-mail amid COVID-19. California since 2016 has allowed for someone to collect an unlimited number of ballots from voters, though it does bar someone from being paid based on how many ballots they return. This year, Republicans and Democrats have squared off in lawsuits over the third-party collection of ballots in Pennsylvania, Florida and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, a conservative law firm known as the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty requested that election officials outlaw the process. ADVERTISEMENT Though that state's laws don't specifically address 'ballot harvesting,' officials said they weren't aware of any efforts to systematically collect absentee ballots in the state and did not impose a rule prohibiting it. LOUISVILLE, Ky. Kentuckys attorney general acknowledged that he never recommended homicide charges against any of the police officers conducting the drug raid that led to Breonna Taylors death, and said he didnt object to a judges order to publicly release the grand jurys deliberations. Amid outrage over the jurys decision last week to not charge any of the officers for Taylors fatal shooting, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Monday that he didnt object to the public release of the proceedings or to any members of the panel speaking publicly about their experience. We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented, Cameron said in a written statement. A judge ordered the record released during the arraignment hearing for Officer Brett Hankison, the lone officer indicted by the grand jury. Cameron said the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body, but its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen. The attorney general said a record of the proceedings would be released Wednesday, and that the public will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury. An attorney for Taylors family reiterated the need to release the complete record. Since the grand jury decision was announced, weve been saying that Daniel Cameron clearly failed to present a comprehensive case that supported justice for Breonna, attorney Ben Crump said in a news release Tuesday. In his statement Monday, Cameron also revealed that the only charge he recommended to the jury was wanton endangerment. He had previously declined to say what charges he recommended. The public also deserves to know if any other criminal charges were explored by the grand jury aside from that recommendation, said attorney Kevin Glogower, who is representing a grand juror who sued on Monday to have the recordings released and to allow the panels members to talk publicly about their experiences. Cameron has yet to answer what was actually presented as far as the charges and the individual they were directed to, Glogower said to reporters Tuesday. I think thats important to know and my client feels the same. The motion filed by the grand juror to release the panels proceedings accused Cameron of using the grand jury to deflect accountability and responsibility for (the indictment) decisions. The grand jury charged Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through Taylors apartment into an adjacent unit with people inside. No one in the adjacent unit was injured. Hankison, who was fired from the force for his actions during the raid, pleaded not guilty on Monday. None of the officers were indicted in the killing of Taylor, who was shot five times after they knocked down her door to serve a narcotics warrant on March 13. Cameron said at a news conference last week that prosecutors walked them (the grand jury) through every homicide offense and also presented all of the information that was available to the grand jury. The attorney general said two of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, were justified in firing their weapons because Taylors boyfriend had fired at them first. Mattingly was struck by a bullet in the leg. There was no conclusive evidence that any of Hankisons bullets hit Taylor, Cameron said. For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment, he said. The officers were carrying a no-knock warrant but Cameron said they knocked and announced their presence at Taylors door. Cameron said thats based on a single witness who said he heard police announce themselves, but a report from The Courier-Journal said that witness gave conflicting accounts to police. Aaron Sarpee told police in March that nobody identified themselves, but in a follow-up interview in May he said he heard officers announce this is the cops, according to documents obtained by The Courier Journal. A coroners report says Taylor was shot five times and died of multiple gunshot wounds. It says she was hit in the torso, her upper left arm and both legs. She tested negative for drugs and alcohol. The public disclosure of grand jury minutes is rare. Most states have laws that would make it impossible. Other states, such as California, allow it under very specific circumstances, and some places require a judges order. Grand jury transcripts were released in the police shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri. But a judge refused to release the minutes of the grand jury that decided not to indict New York City officers in Eric Garners death in 2014, citing in part concerns over secrecy. In Georgia, 11th Circuit this year ruled against releasing grand jury records in the 1946 lynching of two Black couples. _____ Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report. LONDON - Britain and Canada imposed sanctions Tuesday on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son and other senior government officials following the disputed presidential election and a crackdown on protesters in Belarus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Demonstrators light their cell phones during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the Belarusian capital calling for the authoritarian president's ouster, some wearing cardboard crowns to ridicule him, on Sunday as the protests that have rocked the country marked their 50th consecutive day. (AP Photo/TUT.by) LONDON - Britain and Canada imposed sanctions Tuesday on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son and other senior government officials following the disputed presidential election and a crackdown on protesters in Belarus. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the sanctions were introduced as part of a co-ordinated approach with Canada in a bid to uphold democratic values and put pressure on those responsible for repression. The British measures include a travel ban and asset freeze on eight individuals from the Belarusian government, including Lukashenko, son Victor Lukashenko and Igor Sergeenko, the head of the presidential administration. Similar sanctions were imposed by Canada. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Canada and the U.K. acted in concert to ensure the sanctions have a greater impact and to demonstrate unity in our condemnation of the situation. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus as they struggle to restore human rights and achieve democracy in their country, Champagne said. The British government said that Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for over 26 years, is the first leader to have been sanctioned under Britains new global human rights sanctions program, which was introduced in July. Today, the U.K. and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We dont accept the results of this rigged election, Raab said in a statement. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account, and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights. The political opposition in Belarus has challenged the results of the country's Aug. 9 presidential election, which gave Lukashenko a sixth term with 80% of the vote. Protests demanding his resignation have continued for more than seven weeks. Opposition figures and some poll workers say the results were fraudulent. During the first few days of demonstrations, police arrested more than 7,000 people and used violence on protesters. Since then, opposition activists have been jailed and threatened with prosecution. Egypt's public prosecution announced on Tuesday that it had ordered the detention of man for four days pending investigations on charges of sexually assaulting a child under the age of five. On Tuesday morning, a video clip showing an adult man exposing himself and dragging a boy into his car went viral online, sparking anger. It was later removed by Facebook for violating its policies. According to the public prosecution's monitoring unit, the video was filmed by a CCTV camera in New Cairo. The prosecution added that it received a complaint from the child's mother on Saturday that, on 21 September, the suspect had dragged her son from in front of their house claiming that he wanted to play with him, and had sexually assaulted him in his car, before fleeing the scene. The prosecution interviewed the boy and identified the suspect, who was arrested. The prosecution has assigned the forensic authority to examine the boy and has tasked police officers to examine the video. Search Keywords: Short link: Leading South African broker comparison website forexbrokers.co.za published its annual listing of best trading platforms for 2020. Here are top five trading platforms which were released in this years Broker comparison and review: MT4 App by Hotforex Plus500 WebTrader and Mobile App AvaTrade Go Platform Tickmill Metatrader FXCM Trading Station Trading tools offered Multi Device Support Instrument Availability Ease of Use Fees Brokers Regulations Credibility and Trust Score Other Factors Forex Brokers SA reviews the trading apps offered by Forex Brokers in South Africa every year, and gives them score, ratings and ranking based on its unique ranking factors and system. Traders can compare each brokers features side by side checking their upsides and downsides. Traders can also leave their user reviews, which is also used in the ranking criteria.This years comparison was done on 50+ CFD brokers operating in South Africa based on the nine proprietary broker trust factors and five platform feature related factors.Rahul Sharma, who is an editor at Forex Brokers SA explains For a trading platform to be considered reliable and credible, there are many things one needs to consider like - its trust score, history, reputation, reliability, overall user reviews, ease of use, unique features, good service and support, withdrawal/deposit options and ease, accounts/instruments types on offer, trading tools, market data feed and news availability, technologies offered/used by broker etc..We looked at all the possible factors that a trader should look for while choosing an Online CFD trading platform. he added.Below table shows comparison of features of these top trading platforms.The comparison was based on research of 10+ factors. These include:Trading Tools is an important factor that should be looked into before choosing trading platforms. Examples of various trading tools including social and copy trading tools like Zulutrade, Charting Tools like Metatrader, Risk Management Tools like Limit Order, Stop Loss, Negative Balance Protection etc.Very few platforms in SA offer all of these trading tools.Multi Device Support is an important consideration for traders, but not all brokers in South Africa offer support for all devices. Like, Plus500 offers its own proprietary platform for web and mobile, but it is not available for desktop.Most brokers in SA offer 3party platforms I.e. MT4 and MT5 platform by MetaQuotes which is available on all devices including Desktop, web and mobile. While some brokers also offer cTrader, Zulutrade platforms.Very few brokers offer their own proprietary platform like FXCM, Etoro and Plus500.We researched the number of trading instruments and asset classes available on the brokers platform. These include Forex Trading, and CFDs on global stocks/shares, cryptos, metals, indices etc.We looked into the exact number of asset classes offered by the brokers, and their fees of each of these instruments, as listed on under the brokers latest Spread data on their website and platform.The platform available at the broker should be easy to use with 1 click orders, ease of access, no hanging or freezing etc. We compared the brokers app based on some of these factors.Trading fees and commission is another factor that is important for traders. According to ForexBrokers.co.za, The trading fee should be compared for each instrument at every broker and broker choice should be made based on the fees of instruments you want to trade which should be lowest.Some brokers offer fixed spread platform, which means the fees per trade is the same for an instrument, depending on the instrument being traded. For example, the broker Avatrade South Africa has a fixed spread of 0.9 pips for EURUSD currency pair, for USDZAR It is 85 pips, on their platform (as per their spread data).While most brokers in SA offer floating spread accounts, the fees/spread per trade dependent on the market conditions.Brokers regulation should be the most important factor while choosing a trading platform. For online trading in SA, FSCA or JSE license of the broker should be checked. If you are trading forex, your broker must be authorized with FSCA with a verifiable FSP number with an online derivatives license.Eg: The broker Hotforex is licensed with FSCA in South Africa, under the FSP Name HF Markets SA (PTY) Ltd and FSP No. 46632.How long the broker has been in business for? Is it regulated by multiple Top-Tier regulators including with FSCA in South Africa? Is the broker or its parent company publicly listed on a major Stock Exchange? Is the broker also a public sector or private bank?We have checked for these above listed in our research to check a brokers credibility.Other factors include but are not limited to Order Types offered on the platform, available Account types, Order Execution Speed, Security Features, Updates, Alerts, Reports and Data.As part of our research, we found online trading figures overall grew in South Africa in 2020 and major publicly listed brokers I.e. Plus500, IG Markets reported higher growth numbers in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, than last years.Trading volumes grew across all instruments like Forex, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptos as retail trading demand and interest grew among new and existing investors. These investors were mainly driven by the volatility in the markets due to Covid-19. This pattern was seen in financial markets across the globe including in SA.SAs Forex market volume stood at $12.48bn USD per day in July 2020 as per SARB data. ZAR (Rand) Trading volume in SAs forex market stood at around $9.1bn USD in July 2020. JSE reported 33.15% growth in number of trades for the period 1Jan 31Aug 2020 from the same period in previous year. And the volume grew 55.47% in the same period from previous year.We also found that most forex traders in South Africa open ZAR base currency account. Few brokers offer ZAR trading accounts to traders in South Africa, these include Hotforex, XM Broker, FxPro.Another major trend was seen with growth of mobile trading platforms and apps. SA and rest of Africa has huge penetration of mobile internet. And most new investors are using mobile trading for investing in the financial markets.Trading online through trading apps and platforms carry risk for your capital. You must read and understand the risk disclosures of brokers and the instruments you want to trade before investing. September 29 : Actress Richa Chadha just took to her social media profile and supported the ongoing trend Justice For Hathras Victim and urged everyone to look at life beyond caste. A 19-year-old Dali girl was allegedly gang-raped by 4 men from an upper caste in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh on September 14. According to a recent development, the teenage girl has passed away due to critical injuries to her spine and neck. The girl was shifted to AIIMS after there was no improvement in her condition but unfortunately authorities couldnt save the teenage. #JusticeForHathrasVictim everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators. TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 29, 2020 Actress Richa Chadha who has been pretty vocal about women issues and rightfully so, took to her social media and wrote, If the use of the word 'dalit' has triggered you more than the barbarity of rape and violence itself, there's a problem don't you think? We must act together, build a society where caste becomes immaterial and girls have an actual shot at life. RIP Broken heart #JusticeForHathrasVictim If the use of the word 'dalit' has triggered you more than the barbarity of rape and violence itself, there's a problem don't you think ? We must act together, build a society where caste becomes immaterial and girls have an actual shot at life. RIP #JusticeForHathrasVictim TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 29, 2020 Meanwhile on the work front, Richa was last seen in Section 375, Ghoomketu and Panga. Next she will be seen in Abhi toh Party Shuru Hui Hai, Shakeela and Fukrey 3. Fukrey 3 is the third instalment in super-hit franchise Fukrey, directed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The film will also stars Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma and Priya Anand. By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan has become a member of the International Ecotourism Society (TIES). Founded in 1990, the organization strongly contributes to the development of ecotourism while providing guidelines, technical assistance, training, research and publications. TIES' past global network of ecotourism professionals and travelers aimed to use tourism as a viable tool for conservation, protection of bio-cultural diversity and sustainable community development. Speaking about the event, the head of TIES in Azerbaijan Ruslan Guliyev stressed that the country joined International Ecotourism Society thanks to its successful tourism policy. Over the past years, Azerbaijan has hosted many prestigious events and close cooperated with the World Tourism Organization. Ruslan Guliyev noted that the World Ecotourism Organization includes more than 100 countries. Azerbaijan's membership in TIES encourages the representatives of the country's tourism to further expand activities and to turn the country into major tourism destination. Being rich in natural resources, Azerbaijan has a great potential for the development of ecotourism. Earlier, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources announced a national program aimed at promotion of ecotourism. Moreover, Azerbaijan Ecotourism Association has taken the initiative to implement a pilot project to create eco-parks in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula. The project aims to improve environmental culture and to provide all necessary conditions for tourists engaged in ecotourism. With multiple tourism destinations, Azerbaijan has always attracted tourists from around the world. For many years, tourism sector is playing a great role in the country's life. Despite all extraordinary challenges presented by COVID-19 pandemic, some 68 virtual meetings with tour operators and tourism companies from the Middle East, India, China, Russia, Belarus, the UAE, South Korea, Israel, Germany and Ukraine were successfully held in July. Moreover, Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AZTA) has recently opened five new offices in the country's regions and 25 countries around the world. The offices provide a great opportunities for the development of rural green and agrarian tourism sectors. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Taiwan came out on top of the list this year, ousting last years winner Thailand to the second place. According to tourism booking platform Agoda.com, Vietnam was the fourth most looked-up destination for trips in the latter half of 2020. Agodas rankings are based on their user search data even when the trip to the destination is not available to book due to border restrictions. The rankings were topped by Taiwan for all demographics, including couples, families, groups, and solo travelers. Taiwan, known as the birthplace of boba tea, pushed last years frontrunner Thailand to the second place, followed by Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. The rest of the top ten were occupied by the United States, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Japan and Thailand ranked as the second- and third-most favored destinations for solo travelers, while family groups are attracted to promotions in Thailand and Vietnam. When it comes to group travelers, Vietnam took the second place. Tin Hughes, vice-president of corporate development at Agoda, pointed out a huge shift toward domestic tourism as COVID-19 social distancing restrictions have been gradually lifted. However, as shown by Agoda search data, the itch for international trips has grown strong after months of quarantine, prompting tourists to start mulling over foreign destinations. They still have hope that [foreign] travel corridors will open later this year and are looking out for great deals for when they do, he said. For Vietnamese tourists, domestic travel is the go-to choice till the end of the year as there are no foreign destinations in their top searches, the statistics suggest. This years list sees Nha Trang City beat the reigning Da Nang City to claim the first place in all tourist demographics. Most notably, the beaches of Nha Trang climbed six spots from last year to become the most popular destination for Vietnamese solo travelers. Ho Chi Minh City, on the other hand, dropped to the tenth place, while Da Lat enjoys the fifth spot in popularity. In a recent conference between the chiefs of Vietnams diplomatic missions abroad for the 2020-23 tenure and the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA), delegates recommended that diplomatic officials assist domestic businesses via promotions of Vietnam tourism. According to Nguyen Quoc Ky, general director of tourism firm Vietravel, the tourist industry is ready to welcome back tourists, including international visitors, as the epidemic has been brought under control in Vietnam. Diplomatic agencies, most importantly embassies, would play an important role to bridge the way for foreign tourists to revisit Vietnam, he added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A new report on terrorism financing shows that for most Americans who sought to join or support ISIS, the trip was cheap and the money came easily, making it harder for investigators to track would-be terrorists. [S]ave for a few exceptions, the vast majority of U.S.-based IS supporters left a remarkably small financial footprint," said the report, which contrasted the low cost of funding ISIS terror with the Al Qaeda's big budget. The small footprint "can represent a challenge for investigators, which often rely on financial operations to uncover terrorism-related individuals and as evidence in prosecutions against them." The report, by the George Washington University Program on Extremism and the federally funded National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, examined 209 individuals charged with ISIS-tied crimes from 2013 until August of this year. Most of those charged were able to use their personal savings for their alleged terrorist activities. One would-be jihadi used a tax refund, and others sold cars, laptops and items as small as phones and shoe racks to pay for plane tickets or weapons. "Since most of their expenses ... were no higher than a few thousand dollars," said the report, "this could sustain them." Very few of those arrested had a criminal background a stark contrast to those arrested for ISIS related activities in France, Spain, and other parts of Europe, the study found. Just four cases had connections to with violent crime and drug trafficking. Most of the attacks that have been attributed to ISIS in the U.S., including the San Bernardino attack, the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and the Manhattan truck ramming incident, have cost very little money. The U.S.'s system of financial triggers and banking laws put in place after 9/11 seems to have been proven effective, the authors wrote. But they will require fine-tuning to keep pace with "less sophisticated" financial terror organizations like ISIS. Story continues Americans supporting ISIS spent little money compared to the sums Al Qaeda expended to plan the September 11 attacks. Prior to Sept. 11, Al Qaeda was believed to have been funded to the tune of $30 million, with the attacks costing approximately $500,000. A dozen years later, Minnesota's Abdi Nur got $1,500 in donations from friends that helped him buy a plane ticket to Turkey and then travel to Syria, where he allegedly joined ISIS, according to court documents. He is still at large. Mohamed Amiin Ali Roble, also of Minnesota, received a $91,654 settlement for injuries he suffered during the 2007 I-35 bridge collapse. After the settlement arrived, he left for Syria. His checking account was used approximately 45 times in a Turkish border town and calls wiretapped by the FBI show he used $47,000 to support fellow ISIS fighters, including buying a car and paying for marriage gifts. Roble and Nur, who are related, were charged in U.S. court in 2016 along with nine others. The rest received prison sentences, but Roble and Nur had joined ISIS in Syria by then. Image: Michael Wolfe is seen in an undated photo released by the Austin Police Department in Austin, Texas (Austin Police Department via Reuters) Another man, Michael Todd Wolfe, told an undercover FBI agent that he and his wife were waiting for their tax refund of almost $5,000. When it arrived, he planned to buy a ticket to meet an ISIS facilitator and travel to Syria. He was instead arrested at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to court documents. Wolfe was later convicted and sentenced for attempting to provide material support for ISIS. The report says of the just 14 cases where American ISIS supporters used illegal means to fund their support for ISIS, the most prevalent method involved student financial aid fraud. In one case, three potential travelers drew down $7,300 on their financial aid debit cards just before purchasing tickets to Syria. The efforts of all three were thwarted through airport arrests by the FBI. The report notes this tactic and the use of social-welfare benefits was also seen in European ISIS-inspired attacks. While the U.S. system has been overall effective during the ISIS-related mobilization of the last decade, it will have to adapt to modern financial tools that will be part of the future threat from terrorism groups, including "technological developments such as online crowdfunding, cryptocurrencies, and deep/dark web transactions." Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:19:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have identified 48 new genetic variants which influence whether a person will be left or right handed, or ambidextrous, in the largest ever study of its kind released on Tuesday. However, scientists remained convinced that environmental factors play a larger role than genetics in terms of influence on handedness. The study analyzed genetic data from over 1.7 million people, identifying 41 genetic variants associated with being left-handed, and seven linked with being ambidextrous. Coming from such a large data set, the results also reaffirmed the relatively small role which genetics plays in the process, said joint-senior author, Professor David Evans from The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute. "The results from our analyses suggested that genetic factors could only account for a small amount of the variation in handedness, whereas environmental factors were likely to play a much more important role," Evans said. "This percentage was similar for ambidexterity, meaning factors such as injuring a hand or training by playing sport or musical instruments are likely to have a strong role in a person's ability to use both hands equally well." Study co-lead author and head of QIMR Berghofer's Psychiatric Genetics Group, Professor Sarah Medland explained that the causes behind left and right handedness go beyond just idle curiosity. "Although there is an enduring fascination with why some people are left or right-handed or both, understanding why some people are left-handed and others right-handed is also an important research question because handedness can influence brain structure and the way different functions are located within the brain," Medland said. Hand preference is first observed while still in the womb, with embryos showing single arm movements, according to the researchers. The rate of left-handedness differs across countries, from around 3 to 12 percent. In Australia, Britain and the United States, the figure is around 10 percent. Enditem T he Duchess of Sussex has lost her latest High Court battle with the media after a judge ruled she can be accused of collaborating with the authors of a book about her life with Prince Harry. Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers (ANL), publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, over an alleged privacy breach when extracts of a handwritten letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, were published in February 2019. She claims the letter was private and never for public consumption, bringing a High Court claim for damages from the newspaper group. Following the ruling, a spokesman for law firm Schillings, representing Meghan, said The Mail on Sunday would "try contending its amended defence at trial, where we have no doubt it will fail," adding: "This defence has no merit and is in fact false." In the latest legal tussle, ANL applied to amend its defence to the Duchesss claim, to argue that she had co-operated with the authors of the recently published book Finding Freedom to put out their version of certain events and therefore undermined her claim to privacy. The book, by American-based Royal reporters Carolyn Durrand and Omid Scobie and published by HarperCollins, presents a biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, including their marriage, moves away from the traditions of the Royal Family, and their departure to the US. At a hearing this afternoon, Master Francesca Kaye said the allegation that Meghan had fed information to the authors may quickly collapse at trial, but ruled the newspaper group was entitled to advance the argument in its defence at trial. She said Meghans lawyers had argued the court was being hoodwinked into thinking theres more to the proposed amendments than we think there is, but concluded the argument could be ventured. Getty Images There is always the risk with an inferential case that it will fall apart at an early stage if the inferences start to unravel, she said. But these are clearly matters for the trial judge. The judge said one of the authors, Mr Scobie, has denied in a statement to the court that there was any contribution from Meghan, but found it was not a knock-out blow to ANLs amended defence case. It may be what it does not say rather than what it does say that might prove to be significant at trial, she said of Mr Scobies statement, adding of the new accusations levelled at Meghan: If, as suggested, its all a house of cards, it will quickly fall down at trial. At a hearing last Monday, Justin Rushbrooke QC, for Meghan, insisted: The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book. He argued the book had merely drawn on the articles published by ANL which referred to the letter to Mr Markle, and information which the Duchess is accused of providing to the authors are in the public domain from other sources. Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - In pictures 1 /94 Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - In pictures The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for the Salute to Freedom Gala (Craig Ruttle/AP) AP Twitter/EllenDegeneres Misan Harriman Harpo Productions Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leaving after their visit to Canada House, central London, meeting with Canada's High Commissioner to the UK, Janice Charette, as well as staff to thank them for the warm hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada PA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son, who was born on Monday morning, during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in Berkshire PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex kisses his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex as they leave from the West Door of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Getty Images Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales on May 19, 2018 in Windsor Getty Images Meghan Markle attends the Rising Stars: 2012 Producers Ball during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Images Meghan Markle attends the London Global Gift Gala in 2013 Getty Images Meghan Markle on Deal or No Deal Meghan Markle attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 13th Annual An Enduring Vision Benefit in 2014 Getty Images Suits: Season 5 NBC at MADE Fashion Week, New York in 2015 BFA/Rex Features Meghan Markle attends the pARTy! Celebrating 25 years of P.S. ARTS, in Los Amgeles in 2016 Getty Images Meghan Markle in a Anti-Social: Special Edition - Trailer Meghan Markle attends the 12th annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards at Spring Studios, New York in 2015 Getty Images Meghan Markle wearing a Kleinfeld wedding dress for Suits Kleinfeld Meghan Markle photographed for Vanity Fair in 2017 Peter Lindbergh exclusively for Vanity Fair Prince Harry arrives with Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2017 Reuters Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle, during a visit to Scotland in 2018 PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the announcement of their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Meghan Markle walks down the aisle in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and US fiancee of Britain's Prince Harry Meghan Markle stand together hand in hand at the High Altar during their wedding ceremony in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 PA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their wedding day in May 2018 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the Duchess of Sussex ride in the Ascot Landau carriage during the procession after getting married at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, leaving Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales Reuters Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Princess Beatrice, Lady Louise Windsor, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Savannah Phillips, Prince George of Cambridge and Isla Phillips watch the flypast on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour on June 9, 2018 in London Getty Images The Duchess Of Sussex on her foirst official engagement with The Queen Elizabeth Getty Images The Duchess of Sussex at a garden party at Buckingham Palace PA The Duke & Duchess Of Sussex Attend 'Your Commonwealth' Youth Challenge Reception Getty Images The Queen, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex watch the RAF flypast on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, as members of the Royal Family attend events to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London Getty Images Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex visit the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 17, 2018 in London Getty Images Meghan Duchess of Sussex arrives for the Sentebale Polo 2018 held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018 in Windsor, Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex take a tour alongside The Governor of New South Wales David Hurley and his wife Linda Hurley as they attend the Official opening of ANZAC Memorial at Hyde Park on October 20, 2018 in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Australian Geographic Society Awards to present youth awards to honour the highest achievements in conservation and adventure at the Grand Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney on October 26, 2018. Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex poses during a Welcome Event at Admiralty House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex talk to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex walk down to Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fij Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a state dinner at the Royal Residence on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tong Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of SussexAandAMeghan, Duchess of Sussex Applauding the Netherlands and United States of American teams in the Wheelchair Basketball Gold metal macth after Unted States won gold during day eight of the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 at on October 27, 2018 in Sydney, Australi Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit Redwoods Tree Walk on October 31, 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the 'Together: Our Community' Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London Getty Images Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrive to attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate on December 25, 2018 in King's Lynn Getty Images Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex arrives for a visit to the Mayhew, an animal welfare charity on January 16, 2019 in London Getty Images The Duchess of Sussex helps style Patsy Wardally during her visit to Smart Works Daily Mail The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Bristol Old Vic theatre, which is undergoing a multi-millionpound restoration in February 2019 PA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured in March 2019 PA Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the WE Day UK event at the SSE Arena in Wembley, Reuters Meghan, Duchess of Sussex takes part in a panel discussion convened by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust to mark International Women's Day in London AP The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave following a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey PA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrives for the Commonwealth Day Youth Event with Prince Harry, at Canada House in London AP Harry and Meghan help volunteers in the kitchen as they pack food parcels AFP/Getty Images Message written on fruit by the Duchess of Sussex when she was helping to prepare food parcels to go in the charity outreach van during her visit to One25, a charity specialising in helping women to break free from street sex work, addiction and other life-controlling issues PA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrives for her baby shower at the Mark Hotel, New York AP Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Morocco at the British Residence during the second day of their tour of Morocco on February 24, 2019 in Rabat, Morocco Yui Mok/Getty Images Their Royal Highnesses travelled to Botswana to assist Dr. Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders in equipping a bull elephant with a satellite collar. SussexRoyal The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Berkshire PA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Berkshire PA PA PA PA Jeremy Selwyn AP Getty Images Chris Allerton/SussexRoyal/PA Getty Images Antony White QC, for ANL, said Finding Freedom gave every appearance of having been written with their (Meghan and Harrys) extensive co-operation. In her ruling today, Master Kaye said Meghans arguments at trial should not be substantially altered by the new allegations being levelled at her by ANL, She says she has nothing to do with the information in the public domain, whether directly or indirectly, she said. (She says) the letter was and remains a private letter to her father and she is entitled to her privacy. She says in simple terms it wasnt me and had nothing to do with me. If thats the case, its a simple case from an evidential point of view. The legal skirmish over the amendment to the defence case has cost the Duchess of Sussex nearly 180,000, the court heard. She has spent 139,000 and was ordered today to pay 39,000 of the newspaper's 45,000 costs bill after losing today's ruling. At a previous stage of the legal battle, Mr Justice Warby agreed with the Duchess insistence that the identities of five friends who had spoken to a US magazine about her should not be revealed. The names appeared on a confidential schedule in the court case, and the judge agreed that they should remain anonymous at this stage of proceedings. The case centres on five articles - two in the Mail on Sunday and three on MailOnline - which were published in February 2019. Master Kaye said last week excessive costs have already been run up on the case, which is due to go to trial in January next year. In a statement after the ruling, a spokesman for Schillings said: The court has today stated that The Mail on Sunday will be allowed to amend its legal defence for trial regardless of whether that defence is accurate or true which, based on legally sworn witness statements refuting the newspapers arguments, it is not. The Mail has been allowed to prolong this action and try contending its amended defence at trial, where we have no doubt it will fail. This defence has no merit and is in fact false. We were prepared for this potential outcome given the low threshold to amend a pleading for a privacy and copyright case. The (judge) made clear that if The Mail on Sundays defence is indeed weak and without evidence, it would be a house of cards and fall down at trial. This latest hearing was unfortunately another step in a case that has already been drawn out by a defendant who uses the legal process to exploit the duchesss privacy and the privacy of those around her for profit-motivated clickbait rather than journalism. As a reminder, it is The Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers who acted unlawfully and are the ones on trial, not the Duchess of Sussex although they would like their readers to believe otherwise. The German share price index, DAX board, is seen at the stock exchange in Frankfurt By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Financial markets roared into the second half of the year in full-throttle comeback mode. The only problem was that the coronavirus came back too. The pandemic never really went away of course, but as the charts below show, up until a few weeks ago investors seemed happy to ride the rebound without too much worry about second waves of infection. Fuelled by over $20 trillion of global stimulus and super-charged tech stocks, MSCI's world stocks index <.MIWD00000PUS> piled on 14% over July and August to reclaim the record highs it surrendered in February when COVID first spiralled. Oil gained a further 10%, August saw sustained moves out of government bond and gold bolt holes, video app Zoom kept zooming and even the world's poorest countries were on a tear in debt markets. Then September came! Renewed lockdowns from Melbourne to Madrid compounded concerns that the marauding rally had overshot as rallies often do. World stocks shuddered, giving back over 8% in three weeks, and led down for once by the big tech titans. "People just got a bit complacent in August watching all the tech stocks march higher without too much of a thought," said IG's chief market analyst, Chris Beauchamp. "It just needed a decent correction, and that is exactly what we got." Apple and Amazon , Google , Facebook , Netflix and Tesla all took double-digit dunkings that wobbled the rest of the "risk" complex from corporate debt to EM currencies. Europe's bank stocks slumped back to an all time low, while Argentina's freshly-restructured government bonds lost a quarter of their value to score the worst relaunch into markets since Greece in 2012. Global financial markets in 2020 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xlbvgjzggpq/Pasted%20image%201601285806186.png $1.5 BILLION AN HOUR Story continues The quarter as a whole still looks broadly positive though. World stocks are up roughly 6%, the FANGS 28%, oil 2%, Italy's bonds nearly 8% despite 160% debt-to-GDP, and stocks in the least developed 'frontier' countries have jumped 9%. A seesawing of major currencies has also happened. The safe-haven dollar was down 10% from March up until the September wobble. It is still down over 3% for Q3, which will be its worst since mid 2017, but this month it is up 3%. "You had such a big fall in the dollar, 5% (in July) in just a few weeks..So this rebound is people stepping back a bit," said Francois Savary, Chief Investment Officer of Prime Partners. "But I think it is purely a short-term phenomenon." For now though it has meant more pain in emerging markets. Brazil's real is down nearly 30% for the year. Russia's rouble - one of last year's top performers - is down 16% and 9% in Q3 despite a near bullet-proof balance sheet. Turkey's record low lira has fallen a further 12% this quarter while Mexico's peso and South Africa's rand are down 14% and 20% for the year despite calmer Q3s. With global central banks hoovering up bonds at a rate of $1.5 billion per hour according to BofA analysts, life has remained good in debt markets. Italy's 10% bond returns have been helped by a super-sized COVID rescue plan, Suriname's bonds have made 33.5% as its fears of default have eased, while even hyperinflation-hit Venezuela has jumped 19%, albeit still only to 12 cents on the dollar. Currencies vs the dollar in 2020 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/yxmpjberepr/Pasted%20image%201601293674390.png WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS A breakdown of the best- and worst-performing stocks also tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed nearly a million lives and sent unemployment soaring. Malaysian rubber glove maker Supermax and Korean pharmaceutical firm Shin Poong <019170.KS> have both rocketed more than 1,000%. The boom in video chat has lifted Zoom 630%, Moderna , one of the drug firms in the race for a vaccine, is up over 250%, while sit-on-your-sofa stocks like Netflix and Amazon have jumped 49% and 67% respectively. At the other end, cruise ship company Carnival has sunk 70%, scores of airlines, travel firms and retailers have been battered while aero engine maker Rolls Royce has been pummelled 45% this quarter and nearly 80% for the year. And there is still the fourth quarter to navigate with its race for a COVID-19 vaccine, the race for the White House, and the race to avoid a no-deal Brexit that would end a 3-1/2 year long Britain-Brussels standoff with an explosive bang. Ashmore's Jan Dehn is bracing for another wild few months. World's main stock indexes in 2020 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gjnpwjlogvw/Pasted%20image%201601242322314.png "Data are not getting any stronger and are beginning to roll over and you have all the political noise ahead of the U.S. elections which is starting to get a little frayed. "On top of that we have markets which are very expensive because they have rallied like mad since March," he said. Stocks: biggest winners and losers of 2020 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/buzz/xklvyqbznvg/Pasted%20image%201601290496335.png (Additional reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich) PHILIPSBURG:--- The Council of Ministers refutes the claim that St. Maarten opposes reconstruction as published by Koninkrijks.nu in its article on Friday, September 25. The article was based on a letter from State Secretary Knops to the second chamber. The Government of St. Maarten considers this statement incorrect and misleading to the people of St. Maarten and the world at large. While dealing with a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, the Government of St. Maarten is doing everything possible to ensure that the recovery of St. Maarten remains a top priority in the best interest of our residents. The Government of the Netherlands is fully aware of concerns about the establishment agreement as well as the bottlenecks that St. Maarten would encounter with its recovery in regard to the projects, project execution and implementation as this was an imposed procedure on St. Maarten. It is clear, that these mechanisms used to manage emergency funds were not the best choice by the Dutch Government. A known challenge for which technical support has been offered to us is the amendments to our tax legislation. The department of Foreign Relations has updated the Council of Ministers that the technical assistance requested regarding the establishment agreement for a World Bank Office on St. Maarten, is currently ongoing. Both Ministries of General Affairs and Finance are working diligently to finalize the implementing legislation on fiscal privileges and immunities in order to fulfill the legal obligations of the establishment agreement. As such, the department of Fiscal Affairs is being assisted by the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands to draft implementation legislation for fiscal privileges for officials of International Organizations established in St. Maarten. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice is currently providing a temporary solution for consultants and international companies providing services to the NRPB whereby NRPB is being considered as an extension of the Government of St. Maarten. Using this approach, the required permits can then be processed in a timely manner once the necessary documentation is submitted. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs stated, In a quarterly meeting on Wednesday, September 9, I met with the steering committee whereby the members expressed their contentment with the commitment of the Government of St. Maarten and looked forward to the decrease in COVID-19 cases, in order to finally attend its first meeting on the island. It should be noted that the Government of St. Maarten remains committed to the execution of the Trust Fund projects under implementation and those under preparation. We have identified several focal points within each Ministry and as such representatives of these Ministries are consistently working together and cooperating with the project teams of the NRPB to ensure the execution and implementation of the much-needed projects. WASHINGTON A bipartisan House panel said on Tuesday that artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space and biotechnology were making traditional battlefields and boundaries increasingly irrelevant but that the Pentagon was clinging to aging weapons systems meant for a past era. The panels report, called the Future of Defense Task Force, is one of many underway in Congress to grapple with the speed at which the Pentagon is adopting new technologies, often using the rising competition with China in an effort to spur the pace of change. Most reach a similar conclusion: For all the talk of embracing new technologies, the politics of killing off old weapons systems is so forbidding often because it involves closing factories or bases, and endangers military jobs in congressional districts that the efforts falter. The task force said it was concentrating on the next 30 to 50 years, and concluded that the Defense Department and Congress should be focused on the needs of the future and not on the political and military-industrial loyalties of the past. Basel, Switzerland, September 29, 2020 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that it has initiated a phase 2 expansion study with its tumor checkpoint controller, lisavanbulin, in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), whose tumor has tested positive for the potential response-predictive biomarker EB1 (end-binding protein 1).1 Glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain cancer and one of the most lethal types of cancer.2 In the open-label study, patients will receive once daily oral lisavanbulin. To identify patients with EB1-positive glioblastoma, a tissue screening program has been implemented using a CE-marked immunohistochemistry clinical trial assay developed for the lisavanbulin program. Dr. Marc Engelhardt, Chief Medical Officer, said: "The initiation of the phase 2 study is an important step for us to validate our hypothesis that lisavanbulin may be developed for a targeted patient population based on a patient-selection biomarker. We expect interim results in the first half of 2021 and the outcome of this study will define the next development steps for lisavanbulin, including potentially expanding into other tumor types using a biomarker-driven approach." EB1 was selected by Basilea as a potential response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin based on preclinical studies in glioblastoma models and initial clinical signals from earlier clinical studies. One glioblastoma patient in the phase 1 portion of the current study, whose tumor tissue was strongly positive for EB1, was reported as an exceptional long-lasting responder.3 This patient continues on treatment for more than two years now and shows a more than 80% area reduction of the brain tumor. About lisavanbulin (BAL101553) Basilea's oncology drug candidate lisavanbulin (BAL101553, the prodrug of BAL27862)4 is being developed as a potential therapy for diverse cancers.1, 5, 6 In preclinical studies, lisavanbulin demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo activity against diverse treatment-resistant cancer models, including tumors refractory to conventional approved therapeutics and radiotherapy.7,8, 9 Lisavanbulin efficiently distributes to the brain, with anticancer activity in glioblastoma models.10, 11, 12 In preclinical studies, end-binding protein 1 (EB1) was identified as a potential response-predictive biomarker in glioblastoma models.12 The active moiety BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin, with distinct effects on microtubule organization,13 resulting in the activation of the "spindle assembly checkpoint" which promotes tumor cell death.14 About Basilea Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on the development of products that address the medical challenges in the therapeutic areas of oncology and infectious diseases. With two commercialized drugs, the company is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products to meet the medical needs of patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com (mailto:media_relations@basilea.com) investor_relations@basilea.com (mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com) This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02490800 B. M. Alexander, T. F. Cloughesy. Adult Glioblastoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2017 (35), 2402-2409 J. S. Lopez, R. Kristeleit, R. Rulach et al. Phase 1/2a study of once daily oral BAL101553, a novel tumor checkpoint controller (TCC), in adult patients with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) or high-grade glioma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2019, 37, 15 supplement, 2025 J. Pohlmann, F. Bachmann, A. Schmitt-Hoffmann et al. BAL101553: An optimized prodrug of the microtubule destabilizer BAL27862 with superior antitumor activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2011, abstract 1347; Cancer Research 2011, 71 (8 supplement) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03250299 ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02895360 A. Sharmq, A. Broggini-Tenzer, V. Vuong et al. The novel microtubule targeting agent BAL101553 in combination with radiotherapy in treatment-refractory tumor models. Radiotherapy Oncology 2017 (124), 433-438 G. E. Duran, H. Lane, F. Bachmann et al. In vitro activity of the novel tubulin active agent BAL27862 in MDR1(+) and MDR1(-) human breast and ovarian cancer variants selected for resistance to taxanes. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2010, abstract 4412; Cancer Research 2010, 70 (8 supplement) F. Bachmann, K. Burger, G. E. Duran et al. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): A unique microtubule destabilizer active against drug refractory breast cancers alone and in combination with trastuzumab. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2014, abstract 831; Cancer Research 2014, 74 (19 supplement) A. Schmitt-Hoffmann, D. Klauer, K. Gebhardt et al. BAL27862: a unique microtubule-targeted agent with a potential for the treatment of human brain tumors. AACR-NCI-EORTC conference 2009, abstract C233; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2009, 8 (12 supplement) A. C. Mladek, J. L. Pokorny, H. Lane et al. The novel tubulin-binding 'tumor checkpoint controller' BAL101553 has anti-cancer activity alone and in combination treatments across a panel of GBM patient-derived xenografts. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2016, abstract 4781; Cancer Research 2016, 76 (14 supplement) R. Berges, A. Tchoghandjian, S. Honore et al. The novel tubulin-binding checkpoint activator BAL101553 inhibits EB1-dependent migration and invasion and promotes differentiation of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 (15), 2740-2749 A. E. Prota, F. Danel, F. Bachmann et al. The novel microtubule-destabilizing drug BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin with distinct effects on microtubule organization. Journal of Molecular Biology 2014 (426), 1848-1860 F. Bachmann, K. Burger, H. Lane. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): the spindle assembly checkpoint is required for anticancer activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2015, abstract 3789; Cancer Research 2015, 75 (15 supplement) Attachment Claude Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Ambassador Prabhat P Shukla, Member Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation, reviews Claude Arpi's The End of an Era: India Exits Tibet. IMAGE: The Potala Palace in China's Tibetan Autonomous Region. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons This is the fourth and final volume in Claude Arpi's tetralogy on India-Tibet relations from 1947 to 1962. Its dolorous title, The End of an Era - India Exits Tibet sums up the author's sorrow and anger at the way things ended up. It is, at the same time, one for the ages; the extensive coverage of first-hand sources makes it not just an intellectual tour de force, but also a valuable reference work. The final volume covers the period 1958 to 1962, and tells the story of how the situation in Tibet reached a stage where open rebellion broke out against Chinese rule, the growing differences and distance between the Indian and Chinese leaders, and the war of October-November 1962. Arpi also explores the internal balance of power in China, and clearly links the hardening of Chinese positions on the border, and on India, to the return of Mao to active power after having been side-lined as a result of the failure of the Great Leap Forward. In the course of his researches, Arpi unravels very important facts. For one thing, he shows that the construction of the Lhasa-Urumqi Highway was known as early as 1953, and confirmed by an Army reconnaissance team in 1957. The report was submitted to the political leadership, but was rubbished by Krishna Menon as American propaganda. Another insight provided is that Indian Air Force reconnaissance flights had established, as late as 1961, that the Chinese had no air assets worth the name in Tibet. This being known to the political and military leaders, it remains a puzzle why Nehru did not use the IAF in 1962. It might have made the difference between humiliation and honours even. Enough has been written about the intelligence failures, but this was not one. This was more a loss of nerve. Because Nehru did ask the US for twelve squadrons -- no less! -- of fighter aircraft and pilots in the perfervid weeks of the war. IMAGE: Jawaharlal Nehru with then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in happier times, 1953. Photograph: Getty Images Arpi also narrates the account of the meeting between Krishna Menon and Chinese Foreign Minister Marshal Chen Yi in the summer of 1962, as war clouds were gathering. But Chen assured the Indian leader that there would be no war. At the same time, the author notes that there is no record of the discussion that took place. That begs the question whether this is indeed an accurate and full account of the talks. It also highlights, as Arpi does, the importance of watching internal developments in the adversary: the increasing role of Mao and his defence minister Lin Biao, who was moved into that position shortly after the Tibetan Uprising of March 1959. Even if Chen did indeed give such an assurance, and even if he was sincere, both big ifs, there was the problem that he was not in a position to deliver on that assurance. IMAGE: V K Krishna Menon, then India's defence minister, who was blamed for India's ill preparedness during the 1962 War, meets with senior army officers. The chapters on the Tibetan Uprising provide a wealth of detail, both as seen by the Indian consul-general and, in a separate chapter, as seen from China. That rouble was brewing was apparent because the Chinese advised Nehru not to visit Tibet, though he had been invited by both the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The precipitating factor was, beyond doubt, the oppressive Chinese rule, in violation of the 1951 Agreement. The idea was for the formation of an independent Tibet under an all-of-society Commission. The crackdown that followed reverberated around the world, especially after the Dalai Lama escaped to India at the end of the month. Arpi also adds the view from China: this is the booklet called The 1959 Tibet Uprising Documents - Chinese Army Documents. Released a 'few years ago' according to the author, they show that the PLA took a realistic view of the situation inside Tibet on the Chinese side as well. The documents acknowledge that 'the Chinese were not popular in Tibet' and complained about 'the influence of foreign secret service agents' inside Tibet. The documents also admit that by the spring of 1959, the army had lost control of the situation on southern Tibet. Weapons were coming in from Nepal, which also, along with India, had a consulate-general in Lhasa. Particularly noteworthy, it seems Mao was initially inclined to let the Dalai Lama escape to India, and gave relevant instructions on 12 March 1959. He subsequently changed his mind, around 17 March, and ordered that he should be stopped. There is some evidence for this in Jianglin Li's book, Tibet in Agony, Lhasa 1959, but it does not square with Arpi's own assessment that Mao was weakened after the failure of the Great Leap Forward. And yet, it is worth bearing in mind, for what it tells us about the nature of Chinese decision-making. It is not all-seeing and allwise, as much of the hagiography on China would suggest. IMAGE: Indian soldiers in a makeshift fort facing Chinese troops in the Ladakh region of northern India during border clashes between India and China, November 1962. Photograph: Radloff/Three Lions/Getty Images The parts of the book dealing with the border talks reflect Arpi's pain and confusion at the same time. He is clear from the outset that this volume does not cover the India-China boundary negotiations. And yet, they do logically figure in the narrative. Arpi is convinced that the Chinese were serious about the offer of a swap -- India accepting their alignment in Aksai Chin, and they accepting India's alignment in the east, the McMahon Line. There is palpable anger and disappointment in him over the lost chances. An intriguing part of the book is the fate of the 1961 UN General Assembly Resolution on Tibet. This is because this was the first, and most important international document on Tibet since the Chinese occupation. However, Arpi leaves the chronology hanging, which is so unlike him. The Resolution is the first UN document that calls for self-determination for Tibetans; India did not support the Resolution, and indeed, India spoke to the issue only in 1965, after Nehru was gone. However, this is an important document and remains on the record of the UN. Those who argue that General Assembly Resolutions are not binding need to remember that Israel was created by a vote of the General Assembly. Arpi does not see this chronicle to its conclusion. A minor fault, in a magisterial study spanning four volumes. Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Thanks also to the United Services Institution of India for supporting Arpi's work. IMAGE: Indian officers occupying one of the forts in the Ladakh region of northern India during border clashes between India and China, November 1962. Photograph: Radloff/Three Lions/Getty Images Of course, it would be a pity if the books were only to be read and put aside as one more contribution to the literature on the subject. For there are topical issues here, as we pass "peak China", in the sense that it is growing increasingly isolated diplomatically, and several of these questions become live again. Most striking for me is the obvious regret that Arpi has for the missed opportunities offered by the Chinese for a swap. If they were serious - there would be difficulties in the details - we should be clear that a settlement implies equally a closure of the Tibet question. It is instructive to read the Simla Convention documents and the near-parallel agreement between the Russians and the Mongolians. Starting from almost exactly equal positions vis-a-vis the Chinese, today, Mongolia is a sovereign country, Tibet is under the jackboot. The Russians, and the Soviets after them, were unrelenting in their demand for recognition of Mongolian independence, from Republican, Nationalist and Communist China. India clearly was not. And there is an oddity here: in April 1947, when Nehru organised the Asian Relations Conference, he treated Tibet as an independent country. Its flag was displayed among all other nations' flags, its representatives travelled on Tibetan documents. Despite protests from the Nationalist China delegation, Nehru maintained this position and in his welcome address, he counted Tibet among the countries represented. But, inexplicably, he recognised Communist China's sovereignty over Tibet. No satisfactory explanation has been found for this volte-face. The answer may possibly be in the archives "lost" or in the British archives which are unavailable, for they were in close consultation with Nehru on these issues. IMAGE: His Holiness The Dalai Lama, second from right, arrived in India on March 31, 1959. Photograph: Kind courtesy Claude Arpi This was the original sin in our northern policy. Some Indian leaders saw all this clearly, notably Sardar Patel and Sir GS Bajpai, and advised Nehru to exercise caution. But that was not to be. Even among outsiders, the dangers were well understood. An article in Foreign Affairs [India and the Tibetan Tragedy by C H Alexandrowicz, April 1953] (external link), shows unusual prescience and points out that, through its hold over Tibet, China would extend her claims over territories that were once under Tibetan control - Sikkim, Darjeeling, Bhutan, and Nepal, the last of which used to pay quinquennial tribute to the Chinese Emperor until 1908. And, of course, the Government of Tibet had raised these claims against India in October 1947. The Chinese appear to be following the very pattern of behaviour described by Alexandrowicz. His warnings, too, were written before the Panch Sheel Agreement of 1954. It is frequently argued that India did not have a military option in 1950, when the Chinese invaded Tibet. In the light of the information provided by Arpi and others, this is open to serious doubt. It is worth emphasising that the Chinese were obliged to move their goods to Tibet through India at that time. Direct communications were so poor that even the commanding officer of the Chinese forces in Tibet, General Chang Ching-wu travelled through Calcutta to Kalimpong and thence on to Yatung where he met the Dalai Lama. In fact, after the 1954 Agreement between India and China on border trade, China signed another agreement with India the same year for trade through Calcutta with India and for transit to Tibet! It is also worth remembering that China was embroiled in the Korean War at the same time, and its resources, limited as they were, were also fully stretched. And it has already been established in the book that China had no worthwhile air assets at the time. So, India was in a good position to exercise military pressure, if Nehru had chosen to do so. More important, even if Nehru decided to give up the military option, that was no reason to abandon diplomatic efforts to address the situation. Even that was given up. Just as the UN Security Council was sitting to discuss the question of Tibet, India informed the body that bilateral talks between Tibet and China were due to start, and a solution would be found within that framework. So the man who took Jammu and Kashmir to the UN Security Council prevented Tibet from being placed before that body. No wonder John Kenneth Galbraith, in his memoirs as Ambassador in India observes, 'Indians are the world's safest objects of animosity'. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com This is an opinion column. When I saw there was a new ranking of states by public records compliance, I could guess where Alabama landed. There, way below the District of Columbia, was the real 51st State, our broken Heart of Dixie, complacently at home at the bottom. Public records are one of the few tools citizens have to hold government accountable. Theyre yours. You paid for them with your tax dollars. They include minutes of meetings, emails between officials, contracts with vendors, and so much more. And if you can get your hands on them, you can see what your elected officials are doing with your money. Which is why, too often, public officials try to keep them hidden. If anyone could just riffle through them, they might catch somebody stealing. Alabamas Open Records Act says all citizens are entitled to inspect public records and take copies upon request, but the law has some serious weaknesses. It doesnt set deadlines for when local and state governments must respond to a request. It allows local officials to set outrageous fees for making copies and nebulous research costs. It doesnt provide a process to appeal a records denial except to sue. That can cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to fight court battles that often go to the Alabama Supreme Court money and time most folks dont have. All of this is to say, it wasnt any surprise when I saw Alabama at the bottom of that list. What did surprise me, however, was why the studys author, University of Arizona journalism professor David Cuillier, suspected Alabamas compliance was so darn bad. When I called him up, he said he doesnt think our weak Open Records Act is entirely at fault. Rather, its something else, he says. Before we get to that something else, lets take a look at how Cuillier put his list together. Cuillier drew his data from the journalism organization Muckrock, a nonprofit which helps reporters and other research professionals make public records requests. That data included more than 7,000 records requests among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Of those, 2,970 were successful about 42 percent, which isnt great. And Alabama? Our state government complied with only 10 percent of public information requests. In other words, if you make a public information request anywhere else in America, you are four times more likely to get what you ask for than you are in Alabama. Heck, youd be three times as likely to get your records out of Virginia government and they came in 47th place. So why is that? Cuilliers theory is that its not just our state law thats the problem. Its us. As in We the People, the citizens who take this crap from our state and local government. According to Cuillier, folks in the South are just too darn nice to insist those folks on the other side of the counter give us our dang records. Were too polite. Because its not just Alabama that has this problem. Its Arkansas, which landed in 50th place. And Mississippi, which came in 49th. Even Florida, which has some of the best open records laws in the country, fell closer to the bottom than the top. It came in 31st place. The best in the country was Idaho. Yeah, Idaho. Its our political culture, Cuillier says. The government here might not be compliant, but too often, the people are. Thats really the only thing that differentiates Alabama and some of its neighboring states from the rest of the country, Cuillier said. While we, in the South, might shake our fists at the federal government, were not as feisty or as demanding when it comes to the clerk at the courthouse or the municipal attorney at city hall. So why is it that states in the South, for some reason, have really low compliance? And research in the past shows that a lot of states have more of a traditional political culture, kind of a culture of you dont question, he says. Its impolite to question. And theres a consequence for us, Cuillier says. His study also showed public records compliance correlates to less corruption. The conventional wisdom appears to be true, in this case, that transparency is related to honest government. A new public records law in Alabama wont hurt, Cuillier says, but it might not cure all our problems, either. If we want it to be effective, we have to change more than the law. Weve got to change our attitudes toward those it applies to. If we dont want to stay in last place, we have to shed our complacency for living there. We have to stomp our feet. We have to be pushy. We have to get mad. We have to demand our officials give us whats rightfully ours. Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group. You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram. More Alabama in the Dark Alabama towns new excuse for hiding public records: We dont have to look for them. Alabamas Supreme Court just put a big black spot on our sunshine law Alabama prison plan: More expensive, still secret Why Alabama needs a new Open Records Law, now How the AGs office hid its involvement in a dirty astroturf scheme Whats in Birminghams $2.6 million contract? You dont get to see. What is Alabamas AG still hiding? Lawsuit seeks answers. Why does God need public records? In Alabama, thats a real question. Public records access is supposed to be free in Alabama. It cost one business $70,000. Hey, Alabama, public data are public records, too Trampling on Sunshine: The PSC wont be live-streamed What the PSC doesnt want you to see shows all you need to know UABs black box: University hides what it pays vendor This open records bill would make Alabama ... better 6 ways a new bill would put the public back into public records Are you a student in lockdown? Send your photos to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk University students could be told to self-isolate for a fortnight so they can return home for Christmas, according to reports. Education chiefs are considering asking students in high infection areas to isolate for two weeks at the end of this term, even if they are not showing Covid-19 symptoms, the reports say. Ministers hope this will help prevent the spread of the virus from university areas, some of which are currently under lockdown, to other parts of the country, The Times reported. Junior skills minister Gillian Keegan said today she 'expects' that students will be able to return home for Christmas, adding: 'Of course that is something that absolutely we'll be working towards.' It comes as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is today expected to call on universities to adopt a proportionate response to the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. University students (pictured left and right: University students who are self-isolating in Manchester) could be told to self-isolate for a fortnight so they can return home for Christmas, according to reports It comes as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) is today expected to call on universities to adopt a proportionate response to the coronavirus pandemic Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Pictured: A sign made from sticky notes says 'Help Us' at a halls of residence in Manchester Mrs Williamson is expected to the MPs today MPs that students should not face further restrictions. Education watchdog backs tuition fee refunds for students in lockdown if the quality of their course drops Students at universities hit by coronavirus should seek tuition fee refunds if the quality of their course slips, the higher education watchdog said last night. At least 40 universities have recorded virus cases around one in four leaving thousands of students locked down in halls. They have complained of disgusting conditions as they are essentially sealed off from the outside world. The situation has caused growing anger over the prospect of no face-to-face learning despite fees of up to 9,250 per year. The Office for Students (OfS) regulator has now urged students who feel the quality of their education has been affected to complain, warning universities not to take a blanket policy against refunds. Chief executive Nicola Dandridge said: Students have a right to good quality higher education whether that is taught online, in-person or a mixture of the two. Where they feel this is not happening they can raise concerns with their university, escalating complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator where a resolution cannot be found. They can also inform the OfS, and we can and will investigate if we believe that universities have not taken all reasonable steps to protect standards or where quality is slipping for groups of students. She added: In considering whether to make partial tuition fee refunds, we would expect a university to consider the circumstances for each student rather than to adopt a blanket policy that refunds are not available. Advertisement He is also expected to reveal plans to reduce the risk of transmission when the current term ends in December - one of which is the rumoured two-week self isolation proposal. Up to 4,000 students are currently self-isolating for two weeks following outbreaks at universities across the country. University of Exeter students living in the city have been told to self-isolate for the next two weeks - as the government insisted locked down freshers would be able to visit their families over Christmas. The Government yesterday said all students in isolation at university should be allowed home for the festive period amid a growing row over coronavirus lockdowns on campuses. The University of Exeter became the latest to lockdown its students yesterday, ordering them to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household. It is believed that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. Elsewhere, 1,700 students are under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls. All lectures, seminars and classes for first-year students at the university will now be online for the next 14 days. Yesterday, MMU's vice-chancellor said its isolating students will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent and a care package including 'basic food'. The National Union of Students has received reports of security guards outside blocks, universities telling students they will deliver food and then it not arriving and others left 'wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from'. And lawyers have encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free, with Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeting: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' But amid fears over what will happen by December, a Downing Street spokesman said today: 'We would expect all students to be able to go home at Christmas.' Meanwhile the University of Aberdeen has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions and warned students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. (Left to right) Mia Winrow, 19, Natasha Kutscheruk, 18 and Niamh Morrow, 19, of Manchester Metropolitan's Birtley Hall, pictured today. The students have been locked down since Friday Five of the 1,700 students under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls speak to Sky News yesterday following the outbreak First-year students pose from behind fencing at a campus of MMU on Saturday evening NUS president Larissa Kennedy told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'I'm hearing from some students across the country where there are security guards outside of these blocks where students are being kept, stopping people from leaving, coming and going, where students are being discouraged from getting deliveries and told by the university that they'll deliver food and that delivery has not arrived and so they've gone for the day without food. 'I've heard from other students who, they've turned up with an amount of toilet roll, told with no notice that they're going to be locked down and wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from. Lawyers offer free help to freshers fighting campus lockdowns One legal firm has encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free amid concerns over those stuck at two Manchester Metropolitan University campuses. Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeted: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' Lectures and classes for first-years at MMU will all be given online for the next 14 days, with the situation to be reviewed at regular intervals. Supt Chris Hill, of Greater Manchester Police, said that 'to our knowledge' officers had not been deployed to enforce the rules on students. He said the campus self-isolation was 'not a policing issue'. Manchester's Director of Public Health David Regan also confirmed that the lockdown was currently optional. Advertisement 'It just feels like these are disgusting conditions for students to have been trapped in.' The number of students trying to get a shopping delivery means some say they are starting to run out of food, with parents turning up to halls with bags of shopping. Recruitment worker Tina McKenzie, whose daughter is currently isolating in Edinburgh tweeted: 'My daughter is in quarantine in her halls in Edinburgh. 'They said they would deliver food - she advised she is vegan. The University of Edinburgh sent a Mars bar and croissant.' MMU student Phoebe told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I've had a test back and I'm actually positive, which is quite scary. I wouldn't be surprised if I've got corona from this place. Before the isolation would be the period when I would have got it. 'There's just been non-stop parties, no social distancing, no wearing masks in the corridors, which would all contribute to the spread.' Another MMU student, Tasiana, 18, told the New Statesman: 'No one was in the flat when I arrived. I know a girl that lives in another block that didn't meet her flatmates for days after moving in. 'The majority of everyone's time is spent in their rooms, attending online seminars. It's hard to speak to my flatmates because a lot of them have eight-hour days of classes on Zoom, so people hardly leave their rooms. One of my flatmates still hasn't come out of her room yet. We aren't sure if maybe she is a bit nervous about social distancing.' As thousands prepared to start the new term, at the University of Aberdeen, sanctions for those breaking the rules include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion, with private landlords urged to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. Lawyers have encouraged students in isolation at university to seek their help pro-bono A student gives a thumbs up at the window of a flat at Birley student halls in Manchester today But third-year student Jack Boag, 20, said students have been 'sold a lie' and 'treated like the problem' - despite being encouraged to come back to university. Compensation plans for Manchester Metropolitan students who are self-isolating Students stuck in self-isolation at Manchester Metropolitan University will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent, its vice-chancellor has said. Professor Malcolm Press said 'a significant amount of money' would be given, on top of a care package that includes 'basic food', to ensure students felt 'protected and cared for'. Speaking to Sky News he said: 'It will be a package that I think students will appreciate, that allows them to rest assured, while they're in this situation, they don't have any particular financial worries as a consequence.' Prof Press said details were being discussed with students, but added that 'a financial package means hard cash', with it representing 'more than an actual week's rent'. 'Students will be receiving financial compensation to ensure that they feel protected and cared for during this period of self isolation,' he said. His comments came after Glasgow University said it will refund all students in halls of residence one month's rent, along with a 50 payment for food, amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases there. Over the weekend fears were raised among a number of students at Manchester Metropolitan University that they were being falsely imprisoned in their accommodation, with human rights lawyers questioning the legality of security staff enforcing a 14-day isolation period. Students described being scared and confused as their accommodation was locked down on Friday, after 127 people tested positive for coronavirus. They were later told the decision, made in conjunction with Public Health England and Manchester City Council, was 'deemed necessary' to prevent the spread of the virus to other students, staff or the community. But Prof Press told Sky News today: 'We were asked to ensure (students) would self-isolate because there had been an outbreak of Covid into halls of residence. 'We're advising students on the rules, what they should do, we're supporting them, but the idea that they're not able to leave is just not true I'm afraid. 'Students are free to go should they wish to and a small number of students have gone home in a Covid-secure way.' Prof Press also said there had been some 'miscommunication' within the university over students being asked to remove posters. 'We've retracted that information, students are very free to put posters up and we obviously value freedom of speech, and it's just regretful that there was a message sent out in error,' he said. Advertisement Mr Boag said: 'In terms of the lockdown, I live in a private flat quite far away from the Covid hotspots, so it comes across as closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted. 'We were told it would be a blended learning experience, and obviously that hasn't happened. Coming up to Aberdeen from my home in Fife has been completely pointless. 'We've been consistently told to come back to campus, we've been consistently told that it would be a blended learning experience, and now that we're here it feels as if we've been sold a lie and treated as if we are the problem. 'For first years who have just moved into halls with people that they've never met, that's hard. My main concern is that landlords could quite easily take advantage of this. 'The landlord/tenant dynamic is not an equal one, so it could become a tool for blackmail, essentially. I'm a private renter so they've been talking to my landlord, and while I can understand the university isn't taking any chances, it's worrying. 'It seems when other universities are easing back, Aberdeen is doubling down and emphasising the punishments and what will happen if you breach regulations.' Mr Boag, from Fife, said while he doesn't have plans to move back home, he understands why many other students might feel differently. He said: 'I would have to go back to my grandparents who are vulnerable or my dad who is a key worker, so for me it's not really an option, although I can see why it would be attractive for others.' Ms McKenzie said she 'followed up multiple times and sent a few dead salads', adding: 'I've sent her parcels and she has ordered takeaway. Lucky she has the money unlike less fortunate others.' Labour even called for a delay to the start of the English term until the chaotic testing system can meet soaring demand. Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I'm extremely worried about these young people. 'Some of them will be vulnerable to mental ill health, and for some of them it's the very first time away from home. 'So I think that the very first thing that needs to happen is that universities need to be given the support to identify which students may be particularly vulnerable. 'The second thing is there needs to be an assessment of which young people want to stay at university and which ones may not want to stay there.' She added: 'If young people want to be returning at some point between now and Christmas, there needs to be a plan that the Government works up with universities so that we have a managed Covid-secure return of those young people to home. 'Because what we can't have is for those young people to be moving in the same numbers at the same time that they were at the start of term, but doing that at Christmas time.' Health minister Helen Whately told Radio 4 that the Government could not rule out the prospect that university students may be unable to return home at Christmas. She said: 'We want them to be home for Christmas. Everybody wants to come home and spend Christmas with family. We want that very much to be the case. A note left in the window of a flat at Birley student halls of residence in Manchester today 'Christmas is some time off yet and it is down to all of us to get this under control so we can spend Christmas with our families.' Pressure mounts for universities to refund tuition fees Pressure is mounting on universities to refund tuition fees as thousands of students face lockdowns, online-only courses and the prospect of Christmas confined to their halls. Tory MPs said it was 'madness' that the country's universities were charging the same fees for 'second-rate' learning. As students face the prospect of being confined to their halls of residence over Christmas because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses, 3,000 students have already been locked down in their rooms after cases at 36 universities, including Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan and Edinburgh Napier. Last night Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the education select committee, said students must be compensated for the lack of face-to-face learning. The Department for Education said students who wanted refunds should appeal to their universities. Mr Halfon told the Daily Mail: 'If we have 3,000 students in lockdown now, it could be 6,000 next week, so ministers need to come up with a plan on testing and tracing. And we need to ensure students are back by Christmas, because a lockdown over Christmas would cause anguish for them and their families. 'The Government needs to seriously consider a discount, because when you pay for a product you should expect to get that product, and if not, you should get some money returned.' Tory MP George Freeman said yesterday it was 'madness' that students were locked in halls of residences by universities 'still happily taking their money'. He said on Twitter: 'How do I think universities make up the losses from offering student discounts? Well, not from fleecing students! Maybe from vice-chancellors' 300,000 salaries?' Advertisement In Manchester, the 1,700 students have been told they cannot leave the campus to visit the local testing centre, leading to fears the outbreak will spread. Labour education spokesman Kate Green said today that the Government should 'step up' testing capacity to help ensure university students can return home for Christmas, She told Sky News: 'Students will desperately want to be able to go home to be with friends and family at Christmas. And, of course, it's right that we all have a part to play in keeping distance and keeping safe. 'But the real key to this is getting the mass testing rolled out so that students can be tested, we can know if somebody is testing positive and make sure that they are isolated and don't travel. 'But it would mean the other students would be able to get back home for Christmas and that's why the Government needs to step up too and make sure that that testing capacity is available.' She also said the Government should support universities' efforts to test for coronavirus, adding: 'One thing that I think particularly in relation to students: much more effort could be made to support those universities that are already developing their own testing capacity, like Leicester, for example, or Cambridge. 'And the Government could be really working much more closely alongside them to get that additional capacity that would relieve pressure elsewhere in the NHS and other pillars of testing. 'And it would mean that students could be tested on campus, so could university staff.' Ms Green argued this would help make universities 'much safer places'. Last night Ms Green called on ministers to stop students from returning to university for the start of the academic year affecting 2.3 million in the UK. She said they should either delay the start of term or 'pause' the return of students to university campuses where courses had not started. Backing Miss Green, NUS president Larissa Kennedy told The Guardian the union was demanding 'a functional test-and-trace system in place on campuses and adequate funding to tackle the student mental health crisis'. She added in a tweet: 'Government and universities are gambling with students' lives.' Ms Kennedy added on Good Morning Britain today: 'First and foremost, we are of course encouraging people to do the right thing for public health and to follow that guidance. Students post a message in their window at MMU yesterday complaining about the situation A sign on a closed gate at the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning Bottles of alcohol lined up in a window of the Birley student halls in Manchester this morning 'But we are questioning whether this is legal, in terms of making sure that students get that access to the basic amenities that they need - to food, to toiletries and to all the things they need just to survive lockdown - and in cases where that hasn't been the case, whether it has been legal to keep them cooped up in that way without that access to the things that they need.' Morrisons cashes in on students trapped in campus lockdowns Morrisons has today revealed an SOS 'Serve our Students' food delivery service aimed at those in lockdown on campuses. The supermarket said students will be able to choose from the food boxes of 35 meat essentials; 35 vegetarian essentials; 30 easy meals for the week; and 25 big night in. An example of the food packs Morrisons will be delivering to isolating students Its delivery service will launch at the lockdown-hit Birley and Cambridge Halls at Manchester Metropolitan and will then expand to other universities. Students can email students-ug@morrisonsplc.co.uk to place their order today and it will be delivered to them tomorrow between 5pm and 7pm. Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: 'Students have asked for our help and that's why we are making sure they can safely access affordable food at this very difficult time. We're playing our full part in feeding the nation so that no one is left behind.' The company hopes students will soon be able to place their order by 2pm for delivery that evening. If successful, the service will be rolled out to other universities across the country. Advertisement But outgoing University of Buckingham vice-chancellor Sir Anthony Seldon said: 'We must have a sense of perspective. Universities have gone to huge lengths to plan for this and many are coping.' And the Department for Education rejected Labour's call, insisting it was 'working closely with universities to support them to keep staff and students as safe as possible'. Niamh Thripleton, a new zoology student at Reading, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'We're obviously not allowed to go out. Freshers is all online. 'We're, we think, only meant to socialise with our flat, but they haven't really been enforced or been made clear. 'It's just been a lot quieter, it's been harder making friends. Turning up and realising everything is going to be online is a bit of an anti-climax. 'You'd think it (a zoology degree) would be quite a lot of lab work, and it's quite worrying how I'm going to do that online. 'I just think the way Manchester Met and other places have been locked down, being on your room on your own for two weeks with now freedom there, I don't I'd be able to cope with that, so it's kind of worrying.' Her stepfather Chris Taplin told the programme: 'I do feel she's certainly been robbed of the experienced I had at university. 'It is also really scary when you read things about the Christmas threat, not coming home, when it is the first time they've moved out and we basically feel we'd be some kind of law breaker if we went there and busted her out. But it's been the first thing for a sort of mental trauma, really. 'Certainly my wife has been saying, 'don't worry we'll get you out' (if she's locked down in halls at Christmas), but I think that's obviously not a very sensible position to go and do that. 'But I think we're both making sure we get food to her and keep talking to her as much as possible.' Meanwhile the Prime Minister has been urged to ensure online tuition at universities 'becomes the norm', amid concern over the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on students. In a letter to Boris Johnson, the University and College Union (UCU), accused some institutions of adopting a 'stubborn position' over requiring in-person teaching because they depended on rent from student accommodation. An 'HMP' sign has been put up in one of the windows of the Birley student halls this morning A sign reading 'help' is left in a window of one of the flats in Manchester this morning Signs in windows of the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning In her letter to Mr Johnson, Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said the union which represents academics and university staff was 'not prepared to take chances with the health of students, our members and the communities they serve'. University asks private landlords to report any students caught breaching Covid rules A top university has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions. The University of Aberdeen has warned students of the consequences facing them if they breach national Covid-19 related guidance. In a statement emailed last night, university bosses said students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion. And private landlords around the city have been asked to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. The statement read: 'Given the events of the last few days I want to emphasise that any breaches will not be tolerated, and those found to be breaking the rules will face robust action. 'Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as the potential for further action - including suspension and/or expulsion - under our Code of Conduct on Student Discipline (non academic). 'Regardless of whether you live in University provided accommodation, a private flat or in student accommodation from a private provider, we will still look to take the same appropriate disciplinary measures against any student that fails to follow the requirements that are currently in place to protect everyone in Scotland. 'We are in contact with landlords and have asked that any incidents of a breach of our Covid Campus Pledge and Guidelines and the national guidelines are reported to the University, to enable the matter to be investigated in the usual way.' Advertisement 'It is clear that remote learning should be the default for campus life while we are in this precarious position with the virus,' she said. 'However, what we are seeing on the ground is university employers hiding behind the Government's current sectoral guidance, with all the ambiguities associated with the term 'blended learning'. She added: 'Whilst other sectors are being encouraged by the Government to work from home to help control the spread of the virus, universities are requiring staff to travel across their local regions to work on-site and in-person with any number of students. 'Considering the known risks associated with in-person teaching and students living in close quarters, why did the Government not insist on minimising in-person teaching and students travelling to universities? 'We have concerns that universities are taking this stubborn position because they depend on rents from student accommodation - and because your own Government refuses to step in and underwrite universities' lost income for the duration of the pandemic to ensure they are not negatively impacted and jobs are not lost.' The Government is under pressure to guarantee young people are not confined to their halls of residence over the Christmas period because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses. Ms Grady said students should be allowed to leave their accommodation and return home 'without fear of financial penalty'. 'We cannot have students forced to quarantine in halls of residence with no familiar support network, or staff forced to carry out work on site that could be conducted more safely from home,' she said. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator in England, said it would be 'looking very closely' at the quality of education being provided by institutions. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said institutions must be clear with students on what teaching conditions they can expect and if this changed. 'What we can't have is a situation where students don't know what's going on, that they're locked in their halls of accommodation, and can't get hold of food,' she said. She said students had 'legal rights as consumers' and could raise complaints with their university and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Students at Manchester Metropolitan have been left unimpressed by the cost of studies Students look down from outside their window at MMU while in lockdown yesterday Asked if students should receive a refund of tuition fees she said it was 'a question for government'. The 1,700 MMU students in lockdown yesterday complained of feeling abandoned with some already plotting their escape. After 127 positive tests for Covid-19 on Friday, the shocked students many of them freshers living away from home for the first time were ordered to self-isolate in their halls of residence for a fortnight. Desperate undergraduates said supplies of food and toiletries were low and complained of students holding all-night parties likened to 'prison riots'. A student waves through the window of accommodation at MMU behind a sign yesterday Some tried to ease the boredom by putting up signs in their windows with slogans including 'send drink' and 'f*** Boris'. 'Don't fine students for partying refund their fees': Oxford professor urges UK to follow Sweden and PAY infected freshers to trace their contacts A Oxford professor has urged universities in the UK to follow Sweden and pay infected freshers to trace their contacts as at least 32 report Covid cases. Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University told the Times newspaper the Government had helped every sector but had 'clamped down' on students. The professor said that the UK should pay students to trace their contacts if they become infected and said students should be trusted to behave like responsible adults instead of being locked on campus over Christmas. He added: 'We should waive student fees. We have asked people to go back to university and at the first sign cases are going up, we are clamping down on people.' Advertisement As some students in lockdown likened the university to a prison by labelling it 'HMP MMU', with security guards blocking them from leaving, legal experts claimed their incarceration could amount to false imprisonment. Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at Doughty Street chambers in London, wrote on Twitter: 'False imprisonment is detention without lawful authority.' Hours later, university vice-chancellor Professor Malcolm Press conceded it could only 'expect' students to follow the self-isolation rules designed to avoid spreading the infection to their home towns. While many students pledged to stick it out, others were preparing to flee the city. Tilly Thompson, 19, said she felt like a 'caged animal' and was waiting for her mother to take her home to Wolverhampton. Students claimed some of those under restrictions had been ignoring the rules and throwing parties. One boasted the quarantine would be 'a two-week p***-up', saying he had '200 cans of lager' and 'it's going to get messy'. A student called Tom told BBC Radio 5 Live that people had been running past their flats shouting: 'Open your doors, we've got coronavirus, we want to give it to you.' He added: 'It was insane... parties going on everywhere, loud music... It was like a prison riot.' Martyn Moss, of the University and College Union, said he had warned MMU chiefs that their plans for the 'mass return of students would inevitably see institutions become Covid incubators'. He added: 'Universities should have spent the summer following the science and preparing properly for this inevitable crisis.' * Are you a student in lockdown? Send your photos to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk * The immediate past Grand Kadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kogi State, Hon. Kadi Zakariya Muhammad Rtd. has called on Governor Yahaya Bello to p... The immediate past Grand Kadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kogi State, Hon. Kadi Zakariya Muhammad Rtd. has called on Governor Yahaya Bello to pay the gratuities of all the living retired judges and those that have left their families behind in the State. Kadi Zakariya Muhammad made the call on Tuesday at a valedictory court session held at the High Court of Justice, Headquarter, Lokoja, in honour of deceased and retired Judicial Officers, in the State. He noted that the payment would help to alleviate their suffering in the state. His excellency should use his magnanimity to pay our gratuities. This would go a long way to reduce the hardship faced by retired judges and those that left their families behind after succumbing to death he lamented. Hon. Kadi Zakariya Muhammad Rtd was the Grand Kadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kogi State, between 2012-2018. Also speaking, a former Judge, Customary Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Elias Adem Egwu rtd. asked the judiciary to work on the jurisdiction of the customary court of appeal. According to him, it has been an issue that has lingered for too long, stressing that, their areas of jurisdiction should be spelt out in the state. He, however, advised the judiciary to organize a seminar for area court judges adding that there is a need for legal practitioners to quickly pursue their cases in area courts. Meanwhile, the Kogi State Judiciary has bid farewell to the Late Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah. At the valedictory court session, legal jurist took turns to eulogize the former CJ who died on Sunday 28th June 2020. The court also honoured two other legal jurists, a former President, Customary Court of Appeal, Kogi State, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Atadoga Shaibu who passed on Sunday 21st June 2020 and a former Judge, High Court of Justice, Kogi State Hon. Justice Zaccheaus Owonibi who died on September 16the, 2018. In his farewell message, the Acting Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Henry Olusiyi described the deceased judges as men of great character who no doubt, have left indelible footprints on the sands of time. Although we are greatly pained by their exists, we, nonetheless, give thanks to God for the times and seasons we spent together on this side of the great divine. It shall be well with every member of the families and all of us that they have left behind he added. President Trump and Joe Biden are set to square off in the first of three presidential debates this Tuesday in Cleveland. CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga has the latest on how the two campaigns are preparing ahead of the debate. US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden will come face to face on Tuesday for the first round of televised debates to showcase their strengths and expose opponent weaknesses with just over a month left until the election.This first of three presidential debates is being held in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic. The contest will begin at 9:00 p.m. EST (1:00 a.m. GMT) and last about 90 minutes without commercial interruptions. Tuesday nights debate could break the audience record set in 2016, which saw 84 million viewers tune in, according to the Los Angeles Times. The moderator, Fox News Sunday television anchor Chris Wallace, has chosen six topics for discussion with 15 minutes allocated to each.While Trump is never shy of public appearances, including massive rallies and almost daily sparrings with the skeptical press, the focus will likely be more on Biden, who after relying on less challenging canvassing throughout his entire campaign, has to prove his intellectual prowess and dispel concerns over his age. For Biden to win, hes got to exceed this low bar of expectations that he cant stand there for 90 minutes and string two sentences together, debate expert Mitchell McKinney told MarketWatch. But he also has to demonstrate for anxious, nervous Democrats, and also for an anxious, nervous perhaps even wider swath of the citizenry, that he can aggressively meet Donald Trump and push back. The candidates will be requested to address their records, which implies grilling on Ukraine dealings for Biden and issues like tax returns for Trump in addition to his decision to fast-track a Supreme Court nomination prior to the November 3 election. The COVID-19 outbreak, the economy, anti-racism protests and recent violence that has erupted in several US cities are also likely to be discussed.The final topic the integrity of the election is likely to cover Trumps concerns over widespread mail-in voting and growing fears that the incumbent may refuse to peacefully cede power in case of a defeat.The moderator, Wallace, works for a pro-Trump TV network, but is known to be a registered Democrat and has a reputation of one of Americas toughest interviewers. ALSO READ: India-Bangladesh JCC meet today: Rohingya crisis, water sharing and others issues on agenda Wallace is expected to address his first question to Trump in the debate that will kick off without opening statements. Both candidates will not be wearing face masks on stage, but will refrain from handshakes. Another coronavirus-related limitation is a small number of ticketed guests at Case Western Reserve University. The venue is already heavily guarded by local and federal law enforcement agencies, including a National Guard task force, to minimize all possible distractions, as Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson put it. Trump, who is trailing in the polls, has repeatedly demanded that Biden take a drug test to ensure that he is not artificially stimulated when on stage, while Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi advised Biden to skip the debates, which she denounced as an exercise in skullduggery.All the hype notwithstanding, Americans do not see debates as a major choice-making factor, a recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC showed. When asked how important the event will be in helping them make a decision, 44 per cent answered Not at all. Another 27 per cent opted for a somewhat important, only 18 and 11 per cent see it as extremely and quite important respectively, according to the pollsters.There will be two more debates between Trump and Biden, on October 15 in Miami and October 22 in Nashville, and a single round for their running mates. Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, are scheduled to meet on October 7 in Salt Lake City. ALSO READ: India-Japan naval exercise JIMEX-2020 concludes in Arabian Sea Colombia is set to extend it partial lockdown until late October, countrys president Ivan Duque announced on September 28. He added that the extension is being made to prevent the mass gatherings amid rising COVID-19 cases. According to the latest tally by the John Hopkins Unversity, the South American nation has reported 8,13,203 cases and 25,641 fatalities till now. "The decree that we issued for the first month of selective isolation with responsible individual distancing will be extended for the whole of October," Duque said in a televised statement. Till September 1, all the Columbian residents were ordered to practice mandatory quarantine. However, the government altered its policies and asked residents to "selectively isolate and distance". The new policy aims to isolate suspected COVID-19 carriers to those who have been in contact while allowing others to move freely in the state. 5,147 new positive cases As the country registered 5,147 new positive cases, Duque also said that the health emergency will be in effect in Colombia until November 30. This comes days after The International Monetary Fund said in a statement that it has approved Colombia's request to raise its credit line by $6.2 billion. Read: Thousands Protest Police Violence In Colombia Read: Protests In Colombia Over Death In Police Custody Talking about coronavirus, Antoinette Sayeh, a Liberian economist and Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said that Colombia has taken some very strong measures which will help the country to come to a very timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a tally by John Hopkins University, Colombia has recorded a total number of 798,317 cases with 25,103 fatalities. She said, The authorities' early response and continuing actions - including the temporary suspension of the fiscal rule to raise health spending, as well as to assist vulnerable households and businesses - are welcome and supporting the economy through the recession. She added that financial support from the IMF will help Colombia in dealing with the external crisis and also increase the migrants from Venezuela. Read: IMF Approves Colombia's Request To Increase Credit Line By $6.2 Billion Read: Colombia Dubs Venezuelan Elex A "pre-fabrication" (With inputs from ANI) Image credits: AP Manali, Sep 29 : There is going to be prosperity at the end of 9.2-km long horseshoe-shaped single-tube, two-lane Atal Tunnel -- one of India's strategically most important infrastructure projects beneath the majestic Rohtang Pass -- in the Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh where 20,000 people remain cut off from the rest of the country every winter. As it brings the landlocked valley close to the rest of the world even during the forlorn winter months when the area is covered under forgetful snow, its people are looking forward to continuous supplies, trade and tourism with the opening of the tunnel, earlier named after Rohtang Pass. The strategic Atal Tunnel, constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a wing of the Defence Ministry, in collaboration with Afcons, a joint venture with Strabag AG, under the 3,978 metre Rohtang Pass in the Pir Panjal range, is all set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3. The tunnel's north portal lies towards Lahaul and Spiti district, while the south one is towards Dhundi, some 30 km from Manali. "We were desperately awaiting the completion of the tunnel that was initially proposed to be completed by 2015," octogenarian farmer Bidhi Chand of Keylong town told IANS over phone. "This will end our miseries forever," he said. "We are happy that at least in our lifetime, we will be able to see the tunnel that is going to ensure the all-weather connectivity with the rest of the state for the people of Lahaul," said Heera Singh of Sissu village. Sissu is the venue where Modi will get a warm welcome by locals donning traditional dresses. He will be reaching there to address a small gathering after inaugurating the tunnel at its south portal. After crossing the 9.2 km-long tunnel in less than 10 minutes towards its south portal, Modi will proceed toward Sissu. He will attend his second and last small public meeting at the Solang Valley, towards the tunnel's south portal. In the morning, Modi will be landing at the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) helipad base near Manali at 9.30 a.m. The Rs 1,495-crore tunnel's foundation stone was laid by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on June 28, 2010, in the picturesque Solang Valley near Manali. The tunnel -- a dream of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and named after him posthumously -- missed its February 2015 deadline. As per the BRO, despite delays the tunnel is going to finish within Rs 3,200 crore out of the sanctioned Rs 4,083 crore. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is leaving no stone unturned to make Modi's visit historic but low-key given Covid times, told IANS the tunnel would also be a boon for the cold deserts of Lahaul Valley, where over 20,000 people remain cut off in winter with the snapping of road links via the Rohtang Pass. The celebrations have been scaled down to ensure strict physical distancing norms, he said. Besides reducing road distance by approximately 46 km and saving travel time between Manali and Keylong towns, the tunnel has the capacity to ply 3,000 vehicles per day under any weather condition. Hotelier Nakul Bodh said the construction of the tunnel would ensure round-the-year flow of tourists to the Lahaul Valley, which will boost the local prosperity. "After Manali, Keylong and its nearby areas will be the preferred tourist destinations. Even tourists staying in Manali can make a round-trip to Lahaul," he added. The tunnel is located at picturesque but breathtaking altitudes ranging above 3,000 metres in the western Himalayas. It lies beneath the snow covered Rohtang Pass, 70 per cent of which remains under snow even during summer. For locals, the tunnel is a boon. "No vegetable other than peas and potatoes that grow locally reach here once the road link via Rohtang Pass snaps in December. For at least four months, we have to relish only the stored vegetables, meat and fruits. Now we will get the fresh supply via Atal Tunnel," housewife Reshma Bodh said. Till last winter, heavy snowfall high up the Rohtang Pass would close the road connectivity to Lahaul-Spiti district, the lone state-run helicopter, which normally operated once in a week to transported the locals, as it was the only mode of transportation. The Lahaulis, as the locals are called, are mostly farmers and grow mainly peas and potatoes. The Buddhist-dominated district in the Himalayan terrain attracted globetrotters mostly during summer until now. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Union chiefs have called on the government to create 'Nightingale classes' amid a drop in the number of schools able to fully open due to Covid-19. The latest government figures revealed one in six state secondary schools could not fully open last week - with most unable to do so because of coronavirus. Schools are considered to be not fully open if they are unable to provide face-to-face teaching for all pupils for the whole school day and have asked a group of students to self-isolate. Latest school attendance statistics reveal approximately 84 per cent of state-funded secondary schools were fully open on September 24 - down eight per cent from a week earlier. Now bosses from the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education union in the UK, have renewed calls on the government to create 'Nightingale classes' in a bid to get all of the country's students back into lessons. Union chiefs have called on the government to create 'Nightingale classes' amid a drop in the number of schools (library image) able to fully open due to Covid-19 They say the Nightingale class would be similar to the government's Nightingale hospital system - where pop-up hospitals were set up in conference centres at the start of the pandemic to deal with an anticipated surge in hospital admissions. Joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: 'With such a rapid drop in the number of fully open secondary schools in the space of just two weeks, it is clear the Government's grip on the situation is now in question. 'It is doubtful the urgency of the situation has yet dawned on either (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson or (Education Secretary) Gavin Williamson, who must now ensure that schools and colleges are equipped to deal swiftly and effectively with any outbreaks that occur on their premises. 'This does not just begin and end with testing, although that situation is parlous enough. 'We need to see the drafting in of retired, supply and newly qualified teachers to get class sizes down. 'Nightingale classes will be necessary to expand school space - we have been calling for that since June. Joint general secretary of the NEU Dr Mary Bousted (pictured left) has called for the government to create Nightingale Classes. Geoff Barton (pictured right), general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was 'extremely concerned' by the drop in fully open state secondary schools 'We also need proper funding support to schools, so that they can remain Covid-secure.' According to the Department for Education (DfE)'s latest school attendance statistics, approximately 84 per cent of state-funded secondary schools were fully open on September 24 - down from 92 per cent a week earlier. Schools are considered to be not fully open if they are unable to provide face-to-face teaching for all pupils for the whole school day and have asked a group of students to self-isolate. The cause of schools not being fully open was 'mostly due to Covid-19 related reasons', the DfE said. As a result, attendance in state-funded secondary schools fell from approximately 86% on September 17 to 84 per cent on September 24, the department said. Meanwhile, attendance remained stable in fully open state-funded secondary schools at 87 per cent. The DfE statistics also suggested that 99.8 per cent of state schools were open on September 24, with the small proportion that were shut being closed 'mostly due to Covid-19 related reasons'. State-funded schools are primary, secondary, special schools and alternative provision. About 88 per cent of all children on roll in all state-funded schools were in attendance on September 24, the DfE said, adding that this figure has remained 'broadly stable for three weeks'. Dr Bousted said it is up to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) or Prime Minister Boris Johnson to 'ensure that schools and colleges are equipped to deal swiftly and effectively with any outbreaks that occur on their premise' Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was 'extremely concerned' by the drop in fully open state secondary schools. 'This reflects the extremely difficult circumstances in which schools are operating amidst rising infection rates in the community,' he said. 'While there are some signs of improvement in accessing Covid tests and obtaining timely public health advice in the event of positive cases, we continue to receive reports from schools that problems persist, and this is not good enough. 'It is increasingly clear that schools have effectively found themselves on the front line of managing the public health emergency, as well as delivering education, and the support simply has to be there.' Highlighting that pressure on staff was 'immense', Mr Barton expressed concern it could lead to 'deteriorating mental health and wellbeing'. He said the Government should reimburse schools the cost of implementing Covid-19 safety measures, clarify plans for next summer's exams, suspend performance tables for this academic year, and postpone plans to resume Ofsted inspections in January. The European Commission has launched a consultation on the future of the one and two-cent coins. Some countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, have already taken steps to ban them. Should Luxembourg do the same? To keep, or not to keep, that is the question. Some argue that small change is useful for everyday expenses. Others see the tiny coins as a symbol of the fight against the disappearance of cash, which is on the rise with the digital revolution and contactless payment. The French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir fears that shopkeepers will "round up prices to the next unit", as was already the case during the changeover to the euro, or the reduction in VAT in the Horesca sector. The anti-coin fraction is in favour of abandoning the copper change, in order to create more space in the wallet. At the end of 2017, one and two-cent pieces accounted for almost half of the coins issued in the eurozone. Scrupulous economists also point out a paradox: In 2015, Ireland's central bank estimated the production cost of the one-cent coins at 1.65 cents, well above their face value. And finally, there are of course those who simply prefer digital money, which is much more convenient but also easier to keep track of than cash. Just this week, the European Commission announced the launch of the evaluation on the use of these coins. The consultation will be open and accessible to citizens. It will be open for fifteen weeks. Then the commission will have to decide by the end of 2021, whether to "round cash payments to the nearest five cents". This, in turn, "could lead to the phasing out of the one and two-cent coins," the European Commission informs. And in Luxembourg? Several countries did not wait for the European Commission to act. Finland in 2002, the Netherlands in 2004, Belgium in 2014 and Ireland in 2015 have already rounded up cash payments to the nearest five cents. And in Luxembourg? Last January, Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna declared that he had "no intention" of removing these coins from circulation in Luxembourg and stated that the government does not share the position of other European countries that are considering, or have already decided, to ban the coins. The market closed rangebound session on a flat note with a negative bias on September 29 as bulls preferred to take a breather after a run up in previous two trading sessions. The BSE Sensex declined 8.41 points to 37,973.22, while the Nifty50 fell 5.10 points to 11,222.40 and formed bearish candle on the daily charts as closing was lower than opening tick. "Nifty is placed at the immediate resistance of trend line, as per change in polarity at 11,240 and has struggled to sustain above that area on Tuesday. The complete filling of opening upside gap also signals a possibility of more consolidation with negative bias in the short term," Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities told Moneycontrol. "The recent upside bounce from the lows of 10,800 could be considered as an upside bounce of a down trend and this up leg is expected to form a new lower top around 11,300-11,400, if it sustains above 11,250 levels in the near term. Tuesday's consolidation could rather signal a pause of a sharp upside bounce, than any sharp negative reversal at the highs," he added. The broader negative chart pattern as per weekly chart is still intact and any upside bounce from here could be considered as a sell on rise opportunity in the near term, he advised. The broader markets also closed moderately lower with the Nifty Midcap index falling 0.15 percent and Smallcap down 0.3 percent. Among sectors, Bank and FMCG fell over a percent each, while Metal gained 2 percent. We have collated 14 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks given in this story are the aggregates of three-month data and not of the current month only. Key support and resistance levels on the Nifty According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty is placed at 11,167.13, followed by 11,111.87. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,291.53 and 11,360.67. Nifty Bank The Bank Nifty corrected 254.20 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 21,411.30 on September 29, underperforming Nifty50. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 21,190.77, followed by 20,970.23. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 21,721.67 and 22,032.04. Call option data Maximum Call open interest of 18.02 lakh contracts was seen at 11,500 strike, which will act as crucial resistance in the October series. This is followed by 12,000 strike, which holds 15.53 lakh contracts, and 11,000 strike, which has accumulated 10.67 lakh contracts. Call writing was seen at 11,600 strike, which added 1.14 lakh contracts, followed by 11,400, which added 71,250 contracts, and 11,900 strike, which added 65,400 contracts. Call unwinding was seen at 11,200 strike, which shed 32,025 contracts, followed by 11,100 strike, which shed 24,075 contracts and 11,000 strike which shed 23,625 contracts. Put option data Maximum Put open interest of 34.98 lakh contracts was seen at 10,500 strike, which will act as crucial support in the October series. This is followed by 11,000 strike, which holds 18.78 lakh contracts, and 10,800 strike, which has accumulated 16.98 lakh contracts. Put writing was seen at 10,900 strike, which added 1.55 lakh contracts, followed by 10,500 strike, which added 1.34 lakh contracts and 11,200 strike which added 80,925 contracts. Put unwinding was witnessed at 11,000 strike, which shed 62,250 contracts, followed by 10,300 strike which shed 25,650 contracts and 10,200 strike which shed 25,500 contracts. Stocks with a high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in these stocks. 29 stocks saw long build-up Based on the open interest future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long build-up was seen. 32 stocks saw long unwinding Based on the open interest future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long unwinding was seen. 58 stocks saw short build-up An increase in open interest, along with a decrease in price, mostly indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on the open interest future percentage, here are those 3 stocks in which short build-up was seen. 19 stocks witnessed short-covering A decrease in open interest, along with an increase in price, mostly indicates a short-covering. Based on the open interest future percentage, here are top 10 stocks in which short-covering was seen. Bulk deals GMM Pfaudler: Plutus Wealth Management LLP acquired 1.65 lakh shares in company at Rs 3,528.75 per share on the NSE. IRB Infrastructure Developers: Virendra Dattatraya Mhaiskar bought 19 lakh shares in company at Rs 114.45 per share on the NSE. (For more bulk deals, click here) Analysts/Board Meetings Shriram City Union Finance: Company's officials will meet Hara Global Capital Management, and Ruane, Cunniff and Goldfarb, Inc via conference call on September 30. Graphite India: Senior management of the company is scheduled to virtually meet analysts / investors on September 30. Metropolis Healthcare: Officials of the company will hold investor meeting on October 1. Rane Engine Valve: Company on October 23 to consider September quarter earnings. Jamna Auto Industries: Company's officials will hold conference call with analysts/ institutional investors on October 1. Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals: PhillpCapital (India) will be organizing an investors group meeting (virtual) with representative of the company on September 30. Godawari Power & Ispat: Management of the company will be meeting with Investor/Analyst/Advisers/Fund House /Institutional /Broker etc. on September 30. 3i Infotech: Company on October 22 to consider September quarter earnings. Stocks in the news Indraprastha Gas: ICRA reaffirmed credit rating of IGL for Rs 4,000 crore at AAA and A1+. Outlook on the long term rating is stable. Sumitomo Chemical India: Promoter entity Sumitomo Chemical Company to sell up to 1,64,83,654 equity shares in company on September 30 and October 1. Floor price for the sale is fixed at Rs 270 per share. Garware Polyester: CARE reaffirmed long term credit rating at A and revised outlook from stable to positive. Bandhan Bank: Company appointed Rahul Parikh as Chief Marketing & Digital Officer. VA Tech Wabag: Company approved the allotment of 75 lakh equity shares at a price of Rs 160 per equity share aggregating to Rs 120 crore by way of preferential issue to Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (50 lakh shares), Basera Home Finance (15 lakh shares), and Sushma Anand Jain and Anand Jaikumar Jain (Joint Holding) (10 lakh shares). Welspun Corp: Company received multiple orders of approximately 147 KMT valuing close to Rs 1,400 crore. With these orders, total order book stands at 755 KMT valued at approximately Rs 6,300 crore. Fund flow Stock under F&O ban on NSE One stock - Vedanta - is under the F&O ban for September 30. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. In order to improve its testing capacity for COVID-19, the Nigerian government has developed a molecular test kit named the SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay (SIMA). The minister of state for health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, made this known at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday. Mr Mamora said the test kit developed by the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) can produce results in less than 40 minutes. This is faster as compared to the Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) which is currently the main source of testing in the country. This method of testing takes several hours to produce results. The Nigeria Institute of Medical Research has developed a molecular test for COVID-19 that can give results in less than 40 minutes. It is the SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay (SIMA) which can be performed by low skilled personnel with minimum training, Mr Mamora said. He also said the kit is ten times cheaper than PCR and can be deployed for point of care detection and surveillance. Nigeria is still struggling to ramp up COVID-19 testing mainly due to lack of adequate equipment and reagents needed to carry out the PCR test. Tests to diagnose viral infections are key to controlling the pandemic, but Nigeria, like many other African countries, could not make any locally and was importing the kits. On April 28, the Nigerian government announced its target of testing at least two million people within the next three months. The target elapsed with Nigeria failing to cover at least 30 per cent of the two million. The main challenge Nigeria has had with testing has been its inability to test as many people as possible. Inability to secure test kits in a world where they are still in high demand means that cheaper, alternative, mass-produced options are being sought all over the world, Ikemesit Effiong, a forensic expert, told PREMIUM TIMES. Low testing As of Tuesday evening, 509,555 of Nigerias 200 million have already been tested for COVID-19, a potentially dangerous pneumonia-like disease. This resulted in the discovery of 58,460 infections thus far. But there has also been a significant reduction in the number of daily infections across Nigerias 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). For about a month, Nigeria has been recording daily figures below 300, an indication that the country may have gone past its worst phase of the virus. Health authorities, however, warn against a new wave of the virus if citizens continue to violate COVID-19 rules. This week, to celebrate turning 48, Gwyneth Paltrow decided to post a picture of herself in her birthday suit to her 7.4 million Instagram followers. As you do. Standing coquettishly in front of some foliage, one arm across her chest, her right leg half-raised to protect her modesty, no doubt she hoped to project a picture of female beauty and empowerment (not to mention sell a few tubs of the Goop body butter she was promoting). And in many ways she succeeded. For her 16-year-old daughter, however, it was a case of TMI ('too much information'). 'MOM,' she commented, making clear her embarrassment to which Paltrow replied with a line of laughing emojis. I don't need to pose naked to make my 17-year-old daughter cringe (a nation heaves a sigh of relief). My very existence is enough. This week, to celebrate turning 48, Gwyneth Paltrow decided to post a picture of herself in her birthday suit to her 7.4 million Instagram followers. As you do My sins, apparently, include 'always trying to cook for me', asking her friends questions about themselves (where they live, where they're at school, what A-levels they're doing, would they like a sandwich) and posting adorable pictures of her on my own Instagram. Guilty on all fronts. But, the truth is, I love embarrassing my children. In fact, I would go so far as to say I consider it my solemn parental duty to do so at every available opportunity. The relationship between parent and teenager is a difficult one. On the one hand, they still need you; on the other, they are desperate to break free. You love them deeply and enjoy seeing them come into their own. But there's a price. They do annoying things such as invite friends over who steal your wine and then throw up in your bathroom, blocking the sink for days before they come clean about it. Then they go on the defensive, arguing that it's all your fault for having wine in the house in the first place. They go to parties and forget to tell you they're not coming home; or they say they're sleeping over and then come home after all, only of course they've forgotten their key so they ring the doorbell at 4am, setting the dogs barking and waking the whole neighbourhood. For her 16-year-old daughter, however, it was a case of TMI ('too much information'). 'MOM,' she commented, making clear her embarrassment to which Paltrow replied with a line of laughing emojis Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter, Apple Martin, pictured above They 'borrow' your iPods and lose them, make themselves zucchini fritti at midnight (seriously, what's wrong with a bowl of cereal?), leave all the lights on (despite lecturing you about climate change), dye their hair using your best towels. They are an endless source of frustration but also, of course, fascination. When you consider the rap sheet, a bit of mild embarrassment is a small price to pay. More importantly, it's good for them. Takes them down a peg or two. Makes them realise there are other people in the world apart from themselves. Some parents go out of their way not to embarrass their children. You see them walking several steps behind their offspring like cowed wives. But parents who alter their behaviour to curry favour with their teenagers inevitably end up losing the battle. If you allow your child to dictate how you live your life, you are not raising a well-rounded human being, you're raising a spoilt brat. So whether it's Paltrow in her birthday suit, or Liz Hurley in her bikinis, or Ulrika Jonsson documenting her transition from thongs to 'apple catcher' big pants, we embarrassing mums must stick together. My current line of attack involves joining my local ward action group in an attempt to clean up my local park, which has become overrun with drug dealers. This, my son (15, peak teen) informs me, qualifies me as a 'Karen', which is possibly the most embarrassing anyone can be. Naturally, I take great delight in telling all his friends about my efforts. As Paltrow herself might put it. Unpaid carers have spent an additional 92 million hours looking after loved ones with dementia since lockdown, according to new figures from the Alzheimer's Society with women (as ever) bearing the brunt. Seeing as the Treasury is handing out sweeties to all and sundry, shouldn't the Government also consider extending some of its largesse to this army of selfless stalwarts without whom, quite frankly, the NHS would be overwhelmed? And deliver on its promise to, as the Prime Minister said on the steps of No 10 back in those heady days of August 2019, 'fix the crisis in social care once and for all'. It was my godson's birthday at the weekend and, in accordance with current guidance, he and five friends went paintballing. As his mother pointed out, had they been real guns, and they were heading for a grouse moor, he could have made up a posse of 30. Funny old world. Don't snicker, Joan's far from a diva I loved Rupert Everett's cheerfully self- deprecating new autobiography, extracted this week in the Daily Mail. Here's a man who is honest enough to own his mistakes and inadequacies. Like the time he accidentally stood up Dame Joan Collins. 'And Joan and I don't speak for years,' he remarks ruefully. I have to say I find this hard to believe: Joan may be a diva but, in my experience, she is far from diva-esque. Years ago, I invited her for supper, having met her at a political fundraiser. To my astonishment, she agreed. The evening was marked by several culinary disasters, not least an exploding quail's egg (I had undercooked them), which erupted all down her silk blouse. But perhaps the worst part was when my son, then aged seven or eight, came downstairs and said to Joan: 'Are you that lady from the Snickers advert?' I was mortified, but Joan replied: 'Why, darling, thank you. Yes, I am.' 'Although,' she added, shooting a devilish Alexis wink at the table, 'I've been in one or two other things, too.' Much reaching for the smelling salts at Broadcasting House after news that veteran conservative Charles Moore is being lined up as chairman of the BBC. A friend, who knows him quite well, is surprised, since, as far as she is aware, Charles doesn't really watch television. Oh, to be a fly on the wall as Moore is introduced to the more 'cutting-edge' areas of BBC output. It would knock Gogglebox's Giles and Mary into a cocked hat. A load of noodles Parents of students locked down at university have been complaining of 'inadequate' food parcels being sent to their little darlings including baked beans, Pot Noodles and tins of chicken meatballs. When I was at university, such things were considered delicacies, beer being the prevailing food group. What really made me laugh was one parent's complaint that, even though her daughter had 'advised she is vegan', her college had failed to provide adequately. Comforting to know that, even in a global pandemic, there are some people for whom not having access to tofu and avocados is still the worst of their worries. Given the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's fiercely protective attitude towards their privacy, doesn't it seem a little strange that they were reportedly offering to make public as part of their deal with Netflix highly personal home videos detailing their departure from the Royal Family? Or is it just a bit different when there's $100 million in the offing? Trump's hair-raising expenses The most astonishing thing about the Donald Trump's tax revelations (it is said that he paid just $750 in federal income in 2016 after expenses and deductions) is that he claimed $70,000 for his hair. Correction: for that hair. That's roughly the price of five or six top-notch transplants. I think he or the American taxpayer should ask for his money back. PRESIDENT Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi warned on Sunday against attempts to destabilise the state, saying that calls to participate in demonstrations during the past few days aimed at destruction, not change. I know there are people whose sole goal is to intimidate you and cast doubt on the states efforts by fishing in troubled waters, Al-Sisi said during a speech inaugurating several development projects. He urged the media and the educational institutions to contribute to raising public awareness. I will keep talking about this matter as long as I remain in post, he said. President Al-Sisi was referring to anti-government protests called for by the banned Muslim Brotherhood and the discredited businessman and contractor Mohamed Ali. Both recently urged Egyptians to take to the streets and demonstrate against the government. On Saturday, Al-Azhar, Sunni Islams highest authority, called on the public to unite behind Egypts leadership in the face of attempts to destabilise the country and undermine public order. In a statement Al-Azhar hailed the way the Egyptian people had foiled attempts to destabilise the nation and reconfirmed its belief in the ability of the state to handle domestic issues in a manner that best serves the interests and needs of the public. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: M ultiple people have died and a suspect has been shot by police following a hostage situation in Oregon. Officers were called to a home in Salem in the west of the state at around 12.30pm on Monday to reports of hostages being taken, according to the the Marion County Sheriffs Office. Once deputies arrived, a negotiator made a call to the suspect inside, police said. Shots were fired as the incident unfolded and multiple people including the suspect died. Multiple people have died in the indicent in Salem No deputies were hurt and there is no reason to believe there is any danger to the community, the sheriff's office added. In a statement, police said: "As the incident unfolded, shots were fired. Ultimately, there were multiple fatalities during this incident, including that of the suspect." The sheriffs office declined to provide information regarding how many people were killed, who killed them, or what led up to the deaths, The Statesman Journal reported. The sheriffs office said Oregon State Police are at the scene and leading an investigation. Any deputies involved will be placed on administrative leave during the inquiry, the sheriff's office added. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday interacted with farmers from across the country on Centres three contentious farm laws. The farmers told Gandhi that the laws were black laws, saying they were being exploited. The interaction, which took place virtually, was called Kisaan Ki Baat. Ten farmers from states like Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Maharashtra and Delhi participated in it. Gandhis first question to farmers was how will the laws harm them. Replying to this, Dhirendra Kumar from Bihar said, These laws are totally black laws. Poor and farmers are being exploited, Farmers are being forced to commit suicide. The former Congress president then asked why farmers were apprehensive Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be withdrawn. Calling it nothing but jumlebaji, Sunil Singh from Punjab said the government was cheating farmers. Whats worst thing about these laws, Gandhi next questioned farmers to which Rakesh Jakhar from Haryana said the laws have been framed to finish off the farmers. Im more scared of these laws than coronavirus. Im scared my land will not be in the name of my next generation, Gajanan Kashinath from Maharashtra said. The first big fight I fought was on land acquisition, Gandhi said, referring to his arrest in Bhatta Parsaul in Uttar Pradeshs Noida in 2011. He further said the media attacked him but he was able to face it. Gandhi ended the interaction by saying there was no difference between the three farm laws and demonetisation and Goods and Service Tax (GST). The bills, he said, were like a stab in the heart. He further said he was absolutely clear that protests against farm laws were needed, adding that once again, farmers voice will take India to a new freedom. Caffeine fiends rejoice. Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day and that comes with deals at all your favorite java spots. From Biggby to Krispy Kreme to Speedway, Americas coffee kings are celebrating with a free cup-o-joe and other deals for their customers. Michigan-based Biggby Coffee has a free 20-ounce cup of coffee for every customer who makes a purchase today. Today is National Coffee Day and we want to treat you to a FREE 20oz hot/iced brewed coffee with any purchase, no coupon... Posted by BIGGBY COFFEE on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 Krispy Kreme is offering a free cup of coffee with a donut to its rewards members. Free ? Good. Free + ? Better. Celebrate #NationalCoffeeDay the best way. TODAY ONLY for rewards members! Valid for rewards members only, sign up here https://t.co/9MKn37EEND or download our app. Not offered online. Participating US shops & info -> https://t.co/VihgupbOLv pic.twitter.com/X6dCycEY8Z Krispy Kreme (@krispykreme) September 29, 2020 Dunkin Donuts wants its customers to give their brains a liquid hug with a free medium coffee with any purchase. Wake up, its National Dunkin Day! Give your brain a liquid hug and celebrate with a FREE medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase today, 9/29. Exclusions & additional charges may apply. pic.twitter.com/zMLm62jTRI Dunkin' (@dunkindonuts) September 29, 2020 Starbucks is celebrating National Coffee Day all week with special deals for its reward members. Calling all Starbucks Rewards members. The most rewarding week of the year starts today. Check the app daily for exclusive offers, games and more. https://t.co/8b1dDhYUIG pic.twitter.com/rDobPmc1yD Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) September 28, 2020 Speedway home of Michigans best gas station coffee is offering a free 16-ounce coffee to all customers through 6 p.m. today. Tim Hortons has 99-cent any-size coffee all month long. Coffee deserves more than one national holiday. Thats why were celebrating all month long with any size 99 hot or... Posted by Tim Hortons Cafe and Bake Shop on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 Check with your favorite local coffee shops for more deals in your area. READ MORE: First snowflakes possible in northern Michigan later this week This Michigan state park nominated as top spot for RV crowd CDC recommends downsized Thanksgiving celebrations amid COVID-19 pandemic MOSCOW, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, and one of the leading pharmaceutical distributors in Nepal, Trinity Pharmaceuticals, have agreed to supply to the country 25 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vectors platform. The agreement will enable 90% of population of Nepal to get access to Sputnik V vaccine and provide country's clinics with an anti-COVID vaccine with proven safety and efficacy. The agreement underlines that many countries recognize the importance of having a vaccine based on a human adenoviral vector platform in the coronavirus vaccine portfolio. The human adenoviral vector platform is a well-researched vaccine platform that has been proven safe over decades including through 75 international scientific publications and in more than 250 clinical trials. Clinical trials of the Russian vaccine have shown no serious adverse events, with Sputnik V generating a stable humoral and cellular immune response in 100% of participants. In contrast, vaccines based on novel platforms have yet to prove their safety and currently have no data on carcinogenicity or effects on fertility. On August 11, the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform. Detailed information on the Sputnik V vaccine, the technological platform of human adenoviral vectors, and other details are available at sputnikvaccine.com On September 4, a research paper on the results of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine was published in The Lancet, one of the leading international medical journals, demonstrating no serious adverse effects and a stable immune response in 100% of participants. Post-registration clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine involving 40,000 volunteers are currently ongoing. More than 60,000 volunteers have applied to take part in post-registration trials. The first results of these trials are expected to be published in October-November 2020. More than 50 countries in Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Europe and CIS have applied for Sputnik V. RDIF has announced earlier supply agreements with Mexico for 32 million doses, with Brazil for up to 50 million doses, India 100 million doses and Uzbekistan for up to 35 million doses. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "Thanks to agreement with Trinity Pharmaceuticals about 90% of population of Nepal will be provided with Sputnik V vaccine. Unlike experimental vaccines based on monkey adenovirus or mRNA, Sputnik V vaccine was created on human adenoviral vectors platform, which has been studied over decades and has proven no negative effects in the long-term. We see a strong interest from other partners in Asia. In this regard, RDIF is ready to supply Sputnik V vaccine to the countries of the region as novel coronavirus infection is our common enemy which can be defeated only by joining our efforts." Kishor Adhikari, Director of Trinity Pharmaceuticals, said: "We are excited to announce our cooperation with Russian Direct Investment Fund. Trinity is waiting for results of the final trial of Sputnik V. As soon as the vaccine is approved by Government of Nepal we will make it available for the population of Nepal." Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB1.9 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru Trinity Pharmaceuticals is a healthcare company operating in pharmaceutical products, mainly human vaccines. It is serving the Nepal market with a wide range of healthcare products for more than a decade and has a wide network across the country. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg SOURCE Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Nauman Hussain, the limo company operator, faces 20 charges each of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He has pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to stand trial in May, but the trial was delayed because of the pandemic. His lawyers have been meeting with prosecutors to discuss a possible plea deal. A woman checks temperatures at the entrance to a post office in Taipei, Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Shutterstock Amid the horrific public health and economic fallout from a fast-moving pandemic, a more positive phenomenon is playing out: COVID-19 has provided opportunities to businesses, universities and communities to become hothouses of innovation. Around the world, digital technologies are driving high-impact interventions. Community and public health leaders are handling time-sensitive tasks and meeting pressing needs with technologies that are affordable and inclusive, and don't require much technical knowledge. Our research reveals the outsized impact of inexpensive, readily available digital technologies. In the midst of a maelstrom, these technologiesamong them social media, mobile apps, analytics and cloud computinghelp communities cope with the pandemic and learn crucial lessons. To gage how this potential is playing out, our research team looked at how communities incorporate readily available digital technologies in their responses to disasters. Community potential As a starting point, we used a model of crisis management developed in 1988 by organizational theorist Ian Mitroff. The model has five phases: signal detection to identify warning signs probing and prevention to actively search and reduce risk factors damage containment to limit its spread recovery to normal operations learning to glean actionable insights to apply to the next incident Although this model was developed for organizations dealing with crises, it is applicable to communities under duress and has been used to analyze organizational responses to the current pandemic. Our research showed that readily available digital technologies can be deployed effectively during each phase of a crisis. Phase 1: Signal detection Being able to identify potential threats from rivers of data is no easy task. Readily available digital technologies such as social media and mobile apps are useful for signal detection. They offer connectivity any time and anywhere, and allow for rapid sharing and transmission of information. New Zealand, for example, has been exploring an early warning system for landslides based on both internet-of-things sensors and digital transmission through social media channels such as Twitter. Phase 2: Prevention and preparation Readily available digital technologies such as cloud computing and analytics enable remote and decentralized activities to support training and simulations that heighten community preparedness. The federal government, for example, has developed the COVID Alert app for mobile devices that will tell users whether they have been near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 during the previous two weeks. Phase 3: Containment Although crises cannot always be averted, they can be contained. Big data analytics can isolate hot spots and "superspreaders," limiting exposure of larger populations to the virus. Taiwan implemented active surveillance and screening systems to quickly react to COVID-19 cases and implement measures to control its spread. Phase 4: Recovery Social capital, personal and community networks and shared post-crisis communication are essential factors for the recovery process. Readily available digital technologies can help a community get back on its feet by enabling people to share experiences and resource information. For example, residents of Fort McMurray, Alta., have experienced the pandemic, flooding and the threat of wildfires. As part of the response, the provincial government offers northern Alberta residents virtual addiction treatment support via Zoom videoconferencing. During recovery, it is also important to foster equity to avoid a privileged set of community members receiving preferential services. To address this need, anti-hoarding apps for personal protective equipment and apps that promote volunteerism can prove useful. Phase 5: Learning It is usually difficult for communities to gather knowledge on recovery and renewal from multiple sources. Readily available digital technologies can be used to provide local and remote computing power, enable information retrieval and analysis and disseminate emergent knowledge. The global learning platform launched by UNICEF and Microsoft helps youth affected by COVID-19. More than 1.57 billion students have been affected by the nationwide closure of schools due to COVID19. This is what UNICEF and @Microsoft are doing to keep children learning online.https://t.co/GP10jH4DOP UNICEF (@UNICEF) April 20, 2020 A sixth phase Our research suggests a sixth phase of crisis management: community resilience, which is the sustained ability of communities to withstand, adapt to and recover from adversity. Communities must develop the capacity to absorb the impact of pandemics and other disasters. When face-to-face interactions are limitedlike in a pandemicreadily available digital technologies can enable community participation through social media groups, virtual meeting software and cloud- and mobile-driven engagement and decision-making platforms. Technologies that provide transparent information services such as analytics-based dashboards and real-time updates can create a sense of equity and caring. Apps and portals can connect vulnerable populations to critical care, resources and infrastructure services. For example, the government of Karnataka, India, partnered with local vendors and hyper-local food delivery services for home delivery of groceries and other essential materials for households quarantined because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Readily available digital technologies help remote communities develop a sense of belonging, sharing and self-efficacy while incrementally building shared knowledge over multiple crises. Moving forward The 2003 SARS epidemic taught us valuable lessons about the use of technology during a pandemic. At the time, readily available digital technologies were largely overlooked, because bigger and more expensive solutions were the focus. In responding to the present circumstances, it is time we explore the benefit of common technologies. The federal government's recent announcement of funding to support the use of digital solutions in community responses to COVID-19 is a promising step. Investing in resilient infrastructure is also important, since communities depend on public digital infrastructure for access to the internet and other telecommunication networks. This infrastructure must be affordable, sustainable and inclusive. But we should not lose sight of the need to support communities in developing their own resiliencyto help them envision their own solutions using readily available digital technologies. Explore further Digital technologies and data privacy in the COVID-19 pandemic This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) Congress integrity may be affected if the term-sharing deal between incumbent House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and slated successor Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco is not honored, a member of the chamber warned on Tuesday. Speaking to CNN Philippines, Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza called on Cayetano to abide by the gentlemens agreement, saying it would be unfair for the parties to change the rules of the contract at the very last minute. When a contract is reneged by the institution itself, and by the leadership, then theres nothing more to look forward to, Atienza said in an interview with The Source. To put a condition, make it into a different term of agreement, an additional cost in the contract is not fair..." he added. "You cannot adjust, especially in the end of the contract. I ask Speaker Cayetano, honor your words, Speaker. Atienza likewise argued that the speakership issue including power talks should not be the main talking point, as he stressed the need for the legislative branch to uphold its honor and credibility. Hindi importante yang speakership, thats not the issue," he stressed. "Hindi importante yung power. Ang importante rito, the institution of Congress must be upheld. Its integrity must be protected. There was a term-sharing agreement, we should all respect and honor that. [Translation: The speakership is not important, thats not the issue. Power is not important. Whats important is that the institution of Congress must be upheld. Its integrity must be protected.] "Popularity or following is not the issue here. The issue here is the word of honor, and a gentlemens agreement, usapang lalaki," he added. Cayetano and Velasco got entangled in a fresh controversy regarding the House leadership, after rumors of an alleged ouster plot against the current speaker surfaced. Some lawmakers, including Cayetano himself, accused Velasco of staging a coup to take over the post early. Velasco, for his part, also called for the upholding of the crystal clear 15-21 speakership agreement, brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte himself at the start of the 18th Congress last year. The two solons are set to meet with the chief executive this Tuesday, but no other details were provided as of this writing. A supermajority of lawmakers at the chamber have also expressed support for Cayetanos continued leadership. The House also vowed the timely passage of the proposed 2021 national budget in line with the chief executives appeal. READ: Pass 2021 budget on time, Palace tells House amid speakership controversy More solons seen to back Cayetano manifesto Meanwhile, another House member said he believes the joint manifesto issued in support of Cayetano would gain more signatories. House Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte said he expects the document to gain backing from around 230 lawmakers, with at least 210 signatures already on deck. Villafuerte also urged the concerned parties to honor the voice of the majority, noting that even agreements are also subject to change. Its true, there was an agreement. But at the end of the day, is it good for the country to have a change now? Villafuerte said in the same program, citing Cayetanos strong legislative track record. "Things can change," he said. BIG DIRTY MONEY The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime By Jennifer Taub Donald Trump is not the ostensible subject of Big Dirty Money, Jennifer Taubs polemic against Americas failure to curb the destructive criminal tendencies of the very rich. Yet the president, his friends and former Trump campaign and administration officials parade through these pages. The latest example may be Steve Bannon, Trumps 2016 campaign chairman, whose arrest in August on fraud charges came too late for inclusion in Taubs book. Trump is very rich, although how rich remains a subject of investigation, given the wildly varying and self-serving values hes assigned his many real estate assets. He has escaped the consequences of what amounts to a lifetime of dubious business dealings. As Taub, a law professor at Western New England University, writes, Trump took advantage of a system that gives first, second, third and seemingly infinite chances to the elite. As president, he has been investigated, impeached, tried and summarily acquitted for high crimes and misdemeanors over his dealings with Ukraine and attempts to impede Congress. Trump also oversees the Justice Department and its investigations of white-collar crime, including cases involving many of his friends and associates. It should thus be no surprise that white-collar prosecutions on his watch have plummeted. He hasnt hesitated to enlist his compliant attorney general, William P. Barr, in the effort to gain leniency for friends like his former campaign adviser Roger Stone and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Both were accused of lying under oath one of the most common crimes committed by the wealthy and well connected. The president wields the power of the pardon, and Trump has freely used it on behalf of wealthy white-collar criminals. He did so earlier this year for Michael Milken and Eddie DeBartolo Jr., sending a powerful message that white-collar crimes dont really matter, even though white-collar crime in America costs victims an estimated $300 billion to $800 billion per year, Taub reports, while street-level property crimes, including burglary, larceny and theft, cost us far less around $16 billion annually, according to the F.B.I. ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Abortion Clinics Online announces its 25th anniversary of continuous service. Through its online directory and hotline, Abortion Clinics Online directs women to reputable abortion clinics and fights back against fake clinics. The site first went live in September 1995. The Internet was new, and just 14% of Americans had an Internet connection. Planned Parenthood did not yet have a website. AbortionClinics.com Real Clinics Abortion Clinics OnLine Some of the site's earliest clients were skeptical, but founder Ann Rose knew that an online directory could make abortion more accessible while offering unprecedented confidentiality. There would be no more calling around to clinics desperately seeking help. For the first time people could find a clinic from the privacy of their own homes. "Before the Internet, women had barriers to locating an abortion clinic nearby. The Internet opened new avenues for women to get good and accurate information about abortion services nearby," Rose explained. One of Rose's first clients in 1995 was the now-legendary Dr. George Tiller who was later assassinated in 2009. He didn't understand the internet. Then a patient desperately seeking a therapeutic abortion from England contacted him. Her doctor had told her things were hopeless. Dr. Tiller gave her hope, and he became an internet convert. The online presence of abortion clinics has since grown into a powerful force. Clinics have nurtured a new generation of activists through social media and blogs. Most abortion-seekers now begin searching for a clinic online, and several abortion directories have followed, providing alternative models. Abortion advocates have always occupied a dangerous world. Clinics have been bombed or burned. Clinic workers routinely face threats and violence. Rose has been the subject of smear campaigns and threats for her entire career. At a time when choice is under attack, keeping abortion legal is not enough. Women must have ready access to safe, quality abortion clinics. Today, one of the directory's biggest challenges comes from fake abortion clinics. These well-funded anti-choice centers offer no medical services. They may threaten or stalk women to convince them not to have abortions. Because they are not governed by medical privacy laws, they can use patient's private information to humiliate or terrorize them. They invest in online ads, often outranking real abortion clinics. Rose and her team have fought to have them removed from these searches so that panicked women never have to listen to scare tactics. To make it less confusing, they were successful in getting Google to label fake clinic paid ads with a disclaimer stating they "Do Not Offer Abortions," and abortion clinic ads with a statement that they "Provide Abortions." The future of abortion access is perennially mired in uncertaintynow more than ever, in the wake of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the inevitability of an extremist new Supreme Court justice. Abortion Clinics Online will continue to serve as a source of hope and choice without judgment. The hope RBG inspired lives on. Contact: Ann Rose / 770-330-0577 / [email protected] SOURCE Abortion Clinics Online Related Links https://www.abortionclinics.com In a deviation from its restrictions on paying for experimental medications, Tricare will partially cover investigational drugs used to treat COVID-19, the Defense Department announced Thursday. According to an interim change to the military health program's manual, it will cover or cost-share, depending on the Tricare plan, experimental therapies for the novel coronavirus that receive "expanded access" status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read Next: Lawsuit Claims Military Families Endured Mold, Roaches in Camp Lejeune Housing The coverage applies to medications disbursed in any FDA-approved setting other than clinical trials, Tricare officials said. Since the outbreak began in the U.S., the FDA has issued at least six emergency use authorizations, or EUAs, for potential COVID-19 treatments, including permissions for the drug remdesivir, for convalescent plasma and several other medications for patients with kidney disease or hospitalized on ventilators. The FDA also gave hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine an emergency use authorization March 28 after case studies in France indicated that it showed promise and President Donald Trump began pushing it as a potential "game-changer" in the fight against COVID-19. But the designation was revoked June 15 after the FDA determined the medications were "unlikely to be effective in treating" the illness. The Tricare change could facilitate beneficiaries' access to a COVID-19 vaccine at little to no cost, as it is expected that the FDA will issue an emergency use authorization for a vaccine if one of the six candidates under study is deemed effective and safe. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act designated the COVID-19 vaccine a preventive health service, requiring private insurers and Medicare to cover the entire cost, but Tricare is not mentioned under the legislation. Under the temporary Tricare change, patients will be covered for both the experimental medications and the associated treatment. Normally, beneficiaries who are receiving a medication under investigational use -- also called compassionate use -- must pay the entire cost of a non-covered drug and it would not apply to their catastrophic cap. Tricare officials said copayments for these medications will depend on a beneficiary's Tricare plan, provider and location of care. They did not say whether the medications would be considered "non-formulary," which require the highest copayments In the same announcement, Defense Health Agency officials said they are waiving the three-day hospitalization prerequisite for patients to access skilled nursing facility care during the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, Tricare covers care in skilled nursing facilities -- rehabilitation or other in-patient medical treatment centers -- if a patient needs it after a hospital stay or within 30 days of a hospital discharge. The temporary change during the pandemic will "align the Tricare benefit with Medicare ... which waived its three-day prior hospital stay requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic," according to a Tricare official. The U.S. military has played a major role in the study of at least one investigational treatment for COVID-19: convalescent plasma. The DoD has embarked on an effort to collect 8,000 to 10,000 units of plasma from recovered coronavirus patients. Researchers are using the blood product, which contains antibodies to the virus, with the hope of bolstering a sick patient's immune response. More than 65,600 people affiliated with the Defense Department have tested positive for COVID-19, but just 2% of those have required hospital treatment, including 613 military personnel, 131 military dependents, 435 civilian employees and 180 defense contractors. As of Monday, eight military personnel, seven dependents, 59 civilians and 22 contractors had died. The Army has recorded the largest number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began: 16,742 as of Monday. The Navy has had 10,174 cases; the Air Force, 7,066; and the Marine Corps, 5,675. The National Guard has logged 5,242 cases. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: More than 1,300 Veterans Given Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 The 50th anniversary of the passing of the late Egyptian president and Arab leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser falls this year, and the occasion provides an opportunity to undertake a more distant, from a historical perspective, and therefore also hopefully more objective assessment of the Nasserist era. The importance of such an assessment is relevant not only in the light of the need to read history, explain it and interpret it through the most impartial, realistic and scientific methodology, but also has ramifications regarding how to learn lessons from the Nasserist era that could be of use to both Egypt and the Arab world today half a century after the death of Nasser. I will confine my analysis in this article, trying to answer one question that touches upon many aspects of the Nasserist experience, namely, why is Nasser still so popular today, 50 years after his death, both in Egypt and the Arab region, and even in other parts of the world, particularly in the Third World? The question has been repeatedly brought up by historians, political analysts, sociologists and media observers over the years, whether in Egypt, the Arab world or the world as a whole. There have been confusing factors that have made some analysts unable to answer such a question, when they have tried to do so according to criteria usually followed in contemporary political science or political sociology. The first factor has been the fact that in his lifetime Nasser encountered a number of major failures, domestically, in the Arab region, and at the global level. There was the scandalous form in which the secession of Syria from the United Arab Republic with Egypt took place in September 1961, the humiliating military defeat in the Six Day War with Israel in June 1967, and the failure to establish a participatory political system that would allow for pluralism, or at least would ensure some institutionalised linkages between the people and the leadership, in Egypt. All these things figure among Nassers failures. The second factor that has confused such analysts has been the fact that ever since the passing away of Nasser, a number of influential figures in the media, culture, and the arts and other figures having an impact in either formulating or influencing Egyptian and Arab public opinion have expressed their disenchantment with the choices made and policies enacted by later Egyptian and Arab leader in various areas, whether economic, political, or social and cultural, and whether internal or external. This has definitely negatively affected the attitude of portions, even if limited ones, of Egyptian and Arab public opinion, including among the younger generations that were born after the death of Nasser, towards the Nasserist experience. According to analysts, these two factors, as well as others, should have contributed to substantially diminishing the popularity of Nasser five decades after his death. However, they have found that this does not correspond to reality. In trying to answer this confusion, I will refer to two arguments that could contribute to explaining the continuing popularity of Nasser in Egypt and the Arab world today. The first is related to the fact that Nasser symbolised for major sectors of the Egyptian and Arab people, and for many continues to symbolise, the notion of national, whether Egyptian or pan-Arab, dignity and pride. The importance of this lies in the fact that Egypt achieved its complete independence through the national liberation war conducted against the British occupation troops in the Suez Canal Zone. This war started in October 1951 after then prime minister Nahas Pashas unilateral abrogation of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, and was interrupted in January 1952 in the aftermath of the Cairo Fire and former king Farouks overthrow of the Wafd-led government that had a majority in parliament at the time. It was then resumed after the 23 July 1952 Revolution of the Free Officers led by Nasser, culminated in the signing of the October 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Evacuation Agreement. Yet, the story did not end there, as Nasser considered that the independence and national security of Egypt would be incomplete unless the independence of the other Arab countries then also under foreign occupation could be secured. As a result, he used a lot of Egypts resources in actively supporting national liberation movements in the Arab countries that were fighting against European colonialism, the most famous case being his determined support for the Algerian struggle against French colonialism. Moreover, the steadfast stand Nasser took in nationalising the Suez Canal Company in July 1956 and then refusing to surrender and insisting on resistance in the face of the Tripartite Aggression of the UK, France and Israel in October and November of the same year no doubt elevated his status in Egypt and the Arab world to an almost legendary one. It suffices to recall here that when Nasser travelled to the Sudanese capital to participate in the Arab summit after Egypts and the Arabs military defeat in the June 1967 War, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people welcomed him and even carried his car on their shoulders through the streets of Khartoum. The second argument is based on a central theme that made Nasser popular, particularly in Egypt, among many from the lower, lower-middle, and middle classes, whether during his lifetime or after his death. The reason was that the objective of achieving an advanced degree of social justice and equality in the country figured among the priorities of the Nasserist era. This priority was also not confined to simple rhetoric, but was translated into policies that were implemented in fact. Although such policies have been subject to controversy regarding their economic viability, they definitely contributed to redrawing the social map of Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. History has taught us that the majority of the rank-and-file in any society, particularly, but not only, in developing countries, have long accorded more priority to the achievement of social justice and economic equality than to acquiring more democratic and political rights. In conclusion, I would like to underline that one methodological pre-requisite when assessing any human experience in past history, including the Nasserist era with both its achievements and its failures, is to judge it against the criteria that were prevailing at the time and not by the criteria of another era, including those of the present. *The writer is a commentator. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. To help fight the spread of COVID-19, this month, RB distributed medical-grade masks and disinfectant products to 50,000 frontline healthcare workers. On-the-ground response to lessen the pandemic's overall impact on people and families included a donation to Food Banks Canada to distribute one million meals to more than 3,000 community food banks across the country. Lysol has also added new resources to its HERE for Healthy Schools initiative - a program dedicated to curbing illness in classrooms by teaching healthy habits and arming schools with the latest technology to detect quicker response and prevention of symptoms. Globally, Lysol's mission is to keep loved ones illness-free, and during this challenging time, RB has donated more than $60M CAD to fight the spread of COVID-19. "As we face unprecedented demand for our products, Lysol is committed to maximizing supply and production of disinfectants to ensure access and availability for families, teachers, schools, and frontline workers," said Conor O'Brien, President and General Manager Canada, RB. "Our teams are working to ensure that we continue to be a reliable and credible source of information and protection for consumers - supporting the efforts of government and doing everything we can to fight the spread of this virus and keep communities safe." Product, PPE Donations for 50,000 Frontline Healthcare Workers Across Canada RB donated 250,000 masks and 100,000 Lysol disinfectant products, including Lysol Disinfectant Wipes and Lysol Disinfectant Spray to 50,000 frontline healthcare workers across Canada. This donation includes aid to 4,500 healthcare workers in long-term care facilities, 37,000 nurses, doctors and other frontline healthcare staff in healthcare networks including University Health Network, Ottawa Hospital Network, South Lake Regional Health Centre, Lakeridge Health, Nova Scotia Health Authority as well as 6,000 paramedics. One Million Meals Donated to Food Banks Across Canada RB also donated one million meals to more than 3,000 community food banks represented by Food Banks Canada. This donation will assist with the enormous demand for community food banks for people and families affected by the pandemic. Pre-COVID-19, nearly 1.1 million Canadians visited a food bank each month. The impact of the pandemic has increased the need for these services. New Technology in School with HERE for Healthy Schools With the school year now in progress, and coronavirus cases on an upward swing again, teaching healthy habits to children has never been more top-of-mind for parents and teachers. While many children may be aware of the need for proper handwashing, the extent to which they're practicing healthy habits at school may be a different story. A recent study by Ipsos revealed that just three out of ten parents (30 per cent) say that their child aged 5-10 practices these healthy handwashing habits regularly at school, while 52 percent say they only 'somewhat' do. Two-in-ten say their young child practices these healthy habits 'a little' (14 per cent) or 'not at all' (4 per cent)*. Through resources such as handwashing tips, product donations, and education, HERE for Healthy Schools reinforces healthy habits for children to maintain at home and in the classroom. The initiative was developed in response to Lysol's mission to prevent absenteeism in school due to the cold and flu. HERE now features smart technology for faster illness detection and response through a partnership with Kinsa to bring Smart Thermometers to families in 250 Canadian elementary schools to facilitate early detection. Schools accepted into the FLUency program will receive free Kinsa Smart Thermometers for families and staff, Lysol disinfectants to curb the spread of illness, and educational materials to reinforce healthy habits. Previous participants in the FLUency program saw a 27% decrease in illness-based absences during peak flu season. Several Lysol products, namely Lysol Disinfectant Spray, Lysol Disinfecting Wipes, and Lysol Advanced Disinfecting Wipes have been approved by Health Canada to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In a peer-review study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the active ingredients in these Lysol products were shown to be effective against SARS-CoV-2.** For more information about our mission visit: https://www.lysol.ca/en/our-mission/ *Ipsos, School Absence Due to Cold and Flu Report, March 2020. This study was commissioned by RB. ** https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(20)30313-8/pdf RB is driven by its purpose to protect, heal, and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We fight to make access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right, not a privilege. RB is proud to have a stable of trusted brands found in households in more than 190 countries. These include Enfamil, Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite, Air Wick and more. Twenty million RB products a day are bought by consumers globally. RB's passion for putting consumers and people first, to seek out new opportunities, to strive for excellence in all that we do, and to build shared success with all our partners. Doing the right thing always is what guides the work of our 40,000+ diverse and talented colleagues worldwide. SOURCE RB For further information: Media contacts: Octavia Roufogalis, Golin for Lysol, [email protected]; David Dwyer, Golin for Lysol, [email protected] The risk of a nuclear confrontation between the United States and China is growing, as Beijing acquires new weapons allowing it to potentially strike its adversaries first. As both countries enter into a new period of intense strategic competition, there is a small risk of deliberate nuclear use and a bigger risk of either the US or China inadvertently using nuclear weapons against the other. Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles drive past Tiananmen Gate during a military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Credit:AP This could occur if one of the countries degrades the other's nuclear arsenal using conventional weapons, whether by accident or collateral damage, causing that nation to respond with nuclear weapons. A new report by the United States Studies Centre says a US conventional strike or cyber attack disabling China's ability to launch conventional ballistic missiles could accidentally damage its nuclear missiles. Beijing could then see this attack as a prelude to disarming its nuclear weapons, and choose to use them first before they were further degraded. The number of people who have recuperated from COVID-19 in India crossed 51 lakh, improving the national recovery rate to over 83 per cent and outnumbering the active cases by more than 41.5 lakh, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. IMAGE: A paramedic conducts a rapid antigen test for COVID-19 on a woman, in Srinagar. Photograph: ANI Photo As much as 73 per cent of the new recovered cases were reported from 10 states and Union Territories -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Kerala, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra topped the list with nearly 20,000 recoveries, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contributed more than 7,000 to the single-day recoveries, the ministry said. The sustained high level of recoveries have led to a further widening of the gap between active and recovered cases, it said. "Recovered cases exceed the active cases by more than 41.5 lakh (41,53,831). The recovered cases are 5.38 times the active cases. The recoveries are consistently rising," the ministry underlined. There are 9,47,576 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently, which is "merely" 15.42 per cent of the total caseload and "is consistently declining". The daily new recovered cases again exceeded the new infections, the ministry said. While 84,877 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours in the country, 70,589 new infections were reported during the same period, according to the data updated at 8 am Tuesday. The total number of recoveries has touched 51,01,397 pushing the recovery rate to 83.01 per cent as on date. The recovery rate was 82.58 per cent on Monday. Ten states and UTs account for 73 per cent of the 70,589 new cases that have been reported in a span 24 hours in the country. Maharashtra continues to lead this tally, accounting for more than 11,000 cases, followed by Karnataka with more than 6,000. There have been 776 fatalities in a day, with 10 states and UTs accounting for 78 per cent of the deaths in a span of 24 hours due to coronavirus infection. Of the new fatalities, Maharashtra reported more than 23 per cent with 180 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu with 70. India's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 61,45,291 with 70,589 new infections, while the death toll reached 96,318 after 776 people succumbed to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. A police complaint was filed by the Trinamool Congress in Siliguri for the comments Hazra made at a party programme in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas on Sunday evening. Kolkata : Newly-appointed Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Anupam Hazra has said that he would hug Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if he is infected with the coronavirus to make her feel the pain of the families of COVID-19 patients. "Our workers are fighting a bigger enemy than corona. They are fighting Mamata Banerjee. When they (BJP cadres) have been able to fight it out against Mamata Banerjee without a mask, they think they can also fight against COVID-19 without wearing a mask," Hazra said. "I have decided that if I get infected with the coronavirus, then I will go and hug Mamata Banerjee," he added. Hazra, a former Trinamool Congress MP who joined the BJP last year, said the way the bodies of COVID-19 patients were being cremated in the state was pathetic. "She (Banerjee) treated victims of the disease pathetically. Their bodies were burnt with kerosene. Sons were not allowed to see the face of their parents who died of COVID-19. We don't even treat dead cats or dogs like that," he said. Senior TMC leader Saugato Roy condemned the comments and said such remarks reflect the mindset of the BJP. "Such words and statements can only come from BJP leaders. This reflects the mindset of the party. We condemn such insane statements," he said. The Trinamool Congress's Siliguri unit held a rally against Hazra and lodged a police complaint against him. "We have lodged a police complaint against Anupam Hazra. We have urged the police to take immediate action against him," a senior TMC leader from the north Bengal city said. Reacting to the police complaint, Hazra told PTI that Banerjee too has made several controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "If my comments are demeaning, then Mamata Banerjee too had made such comments against the prime minister. Secondly, if one FIR has been filed against me, then at least 10 FIRs should be lodged against TMC leaders," he said. The state BJP leadership, however, distanced itself from Hazra's comment. "We don't support such comments. We should avoid making such remarks," a state BJP leader said. Reigning champ, Isreal Adesanya made a joke about getting a rolls royce, well he could be serious, then went ahead to mock the police knowing they will definitely stop him as a black kid in a RR. Shortly after he made the tweet, DJ Cuppy jumped on it and said she will def be in the passenger seat and they will be playing loud fela! One person however dropped an hilarious response saying This one no dey use eye see anyone wey win belt abroad The tweets below. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks regarding the Supreme Court at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 20, 2020. A conspiracy theory that Joe Biden would wear an electronic device in his ear during the first presidential debate went wildly viral Tuesday in the hours before the debate, and the theory was later amplified by mainstream conservative news outlets that claimed without evidence that Biden had backed out of an ear "inspection." The conspiracy theory, which was pushed in a text message sent by the Trump campaign after it went viral on Facebook and YouTube, claimed that Biden had declined to "undergo inspection for electronic ear pieces before debate." The Biden campaign has denied it ever agreed to such an inspection, and there is no evidence that Biden has ever used such a device during a debate. Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign's communications director, later said in a statement that Biden's team had agreed to an inspection and later backed out. The earpiece conspiracy theory is an example of what disinformation experts call "trading up the chain," where the sheer virality of a meme or conspiracy theory forces mainstream outlets to cover it, giving it a patina of credibility it otherwise would not have. More from NBC News: Could coronavirus misinformation impact the 2020 election? 'Worse than nothing': Why critics are unimpressed by social media's approach to fact-checking Trump Police need warrant to obtain WiFi location data, privacy activists argue "When rumors start to circulate, they can easily become fodder for a disinformation campaign when politicians and the news pick them up in tandem," said Joan Donovan, the research director at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. "This creates a feedback loop -- trading misinformation up the media chain until we all have to reckon with it." On Facebook, memes insisting Biden should have his ears inspected for electronic devices before the debate saturated the platform on Tuesday. One meme that simply said "Joe Biden should be inspected for a hidden ear piece as well as submit to a drug test before the debate. Share if you agree!" was posted by a network of conservative sites early Tuesday morning. The meme was pushed at the same exact time by a series of coordinated Facebook pages with names like "US Conservative" and "The Unhinged Left" and received thousands of shares. It was the most recent push of a viral talking point that's been floating around the far-right internet for weeks. Fox News published a story hours later claiming that "President Trump's re-election campaign wants the Biden campaign to allow a third party to inspect the ears of each debater for electronic devices or transmitters" and that Biden had not yet agreed to the rule. The conspiracy theory that Biden was set to wear some sort of electronic device was then pushed by believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Q, an anonymous account on an extremist message board that QAnon believers think is secretly tipping off the president's plan to save the world, posted close-up pictures of Biden's ear, along with a link to the Fox News story just minutes later. The conspiracy theory exploded on Twitter shortly after noon when a tweet by a New York Post reporter, citing a single anonymous source, claimed Biden had agreed to some sort of ear inspection weeks ago before backing out on Tuesday. Two hours later, the Post reporter tweeted a denial by the Biden campaign. By that point, the conspiracy theory had gained further traction on Facebook, with aggregators citing only Bowden's tweet. Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign's communications director, later said in a statement that Biden's team had agreed to an inspection and later backed out. Two separate Breitbart stories received tens of thousands of shares, likes and reactions on Facebook, both citing Bowden's tweet. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared the allegation, receiving tens of thousands of interactions on her own page. It is not the first time those in pro-Trump media outlets and surrogates accused a presidential opponent of wearing an earpiece during a debate. Donald Trump Jr. posted an InfoWars article titled "Was Hillary Wearing an Earpiece During Last Night's Presidential Forum?" after a presidential debate between his father and Hilary Clinton in September 2016. The article cited a meme from the actor James Woods as its source. Accusing political opponents of receiving secret help with hidden recording equipment during a debate is a bipartisan conspiracy theory that goes back to at least 2004. After a debate that year, bloggers accused President George W. Bush of having been "wired,", overanalyzing screenshots from the telecast that showed creases on the back of his blazer. Donovan said she had heard the earpiece conspiracy theory this week on YouTube, where some videos about the theory have hundreds of thousands of views. "Tonight's debate is shaping up to be the Olympics of disinformation," Donovan said. WATCH: Facebook's battle against election manipulation The competition first launched last year to excite the creative community and encourage those to engage more with the out of home medium. For the month of November, the OUTFRAME winner will have their artwork displayed on digital out of home assets across the United States. To highlight the power of out of home and the power of good, the charity of the winner's choice will receive a one-month digital OOH campaign in January. OUTFRONT Media has attracted a dynamic group within the creative world to make up this year's judging panel, including Peter Tunney, who has been a longtime partner to OUTFRONT and has displayed powerful artwork and messages on out of home assets across the country. To learn more about this competition and all entry details, terms and conditions, please visit wegetyou.com/OUTFRAME. Follow OUTFRAME on Instagram: @OUTFRAME2020. No purchase is necessary to enter this contest. About OUTFRONT Media Inc. OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go. Contact: Investors: Media: Gregory Lundberg Courtney Richards Senior Vice President, Investor Relations PR & Events Specialist (212) 297-6441 (646) 876-9404 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 14:19:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WELLINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, both of whom are imported cases detected in a managed isolation facility. One person arrived from Ukraine on Sept. 23 via the United Arab Emirates, and the other person arrived in New Zealand from Pakistan via the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 23, according to the Ministry of Health. They were on the same flight but not travelling together. Both individuals tested positive around the third day of isolation and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility, said a ministry's statement. There are 18 people isolated in the Auckland quarantine facility from the community, which includes nine people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts, it said. One patient is being treated at the Middlemore hospital, who is in isolation on a general ward. The ministry asked people to remain vigilant during these school holidays to stop any spread of COVID-19. "While many people will be enjoying a break over the next two weeks, it's also important to remember that the COVID-19 virus exploits any opportunity to spread," the statement said. New Zealand's total number of active cases is 55, of whom 29 are imported cases in managed isolation facilities, and 26 are community cases, the ministry said. The country's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 1,479, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization. Enditem Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly gave another grim assessment of the state of the airline industry last week during an interview on CNBC, saying "there's no reason to believe that things are going to improve anytime soon." Kelly, whose airline's traffic is down 70% compared to last year, has been in Washington D.C. for the last few weeks pleading with White House staff and Congressional leaders to pass an extension of the $28 billion payroll support program that kept carriers afloat since August. But the bill, which could prevent 17,500 furloughs at Fort Worth-based American Airlines, is mired in political deadlock in D.C. amid a larger fighter over a second federal stimulus to address economic pain from the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Kelly said he is hopeful a bill including airline payroll aid will pass. That same pandemic has decimated airline traffic and although corporate leaders hoped traffic would rebound by fall, the recovery has largely stalled." "Is that disappointing?" Kelly said in the interview Wednesday morning with CNBC. "I think we're all ready for this to be behind us, but realistically it's not surprising." Kelly repeated his belief that the airline won't see a substantial recovery until a vaccine or other significant COVID-19 treatment is developed. Dallas-based Southwest has said it won't furlough any employees on Oct. 1, but the longer-term outlook is more uncertain the longer the pandemic persists. Southwest only managed to avoid furloughs because 28% of its employees signed up for leave or early retirement. New Orleans airport's traffic plummet continues as hurricanes add to pandemic woes Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport saw its already-depleted passenger numbers further slashed in the last few weeks by the proc Southwest is preparing to cut its flight schedule further in October and looking at a November and December holiday travel season where flying will be far below previous expectations. Southwest is wary of cutting traffic too much, Kelly said, because it can be difficult to rebuild back. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "There's no easy path for any airline to go back to what amounts to 1970s levels of traffic," Kelly said. "Believe it or not, that's basically where the industry is domestically: 1970s." Airlines such as Southwest are only willing to cut capacity so much. Southwest is flying about 40% to 45% of its schedule compared to last year, even though only 30% as many passengers are flying. "Because at a point if we cut our flights too much then we cut a lot of itineraries and the revenue loss accelerates much faster than the cost cuts," he said. Southwest hasn't cut any destinations from its network and has actually added new routes to Palm Springs, Calif., and Miami. Kelly said Southwest's network is "radically changed" since the beginning of the pandemic, with fewer point to point flights and more connections. "Absolutely we want to get back to that point where we are a specialist, we are a point-to-point network," he said. "We look forward to getting back to that point, but the traffic levels need to be sufficient to support adding a nonstop flight." (c)2020 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. - Lawyer for the 31 suspected secessionist says his clients are not part of the secessionists in the Volta Region - According to him, his clients are just residents who were present at the scene of the incident - Lawyer Theophilus Donkor argued that the police was wrong to have them arrested Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The counsel for the 31 people in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) suspected to be members of the secessionist group, the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF), has revealed that his clients are not what they are accused of. Lawyer Theophilus Donkor said his clients are just residents who were present at the scene of the incident when the security forces took them on suspicion of their involvement in the chaos. Speaking on JoyNews PM Express, the lawyer argued that the Ghana Police Service was wrong to arrest the 31 suspected secessionists. My 31 clients are not part of secessionists; they were minding their own business - Lawyer source: myjoyonline.com Source: UGC Yes they were at the crime scene, but as they were travelling and the traffic had piled up, they went to the crime scene to find out exactly what was happening, he said. He further added that no offensive weapon was found on any of the arrested persons at the time of their arrest. On Friday, September 25, 2020, YEN.com.gh reported that people suspected to be behind the push for the splitting of the Volta Region from Ghana had blocked roads in the region. This blockade left scores of commuters stranded on the Accra-Sogakope road. They also launched attacks on two police stations in Mepe and Aveyime, ransacking their armoury and kidnapping 3 police officers In a bid restore calm to the affected area, one individual died during a shootout with the military officers. The deceased has been identified as 27-year-old, Emmanuel Kale who was described by his family as very calm and peaceful in nature. Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos. Source: YEN.com.gh Laredo officials are pushing hard to get the citys international bridges open to Mexican tourists by the end of October. Its been six months since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security implemented travel restrictions for non-essential travel at land ports along the U.S.-Mexico border. And the federal government has extended these restrictions every month since, which bars many of the Mexicans who typically cross the border to shop from doing so. An estimated 40% of Laredos retail economy depends on these Mexican shoppers, according to a 2012 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. City Manager Robert Eads said hes not sure how much longer Laredo and other border communities can survive this policy. We are taking the brunt of this. We are the ones closing the front door to the United States and having the largest effect, Eads said. ... We cannot go another month after month after month. There will be nothing left of Laredo if we continue at this point. Mayor Pete Saenz spent part of last week in the Rio Grande Valley at a round table with Sen. John Cornyn and fellow border leaders. He said there is consensus among them plus Rep. Henry Cuellar, Sen. Ted Cruz and members of the U.S. private sector that the border needs to open to non-essential travelers again. Hopefully the numbers will continue trending down. Thats the deciding factor, I would think, for Washington. If we all do our part, we can all coexist and have our economy and health as well, Saenz said. They are also planning a trip to Mexico City to meet with cabinet members and see if they feel ready to open their border too, the mayor said. And the City of Laredo has already sent off resolutions to their federal representatives, including President Trump, seeking support for this reopening. Saenz said their plan is contingent on how Laredo as a community fights COVID-19 and embraces the preventative safety measures theyve spoken about daily since April maintain a social distance, wear a mask, stay home if you feel sick. Eads noted that these bridge restrictions have affected cities along the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville to San Diego. And in practice it has cut off the lifeline to a great number of businesses and families who depend on Mexican customers to sustain themselves. We cannot continue to have the border completely sealed and kill of our economy because were trying to save the entire country at our border, he said. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 09:41 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47dd052 1 World Papua,conflict,unrest,UNGA,Pacific,diplomacy,vanuatu,cooperation Free Indonesia has again sent a junior diplomat to defend its national interest to protect its easternmost provinces at the United Nations General Assembly, where the small island nation of Vanuatu renewed its call to investigate alleged human rights violations in Papua. In a pre-recorded statement at the General Assembly over the weekend, Vanuatus Prime Minister Bob Loughman said there was a selective approach in addressing human rights violations in the region, claiming that the people of West Papua continued to suffer from human rights abuses. Loughman said the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum had made a call last year for the Indonesian government to allow the UN Office of the Human Rights Commissioner to visit Papua and West Papua provinces. To date there has been little progress on this front. I therefore called on the Indonesian government to please hear the previous call of Pacific leaders, he said on Saturday, according to a recording on the UN website. Leaders of countries grouped under the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) had raised concerns last year over the handling of alleged human rights abuses in Papua, a move Indonesia immediately objected to. In a communique from a PIF summit in Tuvalu last August, the leaders strongly encouraged Indonesia to finalize the timing of a visit by the UN human rights commissioner to investigate alleged human rights abuses and allow the commissioner to create an evidence-based, informed report on the situation in Papua. Read also: RIs priority programs help South Pacific In exercising Indonesias first right of reply to Loughmans speech on Saturday, second secretary at the Indonesian mission to the UN, Silvany Austin Pasaribu, accused Vanuatu of having an excessive and unhealthy obsession about how Indonesia should govern itself. Citing the UN Charter, Silvany said that countries must respect the principles of non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries and respect their sovereignty and territorial integrity. At times of an emergency health crisis and great economic adversity, it prefers to instill enmity and sow division in their advocacy for separatism with flowery human rights concerns, she said in a recording on UNTV. She then reiterated Indonesias position that the provinces of Papua and West Papua were irrevocable parts of Indonesia since its independence in 1945 and that it was endorsed by the UN and the global community. You are not a representation of the people of Papua stop fantasizing about being one, she said. Indonesian officials have entertained repeated efforts to undermine the nations sovereignty at the multilateral forum, having noted what they consider a regular uptick in provocations in the easternmost provinces around September, when the annual UN summitry commences. Papua and West Papua are the site of decades of simmering tensions between separatist groups and security forces, which at times resulted in what activists have flagged as alleged human rights violations. The separatists have seized upon this opportunity to influence other nations. Since then, Jakarta has launched a charm offensive and ramped up engagement in the South Pacific, a region with overarching ethnic and cultural affinities with the people of Papua and West Papua. Most of its residents, as well as a few others from other provinces in Indonesias east, are ethnically Melanesian. Other Pacific island nations, which initially followed Vanuatus lead, have since sought constructive relations with Indonesia. Read also: RI, island states pledge sustainable solutions More recently, the task of rebuking critics at the UN has fallen to the laps of Indonesias junior diplomats, a diplomatic gesture that makes light of the criticism. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an international relations research professor, noted that while Vanuatus persistent and routine criticism should not warrant an overreaction on Indonesias part, the country still needed to ensure that others are not swayed by the island nations opinions. The Indonesian government must of course ensure that policies in Papua are consistent with what the diplomats are saying. If you want to change the image you need to change the reality on the ground, said the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) expert. The COVID-19 pandemic has not deterred violence in Papua, most recently with the death of Papuan pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Hitadipa district of Intan Jaya regency, who was allegedly shot by personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI). The death of the senior missionary has prompted grievances from Papuas residents, most recently by the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI). Citing reports from leaders of the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (GKII) and local media in Papua, PGI chairman Gomar Gultom alleged that Yeremia was shot by military personnel when he was on his way to his pig pen, at the same time as a military operation was reportedly taking place. However, the military published a statement on Sunday saying Yeremia had been shot by an armed criminal group in the area. Separately, LIPI's head researcher on Papua studies, Adriana Elizabeth, expressed regret that Indonesia had allowed itself to be dragged down by a small island nation. "The five-minute response should not have been spent only to respond to what Vanuatu said. The fact that this is Indonesia's domestic affair is enough, but it should have pointed out that many things have been done to manage the conflicts something Vanuatu knows nothing about, she said. Read also: Papuans return Veronica Koman's scholarship funding to Indonesian government Adriana said the government had for a long time tried to address conflict and violence in the two provinces, including through the special autonomy status, prioritizing infrastructure development in the two provinces and empowering local politicians. "So instead of giving the same response, we should point out that Papua is different now," she said. Topics : Papua conflict unrest UNGA Pacific diplomacy vanuatu cooperation In the Arab world, police officers are taking action to control wedding parties. In recent weeks, some weddings have ended with police arresting party goers and giving fines. These moves come at a time when coronavirus cases are rising in the Middle East. Still, many couples are moving forward with their celebrations. But from the Palestinian territories to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials say traditional large weddings are helping the coronavirus to spread. In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, Mustafa Khatib and six members of his band spent two nights in jail. They played at a crowded wedding party earlier this month. Police fined the group $11,000. This is not fair, said Khatib. People will never stop getting married and will never stop holding parties. Palestinian officials have forced many people to suspend ceremonies, said a police spokesman. Yet the punishments, detentions and infections have not stopped people from getting married. You plan to have a small wedding but then all your relatives and friends show up, noted Qasim Najjar. This is our custom. Najjar himself was recently married in the northern West Bank village of Deir Sharaf. The wedding party was broken up by police. The celebrations can have serious results. Palestinian Health Ministry official Ali Abed Rabu linked over 80 percent of new coronavirus cases to large gatherings at weddings and funerals. Indoor wedding spaces in towns like Hebron have become places where the virus has been known to spread, he said. The Palestinian Authority has reported over 34,500 cases in the West Bank and 270 deaths from COVID-19. Ahmad Tibi is an Arab-Israeli lawmaker. He told The Associated Press that the infections in Arab areas of Israel have risen from around 3 percent to 30 percent during the summer wedding season. Israeli citizens, unhappy after a failed first attempt at coronavirus restrictions, are starting to disregard government instructions, he added. Disregard is a term that means to treat something as unimportant. When Egypts wedding halls closed this spring, wealthy people moved their large celebrations to private homes. Working-class Egyptians took their parties to the streets, leading local police to break up the celebrations. But restrictions have eased as virus cases have decreased. Although Egyptian officials still warn of a possible second wave, the government announced recently that weddings could take place outdoors and in some hotels. In the UAE, a health ministry spokeswoman noted that close to 90 percent of new cases came from crowds at weddings, funerals and other events. The Emirati government has increased its attention on wedding parties. Last weekend, officials ordered the detention of eight people who had thrown large parties without face masks. Those arrested face prison terms of up to six months and fines of at least $27,226 each. Some Arab couples are getting married and obeying health rules. Their wedding parties are different from traditional weddings, however. During the Palestinian Authoritys lockdown earlier this year, Baraa Amarneh and Imad Sharaf got married near Hebron. They held hands while wearing latex gloves. A mask covered up 25-year-old Amarnehs makeup. Just a few close family members came to their wedding. Without all the neighbors and friends, youre left with what a marriage is, she said. Two people. Im John Russell. Isabel Debre and Mohammed Darahgmeh reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story wedding n. a ceremony at which two people are married to each other couple n. two individuals who are married or close together instruction n. an order or direction hall n. a usually long, narrow passage inside a building with doors that lead to rooms on the sides glove n. a covering for the hand that has separate parts for each finger lockdown n. a temporary state of restricted movement or activity We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. Some New Yorkers Receive Incorrectly Labeled Mail-In Ballots: Reports Some voters in New York City reported receiving mail-in ballots containing errors, including wrong voter IDs and names, incorrect return labels, or ones mislabeled as military ballots, according to reports. The New York City Board of Elections (BOE), which the Gothamist reports has already mailed out around half a million ballots ahead of Novembers election, is aware of the problem. The BOE said in a statement on Twitter that ballots labeled official absentee military ballot can be treated as correct ballots even if you are not a military voter. According to the Gothamist, multiple voters in Brooklyn reported receiving absentee ballot envelopes with the wrong name and address, a problem that could lead to a voided ballot. Some netizens responded to the BOE statement expressing confusion. One person wrote, my husband and I received our absentee ballots today. Our names werent on the ballots. Our correct names and addresses are on the Official Absentee Ballot Envelope. Are our names supposed to be on the ballots as well as the envelopes? Another wrote: 2 out of 3 of the absentee ballots we received today had the wrong name on the ballot, the correct one was in the wrong envelope. You have a [sic] issue. (Repost as original had wrong number and spelling errors). BOE, in a separate message, blamed outside vendor error for some of the problems and urged those affected to contact their office. Theres just mass confusion about these ballots and what people are supposed to do with them, New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer told the New York Post. People were already not trusting this process and they were already not trusting the Board of Elections to count the ballot right. While ballots featuring the label official absentee military ballot can still be used by non-military voters and will be counted, incorrect name and address information on envelopes is more serious as it could lead to voided ballots and voter disenfranchisement. While the BOE does not know how many voters have been affected by the error, Michael Ryan, the BOEs executive director, told the Gothamist that, the problem will get corrected. We will ensure on behalf of the voters in Brooklyn that the proper ballots and ballot envelopes are in the hands of the voters in advance of Election Day so they can vote, Ryan told the outlet. The BOE told the Gothamist that it is not clear how many ballots may have been affected by the error. The Epoch Times reached out to the BOE with a request for comment and additional details but did not receive an immediate reply. The problem of mislabeled ballots and official ballot envelopes comes amid concerns that the expansion of mail-in voting amid the pandemic could spark a major legal dispute. Two senior Republicans in Congress have warned that problems with vote-by-mail arrangements coupled with Democrats efforts to change state election laws and procedures at the last minute for what they say is partisan advantage could be setting the stage for an unprecedented constitutional crisis in the upcoming election. Proponents of expanded mail-in voting say it is a measure to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus and, by reducing the number of people congregating at polling stations, minimize voters exposure to the potentially deadly bug. Election experts have said it might take several days after the Nov. 3 election to declare a winner as officials will need time to count mail ballots that arrive after election day. President Donald Trump said at a rally in Newport News, Virginia, on Friday, that Americans might not know the winner of the presidential election for months due to disputes over mail ballots. New Delhi: Actor-producer Arbaaz Khan has filed a defamation case against certain known as well unknown social media users who are making defamatory allegations in posts and online videos, alleging his involvement in the recent unfortunate deaths of Disha Salian and Sushant Singh Rajput which are currently under investigation. Arbaaz Khan filed a defamation suit before the Honble Bombay Civil Court. On September 28th, the Honble Court was pleased to grant an interim order against the named Defendants Vibhor Anand and Sakshi Bhandari, and unknown defendants - which is in the nature of a John Doe / Ashok Kumar order - directing the defendants to immediately withdraw/ recall/ take down the defamatory content including the content described in the suit and any other and further defamatory content which is published directly or indirectly by any of them. As also all and any other posts, messages, tweets, videos, interviews, communications and correspondence similar to the defamatory content in relation to Arbaaz Khan or his family members on all public domains and social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other mediums, and bot publish any further defamatory content. The erroneous portrayal in the posts included stating that the actor was arrested and taken into unofficial custody of CBI. The order was passed by Justice VV Vidwans. Counsel Pradeep Gandhy instructed by DSK Legal represented Arbaaz Khan. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14 and his former manager Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, allegedly after falling off from a high-rise apartment in Mumbai. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined Tuesday what needs to happen for New York City to adequately recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor laid out the states New York City Stabilization and Recovery Strategy during his Tuesday press conference with much of the responsibilities falling to the city and federal governments. His strategy pointed to five key areas schools, crime, economic recovery, cleanliness, and homelessness as ways to address a perceived destabilization in the five boroughs. Ive seen the city go up and Ive seen the city go down, Cuomo said referencing the citys conditions in the 1960s and 1970s. Were going to make sure New York City comes back stronger than ever, but we have to stop the denial and we haver to acknowledge the problem, because thats always the first step. The governor said schools must report their testing data to the state in an effort to ensure theyre safe for reopening. SCHOOL, CRIME AND MORE Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday before the governors comments that coronavirus testing would begin next week as the city waits for the return of consent forms sent to parents. Tuesday marked the first time K-5 and K-8 schools are open for in-person learning since March. Middle schools and high schools will open Thursday. A request for comment to the governors office regarding when testing would need to be reported to the state went unanswered, but the governor reasserted his authority over school closures across the state. If schools arent safe, Im not going to allow them to operate," he said. "The state can close down any school in the state of New York. On crime, Cuomo pointed to a rise in violent crime across the city as cause for concern. According to the most recent data available from the NYPD, there has been a 103.7% year-to-date increase in the number of shooting victims, and a 38.6% year-to-date increase in the number of murder victims when compared to the same time period last year. He reiterated the need for all jurisdictions across the state, including the city, to develop police reform initiatives by April, or risk losing their state funding. According to the governor, the city has yet to take action. In July, de Blasio signed a package of bills passed by the City Council that included a ban on chokeholds and the establishment of an NYPD disciplinary matrix. The city published a draft of the matrix in late August that is currently under a public comment process that will end Wednesday. 'HOT SPOTS Cuomo also continued his calls for better enforcement of coronavirus distancing protocols from localities pointing to high rates of infection in certain communities. The ZIP code with the highest infection rate of 18% is in Orange County. Several of the 20 hot spot communities, including several in Brooklyn, have high Orthodox Jewish populations, and Cuomo said he would be meeting with religious leaders in those communities in the coming days. Only one Staten Island ZIP code, 10306, made the governors hot spot" list with an infection rate of 3%. (Local governments) have to respond and they have to respond directly, Cuomo said. A cluster today can be community spread tomorrow. Again, the governor stressed the need for federal aid to state and local governments if there will be an effective economic recovery. For the states responsibilities, the governor said he has offered the services of the National Guard to the city to address the citys cleanliness. Budget cuts to the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) have affected trash pickups around the city. Garbage piling up, literally, people saying there is an odiferous environment because of the garbage piling up, Cuomo said. I dont know whats going on in New York City. If they cant do it, I have offered to send in the National Guard to help pick up the garbage. On homelessness, Cuomo again raised the issue of encampments around the city and said the city needs to offer these people safe shelter with services. The governor has said the state plans to put out guidance, but on Tuesday said safely reopening a homeless shelter should amount to common sense. Cuomo said hes first focused on the stabilization of New York City, but that its long-term recovery would rely on whether many of the changes wrought by the pandemic are permanent. You have people working from home, people who dont want to go into the office, people who are living in other places is that short term or is that long term? Cuomo asked. We have to assess that. By Online Desk NEW DELHI: Amnesty International on Tuesday said it is halting all its activities in India due to freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an "incessant witch-hunt" over unfounded and motivated allegations. Amnesty India, in a statement, said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Indian government which it came to know on 10 September 2020 brings all the work being done by the organisation to a grinding halt, it said. However, the government has said that Amnesty has been receiving foreign funds illegally. In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate had carried out searches at the headquarters of Amnesty International in Bangalore. The raids were conducted for an alleged violation of the foreign exchange act. The organisation claimed that the attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organisations, activists and human rights defenders are only an extension of the various "repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power". "This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," Amnesty International India said. Amnesty International India said it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws, adding that for human rights work in the country, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. "More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International India's work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions," the organisation said. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and the fact that the "government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the government's grave inactions and excesses", it alleged. "Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt by the Enforcement Directorate and Government of India to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India," Avinash Kumar, the executive director of Amnesty International India, said. It said the attack on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organisations, activists and human rights defenders was an extension of the government's repressive policies. "It reeks of fear and repression, ignores the human cost to this crackdown particularly during a pandemic and violates peoples basic rights to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, and association guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and international human rights law," said the statement. "Instead, as a global power and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India must fearlessly welcome calls for accountability and justice," the statement released by the organization added. (With PTI Inputs) WATERLOO REGION A federal offender wanted on a Canada-wide warrant is known to frequent the Region of Waterloo. Koua Steven Yang, 44, is wanted for breaching his statutory release, said Ontario Provincial Police in a news release on Tuesday. He is serving a two-year sentence for multiple offences including robbery, escape lawful custody, thefts, and failing to comply with court orders. Police describe him as five feet five inches tall and weighing 188 pounds. He has tattoos on both of his hands, on his chest, his upper left arm and left wrist. Anyone who has information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement squad at 416-808-5900 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or call 911. A set of agreements to make available, for low and middle-income countries, affordable, high-quality Covid-19 antigen rapid tests were announced by the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Organisations involved in the milestone agreement include the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), the Global Fund, Unitaid, and the World Health Organisation (WHO). As part of this comprehensive, end-to-end effort, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has executed separate volume guarantee agreements with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) producers Abbott and SD Biosensor. These two arrangements will make available to LMICs 120 million antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) priced at a maximum of $5 per unit over a period of six months. These tests provide results in 1530 minutes, rather than hours or days, and will enable expansion of testing, particularly in countries that do not have extensive laboratory facilities or trained health workers to implement molecular (polymerase-chain reaction or PCR) tests. The tests developed by Abbott and SD Biosensor are highly portable, reliable, and easy to administer, making testing possible in near-person, decentralised healthcare settings. Both companies tests are faster and cheaper than laboratory-based tests, enabling countries to increase the pace of testing, tracing and treating people for Covid-19 at the point of care particularly in areas with under-resourced health systems. A number of other Ag RDTs are at various stages of development and assessment. To scale up the Ag RDTs, the Global Fund today announced that it has made available an initial $50 million from its Covid-19 Response Mechanism to enable countries to purchase at least 10 million of the new rapid tests for LMICs at the guaranteed price, with the first orders expected to be placed this week through the Global Funds pooled procurement mechanism. FIND and WHO are working together to accelerate appropriate use by supporting implementation research that will optimise Ag RDT use in multiple LMICs, in line with WHO guidance. This includes provision of catalytic volumes of tests to understand how Ag RDTs can best fit into health systems. Unitaid and Africa CDC will combine resources to initiate the roll out of these tests in up to 20 countries in Africa starting in October 2020. This multi-million-dollar intervention, currently undergoing final sign-off by their Boards, is designed to engage multiple partners active in the Covid-19 response in these countries, such as CHAI, African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and local organisations. This will bolster efforts by the African Unions Partnership to Accelerate Covid-19 Testing (PACT) initiative, launched in August 2020 to mobilise experts, community workers, supplies and other resources to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the African continent by testing, tracing, and treating Covid-19 cases in a timely manner. Testing is a critical cornerstone of the Covid-19 response, enabling countries to trace and contain the virus now, and to prepare for the roll-out of vaccines once available. Effective testing strategies rely on a portfolio of test types that can be used in different settings and situations. While molecular tests started to be rolled out within a month of the virus being sequenced, these tests are mainly laboratory based, relying on infrastructure and trained personnel to conduct them. Rapid tests to detect the presence of the virus at the point of care, which are faster and cheaper, are a vital addition to the testing arsenal needed to contain and fight Covid-19. WHO guidance published on September 11, 2020 highlights the value of these tests in areas where community transmission is widespread and where nucleic acid amplification-based diagnostic (NAAT) testing is either unavailable or where test results are significantly delayed. As well as supporting test-trace-isolate strategies, the tests can help identify or confirm new outbreaks, support outbreak investigations through screening; monitor disease trends; and potentially test asymptomatic contacts. The ACT-Accelerator Diagnostics Pillar is co-convened by FIND and the Global Fund, working closely with WHO and over 30 global health expert partners to accelerate innovation and overcome the technical, financial, and political obstacles to achieving equitable access to effective and timely testing. Such unprecedented global collaboration has enabled development and deployment of the first WHO EUL-approved Ag RDT within eight months of the first identification of the virus. In comparison, it took nearly five years to develop the first RDT for HIV. Several more antigen RDTs for Covid-19 are currently under WHO EUL review. Overall, the ACT-Accelerator Diagnostic Pillar aims to facilitate the supply of 500 million tests to LMICs within 12 months. These agreements are critical to fulfil the key objective of the ACT-Accelerator: to ensure all countries, regardless of income, have fair access to new tests and tools to fight Covid-19. The exceptional speed with which the Ag RDT access package has been created demonstrates the breadth of the impact of the ACT-Accelerator initiative, and this and future achievements in testing will complement similar milestones anticipated to emerge from the Vaccines and Therapeutics Pillars. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, said: High-quality rapid tests show us where the virus is hiding, which is key to quickly tracing and isolating contacts and breaking the chains of transmission. The tests are a critical tool for governments as they look to reopen economies and ultimately save both lives and livelihoods. Mark Suzman, Chief Executive Officer of the Gates Foundation, said: Testing is an essential tool in the fight against Covid-19. We are delighted to join a partnership that will help ensure that the latest, high-quality diagnostics do not just go to the highest bidder but will be available at an affordable price to the worlds lower income countries. In addition, all of the actions announced today point to the growing success of the ACT-Accelerator in catalysing global cooperation for a fair and effective response to this global crisis. Dr Iain Barton, Chief Executive Officer of CHAI, said: These agreements will help ensure that millions of people in low- and middle-income countries have access to high-quality rapid testing in villages and towns as well as cities. This has the potential to revolutionise governments ability to respond to the pandemic, enabling quick diagnosis and response to contain localised virus outbreaks before they spread. Andrea F. Wainer, Executive Vice President of Abbotts rapid and molecular diagnostics businesses, said: Abbott is pleased to bring our Panbio Covid-19 rapid antigen test and Sympheos digital solution to people and health authorities in low- and middle-income countries through this innovative partnership. We have long been committed to making sure our life-changing technologies are affordable and accessible, and for decades have been supporting many of these countries with our rapid tests for malaria, HIV, hepatitis, and other deadly infectious diseases. Hyo-Keun Lee, Chief Executive Officer of SD Biosensor, said: We, SD Biosensor, are pleased to supply our Staandard Q Covid-19 rapid antigen tests for people who really need fast and accurate Covid-19 diagnosis. Through this partnership, we will keep striving do our best to provide the best quality of Covid-19 antigen rapid kits for fighting Covid-19. Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC, said: Antigen tests are an important complement to PCR testing, and are crucial to expand testing capacity throughout Africa. The beauty of antigen testing is that it is fast and gives quick results. It will allow healthcare workers to quickly isolate cases and treat them while tracing their contacts to cut the transmission chain. Dr Philippe Duneton, Unitaids Executive Director a.i., said: Access to these point-of-care rapid tests with be a game changer in the fight against Covid-19. We are working to support countries to rapidly deploy and use these new tests in the best possible way. Todays news shows what the ACT-A partners working together can deliver in our efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Carolyn Gomes, Special Advisor for the Board, ProActividad, Jamaica, and Alternate Board Member (Developing Country NGOs), The Global Fund Ensuring equitable access to rapid diagnostic tests is essential for controlling Covid-19 in all countries and to opening up economies across the world. Ensuring an affordable price is a major step forward. Tests that can be used at the point of care by front-line workers will greatly facilitate community access to testing. To ensure equity in access for those who need it most, there will need to be much greater support of the ACT-Accelerator and the Diagnostics Pillar in particular. Much more money is needed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said: This is the ACT-Accelerator in action. It is proof that by working together at a massive global scale, we can develop and deploy a vital new tool to help contain and fight the pandemic. This is not just a new test its the money and the deployment plan to get it to where its needed, fast. This is the power of global collaboration. Dr Catharina Boehme, Chief Executive Officer of FIND, said: With this Ag RDT package, the ACT-Accelerator partners have secured much-needed tools for LMICs to dramatically increase Covid-19 testing. With the financial support of several countries, we have made great progress, but to ensure we reach all those who need testing and bring the prices down, we urgently need substantial funding from public, philanthropic, and multilateral sources. -- Tradearabia News Service UW Community Invited to Virtual Wyoming Cybersecurity Conference As part of Cybersecurity Month, the University of Wyoming community is invited to participate in the 2020 virtual Wyoming Cybersecurity Conference Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 5-7. The conference is free for UW students, faculty, staff and media members for the three half-day sessions. Registration and conference information can be found at www.cyberwyoming.org/conference. Topics include the dark web; ways information technology professionals can deal with stress; election protection; workforce development; health care device compliance; social engineering challenges; how small businesses reduce risks; education opportunities; threat intelligence; and the role of Legos in understanding cybersecurity. Question-and-answer sessions will follow presentations. National vendor representatives will be online to share their latest offerings in cybersecurity and technology. The event is presented by the CyberWyoming Alliance in partnership with the Federal Business Council. Microsoft is the events major sponsor, and other sponsors include DigeTekS, Holland & Hart, and Wyoming Public Media. For more information, email Pat Wolfinbarger, CyberWyoming Alliance co-founder, at patw@cyberwyoming.org. Powers digitization by creating powerful content-rich and intelligent applications frictionlessly Replaces manual processes with intelligent automation and content-centric workflows Enables faster Innovation with a visual development environment (includes all key components content model, event-based rules, workflows, UIs,) for building content apps Integrates critical workflows seamlessly with existing CRM, ERP and other line of business apps Adds Artificial Intelligence (AI) into core business processes (e.g., document classification, entity extraction, or assisted decisions) Provides insights and analytics through Cloud native services Alfresco Software, an open source, content management platform and solutions provider today announced the availability of Alfresco Process Automation, a fully managed offering that enables organizations to build content-centric process applications in the Cloud. Alfresco Process Automation, which is a core part of Alfresco's Digital Business Platform as a Service (DBPaaS), can automate business operations enabling organizations to gain more value from their content by intelligently delivering it to a wide variety of business processes. Business applications are often built for a specific need or to solve a discrete task, however these applications can, and do, create silos of important information that ultimately become barriers to change obstructing meaningful innovation and organizational growth. Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Founder Deep Analysis, noted: "Traditional development approaches and legacy ECM applications struggle to automate content-based business processes across an enterprise for variety of reasons mostly because the business processes are distributed, complex, time-consuming, and expensive. And worse, they generally don't connect the content with modern Line of Business applications and tools. Consequently, many organizations are stuck dealing with manual, email and paper-based processes that inhibit their ability to drive efficiencies, gain deeper insights into their content, and reduce costs." Alfresco Process Automation enables the building of content-centric applications that enable teams to work more effectively together, share important information, improve knowledge, better manage collaborative processes and projects, and respond to opportunities and threats as they arise. Tony Grout, Chief Product Officer, Alfresco, noted: "Alfresco Process Automation is a first-of-a-kind, content-rich application generator that operates in Alfresco Cloud and helps enterprises automate everything from simple document approval workflows to complex content-rich user journeys. We included a Low Code Automation Studio that non-technical users as well as developers can use to quickly and easily assemble models for workflows, web forms, content-centric event-based rules, and business logic. We also built Alfresco Process Automation to integrate and connect with a wide range of popular Cloud services, including e-signature, machine learning, CRM, business communication platforms and many others." As part of Alfresco's DBPaaS, Alfresco Process Automation offers organizations open, secure content services coupled with governance services that unlocks the value from the most important business information and by extension leverages a range of Cloud native capabilities such as AI, ML, recognition business Intelligence services. It provides fully auditable and compliant visibility of content throughout workflows from creation to policy-controlled destruction. Alfresco's Digital Business Platform as a Service (DBPaaS) delivers powerful, content-rich, digital solutions using security, federation, governance, AI/ML intelligence, search, analytics, and a broad range of business system connectivity (e.g., SAP, SFDC, Slack, Twilio, DocuSign, and more). It provides significant cost and time savings for organizations using email or manual processes to distribute content for business processes (for example, Accounts Payable, Human Resources, and other applications). Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Founder Deep Analysis, added: "When considering digital transformation, organizations are dedicating considerable time to planning the tools and cultural changes they need to transform and run their business something clearly accelerating considerably as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The tools that enable them to achieve this need to provide the necessary functionality to operate as a solution-of-record that provides continuous innovation and change on-demand. Just as digital transformation never stops, these organizations need solutions that work out-of-the box, automates repetitive tasks, enables event-driven architectures, and support a distributed workforce." About Alfresco Alfresco is the leading open source content management and solutions provider for information-rich enterprises with huge volumes of unstructured content. Alfresco provides simply a better way for people to work, ensuring they have the information they need, exactly when they need it most wherever they work. Alfresco helps more than 11 million people at 1,300+ industry-leading organizations, including Cisco, Pitney Bowes, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, US Department of the Navy, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and NASA, be more responsive and competitive. Founded in 2005, Alfresco is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, with operations in Atlanta, GA., Maidenhead and London, UK, and Sydney, Australia. For more information on Alfresco, please visit http://www.alfresco.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005038/en/ Contacts: John A. Stewart Email: pr@alfresco.com As the situation along the India China border in Eastern Ladakh remains tense, Beijing has come up with a 'plateau-focused' unmanned helicopter to help PLA in "logistics missions and armed reconnaissance". China's first homemade unmanned helicopter focussing on high-altitude areas has successfully completed a maiden flight in a plateau region, its manufacturer said on Monday. AR-500C can carry a payload of 80 kilograms The AR-500C prototype completed its first plateau flight at the Daocheng Yading Airport, which is the world's highest civilian airport with an elevation of 4,411m, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) said in a statement. It said that this flight broke the record for the elevation at which a domestically built unmanned helicopter took off and landed. During the 15-minute flight, the drone completed a series of tests including climbing, hovering, rotating and other operations manoeuvres, before steadily landing, AVIC said. This demonstrated the AR-500C's general ability to fly in all types of terrain, the company said. An AVIC statement in May said the AR-500C drone will be used in missions including reconnaissance and communication relay, with optional functions including electronic disruption, target indication, fire strikes, cargo delivery, and nuclear radiation and chemical contamination reconnaissance. The Sunday's test flight showed that the AR-500C can carry a payload of 80 kilograms and fly for more than five hours at an altitude of 4,411m, Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece Global Times reported. READ | Japan snubbed Beijing's overture to reduce maritime activities in East China Sea: Report READ | Indian Army adequately prepared to fight harsh winters & China along the LAC in Ladakh 'A powerful addition to PLA arsenal'? The mouthpiece quoted an Indian media report which said that in its biggest military logistics operation in decades, the Indian Army has rushed weapons, fuel, food and winter supplies to the border region to maintain combat readiness through the treacherous winter that lasts about four months. It further said that to maintain logistics support in the difficult plateau terrain, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has adopted drones, including using them to deliver food, water and medicine. The AR-500C could be a powerful addition to PLA arsenal, as it is expected to carry heavier payloads, have longer endurance, fly higher and be more versatile than the drones currently in service, a military expert who asked not to be identified told the Chinese daily on Monday. The Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) have been locked in a tense standoff in multiple areas along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh since early May. READ | China targets Utsuls of Hainan, Huis after crackdown on Uyghur Muslims: Report READ | Biden's son Hunter made money from Russia, China: Trump ISTANBUL US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Greece Monday and urged Athens and Ankara to resume talks over lingering disputes over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. During his two-day visit, Pompeo said US-Greece relations were at an all-time high Tuesday, highlighting increased security cooperation between Washington and Athens before prompting Greece and Turkey to de-escalate a long-running spat over contested areas of the Mediterranean. The visit comes ahead of an EU summit later this week in which the leaders of member states will consider imposing sanctions on Ankara for gas exploration activities in disputed waters that have been put on hold to allow for bilateral talks between the neighboring NATO allies. On Sept. 10, Turkish and Greek military delegations began a series of technical talks at the NATO headquarters in Brussels and broader exploratory talks between state leaders are expected to begin soon, a move Pompeo lauded. We hope the exploratory talks not only get kicked off right, but its important that theyre resolved in a way that delivers outcomes that each of the two nations find more than acceptable, Pompeo told Greeces ANA state news agency Monday. Turkish naval vessels conducted prescheduled drills near Greek waters Tuesday between the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained Ankara is open to pursuing negotiations with Athens to address disagreements over the maritime delineations, whose current form he views as infringements on Turkeys continental shelf. I call on all our neighboring countries in the Mediterranean, Greece in particular, to abandon seeing the Eastern Mediterranean issue as a zero-sum game, Erdogan said in Istanbul Monday before extending his discourse to natural resource rights in the region. Let us make energy a means for cooperation, not for conflict. Pompeo visited the Souda Bay naval base on the Greek island of Crete Tuesday, where he announced the USS Hershel Woody Williams would be permanently stationed. Turkish media reports have suggested the United States is seeking to relocate operations at the Incirlik military base in Turkey to Greece, but US defense officials have denied such claims. Reflecting on growing US-Greece defense ties, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund, said alliances in the region are shifting following Athens rapprochement with both the United States and Israel. Turkeys reliability as an ally in the eastern Mediterranean is decreasing from Washingtons perspective and they are now looking for not substitutes to Turkey, but for additional allies in the region, Unluhisarcikli told Al-Monitor. US military support to Greece has gradually expanded in recent years, particularly since the Athens government ratified a mutual defense cooperation agreement in January 2019 and the US Congress passed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act in December of that year. Michael Tanchum, a senior fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, said the US military has long been present in the eastern Mediterranean but it began a process to reengage with Greece in 2018. The US was proceeding cautiously, balancing US interests in various areas of the region ranging from Syria, Cyprus, to Libya, among others, Tanchum told Al-Monitor. Events in the eastern Mediterranean are forcing Washington to act more quickly, accelerating the pace at which it deepens its involvement. He added, After the US election, we may see greater US involvement. With US elections scheduled for Nov. 3, Unluhisarcikli said the upcoming vote may have also played a role in Pompeos visit to Greece this week. Greek-Americans constitute an important voter base in the United States and there are a couple of battleground states where the Greek-American vote could make a difference, Unluhisarcikli told Al-Monitor. The developments come as observers await an EU summit on Oct. 1-2, delayed for a week after European Council President Charles Michel went into self-quarantine following possible exposure to COVID-19. Officials from Cyprus, Greece and France have called for sanctions to be imposed on Ankara for its recent gas exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean, but the ongoing crackdown on protests in Belarus may take precedence among EU officials. Leaders in the Republic of Cyprus blocked long-sought sanctions on the Belarusian government last week, stating they would only approve the measures if EU member states committed to a tougher stance against Turkey as well. Speaking during a German Marshall Fund hosted webinar Friday, Nathalie Tocci, deputy director of Istituto Affari Internazionali in Italy and special adviser to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said sanctions on Turkey would not result in productive outcomes and instead called for a reset in the Turkey-EU relationship. I would be very surprised if [penalties are imposed] in a context in which exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey will be or look like they will be resumed, Tocci said during the webinar. Less than two years later, Sabahs diplomatic finesse was again put to the test with the U.S.-led invasion that would bring down Hussein. Kuwait cleared the way for American ground forces to cross Iraqs southern borders an avenue denied by Turkey to the north but he faced strong condemnation from some Arab allies and others opposed to the American-led war. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Building up support for the farm Bills passed by Parliament, the BJP on Monday released a statement of 32 retired bureaucrats, who stated that the legislations are watershed in unshackling the farming community from exploitative practices. Facing spirited opposition to the farm Bills, with farmers hitting the streets in Punjab, Haryana and other states, the secretary-ranked former bureaucrats claimed that unnecessary doubts about the MSPs are being fanned. We are a group of public spirited citizens of India comprising retired All India and Civil Services officers, dedicated to the sacred cause of securing the emergence of a Great India, the statement by the group of 32 retired bureaucrats argued. The farm Bills passed by Parliament mark the watershed in the liberation of Indias farming community from the shackles of exploitative practices that slow-pedaled their progress. Targeting the critics of the measures, the group in a statement said, "We have reasons to apprehend the disinformation which certain sections within our society are trying to spread in the country. We have recent instances of untruths and distortions being paraded before the public with hugely negative impact on the morale of the minorities, students, and now the farmers." The general public has every reason to suspect attempts by well-known "vested interests" to destabilise the country and create disaffection among the minorities, students and farmers, it alleged. The group of 32 former IAS officers include former finance secretary S Narayan, former banking secretary D K Mittal, former defence secretary G Mohan Kumar, former petroleum secretary Saurabh Chandra, and former civil aviation secretary K N Srivastava. ALSO READ | Unconstitutional, illegal and void: Congress MP from Kerala moves SC against farm law In an apparent reference to the Congress, the group said the emancipation of the farmers from the middlemen and empowering them with the freedom to choose where and how to sell their produce was enshrined in the manifestos of certain political forces which oppose it now. The statement said the government has introduced a definite game-changer in a farmer's life through the "far-sighted" legislations. Major impediments which retarded the seamless growth of the farming fraternity of India are given the go-by through the passage of these monumental Acts. Citing the proposed benefits of these laws, including freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere they want and allowing them to enter into contracts with traders, the group said it is objectionable to "incite" farmers and create disaffection by wrongly suggesting that their interests are being bartered in favour of multinational concern. The government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given categorical assurances that the minimum support price mechanism (MSP) shall remain as ever before, it said. The former public servants said wherever farmers are suffering, it is because of inadequate local marketing facilities leading to their "exploitation" by middlemen. If India is developed as one market for them, and if private parties purchase their products, the farmers have nothing to lose, they added. "This historic legislation, coupled with the various economic development packages announced by the government will definitely pave the way for the upward rise of the farming community, bringing in phenomenal progress to them. The bills create a fair and free ecosystem for farmers," they said. "Our group condemns the surreptitious practices of vested interest for misleading and misguiding the farmers and discrediting the well intentioned national initiatives," they said. Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP on Monday launched a campaign to reach out to farmers in the national capital and dispel misconceptions about the farm reform laws, as protests erupted in neighbouring states against them. Leader of Opposition in Delhi BJP, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri held a meeting with farmers from 22 villages at Tajpur village in South Delhi, and said the Congress and other parties were "spreading rumours" that minimum support price (MSP) will be abolished. "The truth is, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime, agriculture production has registered huge increase, the MSP has also been substantially increased and the government has made record procurement of foodgrains from farmers," Bidhuri said. He said the three farm reform laws will pave way for doubling farmers income. "It will also increase agricultural production through new technology and payment of agricultural produce of farmers will be guaranteed within three days." "If any farmer gives his land on contract, then the buyer will bear the losses, if any to the crops, and arrange necessary inputs," he said. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said opposition parties were "misguiding" farmers to serve their vested interests and the two-week long Delhi BJP campaign will dispel rumours spread by them. Delhi BJP general secretary and convener of the campaign Kuljeet Chahal said many meetings will be held with farmers of 365 villages by senior leaders, including party MPs and MLAs in Delhi. The decision to start the campaign was taken at a meeting of senior Delhi BJP leaders on Sunday, he said. "The campaign will primarily create awareness about the three farm Bills that were passed and later approved by the President. However, the condition of farmers in Delhi under the Arvind Kejriwal government and how it has failed to meet its promises with them, will also be discussed in these meetings," he said. Chahal, who himself addressed a meeting with farmers at Majra Dabas village, said the campaign will also reach out to urbanised villages in Delhi whose issues like compensation, land acquisition and civic amenities are yet to be settled. (With PTI Inputs) WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- College students and families have a new resource to evaluate the climates of free expression on campuses across the country, thanks to a platform launched today by College Pulse, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and RealClearEducation. Known as the 2020 College Free Speech Rankings , the first-of-its-kind, interactive, online tool draws on survey data from nearly 20,000 students to rank the climates for free speech and open discourse at 55 institutions. "Until today, students and parents had no way to evaluate the actual experience of being a student on one campus versus another when it comes to free speech, debate, and dissent," said Robert Shibley, executive director of FIRE. "Finally, current and prospective students, their families, and involved citizens can get an unbiased, unvarnished look into the ways that individual campuses around the country treat free expressionand the students who swim against the current." The 2020 College Free Speech Rankings take into account the varied dimensions of free expression on campus, from the ability to discuss challenging topics like race, gender, and geopolitical conflicts, to whether students hold back from openly sharing their views. The Rankings are designed to help students and parents make enrollment decisions based on a range of factors including openness, tolerance, self-expression, and administrative support for free speech. The rankings capture and score a campus' overall speech climate on a scale from 0-100, as well as the distinct experiences of conservative and liberal students. "A university should be a lively marketplace of ideasa place where different beliefs and opinions can be discussed, analyzed, and challenged with widest possible freedom," said Nathan Harden, editor of RealClearEducation. "If students don't feel free to speak their minds, or if they aren't exposed to diverse points of view, it greatly diminishes the value of their education. Now more than ever, students and parents need help identifying colleges and universities that foster thoughtful examination of the most pressing issues facing society, from the state of race relations in America to the freedom of religion and association." Among the key takeaways, the findings from the inaugural College Free Speech Rankings indicate: Of the institutions included in the ranking, the University of Chicago is considered the best campus for free speech , with a score of 64 out of 100. DePauw University ranks the lowest , with a score of 44 out of 100. , with a score of 64 out of 100. , with a score of 44 out of 100. Seven of the colleges that ranked in the top 10 in the College Free Speech Rankings are public state universities with undergraduate enrollments over 15,000. Only one of the top 10 colleges is located in the Northeast or is a member of the Ivy League ( Brown University ). In contrast, seven of the ten colleges in the bottom 10 are private, and undergraduate enrollment at five of those seven colleges is below 10,000. Three of the bottom 10 colleges are located in the Northeast, and two are members of the Ivy League. Only one of the top 10 colleges is located in the Northeast or is a member of the Ivy League ( ). In contrast, seven of the ten colleges in the bottom 10 are private, and undergraduate enrollment at five of those seven colleges is below 10,000. Three of the bottom 10 colleges are located in the Northeast, and two are members of the Ivy League. 60% of students can recall at least one time during their college experience when they did not share their perspective for fear of how others would respond. While men and women are equally likely to report they have censored themselves, students who identify as Conservative are much more likely to report prior self-censorship. While men and women are equally likely to report they have censored themselves, students who identify as Conservative are much more likely to report prior self-censorship. While 57% of students say their college would defend a speaker's right to express his or her views in the case of a controversy over "offensive" expression, a disturbingly large minority, 42%, believe their college would punish the speaker for making the statement. a disturbingly large minority, 42%, believe their college would punish the speaker for making the statement. Over 45% of college students identified race as a challenging topic to discuss on campus , the highest of any controversial topic asked about. This figure rises to 66% for Black or African-American students. , the highest of any controversial topic asked about. This figure rises to 66% for Black or African-American students. Students' assessment of free speech on campus is, at least in part, driven by their political ideology, and whether or not they align with the majority viewpoint at their college. Students who attend colleges where their political opinions align with the majority of other students are most comfortable sharing their beliefs. Results also show the predominant political viewpoint on most campuses is Liberal. "These initial findings suggest, overwhelmingly, that colleges across the country have a long way to go to promote free expression for students," said Terren Klein, co-founder and CEO of College Pulse. "We're proud to elevate the voices of today's college students to ensure future students understand this aspect of campus climate when deciding where to enroll. Professors, administrators, and staff can also use these rankings to better understand the student experience." To learn about the Annual College Free Speech Rankings, please visit the new dashboard here . About College Pulse College Pulse is a survey research and analytics company dedicated to understanding the attitudes, preferences and behaviors of today's college students. College Pulse delivers custom data-driven marketing and research solutions, utilizing its unique American College Student Panel that includes over 400,000 undergraduate college student respondents from more than 1,000 two- and four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states. For more information visit https://collegepulse.com/ About FIRE The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of students and faculty members at America's colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience the essential qualities of liberty. About RealClearEducation RealClearEducation is dedicated to providing readers with better, more insightful analysis of the most important news and education policy issues of the day. RealClearEducation is part of the RealClear Media Group, which includes RealClearPolitics and more than a dozen other news websites. RealClear's daily editorial curation, public opinion analysis, and original reporting present balanced, non-partisan news coverage that empowers our readers to stay informed. SOURCE College Pulse Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Tevita Uhatafe takes a step as he talks about his job and family, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Grapevine, Texas. Uhatafe was working 60 hours a week before the pandemic struck, hauling baggage and maintaining airplanes as a fleet service clerk for American Airlines at DFW Airport. With the federal funds that helped support the airline industry through the pandemic scheduled to run out, tens of thousands of airline workers like Uhatafe are facing furloughs or layoffs. (AP Photo/LM Otero) DETROIT - The worries are growing for United Airlines flight attendant Jordy Comeaux. In a few days, hell be among roughly 40,000 airline workers whose jobs are likely to evaporate in an industry decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. Unless Congress acts to help for a second time, United will furlough Comeaux on Thursday, cutting off his income and health insurance. Unemployment and the money made by his husband, a home health nurse, wont be enough to pay the bills including rent near Chicagos OHare International Airport. I dont have enough, unfortunately, to get by, said Comeaux, 31, who has worked for United for four years. No one knows whats going to come next and how to prepare. Since the pandemic hit, thousands of flight attendants, baggage handlers, gate agents and others have been getting at least partial pay through $25 billion in grants and loans to the nations airlines. To receive the aid, companies agreed not to lay off employees through Sept. 30. That Payroll Support Program helped many stay on, and keep health care and other benefits. It all runs out on Thursday. With air travel down about 70% from last year, many carriers including United and American say theyll be forced to cut jobs without additional aid. Delta and Southwest, two other big carriers, tapped private capital markets and say theyll avoid layoffs. Industry analysts say fear of air travel and businesses keeping employees close to home have brought an unprecedented crisis to the industry, resulting in cataclysmic losses. The four largest U.S. airlines Delta, United, American and Southwest together lost $10 billion in the second quarter alone. Fewer airline passengers also means less demand for rental cars, hotels and restaurants. With demand for new planes down, airplane manufacturer Boeing has cut thousands of jobs. And with tourism down, The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it planned to lay off 28,000 workers in its parks division in California and Florida. To my understanding, this is the steepest demand shock for commercial aviation in human history, said Morningstar aviation analyst Burkett Huey. The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday lowered its full-year traffic forecast. The trade group for airlines around the world now expects 2020 air travel to fall 66% from 2019, compared to its previous estimate of a 63% decline. Airlines in Europe are expecting years of trouble and have acted quickly to cut jobs even as they get government rescue loans. Germanys Lufthansa won a 9 billion-euro government bailout, but announced an additional round of cuts after a summer bump in vacation travel dwindled in September. The company has parked its jumbo jets and has plans to eliminate 22,000 full-time positions. British Airways parent company IAG has said it would cut some 12,000 of its 42,000-person workforce. In the U.S., Congress has been considering a second round of airline aid for weeks, but its hung up in the debate over a larger national relief package. The Airlines for America trade group said a House proposal unveiled Monday raises some hope because Democrats and Republicans appear to be talking. Layoffs could be delayed if a deal is imminent. Toni Valentine, 41, a United reservations agent in Detroit who has been with the airline for 15 years, has been told shell be laid off this week. She has six children ranging in age from 2 to 22, and her husband cant work because hes recovering from a massive stroke. Knowing that I may not have insurance benefits, I feel like I have failed, she said on a conference call set up by the Machinists Union. Im the primary breadwinner in this family. Before the pandemic, the airlines were thriving. Planes were full, profits were fat and workers were getting big overtime checks. That helped Valentine, who said she worked 80 hours per week but still was barely making it after her husbands illness. Now, her 19-year-old son has dropped out of college to help support the family, she said. Were crying for help and no one is hearing, she said. Tevita Uhatafe also was a big beneficiary of overtime pay, working 60 hours a week hauling baggage and loading airplanes for American Airlines in Dallas. He and his wife, who holds the same fleet service job, earned enough to buy a house and purchase a new car in January. Then came the pandemic. Overtime went away. Uhatafe and his wife cut expenses and staggered their shifts so one could stay home to supervise remote learning for two sons and a niece. But come Thursday, they both are likely to get only part-time hours, meaning their household income could be halved. We cant afford our mortgage, our car payment, our other utilities, he said. They also fear they wont be able to make health care copays and deductibles. Theyve looked for jobs, but in a market with high unemployment there really isnt anything out there for us right now, Uhatafe said. Allie Malis, an American Airlines flight attendant in Washington, D.C., also faces layoff Thursday. At this point I dont have a Plan B, she said. With early retirements and other incentives to quit, U.S. airlines have already shed about 45,000 jobs during the pandemic, or 48,000 including cargo carriers. Government figures are only available through July, however. Compare that to the first six months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when passenger and cargo airlines cut more than 90,000 jobs, and employment drifted lower for the next two years. Two decades later, airline employment still had not fully recovered. Malis said American didnt hire any new flight attendants until 2013 because it was still calling back those who were laid off. While job losses in the airline industry since the pandemic could be about 20% of the total workforce when accounting for the next round of cuts, there are other sectors feeling even more pain, including the restaurant, bar and hotel businesses. From February, before the coronavirus took hold in the U.S., through August, those businesses shed nearly 5.8 million jobs, or around 22% of the total number employed, according to federal statistics. Flight attendants likely will be the hardest hit if the airline layoffs come this week because there are over 25,000 of them, more than any other job in the industry, said Savanthi Syth, an airlines analyst for Raymond James. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Pilots may not be affected as much because airlines want to avoid the cost of retraining them once theyre in a position to rehire. On Monday, United Airlines pilots ratified an agreement that the union and the airline say will avoid about 2,850 furloughs set to take effect later this week, and another 1,000 early next year. Its anyones guess when or even if air travel will recover from the pandemic and if airlines can fly through the turbulence. Morningstar expects a vaccine to be available by the end of this year with widespread distribution by the middle of 2021, but recovery could still take years. Comeaux holds out hope that his union, the Association of Flight Attendants, can successfully lobby Congress for help in the next few days. Many United flight attendants, he said, took special leaves with no pay to preserve jobs for others. How long is it going to take for us to get back up and going?" he asked. "Thats the really difficult part. ____ Krisher reported from Detroit. Bussewitz reported from New York. AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas and AP Researchers Jennifer Farrar in New York and Monika Mathur in Washington contributed to this report. The Election Commission on Tuesday set the dates for elections to 56 assembly seats across 11 states and a lone parliamentary constituency in Bihar that will take place amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The bypolls will dovetail with the three-phase assembly elections in Bihar, set for October 28, November 3 and 7. In the by-elections, voters in 54 assembly constituencies across 10 states will choose their legislators on November 3;the electorate in two assembly constituencies in Manipur will vote on November 7, together with electors in Bihars Balmiki Nagar parliamentary constituency. The results of the elections will be declared by November 12 at the latest, with counting taking place on November 10. A team from the Election Commission, meanwhile, left for Patna on Tuesday to assess the situation in Bihar by holding discussions with district- and state-level officials ahead of the first full-fledged electoral exercise following the outbreak of Covid-19. Nearly 72 million voters will choose their representatives to the 243-member Bihar assembly with strict health protocols in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease. The Election Commission has put off elections to seven assembly constituencies across Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal where the term of the legislature is due to lapse in either May or June next year. People familiar with the matter had earlier told Hindustan Times that it does not make sense to hold the elections in Kerala, where there are only two vacancies and the assembly is due to be re-elected before June 2021. In the midst of this pandemic and considering the devastation caused due to the floods, it would be unnecessarily expensive to hold the bypolls, one person had said, adding that a representation to defer the polls had been sent to the Commission in August. The Commission will hold bypolls to assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh (1), Gujarat (8), Haryana (1), Jharkhand (2), Karnataka (2), Manipur (2), Nagaland (2), Odisha (2), Madhya Pradesh (28), Telangana (1) and Uttar Pradesh (7). It will also hold a by-election to the Balmiki Nagar parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant on the death of Baidyanath Prasad Mahato in February. In Madhya Pradesh, three seats fell vacant because of the death of their assembly representatives and 25 because of Congress lawmakers switching sides to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress government of Madha Pradesh collapsed in March because of a rebellion by MLAs owing allegiance to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the party for the BJP. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana had also written to the Commission to defer the polls in the wake of the pandemic, aside from Kerala, Hindustan Times reported on August 10. The Election Commission had received representation from these states, said a second person familiar with the matter. At that point, it had temporarily deferred the elections. But now these states have re-evaluated the situation and feel polls can be held in line with the Election Commissions schedule. Your browser does not support the audio element. As you hopscotch around a gaping hole in the sidewalk full of garbage, a truck goes flying by, horn blaring, the kamikaze driver with eyes glazed over; just about the last adjective youd use to describe the Vietnamese is 'picky.' Oh, but theres an obsession with detail and perfection that lies a layer or two beneath the obvious, manifesting itself in subtle ways. What is deemed critical is approached with great passion while what is considered inconsequential is ignored; thats how things work here. Lets take a loaf of 'banh mi' bread now thats important. The hell with stopping at red lights, lets get something scrumptious to eat! Those baguettes are simple, inexpensive items, but I cant think of anything more coveted by more people on a daily basis, and a symbol synonymous with Vietnam the world over. I went sniffing around the biggest bakery in town recently, observing the 'banh mi' operation, much to the chagrin of the bakers. The tone of their welcome switched from icy to warm to red hot when I convinced them Im not interested in hijacking their tricks of the trade, and anyway couldnt bake anything if my life depended on it. Huge volumes of baguettes are involved each day in that operation hundreds, if not thousands. Any way you want to slice it, theres a hell of a lot of bread coming out of that kitchen, turnover so large theres a good possibility youll get a loaf still warm from the oven. Once baked, the 'banh mi' are tossed into bamboo baskets, then shunted out to the sandwich-making area in the front of the shop. Fresh from the oven The sandwich team then inspects each loaf looking for imperfections and quirks, however innocuous they may seem to the untrained eye. In the photo below, one rejected loaf has a tiny smudge of soot the size of a thumbnail probably originating from the walls of the oven. Thats an instant reject, such a sacrilege could never be tolerated in the Land of Baguettes. Smudged Note the slicer in the background, the purpose of which is to make a horizontal cut sideways deep into the loaf, but not all the way, thus retaining one contiguous hunk of bread. That way, the meat, pate (liver spread), pickled vegetables, and chili peppers and condiments can be stuffed and spread inside but the sandwich cant split in two, so the goodies stay inside instead of decorating your shirt. Another criterion for rejection is a deformity stemming from either the kneading or baking process, whereby part of the loaf is misshapen or the outside crust has come loose. This abomination definitely wont make the grade because it resembles a croissant instead of a symmetrical, smooth, cylindrical loaf. Deformed and rejected The perfect loaves go on to become perfect sandwiches made by the perfect sandwich people, while the substandard loaves are put into another basket to be sold over the counter for use as an accompaniment to 'bo kho' (beef stew), soups, and such. Heres another classic from the world of baking: a restaurant in town offers an array of baked goodies including a divine version of rye and wholemeal bread with a bunch of different seeds in it, to which Im hopelessly addicted. I prowled around the kitchen (I always hang around kitchens, thats where it all happens), watching the baker prepare and knead the dough, then later place the various seeds on the loaf before putting it in the oven. Be honest: would you meticulously place those pumpkin seeds at strategic spots on the loaf or randomly sprinkle them? Youd think she used a measuring tape and a team of physics gurus to ensure those seeds are perfectly spread. Thats beyond the usual Asian obsession with symmetry, balance, and beauty. On top of that, there is a rumor circulating (yet to be corroborated) that when making cinnamon buns she uses a measuring tape to ensure consistently uniform sizes, dimensions, and shapes. Perfectly positioned seeds Food is a good place to start, but Ive found samples of picky behavior in other facets of daily life. I stayed in a hotel here in town for years, availing of their pick-up laundry service. The company was excellent and predictable; they never lost a single item, but thats not the story the knots they use are. My clean clothes were always returned in a bag closed with a slick little slip knot, so all that was needed to open the bag was a firm yank on the appropriate plastic strand. Suddenly I started to receive my clothes back in a bag with an intricate knot no idea why maybe theyd added a Boy Scout to their staff. There was no way I could open the bag without ripping it half to shreds or going insane, whichever came first, a consequence of my impatience coupled with a preference for short fingernails. After a few such deliveries, I couldnt resist sending my dirty laundry back in the damaged bag just to see what would happen. Low and behold someone picked up on it, despite having hundreds of customers, and miraculously, that lovely little slip knot appeared again as it previously had! The slip knot on a laundry bag Someone figured out that the customer is clumsy, possibly a spastic and impatient foreigner, and fixed the issue. Not only is that great service, but its also damn picky by any measure. Heres a topic dear to us all: ear wax de-gunking, undeniable proof of the engineering prowess in this country. Most countries rely on q-tips, but not Vietnam, where ear cleaning requires expertise and finesse, so its done by skilled employees in barbershops. The young lady pictured below is armed with no less than ten separate tools to extract gunk including a fluffy implement resembling a shriveled dandelion, which gives a little tickle at the end of the procedure, a happy ending of sorts. I did provide a vivid account of the entire de-gunking procedure a couple of years ago and got strange feedback from several readers, no doubt the squeamish types that prefer their fish served without the head and dont like guts and gizzards floating around in their soup. Fine then, Ill skip the gory details of how the attendant proudly spread the gunk on my forearm like peanut butter on bread, but you can sense the passion and attention to detail. Ear de-gunking equipment This one is the absolute topper: I belong to a private Vietnamese Cooking Group on Facebook, thanks to my Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) friends in the U.S. Im in awe watching their clips to see how they fiddle and fuss over every detail ad nauseam. If one single ingredient is substituted, theres a huge chorus of comments stating that the creation is not 'abc dish,' rather its 'xyz dish,' and its thoroughly different, as if there was no resemblance whatsoever, which I know to be untrue. They rattle on and on, and I must hand it to them, none of their cultures has been compromised in their transition to the West. One such whiz, Madame Jessie Tse, said I could use her photos and write whatever I want, which she may soon regret. I dont know Jessie personally, nor her husband (the lucky stiff), but its easy to see shes like a dog with a bone in the kitchen diligent, creative, energetic. Jessie decided to make a 'vit quay' (roast duck), and, let me tell you, it was magnificent. The skin was brown and crackly, not burnt, and that bird was presented like a rare Picasso. In Jessies post, there was a mega-detailed description of the steps, with a few hot tips tossed in here and there. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bizarre photo among the bunch she posted and quizzed her on it. It turns out shed actually suspended that duck from a chair between two floor fans for a whole 24 hours so the skin would be perfectly dry! Jessies duck Eureka! Id finally found the ultimate Vietnamese perfectionist! Would you hang a duck between two fans for 24 hours? Neither would I, not if you paid me, even though I adore crispy, brown duck skin. With that, I rest my case on the Vietnamese obsession with detail and quality. Fair enough, the traffic is a mess and half the time we cant distinguish between the beginning, middle, and end of queues, but any country that produces people who would hang a duck for a whole day between two electric fans gets my vote. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Houston ISD has failed to fix significant, systemic and widespread issues in its delivery of special education services despite multiple warnings, warranting the appointment of a state conservator with the power to oversee and direct changes in the district, Texas Education Agency officials concluded Tuesday following an 11-month investigation. In a much-anticipated 44-page report, TEA investigators said the states largest school district continues to violate state and federal laws designed to ensure students with disabilities receive needed supports. The investigators recommended Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appoint a conservator to ensure necessary changes are made, but Morath has not yet announced what actions he will take. State officials concluded HISD failed to identify all students entitled to special education services, provide legally entitled supports or hold staff members accountable for their performance. The errors came even after reports commissioned by the district in 2011 and 2018 detailed major gaps in HISDs special education practices, state investigators said. While there is no one sole person, program, or provider that malignantly influenced the special education program in the district, it is apparent that HISD, in its current state, is unable, and perhaps unwilling, to conform to its obligations related to its students with disabilities, state investigators wrote. Commissioning studies is not enough. Action must be taken as a result. In a statement Tuesday evening, HISDs administration said it is disappointed with the outcome of the investigation and believe it is factually and legally incorrect. Much of the report is devoted to years-old information from old reports and does not address more current information provided in the districts response, HISD officials said. The statement noted that district leaders still are analyzing the report and will provide a more detailed response in the future. READ THE REPORT: See the full state report on Houston ISDs special education practices The states inquiry, known as a special accreditation investigation, originally stemmed from a complaint lodged by an unnamed person and a referral forwarded by the U.S. Department of Education. While state officials routinely handle individual complaints related to special education, a special accreditation investigation can be launched to review potential violations of law that could warrant sanctions against districts. TEA officials said they spent several days interviewing HISD staff members, reviewed dozens of students records and analyzed thousands of pages of documents. Investigators said they routinely encountered employees who complained about systemic issues in the district and staffers who did not know the districts special education protocols and improper practices documented in student files. They also argued HISD lacks accountability and administrative protocols needed to ensure missteps do not occur, particularly given the districts staff turnover levels. Perhaps more troubling than these historical findings concerns the districts lack of serious initiative, rather yet success, in attempting to take corrective action to reform its systems, state investigators wrote. The agencys report does not name employees who made damning allegations against the district and often does not provide extensive supporting evidence for specific cases of misconduct, sometimes due to student privacy laws. Both HISD and the TEA have faced intense scrutiny in recent years for their special education practices. HISDs delivery of special education most recently came under fire in early 2018, when the American Institutes of Research issued a 133-page report outlining numerous structural and operational issues that left children without needed services. The institute investigated HISDs special education department at the request of district school board members. A report issued six months later by a committee of HISD trustees, employees and community members echoed many of the AIR findings, ultimately describing the state of special education in the district as grave. TEA investigators said they concluded the same in their report Tuesday. HISD administrators crafted a three-year strategic plan in response to the 2018 findings, reporting in June that nearly 50 changes were made or on track for completion. For TEA, its challenges with special education date back more than a decade, stemming from the agencys since-abandoned arbitrary cap on the percentage of children who could receive services. The limit led to the denial of support to tens of thousands of students with disabilities across Texas, the Houston Chronicle found in 2016 and the U.S. Department of Education confirmed in 2017. In its statement Tuesday, HISDs administration noted the states role in capping special education services, arguing that several of the years in question were years in which TEA itself illegally imposed the limit. TEA officials since have agreed to a corrective action plan with federal officials, though some advocates argue the state has not done enough to remedy years of neglect. A follow-up Houston Chronicle investigation found several key parts of the TEAs corrective action plan remain unfulfilled, and that the state had failed to ensure students who previously were denied special education services in the past were given federally required help to make up for that lost time. The U.S. Department of Education has not yet released a report evaluating the results of Texas corrective action plan, though the agencys Office of Special Education Programs is expected to issue an update this fall. jacob.carpenter@chron.com NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019, $340 billion worth of medical drugs and other biotech products were bought around the world. As an efficient cold chain is imperative for drug supply, the growth in the worldwide cold chain is driving the demand for refrigeration solutions. As a result, the global industrial refrigeration systems market size , which valued $26.8 billion in 2019, is set to grow to $41.1 billion by 2030, at a 5.0% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, according to P&S Intelligence. Apart from the utility of such equipment in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological sector, their importance in the storage and supply of agricultural products, seafood, and frozen food is also helping in the industrial refrigeration systems market advance. As all these products are perishable, adequate coolness needs to be maintained in order to prevent their natural decomposing by microbial action. Get the sample copy of this report at @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/industrial-refrigeration-equipment-market/report-sample The industrial refrigeration systems market is witnessing the ill-effects of the coronavirus pandemic. As a large number of manufacturers in the industry rely on China for components and raw materials, the lockdown in the country has hurt refrigeration equipment manufacturing. On the demand side, the demand for numerous products for which refrigeration is essential has dropped, which has led to low equipment sales. In the years to come, the compressors category will dominate the industrial refrigeration systems market, on the basis of equipment type. The compressor is the most essential component of refrigerators, which is why they also cost the most. Almost 35% of the purchase price of a complete industrial refrigeration system could be for just the compressor. Ammonia was the highest-revenue-generating category in the industrial refrigeration systems market in the past, based on refrigerant type. Ammonia-based refrigeration equipment is 2030% less costly to manufacture than those using other types of gases. In addition, ammonia is also a 310% more-efficient refrigerant than other gases, which is why it is popular. Browse report with detailed TOC on Industrial Refrigeration Systems Market Research Report: By Equipment Type (Compressors, Condensers, Evaporators, Controls), Refrigerant Type (Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrofluorocarbon), Application (Food & Beverages, Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas) - Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030 @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/industrial-refrigeration-equipment-market In the immediate future, the highest value CAGR, of 6.1%, in the industrial refrigeration systems market is predicted to be experienced by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals category, under segmentation by application. On account of the increasing prevalence of many diseases, the pharmaceutical cold chain is expanding around the world. Similarly, refrigeration is deployed in the chemical, oil, and petrochemical sectors to dehumidify air, condense gases, and preserve compounds. Asia-Pacific (APAC), which held the largest share in the industrial refrigeration systems market in the past, would continue doing so in the future. Some of the most industrialized and populated countries are located in APAC, which automatically leads to a high demand for products supplied via the cold chain. Moreover, in order to give a boost to their manufacturing sector, many regional countries are investing in the cold chain. For instance, the Indian government approved a funding of $67.1 million (INR 743 crore) for 27 integrated cold chain projects in September 2020. Make enquiry about this report @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=industrial-refrigeration-equipment-market Companies Looking at Mergers and Acquisitions for Higher Growth Potential Players in the industrial refrigeration systems market are signing merger and acquisition agreements to give themselves more chances of growth, with the idea behind several of these strategic moves being: Expansion of their product portfolio Catering to a wider customer base Offering a full range of servicing and maintenance solutions Targeting food and beverages, packaging, automotive assembly, and medical equipment companies Increasing their presence across countries The major companies in the global industrial refrigeration systems market are Carrier Global Corporation, Trane Technologies plc, Dover Corporation, Hussmann Corporation, Johnson Controls International PLC, Daikin Industries Ltd., Industrial Frigo SRL, Midea Group Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric Co., GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, Danfoss A/S, BITZER Kuhlmaschinenbau GmbH, Mayekawa Mfg. Co. Ltd., and Star Refrigeration Ltd. Browse More Reports APAC Industrial Refrigeration Systems Market APAC industrial refrigeration systems market forecasted to reach $10,696.1 Million by 2023, according to P&S Intelligence. The market has been witnessing considerable growth, mainly due to factors such as growing food and beverage processing industry and increasing cold chain market. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/apac-industrial-refrigeration-systems-market Middle East & Africa Industrial Refrigeration Systems Market Middle East & Africa (MEA) industrial refrigeration systems market is expected to reach $2,406.8 Million by the end of 2023, according to P&S Intelligence. Countries, predominantly Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the MEA region are poised for growth in industrial refrigeration systems market owing to rapid commercialization of cold-chain logistics as well as increasing adoption of environment friendly refrigerants. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/mea-industrial-refrigeration-systems-market About P&S Intelligence P&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness. Contact: Prajneesh Kumar P&S Intelligence Contact: +1-347-960-6455 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com SOURCE P&S Intelligence Cookies op Tweakers Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers is onderdeel van DPG Media en maakt gebruik van cookies, JavaScript en vergelijkbare technologie om je onder andere een optimale gebruikerservaring te bieden. Functionele en analytische cookies die door Tweakers zelf geplaatst worden, worden gebruikt om de website goed te laten functioneren, bezoekersstatistieken bij te houden en a/b-testen uit te voeren. Ook kan Tweakers hiermee het gedrag van bezoekers vastleggen en analyseren. Cookies kunnen daarnaast worden gebruikt om op Tweakers advertenties te tonen die aansluiten bij je interesses. Daarbij kan gebruikgemaakt worden van bezoekersprofielen die door derden zijn opgesteld. Ook kunnen derden je internetgedrag volgen, zoals bijvoorbeeld het geval is bij embedded videos van YouTube. Tot slot kunnen cookies worden gebruikt om op sites van derden relevante advertenties te tonen. Content van derde partijen, zoals embedded videos van YouTube, wordt met een trackingvrij abonnement standaard uitgeschakeld. Indien je deze content wilt zien, kun je hier expliciet toestemming voor geven. Wil je meer informatie over cookies en hoe ze worden gebruikt? Bekijk dan ons cookiebeleid. Accepteer cookies ... Om deze pagina op Tweakers te kunnen bekijken, moet je cookies accepteren. Cookies accepteren Heb je al een account? Dan kun je hier inloggen! Industry conference Screen Forever has announced new dates for February 2021. Screen Producers Australia announced last year that the Gold Coast had won the event for the next 3 years, but the pandemic has meant a November event will now take place on 16-18 February 2021 at The Star Event Centre, with all necessary safety measures in place. Queensland is more than ready to make the most of the opportunities our successful handling of the pandemic has afforded us, including safely hosting Screen Forever on the Gold Coast in February 2021, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. I am delighted Australias preeminent screen industry conference, with its new interactive digital platform, is set to take place in the most screen-friendly city and state in the nation. The Queensland Government is proud to sponsor this important networking opportunity for screen professionals at such a critical time for them and for their industry as a whole, as it eagerly takes a lead role in Australias economic recovery by generating jobs, vital revenue and more local content for the world to enjoy. The health and wellbeing of our delegates, staff and the wider community is our number one priority. Without Queenslands strong health response to this pandemic it would not be possible for us to proceed with our event, said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner. The amount of interest we have received in recent months has proven how critical Screen Forever is to the Australian screen industry, particularly the production sector, and we thank everyone for their patience and support while we determined the safest and best way to proceed. Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich said, For over 30 years, Screen Forever has been one of the major highlights on the Australian screen industrys calendar, opening doors for Queensland producers to pitch their projects to national and international big-hitters in the film industry. In the current landscape, the continuation of significant international markets like Screen Forever is excellent news for our local screen sector, which has shown enormous resilience during this challenging period. We are fortunate to have an industry conference of this calibre on our doorstep and very proud to partner with SPA. SPA also announced that for the first time an interactive digital platform will allow screen professionals from around the world to participate. The annual SPA Awards are also moving to February but select awards will be handed out this year. Assyrian Priest Suspected of 'Terrorism' to Go on Trial in Turkey Father Sefer BileAen. Mardin, Turkey -- The trial of an Assyrian priest, Fr Sefer (Aho) BileAen, has been postponed to next 3 November. The clergyman stands accused of "terrorism". Fr Sefer (Aho) BileAen has always defended himself by saying that he only gave food to people who came to visit him. He works at the Mor Yakup (Saint James) Monastery. Built about 1,500 years ago, the religious site is located in Mardin, Nusaybin district, south-eastern Turkey, on the border with Syria. Fr Sefer was arrested on 10 January, but released four days later thanks to the pressure of public opinion. According to the indictment, dated 16 January, the priest is guilty of "belonging to an organisation," the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), considered a Kurdish terrorist group. For his part, Fr Sefer has always insisted that he did not know the people who came to him asking for food. He says that he did not know they were "members of an organisation", explaining that he simply gave them bread out of Christian charity. The court ruled that journalists will not be allowed to attend the hearing on 3 November. Scott Olson/Getty ImagesBY: LIBBY CATHEY, ABC NEWS (WASHINGTON) President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden prepared to face off Tuesday -- at a social distance -- in their first in-person showdown of the 2020 presidential campaign. As they did so, each grappled with how to tackle 11th hour bombshell developments involving a report about Trump's taxes and a Supreme Court confirmation fight. While Biden hunkered down in Delaware Monday, Trump, when asked at an event touting production of an electric pickup truck in Ohio -- where the debate will take place -- whether he was looking forward to the matchup, responded, "Yeah, I am," with a grin. "I am looking very forward to the debate. But he walked away when reporters asked about a New York Times account about his tax returns showing he paid no or little federal income tax over the past 18 years. The first debate, at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic, comes as the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Biden maintains a 10-point edge among both registered and likely voters. The debate will air commercial-free from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ET on ABC and stream on ABC News Live. Pre-show coverage will begin on ABC News Live at 7 p.m. and on the network at 8 p.m. Following the debate, there will be additional analysis on ABC and ABC News Live. The coronavirus pandemic's impact will be evident as the two candidates won't partake in an opening handshake, as is customary. The size of the audience also will be limited and everyone attending the debate must undergo COVID-19 testing and follow other public health protocols. While the year began with a presidential impeachment and a competitive Democratic primary, the country has since experienced an ongoing pandemic, an economic collapse, national reckonings around race and a Supreme Court vacancy. The debate moderator, "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace, selected the topics, with each segment getting approximately 15 minutes: Trump's and Biden's records; the Supreme Court; COVID-19; the economy; race and violence in U.S. cities; and the integrity of the election. Asked how Trump was preparing, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday said he went through "a number of topics during preparation [Sunday]." Trump said his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie helped him with debate preparations Sunday before he held a news conference, the ultimate way to prepare, according to the White House. (Christie is an ABC News contributor.) "As he (Trump) has said vocally and publicly, his debate prep happens each and every day when he's at the podium taking questions -- vicious questions at that -- unfair questions from a media that's very biased. When he goes to the plane and he gaggles on the way there and on the way back, he takes more questions than any president in history. He's very transparent unlike Joe Biden who really has been hiding away," McEnany told Fox News. Over the last few weeks, the president has resisted traditional debate preparations, as he did during the 2016 campaign. This time around, sources said, debate meetings have taken place both at the White House and the president's weekend retreat in Bedminster, New Jersey, with sessions including Christie, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, Jason Miller and Jared Kushner and other top aides. The sessions have included conversations about potential debate topics or issues on the president's mind but included few, if any, extensive mock debates, according to sources. Trump, sources said, is eager to go after Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his business dealings in Ukraine while his father was vice president and in charge of anti-corruption efforts involving Ukraine. Hunter Biden has denied wrongdoing and faces no charges. Biden's debate preparations are being overseen by Democratic debate guru and Biden's former chief of staff, Ron Klain, according to sources. His preparations have included mock debate sessions with Bob Bauer, a senior Biden adviser and former White House general counsel, playing the role of Trump, according to a source familiar with the process. "It is going to be difficult. I know -- I mean my guess it's going to be just straight attacks. They're gonna be mostly personal. That's the only thing he knows how to do. He doesn't know how to debate the facts because he's not that smart. He doesn't know that many facts," Biden said Saturday on MSNBC when asked about his strategy. "I'm prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he's failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally," he added. With the Supreme Court slated to hear arguments on the fate of the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 10 -- one week after Election Day -- Biden can be expected to highlight how health care for millions of Americans could hang in the balance, even as Democrats concede there's little Democrats can do to stop Trump's high court nominee who they warn could vote to scuttle the law. Trump has continued to suggest Biden is taking performance-enhancing drugs, calling on him to take a test either before or after the debate, claiming he would take one as well. Trump made the same baseless claim against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton following their first debate in 2016, calling for a drug test before the next one. No drug tests were taken, and he went on to participate in all three debates. "Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a Drug Test. Gee, I wonder why?" Trump tweeted Monday. Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield soundly rejected the accusation. At the same time, Trump's team has played up Biden as a career politician who has debated dozens of times while noting Trump's first experience debating was when he first ran for president last cycle. Viewers may anticipate Wallace and debate moderators to fact check the candidates in real time, but the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) attempted to manage those expectations over the weekend. "There's a vast difference between being a moderator in a debate and being a reporter who is interviewing someone," CPD co-chair Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. said Sunday on CNN. "We don't expect Chris or our other moderators to be fact checkers. The minute the TV is off, there are going to be plenty of fact checkers in every newspaper and every television station in the world. That's not the role, the main role, of our moderators. Wallace -- who moderated the third and final 2016 debate between Trump and Clinton -- also said Sunday on Fox News that his job as a moderator is "to be as invisible as possible." "I'm trying to get them to engage, to focus on the key issues, to give people at home a sense of, 'why I want to vote for one versus the other,'" Wallace said. While the debate falls exactly five weeks before Election Day, millions of Americans are already voting. State election officials in Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin have issued millions of absentee or mail ballots, and early voting has started in a handful of states including Minnesota, North Carolina and Virginia. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Chandigarh, Sep 29 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought inputs and suggestions from legal experts, including legal representatives of the farmer unions, on the next course of action for protecting the interests of the farmers against the Centre's new farm laws. He has directed Advocate General Atul Nanda to collate and consider all such suggestions, which may be received on a specially created email id - agri.law@punjab.gov.in. The directives were issued by the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting with top government officials to deliberate on all aspects of the issues arising out of the three Central acts on agriculture, which were recently passed by Parliament and notified after the President's assent. According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office, during the course of the meeting, all suggestions given by leaders of various farmers' unions earlier in the day, were discussed. The meeting also mulled the legal options available before the state. The concentrators model IS-500 of the INOGEN G5 brand feature state-of-the-art technology. They are ultra-compact and autonomous thanks to their light weight, length, and rechargeable lithium battery that can last up to 24 hours. In addition, each device is equipped with an LCD screen to control the device's intelligent functions, such as its continuous oxygen flow system and pulse dose delivery. Moreover, the equipment has a Bluetooth mechanism to connect to any smart device, through the free mobile app Inogen Connect, which allows monitoring its operation at any time. Estas alternativas que la tecnologia pone a nuestro alcance nos ayudan a seguir mejorando y salir adelante. No olvidemos que estos equipos se quedaran en el pais y seran de mucha utilidad ante emergencias futuras, senalo en la ceremonia la ministra Pilar Mazzetti. pic.twitter.com/SgMsvtrZMx A 32-year-old Wisconsin school staffer who sexually abused a 16-year-old student and told police she was going through extensive personal issues in her life at the time has pleaded guilty. On Monday, former Green Bay school staffer Courtney Roznowski was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to one count of exposing intimate parts to a child, Fox11 and WBAY report. Roznowski was initially charged with three counts of sexual assault of a student by a school staffer and two counts of exposing intimate parts to a child for sexually abusing a 16-year-old student in 2019. However, the three more serious charges were eventually dropped because the then-31-year-old was not actually a Green Bay School District employee when she had sex with the student, Fox11 reports. Video: Cheerleading coach accused of seducing 16-year-old student During her sentencing hearing, Roznowski told the court she had turned her life around since being arrested. I know what I did was wrong, she said, according to Fox11. While I did not initiate the relationship, I should have put an end to it once I realized that the messages being sent to me were from a student at the school. Please have it in your heart to see the good in me. Have me keep working, have me keep seeing my counselor, have me be around my family daily. Overall, I hope my actions for the last 13 months have shown you how serious I have and will continue to take this. However, Judge Donald Zuidmulder called Roznowski the nightmare of every parent." "You are, frankly, the nightmare of every parent. Because what a parent assumes is that their child is in a safe environment with trusting people. But I have to tell you I am unimpressed by your comments about a good heart. You drove over there. It doesnt have anything to with the heart, he said. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Story continues Roznowski was arrested in August after Child Protective Services received a tip and initially denied having a sexual relationship with the student, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Action 2 News, Fox11 and the Green Bay Press Gazette. But when she was asked to hand over her phone, she began to cry, and admitted she had started having sex with the teen in mid-July. She said she initially intended to be the boys mentor and that she loved him in the way [that] I didnt want to see anything happen to him. She told police she was drinking heavily at the time of the relationship. RELATED: School Staffer Accused of Sexually Assaulting Boy Allegedly Told Him He 'Deserved Special Things' When police spoke to the victim, he denied the rumors but said he was aware of allegations of an inappropriate relationship between the pair, saying, Well, it is every kids dream to do a teacher. He later confirmed the sexual relationship and said Roznowski told him he was special and deserved special things. By Trend The head of the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Major General Arakel Martikyan, was killed as a result of an explosion on the line of contact, Trend reports citing Armenian media. The information said that along with the general, the Armenian army lost two more high-ranking officers: commander of the special forces brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Vardanyan Lernik Aregi and Colonel Nikolai Mikaelovich Haykyan. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Hour-long documentary explored country's reputation as a sex tourism hot spot Film featured Gambian man, 32, who had married a 68-year-old Belgian woman Ch4 film made viewers cringe with some saying it was 'uncomfortable' to watch An eye-opening documentary into female sex tourism in the Gambia left viewers cringing last night. Sex on the Beach is an hour-long documentary which sees Channel 4 Dispatches reporter Seyi Rhodes travel to the Gambia to investigate the countrys reputation as a destination for British sex tourists. ADVERTISEMENT In the documentary, which aired on Channel 4 last night, a woman tells Seyi the country is 'paradise' because 'you can have a different man every night'. The bars are full of white women in search of sun, sea and sex with younger Gambian men and the programmes asks whether these relationships can ever be genuine given the gap in culture, age and wealth. Sex on the beach viewers were left cringing as Ch4 documentary explores how British 'grannies' prey on Gambian men for some holiday romance in eye-opening programme The documentary looks at the scale of female sex tourism in the Gambia as older European women travel to the country in search of sun, sea and sex with younger black men Some viewers described it as 'uncomfortable' and were left questioning who was exploiting who during the documentary which aired on Channel 4's Dispatches programme last night Seyi speaks to 32-year-old Alka, a local man who has had a string of relationships with older European women. Alka says that there are often what he calls 'holidaymakers' who come to have sex with younger Gambian men then leave. He added: 'It really hurts me. I don't like it. I am looking for a good relationship.' Alka is now married to Francoise, a 68-year-old Belgian woman, although he initially claimed she was in her 80s. Francoise sent her Gambian love interest the equivalent of 54,000 although he says he never asked for any money. In exchange, he says he gives her 'happiness' and Francoise says he makes her feel like a 'new-born baby' with a second chance at life. Alka, a 32-year-old Gambian man has married 68-year-old Belgian woman Francoise after the pair met while she was on holiday in the country and has since given him 54,000 Click here to resize this module The documentary left viewers cringing as the issue was explored with many describing it as 'uncomfortable'. One viewer tweeted: 'Sex on the Beach #channel4 is uncomfortable viewing, not dissimilar to other docs Ive watched on sex tourism in Thailand - Western men coming over to find Thai brides (Louis Theroux did one?) 'Seen this when Ive travelled too. Where theres a market both sides it seems to happen.' ADVERTISEMENT The programme sparked debate among viewers about which party was being exploited. One woman said: 'Its a two way scratch my back and I scratch yours sort of relationship & mutual benefit. 'Upon marrying these grannies, theyll get visa to the UK for a better life as the granny will keep them as kept men! Sex on the beach.' Another added: 'This sex on the beach programme is so disturbing old white women preying on poor Gambian men for sex , how ugly is that?' The Ch4 documentary left some viewers feeling 'uncomfortable' and sparked debate online One viewer commented that the documentary did not reflect her experience in the country, tweeting: 'This sex on the beach programme isn't portraying the Gambian men too well. 'They were lovely when I went, I was alone the second time and some would talk to me and no pressure, just friendly people who wanted to make others smile.' One user commented: 'Can't understand why older women go to Gambia to find a young boyfriend. Just get on dating apps and you'll be inundated with messages from young guys. Fact.' Another man said: 'There is no two way about this , these older european women who cannot find anyone interested in them in Europe goes to the Gambia and basically take advantage of the economic situation and used these boys as glorified prostitutes. 'Yet the British media in particular presents a different picture. If these women really feel being exploited they should easily seek other holiday destinations.' Writing for i News, Seyi Rhodes said you had to 'dive into peoples' lives' to understand the phenomenon without judgement. ADVERTISEMENT He added: 'Some of the people I met might look like they fit neatly into a box sex tourist, scammer or victim but once Id taken the time to understand them I could see that theyre were all works-in-progress. 'From the woman who got engaged to a man shed known for three months to the 34-year-old man who says hes proud to be engaged to an 86-year-old. 'People dont always know if theyre looking for love, sex, money or power. In reality theyre all interlinked, and you can only see that by diving into peoples lives and looking with no judgement.' Minneapolis police say they are looking into claims of ballot harvesting made on social media by the conservative group Project Veritas. The Minneapolis Police Department is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements, MPD said in a statement Monday. No further information is available at this time on this. The Star-Tribune reports the Hennepin County Attorneys Office said they were also made aware of the allegations but have received no information or cases involving alleged ballot harvesting in any elections held this year. Cases of suspected election violations in Minnesota should be reported to law enforcement agencies, who would then submit their investigations to the county attorney, according to a spokesperson for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. If Project Veritas has evidence of election law violations, they should provide it to the Minneapolis Police Department, the Hennepin County Attorneys Office said. Project Veritas is known for its controversial videos, sometimes selectively edited or recorded in secret, with aims of exposing alleged bias in mainstream media. The right-wing group said Monday it obtained videos from Minneapolis resident Liban Mohamed, the brother of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, claiming he received money to collect 300 absentee ballots in a single day for his brothers special election race in Minneapolis' Sixth Ward last month. Veritas claims the ballot harvesting, or allowing third parties to collect ballots and turn them into polling locations, occurred in July during the primary in Minnesotas 5th Congressional District, won by Rep. Ilhan Omar. Omar Jamal, chairman of a Minnesota Somali watchdog group, told Veritas that he believes without evidence that Rep. Omar is connected to it. But KARE-11 notes the practice is legal in Minnesota; a state law allows a designated agent to return absentee ballots for special circumstances, such as people in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, residential treatment centers, group homes or battered womens shelters. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, still seized on the allegations as proof of voter fraud, though theres no evidence in the videos of money being exchanged for ballots. This is totally illegal, Trump tweeted Sunday. Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? If not, why not??? We will win Minnesota because of her, and law enforcement. Saved Minneapolis & Iron O Range! Omars senior communications director, Jeremy Slevin, denied any wrongdoing in a statement to Fox News. The amount of truth to this story is equal to the amount Donald Trump paid in taxes of ten out of the last fifteen years: zero. And amplifying a coordinated right-wing campaign to delegitimize a free and fair election this fall undermines our democracy, he said. Osman also denied allegations of fraud during his campaign, condemning "the continued attacks on the integrity of the East-African immigrant community in Minneapolis. The community is proud to be here, passionate about exercising their constitutional right to vote and excited to elect the next President of the United States. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison cast further doubt on Veritas claims in said in a statement to KARE-11. Project Veritas, a highly partisan outfit with a history of running cons, founded by someone who pled guilty to a serious federal crime, is not a trustworthy source, Ellison said. "The timing of their allegations within weeks of the election, and on the same day the New York Times published a carefully sourced story on the Presidents failure to pay taxes should cause all Minnesotans to be highly skeptical. Meg Mathews has revealed she didn't leave her house for three months as she went to a 'dark place' while struggling with the menopause. The media personality, 54, appeared on Lorraine to discuss how it made her feel 'lonely', as she dealt with the physical and mental side effects of the menopause. Meg said she was 'surprised' by how it impacted her, as she expected her periods to stop and to suffer the odd hot flush, however she was shocked by the experience. Open: Meg Mathews has revealed she didn't leave her house for three months as she went to a 'dark place' while struggling with the menopause After 'sailing through' child birth, Meg said: 'Nothing was a problem, didn't want to eat chocolate or stab my boyfriend. But around age 49, I was just not feeling like me. No one had pointed this out.' Explaining how it affected her, she said: 'I thought menopause was hot flush and you don't have your period anymore. I started putting weight on, I had achy joints, a foggy brain. My mouth didn't connect with my tongue. I went to a dark place, very lonely. For three months, I didn't leave my house. 'There's a tiny percentage [of women] who are getting what they need to be given like HRT. I was at an AA meeting and I was saying, life is blah blah blah. 'As I left, this lovely lady came over to me and said, please take me number and lets talk about this after. I took her number, I called her when I got home and we were on the phone for 2 hours. She was telling me all about body identicals that were available on the NHS.' Candid: The media personality, 54, appeared on Lorraine to discuss how it made her feel 'lonely', as she dealt with the physical and mental side effects of the menopause Home: Meg said she felt unable to to leave the house (pictured) while struggling with the menopause Explaining what a body identical HRT is, she said: 'Body identical is a form of HRT. You have patches, you have a synthetic. It's a gel you rub on your inner thigh.' She also discussed the risks, and added: 'With body identicals, we know if you have 1000 women in the room, seven of these women will get breast cancer. 'A percentage will be obese, a percentage will be drinking a glass of wine every night and another percentage would get breast cancer anyway. Body identicals goes straight into the blood stream and it goes on the thigh.' Shock: Meg said she was 'surprised' by how it impacted her, as she expected her periods to stop and to suffer the odd hot flush, however she was shocked by the experience As well as taking body identicals, Meg explained the easiest way to get through her menopause was by sharing her experiences with others. She said: 'I found the easiest way to get through the menopause was sharing. It's going to affect everyone in the family, what you will be going through.' 'If you can be open and say, I actually want to lie on the sofa this evening and have a takeaway. Once you can explain this is how you're feeling. How long is a piece of string? I don't know how long I'll feel like this.' After 'sailing through' child birth, Meg said: 'Nothing was a problem, didn't want to eat chocolate or stab my boyfriend. But around age 49, I was just not feeling like me. No one had pointed this out' Explaining how it affected her, she said: 'I thought menopause was hot flush and you don't have your period anymore. I started putting weight on, I had achy joints, a foggy brain' Meg has written a book, The New Hot: Taking on the Menopause with Attitude and Style. She has also become a vocal advocate of women with menopause being given flexible working hours after she started going through her menopause at age 49. Meg began to experience night sweats and crippling anxiety that at one stage made her reluctant to leave her house for three months. And she admitted she was upset when the menopause caused her period to stop, although she always knew that she only wanted one child. Meg shares her daughter Anais, 20, with Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher. Explaining what a body identical HRT is, she said: 'Body identical is a form of HRT. You have patches, you have a synthetic. It's a gel you rub on your inner thigh' FALLS CHURCH, Va. - A federal judge has rejected a request from a Libyan military commander who once lived in Virginia to toss out lawsuits accusing him of war atrocities. At a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Judge Leonie Brinkema said the accusations against Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Hifter are very problematic and theyre allegations of some very, very serious conduct. The lawsuits, filed by the families of victims, claim that civilians were killed indiscriminately during Hifters military campaigns. Some family members allege that relatives were singled out for torture and execution by Hifters army. Hifter, once a lieutenant to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, defected to the U.S. during the 1980s and spent many years living in northern Virginia. According to one of the lawsuits, Hifter and his family purchased 17 properties in Virginia between 2014 and 2017, paying $8 million in cash. He is widely believed to have worked with the CIA during his time in exile. Hifter returned to Libya in 2011 after Gadhafis fall, and his army gained control of eastern Libya, including Benghazi. Last year, he launched a campaign to take Tripoli, Libyas capital. But his army suffered significant setbacks in recent months after the United Nations-backed government opposing him received military support from Turkey. Hifter has received backing from Russia and Egypt. While Brinkema is allowing the core claims in the two separate lawsuits to go forward, she did toss out some. She also dismissed Hifters two sons, who served as battalion commanders in the Libyan National Army, as defendants. Brinkema also ordered a pause in the case for 60 days while she solicits an opinion from the State Department on whether allowing the suits to proceed will interfere with diplomatic efforts. One of the arguments Hifters lawyers are making in favour of dismissal is that the matter is a political question not suited to judicial review, and that allowing a judge to render an opinion on whether Hifter committed war crimes interferes with the executive branchs ability to conduct foreign policy. After the stay is lifted, the case would then proceed to discovery, which could theoretically allow for Hifter to be questioned under oath in a deposition. Brinkema, though, acknowledged the logistical difficulties and suggested it could take years. I dont have any idea how in the world plaintiffs will get discovery, Brinkema said. 18+ FOR.kg search news service (news aggregator, media aggregator) Read first Agreement on the use of the FOR.kg search site When using materials from the FOR.kg - reference to the source is required For all questions please contact customer support An application to set aside alleged asset transfers involving one of the men found liable for the Omagh bombing has been admitted to the fast track Commercial Court list. The Court heard on Tuesday that the alleged transfers were made by Michael Colm Murphy, a discharged bankrupt, to his former wife Anne Muphy and sister in law Rita Hoey. . The Deputy Official Assignee Denis Ryan, who is the official in charge of Mr Murphy's bankruptcy, claims that the transfers are an attempt to frustrate his creditors, who include 12 family members of the victims of 1998 bombing which claimed 29 lives and injured 300 others. The OA, represented by Edward Farrelly SC, claims that five assets transfers, including property, were made when civil and criminal proceedings were pending against Mr Murphy for his alleged role in the atrocity carried out by the Real IRA. Mr Murphy was cleared of all criminal charges in connection with the bombing. He had been convicted in connection with the bombing by the Special Criminal Court in 2002, which was later overturned on appeal. In 2013, following a long legal battle Mr Murphy, who was a successful businessman, was along with three other men found by the High Court in Belfast to be liable for the bombing. That court ordered that Murphy, along with Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly should pay Stg1.6m damages to the 12 relatives of those killed by the blast. Arising out of their failure to pay bankruptcy proceedings were taken in this jurisdiction against Mr Murphy, Mr McKevitt and Mr Campbell, Last year all three were adjudicated as bankrupt.. The transfers it is claimed were made by the former bankrupt when he was aware of claims being made against him by the victims of the Omagh bombings to ensure they would be unable to recover his assets. The assets, which include Mr Murphys family home, shares he had in companies that own a Dundalk pub and 30 acres of land, were transferred on dates between April 1999 and October 2001. It is also alleged that Mr Murphy transferred IR340,000 in cash to a trust for the benefit of his children. The OA claims the trust, of which Ms Murphy and Ms Hoey are trustees used some of the monies to buy a property at Church Street in Dundalk. In proceedings against Ms Murphy of Jordans Corner, Dulargy, Ravensdale Dundalk Co Louth and Ms Hoey of Cloughinney Road Forkhill, Newry Co Down the OA seeks various orders and declarations. These include declarations that the OA is the beneficial owner of the assets in question, which are to be held in trust for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate. On Tuesday Mr Farrelly for the OA told Mr Justice David Barniville that the case should be admitted to the fast-track commercial court list. Lawyers for Ms Murphy opposed the application to admit the action to the list. It was argued that that the OA had delayed in bringing the proceedings, and that the value of the assets are below the Eur1m threshold required to allow a case be admitted to the list. She would have difficulties in meeting the costs of Commercial Court proceedings it was also argued. In his ruling Mr Justice Barniville said he was satisfied to admit the case to the list. He did not accept the OA had delayed in bringing the action, and had given a full explanation regarding the steps taken before commencing the proceedings. The judge said while there was a dispute over the value of the assets the proceedings should be admitted to the list. The action was adjourned to a date in November. We knew that meant that victims of domestic violence were now being asked to (stay at home) with the very person who wants to continue to harm them or even try to kill them, said Stephanie Love-Patterson, executive director for Connections for Abused Women and Their Children. And so we knew then that was going to result in, in some cases, increased risks of harm and increased acts of violence, and other abusive tactics. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. A lot of people used to be perfectly happy listening to their tunes on the earbuds that came free with cell phones and other electronics. But in recent years, headphones that cost hundreds of dollars have become a fairly mainstream purchase. The second generation AirPodsthe cheaper version without noise-canceling techcost about $160, and you could pay more than twice that for popular models from Bose and Sony. Sometimes the performance justifies the price, but many people don't have room in their budget to spend three figures on a new pair of headphones, especially when a lot of models aren't built to last a lifetime. These tips and tricks will help you shop smarter when it's time for your next headphone purchase. We also have some strategies to keep your current headphones working longer, and even a tip to breathe some new life into headphones you might assume are broken for good. Look Past the Brand Name A few headphone brands like Apple and Beats are household names. Both companies make some good products, but our tests show that with most manufacturers, quality varies enough across various models that the brand name isnt a reliable predictor of how well a particular headphone will perform. When youre on the hunt for your next pair of headphones, you have hundreds to choose from. The Consumer Reports headphones ratings are a great place to spot a deal, but weve also done a lot of the work for you in a variety of articles breaking headphones down by categories like price, style, and features. A few places to start are our list of the best headphones under $50, CRs recommendations for AirPods alternatives, and this roundup of the best noise-canceling headphones for shoppers on a budget. Consider a Refurbished Model Some headphones that are returned to a store or a manufacturer are destined for a landfill. But in some cases, companies will fix models that get returned and resell them at a discount as refurbished models. Story continues Weve seen refurbished headphones sell for anywhere from 20 to 50 percent off the typical price. The options can include some of the most popular headphones on the market. These headphones may have needed repairs, but often theyve just been cleaned up after being returned for other reasons. In some cases they dont come in their original packaging; product listings should tell you. Weve found the widest selections at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmartwhich all have return policies that guarantee your money back if you arent satisfied with your purchase. You can check their offerings yourself, but Consumer Reports scours the listings at these retailers periodically to find the best refurbished headphones deals. See our latest picks here. Keep Your Headphones Clean Like anything else you wear on your body, headphones get dirty. They can be magnets for dirt and grime, and all that debris can affect the performance of your headphones and even break them altogether. Dust, dirt, and oil from your skin can degrade rubber and plastic components, and even damage the internal hardware. Cleaning your headphones is an easy way to extend their life and put off the need to spend money on a replacement. There are specific cleaning techniques depending on what style of headphones youre working with, but a general rule of thumb is to use a clean, lint-free cloth, and never apply liquid directly to the headphones. Pro tip: You usually don't need to dampen your cleaning cloth with anything stronger than soap and water. Alcohol cleaners can cause some headphone components to break down. And make sure the cloth isn't too wetwater and electronics don't mix. For detailed instructions for how to clean everything from AirPods to giant over-the-ear cans, check out Consumer Reports guide to cleaning your headphones. Dont Rule Out Repairs You might not think to try getting your headphones repaired when they break down, but it is an option. You probably don't want to pay to fix a cheap pair of earbuds you picked up at a gas station, but your pricey Beats or Bose headphones are another story. Not all problems can be fixed for a reasonable price, but many repairs range from as little as $30 to around $70. The first place to look for repair services is the manufacturer. Many headphones are covered by a warranty. In addition, well-known manufacturersincluding Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, and Boseall maintain repair centers. There are alternatives. Do some digging, and you may find other services that are cheaper and just as reliable. Some local businesses steer clear of complicated jobs, but last year CR called local audio repair shops around the country and the majority said they would be happy to fix a cable or a jack. There are online repair services to try as well. Check Out Drop.com Drop (formerly known as MassDrop) is an online retailer with an unusual business model. The company does market research in online enthusiast communitiessome of which Drop owns and operates. Then the company makes its own, usually cheaper versions of popular products, in cooperation with the manufacturers. Drop covers everything from watches to camping gear, but the company has a particular focus on headphones and specialty mechanical keyboards. These aren't knockoffs; they are specialized products made and manufactured by established brands. For headphones, prime examples include the MassDrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX, a version of the German audio companys HD 650, an icon among audiophiles. Drop also has a number of models based on headphones that do well in Consumer Reports' ratings, such as the Drop + HiFiMan HE4XX, the company's take on the HiFiMan HE-400i, which aced our audio quality tests. CR hasnt tested any Drop headphones, but Jude Mansilla, the founder of Head-Fi, a leading headphones review for audiophiles, says the company has a sterling reputation. The enthusiasts in our community are pretty jazzed any time they release a product, Mansilla says. Drop is a great place to dip your toes in the water if you want to try specialty high-end headphones at an entry-level price. Drops return policy makes it even easier to experiment: Customers in the U.S. can return most purchases in new condition for up to 30 days. Nigerias Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has urged leaders of destination countries to insist on repatriation of illicit funds and proceeds. Mr Osinbajos spokesperson, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the vice president made the submission at the virtual inauguration of a publication by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the impact of illicit financial flows (IFFs) on African Development. Mr Osinbajo called for an overhaul of the international tax system in order to tackle the scourge. The enormity of efforts required to tackle illicit financial flows is evident in the many dimensions the scourge presents itself. It manifests through harmful tax policies and practices, abusive transfer pricing, trade mis-pricing and mis-invoicing, illegal exploitation of natural resources as well as official corruption, and organized crimes. We have to pay particular attention to efforts to reform the international tax system. The commercial form of illicit financial flows, especially tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance accounts for up to 65 per cent of illicit financial flows. This means that we must pay particular attention to these issues, which are aided by things such as tax treaties, tax havens, and financial secrecy jurisdictions and indeed tax competition which leads to a race to the bottom in terms of tax rates amongst developing countries. He said that another important issue that must receive attention was the identification and return of proceeds of illicit financial flows back to countries of origin as an effective deterrent to the scourge of illicit financial flows. According to him, exposing those involved in practices that facilitate illicit financial flows, and retrieving proceeds of illicit funds are efficacious in deterring perpetrators, rebuilding the confidence of the citizenry, and compensating for the damage caused by such crimes. I encourage all leaders, whose countries are considered absolute outliers for illicit financial flows, to join forces and take the responsibility of combating the scourge by insisting on the repatriation of illicit funds and their proceeds. Let me also avail myself of this opportunity to call on leaders, whose countries are the main destinations for illicit financial flows, to take concrete steps to prevent and stop the receipt of illicit funds into their countries, and to assist in freezing, seizing, and returning such funds and its proceeds already in their countries. On the way forward, the vice president called for cooperation and synergy among the private sector, civil society, trade unions and professional groups to work with governments in tackling illicit financial flows. He appreciated the immediate past President of the United Nations General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, and Mona Jul of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), for taking the initiative to establish the first global Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity Panel (FACTI Panel) Mr Osinbajo called on the UN system to facilitate the establishment of clear rules and enforcement mechanisms on all aspects of illicit financial flows. Making reference to the Mbeki report on Illicit Financial Flows during an interactive session with journalists at the event, the Vice President called for concerted efforts among African leaders and cooperation between Africa and multilateral organisations to end the scourge of Illicit Financial Flow from the continent. On the proposal to combat Illicit Financial Flows by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mr Osinbajo said there was need for adequate representation of Africa during negotiations about illicit funds and their proceeds. For his part, the Secretary General of UNCTAD, Mukhisa Kituyi, said the determination of political authorities in Africa to address issues relating to abuse of tax practices, among others would be crucial in tackling illicit flow of resources to havens outside the continent. Mr Kituyi commended Nigeria for its leadership on the subject matter. He added that sharing data on trade among African countries and adopting best practices such as the Open Governance Initiative as well as the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, would help in tackling the scourge of Illicit Financial Flows. The publication by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the impact of illicit financial flows (IFFs) on development in Africa was designed to broaden the awareness on the scale, scope, and cost of illicit financial flows. (NAN) A Belgian drug dealer who hijacked a helicopter at gunpoint in an attempt to break his wife out of jail has been caught after using his real name to book the aircraft. Mike Gielen, 24, married Kristal Appelt, 27, last year at a mixed-sex prison in Hasselt. She is awaiting trial for the murder of her then boyfriend. Gielen and two accomplices, aged 18 and 22, booked Friday's flight from Duerne, near Antwerp, under the pretence that they were a TV crew who needed pictures for a programme. They flew over landmarks like the Atomium and the Lion of Waterloo before Gielen produced a replica firearm and ordered their pilot, a 35-year-old woman, to fly low towards Berkendael women's prison in south Brussels. Mike Gielen, right, married Kristal Appelt, left, last year at a mixed-sex prison in Hasselt. Gielen, a Belgian drug dealer, hijacked a helicopter at gunpoint in an attempt to break his wife out of jail Mike Gielen, 24, and his two accomplices ordered the pilot to take them to the women's prison in Berkendael in the south of Brussels before abandoning the effort and flying to a carpark in Helecine where Gielen's father was waiting in the getaway car The pilot was unable to bring the helicopter down in Prison de Forest because the grounds were too small The helicopter arrived at two other prisons before making it to the correct facility, whereupon Gielen vomited out of the window five times as the chopper circled above. As guards looked up at the aircraft in horror, the women prisoners cheered and laughed. The pilot was eventually able to convince the men that it was impossible to land the helicopter in the tiny prison grounds and they flew to a car park in Helecine, around 30 miles east of Brussels, where Gielen's father was waiting with a getaway car. But investigators had no difficulty tracking the gang down because Gielen and his two accomplices had filled out forms before their flight using their real names. The helicopter arrived at two other prisons before making it to the correct facility, whereupon Gielen vomited out of the window five times as the chopper circled above. Pictured: Berkendael in Brussels The trio and Gielen's father face charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to attempt a jailbreak, theft and gang violence. Tom van Overbeke, Gielen's lawyer, said his client had admitted to his crime. He added: 'The whole thing has been staged quite amateurishly.' Gielen, a convicted drug runner, met his wife at the Hasselt prison one day when they were both waiting for visitors to arrive. They knew each other from a long time ago but hadn't seen each other in many years, Gielen told Het Belang van Limburg newspaper last year after their behind-bars nuptials. The women's prison in Berkendael where Gielen's wife Kristal Appelt, 27, is being held as she awaits trial, charged with the murder of her former boyfriend Unable to see each other, they organised to both take computer classes at the same time and were later married. They posed for photos back-to-back like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's gun-toting characters in the 2005 film Mr and Mrs Smith. 'I will keep waiting for her. Even if it takes 30 years before she is released.' Gielen told the paper at the time. 'I don't care. Our love is forever.' Appelt is charged with the murder of her former boyfriend, who died after being stabbed in a street fight in December 2018. BAKU/YEREVAN -- Armenia said a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down one of its warplanes, as fighting intensified near the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and fears grew of an outbreak of a new, full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both Ankara and Baku called Yerevans claim about the warplanes downing on September 29 "absolutely untrue, which came on the third day of a major flare-up of the decades-old conflict. The fighting is some of the worst the region has seen in years. Amid international calls for an end to the hostilities, the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the fighting, which has threatened to draw in Russia and regional power Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan. An Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman said in a statement that a Sukhoi Su-25 flown by Armenias air force had been on a military assignment in Armenian airspace when it was downed by an F-16 jet owned by the Turkish air force. Much of NATO member Turkey's air power is U.S.-made. In Azerbaijan, a Defense Ministry spokesman denied the claim, as did Fahrettin Altun, a spokesman for Turkey's presidency, calling it absolutely untrue." "Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks," Altun said. Turkey is Azerbaijans closest ally, and stalwart adversary of Armenia, and there are growing fears that Ankara could seek to intervene on behalf on Baku. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have fielded helicopters, drones, tanks, and artillery already -- a considerable escalation of past skirmishes and low-level shooting. Turkey "will be fully committed to helping Azerbaijan take back its occupied lands and to defending their rights and interests under international law,Atlun said. Uneasy Cease-Fire Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since the waning years of the Soviet Union. The two sides fought a war from 1988-94 that claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people and ended in an uneasy cease-fire. Since then, the region has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces. The region's 1991 declaration of independence has not been recognized, though Armenia, which is its sole outlet to the outside world, has hosted official representative offices of the region's administration. While the conflict is generally considered to be "frozen," sporadic violence has broken out over the years, and internationally mediated negotiations have failed to achieve a resolution. It wasnt immediately clear what caused the long-simmering conflict to erupt anew on September 27. The clashes are the heaviest since at least 2016 and have reignited concern over stability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets. Earlier on September 29, dozens of deaths were reported. Azerbaijans Defense Ministry said the Armenian military shelled the Dashkesan region -- an accusation rejected by Yerevan as absolutely false. "On the night of September 28-29, intense battles continued along the entire front line," Azerbaijans Defense Ministry said in a statement, referring to the so-called Line of Contact that separates Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. The Armenian Defense Ministry added that "battles with varying intensity continue." Calls For Calm The violence has drawn calls by Russia and Western governments seeking to keep it from spiraling into outright war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation was a cause for concern for Moscow and other countries. We believe that the hostilities should be immediately ended," Peskov said. Russia is among the largest supplier of weaponry to both Azerbaijan and Armenia. It also has a military base in Armenia. During a visit to Greece, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on both sides to stop the violence and work with the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to "return to substantive negotiations as quickly as possible." That call was echoed later by the U.S. envoy to the Vienna-based security organization, whose so-called Minsk Group is headed by Russia, the United States, and France. WATCH: Turkish-Russian Rivalry Influences Azerbaijan-Armenia Fighting "We call on the sides to stop fighting immediately and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and without preconditions," Ambassador James Gilmore said in a statement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel held phone calls with the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to her spokesman. That came on the heels of a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Britain and Canada, who expressed concern over the large-scale military action.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called directly on Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately halt hostilities. Guterres who spoke to both Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, also called on the sides to accept the deployment of monitors from the OSCE. Aliyev flatly ruled out any possibility of talks in a statement on Russia's state TV channel Rossia 1. Pashinian said talks could not take place while fighting continued. Late on September 28, separatists fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that 26 Armenian servicemen had been killed in the latest fighting, bringing its total losses to 84. Azerbaijan said 10 civilians have been killed and some 30 wounded. Armenian reports that they have killed Azerbaijani forces have not been confirmed by Baku. On September 27, Armenia declared martial law and a total mobilization of men in response to attacks on the enclave, including in the regional capital of Stepanakert. Azerbaijan responded by declaring a partial military mobilization a day later. Yerevan has accused Ankara of having a direct presence on the ground and supplying its ally Baku with weapons, including drones -- a claim denied by Azerbaijan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 28 called on Armenia to immediately end its "occupation" of the region and withdraw, saying this was the only way to secure peace. With reporting by AFP and Reuters By Trend The expected meeting of the members of the UN Security Council, which will be dedicated to the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is of informative nature, the German Embassy in Baku told Trend. The embassy said that no resolution adoption is planned during the meeting. The meeting was initiated by the German Foreign Minister and Secretary of State, the embassy said. The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on the latest developments within the Nagorno-Karabakh in a closed format on September 29, TASS reported. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. ATHENS: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged NATO allies Greece and Turkey on Tuesday to press ahead with talks to resolve their dispute over maritime boundaries as soon as possible. Greece and Turkey, at loggerheads on a range of issues, have agreed to resume exploratory talks over contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean in the future" after weeks of tensions, but have not announced a date. We hope that these talks can continue in a serious way," Pompeo said after meeting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the island of Crete. (We) encourage them to resume discussion of these issues as soon as possible." Pompeo was on a two-day trip to Greece following an increase in regional strains over energy resources. Tensions flared last month after Ankara sent its Oruc Reis seismic survey ship into disputed waters, escorted by gunboats, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling. Since then, Turkey has recalled the vessel, saying this would allow for diplomacy before a European Union summit on Oct. 1-2 that will address the issue and possible sanctions against Ankara - demanded by Cyprus, Greece and France. Cyprus, an EU member state, has refused to sign off on sanctions sought by other members on Belarus over contested elections there unless tougher action is taken on Turkey. Countries in the eastern Mediterranean have been rushing to claim jurisdiction over maritime zones in the hope of finding oil or gas and this has exposed decades-old, and sometimes forgotten, conflicts in the process. Greece and Egypt have signed a pact defining maritime boundaries between them, angering Turkey, which says the deal encroaches on its territory. Similarly a zoning agreement between Turkey and the internationally recognised Libyan government has riled Greece. Pompeo, who also visited the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Monday, said the eastern Mediterranean region should provide a foundation for energy security. He said the United States supports Greeces efforts to diversify energy routes and supplies and believes in Greek-U.S. security cooperation, adding that Russia was a destabilising influence in the region. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks fell on Tuesday, a day after the government presented its 2021 budget to rescue the country's beleaguered economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. New coronavirus infections in the country slowed on Monday, but hospitalizations and deaths linked to the disease increased again, keeping investors worried. Traders are also looking for cues from the first presidential debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden set to take place later today. The benchmark CAC 40 slid 16 points, or 0.34 percent, to 4,827 after rising 2.4 percent on Monday. Peugeot shares fell 1.6 percent. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. have announced the composition of the Board of Stellantis, the new company that will result from the combination of their respective businesses. Travel-related stocks were moving lower, with airline Air France KLM tumbling 3.3 percent as the global death toll from Covid-19 pandemic crossed 1 million. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Supreme Court weighed Tuesday whether to go along with conservatives who argue that 130,000 voters should be removed from the rolls in the hotly contested presidential battleground state, while the Democratic attorney general defended not purging them. The Wisconsin case is one of several lawsuits across the country, many in battleground states, that seek to purge voters from registration rolls. It is being closely watched because President Donald Trump won the swing state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016. However, the lawsuit was unlikely to be resolved by the state Supreme Court before the Nov. 3 election just five weeks away. Justices on the court controlled 4-3 by conservatives gave little indication during the hour-long oral arguments how they were leaning. The Wisconsin case hinges on whether voters who were identified as potentially having moved should be removed from the voter registration database. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm, argued that the state elections commission broke the law when it did not remove voters from the rolls who did not respond within 30 days to a mailing last year indicating they had been identified as someone who potentially moved. The commission wanted to wait until after the presidential election before removing anyone because of inaccuracies found while previously attempting to identify voters who may have moved. Because voters who moved were concentrated in more Democratic areas of the state, liberals argued that the lawsuit was meant to lower turnout on their side. Republicans countered that it was about reducing the likelihood of voter fraud and making sure that people who moved are not able to vote from their previous addresses. A circuit court judge ruled last year that the voters must be removed immediately, but a state appeals court overturned that in February. Many of the questions from justices on Tuesday revolved around whether it was the duty of the state elections commission, or local election clerks, to remove voters from the rolls. Justice Brian Hagedorn, part of the courts conservative majority who has sometimes sided with liberals, questioned whether the state elections commission had the legal authority to remove anyone from the registration list. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul maintained that the elections commission was under no duty to treat as reliable the information it received about voters who may have moved. Kaul said the commissions only responsibility under the multi-state Electronic Registration Information Center agreement was to notify flagged voters that they may need to update their address. Rick Esenberg, attorney for the conservative group that brought the lawsuit, argued that state law clearly gives the elections commission the responsibility to maintain the voter list. When presented with the information about those who had moved, the commission had a duty to remove those who did not respond to the mailing, Esenberg said. No voters have been deactivated while the yearlong legal fight continues. Even if a voter has their registration deactivated, they can register again later or on Election Day when they show up at the polls. Absentee voting is underway in Wisconsin with more than 308,000 ballots returned already. The lawsuit is just one of several voting-related challenges across the country, many of them in battleground states. On Tuesday, hours after the Supreme Court arguments, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that expanded the time that absentee ballots can be counted in Wisconsin. And on Monday, a judge in Georgia dismissed a similar voter purge lawsuit filed by two voters in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. The lawsuit sought to force election officials to hold hearings that could have resulted in 14,000 voters being removed from the countys voter rolls before the November general election. In Pennsylvania, a federal lawsuit filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch alleges that up to 800,000 registered voters should be classified as inactive and removed. That case is on hold until after the election. Judicial Watch also sued in North Carolina, saying not enough has been done to periodically remove inactive or permanently moved voters in that state. And in Michigan, a Republican activist sued in federal court to remove ineligible voters from 16 counties with abnormally high registration levels. The state recently sought to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the plaintiff had no standing to sue and, even if he did, federal law prohibits the systemic removal of ineligible voters within 90 days of the election. That case is pending. Removals or proposed removals, especially this close to an election, can be confusing and intimidating for voters and frequently arent based on reliable information, said John Powers, an attorney with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, which has been fighting those efforts. Youre scaring people and kicking eligible voters off the rolls, all of which undermines confidence in elections at time when thats the last thing we need, he said. ___ Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Bryan Anderson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report. ___ Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP The moment a driver caused a three-car pileup after using the handbrake to stop on a highway to avoid crashing into a Portaloo truck has been caught on camera. Terrifying footage shared by Dashcam Owners Australia showed the moment the accident unfolded on the Pacific Highway at the Oxenford exit near Queensland's Gold Coast on September 3 at about 3pm. In the video, a grey Skoda Octavia could be seen trailing closely behind a larger vehicle carrying portable toilets on the three-lane motorway, which has a speed limit of 110km/h. Smoke streamed from the Skoda's wheels as the driver appeared to engage the handbrake to avoid a collision, while swerving into oncoming traffic in the middle lane (pictured) The Portaloo truck slowed to move in to the congested left-hand lane to exit the highway, but the driver of the grey car was apparently startled. Smoke streamed from the Skoda's wheels as the driver appeared to engage the handbrake to avoid a collision, while swerving into oncoming traffic in the middle lane. The vehicle with the dashcam was travelling in the middle lane and crashed into the Skoda, sending both vehicles screeching into a white Toyota Hilux in the right-hand lane. Pieces of plastic and debris from the smash were sent flying across windshields and onto the tarmac, as the three cars came to a grinding halt on the busy highway. The vehicle with the dashcam was travelling in the middle lane and smashed into the Skoda (pictured) Both both vehicles were sent screeching into a white Toyota Hilux in the right-hand lane (pictured) The footage sparked a heated debate in the comments section about how the Skoda driver used the brakes. 'How did the driver lock up the back wheels like that? Seriously they couldn't have pulled the handbrake...could they?' asked one confused viewer. 'Only the back wheels locked up, so they definitely pulled the handbrake,' explained another. 'It really looks like the handbrake was used. You can see the car tip forwards before the brake lights even came on,' someone else wrote. JIM WATSON,BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty ImagesBy BENJAMIN SIEGEL and ADIA ROBINSON, ABC News (CLEVELAND) -- Ohio is one of the countrys perennial presidential swing states, one that Democrats and Republicans aggressively compete for every four years. In an election year reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic, its also playing host to a number of legal battles over access to ballot drop boxes, which are increasingly used by voters as an alternative to in-person voting or relying on the United States Postal Service, amid concerns about service delays. Secretary of State Frank LaRoses plans to place just one ballot drop box in each of the states 88 counties has sparked legal challenges in federal and state court, with Democrats and civil rights groups accusing him of disenfranchising voters in areas like Cuyahoga County, a Democratic stronghold that is home to Cleveland and roughly 860,000 voters. Already, the state has received nearly 1.8 million absentee ballots requests, compared to roughly 805,844 four years ago. Drop boxes are intended to reduce lines and give voters options, said Vanita Gupta, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. This seems like an easy fix that people should be supporting, its a very practical issue. LaRose, who said he personally supports adding more drop boxes, has argued that he is constrained by state law, and has encouraged lawmakers to pass legislation calling for more drop sites. As Ohio's chief elections officer, I don't get to make up what the law says, I have to follow the law, LaRose said in an interview with ABC News on Monday. After a judge recently ruled against LaRoses guidance, calling it arbitrary and unreasonable, and paved the way for more drop boxes, the secretary of state appealed the injunction that followed the ruling. On the federal level, a judge has withheld a decision on a second lawsuit challenging LaRoses drop box policy on constitutional grounds, as the matter plays out in the state appeals court. President Donald Trumps campaign, the Ohio Republican Party and the Republican National Committee have all entered the fray in opposition to the lawsuit. State law doesnt explicitly mention drop boxes, according to Steven Huefner, a professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, only that voters can personally return their ballots to local election officials, or do so through the mail. LaRose added one drop box at each local Board of Elections office ahead of the primary in April. The reality has been that there have been long lines of cars, waiting to get to a dropbox in some locations, but not all locations, so what kind of flexibility should there be for counties to make individual determinations? Huefner said of the legal debate. Another lawsuit filed against LaRose by the League of Women Voters, a civic group that encourages women to take a larger role in politics, claimed the signature verification process for absentee ballots was subjective. Currently in Ohio, to secure absentee ballots, a voter must fill out a form and provide their name, date of birth and signature, among other information, and send it in to the Ohio secretary of state's office. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson said in an order issued Sunday night that while this process is a "moderate burden," voters in Ohio "have multiple options to exercise their right to vote even if their ballot is rejected due to signature mismatch." A key state for the next president Despite Republican successes in statewide races in Ohio since 2016, the Buckeye State has become increasingly competitive as Trump and former vice president Joe Biden prepare to face off in Cleveland for their first debate on Tuesday. In recent weeks Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have traveled repeatedly to Ohio, where they defeated Hillary Clinton and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., her vice presidential candidate, in 2016, 51% to 43%. Republicans also performed well statewide two years ago, winning the gubernatorial race and other down-ballot contests. Ohioans showed up for President Trump in 2016 and we expect them to do the same this November, Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager told ABC News. The presidents campaign has had a permanent presence on the ground in Ohio since 2016, and said they have made more than 10 million voter contacts in the state, where they and other GOP groups continue to canvass on the ground during the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden campaign, meanwhile, has relied on virtual and digital organizing in the state during the pandemic, and has hosted hundreds of events and held 450,000 conversations with voters over the last month. Biden has delivered a sharp economic message focused on Trump's record, centered on Toledo and Youngstown, home to several car plants and many blue-collar voters who abandoned Democrats and voted for Trump for years ago. He's run at least eight television ads in recent weeks, including a response to Trump's call for a ban on Goodyear, the Ohio-based tire company that ran in Akron, where the company is based. "Across the state, our campaign is running a voter contact program focused on quality conversations with voters across Ohio to meet voters where they are and earn every vote," Biden's Ohio state director, Toni Webb, wrote in a memo last week. Despite the states rightward tilt in recent cycles, Ohio Democrats, pointing to Trumps record on the coronavirus and its impact on the economy, are bullish on their chances to retake the state in November. They believe that Bidens Pennsylvania roots and strong performance with Black voters could help him bring together a diverse coalition stretching from the states largest cities to their suburbs, and eat into the margins Trump ran up with rural voters on the way to his decisive 2016 victory. "You can feel things moving on the ground," Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who represents Youngstown and the Akron area, told ABC News. "Those voters who voted for Trump because they were against Hillary Clinton, I think, are starting to move into the Biden camp." While the Biden campaign has spent less here than in some other competitive battlegrounds, Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper is urging the campaign to do more, arguing that the state is winnable if someone decides to go for it, and that a victory would complicate Trumps path to another four years in the White House. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. Unlike other swing states, a blue Ohio on election night, or even in the day or two that follows, greatly eliminates the risk of Trump turning the months that follow the election into a dangerous constitutional meltdown, he wrote in a memo obtained by ABC News, pointing to the fact that Ohio typically counts its early votes before other Midwestern states. Biden will campaign in Ohio for the first time since March following Tuesdays debate, and will travel across eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, on a train tour. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Microsoft's Irish unit is working with a utility firm on a renewable energy scheme that will involve the installation of internet-connected solar panels on the rooftops of schools in the country. The project, with SSE Airtricity a green energy provider and subsidiary of Scotland's SSE encompasses 27 schools spread across the Irish provinces of Leinster, Munster and Connaught. In an announcement Monday, SSE Airtricity said internet of things technology would be harnessed to connect the panels to a cloud computing platform from Microsoft. Within the schools, digitally connected screens have been set up to let pupils follow energy usage information in real time. An investment of nearly 1 million euros ($1.17 million) from the Microsoft Sustainability Fund will fund the program. While the installation of solar panels will help the schools to offset carbon dioxide emissions, there is a wider aspect at play that could have consequences further afield. In its statement, SSE Airtricity said the software tools would be used to "aggregate and analyze real-time data on energy generated by the solar panels." This, it added, would demonstrate "a mechanism for Microsoft and other corporations to achieve sustainability goals and reduce the carbon footprint of the electric power grid." The use of renewable energy technologies on buildings designed for education is not unique to the Republic of Ireland. Earlier this year, Norwegian firm Veidekke was tasked by the city of Oslo to build an energy-efficient, solar-paneled school in Norway. According to Veidekke, the school which is set to cover around 14,000 square meters and is slated to be finished before the 2023 academic year begins will have solar panels on both its facades and roof. Over in the U.K., the University of Plymouth is one of many institutions to use a Building Management System, or BMS, to both monitor and control things like lighting and the energy used by devices in its buildings. According to the institution, its BMS "controls 95 percent of our campus buildings, ensuring intelligent control of the building systems to make sure there's no energy waste." The development of sustainable learning environments is not solely reliant on tech, either. In 2019, a 200-foot long "green pollution barrier" was installed at an elementary school in Sheffield, northern England. The idea behind the BREATHE barrier, as it's known, is to act as an air pollution filter from road traffic. BAKU/YEREVAN: Armenia and Azerbaijan accused one another on Tuesday of firing directly into each other`s territory and rejected pressure to hold peace talks as their conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh threatened to mushroom into all-out war. Both reported firing from the other side across their shared border, well to the west of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region over which fierce fighting broke out between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces on Sunday. The incidents signalled a further escalation of the conflict despite urgent appeals from Russia, the United States and others to halt it. The conflict has reignited concerns about stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, speaking to Russian state television, flatly ruled out any possibility of talks. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the same channel they could not take place while fighting continued. Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians and backed by Armenia. It broke away from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war but is not recognised by any country as an independent republic. Dozens of people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since clashes between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces broke out on Sunday, threatening to draw in neighbours including Azerbaijan`s close ally Turkey. Further stoking tensions between the two former Soviet republics, Armenia said a Turkish F-16 fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes over Armenian airspace, killing the pilot. It provided no evidence of the incident. Turkey called the claim "absolutely untrue", and Azerbaijan also denied it. "The international community should decisively condemn the aggression of Azerbaijan and the actions of Turkey and demand Turkey get out of this region," Pashinyan told Russian state TV. "The military presence of Turkey in this region...will bring further escalation and expansion of the scale of the conflict." Azeri leader Aliyev accused Armenia of fabricating the plane incident. "Turkey is not a party to the conflict, in no way participates in it and there is no need for this," he said. Aliyev said Azerbaijan was calling up tens of thousands of reservists under a partial mobilisation announced on Monday. "We are able to punish the aggressor ourselves so that he would not even dare to look in our direction," he said. PUTIN APPEAL Any descent into all-out war could threaten to drag in not only Turkey, but Russia. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, but also enjoys close relations with Azerbaijan. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to Pashinyan for the second time since the start of the crisis and said all sides should take measures to de-escalate. It has not made public any contacts between Putin and Aliyev. The Kremlin said Moscow was in constant contact with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Any talk of providing military support for the opposing sides would only add fuel to the fire, it said. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: "With casualties rapidly mounting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the Trump Administration needs to call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately to de-escalate the situation. It must also demand others - like Turkey - stay out of this conflict. RISING CASUALTIES Pashinyan told the BBC in an interview that Azeri forces had shelled villages and towns in Nagorno-Karabakh and inside Armenia itself on Tuesday. "There are casualties among both military and civilians. Dozens are killed and hundreds are wounded," he said. Azerbaijan`s prosecutor`s office said 12 Azeri civilians had so far been killed and 35 wounded by Armenian fire. The Azeri side has not disclosed military casualties. Nagorno-Karabakh has reported the loss of at least 84 soldiers. "What can I say? It`s a war. We hear air raids several times a day and hide in bomb shelters," Albert Voskanyan, a resident of the enclave`s capital Stepanakert, told Reuters. Armenian officials said earlier that a civilian was killed in an Azeri attack on the Armenian town of Vardenis, more than 20 km (12 miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh. They said a bus caught fire in the town after being hit by an Azeri drone. Azerbaijan`s defence ministry said that from Vardenis the Armenian army had shelled the Dashkesan region inside Azerbaijan. Armenia denied those reports. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 18:31:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A representative of the Mexican award-winner speaks via video on the awarding ceremony of the 15th UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 28, 2020. Three educational programs for teenagers, rural residents and refugees won this year's UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province. The award-winners include: the "Inspirational Business Stories" program from Ghana; a "learning by teaching" literacy program from Mexico; and a Yemeni program offering literacy classes to help integrate refugees into Yemeni society. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei) By Trend On September 28, the Russian State Duma adopted a statement on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which it calls on both sides to cease fire and expresses readiness to provide mediation assistance for a peaceful settlement, Trend reports citing TASS. The Russian MPs express serious concern particularly over the sharp aggravation of the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which led to numerous human casualties, and strongly condemns the use of force by the sides. The State Duma declares the need for an immediate ceasefire, the prevention of an escalation of confrontation in the region, and that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the situation. The MPs of the State Duma urge the sides to return to the negotiation process as soon as possible and are ready to provide mediation assistance to stabilize the situation, the statement said. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz (Photo : pixabay) The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way many of us work. Lockdown, social distancing regulations and new health and safety measures have forced businesses to rethink how they operate, whether that's embracing homeworking or ramping up their online services. For the mortgage industry, which has always been heavily reliant on face-to-face transactions, it was a case of adapting or risk grinding to a total standstill when the outbreak took hold. But brokers, lenders and estate agents have proven resilient in these unprecedented times, turning to digital technology to continue serving customers while seeing them in person was impossible. Despite the economic impact of the virus and many mortgage providers having to pull products from the market as a result, customer demand remained. There were scores of prospective borrowers who began their applications pre-lockdown, and no doubt just as many who were frustrated at the notion of having to delay their plans because the property market was in limbo. Customer communication in the COVID age While some delays and disruption were inevitable during those early months of lockdown, mortgage lenders and brokers turned to video conferencing applications such as Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams to keep their customers updated throughout the pandemic. These tools have proved vital in the absence of in-person meetings, allowing some mortgage applications to stay on track despite an increase in declined mortgages. Some brokerages and mortgage companies were, of course, already using video conferencing apps to some extent, but their wider adoption can only be beneficial as the industry finds its feet in a post-COVID world. Customer waiting times have been reduced due to the removal of commutes from the equation and brokers can operate without geographic restrictions. "Technology has been absolutely invaluable during the pandemic, not just for us as brokers but for the lenders, our customers, solicitors and everyone else involved in the process," says Chris Kenny, Mortgage & Protection Advisor with UK-based brokerage Finance Advice Centre. "It's been of particular help to certain groups like first-time buyers who may not know as much about the house-buying process and find it rather daunting, as well as the older generation. Being able to put a face to the voice on the end of the phone has really helped provide an element of reassurance when there isn't much of that elsewhere in the world right now. "It's also been of great help behind the scenes for us, as due to social distancing, all of the conferences, roadshows and other events that we attend have moved online. They're incredibly important as they're an excellent medium for us to maintain the relationships we have with the lenders across the market, as well as keep up to date with new products and developments." Mark Dryden, Technical Director at London-based financial technology provider DPR Group, agrees: "What lockdown has done is accelerate the evolution of more traditional brokers. Luckily many have been able to work during a challenging six months and it's been technology that has continued to enable brokers and allow them to function and deliver true value to their customers. "And of course, for brokers who haven't typically embraced those technologies, it's undoubtedly been a transformative period where the alternative wouldn't have been pleasant." Figures from the US market suggest there was pent-up demand from house-buyers after the coronavirus crisis disrupted the spring season. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage applications in mid-August were 33% higher than a year ago. Across the pond in the UK, it's a similar story. Legal & General Mortgage Club has reported "unprecedented" demand on the housing supply post-lockdown, and digital technology will no doubt prove vital to mortgage brokers and lenders and both sides of the Atlantic as they scramble to tackle this backlog. Automated valuations offer a workaround Restrictions on customer consultations wasn't the only issue COVID-19 dumped on the mortgage industry's doorstep. The suspension of on-site valuations presented its own challenges, but automated valuation models (AVMs) offered a workaround solution. Physical valuations are, of course, now back on the agenda with social distancing and appropriate PPE in place, but AVMs could yet provide an indispensable fallback in the event of local lockdowns or a dramatic COVID spike. "AVMs have arguably been the saving grace of the mortgage industry," Kenny says. "When lockdown started and surveyors couldn't go out and do their jobs, the whole industry over the course of a few days pretty much ground to a halt. Not only could the banks and lenders not get their valuations done, prospective buyers couldn't view properties either. "Being able to use data from comparable sales and other sources was a great help in not only clearing the backlogs, but also in speeding up the process in general. They're instantaneous, so there's no waiting days for a surveyor to go out, view the property and compile a report which then goes into an underwriter's queue. The cherry on the cake is that AVMs are usually free!" Virtual property tours filled a void It isn't just mortgage brokers and lenders who've been forced to seek innovative, tech-based solutions to the problems the virus has presented. Estate agents were unable to offer on-site property viewings, and that threatened to scupper countless potential transactions. To bypass this hurdle, some firms turned to virtual property viewings to offer customers digital, self-guided tours of the premises piquing their interest. According to UK-based estate agent Zoopla, some customers are willing to make an offer on a property based on the strength of a virtual viewing alone, and this technology showed signs of taking off during coronavirus lockdown. Obviously, a virtual property tour carried out while huddled over a laptop or tablet display is no competition for an on-site viewing, but they can be a useful stopgap while the latter is impossible. Furthermore, it's important to keep in mind that this technology is still in its relevant infancy, and could yet play a key role in the industry, especially if there are future COVID spikes and lockdowns. The tech is here to stay For many businesses within the global mortgage industry, using technology such as video calling, automated valuations and virtual tours was nothing new, but its wider adoption during the pandemic was arguably overdue. These systems have brought many benefits to a sector that was largely paper-based before, helping lenders save time and brokers work without geographic limitations. "With the large number of people expected to continue working from home for the foreseeable future, video conferencing will become an integral part of many business setups and I fully expect to see advancements in the features and benefits of such software to come to the market in the near future," Kenny predicts. "I would like to see AVMs and virtual tours maintain the activity levels that they have enjoyed in recent months as they have both been incredible time and cost-savers to businesses and customers alike. They've provided good stimulation to the housing market when it's been sorely needed and made an often stressful process much easier and straightforward for buyers and sellers alike." Dryden adds: "These technologies are absolutely here to stay - but let's not stop there. There are plenty of other parts of the mortgage process that continue to be improved. "Client on-boarding through an intelligent chat interface that performs the initial due-diligence and on-boarding of new leads establishes a digital relationship, provides value to the customer and more importantly qualifies the lead, going beyond an enquiry form with criteria, affordability and product sourcing into one simple client report. "Digital e-signatures removes much of the paperwork that is passed back and forth between brokers and their customers making it ideal for Terms and Conditions or the Recommendation Reports. Broker AML and Credit Reports through Experian provides enhanced customer due-diligence tools by providing verified information that flows into the FactFind ensuring that advice is based upon correct data and removing unnecessary delays as cases progress. "Financial services have traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies - the lockdown has caused many good brokers out there to reconsider and join those that have ridden out the pandemic by using the right technology for them and their customer base." As the mortgage world continues to adjust to a new normal, these technologies will remain a key part of its arsenal, and for many businesses, that will be the case when COVID is a distant memory. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Russia shuts down Kerch ferry service, earlier used to deploy troops in annexed Crimea 18:58, 29.09.20 35953 The facility is subject to U.S. sanctions after Russia occupied the peninsula. Mark Levert walked out of a reopened gym in late July convinced that fitness clubs are not doing enough and arent required to do enough to protect him and others from COVID-19. Im not stepping into a gym until they change the rules to mask-on 100 per cent of the time, and each machine or station has its own spray bottle of disinfection, he said. Any doctor would find the protocols not safe. But are enough Ontarians huffing and puffing the virus into each other enough to justify such fears? Levert doesnt know. Neither do Ontario medical experts. Most details about where people are getting infected, as the virus roars back in Toronto and other Ontario communities, stay in a public health black box, along with other outbreaks details that could inform residents and change behaviours. Public health officials navigate a difficult daily path releasing data useful in the fight to put the lid back on COVID-19 infections before hospitalizations and deaths start to rise again, while protecting provincially mandated patient confidentiality. Information made public has already identified and stigmatized some Ontarians with COVID-19, a regional health official told the Star. But in a deadly pandemic, when infections are rising exponentially because people are exposing themselves to risk, where do public health units draw the line? I dont think theyre sharing enough information, said Dr. Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist at the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health. I would like to see more data around specific types of businesses or venues, and specific risk factors for people who are getting infected. Long before the pandemic there was tension between officials wanting to share information on health hazards, so people can understand circumstances and avoid potential risk, and the need to not cause stigma or hardship to people or businesses. In general, provincial and regional health units publicized disease outbreaks, such as Hepatitis A or measles, when there was no other way to warn people potentially exposed who need to take action to limit further spread. COVID-19 is another beast, threatening mass death, economic meltdown and a host of knock-on impacts for societys most vulnerable, changing that dynamic. When a late June outbreak in Kingston was tied to a nail salon, the local public health chief, Dr. Kieran Moore, named the salon. Using a diagram in a news conference shared on YouTube, he laid out the spread, risk and investigation. Moores findings, relayed to the public, set the stage for mandatory masks in indoor public settings long before other communities, including Toronto, did so. When University of Western Ontario students fell ill, the Middlesex-London Health Unit produced a graphic tracing their Sept. 8 to 13 trips between named businesses and student bars, sharing drinks, e-cigarettes and lifts without masks. The health units Dr. Alex Summers told the Star at the time: Weve recognized there is the importance of being able to tell the story of how COVID is transmitted in our community and doing that requires being able to break down the day-to-day activities of the cases and contact over the people that get infected... Western Gazette, a student-run news outlet, used information in the graphic to produce a video tracing the events and behaviours that triggered the outbreak. Toronto Public Health, which has taken a conservative approach to the release of data about specific outbreaks, last week tweeted a graphic. The real-life example showed how one night in TO led to 20 infections with 80 people exposed. No locations or business names were provided. What has been missing, said U of Ts Tuite, is routine release of the kinds of places where outbreaks are occurring, plus behaviours and environmental factors that contributed to the spread. The information we actually want is What are the sorts of businesses or venues where people are getting infected? she said. I think you can provide that information in a way that doesnt identify individual places of business ... What proportion of those (infections) are in restaurants, what proportion are in bars, in private gatherings? Even more granular, for bar or private gathering outbreaks, what proportion of them are happening in an indoor setting versus an outdoor setting? That information is really useful. Thats part of the challenge with whats happening in Ontario right now there are a lot of questions about what should we do, what is the right thing to do and we dont have that data. Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, is pushing back against such calls. Her mantra is that people need to know the danger to them is in their risky behaviours not physical distancing, not wearing a mask, not washing hands, joining crowds rather than sites or types of places they visit. I understand the belief that if we just list all the places that infected people have been it will tell us where we can go safely. But it doesnt work that way, and could lead to a false sense of safety, she said Monday. Even if her unit listed infection locations, she said, by the time confirmation came back from the lab the immediate threat has likely been over for many days, that person or persons (exposed) is circulating in the community ... You get COVID-19 from people, not from places and, in a big city like ours, people are everywhere. But some around de Villa have recognized the public is clamouring for information about virus spread, urging her unit to find more ways to comply without compromising patient confidentiality. Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of Torontos public health board, recently led the board to request the health unit publicly release data on workplace outbreaks to protect vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In an interview Cressy said de Villas office has since agreed that will happen. We are living in the most significant global pandemic in more than a century and as a result the traditional roles, the traditional ways in which we communicate communicable disease transmission need to change as well, while safeguarding privacy, he said. In the context of a pandemic, complete transparency is important to ensure the public has an understanding of risk and in turn can appropriately inform their behaviour, Cressy said. He noted that TPH routinely discloses outbreak sites for public schools, seniors homes and homeless shelters, and private sites such as strip clubs when theres an outbreak and not everyone exposed has been reached. You could be forgiven for thinking if youre not a health care worker and you dont visit strip clubs that somehow youre not at risk, Cressy said. In fact, transmission is much broader than that and so, from a public transparency point of view traditional communicable disease communications have to be turned on their head Its just fundamentally that what we know the public should know because thats the best way to inform public behaviour. Transparency, however, carries risks. Dr. Mustafa Hirji, acting medical officer of health at Niagara Region Public Health, told the Star that some people contacted by his unit, who might have been exposed to COVID-19, fear exposure. When our clients do not think they can trust public health with their personal health information, lest it be shared with others or released to the public, they become unwilling to share with us their personal details which are critical to us accomplishing our work, he said. Multiple people diagnosed with COVID-19 have informed us that, based on public healths release of information on COVID-19 cases, they were identified by people in their social circle and suffered bullying and stigmatization as a consequence, Hirji said. In one case, someone shared information with the media, resulting in an individual suffering personal attacks, mental anguish and reputational harm, he said, adding: These are stark examples of how much we need to carefully protect the publics personal health information. Dr. Andrew Morris, a U of T professor of infectious diseases and physician at Sinai Health and University Health Network, gives health units a B-plus for data disclosure but adds they can better in these extraordinary times. Morris notes he has recently heard contradictory statements from public officials about whether bars and restaurants are a problem and about the risk of indoor dining. Health clubs? he said, when asked about gym user Leverts concerns. I have no idea, no clue. If people are getting infected at bars and nightclubs, say, we need to figure out how to give them a lower risk exposure somewhere else. Clearly everything weve done up until now with bars and nightclubs hasnt really worked. To implore people to do the right thing and to say Hopefully theyll do that that hasnt worked. Its a great idea but it hasnt worked. Correction - Sept. 30, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Dr. Ashleigh Tuites given name. David Rider is the Stars City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider A new publication by World Teacher and Happy Science CEO Ryuho Okawa, Spiritual Interviews with the Guardian Spirits of Biden and Trump, reveals the true intentions that reside in the subconscious minds of the two presidential candidates in question, and accordingly provides insight that can help Americans to make their decision at this significant turning point in history. For those unfamiliar with Ryuho Okawas spiritual interviews, they are a method utilized in which the subconscious intentions of any individual, whether living or deceased, may be revealed. Okawa has conducted over 1,100 spiritual interviews and messages to date and is unparalleled in his ability to do so. This unique phenomenon is accomplished in accordance with Ryuho Okawas six divine supernatural powers of clairvoyance, clairaudience, mind reading, fate reading, astral travel and the extinction of worldly desires. Though some people may possess one or more of these powers, Okawas mastery of all six exemplifies him as being an exceptionally spiritually refined individual who is truly worthy of the title of World Teacher. The first spiritual interview of the book is conducted with the guardian spirit, henceforth referred to as subconscious, of democratic candidate Joe Biden. Throughout Bidens spiritual interview he is questioned about many topics of interest including his prospective policies on dealing with China. While criticizing Trumps hardline approach, Bidens subconscious states that he would endeavor to be more diplomatic with China on various issues including the status of Hong Kong. When confronted with the possibility that China may surpass the U.S. as the world superpower within the next twenty years, it is revealed that the subconscious of Biden does not believe this is possible. Bidens subconscious does not believe that Chinas expansion into the south sea is for the purpose of hegemony, but is rather due to an effort to subsist their nation with food; this, and other policies discussed, suggest that the subconscious of Biden would assume a stance with China that differs greatly from that of President Trump. Following the spiritual interview with Bidens subconscious is an interview with the guardian spirit of republican candidate and current president Donald Trump. Throughout this interview the subconscious of Trump insists that he will maintain his hardline approach to China if elected to serve another four years as president of the US. Trumps subconscious reveals that he feels quite certain of victory in the November election, and emphasizes that he has established diplomatic relationships with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un despite accusations that he is not a diplomatic president. Additional subconscious motivations reveal Trumps intention to bring democracy and freedom to nations living under totalitarian regimes throughout the world. It is evident when viewing both spiritual interviews that Bidens subconscious appears intent upon preserving a balance of interests between nations while Trumps subconscious is concerned with spreading democracy, even if it may bring about geopolitical conflict. The spiritual interviews reveal a myriad of additional information concerning the two presidential candidates and their inner intentions. Previous spiritual interview books, such as The Trump Secret (includes Spiritual Interview with the guardian spirit of Mr. Trump before the 2016 election, IRH Press) and Chinas Hidden Agenda(Spiritual Interview of Xi Jinping, HS Press), have revealed predictions that have since come to fruition, and the astounding predictions published in this book are likewise with a high probability of manifestation. Readers will benefit from having the foresight that is offered in this text. The Spiritual Interviews with the Guardian Spirits of Biden and Trump makes it evident that the outcome of the November elections can bring about two very different administrations as a result of differing perspectives of global and domestic affairs on behalf of the candidates in question. This book offers a rare opportunity to discover the extensive subconscious motivations that drive the US presidential candidates; that which each of them present to the world openly is only the tip of the iceberg. It is hoped that this book will assist readers in making an informed decision about who to support as the US presidential election draws near. Spiritual Interviews with the Guardian Spirits of Biden and Trump is available for purchase at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. To learn more, please listen to the latest episode of Okawa Book Club featuring "Spiritual Interviews with the Guardian Spirits of Biden and Trump." - https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-ug4nt-ea4cc4 ---------------------------------------- What is a Spiritual Interview? A spiritual interview is a form of religious journalism. Through unparalleled spiritual ability, by the way of six divine supernatural powers, Ryuho Okawa summons the guardian spirit known in the field of psychology as subconscious or collective unconsciousness. The soul of the living person enters Okawa's body and speaks through Okawa using the knowledge and the language center of Okawas brain. What is unique is that Okawa is fully conscious, unlike other traditional mediums. Okawa has published in excess of 1,100 spiritual interviews. These include records of spiritual conversations with the guardian spirits of living people and the spirits of historical figures who reside in the Spirit World. Through these books, Okawa offers readers the resources to guide them through modern issues and the hints to help them steer the future of humankind. What a person thinks in his or her subconscious will eventually manifest in their words and actions. IRH Press USA With the aim to help Covid-19 patients in isolation monitor their health, the district administration on Tuesday started distribution of Corona Fateh kits. MC councillor Mamta Ashu, along with additional deputy commissioner Neeru Katyal Gupta, distributed the first set of kits at the Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students. Ashu said the kit consists of 18 items, including a pulse oximeter, digital thermometer and essential medicines, along with educational material and instructions on the use of medicines. She said these kits will be distributed among all Covid patients in isolation, whether at home or in hospitals, and help them regularly self-monitor various health indicators. In the coming days, the kits will be distributed by the rapid response teams (RRTs) at the doorsteps of patients. Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga urged residents not to take coronavirus casually and immediately contact the health department in case of any symptoms. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Armenia to end its "occupation" of the flashpoint region of Nagorno-Karabakh amid a second day of fighting that claimed 21 more lives. Armenian forces have been in fierce clashes with Azerbaijan's troops in the region since Sunday, in the most severe flare-up of violence there for decades. Mr Erdogan said yesterday the time had come to end the long-running crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke away from Azerbaijan, a Turkish ally, in the 1990s after a separatist war. "The time has come for the crisis in the region, that started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, to be put to an end," Mr Erdogan said. "Once Armenia immediately leaves the territory it is occupying, the region will return to peace and harmony." Armen Sarkissian, the president of Armenia, claimed that Ankara had provided F-16 fighter jets to support its ally. There were competing claims about fighting on the ground from both sides as forces from the two ex-Soviet neighbours pounded each other with rockets and artillery. In Nagorno-Karabakh, residents took cover in bomb shelters and constant shelling could be heard. "We haven't seen anything like this since the ceasefire to the war in the 1990s," Olesya Vartanyan, senior analyst for the South Caucasus region at Crisis Group, said. "The fighting is taking place along all sections of the front line." Armenian officials said another 15 of their soldiers had died, on top of 16 killed when hostilities first broke out on Sunday. They added that "fights of various intensity" were "raging on", and that four Azerbaijani helicopters and 36 Azerbaijani tanks and armed personnel carriers (APCs) had been destroyed. Azerbaijan said that only one helicopter had been downed and that Armenian air defence systems had been heavily bombed. Both sides accused each other of sending mercenaries who had fought in Syria into the conflict. Armenia's ambassador to Russia claimed that Turkey had sent 4,000 Syrian fighters that it had previously sponsored to fight against Syria's president, Bashar-al Assad. An Azerbaijani military spokesman, Colonel Vagif Dargahli, said that "mercenaries of Armenian origin from Syria" had been killed during the fighting. Neither Turkey nor Azerbaijan have offered any evidence to support their claims, although Turkey is widely believed to have sent Syrian mercenaries to back its allies in the Turkish-supported government in Libya. The clashes have led to fears that the conflict could now return to the full-blown hostilities of the 1990s when 30,000 lives were lost. The dispute involves newly-assertive regional powers. Turkey backs mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, while majority Christian Armenia has military backing from Russia. Russia, which also enjoys good relations with Azerbaijan, has so far called for restraint on both sides. It does, however, have a military base in Armenia, and treaty obligations that could oblige it to come to Armenia's defence were the conflict to escalate. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Theres enough story in Akashinga: The Brave Ones for a feature documentary. Instead it is a 13 minute short that leaves you in awe of what you are witnessing. In the Lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe, 500 young women are attending a punishing boot camp where 82 will graduate in an all-female anti-poaching unit. Elephant poaching is life and death stuff, not just for the magnificent animals, but for the humans involved on both sides of the law. Damien Mander is an Iraq war veteran and a former special operations sniper for the Australian Defence Force. Its an Aussie who is training these women, in a program within the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. Filmmaker Maria Wilhelm has captured raw scenes of local women who arrive in a dusty training camp, ready for push-ups, endurance running, combat, shooting and mental tests. This is empowering stuff, like something out of Black Panther. Every young girl out there wants to be a ranger, says Sgt. Petronella Shigumbura. Now Im a leader and Im going to teach these other ladies to be like me. The women come from all walks of Zimbabwe life one previously married to a poacher, another a victim of domestic abuse, and another who was a second wife to a man already married but shunned by family when she was pregnant. The doco short, produced by James Cameron, is driven by action shots of women with grunt, training in the arid Zimbabwe wilderness, overseen by Sgt. Shigumbura. The majesty of an elephant is only fleeting, as we hear, I love my elephants like my children. Indeed Damien Mander reminds us what drives the success of the Akashinga program: The most powerful force in nature a womans instinct to protect. In truth, I would have liked this doco to have been longer and profile more stories, but it remains hugely inspiring. The Akashinga program hopes to train 1000 rangers by 2025. National Geographic will screen the short as part of World Animal Day this Sunday, but it is already available on YouTube in order to spread its important message and help raise funds. 8:30pm Sunday October 4 on National Geographic. International Anti-Poaching Foundation. facebook.com/akashinga Algeria's bar association said Monday it would hold a nationwide two-day strike this week to demand "respect for the right to a defence". In a statement, the National Union of Bar Associations urged lawyers to hold a "general strike... to protest against violations of the right to counsel." The strikes come amid a growing clampdown on repression in the North African nation, a year and a half since longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit office in the face of the Hirak mass protest movement. As court cases have piled up against Hirak activists and journalists, as well as corrupt oligarchs close to Bouteflika, lawyers have complained of relentless work and political pressures. "The right to a defence is a sacred right that cannot be questioned under any circumstances," the bar association said in statement Monday. The strike is planned for Wednesday and Thursday. The bar association said it was acting in solidarity with several dozen lawyers who on Sunday held a sit-in outside the capital's main court, vowing to hold a week-long strike to demand an independent judiciary and the right to counsel. The bar association also criticised the practice of holding trials remotely via video links, saying recent hearings "did not meet the criteria for a fair trial". Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and Hirak supporter, praised the decision to hold a strike. But he also said it was "not enough", as lawyers were becoming "alibis for a judiciary in service of the system." "There can be no independent justice if we don't move towards a true democracy," he said. US Presidential Debate 2020 Event Highlights: The first presidential debate concluded with Chris Wallace asking both candidates if they would commit to urging calm and avoiding declaring victory until the election results are independently verified Auto refresh feeds Donald Trump and Joe Biden are scheduled to meet on the debate stage for the first time Tuesday night at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The 90-minute event, moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace, will be the first of three scheduled presidential debates. The 90-minute debate will be divided into six 15-minute segments. Each segment will focus on vital topics including the candidates records, the Supreme Court, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, race and violence in the US, and the integrity of the election. Ohio has traditionally been a swing state over the past two decades, but Trump won there by eight points in 2016. The state is seen as trending towards becoming more solidly Republican, due to its whiter, older population compared with the rest of the US. The debate will be held at the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. Chris Wallace of Fox News will then use the rest of the time in the segment to facilitate further discussion on the topic, according to the commission. The candidates will not have opening statements, and Trump will receive the first question from the moderator. Each segment will last about 15 minutes, and the candidates will have two minutes to respond after the moderator opens each segment with a question. He later said, Somebody said to me. How long has the President been preparing for the debate? I said all his life. It's gonna be a great night, Pence said. I can tell you I left the President earlier today in the Oval Office. And he's ready. We're ready. Vice President Mike Pence said during remarks at a Make America Great Again event and presidential debate watch party that he spoke with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning and that "hes ready" for the debate tonight. Donald Trump and Joe Biden have now taken the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio. The first presidential debate is officially underway with discussion on president's Supreme Court pick. We won the election, and therefore we have the right to choose her, Trump said. Trump justified advancing the nomination by saying "elections have consequences," referring to his White House victory in 2016, and by pledging Barrett would be "as good as anybody that has served on that court." Debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News asked about the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Wallace noted Republicans have been criticized for trying to get Barrett confirmed before the election. Biden replied to Trumps broader attacks against Democrats by saying, I am the Democratic party right now. When US President Donald Trump claimed Joe Biden wanted to push the country toward "socialist medicine," the Democrat emphasized that he is not a socialist. When Trump interrupted another one of Bidens answers, the Democrat said, Will you shut up, man? Trump repeatedly mocked Biden, suggesting the Democratic nominees comments on health care would cost him support among progressives. Biden responded by calling Trump a liar and a clown. Joe Biden attacked Donald Trump over COVID-19 at US Presidential debate. "Seven million contracted the virus. The President has no plan for pandemic," said Biden. Referencing Trumps comments to Bob Woodward that he downplayed the seriousness of the virus to avoid creating a panic, Biden told America, "You dont panic, he panicked." Biden criticized Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, noting the country is still recording roughly 40,000 new cases a day. The debate has shifted to coronavirus after a largely unproductive segment on the supreme court that was defined by crosstalk and insults. No serious person has said the opposite, Biden said. The president responded by claiming many health experts have said the opposite about masks. Trump questioned the effectiveness of masks as a means of mitigating the spread of coronavirus. Biden noted health experts have said 100,000 lives could be saved over the next few months, if Americans consistently wear masks and practice social distancing. Biden continued: "Hes on record as saying it. He panicked or he just looked at the stock market, one of the two, because guess what, a lot of people die and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker." "Do you believe for a moment what hes telling you, in light of all the lies, hes told you about the whole issue relating to Covid," Biden said, looking straight into the camera. "He still hasnt even acknowledged that he knew this was happening, knew how dangerous it was going to be back in February, and he didnt even tell you." Joe Biden asked the American people whether they trust Trump about coronavirus, noting that the President told journalist Bob Woodward in February that he downplayed the virus. You are the worst president America has ever had, Biden said. The president claimed he had paid millions in income taxes. Biden responded by repeatedly pressing Trump to release his tax returns, and the president claimed he would soon, which he has been saying since 2015. Trump was pressed on the New York Times story about his tax returns, which showed he paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. As Trump repeatedly tried to interject and attack his opponent, Biden said, Its hard to get any word in with this clown - excuse me, this person. Biden tried to redirect the conversation back to the coronavirus pandemic, saying this was about every American family, not his family. As expected, Trump attacked Bidens son, Hunter, for his business dealings in Ukraine, which became a target of Republican ire during the impeachment inquiry. Trump said during Tuesday nights debate against Democrat Joe Biden that he thought masks are OK, pulling one out from his pocket and saying, I wear masks when needed. President Donald Trump says hes had "no negative effect" from massive campaign rallies with thousands of attendees not adhering to social distancing recommendations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The move follows a report by the New York Times that Trump paid just $750 in income tax in 2016. He dismissed said the claims as "fake news". For years Trump has been criticised by Democrats for not making his tax returns public as his predecessors did. He has called on the president to release his returns. US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has released his tax returns just hours ahead of the first debate with President Donald Trump. Biden and his wife Jill paid nearly $288,000 (224,000) in income tax last year, according to the filings. Donald Trump has continued to boast that a coronavirus vaccine will be available before the 3 November election. However, public health experts including CDC director Robert Redfield have called that timeline unlikely and dangerous. Redfield, testifying before the Senate, said a vaccine would likely be widely available in "late second quarter, third quarter 2021". Trump interrupted to respond that his children gave up lucrative jobs to join government and help people, which left moderator Chris Wallace pleading, Mr. President, please stop trying to restore order on the stage. Trump said Hunter Biden reaped millions in ill-gotten profit from China and other overseas interests, accusations that have been repeatedly debunked. Biden shot back, None of that is true. He then added of Trump, His family, we could talk all night. While Biden was making a point during the first presidential debate in Cleveland about the Trump administrations trade deals with China not having the desired effect, Trump jumped in. He resurrected past claims about the former vice presidents son Hunter working overseas. Trump responded by telling the far-right group Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." Democratic challenger Joe Biden called on Trump to denounce white supremacist violence, weeks after two anti-racist protesters were shot and killed in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Asked why he would be better at tackling issues of race, Biden attacked Trump for equivocating on the racist right-wing rally in Charlottesville in 2017 with the protests in response and the fact that protesters outside the White House were forcibly moved earlier this year so the President could walk to a nearby church. During a prolonged segment on race, the two fought over who would handle issues of race, culminating in Biden calling Trump a racist. Joe Biden said that Trump attempts to make everything into a racial "dog whistle" tonight, arguing that the President has done virtually nothing for African Americans during his time as president. The president then launched into more attacks against Bidens younger son for his business activities and past drug use. Trump responded by dismissing the memory of Bidens son, telling his opponent, I dont know Beau; I know Hunter. Biden criticized Trump over reports that he described fallen American soldiers as "suckers" and "losers". Biden noted that his late son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, served in Iraq for a year and received the Bronze Star. Finally he said, Proud Boys Stand back, stand by, but Ill tell you what, somebodys got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not right-wing problem..... This is a left wing problem." When pressed further, Trump said, What do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name? I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not the right wing, Trump responded. Im willing to do anything. I want to see peace. President Donald Trump danced around a question from moderator Chris Wallace about whether he was willing to condemn white supremacists and military groups. President Donald Trump claimed several times that Joe Biden wanted to shut down the country to address the coronavirus. "He wants to shut down this country and I want to keep it open," Trump said. "I support the Biden plan that I put forward, which is different than what he calls the radical Green New Deal," Biden said. Trump attacked Biden for his climate policies, claiming his proposals would cause economic catastrophe. When asked whether he supported the Green New Deal, Biden said he did not because he has his own climate plan. On why the electorate should vote for him, Donald Trump said, "There has never been an administration or a president who has done more than I have done in three and a half years." Biden, said, "Under this president, we've become weaker, sicker, poorer and more divided." "The fact is that everything hes said so far is simply a lie," Biden said. "Im not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows hes a liar." In what was the most chaotic presidential debate in recent years, somehow fitting for what has been an extraordinarily ugly campaign, the two men frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, "Will you shut up, man?" "Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote. Vote in whatever way is the best way for you," Biden told the electorate. To ensure a fair election, Democratic candidate Joe Biden said America should let people vote, even by mail-in ballots, make sure polls are open in time and stay open till all votes are counted. The 90-minute faceoff played out in a makeshift debate hall with a crowd of under 100 people due to coronavirus safety restrictions, in an atrium that previously was set up for use as a hospital for COVID-19 patients. There were no handshakes to start the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election. The traditional nicety was one of several formalities abandoned because of the ongoing pandemic. Within 15 minutes, the interruptions and talking over one another at Tuesday's presidential debate had deteriorated to the point that Biden blurted out, Will you shut up, man? It started out civil enough, with President Donald Trump striding deliberately to his lectern, and Democrat Joe Biden nodding to his opponent and offering, How you doing, man? But Bidens performances have been inconsistent over the course of two vice presidential debates and through this season of nearly a dozen Democratic primary debates. Even his supporters say that, at 77, his voice is less firm and that he appears less energetic and passionate than just eight years ago. Trump has highlighted some of those moments to try to raise doubts about his opponents mental acuity. Trumps debating style helped carry him to victory and can still be glimpsed almost every time he appears at a White House news conference or a rally. Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday accused Donald Trump of failing to confront Russia, accusing the US leader of being the "puppy" of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I've gone head to head with Putin, and made it clear to him - we're not going to take any of this stuff. He's Putin's puppy," Biden said of Trump. In his closing statement, Trump has reiterated that mail-in ballots "is a disaster". "This is going to be a fraud like you have never seen. We are going to do well. But, who knows? We are not going to know (the election results) for months." US President Donald Trump spoke for a total of 39.06 minutes, just more than Democratic challenger Joe Biden's 37:56 during the first presidential debate, according to CNN. President Donald Trump claimed several times that Joe Biden wanted to shut down the country to address the coronavirus. "He wants to shut down this country and I want to keep it open," Trump said. "I support the Biden plan that I put forward, which is different than what he calls the radical Green New Deal," Biden said. Trump attacked Biden for his climate policies, claiming his proposals would cause economic catastrophe. When asked whether he supported the Green New Deal, Biden said he did not because he has his own climate plan. On why the electorate should vote for him, Donald Trump said, "There has never been an administration or a president who has done more than I have done in three and a half years." Biden, said, "Under this president, we've become weaker, sicker, poorer and more divided." "The fact is that everything hes said so far is simply a lie," Biden said. "Im not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows hes a liar." In what was the most chaotic presidential debate in recent years, somehow fitting for what has been an extraordinarily ugly campaign, the two men frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, "Will you shut up, man?" "Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote. Vote in whatever way is the best way for you," Biden told the electorate. To ensure a fair election, Democratic candidate Joe Biden said America should let people vote, even by mail-in ballots, make sure polls are open in time and stay open till all votes are counted. The 90-minute faceoff played out in a makeshift debate hall with a crowd of under 100 people due to coronavirus safety restrictions, in an atrium that previously was set up for use as a hospital for COVID-19 patients. There were no handshakes to start the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election. The traditional nicety was one of several formalities abandoned because of the ongoing pandemic. Within 15 minutes, the interruptions and talking over one another at Tuesday's presidential debate had deteriorated to the point that Biden blurted out, Will you shut up, man? It started out civil enough, with President Donald Trump striding deliberately to his lectern, and Democrat Joe Biden nodding to his opponent and offering, How you doing, man? But Bidens performances have been inconsistent over the course of two vice presidential debates and through this season of nearly a dozen Democratic primary debates. Even his supporters say that, at 77, his voice is less firm and that he appears less energetic and passionate than just eight years ago. Trump has highlighted some of those moments to try to raise doubts about his opponents mental acuity. Trumps debating style helped carry him to victory and can still be glimpsed almost every time he appears at a White House news conference or a rally. Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday accused Donald Trump of failing to confront Russia, accusing the US leader of being the "puppy" of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I've gone head to head with Putin, and made it clear to him - we're not going to take any of this stuff. He's Putin's puppy," Biden said of Trump. In his closing statement, Trump has reiterated that mail-in ballots "is a disaster". "This is going to be a fraud like you have never seen. We are going to do well. But, who knows? We are not going to know (the election results) for months." US President Donald Trump spoke for a total of 39.06 minutes, just more than Democratic challenger Joe Biden's 37:56 during the first presidential debate, according to CNN. US Presidential Debate 2020 Event LATEST Updates: The first presidential debate concluded with Chris Wallace asking both candidates if they would commit to urging calm and avoiding declaring victory until the election results are independently verified. In what was the most chaotic presidential debate in recent years, somehow fitting for what has been an extraordinarily ugly campaign, the two men frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, "Will you shut up, man?" During a prolonged segment on race, the two fought over who would handle issues of race, culminating in Biden calling Trump a racist. President Donald Trump says he's had "no negative effect" from massive campaign rallies with thousands of attendees not adhering to social distancing recommendations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Trump said during Tuesday nights debate against Democrat Joe Biden that he thought masks are OK, pulling one out from his pocket and saying, I wear masks when needed. Donald Trump and Joe Biden have now taken the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio. The first presidential debate is officially underway with discussion on president's Supreme Court pick. Dubbed as the "Super Bowl of American Democracy", Donald Trump and Joe Biden would respond to questions on their track record, the Supreme Court, economy, race and violence in cities and integrity of the elections. Ahead of the US presidential election on 3 November, Republican candidate and incumbent President Donald Trump will go head-to-head with Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden at 6.30 am Indian Standard Time. The much-awaited clash, set to occur at 9 pm Eastern Time in Cleveland, will be moderated by Chris Wallace, the anchor of Fox News Sunday. This will be the second time Wallace will be moderating a presidential debate. He earlier helmed the Trump and Clinton debate in 2016. This will be the first of three debates ahead of November's election. As per Indian Express, the 90-minute debate will be divided into six 15-minute segments. Each segment will focus on vital topics including the candidates records, the Supreme Court, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, race and violence in the US, and the integrity of the election. Here are some other details about the first debate 2020 between Trump and Biden: Time The first debate will be held on 29 September from 9 pm to 10:30 pm Eastern Time. In India, the debate will be televised live between 6:30 am and 8 am. Venue The debate is slated to occur at the Samson Pavillion of the Health Education Campus (HEC) shared by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The debate was earlier scheduled to take place at the University of Notre Dame but the university, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, withdrew as host. Where to watch The New York Times will be streaming the first debate event live. It will also be aired on channels including CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, C-SPAN, NBC and MSNBC. Format The entire debate will be divided into six segments. Each segment will be around 15 minutes. The moderator will introduce a topic and give each candidate two minutes. This will be followed by a discussion between the candidates, with the two receiving approximately equal time. Safety precautions Amid the customs and routines upended by the coronavirus will be the customary display of civility before the debate: Trump and Biden are not expected to shake hands at the opening. They will each be stationed at podiums spaced far apart and are expected to have a limited, socially distanced audience reports The Associated Press. Future debates The second debate is set to occur on 15 October. The debate will be hosted at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida. Steve Scully, the political editor at C-SPAN, will be moderating the debate. The third and final debate will occur on 22 October at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. This debate will be moderated by NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker. V-P debate on 7 Oct Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris and Vice-President Mike Pence are set to debate just once: in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 7 October. The debate will be hosted at Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah and will be moderated by USA Todays Washington Bureau chief Susan Page. According to The New York Times, the debate will be split into nine segments, each around 10 minutes. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DLA Piper represented Digital Force Technologies (DFT) in its formation of a strategic partnership with DC Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. DFT will become a platform company in the DC Capital portfolio. Digital Force Technologies is a leading innovator in the design and development of hardware and software products used for force protection and tactical surveillance, primarily for government customers. Its products and solutions are equipped with artificial intelligence-enabled edge processors and advanced cameras and sensors providing innovative and comprehensive situational awareness, surveillance and security solutions for the end-user. The company's products are deployed globally in a myriad of manned, unmanned and autonomous platforms. "Our representation of Digital Force Technologies combined our depth of M&A and private equity experience with our wide-ranging government services and defense sector credentials," said Jeffrey Houle, co-chair of DLA Piper's Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Transactional practice, who led the firm's deal team. "It was a pleasure to assist Digital Force Technologies in the formation of this partnership, which will allow it broaden its offerings to existing customers as well as expand into new markets." "DLA Piper's deep knowledge and understanding of our government customers and our needs as a government contractor providing C4ISR, force protection, and tactical surveillance technology solutions played a crucial role in successfully helping us navigate the legal and business nuances of this new partnership, and we are grateful for their guidance and experience handling sophisticated transactions like this one," said Justin MacLaurin, President and CEO of Digital Force Technologies. In addition to Houle (Washington, DC), the DLA Piper team representing Digital Force Technologies included partners Thomas Pilkerton, Jordan Bailowitz (both of Baltimore), Brad Jorgensen (Austin) and Julia Kovacs (Washington, DC). DLA Piper's Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Transactional practice is made up of a cross-disciplinary, cross-border team that works efficiently and creatively to facilitate deals and bring value to government contractor clients. The firm's lawyers have in-depth knowledge of the industry and the issues that arise in government contractor M&A transactions, and they are experienced in representing both public and private, and US and non-US based, government contractors. The firm's Private Equity practice includes more than 100 US lawyers who provide strategic counsel to private equity funds and the industry-leading companies they invest in. In 2019, Pitchbook recognized DLA Piper as the second most active private equity law firm globally, further solidifying the strength of the firm's team and its depth of experience executing private equity transactions. About DLA Piper DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising. dlapiper.com SOURCE DLA Piper Related Links http://www.dlapiper.com M alta has made a swift U-turn over its decision to seek the return of a giant shark tooth presented to Prince George by Sir David Attenborough. The young royal was given the fossilised tooth from an extinct Carcharocles megalodon when Sir David visited Kensington Palace last week. The 94-year-old naturist found the tooth during a family holiday to Malta in the late 1960s. But after George was pictured with the tooth, Jose Herrera, Maltas culture minister, suggested that he would be asking for it to be handed back to the country. The tooth was given to George on Sir David's trip to Kensington Palace last week / PA Now the giant shark tooth will remain with the seven-year-old prince after an apparent climbdown from Malta. Asked about the issue, prime minister Robert Abela said we should avoid creating unnecessary controversies. A spokeswoman for the culture minister said: Further to the initial remarks as reported in the Maltese media, minister Herrera would like to reiterate that no action was initiated or will be taken on the issue in (question). The Maltese government faced criticism on social media over Mr Herreras decision, reported by the Times of Malta, to begin the process of retrieving the tooth from the UK. The son of murdered anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a car bombing in 2017, tweeted that Maltas administration should be focusing on more important issues. Matthew Caruana Galizia said: A megalodon tooth costs $40 on eBay. Corruption has cost us billions of euros. I ask my government to prioritise and please get a grip on whats important. Sir David found the tooth embedded in Maltas soft yellow limestone, which was laid down during the Miocene period some 23 million years ago. Thousands of examples of the tooth can be found on online auction sites for prices ranging from a few pounds to thousands, although their origins are not always listed. What can Africans celebrate to mark the 60th anniversary of the Year of Africa? Not much, writes Haitham Nouri The United Nations marked 1960 as the Year of Africa when 17 African countries gained independence in the largest wave to get rid of European colonialism since the 15th century. However, none of the 17 countries were in a celebratory mood to mark 60 years of independence, citing coronavirus as the reason. The pandemic has so far infected 1.5 million and killed 35,000 Africans. It is more probable political and social frustrations regionwide prevented Africans from celebrating their hard-earned freedom. For more than 50 years, these African countries didnt achieve the changes they aspired for. The majority of the 17 countries wrote tragic stories instead, ranging from civil wars to military coups and famines. Between 1 January 1960, when Cameroon gained independence from France, and 28 November 1960, that marked Mauritanias liberation, Africans experienced moments of euphoria that reached their peak in August when eight African countries gained independence from France: Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Chad, Central Africa, Congo and Gabon. While 14 African countries were liberated from French rule in 1960, the decade saw a similar number of African countries breaking the chains of British colonialism: Nigeria in October 1960, Sierra Leone and Tanzania in 1961, Uganda in 1962, Kenya in 1963, Malawi and Zambia in 1964, Gambia and Zimbabwe in 1965, Botswana and Lesotho in 1966, Mauritius and Swaziland (which was recently named Eswatini) in 1968, and Seychelles in the following decade (1976). Spain had a share in the African cake, but it saw the independence of Equatorial Guinea in 1968. The Western or Moroccan Desert was freed in 1976. The region was the subject of dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which declared the Sahrawi Republic, recognised by the majority of African countries, prompting Rabat to withdraw from the Organisation of African Unity in 1983, before joining the African Union a few years ago. Following the collapse of fascist rule in Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Freddie, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola gained independence in 1975. France lost its last two colonies in the Comoros in 1975 and Djibouti in 1977. In the 1990s, Namibia gained independence from South Africa, Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1991 and finally South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. The grand path to independence, diligently strived for since 1951 when Libya was liberated, was harsh, cruel and not without glorious sacrifices. The multiple phases of Sudans Civil War started before the country seized independence from Britain in January 1956. Khartoum endured the 1958 coup with Ibrahim Abboud, the 1969 coup led by Gaafar Numeiri and the 1989 Islamist coup spearheaded by Omar Al-Bashir, who was overthrown following the December 2018 Revolution. Throughout the 64 years of Sudans independence, it has witnessed coups for 52 years. The country was torn when the south seized independence in 2011, when war broke out in Darfur in 2003 and during the 1983-84 famine. Sudan was aspiring to be the food basket for the Arabs and Africans, but it turned into a country striving to remove itself from the US list of countries harbouring terrorism and searching endlessly for an international partner for development. Nigeria, Africas most populous country and the richest in oil south of the Sahara, had seen several military coups that finally ended in 1999 after it had endured 30 years under military rule. Making the living conditions even worse in Nigeria was the 1967-1970 Biafran war that claimed the lives of at least a million Nigerians. The country is also engaged in a vicious war against the terrorist Boko Haram organisation that is wreaking havoc in northeast Nigeria as well as parts of Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Rampant corruption in Nigeria has hindered the country from benefiting from its oil wealth. Ethiopia, which was not completely occupied, fared no better than other African countries. It was shackled by the civil war with Eritrea since the 1950s, and suffered famine that resulted in the overthrow of emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. Ethnic and racial tensions are eating up Ethiopia, leading observers to warn Addis Ababa is on the edge of disintegration if the coming general elections are misconducted. The elections were slated for August 2020, but were put off by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for one year. The Great War of Africa claimed the lives of between three and five million people in Congo. It took place in 1996 and again between 1998 and 2003. Ten million Congolese lives were lost due to Belgiums plunder during the occupation. The Congolese peoples woes were renewed with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, as they demanded the taking down of the statue of King Leopold II who caused Congolese misery. Congo didnt benefit from its vast mineral resources nor from its river that can generate hydroelectric power more than any river in the world. Small countries endured massive civil wars as well, such as the Rwanda massacres against that resulted in the death of 800,000 people from the Tutsi, Twa and moderate Hutu in 100 days, from 7 April to 15 July 1994. Democracy collapsed in Mali following the toppling of Moussa Traore in the early 1990s due to mass protests. Supported by a large French force, Mali is waging a vicious war against terrorist groups, much like the majority of African Sahel countries, such as Chad, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger some of the poorest countries in the world. Somalia never recovered from the horrors of its 1990 civil war that overthrew Siad Barre. The country has disintegrated into the self-proclaimed states of Somaliland and Puntland, as well as Somalia with its capital, Mogadishu. Oil-rich Libya is divided between two regionally and internationally supported governments and armies in the east and west. The Government of National Accord in the west is backed by the UN while the eastern House of Representatives is the only elected institution in the country. Libya turned into a failed state, exploited by human traffickers and armed groups, and is suffering terrorism and foreign intervention. Tunisia has not seen, due to political turmoil between Tunisian political groups, an economic achievement in the past decade following the ouster of Zein Al-Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011. Algeria lost 200,000 of its population in the 1990s as a result of conflicts between the state and its Islamist opponents after the army cancelled the second stage of legislative elections, in the first round of which the Islamic Revolutionary Front had won the majority of votes. Decreased oil revenues, coupled with social and political tensions, heighten worries that Algeria will slip into another 10 years of darkness. To the south, Zimbabwe didnt recover from the decades long rule of Robert Mugabe and the Western sanctions imposed on the country after Mugabe had forced white farmers out of their farms when the US and the UK refused to fulfill their pledge to fund the sale of the farms to the black majority. The black majority of South Africa are surviving under dire conditions. Despite apparent improvement since the fall of Apartheid in 1994, slow reforms are increasing tensions in the country known for its diverse ethnicities. While each of these African countries is burdened with domestic problems, tensions between the states of the continent are contributing to their woes. Ethiopias neighbours are complaining about its dams on transboundary rivers, such as the Omo River that empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Kenya. The dam has lowered the level of water in the lake by two metres since 2016, according to official statements in Nairobi. Somalia has also repeatedly complained about the Shebelle River Dam that decreased water flowing into south Somalia. That is in addition to deadlocked negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. On the economic front, China, which is the principle infrastructure developer in Africa, has rejected several projects, such as the railway between the Ethiopian capital and Sudan, and the resumption of the railway line in east Africa between Kenya and Uganda. Africa is the worlds youngest continent, with the majority of its population made up of youth who seek job opportunities they cant find. Africas youth are an angry power feared by democratic and dictatorial governments alike. Now that the majority of African capitals are each inhabited by millions of people, with no real potential to absorb new generations, and with many of the continents countries lacking a national mega project that wins the support of their people, African youth dont find much to celebrate after 60 years of independence. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: The Block's Shaynna Blaze accused contestants Luke and Jasmin of cheating during a tense conversation on Tuesday's episode. After meeting the Western Australian couple for the first time, the 57-year-old judge asked host Scott Cam if she could have a private word with them. Shaynna then told Luke and Jasmin, 36, that she had some concerns about their winning kids' bedroom, after discovering they'd completely ripped off their design. Scandal: The Block's Shaynna Blaze (pictured) accused contestants Luke and Jasmin of cheating during a tense conversation on Tuesday's episode 'I remember saying on the day, the bunk and everything, I remember saying, "I may have seen that before,"' Shaynna explained. While Shaynna initially thought they had taken inspiration from former Block contestants Kyal and Kara, she said she went home and did some 'fishing'. 'It felt familiar, and then I found this,' she said, before pulling up a series of comparison photos on a tablet. Busted: Shaynna told Luke and Jasmin (both pictured) that she had some concerns about their winning kids' bedroom, after discovering they'd completely ripped off their design Luke and Jasmin's idea for their kids' bedroom had completely come from the pages of interior design magazine, Inside Out, with Shaynna pointing out all the similarities. 'Spotted wallpaper, bunk, animals, saffron, aztec, grey, white sheer,' she listed, pointing out that 'the only difference' was the chair and how they put it together. But Jasmin didn't seem surprised by the similarities, and confessed she'd shown everyone the same photo, calling it her 'inspo'. Same: Luke and Jasmin's idea for their kids' bedroom had completely come from the pages of interior design magazine, Inside Out, with Shaynna pointing out all the similarities 'It wasn't a secret,' added Jasmin. 'So, you're calling it inspiration,' continued Shaynna. 'What happens is inspiration is one thing, completely taking someone's idea and making it your own is another.' Shaynna explained that it was one thing for them to copy a design for their own home, but she reminded them that they were in a competition. 'You haven't changed it up enough. It's not fair on the other contestants that they can win a room, with money, on someone else's ideas,' said Shaynna 'You haven't changed it up enough. It's not fair on the other contestants that they can win a room, with money, on someone else's ideas,' added Shaynna. While Luke, 35, insisted they'd 'put their own spin on it', Shaynna maintained that it was still too similar. 'If you scroll on Instagram, everyone's doing the same s**t... It's like, yeah, we're "original". As original as the next house,' said a resolute Jasmin. 28/09/2020 William Ward pictured being taken from Swords District Court this morning after he was charged with posession of a firearm,posession of ammunitionand dangerous driving in the Pinewood Green area of Balbriggan...Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Two men charged following the seizure of a gun and ammunition in Balbriggan, north Dublin, last Friday have been refused bail. Thomas McDonagh (35) and William Ward (24) allegedly tried to flee from gardai after officers stopped a car in Pinewood Green. Gardai had objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the charges facing them. Judge Dermot Dempsey refused bail and remanded the pair in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on Friday. Expand Close Thomas McDonagh pictured being taken from Swords District Court this morning after he was charged with posession of a firearm and posession of ammunition in the Pinewood Green area of Balbriggan...Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Thomas McDonagh pictured being taken from Swords District Court this morning after he was charged with posession of a firearm and posession of ammunition in the Pinewood Green area of Balbriggan...Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Mr McDonagh, of Oldcastle Drive in Clondalkin, and Mr Ward, with an address at Owendoher Haven in Balbriggan, were brought before Swords District Court yesterday morning each charged with two firearms offences. Rounds It followed the seizure of a gun and a number of rounds of ammunition in the Pinewood Green area of Balbriggan last Friday. Mr Ward also faces a charge of dangerous driving arising out of the same incident. Detective Sergeant Eoin McDonnell said the men were charged at 4pm yesterday at Balbriggan Garda Station. They were handed a true copy of the charge sheets and made no reply to the charges after caution. Sgt McDonnell objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 14 years upon conviction. He also told the court that both men tried to flee from gardai. Philip Hannon, solicitor for Mr McDonagh, said his client was willing to abide by any bail conditions, including a curfew and sign-on condition. Mr Hannon said Mr McDonagh had four children, one of whom was very young. He said the accused could live with his father in Clondalkin and stay away from any areas or people as required by gardai. Defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy, for Mr Ward, said her client enjoyed the presumption of innocence. Ms D'Arcy said Mr Ward had 1,000 cash in court and was willing to surrender his passport and abide by any bail conditions. Ms D'Arcy said Mr Ward's wife was pregnant, and both she and his mother were in court to support him. Judge Dempsey said the evidence was that the men had attempted to flee from gardai and he accepted garda objections to bail. He refused bail and remanded them in custody until Friday. Judge Dempsey assigned Mr Hannon and Ms D'Arcy on free legal aid. The men have not yet indicated pleas to the charges. An outpouring of grief has followed the death of a Central New York native who battled the coronavirus while working as a doctor at a Houston hospital. Medical school classmates, colleagues, family and community members have fondly remembered Adeline Fagan in tributes since she died on Sept. 19. Adeline, 28, was in her second year of residency in OB/GYN when she fell ill in early July. At the time she was tasked with delivering babies from mothers who were sick with Covid-19 and worked rotations in the ER treating Covid-19 patients. She battled Covid-19 for two and a half months before her death. Adeline graduated from medical school at the SUNY at Buffalo in 2019. According to her obituary, she made sure to meet and memorize the names of all 144 students in her class. In a story published by the university, her former classmates and professors remembered Adeline as driven, caring, compassionate and always smiling. Adeline was a bright spot in an often-dark world, exuberantly joyful, humble, troubled by the woes of others, and determined to leave this world a better place through her outreach on many fronts, Dr. Dori R. Marshall, associate dean and director of medical admissions and assistant professor of psychiatry, told the university. Dr. Charles Severin, associate dean for student and academic affairs and associate professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, told the university that he works with so many students that its hard to remember every one of them. But Adeline I remember. What I remember the most was when she would smile and you looked at her face, even her eyes were smiling, he told the university. Adeline went on medical outreach trips to Haiti each of her four years in medical school. Adeline Fagan, 28, is a LaFayette native. Now a resident doctor at a Houston, Texas hospital, she is currently on life support after becoming sick with Covid-19. Maureen Fagan, Adelines younger sister, spoke with CNN following her sisters death. We each now know exactly what Adeline wanted and what she gave in this life, Maureen Fagan said. I think that is enough to keep her alive within us and keep our family together, because theres so much of Adeline that she can still give to this world, even if shes not here. On the morning of July 8, Adeline was fatigued and had a headache. But by that evening, she barely had enough energy to walk. Maureen took her sister to the emergency room. Adeline tested positive for Covid-19 and quarantined in her room she and Maureen shared in Houston. But after about one week, Adelines condition worsened. She began falling over in her bedroom and her lips turned blue, a sign her blood lacked oxygen. On Aug. 4, doctors put Adeline on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, used in the worst Covid-19 cases. In the days before her death, Adeline had been doing well, but the night before she died, the hospital called Adelines parents. They said Adeline had a massive brain bleed and was not responsive. Doctors told the family that even with emergency surgery, there was a one-in-a-million chance that Adeline would survive. Her family opted against the surgery. Adeline died on Sept. 19 at 4:24 a.m., the time the world stopped for a moment and will never be the same, her father Brant Fagan wrote in an online update. Adeline Fagan (rear) and her three sisters: Maureen (left) Emily (center) and Natalie (right). If you can do one thing, be an Adeline in the world, Brant Fagan wrote. Be passionate about helping others less fortunate, have a smile on your face, a laugh in your heart, and a Disney tune on your lips. Adeline was a LaFayette native who graduated from Bishop Ludden High School, where she played varsity lacrosse and was elected class president. The family set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay Adelines medical bills as well as travel expenses and living expenses for the family. It will now also be used for funeral expenses. More than $190,000 has already been raised. Her funeral will be held Saturday, Oct. 3. The funeral will be live streamed online at holyfamilysyr.org. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci. Benaulim gangrape case: Goa CM faces flak for asking parents of victims why were their daughters out so late #Nirbhaya trends on Twitter as Hathras gang-rape survivor dies India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, Sep 29: It has been eight years since the Nirbhaya incident that shook the country with its gruesome cruelty, where the 23-year-old survivor died after she was gang-raped by six men, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her friend. Hathras: 19-yr-old woman battling for life after brutal gangrape dies in Delhi|Oneindia News On the same note, a 19-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by 4 men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh on September 14, succumbed to the injuries on Tuesday morning at a Delhi hospital. As soon as the news broke out, netizens make #Nirbhaya trending with asking questions to govts, expressing mourn for the woman, while some expressed their rage as the incidents of rape never stopped. Uttar Pradesh: Teenage Dalit girl, gang-raped in Hathras, dies at AIIMS Giving details of the incident, Hathras SP said that the woman had gone to the fields with her mother on that fateful day and had gone missing soon after. She was later found brutally injured, with her tongue having a serious cut as she bit it while the accused attempted to strangulate her, he said. Also, according to the spokesperson of the hospital, the girl's legs have been completely paralysed while her arms have been temporarily paralysed. She was shifted to the national capital after her family members said that they wanted her to undergo treatment there. The SP said initially they came to know that Sandip (20) had tried to kill her following which he was arrested the same day. Later in her statement to the magistrate, the victim said that besides Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi had raped her and when she resisted their attempts, they tried to strangulate her, leading to the cut in the tongue, the official said. Later, Luvkush and Ramu were also arrested and the fourth accused was arrested on Saturday, the SP added. Check a few tweets here: Another Nirbhaya died today. We are again defeated. The same pattern, the same crime. shameful. Koyel M (@mkoyel1) September 29, 2020 A 19 year old Dalit girl was brutally gang raped in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras. Her tongue was cut off. Her spinal cord and neck were damaged. She has now been shifted to Delhis Safdarjung hospital. She is fighting for her life. This is no country for women.#Nirbhaya Pratiksha Bhaware;-) (@BhavrePratiksha) September 29, 2020 From Nirbhaya in 2012 to the Hathras gangrape survivor in 2020, we continue to fail women safety. Gutted. Aneesha Bedi (@AneeshaBedi) September 29, 2020 After years of stagnation since 2011, now is the time not only to rebuild the Egyptian economy, but also to correct mistakes of the past The Egyptian government has shown the resolve to embark on an ambitious investment and development programme in key growth sectors. This week saw the inauguration of a major project in the petroleum sector that had been on the backburner since 2011. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi opened a hydrocracking complex project in Qalyubiya, to the north of Cairo. The project involves cracking, a chemical process used in oil refineries, low-value Mazut into high-value petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. The complex, jointly established with the private sector at an investment level of $3.4 billion, is part of the countrys strategy to develop the refining industry and cut fuel imports. Production from the new plant is expected to save some $600 million to $1 billion annually. Work on the project had stopped for years due to the instability that followed the 2011 uprising. On the sidelines of the event, Al-Sisi also inaugurated Al-Tagnid-Shubra Banha axis which links Mostorod district, where the new complex is located, to major roads in the eastern and western parts of the country. The project is part of the countrys plan to upgrade the road network across the country. In East Cairo alone 50 roads covering 200 kilometres have been upgraded and 40 bridges have been built at a total cost of LE22 million. The governments unrelenting construction activity is part of an effort to address infrastructure gaps and improve Egypts ability to attract domestic and international investment. As the president stressed during the abovementioned inauguration, stability and security are essential for attracting investment, whether in Egypt or throughout the world. New construction projects, such as the roads being rolled out, are making their impact on the economy. According to the Oxford Business Group, construction accounted for 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2018, but its full impact extends well beyond its direct contribution to the economy... The recent surge in construction activity is improving transport networks, making energy production and consumption more efficient, and providing the necessary base infrastructure for new urban areas. After years of stagnation since 2011, now is the time not only to rebuild the Egyptian economy, but also to correct mistakes of the past. Cracking down on building violations is just as important as new projects. The country has seen a significant rise in illegal construction since 2011, with many people trespassing on government property, building on fertile agricultural land and constructing illegal multi-storey buildings that often do not meet engineering safety standards. Clusters of unplanned red-brick buildings and informal settlements have sprung up at the edge of cities where streets are so narrow a fire truck would not be able to make it through should there be a need. The governments resolute measures to stop the violations is important for the welfare of everyone. The country lost precious 90,000 feddans (around 400 square kilometres) in the past nine years to building violations and land encroachments. These lands cannot be replaced; reclaiming a single feddan could cost up to LE200,000. Unplanned buildings have come to constitute about 50 per cent of the urban clusters in villages and cities countrywide, the prime minister once said. For the good of future generations, the government cannot turn a blind eye to these encroachments. Violators must pay their dues. On the one hand, the fines collected will be used to upgrade infrastructure to meet the needs of the additional edifices, while on the other it is a warning that violations will no longer be tolerated. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Generali Global Assistance ("GGA"), the developer of a proprietary identity and cyber protection platform, today announced its support of Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM) this October in partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and other organizations. In support of this collaborative effort to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity, GGA will provide free educational resources and services to ensure that the public has what they need to be safer and more secure online. As a champion of Cyber Security Awareness Month, General Global Assistance's Global Identity and Cyber Protection Services division will offer its ScamAssist product for free to all consumers for the month of October. ScamAssist is a consumer service in which resolution experts research suspicious solicitations sent in by consumers and provide case-by-case assessments on the likelihood of it being a scam. Consumer cases opened in October will be serviced until closed, even if that extends past the end of the month. Any consumer can take advantage of ScamAssist by calling the Company's Resolution Center at (866) 311-1488 using policy number "CSAM 2020." Paige Schaffer, CEO, Global Identity and Cyber Protection Services, commented on today's news, "The pandemic has created the perfect environment for scammers, who are exploiting uncertainty and fear to prey on millions of Americans through scams that take advantage of charitable donations, taxes, the paycheck protection program, and even puppy adoption. As COVID-19 scams surge and major breaches of sensitive consumer data continue to occur, we see a clear need to continue raising awareness among both businesses and consumers alike, especially as many work in environments outside their office and on unprotected devices. In our current interconnected world, everyone has a role and responsibility in preventing and mitigating the effects of identity theft and fraud. GGA and NCSA share a deep commitment in educating both businesses and consumers. We hope, through our support of CSAM, we help lead the charge in creating an online experience that is safer and more resilient for everyone." GGA will also host a series of live events and webinars to advocate for identity & cyber protection best practices. The live event series schedule is listed below: October 8 : " Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart." GGA will be joining NCSA and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) in a live Twitter chat to discuss practical steps individuals can take to better secure their cyber identities. The event will take place Thursday, October 8 at 2:00 p.m. ET . GGA will be joining NCSA and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) in a live Twitter chat to discuss practical steps individuals can take to better secure their cyber identities. The event will take place at . October 13 : "Smart Devices Need Smart Security: Securing Your Business in an Internet of Everything World" In collaboration with NCSA and its partners, GGA will share tips and resources around how companies can properly secure their internet-enabled devices. This webinar is part of the CyberSecure My Business (CSMB) national program that supports small and medium business enterprises year-round. The event will take place Tuesday, October 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET . In collaboration with NCSA and its partners, GGA will share tips and resources around how companies can properly secure their internet-enabled devices. This webinar is part of the CyberSecure My Business (CSMB) national program that supports small and medium business enterprises year-round. The event will take place at . October 15 : "Cybersecurity In A Flash: 2020 Virtual Small Business Cybersecurity Summit" GGA is proud to sponsor the 2020 Small Business Cybersecurity Summit, a 3-hour virtual workshop showcasing information and resources that small & medium-sized busineses can put into action to improve their security. The summit will feature GGA professionals, including Patrice Bobala , Head of Global IDP Knowledge & QA, discussing what small businesses can do to protect themselves from a cybersecurity standpoint. GGA will also have a virtual booth at the event, in which they will host complimentary live demonstrations of their identity & cyber protection services and enroll eligible consumers into an identity protection program. The event will take place Thursday, October 15 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET , with GGA live demonstrations from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET . GGA is proud to sponsor the 2020 Small Business Cybersecurity Summit, a 3-hour virtual workshop showcasing information and resources that small & medium-sized busineses can put into action to improve their security. The summit will feature GGA professionals, including , Head of Global IDP Knowledge & QA, discussing what small businesses can do to protect themselves from a cybersecurity standpoint. GGA will also have a virtual booth at the event, in which they will host complimentary live demonstrations of their identity & cyber protection services and enroll eligible consumers into an identity protection program. The event will take place from , with GGA live demonstrations from . October 16 : "Identity Protection Best Practices" In case you miss the 2020 Small Business Cybersecurity Summit, GGA will host a Facebook Live event where people can connect with GGA's experts to hear identity protection tips and best practices for securing their personal and business identity. The event will take place Friday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET . In addition, GGA will share educational resources throughout the month to promote a more secure world for consumers and businesses. In October, NCSA will launch the Cybersecure My Business (CSMB) COVID-19 Series Toolkit, which will include GGA-provided resources relevant to the webinars featured in it. The Toolkit will showcase NCSA's CSMB COVID-19 series webinars that GGA participated in, including "Avoiding COVID-19 Scams" and "Business Identity Theft." You can also access the full Toolkit here. About Generali Global Assistance Generali Global Assistance has been a leading provider of identity and cyber protection solutions, travel insurance, and other assistance services for more than 35 years. The Company offers a full suite of innovative, vertically integrated travel insurance and emergency services, identity protection solutions, and beneficiary companion services. Generali Global Assistance is part of the multinational Generali Group, which for over 185 years has created a presence in 60 countries with over 71,000 employees. Our success has been built on the foundation of trust that clients have placed in our ability to provide assistance in the most difficult of circumstances. To learn more about Generali Global Assistance's identity & cyber protection offerings, please visit https://www.irisidentityprotection.com/ GGA Media Contact Jay A. Morakis M Group Strategic Communications (for Generali Global Assistance North America) +1 646.859.5951 [email protected] SOURCE Generali Global Assistance Related Links https://us.generaliglobalassistance.com/ New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday placed before Parliament some revealing data indicating that India's direct tax collection is not commensurate with the income and consumption pattern of the economy. Here are 15 shocking details - as mentioned by Jaitley in Budget 2017 - that indicate the direct tax collection is not commensurate with the income and consumption in the country. (1). 3.7 crore individuals filed tax returns in 2015-16. (2). 99 lakh showed income below the exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. (3). 1.95 crore showed income between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. (4). 52 lakh showed income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. (5). Only 24 lakh people declared income above Rs 10 lakh. (6). Of 76 lakh individual assessees who declared income of above Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are in the salaried class. (7). Number of people showing income more than Rs 50 lakh in the country is only 1.72 lakh. (8). In the last five years, more than 1.25 crore cars have been sold. (9). Number of Indian citizens who flew abroad, either for business or tourism, is 2 crore in 2015. (10). Against estimated 4.2 crore persons engaged in organised sector employment, the number of individuals filing return for salary are only 1.74 crore. (11). As against 5.6 crore informal sector individual enterprises and firms doing small business, the number of returns filed by this category is only 1.81 crore. (12). Out of the 13.94 lakh companies registered in India upto March 31, 2014, 5.97 lakh companies have filed returns for Assessment Year 2016-17. (13). Of the 5.97 lakh companies which have filed returns for Assessment Year 2016-17 so far, as many as 2.76 lakh companies have shown losses or zero income. ALSO READ | Jaitley's Budget 2017 softens demonetisation blow: Major tax relief for small taxpayers, cash transaction above Rs 3 lakh barred; safety fund for Railways announced (14). Only 2.85 lakh companies have shown profit before tax of less than Rs 1 crore, 28,667 have shown profit between Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore, and only 7,781 companies have profit before tax of more than Rs 10 crore. (15). During the period November 8 to December 30, 2016, deposits between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 80 lakh were made in about 1.09 crore accounts with an average deposit size of Rs 5.03 lakh. Deposits of more than Rs 80 lakh were made in 1.48 lakh accounts with average deposit size of Rs 3.31 crore. This data mining will help us immensely expanding the tax net as well as increasing the revenues, which was one of the objectives of demonetisation," the Finance Minister said during the presentation of the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. (With inputs from PTI) READ: UNION BUDGET 2017-18 FULL COVERAGE For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Peter Jackson (Courtesy Laurie Werner) Just as much of America went into pandemic-induced lockdown in March, Peter Hardin Jackson, son of the late U.S. Sen. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, died at 53 after a multiyear battle with cancer. But thanks to his widow, Laurie Werner, his Twitter feed lives on in the same sort of understated, poignantly witty manner that epitomized Peter Jackson. Many politicians' sons follow their fathers into electoral politics. Not Jackson. He was too humble and sarcastic, his curiosities too broad, to pursue such a narrow path. But friends found him brilliant, and about the most enjoyable company one could keep. Jackson spent his early career giving screenwriting a go in Los Angeles before returning to Washington state and working on environmental issues, as well as serving as a speechwriter for two governors, Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire. He hit his stride once he shifted full time to the journalistic realm, first at the Pacific Northwest news website Crosscut and then as editorial page editor for the Everett Daily Herald, the paper of record in his family's longtime hometown. While Jackson had battled cancer since 2016, enduring countless rounds of radiation and chemo, Laurie said his descent into death "was really fast," adding, "We decided on March 11 to stop all treatment and he died 10 days later. So we didn't have the chance to thoughtfully think through whether he wanted me to take over his [Twitter] feed or retire it." Not that she hadn't tried to discuss this with him. "I kept bugging him before he was super sick. I was like, 'I should have your passwords; mine are all in this place,'" she said. "But he's not organized that way. But lucky for me, he just had everything logged in on his computer [when he died], so I just went in and changed passwords for Instagram and Twitter. I just wanted to make sure I didn't just lose access to them." Shortly after President Trump was elected, Jackson started retweeting his more outlandish tweets, accompanied by the comment, "You are a lunatic." In the months leading up to his death, he offered more robust Trump commentary, but for the most part, "You are a lunatic" was the extent of it. Story continues After Jackson's death, Laurie noticed that some of his friends and followers started tweeting "You are a lunatic" as homage to her late husband. "I was like, 'I could keep doing that,'" she says. But she felt a little strange about it, so she asked a few of Jackson's friends what they thought of her idea. "They were like, 'You should do it.'" So she has, never deviating from the one-sentence "You are a lunatic" retweet template. Her husband's capacity for political quips was considerable and, she said, "We were not the same that way. Unlike the people who've taken over Herman Cain's account, I don't want to take over his platform, she said, referring to the former presidential candidate's still active Twitter feed. But I feel like Peter would want me to keep doing this." Laurie has found her takeover of her late husband's Twitter account to be therapeutic. ("I enjoy just browsing" through it, she says.) And while she's stuck to his one-sentence Trump retweet format so far, she admits that "it's tempting to do more." To wit, when the longtime Seattle political columnist Joel Connelly tweeted about Cain tweeting from the dead, Laurie "almost went on Peter's account and said, 'So what's your point?'" Seely is a special correspondent This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The pandemic has upended the lives and wellbeing of nearly everyone, but Healthcare employees had the largest decrease in motivation (-48%) of any industry and were least likely to say their employer was supportive, according to a new meQuilibrium study of 7,000 workers which compared changes in job stress, burnout, motivation and sleep between December 2019 and June 2020. Changes in Job Stress, Disordered Sleep, Burnout and Motivation by Industry Employer Support and Job Characteristics by Industry Tech industry employees had the most broadly negative changes of any industry, with double-digit increases in job stress (11%), disordered sleep (14%), burnout (23%), and an almost 40% drop in motivation. The study also found that Communications industry employees, despite largely supportive employers and limited front line exposure, experienced the largest increase in job stress (30%) and also experienced major decreases in motivation (-33%). Finance/Insurance industry employees seem to have avoided COVID-19-related burnout but face significant challenges with motivation (-32%) and sleep (11%). "The cumulative impact of the pandemic has been devastating to workers' mental wellbeing," says Brad Smith, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium. "The specific challenges employees face differ dramatically by industry, age and gender, yet the overall trend clearly shows the tremendous strain of the pandemic in increased stress, burnout, diminished motivation, and the inability to remain consistently positive." Wellbeing of Younger Workers and Working Women Hard Hit The study also found that workers under 40 experienced a 23% increase in disordered sleep, versus an increase in sleep issues of only 1% in older workers. Motivation had a serious decline, with workers under 40 experiencing a decline of 45%, while workers over 40 suffered a 14% decline in motivation. There was also a 19% increase in the risk of burnout among the younger group, while the older group experienced a 3% decreased risk of burnout between December 2019 and June 2020. "Negative effects of COVID-19 on sleep, burnout, motivation and stress among younger people may reflect more numerous stressors associated with an earlier life stage," says Brad Smith, PhD., Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium. "In addition to the current crisis, workers under 40 are more likely to be coping with balancing child care and work, as well as facing lower income levels and higher career pressure than their older colleagues." Working women carry a high burden in the workplace, due to the many demands placed on them, and those responsibilities increased during COVID. The study found that high job stress among women increased by nearly 20%, while job stress among men increased just 1.6%. In addition to job stress, the rate of decreased motivation was substantially higher among women (31%) than among men (21%). Employer Support Serves As Critical Buffer The study found that perceptions of employer support serve as a critical buffer against threats to employee wellbeing. The rate of increase in job stress among employees who feel unsupported by their employer was more than ten times higher than those who feel strongly supported by their employer. Increases in symptoms of burnout, disordered sleep, and motivation difficulties were also all substantially higher among those who did not feel supported by an employer. "Employer support for employee wellbeing can help reduce behavioral health risk, as well as improve engagement and commitment from employees," says Dr. Smith. "Resilience is a crucial skill, as study participants with the highest resilience levels managed the negative effects of COVID-19 significantly better than those with low or moderate resilience." The full meQuilibrium study can be found here . meQuilibrium is the #1 digital solution for building employee resilience. Dr. Smith is available for interview. Please include this link: https://go.mequilibrium.com/impacts-covid19-workforce_whitepaper.html Media contact: Beth Brody, BrodyPR [email protected] 908-295-0600 SOURCE meQuilibrium Related Links https://go.mequilibrium.com/impacts-covid19-workforce_whitepaper.html A heated dispute over politics has landed a TV news presenter from South Carolina behind bars after police say she smashed a beer bottle over a man's head. Kamie Roesler, 28, a news anchor with WIS-TV in Columbia, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Sunday afternoon. According to police, Roesler was sitting outside with a group of people at around 4.30pm in the 1100 block of North Prairie Avenue in Sioux Falls when she got into an argument over politics with a 32-year-old man. Kamie Roesler, 28, a news anchor with South Carolina's WIS-TV (left), was arrested in South Dakota on Sunday on an aggravated assault charge (pictured right in mugshot) Roesler allegedly attacked her male acquaintance with a beer bottle after a heated argument over politics What started as a war of words took a violent turn when the newsreader allegedly grabbed a beer bottle and struck the man in the face, leaving him with lacerations possibly requiring stitches, reported Sioux Falls Argus Leader. The victim refused medical attentions from EMT workers who responded to the scene but later sought treatment for his injuries on his own. Investigators said Roseler and the victim knew each other. 'Theyre not in any type of relationship,' Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens said. 'The victim said that it was some type of political argument.' According to biographical information posted on WIS-TV's website, Roesler was hired as an early-morning anchor at the station in September 2019. Roesler was hired at WIS-TV in September 2019. Prior to that, she had worked at KSFY in South Dakota for more than five years For more than five years prior, Roesler had worked at WIS's sister station KSFY in Sioux Falls. Roesler grew up with her three siblings on a grain farm in North Dakota. She earned a degree in mass communications from Minnesota State University at Moorhead. A spokesperson for WIS-TV told The State that the station is aware of Roesler's arrest. Qatar Airways always comes up with excellent flight deals and offers to minimize your travel expenses and travel voucher is one such option. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - September 28th, 2020 - Being the leading airlines, Qatar Airways always comes up with excellent flight deals and offers to minimize your travel expenses and travel voucher is one such option. Book your next flight with Qatar Airways by using the voucher and get your seats done without burning a hole in your wallet. Wherever you want to go, these travel vouchers have got you covered. You can rely on these vouchers to make Qatar Airways Reservations, whenever you are ready to take to the skies. These vouchers are generally offered by the airline for unused flight tickets and you can also purchase the same. Let's find out some of the important guidelines associated with the same and the procedure to use these vouchers. Important Guidelines to Use Travel Vouchers There are certain terms and conditions linked to the usage of the travel vouchers. Before using them, it is important to go through these guidelines and then make their use accordingly. These vouchers are valid for up to a certain time and it is mandatory to use them within the deadline; otherwise, they will be of no use. The travel vouchers can only be used to make the flight bookings and not for any other thing. Redeem your Travel Voucher in 5 Simple Steps Suppose, you booked the flight ticket and then canceled the same owing to any reason, the airline will offer you the travel voucher in return. Now, it is important to redeem that voucher within the limited time duration to make the best out of it. Here is mentioned 5 simple steps to redeem your travel voucher easily. Visit the official website of Qatar Airways and find out the flight for your next journey. Among the available options, select the flight of your choice. Thereafter, enter the traveler's information as asked. It is important to note down the fact that the details you enter this time will be the same as you have given while making registration for the travel voucher. In the next step of Qatar Airways Reservations, you will have to move next to the travel summary section. There, you will find the 'Redeem Voucher' tab, select the traveler and apply the voucher code to make bookings. https://www.onlinereservationbooking.com/qatar-airways-contact-number/ ### Aer Lingus has sought tenders to operate its regional service after the current contract expires at the end of 2022, the Irish Independent has learned. Dublin-based Stobart Air currently holds the contract to operate Aer Lingus Regional services. The decision by IAG-owned Aer Lingus to put the service out to tender is certain to put pressure on the UK's Stobart Group, which is currently engaged in talks to sell Stobart Air. It's understood that Aer Lingus started the tender process within the past couple of weeks. Stock market-listed Stobart Group said in April that it was continuing "positive dialogue" with Aer Lingus to "conclude a long-term franchise extension" which would ensure that its Stobart Air business was put on a "sound financial footing". However, the following week, the then IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said that no extension had yet been granted by Aer Lingus to Stobart Air for the service and that a number of other parties had approached Aer Lingus with a view to operating it. IAG also owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level. Stobart Group declined to comment yesterday. Aer Lingus had not provided any response to queries at the time of going to print. Stobart Group, which also owns London Southend Airport, has previously said that the routes Stobart Air operates would be attractive to other airlines if its contract with Aer Lingus is not renewed. The Irish Independent revealed earlier this month that Stobart Group has entered talks with aircraft lessor Falko, which owns Dublin-based CityJet, to acquire Stobart Air. The value of such a deal will be dependent on Stobart Air securing a contract for the Aer Lingus Regional service beyond 2022. "We can confirm that we are in early-stage discussions with a number of parties including Falko Regional Aircraft regarding the potential sale of Stobart Group's stake in Stobart Air and Propius," said Stobart Group at the time. Propius is an aircraft leasing vehicle. "There can be no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming or whether acceptable terms will be agreed," Stobart Group added. Stobart Group has significant financial liabilities connected to Stobart Air and Propius. In an internal Stobart Air memo earlier this year, its managing director Andy Jolly said that Stobart Group had only prevented the Dublin-based airline from falling into receivership in order to prevent the group collapsing. Stobart Group's chief executive Warwick Brady and its chief financial officer will make a presentation to existing and potential investors on Friday. They're likely to face tough questions from shareholders who stumped up 100m (110m) for the group via an equity placing at 40p per share in June. Stobart's shares were trading at just under 20p yesterday, giving the group a market capitalisation of 123m. Stobart Air has a fleet of 15 turboprop aircraft. Before the pandemic it operated about two dozen routes from airports including Dublin and Cork. Many of those services are not currently operational. However, the airline recently launched six routes from Belfast City Airport to destinations including Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham. Like it or not, on a global level we are irrefutably in the beginning stages of a sweeping energy transition that favors clean energy alternatives over emissions-heavy fossil fuels. The COVID-19 pandemic, for all its economic destruction, has in some ways strengthened the renewable energy sector and definitively catalyzed the global green energy transition. Even before the oil price crash of unimagined proportions that occurred in April, oil has been on a long, slow, and mostly steady decline. And now, weve arrived at a breaking point: Big Oils most profitable business is no longer oil. Over the past decade, the oil companies, whose profits were mostly derived from pumping crude out of the oil fields they discovered, transformed themselves into oil and gas companies, oil strategist Julian Lee wrote for Bloomberg Opinion in an August column. Now they are evolving once again to become energy companies. Shells latest report shows that almost half of its production was natural gas, compared with less than 40 percent in 2005. So far, the transition of supermajors from Big Oil to Big Energy has been mostly limited to Europe. Whereas European oil giants like Shell and BP have invested in major renewable projects and have taken the initiative to diversify their portfolios at a time that Peak Oil seems to be drawing closer and closer, in the U.S. its a different story. While BP and other European companies invest billions in renewable energy, Exxon and Chevron are committed to fossil fuels and betting on moonshots, the New York Times reported this month in an article titled U.S. and European Oil Giants Go Different Ways on Climate Change. As oil prices plunge and concerns about climate change grow, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other European energy companies are selling off oil fields, planning a sharp reduction in emissions and investing billions in renewable energy, NYT reports. The American oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil are going in a far different direction. They are doubling down on oil and natural gas and investing what amounts to pocket change in innovative climate-oriented efforts like small nuclear power plants and devices that suck carbon out of the air. Related: Oil Bulls Return As OPEC+ Reassures Markets Now, Australia seems to be starting to follow in Europes footsteps. Oil and gas companies are pushing hydrogen as a key to Australia's pathway to net-zero emissions, with new modelling suggesting that using the fuel source to replace natural gas in stoves, heating and industrial processes will be cheaper than going fully electric, read a report published in the Sydney Morning Herald last week. As decarbonisation goals threaten long-term demand for emission-intensive fossil fuels, industry groups for gas producers, pipeliners and electricity-grid operators have launched a report into the costs of hitting carbon neutrality by 2050 under a range of different scenarios. While hydrogen is a clean energy buzzword that evokes utopian images of the perfect, clean-burning fuel that leaves behind nothing but water vapor, the reality is a bit more complicated. Some hydrogen is indeed very green. Quite aptly, this kind of hydrogen, produced using renewable resources and clean forms of energy production, is called green hydrogen. Most hydrogen currently produced for industrial applications, however, is more greenwashed than green. This hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels that do have considerable carbon emissions. This is known as gray hydrogen. Indeed, while Australias rhetoric leans heavily on carbon neutrality, the nation is angling for an energy future that still features the nations plentiful natural gas resources heavily. "There is a role for electricity and a role for gas in a low-carbon future; this report demonstrates it's not one or the other," Tamantha Smith of Energy Networks Australia was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. "Policy settings aimed at reducing emissions should recognise that continuing to use gas infrastructure is the lowest-cost option to reach net-zero emissions from the energy sector by 2050." While the plan is not quite as green as the headlines may seem, if implemented it will still be a considerable step forward in the global call to action against climate change, especially for a country as historically faithful to its fossil fuel industries as Australia. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kenya plans to focus on the Chinese market in order to boost its exports in the next few years, an official said on Monday. Wilfred Marube, CEO, Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA) told Xinhua in Nairobi that China offers the greatest potential out of the country's current trading partners due to its huge population and large purchasing power. "We will soon roll out an export market program for China," Marube said. The export agency said that it will build the capacity for Kenya firms to meet the requirement to access the Chinese market. According to KEPROBA, Kenyan frozen avocados have been granted access to the Chinese market and a number of other products will soon qualify. Marube added that in order to achieve success in its export drive, Kenya should concentrate on products that it has a competitive advantage. "We are an agricultural-based economy and so most of our exports will initially be farm-based products such as coffee, tea, and horticulture," he noted. He revealed that Kenya is also identifying other non-agricultural products that will appeal to Chinese consumers in order to diversify its product portfolio. Marube observed that Kenya has also identified 21 other export destinations that can absorb Kenyan products. He noted that in order to boost foreign exchange earnings, the country will add value to its exports. "We are losing a lot of jobs and revenues by selling unprocessed commodities to the rest of the world," Marube said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Saul Loeb and Sebastian Smith (Agence France-Presse) Cleveland/Washington, United States Tue, September 29, 2020 12:54 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e8956 2 World Donald-Trump,Joe-Biden,US-presidential-election,US-presidential-race,Presidential-Debate Free There'll be no handshake, but venom to spare when President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden meet in Cleveland on Tuesday for the first of three televised debates that could shake up an already volatile race for the White House. COVID-19 restrictions will give the debate moderated by Fox News star Chris Wallace a streamlined look with a smaller audience. Naturally, there won't be the once standard -- even if occasionally forced -- show of goodwill in shaking hands as the rivals go on stage. What the 90-minute clash will have is a chance for Americans finally to see Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, go head to head. With Trump claiming Biden is virtually brain dead -- "Biden doesn't know he's alive" -- and Biden branding the president "a toxic presence," it won't be for the faint hearted. Significantly behind in the polls, Trump is in fighting mode, embarking on an endurance-testing schedule of rallies in key battlegrounds several times a week. Biden, though, comes hoping to press his advantage. And he arrives aided by The New York Times' publication of a report purporting to reveal the contents of Trump's deeply secret tax returns -- finding that the self-proclaimed billionaire and champion of the working class avoids paying almost all federal income taxes. Hard and low Trump, who fancies his skills as a verbal pugilist, is expected to hit hard and low. For months he has painted Biden as senile. As the debate approached he increasingly focused on his claim that Biden takes performance enhancing drugs. Biden has laughed off the suggestion, but Trump, a past master at getting slurs to stick to his opponents, is doubling down. "Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a Drug Test. Gee, I wonder why?" Trump tweeted Monday. Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield responded in kind, saying that if Trump wants the debate to be conducted through "urine" samples, "he can." Trump, arguably, has little to lose. His hardcore support is already baked in and Americans are by now almost incapable of feeling shocked by his convention-wrecking style. He also goes to Cleveland with what he hopes will be his own silver bullet -- the nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. If Barrett is quickly confirmed, as the Republican-led Senate expects, Trump will have managed to tilt the highest court firmly to the right for years to come. Democrats are crying foul over the rushed timing on the eve of an election, but Trump expects the power play to energize many conservatives. Blue collar boast The president is sure to go heavy on previous claims that Biden's son was involved in corruption in Ukraine. Last year Trump was impeached for using the power of his office to try and pressure the Ukrainian government into publicly backing that theory. Biden, as frontrunner, wants to stay steady, but he has a reputation for losing his cool when challenged in public. "I hope I don't get baited into a brawl with this guy, because that's the only place he's comfortable," he said. Biden will instead aim to keep his sights trained on the coronavirus pandemic, which polls show about two thirds of Americans say Trump handled badly. He will also shoot back at the filling of the Supreme Court seat, saying that Trump's plan is for the court to restrict abortion and reverse the Obamacare health program -- two areas that could worry swing voters. But the most fiery moments may come when Biden himself gets personal, painting Trump as a spoiled playboy who only poses as a friend of the white working class that helped him get elected in 2016. Biden, who spent his early childhood in the rough-edged town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is increasingly mocking Trump's glitzy New York roots, calling it a "Scranton vs Park Avenue" election. Trump points out that Biden only lived in Scranton as a young boy and spent most of his life in Congress. But the Times report on the president's ability to avoid almost all federal income taxes will give Biden a trove of new ammunition. The international suspension bridge in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand was opened for around 30 minutes at midnight. (File photograph) Dehradun (Uttrakhand) [India], September 29 (ANI): India opened the international suspension bridge in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand for around 30 minutes at midnight, making way for an ailing Nepali student who needed immediate medical attention. The Nepali student, suffering from abdominal lumps, had to be admitted to a Pithoragarh hospital and the international bridge was the only way to reach there. Hence, the Nepali government requested India to arrange for the ailing student's travel. The deputy collector of Dharchula in Pithoragarh confirmed that they opened the swing bridge at the request of the Nepali government to make way for an ailing local girl. "On request from Nepal, with the permission of the district collector, we opened the bridge for 30 minutes. People from both the sides crossed the bridge, besides the girl." The girl's mother Revati Devi said they requested the Nepali authorities to arrange for their travel across the border as she required immediate treatment. (ANI) Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 56 assembly seats on Nov 3 and 7: EC India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 56 assembly seats spread across 12 states will be held on November 3 and 7, the Election Commission said Tuesday, but did not announce "at this stage" by-elections to seven assembly constituencies in four others states. While bypolls to 54 assembly seats would be held on November 3, those for one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and two assembly seats in Manipur would be held on November 7. Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Our fight is against BJP, not JDU, says Tejashwi Yadav The votes for all the bypolls will be counted on November 10, alongside the counting of votes for the general assembly elections in Bihar. Before sharing the schedule, the poll panel issued a separate statement on Tuesday to say that it has decided not to announce at this stage" the conduct of by-elections on seven assembly seats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal. The decision has been taken based on inputs received from the chief secretaries and poll officials in these states, the poll panel said in the release. While there are two vacancies each in the assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one seat is vacant in the West Bengal legislature. The term of the legislative assemblies of the four states would end on different dates between May and June next year. Besides the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha bypoll in Bihar, by-elections are being held to 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Most of these 28 seats fell vacant when rebel Congress members resigned from the party and the assembly to join the BJP. After the resignations of the Congress members, the Kamal Nath-led government lost majority and the BJP returned to power. No by-polls in four states says EC as inputs cite difficulties Earlier, the EC had said that bypolls are pending in 64 assembly seats. But the figure now stands at 63, including the seven seats in four states where the schedule was not announced on Tuesday. The reason is that the number of vacant seats in some states has changed due to various reasons, including court cases. "The figures are not static. We go by the number of clear vacancies on a given date," a senior official explained. Eight assembly seats are going for bypolls in Gujarat, followed by seven in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Karnataka and Jharkhand, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Haryana. Photo credit: Bonhams From Autoweek Cars with presidential history don't come up for auction all that often, despite the fact that there are so many with White House connections. The history of most of these cars is well documented, and most of them now sit in various presidential libraries or trade hands among collectors of limousines and other historical cars. But anything tied to the presidency of John F. Kennedy tends to inspire plenty of interest from collectors of presidential items. In a couple of weeks Bonhams Auctions will offer just such a item, when the 1963 Lincoln Continental dubbed "Limo One," the car used by John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy on the morning of November 22, 1963, rolls across the auction block. This is the car that drove the pair, along with Texas governor John Connally, to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth on November 22, having been loaned by local car dealer Bill Golightly to the president and his entourage as an official vehicle during their time in Fort Worth on November 21 and 22. So this is not the car in which Kennedy was shot that was a different, black Continental open-top car used by the Secret Service. Photo credit: Bonhams "The President and Jackie Kennedy woke up at the Fort Worth Hotel the morning of November 22, 1963, made a call to their hosts to thank them for the care they had been shown, and were transported by this brand new white Lincoln Continental that had been loaned by local car dealer Bill Golightly to a breakfast where President spoke to a sizable crowd in a light rain," Bonhams notes. "People had turned out in large numbers to see the President and First Lady, and as they proceeded to Carswell Air Force Base to board Air Force One, they took their time, basking in the warm reception. Exiting the vehicle, they boarded the waiting plane for the fateful trip to Dallas where the death of the President would shock a nation." This was was then returned to Golightly, and was sold to David Pelham of Dallas the following year, and three years later was sold to L. H. Hough, joining the Museum of American Tragedy. This is where it remained until 1998 until it was sold to John Reznikoff, who kept it for a number of years until the car changed hands once again at an auction titled Camelot: 50 Years After Dallas, in 2013. Story continues The car has been restored by Lincoln specialist Baker Restoration of Putnam, Connecticut, and has received a replacement engine as well as a repaint, but the red leather interior has been kept original. Evidently, the car had aged a bit even in the care of a museum, which often happens, and needed more than a simple recommissioning. Photo credit: Bonhams "This lot is being offered for sale as a Collectible," Bonhams notes. "As such, this lot may not be operable as a vehicle, suitable for any particular purpose (including transportation), registrable or 'street legal' and/or may not pass any applicable smog or similar state or local mechanical vehicle certification." This Lincoln is estimated to bring between $300,000 and $500,000 on auction day, representing a fairly liberal range that reflects the unpredictable nature of such auction lots. The car changed hands for $318,000 when Reznikoff parted with it at the Camelot: 50 Years After Dallas auction back in 2013, on which we reported at the time. The work carried out by Putnam took place prior to that auction as well, so the car likely has not changed condition in the past seven years. Whether it will be able to reach that mark again, or perhaps exceed it greatly, remains to be seen. This year is not the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death, but interest in his personal items, a number of which will be offered by Bonhams, remains high. The full auction lot list is perhaps worth a look for all the other items that aren't presidential limousines there are plenty of much more affordable but much smaller items there. The Executive Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), Dr Lawrence Agyemang Siriboe, says the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has triggered patients reluctance to use the facility for fear of contracting the virus. He said the development had caused some patients to lose their lives. Dr Siriboe made this known when Engisys Limited, a biochemical company, donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to the centre last Friday. The items included face masks, hand sanitiser and N95 masks. Because of the fear of COVID-19 we have a lot of our patients who are presently afraid to come to the hospital. So even when they're sick and they need our care, they're afraid. Unfortunately, we have had about two patients who refused to come to the hospital because of COVID-19, and by the time they were eventually brought in, it was too late to help them, he stated. Preventive protocols People with heart conditions are more vulnerable to COVID-19 as they stand a higher risk of death and to some extent a greater risk of contracting severe complications. Dr Siriboe, however, assured the public, especially patients, that the centre had some of the best preventive protocols for COVID-19 so there was nothing to fear. What we want to assure people of is that, all the preventive protocols are observed at all the hospitals that we have, especially the National Cardiothoracic Centre, he stressed. Dr Siriboe explained that authorities at the facility had put measures in place to ensure that all health protocols were duly observed to prevent any infection at the centre. The wearing of face mask is compulsory; washing of hands under running water and the use of hand sanitiser are mandatory. We also do, as much as possible, observe social distancing protocols. So patients should not be afraid to come to the hospital, he entreated. COVID-19 and cardio centre The executive director of the centre also stated that the centre, among others, had suffered a great deal of financial loss as a result of the drop in the number of patients, due primarily to the pandemic. This pandemic, I will say, has affected everybody in the whole world and Ghana has not been left out, and of course the NCTC has also not been left out. We have been negatively affected in several ways, Dr Siriboe stated. He added that we have to spend a lot more money buying PPE than what we would normally have bought and this has affected our finances a lot. He said the centre was virtually shut down during the lockdown, adding that we had to close down the centre. So there was virtually no generation of funds that would support the centre. So it has had a lot of negative impact on the centre. The executive director stressed that the centre had not observed as many infections among patients as seen in the West. Ghanas COVID-19 case count Ghana recorded its first two COVID-19 cases on March 12, this year. COVID-19 active cases as of yesterday stood at 470, with 34 new recorded cases. There have been 45,618 recoveries also, while 299 patients have sadly yielded to the disease. Heart conditions Heart diseases are usually very life-threatening and therefore seeking medical attention early is often advised. Some of the conditions prevalent in Ghana include blood vessel diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) and heart defects people are born with, commonly known as congenital heart defects. Source: graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The distraught father of a woman allegedly killed by a top Russian military historian has told a murder trial how he spent two days identifying his daughter from her dismembered body parts. Anastasia Yeschenko, 24, was shot dead and her corpse was cut to pieces by renowned Napoleon expert Oleg Sokolov, prosecutors say. The academic, 64 - who liked to dress as the French general and emperor - dumped his student's body parts in a river in St Petersburg, it is alleged. The court also heard evidence that the couple had quarreled shortly before her death in November last year. Suspect: Renowned Russian historian Oleg Sokolov, pictured in court in St Petersburg last week, is accused of murdering his student lover Anastasia Yeschenko and her professor Oleg Sokolov dance at a Napoleon-themed ball around a year before her death Anastasia's father Oleg Yeschenko told the trial about the macabre procedure when he was forced to identify the remains pulled from the Moika River. 'On 11 and 12 November I identified the head, arm and torso of my daughter,' he testified. The victim's mother Galina said she knew her daughter was in a 'romantic relationship' with Sokolov but said the student had 'hesitated' about marrying the historian, her university teacher. The mother earlier testified that Anastasia was on the point of dumping him. 'She had a fight with Sokolov because she wanted to go to a friend's birthday. He hit her and called her ungrateful,' she told the court. A neighbour of Sokolov testified how she overheard the pair in a shouting match on the night the PhD student was killed. Angelina Volskaya, 24, said she heard the couple's final quarrel through the thin wall of her apartment. 'I heard Yeshchenko loudly say: 'Don't touch me, please'. Sokolov ranted at his lover and there was the sound of crashing furniture, the court was told. . 'I heard at least five blows, after each the girl screamed and asked her not to touch her,' the witness said. 'Then she said, "Okay, I'm not going anywhere, you're not a bastard, just don't touch me." Then I heard her loud screechingtwo or three times.' Yeshchenko (pictured) was shot dead and her corpse was cut to pieces by the renowned Napoleon expert, prosecutors say Rescuers examine the Moika River where the remains were found and where Sokolov was hauled out of the water after allegedly disposing of the body parts The row was on the night that the student died, it was later established. Forensic expert Viktor Vasilenko, said: 'The death happened four or five days before the body parts were found.' Sokolov had first tried to suffocate her 'but this was not the cause of death'. 'Four shots were fired, three of them penetrating,' he said. 'The shots were fired in a short period of time and from a close distance of between 15 centimetres to one and a half metres. 'The person who dismembered the body did not know the human anatomy well.' Sokolov, a recipient of France's Legion of Honour, is accused of shooting and dismembering Yeschenko with whom he had taken part in re-enactments of Napoleon's life. The academic - who liked to dress as the French general and emperor - is pictured at a re-enactment of an 1812 battle The court will later hear the professor's defence. He won the right for his lawyers to have access to messages on his and his lover's smartphones. This followed an earlier court session in which he ranted from the dock: 'I insist this evidence is considered openly.' The messages would show 'the terrifying things she was writing to me' and 'monstrous insults' to his children from previous relationships. 'People must see this,' he stormed, prompting the judge to order him: 'Sokolov, calm down.' His rant went on, flailing his arms and wildly wagging his finger, as he claimed: 'It's disgusting, vile, and only by knowing this can people understand what has happened.' A bacterial infection causing elephants to suffer 'extremely sudden deaths' has killed another 12 of the animals in Zimbabwe - taking the total death toll from the outbreak to 34. 'A total of 34 carcasses have been found... but some others have not been located,' Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director Fulton Upenyu Mangwanya told parliament. The animals died between August 24 and September 23 this year in and around the wildlife-rich forests between the famous northwestern Hwange National Park and the town of Victoria Falls. 'They were found lying on their bellies' suggesting they had an 'extremely sudden death,' Mangwanya said. A dead elephant is seen in Hwange National park, Zimbabwe on 29 August, 2020. Wildlife authorities said today that a further twelve more elephants have died in Zimbabwe, raising the death toll from a suspected bacterial infection to 34 A dead elephant is seen in Hwange National park, Zimbabwe, Saturday, 29 August, 2020 Tests conducted in Zimbabwe so far point to a disease called haemorrhagic septicaemia, which is caused by bacterial infection, he said. Rangers have ruled out cyanide poisoning or poaching because the animals were found with their tusks intact. Mangwanya said wild animals are more susceptible to disease during the country's dry and hot season, which is roughly from August to November. In recent years Zimbabwe has suffered through successive droughts made more severe by global warming, leaving animals with less water and vegetation. Wildlife vets take samples from dead elephants found in Hwange National park, Zimbabwe, Saturday, 29 August, 2020 Samples have been sent to a laboratory in Britain and others will be dispatched to South Africa and the United States for further tests and analysis. Zimbabwe counts more than 84,000 elephants -- almost double the southern African country's ecological carrying capacity of between 45,000 and 50,000. Neighbouring Botswana, home to the world's largest elephant population of around 130,000, lost around 330 elephants early this year from cyanobacteria poisoning. Bjork declined to explain why he believes the operations were carried out with no legal basis. These details and explanations will first be made at the main hearing, he said, adding no date for that was set yet at the District Court in Solna, in northern Stockholm. Brentano String Quartet Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.; 92y.org; available for one week. The 92nd Street Y is opening an enticing season of livestreams with a concert by this exciting quartet. On paper, a program offering works by Haydn and Mendelssohn might not seem so daring. But these superb players have chosen rarer fare, including Haydns String Quartet in D (Op. 17, No. 6); four short pieces by Mendelssohn; and that composers String Quintet in B-flat, a restless score with a mournful slow movement and hurtling finale. (The violist Hsin-Yun Huang joins for it.) ANTHONY TOMMASINI Nathalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet Oct. 14, 10 p.m.; calperformances.org; available until Jan. 12. Folk songs, sweet strings, spoken text, a girls choir and quirky electronics come together in Nathalie Joachims charmingly understated yet unmistakably ambitious Fanm dAyiti (Women of Haiti, in the kreyol language), featuring the Spektral Quartet and presented by Cal Performances. With sly loveliness, Ms. Joachim, a Haitian-American composer, flutist and vocalist, sketches a whole universe, conjuring the stories of Haitian women and, as George Lewis observed in The New York Times, bringing musical Minimalism home to the African diaspora from which it has drawn so much. ZACHARY WOOLFE Cleveland Orchestra Oct. 15, 7 p.m.; clevelandorchestra.com; available live, then on demand. For its virtual fall season, In Focus, the Cleveland Orchestra is presenting five episodes on its new platform, Adella named after the groups founder, Adella Prentiss Hughes. December will bring a cant-miss concert with John Adams and the pianist Vikingur Olafsson; but to start, Franz Welser-Most leads a program of Respighis third set of Ancient Airs and Dances, a musical embodiment of grace, as well as George Walkers Antifonys, played by the Clevelanders for the first time, and Tchaikovskys Souvenir de Florence. JOSHUA BARONE New Delhi, Sep 29 : After a tough six months of pandemic (and continuing) wherein most of us were resigned to our homes and restrained ourselves from socialising, finally festive season ushers in hope and good cheer. During a typical Diwali and wedding season, there is always a rush for gold, jewellery and gems. Can we expect to see the same investment even when the big fat Indian has dramatically slimmed down? Will Diwali festivities lack the lustre of gifting due to restrained and cautious socialising? IANSlife speaks to Ajoy H. Chawla, Chief Executive Officer of Titan's Jewellery business that houses iconic brands such as Tanishq, Mia, Zoya and CaratLane. Titan's Jewellery arm today has a network strength of 450+ exclusive retail outlets in 200+ towns and an extensive manufacturing and geographically dispersed sourcing network in India. Zoya, introduced its new collection, Rooted -- an exquisite lineup of over 45 pieces for the modern sophisticate. Seeking cues from the inner strength of the feminine spirit, the collection is in keeping with the brand's deep commitment to fine design and impeccable craftsmanship. Read Excerpts: Q: The Big Fat Indian wedding has become a lighter affair, do you think this will impact jewellery trends? A: In general, we feel that weddings will continue to be a major occasion for jewellery purchase. Our luxury brand Zoya is not really a bridal jewellery brand. It is bought for the celebration of personal milestones, and that includes gifts for weddings where customers may be looking for something eternal, beautifully crafted and meaningful to commemorate the special occasion. The target audience that Zoya caters to is also not as economically impacted as much as they are impacted by sentiment. Thus, they would not hold back on purchasing jewellery, at least we have not seen any evidence of that. Since precious jewellery is seen as an asset that appreciates in value over time unlike other expenditures in a wedding that are solely experiential, it is likely that people are going to spend as much, if not more on jewellery, hence gaining significantly in share of wallet. Q: Rooted is a lineup of over 45 modern pieces do you think these are pieces in keeping with the new age bride who wants to be able to re-wear jewellery often?A: Zoya in many ways is redefining the luxury jewellery segment, with a focus on aesthetic and craftsmanship. It is not really targeting the wedding/bridal market. Rooted is a collection that celebrates the journey of the Zoya woman as she reconnects with her feminine self. It seeks to enable the woman who plays multiple roles in her life including that of a nurturer, caregiver, and an ambitious go-getter to embark on a journey of rediscovering her authentic self. The Zoya woman is well travelled, exposed to the best in the world and aesthetically astute. She is a mature individual and this collection symbolises her resilience and mirrors her attitude to break free from the confines of societal expectations, delving deep within to draw strength. The collection's design has been inspired by motifs from the rainforest, which is a metaphor for this inner strength, and is an exquisite line up of colourful and spirited pieces to suit the different occasions. Q: The collection draws on motifs from the world's rainforests, is this the brand's way of showing support for environment and sustainability in the new normal? A: Each collection at Zoya takes between nine months to a year from concept to delivery. So, this collection was also planned almost a year ago, with designs inspired by the inner strength and resilience possessed by the rainforests in the face of climatic upheavals. It is serendipitous that we are launching it at a time when nature is teaching us a few things and the theme is more relevant than ever. There is more consciousness towards the environment and the planet, and there could not have been a better time to launch 'Rooted'. Q: You have used the entire spectrum of gemstones, including emeralds, sapphires, tanzanites, etc., Is this the brands attempt to bring joy and colour back into lives of women who have faced the brunt of the Covid-19 impact? A: Since the inception of the pandemic in March, people have had very limited social contact and there is a sense of frustration having to sit confined at home for so long, being unable to lead their lives as they previously did. They are seeking a release. The upcoming festive season gives people a reason to celebrate and connect; the colour and exuberance of this collection befits the celebratory experiences that we are all looking forward to. Q: Spearheading iconic brands such as Tanishq, Mia, Zoya and CaratLane, do you believe that luxury and jewellery are recession-proof? A: It would be inappropriate for me to make such a sweeping conclusion. What I can share is that we have observed that when it comes to jewellery, people see it as an asset, whether it is gold or studded. It is timeless, precious and it appreciates in value over time. Further, In India, jewellery is deeply connected to rituals and sentiment; it is symbolic of the eternal love that binds a father and a daughter, welcoming a daughter in law in the family by gifting her a jewellery piece, celebrations of milestones and so on. For the Zoya and the Tanishq customer, the impact is more humanitarian and on sentiment and not economic. Therefore, it is not about whether it is recession-proof, it is about how the sentiment may be impacted. We are fortunate that this is not so for our brands. In the last few months, we have seen a 90 per cent recovery in Zoya and Tanishq and we are hoping it will continue through the festive season. Q: With the strength of 450+ exclusive retail outlets, do you think that online is now essential and the company has to re-focus its online strategy, or do you believe when it comes to jewellery nothing can replace touch and feel? A: I'd say the combination of online or physical is working well for us, a 'phy-gital' strategy. Being physically present in smaller towns has been beneficial for us because different classes have been impacted differently. Our presence in middle India has especially benefitted Tanishq, protecting us from the higher impact of COVID in metros and bigger cities. For Zoya as a luxury brand, our focus has always been on personalisation and ensuring the comfort of the customer. Here also the 'phy-gital' strategy has actually worked well because jewellery is a high involvement purchase. Appointment based selling and home visits have been a way for life ever since the brand's inception, and this continues with the addition of video and WhatsApp call options for customers with our sales executives who not only act as jewellery advisors but put in a lot of effort to know the customers and understand their specific preferences. In order to make their special occasions memorable, we continue to curate experiences for our customers that are meaningful. Quite recently, we had a customer who wanted to make his spouse's birthday special but did not want to step out of the house due to the situation. We arranged for a specially curated lunch for the couple from Taj with their favourite cuisine. This is how we personalise and provide bespoke services for our customers from the comfort and convenience of their homes. Q: In terms of sales during the upcoming festive season, what financial impact (in percentage or figures) do you think the Covid-19 will have? A: We will be able to share more information on the financials only after the Quarter-2 results are out. Q: Do you think we will find a spurt of revenge buying in the months of October through December as similar to what happened in China once everything was back up and running. A: Revenge buying is yet another piece of jargon that has been heavily used! I would simply call it about wanting to feel self-indulgent. Since people have been locked away for a while now, they would want to express themselves indulgently, celebrating the upcoming festive season. Coincidentally, 'Rooted' from Zoya is colourful, spirited and fluid -- an exquisite symbol of self-expression. Further, Zoya is bought for celebrating personal milestones and special occasions and these are not going away, hence we are confident that the Zoya woman will want to acquire this exotic and unique collection as soon as she sets her eyes on it. (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) -- Syndicated from IANS By Angela Ukomadu LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian labour unions agreed with the government on Monday to suspend a planned strike over fuel and power price rises hours before businesses were due to grind to a halt, the labour minister and trade unions said. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which represents millions of workers across most sectors of Africa's biggest economy, including parts of the oil industry, last week announced its plans to embark on a general strike. Nigeria cut costly subsidies in September to allow the petrol price to be determined by the market and increased the power tariff. President Muhammadu Buhari had said Nigeria could no longer afford the subsidies but the unions said a reversal of price hikes was needed to avert the strike. The strike was due to begin on Monday but Labour and Employment Minister Festus Keyamo said in a statement, posted on Twitter, that an agreement was reached between the government and unions at 2:53 a.m. (0153 GMT). "Strike suspended," he wrote. He said the deregulation of petrol pump prices would remain in place and the government would roll out a financial support package for workers, and a joint committee comprising of government officials and labour union members would over a two-week period examine the justification for the electricity tariff policy. A communique issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) stated that the strike had been suspended and outlined the details outlined by Keyamo. Africa's top oil exporter has been under pressure from international lenders such as the World Bank to carry out reforms to qualify for budget support loans after the coronavirus pandemic triggered an oil price crash that slashed the government's income. Cheap fuel prices have long been seen by many in Nigeria as a benefit of living in an oil-producing country. Previous attempts to eliminate subsidies were scuppered due to social unrest. (Reporting by Angela Ukomadu and Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) The system is such that if all nine justices died or retired during a presidents term, then one person would be able to appoint the entire Supreme Court. Rather than a check on the other two branches of government, this arcane and undemocratic process reinforces the ruling partys power, no matter which president gets elected afterward. Rather than predictable turnovers, it leaves who fills the seat on the highest court of the land up to the chance. As the current state of affairs shows, the process is not only biased and dysfunctional, but also it is dangerous to our democracy. If Democrats win the Senate this November, the Supreme Court appointment process should be at the top of their list of reforms. By Associated Press DUBAI: When Oman's ruler of a half-century died without an heir apparent, brief fears of turmoil ended with the quick announcement of a new sultan in this nation on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. But instead of the military rulers whose arrivals come with martial music and whose ends often accompany times of trouble in the Mideast, Oman ended up with the culture minister. That Oman followed its own distinctive, uncommon path after the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said represents perhaps the best testament to his rule over a nation he brought out of the isolationist obscurity imposed by his father and modernised with its oil wealth. His successor, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, has followed his example in establishing his rule over this country of 2.7 million Omanis and another 1.7 million foreigners as the coronavirus pandemic closed off the sultanate. The outside world and internal challenges, however, are preparing to come crashing in. Oman faces billions in looming loan repayments, including from China, and needs even more money as its youthful population wants jobs and its government cannot afford the cradle-to-grave benefits given in other Gulf Arab nations. Ratcheted-up tensions between Iran and the US, either with Donald Trump still in the White House or a new Joe Biden administration, could see Oman brought into the middle of a situation that nearly sparked a war at the beginning of the year. And the sultanate's long-cherished neutrality finds itself challenged by regional disputes. Then there's the small matter of serving as sultan after a man literally celebrated each year as the architect of Oman's renaissance. "Haitham has a golden chance to become Oman's second renaissance figure," said Bader al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University who studies Oman. "The domestic economic scene is his to win or his to lose. I mean, I think there is no place for him to play around with it. The situation is very dire." Already, Sultan Haitham has followed the example of his late cousin. He plans to meet with subjects across his nation of 11 governorates that is slightly smaller than the US state of Kansas. The first visit came in Dhofar, a region bordering Yemen that was still gripped by a guerrilla war with Marxist fighters when Sultan Qaboos took power in 1970. Sultan Qaboos won the war and ultimately invited Dhofari rebels into his government, noticeably the longtime Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi. Sultan Haitham's efforts also extended into a quiet government campaign encouraging several dissidents to return to the kingdom, so long as they give up their social media presence and end their activism, said writer Nabhan Alhanshi, who leads the Omani Center for Human Rights from exile in the United Kingdom. Also invited home was Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Said, the last sultan of Zanzibar, the Tanzanian island once part of Oman. Sultan Qaboos' father and the late sultan himself kept Al Said in exile in the UK, fearful of any threat to their rule, no matter how minor. As ruler, Sultan Haitham has deviated from his predecessor by naming finance and foreign ministers, as opposed to wielding the titles himself. But Sultan Haitham remains the paramount ruler of a country where criticism of the sultan remains a criminal offence punishable by as much as seven years in prison. Oman's press remains muzzled. Meanwhile, Sultan Haitham has created a new Cyber Defense Centre that Alhanshi fears will further put activists at risk for speaking out. Sultan Haitham's decision to put his family into government roles, as well as focusing on financial issues rather than democratic reforms, worries Alhanshi. "During the protests of 2011, they said we have some financial problem, we have to solve it, then we will go through the political reform. But what happened actually there was no political reform," Alhanshi said. "The new government now is saying the same, so how can we trust them?" Oman's Embassy in Washington did not respond to several requests for comment from The Associated Press. The sultanate's finances remain a concern, however. Ratings agencies warn that the Omani government is on pace to run over a $10 billion fiscal deficit in 2020 alone. That's as global energy prices remain low, cutting into revenues for a nation that produces just under 1 million barrels of oil a day. Traders have put Omani bonds into "junk status" meaning a higher risk for default. Finding money to cover the debts remains key. Oman already has a $3.6 billion payment due in 2022 to a syndicate of Chinese banks, according to ratings agency Fitch. Seeking more money there, from the West or fellow nations in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council could make Oman more beholden to them, something Sultan Haitham wants to avoid, said Cinzia Bianco, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Then there's Iran. The start of 2020 nearly saw the US and Iran enter a war. Under Sultan Qaboos, Oman had provided a secret backchannel to Tehran during negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Just before he died, Sultan Qaboos also signed deals allowing the US and British navies access to the Omani port of Duqm, expanding the longtime access both nations enjoy there. India as well has access for its navy. While Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal lit the fuse of current tensions, Oman once again could be an interlocutor, or may already be serving as one now. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on Ghanaians to unite against any act of violence in order to keep the countrys peace and security. It also called on the public, particularly political parties, to join hands to condemn the activities of the secessionist group which had the tendency to plunge the nation into chaos. Addressing a conference in Accra on Monday, Mr John Boadu, General Secretary, NPP, said the activities of the group was shameful and unacceptable, especially in a country which prided itself as a beckon of democracy in Africa and globally. What we need is a united response to demonstrate to the few trouble makers that we will not condone any efforts by any persons to create tensions and insecurity in any part of our beautiful republic. We stand ready to assist the government in any way that we can to engage in particular the youth in some of these towns mentioned as targets of this unfortunate act, with a view to help build deeper understanding of the facts of history, to restore any misinformation, he said. The General Secretary refuted claims by the group and a section of the public that the region had intentionally been neglected in the distribution of development. He said the NPP government had over the past three and half years continuously strived to ensure even distribution of development, adding that individuals or groups must use a more civilised way to make their demands when they felt neglected. He therefore commended institutions and particularly chiefs in the Volta Region for swiftly condemning the activities of the group. Mr Boadu further applauded the security agencies for speedily bringing the situation under control. He said: As a responsible political party, we believe these are calls in the right direction. The NPP hereby condemns the acts of violence, attempts to attack sensitive installations and the attacks on security agencies under the guise of a secession movement. Mr Boadu urged the judiciary to fast-track processes of persons brought before it in such cases to serve as a deterrent to others who might harbour similar intentions. At about 0200 hours, on Friday September 25, elements of the Group attacked the Aveyime and Mepe police stations and mounted road blocks on the JuapongAccra and SogakopeAccra main roads, disrupting the daily routine of the citizenry. The situation led to the death of one person, with three persons, including a police officer, injured, in fire exchanges between security agencies and the secessionists. Thirty one persons have also been arrested to aid investigations into the matter. The situation has received wide condemnation, particularly from chiefs, including the National House of Chiefs. Western Togoland: There was no intelligence failure - Oppong Nkrumah Volume 90% Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Amid the din of diplomatic diatribes, European Union and British negotiators hunkered down Tuesday to seek compromises on everything from fishing rights to business competition rules, in a belated attempt to broker a rudimentary trade deal following the U.K.'s departure from the bloc in January. A post- transition period ends on Dec. 31, and Britain made already strained relations worse this month by announcing plans to breach the legally binding divorce agreement it signed on its departure from the bloc. The EU has responded by threatening legal action. It is casting a dark shadow over the ongoing negotiations," said German Europe Minister Michael Roth, whose country currently holds the EU presidency and, as the bloc's economic engine, has a massive stake in a positive outcome for the trade talks. Roth said the withdrawal agreement had been crafted to preserve peace on the island of Ireland, where the U.K. and the EU have their only land border, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. If it becomes law, Britain's Internal Market Bill will give the U.K. the power to disregard part of the withdrawal treaty dealing with trade to and from Northern Ireland, which shares a 300-mile (500-kilometer) border with Ireland. EU leaders fear that could lead to the re-imposition of a hard land border and erode the stability that has underpinned peace since Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday accord. To recklessly jeopardize that historic achievement would send a disastrous message," Roth wrote in Der Spiegel. The U.K. government says it respects the peace accord and the Brexit withdrawal agreement, but wants the law as a safety net in case the EU makes unreasonable demands after Brexit that could impede trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. The bill is due to win approval from the House of Commons on Tuesday, despite opposition from some members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's governing Conservative Party. Five former prime ministers, including Johnson's Conservative predecessor Theresa May, have condemned the legislation. Opposition Labour Party business spokeswoman Lucy Powell accused the government of "playing a dangerous game and it is the people and businesses of Northern Ireland who risk paying the price. The legislation still must pass through Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, before becoming law. No date has been scheduled for it to be debated there. The EU, which demanded Britain drop the bill by the end of the month, will decide by Wednesday night what action to take against the bill, and likely will start a legal fight. Against that chilly backdrop, negotiators sat down in Brussels on Tuesday for their final scheduled round of trade negotiations. The session is supposed to wrap up Friday but expectations are that negotiations will continue right up to an Oct. 15-16 EU summit, which Johnson has set as a deadline for a deal. The EU said talks could continue right up to the end of the month. Britain says it wants a free trade deal along the lines of the one the EU has with Canada. The EU says if the U.K. wants access to EU markets it must respect standards that EU companies have to live by since Britain is just too close to allow for undercutting rules that would allow for so-called dumping of U.K. merchandise at prices lower than in the EU. There will be no backhanded compromises on internal-market matters or on social and environmental standards. We strictly reject rules that would enable dumping. We owe that both to our people and to our economy," Roth said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For Nigeria to achieve its National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) target, it has to breach the gender gap, a report has stated. The report, which was jointly published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), is titled Assessment of Womens Financial Inclusion in Nigeria and was released on Monday. It noted that Nigeria has a larger gender gap when compared to countries in Africa such as Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda which it said are exhibiting a decreasing gender gap. It said women are less likely to be formally included than men, even when controlling for levels of income, education and trust. Given the NFISs ambition to increase formal inclusion as the preferred status, it is vital to look beyond absolute exclusion and to understand the gendered drivers of these differences when designing interventions, the report said. NFIS Nigeria in 2012 introduced the NFIS towards its plans of becoming one of the worlds largest economies. The goal of the strategy is to increase the number of Nigerians with access to financial services from 30 per cent to 80 per cent by 2020. According to the latest figures from the EFInA Department of the CBN, about 36.6 million Nigerian adults, representing 36.8 per cent of the adult population, do not have access to formal financial services. Recommended Interventions The report said interventions focused on increasing and deepening womens financial inclusion must focus on three key areas. To achieve sustainable change, it said these may be complemented by subsidy efforts to provide services in the meantime. First, the focus of efforts to boost womens financial inclusion should shift beyond product innovation to address the underlying drivers of gender gaps, through more systematic efforts to address womens incomes and economic empowerment, education, and boosting trust in Financial Services Providers. Our analysis suggests that these are key to closing gender gaps and improving the financial inclusion of women. Second, ideally in parallel with the first point noted above, targeted collaboration across stakeholders is needed to understand and identify options for improving the commercial viability of serving financially excluded women, even in the absence of improved income, education, and trust in Financial Services Providers. Such an effort would need to outline the degree to which commercial viability is actually lacking and then determine interventions that could tip the balance. Lastly, stakeholders who choose to provide financial products and services to excluded women who, despite efforts in the first two categories, do not present commercial viability (yet), must recognise that, until viability is reached, such services will require subsidies. In any case, product offerings must be relevant, not just aspirational, and must meet women where they are. It said the offerings must be suited to womens low current levels of income, education, and trust in Financial Services Providers. Ideally, to achieve lasting impact, they should be designed to increase womens low current levels of income, education, and trust in FSPs. The Chinese Communist Party media outlet Global Times was happy to report that an international forum of thirteen peace groups and assorted academic fellow-travelers had been held to protest the opening of a new U.S.-led Cold War against China on September 26. The story quoted from a statement issued by the No Cold War movement, "We note the increasingly aggressive statements and actions being taken by the U.S. government in regard to China. These constitute a threat to world peace and are an obstacle to humanity successfully dealing with extremely serious common issues which confront it, such as climate change, control of pandemics, racist discrimination and economic development." The timing of this meeting is significant because Beijing is in an assertive mood; flexing its military muscle across the Indo-Pacific region, from border battles with India to air and naval exercise threatening Taiwan to confrontations with Japan and Vietnam over maritime disputes. It also comes at a time when President Donald Trump has been featuring China in his re-election campaign speeches contrasting his strong reactions to Chinas aggressive acts to the appeasement policies that his opponent Joe Biden will likely adopt given his past behavior. Global Times concentrated on CODEPINK identified as a women-led grassroots organization working to end the US wars and militarism citing directly from the groups website. The citation stops before mention of human rights initiatives since such concerns are anathema to the Beijing dictatorship, but it should not worry. CODEPINK does not pursue human rights initiatives in countries it favors such as Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. A CODEPINK posting We Love Iranians (which means the theocrats, not the people) hailed the expulsion of cofounder Medea Benjamin from a program at the Hudson Institute in Washington. She had tried to disrupt a belligerent speech by Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Envoy on Iran. Benjamin has written a book defending the Tehran regime even as she acknowledges it as a theocratic dictatorship. That is fine so long as it opposes the U.S. In her mind, Washington has long been under the control of Jewish and Arab puppet masters who have spread the false claim that Iran wants nuclear weapons. She believes Israel is run by war criminals. CODEPINK has long practiced a one-sided embrace of peace which has prepared it for its alignment with Beijing. It has condemned the Saudi-led coalition fighting Irans proxies in Yemen without any mention that it was the Shiite Houthis who started the civil war. That the Houthis have used Iranian missiles and drones to widen the war with attacks on Saudi cities, shipping, and infrastructure is never mentioned. Benjamin has, however, written a book denouncing the use of drones by the U.S. against terrorist groups, with no uneasiness about terrorist attacks meant to inflict mass civilian casualties. Benjamin is old enough to link her activism back to the Cold War against the Soviet Union and the spread of communism, having stated I wouldnt characterize anybody who fought in Vietnam as a war hero and If it weren't for people like the people in Berkeley, standing up for what they believe, we'd be living under Hitler. More recently, she has not been so optimistic, comparing President Trump to Hitler. The Left has been slow to come around to the defense of the Beijing regime. In part, there has been due to its brutal human rights record in Tibet, Tiananmen Square, and Xinjiang, where the regime operates concentration camps that victimize Uyghurs. There has been another obstacle to embracing China since Deng Xiaoping declared that to get rich is wonderful and that some will get rich before others. Economic reforms that jettisoned the failed doctrines of Mao Zedong soured the Lefts love affair with the purest of communist systems. They are shocked when the state media hails the fact that there are more billionaires in China than in America. Extolling growth while dismissing green notions as hostile to poverty reduction led many on the Left to agree with those of the Right that China had not evolved from communism into liberalism, but into fascism; a one-party State-capitalist dictatorship. There are those who have been working to assure leftists that they can embrace Beijing with a clear conscience. One such activist is Jeffrey E. Brown. He holds joint U.S. and French citizenship and is a member of the French Communist Party. He moved to Shenzhen, China in 2010 and now operates Rising China Sinoland Radio and its website where he posts articles defending Beijing. His latest book gives the required spin China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations. His argument is that in China, corporations do not rule the country, but instead help the government reach its goals. It features a smiling young Chinese woman in military uniform saluting on the cover. The purpose of the book is to use history, personal memory, sociology, political analysis. and above all a fair dose of invaluable first-hand information designed to detoxify the Western reader's mind from the constant lies served by the Western media in support of Washington's global imperial agenda. Among Browns insights is the so-called Tiananmen Massacre organized by the CIA. Brown has started to appear in OpEd News, a Left-wing website that has a long history of posting articles defending Vladimir Putins Russia in addition to Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Indeed, even though its writers hate President Trump, a common theme is to dismiss the Russian collusion charges because they put Moscow in a bad light and led too many Democrats to consider a resumption of the old Cold War. A frequent contributor to OpEd News who praised Browns work was Andre Vltchek, a Soviet-born activist who became an American citizen to better subvert the country from within. Vltchek died recently and was remembered in Counter Punch for weaving together unforgettable narratives of Western imperialism and capitalistic fundamentalism. and for being a lifetime communist and advocate of Chinese globalism, which he described as beneficial to former colonized countries throughout the world. Vltchek believed China is much more democratic than the West and that is it is the Chinese people who are telling the regime do not succumb to the West. If you do, our nation will suffer immensely, and the rest of the world will turn to ashes. For those of us who remember the old Cold War, these line of argument from the Left are all too familiar. It does not matter the nature of the foreign states and movements who work against American interests, values, and security, or how contradictory they may be. The core of the western Left is hatred of the West. The immense success of the West has been built on principles contrary to their ideology, and any enemy of their enemy is a friend. But it works both ways. Any friend of our enemies is an enemy, to be defeated be they foreign or domestic. The new Cold War is on. William R. Hawkins is an economist and widely published author in the fields of national security and international economics with a long career in academe, think tanks and national government. Image: Cory Doctorow New Delhi, Sep 29 : Barring emergency cases, the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of Delhi government's Maharishi Valmiki Hospital on Tuesday announced all essential and non-essential services provided by its members had been withdrawn to protest against an assault on a doctor. The RDA said it protested the hospital administration's action not to lodge an institutional FIR against a patient and her attendant for assaulting an on-duty doctor on Saturday. The RDA formally informed the hospital Medical Superintendent about the protest through a notice. The notice read: "Since no confirmation has been made till date, we are left with no alternative but to withdraw resident doctors from essential services from 10 a.m. today, for which intimation was given to you on September 26 and again on September 28." "We are disheartened by the way this issue is being handled. The doctor concerned is under severe mental stress, and things may worsen for him if he doesn't get institutional support on priority," it said. "Who will be responsible if something goes wrong with the resident doctor? We don't want the patients to suffer and want to resume duties at the earliest, but not at the cost of threat to our lives, integrity, and respect towards the profession," the RDA warned. Meanwhile, RDAs of various government hospitals also expressed their solidarity with the victim doctor. The RDAs of Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Baba Sahib Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital extended support to the protest by the doctors and also the demand to lodge an institutional FIR in the case of assault. "We condemn the assault, extend our deepest support and stand unanimously and in solidarity with the protesting Resident Doctors Association of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital and demand immediate appropriate action by the authorities against the accused," the RDAs said. The doctors' associations are furious that the FIR in the case was lodged in the name of an individual rather than the institution, which allegedly goes against the directions of the Delhi and central governments. On Saturday, Dr Rahul Jain was allegedly assaulted by a patient, identified as Priyanka, and her attendant Naresh when the doctor asked them to come by turn in the operation theatre. He had also asked them to wear masks. Later, Dr Jain lodged an FIR against both at the Bawana police station under Sections 186, 188, 353, 332, 506 and 34 of the IPC and other relevant laws. (Photo : REUTERS/Murad Sezer) A volunteer is injected with an experimental Chinese coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine as Turkey began final Phase III trials at Kocaeli University Research Hospital in Kocaeli, Turkey September, 25, 2020. (Photo : Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said either he or anyone from his family will not receive a coronavirus vaccine once it becomes available because he is "not at risk." This is how the 49-year-old CEO replied when New York Times' Kara Swisher asked him if he will receive a vaccine during the podcast Sway. "No, I'm not at risk for COVID. Nor are my kids," the father of six said. He explained that COVID-19 vaccine is a hot issue wherein "rationality takes a back seat" as the country endures a high contagion and very low mortality rate. However, Musk noted that he has also teamed up with Harvard University's epidemiology team to work on antibody studies while Tesla developed the vaccine machines for CureVac. He despised Bill Gates' comment that he was not doing something for the health crisis. "Like hey knucklehead, we actually make the vaccine machines for CureVac, the company you're invested in,' Musk said. However, Musk does not want to focus much on the pandemic as he just try to do the best he can to improve the humanity. "Not really succeeding, but that's the goal... I got to do this without my head exploding and going to crazy," he noted. Elon Musk: COVID-19 lockdown is a "grave mistake" Meanwhile, he also regarded the coronavirus lockdowns as a grave mistake. He claimed that the right thing to do is to put those who are at risk on quarantine, but not have a lockdown for the whole country. Back in May, Tesla defied the lockdown rules in Alameda County as it opened up its Californian factories. The state's orders only allow essential business to operate in California. On May 12, Musk tweeted: "Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me." Such defiance led him to getting sued for challenging the county rules while Musk was rumored to allegedly fire employees who felt unsafe going back to work. Business Insider reported in May that at least three Tesla employees said they received phone calls and text messages asking them to return to work. Sources also claimed they risked losing their jobs if they refused. Musk said those employees who feel at risk when coming into work to stay at home. "If they have a legitimate reason to be at risk then they should stay at home," he added. The CEO then asked the host to just move on as Swisher asked him further about stepping into his employees' shoes. "Let's just move on... Kara, I do not want to get in a debate about the COVID situation," Musk noted. 'Everybody dies,' Musk said on the human cost of the pandemic that has infected more than seven million in the US and killed more than 204,000. The South Africa native said the U.S. should better assess its management of the pandemic as lockdowns were not the real solution. "It has diminished my faith in humanity... the irrationality of people in general," he added. Read also: [Update] Tesla Network Outage is Worse than Previously Thought Leaving Owners Furious and Stocks Dropping by 10%: Here's the Probable Cause This is owned by Tech Times Written by CJ Robles 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. OTTAWAThe federal government is proposing a new holiday to mark the damning legacy of Canadas residential schools for Indigenous children. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault tabled a bill Tuesday to make Sept. 30 already commemorated as Orange Shirt Day by Indigenous peoples across Canada a statutory holiday for federally regulated sectors like banking and telecommunications. The new holiday, called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, comes after a similar proposal from former NDP MP Georgina Jolibois died in the Senate before the last federal election. In an interview with the Star, Guilbeault said he hopes Canadians use the holiday as a solemn occasion of remembrance. For more than 100 years, the federal government forced Indigenous children away from their families to attend schools where many were abused, thousands died, and all were forbidden from speaking their native languages and practising their own cultures. And while the legislation would not mandate a new holiday in areas of provincial jurisdiction, like schools and all workplaces, Guilbeault said Ottawa wants to work with Indigenous groups to develop historical material that could be presented in classrooms that remain in session each year on Sept. 30. If provinces decide not to make it a holiday, it could be a day in the classrooms where we talk about this, which our history books have largely ignored, Guilbeault said. Maybe we can play a role in helping to remember, and to increase the level of awareness around Indigenous issues in this country and move the dial a little bit further on reconciliation. Perry Bellegarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, thanked Guilbeault for tabling the bill, and thanked Jolibois for her work on the initiative. Any effort to have Canadians better understand the negative impact residential schools had on First Nations peoples is welcome, Bellegarde wrote on Twitter. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg also welcomed the news, stating the holiday will help ensure public commemoration of Canadas residential school history. Canada has a painful history that we must never forget, read a statement from the centre. Establishing a day for this reflection allows us all to remember, and to renew our commitment to healing, hope and reconciliation. The proposal for a national holiday to mark the residential school legacy is one of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions final report in 2015. From the 1880s until the 1990s, the government- and church-run school system removed generations of Indigenous children from their families and home communities to indoctrinate them into the religions, languages and practices of Canadas settler society in an act the commission called cultural genocide. Untold numbers of children also died at the schools, with incomplete records documenting at least 3,000 deaths, and many others were sexually and physically abused, the commission found. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, pointed out in an interview with the Star that the first demands in from the TRC report pertained to child welfare, including to provide adequate resources so Indigenous children arent separated from their communities to receive the care and services they need. Blackstocks organization has been involved in a case at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that declared the federal government discriminated against tens of thousands of Indigenous children by underfunding such services. That case continues as Blackstock and others press for increased spending and compensation for children impacted by underfunded services for Indigenous communities. The Liberal government has said it wants to compensate families through class action lawsuits seeking billions of dollars that were certified in court earlier this September. Blackstock welcomed news the government wants to create a holiday, but said she would be happier to see more action to improve public services for Indigenous families. They tend to use these types of things to make the appearance that theyre doing something without changing the fundamental behaviour that has separated First Nations families for generations, she said. We need to use this as another reminder and opportunity for the public to speak out. The minority governments initiative to create the new holiday is expected to succeed, with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh signalling his partys support by seconding Guilbeaults bill when it was tabled on Tuesday. President Donald Trumps decision to rule out energy development along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas will bar not just offshore oil and gas drilling -- but coastal wind farms too. The broad reach of Trumps recent orders, which was confirmed by the Interior Department agency that oversees offshore energy development, comes as renewable developers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars snapping up the rights to build wind farms along the U.S. East Coast. At issue are recent Trump memos ruling out new oil and gas leasing along Florida, Georgia and South and North Carolina from July 1, 2022 until June 30, 2032, issued after some Republicans pressed for a drilling ban and as the president courts voters concerned about the environment. On Friday, Trump said he would expand the offshore energy moratorium to include Virginia, though he has not yet issued a directive encompassing the territory. On the campaign trail, Trump highlighted his moves as a way to block offshore oil and gas drilling, even though the orders will affect future sale of renewable energy rights in U.S. coastal waters too. GREEN CONSEQUENCES: BP hits 25-year low a week after unveiling climate strategy The withdrawal includes all energy leasing, including conventional and renewable energy, beginning on July 1, 2022, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management spokeswoman Tracey Moriarty said by email. Existing offshore energy leases are not set to be affected by the orders, including existing wind farm rights off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. But the offshore energy bans could imperil a new wave of offshore wind development, thwarting developers that were looking at potential opportunities off the South Carolina coast as a way to provide more renewable power to the southeast U.S. The approach is being condemned by both oil drilling and wind energy advocates. Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association that represents offshore wind developers, said the bans threaten tens of thousands of additional jobs and billions of dollars of investment are expected through a prospective wind lease offshore the Carolinas. FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday. Companies are already spending millions of dollars investing in wind projects offshore Virginia and North Carolina, Milito said by email. Limiting the geographic scope of Atlantic wind development is not just a missed opportunity for the areas immediately onshore, it limits the ability of a new source of American energy production to grow and innovate. Trumps leasing bans could be difficult for a future president to undo. A federal district court has rejected Trumps attempt to overturn an Arctic oil leasing blockade that former President Barack Obama imposed using the same legal authority. The matter is now before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments in the case in June. Offshore wind developers with active leases off the U.S. East Coast include Avangrid Inc., Mayflower Wind Energy, Equinor Wind US LLC and Vineyard Wind LLC. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Global insights technology company continues global growth, adds new member to its executive team STOCKHOLM, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cint, the technology backbone of the world's most successful insights companies, has appointed Joakim Andersson as Chief Financial Officer. Andersson will be an integral part of the company's executive team as he takes responsibility for the company's financial, legal and compliance strategies. He is taking over the leadership position from Cint's interim CFO, Dag Magni, helping to continue the company's significant growth. "Joakim will play a vital role in Cint's strategic initiatives, working alongside the rest of our team to reach our ambitious goals for the digital transformation of market research," said Tom Buehlmann, CEO of Cint. "The industry is changing fast on a global scale, seeking technology-driven solutions like Cint to future-proof their businesses. Joakim's proven skills in leading businesses through periods of transformation will be a great asset to our team and clients." Andersson brings more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles, working in both the technology and financial sectors. Most recently, he served as CFO for Kinnevik AB, an entrepreneurial Swedish investment company focused on digital consumer businesses. Prior to that, he held management level roles within finance, investment, banking and consulting. He will apply his skills in business strategy, financing, M&A, investments and more to oversee Cint's financial activities. Andersson holds a master's degree in business administration from Vaxjo University. He will be based at Cint headquarters in Stockholm. About Cint Cint is the technology backbone of the world's most successful insights companies. Cint's platform automates sample fieldwork and operations so that companies can gather insights faster, more cost-effectively and at scale. Cint also has the world's largest sample exchange that connects sample buyers to over 100 million engaged consumers across over 150 countries. More than 2,000 researchers, agencies and brands - including Kantar, Zappi, GfK and SurveyMonkey - use Cint to transform how they gather insights and be competitive in the market. Cint has a rapidly growing team across 14 global offices including London, New York, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Barcelona, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. (www.cint.com) Media contact: Shawn Cabral, shawn.cabral@cint.com, +44 20 3514 2100 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282795/joakim_andersson_CINT.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1084309/Cint_Logo_Logo.jpg Keith Hufnagel, a legendary skateboarder who left his mark during the height of San Franciscos street skating scene has died at the age of 46. A statement from Hufnagel's streetwear brand HUF confirmed the cause of death was brain cancer, which he had battled with for two and a half years before passing away at his Los Angeles home on Thursday. Hufnagel may have gotten his start riding through the streets of New York City, where he was born and raised, but he was among countless young adults who sought out San Francisco as a skateboarding mecca in the early 90s. He frequented the Embarcadero Plaza known among skaters as EMB and was often seen soaring down the citys steepest inclines with impressive speed and grace. Hufnagel attended San Francisco State University for six months but dropped out after a semester to become a professional skateboarder, signing with Fun Skateboards. By 2002, he founded the iconic streetwear brand HUF, which opened its first storefront in the Tenderloin and is now sold online in addition to retailers such as Pac Sun, Tillys and Zumiez. Though he beat the odds and fought back much longer than his diagnosis permitted, he ultimately and unfortunately lost the fight, the statement from HUF read. Thousands mourned the loss of the seminal underground figure, including Haight Street skate shop FTC, which shared a clip of a youthful Hufnagel zipping down city sidewalks, performing his signature gravity-defying ollies and bombing hills. Keith Hufnagel taught us all about power, style, and finesse with his approach to skateboarding, business, and life. His gift to all of us lives on with everything he created and we are all better people for the inspiration he gave us on and off the board. Ride In Peace, read a post from FTC on Instagram. MORE: Hundreds of skateboarders 'hill bomb' Twin Peaks at Black Lives Matter protest in SF Tony Vitello, the owner of Thrashers brick-and-mortar shop at 6th and Mission, called Hufnagel a legend. He defined the word, his reputation extending far beyond our skateboarding bubble, wrote Vitello. HUF burst onto the 1990s San Francisco skate scene with otherworldly power and pop, reaching the height of his profession, while simultaneously orchestrating his next landmark, launching his own mold-breaking, brick and mortar stores in The City. We didn't just want to skate like HUF, we wanted to look like HUF to be HUF. Thrasher Magazine also shared a breathtaking video of Hufnagel from FTC's classic 1996 skateboarding film Penal Code 100A, which shows him effortlessly soaring through downtown San Francisco, pausing only to leap over fire hydrants and stairwells. "He was a skating legend of NYC and SF fame, and a pioneer DIY businessman that valued integrity over profits," wrote Tony Hawk in a message on Facebook. "Skateboarding is collectively mourning today." Hufnagel is survived by his wife, Mariellen, and two children. Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE culture reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @bybartlett Comment period for the proposed gold and antimony mine will now close on October 28, 2020 VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Midas Gold Corp. (TSX: MAX) (OTCQX: MDRPF) ("Midas Gold" or the "Company") today announced that the U.S. Forest Service ("USFS") has extended the comment period on the Stibnite Gold Project ("Project") Draft Environmental Impact Statement ("Draft EIS"). The comment period will now close on October 28, 2020, providing interested parties 75-days in total to submit feedback on the Draft EIS, which is a 67% increase over the legally required 45-day comment period. "Public involvement has always been an important tenet of the Stibnite Gold Project," said Laurel Sayer, CEO of Midas Gold Idaho. "The public was integral to helping us develop Alternative 2 of the Draft EIS and we believe public feedback is important in helping develop the final plan for the Stibnite Gold Project. The agency's decision to extend the comment period by an additional 15-days provides the public and other interested parties more time to participate and should ultimately support a robust record of decision. However, given the amount of public disclosure on the Project over many years, it is also time to move to the next stage of finalizing the EIS and selecting a preferred alternative." "For almost a decade now, we have encouraged public review of and engagement in our plans for the redevelopment and restoration of the Stibnite Mining District. In the past 5 years alone, we have made 912 public presentations, taken over 1,800 people on tours of the site, created a robust website with Project information, held monthly open office hours, and have made our subject matter experts available to any community member asking to know more or wanting to provide feedback," said Sayer. "The U.S. Forest Service has also excelled by providing 24-7 virtual access to the Draft EIS and review materials. With over 1,400 letters received to-date, it is clear many people throughout Idaho feel ready to provide the U.S. Forest Service with their thoughts on the Stibnite Gold Project." People who are interested in reviewing the Draft EIS can visit the USFS' project page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=50516. The USFS has also created a virtual meeting room where community members and other stakeholders can learn more about the alternatives outlined in the DEIS and the background to the alternatives. Additionally, there are hard copies of the Draft EIS available for review in multiple communities surrounding the project site. Community members can also learn more about the Project and Midas Gold's plans at www.RestoreTheSite.com. The public is also invited to attend one of the three webinars Midas Gold hosts each week during the comment period to review the Project and answer questions. To register, visit www.MidasGoldIdaho.com/virtual-events. Comments on the Project can be submitted through the USFS website https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=50516 or via direct mail to: Linda Jackson, Forest Supervisor, Payette National Forest, 500 North Mission Street Building 2, McCall, Idaho 83638-3805. Facebook: www.facebook.com/midasgoldidaho Twitter: @MidasIdaho Website: www.midasgoldcorp.com About Midas Gold and the Stibnite Gold Project Midas Gold Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration and, if warranted, site restoration and redevelopment of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by the Stibnite Gold Project. Forward-Looking Information Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, next steps and courses of action including actions to be taken by the USFS, the extension of the comment period and the anticipated effects thereof. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipates", "targeted", "complete", "comprehensive", "defensible", "ensure", "potential" and "robust", in relation to certain actions, events or results "could", "may", "will", "would", be achieved. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Midas Gold has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current objectives concerning the Stibnite Gold Project can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; that the formal review process under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") (including a joint review process involving the USFS, the State of Idaho and other state, federal and local agencies and regulatory bodies) as well as the public comment period, environmental impact statement and record of decision will proceed in a timely manner and as expected; that agency engagement, cooperation and collaboration as contemplated under the MOU will follow the mutually agreed upon schedule set out therein and proceed as expected and that all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Midas Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, changes in laws and regulations and changes in the application of standards pursuant to existing laws and regulations which may result in unforeseen results in the review process under NEPA; uncertainty surrounding input to be received pursuant to the public comment period and any extension thereof; risks related to dependence on key personnel; risks related to unforeseen delays in the review process including availability of personnel from the USFS, State of Idaho and other stated, federal and local agencies and regulatory bodies (including, but not limited to, future US government shutdowns); risks related to opposition to the Project including litigation involving the Nez Perce Tribe; risks related to the outcome of litigation and potential for delay of the Project, as well as those factors discussed in Midas Gold's public disclosure record. Although Midas Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Midas Gold and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Midas Gold does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. SOURCE Midas Gold Corp. President Trump and Judge Amy Coney Barrett arrive at a White House news conference to announce her nomination to the Supreme Court on Sept. 26. (Associated Press) To the editor: With the appointment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the U.S. Supreme Court will be squarely and safely on the side of conservatives well into the future. States may soon be able to make abortion illegal, the Affordable Care Act may soon be overturned, environmental protections will be softened, and rights and protections for minorities will probably be diminished. Conservatives have another advantage now: They need not again face the discomfort of voting for someone who has made a mockery of democracy, civil discourse, our military and our allies. Rather, they can comfortably vote for middle-of-the-road Joe Biden, knowing the judicial goals they sought in aligning themselves with President Trump have been achieved with the appointment not only of three Supreme Court justices, but also those of more than 200 (predominantly white) conservative federal judges. Julie A. McLaughlin, La Jolla .. To the editor: Whatever one may think of Barrett's fitness for the Supreme Court, the nomination is not "unjust," contrary to what the L.A. Times Editorial Board believes. There is no three-year limit on the president's power to nominate a Supreme Court justice. Indeed, legal scholars and professionals across the political spectrum correctly defended President Obama's right to nominate Judge Merrick Garland in 2016 and derided the argument that his nomination should wait until after the election. But if the Democrats were in charge, they would be doing the same thing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is doing today. In fact, in 2013, the Democratic-controlled Senate changed the rules on confirming federal nominees except for the Supreme Court and allowed appointments without an effective supermajority. In 2017, almost all Democratic senators voted against Barrett's confirmation to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, but that could not prevent her being seated. Both sides are just exercising their right to be partisan. Story continues Thomas Weiss, Woodland Hills .. To the editor: The L.A. Times has published photos of Trump and Barrett walking to a White House announcement of her nomination to the Supreme Court. The first lady and others were also in attendance. What was missing? Masks. The nominee had an opportunity to show her independence and fortitude without saying a thing. Whichever way her rulings lean, she has lost a great chance set a powerful example. I hope that someone during her confirmation hearings will point this out. I would love to hear her response. Gary Emerling, Westlake Village .. To the editor: Any nominee who acquiesces to this politically charged and power-grabbing distortion of the traditional process of vetting Supreme Court justices must lack the integrity required of someone who sits on the high court. To be swept up in such a travesty will forever taint any future decisions she makes. Betty Seidmon-Vidibor, Los Angeles This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. U.S. Associated Press When officials in Chester, Georgia, heard that the 2020 census had pegged their small town at 525 people, their jaws dropped. Chester and two other small, rural municipalities in Georgia are the first communities in the U.S. to challenge the accuracy of their numbers from the once-a-decade head count. Successful challenges are scant, but the outcome could determine whether Chester, the city of Glennville and White County get their fair share when it comes to the distribution of $1.5 trillion in annual federal funding. Al-Mashat highlighted that the Ministry of International Cooperation is Egypts main door to strengthening economic cooperation with other countries and international organisations Egypts Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met on Tuesday with the incoming group of military representatives at Egypt's diplomatic missions abroad, where she highlighted that the Ministry of International Cooperation is Egypts main door to strengthening economic cooperation with other countries and international organisations. During the meeting, Minister Al-Mashat said that the ministry is seeking to strengthen economic diplomacy through three principles: regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People & Projects & Purpose (P&P&P); and mapping development assistance financing for the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners. According to a statement issued by the international cooperation ministry, Al-Mashat explained that since the launch of the platform, the ministry has organised a number of workshops that saw the participation of over 100 development partners and other stakeholders in society in multiple sectors, especially health, agriculture, transportation and social protection. Through the platform, efforts have been coordinated between ministries and development partners to reach effective development cooperation in accordance with the 2030 national agenda and the UNs sustainable development goals. Egypt is seeking to achieve economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to move forward in achieving the sustainable development goals, which requires redefining the social contract through cooperation with international development partners, countries, the private sector, civil society and academia, said Al-Mashat. She also affirmed that the COVID-19 is a global humanitarian challenge, and that Egypt has shown strong resilience in facing challenges over the past decade. Search Keywords: Short link: The Prince William Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Figure 1 Wabash Project Wabash Project MONTREAL, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kintavar Exploration Inc. (the Corporation or Kintavar) (TSX-V: KTR) (FRANKFURT: 58V), is pleased to announce the discovery of an important sediment hosted copper (Cu), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) mineralized system with anomalies identified in cobalt (Co) and lead (Pb). The Wabash project, 126 claims and 7266 hectares 100% owned by Kintavar, is located in the Haute-Mauricie region of Quebec, only 65km North of the Mitchi project and 15km East of the city of Parent. The project is accessible by roads and has an active commercial railroad crossing the property which services, among others, the active Suzorite mica mine operated by Imerys Mica Suzorite Inc., a subsidiary of Imerys S.A., a French multinational company which specializes in the production and processing of industrial minerals with a valuation of over $6B. The Wabash property was staked and some claims acquired in 2018 based on potential similarities to the Mitchi project. In 2020, we finally had the opportunity to put our boots on the ground and confirm some observations of the historical exploration work that led to this discovery. These observations and assays suggest that we are potentially looking at another kilometric system of stratiform copper mineralization which speaks to the significant base metal potential of the entire Mitchi-Wabash region. Our strong presence in the region with the Fer a Cheval outfitter operations, the railroad that crosses our property, which already transports mineral concentrates, power lines and the airport in Parent are just some of the examples how advantageous is the region where we are working to mining development. commented Kiril Mugerman, President & CEO of Kintavar. The discovery was made while following up on the historical work in the region from 1916 and 1936. A total of 15 trenches, blast zones and outcrops were identified and sampled within the sedimentary units, outlining a mineralized corridor over 2.5km long. The mineralization has been observed over a width of 50m in the northern portion and over 200m in the southern portion (Figure 1). A total of 46 grab samples from the Wabash project were collected out of which 28 samples confirmed Cu and Ag mineralization. Ten (10) samples returned grades between 1% and 2.28% Cu and up to 59.9 g/t Ag. Zinc was confirmed in 5 samples with the highest grade returning 1.18% Zn. A significant enrichment in manganese was observed as well with 9 samples returning grades above 1% and as high as 4.1% Mn while Co and Pb are anomalous in the region. None of the summer exploration work targeted Zn, Co, Pb or Mn and more focused work on these metals in the future could lead to the identification of higher grade zones for these particular metals. Story continues The mineralization is hosted in sedimentary units predominantly composed of arenaceous paragneiss with presence of impure calcitic marbles. The mineralization and the lithologies observed show important similarities to the stratiform copper mineralization of the Mitchi project but as well some distinct differences. Although the main Cu minerals are the same, a higher proportion of chalcopyrite relative to bornite and chalcocite were observed. The mineralization is present in the deeper units of a basin sequence which are favorable to fluids migration and where classic stratiform copper mineralization is usually present in the world class deposits. The identified mineralization shows several similarities as well to the world class Zn-Pb-Ag-Mn-Cu Hermosa project in Arizona, US that was acquired by South32 from Arizona Mining in 2018 for $2.1B. The Hermosa project is comprised of several underground stratabound deposits, each having a distinctive enrichment pattern in these five metals. A soil sampling program began in September to cover the highest priority areas of the Wabash property. The objective is to identify continuous large volume zones from surface like the Sherlock zone of the Mitchi project. A trenching program and an Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey on Wabash are expected to follow suite in order to better evaluate the property and to advance ultimately to a drilling program. Permitting for restauration of the historical trenches and the completion of new trenches has already begun. We are very pleased to be working now on two major sedimentary basins in the province of Quebec. The Wabash project shows potential to be the deeper portions of a sedimentary basin. The polymetallic nature of the project gives us very positive indications for the project including its manganese grades, a metal that is regularly being considered for improving lithium ion batteries for the electric vehicles. It was reaffirmed recently at the Tesla Battery Day event that manganese is expected to see a significant increase in their battery chemistries and that the industry is seeking to establish an ethical, economic and carbon friendly supply of the required metals. We are excited to see the results of the ongoing exploration work of the Wabash project. The work on Wabash is also being conducted in parallel to the exploration programs on the Mitchi project for which results are still pending. added Mr. Mugerman. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2a47cd43-c663-413d-8944-0e9e367b413c All samples have been sent and prepared (PREP-31) by ALS Global laboratory in Val-dOr. The pulp was sent to ALS Global laboratory in Vancouver for copper assays (CU-ICP61). silver assays (AG-ICP61) or a multi-elemental analysis by four acid digestion (ME-ICP61) and spectroscopy (ICP-AES/MS). Samples with assays higher than 10,000 ppm Cu were reanalyzed by atomic absorption (CU-OG62) at the ALS Global Vancouver laboratory. Quality controls include systematic addition of blank samples and certified copper standards to each batch of samples sent to the laboratory. Grab samples are selected samples and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. NI-43-101 Disclosure Alain Cayer, P.Geo., MSc., Vice-President Exploration of Kintavar, is Qualified Person under NI 43101 guidelines who supervised and approved the preparation of the technical information in this news release. About Kintavar Exploration & the Mitchi Property Kintavar Exploration is a Canadian mineral exploration Corporation engaged in the acquisition, assessment, exploration and development of gold and base metal mineral properties. Its flagship project is the Mitchi property (approx. 30,000 hectares, 100% owned) located west of the Mitchinamecus reservoir, 100 km north of the town of Mont-Laurier. The property covers an area of more than 300 km2 accessible by a network of logging and gravel roads with a hydro-electric power substation located 14 km to the east. The property is located in the north-western portion of the central metasedimentary belt of the Grenville geological province. Many gold, copper, silver and/or manganese mineralized showings have been identified to date, with many characteristics suggesting of a sediment-hosted stratiform copper type mineralization (SSC) in the Eastern portion of the property and Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) and skarn type mineralization in the Western portion. Osisko holds a 2% NSR on 27 claims of the southern portion of the Mitchi property, outside of the sedimentary basin. Kintavar also has exposure in the gold greenstones of Quebec by advancing the Anik Gold Project in a partnership with IAMGOLD. For further information contact: Kiril Mugerman, President and CEO Phone : +1 450 641 5119 #5653 Email : kmugerman@kintavar.com Web: www.kintavar.com Forward looking Statements: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking information or forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information and statements may include, among others, statements regarding future plans, costs, objectives or performance of the Corporation, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as may, would, could, will, likely, believe, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, estimate target and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, including additional closings of the private placement referred to above, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Corporation will derive. Forward-looking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Corporations control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described under Risk Factors in the Corporations managements discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; they could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation does not intend, nor does the Corporation undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws. At least three authors with Alabama ties -- including Harper Lee, the states literary icon -- are mentioned in a list of the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019. The list, released by the American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom, is part of its programming for Banned Books Week, which runs through Oct. 3. The goal is to rally readers to the cause of First Amendment protections and remind them to remain vigilant about continual threats to our freedom to read, according to a press release. Books on the list include To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee (No. 15), The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (No. 12) and Looking for Alaska by John Green (No. 4). Lee (1926-2016), an Alabama native, set To Kill a Mockingbird in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, which was based on her hometown of Monroeville. The 1960 novel -- about racial tensions, social justice and an upright lawyer and his family -- won a Pulitzer Prize and inspired an Oscar-winning movie. The book is widely regarded as a classic, but has been banned or challenged in some schools and libraries for its mentions of sexuality and rape, and use of the N-word. Collins, 58, is a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. Her Hunger Games series -- about a dystopian future where a group of children must fight to the death in an annual contest -- has been banned or challenged for its language, violence, sexual situations and more. The three novels in Collins' series -- "The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay -- were published in 2008-2010. The books, aimed at a young adult audience, were best-sellers and the impetus for four successful films. Green, 43, is a former Alabama resident who graduated from Indian Springs School, near Birmingham, in the 1990s. Indian Springs was the inspiration for Culver Creek Preparatory High School, the setting for Greens coming-of-age novel, Looking for Alaska. The book, published in 2005 and intended for a young adult audience, inspired an eight-part series on Hulu. Looking for Alaska has been banned or challenged for its language, and for a scene that describes a sexual encounter between two of the main characters. According to the American Library Association, a challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A ban means the materials have been removed. Other books on the library associations list include The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (No. 1), Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (No. 8), The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (No. 10) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (No. 14). Classics on the list include A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (No. 26), Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (No. 28), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (No. 33), and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (No. 49). The list includes books challenged for a variety of reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sexual references, religious viewpoints, content that addresses racism and police brutality and profanity," according to a press release from the library association. "Although the reasons differ, the censorship of literature in libraries share a common result: the violation of our First Amendment rights. Since 1990, the (Office for Intellectual Freedom) has documented attempts to ban books in libraries and schools. The list of the most banned and challenged books from 2010-2019 was compiled by OIF by reviewing both the public and confidential censorship reports it received. FP Trending A month after scientists were confined to a single module of the International Space Station to detect the location of an above-average air leak, NASA is still clueless as to the exact location of the leak. The news came after the American and Russian astronauts aboard the ISS spent a second weekend confined to a single module recently. This was done to detect the portion of the station that was leaking some air into space. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner remained inside the Zvezda module in the Russian segment of the station from the evening of 25 September until the morning of 28 September. Chris Cassidy tweeted that the hatches between other modules of the station were all closed during this time to identify which module has the leak. Both Moscow and Houston Mission Control Centers have been tracking a tiny air leak for several months. A few weeks ago our crew isolated in the Russian segment of @Space_Station and closed as many hatches as possible in order to identify the location of the leak. pic.twitter.com/euJfQ6wuvF Chris Cassidy (@Astro_SEAL) September 24, 2020 In a series of tweets, Cassidy explained that the exercise failed to pinpoint any probable location. He also said that they have been checking all of the window seals for any indication of a leak using an ultrasonic leak detector. Strangely the data did not point us to any particular location. Yesterday and today, Anatoly and I have been checking all of the window seals (not #navyseals) for any indication of a leak using an ultrasonic leak detector. Chris Cassidy (@Astro_SEAL) September 24, 2020 He insisted that there was no possibility of harm for the three astronauts but it was necessary to detect the leak in order to stop valuable air from going to waste. So far no luck finding the source, but it looks like we will try again with the module isolation this weekend. No harm or risk to us as the crew, but it is important to find the leak we are not wasting valuable air. Chris Cassidy (@Astro_SEAL) September 24, 2020 After the isolation was over, Greg Dorth, manager of the ISS Program External Integration Office at NASA, said in a news briefing that the team had failed to find a clear indication of where the leak is. Dorth was briefing about the upcoming Northrop Grumman NG-14 Cygnus cargo mission to the station, which is going to be launched on 1 October from Virginia and arrive at the station on 4th October. Discovered first a year ago, scientists need to locate the leak fast, preferably before the cargo vehicle arrives there as the task will be easier on a relatively peaceful space station. (Alliance News) - Leaders in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester have warned the UK government their hospitality sectors are at risk of collapse unless coronavirus restrictions are reviewed. In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Business Secretary Alok Sharma, the leaders and chief executives of the three city councils said restrictions in place in the regions were threatening a "huge, disproportionate" economic impact. The city bosses said hotel occupancy was down to 30% and footfall had dropped by up to 70%. In the letter, they said: "The stark reality is that these businesses are facing the prospect of a complete decimation in trade, not just in the short term but as we look ahead to the sector's traditional lifeblood of the Christmas period and almost certainly continuing into spring/summer of next year which we know with certainty will result in mass market failure, huge levels of redundancies and depleted and boarded up high streets." Guidance in place in the cities advises people not to mix with other households but the council leaders said it was "unenforceable" as well as being "contradictory and confusing". They called on the ministers to make the advice law, and compensate businesses with a package of support, or allow mixing within the "rule of six" in controlled environments. A new law banning the mixing of households in public spaces, including pubs and restaurants, was announced for parts of the north east of England on Monday but it remains advice rather than law for many other areas in the north. The city leaders also called for the government to review the 10pm curfew and engage with local authorities and businesses to discuss considerations in advance. Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: "We need to find a way to adjust the restrictions to ensure a balance in protecting public health and the need to protect businesses, many of which are teetering on the brink. "Liverpool is a city which has built its revival on the leisure and hospitality sectors and it is a massive contributor not just to employment but also to business rates which fund vital local services. "The vast majority of our businesses have responded in the right way, investing heavily in providing safe, compliant environments and a place for people to enjoy themselves safely. "The inspections we have carried out show a very high level of compliance. "People in restaurants are in Covid-safe environments with high levels of sanitisation and appropriate spacing. "Forcing people to leave at 10pm runs the risk that they then go on together to a house in a large group which does not have the same measures in place. "It is also devastating for the restaurant trade because it is depriving it of a late sitting which makes up a substantial part of its takings and is the difference between survival or going under. "We can't have a one size fits all measure for the whole of the country, we need to be able to take account of local circumstances if we are to stand any chance of helping businesses through this intensely difficult period." By Eleanor Barlow, PA source: PA Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The worldwide COVID-19 death toll exceeded 1 million on Tuesday nearly ten months into the pandemic as recorded by John Hopkins University. Over 33 million confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic, as per the study. John Hopkins University also noted that over 23 million people have recovered from the deadly virus. According to the global tally, the US is the worst affected country by coronavirus followed by India, Brazil, Russia and Colombia. The coronavirus death count is four times more than the number of people killed in the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. Despite the zooming COVID-19 cases and the increasing death toll, experts believe that there are a large number of cases that go unreported due to problems faced in testing and reporting and in some cases concealment. Dr Howard Markel, professor of medical history at the University of Michigan aids the government officials by providing advise on methods to contain pandemics. He lost his 84-year-old mother due to COVID-19. Dr Markel says, "It's not just a number. It's human beings. It's people we love. It's our brothers, our sisters. It's people we know." Read | India Overtakes Brazil To Record Highest Number Of COVID-19 Recoveries In World: Johns Hopkins Data UN Chief on Coronavirus death toll UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the worldwide death toll 'an agonising milestone' and a 'mind-numbing figure'. In an official statement, the UN Chief said, "Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a mind-numbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease. And still, there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives. We can overcome this challenge. But we must learn from the mistakes. Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters - and misinformation kills." Read | Coronavirus Fatalities Surpass 1 Million Worldwide, Europe And UK Witness Second Wave Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of 1 million lives to #COVID19. We must never lose sight of each & every life. As the hunt for a vaccine affordable and available to all continues, lets honour their memory by working together to defeat this virus. pic.twitter.com/iZ1UnN8d4i Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 29, 2020 Read | UN Chief Says 'world Has Reached Agonising Milestone' As COVID-19 Death Toll Crosses 1 Mn Read | Germany Fights Virus As World Deaths Pass 1 Million COVID-19 in the US Several parts of Europe are experiencing a second wave of coronavirus and experts worry that the US may experience the same. Despite the wealth and medical resources, the US has 71,64,954 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,05,000 COVID-19 deaths. After the sharp downfall in infections for about eight weeks straight, the US witnessed a major spike in COVID-19 infections in the last one week. Moreover, America currently reports over 30,000 cases daily and has 21,741 cases per one million people. The reopening of college campuses has also led to new COVID-19 outbreaks in the country. The experts have expressed concerns about the Labour Day holiday gathering as well as the reopening of schools, as reported by international media. Read | Coronavirus Death Toll In US Surpasses 200,000, Highest In The World Read | Biden Attacks Trump On Virus As New Milestone Nears (With inputs from PTI) A man free on bail earlier this month is back behind bars on $600,000 bail on allegations he provided minor girls with drugs or alcohol, and sexually assaulted some of them. William Huxel, 26, of Jim Thorpe, was initially charged in July with statutory sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl and dealing marijuana in a November incident in West Easton. He was held on $5,000 bail in Northampton County Prison in that case, but posted on July 13, records show. In August, Huxel was then charged in Carbon County with allegedly using a 15-year-old girl to sell marijuana in Jim Thorpe, according to the Times News. Huxel was arrested and his bail in the Northampton County case was increased to $100,000, records show. Huxel posted $20,000 bail in the Carbon County case and waived his preliminary hearing on Sept. 9, sending all the charges to Carbon County court. Five days later, Huxel was able to post $100,000 bail in the Northampton County case while awaiting a preliminary hearing, but his freedom was short lived. On Monday night Huxel was arrested and arraigned in two new cases, accused of statutory sexual assault and corruption of two minor girls last fall when he lived in West Easton borough. Assistant District Attorney Laura Majewski said the two new cases came from the investigation into the first case and are all from the same course of conduct by Huxel. State Police at the Belfast barracks said they were investigating a separate incident, when they learned Huxel had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl and another 15-year-old girl. In an interview in the other incident, troopers said they saw bras on a chair in Huxels room. Huxel said the girl was 18 or 19, and he had never had sex with her, according to state police. Troopers learned the girl was 15, and she confirmed to troopers Huxel had sexual contact with her and knew she was underage, state police said. Marijuana was found in Huxels bedroom, as well as messages between the two detailing the sexual contact and using marijuana, according to state police. State police said they also learned there was a 14-year-old victim. The 14-year-old told troopers Huxel had sexual contact with her and provided her with marijuana often, according to court records. State police said Huxel was aware the girl was only 14 at the time, and he was 25 years old. Huxel allegedly sent messages to minors, including the victims, asking who wants to get high with a photo of marijuana being chopped up with a credit card, state police said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. The rich guy as "man of the people" wasnt invented by Donald Trump. As an imagemaker, Mike Foster had him thoroughly beat. By Laman Ismayilova The State Art Gallery has opened a virtual exhibition to honor the representative of the anti-fascist Resistance movement Ahmadiyya Jabrailov. The exposition was prepared in accordance with the order of the President Ilham Aliyev on the 100th anniversary of Ahmadiyya Jabrailov. Supported by the Cultural Ministry, the exposition includes photographs of the hero from the family archive, as well as artworks dedicated to the Second World War from the funds of the State Picture Gallery. The virtual exhibition is available on social networks of the State Art Gallery. As one of the 240,000 Soviet soldiers taken prisoner whilst launching an offensive against the Nazis near the Izyum Bridge over the Don, Ahmadiyya was transferred to many camps, eventually ending up in a camp in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. Refusing to join the Nazis, he decided to escape and rejoin the Red Army. Ahmadiyya joined the Maquis of Cabertat in 1944. Following the liberation of Toulouse in September 1944, Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov met General Charles de Gaulle, and after the liberation of the MidiPyrenees, he joined the Third Hussars Regiment, with whom he participated in the Battle of the Vosges and the liberation of Mulhouse and Belfort. Thereafter, he was forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union, following the FrancoSoviet Pact. His bravery was belatedly recognized in 1966, when President General de Gaulle made his second visit to the Soviet Union. By this time, he had returned to Sheki, but General de Gaulles request to see him resulted in overnight fame. He became a National Hero of France, and received the Croix de Guerre, the Cross of Military Valour and the Medal of the French Resistance, amongst other acknowledgements. Nicknamed "Chargo", Ahmadiyya also toured the regions of France that he helped to liberate, and met many of his Resistance friends. His life was ended at the age of 74 by a car accident in Sheki. The story of Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov was highlighted in many books and documentaries. One of the streets in Sheki is named after him. Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov received the Legion dHonneur, one of the highest official recognitions. He was also declared National Hero of France. There is also a house-museum of Ahmadiya Jabrayilov in Sheki, opened by his son, Javanshir Jabrayilov. In November 2007, the French embassy in Azerbaijan, Baku French Cultural Centre and Sheki Museum organized the exhibition "He was called Armed Michele in France" dedicated to the hero. Photos, documents and film about the life of Ahmadiya Jabrayilov were presented at the exhibition -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A Bucks County mother and her adult daughter were each sentenced to five consecutive life terms behind bars for killing five family members last year. Shana Decree and her daughter, Dominique Decree, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Bucks County Court Monday and were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison, CBS 3 of Philadelphia is reporting. The five family members were found dead in a Morrisville apartment on February 25, 2019. The Associated Press reported at the time that, Shana Decrees son, 13-year-old Damon Decree Jr., and daughter, 25-year-old NaaIrah Smith, were asphyxiated. Shana Decrees sister, 42-year-old Jamilla Campbell, was strangled, while Campbells twin daughters, 9-year-olds Erika and Imani Allen were also asphyxiated. A Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services caseworker had discovered the bodies in the basement during a wellness check and found Shana and Dominique Decree, who are now 47 and 21, unresponsive in a bedroom, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. According to reports, the mother and daughter were taken to the hospital and gave police conflicting reports of what had happened in the apartment, which was in disarray after what appeared to have been a struggle, but both said everyone in the apartment wanted to die and had been talking about suicide, including the children. Prosecutors said Monday the mother and daughter both suffered from severe mental illness and had sought treatment with varying degrees of success through their lives, according to reports. Shana Decrees attorney, Christa Dunleavy, told the court her client believed the world was ending and there were demons in her house that she had to obey, reports indicate. But since the killings, both have expressed horror and remorse for what they had done, leading to the plea deal Monday, according to reports. At Mondays court appearance, President Judge Wallace H. Bateman told the mother and daughter the harm they caused was unimaginable, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting. He acknowledged their remorse, but said, Unfortunately, that doesnt bring them back. You cant say, sorry, and expect people to move on with their lives, according to reports. Both made tearful apologies. The hardest thing for me to do is decide who to say Im sorry to first, Shana Decree told the court, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. To my family, I am sorry for taking away these beautiful souls in such a horrible manner. Dealing with this case does not invoke the kind of righteous anger you would think of when you become a prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees told the Inquirer after the hearing. We did not fight to right wrongs on this case; theres no way we could right these wrongs. What we tried to find was the closest we could to justice, and I hope and pray we got pretty close. The app Genopo makes genomics more accessible to remote or under-resourced regions. Credit: Dr Ira Deveson A new mobile app has made it possible to analyze the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on a smartphone in less than half an hour. Cutting-edge nanopore devices have enabled scientists to read or 'sequence' the genetic material in a biological sample outside a laboratory, however analyzing the raw data has still required access to high-end computing poweruntil now. The app Genopo, developed by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in collaboration with the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, makes genomics more accessible to remote or under-resourced regions, as well as the hospital bedside. "Not everyone has access to the high-power computing resources that are required for DNA and RNA analysis, but most people have access to a smartphone," says co-senior author Dr. Ira Deveson, who heads the Genomic Technologies Group at Garvan's Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics. "Fast, real-time genomic analysis is more crucial today than ever, as a central method for tracking the spread of coronavirus. Our app makes genomic analysis more accessible, literally placing the technology into the pockets of scientists around the world." The researchers report the app Genopo in the journal Communications Biology. Taking genome analysis off-line Genomic sequencing no longer requires a sophisticated lab setup. At the size of a USB stick, portable devices such as the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION sequencer can rapidly generate genomic sequences from a sample in the field or the clinic. The technology has been used for Ebola surveillance in West Africa, to profile microbial communities in the Arctic and determine coronavirus evolution during the current pandemic. However, analyzing genome sequencing data requires powerful computation. Scientists need to piece the many strings of genetic letters from the raw data into a single sequence and pinpoint the instances of genetic variation that shed light on how a virus evolves. "Until now, genomic analysis has required the processing power of high-end server computers or cloud services. We set out to change that," explains co-senior author Hasindu Gamaarachchi, Genomics Computing Systems Engineer at the Garvan Institute. "To enable in situ genomic sequencing and analysis, in real time and without major laboratory infrastructure, we developed an app that could execute bioinformatics workflows on nanopore sequencing datasets that are downloaded to a smartphone. The reengineering process, spearheaded by first author Hiruna Samarakoon, required overcoming a number of technical challenges due to various resource constraints in smartphones. The app Genopo combines a number of available bioinformatics tools into a single Android application, 'miniaturised' to work on the processing power of a consumer Android device." Coronavirus testing The researchers tested Genopo on the raw sequencing data of virus samples isolated from nine Sydney patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, which involved extracting and amplifying the virus RNA from a swab sample, sequencing the amplified DNA with a MinION device and analyzing the data on a smartphone. The researchers tested their app on different Android devices, including models from Nokia, Huawei, LG and Sony. The Genopo app took an average 27 minutes to determine the complete SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence from the raw data, which the researchers say opens the possibility to do genomic analysis at the point of care, in real time. The researchers also showed that Genopo can be used to profile DNA methylationa modification which changes gene activityin a sample of the human genome. "This illustrates a flexible, efficient architecture that is suitable to run many popular bioinformatics tools and accommodate small or large genomes," says Dr. Deveson. "We hope this will make genomics much more accessible to researchers to unlock the information in DNA or RNA to the benefit of human health, including in the current pandemic." Genopo is a free, open-source application available through the Google Play store. Explore further CRG standardises COVID-19 data analysis to aid international research efforts Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Generic Gold Corp. (CSE: GGC) (FSE: 1WD) ("Generic Gold" or the "Company") announces the acquisition (the "Transaction") of a large block of claims contiguous with its Belvais project ("Belvais"), located near the town of Normetal, Quebec. The newly acquired property (the "Des Meloizes Property" or "Belvais North") comprises 4,415 hectares which increases the land position of the overall Belvais project to 12,563 hectares as shown in Figure 1. Belvais North is crossed by the regional Normetal thrust fault which is related to significant mineralization at the neighbouring Perron project and the past-producing Normetal mine. Geology underlying the newly acquired project consists of highly prospective Normetal horizon felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks, which host the past-producing Normetal mine, as well as felsic volcanic rocks of the Clermon-Disson formation. Belvais North also hosts a historical polymetallic mineral showing, Lac Des Meloizes-1356, from which drill results include: 1.048% Zn over 4.50 m from 262.50 to 267.0 m; 1.082 g / t Au over 1.0 m from 544.60 to 545.60 m; and 0.303% Cu, 4.3 g / t Ag over 0.50 m from 592.10 to 592.60 m (SOURCE: SIGEOM, Quebec Government. Assessment file GM 63828). Figure 1: Generic Gold's Belvais project with respect to neighbouring companies as well as regional structures and infrastructure. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3923/64813_5d8090bcf47a0bf9_001full.jpg Transaction Terms The Transaction is being carried out in accordance with the terms of an arm's-length purchase agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") dated September 21, 2020 among the Company, NioBay Metals Inc. ("NioBay") and SOQUEM Inc. ("SOQUEM"). As consideration for the Transaction, the Company has agreed to: (i) make a cash payment in the amount of $25,000 to NioBay; (ii) issue to NioBay an aggregate of 1,750,000 common shares (the "Consideration Shares") in the capital of the Company; (iii) make a cash payment in the amount of $175,000 to SOQUEM; and (iv) issue to SOQUEM an aggregate of 750,000 Consideration Shares. In addition, the Company has agreed to issue to SOQUEM a 3% net smelter returns royalty (the "NSR") in respect of the Des Meloizes Property, subject to the right and option of the Company to purchase 1% of the NSR for a price equal to $1,000,000 (such that the remaining NSR would be reduced to 2%). The completion of the Transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. About Generic Gold Generic Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on gold projects in the Tintina Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory of Canada and the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada. The Company's Quebec exploration portfolio consists of four properties covering 12,563 hectares proximal to the town of Normetal, and east of Amex Exploration's Perron project and the past-producing Normetal mine. The Company's Yukon exploration portfolio consists of several projects with a total land position of greater than 35,000 hectares, all of which are 100% owned by Generic Gold. Several of these projects are in close proximity to significant gold deposits, including Goldcorp's Coffee project, Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold project, White Gold's Golden Saddle project, and Western Copper & Gold's Casino project. Generic Gold's board of directors and management team is led by experienced mining industry professionals, with expertise in exploration, finance, capital markets, and mine development. For information on the Company's property portfolio, visit the Company's website at genericgold.ca. For further information contact: Generic Gold Corp. Richard Patricio, President & CEO Tel: (416) 456-6529 rpatricio@genericgold.ca NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR THEIR REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDERS ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. We seek safe harbour. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64813 At first glance, its an unimpeachable sentiment. The editors clearly want to give the viewer ample background information and then trust her and the photograph. Compare it to, say, the recent furor over four museums postponing a retrospective of the work of Philip Guston, worried that his depictions of the Ku Klux Klan lacked sufficient framing. Whats curious about the title is that the story of the Zealy daguerreotypes is one of fraught and contested possession. Harvard, which owns the photographs, long zealously guarded the copyright, threatening to sue Weems, who duplicated the images in her 1995 series From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried. After deciding that she had a moral if not a legal case, Weems encouraged the lawsuit: I think actually your suing me would be a really good thing, she has remembered telling Harvard. You should. And we should have this conversation in court. I think it would be really instructive for any number of reasons. Harvard ended up acquiring the series. In 2019, Tamara Lanier, a retired probation officer living in Connecticut, claimed to be a direct descendant of Renty. Her family had long passed down stories about Papa Renty, and Lanier devoted herself to finding him, combing census and death records and slave inventories, finally locating him in South Carolina. Laniers findings have been verified by genealogists, including Toni Carrier, a contributor to the PBS series African-American Lives, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., who writes the introduction to this book. Laniers revelation arrives in the midst of decolonial movements around the world, calls for museums to repatriate stolen relics and universities examining their ties to slavery. She has found popular support. Forty-three descendants of Agassiz signed a letter to Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow asking the school to turn over the photographs. This month, the Harvard Undergraduate Council unanimously voted to pass a statement condemning the universitys ownership of the daguerreotypes, writing: Imagine your great-grandparents were enslaved, exploited, forced to strip naked, photographed against their will, those photographs are publicly shared today and there was nothing you could do about it. A few contributors to this book have expressed skepticism about Laniers lineage although only Gates mentions her directly. Rogers, one of the editors and the author of a previous book about the images, Delias Tears, maintains that tracing heredity under slavery is complex. Its not necessarily by blood, she has said of family records. It could be people who take responsibility for each other. In his introduction, Gates downplays Laniers connection to Renty. In a larger sense, can any one person be the heir of these photographs, or does the responsibility for them fall to all of us to protect them as archival relics of history, to be studied, pondered and reckoned with? Its an odd statement. Why would Laniers claim threaten the pondering and protection of the pictures? What does he imagine Lanier has in mind for them? Already some writers have taken to approaching her directly, to symbolically ask for her permission to use the images Thomas A. Foster, for example, author of Rethinking Rufus: Sexual Violations of Enslaved Men. Lanier encouraged him, he has said, because she believes that the story of the daguerreotypes and of exploitation under slavery, need to be told. Laniers own lawyer has stated that one ideal use of the pictures could be a traveling exhibit. But in one respect, Gates is absolutely correct. If Lanier has a claim, the photographs will no longer be known only as archival relics. Renty and Delia are not relics to Lanier they are family. Renty is known not as an object of study but a source of comfort and pride, the star of the family bedtime stories, a man who secretly taught himself and others to read. In Laniers accounts, he was never invisible, never lost, never in need of discovery. What kind of scholarship, what kind of criticism will he prompt if seen this way not as a figure in need of reclamation or object of fascination but as an ancestor deserving of protection, whose memory has been improbably preserved? Daguerreotypes, as is often noted, are sensitive, mirrored surfaces. You need to find the precise angle that blocks out your own reflection. Everything you see depends on where you stand. Slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen would have turned 21 on Wednesday. The U.S. Army specialists family, friends and supporters of the #IAmVanessaGuillen movement will honor her memory and organize to demand justice and accountability for her killing. She would be turning 21 but she wasnt able to get there, Gloria Guillen, Vanessas mother, said in a statement. I want us to remember her like an angel, a beautiful girl whose life was cruelly snatched from us too soon. Hundreds are expected to participate in a Heavenly Birthday Celebration for Guillen Wednesday at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery and virtually. The event will run from noon to 7 p.m. and will include a homily, dove and butterfly releases, a Danza De Zacatecano performance and music by a mariachi band. On Saturday, the group will march through downtown Houston in protest of the way the U.S. Army handled Guillens disappearance and death, as well as the way sexual assault and harassment is addressed in the military. My daughters case has been very difficult and all I ask for is justice and that means answers about those who are truly responsible, Gloria Guillen said. I ask you to please support us and march together with us for Vanessa Guillen. The march will start at 4 p.m. from Guadalupe Plaza at 2311 Runnels St. and go to the Leland Federal Building at 1919 Smith St. Participants are asked to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. The 20-year-old Houston native was reported missing from Fort Hood April 23 and her body was found 30 miles away on June 30. Before she died, Guillen told her mother that she had been sexually harassed by a sergeant at the post, but said that she didnt file a complaint because it would not have been taken seriously by her superiors. In response to the sex crime cases at Fort Hood, a group of military veterans will hold a public tribunal at the post starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to call attention to the lack of accountability for high-ranking military officers for the deaths, sexual assaults, and culture of harassment at the base. Guillens death sparked a movement not only seeking justice for Guillen, but better treatment for all women and minorities in the military and an overhaul of the militarys response to sexual violence. Guillens family members have pushed for legislation and a Congressional investigation. Spc. Aaron David Robinson is believed by authorities to be responsible for Guillens killing. He fatally shot himself as investigators closed in on him July 1. Cecily Aguilar, Robinsons girlfriend at the time, is accused of helping the man dismember and hide Guillens body. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges she faces. A federal judge granted a defense motion to delay Aguilars trial, which was previously slated for Sept. 28, court records show. Staff writer Gabrielle Banks contributed to this report. hannah.dellinger@chron.com A new form of test that can diagnose Covid-19 in minutes is set to be rolled out across the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced. The test will provide results in 15-30 minutes, rather than hours or days, and dramatically expand the capacity to detect coronavirus cases in low- and middle-income countries, the global health body said on Monday. It is hoped that will allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries and therefore assist containment efforts. The development comes as the global death toll from Covid-19 continues to climb having now already surpassed the one million mark. So, here's what you need to know: The antigen test will provide results in 15-30 minutes / AP How does the new test work? The antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests are being produced by two drugs manufacturers - Abbott and SD Biosensor - and work by detecting proteins found on the surface of the virus. The tests look similar to pregnancy tests and can yield results within 30 minutes, simply displaying two blue lines for a positive result. How do they differ from other tests? The main difference between rapid-antigen tests and nasal/throat swabs and finger-prick blood tests is the antigen tests do not require laboratory processing to produce results. This means they are able to detect coronavirus infection within minutes, compared to the hours or days necessary for the genetic tests, known as PCR tests, to turnaround results. They are also far cheaper, with each test costing just 5 US dollars (3.90) each for low- and middle-income countries, however, they are generally considered less accurate than laboratory-based tests. The companies which manufacture the tests claim they are about 97 per cent accurate, but that is in optimal conditions. The non-profit Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (Find) puts their sensitivity between 80 per cent and 90 per cent in real-world conditions. Coronavirus: Most affected countries as death toll passes one million How important are these new tests in the fight against coronavirus? The rapid antigen tests will be vital in improving the testing capacity of lower and middle-income countries who lack enough laboratory resources or trained health workers to properly carry out PCR tests. They will also allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries, in hopes of following up with containment and other measures to stop it. Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics, said the tests represent a significant step in the effort to combat and contain the virus on a global scale. He said: Theyre not a silver bullet, but hugely valuable as a complement to PCR tests. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meanwhile hailed the antigen tests, described by the WHO as "highly portable, reliable, and easy to administer", as good news in the fight against Covid-19. When will the tests be rolled out? The WHO has agreed a deal with drugs manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor as well as the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside other partners, to deploy 120 million rapid-diagnostic tests over six months. The deal spans 133 countries, including several in Latin America, which is currently the hardest-hit region by the global pandemic in terms of fatality and infection rates. Catharina Boehme, chief executive of Find, said the initial rollout would take place across 20 countries in Africa, starting in October this year. Global coronavirus deaths pass one million What do the new tests mean for the UK? While poorer countries will primarily benefit from the rapid-antigen tests, wealthier countries who have signed up to the Access to Covid tools initiative, which the UK has, will also be given access to them. They represent a potential boon to the Governments Operation Moonshot scheme for mass testing, though it is not clear if the UK intends to buy these tests. Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously said mass testing was the nations best chance of reducing social distancing measures without having a vaccine. What have other people said about antigen tests? Former prime minister Tony Blair has called on the Government to adopt the rapid antigen tests, saying they could enable an extra 300,000 coronavirus tests to be carried out every day within a few weeks. However Baroness Dido Harding, the head of NHS Test and Trace, warned companies and individuals could be forced to foot the bill for the swift turnaround tests as they were too unreliable for use within the health service. But she said those without symptoms might choose to pay for the tests to act as a kind of Covid-19 passport to allow them to take part in non-socially distanced activities. REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Businesses losing subscription revenue due to inefficient technologies or external billing engines now have additional options in the Microsoft Dynamics stack of software. Bluefort, a European-based Microsoft ISV partner is changing the competitive landscape for subscription management with its License and Subscription App (LISA), available to Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise customers in the U.S. Businesses globally have been adopting subscriptions as the business model of the future. The Global Subscription Commerce Economy has a 17.33% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) (5y) according to a 2019 Annual Report from the Subscription Trade Association. Whilst some businesses have been able to sustain subscriptions successfully, competition is brutal and many struggle with managing aspects of the subscription lifecycle: easy sign-ups, automatic billing, complex plans, cancellations, predictive insights and reducing customer churn. Top areas of massive revenue loss and business risk, identified by Bluefort: Manual transactions requiring time and manpower leading to revenue leaks Delayed customer service to adjust subscriptions increasing churn Costly external billing systems Security risks using external systems and platforms Real-time insights that are difficult predictors of future usage This landscape has started to change thanks to the guidance of Microsoft Gold Partners like Bluefort. Microsoft Dynamics 365 continues to be recognised as a Visionary by Gartner in the Enterprise ERP space throughout 2020 with phenomenal growth globally. "Dynamics 365 Enterprise Customers in the U.S. can now manage the entire subscription life cycle within Dynamics 365, fully automated," says Bjorn Kuijt, Chief Commercial Officer at Bluefort. Historically, Dynamics 365 ERP customers had to use subscription software outside of the Microsoft framework. This has raised concerns about integration, security and architecture. Microsoft is renowned for its partnership model which includes independent companies such as Bluefort, to extend business applications for certain markets. "We've been forming strategic relationships with several Microsoft partners in the U.S. to help them bring an off-the-shelf subscription management solution to their customers," says Kuijt. The LISA solution embedded within Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, enables various industries to leverage the benefits of the subscription economy including: Retail and commerce SaaS and technology Services and projects Health and wellness Media and consumption "Microsoft customers who are serious about ramping up their subscription business model are already on the right track," continues Kuijt. "LISA provides that important push to reach the summit of subscription success with its powerful capabilities." See more on Microsoft AppSource. About Bluefort Bluefort is a Microsoft Gold Partner and ISV that enables businesses to digitally transform using cutting edge technology. Bluefort is focused on delivering tangible value to businesses through extension of Microsoft Dynamics 365 business applications. Established in Malta, our customers and partners around the globe receive managed services collaboration, support and cloud maintenance. Visit our website on www.bluefort.eu or follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bluefort Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282840/Bluefort_Logo.jpg SOURCE Bluefort Related Links https://www.bluefort.eu/ Adapt2 Magic Awards While the global pandemic challenged energy participants and traders, the honorees of this years awards handled drastic levels of change and disruption to strategically drive business objectives. Adapt2 Solutions, a leading provider of AI-enabled multi-market operations and trading software, hosted its annual Accelerate conference last week to share the companys vision for digital transformation in ISO market operations. The company unveiled new enhancements and solutions designed to help energy traders and market participants adapt to todays challenges as they prepare for broader reliance on renewable assets, battery storage, distributed energy resources, and the rise of imbalance markets along with IoT (Internet of Things). Additionally, Adapt2 Solutions announced the winners of the annual Adapt2 Magic awards, honoring customers leveraging the latest technologies AI, big data and analytics to modernize the energy industry. Winners include: Most Accelerated, recognizing the company who actively accelerated energy operations to streamline PJM market operations onto a single platform for optimized bid and settlement analysis, seamlessly providing power to more than 1.1 million homes, farms and businesses with a comprehensive energy solution, awarded to East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). Most Collaborative, recognizing the company with the strongest partnership and broadest footprint, setting the standard for energy tech implementations to facilitate rapid ISO transactions with real-time access to purchasing data with Adapt2 Trade-to-Tag (Adapt2 T2T) trade management solution, awarded to Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA). Most Efficient, recognizing the company who embraced cloud technology to automate end-to-end processes while successfully executing multiple projects in a remote work environment, awarded to Duke Energy. Most Innovative, recognizing the company who had an eye for invention collaborating alongside Adapt2 to bring to market new products and solutions such as predictive analytics to forecast unprecedented strains on resources and capacity, awarded to Liberty Utilities. Company of the Year, recognizing the industry leader who demonstrates an ongoing commitment to understanding the needs of the evolving energy market with the digital transformation of their legacy system with Adapt2s flagship B2B (bid-to-bill) and T2T solutions, awarded to Exelon Corporation. While the global pandemic challenged energy participants and traders, the honorees of this years awards handled drastic levels of change and disruption to strategically drive business objectives, said Jason Kram, Adapt2 Solutions Executive Vice President. We are pushing forward many initiatives around IoT, renewables, storage, distributed energy resources, and AI to help our customers adapt to this changing environment. In its 12th year, the two-day conference brought together over 400 attendees, including all of Adapt2s current client base, to discuss strategic partnerships with the right people, processes and performance to accelerate energy market operations, leveraging ISO market analytics and IoT for frictionless multi-market operation. The lineup of speakers included representatives from all North American ISO markets and industry leaders including Duke Energy, Exelon, Liberty Utilities, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, MPUA, and EKPC. For more information on the news and product updates coming out of Accelerate 2020, follow Adapt2 on LinkedIn. To learn more about how Adapt2 is accelerating power and gas market operations, visit http://adapt2solutions.com. About Adapt2 Solutions: Adapt2 Solutions (Adapt2) is the leading provider of AI enabled multi-market operations software designed to help market participants streamline all of their front and back office operations. Founded in 2008, Adapt2 delivers market-based solutions on the latest and most current technologies providing customers with fast, intuitive and stable user experience and performance. With over 150 market implementations representing over 2500 market participants, Adapt2 is a leading solution provider in the energy industry. Adapt2 Solutions is a privately held company based in Houston, Texas. To learn more about Adapt2, please visit http://www.adapt2solutions.com. Media Inquiries: Sanah Sadaruddin Creative Grammar for Adapt2 Solutions sanah@creativegrammar.co Kuur Therapeutics Announces First Patients Dosed with Allogeneic CAR-NKT Cell Therapy Details Category: DNA RNA and Cells Published on Tuesday, 29 September 2020 17:21 Hits: 1330 Allogeneic off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer T cell (CAR-NKT) therapy platform could overcome many of the challenges of current autologous CAR-T therapies The CAR-NKT cell platform has tumor-homing properties and is unlikely to cause GvHD Phase 1 ANCHOR clinical study will enroll adult patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) CD19 positive malignancies HOUSTON, TX, USA I September 29, 2020 I Kuur Therapeutics, a leader in the development of off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cell immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological and solid malignancies, today announced the treatment of the first patients in its ANCHOR phase 1 study of KUR-502, an allogeneic CAR-NKT therapy. This is an important day, as the initiation and dosing of the first patients in the ANCHOR phase 1 clinical study marks the first time that patients have been treated with an allogeneic engineered CAR-NKT cell therapy, said Dr. Carlos Ramos, Principal Investigator of the ANCHOR study, Professor of Medicine in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy (CAGT) at Baylor College of Medicine and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. CAR-NKT cells have the potential to offer a distinct set of advantages over other lymphocytes commonly used for cell therapy, such as T cells. We are pleased to be advancing this ground-breaking first-in-human clinical study and anticipate that CAR-NKT cells could be an important treatment option for patients with both hematological and solid tumors in the future. With the initiation of the ANCHOR study of KUR-502 in CD19 positive hematological malignancies, we are able to turn our focus to exploring the effects of off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cells, said Kevin S. Boyle, Sr., Kuurs Chief Executive Officer. This study will allow us to evaluate our platform technology with a validated target in CD19 and validated indications, generating critical data to advance our allogeneic efforts. Together with the results from our proof of concept GINAKIT2 study of KUR-501 in neuroblastoma, the forthcoming data from the ANCHOR study will guide future development of our next generation platform technology. KUR-502 is built on Kuurs next-generation CAR-NKT platform, with novel engineering capabilities that harness and enhance the unique tumor-homing properties of NKT cells. This NKT platform technology was developed in the CAGT Lab of Dr. Leonid Metelitsa, Professor of Pediatrics-Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrens Hospital and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and KUR-502 was produced by the CAGT cGMP facility. One of the challenges with allogeneic therapies is that infusing a patient with donor-derived lymphocytes can induce graft versus host disease (GvHD), a potentially life-threatening condition in which the infused cells recognize the patients tissues as foreign. The NKT cells used in Kuurs CAR-NKT platform have an invariant T cell receptor that does not distinguish between self- and non-self tissues, making the cells unlikely to induce GvHD when given to another person. Preclinical data generated by Baylor College of Medicine indicate that while human CAR-T cells cause severe GvHD, CAR-NKT cells from the same donor do not. The ANCHOR (NCT03774654) study is a phase 1, first-in-human, dose escalation evaluation of KUR-502 in adults with R/R CD19 positive malignancies, including B cell lymphomas, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The single arm study will evaluate three dose levels, with patients receiving lymphodepletion chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide and fludarabine followed by infusion with KUR-502. Patients with R/R CD19 positive malignancies have limited effective treatment options. While CD19-directed autologous CAR-T cells are now available for these patients, they are limited by delays to get treatment, a requirement for patient leukapheresis, and issues with inferior quality leukapheresis starting material due to prior treatment. Off-the-shelf KUR-502 is designed to overcome these limitations. The ANCHOR study is being sponsored and conducted by Kuurs collaborator, Baylor College of Medicine. About KUR-502 KUR-502 is an innovative allogeneic (off-the-shelf) product in which natural killer T cells are engineered with a chimeric antigen receptor targeting CD19. KUR-502 is engineered with a CD19-specific CAR construct that is additionally designed to secrete the cytokine IL-15, which has been shown in nonclinical studies to increase the persistence of CAR-NKT cells and improve their efficacy within the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. In addition, the CAR-NKT cells express short hairpin RNA (shRNA) designed to downregulate HLA class I and class II expression, which may minimize rejection by the patients immune system and further enhance persistence. The CAR, IL-15 and shRNAs are effectively expressed in NKT cells via a single gammaretroviral vector, allowing for one-hit generation of off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cells. In contrast to off-the-shelf CAR therapy with conventional alpha-beta T cells, gene editing to remove the TCR to prevent GvHD is not required for off-the-shelf CAR-NKT therapy. KUR-502 is manufactured from healthy donors, from whom cell therapy products can be prepared in large quantities from a single procedure and used to treat many different patients. About Kuur Therapeutics Kuur Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cell immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological and solid malignancies. The companys revolutionary platform engineers CARs expressed by invariant NKT cells, a subset of T lymphocytes, and is being developed in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrens Hospital. Allogeneic cell therapy has the potential to be much faster and less expensive than patient-specific autologous products, and NKT cells offer several advantages over other cell types for allogeneic immunotherapy applications. NKT cells have the cytotoxic and anti-tumor properties of conventional T cells, but with other biological attributes that are expected to improve their ability to attack hematological and solid tumors. These include innate tissue and solid tumor homing properties, as well as endogenous anti-tumor activity based on the ability to eliminate immune suppressive cells and activate host immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Kuurs CAR-NKT platform is currently being explored in two phase 1 clinical studies, the proof of concept GINAKIT2 study of autologous therapy KUR-501, in patients with high risk, relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma, and the phase 1 ANCHOR study of allogeneic therapy KUR-502, in adult patients with relapsed/refractory CD19 positive malignancies. About Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in Houston is recognized as a health sciences university and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. It is the only private medical school in the greater southwest and is ranked 22nd among medical schools for research and 4th for primary care by U.S. News & World Report. Baylor is listed 21st among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding and No. 1 in Texas. Located in the Texas Medical Center, Baylor has affiliations with seven teaching hospitals and jointly owns and operates Baylor St. Lukes Medical Center, part of CHI St. Lukes Health. Currently, Baylor has more than 3,000 trainees in medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, physician assistant, orthotics and genetic counseling as well as residents and postdoctoral fellows. Follow Baylor College of Medicine on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BaylorCollegeOfMedicine) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/BCMHouston). About Baylor College of Medicine Ventures Baylor College of Medicine Ventures (www.bcm.edu/about-us/bcm-ventures) is the commercial engine of the health sciences university, created to support the translation of academic knowledge and intellectual assets for the benefit of society. We do this by engaging university innovators, entrepreneurs and industry to fully develop ideas along their best commercial path. We foster a culture of commercialization and engage with industry to identify market opportunities for collaborative ventures. To learn more about partnering with BCM Ventures and accessing our available technologies, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . SOURCE: Kuur Therapeutics Tragic: Kilkenny native Adrian Murphy, who was found dead in a flat in London. A couple murdered an Irish dancer and poisoned another man with a drug known as "devil's breath" before using their bank cards to go on a spending spree, a court heard. Diana Cristea, 18, and Joel Osei, 25, are accused of killing Adrian Murphy between May 31 and June 5 last year after his body was found in a 17th-storey flat in Battersea, south-west London. The pair then allegedly used his details to unsuccessfully buy $80,000 (68,130) worth of diamonds from a jeweller in New York, Croydon Crown Court heard on Tuesday. Mr Murphy, 43, had worked as a dance teacher and a choreographer at the Royal Academy of Dance, but was on a year-long sabbatical at the time of his death. Expand Close Murdered: Champion Irish dancer Adrian Murphy, originally from Kilkenny but living in London, appeared on TV in the UK, Australia and the US. Photo: Met Police / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Murdered: Champion Irish dancer Adrian Murphy, originally from Kilkenny but living in London, appeared on TV in the UK, Australia and the US. Photo: Met Police Cristea and Osei are also accused of poisoning a second man, who cannot be named due to a reporting restriction, on May 30, 2019, before stealing about 2,000 (2,190) of his belongings. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the drug scopolamine, which is said to be "popular with robbers and rapists" to incapacitate their victims, was used in both incidents. Osei is alleged to have met the victims in person through the gay dating app Grindr, before lacing their drinks with the drug and stealing their possessions. Cristea, meanwhile, was alleged to have been "egging him on" in the background and sold the stolen items, Mr Aylett said. The former couple are both charged with a single count of murder and a count of administering a poison or noxious substance so as to endanger life, which they body deny. They are also standing trial on several fraud charges and two counts of theft. The court heard Mr Murphy was staying at his former partner and best friend's flat at Lombard Wharf when Osei visited him on June 1. The defendant was caught on CCTV approaching the building and exiting a lift, turning left towards the flat where Mr Murphy was waiting for him, the court heard. Mr Aylett said: "As you will readily appreciate, the prosecution's case is that Joel Osei would have been the last person to see Adrian Murphy alive." He was later caught on CCTV exiting the building carrying a Louis Vuitton holdall. The court heard that the next day, the couple attempted to use Mr Murphy's Barclays credit card to spend almost $3,000 (2,555) on computer software used by architects, only managing to do so after three attempts. Meanwhile, Cristea used her phone to take a photo of a Louis Vuitton wallet, which she advertised online, along with a Louis Vuitton holdall she was selling for 300 (330) and five Dolce and Gabbana belts for 200 (220). Mr Murphy was discovered by his former partner days later on June 4 lying face down, naked on the bed. His phone was found in the toilet, and a can of Coca-Cola which was later recovered by police was found to contain traces of scopolamine. Osei's fingerprints were also discovered on a bottle whiskey in the apartment. Two toxicology tests estimated that the concentration of scopolamine in Mr Murphy's body was 67 micrograms per litre of blood and then 28 micrograms. The court heard that research into a separate, fatal robbery involving the drug, found that a victim only had 4.8 micrograms of scopolamine in their blood. Days earlier on May 30, another victim invited Osei, who called himself "Remy", back to his London property, but was "disappointed" to find the defendant "did not seem to be particularly interested in sex". Mr Aylett said the victim went to the toilet, and on his return drank a glass of orange juice that Osei had poured him, assuming it was from his fridge. He passed out and was taken to hospital after being discovered by his neighbour. The victim reported that items including his wallet, bank cards and two laptops, worth about 2,000 (2190), had been stolen. The court heard that the man named "Remy" and Mr Murphy's unnamed visitor had used a phone ending in the same number, which police were able to link to Osei and his then girlfriend Cristea. Mr Aylett said Osei was later identified by the surviving victim as being Remy. A post mortem of Mr Murphy's body found traces of the drug scopolamine, which comes from a plant in the deadly nightshade family of poisons. Mr Aylett QC said: "In South America, and in particularly in Columbia, it is said to be popular with both robbers and rapists who use it to incapacitate their victims, rendering them deeply unconscious for long periods of time. "In Colombia, they don't call it scopolamine, in Columbia they call it 'the devil's breath'." Cristea was contacted by police on June 10 and asked if she knew the name "Adrian Murphy", which she denied. Mr Aylett said when Cristea was informed that Mr Murphy had died, she had sounded "shocked" and "let out what the officer has described as a huge gasp". Both defendants were initially arrested on June 11 but gave "no comment" during police interview. Analysis of Osei's laptop and phone found that he had searched online for scopolamine, and that an amount was eventually purchased through the web in early May, the court heard. Mr Aylett said Osei "accepts" he visited both Mr Murphy and the second victim, claiming he was working as a male prostitute at the time and engaged in "consensual sexual activity" with both men. However, the surviving victim said he did not take part in any sexual activity, while swabs taken from Mr Murphy found no evidence of sexual activity with Osei. Cristea, of Langley Park, Mill Hill, Barnet, north London, has admitted one count of fraud, but denies two counts of theft and six other fraud charges. Osei, who was previously living at Kerswell Close in Seven Sisters, north London, but is now of no fixed abode, denies two counts of theft and eight counts of fraud. Australian students are almost twice as likely to start school without kindergarten or preschool than the OECD average, raising concerns about the effect on academic performance in later years. The worlds largest study of 15-year-old students found 11.5 per cent of Australian students did not attend pre-primary school or attended for less than a year, compared with the OECD average of 6.2 per cent. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's PISA test found students who had not attended pre-primary school or attended for less than a year "scored lower in reading at the age of 15 than students who had attended for between one and three years, before and after accounting for students and schools socioeconomic profile". Research suggests early education can boost childrens cognitive development and wellbeing, later academic achievement and even adult earnings. Credit:Louie Douvis While the research does not detail a link between Australian students time at preschool and their reading scores, the OECD said there was growing evidence about the importance of high-quality pre-primary education. The Queen is said to be 'furious' after Royal Household staff revolted against a plan for them to stay in a coronavirus bubble at Sandringham over Christmas. A team of about 20 employees had been asked to remain on the monarch's Norfolk estate without their families to support her, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family during the festive period. But the group said to involve cleaners, laundry and maintenance workers - are believed to have mutinied because they are unwilling to isolate from loved ones for four weeks. Staff were being asked to stay for the month-long period so they could remain in a Covid bubble to protect the 94-year-old monarch. The uprising means the Queen could be forced to spend Christmas at Windsor Castle for the first time in 33 years. Palace officials are in the process of creating a special 'bubble' between Sandringham and Windsor, which means the Queen can travel between the two with the same team. The Queen records her Christmas Day message at Buckingham Palace in December 2018 A royal source told The Sun: 'The Queen is furious. The staff said enough is enough. It is absolutely unprecedented. 'Everybody wants to stay loyal but they feel they've been pushed too far by being made to isolate from their families for Christmas. 'Discussions are taking place with the team on operational matters but it is too early to speculate on implications for Christmas.' The Queen typically spends her winter break at Sandringham, travelling up after the Christmas party for extended family members at Buckingham Palace in December. Until recently she had been at Balmoral in Scotland with her 99-year-old husband Philip, but travelled down to Sandringham on September 14. The Queen typically spends her winter break at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk (pictured) The couple decided to cut short their stay in Scotland three weeks early to spend some quiet time together in the intimate surroundings of Wood Farm on Sandringham, where Philip now lives alone in a 'modest' five-bedroom home. Palace officials are creating a 'bubble' between Sandringham and Windsor. This means that when the Queen returns to the castle in early October and 'commutes' as she resumes limited duties at Buckingham Palace during the week, she and Philip can still travel between their residences to see each other. The prince has spent most of his time at Wood Farm since retiring from public duties in 2017 as he prefers the peace and quiet there, away from the formalities of royal life. Prince Charles, William, Kate, Meghan and Harry at Sandringham in Norfolk in December 2018 A royal spokesman said the Queen intends to carry out a reduced schedule of audiences and engagements at Buckingham Palace in the run up to Christmas. But she could be forced to make a tough decision about who to invite over for Christmas Day if the current 'Rule of Six' restrictions remain in place into December. Insiders say it had always been the Royal Family's intention to get Buckingham Palace up and running as a working building as soon as Covid regulations will allow. Balmoral will open to the public again on October 3 for guided tours. Prince Andrew was also seen leaving the estate earlier this month after spending a week holidaying with his parents. Philippines, Sept 29, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - On 30 September & 1 October, Seamless Philippines' 2020 edition will take place online, bringing together the entire Philippines' commerce & finance ecosystem to innovate, transform and disrupt.On the morning of 30 September, Mohamed Keraine, Managing Director - Head of Retail Development Asia of ING Bank will kickstart the keynote session as he shares how he and his team have grown ING Bank's Philippines business successfully. This Lito Villanueva, EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer, RCBC takes to the stage next, to talk about RCBC's virtualization journey and the final morning keynote session will be delivered by banking heavyweight Dr. Justo Ortiz, Union Bank of the Philippines' Vice Chairman to offer insights into Unionbank's Transformation Journey.On 1 October, Shopback Country Manager, Prashant Kala; foodPanda Commercial Director, Hardik Batra; Lazada Group Head of Business Development, Petrus Paolo Carbonell; Cebuana Lhuiller Bank VP and Head of Retail Banking, Jimmy Ang and Metromart Co- Founder & CEO, Steffano Fazzini, will gather virtually for their Keynote Panel Discussion on Innovating retail & e-commerce in the Philippines.In addition to the highlighted keynote speakers, over 100 other experts will share their insights across six channels of content in the Payments Innovation, Banking and Financial Inclusion Channels on Day 1 and the E-commerce & Retail Strategy, E-commerce Marketing and Digital Identity Channels on Day 2. All channels are free to attend and for the first time ever at Seamless Philippines, all sessions will be available on-demand.Additional featured speakers at Seamless Philippines Virtual 2020 include:- Henry Aguda, Chairman of the Board at UBX/ SEVP, CTOO and Chief Technology Officer, Unionbank of the Philippines- Bettina Quimson, IT Expert Resource, Philippine Senate and Congress- Rogelio "Nooky" Umali, FWD Life Chief Technology Officer, FWD Insurance Corporation- Janette Y. Abad Santos, VP & Head Marketing Group, Robinsons Bank- Frederick Faustino, Assistant Vice President, Head, Digital Channels Business Development and Onboarding, Bank of the Philippine Islands- Esel De Sagun-Madrid, VP, Analytics and Insights, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company- Gay Santos, Executive Director, Fintech Alliance Philippines- Christian Jerome Dobles, Senior Vice President, Philippine National Bank- Jayan Dy, Head of Digital Transformation, SM Retail- Rajeev Tummala, Director-Digital & Data, HSBC- Kim Lato, President & CEO, Kimstore.com- Mary Jean T. Pacheco, Assistant Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry- Ernest Ryan Valencia, Head Digital Marketing, Ayala Malls- Dan Mejia, Head of Communications & Press, H & M Philippines- Diego Buenaflor, General Manager, Ellana Mineral Cosmetics- Dominador Gamboa, Director, House of Representatives- Frances Nicola Mendez, Law and Policy Consultant, Department of Information and Communications Technology- LtCol Francel Margareth Padilla-Taborlupa, Information Systems Officer, National Task Force Against Covid19, Office of the Chief Implementer, National Incidence Command, Emergency Operations CenterAlongside the online conference sessions, Seamless Philippines 2020 will also feature a virtual showcase of the latest solutions and technologies from leading solution providers. Exhibiting companies include Cognitec, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Sybrin, FIME, Goldpac, LG Business Solutions, Amihan, Home Credit, Share Treats, Phonexia, POSMart, Veritaspay and WizarPOS.The two-day virtual event is expected to gather over 2,000 payments, retail, e-commerce, fintech stakeholders from across the Philippines and beyond.About Seamless Philippines Virtual 2020Date: 30 September - 1 October 2020Conference Hours: 09:00 - 17:00 , Live OnlineWebsite: www.terrapinn.com/seamlessphvirtualnowAbout TerrapinnWe've been sparking ideas, innovations and relationships that transform business for over 30 years. Using our global footprint, we bring innovators, disrupters and change agents together, discussing and demonstrating the technology, strategies and personalities that are changing the way the world does business. For more information, visit www.terrapinn.com.Note: Press registration for the conference is compulsory. Press passes are strictly reserved for reporters, journalists, editors only. Final issuance of press passes is subjected to Terrapinn's discretion.For your complimentary press pass, please contact the following:Danelle FilipinasMarketing ManagerTerrapinn Pte LtdWhatsapp/Viber: +65 8159 6111danelle.filipinas@terrapinn.comSource: Terrapinn Holdings Ltd.Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. The government is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the surgical strikes on Monday. The strikes against the terror groups were carried out in response to the deadly attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri in September, 2016. During his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reminded the nation about the strikes. Four years ago, around this time, the world witnessed the courage, bravery and valour of our soldiers during the surgical strike. Our brave soldiers had just one mission and goal - to protect the glory and honour of mother India at any cost. They did not care for their lives, at all. They kept moving on the line of duty and we all witnessed how they returned victoriously. They made mother India proud, PM Modi had said. The strikes were carried out by Indian Armys special forces which crossed the Line of Control (LoC) on the night of September 27-28, 2016, and destroyed the terror pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was in response to the suicide attack carried out by Pakistan based terrorists on an army base in Uri north Kashmirs Baramulla district o September 18 that year. Nineteen soldiers were killed in the attack. PM Modi had said that the attackers will not go unpunished and that they will not be forgiven and the sacrifice of 18 jawans will not go in vain. The armys build-up for the strikes began on September 24. The special forces squads set out for the mission armed with night-vision devices, Tavor 21 and AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-fired missiles, Heckler and Koch pistols, high explosive grenades and plastic explosives. The teams were 30-strong each and had specific targets. Civilians living close to border in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab were evacuated started at 10 pm on September 27, before Indian soldiers went across. These terror camps were meant to serve as launchpads to send terrorists into the Indian territory. Sentries at these launchpads were neutralised by snipers before the troops went in and finished the nearly five-hour-long operation. The army had said that Indian soldiers razed six launchpads to the ground and gunned down 45 terrorists at various locations. These launchpads were under surveillance for over one week before the operation. Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar has defended the film industry, which has been caught in controversy after the Narcotics Control Bureau opened an investigation into its alleged connections to drugs trade and consumption. Javed also spoke about his recent tweet about Karan Johars parties, and said that he wanted the attention of the media to be diverted to matters of importance. In an interview, he said that he isnt an expert on agriculture and economy, and that certain news channels could provide people like him with information, instead of focussing on Bollywood. Im not an expert on agriculture or economy. Certain channels can educate people like me who dont understand these things but they did not hold up their responsibility, he told journalist Barkha Dutt. If Karan johar had invited some farmers too for his party life would have been easier for our TV channels.They would not have had to choose between farmers protest and Karans party!. it seems that Karans do is the second most favourite PARTY of our channels Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) September 25, 2020 Javed on September 25 had tweeted, If Karan johar had invited some farmers too for his party life would have been easier for our TV channels.They would not have had to choose between farmers protest and Karans party!. it seems that Karans do is the second most favourite PARTY of our channels. Last week, more than 200 farmers groups across the country blocked roads and organised rallies in protest against three controversial farm bills passed in the monsoon session of the Parliament. Also read: Javed Akhtar takes a dig at news channels for ignoring farmers protests: If Karan Johar had invited some farmers to his party Asked about the ongoing NCB investigation into the alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus, he said, I have never used any drug in my life. Although I was not a very disciplined young man and I used to drink a lot. I dont believe in those reports but look at their health, their physique, their physical fitness. These boys and girls, unlike the stars of yesteryear who were not obsessed by their physical fitness, which this generation is. In fact, they spend two to three hours in the gym. Do they look like drug addicts? They are extremely professional and responsible people. Today, the film industry is much more disciplined and responsible than it ever was. The NCB has so far questioned actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh and Shraddha Kapoor, after their names came up during the agencys investigation of actor Rhea Chakraborty. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Zogg fire consumes a home near Ono, Calif., on Sunday. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press) A deadly wildfire continued to carve a destructive path through Northern California's Shasta County, swelling to more than 40,000 acres Tuesday. The fast-moving Zogg fire which started Sunday afternoon near the rural community of Igo, about nine miles southwest of Redding has already been blamed for three deaths, destroyed 146 structures and prompted numerous evacuations in the area. The blaze is still threatening more than 1,500 structures, fire officials said Tuesday morning. "Light winds, high temperatures, low humidities and a lack of resources will continue to challenge firefighters today," officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wrote in an incident report. "Firefighters will continue to focus on structure defense and increasing containment lines." Officials said Tuesday that reinforcements were being deployed to the scene, bolstering the arsenal available to stymie the blaze. "Weve had crews that are still on the line from when the fire started on Sunday," said Sean Kavanaugh, a Cal Fire incident commander. "Theyre in their third day out there; were trying to get those folks back in [for a break]. We do have resources that are coming from across the state to come help us." Resident Tom Smith, who refused to evacuate from the path of the Zogg fire, watches a home burn near Ono, Calif. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press) Issac Sanchez, a Cal Fire spokesman, said helicopters were dropping water and planes were dumping retardant on the fire. A thick layer of smoke or clouds he wasnt sure which was helping keep temperatures down, he said. The conditions are more favorable than they were two days ago and even from yesterday, but it is still warm, and the fire is still growing at this point, Sanchez said. The fire remained uncontained Tuesday morning. Details about the three people who died in the fire including their names, ages and where they were found have yet to be released. Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini said Monday that authorities were working to identify the victims and notify their families. Story continues The Shasta County coroner declined to provide details about the victims. A man who answered the telephone at the coroner's office told a reporter to call back Wednesday and hung up. Cal Fire said it had no information about the fatalities. Deputies have evacuated 466 homes in the communities of Igo and Ono, displacing about 1,250 people, the sheriff said. Magrini urged residents to heed orders to evacuate, noting that with this fast-moving blaze, were not issuing warnings. Kavanaugh said deciding whether to order people to leave their homes was always a tough call, but "its a necessary evil that we have to do" when residents are potentially in harm's way. Cal Fire's Shasta-Trinity Unit Chief Bret Gouvea called the fire "another tragedy here in Shasta County that were all too familiar with." It was only a little more than two years ago that the Carr fire swept through the area in and around Redding, ultimately charring 229,651 acres, killing eight people and consuming 1,614 structures. Firefighters Bradcus Schrandt, right, and Joe Catterson tend to an injured kitten near Ono, Calif. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press) "We have faced these tragedies in this county before," Gouvea said during a briefing Monday. "One thing I know about Shasta County is its very resilient. Two years ago, this county dealt with massive loss, and I saw from [fire] suppression all the way through recovery the communities come together and quickly recover from these devastating incidents. We will be here until the end, and this county will recover from this." The sheer scope and scale of this year's punishing fire season, however, has strained resources statewide presenting another challenge for frontline firefighters. The Zogg fire is one of more than two dozen major wildfires burning throughout California. Over 18,700 firefighters have been deployed to battle those blazes, according to Cal Fire. Kavanaugh said he was hopeful that the arrival of additional personnel and equipment as well as more cooperative weather would boost the firefight. "Were starting to get a foothold, though. We're starting to get the resources in," he said. "Thats important, and well see how we do the rest of the week." The red flag conditions that persisted across much of Northern California over the weekend and Monday have vanished. However, "although gusty winds have dissipated, strong high pressure continues to keep temperatures above normal across much of the inland areas of California," Cal Fire officials wrote in a statewide situation report Tuesday. "With no significant precipitation in sight," they warned, "California remains dry and ripe for wildfires." In recent days, dry and windy conditions helped fan the Zogg fire as well as the Glass fire in Northern California's wine country and further fueled some of the major wildfires already burning statewide. Among them is the behemoth August Complex fire, which grew by nearly 60,000 acres from Monday to Tuesday. That fire burning in and around the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers national forests, farther southwest of Redding dwarfs all others on record in California. At roughly 938,000 acres, it's more than twice as large as any fire in the state's modern history. Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said the fire was driven Monday "specifically to the west and even to the southwest by those gusty winds." "Firefighters worked in extremely difficult terrain performing structure defense and constructing both indirect and direct containment lines," he said in a video briefing Tuesday. "Overnight, the fire was extremely active ... making uphill, terrain-driven runs." The overall fire is 43% contained. Dangerous fire weather persisted in other parts of the state Tuesday with hot, dry conditions fueling large blazes and small brush fires across Los Angeles County. The Martindale fire broke out in the Bouquet Canyon area of the Santa Clarita Valley on Monday afternoon and jumped to more than 200 acres in less than 30 minutes, according to the U.S. Forest Service. As of Tuesday morning, the blaze was 40% contained, officials said. Meanwhile, the Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. It has scorched more than 114,000 acres and is 62% contained. More than 8,100 wildfires have been recorded in California just this year, burning in excess of 3.8 million acres. The collective death toll from the historic firestorm now stands at 29. More than 7,000 structures have been destroyed. On Tuesday morning, the Sacramento airport was packed with hundreds of firefighters from across the country on their way in under mutual-aid agreements, highlighting how dependent California is on outside help with resources stretched thin. "Were dealing with some pretty extreme times in this state," Gouvea said. "I think anybody can see that fire behavior, fire starts and the potential for large fire growth, the damaging fires, is prevalent. Its historic times." Dolan reported from Orinda, and Money and Ormseth reported from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Hayley Smith in Los Angeles and Anita Chabria in Sacramento contributed to this report. Flame and smoke rise from the Zogg fire on Clear Creek Road near Igo, Calif. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press) This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:39:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over the 43rd Chairperson's Council meeting of the CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, will convene its 14th meeting in early November in Beijing. The decision was made on Tuesday at the 43rd Chairperson's Council meeting of the CPPCC National Committee, which was presided over by Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. The Tuesday meeting reviewed and adopted a draft guideline on strengthening CPPCC members' sense of mission, a draft revision of the general rules on special committees under the CPPCC National Committee, and a plan (2020-2025) for promoting the application of information and smart technologies in the work of the CPPCC National Committee. Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, highlighted the need to improve the institutional building of the CPPCC National Committee and called for furthering the role of a mobile platform for political advisors to perform their duties. The CPPCC National Committee has fulfilled its duties with a commitment to controlling COVID-19 while advancing economic and social development over the year, making new contributions to the cause of the Party and the country, Wang said. Tuesday's meeting also reviewed and approved the draft agenda and schedule for the upcoming standing committee meeting. Enditem For the Prik Nam Pla (if using): In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, lime juice, Thai chiles, shallot, and garlic (if using). Set aside. For the Stir-Fry Sauce: In a small bowl, stir together Golden Mountain seasoning sauce, oyster sauce, black soy sauce, fermented yellow bean paste, fish sauce, and sugar until well-combined. Set aside. For the Stir-Fry: Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of sliced ginger (1/5 of total amount; 5g), cilantro roots (or stems), and white peppercorns to a granite mortar and pestle and pound into a fine paste, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, and continue to pound until rough paste forms, about 1 minute. In a wok or large skillet, heat oil over high heat until shimmering. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and remaining sliced ginger (30g), and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is just cooked through, about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Add stir-fry sauce and wood ear mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until sauce is reduced to a glaze that evenly coats ingredients, about 1 minute. Add long chiles and 1 teaspoon (5ml) water around sides of wok and use a wok spatula or wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits stuck to wok. For Serving: Remove from heat and stir in scallions to lightly wilt them. Serve immediately with cooked jasmine rice, passing prik nam pla at the table. Special equipment Mortar and pestle, wok, or large carbon steel or stainless steel skillet Notes Prik nam pla literally translates to "chiles in fish sauce." It is a condiment often present at the table, and it's used for seasoning and adding chile heat to various dishes, especially stir-fries, eggs, and rice. Prik nam pla is not meant to be a balanced sauceit is intentionally very salty and spicy, with just a hint of fresh acidity from lime juice. It is strongly recommended for serving with this dish, but it is optional. The roots of fresh coriander (a.k.a. cilantro) provide a slight herbal note to dishes but are unfortunately hard to find in the US, as they are often cut off from the stems before going to market (though local farmers markets in the summer and fall often have coriander with the roots still attached). Coriander roots can also be found in Southeast Asian markets. If you can't find the herb with the roots still attached, you can either substitute with an equal amount by weight of tender stems or omit it altogether. And, to clarify, although they are called coriander "roots," Thai cooks usually also use some of the tender green stem. To rehydrate wood ear mushrooms, place them in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water, and set aside to steep for 15 minutes. The chiles in the stir-fry are meant to have some heat but should be much milder than small Thai chiles. You are looking for a crisp, fresh chile aroma, not sharp spiciness. In Thailand, the red chiles used for this dish are called prik chee faa, and yellow-orange chiles are named prik leung. Fresh cayenne peppers are a comparable substitute and can be found at Southeast Asian markets, some grocery stores, and farmers markets in the late summer and fall. Make-Ahead and Storage This dish is best enjoyed immediately. The prik nam pla can be made up to 1 day in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container; bring to room temperature before serving. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Did you hear about the large Christian gatherings in Washington, DC, this weekend? Did you see the news reports about the mayhem? The looting? The vandalism? The calls to Burn it down!? Did you hear the speakers calling for acts of violence and destruction? Oh, you didnt? Thats because tens of thousands of Christians did gather in DC this weekend, but they came to pray for the nation and repent for their sins. The two main events were The Return, which began Friday night and ended Saturday night, and Franklin Grahams prayer march, which was held from noon to 2:00 PM Saturday afternoon. Both events attracted tens of thousands, and The Return was watched by a reported global audience of tens of millions. But there were no angry voices. No calls for violence. No fistfights. Or brawls. Or looting. Or shooting at police. In fact, at The Return, where I participated on Saturday, there was hardly any police presence at all. It was not needed. I didnt even see any counter-protesters. Worship prevailed. Prayer prevailed. Humility prevailed. Repentance prevailed. And while a constant theme of the events was the broken condition of America and the urgent need for repentance, that repentance started with the participants, with each of us. We, the followers of Jesus, have sinned and fallen short. We who are called to be light of the world and the salt of the earth have not lived up to our high and lofty calling. Thats why The Return began its Saturday morning program with pastors and leaders asking for Gods mercy and confessing their sin. Repentance starts with us. Significantly, Saturday was also the day when President Trump announced his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Who could have foreseen this? These events were planned months in advance, at which time no one had any idea that Justice Ginsburg would pass away, let alone pass away during this sacred season on the biblical calendar. Even the timing of Trumps announcement seemed propitious. As I tweeted, So, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away at the beginning of the Jewish New Year, as the shofar blast is heard, & Amy Coney Barrett is announced as her replacement as shofars were being blasted at The Return event in DC, watched by 10s of millions globally. Coincidence? On this same day, Saturday, September 26, 2020, major prayer gatherings were held in the Philippines and other nations as well. (An Asian leader told me at The Return that three million Indonesian Christians participated in a prayer event just hours earlier.) But this is exactly what we must do. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, a global shutdown, a time of global shaking and that means there nothing more important we can do than pray. All the more does this hold true in America, where deep divisions are literally tearing us apart. But the goal of these gatherings is not to impress people. The goal is not to put on a performance and please the crowds. The goal is to get the attention of our Father in heaven. Only He can turn the hearts of a nation. And only He can hold back His judgment and wrath. In Jewish tradition, the constellation sign associated with Tishrei, the seventh (and current) month of the biblical calendar (but the first month of the traditional calendar), is a pair of scales, symbolizing the scales of justice. As one Jewish website explains, The symbol of the month of Tishrei is a pair of scales. How fitting are the scales of justice to this month! On the Day of Judgment, Rosh Hashanah, our good deeds and mitzvos (commandments) are weighed against our sins. If we have more mitzvos than sins, we are inscribed for another year of life. Obviously, this is not a quantitative evaluation, that is, the number of offenses verses the number of good deeds. The judgment takes into account the quality of our deeds. Yet even with the very best quality of deeds, and even when we work our hardest, there is no way America could survive a test like this, weighing our good deeds against our bad deeds. How much weight does a single abortion carry, let alone tens of millions? How much weight does a single act of sex trafficking carry, let alone tens of thousands? Thats why we plead for mercy. Thats why we repent so deeply. Thats why, in the synagogues, beginning Sunday night, Jewish prayers will focus on pleas for mercy and lengthy confessions of sin. There is no boasting of our own righteousness in the sight of a holy God. Thats why these gatherings in DC, with minimal press coverage and without the drama of the protests and the riots, could well be the thing that saves the nation. And while the media may not have paid sufficient attention, we trust that God Himself did. That is what really matters. - The villagers in Romania said their late mayor was a good leader who had served them with diligence - They voted for him despite him being dead and went to his grave to celebrate the election victory - Romania has so far recorded 125, 414 cases of COVID-19 with 4,792 as the death toll PAY ATTENTION: Click 'See First' under 'Follow' Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB Feed Villagers in Romania honoured their late mayor who succumbed to COVID-19, 10 days before the municipal elections in their locality. The locals from Deveselu, Southern Romania voted for their late leader Ion Aliman during their Sunday, September 27, polls. READ ALSO: Lolani Kalu: Ex-NTV Kiswahili reporter weighed down by coronavirus economic effects, appeals for support A coronavirus test kit. The mayor died of COVID-19 complications days to the elections. Photo: UGC. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Victor Wanyama denies claims he paid woman KSh 700k to sleep with her, vows to take legal action According to a report by CNN, Aliman's name was in the ballot papers by the time of his death and it was too late to remove it since elections were fast approaching. He garnered a total of 1,057 votes of the 1,600 total votes cast in the local elections. A viral video on social media showed a crowd of Deveselu villagers at the late mayor's grave to celebrate his victory. READ ALSO: Eric Omondi thrills fans after dressing, singing like Rose Muhando His supporters said he was a true leader and the least they could have done is to celebrate him by voting for him and lighting candles at his grave to honour him. The residents are now expected to head back to the polls to elect Aliman's replacement. The European nation has so far recorded 125, 414 cases of COVID-19 with 4,792 as the death toll. READ ALSO: Nandi: Kind MCA builds decent house for elderly woman who lived in dilapidated house As of Tuesday, September 29, according to a tally by Worldometer, the world death toll had hit 1,006,471 with the US and Brazil being the hardest hit with at least 209,808 and 142,161 deaths respectively. In Africa, South Africa is the hardest-hit country with 671,669 confirmed cases and more than 16,000 deaths. Kenya, which reported its first case of the disease on March 13, 2020, had registered 700 deaths. READ ALSO: Eyes on William Ruto as Uhuru prepares to leave for France The country has so far recorded 38,168 cases out of which 24,681 were recoveries. President Uhuru Kenyatta, on Monday, September 28, eased some restrictions such as adjustment of curfew hours to 11pm to 4am and also ordered for the reopening of bars. Earlier, Uhuru confirmed Kenya was flattening its COVID-19 curve attributing the success to the laid out COVID-19 containment measures. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My car broke my family - Kenneth Saota | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke When it comes to political theatre there's little to rival the spectacle of the US presidential debates every four years. Throw in a norm-busting incumbent whose made-for-TV presidency has enthralled and appalled in equal measure and this year's triple-bill between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is set to be a doozy. US Vice-President Richard Nixon (left) faces Senator John F. Kennedy in one of four presidential debates in 1960. The election saw the first televised debates in US history. Credit:AP Televised debates have been part of US presidential elections since 1960, when John F Kennedy first sparred with Richard Nixon at the CBS studios in Chicago. Indicative of the relative novelty of television, Nixon refused to wear make-up, sporting his now infamous "five-o'clock shadow", making him seem shifty and ill-at-ease compared with his handsome, more youthful opponent. Kennedy went on to win the election narrowly, prompting some commentators to declare that debate the point at which style and appearances began to eclipse substance and policy in US politics. Create a full-mesh network on demand that spans six continents. During the last few months, it has become clearer than ever how reliant our world is on digital connections. By enabling those connections faster and more flexibly, were eliminating the gap between users no matter where they are. - Zenlayer Founder and CEO Joe Zhu Zenlayer announced today that its Cloud Networking service now offers full-mesh software- defined networks on demand across six continents, an industry first. Simultaneously, Zenlayer is rolling out new Cloud Networking features and upgrading infrastructure to further improve digital experience for all users. Zenlayers Cloud Networking is a service which allows businesses to instantly connect public clouds, private clouds, and data centers. This means businesses can create private networks on demand to lower latency and greatly reduce data transmission times for their applications and platforms. Customers can easily scale their networks as they grow, maintain complete control of their data, and deal with just one point of contact for a truly global network. This is an important milestone not only for Zenlayer but everyone who connects users between regions, said Zenlayer Founder and CEO Joe Zhu. During the last few months, it has become clearer than ever how reliant our world is on digital connections. By enabling those connections faster and more flexibly, were eliminating the gap between users no matter where they are. A full-mesh network is one in which every node or point of presence (PoP) can be connected to each other. These connections make the network very flexible when routing data, thus lowering latency and boosting data transmission speeds. To implement full-mesh networking, high-performance layer-3 switches were installed in all Cloud Networking locations. At the same time, physical hardware was upgraded, new connections added, and capacity substantially increased. Of the new Cloud Networking features, Quality of Service (QoS) is expected to provide a significant boost to customers user satisfaction. QoS allows businesses to prioritize different traffic according to custom rules. High-priority applications and VIP user connections can be guaranteed certain levels of service beyond Zenlayers already-fast standard speeds. QoS rules can be set based on application, region, IP address, and/or network status to give users the best digital experience possible. For more information about Cloud Networking: https://www.zenlayer.com/products/cloud-networking About Zenlayer Zenlayer (http://www.zenlayer.com) is an edge cloud services provider and global company headquartered in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mumbai. Businesses utilize Zenlayers platform to deploy applications closer to the users and improve their digital experience. Zenlayer offers edge compute, networking, and application delivery services in more than 180 locations on six continents. Election 2020 Myanmar Launches Election App to Keep Voters Informed The mVoter 2020 app homepage. YANGON To help voters make well-informed choices on Nov. 8, an election mobile application, mVoter 2020, has been unveiled, providing data on candidates and electoral procedures. It contains biographical details on nearly 7,000 candidates contesting Union, state and regional seats, enabling users to search by constituency with information about the political parties and policies and guidelines on how to vote. All the information comes from the Union Election Commission (UEC) and is available in the Myanmar language. During an online launch of the digital platform, UEC chairman U Hla Thein endorsed the app saying it will be a critical source for voters amid the COVID-19 crisis. Nearly 1,000 coronavirus cases are being reported per day and election campaigning is restricted in many areas. No campaigning is allowed where stay-at-home orders are in place. mVoter was developed by a tech team in Myanmar, Pop Stack, which won a MaePaySoh challenge election app competition held ahead of the 2015 general election. For Novembers election it has been upgraded with new categories, including news and announcements from the UEC and answers to frequently asked questions on issues like the voter lists. During the 2015 election campaign, the app received over 12 million enquiries. More traffic is expected this year as the number of internet users in Myanmar has risen from nearly 7 million in 2015 to 22 million. This online voter education and information tool will contribute in enhancing the transparency of the election, Marcus Brand, the head of International IDEA Myanmar, said at the launch event. The app should be available for free later this week for Android and Apple devices and the website is already operational at www.maepaysoh.org. A Bergen County man is facing federal charges he filed fraudulent tax returns with stolen identities to steal refunds, authorities said Tuesday. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 38, of Tenafly, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement. Barrientos-Fermins attorney John Weichsel declined to comment on the allegations. In January and February, Barrientos-Fermin, along with an unnamed co-conspirator, orchestrated and carried out a scheme to get other tax refunds for three people by submitting returns in their names, according to the indictment. The duo forged an agreement where the co-conspirator payed Barrientos-Fermin $200 to walk into tax preparation companies and pose as the victims, the statement said. Barrientos-Fermin provided an unnamed tax preparation business with fraudulent documents, including state drivers licenses, social security cards and Puerto Rican birth certificates bearing the victims' names. The New Jersey drivers licenses had the victims names, but Barrientos-Fermins photo, the indictment said. The tax preparation company filed the tax returns and gave Barrientos-Fermin debit cards for refunds the company anticipated would be issued by the IRS, the indictment said. Barrientos-Fermin handed the cards to the unnamed co-conspirator, who gave Barrientos-Fermin a cut of the money, according to the indictment. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon. U.S. personnel staged a mock amphibious assault during this month's drills. South China Morning Post By Kristin Huang The United States has staged a simulated island assault exercise featuring a red silhouette of China on air personnel's uniforms, in what Chinese state media described as a provocative gesture. The drill, to be completed on Tuesday, was being conducted in California, but triggered warnings from Chinese state media that China would fight back if the US attacked it in the South China Sea. US-based Air Force magazine reported that the training by the US veteran drone fleet, which began on September 3, suggested that the US Air Force was focusing more on the Pacific region. Patches on uniforms made for the exercise featured an MQ-9 Reaper drone superimposed over a red silhouette of China, the report said. In the drill, Exercise Agile Reaper, three MQ-9s partnered with the US Navy's Third Fleet, which deployed carrier strike groups, submarines and other vessels and aircraft to the eastern Pacific, along with transport aircraft C-130s, and special warfare and Marine Corps personnel. The reapers performed air strikes during a mock amphibious assault on San Clemente Island off the Californian coast. Patches on uniforms made for the exercise showed a drone superimposed over a red silhouette of China. South China Morning Post Haiti - USA : USAID will help 30,000 informal Haitian MSMEs to develop The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announces its new "Reach" project, funded to the tune of $12 million over four years to help small local businesses in Haiti develop business plans, access bank loans, formalize themselves and train a skilled workforce, so that they become profitable businesses. The United States Government, through USAID, will partner with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) to help 30,000 Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Informal Enterprises (MSMEs) grow and create jobs. US Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison said, "Haitian small businesses are the engines of long-term economic growth. The United States Embassy strives to increase opportunities for Haitian entrepreneurs. Helping these businesses grow will increase the income of Haitian families and build more resilient communities [...]" Note that informal MSMEs generate up to 80% of new jobs in Haiti, but many of these businesses face challenges that hinder their growth, such as limited access to finance from formal institutions and few sources of advice on how to to develop and expand their businesses. USAID's "Reach" project will create a more conducive business environment by addressing key challenges in business creation and inclusive expansion. The project will build on USAID's long history of supporting local businesses to foster economic growth in Haiti. Over the past 10 years, USAID has helped more than 12,000 microenterprises obtain loans to start or expand their businesses. With USAID support, 90 other SMEs generated more than $ 110 million in sales and created more than 27,000 jobs. The "Reach" project will help establish a network of Haitian business advisers who will provide these businesses with affordable advice and training for their employees specifically tailored to their needs. The project will facilitate the connection between MSMEs and financial institutions to help them access the capital they need to invest in their businesses. In order to reach more businesses and create more jobs, the project will strengthen sector associations while supporting the Haitian government's strategy for MSME expansion and job creation. About "Mennonite Economic Development Associates" (MEDA) : Since 1953, MEDA has implemented effective market-oriented programs on a global scale. MEDA combines innovative private sector solutions with a commitment to advance and empower excluded, low-income and disadvantaged communities (including women and youth). They have core expertise in market systems and value chains, climate-smart agriculture, inclusive financial services and impact investing. MEDA partners with local actors in the private, public and civil society sectors, strengthening individuals, institutions, communities and ecosystems and thus contributing to sustainable and inclusive systemic change. HL/ HaitiLibre Moroccan Jewish People In Essaouira Mogador (Public Domain) 29.09.2020 LISTEN Civil associations must come together to preserve cultural symbols and generational knowledge of Moroccos uniquely diverse history. This is a critical component of the nations human development goals. Harnessing the experiences and the history of religious and ethnic groups in Morocco must be a priority before the holders of that knowledge are lost to time. Moroccan-based civil associations, with the right support, are in an ideal position to gather and disseminate this knowledge for mutual understanding and human development. Morocco is intrinsically a multicultural society. Preserving the stories of its symbols, its places, and its people is of vital importance in promoting educational awareness about the nations cultural journey. Todays youth have rarely had the opportunity to sincerely consider this indelible part of Moroccos past and character, and how that past could inform its present and its future. Morocco is at a crossroads in its opportunity to gather information about its religious, ethnic, and cultural past. The unique cohabitation of the Abrahamic religions as recollected by the Moroccan people represents an exceptional history, and collecting such stories would expand cultural understanding and serve as a global example of social cohesion. The generational landscape of Morocco will soon change, and this historic and immediate opportunity will no longer be as viable. In other words, the time is now to embark on such an initiative for the nation and the world. Representatives of Islam, Judiaism, and Christianity in Morocco have eagerly engaged in interfaith dialogue to build productive, positive relationships. They actively collaborate to pursue public education that improves religious solidarity, meets priority human needs, and counters messages of intolerance and disharmony. Likewise, Moroccan civil groups seek to engage in these dynamic interreligious and interethnic processes of unity. Educational workshops, community activities, school engagement, entrepreneurship, and public awareness campaigns, among others, meet a core priority of all Moroccan sectors. Utilizing multicultural dialogue as a bridge for human development and the promotion of employability is a stated goal of King Mohammed VI, as noted in his remarks at the 2008 Alliance of Civilizations. The Moroccan model, as stated by His Majesty the King, requires more than celebrating multiculturalism, more than upholding and embracing multifaceted identities, and more than ensuring fulfillment of all religious and ethnic groups as they are constituted. It requires creating jobs, increasing incomes, improving schools, regenerating the environment, enabling gender justice, furthering the participation of youth in decision-making, and more, as a result of such dialogues and celebrations. The preservation of heritage must be fully integrated with sustainable human development and the promotion of all peoples livelihoods. Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is president and co-founder of the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco. Ellen Hernandez is an assistant professor of English at Camden County College in the United States. Amnesty International New Delhi: Amnesty International on Tuesday said it is halting all its activities in India due to freezing of its accounts and claimed that it is being subjected to an 'incessant witch-hunt' over unfounded and motivated allegations. Amnesty India, in a statement, said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. Advertisement Amnesty International'The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt,' it said. However, the government has said that Amnesty has been receiving foreign funds illegally. In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate had carried out searches at the headquarters of Amnesty International in Bangalore. Advertisement The raids were conducted for an alleged violation of the foreign exchange act. Amnesty InternationalThe organisation claimed that the attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organisations, activists and human rights defenders are only an extension of the various 'repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power'. 'This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations,' Amnesty International India said. Advertisement Amnesty International India said it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. EDWARDSVILLE Donald M. Nelson shot Eldon Twirp Williams in the back of the head in cold blood, a prosecutor said Monday in a murder case that may hinge on Nelsons mental health. He was a pillar of the community, Madison County First Assistant States Attorney Crystal Uhe said of Williams, 87, describing the longtime Godfrey village board member, assessor and agent for Landmark Realty as a man involved in numerous civic activities. Nelson, 36, is accused of shooting Williams in the driveway of his home in the 200 block of West Delmar Avenue, Godfrey, on Oct. 16, 2018, and then fleeing. Uhe said that, once captured, Nelson admitted the killing, saying I planned it. I felt the urge to do it. I felt it was the right thing to do. She said he also acted out the killing. Assistant Madison County Public Defender Mary Copeland said in her opening statement that she will not dispute the facts as presented by the Uhe but she would try to prove Nelson is not guilty by reason of insanity. Under Illinois law, a criminal defendant is legally insane if, as the result of a mental disease or deffect, he lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct. The defense has the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is not guilty by reason of insanity. The attorneys gave their opening statements Monday before Circuit Judge Kyle Napp who is presiding over the bench trial, meaning she will render the verdict instead of a jury. There are four possible verdicts: guilty, not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity and guilty but mentally ill. If Nelson is proven not guilty be reason of insanity, he would be sentenced to a mental health facility under the Illinois Department of Human Services, until that agency decides he may be released. If proven guilty but mentally ill, he would be sentenced to prison but at a prison with a mental health component. To prove Nelson is guilty but mentally ill, the prosecution must first prove he is guilty. The first day of testimony included evidence that the facts were as stated by the prosecution. According to court documents, Nelson was on parole from the Graham Correctional Center at the time of Williams death. In addition to first-degree murder, Nelson is charged with attempted armed robbery, criminal trespass to a residence, armed violence, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and possession of a stolen firearm. Nelson was convicted in 2015 of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, according to court records. In her opening statements, Uhe said police found a 9 mm shell casing next to Williams Cadillac at his home. A 9 mm slug also was found in the drivers side door; Williams was slumped over in the drivers seat. Uhe said a 9 mm handgun was found in Nelsons possession. She also introduced a stipulation agreed to by both parties that the slug from Williams car matched the gun found in Nelsons possession. Nelson was captured by Madison County deputies after a foot pursuit in the area of Curvey Street and Shordell Drive. Testimony on Monday drew a picture of Nelson stopping at a Walgreens at State Street and Delmar Avenue in Alton, then proceeding to Williams home. Following the incident, Nelson reportedly showed up at a home in the first block of Rosa Drive in Godfrey. People at the home frightened him off and called 911, according to testimony. About the same time as police responded to intruder call, they received a call about a shot being fired on Delmar Avenue. Deputies connected the shell casing with the handgun, according to testimony. Madison County Deputy Sgt. Mike Keshner testified he spoke to Nelson and did not notice anything about his demeanor that would indicate mental illness. He added that, if there had been a concern about Nelsons sanity, he would have been taken to a mental health facility. Alton Detective Andrew Pierson testified he also talked to Nelson and there was no reason to suspect he required psychological evaluation. Both attorneys said they plan to call mental health experts to the stand. Uhe said she would call Court Psychologist Daniel Cuneo who is expected to testify that Nelson is malingering, that is, faking mental illness. Sisi told the UK premier that the Nile water is a matter of national security for Egyptians Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had a phone call with UK Prime Boris Johnson on Tuesday in which they discussed the Libyan situation and the ways to restore stability to the war-torn country, the Egyptian presidency said. El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt's long standing strategic position on the Libyan crisis which aims to restore stability and security to the country and calls on all Libyan parties to positively engage with the constructive paths coming out of the Berlin Conference and the Cairo Initiative, in order to bring peace and stability, to restore the pillars of the state, and to end the chaos of terrorist groups. The British prime minister expressed his appreciation for the Egyptian efforts to reach a political settlement in Libya and he agreed to continue consultations and joint coordination with Egypt on the issue. Several Libyan factions arrived in Egypt on Monday and are holding talks in Hurghada. El-Sisi and Johnson also discussed the latest developments regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The president stressed that water is a matter of "national security" for the Egyptian people and Egypt would therefore hold to its water rights though reaching a binding deal regulating the filing and operation of the dam and achieving the common interests of all parties. Concerning the peace process in the Middle East, El-Sisi and Johnson agreed on the importance of the global efforts at this stage to resume the talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The pair also discussed Egyptian-British relations, especially the security, military, commercial and touristic ties. Search Keywords: Short link: Galecto, Inc., a Copenhagen, Denmark- and US-based biotechnology company focused on the development of novel treatments for fibrosis and cancer, completed a USD 64m equity financing. The round was led by Soleus Capital and co-led by Eir Ventures, with participation from Novo Holdings, and new and existing investors including OrbiMed, Ysios Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Sunstone Capital, Bristol Myers Squibb, Seventure, Maverick Ventures,Cormorant Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Hadean Capital, Sphera, Asymmetry Capital Management and Canica. The company intends to use the funds to prepare for a potential conditional approval of GB0139 for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) in the European Union in 2022 and to further expand and advance its clinical development pipeline. Galecto is currently conducting a Phase 2b trial of GB0139 in IPF and intends to initiate Phase 2 studies of GB1211 in liver fibrosis related to Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) and GB2064 in Myelofibrosis by the end of this year. Led by Hans Schambye, CEO, Galecto is a clinical stage biotechnology company with advanced programs in fibrosis and cancer centered on galectin-3 and LOXL2. The companys pipeline includes an inhaled galectin-3 modulator currently in Phase 2b for the potential treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, as well as two assets about to move into Phase 2 targeting NASH and myelofibrosis. Galecto is incorporated in the U.S. and has its operating headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. FinSMEs 20/09/2020 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that detention cannot be forever and asked the Centre to clear whether former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti`s detention under the under Public Safety Act (PSA) has extended beyond a year. The remarks were made by a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul during the hearing of Iltija Mufti`s plea challenging her mother`s and People`s Democratic Party (PDP) leader`s detention order under PSA and its subsequent extensions. Justice Kaul queried Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, "How long Mufti has been in detention and what were the grounds?" The bench specifically wanted to know could the detention be extended beyond one year. Mehta, justifying the detention, said it has been done on "public order grounds". Justice Kaul said the court wanted to know for how long such detention can be extended. "Can it be prolonged for so long?" Mehta urged the court not to record any observations. Justice Kaul replied these observations were questions of the court. Mehta said, "I will address my lords on questions on facts and law." The Solicitor General cited the statements made by Mufti as having an impact on public order. Live TV Justice Kaul replied that sometimes one could say a lot of things, which are not supposed to be said. Mehta submitted that such things should not have been said in a state which has a history of terrorism. The top court allowed the Centre to file a reply in the matter addressing the maximum period of detention, and whether detention is proposed to be continued. The bench noted that one of the prayers in Iltija`s plea was to grant permission for the family to meet her. Iltija`s counsel argued that even in prisons people are allowed to meet kin. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on October 15. During the first phase of the Bihar elections, polls will be conducted in 16 districts. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has said her party will form an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Samaj Party (RLSP) whosepresident Upendra Kushwaha will be its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The objective of this alliance will be to provide equal rights to Dalits, adivasis, minorities,upper casts and the marginalised sections of society in politics, government and daily life, she said. "Our party has decided to ally with RSLP in Bihar and its chief Upendra Kushwaha will be the Chief Minister of Bihar, if voted to power," Mayawati said. She said while a number of governments with alliances were formed in Bihar, none of them worked for the welfare of the poor and Dalits. "As election approached, Centre and Bihar government which were sleeping for past five years have showered announcements but people understand everything. This time they (people) will not come under the influence of anyone," she said. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said Bihar needs a government that follows the principle of "Sarvjan Hitay, Sarvjan Sukhay" (government for everyone's interest and welfare). The three-phased Bihar Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on October 28, November 3 and November 8 while the results will be announced on November 10. Boris Johnson's controversial Brexit legislation which allows the Government to break international law has been backed by MPs. The Internal Market Bill tonight cleared its final stage in the House of Commons by 340 votes to 256 and now passes to the Lords for further scrutiny. It allows ministers to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement brokered with Brussels last year, an act which the Government concedes breaches international law 'in a limited and specific way'. Critics, including all five living former prime ministers, also argue this would wreck the UK's reputation as a nation which honours its agreements. But the Government insists it needs the powers to safeguard the integrity of the UK amid fears the EU could block goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister was forced to water down the legislation earlier in the Bill's passage to appease a Tory backbench rebellion - MPs will now be given a vote before ministers are able to wield such powers. No Conservative MP voted against the Government tonight and the Bill sailed through the Commons with an 84-vote majority. Yet a handful of Tories, including former Tory prime minister Theresa May, abstained from voting. However the Bill's smooth passage into law will likely face hurdles in the pro-Remain Lords which has previously thwarted Brexit legislation. The Internal Market Bill tonight cleared its final stage in the House of Commons by 340 votes to 256 and now passes to the Lords for further scrutiny Boris Johnson's controversial Brexit legislation which allows the Government to break international law has been backed by MPs (PM pictured making a speech in Exeter today) Defending the controversial aspects of the Bill at its third reading tonight, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: 'The reason we have taken powers to ensure that in the event we do not reach an agreement with our EU friends on how to implement the (Northern Ireland Protocol) is so we're able to deliver on our promises in our manifesto and the command paper. 'This is a legal safety net that clarifies our position on the Northern Ireland Protocol for protecting our union, businesses and jobs.' To avoid checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the UK and Brussels agreed Northern Ireland would abide by the EU's customs rules. It in effect draws a customs border down the Irish Sea, and ministers fear unfettered movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern could be compromised if a deal is not reached. The EU has warned it will mount a legal challenge if the UK reneges on sections of the Withdrawal Agreement. Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband tonight said: 'On international law, nobody should be in any doubt the damage already done by this Bill. This law-breaking Bill has been noticed around the world.' He pointed to reservations made by Donald Trump's Northern Ireland envoy Mick Mulaney: 'When the Trump administration starts expressing concern about your adherence to international agreements and the rule of law, you know you are in trouble.' The Bill also contains powers which enable Westminster to provide financial assistance for economic development, infrastructure, cultural activities and education purposes across the country. Opposition MPs have warned it will give the UK Government the chance to stray into matters which are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, branding it an 'attack' on devolution. The results of tonight's third reading bill are read out to the House of Commons SNP MP Mhairi Black said: 'This Bill explicitly gives any minister of the Crown permission to run riot with the very assets of Scotland that our Scottish Parliament has protected.' Independence, she said, 'is the only option left for Scotland', adding: 'This is a union that England dominates. The only reason there isn't an English Parliament is because the people in Westminster view this place as the English Parliament, and we can't afford to be naive. The only way to protect our Parliament is to become independent.' She added: 'It took us 300 years to get our Scottish Parliament and 20 years for this place to put a bulldozer right through it.' Mr Miliband told the Commons: 'On devolution, we on this side believe deeply in our Union but the strength of our Union relies on sharing power not centralising it, and this Bill does not learn that lesson. 'It makes the choice to impose the rule that the lowest regulatory standard in one Parliament must be the standard for all without a proper voice for the devolved administrations.' Mr Miliband said he fears the Bill will 'strengthen the hand of those who want to break up the UK'. The Bill will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date. James Madison Jeffersons longtime friend, ally and neighbor similarly believed that the Federalists were seeking to transform the present republican system of the United States, into an absolute, or at best a mixed monarchy. Jefferson, Madison and their followers countered with resolutions, drafted for the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures, in which they laid out a state-centric view of American union. As written by Jefferson, the historian Susan Dunn explains in Jeffersons Second Revolution: The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism, the Kentucky Resolutions had stated that the federal union was a compact among states and that if any acts of the federal government went beyond that governments delegated powers, states had the right to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power. Madison didnt go as far as nullification in his Virginia Resolutions, but he still argued the point that states could judge for themselves the constitutionality of acts of Congress. This was the climate in which Federalist and Democratic-Republican partisans fought the 1800 election, both sides convinced that the other would unravel the American experiment and bring the republic to either anarchy or despotism. As a Federalist pamphlet called A Short Address to the Voters of Delaware asked: Let these men get into power, put the reins of government into their hands, and what security have you against the occurrence of the scenes which have rendered France a cemetery, and moistened her soil with the tears and blood of her inhabitants? The Electoral College made its decision, the future of self-government seemingly in the balance. And when the votes were tallied and announced, the Democratic-Republicans had won the election, 73 for Jefferson to 65 for Adams. But there was a problem. The framers did not anticipate political parties, and the Constitution did not make room for them. Jefferson and Adams had running mates, but there was no way for electors, who each had two votes, to back a ticket without causing a tie. Instead, the winning partys electors had to carefully cast one vote for a losing candidate, so that the running mate could come in second place and claim the vice presidency. The Federalist electors were disciplined and coordinated enough to make this happen. Adams won 65 electoral votes and his running mate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, won 64 votes, with the spare vote going to John Jay of New York. Republican electors, on the other hand, gave 73 votes each to Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr. This sent the election to the House of Representatives, where each state delegation would cast a single vote to decide the winner. Jefferson may have won the election, but the lame-duck Federalist Congress would decide his fate. And those Federalists saw an opportunity to keep their worst enemy out of high office. They wouldnt try to negate the will of the legislatures and voters who chose a Democratic-Republican for president, but they would vote to give Burr the top spot. Here is Dunn: The reasons for supporting Burr, admitted Theodore Sedgwick, are of a negative nature. Burr was not a Democrat not an enthusiastic theorist not under the direction of Virginian Jacobins not a declared infidel. He was selfish, pronounced Sedgwick, transforming unfettered self-interest into a virtue. Burr, for his part, neither rejected the overture nor did he say he would resign the office if elected. Republicans in the House were united in support of Jefferson. But this meant gridlock, and after that, the unknown. What will be the plans of the Federalists, wondered Albert Gallatin, a Democratic-Republican congressman from Pennsylvania. Would Federalists elect Burr? Would they call for new elections? Would they force a stalemate and then hand power over to one of their own? He continued, Would there be civil war? Resistance? Shall we submit? And if we do not submit, in what manner shall we act ourselves? A David Bowie quote scrawled in hot pink neon just outside the entrance to Hopscotch helps set visitors expectations for the new immersive art gallery downtown: I dont know where Im going from here, but I promise it wont be boring. Even before all 14 of the installations inside were completed, it looked like Hopscotch was well on its way to living up to that promise. In one room, visitors will be washed in a soothing wave of color and sound. In another, theyll be able to both listen to peoples secrets and to record secrets of their own to be shared anonymously in the future. Down the hall, they can use spraycan-shaped lasers to create temporary virtual graffiti in a brick wall, complete with virtual drips. Folks will be able to check it all out for themselves when Hopscotch opens on Friday. The brainchild of Nicole Jensen and Hunter Inman, Hopscotch explores the connections between visual art and technology. It launched last year as a popular pop-up in an Austin warehouse. The central idea is to give artists a platform to pursue large-scale projects they might not otherwise be able to tackle, as well as to create an entry point for people who might see contemporary art as intimidating. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Jensen and Inman had hoped to open a permanent Hopscotch last fall in a primo corner spot in the Travis Park Plaza office building, but a change in the buildings ownership and construction delays pushed those plans back. It also took time to transform the location from the mundane to the fanciful. There was a drop ceiling, cubicles, just your typical office, Jensen said. There werent stairs, there werent walls, and so its part of why its taken so long. If youre a restaurant, and you buy where there was a restaurant, you move in and start selling food. The lobby holds a sleek bar, which folks can visit with or without a ticket, and a gift shop that will include wares by artists whose work is featured in the gallery. The Smacks Chicken Shack food truck will be parked outside for those who want to eat. Most of the installations are hidden away in the basement, behind a wall festooned with greenery and below a rabbit sculpture. Ronald Cortes /Contributor That was our designers idea, Jensen said. She said, So, theyre just going to walk downstairs? Thats kind of boring. And she said, Why dont you build up a structure so you cant see the stairs? And so we built this wall. On ExpressNews.com: Blue Star debuts high-tech app for Red Dot show and sale There was to have been a ball pit to the left of the stairs, since a similar attraction had been a big hit in Austin. The coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on it for the time being. We have pivoted way from installations that are less COVID-friendly, Jensen said. Were building the ball pit but we are going to make it a cloudscape. You wont have to touch anything. And, hopefully, when things get back to normal, well bring back the ball pit. The two-story space boasts 20,000 square feet, and capacity will be capped at 25 percent, giving people plenty of room for social distancing. Other safety measures include a requirement that face coverings be worn, and patrons temperatures will be screened before admission. High touch areas will be sanitized regularly, and an air decontamination system designed to destroy harmful pathogens has been installed. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Each installation gets its own room, tucked off a long, black corridor. The idea it so put a little bit of distance between each experience, something that Jensen and Inman found they wanted when they were visiting galleries to gather ideas. In busier spaces, where works were crammed in close together, they sometimes experienced sensory overload, which they wanted to avoid in their space. We found that we really wanted a palate cleanser, she said. Your brain needs to reset. So, we feel by giving each artist their own room, and nothing in between, it makes it more impactful. You have time to pause and really talk about it before you get to the next set. There are installations by artists from Austin, Los Angeles, Barcelona and Moscow. And more will be added later. San Antonios art scene is well-represented, too. Amada Miller has built Strange Slant of Light, an immersive sculpture in which large acrylic discs painted with a film that changes colors as the lighting shifts hang from the ceiling. Murals created by members of the San Antonio Street Art Initiative fill a huge gallery. Paloma Cortez and Pamela Rachel, who work together as Wide Awake Creative, created the secret-sharing installation. Old-fashioned wall phones line the space. Visitors are invited to pick up a receiver and press an orange button. Soon, they will hear anonymous voices sharing secrets on a loop they can listen to as as long as they wish. Two sound-proof phone booths will be in the space, too, where visitors can either have a contemplative moment of silence or pick up the phone and record a secret of their own, which will be added to the installation later. Ronald Cortes /Contributor It was inspired by an article on the psychology of secrets and the damaging effect it has on the body and the mind, Rachel said. The first secrets were recorded by the womens friends and family. They noted that there is a palpable sense of relief in the recordings as people unburden themselves. Its been healing for our friends and family members who did this, Rachel said. On ExpressNews.com: Kelly OConnor offers surreal view of Disney in McNay Art Museum installation Gary Sweeney has created Perspective, which is an Ames room, a slanted space designed to create an optical illusion that makes folks viewed through a window appear to be much larger or smaller than they actually are. It is named for Adelbert Ames, Jr., the ophthalmologist who constructed the first one. Ronald Cortes /Contributor This is the most low-tech thing you will see in this building, Sweeney said. This is very old school. 1947 is when (Ames) invented this thing. Hopscotch must-sees Hopscotch boasts 14 super-cool installations. Among the must-sees: "Rainbow Cave:" Brooklyn-based artist Basia Goszcynska created the gorgeous installation out of thousands of plastic bags painstakingly transformed into a space that evokes a natural setting. Tucked into one corner is a selfie-perfect perch. There is a serious message behind the beauty: The 40,000 plastic bags represent the number of bags used every two and a half minutes in Texas. "Light Lines:" The darkened gallery is filled with a slowly evolving array of light created by thousands of electroluminescent wires. The light and the soundscape create a hypnotic experience. The installation is a collaboration between Campbell Landscape Architecture, TAB Labs Creative Technologies and Merkaba Electronics. "VJYourself:" Visitors can dance to a propulsive score while kaleidoscopic images of their moves spin across the wall. It was created by Barcelona-based Playmodes. See More Collapse He visited the Austin pop-up as part of a group of artists and influencers bussed to the capitol to check it out. He was so impressed that he asked to be included when Jensen and Inman brought the concept to San Antonio. I begged them on my knees to let me do something, he said. Please, Nicole! I dont know any electronics or sound or anything, but I can make a room thatll make you laugh. Hopscotch, 711 Navarro St., Suite 100, opens Friday. Hours are 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays. Children must be accompanied by adults at all times. Hopscotch is open to adults only after 7 p.m. Three hours of free validated parking is available in the Travis Park Plaza Garage for patrons. Admission: $24 for adults; $20 for students, senior citizens and military; $15 for children 4 to 13; free for children 3 and under. No cash is accepted. Advance tickets are strongly recommended, and can be purchased at letshopscotch.com . A mural at "Free Derry corner" as the family of victims of "Bloody Sunday" gather before making their way to court as the first listing of the case against "Soldier F" on Sept. 18, 2019, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Soldier F, a British Army veteran in his 60s, was charged with the murders of two men killed during the 1972 incident. Thirteen people died when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in Derry on Jan. 30 of that year. Soldier F, who is unlikely to attend the trial in person, is the only soldier charged in connection with the deaths. (Charles McQuillan/Getty) Dear Editor: The sitting U.S. president has refused to agree to an orderly transition of power should he lose the election. Everyone knows this is a threat against the Constitution, the U.S. government and the people of the United States. If this threat were to be carried out, it would constitute an act of treason. Scholars, historians and other commentators have reacted with shock, but the Democratic campaign appears to be going forward as if its just another irrational utterance from Donald Trump. This is no time to succumb to shock fatigue. This is not a normal election. This is a crisis. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are in a fight for the survival of American democracy. The Democratic National Committee must not run this campaign as if it were a product launch. Stop worrying about whether youre too far on this side or too far on that side. Bring in all sides. Become truly inclusive. Hold a press conference featuring representatives of all aspects of the party left, right, and center united in an effort to save the democratic process. Include Biden, Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, Mike Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg and more. Join with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Antonio Delgado and every sitting Democrat. Stand together in front of the media, educate people as to the seriousness of this moment, and denounce these traitorous threats. Pull everyone together, and in doing, so you can bring voters together. Yes, it would be unprecedented, but this moment is unprecedented. Please, save our democracy. Gregory and Patricia Shifrin Stone Ridge, N.Y. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 00:43:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HAIKOU, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Major stakeholders in the global automotive industry attending the 2nd World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC 2020) reached a consensus on accelerating the market-oriented development of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) Tuesday. Participants in the event reaffirmed the goal of "raising global market share of NEVs to 50 percent by 2035," a unanimous target set at last year's first session of the WNEVC, and vowed to enhance open, intensive and win-win cooperation, thus creating new momentum for the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry. "The breakthroughs and applications of new energy, new materials, artificial intelligence, big data and other new technologies have promoted the transformation and development of the automobile industry in terms of electricity, intelligence and sharing," said Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology. Wan, who is also president of WNEVC, made the remarks in his keynote speech at a plenary session at the event, held in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province from Sept. 27 to 30. China's NEV industry has entered a critical era for complete commercialization and quality development, he said, noting that, according to the WNEVC 2020 consensus, battery electric vehicles are striving to meet the overall requirements of commercialization by 2025. In her video speech at Monday's plenary session, Inger Andersen, United Nations (UN) under-secretary-general and executive director of the UN Environment Program, said that China has played a leading role in the electrification of vehicles, and global auto manufacturers should increase their investment in e-mobility. German automaker Volkswagen has announced that it will invest 15 billion euros (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars) in China alone by the end of 2024, together with its Chinese joint-venture partners, fueling the country's e-mobility push, according to Volkswagen Group China CEO Stephan Wollenstein. The company is placing 40 super-charging stations in Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen, and has plans to build 255 more stations equipped with 1,800 charging poles across 16 Chinese cities by the end of 2020. Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said the company has established a joint venture with China's Great Wall Motor and broken ground on a new NEV factory in Zhangjiagang, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which will produce fully electric MINIs for China and the world. Seiya Nakao, chairman and president of Toyota China's engineering and manufacturing, said that China has advanced pure electric vehicles, and that Toyota hopes to learn more from China and is pleased to cooperate with CATL, BYD and other leading companies in the industry. The Japanese marque has also partnered with five Chinese companies to set up a joint venture named United Fuel Cell System R&D (Beijing) Co., Ltd. for commercial vehicle fuel-cell systems, he added. China has rolled out a slew of measures to further NEV marketization, such as prolonging subsidies and exemption from purchase tax, promoting NEVs in the emerging rural market, formulating medium and long-term plans for NEVs, and supporting the construction of "new infrastructure," including charging stations. Wan noted that the quick production and work resumption in China's automotive industry since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has ensured the stability of the global industrial and supply chains. The WNEVC president called for cross-sector synergy and win-win cooperation in the global automotive industry to meet challenges and contribute to building a clean and beautiful world, as well as promoting innovative, green and sustainable development. Enditem VNPF has retendered the contract for the former Club Vanuatu renovation after works were stopped due to structural issues, which required re-designing A Kansas mother and four of her children were killed last week when a semitrailer loaded with grain ran a stop sign and hit their SUV (GoFundMe) Truck Runs Stop Sign, Kills Mother and 4 Children in SUV in Kansas: Officials A Kansas mother and four of her children were killed after a semi-truck ran through a stop sign and crashed into her SUV, according to officials. Jessica Noel, 32; her 10-year-old daughter Anaiah; 4-year-old son Jeffrey; four-month-old son Hank; and 23-month-old son Mack died in the crash, according to her family in a GoFundMe page and the Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office. The sheriffs office told KSN-TV that Noel was driving southbound on 263rd Street when a grain truck failed to stop, crashing into her vehicle. The driver of the truck, Andrew Specht, wasnt injured in the crash, according to officials. The accident is under investigation, reported the Hays Post. Sedgwick County Commissioner David Dennis said the commission is now attempting to make changes at the intersection. The tractor-trailer didnt stop, it didnt even slow down, Dennis told KSN. The latest word we got was that he had his cruise control set at 55 miles an hour and went through the stop sign. So, its really inattentive driving that caused five fatalities. My heart and my family are broken over the loss of my sister-in-law and my four nieces and nephews, Noels family said in a statement about the five deaths. There are just no words.Thank you to ever who has reached out by email, text, or otherwise. We are taking it one day at a time. Thoughts and prayers are all thats needed, but if you are able to give more to cover the medical bills and funeral expenses the Go Fund Me link my daughter created is below. Thank you. I love you all. New RPAS Is Based on MQ-9B SkyGuardian; Will Be Delivered to UK MoD in 2021 SAN DIEGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 25, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed the first flight of the Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), the fourth MQ-9B SkyGuardian air vehicle (the first three MQ-9B air vehicles are company-owned assets supporting the certification qualification). The first Protector RPAS, known within GA-ASI as UK1, will be used to support system testing as part of a combined UK Ministry of Defence, U.S. Air Force and GA-ASI test team. Upon completion of this initial testing, UK1 will be delivered to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in the summer of 2021 but will remain in the USA to complete the Royal Air Force's test and evaluation program. "It was exciting to see the first flight of MQ-9B in the Protector configuration," said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. "The Royal Air Force has been a great partner for GA-ASI for more than a decade. We're thrilled to see this first customer aircraft completed, and we look forward to delivering their Protector fleet and gaining more MQ-9B SkyGuardian customers in NATO and around the globe." MQ-9B is GA-ASI's most advanced RPAS. The RPAS is available as the SkyGuardian, the maritime SeaGuardian (fitted with a multimode 360-degree field-of-regard Maritime Patrol Radar and optional sonobuoy capability) or, as with the UK Protector, in a special customer-specified configuration. The first MQ-9B customer delivery will be to the UK, but the RPAS has also been selected by the Belgian Defense and Australian Defence Force, with significant interest from customers throughout the world. "Protector will be deployed in wide-ranging Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) operations where its ability to fly consistently for up to 40 hours will offer a vastly improved ISTAR capability. Given that it is designed to fly in non-segregated, civil airspace, the Protector RPAS will be able to respond rapidly and offer flexibility, delivering many types of military or civil authority support missions, including search and rescue," said Group Captain Shaun Gee, the RAF's Director Air ISTAR Programmes. MQ-9B development began in 2014 as a company-funded program to deliver an RPAS to meet NATO's stringent airworthiness type-certification standard (STANAG 4671). STANAG certification will enable SkyGuardian, SeaGuardian and other MQ-9B variants to operate in civil airspace and better perform border patrol, fire detection and firefighting support, maritime patrol, and resource monitoring missions. MQ-9B is provisioned for the GA-ASI-developed Detect and Avoid System (DAAS) to enhance safety of operations in civil and military airspace. The MQ-9B is built for adverse-weather performance with lightning protection, a damage tolerant airframe, and a de-icing system. Hi-resolution images of SkyGuardian are available to qualified media outlets from GA-ASI. About GA-ASI General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator RPA series and the Lynx Multi-mode Radar. With more than six million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com. Predator, Lynx, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. GA-ASI Media Relations General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. +1 (858) 524-8101 ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Forensic Department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which has been roped in by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to give medico-legal opinion in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, still needs to look into some legal aspects before reaching a "logical legal conclusion". "AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion," Sudhir Gupta, Chairman of AIIMS Forensic Medical Board, told IANS. The remarks came almost a week after the AIIMS forensic team returned from Mumbai. The AIIMS forensic team had visited the Bandra flat of Sushant where he was found dead on June 14. The AIIMS team also recreated the incident scene along with the CBI team, accompanied by Sushant's sister Mitu Singh, his flatmate Siddharth Pithani, and personal staff Neeraj, Keshav Bachne and Dipesh Sawant. The AIIMS team also studied the autopsy report of Sushant prepared by the doctors of the Cooper Hospital in Mumbai. The CBI has registered a case based on the recommendation of the Centre after a request from the Bihar government on a complaint filed by the late actor's father K.K. Singh. A team of CBI officials along with the CFSL had gone to Mumbai on August 20, a day after the Supreme Court gave its nod for the federal agency to probe the matter. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery Maharashtra: HC asks govt to submit plan of action to ban LED fishing September 29,2020 | Source: Herald The High Court of Bombay at Goa has asked the State government to submit plan of action to effectively enforce the ban on use of LED fishing lights on boats. The Division Bench of Justice M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar, in response to a petition filed by Joaquim Mendes has asked the Fisheries Department and Coast Guard to file response to the petition indicating the manner in which they propose to enforce their own orders dated May 10, 2016 and November 10, 2017. These orders, prima facie, ban fishing in the specified area by bull or pair trawling and the use or installation or operation of surface or submerged artificial lights/LED lights, fish light attractors or any other light equipment with or without generator or mechanised fishing vessel or motorised fishing craft for trawling, purse-seining and gill netting operation. The effect of these orders is that such operations, prima facie, stand banned, both within as well as beyond the territorial waters of India (in EEZ), the Bench observed adding, Prima facie, it appears that such ban is in place. However, there appears to be difficulty in enforcing the ban. Therefore, the Director of Fisheries as well as the Coast Guard Authorities, to place on record the plan of action for effectively enforcing such ban in case, such ban, according to them, is in operation. The Bench further stated that if according to both the authorities such ban is in operation, then, it is expected that they take action to the best of their ability to enforce such ban. In particular, such authorities, should inspect the trawlers of the newly added respondents and see whether such lights have been affixed to their trawlers, or otherwise, such newly impleaded respondents are making use of such lights or undertake bull or pair trawling, reads the order. The court has adjourned the matter for next hearing on October 20, 2020. Facet Wealth, a fintech company breaking the access and cost barriers in financial services, today announced $25 million in Series B funding and the formal launch of its new Financial Wellness product for employers. Led by global investment firm Warburg Pincus, with participation from other existing investors, the round is an increased investment in Facet Wealth to fuel market expansion in response to the rapid growth and success of the product. This latest round of funding will be used to support the growth of the firms existing direct-to-consumer business, which has more than doubled since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has confirmed what we believed when we launched Facet Wealth in 2016: our model of virtual service delivery, with CFP Professionals dedicated to the full financial planning needs of our clients, is the future of financial services. We are thrilled to continue to partner with Warburg Pincus to bring that future forward, said Anders Jones, co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth. Building on the success of the signature financial planning service, Facet Wealth has also designed a Financial Wellness product to partner with forward-thinking employers who want to offer a deeper level of wellness benefits to their employees. It enables employers to alleviate the financial stressors of employees through a variety of financial planning services, as a complement to existing benefit offerings in order to give them a source of objective, fiduciary advice. Facet Wealth already has pre-launch partnerships with leading employers including ClassPass, MyVest and ChiliPiper, who share this commitment and desire to bring financial wellness to their teams. Since our first investment two years ago, the Facet Wealth team has proven their ability to meet a unique consumer need, evolving and expanding their offering to build a truly innovative client experience and business model, said Jeff Stein, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus. Their expansion into the employer market further solidifies them as a category-defining company that is well-positioned to disrupt the wealth management industry for years to come. Facet Wealth entered the market in 2016, introducing a no-minimum, membership-based model to make financial planning accessible to American households, regardless of their net worth. A Facet Wealth membership centers around a relationship with a dedicated CFP Professional as a partner to achieve their goals. Clients meet regularly with their advisor to work on their customized financial plan and have access to a comprehensive platform, powered by proprietary technology, that tracks and analyzes their progress. The firms team of financial planners is distributed across the country, enabling them to easily serve clients across time zones, with flexibility for evening and weekend scheduling. Approximately 75 percent of Facet Wealths clients have not worked with an advisor before, an indicator of the expanded access the model is able to deliver. In recognition of their innovative approach and high-quality experience, Facet Wealth was named NerdWallets Best Online Financial Planning Service in 2020. Facet Wealth has designed and implemented the financial advice model of the future, that will help millions of underserved Americans, said Chip Roame, Managing Partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors and Facet Wealth Board Member. The Facet team has grown through unique industry partnerships, and the addition of the Financial Wellness offering will engage forward-thinking employers to play a major role in their employees financial wellbeing. To date, Facet Wealth has raised $62 million in funding from Warburg Pincus, Slow Ventures and others. For more information about Facet Wealth and its services, please visit http://www.facetwealth.com. About Facet Wealth Facet Wealth is the only company providing comprehensive financial planning services to Americans who want to improve their quality of life and are tired of blanket advice or being denied access because they dont meet a net worth minimum. Its focus is on developing long-term, fiduciary relationships between clients and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERprofessionals, so individuals have continuous access to financial guidance as new challenges or planning needs arise over their lifetime. Facet Wealth is an SEC-Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). Their fair price, membership-based model delivers a premium, high-touch experience to all clients, regardless of net worth or assets under management (AUM). Facet Wealth also provides a Financial Wellness offering for employers seeking to empower their employees with affordable, comprehensive financial guidance. Facet Wealth is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland with CFPs located across the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.facetwealth.com or find them on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $53 billion in private equity assets under management. The firms active portfolio of more than 185 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $84 billion in over 900 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit http://www.warburgpincus.com. Facet Wealth PR Contact Diffusion PR for Facet Wealth facetwealth@diffusionpr.com 3 1 of 3 Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Trae the Truth is putting on for his city yet again. After spending time in Dallas, the Say Their Names Memorial Exhibit is now on display at Houston's Emancipation Park, made possible by the local rapper and activist. The exhibit features more than 200 photos and, according to its organizers, is "dedicated to all of the [Black] victims who lost their lives to injustice and police brutality." Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps for Google Inc., speaks during the Google I/O Annual Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images LONDON Google is still engaged in anti-competitive practices in the mobile search market, according to its smaller competitors, who claim a record antitrust fine from the European Union has done little to reduce the tech giant's dominance. The company announced late Monday the results of a quarterly auction to decide the winners of its so-called "choice screen," which lets Android users in Europe pick their default search engine when setting up their smartphone. The process was introduced last year to appease EU antitrust regulators following their 4.3 billion euro ($5 billion) fine on Google over unfair practices related to its mobile operating system. Search engines have to bid to be included among four options including Google that consumers choose from during setup. Smaller search engines object to having to pay Google for the right to be considered. Google's latest auction results show that Microsoft was the main winner across most major European markets, with its Bing search engine securing a spot in the U.K., Germany, France and 10 other countries. Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo, which has previously found success with the bidding process, this time features in just four markets Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland and Liechtenstein. "Despite DuckDuckGo being robustly profitable since 2014, we have been priced out of this auction because we choose to not maximize our profits by exploiting our users," the company wrote in a blog post. "In practical terms, this means our commitment to privacy and a cleaner search experience translates into less money per search. This means we must bid less relative to other, profit-maximizing companies." "The current remedy is not a remedy at all it is fundamentally rigged by Google to benefit Google. The Commission has said they have been waiting on data to act: such data is now available. To expedite this process, we are sending the Commission our data that demonstrates exactly how the current process inevitably eliminates DuckDuckGo." Germany's Ecosia, a search engine that invests its profits into planting trees, also lost out in the auction. It won a spot in just one small market, Slovenia. Google commands an overwhelming majority of the mobile search market in Europe, with its Android system running on almost 75% of the world's smartphones. "We've long asserted that this pay-for-play model would force out purpose-driven businesses from the Android platform, and here is the proof of that," said Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll. "Ecosia is the biggest Europe-based search engine, yet users can barely access us in Android via the auction screen." French alternative provider Qwant which was also included in only one country, Luxembourg told CNBC that, "through this auction process, Google continues to hinder access to the mobile search market." It's worth noting however that some lesser-known players, like PrivacyWall and info.com, did make the cut in the latest auction. Google's defense Google maintains that the auction process "allows search providers to decide what value they place on appearing in the choice screen and to bid accordingly." The company says it is designed to ensure that no search engine is prioritized over another and that the results are determined through competitive bidding. "Android provides people with unprecedented choice in deciding which applications they install, use and set as default on their devices," a Google spokesperson told CNBC. "In developing the choice screen for Europe, we carefully balanced providing users with yet more choice while ensuring that we can continue to invest in developing and maintaining the open-source Android platform for the long-term." Collective, a San Francisco, CA-based online back office platform designed for businesses-of-one, raised $8.65m in funding. The round was led by General Catalyst and QED Investors with participation from Googles Gradient Ventures and Expa and individual investors like Garrett Camp, founder of Expa and Uber; Vitor Lourenco, Expa partner and first Twitter designer; Darian Shirazi, general partner at Googles Gradient Ventures; Scott Belsky, Adobes chief product officer and founder of Behance; Dylan Field, founder of Figma; Gokul Rajaram, executive at DoorDash / Caviar; Jared Hecht, founder and CEO of Fundera; Dan Lewis, founder and CEO of Convoy; and Topher Conway, co-founder of SV Angel. The company will use the funding to bring the product to market, develop new technologies and products, build out additional community features and more. Led by CEO Hooman Radfar, CPO Ugur Kaner and CTO Bugra Akcay, Collective provides an online concierge platform, designed to give self-employed people the technology, team and community they need to set up and scale their businesses. The company takes care of all the back office needs from business formation to accounting, bookkeeping, payroll and tax services in one online platform, guided by a team of advisors. Key offerings include: Online Management Dashboard + 3rd-Party Software: All-in-one, user-friendly dashboard that combines banking information and access to third-party software like Gusto and QuickBooks All-in-one, user-friendly dashboard that combines banking information and access to third-party software like Gusto and QuickBooks S Corp Formation: Business incorporation services, including establishing an S Corp and more Business incorporation services, including establishing an S Corp and more Accounting: Quarterly review of accounts and books with feedback on how to adjust salary and optimize deductions and expenses Quarterly review of accounts and books with feedback on how to adjust salary and optimize deductions and expenses Bookkeeping + Administration: Ongoing guidance, along with transaction categorization, invoice preparation assistance, and monthly management reports Ongoing guidance, along with transaction categorization, invoice preparation assistance, and monthly management reports Personalized Tax Advice: Preparation and filing of business and individual income tax returns and quarterly tax estimates Preparation and filing of business and individual income tax returns and quarterly tax estimates Trusted Advisors: Real-time messaging platforms where members can easily reach their designated bookkeeper, tax advisor, and client relationship manager with questions Real-time messaging platforms where members can easily reach their designated bookkeeper, tax advisor, and client relationship manager with questions Community Access: Community support and opportunities to build meaningful connections with potential collaborators and friends, along with informative and educational content about entrepreneurship, taxes, and more in the form of online guides, blog posts, and weekly newsletters Collective began building its platform and team of financial advisors in 2019 and has already attracted a waitlist of thousands of businesses-of-one spanning industries including marketing, sales, design and engineering. FinSMEs 29/09/2020 Swiss voters refuse immigration cuts, embrace paternity leave The anti-immigration Swiss Peoples Party rolled out a campaign poster with the slogan: "Enough is enough!" Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a bid to slash immigration from the EU, leaving free movement in the heart of Europe intact, and embraced offering paid paternity leave for the first time. Final results showed that 61.7 percent of Swiss voters had balked at an initiative to tear up an agreement permitting the free movement of people between Switzerland and the surrounding EU. The initiative, backed by the populist right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- Switzerland's largest party -- had been opposed by the government, parliament, unions, employer organisations and all other political parties out of fear it would jeopardise overall relations with the bloc. SVP's initiative called for Switzerland to revise its constitution to ensure it can handle immigration policy autonomously. The party, which has built its brand by condemning immigration and EU influence, warned that the wealthy Alpine country was facing "uncontrolled and excessive immigration". But the government had cautioned that if Switzerland unilaterally voided the free movement accord, a "guillotine" clause will come into force to freeze the entire package of deals with the EU, its largest trading partner. SVP lawmaker Celine Amaudruz said it was the mention of the guillotine clause that scared people away from the initiative. "The Swiss people have spoken and sent a clear message: together we have a great future ahead of us," EU Council chief Charles Michel tweeted late Sunday. "We welcome the results of the popular vote and look forward to continuing our close cooperation." EU European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen also hailed the result, saying that it "upholds one of the core pillars of our relationship: the mutual freedom to move, to live and to work in Switzerland and the EU". The EU had been following the vote with concern. A similar SVP initiative that narrowly passed in 2014 threw Swiss-EU relations into disarray, and it has taken years to mend the damage. Story continues - Paternity leave - Several other issues were on the ballot Sunday as part of Switzerland's famous direct democracy system. More than 60 percent of ballots cast were in favour of extending parental leave to fathers, hinting at a shift in Switzerland's rather traditional approach to family models and gender roles that saw 14 weeks paid maternity leave introduced only in 2005. Until now new fathers were legally entitled to take only one day -- the same amount of time granted when moving house. Calling the time off "holidays" for new fathers, the SVP and other opponents had gathered enough signatures to put the measure passed by parliament in September to a referendum. With Sunday's vote, paternity leave will, like maternity leave, offer Swiss parents 80 percent of their salary, up to a ceiling of 196 Swiss francs per day. Adrian Wuthrich, head of the trade union federation Travailsuisse and a supporter of the paternity leave push, hailed Sunday's result. New fathers "finally get more time off than they would for a move," he told the RTS public broadcaster, stressing though that two weeks should be seen as a minimum. - Fighter jets, wolves - Also on the ballot Sunday was a referendum on dishing out six billion Swiss francs ($6.6 billion, 5.6 billion euros) for new fighter jets, which squeezed through with a mere 50.1 percent of votes in favour after a decade of wrangling. Another vote could yet be held once the government determines which planes it is looking to buy. In 2014, the country looked set to purchase 22 Gripen E fighter jets from Swedish group Saab, only to see the people vote against releasing the needed billions. Another referendum Sunday, on a revision of Switzerland's hunting law to make it easier to address the country's rapidly growing wolf population, was meanwhile rejected. Voter participation Sunday ticked in at nearly 59 percent, well above the usual ceiling of around 50 percent. bur-nl/vog/tgb/gd CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos has the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, CNBC wealth editor Robert Frank breaks down the New York Times' massive review of President Trump's taxes, including the detail that he reportedly only paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016. Plus, CNBC.com's Dawn Kopecki and Michael Wayland broke the story of new allegations of sexual abuse against Nikola founder and former executive chairman Trevor Milton. They join 'After Hours' to explain their reporting. Two women file sexual abuse complaints against Nikola founder Trevor Milton Two women have come forward with formal sexual assault allegations against Nikola founder Trevor Milton, accusing the 38-year-old billionaire in complaints filed with Utah authorities of sexual abuse when both women were 15 years old. The accusations, stretching back more than 15 years, follow Milton's resignation as executive chairman of Nikola on Sept. 21 after short seller Hindenburg Research released a damning report detailing fraud allegations. The Hindenburg report has reportedly sparked inquiries into Milton and Nikola by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice. Trump paid little to no federal income taxes over several years as he piled up losses and debt, NYT reports President Donald Trump's businesses have hemorrhaged hundreds of millions of dollars over the last two decades, allowing him to minimize his federal income tax bill to $0 or nearly $0 for many of the years in that period, according to a bombshell report published on Sunday by The New York Times. Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and another $750 the following year, the newspaper reported, and none at all in 10 of the previous 15 years. The coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people and upended the global economy in less than nine months held protests at various mandis in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for the third day on Tuesday, alleging delay in and a lack of coordination between the government departments and various agencies. in Karnal district also protested over glitches in the procurement process. The state government started procurement in Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar from September 27, while in other districts it began on Tuesday. Agitating raised slogans against the state government in Kurukshetra, Pipli, Pehowa and Ladwa. Thanesar Sub-Divisional Magisrate Akhil Pilani tried to pacify the protesters, who complained that they were waiting in the mandis for seven-eight days to sell their crops. Secretary, Market Committee, Kurukshetra, Harjeet Singh said farmers submitted a memorandum to the SDM and demanded that their produce be procured at the earliest. He said the procurement could not start even on Tuesday as the rice millers refused to make purchases till some of their demands were accepted by the state government. Besides, he said, the portal of the market committee was also not working. In many cases, it shows very less cultivable land registered by farmers on the 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora' portal due to which they are not getting gate-pass to sell the crop in the 'mandi'. Agitating farmers threatened that they would block vehicular traffic on Wednesday if the procurement process does not start by then. BKU leader Gurnam Singh said not just Kurukshetra, farmers were facing problems in other mandis of the state as well. He said they held a two-hour meeting with Additional Chief Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, PK Das, in Chandigarh regarding the problems faced by the farmers. We did not get any concrete assurance regarding our problems, he said. Gurnam Singh said the BKU has given a call for protest in front of the mandis on Wednesday. On Tuesday, farmers in Pipli and Ladwa raised anti-government slogans, those in Pehowa blocked traffic on the Chandigarh-Hisar highway for over five hours. DSP, Pehowa, Gurmaij Singh said traffic had to be diverted. A farmer said the state government should resolve issues with rice millers as well as farmers to relax the condition for moisture content and take paddy even with higher content of 17 percent fixed by the government. On Monday, farmers at a ''mandi'' had also locked up the secretary and other staff of the Market Committee inside the office. They relented after a large police contingent reached the spot to control the situation. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a latest of such efforts, KT signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Jasmine Telecom Systems (JTS) last week to develop a new internet data center (IDC) business in Thailand. JTS is the IDC business unit Jasmine Group, a leading Thai telecommunications network operator. KT is the top IDC operator in South Korea. "This IDC business partnership with JTS is a great opportunity for KT to prove its business capability in the global market," said Kim Youngwoo, head of KT Global Business. "We are ready to expand our outreach to global markets through our endeavor in Southeast Asia, which is a newly emerging IDC market." Under the agreement, KT and JTS will prepare to enter Thailand's IDC market by late half of 2021 to provide high-quality services to global cloud service providers. The two strategic partners will share their knowledge and experience in IDC projects; develop financing strategies and new business models; propose IDC solutions to global cloud service providers; and undertake IDC-related cooperation for technology and solutions. "The hyperscale data center and cloud service business will be a foundation to add value to Jasmine Group's network business. Through joint development of IDC business, we look forward to long-term cooperation with KT," JTS President and Director Somboon Patcharasopak said. The strategic partnership between KT and Jasmine Group has expanded based on their shared interest in the growth potential of Thailand's IDC market. In March this year, KT signed a US$19 million contract with Jasmine Group's another affiliate, 3BB TV Co., to provide commercial IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) service in Thailand. The data center market is growing rapidly in Thailand, driven by government digital transformation initiatives and higher participation by enterprises of all sizes. The ASEAN data center market is expected to grow at an annual rate of some 16 percent in the next five years, led by the emerging markets of Thailand and Indonesia, according to a recent study by Frost & Sullivan, a global market research company. MEDIA CONTACTS For inquiries, please contact our Global Media Relations Team at [email protected] ABOUT KT CORPORATION (KRX: 030200;NYSE: KT) KT Corp., Korea's largest telecommunications service provider, is leading the new era of innovations in one of the world's most connected countries with 5G, Big Data, Cloud, IoT, Blockchain and other transformative technologies. KT launched the world's first nationwide commercial 5G network in April 2019, after showcasing the first trial 5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018. To help cope with COVID-19, KT is staging a social campaign, dubbed "Ma-Eum:TACT (Heart to Heart)," providing technology supports for people and businesses in need. KT will deliver most essential and innovative services and solutions to its customers around the world as the first frontier in the next technology revolution and number one Global ICT Company. For more information, please visit our English website at https://corp.kt.com/eng/ SOURCE KT Corp. Related Links https://corp.kt.com Darwin, Sep 29 : The government in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has announced that it was working on a pilot programme to fly in at least 70 international students to its capital city of Darwin from Singapore next month, the media reported on Tuesday. A spokesman from NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner's office said late Monday that an agreement for the programme in late October was now in place with the gederal government, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report. The NT government was working with the Charles Darwin University (CDU) on the programme. Other Australian states have negotiated international student pilot programs, but there has been no results so far. It however, remained unclear who would pay for the students' flights. In July 2019, at least 410 international students arrived in the NT in time for the second semester of study, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In the same period this year, there were not even a single student due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before the health criris, the NT government had announced that under an international education strategy, some 10,000 students would be able to come to the region by 2025. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text " " No word on what impact Einstein's brain had on his hairstyle. Central Press/Stringer/Hulton Archive/ Getty Images Dr. Diamond's work had received tremendous press coverage, only to be exposed as critically flawed in execution. In 1996, a University of Alabama researcher named Britt Anderson published another study on Einstein's brain with much less hullaballoo. Anderson had discovered that Einstein's frontal cortex was much thinner than normal, but that it was more densely packed with neurons [source: Hotz]. Anderson told Thomas Harvey that a researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, had been studying whether a more tightly packed cortex might explain differences in men's and women's brains. While men's brains were bigger, women's brains had the neurons packed tightly together, which may mean they can communicate more quickly. Harvey took the name of that researcher and sent her a one-line fax: "Would you be willing to collaborate with me on studying the brain of Albert Einstein?" [source: Hotz]. Dr. Sandra Witelson, the researcher at McMaster, answered back in the affirmative. What Witelson had going for her that other researchers did not was a large collection of brains with IQs, general health and psychiatric state accounted for. There would be no confusion about the control group, as there was with Diamond's work -- the 35 male brains used had an average IQ score of 116, slightly higher than normal (Witelson used 56 female brains for comparison as well). For decades, Witelson had been working with doctors and nurses to acquire brains for her research. She would be able to conduct the largest study of this kind. Advertisement Harvey went to Canada with the brain, and Witelson was allowed to select nearly a fifth of it for study -- more than any other researcher had been allowed before [source: Altman]. She selected pieces of the temporal and parietal lobes, and she also pored over the photographs Harvey had commissioned of the brain at the time of Einstein's death. She noticed that Einstein's Sylvian fissure was largely absent. The Sylvian fissure separates the parietal lobe into two distinct compartments, and without this dividing line, Einstein's parietal lobe was 15 percent wider than the average brain [source: Witelson et al.]. Significantly, the parietal lobe is responsible for skills such as mathematical ability, spatial reasoning and three-dimensional visualization. This seemed to fit in perfectly with how Einstein described his own thought process: "Words do not seem to play any roles," he once said. "[There are] more or less clear images" [source: Wilson]. The man who figured out the theory of relativity by imagining a ride on a light beam through space saw his ideas in pictures and then found the language to describe them [source: Lemonick]. Witelson hypothesizes that the lack of a Sylvian fissure may have allowed the brain cells to crowd in closer to one another, which in turn enabled them to communicate much faster than normal. This brain structure may also have had something to do with Einstein's delayed speech development, which raises questions about whether it's helpful to know this sort of information about yourself. If Einstein had known that his brain was different, maybe even flawed, would he have pursued academics? At this point, scientists don't know enough about how the brain works to know if Witelson's work is accurate, though it's the going theory at the moment. For all visible purposes, Einstein's brain seems perfectly normal, if not a little damaged, with nothing that would immediately indicate any great genius. We may not know anything until there's another equivalent genius brain to study; perhaps Einstein can't be compared to average brains. Harvey never gave up on his belief that the brain would reveal something special. Near the end of his life, after carting the brain around the country, he returned to the place from which he had taken it: Princeton Hospital. He gave the brain to the man who had his old pathology job; writer Michael Paterniti, who accompanied Harvey on one cross-country trip with the brain, hypothesized in the book "Driving With Mr. Albert" that Harvey picked someone who represented a sort of reincarnation of Harvey himself, something that the pathologist in question also acknowledges. "Well then, he's free now," the man told Paterniti of Harvey's choice, "and I'm shackled" [source: Paterniti]. If Einstein's brain ever truly reveals its secrets, Harvey won't be here to see it; he died in 2007 at the age of 94. Einstein and the mystery of his brain, however, live on. For many more answers to questions about the brain you never thought to ask, see the links to articles on the next page. Advertisement Originally Published: Oct 27, 2008 Spurned by the National Democratic Alliance and disowned by the Rashtriya Janata Dal-helmed Grand Alliance, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday announced another front ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar, comprising Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and a non-descript Janatantrik Party-Socialist. IMAGE: Rashtriya Lok Samata Party president Upendra Kushwaha, center, with Bahujan Samaj Party Bihar in-charge Ramji Singh Gautama, left, and Janwadi party leader Sanjay Singh Chauhan during a joint press conference ahead of Bihar assembly elections in Patna. Photograph: (PTI Photo Addressing a press conference in Patna, the former Union minister said that the yet to be named front will contest all 243 assembly segments in the state with the promise of "abki baar shiksha waali sarkaar (this time a government for education)" which would usher in an era of growth and employment generation in the state. Kushwaha termed the 15-year rule of Nitish Kumar and the preceding decade and a half when Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi ruled the state as "two facets of the same coin", neither of which did anything substantial to eradicate corruption and bring about improvements in health and education. He defended his decision of joining hands with the RJD less than two years ago. The RLSP chief who recently burnt his bridges with Lalu Prasad's party by opening a front against his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, said, "I had joined the Grand Alliance to help form an alternative government at the Centre. I was not helping the RJD form a new government in Bihar". On September 24, when he was "authorized" by the party to decide its future course, it was an indication that the RLSP's exit from the Grand Alliance was a mere formality. Kushwaha had then said that he would continue in the Grand Alliance only if the coalition agreed upon a chief ministerial face other than Tejashwi Yadav who, according to him, was "no match to Nitish Kumar". Asked whether he was isolated on the issue within the coalition, Kushwaha said, "Not at all. Just look at the Congress, the second largest constituent. It is still sceptical on the question of Tejashwi. Moreover, only recently Jitan Ram Manjhi quit the coalition and walked over to the NDA because of differences he had on this very issue." Kushwaha evaded questions about talks he reportedly had with leaders of the NDA in Patna and New Delhi. "The Grand Alliance was unable to take a decision on leadership in time. Filing of nominations will begin from October 1. And we had to make a move for the betterment of Bihar," he said. Kushwaha said that his front now has the RLSP, the BSP, and the Janatantrik Party-Socialist, a party based in Uttar Pradesh where it has a marginal presence. The RLSP chief claimed that many more parties have evinced interest in joining his newly-formed front but he was tight-lipped when asked whether he would welcome Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party, which seems to be on a collision course with the Janata Dal United-Bharatiya Janata Party combine. Kushwaha, who had served as the minister of state for human resource development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi till December 2017, said, "It appears the BJP is calling the shots everywhere. It controls the Nitish Kumar government and even the RJD seems to be playing into its hands." He also dismissed as "speculations by the media" reports that he was insistent on contesting the by-poll to Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat where voting is scheduled to take place on November 7. Sources in the party also said that Valmiki Nagar was "never on the agenda" since chief minister Nitish Kumar had decided to field from the seat a close family member of Baidyanath Mahto, the JD-U MP whose death necessitated the by-election. They also said that neither Kumar nor the BJP was averse to the RLSP's return to the NDA, "but uncertainty over the prospects of the LJP" and the saffron party's insistence that it join the coalition "unconditionally, without pressing for a guaranteed number of seats in elections", threw a spanner. Kushwaha also sought to make light of the exit of state unit chief Bhudev Chaudhary, whose crossing over to the RJD on the previous day came as a rude shock to the RLSP. "I have let loose my boat in the ocean with the intent to reach the other shore. The faint-hearted are welcome to alight whenever they want", he said, attempting a poetic flourish. While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest. On Monday, Jan Adhikar Party founder Pappu Yada announced a tie up with the Bhim Army of Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan. A week ago, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi had announced the formation of a front in which he was joined by Devendra Prasad Yadav, a veteran socialist leader who has formed his own party. Advertisement A pair of young bear siblings have been photographed play fighting while their mum's back was turned in Russia. Nature photographer Valerio Ferraro, 47, took the photographs in Kurile Lake, Russia, when the little bears began to throw hands in a playful wrestle. Valerio, from Varese, Italy, said: 'The bears confront each other in this game so that in the future, as adults, they will win the struggle for survival. 'When mum went fishing, the cubs wasted no time playing.' Pictured: Two bear cub siblings play fight it out on the shore of Kurile Lake, Russia. The nearby area is full of animals due to no one being able to live there until the end of the Cold War Pictured: The two bear cub siblings grapple as they play fight on the shore of Kurile Lake. The lake is situated in Kamchatka, a former nuclear submarine outpost The fighting bear cubs (pictured) were found by nature photographer Valerio Ferraro, who travelled to the location by helicopter Pictured: The bear cubs battle it out on the shores of Kurile Lake, Russia. The bears were found sitting on the bank of the lake The play-fighting bears, pictured, went to join their mother who was salmon fishing nearby after their tussle on the bank of Kurile Lake in Russia The bears swipe at each other during their play fight on the banks of Kurile Lake, Russia. According to the photographer, the bears confront each other in this way when they're young to be prepared for later life Adult bears will often fight due to not fighting during certain seasons. The young bears have play fights to prepare themselves for these later tussles, the photographer said Pictured: The bears play fighting on the bank of Kurlie Lake, Russia. Male bears will often kill cubs in order to make the female fertile again Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, has lost the latest skirmish in her privacy lawsuit against a tabloid newspaper, after London's High Court ruled on September 29 the paper could amend its case ahead of a trial next year. Meghan, wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry, is suing publisher Associated Newspapers over articles the Mail on Sunday printed last year that included parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018. Last week, the paper applied for permission to amend its case, arguing that the couple had cooperated with a biography about them which was published in August, and that showed Meghan had intended some private details to become public, including the contents of the letter. The judge, Francesca Kaye, said that while she made no view on the strength of the Mails case, the amendments could not be said to be unarguable or utterly fanciful. [The stream is slated to start at 11:30 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is holding a news conference on Tuesday as the state reports a slight uptick in its Covid-19 infection rate, which has remained below 1% for over a month. On Monday, Cuomo told reporters on a press call that health officials are trying to pinpoint where the growing number of cases are coming from by investigating specific zip codes in the New York City area. "Brooklyn is a major contributor in the number of cases," Cuomo told reporters on the call, saying the borough had a local positivity rate of 2.6%. New York's Orange and Rockland counties also contributed to the state's overall increased rate, he said. The increase in cases is a troubling sign for the state as it prepares to reopen restaurants for indoor dining and schools for in-person learning in its most populous city. Earlier on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city reported a local positivity rate over 3% the highest that figure has been in months. Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak. (Photo : Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 16: People walk past a CCTV camera in Pancras Square near Kings Cross Station on August 16, 2019 in London, England. CCTV cameras using facial-recognition systems at King's Cross are to be investigated by the UK's data-protection watchdog after a report by the Financial Times. (Photo : Sam Mooy/Getty Images) CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 12: Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a press conference in the Main Committee Room at Parliament House on June 12, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. The government last month promised to repay $720m to 373,000 past and present welfare recipients over 470,000 unlawful demands for money calculated using faulty income averaged annual pay data as part of Centrelinks income compliance program. New polling has showed significant support for a royal commission into the debacle, and revelations that internal estimates have shown the total value of those 470,000 unlawful debts will be close to $1.5bn AUD. The Australian federal government will spend more than $250 million for an online system upgrade, which would opt the public to use facial recognition to access more government services such as JobSeeker. The funding is part of the $800 million digital technology investment, which will pave the way to the full integration of MyGov's digital identity program and 14 additional services including getting a tax file number or director identification number. Soon people will be required to use facial recognition to register to vote, apply for welfare payments, and file for bankruptcy while welfare recipients will also need to use this technology to access government benefits. According to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, he hopes to make it easier and safer for businesses and individuals to use government services, which saves time and money. PM Morrison said many businesses quickly switched to the online platform as soon as the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, which allowed them to expand their services and find new customers. This brings a "decade of change" within months. The prime minister also noted that this plan boosts the country's economic recovery by removing outdated regulations, boosting small businesses' competence, and support the advancement of technology across the economy. Currently, there are more than 1.16 million businesses and 1.6 million individuals who are already using facial recognition to access 70 online services offered by the government. The largest chunk of the digital technology package costs more than $400 million, which will be used to upgrade business registers to allow companies to view, monitor, and update their data seamlessly in one location. NBN upgrades to provide 1 GBPS broadband The various system and infrastructure upgrades are included in the $4.5 billion investment to provide ultra-fast internet to millions of Australian households and businesses. The funding was raised through the help of private-sector market borrowings, "so it doesn't hit the budget bottom line." It also complements the current $1.67 billion cybersecurity investments in online safety. The National Broadband Network will soon allow six million Australian homes to get access to ultra-fast broadband by 2023 as the government-owned network provider pushes with the upgrade. This includes the construction of local fiber networks along the street, which would allow people to directly connect their homes to the network. One the upgrade is finished, the internet speed will boost up to 1 Gigabit per second, which is far from the government's current minimum of 25 Megabits per second. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the timing for the network upgrade is perfect as the growth in broadband demand is largely seen for decades, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the internet demand skyrocketed by 80% as more businesses are forced to switch to an online platform while more employees work from home. This high demand continues to strain the network performances with slower internet speeds in some cities. Instead of just offering optical fiber cables to businesses and households as promised by the labor government in 2009, NBN will offer a combination of fixed wireless, HFC, copper wires, optical fiber, and even satellite networks to boost the internet speeds across the country. Meanwhile, about $30 million will be spent to support private companies to invest in 5G technology trials. This not only covers the communication industry but also firms in mining, agriculture, manufacturing as well as logistics. Read also: Australians Can Soon Enjoy 1 Gigabyte per Second Broadband as NBN Upgrades with Local Fiber Networks This is owned by Tech Times Written by CJ Robles 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services ("Aji Bio-Pharma"), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing services, is pleased to announce a strategic supply partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative (DNDi), a collaborative, patients' needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organization that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, for the supply of a CpG oligonucleotide, as part of a combination therapy used in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis infections. This project is supported by the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund. As part of this partnership, Aji Bio-Pharma will manufacture CpG-D35, a class of CpG oligonucleotides, which provides a strong immunostimulatory effects. CpG-D35 will be used to stimulate innate immune response in patients as an adjunct to chemotherapies in treating complicated cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), persisting parasitic infections causing severely disfiguring and stigmatizing skin lesions. "We are excited to be able to collaborate on this oligonucleotide with DNDi and support them in their efforts to develop and supply this quality of life improving therapeutic for people with leishmaniasis," said Noriyasu Kataoka, Quality Manager & President, Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services Osaka. "We are pleased to be a trusted and innovative partner to our client, while reinforcing our dedication in improving the health of humankind." Over one billion people are at risk of leishmaniasis worldwide, which is transmitted by sandfly bites. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common presentation, with about one million new cases annually. Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis is a complication of visceral leishmaniasis, which can appear months or years after completing treatment. "We are very pleased to be partnering with Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services for the supply of promising new therapeutic for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis," said Dr Byron Arana, Head of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Programme at DNDi. "With this partnership, we continue our goal to develop and provide safe and effective cutaneous leishmaniasis therapeutics." About Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated contract development and manufacturing organization with sites in Belgium, United States, Japan, and India, providing comprehensive development, cGMP manufacturing, and aseptic fill finish services for small and large molecule APIs and intermediates. Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services offers a broad range of innovative platforms and capabilities for pre-clinical and pilot programs to commercial quantities, including Corynex protein expression technology, oligonucleotide synthesis, antibody drug conjugations (ADC), high potency APIs (HPAPI), biocatalysis, continuous flow manufacturing and more. Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is dedicated to providing a high level of quality and service to meet our client's needs. Learn more: www.AjiBio-Pharma.com About DNDi A not-for-profit research and development organization, DNDi works to develop new treatments for people living with neglected diseases, notably leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), Chagas disease, filarial infections, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, and hepatitis C. Since its inception in 2003, DNDi has delivered eight new treatments, including new drug combinations for leishmaniasis, two fixed-dose antimalarials, and DNDi's first successfully developed new chemical entity, fexinidazole, for the treatment of both stages of sleeping sickness. Learn more at dndi.org About GHIT Fund The GHIT Fund is a Japan-based international public-private partnership fund (PPP) between the Government of Japan, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The GHIT Fund invests and manages an R&D portfolio of development partnerships aimed at neglected diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases that afflict the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. The GHIT Fund mobilizes the Japanese industry, academia, and research institutes to create new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases, in collaboration with global partners. To know more about GHIT Fund, please visit https://www.ghitfund.org/. SOURCE Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services Related Links http://www.ajibio-pharma.com (CNN) Here's what you need to know about the presidential debates this year. How many presidential debates will there be this year? Three, along with a vice presidential debate. What time are the presidential debates? They're all at 9 p.m. ET. They'll all last approximately 90 minutes and run without commercials on networks and cable news outlets. Where can they be seen? Pretty much anywhere, but please watch CNN or stream at CNN.com. When and where will they occur? First presidential debate -- Tuesday, September 29, at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio Vice presidential debate -- Wednesday, October 7, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah Second presidential debate (a town hall) -- Thursday, October 15, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami Third presidential debate is Thursday, October 22, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee Are those states significant this year? Florida and Ohio are key battleground states this year and every recent election year. Utah and Tennessee are reliably in President Donald Trump's column, according to CNN's assessment. See which states are battleground states and how they can add up to an Electoral College victory at our Road to 270 Electoral College Map. Who will moderate the debates? First presidential debate - Chris Wallace of Fox News Vice presidential debate - Susan Page of USA Today Second presidential debate (the town hall) - Steve Scully of C-SPAN Third presidential debate - Kristen Welker of NBC News What do we know about the format of the debates? This information is taken from the Commission on Presidential Debates website, debates.org. First presidential debate -- Six segments of approximately 15 minutes each From debates.org: "The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic." Vice presidential debate -- Nine segments of approximately 10 minutes each The commission's note on this debate's format is the same as the first debate, except it omits the line: "Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other." Second presidential debate -- This is a town hall featuring questions posed by members of an audience of citizens from the South Florida area From debates.org: "The candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion. The town meeting participants will be uncommitted voters selected under the supervision of Dr. Frank Newport, Senior Scientist, Gallup." Third presidential debate -- Six segments of approximately 15 minutes each The format will be the same as the first debate, according to debates.org. What do we know about the topics that will be discussed? The first moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, released a list of six general subject areas. They are: The Trump and Biden Records The Supreme Court Covid-19 The Economy Race and Violence in our Cities The Integrity of the Election Of course, he says they're subject to change based on news developments and won't necessarily come in this order. We'll learn more about the other debates as they draw closer. Are there points for doing well? A grace note or a well-delivered one liner can be very effective, too. Palin crossed the stage to shake Joe Biden's hand and asked if she could call him Joe. Lloyd Bentsen told Dan Quayle he was no Jack Kennedy after Quayle tried to compare himself to JFK. But it was Ronald Reagan, the former actor, who put on the master class. "There you go again," he chided Jimmy Carter, shaking his head after Carter accused him of wanting to cut Medicare. And in his closing he asked the key question of presidential campaigns when he put it to voters, "are you better off than you were four years ago?" It was their only debate and it was a week before Election Day. Are candidates required to debate? Nope. And there was a move among some Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi, to get Biden to skip the debates and rob Donald Trump of an opportunity to lie and misrepresent facts on a national stage. Biden rejected the idea and promised to be a "fact checker on the floor." Conversely, Trump's campaign at one point threatened to not take part because of bias among possible moderators. But they were bluffing. Have there always been debates? No. The gold standard for debates were the 1858 sessions between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, although at the time they were squaring off for a Senate seat (Douglas won). They ran against each other in the presidential race in 1860 (Lincoln won). Those debates are hard to imagine in today's media. Each man got an hour for an opening statement. Then they each got a half hour to rebut. The first televised debates took place in 1960 and Nixon did poorly in that format, which probably helped contribute to a lack of debates in the '64, '68 and '72 election years. Last-minute and fraught negotiations preceded the debates in '76, '80 and '84, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates. Who organizes these debates? The Commission on Presidential Debates has organized every general election debate since the 1988 general election. (Primary debates are a different matter and often organized by news networks working with political parties). It's got a bipartisan board and set of co-chairs. The chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf, is a co-founder of the commission and was RNC chairman in the 1980s. Dorothy Ridings is a former president of the League of Women Voters and an executive at philanthropic organizations. Kenneth Wollack is a former president of the National Democratic Institute. What will it look like? Probably a lot like it always looks. The debates have used the same backgrounds since 1988. I'm dying to see if they change it this year. Do people watch these things? Yes. Big time. Nielsen, which tracks TV ratings, reported that 84 million people watched the September 27, 2016, debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But that number only reflected people who watched the debate on one of the 13 TV networks that broadcast it. Many more streamed the debate online or watched it in group settings (an option less available this year during the pandemic). That Clinton/Trump debate set a new record, eclipsing the 80 million people who watched Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in their 1980 debate. It was also well above debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Americans who don't watch live will still hear about the debate from news coverage and in their social media feeds after the fact. Do the debates affect the outcome of the election? There's no evidence that debates lead to wide swings in public opinion. But presidential elections are decided by relatively close margins. It's possible for a candidate to survive a bad debate performance, as Barack Obama did when he bombed (Seriously. It was bad.) against Mitt Romney in 2012. Separately, a bad debate performance can, in hindsight be blamed for a razor-thin loss. Al Gore was unlikeable and overly dramatic, sighing on the debate stage. He still won the popular vote and lost the election. Richard Nixon was shifty and sweating on the debate stage in 1960, so that's baked into the fact that he lost. But he lost by a historically slim margin. Donald Trump loomed weirdly behind Clinton in 2016, but that didn't cost him the election. Further complicating things this year is that a large portion of the country is voting early -- either in person or by mail -- and will cast their votes before debate season ends. What will be remembered from these debates? Gaffes are often the things that stick in the public consciousness. Gerald Ford denying there was Soviet Domination in Poland in 1976 made him look completely out of touch. George H.W. Bush checking his watch during a town hall made it look like he wanted to get out of there. Saturday Night Live's recreation of whatever happens can eclipse the debate itself, as it did with Sarah Palin and Tina Fey in 2008 and the question over whether you can see Russia from Alaska. An image grab taken from a video made available on the official web site of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry on September 28, 2020, allegedly shows Azeri artillery strike towards the positions of Armenian separatists in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. AFP-Yonhap Armenian and Azerbaijani forces fought over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh for a second day Monday, with both sides blaming each other for resuming the attacks that reportedly killed and wounded dozens as the decades-old conflict has reignited. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed Armenian forces shelled the town of Tartar, while Armenian officials said the fighting continued overnight and Baku resumed ''offensive operations'' in the morning. Azerbaijani military officials told the Interfax news agency that over 550 Armenian troops have been ''destroyed (including those wounded)'' in a claim that Armenia denied. According to officials in the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, 58 servicemen on their side have been killed so far. The territory's Defense on Sunday also reported two civilian deaths a woman and her grandchild. About 200 troops have been wounded, but many were only slightly hurt and have returned to action, the Armenian Defense Ministry said. Azerbaijani authorities said nine civilians were killed and 32 wounded on their side. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday there were losses among Baku's forces, too, but he didn't elaborate. In this image taken from footage released by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, Azerbaijan's soldiers fire from a mortar at the contact line of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. AP-Yonhap The heavy fighting broke out Sunday in the region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Yerevan government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war. Azerbaijan said it destroyed two Armenian tanks, and Nagorno-Karabakh's Defense Ministry reported that Baku ''lost 10 armored vehicles in a tank battle.'' The Armenian Defense Ministry said that, while the fighting continued, ''all offensives of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were successfully suppressed, the enemy was thrown back'' and suffered losses. Nagorno-Karabakh a region in the Caucasus Mountains about 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) or about the size of the U.S. state of Delaware is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region. The European Union urged both sides to stop fighting and return to the negotiating table, following similar calls by Iran, Russia, France and the United States. ''We hope and we urge everyone to everything they can in order to prevent an all-out war from breaking out, because this is the last thing the region needs,'' European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said in Brussels. ''There is no military solution to this conflict.'' An Armenian man inside his house in the city of Martuni in the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 28 September 2020, after a recent shelling by the Azerbaijan's forces. EPA-Yonhap U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and called for ''an immediate stop to the fighting, a de-escalation of tensions and a return to meaningful negotiations without preconditions or delay,'' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation ''is a cause for concern for Moscow and other countries.'' ''We believe that the hostilities should be immediately ended,'' Peskov said, adding that the process of resolving the conflict should shift into ''a politico-diplomatic'' dimension. Armenia's Foreign Ministry accused Turkey, which sides with Azerbaijan in the conflict, of supporting ''this aggression.'' ''Turkish military experts are fighting side by side with Azerbaijan, who are using Turkish weapons, including UAVs and warplanes,'' the ministry said. The situation ''clearly indicates'' that people in Nagorno-Karabakh are fighting against ''a Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance,'' the statement said. Both Armenia and Turkey accused each other of recruiting foreign mercenaries. Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, denied reports that Turkey had sent arms or foreign fighters to Azerbaijan. A man holds an ammunition fragment following what is said was Azeri attack during clashes between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, in Nagorno-Karabakh's city of Martuni on September 28, 2020. AFP-Yonhap Turkey has jumped to Azerbaijan's defense during the recent deadly flare-up between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and this time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pulling no punches. But is Ankara willing to flex its muscles at Russia who does not want to see a conflagration in the South Caucasus? Tucked in the Zangezur mountains in the southeastern corner of Europe, contested by Azerbaijan and Armenia and home to ethnic groups separated by Soviet cartographers, Nagorno-Karabakh is a region the international community would prefer to ignore. The enclave lies inside the borders of oil-rich Azerbaijan and is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijani territory. Nagorno-Karabakh, however, has a mainly ethnic Armenian population and following a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives the secessionist enclave remains under a semi-autonomous leadership that is reliant on Armenia. For nearly 30 years, a peace process under the auspices of the Minsk Group co-chaired by France, Russia and the US has gone nowhere. Russia, the main power in the region, has a defense pact with Armenia. However, Moscow also sells arms to Azerbaijan and maintains a balancing act between the two former Soviet republics as a means to project Russian power in the South Caucasus and position itself as a key negotiator between Yerevan and Baku. The status quo in the disputed region since a 1994 ceasefire has been in Russias interest, offering Moscow the win-win ability to sell arms to Azerbaijan without being forced to support Armenia in a regional conflict. Border clashes have periodically erupted between the two sides, such as the April 2016 Four-Day War in Nagorno-Karabakh that killed more than 100 people. The flare-up was immediately brought under control, with the Minsk Group calling for a meeting and the two parties declaring a ceasefire before the meeting even began. Story continues And with that, Nagorno-Karabakh a region the size of Delaware was promptly put on the back burner of the worlds frozen conflicts as the international community focused on more pressing crises and conflicts across the globe. Brothers in arms But over the summer, Turkey a traditional Azerbaijan backer, with the two countries bound by ethnic and historic ties increased its involvement in the region. In July, clashes broke out along the border in Azerbaijans autonomous Nakchivan exclave, which is nestled between Turkey, Iran and Armenia. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of sparking the fighting, which resulted in the deaths of several military personnel and civilians along with the destruction of infrastructure in the border region. Weeks later, Azerbaijan and Turkey launched two weeks of joint military exercises involving artillery as well as aviation and air-defense equipment, marking the largest of its kind in the recent history of military cooperation between the two countries, noted the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, DC-based research and analysis institute. Top Azerbaijani defense officials also visited Turkey, where Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar declared: Everyone must know that the relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan is one of two countries, one people. Weeks later Akar was in Baku, where, in a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the Turkish defense minister noted that, In Azerbaijans struggle for the liberation of its occupied lands, we, Turkey, with a population of 83 million, are next to our brothers. Turkey flexes its muscles again When the latest deadly fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out this weekend, Turkey appeared to be leveraging its influence in the South Caucasus region across its eastern border, noting the failure of the international community to resolve the conflict. Speaking at an Istanbul event on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Minsk Group had failed to solve the issue for nearly three decades, and so Azerbaijan had to take matters into its own hands whether it likes it or not. The Turkish president also appeared to be carving out a diplomatic role for Ankara when he noted, Recent developments have provided an opportunity for all influential countries in the region to introduce realistic and fair solutions. Erdogan has been dramatically increasing Turkeys footprint across the Arab world, from advancing into northeastern Syria, driving deeper into Iraq to tackle Kurdish militias, to intervening in the Libyan civil war. Ankara has also been raising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean particularly with arch-rival Greece with its oil exploration ventures. The Turkish president has long cast himself as his countrys modern-day sultan, restoring his countrys past glories and lands lost in the European carve-up of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. In recent months, Erdogan has focused his sights on France, a country once emulated by Turkish figures such as the countrys founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and now derided by the ruling Islamist AK Party. Over the past few months Turkey has been extending its influence into West Africa, an area considered Frances pre carre (backyard) and where French troops are engaged in counterterror operations in the Sahel zone that includes Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. Turkeys recent active foray into the South Caucasus comes as no surprise to experts on the region. The Turkey of 2020 is different from the Turkey of the 1990s at that time, Turkey was not ready at all to participate militarily in this conflict. Now we see the Turkish leadership to be far more assertive and to claim that they will support Azerbaijan if Azerbaijan demands it, explained Tornike Gordadze, from Paris-based Sciences-Po university, on the FRANCE 24 Debate show. Its a combo of internal and external issues. Turkey is now much more proactive, present, and does not hesitate to send military forces abroad weve seen them in Syria, Iraq and Libya, he noted. Laurence Broers of London-based Chatham House agreed. What were seeing is a growing explicitness to Turkish support, Broers told the Debate show. Were seeing, basically, a new kind of relationship: exchanges and meetings between senior defense officials of the two countries and I think, perhaps, Turkey is seeing this conflict as another regional theatre where it can probe for influence, for foreign policy influence where it can showcase its military hardware, since developing the Turkish arms industry is a major domestic imperative. But Broers stressed that this new posture did not mean Turkey would look to become more actively involved or seek a direct confrontation with Russia. I think its more of lending capability, short of actual direct warfare capability where there is a degree of plausible deniability of having boots on the ground, so to speak, he said. Turkey is an upstart and a junior player compared to Russia in the South Caucasus and Broers noted that Moscow still holds the key to resolving the latest conflagration in Nagorno Karabakh. I dont think Turkey is looking for open conflict with Russia, he said. The stakes [are] significantly higher for Russia because Russias single most important source of leverage in the South Caucasus is the non-resolved nature of this conflict. Moreover, Moscow would inevitably be drawn into any conflict. Russia is the only outside power that has treaty obligations in the event of a war, Broers explained. So its perhaps the outside power that is most invested in not seeing a large-scale war that would trigger those treaty obligations. DUBLIN, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "GCC Personal Luxury Goods Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The GCC personal luxury goods market grew at a CAGR of around 5% during 2014-2019 Personal luxury goods refer to the high-end and premium items, including apparel, watches, jewelry, cosmetics, bags, fashion accessories, etc. These branded products offer premium quality materials, superior craftsmanship, and high-value aesthetics. Most of the personal luxury goods are highly durable with extended warranty period, thereby being heavily priced. In the GCC region, rapid globalization along with the wide presence of international luxury brands is currently bolstering the market growth. The rising consumer living standards supported by their increasing disposable income levels are augmenting the sales of personal luxury goods in the GCC region. Moreover, the high prevalence of western fashion trends coupled with the rising working women population is also catalyzing the product demand. The expanding tourism sector, particularly in Dubai and UAE, along with the relaxed trade barriers with several developed countries, is also driving the market growth. For instance, the GCC member states signed the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), allowing the trade of personal luxury goods from countries like Italy and France. Besides this, the wide availability of personal luxury goods on online retail platforms is also propelling the market growth in the region. The growing number of celebrity endorsements and the high prevalence of social media marketing are also driving the demand of personnel luxury goods in the region. Apart from this, the rising popularity of limited capsule collections and fashion drops have also fueled the market for secondhand luxury goods. Moreover, various personal luxury platforms are increasingly investing in authentication procedures and quality checks for providing a safe and reliable environment for customers. Several innovative technologies are being adopted to maintain brand value and minimize the risk of product replication by counterfeiters. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 across the GCC region in early 2020 has negatively impacted the growth of the personal luxury goods market. The market, however, is expected to recover from 2021 onward and grow moderately during 2021-2025. Key Questions Answered in This Report: How has the GCC personal luxury goods market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years? What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global GCC personal luxury goods market? What is the breakup of the market based on the country? What is the breakup of the market based on the type? What is the breakup of the market based on the gender? What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel? What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry? What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry? What is the structure of the global GCC personal luxury goods market and who are the key players? What is the degree of competition in the industry? Scope of the Report Breakup by Country: Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Qatar Kuwait Oman Bahrain Breakup by Type: Accessories Apparel Watch and Jewellery Luxury Cosmetics Others Breakup by Gender: Female Male Breakup by Distribution Channel: Mono-brand Stores Speciality Stores Departmental Stores Online Stores Others Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined with some of the key players being Burberry Group PLC Chanel S.A. Estee Lauder Companies Giorgio Armani SpA Kering S.A. Loreal LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Mulberry Group PLC Prada Group Cie Financiere Richemont SA The Swatch Group Versace For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f6imjr Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Facing verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday, BJP leader Uma Bharti has said in a letter to party president JP Nadda that she would prefer to be hanged rather than seek bail. A report in The Print said Bharti wrote the letter to Nadda on September 26, the day she was dropped from the list of national office-bearers of the party in a dramatic reshuffle. Expressing pride in her participation in the Ayodhya movement, Bharti said seeking bail would tarnish the dignity of her role. I do not know what the Ayodhya judgement will be on 30 September but I will not seek bail I am proud of my participation in the Ayodhya movement. I have always said that even if I have to hang for being part of the Ayodhya movement, then thats acceptable to me Taking the bail will tarnish the dignity of my participation in the movement. Bharti is currently admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh after testing positive for Covid-19. Her condition is said to be stable. While Bharti will not be present in court for the hearing, it is not yet clear whether she would appear via video conferencing. Apart from Bharti, BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the accused in the in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case. Other accused include former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara. The trial under the serious criminal conspiracy charges commenced against them after having been dropped by the trial court in 2001. The verdict was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2010, but the apex court ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19, 2017. The top court ordered daily hearing in the high profile case and directed the special judge to conclude it in two years. The conspiracy charge is in addition to the existing charges against them for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion for which they are already facing trial. The other charges against them include indulging in deliberate and malicious" acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly. The CBI argued that the accused conspired and instigated kar sevaks to demolish the 16th century mosque. But the accused pleaded innocence maintaining that there is no evidence to prove their guilt and claimed they were implicated by the then Congress government at the Centre as a political vendetta. The Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by kar sevaks" who claimed that the mosque in Ayodhya was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple. In a landmark judgment last year, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law. An alternative five-acre site was marked in the city for building a mosque. Members of the American Red Cross remove influenza victims in 1918. St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Tribune News Service via Getty Images In less than nine months, the coronavirus has quickly spread to more than 33 million people across the globe, killing more than 1 million and becoming the third-leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease and cancer. There is nothing in recent history that compares to a contagious crisis of this magnitude, according to historians who study infectious diseases and disasters. The H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009 infected an estimated 60.8 million people in its first year, but the virus wasn't nearly as severe as Covid-19, killing between 151,700 and 575,400 worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MERS, another coronavirus that emerged in 2012, was much deadlier than Covid but significantly less infectious with only 2,494 reported cases. Covid-19 is "a scary virus and definitely one that you do not want to get," said Howard Markel, a physician and medical historian at the University of Michigan. "It's a very dangerous, very crafty, stealthy virus." The 1918 virus was also a "novel" virus, meaning it was brand new. Like Covid-19, no one had any immunity to it, and it was highly infectious, spreading through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughed or sneezed. Different symptoms The viruses attacked the body in different ways. Covid-19 can be mild, sometimes causing no symptoms whatsoever, or severe putting patients in hospitals and on ventilators for weeks and leaving them with lingering effects of fatigue and coughing for months. Covid-19 can also be unpredictable, stressing virtually every system in the body, including the heart, kidneys and brain. The 1918 flu pandemic came in three waves, occurring in the spring of 1918, the fall of 1918; and the winter and spring of 1919, according to the CDC. The 1918 flu killed 50 million people worldwide from 1918 through 1919, including 675,000 Americans, according to the CDC. It is estimated that one-third of the world's population became infected with the virus. The first wave of the 1918 flu came with the usual flu symptoms: fever, nausea, body aches and diarrhea. The second wave was dramatically worse. It could set in suddenly, killing patients within days or even hours after symptoms began. The virus would cause their lungs to fill with fluid and the lack of oxygen would make their skin turn blue until they suffocated. There also wasn't a vaccine for the 1918 flu, and, like Covid-19, the crisis was highly politicized in the United States. "We were getting involved in World War I and it was a very patriotic effort. You know, the war to end all wars," Markel said. "They were sending off young men in parades. Women were left behind and starting Red Cross chapters and making bandages and all sorts of things, sending the men off in a proper way." The pandemic became mixed in with the patriotic fervor, he said. Like today, schools and businesses were closed and infected people were quarantined, according to influenzaarchive.org. 1918 mask mandates "You told people to wash your hands, don't cough on people, stay at home, stay away from other people," he said. "It was the patriotic thing to do to not cough on people or stay home if you were sick." But the thing that really drew public backlash were mask recommendations. As it turns out, resistance to wearing the face coverings isn't new. People during the 1918 pandemic called them dirt traps and some clipped holes so they could smoke cigars. In Europe, the Italian Supreme Command asked residents not to fail their cities by not wearing a mask. Several U.S. cities implemented mandates, describing them as a symbol of "wartime patriotism." In San Francisco, Mayor James Rolph said, "conscience, patriotism and self-protection demand immediate and rigid compliance," according to influenzaarchive.org. But some people refused to comply or take them seriously, Markel said. San Francisco residents considered masks a nuisance while others harbored resentment for being forced to wear them, he said. Some of them were arrested. "One woman, a downtown attorney, argued to Mayor Rolph that the mask ordinance was 'absolutely unconstitutional' because it was not legally enacted, and that as a result, every police officer who had arrested a mask scofflaw was personally liable," according to influenzaarchive.org. Pandemic news The news in 1918 didn't flow as quickly as it does today with the internet and smartphones, but it also couldn't be manipulated as much as today and newspapers published at least six or seven editions a day back then, Markel said. State public health departments also held regular public press briefings, he added. "If you wanted to partake on it, it was there," he said. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) lift a patient into an ambulance while wearing protective gear, as the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New York City, New York, March 24, 2020. Stefan Jeremiah | Reuters Some newspapers referred to the virus as the "Spanish flu," even though the first known case was reported at an army base in Kansas. Spain remained neutral throughout World War I and reported on the virus freely, giving the impression that the outbreak was bad there. Eventually, newspapers would just refer to it as "influenza" or the "influenza epidemic," Markel said. Woodrow Wilson vs Donald Trump Additionally, some reports have suggested that then-President Woodrow Wilson downplayed the virus, but that is a "wrong and a false trope of popular history," Markel said. Wilson, who would later contract the virus, was organizing and commanding the U.S. effort in World War I and once the war ended, he sailed for Paris, where he stayed until April of 1919 organizing a peace treaty and the League of Nations, Markel said. "The federal government played a very small role in American public health during that era. It was primarily a city and state role and those agencies were hardly downplaying it," he said. Unlike today, there was no CDC or national public health department. The Food and Drug Administration existed but consisted of a very small group of men. Additionally, there were no antibiotics, intensive care units, ventilators, IV fluids or vaccines. "You got a bed or maybe nursing care," Markel said. But there was an epidemiologist much like Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who withstood criticism for publicly pressing for safety protocols, according to Forbes. "At the center of public health efforts in both states was a practical, plainspoken, bespectacled scientist: Dr. Thomas Dyer Tuttle, who became a powerful, if polarizing, figure in the fight against the Spanish flu," according to Forbes. Scientists hadn't even seen a virus under the microscope at that point, said Graham Mooney, a medical historian at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. They didn't have the technology and they knew almost nothing of virology, which was considered a nascent science because viruses are so small, he said. In fact, some scientists thought the 1918 virus was caused by a bacteria called Haemophilus influenzae, he said. "Now we have a much greater capacity to create a preventative mechanism through immunizations and vaccinations," Mooney said. Massive death toll He is on treatment at home now. Former Ukrainian president and leader of the European Solidarity Party Petro Poroshenko has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "I've got a positive test for COVID," he said on Facebook on September 29. Read alsoTymoshenko recovers from coronavirus press secretary He also informed he was planning to undergo treatment at home. "In the past six years, I got used to working being sick. But this [disease] is more insidious. Much more insidious. Therefore, from today on, I'm staying at home to undergo treatment," Poroshenko said. Another prominent politician, leader of the Batkivshchyna Party, Ukrainian MP Yulia Tymoshenko, has recently recovered from the coronavirus. Tymoshenko contracts COVID-19: Background A GP turned politician has accused the Government of creating a climate of fear over face coverings. Dr Anne McCloskey said she has yet to see anything to confirm their use in preventing the spread of Covid-19. The Aontu councillor, who is now a member of Derry and Strabane council, said that coupled with mass testing, the community is being "whipped up into a state of terror". She was speaking after one of Londonderry's best known hotels was forced to close temporarily after three members of staff tested positive for the virus. The Bishop's Gate Hotel shut its doors at noon yesterday and will not reopen until Wednesday at 5pm. Guildhall Taphouse and the city's Metro Bar were also affected. But Dr McCloskey, who has previously voiced her opposition to face coverings, said there is still no evidence that they are beneficial in helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19. "No risk assessment has been done," she said, "and to date I have not seen any concrete evidence that face coverings are of any benefit. "Yes, the number in the country of those being infected is increasing, but hospitals are not being overrun and the number of deaths is nowhere near the scale of March/April. The policy on face coverings is creating a culture of fear in the community." Dr McCloskey was last week contacted by the UK's General Medical Council (GMC) after comparing using masks to stop the spread of the virus to "using a sheep fence to keep out mosquitoes". But she said she will not change her views until hard evidence says otherwise. "I am not in Covid-denial, but I have seen no evidence yet that face coverings are in any way helpful to prevent the spread," she said. "But we have created a state of terror in the community which is counter productive," added Dr McCloskey, who served as a GP in Shantallow. "Instead, we are allowing people to come later to hospital with serious illnesses like cancer, strokes, heart disease when they could easily have had much earlier treatment. "Covid-19 has been painted as the grim reaper cutting a swathe through society on a second wave. There are other, crucial medical emergencies we need to be dealing with." GEORGETOWN, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ZOSI Analytical, an elite third-party hemp analytical testing laboratory, announced today that it has completed its ISO 17025:2017 assessment with no findings and is now accredited for hemp biomass and hemp product potency testing. When a hemp flower sample is prepared for testing, this image is what the product looks like when the THC and CBDs have been extracted. Hemp growers, processors and retailers are required to test their products prior to sale or upon request for "potency" - to confirm legal levels of THC (below 0.3%). And according to the USDA 2018 Farm Bill, beginning in October 2021, third-party hemp testing laboratories will be required to be ISO 17025:2017 accredited. ZOSI is now able to provide this compliance testing quickly and with verifiable results. "Although regulations continue to change at the Federal level and vary widely at State levels, one thing has remained consistent and that has been the understanding that third-party testing laboratories need to show a level of commitment and accountability to quality," comments Amy Lummus, ZOSI's CEO. "Our accreditation is one more step in our commitment to helping the industry to produce and sell safe products." The laboratory chose to complete its accreditation using Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation Inc, (PJLA) because of PJLA's ability to perform remote pre- and final assessments, its reputation in the industry - supported by its excellent communication, accessible knowledge base and quality, as well as its post-assessment support. A copy of ZOSI's certificate and scope is available upon request and orders for compliance testing can be submitted on its website. Turnaround time is currently 48-72 hours from receipt of sample. ABOUT ZOSI Analytical, LLC ZOSI Analytical is an elite analytical testing laboratory serving the hemp industry exclusively using well-established methods and techniques. The team has decades of experience working within bioanalytical contract organizations, drug manufacturers and chemistry laboratories. ZOSI holds quality science, trust and integrity in the highest regard. Built on a foundation of great science, ZOSI Analytical sets the standard in hemp testing. FOR ZOSI Analytical, LLC Amy Lummus, CEO ZOSI Analytical, LLC 607-379-4565 email: [email protected] Related Images hemp-flower-extract.jpg Hemp Flower Extract When a hemp flower sample is prepared for testing, this image is what the product looks like when the THC and CBDs have been extracted. Related Links Order Testing View Available Tests SOURCE ZOSI Analytical A Kentucky police officer who may have fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor is seeking to retire after receiving countless threats, his family has said. According to an online fundraising drive apparently organised by the family of Myles Cosgrove, it is no longer safe for the Louisville officer to remain in his job. It said his relatives were trying to raise enough money for him to stand down from the force, and take care of his family. The family of Detective Myles Cosgrove, an officer involved in the tragic Breonna Taylor case, is starting this fund in order to help secure the safety of Myles and his immediate family going forward, says a posting on the website GiveSendGo. It has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position serving the community with the Louisville Metro Police Department. It added: We hope to raise enough funds to help him purchase the remainder of his service time, or air-time, so that he can retire from the LMPD and continue to focus on the safety of his family, a family that has been put continually at-risk over the past few months. Myles Cosgrove was one of three officers involved in operation (GiveSendGo) Mr Cosgrove was one of three officers who fired shots into the home of the 26-year-old black medical worker when they conducted a no knock warrant operation at her home, as they sought to question a former boyfriend in March. The young woman was killed, her death leading to protests across the country that have demanded justice for her, and numerous other unarmed people of colour killed by the police. The Courier-Journal, which was first to report the development, said a ballistics test by the FBI had indicated shots fired by Mr Cosgrove struck Taylor near her heart and likely proved fatal. Last week, a grand jury failed to bring charges against any of the three officers involved in the incident for firing shots into Taylors home. It ruled that Mr Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly were justified in their use of force. A third officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, for firing shots into a home next to Taylors. Louisville police update on shooting at Breonna Taylor protest Ben Crump, a lawyer for Taylors family, denounced the decision as outrageous and offensive. Under Kentucky law, someone is guilty of wanton endangerment if they commit an act that shows an extreme indifference to the value of human life. The newspaper said that Mr Myles family did not immediately respond to questions about the fund-raising drive, which by Monday afternoon stood at a little under $5,000. The post said the family was going to raise $75,000 for Mr Cosgrove and his immediate relatives, who had received countless threats. Myles reputation has been completely dismantled and the psychological trauma is something that he will have to cope with for the rest of his life, it said. Every day, the threats seem more legitimate and scarier; his family has been doxed and harassed, while the threats remain unrelenting. Although Myles may never feel completely safe again, if you can help us reach our goal, we can at least get him on a path to security and allow him to focus on his main objective: the safety of his family. Additional reporting by the Associated Press Delegates at the meeting (Photo: TDO) The meeting aimed to reinforce and increase the good friendship and cooperation between the two peoples in general, and between the Russian Embassy, the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Hanoi, and Russias international organizations with Vinh Phuc province in particular. Addressing the meeting, Nguyen Huy Quang, Vice President of the Vinh Phuc provincial Union of Friendship Organizations, stressed that the meeting was a chance for reviewing the 70 years of proud friendly relationship between Vietnam and Russia. Accordingly, on January 30, 1950, during the difficult period of the resistance war by the Vietnamese people, Russia was one of first countries recognizing and officially establishing diplomatic relationship with Vietnam. The close, loyal and deep friendship between the two peoples, founded by President Ho Chi Minh, has overcome many ups and downs of history, confirming the strong vitality in the relationship, he said. Since then, the Vietnamese and Russian peoples have always accompanied each other and overcome numerous difficulties and challenges, and fostered the special traditional friendship between the two peoples today. According to Mr. Quang, activities to introduce the two countries, peoples, culture and tourism have been increased to deepen mutual understanding. Speaking at the event, Mr. Vadim Bublikow, Russian Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam, said that the friendly relationship between Russia and Vietnam over the past decades had been deepened by friendship and mutual trust. At present, the development of the Russia Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership is one of the priorities in Russias external relations, he said./. ALPHARETTA, Ga., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BluePenguin Payments, Inc. , the fintech company created to automate and monetize the staggering $19 trillion North American business-to-business payments market, announced today an expansion of its partnership with Galileo Financial Technologies, the API-based payments platform that powers world-leading fintechs, financial institutions and commercial businesses. BluePenguin's technology mission is simple to build the next-generation B2B virtual payments platform. The clear choice was to partner with Galileo. Now, with COVID-19 forcing companies of all sizes to make major operating changes, business service providers must flex and adapt to a new normal. Galileo's technology is eminently suited to an environment of rapid change. "A modern accounting department with a remote workforce needs virtual payment solutions that quickly adapt and integrate to the new tools and processes the company puts in place," said Steve Boyer, BluePenguin CEO. "Fintechs like BluePenguin must be more nimble than ever before. Galileo's robust APIs give us the flexibility and agility to create entirely new solutions that couldn't be contemplated with other issuing processors or B2B virtual card incumbents, with their inflexible legacy systems." BluePenguin's sophisticated multi-card, multi-network payment platform is unique in the B2B payments category. Its solutions enable clients to significantly reduce the cost of paying third parties, while creating a new revenue stream based on sharing interchange and are lightning quick to implement in virtually any technology environment. "One of the great rewards of creating a company that's recognized as the API standard for card issuing and digital banking is helping startups, like BluePenguin, realize the potential of bringing their innovative concepts to market and watching them succeed," commented Galileo CEO Clay Wilkes. "We are proud to support BluePenguin and honored that the company has chosen to expand our relationship as it grows and matures. BluePenguin will represent another firm delivering sophisticated, value-added solutions through the use of Galileo's technology." About BluePenguin Payments BluePenguin launched in 2018 with the goal to democratize the massive B2B payments market, which has historically been dominated by legacy systems that are difficult to integrate and slow to adapt. Thanks to BluePenguin's agile and proprietary platform, the company is bringing the power of B2B virtual payments to underserved customers through their own technologies and trusted business relationships. BluePenguin is located in Alpharetta, Georgia. SOURCE BluePenguin Payments Related Links https://bluepenguinpayments.com Baton Rouge Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Groups (LA TIG) approval of $215 million to construct two projects that will restore more than 4,600 acres of wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats, a major step forward in the continued restoration of Louisianas coastal ecosystems injured as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These projects are contained in the LA TIG Final Phase 2 Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #1.2: Spanish Pass Ridge and Marsh Creation Project and Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project. This is the fifth major restoration plan announcement this year by the LA TIG and Id like to applaud the Louisiana Trustees for their swift approvals on these major restoration projects, said Gov. Edwards. Id also like to thank the CPRA staff and the project teams for advancing these large-scale, innovative projects to construction. Spanish Pass and Lake Borgne are two major components of the ambitious and historic dredging plan that will be implemented by CPRA over the next three years. We look forward to beginning construction activities on these projects early next year. In recent years, CPRA has had a record number of both active projects and projects in construction. Settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are enabling the state, with the support of its federal partner agencies, to invest in projects that are the states largest yet. Todays funding announcement by the LA TIG means two record-breaking restoration projects will be going to construction in coastal Louisiana, said CPRA Chairman Chip Kline. With an anticipated dredging volume of more than 16 million cubic yards, Spanish Pass will be the largest dredging project by volume that CPRA has ever bid. And at more than 2,800 acres, Lake Borgne will be the largest project by acreage ever bid by CPRA. Id like to once again thank the LA TIG for funding these transformational restoration projects that will continue our states recovery following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Increment One project is a component of an overall large-scale restoration strategy for the Pontchartrain Basin that will reestablish the bay rim and intertidal marsh habitat. The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation project is located near Shell Beach in St. Bernard Parish. The LA TIG plan approved approximately $114.7 million in funding for the projects engineering and design, construction, operations and maintenance, and monitoring and adaptive management for the creation of an estimated 2,816 acres of restored marsh habitat. We certainly welcome the news that this major project is moving forward, said St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis. This project will have immediate benefits to habitat for fish and birds by reinforcing the degrading southwestern shoreline of Lake Borgne and Lena Lagoon. And we need all the natural marsh buffer we can build to lessen the damaging effects of tidal action and storm surge. The Spanish Pass project is located near Venice in Plaquemines Parish. Its primary goal is the creation and nourishment of approximately 132 acres of historic ridge and nearly 1,700 acres of marsh. The LA TIG plan approves funding for project construction, engineering and design, operations and maintenance, and monitoring and adaptive management. The estimated cost is approximately $100.3 million. It is a component of an overall large-scale restoration strategy for the Barataria Basin to reestablish ridge and intertidal marsh habitats degraded due to sea level rise, land subsidence, diminished sediment supply, and storm events. The Mississippi River created our parish and the many historic ridges of our landscape, said Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine. These features protect against storm surge, reduce saltwater intrusion, provide key habitats, and also help retain sediment. The marsh west of Venice has been in need of this level of attention for some time and I know the people and businesses near Venice will appreciate this massive project and this tremendous investment. For more information, visit www.la-dwh.com. "We are committed to raising the awareness of both the problem and its potential treatment, with our efforts in evaluating an eye drop drug candidate called Nyxol entering Phase 3 clinical trials Today, Mediaplanet announces the launch of this years edition of the Vision Health publication in print and digital formats. This campaign covers the day-to-day vision challenges that patients, seniors, caregivers, and medical professionals confront, as well as highlights the best therapies to preserve vision which so profoundly determines the quality of life for every individual. Many people are unaware of the early symptoms of vision problems that can lead to significant ophthalmic damage or vision disturbance. These disabilities and conditions include diabetic retinopathy, thyroid eye disease, keratoconus and night vision disturbances, all of which can significantly degrade quality of life. If people fail to recognize early symptoms or simply try to manage through a period of deterioration, they risk missing opportunities to arrest disease progression or to easily treat serious impairments. This campaign will shed light on factors that patients should be aware of in order to generate earlier self-intervention to maximize their eye health and visual performance. One pervasive condition that will be addressed with this campaign is night, or dim-light, vision disturbances. This is a condition characterized by distortions in a persons vision in dim or dark conditions by the appearance of glare, halos or blurriness around light sources, especially while driving. The disturbances arise when natural pupil dilation exposes imperfections on the cornea surface, which then distort the path of light to the retina. Ocuphire Pharma is an ophthalmic drug development company that has been pioneering the study of dim light disturbance in clinical trials. The condition of night vision disturbances affects tens of millions of Americans and yet there is currently no FDA-approved drug treatment option for eye doctors to offer to patients, said Mina Sooch, CEO and Founder of Ocuphire. We are committed to raising the awareness of both the problem and its potential treatment, with our efforts in evaluating an eye drop drug candidate called Nyxol entering Phase 3 clinical trials. The print component of Vision Health is distributed within todays Personal Health edition of USA TODAY in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C./Baltimore, Philadelphia and Dallas markets, with a circulation of approximately 200,000 copies and an estimated readership of 600,000. The digital component is distributed nationally, through a vast social media strategy and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign, visit: https://www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/campaign/vision-and-hearing/ This campaign was made possible with the support of Ocuphire Pharma. About Ocuphire Pharma Ocuphire is a privately-held, clinical-stage ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of several eye disorders. Ocuphires pipeline currently includes two small-molecule product candidates targeting front and back of the eye indications. The companys lead product candidate, Nyxol Eye Drops, is a once-daily preservative-free eye drop formulation of phentolamine mesylate, a non-selective alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist designed to reduce pupil size, and is being developed for several indications, including dim light or night vision disturbances, pharmacologically-induced mydriasis, and presbyopia. Ocuphires second product candidate, APX3330, is a twice-a-day oral tablet, designed to inhibit angiogenesis and inflammation pathways relevant to retinal and choroidal vascular diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. As part of its strategy, Ocuphire will continue to explore opportunities to acquire additional ophthalmic assets and to seek strategic partners for late stage development, regulatory preparation and commercialization of drugs in key global markets. Please visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov to learn more about Ocuphires recent Phase 2 clinical trials. For more information, please visit http://www.ocuphire.com. About Mediaplanet Mediaplanet specializes in the creation of content marketing campaigns covering a variety of industries. We tell meaningful stories that educate our audience and position our clients as solution providers. Our unique ability to pair the right leaders with the right readers, through the right platforms, has made Mediaplanet a global content marketing powerhouse. Our award-winning stories have won the hearts of countless readers while serving as a valuable platform for brands and their missions. Just call us storytellers with a purpose. Please visit http://www.mediaplanet.com for more on who we are and what we do. The explosion at Beiruts port on Aug. 4 killed nearly 200 people and injured some 6,500. It also left around 300,000 people displaced as their houses were heavily damaged or completely destroyed. Among the neighborhoods hit by the blast, Mar Mikhael, Gemmayzeh, Karantina and Downtown Beirut are the most heavily damaged. The World Bank calculated that the housing and cultural damage would be between $3.8 billion to $4.6 billion in its report published in August. Thousands of damaged buildings are part of Beiruts heritage, which includes traditional houses, villas, churches, museums and other historical buildings dating back to the 19th-century Ottoman period, and buildings from the modern period of the 1930s. All those buildings represent the legacy of the history and culture of Beirut. The president of Beirut Heritage Society, Suheil Mneimneh, explained to Al-Monitor that the many historical buildings and traditional houses dating back between 1870 and 1920 were destroyed or heavily damaged in the explosion. Around 400 buildings have been affected by the explosion, and it would cost $300 million to renovate them, architect Fadlallah Dagher told Al-Monitor. There are around 120 buildings that have been badly affected. Some are collapsed; others reported very heavy damages on the ceilings, roofs and facades. It requires many years of work, even up to four years, depending on the funds and how much a building is affected. There are cracks in the walls, but also the interior design of these buildings has been damaged dramatically, Dagher said. He said most of these traditional buildings were made with lime plaster inside and with gypsum ceilings and wooden doors. Many buildings have very elaborate decorations made on marble. Those can be restored, but it requires trained people and expertise, he said. Furthermore, there isnt much lime plaster now because it was used to be made locally and the market was very small. But also other materials are not available unless paid in cash because of the economic crisis, and this is another problem for the reconstruction, said Dagher. Those buildings need specific expertise and study of the material to use to be renovated. They were built using only sandstone or a mix of concrete and sandstone, said Mneimneh. Also the president of the cultural nongovernmental organization Save Beirut Heritage, Joana Hammour, explained to Al-Monitor that renovating a traditional house requires qualified workers and expertise. Materials and techniques used to renovate traditional houses and other historical buildings are different. Restoring a traditional house is craftwork, which implies bringing back the original elements, she said. As most of Beiruts heritage buildings are at risk of partial or total collapse, especially the traditional houses located close to the epicenter of the explosion, cultural NGOs are taking action to save them. Like the Beirut Heritage Society, most of the NGOs involved in the project to rebuild Beirut are conducting assessments and surveys to estimate the aftermath of the explosion. Save Beirut Heritage is an NGO that started its activity from a group on Facebook in 2010 when its founder, Naji Raji, left his parents traditional house because it was one of the many buildings destined to be demolished. But his Facebook group lobbied the institutions to halt the demolition of several buildings. Since then, the group is raising awareness of the patrimony of Lebanons capital and working to preserve it from destruction and exploitation. Even before the explosion, Beirut lost a lot of its traditional buildings because of wars, although there are no accurate figures about it. But the explosion highlighted the necessity to make surveys of Beiruts heritage on the ground, said Hammour. An initial assessment obtained by Al-Monitor and provided by the Beirut Heritage Initiative, an independent collective that aims to restore the historical and traditional buildings of Beirut, shows that 100 buildings are at risk of collapsing and 200 are heavily damaged in the areas hit by the blast. But these figures are not definitive. Instead, UNESCO has estimated that around 640 historic buildings were impacted by the blast, and approximately 60 of them are at risk of collapse. The government is struggling to see what buildings to count and include in the surveys because there is no definition of what is a heritage in the law. Furthermore, there is a lack of transparency of the public institutions, which leads to a lack of clear information, said Hammour. As Save Beirut Heritage is concerned about the risk of exploitation due to the explosion and the economic crisis, it is assisting owners of traditional houses and supporting them with technical and bureaucratic help. Some owners wanted to sell their properties before the explosion because of the economic crisis. Others want to sell their houses because they cant afford their refurbishment. Still, others want to keep their buildings but cant afford to renovate them, said Hammour. But in order to prevent real estate speculation, the Ministry of Finance has forbidden any trading of the buildings and premises in all of the impacted areas without the authorization of the Ministry of Culture, said the communications coordinator of Beirut Heritage Initiative, Lynn Tehini Kassatly. On the contrary, Hammour told Al-Monitor that the risk of speculation might increase after the blast. Real estate may exploit the economic situation and the helplessness of the owners hit by the economic crisis. This could take over entire neighborhoods similar to what occurred with the reconstruction of Beiruts Downtown after the civil war when cultural NGOs accused the private-public real estate holdings company Solidere of gentrifying the center of Beirut and changing the urban landscape of the city. We are concerned by the damages of museums, churches and traditional houses regarding their historical, cultural and architectural values. Downtown Beirut was rebuilt without following the shape of Beirut, but the result was something completely new and not related to our citys heritage, said Mneimneh. Beyond the technical issues of rebuilding Beiruts heritage, the attention of the initiatives is focusing on preserving the social fabric and not dismantling the community built on the areas devastated by the explosion. These buildings are part of people and the community, and we want to preserve these areas to avoid another gentrification of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, said Mneimneh. If the landscape of the city will change, it wont be healthy for the people. They want to feel like a part of a community, especially after the trauma of the explosion, Hammour said. Cultural NGOs, architects, professionals, specialists and representatives of the Ministry of Culture joined the Beirut Heritage Initiative. They have launched a collective fundraising campaign to rebuild the traditional landscape of Beirut while ensuring transparency in using funds and resources and preserving the communities from the reconstruction. In parallel to such local and on-the-ground efforts, the international community has mobilized to rescue and rebuild the citys heritage with several initiatives. UNESCO is raising funds to help Lebanon preserve its heritage, estimating $500 million to support the cause over the coming year. Also, the international alliance ALIPH announced an initial envelope of $5 million to finance emergency measures to stabilize, protect or rehabilitate the citys cultural heritage. Meanwhile, some owners are trying to repair their traditional houses and shops by launching crowdfunding campaigns on several platforms to support their reconstruction. I am also the owner of one of the traditional houses in Gemmayzeh. My house was built around 200 years ago, but it has been heavily damaged by the explosion. I went to my house the day following the explosion, and it was a total mess. I cleaned it up a bit with my daughter, but it was depressing, Dagher said. He said his house has some structural problems and many cracks on the walls, and the roof was damaged. Furthermore, part of the ceiling and the internal decorations made in 1875 were also damaged. Since the explosion, Dagher has been staying at a friends house. He has started to repair his house with the support of his own family. I havent been helped by any institutions. The government is totally absent. Some came to conduct the assessment of my house, but they are not trained to these specific assessments because schools dont teach them how to deal with these kinds of traditional buildings, said Dagher. My family and I were born in Beirut, and there is no reason to sell and go away. I dont want to sell. I want to live here. This challenge is not just about restoring cultural buildings, but it aims to fix the social fabric and save the community built around Beiruts heritage, he said. The master-planned $164 million campus includes nearly 200 acres and 2.3 million-square feet of light manufacturing, assembly and logistics space that currently supports 500 annual construction jobs and up to 1,400 permanent jobs at full buildout. The project will complement NorthPoint's adjacent 155-acre supplier park that serves Ford Motor Company's nearby Torrence Avenue assembly plant, comprising a total of nearly four million square feet and creating the largest industrial park in the City. The historic site was first occupied by Republic Steel in 1901, but has remained vacant for nearly 20 years. "Commerce Park Chicago is an economic engine and jobs generator that is a beacon of hope on the Southeast Side during a time when Chicagoans need good-paying jobs and opportunities as we battle the human and economic impacts of the global pandemic," said Chicago Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th Ward). "The transformation of an abandoned relic to a state-of-the-art industrial hub signifies the beginning of a new era of employment on the Southeast Side that will continue to deliver benefits." "It's fitting that a Commerce Park Chicago representing the vision of 21st Century industry will replace the once mighty Republic Steel that helped make the Chicagoland a worldwide industrial giant," Congresswoman Robin Kelly (2nd District) said. "I'm hopeful this innovative industrial development is another step toward an economic renaissance in the Southland. I'm also encouraged by NorthPoint's adherence to economic justice, demonstrated by their commitment to ensuring job opportunities for local residents." "This land, which has languished for decades, is no longer a symbol of decay, but an economic revival that expands far beyond these 200 acres," said state Rep. Marcus Evans (33rd District). "NorthPoint has partnered with organized labor to employ a highly skilled workforce with good-paying jobs and has exceeded workforce requirements that reflect the diversity of the community." NorthPoint worked closely with Alderwoman Garza and community organizations to ensure opportunities for local employers, sub-contractors and residents. A comprehensive Project Labor Agreement was negotiated with local unions and a community Apprenticeship Expo was held to provide residents a path toward a career in the trades. NorthPoint also worked with the City of Chicago to implement WBE/MBE participation programs that surpassed the City's goals of 6 percent and 26 percent, respectively, bringing more opportunities for Chicago-based women- and minority-owned businesses. "NorthPoint believes in Chicago, the State of Illinois, its people and communities," said NorthPoint Founder and CEO Nathaniel Hagedorn. "When we started this project, we saw the potential of the City and the Southeast Side. Commerce Park Chicago represents the best in public-private projects and shows the value of what we can accomplish by working together." "Our mission is to partner, build and manage employment hubs in ways that are both responsive to community needs and attractive to quality tenants," Hagedorn added. "This win-win formula creates quality jobs, contributes to the stability of the local economy, and benefits the entire community." NorthPoint recently completed its first of five new industrial buildings on the campus a 360,000 square feet, 32-acre development at 12144 S. Avenue O. The building is one of five structures of up to 1.1 million square feet, which are expected to be completed by 2022. Ford is leasing the first building, which will be used to support its nearby factory. "As America's top producer of automobiles, Ford is proud of its nearly 100-year history of vehicle production in the City of Chicago," said Tony Reinhart, Regional Director of Community & Government Affairs at Ford. "Ford's continued commitment to the City of Chicago is evident by our recent billion-dollar investment in our Chicagoland plants and the fact that we build some of our most iconic American vehicles, including the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, here on the South Side." About NorthPoint : NorthPoint constructs, owns, and manages dozens of business parks and logistics and manufacturing developments throughout the U.S. with tenants that include Adidas, Caterpillar, Chewy.com, Ford, GM, Home Depot, Patagonia, Staples and Ulta. NorthPoint has invested more than $250 million in Illinois since 2017, and over $7 billion nationwide since 2012. In addition to Commerce Park Chicago, NorthPoint is currently partnering with the City of Joliet on Compass Global Logistics Hub, a $2.1 billion warehouse, distribution, and light manufacturing campus. It is also developing a 600-acre, $312 million warehouse and logistics center in Pontoon Beach, IL. NorthPoint also owns and operates four Beyond Self Storage projects in Illinois (Willowbrook, Des Plaines, Naperville, and Arlington Heights) and maintains a central office in Downers Grove. SOURCE NorthPoint Development Proposal to Mandate Flu Vaccination for Students in New Jersey Draws Backlash From Parents, Lawmakers Residents rallied near the New Jersey State House in Trenton on Sept. 24 carrying signs and chanting slogans to protest the proposed New Jersey legislation mandating flu vaccinations for students. Attention, New Jersey & surrounding area! Rally tomorrow in Trenton against proposed flu vaccine mandates. OUR CHILDREN, OUR CHOICE! We kick off the event at 11am Meeting at the entry of 125 West State Street Trenton, NJ We expect to go from 11-2:30pm Be there! Spread the word! Children's Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) September 23, 2020 New Jersey Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington) and New Jersey Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) in August introduced a bill in the New Jersey State Assembly and New Jersey Senate that mandates annual flu vaccinations for students of public and private schools, preschools, and colleges as a condition of enrollment. The bill permits exemptions from mandatory flu immunization due to medical conditions or on religious grounds. However a general philosophical or moral objection to the vaccination does not qualify as an exemption on religious grounds, the bill says. The mandated flu vaccination of students will allow officials to more promptly distinguish whether a COVID-19 or influenza outbreak is occurring at the institution, as the symptoms of both diseases are similar and currently no vaccine exists for COVID-19, the bill says. According to the bill, mandating flu shots will reduce the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to the flu thus freeing up hospital capacity and emergency resources for patients of COVID-19 or other more serious diseases. Hundreds of people of mixed political views, religions, and cultures protest a mandate from the Massachusetts Governor requiring all children, age K-12, to receive an influenza (flu) vaccine/shot to attend school for the 2020/2021 year outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Aug. 30, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso /AFP via Getty Images) In response to the bill proposed by Conaway, Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) and Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris) on Sept. 17 introduced a bill that prohibits government agencies and schools from mandating flu vaccinations for anyone who is 18 years old or younger. I believe that medical decisionsbe it a diagnosis, treatment, or preventionshould be up to the individual, not the government, Scharfenberger told The Epoch Times in an interview. The bill is a pro-personal choice bill, he said. The bill introduced by Scharfenberger does not oppose flu vaccinations, it only prevents the government from making parental decisions regarding childrens flu immunization. Scharfenberger said that he is not anti-vaccine, he is only against mandatory vaccination, adding that hes had all his children vaccinated and that he might get a flu shot as well. Mandatory vaccination should not be imposed on people who may have a religious exemption, they may have a medical exemption, they may have a personal choice exemption not to get vaccinated, Scharfenberger said, So my bill allows the individual to make this decision. Scharfenberger said that if the government is allowed to mandate vaccinations for seasonal flu, then nothing will stop it from mandating other vaccines. Its a slippery slope, he said, adding that his bill is intended to stop it in its tracks. Government bureaucrats should not mandate medical decisions for people, Scharfenberger said, it should be left to the individual. This is very personal freedom. A woman receives a flu shot in San Francisco, Calif., on Jan. 22, 2018. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) If an individual feels that a vaccine would help prevent getting the flu, they should get it themselves, he added. Scharfenberger said that if his bill gets passed and signed into law it will supersede the bill mandating flu vaccinations. Senator Michael Testa Jr. (R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic) spoke at the rally praising its participants for organizing a peaceful protest to make their voices heard. He would not have been aware of this issue if people from his district had not contacted him while he was still running for office, Testa said. Assemblyman Jamel Holley (D-Union) who sponsored the bill prohibiting mandatory flu shots together with Scharfenberger, also praised rally participants for raising their concerns with mandatory vaccinations. Holley told the rallygoers that they gave him the wherewithal to continue to fight in the State House for the cause. He encouraged them to continue their fight by educating and informing other lawmakers. You all have a responsibility. Just like how you educated me, you have to educate others and inform them, Holley said. When there is a risk, there must be a choice, Holley concluded. The N.J. Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Why Vaccine Mandate Raises Concerns The rally was supported by Childrens Health Defense, an organization whose mission is to end chronic disease epidemics in children by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable, and establish safeguards so this never happens again. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Legal Counsel for Childrens Health Defense, was interviewed by The Epoch Times. Kennedy is an author of many books including New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attends Keep it Clean to benefit Waterkeeper Alliance on March 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Waterkeeper Alliance) Kennedy said that chronic diseases prevalent in children include neurological disorders such as speech delay, narcolepsy, autism; autoimmune diseases like juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Graves disease, and Crohns disease; and allergies, asthma, anaphylaxis, and eczema. Those diseases all became epidemic since 1989 when the vaccine schedule was changed, he said. Before 1989 the level of chronic disease in children was 12 percent. Today it is 54 percent. Several of those diseases are linked to vaccines, Kennedy said, adding that they are listed as side effects on the manufacturers inserts on those 72 vaccines that are now mandated to our children. To prevent this situation, Childrens Health Defense tries to force the government and the pharmaceutical industry to properly test vaccines, Kennedy said. Most medications, before they get approved, have to go through double-blind placebo testing, but vaccines are exempt. The vaccine approval program was originally launched by the former Public Health Service, a military agency, as a national security defense against biological attacks on the United States, Kennedy said. To counter potential attacks with anthrax or some other biological agent by an adversary, the military created a program to quickly formulate a vaccine, and then deploy it to 200 million American civilians as expediently as possible and without any regulatory impediments. As a result, vaccines do not undergo the safety tests that are required in the medicine approval process, which usually takes five years, Kennedy said. In 1986, the Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed, creating special legal immunities for vaccine makers to make it impossible for them to be subject to class action lawsuits. When vaccine-related injuries happen, victims must file a petition through a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that is reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice. This no-fault compensation program has paid out $4.4 billion to people injured by various vaccines, according to a Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) report. The program exists in order to ensure an adequate supply of vaccines and stabilize their costs, according to the HRSA. Kennedy said a side-effect of the regulatory regime is that it has led to vaccines not getting rigorous safety tests. He blames regulatory capturethe influence or control of regulators by the party they are supposed to regulatefor the problem. Despite concerns raised in many congressional studies, these agencies get a significant portion of their funding from pharmaceutical companies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the single largest buyer and seller of vaccines in the world. They are not doing their job to protect the public, he said. Its a problem of the integrity of our democracy. The scale of complications suffered due to vaccination cannot be easily estimated. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly established a system for collecting and analyzing data about adverse effects from vaccination called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), but reporting is voluntary. Only about 1 percent of vaccine injuries are reported in, according to a Health Department study conducted in 2010. The same study estimated that 2.6 percent of vaccinated individuals, or one in 40, suffered adverse reactions. That agrees with the clinical trial data from the vaccine companies, Kennedy said. Flu Vaccine Benefits The CDC recommends receiving the flu vaccine this fall and winter to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death, according to its website. The flu vaccination will also free up healthcare resources for patients with COVID-19, the website says. Getting a flu shot reduces the risk of visiting a doctor due to flu by 40 to 60 percent if the flu vaccine viruses are similar to the flu viruses that are circulating, according to the CDC. A general view of the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 30, 2014. (Tami Chappell/Reuters) The CDC advises vaccinating children against the flu in order to reduce the risk of death or serious complications requiring intensive care unit admission due to flu. Individuals who get sick despite being vaccinated will recover more quickly, according to the CDC. During the 2018-2019 flu season, approximately 49 percent of the U.S. population chose to get a flu vaccine and the CDC estimated that the vaccination averted 4.4 million flu illnesses, 58,000 flu hospitalizations, and 3,500 flu deaths in the country. The CDC also estimated that during the same season, 35.5 million people got sick with the flu, 490,600 were hospitalized, and 34,200 people died. More than 46,000 of those under the age of 18 were hospitalized with the flu, according to the CDC. The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), has met, on Tuesday, in session, the agenda including, among others, the complaint filed by the Bucharest District 1 branch of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The PSD candidate for Bucharest's District 1 Hall, Dan Tudorache, the incumbent mayor, has announced on Tuesday that he requested the Central Electoral Bureau order a recount of the ballots of Sunday's election. Tudorache accused the representatives of the Save Romania Union (USR) of creating pressure on the District Electoral Bureau. In her turn, MEP Clotilde Armand, candidate for the same seat with the support of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Save Romania Union - Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity Alliance (USR-PLUS Alliance), announced that she will request the General Prosecutor's Office take over the investigation regarding the Electoral Bureau of District 1. The agenda of the BEC meeting will also include the complaint of the Mangalia branch of the People's Movement Party (PMP). The PMP has formulated several complaints, among them one regarding the situation at the Mangalia City Hall, considering the electoral process "was tainted by several irregularities that led to a sum of reasons to formulate a complaint." "The blocking by the incumbent mayor of auto access of the citizens from the Fluvileg Mangalia area, restrictions to the right to vote, the application of the fraud method 'suveica' [e.n. - a type of fraud that implies one voter remove an unstamped ballot from the polling station that is stamped outside the polling station and given to the next voter who places it in the urn and returns with another blank vote, continuing the chain and infringing voting secrecy; the term translates directly as 'shuttle'], the identification in a polling station of more ballots for mayor than the number of persons that expressed their votes, (...) as well as the well-known event involving a vehicle belonging to the group of companies owned by candidate Mohammad Murad, the maximization of media appearances of this supposed electoral incident in order to instill the uncertainty that Murad, candidate supported by the PMP, could be still voted for," are the irregularities signalled by PMP. PARIS: French police arrested 29 people around the country on Tuesday in a vast operation to break a complex scheme financing Islamist extremists in Syria through the use of cryptocurrencies. A statement from the anti-terrorism prosecutors office said search warrants are out for the two main figures in the scheme, French jihadis who have likely been in northwest Syria since 2013 and are suspected of creating the architecture of this network of terrorism financing. They were identified only as Mesut S. and Walid F., both 25 years old, and suspected of being members of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, affiliated with al-Qaida. They were both convicted in France in 2016 and sentenced in absentia to 10-year prison terms. The 29 people detained for questioning Tuesday are aged 22 to 66. Most of them are suspected of injecting funds into the network. Two of them are thought to have had key roles in the cyber-financing system, providing logistical aid to keep it working. The scheme to use cryptocurrency - a digital currency that can provide various levels of anonymity - to finance extremist groups was initially uncovered by a team within the French Economy Ministry, called Tracfin, that traces fiscal fraud, money laundering and terror financing. Since 2013, the main method of financing jihadis had been via cash sent to people in countries neighboring Syria. That evolved into a more sophisticated, less visible system as surveillance tightened. France opened an investigation in January when Tracfin detected a sophisticated network of funds transfers to French jihadis remaining in Syria, the statement said. Tuesdays arrests targeted a financing network that has been active since 2019. It was based mainly on the purchase in France of cryptocurrency coupons whose details were transferred by secure messaging to jihadis in Syria, who could then retrieve the money through cryptocurrency platforms, The prosecutors office said that dozens of people in France constantly and anonymously bought cryptocurrency coupons worth 10 to 150 euros ($11 to $165). The coupons were credited to accounts opened abroad by jihadis who then converted them into cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies can be sold for cash on online exchanges. Hundreds of thousands of euros are thought to have been supplied via the network, benefiting members of al-Qaida still hiding out in northwest Syria, but also jihadis of the Islamic State group, which has been on the run since its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died during a raid by U.S. forces in October 2019. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Google Maps A construction worker was hospitalized Tuesday after a pickup truck collided with a backhoe on the East Side, according to the San Antonio Police Department. The victim, a 30-year-old man, was the passenger on a backhoe trying to cross Martin Luther King Drive near Salado Creek at 7:50 a.m. Murli Manohar Joshi seeks EC probe into circulation of fake letter in his name Who am I to bless Modi, he has the peoples blessings: Joshi Verdict in Babri Masjid case involving Advani, MM Joshi must be delivered within 9 months, says SC Accused may seek exemption from appearance in Babri Masjid demolition case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: Some leaders who are accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case are likely to seek exemption from appearing before the court, which will deliver its verdict on Wednesday. L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi are likely to ask the court to allow them to appear through video conference citing their advanced age and the coronavirus pandemic. It may be recalled that during the hearing, the court had permitted Advani and Joshi to record their statements through video conferencing. A special court will pronounce its verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case on September 30. In August, the Supreme Court extended by a month the deadline for completion of trial in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case involving 32 accused, including BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti, and said that judgement should be delivered by September 30. Covid positive Uma Bharti hospitalised, says wants to appear for Babri case verdict The top court, which had earlier fixed August 31 as the deadline for completion of proceedings including pronouncement of the verdict, took note of the report filed by special judge S K Yadav in the high-profile case. A bench of justices R F Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said, Having read the report of Surendra Kumar Yadav, learned Special Judge, and considering that the proceedings are at the fag end, we grant one month's time, i.e., till September 30, 2020, to complete the proceedings including the delivery of judgment . On May 8, the top court had extended by three months the time for completion of trial in the case and said that judgement should be delivered by August 31. The special CBI court at Lucknow has completed the recording of statements of the 32 accused under section 313 of CrPC in the case. The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992, by 'kar sevaks' who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site. Former deputy prime minister LK Advani and BJP veteran MM Joshi, who were among those leading the Ram temple movement at that time, had deposed before the court through video conferencing. The court has also recorded statements of BJP stalwarts like Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti, both of whom appeared in person. Advani's statement was recorded barely days before the groundbreaking event on August 5 for a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Last year, a five-judge Constitution bench of the top court had ruled that the 2.77-acre land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims would be handed over to a trust for the building of a temple. The court had also ordered the allocation of a five-acre land at another site in Ayodhya for building a mosque. Babri Masjid demolition: Court to pronounce verdict on Sep 30 The top court had in May asked special judge S K Yadav to control the proceedings in accordance with law so that the time-frame is no longer breached. It had indicated to the special judge to avail the facilities of video conferencing to complete recording of evidence and hearing of applications that are filed during the course of trial proceedings. The top court order was passed after the special judge had written a letter seeking an extension of time granted to him for completing the trial in the politically sensitive case. On July 19, last year the top court had asked the special judge to deliver the verdict within nine months, which was to end this April. It had also extended the tenure of the special judge at Lucknow till the completion of the trial and the delivery of the verdict in the case. Besides Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti, the accused against whom conspiracy charge was invoked in the case by the top court on April 19, 2017, include former Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh, BJP MP Vinay Katiar and Sadhvi Rithambara. Three other high-profile accused - Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia - died during trial and the proceedings against them have been abated. Kalyan Singh, during whose tenure as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh the disputed structure was razed, was put on trial in September last year after his tenure as governor came to an end. Exercising its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the top court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pass appropriate orders in consultation with the Allahabad High Court to extend the tenure of the special judge, who was set to retire on September 30 last year. On April 19, 2017, the top court had ordered a day-to-day trial in the high profile case and directed the special judge to conclude it in two years. While dubbing the demolition of the disputed structure as a "crime" which shook the "secular fabric of the Constitution", it had allowed the CBI's plea on restoration of the criminal conspiracy charge against the VVIP accused. The court had come down heavily on the CBI for the delay of over 25 years in the trial. Issuing a slew of directions, it had said, "The proceedings (against Advani and others) in the court of the Special Judicial Magistrate at Raebareli will stand transferred to the Court of Additional Sessions Judge (Ayodhya Matters) at Lucknow." PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News "The court of sessions will frame additional charges under Section 120-B (conspiracy) and the other provisions of the penal code mentioned in the joint charge sheet filed by the CBI against Champat Rai Bansal, Satish Pradhan, Dharam Das, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahamadleshwar Jagdish Muni, Ram Bilas Vadanti, Vaikunth Lal Sharma and Satish Chandra Nagar," the apex court had said. The court had termed the Allahabad High Court's February 12, 2001 verdict of dropping conspiracy charges against Advani and others as "erroneous". Before the 2017 verdict of the apex court, there were two sets of cases relating to the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992, going on at Lucknow and Raebareli. The trial of the first case involving unnamed 'Karsevaks' was going on in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relating to the eight VVIPs were going on in a Raebareli court. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 8:32 [IST] The locations with the biggest jump in housing transactions during the pandemic have been revealed. They include Sunderland, Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent, according to the exclusive figures by Lloyds Banking Group. It found that Sunderland saw the biggest rise in the number of transactions, up 91.3 per cent in the three months from June to August, compared to the first three months of this year. It is followed by Dundee at 71.4 per cent and Stoke-on-Trent at 70.8 per cent. The data is based on its own mortgage lending. This three-bed semi-detached house in Hawksley Grange, Sunderland, is for sale for 150,000 Pictured: The map shows the biggest jump in housing transactions during June to August compared to the three months at the beginning of this year All three of the areas are some of the most affordable places to live in the country. It suggests the sharp percentage increases could well be from a low base, with demand to live in these areas being lower than elsewhere in the country. Average prices in these areas are lower, in some cases less than half the national average of 308,813. The typical value of a home in Sunderland is 147,644, with Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent at 168,296 and 153,458 respectively. This three-bed semi-detached house in Northwood, Stoke-On-Trent, is for sale for 150,000 It comes as most areas in the country are experiencing a mini-housing boom following drastic measures to prop it up amid the coronavirus pandemic - including a cut in stamp duty. Property prices across Britain rose 2 per cent in August from the previous month, boosted by pent-up demand following the lockdown, according to Nationwide. It said prices recovered from a recent dip to reach a new all-time high in August. The lender said the increase marked the highest monthly rise since February 2014. The trend is in sharp contrast to predictions for next year, with estate agent Hamptons International forecasting that house price growth will be brought to a standstill across Britain. Hamptons' forecast of zero growth in 2021 is based on the assumption that a trade deal is agreed with the EU and a coronavirus vaccine becomes available in the first half of next year, with no full second lockdown. Hamptons said the housing market has made a rapid recovery since the lockdown, and it expects prices to have increased by 2 per cent this year. It said the economic consequences of the pandemic will be mostly felt in 2021, and that some economic recovery should have already taken place by then. This two-bed flat in Dundee, is on the market for offers over 160,000 The Lloyds' research found that the places with the biggest increase in housing transactions over the summer also included Chelmsford, Plymouth and Liverpool. Also in the top 10 are Gloucester, Hull, Chester and Leicester, with a total of 45 locations in the total list (see below). Market activity has increased as pent-up demand over the lockdown period has released. Andy Bickers, of Lloyds Bank It only included those locations that had more than 30 transactions - as processed by Lloyds Banking Group - during each three month period. Andy Bickers, mortgage director, Lloyds Bank, said: 'In the past couple of months, the housing market has experienced an unprecedented "mini-boom." 'As well as pushing house prices up, market activity has also increased as pent-up demand over the lockdown period has released. 'In Sunderland, this has resulted in a 90 per cent increase in transactions between January to March 2020 and June to August 2020, and more than a 70 per cent increase in Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent across the same time period. 'Although much of this will be helped by the fact these areas are more affordable in the first place, the future impact of the pandemic on earnings could potentially exert downward pressure on the entire market.' Alicia Keys has discussed the handling of Breonna Taylor's case and vowed to 'continue to speak out' in a new interview with GQ Hype. The 15-time Grammy Award-winning musician, 39, who also took part in a photoshoot and cover for the magazine, added that she's not sure 'how long we can go without any justice'. Taylor, 26, was shot dead by Louisville Metro Police Department as they served a so-called no-knock warrant at her home in March. Speaking out: Alicia Keys has discussed the handling of Breonna Taylor 's case and vowed to 'continue to speak out' in a new interview with GQ Hype Celebrities have since reacted with outrage to a Kentucky grand jury's decision to indict only one of the police officers being investigated for their roles in the fatal shooting of the late 26-year-old last week. Alicia, who created the Do You Know What Happened To Breonna Taylor? video campaign in June with Taylor's mother, artist Rapsody and childhood friend Tamika Mallory, has discussed the handling of the case with GQ Hype. She said: 'There is no justice, there is no regard for the life of a black woman who had an incredibly great future... Breonna was essential to the workforce in Louisville and was a bright, shining star, ready to go higher. She deserves to be alive. 'She deserves to be able to sleep in her bed and wake up the next morning and continue on with her life. And she deserves for the people who ended her life to be held accountable. Killed: Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville police on March 13, only one of the three cops involved has been charged 'So how do I think that they handled it? They didn't handle it! And that is outrageous and completely unacceptable.' She continued: 'This is why we continue to speak out. This is why we have to continually say Black Lives Matter and speak Breonna Taylor's name so what was done will never be forgotten.' Alicia added: 'I'm not sure how long we can go without any justice.' The star went on to reveal that she has 'such a drive and desire to do great things' but added that it is both 'wonderful and detrimental'. Alicia, who recently released her new album Alicia, said: 'My mother always overworked. Women tend to overwork because we know that we have to get everything done all the time and be responsible for the outcome 'But I also just have such a drive and such a desire to do great things. And it's wonderful, but it's also detrimental.' 'Justice': The 15-time Grammy Award-winning musician, 39, who also took part in a photoshoot and cover for the magazine, added that she's not sure 'how long we can go without any justice' Alicia added that she now has 'bravery' and 'confidence' to say or feel how she wants to do so. She said: 'At the very beginning, I had zero confidence. I mean, I had the confidence that I thought I had. But most of that was kind of put on just to survive the situation. '[True confidence, though?] When you really can feel comfortable and grounded and like you belong somewhere? That took until much later 'The confidence, I think, increased, and also the bravery to stick to what I wanted to say or to feel how I feel and just get it out there.' Last week, Kentucky's Jefferson County Circuit Judge Annie O'Connell announced the grand jury's decision to charge former detective Brett Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment in connection to the police raid on the night of March 13. The first-degree charge, a Class D felony which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, relates to Hankinson shooting into the neighbouring apartments during the incident, not Taylor's death. Candid: The star went on to reveal that she has 'such a drive and desire to do great things' but added that it is both 'wonderful and detrimental' Hankinson was fired by the Louisville Metro Police Department in June after officials said he violated policy by 'wantonly and blindly' firing his gun during the raid. Sgt Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, who were also present at the time of the fatal operation, were not charged. Neither the grand jury nor the presiding judge elaborated on the charges. State Attorney General Daniel Cameron addressed the long-awaited decision shortly after the announcement in a news conference in Frankfort. He gave a detailed account of the months-long investigation into the events leading up to deadly shooting, which he said had been pieced together by ballistics reports, 911 calls, and witness interviews, due to the lack of bodycam footage. But Cameron, who is the state's first Black attorney general, said that the officers were not charged because they acted in self-defence after Taylor's boyfriend fired at them. 'I certainly understand the pain that has been brought about by the tragic loss of Miss Taylor. I understand that as an attorney general ... I understand that as a black man,' Cameron told reporters. 'This team, myself, and the representatives of the Attorney General's office have taken a lot of criticism and scrutiny. But that scrutiny in many ways was misplaced because there was not a day that people in this office didn't go to sleep thinking about this case. 'Criminal law is not meant to respond to every sorrow and grief, and that is true here. But my heart breaks for the loss of Miss Taylor,' the AG said. Investigators believe Cosgrove was responsible for firing the bullet that took Taylor's life. Taylor was shot at least five times after officers barged into her apartment while acting on a search warrant for a drug investigation. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire when police burst in, hitting Mattingly. Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but prosecutors later dropped the charge. Walker had told police he heard knocking but didn't know who was coming into the home and fired in self-defence. Cameron said Cosgrove and Mattingly were not charged after investigators determined their actions were justified because Walker opened fire. Warrant: Breonna and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker had been sleeping in bed when the officers served the warrant at around 1am 'According to Kentucky law, the use of force by (Officers Jonathan) Mattingly and (Myles) Cosgrove was justified to protect themselves,' he said. 'This justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges in Miss Breonna Taylor's death.' The three officers did not take part in the obtaining of the warrant, he said. The raid had been widely reported by the media as a 'no-knock' warrant however, further investigations later proved the cops had knocked before entering. Walker had also told investigators he did hear knocking, but maintained the cops had not identify themselves as police. They knocked on Taylor's apartment door and announced their presence outside, which Cameron said was corroborated by a neighbour who witnessed the arrival. Pictured: State Attorney General Daniel Cameron addressed the long-awaited decision shortly after the announcement in a news conference in Frankfort (pictured on September 13) Getting no answer, Cameron said police officers 'breached the door' and gained entry into the apartment. Mattingly entered first, and at the end of a corridor saw Taylor and with Walker who was pointing a gun. Walker fired, injuring Mattingly in the thigh. Mattingly returned fire, and his colleagues began shooting soon after, Cameron said. Hankison fired 10 bullets, Cameron said. Six bullets hit Taylor, though there is no 'conclusive' evidence that any came from Hankinson's gun, Cameron said. Bullets fired by Hankison travelled into a neighbouring apartment. Taylor, 26, was killed shortly after midnight on March 13 when three plainclothes officers used a battering ram to force their way in to her Louisville home with a so-called no knock warrant. Fearing intruders, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a gun. The three officers fired their guns, striking Taylor five times. Cameron, a Black Republican, has said his investigation into Taylor's death is ongoing, but has declined to confirm media reports that he is convening a grand jury to vote on whether to bring criminal charges against the officers. Earlier this month, the city of Louisville agreed to pay Taylor's family a record-breaking $12million in a wrongful death lawsuit that her mother Tamika Palmer filed against the city and its police department back in April. The ex-mistress of Spain's scandal hit former King Juan Carlos I has opened up about their tumultuous relationship and admitted she avoided his children because meeting them made her 'uncomfortable'. Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, 56, who lives in London, had an affair with the 82-year-old royal between 2004 and 2009. Juan Carlos, who is married to Queen Sofia, 81, left his homeland in August after it was claimed he allegedly received millions of euros from Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah. Meanwhile Swiss prosecutors are examining a 59 million (65 million) payment Juan Carlos made to Sayn-Wittgenstein in 2012 under suspicion of money laundering. Speaking to French magazine Paris Match, Corinna denied all allegations of wrongdoing and opened up about her affair with Juan Carlos. Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, 56, who resides in London, had an affair with Juan Carlos I from 2004 to 2009. She told French Magazine Paris Match she tried to avoid meeting his children because it made her uncomfortable. Picture: The former couple with architect Manfred Osterwald in Stuttgart in 2006 The Danish-born businesswoman recalled meeting her lover's son Felipe VI - then heir to the throne - and his wife Letizia in 2007. She said the future king was 'embarrassed' by the encounter, but his wife was 'charming'. 'I met Felipe in 2007 at an award ceremony for the Spanish sport charity Laureus, which I'm involved in,' she said. 'Felipe looked embarrassed but Letizia was absolutely charming. I was with my son, who was then five-years-old and when he arrived, the King [Juan Carlos I] took him in his arms. He was not trying to hide anything.' Corinna claimed to have met the then heir to the Spanish throne and his wife in 2007 at a charity event (pictured: Felipe VI and Letizia at Zarzuela Palace in February 2020) She also recounted meeting Felipe's sister, Infanta Christina, and her husband Inaki Urdangari, as well as his other sister Infanta Elena. 'I never looked to socialise with them, it made me uncomfortable,' Corinna admitted. 'I avoided contact with them as much as possible.' Corinna said Juan Carlos's children knew their parents were living separate lives and slept in separate beds, each occupying different apartments at Zarzuela Palace. She claimed her affair with Juan Carlos evolved into 'close friendship' following the end of their romantic involvement in 2009. Corinna's relationship with the then King of Spain was catapulted into the limelight in 2012 after he broke his hip during a safari trip to Botswana, on which she had accompanied him. Queen Letizia, King Felipe VI, Infanta Sofia, Infanta Leonor, Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia pictured on April 1 2018 in Madrid Remembering their ill-fated hunting holiday to Botswana eight years ago, Corinna told the BBC back in August: 'I wasn't keen on going on this trip... I felt that King Juan Carlos was trying to get me to come back to him, and I didn't want to give a false impression. I almost had premonitions about this trip.' She concluded that the media circus which followed was masterminded by the royal establishment, who wanted to 'speed up an abdication' and have her out of the picture. 'From the moment I came back from that trip I was under full-blown surveillance,' Corinna told the BBC. 'This was the beginning of a campaign to paint me as this Wallis Simpson, Lady Macbeth, evil character who'd led this wonderful man astray on this trip during a big economic crisis.' She alleged that the Centro Internacional de Inteligencia (CNI), Spanish intelligence, began harassing her. First, she claimed, her Monaco apartment was occupied by security agents who all belonged to a Monegasque company mandated by Spain and later by Spanish agents. She also claimed she believed she was tailed on a business trip to Brazil. Corinna said an anonymous threat was made about there being 'many tunnels between Monaco and Nice' - a reference to Princess Diana's fatal car crash. Corinna has claimed that the Centro Internacional de Inteligencia (CNI), Spanish intelligence, began harassing her (pictured in London on 16 June 2017) Furthermore, she claimed a book about the British royal's death was left in the living room of her Swiss apartment. After the Botswana trip, she claimed Juan Carlos 'gifted' her 65 million (59 million) out of guilt for the 'intense pressure' she came under and as an expression of his love. That colossal transfer of funds is now the subject of a Swiss inquiry. The former king, who abdicated in 2014, is under investigation by Spain's supreme court over corruption allegations which centre on a $100million payment by the late king of Saudi Arabia. At the start of this month, Juan Carlos announced he was leaving Spain and it has recently emerged that he is staying in Abu Dhabi. Akshat Utkarsh, who was a struggling actor, was found hanging in his rented apartment in Mumbai's Andheri area on Sunday night (September 27, 2020). According to HT report, Akshat was depressed due to lack of work. However, his family has dismissed the depression narrative, claiming that the aspiring actor was murdered. They have accused the police of negligence. Apparently, the 26-year-old actor used to stay with a female friend at a society near Andheri, RTO when the incident happened. An officer from Amboli police station told HT that at around 11.30 pm when his female friend woke up to use the washroom, she found Akshat dead in his room, after which she immediately called the police. The officer further added that a team of police rushed him to a private hospital where he was declared dead before arrival, after which, the body was shifted to Cooper hospital for autopsy report. A senior police inspector at Amboli police station was quoted by HT as saying, "We have registered an Accidental Death Record (ADR) and are enquiring the matter. Preliminary enquiry and autopsy report do not indicate any foul play. The incident took place on Sunday night somewhere between 10 pm and 11:30 pm." According to India.com, Akshat's father Vijayant believed that the actor didn't die of suicide. He and other family members suspect that it's a case of a planned murder. The actor's father cited his twisted feet while alleging that his son did not take his own life and said that when the family tried to register the case in Mumbai, the Amboli police station registered a case of accidental death and allegedly refused to listen to the family. The family is now seeking help from the Bihar Police. Worried about your mental well-being or of someone you know? Help is just a call away. Reach out to the nearest mental health specialist at COOJ Mental Health Foundation (COOJ)- 0832-2252525, Parivarthan- +91 7676 602 602, Connecting Trust- +91 992 200 1122/+91-992 200 4305 or Sahai- 080-25497777/ SAHAIHELPLINE@GMAIL.COM MOSCOW Armenia said Tuesday that Azerbaijan was employing longer range and more destructive types of artillery in fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, now in its third day, and threatened to deploy heavier weapons of its own. The Armenian Ministry of Defense also said that one of its jets had been shot down by a Turkish F-16. A spokeswoman said the Turkish plane had taken off in Azerbaijan, flown into Armenia, and shot down the Armenian military airplane. Azerbaijan and Turkey denied this had happened. It was not immediately possible to confirm the Armenian claims about the planes or the Azerbaijani artillery barrage. Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian separatist enclave in Azerbaijan in a remote mountain area north of Turkey and Iran, began on Sunday and has killed at least dozens of people, threatening to pull in two major powers in the region, Russia and Turkey. UNITED NATIONS: The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times local): ___ 12:58 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of maintaining a secret arms depot in a residential neighborhood of Beirut, warning it could cause another tragic explosion in the Lebanese capital. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Netanyahu showed maps purportedly showing the missile depots location next to a gas station and residential housing. He also showed what he said was a picture of the entrance to the depot. Heres where the next explosion will take place, right here, he said. Addressing the Lebanese people, he said: Youve got to act now, youve got to protest this, because if this thing explodes, its another tragedy. You should tell them, Tear these depots down. Last month, a warehouse filled with nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beiruts port, killing nearly 200 people, wounding thousands and causing widespread destruction in the capital. The ammonium nitrate had been stored there for several years. No one has yet been held accountable for the blast, which appears to have been triggered by an accidental fire. ___ 12:22 p.m. Germanys top diplomat says justice for victims of conflict is essential and is vowing that German courts will ensure that perpetrators of the worst crimes against humanity are held accountable. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he also backed U.N. investigations into alleged crimes with all our might, and stressed that Germany wasnt only seeking justice for crimes during the nine-year conflict in Syria. Those who dont clearly distinguish between perpetrators and victims, who blur the line between right and wrong, shake the very foundations of our rules-based order jeopardize our peaceful coexistence itself, he said. Maas singled out those who stand in the way of the work of institutions such as the International Criminal Court, a swipe at the United States, which strongly opposes the international war crimes tribunal. He also referred to veto-wielding U.N. Security Council members who use vetoes and prevent its urgently needed reform with constantly new delay tactics." That is an almost certain reference to Russia and China. The German minister also called on Russia to investigate the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, stressing that the EU reserves the right to impose sanctions. He warned Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that his refusal to support a national dialogue and determination to tread the path of violence and suppression must also have consequences, which are being discussed in the EU. Maas reiterated Germanys determination to remain a party to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, warning that its demise would bring Iran closer to getting the atomic bomb. Maas, who is in quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, also said that as the worlds biggest exporter of pharmaceutical products, Germany is committed to distributing potential vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 in a fair way as a global public good. ___ 10:25 a.m. The United Arab Emirates has defended its decision to normalize ties with Israel and criticized interference in Arab affairs, an apparent reference to its foes Iran and Turkey. Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabis powerful crown prince, made the remarks during a speech Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. He proclaimed that the UAEs decision announced in August to formalize ties with Israel froze a controversial Israeli plan to annex occupied territory in the West Bank claimed by Palestinians. Israels prime minister, however, has insisted that plans have only been temporarily suspended. We hope this peace accord will provide the opportunity for the Palestinians and the Israelis to re-engage in negotiations to achieve peace, Al Nahyan said. Palestinians have blasted the deals signed by the UAE and Bahrain with Israel, which were brokered by the United States, as acts of betrayal. President Mahmoud Abbas used his U.N. speech on Friday to stress that his government has not given a mandate to anyone to speak or negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people. Abbas said that the only path for lasting peace is an end to the Israeli occupation and creation of a Palestinian state. The Emirati foreign minister also warned against what he said were the expansionist ambitions of some countries in the region." Though he stopped short of naming any countries, the UAE has long accused Iran, Turkey and Qatar of meddling beyond their borders in the affairs of other states. The UAE is part of a quartet of Arab states that have boycotted Qatar since 2017, primarily for its backing of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE brands a terrorist group and deems a political and security threat. In an apparent dig at Turkey and Iran, Al Nahyan said that tensions in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq are related to blatant interference in Arab affairs made by states that have historical delusions of restoring their domination and colonial rule over the Arab region and the Horn of Africa. He called on Iran specifically to stop the development of its ballistic missile programs. The UAE, a country of about 9 million people with more than 1 million Emirati citizens, is militarily involved in Yemen as a key partner of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis. The UAE also backs a military commander in Libyas east whos a rival to the allied militias in Tripoli that have backing from Turkey and Qatar. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Ivanka Trump cut a stylish figure in a cream pantsuit on Tuesday evening while showing support for her father at his first presidential debate against Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. The 38-year-old White House senior adviser joined President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Air Force One as they traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, ahead of the highly-anticipated event. Ivanka looked pristine in a $3,210 cream blazer with a wrap belt by Gabriela Hearst and matching dress pants as she stepped off the aircraft at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Outfit of the day: Ivanka Trump, 38, wore $3,210 cream blazer with a wrap belt by Gabriela Hearst and matching dress pants to the first presidential debate on Tuesday Traveling in style: The White House senior adviser was seen stepping off of Air Force Once carrying a $4,700 Chanel bag She carried a $4,700 quilted white leather Chanel bag as she walked across the tarmac, her straight blonde hair blowing in the breeze, revealing her pearl drop earrings. The former businesswoman stuck with her go-to beauty look, opting for smokey eye makeup and dusty rose lipstick. Ivanka had her game face on and appeared to be focused on the upcoming debate, which is the first of three head of the election on November 3. Earlier in the day, she was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home in a Secret Service SUV straight from her garage. Say cheese! Tiffany Trump, 26, and her sister-in-law Lara, 37, took a selfie before traveling to Cleveland for the debate Smile! Lara also snapped a selfie backstage at the debate while posing alongside Melania, Tiffany, and Ivanka, with all women donning face masks for the photo While President Trump's eldest daughter opted for a monochromatic pantsuit, his youngest went with a pop of color. Tiffany Trump, 26, made a statement in a hot pink blazer, which she wore over a black turtleneck. Her long blonde hair was loose around her shoulders and perfectly blowdried. She struck a pose with her half-brother Eric Trump's 37-year-old wife, Lara, who shared their selfie right before they flew to Cleveland. Most of the Trump women wore pantsuits to the debate, with Melania looking somber in black and white pinstripes. Happy: Kimberly Guilfoyle, 51, was all smiles when she arrived in Cleveland with her boyfriend, Donald Trump Jr. Outfit: Kimberly donned a structured white top, matching dress pants, and a $134 black tote from Hemline that has 'Rock & Roll' written in pearls She didn't wear an American designer, however. Instead, she chose a $3,340 suit from Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. Melania wore her perfectly tailored blazer open, revealing her crisp white button-down shirt, and she topped off the look with a pair of sky-high black stilettos. Her highlighted brown hair was styled in loose waves, and she sported a pair of aviator sunglasses when she stepped off Air Force One with her husband. Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, 51, stood out in a structured white top and matching pants. Strictly business: First Lady Melania Trump donned a $3,340 pinstripe suit from Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana Ready to go: Melania wore her perfectly tailored blazer open, revealing her crisp white button-down shirt, and she topped off the look with a pair of sky-high black stilettos She added a touch of playfulness to her all-white look with a $134 black tote from Hemline that has 'Rock & Roll' written in pearls. Tuesday's debate begins at 9:00 p.m. at Case Western Reserve University. President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are slated to discuss and debate their records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, race and violence, and election integrity with moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News. Trump will also face questions over a recent New York Times report claiming the billionaire president only paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017. The Mistry family-led Shapoorji Pallonji Group may accept staggered payments from the Tata Group as part of easy terms to buy it out. The option of such a spread-out payment is to help India's largest conglomerate acquire the Mistry's Rs 1.5 lakh crore (18.4 per cent) stake in Tata Sons Ltd. and put an end to a festering dispute between the groups that once had a close-knit association. The Mistry family is likely to share details of the offer in the Supreme Court in its bid to make it a part of the appeal for relief it is looking to get from the court, the Mint reported, citing a source. The SC will next hear the case on October 28. "Mistry firms believe they have a strong case on oppression and pledging shares of Tata Sons. Owing to the strong legal position, the firms will include the intention to separate from the Tata group as an additional relief in the main oppression of minority shareholders petition," a source told the publication. Also Read: Tata vs Mistry feud: Tata Group reaches out to wealth funds to buy out Shapoorji stake The Mistry family is of the view that a court-monitored disunion will secure a fair deal for them. The two groups are valuing Tata Sons' shares on four paramaters- value of unlisted companies, value of listed entities, brand value, and debt. Another source told the publication that the Mistry family is anxious that there could be a difference of opinion when it comes to valuing unlisted companies and may urge the court to designate an independent valuer and added that the legal and management teams of both groups are "working on the mechanics", which would become clear in the weeks ahead. The Mistry entities are making it clear that they are not fine with an out-of-court settlement by seeking to add 'separation' from Tata Group as an additional relief. The SP Group had on September 22 announced in a statement that it wants to end its seven-decades-long relationship with the Tata Group. Also Read: Shapoorji Pallonji Group to recast Rs 10,900 crore debt under COVID-19 resolution framework The statement came after Tata Sons' advocate Harish Salve told the SC that Tata Group is willing to purchase Mistry family's shares at market value. The top court was hearing an application filed by Tata Sons seeking to obstruct Misty firms from pledging Tata shares. The Tata Group and Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group are entangled in a long-drawn-out legal battle after Mistry was fired as chairman of Tata Sons in October 2016. The SP Group, embroiled in the case through its two investment firms, filed a petition in December 2016 alleging repression and mismanagement at Tata Sons. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), had in December 2019, decided in favour of Mistry reinstating him as the executive chairman of Tata Sons and restoring his directorship in the holding company as well as three other group companies. The order, however, was stayed by the SC in January this year. Mistry, since his sacking, has made several accusations against Tata Sons and Ratan Tata, alleging suppression of minority shareholder rights and the Tata Group's operational mismanagement. Also Read: Mistrys to raise Rs 11,000 crore pledging Tata Sons stake; Tatas object in SC France puts 5G mobile frequencies on the block Some French cities may get 5G by end-2020 France on Tuesday began to auction off radio frequencies for the deployment of ultrafast 5G mobile technology, a process that will add billions of euros to the government's depleted coffers. Operators Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free are bidding for 11 frequency blocks that are currently unused, with the aim of offering 5G services in some French cities by the end of the year. The fifth-generation successor to 4G technology promises radically quicker transfers of data, heralding major changes to an array of products and services from self-driving cars to remote surgery. France was to launch the sale of the frequencies in April, but postponed the auction because of the Covid-19 crisis. France is lagging behind other countries that have already launched 5G services, with South Korea and China the most advanced. More than a dozen EU countries have also started operating 5G services, but none as developed as the Asian frontrunners. Activists and leftwing lawmakers in France have tried to halt the 5G rollout because of health and environmental concerns, but President Emmanuel Macron's government has pressed on regardless. Macron, eager to cast France as a start-up nation embracing cutting-edge technologies, this month even derided 5G opponents as wanting to impose "the Amish model." He said "France is going to pursue the shift to 5G because it's the shift towards innovation." The government expects to make at least 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) from the sale, a welcome windfall at a time when it is throwing all its financial firepower into the fight to limit the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout. The deployment is also seen as a crucial boost for French industry, under pressure from new restrictions curbing economic activity. "Everybody knows that this is extremely important for the economic recovery and for the future of the industry," digital minister Cedric O told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday. Story continues The main auction for frequencies is scheduled to last for 10 days, after which a second auction will determine the exact positioning of operators on each band, with the centre of bands less prone to interference than the edges. One complicating factor is the heavy restrictions placed on the use of equipment by Huawei, which some governments, especially the US, suspect of potentially helping China eavesdrop on western networks. The absence of the Chinese behemoth, considered by many experts to produce the most advanced 5G equipment for the best price, will force SFR and Bouygues Telecom especially to switch to rival suppliers Ericsson and Nokia, a move requiring a big revision of their investment plans. yk/jh/js/rl WOOD RIVER One person is dead and another in a hospital following an early morning accident in Wood River. At 1:06 a.m. Tuesday, the Wood River Police Department responded to a commercial burglar alarm at Federico Chrysler Car Dealership at 1875 E. Edwardsville Road in Wood River, according to Wood River Police Chief Brad Wells. Police also were informed by witnesses that several vehicles had just left the Federico Chrysler Car Dealership. Wells said Wood River Officers arrived at the car dealership to find a broken window and evidence the dealership had been entered. Patrol officers in the area including officers from Roxana Police, Hartford Police, South Roxana Police and East Alton Police assisted in responding to the report. According to the Illinois State Police, a Roxana Police officer advised he was on Illinois 255 southbound, approaching Gateway Commerce Center, following four stolen vehicles and an additional stolen vehicle about a quarter of a mile behind them. While following the vehicles, the Roxana officer observed a silver 2014 Dodge Dart driven by a 16-year-old male from St. Louis and a white 2015 Ford Edge driven by another person collide while trying to make the turn onto the Illinois 255 southbound ramp to Interstate 270. During the collision, the Dart rolled over, ejecting the driver, according to state police. The Edge crashed into a drainage canal about 300 feet off the roadway, becoming almost completely submerged in the water. The driver of the Edge was seen trying to swim in the canal by the Roxana Police officer who entered the water in an attempt to save the driver, but he was unable to locate him. At about 4:01 a.m. Tuesday, a deceased male body was located at the bottom of the waterway. Authorities have not released the mans name, pending notification of his family. The driver of the Dart was transported to a St. Louis hospital with life threatening injuries. The Illinois 255 southbound ramp to I-270 was closed for about three hours. This incident is under investigation by the Wood River Police, Roxana Police, Illinois State Police and the Madison County Coroners Office. Only 10 percent of Manhattan's 2 millon office workers have returned to their offices - half of what experts were hoping for - and their absence is forcing small businesses that rely on their trade to close permanently. Unlike in other major cities like L.A. and Dallas, many New York City residents fled permanently in the spring and summer when the city saw its COVID-19 peak. The reasons for fleeing varied between high rent prices and rising crime. With no reason to come into the office anymore, many did not see the point in paying a premium when the city around them was dying. Now, despite some companies instructing staff to come back, there remains a gaping hole in the once teaming workforce. It is forcing midtown businesses like clothes stores and cafes, which for years relied on the office workers to stay open, to close their doors permanently. Across the US, an average of 25 percent of office workers have returned to the office, according to data by real estate firm CBRE. In Dallas, 40 percent have gone back, 32 percent have gone back in L.A. and 32 percent have also returned to work in New York City suburbs. The exception is Manhattan and it it is lower than what experts were hoping to see. Only ten percent of Manhattan's 2 million office workers have returned to their offices, fewer than in other major cities or across the country 'We all expected [the re-occupancy rate] to be closer to 20% to 25%, which is whats happening around the rest of the U.S.,' Mary Ann Tighe, CBREs chief executive of the New York region, told The Wall Street Journal. One of the things keeping people out of the office in New York City is the reliance on public transit to get there. Another is that until recently, there had been no plan to reopen schools. Now, more families are returning and businesses are offering incentives like free parking and childcare to their employees to try to get them back. Across various sectors, the approach to ordering staff back has varied. In finance, the majority of banks and firms have told staff they can continue to work from home. JPMorgan Chase, however, has told employees to come back to work unless they have kids or a healthcare concern. The bank's CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been among the most vocal business leaders in the fight to keep New York alive since the start of the pandemic. He has spoken enthusiastically of the city's future but is adamant that people need to be together in the workplace and not working from home to achieve former levels of success. But the large number of businesses who have told staff they can continue to work from home - including Facebook and Twitter - are causing a void that is driving another tier of small businesses into the ground. An abandoned midtown street in March. The city has come somewhat back to life but midtown remains largely a ghost town Midtown restaurants are struggling to draw in crowds to take advantage of outdoor dining and many haven't lasted to see indoor kick off tomorrow Many fled NYC, abandoning their homes, when they no longer had to go to work. One of the main reasons was the city dragged its heels in allowing hospitality to get back to work. Above, restaurant owners descended on Cuomo's office on Monday to protest the lack of action Thousands of restaurants across New York City have already been forced closed due to a long ban on dining and slow-off-the-mark reopening plan. Those that have been able to reopen in midtown have struggled with the lack of crowds. Cafe Metro in midtown is closing at the end of this month because there is no one left to serve. Manager Edison Castillo told the Journal: 'Ninety percent of our revenue depends on office workers and another 10% depends on tourists. 'We have lost both ways. I used to have 55 employees between both morning and night shifts. Right now we are down to six.' Another that is Kamakura Shirts. 'Because were located on Madison Avenue, a lot of the workers around here are our customers,' manager Kakeru Kitatsuru said, revealing revenue has dropped by 70 percent. The infection rate in New York City on Monday was 3.25 percent. The infection rate on a seven-day rolling average is now 1.38 percent. It is lower than it has been for months despite a handful of neighborhoods driving a surge. They are all in Brooklyn and Queens. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo, Japan Tue, September 29, 2020 14:45 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f3dd0 2 World Mike-Pompeo,foreign-minister,India,Japan,Australia Free Top diplomats from the United States, India, Australia and Japan will gather in Tokyo next week for rare face-to-face talks on tackling the coronavirus and strengthening co-operation, Japan said Tuesday. The four nations have in recent years formed a strategic grouping -- known as the "Quad" -- meant to serve as a counterweight to China and promote their vision of a "free and open Indo-Pacific". The meeting on October 6 will be attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced he would host the four-way talks -- the second such meeting after the first was held in New York last year. "It is the right time for these like-minded foreign ministers to gather in Tokyo for face-to-face talks, to exchange views about how to deal with issues that have emerged from the spread of the coronavirus, along with regional affairs," he told reporters at a regular briefing. It will be the first ministerial-level international meeting hosted by Japan since the pandemic began, and also since Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took power this month. Japan is moving gradually to open its borders to more foreigners, particularly business travellers, as it prepares to hold the postponed Olympics next summer. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 19:26:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DHAKA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh suffered a big blow as employment opportunities for the country's millions of foreign job aspirants came to a near halt so far this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of Bangladeshis heading overseas to work has plummeted by nearly 55 percent in the first eight months of this year as job opportunities have almost dried up in major job markets, according to a government official. Bangladeshi Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told journalists Monday that "181,273 Bangladeshis found jobs abroad in January-August this year, down from 406,962 during the same period in 2019." He said some 141,036 workers have returned home to Bangladesh following the outbreaks of the pandemic in the major hosting countries in Middle East, Asia and elsewhere in the world. According to the official, about 10 million Bangladeshis have currently been living and working abroad, keeping inflows of remittances still unaffected. Bangladeshis remitted home 4.56 billion U.S. dollars in the first two months of the current 2020-21 fiscal year against 3.04 billion U.S. dollars in the same period of the previous fiscal year 2019-20 (July 2019-June 2020), central bank data showed recently. According to the data from Bangladesh Bank (BB), the flow of inward remittances surged 35.94 percent year on year to 1,963.94 million U. S. dollars in August this year. BB officials said the inflow of remittances, one of the key sources of foreign exchange for the nation, rose sharply in the first month of this fiscal year as non-resident Bangladeshis sent home more money for their relatives to celebrate Eid al-Adha, one of the largest Muslim festivals. Bangladesh's remittances hit an all-time high of 18.20 billion U.S. dollars in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Most of the remittances came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Kuwait, Britain, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Bahrain, Italy and Australia, according to the bank. Enditem Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused a former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, of plotting a third term in office through the governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Agboola Ajayi. Mr Ajayi is the current deputy governor to Rotimi Akeredolu, who is seeking a second term in office on the platform of the APC. Mr Mimiko, who served the constitutionally permitted two terms as Ondo governor, at the flag-off of the ZLP campaign held barely ten days ago, cautioned electorates against voting candidates of the ruling APC and the main opposition PDP in the October 10 governorship election in the state. He expressed confidence in the deputy governor, Mr Ajayi, who defected to the ZLP after a failed attempt to clinch the PDP governorship ticket shortly after a fallout with the states incumbent governor in late June. Stay away from vote buying and dont be intimidated by stolen funds of the opposition. Ajayi will bring good governance and jobs, PREMIUM TIMES had reported Mr Mimiko, saying The APC in a statement issued on Tuesday portrayed the ZLP governorship candidate as a potential puppet whose campaign has been centred around Mr Mimiko rather than himself. It also blamed Mr Mimiko for what it called a miserable performance of the PDP in the state due to his political divide and rule tactics in the party and government. Under Mimiko, government projects and patronage were disapproportionately distributed only based on political servitude not priority needs of the State. Little wonder many of Mimikos associates have ditched him and are now frontline leaders of the APC, in firm support of our candidate, incumbent Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. It is understandable that the ZLPs supposed governorship candidate has nothing to campaign on after juncketing several political parties to purchase their governorship ticket to contest the October 10 election in Ondo state, the APC deputy national spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, said as he highlighted Mr Akeredolus achievements in his last three years in office. READ ALSO: Meanwhile, prior to the emergence of the incumbent governor as the APCs flag bearer, PREMIUM TIMES had reported instances where some APC leaders in the state had labelled Mr Akeredolu as incompetent and least performing governor in the history of the state. They also described him as the core cause of the recently doused factionalisation in the states branch of the party. Most of the aggrieved APC leaders such as Olusola Oke, Ajayi Boroffice, Ife Oyedele, among others, are now backing Mr Akeredolus re-election. Maciej Czajkowski, a veteran Polish news producer who is a friend, recently called from Warsaw. Agitated, he pressed me for information about the U.S. presidential election. The American presidential election has great consequences for the world, he said, fearful that President Donald Trump could be re-elected. Trumps bigoted rhetoric is admired by the far-right in Poland and other European countries, he said. We discussed his concern that a Trump victory will likely further embolden right-wing extremists, lead to increased nationalist xenophobia, and add fuel to the rising nationalist movements in Europe. Others in Europe share Czajkowskis fears about the possibility of Trumps re-election. A recent poll taken in Germany found that Germans believe Trump poses a greater threat to world peace than the leaders of North Korea, Russia, China, and Iran. Czajkowski, who is gay, is also worried that a Trump victory will result in an escalation of Polands campaign against gays. Poland is a homophobic nation, and its right-wing government is aligned with an anti-gay base, he says. Trumps bigotry also has resonance in a homogenous Poland that has a history of anti-Semitism. Another Polish friend, Michal Bilewicz, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Warsaw, has been approved for a full professorship by his fellow academics, but this promotion requires authorization from the president of Poland who ignores all requests for this authorization. Speculation is that the president is not authorizing the promotion because Bilewicz has been in charge of several studies that show the current extent of Polish anti-Semitism. In Hungary, academic bodies such as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences have been put under government control to prevent criticism of the nations leadership. During my discussion with Czajkowski, I, too, felt concern about the rise of right-wing nationalism, anti-Semitism, and the erosion of democratic institutions. This concern is very personal. Although most of my family came to the United States from Riga in Latvia at the beginning of the last century, those who did not come here were murdered with 25,000 other Jews in the Rumbula Forest outside Riga, after being forced to dig their own graves. Like Czajkowski, I am concerned about the danger of a Trump re-election. I am most concerned about the danger it poses for our country. Three books, among others that deal with the forces that threaten and undermine democratic institutions, are must-reads: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder; Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum; and How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. One of the arguments advanced by Snyder, a Yale professor, is that the abandonment of facts is the abandonment of freedom. Trump, of course, is notorious for his lies. The Washington Post fact-checker, as of July, counted more than 20,000 Trump lies. Snyder notes that its hard to track down all the Trumps lies because there are so many of them. Applebaum, a historian who writes a column for The Atlantic and has written three histories of the Soviet Union, observes that many Americans choose questionable sources for their news, noting the difficulty of finding the truth in a storm of lies. More and more people click on the news they want to hear, she says, and these outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, and Google, fortify thinking thats often not based on truth. False, partisan and often deliberately misleading narratives now spread in digital wildfires, cascades of falsehoods that move too fast for fact-checkers to keep up, Appelbaum writes. People have always had different opinions, she says, but now they have different facts. As is the case with his lies, Trump is also notorious for a xenophobic nationalism and a divisiveness that sets Americans against one another. Snyder warns that government-fomented xenophobia unites authoritarian nations against imaginary foes. And far-right nationalist leaders foster a polarized world thats divided into friends and enemies, in which there is no room for a middle position, or common ground. A key component of democracy is that competing political parties accept one another as legitimate rivals. Trump appears to reject the idea that some of us may be Democrats, some Republicans, and that while we have differing points of view, were ultimately all Americans. Harvard professors Levitsky and Ziblatt see this kind of polarization as having serious consequences for our democratic institutions. One thing that is clear from studying the breakdowns of democracies throughout history is that extreme polarization can kill democracies, they write. By electing Trump in 2016, it appears we opened the door to the death of our democracy. Since taking office in January 2017, Trump has been consistently undermining our democratic institutions and moving us closer and closer toward autocratic rule. I am as agitated as my Polish friend Maciej about the possibility of Trumps re-election. That it would encourage right-wing nationalist movements in Europe is very troubling. But its even more disturbing to me, as an American, to think that this nationalist trend that Trump champions would likely make his re-election the end of America as weve known it, as we love it. Donald Snyder, a Greenwich resident, is a former foreign correspondent and a retired producer for NBC News. AFL chairman Richard Goyder will not attend the first-ever grand final outside of Victoria because of Western Australias quarantine rules. The influential businessman, who also chairs Qantas, Woodside and the Channel Seven Telethon Trust, is based in Perth and has been an outspoken critic of WAs border restrictions. Qantas chairman Richard Goyder on his farm at Bejoording east of Perth. Credit:Trevor Collens He confirmed on Tuesday he would not attend the October 24 grand final in Brisbane because of the WA governments quarantine requirements. Unfortunately I'm not going to be at the grand final in Brisbane because of the quarantining arrangements; as chair of Qantas I cant afford to be locked up for two weeks, he told 6PR radios Gareth Parker. The alliance between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in Bihar has run into rough weather over the distribution of seats in the upcoming assembly elections, with neither side willing to relent on its position, people aware of the development said on Tuesday. While the RJDs latest offer is 58 seats in the 243-member House, the Congress is demanding 75, leaders of the two parties said on condition of anonymity. The matter has now reached Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is expected to take a call in a day or two after consulting other senior leaders. Bihar Election 2020: Full coverage A Congress functionary said both sides have in principle decided to fight the October-November elections in an alliance and are also keen to accommodate the three left parties, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) besides the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahani. But getting to a deal has been tough. A senior RJD leader said his party, in the first week of September, offered 73 seats to the Congress after conducting a survey of all 243 seats and also expressed a willingness to accommodate smaller parties from its quota. At the time, this person added, the Congress told the RJD that it would revert within a week, but finally got back with a demand for 75 seats only on September 26, he added. Also read: Devendra Fadnavis takes a dig at Tejashwi Yadavs promise of 10 lakh jobs Things worsened after Congress leader Avinash Pande, who heads the partys screening committee for Bihar, stated that the alliance with the RJD would be firmed up only if there is a respectable seat-sharing understanding between the two parties. A screening committee shortlists the party candidates and forwards the list to the central election committee for final selection. Pandes statement prompted an angry RJD to scale down its offer to 58 seats. It also decided to let the Congress fight the by-election to the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. A second Congress functionary said the RJD offer was in no way acceptable to his party and that now, party president Sonia Gandhi to take a call on the alliance. She will consult other senior leaders and a decision is expected within a day or two. In the past too, during {jailed RJD chief} Lalu Prasads time, she saved the alliance with the RJD from the brink of collapse on several occasions, he added. Also read: Bihar election gets a new political constituency - over 16 lakh migrant workers The exit of Upendra Kushwahas Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) from the grand alliance or mahagathbandhan on Tuesday eased the pressure on both sides. While the RJD wanted the RLSP to leave, the Congress was divided , with some of its leaders making serious attempts to retain Kushwaha despite the assessment that he brought no value addition to the alliance and also the fact that his partys votes were not transferable to the partners. The RLSP on Tuesday announced a tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Janwadi Party Socialist. A third Congress functionary said the delay in firming up the seat-sharing deal has impacted the alliance on the ground as had happened during last years Lok Sabha polls in which the mahagathbandhan was wiped out. Out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress managed to win one seat while the remaining 39 went to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party. The delay is also going to cost the candidates dear as any further delay will take away the crucial time from their limited number of days of campaign that has to be undertaken amid several restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Its expected to fetch a kings ransom considering that used 2018 GT models are already fetching over $1 million in the used (super)car market. Even better, this isnt your standard Ford GT; its a Heritage Edition GT that was launched in 2018 and comes with, among other exclusive touches, an engine coil cover thats signed by drivers Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt, the duo that claimed the Le Mans 24 Hours title back in 1967. One of the rarest versions of the Ford GT supercar is headed for the auction block, and it could fetch up to seven figures if everything goes as anticipated. A 2018 Ford GT Heritage Edition can be all yours provided you have the pockets to afford it. One of these special edition models is headed to a Mecum Auctions event that will run from November 12 to November 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Heres your chance to own a limited edition version of the already limited Ford GT supercar LISTEN 07:16 How many versions of the Ford GT Heritage Edition are there? There are four versions of the Ford GT Heritage Edition that have been released since 2016. The first GT Heritage Edition paid tribute to the GT40 Mark II that Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drove at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours. It was dressed in a Shadow Black exterior color that could be finished in either gloss or matte. It also wore silver stripes, exposed carbon fiber, and a Frozen White #2 hood and door graphics. A year later, Ford released the second GT Heritage Edition. Its the same GT Heritage Edition that will be auctioned off at Mecum Auctions in Las Vegas, Nevada this November. Well get to that car later. In 2018, Ford made it three-for-three. The Blue Oval released the third GT Heritage Edition, and in keeping with the theme of the previous two Heritage Edition GT models, the 2019 GT Heritage Edition sported what is, without question, the most famous paint scheme in the history of motorsports: the Gulf Oil livery. Wearing a two-tone Heritage Blue and Heritage Orange livery, the 2019 GT Heritage Edition also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the GT40s back-to-back 24 Hours of Le Mans titles in 1968 and 1969. No Ford GT Heritage Edition models were released in 2019, presumably because the previous GT Heritage Edition already celebrated the 1969 Le Mans title. Turns out, the one-year hiatus was long enough for Ford; just a month ago, the Blue Oval unveiled the newest member of the Ford GT Heritage Edition. Unlike past GT Heritage Edition models, the 2021 GT Heritage Edition does not pay tribute to any of Fords Le Mans conquests. On the contrary, the 2021 GT Heritage Edition is an homage to the race where the Ford GT40 bagged its first major endurance race victory: the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours. The 2021 GT Heritage Edition sported a red, white, and bare carbon fiber exterior. Outside of the carbon fiber, the red and white color scheme is a proper tribute to the race car that Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby drove to the Daytona 24 Hours title in 1966. Whats so special about this particular 2018 Ford GT 1967 Heritage Edition? Its a 2018 Ford GT. On that merit alone, this model will already attract a lot of attention, especially when you factor in one of Fords many conditions in owning a GT, specifically the condition that an owner cannot sell his Ford GT for a period of 24 months after taking delivery of the supercar. Break this rule and Ford will rain hellfire on you, as John Cena knows all too well. Those who took delivery of their 2018MY GTs are now free to sell their models once that 24-month restriction ends. This brings us to this 2018 Ford GT Heritage Edition thats going to be up for auction at Mecum Auctions in Las Vegas this November. Its a special edition GT, which should pump its price even more. Its dressed in a glossy Race Red paint finish with matching white racing stripes running the length of the car and in various other sections of the GT. Fords exposed carbon package is visible throughout the body and the car sits on a set of silver 20-inch forged aluminum wheels with matching red brake calipers peeking from behind the rims. The silver mirror caps are a nice touch, too, as are the round Number 1 race liveries on both doors. The latter is a nod to the Le Mans-winning Ford GT40 Mark IV that Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt drove to victory at Le Mans in 1967. Inside, the carbon fiber seats are trimmed with leather with matching red accent stitching. Both the steering wheel and the seat belt webbing are also dressed in the vibrant red shade. The paddle shifters, on the other hand, are finished in a much more subtle anodized gray. Carbon fiber is also prominently present in the interior. The door sills, air vents, and center console all sport the good staff. A serialized identification is also included in the special edition GT Heritage Edition, highlighting the supercars rarity and outright exclusivity. If all these exclusive touches and the status of being a special edition Ford GT arent enough, this particular GT Heritage Edition also comes with an engine coil cover thats signed by both Gurney and Foyt. There are no engine upgrades in this model, but that should be the least of your worries. This GT Heritage Edition is powered by the same 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine that produces a whopping 647 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque. A seven-speed Getrag dual-clutch transmission sends all that power to the two rear wheels, enabling the Ford supercar to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds before maxing out at a top speed of 216 mph. How much is this going to sell for at the Mecum Auctions event in November? Standard 2018 Ford GT models if you can even call them standard sell for at least $1 million. Special edition ones like the GT Heritage Edition will command higher price tags. Thats a fact. The question is how much? A lot will depend on how much this GT Heritage Edition has been used, and, as luck would have it, Mecum Auctions indicated that it only has 250 miles on its odometer. Thats as good as new, folks. Knowing that goes a long way in bumping the price up to, say, $1.5 million? Maybe even $2 million? Remember, a 2017 Ford GT 1966 Heritage Edition sold for $1.54 million at a Barrett-Jackson auction last year. That should be the baseline price that you can expect for this 2018 Ford GT 1967 Heritage Edition. Ford GT 1967 Heritage Edition Specs Ford GT 1967 Heritage Edition Engine 3.6-liter, twin-turbocharged, EcoBoost V-6 Horsepower 647 horses Torque 550 pound-feet Transmission Seven-speed automatic 0-60 mph 2.8 s Top Speed 216 mph Source: Mecum Auctions A senior Indigenous leader has lashed the Morrison government's co-design process for a Voice for Indigenous Australians, labelling it disjointed and conflicted and warning that it risks sowing division among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Pat Turner, CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, will tell the National Press club on Wednesday that the proposed Voice mechanism envisaged by Canberra "will not stand the test of time and is doomed to fail, unless these foundational shortcomings are addressed urgently". Pat Turner in July with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Ms Turner, who is the niece of legendary Aboriginal leader Charlie Perkins, has become increasingly unhappy with the convoluted process set up by the federal government to respond to the landmark 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart. Her criticisms are significant because she is one of 19 members appointed by the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, to a senior advisory group providing input on the Voice's "co-design". She has not previously gone public with her concerns. A Los Angeles police officer is lucky to be alive after an assailant walked into his police station, knocked him to the ground, pistol-whipped him with his own weapon, and then pulled the trigger repeatedly at point blank range. Jose Cerpa Guzman, 29, was arrested for attempted murder of a police officer. He is being held in lieu of $2.23million bail, the Los Angeles Times reported. He likely would have killed the officer, who has not been identified, if the gun did not have a safety mechanism that prevented it from firing. The officer managed to escape with bumps and bruises, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The dramatic encounter was caught on surveillance footage from inside the Harbor Community police station in San Pedro on Saturday night. A Los Angles Police Department desk officer was nearly killed on Saturday after an assailant walked into Harbor Community police station in San Pedro just after 10pm and attacked him, took his gun, and then pulled the trigger repeatedly. The gun did not fire, according to LAPD The image above shows the assailant standing over the desk officer after he knocked him to the ground in the lobby of the police station Police identified the assailant, who was wearing dark pants and a white shirt, as 29-year-old Jose Cerpa Guzman The assailant is seen above pistol-whipping the desk officer as he lay on the ground in the police station The video shows the assailant walking into the lobby of the police station just after 10pm on Saturday. A desk officer on duty that night is seen approaching him near the front entrance. Initially, the officer and the assailant, who is dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt and dark pants, appear to be engaged in a heated conversation. The assailant then leaves through the front door only to re-enter the station a few seconds later. He then starts shoving the police officer and throws a punch. The assailant and the officer are seen above wrestling on the ground on Saturday night The assailant keeps moving toward the officer and overpowers him. He then knocks the officer to the ground after he connected on a blow to the head. As the officer goes down, some gear from his equipment belt is seen strewn across the floor. With the officer on his back and the assailant standing over him, the assailant grabs the cops 9mm Beretta handgun from the officers holster. The officer then tries to grab the mans arm in order to prevent him from shooting the gun. As the two wrestle, the assailant manages to point the gun directly at the officers midsection from just a few inches away. Moments later, the assailant gets his arm loose and begins to hit the officer in the face and head with the butt of the handgun at least four times. The officer puts his hands up to protect himself from the blows. Eventually, he knocks the gun out of the assailants hands. After the gun falls to the floor, the assailant grabs it again. He then aims the gun at the officer, who is still on his back, at close range. An LAPD watch commander emerges from the front desk and runs toward the assailant as he exits the station. The desk officer is seen bottom left on the ground The watch commander appears to get into a shooting stance and aims her weapon at the fleeing assailant She is then seen ducking out of the way - presumably because the assailant fired shots at her The officer then tries to grab the assailant, but he manages to get away and move toward the door. Moments later, an LAPD watch commander emerges from the front desk and sees her fellow officer on the ground in the lobby. She then spots the assailant as he runs out while holding the officers gun. The watch commander approaches the door, draws her weapon, and drops into a shooting stance. It is unclear from the video if she fires her weapon. She is then seen taking cover, presumably because the assailant fired the officers weapon at her. The LAPD says that the assailant, Guzman, shot at the watch commander three times. She fired her weapon once, the LAPD says. Another police officer enters the lobby and has his gun drawn. The video ends there. According to the Times, investigators believe that the assailant would have killed the desk officer because he pulled the trigger several times while aiming the handgun at his chest, stomach and chin. The gun did not fire because of a decocking lever that was activated. According to police, the assailant fled in a white truck. The watch commander reported on the radio that shots had been fired and the suspect fled. Weve got an officer down, conscious, breathing, one officer said over the radio. Guzman was arrested a few blocks away from the police station by officers who had their guns drawn. The officers wrestled with Guzman, who was later taken to hospital to be treated for injuries. One officer reportedly suffered a broken hand during the struggle. The assailant managed to get away as the desk officer remained on the ground An LAPD watch commander (seen far right) emerges from behind the front desk as the desk officer is down on the ground (far left) LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the desk officer initially attacked inside the station suffered bumps and bruises. He has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home. I am grateful that the officer who was in this incident tonight, who was working the desk, came out to assist this individual to understand what his needs were, that he survived and that during this engagement that he did not lose his life, Moore said. He did not suffer the injury that apparently this suspect meant to inflict. The LAPD has not stated what it believes to be Guzmans motive for the attack. Craig Lally, who heads the union that represents LAPD officers, compared the attack to the recent shooting ambush in Compton that targeted deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. It just shows you how dangerous this job is now, Lally said. You dont even have to be responding to a call now. You can just be sitting in a car in a uniform or sitting at a desk in a uniform and get attacked. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal As debates over school reopenings during the COVID-19 pandemic rage on, superintendents in New Mexico are calling local requirements a moving target. Grievances were aired to the Legislative Education Study Committee the day after the state Public Education Department publicly released more coronavirus guidance for elementary schools. For now, public schools in counties that meet virus condition requirements, among other criteria, can have elementary students on campus for a hybrid of in-person and online learning. The districts also have to sign a safety plan checklist, ensuring adequate personal protective equipment, social-distancing plans and adherence to other requirements in a 21-page toolkit published on the PEDs website. The toolkit shows the PED is requiring weekly surveillance testing of 5% of school staffers who are at schools but surveillance testing is not required for in-person small groups that are convening during remote learning models, the document says. The intent of the 5% surveillance testing requirement is that all staff working in a school will be tested over the course of the year, the guidance says. The PED refused the Journal an interview, saying no one person at the department could answer the papers questions. But Judy Robinson, a PED spokeswoman, wrote in an email that the average time to get a school staff members result for surveillance testing is less than 48 hours when the staffer is tested by the state Department of Health. DOH local public health offices will provide testing at no cost to the staffers. School employees also have to be tested if they were in close contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, in addition to quarantining. And within four hours of notification of any school-related positive test, the state needs to hear about it, the toolkit says. Families and staff also have to be alerted by the school within hours. Dennis Roch, New Mexico School Superintendents Association president and superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools, said the surveillance testing is a shift from previous state direction and questions remain, including what a district should do if a staff member refuses. Overall, Roch told lawmakers reentry plans that were months in the making were uprooted by new requirements found in the toolkit, which he got earlier this month. Reentry is also a moving target the constant uncertainty, Roch said. PED Secretary Ryan Stewart wrote in an emailed comment that the PED is in daily communication with education leaders. Health care experts are expanding our knowledge every day about the novel coronavirus, how it spreads and strategies to mitigate that spread, and that requires educators to be flexible and nimble. When we learn of new ways to improve safety, it is our responsibility to enact them to whatever extent possible, his statement said. Masks and capacity During the Legislative Education Study Committee hearing, Roch pointed to changes in requirements on face masks and capacity limits. For example, the original PED guidance allowed a wider range of face coverings, but Roch said overnight schools were tasked with providing cloth masks. Districts spent nearly half a million dollars on that kind of PPE, and then right before Labor Day, right before districts were able to transition into the hybrid model, they suddenly said, Oh, no, it has to be masks,' Roch said. According to the toolkit, schools have to provide two multi-layer cloth masks for each staff member and student, in addition to having disposable masks available. Medical masks and other PPE also have to be on hand, per the safety plan checklist. That was an obstacle in Tularosa Municipal Schools. While the district is currently doing remote learning, Superintendent Brenda Vigil told lawmakers that reopening is ever-changing. She said the district originally bought disposable masks and face shields only to find out later that changed to needing cloth masks for students and staff. Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the toolkit says face shields in most instances arent a substitute for a mask and schools should pursue other options. The PED is not reimbursing face shield costs, but the state has provided disposable masks and will be distributing 1.4 million cloth masks in the coming week, according to the department. There is currently not enough evidence to support the effectiveness of face shields for source control, the toolkit says. Roch also noted that originally the number of students allowed in a building was dictated by 6 feet of social distancing. Now, no more than 50% of registered students can be in a classroom at once, in addition to social distancing, per the latest PED guidance something Roch called inconsistent and frustrating. Air filtration For a school to begin classes in hybrid model, schools and districts have to immediately assess ventilation systems and install the most effective filters that are compatible with their systems. Superintendents told lawmakers that these requirements were a last-minute added cost, too. PED is not providing additional funding for filtration upgrades. Schools have to use their own money or federal dollars. Robinson wrote in an email that no schools have been prohibited from opening because of air filtration. One school district (Moriarty-Edgewood) pushed their in-person start date back by a week in order to meet the requirements. All others have complied with the departments requirements, she wrote. At Rio Rancho Public Schools which has started the hybrid model Superintendent Sue Cleveland said she understands that information changes and requirements have to be updated. Still, she said, the requirements and changes pile up on staff. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 00:09:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Almost 75 percent of start-up companies in Germany were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, said a study published by the German Startups Association and auditing and consulting services company PwC Germany on Tuesday. A vast majority -- almost 90 percent -- of German start-ups reacted to the COVID-19 crisis with specific measures, such as focusing on product development or postponing investments, according to the study which involved almost 2,000 start-ups and was conducted for the eighth time. "Optimism is in the DNA of start-ups," said Florian Noell, head of digital ecosystems at PwC Germany. Founders of start-ups are used to "quickly adapting to new situations." Fifty-six percent of start-ups in Germany focused on product development in response to the COVID-19 crisis, while only 11 percent intended to reduce staff in order to cut costs, according to the study. Furthermore, more than 90 percent planned to hire new employees despite the crisis. On average, start-up companies in Germany intend to recruit six new employees in the next 12 months. The COVID-19 crisis has had a "strong negative impact on the business climate," the study noted. But German start-ups remained "optimistic and see the current and future business situation in a more positive light than the German economy as a whole." The study also found that digital business models were less affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Start-ups in e-commerce as well as online networks were less frequently affected negatively, and even experienced positive developments in their business activities more often. In order to support start-ups during the COVID-19 crisis, the German government passed a 2-billion-euro (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) aid package in April. Enditem Wouldn't like to pre-empt any findings of Court of inquiry as it is a very fair process: IAF chief on chopper CDS chopper crash: What is CFIT that is pronounced as see-fit Current scenario along northern frontier at an uneasy no war, no peace status: IAF chief India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: The Indian Air Force is resolved to counter any misadventure, IAF Chief R K S Bhadauria said. The current security scenario along our northern frontier is at an uneasy no war, no peace status, he also said. Our defence forces are prepared for any eventuality, he also said on situation in Eastern Ladakh. Air power will be a crucial enabler in our victory in any future conflict and the induction of the Rafale jets along with the Chinook, Apaches and other aircraft fleet has provided the IAF with substantial tactical capabilities, the IAF chief also said. Meanwhile India has rushed heavy tanks heavy weaponry, ammunition, fuel, food and essential winter supplies to high-altitude areas in eastern Ladakh to maintain its combat readiness through the treacherous winter of around four months, military sources said. They said Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane, aided by a group of top commanders, has been personally involved in planning and overseeing the implementation of the mammoth exercise that began in mid-July and is nearing completion. Also Read: A significant number of T-90 and T-72 tanks, artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles were flown into various sensitive areas including Chushul and Demchock sectors as part of the logistics operation, the sources said. Under the operation, the Army transported large quantities of clothes, tents, food items, communication equipment, fuel, heaters and other supplies to army personnel deployed at forward posts and mountain passes at the height of over 16,000 feet. "By far it is the biggest logistics operation that has been implemented in Ladakh post Independence. Its scale is humongous," a senior military official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. To deal with any Chinese misadventure, India has deployed over three additional Army divisions in eastern Ladakh where the temperature fluctuates between minus five to minus 25 degrees Celsius from October to January. The sources said India imported winter clothing and gear from a couple of countries in Europe and they have already been supplied to the troops in eastern Ladakh. Almost all transport aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force including C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster were used to transport thousands of tonnes of food, fuel and other equipment to the region. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News The Indian Army has decided to maintain its current strength of troops in all key areas in eastern Ladakh in the winter months as there was no sign of early resolution of the border row with China. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also decided to remain on high alert in the forward air bases along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). You are here: World Flash A road accident in Cameroon's Southwest region on Monday has killed at least seven people and injured 18 others, according to local police. The accident occurred early Monday in Buea, chief town of the region. The 18 injured, four of whom are in "critical condition," are undergoing medical attention in a local hospital, the police said. Witnesses said the accident occurred when a taxi driver in a drunken stupor collided head-on with a bus that was carrying young people who were returning from a church rally. Local authorities have ordered an immediate investigation into the tragedy. A familiar collaboration beer with Pennsylvania roots is arriving at stores this fall. Yuenglings Hersheys Chocolate Porter, launched last year on draft only, is making its debut as a seasonal release in bottles, just in time for the holidays. D.G. Yuengling & Son, the nations largest independent brewing company and Americas oldest brewery, announced beginning this month the beer will be released for the first time in bottles while supplies last. The bottles and draft beer will be sold in 22 states where Yuengling beer is distributed. Last years limited-run release in October - a sort of test run for Yuengling - ended up being wildly successful. It sold out within weeks at most locales and had been expected to be available through Valentines Day. Last year we were overwhelmed by the excitement and passion expressed by our fans for our first-ever collaboration beer, said Jennifer Yuengling, vice president of operations. It took roughly nine months to create, and utilized Hershey cocoa powder and chocolate nibs in the brewing process, she told PennLive last year. The new brew marked the first time Yuengling had experimented with a chocolate flavor in any of its products, which has become a popular variety of beer in recent years. Of course, Yuengling has been teasing the new release on social media. Meanwhile, several beer distributors have already started carrying the beer. DOVER, DE / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / On September 24, 2020, Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK:HENC), formerly known as Holloman Energy Corporation, announces the resignation of Patricia Smart, and the appointment of Gina Serkasevich as Sole Director and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased that Gina Serkasevich has accepted this role," stated Destiny Aigbe, Majority Shareholder, "We believe Ms. Serkasevich will be instrumental in moving Hero Technologies into its forthcoming stages of growth. We would also like to thank Patricia Smart for her contributions and wish her the best on her future endeavors." Gina Serkasevich, CMA, CPA is the CFO for Hero Technologies (formerly Holloman Energy) and has been with the Company since June 2013. She has more than 30 years of domestic and international corporate accounting and finance experience. Ms. Serkasevich held the position as Director of Finance at Holloman Corporation from June 2012 to July 2020, which is one of the largest employee owned engineering and construction companies in the United States. Prior to 2012, Ms. Serkasevich had served in the Oil and Gas Tanker Transportation industry in a variety of positions including Regional Financial Manager, Financial Consultant, Financial Controller/CFO and held the Company Secretary position on two boards of directors. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Hero Technologies Inc. Contact: Hero Technologies Inc. Gina Serkasevich (713) 992-7858 Forward-Looking Statements: Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. These statements are not guaranties of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those forecasted. The company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs, or projections. SOURCE: Hero Technologies Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608382/Hero-Technologies-Inc-Appoints-New-Director-CEO When The Voice of the Fugitive and the Provincial Freeman both Black-owned newspapers for Black people were operating in southwestern Ontario in the 1850s, Canadian society was still living with the violent vestiges of slavery from its own recent past and from the ongoing brutality south of the border. White-owned newspapers didnt think it worth asking Black people to share their urgent, serious stories of life and death. Thats likely why its not common knowledge that Canadas first female publisher was a Black woman: Mary Ann Shadd Cary, who published the Provincial Freeman. Almost a century later, the American civil rights movement in the 1960s offered another opportunity for a reckoning for white-owned media in Canada. Whether or not that introspection happened wasnt visible in newspaper pages or television screens; Black people had to continue to make their own space to tell their own stories in newspapers such as Contrast. Time marched on. Canadians patted ourselves for opening our doors to non-white immigrants and for our multicultural policies, but we remained gatekeepers; we could count the number of Black journalists in newsrooms at any given time on the fingers of our hands. I challenge newsrooms to name their Black staff over the years and be part of their institutional memory. Among permanent full-time hires in this newspaper in the 60s,70s, 80s, 90s and 00s: Malcolm Johnson, Cecil Foster, Royson James, Phil Mascoll, Hamlin Grange, Bev Bowen, James Russell, Donovan Vincent, James Atkins, Ashante Infantry (who has long kept track of this list), Maureen Murray, Morgan Campbell. A toast to the original disrupters (Please let us know if any are missing.) Also, an acknowledgment of loss, of those who came through these doors in hope but were passed over. We see you all. Soon North America crowned itself a post-racial society a Black man became U.S. president! Social media blossomed. As social media prised open the information flow from us, Black voices began to be heard louder on digital platforms, forcing our own illusion making to come crashing down and still there are only a few Black journalists in mainstream media. It is in the past few months, at the end of this, the second decade of the 21st century, in the midst of a global pandemic, that we, the society, and we, the media, have been forced to yield to decades of petitions and pleas and protests by Black grassroots movements. Together we may have arrived, at long last, with a public reckoning of our own deep-seated anti-Black racism. Dont anyone dare say slow down now, that change takes time. Monday is World News Day, a fine day as any to take stock of some of the response to the massive outpouring of outrage around anti-Black racism. Newsroom demographics have been so lopsided that newsrooms didnt want to share them, only recently agreed to do so, and are now hiring more non-white people to take the edge off the embarrassment. Early in June, the Globe and Mail, CBC and The Canadian Press announced they were capitalizing B for Black. Good, but cue the slow clap. They didnt explain why it had taken them so long to act on a long-standing issue and whose requests for this change they had dismissed in the past. The CBC suspended news anchor Wendy Mesley for saying the N-word. But it hid behind lawyerly statements of confidentiality when its botched handling of a previous usage of the word on The Fifth Estate (unrelated to Mesley) was raised. According to a Vice News report, 12 Global News journalists who repeatedly raised concerns of racism were among those laid off in August. What then do all the pretty words of acknowledging racism and pledges to do better ask of the news industry? They require first acknowledging that the irresponsibility of exclusion allowed for white supremacist narratives to be entrenched in our society. Fully flawed politicians and slave owners with blood on their hands are cast as heroic leaders in our stories, stood up as statues in public spaces, their names dinned into our conscience as school names and street names. The media let these biased decisions go unchallenged for years, but now when those statues are being brought down and street names asked to be changed, we claim to seek both sides of the issue in the name of a news value we call balance. A reckoning with our racism also demands a reckoning with our history, questioning especially the bits that comfort our image of ourselves. Even before the pandemic, the world faced a convergence of crises: of migrants, of climate change, of anti-Black racism, of an oil-based economy, of white nationalism. Our newsrooms are peopled with journalists who are supposed to keep a finger on the pulse of society but are largely unaffected by any of these crises. Imagine the privilege of claiming objectivity when a xenophobe runs for office, of the lack of outrage when a sitting premier calls intersectionality a kooky academic concept, of the luxurious pretence of innocence in asking the RCMP a force notorious for clearing lands of its inhabitants and forcibly separating children from their families does systemic racism exist? A reckoning requires individual introspection by every reporter, editor, news producer and manager. It demands an unflinching look at the stories we choose as important, the sources and institutions we automatically trust to tell them, the language we prefer to use, the practices we consider the norm, the judgment of going too far, too much or being overly sensitive, the photographs we choose to tell a story, the reporters we tap. It requires institutional introspection. Whom are we hiring, where are we hiring from, what are we asking during interviews? How are we making space not just for non-white people, but for the most marginalized among them? How are we de-escalating hostility in the newsroom, and how are we making room for ideas that challenge us? Whom do we view as capable of authority and how will we engage with feedback without centring on white feelings? How will we hold accountable those who stubbornly refuse to see how their precious way we did things actively harmed others? And yes, an industry with otherwise world class standards now reeling from lack of trust in society should be reflecting on its blind spots, evaluating vaunted values of truth seeking and accuracy and asking itself: Whose truths? Who has been deeming them accurate, and why? Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 04:11:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old religious ritual bath, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Tuesday. The ritual bath was uncovered in archaeological excavations at a major construction site in northern Israel, according to an IAA statement. The plastered stone bath had a narrow entrance and a wide staircase. It was found along with the remains of a Jewish agricultural farmstead, providing first evidence for Jewish farmsteads in the Galilee Region in the Second Jewish Temple Period. The farmsteads probably functioned as the rural hinterland of the large Jewish town of Sepphoris. The farm was destroyed in an earthquake about 1,700 years ago, and the site was finally abandoned 300 years later. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:21:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China stands ready to work with Argentina and other members of the international community to firmly support the World Health Organization in playing a leading role in the fight against COVID-19, win a complete victory over the pandemic as soon as possible, and promote the building of a global community of health for all. Xi made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. Enditem FAIRFIELD, N.J., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., submitted an application for approval of MM36 (difamilast) to the Japanese regulatory authorities. Positive MM36 results in two Phase 3 Japanese clinical trials in adult and pediatric patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) were previously announced. Please find below the Otsuka Pharmaceuticals press release: "Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) announces that a new drug application has been submitted to the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency in Japan to seek manufacturing and marketing approval for difamilast (OPA-15406) in patients with atopic dermatitis. Difamilast is a topical atopic dermatitis drug candidate discovered by Otsuka that has phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitory activity. PDE4 inhibitors are believed to improve the symptoms of atopic dermatitis through suppression of the production of chemical mediators such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and through other anti-inflammatory effects. The number of patients in Japan with atopic dermatitis is about 4.34 million, a number which increases year by year. (Source: Datamonitor Healthcare, Treatment: Atopic Dermatitis 2017 | Informa) Otsuka entered into a licensing agreement with Medimetriks, Inc. in 2016 which granted Medimetriks development, marketing, and manufacturing rights for difamilast in the United States." "We are pleased that Otsuka has achieved this significant milestone in the development of MM36 for the Japanese market," said Bradley Glassman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medimetriks. "Given the positive outcome of our recent U.S. FDA Type C meeting, Medimetriks is preparing to begin one, final Phase 3 Pivotal Trial in the U.S. MM36 has demonstrated potential class-leading efficacy, tolerability and itch relief in Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies, and we believe delivers on the vision of helping children and adults suffering from AD achieve better outcomes." About MM36 (difamilast) Medimetriks has sole, exclusive U.S. rights to develop and commercialize MM36 (difamilast). Discovered by Otsuka, and referred to as difamilast (OPA-15406) by Otsuka, MM36 is an investigational non-steroidal topical anti-inflammatory PDE4 inhibitor in development for the treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis. MM36 is believed to exert anti-inflammatory action by inhibiting the production of cytokines and chemical mediators thought to cause the signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis. In particular, MM36 exhibits highly selective inhibitory activity against PDE4 subtype B, which is an enzyme that may play a significant role in inflammation. About Atopic Dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by red, swollen and cracked skin with intense itching. The onset of AD occurs most commonly between 3 and 6 months of age, with approximately 60% of patients developing the condition in the first year of life and 90% by 5 years of age. The majority of affected individuals have resolution of disease during childhood, although 10% to 30% of patients maintain the condition throughout their lives. A small percentage of the population develops first symptoms as adults. It has been estimated that approximately 18 million people are living with AD in the U.S. and this disease accounts for up to 20% of patient visits to dermatology offices. About Otsuka Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: "Otsuka people creating new products for better health worldwide." Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures and markets innovative and original products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products for the treatment of diseases and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health. Otsuka welcomes you to visit its global website at https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en. About Medimetriks Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a leading independent branded Dermatology company focused on the development, licensing and commercialization of innovative prescription skincare brands. The Company is dedicated to addressing unmet physician and patient needs with unique therapies that advance patient care. For more information, please visit: www.medimetriks.com Medimetriks Media Contact: David Addis Chief Operating Officer Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [email protected] +1 973 882 7512, extension 569 SOURCE Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Related Links http://www.medimetriks.com Kentucky faces the highest rates of overall cancer incidence and death in the United States. The Commonwealth also leads the nation in lung cancer incidence and death and colorectal cancer incidence. With the ability to treat nearly 500 patients in a day, St. Elizabeth's six-story facility will lead the way in providing personalized care and treatment in the region. "We know our community needs enhanced cancer care now. This day could not come any sooner. The opening of the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center will be a momentous occasion for our community as we work together to fight cancer," said Garren Colvin, president and chief executive officer of St. Elizabeth Healthcare. "Many Kentuckians rely on St. Elizabeth for quality treatment across the healthcare continuum. Now, we will be able to provide even greater access to more individuals facing a cancer diagnosis, right here in our region and nation." The St. Elizabeth Cancer Center will offer cancer detection, diagnosis and care all under one roof. With an emphasis on precision medicine and genomic health, screening education and prevention, clinical research and advanced, innovative technology, St. Elizabeth will provide a seamless experience for patients undergoing treatment. St. Elizabeth is also a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, consulting with Mayo Clinic cancer specialists and providing patients access to second opinions at no extra cost. In addition, as a member of the UK Markey Cancer Center Affiliate and Research Networks, patients will also have access to additional clinical programs. "As a cancer survivor myself, I know all too well how important it is to have a multidisciplinary approach to care," said Dr. Doug Flora, executive medical director of St. Elizabeth Oncology Services. "Our new Cancer Center leverages the best healthcare practices to provide an advanced and personalized experience to our patients. With everything our patients need under one roof, they will spend less time worrying about where their next appointment is and more time on what matters most healing." The Cancer Center has been intentionally designed to provide a leading caregiving experience for patients and includes design elements that help slow the spread of germs, especially important in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key elements of the Cancer Center include: doTERRA Center for Integrative Oncology : This more than 8,400-square-foot space on the first floor of the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center complements St. Elizabeth's personalized medical care and offers a calming space for patients. Offerings within the facility include counseling and support groups, a demonstration kitchen, patient and family resource center, art and music therapy, massage, acupuncture, meditation and more. : This more than 8,400-square-foot space on the first floor of the St. Elizabeth Cancer Center complements St. Elizabeth's personalized medical care and offers a calming space for patients. Offerings within the facility include counseling and support groups, a demonstration kitchen, patient and family resource center, art and music therapy, massage, acupuncture, meditation and more. Real-time locating system (RTLS): Through sensors located in badges received upon check-in, this system enables a better, faster experience that eliminates the need for waiting rooms, while managing the flow of patients and associates throughout the hospital. To staff the Cancer Center, St. Elizabeth currently employs 60 specialized clinicians. Over the next several years, the system plans to hire additional medical oncologists, surgeons and ancillary support members. For current job openings, visit careers.stelizabeth.com. Celebrate with St. Elizabeth through its grand opening events from Oct. 5-9, including: A tour of the facility, hosted by Dr. Doug Flora , on Facebook Live , on Facebook Live Yoga therapy to learn breathing and relaxation techniques, on Facebook Live A donation from Northern Kentucky -area Skyline Chilis based on purchases made on Oct. 9 St. Elizabeth associates contributed $1.5 million in support of the St. Elizabeth Foundation Cancer Center campaign, with more than 70% of associates donating. Overall, with a generous community and partners, St. Elizabeth Foundation exceeded its $35 million campaign goal. St. Elizabeth worked with Turner Construction as the construction manager for the Cancer Center. Champlin Architecture acted as local designer and HGA Architects were lead designers. For more information about the Cancer Center, visit stelizabeth.com/cancercenter. About St. Elizabeth Healthcare St. Elizabeth Healthcare operates five facilities throughout Northern Kentucky and more than 115 primary care and specialty office locations in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. A member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, St. Elizabeth is a mission-based organization committed to improving the health of the communities it serves, providing more than $116 million in uncompensated care and benefit to the community in 2018. For more information, visit stelizabeth.com. SOURCE St. Elizabeth Healthcare Related Links www.stelizabeth.com Jamie Vardy exposed Manchester City's defensive fragility in a striking masterclass as Leicester City became the first team to score five goals in a game against a Pep Guardiola side. Leicester's 5-2 win at the Etihad Stadium came thanks to Vardy's hat-trick, which included two penalties, a terrific strike from James Maddison, and a late third penalty, converted by Youri Tielemans. That meant Leicester became the first team in Premier League history to score three penalties in one game, while City conceded five goals at home for the first time since their Maine Road days. The last time they shipped five at home was a 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal in February 2003, when Kevin Keegan and Arsene Wenger were in opposing dugouts. In 438 games at their current home, this was the first five-goal mauling they have been subjected to. Guardiola, in all his time in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, had never previously suffered such an indignity. Until Sunday's Premier League game, only two hat-tricks had been netted against teams managed by Guardiola, with Vardy and Lionel Messi the men responsible. They both came in a short space of time, with Messi grabbing a treble against his former Barcelona boss when City lost 4-0 to the Catalans in October 2016, before Vardy grabbed a Premier League treble in a 4-2 win for Leicester in December of the same year. Vardy has scored nine against Guardiola's City Vardy has nine goals against City during the Guardiola era, more than any other player. He became the first player to win two penalties and score both in a Premier League game since Milan Baros for Liverpool against Crystal Palace in November 2004, and the first visiting player to score a Premier League hat-trick at City since Michael Owen, also for Liverpool, in 2002. Vardy's former Leicester team-mate Riyad Mahrez was prised away from the Foxes by Guardiola in July 2018, and in each of the 15 Premier League matches where the Algerian had scored since then, City had gone on to win. Mahrez's third-minute strike in this game was a delight of a goal, but he was soon overshadowed by a familiar face. In a scathing attack on those opposing the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they wanted only the middlemen to thrive and referred to the burning of a tractor in Delhi by Congress workers as an insult to farmers. "They are opposing the freedom of farmers and want their problems to continue forever. By torching farming equipment, which the agriculturists worship, these people are now insulting farmers," he said without naming the Congress. The Congress' youth wing activists on Monday morning set a tractor ablaze near India Gate, a few hundred metres from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, to protest the contentious farm laws. Modi said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things. Terming it "opposition for the sake of opposition", the prime minister said that by opposing big reformative steps by the Centre such as the farm laws, these forces were making themselves irrelevant in the society and in the country. He accused the opposition of opposing everything from GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale deal, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor and celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. He said that this politics of the opposition for opposition's sake was the root of the frustration of a party which had ruled for four generations. "Frustration of a party which has ended up riding the shoulders of others despite wielding power for four generations is behind this politics of the opposition for opposition's sake, Modi said. He said none of the leaders of the political party had till date visited the Statue of Unity, built to honour the memory of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel whose contribution to unifying the country is well known. "Why? Because they had to oppose," he said. He said people had seen for themselves the role Jan Dhan accounts played in direct benefit transfer schemes during the coronavirus pandemic and they could also remember how it was opposed while being introduced by the Centre. He said after opposing the Ram Mandir in the Supreme Court for decades, they even began opposing its foundation stone laying in Ayodhya. Without naming the Congress, he accused it of being neither with the farmers nor with the youth nor the soldiers and recalled that the the party had demanded proof of surgical strikes instead of praising the bravehearts who carried out the exercise. He also recalled how it opposed the purchase of Rafale fighter jets. "They did not do anything for years to strengthen the Air Force, ignoring its pleas for being better equipped and modernised. I am pleased to see that Rafale fighter jets are strengthening our Air Force today. He said the farm laws were meant to set farmers free from restrictions which they had suffered for decades. "They will have both MSP and the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the open market but there are people who are spreading lies about the bills. "They only want middlemen to thrive and want the problems of farmers to be perpetuated. The real reason behind the ongoing protests is that yet another source of black money has been closed for them," the prime minister said. Modi was inaugurating six ambitious sewage treatment plants in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Muni-ki-Reti town and Badrinath under Namami Gange through video conference. He said the process of empowering people, farmers and the youth, and making the country self-reliant through big reforms will continue relentlessly. Modi also attacked the previous governments for wasting too much money over Ganga rejuvenation, drinking water and irrigations schemes without any results, claiming there was no coordination between the government departments involved. "This led to further aggravation of the problems instead of resolving them. But today the work culture has changed and every penny is going into the implementation of the projects," he said. Also read: Farm bills 2020: 'Misinformation being spread that farmers won't get right prices,' says PM Modi Also read: PM Modi defends farm bills once again; says will change economic condition of farmers - , - , , - Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 14:27 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f34eb 4 National Soekarno-Hatta-International-Airport,no-destination-flight,aviation-industry,Airlines,COVID-19,pandemic,flights-to-nowhere,wisata-terbang-tanpa-tujuan Free Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is set to accommodate no-destination flights as many airlines seek to recoup some of the major losses suffered as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Soekarno-Hatta executive general manager Agus Haryadi said the airport would be ready to facilitate airlines that planned to offer flights to nowhere. We will certainly support [the initiative]. At the very least, this program can inspire the public to fly again, Agus said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. However, as of the time of writing, no airlines operating from the airport were offering no-destination flights, he added. A no-destination flight the type of flight that departs from and arrives at the point of origin is not a novel concept in the aviation industry, according to him. The program is typically reserved for non-commercial purposes, such as test flights for new types of aircraft, he said. Agus added that the notion of flying for the sake of it was expected to appeal to those who missed the flying experience following months of stringent travel restrictions. I think flying with no specific destination during the pandemic is a good idea to warm up the plane engine, he said. Read also: Asian airlines turn to 'flights to nowhere' to get travellers back in the skies The aviation industry has taken major financial blows as governments around the globe have imposed travel restrictions and bans to control the spread of COVID-19. In a bid to devise an alternative revenue stream amid the coronavirus-induced economic downturn, a number of airlines in the Asia-Pacific region plan to start flights to nowhere. Singapore Airlines, for instance, is due to offer no-destination flights starting in late October, as reported by The Straits Times. The flights will depart from and land at Changi Airport. A no-destination flight recently offered by Australias Qantas Airways sold out within 10 minutes, according to the airline, reflecting a public urge to fly to temporarily escape the pressure of the health crisis. (rfa) Look, there is fish in the river again, Ji Shaogui, a local resident in Liaoyuan, Northeast Chinas Jilin Province, cried excitedly during a short break from his jog along the Xianren River, a 19.3-kilometer-long river that passes through Liaoyuan city from north to south. Ive lived near the river for more than ten years. It used to stink so bad that I usually covered my nose to cross the bridge over the river, Ji told the Peoples Daily. The man, who likes taking a run in the morning, frowned as he recalled the condition of the river several years ago. As one of the main tributaries of the Dongliao River, one of the major rivers that flow through Jilin province, Xianren River has an important influence on the water quality of the Dongliao River. As a great amount of domestic sewage had been discharged straight into the Xianren River, water quality of the river seriously deteriorated. It was impossible to walk the whole way along the Xianren River, said Liu Chong, an engineer of the urban management and law enforcement bureau of Liaoyuan city. The banks of Xianren River were dotted with illegal houses and abandoned small factories, according to Liu, who has been in charge of the technologies related to the project for treatment and improvement of the black and smelly water of Xianren River. In recent years, Liaoyuan city has carried out comprehensive projects to treat the polluted water and restore the ecology of Dongliao River. The city started the projects by collecting detailed information about the unapproved constructions along the banks of Xianren River, and then made a list of what to be demolished and what to be moved. At the same time, the city invited experts to formulate a scientific plan for comprehensive treatment of the river, and launched 45 projects for the treatment of polluted water. We cleared as much as 130,000 cubic meters of garbage and sludge from the river, Liu noted. After more than two years of remediation, the roads along the banks of Xianren River have been paved with stone bricks and become clean, tidy, and accessible, while the river has taken on a brand new look. It looks bright and clear, with water plants swaying leisurely under beautiful ripples. The root cause of the water pollution in the Dongliao River and its tributaries lies actually on the banks, said Yu Jian, deputy director of the Liaoyuan ecology and environment bureau. Before the year 2018, over 50,000 tons of municipal sewage was discharged directly into the river every day, causing the water quality of Dongliao River to be rated Grade V, the worst in Chinas water quality grading system, for many consecutive years. Rainwater and sewage were drained through the same pipe network, which could manage to work during the dry season, but was often overwhelmed in the wet season, Yu said. After the pressure relief devices at various parts of the pipeline automatically started, sewage was discharged to the Earths surface, not only polluting the living environment of citizens, but eventually flowing into rivers, Yu added. Yu pointed out that the Dongliao River didnt have sufficient ecological water replenishment capacity, which made it rather difficult to restore the ecology of the river once it was polluted. In 2018, Liaoyuan city launched a project for separating the drainage systems of rainwater and sewage, planning to transform 73 kilometers of rainwater pipes and sewer lines. So far, the city has completed the transformation of 64.16 kilometers of the pipes and realized separation of drainage systems for rainwater and sewage in 90 percent of the areas in the city. Meanwhile, the daily capacity of the sewage treatment plants in Liaoyuan city has increased from 100,000 tons to 160,000 tons. At present, the city is stepping up efforts to build a lift pump station at the intersection of Xianren River and Dongliao River. Upon completion this year, the station will transfer the water of Dongliao River to the upper reaches of Xianren River through a 6.6-kilometer-long return piping. We have also built compound channels for the Xianren River, thus maintaining the long-term stability of the water quality through water diversion and replenishment, said Yu Fujun, deputy director of Liaoyuan municipal water conservancy bureau. Besides treating water pollution, Liaoyuan city has also made efforts to boost ecological restoration by turning marginal farmland to forests. We couldnt have enjoyed such great life without the tussah woods, said Han Xiaoyun, a 48-year-old villager in Anbei village, Liaoheyuan township, the sourceland of Dongliao River. We lacked environmental protection awareness and cut down trees to grow corn, but couldn't really earn much money, Han said. Last year, the government of Liaoheyuan township encouraged villagers who live near the source of Dongliao River to turn marginal farmland into forests and suggested that they transfer the management right of land to companies specializing in growing forests for maintenance and improvement of ecological environment. According to the overall planning of the Liaoheyuan township government, most of the land in Anbei village was used to grow oak woods for rearing tussahs. Villagers doubted the idea at first, wondering where the woods would lead people. I searched for relevant information online. Tussahs have high economic value, and the oak trees can help preserve water and soil, Han told her fellow villagers. She was the first in the township to sign contracts and transfer her land management right to companies. Han transferred the management right of all 1.4 hectares of land of her family, and saw gains quickly. Last year, Han earned more than 50,000 yuan ($7,330) by rearing tussahs and tending the trees. This year, many villagers joined her in planting oak trees for rearing tussahs, gradually turning the barren mountains near Liaoheyuan township green. The management right of a total of 7,182 hectares of land has been transferred in Liaoyuan city in 2019, during which the city created 6,257 hectares of forests. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Single use Bioreactors Market by Product (System, Media Bag, Filtration Assemblies), Type (Stirred tank, Bubble column), Type of Molecule (MAbs, Vaccine), Cell Type (Mammalian, Bacteria), Application (R&D), End User (CROs & CMOs) - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 3.9 billion by 2025 from USD 1.7 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 18.0% during the forecast period. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Single use Bioreactors Market" 223 - Tables 42 - Figures 227- Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=49113750 The Increasing adoption of SUBs among small companies and startups, reduced automation complexity, ease in the cultivation of marine organisms, reduced energy and water consumption, the growing biologics market, technological advancements in SUBs, and increasing Biopharmaceutical R&D are factors driving the growth of this market. Single-use bioreactor systems accounted for the largest share of Single-use Bioreactors Market Based on product, the market is categorized into single-use bioreactor systems, single-use media bags, single-use filtration assemblies, and other products such as single-use vessels, tubing, connectors, control systems, and probes/sensors, among others. The single-use bioreactor systems segment dominated the market in 2019. SUB systems offer benefits such as lower capital investment, lower operating expenses, and lower environmental footprint, thus driving the growing adoption of these systems in biopharma applications. Stirred-tank SUBs accounted for the largest share of Single-use Bioreactors Market Based on type, the market is categorized into wave-induced SUBs, stirred-tank SUBs, bubble-column SUBs, and other bioreactors such as hybrid bioreactors and SUBs with vertically perforated discs. The stirred-tank SUBs segment dominated the market in 2019. The stirred-tank SUBs are highly preferred in the cultivation of aerobic microbial cultures as it promote greater oxygen transfer and reduced engineering challenges such as heat removal, mass transfer, and higher agitation rates. The contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) is the fastest-growing end user segment of the market Based on end users, the market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations and contract manufacturing organizations (CROs and CMOs), and academic & research institutes. The contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 21.4% in the market during the forecast period. The increasing outsourcing of R&D and manufacturing services by pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies is expected to support the growth of the CROs & CMOs segment. Get 10% Customization Research Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=49113750 North America accounted for the largest share of the Single use Bioreactors Market North America accounted for the largest share of the market, followed by Europe in 2019. The large share of the North American regional segment can be attributed to the presence of a well-established biopharmaceutical industry and major players operating in the market. The prominent players operating in the Single-use Bioreactors Market are Sartorius Stedim Biotech (France), Thermo Fisher Scientific (US), Danaher Corporation (US), and Merck Millipore (Germany). Browse Adjacent Markets @ Biotechnology Market Research Reports & Consulting Get Special Pricing on Bundle Reports: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/RequestBundleReport.asp?id=49113750 Browse Related Reports: Single Use Assemblies Market by Product (Bag Assembly, Filtration Assembly, Bottle Assembly, Mixing Assembly), Application (Filtration, Storage), Solution (Standard, Customized), End User (Pharmaceutical Companies, CMOs and CROs) - Global Forecast to 2024 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/single-use-assemblies-market-46226549.html Bioreactors Market by Scale Range (20L, 1500L), Material (Single-Use, Stainless Steel), Usage (Lab Scale, Pilot Scale, Full Scale), Suppliers (OEMs, EPCs), End-User (R&D Departments, Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers), Region - Global Forecast to 2021 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/bioreactor-market-59253123.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledgestore" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: 1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/single-use-bioreactor.asp Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/single-use-bioreactor-market.asp SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Watertown, NY (13601) Today Periods of snow. Low 16F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected.. Tonight Periods of snow. Low 16F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTCQX: ELYGF) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will be conducting a Town Hall Webinar on Monday, October 1, 2020, at 11:00 am EST. Trey Wasser, President and CEO, will update shareholders on recent Ely Gold transactions, its Key Assets and the importance of its focus on North America and the Company's growth strategy to become a premier gold royalty company. The Webinar will be interactive and will be hosted by Follow the Money Investment Group. All stakeholders and interested investors are welcome to tune in and participate with questions. The playback will then be available on the Company's website. To participate in the Town Hall Webinar please register here:https://www.bigmarker.com/ftmig1/Ely-Gold-Royalties-Town-Hall3-2020-10-01-11-00-am?utm_bmcr_source=elynr About Ely Gold Royalties Inc. Ely Gold Royalties Inc. is a Nevada focused gold royalty company. Its current portfolio includes royalties on the Jerritt Canyon, Goldstrike and Marigold, three of Nevada's largest gold mines, as well as the Fenelon mine in Quebec, operated by Wallbridge Mining. The Company continues to actively seek opportunities to purchase producing or near-term producing royalties. Ely Gold also generates development royalties through property sales on projects that are located at or near producing mines. Management believes that due to the Company's ability to locate and purchase third-party royalties, its strategy of organically creating royalties and its gold focus, Ely Gold offers shareholders a favourable leverage to gold prices and low-cost access to long-term gold royalties in safe mining jurisdictions. About Follow the Money Investment Group Follow the Money Investor Group is an investor focused digital marketing company that provides the content and information needed for investors to navigate the ever-changing capital markets. Our global community uses our platform to discuss and collaborate daily on all facets of their current and potential investments. Our goal is to help retail investors make the right financial decisions that fit their individual needs. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Signed "Trey Wasser" Trey Wasser, President & CEO For further information, please contact: Trey Wasser, President & CEO trey@elygoldinc.com 972-803-3087 Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer jjobin@elygoldinc.com 647 964 0292 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64770 The Australian Defence Force is sending troops to Port Hedland in Western Australias north to manage the outbreak of COVID-19 that arrived in the Pilbara on board iron ore bulk carrier Patricia Oldendorff. On Monday eight more crew of the Patricia Oldendorff, the vessel sitting off the Pilbara in Western Australia, tested positive to COVID-19. This meant Western Australia recorded more than Victorias five new cases on Monday. The vessel remains at anchor off the coast of Port Hedland. Credit:vesselfinder.com The eight new cases are in hotel quarantine in Port Hedland. The total confirmed cases associated with the vessel is now 17. Seven of these are still on the ship as part of the essential crew, while 10 are in hotel quarantine. Heres a look at what polling tells us about where the public stands on those issues and how Trump and Biden could score points with undecided voters on each of those fronts. The Supreme Court vacancy Just before Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Saturday, polls showed that most voters would rather wait and let the winner of the November election choose the next justice. But now that Barrett has been chosen, the publics attention turns to the high stakes involved in the confirmation fight. If Barrett were to help overturn Roe v. Wade, as Trump said on Sunday she certainly could, that would go against the will of most Americans, who support keeping abortion legal. In the Times/Siena poll, voters said by more than two to one that they would be less likely to back Trump if he appointed a justice who would overturn Roe. The coronavirus pandemic Since May, the pandemic has been a political weak point for Trump in part because most Americans have consistently disagreed with his focus on a speedy reopening. By a 15-point margin, respondents to the Times/Siena poll said they disapproved of how he had handled the virus. At the debates, look for Biden to return to the virus as often as he can, hammering the president on what he sees as his greatest vulnerability. The economy If there is one area in which Trump retains at least a slight advantage, it is the economy. By a 12-point margin, respondents to the Times/Siena poll gave him positive marks on that front. But where the economy intersects with the virus, things grow dicier for the president. Fifty-five percent of likely voters said he was at least partly responsible for the economic downturn, according to the Times/Siena poll. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Delhi High Court, asking the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NrDMC) to disburse pending salaries of 9,000 teachers employed by it, stated that it won't allow the civic body to deprive any employee of the "little joy of festivity". "Don't forget, Diwali is about to come. We won't allow you to deprive any employee of that little joy of festivity," a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad told the civic body while hearing a suo motu PIL initiated by the court with regard to the disbursement of unpaid salaries of teachers in schools run by the civic body. While the matter was being heard through video conferencing, counsel for the NrDMC apprised the bench that the salaries for the month of June has been released by the civic body on September 8. Meanwhile, the Delhi government also told the court that Rs 98.35 crore was released to the NrDMC on September 3 and the amount will cover the salaries of teachers for September and October. Following these submissions, the NrDMC counsel submitted that he will seek instructions with regards to the receiving of the amount from the Delhi government. The bench has asked the civic body to file a status report in this regard. The court will now hear the matter next on on November 5. Approaching the herd of Roosevelt elk, I tried my best not to disturb or scare them. It was the golden hour in Sinkyone Wilderness, up on the bluff in between Jones Beach and the Needle Rock Visitor Center. None of my friends had wanted to hike just then, so I had set out alone to watch the sunset and take nature photos. Now I was reaping the reward: An entire herd of elk, all to myself. I readied my camera, remaining quiet and still. I began snapping photos from about 20 feet away, and tiptoed closer with each shot. When I got within five feet of a massive elk grazing on the trail, it raised its head and dead-eyed me, still chewing. Ashley Harrell Heres an important thing to know about Roosevelt elk: They are not afraid of humans. At all. And when they start their rutting season which, by the way, is right now they tend to become aggressive and have been known to charge people, cars and livestock. I had read these things at some point, but in that moment I felt deeply surprised, then concerned, that this hefty deer cousin was standing its ground. I started to consider my situation: I was on the Lost Coast, a wilderness so remote and rugged that engineers opted to bypass it when constructing Highway 1. There was one of me, and an entire herd of elk blocking the trail. And the weed candy I had eaten really wasnt helping. Was I paranoid, or was this elk staring me down and planning an attack? It turns out that I am one of many Northern Californians who have recently worried about the elk. As more and more Roosevelt elk show up in the agricultural and tourist areas surrounding Redwood National and State Parks, human-elk conflict has escalated. Ashley Harrell In response, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) recently initiated one of the largest Roosevelt elk capture and collaring efforts in California history. The point is to study the elk in hopes of identifying solutions, but residents and ranchers in Humboldt and Del Norte counties already have some ideas. They need to have an open season on elk, said Ede Baker, owner of the Snack Shack across from Redwood National and State Parks. Theres way too many. Its hard to drive, and its dangerous for locals and tourists. Michael Leggero/Getty Images Roosevelt elk are one of three subspecies of elk that are native to California, and they are the largest of the three, weighing more than 1,000 pounds. (The others are Rocky Mountain elk which have the biggest horns and Tule elk, which people are currently fighting about for entirely different reasons.) In the past, studying Roosevelt elk was notoriously difficult because they lived in dense forests where standard research tools like aerial surveys and trapping werent useful. But the need for understanding the creatures has grown, according to environmental scientists, as human-elk conflicts along the Highway 101 corridor including vehicle collisions, property damage and agricultural losses have mounted. Ashley Harrell The problem becomes especially pronounced during the late summer breeding season, also called the rut, when bull elk fight violently with each other and do a thing called bugling. This involves making highly unpleasant sounds that begin with a low pitch and end with screeches and grunting. Theyre not thinking through this brain right now, says Baker, pointing at her own head. Theyre thinking through the other one. Its crazy this time of year, agrees Orick resident Christine Chambers, who works at the Snack Shack. I was walking home the other night from my friends house, and I had to turn around and come back because one of the bulls started chasing me across the street. I was like, um, can someone please come give me a ride? Theyll attack cars, says Baker. My son was on his bike up on Prairie Creek and a mother got him cornered with a baby. He had to call 911 because he couldnt get away from her. Theyre mean. Ashley Harrell Chambers neighbors horse was also attacked recently, and now has a puncture wound in his shoulder, she adds, and I begin to realize that in this town, people can tell stories of dangerous elk encounters pretty much all day. Although the population of elk living along Highway 101 in Humboldt and Del Norte counties is estimated at 1,600, CDWF biologists believe that number is low. In an attempt to reduce conflicts, the department issued 20 extra Roosevelt elk tags during the 2019 hunting season, and petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to increase the number of Roosevelt elk tags available along the coast in the 2020 fall hunting season. In partnership with the CDFW, Humboldt State University in Arcata has also launched projects looking at calf survival, habitat use and estimating populations based on fecal DNA. Meanwhile GPS tracking collar technology has improved, and more federal funding has become available for such projects, according to Kristin Denryter, the Sacramento-based senior environmental scientist who oversees CDFWs Elk and Pronghorn Antelope Program. A total of 38 elk will be collared as part of the study, which should be completed sometime in 2025. To Orick residents, that sounds like an awful long way away. So in the meantime, Baker is doing what she can to capitalize on the presence of so many elk. Tourists visiting Redwood National and State Parks often enjoy seeing the elk, and when they arrive at Snack Shack, certain menu items tend to raise interest. Ashley Harrell Ive never had elk! a woman says upon seeing the menu. Theres the 8 Point Rack, a single elk patty with cheese and bacon, a Great Hunter with two patties, and a Whole Heard with three patties. These burgers are by far the most popular items on the menu, Baker says, and she tends to sell more when tourists have just recently seen the wild elk. Of course, the patties shes selling are farmed elk from a grocery store down in Trinidad. Regardless, people tend to love that sweet, lean meat. Back on the Lost Coast Trail, where the elk-human power dynamic is not in my favor, I am marveling at how small the margins of error become in the wilderness, going over my options. There were no trees to climb, but there was a low slung wooden boardwalk that I could try to crawl beneath. I could attempt to scare the elk into running away from me, but that seemed high-risk. I only hoped that it wouldnt try to chase me or worse. In the end, I decided to simply wait, avoid eye contact and act like none of this mattered in the least. Half an hour went by. And finally, the elk lost interest in me. After its group casually meandered far enough from the trail, I walked quickly back to my campsite. A month later at Snack Snack, I found myself ordering the Great Hunter, and devoured it in five minutes flat. Ashley Harrell is an associate editor at SFGATE who covers Californias parks. Email: ashley.harrell@sfgate.com | Twitter: @AshleyHarrell3 We love California's parks just as much as you do, so we're launching a newsletter that covers them top to bottom - sign up here. Yeah, definitely. I have this character Ooli, and I pitched her first my first week at work. And she was way more crude. I think thats a big learning curve on SNL. Like, how do you say private parts? The writers have created an art of how to say words without saying them. So, yeah, I definitely had her a little too dirty, and then in the pandemic got to turn her into something different. I do see that a lot on the show, which I think is really cool. People will pitch stuff in the beginning of the year, and maybe it doesnt work, but then they sort of reformulate it, and itll end up on the show in the spring. So theres a creative process I didnt realize, which was really comforting. You could pitch an impression or character and maybe its not right for that week, but then it could turn into something else. A well-regulated OTC framework will empower patients towards responsible self-medication The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), along with industry associations FICCI and IPA-organised a webinar on the proposed Over-the-counter (OTC) regulations. The webinar highlighted the need for a robust OTC Regulation in the country, in the interest of patients. Narender K Ahooja, State Drugs Controller (SDC), Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Haryana who serves as the Chairman Subcommittee on OTC Regulations (also called Ahooja Committee) was invited as a key note speaker. Along withNarender Ahooja, Amit Duggal, Senior Drugs Control Officer, Chandigarh who is also a member of OTC subcommittee, also attended the webinar. Over the years, OPPI has been leading the discussions on the need for a robust OTC guideline, in order to bring responsible health outcomes and improved standards in public health. The discussions with Ahooja and Duggal covered the following key aspects of the proposed OTC policy: The OTC drugs will be classified as either OTC -I or OTC -II drugs. OTC-I will be sold through licensed retail pharmacy, but without the prescription of a medical practitioner and OTC II, which commonly is referred to as GSL drugs, will be permitted to be sold through retailers, such as local grocers. So far as criteria to be OTC drugs are concerned, Shri Ahooja s committee has informed that such drugs will have to meet strict safety criteria. Ahooja emphasized that all Manufacturing and Labelling norms under Drugs& Cosmetics Rules, 1945 will be strictly applicable to OTC drugs. On labelling, he mentioned that comprehensive labelling norms will be prescribed for OTC drugs and will have to be complied with, in addition to Rules 96 of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules. Further, advertisement requirements will be relaxed to allow dissemination of information related to the safe and proper use of OTC drugs. However, prohibitions and restrictions imposed under Drugs and Magic Remedies Act related to advertisement of health claims mentioned in the Schedule of the Act are likely to continue. Commenting on the need for the Policy G Sathya Narayanan, Chairman-OPPI OTC Taskforce and Managing Director, South Asia, Galderma, said, Our Study in 2018 has been much appreciated and welcomed by the regulatory authorities. Given the healthcare infrastructure in the country, a robust OTC Policy is the need of the hour. We are heartened to hear that the Drug Consultative Committee is looking to forward the recommendations of the OTC Sub-Committee to Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) , at the earliest, for a well-defined OTC Regulation in the country. The Regulation will empower patients to responsibly self-medicate and thereby ease the burden on the healthcare system. It will go a long way in delivering health for all, in the country and widen access to medicines in India. Echoing the need for such a regulation, Milind Thatte, Co-Chairman - OPPI OTC Taskforce and Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Health said, Keeping the patient at the centre, the proposed OTC Regulation will provide a framework for patients to be aware about the right product for the right ailment at the right time and the right way to use, thereby enhancing health outcomes and minimizing risk from misuse or abuse of medicines. DUBLIN, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Contact Lenses Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The contact lenses market by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during the period 2019-2025. The global contact lenses market has observed a decline of around $1,409.62 million due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accounted for over 10% decrease in the market revenue. The contact lenses segment constitutes an essential component of the global vision care market. The demand for contact lens is continually increasing with the growing prevalence of visual dysfunctions and eye disorders both in developed and developing countries. The adoption of contact lenses to improve looks is also significantly propelling the market. However, due to the COVID-19 impact across the globe, distribution channels have been disturbed and the availability has become reduced for contact lenses. The need to restore multiple vision dysfunctions, including refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia, therapeutic benefits of contact lenses include corneal protection corneal pain relief and healing is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Global Contact Lenses Market Segmentation The global contact lenses market research report includes a detailed segmentation by material, design, usability, application, distribution, and geography. In 2019, silicone hydrogel contact lenses accounted for a share of over 68% in the global contact lenses market. They are advance soft lens material, which is aimed at increasing oxygen permeability (increased comfort, longer wear and better eye health), wettability (better comfort) and clinical performance of contact lenses. Hence, the presence of these benefits is likely to drive the growth of the segment. With the availability of exceptional health benefits, silicone hydrogel lenses are expected to witness high popularity among wearers, thereby influencing the market growth. In 2019, the spherical contact lenses segment accounted for a share of over 68% in the global contact lenses market. Increase in the prevalence of vision corrective disorders such as myopia and hyperopia and the high preference for contact lenses for vision correction are driving the segment. Key players are offering a diverse range of spherical design, which feature specialized technology that improves optical comfort along with provision of vision correction. The corrective segment is expected to reach over $7.2 billion by 2025. Changing lifestyle and increasing environmental pollutions increase the number of eye disorders such as refractive error, cataract, and glaucoma. The increase in the diabetic population contributes to the rise of eye disorders such as glaucoma, retinopathy, cataracts, and temporary blurring of vision. All these factors will propel the demand for corrective contact lenses. In 2019, the therapeutic segment accounted for a share of over 35% in the global market. The increase in the prevalence of ocular disorder is expected to propel the therapeutic contact lenses market during the forecast period. Continuous advances in technology witnessing in the overall vision care industry have led to the development of therapeutic contact lenses with improved features, which have increased the efficiency of ocular surgeries. Daily disposable contact lenses are becoming a preferred choice among eye care professionals as well as users in several countries. The single use modality offers many advantages over reusable ones, including convenience, which includes no requirement for supplemental care solutions, and has also been reported to be beneficial for patients with seasonal allergies. The usage of daily contact lenses has increased as they are handy to use and comfortable for longer durations and free from maintenance make them an attractive option for consumers in developing and developed countries. The retail segment dominated the market and accounted for a share of over 65% in 2019. Retail stores have increased in developing regions such as Latin America and Asia. Factors such as market reputation, brand awareness, and customer satisfaction have increased the loyalty of customers, thereby driving the preference for retail stores. In 2019, the hospital and eye clinics distribution segment accounted for a share of over 23%. Hospitals and eye care centers are the point of contact for major patient populations. The presence of eye care specialists in hospitals and eye clinics is increasing the market share of the segment. The increase in the target population, which includes the rise in vision impairment or blindness, is likely to increase the reach of the segment. INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY In 2019, the North America accounted for 35% share of the global contact lenses market. The rise in the target population is one of the driving factors in the market. The economic burden from vision loss and eye disorders in the US is in between $140 and $150 billion annually. The number of baby boomers with vision disorders and blindness is expected to double over the next three decades. By 2050, the highest prevalence of visual impairment among minorities will shift from 15% in 2015 to 16% in 2050. In addition, it is estimated that 2 million US citizens will struggle with blindness; 7 million with glaucoma by 2050. Hence, these factors are expected to play an important role in the driving the market. INSIGHTS BY VENDORS The revenue of contact lenses vendors has declined since the outbreak of the pandemic. For instance, the net sale reported by Alcon's Vision Care segment was $596 million, which includes the revenue of contact lenses and ocular health segments, in the second quarter of 2020, which was a decrease 27% compared to the same period in 2019. The decline in sales was primarily due to low demand for contact lenses and widespread office closures to contain the spread of the virus. The global contact lenses market is highly consolidated with the four vendors accounting for dominating shares. The market is subjected to constant technological advancements and evolving vision correction requirements and standards. Vendors compete on the basis of product variety, pricing, quality, innovation, and efficacy. Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, The Cooper Companies, and Bausch & Lomb are the leading four players. Large players dominate the market, thereby reducing the scope for new entrants to enter the market. Several leading players are focusing on implementing several strategies such as product launches and approvals, marketing and promotional activities, acquisitions, increase R&D investment, and strengthen their distribution networks to enhance their market share and presence in the market. Prominent Vendors Johnson & Johnson Alcon The Cooper Companies Bausch & Lomb Other Prominent Vendors CARL ZEISS Essilor International Hoya Menicon SynergEyes UltraVision CLPL Ginko International Shine Optical Visioneering Technologies Sensimed BenQ Materials Contamac Clerio Vision NeoVision CAMAX OPTICAL SEED INTEROJO ZEISS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pdy96m Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Authorities identified a 27-year-old woman killed Monday night in a car crash in Groveland. The woman was identified Tuesday as Alyson Spence of Rowley, the Groveland police and fire departments said in a statement. She was driving with a 6-month-old child and a 2-year-old child in the back seat at the time of the crash, WCVB reported. Both children were uninjured. The fatal collision was reported around 10:50 p.m. Monday in the area of 123 School St. in Groveland, according to a statement from the two departments. First responders found a gray SUV with heavy front-end damage facing the wrong direction in the southbound lane of the street. Another SUV with heavy front-end damage was parked in the northbound lane and facing the wrong direction, according to authorities. Spence had been driving north on School Street, also known as Route 97, when she crossed the center line and struck the parked SUV along the southbound lane, officials said. First responders pried the drivers door open and began giving medical aid to Spence, who was unconscious. The Rowley woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died, according to the departments. The two young children who were in the back seat were not injured in the collision, and they were turned over to family members at the crash scene, authorities said. The collision remains under investigation by Groveland and Massachusetts State Police. Former Vice President Joe Biden has an eight-point lead over President Donald Trump among likely New Hampshire voters, according to a new poll released today by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion. New Hampshire, which has four electoral votes on the line, has emerged as a swing state that was hotly contested in the 2016 presidential election. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by fewer than 3,000 votes, a margin of less than half a percent. The independent, nonpartisan poll released today found that Biden leads with 52 percent of likely New Hampshire voters, followed by Trump at 44 percent and 3 percent for third-party candidates. Only 1 percent of voters say they are undecided. In an October 2016 poll by the Center for Public Opinion, 14 percent of likely voters planned to cast ballots for third-party candidates while Hillary Clinton had a six-point lead over Trump. "At this point in 2016, there were nearly five times as many third party or undecided voters, which indicated an unstable race. This year is very different. Voters' minds are made up and they have been for a while. That's the sort of thing that happens when the race becomes a focused referendum on the incumbent," said Joshua Dyck, director of the Center for Public Opinion and an associate professor of political science. Today's poll found that Biden is leading among 95 percent of likely voters who identify themselves as Democrats and Trump is leading among 90 percent of those who identify as Republicans. Biden leads with 50 percent of independents and Trump trails with 35 percent. More on which voters are supporting which candidates based on gender, education and more is available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. The poll found that 55 percent of likely voters disapprove of Trump and 46 percent of that group strongly disapprove of how Trump is handling the job of president. Among Democrats, that disapproval increases to 96 percent. Sixty-two percent of independents and 10 percent of Republicans polled say they disapprove of his job performance. The survey asked whether the next Supreme Court justice should be appointed by the current president or the winner of the 2020 election. Fifty-eight percent of likely New Hampshire voters said the 2020 winner should appoint the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, compared to 42 percent who said the current president. Asked which candidate and their allies are cheating to win the election, less than half said Biden and his allies (41 percent), compared to 56 percent who said Trump and his allies have been cheating. Seventy-four percent of Democrats say Trump and his allies are cheating "a great deal" compared to 46 percent of Republicans who said Biden and his allies are "cheating a great deal." "These numbers point to serious questions of electoral legitimacy, particularly if the election happens to be close," said Dyck. In the races for U.S. Senate and governor in New Hampshire, incumbents Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Sununu are leading their challengers by double-digits. Shaheen leads Republican Corky Messner among likely voters by 19 points, 56 percent to 37 percent, with 6 percent still undecided and 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate. Ninety-six percent of Democrats support Shaheen, along with 52 percent of independents and 17 percent of Republicans. Sununu leads Democrat Dan Feltes by 26 points, 60 percent to 34 percent, with 6 percent undecided and 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate. Sununu has the support of 92 percent of Republicans as well as 70 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats. The poll of likely New Hampshire voters also found: A majority (54 percent) think it's not safe to re-open local public schools for face-to-face instruction (21 percent say definitely not safe, 33 percent say probably not safe, 30 percent say probably safe, 16 percent say definitely safe). Asked who they think will win the 2020 presidential election, 45 percent said Biden will win and 40 percent said Trump will win. More than two-thirds (68 percent) said the country is on the wrong track, compared to 32 percent who said the country is headed in the right direction. The New Hampshire Secretary of State announced a COVID-19 exception to absentee ballot laws earlier this year, which allows concerns about COVID-19 as a valid excuse for requesting an absentee ballot in the state. Among likely voters, 31 percent say they plan to vote by mail, while 69 percent plan to vote in person. The nonpartisan poll of 657 likely New Hampshire voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 13,000 students, alumni and employees from the Granite State. The Center for Public Opinion presents events and polling on political and social issues to provide opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and real-world research. The survey was designed and analyzed by the Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Sept. 17 through Sept. 25. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent. Detailed poll results - including topline and full methodology - are available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. In addition to the survey of likely voters in New Hampshire, the Center for Public Opinion also released polls in two other states today. The findings include: In North Carolina, Trump and Biden are tied with 47 percent support of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham leads Republican incumbent Thom Tillis 49 percent to 43 percent. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Republican challenger Dan Forest 54 percent to 41 percent. (Poll of 921 likely North Carolina voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.) In Texas, Trump has an apparent lead of 3 points over Biden, 49 percent to 46 percent of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent John Cornyn is up 50 percent to 40 percent over Democratic challenger MJ Hegar. (Poll of 882 likely Texas voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent.) ### UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. http://www.uml.edu Much of the 'memory' of the world and all our digital activities are based on media, hard disks, where the information is encoded thanks to magnetism, by orienting the spin of electrons in one direction or the opposite. An international team of scientists led by the Italian physicist Stefano Bonetti, professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and the Stockholm University, has managed for the first time to observe the 'nutation' of these spins in magnetic materials, i.e. the oscillations of their axis during precession. The measured nutation period was of the order of one picosecond: one thousandth of a billionth of a second. The discovery was published by Nature Physics. The axis of a spin performs nutation and precession, as with any object that revolves, from spinning tops to planets. In this research, physicists observed experimentally that the nutation of the magnetic spin axis is 1000 times faster than precession, a curiously similar ratio to that of Earth. This new discovery on hitherto unknown physical characteristics of spins is fundamental in research to make digital technologies ever faster, compact and energetically efficient. To manipulate these phenomena at time scales of thousandths of billionths of a second, however, we first need to know their dynamics, including inertial dynamics. "This is the first direct and experimental evidence of the inertial movements of magnetic spins," explains Stefano Bonetti, who coordinates an ERC project on ultrafast magnetism, "with implications that affect, for example, data centres that store almost all of humanity's digital information in bits with the north pole up or down, thus encoding the computer 0s and 1s. When these spins are reversed to write information, precession and nutation also come into play. Knowing the nutation period becomes essential as the rotation speed increases. This first observation of these movements paves the way for new technologies to improve the efficiency of our digital activities, which, among all human activities, are recording the highest increase in energy consumption." The experiment The experiment required collaboration with several European scientific laboratories in Germany (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Chemnitz University of Technology, University of Duisburg-Essen, German Aerospace Center (DLR), TU Berlin) France (Ecole Polytechnique) and Italy (Federico II University of Naples and 'Parthenope' University of Naples), with the key measurement made in the Helmholtz Research Centre in Dresden-Rossendorf, German. In this centre, the TELBE laboratory is capable of generating the intense terahertz radiation (i.e. the frequency range between microwaves and infrared) necessary for the experiment. The group led by Stefano Bonetti was among the first groups to use this laboratory and helped develop the actual machine. "The first experiments were challenging," says the Ca' Foscari physicist, "but, after a couple of years, the machine was already operating at very high performance. These measurements were made over a year, on three different occasions, to check the reproducibility of this never-before observed effect." Stefano Bonetti's activities are part of a broader context of investment by the Venetian university in scientific research and teaching of the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems. Starting from this academic year, this department is launching a degree programme in Engineering Physics, coordinated by Bonetti, himself a physics engineer: "Science is always evolving, and who knows what we will be exploring ten years from now, but the idea of the new degree programme is precisely to prepare a new generation of scientists who will be ready for the challenges of the future." ### Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 07:10:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Liang Yingmi (L) and her husband Liang Anhe are pictured on the way to farm work in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous County and southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 24, 2019. Liang Anhe and Liang Yingmi are a couple from Wuying, a mountain village inhabited by the Miao ethnic group across the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province. Anhe and Yingmi were childhood friends and got married in 1975. They had struggled against poverty for decades, providing for the whole family with just a 0.13-hectare rice paddy. In recent years, life in Wuying has significantly improved under local poverty-relief efforts. There are now only four impoverished households in the village, down from 92 in 2016. Anhe and Yingmi's children have also bid farewell to poverty. Their elder son moved to a nearby town while their second son became a village entrepreneurial leader. Despite the hard times they had gone through, the marriage between 70-year-old Anhe and 67-year-old Yingmi has stood the test of time. Clinging to a simple lifestyle, the old couple are still ready to witness what is to happen in their home village. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang) In February of 2019, I was giving a talk in New Haven, Connecticut. My paper was an overview of my research, titled Is It a White Disease? ALS, Race, and Suffering in St. Louis, MO. I closed with an ethnographic vignette from a key informant, Tyrell, whose brother had died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) three years prior, after being diagnosed only six months before his death. I described to the audience how Tyrell shocked me after our first interview by giving me a hug and whispering, Thank you for encouraging me to do this [interview]. I feel so much better. Ive been bottling this up for too damn long. I explained that Tyrell had been silently suffering from the trauma of seeing his brother be released from prison, get diagnosed with ALS, and die from the disease, all within twelve months. At the time, I argued that ALS researchers refused to consider that Black patients are afflicted with ALS, and part of my ethnographic work was to uncover the validity of this assertion. After the session, I was approached by Casey, a Black woman from Atlantic City who was a doctoral student at a prestigious university in Washington D.C. She asked if we could talk, and after I agreed she looked over to me and said, I think my boyfriend has ALS. Stunned, I then listened to her 45-minute story about her year-long attempt to help her boyfriend, Dewayne, find answers for why his body had been deteriorating over the past three years. With tears in her eyes, Casey described his frequent falls and the times she went to his home and found him in a pool of urine and feces. She described the way his muscles had atrophied, leaving Dwayne too weak to pick up a fork, let alone make his own meals. Casey described multiple visits to medical centers at Georgetown and Howard, and countless visits to community neurologists and primary care physicians that left them more confused about Dewaynes condition. Referencing an anecdote I shared about a Black journalists delayed ALS diagnosis after doctors assumed he was a drug user and/or HIV sufferer, Casey expressed anger and frustration that the doctors they had seen assumed the same of Dewayne. She explained that his Medicaid insurance only functioned in Washington, D.C., which complicated access to care for a second opinion. But Dewayne was in the streets making decent moneyso, he tried to assure the hospitals he could pay for his visits in cash. Nonetheless, multiple research hospitals refused to see him. She looked at me dejectedly and sighed, Chelsey, what do I do? Casey and I worked together to get Dewayne the answers he deserved. I connected her with various non-profit organizations to get her durable medical equipment, social support, and, most importantly, a doctors visit at a leading ALS clinic in Maryland. Unfortunately, they had to wait four months for the appointment. After much prodding by Casey, Dewayne finally agreed to meet with me during my visit to the D.C. area. As I walked into an upscale casual dining restaurant in Bowie, Maryland, there stood Dewayne wearing an Avengers t-shirt, Nike sweats, and Jordan sneakers. Next to Dewayne stood a light-skinned Black man with an ankh around his neck and all-black attire. Dewayne introduced him as his bodyguard. A tired-looking and makeup-less Casey approached me and gave me a warm hug. As soon as we sat down, Dewayne looked at me and said, So, youre the one thats been helping me out? I smiled shyly and said, No, Ive just been giving Casey some advice. He said, Nah. Youve been doing more than that. Thank you. He hesitated for a moment and then asked, So, whats the tell-tale sign for this ALS shit? I wasnt ready for this line of questioning. Frankly, Im not used to being asked questions. In my head, I was prepared to field some softball questions to Dewayne about his diagnosis journey and ongoing physical changes hoping to expand my ethnographic research from St. Louis to new geographic sites. I quickly gathered my thoughts and said, Well, the diagnosis means that a person would have both upper and lower motor neurons affected. He looked bewildered. So basically, my upper and lower body? he asked. I nodded. At this point, he began to open up more about his experiences, recounting how three years earlier he had been diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his ankle that never resolved, despite doctors assurances that it would. In his subsequent visits, doctors were unable to provide any answers that moved him toward a permanent recovery. As he continued sharing his story, I observed Dewayne struggling to eat his lunch. When Casey quietly whispered across the table, Do you want me to cut your food? he quickly retorted indignantly, Nah, Im good. He was not good. Dewayne was having issues with gripping the fork and raising it to his mouth, and he left most of his food uneaten. Towards the end of our lunch, he looked over to me and said, I know I dont have ALS. I know God wouldnt do me like that. Im only 36, and Im a Black man. I read online that this doesnt affect black people like that. I was speechless for a moment but then managed to but respond: I hope you dont have it either. My intuition told me otherwise. That day I wrote in my notes: Im not a doctor. But you can tell that he has classic signs of ALS, and has had it since 2016, and no one has formally diagnosed him and that breaks my heart. A month later, the day of his appointment, I received a text from Casey that said, Its ALS. The Hopkins doctor thinks its [sic] ALS too. Hes COMPLETELY in denial and gets offended if anyone mentions that its ALS. Despite my hope for this 36-year-old Black man, he was formally diagnosed with an incurable disease over three years after his first symptoms. How did this happen? Why did it take three years for Dewayne to be diagnosed with ALS? The easy answer to these questions is that the U.S. healthcare system is broken and abysmal. However, this is much deeper than a broken healthcare system. This is more than negligence, more than poor physician training, and more than a Black patients purported distrust of the medical system: this was bias. This is bias. Over the past twenty-four months of ethnographic homework (Carter 2019), I have learned how epistemological biases in scientific research, coupled with biases in public awareness systems, lead to inadequate consideration of who can or cannot contract certain diseases. Gendered and racial biases in the ALS community are written off as further unknowns of the disease pathology and etiology rather than opportunities for scientific exploration. In an embodied way, as I saw with Dewayne and others, ALS researchers and clinicians are biased toward the belief that Black people cannot contract certain diseases, like ALS. Doctors did not initially diagnose Dewayne and instead decided that he must have HIV, multiple sclerosis, an immune disorder, neuropathy, or be a drug user. Dewayne did not have any of these ailments. The ALS disease experiences of White people are consistently foregrounded in public imaginations of ALS, and diagnostic biases based on race and gender negatively impact the lived experiences of Black people with ALSleaving their experiences out of the story completely and perpetuating a biological narrative that ALS only affects white people. Consequently, Black ALS patients are not a part of knowledge production about how ALS impacts their lives biologically, socially, and culturally. The Black patients I observed have longer diagnostic time periods than white patients and more negative experiences with doctors and resource partners. Anthropologists, sociologists, public health scholars and historians of medicine have long confirmed that Black bodies are made and experienced differently than white bodies by Western biomedicine, which is committed to racialized notions of immunity, susceptibility and death (Benjamin 2019; Davis 2019, Hoberman 2012, Roberts 1999, Wailoo 2014, Williams & Mohammed 2013). Using Margaret Locks local biologies (1993) as a point of departure, I argue for the need for the concept of racialized local biologies. A racialized local biology is an important analytic that frames the way race and medicine are enacted in the U.S. and globally; the concept of racialized local biologies forces attention to the biases in favor of whiteness and examines how diseases adapt in certain racialized communities. The local matters because race and racism as constituted in the U.S. are particular to the nations specific context, which is apparent in hyper-segregated St. Louis, the site of my research. For anthropologists and others to truly attend with the ways racism operates in the U.S. and globally, we must attend to the specifics of U.S.-based constructions of race and disease and the affective dimensions of race, racialization, and racism at home in the U.S. The local matters. My intervention situates racism in the foreground of analysis as a powerful force within medical systems in the production of kinds of bodies, moving beyond the invocation of structural violence, biopower, social suffering, and other frameworks of socio-cultural marginalization within biomedicine and its knowledge production practices. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemics impact on the Black community sheds light on the importance of examining local functions of racism and health (Carter & Sanford 2020). When we anthropologists look at Black people and people of color broadly with ALS, or any rare, life-limiting disease, we have to realize how and why race, gender, class, and culture operate. These powerful social constructions are just as important for patient care as are biological and genetic discoveries of disease etiology and pathology. Inequitable healthcare encounters, especially those that disproportionately affect Black people with ALS, rupture stories of White-only disease experience. Exposing these biases in ALS epistemic paradigms will push biomedical researchers to reimagine how race and class operate in niche diseases like ALS in the U.S. This reimagining disrupts assumptions that Black people are exclusively affected by Black-only diseases, like diabetes, hypertension, sickle-cell and certain cancers, while White people only are susceptible to a myriad of unknown, life-limiting diseases worthy of research, innovation, treatment, and a cure. The particular localities of racism and bias are embedded in scientific inquiry and systems of care that overwhelmingly affect the poor and the marginalized. And frankly, Black people in the U.S. and across the diaspora deserve better. Chelsey Carter is an MPH/PhD candidate in Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research examines how Black people with neuromuscular diseases (like ALS) navigate healthcare spaces and experience care by healthcare institutions in post-Ferguson St. Louis, Missouri. Chelseys scholarship has been recognized and funded by the Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation (NSF), the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Wenner Gren Foundation, the Edward Bouchet Graduate Honor Society and the Spencer T. & Ann W. Olin Fellowship for Women in Graduate Study. Her work has also been honored by the Majorie Shostak Award for Excellence in Ethnographic Writing and the Heart of Emory award. She can be found on Twitter at @AudreTaughtMe2. References ALS Association. (2017). Facts You Should Know. Retrieved from: http://www.alsa.org/about-als/facts-you-should-know.html Benjamin, R. (2019). Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools For The New Jim Code. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Carter, C. 2019. Homework: The highs and lows of anthropology at home. Anthrodendum website. June 27, 2019. Carter, Chelsey and Ezelle Sanford III (2020). The Myth of Black Immunity: Racialized Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic. St. Louis American website and print, April 16, 2020. http://www.stlamerican.com/news/columnists/guest_columnists/the-myth-of-black-immunity/article_856a576c-7f86-11ea-b39e-cb879ea778bb.html Davis, D. A. (2019). Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth. NYU Press. Hoberman, J. 2012 Black and Blue: The Origins and Consequences of Medical Racism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Lock M. (1993). Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America. Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press. Roberts, D. E. (1999). Killing the black body: Race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. Vintage. Wailoo, K. (2014). Dying In The City Of The Blues: Sickle Cell Anemia And The Politics Of Race And Health. UNC Press Books. Williams D.R. & Mohammed S.A. (2013). Racism and Health I: Pathways and Scientific Evidence. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(8):11521173. Share this: Share Email Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr LinkedIn [view academic citations] [hide academic citations] Name: Terrie Wood Party: Republican Race: State House 141st District Republican state Rep. Terrie Wood is up for re-election for a seventh term as state representative for Darien and Norwalk. Wood, who is running on the Republican ticket, was first elected to state representative in the 141st district in 2008 when she ran unopposed, receiving 9,304 votes. She ran unopposed in 2010, 2014 and 2018. In 2012, Wood defeated Democratic challenger Rob Werner, receiving 7,992 votes to Werners 3,806. She also defeated Democratic challenger Randy Klein in 2016s election, getting 8,709 votes to Kleins 3,979. Wood, co-founder of The Darien Environmental Group, is married with three children. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. He underwent a routine COVID-19 test in the morning, for which the results came positive. He, however, is asymptomatic and is not experiencing and health issues. Following the development, Naidu has been put under home quarantine. His wife, Usha Naidu has tested negative for coronavirus and is in self-isolation. "The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home quarantine. His wife Smt. Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation," the Vice President Secretariat tweeted. The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home quarantine. His wife Smt. Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation. Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) September 29, 2020 Earlier today, addressing a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) on post-COVID healthcare world, Naidu called for making good quality healthcare accessible and affordable for all. He also urged the private sector to pitch in to develop modern facilities in rural India, encouraging them to take full advantage of Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative in boost the manufacturing of various medical devices, including hi-tech and advanced equipment. India has recorded 61.45 lakh cases of coronavirus, with more than 96,000 casualties. There are over 94,000 patients still under treatment in hospitals for the deadly virus, while morre than 51 lakh patients have been discharged. In 24 hours to 8:00 am on September 29, 70,589 news cases were recorded in India, with 84,877 recoveries and 776 deaths. ALSO READ: Global COVID-19 deaths cross 1 million; 5,400 fatalities reported every 24 hours ALSO READ: Centre will assess all coronavirus vaccines before signing purchase contracts ALSO READ: COVID-19 pandemic: One in every 250th person on Earth now infected Microsoft rolls back change that caused the outage and stopped Microsoft 365 services from working, said they are looking into exactly what caused it. Some users are still affected by the outage. Roughly about four hours ago, Microsoft announced on Twitter that a recent change it had introduced lead to a major outage that affected users' access to multiple Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook.com and Microsoft Teams. The Microsoft 365 Status posted on Twitter that they have published MO222965 to the Microsoft 365 Admin Dashboard, and will also be updating http://status.office.com with updates to our investigation. And followed it up with - We've rolled back the change that is likely the source of impact and are monitoring the environment to validate that service is recovering. Please visit https://t.co/AEUj8uAGXl for additional information on this issue. Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 28, 2020 While Microsoft rolled back the change, they said that they were not observing an increase in successful connections after rolling back a recent change and that they were working to evaluate additional mitigation solutions while we investigate the root cause. A moment ago nothing was working, then I went into files in teams and it was working, now nothing is working. Well I guess now I have an excuse to not do work and watch TV. Thank you Microsoft !!! Blaze| #WeWantThe100Prequel | #SoylunaParaSiempre (@Midnightblaze05) September 28, 2020 As a solution, Microsoft said that they were pursuing mitigation steps for the issue and rerouting traffic to alternate systems in the meanwhile to provide relief to the users affected. Microsoft did not mention how many users were affected by this outage. Several Twitter users complained that the outage meant they could miss their job interviews and deadline for college assignments. The Xbox maker also said they were working to evaluate other solutions while they investigate the root cause of the outage. Were continuing to see significant improvement for affected services and most users should be experiencing relief. Additional details can be found at https://t.co/AEUj8uAGXl. Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 29, 2020 The issue seems to have been resolved for now as some users tweeted that things were working fine for them. Our services appear to be fully restored. I believe our services started seeing improvements a little after 7 pm CST. Took about another 30 - 45 minutes to get through the rest of our services and be fully restored. All good now... Thank you! John Haverty (@havertyj) September 29, 2020 The outage lead to many users being unable to access any services that leveraged Azure Active Directory (AAD) including Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Teams Live Events as well as Office.com. Power Platform and Dynamics365 properties were also affected by this incident. Microsoft mentioned on status.office.com that existing customer sessions have not been impacted and any user who is logged in to an existing session will be able to continue their sessions. However, the company added that while the majority of services have recovered for most customers, a small subset of users whose tenants are located in the North American region are still impacted. Microsoft is currently working on mitigation steps for these customers. The majority of services are now recovered for most users. Were closely monitoring some residual impact for a subset customers located within North America. Please visit https://t.co/lbjX5iaxCX for additional information. Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 29, 2020 We shall update our story with more information as soon as we receive it. (With agency inputs) Waco-area leaders working to promote the census voiced worry about an undercount Monday as the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it will wrap up its head count by Oct. 5. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that census workers will stop going door to door and individuals will not be able to self-respond after Oct. 5, the Associated Press reported. Citing the likelihood of an undercount, a federal judge Sept. 24 issued a preliminary injunction against the bureaus decision earlier this month to wrap up the counting at the end of September, which was a month than earlier scheduled. The back-and-forth has been a challenge for census effort in Waco, said Dale Fisseler, a former city manager who serves as chair of Wacos Census Complete Count Committee. He said the local census office initially struggled to hire enough people to follow up with unresponsive residents, and by the time it was fully staffed, the deadline was moved up. Census data is used to calculate federal funding for state and local services such as public education, public health and transportation, as well as political representation, and Fisseler said an undercount could have consequences locally. Littman Krooks Attorneys Named Super Lawyers in New York for 2020 Bernard A. Krooks, JD, CPA, LLM, CELA, AEP (Distinguished), Amy C. OHara, Esq., and Marion M. Walsh, Esq., partners in the law firm Littman Krooks LLP, have been named by Super Lawyers magazine as top attorneys in New York for 2020. In addition, Stephanie L. Goldstein, Esq., has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine. Their selection is the result of a rigorous, multi-step selection process based on peer recognition, professional achievement as well as independent research on each candidate. Only five percent of the attorneys in New York State earn this distinction. Krooks is a founding partner of the law firm Littman Krooks LLP and Chair of its Elder Law and Special Needs Department. He is a nationally recognized expert in all aspects of elder law and special needs planning. He is a member of the Estate Planning Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). He is also past President of the Board of Directors of the Arc of Westchester, the largest agency in Westchester County serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Along with Krooks, OHara is recognized as a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation. She is Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Special Needs Alliance, a national organization comprised of attorneys who practice law and advocate for people living with special needs and disabilities, the elderly, and their families. OHara is also President of the Board of Directors of Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that aims to improve the quality of life and the rights for all people with disabilities. Walsh has been named to Super Lawyers in recognition her work in education law. She brings 20 years of experience to the practice and has led the firms special education department for the past eight years. Walsh has extensive experience in advocacy, impartial hearings, state review proceedings and federal appeals and works tenaciously for clients in all capacities. Much of her practice focuses on assisting students with complex mental health challenges to obtain an appropriate school placement and services. She also serves on the Board of Directors of NAMI Westchester, a not-for-profit organization that aims to support those with mental health conditions and their families. Goldstein focuses her practice on estate litigation and estate planning as well as guardianship matters. She has extensive experience litigating in New York State Supreme Courts and at all levels of administrative hearings. She received her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law where she was involved in the Childrens Rights and Family Law Clinic. Ms. Goldstein is a member of the Technology Committee of the Westchester County Bar Association. Read more about the firm here. About Littman Krooks LLP Littman Krooks provides sophisticated legal advice and the high level of expertise ordinarily associated with large law firms along with the personal attention and responsiveness of smaller firms. These ingredients, which are the cornerstone of effective representation and are necessary to a successful lawyer/client relationship, have become the foundation of the firms success. Littman Krooks LLP offers legal services in several areas of law, including elder law, estate planning, special needs planning, special education advocacy, and corporate and securities. Their offices are located at 399 Knollwood Road, White Plains, New York and 655 Third Avenue, New York, New York. Visit us at http://www.littmankrooks.com. SIUEs Tim Jacks, PhD, associate professor and computer management and information systems (CMIS) undergraduate program director. Various threats, such as denial of services attacks, ransomware, phishing, and cryptojacking are all on the rise. Our program deliberately emphasizes a combination of business and technology skills while offering industry standard certification opportunities. There is a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals, according to the 2019 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Workforce Demand Report, including more than 25,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Illinois and Missouri alone. To meet this critical demand, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles School of Business has launched a new undergraduate cybersecurity specialization. The School of Business recognizes how critical cybersecurity has become for businesses of all sizes, said Tim Jacks, PhD, associate professor and computer management and information systems (CMIS) undergraduate program director. Various threats, such as denial of services attacks, ransomware, phishing, and cryptojacking are all on the rise. Our program deliberately emphasizes a combination of business and technology skills while offering industry standard certification opportunities. Curriculum for the new specialization has been developed by the Department of CMIS following rigorous guidelines published by the Joint Task Force on Cybersecurity Education, the IEEE Computer Society, and the Association for Information systems (AIS). To ensure real-world relevancy of coursework, the department is also leveraging strategic partnerships with local law enforcement, the FBI, Scott Air Force Base, and the Gateway Higher Education Cybersecurity Consortium (GHECC). Students specializing in cybersecurity will take required coursework in information security while having the opportunity to select electives such as security and analysis, IT audit and control, ethical hacking and penetration testing, and cybercrime. Throughout the program, students will be provided with industry certification opportunities such as Security+, Certified Ethical Hacking, and Certified Information Systems Security Professional. To provide students with immersive, hands-on cybersecurity experiences, the program offers a unique cyber classroom that emulates a Network Operations Command Center (NOCC). The Ralph and Donna Korte Cyber-Analytics Classroom makes use of large, flat-paneled monitors to display lecture slides, software demonstrations, and real-time dashboards of cyber incidents occurring around the world. A rack of functioning telecommunications equipment provides students with the experience of seeing how firewalls, routers and servers interact and physically connect. Having a dedicated space sends a clear signal of how important this is for the School and our students, said Jacks. We intend to educate the next generation of students that will protect businesses and keep them operational and safe. These future cybersecurity professionals will enter the workforce having had immersive, interactive learning experiences. The Department of Labor forecasts 0% unemployment in the cybersecurity industry in the next 5-7 years. Students completing a bachelors in business administration with the cybersecurity specialization will be prepared for entry level positions such as security analysis, security operations, incident response, IT auditing, security provisioning, and threat detection. For more information, visit siue.edu/business-administration. SIUEs School of Business and the accountancy programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. The Princeton Review lists SIUE as one of the top 252 business schools in the U.S. for the 13th consecutive year. Undergraduate degrees are offered in accountancy and business administration, with specializations in computer management and information systems (CMIS), economics, entrepreneurship, finance, human resources, international business, management and marketing. Graduate degrees include accountancy, business administration, CMIS and marketing research, with specializations in tax, project management and business analytics. More than 26,000 alumni have earned degrees from the SIUE School of Business. For more information about the School of Business, visit siue.edu/business. WASHINGTON - Michael Flynn's lawyer asked President Donald Trump not to pardon his former national security adviser and personally briefed the president on Flynn's case in recent weeks, his attorney told a judge during a Tuesday hearing reviewing the Justice Department's bid to dismiss the prosecution. Sidney Powell, a lawyer for Flynn, told the judge she had talked with Trump and a legal adviser for his campaign and "asked him not to issue a pardon and gave him the general update." Powell said that was the only time she had talked with Trump about Flynn's case. She told the judge she had not asked the president to have Attorney General William Barr intervene and assign new attorneys to the matter. The exchange between Powell and U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was one of the most notable during a hearing for the court to assess whether to grant a request from the Justice Department and Flynn's attorney to dismiss the former three-star general's prosecution. Flynn was the highest-ranking Trump adviser charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Throughout the hearing, Sullivan emphasized that his role is not to serve as a "rubber stamp" in reviewing Barr's request to close the case after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts before Trump took office in 2017. The Justice Department pushed back forcefully Tuesday against assertions that it had abandoned the case against Flynn for political reasons. Kenneth Kohl, a veteran career prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, told Sullivan that the "allegations against our office that we somehow acted with a corrupt political motive are just not true. It didn't happen here." The decision to dismiss the case, he said, "was the right call for the right reasons." The climactic confrontation could help define the limits of executive- and judicial-branch powers and comes weeks before an election in which Flynn's contentious prosecution has electrified Trump's supporters and opponents. The hearing follows an 8-2 decision from the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in August that denied Flynn's request, backed by the Justice Department, to shut down Sullivan's planned review. The court's order also directed Sullivan to act "with appropriate dispatch." Flynn, 61, has been awaiting sentencing since pleading guilty in December 2017 to lying about his contacts with Russia's ambassador after Moscow intervened to support Trump in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump and his allies have made Flynn's cause a focus of efforts to discredit the criminal inquiry into whether individuals associated with Trump's campaign cooperated with Russia's illegal assistance. The efforts include government disclosures that have drawn fresh scrutiny to the judgment of FBI agents and Mueller prosecutors but have not undercut findings that the FBI had a legal basis to open the wider investigation and acted without political bias. The Justice Department in May moved to drop Flynn's guilty plea to lying about his pre-inauguration contacts with then-Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Flynn asked that Moscow not respond to U.S. sanctions until Trump took office. The department based the reversal on Barr's conclusion from a review he ordered that Flynn's interview by the FBI "was unjustified by the counterintelligence investigation into [him]" and so his lies were immaterial to any crime. A battle is looming over a judge's power and an attorney general's motives in the case of Trump's former national security adviser Law enforcement officials and Democratic critics condemned the turnabout, accusing Barr of undermining the department and protecting the president, citing the drive to exonerate Flynn and soften the sentencing of Trump friend Roger Stone for lying to investigators in a House Russia probe. They also point to efforts to facilitate the early prison release of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, convicted of crimes stemming from his lobbying for a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine. Tuesday's hearing turns on a federal rule that requires U.S. prosecutors to obtain "leave of court" - or permission from a judge - before dismissing a prosecution. Sullivan, the longest-serving active federal judge on the district court in Washington and a judicial nominee of presidents of both parties, appointed former New York federal judge John Gleeson to argue against the government to preserve an adversarial proceeding. Sullivan cited Gleeson's argument Tuesday that the rule gives judges a limited but vital role and was passed specifically to guard against "politically corrupt dismissals." Sullivan stressed his authority to decide the matter, reading twice from an earlier court opinion that a judge not "serve merely as a rubber stamp" on a prosecutors' decision to dismiss a case. Sullivan also sounded skeptical of the Justice Department's assertion that Flynn's lies were irrelevant because they were not connected to another crime. The judge said it is never a defense to lying to say that "the government was not actually deceived," or to argue that prosecutors cannot investigate a subject who lies. Justice Department lawyer Hashim Mooppan told Sullivan that the government was "not suggesting that this court is a rubber stamp, or that the court has no role to play whatsoever." But he said the court should not "second guess the executive branch's authoritative position." The hearing was held remotely Tuesday via video and telephone conference because of the coronavirus pandemic. The proceedings were interrupted for a stretch because of technical problems. A swift ruling is expected. Flynn's attorneys claim the judge has engaged in a "flagrant personal and partisan assault" against him. The Justice Department asserts the executive branch has sole power to dismiss cases. Gleeson argues the Supreme Court intended for the judicial branch to weigh whether dismissal is in the public's interest before approving corrupt or politically motivated requests. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying in an FBI interview on Jan. 24, 2017, to conceal conversations with Kislyak. Flynn repeated the lie to White House staffers and Vice President Mike Pence, leading to the firing of Trump's first national security adviser three weeks later. Flynn cooperated with the Mueller probe, and leniency was initially recommended at sentencing. But he switched course after Mueller's investigation, accusing prosecutors and his former defense attorneys of concealing FBI misconduct and coercing him into pleading guilty. The department rejected those claims through the past year, and Sullivan ruled Flynn was relying on bogus theories to deny Mueller's central finding of Russian interference and to wriggle out of his repeated sworn admissions of misconduct. "The sworn statements of Mr. Flynn and his former counsel belie his new claims of innocence and his new assertions that he was pressured into pleading guilty to making materially false statements to the FBI," Sullivan wrote in December. But at Barr's direction, the Justice Department launched a review of the case in January. In moving to dismiss Flynn's conviction on May 7, it cited "frail and shifting justifications for its ongoing probe," the FBI's irregular moves to question him and earlier abuses in surveillance applications. The department cited recently uncovered FBI records including communications showing the bureau had decided to close a counterintelligence investigation of Flynn - dubbed Operation Razor - before learning of his December 2016 calls with Kislyak. The Justice Department also said that the FBI knew from transcripts that the calls probably did not give rise to a crime by themselves and that FBI officials differed over how to handle or interpret his actions. In response, more than 1,100 former prosecutors said in a friend-of-the-court brief that the Justice Department distorted facts and appeared to have been bent to serve the president's will. Gleeson urged Sullivan to deny the dismissal motion, calling it "a gross abuse of prosecutorial power." "The Government has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President," Gleeson summarized, saying, "There is clear evidence . . . [that it] reflects a corrupt and politically motivated favor unworthy of our justice system." Gleeson argued the FBI had ample, legitimate grounds to investigate Flynn's lies, which went to the heart of the investigation of whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia's intervention in the election, whether Flynn was seeking to reward Russia at Trump's direction or that of others, and whether his lies exposed Flynn to Russian blackmail. Flynn faces a sentence of zero to six months under his initial plea deal. Flynn's initial defense team postponed a December 2018 sentencing hearing after Sullivan balked at a recommendation of probation. At one point, Sullivan summarized Flynn's lies to the FBI and to the White House and about his lobbying work for Turkey by saying, "Arguably, you sold your country out." Flynn hired new attorneys in June 2019, led by former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, who called Sullivan's actions in the case unconstitutional. She argued that the "Executive Branch has exclusive authority and absolute discretion to decide whether to prosecute a case." The Justice Department agreed. Acting solicitor general Jeffrey Wall called Sullivan's inquiry impermissible, arguing to the D.C. Circuit that it "would usurp the core executive power to decide whether to continue a prosecution." Trump, Biden to Face Off in First Debate President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are set to face off Tuesday in their first head-to-head debate, with the Nov. 3 election just over a month away. The debate is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, last for 90 minutes, and feature the candidates answering questions about six topics, including COVID-19, violence in cities, and the economy. The Epoch Times sister media NTD Television will carry the debate. Viewers online can watch it on the NTD and The Epoch Times websites. The candidates will debate at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. They will not shake hands. They will debate before an audience of 100, a number limited by health concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Chris Wallace of Fox News will moderate the debate. The heated battle between the campaigns heightened on Tuesday in the hours leading up to the debate. Trumps campaign said Bidens campaign initially approved a request to have both candidates inspected for electronic devices before reversing the decision, which a Biden campaign official called completely absurd. Bidens campaign claimed Trumps campaign asked Wallace not to bring up how many Americans have died with COVID-19, which a Trump campaign official called a lie. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leaves after giving a speech in Wilmington, Del., on Sept. 27, 2020 (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Biden in the last week has stayed out of the public eye multiple times, ostensibly to prepare for the debate. The last time he campaigned in person was on Sept. 23, according to an Epoch Times review of his schedule. Biden told reporters that morning about debate preparation: Ive started to prepare, but I havent gotten into it really heavily. I will, beginning tomorrow. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he was getting prepared with the help of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who have been acting the role of Biden. Trump has said he thinks Biden will do great but has also called on his rival to undergo drug testing, citing an alleged uneven performance across the Democratic primary debates. Bidens deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield responded by accusing the president of making the claim in an attempt to deflect away from the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked by a reporter to respond to Trumps claims, Biden said, Hes almost No, I have no comment. The Biden campaign announced Tuesday that the nominees guests for the debate will be Kristin Urquiza, whose father died with COVID-19; Gurnee Green, a small business owner from Cleveland Heights; and James Evanoff Jr., a service technician in Cleveland who is part of the United Steel Workers union. Trumps guests will include his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Colby Covington, a Trump official told reporters during the flight to Cleveland. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the White House on Sept. 27, 2020. (Joshua Roberts/Getty Images) Corey Lewandowski, a senior Trump campaign adviser, said on Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning that Trump will remind viewers of all the promises he made and all the promises hes delivered. Biden, he added, has never solved a problem despite spending decades in Washington. Asked what he wants to accomplish during the debate, Biden told reporters that he plans to tell the truth, without expanding further. The second debate, slated for Miami on Oct. 15, will be moderated by Steve Scully, an executive producer for C-SPAN, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates, which describes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit that handles scheduling and details for presidential debates. Kristen Welker, a White House correspondent for NBC News, was tabbed to moderate the third debate, scheduled in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22. USA Todays Washington bureau chief Susan Page is marked down to moderate the sole debate between the vice president and the Democrat nominee. Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) will debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 7. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. New ambition will focus on helping both students and professionals gain job skills sought after by industry for sustainable innovation 3DEXPERIENCE Edu combines a new portfolio of learning experiences, publications, partnerships, competitions and certifications with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform Dassault Systemes' industry leadership plays a key role in improving employability Dassault Systemes (Paris:DSY) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today unveiled 3DEXPERIENCE Edu, its new ambition to help students and professionals thrive in the workplace with in-demand industry skills for sustainable innovation. With 3DEXPERIENCE Edu, Dassault Systemes will drive its key role in building the workforce of the future by opening up new possibilities on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for lifelong learning and for connecting academic institutions with industry to foster employability. 3DEXPERIENCE Edu will deliver skills-related publications, establish global partnerships and educational centers, and engage students in sustainability challenges and competitions, as well as offer a new portfolio of learning experiences and certifications for professionals on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. These programs and resources aim to foster collective intelligence on key emerging roles and skills, redefine the way academic institutions and businesses collaborate to accelerate the adoption of new methods in industry, and transform education through experience-based learning. While studies have already revealed a disconnect between the skills needed to fill today's job vacancies and academic curricula, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed needs for reskilling, upskilling and training to help companies and academic institutions accelerate their transformation. Hybrid learning is becoming the new norm in education. Whether online or in class, learning is about people engagement. Experience-based learning is the solution for learners to actively grow their skills by creating projects and collaborating actively with their peers, experts and mentors. "To foster industry growth in the COVID-19 era, people must be able to adapt to new ways of working, businesses must equip workers for fast-evolving roles and find workers that have the right skills, and industry must work with educators to reduce the gap between their needs and what is taught in classes," said Florence Verzelen, Executive Vice President, Industry, Marketing, Global Affairs, Workforce of the Future, Dassault Systemes. "We have long been a strategic partner for industry, which puts us in a unique position to know what skills jobs require and how to prepare them. 3DEXPERIENCE Edu offers a new world that empowers the workforce of the future with knowledge and know-how. We can engage people and transform how they learn, teach, make and share to imagine sustainable innovations." 3DEXPERIENCE Edu builds upon Dassault Systemes' decades of experience in 11 industries, to support five million students of all ages every year as well as academic institutions, companies, and professionals seeking to improve their knowledge, expertise or employability. This includes providing educational packages to organizations worldwide during COVID-19 lockdowns, and partnerships with Re-Engineering Australia Foundation, Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Illinois Institute of Technology on life sciences, and the World Economic Forum on advanced manufacturing skills. Social media: Share this on Twitter: New 3DXEdu ambition from @Dassault3DS to help students professionals thrive with skills sought by industry 3DEXPERIENCE Connect with Dassault Systemes on Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube For more information: 3DEXPERIENCE Edu publications on skills wanted for sustainable innovations: https://www.3ds.com/training/skills-wanted-for-sustainable-innovations/ 3DEXPERIENCE Edu portfolio of learning experiences and certifications: https://learningspace.3ds.com 3DEXPERIENCE Edu "Innovate for Sustainability" challenge: https://edu.3ds.com/en/challenges/innovate-sustainability Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: http://www.3ds.com About Dassault Systemes Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. We provide business and people with collaborative 3D virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. By creating virtual experience twins of the real world with our 3DEXPERIENCE platform and applications, our customers push the boundaries of innovation, learning and production. Dassault Systemes brings value to more than 270,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com 3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass icon, the 3DS logo, CATIA, BIOVIA, GEOVIA, SOLIDWORKS, 3DVIA, ENOVIA, EXALEAD, NETVIBES, MEDIDATA, CENTRIC PLM, 3DEXCITE, SIMULIA, DELMIA, and IFWE are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes, a French "societe europeenne" (Versailles Commercial Register B 322 306 440), or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005107/en/ Contacts: Dassault Systemes Press Contacts Corporate France Arnaud MALHERBE arnaud.malherbe@3ds.com +33 (0)1 61 62 87 73 North America Suzanne MORAN suzanne.moran@3ds.com +1 (781) 810 3774 EMEAR Virginie BLINDENBERG virginie.blindenberg@3ds.com +33 (0) 1 61 62 84 21 China Grace MU grace.mu@3ds.com +86 10 6536 2288 India Santanu BHATTACHARYA santanu.bhattacharya@3ds.com +91 124 457 7111 Japan Yukiko SATO yukiko.sato@3ds.com +81 3 4321 3841 Korea HeeSoo YOON heesoo.yoon@3ds.com +82 2 3270 7831 AP South Pallavi MISRA pallavi.misra@3ds.com +65 90221874 NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has released the admit card for the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test 2020 for the Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics (PCM) group on its official website mhtcet2020.mahaonline.gov.in. Candidates who registered for the MHT CET 2020 examination can download their hall tickets by visiting the official website of the board. Earlier on September 26, the MHT CET had released the admit card for the PCB group. The exams for physics, chemistry, and biology (PCB) will be held on 1, 2 October and 4-9 October. The exams for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics (PCM) will be held from 12-16 October and 19-20 October. The admit card for MHT CET 2020 exam will contain details such as- exam date and time, MHT CET exam centre address, candidate personal details and exam day instructions along with COVID-19 guidelines. Live TV Here's the direct link to download MHT CET admit card 2020. Follow these steps to download MHT CET admit card 2020: STEP 1: Visit the official website of MHT CET - mhtcet2020.mahaonline.gov.in STEP 2: Go to login section STEP 3: Key in your credentials and login STEP 4: Click on proceed STEP 5: Click on the link that reads, 'Download hall tickets' STEP 6: Select the Subject (PCM) and click on search STEP 7: The MHT CET admit card 2020 for PCM will be displayed on the screen STEP 8: Download the hall ticket and take its print out for future use. The MHT-CET or Common Entrance Test is an annual entrance exam conducted by the Maharashtra government. It is conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education. The degree courses of the following streams are mainly accounted for in this entrance exam: Engineering and Pharmacy. The MHT CET 2020 exam was earlier scheduled to be held in April, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent nationwide lockdown. MHT CET admit card 2020 carries information like exam date and time, MHT CET exam centre address, candidate personal details and exam day instructions along with covid-19 guidelines. It is mandatory for candidates appearing for MHT CET to carry their admit card to exam hall. More than 5.3 lakh candidates have registered to appear for the MHT CET 2020 examination. Around 2.8 lakh candidates have registered for the PCB group out of which 2.5 lakh candidates have registered for the Physics-Chemistry-Mathematics (PCM) group. B.Pharm eligibility criteria in Maharashtra for first-year admissions: Common criteria for Maharashtra State Candidature Candidates and All India Candidature Candidates include: Candidates need to have passed their 10+2 aka 12th standard, with science stream. Candidates need to have an aggregate of 50% in the qualifying exam with mandatory subjects like Physics, Chemistry with Mathematics or Biology. However, reserved category candidates from Maharashtra need to have a 45% aggregate score in these subjects. Specific eligibility criteria for admission to B.Pharma course in Maharashtra: Maharashtra State candidature students - Candidates need to have a non-zero score in the CET exam that is conducted by Maharastra state. All India Candidates - Candidates who want to apply for admission into B Pharm course in Maharashtra need to have a non-zero score in NEET or equivalent CET exam. NEET score would be given preference over any other CET exam. NRI/ OCI/ PIO, Children of Indian workers in the Gulf countries, Foreign National - Candidates need to have an aggregate of at least 50% marks in the PCB or PCM. Candidates need to follow any other additional criteria that may be introduced in future by the appropriate authority as defined under the Act. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has ordered a departmental inquiry against their officer who allegedly leaked a part of actor Rhea Chakrabortys statement in connection with the drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death to a TV channel. NCB had recorded Chakrabortys statement for three days after which she was arrested on September 9. Sources said as Chakrabortys statement was shown on a national television channel, a senior officer confiscated mobile phones of all NCB officials present in Mumbai office, as the picture had the background of NCBs Mumbai office. The phones were checked and a report was made against the officer concerned and sent to Delhi. The officer was then taken off the investigations and sent to Delhi, said NCB sources. Meanwhile, according to NCB sources, all three actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor questioned in the connection with the drug link gave almost identical statements, which make it seem that they were tutored by a senior advocate. All the three actors told NCB that they did not use drugs, but only used to chat where they referred to a cigarette as maal, hashish as patla cigarette and marijuana as mota cigarette or roll, said NCB sources. Sources said Kapoor had brought CBD oil, but she claimed that it was brought for external use, which is not illegal. NCB sources also said the agency was authorised to place phones of suspects under monitoring, and that it had verified several calls of suspects before calling them for statements. Sources also said that phones of several Bollywood personalities were being monitored and they could be called for inquiry soon. By PTI JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "moving tribute" to former president and "key architect of India-Israel friendship" Shimon Peres on his death anniversary. Peres, a Nobel laureate, died on September 28, 2016. "Thank you #India's PM @narendramodi for this moving tribute to the late Shimon Peres, Israel's 9th President & a key architect of India-Israel friendship," Israeli foreign ministry said in a tweet. Peres as minister for regional cooperation had visited India twice, in August 2000 and January 2001. He visited India for the third time in January, 2002 as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. In glowing tributes to the former Israeli president, Modi in a video message, said that "he (Peres) had a special place in his heart for India", which was reciprocated by the Indians, and that his "life and work will continue to inspire humanities." "It's been four years since we lost president Peres. His was a life devoted to Israel," the prime minister said. Recalling the late Nobel laureate's farewell speech to the Israeli parliament, Modi said that "his love for his people" could be seen in what he said then. "I am taking leave of my position as president but not from my duty as a citizen. I was a President who loved his people, as of now I am a citizen in love with my people," Modi quoted Peres to have said. The prime minister also attributed Israel's success in the field of science and innovation to the efforts of its late president. "He knew the dangers of the world. That is why he made efforts to further world peace. He believed in science, innovation and technology," Modi said. "He rightly said that science and information are friends of all nations. It is wonderful to see Israel emerge as a technology powerhouse and as a start-up nation. This was something for which he worked through his life," the prime minister said. Modi also credited Peres for "creating a strong foundation" that helped "scale new heights" in Indo-Israel ties. "Shimon Peres had a special place in his heart for India. He appreciated our common democratic and cultural values. He came to India many times as a friend. India also has a great affection for him. Today, as ties between India and Israel scale new heights, it is because greats like Shimon Peres created a strong foundation for that," he said. "I can never forget my own interaction with him in 2014. He was full of energy, full of optimism and sharp as ever. All of us, the people of India and Israel, will continue to work together to realise his great vision. A vision of a 21st century partnership between our great ancient civilisations," he noted. "We owe this to him. I pay my tributes to president Peres. His life and work will continue to inspire humanities," he said. BSF seized a huge cache of arms and arrested three militants in a major operation from Mizorams Mamit district on Monday evening. The BSF seized a huge cache of arms which includes- 28 AK-47, one AK-74, a US-made gun, 28 magazine and 7,800 live ammunition. The BSF conducted a search operation in the Phuldungsei area of Mamit district, identified the militants and later apprehended them in an operation. The militants had hid the cache in a hidden box beneath the seat of a jeep. The intelligence unit received an input about a large cache of weapons which is going to enter within the border through Myanmar for insurgency in Mizoram and other areas in Northeast. The BSF was alerted about the militants, who then launched a search operation in the Mamit district and nabbed the militants with the arms. The seizure is believed to be one of the largest in the recent years. Officials said that the kind of weapons seized from the militants is used in terrorist operations throughout the world. The shooting gun which was seized was manufactured in the US. Apart from arms, BSF have also seized Indian currency. The militants have been handed to the local police. The Mizoram police will carry out further investigation into the matter. Officials said that the arrested militants belong to the National Liberation Front of Tripura or NLFT, a militant outfit in the region. Rakesh Asthana, the new DGP of BSF, has started operations against militancy, drugs and arms trade in the region. The BSF is trying to strengthen its intelligence unit and using electronic equipments on the border to step up vigilance in the area. In the past few months, BSF have seized arms and drugs from border states including Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Being found by leads in one of the most innovative cities in the world should not result from luck, but rather from high-performance digital strategies. Although there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, there are some critical ingredients to SEO success. SEOblog.com, a fast-growing website providing the latest SEO news, tips and resources and helping business owners connect with leading SEO agencies, has released its exclusive 2020 ratings naming the best SEO companies in Boston. SEOblog analysts determined the 16 best SEO companies in Boston based on dozens of key quantitative and qualitative factors. SEOblog industry experts examined each digital marketing agencys website, industry experience, market presence, client list, portfolio, expert certifications and authorship among other factors in its ranking system. SEOblog has provided an in-depth view of companies in a particular city or focus area on various directory pages to help business owners find the expert help they need to grow. This was a new, free offer added by SEOblog in 2019. Boston has several of the nations top SEO agencies that provide a very competitive digital marketing landscape. Boston is a small city, but geographically the region is quite expansive, making local SEO a lot of fun, said Lysa Miller, founder of Ladybugz Interactive Agency. I've seen so many SEO agencies get creative with their strategies (including ourselves). It's a small pool of SEO agencies and most of us know and support each other in the industry. It's a really great place to learn and work with some of the best SEO talent out there while helping businesses meet their SEO goals. Any Boston business wanting to stand out among its competitors needs an advantage. Being found by leads in one of the most innovative cities in the world should not result from luck, but rather from high-performance digital strategies, said Natasa Ljesevic, a marketing lead at Scopic. Although there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, there are some critical ingredients to SEO success. SEOblog.com rankings are updated regularly as the market shifts and new players emerge. SEOblog.com has published more than 2,300 agency listings with more added every day. There is no fee to participate, and the website welcomes all qualified agencies to apply. SEOblog.coms 16 Best SEO Companies in Boston in 2020: Brick Marketing, CommonMind, 829 Studios, Skyword, Compete Now, Seahawk Media, Livnup, LOCALiQ, Ladybugz Interactive Agency, Bardorf Legal Marketing, Incloud Design, Boston SEO Company, Scopic, GoingClear Interactive, Catalyst and Connelly Partners. Link: https://www.seoblog.com/best-seo-companies/boston/ About SEOblog.com SEOblog.com is a leading thought leadership site with a rich history of publishing educational and informative articles about SEO and digital marketing topics. In early 2019, SEOblog.com answered the call from buyers of digital marketing services that lacked unbiased, informative online resources and launched a comprehensive directory to highlight the best SEO companies in the United States -- https://www.seoblog.com/best-seo-companies/. SEOblogs mission is to connect businesses with qualified digital marketing agencies while also offering further SEO education, best practices and industry trends. SEOblog.com is a one-stop shop for educational SEO and digital marketing content, research, ratings and reviews for the best agencies in each local market across the United States. The website will be increasing its coverage of U.S. SEO agencies and accepting more guest blog posts in the coming months. Contact SEOblog if youre interested in getting involved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 11:22:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that more than 500 illegal migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast in the past week. "In the period of 22-28 September, 517 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," IOM said. The organization also said that 9,448 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued and returned to Libya so far this year, compared with 9,225 in 2019. The state of insecurity and chaos in Libya has encouraged thousands of migrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores. The IOM has repeatedly stressed that Libya is not a safe disembarkation point. The agency has been running the Assisted Voluntary Return program that arranges the return of illegal migrants stranded in Libya back to their countries of origin. Enditem Zurich, Switzerland -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2020 -- Clinical careers are best suited for professionals who are searching for an opportunity to advance scientific knowledge and impact the lives of those around them and worldwide. Clinical development and operations positions are varied and exciting, particularly in Zurich. The city is home to many of the world's renowned clinical firms and has the opportunity for immense career growth and success. The roles available in clinical development provide an insight into the new drugs and medical devices being brought onto the market. This is an immensely fulfilling opportunity to be part of the stages of research and clinical trials to propel the life science industry forward into the modern day advances which can impact many people's lives. EPM Scientific are the industry's leading recruitment specialists in clinical development and clinical operations and as part of the Phaidon International group are the preferred recruitment partner for over 70 world-leading companies. Founded in 2012, EPM Scientific has over 750 consultants with knowledge spanning 60+ countries worldwide to ensure clinical companies have the security in the knowledge that their biggest issue of securing talent is in expert safe hands. Clinical careers are an exciting opportunity to benefit the lives of people across the world, EPM Scientific's consultants also work to recruit beyond borders to ensure the brightest professionals in the sector are matched with a company of equal standing. The chances or fully producing a medicine are slim as only one or two compounds in 10,000, as reported by MS trust, actually result in being licensed treatments available to prescription or purchasing. It currently takes around 10-15 years for a testing medicine to reach the shelves of pharmacies with a staggering 90% of all medicines that are tested in people not making it further than the lab. Advances in technology are gradually starting to increase the speed of this process. However, the industry needs professionals who can grasp the increasing transformations due to digitalisation to make sure this pharmaceutical research is carried out effectively. EPM Scientific have invested in the training of their consultants to ensure the use of the best in class recruitment technology which ensures an effective, efficient hiring process for each individual candidate and client. The firm offer permanent, contract and multi-hire solutions in clinical development and operations as well as R&D, medical communications, medical affairs, engineering, pharmacovigilance and biometrics. Roles currently available through EPM Scientific are hugely varied and offer a wealth of opportunity: clinical supply consultant, preclinical scientific programme lead, clinical supply senior associate, director of regulatory affairs and laboratory technician to name just a few. The team of passionate consultants at EPM Scientific are dedicated to sourcing talent and helping them through every stage of the recruitment process from the initial interview stages to the eventual offer and acceptance. EPM Scientific have brilliant local knowledge of the clinical operations and development sector in Zurich but are also able to provide expertise in opportunities across Switzerland from Chur, Bern, Lucerne and Geneva. The firm work hard to ensure clinical managers do not have to spend more of their time worrying about their talent acquisition. EPM Scientific's team produce optimal results across the board and are relied on by 71 world-leading organisations. "During uncertain times, EPM Scientific offers reassurance. Crises come in many different forms financial crashes, oil gluts, and now a global pandemic", commented Luis Rolm, Global Marketing Director at EPM Scientific. He went on to say, "Yet, whatever the challenge, we remain steadfast in our service. We continue to offer guidance to clients in the life science sector and help them secure top talent." To find out more information about Medical Communications Careers in Switzerland visit https://www.epmscientific.ch/disciplines/medical-communications. For any media enquiries please contact Gary Elliott at Iconic Digital 020 7100 0726. For all other enquiries please contact EPM Scientific CH: +41 44 542 12 50. - For more information about EPM Scientific CH services, please go to https://www.epmscientific.ch. - EPM Scientific CH has a reach that extends to more than 60 countries internationally. The firm is a Life Sciences specialist, reimagining the way that recruitment is handled in this innovative sector. The decision by then-acting director Matt Albence was popular with ICE personnel who worried about exposing their families to the novel coronavirus, but Trump administration officials were irritated and wanted the president to be able to run on a campaign of tough enforcement, according to ICE and DHS officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to get into trouble with the White House. Albence retired last month. The number of students enrolled in colleges throughout Virginia has declined 1.3% this year, which amounts to a large sigh of relief for university and state leaders, who feared a drop of as much as 20% because of the coronavirus pandemic. Low-income students account for a large cross section of enrollment losses. There are 6,658 fewer students at Virginias public and private institutions of higher education this fall, according to colleges estimated figures that the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia released Tuesday. The largest drop was at community colleges, where enrollment sank an unexpected 10%. Enrollment at public four-year schools was essentially flat, and private schools saw an increase thanks to large gains made by Liberty University. Colleges ability to attract almost as many students despite the pandemic that upended their educational and community models illustrates their durability in the face of many challenges. Its still the best and most predictable pathway to a middle-class-or-above lifestyle, said Tod Massa, policy analytics director for SCHEV. Mumbai: Referring to an alleged threat given by Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut to actor Kangana Ranaut in an interview, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked if this was the way a parliamentarian should react. Raut has been made a respondent to the petition filed by Ranaut against the demolition carried out at her bungalow here by the Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on September 9. Even we dont agree with a word of what the petitioner (Ranaut) has said. But is this the way to address? the court said. We are also Maharashtrians. We are all proud Maharashtrians. But we dont go and break someones house. Is this the way to react? Dont you have any grace? asked a division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla. The high court, which stayed the demolition, is now conducting a final hearing on the actors petition which has sought damages of Rs 2 crore for the `illegal action. Earlier during the hearing on Tuesday, Raut submitted an affidavit where he denied that he had threatened Ranaut. While he had made a reference to Ranaut, it wasnt in the way that the petitioner had alleged, it said. At this the court said that at least Raut accepted that he had been talking about Ranaut in the interview, as at an earlier hearing, his lawyer had denied that Raut had made any reference to her at all. In an interview to a newschannel, Raut had allegedly used an objectionable word while referring to the actor, and further said What is law? Ukhad denge (we will demolish it). You are a parliamentarian. You have no respect for the law? You ask what is law? the bench said. Rauts lawyer conceded that the Rajya Sabha member should have been more responsible. He should not have said that. But there was no threatening message. He only said that the petitioner is very dishonest.That was a remark made after the petitioner said that Maharashtra is not safe, she said. The BMCs `H ward officer Bhagyawant Late, also made a respondent to the case, stated that Ranauts allegations of malice against him and the BMC were an attempt to divert the attention from the illegal construction at her Pali Hill bungalow. Senior counsel Anil Sakhre, who appeared for Late, said the officer was only performing his statutory duty in carrying out the demolition. But the court asked what the BMC was doing when the alleged illegal construction going on. Why did you wait to take any action until September 5 or September 7? You had turned a blind eye to it, the bench said. Ranauts counsel Dr Birendra Saraf reiterated that the actor had not constructed anything illegally, and even if there were some irregularities, those could have been regularised by the civic body. Saraf had alleged earlier that the BMC carried out the demolition out of malice and vendetta after Ranaut made some comments against the Mumbai police that irked the Shiv Sena- led government in Maharashtra. The court adjourned the hearing to October 5. Gunmen on Sunday evening killed a commercial motorcyclist and abducted the Interim Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Dr. Bege Katuka. Daily Trust gathered that the chairman was abducted on his way to his farm around Kidinu, a small settlement in Maraban Rido of Chikun Local Government Area around 4:00 pm. It was gathered that the commercial motorcyclist was hired by the council chairman to take him to the farm. Multiple sources have confirmed the abduction. The incident happened around 4-5 pm on Sunday on his way to the farm. He left his car somewhere and hired a commercial motorcycle operator to take him to the farm but on their way, they were attacked by the gunmen. The motorcyclist was shot dead while they whisked the interim chairman away. We suspect he was trailed because he was not a familiar face around this area, one source said. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates In a move to divest the stake held by its five shareholders, the initial public offering (IPO) of UTI Asset Management Company (AMC) has opened for subscription today and will end on October 1. The price band for the issue stood at Rs 552 - Rs 554 per share Here are top things to know about the IPO: The IPO is an offer for sale of 3,89,87,081 equity shares, or 30.75 per cent stake by the company's existing investors to raise Rs 2,152-2,160 crore. Investors can bid for a minimum of 27 equity shares or in multiples thereof. This means that one will have to shell out at least Rs 14,904 to bid for the issue. -In order to reduce promoter's share from 100% to 69.2%, the public issue consists of an offer for sale by shareholders including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, LIC, Punjab National Bank and T Rowe Price. First three shareholders will sell 10,459,949 shares each, while the other two will offload 3,803,617 shares each to pare their stake in the AMC, as per regulatory requirements. -SBI, LIC, BOB and PNB hold 18.24% each and also have their own AMCs, while T Rowe has a 26% stake in UTI AMC, according to the company's DHRP. Under Sebi's mutual fund regulations, a shareholder or a sponsor owning at least 10 per cent stake in an AMC is not allowed to have 10 per cent or more stake in another mutual fund house operating in the country. -The OFS also includes a reservation of up to 2,00,000 equity shares (constituting up to 0.16 per cent of the post-offer paid-up equity share capital) for purchase by eligible employees. -The objective of the offer is to achieve the benefits of listing the equity shares on the stock exchanges. Being an OFS, the net proceeds from the share sale of UTI AMC will go to existing shareholders SBI, LIC, BoB. - India's oldest mutual fund, UTI AMC filed draft papers with Sebi in December 2019. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) recently on June 23, 2020, gave its approval to the initial public offering (IPO) papers filed by UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC). -Through the allotment to anchor investors, the AMC has already raised nearly Rs 644.64 crore through such as Nomura (Singapore), Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore), ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, among others. -Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Axis Capital, Citigroup Global Markets India, DSP Merrill Lynch, ICICI Securities, JM Financial and SBI Capital Markets are the book running lead managers to the offer. -UTI AMC manages 178 domestic mutual fund schemes, comprising equity, hybrid, income, liquid, and money market funds. -This will be the third AMC to get listed on the stock exchanges after Nippon Life India Asset Management and HDFC AMC. As of September 30, 2019, the company had the largest share of monthly average AUM. According to Crisil Research, UTI AMC had the second-highest market share by AUM of PMS services in India. -Brokerages expect the allotment in UTI AMC equity shares to be on October 7, while listing of the equity shares on BSE and NSE is likely to be on October 12. - During the Q1 FY21 quarter, revenue increased 11.4% YoY to Rs 271 crore. The company has consistently generated positive operating cash flow over FY17-20, but it declined by 26.5% CAGR. Here's what analysts say about the IPO: HDFC Securities in its note said," Its Domestic Mutual Fund QAAUM was Rs1,336.3 billion as of June 30, 2020. UTI AMC has the highest proportion of its monthly average AUM as of June 30, 2020, attributable to B30 cities of the top ten asset management companies in India as of June 30, 2020. UTI AMC's size and diverse client base, coupled with its strong product portfolio and, particularly in B30 cities, extensive distribution network and widely recognized brand, position it to capitalise on future growth in the Indian mutual fund industry." Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities in its note said," Even though we are positive on the industry prospects from a long-term perspective, we take cognizance of some of the near-to-medium term headwinds. We think the IPO pricing is undemanding given the valuation HDFC AMC and Nippon AMC are currently commanding. We shall take a call on the stock rating at a later stage." Canara Bank Securities in its note said," UTI AMC's PE stands at 25.73x FY20 as com-pared to HDFC AMC's and Nippon Life AMC's PE of 35.43x and 37.06x FY20 respectively. Hence, we recommend to Subscribe UTI AMC IPO for listing as well as long term gains." Geojit in its note rated Subscribe to the UTI AMC IPO and said," Company's national footprint with a presence in many metropolitan and rural areas, and particular strength in B30 cities, has allowed them to leverage the UTI name and establish UTI as a brand which is recognised across the country. Jaikishan Parmar- Sr. Equity Research Analyst, Angel Broking said,"UTI AMC's operational profitability is lower vs. listed peers primarily owing to higher cost. With the growth in AUM, we expect the cost to grow at a slower speed, which will benefit operating leverage and will help the company to improve EBITDA margins. At the upper end of the IPO price band, it is offered at 25.4x its FY20 earnings and 5.25% of Q1FY21 QAAUM, demanding 7,024cr market cap, which we believe is reasonable. Further, listed peers like HDFC AMC trades at 35x FY20 earnings and Nippon AMC trades at 37x FY20 earnings. Additionally, HDFC and Nippon AMC trade at 12.56% and 8.55% of Q1FY21 QAAUM, respectively. Considering attractive valuation, huge growth potential of MF industry, asset-light business and higher dividend payout ratio, we are positive on this IPO and rate it as SUBSCRIBE." LKP Securities in its note said," At higher price band (Rs554), the stock is valued at 25.7(x)FY20 Earnings. Comparing with peers like HDFC AMC and Nippon AMC which are trading at 35.2(x) and 35.0(x)FY20 Earnings respectively due to higher ROE. We still believe that UTI AMC is lucrative and we recommend to SUBSCRIBE." Nirali Shah, Senior Research Analyst, Samco Securities said,"UTI has received a mandate to manage 55% of EPFO in 2019 which has significantly boosted its AUM. This AMC has delivered decent returns and profit margins in the past few years with a Mcap to Equity QAAUM of 18% compared to HDFC AMC's 29%. Additionally, this year itself it granted ESOPs at Rs. 728/share while its price band is at Rs. 552-554/share which means it leaves more money on the table for investors for listing gains." Centrum Broking said,"We are optimistic about the AMC space as asset management, being a fee based business is slated to grow (QAAUM) at an 18% CAGR in the medium term led by overall economic growth, growing investor base and higher disposable income levels. Recent regulatory changes such as revised expense ratios would lower costs for mutual fund investors which should aid in greater retail participation. Valuation is attractive with P/E at 25.4x FY20 EPS." Likhitha Infrastructure IPO opens today; 7 key things to know Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders IPO opens today: Price band, lot size, financials and more Stocks in news: Alkem Labs, IIFL Finance, Shalby, Central Bank of India, Max Healthcare Gold price trades above Rs 50,000 post six-day fall; Silver at Rs 60,000 Kalyan Singh was understood to be the real culprit behind the Babri Masjid demolition, but his officer in the information department, Anil Swarup, had some first-hand knowledge about what had happened on the day of demolition. Swarup later retired as the secretary of school education and literacy in the Ministry of Education. Excerpts from his book Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant: Ironically, what emerged in the judgement of the Supreme Court in 2019 was the solution that Kalyan Singh had been working on and attempting to convince various parties to come around to! While writing the chapter on Babri Masjid titled, When It All Came Crashing Down in my book Not Just A Civil Servant, I did face a dilemma. Kalyan Singh was understood to be the real culprit behind this demolition but I had some first-hand knowledge about what had happened on the day of demolition. I wondered whether that should be shared with the readers. There was nothing illegal about what I wrote but the dilemma was on account of being privy to some private conversations and whether I should release such private conversations into the public domain with a view to placing certain facts before the public. Babri Masjid was a bone of contention between the Hindu and the Muslim communities since the 19th century. Although the disputed structure was apparently built during 1520-29 CE by Mir Baqi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Babar. The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot. The Hindus believed that Baqi had destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. They also believed that Rama was born here. This belief emanates from the documents of Sawai Jai Singh. In fact, in the Kapad-Dwar collection in the City Palace Museum of Jaipur, there is a sketch map of the Babri Masjid site. The map portrays an open courtyard and a built structure resembling Babri Masjid with three domes. The courtyard is mentioned as Janmsthan and shows a Rama Chabutara. In 1853, a group of Hindu ascetics occupied the site and claimed ownership over the structure. In 1855, after a Hindu-Muslim clash, a boundary wall was constructed to avoid further disputes. Accordingly, the Muslims offered prayers in the inner courtyard and the Hindus on the raised platform. The dispute acquired a legal dimension when in 1877, Syed Mohammad Asghar, the guardian of the structure, filed a petition with the Commissioner of Faizabad requesting for restraint on Hindus who had raised a Chabutara on the spot regarded as the birthplace of Ram. In December 1949, Akhil Bhartiya Ramayan Mahasabha organized a 9-days recital of the Ramcharitmanas just outside the mosque. On the morning of 23rd December, 1949, the events organisers announced that the idols of Rama and Sita had appeared miraculously and exhorted Hindus to come for darshan. Given the sensitivity of the issue, the Government declared the mosque a disputed area and locked the gates. The unlocking of the gates took place in the year 1986 when all Hindus were given access to the site. A massive campaign was subsequently launched to build a Rama temple on the site. It was against this background that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under the leadership of Kalyan Singh, came to power in Uttar Pradesh and I was appointed as Director, Information and Public Relations. Kalyan Singh had taken on his job in the right earnest. He was certainly concerned about the Rama Mandir issue but on assuming office, he made his intentions clear to provide honest and purposeful governance. He was keen on conveying a message that he meant business. His vision went much beyond the Mandir. His objective was to build a new and vibrant Uttar Pradesh. A list of such officers who had honest credentials for manning critical posts like District Magistrates and Secretaries of Departments was drawn up at his behest. Certain social evils, like mass copying in school examinations, were sought to be reined in. The Cabinet Meetings would go on for hours, discussing policies on various issues before taking a final call. He got a set of extremely bright officers like Sanjay Aggarwal and Anant Kumar Singh (both of whom rose to become Secretaries to the Government of India subsequently) to his Secretariat. He was leaving no stone unturned to achieve his objective. Improvements were clearly in evidence in the form of delivery of services at the field level and in the postings of competent officers. These officers were provided security of tenure (the state was otherwise notorious for its flourishing transfer industry) and necessary backing to carry out the task of implementing policies. He did want a grand temple at Ayodhya and was diligently working towards a peaceful and amicable consensus. There were indeed a few options emerging. One such option was the construction of a new masjid close to the site. He even gave an example of the shifting of mosques when Aswan Dam was being constructed in Egypt. This idea was gradually gaining currency. He was engaging intensively with all the stakeholders. However, he was totally against the aggressive posturing that was the hallmark of right-wing religious organisations. Ironically, what emerged in the judgement of the Supreme Court in 2019 was the solution that Kalyan Singh had been working on and attempting to convince various parties to come around to! However, what happened on the 6th of December, 1992, shocked him as well. Those who believe that Kalyan Singh was the man behind this demolition overlook the fact that he had an absolute majority in the assembly. Why would he want to bring his own government down in case the Masjid gets demolished? He would have surely known the consequences of the demolition. In his repeated interactions with the central leadership, he was arguing against the congregation of karsevaks at the site. This became evident on the 6th of December in his telephonic conversation with Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan. I was present when this conversation took place. Kalyan Singh was livid. He reiterated that he was against such a congregation, but he was over-ruled and no one listened to him. His reservation about such a congregation was not based on any apprehension of a mishap (he was somehow convinced that the structure will never come down in the manner it finally did) but with regard to the unnecessary distractions that such events created. He was opposed to the congregation in July as well but, fortunately, no untoward incident happened then. The other argument often raised is, why didnt he allow the central forces that were stationed nearby to handle the situation? It is a fact that Kalyan Singh didnt permit the central forces to take over or seek their assistance, but it does not automatically imply that he did not allow the central forces to come in because he wanted the demolition to take place. Kalyan Singh believed that, as in July, the karsevaks would go back after performing Pooja and that no harm would come to the Masjid. However, on this occasion he was wrong. The structure came down and, with it, brought down his government. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised hopes on Monday that a travel bubble with Australia could still be within reach, after a resurgence of the novel coronavirus disrupted similar plans earlier this year. "Previously [Canberra] wanted a whole of Australia approach and we said that would slow things down," Ardern told TVNZ. "They're now moving to a hotspot regime," under which movement would be restricted in some areas, according to the rate of new infections. The number of new cases in Australia had surged in recent months during the southern hemisphere's winter, with the state of Victoria at the centre of the outbreak. But officials there hope to be able to ease most restrictions over the coming weeks. This month, Australia began recording daily increases in the low double digits, down from more than 700 new daily infections at the peak of the outbreak. New Zealand also saw a spate of new cases in August, after a cluster emerged in Auckland, the country's most populous city. Contact tracing efforts appear to have prevented major community spread, allowing New Zealanders to return to a degree of normality. If implemented, the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble would mirror approaches in Europe, where officials dropped some travel restrictions during the northern hemisphere's summer but reimposed temporary measures for particularly virus-stricken cities, regions and, in some cases, countries. Sign up for our free travel newsletter! Like what you're reading? Subscribe to 'Travel Insider', our free travel newsletter written by award-winning Travel Editor, Pol O Conghaile. But New Zealand and Australia have set themselves comparably tough thresholds, with New Zealand aiming to be essentially free of the virus, which will make the creation of a travel bubble more complicated than in Europe. Top Australian politicians have publicly backed the idea of a travel bubble, despite lingering uncertainty over key details, including who would be eligible to travel and whether the arrangement would be reciprocal. According to Australia's Nine News, only New Zealand residents from the country's South Island - deemed to be virus-free at the moment - would be allowed to make the trip at first. "Ultimately, whether New Zealand opens up to Australia will be a matter for New Zealand," Australian Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham told Nine News on Sunday. The New Zealand government cautioned that a travel bubble should only be open to residents of regions deemed to be sufficiently safe - an approach Australian lawmakers had objected to earlier in the pandemic, as it would mean that residents of some Australian states could go to New Zealand before parts of their own country. "What we'd need to be assured of is when Australia is saying, 'We've got a hot spot over here,' that the border around that hot spot means [people] aren't able to travel into the states we are engaging with," Ardern told TVNZ. Such an arrangement would likely prioritise travel from New Zealand to and from states such as Queensland, which has only seen six coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, Victoria, which has seen 787 deaths, would be likely to remain off limits. For the first time in nearly two months, residents of the state's capital, Melbourne, did not have to hurry home on Monday night to make curfew. Australia's second-largest city, the epicentre of the country's largest coronavirus outbreak, had been under severe restrictions since early July. With infection numbers plummeting, Premier Daniel Andrews announced Sunday that the surrounding state of Victoria had hit its benchmarks "ahead of schedule." While some restrictions will stay in place, child-care centres can begin reopening, and outdoor public gatherings will be allowed for up to five people from no more than two households. "We have made more progress than we hoped to make at this point in time," Andrews said Sunday, while cautioning that the virus "will run wild" if all precautions are abandoned. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and others had argued in favour of an even faster easing of restrictions in the state, echoing concerns over the economic and mental health impact of prolonged curbs. The state's tourism industry, which accounts for around 110,000 jobs, has been hit particularly hard. Despite the announcement of a $177 million infrastructure and tourism stimulus package last week, a significant number of jobs are expected to disappear over the coming months, with lingering uncertainty over when international tourism will resume. But further south, on the Australian island state of Tasmania, the potential arrivals of New Zealand visitors within weeks was greeted with enthusiasm on Monday. "New Zealand's a sleeping giant market for us, potentially," Luke Martin, the CEO of Tasmania's Tourism Industry Council, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Washington Post The total number of coronavirus cases in India now stands at 61,45,292 including 9,47,576 active cases, 51,01,398 cured/ discharged/ migrated patients and 96,318 deaths. In last 24 hours, India recorded a spike of 70,589 new cases and 776 deaths. With a spike of 70,589 new cases and 776 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Indias COVID-19 tally crossed the 61-lakh mark on Tuesday, according to the Union Health Ministry. According to the Union Health Ministry, the COVID-19 count stands at 61,45,292 including 9,47,576 active cases. It also includes 51,01,398 cured and discharged or migrated patients and 96,318 deaths. Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected by the pandemic with 2,65,455 active cases, 10,49,947 cured and discharged cases and 35,751 deaths. Karnataka with 1,04,067 active cases is the next in the list. While 4,69,750 patients have been cured in the State, the disease has claimed 8,641 lives so far. Andhra Pradesh with 63,116 active cases is also severely affected, however, over six lakh patients have been cured in the State, while 5,745 deaths have occurred due to it. Meanwhile, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,31,10,041 samples have been tested up to September 28 for COVID-19. Out of these 11,42,811 samples were tested yesterday. Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate 6 mega projects under Namami Gange Mission today Also Read: Amid India-China LaC row, Rajnath releases Indias new defence acquisition policy UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the 1 million global death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) an agonizing milestone. According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide has topped 1 million, with over 33 million confirmed cases and more than 23 million recoveries. Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. Its a mind-numbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease, Guterres said in a statement. And still there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives. We can overcome this challenge. But we must learn from the mistakes. Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters and misinformation kills, he said. Guterres called to keep physical distance, wear face masks and wash hands. Also Read: PM takes a pot-shot at China, says risky to be dependent on any single source A day after the Congresss youth wing members set a tractor on fire in Delhi in protest against the new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that these parties are insulting the farmers. Launching a sharp attack on Opposition parties leading the protests against the farm laws, PM Modi said, For years, they said that they will implement MSP (Minimum Support Price) but they never did. This was done by our government as per the recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission. He also said that the Opposition parties are protesting just for the sake of it. These reforms will strengthen labourers, youth, women, farmers of the nation, PM Modi said during the launch of six mega projects in Uttarakhand under the Namami Gange project. Farmers can now sell their produce to anyone, anywhere. They do not want farmers to sell their produce in an open market, they want middlemen to earn the profit, PM Modi also said, adding Theyre opposing the freedom of farmers. Their (opposition) one more medium to earn black income is finished, he added. In assurance to farmers, PM Modi said. There will not only be MSP in the country but also the freedom for farmers to sell their produce anywhere. For years these people (opposition) didnt do anything to empower our security forces. Air Force kept asking for Rafale but they never listened to them. When our government signed a contract with France government for Rafale aircraft they started having a proble, PM Modi said, sharpening the attack on Opposition parties. When world was celebrating International Yoga Day, under Indias initiative, they were opposing Yoga in India. When Statue of Unity was being unveiled, they were opposing it, he also said. President Ram Nath Kovind signed three contentious farm bills into law on Sunday even as over a dozen Opposition parties urged him not to sign them, saying they were passed unconstitutionally in complete disregard of parliamentary norms. The farm bills are Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020. Some farmer organisations protested against the passage of the billls, blocking the Amritsar-Delhi railway track even as the government has insisted that they will make them self-reliant. They say the new laws could lead to an end of the MSP for their produce. The silhouette of the rancher waving his hat while riding his horse into the sunset on the side of Los Rancheros has rallied customers hungry for their familiar fare. I wanted to make this a cool place but I owe a lot to Panama City and wanted to honor the city. Ive been here 22 years. This is my town, said Ismael Barragan, originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, in western Mexico. He and his wife, Cristiane, recently reopened Los Rancheros at 111 W. 23rd St., just a block down from its previous location that was destroyed when Hurricane Michael hit Oct. 10, 2018. One of the new dining room brick walls pays tribute to the city and its customers with a Panama City mural created by Logan Flint and Skip Bondur. It was a very rough couple of years. Wed had that location since October 1999, Ismael said. We could never buy that location and this one came around. We just put everything we had into our location. This is the first location that made everything on the beach possible, the catalyst. I wanted to have the newest, coolest restaurant in town honoring all my customers. We just wanted a rebirth and the hurricane gave us that. After Hurricane Michael, Ismael temporarily had moved his employees from his Panama City restaurant to work at Los Rancheros in Panama City Beach. The couple owns that location at 527 R. Jackson Blvd. with Silvino Barragan. (The family also owns Los Rancheros in Santa Rosa Beach.) I have the same cook (Teo Aparicio) Ive had for 19 years and three or four waiters have been with me at least 10 years, said Ismael, who added 70% of his 30 current employees in Panama City are from the original location. The Panama City restaurant reopened at the beginning of September at 50% capacity seating every other table inside during Phase 2 amid COVID-19 restrictions. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sept. 25 that restaurants can now operate at 100% capacity in Phase 3 of reopening Florida, allowing the new restaurant to seat 182 and another 45 outside. (The original location sat 155 guests.) We are wearing masks and we have this sanitizing station (by the door to the patio), and we are sanitizing and cleaning everything every day, Ismael said Sept. 23. Hopefully this pandemic is over really soon. People come here and sometimes get upset when they see empty tables and have to wait. While Rancheros' recipes have remain unchanged, my cheese enchiladas with beans and rice seemed to taste even better on a mid-September visit maybe it was the intoxicating mix of the fresh setting with eclectic lights from Guadalajara. We just tried to make the best of it and we wanted to make a nice, modern restaurant with a margarita bar with a big selection of tequilas, said Ismael, who pointed out the machines churning strawberry, mango and traditional lemon-lime margaritas. We also have a nice patio, trying to come out better than before. The Ranch brick fireplace is a focal point on the patio where string lights and ferns hang from the pergola over the colorful metal chairs and tables with navy umbrellas destined to become a hangout for live music. A row of backless bar stools in blues, green and red under the garage-style window gives customers access to the margarita bar inside, which also features decorative tiles from Guadalajara. We will have regular live music, now were trying to adjust waiting to settle a little bit, Ismael said. Eventually well have happy hour and specials. While the bar menu reflects the upgrade, the food menu is the same with a slight increase of $1 or maybe 75 cents on some things. Pergolas add flare to the inside with one sectioning the bar area from the dining room. We do everything fresh fry our own chips, do our own guacamole every morning. Rice and beans are made every morning. We fry our own tacos, make our own salsa, Ismael said. His family has owned restaurants in the U.S. since the early 80s. When I first came here I worked for my uncle in Mobile, Alabama, said Ismael, who added the restaurant, also called Los Rancheros, is still there. For the recipes, weve been doing the same things here for 21 years and know them by heart. A lot of people really love our salsa. We have kids coming here at 3 or 4 years old and now theyre in college and still coming here. The thick tortilla chips are perfect for dipping copious amounts of salsa filled with fresh cilantro. We sell a lot of fajitas or chimichangas or enchilada dinners, and on the bar side, we sell a lot of margaritas, different flavors, said Ismael, who admits he eats most everything on the menu. Most of his favorites are the most authentic, such as the Mexican street tacos and carnitas, and carne asada is more familiar. Ismael also gravitates toward the burritos and enchiladas. This is what I cook at home, but my wife is from Brazil, so we also eat Brazilian, and my kids were born here ... so its a mix in my house, said Ismael, whose children are now ages 19, 16 and 12 my oldest is in college. Ismael and his wife also own Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach. The couple owns the original Diegos Burrito Factory on Front Beach Road and Diegos on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach with Silvino Barragan and his brother-in-law, Omar Taleb. I took the staff from Los Rancheros (by the Bay) in St. Andrews and opened the first Diegos (in November 2013), Ismael said. At Diegos, named after Silvinos son, guests walk up to the counter to order and customize everything from burritos and burrito bowls to nachos, quesadillas and Mexican street tacos. LOS RANCHEROS Where: 111 W. 23rd St., Panama City, 850-769-7999; 529 R. Jackson Blvd., Panama City Beach, 850-249-5195 Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily Details: LosRancherosPC.com or Facebook.com/LosRancherospc 2020 The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) Visit The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) at www.newsherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WATERLOO A second person has died of injuries received in a shootout at a private club in Waterloo over the weekend. The name of the deceased hasnt been released, but authorities identified her as a 28-year-old woman from out of town who died over the weekend while in a hospital. At least eight people were hit by gunfire when two or possibly more people began shooting at each other following a confrontation at an event at 501 W. Fourth St. around 3:15 a.m. Saturday. Dacarious Burkett, a 22-year-old Waterloo man, also died in the shooting, according to organizers of a vigil. Crime scene investigators finished processing the scene Sunday night after collecting evidence for almost two days. Police are asking anyone who was in or around club at the time of this incident to call (319) 291-4340 Option 3/Investigations. Anyone with digital media photos, cell phone video, social media posts is asked to contact police or upload it to the following site provided by Axon. No arrests have been made, but Maj. Joe Leibold said Monday that officers are making progress in the investigation. Officers did arrest one person on unrelated charges as part of the investigation. Sir Frank Nelson III, 25, of Waterloo, was detained on warrants stemming from an unsolved homicide in 2018, and new charges for felon in possession of a firearm and interference while armed. Court records said officers with the police departments Violent Crime Apprehension Team were serving a search warrant at Nelsons apartment at 45 W. Jefferson St. around 5:20 a.m. Monday when Nelson tried to toss a loaded 9 mm CZ handgun with a laser sight out a window. Investigators also had been looking for Nelson in relation to a 9 mm Lorcin pistol thrown from a car moments after a Sept. 10, 2018, shooting that claimed the life of 48-year-old Diane Martin on Ricker Street. Court records indicate Nelsons DNA was found on the Lorcin pistol, and witnesses tied him to a vehicle speeding from the scene. On Monday, he was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the weapon. PHOTOS: Private Club Shooting, Sept. 26, 2020 Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 9 Angry 4 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. An architectural rendering of Peter Zumthor's and Michael Govan's LACMA redesign looking west along Wilshire Boulevard. (Atelier Peter Zumthor / The Boundary) LACMA's Michael Govan is without question one of the shrewdest museum leaders in the world, and at his direction we are about to get an entirely new Los Angeles County Museum of Art, designed by Peter Zumthor, one of the world's great architects. So why do their plans have so many Angelenos cultural knickers in such a twist? Over the past few years, with social media commenters in high dudgeon, a slew of art and architectural critics, including The Times Christopher Knight, have lobbed repeated salvos at the redesign. (Knights 2019 articles won him a Pulitzer Prize in May.) The angst has only heightened with the wrecking-ball demolition of the former museum buildings taking place along Wilshire Boulevard since April. Perhaps the carping is simply part of the give and take for a project of this scale. There is in fact much at stake and much to consider. If it isn't Zumthor's amoebic, ground-hugging design that bothers critics, its what it will effectively do to LACMA, at Govan's behest. With a loss of some 10,000 feet of gallery space compared to the old buildings, and with no traditionally defined galleries to regularly display the permanent collection, LACMA appears to be letting go of its history and promise as an encyclopedic museum or at least redefining it. Future exhibitions will be theme-based, similar it seems to what weve seen over the past few years in the museums Resnick building, for better or worse, or just meh. The new building will be made of Zumthor's signature material, concrete, including the interior walls, which is likely to present a number of pragmatic issues for the hanging and rehanging of art. The flat, low-rise structure itself, which will bridge Wilshire Boulevard, looks to its haters like a pancake, a coffee table, an overpass or an Italian travel stop. Whats more, they say, it costs far too much, enough to saddle LACMA with layers of serious debt for years to come. Story continues Govan's response to all of these issues has been, essentially, don't worry, we've got this, be happy. Yet many remain unconvinced, to say the least. When interior renderings and schematics were finally made public in mid-September, revealing somber gray walls, asphalt-dark floors and a maze of gallery clusters, Govan promised a sublimely fluid museum experience devoid of the usual art historical hierarchies. One anonymous commenter on the Los Angeles County Museum on Fire blog weighed in with a less sanguine judgment: A lazy act of self-satisfied claptrappery. So it goes. One positive outcome of all the controversy is the realization of how much Los Angeles actually cares about LACMA. The Getty Center, for all its power and appeal, remains a distant wealthy cultural cousin. The Hammer is engaged and important, but its office-building location is restrictive. MOCA is diminished, damaged from years of uncertainty and turmoil, still finding its way with a new director, Klaus Biesenbach. Its neighbor, the Broad, has its curated moments, but often feels generic one mans collection with selfie stick-wielding tourists. LACMA, on the other hand, feels like our museum its mid-town campus welcoming and accessible, and soon to have its own Purple Line stop; its wide-ranging collections familiar, even beloved. If the Wilshire corridor is L.A.s linear center, as has often been suggested, LACMA is arguably the heart of the city, which is why the plan's detractors care so much, and why Govan does too. Govan has always been a mover and shaker of the first order, a ripper-upper and a builder. He was tapped as a grad student by Thomas Krens for the Guggenheim, where he was deputy director for six years a period that coincided with the Guggenheims global expansion before moving on to the Dia Art Foundation, which he also redesigned, transforming an old Nabisco box factory on the Hudson River into Dia:Beacon, a huge permanent space for the foundations collection. In 2006, when he was hired to direct LACMA, the goal was to take it to the next level, to take on and even surpass New Yorks arts hegemony. Govans knack for showmanship undergirded with artistic cred he studied with Allan Kaprow, the renowned Father of the Happening has found fertile ground at LACMA. Witness Chris Burden's insanely popular museum gateway Urban Light, or Michael Heizer's "Levitated Mass, the transportation of which from desert to museum grounds Govan was savvy enough to make it a public event. Some years ago, he also tried to add a massive (and massively expensive) hanging train engine from artist Jeff Koons, but the project never got off the ground. Govan believed that LACMA needed not just a great encyclopedic collection but also a beacon, a landmark, a grand gesture to make the museum a destination. Which brings us to Zumthor. One much-decried issue has been Govans lack of transparency, including his refusal to host an architectural competition. Yes, he can be stealthy, but when it comes to Zumthor, who can blame him? The Pritzker Prize-winning architect has never built in the U.S. before, and LACMA will be his largest project to date. Why go through a painfully democratic process when youve already got Zumthor? It doesnt hurt that the architects name pronounced Tsoom-tor sounds like a superhero. And you don't have to be a critic to see the strength of Zumthor's ascetic exactitude. Take a look online at his buildings, the Therme Vals in Switzerland, the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria, or the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, which fuses a contemporary structure to a bomb-damaged church. Spirituality, sacredness, mysticism and aura are terms that most of our visitors associate with the architecture of the museum and other Zumthor buildings, says Kolumba director Marc Steinmann. He also notes that Zumthor won over the Kolumba staff with his obsessive attention to detail, telling them that "memories can be connected with a door handle. LACMA's buildings from the 1960s were pedestrian, vertical, confining, the mid-1980s addition looking from Wilshire Boulevard like a giant mausoleum. Zumthor and Govan are clearly attempting to place the art-going experience on a higher, newer plane, one that forsakes the normal strategies. Yes, the risks are great, but so are the possibilities. After all, one womans somber is anothers meditative, one mans coffee table is anothers Sam Maloof masterpiece. In Zumthor, Govan has an architect capable of merging the metaphysical and the material, of creating sacred spaces, in this case above the La Brea tar pits. My bet, and I believe a safe one, is that these high-functioning professionals have in fact got this, down to the door handles, and that the result will be as promised: sublime. Tom Christie, former arts editor of the L.A. Weekly, divides his time between Los Angeles and Berlin. For the record: 12:20 PM, Sep. 29, 2020: An earlier version of this op-ed indicated that LACMAs redesign included no designated galleries to display the permanent collection. There will be no traditionally defined galleries for the collection. Also, Resnick was misspelled and the Purple Line was misidentified as the Red Line. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:33:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 101 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, bringing the national total to 11,135. Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press briefing that four of the new cases are imported and 97 are local transmissions. Most of the local transmission are reported in the eastern state of Sabah and travelers returning from the area. Four new case clusters have been detected, two in Sabah, one in Selangor state and another in Johor state. Another 50 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 9,939, or 89.3 percent of all cases. Of the remaining 1,062 active cases, 13 are being held in intensive care and five of those are in need of assisted breathing. No new deaths have been reported, leaving the total deaths at 134. Enditem Law enforcers have pressed charges against the suspect. Operatives with the SBU Security Service of Ukraine have nabbed a former member of illegal armed formations of the "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") terrorist organization who participated in the seizure of administrative buildings in the town of Severodonetsk in 2014. According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect joined the illegal armed formations in April 2014. It was established he was involved in the storming of the SBU head office in Luhansk region. Later, as part of "Dremov's Group," he partook in seizing executive buildings in Severodonetsk. In addition, the man assisted one of the subversive groups, whose members had been plotting terrorist attacks in Severodonetsk on Independence Day in 2014. Since the city was liberated from occupation forces, he has been on the run, the SBU said on its website. Read alsoLocal elections in Ukraine: SBU vows to ensure safety of automated systemsThe terrorist has been served with charge papers under Part 2 of Article 260 (participation in armed formations proscribed by law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. His complicity in other crimes committed by terrorist groups in Luhansk region is being verified. If found guilty, he may face up to eight years in prison with confiscation of property. SBU operations: Other stories Content Distribution Platform Adds 64 Retail Channels and Expands Enterprise Client Base CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Venzee Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: VENZ) ("Venzee" or the "Company") reports continued steady addition of retail channels - outpacing internal growth targets and meeting client demand for digital integration across the valuable "last-mile" of global retail. According to Venzee CEO John Abrams, "Our ability to monetize our brand clients is directly tied to how quickly we make relevant and requested retail channels available to them. Now, with more than 300 retail channels published on our platform, we are meeting our client needs and well-positioned to achieve our active, revenue-generating retail channel targets for 2020 and 2021." In July, Venzee began monthly reporting on key metrics, including the number of retail channels available to clients, and; "Pipeline Velocity" - the speed at which it can make available new retail channels for sale. In its September report, the Company again indicates strong growth of both key metrics with rapid retail channel growth demonstrating continued operational improvement and reliable platform scalability. Retail Channel Availability - Monthly Metrics August Retail Channel Availability - the number of unique retail channels available to clients using the Venzee platform solution - was 263. Between August 15 and September 15 , the Company added 64 additional Retail Channels to its platform - beating by one the 63 Retail Channels added in the prior reporting period and delivering consistently strong "Pipeline Velocity." , the Company added 64 additional Retail Channels to its platform - beating by one the 63 Retail Channels added in the prior reporting period and delivering consistently strong "Pipeline Velocity." On August 15 , Retail Channels Available through the Company's platform totaled 327 or 109% of the Company's 2020 year-end operational goal for available channels. Peter Montross, EVP Commercial Operations for Venzee, said, "With seven major Fortune 500 brands beginning product setup through our platform, it is critical we meet their expectations for retail channel availability. By adding more than 60 retail channels in under 30 days, our team has demonstrated Venzee is the solution for brands in need of rapid and diverse retail channel setup." The Venzee Retail Solution bridges the data gap between brands and their retailers. By using modern tech to close this gap, manual process can be eliminated from the "last-mile" of the global retail supply chain allowing brands a means to shorten their path to revenue generation and unlock massive value trapped in outdated manual, and labor-intensive approaches. About Venzee Venzee sells a unique SaaS solution used by Global Brands to speed products to market and create competitive supply chain advantage. Venzee displaces costly, labor-intensive last-mile retail processes with a low-cost intelligent platform solution. We believe intelligent supply chain functionality is inevitable and will significantly benefit growers, makers, brands, sellers, regulators, and consumers. At Venzee, we're building the foundation for a future where seamless, accurate, automated data flow simplifies processes, removes friction, and creates value for all those that rely on the myriad of data and information surrounding any product, anywhere. Venzee's mission is to unlock shareholder value by creating intelligent technology that removes friction from the global supply chain. Our products disrupt and displace inefficient manual processes in favor of integrated, machine-driven solutions. Rethinking Supply Chain Now available on Apple , Spotify , and other Podcast services, Venzee CEO, John Abrams, shares his expertise from years of work in the global supply chain - alongside other industry experts. On the show, we dive into all aspects of the supply chain. We discuss the history of the supply chain, how it is changing, and what makes for a resilient supply network in today's rapidly changing world. To learn more about Venzee, visit venzee.com On Behalf of the Board, John Sexton Abrams President and CEO Venzee Technologies, Inc. [email protected] 888-359-9299 Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the terms of the Offering, the completion of the Offering and the expected use of the net proceeds received by the Company. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; and regulatory risks. Additional information about these assumptions and risks and uncertainties is contained under "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2018, and the quarter ended August 29, 2019, which are available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, and in other filings that the Company has made and may make with applicable securities authorities in the future. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities laws. Neither TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Venzee Technologies Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 23:57:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Job seekers talk with employers at a job fair in east China's Shanghai, June 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities have made all-out efforts to help this year's 8.74 million college graduates secure jobs, an education official said on Monday. To mitigate the adverse impacts brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, the Ministry of Education, working with over 20 departments, has launched nearly 40 preferential measures to facilitate employment, said Wang Hui, an official with the ministry. These measures include expanding employment in urban and rural communities and grassroots medical institutions, and increasing the proportion of university graduates in military recruitment, Wang said. He noted that governments have worked with relevant departments, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to create more jobs this year, providing work to over 2.8 million graduates as of Sept. 1, an increase of more than 700,000 over the same period last year. More than 200,000 online job fairs have been held for new graduates since March, about 20 times the offline format, helping China ride out an unprecedented employment challenge amid COVID-19 headwinds. The "24365" campus service, a flagship online recruitment platform, has provided 15.22 million pieces of job information and recorded 37.36 million resume uploads, with 6.69 million new graduates registering on the site since its launch in February, said Wang. Meanwhile, employment-related instructions have moved online, and more than 80,000 college counselors and instructors, with the first-line experience in job hunting, are on standby to help polish resumes of students or impart interview skills, Wang noted. Photo taken on June 1, 2020 shows a job fair held at Jianghan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Cheng Min) Efforts are being made to help graduates from universities in Hubei as well as graduates hailing from the province, the official said. This year, a total of 449,000 students graduated from colleges in Hubei, and 371,000 new graduates nationwide are from Hubei originally, Wang said. These students will get preference in recruitment policies and will be offered quotas in recruitments for some community-level service programs as well as in the military, government, public institutions and SOEs, Wang said. Also, 124 universities across China have paired with the ones in Hubei to share job information and offer employment counseling. The arrangement has already helped 13,000 graduates find jobs, the official said, adding that the ministry also organized special online job fairs for graduates of Hubei universities. According to Wang, universities have been asked to put emphasis on assisting Hubei students in job hunting and offer them tailored guidance. Made In Chelsea returned on Monday night with a pair of new faces - one of whom was Charlie Frederick from Love Island 2018. And while some fans were wondering where they recognised him from, others cottoned on straight away that he is an ex-Love Island star - the second to join Made In Chelsea recently. Charlie appeared on series 4 of the ITV2 dating show, similarly to Zara McDermott who joined MIC as Sam Thompson's girlfriend last year. 'Love In Chelsea?' Made In Chelsea returned on Monday night with a pair of new faces - one of whom was Charlie Frederick from Love Island 2018 The pair didn't cross paths during their time in the Spanish villa, with Charlie evicted 13 days into the series and Zara entering two days later. MIC fans weren't sure about the choice in casting - with some finding it hilarious and others more than happy to see the hunky blonde on their screens again. 'Confused. Is this the same Charlie from #loveisland?' one typed on Twitter, followed by another who wrote: 'Omg is that charlie from love island?' 'Is this Made in Chelsea or Love Island?' another posted. Familiar face: Charlie appeared on series 4 of the ITV2 dating show New generation: Zara McDermott, also of Love Island fame, appears on MIC too A fourth penned: 'They're going to have to start calling it Love In Chelsea soon!' 'Charlie from Love Island?!? lmao,' one viewer laughed, as did another who posted: 'Is the personal trainer from love island lmfao!' Others merely rejoiced that the series was back on screens. 'Mondays are good again now that MIC is back!' one posted. Another penned: 'Made in Chelsea is back. Something proper to read on my twitter feed instead of all the #corona b******s!' Reaction: Fans took to Twitter to discuss Charlie's casting on the show 'Sorry but seeing liv wip out that voice note was something I needed to lighten up my Monday night!' someone else posted, referring to the way the episode ended. It saw Liv Bentley inform Zara that her supposed friend Melissa Tattam had sent Tiff Watson a voice note calling Zara a 'fame w***e'. The fallout of this will take place next week. Will they? Charlie has been drafted in to spark up a romance with Liv Won't they? Charlie seems to also have his eye on Verity Bowditch Will he? While he made an impression among the ladies of the show, Charlie didn't actually speak until 22 minutes into the episode Meanwhile, Charlie has been drafted in to spark up a romance with Liv, but seems to also have his eye on Verity Bowditch. While he made an impression among the ladies of the show, Charlie didn't actually speak until 22 minutes into the episode. Made In Chelsea airs Mondays at 9PM on E4. Pakistani troops are fighting in Azerbaijan against Armenia as their presence have been reported in Azerbaijan, according to reports. A telephonic conversation between two locals Azerbaijanis mentioned about the presence of Pakistani soldiers in the territory. The telephonic conversation, telecasted by Free News.AM, has claimed that the locals were heard telling each other about the presence of Pakistani troops into their areas. How can we write? I dont have money. We are fine, dont worry, 7-8 villages were liberated, dont be afraid Yes. I know. I have seen on Instagram that Fizuli, Agdam have been liberated from occupation. Our side says that we have also taken Marv mountain. On Agdams side, they have gathered Pakistani soldiers and have taken them towards Agdam, the locals were heard telling each other. Violence flared up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 27, and both the countries have accused each other of launching the attack and of claiming to have an upper hand in the war. While the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the enemy started an attack and the military of the Karabakh region is responding, the Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan argued that Armenia has attacked them and it began a counterattack operation. Pakistan threw its weight behind Azerbaijan and blamed Armenia for border violations. "This could compromise the peace and security of the entire region. Armenia must stop its military action to avoid further escalation," the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan stated. Pakistan is the only country in the world that does not recognize Armenia. Islamabad's close ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey have a substantial role in this decision. On expected lines, Pakistan was the first and only South Asian country to comment on the clashes so far, and in line with Turkish reaction backing Azerbaijan. Pakistani foreign ministry said, "Pakistan is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The intensive shelling by Armenian forces over the weekend on civilian populations of Azerbaijani villages of Terter, Aghdam, Fizuli and Jabrayil region is reprehensible and most unfortunate." It added, "Pakistan stands with the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and supports its right of self-defence. We support Azerbaijans position on Nagorno-Karabakh, which is in line with the several unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolutions." Like Ankara, Islamabad doesn't recognize the Armenian Genocide during World War 1. During the world war one, Ottomans or present-day Turkey killed 1.5 million ethnic Armenians. Turkey continues to deny the genocide to this date but a number of countries including the US, Russia recognizes it. Armenias Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has accused Turkey of attempting to increase instability in the region in an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax. Today Turkey is trying to export this policy of destabilization to the South Caucasus region. This is a serious concern. Turkey is pursuing an unconstructive and dangerous policy. And Turkeys actions continue to pose a threat to the security of Armenia," Mnatsakanyan said. Turkey has been deploying terrorists from Syria and Libya to Azerbaijan to help it fight the war with Armenia. It is also supplying Azerbaijan arms and widely famed Turkish drones. When the war broke-off between both the countries, Turkish President came forward to state that by attacking Azerbaijan, Armenia has proved once again it is the biggest obstacle to peace and stability in the region. A friend of mine referred to a political person as a b----. Really? Couldnt this person have simply said I dont like her? We are becoming so crude, rude, nasty. Protestors destroying property. I have lived 80-plus years. I have seen a lot of sadness, disasters, disrespect. I had a political sign stolen from my yard within week of putting it out. Now I bring it inside every night. I have also been blessed with much kindness. I have many dear friends. We do not all agree politically, but we remain friends and help each other. I am thankful for our local police force, our fire company and emergency personnel, and our borough maintenance crew. Also the gentlemen who picks up my garbage and returns the empty receptacles to my porch, along with our mail carrier and the newspaper delivery person who has the paper at my door by 7 a.m. I am not oblivious to the chaos in our country. Somehow we must work together toward harmony and respect. Alice Yeakel Nazareth Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during the company's event at Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. LONDON Technologists at the heart of the technology scene in Cambridge, one of Britain's academic powerhouses, are questioning Nvidia's commitment to a new artificial intelligence (AI) lab in the city, with some wondering whether it will ever come to fruition. The U.S. chipmaker said it would set up a "world-class AI research center" when it announced its $40 billion acquisition of rival firm Arm earlier this month. At the time, Nvidia pledged to invest in a "state-of-the-art, Arm-powered AI supercomputer, training facilities for developers and a start-up incubator." But computer scientists in Cambridge are curious as to why they haven't heard anything about the new center. Neil Lawrence, professor of machine learning at the University of Cambridge, told CNBC: "The new AI lab sounds like a very exciting venture, but it's difficult to know how it might contribute to the U.K. AI ecosystem without knowing more details." Arm, which is headquartered in Cambridge, is widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of the British tech industry and its chips power most of the world's smartphones, as well as many other devices. Cambridge is one of the U.K.'s most prominent tech clusters with companies like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon all employing engineers in the city. Interaction between the tech giants, the university and start-ups is the norm in Cambridge but Nvidia has been suspiciously quiet about its plans in the city. "I'm not aware of any contact between Nvidia and the university," said Lawrence, who previously worked as Amazon's director of machine learning in Cambridge. "There are definitely some large tech companies, like Microsoft and Arm, who have been actively engaged as partners [in Cambridge]," said Lawrence. "But of course, there will always be those that extract the benefit from the ecosystem, but choose to give very little back." Jon Crowcrowft, a professor in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, told CNBC that he doesn't know "anyone" in the Cambridge ecosystem who knows anything about Nvidia's AI lab. "Not uni, nor Microsoft, Amazon, Nokia, Samsung, Oracle, etc etc," he said. Alex van Someren, a venture capitalist with Amadeus Capital Partners in Cambridge, told CNBC: "There's no sign of it here yet." A spokesperson for Nvidia told CNBC the AI lab will go ahead. "We are fully committed and very excited about the Cambridge A.I. laboratory," they said, pointing to a blog post by Chief Executive Jensen Huang. "Now that we've announced, we will spend time talking with them and building a constructive framework that reflects our exciting plans and intentions in the U.K. We look forward to collaborating with local partners, and we already have some great partnerships in the U.K. with universities." It's possible Nvidia simply wants to keep any detailed plans it has quiet for the time being, but some are asking if the center was announced on a whim to sweeten the deal after Arm co-founder Hermann Hauser came out strongly opposing the deal. Nvidia denies this is the case. "I think it's an absolute disaster for Cambridge, the U.K., and Europe," Hauser told BBC Radio earlier this month. Despite some opposition, Arm was acquired by SoftBank in 2016 for 19 billion ($24 billion) on the condition that it remained in Cambridge. Now SoftBank wants to sell it on to Nvidia. Here are the most important things to know about COVID in Connecticut. This story will be updated regularly with the latest on COVID-19 in Connecticut and beyond. Check back later for more. Nov. 13 CT announces 2,746 new cases since Thursday State officials announced 2,746 new COVID cases since Thursday, 42 more hospitalizations and 11 deaths. The positivity rate has risen to 6.7 percent after having decreased to 4.3 percent on Thursday. Rolling seven-day average of positivity rate continues to climb According to a CT Insider analysis of the states data, the rolling seven-day average positivity rate has gradually increased each day this week since Monday. On Monday, the rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 4.0 and by today it climbed to 4.7. Although gradual, this change reflects a steady rise in infections. Research: Parts of Africa may have a history with COVID-19 Researchers at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kifili, Kenya, found that approximately 4.3 percent of Kenyas population had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the journal Nature reported. Antibody studies revealed that by the end of June, 4 percent of Kenyas population was infected but the death toll remained relatively low in comparison. Their findings suggest that the sharp contrast between Kenyas antibody prevalence and its COVID-19 deaths hints that the coronaviruss effects are dampened in Africa, according to the article. Missing school may be linked to a shorter life expectancy, analysis shows An analytical model published by the JAMA Network examined years of life lost in association with primary school closures in early 2020 and compared them to potential years of life lost had schools remained open. The model estimates that closing public schools during the pandemic can be associated with a decrease in life expectancy for American children because of the adverse effects missed education creates. We estimated that there is a 98.1% probability that the decisions to close U.S. primary schools in March of 2020 could be associated with more eventual YLL [years of life lost] than would be observed if these schools had remained open, even if schools remaining open had led to a substantial increase in the rate of death observed during the early phase of the pandemic, the researchers said. Re-testing should be done carefully, study says Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection should proceed to get repeated testing, but not in the 90 days following infection, the journal JAMA Internal Medicine reported. Not getting re-tested in that time period will help those patients avoid unnecessary quarantines as remnants of the virus may give a false positive if re-tested too soon. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests can be positive because of nonviable remnants of the virus, the article says. This means that the test cannot accurately determine whether or not the infection can be transmitted. Nov. 12 COVID hospitalizations surpass 600 in Connecticut State officials announced 33 more coronavirus hospitalizations since Wednesday raising the total to 617 patients currently hospitalized. In a press conference, Gov. Lamont expressed concern. We've doubled the number of people in the hospitals in the last two weeks, he said. CT reports another 1,158 cases since Wednesday Connecticut announced 1,158 new COVID cases since Wednesday amounting to a total of 85,899 cases since the onset of the pandemic. The daily positivity rate slightly increased to 4.8 percent. The state announced 10 more deaths for a total of 4,726. Changes in smell can help predict COVID outbreaks, researchers say Its been known for a while that loss of smell and taste are early symptoms of the coronavirus. Now a team from Penn State is showing that self-reports of changes in smell and taste can predict COVID outbreak. Our research suggests that an increase in the incidence of sudden smell and taste change in the general population may indicate that COVID-19 is spreading, One researcher said. This knowledge could help decision-makers take important measures at the local level, either in catching new outbreaks sooner, or in guiding the relaxation of local lockdowns, given the strong impact of lockdown on economic and social activities. Poll finds that two-thirds of Americans support a one-month lockdown Results from a poll conducted by YouGov suggest that nearly two thirds of Americans would support a one-month lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus. About 64 percent of the 13,000 U.S. adults surveyed said they would support a lockdown, while three out of 10 said they would not. Broken down by party, more Democrats 87 percent said they would support a lockdown, compared to 30 percent of Republicans. Yale supervises national rollout of new, cheap COVID test A team from Yale University is supervising a national rollout of a cheaper coronavirus test. The SalivaDirect retails for about $25, and was developed by Yales Anne Wyllie, associate research scientist in epidemiology, and Nathan Grubaugh, assistant professor in epidemiology. The test is also saliva-based, and not nasopharyngeal, which makes it less invasive. Nov. 11 CT now averaging more than 1,000 cases a day As of Monday, Connecticut is averaging more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases a day, a level not seen since April 26. There have been more than 1,000 new cases reported by the state every day this week. The highest number of average daily cases since the pandemic began was April 22, when there were an average of 1,102 new cases. It is important to note, however, that many of these cases may be asymptomatic. Early in the pandemic, the state was conducting significantly fewer tests, and then only on patients displaying symptoms consistent with a coronavirus infection. More recently, the state has ramped up testing, which may be identifying a significantly larger number of positive cases. COVID cases continue to climb in CT: 1,574 new cases reported The state announced 1,574 new COVID cases Wednesday and 36 new hospitalizations bringing the number of patients currently hospitalized for the virus to a total of 584. Nine more deaths were reported raising the cumulative amount to 4,716 deceased. The positivity rate is 4.7 percent, a decrease from a high of 6.7 percent on Tuesday. Entitled people are less likely to comply with COVID guidelines, research says Are you entitled? If you have a sense of entitlement, youre less likely to comply with COVID-19 guidelines, according to a survey of three studies conducted by researchers from Cornell University. Not only were people higher in psychological entitlement more likely to believe that the threat of the virus was overblown, but they were also more likely to report that they had contracted COVID-19. Cell phone data uncovers superspreader locations for COVID infections Using cell phone data, researchers mapped what they called mobility networks, tracking and mapping the hourly movements of 98 million people from major metro areas across the United States as they went to and from points of interest like restaurants and religious establishments. They found that a small minority of superspreader [points of interest) account for a large majority of infections. The study, published this week in the journal Nature, also suggests that restricting occupancy at specific points of interest would be more effective than uniformly reducing mobility. Researchers find rapid COVID tests to be about 99 percent accurate Researchers went to a public plaza in San Francisco and tested the Abbott Labs rapid coronavirus test on 878 subjects, and found that it was spot on about 99 percent of the time, producing a false positive only very rarely. Connecticut has been expected to receive thousands of the $5, 15-minute tests, as Gov. Ned Lamont announced in October. The tests were accurate regardless of symptoms, researchers said. Nov. 10 CT positivity rate jumps to 6.7 percent with 1,524 new cases reported Connecticut announced 1,524 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, substantially raising the one-day positivity rate (the percentage of tests that are positive) to 6.7 percent. There were 52 new hospitalizations, for a total of 548 COVID patients currently in the hospital, and nine more deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths in the state to 4,707 since the start of the pandemic. 40 percent of COVID-19 patients experience severe ringing in the ears A sizeable portion of people with COVID-19 experience exacerbated tinnitus (ringing in the ears), according to new research. An international group of researchers found that 40 percent of people with symptomatic COVID-19 said theyre tinnitus got worse. The good news is that 6 percent said their tinnitus got a little better, and 54 percent said there was no change. Lockdowns may have had an effect, too, according to the study: Pre-existing tinnitus was significantly exacerbated for those self-isolating, experiencing loneliness, sleeping poorly and with reduced levels of exercise. Increased depression, anxiety, irritability, and financial worries further significantly contributed to tinnitus being more bothersome during the pandemic period. Respiratory illnesses becoming less common during the pandemic may not be a good thing There has been a much lower incidence of common respiratory illnesses (like RSV and the flu) during the pandemic, but researchers at Princeton University said that it wasnt necessarily good news. As NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions, like masks and social distancing) are in place, people could become more susceptible to these common diseases, resulting in a stronger comeback. While this reduction in cases could be interpreted as a positive side effect of COVID-19 prevention, the reality is much more complex, study author Rachel Baker said. Our results suggest that susceptibility to these other diseases, such as RSV and flu, could increase while NPIs are in place, resulting in large outbreaks when they begin circulating again. Existing drugs can curb an influx of cytokine that is a factor in COVID-19 deaths A cytokine storm is the human bodys immune response to infection. Its when the immune system goes awry, causing all sorts of inflammation so much so that it is one of the reasons people die from a COVID-19 infection. A new study shows that two chemicals in particular are responsible for generating that cytokine storm, as Science News reported, and that existing drugs might help curb that effect. Its worked in mice, but immunologist Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti said whether or not it will work in humans is another question. I know my colleagues have cured mouse COVID, he told Science News. But most of the time when you do the trials in people, they turn out to be negative. Working from home has potential health benefits A report from the CDC suggests that working from home has some potential health benefits. The findings suggests that, of the COVID-19 patients sampled, patients were more likely to test positive for a coronavirus infection if they had gone in-person to work or school, suggesting that alternative methods are preferable. Most community exposures were not associated with teleworking, the CDC said. Nov. 9 3,338 new cases since Friday and 94 new hospitalizations Connecticut announced 3,338 new coronavirus cases Monday, raising the positivity rate (the percentage of tests that are positive) to 3.7 percent. There were 94 additional hospitalizations, for a total of 496 COVID patients currently in the hospital, and 27 more deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths in the state to 4,698 since the start of the pandemic. Bridgeport and Hartford averaging over 50 new cases a day Bridgeport and Hartford continue to average a relatively high number of cases per day according to a CT Insider analysis of data. Bridgeport is averaging 59 new cases and Hartford averages 52. Stamford has the third-highest rolling seven-day average of Connecticuts largest cities, with approximately 42 new cases a day. 58 percent of Europeans would take COVID vaccine Only 58 percent of people in Europe said they will take a coronavirus vaccine, according to new research, well below the threshold needed to generate herd immunity. Thats a problem, and education is the answer, according to researchers: Only by educating the general public about the benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines can we hope to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Antibodies found in camels used to neutralize COVID virus Scientists have synthesized so-called nanobodies (very small antibodies) found in camelids (camels and llamas) to create an ultrapotent treatment for the coronavirus. The aerosol can actually neutralize the virus, according to researchers. Air pollution creates higher risk of death for COVID patients Air pollution may be linked to COVID deaths in the United States, according to new research. This is the first study that provides some consistent evidence that, if youre living in a [U.S.] county with a higher level of fine particulate matter, it increases the risk of covid mortality, Harvards Francesca Dominici told the New Scientist. The effect is not insignificant: For every microgram of particulate matter the COVID-19 mortality rate increased by 11 percent, the study says. Nov. 6 Another 1,000 COVID cases in a single day Connecticut announced Friday an additional 1,065 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with a positivity rate (the percentage of tests that are positive) of 3.6 percent. There were 22 additional hospitalizations, for a total of 402 COVID patients currently in the hospital, and 15 more deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths in the state to 4,671. CDC lifts no-sail order for cruise ships (with one caveat) The CDC has lifted its no-sail order, giving cruise ships the green light to sail again, with one important caveat: No passengers. In April, the CDC issued a no-sail order, and maintains that cruise ships pose a greater threat to disease transmission than other settings. But now the agency has issued a phased approach to resumption of activities, starting with simulated voyages designed to test cruise ship operators ability to mitigate COVID-19, followed by a return to passenger operations after certification. Danish minks could pose COVID threat to humans A coronavirus mutation found in Danish minks has already infected 214 people in Denmark, according to local news sources. The mutated virus variant reportedly has a lower resistance to antibodies, making potential vaccines less effective, according to the Danish prime minister. We have a great responsibility towards our own population, but with the mutation that has now been found, we have an even greater responsibility for the rest of the world as well, Mette Frederiksen said this week. Masks dont inhibit oxygen during exercise, research says Canadian researchers have found that wearing a facemask does not reduce the bodys ability to get oxygen during exercise. In terms of oxygen levels in the blood or muscles, No differences were evident between wearing or not wearing a mask, according to the study, published this week by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan. Wearing a face mask during vigorous exercise had no discernable detrimental effect on blood or muscle oxygenation, and exercise performance in young, healthy participants. Study says wealthier people were able to socially distance more A study was published this week in the journal Nature showing that wealthier people are more likely to practice social distancing. Residents of low-income neighborhoods were more likely to work outside the home, compared to residents in higher-income neighborhoods, the study says. Nov. 5 CT reports over 1,100 new cases in a single day Connecticut announced 1,157 new coronavirus cases on Nov. 5, 10 more deaths and six new hospitalizations for a total of 380 patients currently in the hospital. The positivity rate has lowered to 3.7 percent. Asymptomatic COVID patients may be contagious for longer periods of time Usually, people who test positive for the coronavirus but do not have any symptoms remain contagious for about eight days. As reported by the journal Cell, one woman was contagious for more than 70 days, raising more questions about how the disease operates. The patient, a woman in her 70s, is a leukemia patient, which is why they kept checking her blood for the virus, and which may have something to do with why she remained infectious for so long. Researchers said they expect to see more cases like this in the future. Rutgers: Workers in support roles have higher risk of contracting COVID Hospital workers are at greater risk of catching the coronavirus than the general public, and specifically those in support roles, according to the latest research from the Rutgers School of Public Health. Its not necessarily those in patient-facing roles who are more at risk: Phlebotomists, maintenance workers and housekeepers, and food services workers were specifically found to be at risk. COVID corpses show extensive lung damage A study in the journal Lancet uses postmortem examination of the lungs of COVID-19 patients to show how the disease attacks the body. This kind of study may shed light on so-called long COVID, researchers said. COVID-19 is a unique disease characterized by extensive lung thrombosis, the study said. Several of COVID-19 features might be consequent to the persistence of virus-infected cells for the duration of the disease. Coronavirus on surfaces can provide warning sign of infection surges, research shows Research from Tufts University shows that many surfaces carry coronavirus RNA, but not much of it. A team of researchers sampled 33 surfaces in public places, and found that All samples showed only low-level contamination, and the infection risk from touching one of the contaminated surfaces is low, according to an article in the journal Nature. The authors also found that sampling heavily touched surfaces might provide a warning of a surge of infections. Nov. 4 CT reports 530 new cases, positivity rate slightly lowers Connecticut announced 530 new coronavirus cases on Nov. 4, 11 more deaths and seven fewer hospitalizations for a total of 374 patients currently in the hospital. The positivity rate has slightly lowered to 4.2 percent. New Haven sees fewer new cases than other major cities in CT New Haven has a significantly lower average of new coronavirus cases than other large Connecticut cities. Since September, New Haven has averaged 12 new COVID-19 cases each day, according to a CT Insider analysis of state data. By contrast, Hartford has averaged nearly 30 new cases a day during the same time period. Danbury and Bridgeport are averaging about 22 and 24 new cases each day, respectively, while Stamford is averaging nearly 19 new cases each day. Was COVID here before March? COVID may have been circulating locally for longer than we think. This study suggests that the coronavirus was present in New York City long before the first case was identified on March 1. It also shows that the virus is about 10 times more deadly than the flu. The studys authors found seropositive samples as early as mid-February in patients at New Yorks Mount Sinai Hospital. Superspreaders impact is outsized, study says How important are superspreading events? Very, according to researchers from MIT. Superspreaders, infected individuals who result in an outsized number of secondary cases, are believed to underlie a significant fraction of total SARS-CoV-2 transmission, according to a study published this week. These events have a fat tail, the study shows, resulting in the spread of disease long after the events themselves. Researchers suggest that controlling superspreading events should be a focus: Our findings indicate that large superspreading events should be the targets of interventions that minimize tail exposure. Pregnant women more likely to die from COVID: CDC Pregnant women with the coronavirus are more likely to have a severe infection, according to the CDC. An analysis of 400,000 women with symptomatic COVID-19 infections showed that intensive care unit admission, invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and death were more likely in pregnant women than in nonpregnant women. How much more likely? The analysis showed that pregnant women were nearly four times as likely to need invasive ventilation and twice as likely to die as women who were not pregnant. Nov. 2 CT reports 2,651 new COVID cases since Friday Connecticut announced 2,651 new coronavirus cases on Nov. 2, 11 more deaths and 11 new hospitalizations for a total of 340 patients currently in the hospital. The positivity rate has increased to 3.3 percent. CDC: People can still vote if sick or quarantining within guidelines The CDC has released guidelines for in-person voting on Nov. 3. In an email to CNN, the CDC confirmed that someone who is currently recovering from COVID-19 or quarantining from being exposed to the virus, can still vote. Any such voter is encouraged to wear a mask, stay at least 6 feet away from others and wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before and after voting. These voters are also urged to notify poll workers of their condition or quarantine status. Diabetes patients with metabolic syndrome at risk for severe COVID You are much more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection if you suffer from metabolic syndrome, a disease associated with type 2 diabetes, according to a series of recent research. A study of metabolic syndrome and COVID-19 mortality among a group of adult Black patients found that metabolic syndrome was significantly associated with increased mortality, admission to an intensive care unit, invasive mechanical ventilation and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Construction workers at high risk of contracting COVID, research suggests Construction workers may be at significant risk of catching the coronavirus, specifically if construction work continues during lockdowns. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that resuming construction work during shelter-in-place orders was associated with increased hospitalization risks in the construction workforce and increased transmission in the surrounding community. Among the cohort in central Texas researchers studied, construction workers were five times more likely to be hospitalized. DETECT study: Smartwatches can detect a COVID infection Early results from research called the DETECT study has found that a computer using information obtained from smartwatches and other wearable technology can accurately detect a COVID-19 infection. The study is a big one 30,529 people, of whom 3,811 reported coronavirus symptoms. Its accurate, but not a panacea, as the study itself says: Such a passive monitoring strategy may be complementary to virus testing, which is generally a one-off, or infrequent, sampling assay. But it may be an important step, representing the transitioning of research from a dependence on brick and mortar research centers to a remote, direct-to-participant approach now possible through a range of digital technologies. Oct. 30 CT positivity rate drops to 2.5 percent and 761 new cases reported Connecticut announced 761 new coronavirus cases on Friday, seven more deaths and eight new hospitalizations for a total of 329 patients currently in the hospital. The positivity rate has sharply dropped to 2.5 percent after surpassing six percent on Oct. 29. Study finds 20 percent of grocery employees infected A study has found a high rate of asymptomatic COVID infections among grocery store workers. Published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, the study found that one out of every five of the grocery store workers tested were positive for coronavirus. Of those who tested positive, 76 percent were asymptomatic, and 91 percent had roles in the store that put them in contact with customers. Bad air can linger for 5 hours, researchers say Ventilation matters a lot, according to a study published last week in the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Aerosolized particles can remain in the air for more than five hours in a room with low ventilation rate, suggesting that hospital rooms with COVID-positive patients should be considered contaminated for extended durations after aerosol-generating procedures have been performed, the study said, since it has been shown that airborne SARS-CoV-2 remains viable for at least hours. One patient at summer camp infects 118 people: CDC A single COVID-positive patient infected 118 people at a summer camp in Wisconsin, according to the CDC. That patient tested negative a week before attending the camp, but developed symptoms and tested positive shortly after arriving. The result, the CDC said, was 76 percent of the people at the overnight camp, hailing from 21 states and two foreign countries, later tested positive. According to the CDC, this case demonstrates the need for pre-arrival quarantine and testing, cohorting, symptom monitoring, early identification and isolation of cases, mask use and enhanced hygiene and disinfection practices. FDA considering expanded access process for COVID vaccines The FDA announced that it is in the early stages of considering whether to use expanded access to distribute a potential Covid-19 vaccine, CNN reported. Expanded access is not an approval process, but rather a method to move along the process of approving an investigational medical product, like a vaccine. The process has been used before for vaccines, just not for a massive distribution that would be needed with a COVID-19 vaccine, according to CNN. Oct. 29 CT positivity rate hits six percent and over 1300 new cases reported Connecticut announced 1,319 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, five more deaths and 12 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate has significantly jumped to 6 percent. Research suggests schools may not be COVID hot spots Data from worldwide research is showing that schools may not be COVID hot spots. Despite fears, COVID-19 infections did not surge when schools and day-care centres reopened after pandemic lockdowns eased. And when outbreaks do occur, they mostly result in only a small number of people becoming ill, the journal Nature reported. Outbreaks in schools were found to be uncommon, even in places where infections were rising. Decreased death rates could change if hospitals reach capacity again, a study suggests Death rates are down, but that could change if hospitals reach capacity again, according to a study from researchers at Britains University of Exeter Medical School. In late March, four in 10 people in intensive care were dying. By the end of June, survival was over 80 percent, John M. Dennis told The New York Times. Dennis research showed that a better understanding for how the disease should be treated has played an important role in declining death rates, but also a falling critical care burden, the study said. Harvard study: Flying in an airplane may be safer than grocery shopping Flying in an airplane may be safer than grocery shopping or eating out, according to a study published Tuesday from researchers at Harvard Universitys school of public health. The risk of COVID transmission on a plane will be below that found in other routine activities during the pandemic, such as grocery shopping or eating out, the study said, though with a few caveats. There needs to be a multi-layered approach in order to keep passengers and employees safe, including wearing face masks, disinfection of surfaces and maintenance of appropriate ventilation gate-to-gate. CDC: College students contract COVID because of failure to follow protocols College students are getting COVID because they are not following standard protocols, according to the CDC. Following an investigation into 17 COVID cases at a Chicago college, the CDC determined that Colleges and universities are at risk for COVID-19 outbreaks because of shared housing and social gatherings where recommended prevention guidance is not followed. The Chicago Department of Public Health was notified in August of a cluster of COVID-19 cases among a universitys mens and womens soccer teams. That cluster, the CDC said, was the result of several events, including a birthday party and an unsanctioned game between the mens and womens teams. Oct. 28 CT reports 17 new hospitalizations, decrease in positivity rate Connecticut announced 490 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, nine more deaths and 17 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate has decreased to 3.4 percent from the previous high of 4.1 percent announced Tuesday. New cases in Bridgeport have doubled, on average In the last three days Bridgeports seven-day rolling average of new cases has nearly doubled, according to a CT Insider analysis of state data. The average of 40 new cases is the highest it has been in months. Bridgeports rise in cases mirrors the overall surge in the state. Long-term exposure to air pollution tied to COVID-19 deaths: report A study from the journal Cardiovascular Research found that long-term exposure to air pollution may be linked to 15 percent of COVID-19 deaths globally, as Aljazeera reported. Evidence suggests that in East Asia 27 percent of COVID-19 deaths could be tied to effects of poor air quality. The deaths linked to COVID-19 and air pollution presented a potentially avoidable, excess mortality, researchers said. Study: Some antibodies attack body instead of COVID-19 virus Some antibodies produced during a COVID-19 infection attack the body, as opposed to the virus, according to a study published by MicroB-plex, Inc., last week. Some patients bodies are producing so-called autoantibodies, which happens with diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The research may be helpful in understanding in the increasingly documented cases of lingering COVID-19, researchers wrote. Flu shots may help prevent COVID-19 infections, research suggests A flu shot might help prevent a COVID infection according to new research. The research is preliminary, but scientists at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that health care workers who had received a flu shot were 39 percent less likely to test positive for COVID-19, as Scientific American reported. As of June 1, 2.23 percent of the health care workers studied who did not get vaccinated against the flu tested positive, while 1.33 percent of those who got a flu shot tested positive for COVID. Oct. 27 6 deaths, 538 new cases in a day Connecticut announced 538 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, six more deaths and 22 new hospitalizations. CT positivity rate up to 4.1 percent, highest rate since June Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday that the infection rate is up to 4.1 percent. This is the highest Connecticut has had since June. The rolling seven-day average positivity rate has risen every day for the last week, accumulating to an average of 2.5 percent today. CDC: Six percent of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 are health care providers Between March and the end of May, 6 percent of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 were health care providers, according to the CDC. Of those health care providers hospitalized with COVID, most, 73 percent, were obese. About 36 percent were nurses, 16 percent of them needed to be mechanically ventilated and 4 percent of those health care providers hospitalized with a COVID infection died. COVID antibodies providing immunity dont last, according to a study Antibodies associated with immunity from the coronavirus dont last, according to a study from the Imperial College London. Using a finger prick test to detect antibodies in the blood, researchers found that the number of people testing positive dropped by 26.5 percent between June 20 and Sept. 28. These findings suggest that immunity wont last more than a few months in some cases, but Helen Ward, one of the lead researchers in the study, was reluctant to draw that conclusion explicitly: We dont yet know whether this will leave these people at risk of reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19, but it is essential that everyone continues to follow guidance to reduce the risk to themselves and others. Researcher suggests coronavirus may increase risk for Parkinsons disease Coronavirus may increase risk of Parkinsons disease, according to a commentary published last week in the journal Trends in Neurosciences. "Evidence is mounting that the side effects of COVID-19 infection, such as inflammation and damage to the vascular system, could lay the foundation for development of Parkinson's disease, researcher Patrik Brundin told Science Daily. COVID-19 is clearly a major and ongoing public health threat, but the consequences of infection may end up being with us for years and decades to come. Oct. 26 Over 2,000 cases and 37 new hospitalizations in three days Connecticut announced 2,047 new coronavirus cases Monday, 12 more deaths and 37 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has decreased to 2.2 percent from 2.9 percent on Oct. 23. Mayo Clinic: More physically fit patients are less likely to be hospitalized for COVID Exercise matters, according to research published by the Mayo Clinic. The more physically fit a patient was in the years prior to catching COVID, the less likely they were to be hospitalized, according to the study. As the study concludes, Maximal exercise capacity is independently and inversely associated with the likelihood of hospitalization due to COVID-19. Study: Lockdowns affect health in both good and bad ways What is being called a first-of-its-kind global study showed that lockdows significantly affected peoples health, in both bad and good ways. People cooked more and often ate healthier, but their mental states were adversely affected by community-wide lockdowns. The stay-at-home orders did result in one major health positive. Overall, healthy eating increased because we ate out less frequently. However, we snacked more. We got less exercise. We went to bed later and slept more poorly. Our anxiety levels doubled, said Leanne Redman, PhD, Associate Executive Director for Scientific Education at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Predictions show CT to have 6,000 to 9,000 COVID deaths by February The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, has released predictions for COVID-related deaths by state through the end of February. The most likely trajectory in Connecticut is somewhere between 6,000 and 9,000 deaths from the coronavirus, an increase of more than 1,000 in the next four months at the low-end. Nationwide, if 95 percent of the population wore masks, it would be the difference between 1,053,206 total deaths by the end of February and 381,798 total COVID deaths, according to the IHME. NonCOVID-19 hospitalizations decrease during pandemic peaks, study says A study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found a substantial decrease in the number of nonCOVID-19 hospitalizations across a range of diagnoses during the peak COVID-19 period. There were less hospitalizations for injuries, worsening of chronic conditions and medical events requiring inpatient care. The study attributes the decrease to three things: patients avoiding emergency care over fear of COVID-19, loss of health insurance, increased threshold for hospitalization and changes in patient lifestyle because of social distancing. Oct. 23 CT positivity rate increases to 2.9 percent On Oct. 23, Connecticut announced 679 new cases, eight more deaths and one new hospitalization. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has increased to 2.9 percent from when it was 2.2 percent on Oct. 22. In the last seven days the positivity rate has fluctuated, but shown a general uptick where on six of those seven days the positivity rate is above two percent. WHO: No normalcy for at least a year The World Health Organizations chief science officer said this week that the world wont go back to some measure of normalcy for at least a year, even if a vaccine is approved and administered. Were looking at 2022, at least, before enough people start getting the vaccine to build immunity, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said during a media briefing. So, for a long time to come, we have to maintain the same kind of measures that are currently being put in place with physical distancing, the masking and respiratory hygiene. Oxford vaccine creates strong response to COVID-19 The coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University creates a strong immunity response, according to researchers at the University of Bristol, as British news source Metro reported. Vaccines usually inject tiny bits of a pathogen in this case, the vaccine instructs the body to create the relevant protein itself, and it appears to work. This is an important study as we are able to confirm that the genetic instructions underpinning this vaccine, which is being developed as fast as safely possible, are correctly followed when they get into a human cell, said David Matthews, from Bristols School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Researchers: Age does not determine if you contract COVID-19 or not A group of Japanese researchers have determined that age has nothing to do with susceptibility to the coronavirus, according to research published in the journal Nature. Their mathematical model shows that age does affect severity of infection, but how old you are has nothing to do with whether or not you catch the virus in the first place. Study: Mismanagement of pandemic led to more deaths A study from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University estimated how many deaths the United States could have prevented if it had mirrored the policies and responses in six other high-income nations, namely South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada and France. In the U.S., the death rate is 66.33 for every 100,000 people. Had The United States adopted strategies similar to those in the other countries studied, at least 130,000 fewer people would have died, according to the studys authors. By contrasting the U.S. proportional mortality rate with that of six other high-income countries, this report highlights the stark reality that is the United States continued mismanagement of the pandemic response, the study says. Oct. 22 Connecticut reports 502 new cases On Oct. 22, Connecticut announced 502 new cases, two more deaths and 19 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has slightly decreased to 2.2 percent from 2.6 percent on Oct. 21. Rolling 7-day average of positivity rate is steadily climbing The rolling seven-day average for the positivity rate in Connecticut is on an uptick. In the last week, the average has steadily increased. CDC: COVID can be spread during brief encounters The CDC has said COVID-19 can be passed from one host to another during even brief encounters, as Stat news reported, prompting the agency to redefine terms. The CDC had defined a close contact as spending 15 minutes or more within 6 feet of someone else. Now its cumulative you just need to spend a total of 15 minutes or more of the course of a 24-hour period within 6 feet of someone who was infectious. Brazilian health officials: Patient dies in AstraZeneca COVID vaccine trial Brazilian health officials have said that a patient involved in the vaccine trial run by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has died, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. It was not made clear if the patient had been administered the trial vaccine or was in the control group. The patient was reported to be a man in his 20s and was from Rio de Janeiro. Russia is promoting COVID disinformation: ABC News An internal U.S. intelligence bulletin reportedly obtained by ABC News says Russia is continuing to actively promote disinformation related to the coronavirus. Dated Oct. 19, the bulletin said those efforts have increased in pace since the start of the month. Russia continues to spread COVID-19 disinformation and conspiracy theories that have the greatest potential to impact U.S. public health efforts, the bulletin says, according to ABC News. Oct. 21 State logs 416 new COVID cases The percent of total coronavirus tests that were positive dropped slightly Wednesday, from 3 percent to 2.6 percent. The state added an additional 416 coronavirus cases, and eight new COVID-associated deaths. Four fewer people were hospitalized with COVID-19 infections Wednesday, according to data released by the state. Hartford averages twice the new cases seen in other CT cities The rolling seven-day average of new coronavirus cases in Hartford is double that in other major cities in Connecticut, according to a CT Insider analysis of state data. For the last seven days, Hartford has averaged 43 new cases per day. By comparison, Bridgeport is averaging 23 new cases per day. Danbury, which was considered to be having a coronavirus surge earlier this fall, is averaging 16 new cases per day. CDC: Over 200,000 excess deaths during pandemic The CDC said this week that there have been 299,028 so-called excess deaths during the course of the pandemic in the United States, significantly more than the 216,000 deaths directly attributed to COVID-19. Excess deaths are the number of deaths above the average for the time period, and are considered a good way to estimate the true loss of life from the pandemic. Study: 71.5 percent of people open to take a COVID-19 vaccine Globally, 71.5 percent of people would be somewhat likely to take a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature. The research asked 13,426 people in 19 countries their feelings on the subject of vaccines, and found a wide range nation to nation. In China, almost 90 percent of people said they would take a vaccine, compared to only 55 percent in Russia. In the United States, 75.42 percent of people answered yes to the question, If a COVID-19 vaccine is proven safe and effective and is available, I will take it. American Academy of Pediatrics: CT children have lower COVID-19 infection rates than other states The percent and number of kids with COVID-19 is lower in Connecticut than in most other states, according to a study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Nationwide, 10.9 percent of all coronavirus cases were among people aged 18 and under. In Wyoming, nearly 30 percent of all cases were among children, compared to about 4.3 percent in New York City and New Jersey. Connecticut saw less than 10 percent of all COVID cases among children, below the 11 percent median. Oct. 20 CT positivity rate leaps to 3.0 percent On Oct. 20, Connecticut announced 434 new cases, five more deaths and 22 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has jumped to 3 percent from 1.7 percent on Oct. 19. This is the highest it has been since June. COVID-19 vaccine may be ready for approval by December The CEO of pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna said a coronavirus vaccine should be ready for approval by December. Stephane Bancel, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, said that authorization might not happen until early next year. Moderna is one of four drugmakers in late-stage coronavirus vaccine trials. Straits Times: University developing COVID-19 breathalyzer test The National University of Singapore is developing a COVID-19 breathalyzer test, the Straits Times reported. Theres only been a pilot of 180 patients so far, but the test returned results in less than a minute and was shown to be 90 percent accurate. "Results are generated in real time, making it an attractive solution for mass screening, especially in areas with high human traffic, one researcher said. Study: Nasal and oral rinses may deactivate coronavirus Results from a Penn State College of Medicine study suggest that some nasal and oral rinses may inactivate coronaviruses. Listerine, for example, actually reduced the viral load under laboratory conditions, as did CVS Antiseptic Mouth Wash and others. The key may be how long you rinse your mouth, researchers said. One minute or more actually made a significant difference. Most of the common overthecounter mouth washes/gargles tested demonstrated at least a 90 percent reduction in infectious virus at one minute of contract time with the majority of products showing increasing virucidal activity with longer contact times, the study said. UK vaccine trial moves toward human challenge trial A UK vaccine trial announced it will begin a COVID-19 human challenge trial in January, the journal Nature reported. The trial is aimed at accelerating COVID-19 vaccine development in hopes of potentially ending the pandemic. But the prospect of deliberately infecting people even those at low risk of severe disease with SARS-CoV-2, a deadly pathogen that has few proven treatments, is uncharted medical and bioethical territory, the journal stated. Oct. 19 CT COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations rise On Oct. 19, the State of Connecticut announced 1,191 new cases, 12 more deaths and 11 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has decreased to 1.7. percent from 2.4 percent on Oct. 16. Study shows organ damage in some hospitalized COVID patients A new study of patients who have been in the hospital with a COVID infection suggests a potential link between chronic inflammation and ongoing organ damage among survivors, as Reuters reports. About 60 percent of patients showed abnormalities of the lungs, 29 percent had kidney issues, 26 percent had heart problems and 10 percent had abnormalities in the liver. CVS is hiring 15,000 workers to help handle vaccines CVS is adding 15,000 workers across the United States to handle vaccinations for both the flu and a potential rollout of a coronavirus vaccine, the company said in a statement. Were estimating a much greater need for trained pharmacy technicians this year given the continued presence of COVID-19 in our communities, said Lisa Bisaccia, CVS chief human resources officer. Notre Dame: Virus-related lockdowns prevent thousands of deaths linked to pollution A study from researchers at Notre Dame University showed that virus-related lockdowns in China and Europe prevented tens of thousands of deaths related to pollution. Researcher Paola Crippa and her colleagues looked at the average number of deaths associated with pollution, the number of similar deaths that happened during pandemic lockdowns and the decrease in airborne particulate matter. The study estimated that 24,200 deaths associated with particulate matter were prevented in China, and another 2,190 pollution-related deaths were avoided in Europe, compared to the average. WHO trial finds that COVID-19 associated drugs did not clearly impact patient outcomes The WHO Solidarity trial found that four drugs Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir and Interferon have have little or no effect, on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Research found that none of these drugs clearly reduced mortality, initiation of ventilation or hospitalization duration. Oct. 16 CT Positivity rate drastically jumps to 2.4 percent On Oct. 16, the State of Connecticut announced 802 new cases, two more deaths and no new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) increased to 2.4 percent from 1.3 percent on Oct. 15. Rolling seven-day average for positivity rate is at 1.7 percent The rolling seven-day positivity rate average is at 1.7 percent, its highest in weeks according to a CT Insider analysis of state data. The positivity rate jumped to 2.4 percent on Oct. 16 from previously being at 1.3 percent on Oct. 15. For the past week, the average has varied between 1.3 and 1.5 percent until today. Large Thanksgiving parties are a risk: Dr. Anthony Fauci Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that families need to reconsider having large Thanksgiving parties. "That is unfortunately a risk, when you have people coming from out of town, gathering together in an indoor setting," Fauci, the nations leading expert on infectious diseases, told CBS news. "It is unfortunate, because that's such a sacred part of American tradition the family gathering around Thanksgiving. But that is a risk." Politico: Pfizer will not seek vaccine approval until after election Pfizer, one of four U.S. drug manufacturers in late-stage coronavirus vaccine testing, said that it wont seek authorization for a vaccine until after the election. "Let me be clear, assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for Emergency Authorization Use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November," the companys CEO wrote, as Politico reported. CDC releases guidelines for COVID testing in schools The CDC has released interim guidelines for coronavirus testing in schools. The guidance goes into detail on the types of testing, when testing is and is not recommended for students and staff, and which schools (and which people within schools) to prioritize testing. The agency made it clear that these are just guidelines, not mandates: These considerations are for testing in school settings and are intended for K-12 school administrators working in collaboration with their state, tribal, local, and territorial public health officials. Oct. 15 CT positivity rate decreases to 1.3 percent On Oct. 15, the State of Connecticut announced 213 new cases, three more deaths and three new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) decreased to 1.3 percent from a high of 2.4 percent on Oct. 13. Coronavirus strain infecting pigs in China could spread to humans A related coronavirus that has torn through the pig population in China (Its called swine acute diarrhea syndrome, or SADS) has the potential to jump to humans, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The good news is that, "It is impossible to predict if this virus, or a relative of it, could emerge and infect human populations, as one reseracher said. However, it has been shown to replicate in human cells, which demonstrates potential risk for future emergence events in human and animal populations." Research shows coronavirus travels through the air in different ways Researchers have modelled how the coronavirus is transmitted via droplets and in aerosolized form, and suggest that it moves from host to host in different ways depending on the humidity in the air. UC Santa Barbara researchers say that ability to be transmitted in both droplets and aerosolized form may be why the virus did not abate in the summer as some researchers thought it might. We found that in most situations, respiratory droplets travel longer distances than the 6-foot social distance recommended by the CDC, researcher Yanying Zhu said. Oxford University scientists developed a 5-minute COVID test Scientists at Oxford University have developed a 5-minute antigen test, as NBC reported. Our method quickly detects intact virus particles, said Professor Achilles Kapanidis, at Oxfords Department of Physics. He said the test, described as cost-effective, should have an approved device in the middle of next year. Israeli scientists identify drugs that can reduce COVID-19 severity Israeli scientists have engaged in an extensive, systematic analysis of electronic health records to identify drugs that could reduce the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, according to research published this week. Their results were encouraging: We identified several drugs and products sold in pharmacies that are significantly associated with reduced odds ratios of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalization and disease severity. Oct. 14 CT positivity rate decreases to 1.9 percent On Oct. 14, the State of Connecticut announced 164 new cases, four more deaths and 16 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) decreased to 1.9 percent, still a relatively high rate, but lower than the previously reported 2.4 percent on Oct. 13. Dutch woman is first known death from COVID-19 reinfection An elderly woman in the Netherlands has become the first known person to die from a COVID-19 reinfection, according to Dutch experts. She died nearly two weeks after being infected with the virus a second time. The lady had a rare bone marrow cancer called Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, but researchers said her immune system could have still been sufficient to eliminate, the virus. COVID-19 financial losses amount to about $16 trillion, study says A pair of researchers from Harvard published a study this week in which they show that the estimated cumulative financial costs of the COVID-19 pandemic related to the lost output and health reduction is about $16 trillion in the United States. Thats equal to about 90 percent of the total annual GDP of the United States, translating to an average loss of almost $200 000 for a family of four. Those numbers are not so straightforward. Half of that $16 trillion is lost income from the COVID-19-induced recession the rest is the estimated economic effects of shorter and less healthy life, researchers wrote. Deaths 20% higher because of the pandemic There were 20 percent more deaths than usual between March and July, according to one recent research letter published by scientists from Yale University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Those deaths were not all directly related to COVID only about 67 percent of those 225,530 excess deaths were from a coronavirus infection. The remainder are from pandemic-related issues (like increased poverty or stretched-too-thin hospital resources. Effects of COVID-19 on mental health will be profound: NYU researchers Three mental health professionals from NYU expressed concerns in a research letter over what the sheer number of pandemic-related deaths might do to the people left behind. Each COVID-19 death leaves an estimated nine family members bereaved, which projects to an estimated 2 million bereaved individuals in the U.S., they wrote. Thus, the effect of COVID-19 deaths on mental health will be profound. Its not just the effects of dealing with death. There is also a significant amount of stress and social disruption caused by the pandemic, which has increased rates of depression and anxiety, and substance abuse. A second wave of devastation is imminent, attributable to mental health consequences of COVID-19, they wrote. The magnitude of this second wave is likely to overwhelm the already frayed mental health system, leading to access problems, particularly for the most vulnerable persons. Oct. 13 CT positivity rate significantly increases to 2.4 percent On Oct. 13, the State of Connecticut announced 320 new cases, one death and 17 more hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) increased significantly to 2.4 percent. Pfizer expands vaccine study to include teenagers Pfizer has altered its vaccine study to include younger participants aged 12 through 15 after getting permission by the Food and Drug Administration. The study originally planned for 30,000 participants, but expanded the participant pool to 44,000 in September. Johnson & Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trial after unexplained illness Johnson & Johnson is temporarily pausing its COVID-19 vaccine trial after an unexplained illness in a study participant. The company said adverse events, like illnesses, are an expected part of any clinical study. The illness is being reviewed by ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board and internal physicians. It is not always immediately apparent whether a participant received a study treatment or a placebo, the company said. COVID-19 reinfection more severe the second time, study says A study by The Lancet, a medical journal, found that a person re-infected with COVID-19 had more severe symptoms during his second battle with the virus. The patient developed myalgia, a cough, shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia. Researchers speculate that the reinfection may have been more severe for one of the following reasons: the patient may have been exposed to a higher dose of the virus, this version of the virus may be more malicious or antibodies could have been infected and became dependent on the virus. U.S. experiences more COVID-19 deaths than any country, according to JAMA Network The medical journal JAMA conducted a study to explain why the U.S.has experienced more COVID-19 deaths than any other country. After the first peak in early spring, U.S. death rates from COVID-19 and from all causes remained higher than even countries with high COVID-19 mortality, the study says. JAMA found that these results came from several factors, including weak public health infrastructure and a decentralized, inconsistent U.S. response to the pandemic. Oct. 12 Coronavirus can linger on touchscreens for at least 28 days Coronavirus can live and remain viable for at least 28 days on touchscreens and banknotes, according to newly released research from Australia. The study, from researchers at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, showed that, at 68 degrees fahrenheit, the coronavirus can survive for a month on common surfaces such as glass, stainless steel and both paper and polymer banknotes. At 100 degrees fahrenheit, the virus can live less than 24 hours on those surfaces, the study said. CDC: Infections in younger people happen before spike in infections in older people A study of infection data by age group released by the CDC showed that in counties considered hotspots, including counties in Connecticut, a spike in the number of infections among younger people preceded a spike in infections among older people by several weeks. The dynamic was less profound in Northeast states, but the CDC notes that addressing transmission among young adults is an urgent public health priority. CT projected to average over 16 deaths a day by 2021 Connecticut is currently seeing an average of 1.68 deaths from the coronavirus every day. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data shows the state hitting 2.3 average daily deaths by Election Day, and more than 16 deaths per day by Jan. 1. The IHMEs predictions dont go any further than February but, by that point, Connecticut could be looking at 30 deaths per day from the coronavirus, with significant increases in infections and hospital resource use as well. Hartford is averaging 10 new cases per day Hartford has been experiencing a steady rise in new COVID-19 cases every day. Data shows that Hartford has reported at least 10 new cases every day since Sept. 28. The rolling seven-day average shows an average 11 new cases each day so far in October. Trinity College and UNH suspend in-person learning over COVID-19 outbreaks Trinity College in Hartford and the University of New Haven have experienced outbreaks in the last few days. The University of New Haven announced today that it is suspending in-person learning until Oct. 17 because of the outbreak. Trinity has also paused in-person instruction until it can get a handle on the growing cases. Oct. 9 CT positivity rate increases to 1.68 percent On Oct. 9, the State of Connecticut announced 290 new cases, three more deaths and six new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) increased to 1.68 percent. States without mask mandates have 10 times the COVID-19 cases A study of states policies as they reopened showed that those without mask mandates saw 10 times the number of coronavirus cases as those states with mask mandates. This study contributes to the growing evidence that mask usage is essential for mitigating community transmission of COVID-19, the study concludes. States should delay further reopening until mask mandates are fully implemented, and enforcement by local businesses will be critical for preventing potential future closures. A serious COVID-19 infection can provide long-lasting immunity A Harvard study suggests that a serious COVID-19 infection does provide long-lasting immunity. Its been assumed that catching the virus does grant some measure of immunity, but Harvard researchers may be the first to confirm that severe infections do result in some measure of immunity on a long-term basis. We showed that key antibody responses to COVID-19 do persist. the lead researcher said. Coronavirus can live on human skin for nine hours Coronavirus can live on human skin for nine hours, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study shows that this nine-hour window during which the virus lingers creates a higher risk of transmission and underlines the importance of washing your hands or sanitizing. Trump plans to hold a rally in Florida Saturday, whether infectious or not President Donald Trump plans to hold a Saturday rally in Florida, an event which his doctors have cleared him for after a COVID diagnosis last week. Depending on the severity of his COVID infection, he may or may not be infectious at that point. According to the CDC, patients with mild to moderate remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset. Patients with more severe infections can be contagious for up to 20 days. The New York Times reported that Trump began experiencing symptoms on Wednesday, Sept. 30, exactly 10 days before his planned Saturday rally. Oct. 8 384 cases and 5 COVID deaths as phase 3 begins Gov. Ned Lamont announced an additional five deaths from COVID-19 Friday, as the state begins phase 3 of reopening, increasing indoor capacity in restaurants and opening up arts venues. The state also logged an additional one-day increase of 384 COVID cases, and a positivity rate of 1.4 percent. White House chief adviser lays out vaccine approval for after election A chief adviser to the White Houses Operation Warp Speed this week laid out a timetable for vaccine approval, after Nov. 3. On Tuesday, Moncef Slaoui told a symposium run by Johns Hopkins University that "Nobody can really say when," a vaccine would be approved, "but the expectation would be that this would happen between the month of November and December." European Union secures 400 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine The European Union has secured 400 million doses of a vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson, one of four U.S.-made vaccine candidates currently in late-stage trials. The contract allows member states to purchase vaccines for 200 million people. They will also have the possibility to purchase vaccines for an additional 200 million people, the EU commission said in a statement, as was reported by Reuters. The E.U. has already signed similar deals with drugmakers AstraZeneca and Sanofi, which are also working on vaccine candidates. U.S. ranked nine of 19 for pandemic management The U.S. ranks ninth of 19 nations in terms of public perception of pandemic management, according to a new tool developed by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the City University of New York. The U.S. was rated highly in terms of income, food and shelter aid, but did not perform as well, in the view of survey respondents in terms of government cooperation with other nations and global agencies. 500,000 sharks could die for COVID vaccine, conservationists say A conservationist group says that as many as 500,000 sharks could be killed to provide a coronavirus vaccine to the worlds population. Squalene, used as an emulsifier in many vaccines, is often derived from shark liver oil. California-based Shark Allies has put together a Change.org petition to encourage the worlds drugmakers to use squalene from other sources. The organization estimates that, depending on the vaccine, as many as 500,000 sharks could be killed to provide two vaccine doses globally. Oct. 7 Note: Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday that the state actually administered more than more than 17,700 coronavirus tests Tuesday, instead of 8,200 as he initially reported. That brought the percent positive to 0.7 percent instead of 1.6 percent. CT positivity rate increases since Oct. 6 On Oct. 7, the State of Connecticut announced 123 new cases, one death and nine more hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) increased to 1.62 percent. Fauci says the U.S. could have as many as 400,000 deaths before pandemic ends Anthony Fauci said during an event hosted by American University that the United States could see as many as 400,000 coronavirus deaths before the pandemic is over, as Axios reported. "We could have 300,000-400,000 COVID-19 deaths, if precautions arent taken, he said. NY locks down on COVID-19 hotspots New York State is locking down again, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, placing restrictions on businesses, churches and schools near COVID-19 hotspots. Cuomo said the rules will be enforced in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, Orange and Rockland counties, and that they would take effect no later than Friday. CT has had a 75 percent increase in COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days The numbers are small, but the percentage increase in both cases and deaths from the coronavirus is high in Connecticut, according to data maintained by Kaiser Health News. There has been a 75 percent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state over the last 14 days, the sixth highest in the nation. There has been a 40 percent increase in the number of COVID-related deaths, though the state is still at a rolling seven-day average of two deaths per day, which is relatively low for the United States. There is a seven-day average of about 200 new cases in the state. One-third of COVID-19 patients experience neurological effects A study by Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology found that nearly a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients experienced some form of an altered mental capacity. The symptoms are varied, ranging from dizziness to confusion to unresponsiveness. Patients with neurological symptoms experienced worse medical outcomes as a result, reported the New York Times. Oct. 6 No new hospitalizations since Oct. 5 On Oct. 6, the State of Connecticut announced 121 new cases, 4 more deaths and no new hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) decreased to 1.47 percent. Quest diagnostics releases at-home COVID-19 test kit Quest Diagnostics has released a new, at-home COVID-19 test kit, WFSB reported. The kit includes a nasal swab PCR test that can be returned in an overnight FedEx envelope. A test kit costs $129 and can be ordered online at the Quest Diagnostics website. Alternatively, someone can complete the at-home test by buying it online and taking the specimen to a drive-thru pharmacy at a nearby Walmart. White House blocks FDA guidelines preventing vaccine approval before election The White House has blocked proposed FDA guidelines that would have prevented a vaccine from being approved before the Nov. 3 election, as multiple news organizations have reported. The FDA had instructed vaccine manufacturers to follow patients involved in vaccine trials for two months, a timeline that would have pushed any approvals to after the election. 13-year-old spreads coronavirus to 12 people in four states The CDC has detailed how a 13-year-old with coronavirus spread the disease to at least 12 other people in four states. Fourteen people stayed in a house with the index patient, of whom 12 were infected (none worse masks or practiced social distancing). Six other relatives stayed outside of the hose and none of them caught the virus. Relaxing social distancing rules contribute to increased transmission rates across U.S. A study from researchers at the Center for Global Health in Boston showed that the transmission rate across the United States began increasing as soon as social distancing rules were relaxed. We detected an immediate and significant reversal in SARS-CoV-2 epidemic suppression after relaxation of social distancing measures across the U.S. Premature relaxation of social distancing measures undermined the countrys ability to control the disease burden associated with COVID-19, researchers said. Oct. 5 Connecticuts positivity rate increases to 1.6 On Oct. 5, the State of Connecticut announced 823 new cases, four more deaths and 19 more hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) increased to 1.6 percent from the previous 1.3 percent on Oct. 2. CT transmission rate at its highest since March Connecticuts transmission rate is at its highest since March. The transmission rate is 1.11, according to rt.live and Yales model pins the rate at 1.15. This number means that an infected person will spread the disease to at least one other person on average, causing COVID-19 to spread. MIT develops a cheap, new COVID-19 test MIT has developed a COVID-19 test that is so cheap it could be administered at home every single day. The test returns results in 30 minutes to an hour, and is more than 90 percent accurate. We need rapid testing to become part of the fabric of this situation so that people can test themselves every day, which will slow down an outbreak, Omar Abudayyeh, an MIT McGovern Fellow working on the diagnostic, said in a release. The test is still in the research phase. Coronavirus cases increase as cold front arrives As the cold weather has arrived, there has been a record number of coronavirus cases in nine states, as Reuters reports. The states seeing the largest increases are those where the cold has taken hold, particularly in the northern Midwest. In Wisconsin, for example, an average of 22 percent of all COVID-19 tests are coming back positive. CDC updates guidance to confirm COVID-19 can be spread through aerosols Despite a mountain of other research, the CDC has gone back and forth about whether the virus can spread through aerosols, but a newly updated guidance affirms it can be spread through the air. Small viral particles can linger in the air for minutes or hours after a person has left a space, potentially infecting others. This kind of spread is called airborne transmission. Oct. 2 Connecticuts COVID-19 cases continue to climb On Oct. 2, the State of Connecticut announced 460 new cases, two more deaths and three more hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) is at 1.36 percent. Norwich issued a COVID-19 alert after outbreak of positive cases The state has issued a COVID-19 alert for the town of Norwich following a recent spike in cases in the area in the last two weeks, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a tweet early Friday morning. The state Department of Health said that Norwich recorded at least 84 new coronavirus cases in mid-September to raise the daily case rate to 24 per 100,000, the highest rate in the state. This is a significant increase in cases in Norwich we need to focus everyones attention on, said Acting DPH Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford in a release. Moderna says vaccine could be ready by March 2021 The CEO of Moderna, one of the leading companies working on a coronavirus vaccine, said this week the company plans to submit its vaccine candidate to the FDA in January 2021, at the earliest, with an expected vaccine ready for public consumption no earlier than March or April of next year. Kids are efficient virus spreaders, study says Heres a little more about superspreaders: A study of 575,071 people who had been exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients the largest such study ever found that children and young adults in particular were good at spreading the virus. Kids are very efficient transmitters in this setting, which is something that hasnt been firmly established in previous studies, said lead researcher Ramanan Laxminarayan. Blumenthal getting tested after potential exposure at White House President Trump has tested positive and is experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19. Following his diagnosis, a string of White House officials along with Connecticuts Sen. Richard Blumenthal, have chosen to get tested. Sen. Chris Murphy stated the White House could now be a superspreading site, according to the New Haven Independent. Oct. 1 Positive tests continues to grow in Connecticut The percent of total tests that were positive in Connecticut continued to grow Thursday 1.85 percent of all coronavirus tests in the state came back positive, up from 1.78 the previous day. Again, three more deaths from the virus were identified, and another three people were fighting the disease in the hospital, according to the state Who should get a vaccine first? Health care professionals A study asked members of the public who they thought should get a vaccine first when one is available. Most people thought health care professionals should get a vaccine first. The goal is not only to better allocate limited resources but to build a little trust. Public engagement can contribute to resource allocation decisions, the studys authors said. Incorporating public preferences could advance the perceived legitimacy of vaccine allocation guidelines. Vaccine trial participants experience symptoms in phase three Participants in the vaccine trial being managed by Moderna and AstraZenica reported symptoms like fever, body aches, headaches and exhaustion, and while the symptoms were described as intense by some patients, they tended to abate in a single day or less, as CNBC reported. The Moderna vaccine candidate is one of of four currently in phase three trials in the United States. Fauci says vaccine trials need a diverse group of patients National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci told congress that vaccine trials need to include a diverse group of patients. We need to get a diverse representation of the population in the clinical trials," he told a panel of Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members, as The Hill reported. "So when they are proven to be safe and effective, we can say they are safe and effective in everyone, not only in whites." FDA looks into a wider scope of side effects from AstraZenica vaccine candidate The FDA is widening the scope of its investigation into possible side effects from the AstraZenica vaccine candidate, probably resulting in further delays, as Reuters reported. The stage three trial has been on hold since Sept. 8, after a patient in the trial developed a spinal cord illness called transverse myelitis. Sept. 30 Percent positive up in CT About 1.8 percent of the total number of coronavirus tests in Connecticut were positive, an increase of about .1 percent from the day before. There were a total of 221 new cases announced, and 12 new COVID-19-related hospitalizations. In addition, there were three more coronavirus-related deaths in the state. COVID-19 may be ramping up in NYC Coronavirus cases are spiking in New York City. The daily rate of positive coronavirus tests jumped to 3.25 percent on Tuesday from 1.9 the day earlier, though it then dropped back down to below 1 percent. That spike may be centered in the citys Orthodox Jewish community, but the city did just open up to 25 percent of indoor capacity at restaurants. Percent positive up in New Jersey New Yorks positivity rate the percentage of tests that are positive may be jumping up and down, and Connecticuts may be inching up, but pay attention to New Jersey. State officials there said Wednesday the positivity rate in that state climbed over 3 percent after being in the 2 percent range for weeks. Transmission on surfaces unlikely in the real world Coronavirus transmission on surfaces is unlikely, according to a letter published in the journal Lancet. In laboratory conditions its possible, but in the real world its far less likely, provided that standard cleaning procedures and precautions are enforced. Wash your hands. Chinese citizens are already getting a vaccine There has been no coronavirus vaccine yet approved in China, but state media has said that hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens are receiving an unapproved shot under an emergency authorization, as The New Yorker reported. The goal, they said, was to beat the United States to the punch. Chinese officials are thinking that Donald Trump might approve a U.S. vaccine before the election, Yiwu He, the chief innovation officer at the University of Hong Kong, told The New Yorker. So their goal is to have a vaccine approved before that. Sept. 29 COVID-19 hospitalizations rise Since Tuesday, the state of Connecticut announced 182 new cases, 2 more deaths and 17 more hospitalizations. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) has decreased to 1.06 percent. Less than 10 percent of U.S. adults formed antibodies during first COVID-19 wave A study by The Lancet shows that fewer than 10 percent of the U.S. adult population developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, during the first wave of the pandemic and fewer than 10 percent of those with antibodies were diagnosed. This has a lot of implications when youre looking at things such as vaccines. Rapid COVID-19 tests to be used in Connecticut schools Connecticut is expecting to receive 1 million rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government. The tests are meant to help keep schools open. Of the 1 million tests, 69,000 will arrive next week, according to Gov. Ned Lamont. The tests will also be used in nursing homes, day care centers, prisons and for the state's rapid-response team to deal with virus outbreaks. Lawsuit to stop kids from wearing masks in schools goes to court Parents from five Connecticut towns are arguing that the state lacked the authority to create the mandate and violated the constitutional rights of students by imposing it. A state Superior Court judge is presiding over the lawsuit. Americans over 30 have been drinking more during the pandemic Adults over 30 have been drinking more during the pandemic, according to the JAMA Network Open journal. Alcohol consumption has increased 14 percent since 2019, averaging out to one additional drinking day per month by 75 percent of adults. Sept. 28 More cases reported and one less hospitalization since Sept. 25 Since Sept. 25, the State of Connecticut announced 560 new cases, two more deaths and one less hospitalization. The positivity rate (the percentage of total tests that are positive) is at 1.1 percent Monday. Silent reinfections coming to surface An article from the journal Nature reports that the reinfection found in two Indian doctors who contracted COVID-19 in May is genetically different the second time around, according to the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi. The evidence indicates that the doctors bodies are not harboring leftover virus, but instead being infected all over again. To this extent, it suggests asymptomatic reinfections are underreported. CDC releases guidelines for a safe Thanksgiving The Center for Disease Control released guidelines for Thanksgiving plans. One of these guidelines calls for those hosting a dinner to only include people who live in the household or have a virtual dinner. Long-term care facilities allowing visitors again in Connecticut The state Department of Public Health announced that long-term care facilities can begin to have visitors again. Visitors will be screened by the facility and are required to wear protective gear, such as masks. There will be limitations on how many visitors a patient can have at a time and how many are allowed in the facility. The horseshoe crab could be a saving grace against COVID-19 Horseshoe crab blood is a key ingredient in the making of vaccines, even one for COVID-19, according to an article in National Geographic. The blood contains a substance called limulus amebocyte lysate, which helps detect a bacterial toxin that could be deadly if it makes it into vaccines. It just so happens this ingredient might be a saving grace in fighting COVID-19. Sept. 25 Positivity rate in Connecticut is back down below 1 percent There were 115 new cases of the coronavirus reported in Connecticut Friday afternoon, the lowest single day increase in recent memory. In addition, the state posted a positivity rate (the percentage of coronavirus tests that were positive) of a bit more than 0.8 percent. This news comes a day after Gov. Ned Lamont that the state would begin its phase three opening, allowing for restaurants to go to 75 percent capacity indoors. Transmission rate remains slightly elevated The only dark spot on Connecticuts COVID-19 horizon is the transmission rate (denoted as R0) which, according to rt.live, remained at 1.10 as of Friday evening. An Rt over 1 means the virus is spreading below 1 and the virus is contained and not spreading through the population. COVID-19 deaths globally are close to 1 million The world is expected to cross the threshold of 1 million deaths from COVID-19 within the next few days. According to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University, there were 985,104 deaths worldwide from COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon. Most estimates suggest that the world will hit 1 million deaths from the coronavirus before MOnday. Non-COVID hospital admissions up for some Hospital admissions dropped considerably during the pandemic, but non-COVID-related hospital admissions bounced back (to 16 percent below normal) in June and July. Not among all cohorts, according to this study in Health Affairs. Hospital admissions in majority Hispanic areas were 32 percent lower, and were 44 percent lower among pneumonia patients and 40 percent down among people with COPD or asthma. Is there a new way to test for COVID? There is potentially a new way to diagnose COVID-19 which could potentially be used to analyse thousands of samples per day on a single instrument, according to the pre-printed study. The LamPORE test platform, as its called, is about as accurate as the current PCR tests being used. LONDON, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report released today finds over three quarters of UK business leaders (78%) have experienced mental ill-health during the pandemic, with experts warning tighter COVID restrictions could see symptoms return or worsen. Bupa Global's Executive Wellbeing Index charts the impact of the pandemic on business leaders across the globe and highlights attitudes towards health and wellbeing, work-life balance and economic recovery. The report by the premium health insurer sheds light on the toll the pandemic has taken on UK executives. Many have experienced symptoms of mental ill-health, with one in ten (10%) suffering burnout. Weighing heavily on leaders' minds is the economy. Less than half (44%) are optimistic about the nation's recovery, with UK confidence levels some of the lowest reported globally. Reduced personal freedom during lockdown contributed to poor mental health (40%) - and executives reported fatigue, disturbed sleep and mood swings. Worryingly, a third delayed seeking help. As tighter restrictions return, Bupa Global is urging leaders to take steps to protect their own, and colleagues' mental health and seek professional support. Bupa Global Medical Director, Dr Luke James says: "Whatever the outlook, one thing is certain - when the economy is struggling, we're also more likely to struggle with mental health. With the threat of a second lockdown, we may see an exacerbation in mental-ill health too. Taking steps to support your emotional wellbeing and quickly addressing any issues is key. Early treatment can have a positive impact on prognosis." Protecting mental health and wellbeing is now one of the biggest concerns for UK executives (31%). One in four (25%) has committed to increasing mental health support for colleagues, while six in 10 plan to purchase private medical insurance in the next year. Sheldon Kenton, Managing Director, Bupa Global, said: "Many businesses are suffering and need their leaders and people to be in good health. The necessity of preventative care and mental health support has never been greater. Bupa Global has invested heavily in its mental health offering in recent years and provides customers with a range of preventive health and wellbeing services." Bupa Global's Executive Wellbeing Index took opinions from almost 2,000 high net worth individuals and senior executives in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia. For more information on Bupa Global's world leading products and services visit www.bupaglobal.com More than 200 US nurses dead rom Covid-19 says new report (Getty Images) More than 200 nurses in the US have died from Covid-19 during the pandemic, a new report says. The countrys largest nursing union says that a total of 1,718 health care workers in total have died from the virus, including 213 registered nurses. Of the nurses who died, 58.2 per cent were nurses of colour, including 67 Filipino American nurses and 38 Black nurses, claims National Nurses United. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that of the 3 million nursing positions in the US, just 24.1 per cent are filled by people of colour, according to Business Insider. The NNU says that of the 1,515 cases of health care workers where details were available, 29.6 per cent were employed at hospitals and 70.4 per cent worked in nursing homes, medical practices, Emergency Services, and other settings. And they say that registered nurses make up 31.9 per cent of the hospital health care workers who have died. Union bosses say their statistics were based on research from state and local health records, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, the Centers for Disease Control, obituaries, social media and GoFundMe accounts. The rights of registered nurses and other health care workers in the US are being violated, said the union in their report. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers have a general duty to provide safe workplaces." When the coronavirus hit the US earlier this year, health professionals angrily complained that they needed better protective gear in hospitals, medical offices and care homes. As the virus spread many nurses complained about an ongoing lack of masks, gloves and PPE, with some even having to use plastic bags instead of medical-grade gowns. The US has now seen more than 200,00 deaths from coronavirus, with more than 7 million Americans testing positive for the infection. For us, its been a matter of life and death, said NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo. If we had not been out there and collectively advocating and fighting, tooth and nail, for every single N95 mask and every single protection, we would have lost many more. We have seen this system function under a pandemic and it has been an utter failure. Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo jokingly said on Monday night that they would be more than happy if Lionel Messi came to join his friend Luis Suarez at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano. In fact, Messi has already worn Atletico's badge on his shirt during a game, doing so during a charity friendly in 2009 which was organised by the Barcelona captain's friend Maxi Rodriguez, who was representing Los Rojiblancos at the time. Messi even got on the scoresheet, rifling a left-footed shot into the roof of the net. Supplier News 29 September 2020 PITTSBURGH - With operating budgets thrown out the window by second quarter this year, hoteliers are scrambling to find useful historical data to help guide them through the 2021 budgeting and forecasting process. Aptech, a provider of budgeting and forecasting, enterprise accounting, and business intelligence solutions for hotels, is advising operators to rely on historical drivers rather than bottom line revenues to help them better plan for the days ahead. Knowing how to analyze trend data, such as driver value, will help operators forecast more accurately. "Due to the pandemic, budgeting season started early this year," said Jill Wilder, Aptech vice president. "Occupancy and revenues were non-existent. So, as far back as July, our customers began asking what they can do now to have better, more accurate budgeting numbers for 2021. In these uncertain times, analyzing every single cost matters. People need to know what to track and what they are spending 'per occupied room' and how those costs are impacting the 'percentage of revenue.' It's not an easy task, unless you have the financial-planning tools needed to streamline the process." To assist hoteliers with their 2021 budget planning, Aptech is offering the following advice: Use driver-based calculations rather than straight input. Due to the relationship of the driver to its source, when a modification to the source is made, the calculation will cascade and update the associated values throughout the budget. When you are using straight input for each line of the budget, when a value is changed, the entire budget will need to be reviewed and possibly redone. If the driver value for reservation expense is 5% of Room Revenue, when the Room Revenue value is changed, the reservation expense will be adjusted. Develop standards - such as Hours/Occupied Room. Understand what the correct ratio should be. If a housekeeper should be .5 hours/Occupied Room for a select service property, this can become the "standard" or guideline for other select service properties within your portfolio. Compare those "standards" to generate the most accurate value as to how the amount should be calculated. For instance, if one property is spending .75 hours/occupied room and another is spending .25 it would make sense that the standard value should be .50 hours/occupied room. The budget calculation will not vary by the time but by the number of rooms that are occupied. This will also aid with the amount of labor needed to meet those standards. Use operational factors to help determine the budget value. As in the example above, the property using .25 hours/occupied room has an average guest satisfaction score of a 4, .5 hours/occupied room will then justify the increased time needed, to obtain a higher guest satisfaction score; whereas the property with .75 hours may always score a 10 on their guest satisfaction for cleanliness. Now considering that less hours being budgeted/occupied room may decrease the guest satisfaction score. Weather is also a valuable operational factor that can aid in budgeting. For instance, a resort in the mountains predicting a very warm winter might consider a lesser number of occupied rooms, due to less cold weather guests. Don't overcomplicate the process, what driver is the most beneficial in determining the result. Define the typical driver, be realistic rather than creating several different drivers for every account. Too many choices cause confusion and overwhelm the users with the budget process. Focus on the data that counts, specifically on the operational values that drive a specific budget line. Review the monthly trends of your actual data. As we are now 9 months into an unpredictable year; review your data looking for a trend. If the linen expense in one of your F&B outlets is running 5% of dinner revenue for the first 3 months and then increases to 8% for the next three months and then returns to 5%; use those same historical trends to define your upcoming year rather than taking the annual amount and dividing it by 12 giving you the same flat amount for each month. This will help especially with seasonal properties and improve overall month to month accuracy. Develop a budget that will create a solid beginning for your 2021 forecast . Often it is said that the budget is outdated once it is approved, so users do not spend the time on the month-to-month accuracy. If the time is spent on creating the most accurate monthly budget, this can then be used as a valuable starting point for your future forecast and your budget effort is proven to be worthwhile. "Financial-planning today is not a business-as-usual process," Wilder said. "Given recent events, crafting the perfect budget may not be achievable; but Targetvue, Aptech's hospitality-driven budgeting and forecasting solution with hospitality-specific drivers can assist in delivering more accurate forecasting, resulting in one version of the truth throughout an organization. If you have questions, we are here to help." Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has jabbed former President and NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, describing him as a man with no credibility and vision. The Vice President appealed to Ghanaians to utterly reject the candidacy of Mr. John Mahama but vote massively for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the December 7 elections. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said this while giving a keynote address at a grand launch of ''Aspirants Unite for Victory'' held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Labadi, on Monday, September 28, 2020. Aspirants Unite for Victory The Aspirants Unite for Victory (AU4V ) is a nationwide movement by the Parliamentary aspirants who lost in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Primaries this year. The AU4V movement is to foster unity among the defeated aspirants. The members are primarily focused on maintaining all NPP Parliamentary seats as well as winning new constituency seats for the party, and working together to secure a second term for President Nana Akufo-Addo and the ruling NPP. The AU4V is led by the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso constituency, Hon. Kennedy Kwasi Kankam, Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, former MUSIGA President and Parliamentary aspirant for Asante Akyem South, Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly known as Obour and many others, who all lost in the primaries. Veep's Advice To Ghanaians Dr. Bawumia reminded Ghanaians of the incompetence of Mr. Mahama saying "we all know what the record was after 8 years of the NDC in government and we know what the record of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is as we speak today. We know, from the data that is available, that John Mahama managed our economy with incompetence. He was very incompetent . . . it's a fact". He advised the citizenry not to make a mistake to bring the former President back to power because he will mess up the economy. "Are we going to go back to incompetence? Are we really going to go back to this type of incompetence?'' "Not only has he proven to be incompetent, he has also proven to not have credibility and no vision. Right! There is no credibility. He said the free SHS was a hoax; now he says he introduced it. Then he said if he had Ghc 2 billion, he wouldn't spend it on free SHS; now he says he wants to expand it to private sector. He introduced licensing exams for teachers, today he says he will abolish it. He abolished teacher trainee allowance, today he will introduce it . . . He abolished okada, today he's; where's the leadership? Where is the credibility? Where is the vision? It is not about just winning an election, you must have a view. You must have a vision. You must be credible to be able to be given the reins of this country to help people and he has not shown so. So, is that what we want to go back to?'' he questioned. He directed Ghanaians to the best alternative stressing ''more importantly, the alternative is fantastic. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that is the alternative. The alternative is just radically different. It's like night and day. With Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, we have a transformational leader. It's clear that we're not just doing business as usual; we're taking this country and chatting a new path, a new course''. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Saudi Arabia is expecting a quick rebound in tourism with the government preparing to reopen its borders to foreign tourists in January, said Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb in an interview. The kingdom hasnt revised its visitor targets for 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic, he said in the Bloomberg interview The kingdom is using its G20 presidency to facilitate a resumption of global travel, Al-Khateeb said. If countries today open their borders, we will be fit to run fast, and this is the plan, said Al-Khateeb, a key adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We believe people want to travel and they will continue to travel, but we need countries to coordinate their actions. The pandemic forced Saudi Arabia to shut its borders in March, thwarting the governments ambitions to expand its travel industry six months after allowing vacationers to visit the country for the first time. While the number of international visitors slumped, a boom in domestic tourism surpassed official projections and helped offset that decline, he said in the interview. Al-Khateeb said the government still plans to expand the sector to make up 10% of economic output by 2030. We built the ecosystem, we have the international campaigns ready, we have developed the visitor experience and we are ready to capture the numbers we promised to capture, he said. Domestic travel, which has seen a surge of 50% more than official projections, has helped save businesses and jobs, Al-Khateeb said. Ten sites where the government chose to promote summer travel generated SR8.6 billion ($2.3 billion) from June 25 to Aug 31, a 31% increase from last year, Al-Khateeb said. Hotel occupancy at those sites rose to about 80% over the summer, compared to just 5% earlier in the pandemic, he added. Naidu, 71, tested positive after taking a routine COVID-19 test. His wife, Usha, has tested negative and is in self-isolation, the VP Secretariat said in a tweet New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19 but is in good health, the Vice President Secretariat said. Naidu, 71, who is asymptomatic, has been advised home quarantine. In the evening, Naidu had addressed a virtual event on post-COVID healthcare where he urged the private sector to pitch in to improve healthcare system in rural India. "The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health," the Secretariat tweeted. The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home quarantine. His wife Smt. Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation. Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) September 29, 2020 His wife Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation, the tweet said. Some union ministers have tested positive for COVID in the recent past. Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi became the first union minister to succumb to the virus. Viet Thanh Nguyen's life changed when he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2016 for his startling debut novel, "The Sympathizer." In recent years, Nguyen, the hypervisible Aerol Arnold Chair of English at the University of Southern California, became a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, received a MacArthur Fellowship (commonly known as the "genius grant"), gave countless talks around the country and even appeared on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." His latest achievement is one for the history books: Nguyen has joined the Pulitzer Prize Board as the first Asian American member in its 103-year history. The trailblazing author will serve a three-year term that's renewable twice, up to nine years. "They had asked me for a couple of years prior to this, and I just couldn't do it, because I was involved with a lot of work and also desperately trying to finish the sequel to 'The Sympathizer,'" said Nguyen, 49. "When they came back a few months ago and asked me, I had just finished the novel," titled "The Committed," he said. "I take the idea of citizenship seriously, whether it's service to the country or service to literature and Asian Americans, so I had to say yes." R.O. Kwon, the bestselling author of "The Incendiaries," said that it shouldn't have taken this long for the Pulitzer Prize Board to include an Asian American but that now that it has, she is thrilled. "I think it's wonderful, and lucky us Viet is a brilliant, groundbreaking writer and a stalwart champion of marginalized voices," she said. "He opens doors and keeps them wide open for others." Times have changed since Nguyen's graduate school days at the University of California, Berkeley, where his department chair told him he couldn't write his dissertation on Vietnamese American literature because he'd never find a job. He broadened his research to Asian American literature, instead. Story continues His first book, "Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America," published in 2002, examined Asian American literature starting with Onoto Watanna in 1896 and ending with Lois-Ann Yamanaka in 1996. "For a lot of the Asian American writers who were publishing from the late 19th century up until the 1990s, there was a sense that they knew that they were rare and that their stories were rare," he said. "There was a lot of pressure on them, because they were the first of their kind. They knew their families and communities would be looking at these works. There was a lot of intense feeling that they were representatives." Nguyen recalled how he used to be able to keep up with all of the literature written by Asian Americans, but now he finds it impossible thanks to a recent explosion of poetry, novels and memoir. "In all the realms of artistic productions in this country, it's really in literature that Asian Americans have been the most prolific and successful," said Nguyen, who wrote the nonfiction book "Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War" and a short story collection, "The Refugees." He also edited "The Displaced," featuring 17 essays by refugee writers, and he most recently co-wrote the children's book "Chicken of the Sea" with his son, Ellison Nguyen, then 5. Grove Press He said that even though the publishing industry remains predominantly white, Asian Americans have found success in literature in part because it's a low-cost art form to break into. "The more expensive an art form gets, the more difficult it is for those who are excluded to break in," he said. "That's why you have Hollywood, which is the most resistant to change and most susceptible to prejudice against Asian American stories, whereas in literature, especially poetry, the least expensive of the literary arts, is where the excluded get to have their chance. Because anybody can just write." He believes the burden of representation Asian American authors once felt isn't as heavy for today's writers, which allows for greater eccentricity and experimentation. Nguyen said his own fiction had the benefit of being published after Vietnamese American literature had "had a couple of decades to really develop." "The Sympathizer," which was released in 2015 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, dealt with the U.S. role in Vietnam and featured a nameless half-Vietnamese, half-French narrator working as a double agent in the aftermath of the war. The highly anticipated sequel picks up where the multi-award-winning novel left off. "The Committed," a literary thriller set in Paris, will be published in March. "I thought it would be crucial to investigate and interrogate what the French did in Vietnam, because France and the U.S. were two of the major colonizing powers in the last century," he said, "and their visions of democracy and liberty and freedom and so on have been crucial, certainly, in my life and determining the fate of so many people in so many countries." Nguyen knows the lasting effects of war, imperialism and colonialism firsthand. He came to the U.S. in 1975 with his family as a 4-year-old refugee and was initially settled in a camp in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. They were separated and lived with American sponsors for a few months before reuniting to move to San Jose, California, where his parents opened one of the first Vietnamese grocery stores in the city. Nguyen's parents worked grueling hours year-round and were shot and wounded during an armed robbery at their store on Christmas Eve. When he was a teenager, his family were victims of an attempted home invasion in which the intruder pointed a gun in all of their faces. By the time Nguyen was an undergraduate student at Berkeley, where he later received a doctorate in English, he was dedicated to social justice and wrote op-eds for the campus newspaper. "I was always outspoken," he said. "The book just gave me a bigger platform to say everything I was always saying." As a cultural critic, he covers everything from stereotypical representation in Hollywood to the government response to Covid-19 and even his own community when warranted. "The Vietnamese American community is the only Asian American group that has a plurality of support for Trump, and I have no problem calling out Vietnamese Americans for their racism, their complicity and their hypocrisy," Nguyen said. "If Asian Americans are on the side of injustice, our job is to criticize our own community." Mamata Banerjee upset after not being allowed to speak during PMs meet Raj Bhavan-Mamata face-off again India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Kolkata, Sep 29: Opening up a fresh round of battle with the Mamata Banerjee government, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said it has turned West Bengal into a 'police state' and threatened to "look into" Article 154 of the Constitution alleging that his office has been ignored for long by the ruling dispensation. Article 154 of the Constitution mandates that the executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinates to him. The Trinamool Congress was quick to hit back accusing the governor of "tarnishing his post" and said that he should "take up the post of the state BJP president instead". Centre accountable to people, shocking it said no data was available in Parliament: Mamata Banerjee Dhankhar slammed the state government for turning down a Raj Bhawan request to increase the budget allocation for it - an additional Rs 53.5 lakh to meet its everyday expenses. The governor said he wouldn't allow Raj Bhawan to be compromised and the behaviour of the state government "is unacceptable". Contending that the TMC government has turned West Bengal into a "police state", Dhankhar said "A police state is the first enemy of democracy. Police state and democracy don't go hand in hand. Police personnel are working as cadres of the ruling TMC." PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News He also claimed that the police in Bengal are "in servitude of extra-constitutional authorities" and criticised Director General of Police, Virendra for being irresponsible and callous" in his response to a letter from Raj Bhawan. "If the Constitution is not protected, I have to act. The office of the governor has been ignored for long. I will be forced to look into Article 154 of the Constitution," he said at a press meet here. Keeping up his attack, Dhankhar said that the "electronic surveillance by the TMC government" has forced him to communicate over WhatsApp voice calls. "Law and order has collapsed completely in the state. Maoist insurgency is raising its head. Terror modules are also operating from this state," the governor, who has been at loggerheads with the TMC government since he assumed office in July 2019, insisted. The latest flashpoint between the state government and Dhankhar was a letter he had written to DGP Virendra earlier this month expressing concern over the law and order situation in the state. Following the DGP's one-line reply saying "The police adhere to the path laid down by the law", Dhankhar had asked the state police chief to meet him by September 26. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a letter to the governor on September 26 expressed anguish over his letter to the DGP and urged him to "act within the mandate of the Constitution". Reminding Banerjee that he was a "stakeholder in matters of governance", Dhankhar said the CM is under the misconception that the post of Governor is a mere "post-office or a rubber stamp". A combative referred to Banerjee's sit-in here last year in protest against the CBI's attempt to question the then Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar as part of a chit fund scam probe. "To shield those who need to be held accountable is (akin to) signalling the death knell of democratic governance. "Earlier it was by way of a physical stance and now it is via a letter," he said. Dhankhar, who had dashed off a four-page letter to Banerjee conveying his grievances, wondered what is wrong in the governor seeking a response from the DGP on "the deteriorating law and order situation in the wake of political violence, political vendetta, ruthless quelling of opposition, incessant extortion by syndicates and frequent hurling of bombs." The governor also expressed dissatisfaction over the TMC government's refusal to allocate Rs 53.5 lakh to meet everyday expenses and said it is the constitutional duty of the state government to provide funds for the Raj Bhawan. "What is this joke? The chief minister has opened the purse strings of the finance department ... (there is) free distribution of money and it claims to have no funds for the Raj Bhawan for Rs 30 - 40 lakhs. Even the allocated funds have been denied!" he said. The state government expressed its inability to allot more funds due to the austerity measures adopted for the COVID-19 pandemic. The faceoff between Raj Bhawan and the state government also set off a political storm in the state with the ruling TMC wondering whether the "governor has taken over the mantle of the state BJP president". Senior TMC leader and state minister Subrata Mukherjee said, "Instead of demeaning the post of the governor, he (Dhankhar) should take over as state BJP president. If BJP or opposition parties say such things, it is acceptable. But such comments coming from a governor is unfortunate. "He (Dhankhar) is tarnishing the post of the governor for his vested political interests," Mukherjee said. The opposition Congress and BJP came out in support of the governor and said democratic and constitutional rights had been compromised during the TMC regime. "The Governor did the right thing by pointing out the lacunae and the unconstitutional approach of the state government, which has been ignoring constitutional norms," West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. Echoing him, Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said the TMC government in Bengal has been destroying all democratic and constitutional norms since it came to power in 2011. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 9:10 [IST] Corey Lewandowski says he almost came to blows with John Kelly outside Oval Office (Getty Images) Donald Trumps former chief of staff and campaign manager almost came to blows outside the Oval Office as their rivalry simmered over, a new book claims. Corey Lewandowski revealed details of the dramatic incident in his new book written with David Bossie, Trumps 2016 deputy campaign manager, called Trump: America First. In the book Mr Lewandowski says that Mr Kelly disliked his close relationship with the president and flew into a rage after Mr Trump defended him at a 2018 meeting in the White House. Mr Lewandowski says that tensions boiled over when he left the meeting and heard Mr Kelly, a retired four-star general, threatening to have him thrown out my f***ing building. Hey, John, last I checked this, isn't your building. It's the White House, the authors write in the book. Kelly turned and came running back into the outer Oval Office with his Secret Service protection in tow. He grabbed Corey with both hands and pushed him up against the Oval Office's outside wall. While pushing his hands away, Corey told him to get his f**king hands off of him or he'd call the DC police and have him arrested for assault. 'Or we can just go outside and finish it out there, Corey said. Up to you, John. Corey grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. Going outside with someone was his default setting. The pair then went into the empty office of Hope Hicks then the presidents communications director and now counselor where Mr Lewandowski told Mr Kelly he was in no position to make any accusations. What are you talking about? John barked. Two words, Corey said. Rob Porter., states the book, which was serialised by DailyMail.com. Mr Porter, who was in a relationship with Ms Hicks, was forced to resign from his role as White House Staff Secretary after his two ex-wives made allegations of domestic violence. The book will be published in October. Donald Trump sees a bit of one of America's greatest presidents - Theodore Roosevelt - in himself. And it's true that there are some similarities between the two men. Like Roosevelt, Trump loves the spotlight. As Roosevelt's daughter Alice famously said: "He wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening." Roosevelt would undoubtedly be pleased at how often he has been in the news during 2020. His name has graced the headlines in recent months from the fate of the covid-ravaged USS Theodore Roosevelt to his statue coming down in front of the American Museum of Natural History. Trump even wants to join him on Mount Rushmore, singing the praises of "Yo-Semite" while claiming to be, in the wake of signing the Great American Outdoors Act, "the same or almost as good" a conservationist as Roosevelt. Yet, despite Roosevelt's continued relevance, our popular memory of him is a kind of vibrant simplistic cartoon. In reality, Roosevelt was a far more complex figure - with something for everyone in our politically fractured times to like and loathe - and a guiding sense of the world that could help us take on many of America's problems in 2020. Roosevelt once described the route he navigated through the political world as being like walking along a high ridge. On either side of this metaphoric ridge were two things he disliked equally. On the one side he despised the merely successful. He would be disturbed to see the way we have continued to glorify results whatever the means in the intermixed worlds of government and business. Mere commercialism for its own sake was despicable to him, and the "predatory wealth" of corporations and the rich appalled him. He reviled what he called, in a phrase that may again be fitting, "the elite criminal class." But the other side of the ridge was equally unappealing. This was the domain of the dogmatists. It was here that he encountered extreme do-gooders and pushers of causes that ultimately harmed those causes because their minds would not open to any vision but their own. His dislike of the first side was idealistic, his dislike of the second practical. The one pushed him toward supporting issues such as economic justice. The other helped him get things done. Efficiency for its own sake was if not evil at least amoral. Efficiency toward a greater good was admirable. He laid this vision out in an essay "Longitude and Latitude Among Reformers" in 1900. Roosevelt's critique of reformers could easily apply to those who classify themselves as "woke" today. Yet, another word applies to them - and to Roosevelt himself: "progressive." Perhaps because of the tension in his thinking, Roosevelt defied the easy characterizations of today. While he was racist, sexist and imperialist, as his modern critics charge, Roosevelt not only rode the progressive tide, but practically created it. Throughout his career he became increasingly vehement in his efforts to tame the power of corporations, to provide support for the poor and to equalize wealth. He broke the ground for many of the programs his distant cousin enacted, his Square Deal making the way for Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. As president, he battled monopolies and fought for a living wage, and as a Bull Moose candidate in 1912, he advocated for universal suffrage and a social safety net that included workmen's compensation, protection for the unemployed and pensions for the elderly. Compassion for those less fortunate than himself became a guiding force. "People came first, property second," Kathleen Dalton wrote in her 2002 biography, "The Strenuous Life." Roosevelt deserves to be criticized when it comes to race. The Brownsville Affair, in which he dishonorably discharged Black soldiers based on the word of White townsmen, stands as a low point in his presidency. Nonetheless, he did invite Booker T. Washington to the White House in 1903, despite fierce criticism in the South, and his views on race evolved. "The country will never really demonstrate that it is a democracy in the full reach and range of that conception until we have had a both a Negro and Jewish president of the United States," he said later in life. While he never fully shed his racist views, Roosevelt's many programs to combat economic injustice prompted the NAACP to praise him in an editorial upon his death: "That he was our friend proves the justice of our cause . . . Even in the hot bitterness over the Brownsville affair we knew he believed he was right, and he of all men had to act in accordance with his beliefs." For those to his left he was never left enough, and for those who don't take the trouble to dig any deeper he remains a caricature: a bellicose Trumpian bully. To those to his right he was "a traitor to his class." On almost all the issues that contemporary Republicans despise, this Republican led the way. He was that increasingly unpopular thing these days: complicated. Messy. Imperfect. He instinctively understood that dogmatism was problematic, be it left, or right. He believed that in the service of progress one had to take each issue on its own, case by case, and try to do the best one could given the circumstances confronted, guided not by theory, but by reality. Roosevelt's hard middle way offers much for us as we move forward in precarious times. Embracing such a path is hard, since a fall to either side could prove fatal. But it is also necessary if we hope to address the crucial problems plaguing America, problems that Roosevelt himself identified and worked to address. This is the dangerous road before us. But there is a final lesson from Roosevelt's worldview that can guide Americans today: the former president did not regard all threats as equal. While he mocked the "evil of the doctrinaire" and the "mere beating the air, mere visionary adherence to a nebulous and possibly highly undesirable ideal" of the most extreme of the reformers, he saved his greatest wrath for those who were ambitious without morals. He went so far as to say that he hated "the scoundrel who succeeds" more than the "scoundrel who fails." He wrote: "Success is abhorrent if attained by the sacrifice of the fundamental principles of morality. The successful man, whether in business or politics, who has risen by conscienceless swindling of his neighbors, by deceit and chicanery, by unscrupulous boldness and unscrupulous cunning, stands toward society as a dangerous wild beast." The reformers might be blinded by their ideology. But it was exactly this sort of beast, he believed, that could prove the greatest threat, not just to keeping to the path, but to the nation and to democracy itself. - - - Gessner is the author of 11 books, most recently "Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness," and the chair of the creative writing department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. TRAVERSE CITY, MI Wearing a bright green jacket and tall boots against the early autumn chill, McKenzie Gallagher strode down a slope at Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery, stopping every few rows to check the grapes. She was looking for something specific. With an abrupt left turn, the young mother of four reached down and hefted a cluster of merlot grapes that had just gone through veraison the process where the green orbs start to ripen and change color. Gallagher dropped one into an outstretched palm. Go ahead, try it, she said. One bite and the tight-skinned grape exploded in a burst of bright, fresh-tasting juice with just a hint of sweetness. Isnt that great? she mused, almost to herself as she scanned the south-facing vineyard laid out in neat rows. These are running two to three weeks ahead this year, she said, gesturing to the merlot grapes, which were growing across from newer rows of sauvignon blanc that wont be ready for harvest until next year. That little juice-tasting in the vines underscores Roves unique foundation in Northern Michigans wine scene. Yes, the Gallaghers have created a sleek wood and glass tasting room perched atop the highest point on the Leelanau Peninsula which serves guests some of the areas most incredible scenery along with their boutique wines and small-plate menu. On a recent clear day, Sleeping Bear Dunes was visible at the edge of the horizon. Sugar Loaf rose in the distance, with the Manitou Islands peeking out behind it. But when you talk to the Gallaghers about how they built their business along M-72 just west of Traverse City, their answers immediately turn to the land. How much acreage they have planted, how the vines are progressing. How the soil of their familys old cherry orchard has given them different microclimates that allow them to grow the best grapes they possibly can. We have always said, we are farmers first, said McKenzie Gallagher, who built Rove with her husband, Creighton, a sixth-generation farmer. The fact that neither of them started out thinking farming or wine would be in their future is something that still makes her shake her head. Sometimes when youre stepping into something new, its better not to know about all the hard work and craziness that lies ahead. If you knew, she said, you might not take the leap. Grapes ripening in the vineyard. Rove grows nine different varietals and all their wine is from estate-grown grapes. Photo courtesy of Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery. FROM DESIGNATED DRIVERS TO VINEYARD OWNERS Creighton and McKenzie met at a New Years Eve party, where they both were designated drivers for their separate groups. Creighton had graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in accounting a way to decisively step back from his familys farming heritage and create a different kind of life for himself. McKenzie had earned her sociology degree from Oakland University. Their first date was a bit prophetic. A wine dinner suggested by Creighton, who already was developing what his wife now calls an incredible palate. He wanted to share his growing love of wine with her. Their attraction was immediate, she remembers. In six months, they were engaged. But they were still figuring out what their life together would look like. Creightons first professional accounting position taught him a quick lesson: desk jobs were not for him. He was so much happier outside, McKenzie Gallagher said, describing how her husband found a better balance working on his fathers farm, and also for a Northern Michigan winery. In his extra hours, he also helped a winemaker friend with bottling. He fell in love with wine, she said. He could not believe you could combine farming and a love for wine. Once he put it all together, he quickly convinced me. It was very innocent," she laughed. "So no, we did not have any backup plan. Growing wine grapes was a venture that clicked for the couple, who knew they needed a value-added option, something to take them out of the rough cycle of farming theyd seen their families and others struggle through. We wanted to stay in farming, but we knew wed have to reinvent the wheel to do it, she said. The tasting room perched atop the vineyard has sweeping views of Sleeping Bear, Sugar Loaf and even the Manitou Islands. Photo courtesy of Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery. A VINEYARD WITH AN INCREDIBLE VIEW Their farming background and family land gave them a leg up when they decided to push ahead and start their own vineyard. Wine grape-growing can be a tough industry to break into in Northern Michigan because of the property and other resources needed to make it work. Its really a money club, McKenzie Gallagher said. But we just knew it was something we could do. The couple got their break about a decade ago, when some acreage belonging to Creighton Gallaghers grandfather became available for them to purchase. Tapping into a federal loan program geared toward encouraging young farmers, they were able to buy the land and start clearing an old cherry orchard in 2010. It wasnt until the Gallaghers started taking down the tall poplars that had served as windbreaks for the fruit trees that they realized what amazing views this property held. As the big trees were felled, the vistas stretching toward Lake Michigan spilled out in front of them. We took them down, and oh my gosh. It was so beautiful, she said, gesturing toward the west. As she described that moment from years ago, weekend guests sipping wine on the tasting rooms decks and outdoor patio were all turned toward that same view. Roves combination of artisan wines, spectacular scenery and lots of space has made it a destination for weddings and private events as well. Their business is the result of the Gallaghers ambitious timetable. Once the land was cleared, they planted their first vines in 2012. McKenzie Gallagher earned her MBA from Davenport University. Her final thesis? Roves new business plan. They opened the hilltop tasting room in 2016 with just two vintages under their label, working with an off-site winemaking and production team. It nearly didnt happen. They were dealt a tough blow right out of the gate when a Polar Vortex and a late May frost in 2015 combined to wipe out a huge chunk of their crop. Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cab Franc are the stars of Rove Estate's red wine lineup. Photo courtesy of Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery. These days, theyre still a young vineyard operation compared to some of their Northern Michigan brethren. Theyve got 22 acres in production now, with another 10 planned for next spring. Theyve also kept their own very grounded perspective. They want guests to relax and enjoy their piece of Up North beauty while they sample some home-grown pours. We dont want anyone to worry about saying a varietals name wrong, she said. We dont have cutesy names on our wines, or novelty wines. Our wine philosophy is to keep it approachable. Rove produces about 3,500 cases a year, all estate-grown from their nine varietals, which includes three reds. Its wines have won awards at both in-state and international competitions. This falls harvest like with any farm is a time of hope for the wine that will eventually fill those bottles. Right now, were just looking at our crop estimates. What can we do with what we have? We wont know that until the 11th hour. This is an exciting year, she said. Roves farming practices have been producing some really fantastic reds and the Gallaghers are anticipating what this crop will create. Red wine in Northern Michigan if you can do a really good red, that just feels awesome. FAMILY-FRIENDLY Some of the hands that have helped build Rove are pretty small. The Gallaghers' four children range in age from 5 to 12, and many farm chores from cherry harvesting to placing protective netting over the grape rows are true family affairs. They weave that theme into the business, too. Just steps away from the tasting room is a trail cut through the woods leading to the vineyards highest peak. It started out as a nature trail to keep the Gallaghers' children busy while their parents were creating the winery, but morphed into a short adventure for adults and pint-sized guests. There are also a few childrens items on the tasting room menu. The wide open lawn area has games for kids and adults, and enough space to dance or gather around an outdoor fire. A huge tent creates more outdoor space for guests. And when the weather turns colder, Rove invites people to bring their snowshoes for a trek on their trails, then warm up with a glass of wine or a seasonal hot drink. Each season seems to bring something new. For McKenzie Gallagher, thats part of the fun of farming. We will never be bored, and we can always be creative. To see Roves wine list, check here. For updated information about hours, reservations, special events and how to reserve space, check Roves website and Facebook page. Fall is a beautiful time to visit Rove's tasting room high atop the Leelanau Peninsula. Photo courtesy of Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery.Photo courtesy of Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery READ MORE Michigans Best M-22 Road Trip, from Traverse City to Suttons Bay This Leelanau Wine Trail Bike Tour is an easy day-trip adventure Why this restaurant has the largest Irish whiskey collection in Northern Michigan Residents in the Universal City area who are in need of WiFi for work-from-home duties or for virtual learning for their children can visit the Universal City Public Library and bring home free WiFi hotspots. Through a partnership with Bexar County Bibliotech, the library has 100 WiFi hotspot devices available for checkout to library patrons for use in homes where no WiFi exists or where reception has proven troublesome. Librarian Susan Ennis said the devices provide internet service for up to four people at a time and are good for three weeks at a time. After 21 days, they can be returned to the library and exchanged for a new 21-day unit. Theres a big push to make internet available throughout the state, Ennis said. You get one for three weeks; after three weeks, it deactivates. You turn it back in and get another one. They can only be checked out on an adult library card. With many school districts offering remote or virtual learning, the ability to have one, two, or three children tapping into a single hotspot is almost a necessity. We started working on this in the spring. Everyone knew we were going to have to increase internet access for people working from home, she said. Then schools opened virtually and that just expanded that need. The library is in its fourth week of offering the hotspot devices. Each hotspot comes in a plastic case with a charging cord, power adapter, and complete instructions on how to use it. Recipients receive a box that contains the 2-inch-by-5-inch device similar, Ennis said, to the size of a iPhone 4 from years back called a Coolpad. The box comes with a USB connector to keep the device charged and operable on a daily basis. Theres a complete set of instructions on how to log on, what the password is, and has a label with the password, she said, as well as a Proper Use And Care explainer brief. With the library still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ennis said drive-up service is continual and being used on a daily basis by the librarys regular patrons. The hotspots are available to any library card holder to any library in the state of Texas. Ennis said the library will offer a library card free of charge for any patron who needs the WiFi hotspot but does not currently have a card. They can go online to our catalog and request itor they can call us on the phone, she said. Well take all the information over the phone and create your library card. When you arrive, you park and call and let us know you are here, and we will bring the paperwork out for you to sign. Thats all there is to it. The library drive-up service for hotspot check-out is noon to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The library has extended WiFi service throughout its parking lot and onto the library patio, which is open and can be used from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The library can be reached at 210-659-7048. jflinn@express-news.net To the editor: I dont expect a candidate who claims to stand with us to blatantly lie in her TV ads. But that is exactly what Annette Glenn is doing. She claims that Sarah Schulz has dangerous friends and is a member of Michigan United. I asked Sarah about this and she is not and never has been, a member of Michigan United! Why is Annette Glenn lying about this? Glenns misleading campaign requires that we question every claim she makes shes hoping you wont do your homework. Her ad implies that Schulz supports defunding the police, providing taxpayer funded benefits for illegal immigrants, cracking down on ICE and socialized medicine. Again, why all of the falsehoods? Sarah supports good jobs, workers rights, a living wage, protecting pensions, equal pay, strong schools and healthy communities where prescription drug prices are affordable and mental health services are supported. Sarah doesnt have the financial backing of large PACs to flood the airwaves with expensive ads refuting the lies of Glenns campaign. But you can learn more about Sarah Schulzs campaign at www.sarah4mi.org. Sarah welcomes your questions so please contact her through the website if you want to get to the truth of what she believes. It seems incumbent Glenn cant just run on her record but needs to invent lies about her opponent. Annette Glenn does not stand with me. But I stand with Sarah Schulz someone who I have found to be honest, sincere, and truly cares about all the people in the 98th District. Please vote for Sarah Schulz as our next representative for the 98th District. ELLEN MCVEY Midland PETROZAVODSK, Russia -- A court in the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk has increased the 3 1/2 year prison term given to historian Yury Dmitriyev to 13 years in prison. The Supreme Court of the Karelia region announced the ruling on September 29. In July, Dmitriyev was sentenced to 3 1/2 years after he was convicted of violent acts of a sexual nature committed against a person under 14 years of age, allegations he denies and that he believes are aimed at curbing his research into the crimes of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Prosecutors, who had asked for 15 years in prison in the high-profile case, said the original sentence was "too lenient" and appealed the sentence. Dmitriyev's defense also appealed the sentence, insisting that their client was innocent. Dmitriyev's main lawyer, Viktor Anufriyev, was unable to attend the September 29 hearing as he is ill and self-quarantined. Dmitriyev was represented by a lawyer appointed by the court. Dmitriyev, 64, is the head of the local branch of the Memorial human rights organization and has spent decades researching extrajudicial executions carried out in Karelia under Stalin. Dozens of Russian and international scholars, historians, writers, poets, and others have issued statements of support. The European Union has called for Dmitriyev to be released. The high-profile case dates back to 2016, when Dmitriyev was arrested on child-pornography charges based on photographs of his foster daughter that authorities found on his computer. Dmitriyev said the images were not pornographic and were made at the request of social workers concerned about the childs physical development. He was acquitted in April 2018, but the Karelia Supreme Court upheld an appeal by prosecutors and ordered a new trial. He was rearrested in June 2018 and charged with the more serious crime of sexual assault against a minor. Dmitriyevs research has been viewed with hostility by the government of President Vladimir Putin. Under Putin, Stalin has undergone a gradual rehabilitation, and the Russian government has emphasized his leadership of the Soviet Union while downplaying his crimes against the Soviet citizens. Under Stalin, millions of people were executed, sent to labor camps, or starved to death in famines caused by forced collectivization. During World War II, entire ethnic groups were deported to remote areas as collective punishment for alleged collaboration with the Nazis. How can a moth detect a partner a kilometre away? And how can the female track down suitable host plants for egg laying? Researchers in Trondheim are studying the insects' fabulous senses. Thats a good thing for them and us. Credit: Shutterstock, NTB scanpix In NTNU's Dragvoll laboratory in Trondheim, researchers keep different things in the closet than most of us do. Jars of moths stand in rows. The insects are actually pretty cute, but the Norwegian name for them suggests that they may be a little annoying: "Pest phage fly" is not exactly a name you give to a friend. The cotton bollworm's Latin name is Helicoverpa armigera, and it belongs to a genus known to do great damage to crops. Two subspecies are about to divide the world between them, and only North America and of course Antarctica have been sparedfor now. But some people love this little guy. An enthusiastic Bente Berg is a professor in NTNU's Department of Psychology, and she notes that first and foremost, insects are useful. She has been studying insects and their nervous system for decades and appears to be just as fascinated by them now as on day one. Larvae destroy, adults pollinate The interactions between insects and flowering plants are well known, and they don't just happen between flowers and bees. Lepidoptera is the order of insects that cotton bollworms belong to and includes thousands of different species of butterflies and moths that help plants reproduce. The cotton bollworm feeds on everything from soybeans and tomatoes to rice and corn, and it doesn't miss a chance to enjoy some tobacco either. But this feeding frenzy only applies to the larvae. Heliothinae is a subfamily of moths and butterflies with several species that do great damage to crops. The cotton bollworm is among them. Credit: Shutterstock, NTB scanpix The adult moths are pollinators, says Bergthat is, insects that help pollinate flowers. So how do we minimize the harm and maximize the benefit? According to the researcher, we need to learn more about how the insect brain works. An alternative to poison "We want to understand how the insect brain encodes odor information. By gaining a better understanding about how their brain functions, we may be able to use the insects' own signals to control them," says Berg. This particular study is supported by the Research Council of Norway (NFR). The group at Dragvoll collaborates with teams in Beijing and Zhengzhou in China, where the moth poses a problem for the critical rice crops. Given that moths can do so much damage, it is interesting to understand how they orient themselves in the world. By understanding how the moth finds its way to host plants, we might also be able to find ways to protect crops by influencing the moth's behavior. Research has the possibility to contribute to reducing the use of poisons in agriculture, which are still applied in huge amounts. Even infamous DDT is still employed in large parts of the world. But we have a long way to go before we can control insects. The current study is still basic research. Its not that big, but the larvae of the cotton bollworm can cause millions of euros of damage to plants. Credit: Steinar Brandslet Ancient sense "The sense of smell is the oldest sense we have. It's ancient," says Professor Berg. Smell can be important for establishing memories. What smells makes you think of Christmas or Grandma or a place you played as a child? The olfactory system is unique in relation to humans' other sensory systems. For one thing, fragrance stimuli are small, volatile molecules, often produced by life itself. "In contrast to visual and auditory stimuli, which can be plotted along an axis based on wavelength, olfactory stimuli are characterized by the fact that they are anatomically separated structures that can't be arranged in any sensible form," says Berg. Secondly, smell has a more direct route into the parts of the brain that interpret our impressions than other senses. Smell impressions are largely processed in developmentally old regions of the brain. The cotton bollworm adults, male and female. They are a particularly big problem in China. Credit: Norwegian University of Science and Technology Own organ for CO 2 Many insects also have an extra sense that humans lack. This organ may be similar to the sense of smell, but it only detects fluctuations in external CO 2 levels. "Their brains are so small, and yet so advanced," says an impressed Berg. This CO 2 detector is called a "labial pit organ," or LPO. Mosquitoes can also detect CO 2 and use this organ to find us and other animals to feed on their blood, since we exhale CO 2 . But butterflies and moths do not engage in that kind of thing. They use their CO 2 sensitive neurons to locate flowers that have just opened and contain nectar. Could this organ also play a significant role in helping female moths find suitable plants for laying their eggs? Mapped nerve pathways in the brain A recent article describes how the researchers at Dragvoll have mapped the pathway in the insect brain that carries nerve signals from the LPO into the brain. The illustration shows the location of the LPO, which is a separate organ that measures CO2 levels. Credit: Cell Tissue and Research "We did this by placing a dye into the LPO. We can observe the route this dye takes in the insect brain using a special microscope," says first author Pramod KC, who performed the main part of the experimental work. Doing this work requires knowledge, special equipment and some very special abilities. Nine people are affiliated with the chemosensory lab, and Berg boasts about all of them. Not just anyone comes to this lab. Students and researchers who are particularly interested and committed work here. The researchers first remove the moth's exoskeleton. This task isn't for impatient people with trembling hands. Removing the exoskeleton opens up a free path into the brain. Using the dye, the researchers can visualize various neural pathways, including those involved in transmitting signals from the LPO. The researchers have identified areas in the brain that exclusively interpret information from the LPO, along with other areas involved in interpreting plant odor signals and pheromones. Their research has attracted so much attention that the work has been published in Frontiers in Physiology, the world's most cited physiology journal. The researchers have identified areas in the brain that exclusively interpret information from the LPO organ, and other areas that are involved in the treatment of plant odour signals and pheromones, respectively. Credit: Frontiers in Physiology Important for insect survival This study helps us understand a little more about how the insect brain functions and brings us a small step closer to finding alternative ways of handling insects to poisoning them. The world probably has between six and ten million insect species. Harmful insects make up less than one percent of all these species. However, herbicides kill many species, including important pollinators. Insects play a significant role in all ecological systems on land. In a world where the number of insects is dropping dramatically, gaining more knowledge about alternatives to poison is important for the insects' survival, and thus probably for our own as well. Explore further Tobacco budworm moths have receptors in their eggs, laying organs that detect odorants More information: Pramod KC et al. Revisiting the Labial Pit Organ Pathway in the Noctuid Moth, Helicoverpa armigera, Frontiers in Physiology (2020). Pramod KC et al. Revisiting the Labial Pit Organ Pathway in the Noctuid Moth, Helicoverpa armigera,(2020). DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00202 Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-28 22:17:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2020 shows a logo of the video-sharing social networking company TikTok's Los Angeles Office in Culver City, Los Angeles County, the United States. (Xinhua) BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China has always opposed the United States' unreasonable action of bullying foreign enterprises by abusing state power and the concept of national security, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday. Wang made the remarks in response to a query about a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge Sunday night against a U.S. administration's order to ban the popular video-sharing social networking platform TikTok from American online app stores. "We hope the U.S. side will earnestly respect market economy and fair competition principles, abide by international economic and trade rules, and provide a fair, just, open, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises from all countries to invest and operate in the United States," Wang said. EDWRDSVILLE I am large, I contain multitudes, wrote Walt Whitman in Song of Myself, one of the many poems found in his renowned Leaves of Grass. Whitmans multitudes have been studied for generations by scholars nationwide, including Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Dr. Jason Stacy. In his most recent scholarly endeavor, Stacy is joining the University of Nebraska-Lincolns (UNL) Walt Whitman Archive as an editor contributing to UNLs three-year, $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant-funded initiative, entitled Walt Whitmans Journalism: Finding the Poet in the Brooklyn Daily Times. Stacy and fellow researchers will uncover more of the late poets work, by exploring Whitmans employment at the Brooklyn Daily Times from 1856-1859. Due to the obscurity surrounding Whitmans career with the Times, the team has decided to utilize computational linguistics to identify his writings and provide clarification on what his work entailed. Whitmans articles from the Brooklyn Daily Times form an important backdrop to Whitmans changing ideas about sexuality and the American republic in the three years before the Civil War, said Stacy, professor in the Department of History. We hope that identifying these editorials and editing them for online publication will further scholars work on Whitmans significant third edition of Leaves of Grass and his evolving understanding of the American republic. Beginning in 2021, Stacy will work as an editor alongside Whitman scholars from the UNL, the University of Iowa, Marshall University, New York University, the University of Idaho, and the Pedagogical University of Krakow. During the three-year project period, the team will analyze over 1,500 editorials from the Times, hoping to identify Whitmans work for publication. Through this work, contributors hope to settle the debates surrounding when Whitman began and ended his work for the Times, while determining what topics were of special interest to him during such a significant time period. With Stacys assistance, the grant team will publish the entirety of Whitmans identified Times editorials online, in addition to providing a framework for other projects seeking to attribute authorship to anonymous periodical materials. Since my graduate work, Ive been interested in Whitmans journalism as a way to understand the unusual structure and style of his poetry, Stacy explained. My first book concentrated on the ways in which Whitmans work as a journalist shaped his first edition of Leaves of Grass. Stacy later published an annotated version of Whitmans third edition of Leaves of Grass in 2009. The works third edition is considered significant among scholars due to Whitmans emerging interests in phrenology, sexuality, and the United States during the growing divisions in the years leading up to the American Civil War. In 2012, the Walt Whitman Archive first scouted Stacy to participate in an NEH Grant entitled Walt Whitman Before Leaves of Grass. During the grant period, Stacy and his research assistants edited, annotated and encoded key series from Whitmans journalism career to be published in the Archive. Since then, Stacy has continued his work with the Archive to edit and publish Whitmans editorials from the New York Aurora, where he served as editor in the spring of 1842. -SIUE- Photo: SIUEs Jason Stacy, PhD, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of History. Victoria's newest minister will take charge of the state's workplace safety agenda as part of a cabinet reshuffle in which Attorney-General Jill Hennessy loses a portfolio and Deputy Premier James Merlino boosts his power. Ingrid Stitt will fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Jenny Mikakos. The shake-up was triggered when Health Minister Jenny Mikakos resigned after Premier Daniel Andrews told the hotel quarantine inquiry he believed she was the minister responsible for the program. Former Australian Services Union secretary Ingrid Stitt, who is from the same Socialist Left faction as Mr Andrews, was appointed Minister for Workplace Safety and Minister for Early Childhood. The workplace safety portfolio was previously held by Ms Hennessy, who retains her position as Attorney-General. The reshuffle came as Victoria recorded 10 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Tuesday, and as Western Australia relaxed quarantine rules for Victorians, who will no longer be detained in hotels upon entering the state. India reported its smallest daily rise in Covid-19 deaths since August 3 of 776, Union Health Ministry data showed today. With this, India death toll now stands at 96,318. More than 1 million people have died of coronavirus around the world as of today, according to a Reuters tally. Though India's death toll is a relatively low 1.6% of total cases, the country, along with the United States and Brazil, account for nearly 45% of global COVID-19 fatalities. India has also registered a drop in the number of new coronavirus disease cases today. The nationwide tally has crossed 61-lakh mark. The health ministry also informed that over 82 per cent of the total patients have been recovered and discharged. India has witnessed close to 100 per cent increase in recoveries in the past month. More than 82 per cent of total cases (exceeding 50 lakhs) recovered and discharged. Active cases (lower than 10 lakhs) a small proportion (less than 1/5th) of total cases," the ministry said in a tweet. On Monday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched a web portal for information and updates on the various Covid-19 vaccine being produced in the country, Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Actress Shruti Haasan, who is a part of multiple cinema including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, talked about how she balances her career between the three. The actress also talked about being honest with her choice of work. Talking to Mumbai Mirror, Shruti said, I no longer listen to people who say we need to do only commercial films. Ive been a part of some blockbusters, but didnt have a great time doing them. I am making more honest choices now. Shruti said she is selective with Bollywood films because she gets better offers in the South films. Its about balancing Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films and I always get better roles down South, she said. Shruti was last seen in Tigmanshu Dhulias Yaara, which released on Zee5 during the lockdown. The film also starred Vidyut Jammwal, Amit Sadh, Vijay Verma and Kenny Basumatary in lead roles. She will be reuniting with Vidyut again in Power, directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. The film had wrapped production in December 2019. Apart from that she will be seen in the Telugu film Krack, which reunites her with co-star Ravi Teja and director Gopichand after 7 years after Balupu. The actress said that it is a commercial film and her character has an interesting arc. She will also be seen in the Tamil film Laabam, with Vijay Sethupathi. The film has been directed by SP Jananathan and also stars Jagapathi Babu, Sai Dhanshika and Kalaiyarasan in pivotal roles. Subscriber content preview Spat over Brexit deal clouds key trade talks Britain and the European Union have just weeks to strike a deal before a post-Brexit transition period runs out on Dec. 31. By RAF CASERT and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BRUSSELS Britain entered a crucial week of post-Brexit talks with the European Union on Monday by rejecting the EU's demand that it drop plans to breach the legally binding agreement it signed on its departure from the bloc. The EU told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to brace for a legal fight. The EU insisted that abiding by every last detail of the international treaty that regulated the U.K.'s departure on Jan. 31 was key to maintaining trust and hopes of salvaging a rudimentary trade deal in the next few weeks. . . . login or purchase a To read this story in fullor purchase a subscription. By Trend On September 28, 2020, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov received a copy of the credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Azerbaijan Bilal Hayee, Trend reports with reference to Azerbaijani MFA. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov congratulated Ambassador Bilal Hayee on his appointment and stressed the special importance of the relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan. High level of cooperation between our countries in the political, economic, cultural and other fields, as well as cooperation and mutual support on multilateral platforms, were noted with satisfaction. Afterward, speaking about the new act of aggression committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan on September 27, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed that the armed forces of Armenia shelled the Azerbaijani positions and villages along the line of contact which resulted in casualties among the civilian population. Noting that the attack was a continuation of the deliberate provocative actions carried out by Armenia in the latest months, the Minister said that Azerbaijan took appropriate countermeasures against the armed forces of Armenia within its legal right to self-defense and to ensure the security of civilians. In this regard, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov expressed his gratitude for always existing support of brotherly Pakistan. In his turn, Ambassador Bilal Hayee stressed that he would spare no efforts for further development of bilateral cooperation agenda issues at a high level. The Ambassador also stressed that Pakistan always stands by our country in the just struggle of Azerbaijan. The sides also discussed other issues of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global ambulatory surgical centers IT services market size is projected to reach USD 13.5 billion by 2027 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 22.8% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The growing need for integrated services that help in improving patient care in Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) is positively impacting the growth. Furthermore, the growing number of outpatient surgical procedures coupled with the rising need to curb the increasing healthcare expenditure in these settings is further bolstering revenue growth over the forecast period. Key suggestions from the report: EHR segment dominated the global market for ambulatory surgical centers IT services in 2019, owing to the increasing adoption EHR solutions in ambulatory centers The service segment dominated the market in 2019, owing to curb the growing operational costs The cloud-based segment dominated the market in 2019, owing to the growing demand for these solutions due to efficiency and affordability North America dominated the market with a revenue share of 57.6% in 2019, owing to the presence of a large volume of surgery performed Read 80 page research report with ToC on "Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Services Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Service Type (EHR, Clinical Documentation), By Solution, By Delivery Mode, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027'' at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ambulatory-surgical-centers-it-services-market Based on the service type, the EHR segment dominated the market with a revenue share of 27.8% in 2019. Factors contributing to the increase in demand include increasing adoption of healthcare IT solutions by ASCs for faster and better performance of healthcare processes, which helps improve the quality of healthcare delivery. On the other hand, the clinical documentation segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. In 2019, the service segment accounted for the highest revenue share, attributed to the shift of healthcare IT solutions toward cloud computing coupled with increasing utilization of IT solutions by ASCs to control growing administrative overheads and improve the efficiency of ambulatory services. Based on delivery mode, the cloud-based segment dominated the market with a revenue share of 84.4% in 2019. The rapidly improving healthcare technology, changing reimbursement policies, and increasing number of procedures in ASCs have increased the use of cloud-based IT tools. These tools help to optimize clinical and non-clinical processes, which in turn is driving the demand for cloud-based solutions in the outpatient surgery space. North America dominated the market for ambulatory surgical centers IT services with a revenue share of 57.6% in 2019 owing to the presence of the largest number of ASCs in the U.S. coupled with the rising number of surgical procedures performed in ASC settings and the presence of major market players in the region. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific region is projected to expand at a lucrative CAGR over the forecast period. It is attributable to increasing healthcare expenditure and growing government initiatives to adopt healthcare IT services in this region. Grand View Research has segmented the global ambulatory surgical centers IT services market based on service type, solution, delivery mode, and region: Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Service Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) EHR Clinical Documentation Practice Management Revenue Cycle Management Supply Chain Management Patient Engagement Others Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Services Solution Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) Software Service Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Services Delivery Mode Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) On-premise Cloud-based Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Services Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany The U.K. France Italy Spain Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Singapore Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Middle East & Africa & South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE List of Key Players of Ambulatory Surgical Centers IT Services Market Cerner Corporation eClinical Works McKesson Corporation Medical Information Technology, Inc. Surgical Information Systems, LLC NextGen Healthcare Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. HST Pathways CUREMD Epic Systems Corporation Athenahealth, Inc. Optum Quatris Health Epic Systems Corporation Find more research reports on the Healthcare IT Industry, by Grand View Research: Radiology Information System Market The global radiology information system market size was valued at USD 637.9 million in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.7% over the forecast period. The global radiology information system market size was valued at in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.7% over the forecast period. High Volume Dispensing Systems Market The global high volume dispensing systems market size was valued at USD 1,636 million in 2017. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% over the forecast period. The global high volume dispensing systems market size was valued at in 2017. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% over the forecast period. Medication Management System Market The global medication management system market size was valued at USD 1.20 billion in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.5% over the forecast period. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. Nearly three-quarters of pastors concerned presidential election will impact churches: Barna Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Nearly three of four pastors are concerned that the presidential election and its fallout will negatively impact their congregations, according to a newly reported study by the Barna Group. Barna recently released the findings of week 18 of their Church Pulse leader survey, which drew from a poll of 475 Protestant pastors taken Sept. 24-28. Since each week has a different total of respondents, the margin of error varies week to week, being between 4.77% to 7.65% depending on the sample taken. When asked by Barna about how concerned they were that the election will impact their church, 33% of respondents said they were very concerned, while 41% said somewhat concerned. While 74% of respondents expressed a level of concern that the election will impact their congregation, 26% responded that they were not concerned. Despite the concern about an impact, the surveyed pastors indicated confidence on handling the divisiveness of the political campaign season at their respective churches. When asked if the election will divide their congregation, 65% disagreed with the idea; 25% said they somewhat agree that it will and 10% said they strongly agree that it will. Furthermore, when asked if they are prepared to lead their churches through the election season, 87% said they either strongly agree or somewhat agree that they were prepared. The weekly Church Pulse survey began back in March, centered on tracking trends among Protestant churches in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Week 18 marked the first time that the weekly survey asked questions about the presidential election and how the church is responding to the subsequent upheavals. In November of last year, the Revive Civility project of the University of Arizonas National Institute for Civil Discourse launched a prayer campaign titled Golden Rule 2020. Theo Brown, director of NICDs Faith Based Programs, told The Christian Post in an interview last year that he believed faith communities have a huge role to play in reviving civility. All Christian denominations teach that each individual person regardless of their political views is someone created in the image of God. Therefore, each person is worthy of being treated with dignity and respect, said Brown at the time. The goal of Golden Rule 2020 is to remind Christians that our faith has something to say about how we talk to each other and that these insights are relevant to our political discussions particularly in difficult times like these. In August, Doug Clay, the leader of the Assemblies of God, sent out a pastoral letter to the approximately 13,000 congregations to combat political divisiveness. Polarization in 2020 has risen to a higher level and has trickled down to even mundane decisions, wrote Clay. Its the Spirit who brings unity. We should be extremely cautious that we do not allow division to seep into Christs Church that will inevitably lead to self-destruction. A pregnant Dundalk mum is pleading with the HSE to change the restrictions which currently do not allow partners to be with their pregnant loved ones for any ante-natal appointments or post-natal recovery. Laura Brunton, originally from the lower Avenue Road in Dundalk, but now living in Oldcastle in Co Meath with her husband and three kids, says that for the past six months the women of Ireland, along with their partners have had to endure the great difficulty of going through their ante-natal appointments and post-natal recovery alone due to Covid-19. Laura, who left Dundalk when she was 19, has now set up an online petition calling on Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to ease the restrictions in ante-natal and post-natal wards across the country. To date she has managed to accumulate over 2000 signatures. Speaking to the Democrat last week, Laura - who is 26 weeks pregnant - said that she had just gone through a foetal echo last week, but again, her husband was not allowed to be present with her. The foetal echo went well, from what they could see, she explained, but it doesnt show all abnormalities, so baby will need another echo in the days after shes born and at the minute Ill have to go through that alone also. Just last week, Laura says that there had been some small movement regarding improving the situation, but it's still not enough, she feels. Last week the government said they were looking at doing conference call-type scans so the daddys can see them that way. Pregnant with her fourth child, Laura revealed to the Democrat, the previous heartbreak she has endured. Sadly my first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage back in 2009. Thankfully (with) my second pregnancy we gave birth to a beautiful girl called Ellie. I had an extremely hard labor with Ellie which resulted in a lot of post-natal recovery and having my husband by my side through this was really an amazing help. Laura continued: On my third pregnancy we gave birth to another beautiful baby - this time a boy called Zach - who unfortunately was born with a very complex heart condition which was undetected through the pregnancy. Zachs heart condition didnt didnt cause huge problems until after the first 24 hours of life which is when he became really sick really quickly. Zach spent the first four months of his life in Crumlin hospital with the amazing nurses and doctors there and currently he is a typical 19 month old boy full of mischief. Luckily, throughout all my scenarios my husband was there during every single second of it. He was my tower to lean on. Now I am 26 weeks pregnant with my fourth child. The foetal echo was done to hopefully rule out any congenital heart defects with this pregnancy. The chances of having one baby is 1 in 100. The chances of this re-occurring is now 1 in 20. Before the appointment for the foetal echo, Laura again asked the hospital if her husband could be by her side. I made a call to the hospital to ask if my husband could come along to this appointment given our history and the answer I got was 'no'. I need my husband like a lot of other women out there did and will do too. While you can sense her worry and also anger at the situation, Laura says she is not directing her anger towards the hospital - the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital. They are simply following government guidelines. But this needs to change. Not every mother who goes into hospital for a check up gets the perfect scan photo and amazing news. Not every mother who has just given birth is able to get out of bed and look after their new born. Not every new born is as healthy as what it first appears to be. And for the women whose pregnant and labor is textbook and all goes according to plan they are no different to me. Women need to see their partners afterwards. Babies need to see their fathers and fathers need to see their babies, she adds. With the reopening of pubs recently, Laura is asking why are hospitals still needing to enforce such tough and at times, heartbreaking restrictions. If this (pubs reopening) can happen why can men not be allowed in to visit their girlfriends/wives and newborns. I am not asking for full blown visiting hours and full access to all ante-natal appointments but I am asking that the government at least review these restrictions and allow partners into anamoly scans and for a couple of hours visiting each day after the baby is born. I have done everything along with the majority of Ireland our government has asked in dealing with this pandemic. Now I ask them to please review this matter. The Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital issued a statement to another newspaper last week, saying: "Restrictions continue to be reviewed by all of our hospitals on an ongoing basis throughout this unprecedented pandemic. It remains our sincere hope that visitor restrictions due to Covid 19 will be lifted as soon as is safely possible to do so for patients, their families and all staff." Sign the peition at change.org, search: Laura Brunton On Sunday, the supermodel celebrated her first outing at a restaurant in six months, as she enjoyed a family meal at Nobu Malibu. And one day later, Heidi Klum stripped down for a bath with husband Tom Kaulitz while enjoying a bottle of red wine. The blonde beauty, 47, thanked her America's Got Talent fellow judge Sofia Vergara for the bottle. Serene: Heidi Klum stripped down for a bath with husband Tom Kaulitz while enjoying a bottle of red wine on Monday In the image, Heidi sits in the modern style bathtub with her arms around Tom as she held on to her wine glass. The beaming beauty had her hair loose around her in the candid image. The bottle of red wine sat on a table with a candle and a vase filled with flowers for a serene set up. The second image featured Heidi solo with a beaming smile on her face and her wine glass a quarter full. Co-stars: The blonde beauty, 47, thanked her America's Got Talent fellow judge Sofia Vergara for the bottle The second image featured Heidi solo with a beaming smile on her face and her wine glass a quarter full Heidi captioned the images with: 'Thank you @sofiavergara for this beautiful bottle of red wine. It sure came handy last night,' adding a kissing emoji and a red heart. 'Sorry no bubbles left in the tub,' with a smiling emoji. Her posts from the bath come just one day after revealing she enjoyed eating out at a restaurant for the first time in six months - since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Her posts from the bath come just one day after revealing she enjoyed eating out at a restaurant for the first time in six months - since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown In the snap, Heidi is sharing a sweet kiss with Tom while enjoying brunch with her children and a pal. Heidi has four kids: Helene 'Leni', 16, with ex Flavio Briatore and three kids Henry, 15, Lou, 10, and Johan, 13, with ex husband Seal. She also shared a photo at the beach with her kids as she beamed; she captioned it: 'Sunday. A beautiful day with my family.' Adding the hashtags: '#California #Beach #Malibu.' So cute: She also shared a photo at the beach with her kids as she beamed; she captioned it: 'Sunday. A beautiful day with my family' The United States has exercised its rights under Security Council Resolution 2231 and restored United Nations sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo that was due to expire on October 18. President Donald Trump also issued an executive order imposing new sanctions and export controls on more than a dozen entities and individuals that support Irans nuclear, missile, and conventional arms-related activities. At a press briefing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Presidents executive order a new and powerful tool to enforce the UN arms embargo and hold those who seek to evade UN sanctions accountable: Our actions today are a warning that should be heard worldwide. No matter who you are, if you violate the UN arms embargo on Iran, you risk sanctions. U.S. Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft pointed out that the United States took these recent steps after the Security Council failed to extend the arms embargo on Iran: As I have said repeatedly, when it fails we will not. False hope on the part of the Security Council members that the JCPOA [Iran nuclear deal] might contain Irans nuclear ambitions do not excuse members from their obligations to reimpose sanctions pursuant to the process outlined in Resolution 2231. It is now our expectation that all UN member states will fulfill their legal obligation and reimpose sanctions on Iran. National Security Advisor Robert OBrien noted that the ability of the United States to snapback UN sanctions on Iran if the regime failed to live up to its commitments was key to the United States approval of the JCPOA in 2015: The Iranian regime has repeatedly lied about its nuclear weapons program, its archive, and denied required access to international inspectors. Todays actions send a clear message to the Iranian regime that such conduct will not be tolerated. The United States is also sending an unmistakable message to the international community: those who appease and enable Iran that they must at long last turn away from Irans malign activities. Rather than waste resources chasing after a nuclear bomb or regional hegemony, the Iranian regime should provide the Iranian people with what they want and with what they deserve, a thriving and prosperous Iran, said National Security Advisor OBrien. The President has made it clear that if Iran is willing to choose the path of peace, America will walk beside it. Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Community Foundation of Central New York pledged $1 million to advance racial equity in Syracuse this summer, following weeks of local and national protests. Today it announced the first round of grants to Black-led nonprofits, projects and businesses aimed at undoing systemic racism in the region. "The structural racism we see today did not happen on its own and as a civic leader in the Central New York region, we must use our platform and resources to take action, said Dashell Elliott, program officer at the foundation. We believe that this positive step forward will help to harness todays energy and outrage by focusing on solutions. The Black Equity and Excellence Fund announced $292,695 in grants to 12 organizations. Future awards will be decided by an all-Black advisory council. Some of the grants are sponsored by specific organizations or businesses. The recipients range from small art projects to vast public health efforts: Dunbar Association received $60,000 in operating support to help address the existing racial inequities in health outcomes among African Americans. Syracuse Community Connections received $53,000 to expand its free therapy sessions for the Black community in partnership with the Marriage and Family Therapy Center at Syracuse University. Village Birth International received $50,000 to hire Black doulas and purchase materials for Black maternal health community outreach and education. Juhanna Rogers LLC received $40,000 to produce and publicize the second season of the public TV series, Behind the Woman, which provides leadership training tips and advice for young women of color. Community Folk Art Center received $20,000 to host virtual Black-art exhibitions and virtual art classes for the community. Sankofa N.E.S.T. received $11,850 to launch the Griot Guide Project, which is a culture-centered initiative for Black youth. The Creators Lounge received $11,000 to support its Buy Black Local Initiative and Black-Owned Impact Fund that help generate economic activity in the local Black-owned business community. Hope 4 Us Training Program received $10,080 to provide workforce training and certification assistance for Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE). PGR Foundation received $10,000 to launch its Back to School Pandemic Preparation Workshop series to encourage COVID-19 safety best practices to its mentees. Artwork by Jaleel Campbell, LLC received $10,000 to support its Feel the Funk Experience and doll-making workshop to help bring local Black artists and entrepreneurs into the same space to build and grow among one another. Kilpatrick Media and Marketing received $9,400 to create a new podcast to elevate Black voices by providing the platform for individuals to share their stories. Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment received $7,365 to host virtual CPR training and disaster preparedness in the Black community. Marnie Eisenstadt writes about education, public affairs and the Syracuse City School District. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| Facebook | 315-470-2246 Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville police on March 13. Only one of the three cops involved has been charged One of the jurors in the Breonna Taylor case has revealed they were not given the option to indict two of the three cops involved in her killing and says Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is misrepresenting their deliberations by claiming they were satisfied neither of the officers should be charged. Taylor was shot and killed in her home in Louisville in March after three cops - Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove - opened fire on her apartment, where she was asleep with her boyfriend. They were executing a no-knock search warrant for her apartment that was part of a drug trafficking probe into her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, at the time. Taylor's boyfriend at the time of her death, Kenneth Walker, awoke to the officers breaking down the door with a battering ram and opened fire. He says they did not announce themselves. The cops returned fire and killed her. Despite global outrage over the killing - one of several this year that have highlighted police brutality against black Americans and sparked protests worldwide - nothing was done to charge the officers until last week when, after a grand jury was convened, Hankison was indicted. He was not charged with murder but was charged with wanton endangerment. Neither Mattingly nor Cosgrove was charged and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron claimed it was because his office had concluded that the pair were acting in self-defense by returning fire on Taylor's apartment. He said the grand jury was satisfied with that reasoning but, after widespread outrage following the decision and after the aforementioned juror filed a motion pushing him to make all the evidence public, he vowed on Monday to release the records from the case. Now, that juror is anonymously speaking out through a lawyer to say they were never given the option to charge the other two cops. That juror's lawyer says they are in 'turmoil' over the outcome. Daniel Cameron on Monday agreed to release transcripts of the grand jury proceedings 'This is something where the juror is not seeking any fame, any acclaim, any money,' their attorney, Kevin M. Glogower, told The New York Times. On Wednesday a grand jury indicted only one of the three officers involved in the shooting, and only for the lesser charge of wanton endangerment - leading to protests across the country. The unidentified juror filed a suit on Monday seeking the release of the documents so that that 'the truth may prevail.' The juror's case stated: 'There is a compelling public interest for these proceedings to be released of a magnitude the city and Commonwealth have never seen before that could not be confined, weaving its way across the country.' Former detective Brett Hankison is the only one of the three to face charges for the killing It suggests the attorney general has used jurors 'as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility.' The motion says the juror fears Cameron 'would attempt to utilize the court's contempt powers if there was a public disclosure that contradicted certain things that he stated happened during the proceedings, characterized the singularity of the decision in a different light, or raised doubts about charges that were presented during the proceedings.' Cameron's office had previously said sharing more information would be inappropriate with a criminal case and separate federal investigation ongoing. On Monday night Cameron backed down, and agreed to release the information on Wednesday. He said he felt it was the wrong thing to do, given that the grand jury 'is meant to be a secretive body'. People hold signs in support of Taylor while marching in downtown Louisville on Saturday But, he added, it is 'apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen.' He continued: 'As the special prosecutor, our team has an ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool. 'Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judge's order to release the recording on Wednesday. The release of the recording will also address the legal complaint filed by an anonymous grand juror.' Cameron said he was confident that the documents would show his team was right in not prosecuting two of the three officers. Cameron said he stands by the case his team presented. 'Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the Grand Jury,' he said. Earlier on Monday the only police officer indicted pleaded not guilty on three counts of wanton endangerment of Taylor's neighbors. Former detective Brett Hankison was indicted by a grand jury last Wednesday and charged with endangering Taylor's neighbors because some of the 10 bullets he fired during the raid on her home entered an adjacent apartment. The other two officers who shot Taylor were not charged at all after Cameron concluded their use of force was justified. Taylor was struck by six bullets moments after she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were roused from bed as the three plain-clothes officers forced open the front door shortly after midnight. Walker, who has maintained he did not know the intruders were police, fired toward the officers, wounding one in the thigh, according to Cameron's investigation. The three officers started shooting back. Six of their bullets hit Taylor, though none appeared to be from Hankison's gun, according to Cameron. The Louisville Metro Police Department had obtained a so-called 'no knock' warrant in their investigation of a suspected drug dealer who lived elsewhere in the city who had previously dated Taylor. Hankison entered his plea during an audio conference call before Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. The police department fired him in June for his actions during the raid. Smith ordered Hankison to not possess any guns over the objection of his lawyer, who said the former detective, who was released from jail on a $15,000 bond last week, may need weapons for self-defense, the Courier Journal reported. He is next due to appear before to court on October 28 for a pre-trial hearing. LOBAMBA The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has once again summoned Senate President Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini to appear before it. Not only that, Dlamini has also been accused of abusing her position as Senate President. This transpired yesterday during the sitting of the PAC where Clerk to Parliament, Ndvuna Dlamini, had appeared before the committee to give feedback on his mission to meet with the Prime Minister (PM), Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, to try and resolve challenges faced by his office as he tried to execute his duties. PAC Chairperson Matsanjeni North MP Phila Buthelezi, said they would summon the Senate president through a letter that would have been written by end of business yesterday. Material He said they were summoning the president in her capacity as Lindiwe Dlamini, the former Minister of Public Works and Transport, to address the issue of the construction of Sikhuphe houses using material which had not been recommended. MP Buthelezi said during last weeks sitting with officers from the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (ESWACAA), the acting chief executive officer had alleged that the former minister had forced them to use the building technology imported from Egypt called glass fibre re-enforced concrete (GRC), which cost government about E3.8 million. Buthelezi said it was alleged that the former minister wahlala entsanyeni (forced) the former CEO to continue with the project despite the fact that there was a report which had reported negative effects of the technology. He said they would also summon the former CEO Solomon Dube to give his side of the story and also write to the director of the company responsible in case he also wanted to comment on the matter. It was reported that 15 houses were built at Sikhuphe and have remained white elephants as they were unoccupied. MP Buthelezi said they had come a long way with the Senate President as last year the issue of the Sicunusa-Nhlangano road had come up and now the Egypt issue. We are now formally summoning her and I will sign the letter by the end of today (yesterday), said MP Buthelezi. He said upon receipt of the letter, the president was expected to follow the provisions of the Privileges Act, in particular Section 7. He said the Act was very specific on what needed to happen if a member of one of the Parliament chambers was asked to appear before another or a committee. MP Buthelezi said that member was expected to seek permission from the House members. I hope she will be honest and inform the senators that she has been asked to appear before the House to shed light on how taxpayers lost a sum of E3.8 million after she allegedly interfered in the matter and what role she played, said MP Buthelezi. The chairperson further said for issues of transparency in the matter, the former minister should not preside over that matter, but maybe her deputy. We hope the senators will allow her to come before the committee and again I want to emphasise that we are not calling her as Senate president, but former Public Works and Transport minister, said MP Buthelezi. MP Buthelezi, who is also the Deputy Speaker, said once the letters were sent, they would set a date for when all the parties would appear before the committee so that the matter could be sorted. A descendant of saints from central Asia, who settled in Kashmir centuries ago to spread Islam, prominent lawyer and human rights defender Syed Babar Qadri would feel honoured to post pictures of their shrines on his social media accounts. Today, he lies buried next to one such mausoleum of his ancestors, right outside his native home in Dhobiwan village in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district, a 40-minute drive from the summer capital of Srinagar. Nestled on the heels of famed ski-resort of Gulmarg, the village wears a gloomy look as mourners keep pouring in. The cool autumn breeze makes flower petals showered on his grave shimmer. Shrieks of the bereaved family, including those of Babars younger brother Zaffar, continue to reverberate and add to the gloom. Lawyer and human rights activist, Syed Babar Qadri. (Photo: Twitter) At around 6 pm on September 24, 41-year-old Babar was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence in Srinagar, where the family had migrated in the 1990s. Days on, theres still no end to mourning. Killers wore a smile On the fateful day, Babar had reached home with his brother Zaffar, who is also a lawyer, in their car after days work at the court. Recollecting the incident, the younger brother says that he saw two men waiting at the main gate of their residence in Hawal locality, where a lane barely wide enough for a car to make way, leads to the house. The assailant-duo disguised as clients seeking legal consultation. Over the last two years, Babar had been complaining of a threat to his life, especially since the day a terror portal linked to journalist Shujaat Bukharis assassination had spewed venom against the lawyer. Since then, Zaffar says, he would try his best to be the guard for the eleder brother who was popular for his fearless utterances on Kashmir issue, especially on TV debates. Initially, as usual, he was alert about the presence of the two strangers, who appeared disguised as clients. One of them was speaking Kashmiri and sought consultation with Babar. The other one, with a dark complexion, who was sporting a short haircut was holding a diary in his hand. He didnt utter a word but kept smiling unusually. Babar, who was wearing a brand new blue suit, asked them to wait for a while till he freshened up. In a short while Babar returned to his clients and asked Zaffar to get tea for them. I went upstairs to get tea but ensured that I was looking down from windowpane facing the lawn and saw them conversing, he recollects. Merely 30 seconds passed and four gunshots changed everything. Zaffar rushed back to the window only to find Babar running to the drawing-room in the ground floor. The two assailants were nowhere in sight, but a few more gunshots were heard. Zaffar instantly came downstairs hoping that Babar had escaped the attack, but found him lying in a pool of blood. Bullets had pierced his head and chest. Brother, they have shot me, Babar had said and fallen unconscious on the younger brothers lap. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Babar is the father of two toddler daughters. As per the family, the unidentified assailants were so bold that they voluntarily removed their Covid-19 face-masks that could have concealed their identity. They looked confident. Especially the non-local man who wore that unusual smile. As per a senior official, both the assailants had fired two bullets each on Babar. Two death warrants In 2018, a Pakistan based terror portal linked to the assassination of veteran journalist Syed Shujaat Bukhari had also targeted Babar in its venomous write-ups. Interestingly, while the terror portal had posted only one article against Shujaat before his assassination, two similar hate pieces had been pitched against Babar back-to-back in June that year. On June 18, 2018, Babar had claimed to have escaped a life bid when his car was intercepted by unidentified gunmen. He had filed a complaint with the police. Ironically, though Babar had the time and again complained of threat to life, police didnt provide him security. Even two days before his killing, he complained of new threats following his dispute with some top lawyers in the JK High Bar Association. Now, however, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe his killing. While the Director-General of Police, Dilbag Singh is confident to crack the case soon, the family says it has no hope for justice. In the past two years, the Jammu and Kashmir government has been facing severe criticism for failing to provide adequate security to those facing threat to life. Let alone others, the BJP leadership in Kashmir itself has been at the forefront of such protests. The BJP leaders often accuse the senior officials in civil and police administration of playing with the lives of people. Shockingly, in some cases, the security of even high profile persons like globally acclaimed academic Prof Amitabh Mattoo has also been withdrawn. At the grave As the mourners from across Kashmir keep pouring in to meet the bereaved family, paying homage at Babars flower-clad grave nearby, is a religious obligation. With moist eyes, some mourners shower petals on the grave. Amid recitation of Islamic scriptures seeking Jannat Ul Firdous for the fearless Babar, he is remembered as the lion who was killed in his den. Also read: One Year After Shujaat Bukhari: Rising Kashmir editor was killed a year ago. The investigation into his murder has gone nowhere REGINAParty leaders in Saskatchewan officially began their campaigns Tuesday in an election race defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and the dramatic difference between the two leaders seeking power. Scott Moe met with Lt-Gov. Russell Mirasty at Government House to ask him to dissolve the legislature and set in motion a 28-day campaign that will culminate with a vote on the prefixed date of Oct. 26. Moe is trying to secure a fourth term for the Saskatchewan Party, and his first mandate from the public as premier. He came to that office two years ago when he won the leadership contest to replace retiring leader Brad Wall. Moe began his campaign in Regina, one of the cities viewed as a battleground in this election. He asked residents to base their vote on who they trust to steer the economy through a recovery from the pandemic. He said most business are back operating and emphasized that over the last 13 years, under the leadership of his predecessor, the provinces population and economy both grew. We have stepped forward with supports throughout the last six months, and you will see in this platform that the Saskatchewan Party will put forward items that speak to, not only the growth of our economy and the growth of our opportunity, but ensuring that affordability is increased for our families. One of Moes goals is to eliminate Saskatchewans projected $2.1-billion deficit by 2024, so any election promises made will be done with fiscal prudence. NDP Leader Ryan Meili said that another Sask. Party victory would usher in four years of austerity at a time when people are struggling for work, waiting for medical services and wrestling with whether to send their children back to school. At his campaign kickoff, also in Regina, Meili pitched himself as a leader who would improve health care and education, as well as make the lives of workers better with a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Were saying loud and clear to the people of Saskatchewan: You have a choice. You dont have to settle for Scott Moe and the status quo. You can vote for the change you want. Meili, who travelled to Moose Jaw afterwards, promised to soon release costs for the promises he has already made, such as bringing in $25-a-day child care. Saskatchewan will be the third province in the country to send voters to the polls during the pandemic. New Brunswickers went to the polls earlier this month and an election has been called in British Columbia for Oct. 24. Moes Saskatchewan Party had 46 seats in the legislature at dissolution, while the Opposition NDP had 13. Jim Farney, head of politics and international studies at the University of Regina, said the stakes are high for the NDP this time around. A good showing, he said, would be between 20 and 25 seats. But if theres a repeat of past elections, with increasingly fewer seats, Farney said he cant imagine how people dont start looking around the party and going something is fundamentally wrong. Farney said Moes message is that the province is operating as near to normal as possible during the pandemic. But problems could arise for Moe if the number of COVID-19 positive cases jumps in schools, and parents in their 30s and 40s who are swing voters mobilize. While the Saskatchewan Party appears to have a lock on the support of rural residents, key battlegrounds will be Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, Farney suggested. Thats going to be (Moes) political challenge, he said. Can (Moe) pitch a message that appeals to suburban voters? The Saskatchewan Party sprang out of a coalition in 1997 of Liberals and disgruntled Progressive Conservatives. It is largely viewed through its policy decisions as a conservative party in everything but name. In its early years under leader Elwin Hermanson, the party had difficulty gaining ground outside rural areas and lost two elections. It wasnt until 2007 under Wall that the party ousted the NDP from government. With Wall still at the helm, the party went on to win two more majorities in 2011 and 2016. A Nigerian senator has been fined $130,000 (100,000) and told to apologize to a woman he physically assaulted in a sex toy shop last year. A high court in the capital, Abuja, found that the assault by Senator Elisha Abbo was inhuman and degrading" and violated the fundamental rights of the victim, Osimibibra Warmate. The incident which was captured on video and later went viral online, showed Mr Abbo slapping Ms Warmate. After widespread condemnation and street protests, the senator publicly apologized but Ms Warmate filed a court case. On top of the cash to be paid to Ms Warmate the court also ordered Mr Abbo to apologize to her in a national daily newspaper. The decision has been welcomed by women's activists. One of Ms Warmate's lawyers described it as a victory for the rule of law and for the common person in Nigeria. However, a lawyer representing Mr Abbo told the BBC they will appeal against the ruling, which they can do within 90 days. The high court ruling in the civil case comes after a magistrates court dismissed criminal charges filed against the senator by the Nigerian police. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Servant of People faction plans to hold meeting in Donbas Arakhamia The Servant of the People parliamentary faction plans to hold a visiting session in Donbas, the faction's leader David Arakhamia said. "Servant of the People is planning a meeting of the faction in Donbas, in fact, in the zero zone," Arahamia told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday. He said that it will be tentatively held next week. Three people, including a young boy, died in a reported hostage situation and shooting Monday in Salem, authorities say. Marion County sheriffs deputies were called to the apparent hostage situation in the 200 block of Juneva Place Southeast early Monday afternoon. They made contact with the suspect, Jose Jesus Lopez-Tinoco, in an attempt to peacefully resolve the situation, according to the Oregon State Police. But the deputies heard gunshots inside the home and forced their way inside. One of the deputies, Ricky Kittelson, fired an undetermined number of shots, the state police said. Lopez-Tinoco, a 34-year-old Woodburn resident, was found dead. He appeared to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the state police. Deputies also found 24-year-old Diari Bustos-Bustos and an 11-year-old boy dead. Both suffered gunshot wounds. Laura Rocio-Bustos, 43, was also suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. A 13-year-old boy rescued from the home didnt suffer any physical injuries. A state police spokesman said authorities are still investigating whether Kittelsons shots hit the suspect or anyone else. Kittelson, who has worked for the sheriffs office for two years, has been put on administrative leave. Thats standard practice after law enforcement shootings. The relationship, if any, between Lopez-Tinoco and the other people in the home wasnt immediately clear. Neither of the boys have been publicly identified. -- Jim Ryan jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Just a 1% undercount will cost this state $195 million in federal funds at a time when we need it the most, she continued. These federal funds impact each and every one of you directly. Its money for your neighborhood, its money for your block. For people in our Black and brown communities like this one, an accurate count often means a seat at the table for people who look like us and are advocating for us. By Ahmed Hagagy KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on Tuesday aged 91, plunging his country into mourning for a leader regarded by many Gulf Arabs as a savvy diplomatic operator and a humanitarian champion. The cabinet announced his brother and designated successor Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new ruler in a statement read on state television. The parliamentary speaker tweeted that Sheikh Nawaf, 83, would be sworn in on Wednesday. Sheikh Sabah had ruled the wealthy oil producer and U.S. ally since 2006, and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. "With hearts filled with pain and sadness for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and nations of the world, and with faith in the will of God, the cabinet mourns ... Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah who died in the United States on Tuesday," the statement said. The emir's body will arrive on Wednesday in Kuwait from the United States, where he had been in hospital since July following surgery in Kuwait that month, state media reported on Tuesday, citing the Amiri Diwan. The minister of the Amiri Diwan said on Tuesday that in compliance with safety and public health requirements, the burial ceremony for the deceased emir will be limited to relatives only, state media reported. Flags were flying at half-staff in Kuwait, which announced 40 days of mourning. "Goodbye, Emir of Humanity," read a large banner on a street near the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Kuwait Towers, a seaside landmark normally lit at night, went dark. Condolences poured in from Arab leaders and several countries in the region announced mourning periods. Sheikh Sabah sought to balance relations with Kuwait's bigger neighbours - forging close ties with Saudi Arabia, rebuilding links with former occupier Iraq and keeping open dialogue with Iran. He tried to mediate in a Gulf dispute in which Riyadh and its allies imposed a boycott on Qatar, and made fundraising for humanitarian aid in Syria one of Kuwait's priorities. Story continues Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an Arabic-language tweet, lauded Sheikh Sabah for fostering "moderation and balance" in Kuwait and the region. "Today we lost a big brother and a wise and loving leader ... who spared no effort for Arab unity," said Jordan's King Abdullah, also on Twitter. Sheikh Sabah kept strong ties with the United States, which led a coalition that ended Iraq's 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait and used the Gulf state as a launch pad for the 2003 Iraq invasion. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement he was saddened by the death of a dear friend and called Sheikh Sabah an "unwavering friend and partner to the United States". Trump earlier this month awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, to Sheikh Sabah in what the White House said was the first time the honour has been given since 1991. The emir's eldest son, Sheikh Nasser, accepted the award. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the emir as "an extraordinary symbol of wisdom and generosity, a messenger of peace, a bridge builder." SMOOTH SUCCESSION The Kuwaiti dinar fell against the dollar in the forward market on Tuesday and Kuwaiti stocks plunged, ahead of the official announcement of the emir's death. Under Kuwait's constitution, the crown prince automatically becomes emir but assumes power only after taking an oath in parliament, for which elections are due this year. "I don't see a major change in foreign policy under the new emir, largely because Kuwaiti foreign policy is pretty popular domestically and regionally and is seen as effective," Courtney Freer, research fellow at LSE Middle East Centre, told Reuters. The succession is not expected to affect oil policy or foreign investment strategy through the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds. The new emir's choice of crown prince and premier - who would be tasked with managing the government's often difficult relationship with parliament - will be watched closely. "The new Emir will accede to the throne facing several tough challenges, including the coronavirus crisis, low oil prices, and delicate foreign politics," London-based Capital Economics said in a research note. An immediate priority would be a long-awaited debt law allowing Kuwait to tap global markets to finance a budget deficit, it said. Parliament, which analysts say has posed an obstacle to reform efforts, has repeatedly rejected the law. Although most political power in Kuwait is in the hands of the emir, its parliament is one of the most influential elected bodies among Gulf monarchies. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi, Lisa Barrington, Ahmed Hagagy, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Marwa Rashad, Davide Barbuscia, Nayera Abdallah, Ahmed Tolba, Michelle Nichols; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Giles Elgood and Matthew Lewis) NORRISTOWN While a COVID-19 vaccine may be several months away, Montgomery County officials are encouraging residents to get a flu vaccine and are making it easy with multiple drive-thru and walk-up flu clinics countywide. County Commissioners Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh stressed that getting a flu shot this year is more important than ever when, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 will likely continue into the fall and winter and may overlap with the flu season. With the possibility of both viruses occurring in our communities at the same time, everyone age six months and older must get their yearly flu shot, Arkoosh said. A flu shot this season can also help reduce the burden on our healthcare systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and save medical resources for the care of patients with COVID-19, Arkoosh explained. Flu shots have been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalizations, and death. County health officials said the best way to prevent flu and its potentially severe complications is to get a flu shot. Residents should get a flu shot before flu viruses begin spreading in the community, since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu. The county Office of Public Health will hold drive-thru flu clinics and weekly walk-up flu clinics in October. The flu clinics are for people who live, work, or attend school in Montgomery County. Health officials will provide flu vaccinations to those six months of age and older. The vaccinations are at no cost for county residents, but the health department will bill those who have insurance. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this year, the flu shots will be made available at the clinics by appointment only. Residents must make an appointment and register for a flu shot at www.montcopa.org/flu or by calling 610-278-5145. Only those who have made an appointment and who have completed their registration will be able to receive a flu shot at one of the clinics. Drive-thru flu clinic sites will be available at the following locations: Sat., Oct. 3 at Upper Perkiomen Middle School, 901 Montgomery Ave., Pennsburg; Fri., Oct. 16 and Sat., Oct. 17 at Cheltenham High School, 500 Rices Mill Road, Wyncote; Fri., Oct. 23 and Sat., Oct. 24 at The Montgomery County Community College, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell; and Fri., Oct. 30 and Sat., Oct. 31 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Ave., Oaks. Walk-up flu clinic sites will be available on Thursdays beginning Oct. 8 at the following locations: the countys Office of Public Health Pottstown Health Center at 364 King St, Pottstown; in Green Lane at 2144 Snyder Road; in Willow Grove at 1678 Fairview Ave.; in Lansdale at 421 W. Main St.; in Norristown at 1433 Green St.; and in Ardmore at 114 W. Lancaster Ave. Officials said residents should wear a short-sleeved shirt especially if they are attending one of the drive-thru vaccination clinics. At the drive-thru clinics all passengers will need to remain in their cars and all children in car seats need to stay secured in their car seats at all times, officials said. During this flu season, the countys health department also is partnering with the Montgomery County Immunization Coalition and Families Fighting Flu to increase flu vaccination rates through text message reminders. County residents can text MONTCOFLU to 47177 for reminders to get a flu shot, officials said. Once you text, youll be signed up to receive personalized flu-related information about where you can go to get your flu shot, Arkoosh explained during a recent news briefing. Influenza, commonly called the flu, is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can lead to serious illness, hospitalization, or even death, officials said. Most experts believe the flu viruses spread mainly by tiny droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. The virus can be transmitted even before flu-like symptoms appear. A person usually becomes sick one to four days following exposure to the virus. Typical flu symptoms include fever, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle aches, and extreme fatigue. While the impact of flu varies, it places a substantial burden on the health of people in the U.S. each year. The CDC estimates that flu has resulted in between nine million and 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 and 810,000 hospitalizations, and between 12,000 and 61,000 deaths annually since 2010. During the 2018-19 flu season, flu shots prevented an estimated 4.4 million illnesses, 58,000 hospitalizations, and 3,500 deaths associated with flu, according to health officials. I want to be clear that flu shots do not protect you against COVID-19. It is a completely separate virus, Arkoosh said last week. But, Arkoosh explained, the flu shot does reduce the chance of getting the flu or, if one gets the flu, the vaccine can reduce the chance you will have a severe case. This is especially important this year because individuals with a severe case of the flu are often hospitalized and some of those individuals need a ventilator to support their breathing, Arkoosh said. In this time of COVID-19, where we are looking toward the fall when the weather will be cooler and people will be more likely to come indoors, which could increase the spread of COVID-19, we want to do everything we can to keep the pressure off our hospitals and particularly also ventilators, Arkoosh said. So, by getting a flu shot, the chances of you needing to be hospitalized for the flu go down dramatically. So please, please get a flu shot, Arkoosh continued. Democratic nominee Joe Bidens tax plan would raise $3 trillion over 10 years. Biden looks more likely than President Donald Trump to pick up spare electors. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi is making backup plans for a contested election. Thats the amount that Bidens tax plan would raise over the next decade, although it would even out to only about $2.65 trillion after accounting for economic effects from higher levies on companies and wages, according to new a analysis from the right-leaning Tax Foundation. The bottom 20% of earners would see their after-tax income increase 10.8%, partially due to an increase in the child tax credit. The top 1% of earners would see their incomes decrease 9.9% as a result of higher levies on income, capital gains and additional payroll taxes. Trumps campaign has run ads saying that Bidens tax plan would crush the middle class, but the data show that the bottom 80% of taxpayers would all see increases to their income in 2021 under the Democrats policies. Over a decade, those individuals would see slight decreases because of indirect effects of higher taxes on businesses. -- Laura Davison Biden Looks More Likely Than Trump to Pick Up Spare Electors Both Biden and Trump hope to pick up a spare elector in Maine or Nebraska that could decide the presidency. But, for now, Biden has the edge. The two states break up their electors by congressional district, which gives Trump an opportunity in rural Maine, where he won an elector in 2016, and Biden a shot in Omaha, where Obama won an elector in 2008. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showed 48% of likely voters in Nebraskas Second Congressional District backed Biden and 41% supported Trump, with 11% undecided. Biden is also ahead by 4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls in Maines Second District. Six out of seven scenarios presented by the Trump campaign earlier this month had Trump winning at least one elector in Maine, including two in which it provided the winning margin. None showed him losing in Nebraska. The poll of 420 likely voters in Nebraskas Second District was conducted Sept. 25-27. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.3 percentage points. Pelosi Makes Plans for Electoral College Tie In case this election hasnt been strange enough already, Pelosi is making public plans in case of an Electoral College tie. There are plausible, though still unlikely, scenarios in battleground states in which Biden and Trump tie at 269-269, both failing to reach the 270 electors needed to win outright. If that happens, the presidential race is thrown to the House in January. But theres a twist: Each state only gets one vote. And while Democrats have the majority in the House right now, Republicans control 26 state delegations. In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi urged them to support the House Majority political action committee to try to win a handful of races that could tip more state delegations in their favor. Because we cannot leave anything to chance, House Majority PAC is doing everything it can to win more delegations for Democrats, Pelosi wrote in the letter. Its sad that we have to plan this way, but its what we must do to ensure the election isnt stolen. BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voip-Pal.com Inc. (Voip-Pal, Company) (OTCQB: VPLM) announces the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has ruled in favor of Voip-Pal in its long legal battle against Apple. In a decision announced on September 25, 2020, the Court upheld the December 21, 2018 ruling by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denying Apples request for sanctions. The CAFC also affirmed the PTABs ruling that Voip-Pals 815 and 005 patents are non-obvious. Moreover, the Court rejected Apples bid to invalidate certain claims that had not been declared ineligible in a parallel district court case. A recent IPWatchdog article describing the decision of the appellate court is linked here for your convenience. Voip-Pal is currently the plaintiff in multiple patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division. The defendants are some of the largest companies in the world and have a combined market cap of 5.73 trillion dollars. Facebook Inc. and WhatsApp Inc.; Civil Action No. 20-cv-267 Google LLC; Civil Action No. 20-cv-269 Amazon.com Inc. et al.; Civil Action No. 20-cv-272 Apple Inc.; Civil Action No. 20-cv-275 Verizon Communications, Inc. et al.; Civil Action No. 6:20-cv-00327 AT&T, Inc. et al., ; Civil Action No. 6:20-cv-00325 Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. has scheduled oral argument for November 3, 2020 in Voip-Pals cases against Apple and Amazon, Case Nos. 20-1241, 20-1244. Emil Malak, CEO of Voip-Pal, stated, We are very pleased with this outcome and the courts decision to once again uphold our intellectual property. Our patents have been challenged with IPRs 12 times and each time we have prevailed. This latest decision affirming the PTABs ruling is vindication of the validity of our patents. We will never stop fighting for our shareholders and we are looking forward to proceeding with our pending cases in the Western District of Texas. About Voip-Pal.com Inc. Voip-Pal.Com, Inc. (Voip-Pal) is a publicly traded corporation (OTCQB: VPLM) headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The Company owns a portfolio of patents relating to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology that it is currently looking to monetize. Any forecast of future financial performance is a forward looking statement under securities laws. Such statements are included to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand managements beliefs and opinions with respect to the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor among many in evaluating an investment. While the Company believes in the circumstances that legal action is needed to monetize its patents, patent litigation involves various risks and uncertainties that could affect its ability to monetize the patents. We recognize that it is impossible to predict the specific outcomes of litigation. Corporate Website: www.voip-pal.com IR inquiries: IR@voip-pal.com IR Contact: Rich Inza (954) 495-4600 Tokyo: Japan Airlines on Monday said it would swap ladies and gentlemen for gender-neutral greetings, following other global airlines in adopting more inclusive language for passengers. Announcements at airports and on flights operated by the Japanese carrier will use the new forms of address from October 1, the airline said. Attention all passengers and Good morning everyone will be among the terms adopted, local media reported. Several airlines around the world have made a similar change in recognition of non-binary and transgender customers. Air Canada and European low-cost carrier EasyJet said last year they would drop ladies and gentlemen. We aspire to be a company where we can create a positive atmosphere and treat everyone, including our customers, with respect, Japan Airlines spokesman Mark Morimoto told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email. We have committed to not discriminate based on gender, age, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal attributes. The announcement comes as gender-equality advocates say corporate support for LGBT+ rights is growing in socially-conservative Japan, where same-sex marriage remains illegal and being openly gay seen as taboo. In April, a Japanese charity that launched a scheme offering digital partnership certificates - allowing same-sex couples to tap into the same staff benefits as heterosexual couples - won the backing of businesses from banks to insurers. About a third of Japanese companies have measures in place to support gay couples, according to campaign group Nijiiro Diversity. But activists say discrimination persists, and even though about two dozen cities, towns and wards issue same-sex partnership certificates to gay couples, they lack legal standing. In March, Japan Airlines announced it would allow female flight attendants to wear trousers and ditch their high heels at work, following a feminist campaign that took off. DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DataBank , a leading provider of enterprise-class colocation, connectivity, and managed services, today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire zColo, including certain U.S. and European data center assets, from Zayo Group Holdings. The zColo acquisition brings to DataBank an additional 44 data centers including 13 key interconnect locations across 23 markets in the U.S. and Europe. The transaction creates one of the largest privately held data center operators in the U.S. and positions DataBank as a leading provider of edge colocation and connectivity solutions to hyperscale, technology and content customers across the U.S. In addition to growing DataBank's geographic footprint to a national scale in strategically important data center markets, zColo will contribute an exceptional base of diversified, blue-chip customers that complement DataBank's existing relationships. These organizations will benefit from DataBank's proven customer-focused service framework and operations which will expand to include the following: 64 data centers in 29 markets (up from 20 data centers and 9 markets) Over 3,000 customers including many Fortune 100 and leading cloud and content providers Pro forma annual revenue of over $450M 1.1M raised square feet of data center space raised square feet of data center space 141 MW of installed UPS capacity Over 30,000 network cross connects 18 major network interconnection points 12 cloud nodes The transaction also significantly accelerates DataBank's edge and hybrid cloud strategies. The expanded data center footprint provides DataBank's customers with new geographic options for colocating their mission-critical content, data and workloads closer to end-user populations in key markets like Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Miami, Boston and New York City. With double the number of private cloud nodes and public-cloud on-ramps, DataBank customers will have more flexibility to design hybrid IT solutions that adapt as their infrastructure needs evolve. "Simply put, this highly complementary acquisition will allow us to serve customers better. The strategic rationale is fully aligned with our core 'Data Center Evolved' strategy built around providing customers broad geographic reach as they move their content and applications closer to the edge," said Raul K. Martynek, CEO of DataBank. "We look forward to integrating zColo into our portfolio while elevating our existing level of service to meet the increasingly diverse workloads of our enterprise customers." Having assembled one of the densest metro and long-haul fiber networks in the U.S., Zayo's data center assets also bring to DataBank a set of valuable network hubs and carrier hotel facilities, making it one of the largest providers of network-neutral interconnections and adding diversity and performance to the DataBank footprint. Zayo Group will become a significant customer and continue to be an anchor tenant within the zColo facilities. DataBank customers will benefit from access to Zayo's global fiber network, enabling companies to get their data anywhere in the world. With a long-term agreement in place, the companies expect to collaborate closely in bringing colocation solutions to Zayo's fiber customers and private fiber network solutions to DataBank's colocation and cloud customers. "This agreement allows both parties to focus on their core strengths," said Dan Caruso, Zayo Group's CEO. "We'll continue building the most fiber-rich digital infrastructure in the world while DataBank focuses on hosting the innovations and digital workloads that our fiber and network infrastructure were designed to fuel." The transaction is being funded by an investor group led by Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY), DataBank's controlling shareholder, which includes Nuveen Real Estate and others. In addition to leading a consortium of world-class institutional investors to support the acquisition, Colony Capital is investing $145 million from its balance sheet to maintain its 20% stake in DataBank. Debt financing associated with the transaction has been underwritten by TD Securities, Truist Securities and Societe Generale, acting as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners for the new Credit Facility. DH Capital served as financial advisor to DataBank in connection with the transaction and Jones Day served as legal counsel. JP Morgan acted as financial advisor to zColo and Skadden Arps served as legal advisor. The closing of the deal is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction is anticipated to close by year-end 2020. About DataBank DataBank is a leading provider of enterprise-class data center, cloud, and interconnection services, offering customers 100% uptime availability of data, applications and infrastructure. DataBank's managed data center services are anchored in world-class facilities. Our customized technology solutions are designed to help customers effectively manage risk, improve their technology performance and allow them to focus on their core business objectives. DataBank is headquartered in the historic former Federal Reserve Bank Building, in downtown Dallas, TX. For additional information on DataBank locations and services, please visit www.databank.com or call 1(800) 840-7533. About Zayo Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world's most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo's 133,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo's communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, dedicated internet access and data center colocation services. Zayo owns and operates a Tier 1 IP backbone and 44 carrier-neutral data centers. Through its CloudLink service, Zayo provides low-latency private connectivity that attaches enterprises to their public cloud environments. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises. For more information, visit zayo.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," or "potential" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a difference include, without limitation, whether the sale of zColo to DataBank will be completed within the timeframe anticipated or at all, including the parties ability to obtain any necessary third-party approvals to consummate the transaction, and other risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements reflect the parties' good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The parties are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, nor to conform prior statements to actual results or revised expectations, and do not intend to do so. SOURCE DataBank Related Links www.databank.com Less than two years ago, Montanas wilderness study areas (WSAs) were under attack. Now, were closer to protecting them as a reflection of community values. Earlier this month, the Montanas State Legislatures Environmental Quality Council finalized its report on Montanas seven Forest Service WSAs. In the report, the committee considered the history of these WSAs and highlighted the local collaborative approaches that Montanans have committed to in their efforts to decide the futures of these special places. The report underlined what those of us who have been fighting for WSAs have known for years: the best way to determine their fate is by working together, finding common ground, and developing local solutions, like Montanans have done for generations. While it was developing the report, the EQC heard testimony from a wide array of sources loggers, conservationists, motorized recreation advocates, and more, the vast majority of whom spoke in favor of working together for WSAs and expressed the belief that Montanans who know, love, and depend on these places are best positioned to make informed and constructive decisions about their future. Those decisions should not fall to bureaucrats who have never visited these places. And that, of course, brings us to Senator Steve Daines and Representative Greg Gianforte. Back in 2018, Daines and Gianforte each introduced legislation that sought to strip protection from nearly 800,000 acres of WSAs, including the places the EQC investigated for its report. They introduced their legislation without holding a single public meeting, hearing, or town hall; without accounting for the unique needs and perspectives of communities that depend on their local WSAs; and without tapping into the constituent feedback loop thats required of good public servants. When Montanans confronted Daines and Gianforte about being cut out of the process, the congressmen proceeded to hold sham public meetings with handpicked supporters to provide cover for their unpopular bills. Montanans werent fooled, and spoke out long and loud until Daines and Gianforte were forced to withdraw their top-down, one-size-fits-all legislation under an avalanche of letters, emails, phone calls, and demonstrations. One of the groups that formed to defend WSAs from these attacks was Our Land, Our Legacy. We were all proud spokespeople for the group, and our message was simple: our wild public lands are the heart and soul of Montana. They are the foundation of our outdoor legacy and economy. They are our reason for living in the Big Sky state and for raising our children here. Our congressional delegation needs to support local, collaborative efforts focused on the particular attributes of each of these areas, not to impose generic, place-blind legislation that decides the fate of all of these places in one fell swoop with no opportunity for real public input. Have Daines and Gianforte taken this message to heart? We certainly hope so, but they have yet to show convincing evidence of truly listening to the Montanans who love and depend on our WSAs. During the EQQs penultimate meeting on July 30, Montanas congressmen were asked to provide testimony to the committee before it issued its final report. In his remarks, Sen. Jon Tester made it clear that he was listening. We need to let Montanans who live, work, and recreate on and around these lands drive the bus here, he said, reiterating that we shouldnt let politics force a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach onto folks who know what works best for their communities. In contrast, Daines letter offered the ambiguous opinion that a solution to this decades-old issue should include local support. Gianforte described his 2018 legislation as a starting point, indicating that he hasnt given up on his top-down approach. We count ourselves among the many Montanans whose lives are immeasurably enriched by WSAs. We hunt here, we ride our horses here, and weve raised our children here. We depend on the clean water that flows from the mountains and the peace that we find in the deep forests and on the open prairies. We applaud the EQC for taking a collaborative approach to WSA management seriously, and we can only hope that Daines and Gianforte will follow the committees lead. Andrew McKean is a writer and hunter from Glasgow. Kathy Hundley is a substitute school teacher and backcountry horsewoman from Darby. Karen Stevenson is a retired teacher, hiker, and public lands advocate from Miles City. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 As a public figure in her own right before her less-than-traditional path to global fame, Meghan Markle has had her fair share of critics. In the span of four years, the actor has become the subject of racist and invasive tabloid headlines throughout her relationship with now-husband Prince Harry. Speaking with Fortune senior editor Ellen McGirt at Fortune's Most Powerful Women conference this week, the Duchess of Sussex shared a quote that she's lived by in order to stay focused on her work and tune out naysayers along her journey. The quote, which Markle said she used to have posted in her room, comes from artist Georgia O'Keefe: "I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain, and I am quite free." Markle and her husband have taken on new roles in advocacy work following their step back from the British Royal Family earlier this year. In recent months, Markle has been vocal in condemning the treatment of Black Americans and police brutality, as well as the importance of voting in a crucial election year. She said the O'Keefe quote is a reminder for her to speak authentically about issues that are important to her, despite a history of facing harsh criticism, particularly from the British tabloid press, for her words and actions. "If you look back at anything I've said, what ends up being inflammatory is people's interpretation of it," Markle said. "But if you listen to what I actually say, it's not controversial." "There will always be naysayers," Markle continued. But if you focus on yourself, your values and your moral compass, "it's easy to live with truth and authenticity, and that's how I choose to move through the world." Some of Markle's latest work with her husband includes a multi-year Netflix deal and establishing the Archewell Foundation, which aims to foster positive online communities in order to support mental health, equity and wellbeing more broadly. "There's so much good that comes out of it we would not be able to do this right now if not for the tech space," Markle said, referring to the ability to speak to conference attendees virtually in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, she said there needs to be a reckoning in how digital communities are built and run, and how people contribute to them, when hate speech and disinformation can be spread so quickly. "I think it's hard for people to wrap their heads around," Markle said of the problem. "Its like we live in the future when we talk about bots and trolls, but that's actually the current state of affairs of how we interact with each other online and off. It's not just an isolated experience. It translates to how we interact with anyone, and certainly your relationship with yourself." She said everyone has a part in improving the disinformation problem, from major tech companies to grassroots organizations. Individuals play a role in how they consume and share news information, too: "We have got to all put our stock in something that is true." In recent months, Markle and her husband joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which encourages corporations to withhold advertising money from platforms, particularly Facebook, for their failure to appropriately respond to online hate speech. The campaign was stoked by national protests and Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd in May. "It's not about trying to take down Facebook," Markle said of her overall goal in calling for change. "If the changes that are being made are in fact made, it's for the good of everyone, Facebook included." Such actions are a start, but they shouldn't distract from the need to find long-term solutions to systemically overhaul the way information is shared online. "We can't have this slap on the wrist," Markle said. "If we're looking for long-term solutions, what actions we do now will lay the groundwork for future work?" Check out: We analyzed 111 rewards cards, and the best one could earn you $2,000 over 5 years Don't miss: Meghan Markle: This advice from a teacher stuck with me through my entire life About half of states have stricter rules about how much party committees can give to candidates; Illinois should consider following their lead. Doing so would also reduce the incentive to abuse the so-called self-funding loophole, which allows legislative candidates who spend more than $100,000 on their own campaigns to eliminate contribution caps on their races. Legislative leaders have exploited the loophole in recent years to bring in huge donations from megadonors and special interests and redistribute them to candidates of their choosing. Cambodian television journalist, Kuy Piseth from news portal News English (CNE), died in Phnom Penh in the early hours of September 29. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is saddened by the death which comes at a challenging time for journalists in Cambodia. CNE said the body of Kuy Piseth, 24, was found after 2am on a street lying near his bike. A source from the Por Sen Chey District Military Police initially said that the police had viewed footage from a security camera near the scene and saw that the victim was beaten by an unknown attacker from behind, causing him to fall and die instantly. This account, however, has been proven to be incorrect and as Chorm Chav 3 commune chief, Theng Kosal pointed out, the journalist died in a traffic accident. This death comes amid a crackdown on press freedom and political dissent that has continued since the 2018 election. Earlier this year, the IFJ documented the worrying decline in press freedom and democratic rights in Cambodia largely due to a culture of impunity and media ownership issues. In an associated survey, 81 per cent of Cambodian journalists said their work caused them security concerns. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "The death of prominent journalist Kuy Piseth comes at troubling time for journalists in Cambodia. Our deepest condolences go to the Kuy Piseth's family and colleagues. The IFJ calls on the Cambodian government to put in place stronger protections to ensure journalist safety." Correction: The IFJ statement issued on September 29 incorrectly stated that Kuy Piseth had been attacked. Subsequent evidence has found that he died after falling from his motorbike. The IFJ apologies for this error. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The first-ever virtual 3D Tech Festival on 14-17 September brought together - the smartest, most inspiring mix of talks and case studies, from some of the world's leading authorities on digital transformation for the fashion industry. The event was organized by Alvanon the world's foremost leader for 3D fit standards, in collaboration with MOTIF, the fashion industry's first dedicated global e-learning platform. The first-ever virtual 3D Tech Festival on 14-17 September brought together - the smartest, most inspiring mix of talks and case studies, from some of the world's leading authorities on digital transformation for the fashion industry. Janice Wang, CEO of Alvanon, said: "We have worked extensively with apparel and fashion clients on their digital journeys, and we have real insight into what's working in this confusing space and, crucially, what the industry must do now to survive and thrive." She explained: "The aim of the 3D Tech Festival was to bring the industry together to share intelligence on what strategies and technologies are succeeding in the digital space." She concluded: "Digitization needs bold leadership and a commitment to education - upskilling and continual learning is the only way we will successfully equip our people with the skills they need to navigate the digital roadmap." Renowned speakers explained why fashion must go digital and how this can be achieved: The virtual event attracted 5,000+ guests, and 60 high-level speakers gave talks spanning executive leadership, 3D design, manufacturing, supply chain and careers. Discussion topics ranged from building 3D libraries and 3D scalability to the power of creatives and how to create a fabulous digital runway in 3D. Alvanon called on industry 3D enthusiasts to create an agenda, spanning multiple time zones across the world, all focused on bringing the 3D ecosystem together. Speakers included: Janice Wang , CEO, Alvanon; Jason Wang , COO, Alvanon; Dominic Sluiter , Head of STITCH (a PVH company); Darcy Reno , Cofounder and CEO, FNX; Cameron-James Wilson , CEO and Creative Director, The Diigitals; Joshua Young , Director, Digital Product Creation at VF Corporation; Mao Lin Liao , Founder and CEO at REBLIKA; Darren Jacobs , Managing Director at Carmel Clothing Ltd; Safir Bellali , Sr Director / Advanced Digital Creation at VF Corporation; Catherine Cole , CEO, MOTIF and many more. Alongside the Festival, MOTIF launched the 3D Fashion Tech Community to support the event with "discussion rooms" on topics relating to 3D digitization in design and product development. Fashion companies of diverse sizes, segments and geographies discussed 3D bodies & avatars, skills & training and shared job opportunities in the Jobs & Talent Marketplace. All presentations and session recordings are now available to stream here . 3D Tech Festival key facts: 60+ speakers 5,800+ attendees 10 solution exhibitors 94 countries represented 1,000+ brands and organizations represented Media contact: Saul Guzman Communications Director, Alvanon [email protected] Related Images the-3d-tech-festival-facilitated.jpg The 3D Tech Festival, facilitated by Alvanon and MOTIF The first-ever virtual 3D Tech Festival on 14-17 September brought together - the smartest, most inspiring mix of talks and case studies, from some of the world's leading authorities on digital transformation for the fashion industry. introducing-motifs-3d-fashion-tech.jpg Introducing MOTIF's 3D Fashion Tech Community Alongside the Festival, MOTIF launched the 3D Fashion Tech Community to support the event with "discussion rooms" on topics relating to 3D digitization in design and product development. Fashion companies of diverse sizes, segments and geographies discussed 3D bodies & avatars, skills & training and shared job opportunities in the Jobs & Talent Marketplace. Related Links 3D TECH FESTIVAL MOTIF SOURCE Alvanon Related Links https://alvanon.com By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional intelligence committee has issued a subpoena to compel a senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official to testify about accusations that it had meddled in intelligence reports for political purposes. The accusation stems from a whistleblower complaint made by former Homeland Security Department intelligence chief Brian Murphy, who has alleged that top DHS officials and a White House official sought to skew intelligence reports. Adam Schiff, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said he had subpoenaed acting DHS intelligence chief Joseph Maher to testify publicly on Friday. Schiff has said the department was seeking to stall the committee's investigation into Murphy's allegations. Schiff said he also had issued a subpoena to force DHS to turn over "documents, communications, and other records" related to the committee's probe of Murphy's allegations. "Adam Schiffs claims about DHS stonewalling his committee or obstructing the clearance process are completely false. DHS is doing no such thing and Chairman Schiff, despite the obvious political theater of this subpoena, knows this," a department spokesman said in a statement. "In fact, the department has produced nearly 3,000 pages of documents and has provided two briefings and three transcribed interviews to date," the spokesman said. Murphy has claimed he was pressured to stop providing assessments of the threat of Russian interference in the Nov. 3 U.S. election and to play down white supremacist activity. He has also said acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told him in May to instead report on political interference threats posed by China and Iran and highlight the involvement of left-wing groups in domestic disorder. The DHS has flatly denied Murphy's accusations. Schiff originally announced that he planned to take a closed-door deposition from Murphy last week so Murphy could talk about classified material he dealt with while at DHS. Story continues But Murphy's lawyers say DHS has moved slowly to grant them security clearances they would need to participate in such proceedings, and have also denied him pre-deposition access to all but unclassified materials he worked on. Mark Zaid, a lawyer for Murphy, said it was still possible Murphy could be deposed by the committee on Friday if security clearances for his lawyers are approved by then. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington, D.C.; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis) Kuwait City: Kuwait's ruling Emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has died, his office announced, plunging his country into mourning for a leader regarded by many Gulf Arabs as a savvy diplomatic operator and a humanitarian champion. The cabinet announced his brother and designated successor Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new ruler, in a statement read on state television. The parliamentary speaker tweeted that Sheikh Nawaf, 83, would be sworn in on Wednesday. Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah had been in hospital in the US since July following surgery. Credit:AP Sheikh Sabah had ruled the wealthy oil producer and US ally since 2006, and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. "With hearts filled with pain and sadness for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and nations of the world, and with faith in the will of God, the cabinet mourns ... Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah who died in the United States on Tuesday at 4pm Kuwait time," the statement said. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Tuesday that it was halting its operation in India, citing reprisals from the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by Indian authorities. Amnesty International India said in a statement that the organization had laid off its staff in India and paused its ongoing campaign and research work on human rights, alleging that Indian authorities froze its bank accounts on suspicions of violating rules on foreign funding. The statement said that the authorities' actions were the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations" by India's government "over unfounded and motivated allegations, and that the group's lawful fundraising model was being portrayed as money laundering because it has challenged the governments grave inactions and excesses. Indian authorities did not immediately confirm whether Amnesty Indias bank accounts had been frozen. Amnesty Indias executive director, Avinash Kumar, said the accounts were frozen as a result of the groups unequivocal calls for transparency in the government" and accountability of New Delhi police and the Indian government regarding grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Indian-administered Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, Kumar said in a statement. Amnesty International said the only other country where it ceased operations was Russia, in 2016. It is not the first time that Amnesty India has said Indian authorities targeted its operations. In 2018, Indian authorities raided its office and froze its bank accounts on similar charges. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics In 2016, it faced sedition charges after Hindu nationalists objected to an event held in the southern city of Bangalore to discuss human rights violations in the disputed region of Kashmir. The charges were dropped three years later. Story continues The rights group regularly accuses Indian authorities of committing human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir and has released multiple reports on the raging conflict in the region. In 2019, the watchdog testified before the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia and highlighted its findings on the use of excessive force and torture in Kashmir. In August, it said Indian police violated human rights during deadly religious riots in New Delhi earlier this year and accused the police of beating protesters, torturing detainees and in some cases taking part in riots with Hindu mobs. Image: Kashmiri child looks from behind a fence at a protest site after Friday prayers during restrictions after the Indian government scrapped the special constitutional status for Kashmir, in Srinagar (Danish Ismail / Reuters) Authorities say more than 50 people were killed when clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims over a controversial citizenship law in February in the worst rioting in the Indian capital in decades. Amnesty Internationals acting secretary general, Julie Verhaar, called the freezing of the bank accounts an egregious and shameful act" by the Indian government. It is a dismal day when a country of Indias stature, a rising global power and a member of the UN Human Rights Council, with a constitution which commits to human rights and whose national human rights movements have influenced the world, so brazenly seeks to silence those who pursue accountability and justice, Verhaar said in a statement. Amnesty India has repeatedly condemned what it says is a crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech in India. Its announcement to halt operations comes at a time when critics accuse Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist government of increasingly brandishing laws to silence human rights activists, intellectuals, filmmakers, students and journalists. Under Modi, critics say, India is growing notoriously intolerant, with its crackdown on dissent unprecedented in scale. Leaders of Modis party have routinely labeled critics as anti-nationals, and the authorities have dealt with many rights advocates and activists with an iron fist. Julie Bishop has opened up on the heartache of being separated from her partner due to coronavirus border closures. The former Foreign Minister, 64, was no stranger to jetting to different states around Australia or countries as part of her job. But Ms Bishop has been stuck in Perth for the past six months and has not seen her partner David Panton, who is in Sydney. Australia's former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (right) with her partner David Panton (left) The couple have been separated for six months due to closed borders to control the spread of COVID-19 (pictured together) 'The first place I will go is to Sydney to see David,' Ms Bishop told The Daily Telegraph about borders reopening. 'We FaceTime. It isn't great but it is all you can do because he can't get in here (WA) and I can't go there without having to get an exemption. It is very difficult but I know a lot of families have been separated in this way, it is challenging.' Ms Bishop also revealed said she does not miss politics after 20 years in parliament. The private life that comes with being Chancellor of the Australian National University is something that was a long time coming, she said. Ms Bishop revealed that they FaceTime but it was just not the same as being there (pictured together) Ms Bishop is also working with Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation to help raise awareness and funds. The foundation is close to her heart after two of her sisters were treated with ovarian cysts when they were younger. With almost 14,000 women dying from ovarian cancer each year, Ms Bishop is pushing for early detection tests. 'I think there needs to be a greater effort to find better treatments along the road to a cure and that is most certainly why I think we need an early detection test,' she said. As an extremely skilled industry leader with three decades of medical, pharmaceutical, and academic experience, Mike Spigarelli has a thorough understanding of clinical affairs, drug development, and regulatory strategy, said Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach. Slone Partners, a nationwide executive search firm for life sciences, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies, has announced the placement of Mike Spigarelli MD, PhD, MBA as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Lumen Bioscience. As CMO, Dr. Spigarelli will help advance Lumen Bios impressive clinical pipeline. Dr. Spigarelli brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical product development, including trial design, implementation, data analysis, and oversight to his new role. He is also an experienced practitioner in medical research and development, scientific research, and clinical leadership and education. Spigarelli most recently served as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Immucor, Inc., where he helped develop and obtain FDA and global regulatory approval for numerous assays and reagents and led the companys global clinical affairs and assay development teams. Prior to Immucor, he partnered with numerous drug, device, and diagnostic development companies on clinical trial design, site selection, and regulatory strategy. Incorporated in 2017, Lumen Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing biologic drugs for highly prevalent diseases. Lumen Bios clinical pipeline includes investigational biologics for travelers diarrhea, norovirus, and C. difficile infection. As an extremely skilled industry leader with three decades of medical, pharmaceutical, and academic experience, Mike Spigarelli has a thorough understanding of clinical affairs, drug development, and regulatory strategy, said Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach. He will be a tremendously valuable addition to the Lumen Bio executive team at a time when the company is advancing a number of exciting new investigational biologic drugs. Spigarelli earned an MBA at the University of Utah, and a PhD in Medical Chemistry and MD with Distinction in Research from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. ABOUT SLONE PARTNERS Slone Partners delivers the leaders who build amazing scientific healthcare organizations People Are Our Science. Since 2000, Slone Partners specializes in delivering world-class C-suite leadership, executive, and upper management talent to the most promising and established life sciences, biotech, diagnostics, precision medicine, CRO, and laboratory services companies. With coast-to-coast presence in the most active healthcare industry hubs of Boston, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Research Triangle Park NC, and Washington DC, Slone Partners uniquely and precisely provides an array of executive search and advisory services to innovative scientific healthcare companies. To learn more about Slone Partners value proposition and processes, http://www.slonepartners.com or call 888.784.3422. Meghan Markle has spoken out about misinformation and the importance of reliable media and news sources. On Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex spoke with Fortune's senior editor Ellen McGirt at the magazine's Most Powerful Women virtual summit. During her appearance, Meghan, who has made numerous appearances recently and been outspoken in her goal in encouraging people to vote, discussed how her words have often been misinterpreted. If you look back at anything Ive said, what ends up being inflammatory it seems is peoples interpretation of it. But if you listen to what I actually say its not controversial, the duchess said. And actually, some of it is reactive to things that just havent happened. According to Meghan, who said she believes you need to have a sense of humour to deal with the responses, there can also be a lot of danger in a misinterpretation of something that was never there to begin with. Recommended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face criticism over video urging Americans to vote The duchess also discussed other challenges of the internet age, and what it will take to achieve humane tech. We have got to all put our stock in something that is true, and we need to have reliable media and news sources that are telling us the truthwhen you know something is wrong, report it, talk about it," Meghan said, according to People. Acknowledging that talk of bots and trolls sounds futuristic and seems so fantastical, she continued: Thats actually the current state of affairs and that is shaping how we interact with each other online and off - and thats the piece thats important. It is not just an isolated experience. It transcends into how you interact with anyone around you and certainly your own relationship with yourself. As for what her experience has been amid the pandemic, the duchess, who recently relocated to California with her husband Prince Harry and their son Archie, said we are all going through a reset. We are all going through a reset and we are all going through a moment of reckoning - and probably a reevaluation of what really matters, she said. For me, its been amazing to spend time with my husband and watch our little one grow and thats where our attention has been. In addition to, of course, how we can be a part of the change of energy that so many people are craving right now and whatever we can do to help in that capacity. The duchess concluded her appearance with a quote from artist Georgia O'Keeffe, who said: I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free." Meghans latest appearance comes after she and Prince Harry urged Americans to vote in the upcoming US election during a televised Time 100 special last week. Every four years, we are told the same thing, that This is the most important election of our lifetime. But this one is. When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard. Your voice is a reminder that you matter. Because you do. And you deserve to be heard, Meghan said. Restaurant owners in the city have heaved a sigh of relief as the state government has agreed to allow restaurants to operate from the first week of October. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray made the promise to a delegation of restaurant owners from Pune during an online meeting. Today we had a fruitful zoom meeting with the chief minister and his team regarding the reopening of dine-in facilities in restaurants. He has assured us that the restaurants will reopen in the first week of October, said Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurants and Hoteliers Association (PRHA). We will be allowing 50 per cent of dine-in facility with 50 per cent staff. To operate at 50% will be a bit difficult for business, but its important to resume dine-in service. Also, the standard operating procedure (SOPs) issued by the chief ministers office will have to be followed by the restaurants to ensure the safety of its patrons, said Shetty. CM has also assured that the excise license fees will be revised on pro-rata basis against the balance operational months of the year 2020-21,he said. Pune has at least 8,700 big and small restaurants which are eager to start the business as in the last six month, they have suffered losses. As many as 20 per cent restaurants have shut business due to losses. Since June 1, the state government had allowed only take away service at restaurants. We also need to check the response of the customers which will give us the idea of how to progress ahead with the business, added Shetty. It will be a blessing for us as take away business is not giving us a good profit. People love to eat food in a restaurant ambience and profit will definitely increase, said Rakesh Patil, owner of Devika Seafood restaurant, Thergaon. Staff crunch With most of the employees which have gone back to their hometowns, restaurants may face staff crunch time while restarting the dine-in facility. We will be operating with 50 per cent staff. So restaurants who have employed locals will not have a problem. Most of the staff will be coming back and our strength will improve gradually. Same is the case with waiters and once the business gets going things will fall in place, added Shetty. Food courts gear up to resume business Mall owners in the city have welcomed the assurance of the chief minister as food courts are one of the major attractions in the city. It is good news. I want to thank the government finally for taking the decision as since the last six months it was closed. People who were associated with this industry like chefs, helpers, waiters, suppliers and vendors all were impacted badly and it will be a big relief for all of them, said Arun Arora, centre director, Phoenix Marketcity. I am sure with this start all the staff who have gone to native places will return back. The business will revive gradually and once the government is confident that all restaurants are safe then there will be definitely more relaxations than the current permission of 50 per cent, added Arora. US slaps curbs on exports to China's top chipmaker SMIC, citing dual use The US commerce department has imposed restrictions on US exports to Chinas top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), extending technology trade curbs on China, a key direction of the Trump administrations China trade policy. In a letter dated 25 September, the Commerce Department cited the finding of the Bureau of Industry and Security that SMIC and its subsidiaries posed an unacceptable risk of diversion to a military end use. Accordingly, US firms must now apply for a licence to export certain products to Chinas largest chipmaker. Unlike in the case of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co, SMIC has not been put on the entity list of banned companies, which means the restrictions are not so severe. The move to restrict exports of `Dual use technologies is part of a policy of deeper restrictions on Chinese technology companies, hitting more companies. The Commerce Department is yet to reveal the full contents of the letter while SMIC has not received an official notice of the sanctions. Shanghai-based SMAC, meanwhile, denied any link with the Chinese armed forces and said it does not manufacture goods for any military end-use. The Trump administration accuses China of trying to dominate technology by stealing US intellectual property. Besides, US cites the coronavirus pandemic and national security, including a new security law in Hong Kong to keep off Chinese market. The Trump administration blacklisted Huawei, preventing the giant telecommunications provider from buying components from American suppliers and pressured allies to follow suit. ByteDances TikTok was the next calamity with President Donald Trump threatening to ban the video app. He said the service should be sold to American owners if TikTok wanted to continue operatins in the US. Trump administrations cubs would hit SMIC mist as nearly 50 per cent of its equipment comes from the US. SMIC whose customers include US chipmakers Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Inc has a market value of more than $29 billion. Nokia's new President and CEO Pekka Lundmark (C) shakes hands with resigning President and CEO Rajeev Suri after a press conference at the Nokia headquarters in Espoo, Finland on March 2, 2020. LONDON Nokia announced Tuesday that it has signed a major 5G equipment deal with BT, which is the biggest telecoms group in Britain. The announcement comes after the U.K. said in July that it would ban Huawei equipment from its 5G network rollout, and it suggests Nokia is replacing Huawei's remaining share of infrastructure in BT's 5G network. Philip Jansen, CEO of BT Group, said in a statement: "In a fast-moving and competitive market, it's critical we make the right technology choices." The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the deal, Nokia will provide 5G equipment and services at 11,600 BT radio sites across the U.K, according to industry sources familiar with the matter. Specifically, BT will use Nokia's AirScale Single Ran (S-RAN) equipment to provide indoor and outdoor coverage to its customers. That equipment includes base stations and radio access products. The Finnish telecoms firm said it will become BT's largest infrastructure partner as a result of the deal, with industry sources telling CNBC that it will account for 63% of BT's entire network. Nokia currently powers BT's network in London, the English Midlands and some rural locations but that footprint is now set to expand. Investors are turning to defensive, safe haven property to insulate themselves from COVID-19, seeking assets with income certainty both now, and beyond, the pandemic, Savills Australia's Jesse Radisich and Benson Zhou said. The pair negotiated the off-market, off-the-plan sale of a strata titled VicRoads customer service centre to a China-based investor for $9.3 million. The under-construction centre at 93A Heatherdale Road has a 12-year lease at rent of $469,580 per annum and sold on a sharp 5 per cent yield. Two creative web development businesses, Its All Fluff and Love & Money, are taking over a shop at 188-196 Gertrude Street that was formerly tenanted by Contemporary Art Spaces. Gray Johnsons Rory White said the web firms signed a four-year term at a starting rent of $132,500 net, paying a market leading $617 per sq m for the 215 sq m space. 188-196 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. Credit: South Yarra Damstra Technology has leased a 450 sq m office in The Como Centre, on level 3 at 299 Chapel Street, from Newmark Capital, paying $632 per sq m under a five-year lease. The open-plan office space features an extensive private balcony along Toorak Road, Colliers International's Kevin Tutty, James McMahon and Ash Dean said. North Melbourne A sewage pumping station has been completed in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, with the capacity of 640,000 cubic meters per day the largest in the southern metropolis. After four years of construction, Dong Dieu Stations capacity has been increased more than three times from 192,000 cubic meters per day in the first phase, the investor said on Monday. Other sewage pumping stations in Ho Chi Minh City have smaller capacities. The facility is now run by three pumps, each with a capacity of 122.1 cubic meters per minute. One 2,500kVA transformer and one 1,100kVA backup generator wre also installed at the station. Dong Dieu Sewage Pumping Station in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Van Binh / Tuoi Tre Wastewater from the basins of the Tau Hu Canal, Ben Nghe Canal, Doi Canal, and Te Canal, after being collected at Dong Dieu Station, will be moved to Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant in the same district through a three-kilometer-long sewer. The pumping station is expected to help reduce environmental pollution in the metropolis and contribute to the completion of the rainwater drainage and flood control systems across an area of about 2,510 hectares in the citys Districts 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11, where approximately two million people are living. A worker monitors an operational machine at Dong Dieu Sewage Pumping Station in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Van Binh / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Supreme Court has rejected arguments by a Subway franchisee that it is not liable for VAT on certain of its take away products, including teas, coffees and heated filled sandwiches. The appeal by Bookfinders Ltd, based in Tuam, Co Galway, included consideration of whether the bread sold in Subway sandwiches fell outside the statutory definition of bread intended under the Vat Act 1972 to attract a zero VAT rate. The five judge court ruled the bread in Subway's heated sandwiches falls outside that statutory definition because it has a sugar content of 10 per cent of the weight of the flour included in the dough. The Act provides the weight of ingredients such as sugar, fat and bread improver shall not exceed two per cent of the weight of flour in the dough. The clear intention of the detailed definition of "bread" in the Act was to distinguish between bread as a "staple" food, which should be zero per cent rated, and certain other baked goods made from dough, Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell said. Because the Subway heated sandwiches, such as a hot meatball sandwich, did not contain "bread" as defined, it could not be said to be "food" for the purpose of the Second Schedule of the Act, he held. The appeal by Bookfinders, whose trade is between 70-80 per cent takeaway, arose from a 2006 decision by the Revenue Commissioners refusing the company a refund for VAT payments made between early 2004 and late 2005. Bookfinders claimed a refund on grounds it was subject to VAT at a composite rate of 9.2 per cent when, it argued, the rate should have been zero percent. After an Appeal Commissioner upheld the Revenue refusal, the company went to the High Court. It lost there, and also lost on appeal to the Court of Appeal, but the Supreme Court agreed to hear a further appeal because the issues concerning construction of the 1972 Act. The case centred on two paragraphs in two schedules to the Act concerning exceptions from the 21 percent VAT rate for certain goods and services, with the effect those would be charged at VAT rates of either 13.5 per cent or zero per cent. Bookfinders alleged much of its turnover should be charged at zero per cent. Mr Justice O'Donnell, in a judgment on Tuesday on behalf of the court, dismissed the appeal. While describing some of the arguments advanced on behalf of Bookfinders as "ingenious", the judge agreed with the Appeal Commissioner that hot drinks, including tea and coffee, and sandwiches fell under the sixth schedule of the 1972 Act and were thus taxable at 13.5 per cent. He rejected claims that tea and coffee which was prepared hot fell under the zero percent rate and that only cold tea and coffee, which had been heated, fell under the 13.5 per cent rate. It was "entirely understandable" the legislature would wish to zero-rate teas and coffees when sold in a retail setting but apply the intermediate rate of VAT in the context of, for example, takeaway foods. The Appeal Commissioner also correctly held Subway heated sandwiches were not subject to the zero per cent rate, he ruled. Based on those and other findings, the appeal was dismissed. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:14:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JAKARTA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A joint military-police team in Indonesian West Kalimantan province's district of Sanggau has foiled an attempt to smuggle 12-kilogram crystal methamphetamine and arrested three suspects in an Indonesia-Malaysia border area, a police officer said. The contrabands were seized during a joint patrol in the border area in the district on Monday at 4 p.m. local time, the Sanggau District Police's Chief Senior Commissioner Raymond M Masengi said in statement on Tuesday. According to Masengi, the police also seized four motor cycles and detained three suspects identified as Ma, Am, Ri, while another one identified as Os is still on the run. He pointed out that the joint team thwarted the attempt to smuggle the illicit goods after obtaining information from people who suspected persons who wanted to enter Malaysia through an illegal access. "With the disclosure of the smuggling attempt, the suspects might belong to drug syndicates of international networks. The suspects might only serve as couriers who liked to send the drugs to dealers," he said, adding that the joint team is now chasing fugitive Os. Enditem Overwhelming support in Philadelphia and its suburbs lift former Vice President Joe Biden to a clear lead in crucial Pennsylvania, with backing from college-educated white people and women -- notably white, moderate and suburban women -- central to his advantage in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll. President Donald Trump, for his part, is suffering attrition among his 2016 supporters; 8% of them now back Biden instead. While a small slice of the electorate, its a potentially important factor in a state Trump won by 44,292 votes out of nearly 6.2 million cast four years ago. Likely voters support Biden over Trump by 54 to 45%, almost exactly matching a national ABC/Post poll released Sunday. The result includes more than a 2 to 1 Biden lead in the populous Philadelphia suburbs, home to nearly a quarter of likely voters, and close results in northeastern and western Pennsylvania, leaving only the conservative center of the state clearly to Trump. See PDF for full results, charts and tables. 2020 Vote Preference September With the first presidential debate Tuesday night in Cleveland, the poll marks Trumps challenges in Pennsylvania, also reflected in the crucial Midwest and indeed nationally. Sixty percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania say the economy is hurting, 62% are worried about catching the coronavirus and 54% support protests against police treatment of Black people. Each aids Biden. Trumps chief task, though, is to overcome majority disapproval of his first-term performance. As is the case nationally, his overall job approval rating is well under water in Pennsylvania -- 43 to 55%, approve-disapprove. And its 42 to 57% for his handling of the pandemic. Trump approvals A shift from 2016 underscores Trumps difficulty. Likely voters in this survey who report having voted four years ago say they backed Trump over Hillary Clinton by 50 to 47% -- close to the actual result, 48 to 47%. Today, Clinton voters favor Biden by 98 to 1%, but Trump slips, his 2016 supporters divide by 92 to 8%. Story continues Like all pre-election polls, this survey measures current preferences among estimated likely voters; either or both can change. Its an open question, for instance, whether Sundays New York Times report on Trumps tax returns -- a day after interviews were completed -- has any impact. Trump does have ammunition in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates: A 20-point advantage in strong enthusiasm among his supporters, 53% approval for handling the economy, solid backing in his base and a clear lead among voters who plan to cast their ballot in person on Election Day. That said, Bidens lackluster enthusiasm may be counterbalanced by antipathy toward Trump. Pennsylvania registered voters who strongly disapprove of the presidents job performance outnumber strong approvers by 17 percentage points, 49 to 32%. Its similar nationally. Biden, further, may gain some energy from the pending replacement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court. Contrary to Trump and his partys current course, 53% of registered voters in the state say the seat should be filled by the election winner and the next Senate, not by Trump and the current Senate. Moreover, 61% of Bidens supporters say this issue makes it more important to them that Biden wins; fewer Trump supporters, 41%, say the same about their candidate. National results, again, are roughly similar. Voting One difference in Pennsylvania is the large share of registered voters planning to cast ballots in person on Election Day -- 65% (and 67% among likely voters), compared with 45% of registered voters nationally. Its also been lower, though in a wide range, in other ABC/Post polls this month -- 59% in Minnesota and 51% in Wisconsin, dropping to 38% in Florida and 33% in Arizona. It can matter: Intended Election Day voters favor Trump over Biden by 60 to 39%. Those who plan to vote early, by contrast, favor Biden by a remarkable 87 to 13%. Ensuring that those early and absentee votes are cast and counted is a central concern for the Biden campaign. Vote preference by intended vote method Issues Unlike some elections in which a single issue dominates, a mix of concerns is at play. Twenty-five percent of Pennsylvania registered voters cite the economy as the top issue; for 18%, its the pandemic. Twelve to 14% pick either crime and safety, equal treatment of racial groups or health care. Nine percent say its the next appointment to the high court. Trump and Biden run approximately evenly in trust to handle two of these, the economy -- 49 to 48%, Trump-Biden -- and crime and safety -- 50 to 47%, Biden-Trump. Its Biden +9 points on the next Supreme Court appointment, +14 points on handling the pandemic, +17 points on health care and +20 points in trust to handle equal treatment of racial groups. Even with that roughly even head-to-head match on the economy, likely voters who cite the economy as the most important issue in their vote back Trump by 84 to 16%; this and crime and safety are his best issues. Those who focus on the pandemic back Biden, 93 to 5%, and he leads by a wide margin among those who cite health care and equal treatment as well. Views on current issues As mentioned, views on the economy, the pandemic and protests against police misconduct all are important -- attitudes on each of these independently predict candidate choice in a statistical model controlling for partisanship, ideology, race/ethnicity and other demographic variables. Thats also reflected in direct vote-preference results: Biden leads by 69 points among those who rate the economy negatively, 73 points among those who support the protests and 51 points among those worried about catching the coronavirus -- majority groups in each case. Trump leads by wide margins among their opposites. Groups Demographically, women, college-educated and moderate voters are key elements of Bidens support. The Democrat leads among women by 61 to 38%, while men divide far more closely, 53 to 46% Trump-Biden, a wide 30-point gender gap. Among white people only, men favor Trump by a wide 60 to 39%, while white women support Biden by 56 to 43%. The gap is narrower in the suburbs, but notable nonetheless, given that suburban residents account for six in 10 likely voters in the state. The race is essentially a dead heat among suburban men -- 51 to 49%, Trump-Biden -- while its 59 to 41%, Biden-Trump, among suburban woman. That produces an overall result in the suburbs of 54 to 45%, exactly matching the race statewide. Regionally, Bidens ahead by 69 to 31% in the Philadelphia suburbs, compared with Clintons 55 to 42% there four years ago. Bidens also improved on Clintons result in western Pennsylvania, while the race in the states other regions are more similar to what it was four years ago. PHOTO: In this June 2, 2020, file photo, people wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 wait to vote in the primary election in Philadelphia. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters, FILE) Trump cruises among conservatives, with 87% support, as does Biden among liberals, 92%. Moderates divide by a wide margin in Bidens favor, 63 to 35%, with another broad gender gap. Bidens +7 points among moderate men balloons to +47 among moderate women, a 40-point gap. Other divisions also are broad. Among likely voters who havent gone beyond high school, its Trump +18 points; among those with college degrees, Biden +29. And its about even, 51 to 48%, Trump-Biden, among white people, while Biden leads by a wide margin among racial and ethnic minorities. The shift from 2016 among college-educated white people is especially telling. In the ABC News exit poll in Pennsylvania four years ago, this group divided exactly evenly, 48 to 48%. Among likely voters today, college-educated white people support Biden by 61 to 38%. That includes a 63 to 35% race among college-educated white women. But here, the big shift is among college-educated white men. They backed Trump by 56 to 39% in 2016. Today thats almost exactly reversed, 57 to 42% in Bidens favor. Methodology This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone interviews Sept. 21-26, 2020 among a random sample of 702 Pennsylvania registered voters and 567 likely voters. Results have margins of sampling error of 4.5 points among registered voters and 5.0 points among likely voters. Partisan divisions -- Democrats-Republicans-independents -- are 38-32-23% among registered voters and 39-34-21% among likely voters. The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details on the surveys methodology here. In Pennsylvania, advantage Biden with a big boost from women: POLL originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Singapore remains number one but European cities dominate the top ten New index identifies which cities are best prepared for urban mobility post-COVID Singapore, London, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam are the top ranked cities in the 2020 Urban Mobility Readiness Index. They earned these ratings because of their infrastructure, innovation, and focus on preparedness, according to research by the Oliver Wyman Forum. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005747/en/ Oliver Wyman Forum 2020 Urban Mobility Readiness Index. (Photo: Business Wire) The research conducted with The Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley analyzes cities across 56 metrics, including regulation, infrastructure, social impact, and the ability to adapt future technologies. This year's index added 20 cities, bringing the total to 50. "Many cities around the world were at a tipping point, even before COVID and while we won't know the true impact on cities yet, the cities that ranked high are in a better position to meet future challenges," said Guillaume Thibault, an Oliver Wyman partner and one of the creators of the index. European Cities Dominate Half of the top ten cities -- Amsterdam, London, Helsinki, Berlin and Paris -- are in Europe. Most rely on mass transit, are easily walkable, and prioritize clean mobility as well as safety. They also work with local academic institutions and are well-connected regionally and internationally with dense air and rail networks "European cities have a great balance across all the dimensions of the index with the top cities scoring high across most of the categories," said Professor Alexandre Bayen, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "These cities have a richer portfolio of mobility options and infrastructure systems making them more resilient in the face of crisis." Singapore Remains Number One Singapore remains number one partly because of its focus on forward looking traffic management, which includes road user charges with adaptive pricing, the first automated rail system as well as roadways that accommodate self-driving vehicles. With six major airports, number two ranked London, leads in international connectivity. The city also has a wealth of leading universities which allows for innovation to flourish. Number seven, Helsinki is noted for its superior air quality and a high market share of electric vehicles. It also has a comprehensive transportation network featuring affordability, density as well as access to Finland's rail network. Berlin (number eight) is noted for its resilience. The impact of its risk preparedness and service continuity was evident early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has also embraced diverse, connected modes of public transit from the U-Bahn to the ferry as well as an integrated app which allows for multimodal route planning and ticketing across public and private operators. The index launched at a virtual event titled "The Future of Urban Mobility" on September 29th and 30th, which included a keynote by Eleni Kounalakis, 50th Lieutenant Governor of California. The event featured discussions among global leaders from industry, technology, academia, finance, and non-governmental organizations on ways to address the complex challenges posed by the global mobility revolution. Several upcoming Global Mobility Executive Forums are also planned. For additional details, please click here. About Berkeley ITS The Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California Berkeley was created in 1947 by the State of California to support research efforts related to future mobility. It is an organized research unit on campus, comprising seven research centers, a start-up accelerator program, a technology transfer program, a library and testing facilities for automated vehicles. It employs over 200 faculty, researchers and technical staff, focused around verticals of mobility, which include digitalization, automation, electrification, the shared economy, policy, planning and finance. About the Oliver Wyman Forum The Oliver Wyman Forum is committed to bringing together leaders in business, public policy, social enterprises, and academia to help solve the world's toughest problems. The Oliver Wyman Forum strives to discover and develop innovative solutions by conducting research, convening leading thinkers, analyzing options, and inspiring action on three fronts: Reframing Industry, Business in Society, and Global Economic and Political Change. Together with our growing and diverse community of experts, we think we can make a difference. For more information, visit www.oliverwymanforum.com About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 60 cities across 29 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 5,000 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005747/en/ Contacts: FRANCINE MINADEO Direct: 212-345-6417 Mobile: 917-573-8826 Francine.Minadeo@oliverwyman.com Dublin, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Investment Banking Global Market Report 2020-30: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global investment banking market is expected to decline from $111.3 billion in 2019 to $109 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -2.1%. The decline is mainly due to economic slowdown across countries owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures to contain it. The market is then expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 6% from 2021 and reach $127.7 billion in 2023. North America was the largest region in the global investment banking market, accounting for 46% of the market in 2019. Asia Pacific was the second largest region accounting for 26% of the global investment banking market. Eastern Europe was the smallest region in the global investment banking market. Investment banks across the globe are moving towards businesses requiring less regulatory capital. In this regard, major investment banks from around the world such as Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have announced their plans to move from traditional underwriting business to other activities such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and fundraising. This shift is primarily due to regulatory changes that made some investment banking activities more expensive than the others. Although the regulations have restricted the range of some banks, forcing them to specialize, some investment bankers, such as Citibank and JPMorgan have continued offering a complete range of investment banking services. The investment banking market consists of sales (charges on transactions, fees and commission) of investment banking services by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that undertake capital risk in the process of underwriting securities. This market excludes companies acting as agents and/or brokers between buyers and sellers of securities and commodities. These establishments primarily underwrite, originate, and/or maintain markets for issue of securities as well as offering other corportate finance services. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Report Structure 3. Investment Banking Market Characteristics 3.1. Market Definition 3.2. Key Segmentations 4. Investment Banking Market Product Analysis 4.1. Leading Products/ Services 4.2. Key Features and Differentiators 4.3. Development Products 5. Investment Banking Market Supply Chain 5.1. Supply Chain 5.2. Distribution 5.3. End Customers 6. Investment Banking Market Customer Information 6.1. Customer Preferences 6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth 7. Investment Banking Market Trends And Strategies 8. Investment Banking Market Size And Growth 8.1. Market Size 8.2. Historic Market Growth, Value ($ Billion) 8.2.1. Drivers Of The Market 8.2.2. Restraints On The Market 8.3. Forecast Market Growth, Value ($ Billion) 8.3.1. Drivers Of The Market 8.3.2. Restraints On The Market 9. Investment Banking Market Regional Analysis 9.1. Global Investment Banking Market, 2019, By Region, Value ($ Billion) 9.2. Global Investment Banking Market, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, Historic And Forecast, By Region 9.3. Global Investment Banking Market, Growth And Market Share Comparison, By Region 10. Investment Banking Market Segmentation 10.1. Global Investment Banking Market, Segmentation By Type, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, $ Billion Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Financial Sponsor/Syndicated Loans Equity Capital Markets Underwriting Debt Capital Markets Underwriting 10.2. Global Investment Banking Market, Segmentation By Enterprise Size, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, $ Billion Large Enterprises Medium and Small Enterprises 10.3. Global Investment Banking Market, Segmentation By End-Use Industry, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, $ Billion Financial Services Retail & Wholesale Information Technology Manufacturing Healthcare Construction Others 11. Investment Banking Market Segments 11.1. Global Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Market, Segmentation By Type, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, Value ($ Billion) - Mergers Advisory; Acquisitions Advisory 11.2. Global Financial Sponsor/Syndicated Loans Market, Segmentation By Type, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, Value ($ Billion) - Underwritten Deal; Club Deal; Best-Efforts Syndication Deal 12. Investment Banking Market Metrics 12.1. Investment Banking Market Size, Percentage Of GDP, 2015-2023, Global 12.2. Per Capita Average Investment Banking Market Expenditure, 2015-2023, Global Investment Banking Market Competitive Landscape Barclays JP Morgan Goldman Sachs Bank of America Meril Lynch Morgan Stanley For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yrqeb5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Never in American history has a major political party nominated two candidates for president and vice-president who are so manifestly unfit for the elective offices they seek. Joe Biden, the corrupt, unaccomplished 47-year career politician, with a reputation of having been a proud segregationist, an unabashed plagiarist and liar, a resolute tale-teller, and a serial flip-flopper, is pretending to head up a radical social-democratic ticket for President of the United States that includes as his running mate the ambitious, disagreeable junior senator from California: Kamala Harris. Biden, Obamas vice-presidential lackey for eight years (a period of unprecedented corruption and personal enrichment for both men), has always craved power and attention. But unfortunately for Joe, his mouth, hands, and nose have consistently undermined his presidential ambitions. This year, courtesy of an international pandemic, unprecedented social unrest, an obsequious leftist media, and the customary DNC shenanigans, Biden miraculously emerged from the basement as the last Democrat candidate standing -- figuratively speaking, of course. Touted as the most acceptable contender in a general election, the ever-manipulative DNC, with assists from Majority Whip James Clyburn, foisted the 77-year old empty suit on the Democrat voters, despite an interminable career of incompetence and uncontrollable pervy conduct around women and young girls, including a credible allegation of sexual assault. Joe Biden is the DNCs so-called empathy candidate, and restorer of Americas soul. Uncle Joe -- the perpetual advocate of blue-collar, lunch-bucket workers, friend of the common man, and supposed champion of every solution destined to restore calm to the country and dignity to the White House -- is the candidate that cares about you. Not like the brash, egotistical, illegitimate, and unrefined President Trump. And yet, despite a lethargic, uninspiring campaign, and a shocking dearth of mental competence and physical vivacity on Joes part, Biden stands incredibly today, at the pinnacle of his political career; anointed as the Democrat Partys nominee for president, despite two prior, failed attempts, including one in the last century. Joes good fortune, however, is based on a lie; a political mythology, as it were, deviously by the elite power brokers, that Joe was, and still is, a moderate and is therefore, the most electable Democrat out there. It cannot be based on the candidates unifying, optimistic, and patriotic vision for the future, because there is none. There are no reasonable, practical, and substantive ideas being proffered regarding freedom, liberty, prosperity, and security for the American people. On the contrary, the Harris-Biden candidacy is distinguished by a dark, overtly divisive, and destructive agenda, masked most days by shameless untruths and unrelenting criticism of President Trump. So much for empathy and unity. Once the nomination was secured, Biden promptly sold his soul to the radical left wing of the Democrat Party for the purpose of appeasing the puppet masters and fulfilling his lifelong dream. Biden, the overrated, aging, and broken-down pol just wants to be president. And perhaps even more so, Dr. Jill wants to be First Lady. If Joe needs to be scripted, guided, and controlled by radical left-wing power brokers and his stonyhearted wife, so be it. Integrity, honesty, and principled positions are not essential elements of the Bidens quest for power, perks, and prestige. Come On, Man! In his effort to bamboozle the American voter, Biden has effectively embraced the anti-American, Marxist policies of Obama, Sanders, and Ocasio-Cortez while still pretending to be a moderate. The treasonous fake news media and propaganda arm of the DNC have enthusiastically aided and abetted Biden as they shamelessly promote the centrist lie. Sadly, this dishonest and extremely corrosive strategy, if successful, will only serve to hasten the destruction of the America as we know it. Socialist-Marxist policies implemented by a radical Harris-Biden administration will undoubtedly diminish our freedoms, our liberty, threaten our security, and severely impact our daily pursuit of happiness and prosperity. We would be on the fast-track to Obamas fundamental transformation of America. Its not the radical, anti-American policies that make Joe Biden unfit for office, however. Rather it is the indisputable fact that Joe is not all there. Joe Biden is a hollow man. He is incredibly low energy, with obviously declining faculties. Joe Biden is physically and mentally incapable of performing the duties and responsibilities of the most difficult job in the world. Joe Biden does not have the cognitive abilities to string coherent sentences together without the use of notes or teleprompter, let alone make critical decisions. Physically and mentally, Biden is a shell of his former self. The prospect of a 78-year-old man of such diminished capacities in the White House is terrifying, to say the least. Coupled with his unprincipled embrace of hard-left policies, a Biden presidency would pose an unprecedented danger to the country. A President Biden on the national and international stage would be an embarrassment to America and would confer way too much power and influence on Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett (Obamas brain), and the ambitious, harpy in waiting, Kamala Harris. There can be no doubt, that a President Joe Biden would merely be a figurehead. A dithering and doddering Biden will be allowed to masquerade as POTUS until such time as the puppeteers find it expedient to wheel Joe and his security blanket out the White House door, replaced by Kamala Harris. Harris in fact, has publicly and accurately stated that the correct designation, is in fact, the Harris-Biden ticket. Kamala knows the plan, and apparently Joe is okay with his second fiddle status as he has recently confirmed the reality of a Harris-Biden ticket. The truth is that the Harris -Biden campaign is nothing more than a cynical manipulation of public opinion, with Biden being the empty vessel by which power is attained. Image: Gage Skidmore Scene of a protest in Bamenda, a town in one of Cameroon's two English-speaking regions (2017) Bishops Declan Lang of Clifton and Philip Egan of Portsmouth join with four other UK Christian leaders to call for an end to the violence and "robust diplomatic action" in Cameroon by the international community. By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ Two Bishops, alongside other Christian leaders in the UK, have called on the international community and the UK government to respond to the ongoing situation of violence in Cameroon. We hear the cry of our sisters and brothers in Cameroons Anglophone region, who are facing daily violations of their human dignity, reads the ecumenical statement co-signed by Bishops Declan Lang of Clifton and Philip Egan of Portsmouth, as well as four other religious leaders. Recent reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and attacks on civilians demand a response from the international community, said the religious leaders in the statement published on the website of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) on Monday. Bishop Lang is the Chairman of the International Affairs department of the CBCEW, while Bishop Egans diocese is twinned with the Archdiocese of Bamenda located in Cameroons northwest. Appeal In the wake of the violent clashes, the religious leaders called on the UK government to work with other European countries on robust diplomatic action to halt the violence and help bring about a negotiated settlement that protects the rights of all Cameroons people. They also expressed their closeness to churches working with local communities to reject violence and pursue the path of dialogue, assuring them that they have not been forgotten. The situation in Cameroon Cameroon has been embroiled in a cycle of violence since 2016 when the Francophone-dominated government-imposed French-speaking lawyers and teachers on English-speaking courts and schools. Protests by the English-speaking minority, who represent twenty percent of the population, quickly degenerated into violent clashes amid calls for the creation of a separate state for them. Clashes between the separatists and government forces have resulted in at least 3000 deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands, some of whom have fled into neighboring Nigeria. The situation has been further exacerbated by violent crackdowns on protests in the country by government forces. Pressure from the international community led president Paul Biya to hold a major National Dialogue in October 2019. This led the government to grant special status to the countrys two Anglophone regions. In February 2020, sixteen Bishops from all over the world addressed a letter to Biya urging him to hold peace talks with the separatists. Cameroon is preparing for its regional elections scheduled for 6 December. The government says that the elections are part of a decentralization process that should devolve power to the countrys ten regions. CHICAGO Former Commonwealth Edison executive Fidel Marquez could have faced years behind bars for his role in a massive bribery scheme that directed illicit payments to allies of powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. Instead, by cooperating with prosecutors, Marquez is in line to avoid prison altogether. Marquez, 58, a longtime lobbyist and former senior vice president of governmental affairs at ComEd, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of bribery conspiracy, marking the first criminal conviction in an ongoing investigation that has shaken the Illinois political landscape and threatens Madigans decadeslong hold on power. I plead guilty your honor, he told U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland. Prosecutors said in a plea agreement that they intend to ask for probation for Marquez when hes sentenced after the case is over a huge break given the length of the scheme and that ComEd allegedly reaped tens of millions of dollars in illegal benefits. ComEd was charged with bribery in July and has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government, agreeing to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate with investigators in exchange for the charges being dropped in three years. Marquezs guilty plea comes on the same day a special legislative committee in Springfield is slated to hear testimony about the scheme from a current ComEd executive. The committee has also sought the testimony of Madigan and a number of lobbyists and former ComEd officials implicated in the bribery case, but all have declined. Marquezs attorney, meanwhile, asked that the request for Marquezs testimony be postponed due to his required appearance in federal court. Madigan, the nations longest-serving speaker and Illinois Democratic Party chairman, has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged. The Chicago Tribune reported last year that Marquez was a focus of the federal investigation, as is former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, who abruptly retired last year, and John Hooker, a longtime lobbyist and retired ComEd executive. Neither Pramaggiore nor Hooker has been charged. Marquezs plea agreement, meanwhile, largely mirrors facts that were laid out in ComEds agreement with the government. According to the plea, from 2011 to 2019 Marquez conspired with others to corruptly solicit jobs, contracts and monetary payments for the benefit of Madigan identified as Public Official A and his associates with the intent of influencing legislation beneficial to ComEd. Many of the illegal payments allegedly were arranged by downstate lobbyist Michael McClain, a key confidant and adviser at the center of the probe, according to court records. He also has not been charged. The Tribune reported in November that the FBI had tapped McClains cell phone, and some of the conversations were detailed in both ComEds deferred prosecution agreement and Marquezs plea. According to ComEds deferred prosecution agreement, McClain, identified in court papers as Individual A, had a conversation with Marquez on Feb. 7, 2019, about how to present information to other ComEd officials that a consulting contract was being renewed for Company A, which was being used to funnel many of the illegal payments. I would say to you, dont put anything in writing, McClain told Marquez, according to the document. All it can do is hurt ya. A week later, the owner of Company A, identified as Consultant 1, advised Marquez that two of Madigans associates had been put on the companys payroll as do-nothing subcontractors and that ComEd should not tamper with the arrangement because your money comes from Springfield, the ComEd agreement states. The new hires keep their mouth shut, the consultant said, according to the document. But do they do anything for me on a day-to-day basis? No. The consultant also warned Marquez that he had every reason to believe that McClain had spoken directly with Madigan about the deal, the document stated. (Its) to keep (Madigan) happy (and) I think its worth it, because youd hear otherwise, Consultant 1 told Marquez, according to the ComEd agreement. In all, prosecutors put a value of at least $150 million on the legislative benefits ComEd received. The federal court documents specifically noted the 2011 passage of the Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act, which helped improve ComEds financial stability by establishing rate guidelines and a smart grid overhaul. ComEd has publicly apologized for its actions, but the company also has denied the scheme meant customers were unfairly charged. Records show ComEd tried to clean up its lobbying operation in the midst of the investigation last year. One of those departing was Marquez. ComEd officially announced it on Sept. 23, saying only that Marquez was retiring after 39 years of service. Whitson said Democracy for the Arab World Now received funding from private individuals and foundations and did not receive any financial assistance from foreign governments. Part of its mission was to hold Western states accountable for enabling abuses by authoritarian Arab governments, she said. We aim to challenge the narrative thats floating around still to this day in Washington of the United States as a benign actor thats tried so hard to promote democracy in the region. Bengaluru, Sep 29 : BJP legislator M.P. Renukacharya, who is also Political Secretary to Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, has tested positive for coronavirus, a party leader said on Tuesday. "Renukacharya took a test after he observed some changes in his health. The result showed him to be Covid-19 positive. He has been admitted to a private hospital in the city for treatment," a party spokesman told IANS. The 59-year-old MLA represents the Honnalli assembly constituency in Davengere district. "I hope my political secretary Renukacharya will recover and resume duty soon," tweeted Yediyurappa in Kannada. Earlier in the day, state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy tested Covid positive and is in a private hospital for treatment. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. In his new book Rage, Bob Woodward reports that Dan Coats, Donald Trumps first director of national intelligence, was never able to shake his suspicions that Trump is in the pocket of President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Coats is obviously not alone Trumps obsequiousness toward the Russian strongman has been one of the enduring enigmas of his presidency. Even Trumps natural affinity for autocrats doesnt explain why Putin is one of the few men on earth whom the president of the United States treats as his better. The New York Timess blockbuster expose of Trumps taxes does not directly solve this mystery. The journalists Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig and Mike McIntire make clear that Trumps taxes reveal no previously unreported financial link to Russia; the documents mostly lack the specificity required to do so. But the revelation of the gargantuan debt closing in on Trump offers one plausible motive for why the president constantly sucks up to Putin, even when doing so seems politically self-defeating. Aimed to connect global furniture markets with real-time trade opportunities, the inaugural online exhibition consists of three geo-targeted live market events, catered for different time zones and regions Asia Pacific market (11 13 August 2020), North America & South America market (18 20 August 2020 ) followed by Europe, Middle East & South Africa market (26 28 August 2020) . Event organiser, Informa Markets, reported MIFF Furniverse attracted 922 total visits of buyers from 84 countries and regions. The virtual event also brought new buyers (30% of the buyers) who have not visited MIFF before to start sourcing from MIFF exhibitors. Over 2,400 business leads have been generated and exhibitors expected a US$1.16mil in sales through MIFF Furniverse. It is also reported that buyers from United States are on top of the list, which has proven a strong demand of Malaysian-made furniture from the US buyers. MIFF General Manager Karen Goi said a total of 70 exhibitors participated in MIFF Furniverse 2020 are mainly from Malaysia showcased an extensive range of home and office furniture collection and variety of Malaysian wooden furniture, which is one of the most sought-after products by global buyers. "This year is a challenging moment for global furniture industry and has pushed us to move forward. With the rise of digital, it creates new opportunities for businesses to thrive in the new normal. This is a new experience for all of us and MIFF Furniverse is certainly a new milestone for MIFF as we embark on this digital transformation journey together with our industry friends," she said. Karen Goi further added, "Buyers expressed that despite looking forward to attend MIFF physical event when it is possible, they were positive towards the MIFF Furniverse as their alternative sourcing solution. They found the platform is easily accessible and useful as they can still source for furniture and meet with manufacturers that were suitable with their time. Buyers also defined areas for improvement and their preferred features for the platform and we are taking this feedback for further advancement in our digital journey." With an established reputation as a global procurement hub in the region, MIFF is one of the world's largest marketplace for top Malaysian wood furniture and office furniture in Southeast Asia. For more information, visit www.miff.com.my or email [email protected]. To get latest news and insights, follow Furnish Now by MIFF (FB) | ubmMIFF (Youtube) | Furnish Now MIFF (LinkedIn) | Furnish Now by MIFF (IG). About MIFF (www.miff.com.my) MIFF is Southeast Asia's most global and largest industry trade show of its kind serving 20,000 furniture professionals from 140 countries across the world. Held annually in March, the show offers a comprehensive selection of all kinds of home and commercial furniture including Malaysia's renowned top-quality wood furniture and the most extensive office solutions in the region. Since its inception in 1995, the show is an UFI-approved event by The Global Association for Exhibition Industry. MIFF is organised by Informa Markets in Malaysia (known as UBM Malaysia), which is a part of Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organiser in the world. SOURCE MIFF Furniverse Related Links http://www.miff.com.my Employees pass a billboard advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on the way to work at the Samsung factory in Thai Nguyen Province, north of Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham. Simpler tax procedures and better infrastructure will help Vietnam compete for foreign investment amid supply chain shifts triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign experts say. South Korean businesses are leaving China and Vietnam is among the new destinations they are considering, Hong Sun, deputy chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KoCham) said at a recent meeting on attracting foreign direct investment to Vietnam. He said Samsung had closed its last smartphone factory in China last year and plans to shut down its sole TV factory in the country by November. "Korean businesses are preparing to move from China to other countries including Vietnam, Indonesia and India," he said. The FDI attraction game therefore is not a competition between localities but between countries, he added. Indonesia, for example, was trying to persuade electronics producer LG to set up a $10-billion battery factory in the country with many tax incentives, he said. Vietnam has its advantages, said Mary Tarnowka, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham). She said its location, high global integration and a stable political situation were some of the advantages. Its success in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic can also attract foreign investors when they shift their supply chain. However, Vietnam also needs to simplify its business and tax procedures and improve infrastructure to welcome more investors, she added. Echoing her, Kyle Kelhofer, International Finance Corporation (IFC)'s country manager for Vietnam, said as the Covid-19 pandemic opens new doors for Vietnam in attracting FDI, the country needs to reduce unnecessary costs for businesses to make their investment process more convenient. If you really want to honour him, implement his inclusive ideology: SC Bose's grandnephew Farm Bills: Frustration of one party at root of politics of opposition, says PM Modi India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Dehradun, Sept 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on those opposing the farm reform bills, saying they do not want farmers to have the freedom of selling their produce in the open market. Without naming the Congress, he said the frustration of a party, which ruled for four generations, was at the root of this politics of opposition for opposition's sake. The prime minister was speaking at the launch of mega projects in Uttarakhand via video conference. PM Modi inaugurates six mega projects in Uttarakhand under 'Namami Gange Mission' "The opposition has got just one way of doing politics and that is by opposing, he said, adding those protesting farm bills are favouring middlemen," the prime minister said by opposing big reformative steps by the Centre, such forces were making themselves socially irrelevant in the country. PM Modi said one party has opposed everything from Jan Dhan accounts, GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor to celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News Farmers, soldiers, youth: Opposition opposes for the sake of opposing says PM Modi "Frustration of a party which has ended up riding the shoulders of others despite wielding power for four generations is behind this politics of opposition," PM Modi said. The Congress and some other opposition parties have been protesting against the new farm laws. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 14:27 [IST] By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 09/28/2020 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Larissa Dos Santos Lima has announced she's been released from her contract by TLC after uploading racy content on a live-streaming webcam platform.After reportedly spending $72,000 on multiple plastic-surgery procedures, Larissa unveiled her dramatic new look and busty figure on CamSoda earlier this month by starring in a one-hour oil show in sexy lingerie and a g-string bathing suit.The webcam show apparently came at a high price because Larissa is no longer welcome to star on TLC's franchise.Larissa -- who has been appearing on Season 5 of : Happily Ever After? with her boyfriend Eric Nichols -- took to Instagram on Saturday with a selfie and a "final statement," according to her caption."Dear Friends and Followers, I want to make a statement for you, I'm no longer a cast member of the show ," Larissa wrote."Because of my show with CamSoda, I was released from my contract with TLC by phone the day before ICE arrested me."The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Larissa on September 19 when she was at Eric's home in Las Vegas getting ready to move to Colorado , and she was released on her own recognizance, TMZ reported.Larissa is now reportedly in removal proceedings , which may result in her removal from America."I will continue producing content for my official channels on Instagram, OnlyFans and YouTube. Thanks for your understanding, love and attention," Larissa concluded in her post.According to Instagrammer John Yates, Larissa had been filming for a future season of one of franchise's shows when she was dropped as a cast member."I just heard from a source that Larissa who was currently filming for next season was just released from her contract with TLC/Sharp over her association with CamSoda. #90DayFiance #90DayFianceHappilyEverAfter," Yates wrote on Instagram a day before Larissa's announcement.While it's unclear which spinoff and season Larissa was filming, it's likely she was taping Season 6 of : Happily Ever After? given her current situation doesn't fit with the premises of , : Before the 90 Days, or : The Other Way at this point.Larissa from Brazil and Colt Johnson from Las Vegas, NV, initially appeared on Season 6 of , and the pair went on to star on Season 4 of : Happily Ever After?.Colt and Larissa got married in June 2018, according to Clark County Clerk records obtained by Reality TV World, and Colt filed for divorce in January 2019 after the couple got into a huge fight and Larissa was arrested for the third time for domestic violence.After their breakup, Larissa moved on with Eric and then her divorce from Colt was finalized on April 30 , 2019. Larissa and Eric briefly split in September 2019 but later reconciled and got back together.Hours before Larissa's September 19 arrest by ICE, Larissa teased her upcoming YouTube channel."Hey guys! September 30th you will be able to see everything about my life on my YouTube channel. I will be talking about my children in Brazil, as well as my arrests," Larissa captioned a selfie."I want to apologize to all of you for the delay in my answering questions. These are personal and delicate topics which I have to be sure I share with necessary sensibility. The link is in my highlights 'YouTube'."She added, "What questions do you have for me about my life in Brazil? What would you like to know about my family? Would you like to know about the K1 process I did? Anything you have always been curious about, let me know. I am excited for you all to get to know me better."Larissa is scheduled to attend a hearing soon to determine whether she'll have to surrender for removal from the United States, TMZ reported.Larissa was shown trying to obtain a green card on : Happily Ever After?'s fifth season after her divorce from Colt, and the show just aired Part 1 of its Tell-All special on Sunday night.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage! In this article GM NKLA Nikola Motor Company Source: Nikola Motor Company Nikola's stock fell by more than 7% on Tuesday after CNBC reported new sex abuse allegations against founder Trevor Milton and General Motors said that it is still in discussions over a $2 billion deal with the electric truck maker, which is expected to close before Wednesday. Two women have now accused the 38-year-old billionaire in complaints filed with Utah authorities of sexual abuse when both women were 15 years old. The accusations, stretching back more than 15 years, follow Milton's resignation as executive chairman of Nikola on Sept. 21 after short seller Hindenburg Research released a damning report detailing fraud allegations. GM announced a deal Sept. 8 with Nikola to provide technology to its electric pickups and build them in a partnership the companies valued at $2 billion. The Hindenburg report dropped two days later and it has reportedly sparked inquiries into Milton and Nikola by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice. GM declined to say whether the company was aware of any allegations of fraud or sexual abuse regarding Milton. GM CEO Mary Barra earlier this month defended the company's deal with Nikola, saying it conducted "appropriate diligence" before announcing the agreement. The partnership with Nikola is supposed to close Wednesday, but a spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC that it isn't a done deal. "Our transaction with Nikola has not closed," a GM spokesperson said Monday in an email to CNBC. "We are continuing our discussions with Nikola and will provide further updates when appropriate or required." Nikola spokeswoman Colleen Robar on Tuesday said, "Both sides are still negotiating. As soon as we have something to report, we will. But it is definitely still continuing." Since the deal was announced, Nikola shares are down more than 60% making the company much less attractive to GM. The deal may be terminated by either side if it's not closed by Dec. 3, according to a public filing when the partnership was announced. The Criminal Assets Bureau have seized over 140,000 in cash and in three separate bank accounts as part of a search in Newbridge, County Kildare. The raids were carried out as part of an ongoing investigation into a criminal gang operating in the Greater Dublin area today. Four houses and one commercial premises were searched as part of the target operation linked to a gang involved in guttering installation and roofing repairs. A Garda spokesperson said the individuals concerned target the vulnerable and the elderly. Today marks a significant development in the on-going Criminal Assets Bureau investigation. The search operation was conducted by Criminal Assets Bureau personnel assisted by the ASU, Kildare Divisional Detective Units and the Customs Dog Unit. Previous to today's search 103,852 in cash had been seized as part of this investigation, gardai confirmed. Investigations are ongoing. A surprising new poll has revealed Jacinda Ardern and the Labour party are not on track for a landslide victory in the upcoming election. The New Zealand Prime Minister has confidently campaigned in the lead up to the October 17 vote after successfully bringing coronavirus under control. For weeks the Labour party was on course to govern alone, but the poll released on Monday by TVNZ and research firm Colmar Brunton showed support for Ms Ardern had dropped to 47 per cent. While it has only dropped one per cent since the last poll on September 22, the level of support means Labour would procure 59 seats rather than the 61 needed to form a majority government. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson go for a street walk in Palmerston North this month The make up of the NZ parliament as projected by the latest TVNZ poll, Labour is on 59, the Nationals on 43, ACT on 10 and the Greens with 8 seats But support for Labour's possible coalition partner the Green Party rose to seven per cent, which would give it eight seats. While it is rare in New Zealand for any single party to get the majority, previous polling following the elimination of coronavirus suggested Labour could win as many as 77 seats. Labour is currently governing in a coalition with the New Zealand First party, and had a confidence and supply agreement with the Greens, giving them a slim overall majority in the 120 member parliament. The Labour Party is still widely expected to form the next government. Another poll released on Sunday showed Ms Ardern's party was poised to retain power. Meanwhile, support for the National Party, who are the main opposition under new leader Judith 'Crusher' Collins, rose two points to 33 per cent on Monday. The increase of support comes after the party's tough-talking conservative leader Ms Collins was praised for her performance in a leaders' debate last week. Ms Collins told TVNZ her party was 'chipping away and will keep on going'. Meanwhile, support for the National Party, who are the main opposition under new leader Judith 'Crusher' Collins (pictured), rose two points to 33 per cent on Monday 'I think it's important to have the momentum,' she said. Meanwhile, Ms Ardern said New Zealanders are currently looking for a stable government. 'The really strong sense I get from people is right now they are looking for strong, stable leadership in these times,' the prime minister said. Ms Ardern's popularity as preferred prime minister was steady at 54 per cent, while Collins rose to 23 per cent, up five points from the last poll. A rise in support has been seen in smaller parties such as small government party ACT, who could get as many as ten seats in the election and form a coalition with the Nationals. All recent polls have pointed to a victory for Ardern's Labour Party, governing in a coalition with the Greens and New Zealand First. A photo posted to the WeChat account of the Xinjiang Judicial Administration shows Uyghur detainees listening to a 'de-radicalization' speech at a re-education camp in Hotan prefecture's Lop county, April 2017. President Xi Jinping has vowed to carry on what he called Chinas totally correct strategy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, drawing sharp criticism from a Uyghur group and from experts who point to the growing international outcry at Chinese policies that some say amount to genocide. Xi told the two-day Xinjiang Central Work Forum that ended on Saturday that China's XUAR strategy was totally correct and must carry on for a long time, according reports issued by state media. "The whole party must treat the implementation of the Xinjiang strategy as a political task, and work hard to implement it completely and accurately to ensure that the Xinjiang work always maintains in the correct political direction," Xi said. "We must also continue the direction of Sinicizing Islam to achieve the healthy development of religion," Xi said. Authorities in the XUAR are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of camps since April 2017. Beginning in October 2018, China started acknowledging the existence of the camps after long denying it, but described them as voluntary vocational centers set up to combat radical Islamic terrorism. RFAs Uyghur Service has found that detainees are mostly held against their will and forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination. As international criticism mounted, China began asserting that the program was winding down and its trainees had graduated and found jobs. But leaked documents, satellite imagery and reports from the XUAR not only contradicted Beijings claims but also revealed a program of forced labor using current and former camp inmates. Xis speech asserted that the policies had brought stability and economic growth in the XUAR and he said Beijing should boast about it. "It is necessary to tell the story of Xinjiang in a multi-level, all-round, and three-dimensional manner, and confidently propagate the excellent social stability of Xinjiang, Xi was quoted as saying. 'Deliberate, systematic, and ruthless' Experts said the remarks indicate that Xi is deeply committed to and has played a central role in the harsh crackdown in Xinjiang that has drawn U.S. sanctions on top Communist Party officials in the XUAR as well as on businesses suspected of making goods with forced labor in the region. These statements may sound like the Chinese leaders are tone deaf or arrogant, said Nury Turkel, a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In reality, Xis statements show that Chinas genocidal policies have been deliberate, systematic, and ruthless with the ultimate goal to stamp out the Uyghur culture and identity. The scale and scope of the oppression on the worlds watch cry out for global condemnation and governmental actions, he said. The USCIRF, an independent U.S. federal government body, has urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to formally designate Chinas atrocities in the XUAR as genocide. German researcher Adrian Zenz, whose work has revealed key aspects of the internment camp system, said the weekend speech shows that Xi has supported these atrocious policies from the beginning, which is consistent with his statements from 2014, leaked in the Xinjiang Papers published by the New York Times. In reports on a 403-page trove of documents obtained by the newspaper, Xi called for an all-out struggle against terrorism, infiltration, and separatism using the organs of dictatorship, in internal speeches following an attack by Uyghur militants that killed more than 30 people at a train station in 2014. The Times said that the leak came from an official who requested anonymity and expressed hope that their disclosure would hold party leaders, including Xi, accountable for policies in the region. Unfortunately, international pressure has not caused the regime in Beijing to change course. That is not only due to Xi's determination, but also because this pressure has been woefully inadequate, said Zenz, a Senior Fellow in China Studies at the Washington D.C.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Speaking from Germany, World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa said Xi had made it crystal clear that the Chinese government will never abandon but rather continue the current policy of genocide against the Uyghur people. The Chinese leader claiming its genocidal policy as 'totally correct' at a time when the US sanctioned Xinjiang political leaders, entities and companies complicit in committing these crimes, the UN expressed its concerns and the EU condemning the atrocities show how evil its intention toward the Uyghurs is, Isa told RFA. If the international organizations and nations choose to remain silent over this genocide instead of taking action to prevent this genocide, then I can say they are complicit in this genocide for allowing China to commit it, he added. With reporting and translation by Alim Seytoff for RFAs Uyghur Service. NASA and SpaceX now are targeting October 31 for the launch of the agencys SpaceX Crew-1 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station. The US space agency had earlier targeted October 23 for the launch of the mission which comes after the SpaceX Demo-2 test flight which flew astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the space station. The new target date which falls on Halloween will deconflict the Crew-1 launch and arrival from upcoming Soyuz launch and landing operations, NASA said on Monday. While a Soyuz capsule launch is scheduled for October 14, a Soyuz departure from the space station is set to take place on October 21. NASA said the additional time is needed to ensure closure of all open work, both on the ground and aboard the station, ahead of the Crew-1 arrival. The Crew-1 mission will take astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the station on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The launch will be the first time an international crew will fly aboard a NASA-certified, commercially-owned and operated American rocket and spacecraft from American soil. Following the launch, the Crew-1 astronauts are scheduled to arrive at the space station for a six-month science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA said it is in the final stages of the data reviews needed ahead of certification following the agencys SpaceX Demo-2 test flight. Earlier this year, SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched two Americans into orbit from Florida in a landmark mission marking the first spaceflight of NASA astronauts from US soil in nine years. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center, launching Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a 19-hour ride aboard the companys newly designed Crew Dragon capsule bound for the International Space Station. Kindergarten teacher Diana Torres gives live instruction to her students on her computer at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in La Puente on Sept. 21. (Los Angeles Times) To the editor: Parents and teachers may soon be faced with a horrible choice: Send children to school, where they likely will be exposed to COVID-19, or participate in distance learning, which often leads to emotional distress, depression and other psychological issues ("Remote learning has created a new audience for an old ritual: Crying in school," Sept. 24). Neither option is healthy. Since we all want what's best for our children, there is only one solution: Do everything possible to end the pandemic. If every single person would adhere to the clear guidelines on mask wearing, distancing and washing hands, we'd have a shot at getting the children back to school. Cheryl Ortega, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Struggling to work from home while caring for their baby and their first grader in the Los Angeles Unified School District, my daughter and son-in-law are lucky. They have the benefit of a gifted and patient teacher, online aides, enrichment classes and "Grandma and Grandpa school." Most LAUSD kids do not have these advantages. Has Grandma also wanted to cry while helping during Zoom hours? More than once, but I know our family will be fine. I'm not so sure about others. Tears will not change that reality, but our determination will. We must pour resources into education. Our state's future depends on it, and our children deserve it. Roza Besser, Calabasas This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. When constructed as part of the 75 th St. CIP, P2, a double-track flyover structure will help provide faster and more reliable service on the Metra SouthWest Service line, which frequently experiences freight interference, by routing this line to join the Metra Rock Island line on its own track. The SouthWest Service line Metra trains can then access LaSalle Street Station, allowing for additional passenger rail capacity at Union Station. "What's important about this project is the opportunity to collaborate with nine Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms to make a positive impact in the 75th St. Corridor community," said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Executive Vice President Ken Gilmartin. "Seven of the nine firms are based in Chicago, and together, we can create an extraordinary vision to revitalize the area including infrastructure enhancements, aesthetics and landscape architecture in the impacted construction space, as well as critical, local workforce development opportunities." "The team that Jacobs has assembled to complete the design work represents an exciting opportunity to involve a number of local DBE's in this important project," said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. "We hope these firms will leverage their experience working on the 75th St. CIP to secure future contracts and grow their capabilities." At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of more than 55,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related reaction of governments on global and regional market conditions and the company's business. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 26, 2020, and in particular the discussions contained under Part I, Item 2 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; Part II, Item 1 - Legal Proceedings; and Part II, Item 1A - Risk Factors, as well as the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law. For press/media inquiries: Kerrie Sparks 214.583.8433 SOURCE Jacobs Related Links http://www.jacobs.com Charter flights of San Antonio area firefighters today are both sending much needed help to California, where some 25 active wildfires have burned more than 3 million acres, or bringing weary teams home after their two-week rotations. The returning firefighters are from a contingent of some 260 from Texas who have already completed their 14-day assignments, an effort coordinated by the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS), said Schertz Fire Chief Kade Long. A fresh team of 164 from the San Antonio and Austin areas will depart San Antonio International Airport on a charter flight this morning, provided at no cost by Southwest Airlines and bound for Sacramento. Another 161 returning from California will be arriving in the evening. They love it. Its major experience to represent the state of Texas and lend a helping hand in such a tragic situation, Long said. Its in their hearts. Its what they sign up to do. Schertz will send four of its firefighters Tuesday, while the San Antonio Fire Department will send about eight, he said. They normally work 24 hours on and 24 hours off. Long said TIFMAS sent Texas firefighters to California in 2018 for similar wildfire duty. He said his own crews have had wildfire experience in the Texas Panhandle and around Fort Davis. But everything is so amplified in California, Long said. The trees are so much bigger, the hills are larger, the terrain is steeper. Its not uncommon for them to run 2,000 to 3,000 feet of hose up a mountain hill. Theyll see things in two weeks they wouldnt get down here in five or ten years. TIFMAS crews have been in California since Aug. 24. Gov. Greg Abbott approved sending 10 additional strike teams on Sept. 11. The Texas crews are assigned to two specific outbreaks, the August Complex and Creek fires. The August Complex is a massive blaze roughly 212 miles northwest of Sacramento that has caused evacuation orders in five counties along the Coast Range of California. It began as 38 separate fires started by lightning on Aug. 16-17 and now has consumed some 900,000 acres. The Creek Fire has consumed 302,000 acres and was 39 percent contained as of Sunday night. It is located about 100 miles south of Yosemite National Park, around Shaver Lake, Calif. More than 15,000 personnel and 1,200 fire engines are assigned to the fires statewide, including 60 vehicles and 234 personnel from Texas, officials said. Long said the Texas crews might perform any type of task, from putting water on houses to cutting trees or setting backburns, where crews deliberately set fire to material with drip torches to remove new fuel from a fires path and slow its acceleration. Several area fire departments are participating in the effort and have deployed equipment and people to California, including the SAFD, Bexar County Emergency Services Districts Nos. 10, 2, 8 and 12, Canyon Lake Fire/EMS, District 7 Fire Rescue, the Grey Forest Volunteer Fire Department, the Saint Hedwig Fire Department, Schertz Fire Rescue, the New Braunfels Fire Departmen and the Boerne Fire Department. Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Bruce, become a subscriber. BSelcraig@express-news.net By Akbar Mammadov Armenia continues to shell Azerbaijans densely-populated areas, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures. Two more Azerbaijani civilians were killed and three others including a child - were injured as Armenia fired heavy artillery on Azerbaijans densely populated villages on the line of contact on September 28. This brought the number of killed and wounded people to 9 and 33 respectively. Residents of Tartar Disctricts - Abbasov Khalig, born in 1981, and his brother Abbasov Elshan, born in 1987 - were killed as a result of artillery shelling hitting the yard of an apartment-building built for the disabled and IDPs in Shikh Arkh settlement in the district, the Prosecutor Generals Office reported. Two other residents of the district - Mammadov Seymur, born in 1984, and Mahmudov Faig, born in 1989 - were hospitalized with various injuries as a result of artillery shelling by the Armenian armed forces on the yard of the same apartment building. 14-year-old Haziyev Hilal was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds in his head in Cabrayil Districts Cocug Marjanli village as a result of fire opened by Armenian armed forces. Prosecutor's Offices in Tartar and Jabrayil have launched criminal cases over the incidents. The Prosecutor Generals Office emphasized that Armenian forces have chosen densely populated areas - regional and rural centres, civil infrastructure objects - hospitals, medical centres, school buildings, kindergartens as targets. It should be noted that on September 27, five members of one family in the Azerbaijani village of Gashalti, Naftalan region were killed a result of Armenian shelling. Two of the killed family members are schoolchildren aged 14 and 13. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijan liberated Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district as well as strategically-important Murov height and destroyed the positions of the Armenian armed forces in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama says he will not accept a flawed election, come December 7. The NDC Presidential candidate and former President John Mahama has been drumming this into the Electoral Commission and the entire nation since the Commission began its voter registration exercise. ''As leader of the NDC, I wish to serve notice that we shall do all our parts to ensure that our country remains peaceful and that the electoral process proceeds smoothly, but let nobody assume that we will accept the results of a flawed elections," he cautioned. Contributing to ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, the Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has supported the call by the former President to reject flawed electoral results. According to him, the former President is not wrong to serve notice of caution to the Electoral Commission ahead of the elections. ''Will NPP accept a flawed election? No! An NPP should not accept a flawed election. So, if the former President says if something goes wrong with the elections, he won't accept the results; what is wrong with that?'' he questioned. He stressed that nobody including the current President will accept a flawed election either. ''Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not accept a flawed election. Nobody will accept a flawed election.'' He further stated that ''the constitution enjoins us as citizens of this country to do everything and anything to preserve the constitution'', so should flaws be detected during the elections, it behoves all Ghanaians to kick against it. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The first of three presidential debates between Republican President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be held on Tuesday night, 29 September, with the debate starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The debate will last for 90 minutes with no breaks. The low-down on the final presidential debate. Follow the Biden - Trump debate live online Where can I watch the first presidential debate on TV or online? All the major US networks and cable news channels are showing all the presidential debates: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and C-Span. C-Spain is also showing it live on their YouTube channel. CBS News is also offering it on YouTube. If you dont have cable TV one option is a paid-for live-TV streaming, with the following options carrying many or all of the major networks and cable news channels. Sling TV Hulu with Live TV AT&T TV Now FuboTV YouTube TV Youll need a decent internet connection to use them. Live coverage on AS English We'll have live coverage and commentary of the debate here on AS English. Where is the Trump vs Biden debate happening? The first presidential debate was scheduled for the University of Notre Dame, but they withdrew citing issues with the coronavirus pandemic. The debate will now be held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Who is moderating Trump vs Biden? The debate will be chaired by veteran journalist Chris Wallace, who is the anchor of Fox News Sunday. He was in charge for the third debate in 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and was widely praised for his handling of the proceedings. What topics will Trump and Biden debate? The list of topics selected by Chris Wallace is as follows: - Trump's and Biden's records - The Supreme Court - Covid-19 - The economy - Race and violence in U.S. cities - The integrity of the election Amounts of tax paid and publicly releasing tax returns isnt specifically mentioned, but one would expect Biden to spend some time focusing on that topic. Each segment will get around 15 minutes of the total 90 minutes of the debate. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to the opening question, and will also have a chance to respond to each other. Upcoming debates Here's the schedule for the upcoming debates: 7 October: Vice presidential debate between Vice President Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, at University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah 15 October: Second presidential debate, at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida 22 October: Third presidential debate, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee The Northeasts first pure vegetarian Covid Care Centre (CCC) has been set up at Hotel Rituraj in Guwahati, Assam. It was the people from the Marwari business community at Fancy Bazaar who asked for a pure veg Covid Care Centre where they could stay if they tested positive. In one of his visits to the busy market area by the health minister of Assam, people from the community expressed that they refrained from getting tested as positive result would take them to the Covid Care Centre where non-veg food is served and they cant even think of it, says Sanjay Kasedia, general manager of Hotel Rituraj. For patients, the charge for a single room here is Rs 3,850 while rooms with double occupancy come for Rs 4,900 each. There are 70 rooms at the hotel and in the pandemic time 20 to 30 rooms remain occupied on an average, says Pranjal Mahanta, manager, Hotel Rituraj. The pure-vegetarian Covid menu, which is inclusive with the room rent, serves roti-sabzi, rice, two curries high in protein, and green salad. Breakfast includes fruits and kadha is served to all. Though the stay at the Covid centre is a paid service, the accommodation of three doctors, three nurses, two pharmacists, and two lab technicians at the hotel is financed by the government. The response has been good so far. Patients get a hygienic ambience with food of their choice. The complete package for nine days comes to around Rs 34,640 which is much cheaper than what private hospitals charge. Tests are conducted on the ninth day and if found negative then on the tenth day they are released, says Kasedia. Kamrup Metro district has 36 Covid Care Centres while there are 550 of these in the state. Assam as on October 29 has 1,73,629 cases. Out of these, 30,662 are active cases while 1, 42,297 have been discharged. 667 deaths have been recorded due to Covid-19. All Sarasas schools face investigation THAILAND: The Office of the Private Education Commission (Opec) has set up a special committee to investigate all 42 Sarasas private schools for more cases of student abuse following an incident at Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School which provoked outrage among parents and the public. By Bangkok Post Tuesday 29 September 2020, 09:11AM Parents press for assurances their children are being cared for in a safe environment from the management of Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School in Nonthaburi, following the beating of kindergarteners by their carers. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill. According to Opec, there have been recent complaints about bullying and inappropriate punishments at 34 Sarasas schools. We have found that Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School also ignored admittance quotas for its English programme. Under the rules, private schools are only allowed to admit 25 students per class for English lessons, but Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School allegedly admitted 34 students per class, said Opec secretary-general Attapon Truektrong. Last week, several videos were widely shared online showing various occasions on which a teacher is seen assaulting kindergarten 1 pupils at the school. One video obtained from closed-circuit TV in the classroom showed the teacher pushing a girl to the floor and pulling her hair in the presence of teaching assistants who failed to intervene. Angry parents went to the school and confronted the teacher in the videos, identified as Ornuma Khru Jum Plodprong, on Sept 25. The school expressed regret and said it would take responsibility. It has fired the teacher and promised to take disciplinary action against other staff involved. School officials have met the parents and are providing assistance to families taking legal action against Ms Ornuma. Mr Attapon said Opec will work with the Department of Mental Health and send psychiatrists to evaluate the children in those classes. Moreover, Opec will work closely with the parents to take legal action against staff members who watched the teacher beat the young children but did nothing to stop it, he said. Mr Attapon said he was told by the school executives that teachers and staff involved have all been fired. Ms Ornuma had no teaching licence, but the school hired her anyway. Opec has now asked all Sarasas schools to allow parents access to classroom CCTV footage and ensure that all teachers have licences issued by the Teachers Council of Thailand. Sarasas Affiliated Schools chairman Pibul Yongkamol, head of the board which governs the schools, said the schools have no policy of punishing students. The schools told their teachers to teach their students with love and care. Mr Pibul said he had always told the directors to work in their offices just two hours a day and spend the rest of their time walking around the schools and inspecting them. Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Filipino teacher Orejola Marvin Liwanag yesterday (Sept 28) reported to Nonthaburi police after being accused of physically abusing kindergarten pupils at the school. Pol Lt Col Thitiwat Ruechanukul, deputy chief of Nonthaburi Immigration police, said Mr Liwanag denied the allegations but has been charged with teaching without a work permit. A group of more than 200 parents turned up at the school yesterday demanding to watch more CCTV footage to make sure their own children had not been abused. The mother of one boy said she noticed her son had become frightened of one of his teachers and she wanted to find out why. Love Island's Chyna Ellis showcased her new brunette locks as she enjoyed a dinner date in Mayfair on Monday. The reality star, 25, unveiled her latest look as she headed to Amazonico restaurant in central London in a racy ensemble. The TV personality turned heads in a daring sheer bralet with embroidery detail as she posed up a storm outside the eatery. Turning heads: Love Island's Chyna Ellis showcased her new brunette locks as she enjoyed a dinner date in Mayfair on Monday Chyna displayed her incredible physique in high-waist faux leather leggings. An olive green corduroy shirt draped over her arms, exposing her daring crop top and taut midriff. The brunette bombshell opted for a pair of perspex heels and clutched a stylish snakeskin handbag. Chyna styled her luscious brunette locks in effortless waves and opted for a flawless make-up look. Dare to bare: The reality star, 25, unveiled her latest look as she headed to Amazonico restaurant in central London in a racy ensemble Leave little to the imagination: The TV personality turned heads in a daring sheer bralet with embroidery detail as she posed up a storm outside the eatery The Love Island beauty rose to fame on the ITV reality show but failed to find love, so she began dating Ibiza Weekender's Jordan Davies after exiting the Mallorcan villa. Their blossoming romance was documented on the reality show that took place in a Ibiza holiday resort, but they suffered an acrimonious breakup in 2017. Chyna claimed Jordan was 'too intense' after they finished recording Ibiza Weekender and was 'bitter' after she broke things off. Stunning: An olive green corduroy shirt draped over her arms, exposing her daring crop top and taut midriff The reality starlet also blasted his skills under the sheets and divulged he wasn't as good as she expected, given his claims that he has slept with over 1,500 people. In a 2018 interview with The Sun, she said: 'The sex with Jordan wasn't that great, I'm not going to lie. Considering he's shagged over 1,500 people which is quite disgusting anyway. I was expecting something a little more. Chyna added: 'He would come down to mine in Essex quite a lot and it got to the point where he was constantly coming to see me. It was just too much for me. 'It was more on his part than mine. So I just told him a few times saying, "let's keep it cool, let's take it easy, take it slow". He did say at one point he wanted to marry me and I thought "wow"... It was too much for such little time.' South Africa: Government pledges to support Mozambican gas industry South Africa has reiterated its commitment to assist the Mozambican government to advantage of its gas booming market. Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina said government would bolster bilateral relations between the two countries for the betterment and prosperous Africa. The Deputy Minister was speaking during a South Africa and Mozambique virtual trade and investment seminar under the 'Developing Afrocentric Solutions and Forging Partnership in Response to COVID-19' theme. South Africa is one of Mozambiques great and major trading partner and is also a major investor in Mozambique. It is also among South Africas top five trading partners in Africa, our political and economic relations have remained strong and vibrant over the years, Gina said on Tuesday. Since the advent of democracy, Gina said, several local companies and state-owned entities (SOEs) have invested in Mozambique across the broad spectrum of sectors. Gina cited South 32, a South African aluminium mining company, which generates thousands of jobs for Mozambican citizens. She said the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is also ramping up investment in an infrastructure project in Mozambique particularly in the energy sector. As we all know, Mozambiques new growth opportunity is anchored on the large natural gas reserves and the associate liquefied natural gas project in the Cabo Delgado province. The South African public and private sectors are actively involved in supporting the country in this very important venture through the US $ 120 million investment by DBSA, Gina told delegated. Meanwhile, Standard Bank is one of the leading financial services providers involved in the financing of up to US$485 million and US$900 ECIC guarantee. Similarly, Rand Merchant Bank provided the largest funding commitment by an African bank. Also, DBSA is assisting ENH to develop at length to monetise its natural gas and to become a hub for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. ENH is a Mozambican government-owned holding company that is responsible for the research, exploration, production, refining, transportation, storage, and marketing of hydrocarbons and its derivatives. We reiterate our commitment to assist the government and people of Mozambique to leverage the opportunity to capitalise in this mega project and advance a made in Mozambique, made in Africa agenda to increase the supply of locally made goods and services into these projects. COVID-19 Gina said these investments are crucial as countries battle with the aftermath of COVID-19. This is one area that weve all seen the need to make sure that we produce locally, we have our mega projects locally, so that we dont depend on other countries to make sure that we survive as countries. I believe as African countries this is one opportunity we can grab with both hands, she added. Women participation Also, she said the increased participation of women in driving the bilateral economic agenda was paramount. We like to call all the women of Mozambique and South Africa to join hands and take their rightful place in the processes that will unfold to strengthen our bilateral economic cooperation. Social and economic impact Gina has noted the immense social and economic havoc across the globe caused by the pandemic. As a result, were experiencing lower levels of economic growth, loss of revenue in both public and private sector posing a threat to thousands of jobs, and reversal of gains made to combat and reduce high levels of poverty in our societies. The Deputy Minister has since welcomed interventions to discuss the state of affairs within two countries to mitigate the negative effect of the pandemic and lay the foundation for economic recovery. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-09-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Uganda will begin human trials of a Covid-19 vaccine in November, the Daily Monitor newspaper reports quoting the ministry of health officials. The vaccine, called Self Replicating RNA, has been developed through a partnership between Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and Imperial College in the UK. The head of a presidential taskforce on epidemics, Monica Musenero, is quoted as saying the first trial will be conducted on 10 Ugandans. If successful, a second trial will involve about 100 to 200 people followed by a final trial of between 1,000 and 3,000 people, she said. The bulk of the project is being financed by the UK university. The East Africa country Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video UPDATED Tuesday, Sept. 29: 3 dead, including young boy, in Salem hostage situation, shooting *** Multiple people were found dead after gunfire broke out during a reported hostage situation in Salem on Monday afternoon, the Marion County Sheriffs Office said. At least one deputy opened fire, but exactly what transpired remains unclear. Police were called to the apparent hostage situation in the 200 block of Juneva Place Southeast in Salem. The accused hostage-taker was among the dead, police said, but investigators would not say who fired the fatal shots. Deputies also would not release the number of people killed in the shooting, citing a need to inform families before releasing that information. According to a news release from Marion County Sheriffs Office, deputies were called to the home at around 12:30 p.m. Monday. When deputies arrived, a crisis negotiator called the suspect. Police said only that shots were fired and multiple people died at the scene. Deputies said there is no outstanding danger to the community. Sgt. Jeremy Landers would not specify who initiated gunfire, or how long into the negotiations the shooting began. Oregon State Police, who are now investigating the case, also would not comment on the circumstances of the hostage situation, or confirm how many officers fired shots. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Portland, Sep 29 : Oregon Governor Kate Brown has issued a new ban on residential evictions from September 30 through December 31 amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the devastation caused by historic wildfires in the US state, it was reported. The new order signed on Monday will extend the state's ban on non-payment residential evictions through the end of the year, the Portland-based KGW TV station said in a news report. While announcing the order, Brown said: "Housing is a critical human need, and, as we enter cold and flu season during a pandemic and as many students learn remotely from home, it is absolutely critical that people not be turned out of their homes. "While my action today will address the immediate issue of preventing residential evictions through the end of the year, it is my hope that, when the Legislature next meets, they will take up the larger issues we need to address regarding housing relief." She had signed a similar moratorium on evictions in March that ran for 90 days when the pandemic was in its early stages. While the pandemic has infected 32,876 people and killed 549 people in Oregon, the historic wildfires in the state claimed the lives of at least 10 people, scorched over 1,000,000 acres of land and destroyed hundreds of houses. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By Trend Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova and President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Georgy Tsereteli had a telephone conversation, Trend reports citing the Parliament. During the phone talk, the sides discussed the latest situation on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Gafarova reminded that starting from September 27, the Armenian armed forces launched military provocations along the entire front line. Using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery installations, the Armenian armed forces fire at civilians and civilian objects, which means a gross violation of international law, including the Geneva Convention adopted in 1949. According to the norms of international law, this is considered as military aggression by the Armenian side and the use of force against Azerbaijan, noted the speaker. Gafarova also stressed that the world community had repeatedly been informed that Armenia prepares a military provocation against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. FORT WORTH, Texas: A grand jury in Texas decided Monday to take no action against a man who fatally shot an armed man who killed two people at a Fort Worth-area church in late December, prosecutors said. Jack Wilson, a firearms instructor who trained a volunteer security team at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, fatally shot Keith Thomas Kinnunen during a Dec. 29 service after he shot and killed 67-year-old Richard White, another security volunteer, and 64-year-old Anton Tony Wallace, a server. As the attacker shot the two men, congregants scrambled for cover. The gunman was heading to the front of the sanctuary as Wilson searched for a clear line of fire. His single shot quickly ended the attack. Prosecutors said there were about 260 people in the church at the time. Tim Rodgers, a prosecutor with the Tarrant County district attorneys office, said Monday that Texas law allows a person witnessing someone placing others at risk of serious injury or death to act with deadly force to protect others. Mr. Wilson did just that. He did it responsibly and, as a result, he was justified under the law in his actions, Rodgers said. Based upon the grand jurys decision, the law enforcement investigation and our review of the case are complete. We believe the grand jury made the right decision. After the shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott gave Wilson Texas highest civilian honor: the Governors Medal of Courage. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor What exactly is the Ontario government waiting for before it clamps down on activities likely to lead to the spread of COVID-19? The frightening number of new cases the most ever recorded for a single day in Ontario, 700 is a clanging alarm bell that should prompt immediate action to stop the spread. In Quebec, where the numbers are even worse, the government is taking concrete steps. Its putting three regions, including Montreal and Quebec City, back into the highest state of alert (the red zone) and the government is asking people to basically stop seeing anyone outside their household for the next 28 days. But in Ontario, hesitation. On Monday the Ontario Hospital Association called for stricter measures in the worst-hit areas, including Toronto and Peel Region, to stem the tide and prevent the medical system from being overwhelmed in the next few weeks. It wants those regions put back into Stage 2, including more restrictions on restaurants, bars, gyms, theatres places where people have been gathering and, all too often, letting down their guard against the virus. But the government, following the advice of its public health experts, doesnt seem to want to take any meaningful new steps despite Premier Doug Fords own frank warning that the current course of COVID-19 is deeply concerning. The only thing its done is nibble around the edges by requiring restaurants and bars to close earlier. Theres a gap opening up between the premiers words and his governments actions. And if the disease continues its current course that gap will quickly become dangerously unsustainable. True, the government did announce new measures on Monday. Its promising to spend another $52 million to hire and train some 3,700 more health workers, including more nurses and personal support workers. Thats all to the good, but its about coping with the inevitable impact on the health system of the rise in numbers in the coming weeks. Its not about trying to slow the increase right now, flattening the curve of what everyone now agrees is the long-dreaded second wave of COVID-19. The government needs to get on top of this, and theres not a day to lose. The problem is that most of the new spread isnt happening in places like bars and restaurants, but in private gatherings at homes and backyards. So just clamping down on businesses where people gather for social reasons wont extinguish the new fire. But surely it can and should be an important part of the solution. Right now the government is relying on so-called jawboning exhorting the public, and especially younger people, to obey public health rules everywhere. The second wave is spreading quickest among the young, who for understandable reasons find it most tempting to socialize. The results can be appalling as the out-of-control gathering at Wasaga Beach over the weekend showed. The problem is that the emphasis on public finger-wagging sends a confusing message: its OK to gather in bars and take off your mask to have a few drinks, but youre not supposed to do the same thing in your own home. Bars may not be the main way COVID-19 is spread, but shutting them down again would drive home the message that getting together in big, undisciplined groups is sending us down a very dangerous road. The government has a choice. It can dither about tightening the rules for a little longer, while the numbers rise and public alarm grows, and then be forced to clamp down when things are truly bad. Or it can act now in the worst affected areas and have a better chance of preventing things from spinning out of control. Were at a point now where every day counts. Better to take some specific, targeted steps as soon as possible to drive home the gravity of the situation, rather than risk the worst scenario. Ford was right to say that the outcome is up to all of us, and that mainly involves everyone following the rules: washing hands, social distancing, wearing masks, and limiting social contact as much as possible. But its also up to the government to take unpopular measures when necessary. And this is one of those times. Read more about: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a press conference before the vote on the 'Delivering for America Act' to protect the postal system on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 22, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) House Democrats Release $2.2 Trillion Update to HEROES Act Relief Bill House Democrats on Monday unveiled a $2.2 trillion update to their HEROES Act relief bill that is designed to provide funding to schools, small businesses, restaurants, airlines, and other industries. The $3.4 trillion HEROES Act passed in May, but it included a number of provisions that were rejected by GOP senators and the White House, including providing nearly $1 trillion in funding to cities and states, $600-per-week unemployment benefits, some Election Day measures, and more. It has been more than four months since House Democrats sent the GOP Senate $3.4 trillion in desperately needed coronavirus relief grounded in science and data, and Leader (Mitch) McConnell hit the pause button, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement to her caucus. In our negotiations with the White House since then, Democrats offered to come down a trillion dollars if Republicans would come up a trillion dollars. Then, we offered to come down $200 billion more, even as the health and economic crisis has worsened and the needs have only grown. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 18, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo) According to the Democratic-controlled House Committee on Appropriations, it will provide strong support for small businesses that have been impacted during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. On the table is additional assistance for airline industry workers, extending the highly successful Payroll Support Program to keep airline industry workers paid, they said, adding that more funds will be provided to education, payments to vital workers, testing and treatment funding, worker safety, and other measures. The bill also includes $1,200 direct payments to individuals and $500 per dependent. Thats down from the $1,200 for dependents, which was included in the first HEROES Act. The measure also restores unemployment benefits, ensuring weekly $600 federal unemployment payments through next January and preventing unemployed workers from exhausting their eligibility, providing a vital safety net for the record number of Americans who are unemployed, including those connected to the gig-economy, according to Democrats. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks during a news conference to announce the Trump administrations restoration of sanctions on Iran, at the U.S. State Department in Washington on Sept. 21, 2020. (Patrick Semansky/Pool via Reuters) Pelosi said in a televised interview earlier on Monday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has to come back with much more money to get the job done. So Im hopeful. Im optimistic. The move to release a smaller bill came as moderate, vulnerable Democrats earlier this month released a bipartisan bill worth $1.5 trillion that was subsequently rejected by Democratic leadership in the House. Before that, the GOP-controlled Senate attempted to move ahead with a $500 billion bill but didnt reach the 60-vote threshold to bring it to the floor, in a move that was widely seen as a means to pressure Democrats during negotiations. Likewise, the latest iteration of the HEROES Act will now force the hand of the Trump administration and Senate. President Donald Trump on Sept. 18 called on the GOP to pass a bill worth more than $500 billion, said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Americans desperately need the money, and whose fault it was NOT that the plague came in from China, Trump wrote at the time on Twitter. Go for the much higher numbers, Republicans, it all comes back to the USA anyway (one way or another!). A Wagga Wagga winemaker has admitted he lied to a corruption inquiry because he was ashamed about two cash bundles he accepted for his role in a cash-for-visa scheme. Gerry McCormick was appearing as a witness in the second week of a corruption inquiry into former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire on Monday when he gave evidence about his role in an immigration scheme linked to the former MP and business network G8wayinternational Pty Ltd. Former Liberal Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire. Credit:Janie Barrett Mr Maguire and G8wayinternational, which he silently directed, are the subject of a corruption inquiry before the Independent Commission Against Corruption, examining whether Mr Maguire misused his time in office to his own financial benefit. When ICAC opened its hearing on Tuesday, counsel assisting Scott Robertson said Mr McCormick had contacted ICAC earlier, requesting to appear for a second time after "reflecting on certain evidence overnight". (CNN) The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh has run hot and cold since the 1994 ceasefire -- one of several "frozen conflicts" that blight the post-Soviet world. Yet this weekend's clashes mark a new height in rhetoric and signs of intent. It has many concerned that a tit-for-tat cycle of border clashes, usually diffused by international diplomacy, may continue unabated and spark a longer, nastier war. What is the dispute about? Control over the mountainous area of Nagorno-Karabakh. Populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, and aided by the Armenian diaspora, it sits inside Azerbaijani territory, connected to Armenia proper by a costly highway. It is heavily militarized and its forces have been backed by Armenia, which has a security alliance with Russia. Azerbaijan has long claimed it will retake the territory, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani. Control over the area has become a point of nationalist -- almost existential -- pride in both countries. Why is this flareup happening now? It's unclear what started this latest escalation. Azerbaijan says Armenia provoked them with aggression. Armenia says Azerbaijani forces attacked. Tensions have risen since July, when several days of clashes rocked the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These clashes killed 11 Azerbaijani soldiers and one civilian, Azerbaijan said, and prompted tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets of Baku, demanding the region's recapture. Turkey, seeking an enhanced regional role and an ally of the ethnically Turkic Azerbaijanis, has been offering support -- perhaps military -- and loudly backed Azerbaijan's claims. Is it likely to escalate to full-scale war? The normal rhythm of this conflict would anticipate diplomacy to rush in and calm the guns after 48 hours of blood-letting. But that hasn't happened yet, and the opposite is fast becoming true. Armenia declared martial law Sunday and mobilized all its forces. Azerbaijan followed with martial law Sunday, and partial mobilization Monday. Baku has long said it would retake the area and has oil riches to spend on forces to achieve those same ends. The conflict is so overlooked and little-known in the outside world, that some speculate the fighting may spiral out of control, with Washington too distracted and inward-looking to muster its full diplomatic might to stop it. The US has had a deputy secretary of state call both sides to "urge both sides to cease hostilities immediately," and President Donald Trump has said "we'll see if we can stop it." Why are Russia and Turkey addressing it? Again, Turkey and Russia find themselves on opposing sides of a febrile front line. Like in Syria and Libya, their proxies -- mercenaries or allied armies -- are battling for control of parts of a Middle East, or Caucasus, where a lighter US footprint has imbalanced the delicate distribution of power. Turkey has been particularly effusive in its encouragement of Azerbaijan, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying on Twitter that Armenia has "once again proven that it is the biggest threat to peace and serenity in the region. The Turkish nation continues to stand by its Azerbaijani brothers and sisters with all its means, as it has always done." The Kremlin has been a calmer force, with President Vladimir Putin calling Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and noting "it is important now to take all necessary efforts to prevent a military escalation of the confrontation, and most importantly -- to stop military operations." But Moscow is a long-term supporter of Armenia, in weapons and diplomacy, and will be unlikely to tolerate Turkey imposing its will in its former Soviet area of influence. Putin also has a good relationship with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. But enmity is building, given the ongoing violence in Syria, where Turkish-backed Syrian fighters are pushing against Moscow's ally, the Syrian regime. Similar tensions are growing in Libya, where Turkey is backing the Tripoli-based government with Syrian mercenaries, and Russia has sent Wagner mercenaries, according to US officials, to assist rival forces that control the East. Both Moscow and Ankara seem to spy an opening in Washington's disinterest in being the regional superpower, and Nagorny-Karabakh is the latest, longest-contested, least-expected venue for this clash to play out. What is the rest of the world saying? Everyone wants calm, but nobody on the front Iines is listening yet. NATO has said both "sides should immediately cease hostilities," and added "there is no military solution to this conflict." The EU demanded an "immediate cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and for strict observance of the ceasefire" that had been coordinated by the OSCE's Minsk Group. Yet four years of Trump's disengagement, the pandemic, Russia's increased confidence and Turkey's bold regional posturing have created a new dynamic where the old norms can be discarded and destructive opportunities sought. Even if diplomacy suddenly shuts the fighting down in the coming hours, the renewed vigor of rhetoric on both sides means this could flare up again soon. This story was first published on CNN.com Armenia and Azerbaijan are clashing over a disputed region. Here's what you need to know Minn. school district can't ban trans students from entering opposite-sex locker rooms: appeals court Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A school district in Minnesota must allow trans-identified students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity, a Minnesota appeals court ruled Monday. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the parents of a biological female high school student who identifies as a boy. The family sued the Anoka-Hennepin School District in 2019 and alleged that the student (identified in legal documents as N.H.) was required to use a separate locker room when she participated on the boys' swim team. The court ruled that locker room segregation based on sex is a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other identifiers, including race and religion. Thus, the female student will be allowed to enter the boys' locker rooms and showers. N.H. identifies as male, has socially transitioned to male, and lives as male. Others also identify [her] as male and treat [her] as male, Judge Peter Reyes, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton in 2014, stated in the majority opinion. Based on this record, we conclude that N.H. is similarly situated to [her] peers because [she], like [her] peers, sought to use a locker room that corresponded with [her] gender identity. The school district had argued that a district court erred when it denied its motion to dismiss the lawsuit. However, the court upheld the lower courts ruling. A transgender high-school student who is denied use of a locker room that is available to students of the gender with which the student identifies and to which the student has socially transitioned states a claim upon which relief can be granted of sexual-orientation discrimination, the ruling states. The majority opinion added that students should not be required to shop among schools and districts to obtain a discrimination-free education. In dissent, Judge Matthew Johnson, who was appointed in 2008 by Republican Tim Pawlenty, contended that the school districts argument is consistent with this courts case law. This court has held that men and women are not similarly situated for purposes of an equal-protection claim if governmental action legitimately depends on differences in their respective anatomies, he wrote, adding that N.H. was not similarly situated in all relevant respects in comparison to the cisgender boys in [her] gym class. Anoka-Hennepin Schools spokesperson Jim Skelly said in a statement shared by The Associated Press that the district will review the decision and weigh its options on whether to move forward with its appeal. The districts top priority is maintaining a learning environment that is safe, secure, and free from discrimination, and its decision will be guided by those values, Skelly stressed. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which intervened in the lawsuit against the school district, praised the ruling. This decision means that schools are now safer and more welcoming for transgender and gender nonconforming students across Minnesota, Human Rights Commissioner Irina Vaynerman said in a statement. Our state was the first in the nation to prohibit gender identity discrimination. Todays decision honors that legacy and continues to build a more equitable and inclusive Minnesota. According to legal documents, N.H. used the boys' locker room without issue after she joined the boys swim team at Coon Rapids High School during the 2015-2016 school year. But the next year, the district required her to use a separate locker room and threatened discipline if she did not. I never want any student to experience the discrimination and cruelty I experienced from the adults at my school," N.H. said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. "It means a lot to see that courts protect transgender students like me. Today's decision makes it very clear that segregating trans students doesn't just dehumanize us, it violates our legal rights." Several legal battles nationwide have been fought in relation to school bathroom and locker room policies. While some argue that preventing trans-identified students from accessing facilities that correspond to their preferred gender identity is discriminatory, critics contend that such trans-inclusive policies infringe on the privacy rights of other students who might not feel comfortable undressing around a member of the opposite sex. Last month, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a trans-identified high school student in Virginia who has been at the center of a lengthy legal battle that was remanded back to the lower courts by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017. Grieving, originally published in Spanish in 2011, is considered one of contemporary Mexicos first literary reckonings with its epidemic of violence. It has been expertly translated by Sarah Booker and covers an impressive array of topics, including environmental degradation, femicide, neoliberalism and migration. Throughout, Rivera Garzas focus never waivers from her overriding concern: the violence and impunity plaguing Mexico. In an essay called The Visceraless State she dissects a country in thrall to leaders who have reduced the government to little more than a vessel for personal enrichment a system without hearts or bones or innards and with the drug trafficker as its inevitable byproduct. Government corruption along with the narcos signature executions demonstrate what was once easy to deny, she tells us. Drug lords are businessmen prepared to go as far as necessary which frequently means that space where the human condition ends in order to ensure and, above all, increase their profits. Rivera Garza is compelled to document her countrys trauma, she writes in another essay, Writing Against War, because not to catalog, speak or write about it means that it will eventually be forgotten. Without a record of testimonials without a large community archive that protects victims voices, we will not only forget the massacres and the pain in years to come but also, and perhaps above all, the labor taken on by entire generations that amorous and routine, dialogic and constant labor to form the community that we call a neighborhood. Without this public accounting, she contends, there can be no grieving, and Mexican society can never heal. Grieving connects us in ways that are subtly and candidly material, she writes. Grieving breaks us apart, indeed, and keeps us together. President Donald Trump has an apparent lead over former Vice President Joe Biden in a close contest for Texas' 38 electoral votes according to a new poll of likely voters in the state released today. Trump has the support of 49 percent of Texas likely voters, Biden is at 46 percent, other candidates on the ballot are at 4 percent and 1 percent are undecided. The poll of 882 likely voters carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. While male poll respondents are more likely to vote for Trump (52 percent Trump, 42 percent Biden), Trump is polling nearly even with Biden among women in Texas (49 percent Biden, 47 percent Trump); Biden likely needs to widen the gender gap in order to carry the state. More on voters' support by party, age and education is available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. While Trump is slightly ahead of Biden with likely voters, 50 percent say they approve and 49 percent disapprove of the president. Among those who approve, 37 percent do so strongly and 13 percent somewhat. Among Trump disapprovers, 40 percent strongly disapprove of the way he is handling his job as president. Among Democrats, 95 percent disapprove of Trump's job performance, including 83 percent who strongly disapprove. Among independents, 60 percent disapprove of his job performance, including 39 percent who strongly disapprove. Among the 92 percent of Republicans who approve of Trump's job performance, 69 percent strongly approve. "Trump is hanging onto a lead in Texas, but Republicans shouldn't be celebrating. Once a stronghold, statewide races continue to tighten and a loss in Texas would not only guarantee a Biden presidency, it would signal a landslide. The fact that Biden is keeping it close is cold comfort," said Joshua Dyck, director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and associate professor of political science. Asked about their opinions on whether either candidate and their allies are trying to cheat to win the election, slightly less than half of Texas likely voters say that Biden and his allies have been cheating "a great deal" (32 percent) or "somewhat" (16 percent), while half say that Trump and his allies have been cheating "a great deal" (36 percent) or "somewhat" (14 percent). As expected, these numbers break down by party identification, but the perception of partisan cheating by Trump among Democrats is higher: 72 percent of Democrats think Trump and his allies are cheating "a great deal," and 57 percent of Republicans think Biden and his allies are cheating "a great deal." In the closely watched U.S. Senate race in Texas, Republican incumbent John Cornyn leads Democratic challenger MJ Hegar 50 percent to 40 percent with 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate and 9 percent undecided. While Cornyn leads by a comfortable margin, his lead also does not necessarily project strength, rather that he is running against a relatively unknown challenger. Cornyn is leading among Republicans 91 percent to Hegar's 3 percent, while Hegar leads among Democrats 83 percent to 7 percent. However, Hegar also leads among independents by 9 points, 44 percent to 35 percent. Notably, 10 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents remain undecided, compared to only 6 percent of Republicans. As a challenger, Hegar's relative anonymity among Texas voters shows up in her favorables. She has a net favorability rating of +13 (35 percent to 22 percent), but a large number of Texas voters either have no opinion of her (26 percent) or have never heard of her (17 percent). Cornyn, by contrast, is not a particularly popular incumbent. His favorability rating is net neutral (38 percent favorable, 38 percent unfavorable), while 19 percent of likely voters have no opinion of the senator and 5 percent have never heard of him. Poll respondents were also asked whether the next Supreme Court justice - the replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg - should be appointed by the current president or by the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Here, we see a majority, 54 percent, of Texas likely voters say that the winner of the presidential election should appoint Ginsburg's successor to the high court, while 46 percent say that the sitting president should appoint her successor. The poll also found the following among likely Texas voters: Gov. Greg Abbott has an approval rating of 55 percent (28 percent strongly approve, 27 percent somewhat approve). Texas voters are split on whether it is safe to re-open local public schools. A slim majority (51 percent) of Texas likely voters think it's not safe to re-open local public schools for face-to-face instruction (26 percent say definitely not safe, 25 percent say probably not safe, 28 percent say probably safe, 21 percent say definitely safe). Asked who they think will win the 2020 presidential election, Texas likely voters give Trump the edge: 49 percent say Trump will win and 37 percent say Biden will win. Sixty-three percent of likely voters say the country has gotten off on the wrong track while 37 percent think things in the country are headed in the right direction. Texas provides absentee ballots only to those voters who are unable to vote in person (i.e. they must provide a valid excuse). All other voters are expected to vote in person, but Texas does offer early voting between Oct. 13 and Oct. 30. Among likely voters, 15 percent say they plan to vote by mail, 64 percent say they plan to vote early, in person, while 22 percent plan to vote in person on Election Day. Among those who intend to vote by mail, Biden leads 69 percent to 25 percent, among intended early voters Trump leads 50 percent to 46 percent and among Election Day voters Trump leads 66 percent to 29 percent. Detailed poll results - including topline and methodology - are available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. The nonpartisan poll is independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell's Center for Public Opinion, which conducts public-opinion polling at the state and national levels. The nationally recognized center uses the latest technology and highest standards in its surveys and is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative. The center's events and polls on political and social issues provide unique opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and research. The poll of 882 likely Texas voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 1,000 students and alumni who hail from the Lone Star State. The survey was designed and analyzed by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Sept. 18 through Sept. 25. It has an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. Full poll methodology is available at http://www.uml.edu/polls. In addition to the survey of likely voters in Texas, the Center for Public Opinion also released polls in two other states today. The findings include: In New Hampshire, former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by eight points, 52 percent to 44 percent. In the races for U.S. senator and governor, both incumbents lead by double digits. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen leads Republican challenger Corky Messner 56 percent to 37 percent. Gov. Chris Sununu leads Democratic challenger Dan Feltes 60 percent to 34 percent. (Poll of 657 likely New Hampshire voters conducted Sept. 17 through Sept. 25 with an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent.) In North Carolina, Trump and Biden are tied with 47 percent support of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham leads Republican incumbent Thom Tillis 49 percent to 43 percent. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Republican challenger Dan Forest 54 percent to 41 percent. (Poll of 921 likely North Carolina voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.) ### UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. http://www.uml.edu Kentucky authorities will give the public a rare glimpse at a secret aspect of the criminal justice system when they release recordings of the grand jury that weighed the case of three police officers who opened fire in the raid in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed Breonna Taylor. The unusual move which state Attorney General Daniel Cameron originally planned for Wednesday but now wants to delay comes after the grand jury indicted one of the officers, Brett Hankison, for wanton endangerment, for firing bullets that went into a neighboring apartment, but did not charge any of the three officers in Taylors death. (Hankison has pleaded not guilty.) The lack of other charges set off protests in Louisville and around the country and prompted a motion in court by one of the 12 Jefferson County grand jury members to release records of the panels work so that truth may prevail, said a lawyer for the juror. The secrecy of grand jury proceedings across the United States has fueled distrust of law enforcement authorities, particularly in cases of police officers accused of using excessive force. While grand juries return indictments in the vast majority of cases prosecutors bring to them, they rarely indict police officers for homicide. Taylors death, like many of the killings of unarmed people by police in recent years, has prompted calls for more transparency in the grand jury process, or for avoiding the use of grand juries in such cases. Critics of the current system say grand juries have become too compliant to prosecutors, who are less inclined to pursue charges against members of a local law enforcement agency with whom they work closely. Image: People react after a decision in the criminal case against police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, in Louisville (Eduardo Munoz / Reuters) On Tuesday, the unnamed jurors lawyer indicated that his client was concerned that Cameron, the special prosecutor in the case, hasnt been clear on what charges prosecutors told the grand jurors they should consider filing against the officers. We're not getting the level of accountability that the public deserves, the lawyer, Kevin Glogower, told reporters. Story continues A judge on Monday ordered prosecutors to release the grand jury recordings, and Cameron agreed grudgingly, saying that doing so could damage a federal investigation. Heres a look at how grand juries became an integral and divisive piece of the criminal justice system. What is a grand jury? The grand jury system is a relic of Americas early criminal justice system, which took cues from Englands. Grand juries were seen as providing protection against meritless prosecutions by the government. Before prosecutors could bring charges, they had to present the case against a suspect to a group of impartial citizens who decided whether charges made sense. The right to a grand jury indictment ended up enshrined in the Bill of Rights, although the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states do not need to use grand juries. That is why about half of the states no longer require them, allowing prosecutors to opt instead for preliminary hearings before a judge. In states that have grand juries, the procedures vary, including the number of people who serve on them. How does a grand jury work? A grand jury does not decide if someone is guilty or innocent, and its proceedings, without the participation of a judge, the suspect or defense lawyers, are largely one-sided, focused on deciding if there is probable cause to charge someone. If the grand jury decides there is probable cause, it votes to issue a formal accusation of a crime, called an indictment, which makes it easier for prosecutors to pursue a case. A grand jury may issue subpoenas for information or for a witness to testify. Its members often hear several cases over the course of weeks or even one day. An indictment does not require a unanimous vote, but does need a majority; the specifics depend on the jurisdiction. The work of a grand jury is recorded, but is sealed from the public. Why is a grand jurys work secret? Historically, grand juries have been blocked from public view in order to protect jurors, witnesses, the accused and the case itself. Secrecy allows jurors to serve and witnesses to testify without fear of outside pressure or retaliation. It safeguards the suspects reputation in case the grand jury decides that criminal charges are not warranted. And it guards against the chance that a suspect will flee after hearing they are under investigation. But that secrecy also makes grand juries unaccountable to the public for their decisions and makes their decisions more likely to be misunderstood or distrusted. The backlash to the grand jurys work in the Taylor case is an example of that. Why do people think grand juries should be changed? There is a saying in the criminal justice system that grand juries have become so easy to manipulate that prosecutors could indict a ham sandwich. That is largely because grand juries are asked to decide whether prosecutors have shown probable cause that a suspect committed a crime a much lower standard than at a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Critics of the system say that grand juries have become too compliant to prosecutors and that they should be eliminated in favor of preliminary hearings before a judge. At the same time, grand juries are much less likely to indict police officers who have killed someone than accused suspects in other types of homicide cases. That is partly because police operate within legal boundaries that make it difficult to prove they broke the law in using force against someone. But critics also say that prosecutors, controlling what a grand jury sees, are less inclined to pursue charges against officers or an agency they work closely with on a daily basis. That has fueled efforts to remove local prosecutors from such cases and hand them to a state or independent authority. The Breonna Taylor case may reveal another approach: compelled transparency. Now that the grand juror is forcing the release of recordings of the panels work, and is seeking permission to speak about the experience, the public will be able to see for itself how prosecutors presented the case against the three officers. Secretary DeVos Concedes Defeat in Fight Against AG Nessel, Others Over CARES Act Funding for Public Schools Secretary DeVos Concedes Defeat in Fight Against AG Nessel, Others Over CARES Act Funding for Public Schools September 29, 2020 LANSING U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a letter Friday acknowledging defeat in her effort to rewrite a section of the CARES Act that would have diverted over $16 million away from K-12 public schools in Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today. In litigation led by Nessel and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 26 halting DeVos rule. Donatos ruling joined two similar orders by courts in the District of Columbia and Washington State. We filed this lawsuit for one simple reason: to ensure students in Michigan and across this nation were not robbed of educational resources they deserve, said Nessel. The landscape of how a regular school day is conducted has changed for so many and Congress allocated these CARES Act funds for those most in need. We were poised for a fight because it was the right thing to do, and will accept Secretary DeVos acknowledgement of her defeat. However, my colleagues and I will remain on guard to defend against any future attempts by this administration to rob funding from our public schools and students who are most in need of these critical resources. In her letter, DeVos writes that while the U.S. Department of Education disagrees with Judge Donato and the other district courts rulings, her Department will respect the rule of law and will enforce the law as the courts have opined. The Department will not appeal these rulings. Confirming what the CARES Act requires and Nessel had fought to enforce, the Department stated that [g]oing forward, districts must calculate the minimal proportional share for CARES Act equitable services according to the formula provided in Section 1117(a)(4)(A) of the ESEA of 1965. Nessel and Becerra led a coalition of states that filed suit on July 7 against DeVos and her Department for issuing a rule that would unfairly limit the ability of public schools to use federal funds provided under the CARES Act. The Aug. 26 preliminary injunction order prohibited the Department from enforcing its rule until a decision on the merits of the case could be rendered. In his colorfully-worded order, Donato found that the coalition was likely to succeed on the merits of its case because, contrary to Secretary DeVos argument that the CARES Act language is ambiguous, Congress used language that is familiar and uncomplicated, to say the least. As a result, Donato wondered, how could anyone maintain with a straight face that the CARES Act language is unclear? Quoting the late-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Donato further found that the Department's interpretation of the CARES Act was 'interpretive jiggery-pokery' in the extreme. In their litigation, Nessel and Becerra were joined by the attorneys general of Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the City School District for the City of New York, Chicago Board of Education, Cleveland Municipal School District Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District. ### Ryan Jarvi 517-599-2746 Attorney General He has long prided himself on his ability to irritate both political sides, already apparent in the run-up to the upcoming debate. Liberal pundits have complained about his choice of debate topics, which include "race and violence in our cities" and the integrity of the election - two hot-button issues for the president. But Trump has attacked Wallace as well, saying the anchor is "controlled by the radical left" without presenting any evidence. European Union officials and Germany came to the defense of an EU commissioner Tuesday after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for her resignation because she publicly criticized his government's policies. Germany's Europe Minister directly addressed Values Commissioner Vera Jourova on Twitter, writing that the European Union needs your impartial and clear mind." The minister, Michael Roth added: Thank you for your tireless engagement." In an interview with German weekly newspaper Der Spiegel on Saturday, Jourova said Hungary under Orban was veering away from Western democracy, especially now than media freedom had come under attack. There is hardly any criticism of the government in Hungarian media anymore, so that a large majority of Hungarians may no longer be able to form a free opinion," she told the newspaper. I fear the people in Hungary could one day discover that their last election was also their last free election. Mr. Orban likes to say he is building an illiberal democracy. I would say he is building a sick democracy, Jourova said. In a stinging letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, Orban wrote that Jourova's statements are not only a direct political attack" against his government but also a humiliation to Hungary and the Hungarian people." Her resignation is indispensable," Orban said. Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said Tuesday that Jourova continued to enjoy von der Leyen's full trust." Our concerns when it comes to the rule of law situation in Hungary are well known. They will be addressed in our rule of law report," which Jourova is scheduled to present Wednesday, Spinant said. Orban's letter also spawned an outpouring of support for Jourova among EU legislators. Postmortem of Hathras gang rape victim conducted in Safdarjung Hospital in presence of police India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: The postmortem of a 19-year-old woman, who died in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital a fortnight after being gang raped in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, was conducted in presence of police personnel here, sources said. Earlier Tuesday, the woman's father and cousin sat on a dharna outside the hospital. They were joined by Bhim Army and Congress workers before the body was taken to Uttar Pradesh. "The post mortem was conducted in presence of police personnel," a source told to PTI. #Nirbhaya trends on Twitter as Hathras gang-rape survivor dies The woman, who was brutally gang-raped in a village in Hathras district two weeks ago, died of her grievous injuries at the Delhi hospital Tuesday, prompting outrage, protests and calls for justice. The four accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The accused have been arrested. She was admitted to Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital on Monday. Photo: The Canadian Press Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne Canada has imposed sanctions on the president of Belarus and his government over what it says was a fraudulent election. Canada imposed the sanctions in conjunction with Britain against officials in the Belarusian government, including President Alexander Lukashenko, who is facing widespread accusations of winning a rigged ballot. Belarus has witnessed wide-scale protests and violence since the Aug. 9 reelection of Lukashenko, an authoritarian leader. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has called the election result fraudulent and said free and fair elections must take place in Belarus. Last week at the UN General Assembly, the foreign minister of Belarus warned Western countries not to impose sanctions. Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told the virtual meeting of world leaders that interference in his countrys internal affairs would be harmful for everyone. Canada will not stand by silently as the government of Belarus continues to commit systematic human rights violations and shows no indication of being genuinely committed to finding a negotiated solution with opposition groups," Champagne said in a statement on Tuesday. Canada and the United Kingdom are acting together to ensure these sanctions have a greater impact and to demonstrate unity in our condemnation of the situation." Peel Regional Police are happy to report that a vulnerable 79-year-old woman, who went missing Monday, has been located. Concetta Diplacido, of Mississauga was noticed by observant citizens, who contacted police, after last being seen around 11:30 a.m., Sept. 28. Diplacido had last been seen in the area of Monica Drive and Darcel Avenue before being located. Irelyne Lavery is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: ilavery@thestar.ca Flash Another 4,044 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 439,013, according to official figures released Monday. The coronavirus-related deaths rose by 13 to 42,001, the official data showed. The latest figures were revealed as further restrictions were announced for people living in northeastern England, including "legal restrictions on indoor mixing between households in any setting". "We do not take these steps lightly," British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs in the House of Commons (lower house of parliament), adding that the number of coronavirus cases in the region "continues to rise sharply". "But we must take them and take them now because we know that swift action is more likely to bring the virus under control." "The quicker we can get this virus under control, the quicker we can restore the freedoms we all enjoy in the northeast and across the country." Local media reported Monday that just under a quarter of people in Britain now are living under different lockdown restrictions, as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country. This finding came as countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance has said that it is possible that some vaccine could be available in small amounts later this year, but it is more likely that a vaccine will be available early next year, although that is not guaranteed. ESM is an unpressurized cylinder tasked with providing astronauts with the needed electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen, while keeping the temperatures bearable for human beings. It is, in fact, the assembly that contains the engine of the craft, and the first one was already delivered to NASA for fitting on the first Orion spacecraft, while a second is currently being put together in Germany.Back in August 2020, ArianeGroup, one of the continents major aerospace companies, was selected to provide the 24 attitude control engines, two high-pressure regulators, various fuel valves, four fuel tanks, and two high-pressure helium tanks for pressurizing the fuel tanks in zero-gravity conditions, for ESM number 3.This is a major development, as this third ESM is destined for Artemis III , the mission that will take humans back on the Moon sometime in 2024. The preceding two missions will only go to the Moon, without touching down, the first with no crew (Artemis I, 2021), and the second with people on board (Artemis II, 2023).When the first astronauts of the Artemis mission walk on the surface of the Moon in 2024, it will be in part thanks to the expertise of ArianeGroup in Germany and in France, said in a statement Stefan Haessler, head of Orbital Propulsion at ArianeGroup "Our know-how and our propulsion systems have flown on numerous exploration missions. By collaborating in the construction of the third service module together with Airbus Defence and Space, we demonstrate our know-how in the field of crewed flight. We are delighted to place our unique skills at the disposal of this transatlantic Moon mission. All the ArianeGroup employees are extremely proud to be able to contribute to the success of this exceptional human adventure. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 16:58 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47fcd63 4 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,East-Lombok,coronavirus,virus-korona-indonesia,virus-corona,West-Nusa-Tenggara,NTB,Nusa-Tenggara-Barat,fined,health-protocol Free A Zumba session organizer in East Lombok was slapped with a Rp 400,000 (US$26.90) fine for neglecting the social distancing COVID-19 protocol during its program. The program, which was attended by hundreds of participants, gained netizens attention after a recording of one of its sessions went viral on social media. The participants were also seen not to be wearing masks in the video. East Lombok regional secretary Juani Taofik confirmed that the event had been running since Sept. 16. However, he was unaware about it since it took place inside a building. Read also: Bali to slap fines on people who go out without masks Juani also said he had already notified the organizers. Whoever uses public facilities without implementing COVID-19 protocols will be fined. The organizer had paid the fine earlier, Juani said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday. Lombok Police chief Sr. Comr. Tunggul Sinatrio said the police had not been notified about the program. The police didnt know because the organizer did not ask for our permission, Tunggul said. (dpk) BY MARC LEVY HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to put a hold on a ruling in the presidential battleground state that extends the deadline in Novembers election to receive and count mailed-in ballots. Republicans, including President Donald Trumps campaign, have opposed such an extension, arguing that it violates federal law that sets Election Day as the first Tuesday in November and that such a decision constitutionally belongs to lawmakers, not the court. Republicans also object to a portion of the state courts ruling that orders counties to count ballots that arrive during the three-day extension period even if they lack a postmark or legible postmark, unless there is proof they were mailed after polls closed. This is an open invitation to voters to cast their ballots after Election Day, thereby injecting chaos and the potential for gamesmanship into what was an orderly and secure schedule of clear, bright-line deadlines, lawyers for the Senates two top Republicans wrote. The state Democratic Party and its allies had sought an extension of Pennsylvanias Election Day deadline to count mailed ballots as their voters are requesting mail ballots at a nearly 3-to-1 ratio over Republicans. In its Sept. 17 ruling, the divided state Supreme Court said ballots must be postmarked by the time polls close and be received by county election boards at 5 p.m. on Nov. 6, three days after the Nov. 3 election. The court cited warnings about Postal Service delays in making huge numbers of ballots late and surging demand for mailed ballots during the coronavirus pandemic to invoke the power, used previously by the states courts, to extend election deadlines during a disaster emergency. In another battleground state won narrowly by Trump in 2016, a federal appeals court on Sunday halted a lower courts order to extend counting mailed-in ballots in Wisconsin by six days after election day. The halt is a victory for Republicans and Trump over Democrats and their allies seeking more time as a way to help deal with an expected historic high number of absentee ballots. The filing with the nations highest court comes as Pennsylvania counties, including Philadelphia and Allegheny, have begun sending out ballots to registered voters who asked to vote by mail. It also comes less than two days after Trump, at a rally at Harrisburg International Airport, said the only way he can lose Pennsylvania is if Democrats cheat as part of his long-running effort to discredit voting by mail. Theyre going to try to steal the election. ... The only they way to win Pennsylvania frankly is to cheat on the ballots, Trump said Saturday at a rally attended by thousands. In accusing Democrats of cheating, Trump also again seized on a matter that emerged last week in northeastern Pennsylvania where, according to a county official there, a temporary election worker mistakenly threw away nine mailed-in military ballots in the election office. Seven were completed ballots cast for Trump, according to federal investigators. There were no accusations of election fraud from authorities investigating it, although Trumps campaign quickly touted it as Democrats trying to steal the election. It still wasnt clear, however, how or why they ended up in the trash, and Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said Monday that his administration is still trying to find that out. He also pointed that voting by mail has been going on in Pennsylvania for a long time although a year-old law greatly expanded it and he suggested that Trump is calling it fraudulent because he is losing. I certainly understand the idea of the side that appears to be losing would call foul on the process, Wolf said. But the commonwealth is doing everything we can do make sure the elections are fair and every ballot is counted, just as we did back in the primary with this new system. ___ Associated Press writer Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report. A solider in Karabakh's army fires artillery rounds towards an Azerbaijani position on September 28 - AFP Turkey raised the spectre of full-blown war in the flashpoint Caucus region of Nagorno Karabakh on Tuesday after vowing to help its ally Azerbaijan seize the disputed territory back from Armenian control. As fighting in the region raged for a third day, Turkey said it was fully committed to helping Azerbaijan take back its occupied lands, which Azeris were driven out of during the civil war of the early 1990s. The bellicose statements - made by a spokesman for the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan - will fuel fears that Azerbaijan intends a full-scale military incursion into Nagorno Karabakh. Around 100 people have now died since fighting broke out on Sunday. Armenia claimed on Tuesday that a Turkish F-16 fighter jet had shot down one of its own warplanes, a claim denounced as propaganda by Azerbaijan. Azeri bombardments were also reported to have killed a civilian in a village in the Armenian town of Vardenis, which lies well to the west of Nagorno Karabakh in Armenia proper. The attack on Armenian sovereign soil was regarded as another potentially serious escalation in the hostilities. Local officials in Nagorno Karabakh now claim that 86 servicemen have so far died. More than 100 people have now died in fighting between the two nations - Shutterstock This is a life-and-death war, declared Arayik Harutyunyan, the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan said that 12 Azeri civilians had been killed and 35 wounded so far. Meanwhile, as other world powers appealed for calm, leaders in both Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged heated insults, portraying each other as tyrants who were leading their nations into pointless conflict. If the international community is not capable of stopping Armenia's reckless dictator, then Azerbaijan will do it, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliev in televised remarks aimed at Armenia's president, Armen Sarkissian. He later rejected any talks with his counterpart. Armenia's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, in turn accused Mr Aliev of running a dictatorship which ran on Armenophobia. Story continues A Tweet from Armenia's foreign ministry declared: This genocidal Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance is serious threat to the region. The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet Tuesday for emergency talks to defuse the conflict between the two ex-Soviet republics. Diplomats fear a repeat of the bloodshed that took place when Nagarno Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, when around 30,000 people died. While the conflict has largely frozen since, many analysts fear that oil-rich Azerbaijan - which now has drone weaponry capable of knocking out the Armenian tank units that defend Nagorno Karabakh's mountainous terrain - may now be tempted to take it back with Turkish backing. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have long range missiles that are capable of hitting each others major cities. Russia has troops based in Armenia and has signed a Nato-style style treaty to defend it from outside attack. However, it also maintains good relations with Azerbaijan and would be reluctant to see the conflict escalate, especially if it led to Turkey gaining a greater regional foothold. The Kremlin urged Turkey and the warring sides to pursue a peaceful settlement of this conflict, while the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, called for negotiations as quickly as possible. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh under the so-called Minsk Group, but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010. On Tuesday, Turkish security sources also claimed that Armenia had hired Syrian Kurdish fighters as mercenaries to defend Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia has likewise accused Turkey of hiring Syrian jihadists to fight on the Azeri side. PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HotForex, the internationally acclaimed multi-asset broker on CFDs, has raised the bar in the FX industry since the company has received two prestigious titles from International Business Magazine, the "Best Trading Experience Africa 2020" and the "Best Client Fund Security Africa 2020", in recognition of the quality of the trading experience and the high levels of fund security provided to its traders and investors across Africa. Since the company's inception, its mission and business strategy have remained 100% client-focused. The range of products and services is very wide providing a rewarding trading experience and a more professional trading environment for traders. The company also complies with a strict regulatory framework and is constantly refining practices to ensure the highest possible levels of reassurance for clients and their funds. Negative balance protection, a market leading civil liability insurance program and segregation of funds are some of the measures HotForex has taken in order to provide a comforting and secure environment for clients. HotForex CEO commented: "We are all very pleased and honored for this great achievement. It is an affirmation that we always put our clients at the core of our business. We welcome these awards and continue to work hard towards meeting the demands of our clients." About HotForex With its origins dating back to 2010, HotForex is the brand name of HF Markets Group which encompasses global and regulated entities which are operating as multi-asset brokers offering both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. HotForex is continuously establishing its position as a market leader, a fact affirmed by: Over 2,000,000 Live Accounts Opened More than 40 International Awards Client Support in 27+ Languages Top Fund Security Measures To learn more about HotForex, please visit our website by clicking here. Risk warnings: Trading Leveraged Products such as Forex and Derivatives may not be suitable for all investors as they carry a high degree of risk to your capital. SOURCE HotForex Related Links https://www.hotforex.com Meghan Markle today lost her court fight to block claims she co-operated with the authors of an explosive book about her private life or allowed her friends to. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is accused of feeding personal information to the writers of 'Finding Freedom,' to 'set out her own version of events in a way that is favourable to her.' The High Court ruling by Judge Francesca Kaye means that the book will now feature as evidence in Meghan's high stakes privacy battle against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online. It also means that she could be questioned under oath about her involvement with the book, which tells the story about her life with the Duke of Sussex. Meghan Markle today lost her court fight to block claims she co-operated with the authors of 'Finding Freedom', an explosive book about her private life The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is accused of feeding personal information to Omid Scobie (left) and Carolyn Durand (right), the writers of 'Finding Freedom,' to 'set out her own version of events in a way that is favourable to her Meghan launched a legal action against the Mail on Sunday and its publisher after her father Thomas (together when she was a teenager) shared a letter she sent him after her wedding Meghan is suing the Mail on Sunday for publishing in February 2019 extracts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle. She claimed that it breached her 'deepest and most private thoughts and feelings,' and that she had not given permission for the letter to be made public. Meghan denies that she helped with the book 'Finding Freedom,' which the newspaper argues she collaborated with the authors on, was published in August, weeks after lawyers for the newspaper had submitted its defence. Last week in a pre-trial hearing the publishers Associated Newspapers asked the High Court for permission to include her alleged co-operation in 'Finding Freedom' as part of their defence when the trial starts on January 11. The Duchess's own legal costs are predicted to be 1.8million for the ten-day trial, when she is also expected to give evidence. Her legal costs for the pre-trial hearing were revealed to be 'just under' 140,000 and she was also ordered to pay the newspaper's costs of 39,000. Lawyers for the newspaper claimed it was 'difficult to see' how Meghan could complain about extracts of her letter to her estranged father being published when she and Harry had helped with 'Finding Freedom,' which exposed their private thoughts and feelings. At the preliminary hearing, Antony White QC said the biography 'gives every appearance of having been written with their extensive co-operation'. 'The book contains a great deal of detailed information about [Meghan's] personal life, including a number of passages referring to her relationship and communications with her father, and a section referring to the letter which is at the heart of this case,' he added. Barrister Justin Rushbrooke (pictured left) is now representing Meghan in the High Court after Meghan dropped her lawyer David Sherborne (right) He argued that the Duchess, either directly or through friends, allowed the bombshell book to use intimate details to paint a 'favourable' picture of her life. Meghan's lawyer Justin Rushbrooke QC asked for permission to appeal against the ruling allowing the amendments to the Mail on Sunday's defence. The barrister said the 'inherent improbability' of Meghan having co-operated with the authors of the biography could be demonstrated by 'simply comparing what the defendant's own articles said with what the book said about the letter' to her estranged father. Judge Francesca Kaye refused permission to appeal against her ruling, but Meghan's lawyers could still pursue an appeal to the Court of Appeal. At last week's preliminary hearing,Meghan'slawyers denied that she co-operated with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand on the book and that any reference to her letter in it were simply extracts that were actually taken from the Mail on Sunday article. They also denied that she used her friends to influence press and public opinion. In a written submission, Mr Rushbrooke QC, said: 'The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book.' Thomas Markle with a baby Meghan Markle. A picture shown in the Channel 5 documentary called Thomas Markle: My Story, that aired earlier this year Thomas Markle showing souvenirs he keeps on mantlepiece of Harry and Meghan from the wedding he was unable to attend. Father and daughter have not spoken since He added that neither Meghan nor Harry to spoke to Mr Scobie or Ms Durand, who he said, 'were not given the impression that the claimant wanted the contents of the letter to be reproduced in the book'. Mr Rushbrooke will reportedly be representing Meghan for the remainder of the case after she dropped his colleague, David Sherborne. The High Court ruling also means that Mr Scobie will also be asked to give evidence in the case, after he submitted a statement maintaining that Meghan did not co-operate in the writing of the book. Advertisement The city of Cleveland set up barriers and called in the National Guard in anticipation of protests and riots ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday evening. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are preparing to square off in Ohio, just five weeks before the election. The 90-minute debate will into six segments, selected by Fox News' Chris Wallace, who is moderating. Pictures show preparations underway in the city Monday after the mayor, Frank Jackson, urged protesters to remain peaceful. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent 300 members from the Ohio National Guard to the city. The secret service, the lead agency for security at the event, set up a perimeter around the Samson Pavilion, the building where the debate will be held. There are numerous road closures in place. Mayor Jackson said: 'Cleveland has been a peaceful city lately so lets keep it that way and show the people the way Cleveland is.' Lt. Col. Audrey Fielding of the Ohio National Guard added: 'Members of this task force are specifically trained and equipped and prepared to support law enforcement in protection tasks.' Military trucks have arrived on the scene Monday and images show there is a heavy police presence on the Cleveland Clinic campus where the two candidates will meet. Overhead on Monday a small plane circled the area with a 'Black Lives Matter' sign. Public Safety Director Karrie Howard said: 'I assure the citizens of Cleveland that we have taken every precaution to make sure that while people exercise their First Amendment right to free speech, it will be done in a safe and secure manner.' Police are said to be on 12-hour shifts with days off canceled. Pictures show preparations underway in the city Monday after the mayor, Frank Jackson, urged protesters to remain peaceful. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent 300 members from the Ohio National Guard to the city The secret service is the lead agency for security inside a perimeter set up around the the Samson Pavilion Military trucks have arrived on the scene and there is a heavy police presence on the Cleveland Clinic campus where the two candidates will meet. Overhead on Monday a small plane circled the area with a 'Black Lives Matter' sign Donald Trump, right, and Joe Biden, left, are preparing to square off in Ohio, just five weeks before the election The 90-minute debate will be divided into six segments: the pandemic, the economy, the Supreme Court, election integrity, the candidates' records, and 'race and violence in our cities.' A report from the New York Times on Sunday that revealed Trump paid $750 in income tax in 2016 also will likely come up. Polls show Biden leading Trump nationally and in a number of key battleground states. 'I am looking very forward to the debate,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. The televised debate is likely to focus in part on Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, and his push to fill the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the high court. It is the first of three scheduled presidential debates. Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, will debate in October. The re-emergence of Trump's tax history as an election issue - in 2016 he broke a decades-old tradition of presidential nominees releasing their tax returns when seeking the White House - offers Biden another avenue of attack Tuesday evening. The former vice president is trying to turn the tables on Trump, who ran successfully as an economic populist four years ago and is regarded by some observers as having an edge among voters on the issue of who would best manage the economy. In recent days, Biden has characterized the race as a clash between Scranton, the working-class Pennsylvania city where he spent part of his childhood, and Park Avenue. Trump Tower, which serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization, is located near that tony boulevard in Manhattan. Within hours of the New York Times report, Biden's campaign had released a video listing the thousands of dollars in income tax typically paid by an elementary school teacher, firefighter, construction manager and registered nurse, before contrasting Trump's reported $750 bill in 2017. The campaign also started selling stickers that say, 'I Paid More In Taxes Than Donald Trump.' Trump has painted his economic record in glowing terms, saying his policies were responsible for boosting growth and reducing U.S. unemployment to near 50-year lows prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. His message, however, has been badly dented by the virus-triggered recession, which has put millions of Americans out of work. Democrats say Trump has mishandled the U.S. response and embraced policies that favored corporations and the rich. Public Safety Director Karrie Howard said: 'I assure the citizens of Cleveland that we have taken every precaution to make sure that while people exercise their First Amendment right to free speech, it will be done in a safe and secure manner' The stage of the first US Presidential debate is seen at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic on Monday Tuesday's clash in Cleveland, Ohio, the first of three 90-minute debates, represents the first time voters will have the chance to see the candidates facing off against one another directly Preparations take place for the first Presidential debate outside the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion Biden is proposing to hike the corporate income tax and raise taxes on people making more than $400,000 if elected. Trump, who signed a $1.5 trillion Republican-sponsored package of tax cuts in late 2017, accuses his opponent of pushing a far-left agenda that will destroy the economy. The president has said since the 2016 campaign that his refusal to release his federal income tax returns is because he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service, but the agency has said there is no reason he cannot release his taxes while under audit. Both candidates are set to scuffle over Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump is using his pick to rally his conservative voter base and distract from his record on the coronavirus and other matters, while Biden is warning of threats to health care and abortion rights. For Biden, the debate will serve as sort of a reintroduction. While he has held limited events in some states and given media interviews, the coronavirus pandemic has largely rendered him off stage for months. Trump in a tweet on Sunday went as far as to suggest Biden will be on performance-enhancing drugs during the debate, signaling that perhaps there is little he will not do or say to rattle Biden and disrupt the proceedings. Mounted police patrol around the Samson Pavilion as workers prepare for the first presidential debate The Samson Pavilion on the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic, where the debate takes place Chris Wallace, the 72-year-old 'Fox News Sunday' presenter, is the only host this fall who has been there before. Trump has decided to skip formal preparation, though he said Sunday that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his former 2016 primary rival, Chris Christie, are helping him. 'We had a little debate prep before we came here,' Trump told reporters as Giuliani and Christie looked on in the press briefing room at the White House. And while Biden's team believes the significance of the debate may be exaggerated, the Democratic nominee has been aggressively preparing to take on the president. Biden's campaign has been holding mock debate sessions featuring Bob Bauer, a senior Biden adviser and former White House general counsel, playing the role of Trump, according to a person with direct knowledge of the preparations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy. Bauer has not actually donned a Trump costume in line with Trump stand-ins from previous years, but he is representing his style and expected strategy. Stand in rehearse on stage for Tuesday night's first president debate at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic The first debate will be 90 minutes long with no commercials and start at 9 pm ET Technicians run tests ahead of Tuesday night's debate. Donald Trump keeps up barrage of demands Joe Biden take a 'drug test' before debate There will be no opening statements and the first question will go to Trump. There will be a 'small' audience in the room, all of whom will be tested for COVID, according to Peter Ayre, senior adviser to the Commission on Presidential Debates. Once on stage Tuesday night, neither the candidates nor the moderator will wear masks. It's unclear, however, if Biden will come out wearing one. The former vice president has been cautious in his public outings, limiting the crowd size and making sure white circles on the ground keep attendees socially distanced. He is often masked when outside. The Astros have designated right-hander Joe Biagini for assignment, general manager James Click announced to reporters prior to todays opening round against the Twins (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). His roster spot will go to outfielder Chas McCormick who has been included on Houstons postseason roster. McCormick becomes the third player promoted to the big leagues for a potential postseason MLB debut today joining Minnesotas Alex Kirilloff and Tampa Bays Shane McClanahan. McCormick was a 21st-round pick for the Astros in the 2017 draft, and he has made a relatively quick trip up Houstons minor league ladder, already reaching Triple-A ball in 2019. Over 1126 plate appearances in the minors, the 25-year-old McCormick has hit .276/.360/.400, with 20 homers and 41 steals (out of 53 chances). MLB Pipeline rates McCormick as the 24th-best prospect in the Astros farm system, citing his solid raw power, ability to play all three outfield positions, and a grinder makeup [that] allows him to get the most out of his tools. The Astros starting outfield mix is heavy in left-handed hitters, so McCormicks right-handed bat will provide a bit of balance if necessary off the bench. Myles Straw is the only other right-handed hitting outfielder on Houstons postseason roster, though backup infielder Aledmys Diaz has played a handful of games in the outfield over his career. Its been a tough year for Biagini, who only appeared in four games due to a shoulder injury and then a demotion to the Astros alternate training site. Biagini allowed damage in all four of his outings, finishing with a ghastly 20.77 ERA over 4 1/3 innings of work. The righty is arbitration-eligible this winter (his third of four trips as a Super Two player), but Biaginis struggles both in 2020 and even since joining the Astros last season make him seem like a non-tender candidate. Advertisement Air Ambulance paramedics could be using rocket-powered suits to find and treat injured or stranded ramblers on mountains in the lake district as soon as next summer, after a successful test flight. The flying suit, developed by inventor Richard Browning, was put through its paces at Langdale Pike where he flew over difficult terrain at heights of up to 20ft searching for a group of ramblers. As part of a test run, it was able to reach the peak 3,117ft peak of Helvellyn mountain in under eight minutes - it would take a helicopter three times as long and a paramedic on foot would take at least an hour. Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) have been in discussions with Browning to use the jetsuit for more than a year up to this test flight and suggest the first official use could be as early as next summer. The Marvel Iron Man-inspired jet suits sell for 340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them. Amazing footage shows a 'real life Iron Man' Richard Browning demonstrating how Air Ambulance medics could rescue stranded ramblers in just minutes using a jet pack The jet suits sell for 340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them Andy Mawson, Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) director of operations saw the potential for the jet suits in the Lakes and other rugged terrain covered by GNAAS when he saw footage of Browning flying in the suit online. GNAAS and Gravity have been in discussions for a year, culminating in the test flight two weeks ago that saw a simulated rescue at Langdale on The Band, Bowfell. The ambulance service stressed it was only a test flight but what looked like science fiction is soon expected to become science fact. GNAAS is carrying out a few modifications to the jet pack suit before it is anticipated to be used for real as early as next summer. Mawson, said the biggest benefit to be gained from a jet pack is speed as they will allow first responders to reach an injured person, or locate a missing group, more quickly than other methods. Andy Mawson, Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) director of operations saw the potential for the jet suits in the Lakes and other rugged terrain covered by GNAAS when he saw footage of Browning flying in the suit online GNAAS and Gravity have been in discussions for a year, culminating in the test flight two weeks ago that saw a simulated rescue at Langdale on The Band, Bowfell The suit's inventor Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity Industries, has been compared to Iron Man's fictional inventor Tony Stark in the Marvel comics 'If the idea takes off, the flying paramedic will be armed with a medical kit, with strong pain relief for walkers who may have suffered fractures, and a defibrillator for those who may have suffered a heart attack. 'In a jet pack, what might have taken up to an hour to reach the patient may only take a few minutes, and that could mean the difference between life and death.' He added that from personal experience carrying a medical kit up the side of a mountain is difficult - not because of the distance but the gradients involved. The suit was put through its paces by Browning on Langdale Pike where he flew over difficult terrain at heights of up to 20ft searching for a party of walkers The jet suits sell for 340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them 'But with a rapid response car and this jet suit we are going to see a sea change in the way we deliver remote medicine,' he said. In its present form the jet pack can fly for five minutes at a time - but even with that limitation it can reduce a rescue that would take 25 minutes on foot to 90 seconds. Mawson explained that if someone had a cardiac arrest at the top of Helvellyn they could have a defibrillator to them within eight minutes using a jet pack. 'As things stand now our aircraft would be first on the scene and that could take 20 to 25 minutes,' he added. The ambulance service stressed it was only a test flight but what looked like science fiction is soon expected to become science fact In its present form the jet pack can fly for five minutes at a time - but even with that limitation it can reduce a rescue that would take 25 minutes on foot to 90 seconds. Mawson explained that if someone had a cardiac arrest at the top of Helvellyn they could have a defibrillator to them within eight minutes using a jet pack 'Nobody in the world would expect as an air ambulance we could get to someone in a jet suit in a matter of minutes and get them pain relief or in the worst cases save someone's life.' The suit's inventor Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity Industries, has been compared to Iron Man's fictional inventor Tony Stark in the Marvel comics. He said it is 'very safe' and you only go to a height where if you fell you would be able to recover, adding 'it would not be a terrible injury'. The jet pack can go over 50 miles per hour if necessary and can go up to 80ft above water but above ground they don't go over about 20ft due to the 'hard landing'. The Coronavirus and Neglect in Cuba: A Familys Ordeal at Several Hospitals 'I confess that at first I was excited, thinking that this time theyd do a good job, but now I'm sure of one thing: they're lying.' I confess that at first I was excited, thinking that they would do a good job, that for once in the history of socialism in Cuba they would overcome the injurious apathy and shoddiness with which we do everything, and they would control the epidemic satisfactorily. "Their continuance in power is at stake if the virus breaks out," I told myself. After all, if they have been able to do one thing for 60 years, it is to maintain power. This delusion lasted until recently. The worst scenario for Cuba - as I understood it - was that the this natural disorder, in the form of the virus, would converge with human chaos, in the form of socialist inefficiency, which we have cultivated for decades. I am afraid that this is the scenario that is unfolding, as two families' experiences confirm it, both of them experiencing that threshold that is death. The first event occurred in August, when my 92-year-old grandmother developed symptoms of a respiratory infection. At the polyclinic, instead of showing concern and suspecting the virus, as the official propaganda would suggest, the doctor prescribed rest and the antibiotic that we had at home (at pharmacies there has been nothing for a long time), which was ciprofloxacin. My grandmother did not improve. A few days later she suffered an episode marked by shortness of breath and high fever. She fell out of bed and suffered a small wound on her forehead. At the Calixto Garcia Hospital ER they focused on the small wound on her forehead instead of on her respiratory infection. A young neurologist stitched it badly and told us that she could not have pneumonia because "she hasnt been lying down" (from which I deduced that she had spent the entire class on pneumonia in that position, but I bit my tongue). Following this, she sent her home again, and prescribed ciprofloxacin, in the wrong dose. My grandmother was getting worse. A week later she suffered another crisis indicating a probable pulmonary edema - which a veteran doctor at the polyclinic relieved, fortunately. At the Calixto Garcia Hospital they sent us to the area that treats respiratory problems for an evaluation. The unit, known as "Respiratorios" at the Calixto Garcia consists of a small waiting room measuring approximately six square meters for patients with respiratory symptoms to be evaluated and divided into "Covid suspected" or "Not suspected." The former are sent to isolation centers. The latter, if they are ill, are diverted to three or four hospitals designated for them. My grandmother fell into the second category. A sullen male nurse gave me some green cloth boots as protection, and we were taken to a small room to process her transfer. There we learned that hospitals designated for "non-Covid" patients were overwhelmed. Patients not affected by the epidemic, I thought at the time, must be suffering in silence, because all the resources are being dedicated to the crisis. Thus, the wait lasted all night. On a stretcher that I placed right up against the wall, I tried to make my grandmother comfortable and prepared to protect us from anyone who might enter, considering them all potential Covid carriers. The first to arrive was a young man with asthma, in need of an inhaler. Then they brought in a woman in a sorry state who was coughing incessantly, with a dry hacking (like that characterizing the new coronavirus) and taking her symptoms and mask carelessly. They took her to an isolation center. I did not have time to warn the next patient's companion not to sit in the same dirty chair where the previous woman had been, as I was concentrated on fixing my grandmother's mask and wondering whether the new arrival would also have the lethal virus. I hope they cleaned the chair when I told them. Her mother apparently had cancer. We were at a huge school/hospital opened in 1896, but the doctors had no medicine. They could not prescribe medicines, they told us, because "the section wasn't for that." My grandmother spent the night without any food, or antibiotics, and hardly a diagnosis. She is a strong woman, as we will see. Her Galician blood drives her to walk a lot, still, and to oblige us to do her will, despite her dementia. This determination is the only explanation I can find for her survival. The next day was a nightmare for my parents. At 10 in the morning (with a little milk that we brought and without any medication) an ambulance finally appeared and took them to La Dependiente, with a promise that she would be admitted. They waited in the sun for an hour at the entrance to the clinic, only to learn that there was no bed available. Then began the negotiations between the ambulance staff, their bosses and the head of the ER at Calixto Garcia. The latter did not want to re-admit my grandmother. The ER was full, he said, and at Calixto it was against the rules to admit cases with respiratory problems. He wanted them to take her to the Clinica de 26 (our corresponding death trap, unfortunately, assigned based on ones municipality), he said, because my grandmother was from Playa, not from Central Habana. My parents protested, shouting that they did not admit patients with respiratory problems there either, and that they had killed my sister there five years before. The head of the ambulance staff decided to take her back to where they had picked her up, as it was not their problem. Back in Calixto "Respiratorios" did not want to admit her, and the head of the ER continued to refuse. The ambulance personnel forced her into the first opening they saw, where, luckily, they found a Colombian doctor who realized that my grandmother was dying, presenting low blood pressure and very low oxygen saturation level too. They had no choice but to accept her in the ER admissions room, making a space between beds for her wheelchair. Right there in the hallway, they gave her non-invasive oxygen, an IV, and an antibiotic. As at the entire Calixto Garcia teaching hospital, expanded in 1920, there was neither penicillin, or any strong antibiotics, it was necessary to resort to cirprofloxacin again, this time intravenously. Several hours passed, of sun, urine and languishing, until finally they got La Dependiente to admit my grandmother. So, off we went again. The sanatorium that we still call La Dependiente, despite its current decline, is one of the most pleasant such sites in the city. Created in 1884 by the Asociacion de Dependientes del Comercio de la Habana, it still preserves the atmosphere of the country estate from which it evolved. Far from the madding crowd, fresh air wafts through the trees, and one could feel at peace there, and write The Magic Mountain... if it were not for everything else. The hospital folklore with which we are all familiar - which includes fans because there are mosquitoes, buckets but no water, bathrooms but no soap, etc. - is now aggravated at many of them because the patients are isolated. No one is allowed in, except for one companion per patient. In normal situations, as family members we make up for these deficiencies with what we bring from home. Not now. The first few days my grandmother got by on an IV and some food that we were able to smuggle in. But, the last two days, when their vigilance increased and the IV was removed, my grandmother was subjected to a concoction that hospitals call "basal formula", which is like a kind of gray water one would feel guilty to give his dog. Thus, my grandmother was fading. Her voice, usually deep and commanding, was reduced to a pleading murmur. Fortunately, we took her away as soon as possible, and she survived. What spurred me to write this chronicle was not, however, my grandmother's harrowing episode. I was going to let the whole thing go, because sometimes one is weary of sharing so much misfortune. What convinced me to speak out was one with a sadder ending, but features similar to what we suffered very recently as a family, and one that heralds worse misfortunes to come. On September 3, a cousin of my mother, in Ciego de Avila, went to the doctor because he was short of breath, had a fever and felt weak. As with my grandmother, they diagnosed a common respiratory infection and sent him home. This was the week during which Ciego de Avila returned to Phase 1 because the virus had spread and two hospitals, the provincial Antonio Luaces and Roberto Rodriguez, in Moron, were reserved for infected workers. Between September 3 and 5 my mother's cousin returned to the doctor again, and was sent home again. Finally, on Saturday the 5th his wife realized that his condition was too serious for him to stay there, and managed to get him admitted at Luaces. This facility, however, was not equipped to treat him. Upon checking the patient's condition, the doctors decided to send him to Moron, to see if they could connect him to a ventilator there (it should be noted that patients in serious condition like him should not be moved, as their conditions deteriorate). At Moron they found out that they could not admit him there, as there was no space. Thus, they considered taking him to Camaguey. At some point during this hesitation the ambulance staff decided to return to Ciego de Avila, reasoning that the patient might not endure such a long journey. No family member was traveling in the ambulance because they were warned that they would have to undergo a strict quarantine if they did. The relatives who remained in Ciego looked on as the father, the husband, and the brother disembarked at the Luaces hospital again, "white as a ghost," they say, due to lack of air. They didn't let anyone in behind him, disappearing with the stretcher down a corridor to return shortly thereafter with the news that my mother's cousin had passed away. That was September 7, 2020. They still did not know if he had had coronavirus, or whether the rest of the family had it either. When the results of the PCR were available, three days later, Dr. Duran reported the death in his televised press conference: "We must mourn the death of (...) a 58-year-old patient, also from the province of Ciego from Avila, with little comorbidity, high blood pressure. He was admitted on September 3 ... that is, the symptoms began on September 3. He was admitted. The disease was confirmed. Initially... Since admission he presented signs of shortness of breath, and fever. His evolution was poor, and this patient died yesterday, despite all the efforts and the use of all the treatments established to save his life. I reiterate our condolences to his family ... and, as I always say to the entire Cuban population, and to all of us working directly against this disease, it is difficult for us to announce these unfortunate deaths." The deceased had to be him, my mother's cousin. He was the only 58-year-old patient who died of coronavirus in Ciego de Avila that week. He had only suffered from high blood pressure, and on September 3 he officially reported symptoms for the first time. While Dr. Duran lied so glibly, our cousin's wife was also showing symptoms, and had not been tested yet or anything. Not her, or her close relatives, or co-worker, or anyone ... It was not until four days after his death that they came to interview them properly, to administer the tests and to isolate them. They have not been this careful, however, with all suspected cases. There were relatives who were close to the patient the whole time, and who have been ignored until today. This is the kind of neglect and negligence that we have always exhibited and suffered the consequences of. And years of malpractice and medical negligence, with impunity, have exacerbated it. The reward and punishment mechanisms that those in use in situations like these, it seems, no longer work. Perhaps because too much time has passed since the beginning of the crisis, and the necessary tension has been lost. Thus, their remaining solution is the usual one: repression, dictating exaggerated restriction measures (with less than 40 daily cases on average in Havana, we are under a curfew and very isolated) and hoping for the best. Now Im sure of one thing: theyre lying. Teacher are pushing left-wing views in classrooms and putting working-class pupils off school with ideas at odds with their familys beliefs, a former Conservative cabinet minister has claimed. Tory MP Esther McVey, the ex-work and pensions secretary, suggested at a panel event that Britains pupils were now being indoctrinated in schools. She said: I would say for a long period of time, I would never have known what my teacher thought, politically or in any other way. They wouldnt have tried to indoctrinate me. I am now hearing that people arent teaching you what they need to theyre overly indoctrinating you. Its gone political, people are saying it has gone to the left, theyre forcing ideas on you. Ms McVey told the Blue Collar Conservatism conference in Mansfield: I think [it] needs to be removed from the whole educational system a left-learning bias or an educational bias in the whole of the education platform. The Tory MP for Tatton also suggested white working-class lads were particularly turned off by ideas at odds with their familys beliefs on Brexit. The reason I bring that up, when we talk again about white working-class lads maybe being disengaged, Im thinking about what was the vote in Mansfield? What was the vote in Ashfield? It was a very big Brexit vote, Ms McVey told the audience. And Im thinking to myself, are people thinking, Why do I want to be engaged in a classroom if somebody doesnt think like me, doesnt vote like me, and you know what, theyre now telling me what is it and questioning my belief or my familys beliefs. She added: And thats why I think you need to remove all of that from the classroom. In a later question and answer session at the conference, education secretary Gavin Williamson said political impartiality needed to be respected in the classroom. Gavin Williamson spoke out against no platforming at conference in Mansfield (PA) Mr Williamson, who was not asked about the current Covid-19 cases spike at UK universities in a pre-recorded interview with Ms McVey, said: Weve got to ensure there is political impartiality right across the spectrum. Educational organisations are state funded and youve got to ensure that you do have that impartiality and that you've got to make sure there is a broad spectrum of views. Im sure youve spoken about it, Ive spoken about it, of the importance of freedom of speech, of making sure people arent no platformed. The cabinet minister said the idea of no platforming mainstream politicians shouldnt be tolerated in higher education calling the decision by an Oxford University society in March to cancel a talk by former home secretary Amber Rudd as crazy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 16:25:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close URUMQI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Financial institutions in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have provided 201.2 billion yuan (about 29.5 billion U.S. dollars) of loans to 26,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by August this year, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Outstanding loans to Xinjiang's small and micro businesses reached 417.8 billion yuan as of August, up 30.6 percent year on year, according to the Urumqi central sub-branch of the People's Bank of China. To ease the pressure of repaying loans for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, 100 local financial institutions had postponed principal repayment of about 2.4 billion yuan for more than 1,800 market entities as of Sept. 11. Xinjiang has introduced 18 measures to support the development of small and micro enterprises this year to create a favorable business environment in the region. Enditem The U.K. and Canada on Tuesday announced they would impose sanctions on Belarus dictator Aleksander Lukashenko and members of his government for violence against protesters in the wake of August's rigged election. Why it matters: The sanctions against the Belarus strongman represent the first major penalties enacted by Western powers since a post-election crackdown in which Lukashenko's security forces have brutalized protesters and detained major opposition figures. The state of play: The U.S., U.K., Canada and the European Union no longer recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate leader of Belarus, but he has continued to cling to power throughout 50 straight days of protests with the help of Russia. The big picture: The sanctions fall under British and Canadian laws crafted in the model of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which targets alleged human rights abusers by freezing their assets and imposing visa bans. The EU plans to introduce its own Magnitsky Act and sought last week to pass sanctions against Belarus, but failed after Cyprus, one of the bloc's smallest member states, objected due to an unrelated matter. its own Magnitsky Act and sought last week to pass sanctions against Belarus, but failed after Cyprus, one of the bloc's smallest member states, objected due to an unrelated matter. The Trump administration signaled earlier this month that it would also impose targeted sanctions on Belarusians responsible for election violence. What they're saying: U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab: "Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We dont accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights." "Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We dont accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights." Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne: "Canada will not stand by silently as the Government of Belarus continues to commit systematic human rights violations and shows no indication of being genuinely committed to finding a negotiated solution with opposition groups." Go deeper: The EU may soon get its own Magnitsky Act to target human rights abusers A spike in killings committed by people suffering severe mental health issues could have been avoided if they had been adequately treated, a report has found. The states Chief Psychiatrist Nathan Gibson released a report last week responding to a 2018 spike in homicides, pointing out that in a number of cases it had been clear that the mental state of the individuals involved had been deteriorating. WA's Chief Psychiatrist has found better mental health care for alleged murderers could've saved lives. Credit:File photo/Justin McManus There were nine homicides committed by seven people who had been in contact with WA mental health services that year. This compared to nine deaths over the preceding three years. Of the nine victims, seven were family members, one was a mental health worker and one was a person unknown to the accused. By Trend The curfew will be imposed in Azerbaijans Baku, Ganja, Sumgayit, Yevlakh, Mingachevir, Naftalan cities, as well as in Absheron, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Aghjabadi, Beylagan, Aghdam, Barda, Tartar, Goranboy, Goygol, Dashkasan, Gazakh and Aghstafa districts from Sept. 28 from 21:00 (GMT+4) to 06:00 (GMT+4), Trend reports. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has published the details related to the martial law and curfew. In particular, some categories of citizens will be allowed to move freely without a special permit, only if they have an official ID. These categories of citizens include: - employees of the Azerbaijani presidential administration - employees of the Administrative Department of the President of Azerbaijan - employees of the Special Medical Service - employees of the Office of the Cabinet of Ministers - employees of the Administrative Department of the Cabinet of Ministers - employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense - employees of the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry - employees of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office - employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice - court staff, lawyers - employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations - employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health - employees of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, as well as foreign diplomatic missions - employees of the State Customs Committee - employees of the Security Service of the President of Azerbaijan - employees of the Azerbaijani State Security Service - employees of the Azerbaijani Foreign Intelligence Service - employees of the Special Communication and Information Security State Agency - employees of the State Agency for the Protection of Strategic Facilities - employees of the State Border Service - employees of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription - employees of Azerbaijans Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB), the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance, as well as public and private medical institutions - staff of Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks ended lower on Tuesday as concerns over rising coronavirus cases across the world and the continued uncertainty about a Brexit deal rendered the mood bearish. Investors, who were closely following the progress on new U.S. fiscal stimulus package, also looked ahead to the debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, now Democratic Presidential candidate, due later in the day. The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.52%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.51%, Germany's DAX ended down 0.35% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.23%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.77%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain closed with sharp to moderate losses. Czech Republic and Norway declined marginally. Denmark closed notably higher, while Sweden and Turkey edged up marginally. Iceland ended flat. In the UK market, Ferguson shares gained 5.3%. National Grid gained 4.2%. Mondi, Ashtead Group, Smiths, Halma, Fresnillo, Standard Life, GVC Holdings and Ocado Group ended higher by 1 to 3.5%. Rolls-Royce Holdings shed more than 5%. British Land Company, TUI, HomeServe, IAG, HSBC Holdings, J Sainsbury, Standard Chartered, Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco, BP and Royal Dutch Shell lost 2 to 3%. In France, STMicroElectronics ended nearly 2% up. Essilor, Schneider Electric and Legrand moved up 1.5 to 1.8%. LO'real, ArcelorMittal, LVMH and Dassault Systemes also ended higher. On the other hand, Unibail Rodamco declined more than 5%, Renault shed nearly 4%, Accor, Societe Generale and Peugeot lost 3 to 3.6%, while Sodexo, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole ended lower by 2 to 2.8%. In the German market, RWE and Henkel both ended nearly 2% up. Beiersdorf and Infineon Technologies also ended notably higher. Deutsche Bank slipped nearly 3%, while Munich RE, Lufthansa, Thyssenkrupp, Allianz and Bayer lost 1.2 to 2%. In economic news, Eurozone economic confidence index reached a six-month high in September driven by waning pessimism in industry, retail trade, construction and services, survey data from the European Commission showed. The economic confidence index rose to 91.1 in September from 87.5 in August. This was the highest score since March and above economists' forecast of 89.0. Germany's consumer prices declined in September largely due to the reduction in the value added tax, flash estimate from Destatis showed. Consumer prices dropped 0.2% on a yearly basis after staying flat in August. Prices were expected to drop 0.1%. In news from France, consumer confidence in the country remained steady at 95 in September of 2020, the same as an upwardly revised 95 in August. Economists had expected consumer confidence to come in with a reading 94. On the Brexit front, the European Union and Britain have indicated that a post-Brexit deal was still some way off as negotiations recommenced over implementing their Withdrawal Agreement. In U.S. stimulus talks update, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Monday night that the Democrats were unveiling a new $2.2 trillion stimulus package, smaller than initially proposed but still much higher than what Republican leaders have offered. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UIC John Marshall Law School is remembering and celebrating the life and accomplishments of Judge Blanche M. Manning, a 1967 graduate of the Law School, who passed away on September 20. Manning was the first African-American woman elected to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court. During her legal career, Judge Manning held many positions, including working as an Assistant States Attorney for the Cook County States Attorneys Office; serving as a supervisory trial attorney at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; as a general attorney at United Airlines; and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. She also taught at Malcolm X Community College and DePaul University College of Law at various points throughout her career. From 1979 until 1986, Manning served as an associate judge; in 1986, she became a circuit court judge in the Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County. In 1987, she became the first African-American woman elected to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court, and on May 5, 1994, she was nominated by President Clinton to serve as a district court judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She assumed senior status in 2010 and retired in 2012. Judge Manning was a dedicated member of the Black Women Lawyers Association and often held BWLA meetings in her chambers. She was instrumental in planning BWLAs first National Summit of Lawyers. Manning was also an avid jazz musician who played the bass saxophone and clarinet in several bands. She assembled the band, Diversity, composed of musicians of diverse backgrounds, and was a member of the Chicago Bar Association Orchestra. Born in Chicago in 1934, Judge Manning received her bachelors degree from the Chicago Teachers College, her J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, her Masters degree from Roosevelt University and her LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Manning will be greatly missed by the UIC Law community. A 26-year-old Ivorian tech entrepreneur won the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering's prestigious 2020 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Charlette N'Guessan and her team developed a facial recognition software designed to identify black Africans. Charlette N'Guessan - the CEO of her own company, BACE group, based in Ghana - is the first ever woman to win the Africa Prize. The 26-year-old N'Guessan and her Pan African team developed BACE API, a software that uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to verify identities remotely and in real time. The software has been developed specifically to identify Africans. Most of the existing facial recognition technology available struggle to recognise black faces. A United States government study revealed that the current systems misidentify black people at a rate of five to ten times higher than for white people. While facial recognition software isn't new, BACE API specifically uses live images or short videos taken on phone cameras to detect whether the image is of a real person, or matches a photo of an existing image. Users upload a picture of their ID (passport, driver's licence, national ID card) and submit it. They are then asked to take their picture with the camera of their cell phones or web cam of the computer in use. This, in order to match with the face on the document submitted. Helping people with no ID N'Guessan said that she developed BACE API to solve some of the challenges affecting African markets. According to the World Bank's Identification for Development (ID4D) program, more than 40 per cent of people without ID in the world live in Africa. This lack of identity excludes this population from basic services such as access to financial services, voting rights, and education. With BACE, people will be able to apply for online services and get verified remotely in real-time at any time and from anywhere. BACE API asks users to complete multiple video tests to ensure they are actually the human being who is interacting with their platform. Businesses and organisations that provide financial, education, transport, security and various other services are struggling and spending a lot of money to tackle identity verification. N'Guessan and her co-founders developed the software in 2018 after research they did during their studies revealed that Ghana's banks have a significant problem with identity fraud and cybercrime. The research estimated that approximately 400 million dollars is spent annually by Ghanaian financial institutions to identify their customers. The software can be integrated into existing apps and systems and does not need special hardware. Two financial institutions are already using the software to verify customers' identities, and the software is being tested on an event platform to confirm attendee registrations. Covid and remote identification During the global pandemic, BACE API has emerged as a viable alternative to the in-person verification processes used by most businesses, such as fingerprints or personal appearances. Companies can now authenticate and onboard new or existing customers without ever meeting them. The mentorship and training offered by the Royal Academy of Engineering's Africa Prize has helped the team focus more on their business development. Since being shortlisted, the team has defined strategies to improve BACE API's market position. Being part of the Africa Prize has given us such confidence, said N'Guessan. We focus on Africa because we want to make sure BACE API is used by our people, and that it works for them. Alex Hope has revealed how he accessed the details of former PM Tony Abbott An Australian tech expert has revealed a simple step to follow to avoid losing thousands of dollars to slick cyber criminals. Hacker Alex Hope said it was vital for all online users to use the two-factor authentication security process when typing in their personal login details. 'That way each person has their own email (address), password and then you will also be sent a six digit unique code (in a text message) before logging in,' he said on Sunrise. 'It makes it harder for hackers to (potentially) access your details.' Two factor authentication provides an extra layer of security to protect against account hijacking. It also leaves users feeling at ease when they are using personal or business financial websites. Tony Abbott (pictured above) was hacked by Alex Hope after the former PM posted a boarding pass on Instagram back in March Hope also stressed the importance of not inadvertently uploading personal details on different forms of social media. 'I would try to avoid posting any information which could easily identify you,' he said. 'Never post things like your email, personal address or phone number.' Top tips to protect yourself online *Enable Two-Step Authentication * Check a Sites Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate * Dont Save Financial Information on Shopping Sites *Be Careful Who You Trust * Create Strong, Unique Passwords Advertisement In March this year, Hope attracted global headlines after successfully uncovering the details of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott from his Qantas boarding pass in just 45 minutes. It followed the politician sharing a snap of his boarding pass on Instagram. Speaking on a blog post, Hope revealed he was able to access Mr Abbott's personal information by simply using the booking reference printed on the boarding pass. 'In seconds I had Tony Abbott's passport number, phone number and weird Qantas messages about him,' Hope said. 'Anyone who saw that Instagram post could also have them.' Hope then got in contact with Mr Abbott's staff, Qantas and the Australian Signals Directorate, who all thanked him for bringing the issue to their attention. He also spoke to Abbott personally about his online 'detective work', which Hope labelled 'humanising.' 'When Id collected myself from various corners of the room, he (Abbott) asked if there was a book about the basics of IT since he wanted to learn about it. 'It made me realise that even famous people are just people too.' he told SBS' The Feed. Hackers can use personal details to access people's online banking accounts, or pose as them for internet transactions. Online 'hacker' Alex Hope (pictured, left) chatting on Sunrise about the importance of not providing personal details online Former vice president Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the contested battleground of Pennsylvania, buoyed by strong support in the Philadelphia suburbs and his competitiveness in the states western counties that were a Trump stronghold in 2016, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Bidens support stands at 54% to Trumps 45% among the Keystone States likely voters and 54% to 44% among its registered voters. Bidens current edge among likely voters appears sizable but is not definitive, given the five-point margin of error that applies to each candidates support. Other polls of Pennsylvania this month have found Biden leading Trump by an average of eight points. With five weeks until Election Day, the poll finds that 53% of Pennsylvanias registered voters approve of Trumps management of the economy, but 57% disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and that issue appears to sway more voters than does the economy. Trumps overall approval rating in the state among registered voters is 43% positive and 55% negative, with 49% saying they disapprove strongly. Pennsylvania is the most populous of three Rust Belt states that proved decisive in the 2016 election. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania as well as Wisconsin and Michigan by less than one percentage point each. All three states had voted for Democratic presidential nominees in the previous six elections before shifting to Trump. Pennsylvanias 20 electoral votes make it the most valuable of the three, and the Trump and Biden campaigns have focused their resources accordingly in an effort to tip the state in their candidates direction. The candidates, too, have repeatedly campaigned in person in the state, which was home to Bidens headquarters before the pandemic forced it closed. The Post-ABC poll suggests Biden is challenging Trump for support among key groups and areas that drove the presidents 2016 win, including White voters without four-year college degrees, who account for about half of Pennsylvanias electorate. In recent weeks, Biden has pressed the notion that as a Scranton native he has more affinity for blue collar voters than Trump, who was born and raised in wealthy circumstances in New York. Trump has countered that he is their biggest defender. Trump leads Biden by 17 points among this group in the poll, though Trump won them by more than 30 points both nationally and in Pennsylvania four years ago. Biden also boasts a 23-point lead among White college graduates and a 64-point lead among non-White voters, similar to or larger than Clintons advantages with these two groups of voters four years ago. Trumps support in Western Pennsylvania also appears weaker than in 2016. Excluding Democratic-leaning Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, Trump has 50% support to Bidens 47% among registered voters in western counties of the state. In 2016, Trump won these counties by 29 points. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won that region by 16 points on his way to losing the state to President Barack Obama. READ MORE: Women in Pittsburghs wealthy suburbs could help Biden beat Trump in Pennsylvania Trump has sizable leads in central Pennsylvania, where he won decisively in 2016, and has a smaller edge in northeastern Pennsylvania. In the central part of the state, his lead is nearly 30 points, the same as it was in 2016, while in northeastern Pennsylvania, the president receives 56% support, comparable to four years ago. The Trump campaign has made it a priority to turn out even more voters in these areas than in 2016. Biden is strongest in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Post-ABC poll finds the former vice president leading Trump by more than 2 to 1 in the Philadelphia area, including its populous suburbs of Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Clinton won these counties together by a 14-point margin in 2016, and they have grown more Democratic. Statewide, women voters also are core to Bidens support, favoring him by 23 points, while Trump holds a narrow seven-point edge among men. Whatever his current deficit, Trump has a path to holding the state in November if he can replicate what happened four years ago. A month before the 2016 election, several Pennsylvania polls showed Trump trailing by double digits. Clintons lead deteriorated in the final two weeks of that campaign, a time in which her campaign was buffeted by renewed questions about her private email system. Exit polls show that Trump won late-deciding voters by double digits and carried the state by about 45,000 votes, or seven-tenths of a percent. Trump maintains an advantage on enthusiasm, with 71% of registered voters who support him saying they are very enthusiastic about doing so, compared with 51% of Biden supporters. A big enthusiasm gap exists between younger and older Biden supporters. Among those ages 65 and older, 79% say they are very enthusiastic about their support. That compares with 27% among voters under the age of 50. Still, 91% of Biden supporters under age 50 rule out voting for Trump. READ MORE: Another task for Biden: Winning Philly progressives who think the whole system needs to go down Few voters who cast ballots for Trump or Clinton in 2016 are ready to defect, but among those who are there is a slight advantage for Biden. The poll finds that 92% of likely voters who supported Trump four years ago currently support him, but that 8% of them currently support Biden. By contrast, 98% of Clinton voters say they support Biden, with 1% switching to Trump. One-quarter of Pennsylvanias registered voters cite the economy as the most important issue in their vote choice more than any other issue. The coronavirus outbreak is second at 18%, with a trio of issues crime and safety, equal treatment of racial groups, and health care grouped closely behind. Ranking lowest is the next appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, with 9% saying it is their top issue. Trump and Biden supporters view the issues through competing lenses. Among Trump voters, the economy is by far the most important issue, cited by 47%. Crime and safety is next at 22%. Just 3% highlight the coronavirus outbreak. Among Biden supporters, the pandemic is the top issue, cited by 30%, followed by equal treatment of racial groups at 21% and health care at 19%. About 6 in 10 Pennsylvanian likely voters rate the national economy as not so good or poor, and they split 85% to 15% for Biden. The roughly 4 in 10 who say the economy is good or excellent prefer Trump by a comparable margin, 86% to 14%. Although the president has net positive ratings on his handling of the economy, he has no advantage over Biden on the question of who Pennsylvania voters trust to handle the issue going forward. Similarly, views of the coronavirus form a dividing line between the candidates. More than 6 in 10 likely voters in Pennsylvania say they are worried that someone in their immediate family might catch the coronavirus while about a third are not worried and 3% say they or a family member has already caught the virus. Those worried about the coronavirus support Biden, 75% to 24%, while those who are not worried support Trump by a wider 82% to 16%. In addition to the overall disapproval of the president for his handling of the pandemic, Biden is more trusted to deal with the issue, by 54% to 40% among registered voters. The poll finds that 54% of registered voters support recent protests against police treatment of Black people, yet voters give differing responses when asked which candidate can better handle aspects of the issue. Biden is trusted by a 20-point margin to handle equal treatment of racial groups, but registered voters are roughly divided on which candidate can better handle crime and safety, with 50% choosing Biden and 47% choosing Trump. READ MORE: Black voters in Philly are backing Biden. But theyre not excited: If Obama chose him, he cant be so bad. On other issues, Biden has a narrow advantage on handling a Supreme Court nomination and healthy leads when it comes to health care and equal treatment of racial groups. The president does not have a significant advantage on any issue. The survey was mostly completed before the president on Saturday nominated federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But a 53% majority of Pennsylvania voters say they would prefer that the winner of the election nominate someone to succeed Ginsburg rather than Trump selecting someone and the Senate going ahead with confirmation proceedings before the outcome of the election is clear. The proceedings are expected to conclude before Election Day. Similar to national public opinion, more Pennsylvania voters who support Biden say it is more important for their candidate to win because of the court vacancy than Trump supporters say about their candidate, 61% to 41%. Most Pennsylvania voters (65%) say they will cast their ballots on Election Day while slightly more than 3 in 10 plan to vote early, either by mail or in person at an early voting site. Four years ago, 4% of voters in the state cast absentee ballots, but at the time, the state required voters to have an excuse to do so. This year, any Pennsylvania voter can request a mail-in ballot. READ MORE: Everything you need to know about how to vote in Pennsylvania in 2020 This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 15-20, 2020, among a random sample of 808 adults, including 702 registered voters and 567 likely voters in Pennsylvania, with 63% of interviews completed on cellphones and the remainder on landlines. The margin of sampling error for results among registered voters is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, and the error margin is five points among likely voters. The Washington Posts Emily Guskin contributed to this article. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged to become a worldwide pandemic, infecting over 33 million globally, and now claiming more than 1 million lives. It has also caused crippling socio-economic repercussions across the globe. The symptoms of COVID-19 and their severity vary widely based on several factors. Studies have shown that COVID-19 can lead to prolonged illness even in patients with mild symptoms. Some reports suggest that symptoms may persist even after recovery and negative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results. COVID-19 primarily targets the human respiratory system, with commonly reported symptoms, such as fever, shortness of breath, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, sore throat, loss of smell (anosmia), or taste (ageusia/dysgeusia), nausea/vomiting, and congestion. The order of appearance and duration of these symptoms or their severity have not been sufficiently explored yet. Establishing a course of illness and being able to advise patients what to expect is crucial from a patient care standpoint. It boosts the patients' ability to cope with the social, physical, mental, and financial challenges that arise with the disease. Since the manifestation of COVID-19 is multifaceted, it requires longitudinal symptom characterization to help screening and disease management. A preprint paper published on the medRxiv* server details a recent study by researchers from The Hebrew University, Hadassah-Hebrew University medical center, and Hadassah University Hospital, which addresses this gap in knowledge about the symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients. As part of this study performed in Israel during April and May 2020, the researchers conducted phone interviews and follow-ups with 112 adult COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms over 6 weeks. The patients were aged 18 years with positive RT-PCR results. Severely ill patients were excluded from this study. Symptoms order. A. Prevalence of patients for which symptoms appeared as 1st and 2nd symptoms. Symptoms that appeared as 1st in more the third of the patients are presented with dark background, lower prevalence is presented in light blue background. B. Y axis lists symptoms and X axis shows number of days since illness started. the mean SD number of days for symptom onset is presented for each symptom. Coloring is according to prevalence, with darkest color indicating most prevalent symptoms. Smell and taste changes lasted longer than other symptoms The results of the study showed that nearly 70% of the study group experienced more than one symptom at the onset of disease. More than 1/3rd of the patients presented with fever, headache, dry cough, or muscle ache as the first symptom. In cases that reported fatigue, it was usually the first symptom noticed. Changes in smell and taste occurred 3.9 5.4 days and 4.6 5.7 days (mean SD) from disease onset and were the first symptoms in 15 and 18% of patients, respectively. Fever was the symptom that lasted for the shortest duration - 5.8 8.6 days (mean SD), and smell and taste changes lasted the longest - 24.3 22.9 days and 19.4 19.1 (mean SD), respectively. "We found COVID-19 illness to have a prolonged phase, in which symptoms such as fever, lack of appetite, headache and muscle aches are recovered, but dry cough, loss of taste, and loss of smell persist, with the latter having the longest duration of 24.3 22.9 days (mean SD)." Longer duration of anosmia correlated with the severity of anosmia. One-third of the patients who experienced cough, anosmia and taste changes had these symptoms even after they tested negative in RT-PCR tests. Symptoms-related data can help predict recovery patterns Based on the data collected from the study group, the team concluded that while many of the typical symptoms can occur first or last, some were more likely to be the first symptom. Typically, during the onset, most patients reported more than one symptom. The extent of olfactory changes is directly associated with time taken for smell recovery. Lack of chemosensory recuperation in patients after recovery is also common. The team hopes that the findings of their study may help in keeping patients informed about expected symptoms and recovery patterns at various stages of their illness. "This information regarding their symptoms' durations and persistence post-recovery can potentially reduce anxiety and promote better management of patients' financial, social, and mental wellbeing during the disease." Limitations of this study The main limitation of this study is that it excluded severely ill patients, and is hence only relevant to COIVD-19 patients with mild to moderate illness. All the data gathered were self-reported by the patients through a questionnaire, and objective testing was not performed as part of this study. Moreover, this is a short duration study conducted for 6 weeks in the post-acute illness stage. Given the importance of chemosensory disorders in COVID-19, the authors believe more extensive group studies, focusing on the order of appearance, duration, severity, and persistence of the symptoms, which extend over a more extended time period are essential to discovering additional manifestations of COVID-19. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. With the Meeza cards, employees can make online purchases and use them at ATMs to withdraw cash or pay dues The electronic salary cards of some 28,000 state employees will be switched to prepaid Meeza electronic cards by October, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced on Tuesday. With the Meeza cards, employees can make online purchases and use them at ATMs to withdraw cash or pay dues. The state is currently implementing the second pilot phase of switching all state employees salary cards to Meeza cards, which is being carried out in Marsa Matrouh, Port Said, the Red Sea governorate, South Sinai, Alexandria, Luxor, Daqahliya, Assiut, Gharbiya and Fayoum. Finance ministry official Emad Abdel-hamid said that the ministry targets switching 5 million state employees electronic salary cards to prepaid Meeza cards, free of charge, in collaboration with the banking sector. He added that the electronic payment and collection system adopted by the finance ministry targets saving 25 percent of the currency issuance cost and about 50 percent of the time it takes to provide services, as well as reducing red tape, which will improve Egypts ranking in international indexes, especially those that focus on ease of doing business and transparency. He also noted that the ministry has been implementing the digital transformation project for financial transactions since 2007, which contributes to achieving Egypts strategic vision 2030. Director of the electronic payment and collection unit at the finance ministry Dalia Fawzi revealed that Banque du Caire, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Misr Banque, the Housing and Development Bank, the Arab African International Bank, Emirates NBD, the Arab Banking Corporation, the United Bank, the Commercial International Bank, and Egypt Post are participants in implementing the second pilot phase. On 16 September, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Egypt inked a cooperation protocol with the Egyptian Banks Company for Technological Advancement SAE, which allows NBK Egypt to launch the Meeza prepaid card. Through this action, NBK will be the second bank that is operating in Egypt to launch Meeza cards after the National Bank of Egypt (NBE). Search Keywords: Short link: CLEVELAND, Ohio The deadline to register to vote in Ohio is Monday, Oct. 5, so prospective voters only have a few days left to ensure they are ready for the Nov. 3 presidential election. The Oct. 5 deadline also applies to anyone who needs to update the name or address on their voter registration if they want to be sure they wont have to cast a provisional ballot on election day. Check here for a detailed explanation about how to register to vote, update your registration, and other registration-related questions. Check the Ohio Secretary of States website for additional information. You can register to vote or update your registration by mailing a completed application to your countys board of elections, or dropping it off in-person at your boards drop box, available 24 hours a day. Unlike ballots which have to be delivered to the board by you or a close relative, anyone can drop off an application on your behalf. The mail option requires a postmark by Oct. 5. Addresses for boards of elections in Northeast Ohio are listed below. Click here for a blank voter registration form. Applications can also be found at boards of elections, public libraries, public high schools, county treasurers' offices and other government offices. Click here to register online. This option is open to those who register using an Ohio drivers license or ID card. Once registered, you can apply for Ohios vote-by-mail option. More information on vote-by-mail and why it is secure can be found here. Registered voters can also vote early in-person at their countys board of elections, or vote on Nov. 3 at their regular polling location. Addresses: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections 2925 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115 Summit County Board of Elections 470 Grant Street Akron, OH 44311 Lake County Board of Elections 105 Main Street Ste. 107 P.O. Box 490 Painesville, OH 44077 Lorain County Board of Elections 1985 North Ridge Road East Lorain, OH 44055 Medina County Board of Elections P.O. Box 506 Medina, OH 44258 Portage County Board of Elections 449 South Meridian Street Rm. 101 Ravenna, OH 44266 Want more election information? Check out Election Truth, a series from The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com: Introducing Election Truth: A Plain Dealer and cleveland.com series about voting in Northeast Ohio and how the system is secure How to apply for Ohios vote-by-mail option, and why its secure: Election Truth Using a state ID to apply for an Ohio absentee ballot? You should know this: Election Truth Want to ensure you are properly registered to vote in Ohio? Heres how: Election Truth How do election drop boxes work, and how are they secure? Election Truth How does vote-by-mail work in Ohio, and why is it safe? Election Truth By Online Desk A 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was under treatment after being raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, succumbed to the injuries on Tuesday morning. The woman was gang-raped a fortnight ago, following which she was admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital. She was shifted to Safdarjung hospital, Delhi on Monday for better healthcare facilities. A 19-year-old woman who was gang-raped and assaulted in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh, passes away at a hospital in Delhi, confirms her brother. The woman was gang raped in Hathras on 14th September, 2020. ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2020 All the four accused named in the rape case, which took place on September 14, have been arrested. The woman was found brutally injured, with her a serious cut in her tongue as she bit it in agony when the perpetrators tried to strangulate her. Despite her ordeal, the rape survivor had managed to name all the accused in her statement to a magistrate. The local chowki in charge has been suspended, the UP Police said. The accused had been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and later charged with gang-rape under Section 376 D. On Sunday night, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad evaded police to reach the Aligarh hospital to express solidarity with the victim. Azad claimed that the brutal attack represents the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. He had also demanded financial assistance of Rs 1 crore for the womans aggrieved family. Delhis Women and Child Development Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said that a case was registered 9 days later against those who raped the Dalit woman. Her family was threatened by the accused. Wherever there is a BJP government, there are many more such atrocities, the WCD minister added. (With ENS and Agencies Inputs) Safe and fair elections are the foundation of any democratic system. Voters must have faith that the electoral process will accurately reflect the will of the people. Ensuring we have a safe and secure election system has been a priority of mine in Congress. Unfortunately this critical system has come under attack. The U.S. intelligence community confirmed that Russia targeted state election systems, including Illinois, in the lead-up to the 2016 elections. But the interference didnt end then, elections security experts have advised us that the vulnerabilities continue to persist across the country, and U.S. intelligence officials warn that Moscow and other foreign actors are currently employing similar attacks in the 2020 election. This is why it is so important our state and local election officials have the funds they need so they can invest in resources and equipment to combat these attacks. For the past several years, Ive sounded the alarm that our election infrastructure is outdated, low-tech, and nowhere near where it needs to be to prevent future intrusions. Thats why I was proud to use my position as Chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), to secure robust grant funding to help states protect, fortify, and update election systems from cyber-hacking. In addition to the annual funds I have secured, I was able to include $400 million specifically for election security grants in the CARES Act for the upcoming election which faces a unique challenge of being conducted during a pandemic. This supplemental funding will help fill the gaps and assist in covering additional unanticipated costs. Moving forward, I will continue to lead on this issue and fight for election security funding for states to prevent foreign and domestic attempts to disrupt and influence our democratic process. ST. LOUIS - A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a proposed joint venture between two leading private coal companies. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk in St. Louis halts the proposed joint venture of two companies based in the St. Louis area, Peabody Energy and Arch Resources, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Pitlyk wrote that the Federal Trade Commission has shown that there is a reasonable probability that the proposed joint venture will substantially impair competition in the market for Southern Powder River Basin coal. In June 2019, Peabody and Arch proposed combining the countrys two most productive mines, which border each other in Wyoming. The state sided with the companies but the FTC in February moved to block the deal. Both coal miners are under financial pressure as coal continues to slide as an energy source in the U.S. in favour of natural gas and renewable energy. We are deeply disappointed with the courts decision as the intense all-fuels competition is clearly apparent to us, Peabody President and CEO Glenn Kellow said in a statement. Our focus now is on continuing to be the low-cost (Powder River Basin) coal provider to best compete against natural gas and subsidized renewables. We remain committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to a reliable and affordable fuel source. The number of people claiming temporary jobless benefits related to COVID-19 rose for the first time since May, weekly data showed on Monday, reflecting the three-week closure of indoor dining in pubs and restaurants in Dublin. While claims have more than halved since hitting a lockdown peak of 600,000 in early May, the rate of decline had slowed in recent weeks and the numbers rose to 217,142 from 206,341 in the last seven days. Over 19,000 people applied for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment after a reimposition of restrictions in the capital and most populous county. However, another 8,690 closed their claim after pubs that just serve drinks were permitted to open for the first time since March in all counties but Dublin last week. Ireland's unemployment rate stood at 15.4% at the end of August as a further 225,000 people were in receipt of regular jobless benefits. Another 360,000 employees were on a separate wage-subsidy scheme at the end of August. The government last week imposed the tightened restrictions in a second county, the northwestern region of Donegal. Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn highlighted concerns over six more counties on Monday, including fast rises in Galway and Cork, two of the other most populous areas. Ireland reported a further increase in its infection rate to 88 cases per 100,000 people, the 15th highest of the 31 countries monitored by the European Centre for Disease Control. Cases are also increasing sharply in Northern Ireland. The region has twice reported a record number of daily cases over the last four days. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Here are todays leading news stories: Politics -- The Party organization of the Peoples Army of Vietnam must be exemplary, pure, and strong, Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong remarked at the armys 11th Party Congress for the 2020-25 tenure on Monday. Society -- Vietnam recorded three imported COVID-19 cases, including two Taiwanese experts and an Indian expert, on Monday. The countrys tally stood at 1,077, with 999 having recovered and 35 deaths. -- Five people were injured after a truck driver under the influence of alcohol crashed his vehicle into a group of motorbikes stopping at a red light in the northern city of Hai Phong on Monday afternoon. -- One woman was killed while two others were seriously injured after being attacked by a knife-wielding man inside a house in the north-central province of Ha Tinh on Monday afternoon. Police are working to identify and hunt for the suspect. -- A sewage pumping station with the capacity of 640,000 cubic meters per day has been completed in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City. The facility is expected to contribute to flood control efforts in the metropolis. -- A woman has been caught on CCTV telling her young son to steal money from a beverage vendor in an alley in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. The case has been reported to police officers, while the footage has gone viral on social media. -- Water in the iconic Huong (Perfume) River in Hue City, located in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, has turned yellow and red over the past week, while the reason behind this phenomenon remains unclear. -- A group of drivers from Vinasun and Mai Linh taxi operators were caught on camera engaging in a physical confrontation following their conflict outside Chu Lai Airport in central Quang Nam Province on Sunday. Business -- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a decision approving a national program to support businesses in improving productivity and quality of products and goods in the 2021-30 period. -- Budget carrier Vietjet Air will begin operating flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Seoul every Wednesday from September 30, and flights from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City every Wednesday starting October 7. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Sexual minorities are significantly more likely to experience migraines than heterosexuals, according to a new report suggesting minority stress and discrimination may be the culprit. Researchers interviewed more than 9,800 adults from the ages of 31 to 42 as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Just over 85 percent of respondents identified as exclusively heterosexual, 10 percent were "mostly" heterosexual but somewhat attracted to the same sex and about 4 percent identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual. (The survey did not encompass gender identity.) Gay, lesbian and bisexual participants had 58 percent higher odds of a migraine than their strictly heterosexual counterparts. The mostly straight participants had an increased rate of migraines equal to other sexual minorities. Migraine headaches often produce an intense throbbing pain on one side of the head, though both sides can be affected. They can last hours or even days and be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and a sensitivity to light, sound or other sensory input. Migraines are the fifth-leading reason for visits to the emergency room, according to the Migraine Research Foundation, and affect women more than men. We know stress in general can trigger migraines, and since sexual minorities experience discrimination and added stress, it seems logical that could trigger migraines, Dr. Jason Nagata, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of the study, told NBC News. Previous research has shown migraines are more prevalent among other minorities, including Blacks, Latinos, women and people with lower socioeconomic status, he said. But no one had looked into sexual minorities. Image: Dr. Jason Nagata (Courtesy University of California San Francisco) His findings were published Monday as a letter in the online version of JAMA Neurology. Nagata controlled for outside factors including age, race, ethnicity, education and economic level as well as habits like smoking and drinking. But he said more study was needed to see if genetics or other elements were at play. Story continues The immediate take-home for doctors, he explained, is to be more proactive in assessing their lesbian, gay and bisexual patients for migraines. If youre a primary care provider and a third of your patients suffer from migraines, you should make it part of the intake process, he said. Nagata, who studies disparities in sexual orientation in public health and medicine, also stressed the importance of creating a welcoming environment. Some sexual minorities report barriers to access to health care or discrimination at a clinicians office and may be less likely to seek care, he explained. Doctors should offer materials on LGBTQ health, publicize nondiscrimination statements and have inclusive forms for sexual minorities, Nagata added, so that theyre not discouraged from seeking care. Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram PrestigePEO, a leading professional employer organization (PEO) that partners with small and mid-sized businesses throughout the United States to deliver full-service HR solutions, is delighted to announce its Chief Operating Officer, Eric Foodim, is an honoree of the Long Island Business News Business and Finance Awards. Long Island Business News (LIBN) is Long Islands only publication devoted to local commerce. For over 60 years, its been the premier source of news and data on business, economic trends, and the regions robust entrepreneurial sector. The LIBN Business and Finance Awards honor financial experts whose exemplary performance as stewards of Long Islands corporations, government, and nonprofits have made significant impacts in the region. Eric has been instrumental in our efforts to help the small businesses of Long Island and the tri-state area build a more successful future. Hes an integral part of PrestigePEO and is well deserving of this distinguished award. Were proud to have him on our team says Andrew Lubash, CEO at PrestigePEO. PrestigePEO is honored to have Eric included among Long Islands foremost business and community leaders. Learn more at http://www.prestigepeo.com. About PrestigePEO PrestigePEO, incorporated as Prestige Employee Administrators Inc., empowers small and mid-sized businesses to simplify HR by offering end-to-end support for employee benefits management, payroll administration, workers compliance, HR guidance, and more. Merging the power of industry-leading customer service with innovative technology options, PrestigePEO delivers a full spectrum of HR services and solutions to help SMBs lower employee benefit costs, reduce administrative workloads, and manage critical HR functions. PrestigePEO is among only 1% of PEOs that are ESAC-accredited, Workers Comp Risk Management (CI)-certified, and classified as a Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) by the IRS demonstrating financial stability and strict adherence with a diverse range of regulatory and security standards. Headquartered in Melville, NY, PrestigePEO is licensed to support SMBs nationwide and proud to serve long-standing clients across the tri-state area. I t is unsettling reading the old emails of friends who have died. With their casual conversation, and urgent exclamation marks, and plans to meet in what was then the future, they speak to you as ghosts. So I have felt going through my inbox from Harry Evans, the great newspaper editor who has just died. His and his wife Tinas friendship is always there, in downtimes even more so than the ups: come and stay with us is the immediate demand after Im ejected from my home in Number 11. But I wanted to read again the long email where Harry told me how to be a newspaper editor. News matters. Wit beats nastiness. The Diary must bubble. Find your Osbert Lancaster (I did; hes called Christian Adams). Set the political-economic policy in the editorial column. Above all, the great newspaper man told me as you did in your other day job, develop policy themes. It was contrarian advice. Everyone else was telling me I had to stop behaving like a politician: let them take the decision; your job now is to throw the bricks from the sidelines. There are many honourable exceptions this paper has consistently pushed to open up London safely to avoid economic destruction but too much of the media commentary during this pandemic has been along the lines of look at how these useless people are messing it up. Yes, in a democracy holding government accountable is an important job for a free press. But what I dont hear so much of is: ok, heres how we would handle this pandemic differently. Do we let pubs and restaurants stay open, and keep our cities going, even though that must lead to more people catching Covid? Do we let students out of their confinement in halls of residence, knowing that if we do, more will end up in hospital? You can call on Boris Johnson to listen to a broader range of scientists, or demand Parliament gets a bigger say on things, or criticise mistakes, but that is ducking the really hard choices that now sit on the Prime Ministers desk. Backbench Tory MPs are more guilty of this than any paper. So following Harrys advice here instead are three concrete steps the Government isnt taking that it should. First, look at the resources being devoted to testing (about 11 billion to date) and double them, and double again. Reinforce the considerable efforts of the Health Department with all the capacity available to the Government and hire in more if you have to. Use local private laboratories, as Germany does. Deploy the army and repurpose parts of the civil service currently doing less important, routine functions. And get the Prime Minister to lead the testing effort on a daily basis, chairing Cobra meetings or their equivalent, chasing progress until it happens. There are roughly 250,000 Covid tests available each day. But there are 66 million citizens, and unless and until anyone who is being told to isolate for two weeks can get an immediate test, and rapid result, then offices and schools and universities are going to be disrupted beyond the point where they can function. Second, make fighting Covid the sole focus of the centre of government. That means ditching now the prospect of leaving the EU trading arrangements without a deal. Planning for lorry parks and passports for Kent is too much for the capacity of the British state and the people leading it. Every hour spent on planning a no-deal Brexit, and every official tasked with it, is an hour and an official that could be deployed on Covid. Its doing more harm to the economy. Politically its now a non-runner. Today every job lost can be blamed on an act of nature; leave with no deal and every job lost will be blamed on an act of Boris. So instruct the negotiators to compromise this week on the remaining obstacles to a deal, and this month sign one. Today every job lost can be blamed on an act of nature; leave with no deal and an act of Boris will be to blame Third, do not take further measures to lock down society and the economy. It is mine and this papers belief that we have reached the right balance. Enforce the rules we now have. If the Government goes further and closes shops and restaurants, or bans people from meeting their families, or starts contemplating a temporary circuit breaker (that wont be temporary) of closing schools, it will have gone too far. The permanent damage that would come from lost livelihoods, no education and loneliness outweighs the extra infections, and premature deaths, that a further lockdown would prevent. Thats a very tough trade-off. But its exactly the kind of hard decision a Prime Minister has to make, and Harry was right the media too often shies away from. George Osborne is Editor-in-Chief of the Evening Standard (Natural News) A Democrat operative says the United States Postal Service (USPS) workers who despise President Trump will sometimes help election fraudsters by throwing in the garbage mail-in ballots from Republican-heavy neighborhoods. (Article republished from TruePundit.com) Last month, as Breitbart News highlighted, a Democrat operative told the New York Posts Jon Levine a number of stories in which insiders like him lead teams of fraudsters to commit election fraud by paying homeless voters off, taking advantage of the elderly, posing as registered voters, and printing up fake ballots. One notable tactic, the Democrat operative said, is how insiders will use USPS workers to help sway election results, Levine reported: You have a postman who is a rabid anti-Trump guy and hes working in Bedminster or some Republican stronghold He can take those ballots, and knowing 95% are going to a Republican, he can just throw those in the garbage. In some cases, mail carriers were members of his work crew, and would sift ballots from the mail and hand them over to the operative. The fraud tactic was potentially most recently used in the swing district of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Justice Department (DOJ) say mail-in ballots by members of the United States Armed Forces cast for Trump were discarded. READ MORE Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below Read more at: TruePundit.com BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 64 who have disabilities hold down jobs, according to government figures from last year. The role that these 18.5 million people play in American businesses and the challenges they face as they do so deserve to be honored in October, for National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month, says Barry Shore, who is a former paraplegic and an advocate for the disabled. Barry Shore A successful serial entrepreneur with two multimillion-dollar exits and three issued patents who in 2004 became a quadriplegic overnight from a rare disease, Shore is known as The Ambassador of Joy. And even though it still takes him ten minutes to get out of bed each morning, Shore has pushed himself to regain some of his functioning even as he inspires other people to see disabled people as individuals capable of contributing much and with greater empathy because of the limitations they face and surmount. In an interview, he can discuss: Why hiring disabled individuals is a win-win for businesses and employees Ways COVID has been particularly difficult for disabled people socially, medically and professionally How he managed to become an avid swimmer post-paralysis and in the past 12 years has accumulated more than 7,841 miles His own Keep Smiling Movement. Participants are also encouraged to send a selfie with a "Keep Smiling Card" to [email protected] and can receive free cards by clicking here. Each week, a lucky participant is randomly chosen to receive a $25 gift card. Praise for Shore "Barry Shore lives and spreads joy everywhere he goes. While his story is inspiring, his actions of reaching hundreds of thousands with his messages are what is creating real change. We need his words of positivity now more than ever and our actions." Jess Todtfeld, former producer with ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS "There is none like the remarkable Barry Shore. Intelligence plus heart is hard to find. Barry has it all and wants more than anything to share. The world is a better place because of Barry Shore!" Kathy Karkula, development director, Special Olympics of Minnesota About Barry Shore Barry Shore is a motivational, keynote speaker and host of the weekly radio show-podcast "The Joy of Living." He is the founder of the JOY of Living Institute. He has been featured on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and in O Magazine, Forbes, Daily Herald, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and MarketWatch. His podcast has been downloaded nearly two million times in 16 months. His upcoming book is Stress Kills Joy Heals. Contact: Barry Shore, (310) 770-4685; [email protected]; www.barryshore.com SOURCE Barry Shore Related Links http://www.barryshore.com The head of Joe Biden's election campaign has written a scathing letter to Facebook accusing the social network of backsliding. As reported by Axios, campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon says that the platform remains the nations foremost propagator of disinformation, and is still allowing high-profile figures to mislead voters. Dillon focuses on a posting from Donald J. Trump Jr., largest son of the current president, who said that opposition parties would add millions of fraudulent ballots to overturn the election. Trump Jr. then, in the same video, invited members of the public to form an army for Trumps election security. On September 3rd, Facebook announced new measures to tackle misinformation in the run-up to the 2020 US elections. That included a ban on political ads in the final week of the campaign and labelling posts that seek to delegitimize the outcome or discuss the legitimacy of voting methods. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the platform would remove misinformation about voting, and take steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest. Naturally, the Biden campaign believes that a video urging a volunteer army to prevent a non-existent election fraud ticks several of these boxes. Dillon adds that the campaign, as well as several other organizations, raised concerns over the post, but Facebook chose not to remove it. When the campaign contacted Facebook for an explanation as to why the video was not removed, the letter adds, the platform neglected to provide any additional detail. The only amendment the platform made was to add a content label, which Dillon says was buried on the top right corner of the screen where many viewers will miss it. When we asked for a written explanation of how assertions that millions of votes will be fraudulent, that millions of others will be cancelled, and that the solution was to enlist in an army for Trumps election security, could possibly be consistent with your policies that prohibit all of these claims, you provided none. Jen O'Malley Dillon Story continues No company that considers itself a force for good in democracy, writes Dillon would allow this dangerous claptrap to be spread to millions of people. The letter goes on to cite additional posts, including from Trump Sr., that appear to delegitimize the outcome of the election or sow misinformation around the voting process. In addition, Dillon highlights the fact that the hyperpartisan propaganda organ [...] the Daily Wire is Facebook's top web publisher as more evidence of Facebook's laxity. The letter ends by suggesting that Facebooks decision making is either biased in favor, or is being influenced by the current administration. Facebooks critics often imply that Zuckerberg and/or VP Global Policy Joel Kaplan are holding their thumb on the scale to benefit one side. The Wall Street Journal and Buzzfeed have painted Kaplan as a figure who has carved out policy exemptions for right-leaning voices that would otherwise have been removed for rule-breaking. And earlier this month, The Verge reported that Zuckerberg refused to let Kaplan engage with employees who are critical of his role. The CEO said that he believes Kaplan to be very rigorous and principled in his thinking, and said any criticism of the executive was troubling. The Verge previously published comment from Zuckerberg saying that Facebook would fight any attempts at regulation should (then would-be Democratic candidate) Senator Elizabeth Warren become president. Biden and Facebook are hardly on good terms right now, given that back in August it was found that Instagram was down-ranking Biden-related hashtags. Back in January, VP Biden said that Facebook was knowingly spreading falsehoods, and has said, if elected, he would look to reform the broad protections afforded to the site under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996. The first presidential debate airs tonight, kicking off the most intensive period of the US elections in the run-up to November 3rd. Both campaigns will be looking to Facebook both to get their message out, and blunt that of the opposition while scrutinizing Facebooks role in all of this. The escalation on behalf of the Biden campaign may help counter the pressure right-wing groups have placed on these platforms, a policy that the New York Times described as working the ref. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky emphasizes that today Ukraine's movement towards the European Union is even more relevant than before. "Given the challenges that exist today, the immutable movement towards Europe, the European Union is even more relevant for Ukraine than before. Today, the support of the European Union is very important for Ukraine," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said during a video conference with members of the European Parliament, the press service of the Head of State reports. The President thanked for the consistent support of the European Parliament in advancing the ambitious Ukraine-EU agenda, as well as for the firm position of the European Union legislature on restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the de-occupation of Crimea. The President reminded that the next EU-Ukraine Summit is expected in a week, and expressed hope that it would be successful. The President informed of Ukraine's initiative to create an international platform designed to improve coordination and cooperation in order to counter the security threats posed by the Russian occupation of Crimea, as well as to promote the protection of the rights of Crimeans. "Apart from the economy and money, geopolitical support is important for us. Some of the things we want to pay attention to are the appearance and our proposal of the Crimean platform. A platform where we want to discuss the most important humanitarian issues, the issue of assistance to all Ukrainians - both Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians who have been imprisoned both in Crimea and in Russia. This is the return, release of these citizens, as well as the de-occupation of Crimea," the President said. Also, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine seeks to discuss expanding access to the EU internal market, reaching an agreement on renewing the trade part of the Association Agreement, signing of the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products and other issues. "We see a reorientation of Ukrainian business to European countries. This is great, so we want to talk about expansion. We want to have the opportunity for economic growth in our country," the President said, noting that this is especially important now, given the coronavirus pandemic and the war. Among other things, the participants of the video conference discussed the construction of a memorial complex-museum, as the working group of the European Parliament "Memory for the Future" seeks to achieve the allocation of funds by the European Union to finance the pilot project "Voices: Holocaust Testimony from Ukraine". The video conference was attended by MEPs representing various political groups in the European Parliament, including Michael Gahler (Germany), Petras Austrevicius (Lithuania), Niclas Herbst (Germany), Frederique Ries (Belgium), Elzbieta ukacijewska (Poland) and Wodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Poland). ol WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the "head" of the family and faith. Former members of the group, called People of Praise, say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands. Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her family's involvement, and a People of Praise spokesman declined to say whether she and her husband are current members. But Barrett, 48, grew up in New Orleans in a family deeply connected to the organization and as recently as 2017 she served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc., according to the nonprofit organization's tax records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Only members of the group serve on the schools' board, according to the system's president. The AP also reviewed 15 years of back issues of the organization's internal magazine, Vine and Branches, which has published birth announcements, photos and other mentions of Barrett and her husband, Jesse, whose family has been active in the group for four decades. On Friday, all editions of the magazine were removed from the group's website. Then-University of Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett gives the commencement address to Trinity at Greenlawn graduates at the Trinity People of Praise Center in South Bend, Indiana, on June 11, 2011. (Barbara Allison/South Bend Tribune via AP) People of Praise is a religious community based in charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The group organizes and meets outside the purview of a church and includes people from several Christian denominations, but its members are mostly Roman Catholic. Barrett's affiliation with a conservative religious group that elevates the role of men has drawn particular scrutiny given that she would be filling the high court seat held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a feminist icon who spent her legal career fighting for women to have full equality. Barrett, by contrast, is being hailed by religious conservatives as an ideological heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch abortion-rights opponent for whom she clerked as a young lawyer. Story continues Six conservative justices? 10 ways the Supreme Court could change Amy Coney Barrett: Talented judge, popular professor brings solid conservative credentials In accepting Trump's nomination Saturday, the Catholic mother of seven said she shares Scalia's judicial philosophy. "A judge must apply the law as written," Barrett said. "Judges are not policy makers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold." Barrett's advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings. Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last week, Vice President Mike Pence responded, "The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans." Then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, speaks at Trinity School at Greenlawn on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, in South Bend, Indiana, on April 2, 2014. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP) But some people familiar with the group and charismatic religious groups like it say Barrett's involvement should be examined before she receives a lifelong appointment to the highest court in the nation. "It's not about the faith," said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University, who has studied similar groups. He says a typical feature of charismatic groups is the dynamic of a strong hierarchical leadership, and a strict view of the relationship between women and men. Several people familiar with People of Praise, including some current members, told the AP that the group has been misunderstood. They call it a Christian fellowship, focused on building community. One member described it as a "family of families," who commit themselves to each other in mutual support to live together "through thick and thin." But the group has also been portrayed by some former members, and in books, blogs and news reports, as hierarchical, authoritarian and controlling, where men dominate their wives, leaders dictate members' life choices and those who leave are shunned. The AP interviewed seven current and former members of People of Praise, and reviewed its tax records, websites, missionary blogs and back issues of its magazine to try to paint a fuller picture of an organization that Barrett has been deeply involved in since childhood. A lifelong covenant to community members and God People of Praise was founded in South Bend, Indiana, in 1971 as part of the Catholic Pentecostal movement, a devout reaction to the free love, secular permissiveness and counterculture movements of the 1960s and early '70s. Many of the group's early members were drawn from the campus of nearby Notre Dame, a Catholic university. The group has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide, with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. All members are encouraged to continue to attend church at their own parishes. After a period of religious study and instruction that lasts from three to six years, people involved in People of Praise can choose to make a lifelong covenant pledging love and service to fellow community members and to God, which includes tithing at least 5% of their gross income to support the group's activities and charitable initiatives, according to a statement on the group's website. People of Praise's more than 1,500-word covenant, a copy of which was reviewed by the AP, includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of the group's pastors, teachers and evangelists. "We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries in full harmony with the church," the covenant says. It's unclear whether Barrett took the covenant. But members of the organization and descriptions of its hierarchy show that members almost invariably join the covenant after three to six years of religious study or they leave, so it would be very unusual for Barrett to continue to be involved for so many years without having done so. In this page from the May 2006 issue of Vine and Branches produced by People of Praise, Amy Coney Barrett is seen at left at a People of Praise Leaders' Conference for Women in 2006. Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, has close ties to People of Praise, a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the "head" of the family and faith. (People of Praise via AP) A 2006 article in the group's magazine includes a photo of her attending a People of Praise Leaders' Conference for Women. The magazine also includes regular notices when members are "released from the covenant" and leave the group. The AP's review found no such notice of Barrett's or her husband's departure. A request to interview Barrett made through the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where she currently serves as a judge, was declined. The judge didn't mention People of Praise in her 2017 Senate judicial questionnaire, filled out prior to her confirmation for the bench. Jesse Barrett did not respond to voicemail or email sent through his law firm in South Bend. People of Praise spokesman Sean Connolly declined to discuss the Barretts or their affiliation with the group. "Like most religious communities, the People of Praise leaves it up to its members to decide whether to publicly disclose their involvement in our community," Connolly said by email. "And like most religious communities, we do not publish a membership list." Several people familiar with the group told the AP that, unlike some other charismatic movements, People of Praise has a strong commitment to intellectualism, evidenced in part by the schools they have established, which have a reputation for intellectual rigor. Barrett's father, Michael Coney Sr., has served as the principal leader of People of Praise's New Orleans branch and was on the group's all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017. Her mother, Linda Coney, has served in the branch as a "handmaid," a female leader assigned to help guide other women, according to documents reviewed by the AP. "One of the key principles of People of Praise is freedom, the exercise of our own freedom in following the Lord and in following our own what we believe, what we think is right," Michael Coney, 75, said Friday in an interview with the AP. Joannah Clark, 47, grew up in People of Praise and became a member as an adult. She acknowledged that the board of governors consists of all men, but said that is not a reflection on the "worth or ability of women," but rather the approach the group has chosen for that level of leadership. "In a marriage, we look at the husband as the head of the family. And that's consistent with New Testament teaching," said Clark, who is the head of Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. "This role of the husband as the head of the family is not a position of power or domination. It's really quite the opposite. It's a position of care and service and responsibility. Men are looking out for the good and well-being of their families." Clark said she had previously served as a "handmaid." The term was a reference to Jesus' mother Mary, who called herself "the handmaid of the Lord." The organization recently changed the terminology to "woman leader" because it had newly negative connotations after Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" was turned into a popular television show. Fact check: 'Kingdom of God' comment by SCOTUS contender Amy Coney Barrett lacks context in meme Clark said the woman leaders in People of Praise do things like provide pastoral care and organize help for community members, such as when people are sick or need other help. "They're also in a role of advising, so the men will ask the women leaders' advice on issues that affect the patterns of life within the community, certainly issues that affect women and families," Clark said. Barrett, in accepting Trump's nomination at the White House on Saturday, put particular emphasis on the equality of her own marriage, saying she expected from the start she and her husband would run their household as partners. "As it has turned out, Jesse does far more than his share of the work," she said. "To my chagrin, I learned at dinner recently that my children consider him to be the better cook." Though People of Praise opposes abortion, those familiar with the group said it would be a mistake to pigeonhole their politics as either left or right. While socially conservative in their understanding of family and gender, some members are deeply committed to social justice in matters of race and economics, they said. Barrett's parents are both registered Democrats, according to Louisiana voter registration records. Barrett was on board of People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Tax records and other documents show that as recently as 2017 Barrett sat on the board of Trinity Schools, a campus of which was recently designated by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as a National Blue Ribbon School. The schools are coed, but most classes are segregated by gender. The school's website says the group sees men and women "created by God equal in dignity but distinct from one another." "We seek to uphold both that equality and appropriate distinction in our culture," it goes on. Graduates look on during the invocation at the Trinity School commencement ceremony inside the People of Praise Community Center in South Bend, Indiana, on June 8, 2013. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP) Similarly, at People of Praise the leadership structure is largely segregated by gender. And as they become adults, members frequently live together in same-gender communal houses sometimes owned by the group, or they are invited to live with a family within the community. Articles in the People of Praise magazine frequently note when young single members get married to each other. Multiple birth announcements often follow. The group's magazine also offers insights into the group's views on marriage, community and members' finances. A 2007 issue discusses how the 17 single women who live together in a household, called the Sisterhood, had their paychecks direct deposited into a single bank account. One member said she had "no idea" what the amount of her paycheck was. The pooled money was managed by one woman, who budgeted for everyone's clothing and other expenses, including $36 weekly per person for food and basics like toilet paper. All women were expected to give 10% of their pay to People of Praise, another 1% to the South Bend branch and additional tithes to their churches. Married couples and their children also often share multifamily homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for "city building" by the group's leaders, where they can easily socialize and walk to each other's houses. As part of spiritual meetings, members often relay divine prophecies and are encouraged to pray in tongues, where participants make vocal utterances thought to carry direct teachings and instructions from God. Those utterances are then "interpreted" by senior male leaders and relayed back to the wider group. A 1969 book by Kevin Ranaghan, a co-founder of People of Praise, dedicates a chapter to praying in tongues, which he describes as a gift from God. "The gift of tongues is one of the word-gifts, an utterance of the Spirit through man," Ranaghan wrote in "Catholic Pentecostals." "Alone, the gift of tongues is used for prayer and praise. Coupled with the gift of interpretation it can edify the unbeliever and strengthen, console, enlighten or move the community of faith." In a blog entry on the group's website from March of this year, a mother described taking her children to pray in tongues as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Former member: Women expected to live in 'total submission' While People of Praise portrays itself as a tight-knit family of families, former members paint a darker picture of that closeness. Coral Anika Theill joined People of Praise's branch in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1979, when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins. "My husband at the time was very drawn to it because of the structure of the submission of women," recounted Theill, who is now 65. Theill, who converted to Catholicism after getting married, said in her People of Praise community women were expected to live in "total submission" not only to their husbands, but also the other male "heads" within the group. In a book she wrote about her experience, Theill recounts that in People of Praise every consequential personal decision whether to take a new job, buy a particular model car or choose where to live went through the hierarchy of male leadership. Members of the group who worked outside the community had to turn over their paystubs to church leaders to confirm they were tithing correctly, she said. This image, provided by Coral Theill, shows Theill with her twin girls in 1984 reading from their family Bible. (Coral Theill via AP) Theill says her "handmaid," to whom she was supposed to confide her innermost thoughts and emotions, then repeated what she said to the male heads, who would consult her husband on the proper correction. "There'd be open meetings where you just have to stand for the group and they'd tell you all that was wrong with you," Theill recounted to the AP last week. "And I would ask questions. I was a critical thinker." When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children, Theill said, he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldn't get birth control. "I was basically treated like a brood mare," she said, using the term for a female horse used for breeding. During her 20-year marriage, Theill had eight children from 11 pregnancies. Theill, who says she declined to take the covenant, described being dominated and eventually shunned because of the doubts she expressed about the group. Clark, a current member in Oregon, said she had never heard of members being shunned. "At any point, a community member can decide to leave and is free to do so," Clark said. She said she has friends who have left the community. "These are people I've maintained a good friendship with and people who've maintained friendships with other people in community." But Theill isn't the only former member to describe forced subjugation of women within People of Praise or shunning of former members. Among People of Praise's very first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife, Marie. The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he said he became disillusioned and was "dismissed" from the group in the mid-1980s. Reimers, who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame, went on to write detailed academic examinations of the group's inner workings and theological underpinnings. In a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities, Reimers wrote that the fundamental principle of the group was St. Paul's stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the "head" of his wife and that the wife is to "submit in all things." "A married woman is expected always to reflect the fact that she is under her husband's authority," Reimers wrote. "This goes beyond an acknowledgment that the husband is 'head of the home' or head of the family; he is, in fact, her personal pastoral head. Whatever she does requires at least his tacit approval. He is responsible for her formation and growth in the Christian life." Though women are allowed to serve in some administrative roles within the community, Reimers wrote that no woman is allowed to hold a pastoral position of leadership in which she would oversee or instruct men. "People who leave these communities are often shunned by other members and are spoken of as no longer brothers and sisters in Christ or even no longer Christian," he wrote. Reimers declined to expand on his experience with People of Praise, saying he doesn't know Amy Coney Barrett and didn't want to get drawn into a political fight. But he said he stands by his prior account. "To quote Pontius Pilate, 'What I have written, I have written,'" he said last week, referring to the Roman official in the Bible who signed the order condemning Jesus to be crucified. Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s, when she was a fourth-grader. She chronicled her experience in a blog called "Exorcism and Pound Cake," a reference to how she knew as a child that it was a meeting night because of the smell of baked goods coming from the kitchen. "I remember my mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband, because it was his right and her duty," said Williams, 56. "Sex is not for pleasure. It's for as many babies as God chooses to give you. ... Women had to be obedient. They had to be subservient." Corporal punishment of children was common, Williams told the AP. When she was insufficiently obedient to her father, she was beaten with a belt and then required to kneel and ask forgiveness from both him and God, she said. She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents' living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms. When her parents, from whom she is now estranged, decided to leave People of Praise when she was a junior in high school, she remembers the leaders said her family would be doomed to hell and they were shunned. "Nobody would talk to you," she recalled. This 1979 photo provided by Lisa Williams shows Williams at Bible camp run by People of Praise. (Lisa Williams via AP) Steven Hassan, a mental health counselor who works with people who have left fundamentalist authoritarian religious groups, said the culture within People of Praise as described by Theill and Williams, including the practice of shunning former members, creates fear so that people are dependent and obedient. "A person who is in one of these groups has to suppress their own thoughts, feelings, desires that doesn't align with the dogma," Hassan said. He cautioned, however, that Theill's and Williams' experiences were from decades ago and not necessarily illustrative of how the group now operates. And current members of People of Praise interviewed by the AP strongly disputed those characterizations. "There's a high value on personal freedom," said Clark, the Trinity School director in Oregon. She said she had never heard of some of the practices the former members detailed to the AP, such as micromanaging finances or handing over paychecks. She grew emotional when she recounted the sacrifices people in the group make for each other as part of their covenant, like the case of a man known for helping his fellow members move, who was in turn cared for by group members as he died. "I've never been asked to do anything against my own free will," said Clark, a member of the group for 25 years. "I have never been dominated or controlled by a man." Thomas Csordas, an anthropology professor at University of California San Diego, has studied the religious movement that includes People of Praise. He said such communities are conservative, authoritarian, hierarchical and patriarchal. But, he said, in his view, the group's leaders are unlikely to exert influence over Barrett's judicial decisions. Coney, Barrett's father, said the culture of female submission described by some former members was based on misunderstandings of the group's teachings. "I can't comment on why they believe that. But it is certainly not a correct interpretation of our life," he said. "We're people who love each other and support each other in their Christian life, trying to follow the Lord." As a lawyer himself, he rejected the notion that his daughter's religious beliefs will unduly influence her opinions if she is confirmed to the high court. "I think she's a super lawyer and she will apply the law as opposed to any of her beliefs," he said. "She will follow the law." Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press reporters Mitch Weiss in Greenville, South Carolina, and Juliet Linderman in Baltimore, Maryland, contributed. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: People of Praise, tied to Amy Barrett, knocked for treatment of women Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:01:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- China has achieved decisive outcomes in its fight against the COVID-19 with arduous efforts, enabling more than 100 people to travel, congregate and explore the cultural roots of China's governance. -- China's immediate success in bringing the epidemic under control stems from the fine traditional Chinese culture, according to David Bartosch, a Beijing-based professor. -- The pandemic's spread around the world has made more people realize that humans and nature are a community with a shared future, and all continents, countries, and peoples should join hands to move forward, said Xu Jialu, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. QUFU, Shandong, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- It was the second time for David Bartosch, a Beijing-based professor, to attend the Nishan Forum on World Civilizations that took place Sunday and Monday in Confucius' birthplace of Qufu, east China's Shandong Province. Unlike the previous occasions, however, this year's cultural exchange came at an unprecedented time amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Photo taken on Sept. 27, 2020 shows the opening ceremony of the 2020 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival and the Sixth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei) The menace of coronavirus is still raging across the world, leaving many in-person events canceled. Yet China has achieved decisive outcomes in its fight against the deadly virus with arduous efforts, enabling more than 100 people, including Bartosch, to travel, congregate and explore the cultural roots of China's governance. "It is always a pleasure to take a business trip during this time since our school has imposed strict restrictions," said Bartosch, who works at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Based on his own experience, he believes that the measures China has taken to ensure public safety are reassuring. Early this year, the German national was on holiday in south China's Hainan province when he got stranded in a small village due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Though he felt anxious seeing the social media updates, just as anyone else, his worries were, however, soon dispelled by the Chinese government's quick and effective actions. A relative encourages the medical staff leaving for Wuhan to provide medical aid at Nanjing South Railway Station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo) "The officials in the small village took really good care of the people," he said. "The strict measures adopted were all worth it because after about six weeks on the island, no more infected people were reported and we were able to move around safely." As an expert on philosophy, Bartosch said China's immediate success in bringing the epidemic under control stems from the fine traditional Chinese culture. He believes that China's governance, in which policymakers are trained and evaluated thoroughly and strictly under variable circumstances in order to make them acquire both political integrity and professional competence, originates from the country's Confucianism traditions and has a notable influence. Bartosch's ideas coincided with those of other experts at the meeting. Daniel Bell, dean and professor of the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, who was a keynote speaker at the sixth Nishan Forum, believes Confucianism has a lot to contribute to a well-run political system that considers the selection and promotion of officials based on ability and virtue. Under the unified deployment of the central government, two hospitals, each with a floor area of more than 60,000 square meters, were built and put into use in less than 20 days, while 42,600 medical workers from across China were sent to the epidemic-hit Hubei Province. Aerial photo taken on Jan. 24, 2020 shows mechanical equipment working at the construction site of a special hospital in the Caidian District of western suburb of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) Meanwhile, more than 8 million protective suits, more than 1,000 negative pressure isolation ambulances as well as over 70,000 medical devices were allocated to the central Chinese province. In the fight against the epidemic, every life in China matters. In Wuhan, all 780 children infected by COVID-19 returned home safely, the youngest of whom was only 30 hours old. Meanwhile, the success rate of treatment for the elderly over 80 years old was nearly 70 percent, with the oldest aged 108. "Benevolent spirit is an important component of Confucianism. Fundamentally, the spirit signifies love. Love here is the love for parents, love for elderly people, and then eventually love for all. This is the cultural reason behind these numbers," said Yang Chaoming, head of the Confucius Research Institute. Apart from bringing the epidemic under control domestically, China has also provided large quantities of medical supplies as well as expertise to other countries, matching its calls for building a community with a shared future for humanity with concrete actions. China's medical supplies for 18 African countries arrive at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng) The forum, themed "Shining through the future with civilizations," drew over 150 attendees, including more than 100 in-person participants, to discuss cultural topics, many of which were on Confucianism. The discussions also covered building trust through exchanges of civilizations and offering wisdom to build a community with a shared future for humanity. Lessons from China's spirit of collective effort against the coronavirus featured heavily in the conversations. Named after Nishan Mountain, where Confucius (551-479 B.C.) is believed to have been born, the Nishan Forum came into being in September 2010 after Xu Jialu, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, spent nearly three years working to establish it as China's first high-level spiritual dialogue. Confucius, an educator and thinker, has influenced countless generations of Chinese society. The pandemic's spread around the world has made increasingly more people realize that humans and nature are a community with a shared future, and all continents, countries, and peoples should join hands to move forward, Xu said in a letter to this year's forum. Chinese medical experts and Iraqi medical workers pose for a photo with a new medical device in Baghdad, Iraq, March 19, 2020. A new PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab built by the Chinese team of experts was inaugurated in Baghdad. (Xinhua) "In this fraught time of physical illness, when so many have died, many of us have been turning our thoughts to persistent societal ills and the less-than-constructive global relations," said Michael Nylan, a history professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "We can only hope to work in concert to usher in a new era in which we flourish in amity together." In his signed letter in Chinese addressed to the forum, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the COVID-19 pandemic has sounded an alarm throughout the world. People are increasingly realizing that they are living in an era of fusion and connection and no country can cope with all challenges alone, and so each country should do its part in solving problems, said Ban in the letter. (Reporting by Zhang Xinyi, Wang Zichen, Wu Shuguang, Zhang Wuyue, Sun Xiaohui, Yang Wen, Li Baojie; Video reporters: Zhang Wuyue, Zhao Xiaoyu; Video editor: Zhao Xiaoqing) Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: Coming down heavily on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who has been attacking the Centre over unemployment in the poll-bound Bihar, newly appointed president of BJPs youth wing Tejasvi Surya on Monday said the Yadav scion, who is doing politics of dynastic, knows nothing about hard work but is trying to mislead the youth promising jobs. Suryas statement came a day after Yadav promised to provide 10 lakh permanent government jobs if the Grand Alliance is voted to power in the Assembly election in Bihar. This prince has the pain of unemployment. He, who has never seen the pangs of poverty, is now claiming to be the champion of down-trodden. It is the NDA that has injected a new lease of life into Bihar after rescuing from the 15 years of jungle raj, the Bangalore BJP MP said during Yuva Sanvad event in Patna. He said that Bihar is the state that has been the cradle of Indian civilisation. Bihar, from the ancient Lichchavi republic to the struggle against the Emergency, has explained the importance of democracy to India, Surya said. Calling upon the youths to join hands to make the state self-reliant, Surya said the Bihar polls would determine the fate of the next 50 years of India. The youths of this state blessed with talents and resources can change the dynamics of politics to the dynamics of development. And it is happy to see that Bihar under the governance of PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar has started marching towards the goal of becoming a prosperous state, he said. Accompanying him, former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also mocked Yadav, saying Tejashawi Yadav talks about giving 10 lakhs jobs. Will he give guns to the youths for crimes? During the 15 years of his parents rule, kidnapping was the first employment in Bihar. By Trend Head of the delegation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Ravza Kavakci, phoned Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova, the Parliament told Trend. During a phone talk, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted the importance of all kinds of support to Azerbaijan from Turkish officials and public figures in connection with the well-known events in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that the support of the friendly and fraternal people is a matter of pride. Gafarova said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Mustafa Shentop, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed unequivocal support to Azerbaijan regarding the situation at the front. Speaker also noted that during a telephone conversation with her colleague Mustafa Shentop, the chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly said that he personally supports Azerbaijan's fair position. This is a real manifestation of the motto one nation, two states. It is very commendable that the political parties represented in the Turkish parliament have unanimously declared their solidarity with Azerbaijan. Were deeply grateful to all parties for this fraternal position, said Gafarova. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network announced it has launched its Issuance and Program Management Solution, which enables brands to fully outsource their gift card and eGift programs. With omnichannel distribution, gift cards can drive new customer acquisition and brand awareness, increased shopper frequency and spend, and larger basket sizes. 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Businesses leveraging Blackhawk's expanded capabilities can vary from digital native and clicks-and-bricks retailers, large retail, restaurant and service industry brands, and other businesses looking to maximize gift card program output. Among the businesses currently leveraging Blackhawk's issuance and program management solutions is The Honest Companya mission-driven consumer products company dedicated to empowering people to live happy, healthy liveswhich partners with Blackhawk for all of its eGift and gift card needs. Blackhawk's Issuance and Program Management Solution is enabled by its recent acquisition of Illinois-based SVM, a leading provider of open and closed loop gift card solutions. To learn more about Blackhawk's Issuance and Program Management Solution, click here. About Blackhawk Network Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment solutions through the prepaid products, technologies and network that connect brands and people. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty and revenue. Serving more than 28 countries, we reliably execute security-minded solutions worldwide. Join us as we shape the future of global branded payments. For more information visit blackhawknetwork.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Ashley Jackson 719.332.3495 [email protected] SOURCE Blackhawk Network By Trend The whole world, especially those who support the terrorist policy of Armenia, must know that Azerbaijan is not only a friendly country for Turkey, but also a place of brotherly unity , Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Shentop said, Trend reports. Shentop made the speech commenting on the tense situation aroused as a result of the latest provocations of Armenia against Azerbaijan. According to him, Turkey will always be by Azerbaijan's side and support it. In his statement of September 28, Mustafa Shentop called Armenia a terrorist state. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Liberals won power long before Covid 19. They promised to improve our countrys infrastructure by spending a modest $10 Billion and that they would balance the budget again. The promise was immediately broken. They spent recklessly. Our debt reached approximately $30 billion during the first year of JT Liberal rule. Balancing the budget was totally ignored. We all need to understand that deficit spending forces us, our children and theirs to pay exorbitant taxes, perhaps for a lifetime. Everyone loses except the elite who run the country (and certain privileged charities). The government foolishly threw money into one wasteful waste bin after another, many billions of Canadian taxpayer dollars. $62 billion in their first quarter! Revenues were good. Taxes on our citizens were harshly increased for climate change and particularly to assist the UN and WHO, two overpoweringly Chinese Communist influenced organizations. Prosperous times were wasted. No money was saved for a rainy day. Little was mentioned about infrastructure until 2020 when the government scrambled to find records for their claim that 50,000 infrastructure projects had been accomplished. They claimed to have found 30,000 but were short by 20,000, so they said they were confidential. Since when have infrastructure projects become confidential? Where did the money go? The billions we had to pay! Some estimates are that had the Trudeau government followed the fiscal policies of the Chretien government and run small surpluses we would have entered the Covid 19 era with roughly $95 billion less in federal debt. The rainy day came. It was a full-fledged category 5 storm of almost insurmountable severity. The Covid 19 Storm killed thousands and revealed that the cupboard was bare of protective equipment and finances. The economy crashed and businesses went bust while our government swallowed the WHO propaganda hook, line and sinker! Covid 19 moved us from a $28 billion deficit to $343 billion in 2020, and more than one trillion of debt! The Throne speech presented nothing to help Canadians. More debt. Liberal spending of billions on a Green New Deal with no plan for recovery. More regurgitated promises that were broken previously. A shut down of our forest and oil industries. Next? Keep Parliament closed, probably call an election to end all debate about serious corruption. Its time to stop this reckless, incompetent elite Liberal PM and cabinet with our vote. Garry Rayner 3 1 of 3 Kendra Baker / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Kendra Baker / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SHERMAN Following Tropical Storm Isaias, the towns emergency management team decided to install a 911 call box outside the firehouse on Route 39 for people to use in the event of an emergency. Its a huge improvement to our ability to serve the town as a whole, Fire Chief Chris Fuchs said during Thursdays Board of Selectmen meeting. Revenue down 20.7% due to the impact of the economic crisis 6% reduction in current operating expenses Substantial improvement in cash burn compared with H1 2019: -56% Another General Meeting on October 30 to approve the refinancing project with Winance Regulatory News: Genomic Vision(FR0011799907 GV), a biotechnology company that develops tools and services dedicated to the analysis and control of changes in the genome, today announced its half-year financial results to June 30, 20201 Accounts were approved by the Board on September 29, 2020. These accounts have been the subject of a limited review by the Company's auditors, whose report is pending. First-half 2020 results (in thousands IFRS) H1 2020 H1 2019 Revenue from sales 6192 781 Other revenue 131 354 Total revenue from activity 750 1,135 Current operating expenses (3,270) (3,491) Current operating loss (2,519) (2,356) Other operating income and expenses 163 40 Operating loss (2,356) (2,316) Cost of financial debt and other financial income and expenses (11) 2 Net loss (2,368) (2,314) Revenue from sales totaled 619 thousand over the first half of 2020, and notably included the sale of a FiberVisionS platform to the Leibnitz Institute on Aging Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Germany. The 20.7% decrease in revenue compared with the first half of 2019 was notably a result of the non-renewal of the license granted to Quest Diagnostics, which had generated revenue of 150 thousand in the first half of 2019, and very sluggish commercial activity in the 2nd quarter of 2020 because of the Covid-19 crisis. Total revenue from activity, once other revenue is taken into account, was down 33.9% in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period of 2019. Other revenue, which totaled 131 thousand at June 30, 2020, corresponds to Research Tax Credit whose decrease was a direct result of the restructuring plan that led to a reduction in the R&D headcount and to the decrease in R&D activity associated with the Covid-19 crisis. Current operating expenses were down 6.3% to 3.3 million, and principally broke down as follows, in addition to the cost of sales: 1.0 million in R&D expenses, down 26.0%, reflecting their good control associated with the refocus on projects with greater added value. Most of these expenses concerned personnel expenses, which totaled 0.5 million, and external expenses, which totaled 0.4 million. 0.95 million associated with Sales Marketing expenses, up 30.8% on the first half of 2019. 1.0 million in General Administrative expenses, up 8.7% compared with the first half of 2019. The operating loss was -2.4 million at June 30, 2020, compared with -2.3 million at June 30, 2019. The net loss at June 30, 2020 was -2.4 million, almost identical to the figure at June 30, 2019 (-2.3 million). Financial structure at June 30, 2020 Genomic Vision had cash and cash equivalents of 2.3 million at June 30, 2020, versus 1.1 million at December 31, 2019. This improvement is due to the drawdown of the third and fourth tranches, for a total of 2.5 million, and the exercise of the warrants associated with the third tranche (for 0.4 million) within the framework of the ABSA (shares with equity warrants attached) equity financing program set up with Winance in March 2019. Over the first half of 2020, cash burn excluding financing flows was just 1.5 million (compared with 3.4 million in the first half of 2019), thanks to a substantial decrease in spending and to good control over the Company's working capital requirements. In order to secure the financing of its development and its investments, notably in 2021 and 2022, on June 15 the Company announced the signing of a new financing contract with Winance in the form of convertible notes with warrants (OCABSA) for a maximum of 12 million. The implementation of this equity financing line is subject to a number of conditions, and notably its approval by a new Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for October 30, 2020. Given its current resources, and subject to the approval of the financing contract with Winance, Genomic Vision has the necessary resources to continue its development over the coming twelve months. Governance and new CFO Jerome Vailland has been appointed as Genomic Vision's new Chief Financial Officer, replacing interim CFO Pierre Schwich. Jerome thus further strengthens the expertise available to Genomic Vision following the changes implemented at the top of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board already announced in the press release of April 9, 2020. Jerome has over 15 years of experience in audit, management and transactions. He notably spent 11 years at Ernst Young in the fields of financing auditing, transaction advisory and IPO services, primarily in the life sciences industry, in addition to his managerial duties. In 2016, he joined Horama, a French biotechnology company specializing in gene therapy treatments in the field of ophthalmology, as CFO. Jerome is a graduate of the Audencia-Nantes school of management. Impact of the Covid-19 crisis The global economic slowdown associated with the lockdown affected Genomic Vision's main current and prospective clients during the first half. It will probably have a significant impact on revenue over the coming months, although this should not jeopardize the Company's financial prospects given its good control of its cash burn. Next financial publication Revenue for the 3rd quarter of 2020, on November 12, 2020 ABOUT GENOMIC VISION GENOMIC VISION is a biotechnology company developing products and services dedicated to the analysis (structural and functional) of genome modifications as well as to the quality and safety control of these modifications, in particular in genome editing technologies and biomanufacturing processes. Genomic Vision proprietary tools, based on DNA combing technology and artificial intelligence, provide robust quantitative measurements needed to high confidence characterization of DNA alteration in the genome. These tools are mainly used for monitoring DNA replication in cancerous cell, for early cancer detection and the diagnosis of genetic diseases. Based near Paris, in Bagneux, the Company has approximately 30 employees. GENOMIC VISION is a public listed company listed in compartment C of Euronext's regulated market in Paris (Euronext: GV ISIN: FR0011799907). For further information, please visit www.genomicvision.com Member of the CAC Mid Small and CAC All-Tradable indexes FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT This press release contains implicitly or explicitly certain forward-looking statements concerning Genomic Vision and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Genomic Vision considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will be verified, which statements are subject to numerous risks, including the risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the reference document dated March 29, 2019 filed with the AMF under reference number R19-004, available on the web site of Genomic Vision (www.genomicvision.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Genomic Vision operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Genomic Vision or not currently considered material by Genomic Vision. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Genomic Vision to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute and should not be construed as an offer or an invitation to sell or subscribe, or the solicitation of any order or invitation to purchase or subscribe for Genomic Vision shares in any country. The distribution of this press release in certain countries may be a breach of applicable laws. The persons in possession of this press release must inquire about any local restrictions and comply with these restrictions. 1 Financial statements were examined by the Supervisory Board on September 29, 2020 and have been the subject of a limited review by the Company's auditors. 2 The Company would like to point out that the revenue figure of 695 thousand for the first half of 2020 indicated in the press release of July 20, 2020 was incorrect as a result of the improper application of IFRS 15 (IFRS norm concerning the revenue recognition) and in particular the recognition of revenue generated by maintenance, which should be spread out over a number of financial years. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005981/en/ Contacts: Genomic Vision Dominique Remy-Renou CEO Tel.: +33 1 49 08 07 51 investisseurs@genomicvision.com Ulysse Communication Press Relations Bruno Arabian Tel.: +33 1 42 68 29 70 barabian@ulysse-communication.com NewCap Investor Relations & Strategic Communications Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94 gv@newcap.eu In this February 26, 2007 file photograph, Charles Koch, head of Koch Industries, talks passionately about his new book on Market Based Management. The political advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch has seen key policy victories under President Donald Trump, including regulatory and tax cuts. Yet, despite the president being at risk of losing the election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, and potentially jeopardizing another four years of Koch-friendly policies, the network, which has often favored Republican candidates, is staying out of the presidential election. The Washington Post reported last year that the network would not get involved with the president's bid for reelection. The Koch stance hasn't changed since then, even as Trump has lost his money advantage over Biden with close to a month until Election Day, according to people familiar with the matter. A Real Clear Politics average shows Biden ahead of Trump by six points. These people declined to be named as the discussions were deemed private. The network did not support Trump during the 2016 election but was involved in the 2012 fight for the White House versus then-President Barack Obama. The recent Koch policy victories started with with the Trump-GOP tax cut bill the president signed into law in late 2017. The organization has for years called for lower tax rates. The Koch group has also pushed for further weakening of business regulations. Trump has, at least from the Koch network's standpoint, made headway on that front. Then there was the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill publicly supported by the Koch political network. The organization has also backed all three of Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court, including a recent campaign to support the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Numerous former Koch officials have worked in the Trump administration. The group also fought the implementation of Obama's Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Trump eliminated the health-care law's individual mandate and is challenging it in court. But there remain stark policy differences between the Koch network and the Trump administration. For one, the group, which favors global trade with few restrictions, has opposed the president's use of tariffs in his trade fights with China and other countries. The Koch network has also taken issue with how the administration sought to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for undocumented people who arrived in the United States as children. The network, through political advocacy groups such as Americans for Prosperity, has been involved with backing candidates up and down the ballot in the 2020 election cycle, including ones at the state level and Republican senators. Another Koch-backed group, known as the Libre Initiative, has recently supported Democrats, including Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, during his successful primary earlier this year. A representative for Americans for Prosperity did not return a request for comment. The Koch network believes its resources will be better utilized elsewhere, people familiar with the network said. There's also a growing belief within the network that it can't make much of a difference in the 2020 presidential election because of so many warring factions in the larger fight for the White House. Indeed, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows that outside groups have spent more than $1 billion going into the final stretch of the election. Much of that total has been spent by super PACs already involved with the race for president. Data shows that super PACs either backing Biden or opposing Trump have often combined to outspend those in the president's corner. Another reason for the Koch network staying out of the race, according to those familiar with its decision, comes down to the differences in personality between the larger Koch-backed organization and Trump himself. Since the 2018 congressional midterms, Koch network officials have said they are open to supporting and working with Democrats as long as they match up with the network's priorities that often focus on limiting the influence of government. It's part of a larger shift toward trying to show that the group wants to be a unifying force instead of focusing on partisan fights. Trump, on the other hand, is known to publicly lambast anyone, especially Democrats, if they don't bend to his demands or those who push back on his proposals. The repeated attacks by the president have, for many of the networks leaders, led to the decision not to directly help Trump's bid for reelection. "All I can tell you is that there is a clear difference in style and approach," said a person familiar with the decision-making at the network. If the Koch group entered the presidential election, "you're still going to forsake the ability to persuade and advocate for policy change reforms at the other levels, regardless of whether you're going after Obama, or getting involved with Trump and his uncouth style," this person added. The president has previously criticized Koch and his late brother, David. Charles Koch has refrained from responding. Some Republican donors, including those who have attended Koch network summits, told CNBC they're convinced it simply comes down to the fact that network leaders, for the most part, aren't fans of the president, personally. "They just don't like Trump," longtime GOP donor Dan Eberhart told CNBC, when discussing why he believes the network is staying out of the race for president. Though not a member of the network, Eberhart has been to past donor summits that have featured Charles Koch himself. "I don't think they like him personally and they have complete disagreements on trade," he added, while noting the two sides are in favor of many of the same policies. Eberhart gave $100,000 to the Trump Victory committee in June. Though it failed to help elect Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election, that battle showed that the network had the resources to be a force in the arena for the White House. Data from CRP shows that in 2012, Americans for Prosperity spent more than $30 million taking on Obama. UPDATE: Oct 13: "A second facility, specializing on those participating in Hawaiis Safe Travels Multi-Tier Program as well as OAK-based currently credentialed employees, is planned to open on Thursday, Oct. 15. It is conveniently located in front of the main terminal complex between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 along the second curb in the Ground Transportation plaza. Appointments in advance are strongly recommended and are available through December at CityHealths website. Walk-ins will be accepted secondary to those with an appointment. There is no out-of-pocket cost for the test." --- Following recent announcements from both United and Hawaiian Airlines that they will make COVID-19 testing available at San Francisco International for Hawaii-bound travelers for a hefty fee, Oakland International Airport (OAK) has come out with its own plans for passenger testing which will be free. The state of Hawaii is preparing to reopen to tourists on Oct. 15, granting an exemption from its mandatory 14-day quarantine rule for travelers who get a COVID test no more than 72 hours before departure and show proof of a negative result upon arrival. Travelers who dont have their results by the time they land will have to quarantine until the results come in. OAK officials said the airports testing program will start Oct. 6 for airport and airline employees, with an expansion of the program to handle Hawaii travelers starting Oct. 15. Tests will be conducted by appointment by CityHealth Urgent Care from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in a facility at the airports North Field terminal complex at 9070 Earhart Road. Southwest, Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines all fly to the islands from Oakland. All OAK-based employees including tenant airlines, concessionaires, ground handling companies, etc. are eligible for testing. Additionally, the general public may be tested on a scheduled basis through CityHealths website, the airport said. Until the Hawaii pre-test program kicks in Oct. 15, only employees with a current OAK security credential will be eligible for testing. Specific details about the Oct. 15 Hawaii Pre-Travel testing program at OAK will be released separately, the airport said. But Oakland International spokesperson Roberto Bernardo provided SFGATE with some specifics. We advise travelers to get tested through their primary health care provider, he said. If that's not possible, they can use the OAK free testing facility. OAK recommends that travelers test the day before. If travelers wait until the day of departure, they should arrive three hours before departure, get tested (have the results in 15 minutes which are electronically sent to the State of Hawaii) and then check in for their flight. Travelers should keep in mind that the testing facility in the North Field complex is on the other side of the airport from the passenger terminals. See map. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. The airport said the CityHealth Urgent Care facility will provide on-site FDA EUA rapid testing as well as lab-based nuclear PCR testing. EUA refers to an FDA emergency use authorization. The airport said tests will incur no out-of-pocket costs for Hawaii travelers, making it unique from other programs charging as much as $250 per person a reference to Uniteds day-of-travel testing at SFO. Hawaiian Airlines recently announced COVID testing for passengers at SFO will cost $150 for same-day service. Under the CARES Act and through a partnership with commercial health insurance carriers, government payers and the Department of Health and Human Services, CityHealth proudly offers COVID-19 testing to all free of charge, the airport said. If SFO and OAK will provide pre-departure testing for Hawaii travelers, what about Mineta San Jose Airport? SJC is exploring this possibility with our airline partners to offer a program here, a spokesperson tells us. In related news, JetBlue announced this week that its working with Vault for at-home, mail-in tests for its passengers. American Airlines is starting testing for some Caribbean flights. Alaska is offer tests for Seattle based passengers. And Tampa International says that it is offering COVID-19 tests for all passengers. However, Oakland seems to be the only airport offering free testing so far. Will there be more? Probably. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. The Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) conducted its 15th Annual General Meeting on 25th of September, 2020 on a virtual platform. The meeting started with General Secretary, Mr. Himanshu Shah, welcoming the member attendees. Mr Shah gave a brief synopsis on upcoming virtual Flame Awards Asia before handing over to President, Mr. Biswabaran Chakrabarti, who highlighted the activities and initiatives taken by the association last year. Following him, the Treasurer, Mr. Veerendra Jamdade, presented the financials and audited report for the financial year. Dr Anup Kalra, Vice President, thanked the National Advisory Council for their role and invited them to share their observations on the year under reference and also to declare the results of the General Body Election. On behalf of the National Advisory Council & Election Committee Mr. Sanjay Kaul, chairperson of the council, announced the results of the General Body elections and shared their recommendations with the members. Mr. Biswabaran Chakrabarti, was re-elected as the President of RMAI for the second consecutive term. He said, I thank our members for finding me suitable for this position. I thank the leadership team and all members for keeping the association active during these trying times. Way forward, my core objective for the association would be to keep us relevant for the diverse sectors that our member organisations represent, and many others too. Let RMAI add value to the way of working of the many business sectors, working in and working for the rural domain of our country. The newly elected committee of RMAI, headed by Mr. Biswabaran Chakrabarti as President shall include Dr Anup Kalra from Ayurvet Ltd as Vice President; Mr. Veerendra Jamdade from Vritti Solutions Ltd as Treasurer; & Mr Himanshu Shah from SOI Live Marketing as General Secretary for the term. The Executive Committee includes Ms. Nidhi Singh, COO, Impact Communications; Ms. Kadambari Lokhande, COO, Rural Relations; Mr. Venkatram Vasantavada, MD and CEO, SeedWorks International; Mr. Amit Rangra, Executive Business Director & VP, Wunderman Thompson; Mr. Khurram Askari, Managing Director, Insight Outreach Pvt Ltd; Mr. Sandip Bansal, Chief Client & Field Officer, Dialogue Factory (GroupM Media); Mr. Sunny Vohra, CEO, Anugrah Madison; Mr. Varun Agarwal, Head Retail Marketing - GWI, Tata Steel Ltd; Mr. Sanjay Pragat, Director, Vision Force; Mr. Deepak Mittal, CEO, Mittal & Associates; Dr. D. Ravinath, Professor - Marketing, Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management; Mr. Kiran Zende, Director, Yadnya Brandscapes Pvt. Ltd & Mr. Rahul Nayyar, Executive Director, R S Infomedia And Films. The President Mr Biswabaran Chakrabarti, requested the nominated National Advisory Council of RMAI to continue their active support. This council includes Mr Sanjay Kaul, Founder & CEO, Impact Communications as Chairperson; Mr. Raj Kumar Jha, Director, Rural Campus; Mr. Sanjay Panigrahi, Former Chief Customer Officer, Pidilite Industries; Mr. Pradeep Lokhande, Founder, Rural Relations; and Mr. Puneet Vidyarthi, Director of Sales & Marketing, CNH Industrial. Mr Kaul narrated the legacy and good practices of the association. He invited young managers to get involved in future initiatives. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday issued a notification modifying the Forest Rights Act, 2006 that will enable and other traditional forest dwellers to "build houses in the neighbourhood forest areas". It will prevent migration of those living in and provide them housing areas by extending the village site into forest land in their neighbourhood, a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said. The notification has been issued by the governor using his powers under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 5 of Schedule V of the Constitution. This will "enable the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest-dwelling families to build houses in the neighbourhood forest areas," the statement said. The decision will provide a major relief to the scheduled tribes (STs) and others living in in the scheduled areas of the state, it said. During his visits to Palghar, Nandurbar, Gadchiroli and other districts having scheduled areas, it came to the governor's notice that certain STs and forest-dwelling families in the scheduled areas were moving out of their native villages and migrating elsewhere in the absence of housing areas for their growing families, it said. The governor in May this year issued a notification under which whose individual or community forest rights have been rejected by District Level Committees constituted under a special Act can appeal against the decision. The notification provides a relief to whose individual or community forest rights have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), a landmark legislation enacted by the Centre in 2006. The FRA seeks to restore rights of tribes living in for generations. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Washington has urged the NATO allies and neighbours, who have agreed to continue exploratory talks interrupted in 2016, to find 'good solutions' to disputes exacerbated by energy exploration disagreements US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday concludes a two-day visit to Greece on with a tour of a strategically vital NATO base. Pompeo will visit the Souda facility in Crete with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on a trip aimed at easing tensions between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean. Washington has urged the NATO allies and neighbours, who have agreed to continue exploratory talks interrupted in 2016, to find "good solutions" to disputes exacerbated by energy exploration disagreements. "We hope the exploratory talks not only get kicked off right, but it's important that they're resolved in a way that delivers outcomes that each of the two nations find more than acceptable," Pompeo told Greek state agency ANA on Monday. "It's not just talking, we need to get to good solutions," he added. Greece and Turkey have spent weeks at loggerheads after Ankara sent exploration vessels into disputed, potentially resource-rich waters in a crisis that roped in other European powers and raised concern about a wider escalation. In a joint statement on Monday after talks in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, Pompeo and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias said rival claims to territory in the Mediterranean should be resolved "peacefully in accordance with international law." The 110-acre (44-hectare) Naval Support Activity base at Souda is the foremost US naval facility in the eastern Mediterranean. Mitsotakis -- who is hosting Pompeo at his family home in Crete -- wants closer military ties with the United States. Pompeo last October signed a defence agreement with Greek authorities allowing US forces a broader use of Greek military facilities. Greece intends to further upgrade the naval facilities at Souda for its own navy operations, Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told parliament on Monday. "Our country wants to make its presence felt in the eastern Mediterranean, and this will be done through the upgrade of Souda," Panagiotopoulos said, according to ANA. On Wednesday, Pompeo will fly to Rome for meetings with Italian government and Vatican officials. He will subsequently visit Croatia. Search Keywords: Short link: Singapore Airlines launches experiences and tours in place of flights to nowhere Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched the Discover Your Singapore Airlines suite of experiences, comprising three exciting and all-new initiatives for customers over the next few weeks. They include an dining experience with SIA's award-winning service inside the Airbus A380, behind-the-scenes tour of the national carrier's training facilities, as well as items from the SIA Business and First Class menu delivered to homes. The Discover Your Singapore Airlines suite of experiences, comprising three exciting and all-new initiatives for customer in Singapore. Photo courtesy: SIA The new programmes replace the initial idea for a one-off short tour flight also known as "flight to nowhere" following concerns from the public regarding carbon footprint. "Discover Your Singapore Airlines experiences are the result of a market study and a comprehensive review, which also considered factors such as the attractiveness of the initiatives to SIAs customers and members of the public, the environmental implications, and their financial viability," SIA said in a press statement. Business Class dining. Photo courtesy: SIA At Restaurant A380 @Changi, diners can choose from special menus for each cabin class. All diners will also receive KrisShop discounts, a limited edition goodie bag and additional gifts if they turn up in traditional heritage wear. Reservations start on October 12, and Restaurant A380 @Changi will operate on October 24 and 25. Over two weekends in November during the school holidays, Inside Singapore Airlines will provide behind-the-scenes tour of the airline's training facilities with a wide range of activities for the entire family. Visitors will be brought on a tour of more than 70 years of SIAs history, get an opportunity to interact with our pilots and cabin crew, and find out more about the intensive training that they undergo. Visitors can try operating a flight simulator! Photo courtesy: SIA Children can enjoy craft activities such as balloon sculpting and making their own batik roses. They will also have the option to dress up and role play as cabin crew, and take home their very own SIA sarong kebaya uniform. Adults can choose to operate a full flight simulator, taste some of the in-flight wine labels, and attend a grooming workshop. A selection of the most popular meals that are served on board SIA flights will also be on sale. Bookings open on November 1, ad the tours will be held on November 21, 22, 28 and 29. Lastly, SIA@Home allows customers to enjoy the SIA in-flight dining experience in the comfort of their own home. They can choose from 10 menus featuring our exclusive First Class and Business Class meals, which will come complete with wine or champagne. SIA's New Delhi menu.Photo courtesy: SIA Limited edition dining ware and amenities are also available depending on the package chosen. The special cabin crew concierge service for SIA@Home bookings opens on October 5. There has been a lot of interest in our customer engagement initiatives over the last few weeks, and I would like to thank everyone for their great ideas and suggestions," said SIA Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong. "We are very encouraged by and grateful for the enthusiasm and passion that we have seen. All of us are eagerly looking forward to welcoming you to discover your Singapore Airlines. Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door remains one of the most loved Assamese works ever made. Barua was already a multiple National Award winner by the time this film was theatrically released in October 1995 in Assam. (Editors Note: This is Part 3 of a series by film critic and consulting editor, Anna M.M. Vetticad) I was a little girl when I first watched Satyajit Rays Mahanagar and Ramu Kariats Chemmeen that I covered in Part 1&2 respectively of this series on Indian films that sparked the critic in me. Back in the 1980s, for a child growing up in Delhi, the only regular access to Indian cinema other than Bollywood/Hindi came via Doordarshan, that too through a single weekly slot for the umbrella category praadeshik cinema (regional cinema a marginalising term, the implications of which I did not fully understand then) while Hindi had its own weekly slot. Considering the number of languages in which India makes films, this meant limited exposure to the cinema of all Indian languages other than Hindi. That grouse notwithstanding, DD along with my fathers vast book collection gave me my earliest window to worlds beyond my own. Mahanagar, for one, was set in urban Bengal, Chemmeen on the Kerala coast. After a while, for me cinema became a means of travel to hitherto unexplored lands, and once I began working, I was not reliant on DD alone for those journeys. Though theatres in Delhi remained focused on Hindi and English films, there were festivals and other cultural hubs to choose from. Thats how it came about that around the mid-1990s, at a festival of films from the North East at Delhis India International Centre, writer-director Jahnu Baruas Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door (Its A Long Way To The Sea) gave me my maiden glimpse of rural Assam. At the time, I was not acquainted with Baruas position on Indias filmmaking firmament or the trophies already crowding his career. I do remember though that my heart broke but was immediately filled with optimism for Puwal, and I was smitten by that firecracker of a boy called Hkhuman. Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door is the story of an elderly boatman who earns a living by ferrying locals across the river that runs by their village. Puwal (Bishnu Kharghoria) has an indifferent son and daughter-in-law residing in Guwahati with their two children. He is devoted to his orphaned grandson Hkhuman (Sushanta Barooah) who stays with him. Puwal is determined to be the last boatman in their family. You have to study and be a respectable man one day, he tells Hkhuman, unaware that circumstances will soon force him to hang up his own oars. When news comes that a bridge is being built across the river, the villagers are excited and no one concerns themselves with how Puwal will survive his consequent redundancy. The beauty of Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door lies in the apparent simplicity with which it makes a complex and crucial statement. In a conversation I had with Barua this week, I was surprised to discover that when he travelled with the film across the world, he was often asked if he was anti-development. The tone of Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door does not at all suggest that the filmmaker is opposed to progress, nor does Puwal take such a stand. Puwal is practical enough to seek alternative employment as soon as he becomes mindful of his impending joblessness, and his breakdown towards the end comes from utter despair because not a soul seems to care. Hkhagoroloi Bohu Doors aversion is to apathy, not advancement. As it happens, this interpretation echoes Baruas intent. Any process of development is not complete unless the problems of the victim are not accommodated and solved within the system, he says over the phone from Guwahati, explaining the premise of the film as he has patiently repeated it for a quarter of a century. Clearly, the theme resonated with a majority of audiences, and now in its silver jubilee year, Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door endures as one of the most loved Assamese works ever made. Barua was already a multiple National Award winner by the time this film was theatrically released in October 1995 in Assam and sadly, the exhibition sector being what it was in the 1990s, in Assam alone. It won the National Award for Best Assamese Film and Best Director along with a Special Mention for Kharghoria and several accolades across the globe. Like many of Baruas films, the seed of this one too was planted in his close scrutiny of life during his childhood. His father was a factory manager at a tea estate in Assam, and Barua as a boy was in the habit of fishing at the river nearby. During these outings, he would watch factory workers cross the river by boat. Decades later when he became a filmmaker, he dipped into his memory bank for a scene that never left him: the struggles of the boatman when a bridge came up across that river. I could feel his pain back then, Barua recalls. While the most overt messaging in Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door is about cold-hearted development that does not take into account the human beings replaced by machines and bridges, Baruas narrative also paints a portrait of the urban-rural divide and the tranquillity of the village where stormy waters churn beneath the idyllic surface. The number of English language writings on Barua available online is disappointingly sparse. This month after I rewatched Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door on Youtube, Assam-based academic Parthajit Baruah who is currently writing a book on the filmmaker shared with me a yellowed clipping of an interview by journalist Maithili Rao that was published in The Times of India in June 1995. In this extract, Barua dwelt on Puwals son and family in Guwahati: Q: You are blaming the city for the sons corruption. You also show his two kids glued to MTV, ignorant of the fact that the old man is their grandfather. Isnt that a bit unrealistic? A: To take the last accusation first, the boy who played the city brat didnt know who his paternal grandfather was. As in the case of the selfish son, it is the city that is to blame. People like Hemanta, the city-based son, originally came with the idea of bringing their parents and other family members to the city some day. But materialism takes over and families break up. Contrary to Raos view that the depiction of Puwals grandchildren in Guwahati is unrealistic, it is quite commonplace for people who shift out of their places of origin to not familiarise their offspring with their roots. However, while I did not and still do not see Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door as blaming the city for Hemantas self-centredness, in this interview Barua agrees with Rao. When I ask the director about this, he says he has been misinterpreted. His contention is that circumstances in cities change people who then become victims of the situations they are in and behave in ways they do not even realise are wrong or criminal, which is how their actions might be viewed in an innocent situation like the village. But doesnt this belief shield city-based individuals from accountability for their own actions while also unwittingly romanticising villages? The association of innocence with village life and cities as corrupting forces is not uncommon, although rural India despite its prettiness is a boiling pot of caste, class, patriarchy and misogyny from which it is, in some senses, harder for the oppressed to escape since legal structures and processes are by and large slower away from cities. Barua says he is not tarring everyone with the same brush and that in cities too within the system there are people who are very human and living honestly. This conversation requires more time, but it does already illustrate a curious situation for a cinephile to find themselves in: when a filmmaker agrees with a reading of his film that you find problematic and might have defended him against if you did not know his stance. One of the most engaging aspects of Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door is P Rajan's unpretentious camerawork framing the scenic location. While noting the importance of water bodies in Baruas films in an article published in The Hindu, Parthajit Baruah had this to say: the river, an image of lifeline and a means of survival, is strongly used in his films like Halodhiya Choriya Bau Dhan Khai, Firingati and Pokhi. The river Diroi in Firingati, the river Dihing in Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door and Pokhi are used as the recurring images which suggest the life force of the village people. Certainly this is one possible analysis, but the river to my mind plays the role of the sole constant in Puwals universe a giver of sustenance and a taker of life, the source of Puwals daily bread at the start of this tale but a force of nature that had also once swallowed Hkhumans parents, the ever-flowing mass of water that persists even when the bridge comes and Puwals boat appears to be rendered useless. It goes without saying that the most endearing and the foremost element in Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door is the relationship between Puwal and Hkhuman. In a defining passage, when Puwal crumbles, it is Hkhuman who is the voice of his conscience, steering him away from actions he will regret, standing rock-like in opposition to a grandfather he loves and is entirely dependent on. This episode between the boy and the old man harks back to scenes from Baruas own 1987 film, Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai a.k.a. The Catastrophe winner of the National Award for Best Feature Film and several top honours at the Locarno Film Festival. In The Catastrophe, the protagonist Rakheshwars tiny daughter physically resists him when he is violent with her mother, while later, his son holds him back when he vandalises the poster of a politician whose greed has almost destroyed their family Rakheshwar has been hired to paste those posters across the village, and the boy in his wisdom knows that, despicable though the neta is, at that moment they stand to lose one of their only sources of income if the fathers rage does not subside. Children are significant in Baruas filmography. In fact, Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door is the first of a trilogy with two other films Pokhi a.k.a. And The River Flows and Konikar Ramdhenu (Ride on the Rainbow) in which children are the leads. When I ask the auteur about this, he says, Child is a huge metaphor for me for human growth. He rewinds to his own early years in Japihkojia village in Upper Assam when a stammer caused him to be introverted, the silver lining being that this turned him into a keen observer of life Does he see himself in these children of immense maturity that he brings alive on screen? Almost all the time, is the reply. In a way, its a part of my mission while making films to introduce the child to the world in a different way, to understand a child. Society has a tendency to ignore a child and look down at a child. But I try to show that even a child can be a teacher. When a baby is born, Barua adds, that is a huge opportunity for the parents to look at the world afresh through the eyes of the child usually, parents never do that. In Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door, when an agitated Puwal calms down after being reprimanded by Hkhuman, it is then that he resolves to piece his shattered life back together, the torrential rain abates and hope returns. ALSO READ: Dozens have been reported killed in fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of deploying heavy artillery amid international calls for an end to the hostilities.The clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh are the heaviest seen since 2016 and have reignited concern over stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets. The long-simmering conflict erupted anew on September 27 into the deadliest bouts of fighting in four years in the ethnic Armenian separatist enclave inside Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged during the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the region and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan were seized by Armenian-backed separatists who declared independence amid a 1988-94 conflict that killed at least 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Since a fragile, Russian-brokered truce in 1994, the region has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces that Azerbaijan says include troops supplied by Armenia. The first debate between President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday and run for 90 minutes without commercial interruptions. The Times will livestream the event, accompanied by analysis and fact-checking from our reporters. The debate will also be carried on channels including ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC and NBC. Chris Wallace, the anchor of Fox News Sunday, will moderate the debate. He played that role in one of the 2016 debates between Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton. The moderator chooses the debate topics. For Tuesday night, Mr. Wallace chose Mr. Trumps and Mr. Bidens records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, race and violence in cities and the integrity of the election. There will be 15 minutes to discuss each topic. For Trump and Biden, the debate comes with different incentives. Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden will walk onto the first presidential debate stage of the 2020 general election with a very different set of political incentives. For Mr. Trump, it is a much-welcomed chance to shake up a race in which he is currently behind. For Mr. Biden, the debate is a risky but necessary step, a close encounter with an unorthodox rival who can and will say almost anything. After complaining for months about Mr. Bidens basement strategy, the debate is Mr. Trumps biggest opportunity to reframe the election as a choice between two competing visions. The Biden campaign continues to cast the race chiefly as a referendum on Mr. Trumps failures in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Two things can be true at once about the stakes of the debate. First, the presidential race so far has been an extremely stable affair, with little disrupting Mr. Bidens consistent polling lead not a pandemic, not record joblessness, not mass protests over policing and racism, and not an unexpected Supreme Court vacancy. A 90-minute debate will be hard-pressed to move the needle more than those factors. Continuing its efforts to advance peace in Libya, Egypt hosted talks in the framework of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission on Monday in the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. The meeting is a crucial step in the preparatory talks for the comprehensive Libyan National Dialogue that will be held in Geneva in October. The 5+5 Joint Military Commission, which brings together five military officials from the eastern and western camps in the Libyan conflict, is one of the three tracks of the settlement process that emerged during the Berlin Conference on Libya in mid-January. It was subsequently adopted by the UN Security Council. Holding the meeting has been a goal since Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR), and Fayez Al-Sarraj, head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), agreed to a ceasefire two months ago. Among the issues the 5+5 Joint Military Commission is tasked with are the reunification of the Libyan army, how to transfer foreign mercenaries out of Libya, and how to guarantee the security of Sirte so it can serve as an interim capital. The military talks in Hurghada follow on the heels of another important meeting hosted by Cairo between Saleh and Commander General of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The two also met with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and senior Egyptian officials. President Al-Sisi lauded Salehs efforts to promote the political process and reunify Libyas executive and legislative institutions, and expressed appreciation for Haftars efforts in the war against terrorism and his commitment to the ceasefire. The president appealed to all Libyan stakeholders to engage constructively in the three tracks emanating from the Berlin Conference, adopted by the UN and enshrined in the Cairo Declaration. Cairo secured a breakthrough by bringing Haftar and Saleh together. Although both from the western camp the differences between them have grown acute in recent months and Cairo was keen to contain any tensions that could jeopardise the diplomatic processes. According to sources close to Saleh, the differences centre on the interim phase in which Saleh is likely to play a key role. It appears that the HoR and GNA have reached an informal agreement that Saleh should succeed Al-Sarraj as the head of a newly reconstituted Presidential Council. Al-Sarraj announced in late September that he would step down at the end of October. Saleh replacing Al-Sarraj also appears to have some international backing judging by the EUs decision to lift the sanctions they imposed on him in 2016. Haftar, on the other hand, seems to have been sidelined. He has not, however, abandoned his ambitions for power, an informed source told Al-Ahram Weekly. Even though he lost the battle for Tripoli Haftar still believes that he holds some trump cards. He commands a military force that controls large parts of the country and still controls the petroleum crescent and oil terminals in the Gulf of Sirte. The source believes that Haftar is using his remaining advantages to pursue a path parallel to the UN process, towards which end he has established a line of communication to discuss the resumption of oil production and exports, possibly under Russian auspices, with Ahmed Maiteeq, vice chairman of the Presidential Council. Ahmed Al-Mismari, spokesman for the LNA General Command, has made it clear that Haftar opposes both the Berlin process and the outputs of the Montreux talks of 7-9 September. Al-Mismari said the LNA was not obliged to commit to these outputs since it was not a party to the talks. Although a quota of seats has reportedly been reserved for Haftar in the forthcoming National Dialogue observers believe his disapproval extends to encompass the dialogue as well. In remarks to the press after meeting with Haftar in Cairo Saleh avoided any suggestion of acrimony. He said that the parliament (HoR) and the army (LNA) were on the same track with respect to a solution to the Libyan crisis. A source close to Saleh explained that the parliamentary leader was keen to forestall or contain tensions with any Libyan stakeholder since he would soon become the chairman of a Presidential Council for all Libyans. Official sources in Cairo have not disclosed the substance of their talks with Haftar. Nevertheless, observers interpret the fact the 5+5 meeting in Hurghada went ahead as a sign that Haftar is now responding more positively to recent developments. Quite how compliant he will be though is unclear. One of the outputs of the Montreux consultative meeting that will be put to the participants in the National Dialogue is the proposal that the Presidential Council should serve as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Under this formula the three members of the new Presidential Council (the president and two vice presidents, each representing one of Libyas three main regions) will share the authorities of the post, thereby ensuring no faction monopolises decision-making. Sources doubt this formula will appease Haftar, even if he is appointed defence minister in the interim government. The international community nonetheless sounded an upbeat note on the results of this weeks meeting in Hurghada. The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) released a statement extending its deep gratitude to the Egyptian government for making these important talks possible and for its generous hosting of the delegations. We also extend our thanks to the two delegations who have demonstrated a positive and proactive attitude aimed at de-escalation of the situation in central Libya. Although a closing statement had not yet emerged from Hurghada by the time this article was submitted, sources contacted by the Weekly were optimistic, especially when it comes to the ceasefire and the security arrangements needed to move the capital to Sirte. On the sidelines of the Montreux consultations participants discussed a proposal calling for the creation of a 5,000 member national police force, half of which would be subordinate to an eastern-based interior minister, half to a western-based one. This proposal appears to have expanded in Hurghada to include members of the Armed Forces as well. Although the LNA General Command would be unlikely to cede the areas it controls under the terms of a political agreement to which it is not a party it is believed Haftar might welcome an arrangement of this sort in which he retains a role as commander of his forces. It has also been suggested that these forces would be redeployed in the vicinity of petroleum facilities in Sirte while the newly-formed police force would protect government institutions. On the other hand, some question the feasibility of the proposed police force, noting that its members would retain their partisan affiliations. Given that the point of moving the capital temporarily is to free it from the grip of the consortium of militias in Tripoli and, simultaneously, to buffer it from the east-west polarisation, this would be a far from ideal situation. There are indications that the Hurghada talks also discussed moves towards the reunification of Libyas Armed Forces. Although Cairos mediation made considerable progress on this issue in 2016 and 2017 the Tripoli campaign launched by the LNA on 4 April 2019 threw a spanner into the works, deepening the institutional bifurcation in Libya. Recent military-related developments in western Libya further call into question the possibility of reunifying the armed forces at this stage. In addition to the appointments of Salah Al-Manqoush and Mohamed Al-Haddad as GNA defence minister and chief of staff, respectively, military contractual arrangements between the GNA and Turkey and Qatar, and Turkish control over the Watiya, Matiga and Misrata military bases, present formidable obstacles in the way of reunification. There are additional inhibiting factors, most notably the current balance of power in favour of the western forces, and recognition and support for these forces by the US and some European powers determined to curtail Russias influence in Libya. Moscow is one of Haftars main backers. Just this week it confirmed it would repair and maintain the MiG 23s in the LNA arsenal. Given the difficulties in bridging the gap between the two sides the question of reunifying the army may well be deferred until a comprehensive political agreement has been reached. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: A crowd of about twenty gathered recently to see Joe Biden in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin the same week that President Trump held rallies in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Aside from the Wisconsin trip, Biden appeared in his childhood town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his current home town of Wilmington, Delaware. At every stop President Trump is met with thousands of cheering supporters. By contrast, Biden's appearances have been a lot like hosting the neighbors in lawn chairs, and certainly with no questioning from real reporters. Is this any way to run a campaign? Democrats are starting to think not. According to polling, there aren't many who think Biden could do a good job of running the country. In the latest polling voters say that Trump will do a better job on the economy, and the economy is the top issue in this as in previous elections. Biden supporters aren't voting for Biden they just want to vote against Trump. If it weren't for the coronavirus and the slowdown it brought about, Biden wouldn't have a chance. Unfortunately, he does have a chance. What kind of president would Biden make? Presumably, because of what may be advancing dementia, he would turn the administration over to those close to him, including those on his transition team, which includes "top aides, former VP prospects and Obama administration officials." This includes longtime aide Ted Kaufman, adviser Anita Dunn, Obama official Jeff Zients, and New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham along with Susan Rice, Sally Yates, Pete Buttigieg, Teresa Romero, and Vivek Murthy. Lujan, a member of a prominent New Mexico political family, has been active in Democrat politics for her entire adult life. Among other positions, she served as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Teresa Romero is a Mexican who entered the U.S. illegally and who is now president of the United Farm Workers, a union much involved in what is euphemistically called "immigration reform." Pete Buttigieg is another longtime politician serving on the Biden team. What kind of transition team is this? In 2009, Anita Dunn famously said Mao Zedong was one of her two favorite political philosophers. Susan Rice claimed on national TV that the Benghazi attacks were the results of a videotape, not the planned attack of terrorists. As acting attorney general, Sally Yates refused to support President Trump's visa ban on countries associated with terrorism a ban later upheld by the Supreme Court. Following her firing, Yates sought to discredit the president during the Russiagate investigation and also provided testimony damaging to Gen. Flynn. If there is one common thread on the transition team, it's that many of its members are soft on terrorism; soft on national defense; and soft on crime, especially crimes committed by so-called protesters. This common thread is one indication of what to expect should Biden get elected. Also, none of Biden's transition team has extensive, or in most cases any, business experience. They are mostly Washington lawyers and professional political advisers. Anita Dunn and her husband, Robert Bauer, have been called the D.C. "power couple." How much do the D.C. power couple know or care about the real America? Then there's Kamala Harris. In the event of mental incapacity, the Constitution states that "the Vice President shall become president." That might not be long in Biden's case. That would set Harris up for a potential 12-year administration. Twelve years of Harris would transform America beyond recognition. With drastically higher taxes and minority preference everywhere, and with no prosecution of looters and arsonists, there would be no reason for affluent whites to remain in the country. Costa Rica might be a good option. Behind this concern about Biden's top advisers is the fact that Biden himself is nowhere to be seen. At a time when his running mate is campaigning vigorously, Biden remains in the basement. Actually, Biden was nowhere to be seen during his 36 years in the U.S. Senate. In his last six years, he sponsored 42 bills. They were all small bills that offended no one such as S.574 (106th), "A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to make corrections to a map relating to the Coastal Barrier Resources System," or S.J. Res. 279 (102nd), "A joint resolution designating April 14, 1992, as 'Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.'" So it was throughout Biden's career. He was a liberal plodder, neither the most nor the least liberal in the Senate, churning out lots of little bills honoring "National Mammography Day" or "Harriet Tubman Day" but never challenging the underlying drift of America toward socialism. Meanwhile, he was amassing a net worth of $9 million while his son Hunter amassed $3 million. Biden has always preferred the uncontroversial shadows, but now he refuses to answer questions of any kind. He's gone from offending no one to not even answering, and the reason is obvious. Sponsoring Harriet Tubman Day is one kind of invisibility, but now it's something different. Biden wants to remain truly invisible up to the election. Biden has committed one gaffe after another, many of them serious. Like not knowing the difference between Iraq and Iran. Not knowing what office you're running for. Not knowing where you are or where you're scheduled to be the next day. Not knowing the difference between a Biden-Harris and a Harris-Biden administration. Not knowing that the Hispanic song you're playing is sexually offensive or that your own behavior with women may be. Many Americans don't like President Trump's style or his policies. Will they like an administration run by Biden's young anti-business and anti-American team of advisers? They think a vote for Biden is just a vote against Trump. If they thought about it, they'd realize that voting for a team of professional politicians who despise the heartland is not an improvement. In his first term, President Trump produced the best economy, the most opportunity, and the greatest freedom of any president in U.S. history. Those who plan to vote for Biden should think carefully about the difference between freedom and prosperity under President Trump and Big Government under Biden's handlers. Biden does have a nice smile, but there is something vacant about it. Biden has been hiding behind that smile for a long time. Is Biden's dental work and a record of inoffensiveness enough to qualify him for the highest office in the land? Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011). Image: Marc Nozell via Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Tampa International Airport has become the first US airport to offer COVID-19 tests for both departing and arriving passengers in its terminals. The airport announced Tuesday it has joined forces with BayCare Health System to carry out voluntary testing for any travelers who have flown or are flying within three days, and can show proof of travel. Officials said they hoped the move will help restore confidence in the industry after travel ground to a halt back in March when the pandemic ravaged America and several international destinations. Tampa International Airport has become the first US airport to offer COVID-19 tests for both departing and arriving passengers in its terminals. Pictured Registered Nurse and VP of business development at BayCare Donna St. Louis performs a rapid antigen test on Tampa International Airport employee Mary Baltzell at Tuesday's demonstration Tests will be available on a walk-in basis from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a testing site set up near the Airside F shuttle in the main terminal. Passengers will be able to choose from two tests - a rapid antigen test and a polymerase chain reaction swab. The rapid antigen test costs $57 and results are available in 15 minutes so passengers can be tested the same day they travel. The polymerase chain reaction swab costs $125 with results available in 48 hours. It is designed for travelers going to destinations requiring this type of test, such as Puerto Rico. If a passenger tests positive for coronavirus they will be advised not to fly but the airport cannot legally stop them, reported Tampa Bay Times. The Florida Department of Health will be responsible for carrying out contact tracing for any positive results. Airport officials said they hoped the move will help restore confidence in the industry after travel ground to a halt back in March when the pandemic ravaged America and several international destinations. Pictured Tampa International Airport The airport announced Tuesday it has joined forces with BayCare Health System to carry out voluntary testing for any travelers who have flown or are flying within three days, and can show proof of travel The program is a trial running for the duration of October however Tampa International Airport's CEO Joe Lopano said it could be rolled out further if it's a success. 'This is just a test, but we think if it's successful - and we think it will be - we'll continue, and we'll grow it,' he said Tuesday as he announced its launch. Lopano said the move should help ease traveler concerns about the risks of flying and international travel as cases and deaths continue to tick up. 'Our responsibility as good managers is to try to get out of this hole that we're in. And we're going to do that,' he said. John Tiliacos, the airport's executive vice president of operations and customer service, said it could also encourage governments to ease international travel bans. Florida has been one of the worst-hit states during the pandemic, with 704,568 cases and 14,143 deaths 'We get numerous calls every day from passengers that are flying to locations, whether it's within the US or outside the US, asking if we provide testing,' he said. 'It's something that frankly the travel industry has been trying to impress upon governments - both the US government and governments around the world - that we really need to implement some form of rapid testing that ideally gives you results on the spot.' He added: 'We hope this becomes a catalyst for a broader national conversation that needs to be had regarding testing of passengers, so that we can instill confidence in people to fly.' The airline industry was one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic back in March as borders closed, the federal government banned flights to and from some nations and stay-at-home orders left the few planes still operating empty of passengers. Airlines cut thousands of flights and thousands of staff were laid off or furloughed to try to keep the industry afloat. At Tampa International Airport, passenger traffic plummeted by a staggering 96 percent in April, triggering a projected revenue shortfall of almost $76 million for the fiscal year. This forced the airport to put on hold $900 million in construction projects. In May, the major airlines reached a deal with the US Treasury for $25 billion in federal aid to help pay workers and avoid massive layoffs in the industry. As part of the deal, airlines were banned from laying off staff before October 1. But, several flight bans with international destinations have rumbled on - even after lockdowns eased and infection rates in many affected areas slowed - meaning job cuts could be just around the corner. Florida has been one of the worst-hit states during the pandemic, with 704,568 cases and 14,143 deaths. Nationwide, more than 205,000 Americans have been killed by the virus and cases have topped 7.1 million. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 17:57:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government is on track in improving the country's business environment in order to attract international firms searching for new operational bases, the local daily Vientiane Times reported on Tuesday. International companies were looking for new business bases with low operating costs such as cheap labor, thus the improvement to the business climate would help attract more firms, Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Daovone Phachanthavong, was quoted as saying. In addition, multinational firms are looking to expand into countries that have access to large international markets, he said, adding that Laos was one of such countries. "Amid the changing global situation, we must continue to improve our business climate so we can attract foreign firms to do business in Laos," the official said, noting that the Lao government was on the right track to achieving this. The challenge was for the government to be persistent, determined, and ensuring the effective implementation of the business climate improvement policy, he added. According to local and international observers, Laos is geographically well placed to attract international investment to establish new business bases since the Southeast Asian country shares borders with emerging economies. "Another attraction is the China-Laos railway, which, when operational, will greatly facilitate the operation of foreign and domestic firms in Laos, making it easier for them to trade and do business with Chinese partners," the newspaper reported. Authorities must ensure a ready supply of skilled workers in attracting investment, which the government has been seeking to achieve through its policy to strengthen vocational education, Phachanthavong was also cited as saying. The Lao official also pointed out that several ASEAN countries are competing with each other to attract international firms. A lot of work has yet to be done for Laos, where the government is making efforts in implementing an opening-up policy and reducing poverty. Enditem New Delhi, Sep 29 : The key findings of the second round of sero-survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) suggested that India had 87 million Covid-19 patients by the end of August. Sharing the details during the weekly press briefing of the Union Health Ministry on on Tuesday, ICMR Director-General Balram Bharghav said that one in 15 individuals was exposed to Covid-19 by August. In percentage terms, the national prevalence was found to be 6.6 per cent, a multifold increase from the first round when 0.73 per cent of the population was found to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19. The findings also stated that 7.1 per cent of the adult population showed evidence of past exposure to Covid-19. Similar to the first round of sero-survey, the worst-affected were those between the age group of 18 and 45 years, followed by those between 46 and 60 years, who had developed antibodies against the Covid-19. The risk in urban slums was twice than that in non-slum areas and four times than the risk in rural settings. According to the findings, urban slums (15.6 per cent) and non-slum areas (8.2 per cent) had higher Covid-19 infection prevalence than the rural areas (4.4 per cent). However, the spread of infection per case reported was reduced in the second round due to scaled up testing. "The virus was found to be 26-32 infections per reported case by August (81-130 in May), underlining the effect of scaled up testing, tracking and treating strategy," the findings showed. The second round of the sero-survey was also conducted in the same manner as the first. A total of 700 villages and wards in 70 districts in 21 states of the country were randomly sampled between August 17 and September 22 for the second round of the survey. Bhargav also said that the 5T strategy (test, track, trace, treat, technology) will be adhered to since a large proportion of the population is still susceptible to the deadly virus. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Robert Toll, cofounder of Toll Brothers, posed for a portrait at the Toll Brothers headquarters in Horsham, Pa., on Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Robert Toll founded the luxury home building company with his brother Bruce Toll in 1967. Read more The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is getting a $50 million gift to double the number of graduates who intend to pursue careers in serving the public interest. The gift from the Robert and Jane Toll Foundation will fund three-year scholarships for students who are committed to a public interest or government career to participate in the Toll Public Interest Scholars and Fellows Program. The goal is for those students to graduate with very little debt so they have the financial flexibility to take more impactful jobs, jobs which usually pay much less than private practice, said Ted Ruger, dean of Penn Law. Well be able to double the number of those scholarships from seven to 14. Its really important for our country right now. The Toll Foundations $50 million donation, which will launch in 2021, is the largest gift in history to be devoted entirely to the training and support of public interest lawyers, according to Penn Law, and among the 10 largest gifts ever to a law school in the U.S. Its hoped that the graduates would work as public defenders, or in such areas as civil rights, environmental protection, consumer rights, and social justice. The timing could not be more important, as our country acknowledges how inadequately our criminal justice system and other institutions have responded to the countrys long history of racism and inequality, Penn president Amy Gutmann said in a statement. The Tolls visionary philanthropy firmly places Penn Carey Law in a preeminent position to support a new generation of leaders to do the substantial work required for serious reform. Robert Toll the billionaire who founded the luxury home builder Toll Brothers with his sibling Bruce graduated from Penn Law in 1966; Jane Toll graduated from Penns Graduate School of Education the same year. Their gift also will allow for current law students who decide to pursue a more publicly spirited career to transfer during their second year into the Toll Fellows program, Ruger said. The foundation money will pick up the cost of tuition for those students with scholarships midstream. It was important to us and the Tolls to have two pathways into the program, Ruger said. Not every student knows exactly what pathway they want to take when they first start out. Tuition and fees at Penn Law are about $69,130 a year, and living expenses can tack on an additional $26,000 or more. Though it can seem as if the country is overrun with lawyers, Ruger said the pandemic has exposed a big gap in access to legal services, especially for poor people and small businesses. Whats clear is that theres a number of legal and social problems that would benefit from innovative lawyering, Ruger said, and to enable students to graduate with vastly reduced debt so that they might pursue those solutions is more important now than ever. We know these grads will be able to hit the ground running to solve those problems. Part of the donation will go to enhance academic and outreach efforts at the Toll Public Interest Center, where a group of staff and faculty runs specialized training programs and oversees the 70 hours of pro bono service that each Penn Law student is required to complete. Probably the comment I saw most often questioned how Judge Barrett could possibly care for her seven children and simultaneously serve on the Supreme Court, she told me in an email. Justice Scalia had nine children and not one ever asked him! Its a totally sexist argument, one that Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have rejected out of hand, and in fact, condemned. If Amy Coney Barrett was a Democrat on the left, they would be falling all over themselves to call her a wonder woman, role model, hero mom who manages to do it all. Zac Efron has been keeping a low profile in Byron Bay since news of his romance with waitress Vanessa Valladares surfaced. And as locals and tourists alike remain on the lookout for the Hollywood star, a doppelganger of the actor has apparently been fooling the town. Daily Mail Australia can reveal that an unidentified man in the region has been turning heads and making people do 'double takes' on the street. That Awkward Moment: A Zac Efron 'lookalike' is fooling locals and tourists in Byron Bay, as the A-lister (pictured) goes into hiding with his new girlfriend, Vanessa Valladares The High School Musical star reportedly met new girlfriend Vanessa in July, when she was working as a waitress at the Byron Bay General Store cafe. The venue has since become a hotspot in Byron for those hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the actor with his ladylove. Last week, several patrons were convinced Zac had returned to the popular haunt for a quick take-away coffee. Pacing the pathway outside of the venue and wearing a hat tilted down to conceal his face, several customers whispered and pointed. 'We were sure it was him': One patron at the Byron Bay General Store cafe told Daily Mail Australia that several customers were convinced they'd seen Zac grabbing a take-away coffee last week - but it was just a lookalike Moving on: A waitress confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that Vanessa (pictured) was no longer working at the Byron Bay General Store cafe One patron told Daily Mail Australia: 'We were sure it was him. He kept his distance from everyone and waited outside for his coffee order. 'It wasn't just us, either. Others were looking. But sadly it wasn't him. When he looked up to drink his coffee and walk away, it was just a lookalike. We were pretty embarrassed. We wished it was the real Zac!' A waitress also confirmed that Vanessa was no longer working at the Byron Bay General Store cafe. The One? Vanessa is rumoured to be staying with Zac at his rented home in Belongil Beach Vanessa is rumoured to be staying with Zac at his rented home in Belongil Beach. Last month, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Zac had cancelled a scheduled flight back to Los Angeles after his tourist visa extension was approved. While Zac, 32, is living in Byron Bay for the time being, he's expected to return to America to film the Disney+ remake of Three Men and a Baby in the coming months. 09/29/2020 Contacts for media: UMass Lowell: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu or Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu. Former Vice President Joe Biden has an eight-point lead over President Donald Trump among likely New Hampshire voters, according to a new poll released today by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion. New Hampshire, which has four electoral votes on the line, has emerged as a swing state that was hotly contested in the 2016 presidential election. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by fewer than 3,000 votes, a margin of less than half a percent. The independent, nonpartisan poll released today found that Biden leads with 52 percent of likely New Hampshire voters, followed by Trump at 44 percent and 3 percent for third-party candidates. Only 1 percent of voters say they are undecided. In an October 2016 poll by the Center for Public Opinion, 14 percent of likely voters planned to cast ballots for third-party candidates while Hillary Clinton had a six-point lead over Trump. At this point in 2016, there were nearly five times as many third party or undecided voters, which indicated an unstable race. This year is very different. Voters minds are made up and they have been for a while. Thats the sort of thing that happens when the race becomes a focused referendum on the incumbent, said Joshua Dyck, director of the Center for Public Opinion and an associate professor of political science. Todays poll found that Biden is leading among 95 percent of likely voters who identify themselves as Democrats and Trump is leading among 90 percent of those who identify as Republicans. Biden leads with 50 percent of independents and Trump trails with 35 percent. More on which voters are supporting which candidates based on gender, education and more is available at www.uml.edu/polls. The poll found that 55 percent of likely voters disapprove of Trump and 46 percent of that group strongly disapprove of how Trump is handling the job of president. Among Democrats, that disapproval increases to 96 percent. Sixty-two percent of independents and 10 percent of Republicans polled say they disapprove of his job performance. The survey asked whether the next Supreme Court justice should be appointed by the current president or the winner of the 2020 election. Fifty-eight percent of likely New Hampshire voters said the 2020 winner should appoint the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, compared to 42 percent who said the current president. Asked which candidate and their allies are cheating to win the election, less than half said Biden and his allies (41 percent), compared to 56 percent who said Trump and his allies have been cheating. Seventy-four percent of Democrats say Trump and his allies are cheating a great deal compared to 46 percent of Republicans who said Biden and his allies are cheating a great deal. These numbers point to serious questions of electoral legitimacy, particularly if the election happens to be close, said Dyck. In the races for U.S. Senate and governor in New Hampshire, incumbents Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Sununu are leading their challengers by double-digits. Shaheen leads Republican Corky Messner among likely voters by 19 points, 56 percent to 37 percent, with 6 percent still undecided and 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate. Ninety-six percent of Democrats support Shaheen, along with 52 percent of independents and 17 percent of Republicans. Sununu leads Democrat Dan Feltes by 26 points, 60 percent to 34 percent, with 6 percent undecided and 1 percent saying they will vote for another candidate. Sununu has the support of 92 percent of Republicans as well as 70 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats. The poll of likely New Hampshire voters also found: A majority (54 percent) think its not safe to re-open local public schools for face-to-face instruction (21 percent say definitely not safe, 33 percent say probably not safe, 30 percent say probably safe, 16 percent say definitely safe). Asked who they think will win the 2020 presidential election, 45 percent said Biden will win and 40 percent said Trump will win. More than two-thirds (68 percent) said the country is on the wrong track, compared to 32 percent who said the country is headed in the right direction. The New Hampshire Secretary of State announced a COVID-19 exception to absentee ballot laws earlier this year, which allows concerns about COVID-19 as a valid excuse for requesting an absentee ballot in the state. Among likely voters, 31 percent say they plan to vote by mail, while 69 percent plan to vote in person. The nonpartisan poll of 657 likely New Hampshire voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 13,000 students, alumni and employees from the Granite State. The Center for Public Opinion presents events and polling on political and social issues to provide opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and real-world research. The survey was designed and analyzed by the Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Sept. 17 through Sept. 25. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent. Detailed poll results including topline and full methodology are available at www.uml.edu/polls. In addition to the survey of likely voters in New Hampshire, the Center for Public Opinion also released polls in two other states today. The findings include: In North Carolina, Trump and Biden are tied with 47 percent support of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham leads Republican incumbent Thom Tillis 49 percent to 43 percent. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Republican challenger Dan Forest 54 percent to 41 percent. (Poll of 921 likely North Carolina voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.) In Texas, Trump has an apparent lead of 3 points over Biden, 49 percent to 46 percent of likely voters. In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent John Cornyn is up 50 percent to 40 percent over Democratic challenger MJ Hegar. (Poll of 882 likely Texas voters conducted Sept. 18 through Sept. 25 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK mortgage approvals increased to the highest level in nearly 13 years in August as the housing market gained momentum after the easing of lockdown measures and stamp duty reduction, data published by the Bank of England showed Tuesday. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases increased sharply to 84,700 in August from 66,300 in July. This was the highest number since October 2007 and above economists' forecast of 73,000. However, this has only partially offset the weakness seen between March and June, the BoE said. There have been 418,000 approvals in 2020, compared with 524,000 in the same period last year. While this buoyancy may last for a few more months, the current spike in demand is likely to be short-lived, Andrew Burrell, an economist at Capital Economics, said. With the economy fragile and concerns about the virus growing, lending is likely to fall back as soon as the backlog of demand from the spring is exhausted, the economist noted. Data revealed that secured lending increased to GBP 3.1 billion from GBP 2.9 billion in July. Net consumer credit borrowing remained positive in August at GBP 0.3 billion, following a GBP 1.1 billion increase in July. Data showed that corporates borrowed GBP 0.4 billion of loans in August. Small and medium sized companies continued borrowing in August, and large companies started borrowing again after three months of repayments. The monetary aggregate M4 dropped 0.4 percent on month, but grew 12.1 percent on a yearly basis in August. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The BSF personnel posted in Mizoram seized 30 sophisticated weapons including 28 AK series rifles during a raid conducted at a village in Mamit district, situated close to the border with Bangladesh, and arrested three persons. A statement issued by the 90th battalion of BSF in Aizawl said that a raid was conducted at Phuldungsei village under West Phaileng police station and the weapons were seized from two vehicles. The recovery included 30 sophisticated weapons including 28 AK series rifles, one 5.56 MM AK-74 rifle, and one carbine along with 7,894 assorted ammunitions and 28 magazines. "The weapons were hidden in fabricated cavity of the vehicles," said the statement. The three apprehended persons have been identified as Lalhuapzauva, Vanlalruata, and Liansanga, all residents of Aizawl district in Mizoram. BSF, however, did not mention whether they are members of any insurgent group or arms smugglers. Although the source of the weapons was yet to be identified, intelligence officials suspected that the weapons were trafficked from Bangladesh, which once used to be a safe haven for insurgent groups in the Northeast. "Activities of the insurgent groups from the Northeast in Bangladesh reduced drastically since Sheikh Hasian government came to power. But it needs to be investigated whether arms smugglers are still using the route to pump in weapons for the insurgent groups still active in the region," said an intelligence official in Assam. Mizoram shares 318 kms of 4,096km long border with Bangladesh. The issues related to crisis, water sharing in common rivers, energy, connectivity, bilateral trade and border are expected to be on the agenda of a meeting in Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) to be held on Tuesday, Bangladeshi media reported. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen will lead their respective sides in the 6th JCC meeting to be held in a virtual platform in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Both the foreign ministers may discuss the draft of the water sharing treaty of six common rivers -- Monu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar -- and will give a guideline to hold the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting soon, Dhaka Tribune reported citing diplomatic sources. The last meeting of the JRC was held in New Delhi in 2010. But, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India last year, both the countries had agreed to direct the JRC technical committee to exchange updated data and information and prepare a draft framework to this end. On Monday, Momen said that India is Bangladesh's "best friend" but the two countries have "many things to discuss". "India is our neighbour and our best friend. We have many things to discuss," he added. He also announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina are likely to hold a meeting in December, Bangladeshi media reported. Memon, speaking to Dhaka Tribune, said that the two countries are discussing the matter and it is undecided whether the meeting would take place in person or virtually."It is too early to say whether the meeting will take place in person or virtually," Dr Momen said. "If the Covid-19 situation remains unchanged, the meeting will be virtual. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Independent candidate Nicusor Dan, supported by National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR) - Liberty, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) Alliance, won 42.78% of the votes for the position of general mayor of Bucharest, and the current mayor, Gabriela Firea, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate - 37.99%, according to the partial data of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) centralized until Tuesday at 9.00, after counting 97.46% of the votes. On the third place is Traian Basescu, the People's Movement Party (PMP) candidate, with 10.98%. Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah dies in US hospital at 91 Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is seen in October 2019 Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, architect of the nation's modern foreign policy and mediator in some of the worst crises to grip the Gulf, died on Tuesday at the age of 91. The government quickly named his half-brother, 83-year-old Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, as his successor. Sheikh Sabah had earned a reputation as a shrewd, unshakeable leader who helped steer his country through the 1990 Iraqi invasion, crashes in global oil markets and upheavals in parliament and on the streets. "With great sadness and sorrow, we mourn... the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah," Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, minister in charge of royal affairs, announced in a televised statement. The government declared a 40-day period of national mourning. The United Nations described the late emir as a "distinguished statesman and an outstanding humanitarian" as it led tributes which came from across the Middle East's political divides. "Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed earned international recognition for his wisdom, generosity and achievements in state-building and preventive diplomacy," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman said in a statement. He had made "a personal contribution to regional stability and humanitarian assistance which will long be remembered", British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. The emir, who had ruled the oil-rich Gulf state since 2006, died in the United States where he had been receiving hospital treatment after undergoing surgery in Kuwait City. Details of his illness were not disclosed. In his absence, Sheikh Nawaf -- an elder statesman who has held high office for decades including the defence and interior ministries -- had served as acting ruler. He is to be sworn in on Wednesday. - Smooth handover - The 15th leader in a family that has ruled for over 250 years, Sheikh Sabah weathered Kuwait's crises with shrewd judgement and an iron fist. Story continues As the country's top diplomat for nearly four decades, he fostered close ties with the West, most notably the United States which led the international coalition that freed Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. He later emerged as mediator between the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran, and between Saudi Arabia and Qatar following Riyadh's 2017 decision to cut ties with Doha. In a sign of the respect that the emir commanded across the region, the UAE, Egypt and Qatar all declared three days of mourning. "The Arab and Muslim world has lost one of its most valuable leaders," Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a tweet. Regional power Saudi Arabia said it mourned his passing, while its arch-rival Iran praised the emir's policy of "moderation and poise". Baghdad said that Sheikh Sabah had put the Iraqi occupation in the past and supported the "new" Iraq after Saddam Hussein's rule, choosing to stand with it against "terrorism". - Next generation? - The Kuwaiti leader had remained deeply involved in global affairs into his old age. "The loss of Sabah al-Ahmed will be felt deeply, both due to his prominent role as a diplomat and regional mediator and as a unifying figure at home," said Kristin Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. "Kuwaitis have appreciated his ability to keep the emirate out of regional conflicts and rivalries." Major policy changes are not expected under his successor, even after the Gulf underwent a seismic shift with Kuwait's neighbours, the UAE and Bahrain, opting to normalise relations with Israel. Normalisation with the Jewish state is highly unpopular among the Kuwaiti public, which largely supports the Arab world's historic position of demanding a resolution of the Palestinian cause before giving diplomatic concessions to Israel. "There is no indication a future leadership would want to change Kuwait's posture," Diwan said. Kuwait's constitution stipulates that the ruler should be a descendant of the nation's founder, Mubarak al-Sabah, but the throne has alternated between the descendants of his sons, Salem and Jaber, for four decades. Contestants for the newly vacated role of Crown Prince include Sheikh Sabah's son and former deputy prime minister and political heavyweight Nasser Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah. "Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed should be viewed more as a caretaker than as a watershed new leader," said Cinzia Bianco, a research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Behind the scenes, however, younger princes would likely continue to compete to succeed him." sl/dm/sls/hckuwait The House of Representatives unveiled Monday the relief measures under the $2.2 trillion stimulus package, following mounting pressure to quickly strike a coronavirus deal. Last week, the House said they drafted a new stimulus package that Congress members can vote one week before leaving Washington to get on the campaign trail. The stimulus package is in response to the emerging tensions within the Democratic party's rank who are in a tight race with the Republican candidates. The proposed $2.2 trillion stimulus package includes the following relief measures that will hopefully pass in Congress and Senate: $600 weekly unemployment benefits $1,200 direct stimulus checks $436 billion aid to state and local governments $225 billion funds to colleges and universities Paycheck Protection Program for businesses The proposed relief measures will help millions of Americans across the country who continue to suffer from economic fallout caused by the global pandemic. After months of stalled talks, the House of Representatives attempted to continue the negotiations with the White House and Republicans. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin aims to strike a deal with the Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a new round of stimulus package. Mnuchin, who has been persistent in asking for the relief measures, said he called Pelosi 15 to 20 times to discuss the bill. Even though the House of Representatives' total amount is bigger than the previous offer of the Republican lawmakers in the Senate, President Donald Trump said he would convince his party to embrace the larger amount. The President showed interest in a bigger stimulus package. The divided members of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives are afraid that the bill will not make it through both chambers. This will have a negative impact on their campaign, especially those in a tight race with the Republican candidates. Pelosi has already made some actions after she received pressure from her colleagues. She said she has already talked with Mnuchin about a new stimulus package. It seems that Pelosi knew that her colleagues would blame her if there will be no agreement made on the next relief package. Pelosi has always been pushing for trillions of dollars, but on Monday, she said: "We've come down $1 trillion, and they need to come up because we have to crush this virus. It takes money to crush the virus. It takes money to make the schools safe. It takes money to put money in people's pockets." Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell raised some concerns, insisting that a liability shield against potential lawsuits brought against businesses, schools, and universities that reopen during the pandemic be part of the legislation. However, Pelosi did not like the idea and did not include it in Monday's legislation. Both chambers are hopeful that a new coronavirus relief aid bill will be voted this week, and the stimulus money would be sent before the election. Check these out! Hotel Chocolat has signed a five-year deal with the technology arm of e-commerce giant The Hut Group to expand its reach in the United States. THG said the agreement would enable Hotel Chocolat to launch its direct-to-consumer platform in the country and also take advantage of the expanding chocolate market there, which is set to be worth $67.2billion by 2025. The Manchester-based firm was in the headlines a fortnight ago after its shares jumped by a third on the day they began trading publicly on the London Stock Exchange, the largest IPO on the LSE in seven years. THG's partnership has been announced on the same day that Hotel Chocolat stated that sales rose in the year to June 28 despite the temporary closure of its stores earlier this year Its founder Matthew Moulding said the relationship 'comes at a particularly crucial time for the British retail sector, when brands must flex in response to the constantly evolving environment. 'Hotel Chocolat will now benefit from the powerful and scalable infrastructure of THG Ingenuity, joining a host of other third-party clients and our own brands that have achieved global growth through our proven model.' The partnership has been announced on the same day that Hotel Chocolat stated that its sales rose by 3 per cent to 136.2million in the year to June 28 even though the lockdown dramatically affected their store footfall. It noted that online trade 'accelerated' over the period, and that this helped to minimise the loss in sales from its high street outlets, which the firm said is normally responsible for around 70 per cent of its revenues. In the first 12 weeks of the current financial year, digital sales were up by 150 per cent, and have been particularly strong in the USA. But while sales have grown, the business still plunged from a 10.9million profit the previous year to a loss of 6.5million, although it declared that pre-tax profits were 'slightly ahead' of its expectations. The Hut Group founder Matthew Moulding (above) said the partnership with Hotel Chocolat 'comes at a particularly crucial time for the British retail sector, when brands must flex in response to the constantly evolving environment' It attributed the loss to a 10million impairment charge, most of which it says came from a projected decline in its store sales, with the rest coming from a goodwill payment and a 2.7million writedown on the value of its St. Lucia cocoa farm. Chief executive Angus Thirlwell said: 'Whilst uncertainty will continue for all of us in the coming year, our pipeline of potential growth opportunities has never been stronger. 'We are working hard to anticipate potential trading scenarios for the year ahead and are planning prudently to be ready to adapt quickly and effectively as the situation evolves. Hotel Chocolat said digital sales were up by 150 per cent in the first 12 weeks of the fiscal year 'To achieve this, we have invested in our ability to increase production and expand our supply chain capacity as well as strengthen the leadership team to ensure a continued focus on product innovation, e-commerce, supply chain and sustainability.' Hotel Chocolat also said the group's joint venture in Japan was 'progressing well.' Trade is now happening in eight venues and it is preparing to launch its first dedicated range in the country for Valentine's Day next year. Among the new products due to launch on the market are vegan gift-box assortments, the Velvetiser Latte at-home chocolate maker, and the 'Wonka-esque Inventing Room Box' subscription service. Hotel Chocolat boss Angus Thirlwell said: 'Whilst uncertainty will continue for all of us in the coming year, our pipeline of potential growth opportunities has never been stronger' Inventing Rooms offer Hotel Chocolat customers the chance to taste new recipes before they become available in high street shops. Thirlwell added that the business received a further uplift from a 50 per cent expansion in its VIP loyalty membership numbers. 'Our VIP.ME programme is at the centre of our relationship and the investments we made in people and technology over the last 18 months are key to driving our future performance,' the co-founder said. He added: 'The quality of our content and benefits, coupled with the change in shopping patterns following COVID-19, has resulted in higher spend per transaction and a greater propensity to shop across all our channels.' Shares in Hotel Chocolat Group were down 1.4 per cent to 3.45 around midday. Evan Glassman saw a gap in the property insurance marketliterally. Glassman, working as a retail producer in south Florida for most of his career, realized that the insurance industrys products were not fully addressing the needs of commercial property insurance policyholders for economic recovery after hurricanes. After living the problem on the front line, I created a solution and built a company around it, aiming to solve my clients problems in the event of a hurricane, said Glassman, who co-founded the managing general agent and insurtech New Paradigm Underwriters in 2013. New Paradigm specializes in parametric risk transfer productsproducts that could have helped his former clients in Florida who still had property losses to absorb after traditional carriers paid their hurricane claims. Among the reasons for this insurance protection gap: First, there can be a very large deductible in a property policy, which is a percentage of the total insured value. Second, the exposures that are most likely to produce loss are often not insured or insurable, nor do they count toward the accumulation of the deductible liability. These exposures can include landscaping, business interruption with or without property damage, and loss of attraction. And finally, there is the design of the policy itself, which can contain exclusions and limitations to trigger the cover, such as a requirement for property damage to trigger business interruption. As a result, New Paradigm was launched to offer market-leading parametric triggers with parametric products, he said. The design of the products is how the rubber meets the road. We are unique in the way we structure our triggers and the unique technology weve built around that, Glassman told Carrier Management. New Paradigm also offers parametric reinsurance protection for insurance companies, making it one of a scarce breed of reinsurance MGAs. While the companys products are often purchased as a supplement to traditional cover, more and more, were being seen as an alternative to traditional insurance and reinsurance, Glassman affirmed. Its another risk transfer tool in the toolbox that more and more companies are using. Approximately 80 percent of the companys parametric products are insurance-related, while 20 percent are reinsurance. Even though were a Florida-based company, we operate globally, Glassman said. New Paradigm doesnt bear risk. It sources risk and underwrites using a proprietary parametric platform that triggers the cover when a hurricane reaches a specific wind force or an earthquake breaches a certain seismic level. This article first was published in Insurance Journals sister publication, Carrier Management. The three articles in this special series are: Topics Catastrophe Florida Reinsurance Hurricane Property Insurance Wholesale CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Two and a half years ago, MIT entered into a research agreement with startup company Commonwealth Fusion Systems to develop a next-generation fusion research experiment, called SPARC, as a precursor to a practical, emissions-free power plant. Now, after many months of intensive research and engineering work, the researchers charged with defining and refining the physics behind the ambitious reactor design have published a series of papers summarizing the progress they have made and outlining the key research questions SPARC will enable. Overall, says Martin Greenwald, deputy director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center and one of the project's lead scientists, the work is progressing smoothly and on track. This series of papers provides a high level of confidence in the plasma physics and the performance predictions for SPARC, he says. No unexpected impediments or surprises have shown up, and the remaining challenges appear to be manageable. This sets a solid basis for the device's operation once constructed, according to Greenwald. Greenwald wrote the introduction for a set of seven research papers authored by 47 researchers from 12 institutions and published today in a special issue of the Journal of Plasma Physics. Together, the papers outline the theoretical and empirical physics basis for the new fusion system, which the consortium expects to start building next year. SPARC is planned to be the first experimental device ever to achieve a "burning plasma" -- that is, a self-sustaining fusion reaction in which different isotopes of the element hydrogen fuse together to form helium, without the need for any further input of energy. Studying the behavior of this burning plasma -- something never before seen on Earth in a controlled fashion -- is seen as crucial information for developing the next step, a working prototype of a practical, power-generating power plant. Such fusion power plants might significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power-generation sector, one of the major sources of these emissions globally. The MIT and CFS project is one of the largest privately funded research and development projects ever undertaken in the fusion field. The SPARC design, though about the twice the size as MIT's now-retired Alcator C-Mod experiment and similar to several other research fusion reactors currently in operation, would be far more powerful, achieving fusion performance comparable to that expected in the much larger ITER reactor being built in France by an international consortium. The high power in a small size is made possible by advances in superconducting magnets that allow for a much stronger magnetic field to confine the hot plasma. The SPARC project was launched in early 2018, and work on its first stage, the development of the superconducting magnets that would allow smaller fusion systems to be built, has been proceeding apace. The new set of papers represents the first time that the underlying physics basis for the SPARC machine has been outlined in detail in peer-reviewed publications. The seven papers explore the specific areas of the physics that had to be further refined, and that still require ongoing research to pin down the final elements of the machine design and the operating procedures and tests that will be involved as work progresses toward the power plant. The papers also describe the use of calculations and simulation tools for the design of SPARC, which have been tested against many experiments around the world. The authors used cutting-edge simulations, run on powerful supercomputers, that have been developed to aid the design of ITER. The large multi-institutional team of researchers represented in the new set of papers aimed to bring the best consensus tools to the SPARC machine design to increase confidence it will achieve its mission. The analysis done so far shows that the planned fusion energy output of the SPARC reactor should be able to meet the design specifications with a comfortable margin to spare. It is designed to achieve a Q factor -- a key parameter denoting the efficiency of a fusion plasma -- of at least 2, essentially meaning that twice as much fusion energy is produced as the amount of energy pumped in to generate the reaction. That would be the first time a fusion plasma of any kind has produced more energy than it consumed. The calculations at this point show that SPARC could actually achieve a Q ratio of 10 or more, according to the new papers. While Greenwald cautions that the team wants to be careful not to overpromise, and much work remains, the results so far indicate that the project will at least achieve its goals, and specifically will meet its key objective of producing a burning plasma, wherein the self-heating dominates the energy balance. Limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic slowed progress a bit, but not much, he says, and the researchers are back in the labs under new operating guidelines. Overall, "we're still aiming for a start of construction in roughly June of '21," Greenwald says. "The physics effort is well-integrated with the engineering design. What we're trying to do is put the project on the firmest possible physics basis, so that we're confident about how it's going to perform, and then to provide guidance and answer questions for the engineering design as it proceeds." Many of the fine details are still being worked out on the machine design, covering the best ways of getting energy and fuel into the device, getting the power out, dealing with any sudden thermal or power transients, and how and where to measure key parameters in order to monitor the machine's operation. So far, there have been only minor changes to the overall design. The diameter of the reactor has been increased by about 12 percent, but little else has changed, Greenwald says. "There's always the question of a little more of this, a little less of that, and there's lots of things that weigh into that, engineering issues, mechanical stresses, thermal stresses, and there's also the physics -- how do you affect the performance of the machine?" The publication of this special issue of the journal, he says, "represents a summary, a snapshot of the physics basis as it stands today." Though members of the team have discussed many aspects of it at physics meetings, "this is our first opportunity to tell our story, get it reviewed, get the stamp of approval, and put it out into the community." Greenwald says there is still much to be learned about the physics of burning plasmas, and once this machine is up and running, key information can be gained that will help pave the way to commercial, power-producing fusion devices, whose fuel -- the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium -- can be made available in virtually limitless supplies. The details of the burning plasma "are really novel and important," he says. "The big mountain we have to get over is to understand this self-heated state of a plasma." Overall, Greenwald says, the work that has gone into the analysis presented in this package of papers "helps to validate our confidence that we will achieve the mission. We haven't run into anything where we say, 'oh, this is predicting that we won't get to where we want." In short, he says, "one of the conclusions is that things are still looking on-track. We believe it's going to work." ### General Electric Company GE recently announced that it has completed the gas turbine rehabilitation project at Niger Delta Power Holding Companys (NDPHC) three power plants located in Nigeria. Financial terms of the deal were kept under wraps. NDPHC is the major producer of electricity in Nigeria, with an overall installed capacity of 4.0-gigawatt. Currently, the company carries around 35% of total generating capacity in the country. Inside the Headlines The project involved General Electric to work on rehabilitating three 9E.03 gas turbines stationed at NDPHCs three power plants in Sapele and Calabar, Nigeria. The companys experts collaborated with the counterparts of its field services execution company, FieldCore, for stage three bucket changeouts on three gas turbines apart from additional combustion check-up. As noted, the completion of the project will help NDPHC in minimizing the unplanned downtime risk of these power plants, thus boosting the efficiency and reliability of the facilities in producing electricity. This will help in securing and restoring the supply of up to 360-megawatt of electricity, which is sufficient for supplying power to around 2 million houses. It is worth mentioning here that experts from both companies implemented several safety measures, including the use of personal protective equipment, disinfection measures and physical distancing to safeguard workers safety from the coronavirus pandemic. Separately, General Electrics business unit GE Aviation communicated that its GE9X engine has received certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration authorities. Zacks Rank, Price Performance and Estimate Trend General Electric, with a $54.3 billion market capitalization, currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). The company remains wary of the impact of the pandemic-related uncertainties on its operations especially Healthcare, Aviation and Power for the rest of this year. In the past three months, its share price has decreased 8.8% against the industrys growth of 8.2%. Story continues In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the companys bottom line for 2020 has gone down from a penny to a loss of 5 cents, owing to five downward estimate revisions versus one upward. Also, the consensus estimate for its earnings for 2021 has gone down from 36 cents to 29 cents due to six downward estimate revisions versus none upward. Stocks to Consider Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are 3M Company MMM, HC2 Holdings, Inc. HCHC and Danaher Corporation DHR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 3M delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1.20%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. HC2 Holdings delivered a positive earnings surprise of 41.91%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. Danaher delivered a positive earnings surprise of 10.83%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. Just Released: Zacks 7 Best Stocks for Today Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.3% per year. These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout. See these time-sensitive tickers now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report 3M Company (MMM) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Electric Company (GE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Danaher Corporation (DHR) : Free Stock Analysis Report HC2 Holdings, Inc. (HCHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Bconnect Communication, a new-age integrated marketing communication firm, has inked the deal to become the strategic communication partner for Bhartiyam International School, a premier CBSE-affiliated education institute nested in the hearts of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. On appointing Bconnect Communication, Bharat Goyal, Director, Bhartiyam International School, said, We are pleased to appoint Bconnect Communication for spreading awareness about our school across India. We believe that the vision and mission of the school will reach the relevant audience as Bconnect Communication holds a cognizant approach in the education sector. Delighted with the development, Bconnect Communication Founder Neha Bahri, said, We thank Bhartiyam International Schools management for trusting our capabilities. We are looking forward to applying strategic communication approach towards cementing the schools brand reputation in the education sector. Bhartiyam International School started its operation in 2012. The vision of the school is to be an institution of excellence with commitment for nurturing future and spreading the rays of knowledge beyond horizon. The school focuses on enlightening the learners physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is worth mentioning that Delhi-based Bconnect Communication will be responsible for 360-degree communication for Bhartiyam International School. Earlier, the communications firm has worked with a couple of education clients like Mnemonic Education, ePathsala, an Edu-Tech. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:56:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING/NANNING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Wang Guangfu came for border trade in the city of Ruili in southwest China 20 years ago, but his lineup of products was quite limited: he mainly sold made-in-China laundry items to Myanmar. These days, however, he sells more than 10,000 types of products to Myanmar, in trade that has gone completely online. "We sell domestic, high-quality products to people in Myanmar through online platforms, and some of the items are even resold to India," said Wang. The 44-year-old currently runs a cross-border e-commerce company in Ruili, under Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Last year, his company became one of the first groups of enterprises to settle in the Dehong part of the pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Yunnan. China launched two pilot FTZs last year in Yunnan Province and in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which are both border areas. The pilot FTZ in Yunnan covers parts of Kunming, the provincial capital, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture that borders Vietnam, and Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, which borders Myanmar. According to official plans, Dehong will focus on cross-border e-commerce, capacity cooperation and financing to become an opening-up pioneer in border areas, bringing big opportunities to businesspeople like Wang. "We have developed a wholesale platform, which serves retailers in Myanmar," Wang said. "The platform covers more than 8,000 retail shops." The company has also developed a shopping software called eMyan, short for Express Myanmar, for regular customers. Since it went into operation in Myanmar in 2017, the software has generated 2.17 million orders, with a total trade volume of 580 million yuan (about 85 million U.S. dollars). "Suitcases, bags, digital products and small home appliances are particularly popular with customers in Myanmar," Wang said. "Customers can pay through Alipay, WeChat and our own paying system Shwe Pay. After the payment, they can receive the products in about three days." Wang said that with the introduction of 5G and the global development of e-commerce, cross-border e-businesses have become a very important trade link between China and Myanmar. Improving infrastructure in Dehong has also laid a solid foundation for cross-border e-commerce between the two countries, said Wei Gang, head of Dehong. "Mobile Internet has developed rapidly in Myanmar, bringing major opportunities to the country," Wei said. "The digital economy has become a new engine driving exchanges in business and trade, and communication in culture and information." The pilot FTZ in neighboring Guangxi also threw up opportunities and lured businesses. The number of newly-registered enterprises in Guangxi's FTZ has exceeded 10,560 over the last year, the FTZ said in late August. Among the newly-registered enterprises, 85 are foreign-funded with investment of more than 140 million U.S. dollars. Guangxi's pilot FTZ focuses on modern financial services, smart logistics, the digital economy, emerging manufacturing industries, port logistics, international trade, components of new energy vehicles and cross-border tourism. The Guangxi FTZ has taken several measures to facilitate border crossing and lower logistics costs. In the regional capital Nanning, which forms part of the pilot FTZ, a "hatching base" develops livestreaming talent for a cross-border e-commerce company. Overseas students promote clothes and digital products to customers in Southeast Asia in livestreaming rooms. "We have the advantage of multilingual talent in Nanning, and we use this advantage to promote our products in the Southeast Asian market," said Ding Guoxun, who works for the company. Official figures show the number of Nanning's cross-border e-commerce export orders from January to July crossed 15 million, with total commodity value exceeding 700 million yuan. Enditem Egypt sold $750 million in five-year Green bonds on Tuesday, a document showed, in the first sale of such bonds by a government in the Middle East and North Africa region. The deal offered investors a 5.25% yield, around 50 basis points less than where it was marketed earlier on Tuesday. They are planting the flag of their commitment to sustainability, said a person familiar with the transaction. He said the aim was to diversify Egypts investor base and make people aware of the countrys progress on sustainability. The investor presentation was attended by many who are speaking to Egypt for the first time, we were fielding calls for sustainability analysts and global investors, he added. Proceeds from the debt sale will be used to finance or refinance green projects in sectors such as transportation, renewable energy and energy efficiency. The bonds offer value when compared to the existing secondary Egyptian curve, Zeina Rizk, executive fixed income director at Arqaam Capital, said when the deal was marketed. I think they might tighten as they will attract sustainability-focused investors but given the recent weakness we have seen in the markets driven by a fear of a second wave, and some sort of market indigestion from the large number of new issues, market participants are more selective. The investor presentation for the bond lists Egypts commitments to a sustainable strategy, and includes rationalising water consumption, protection of the coasts and investing in renewable energy. Green bond issuance has soared in 2020, with Germany joining other European countries in issuing a debut Green bond earlier this year. A slew of European corporate borrowers have issued debt linked to sustainability goals, many of them for the first time, including fashion labels Chanel and Burberry. In the Middle East, Saudi Electricity and Qatar National Bank issued Green bonds this month, and expectations are for more issuance in the region in the coming months. Credit Agricole, Citi, HSBC and Deutsche Bank managed Egypts bond issue. Search Keywords: Short link: While 64 countries have signed a global pledge aimed at halting the catastrophic decline of biodiversity, several major nations remain conspicuous in their refusal to work together for the Paris agreement style global commitment to reduce humanitys impact on the natural world. These include Australia, Russia, the US and China, whose governments all control vast tracts of land and sea. Other notable absences were Brazil and Indonesia - two hotspots of major deforestation. Scores of countries have joined the European Union in pledging to protect 30 per cent of their land and seas by 2030 in a huge effort to highlight the rate of biodiversity loss and generate funding to help address the situation. The initiative aims to build global support for a broader agreement on how to tackle the biodiversity crisis ahead of a UN summit. With the twin crises of climate change and wildlife loss accelerating, leaders are trying to build momentum ahead of the meeting in Kunming, China, in May, where nearly 200 countries will negotiate a new agreement on protecting nature. The pledge acknowledges we are in a state of planetary emergency, due to the relentless pressure from humanity on natural resources. Science clearly shows that biodiversity loss, land and ocean degradation, pollution, resource depletion and climate change are accelerating at an unprecedented rate. This acceleration is causing irreversible harm to our life support systems and aggravating poverty and inequalities as well as hunger and malnutrition. But the sense of urgency in tackling the crisis has not been universal. In comments to the United Nations this week, Brazils president Jair Bolsonaro said the countrys agricultural business were already subject to the best environmental legislation on the planet, and said: we are leaders when it comes to the conservation of tropical rainforests. He also claimed Brazilians were the victims of a most brutal disinformation campaign about the Amazon and the Brazillian wetlands. He said: The Brazilian Amazon is known to be extremely rich - that explains the support given by international institutions to this disinformation campaign anchored to shady interests and exploitative and unpatriotic Brazilian associations with the purpose of undermining the government and Brazil itself. Speaking about the appalling fires which are at the greatest level in at least 10 years, Mr Bolsonaro claimed: The fires practically occur in the same places, on the east side of the forest, where peasants and Indians burn their fields in already deforested areas. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said he was not signing the country up to the commitments to reverse biodiversity loss because the plan was inconsistent with existing policy. A spokesperson for Mr Scott told Australias SBS News the federal government had already agreed to ambitious and achievable goals under the Paris climate agreement and is aiming to reach net-zero carbon emissions as soon as possible. We will not agree to other targets unless we can tell the Australian people what they will cost to achieve, and how we will achieve it, the spokesperson said. Mr Morrison also pointed out the government is investing AUS$18bn (10bn) in green energy by 2030 as part of its technology investment roadmap. Meanwhile nobody from the US government is scheduled to address Wednesdays virtual summit at all, despite it being hosted from New York. Though China has not signed the pledge, there has been the suggestion that President Xi Jinping could make a surprise commitment during his speech at the summits opening. This would come just days after just he announced China was now seeking to hit net-zero emissions by 2060. ABC News Demonstrators gathered in Washington on Friday for the country's largest annual anti-abortion rally around the anniversary of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing the right to an abortion -- but this year, 49 years later, they march with the fate of Roe v. Wade more uncertain than ever. "We expect this year's March for Life to be historic with even higher levels of enthusiasm from participants," Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told ABC News in a statement. "We are all hopeful that, with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case before the Supreme Court, this year will bring us much closer to building the culture of life we have all marched for since Roe v. Wade was imposed on our nation nearly 50 years ago." Despite many efforts by the government to boost credit supply by offering many a scheme to and other priority sectors, the same has plunged to a low 1.9 per cent in the June quarter from 10.2 per cent a year ago, says a report. To help small business tide over the impact of the pandemic, the government has offered credit-driven boost to the economy. Quoting data from the Reserve Banks' quarterly statistics on deposits and credit for the June quarter, Care Ratings on Tuesday said in absolute terms, overall bank deposits stood at Rs 141.3 lakh crore in June 2020, up 11.5 per cent from Rs 126.7 lakh crore in June 2019. Outstanding credit stood at Rs 103.3 lakh crore, up 6.4 per cent but lower than 11.7 per cent in the same period in June 2019. But on a sequential basis, credit growth has seen a negative 1.1 per cent during the reporting period, which was also a negative 1 per cent in the March 2020 quarter. Though overall contraction in has continued in the June quarter at minus 1.1 per cent from minus 1 per cent in June 2019, in absolute terms incremental credit declined by a higher Rs 1.2 lakh crore in June 2020 from Rs 1 lakh crore in June 2019. This is owing to decline in overall sectoral growth (agriculture & allied credit declined by 0.4 per cent incrementally, industrial credit declined by 1 per cent, services sector declined by 2.6 per cent growth and personal loan segment declined by 2.5 per cent growth, says the report. This was led by a massive plunge in by the priority sector and personal loans, both of which have the mainstay of the banks for many quarters now as industries have not been borrowing much. While the loan demand from the priority sector plunged to a low 1.9 per cent in the June 2020 quarter from a high 10.2 per cent a year ago, the same from the farm sector declined to 4.7 per cent from 7.2 per cent. Similarly, demand from the industry fell to 2.2 per cent from 6.4 per cent, it plunged to 10.7 per cent from the services sector from 13 per cent and from personal loans fell to 10.5 per cent from 16.6 per cent. This had the total non-food credit which excludes priority sector credit, demand nearly halving to 6.7 per cent from 11.1 per cent, says the report. Non-food credit include loans to agriculture and allied activities, industry, services, and retail (personal loans). Growth in credit to the industrial sector which accounts for 31.8 per cent share in non-food credit, moderated on the back of slow growth in large industries which declined by 3.7 per cent in June 2020 from 7.2 per cent in June 2019; and negative growth in small business which declined by 3.7 per cent in June 2020 from 0.6 per cent growth in June 2019, and medium industries that declined by 9 per cent from 2.2 per cent growth in June 2019. Also, some large sectors like food processing, textiles, basic metals, iron & steel and infrastructure, which account for around 70 per cent of the overall industrial credit had negative to slow credit growth. The retail/personal loans segment slowed down to 10.5 per cent from 15 per cent in March 2020. However, housing loans continue to remain the single largest segment of lending in outstanding credit to retail/personal loan portfolio. Housing loans growth slowed down to 12.5 per cent in June 2020 from with 18.9 per cent in June 2019 and formed 54 per cent of the total credit to personal loan segment. Additionally, growth in credit to service sector moderated to 10.7 per cent from 13 per cent in June 2019 on account of slow growth in credit to NBFCs which accounts for 31.6 per cent of the total service sector loans and trade segment that accounts for 21.5 per cent share in service sector loan which toned down to 25.7 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively, in Q1 of FY21 from 37.6 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively in the previous year. Indicating more troubles for lenders, unsecured personal loans that have been their mainstay for many quarters now, has also started to taper off which in the June quarter led the fall in overall bank credit by a full 2.5 percentage points, says the report. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tehama, the fastest, easiest, most secure way to deploy a global workforce, and Bitnobi, a startup that has created a leading patented, privacy protected, data-sharing platform, announced the signing of a second contract with the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to advance the development of an innovative, integrated human resources data management platform. The project demonstrates DNDs trust in Tehama and Bitnobis ability to design and implement the only proprietary data trust solution in the Canadian market that manages data tracking, auditing, and sharing activities for enterprise organizations. Tehama and Bitnobi developed a prototype of the data trust during their first contract with the DND in 2019, using Tehamas secure virtual desktop and Bitnobis unique data- sharing solution. The prototype enabled the DND to grant users data access while auditing all end-user interactions with the organizations applications and data. This second engagement with the DND will enable Tehama and Bitnobi to further enhance this prototype and prepare it for full scale testing. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing organizations to run remotely for the long haul, and these companies need the power to share access to data quickly. In some industries, this forces organizations to bypass typical security red tape. This has led to a 273% increase in data breaches through ransomware and a myriad of other types of destructive attacks. This increased breach risk requires human intervention, guided by data governance and the use of technology, to implement rules of engagement for how users should interact with an organizations data. This second contract with DND provides a significant opportunity and funding for Tehama to continue the development of a compliant and secure virtual desktop for the DND data trust use case. The project comes on the heels of our Phase 1 round of funding closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it validates that our solution is unique and effective, especially for organizations that need to securely and quickly enable data access for remote workers, said Gene Villeneuve, Chief Revenue Officer of Tehama. With this second contract, Tehama and Bitnobi are advancing into the second component of the Competitive Projects element (1b) through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program that cited a need for a human resources data management platform for Canadas Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The partnership solidifies the relationship between a small to medium-sized Canadian company and a Canadian university-based startup to bring a new, innovative solution to the data trust market. The events of 2020 have revealed key issues in the data management sector, and I am confident that this data trust solution will benefit any organization that is interested in using technology to supplement their data governance framework, said Hassan Jaferi, CEO of Bitnobi, Inc. Tehama and Bitnobi will demonstrate the capabilities of their integrated solution to the DND and CAF on a milestone basis until September 2021 with the goal of moving forward to the next phase of the IDEaS program. About Tehama Tehama is the fastest, easiest, most secure way to deploy a virtual workforce. With our Virtual Office as a Service platform, enterprises can create cloud-based virtual offices, rooms, and desktops anywhere in the world. No other solution on the market today connects remote workers with mission-critical and data-sensitive systems, with the speed, agility, unparalleled security, and comprehensive audit trail via built-in SOC 2 controls, real-time activity feeds and session recordings that Tehama offers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Tehama has received assistance from Invest Ottawa and is also receiving research-based funding support from the National Research Council of Canadas Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). For more information, visit tehama.io. About Bitnobi Bitnobi, Inc. is a technology startup focused on the commercialization of a privacy-protected, data sharing platform. Bitnobis patented platform was designed and developed by experts in big data, cloud computing and cybersecurity to solve the problem of how to share data in a safe and secure manner. Bitnobi was spun out of research from Dr. Marin Litoius laboratory at York University with full support from Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (formerly MaRS Innovation) and Innovation York. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Bitnobi has also received assistance from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Seneca College, National Research Council of Canadas Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), Canadian Personalized Health Innovation Network and MaRS Discovery District. About IDEaS The Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program fosters open innovation to provide creative thinkers with the structure and support to encourage solutions which will assist in solving some of Canadas toughest defense and security challenges. The IDEaS program is broken into several components, designed to advance defense technologies in Canada. Innovations are eligible for funding up to $200,000 during Component 1a and up to $1,000,000 during Component 1b. Innovations that are promising for Canada can receive non-IDEaS Program funding up to $20M to continue development up to Solution Readiness Level 9. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Opposition, including Congress, for objecting to the new farm laws, saying these parties are not with farmers, nor with youth and jawans. In his address at the inauguration of six projects in Uttarakhand related to the Namami Gange programme, Modi said, In the last six years, there have been many reforms that will change the common mans life. The recent Parliament session, the bills passed with strengthen people. But people are seeing that some are opposing these just for the sake of opposing." This comes amid protests across the country against the three farm bills which had been passed by Parliament during the recently concluded monsoon session. On Sunday, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three bills. Farmers and opposition parties have raised concern over minimum support price (MSP) and fair price of produce after the new reforms were introduced. When the central government wants to give farmers more rights, some people are still opposing this. In this country, MSP will stay and farmers will also have the freedom to sell wherever they want. This has ended one more route for their black income and they cannot bear that. These people have opposed every move that has brought convenience to peoples lives," he added. The only tactic that is left for the Opposition is to oppose development, Modi said. "They are against any development that takes place. These projects are to make India self-reliant, they are to benefit the poor and this work will continue." These comments come hours after former Congress president Rahul Gandhi held a virtual interaction with farmers from several states and accused the Union government of "breaking the back" of the informal sector through its policy decisions and called the recent farm laws "a dagger through the heart of the farmers". PM Modi on Tuesday inaugurated projects which include the construction of sewage treatment plants that will play a key role in ensuring that untreated waste doesnt flow directly into river Ganga. According to estimates, the Haridwar-Rishikesh zone in Uttarakhand contributes about 80% waste water load into the river. The Jal Jivan Mission will strengthen villages. It is an example of how the functioning of the government has changed. Decisions are no longer taken from Delhi. They are taken at the gram panchayat level which has representation from locals and gives them an opportunity to free their villages from water problems," he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics ATHENS, Greece - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed support Tuesday for talks between Greece and Turkey, NATO allies whose relations have deteriorated sharply to the point where both had warships facing off in the Mediterranean. Speaking from the Souda Bay military base on the island of Crete, on the second day of a five-day regional tour, Pompeo said relations between the United States and Greece are at an all time high and getting stronger. Today Im in Crete to showcase one of Americas strongest military relationships throughout all of Europe, Pompeo said. We, the Americans, look to Greece as a true pillar for stability and prosperity in the eastern Mediterranean, and were incredibly proud to support its leadership. Greece has been looking to the U.S. and the European Union for support in its dispute with neighbouring Turkey, which it accuses of encroaching on its sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Last month Turkey sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area Greece claims is on its own continental shelf and where it claims exclusive economic rights. Athens sent warships of its own to the area, and put its armed forces on alert. The dispute has led to fears of open conflict. EU leaders are to discuss potentially imposing sanctions on Turkey for its actions later this week. But tension has eased somewhat recently, with Athens and Ankara announcing they will restart an ongoing process of exploratory talks. Technical discussions on a military level have also been taking place at NATO for the avoidance of a military accident, such as the collision in August of warships from the two sides, which reportedly caused minor damage to a Turkish frigate and no injuries on either side. We strongly support dialogue between NATO allies Greece and Turkey and encourage them to resume discussion of these issues as soon as possible, Pompeo said in brief statements after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. I spoke with (NATO) Secretary-General (Jens) Stoltenberg just two days ago on the progress being made at NATO. And we hope that these talks can continue in a serious way. Amid the tension with Turkey, Greece has announced major arms purchases, including fighter jets from France, as well as warships, helicopters and weapons systems. In the Mediterranean, there should be no waves caused by threats and rivalry. It is a sea of strategic importance, also for the United States, Mitsotakis said. It is also a key region for global stability. I was pleased to see that Mr. Pompeo shares our positions, understanding that tension between two members of NATO ultimately is not in anyones interest, he added. The two did not take any questions from the media after their brief remarks. Last October, Pompeo visited Athens and signed a revised defenceco-operation agreement with Greece that provided for increasing joint U.S.-Greece and NATO activity at three locations in Greece as well as infrastructure and other improvements at Souda Bay. Pompeo said security co-operation with Greece is especially important as Russia continues to destabilize the region, especially in Libya, where the U.S. calls for the withdrawal of all foreign military forces and support for military de-escalation and for Libyan reconciliation. He said he and Mitsotakis also agreed to explore closer co-operation to overcome challenges that Russia poses. He referred to malign influence activities such as spreading disinformation on the coronavirus pandemic and trying to involve the Orthodox Church. Pompeo began his five-day regional tour in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, where he met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. His five-day regional tour will include visits to Italy, the Vatican and Croatia. Read more about: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said COVID-19 has shown it is risky to have global supply chains excessively dependent on any single source and India is working with Japan and Australia for supply-chain diversification and resilience.The Prime Minister made the remarks during a virtual summit with Denmarks Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and said other like-minded countries can also join in these efforts towards supply chain diversification. COVID-19 has shown that it is risky to rely excessively on any single source of global supply chains. We are working together with Japan and Australia for supply-chain diversification and resilience. Other like-minded countries can also join this effort, he said. COVID-19 originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and many global companies are planning to shift their manufacturing bases from China.The Prime Minister said India and Denmark share rules-based, transparent, humanitarian and democratic value-system.Referring to the crisis created by COVID-19, he said the events of the past few months have made it clear how important it is for like-minded countries to work together. The events of the past few months have made it clear that how important it is for like-minded countries, who share rules-based, transparent, humanitarian and democratic value-system, to work together, the Prime Minister said. He said that the virtual summit will not only be useful for bilateral relations between India and Denmark but also in contributing to a shared approach to global challenges. Noting that he had a very productive meeting with Denmarks Prime Minister a few months back, the Prime Minister said they talked on increasing cooperation between the two countries in several areas. It is a matter of happiness that we are giving new direction and speed to these intentions through the virtual summit, he said.India hosted the virtual bilateral summit.The Prime Minister said that cooperation between like-minded countries in vaccine-development will help deal with COVID-19 pandemic.Collaboration between like-minded countries in vaccine development will also help deal with the pandemic, he said.The Prime Minister said that Indias pharma capabilities have been helpful for the world during the crisis created by COVID-19 and a similar effort is being made in the direction of the vaccine. ALSO READ: Need to look into legal aspects: AIIMS panel chief on Sushants death report He also mentioned the reforms done by the government concerning labour laws and agriculture. The effort of Atmanirbhar India is also that Indias capabilities increase in key areas and they are useful to the world. We are laying emphasis on all-round reforms under the initiative. The regulatory and tax reforms will help companies working in India. The process of reforms is on in other areas. Recently important reforms were done in labour and agriculture, he said.The Prime Minister also greeted Mette Frederiksen on her wedding and hoped that she will be able to visit the country at the earliest after situation created by COVID-19 improves. I congratulate you on your wedding recently and convey my good wishes. I hope that soon after the COVID-19 situation improves, we will get a chance to welcome you and your family in India. I am sure your daughter would be eager to visit India again, he said.The Danish Prime Minister conveyed her thanks to the Prime Minister during her speech for his greetings.Thank you so much for the greetings to my family. My daughter will love to visit India once again and the same goes for my family, she said.Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Denmark has grown by 30.49 per cent, from US$ 2.82 billion in 2016 to US$ 3.68 billion in 2019.Around 200 Danish companies have invested in India in sectors such as shipping, renewable energy, environment, agriculture, food processing and smart urban development. ALSO READ: Sonia urges Congress-ruled states to pass laws negating farm laws by Centre Recommendations to victims of credit repair scams Credit repair services can help you fix your score. Unfortunately, the industry is full of scammers. Follow our tips if you have fallen for their promises. By In Conjunction Tuesday 29 September 2020, 08:06PM What to Do About a Credit Repair Scam Some borrowers fail to pay on time, and their credit scores plunge. This has given rise to a special type of business. Credit repair firms in Thailand promise to fix your score, eliminating negative records. Sadly, most of these companies are fraud. Here is what their victims should do. Too Good to Be True? The credit score may deteriorate due to different reasons. If borrowers fail to make payments, this is reflected in their rating. Sometimes, errors are to blame. The first thing to do is to identify the cause. If this happened through no fault of yours, notify your bank and credit report bureaus. A lower credit score spells trouble in the future. Your request for a mortgage may be rejected. If you are still given loans, you will be charged higher interest. As a result, borrowing will be inaccessible or expensive. Credit repair sounds like the perfect solution. A company claims it will raise the score, so you can borrow again. They offer to delete all negative information from your credit report and replace it with positive details. For desperate borrowers, this scheme is often irresistible. Dont let it fool you! How Credit Scores Are Repaired? Usually, borrowers can improve their scores themselves. This process is lengthy but feasible. First, they should see if there are any positive cases overlooked by the credit bureau. For instance, if you have a credit card and always repay on time, these details are positive for your history. They may be ignored due to an error in the system. If there is bad debt, make fixing it a priority. Create a budget and see what prevents you from finding the right amount, and how your expenses can be managed. There is no shortage of smartphone apps that can do budgeting for you. Look for alternative sources of income. For example, you can open a live trading account through a brokerage firm like Forextime. This gives access to global financial markets, and entry is affordable for everyone. There is a wealth of educational resources. Traders make a profit by buying and selling online. In Thailand, you can trade currencies, stocks, derivatives, and more. Through a copy trade scheme, you may delegate decision-making to an expert. Any timely payments have a favorable effect on the score. Hence, you can try getting another loan or credit card and repay it properly. Naturally, bad history means you will be charged higher interest. If You Have Been Scammed If you have already been defrauded, follow the steps below. Credit repair scam is increasingly common in Thailand. Do not let criminals remain unpunished. Keep All Docs Any documents related to your transactions should be carefully stored. Never throw away any receipts or other evidence. Of course, your contract is essential, as it contains the written promises and obligations of the provider. In addition, keep all evidence of payments made to the company. Even a copy of your bank statement will do. Ask for a Refund If you have paid upfront, demand a refund. It is unlawful for a credit repair company to collect advance payment. If they refuse, let them know you are willing to contact authorities and file a lawsuit. It is best to mention the exact names of watchdog organizations, so they know you are dead serious. File a Complaint Find a protection agency, licensing office, or trade association in your area. Usually, organizations that defend consumer rights can guide you. Report the scammers to all organizations that will listen. If the firm claims to be accredited, contact the agency that supposedly gave the approval. File a Lawsuit If the company fails to perform its obligations under the contract, there are grounds for a lawsuit. If neither the services nor a refund was provided, go to court. A breach of contract is a crime. Spread the Word Post negative feedback on social media: Facebook, Instagram, etc. The more channels - the better. Spread information in specialized communities online. Let everyone know that the company is a fraud. They will continue luring in new victims. Avoiding Credit Fraud Never sign a contract before reading it. If the company is pressuring you to sign quickly, do not! Essential details of the contract may be missing, such as: the cost of services; the date by which they must be rendered; the name and business address of the firm; conditions of contract termination. Fraudsters will always ask for payment in advance. This is because they do not intend to do any work! The Bottom Line If you need help repairing your score, be very careful with providers. No reputable company can promise to actually delete information from your credit report. Scammers may also use dubious practices like creating a new identity! Washington/New Delhi: Eating litchi fruit may be behind the mysterious brain disease that has caused hundreds of unexplained deaths among children in recent years in Bihar, a new study published in the Lancet journal has claimed. Outbreaks of an acute neurological illness with high mortality among children occur annually in Bihars Muzaffarpur, the countrys largest litchi cultivation region. Heat, humidity, malnourishment, the monsoon and pesticides have all been considered at one stage to be contributing factors to the illness. We aimed to investigate the cause and risk factors for this illness, researchers said. In a hospital-based surveillance, researchers from the National Centre for Disease Control in New Delhi and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention undertook laboratory investigations to assess potential infectious and non-infectious causes of this acute neurological illness. Children aged 15 years or younger who were admitted to two hospitals in Muzaffarpur in 2014 with new-onset seizures or altered sensorium were included in the study. They were age-matched against residents of Muzaffarpur who were admitted to the same two hospitals for a non-neurologic illness within seven days of the date of admission of the case. This group served as the control. Specimens of blood, cerebrospinal fluid and urine as well as litchis were tested for evidence of infectious pathogens, pesticides, toxic metals. Scientists also looked for other non-infectious causes, like presence of hypoglycin A or methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), naturally-occurring fruit-based toxins that cause hypoglycaemia and metabolic derangement. Between May 26 and July 17 in 2014, 390 patients meeting the case definition were admitted to the two hospitals in Muzaffarpur, of whom 122 (31 per cent) died, researchers said. On admission, 204 (62 per cent) of 327 had blood glucose concentration of 70 miligrammes per decilitre or less. 104 cases were compared with 104 age-matched hospital controls. Litchi consumption and absence of an evening meal in the 24 hours preceding illness onset were associated with illness. The absence of an evening meal significantly increased the effect of eating litchis on illness. Tests for infectious agents and pesticides were negative. Metabolites of hypoglycin A, MCPG, or both were detected in 48 (66 per cent) of 73 urine specimens from case-patients and none from 15 controls. Our investigation suggests an outbreak of acute encephalopathy in Muzaffarpur associated with both hypoglycin A and MCPG toxicity, the researchers said. To prevent illness and reduce mortality in the region, we recommended minimising litchi consumption, ensuring receipt of an evening meal and implementing rapid glucose correction for suspected illness, they said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A schoolteacher, whose body is covered in tattoos and who has had the whites of his eyes surgically turned black, said he was prevented from teaching at a French kindergarten after a parent complained he scared their child. Sylvain Helaine was teaching at the Docteur Morere Elementary School in Palaiseau, a suburb of Paris, last year when the parents of a three-year-old complained to educational authorities. They said their son, who was not taught by Helaine, had nightmares after seeing him. It was ruled that the 35-year-old, who is considered to be Frances most tattooed man, could continue teaching but only for children over the age of six. Helaine, who was born in Paris, got his first ink when he was 27 and has since spent over 35,000 and around 460 hours under the tattooists needle. He said that in the months following the complaint the school authorities informed him he would no longer teach kindergarten children. I think the decision they took was quite sad, said Helaine, before claiming that pupils can see past his appearance after the initial shock. All of my students and their parents were always cool with me because basically they knew me, he added. Its only when people see me from far away that they can assume the worst. A spokesman for the local education authority said an agreement was reached with Helaine to move him away from teaching kindergarten. Pupils under six could be frightened by his appearance, the spokesman said. Helaine said he would stick with his chosen career despite the setbacks. Im a primary school teacher I love my job. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The region in the Caucasus Mountains of about 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles), or about the size of the U.S. state of Delaware, is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the head of the family and faith. Former members of People of Praise say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands. Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her familys involvement. A People of Praise spokesman declined to say whether she and her husband are current members. But Barrett, 48, grew up in New Orleans in a family deeply connected to the organization and as recently as 2017 she served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc., according to the nonprofit organizations tax records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The AP also reviewed 15 years of back issues of the organizations internal magazine, Vine and Branches, which has published birth announcements, photos and other mentions of Barrett and her husband, Jesse, whose family has been active in the group for four decades. What Amy Coney Barrett told The Times-Picayune when she started clerking for Scalia in 1997 Amy Coney had always wanted to be a teacher until discovering her love of the law, especially its goal of protecting the rights of individuals. People of Praise is a religious community based in charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Barretts advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings. Several people familiar with People of Praise, including some current members, told the AP that the group has been misunderstood. They call it a Christian fellowship, focused on building community. But the group has also been portrayed by some former members, and in books, blogs and news reports, as hierarchical, authoritarian and controlling, where men dominate their wives, leaders dictate members life choices and those who leave are shunned. Our Views: A qualified nominee from Louisiana heads for a broken Senate process In more than two centuries, Louisiana has had only one judge who made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. So President Donald Trumps nomination of The AP interviewed seven current and former members of People of Praise and reviewed its tax records, websites, missionary blogs and back issues of its magazine to try to paint a fuller picture of an organization that Barrett has been deeply involved in since childhood. Founded in South Bend, Indiana, in 1971 the group has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide, with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. All members are encouraged to continue to attend church at their own parishes. People of Praises more than 1,500-word covenant, a copy of which was reviewed by the AP, includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of the groups pastors, teachers and evangelists. Its unclear whether Barrett took the covenant. But a 2006 article in the groups magazine includes a photo of her attending a People of Praise Leaders Conference for Women. What Louisiana leaders are saying about Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to U.S. Supreme Court Metairie native attended St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Old Metairie, graduated from St. Marys Dominican High in New Orleans A request to interview Barrett made through the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where she currently serves as a judge, was declined. Barretts father, Michael Coney Sr., has served as the principal leader of People of Praises New Orleans branch and was on the groups all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017. Her mother, Linda Coney, has served in the branch as a handmaid, a female leader assigned to help guide other women. One of the key principles of People of Praise is freedom, the exercise of our own freedom in following the Lord and in following our own what we believe, what we think is right, Michael Coney, 75, said Friday. Joannah Clark, 47, grew up in People of Praise and became a member as an adult. She acknowledged that the board of governors consists of all men, but said that is not a reflection on the worth or ability of women. In a marriage, we look at the husband as the head of the family, Clark said. This role of the husband as the head of the family is not a position of power or domination. Its really quite the opposite. Its a position of care and service and responsibility." Clark said she had previously served as a handmaid. The term was a reference to Jesus mother Mary, who called herself the handmaid of the Lord. The organization recently changed the terminology to woman leader because it had newly negative connotations after Margaret Atwoods dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale was turned into a popular television show. Coral Anika Theill joined People of Praises branch in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1979, when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins. She said women were expected to live in total submission not only to their husbands, but also the other male heads within the group. When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children, Theill said, he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldnt get birth control. I was basically treated like a brood mare, she said, using the term for a female horse used for breeding. During her 20-year marriage, Theill had eight children from 11 pregnancies. Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s, when she was a fourth-grader. I remember my mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband, because it was his right and her duty, said Williams, 56. Sex is not for pleasure. Its for as many babies as God chooses to give you. ... Women had to be obedient. They had to be subservient. She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents' living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms. Coney, Barretts father, said the culture of female submission described by some former members was based on misunderstandings of the groups teachings. As a lawyer himself, he rejected the notion that his daughters religious beliefs will unduly influence her opinions if she is confirmed to the high court. I think shes a super lawyer and she will apply the law as opposed to any of her beliefs, he said. She will follow the law. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe poses for a photo outside the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina on Sept. 23, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Mark Taylor) Saskatchewan Premier Sets Campaign in Motion for Oct. 26 Election REGINASaskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has officially launched the campaign for the Oct. 26 provincial election. Moe met with Lt-Gov. Russell Mirasty this morning at Government House to ask him to dissolve the legislature. Mirasty greeted Moe wearing a mask as a COVID-19 precaution and Moe put one on before entering the building. Moe says hes looking forward to asking people for their support. Saskatchewan was the the only province that had an election scheduled for this year. But that was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and restrictions to keep it in check sent the global economy into a tailspin. In March, despite the health crisis, Moe suggested he might call an election in the spring because he wanted a mandate from voters sooner rather than later. But he stuck with the October date, and Elections Saskatchewan is working to hold the vote safely by increasing the number of polling locations and stocking up on face masks and sanitizer. Moes Saskatchewan Party had 46 seats in the legislature at dissolution and the Opposition NDP had 13. The Saskatchewan vote will be the third in the country during the pandemic. New Brunswickers went to the polls earlier this month and an election in British Columbia has been called for Oct. 24. Moe has opted for the shortest possible campaign28 days, the minimum time allowedbefore the fixed election date. Candidates have already been door-knocking for weeks. The NDP has rolled out pre-campaign pledges that include $25-a-day child care and $100 rebate cheques for drivers. Moes Saskatchewan Party government has made a flurry of previously committed infrastructure spending announcements. Moe is seeking a fourth term for the party and his first mandate from voters as premier. He got the top job after winning the partys leadership in 2018, when premier Brad Wall decided to retire from politics. Moe has said voters this year will have to consider which party they trust to revive the provinces economy. He said spending decisions will be tempered by the goal of eliminating the projected $2.1-billion deficit by 2024. Fiscal prudence is among one of the very hallmarks of this party and its always a goal, he said in a pre-campaign interview. NDP Leader Ryan Meili has said his party will be bold in the campaign and he hopes voters will see the New Democrats as an option for change. They havent seen enough from us yet to know, and this is what a campaign is about. Jim Farney, head of politics and international studies at the University of Regina, said the stakes are high for the NDP this time around. A good showing, he said, would between 20 and 25 seats. But if theres a repeat of past elections, with increasingly fewer seats, Farney said he cant imagine how people dont start looking around the party and going something is fundamentally wrong.' Farney said Moes message is that the province is operating as near to normal as possible during the pandemic. Problems could arise for Moe if the number of COVID-19 positive cases jumps in schools, and parents in their 30s and 40swho are swing votersmobilize, he added. While the Saskatchewan Party appears to have a lock on the support of rural residents, key battlegrounds will be in Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, Farney suggested. Thats going to be (Moes) political challenge, he said. Can (Moe) pitch a message that appeals to suburban voters? The Saskatchewan Party sprung out of a coalition in 1997 of Liberals and disgruntled Progressive Conservatives. It is largely viewed through its policy decisions as a conservative party in everything but name. In its early years under leader Elwin Hermanson, the party had difficulty gaining ground outside rural areas and lost two elections. It wasnt until 2007 under Wall that the party ousted the NDP from government. With Wall still at the helm, the party went on to win two more majorities in 2011 and 2016. To have a government rolling into its fourth term with ongoing high ? personal support for the job performance of a sitting premier is unusual, said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute. So far, there has not been an opposition leader or an opposition party that has been able to present itself as an alternative to the Saskatchewan Party. By Stephanie Taylor Teens between the ages of 12 and 17 are about twice as likely to get infected by COVID-19 compared to younger kids, said a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers found that the weekly incidence of COVID-19 in teens and adolescents were roughly 37 cases per 100,000 children. That is almost twice the rate for younger kids between ages five and twelve. Younger kids were reported to have an incidence of 19 per 100,000 children. The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Monday. It analyzed COVID-19 cases in school-aged children in the U.S. from March to mid-September. Of the 277,200 cases that were observed by researcher, 37% were in younger kids and 63% came from teens and adolescents. Overall, pediatric COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have soared past 600,000, as reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday. Schools Reopening, Vaccine Distribution Scientists have struggled to understand how children get infected by COVID-19. There is also the question of how often this age group transmits the virus. So far, findings have been inconsistent. Much of the debate was centered on children who come from primary schools. But as the CDC separated the cases per age group, evidence pointed to older teens as more likely to transmit the virus. To be more specific, teens in high school and college show more incidence of COVID-19 than kids under the age of 10. Dr. Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland presented this data. In a New York Times report, she said there was "less emphasis" on high schools and universities, "But I think that may be much more of a problem." As NBC News noted, the implications of this study can help schools and teachers decide on how to reopen schools safely. The data can also help in figuring out which age groups should be prioritized once vaccines are ready for distribution. In the study, researchers also wrote that Hispanic ethnicity was reported to be the more common victims of COVID-19. This group of children are more commonly hospitalized or admitted to nICU. Children who also have pre-existing health problems were more likely to fall seriously ill, the analysis found. Among children who were hospitalized, 16% of them had at least one underlying medical condition and 28% died. Children's Role in Viral Spread Previously, health experts said children can still contribute to the spread of COVID-19. But they will less likely fall seriously ill from the disease compared to older adults. The study may have underestimated the actual incidence of school-age children because testing is often a higher priority for those who display symptoms. "It is important for schools and communities to monitor multiple indicators of Covid-19 among school-aged children," the researcher wrote. They also said prevention strategies should be put in place to reduce risks for students, teachers, school staff, and families. Adults aged older than 65 are still at higher risk of COVID-19 and its complications. But while kids are luckier, they can still spread the virus to those who are vulnerable. Check these out! US COVID-19 Cases Exceeds 7 Million as Some States Relax Restrictions 1 in 3 Parents Want to Skip Their Children's Flu Shots Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Study Says Coronavirus Antibodies Found in Only a Small Portion of Americans, Study Says More than HIV. More than dysentery. More than malaria, influenza, cholera and measles combined. In the 10 months since a mysterious pneumonia began striking residents of Wuhan, China, COVID-19 has killed more than 1 million people worldwide as of Monday an agonizing toll compiled from official counts, yet one that far understates how many have really died. It may already have overtaken tuberculosis and hepatitis as the worlds deadliest infectious disease, and unlike all the other contenders, it is still growing fast. Like nothing seen in more than century, the coronavirus has infiltrated every populated patch of the globe, sowing terror and poverty, infecting millions of people in some nations and paralyzing entire economies. But as attention focuses on the devastation caused by halting a large part of the worlds commercial, educational and social life, it is all too easy to lose sight of the most direct human cost. More than 1 million people parents, children, siblings, friends, neighbors, colleagues, teachers, classmates all gone, suddenly, prematurely. Those who survive COVID-19 are laid low for weeks or even months before recovering, and many have lingering ill effects whose severity and duration remain unclear. Yet much of the suffering could have been avoided one of the most heartbreaking aspects of all. This is a very serious global event, and a lot of people were going to get sick and many of them were going to die, but it did not need to be nearly this bad, said Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, which aims to protect peoples health from epidemics and disasters. Places like China, Germany, South Korea and New Zealand have shown that it is possible to slow the pandemic enough to limit infections and deaths while still reopening businesses and schools. But that requires a combination of elements that may be beyond the reach of poorer countries and that even ones like the United States have not been able to muster: wide-scale testing, contact tracing, quarantining, social distancing, mask wearing, providing protective gear, developing a clear and consistent strategy, and being willing to shut things down in a hurry when trouble arises. No one or two or three factors are the key. Its all an ecosystem. It all works together, said Martha Nelson, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health who specializes in epidemics and viral genetics, and who studies COVID-19. It comes down to resources, vigilance, political will and having almost everyone take the threat seriously conditions harder to attain when the disease is politicized, when governments react slowly or inconsistently, and when each state or region goes its own way, advisable or not. Its one thing to have all the technical capabilities, but if our leaders undermine science, minimize the epidemic or falsely reassure people, we put everything else at risk, Inglesby said. Time and again, experts say, governments reacted too slowly, waiting until their own countries or regions were under siege, either dismissing the threat or seeing it as Chinas problem, or Asias, or Italys, or Europes, or New Yorks. Thomas R. Frieden, a former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a major failing had been in governments communication with the public, nowhere more so than in the United States. You have standard principles of risk communication: Be first, be right, be credible, be empathetic, he said. If you tried to violate those principles more than the Trump administration has, I dont think you could. The world now knows how to bend the curve of the pandemic not to eliminate risk, but to keep it to a manageable level and there have been surprises along the way. Masks turned out to be more helpful than Western experts had predicted. Social distancing on an unheard-of scale has been more feasible and effective than anticipated. The difference in danger between an outdoor gathering and an indoor one is greater than expected. And, crucially, people are most contagious when they first show symptoms or even earlier, not days or weeks later, when they are sickest a reversal of the usual pattern with infectious diseases. That makes preventive measures like wearing masks and swift responses like isolating and testing people for possible exposure much more important; if you wait until the problem is evident, youve waited too long. Countries have learned the hard way that their supply chains for testing kits, laboratory chemicals and protective equipment were inadequate, too prone to breakdown, or too dependent on foreign suppliers. It remains unclear how the virus mutates, or how fast, which makes it impossible to predict how long a possible vaccine might work. More broadly, the pandemic has exposed how little scientists know about coronaviruses, even those that cause the common cold, and especially those that circulate in bats and other animals. It seems to people who are on lockdown that its going on interminably, but for scientists its just the beginning, Nelson said. We are still just scratching the surface of this. From a public health standpoint, the biggest unknown may be whether the world will be any better prepared when not if, but when the next pandemic arrives. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application filed by freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. Denying him bail, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who is an important brick in the fourth pillar of democracy, decides to act with the intention to destabilise and negatively impact the sustainability and survival of democracy, it would be darkest day in the free press movement. The preliminary electronic evidence collected by the investigating agency points towards involvement of the accused in commission of offence under the Officials Secrets Act. I am satisfied that if accused Rajeev Sharma is released on bail at this stage, he may attempt to hamper the investigation. Accordingly, bail application stands dismissed," the court order said. On September 14, Delhi Polices Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61, for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. During the search of his house, a laptop, some confidential documents related to Indian defence and incriminating papers were seized. He is currently in judicial custody. Sharma had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that he is suffering from various ailments, which include acute sinus problems, has undergone two surgeries for sinus and is at a high risk of Covid-19. The prosecution had vehemently opposed his bail plea, claiming that the accused received huge sums of money from some companies and cash was collected on behalf of the accused from such companies. The Additional Public Prosecutor further submitted that the source of secret documents found in the possession of the accused is yet to be established, and his alleged foreign handlers are also to be traced. The present case was registered on the basis of secret inputs received from Indian intelligence agencies about links of Sharma with foreign intelligence officers and that he was receiving funds, through hawala and Western Union monet transfer, from his foreign handlers for conveying sensitive information on national security and foreign relations. A case under Sections 3 (possession of any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information, which relates to munitions of war), 4 (Communications with foreign agents) and 5 (Wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act was registered on September 13 and Sharma arrested the next day. On interrogation, Sharma allegedly disclosed his involvement in the procurement of secret and sensitive information and conveying the same to his Chinese handlers Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digital channels. He is also said to have further disclosed that he was about to send these recovered secret documents to his handlers. After Sharmas arrest, Chinese woman Qing Shi and her Nepalese partner Sher Singh alias Raj Bohra were also arrested as they were found supplying Sharma with huge amounts of money, routed through hawala channels, for conveying sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 07:38:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Video: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Sept. 28, 2020 calls on countries to help fill the gap of 35 billion U.S. dollars in order to meet the global goals of COVID-19 vaccine production, treatments and tests. "We now need an additional 35 billion dollars to help the facility go from start-up to scale up to meet its goals: to produce 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests," UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Monday called on countries to help fill the gap of 35 billion U.S. dollars in order to meet the global goals of COVID-19 vaccine production, treatments and tests. "The world urgently needs development, production and equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics therapeutics and vaccines," Mohammed told a hybrid press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York. "The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) is our global solution to help the world recover and rebuild from this devastating pandemic," she said. "Leading international health organizations, research institutes, foundations and the private sector have worked tirelessly." The UN deputy chief said that in just five months, the ACT-Accelerator "is up and running." "Already we are seeing success: the feasibility and announcement today of game-changing rapid diagnostics for low- and middle-income countries; the only proven therapy for severe COVID-19 disease; a broad, dynamic vaccine research portfolio and the establishment of a COVAX vaccines facility with over 156 economies committed and more potentially joining, representing nearly two-thirds of the global population," she added. United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed speaks during a press briefing on the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, at the UN headquarters in New York, April 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) However, the UN deputy chief said that "we are now at a critical point in the work of the ACT-Accelerator and its COVAX Facility," adding, "We must make important political choices and a quantum leap in funding to increase the chances of a global solution to get the world moving, working and prospering again." Noting that the 3 billion U.S. dollars contributed to date has been "a critical seed fund" for the start-up phase of the ACT-Accelerator, Mohammed said that "we now need an additional 35 billion dollars to help the facility go from start-up to scale up to meet its goals: to produce 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests." She noted that 15 billion dollars of that is needed in the next three months to advance its work immediately. "Over just nine months, a catastrophic health, socio-economic, and humanitarian crisis has been unleashed on the world, taking a toll on the most vulnerable," she said. "While no country or society will succeed alone, some are still maintaining a 'me first logic' rather than coming together. We must turn this approach around. We need solidarity and concerted multilateral efforts to fight the pandemic and save lives," said the UN deputy chief. Launched at the end of April, at an event co-hosted by Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACT Accelerator brings together governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global health organizations. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 14:44 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f3be5 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,Tegal,dangdut,concert,music,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,health-protocol,social-distance,social-distancing,DPRD,Central-Java Free Tegal Police in Central Java named Tegal Council Deputy Speaker Wasmad Edi Susilo a suspect on Monday for holding a crowded dangdut concert last week in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. After conducting an investigation, we have decided to name Wasmad Edi Susilo a suspect, Tegal Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rita Wulandari Wibowo said on Monday, as quoted by tribunnews.com. Rita said Wasmad had failed to adhere to health protocol during the event and disregarded warnings from the authorities. He was therefore charged under Article 93 of the 2018 Health Quarantine Law in conjunction with articles 216 and 65 of the Criminal Code, which carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Fifteen witnesses and several experts have been questioned during the investigation, Rita said, adding that criminal, health and linguistic experts had taken part in the process. Read also: South Tegal Police chief dismissed after allowing lawmaker to hold dangdut concert Police also confiscated seven pieces of evidence, including permits issued by South Tegal Police and a DVD recording of the event. However, Rita said Wasman would not be detained. We have already prepared a warrant for the suspect and will summon him on Wednesday. He is only obliged to report regularly to the police while waiting for the legal proceedings to begin, she said. Wasmad held the concert at a field in South Tegal last Wednesday to celebrate a marriage and a circumcision in his family. On Saturday, South Tegal Police chief Joeharno was dismissed from his position for allowing the event to proceed. (trn) Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. San Francisco, 29 Sep 2020: The Report 4D Printing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Material (Programmable Carbon Fiber, Programmable Wood, Programmable Textiles), By End-Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025 The global 4D printing market size is expected to reach USD 313.1 million by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 33.2%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. 4D printing is an advanced process for printing customizable smart materials where an object is 3D printed using a programmable material. It enables the material objects to adjust their appearance or shape over time by using internal or external stimuli, such as change in temperature or water immersion subjected to pressure, electric current, UV light, or other form energies. 4D printing, with its form changing tools, is estimated to revolutionize every industry on a global scale as the technology offers advantages of reduced resource consumption and energy wastage. Researchers are increasingly emphasizing on 4D printing materials, primarily focusing at the microscopic level. Technologies incorporating shape memory alloys are developed wherein a temperature change results in the change of an objects shape. Additionally, newer technologies are also utilizing electroactive polymers, pressurized fluids, smart materials, and chemicals. Technology needs are ever increasing in todays rapidly changing environment. The market is anticipated to witness a robust growth over the forecast period, which is ascribed to the increased demand for technological innovation in the fields of military & defense, automotive, aerospace, and healthcare, resulting in the rising adoption of 4D printing. Additionally, the latent scope for innovations and product development is likely to supplement the market demand over the coming years. The increasing demand for reduction in the cost of manufacturing and processing is another major factor anticipated to accelerate the market growth by 2025. Moreover, there is a growing demand for efficient material and resource management. The self-transforming property of the technology would lead to the use of limited materials for several purposes, which in turn would lead to reduced wastage of natural resources, thereby maintaining a sustainable environment. Thus, the increasing focus on ensuring a sustainable environment is likely to accelerate the demand in the near future. The high development cost, growing insecurity of policy makers as the technology is yet to be commercialized, and rising issues related to intellectual property rights and potential safety hazards are some of the factors estimated to restrain the development of the 4D printing market. However, the increasing opportunities for key players are expected to overpower the aforementioned restraints, thereby driving the growth over the next few years. Access Research Report of 4D Printing Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/4d-printing-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The global 4D printing market is estimated to reach USD 64.5 million by 2019 and grow at a CAGR exceeding 33.2% from 2020 to 2025, which is primarily attributed to its rising demand in the military & defense, aerospace, automotive, and healthcare industries. Programmable carbon fiber is anticipated to emerge as the largest product segment over the forecast period as it is extremely light and strong, like traditional carbon fiber; requires no complex electronics, actuators, or sensors; minimizes failure-prone mechanisms; and decreases the total weight of the product. The military & defense sector is expected to be the largest contributor to the overall market, accounting for more than 25% of the share in 2019, which is followed by the aerospace segment. North America is anticipated to emerge as a dominant region for market by 2025 owing to high investments in R&D in the region, which is boosting the 4D printing technology. Key players such as Stratasys Ltd., Autodesk Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Inc. are estimated to dominate the market over the forecast period with their emphasis on expanding the market presence through a series of new product launches, announcements, and partnerships. Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/emerging-and-next-generation-technologies Grand View Research has segmented the global 4D printing market based on materials, end use, and regions: 4D Printing Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025) Programmable Carbon Fiber Programmable Wood - Custom Printed Wood Grain Programmable Textiles 4D Printing End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025) Military & Defense Aerospace Automotive Textile Healthcare Others Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Access Press Release of 4D Printing Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-4d-printing-market About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. For More Information:www.grandviewresearch.com Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur suffered an injury in a home match against Newcastle United in the English Premier League on Sunday. After the 1-1 draw, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho confirmed that Son hurt his hamstring. "It's an injury. We'll have him out for a while. It's his hamstring," he said. Son was replaced by Steven Bergwijn at half-time. Starting in the club's EPL season opener against Everton on Sep. 13, Son appeared in five games in two weeks, traveling about 8,200 km from Britain to Bulgaria and North Macedonia. He started in all five matches and played full-time in four, scoring five goals and two assists. It is not certain when he can return to the pitch. After a game against Chelsea on Tuesday in the EFL Cup, currently known as Carabao Cup, Tottenham faces Maccabi Haifa in a Europa League playoff on Thursday and Manchester United in a Premier League match on Oct. 4. The Kompas newspaper on September 27 ran an article entitled "This is how Vietnam successfully extinguished the second wave of Coronavirus" which was followed by a series of articles on Vietnams dealing with the pandemic earlier, showing the newspapers care for Vietnams prevention of COVID-19. In the most recent article, the author informed that Vietnam had its first case of COVID-19 in early January, but it had not reported any fatalities until July, while Indonesia reported the first case in March with over 10,000 fatalities so far, ranking first in the region in terms of COVID-19 deaths. The article also explored in detail how the COVID-19 pandemic had been handled in Vietnam, including suspension of flight routes, border closure, large-scale testing, exposure tracking and control of health interaction in communities. Indonesia's Indogo newspaper reflects Vietnams prevention of COVID-19. The Kompas newspaper quoted Guy Thwaites, Director of Oxford University Institute of Clinical Research in Ho Chi Minh city, saying that Vietnam is too familiar with infectious diseases as there have been many infectious diseases in the past 20 years. Apart from the precise and rapid Government steps, the article also highlighted the fact that 97% of Vietnamese citizens agree with the Government's steps in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the UKs YouGov. In the article "Handling COVID-19 and economic recovery, requesting Indonesia to imitate Vietnam", the author said that many countries in the world have experienced economic downturns caused by COVID-19, but some others have not yet fallen on the brink of recession in the middle of the pandemic, including Vietnam. While Indonesia faced economic recession with negative growth of 5.23% in the second quarter of 2020, Vietnam still achieved growth of 0.36%. The article cites Mr. Yudhistira Adhinegara, an economist at the Institute of Economic and Financial Development (Indef) Bhima, Indonesia, saying that Vietnams effective and rapid processing and social assistance leads to high community discipline in following the Government's directions. The article also stated that Vietnam's approach to dealing with the pandemic while maintaining economic efficiency could be a model for Indonesia. The Indonesian TV channel ANTV on September 24 also reported "Learning from Vietnam's success in handling the second COVID-19 wave" in which the author raised the issue of how a country with a direct border with China, where the COVID-19 outbreak was first announced, can cope with this pandemic. According to the report, after successfully overcoming the first wave of COVID-19, Vietnam faced the second wave in July 2020 with the heart being Da Nang city, where more than 550 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, accounting for nearly half of all cases in Vietnam. According to this TV channel, the local authorities quickly "closed the city" by restricting activities and halting flights. In addition, the Indonesian TV channel also praised the fact that Vietnam tested COVID-19 in series with a sample testing system. It quoted an interview granted by Guy Thwaites, Director of Oxford University Institute of Clinical Research in Ho Chi Minh city, saying that using this method, Vietnam can test 100,000 people in 20,000 tests. This allows them to save time and money. The TV channel said that is the secret that Indonesia needs to learn to be able to stamp out the pandemic like Vietnam. Vietnam's successful handling of COVID-19 has also become a trending topic on other Indonesian online newspapers last week such as Tempo.com, IDN Times, Indogo and Indoonline./. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 04:33:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's exports grew 4.88 percent in August compared to July, marking the third month in a row of growth after dropping due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) said on Monday. Exports totaled 37.047 billion U.S. dollars in August compared to 35.324 billion U.S. dollars the previous month, according to seasonally adjusted figures. Meanwhile, imports rose 7.01 percent in August compared to July, to 30.55 billion U.S. dollars, the independent body said in its monthly report. The difference resulted in a surplus in Mexico's trade balance of 6.497 billion U.S. dollars in August. Mexico's exports saw their biggest drops so far this year in April and May, due to lockdown measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. Between January and August, Mexico shipped 82 percent of its non-oil exports to the United States, its main trading partner, according to Inegi. Enditem State Bank of India (SBI) is hiring for multiple positions across several states. The country's largest lender has issued notifications for the recruitment of specialist cadre officers on its official website where candidates can apply. All they need to do is fill out and submit the form online on or before October 8. The bank will not conduct any written exam but select candidates on the basis of interview as well as relevant work experience. Taking to Twitter to announce the same, SBI posted, "The best chapter in your career is about to begin. SBI is hiring for multiple positions." Also Read: SBI to hire 87 specialist cadre officers; here's all you need to know The best chapter in your career is about to begin. SBI is hiring for multiple positions. To apply, visit: https://t.co/TrhGH8gIpp#JoinSBIFamily #SBI #StateBankOfIndia pic.twitter.com/ajudxItTSU State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) September 28, 2020 Vacancy details: Several vacancies for different posts at SBI are given below:- Deputy Manager Security: 28 posts Manager (Retail Products): 5 posts Data Trainer: 1 post Data Translator: 1 post Senior Consultant Analyst: 1 post Assistant General Manager (Enterprise & Technology Architecture): 1 post Data Protection Officer: 1 post Deputy Manager (Data Scientist): 11 posts Manager (Data Scientist): 11 posts Deputy Manager (System Officer): 5 posts Risk Specialist- Sector (Scale-III): 5 posts Risk Specialist- Sector (Scale-II): 5 posts Portfolio Management Specialist (Scale-II): 3 posts Risk Specialist- Credit (Scale-III): 2 posts Risk Specialist- Credit (Scale-II): 2 posts Risk Specialist- Enterprise (Scale-II): 1 post Risk Specialist- IND AS (Scale-III): 4 posts Note: Where selection for all the posts will be on regular basis, selection for Data Protection Officer position will be on contractual basis Also Read: SBI to hire 14,000 employees; dismisses claims of job cuts through VRS Educational Qualification and Work Experience Data Trainer, Data Translator, Senior Consultant Analyst: B.E. or B. Tech in Computer Science or IT or MCA with relevant years of work experience as mentioned in the job specification. Candidates from IIT / NIT / Top rated Engineering Colleges will be given preference. Candidates with Statistics background will also be preferred. B.E. or B. Tech in Computer Science or IT or MCA with relevant years of work experience as mentioned in the job specification. Candidates from IIT / NIT / Top rated Engineering Colleges will be given preference. Candidates with Statistics background will also be preferred. Data Protection Officer: Candidates should be graduates with minimum 15 years' post-qualification work experience as Executive/ Supervisor in Corporate Sector out of which at least 5 years' experience should be in BFSI Sector. Candidates should be graduates with minimum 15 years' post-qualification work experience as Executive/ Supervisor in Corporate Sector out of which at least 5 years' experience should be in BFSI Sector. Deputy Manager, Manager (Data Scientist): B.Tech or M Tech in Computer Science/IT, Data Science, Machine Learning, and AI with minimum 3 years of overall experience in related field. For Manager post, minimum work experience of 5 years is required. B.Tech or M Tech in Computer Science/IT, Data Science, Machine Learning, and AI with minimum 3 years of overall experience in related field. For Manager post, minimum work experience of 5 years is required. Deputy Manager (System Officer): B. Tech, M Tech in Computer Science, IT, Machine Learning, and AI with minimum 3 years of overall experience. B. Tech, M Tech in Computer Science, IT, Machine Learning, and AI with minimum 3 years of overall experience. Deputy Manager (Security): Graduates with minimum 5 years' commissioned service in Army or Navy or Air Force or a Police Officer not below the rank of ASP or Dy. SP with minimum 5 years' service in that rank or officer of identical rank with minimum 5 years' service in Para Military Force. Graduates with minimum 5 years' commissioned service in Army or Navy or Air Force or a Police Officer not below the rank of ASP or Dy. SP with minimum 5 years' service in that rank or officer of identical rank with minimum 5 years' service in Para Military Force. Manager (Retail Products): MBA or PGDM or Post Graduate Management degree and full time BE or B Tech in Information Technology, Computer, Computer Science, Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Electrical & Electronics or a combination of these streams with minimum 48 months experience as an Executive in Supervisory or Management role in Scheduled Commercial Bank in product development in the Retail Financial domain. MBA or PGDM or Post Graduate Management degree and full time BE or B Tech in Information Technology, Computer, Computer Science, Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Electrical & Electronics or a combination of these streams with minimum 48 months experience as an Executive in Supervisory or Management role in Scheduled Commercial Bank in product development in the Retail Financial domain. Risk Specialist, Portfolio Management: Chartered Accountant (CA), or CFA, or full-time MBA or PGDM (Finance/Data Analytics/Business Analytics) or M.Sc. (Statistics) with relevant years of work experience as mentioned in the job notification. Also Read: No free lunches in SBI's loan restructuring; borrowers to pay extra interest How to apply for these posts Candidates should have a valid email ID which should be kept active until the declaration of results. It will help them in getting call letters/interview advice etc. by mail. Candidates need to visit the official website of SBI Click on Careers link given at the bottom of the page. Under the latest announcement sections, click on the relevant link of advertisement Click on "Apply Online." Then click on 'New Registration' or 'Login' if you have already registered. Fill in the form and pay the application fee. After successfully completing the complete process, an e-receipt and application form, bearing the date of submission (by the candidate) will be generated. Candidates need to take the print out of the same and keep it with them. Application fees General, EWS, and OBC candidates need to pay Rs 750. SC/ST/PWD candidates need not pay any fees. Candidates will have to mandatorily pay the fee online through a credit/debit card or internet banking. Documents required Candidates need to upload all the required documents such as their educational qualification, resume, identity proof, age, and experience etc. A high-level mechanism to monitor implementation of development projects funded by in will be put in place soon, the two countries said after a virtual ministerial meeting on Tuesday while reaffirming their commitment to finalise an interim agreement on sharing of Teesta river water. The sixth meeting of the India- Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) also reiterated the importance of the safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar of the forcibly displaced persons from the Rakhine State of that country who are being sheltered by Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The meeting, co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart A K Abdul Momen, carried out a comprehensive review of ahead of a virtual summit between prime ministers of the two countries in December. On the Rohingya issue, a joint statement issued by the MEA said the foreign minister emphasised that unless the "problem is resolved quickly, there are possibilities of pockets of radicalism disrupting economic growth, peace and stability in the region, and requested India's leverage to address the crisis." Recognising that terrorism remains a significant threat to global peace and security, both sides reiterated their strong commitment to eliminate it in all its forms and manifestations, it said. In the talks, the two ministers noted that and Bangladesh are currently the top two economies in South Asia and greater measures could be taken for mutually beneficial enhancement of trade and investment between the two countries, including the removal of all forms of barriers to trade. The joint statement said both sides decided to form a high-level monitoring committee' headed by the economic relations secretary of Bangladesh and the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka to regularly review the progress of projects being implemented under India's Line of Credit to Bangladesh. It sad the ministers also stressed on the need to further strengthen the implementation of the coordinated border management plan (CBMP) to effectively guard the frontier between the two countries. "Both sides agreed that the loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern and urged the concerned border forces to enhance coordinated measures to bring such border incidents down to zero," the statement said. "The Indian side also requested for an expeditious approval to erecting the single row fencing in vulnerable patches along the border, within 150 yards, that will help contain border crimes," it added. Bangladesh and share a 4096-km-long border and a large section of it is porous. According to the joint statement, the two ministers also reiterated their commitment to finalisation of the interim agreement for the sharing of waters of the Teesta river. "They also underscored the need for early conclusion of framework of interim agreement on sharing of waters of six other joint rivers, namely, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar," it said. The long-pending Teesta water-sharing deal was set to be inked during the then prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. During discussions on the coronavirus pandemic, Jaishankar reiterated India's priority to supply COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh while talking about the importance of the country in New Delhi's Neighborhood First' policy. "In this context, the ministers directed their officials to expedite the exchange of required information regarding Phase-III testing, vaccine distribution, co-production and delivery in Bangladesh," the joint statement said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This was the fourth year the Aksarben Stock Show has been in Grand Island, and the third year the show was produced by the State Fair, Harder said. The Aksarben Foundation, which is based in Omaha, produced the event the first year it was in Grand Island. Four years ago, 752 animals were brought to Grand Island for the show. In 2018, the first year Harder was involved, the number was 909. The total grew to 1,900 last year and 3,500 this year. The growth in participation, he said, was just remarkable. Harder said some Nebraska State Fair Board members who really werent in favor of the Nebraska State Fair doing Aksarben anyhow decided that I needed to be terminated. Some State Fair Board members want to get out of the stock show business, he said. They just want to run the State Fair and they dont want to also have the Nebraska State Fair associated with the Aksarben Stock Show. Starting the corporation was a way to prepare for what might happen to make sure we still have a stock show, Harder said. The Aksarben Stock Show means a lot to young people in the Midwest, he said. The show is open to youth exhibitors between the ages of 9 and 19. You are the owner of this article. Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Tuesday said the security scenario along the countrys northern borders was at an uneasy, no war-no peace status and the Indian military was prepared for any eventuality, amid heightened military tensions with China in the sensitive Ladakh sector where both armies have made arrangements for a long haul. Speaking at a conference on Energising Indian Aerospace Industry: Challenges in the New Environment, the IAF chief said, Air power will be a crucial enabler for our victory in any future conflict. It is really critical for any future conflict. It is imperative that the IAF obtains and maintains technological edge over our adversaries. He said the air force had swiftly responded to the developments in eastern Ladakh and was prepared to counter any misadventure by the adversary. The conference was organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies along with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Key military talks on September 21 over the dispute at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China remained inconclusive, with Indian negotiators firmly demanding comprehensive disengagement at all flashpoints and restoration of status quo ante as the only approach towards de-escalation, and China asking India to withdraw its soldiers from strategic heights on the southern bank of Pangong Tso to reduce friction. The two sides, however, made some headway. According to a joint statement issued on September 22 in New Delhi and Beijing, they agreed to stop sending more troops to the front line, and to hold a seventh round of commander-level talks as soon as possible, take practical measures to properly solve problems on the ground, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border area. The IAF is operating its newly-inducted Rafale fighter jets in the Ladakh theatre where the military is on its highest state of alert. Bhadauria said the recent induction of several platforms including the Rafales, C-17s, Chinooks and Apaches had provided the IAF with substantial tactical and strategic capability enhancement. The IAFs current fleet of five Rafale fighters is fully operational and ready to undertake any mission. India ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016. The air force formally inducted the planes at the Ambala air base on September 10 though they landed at their home base on July 29. At the induction, Bhadauria made it clear that the warplanes were mission-ready and the ceremony marked their full operational induction into the air force. The Rafale jets are part of the IAFs No. 17 Squadron, which is also known as the Golden Arrows. The IAF is always mission-ready and can strike its place of choosing when it so desires anywhere, anytime, said military affairs expert Air Marshal PS Ahluwalia (retd). The IAF has been projecting its capability to carry out day-and-night, all-weather combat missions in the Ladakh sector, with front-line fighter jets, attack helicopters and multi-mission choppers getting airborne for demanding night-time missions from forward airbases. The IAF chief said the raising of two squadrons of the Tejas light combat aircraft and the integration of indigenous weapons on the Su-30 in reduced time frame were the most promising developments on the indigenisation front and the march towards self-reliance in the defence sector. Talking about providing impetus to the Make in India initiative, he said the new Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020, released on Monday, addressed a number of issues with bold and far reaching reforms. He said to provide stimulus to the aerospace industry, IAF had committed to the purchase of 83 LCA Mk1 fighter jets and 106 HTT-40 trainer aircraft. We strongly support the indigenous development of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft --- the advanced multirole combat aircraft (AMCA) --- and have a demand of at least six squadrons, and Avro replacement is planned under Make in India. This in itself amounts to more than 350 aircraft in next two decades. There cannot be a better time to indigenise, he said. Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday extended his support to farmers agitating against the draconian" farm laws, saying he will convene a special session of the assembly if there is a need to amend the state laws. Chairing a meeting with the representatives of 31 farmers unions, he said his government stands behind the farmers in these dark and difficult times" and he would discuss with his legal team the steps to challenge the farm laws in the Supreme Court. Besides farmer representatives, All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Punjab Harish Rawat, state ministers, state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and the states Advocate General Atul Nanda attended the meeting, an official statement said. After the meeting, the chief minister convened another meeting with top government officials. The statement said he sought suggestions from legal experts on the next course of action to protect the interests of farmers against the Centres farm laws. He asked Nanda to collate and consider all such suggestions. The suggestions given by leaders of various Kisan Unions were also discussed during the second meeting. We will take all possible steps to counter the Union governments assault on the states federal and constitutional rights and fight for the interests of the farmers," Singh told the farmer representatives. If legal experts advise amendment to state laws to fight the central laws, a special session of the assembly will be immediately convened to do so," he added. Dubbing the three pieces of farm legislation anti-farmers", peasants in Punjab have been protesting against the new laws meant to deregulate the sale of their crops. Their main demands include giving a legal backing to the MSP mechanism. The central government has assured that the MSP regime will continue as before. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) leader B S Rajewal said farmers will intensify their protest from October 1 and extend the rail roko agitation, which was to end on October 2, indefinitely. Rajewal said farmers will socially boycott political leaders supporting the laws. We will stage dharnas outside residences of BJP leaders in the state," he said. Jagmohan Singh, the general secretary of BKU (Dakaunda), said resolutions will be passed in village gram panchayats against the farm laws. During the meeting with farmer representatives, the Punjab chief minister claimed that enacting the farm laws amounted to violation" of the Constitution and an attack on the federal structure. He said his government will do whatever it takes to scuttle" the Centres attempt to ruin the farming community with these draconian" laws. The battle will be fought on all fronts, he said. He reiterated that his government and the Punjab Congress are with farmers. If the new laws are implemented, it will spell the end of agriculture," he said, warning that the Union government will follow up these laws with elimination of MSP and FCI, bringing an end to the time-tested farming procurement and marketing system as we know it". Singh said he had written to the prime minister thrice, urging him not to go ahead with the farm bills but he did not get any response. Several farmer leaders have urged Singh to challenge the central laws legally. Jagjit Singh Dallewal of BKU, Sidhupur, urged him to convene a special session of the assembly to pass a law to counter the central legislations. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor SALEM, Ore. Multiple people are dead following an officer-involved shooting at an east Salem residence Monday. On Tuesday, authorities released more key information, including the number of people who died in the incident. Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a "possible hostage situation" at about 12:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Juneva Place SE, near Mahrt Avenue SE, officials said. Deputies arrived at the home and Sheriff's Office negotiators called the individual believed to have taken others in the house hostage. Officials said "shots were fired" as the "incident unfolded," leading to "multiple fatalities." No deputies were injured. Officials have declined to provide information regarding how many were killed, who killed them, or details of the events that led to the situation. Sgt. Jeremy Landers, a spokesperson with the Sheriff's Office, declined to release any information about the individuals killed until family members have been notified. Mahrt Avenue SE was closed between Lancaster Drive SE and Roggy Court SE for multiple hours during the investigation. Mahrt Avenue SE was reopened at about 5:30 p.m. at Lancaster Drive up to 40th Place SE. Any deputies involved in the shooting would be placed on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated, as outlined by protocol, officials said. Authorities said there is no threat to the community. The incident has been turned over to the Oregon State Police for investigation. Salem Police is also assisting with the investigation. Authorities are investigating a shooting during a "possible hostage situation" on Juneva Place SE in east Salem on Monday, Sept. 28, 2020. Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 'Multiple' people dead in Salem following 'hostage situation' New Delhi: In order to improve business, government announced on Wednesday a paperless online mechanism for registration of brokerage firms, MFs, portfolio managers and other market intermediaries apart from linking demat accounts with Aadhaar. Besides commodities and securities derivative markets would be further integrated by integrating the participants,brokers and operational framework, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his Budget speech for 2017-18. Sebi, RBI and CBDT would jointly put in place systems and procedures for a common application form for registration,opening of bank and demat accounts and issuing PAN for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs). Also Read: Budget 2017: Here are 15 revealing points you must read to know why India is a non-tax complaint society This will greatly enhance operational flexibility and ease of access to Indian capital markets. "The process of registration of financial marketintermediaries like mutual funds, brokers, portfolio managers,etc will be made fully online by Sebi. This will improve easeof doing business," Jaitley said. The proposed system would help make it easier for the existing and new market intermediaries to complete their registration and other regulatory filings with Sebi much faster and in a cost-effective way. He further said that steps will be taken for linking of individual demat accounts with Aadhaar. Also Read: Union Budget 2017-18: FM Jaitley proposes extending time period for availing tax benefit for start-ups To strengthen IPO market and channelise more investments, Jaitley has proposed to allow "systemically important" NBFCs, regulated by RBI and above a certain net worth, to becategorised as Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs). Presently institutions such as banks and insurancecompanies are categorised as QIBs by Sebi. They are eligible for participation in IPOs with specifically earmarked allocations. The minister also proposed to exempt capital gains arising out of transfer of a rupee denominated bond by a non-resident to a non-resident. Also Read: Union Budget 2017: Know things which happened for the first time "It is proposed to provide that in case of unit in theconsolidated plan of a mutual fund scheme received in lieu ofunit in the consolidating plan, the actual cost and the periodof holding shall be the cost and the period of holding of theunit in the consolidating plan," Jaitley said. Also, he has proposed to provide tax neutrality in case ofconversion of preference shares of a company into equityshares. The worlds third-biggest oil importer, India, is considering using storage facilities in the United States and other commercially viable locations to reduce its supply risks, Indias Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at an event on Tuesday. We are also exploring overseas crude storage facilities in the US and other commercially viable locations, the minister said, as quoted by The Economic Times. India has been looking for years to diversify its crude oil supply beyond its traditional top supplier, the Middle East, which accounts for around 80 percent of Indias oil imports. India has recently struck deals for long-term oil supply with the United States, Russia, and Angola, in order to diversify its supply sources, Pradhan said at the virtual conference Energy Security Conference 2020. Energy diplomacy and its alignment with our foreign policy & robust energy policies in the last 6 years has delivered tangible and substantive results in enhancing Indias energy security. Diversifying our sourcing of hydrocarbons, we are now sourcing crude from over 30 countries, the minister said. India and the United States signed a preliminary agreement in July to explore options for India to store oil at U.S. storage sites. This year, India has filled its strategic petroleum reserves, taking advantage of the low oil prices in April and May. India used the ultra-low crude oil prices earlier this year to top its strategic petroleum reserves with oil at $19 a barrel, saving nearly US$700 million in the process, Indias Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said last week. Taking advantage of the low crude oil prices in international market, India purchased 16.71 million barrels (mbbl) of crude in April May, 2020 and filled all the three Strategic Petroleum Reserves created at Vishakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur, the ministry said in a statement. The average cost at which India bought the crude oil in April and May was $19 per barrel, compared to $60 a barrel oil price in January 2020. Thanks to the cheapest oil in years at the start of the second quarter, India saved US$685.11 million on its crude oil import bill, the ministry said. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Up to 100 million additional doses of any eventual COVID-19 vaccines will be secured for delivery to poorer countries in 2021, health groups announced Tuesday, as the virus showed no sign of receding after claiming more than one million lives around the world. The announcement doubles the number of doses already secured from the Serum Institute of India by the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, following an initial agreement last month. The public-private health partnership stressed that the eventual total is "potentially several times" greater, and said the price would be capped at $3 per dose. "No country, rich or poor, should be left at the back of the queue when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines; this collaboration brings us another step closer to achieving this goal," Gavi chief Seth Berkley said in a statement. As nine vaccine candidates are in last-stage trials, the World Health Organization is stepping up efforts to provide faster and cheaper testing to poorer countries. The WHO said Monday that some 120 million rapid tests for COVID-19 will be made available to low- and middle-income countries at $5 each under a $600 million schemeas long as funding can be secured. The kitsfaster, cheaper and easier to administer than regular standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab tests, but also less reliablewill be rolled out across 133 countries in the next six months. "This will enable the expansion of testing, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that do not have lab facilities or enough trained health workers to carry out PCR tests," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference. Experts have for months been calling for widespread adoption of this low-cost technology so that people can test themselves several times a week. In the US, President Donald Trump said 150 million tests would be distributed that deliver results in 15 to 30 minutes. Harvard epidemiologist Michael Mina said the testing drive "is terrific and is a great start". But the amount being distributed by the US government was "simply not sufficient" and production should be multiplied ten- or 20-fold, he added European wave Meanwhile infection numbers are climbing rapidly in Europe whose governments are clamping down on movement in an attempt to curb the surge. Paris, London, Madrid have all been forced to introduce controls to slow infections, and Northern Ireland authorities became the latest to tighten curbs, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia said they were preparing to declare a state of emergency. A million Madrid residents are under partial lockdown, with the city and the surrounding region at the centre of Spain's second wave. The national government on Monday warned the local authorities of drastic measures if the region failed to move decisively to slow the uncontrolled spread. Meanwhile, in Greece the first cruise ship to sail to the country since its lockdown docked at the port of Piraeus after a dozen crew members were reported positive for the virus. Passengers underwent follow-up coronavirus tests, with early results negative. In Israel, which has the world's highest infection rate per capita, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Tuesday that there was "no way" the country's second nationwide coronavirus lockdown would be lifted after three weeks as originally planned. WHO chief Ghebreyesus said that coronavirus could still be effectively contained with measures such as social distancing and handwashing. "One million people have now been lost to COVID-19 and many more are suffering because of the pandemic," Tedros said in an article in the British online newspaper The Independent. "This milestone is a difficult moment for the world but there are glimmers of hope that encourage us now and in the near future. "No matter where a country is in an outbreak, it is never too late to turn things around." 'Never too late' Worldwide the virus has now infected more than 33 million people and killed over a million, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. Mid-September saw a record rise in cases in most regions and the WHO has warned that virus deaths could even double to two million without more global collective action. On Monday the number of cases in India surpassed six million, with the country on course to overtake the United States in the coming weeks as the nation with the most infections. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP The Supreme Court has intervened saying that the country cannot afford to have dissatisfied soldiers in the war against the pandemic". Walk an extra mile to pay them, said the top court. But are we doing so? Clearly no. Doctors in Delhi, working in hospitals, have taken to social media to post videos of their ordeal. They say they have been on a pen down strike but emergency services continue. North MCD doctors and staff have not received their salaries since June, says a letter written by Dr Abhimanyu Sardana, President of the Resident Doctors Association. Dr Sardana has written to the Delhi Chief Minister, Mayor, North MCD and Additional Commissioner - North MCD. Dr Sardana told News18 that they have been told that funds have depleted and that the doctors must approach higher authorities. This is not just violation of the human rights of doctors treating Covid-19 patients but also contempt of Court. The North MCD employs at least 1,000 senior doctors, 500 resident doctors, and 1,500 nursing officers. Doctors and Nurses of Hindu Rao, Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases, Kasturba Hospital, Girdhari Lal Maternity Hospital and Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis have been protesting over non-payment of dues. Resident doctors say the salaries have not been paid since June, roughly for 105 days. Doctors on COVID duty without pay from 105 Days. Govt neither have data of deaths of healthcare workers nor have money to pay their services. Though pay deduction for PMCARE funds was done without delay. Healthcare workers across India are feeling betrayed said Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti Former President of AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) on Twitter. Staff of Delhis Kasturba Gandhi hospital have also been on a strike for the last 10 days since their dues have not been paid from July onwards. Meanwhile, doctors have also been protesting against the assault on Dr Rahul Jain of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital on the 26th of September. He was allegedly assaulted by attendants of a patient because he asked the patient to wear and mask and come by turn. RDAs of various hospitals in Delhi have demanded action and expressed solidarity with the doctors. Doctors of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital withdrawing essential services and non essential services in protest. Britain has imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko, his son and senior figures in the Belarusian regime in a significant stepping up of international punitive measures in response to continuing human rights abuses in the country. The Belarusian leader, his son Victor, and Igor Sergeenko, the Head of the Presidential Administration, are among eight people who face their assets being frozen and a travel ban for their part in the violent crackdown which has followed disputed election results. Mr Lukashenko is the first leader of a country to be sanctioned under the the Global Human Rights act brought in by the government to counter those accused of rights abuse. The measures stop them from entering the UK, channeling money through banks or trading for profit in this country. The Canadian government has also announced similar sanctions against the Belarusian government. The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said: Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We don't accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights. The Foreign Office in London said in a statement: Alexander Lukashenkos regime is responsible for a string of human rights violations against opposition figures, media and the people of Belarus in the wake of rigged elections. Despite numerous calls from the international community, he has refused to engage in dialogue with the opposition, choosing instead to double down on his violent repression. Those subject to the sanctions are president Lukashenko, his son and National Security advisor Viktor Lukashenko; Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, chief of staff to the president; Yuri Karayev, minister of Internal Affair and a Major General of Militia; Alexander Barsukov, deputy minister of Ministry of Internal Affairs and chief of Public Security Police; Yuri Nazarenko, deputy minister of Internal Affairs and Commander of Internal Troops; Khazalbek Atabekov, Deputy Commander of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; and Dmitry Balaba Commander of the Special Purpose Police Unit of Minsk (OMON). The UK had earlier moved for the establishment of an international investigation by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) into the election and the subsequent violence. The British government has also doubled its financial support to human rights groups, independent media and community groups in Belarus to 1.5m over the next two years. The British and Canadian move follows a meeting between French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who was forced into exile in Lithuania under pressure from president Lukashenko. We had a very good discussion. Now we need to be pragmatic and to support Belarus people and we will do all that, said Mr Macron after the meeting in Vilnus. Ms Tikhanovskaya added: He said that time is very important since many people are suffering from the regime, many people find themselves in jail, and he will do everything to help free all political prisoners ... We received an invitation to speak before the French Parliament and we accepted it. However in Moscow, Vladimir Putin denounced foreign involvement in Belarusian affairs. Belarus has found itself in a difficult situation, in conditions of unprecedented external pressure after the presidential elections, said the Russian president. Mumbai, Sep 29 : Actress Shweta Tripathi feels waiting around for things to open up could be futile and thus artistes across all mediums should be open to exploring new adventures in professional life. She says for actors, the thrill does not come from the medium but from the process. "We knew Covid would have a far-reaching impact on the industry. As actors, we should do our best to make art slightly differently than we are conditioned and educated to. I have watched quite a few virtual plays in the last few months. The joy on the faces of the performers is unmatchable," Shweta said. "For actors, I believe the thrill doesn't come from the medium but from the process. It matters that we reach our stories to people. It shouldn't matter if it's on a stage or on zoom call," she added. Shweta says she sees writers work upon scripts in a way that they fit the virtual format. "It's essential we work around our way to perform and go with the flow. It's an endless wait, and beyond a point it could have emotional ramifications. I urge my friends to keep finding new ways to tell stories. Art is boundless and cannot be restricted by language or place of execution," said Shweta, who was recently seen in sci-fi film "Cargo" co-starring Vikrant Massey. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stood by her vice-president Vera Jourova Tuesday, after Hungary's hardline prime minister Viktor Orban demanded her resignation. Jourova, the commissioner charged with defending EU values and transparency, had branded Orban's Hungary an "ill democracy" in a news magazine interview. She is due to present a report on the state of the rule of law in all EU member states Wednesday, in which Orban's government is expected to face strong criticism. On Tuesday, Orban sent von der Leyen a letter accusing Jourova of humiliating the Hungarian people. Hungary also cut off political contacts with the Czech commissioner. EU Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant confirmed von der Leyen had received Orban's letter and would reply. But she added: "Our concerns when it comes to the rule of law situation in Hungary are well known. "President von der Leyen works closely with Vice President Jourova on the rule of law. And the vice president has the President's full trust," she added. Jourova also received support from Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency. In a tweet, Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth told Jourova "the European Union needs your impartial and clear mind! "All member states need to be treated equally and abide by the same rules, enshrined in our treaties," he added. - "Her resignation is indispensable' - Orban is due in Brussels Thursday for a summit of the 27 EU leaders, and negotiations surrounding the EU budget had been hampered by the rule of law dispute. European lawmakers and several member states want to tie EU funding for countries like Hungary to their respect for democratic legal values. But Hungary and Poland, accused of a slide into populist authoritarianism, fiercely oppose this and have threatened to veto Europe's recovery plan. Germany's Angela Merkel has been working to negotiate a compromise arrangement to protect EU funds from being misspent. Story continues But Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga rejected the proposal as unacceptable. Ambassadors from EU member states will meet on Wednesday ahead of the summit to discuss this. The EU has a so-called "Article 7" procedure probing whether Hungary is undermining European legal standards and democratic values. The row with Jourova will further embitter this fight. Orban wrote: "The statements of Vice President Vera Jourova are incompatible with her current mandate, therefore her resignation is indispensable." Orban was reacting to Jourova's description of Hungary in an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel last week. "Mr Orban likes to say he is building an 'illiberal democracy'," Jourova told Der Spiegel, "I would say: He is building an ill democracy." Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Monday he expected the rule of law report to be little more than a "political statement". - 'No one above criticism' - Jourova herself, in comments to AFP Tuesday, rejected any suggestion that she had offended the Hungarian people. "I have nothing but huge respect for the Hungarian people and the choices they make. "But this does not mean we should not speak, also critically if needed, about actions of governments and elected representatives," she added. "In democracy, no one's actions are above criticism." Budapest and its ally in Warsaw have long been at loggerheads with Brussels over democracy issues and immigration. Orban has been accused of undermining democratic values by, among other issues, persecuting opposition media and forcing the closure of foreign-owned universities. Pro-government Hungarian media often attack EU commissioners, accusing them of being puppets of US financier and philanthropist George Soros. On Monday, Hungary and Poland set up a think tank to counter the "mainstream liberal" and the "pro-migration" ideas they say dominate in Brussels. alm-dc/jj/tgb Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Warief Djajanto Basorie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, September 30 2020 BPS=Sukarnoism to kill Sukarnoism and Sukarno. The castigating line in English appeared on the electronic board of the Senayan Indoor Stadium in Jakarta Feb. 23, 1965. The event was the 19th anniversary of the Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI). Its commemoration was the prelude to the failed putsch attempt later in the year of the Sept. 30 movement blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). At issue in the Senayan gathering was the clash in ideology between non-communist newspapers and communist-oriented dailies that painted the political landscape in Indonesia from 1964 to 1965, the latter years of the Sukarno presidency. A formidable PKI and a fervently non-communist Indonesian Army were the two power camps competing to exert their influence and gain the favor of Sukarno, the countrys president since he proclaimed Indonesias independence in 1945. This PKI-Sukarno-Army trilateral power play only needed a trigger for a game-changing political explosion. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:07:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cuba, the guest of honor country for this year's Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), has unveiled online its best works from the fields of literature and culture at the ongoing event that commenced on Sept. 26. Themed "Stories told from Cuba," the online activities include Cuban copyright, cultural and art exhibitions, and a series of literary events titled "Cuba's Night." This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Cuba. Cuban ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira said Cuba's participation in the 27th BIBF as the guest of honor country shows that the friendship between the two sides has a long history and the cultures of the two countries nourish each other. He hoped to expand bilateral cooperation in the field of publication and deepen cultural exchanges and friendship between the two countries. This is the first time the BIBF is held both online and offline since its inauguration in 1986. Enditem Bus Eireann was projecting 20m in losses over the next three years if the now-axed Expressway routes from Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway were continued. The loss of thousands of students and airport passengers in recent months, as well as capacity restrictions on buses, are among the reasons for the stark projections. Despite the axing of the routes, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan claimed that no town will be left behind and that if any gaps are identified following the decision of Bus Eireann to shut down four of its 18 routes, then the National Transport Authority (NTA) will make sure such gaps are closed. Speaking on Newstalk, he said that he would prefer if Bus Eireann began looking at its services on other routes. On RTES Morning Ireland, he claimed there was no lack of financial support from the government for Bus Eireann. There wasnt any lack of financial support hindering what the company could do, but I did think that we have to let them actually put the resources to where they think theyre best used. Some 460m was needed to see out public transport until the end of the year, he said. It is an exceptional year. 300m is the ordinary subsidy each year to public transport. This year, an additional 460m will go in and, as I said, there will be no shortage during the Covid crisis of similar support next year to maintain our public service, we need to do that, he added. Bus Eireann blamed the fallout from Covid-19 for its decision to axe the routes, adding that it would be beefing up its inner-city services in the likes of Cork and Galway. Unions blamed the decision of the NTA to award private operators contracts to operate routes like Cork to Dublin which, they said, had diluted Bus Eireanns service. Users of the Expressway service have expressed their opinions that other operators are at an advantage with their non-stop journeys, and that those who travel city to city must contend with regular stops and passengers embarking and disembarking, thereby slowing the journey considerably. Bus Eireann chief executive Stephen Kent said the firm was taking a decision to withdraw from a small number of Expressway routes which would otherwise incur unsustainable losses and thereby avoid job losses in a very difficult trading environment. The Department of Transport said that the NTA will consider whether some segments of the affected routes will require intervention to ensure adequate levels of connectivity continue. This will be done prior to these services ceasing operation, it added. The routes are set to stop early in 2021. The Government is committed to ensuring that essential transport services continue to be protected and supported. Services that provide vital regional and rural connections will continue to operate, the department said. Cork North Central TD, Mick Barry, slammed Bus Eireann over the move, claiming it was "walking off the pitch". A demonstrator holds a sign with the image of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers, during a protest against the death George Floyd in Minneapolis, in Denver, Colorado on June 3, 2020. JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images Daniel Cameron, Kentucky's attorney general, said he will release recordings of the grand jury proceedings into the death of Breonna Taylor, where no officers were charged over her death. Grand juries usually act in secret. Cameron had previously refused to release the recordings from this one. But he said on Monday that he would comply with a judge's order, granting a wish from Taylor's family and some lawmakers. Cameron also said the release would satisfy a legal complaint from an anonymous juror. The juror claimed Cameron misrepresented the proceedings and didn't give jurors the option of indicting two officers. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Kentucky's attorney general committed to releasing a recording of the grand jury deliberations in the Breonna Taylor case, which he said will come out on Wednesday. The decision by Daniel Cameron came after a juror said he had misrepresented what happened during the proceedings, which led to no police officers being indicted for Taylor's death. One was indicted over stray bullets that entered a neighboring apartment, under the charge of wanton endangerment. Cameron, a Republican, told The Hill of his intention to release the recording. It was in response to a judge ordering that it be filed to a court as part of the case against the one officer who was charged. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home on March 13 after police entered as part of a drugs bust. Breonna Taylor. Associated Press In a statement to CNN, Cameron said that his decision comply with the judge's order to release the grand jury details "will also address the legal complaint filed by an anonymous grand juror." The juror filed a court motion calling for recordings and transcripts from the grand jury to be made public. The juror claimed that Cameron had misrepresented the deliberations and that Cameron didn't offer the jurors the option of indicting the other two officers. Story continues The motion suggested that Cameron used jurors "as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility." The details of grand jury proceedings are not typically made public, and the juror's decision to publicly criticize the process is an unusual one. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron addresses the media following the return of a grand jury investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor on September 23. AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley John Stewart, a former Kentucky Assistant Attorney General, told CNN that it was unprecedented. "I've never heard of a grand juror asking the court to authorize the release of a transcript because they want to say something but don't want to be held in contempt or violate any rules," he said. "It's clear that this person is saying, 'I want to speak the truth' but are concerned they'll violate the grand jury process ... it seems they're afraid the attorney general will come after them." The juror said that the details should be shared so that "the truth may prevail." Cameron had previously refused to release the recordings, and told The Hill that he still had concerns that doing so "could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool." People gather in Louisville, Kentucky to await word on what charges would be announced against the police officers in the Breonna Taylor case on September 23. Darron Cummings/AP But Cameron faced pressure from lawyers for Taylor's family, as well as political leaders like Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, The Washington Post noted. The grand jury decision kicked off a new wave of nationwide protests, with large demonstrations in cities across the US. Protests had already been continuing across the country after they erupted in May following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis police. Taylor was a 26-year-old EMT. She was shot by police in her Louisville home on March 13 while with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. The police used a "no-knock" warrant, meaning they were not required to identify themselves before entering her home. People take a knee in protest of the grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case on September 23. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images Read the original article on Insider Ikpeazu The governor of Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has promised to reward anyone with useful information that will lead to the arrest of killers of miltary and police men in the state. He has now declared N2.5 million reward for any useful information. According to ABN TV, this is contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Chris Ezem. He called on those who have such information to send same to office of of the Secretary to the State Government, Government House Umuahia, adding that their identity will be protected. The Abia State Government hereby announces a cash reward of 2.5 Million Naira each for any person or group that provides information leading to the arrest of those involved in the attack against the Military and Police Officers at Ukwa and Ohafia respectively. Any such information which should be sent to the office of of the Secretary to the State Government, Government House Umuahia will be treated with the highest confidentiality he said. State Rep. Beau LaFave, R-Iron Mountain, got a positive test result for COVID-19 on Tuesday and is urging young people to get tested for even mild symptoms. The symptoms for people my age with no underlying health conditions oftentimes present as very mild, said LaFave, who is the youngest member of the Republican caucus at 28. For me, it was like a sinus infection, but a mild one at first. So if youre feeling run down and tired, I think its very reasonable to go and try to go get tested, he said. LaFave believes he was exposed in Lansing and not his home district in the Upper Peninsula, he told MLive in a phone interview on Tuesday. While at the Capitol last week, LaFave said he participated in a committee meeting where members were masked and sitting six feet apart, as well as attended House session, where he wore a mask as well. He washes his hands frequently and keeps hand sanitizer on his desk, he said. House Republican spokesperson Gideon DAssandro said no session is planned for this week, and one committee was slated to meet but has rescheduled. A number of state lawmakers have contracted the virus, including Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte; Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit; and Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit. State Rep. Isaac Robinson, D-Detroit, died on March 29. He was not tested for COVID-19 before his death, but multiple reports have linked his health issues to the coronavirus. LaFave got tested on Friday and experienced the worst of his symptoms on Saturday and Sunday. He received his test results on Tuesday, the same day Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited the Upper Peninsula amid an uptick in cases there. "We need people to mask up, she said during her visit. Related: Gov. Whitmer calls for Upper Peninsula to mask up as coronavirus cases spike LaFave said many in the region are taking precautions. The people of the U.P. are incredibly smart, and they knew before the lockdowns even started that we needed to kind of keep our distance and protect the elderly, LaFave said. But he noted an uptick in tourism during the warm summer months and an uptick in indoor gatherings now that the weather is turning colder. He, too, is watching the growing case count. He thanked the Dickinson County Hospital and Dickinson-Iron Health Department for their work on his case and others. Theyve got a tough job right now. And I really appreciate them doing such good work up here, trying to keep everybody safe, LaFave said. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS: In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Read more on MLive: Upper Peninsula could take a step backward in reopening as coronavirus cases surge, Gov. Whitmer says Gov. Whitmer calls for Upper Peninsula to mask up as coronavirus cases spike Tuesday, Sept. 29, coronavirus data by Michigan county: 5 red counties; Washtenaw turns orange Michigan lists 106 new coronavirus outbreaks and 163 ongoing clusters in Sept. 28 outbreak report CLEVELAND, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE: CBZ) ("the Company"), a leading provider of financial, insurance and advisory services, today announced it raised more than $83,000 in a fundraising campaign to benefit Dress for Success ("Dress") affiliates nationwide. CBIZ raised more than double the amount in its 2020 campaign as it did in the previous year. The first-ever, company-wide virtual campaign in 2020 was organized by CBIZ Women's Advantage (CWA), a Company-sponsored program designed to attract, retain and engage a talented and diverse workforce. CWA focuses on personal and professional development, business development and community involvement through training, career development, and mentorship. CWA called on CBIZ employees to contribute a one-time, one-hour payroll deduction in place of the organization's traditional in-person fundraising events. Dress for Success is a global not-for-profit organization that provides a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women enter, return to and thrive in the workforce. The funds raised during the 2020 campaign, which include donations from more than 800 CBIZ employees, will be distributed to 46 Dress affiliates across the United States where CBIZ has a market presence. On September 21, 2020, CWA representatives presented virtual donation checks from this year's campaign. "While we've all experienced challenges related to the pandemic, CBIZ understands that women have been disproportionately impacted when it comes to job loss," said Jerry Grisko, President and CEO of CBIZ. "Our partnership with Dress for Success and our collective efforts to support their work are even more critical now than before. I am proud that our team stepped up as champions for Dress for Success and the impact it will have on the women served by their national network." Lori Novickis, Director, Corporate Relations and CWA National Leader, said, "CBIZ Women's Advantage has partnered with Dress for Success since 2008, and through 2019, CBIZ has donated more than $585,000 to Dress affiliates across the United States. While the pandemic presented some unique challenges, our goal was to mobilize our resources as One CBIZ to make an immediate impact on members of our own communities who have been impacted most. We are proud to support the clients of Dress as they continue to demonstrate strength and resiliency during this challenging time." According to a recent Dress survey, approximately 80 percent of Dress affiliates reported client layoffs and/or had clients who have filed for unemployment benefits. Many affiliates also reported that Dress clients are facing extreme financial hardship, including food insecurity and homelessness because of job loss due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are so appreciative of our relationship with CBIZ and CBIZ Women's Advantage," said Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide. "With CBIZ's ongoing support over the last 13 years, and their creativity in making their 2020 campaign so successful and impactful, our affiliates are extremely thankful to CBIZ employees for their generosity, enthusiasm and support." About CBIZ CBIZ, Inc. is a leading provider of financial, insurance and advisory services to businesses throughout the United States. Financial services include accounting, tax, government health care consulting, transaction advisory, risk advisory, and valuation services. Insurance services include employee benefits consulting, retirement plan consulting, property and casualty insurance, payroll, and human capital consulting. With more than 100 Company offices in 31 states, CBIZ is one of the largest accounting and insurance brokerage providers in the U.S. For more information, visit www.cbiz.com. SOURCE CBIZ, Inc. Related Links http://www.cbiz.com FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective suit and a face mask exits the Malakasa migrant camp after authorities found a coronavirus case and placed the camp under quarantine ATHENS (Reuters) - A male migrant died of COVID-19 on Sunday, the first reported death of an asylum seeker since the pandemic broke out in Greece in late February, a government official told Reuters. The 61-year-old Afghan, a father of two children, who lived at the migrant camp of Malakasa north of Athens, was treated and died at a hospital in Athens, the official said, adding that authorities were tracing his contacts. It was not immediately clear how long he had been at the hospital. The Malakasa camp, which hosts about 3,000 migrants, has been quarantined since Sept. 7 after positive tests for the new coronavirus. Many other migrant facilities in Greece have been sealed off or movement has been restricted to stem the spread of the virus. Greece has been the main gateway into the European Union for people fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond. More than a million people reached its shores from Turkey in 2015-16. At least 110,000 people currently live in migrant facilities - 40,000 of them in overcrowded camps on five islands. A fire burnt to the ground a migrant camp on Greece's biggest, on island of Lesbos this month, leaving about 12,000 people stranded. Most of them have now moved to a temporary tent camp on the island. Greece reported 218 COVID-19 cases on Sunday and three deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 17,444 since the first case surfaced late February. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by David Evans) On the initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a meeting through videoconferencing has been held today between him and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. President Ilham Aliyev provided information about the military provocation committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan yesterday. He noted that on 27 September, Armenia used heavy artillery to fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and settlements located along the line of contact. As a result of the attack, Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen were killed. The Azerbaijani side is conducting a successful counter-offensive operation in self-defense. The head of state emphasized that this was not the first time the Armenian side had committed a military provocation. In particular, the occupying country perpetrated a similar provocation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in July this year and then, in August, an Armenian sabotage group attempted to cross the line of contact. At the same time, Armenia is illegally resettling foreign nationals from other countries in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which represents a flagrant violation of international law under the Geneva Convention. The President of Azerbaijan also noted that the Armenian prime minister had created armed groups of volunteers consisting of tens of thousands of civilians who were being forced to take part in military operations against Azerbaijan. During the conversation, President Ilham Aliyev said he had talked about Armenia's preparations for a new war in his speech at the general debates of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The head of state said that the Armenian leadership was deliberately disrupting the negotiations. The statement of the Armenian leadership that "Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia" dealt a serious blow to the talks. The statement that "Azerbaijan should hold talks with Nagorno-Karabakh" is an attempt to change the format of the talks, which is also unacceptable, as confirmed by the leadership of the Minsk Group. President Ilham Aliyev said that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only within the framework of international law and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories. During the conversation, the sides also recalled the Special Session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19 initiated by Azerbaijan, and the head of state thanked the UN Secretary-General for supporting this initiative. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan would continue to spare no efforts in the international arena to combat COVID-19. The issues related to the prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN were also discussed during the meeting in a videoconference format. Chinese Hackers Spying On US Government Agencies The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a security advisory warning of a wave of attacks carried out by hacking groups affiliated with China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). Recently these hackers, who are apparently working for a Chinese intelligence agency, have spied on parts of the US government and commercial organisations by exploiting common IT vulnerabilities, the FBI and CISA has said. The attackers have been using phishing emails with malicious links to infiltrate victim organisations and they have been doing it by including malicious software in those messages. Hackers exploit software flaws in commercial technologies and open-source tools, including services with known fixes says the FBI and CISA. CISA has consistently observed Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors using publicly available information sources and common, well-known tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to target US Government agencies. CISA has observed these, and other threat actors with varying degrees of skill, routinely using open-source information to plan and execute cyber operations, says the CISA. Recently hackers working for the group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 41 (ATP41) compromised a major private provider of social care services in the UK and in the process disrupted its systems, a cyber security expert with knowledge of Chinas actions says. Now the US government has filed charges against Chinese nationals with known connections to the notorious hacking group known as APT41. Five Chinese nationals will face charges relating to hacking more than 100 international companies on behalf of the Chinese government. These are state-sponsored actors working on behalf of the Chinese government and its security services have tried to profit from the crisis and steal information that could be beneficial to the country, a senior Western security source says. Suspected Chinese hackers frequently conduct economic espionage against government and private sector entities in the US in order to steal intellectual property and bolster Chinas technology and defense sectors. In some instances, the Chinese hackers have tried to use and manipulate a Microsoft tool, known as Remote Desktop Protocol, in the federal government, CISA and the FBI. CISA warned U.S. government agencies and private sector alike to patch these and other known vulnerabilities. Despite being publicly criticised for alleged hacking, by governments, law enforcement and private security firms, China has consistently denied the claims made against it. China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals in exchange for those criminals being on call to work for the benefit of the state, here to feed the Chinese Communist partys insatiable hunger for American and other non-Chinese companies hard-earned intellectual property, including COVID-19 research, said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. It is now estimated that range for China's hacking personnel is between 50,000 to 100,000 individuals. CISA officials recommend that security teams in private companies and private sector and government agencies read its report, take notice of the common tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by Chinese state actors, patch devices and deploy detection rules accordingly. US-CERT: Dept. of Justice: Cyberwire: Foreign Policy: Wired: CyberScoop: ZDNet: You Might Also Read: Has China Become The Greatest Cyber Power?: Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:02:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China and Britain are mutually beneficial partners and the development of China-Britain relations serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming has said. "We have a thousand reasons to make this relationship successful, and not one to let it fail," said Liu at a special on-line reception on Monday to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Oct. 1. The past 71 years have witnessed remarkable progress in China-Britain relations despite ups and downs, said Liu. Especially in the past decade or more, trade between the two countries doubled, Chinese investment in Britain increased 20 times, annual mutual visits reached two million and the number of Chinese students studying in Britain nearly doubled and increased from 120,000 to 220,000, Liu noted. At present, Britain is China's third largest trading partner and second largest investment destination in Europe. Meanwhile, China is Britain's third largest export market for goods, he added. To make this relationship successful, Liu said it is of great importance that both China and Britain abide by three principles: First, the two countries should respect each other and maintain the political foundation of China-Britain relations, while observing the basic principles governing international relations, especially the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. "Otherwise, the relation would suffer setbacks or even retrogression," Liu said. Second, China and Britain should pursue mutually beneficial outcomes and expand their common interests, he said. In the "post-pandemic" and "post-Brexit" era, China and Britain have huge potential for cooperation in trade, investment, finance, science and technology, education, public health and other fields, Liu noted. Third, China and Britain should properly manage differences and keep China-Britain relations moving in the right direction, Liu said. The ambassador said that China and Britain differ in social system, history, culture and national conditions. However, the two countries have more consensus than differences and need cooperation more than competition. The two sides should always remain rational and mature, stand on the right side of history, oppose the so-called "new cold war" and "decoupling" rhetoric, engage in communication and dialogues, reduce and eliminate the "understanding deficit" and the "trust deficit", and continue accumulating and expanding consensus, said the ambassador. "We should overcome the current difficulties, bring the relationship back on the right track at an early date, and deliver more benefits to our two countries and beyond," Liu said. Enditem Rakuten Mobile Singapore has chosen Platform Equinix as a foundation to deliver its Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) to global operators and enterprise customers. The deployment will be completed in phases, with initial deployment in Singapore, the location of Rakuten Mobiles international headquarters, and Los Angeles with future expansions planned across the US, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Rakuten Mobile intends to offer RCP as a set of key technologies and services that allows governments, telecom companies and enterprises a way to easily build and deploy fully cloud-native network services at speed and low cost. In order to enable customers around the world to deploy RCP in an open, scalable and highly secure manner, Equinixs global footprint and reliable infrastructure is expected to be integral to the global growth of RCP. Rakuten Mobile CTO Tareq Amin said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Equinix to support the global expansion of our telecommunications business through Rakuten Communications Platform. Equinixs global footprint, enterprise-grade facilities and strong network capabilities make it the ideal partner for us to bring the deployment of cloud-native mobile networks to telecom and enterprise companies around the world. Added Justin Dustzadeh, CTO at Equinix: "Today marks the beginning of a strong and solid collaboration with Rakuten Mobile. The first phase of deployment in Singapore and Los Angeles lays ground for future international expansion of its mobile business. With Platform Equinix, Rakuten Mobile can take advantage of our global footprint and solid network ecosystems to deliver high-speed, low-latency and secure services to its customers around the globe. We look forward to furthering this collaboration and are excited to see what the future holds. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday refuted allegations by Amnesty International that it had to wind up its operations in India because of a witch hunt by the government and said the organisation was receiving funds from abroad in contravention of the Indian laws. Amnesty International, in a statement, said that the freezing of its bank accounts by the Indian government, which it is learnt was done earlier this month, has brought its work to a juddering halt. BJPs national spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said Amnesty International had set up four companies, and showed money received in their account as FDI. The Enforcement Directorate started investigation after it learnt that money was being funnelled into the companys accounts without any information or permission. The Reserve Bank of India told all banks that Amnesty should be put in the category for prior reference. Before receiving money from outside India they would need to be in the prior permission category. There has been shifty money transfer to the companies and there is suspected flow of money into the trust of the amnesty international, Rathore said. He said Amnesty International, which has alleged that it was targeted by the government for working on issues of human rights, has not clarified why money was coming into the bank accounts from abroad. The BJP spokesperson also said that the organisations credentials were also questioned by the UPA government. He said questions about the organisation were raised thrice in Parliament during the UPA regime and each time the then ministers referred to their questionable working style. In 2009 during the UPA regime their licence was rejected for receiving foreign funds and the operation was suspended, Rathore said. He said any organisation can work in India, but they cannot be allowed to circumvent the laws. On July 31, 2004, the then MoS Home Shiprakash Jaiswal said accusations (about suppression of human rights) are made periodically by Amnesty international based in London. On 22 October 2008, in reply to a question about concerns on suppression of human rights, Shakeel Ahmed, MoS, Home, said the methods used by such organisations to gather information have been questioned. It is not the policy of India to react to such reports. On December 16, 2007, Ahmed again said methods used by such organisations to gather information have been often questioned, particularly as they are not free from bias, Rathore said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MANZINI A lovers quarrel ended tragically when a church guard allegedly murdered his live-in-lover in cold blood. The tragic death of Lomaculo Matsenjwa (42) remains the talk of the community at Malindza, after she was allegedly murdered by her lover, who is a security guard at Christ Anglican Church at Mpaka. The shocking incident occurred on Saturday evening at Mpaka on the church premises, where Matsenjwa allegedly lived with her lover. Matsenjwas lover has since been arrested. Information gathered stated that Matsenjwa and *Samson were in a tumultuous love relationship, wrought with numerous alleged incidents of domestic violence and alcohol abuse. They have been in a love relationship since last August, with Matsenjwa having left her home at Malindza to live with Samson. Alcohol It was alleged that on Saturday evening, the couple was relaxing in Samsons two-room flat enjoying alcoholic beverages after they as they were seen purchasing the booze at a nearby drinking hole earlier that evening. However, sources nearby the church premises stated that a woman was heard screaming at around 10pm that day; however, after a few minutes the screams abruptly stopped. According to the church overseer, Ntombi Potgeiter, upon her arrival at the church on Sunday at about 10am along with three other women, she found that Samson was not present in his flat and the door was locked with a padlock. She stated that she usually greeted Matsenjwa and Samson every time she went to the church; however, she decided to proceed into the church to prepare for the days service. She recalled how uneasy she was when a police van arrived shortly after the church ladies had started singing. The officers alighted from their vehicle and introduced themselves to us, and asked us where Samson was. We told them that we had not seen him or Matsenjwa that morning. The officers further informed us that there was an incident that occurred at the church premises, however, we denied any knowledge of same since we hadnt seen Samson that morning, a visibly traumatised Potgeiter relayed. She narrated that a few minutes after the police arrived, Samson arrived on his bicycle. According to Potgeiter, Samson appeared to have bite marks on his left cheek, and his face was swollen. Injured Thereafter, Potgeiter recalled that a visibly injured Samson engaged the officers and informed them that he had (allegedly) murdered Matsenjwa the previous night and had locked her in his house. She recalled her shock when the officers opened Samsons flat, where they found a lifeless Matsenjwa lying on the bed. She further recalled how calm, peaceful and unusually clean Matsenjwa was. It appeared as though she had taken a bath, and her appearance greatly contradicted Samsons account that they were engaged in a fight. There were no blood stains anywhere in the house, and no signs of a struggle, she narrated. Upon viewing Matsenjwas body, Potgeiter expressed that she suspected that she (Matsenjwa) was strangled with a belt as her neck was swollen. She further said when her body was turned over by the officers, there were abrasions on her back, which could be linked to an assault. On the other hand, Malindza bucopho Seven Days Tsabedze, said the community was still reeling from shock after the incident. It is unfortunate that the woman lost her life, when she could have been saved earlier. I would like to express my condolences to Matsenjwas family, he said. He expressed hope that the perpetrator would be dealt with by the law, and further comforted Matsenjwas children to find peace in their mothers death. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, confirmed that a 50-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of a 42-year-old woman at Malindza. *Matsenjwas lover cannot be named as he has not yet appeared in court. After decades of covering their communities, three weekly newspapers are preparing to close. Bambergs Advertizer-Herald and its sister papers, The Santee Striper and The Holly Hill Observer, will publish their final editions this week. "It's a sad day for all of us," Betty Kilgus said Thursday in an interview at her home in Bamberg. She, along with her late husband, Carl Kilgus, established The Advertizer in 1967 and went on to acquire The Bamberg Herald from The Times and Democrat in 1973, merging the two newspapers. The Kilguses retired in 1996, when the papers were sold to Trib Publications. Carl died in 2014. According to Palmetto Press, a 2018 book on South Carolina newspapers by Patricia G. McNeely and Michael L. Smith, The Herald dates to 1891 when it was established by Dr. Henry S. Hartzog, who later became president of Clemson College. Among Herald editors were Robert M. Hitt Sr. and Robert M. Hitt Jr., a former South Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame inductee and father of S.C. Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt. Mr. Kilgus began working at The Herald when he was 14 in 1943. "Carl's first job there was sweeping the floors and cleaning up on Fridays and Saturdays for 50 cents," Mrs. Kilgus said. "He would go back to the shop at night, even after we were married, to learn how to operate the linotype on his own time. When he left in 1956, Carl was the foreman of the printing department." The Kilguses opened Kilgus Printing Company the same year with the help of four men, H.D. Steedly, Dr. Robert Black, Charles Henerey and Jack Hill, who each gave the couple $500 to help them get started. "Three of them said they didn't want their money back, but we paid them all back. We used that $2,000 to buy a lot of old, old equipment," Mrs. Kilgus said. The couple founded their first newspaper "after some people from North approached us about starting a newspaper there, and we printed the first edition of The North Trade Journal in 1957," Mrs. Kilgus said. That weekly closed a few years ago. In 1987, the Kilguses started the Santee Striper. As the years passed, the Kilguses built one of the most successful and respected printing businesses in the state, specifically of advertising circulars for Red & White and IGA grocery stores. At one time, Kilgus Printing Co. was the largest bulk mailer in the Postal Service's Columbia Sectional Center, spending as much as $600,000 a year with the Bamberg Post Office. Before moving to its current location on McGee Street, the business encompassed four buildings in a two-block radius in downtown Bamberg, daughter Cindy Kilgus Wise said. "We had a storage building, a building for the smaller presses and folders, a building housing the big press and a building for the office supply business and the printing and newspaper offices," she said. "If you got a call for Daddy and it was important, you'd have to run down the street a block to tell him to come pick up the phone." Mrs. Kilgus said her husband was proud of their printing and newspaper business. He always wanted to give the communities and customers the best service and product possible, she said. "Carl didn't let printing orders go out the door unless they were right, and he made sure the newspapers covered the communities well," she said. "We had all those correspondents around Bamberg County, and the entire county was represented every week in The Advertizer-Herald. We printed 16 to 24 pages every week." Their success was the result of hard work, long hours, teamwork and sacrifices, Mrs. Kilgus said. "I had a job doing payroll work at Bamberg Textile Mill. I kept that job after we started our business, and I would go down and work with Carl after I got off at 5," she said. "Then we'd come home and I'd get the children (twins Carol and Carl Jr. 'Bubba') bathed and fed, and we would go back. We had a playpen with a mattress in it, and the children would play and sleep. Sometimes we would work until 2 in the morning." All five of their children, the late Bubba Kilgus, Mrs. Jerry Durgan (Carol), Cindy Wise, Mrs. Jerry Tuten (Patti) and Jim Kilgus, worked at or helped out at the business. Cindy is a teacher in Bamberg School District One; Carol is a retired teacher; Patti and her husband operate a tool and die business and Jim was formerly band director at J.L. Mann High School and currently is the co-director on bands at Mauldin Middle School. Other family members were also employed at Kilgus Printing over the years. Through it all, Carl and Betty Kilgus came to realize that newspapers and printing weren't just about presses, ink and paper. They were about people and building relationships. "We were banking with Bill Varn at Enterprise Bank, and he was so good to us. We would run out of money for postage, etc., but we knew it would be coming in within 30 to 60 days," Mrs. Kilgus said. "Carl would call Bill and say, 'I need $50,000, and Bill would say, 'OK. Come in and sign the papers.' He did that for us more than once." As the printing and newspaper businesses grew, so did the number of employees hired by the couple. At one time, they had 42 people on the payroll. "We always felt like our employees were family. After Carl died, we had a drop-in here at the house for the former employees, and 65 came," Mrs. Kilgus said. Many of those who worked at Kilgus Printing Co. have passed away, said Wise, who worked as advertising manager and general manager of the newspapers. "I like to think our former employees who are in Heaven today are running the golden presses and Daddy's in charge," Wise said. "They've got to have a great newspaper up there!" Reflecting on their 62-year marriage, Mrs. Kilgus said, "Carl was good to me. He really was a good man, good husband and good co-worker." "If Carl had been here to talk to you today, he'd tell you that the most important thing he gained from the newspaper and printing business was respect," she said. "He grew up poor. He told about the times he didn't have anything to eat. His daddy left them. Carl had nothing," "For him, his greatest achievement was earning respect." Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 4 Angry 0 HOUSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontline Road Safety ("Frontline"), a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, today announced the acquisition of Griffin Pavement Striping ("Griffin"). Through its operating companies, Frontline provides pavement marking services to a variety of end markets and customers. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Griffin is a leading provider of road, highway and airport line striping. "I am thrilled to partner with Sterling with the vision to build a leading national platform for road safety services," said Joe Griffin. "Frontline's current operating companies are led by among the strongest and most reputable teams in our industry, and the opportunity to work alongside them is the right next step for Griffin." Mr. Griffin will continue to lead Griffin in his role as President. "Griffin has been an established, leading service provider for its Ohio customers for the last forty years, and has a tremendous reputation as a top-tier operator. We look forward to further expanding the Frontline family of companies in partnership with Griffin," said Brad Staller, Partner at The Sterling Group. Over the last several years, Sterling has developed an investment thesis in the road safety and infrastructure maintenance industry. Through organic growth and further acquisitions, Sterling intends to build Frontline into the leading platform for road safety solutions providers with best-in-class local execution capabilities. Sterling has a long history of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to support the growth of their businesses. About The Sterling Group Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 57 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $4.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com. Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss. SOURCE The Sterling Group The pandemic has laid bare deep existing education inequities, in the United States and around the world, which will make it more challenging for districts to respond. A new study, Effective Policies, Successful Schools , by the Organization for Economic Development and Opportunity finds that even before global school closures, countries have made little progress in closing gaps between students in low-income and wealthier schools, particularly when it comes to the staff and structure students need to weather periodic moves to remote online learning. And students in low-income schools, who have disproportionately experienced learning loss this spring, may be particularly at risk of falling behind: OECD found students in low-income schools were three times as likely to repeat a grade as their peers in wealthier schools, even if both students had the same reading score on the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment. People could say, well, disadvantaged students perform less well in school and therefore they are more likely to repeat a grade, said Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills. But even if you account for performance, you take a privileged and a disadvantage student with exactly the same [PISA performance], and disadvantaged students are still two, three, four, sometimes eight times more likely to repeat a grade, than a student from a privileged background. So you can see really how those mechanisms work against disadvantaged students. Globally, the study found countries with higher percentages of students repeating grades tended to have both lower reading performance and larger disparities between low- and higher-income students. The study includes data from 79 countries and education systems, including the United States, which participated in the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, as well as its accompanying background survey for principals and more targeted surveys for teachers, parents, and students. It included a representative sample of more than 600,000 15-year-olds. Digital Learning Divide Across countries, 49 percent of students in disadvantaged schools had access to effective online learning platforms, 10 percentage points less than students in wealthier schools. And principals reported that on average, only 65 percent of 15-year-olds had teachers who have the technological and pedagogical skills to use digital devices in instruction. Teachers in disadvantaged schools were also less likely to have mentors and professional development on digital learning. However, more than half of teachers reported having some kind of training or incentives to incorporate digital learning. Weve got massive inequities here in technology access, in ways that will have massive impact, said Jon Schnur, chief executive officer of the nonprofit education group America Achieves, in an online discussion of the findings today. The U.S. is just one country, but looking at the difference in terms of percentage of schools with teachers who are getting the professional development, they need to make use of [online learning], we have 84 percent of teachers in more advantaged schools, compared to 54 percent in more disadvantaged schools. Its becoming more important than ever to find how do we really invest in the supports that our teachers need and our school leaders need for digital learning. Students from socioeconomically disadvantaged schools also were less likely to have supports at home to enable remote learning, like a computer for schoolwork and Internet access. In addition to the computer at home, the internet and the quiet space to work, as an individual learner, you need social validation from your family, from your peer group to learn effectively online, according to Hilary Spencer, former director of the United Kingdom Government Equalities Office and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Ambition Institute in London, which supports education for disadvantaged students. So at times of COVID, thats really problematic, because you cant provide that homework and social support in school. So we need to look at how we can provide that social support to increase the effectiveness and the productivity of the use of the online platform, particularly for disadvantaged students. The analyses are based on data from the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, as well as its accompanying background survey for principals and more targeted surveys for teachers, parents, and students. Grouping, Digital Savvy Interestingly, OECD also found that grouping students by ability could help or hurt their reading skills, depending on how it was implemented. In schools that grouped students within classes for individual subjects, the practice was associated with higher reading scores. However, on average students who attended schools that grouped by ability for all subjectseither through outright class tracking or by ability grouping within every classhad lower reading scores than students in schools without grouping. In the United States, nearly 70 percent of 15-year-olds are grouped by ability in some subjects. More U.S. students than their global counterparts could distinguish fact from opinion when reading, but it was faint praise: more than 1 in 7 U.S. 15-year-olds showed reading savvy, compared to 1 in 10 on average for students participating in PISA. Reading is no longer mainly about extracting information; it is about constructing knowledge, thinking critically and making well-founded judgements, OECD researchers wrote. WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation aimed at curbing doping in horse racing and improving safety for horses and jockeys on the track. The legislation was the result of years of efforts by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, whose district includes the Saratoga Race Course, along with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., who represents the city of Lexington, often known as the Horse Capital of the World. Tonko's and Barr's push to reform the industry got a final boost in August when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., secured the support of the biggest industry associations and racing organizations like Churchill Downs and Keeneland for a tweaked version of a proposal that Tonko and Barr had been pressing for years. With McConnell's support, the bipartisan legislation is expected to pass the U.S. Senate and become law. The House bill, which reflects the McConnell deal, would create and implement national medication and track standards for horse racing, an industry that has long operated under a patchwork of state laws. Our Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act puts the health and well-being of our equine athletes and jockeys firmly at the center of the sport, and delivers commonsense medication and track safety standards that will lift this noble sport to higher standards of integrity and safety," Tonko said. "These long overdue reforms will help restore public trust in the sport and put it on a path to a long and vital future, supporting countless jobs and driving economic activity in communities across our nation." Tonko has been working on reforms to horse racing for nearly six years. Many in the industry have agreed that change is needed to protect horses' and jockeys' lives and eliminate the sport's reputation for widespread doping. But even earlier this year, a congressional hearing on the topic showed that how to bring about change was still disputed by corners of the industry. Some industry officials resisted the creation of a national body to oversee horse racing, noting that state commissions already enforce their own rules. The legislation passed Tuesday establishes a private, non-profit authority to regulate horse racing overseen by the Federal Trade Commission and the non-profit U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It includes a ban on race-day doping, a practice that is believed to contribute to higher rates of horse and jockey injuries and deaths in the U.S. Doping of athletes in sport to enhance performance is widely recognized as a form of cheating in human competition, said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, who testified before Congress on the issue in January. Its equally wrong and even more dangerous for the athletes involved to allow widespread doping in American horse racing. Nominate your favorite people and places now Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Nominate your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4. The New York Racing Association applauded the passage of the legislation, noting it has long supported anti-doping controls. Thoroughbred horse racing contributes billions to the U.S. economy, according to the American Horse Council Foundation. About $11 billion was waged in 2016 at thoroughbred and quarter horse racetracks. In New York,the industry is responsible for 19,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual economic impact statewide, according to the New York Racing Association. Horse racing is an important cultural and economic driver in our region, said U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville. "I look forward to seeing the positive economic impact [the legislation] has at the Saratoga Race Course and beyond." Overall, the U.S. race horse fatality rate is two-and-a-half- to five-times greater than in the rest of the horse racing world, the New York Times reported in 2019. In 2020, 63 horses have died while racing in New York, including 18 in Saratoga, state Gaming Commission data shows. A recent study by French researchers has demonstrated that experimental exposure to severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is capable of inducing mild infection in hamsters and ferrets within 7 10 days of exposure. However, the infection completely resolves within 14 days. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server. SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emerged in December 2019 in China, most probably due to zoonotic transmission from an animal to human. Later, the virus has gained the ability to transmit from human to human. Understanding the pathogenesis and nature of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the key to identify effective therapeutic and preventive interventions to attenuate the COVID-19 trajectory. In this context, non-human primates, such as monkeys, cats, hamsters, and ferrets, serve as suitable experimental models to study the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Histopathological findings in hamsters inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 UCN19 strain. Mild inflammatory cell infiltration observed in the trachea at D2 (A, 400x) with high presence of viral RNA by ISH within respiratory epithelial cells (B, 400x). Inflammatory infiltrates with the lung parenchyma, mostly within the bronchial and bronchiolar mucosa but also surrounding airways and blood vessels are observed at D2 (C, 100x) and D4 (E, 200x). The presence of the inflammatory infiltrates is correlated with the viral RNA staining in sequential sections at D2 (D, 100x) and D4 (F, 200x). Current study design In this study, the scientists aimed at evaluating the pathogenicity, immune responses, and clinical outcomes in hamsters and ferrets infected with low doses of a low-passage SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate. According to the scientists, the study will help identify appropriate animal models for developing therapeutic interventions against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Histopathological findings in the lungs of ferrets inoculated with the UNC19 SARS-CoV-2 strain. Perivascular cuffing (A, 400x, arrows) and mild bronchiolitis (B, 200x, arrow) was observed at D2, with minimal presence of viral RNA (B, insert, 400x) within alveolar walls not related to histopathological lesions. Perivascular cuffing was also observed at D4 (C, 200x, arrows) and D7 (E, 200x, arrows). Mild bronchiolitis with presence of intraluminal inflammatory infiltrates was observed at D4 (D, 200x, arrow). Scattered foci of parenchymal inflammation were also observed at D7 (F, 400x, arrow) Important observations Regarding clinical symptoms, some ferrets developed lathery after 7 days of infection, and none of the infected animals had hyperthermia. No change in body weight was observed in ferrets; however, an average increase in body weight was observed in all hamsters. Most importantly, none of the infected animals died due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The viral RNA was detected in many tissues (respiratory tissues, liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, olfactory bulb, and spinal bulb) within 2 days of infection, mostly resolved after 14 days of infection. The viral load was maximum in the nasal turbinate, trachea, and lungs. However, the tissue variability of the viral load was higher in ferrets than hamsters. The infectious virus was present in the nasal turbinate, trachea, and lungs of all experimental hamsters on day 2 and day 4 of infection. However, in ferrets, no infectious virus was detected in the lungs. In infected hamsters, the infiltration of macrophages, lymphocytes, and neutrophils was observed in the lungs within 2 7 days of infection. In the trachea, mild inflammatory infiltration and mild epithelial cell necrosis were observed between day 2 and day 7 of infection. In ferrets, inflammatory infiltration of neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, and eosinophils was observed along with mild bronchiolitis within the bronchiolar laminae at day 2 of infection. Regarding serological characteristics, the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) was observed after 7 and 10 days of infection in hamsters and ferrets, respectively. In hamsters, the level of IgG remained high until day 14 of infection; however, in ferrets, a more gradual increase in IgG level was observed from day 10 of infection. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in hamsters and ferrets after 7 and 10 days of infection, respectively. However, there was no correlation between the IgG levels and neutralizing antibody titers. In hamsters, the level of IgG remained stable until day 14 of infection, whereas the neutralizing antibody titers reduced by 50% between day 7 and day 14. However, in one ferret, the neutralizing titers reduced by 50% at day 14 of infection, whereas in another ferret, the titers doubled from day 10 to day 14. Current study significance Unlike other animal studies, the current study used relatively lower doses of SARS-CoV-2, which is more comparable to natural infection in humans. The study shows that a low dose of SARS-CoV-2 exposure through intra-nasal route is capable of inducing mild COVID-19 symptoms in hamsters. Compared to hamsters, ferrets require higher doses of viral inoculation to induce similar levels of lung infection. The serological observations suggest that both hamsters and ferrets successfully develop robust adaptive immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 soon after viral exposure, which is accompanied by the disappearance of infectious virus. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, center, attends the opening session of the 30th Arab League summit in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, on March 31, 2019. Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, who ruled over his oil-rich country since 2006 and had been its foreign minister for 40 years, including during Saddam Hussein's invasion, has died. He was 91. He is expected to be succeeded by his 83-year-old half-brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. "With great sadness and sorrow, we mourn to the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world, the death of the late His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait who moved next to his Lord," the royal palace said in a statement, according to state media. Tuesday's announcement didn't say when he died or where. Kuwait, a country of 4.2 million people, is a strategically located country wedged between Saudi Arabia and Iraq at the mouth of the oil-rich Gulf. It has one of the world's largest oil reserves. Sheikh Sabah underwent surgery in July 2020 for an unspecified medical problem and was flown to the United States for further treatment. Before doing so, he temporarily handed over some of his responsibilities to the crown prince, the state-run KUNA news agency said. The sheikh had canceled a visit in early September 2019 with President Donald Trump at the White House after being hospitalized in the U.S., according to KUNA. This followed an unspecified health "setback" in August. "The president wishes his friend, the Emir, a speedy recovery and looks forward to welcoming him back to Washington as soon as he is feeling better," the White House said in a statement at the time. "The Emir is a well-respected leader and has been a tremendous partner of the United States in tackling challenges in the region." On Aug. 18, Kuwait acknowledged the emir had suffered a medical "setback." That announcement came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited the emir and wrote on Twitter that he was "praying for emir's speedy recovery," without elaborating. The sheikh was the 15th ruler in the Al Sabah dynasty, which dates to 1752, and was the fifth emir since Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961. Sheikh Sabah served as foreign minister from 1963 until 2003. In August 1990, Saddam's Iraq invaded its strategically located southern neighbor, deposed the emir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah and annexed Kuwait. Sheikh Jaber fled to Saudi Arabia and set up a government in exile. The Sabahs returned to Kuwait in March 1991, two weeks after the end of the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm. Sheikh Sabah worked to resolve regional issues through diplomacy, including the unresolved Saudi-led boycott of Qatar, and was host of donor conferences for Iraq, Syria and other war-torn countries. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Correction: The announcement of the sheikh's death was made Tuesday. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. India on Tuesday opposed Pakistans plans to hold an election in the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region and to make it the neighbouring countrys fifth province, saying Islamabad could not make material changes in areas under its illegal occupation. The two countries have sparred several times in recent weeks on the status of Gilgit-Baltistan, part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and raised the issue at international bodies such as the UN. The Pakistan government plans to hold an election for the legislative assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan on November 15, following which it will move towards making the region a full-fledged province. Also Read: At UNHRC, India takes on Pak over rights violations We have seen reports regarding announcement of elections to the so-called Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly to be held on November 15, 2020. The government of India has conveyed its strong protest to the government of Pakistan and reiterated that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. The Pakistan government has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it, the statement said. The Indian government has completely rejected the recent actions such as the so-called Gilgit-Baltistan (Elections and Caretaker Government) Amendment Order 2020 and continued attempts by the Pakistan establishment to bring material changes in areas under its illegal and forcible occupation, the statement further said. Also Read: Top Afghan negotiator in Taliban peace process holds talks in Pakistan Actions such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades, it added. These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation, the statement said. The holding of an election in Gilgit-Baltistan reportedly has the backing of Pakistans powerful military establishment. Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is backing the move to boost its chances in the upcoming election. The election and the prospect of giving Gilgit-Baltistan the status of a province figured in a recent meeting between Pakistans opposition leaders and the army chief, Gen Qamar Bajwa, and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday presented Union Budget for FY 2017-18. There are many things which have happened for the first time in the Union Budget. Here are the details: # It was first time in independent India that Rail Budget was presented along with Union Budget. In 93 years, it was for the first time that both Rail Budget and Union Budget were presented together. Since the British rule in 1924, Rail Budget was presented separately. # After independence, it was for the first time that Union Budget was presented on February 1. Earlier, Union Budget and Rail Budget used to be presented in last week of February. Rail Budget used to be presented first, then the Economic Survey and Union Budget in the last. Also read: Jaitley's Budget 2017 softens demonetisation blow: Major tax relief for small taxpayers, cash transaction above Rs 3 lakh barred; safety fund for Railways announced # Planned and non-planned expenditure were abolished. Government has abolished planned and non-planned expenditure for the first time in Budget's history. # It was for the first time that political parties' funding has been reduced. Earlier, there was no scrutiny on the funding of up to Rs 20,000. Now, political parties will have to furnish record of funding above Rs 2,000. Also read: Budget 2017 Highlights | FM Jaitley gives tax relief to lowest slab, MSMEs; increases expenditure for defence, agriculture # It was the first Union Budget post demonetisation. The demonetisation was announced on November 8 last year. This Union Budget is first after the famous demonetisation move. # This Union Budget was presented before the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. The date for implementation of GST is July 1, 2017. This Budget may help in deciding tax structure. # This Budget was first after the announcement of Income Declaration Scheme (IDS). The Government had given last opportunity to the black money holders to declare their income. After paying penalty and tax, they could have changed their black money into white. # The government has decided to limit the cash transactions amount. The government has completely stopped cash transactions above Rs 3 lakhs. Earlier, PAN card details needed to be furnished for transactions above Rs 50,000. UNION BUDGET 2017: FULL COVERAGE For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Ellen Blustein, a Santa Rosa resident, spent Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, packing essential items into her car to evacuate from the Glass Fire on Monday. Blustein, who is the executive director of the Jewish Community Center Sonoma County, was only able to catch the end of services hosted by her synagogue on Zoom, but this year has brought about special circumstances, she said. The coronavirus pandemic has affected how Jewish people observe religious holidays, with most celebrations now hosted virtually on Zoom. Rosh Hashanah celebrations were practiced online, and most people were prepared for similar arrangements to obseve Yom Kippur from sundown Sunday to sundown Monday. But in Santa Rosa, with the Glass Fire raging at 11,000 acres with 0% containment, Jewish residents worried about needing to evacuate in a moments notice. The Congregation Beth Ami, a conservative synagogue in Santa Rosa, hosted services on Zoom as the cantor and the rabbi evacuated from the county, Blustein said. At the Congregation Shomrei Torah, the two rabbis and several congregants of the synagogue were evacuated from their homes, said Angelica Steinman, the administrative assistant. Although most refrain from using technology during observance of Yom Kippur, those nearest to the evacuation zone had no other choice. People in evacuation zones needed to pack up and leave, and many decided to miss virtual services. (Yom Kippur) is a time of self reflection and looking at the various aspects of your life and thinking about how you want to live next year, Blustein said. When you start having to pack up and leave home, you start thinking about your life and whats important. Blustein lives in the Santa Rosa neighborhood Central. This area is usually among the last to be evacuated during a fire threat, but Blustein decided to leave as soon as her neighbors across the street received the order. High winds moved burnt debris like snow falling to the ground around her neighborhood. The smoke blanketed the region and made it uncomfortable to breathe. The conditions reminded Bluestein of the fire in 2017. It felt close, she said. Blustein said the community was prepared to virtually celebrate Yom Kippur until the fire broke out. People cant get together because of the pandemic, and then you add fire and the disruption of that to the community and people scatter, Blustein said. This sort of thing happens, and sometimes it happens during a very holy day, and that makes it really sad. Vanessa Arredondo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vanessa.arredondo@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @v_anana Fighting has continued for the second day over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with at least 59 soldiers and civilians reported dead. The backstory: The mountainous region of around 150,000 people is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians but lies within the borders of Azerbaijan. The countries have both claimed the territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union, fought a war over it from 1992-1994, and stood on the precipice of further conflict since. The violence is the worst the region has seen since 2016, and began with coordinated air and missile attacks on Sunday from Azerbaijan, which claimed Armenian forces had been preparing an attack (Armenia denies that). Both sides have signaled that they are prepared for war, including by declaring martial law. Calls for calm have come from Brussels, Washington, Moscow and Tehran. They both have powerful friends. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Azerbaijan, and today demanded that Armenia end its "occupation" of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia claims Turkey is providing Azerbaijan with weapons, including drones. Armenia's economy and security are heavily dependent on Russia, a fellow Orthodox Christian state. Vladimir Putin spoke yesterday with Armenia's prime minister and called for an end to the fighting. Russia's foreign minister also spoke with his Turkish counterpart. Where things stand: Previous skirmishes, though numerous, have left the stalemate largely unaltered. So has a peace process overseen by the U.S., France and Russia. Worth noting: "According to the casualty lists so far, most of those killed hadnt even been born when the conflict first started," writes Foreign Policy's James Palmer. While major corporations furloughing workers and declaring bankruptcy tends to get the biggest headlines, our culture's dramatic shift to working from home is the true breakout business story from this pandemic. The transition has certainly had its share of ups and downs, but rapidly growing acceptance indicates this is a trend that is almost certainly going to shape the future of work. While Covid-19 restrictions caused an abrupt shift, working from home was already accelerating. Research from FlexJobs found that the number of people in the United States who worked from home grew by an astounding 159 percent between 2005 and 2017. Much of this growth can be attributed to freelancing. Upworks Freelancing in America 2019 survey found that the number of Americans who did freelance work grew from 53 million to 57 million between 2014 and 2019. Younger generations were especially likely to participate, with 40 percent of millennials and 53 percent of Generation Z contributing to the gig economy. Technology that enabled remote work certainly played a major role, but so did attitudes toward the workplace in general. Flexibility in hours and location, in particular, are viewed as a major benefit that was already driving this transition. Related: How to Work From Home Successfully The pandemics impact Still, the pandemic brought about a transformation that had never been seen before. A survey by Global Workplace Analytics found that 97 percent of North American office employees worked from home for more than one day per week, even though 67 percent had not participated in remote work previously. While news stories have had a tendency to focus on parents struggling while sharing a space with kids who were home from school, the survey data paints a different picture. Eighty-six percent of respondents said they were fully productive while working from home, actually experiencing fewer interruptions than they did at the office. This is a positive sign, since economic uncertainty as well as a continued need for social distancing has caused many businesses to maintain a remote workforce for much longer than originally anticipated. Facebook notably extended remote work for all employees through July 2021, with the expectation that many will continue to work remotely on a permanent basis. Most businesses are stressing adaptability during these transitions. As Kara Hamilton, chief people and culture officer of Smartsheet explained in an interview with SHRM, It's also vitally important to allow for personal choice, whenever possible. The pandemic is impacting every individual differently, so offering ways to meet employees at their comfort level for example, by providing the continued ability to work from home provides meaningful support amidst the uncertainty. What does this mean for the future? The accelerating demand for work-from-home opportunities could lead to a dramatic shift in where, when and how people work. In a recent email conversation, Liran Rosenfeld, founder of Costa Rican co-working community YoKo Village, explained, With the pandemic and the associated economic uncertainty forcing so many people to work from home, were seeing a mass exodus from big cities. People are realizing they can keep their job or seek new entrepreneurial opportunities, while living in a place that is less stressful and where they can be more productive. They can live anywhere and have the lifestyle they want. Increased demand for remote work could even affect what we prioritize in our homes. As just one example, a report from USA Today noted that interest in backyard sheds has increased 400 percent since the start of the pandemic, with an emphasis on premium sheds that can be converted into a home-office space. All signs indicate that while working from home may be a temporary move for some, many hope to make it a permanent part of their work life. The previously cited Global Workplace Analytics study found that 76 percent of American workers want to work at least a few days from home each week after restrictions are lifted. In addition, a survey of business executives from PwC found that 89 percent expect many or most employees to work remotely one or more days per week post-pandemic. This will create new challenges in the workplace as businesses adapt their offices to a hybrid model that can accommodate these changing preferences. Working from home doesnt mean that employees wont be able to communicate or collaborate. Business-communication tools like Slack and Zoom have enabled employees to continue working together on projects, as well as engage in the normal social interactions one would find in a traditional office setting. While the future will be different, it wont necessarily be isolating. Related: 5 Solutions to Your Biggest Work-From-Home Challenges= Whether youre an employer or a would-be entrepreneur, the increased potential for remote work holds significant promise. From being better positioned to live the lifestyle you want to cutting out a variety of office- and commuting-related costs, remote work could ultimately lead to a happier, more financially prosperous professional future. Related: NASA Schedules the First Crew Dragon Operational Flight for Halloween Amazon One Lets You Pay With The Palm of Your Hand Study: Cannabis Does Not Lead to Increased Pain Sensitivity Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The federal government is once again urging mariners to slow down off New England to help protect a rare species of whale. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has extended a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone south of Nantucket. The agency implemented the zone in late August due to a sighting of a group of right whales. The use of the zone has been extended through Oct. 9. NOAA is asking mariners to proceed through the area at 10 knots or less, or avoid it altogether. The right whales number only a few hundred and they are vulnerable to collisions with ships. Bengaluru, Sep 30 : In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases, Karnataka Medical Education Minister, K. Sudhakar on Tuesday warned that the state government would not hesitate to take action against those who flout social distancing protocols. Karnataka has also decided to stop large public gatherings and restrict the gathering limit of participation to 100 people in the days to come, the minister said after a meeting with the high-level expert committee on Covid-19 at the Vidhana Soudha here. Sudhakar also appealed to the people to wear masks and stressed on the importance of wearing protective gear to avoid spreading the virus. "The entire world is amid the battle against fighting Covid-19, it is important to use masks... Without taking simple necessary measures to stay safe, how can any government fight a dreaded virus like Covid-19?" he wondered. He said as Covid-19 cases are on the rise for the past two months in the state, Karnataka is keen to bring in a stern rule against those who flout the social distancing rules in public. "A detailed directive will be out in a few days. Despite raising awareness regarding the dangers caused by the virus, the public is neglecting by not wearing masks," he explained. According to him, political and religious gatherings were on the rise and people were attending in alarming numbers. "This is one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the virus. Hence, it has been decided to stop such large gatherings in the state," he said. The minister further said that events that are supposed to be held in unavoidable circumstances like marriages will be allowed with only 100 people that too with prior permission from the district administration. He added that the state government was planning to organise awareness programmes jointly by roping in film stars, religious heads, political leaders, and artists. Noting that the Covid-19 positive rate in seven out of 11 districts was 12 per cent and the death rate in the state is at 1.5 per cent, Sudhakar said that by imposing tough measures, the state plans to reduce this to less than 1 per cent. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) On Sunday, President Trump demanded that Joe Biden, his Democratic opponent, take a drug test ahead of (or just after) their first debate, which is tonight. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly, Trump wrote on Twitter. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy??? Biden initially declined to respond, but his campaign subsequently did decide to clap back. Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it, a spokesperson said. Wed expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didnt make a plan to stop COVID-19. Thus was the tone set for a debate that may prove to be up there with the most consequential in American history. In the buildup, mainstream media coverage has been more high-mindedthough not always by much. Many reporters and pundits have, as is their wont, rushed to gamify the stakescomparing them explicitly to sports, and babbling about winners and losers, offense and defense, expectations and tactics, narratives and polls. Moral considerations have often been secondary to optics, or shrouded in euphemisms or false equivalency. The New York Times referred to Trumps despicable drug-test smear as evidence of an absence of guardrails; news outlets have cast the presidents debate style, as, variously, unconventional, brash and unorthodox, say-anything, relentless and disciplined, even under-appreciated. The Associated Press called the debate the last chance for Trump to define Bidena cartoonish framing that Ive objected to before. The dreaded g-wordgaffeshas come out, too. Last week, CNNs Jake Tapper asked Jill Biden, Joes wife, about her husbands tendency to commit them. Jill, to her credit, shut the question down. After Donald Trump, you cannot even say the word gaffe, she said. Tapper grinned, somewhat sheepishly. Related: A guide to Trumps reality TV debate techniques In light of the pre-game coverage, theres reason to fear that, in the name of fairness, Biden will be grilled as hotly as Trump tonight, and that the answers of both will be let go, even if/when Trump launches into volleys of deranged lies. The debate will be hosted by Chris Wallace, of Fox News, who is not of Fox News in the same way that Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are, but does have a history of misplaced bothsidesism, rooted in a decidedly old-school journalistic philosophy. Wallace has argued that debate moderators should be as invisible as possible and should not fact-check the candidates, an approach that was endorsed, on Brian Stelters CNN show on Sunday, by Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates. Nor does Wallaces selection of debate topics uniformly inspire confidence. One of them is race and violence in our citiesa topline framing that, as many observers have pointed out, seems to channel a dishonest law-and-order talking point that Trump has placed at the center of his election pitch. One of Wallaces other chosen subjectsthe integrity of the electionis more promising, given that it seems to channel the central, urgent concern that Trump plans not to accept the election result if he doesnt like it. Wallace has put Trump on the spot about accepting the result before: during a debate in 2016, and again in an interview that aired on Fox over the summer. (On both occasions, Trump demurred.) Here too, though, I have questions. Will Wallaces conception of fairness compel him to press Biden on accepting the result as much as he presses Trump, amplifying an increasingly-common Republican smear in the process? If/when Trump spews lies about mail-in voting, will Wallace intervene, seeing them not as a typical fact-checking matter, but as central to the integrity of the election itself? Or will he leave it to Biden to respond, thus turning the levelness of the playing field into the ball game itself? Conceiving of election integrity as a debate topic implies, too, that the discussion about Trumps threatened refusal to transfer power will be siloed, when we should think of it more as a basic democratic principle underpinning the debate as a wholethere is, after all, no point in having a debate at all if those watching at home wont have their votes counted in a fair and transparent way. At a time of overlapping crises, its a tough ask for a moderator to cover all of them in a way that doesnt feel siloed and respects linkages and nuance: the blocky debate format, after all, cuts against that. Still, Wallace should try. So, too, should the reporters and pundits covering the debate and its aftermath, who get to structure their coverage pretty much how they like. In recent weeks, Trumps threats to the election have been treated as an urgent story. Yet theyve mostly been disconnected from the pre-debate froth, when they should be central to it. Sign up for CJR 's daily email As many good pieces of journalismBarton Gellmans terrifying recent essay in The Atlantic perhaps foremost among themhave made plain, if/when Trump tries to subvert the election outcome, hes likely to exploit the myriad inadequacies of Americas existing institutions, rather than try to overthrow them by brute force. (Authoritarianism neednt be jack-booted to be authoritarianism.) The presswhile not directly involved in the counting of votes or the litigation thereofis one such institution, since any subversion strategy relies in part on the rampant dissemination of disinformation and confusion. Its our job to stand as a bulwark against even the possibility that that could happen. In many respects, were fighting back already; in others, though, were still allowing Trump to muddy our coverage. Treating tonights debate like a game isnt commensurate with whats required of us at this crucial historical juncture; nor is Wallaces stated commitment to invisibility on stage. Lets not piss away our democracy. Below, more on debate night: Other notable stories: New from CJR: True collars Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. 29.09.2020 LISTEN 29 September 2020, ROAM Africa (Ringier One Africa Media), the leading digital classifieds group in Sub-Saharan Africa, has today released figures that highlight the current state of the jobs market in Africa, with one standard role attracting 2,417 applications. Analysing 69,511 jobs listings from January 2019 to August 2020 across 5 African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), ROAM Africas data sheds more light on the challenges facing both job seekers and employers in the African jobs market. The standard job listing that attracted 2,417 applications was for a Receptionist/Admin Assistant in Kenya while another listing for call centre agents and team leaders attracted 2,283 applicants. Similar is observed also for other markets: In Ghana, 2,299 people applied for an Administrative Assistant role and 2,265 people in Tanzania applied for a Sales Representative role. In Nigeria, the highest number of applications for a single role was 2,095 and it was for a Sales Representative role. According to ROAM Africas data, Kenya contributed the highest amount of new job listings in 2019 with 33%. Nigeria was in second place with 31% and Uganda was in third place with 17%. However, so far in 2020, Nigeria is leading the way with 40% of new job listings, with Kenya in second place with 28% and Uganda in third place with 13%. A closer look at ROAM Africas data reveals that, apart from Nigeria, there was a drop in overall job listings across all job levels during the last months. However, there was an increase in graduate trainee and no experience roles in Nigeria, Tanzania and Ghana from May to July 2020, which offers some hope for new entrants into the jobs market. Interestingly, recruitment agencies contributed the most roles, with 16% of overall jobs, closely followed by IT and Telecoms with 15% and Advertising media and communications with 12%. Some candidates have also reported applying for more than 20 jobs a day for multiple months and only getting to the interview stage on a handful of occasions. This is why ROAM Africas jobs platforms Jobberman (Ghana and Nigeria) and BrighterMonday (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) are focused on matching technology. The companys technology helps employers to identify and score the right candidates faster. Suitable candidates are made visible to prospective employers, and helped across the finish line by providing data driven career development tools and training programmes. Job seekers using the platforms can expect to improve their CV, gain interview tips and sign-up for online training courses designed to bridge the gap between education and employment. Commenting on the data, Clemens Weitz, CEO of ROAM Africa said, The high ratio of applications per job listing really highlights how challenging the jobs market is for employers and job seekers. Both employers and job seekers are struggling to connect with the right opportunities and more needs to be done to address this. Employers must rethink their hiring strategies and clearly define what they are looking for, based on data and insights. Job seekers must also invest in personal development that will make it easier for them to stand out in such a crowded and competitive market. Weitz also added that, We believe that Africas greatest asset is its people and their entrepreneurial spirit. With the expected growth in the continents population, we must begin to put structures in place that will make it easier for African businesses to make the most of this resource. According to Hilda Kragha, Managing Director of ROAM Africas Jobs platforms, With the current state of the jobs market, Africans cannot afford to continue with the antiquated recruitment processes that are commonplace in many organisations. We must prioritise a digital approach to recruitment, which brings transparency to Africas labour market while connecting people to work opportunities that will improve their livelihood. We must also embrace objectivity in the recruitment process by incorporating innovation that makes it easier to fairly and consistently sort for the best candidates. This will ensure that only qualified candidates are applying for roles and employers get an accurate picture of jobseekers capabilities. A win-win for both job seekers and employers. Our data highlights both the challenge and opportunity that come with the African jobs market. We must address the challenge of rampant unemployment but also embrace the opportunity to transform how recruitment is done. By doing this, we will not only be addressing the current problems but also future-proofing our businesses and organisations for generations to come. About ROAM Africa and ROAM Jobs ROAM Jobs is part of the ROAM Africa Group (Ringier One Africa Media), the leading digital classifieds group in Sub-Saharan Africa. Unified by its mission to connect Africans to opportunities and be Africas most user-centric marketplace company, it operates across eight Sub-Saharan countries. ROAM Jobs operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, with a multi-brand strategy, including Jobberman in West Africa and BrighterMonday in East Africa. Chinas 5G Tech Wont Save Economy, Regimes Former Finance Minister Says Chinas former finance minister Lou Jiwei warned in a recent speech that Chinas immature 5G technology is likely to become a failed investment. In recent weeks, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has emphasized the need for the countrys economy to develop an internal circulation systemin other words, having domestic sectors produce all the goods for Chinese consumption, from raw materials to manufacturing. The economy should create a new development pattern where domestic and foreign markets can boost each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, Xi had said. But Lou said that Chinas 5G innovationsheavily subsidized by Beijingcould become a blockage point to this internal circulation system because no applications can be found for hundreds of billions of investment. A man uses his mobile phone in front of a screen outside a telecom office in Beijing on Sept. 25, 2019. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Lou addressed the issue during the Chinese Economists 50 Forum held in Beijing, according to a Sept. 28 report by Hong Kong Economic Times. The ex-minister analyzed that it would be impossible to alter supply chains into complying with Xis circulation theory and that China is unlikely to successfully gain technological advantages. 5G networking has remained a hotspot in U.S.-China tensions, as the United States has banned Chinese telecom giant Huawei from its 5G rollout and rallied other countries to do the sameciting security risks associated with Huaweis ties to the Chinese military. As of Sept. 5, mainland China has built 480,000 base stations for 5G networks, with over 100 million end-connections online, according to the statistics released by Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Lou Jiwei served as Chinas finance minister from March 2013 until 2016. He was among the Communist Party officials who advocated for economic reform and is well-known for his outspoken character. During last years Chinese Economists 50 forum held on Feb. 16, 2019, he criticized the supply-side structural reforms the government was pushing, and condemned the practice of forming Communist Party organizations within private enterprises, which, he said significantly undercut their confidence by having the Party intervene in corporate policies. In an interview with Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post on Mar. 7, 2019, Lou expressed that he had been against the Made in China 2025 economic blueprint from the very beginning. In his opinion, the initiativewhich seeks to turn China into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse by the year 2025is a waste of taxpayers money. I was against it from the start, I did not agree very much with it, he said. [The government] wants industries to be at the top notch by then, but those industries are not predictable and the government should not have thought it had the ability to predict what is not foreseeable. FILE PHOTO: Telecom worker installs a new 5G antenna system in San Diego, California, U.S. April 23, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Made in China 2025, issued in May 2015, was Beijings plan to spur growth in 10 high-tech sectors, including robotics, aerospace, new energy, semiconductors, and new materials. The U.S. administration has criticized it for enabling state-sponsored intellectual property theft from American companies and institutions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Soe Tjen Marching (The Jakarta Post) London Tue, September 29, 2020 09:58 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47dd287 3 Opinion 1965-tragedy,1965-mass-killing,PKI,G30S,New-Order,Soeharto Free I will tell you as much as I can about myself, but please do not publish it, said the woman with gray hair I met about six years ago. She had been accused of being a member of Gerwani (the womens wing of the Indonesian Communist Party/PKI) at the end of 1965 and as a result, was imprisoned, tortured and raped repeatedly. She was not the only one. Many women still conceal their pain because of the shame and stigma, the risk of being labelled a liar, and the possible repercussions for not only themselves, but also their families. It was no wonder that during the International Peoples Tribunal on the 1965 genocide in The Hague, the female witnesses all decided to speak from behind a curtain, hiding their faces, and using pseudonyms. But not all female survivors of the 1965 genocide are secretive about their personal experience. Some have revealed their experience of persecution, many of which include rape and torture. Despite the strong evidence (scars, medical evidence, documents and cross-investigation), the accounts of these female survivors continue to be questioned and even looked upon with disdain and contempt. Decades after the mass murder of alleged communists and left-wing sympathizers, its victims are still unable to tell their personal accounts without risk. What does this say about the legacy of the New Order regime? Soeharto stepped down, but his cronies remain. The 1998 reforms only ousted one person and have failed to change the regimes legacy. In a more democratic and fair country, the case of that woman I met may have ended up at court to bring the perpetrators to justice; she may even have been compensated for the crimes against humanity that befell her. But that was certainly not what she expected. So why did that woman tell me her story? She just wanted someone to know what she had experienced and suffered. She simply wanted to be heard and for her story to not be dismissed. Her story finally found a voice in fiction, as she is represented by one of the characters in my latest novel, Dari Dalam Kubur (From the grave). With her consent, I gave her a fictional name and changed her age, where she lived, her birthplace and other details so the reader would not discover her true identity. However, even in fictional form, her story still underwent a long struggle. My novel was first accepted for publication by Gramedia at the end of 2018. Nevertheless, a few months later, the publisher told me that some details had to be altered or even omitted because of the sharp criticisms against the government, Soehartos cronies and certain religious groups. This included the personal account of that gray-haired woman. I do not at all blame Gramedia for this. That womans fear is echoed in Gramedias stance: it is still not entirely safe to speak up, especially when it concerns gross human violations that which the New Order government. Gramedia has been attacked by several fundamentalist groups, and the government has done nothing to prevent further occurrences. I nearly gave up and allowed my novel be subjected to Gramedias self-censorship. However, after I got in touch with another publisher, Marjin Kiri, that told me they would not censor my novel, I decided to withdraw my manuscript from Gramedia. That womans story was finally published as part of my novel in early September this year. When preorders for the book had just opened, I received several comments accusing me of being a PKI member although the party was disbanded many decades ago. Clearly, these people cannot be bothered to read my book, but are eager to chastise anything they deem does not follow the New Order version of the 1965 genocide. And that woman with gray hair? As I was finishing my novel, she once told me her hope: that one day it would be safe for her to speak up and be open about inspiring one of the characters in my novel. But this will never happen. She passed away before my novel was published. The 1998 reforms only ousted one person and have failed to change the regimes legacy. *** Author of Dari Dalam Kubur (From the grave) a novel, published by Marjin Kiri, September 2020 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Yet more trucks belonging to Hussam al-Qatirji have collected oil from Kurdish held areas and transported it to regime held lands reports Baladi News. Oil tanks belonging to Hussam al-Qatirji continue to enter the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to transport oil to the regime-held areas. According to media sources, dozens of tanks belonging to the Qatirji Company entered SDF areas on Monday to transport oil to the regime-held areas through the al-Hurra crossing, south of al-Tabqah, in the southwestern countryside of Raqqa. The US Department of the Treasury had imposed sanctions on Qatirji Company in September 2018, as it played the role of mediator between the Syrian regime and the Islamic State by facilitating the transfer of oil shipments between the two parties, in addition to providing the regime with fuel and weapons shipments as well as financial support. The businessman, who rarely appears in the media, is a supporter of the Syrian regime and praises the operations of regime forces against opposition factions. As a reward, Qatirji was given a seat in the Peoples Assembly in the 2016 elections under the farmers and workers category in Aleppo. Qatirji entered the public eye in recent years, due to his secret dealings with the Islamic State and the SDF, in favor of the Syrian regime. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Chinese consumer electronics company Hisense plans to open a new electronics factory in Atlantis, north of Cape Town. The new factory is set to employ more than 200 people and will manufacture washing machines. Hisense said that it plans to open the new factory by 2021. The factory follows the opening of a R350 million plant in Atlantis in 2013, which manufacturers flat-screen TVs and fridges. Since launching washing machines in the country three years ago, Hisense has achieved a 12% market share in that segment, the group said. Currently, Hisense employs more than 800 people, and does training and social upliftment projects, contributing to the wellbeing of around 3,000 people in the community. The group said that it currently distributes to more than 3,000 chain stores and 500 home appliance stores across South Africa. In 2019, one in four TVs or fridges sold in South Africa was a Hisense, while during the year, the brand manufactured more than 530,000 TVs, and 331 000 fridges. Hisense has also made significant inroads in Africa, with products also being exported to 13 other African countries, including Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Lesotho. KARTE The transcosmos's new services perform both qualitative/quantitative analysis on website user behavioral data, and identify web pages to link to FAQs, Contact Us pages, and a popup chat window. transcosmos inc. hereby announces that the company will release new launch support services that maximize the impact of "KARTE Online Chat" by PLAID Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Kenta Kurahashi). With webchat related features of "KARTE," a CX (Customer Experience) platform, an online chat service "KARTE Online Chat" analyzes and accumulates user behavioral data in real time, thereby enabling businesses to serve their user needs. Against the backdrop where many clients face an urgent need to enhance their indirect online services, "KARTE Online Chat" that utilizes some of the KARTE features lets clients start communicating with their users more effectively than before in a short span of time. With the largest website development and operations services network in Japan, transcosmos has established know-how of website analytics. With the power of its expertise, and various services that include "Gapfigther," a brief User Experience (UX) research service and Channel Optimization Diagnose Service, transcosmos's new launch support services perform both qualitative and quantitative analysis on website user behavioral data, and identify web pages that are better to have links to FAQs and Contact Us pages, as well as a popup chat window. With the new services, clients can show a chat window and a link to FAQs on the pages where many of their users stay for a longer duration or exit to navigate their users to such features. Conversely, they can show a chat text that inspires user interests, and gives one last push for them to make a purchase. Ultimately, the launch support services make clients increase conversions whilst boosting usability. In addition, transcosmos also offers post-launch support services. Leveraging KARTE's real-time analytics technology and transcosmos's proprietary chat scenarios that are designed to enhance customer experience, transcosmos will design clients' website in a way that allows clients to not only provide information to meet their user needs but also provide their target users with the right information at the right time. With such services, transcosmos will offer clients end-to-end support from enhancing chat operations to making proposals that will take their whole website to the next level. Moreover, for clients who wish to use chat agents, transcosmos will offer the service at a special price. The special pricing is only available for clients that use transcosmos's new services. "KARTE Online Chat" launch support services campaign transcosmos will run a campaign through the end of September, 2020, offering the services with special campaign pricing at 300,000 yen (without tax) only to the first 10 clients. What's more, the company will offer its chat agent services also at special pricing only to the clients who have registered for the launch support services. What's in launch support services package 1. Channel Diagnoses Using "Gapfigther (Japanese only: https://gapfighter.com/)," a brief UX survey service, and Channel Optimization Diagnose Service (https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/company/news/170821_0001.html) both offered by transcosmos, the company performs both qualitative and quantitative analysis to find out webpages on which users tend to stuck, and identify pages that are better to have a link to FAQs, and a popup chat window. 2. "KARTE Online Chat" launch support services Based on the diagnosis conducted at Step 1 above, transcosmos sets up FAQ and chat features for "KARTE Online Chat." "KARTE Online Chat" charge-free service available by the end of September, 2020. Setup period: Approximately 3 weeks Price: 300,000 yen (without tax) *Available only to the first 10 clients by the end of September, 2020. Chat agent pricing for launch support services Monthly price: starts from 350,000 yen/seat Trial pricing for up to 100 chat conversations per month. Initial fees and KARTE tool usage fees will be charged separately. The price includes charges for an administrator and facilities. Service hours to be 9:00 to 18:00 (subject to change). We may make a re-quote subject to the service volume and requirements. About "KARTE Online Chat" (Japanese Only: https://karte.io/product/online-chat-support/) Leveraging webchat and support features of "KARTE," a Customer Experience (CX) platform, KARTE Online Chat enables you to show a link to FAQ page and a popup chat window only to those users who are expected to need online support based on their attributes, as well as on your high-priority webpages. Clients who apply for a regular KARTE Enterprise Plan (charged services) can enjoy all other KARTE features without any restriction in addition to this service package. transcosmos & PLAID Inc. joint initiatives transcosmos formed a business alliance with PLAID Inc. in July, 2019. Since then, as their strategic partner, transcosmos has been developing operations specialists for "KARTE," a CX (Customer Experience) platform by PLAID, in a close partnership with PLAID, whilst receiving KARTE update information prior to the releases. transcosmos has also established a dedicated KARTE operations team, the largest team in Japan, within its Fukuoka and Sapporo marketing operations centers. With its KARTE operations specialists who run a continuous PDCA cycle, transcosmos will help clients increase their website conversion rates, and boost the value of their websites. transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. In Japan and other countries. Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies. About transcosmos inc. transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 168 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/ Tuesday, September 29, 2020 Kimberly Daniels, a member of our Emerging Fellows program envisions a transformation scenario within Eurasias Heartland alternative futures through her ninth blog post. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the APF or its other members. A transformation scenario for Eurasias Heartland in 2050 could play out as a future in which the U.S., Russia, and China abandon Mackinders Heartland Theory for a new way forward. In this alternative future, the three powers shift from competitive geopolitical positioning for domination of the Heartland to cooperation to empower the Heartland. They also advance culturalization as a critical aspect of connected BRI trade. Characterized by a territorial approach to Heartland power and a multipolar world order with wins and losses, this scenario considers geo-cultural identity as a key change driver. By 2050 in this scenario, the U.S., Russia, and China have come to terms with the futility of continued geopolitical positioning in Afro-Eurasia based on Mackinders Heartland Theory. They accept that no power play to affect a geographical pivot to a Heartland power neither the Crimean War, Nazi Germany, Cold War I, nor Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) resulted in realities that aligned with assumptions. The BRI, while potentially profitable for China, remained fraught with contempt from the international community for two widely-known reasons. Infrastructure development loans either indebted disadvantaged countries to China or economically colonized them to bend to her influence. And though China may have assumed the BRI would position her as the worlds next superpower, some believed her intention was to expand as a great civilization state. However, the U.S., Russia, and India, as well as concerned regional stakeholders, regarded it as a play for dominance in and control of the Heartland. Despite facilitating connected trade, the BRI amplified existing and provoked new geopolitical hostilities. Deadlier border conflicts over colonial-influenced territorial boundaries erupted between China and India and among the Caucasus over ethnic, cultural, and territorial disputes. Wars on various fronts intensified, some still motivated by disdain for U.S. and Russian interference in Middle Eastern affairs. Territorial turf wars exploded among Russia and former Soviet Eastern European states and ignited between Russia and China in Central Asia. These power struggles in and for the Heartland had devastatingly disruptive local, regional, and global impacts. They were condemned by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as crimes against Heartland security. For the U.S., Russia, and China, adhering to the ICJs ruling in terms of Afro-Eurasia has meant abandoning Mackinders Heartland Theory and embracing a transformational way forward. They have suspended competition for Heartland power. Instead, the three work cooperatively to assist local and regional areas in maintaining their cultural identities free from pressures toward or away from Westernization or Eurasianism. They also help stimulate growth that empowers Heartland countries through distributed power. In response to the challenge of aging Heartland populations and to meet a growing regional workforce demand, they attract, train, and negotiate employment for young African workers. These workers easily adapt to or adopt religious, language, and or local socio-cultural norms to fit in. They are a solution for countries opposed to high numbers of migrant Chinese workers and are not viewed as politically threatening. The three powers also reimagined the BRI in that it now prioritizes culturalization as a key aspect of trade. Producers and sellers only market quality culturally-appropriate goods, services, music, art, films, and technologies in each local economy. This includes those Made in America, Made in China, Made in Africa, and Made in India. However, the Black Market for inappropriate content is rapidly expanding. In an increasingly multipolar Heartland where neither the U.S., Russia, nor China are dominant powers. One win is the trade-off of geopolitics rooted in geographical power accumulation for foreign policies that recognize geo-cultural identity as a critical driver of change. Another includes culturally-connected trade. A loss on the part of the three powers involves declining territorial control. China, for instance, renegotiated BRI loans so that infrastructure ownership remains with borrowers. Another loss for the three entails diminishing revenues from Heartland exploitations. Thus, they have turned their geopolitical competitive interests to Greenland once again. In this 2050 transformation scenario for Eurasias Heartland, the U.S., Russia, and China are navigating a new way forward that is not based on Mackinders Heartland Theory. They have suspended their competitive tendencies of amassing Heartland power through territorial control to work cooperatively to empower Heartland countries. As they integrate culturalization into connected BRI trade, they help shape an increasingly multipolar Heartland driven by geo-cultural identity. Kimberly Kay Daniels 2020 Mail-in voting has gotten off to a rocky start in New York City, where election officials sent out nearly 100,000 absentee ballots with the wrong names and addresses printed on the return envelopes. The deluge of faulty ballots, sent to voters across Brooklyn, could result in ballots being voided if voters sign their own name on return envelopes bearing different names. The New York City Board of Elections blamed the problem on the company hired to print and mail the ballots. The faulty ballots were sent to an unknown number of voters in Brooklyn and could result in ballots being voided if voters sign their own name on return envelopes bearing different names The faulty ballots are limited to one print run of ballots sent out to Brooklyn voters, the board's director Michael Ryan said at a board meeting Tuesday. He didn't say during the meeting how many were printed. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top aide Melissa DeRosa said the issue was contained to about 100,000 ballots. All voters who got the bad ballots will receive new ones before the November 3 election, with the vendor covering the cost, Ryan said. He said the move will 'make certain that absolutely no disenfranchisement occurs in the borough of Brooklyn.' It's unclear exactly how the city will handle voters who had already mailed their completed ballot back in the provided envelopes. Ryan said elections workers will reach out to voters by social media and, if available, by telephone and email addresses. And he said the board will ensure all received ballots are 'appropriately processed' and tallied votes are 'properly credited.' 'It is essential that confidence be established on this process and that we make certain we have all the voters who potentially have a problem have a full and fair opportunity to remedy that problem,' Ryan said. The printer the city blamed for the error, Phoenix Graphics, didn't return messages seeking comment. A number of Brooklyn residents took to social media to complain about the mishap The Rochester-based printing company, which was founded in 1985 and calls itself the state's largest supplier of ballot materials, is urging those who call its offices about absentee ballot issues to contact their local board of election. 'Phoenix Graphics is working hard with your board of elections to ensure that everyone will have what they need to vote,' the company's voicemail message said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the city elections board also was dealing with confusion regarding another printing anomaly on absentee ballots. Ordinarily, absentee ballots in the city are sent out with a heading identifying them as an 'Official Absentee / Military Ballot.' This year, the slash between 'absentee' and 'military' was left out, leading some voters to believe they had mistakenly been mailed a ballot for use only by members of the military. The board tweeted that the ballot was still good for use by any registered voter. The pair of mishaps took place despite intense scrutiny of mail-in voting nationwide. And it comes on the heels of a rocky spring primary in New York in which election boards struggled to handle a record amount of voting by mail. Marla Garfield, an editor who lives in Brooklyn, said she was among those who received a ballot envelope with another persons name. Garfield said she is 'furious' about the errors and plants to vote in-person out of concern replacement ballots won't arrive in time. Shes worried the confusion will fuel distrust in mail-in-voting. 'Its a mess, its an absolute mess,' she said. 'The fact they dont know how far reaching it is, is troubling,' she added. 'And you have this moment where really, now this election, this is the one this is happening to?' In Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay section, Victoria Edel, 28, said her family of four was excited to open up their ballots to vote by mail. They had requested them online Aug. 22. Then, they discovered she had received her younger brothers ballot envelope. Her younger brother had her mothers. Her mother had the envelope of a woman who appears to live nearby. She said she's worried about people who don't watch the news and perhaps are still sending back ballots in wrong envelopes. 'It feels like its really easy for a lot of people to be disenfranchised this way,' Edel said. Shes hopeful shell get her correct envelope eventually. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 400,000 New York City residents voted by absentee ballot in during the primary. That was 10 times the number of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 primary. Many voters complained that their absentee ballots didn't arrive in time for the primary. And thousands of ballots cast by mail were later disqualified for minor technical errors, including voters forgetting to sign their name, or the U.S. Postal Service failing to put a postmark on the ballot indicating when it was sent. The citys Board of Elections is run by Republican and Democratic appointees picked by county party leaders and is not subject to the control of City Hall. A long list of city officials and the current and past mayors have called for reforms of the body because of a history of election mismanagement. Mumbai: A court here on Tuesday discharged 12 Indonesian nationals, accused of not disclosing that they had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi in March, from the criminal case they were facing. The event at Nizamuddin in the national capital was later found to be a coronavirus hotspot, and the police in various states had rounded up its participants. Metropolitan Magistrate G Y Ghule on Tuesday discharged 12 Indonesians who had traveled to Mumbai after the event and were arrested, their lawyer Ishrat Khan said. A detailed order of the court was yet to be received, he said. The police had booked them under IPC sections 188(Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant),269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease that is dangerous to life) and the Epidemic Diseases Act for not informing local authorities about their arrival. As per the police, the Indonesians arrived in India in two batches, on February 29 and March 3, and headed for Delhi for the congregation after which they came to Mumbai and stayed in a flat in suburban Bandra and roamed around. Two persons from the12-member group tested positive for coronavirus, following which others were placed under quarantine and later arrested on April 22. A court subsequently granted them bail. . Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 13:46:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, Sep.28 (Xinhua) -- Former South African President Jacob Zuma's legal team on Monday wrote to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, demanding he recuse himself as the chair of the state capture commission because of his bias against Zuma. "For the reasons to be fully set out in the application to be made, we are instructed to seek your recusal as Chairperson of the commission on the ground that our client (Zuma) reasonably apprehended that you have already adopted a biased disposition against him," the letter from Zuma's legal representative Eric Mabuza said. The letter said Zondo is unable to be impartial toward Zuma so he must recuse himself when the embattled former president appears before the inquiry. The team said Zondo "cannot bring an impartial mind to the issues and evidence that relate to him (Zuma)." Zuma has been asked to appear before the chair and testify on Nov. 16-20 this year. He last appeared before the commission in 2019. He was scheduled to appear again in January 2020, but did not due to health problems. Zondo recently held a press briefing where he expressed concern about Zuma's delayed appearance before the commission. However, Zuma said he has always cooperated with the commission but now he is entirely unsatisfied with the conduct and unsuitability of the deputy judge. The ongoing state capture inquiry has been investigating allegations of malfeasance, corruption and looting of state resources that occurred under Zuma's administration. Enditem Its not entirely unusual to hear about someone who wants their home to feel like a sparelaxing and a place of respite. But Paris-based designer Marion Mailaender had another idea in mind for the renovation of a Parisian apartment for her family: She wanted the apartment to look like a swimming pool, where, she says, where would feel like we were on holiday every day. At about 1,200 square feet, the apartment is generously sized and located in an early 1970s building. Since the apartment is on the 12th floor, Marion was initially drawn to the totally stunning views of Pariswe can see most of the famous monuments of Paris from the windows, she notes. Of course, there were other things that she wasnt such a big fan of, like the fake wood floor and evidence of the previous owners many cats. So Marion took on a gut renovation of the apartment that would be complete with a new layout, finishes, and furniture. The existing building itself was a starting point for Marion: The year of construction of the building had an influence on our design, she explains. We tried to create a 70s mood with a contemporary input. With that in mind, in went a new kitchen with a technical flair, enabling Marion, her husband, and her two daughters to cook for friends and family to their hearts content. The stainless-steel cabinetry is simple and minimalist, and the lack of upper cabinets in the kitchen keeps things feeling light and open. The kitchen and dining area are open to the living area, because we wanted a space with a large living room to invite friends and family, Marion says. I come from the South of France, and its very important for me to have enough space to welcome everybody. Flowing through both spaces is a built-in shelf that sits below the windows: We love raw materials! exclaims Marions, referring to its plywood base and lava stone top. But the most consistent factor throughout the homeand the one that gives it a pool-like feelis undoubtedly the white tile flooring, which Marion says is very French and comes from Emaux de Briare, a French company specializing in mosaics. Since the color palette of most of the apartment is white, the tile adds a bit of texture and pattern to the spaces, evoking a 1970s spirit with a bit of shine. This means, Marion points out, that as light changes throughout the day, so too does the feeling in each room, with the floor bouncing light around. Story continues Artwork and furniture bring some color into the home, though, like a vintage carpet in the living room and paintings on the walls that have pops of vibrant color. The artwork on display is eclectic, a collection of art swaps with artist friends. Two other spaces that are given special treatment are the bathroom, which features the same white tile on the floor but wood-clad walls and a bathtub, like in a boat, says Marion. The bedroom, too, uses the white tile, but gives way to a ring of carpet around the bed to provide warmth and comfort underfoot as you step in and out of the bed. We like radical design, books, artwork, and fun, declares Marion, and the apartment perfectly reflects all of those predilections. Do It Yourself Embrace the eclectic Marions artwork ranges from small, sculptural pieces to larger, colorful paintings. Dont limit yourself to one style, size, or type of artwork. Ground your home One of the most important and consistent elements in the apartment is the white tile mosaic floor, which Marion says is one of the most characteristic elements of the apartment. Its an unexpected choice for some spaces, like a bedroom, so consider incorporating other flooring like carpet in certain locations. Mix different eras Select designs are vintage from the 1970s and 1980s, but Marion keeps them feeling fresh and contemporary by placing them with more modern pieces and finishes. Shop It Out Glacier ceramic mosaic floor and wall tile by Daltile, $2.57/square foot, homedepot.com Classic duvet cover in graphite grid by Brooklinen, $119 brooklinen.com Two-handle bath fixture in light blue by Vola, en.vola.com Handkerchief Planters by Jayson Home, from $50, jaysonhome.com Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest Cleburne Cafeteria has been open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Houston dining institution which has been around since 1941 and located in its current spot at the intersection of Edloe and Bissonnet streets since 1969 survived by offering takeout early in the pandemic. They have gradually returned to more dine-in customers as Texas coronavirus restrictions have eased. One of many milestones: Cleburne Cafeteria marks 65 years As of Sept, 28, the state now allows restaurants up to 75 percent dine-in capacity in accordance with a Sept. 17 executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott. Even with limits on capacity, Cleburnes iconic cafeteria line remains open. I remember when COVID first started, it was two-three weeks to flatten the curve. Well, two-three weeks to flatten the curve has turned into eight months, Mickelis added. Theres a lot of similarities from the standpoint of belt tightening, adjusting your budget, really watching your costs and controlling your labor cost and food cost and just your general overhead cost. Theyve all had a profound effect, on, as a business person, how do I manage a finite amount of money for an indefinite amount of time? However, now there are stickers on the floor and reminders to socially distance. Masks are also required when going through the cafeteria line and hand sanitizer is readily available. The eatery already had a sneeze guard in place throughout the line. As capacity restrictions gradually fade, some of the customer patterns still remain. Owner George Mickelis estimates that 60-70 percent of Cleburnes business is still take-out or curbside delivery as opposed to 10-15 percent pre-COVID. Mickelis acknowledges that ordering online and getting curbside delivery is a somewhat different experience. People do eat with their eyes, and, in the cafeteria business, people may get a little bit more if theyre going through the line, he said. Especially dessert. Dessert is such an impulse (buy) at the end (of the line). Mickelis has seen sales of dessert increase significantly. Dessert is comforting, and we specialize in serving comfort food chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, turkey and dressing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, he said. Cleburnes business was down 80 percent in March. Now it is down just 30 percent, and Sept. 27 was its best day since the pandemic started. Mickelis hopes theres no coronavirus second wave but feels that, if there is, Cleburne has learned how to better run a to-go business and has maximized its efficiency for its curbside and drive-up delivery. He hopes people would still eat from his restaurant. Gary Noble, a Memorial resident who said he has been coming to the eatery for 20-25 years, was part of the lunch crowd at Cleburne on Sept. 28. He was happy to be back. The foods good. Its family, he said. I like businesses where the owners there and takes care of his customers. This year is not the first time Mickelis and Cleburne have faced adversity. The cafeteria burned down in a fire in 1990 and again in April 2016. After that second fire, it did not reopen until Nov. 2017. Hes always here. Hes been burned down twice. He comes back. He doesnt fret about it, Noble said of Mickelis. Hes jumped right back in and rebuilt it. Its better now than it was before. Cleburne rebuilds and reopens: Risen from the ashes, Cleburne Cafeteria is back Mickelis received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program and has not laid off any employees, some of whom have been at Cleburne more than 30 years. Were a great example of a true mom-and-pop thats still around, Mickelis said. We only have one location. We really are part of the community now; next year will be 80 years here in Houston. Were a part of the fabric. We employ locally, and we buy locally. Were very thankful that our regular customers have been extremely loyal and have remembered us, and I think people that dont know about it, theyve been reminded that, gosh, there are a lot of small businesses. elliott.lapin@hearst.com Among the countries running a race to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), Vietnam is a destination with promised great potential. Foreign giants increase presence in Vietnam After Apple began increasing orders placed with suppliers in Vietnam, a number of multinationals have chosen Vietnam for new investment projects or production expansion. Foxconn and Luxshare, two of Apples suppliers, are increasing their investment activities in Bac Giang. The corporations like Foxconn plan to spend billions of dollars to make products for Apple and Cisco. Pegatron, the leading electronic component supplier for technology giants such as Microsoft, Apple and Sony, is planning to invest $1 billion in Vietnam to develop a hi-tech manufacturing complex. This includes Pegatron Vietnam 1, capitalized at $19 million which got an investment license in March 2020; Pegatron Vietnam 2, $148 million, which is applying for a license; and Pegatron Vietnam 3, $500 million, which is expected to be implemented in 2026-2027. Among the countries running a race to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), Vietnam is a destination with promised great potential. Pegatron has applied to the Hai Phong City Economic Zone Management Board for an investment license, planning to develop Pegatron Vietnam 2 in Nam Dinh Vu IZ. The factory will manufacture civil electronic appliances, computers and computer peripherals, communication equipment, electronic components and circuit boards. Once operational, the project will create 22,500 jobs and pay VND100 billion to the state budget. The products from Pegatrons factory in Hai Phong will provide input components to Microsoft, Sony, Lenovo and Apple. Many investors are considering investment opportunities in the region. The competition among countries to attract foreign investors is becoming increasingly stiff. India, Indonesia and Thailand all have offered attractive incentives to lure big investors. Selective in attracting FDI Vietnams strategy on attracting FDI this time is very clear: it prioritizes large corporations which use modern technologies and have large supply chains. Vietnam needs to select investors carefully, or it will turn into a place gathering low-quality foreign investment projects, or investors who come to Vietnam to avoid tax in context of international trade changes. The State Audit also pointed out many gaps in the policy and the downsides of the FDI attraction that have caused losses to budget revenue and adverse environmental impact. According to Doan Xuan Tien from the State Audit, the number of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) reporting losses account for 50 percent of total operational FIEs, many of which have reported losses for consecutive years. Experts have repeatedly warned that many FIEs conduct transfer pricing to avoid taxes, causing loss of revenue to the state budget. Nguyen Xuan Phu, president of Sunhouse Group, said he learned a bitter lesson from cooperating with a foreign partner. Sunhouse planned to cooperate with a South Korean company to develop a microchip factory, where Sunhouse held 49 percent of shares. But it chose the wrong partner: the partner implemented the project with the hope that it could borrow capital from Vietnams banks. As banks refused to provide loans, the project ended in a deadlock and Sunhouse had to buy back the partners capital contribution. Tran Thuy Vietnam urged to improve infrastructure to attract more FDI Vietnam needed to improve its infrastructure in order to attract more FDI, a webinar heard on Monday. Advertisement Armenia claimed today that a Turkish fighter jet had shot down a warplane during fighting with Azerbaijan - after Turkey warned that 'the world will hear our roar' in the escalating conflict. A Soviet-era Su-25 jet was downed by a Turkish F-16 which took off from the Ganja airbase in Azerbaijan, Armenia claimed, as the crisis threatens to escalate into a proxy war between Turkey and Russia. Turkey has so far denied sending mercenaries to help Azerbaijan - which denies even having any F-16s - but President Erdogan's spokesman warned today that Ankara would 'help Azerbaijan take back its occupied lands', meaning the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Separatists in the region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, are fighting for secession from Turkish-backed Azerbaijan and the dispute has led to decades of unresolved violence. Erdogan's aide Fahrettin Altun said Turkey 'stands with Azerbaijan, our friend and brethren' as fighting raged for a third day in the Caucasus today ahead of a UN Security Council debate on the crisis. 'Let there be no doubt that the world will hear our roar if Azerbaijan were to suffer from the slightest injustice under international law,' he said. Azerbaijan today aired footage of two Armenian tanks being blown up on the battlefield, while Armenia claimed to have taken out 80 armoured vehicles, 49 drones and four helicopters in the latest fighting which has killed dozens of people, allegedly including civilians. However, Altun dismissed the F-16 claim as 'absolutely untrue' while Azerbaijan described it as 'yet another lie of Armenian propaganda'. 'Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks,' Altun said. Russian-backed Armenia warned that it would deploy more destructive weapons in the conflict because of what it described as an Azerbaijani offensive, saying the fighting had been 'elevated to a new level'. Armenia last night accused Turkey of 'supporting Azerbaijan to carry out genocidal acts', a reference to the early 20th-century massacre which it calls the Armenian Genocide and which still poisons relations between Turkey and Armenia. Both nations have accused each other of firing into each other's territory beyond the Karabakh region, raising fears of an all-out war which could draw in nuclear-armed Russia. The Kremlin has a military base in Armenia but has called for the hostilities to be 'immediately ended' - warning Turkey not to 'add fuel to the flames' by raising the prospect of intervention. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said today that 'both sides need to stop the violence' while German chancellor Angela Merkel called for an 'immediate ceasefire' and France called for a revival of peace talks. Footage released by Azerbaijan's military showed two tanks being blown up during the latest fighting in Armenia The wreckage of what Armenia claimed was an enemy helicopter shot down during the conflict in the Caucasus region Footage released by Armenia's military purported to show a drone being shot down (left) and the remains of a helicopter bursting into flames on the battlefield (right) An Azerbaijani howitzer firing munitions towards Armenian positions after the launch of a military operation on Monday An Armenian serviceman fires a cannon towards Azerbaijan positions in the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday An Armenian serviceman fires a cannon towards Azerbaijan positions in the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday Armenian servicemen react, at their position in the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan A man uses his mobile phone as he stands in front of an apartment building that was allegedly damaged by recent shelling during the fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the Tartar border district of Azerbaijan on September 29 A man points to a crater that was allegedly caused by shelling during the fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the Tartar border district of Azerbaijan on September 29 Crossroads between the Middle East and Russia: The fighting is in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan which is controlled by separatists allied to Armenia. Turkey borders Armenia but is an ally of Azerbaijan, and Ankara's support for Baku is the latest military adventure in the region after incursions into Syria and Libya. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are former Soviet republics that border Iran. Moscow has called for both sides to stop the fighting Why Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting again WHAT AND WHERE IS NAGORNO-KARABAKH? Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan which has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since a full-scale separatist war ended in 1994, after killing about 30,000 people and displacing an estimated one million. Nagorno-Karabakh is about 1,700 square miles in size, but Armenian forces also occupy other nearby territory. HOW DID THE CONFLICT START? Long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azerbaijanis began boiling over as the Soviet Union frayed in its final years. Once the USSR collapsed in 1991 and the republics became independent nations, war broke out. A 1994 cease-fire left Armenian and Azerbaijani forces facing each other across a demilitarised zone, where clashes were frequently reported. WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE? International mediation efforts have brought little visible progress. The conflict has been an economic blow to the Caucasus region because it has hampered trade and prompted Turkey to close its border with Armenia. Fighting periodically breaks out around Nagorno-Karabakh's borders, often deadly, notably in 2016 and this July. Since new fighting erupted on Sunday, dozens have been killed and wounded in apparent shelling by both sides. Each country blamed the other. WHATS THE BROADER IMPACT? In addition to causing local casualties and damage, the conflict in the small, hard-to-reach region is also of concern to major regional players. Russia is Armenias main economic partner and has a military base there, while Turkey has offered support to Azerbaijanis, fellow Muslims and ethnic brethren to Turks. Iran neighbors both Armenia and Azerbaijan and is calling for calm. Meanwhile, the United States, France and Russia are meant to be guarantors of the long-stalled peace process, under the auspices of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Advertisement Martial law has been declared in both countries and Armenia has banned men over 18 in its military reserves from leaving the country as the warfare continues despite global appeals for calm. Azerbaijan's defence ministry said today that the opposing forces attempted to recover lost ground by launching counter-attacks in the directions of Fizuli, Jabrayil, Agdere and Terter. The ministry said there was fighting around Fizuli on Tueday morning and the Armenian army shelled the Dashkesan region on the border between the two countries, miles away from Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia denied those claims, but reported fighting throughout the night and said that Nagorno-Karabakh's army repelled attacks in several directions along the line of contact. Both sides blame each other for causing the latest flare-up, with Armenia claiming that the separatists in Nagorny-Karabakh are resisting a 'thoroughly planned attack'. 'Defence forces of Nagorno-Karabakh are left with little option but to defend themselves,' Armenia's foreign ministry claimed. Military leaders in the Armenian enclave say that 84 servicemen on their side have been killed so far, while both sides blame the other for alleged civilian deaths. Azerbaijan says 10 civilians have died on its side, but has yet to give details on military casualties. Armenia claimed on Tuesday that a nine-year-old girl was killed in shelling, while her mother and a brother were wounded, while Azerbaijan says five members of a family died in the gunfire. Today, Armenia's defence ministry said a civilian bus was set on fire after being hit by an Azerbaijani unmanned drone. Armenia accuses its enemy of using Smerch and TOS-1A rocket launchers, saying it was forced to use 'military hardware with larger power' in response. 'Since early morning the Azerbaijani side resumed large-scale offensive ops. TOS-1A heavy flamethrowers are being employed. The use of TOS, Smerch and other large-caliber systems changes the philosophy and the scale of mil ops, elevating them to a new level of escalation,' claimed defence spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan. As a result, Armenian forces are 'compelled to use pieces of equipment and munitions designed to engage wide area targets, intended for large and indiscriminate destruction of manpower, and static and mobile property alike,' she warned. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan came down firmly on the side of Azerbaijan, which shares ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties with the larger power. 'The time has come for the crisis in the region that started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh to be put to an end,' Erdogan said. 'Now Azerbaijan must take matters into its own hands.' Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev on Monday ordered partial military mobilisation and General Mais Barkhudarov vowed to 'fight to the last drop of blood in order to completely destroy the enemy and win'. Armenia has accused Turkey of sending mercenaries to back Azerbaijan, a claim which Erdogan's government denies. Turkey informed the fighters they would be tasked with 'guarding border regions' in Azerbaijan in return for wages of up to $2,000, said Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Anna Naghdalyan, a spokeswoman for Armenia's foreign ministry, said people in Nagorno-Karabakh were 'fighting against a Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance'. 'Turkey, which a century ago annihilated Armenian people in their historical homeland and justifies that crime, now supports Azerbaijan by all possible means to carry out same genocidal acts in South Caucasus,' she said. As many as 1.5million Armenians were rounded up and killed by their Turkish rulers in mass killings which started during World War I, but Turkey fiercely disputes the term 'genocide'. Armenian positions are hit by Azerbaijani forces as they claimed to be taking control of highlands around the village of Talis Azerbaijan's soldiers fire from a mortar at the contact line of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh An Azerbaijani artillery strike towards the positions of Armenian separatists in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh How the military forces compare AZERBAIJAN 82,000 armed forces personnel 570 tanks including T-55, T-90 and modified T-72 upgraded by Israel 29 combat aircraft (five MiG-21, 12 MiG-29 and 12 Su-25 planes) ARMENIA 49,000 armed forces personnel 110 tanks including T-80, T-72, T-55 and BMP models 13 combat aircraft (nine Su-25 and four Su-30 planes) TURKEY 510,000 armed forces personnel 3,000 tanks including 339 German-made Leopard 2A4s and 1,200 American M60 tanks 206 combat aircraft (48 F4 jets and 158 F-16 jets) RUSSIA 1.45million armed forces personnel 12,950 tanks including Soviet-era T-72 and T-80, Russian-era T-14 Armata and T-90 models 1,616 combat aircraft including MiG, Sukhoi and Tupolev models 7,000 nuclear warheads with land, air and sea-based launchers Advertisement Turkey has also conducted drills with F-16 jets in Azerbaijan, but Baku denied claims that it has any of the fighter planes or that one been involved in a shootdown. Russia has previously supplied Armenia with weapons in the sensitive region, where pipelines shipping Caspian oil and natural gas from Azerbaijan to the world pass close to Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian President Vladimir Putin today urged the opposing sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to hold their fire, during a conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire and for all sides to take measures to de-escalate the crisis, the Kremlin said. Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR said today that the country's oil and gas infrastructure was safe thanks to measures taken by the army. The report of Turkish intervention comes after the European Union warned regional powers not to interfere in the fighting and condemned a 'serious escalation' that threatens regional stability. Omer Celika , spokesman for Erdogan's ruling party, denied reports that Turkey had sent arms or foreign fighters to Azerbaijan. 'Armenia is disturbed by Turkey's solidarity with Azerbaijan and is producing lies against Turkey,' Celik said. Erdogan criticized France, the US and Russia - the three chairs of the so-called Minsk group that was set up in 1992 to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - saying they had failed to resolve the issue for 30 years. 'They have done their best not to solve this issue. And now they come and counsel and issue threats. They say, is Turkey here, is the Turkish military here?,' Erdogan said. France said today it would 'trigger a co-ordination of the Minsk Group' in the coming days to 'find a way out' of the crisis. Armenia and Karabakh declared martial law and military mobilisation on Sunday, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities. Analysts warn that the conflict could escalate into a proxy conflict between Moscow and Ankara, who both wield influence in Syria and Libya already. Michael Carpenter, a former Pentagon official, said any Turkish involvement would be 'hugely destabilising' and 'could lead to a proxy war between Turkey and Russia'. Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence monitoring group, said the two countries 'continue to vie for control across region, backing proxies on contentious non-secular lines' - referring to the fact that Azerbaijan is a majority-Muslim country, while most Armenians are Christians. In addition to the EU and Russia, France, Germany, Italy and the United States have urged a ceasefire. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States would seek to end the violence. 'We're looking at it very strongly,' he told a news briefing. 'We have a lot of good relationships in that area. We'll see if we can stop it.' Democratic nominee Joe Biden urged the White House to push for more observers along the ceasefire line and accused Russia of 'cynically providing arms to both sides.' Erdogan last night discussed the crisis in a phone call with British PM Boris Johnson, with Downing Street calling for 'urgent de-escalation in the region'. German chancellor Angela Merkel - who has clashed with Erdogan in the past - today called for an 'immediate ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table' after speaking with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's rocket launches from missile system at the contact line of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh Footage released by the Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region shows bodies of men in military uniform, said to be Azerbaijani military personnel killed during the clashes over the disputed region Rocket fire from the Azerbaijani side during some of the worst violence in the disputed region since a 1990s war ended in stalemate One video shows an Azerbaijani TB-2 drone, made in Turkey, tracking an Armenian T-72 tank across the battlefield Five European countries - Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and Britain - asked for a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on the escalating conflict on Tuesday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both countries' leaders and called for 'an immediate stop to the fighting, a de-escalation of tensions and a return to meaningful negotiations without preconditions or delay. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation 'is a cause for concern for Moscow and other countries.' 'We believe that the hostilities should be immediately ended,' Peskov said, adding that the process of resolving the conflict should shift into 'a politico-diplomatic' dimension. Nuclear-armed Russia has a military base in Armenia and considers it to be a strategic partner in the South Caucasus region, supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons. The Kremlin has cast itself as a mediator but Azerbaijan claimed last month that Moscow was 'intensively arming Armenia' after earlier clashes in July. Hostilities this year have been the worst since 2016, when intense fighting killed dozens and threatened to escalate into all-out war. Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Although a ceasefire was agreed in 1994, after thousands of people were killed and many more displaced, Azerbaijan and Armenia frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azeri-Armenian frontier. During the worst recent Karabakh clashes in April 2016, around 110 people were killed. In July 2020, heavy clashes along the two countries' shared border - hundreds of miles from Karabakh - claimed the lives of at least 17 soldiers from both sides. VANCOUVER - Beleaguered outdoor recreation retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op is opposing a proposed delay of the companys sale to a U.S. private investment firm, saying there is significant urgency to closing the deal. Kevin Harding with the Save MEC campaign filed an application in a B.C. court last week to adjourn the sale to California-based Kingswood Capital Management, part of an effort to preserve the retailers status as a co-operative. The group said it wants to explore alternative options to address MECs liquidity issues, including selling real estate, obtaining operating loans and bringing in a credit card rewards program. In a response filed Monday, the company doubted the groups ability to address MECs cash flow issues, noting that the proposed sources of potential funding dont involve concrete commitments or realistic options. The Vancouver-based company said given the number of factors that need to be addressed before the sale closes, including negotiations with landlords, the proposed adjournment would put the deal in jeopardy. MEC said its urgent for the sale to close before the retailer experiences significant weekly cash flow losses, which may worsen with rising COVID-19 rates. The transaction has to close in a timely manner before MECs forecasted losses escalate and in order for the purchaser to take advantage of the upcoming holiday sales periods, MEC said in the court filing. The company added that MECs other stakeholders, including its employees, would be unfairly prejudiced by the proposed adjournment, as there is a real risk that a delay could lead to the closure of MECs operations. The retailer, which specializes in outdoor equipment and clothing, has 1,143 active workers with the majority located in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta, according to the first report of the monitor on Sept. 24. The 49-year-old retailer traces its roots back to a group of west coast mountaineers, who came up with the idea of opening a Canadian outdoor recreation store on a climbing trip to Mount Baker, Wash. The grassroots co-operative officially launched in 1971 with six members and about $65 of operating capital. MEC now has roughly 5.8 million members, according to court documents. Members pay a one-time membership fee of $5, which entitles them to one share in the co-op and the right to shop at MEC. On Sept. 14, after struggling with sluggish sales, inventory issues and increasing online competition, the company filed for creditor protection and announced its sale to a Canadian subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Kingswood. While the move came as a surprise to members, the outdoor gear and equipment retail space has become increasingly crowded in recent years. In June, Canadian outdoor retailer Sail Outdoors Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in order to restructure amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as a member-owned co-operative, the group Save MEC has argued the stores sale should require their approval. A petition against the deal had garnered 140,000 signatures by Tuesday, and the group is continuing to work on an alternative to selling the retailer. Weve been in discussions with lenders and other parties, and we currently have expressions of interest surpassing $100 million in value, Elliot Hegel, a spokesman for Save MEC, said Tuesday. Were asking for a fair chance to save our co-op. He said the group isnt surprised by MECs opposition to the request for a two-week delay to proceedings. Throughout this whole process we have seen that MEC and the board have been unwilling to involve the member-owners in discussions about the future of our co-op, Hegel said. The members were not even informed of MECs financial troubles, let alone the sale of the co-ops assets to Kingswood. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020. Read more about: About 22 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 report having used emergency contraception. But even though the Food and Drug Administration approved levonorgestrel--more commonly known as Plan B--for over-the-counter use for women of all ages in 2013, it's not always easy to get--especially at local, mom-and-pop drug stores. According to a new study led by West Virginia University researcher Amie Ashcraft, chain pharmacies in West Virginia--like CVS and Walmart--are much more likely to stock emergency contraception than smaller independent pharmacies. It was available at 76.3 percent of the chain pharmacies her research team queried, whereas only 14.6 percent of independent pharmacies had it on hand. "We knew there would be a disparity but not to that degree," said Ashcraft, a research assistant professor and director of research in the School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine. "We were shocked." To assess the availability of emergency contraception at pharmacies across the state, Ashcraft and her colleagues trained women in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses at WVU to call pharmacies and--using a planned script--ask if emergency contraception was currently available. In one call, each woman introduced herself as a researcher and explained that she was gathering information for a study. In a second "mystery shopper" call, she pretended to be a 16-year-old seeking Plan B for herself. "Some of the pharmacies--especially the ones in the really small towns--physically aren't very big," she said. "They might choose to use their shelf space for medications for diabetes and COPD and choose not to carry Plan B. But reproduction should be a basic part of health that they address." Availability isn't the only issue, however. Just because a pharmacy stocks Plan B doesn't mean customers can get it conveniently. For instance, a pharmacy might keep it under lock and key, requiring customers to ask that the shelf be unlocked. Or a pharmacy employee might say--erroneously--that the customer needs to have a prescription or show an ID to get it. To gauge how accessible pharmacies made emergency contraception, callers also asked about its location in the store and any restrictions to buying it. The researchers deemed Plan B "completely accessible" if a pharmacy had it in stock at the time of the call, enforced no age restrictions, did not require an ID or parental approval and made it available without help from the pharmacy staff. Less than half of chain pharmacies--46.5 percent--made Plan B completely accessible. Far fewer independent pharmacies did: just 2.7 percent. Ashcraft attributes this disparity--at least in part--to corporate policy. "Chain pharmacies have their policy set at the corporate level, whereas independent pharmacies have more variability in their policies and procedures and may be less current in their knowledge of emergency contraception restrictions, or place a lower priority on such information," she said. "It was alarming how many times we heard answers like, 'We don't know. The laws just keep changing, and we can't keep up with them,'" she said. "But it's been available over the counter in all 50 states since 2013. If pharmacy staff doesn't know, how is your average 16-year-old supposed to?" And sometimes a pharmacy didn't give any information at all. "During the first couple of weeks of the study, one of our research assistants called me and said, 'I'm so sorry. I don't think I'm doing a good job. I think I'm messing up,'" Ashcraft said. "I asked, 'What do you mean?' And she said, 'Well, they keep hanging up on me as soon as I ask for emergency contraception.' And I was like, 'No, no, no, no. This is exactly what we want to know.' Imagine being a scared teen who genuinely needed emergency contraception and was intimidated by the process of getting it. How would you feel if the pharmacy staff hung up on you? It could shut you down." Not only were chain pharmacies more likely to make emergency contraception completely accessible, but overall, they were also more knowledgeable about its effectiveness. For instance, when employees at chain pharmacies were asked how long Plan B could be taken after unprotected sex and still work, only 14 percent of the employees said they didn't know. But at independent pharmacies, that number rose to 40 percent. (The correct answer: it's most effective within 72 hours.) Ashcraft and her team are now examining the differences between how pharmacy employees responded to callers who identified themselves as researchers and those who said they were teenagers in need of emergency contraception. They're also turning from the quantitative data to the qualitative. They've begun to parse the words pharmacy employees chose, evaluate their content and look for themes. "Plenty of them would say, 'Oh, we don't do that here,' or, 'We don't mess with that stuff,'" Ashcraft said. "Or we would have staff say, 'We have condoms. You might want to think about that next time' in a judgmental tone." Emergency contraception is the only form of contraception that works after the risk of exposure. For that reason, it's an important tool for preventing unintended pregnancy following unprotected sex, sexual assault or suspected contraceptive failure. "Easily accessible emergency contraception could help to reduce teen and unintended pregnancy in West Virginia," Ashcraft said. "The state has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and poverty in the country. Emergency contraception may be an important component in helping to break the state's generational cycle of poverty, unintended pregnancy and poor educational, social and health outcomes." ### Citation Title: Harder to get than you think: Levonorgestrel emergency contraception access in West Virginia community pharmacies DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2020.07.027 Link: https://www.japha.org/article/S1544-3191(20)30352-6/fulltext French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised to help mediate in the Belarusian political crisis during a meeting with opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. "We will do our best as Europeans to help mediate," Macron told reporters after the talks during his visit to Lithuania. "We had a very good discussion but now we need to be pragmatic and to support the Belarusian people and we will do our best, believe me," the French president added, without elaborating. Tikhanovskaya said: "He promised us to do everything just to help with mediation for this political crisis in our country," adding that she would soon be addressing the French parliament. The meeting was Tikhanovskaya's most high-profile meeting since a presidential election on August 9 in which she has claimed victory against strongman president Alexander Lukashenko. She has previously met EU foreign ministers and leaders of Poland and Lithuania, two EU states that border Belarus and have taken a lead in opposition Lukashenko's 26-year rule. Mass protests that have continued since the election have been met with a violent crackdown. Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the vote, said Macron promised to "do everything he can to release all the political prisoners". Russia dialogue On Monday, on his first day in Vilnius, Macron urged Belarus authorities to stop unlawful arrests, release protesters detained arbitrarily and respect election results. He had urged Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to go on Sunday, hardening his stance as tens of thousands marched in Belarus for a seventh straight weekend to demand Lukashenko quit. Macron is expected later in the day to visit French soldiers serving as part of a NATO battlegroup in the Lithuanian town of Rukla. The French leader is keen to reassure Baltic countries that his policy of "strategic dialogue" with Russia, initiated about a year ago, and his criticism of NATO, does not mean weaker French commitment to the security of eastern European countries. EU countries that escaped Moscow's orbit after the Cold War have criticised Macron's stance towards Russia. They say little has changed to merit a thaw in relations on ice since Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2014. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS) (CNN) Chinese President Xi Jinping believes his policies in the far-western region of Xinjiang are "completely correct," despite growing international criticism of alleged human rights abuses and mass internment. Up to 2 million Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, as well as other minorities, are believed to have passed through detention centers in the region in recent years, according to the US State Department, where they have allegedly been subject to political indoctrination and abuse under the guise of de-radicalization efforts. Speaking at a two-day work conference on Xinjiang that ended on Saturday, Xi said that China's Xinjiang strategy was correct "and must be adhered to in the long term." "The whole party must treat the implementation of the Xinjiang strategy as a political task, and work hard to implement it completely and accurately to ensure that the Xinjiang work always maintains in the correct political direction," Xi added, according to state media. "We must also continue the direction of Sinicizing Islam to achieve the healthy development of religion," Xi said. The Chinese leader added that "it is necessary to tell the story of Xinjiang in a multi-level, all-round, and three-dimensional manner, and confidently propagate the excellent social stability of Xinjiang." Even before the mass detention policy, Muslims in Xinjiang faced growing restrictions on practicing their religion, from limits on wearing the veil or growing beards, to pressure not to fast during Ramadan. Xi claimed current policies in Xinjiang have brought "unprecedented achievements" in economic growth, social development, and improvement in peoples' livelihoods. He added that "the sense of gain, happiness, and security among the people of all ethnic groups has continued to increase." His remarks come amid rising condemnation from Western nations including the United States over alleged human rights abuses in the region. Last week, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill called the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," which aims to prohibit certain imports from Xinjiang and impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations in the region. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly this month, French President Emmanuel Macron called for an official investigation into Xinjiang. Growing international pressure comes as many human rights groups have begun describing the situation in Xinjiang as a genocide, amid reports of mass sterilization of Uyghur women as part of state-driven efforts to push demographic change. Last week, Chinese authorities confirmed there had been a drop in birth rates in Xinjiang since 2018, but denied this was the result of sterilizations. The Xinjiang government said in a statement to CNN that the birth rate in the region had dropped from 15.88 per 1,000 people in 2017 to 10.69 per 1,000 people in 2018. The statement said that the drop was due to "the comprehensive implementation of the family planning policy." Former internees who spoke to CNN testified to receiving or being aware of forced sterilizations. Numerous other witnesses have spoken about widespread abuse and forced indoctrination in the camps. This story was first published on CNN.com China's President Xi says Xinjiang policies 'completely correct' amid growing international criticism After more than three decades delay, President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday inaugurated the 326 KM Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line for commercial operation as well as the ancillary facilities yard at the recently named Goodluck Jonathan Railway Complex in Agbor (Owa-Oyibu), Delta State. At the virtual opening of the rail line linking Itakpe to Warri, President Buhari directed the Federal Ministry of Transportation to link all the nations ports of origin and destination Apapa, Tin Can, Warri, Onne, Calabar Ports to the rail network in order to significantly improve overall transportation and economic capacities. The president declared that his administration recognised the importance of the railway mode of transportation as a vital backbone to support industrialisation and economic development. Accordingly, I have approved the prioritisation of viable railway routes for either new rail lines or the reconstruction and rehabilitation of some, to achieve effective and efficient train services supporting the countrys trade and commerce. The Railway Infrastructure that I have the honour to commission today is the rail line from Itakpe via the steel town complex of Ajaokuta to Warri, and is an important link for the countrys economy as the central rail line. This government has also approved to link this line further from Itakpe to Abuja, thereby, connecting the Northern Zone of the country and also extending southwards to link the Warri Ports, he said. The president expressed confidence that the project, which serves as a vital link of South-South geopolitical zones of the country to the Northern zones, would be completed during the tenure of this administration. It will link people across the cultural divides and expand the frontier of trade and commerce, which will lead to better standards of living for our citizens, he said. President Buhari recalled that to further give recognition to Nigerian sons and daughters who have distinguished themselves at nation building and development, 11 railway stations and railway village were named after some deserving citizens. He listed them as follows: Adamu Attah Station, Itakpe; Abubakar Olusola Saraki Station, Ajaokuta; Augustus Aikhomu Station, Itogbo; George Innih Station, Agenebode; Anthony Enahoro Station, Uromi; Tom Ikimi Station, Ekehen and Samuel Ogbemudia Station, Igbanke. Others are Goodluck Jonathan Railway Complex, Agbor, Owa-Oyibu; David Ejoor Station, Abraka; Michael Ibru Station, Opara; Alfred Rewane Station, Ujevwu; and Michael Akhigbe Railway Village, Agbor The president enjoined all Nigerians in the transportation industry, especially the railway sub-sector, to continue to support the government in its stride to achieve other railway infrastructure projects. He also enlisted the support of all at realizing this milestone of a functional and full-fledged central railway, after more than 30 years during which the project has suffered several setbacks and false starts. I implore those who work on this line to uphold maintenance and safety culture necessary for long-lasting service in this difficult terrain. By the same token, I urge other sectors who will be primary beneficiaries of this transportation backbone, including, the iron and steel sector, stakeholders in agricultural and mining sectors on this corridor, as well as the host communities to protect and sustain this infrastructure and maximize the benefits that could be derived from it and which is readily available at their doorsteps. This project will increase the volume of their trade and kickstart and resuscitate the iron and steel complexes. All these, I hope will improve our industrial potentials and capacities as well as boost employment, he said. President Buhari said projections indicate that the commencement of operation of the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Rail line will account for close to one million passengers annually and also unleash approximately 3.5 million tonnes capacity of freight annually that will service all off-takers on the corridor and beyond. Congratulating the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and his team on successfully completing the project, the president recognized the host communities on this corridor for their patience during the long wait of over 30 years for the realization of the project. He also commended the host communities for their cooperation during the completion works by the federal government. He assured Nigerians that his administration would continue, within available resources, to judiciously connect commercial and industrial hubs to boost trade, generate wealth and create employment. In his remarks, Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, commended President Buharis bi-partisan approach to governance, saying it is a thing of pride and joy that this rail line was completed under your watch. Deltans are excited that this day has come, he said, adding that the Ika nation is glad of the recognition accorded former President Goodluck Jonathan, in naming the railway complex in Agbor after him. Advertisements Mr Okowa urged the private sector to take advantage of the historic corridor by establishing investments that will create jobs for locals, curb youth restiveness and stem the tide of criminality. It is imperative that the federal government in collaboration with the States provide adequate security cover for this rail line corridor, he said. In his remarks, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, congratulated the president on the feat of completing the project, saying it is quite fortuitous that few days to the countrys 60th independence celebration, the president has achieved the completion of this critical infrastructure. For us in Edo State, we are excited that we have a few stops that have been completed and we are going to be working with you to utilise this infrastructure, he said. The Edo governor appealed to the minister of transportation to extend the rail line to the industrial park in Benin City to facilitate the movement of goods to the northern part of the country. In his remarks, Minister Amaechi said the project was fully funded by the Nigerian government, adding that 8 of the 10 stations are in the Niger-Delta/ South South region of the country. There is no loan on this project, it was funded from the budget and I had the directive of the president to go and revive it and complete it as soon as possible, he said. According to the transportation minister, the project started under the military era in 1987 but underwent protracted hiccups, prolonged abandonment and massive vandalisation, before it was resuscitated by the Buhari administration. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) Frustrated families woken in the middle of the night by bin divers rummaging for 10c refundable bottles have blasted enthusiastic recyclers for causing chaos in suburban streets. Bottle collectors have flocked to the quiet residential streets of Southport, in the Gold Coast, tipping over bins and leaving a mess. Residents say they are fed up with the noise disturbing their sleep and trail of rubbish left on their lawns. Southport residents say they are fed up with bin divers (pictured) regularly rummaging through their bins 'It happens between midnight and five in the morning, you would think a garbage truck was there with the sound of bottles and cans,' Grant Stephens told the Gold Coast Bulletin. 'People rock up and go through our rubbish, tipping it out onto the street, digging through it and then moving onto the next one. 'The noise keeps going and going, its very painful for the kids who are at uni trying to sleep before they have an exam or need to study, it is always so late.' Locals said they do not mind the bottles being taken, the issue lies with the regular racket and debris. Mr Stephens said while the divers make an effort to return rubbish into the bins, some remains scattered because they work in the dark. The father said when he asks the scavengers to stop they ignore him and keep going. He has contacted the Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Police but both said there is little they could do. A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson said the matter falls out of their jurisdiction. 'The city occasionally receives complaints of this nature however trespassing is a matter for QPS,' they said. Queensland Police said although people may be charged for going onto someone's property, with public nuisance or trespass, the behaviour is not technically illegal because the bin is no longer on private property. Deflect, Part II: And theres really no allegations in that New York Times story that he did anything to break the law, Joe Biden was part of making those tax laws over all the years that he was in the Congress,' Christie said on GMA. And so, you know, I think that the president should answer it that way and then move on to the other issues that I suspect will be much more of a concern to the people wholl be sitting on their couches in their living rooms and listening tonight. They want to know about their futures and what taxes theyll be paying over the next four years, rather than what taxes the president may have paid over the last 20. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 18:08:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's army said on Tuesday that a Pakistani soldier and a civilian were killed and four other civilians were injured in Indian forces' firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kashmir region. An army statement said the Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing in Baroh and Tandar sectors along the LoC "targeting the civilian population." A 15-year old boy was killed while four civilians including a woman and an 80-year-old male resident got injured, said the statement from the army's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations. "Pakistan army troops responded and targeted those posts which initiated fire. (There are) reports of substantial damage to Indian posts in men and material," said the statement, adding that in an intense exchange of fire, a soldier was also killed. Pakistan and India had declared a ceasefire along the LoC, the de facto border between both countries in the disputed Kashmir region. However, both sides routinely exchange fire and accuse each other of ceasefire violations. Tension has been heightened after India lifted the special status for the Indian-controlled Kashmir in August 2019. Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations, suspended trade relations and train service with India in response. Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan's army said a Pakistani soldier was killed in Indian forces' firing along the LoC. Enditem Joe Bidens campaign denied that he asked for breaks during his first debate with President Trump President Donald Trump requested that he and Joe Biden be checked for earpieces before their first debate. Read More: Biden releases 2019 taxes as pre-debate contrast with Trump Trump will be debating former vice president Biden tonight in a forum hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday will moderate. It will be the first of their three agreed upon debates but Trump made an unusual request before the first question was even uttered. President Donald Trump (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images), Joe Biden (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) The president wanted to the ears of each candidate checked with the insinuation being that Biden would be fed answers, Fox News reported on Tuesday. According to theGrio Trump also recently demanded that his challenger take a drug test. "I'm not joking" Trump says he's serious that he thinks Joe Biden is juicing pic.twitter.com/IPFaaQUC4J Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2020 Joe Bidens handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined. Bidens handlers have asked for multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump doesnt need, so we have rejected that request, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. On top of the refusal to take a drug test, it seems pretty obvious that the Biden team is looking for any safety net they can find in the hours leading up to the debate. With his 47 years as a failed Washington politician, how much help does Biden want? The Biden campaign was quick to call the demand of an ear check absurd and also denied that Biden needed breaks during the 90-minute debate. (Getty Images) His staff seems concerned that he may not do well tonight and theyre already laying the groundwork for how theyre going to lie about why, Kate Bedingfield, Bidens deputy campaign manager, told reporters. It is completely absurd. Of course, hes not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for breaks. Story continues Bedingfield also brought up the Trump campaign requesting in a tongue-in-cheek manner that Wallace not mention the deaths attributed to COVID-19. If were playing that game, the Trump team asked that Chris Wallace never mention the number of COVID deaths once during the debate. You can consider that confirmed from the Biden campaign. See how easy that was to try and throw out a distraction. It is pathetic. Its weak. Once again the Trump campaign is lying. Theyre going to process because they dont want to debate Joe Biden on the substance. You go to process when you cant go to substance. Read More: According to data leak, Trump campaign tried to suppress Black vote in 2016 The first presidential debate will air live tonight at 9 p.m. across all the major broadcast channels, cable news, and on social media. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! The post Trump requested he and Biden be checked for earpieces before debate appeared first on TheGrio. New Delhi: Seeking to assuage concerns of overseas investors, the government on Wednesday announced relief for well-regulated FPIs from tax liability arising out of sale of assets or shares in a foreign company due to redemption of an investment within India. Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed that category I and II foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) should be exempted from taxation on indirect transfers. In 2012, the Income-Tax Act was amended to provide for taxation of those transactions of transfer of shares or interest in a foreign entity deriving its value substantially from Indian assets, Jaitley said. Apprehensions have been raised about some difficulties which arise because of this provision in case of transfer of stake of investors of India-based funds located abroad, but investing in India-based companies, he added. In order to remove this difficulty, Jaitley has proposed to exempt FPI category I and II from the indirect transfer provision. I also propose to issue a clarification that indirect transfer provision shall not apply in the case of redemption of shares or interests outside India as a result of or arising out of redemption or sale of investment in India which is chargeable to tax in India, he said. Category I FPIs include sovereign wealth funds and central banks and category II includes mutual funds and banks. However, hedge funds, individuals and other high-risk foreign investors will not get this relief. Pranay Bhatia, Partner, Direct Tax at BDO India, said the proposed amendment to the law would set at rest apprehensions of foreign investors. Last month, the tax department had kept in abeyance its recent circular on indirect transfer of shares by foreign investors, who were wary of multiple taxation. The move came after CBDT received representations from various FPIs, FIIs, venture capital funds and other stakeholders. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Amnesty said it was in compliance with all Indian laws and had received no formal communication from the authorities regarding the freezing of its bank accounts earlier this month. No charges have been filed against the organization, it said. It plans to challenge the freezing of its accounts in court but said it did not expect a ruling soon. Moro Hub, a subsidiary of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has collaborated with Smart Dubai for the provision of a high-end node to accelerate the digital transformation initiatives of Dubai Government entities and avail the latest digital services. Dubai Government Information Network (GIN) is the internetworking infrastructure providing the information backbone between Dubai government entities and the Internet. GIN serves as the cornerstone of the electronic infrastructure connecting government systems that effectively transfers information and handles transactions. The network comprises of secure and highly robust mesh infrastructure connecting all government offices by using state-of-the-art multi-service networking technology. In line with the digital adoption in Dubai and the implementation of the Dubai Paperless Strategy, the collaboration agreement was signed digitally by both parties through the secured UAE pass that embodies the digital transformation evolution in Dubai and UAE. Vice Chairman Engineer Marwan Bin Haider said Moro Hub's collaboration with Smart Dubai brings value-added offerings to government entities. "To this effect, Smart Dubai has hosted a high-end node in Moro Hub Data Centre to cater to the GIN connectivity requirements of the government entities. This will enable Dubai government entities hosted in Moro Hub to connect seamlessly to GIN without any additional investments," he noted. Dubai is leading the change in adopting advanced technologies and spearheading innovation. This has fast-tracked its digital goals to embrace the future and emerge as a world-leading city by 2021 he added. Smart Dubai Government Establishment CEO Wesam Lootah said: "The adoption of digitalization across Dubais various government institutions is the essential underpinning of this transformation and will help ensure that Dubais citizens, residents and visitors enjoy cutting-edge government services that both enhance their quality of life and place Dubai at the forefront of the worlds most advanced metropolises." Moro Hub is a digital transformation service provider with a diversified portfolio offering cloud, digital services, cybersecurity, colocation and professional and managed services. Being accredited by Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) certified Cloud Service Provider (CSP) in the UAE, the Dewa unit shows its commitment to offer world-class secured infrastructure and services, he added.-TradeArabia News Service It takes tremendous courage to speak out publicly and to expose wrongdoing at your company, the government agency where you work, or to call out fellow police officers who overstep their authority. Even with existing laws to protect these whistleblowers, there can be significant repercussions. And it is getting worse. Whistleblowers are under attack. That can have a chilling effect on society, potentially allowing fraud, conflicts of interest, injustice and even corruption to remain hidden. Whistleblowers shed light on incompetence and corruption that would otherwise go unseen. They provide public service in all areas of society. Recently, in response to a wake of protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other Black Americans, the Connecticut state Legislature passed an important police accountability bill designed to improve policing in Connecticut. One crucial aspect to the bill involves the duty to intervene if they see an officer using excessive force. Thankfully, there is a law on the books designed to protect police officers who call out fellow officers for their wrongdoing. While this bill is a step in the right direction, one concern is that despite the laws that protect whistleblowers, they still may face repercussions. Unfortunately, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, weve seen alarming attempts to punish whistleblowers. The highly publicized case of Dr. Rick Bright is just one example. He was ousted as director of the Department of Health and Human Services Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority because he spoke up. Well in advance of COVID-19 becoming a pandemic, he warned the Trump administration of the urgent need to stock up on masks and related supplies. When Bright testified before Congress in May he said that lives were lost due to the federal governments painfully slow response to the pandemic. He said he was retaliated against for opposing the use of hydroxychloroquine, the dangerous chemical that President Trump advocated as a preventative treatment for the virus. In response to speaking up with the truth, he was bounced from his high-ranking position and verbally attacked by President Trump and other administration officials. Trump called him a disgruntled employee. Whistleblowers, and, incidentally, the news media, are key to keeping the powerful from hiding questionable and often self-serving arrangements. Throughout history, they have had enormous impact. Whistleblowers exposed Watergate, the failures of the Vietnam War and the massive accounting fraud that brought down Enron and WorldCom. They exposed secret Swiss bank accounts and the health dangers of nicotine in tobacco products. According to the D.C.-based National Whistleblower Center, a whistleblower typically works inside the organization where the wrongdoing occurs. But its not always necessary to be an agency or company insider. What is important, according to the center, is that the individual discloses information about wrongdoing that would not be otherwise known. Unfortunately, current whistleblower protection laws are no longer sufficient. Retribution still occurs. Some states even have made it a crime for employees to file public complaints about the employer. The twisted logic: You really werent intending to be an employee. You got a job here so you could go undercover and try to find something to expose. During the Trump impeachment hearings, a crucial witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, was prematurely transferred back to the Pentagon from his position at the White House National Security Council. He had publicly testified that he was alarmed after hearing Trump ask Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. It is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent, he said. Vindman, a 44-year-old Purple Heart recipient, was escorted out of the White House just two days after the Senate failed to convict Trump on the charges for which he had been impeached. Clearly, whistleblower protection is insufficient. In many cases, laws protect the anonymity of the whistleblower but there are times, as with Vindman, when their identities become public. They are still being retaliated against. They are courageous despite the potential, and even likelihood, of being scorned. They often live in fear of reprisals. We need to protect the whistleblower in these cases and others. The laws are weak. We must maintain the integrity behind the intent of the whistleblower laws. We need to do more. Preston Tisdale, an attorney at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, is an officer of the Public Justice Foundation. He serves on the board of governors of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, and on the Connecticut Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System. Second-graders listen to teacher Darsi Green at Weaverville Elementary School in Trinity County in Northern California. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Keen to send the nations kids back to reopened schools, President Trump has called children virtually immune, essentially immune and almost immune to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But a new report by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscores how wrong those assertions are. Children can catch, suffer and die from the coronavirus, according to the report. Between March 1 and Sept. 19, at least 277,285 schoolchildren in 38 states tested positive for the virus. And 51 of them including 20 youngsters 5 to 11 years old died of COVID-19. In all, 3,189 children ages 5 to 17 were hospitalized. With more than 56 million U.S. kids attending primary and secondary schools this fall, understanding how the coronavirus affects school-age children "might inform decisions about in-person learning and the timing and scaling of community mitigation measures," the CDC researchers wrote. For instance, throughout the spring and summer, the incidence of coronavirus infections was about twice as high among middle and high schoolers as it was for elementary school students. School-age children with asthma and other chronic lung diseases accounted for roughly 55% of those who tested positive, and almost 10% had some kind of disability. As with adults, Latino children far outpaced their share of the population in testing positive, accounting for 46% of those who tested positive during the 6-month period studied by the CDC. And although Trump has said he does not believe school-age children get sick from the virus, at least 58% of those who tested positive had COVID-19 symptoms at the time they were tested, the CDC researchers reported. The new research, published Monday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, is one of the public health agencys first efforts to count and characterize coronavirus infections in the nations school-age population. As a new school year gets underway and some schools reopen to students, it will be "critical to have a baseline for monitoring trends in COVID-19 infection among school-aged children," the authors wrote. Story continues William Hanage, an infectious diseases researcher at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said its no surprise that adolescents, who are more independent and less likely to maintain social distance, would have higher rates of infection. At the same time, he added, the report almost certainly underestimates cases in the younger age group. When and where schools reopen and students return to classrooms, opportunities for transmission will escalate. And this report underlines that kids do transmit, said Hanage. The result a rise in cases among young learners is predictable, he suggested. Already, a few of those trends were clear. Others will require further data and closer dissection. The CDC researchers tallied a weekly average of 37.4 cases for every 100,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17, compared with a weekly average of 19 cases per 100,000 children ages 5 to 11. The younger kids were slightly less likely than their older peers to have recorded the presence of symptoms at the time they were tested, by a margin of 56.1% vs. 59.6%. But in 37% of all cases cited, symptom status was missing or unknown. The summer months brought spikes in infections among school-age children as a whole, and especially among adolescents, the CDC team found. But as classes have resumed across the nation some remotely, some in person a summer-long run-up in positive coronavirus tests may have begun to reverse itself. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the incidence of weekly infections went on a wild roller-coaster ride, reaching a peak of nearly 38 cases per 100,000 school-age children in mid-July before leveling off at about 34 cases per 100,000 kids in late August. By the first full week of September, cases fell to 22.6 per 100,000. However, as the school year got going in earnest, the first hints of spread became apparent. By the week that ended Sept. 19, the incidence of weekly cases was back up to 26.3 per 100,000 children. The incubation period for the coronavirus is typically four to five days, though it could be as long as two weeks, according to the CDC. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease and preventive medicine expert at Vanderbilt University, said that despite the unresolved details, the thrust of the report is clear: Children are not invulnerable. This stands in stark contrast to what weve heard time and time again from politicians: that this disease does not affect children. Really? Here, we see there are at least 51 families who will be grieving for a very long time, Schaffner said. More than 3,000 other children have been hospitalized, he added, putting their families in agony. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Congress on Tuesday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and women leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), attacking the ruling party over the gang-rape of a 19-year-old woman in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras who died in New Delhis Safdarjung Hospital. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi led the charge against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the incident, saying the class-specific jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh had killed another young woman. The woman was left with her legs paralysed fully and hands partially after the assault by four men on September 14. The government said that this is fake news and left the victim to die. Neither was this unfortunate incident fake nor was the death of the victim and the mercilessness of the government, Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. The attack on the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government came after the Dalit woman from Hathras died at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi Tuesday morning, days after she was allegedly raped by four men. The woman was allegedly gang-raped following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to the Delhi hospital on Monday after her condition failed to improve . The woman had gone to the fields with her mother and then went missing. She was later found injured, with her tongue cut because she bit it when the rapists attempted to strangulate her, the police said. The Congress on Tuesday protested at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi, demanding justice for the victim. Its leaders PL Punia, Udit Raj and Amrita Dhawan, along with other functionaries were later detained at the Mandir Marg Police station. Party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government, alleging that there was no semblance of security for women in the state. A Dalit girl who was victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras has passed away at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks, she struggled between life and death in hospitals, she tweeted in Hindi. Priyanka Gandhi said incidents of rape in Hathras, Shahjahanpur and Gorakhpur had shaken Uttar Pradesh. Law and order in UP has deteriorated beyond limits. There is no semblance of safety for women. Criminals are committing crimes in the open, she said and demanded that the killers of this girl be punished severely. You are accountable for the safety of women in UP, she said, referring to chief minister Adityanath. At a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that for eight days, no gang-rape charges had been pressed and only after the media reported the incident did the police register a case. She said the UP chief ministers information advisor and the Agra Police, up until September 24, kept calling this fake news. Questions still remain. Why did it take eight days for the UP police to register a gang-rape case on her complaint, why was she immediately not transferred to a premier institute like AIIMS {All India Institute of Medical Sciences}, and instead was left to die in UP? she asked. Why is it that these men who brutally assaulted, raped and murdered her, do not face NSA (National Security Act) charges and why is it that the UP chief minister is absolutely quiet on this? Shrinate said. The Congress leader alleged the police were hand in glove with criminals in UP while the state government extends political patronage to them. I will also raise questions on the absolute conspicuous silence of the Prime Minister, and women leaders of the BJP who had at one point in time said it is their moral duty to raise their voice on crimes against women and today when they are in charge of those departments, they do not utter a word, she said. If one does not condemn this, then one is very much hand in glove with the criminals, Shrinate added. BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav also spoke out. In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, The news of the death of Dalit victim after gangrape in Hathras, UP is very saddening. The government should provide all possible help to the victims family and ensure fast punishment to the culprits by prosecuting them in a fast track court. This is the demand of the BSP. Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav condoled the death of a Dalit daughter. A Dalit daughter, who was a victim of gangrape and brutality, ultimately died. I condole her death. No hope is left with the present insensitive government, Yadav wrote in a tweet in Hindi. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the young womans death was a shame for the entire society and the country as well as for all governments. Its highly sad that so many daughters are being sexually assaulted and we have not been able to protect them. The guilty must be hanged at the earliest, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste signals an abnormal aspect in the way a significant number of people regard food but also urges us to find solutions to restore balance, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday. The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is marked on September 29, according to a decision made by the United Nations General Assembly last year."Half a century ago and even less, the possibility of a global food waste alert would probably have seemed bizarre to absurd. But things are changing fast, and today the world is finding that food is becoming garbage in many developed countries, while in poor or conflict-ridden areas of the globe entire populations are threatened by famine," Orban said in a message on the occasion.In his opinion, by marking such a day, some individual behaviours can change."Of course, states will remain concerned about the safety of their citizens in terms of access to food - even in the form of abundance, in the rich ones. Of course, trade in food will not diminish. However, some individual behaviours can be changed, in the sense of not making purchases that exceed the consumption capacity, and alternatives can be created to throw away food that is about to expire, with the involvement of institutions, companies and society," the Prime Minister explained.He recalled that Romania is among the European countries that have already adopted a legislative framework designed to reduce food waste, and the concept of food banks has emerged on the continent, through the efforts of people and entities interested in reducing waste, while supporting instead those in need and recovering thus the food surplus, which is donated to charities that support disadvantaged people, both locally and cross-border.Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has called for moderate consumption behaviour so as to minimize the amount of food that is wasted. By PTI MUMBAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opposed the bail pleas filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Bombay High Court following their arrest in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The siblings were "active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers", the NCB said in an affidavit filed before the HC on Monday. The NCB further said both Rhea Chakraborty and her brother had "abetted and financed" drug transactions. Therefore, the agency had booked them under the stringent section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said in the affidavit. Section 27A provides punishment for up to 10 years for financing drug trafficking and harbouring offenders, and also carries a bar on grant of bail. On previous hearings, the actress and her brother opposed the application of the above section in their case. Their counsel Satish Maneshinde last week argued that the section did not apply in the present case as Rhea Chakraborty occasionally paid for drugs that were consumed only by her boyfriend, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He had further argued that the drugs seized by the NCB so far in the case amounted to just 59 grams, which wasn't a commercial quantity, therefore, section 27A should not be applied in their case. On September 24, a bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal suggested that the NCB file its reply to the bail pleas of Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, who were arrested earlier this month and are currently in judicial custody. The court had also said that the NCB must elaborate on the provisions of section 27A and its applicability in the present case. NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Monday submitted two separate affidavits in the HC wherein it said, "Electronic evidence such as WhatsApp chats, records were retrieved from mobile, laptop and hard-disk and it indicated payment made for drugs." ALSO READ | Need to look into legal aspects: AIIMS forensic chief on report in Sushant Singh Rajput's death "Thus, there is ample evidence to show present applicant Rhea has not only regularly dealt with but also financed illicit trafficking of drugs," the NCB said. The NCB further said in the affidavit that Rhea Chakraborty was aware of the fact that Rajput was into consumption of drugs, and yet she had "harboured and concealed" it. "This would tantamount to harbouring. Rhea also allowed her residence for drug storage and consumption by Rajput," the affidavit said. "It is clear from the statements and electronic evidence gathered by the NCB that the applicant is an active member of the drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers. There is sufficient evidence that she is involved in drug trafficking," it said. It also said that Rhea Chakraborty and her brother used to facilitate drug deliveries and payment through credit cards, cash and other payment gateways. If the siblings are released on bail, they could hamper the probe that is currently in a "crucial stage", the NCB said. The high court will hear the bail pleas of the actress and her brother along with the bail pleas of co-accused Samuel Miranda, Abdul Parihar and Dipesh Sawant on Tuesday. Rajput (34) was found hanging in his home in suburban Bandra on June 14. In the wake of the high-profile killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others, many white evangelical churches have shown renewed interest in matters of racial reconciliation. Some have joined protest marches, hosted conversations with local black pastors, or participated in citywide prayer vigils. But others, unsure how to respond, have taken the path of least resistance. In Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation, Mark Vroegop, lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis, argues that recovering the biblical practice of lament can help the church speak where it is tempted toward silence. Kathryn Freeman, a writer and master of divinity student at Baylor University, spoke with Vroegop about his book. How did it occur to you to bring together the topics of lament and racial justice? Weep with Me was born out of my first book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy. The more I explored lament as a biblical category and as a way for people to navigate their grief, the more I saw parallels and possible applications in the area of racial reconciliation. In my own experience pastoring a church, trying to help hurting people, and with grief in general, Ive found that the language of lament is really helpful, since it has the capacity to move people toward one another rather than pushing them away. And this has important implications for how we discuss racism and racial injustice within the church. Why do you think lament is such an important part of the journey toward racial reconciliation? When the subject of racial reconciliation comes up, people often lack a common language for discussing it. We dont always understand what other people mean when they use certain words. Lament helps ... 1 You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. MUMBAI Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena, appears to be in a dilemma over the contentious farm laws passed recently by Parliament. The Centre had issued three ordinances in June, replacing them with three bills Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Bill, 2020, and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which were passed by Parliament last week. After the bills were passed, deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar announced that the state government would not implement the farm laws in the state. Revenue minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat also claimed that the three ruling parties have opposed the bills and the issue would be discussed in a coordination committee meeting. However, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray hasnt yet made a public comment on the row. His government had even issued a circular in August, directing the local authorities to implement in letter and spirit the ordinance that preceded the legislation. I am sure after due deliberations, all three parties will be on the same page. The Congress and NCP have already opposed the implementation of the laws. The issue will now be discussed with the Sena, Thorat told HT. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the decision on implementation of the laws will be taken by the government. We had opposed the bills in Parliament and I fully agree with the sentiments expressed by the Congress-NCP leaders. CM Thackeray has been holding discussions with his cabinet colleagues and the decision will be announced by him, he said. On Monday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked all Congress-ruled states to explore the possibility of enacting the legislation under Article 254(2) of the Constitution to negate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central governments anti-agricultural laws and prevent grave injustice from being done to farmers. A senior Congress leader in Maharashtra said they were holding consultations within the party and with their alliance partners. We are consulting with the law and judiciary department. It will be discussed in a coordination meeting of ruling parties. The Shiv Senas stance on the bills was initially shaky, but they have realised the nuances of the laws after nationwide protests, said a Congress leader, on condition of anonymity. The circular on implementation was issued on August 10 by Maharashtra marketing director Satish Soni. As per the provisions in the ordinances, the farmers are free to market their produce at field, factory, warehouse or cold storage without any hindrance and without any market fee applicable under APMC Act. Any other fee or charges applicable under APMC Act cannot be charged now as per the provisions made in the ordinances. The law and judiciary department has vetted the ordinances and validated its applicability. Though the existence of the APMCs has not been affected by promulgation of the ordinance, the farmers will have a parallel mechanism to get fair prices for their produce. The market committees are expected to implement the provisions in the ordinances effectively, the circular stated. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON "First and foremost, I would like to extend an apology on behalf of the District and the Board of School Directors to the student who was involved and to his family. They did not ask for this incident to occur, nor do they deserve the negative attention that it has brought." - school board President Tina Stoll Following two decades of research on a group of rare diseases called hypereosinophilic syndrome at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug Nucala (mepolizumab) for use in the treatment of patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome. Hypereosinophilic syndrome, also known as HES, is a life-threatening group of blood disorders that involve having high levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell that plays an important role in the immune system. Over time, these overly high levels of eosinophils enter tissues and organs and cause damage. Until now, high doses of corticosteroids were used to lower eosinophil levels to prevent damage to organs. However, disease flares still happen, and these disease flares cause dangerous damage to the body. The FDA stated in a Sept. 25 news release that the agency had approved Nucala (mepolizumab) for patients 12 or older with HES for six months or longer without another identifiable non-blood related cause of the disease. "We at Cincinnati Children's scored a home run in that we have been pursuing this for two decades on behalf of patients through our research," said Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders at Cincinnati Children's. "We specialize in eosinophilic disorders, and this is a big breakthrough for the patients," added Rothenberg, who was involved in related translational research and the clinical trials of mepolizumab that preceded FDA approval. "People with rare diseases have to really fight for improved treatments and their on-label approval, and it's a long journey." Mepolizumab, a biological antibody that blocks the eosinophil growth factor IL-5, was approved as an asthma drug in 2015. FDA approval to treat hypereosinophilic syndrome means "that patients with HES have a treatment option that will reduce their disease flares and have improved health, without substantial side effects of this medicine," Rothenberg said. Rothenberg focuses his lab's research on elucidating the mechanisms of allergic responses, especially in mucosal tissues such as the gastrointestinal tract and lung. Support for Rothenberg's research has included funding from the Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases (CURED), which welcomed news of FDA approval for the new use of mepolizumab. "This decision means so much to patients and their families," said Ellyn Kodroff, founder and director of the Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases. "Having FDA approval allows patients to afford this drug with insurance coverage, giving hope for a better and longer life. CURED is so proud to have raised and donated millions of dollars funding translational research underlying the rationale for targeting interleukins for eosinophilic conditions, like mepolizumab does. This continuing research supporting unmet needs for rare eosinophilic diseases is life changing." Rothenberg began researching eosinophils as a doctoral student at Harvard University in the 1990s. It was at that time that he showed involvement of IL-5 in human disease and its effects on eosinophils. At Cincinnati Children's, Rothenberg, along with other researchers around the world, provided evidence that eosinophils were pro-inflammatory cells involved in allergic diseases. Rothenberg and his colleagues contributed to the rationale of targeting eosinophils, including performing clinical studies in patients with a variety of eosinophilic disorders. In 2008, Rothenberg led an international group of investigators to conduct a randomized clinical trial that proved the ability of mepolizumab to lower oral steroid doses in patients with HES (Rothenberg et al. New England Journal of Medicine 2008 Mar 20;358(12):1215-28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa070812. Epub 2008 Mar 16. PMID: 18344568). Despite meeting the primary endpoint of the study, the FDA tightened its criteria for approval of mepolizumab, Rothenberg said. It took an additional decade of research to eventually meet the FDA's requested endpoints, focused on the clinical benefit of mepolizumab in this rare disease population. As described in a recent publication in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology of the results of the phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in adolescent and adult patients with HES investigating the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab, mepolizumab was shown to reduce the number of HES disease flares (Roufesse et al. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2020 Sep 18; S0091-6749(20)31276-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2020.08.037.). The 108 patients in the trial were from 39 centers and 13 countries. ### The clinical trial was supported by GlaxoSmithKline. Underlying research in the Rothenberg CURED Laboratory was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases (CURED), Sunshine Charitable Foundation and its supporters Denise and David Bunning.

Mr Lukashenko's son Viktor and members of his government also face the penalties, including frozen assets and travel bans.

The eastern European nation has been gripped by protests since a disputed election on 9 August, with violence meted out against demonstrators and more than 12,000 arrested.

Despite many countries - including the UK - claiming the results were rigged, Mr Lukashenko was sworn in as president in a secret ceremony last week.

The sanctions are the first to be imposed on the Belarus leader by major Western powers.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko's violent and fraudulent regime.

"We don't accept the results of this rigged election.

"We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights."

Canadian foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said: "Canada will not stand by silently as the Government of Belarus continues to commit systematic human rights violations and shows no indication of being genuinely committed to finding a negotiated solution with opposition groups."

Mr Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, was the landslide winner of the election and denies the result was rigged.

The European Union is also planning sanctions, but so far has not finalised its list.

The full list of those hit by the UK and Canada sanctions is:

  • Alexander Lukashenko, president
  • Viktor Lukashenko, his son and national security adviser
  • Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, the president's chief of staff
  • Yuri Karayev, the minister of internal affairs
  • Alexander Barsukov, the chief of public security police
  • Yuri Nazarenko, commander of internal troops
  • Khazalbek Atabekov, deputy commander of internal troops
  • Dmitry Balaba, commander of the special purpose police unit of Minsk
Neighbours of the billionaire Perich family are flabbergasted that a main intersection has been built next to the entrance of its sprawling dairy operation near Sydney's second airport, giving their property easy access to a key north-south arterial route. The state government decided on putting traffic lights in front of the Perich farm's main entrance, instead of 200 metres further along the four-lane Northern Road, where an intersection used by hundreds of people who live on a side road has been downgraded, severely inconveniencing them. Small landowners Paul Coyto and Peter Srzich at the new traffic lights in front of the Leppington Pastoral Company's main entrance. Credit:Peter Rae The new intersection is also near an underpass built beneath the upgraded Northern Road at Bringelly in western Sydney. An Auditor-General report last week noted the underpass was constructed for Tony and Ron Perich's Leppington Pastoral Company, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $10 million. Small landowners near the Perich farm one of Australia's largest dairy operations say the intersection is further evidence that state and federal governments have overlooked them in favour of large property owners near Western Sydney Airport. Tamil Nadu on Tuesday reported 5,546 new COVID-19 cases, inching towards six lakh tally while the death toll moved closer to 10,000 mark with 70 more fatalities. In view of a string of measures taken to combat the virus, the state's recovery rate was above 90.50 per cent while the mortality rate "pretty low" at 1.60 per cent, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said. Of the fresh infections, Chennai logged 1,277, nearby Chengelpet and Tiruvallur 330 and 279 respectively, a health department bulletin said. The total positive cases stood at 5,91,943, of which the state capital accounted for 1,66,029. A 26-year old woman, two men in their 30s, and two nonagenarians were among those succumbed to the deadly virus and in total 66 of the 70 had co-morbidities. The death toll mounted to 9,453, including 3,195 from Chennai, Coimbatore 425, Chengelpet 551 and Tiruvallur 545. Active cases were 46,281 with 5,501 patients getting discharged from various hospitals and 5,36,209 people have recovered till date, the bulletin said. A total of 85,997 RT-PCR samples were tested and cumulatively, 72,67,122 specimens had been examined. There are 186 COVID-19 testing labs, including 66 in the government sector. Addressing a virtual meet of district collectors from the state secretariat, the Chief Minister said though Tamil Nadu had a low mortality rate, it needed to be further reduced and district collectors, in consultation with health officials, should intensify measures to make it happen. Specialty drugs to treat COVID like tocilizumab, remdesvir and enoxaparin have been stocked in government hospitals. So far Rs 7,323 crore has been spent on prevention, treatment and relief for the coronavirus pandemic, he said. Towards medical expenditure Rs 1,983 crore and Rs 5,340 crore for relief has been spent, he added. As many as 1,40,091 beds, including those in COVID care centres and 6,492 ventilators were available, he noted. Palaniswami appealed to the people to continue to extend full cooperation to the government's efforts to tackle the pandemic. Former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) at a campaign event in Detroit, Mich., on March 3, 2020. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) Gabbard Highlights Bipartisan Bill Seeking to Ban Ballot Harvesting After Minnesota Allegations Former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) joined with Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) to introduce a bill this month that would put pressure on states that let third-parties collect mail-in ballots from voters, a practice known as ballot harvesting. Right now, there are still many states in our country that allow for something called ballot harvesting. This is a system that allows for third parties to collect and deliver ballots for other people, potentially large numbers of people. Unfortunately, ballot harvesting has allowed for fraud and abuse to occur by those who could tamper with or discard ballots to try to sway an election for or against a certain candidate or party, Gabbard said in a video statement about the bill earlier in September. Gabbard highlighted the bill after videos released by the watchdog Project Veritas group allegedly showed people engaging in ballot harvesting and pay-for-vote schemes. Project Veritas offers further evidence of the need to ban ballot harvesting, she wrote on Twitter on Monday. Its not a partisan issue. Its been abused to help both R & D candidates, including in North Carolina & California. Please help by telling your congressional rep to pass our bipartisan bill HR8285. The legislation, dubbed the Election Fraud Prevention Act, would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to bar federal payments to states that allow ballot harvesting. House Administration Committee ranking member Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) speaks during a hearing before the House Administration Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The text of the legislation has not yet been released, though the bill has been introduced in the House. No other official action has been taken as of yet. Davis, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, also said that he sees ballot harvesting as nonpartisan issue. Allowing any individual, including political operatives, to pick up multiple voters ballots and deliver them to a polling location undermines the integrity of our elections, he said in a statement when the bill was introduced. Weve seen ballot harvesting widely used in states like California and a recent court case in North Carolina outlined the clear opportunities for fraud and coercion with the ballot harvesting process. This bipartisan bill will encourage states to ban this process that is ripe for fraud and is a major threat to the integrity of our elections. Several other bills aimed at preventing ballot harvesting were introduced by Davis during the current Congress, including H.R. 4736, which would block funding to states unless the state prohibits people from collecting and transmitting a ballot for an election for federal office that was mailed to another person, other than a family member or caregiver, or an election official or U.S. Postal Service employee. Minneapolis police officials are investigating the voter fraud allegations brought forth by Project Veritas. More than two months have passed since an Illinois mother disappeared after helping an acquaintance drive up north, and her daughter is worried. Laura Wolfe-Orlovich, 46, of Marion, Illinois, has not been seen or heard from since the middle of July, her daughter, Amber Whitlock, told Dateline. Amber, who moved from Illinois to Florida in 2011, said she talks to her mom every day. Shes my best friend, Amber told Dateline. There wasnt a day that went by that we didnt talk. So to go almost 75 days now without speaking to her is just unbearable. Laura Wolfe-Orlovich and her daughter, Amber. Amber last spoke to her mom on July 15, 2020. When she tried to call her a couple of days later, her mothers phone was off. My moms phone is never off, Amber explained. She always has it on. To play music. To play games. Its her communication. So right away, something felt wrong. It was just alarming. Amber said she began calling around the Marion area to ask if anyone had seen or heard from her mom. Her moms roommates told her that Laura had left the house on July 15 with an acquaintance she had met through a previous roommate. The man, known as Snoop, asked her to help drive up north to Chicago, Illinois because his son had been killed. He had told both Laura and her roommates that he needed her to drive because his license was suspended and he was distraught. She agreed and told the roommates shed be back on Friday. Thats who she is, Amber explained. If anyone needs help, shes always right there to help. Especially when it has to do with a child. I think that story tugged on her heart strings. The roommates told Amber that Laura and the man left in his gold 1998 GMC Yukon SUV. The next day, Laura called her roommates and stated she was in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She told them she was stuck and needed help getting a ride home. They were working on getting her a train or bus ticket home, Amber said. And then she called them again early Friday morning. And sounded even more desperate to get home. Both times the roommates heard a man yelling at her to get off the phone. That was the last time anyone spoke to her. Story continues Lauras phone was shut off later that day, Amber said. Amber continued to try calling her mom on Friday and Saturday. But the phone had died. On Sunday, July 19, Amber filed a missing persons report with the Marion Police Department in Marion, Illinois. Detective Chris Ramage is the lead detective on the case. Its an ongoing and active case right now and every angle is being worked and developed, Det. Ramage told Dateline. We encourage anyone who might have seen Laura or knows her whereabouts to call police. Detective Ramage confirmed that Laura was last known to be with a male acquaintance and that she was last spotted in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He declined to offer any further details on the case due to it being an ongoing investigation. Amber told Dateline that her mother would have never run off and leave her life behind. Laura has family and friends in Marion, Illinois, along with her dog, Daisy. She has this dog, Daisy, whos pretty much her baby, Amber said. She would have never just left her. It was like one of her children. Laura Wolfe-Orlovich and her dog, Daisy. And Laura had big plans for the next few months. Her mother, who has dementia, has been living with Amber in Florida for the last few years, and Laura was packed up and scheduled to move down there at the end of July to help with her care. Laura is also about to be a grandmother. Im 30 weeks pregnant, Amber said. My mom is supposed to be here. To go through this with me. To help me be a good mom like her. Shes supposed to be here for my baby. Since July, Amber has been passing out fliers and posting to social media, including to the page Where is Laura Wolfe/Orlovich? trying to find out what happened. And she is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to her mothers whereabouts. The community has really come together to try to find out what happened to my mom, Amber said. She describes her mom as a wonderful person who is funny and has a big heart. Laura Wolfe-Orlovich and her daughter, Amber. Shes never met a stranger, Amber explained. Its a blessing and a curse. Because thats what Im afraid got her into trouble. Shes too trusting. Im just worried something happened. We just need to get her home. Laura is described as being 56" tall and weighing approximately 200-225 pounds with long, curly light brown hair and blue eyes. She has two tattoos, one on her lower back and a hummingbird and flower on her thigh. Anyone who may have information about Lauras whereabouts is asked to contact the Marion Police Department in Marion, Illinois, at 618-993-2124. Traders wear masks as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues New York, May 27, 2020. Tuesday's sell-off after a three-day bounce signals continued stock market volatility, and the possibility that the correction is not yet over. The S&P 500 was up, down, sideways and down again Tuesday, finishing the day at 3,335. It had declined amid new concerns about the coronavirus spreading in New York and then ended the day a half percent lower ahead of Tuesday evening's potentially pivotal presidential debate. "Whenever there's a close election, the market tends to go flat or down in the run up, and on a quick and clear resolution, the market tends to rally hard," said Binky Chadha, Deutsche Bank chief global strategist. Democrat Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump in the polls but his lead has fallen from 10 percentage points earlier in the summer to 6.1 points Tuesday, according to RealClearPolitics average of polls. Biden's average lead had been 6.9 percentage points Monday. Strategists say the debate could be a draw, but if one candidate looks stronger, it could move the market and it could also move the polls. "If the polls continue to tighten as they have been for the last three months now, you should expect people to buy more protection. You should expect the market to sell off," said Chadha. Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, said the market was lifted early in the day by a flood of retail orders. "Once those retail orders had been executed, I think the market essentially kissed the 50-day moving average and [was] being repelled from it," he said. "I'm of the mindset we touch the 200-day moving average before this correction runs its its course," he said. The 200-day moving average is at 3,109, and it is the average of the last 200 closing levels. It is a widely watched momentum indicator and is often a support level when the market is moving lower. JUSTICEINFO.NET IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Ugur Ungor Professor at the NIOD Institute for war, holocaust and genocide studies in Amsterdam. Almost a decade after the revolution and the beginning of the civil war in Syria, several countries in Europe have started to try Syrian individuals. Former rebel commanders, Islamist fighters, ISIS members or Syrian intelligence officers, they are accused of terrorism, war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity. Ugur Ungor is a professor at the NIOD Institute in Amsterdam who researches mass violence in the Middle East and has interviewed hundreds of Syrian refugees. For Justice Info, he looks at the limits of these trials and the risks of building Syrian history on it. JUSTICEINFO.NET: How would you place Syria in the contemporary history of mass violence? UGUR UNGOR: Since World War II, there have been a number of civil wars around the world, in Colombia, in Algeria, in Tajikistan, for example. The Syrian war is not unique in terms of the number of victims or duration of the conflict. The conflict between the FARC rebels and the Colombian State lasted decades. I wouldnt even say the Syrian conflict is unique in its brutality the Chechen context was also particularly brutal. But the Syrian situation is specific in several ways. As a political conflict and a civil war, we are looking at a pacific uprising met with violent repression, which escalated to a multi-sided war. There was never one group against the State, never one frontline but several, controlled by multiple protagonists. There was a fragmentation of the Syrian territory and so, different conflicts. You had the Kurds fighting ISIS in Kobane, and at the same time rebels fighting Assad in Idlib. It is pretty unique. The international implications are another interesting aspect. We ended up really early in a proxy war, with heavy international involvement, with parties more and more depending on international supports. Some civil wars go by for years almost unnoticed. The civil war in Angola or in Mozambique for example. In Syria, already by late 2012 there was heavy involvement by Turkish, Jordanian, Iranian and Gulf countries. Then the Russians came in, then an international coalition. On a single day there could be four different air forces in Syrias airspace The surrender of the international community, combined with such impunity, I think is fairly unique International involvement in a civil war is not a new thing No, but where Syria might be unique in my opinion is on the capacity of the regime to hold onto power despite the general knowledge of its mass crimes. After a while, in many civil wars the international community got involved, the United Nations or the regional powers decided to get rid of the leaders. That is what was done with Slobodan Milosevic, who ended up at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [ICTY]. In the case of the Syrian regime, we have seen indisputable evidence of its crimes. Despite that, [president] Bashar al-Assad remains in power. And some countries which called for the end of his power in 2011 are now considering reopening their embassies. All of this shows not only the power of the Russian support but also the cynicism of the international community. We gave up the idea of doing something about Assad. Some of the top perpetrators who are actually wanted internationally [al-Assad security adviser] Ali Mamlouk, [head of Syrias notorious Air Force Intelligence Directorate] Jamil Hassan are still able to travel Overall, the surrender of the international community over what is perceived as a fatality, combined with such impunity, I think is fairly unique. Here we are, decades later, still working with Stalins definition of genocide Whats so specific, in the mass crimes perpetrated in Syria? The creativity of ISIS executions, and the way they promoted their own crimes, is quite new, as well as their multi-genocidal campaign. But as striking as these crimes are, it is it is not on the scale of the vast extermination campaign led by the regime. In my opinion, there is a case to make about a genocide in Syria. I do not accept the legal definition of genocide. It is flawed and was voluntarily limited in the Genocide Convention of 1948. When this concept was developed in the early 1930s, it was about a state or a group exterminating another group of people. It could be a religious group, an ethnic group, a social group, a political group, any group defined by the perpetrators and reported as a threat, an enemy. But in the final draft of the 1948 Convention, all mentions of social and political groups were gone, at the requirement of Joseph Stalin and the USSR and here we are, decades later, still working with Stalins definition of genocide, although it doesnt fit to the reality of many mass crimes such as the 1965 killings in Indonesia where the military executed hundreds of thousands of alleged communists. A specific group was targeted, but since its a political one, its not genocide. Why would you consider the Syrian case genocidal? In Syria, there was a framework of accepted politics, a small box in which you could discuss selected issues. If you stayed out of the taboos, you could work on some things. But if you stepped out of that box, you made yourself vulnerable to state violence. What happened in 2011 is that hundreds of thousands of people stepped out of that box. That act gave them political identity. They became a political category in the eyes of the regime. A category they needed to exterminate, through the repression of demonstrations, killings, arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and then bombings if we get rid of Stalins definition, that makes the Syrian case genocidal in my opinion. The State doesnt deny its criminal involvement. Its something very specific to the Syrian regime What role has the Syrian state apparatus played? We have to distinguish the military warfare from the organized and internal violence it perpetrated against its own population, and from the targeted bombings of the civilian population under opposition rule. The system of arrests, torture and enforced disappearances reminds me of the Latin American dictatorships with one strong difference. In Argentina, someone kidnapped by special forces would simply disappear. And the State would always deny it had anything to do with it. In Syria however, the State doesnt deny that someone is in custody, even if it sends the family from one detention centre to another, losing them in the system. The regime even issued death certificates for its detainees, saying nothing of the cause of death but heart attack. It doesnt deny its involvement. I dont know the reasons, but its something very specific to the Syrian regime. What is also very specific to the Syrian situation is how the medical system was either manipulated or targeted by the regime. On the side of the regime, the medical system has been used, militarized, turned into a tool of violence. And on the other side, the medical staff and infrastructure in the opposition territories has been clearly targeted by the regime. Bombing hospitals, ambulances struck from the air, even an MSF hospital this is actually unique in history. Even in the Yugoslav wars, ambulances were coming out of the siege areas. Not in Syria. The first trials are being organized in Europe, through universal jurisdiction. What perception do these trials give of the Syrian crimes? In general, there is a massive distortion between the individuals judged and the reality of the crimes actually committed in Syria, their nature and their perpetrators. In a nutshell, there are not enough cases against the regime, regarding the extent of its crimes, and a disproportionate number of cases against rebels, rebel commanders, etc. And a few trials of ISIS members. This disproportion is actually a problem in the perception it gives of this war. What are the dangers of that distortion? Trials have been important to preserve the memory of conflicts and international crimes. It was very important at the ICTY, for example. But one of the criticisms was that this Tribunal had too many mandates: to judge people, provide a narrative of the war, preserve memory and archives, etc. I think we have to be careful with giving too much historical relevance to the court cases. Preserving historical memory is not their mandate even if they, de facto, participate in it. Last week in the Al-Khatib trial in Koblenz, a confidential witness described the whole system of mass graves he collaborated with. Such testimony is crucial for history. Its incredible material. But because the prosecution against rebels is so disproportionate compared to the prosecution against the regime, we have to be careful about building Syrian history on these trials. There is a distorted perception of the crimes perpetrated. The extent of the crimes judged in the Al-Khatib trial is not the same as in the Abu Khuder trial in the Netherlands, nor in several of the ISIS cases. They cannot be compared. How do you explain this situation? Because of diplomatic reasons or of the limits of universal jurisdiction? For both reasons. It is easier to find rebel commanders or low-level opposition fighters in European countries than high ranking regime officials. And the prosecutors would not say were not touching any rebel commander until we find more of Assads torturers. It would not make sense. The very high-ranking regime officials, the main perpetrators, they dont travel to Europe and take the risk of being arrested. Except for Ali Mamlouk, who apparently went to Italy. But it doesnt mean there are not diplomatic issues, as well, surrounding these proceedings, or lack of proceedings. If a country puts many people from the regime on trial, how will it normalize diplomatic relations with the regime in the end? There must be an internal struggle between the diplomatic wing, the intelligence wing of the governments and the public prosecutors. These have conflicts of interest. We know the German prosecutors are extremely serious about prosecuting the Syrian criminals. However, we also know that some of the mukhabarats [Syrian intelligence services] have information about jihadists the German intelligence might be interested in. I suspect they meet, in neighbouring countries. The relations between European countries and the Assad regime wont be permanently terminated. Linking terrorism and war crimes participates in a confusion The Netherlands and other European countries, with the European Genocide Network, developed a strategy of cumulative charges in the cases of rebel and Islamist commanders. Usually accused of terrorism, they are now also accused of war crimes. What is your opinion? I have an issue with the crime of terrorism and its perception. I dont like the term and what it symbolizes, what it creates in the mind of society. Of course, forms of violence have to be categorized. But in essence terrorism is violence from non-state actors used against civilians. The problem with the 9/11 era is that the crimes categorized under the term of terrorism get a special status, legally and politically. The terrorism jurisdictions and jurisprudence have developed, and the term terrorism awakens important traumas in Europe. Terrorism sounds as terrible as crimes against humanity. Although I do understand the reasons behind the prosecutors strategy of cumulative charges, linking terrorism and war crimes participates in a confusion which can lead to consider the Al-Khatib crimes and the killings of a low-level rebel commander to be on the same scale. In Europe, besides criminal cases do you see other transitional justice tools to explore? There are several things we need to look into, to preserve the memory of this conflict and undermine impunity, at least on a symbolic level. To create, to promote a bank of documents, public archives of the conflict in Syria for historical records would be one thing. It is important to develop an inclusive history of this conflict. Its a highly polarized conflict, and different narratives, depending on who tells them, will be taught to the young generations. The Kurdish perspective is one narrative, the regimes perspective is another one, etc. To create a multi-sided narrative was the aim of the Syrian History Oral Project when I started to develop it with Syrian researchers in 2013. The idea was to record the human experiences of this war, to go deeper than the few minutes media accounts of it and create a broad source base with different perspectives. We have interviewed over 500 Syrian people so far, pro-Assad, anti-Assad, civilians, activists, fighters, soldiers one of the inspirations being the USC Shoah Foundation, the Institute for Visual History and Education, dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust. I wanted to develop the same on the Syrian conflict. Syrian civil war is now part of the European memory What else could be developed? There are material and immaterial tools of transitional justice. One would be a museum or a memorial. So far it doesnt exist. In Germany where so many Syrians found asylum, it would make sense. To build this in Europe feels important, because of the number of Syrians who are and will be European citizens in the upcoming years. This memory is now part of the European memory. Right now, there are more survivors of Assads detention centres in the Netherlands than survivors of the Nazis concentration camps. Over the past years, thousands of Syrian babies were born in Europe, where they will grow up. You need to have an answer for these children, in a way that doesnt bring hatred. Building museums, memorials is not only a tool of transitional justice for now, its an educational tool for the next generations. Interviewed by Lena Bjurstrom, for JusticeInfo.net. U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, is shown in this official undated photo released by the Florida Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Florida Supreme Court) WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has said he would nominate a woman to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at the age of 87 and was a champion of gender equality. A look at the top contenders: ___ AMY CONEY BARRETT Barrett, 48, is widely considered to be the front-runner. She was previously considered as a finalist for Trumps second nomination to the high court, which eventually went to Justice Brett Kavanaugh. A devout Catholic mother of seven, she is a favorite of religious conservatives and considered a strong opponent of abortion. Barrett was nominated by Trump to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and confirmed by the Senate in October 2017 by a 55-43 vote. The 7th Circuit, based in Chicago, covers the states of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. In her nearly three years on the bench, Barretts judicial record includes the authorship of around 100 opinions and several telling dissents in which Barrett displayed her clear and consistent conservative bent. Barrett served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She worked briefly as a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C., before returning to the University of Notre Dame Law School, her alma mater, to become a professor in 2002. During her Senate confirmation hearing for the appeals court in 2017, Democrats pressed Barrett on whether her strong religious views would impact her potential rulings on abortion and other hot-button social issues. Barrett responded that she takes he Catholic faith seriously, but said that I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge. She is married to Jesse Barrett, a former federal prosecutor who is a partner at a law firm in South Bend, Indiana. The couple have seven children, included two adopted from Haiti and one child with special needs. ___ BARBARA LAGOA Lagoa, 52, is a Cuban American judge from Florida who was nominated by Trump to serve on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019. Her name was on the White Houses list of potential high court contenders released earlier this month. Story continues Raised in the heavily Latino Miami suburb of Hialeah, Lagoa is the daughter of Cuban exiles who fled the communist regime of Fidel Castro. She speaks fluent Spanish and has a solidly conservative judicial record. Lagoas potential nomination is being touted as a way for Trump to shore up flagging support in a crucial battleground state where recent polls have shown Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with a narrow lead. Lagoa also has the potential benefit of having been previously vetted by the Senate just 10 months ago, sailing to confirmation by a wide margin of 80-15 in a relatively rare bipartisan vote in November. The 11th Circuit covers Georgia, Florida and Alabama. On Saturday, Trump said he had not yet met Lagoa but that shes Hispanic and highly respected. Lagoa is a graduate of Florida International University and went on the earn her law degree from Columbia University in New York in 1992. She then worked in private practice in Miami for about a decade. In 2000, Lagoa gained notoriety as part of the legal team that represented relatives of Elian Gonzalez, the young boy caught in a high-profile custody dispute between his father in Cuba and family members in Miami. Lagoa is married to Paul Huck Jr., a Miami attorney. The couple have three children. ___ JOAN LARSEN Larsen, 51, was a little-known University of Michigan legal scholar until 2015, when then- Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, tapped her to fill a vacant seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. The following year, Justice Joan campaigned to fill the remaining term of her predecessor on the court by appealing to conservative voters, promoting an originalist interpretation of legal texts and pledging not to legislate from the bench. As a presidential candidate Trump included Larsens name on his first list of potential nominees to the nations highest court. Trump carried Michigan that November and after becoming president quickly sought to elevate Larsen to the federal bench, tapping her in May 2017 to fill a vacant seat on the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Michigans two Democratic U.S. senators initially held up her appointment since the White House hadnt consulted them on the nomination, as is customary. But after meeting with the senators, Larsen was confirmed by the Senate by a 60-38 vote the following November. Larsen grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa before going to Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. After graduating in 1993, Larsen landed a coveted clerkship with Justice Antonin Scalia. Following the election for President George W. Bush, she joined the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, where she authored a still-secret 2002 memo that addressed detainees rights to challenge their detention. Returning to teach law at Michigan, Larsen championed an expansive view of the powers of the presidency. She wrote a 2006 article defending Bushs use of signing statements to interpret laws passed by Congress. At her 2017 confirmation hearing for the federal bench, however, Larsen assured senators she would have no problem ruling against Trump if the law demanded it. Larsen is married to Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, an expert on corporate and securities law. They live in Scio Township near Ann Arbor and have two children. ___ ALLISON JONES RUSHING Rushing, 38, was confirmed just 18 months ago to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. If elevated to the Supreme Court, she would be the youngest justice confirmed since the early 1800s. She is a native of Hendersonville, North Carolina. Her potential selection is being championed within the White House by chief of staff Mark Meadows, who also hails from the mountains of the Tarheel State. Rushing graduated from Wake Forest University before attending Duke University, where she earned her law degree in 2007. She then clerked for future Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was then an appeals court judge, as well as at the Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas. As an appellate specialist while in private practice at the Williams & Connolly law firm in Washington, Rushing filed scores of briefs with the Supreme Court. But her comparatively short legal career included prior work with a conservative Christian legal group that is sure to stoke Democrats and their allies to fight her nomination. While in law school in 2005, Rushing interned at Alliance Defending Freedom, a group known for its opposition to same-sex marriage and expanded rights for transgender people. That has led Democrats to cast Rushing as an a young, ideological extremist. Rushing is married to Blake Rushing. The couple have a young son. ___ KATE COMERFORD TODD Todd, 45, is the only lawyer on Trumps potential shortlist for the Supreme Court who has never served as a judge. A deputy White House counsel, her close connection to the Trump administration could give an opening to Democrats to attack her independence and relative lack of experience. However, her lack of a judicial record also leaves little paper trail for opponents to sort through for material to attack. Todd graduated from Cornell University before attending Harvard Law School. She then clerked for Thomas at the Supreme Court. She worked in private practice before serving as the senior vice president and chief counsel for the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, which is the legal arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Todd is married to Gordon Dwyer Todd, a partner at Sidley law firm in Washington specializing in white-collar defense and government litigation. The couple live in Northern Virginia with their four children. The Bombay High Court will hear the bail request of actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik on Tuesday. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Rhea on September 9. She has been in jail for nearly three weeks on drugs-related charges linked to the Sushant Sigh Rajput's death case. Rhea, who was dating Sushant, has been arrested on charges of organising drugs for him. However, on Monday, the NCB opposed the bail plea of the siblings and told the Bombay HC that both Rhea and Showik are, "active members of drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers". The NCB added that Rhea and Showik had "abetted and financed" drug transactions. Therefore, Section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which provides punishment for financing drug trafficking and harbouring offenders, was applicable in the case. On September 24, a single-judge bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal asked NCB to respond to the bail pleas. NCB further submitted that Rhea, being aware of the fact that Rajput was engaged in consumption, had harboured and concealed him. According to the NCB, if Rhea and Sushant get bail then it will hamper the probe. Earlier, on September 11, a special court in Mumbai rejected the bail plea of Rhea and her brother. Their bail applications were rejected by judge G B Gurao of the special court hearing cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. In the previous bail, Rhea had challenged the NCB's jurisdiction and had said that the CBI should take over since it was mandated by the Supreme Court to probe all aspects of the case. Five more accused, including Sushant Singh Rajput's employees, are also seeking bail. Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai police launched a suicide probe but weeks after the actor's family appealed to the Supreme Court to allow CBI to resolve the case. The NCB is probing the drug angle in this case under criminal sections of the NDPS Act after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea. Various angles surrounding the death of Rajput are being probed by the NCB, ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During the NCB's probe, WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea's phone which revealed conversations involving drugs. Meanwhile, the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors have also submitted a post-mortem report of Sushant tot he CBI on Monday night. A team of AIIMS doctors was re-analysing the report from the remaining 20 viscera sample available to ascertain if the late actor died due to suicide or murder. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput case: Rhea Chakraborty faces charges that can land her in jail for 10 years Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput death case: AIIMS submits post-mortem report to CBI Oil prices fell on Tuesday as demand concerns driven by COVID-19 outweighed hopes that U.S. lawmakers and the White House were nearing an agreement on a new stimulus package to revive the world's biggest economy. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $40.43 at 0120 GMT, while Brent crude futures also fell 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $42.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose about 1% on Monday. Commodities markets had crept up in earlier trade as Democratic lawmakers unveiled a new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said was a compromise measure. "If it happens, the U.S. stimulus checks will go a long way to shoring up U.S. oil demand at a most critical juncture and could move oil prices back into a pre-September frame of mind," AxiCorp market strategist Stephen Innes said in a note. Brent and WTI in August hit their highest levels since early March on optimism over rising fuel demand and major oil producers' strong compliance with promised supply cuts, but have since dropped by about $3 on demand worries. In the latest hit from a second wave of COVID-19, in Canada the province of Quebec clamped down on bars and restaurants and social gatherings in homes, while the most populous province, Ontario, reported a new daily high of 700 cases. In another negative demand sign, crude imports in August to Japan, the world's fourth biggest consumer, slumped nearly 26%, government data showed on Tuesday. The market will be looking for signs of U.S. demand growth in data due on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Five analysts polled by Reuters on average estimate U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels in the week to Sept. 25. They expect gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.6 million barrels and distillate inventories, which include diesel and jet fuel, fell by 800,000 barrels. On the supply side traders were keeping an eye on clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. If the conflict escalates it could affect oil and gas exports from Azerbaijan, analysts said. Azerbaijan's main oil pipeline runs through Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. For the first time in more than 50 years, there will not be a parade going through old town Tomball this Christmas due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Brandy Beyer, vice president of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce, said they made the decision last week because of the ongoing pandemic. New park welcomed to Tomball: City, county celebrate opening of Broussard Park With all the local mandates and with all the COVID, we just want to make sure our community is protected and were just not gonna have it this year, Beyer said. The parade has been held annually in Tomball since the 60s, and this year would have been the 55th year in a row. GTACC President Bruce Hillegeist said the parade would also cost much more this year due to social distancing requirements and logistics with the city. On HoustonChronicle.com: Exposed: COVID-19 was spreading in Houston before the rodeo, records show COVID is still disrupting things, Hillegeist said. Its just sad that this Christmas, Thanksgiving time in Tomball wont have a parade to kick off this season. Along with the parade, the chamber holds an annual Miss Tomball pageant, of which the winner rides on a float in the parade. But Beyer said the pageant would also not be held this year. In the past, this pageant has helped Tomball students with scholarships to help them attend college. We are still gonna offer scholarships to junior and senior girls in high school, Beyer said. Just to still be able to be involved with the high school girls and offer them a positive opportunity this year. The parade also offers local businesses help as attendees can visit shops and restaurants in old town Tomball during the parade, but Beyer said they would still try to help those businesses on the day the parade was to be held, Nov. 21. We are going to invite the Tomball community to shop that day, Beyer said. We invite everybody to still spend the day in Tomball and visit our small businesses and restaurants. paul.wedding@hcnonline.com A man charged with wounding his boss and another employee in a shooting at a Connecticut trucking company told police his handgun fired by accident and he only intended to scare his manager, according to an arrest warrant released Thursday. Alan Rosario, 33, of Springfield, Massachusetts, is charged with assault and other crimes in the shooting outside a South Windsor industrial building Tuesday morning. Both victims were treated at a hospital and discharged. Rosarios lawyer, Elton Williams, told a judge during a court arraignment in Rockville on Thursday that the shooting was completely out of character for Rosario, a father of three with no previous criminal record. A judge lowered his bail from $250,000 to $175,000, and relatives were trying to post it. Rosario appeared via video. Rosario told police that his boss, whom police have not named, had been taking advantage him for years and assigning him to drive trucks that do not work, according to the warrant. He also accused the manager of fraudulently filing for unemployment benefits in his name. He said he confronted the boss Tuesday as the manager was in a truck with two other people. He said he opened the door and the gun accidentally fired, the warrant said. The boss suffered bullet wounds to his right arm and left leg, and the front seat passenger was hit in the face with either shrapnel or debris from the gunshot, police said. Police took Rosario into custody by gunpoint Tuesday on Interstate 91 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, not long after the shooting. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Law Enforcement Connecticut NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Odgers Berndtson, a leading global executive search firm, is pleased to announce the successful recruitment of Dr. William A. LaPlante, senior vice president at The MITRE Corporation, to lead The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory as its next president and chief executive officer. Dr. LaPlante will assume his position on October 3 when Francis Kearney, interim president and CEO, steps down and transitions his roles and responsibilities. Kearney, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, has served on Draper's board of directors since 2015 and in his current role since 2020. The appointment of Dr. LaPlante lays the groundwork for the next chapter of Draper under a new president and CEO. "Bill's strategic leadership, operational excellence expertise, and passion for innovation will immediately benefit Draper and our customers by furthering our efforts to deliver excellence and corporate growth," said David Shedd, chairman of the Draper Board of Directors. "Bill has built a tremendous reputation in industry and government working at the highest levels, and we are fortunate to have him join the Draper executive team." Dr. LaPlante was most recently senior vice president and general manager at National Security, a sector of MITRE, which includes two of MITRE's federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) and the National Cybersecurity FFRDC. He has more than 30 years of experience with organizations in the defense technology and space industries, including with the Department of the Air Force as assistant secretary for acquisition, and also serving on numerous boards and commissions including the Defense Science Board and the non-profit consortium, Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT). Of his appointment, Dr. LaPlante said, "I am excited and honored to be joining Draper. Draper's talented staff and their incredible technical work is needed now more than ever in our country, and I very much look forward to being a part of this great institution with its tradition of innovation and technical excellence." This critical Odgers Berndtson CEO search was led by Clarke Havener, Vice Chairman, and Jon Barney, the head of the firm's Aerospace, Defense & National Security practice. Steve Potter, Chief Executive of Odgers Berndtson U.S., said, "Thanks to Clarke and Jon's leadership of this search, we successfully recruited a candidate with unparalleled experience in the aerospace, defense, and national security industries. Bill LaPlante's deep expertise and passion for innovation will help drive Draper to a new level of success." About Odgers Berndtson For more than 50 years, Odgers Berndtson has delivered executive search, leadership assessment, and development strategies to the world's biggest and best organizations. Odgers Berndtson's 250+ partners cover more than 50 sectors and operate out of 59 offices in 29 countries. The U.S. wing of the firm launched in 2011 and is one of the fastest growing search firms in the Americas. Odgers Berndtson currently has U.S. offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC. CONTACT Odgers Berndtson 646-612-7208 [email protected] SOURCE Odgers Berndtson Related Links http://www.odgersberndtson.com European stock markets opened lower on Tuesday as a rebound in the previous session fizzled out, with investors remaining cautious ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate. The pan-European STOXX 600 600 slipped 0.5% in early deals after recording its biggest single-day gain in three months on Monday. Growth-sensitive sectors such as banks, automakers and travel & leisure, were down between 1.0% and 1.4% and led the declines as the global death toll from COVID-19 pandemic crossed 1 million, according to a Reuters tally. While there were some signs of progress in talks over a fresh U.S. coronavirus relief bill, investors were mostly in a wait-and-see mode as U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump looked set to square off in their first debate in Cleveland, five weeks before the election. Among individual movers, Air France KLM fell 3.9% after HSBC downgraded the stock to "reduce" from "hold." British plumbing parts distributor Ferguson jumped 6.3% as it restored its dividend after a series of cost-reduction measures and resilience in its main U.S. business helped it report a 4.1% rise in annual profit. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Some of Ghanas top gospel veterans staged unforgettable performances at this years Women In Worship gospel concert. The concert, which was held under the theme: Alpha & Omega, came off at the UPSA auditorium, Madina, attended by over 500 patrons on Sunday, September 20, 2020. It was a night of unforgettable experiences, which was tagged by many as a spirit-filled encounter with God. Eleven legendary gospel artistes performed their back-to-back hit songs which transformed lives, restored hope and directed the path of patrons to Christ through music. Among those who performed were Bernice Office, Abaawa Connie, Rev. Esther Nyamekye, Helena Rhabbles, Amy Newman, Stella Aba Seal and Hannah Marfo. The rest were Mary Ghansah, Diana Hopeson, Tiwaa of Yaw Sarpong fame and Tagoe Sisters. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Simone Austin allegedly stabbed her five-year-old daughter repeatedly, according to her other child, a witness. WARNING: You may find the violent details of this story extremely disturbing. A 27-year-old Chicago mother is facing first-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing her five-year-old daughter to death on Saturday. Simone Austin has been ordered to be held without bond. Simone Austin, a 27-year-old Chicago mother, is facing first-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing her five-year-old daughter to death Saturday. (Cook County Department of Corrections) Authorities say Austin stabbed her daughter, Serenity Arrington, inside their home, undressed her, then carried her body outside where she laid down next to her until police arrived. During Mondays bond hearing, the Cook County assistant states attorney, James Murphy, recounted the gruesome crime. WTTW, a public television station in Chicago covered the hearing. Read More: Mother of SC teacher who died from COVID-19 also passes away from virus According to the report, Austins elder daughter, an eight-year-old, told police that she and her sister had spilled some eggs and that their mother had threatened them with a knife. She said that her mother took her sister into a bedroom and closed the door. The girl looked through a keyhole and saw her mother pull out a serrated knife and stab the five-year-old in the neck. She apparently tried to pull her mother off her little sister by the womans hair. Austins father, Sylvester Washington, returned home from getting coffee with a friend and saw his daughter undressing the girl and called 911. Read More: Worldwide grief: Death toll from coronavirus tops 1 million The woman allegedly told emergency personnel that she did it and that she was sorry. Its horrible, man. My own flesh-daughter did that. Man. Yall dont want to have this feeling. No, I cant explain it, Washington told ABC 7 Chicago. Keep that child in your thoughts and prayers, Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said during a press conference Monday morning, pointing to the lifelong trauma shell now be forced to face. Story continues Read More: Family of William Green reach $20 million settlement over fatal police shooting Police Superintendent David Brown said on Monday that his officers were also traumatized by the scene they witnessed. The death of a child by accident or disease is a tragedy, he said. The murder of a child is horrific. The murder of a child at the hands of their parent is too much. Have you subscribed to theGrios Dear Culture podcast? Download our newest episodes now! The post Chicago mother denied bond after allegedly killing daughter, 5 appeared first on TheGrio. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Tuesday marks the first day of in-person learning for New York City public school students in K-5 and K-8 schools, as part of the citys phased-in reopening amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that the city would start the process of returning students to school buildings in phases, with the academic year kicking off for some in-person and all remote learners on Sept. 21. Students in 3-K, pre-K, and District 75 were the first to begin reporting for in-person learning on Sept. 21, followed by K-5 and K-8 students on Tuesday, and middle and high school students on Thursday, Oct. 1. The plan is the right plan, but we have to make sure its implemented properly, is exactly right. And thats what parents would want of us, the mayor said when announcing the phased reopening plan. Across New York City, students are returning to school buildings part-time under a blended learning model, or they are at home remotely full-time for the 2020-2021 academic year. Those participating in the blended learning model will go to school one to three days a week -- learning remotely on the other days. Whether blended or remote, parents have been coming up with creative ways to make the school year digestible for their children -- but not without cost. Many Staten Island parents have been forced to pay hundreds of dollars more for school supplies this year compared to previous years. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** It was a mix of excitement and jitters as preschool and special education students across Staten Island returned to public school buildings for their first day last week. Im excited. I wish he was going full-time, said Chris Fattorusso, parent of eighth-grader Vincent, who goes to PS 37 in Great Kills. I think, especially with special needs children, they need the structure -- so Im very excited. He needs this. Students at PS 68, Port Richmond, were welcomed back with open arms last week, as teachers and administrators joyfully greeted families of returning and new students. Several students gave a thumbs-up before heading into the school. Parent Stephanie Mendoza said her preschool daughter, Mya, was excited to play and make new friends. New York Citys schools closed last March in an effort to stem the outbreak of the coronavirus, and kids finished the school year via a distance learning model. This school year, if new coronavirus cases surpass the 3% threshold using a seven-day rolling average, all school buildings in New York City will need to close once again. The city Department of Education recently released the 2020-2021 school calendar for New York City public school families. The calendar for 2020-2021 includes some two dozen days off between the first day of school, on Monday, Sept. 21, and the last day of classes on Friday, June 25, 2021. The nations largest school district is reopening school buildings amid the current health crisis as various concerns among parents and educators linger, including the possibility of a teacher shortage and the ability to advance the curriculum. Catholic school students in New York City went back to school earlier this month. Related stories: NYC schools daily health screening: What parents need to know How to check number of coronavirus cases at your childs school First day of school in NYC: So glad to have our students back NYC schools reopening amid coronavirus: How to care for your childs mask NYC schools reopening: Heres what you need to know Safety protocols in NYC schools: What you need to know NYC to bring in 2,000 more educators for the start of school as de Blasio pushes forward with Sept. 21 reopening Coronavirus: How to find ventilation inspection results for your childs school NYC school year delayed; in-person learning to start Sept. 21 Reopening of NYC schools delayed: What you need to know Heres how coronavirus testing will work in NYC schools Coronavirus: How NYC plans to safely reopen schools in fall FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised to help with mediation in the political crisis in Belarus, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin lashed out at "unprecedented external pressure". Macron spoke during a visit to Lithuania after a meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a gesture that was seen as a major show of support for the activist. France supports the implementation of sanctions against those responsible for the post-election violence, she told RFIs Denis Strelkov. Emmanuel Macron is convinced that the free and fair elections, which we are calling for, must be held in Belarus as soon as possible. Because, according to his words, there are too many people suffering." Tikhanovskaya said that she thought Macron is really concerned about the fate of our political prisoners and the victims of torture. His sincere feelings towards Belarus are very visible," she said, adding that as a strong leader, he would obviously be essential to lead this mediation. Macron confirmed during a press conference that we will do our best as Europeans to help mediate and we will come back to OSCE mediation in order to progress," referring to an offer from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Macron told Russian leader Putin during a meeting in August that he was "very worried about the situation in Belarus and the violence that citizens have faced during the elections," but suggestions for dialogue never materialised. Upheaval Belarus has been in upheaval since an 9 August presidential election in which Tikhanovskaya claimed victory against the incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994. Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania in the aftermath of the vote as mass protests on the streets of the former Soviet republic were met with a crackdown in which thousands were arrested. The European Union has refused to recognise the result of the election which gave Lukashenko 80 percent of the vote, and Macron on Sunday said that he "has to go". Story continues EU leaders are preparing to adopt sanctions against Lukashenko and other top Belarusian officials at a summit later this week. Unprecedented external pressure Macron has said that Putin, Lukashenko's main ally, is favourable to mediation by the OSCE in the Belarus crisis. But Putin on Tuesday said in televised remarks that Belarus is in a "difficult situation" and is facing "unprecedented external pressure". Addressing a forum on the Belarusian and Russian regions, the Kremlin chief said Moscow was ready to stand by Minsk, describing ties as "timeless and all-weather". The Belarussian Belta News Agency reported that Putin promised to provide Lukashenko with security assistance if the political crisis worsens, as well as a 1.2 billion aid package. With the iPhone 12 launch event expected to be scheduled for October 13, Apples manufacturing partner Foxconn is now running its iPhone 12 production line in Zhengzhou for 24 hours a day. The company is also canceling all of its workers holidays and has introduced compulsory overtime with bonuses as incentives for staff that work long shifts. One of the employees noted that workers were now only allowed to take up to four days off every month. To meet the iPhone 12 launch rush, Foxconn has also started night shifts at its factory. You can earn 5,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan (US$880) per month, and if you work at the factory for more than 90 days, theres a handsome amount of special pay, said the 33-year-old who has worked at the factory for over four years. To get new workers onboard, Foxconn is offering a bonus of 10,000 yuan ($1450) for any worker who joins after September 18, stays a part of the production line for a minimum of 90 days, and works for at least 55 days. For workers who joined after September 26, the bonus amount was reduced to 8,500 yuan. Existing staff can also get a bonus of 500 yuan by referring to a new worker. Many workers have canceled their Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays that fall later this week to meet the additional demand. Another incentive for them here is that the Chinese labor law states that salary must be tripled during the first three days of the Mid-Autumn festival. Our Take Leaker Jon Prosser claimed earlier today that Apple will start shipping out its first back of iPhone 12 shipments to distributors on October 5th ahead of the official unveiling of the lineup on October 13th. All rumors now suggest the iPhone 12 lineup will be announced in mid-October and go on sale later in the month, with the iPhone 12 Pro possibly seeing an even more delayed launch in the first week of November. Apple had already confirmed earlier this year that the launch of new iPhones will be delayed by a few weeks this year due to the ongoing pandemic. The company is rumored to launch four new iPhone 12 models this year, with all of them packing an OLED display and 5G connectivity. [Via SCMP By Trend Armenia has reported deaths of 84 more servicemen, Trend reports referring to the Armenian media. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani Army on the frontline, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of the retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Non-Governmental Organization Citizen Eye Ghana (CITEG) is urging the government if necessary to allow the Western Togoland their freedom as a country. The CEO of the group, Mr. Alex Kweku Tetteh explains that their separation from Ghana will compel President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to layoff all Voltarians occupying state office. President Nana Addo should accept their separation so Ghana can treat all Voltarians in Ghana as real foreigners. All Voltarians occupying government positions must be forced to resign as well. This will end their rubbish and that will also affect the NDC, he said in an interview with Peacefmonline.com. The Volta Region on Friday, September 25, 2020, was thrown into a state of chaos as members of a secessionist group, seeking the independence of the area to become the Western Togoland, staged spontaneous attacks in various parts of the region. The attacks included blocking major entry points to the region as well as attacks on the Aveyime and Mepe police stations all in the North Tongu District. We are seeking independence of our great motherland, one of the separatists told journalists after they also blocked roads in Juapong. The Western Togoland region is predominately wedged between Lake Volta and the Ghana-Togo border. Currently, a number of splinter groups are demanding the area be recognized as a sovereign state. In a press release, the chairman of the Western Togoland, Togbe Yesu Kwabla Edudzi I, declared that efforts for consolidating statehood, which began on 1 September 2020, were being put into practice. The press release also claimed, "roadblocks to assert its sovereignty are all over the Southern sector." The movement says it wants to force the Ghanaian government to join the United Nations (UN) facilitated negotiations aiming to declare Western Togoland an independent state. ---PeacefmOnline Saul Sanchez died in April, one of six workers with fatal COVID-19 infections at meatpacker JBS USAs slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colorado, the site of one of the earliest and deadliest coronavirus outbreaks at a U.S. meatpacking plant. Before getting sick, the 78-year-old Sanchez only left home to work on the fabrication line, where cattle carcasses are sliced into cuts of beef, and to go to his church, with its five-person congregation, said his daughter, Betty Rangel. She said no one else got infected in the family or at Bible Missionary Church, which could not be reached for comment. JBS, the worlds largest meatpacker, denied the familys application for workers compensation benefits, along with those filed by the families of two other Greeley workers who died of COVID-19, said lawyers handling the three claims. Families of the three other Greeley workers who died also sought compensation, a union representative said, but Reuters could not determine the status of their claims. JBS has said the employees COVID-19 infections were not work-related in denying the claims, according to responses the company gave to employees, which were reviewed by Reuters. The experience of shows the difficulty of linking infections to employment. JBS meatpacking employees filed 930 workers compensation claims involving COVID-19. None were accepted, 717 were rejected and 213 were under review. In Colorado, 69% of the 2,294 worker compensation claims for COVID-19 had been denied. As more Americans return to workplaces, the experience of JBS employees shows the difficulty of linking infections to employment and getting compensation for medical care and lost wages. That is the ultimate question: How can you prove it? said Nick Fogel, an attorney specializing in workers compensation at the firm Burg Simpson in Colorado. Severe Outbreaks The meatpacking industry has suffered severe coronavirus outbreaks, in part because production-line workers often work side-by-side for long shifts. Companies including JBS, Tyson Foods Inc. and WH Group Ltd.s Smithfield Foods closed about 20 plants this spring after outbreaks, prompting President Donald Trump in April to order the plants to stay open to ensure the nations meat supply. The White House declined to comment on the industrys rejections of workers claims. The U.S. Department of Labor did not respond to a request for comment. Tyson has also denied workers compensation claims stemming from a big outbreak in Iowa, workers attorneys told Reuters. Smithfield workers at a plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, also hit by a major outbreak, have generally not filed claims, a union official said, in part because the company has paid infected workers wages and medical bills. Smithfield declined to comment on workers compensation. Tyson said it reviews claims on a case-by-case basis, but declined to disclose how often it rejects them. JBS acknowledged rejecting claims but declined to say how often. It called the denials consistent with the law, without elaborating. Workers can challenge companies denials in an administrative process that varies by state but typically resembles a court hearing. The burden of proof, however, usually falls on the worker to prove a claim was wrongfully denied. The full picture of how the meatpacking industry has handled COVID-related workers compensation remains murky because of a lack of national claims data. Reuters requested data from seven states where JBS or its affiliates have plants that had coronavirus outbreaks. Only three states provided data in any detail; all show a pattern of rejections. In Minnesota, where JBS had a major outbreak, meatpacking employees filed 930 workers compensation claims involving COVID-19 as of Sept. 11, according to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. None were accepted, 717 were rejected and 213 were under review. The agency did not identify the employers. The Minnesota Department of Health said only two meatpacking plants there had significant coronavirus outbreaks: a JBS pork processing plant in Worthington, and a poultry plant in Cold Spring run by Pilgrims Pride Corp, which is majority-owned by JBS. Lawmakers in at least 14 states have made it easier for some employees to collect workers compensation for COVID-19 by putting the burden on companies and insurers to prove an infection did not occur at work. But most of the changes, which vary by state, only apply to workers in healthcare or emergency services. Tom Atkinson, a Minnesota workers compensation attorney who has represented meatpacking workers, estimates up to 100 COVID-19 claims were filed by employees at the Worthington plant. In Utah, seven JBS workers filed claims related to COVID-19 by Aug. 1 and all were denied, according to the states Labor Commission. At least 385 workers at a JBS beef plant in Hyrum, Utah, tested positive for COVID-19. In Colorado, 69% of the 2,294 worker compensation claims for COVID-19 had been denied as of Sept. 12. Although the state does not break down the denials by industry, a JBS spokesman told Reuters the company is rejecting claims in Colorado and that it uses the same claim-review procedures nationwide. JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett did not answer the question of whether JBS employees were infected on the job and declined comment on individual workers claims. He said the company has outsourced claim reviews to a third-party administrator. Given the widespread nature of viral spread, our third-party claims administrator reviews each case thoroughly and independently, said Bruett. The administrator, Sedgwick, did not respond to a request for comment. Bruett, also a spokesman for Pilgrims Pride, did not respond to questions about infections and claims at its Minnesota plant. At the JBS plant in Greeley, where Sanchez worked before he died, at least 291 of about 6,000 workers were infected, according to state data. The company, in its written response to the familys claim, said that his infection was not work-related, without spelling out its reasoning. The two sides are now litigating the matter in Colorados workers compensation system. Under Colorado law, a workers compensation death benefit provides about two-thirds of the deceased workers salary to the surviving spouse and pays medical expenses not covered by insurance. If JBS had not denied the Sanchez familys claim, that would have provided his widow a steady income and paid uncovered medical bills totaling about $10,000, according to his daughter. They dont care, Rangel said of JBS. They are all about the big profits, and they are not going to give any money out. MASS INFECTIONS, LITTLE COMPENSATION The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents 250,000 U.S. meatpacking and food-processing workers, said last week at least 122 meatpacking workers have died of COVID-19 and more than 18,000 had missed work because they were infected or potentially exposed. Workers compensation attorney Roth said companies have an incentive to deny every claim because admitting they caused even one infection can expose the firms to liability for all workers contracting COVID-19. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said on Sept. 11 that it had cited JBS for failing to protect workers at the Greeley plant from the virus. OSHA cited Smithfield this month for failing to protect workers at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant, where the agency said nearly 1,300 workers contracted the coronavirus and four died. Smithfield and JBS said the citations had no merit because they concerned conditions in plants before OSHA issued COVID-19 guidance for the industry. OSHA said it stands by the citations. Workers compensation is generally the only way to recoup medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries and deaths. The system protects employers from lawsuits, with few exceptions, and allows workers to collect benefits without having to prove fault or negligence. But the system was designed for factory accidents, not airborne illnesses. In response to the coronavirus, governors and lawmakers in at least 14 states have made it easier for some employees to collect workers compensation for COVID-19 by putting the burden on companies and insurers to prove an infection did not occur at work. But most of the changes, which vary by state, only apply to workers in healthcare or emergency services. A similar proposal failed to gain support in Colorado. Mark Dopp, general counsel for the North American Meat Institute, a trade association that represents meatpackers, said it is difficult to determine where workers get infections given extensive sanitation efforts taken by meat plants and workers daily travel to and from the plants. Tyson in April closed its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Ben Roth, a local workers compensation attorney, said five families of employees who died filed workers compensation claims for death benefits, and all were denied. He said meat-processing companies have an incentive to deny every claim because admitting they caused even one infection can expose the firms to liability for all workers contracting COVID-19. That undercuts the argument that they want to make across the board: that you cant prove you got it here and not at a grocery store, Roth said. Tyson said it follows state laws for workers compensation. The company noted that Iowa law states that disease with an equal likelihood of being contracted outside the workplace are not compensable as an occupational disease. In Colorado, Sylvia Martinez runs a group called Latinos Unidos of Greeley and said she knows of more than 20 JBS workers who applied for workers compensation and were denied. Many plant workers are not native English speakers and sought out her group for guidance, she said, adding that many dont understand their rights and fear being fired. The companys rejections have discouraged more claims, Martinez said. If you deny five or 10, those workers will tell their co-workers, she said. WHO IS GOING TO HIRE HIM? JBS also contested the claim of Alfredo Hernandez, 55, a custodian who worked at the Greeley plant for 31 years. He became infected and was hospitalized in March. He still relies on supplemental oxygen and hasnt returned to work, said his wife, Rosario Hernandez. Generally, companies approve claims if it looks probable that an employee was injured or sickened at work, said Erika Alverson, the attorney representing Hernandez. But JBS, she said, is arguing workers could have contracted COVID-19 anywhere. Theyre getting into, where did our clients go, what were they doing during that time, who was coming into their house, what did their spouse do, was there any other form of exposure? said Alverson, of the Denver firm Alverson and OBrien. A judge will decide the Hernandez case in an administrative hearing. In the meantime, the Hernandez family has only his disability benefits a portion of his salary to cover his medical and insurance costs, Rosario Hernandez said. Were getting bunches of bills, she said. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, and Tom Polansek in Chicago Editing by Noeleen Walder, Caroline Stauffer and Brian Thevenot) Related Articles: Topics COVID-19 Workers' Compensation Talent Democratic nominee Joe Biden will embark on a seven-stop train tour through the swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania Wednesday on the heels of the first presidential debate. Biden and his wife Jill will kick off the tour Wednesday morning in Cleveland, the debate locale, and make a mid-day stop in Alliance, Ohio before choo choo-ing through Western Pennsylvania. The ex-vice president will hold a handful of train station events and end the day doing a 'drive-in' event that is invite-only, as the Biden campaign refuses to flout coronavirus restrictions like President Donald Trump, who's restarted holding large rallies. Democrat Joe Biden will take the train through Ohio and Pennsylvania Wednesday on the heels of the first presidential debate against President Donald Trump Biden has been known for years as 'Amtrak Joe' in part because he commuted to Washington, D.C. every day from Wilmington, Delaware on Amtrak. Here's Biden while serving in the U.S. Senate in 1988 Joe Biden took an Amtrak train out of Wilmington immediately after announcing his first of three presidential bids in June 1987. He's photographed with (from left) Hunter, Jill, Ashley and Beau Joe Biden is photographed on January 17, 2009, when he and President-elect Barack Obama traveled on Amtrak from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. In 2008, Joe Biden is photographed mingling with passengers on the Amtrak Acela when he was running for vice president of the United States For years, Biden's nickname has been 'Amtrak Joe,' and the Amtrak station in his adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware has been named after him. After his first wife and baby daughter died after he was elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29, Biden decided to commute to Washington, D.C. daily via Amtrak, as a single parent to sons Beau and Hunter. For Biden that was a daily three-hour trip. During this summer's Democratic National Convention, the Biden campaign played up the former vice president's working class roots by having Amtrak employees discuss how down-to-earth the longtime train-rider is. And on the campaign trail, Biden shared many times how he and former President Barack Obama took Amtrak between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. in 2009 three days before the president-elect was sworn in. He also kicked off his first run for president, back in 1987, riding an Amtrak. The Biden campaign did not respond to DailyMail.com's query on whether the Democratic nominee would technically be taking an 'Amtrak' train for his voyage Wednesday - though he's stopping at a number of stations the passenger service utilizes. In Pennsylvania, Biden's first stop will be in Pittsburgh, a solidly Democratic city. From there, the train travels through both Westmoreland and then Cambria counties, which have seen major Republican gains since the ex-vice president was first on the ticket with President Barack Obama in 2008. Westmoreland has been the more traditionally Republican of the two - despite the western side of the country housing Pittsburgh suburbs. In 2008, GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain, received 58 per cent of the Westmoreland County vote, to Obama-Biden's 41 per cent. Four years later, Romney pulled 61.3 per cent of that county's vote to Obama's 37.6 per cent. And then, in 2016, Westmoreland County went for Trump 64.1 per cent to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's 32.7 per cent. Biden will make stops in Greensburg, Westmoreland County's county seat, New Alexandria and then take the train into Latobe, Pennsylvania - the home of Arnold Palmer and Mr. Rogers - where the president held a packed rally earlier this month at the regional airport. The Democratic nominee then concludes the day in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the largest city in Cambria County. For years, Johnstown was associated with its powerful Democratic congressman, the late Rep. Jack Murtha. And in 2008, while Murtha was still alive, Cambria County went to the Obama-Biden ticket 50 per cent to 48 per cent. Four years later, there was a 10-point swing in the country with Romney getting 58 per cent of the vote and Obama earning 40.2 per cent. And Trump nearly got the county to swing another full 10 points in Republicans' direction. In 2016 he won Cambria Country with 67.3 per cent of the vote, compared to the 29.6 per cent won by Clinton. The latest polling shows Biden - a native of Scranton, located in the eastern part of the state - ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania. The Real Clear Politics polling average has the Democrat 5.7 points ahead of the Republican incumbent. If Biden expects to win the state, he'll need to beat back some of the GOP gains in Western Pennsylvania over the past 12 years. Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties? No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer. Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties. By Trend The Consul General of Azerbaijan in Yekaterinburg (Russia), Ilgar Iskandarov, commented on the latest events related to the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Trend reports referring to the Vechernie Vedomosti newspaper. Azerbaijan respects the position of Russia, which doesnt interfere with the actions of other countries. Hostilities caused by the lack of progress in the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said the consul general. At present, it is important that the conflict doesnt cross the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and that the ethnic communities in Russia, realizing this, dont allow confrontation on the territory of Russia, noted Iskandarov. We dont want and will not tolerate ethnic conflicts in Russia, we are committed to peace and stability in the region. This issue cannot be resolved here, and the power structures will not allow this. And this is not an ethnic issue, it is an issue of territorial integrity. We can talk and argue on this for a long time, the consul general noted. A number of meetings with representatives of the Azerbaijani community, at which, among other things, the question of the inadmissibility of provocative actions was raised, have already been held. Many Azerbaijanis living in the Sverdlovsk region are expressing a desire to go to Azerbaijan to take part in hostilities. But our armed forces are fully staffed, Iskandarov added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday held a key review meeting with senior MHA officials. While several important matters and key issues were discussed in the meeting, the details are not out yet. As Unlock 4.0 nears competition, MHA is expected to issue Unlock 5.0 guidelines soon. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday held a review meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Several important matters and key issues were discussed in the meeting. On Saturday, public representatives from Ladakh met Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy and Kiren Rijiju. A three-member delegation of Ladakhi veteran leaders comprising former MPs Thiksay Rinpoche, Thupstan Chhewang and Chhering Dorje Lakrook, former Minister in the PDP-BJP government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, on behalf of the people of Leh, Ladakh, met with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was discharged from Delhis All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) on Thursday. Earlier, Shah was admitted for a complete medical checkup before the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament. Also Read: Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 61L mark with spike of 70,589 new cases Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate 6 mega projects under Namami Gange Mission today Shri Amit Shah, Honble Home Minister was discharged from AIIMS, New Delhi after his post-COVID care on August 30. As per advice given at discharge, he has now been admitted for a complete medical checkup before Parliament session for one-two days, the statement from the Chairperson, Media and Protocol Division, AIIMS read. The Union Home Minister was previously admitted to AIIMS for post-COVID care after complaining of body ache and fatigue. On August 2, Shah had tested positive for the novel coronavirus following which was admitted to Medanta Hospital and was discharged on August 14 after testing negative. Also Read: Amid India-China LaC row, Rajnath releases Indias new defence acquisition policy Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari has made major adjustment to the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 he sent to the National Assembly for signing. According to Punch, the President has proposed the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited as he asked for the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleun Products Pricing Regulatory Agency. The bill states that the NNPC Limited will be incorporated by the Minister of Petroleum, who together with his finance counterparts, will determine NNPCs assets and liabilities that will be inherited by the new firm. Section 54(1, 2 and3 )) reads in part, The Minister (of Petroleum) and the Minister of Finance shall determine the assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC to be transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiaries and upon the identification, the minister shall cause such assets, interests and liabilities to be transferred to NNPC Limited. Assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC not transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiary under subsection 1 of this section shall remain the assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC until they become extinguished or transferred to the government. NNPC shall cease to exist after its remaining assets, interests and liabilities other than its interests, assets, and liabilities transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiaries under subsection 1 of this section shall have been extinguished or transferred to the government. According to Section 53 of the bill, the minister shall within six months from the commencement of this Act, cause to be incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, a limited liability company, which shall be called Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Limited). The minister shall be at the incorporation of NNPC Limited, consult with the Minister of Finance to determine the number and nominal value of the shares to be allotted which shall form the initial paid-up share capital of the NNPC Limited and the government shall subscribe and pay cash for the shares. Ownership of all shares in NNPC Limited shall be vested in the government at incorporation and held by the Ministry of Finance incorporated on behalf of the government. The bill also proposes the establishment of an agency known as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission which will be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations. Section 4 of the bill states in part, There is established the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (the commission) which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal. The commission shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, sue and be sued in its own time. The commission shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations. The proposed law also recommends the creation of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority known as The Authority. Section 29 of the bill states in part, There is established the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (the Authority) which is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal. The Authority shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of midstream and downstream petroleum operations in the petroleum industry. The new bill technically scraps the PPPRA with the creation of the new agencies that will now carry out the PPPRAs functions. Efforts to reform the oil industry date back two decades, when the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, inaugurated the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee in April 2000. The committee was tasked to review and streamline all existing petroleum laws and establish an all-inclusive regulatory framework for the industry. The administration of President Umaru YarAdua continued the project and the PIB was presented to the Sixth National Assembly in September 2008. But the bill stalled over disagreements on the sharing of oil profit among the international oil companies, host communities and the federation, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. In July 2012, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded a revised version of the PIB to the Seventh Assembly, but it suffered the same fate that befell it in the previous legislative cycle. It was passed by only the House of Representatives at the tail end of their term. The slump in global crude oil prices, from a high of $115 per barrel in mid-2014 to $28pb in January 2016, combined with the regulatory uncertainty occasioned by the delay in passing the PIB to worsen the state of the industry. In the first term of Buhari, the Eighth NASS split the bill into four parts the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and Petroleum Host Community Bill in a bid to fast-track its passage into law. The PIGB was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in May 2017 and January 2018 respectively After its passage by the NASS, the PIGB was transmitted to Buhari for assent in July 2018, but he eventually declined to sign the bill into law. According to the Presidency, the provision of the PIGB permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated is one of the reasons Buhari declined to assent to the bill. Attempts to get comments of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare, did not succeed on Sunday night. He had yet to reply a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report. Also, the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Reps), Umar el-Yakub, could not be reached. He neither picked calls to his mobile phone nor replied a text message sent to him. Health officials have said that research shows smoking to be a risk factor for coronavirus infection, while studies also show that smoking increases the risk of acute respiratory infections like flu and a coronavirus infection may be more severe in those who smoke. The HSE is calling smokers to take on its 28-day no smoking #LastStop challenge this October, as people who stop smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to quit permanently. Cigarette smoke damages the natural barriers in your airways and lungs to infections, dampens down your immunity and affects your breathing and circulation in a way that makes you vulnerable to severe illness and complications of infection. Dr Paul Kavanagh, HSE Public Health Medicine Specialist, explained the ways in which smoking heightens the risks of Covid-19. Advertisement Smoking increases your risk of acute respiratory infections like Covid-19 in a number of ways. Smoking with other people, sharing cigarettes and touching your face and mouth help spread infections, he said. Cigarette smoke damages the natural barriers in your airways and lungs to infections, dampens down your immunity and affects your breathing and circulation in a way that makes you vulnerable to severe illness and complications of infection. Death The doctor said that current evidence points to smoking as a key factor leading to increased severity of disease and death in hospitalised Covid-19 patients. This is in addition to the already well-established and significant health risks of smoking, he said. There is always good reason for people who smoke to quit, but there is no doubt that Covid-19 means this is now more important than ever... The improvements to your health when you quit smoking begin immediately. I found during Covid-19, it was a good time to do it, Im not out and about as much due to restrictions, you dont have the normal social pressures. Dr Kavanagh said that within one to two days of quitting smoking, oxygen levels in a persons body will improve, while blood pressure and pulse reduces and decreases stress. Immune cells that fight infection also bounce back. Michelle ODonnell from Donegal stopped smoking after 36 years during the pandemic, after trying to quit several times before. I had used the HSEs Quitline Service before and I decided to try again. I one hundred per cent would not have been able to do it without them, she said. It was like having a best friend supporting me for the first four weeks of stopping smoking. As well as speaking to someone on the phone every week, I signed up for the daily texts and emails and these really helped keep my motivation up. I found during Covid-19, it was a good time to do it, Im not out and about as much due to restrictions, you dont have the normal social pressures. The HSEs Quit Service provides free and personalised support for smokers by phone, email, SMS and live chat. The OINP is accepting applications from master's degree graduates who want to settle in Ontario UPDATE: Ontario closed applications to Masters Graduate PNP The OINP is accepting applications from master's degree graduates who want to settle in Ontario UPDATE: Ontario closed applications to Masters Graduate PNP The OINP is accepting applications from master's degree graduates who want to settle in Ontario UPDATE: Ontario closed applications to Masters Graduate PNP The OINP is accepting applications from master's degree graduates who want to settle in Ontario Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A UPDATE: Ontario opened and closed applications to the Masters Graduate stream on the same day, as registration to apply to this stream currently operates in a rush-seating format. Registration was closed when the limit of 1,215 was met, and will be closed until further notice. Original story published September 29 at 14:52 GMT: Today, September 29, Ontario is opening applications to candidates who have graduated with a masters degree. The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) will be opening applications to the Masters Graduate stream. International students who graduated from an Ontario university may be eligible to apply for this Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The OINP did not say exactly when the applications would open in the media release. However, they did say that interested applicants must access the OINP e-Filing Portal directly from the Masters Graduate stream page. Click on Submit an application using a desktop computer as cell phones and tablets are not supported by the system. Find out if you are eligible for Canadian immigration The OINP expects a significant number of users to apply, which may cause people to see a high-volume message page or be placed in a priority queue. This is not a technical error, and it is not necessary to contact the program. The system will automatically shut down once the intake limit has been met. Those who successfully register during the opening window will receive a confirmation email from the OINP portal within three business days, which will contain the registrants file number. Registrants will then have 14 days to submit the application for the PNP. It takes about two hours to complete the application, and it does not have to be done all in one go. It is possible to save work and return later. It costs $1,500 to apply and the OINP accepts Visa and Mastercard. All supporting documents must be in English or French, scanned and ready to upload when registrants are filing out the application. The correct format to enter a date of birth is DD/MM/YYYY. The OINP says that it is imperative the information is entered correctly as they do not accept complete changes to date of birth. Who is eligible for the Masters Graduate stream? No job offer is needed to apply for this PNP, nor is it necessary to be in Canada at the time of the application. Eligible candidates need to have completed the requirements for a masters degree from an eligible Ontario learning institution. A few of the other basic eligibility criteria include: English or French language skills that are at least a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 7 in all abilities; applicants must have lived in Ontario for at least one year; settlement funds calculated on family size and annual earnings; intention to live in Ontario; and other eligibility criteria. The Masters Graduate stream is one of the programs that will be shifting to an Expression of Interest system. The process of going from a first-come-first-served application system begins with public consultation. Ontario expects the new system will be in place in 2021. Find out if you are eligible for Canadian immigration 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved With Sandra leading our efforts across all industries, it will allow us to provide a more strategic response to the global movement related to DEI and race. The Cultural Intelligence Center is excited to announce the promotion of Dr. Sandra Upton to the newly created position of Vice President of our Global Diversity Practice. Dr. Upton currently serves the Cultural Intelligence Center as the Vice President of Educational Initiatives. In her new role, she will provide leadership and expertise on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for all of our clients, including implementation of a comprehensive set of products and services for supporting DEI initiatives. Sandra joined the Cultural Intelligence Center six years ago as our first sub-contracted consultant. She was so effective that a year later, we hired her to lead the education segment. She has established many new partnerships with educational institutions across the world. This promotion is a reflection of her growing influence as a cultural intelligence leader internally and externally. Diversity has been part of our work from the beginning. But with Sandra leading our efforts across all industries, it will allow us to provide a more strategic response to the global movement related to DEI and race. David Livermore | President, Cultural Intelligence Center Sandra will continue to work with many of our educational clients as well as providing leadership on DEI work with clients in corporate, government, non-profit contexts etc. Part of her new responsibilities will include strategic leadership, consultation on our DEI solutions and support to key partners who want to ensure a comprehensive CQ strategy for addressing DEI. More information about Dr. Sandra Upton can be found by visiting her LinkedIn profile or via her biography below. About Dr. Sandra Upton Sandra Upton, DSL serves as VP Global Diversity practices and provides strategic direction for applying Cultural Intelligence (CQ) to DEI work across all segments and industries. She previously worked with schools and universities through her role as Vice President of Educational Initiatives. In addition, shes a regular speaker, trainer, and consultant on cultural intelligence with companies and non-profit organizations. As a former business school dean and organizational consultant, Sandra understands how to effectively integrate CQ with organizations D&I initiatives and global leadership programs. She has also facilitated study abroad experiences in places such as China, Europe, Israel, and South Africa. Sandra finds her greatest pleasure in spending time with her husband and two children. She also enjoys travel, reading, watching a good film and long walks. About Cultural Intelligence Center The Cultural Intelligence Center is dedicated to the worldwide assessment and development of cultural intelligence or CQa globally recognized way of measuring and improving intercultural effectiveness. It owns the only academically validated CQ assessment in the world and offers certification and training for using the assessment. More information about the Cultural Intelligence Center can be found on our website located at http://www.CulturalQ.com. A woman who was accused of stealing a ring from Kyle Richards has broken her silence to demand an apology from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and Diane Keaton, whose Instagram photo sparked the theft allegations. Diana French, a retired pharmacy clerk from Los Angeles, spoke out on Monday about the bizarre saga which began last week when Richards shared her shock at seeing what she thought was her stolen ring on the finger of a woman whose hands had been photographed by Keaton in July 2019. Keaton identified the woman in her photo as a 'psychic' from Santa Monica, prompting Richards to hire a private investigator to track down the ring that was taken from her in a $1million jewelry heist at her California mansion in 2017. The story took a turn when a TikTok user named Maddie came forward last Thursday and said the woman in the photo was her grandmother, French. In a video for Inside Edition, French confirmed that she is not a fortune teller, and that Keaton snapped the photo while she was on shift at her pharmacy. 'That picture of my hands was taken on the counter of the pharmacy,' French said, though she couldn't recall the specific date that she crossed paths with Keaton. She said she believes she is owed an apology from Richards and Keaton for causing her to be falsely accused of theft, saying: 'I mean, this is terrible. I don't deserve this.' Scroll down for video Diana French, a retired pharmacy clerk from Los Angeles, broke her silence for the first time since she was accused of stealing a ring from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards in an interview with Inside Edition (pictured) released on Monday French was thrust into Richards' search for her stolen ring after she was identified as the woman whose hands were featured in an Instagram photo posted by Keaton in July 2019 (pictured). In the caption Keaton said the woman was a psychic, but French says that the actress took the photo when she was working at a pharmacy French's granddaughter Maddie revealed that her grandmother was the woman in the photo in a TikTok (pictured) last Thursday and insisted that the ring had been in her family for decades French demanded an apology from both Richards (left) and Keaton (right) for causing her to be falsely accused of theft, telling Inside Edition: 'I don't deserve this' French said she learned that she had been dragged into Richards' bizarre search for the stolen ring when her twin sister called her and said: 'Diana, you're on Google.' She explained that the ring has been in her family for decades, so there's no way it ever belonged to Richards. 'My mother was killed 40 years ago and my dad gave me her band,' French said, noting that she has a trove of family photos showing her wearing the ring over the years, as well as appraisal papers from 1980 that set the ring's value at $2,500. French added that she's also worn the striking long black nails seen in Keaton's photo for years, saying: 'I am totally lost without them.' Reps for Richards and Keaton did not immediately return requests for comment on French's account. French proudly wore her ring during the Inside Edition interview as she explained that her father gave it to her after her mother died 40 years ago The grandmother offered up appraisal papers from 1980 that set the ring's value at $2,500 French also showed this old family photo which shows her wearing the ring in question French's granddaughter Maddie defended her grandmother in a TikTok video late Thursday night, explaining that she came across the image of her grandmother's hands on Keaton's Instagram Stories - and was shocked to learn of the eccentric story behind it. 'I just want to clear things up,' she said, while pointing at a screengrab of Keaton's post - which Richards' believed showed a psychic wearing her mother's stolen ring. 'This ring right there, that's my grandma's ring. She has been working in a pharmacy for over 50 years [and] has had those rings for decades.' Maddie then proceeded to share other images of her grandmother's hands to prove that she is actually the woman in Keaton's photograph. 'These are my grandma's hands at my fifth-grade graduation, and there's the ring you've been talking about,' the TikTok user said. In the images, a pair of hands can be seen wearing the same chunky accessories that were pictured on the woman in Keaton's Instagram post, and the woman in Maddie's photos is also modeling the same long black nails that first prompted the actress to take her picture in the first place. Maddie tagged Richards in her video caption, and told her to get in touch if she 'wants any more info' - while also adding the hashtag #notafortuneteller for good measure. It is unclear exactly how Keaton came to believe that the woman she photographed last year was a 'fortune teller' as she wrote in her post. French's granddaughter Maddie defended her grandmother in a TikTok video late Thursday night, explaining that she came across the image of her grandmother's hands on Keaton's Instagram Stories - and was shocked to learn of the eccentric story behind it In her TikTok video shared this photo of her grandmother's hands, which appear to feature the same ring - and the same unique black nails that appeared in the original photo Maddie's video comes just hours after Richards offered what she thought was new evidence in her desperate hunt for her mother's stolen ring. Richards made the claim during a Secrets Revealed special for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and shortly after took to Instagram to shed further light on the 'crazy story' by sharing an image of the beloved heirloom in her jewelry box and comparing it to the bauble that was photographed by Keaton. 'I got a lot of questions about the Secrets Revealed episode last night and the story about my mom's ring being stolen and my seeing the stolen ring on Diane Keaton's Instagram,' Richards explained in an Instagram Stories video. 'It is such a crazy story but I will post the picture that Diane posted and a picture of my mom's ring.' 'My mom's ring in my drawer,' she captioned a personal photo of her ring. 'I took this picture the night before I was burglarized. I thought to myself: "If I ever was burglarized how would I remember exactly what I have?" 'So I took a photo in case that ever happened. Talk about manifesting.' To offer further proof that the two rings are in fact the same, Richards then posted a side-by-side comparison of the two photos, while pointing out that 'you can see the gold is rubbed off in the exact spot' and revealing that the gold-and-diamond accessory was actually given to her mother Kathleen by her father Ken. Richards, 51, sparked interest and intrigue on last Thursday when she claimed that she had spotted her stolen ring in an Instagram photo shared by Keaton The RHOBH star shared these side-by-side comparison photos of the ring in Keaton's image (left) and her stolen heirloom (right) to try and prove that they are one and the same Richards said the ring had been given to her mother Kathleen by her dad, and claimed the ring in Keaton's photo had gold 'rubbed off' in the same spot Richards shared a wider shot of her jewelry collection and pointed out the stolen ring, which was taken when her California home was burglarized in late 2017 The mother-of-three revealed that she took the picture of her jewelry store the night before she was burglarized because she wanted to 'remember exactly what she had' Richards' update on the fascinating saga came just hours after the entire story was laid bare in a teaser clip from the Thursday's episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - during which she explained how she contacted Keaton through an agent at her husband's real estate company, The Agency. Richards reached out to Keaton, 74, after seeing her picture, however the actress was unable to offer additional information about the woman in the image 'We reached out to one of our agents at The Agency who happens to represent Diane Keaton, and I said, "You need to find out what the situation is."' The agent spoke to Keaton, however she was unable to offer any more information. According to Richards, Keaton explained to the agent that she didn't have any specific details about the woman - revealing that she had only stopped to take the picture of the unnamed woman's hands because she thought her long black nails were 'so interesting'. The ring in question originally belonged to Richards' mother Kathleen, who left the jewel to her daughter along with several other family heirlooms after her death in 2002. It was then stolen from the $8.2 million Encino home that Richards shares with her husband Mauricio Umansky. Richards lost dozens of sentimental family pieces in the robbery, and while police were investigating the crime, none of them had been found - until the reality star saw what she believes is her missing ring in the snap shared by Keaton. Richards first shared the story during a special episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which aired on Thursday night Hint: One Instagram user suggested that the woman in question might be a psychic known by the name of Lady Luna After the episode of Real Housewives aired, several fans took to Instagram to share their own thoughts about who the woman might be - with one user suggesting that the woman could be a psychic known as Lady Luna, who operates in the Santa Monica area. 'The psychic that has your ring is named Lady Luna in Santa Monica...' user @hellakella3838 wrote on their account. 'I found others who went to same psychic and they verified its her nails... She doesn't have an IG though unfortunately... But maybe u can find her location with the name ...IF U want names of ppl who i found lmk [sic].' A Bravo fan account also launched an appeal for followers to help Richards track down the woman and the ring - while also urging people not to 'accuse' the fortune teller of anything untoward, noting that the woman may well have paid good money for the ring, or been given it, without knowing where it came from. 'Internet detectives, do your best!' the @bravosuperfans account wrote. 'Find the Santa Monica Fortune Teller! What are the chances that Kyle would see this random photo, with her stolen moms ring! Serendipity. 'ALSO - let's not accuse the fortune teller. Someone could have given the ring for payment.' Before launching her social media search, Richards had already spent a great deal of time and resources investigating the mystery on her own. Important: The ring in question belonged to Richards' mother, Kathleen, and was one of many heirlooms stolen in the $1 million heist. Richards is seen with her mom and sister Kim in 1983 Crime scene: The ring was stolen from the stunning Encino home that Richards shares with her husband Mauricio Umansky (pictured), which was burglarized while they were in Aspen Family: Richards and Umansky bought the property for $8.2 million just months before the robbery, and the RHOBH star admitted that she was tempted to move after it happened While Keaton was unable to offer any specific information about the woman - other than her location - Richards was determined not to let the lead go to waste, and she quickly enlisted a private investigator to try and track down the photo subject. When the private investigator failed to find the woman, Richards took matters into her own hands and teamed up with her RHOBH co-star and close friend Teddi Mellencamp to try and locate her. Their efforts proved fruitless however, with Mellencamp explaining in the RHOBH special: 'We thought we were hot on the trail but then we realized we were just being sent in circles.' At that point, Richards had to give up the search in order to focus on filming for the latest season of the hit Bravo show, however she explained in the new episode that she is determined to resume the hunt and track down her stolen heirloom. 'I want to know if she bought that from someone at a pawn shop, even if I have to buy it back from her, I'm happy to do that,' she said. Richards' reignited search for her mother's stolen ring comes three years after the bauble was first stolen from the reality star's home along with dozens of other valuables and sentimental items worth a staggering $1 million. The mother-of-four and her realtor husband were holidaying in Aspen when thieves broke into her Encino home, which the couple had purchased for $8.2 million just a few months prior. Buddies: After a failed attempt to locate the fortune-teller with a private investigator, Richards teamed up with her RHOBH co-star Teddi Mellencamp (right) to find the fortune teller Richards had planned to give the majority of the heirlooms that were stolen to her four daughters, Farrah, Portia, Alexia, and Sophia Speaking about the devastating robbery in January 2018, Richards revealed that many of the items stolen during the heist were priceless family heirlooms that she had hoped to one day bequeath to her daughters, Farrah, Portia, Alexia, and Sophia, who were in Aspen with their parents when their home was burglarized. The home robbery was so traumatic Richards actually considered moving out of the Encino property, she confessed to Bravo in 2018. 'There was one point after our house was burglarized that I thought, you know, I might have to sell my house - but then I look at my dogs and see how much they love this house and I think, "I could never leave,"' she explained. In her first interview after the robbery, Richards told People that 'everything my mother, who passed away, had ever collected and saved to give to me - that I had always envisioned of passing on to my four daughters - was gone'. She added: 'Even my childrens baby bracelets. Obviously, those are the things that hurt the most, things that I can't replace. They're completely invaluable.' In a different People interview she shared that despite being one of three sisters she inherited 'the majority' of her mother's keepsakes when she passed away in March 2002. As a result, when these valuables were stolen 'there was guilt attached to it. They got taken from me, from my house, on my watch'. Kaveree Bamzai By Express News Service Politicians lack the will to allocate funds for public healthcare because it is a costly and long-drawn affair and one can only hope that the Covid-19 crisis will teach them why they need an investment in science, Professor Ravindra K Gupta said in conversation with author and senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai in TNIE Expressions, a series of live webcasts with people who matter. Global collaboration between scientists to work on the vaccine and understanding the virus is reassuring and will take science ahead by quite a few steps, said Gupta who was recently named in Times list of the 100 most influential people of 2020. The global cooperation has been unprecedented. The efforts behind the vaccine, across the country, have been remarkable. We need to sustain this, said the Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases. I am certainly one of those who think that we need to get the vaccine right the first time. We are getting better at treating the disease and we can invest a few more months into research. I believe these months are going to be well invested. We have nine odd candidates and we want to choose the best few. It is not necessarily a race to see who makes it first but it is more about the quality to see whether it is effective in the long run, said Gupta, who is hailed for having functionally cured the London patient the second person ever to be cured of HIV with a stem-cell transplant. Healthcare needs more investment in healthcare, the Indian-origin biologist said, regarding the preparedness of medical facilities during COVID-19, The UK was prepared for a significant first wave and the healthcare system just about coped with it but at the cost of other procedures and treatment. There was a lot of damage due to the diversion of the resources from critical healthcare like cancer treatment. There have been enough discussions about herd immunity setting in, but Gupta said that it would be quite difficult because lockdowns were imposed and the transmission of the disease had been hampered. Though the COVID-19 mortality rate in India is low, something which the Indian government has been highlighting often, the virologist contended that the data at any point during a pandemic of this scale is not reliable. There are people who are not making it to the hospitals. There are people dying at home and these numbers are not being reported. So the data is not reliable at this point, he said. India has a younger population and the disease is correlated to age. So maybe age is a reason. It can also be the theory that tropical countries have more encounters with infectious diseases and thus the immunological memory helps them to cope with the virus. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) -More than 190 illegal migrants perished in September off the Libyan coast, a non-governmental organisation monitoring migrant boats in the Mediterranean, 'Alarm Phone', has revealed Advertisement Britain today recorded another 7,143 coronavirus cases and 71 deaths as the outbreak continues to grow with both infections and fatalities spiking more than 40 per cent in a week. The UK's weekly infection rate now currently stands at 64 cases per 100,000 people a figure which is rising but not as quickly as government advisers warned last week when they made the startling projection of 50,000 new cases a day by mid-October. For comparison, 4,926 Britons tested positive last Tuesday. But confirmed Covid-19 cases are still nowhere near levels witnessed during the darkest weeks of the pandemic in March and April, when more than 100,000 Britons were estimated to be catching the virus every day. Number 10's lacklustre testing policy meant millions of cases were never counted. Deaths can vary day-by-day and are normally lower on Sundays and Mondays because of a recording lag at the weekend just 13 were announced yesterday. But when taking into account the rolling-average, the trend has risen upwards up around 23 victims a day last Tuesday to an average of 35 today. The 71 fatalities posted today is the highest since 97 on July 1. It comes after an Office for National Statistics (ONS) report released today revealed 139 people succumbed to the life-threatening disease in England and Wales in the week ending September 18, up 40 per cent from the 99 in the previous seven days. This marks the third week in a row Covid-19 fatalities have risen after reaching a record low of 78 at the beginning of September. For comparison, 900 people were dying from the virus every day in April. The weekly rise may confirm experts fears that climbing infections in recent weeks would eventually translate into more deaths, although it is too early to tell for definite. Cases have been on the up since July 4, when hundreds of thousands of Britons flocked to pubs, bars and restaurants to celebrate 'Super Saturday' after they were finally allowed to re-open following months of being shut to contain the life-threatening virus. Until recently, hospitalisations and deaths had remained low and stable despite soaring cases largely because it was mainly young, healthy people driving the transmission. Both have since started to rebound. However, the number of victims dying every week from the disease is still a far cry from the 8,000-plus weekly deaths at the height of the crisis. The ONS report also shows flu and pneumonia killed eight times more people than Covid-19 in the week ending September 18. Data shows there have been 491 Covid-19 hospital admissions in the North East in the past month, compared to 361 in the Midlands, 264 in London, 109 in the South East, 72 in the East and 52 in South West. Only the North West of England, with 552 admissions, has had more than the NE during that time. Graphs show how the number of hospital patients with Covid-19 in each different region of England has changed since the pandemic began The number of deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has risen 40 per cent in a week. This graph shows deaths from Covid-19 (red) compared to total deaths (blue) and the average for the past five years (dashed line) The total number of deaths in the UK remained above the five-year average, this graph reveals, with 259 deaths more than was expected. Statisticians had estimated that deaths may drop below the five-year average as coronavirus sped up the deaths of those that would have died from other causes Deaths from coronavirus rose in six of the nine regions of England. The North East and London were the only two regions to record fewer overall deaths than the five-year average How the number of new coronavirus cases announced each day has changed since the first wave of the pandemic, when barely any patients were getting tested for the disease. Top experts believe more than 100,000 cases were actually occurring every day in the spring There were 2,049 patients being treated for the disease on Sunday, rising from 764 a fortnight ago and 1,319 last week. This figure had been falling for four months straight after peaking at 20,000 in mid-April In other coronavirus developments in Britain today: Boris Johnson was lampooned as he apologised for getting lockdown rules in the North East wrong hours after another minister admitted she did not know if friends can meet in pub gardens; The Prime Minister was desperately trying to quell Tory mutinies over coronavirus lockdown, the university shambles and 10pm pubs curfew today amid claims angry MPs are mounting a 'Trojan Horse' plot to get rid of him; Mr Johnson is due to address the nation at a press conference tomorrow with medical and science chiefs Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance; Local lockdowns could be imposed within 24 hours of a coronavirus outbreak thanks to real-time data from the NHS app, it was claimed; Middle-aged customers are being 'humiliated' by 'app disciples' at pubs and restaurants banning them from going in without the NHS Covid-19 app - despite government rules saying it is not compulsory. Department of Health data shows how the total number of coronavirus victims in the UK currently stands at 42,001. This only takes into account patients who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19. On average, 35 Britons are now succumbing to the life-threatening illness each day. Only the US, Brazil, India and Mexico, all countries with substantially larger populations, have suffered more fatalities. Britain has also had 446,156 confirmed cases of coronavirus since recording its first two at the end of January. But the true toll is likely to be at least 6million because hundreds of thousands of infected patients were never tested during the peak of the first wave. Government data shows 6,087 Britons are now testing positive for the virus every day, on average, up from 4,189 last Tuesday. This had dropped to around 500 at the start of July, when the economy was finally opened up. Professor Kevin McConway, a statistician at the Open University, said the rise in coronavirus deaths was 'not too concerning' yet. But he warned the current rise in infections may not take its true toll on lives for another two or three weeks, due to a lag in the time it takes for Covid-19 patients to fall seriously ill and die. He said: 'These figures are not too concerning yet, Id argue, because the weekly numbers of Covid-related deaths were higher than these levels right up to late July or early August, so this is by no means a large spike in deaths. 'But the recent rise in the numbers of infections, shown by data from the ONS Infection Survey and the REACT-1 study from Imperial College, did not really get started until late August or early September. 'If the rise in infections is going to lead to a corresponding rise in numbers of deaths that seems very likely but we cant be completely certain yet that rise mostly wont have shown up yet. 'Thats because it takes time, typically several weeks, for an infected person to become ill enough to need hospitalisation and, eventually and sadly, to die. 'The rise in registered death with Covid on the certificate may well be the first sign of an increase linked to the increase in infections, but well have to wait for a week or twos more data to see whether and how that rise continues.' This week's rise in Covid-19 deaths marks the highest number of deaths from the virus since the week ending August 14, when 139 people succumbed to the disease. Six out of nine regions in England recorded a rise in coronavirus deaths, with the North West recording the largest number, at 39, and the highest proportion of fatalities involving the disease. The North West had the largest number of deaths involving coronavirus, at 39, and the highest proportion of deaths involving the disease. It was followed by Yorkshire and The Humber, at 21, the West Midlands, at 15, East Midlands, at 14, London, at 13, and South East with 11. The North East and East of England both recorded eight deaths from coronavirus, while five were recorded in the South West and Wales. The data showed that deaths involving coronavirus in hospitals almost doubled from 1.6 per cent in the week ending September 11 to 2.5 per cent, and rose in care homes from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent. Flu and pneumonia killed eight times more people than Covid-19 in the week ending September 18, with 1,197 people succumbing to the respiratory illnesses. This was up slightly from last week's figure of 1,125, and more than a third (37 per cent) higher compared to two weeks ago, when the total was 874. Meanwhile, there were a total of 9,523 deaths from all causes in the week up to September 18, which was 259 more fatalities than would normally be expected at this time of year (9,264). It is the second week in a row that deaths are above the five-year average, after 9,811 people died in England and Wales last week. The North East and London were the only two of the nine English regions to record fewer overall deaths than the five-year average. The West Midlands saw the highest proportion of deaths above the five-year average, at 98 or 10.3 per cent, followed by the South East (6.9 per cent), North West (4.9 per cent), Yorkshire and The Humber (3.8 per cent), East Midlands (2.1 per cent). South West (2 per cent) and East of England (1.2 per cent). But care homes and hospitals are still recording fewer deaths than they normally would at this time of year. ONS experts explained that Covid-19 likely sped up the deaths of people who would have died of other causes, meaning the year's fatalities have been front-loaded. Deaths in private homes rose above the five-year average this week, but remained below it in hospitals. They also dropped below the level for care homes As much as 64 per cent of deaths involving coronavirus occurred in hospital (light green) in the week up to September 18. This graph shows the deaths broken down by place of death People aged from 75 and over are most likely to die from coronavirus, according to this chart, while very few deaths have been recorded in those aged zero to 44. The charts are split by sex (Male in blue and Female in green) However, the number of deaths in private homes continued to be higher than the five-year average, with 711 more people dying than average, from a slew of conditions including heart disease, stroke and cancers. It suggests Brits are still reluctant to use healthcare or are struggling to access it because most services are operating at limited capacity. The ONS also estimates a total of 52,631 people have died from coronavirus in Britain so far. In Scotland, 4,246 people have died from coronavirus since the outbreak began. Northern Ireland has reported 893 deaths from Covid-19 by September 18, meaning a total of 57,113 people have died from the disease in the UK since the outbreak began. This differs from the Government's tally of 42,001 because the ONS includes all victims who had the virus mentioned on their death certificates, even if they weren't diagnosed with the virus or had a confirmed test. Of all deaths involving coronavirus, data shows that hospitals have recorded 63.4 per cent of the total, or 33,386 fatalities. The second highest tally is in care homes, with 15,562, followed by private homes, 2,502, hospices, 753, and other locations, 428. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (27) An urgent overhaul of the Special Educational Needs system in Northern Ireland is required, with demand rising and key targets now routinely missed, a report warns today. More than 300m is spent every year on special needs provision, with the cost increasing by a third since 2015. The number of children with a relevant statement has also grown by 36% in the last nine years. Meanwhile, a time limit for issuing statements is broken for nearly nine out of every 10 children assessed. The findings emerge in a damning report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office. Comptroller and Auditor General Kieran Donnelly said that despite growing spending, the Department of Education and the Education Authority (EA) are still unable to clearly show value for money. He said a proper evaluation of services is needed. A child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have learning difficulties and are assessed as requiring special help. Statements are legally binding documents issued by the EA, following an assessment process, and set out a child's needs and the additional help required. In the last academic year (2019/20), 67,224 children were reported as having SEN - 19.3% of the school population. Some 19,200 children had a statement (5.5% of all pupils) - almost treble the department's estimate. Other key findings include: Annual expenditure on SEN reached 312m in 2019/20, an increase from 233m in 2015/16. Expenditure over the last five years totals more than 1.3bn. It is over 13 years since the department began a review of SEN. Costs are approaching 3.6m but the review is still not complete. In 2015/16, 79% of new statements were issued outside the 26 week statutory limit. But last year 85% of all assessments exceeded that timeframe. The 5.5% of pupils with a statement is significantly higher than the 2% anticipated by the department, and higher than in England (3.3%). Mr Donnelly's report warns that more still needs to be done to ensure schools are applying a clear and consistent approach to identifying and providing for children with SEN. It notes how, earlier this year, the Children's Commissioner raised concerns around failings in early identification and intervention. A 2017 Audit Office report on the issue raised concerns around value for money, and made 10 recommendations. Today's report found that, while some progress has been made, none of the 10 recommendations have been fully addressed. The number of appeals against the EA's decisions is rising, primarily as a result of its refusal to conduct a Statutory Assessment or reassess. The report states: "There is a clear need for an urgent review and overhaul of the SEN processes in place within the EA." With costs now running at 312m annually, Mr Donnelly's report warns the current funding of SEN services "is not financially sustainable". Today's report also criticises the lack of progress on a review of SEN launched by the department in 2006, but still ongoing. The report adds: "To date, the Department has spent more than 3.6m on the review which has been ongoing for over 13 years and the outworking of the process is not yet complete." A Department of Education spokesperson said: "The department is working closely with the EA on addressing the issues in the report." He noted the issue would be discussed by the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee on October 15. "The general guiding principle is that it is inappropriate to comment in detail in advance of a potential PAC hearing and the Department of Finance minister's (Conor Murphy) response," he added. The Charger Blog Keyri Ambrocio 21 spent her summer conducting research that focused on immigrant and refugee rights, and she hopes her findings will foster a greater understanding of how these issues are impacted by public opinion. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing & Communications Keyri Ambrocio in Washington, D.C. Keyri Ambrocio 21 has long been interested in immigration advocacy and policy reform. She has studied the inequalities that people face around the world, and she spent her summer conducting research focused on public opinions around immigration. A political science and international affairs double major, Ambrocio created a survey to assess how people would react to different definitions for sanctuary city policies and the implications of these policies. She will soon begin analyzing the data and determining if the different messaging and words used to describe sanctuary city policies impact the publics perception of them. I am so honored that I am able to focus my research on an issue that I am so passionate about, she said. I hope that with this research, we can gain a better understanding of how public opinion is shaped by the way we describe different immigration policies. Keyri Ambrocio in the Universitys Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation. Ambrocios research was part of her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship project, which she is continuing to work on with Chris Haynes, Ph.D., and Patricia Crouse, Ph.D. She has been meeting with them and working on her project remotely. She is grateful for the support of her faculty mentors and for the opportunity to learn more about the research experience. The process has made me a more detail-oriented person, she said. Its shown me that the smallest things, such as the way you word a question, have a large impact. I have also learned to think more critically and to be adaptable to any change that comes my way. The daughter of immigrants from Guatemala, Ambrocio is devoted to immigrant and refugee rights and policy reform. Earlier this year, she became the first University of New Haven student to be named a Newman Civic Fellow. She has also interned and volunteered with immigration advocacy organizations such as the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. Ambrocio hopes her research will foster a greater understanding of how to most accurately convey sanctuary city policies. This research is so important because it will help us to identify not only how we should be talking about sanctuary city policies, but, also, the impact of our wording, she said. Today, more people understand the biases of news sources as they frame issues in a certain way and how that impacts the way people think about issues. Hopefully, my findings will help us understand how people are impacted by how these issues are framed. The thousands of savers who entrusted almost 120million of their money to Wellesley Finance could hardly fail to have been impressed by the lineage of its founder, the 8th Earl Cowley, an aristocrat descended from the Duke of Wellington's brother. But while Graham Wellesley has his illustrious name and his wealth, some of the investors who flocked to him are facing heavy losses they can ill afford. Savers have been told their entire holdings could be wiped out if they refuse to back a rescue deal for the firm, in a crisis that has pitted Wellesley, 55, against almost 12,000 small investors. Taste for the high life: Graham Wellesley, the 8th Earl Cowley, with his wife Claire at the races The aristocrat founded the company in 2013 and lured savers with promises of extremely attractive rates on their money. The company ran adverts on TV where viewers were told: 'If you are not getting much interest on your savings, try the Wellesley way' and touted returns much higher than those available in the banks or building societies. In the small print it did admit that capital was at risk and that customers were not covered by the financial services scheme. The firm took in money from savers and then lent the cash to property developers. It promised the savers rewards of 4, 6 or even 8 per cent depending on how long they tied up their money. But after many of the building projects stalled during the pandemic, developers became unable to repay the money they had borrowed from Wellesley. In turn, that meant Wellesley could not pay savers the sums they expected. Now the company is on the brink and those who took the bait are facing hefty losses. Savers are preparing to vote on a Company Voluntary Arrangement, or CVA, an insolvency arrangement which will save the company from going into administration. After being sent the details last week, they have until midnight on October 13 to decide whether to offer their support. Statesman: The first Duke of Wellington If they do not back the deal they will get nothing, Wellesley's advisers have warned. But even if they do, they still stand to lose in some cases they will forfeit the lion's share of their savings. Wellesley Finance has collected 571million from investors since it was founded in 2013, but has only repaid 458million of their capital and 39.6million of interest. It still owed the 11,882 holders of its bonds, mini-bonds and peer-to-peer loans around 118million at the time it hit the buffers. The collapse will be embarrassing for Wellesley, the chief executive. Born in San Francisco, he and his wife Claire have three children. His social media accounts suggest he has a taste for the high life, with posts documenting his alpine ski trips and boar hunting escapades. He founded the firm after beginning his career in the City in 1985 as a derivatives trader, where he attempted to use his other title, Viscount Dangan. He reverted to Graham Wellesley after complaining that fellow traders called him 'Lord Dagenham' after the town in Essex. Wellesley informed its customers earlier this month that their interest payments are being frozen. It has drafted in restructuring specialists Duff & Phelps to draw up the CVA. Duff & Phelps is expected to claim fees of 150,000 for its services. CVAs are controversial because they involve creditors agreeing to receive only a fraction of what they are owed in order to keep the company going. Under the CVA, investors have the option of receiving a hugely reduced amount of their money if they choose to take cash, or slightly more if they opt to take a stake in Wellesley. Both of these options involve investors having faith in Graham Wellesley to turn his company's performance around. One saver who wanted to remain anonymous told the Mail that he 'wouldn't dream' of having anything to do with the firm now. He invested 100,000 in a mini-bond in 2016 which was supposed to yield 4.3 per cent. Hot shot: Graham Wellesley on a wild boar hunting escapade. The firm took in money from savers and then lent the cash to property developers. But when the bond came to maturity two years later, he was told that savers would not receive their full capital amount back because one of the borrowers had fallen into difficulty. 'It made me very uneasy,' the investor said. 'I wouldn't dream of investing in them now the investment didn't realise nearly as much as it should. I hoped that Wellesley would do all the things it promised but it's fallen far short.' Details of the CVA sent out to savers show that anyone who invested in mini-bonds which were not secured against property stands to lose everything if Wellesley goes into administration. Those who invested in secured mini-bonds will get 77p for every 1 they were owed if the company collapses. Those who invested through its peer-to-peer lending platform will get 44p and full bond holders will get 66p. If they accept Wellesley's CVA, investors will get a slightly better deal. The unsecured mini-bond holders will get 1p in every 1. If they choose to take an equity stake in Wellesley instead of their cash, they will get 25p for every pound. Secured mini-bondholders will get 84p cash for every pound if they accept the CVA, or 89p if they take an equity stake. And the peer-to-peer lenders will get 48p in cash under the CVA, while bondholders will get 71p. They do not have the option of taking an equity stake. Graham Wellesley said: 'I want to express how sorry we are that we have had to take these measures as it impacts all our loyal investors.' Pubs and clubs in New South Wales could soon host double the amount of patrons allowed inside as the state goes two days without any new COVID-19 cases. Industry leaders are reportedly in talks with the state government to ease current restrictions to allow one person per two square metres. The current one person per four square metre rule has been in place since May and has weighed heavily on the hospitality industry, with food and beverage sales down 60 per cent. Clubs and pubs are hoping to double the amount of patrons allowed inside after NSW went two days without any new coronavirus cases (pictured two women enjoy at drink at the Royal Hotel in Sydney) Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday more needed to be done before big changes could be made. 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves after a few days of zero cases,' Ms Berejiklian said. 'We already eased some restrictions last week and are going as fast as we can to help businesses, the economy, and jobs, but we need to make sure we do it at the right pace. 'We will ease restrictions wherever and whenever it is safe to do so, but unlike some other states we have to do it with open borders and will an eye on the situation in Victoria.' Government ministers like Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello have had discussions with industry groups on easing patron rules. Peter V'landys, NSW Racing boss and rugby league chairman, said he expected the state would lift restrictions after such few cases were recorded. Food and beverage sales have been down 60 per cent as a result of having just one patron per four square metres (pictured friends visit a bar in Sydney) NSW recorded no new cases on Monday or Sunday and just one new infection on Saturday (pictured patient is tested for coronavirus at a pop up site in Sydney) 'There is no way Gladys Berejiklian or the NSW Government is going to let Queensland out-do them. Surely whatever Queensland can do we can do,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'We can't call to open borders in one breath but constrain our own economy at the same time.' Meanwhile, Australian chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan said businesses could profit $20,000 more a week with an easing of restrictions. 'The government keeps going on about jobs, jobs, jobs, yet it seems the restaurant businesses are being left out a bit. We're turning away customers because we're only at 50 per cent capacity,' he said. The Australian Hotels Association said increasing the number of customers could allow for 15,000 new jobs in the hospitality sector. The one person per two square metre rule has already been taken on in South Australia and Western Australia. Queensland allows more patrons in venues under 200 square metres. As NSW is about to enter into school holidays, the matter surrounding patrons will be highly considered if there is no new spike in infections. It comes after NSW recorded no new coronavirus cases on Monday and Sunday with just one infection on Saturday. (TNS) Georgia election officials told a federal judge Monday that theyll quickly correct a problem with touchscreen voting computers that left off the names of some of the 21 candidates in a special election for the U.S. Senate.But attorneys suing the state government said theyre alarmed by technical difficulties so close to the time in-person early voting begins on Oct. 12. They want the government to replace the touchscreens with paper ballots filled out by hand.Software on the states 30,000-plus touchscreens will be replaced to prevent an issue where the second column of U.S. Senate candidates sometimes didnt appear. Those candidates included Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrats Matt Lieberman, Ed Tarver and Raphael Warnock. Another Republican candidate, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, wasnt affected because his name appeared in the first column.The plaintiffs are flagging this as some apocalyptic scenario on social media, and its not. This is a very minor issue, said Bryan Tyson, an attorney for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.The issue, discovered last week during pre-election equipment testing in Douglas and Richmond counties, occurred when the second column of candidates didnt appear because of a technical problem with how touchscreens communicated with their underlying Android operating system, said Eric Coomer of Dominion Voting Systems. He said the problem only happened rarely, when users made selections in a specific pattern.David Cross, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said making a critical software change shows that the states voting technology is vulnerable to problems.This is far bigger than we originally thought, Cross told U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg. Its hard to imagine a more concerning scenario.He said the software upgrade is being made without adequate security testing or certification from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. But Coomer said the change is minor and doesnt require recertification.Election officials halted testing in the 77 counties where it had begun after they learned about the problem, said Gabriel Sterling, statewide voting system implementation manager.New software will be distributed to county election offices on USB drives, and then theyll be responsible for installing it on touchscreens as part of the testing process. A company reviewing the new software, Pro V&V , could give its approval by Tuesday, Sterling said.The problem with the U.S. Senate race didnt affect absentee ballots , which are already being returned to election officials. DONY Launches Full Line of Personal Protective Equipment: The DONY Mask, The DONY Disposable Surgical Protective Coverall, and The DONY Medical Isolation Gown Suit - Full Protection From Head to Toe. Dony Factory The company is supplying globally, the majority of Dony's customers are in the following 15 countries: Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Macao, France, Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Singapore, UK, UAE and Australia. The company is supplying globally, the majority of Dony's customers are in the following 15 countries: Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Macao, France, Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Singapore, UK, UAE and Australia. Dony Compression Suit DONY Launches Full Line of Personal Protective Equipment: The DONY Mask, The DONY Disposable Surgical Protective Coverall, and The DONY Medical Isolation Gown Suit - Full Protection From Head to Toe. DONY Launches Full Line of Personal Protective Equipment: The DONY Mask, The DONY Disposable Surgical Protective Coverall, and The DONY Medical Isolation Gown Suit - Full Protection From Head to Toe. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the Vietnamese manufacturer DONY GARMENT is proud to announce the launch of a full line of high-quality personal protective equipment. Companies across the globe have stepped up to provide the products and services needed for the world to continue fighting, and DONY is proud to be part of that effort, with the introduction of disposable medical protective coveralls clothing, premium reusable face mask, and disposable surgical sterile isolation gown suit. The DONY Mask: The DONY Mask provides the highest level of COVID-19 protection, reusable up to sixty times, with a bacterial filtration efficiency of over 99%. And thats not all: - UV Protection of up to 99.95% - Sterilized prior to packaging - Perfect Water Resistance - Air Resistance greater than requirements across Europe - Elasticity over 2x higher than usual masks The DONY Mask is certified by organizations across the world, including the United States FDA, the French Armed Forces, the Australian Department of Health, and more. As a result, you can rest easy knowing you are providing the highest quality protection to your organization. DONY products even have a 100% money-back guarantee! The time is right for a better kind of face mask, says DONY [CEO] Henry Pham. And Viet Nam is the right country to provide it. Story continues In the past, the world turned to China when it needed massive quantities of consumer products, notes Pham. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that a bit and the ongoing trade war between China and the US have inhibited Chinese production of PPE even more. Other countries have been catching up to Chinas manufacturing capacity: we can now produce nearly a quarter-million DONY Masks a day when needed. We do it with a degree of precision and quality control that larger Chinese manufacturers cant match, and with the same low overhead, government support, and access to global shipping channels that China is known for. The DONY Disposable Protective Coverall: DONYs Disposable Protective Coverall is designed to provide head-to-toe protection while keeping you comfortable as you focus on your businesss priorities. Some of the Coveralls features include: - Breathable Material: High-quality fabric that allows air passage without exposure. - Waterproof: Restricts the passage of liquid, blood, and other pathogens. - Siamese Hood Design: Increases protection by covering the top and rear of the head. - Elastic Cuffs: Leaves arms less exposed while providing for personalized comfort. - Elastic Waist: Suitable for all body types and adjustable as needed. - Elastic Facial Opening: Less facial exposure, designed to operate in tandem with masks. - Zip Fly Design: Zipper has its own fabric cover, for an extra layer of protection. - Shoe Covers: True head-to-toe protection with adjustable shoe covers. - Lightweight: Avoid fatigue with PPE that doesnt weigh you down. The DONY Isolation Gown: If your budget is tight or you need protection that is quickly removable, DONY has also developed a DONY Isolation Gown. The Isolation Gown provides the same level of protection for your torso, without the head covering or shoe coverings of the DONY Coverall. Like the Coverall, the Isolation Gown comes in various sizes to suit the needs of different persons. Both products of Dony are certified by the most reliable health authorities of the world like FDA, C.E, DGA, TGA, SASO, ISO, TUV Reach, CFS, Intertek, and others. "There are many mask manufacturers in Vietnam but not all the factories follow international standards. The reason why we chose Dony mask is that they fulfill Japan's market needs and their manufacturing system meets our standard," said Nicolas Jo, Founder, and CEO of JJFT, a fashion, and textile group. On the evening of 5th June 2020, Dony Garment Company and other Vietnamese enterprises have donated medical supplies to the USs people. At the Ceremony of Offering Medical Materials to the United States, Dony presented 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks worth more than VND 10.5 billion. Overcoming many businesses that have signed up to give antibacterial masks, through testing, only Dony Mask has met the quality standards for use in the US. It's a big honor for Dony. Dony Mask is the only available reusable face mask that successfully passes through multiple quality checks, to be accepted for use in the U.S finally. Mr. Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Ambassador in Vietnam has extended his heartfelt gratitude and confirmed that Operation USA Organization which based in Los Angeles, USA will distribute these medical supplies to needed places such as California, New York, etc. Commenting on DONYs commitment to quality production, DONY CEO Henry Pham said: "Weve had requests to lower our wholesale price by cutting corners on QC and in-package sterilization, and weve refused to honor each of those requests. We produce the best mass-market face mask available today, and we will continue to do so." The pandemic is currently at a critical point with COVID cases rising dramatically again in many countries across the world, including the UK, France, and Spain, and cases remain high in countries such as the U.S.A. and Brazil. In order to control the spread, particularly in healthcare environments, it is crucial that medical professionals can access high-quality PPE. China has been a major supplier of PPE since the beginning of the pandemic; however, with political tensions with the west high, it is widely expected that international trade could be severely disrupted. For this reason, it is crucial that Vietnamese manufacturers such as DONY have been able to step up and provide high-value alternatives. About DONY GARMENT COMPANY: DONY is a garment company that specializes in producing, by order, clothes, uniforms, workwear (chef, driver, school, company, police & military, security guard, sports, heat resistant, industrial, hospital), and personal protective equipment (or, PPE) for domestic and overseas companies. Dony Mask (3-ply Anti-drop Reusable Antibacterial Cloth face mask) has exclusive distributors in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, UAE, and has already shipped (branded wholesale, bulk, and OEM - ODM) across the world, to countries including the USA, Europe, Singapore, Jordan, France, the UK, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Macao, and Japan. Join customers from around the world in order for high-quality protective equipment today by visiting DONY online at https://garment.dony.vn/. Dony Garment Company +84985310123 News Via: KISS PR Brand Story Press Release https://story.kisspr.com Attachments Joe Biden and Donald Trump will discuss the future of the US Supreme Court, the Covid-19 pandemic, the state of the US economy and race and violence in our cities in their first appearance on the debate stage as the presidential election is underway. Candidates will also debate their respective records and integrity of elections, the Commission on Presidential Debates has announced. The debate between the Republican incumbent and his Democratic opponent will consist of 15-minute segments on each topic over 90 minutes without commercial interruption. Fox News correspondent and debate moderator Chris Wallace selected the debate topics Wallace will pose a question, and each candidate will have two minutes to respond, then time to respond to each others remarks. The balance of the time will be used for a deeper discussion on the topic, the commission has announced. The debate is scheduled to begin at 9pm EST on 29 September. It will air on major news networks and stream online on other platforms, including YouTube. Case University in Cleveland, Ohio will host the debate, though its unclear whether an audience will be in attendance, as restrictions in place from the coronavirus pandemic will shape the format and presentation of the debates scheduled through the next several weeks. Vice president Mike Pence and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris will debate on 7 October at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. USA Todays Washington bureau chief Susan Page will moderate. A second presidential debate is scheduled for 15 October at the Adrienne Arsht Centre for the Performing Arts in Miami. C-SPANs senior producer and political editor Steve Scully will moderate. That debate will take the format of a town hall with questions posed by uncommitted voters in Florida. A third and final debate is set for 22 October at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. NBC correspondent and TODAY co-anchor Kristen Welker will moderate. Combining a law degree with a background in the liberal arts including advanced studies in music and dance, Ms. Shapiro had exceptional insight and sensitivity as well as a keen understanding of the legal and business worlds. Under her leadership, PLI remained the standard-bearer for continuing legal education, strengthening the profession with timely content and essential pro bono programs to ensure access to justice. Thanks to her foresight, the organization invested in best-in-class talent and technologies well before the COVID-19 pandemic and was able to pivot quickly to live webcasts, on-demand programming and online publishing capabilities to ensure customers could access content remotely. During the pandemic, she also oversaw the relocation of PLI's San Francisco office, keeping the project on track and the team connected. Ms. Shapiro's leadership contributed to PLI's success in numerous tangible ways. PLI grew its Privileged Membership to include over 95% of the Am Law 100 and over 50% of Fortune 500 companies in recent years. With the re-launch of its website in 2019, PLI saw increased usage across all of its offerings. Reflecting Ms. Shapiro's dedication to PLI as a nonprofit organization committed to pro bono, complimentary registrations for individuals and groups serving clients in need soared past 250,000 during her tenure as President. "Our Board of Trustees will always be grateful to Anita for her five years of strong, inspiring leadership, as well as the more than two decades of service she dedicated to PLI," says Board Trustee Chair Justice Angela M. Mazzarelli. "More than a wonderful colleague, Anita was a friend who lit up any room with her smile, wit, style and intellect. She was also a mentor to many at PLI and beyond. This is a devastating loss for all of us, and PLI will honor her memory by carrying on her commitment to excellence in education, pro bono representation, and the rule of law." Speaking to Lawdragon in 2018, Ms. Shapiro commented: "This role brings with it tremendous responsibility from both a leadership perspective as well as a personal perspective. I feel a sense of responsibility for our more than 275 employees to be sure that they feel a sense of community and feel appreciated for their hard work. There are goals that must be met and it's my responsibility to set the right tone. I'm continually raising the bar for myself and striving to inspire others to do the same. Every day my role challenges and pushes me to aim high." Prior to her appointment as President, Ms. Shapiro served as a Program Attorney and as Director and Executive Vice President of the Program Division. Under the leadership of former president Victor Rubino, she was responsible for many transformational initiatives, including PLI's New York office relocation as well as the design of the Institute's state-of-the-art conference center. She also served in sales and management capacities with West Group and in business development for Mayer Brown. Ms. Shapiro practiced as a litigator in New York City after receiving her J.D. from Temple University School of Law. She received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and attended the Columbia Business School, where she earned the Certificate in Business Excellence from the Columbia Business School Executive Education Division. She was a member of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, the Association of Continuing Legal Education, a Fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and the College of Law Practice Management and an Accredited Attorney for Representation of Veterans through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She was committed to making a difference and giving back, and supported several organizations dedicated to the arts, helping the elderly and local communities. PLI's Board of Directors recently voted to appoint Craig Miller as Interim President. Mr. Miller, who previously served as Senior Vice President, joined the organization in 2017. About Practising Law Institute (PLI): Practising Law Institute is a nonprofit learning organization dedicated to keeping attorneys and other professionals at the forefront of knowledge and expertise. PLI is chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, and was founded in 1933 by Harold P. Seligson. PLI provides the highest quality, accredited, continuing legal and professional education programs in a variety of formats which are delivered by more than 4,000 volunteer faculty including prominent lawyers, judges, investment bankers, accountants, corporate counsel, and U.S. and international government regulators. PLI publishes a comprehensive library of Treatises, Course Handbooks, Answer Books and Journals also available through the PLI PLUS online platform. The essence of PLI's mission is its commitment to the pro bono community. Please visit www.pli.edu SOURCE Practising Law Institute Related Links http://www.pli.edu Russia has been blocking the peace process within the Trilateral Contact Group, demanding that Ukraine hold local elections in the occupied areas of Donbas before the Kremlin withdraws troops and hands back to Ukraine control over the border in the region. It is impossible to pass changes to the earlier adopted resolution on the holding of local elections across Ukraine, says Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov. Speaking at the Freedom of Speech panel show Monday evening, he reiterated the position he had voiced earlier, according to an UNIAN correspondent. "Amendments to this resolution, in my opinion, would be impossible today since legislation says the Verkhovna Rada shall announce elections no later than 90 days before the date of their holding," Razumkov said, noting that the issue has not been included in the plenary week's agenda. "Today, to make such changes to the resolution would mean to call into question the legitimacy of the entire process," said Razumkov. Also, he stressed, candidates have already been nominated and funding for the process has been released. "And today it is rather difficult to talk about what we can or cannot do, based on the realities," added the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. Local elections and Russia's demands on Donbas Russia sees the Minsk agreements as tools with which to break Ukraine's sovereignty. Its interpretation reverses key elements in the sequence of actions: elections in occupied Donbas would take place before Ukraine had reclaimed control of the border; this would be followed by comprehensive autonomy for Russia's proxy regimes, crippling the central authorities in Kyiv. Ukraine would be unable to govern itself effectively or orient itself towards the West, according to Chatham House. On July 15, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution scheduling local elections across Ukraine for October 25. Legislators note that the elections in the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas shall not be scheduled or held. On August 19, at a meeting of the delegates to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, Ukraine's delegation chief, first president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk informed the team members of the appeal he had submitted to the Verkhovna Rada to consider the issue of the resolution's compliance with Law "On a special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions" and a Package of Measures for the implementation of Minsk agreements. Since August 19, Russia and its proxy forces have been blocking the TCG work demanding that Ukraine repeal part of the resolution on local elections that prohibits their holding in the occupied areas. KYODO NEWS - Sep 29, 2020 - 10:56 | All, World WASHINGTON - NASA said Monday it is targeting an Oct. 31 launch of a spacecraft developed by U.S. company SpaceX which will carry Japan's Soichi Noguchi and three other astronauts to the International Space Station. The mission comes in the wake of the first crewed test flight to the ISS by SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle. Two U.S. astronauts returned from the ISS in August aboard the capsule after a two-month mission. The liftoff is planned for 2:40 a.m. on Oct. 31 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern state of Florida, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a press release. Noguchi, a 55-year-old veteran Japanese astronaut, and three U.S. astronauts -- Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker -- are tasked with carrying out a six-month mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, it said. SpaceX, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and founded by Tesla Inc.'s billionaire co-founder Elon Musk, is working with NASA to develop a successor to the Space Shuttle transportation system that was in service for 30 years through 2011. In May of this year, SpaceX made history when its Crew Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to carry humans to the ISS. Related coverage: ANA, Pola Orbis to develop cosmetics for use in outer space by 2023 Japan's Hayabusa2 aims to probe asteroid "1998KY26" in 2031 SpaceX's capsule targeting return to Earth in early Aug.: NASA Money Mail today calls on Britain's biggest companies to stop using coronavirus as an excuse for poor customer service. It is now more than six months since the country first went into lockdown, but we found close to 50 major companies are still blaming long call-waiting times or reduced opening times on the pandemic. The websites of the nation's biggest energy suppliers, telecoms providers, retailers, insurers and financial services all display messages warning customers to expect long waits to speak to advisers and delays in responses to emails. On hold: 50 major companies are still blaming long call-waiting times or reduced opening times on the pandemic Some are simply directing customers to help themselves through online help pages. A Money Mail survey today also reveals the British public are fed up with being put on hold - with customers facing waits of more than an hour to speak to someone on the phone, with average times of up to 20 minutes. Last month, we revealed how bank branches were operating at reduced hours, forcing customers to queue around the block or to go online. Those that called the banks' customer service line reported waiting up to three hours to speak to someone. And experts are warning that customers could be stuck with serious problems with no way of sorting them out. Martyn James, from complaints website Resolver, says: 'How can companies say that, six months on, they do not have enough call centre staff to sort out customer issues? Particularly now, when people need jobs. They have had more than enough time to turn things around. Instead of grieving for Mum I was battling over her gas bill A grieving daughter was dragged into a three-month struggle to settle her late mother's energy bill. Jennie Mepham, 47, says British Gas blamed the pandemic for the delay, but she believes it was simply down to poor customer service. Her mother, Audrey, died of coronavirus on May 22, aged 86. Jennie sent her lasting power of attorney document, the death certificate and her mother's final meter reading to British Gas on June 6. Jennie Mepham with her mother, Audrey who died of coronavirus on May 22, aged 86 But, on July 1, the firm sent a bill to her mum with an incorrect reading and a message saying 'sorry to see you go'. Jennie, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent (pictured with Audrey), used the firm's live chat to explain but the resulting refund cheque was made payable to her mother. Jennie, a school admin worker, says the saga caused 'distress in a time of grief'. She adds: 'I couldn't find a phone number easily and it was constantly on my mind.' After Money Mail intervened, the issue was resolved. A British Gas spokesman says: 'Our teams have worked extremely hard to keep our bereavement line running during the Covid-19 crisis. 'Our priority has been to help those who are most vulnerable. We're sorry for the delay.' 'I would argue that firms are using the pandemic to stop offering customer service altogether. I have seen many firms that do not offer phone numbers or email addresses on the website and, instead, force customers to speak to a chatbot. 'Companies that care will provide direct contact details those that don't just do not want to deal with customers.' Our poll by Consumer Intelligence quizzed 2,000 UK adults on the customer service received from banking, insurance, telecoms and energy giants. Broadband providers fared the worst, with almost a quarter of their customers unhappy with their service. Some 7 per cent said they had to wait more than an hour to get through on the phone. Nearly 40 per cent of energy customers were left on hold for more than 20 minutes. Around one in three mobile customers had to wait more than 20 minutes, and one in 20 said they were on hold for more than an hour. The average wait times to speak to mortgage providers was 18 minutes, longer than current account and credit card providers, at 14 minutes and 11 minutes respectively. Around one in five Britons say they found accessing their local bank difficult during lockdown. One Barclays customer says: '[They] never answer the phone and now the local branch is closing down. I have had to make three complaints in one week.' Online marketplace eBay has suspended phone support altogether following the pandemic. This is despite thousands of people being scammed every week on shopping and online auction sites. In April, retail giant Amazon was accused of abandoning customers as fraud on the site spiked by closing a vital phoneline. On its website, it now says there are 'fewer phone associates available' and states there may be a wait to get help over the phone. It advises customers to try its online chat option. High Street retailer New Look also states on its website that it does not have a phone number customers can call, and Topshop has closed its customer call centres. Instead, it tells customers to email. Customers of National Savings & Investments (NS&I) are greeted on its website with a pop-up message telling you not to call unless you 'absolutely have to', because of long waits. It also warns not to post anything unless specifically asked. Instead, it encourages you to do everything you can online. My three month fight for a refund Sally Kennedy has been waiting three months for a refund from Currys Sally and Maurice Kennedy have been waiting three months for a refund from Currys. The pensioners ordered a new fridge in June, paying 387, plus 20 to have their broken-down appliance removed. But Currys rang to say it would not be in stock until September. Sally and Maurice emailed the sales team to cancel at the end of June and Currys confirmed it would do so. But when the refund had not been processed a fortnight later, Maurice tried calling Currys several times. He gave up after waiting nearly 40 minutes on hold. When he emailed the customer service team, he got a response saying the firm was not accepting emails. Maurice says: 'It feels like Currys is using Covid-19 as an excuse.' After Money Mail contacted the firm, it identified a human error. It says 407 should be refunded in five working days. A spokesman adds it launched its live Webchat service the day it switched off its email service. Former Royal Air Force radar technician Michael Ward, 79, invested a five-figure sum in NS&I's income bonds earlier this month. But, after announcing plans to slash rates, he decided to move his cash elsewhere. He says he has tried to call NS&I at least half a dozen times and, on several occasions, a recorded message has informed him that he may have to wait up to 40 minutes because of the pandemic. An NS&I spokesman says: 'We are sorry that some of our customers are experiencing delays when trying to contact us, and that it is taking us longer than usual to respond to some of their requests.' On its website, insurance giant Admiral claims call waiting times were up to an hour, while customers should expect to wait 72 hours for a response to emails. Sky tells customers 'not to call us at this time', as it is not yet 'up and running as normal'. It says you can do most things on its website. Vodafone's phone number is tricky to find on its online contact page. Instead, we were told to type in our request into an online chat feature. However, when we asked for customer services' phone number, the page simply reloaded. A Vodafone spokesman says it encourages digital contact because it is quicker, but it has always done this. It says its phone number is available on the support page. Scottish Power was the only major firm we surveyed that said its call centres were working as normal. It says it achieved this in the middle of June by setting up 1,800 staff from home and sending 1,000 computers out to employees within ten days. Banking customers have also been receiving a reduced service. One in 50 of HSBC's 608 branches remain closed, while 344 are open between 10am and 4pm during the week. The hours of the rest are 10am to 2pm. Barclays has shut ten branches and 897 remain open. Some 183 Barclays branches are open for the same number of hours as before the outbreak, but they may not be open at the same times. The rest are offering fewer hours of service. For example, the branch on Eton High Street is only open on Wednesdays between 9.30am and 1pm, although the bank says this is not representative of the network as a whole. Around 5 per cent of the NatWest Group's 845-strong network has closed, while most of the rest are open between 9.30am and 4.30pm during the week. At Nationwide, branches are open between 9am and 3pm, or 10am and 2pm. Before lockdown, hours were 9am to 4pm or 5pm. Some 2 per cent of branches are closed. Lloyds says busy branches are open all day, while those with fewer customers could be open for as few as four hours. Santander branches are open until 4.30pm each day and pre-Covid times on Saturdays. Five months to ditch my Virgin contract David Wall, 75, started trying to cancel his 33-a-month broadband, phone and TV contract after lockdown began. When he got through to Virgin in April, a month before the one-year deal expired, the firm told him he could not cancel in advance. David , says he tried many times to contact Virgin via email and phone, but he would wait on hold for half an hour before the line was disconnected. David Wall says he tried many times to contact Virgin via email and phone to cancel his deal, but he would wait on hold for half an hour before the line was disconnected As his monthly bill was set to increase in May, David, who lives in Blackpool, asked his bank to cancel the direct debit. He was then told he owed 332, which he disputed. Virgin claims to have no record of Davids call in April but says it received his switch request on May 23. David has now referred the matter to the ombudsman. After Money Mail contacted Virgin last month, it offered him a pro-rata refund of 98.56 dated back to early August, as well as a further 50 for the inconvenience caused. It says Davids debt now stands at 183.27, as a result. Commercial manager David, says: I would not recommend Virgin Media to anyone not even my enemies. A Virgin Media spokesman says: We are committed to providing first-class customer service and have recruited more than 1,000 additional call centre agents this year to help our customers. Banks are still operating with reduced resources because of the pandemic, with most employees working from home. Business owner Matt Baron had to spend 50 minutes on hold to Halifax after the bank took a mortgage payment, despite having agreed not to. Matt, 51, applied for a mortgage holiday and Halifax told him on the phone that his request had been approved. But when the father-of-two, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, later checked his account, the money had gone. Halifax apologised and says when Matt's application was processed, it was too late for the next direct debit to be stopped. Mortgage applications have also soared since lockdown and the introduction of a stamp duty holiday but borrowers are facing a backlog. Mortgage brokers have said some simple cases, which would usually be approved in a matter of days, were taking more than a month to process. Lenders with more competitive rates tend to have slower processing times. Delays are being compounded by social-distancing regulations, which mean surveyors have not been able to carry out as many inspections as usual. The issue has discouraged banks from offering low-deposit mortgages for fear of being swamped by demand. Nationwide, the only large lender still providing 90 per cent LTV deals for first-time buyers, added strict criteria last month to reduce applications. Banking trade body UK Finance says firms have been adjusting their hours to meet demand. Andrew Glover, chairman of trade body Internet Service Providers' Association, says: 'These online tools proved to be absolutely crucial when customer service teams were working from home and helped solve customer challenges without putting ISP key workers at unnecessary risk.' Tom Ironside, director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, says: 'Customer service call centres must work in accordance with social-distancing regulations, meaning some people may have to wait slightly longer to speak to customer services representatives during peak hours. Nevertheless, our members are working hard to respond to customers as quickly as possible.' Energy UK says energy companies have acted quickly to introduce extra support for customers and have worked hard to ensure reliable services. An Association of British Insurers spokesman says insurers have done everything they can in challenging times to ensure good customer service. a.murray@dailymail.co.uk Logo. CFP approval is a great achievement that will help our students confidently prepare for a rewarding career in finance, added Dr. Karen Ferguson, CSUG Provost. Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) in Aurora, Colorado, has been approved by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) to offer a CFP Board-registered online Bachelor of Science in Finance program. CFP Board is pleased to approve the program at CSU Global as a CFP Board Registered Program, said Jack Brod, CFP, chair of CFP Boards Board of Directors. As student interest in financial planning as a career continues to grow, we anticipate that CSU Globals program will contribute significantly to the number of qualified candidates seeking to attain the CFP certification, the standard of excellence for competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board is a Washington, D.C.-based independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to benefit the public by granting, upholding and promoting the Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP) certification. Those who earn the certification are distinguishing themselves among their peers by meeting CFP Boards education, examination, experience and ethics requirements. Students completing the financial planning program at CSU Global will have met the Education requirement for CFP Certification Examination administered by CFP Board. CSU Globals undergraduate Finance program with a Financial Planning emphasis is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in financial management while they learn how to apply the latest technology and emerging business trends around financial strategies, risks, and investment. Students in the program choose an area of emphasis in either the Corporate Finance track that prepares them to serve as corporate financial analysts and similar careers for organizational finance departments or the Financial Planning track that is aligned and now board approved with the CFP designation. CSU Global is proud to receive approval for our BS Finance with a Specialization in Personal Finance from CFP, said Dr. Kenny Roberts, Program Manager. CFP approval is a great achievement that will help our students confidently prepare for a rewarding career in finance, added Dr. Karen Ferguson, CSUG Provost. Interested students should contact the CSU Global Enrollment Department at 800-920-6723 or email enroll@csuglobal.edu. For more information about CSU Globals online Bachelor of Science in Finance, visit csuglobal.edu/undergraduate/bachelors-degrees/finance. ABOUT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY GLOBAL Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) offers career-relevant programs for modern learners. As the first and only 100% online, fully accredited public university in the United States, CSU Global is focused on student success as its number one priority. Embracing the land-grant heritage as part of the Colorado State University System, CSU Global sets the standard for quality and innovation in higher education through its expert faculty, who are recognized as industry leaders and trained in working with adults in an online learning environment. CSU Global offers accelerated eight-week courses that start every four weeks. Visit CSUGlobal.edu to learn more. ABOUT CFP BOARD Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification one of the most respected certifications in financial services so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the publics awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 86,000 people in the United States. CENTRE WELLINGTONThe head of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health stressed that we could be seeing a second-wave and it wont take much for it to be worse than the first wave. Dr. Nicola Mercer, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of WDG Public Health, gave a presentation to Centre Wellington council on Monday where she shared her concerns about a possible second-wave. Mercer showed a graph tracking the number of cases per day in the province up to Sept. 25 but said there were substantial increases over the weekend. The graph showed a peak in spring, a dip in summer and then steadily climbing up in recent weeks. It demonstrates that we are potentially entering a second wave, Mercer said, adding that waves are seen more in hindsight rather than as it happens. She explained during the spring peak, they were never hitting more than about 700 cases per day. However, during this time there was much less testing in Ontario and she said the peak might have been underestimated. In a comparison across Ontarios 34 public health units, Mercer noted that WDG Public Health ranks among the top for COVID-19 cases based on population rate. There are very few health units actually that have higher rates of COVID-19 than Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, Mercer said. We have consistently ranked in the top 25 per cent of health units for number of cases. According to Mercers presentation, for the week of Sept. 14 to Sept. 20, these public health units are: Toronto, Peel, Halton, York Region, Ottawa and Waterloo. So whats causing this new increase? For starters, Mercer said a majority of new cases are shifting away from seniors to younger adults who generally have more contacts outside their household. This is spread person to person, it is not as much about things as it is about people, Mercer said and noted people have an easier time dealing with increased cleaning of surfaces like doorknobs. This is not about doorknobs in our lives, its about the people in our lives. During earlier stages of lockdown, transmission was reduced because of limited social contact from closures, physical distancing, hand hygiene, mandatory masks and others. In the presentation this was represented by a scale, showing transmission balanced through pandemic measures. Mercer said the scale is again tipping in favour of transmission because of increased social contacts and pandemic fatigue causing people to not be as careful. Were not in a balance anymore, Mercer said. Were seeing the weight of our social contacts is actually outstripping all of the things that we are doing to try to control this virus. Its beginning to show up with increasing numbers of cases. Mercer stressed that she does not want to eliminate all social contact or have businesses and schools closed again. The virus can be controlled but it doesnt take much for cases to double or more than double. With Thanksgiving coming up, if people go and have their family get-togethers that theyve had in previous years, two weeks after Thanksgiving we are going to see a dramatic increase in cases, Mercer said. That is bad for business and it is bad for our schools. Masks have been a staple of the WDG Public Health strategy. The region was one of the first in Canada to issue a mandatory mask order and it will not be rescinded anytime soon. To remove the mask order, Mercer said that broad community immunity and low transmission rates would be necessary and that wont happen by allowing the virus to run its course based on any mathematical modelling. This will largely depend on an effective vaccination to which Mercer said is not likely to come for at least 12 months. She said normally vaccination rates to burn out a virus would be high but for COVID-19 just having 40 per cent of people immunized will eventually eliminate transmission. She suggested, without promising, that this could lead to an end to mandatory masks. I look forward to one day removing the mask order, Mercer said. This reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Read more about: Congresswoman Sues to Hold Minnesota Race Following Death of Candidate Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) filed a lawsuit this week urging the Minnesota Secretary of State to let the election for the seat she currently holds move forward after it was pushed to February following the death of a third-party candidate. The people of Minnesotas Second Congressional District deserve to have a voice fighting for them in Washington, Craig said in a statement. Unfortunately, the process currently in place would deprive Minnesotans of their seat at the table when critical legislation affecting our state will be debatedincluding bills to rid politics of special interests, ensure quality affordable health care for every Minnesotan and safeguard our family farmers. Secretary of State Steve Simon announced last week that state law clearly says that if a major party nominee dies within 79 days of Election Day, a special election will be held for that office on the second Tuesday of February. That moves the election for Craigs seat from Nov. 3 of this year to Feb. 9, 2021. Simon made the announcement following the death of Adam Weeks, a Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate. No cause of death has been released for Weeks, who was 38. His obituary says he died unexpectedly at his home. Craig argued in her lawsuit that the state law goes against the U.S. Constitution when applied to elections for U.S. Congress and requested an emergency injunction. While the Constitution does give the states the power to prescribe [t]he Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, it does so with an important limitation: the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of choosing Senators,' the 18-page lawsuit stated. A spokesman for Simon said the official wouldnt comment on the litigation, since its pending. Simon was named as the plaintiff in the suit. U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright indicated her support for Craigs suit, issuing a proposed order granting the motion on Tuesday. Republican nominee Tyler Kistner said on Sept. 25 that he was suspending all campaign advertising out of respect for Weekss family and friends. In a statement to news outlets, a Kistner campaign spokesman said the law in question was passed in 2013 with bipartisan support, including from the Democratic party. Despite Secretary of State Simon being crystal clear that there will be a special election in February, Angie Craig is trying to rewrite laws to disenfranchise voters. The people in Minnesotas Second Congressional District will not be fooled, he added. Seoul: South Koreas space research institute has announced that it is on track to launch the countrys first lunar mission in the second half of 2022. According to an official announcement, this will be the first launch of a lunar orbiter, which is slated for the second half of 2022. South Koreas lunar project has suffered multiple delays. South Korea, a relatively new entrant in space, has been working on a lunar orbiter programme since 2016, according to Yonhap news agency. The spacecraft is expected to land on Moon by December 16, 2022, and conduct a year-long mission that could even be extended, according to the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Live TV The lunar orbiter will conduct various missions, such as capturing images of shadowed regions of the moon using NASAs ShadowCam, it added. The countrys lunar orbiter project has been making little progress due to technical and budgetary issues. Under the current government, the orbiter was originally slated for launch in December this year. The countrys lunar programme was at risk of another delay when it decided early this year to scrap its original travel path and use a low-energy trajectory in order to increase the spacecrafts fuel efficiency. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Even four months after the State government allowed industrial estates in Chennai to resume work, most of them are operating with 40-50 per cent of their production capacity. The 17 industrial estates in Chennai and several MSMEs are struggling with a plethora of problems like lack of working capital, shortage of labour, pending dues and paucity of orders. And now, as the six month moratorium period has ended, their woes have increased. Things are in a very bad shape for the MSME sector. Migrant labourers who went back to their homes are yet to return and somehow we are running the show with local workers, but even they are not able to turn up regularly due to lack of proper public transport facility. We are not able to work on the orders at hand due to shortage of labour and lack of working capital, said TN Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), president, S Anburajan. TANSTIA has appealed to the Centre and State to lend a helping hand to the MSMEs sector. The units located in the industrial estate have claimed that though their production capacity remains low, their expenses are still the same as they have to take care of maintenance of equipment, electricity bill and other sanitation measures. We are spending every day in fear and uncertainty. If any one tests positive, our production will go for a toss as we have to sanitise the premises. Adding to it, cash flow has completely dried up and the banks are also not cooperating with us, said S Senthil, owner of an auto part manufacturer unit in Ambattur industrial estate. VK Girish Pandian, president of National Confederation of Small Industry, said the MSMEs are facing a huge challenge with the six-month moratorium ending in August. The accumulated interest of the moratorium period is converted into a fresh term loan and we have to repay it by March 2021. Leave alone loan repayment, we dont even have money to manage our expenses. It will take at least another 6 to 12 months to restore normalcy in the MSME sector. Contrary to popular belief, there were some MPs in Parliament who didn't receive a free, unauthorised copy of Malcolm Turnbull's magnum opus, A Bigger Picture. Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: Parliamentary expense account declarations reveal eight MPs used their corporate cards to buy the book. True story. Victorian Labor MP Julian Hill purchased a copy for $44.27, as did fellow Victorian Labor colleague Peta Murphy who got an inferior deal, paying $50. Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching got hers for a steal, at $36.35, while colleague Kristina Keneally paid $40.91. It's unsurprising to see members of Labor's Right and Victorian Left buying their own copies. After all, they would not have been on the Liberal-centric distribution list that Scott Morrison's adviser Nico Louw used to circulate an unauthorised soft copy ahead of publication. And they certainly wouldn't have been included on the Cabinet member-heavy WhatsApp group where the bootlegged manuscript was also circulated. An eight months pregnant woman was rescued after trying to swim across the Rio Grande river from Mexico into the US. The mother-to-be and her partner tried to cross to the United States through the river in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, Sunday. The desperate couple swam until they could no longer continue their way and had to cling to a pillar supporting the International Bridge Number Two until they were rescued. Footage shows the couple scrambling out of the water after being rescued by Instituto Nacional de Migracion officials. An eight months pregnant woman was rescued after trying to swim across the Rio Grande river from Mexico into the US A group of people saw them and asked for the support of emergency services, who responded quickly. The couple were brought back to safety on the Mexican side of the border. In the video, the couple step out of the water in the dead of night with the help of the firemen and migration officials. The three INAMI officials help the woman out of the water and she is given a shock blanket when she reaches dry land. Footage shows the woman being taken out of the river with her husband after they tried to swim but could not go any further and clung to a bridge for support The Rio Grande in the United States, is a natural border between Mexico and the United States. This river has been the crossing route for massive migrations of people from South American countries trying to get to the US by any means necessary. Many migrants have died in the area including a father who was tragically found dead next to his daughter on the side of the river in 2019. A child was found dead that same year after trying to cross in search of a better life. We must rethink how we do our work and transform the way America cares for and educates its children. The Childrens Guild Alliance in collaboration with Towson Universitys department of special education will present the inaugural Kids First National Conference on Oct. 26 and 27, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT each day. The virtual conference will equip educators, child-serving professionals and families with strategies to support and engage children during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we grapple with how to deliver education and care for our children and families in a COVID-19 world, we must rethink how we do our work and transform the way America cares for and educates its children, said Andrew Ross, president and CEO of The Childrens Guild Alliance. This year demands transformation and innovation, our focus at the Kids First National Conference, where well present strategies that address the needs of the whole child. The conference will feature child and educational experts, including the keynote speakers: Robert Jackson will present Power of the Educator: Becoming Culturally Aware of Staff and Students. Jackson received the 2019 Motivational Educator of the Year Award and has written six books, including his latest book, Becoming the Educator They Need: Strategies, Mindsets and Beliefs for Supporting Male Black and Latino Students, released last year. An expert in teaching cultural diversity, restorative practices, socio-emotional learning and retaining troubled students in school, he delivers keynote addresses and workshops across the country. Joe Sanfelippo will present Hacking Leadership: Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love. Sanfelippo is the superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, which was named an Innovative District in 2016 and 2017 by the International Center for Leadership in Education. He co-authored The Power of Branding: Telling Your Schools Story, Principal Professional Development: Leading Learning in a Digital Age, and Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love. Other speakers include career child advocate Frank Kros, Stephen F. Austin State University Assistant Professor Jim Ewing, veteran administrator and author Shauna King and educator Steve Parese. The conference will offer 150 workshops and panels to address challenges, innovations and transformation strategies in serving the whole child. Interactive sessions will cover topics on leadership; education; juvenile justice; mental health; and family, children and adolescent issues. Networking events and opportunity to review sessions on demand will also be offered. In addition, The Childrens Guild Alliance will host a preconference from Oct. 18 to 25 with workshops and keynote presentations about innovation and transformation. Speakers come from organizations including The Childrens Guild Alliance, Zoom, Four Rivers Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and Oral Roberts University. Participants who register for the conferences Leadership Track will join other leaders and sessions will present innovative ideas and promote reflection to help participants move their organizations forward in both the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 landscapes. Leadership Track participants will develop a work plan to drive transformation in their organizations, schools, districts, communities, states or nationally. Leaders will gain insight and ideas from outside of their fields, generating solutions from multiple perspectives. Conference participants will receive a certificate of attendance and Category I social work continuing education units. For more information and registration, visit KidsFirstConference.org. The Childrens Guild Alliance is a nonprofit organization serving children, families and child-serving organizations and is dedicated to transforming how America educates and cares for its children through education, behavioral health and national training and consultation services. Affiliates of The Childrens Guild Alliance include The Childrens Guild, Monarch Academy public charter and contract schools, Monarch Preschool College Park, Tranzed Academy for Working Students (TAWS), TranZed Apprenticeships, The Childrens Guild DC Public Charter School, Transformation Education Institute and The National Childrens Guild Fund. Additionally, The Childrens Guild Alliance presents the Kids First National Conference. I think there is nothing more important than good health. Health care is a service, and a very important one, at that. But, I am generally not in favor of positive rights, and, therefore, I do not think that health care is a right. People dont have the right to the sweat of other people, even if it is for a good cause. It then follows that government should not have the obligation to secure health insurance, nor to provide health care. I absolutely do not support Medicare for All, and there should be a repeal of Obamacare. We need a vibrant and dynamic health care system, and it is difficult for me to see how more government control gets us there. We need to move away from the system of getting health insurance through ones employer. That is an anachronism from World War II, when benefits could be offered instead of pay raises. We need to end existing tax preferences for health care and encourage the development of large health savings accounts, combined with catastrophic coverage health insurance, to return the role of insurance in health care to something more rational. On the supply side, there should be deregulation of the health care marketplace. Insurance should be able to be sold across state lines. Medical professionals licensed in one state should be able to practice in another. To speed up drug approval, FDA authority should be restricted to regulating the safety of drugs, not safety and efficacy. The World Socialist Web Site is publishing messages of support for Dr. Joseph Scalice from around the world. Dr. Scalice has come under attack from the Philippine Stalinists for his powerful lecture, First as Tragedy, Second as Farce: Marcos, Duterte and the Communist Parties of the Philippines, which examined the support given by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the various organizations that follow its political line, to authoritarian Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. Acutely sensitive to the criticism of the CPP, its founder Jose Maria Sison, has without a shred of evidence, denounced Dr. Scalice as a paid CIA agent and an informer for Dutertes death squads. Dr. Scalice, by establishing the historical record of the betrayals of the CPP, has done a service to the working class in the Philippines and internationally. We urge our readers to come to the defence of Dr. Scalice, including by sending statements of support to the WSWS, opposing the slanderous attack on him by the CPP and sharing his lecture widely. Frankie, student: As an undergraduate student of Political Science, I am most exposed to intensive readings. Once, I came across Dr. Scalices works while doing minimal research for resources. In connection, I have been delving into civil-military relations here in the Philippines, taking into account how the military is extending their services to youth civic participation. However, Dr. Scalices works had struck me into the long inquiry that is staying inside my head for a long timethe CPPs participation in the Philippine Politics and history. I was able to watch his lecture after a colleague from an advocacy organization sent me a link to his discussion. It was his 10-year study looking into how the group built a way for an authoritarian regime. Facts are laid down. Ironically Jose Maria Sison, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines resorts to slanderous and libelous attacks rather than answering the historical study and analysis of Dr. Scalice in a profound/formal way. Dr. Scalice was a scholar of the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. If his study was based on an objective to antagonize the party and merely to create a fiasco it would be a dishonor towards the academy. If so, Sison must give a substantial dispute to Scalices works if the claim was ever false. How can Sison consider himself as revolutionary if his origins and alliances are with nationalist capitalists in the country? Sisons statements are a direct attack on the significance of a scholarly work and leaning into a drastic historical revisionism. Quoting Leon Trotsky, Go where you belong from now oninto the dustbin of history! The fight here is not just to defend Dr. Scalices works, but to oppose continuing historical revisionism. Noe E., filmmaker: I have greatly enjoyed following the lectures of Dr. Scalice about his profound research on CPP-NPA-NDF. Its a refreshing, academic take of this side of Philippine history, from the outside looking in, yet knowing the nuances of the Filipino culture. The attacks of Joma Sison against Dr Scalice are simply preposterous given the arguments that the latter presented are in an organized and inarguable manner. While the former sits in his comfortable home in Utrecht wondering how he can attack back at the person who has, as the French would say, put his nose against his own shit thru ad hominems, calling his trolls to rally up against an academic who has spent his life studying him and his cohorts. I am mostly frustrated at how Sison, given how he is purportedly a genius, can be so shallow. He has become a paradox of his own ideology whence he should welcome critics and improve from it. But no, he has become the dictator, the fascist he has long fought against. His words have become their law and so should his followers. I too believe in the revolution. In change. But a bloodless one. We have done and proven it in two EDSA revolutions. F Sionil Jose once interviewed the last of the Huk commanders (Taruc, et al) said, the reason why their revolution did not succeed was because of ego. EGO- was what mattered to them instead of their cause. Would it really hurt to admit they have made a mistake in supporting Duterte? They may have put all their cards on him hoping for the revolution they have aspired to but he reneged on a promise? Thousands have staked their lives in the cause of their ideologyviolent and outdated. In the end, whateverisms, or ists you belong to, there is always space for clear, concise, and respectable platform to argue, to agree to disagree, which no doubt Sison has negated to appease himself and his followers. Charles, Diplomacy and Governance Graduate from the Philippines: It is never new and surprising that the Philippine Maoist Left retains intimidation and scare tactics as part of their usual routines when it comes to dissent. However, it can be argued that it is one of their least horrifying practices in dealing with dissent, many of which met their fates in infamous killing fields especially those of their fellow brethren that they have alleged to be Deep Penetration Agents. As we all can see, McCarthyism is also a norm in the Extreme Left. Whenever scholars such as Joseph Scalice, Lisandro Leloy Claudio, and Walden Bello, to name a few, expose or even just memorialize what seems to be obvious truths about the Maoist Left, they squirm and resort to dirty and dishonest methods. And this sets a dangerous precedent to their career, and even to their lives as well. To what aim the Maoist Left does this? Are they simply embarrassed of their erroneous steps in the past or they seek to rid the Philippine Academe of free diversity of thought, and establish their dominance in it, to ensure control of young and next generations to come? We applaud scholars such as Joseph Scalice and others in remaining steadfast and undaunted in their pursuit of truth and knowledge despite the dangers associated with such fascistic behaviors. Erickson, student: Dr. Joseph Scalice is a kind of academic that has always gone into different and academic discourse. Labeling him as a paid Central Intelligence Agency agent and Trotskyite are sorts of inanities by an opposition whose intention is to proliferate libelous allegations towards a scholar. Here manifests and betokens an ad hominem fallacy which intends to attack Scalice with obscure and incoherent arguments by defaming the good reputation of Scalice and his scholarship. As an undergraduate student, I have been monitoring Scalice on Facebook and his critical observations re Communist Party of the Philippines are great and have undergone critical scrutiny by experts which I thought have been recognized in the academe as peer-reviewed work. Thus, his approaches are scholarly, factual and evidence-based. If Scalices work was mere propaganda or defamation, it would not have been [recognised] in the academe. It is undeniable that Scalice substantiates the veracity about Communist Party of the Philippines and its allied legal organizations. A true scholar may be obfuscated and thrown flaks by scandalmongers but his rectitude and argument will remain intact and cogentpeople who affirm for his credibility are his corroborators. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The BJP is planning to counter the opposition's attack over the farm Bills by reaching out to the electorate. The BJP is believed to have asked all its MPs to go back to their respective constituencies and reach out to their electorate. The ministers too may be asked to reach out to larger masses through press conferences. All BJP MPs are believed to have been asked by the party leadership to go back and stay put in their respective constituencies for the next 15 days, meet their electorate and highlight the reality of the farm Bills, on which the party feels the opposition is "deliberately misleading" the people. The outreach programme includes door-to-door visits, holding local seminars, and meeting community leaders and influential people of the society. In the next two days, key Union ministers may also kickstart media interactions. Sources indicate that two key Union ministers -- Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan -- may be tasked with coordinating the entire matter. The BJP is also exploring the option of holding press conferences in almost all the state capitals. Once in their constituencies, the MPs have been asked to encourage the constituents to write letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "thanking" him for bringing the farm Bills. On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Modi in New Delhi to present him a booklet on "Aatmanirbhar MP - A roadmap for 2023". Chauhan said he also discussed the issue of farmers' welfare in the state with the Prime Minister. The goal of the exercise is to give point by point rebuttal to the opposition's narrative that the bills are anti-farmer. Old videos of different political parties taking complete opposite stand on the matter are also likely to be circulated on social media platforms in the coming days. The government seeks to drive home the point that the opposition is not concerned about the farmers, but are worried about the middlemen, who are at loss after these bills were turned into law. On Tuesday morning, Modi alleged that the opposition is "misleading the farmers over MSP". He once again said that there will not only be MSP in India for the farmers, but they will also have the freedom to sell their produce anywhere. Campaign explores Fabry disease as a cause of unexplained chronic kidney disease and empowers people diagnosed with Fabry to educate family members about genetic link ROCKVILLE, MD / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Recognizing the unmet needs of the Fabry disease community, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) today announced an education and awareness campaign to increase visibility of Fabry disease and encourage chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who do not know the underlying cause of their kidney disease to get tested for Fabry disease. The campaign was made possible through a partnership with Sanofi Genzyme, which has been committed to supporting the rare disease community for more than 35 years. Fabry disease, a rare genetic disorder diagnosed in approximately 1 in 40,000 people, is caused by a mutation of the GLA gene, which results in decreased production of an enzyme that breaks down a fatty substance called globotriaosylceramide, or GL-3. This leads to a buildup of GL-3 in cells throughout the body. Over time, Fabry disease can lead to CKD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD, or kidney failure). It can also cause damage to the heart and brain. Symptoms and severity of Fabry disease can vary from person to person, even within families, and the disease has no cure. Since Fabry disease is complex and the symptoms are non-uniform, the disease often goes unrecognized or misdiagnosed until patients have life-threatening complications such as stroke, heart attack or kidney failure. With an early diagnosis, doctors can intervene earlier and possibly help delay serious complications. "For patients with a rare condition like Fabry disease, the road to a diagnosis and proper treatment can be long and painful," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO. "This partnership with Sanofi Genzyme allows us to expand our educational materials on Fabry disease, increase awareness of the condition, and empower patients with practical guides they can use when discussing their health with their doctors or with their families." AKF's new Fabry disease campaign uses digital media, including social media, to reach and engage patients. Visitors to AKF's website will find a set of resources tailored to their health status at KidneyFund.org/fabry. CKD patients without a Fabry disease diagnosis Resources for these patients focus on the importance of understanding the root cause of a CKD diagnosis for patients who have not been given a reason for their kidney disease: Educational information about getting tested for Fabry disease, so people with CKD with an unknown cause can learn more about Fabry disease. A doctor conversation guide to help kidney patients determine the questions they should consider asking their nephrologist about Fabry disease and whether it could be the underlying cause of their unexplained CKD. While these resources are for men and women alike, AKF will conduct special outreach to women, who were once assumed only to be carriers of Fabry disease. Both men and women are at risk for Fabry disease and can experience its symptoms, though the symptoms may differ between gender, causing mis- or underdiagnosis of Fabry disease in females. CKD patients who have been diagnosed with Fabry disease Resources for these CKD patients focus on the importance of those who have already been diagnosed with Fabry disease to consider talking about the disease with their families. Included in these resources is a guide to help patients understand the genetic link in Fabry disease, because on average, five other family members may be affected as well. These resources will provide educational information to Fabry disease patients to explain to their family members the importance of getting tested for Fabry disease to detect it early. "Sanofi Genzyme has been a trusted partner with the Fabry community by providing support and education for people living with Fabry disease, their caregivers and physicians," said Sarah Ryan, head of Fabry and MPS I, and Renal Marketing at Sanofi Genzyme. "We are excited to partner with AKF to launch this educational campaign to increase the awareness of Fabry disease within the CKD community. We hope these educational materials will help those who are living with Fabry, as well as those who might be at risk for Fabry." About Us The American Kidney Fund (AKF) fights kidney disease on all fronts as the nation's leading kidney nonprofit. AKF works on behalf of the 37 million Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, with an unmatched scope of programs that support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease-from prevention through transplant. With programs that address early detection, disease management, financial assistance, clinical research, innovation and advocacy, no kidney organization impacts more lives than AKF. AKF is one of the nation's top-rated nonprofits, investing 97 cents of every donated dollar in programs, and holds the highest 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator and the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Contacts Elissa Blattman Associate Director of Communications eblattman@kidneyfund.org 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 Work: 301-984-6644 KidneyFund.org Links KidneyFund.org/fabry SOURCE: American Kidney Fund View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608135/American-Kidney-Fund-Expands-Rare-Disease-Initiatives-with-Education-and-Awareness-Campaign-About-Fabry-Disease Clashes on the contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian military in Nagorno-Karabakh region continued overnight. On the morning of Tuesday, September 29, the Armenian artillery started shelling Azerbaijan's Dashkesan region, according to officials in Baku. "The Armenian side continues provocative actions against Azerbaijan. Since 07:30 on September 29, the Armenian military from the territory of Armenia's Vardeni region have been shelling Dashkesan region of Azerbaijan," the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan said, Interfax reports. At the same time, representative of the Armenian Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on Facebook the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan "have begun a strong artillery preparation, another attack is being prepared." In turn, press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry Shushan Stepanyan also reported on the hostilities in the conflict zone, which continue "with different intensity." Read alsoUN Secretary-General calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to stop Nagorno-Karabakh hostilitiesAccording to Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry, clashes on the contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian military in Nagorno-Karabakh region continued overnight, with the Azerbaijani units destroying one tank, one vehicle, and up to 10 Armenian soldiers as the latter were trying to redeploy in the Fizuli-Jabrayil direction of the front line. Also, a mixed convoy of armored vehicles and an artillery battery of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic reported 28 servicemen were killed on September 28. In total, 84 Karabakh soldiers have been killed since hostilities restarted. Also, a nine-year-old child was killed as a result of shelling in the Karabakh town of Martakert, the Armenian public television reported. Escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh: Recent developments On the morning of Sunday, September 27, Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Both countries blamed each other for shelling as a result of which they suffered casualties. Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic declared martial law and general mobilization. Azerbaijan, in turn, introduced martial law on September 28. Partial mobilization was announced in that country. Nagorno-Karabakh war: Background The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region began in 1988, when the predominantly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991-1994, the bloodshed conflict continued in the region, which ended with the signing of a ceasefire protocol. Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed itself an independent "republic." Azerbaijan did not recognize this, considering the territory to have been occupied by Armenia. Branstad, who traveled widely in China during his stint, complained about needing to get government approval for every visit. He asked to go to Tibet three times before his visit last year. Once there, though, he said he had open exchanges with students and teachers. Elsewhere, his experience varied. NASA announced four astronauts will launch to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during the early hours of Halloween Day. The Crew-1 mission is set to liftoff at 2:40am ET, which follows the successful Demo-2 test flight in May that was manned by NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. The new mission will be flown by Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The team will travel to the station in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and spend six months on the orbiting laboratory conducting research. The event marks the first time an international crew will fly aboard a NASA-certified, commercially-owned and operated American rocket and spacecraft from American soil. SpaceX also announced that Crew-1 will overlap with Crew-2 that is set to launch next year, which will be the first time two Dragon capsules have been docked on the ISS simultaneously. Scroll down for video The new mission will be flown by Michael Hopkins (second from right), Victor Glover (second from left), and Shannon Walker (left) of NASA and Soichi Noguchi (right) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX made history in May when the duo launched Behnken and Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS). This was the first time in nine years an American crew launched from US soil bringing space flight back to the nation. This mission was the precursor for next month's journey, as the team was tasked with testing the Crew Dragon capsule to validate its performance. This included tests with the environmental control system, displays, maneuvering thrusters and other technologies. The Crew-1 mission is set to liftoff at 2:40am ET, which follows the successful Demo-2 test flight in May (pictured) that was manned by NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley When Behnken and Hurley returned from a two month stay on the ISS (pictured), NASA began moving forward with its plans for Crew 1. The four astronauts in Crew-1 are set to spend six months on the ISS, where they will conduct a number of experiments and perform a range of tasks However, when Behnken and Hurley returned from a two month stay on the ISS, NASA began moving forward with its plans for Crew 1. The four astronauts in Crew-1 are set to spend six months on the ISS, where they will conduct a number of experiments and perform a range of tasks. NASA and SpaceX had previously planned to launch Crew-1 in late September. The one month delay is due to 'spacecraft traffic,' NASA said, as a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is set to launch to the ISS in October. SpaceX also announced that Crew-1 will overlap with Crew-2 that is set to launch next year, which will be the first time two Dragon capsules have been docked on the ISS simultaneously. Pictured is the Dragon Capsule docked during the Demo-2 mission That Soyuz launch, scheduled for October 14, will send NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov to the orbiting lab. The agency also said that pushing back the Crew-1 launch will allow 'for a crew handover' on board the space station. The six month timeline for Crew-1 means that capsule will be docked until late April, overlapping with the SpaceX Crew-2 mission set to launch in spring 2021. Kamie Roesler, 28, a news anchor with WIS-TV, was arrested in South Dakota on aggravated assault charge Roseler is accused of smashing beer bottle over the head of her male acquaintance and leaving him with cuts on his face Victim said attack was preceded by argument about politics A heated dispute over politics has landed a TV news presenter from South Carolina behind bars after police say she smashed a beer bottle over a man's head. Kamie Roesler, 28, a news anchor with WIS-TV in Columbia, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Sunday afternoon. ADVERTISEMENT According to police, Roesler was sitting outside with a group of people at around 4.30pm in the 1100 block of North Prairie Avenue in Sioux Falls when she got into an argument over politics with a 32-year-old man. Kamie Roesler, 28, a news anchor with South Carolina's WIS-TV Roesler was arrested in South Dakota on Sunday on an aggravated assault charge (pictured in mugshot) Roesler allegedly attacked her male acquaintance with a beer bottle after a heated argument over politics Click here to resize this module What started as a war of words took a violent turn when the newsreader allegedly grabbed a beer bottle and struck the man in the face, leaving him with lacerations possibly requiring stitches, reported Sioux Falls Argus Leader. The victim refused medical attentions from EMT workers who responded to the scene but later sought treatment for his injuries on his own. Investigators said Roseler and the victim knew each other. 'Theyre not in any type of relationship,' Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens said. 'The victim said that it was some type of political argument.' According to biographical information posted on WIS-TV's website, Roesler was hired as an early-morning anchor at the station in September 2019. Roesler was hired at WIS-TV in September 2019 Prior to that, she had worked at KSFY in South Dakota for more than five years For more than five years prior, Roesler had worked at WIS's sister station KSFY in Sioux Falls. Roesler grew up with her three siblings on a grain farm in North Dakota. She earned a degree in mass communications from Minnesota State University at Moorhead. ADVERTISEMENT A spokesperson for WIS-TV told The State that the station is aware of Roesler's arrest. A schoolteacher whose body, face and tongue are covered in tattoos and who has had the whites of his eyes surgically turned black said he was prevented from teaching at a French kindergarten after a parent complained he scared their child. IMAGE: Sylvain Helaine was teaching at the Docteur Morere Elementary School in Palaiseau, a suburb of Paris, last year when the parents of a three-year-old complained to educational authorities. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters Sylvain Helaine, 35, was asked to switch age groups when a parent complained he gave their three-year-old nightmares. He said last year he was teaching at the Docteur Morere Elementary School in Palaiseau, a suburb of Paris, when the parent said their son, who was not taught by Helaine, was scared after seeing him. A couple of months later the school authorities informed him he would no longer teach kindergarten children. IMAGE: Helaine, who was born in Paris, got his first ink when he was 27 and has since spent over 35,000 (Rs 33 lakh) and around 460 hours under the tattooists' needle. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters Helaine says tha after an initial shock when his students see him for the first time, his pupils see past his appearance. "All of my students and their parents were always cool with me because basically they knew me," said Helaine, who estimated he has spent around 460 hours under the tattooists' needle. IMAGE: He said he started getting tattoos when, while teaching at a private school in London, he had an 'existential crisis'. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters Despite the setbacks, Helaine said he would stick with his chosen career. "I'm a primary school teacher... I love my job." He said he started getting tattoos at the age of 27 when, while teaching at a private school in London, he had an "existential crisis". Since then, he said, "Getting tattoos is my passion." IMAGE: Helaine, who has had his tongue tattooed and the whites of his eyes surgically turned black, said he would stick with his chosen career despite the setbacks. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters He said he hoped to show his pupils that they should accept people who are different from the norm. "Maybe when they are adults they will be less racist and less homophobic and more open-minded," he said. Transforming African health systems to embrace diversity Westernised health systems are dominant in Africa, a situation that calls for transformation to embrace more diverse forms of healing. Health systems in Africa need a decolonial approach. A three-day convention hosted by the Wits School of Public Health will focus on decolonising African health systems. Titled, Decolonial thought and African consciousness for socially just health systems: An imaginative space, the virtual convention seeks to build collective capacity to engage in critical decolonial scholarship towards socially just health systems. The convention further aims to provide a platform for conversations to build solidarity across Africa and eradicate colonial-imposed divides in health systems on the continent. Date: 30 September, 1-2 October 2020 Time: 14:00-17:30 SAST (South Africa time) Zoom Registration: Click here Laetitia Rispel, Professor of Public Health at Wits University, will facilitate a session on 30 September (14:40-15:20) titled, Exploring the intersection between decoloniality and African health systems - A conversation in post-colonial Africa. The discussion will unravel the status quo in episteme traditions, and highlight knowledge systems and its relationship to the social world. This session will focus on the intersection between decoloniality and African health systems. It will explore how decolonial theories or approaches could complement or advance the field of health policy and systems research. In this session, scholars will highlight and share diverse examples to begin to shift African health policy and systems research (HPSR) towards decolonised, egalitarian frameworks of research methodologies. The session on decoloniality is important in order to advance scholarship on the theme, contribute to improvements in the performance of health systems in Africa, and ultimately achieve good health for all the people in sub-Saharan Africa, says Rispel. On 1 October, Dr Kui Muraya, a postdoctoral social scientist at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, will facilitate a panel on Creating an African project: Rethinking the configuration of knowledge to advance African health and health systems. The session will explore ways in which the field of HPSR offers theorisations and empirical work to guide scholars when engaging with the social, economic and political nature of health systems. Tanya Charles, feminist activist, programme and impact lead at the Atlantic Institute, will facilitate session 3 (2 October, 14:40-15:20), From paradigm to praxis: Tools for decolonial, African health systems and policy and research. In this session, Charles will examine existing and possible ways to address and shift colonial structures of knowledge production within the academy, research institutions, and other sites of knowledge production. Full programme Prioritising African Health Policy and Systems Research With the focus on African health policy and systems research, the convention will reorient African knowledge, realities and people as legitimate knowledge-bearers who are able to shape the field on the continent and elsewhere. The convention will bring together scholars, practitioners, artists, performers, creatives, media, policy-makers and activists whose work interests and work is on health systems in Africa and social justice issues. For African HPSR and decolonial scholars in particular, this convention will explore the possibilities of a knowledge paradigm that frames decolonial research in HPSR and draws explicitly on decolonial theories and approaches, including anti-racist, critical race, Black Consciousness, queer and African feminist perspectives. Shehnaz Munshi, convenor and Research Project Manager of the Sheiham Family Wits Programme on Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequality, says it is imperative to begin conversations that transform health. Today, health systems across Africa are failing to respond to the health and social needs of people. South Africa has inequitable private and public health systems, which are highly westernised. We need to probe them and change the narrative of health, and begin to recognise traditional and indigenous health systems that represent the diversity of the continent, says Munshi. The convention is one of five Africa-centred forums in the field of HPSR but the first focusing on decolonisation of HPSR on the continent. It takes an ambitious approach that the work of reimagining African consciousness is not only an intellectual task, but a visceral embodied journey. It will establish strategies for dismantling processes and structures that produce and sustain inequities and injustices in health policies and systems. Through a process of politicizing and historicizing the HPSR space, we critically reflect on whether we are doing work that transforms unjust political, economic and social systems and structural arrangements. The convention will grapple with the questions of how do we as African HPSR scholars read health systems and policy recognise the erasure of our collective histories. How do we acknowledge the processes of othering and alienation? Can we see ourselves as colonised subjects that need to undergo healing and consciousness?, says Munshi. This event is co-sponsored by the Wits School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Health Systems Global; the Atlantic Institute; Tekano; and CHESAI. Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a dying cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), the virus that causes COVID-19. Credit: NIAID Integrated Research Facility, Fort Detrick, Maryland. A tool designed to detect viral history in a drop of blood has gotten an upgrade in the age of COVID-19. VirScan, a technology that can determine which of more than 1,000 different viruses have infected a person, can now also detect evidence of infection from coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. In a paper published in Science, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School offer up a treasure trove of details about the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 and how this response may differ in individuals who go on to have a more severe case of COVID-19. "This may be the deepest serological analysis of any virus in terms of resolution," said corresponding author Stephen Elledge, Ph.D., the Gregor Mendel Professor of Genetics at the Brigham and HMS. "We now understand much, much more about the antibodies generated in response to SARS-CoV-2 and how frequently they are made. The next question is, what do those antibodies do? We need to identify which antibodies have an inhibitory capacity or which, if any, may promote the virus and actually help it enter into immune cells." In their analysis, Elledge and colleagues looked in depth at antibody responses to SARS CoV-2 by using VirScan to analyze blood samples from 232 COVID-19 patients and 190 pre-COVID-19 era controls. The team identified 800 sites of the virus that the immune system can recognize, known as epitopes. Not all epitopes are created equal; some may be recognized by neutralizing antibodies, which can elicit a response that eliminates the infection. However, if the body creates antibodies against other epitopes, it may launch a less effective response, giving the virus an advantage. In some cases, including the related coronavirus that causes SARS, viruses may even be able to benefit from the body's antibody response, using antibodies to enter cells in a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the team detected a range of antibody frequencies against various epitopes. Many were public epitopesregions recognized by the immune systems of large numbers of patients. One public epitope was recognized by 79 percent of COVID-19 patients. Others are considered private and recognized by only a few or even one individual. Ten epitopes were in regions essential for viral entry and are likely recognized by neutralizing antibodies. The team used the most discriminatory epitopes to develop a rapid diagnostic test. The team's epitope findings may have important implications for vaccines. If the immune system's response to public epitopes isn't found to be protectiveor even gives the virus an advantagevaccines will need to target other regions of the virus to give the immune system a boost. In addition, the team found that there are several epitopes conserved across coronaviruses, and that the immune system is likely to try to reuse antibodies against them when infected with SARS-CoV-2a possible explanation for why so many serology tests for COVID-19 produce false positives. The team further analyzed where and when different antibody responses occurred, finding that patients with severe COVID-19 were more likely to launch a stronger, broader response against SARS-CoV-2, possibly because their initial immune response failed to control the infection early. Within hospitalized patients, males made more antibodies than females. The researchers also compared the viral histories of hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients and found that hospitalized patients were much more likely to have had CMV and HSV-1, two common herpes viruses. However, the researchers note that it is difficult to draw conclusions about causality given that the group of non-hospitalized patients was younger and consisted of a higher percentage of white people and women, a demographic group that generally have lower CMV infection rates. Elledge envisions their studies as a stepping stone for identifying the most effective antibodies and eliciting them. "Our paper illuminates the landscape of antibody responses in COVID-19 patients," said Elledge. "Next, we need to identify the antibodies that bind these recurrently recognized epitopes to determine whether they are neutralizing antibodies or antibodies that might exacerbate patient outcomes. This could inform the production of improved diagnostics and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2." Explore further Antibody responses in COVID-19 patients could guide vaccine design More information: "Viral epitope profiling of COVID-19 patients reveals cross-reactivity and correlates of severity," Science (2020). Journal information: Science "Viral epitope profiling of COVID-19 patients reveals cross-reactivity and correlates of severity,"(2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi 1126/science.abd4250 Almost from the beginning, the story of OM Group Inc. is one of change and transformation. Its also a bit about family. The company, No. 3 on the 2020 Washington Technology Fast 50 with a compound annual growth rate of 180 percent, was never intended to be one of the fastest-growing companies in the government market. OM Group was founded in 2001 in New Jersey with a focus on the commercial market. But then the 2008 recession hit and the company struggled. The husband-and-wife founder team to make a decision and Sowmya Hariharans husband left the company to get a job. She has continued as CEO. Then in 2014 there came another crossroads. Hariharan's sister, Sangita Subramanian, joined OM Group as chief operating officer. We started talking about getting together and shifting the focus of the company, Subramanian said. Her background also is in commercial tech as she worked for Blackberry. Hariharan and Subramanian started looking at the stability and opportunities in the federal market. OM Group then became an 8(a) company and opened a major office in Northern Virginia. Given their commercial backgrounds, the sisters saw an opportunity in the federal market beyond the small business program. There was a clear need for a move towards digitization, digital transformation and IT modernization, Subramanian said. Those were trends they had experience with in the commercial sector. An example is the move to cloud environments, which commercial businesses embraced a decade earlier. In the federal market, it was 2014 and the Cloud First initiative had just begun. We knew the federal government had to go down that path, Subramanian said. We had our experience and capabilities in those areas and we knew we were getting in early on those trends. We could see the opportunities there. Step one was landing a partnership with an established federal player. That took a lot of networking and meeting other businesses. The relationship with the Small Business Administration and the 8(a) program was a big help, she said. It was a lot of boots on the ground, going out and networking and meeting people and talking to them about our capabilities and finding ways that we could work in a complimentary manner, Subramanian said. OM Group's skills around software development and Agile development were a strong selling point. The company landed a few subcontracting jobs, then teamed with another firm that was graduating from the 8(a) program and was looking for a newcomer to mentor. Thats how OM Group got its first prime contract working with the Navy, she said. The company began to grow rapidly and that has been aided by a forward looking philosophy of constantly looking for the next major technology wave. We have an internal R&D team that is constantly scanning the environment for whats new and are vetting how it has been applied, Subramanian said. The commercial space can be a leading indicator of what we might see in the federal space. The R&D team conducts internal pilots and prototypes of solutions before presenting them to customers. We like to see ourselves as a trusted digital transformation partner, Subramanian said. In 2017, OM Group won a spot on the Armys ACCENT contract for commercial cloud services. OM Group won the first task under the vehicle in a full-and-open competition. We knew we had to get in early and prove ourselves and make a name for ourselves, Subramanian said. ACCENT has expired, but OM Group is part of a joint venture with three other companies on the ITES-3S vehicle that the Army is shifting work to. We are very excited about that and we see a lot of potential, Subramanian said. The company also has landed a spot on the Air Force Small Business Enterprise Applications Solutions vehicle known as SBEAS, which replaced the NetCents 2 vehicle. The win is important because the Air Force is a new customer for OM Group, she said. Getting on large contract vehicles is an important strategy for OM Group as more agencies turn to those as opposed to smaller, individual contract competitions. The company pursued SBEAS as part of small business joint venture with two other companies who had complimentary capabilities. OM Group and one partner have strong defense credentials and the third brought more commercial expertise. We could show the synergies in terms of commercial innovations and what we have done successfully with (the Defense Department) and our success with the Army, and well bring that model to the Air Force, she said. OM Group is continuing to pursue large vehicles, but Subramanian said it is also one of their biggest challenges. For example, the company wants to break into the Homeland Security Department but isnt on one of their vehicles. Small businesses have to be aware of how different agencies do business and conduct procurements. Then you have to be ready to move when opportunities arise. It is a lot to keep up with. Some of these big vehicles they start planning two years or more out and we dont have the luxury to have someone dedicated to tracking something two years out, Subramanian said. We are very operationally focused. It is important to find a balance between what needs to be done today and tracking what will be important in two years, she said. Balancing those things is always a challenge. Moving forward, OM Group is positioning itself for the next thing after the migration to the cloud and for them it is the emerging opportunity around robotic process automation. OM Groups research-and-development team is exploring solutions and they see it as the next big wave, Subramanian said. RPA allows you to do more with less, she said because any rule-based, repetitive tasks are ripe for automation. That will free the humans to do the tasks that need human intelligence, human judgement and creativity rather than bogging people down with mundane tasks. ATLANTA: A pair of new high-profile endorsements are adding fuel to an already contentious special election for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia. Former Gov. Nathan Deal endorsed Republican Rep. Doug Collins on Monday, backing his bid to unseat Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a fellow Republican. That puts Deal on opposing sides from current Gov. Brian Kemp, who appointed Loeffler to the seat and has become one of her best assets in the campaign. I know that the Governor had to make a tough choice, but Ive made my choice too, and thats Doug Collins, Deal said, according to Collins campaign. A Senate seat representing the state of Georgia cannot be bought, he added, taking a shot at the tens of millions of dollars of personal wealth that Loeffler has used to fund her campaign. The endorsement was foreshadowed earlier this month when Deal attended a rally for Collins, but he had not formally made an endorsement until this week. Both politicians are from Gainesville, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. Collins and Loeffler, both staunch supporters of President Donald Trump, are the top Republican candidates in a jam-packed field running for Loefflers seat. If no candidate receives more than 50% of votes on Nov. 3, a strong possibility with over 20 entrants in the mix, the top two will move forward to a Jan. 5 runoff. Trump himself has not made an endorsement in the race. Dont anybody get out, he said at an event in Cobb County on Friday, implying that having two Republicans duking it out in the Senate race would help his own reelection prospects. On the other side of the aisle, former President Jimmy Carter, along with former first lady Rosalynn Carter, on Tuesday endorsed Democrat Raphael Warnock. Warnock, pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, leads among Democrats but has struggled to crack into the top two in public polling, where he would be in position for a runoff spot. Thats led to a full-court press from some Democrats to consolidate support behind Warnock with the hopes of pushing other Democrats, including Matt Lieberman, out of the race. Lieberman, an educator and son of former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, has so far refused to budge. During these difficult times, our nation must continue to march towards progress while holding fast to our American values of equality, justice and economic opportunity for all, Carter said in a statement. Reverend Warnock knows the struggles Georgians are facing in this unique crisis families losing health care, shuttered rural hospitals and record unemployment all in the middle of a pandemic. Carter is the second former president to back Warnocks campaign, joining Barack Obama, who announced his endorsement on Friday. Both of Georgias Republican-held U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs on Nov. 3. In the other race, Republican Sen. David Perdue is seeking a second term and faces Democrat Jon Ossoff. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor STOCKHOLM, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In accordance with a decision by the Annual General Meeting, the Nomination Committee in Hoist Finance shall consist of four members. The members should be one representative of each of the three largest shareholders, together with the Chairman of the Hoist Finance Board. The members of the Nomination Committee have been appointed based on the ownership structure as per 31 August 2020, and are: Jan Andersson , Chairman, appointed by Swedbank Robur Funds; , Chairman, appointed by Swedbank Robur Funds; Erik Selin , appointed by Erik Selin Fastigheter AB; , appointed by Erik Selin Fastigheter AB; Per Arwidsson, appointed by Arwidsro; and Ingrid Bonde , Chairman of the Board in Hoist Finance The three shareholder representatives jointly represent approximately 29.9 per cent of the votes for all shares in Hoist Finance. The Nomination Committee's duties in preparation for the Annual General Meeting 2021 consist of preparing the election of Chairman and other directors of the board, election of auditor, election of Chairman of the annual general meeting, matters regarding fees and questions in connection thereto. The Chairman of the Board, Ingrid Bonde, has at the first Nomination Committee meeting informed the company that she will not be standing for re-election at the Annual General Meeting 2021. "Hoist Finance has undergone a major transformation during my close to seven years on the Board, from an entrepreneurial company in rapid growth and expansion to a publicly listed company with an established and sustainable strategy. With its highly skilled and committed management team, Hoist Finance is ready for future development within digital, efficiency and customer-oriented solutions. It's time for me to hand over to someone who can continue to drive this agenda," said Ingrid Bonde. Ingrid Bonde will remain as Chairman until the Annual General Meeting 2021. Shareholders who wish to submit proposals to the Nomination Committee may contact the Nomination Committee by e-mail at the following address valberedning@hoistfinance.com or by mail to Hoist Finance, Nomination Committee, Box 7848, 103 99 Stockholm, by 31 January 2021 at the latest. CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Andreas Lindblom, Head of Investor Relations Telephone: +46 (0) 72 506 14 22 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/hoist-finance/r/nomination-committee-appointed-for-agm-2021-and-ingrid-bonde-will-not-be-standing-for-re-election,c3204950 The following files are available for download: The COVID-19 pandemic intruded into our lives over six months ago now, spreading with alarming speed across the world, infecting millions and bringing economies to a near-standstill as countries imposed tight restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. As lockdown gradually lifts, it is important for us to stay vigilant and adopt good hand hygiene habits to protect ourselves and others from further spread of virus. Washing your hands with soap and water regularly, and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, helps reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Why handwashing with soap is critical The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated that hand hygiene is one of the important measures to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 causing virus. This is because COVID-19 causing virus is primarily spread through respiratory droplets and contact. This means, if you touch an infected person and/or contaminated objects or surfaces, your hands can aid in spreading the virus to yourself as well as to people you come into close contact with. As such, it is particularly alarming to note that 65 out of 100 Indians dont use soap to wash hands before a meal, according to the National Sample Surveys 76th round report 2019. The report revealed that only 35.8 percent of households in the country practise handwashing with soap or detergent before a meal, while 60 percent of households wash hands only with water. Equally worrying is that about 26 percent of people in India do not wash their hands with soap after using the toilet. Handwashing with soap was crucial in helping reduce the spread of the Spanish flu in 1918, the 2003 SARS outbreak and the H1N1 flu in 2009. As the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues, soap remains one of humanitys best hope. How soap can kill viruses Soap has always been seen as a humble cleaning agent, but it is also particularly effective in disrupting bacteria and viruses that cause infections. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, belongs to the family of enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses have a jacket made up of lipids and proteins that allows them to exist and helps them to enter human cells when your hands touch your face, says Samir Singh, executive vice-president, Global Skin Cleansing at Unilever. Unfortunately, human skin is an ideal surface for germs, including enveloped viruses, to stick to. The proteins and fatty acids on the skins surface bind to the germs like glue. Water alone cannot effectively break this interaction. Soapy water, however, is very different. Washing your hands using soap and water has a dual effect. Soap cleverly targets and interferes with the enveloped virus outer membrane so it cannot bind to the skin and it also washes the virus away from your body and down the sink, added Singh. From soap makers to hope makers The outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year led to a spike in demand for hand hygiene products such as soap and hand sanitisers. Soap manufacturers around the world scrambled to ramp up production of this lifesaving product, including Unilevers team of 15,600 soap makers who worked tirelessly to ensure the availability of soap to all. Their hard work and dedication have enabled Lifebuoy, the worlds number one selling germ protection soap[1], to donate more than 20 million pieces of soap, hand sanitisers, and hygiene wipes worldwide help to curb the spread of COVID-19 causing virus. This beautiful tribute video thanks soap makers all over the world for their passion in making the hygiene products that help keep us safe during this pandemic. For more than a century, Lifebuoy has been on a mission to promote the importance of handwashing with soap. It runs one of the worlds largest handwashing programmes, having changed the hygiene behaviour of more than 1 billion people across 30 countries since 2010. The brand is now available in over 50 countries and is dedicated to providing access to affordable and effective hand hygiene products. Hindustan Unilever (HUL), which produces Lifebuoy products, has also pledged Rs 100 crores to help the nation overcome this pandemic. This includes creating mass awareness about protective measures through mass communication to drive home the message of social distancing and hand hygiene which is critical for us as a nation to fight this virus. In the absence of a viable cure or vaccine, handwashing with soap remains the first line of defence to help fight against COVID-19. For that, we are grateful to all the soap makers who give us hope through the humble bar of soap. To learn more about maintaining good hand hygiene, visit Lifebuoys Twitter page. [1] Calculation based on Nielsen unit sales information for the total markets (approximately 40 countries), latest 12 months available. Details available on request. This is a partnered post. A proposal on the popularization of scientific ethics was released on Thursday, providing advice to science advocates on how to discuss controversial scientific issues. "Controversies arising during scientific and technological development should be handled rationally and different views should be treated on an equal basis. Science popularization workers need to inform the public about not only the possible benefits of scientific and technological progress but also the uncertainties, risks, and conflict of interests it may cause," the document states. The proposal, the first of its kind in China, was jointly published by the Chinese Association of Natural Science Museums (CANSM), the China Science Writers Association (CSWA), the Chinese Society for Science and Technology Journalism, the National Academy of Innovation Strategy, and Beijing Guokr Interactive Technology Media Co. Ltd. Zhou Zhonghe, chairperson of the CSWA and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that science popularization ethics, which can be considered as an extension of science ethics, is an important part of scientific and cultural progress. "Science popularization workers need to spread scientific knowledge and spirit to the public with a strong sense of social responsibility," Zhou said. A survey conducted by Li Zhengfeng, deputy dean of the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, highlighted the necessity of bringing forward such a proposal. According to results of the survey, more than half of the scientists surveyed are worried about suffering insult on account of publishing or backing controversial issues. Li pointed out that a new challenge in science popularization is that scientists and science advocates often work with "science in progress" rather than "mature science." That often means that they're working with incomplete data as relevant experiments have yet to be completed and even when research has been published, it does not guarantee that the findings won't be overturned in the future. Cheng Donghong, president of CANSM, called for science popularization workers to act on the proposal and formulate specific principles according to the conditions of their fields. She hoped that the principles will develop into an indispensable part of China's science and technology ethics system and form a common ethical code for the entire science popularization community, thus contributing to the high-quality development of science popularization in the country. Content in partnership with Science and Technology Daily The West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) will release the admit card for West Bengal Judicial Service exam by October 1, 2020, on its official website. A notice regarding this has been uploaded on the commissions official website. Once the admit cards are released, candidates who have registered for the examination will be able to download their admit card online at wbpsc.gov.in. The commission will conduct the West Bengal Judicial Service (Preliminary) Examination 2020 on Sunday, October 11, 2020, at various centres spread across the state. Candidates are advised to bring a copy of their hall ticket to their respective examination centres or else they wont be entertained. Candidates are directed to carry two identical stamp size photographs along with proof of identity in original such as Madhyamik or equivalent examination pass certificate/admit card which bears photograph of its rightful owner or Passport or pan Card or UID No. Card (AADHAAR) or EPIC (Voter Identity Card) or Driving Licence and the printout of e-Admit Card at the venue of the Examination, reads the official notice. How to download the West Bengal Judicial Service admit card 2020: Visit the official website at wbpsc.gov.in On the homepage, click on the link to download West Bengal Judicial Service admit card A new page will appear on the display screen Key in your credentials and login The admit card will be displayed on the screen Download the admit card and take its print out for future use. October is Portland Textile Month and youre invited to see exhibits displayed in windows or outdoor spaces throughout the city as well as participate in virtual workshops and talks to learn from artists about Oregons textile traditions in fine art, home goods and fashion. There will also be socially distant community projects, such as creating a communal piece woven with any chosen material, even torn jeans, bubble wrap or flexible twigs. The 40 events are organized by Portlands Textile Hive, which preserves more than 40,000 culturally significant fabric swatches from around the world in the Andrea Aranow Textile Design Collection. Aranow, called the Margaret Mead of textiles, is a fashion designer and textile scholar who dressed guitarist Jimi Hendrix in snakeskin bell bottoms and, a half-century later, continues to inspire new looks and influence leaders in footwear, upholstery and other trend-setting industries. Aranows vast holdings, the largest digitized independent textile collection in the world, are studied by designers and educators. They want to understand historic colors, textures and patterns to weave the future, she says. For Portland Textile Month, Aranow will discuss the reuse and adaptation of vintage Japanese textiles during a free virtual talk on Oct 19. Digital archive expert Caleb Sayan, Aranows son, who oversees the abundance of irreplaceable materials at Textile Hive, founded Portland Textile Month three years ago. The theme this year, Repair and Reuse, was selected to encourage everyone, those new to textiles and those intimately familiar with them, to take advantage of opportunities to connect to each other. Sayan says collaborative projects, conducted safely during a pandemic, can make people feel less isolated and "help mend our communitys social fabric caused by current challenges. This is no ordinary year, says Sayan, who teamed up with Katen Bush of the Berber rug store Kat + Maouche and volunteers to put on the festival. Weve approached it humbly and with a renewed purpose to highlight beacons of Repair and Reuse among our textile community. The goal: To engage, express ourselves and even celebrate, he says. Starting Oct. 1, you can view displays of furniture made from upcycled denim, an iconic Eames chair upholstered in a handwoven cactus silk rug, and Millinery Macabre by hat designer Dayna Pinkham. A quilt in the window of Blackfish Gallery was inspired by 500 Oregonians explaining "What does it mean to be an American? to Alicia Decker and Ellen Knutson of the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project. The world-fabric flag, Immigrants are a Golden Thread woven through the American Fabric, at T Project is part of artist Bonnie Meltzers larger, interactive installation Tikkun OlamMending the Social Fabric, which is set to open at the Oregon Jewish Museum in 2021. A virtual lecture by fiber artist Steven Frost on Oct. 5 is hosted by Portland State University Art + Design School. On Oct. 8, there will be a virtual hands-on workshop by artist Natalie Yap to show how to make a loom from packaging castoffs and weave with plastic yarn. Learn how archetypal images and symbols add meaning to textile art and create a symbolic applique during a virtual workshop ($50) on Oct. 18 led by sculptor and arts educator Carolyn Hazel Drake. The entire lineup of Portland Textile Month events is posted at portlandtextilemonth.com. Here are highlights of events, starting Oct. 1: Afro-American Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt Installation at Oregon Historic Society.Oregon Historical Society An exhibit of the African-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt at the Oregon Historical Society Oct. 1-Nov. 2 allows viewers to learn the fascinating story of 15 African American women who completed the quilt in 1976 to celebrate 200 years of U.S. democracy and Black history. On Oct. 15, there will be an online discussion on the quilts significance by one of the original quilters, Sylvia Gates Carlisle, along with Portland historian Carmen Thompson and quilt historian Mary Bywater Cross. Each of the 30 blocks of the quilt represents an important event, individual or group in Americas Black history and the African American community in Portlands longtime efforts to address racial discrimination and injustice. Quilters also included the late Kathryn Hall Bogle, a journalist, social worker and community activist, and the late Gladys Sims McCoy, who was elected to the Portland Public School Board in 1970, making her the states first African American elected representative. Xander Griffith Visions of a Felt Filled World InstallationXander Griffith Xander Griffiths Visions of a Felt Filled World is colorful storytelling in felt of Native American tales and folk stories. The artist, who is a member of the Cherokee nation, describes a collective group as a chromatic stampede changing the landscape with every step. The installation will be at Powells City of Books Cafe windows (1005 W. Burnside St.) from Oct. 3 to Oct. 31. Ghost Net Landscape: Sea Stories larger installation.Portland Textile Month Create puppets from reclaimed fishing gear to comment about the environment and contribute to Ghost Net Landscape: Sea Stories. The exhibit at Crema Coffee + Bakery in Southeast Portland runs from Oct. 1-31. Artist Emily Miller and organizers say free puppet kits are available at the bakery, Kat + Maouche and Dicks Primal Burger. Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman Amazon is continuing to hire across Pennsylvania as part of the e-commerce giants national push for 100,000 new part- and full-time workers. The online retailer now is hiring 1,000 full-time employees at its new fulfillment center in Hamburg, Berks County. Employees hired at that hub will join more than 16,000 full- and part-time employees already working statewide for Amazon. The 1-million-square-foot fulfillment center, located on Mountain Road, plans to launch its operations by the end of the year. Employees will work alongside innovative technologies to pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as apparel, in a safe and inclusive work environment, Amazon representatives said. Job candidates can learn more about the positions and apply here. Those interested also can sign up for text alerts by texting EastPANOW to 77088. Starting pay for the new jobs is expected to be $15 an hour and $16 an hour for those working in Hamburg, as well as up to $500 sign-on bonus. Benefits -- including health, vision and dental insurance; 401K plans with a 50% company match; up to 20 weeks paid parental leave; and an innovative career choice program -- additionally are offered on the first day of employment. Amazon also has pledged to invest more than $700 million to provide up-skilling training for its 100,000 employees for in-demand jobs. Programs will help employees of all backgrounds access training to move into highly-skilled roles across the companys corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon, representatives said. ... were proud to provide a safe, innovative work environment where they can grow their careers, Edward Buddenhagen, site leader of Amazons Hamburg fulfillment center, said of new hires. Amazon has 14 fulfillment and sorting centers in Pennsylvania as well as seven delivery stations, a tech hub, and an air hub. Amazon also operates 15 Whole Foods Market stores and four Amazon Hub Locker+ locations in the state. The company said these investments have contributed an additional $11.7 billion to the Pennsylvania economy and have helped create 17,200 indirect jobs on top of Amazons direct hires from jobs in construction and logistics to professional services. More than 52,000 independent authors and small and medium businesses in Pennsylvania are selling to customers in Amazons store, creating thousands of additional jobs across the state. Amazon has invested more than $4 billion from June to April on coronavirus pandemic-related safety measures. This includes spending more than $800 million to implement temperature checks and supply masks, enhanced cleaning products, gloves, and sanitation stations. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. China Aid head prays on National Mall, asks God to bring Communist China to repentance Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment China Aid President Bob Fu issued a prayer over China and the Chinese Communist Party, asking God to transform the country into a mission-sending church instead of a mission-receiving one. Fu, who was born and raised in mainland China and was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations for freedom and democracy in 1989, was among dozens of religious figures and politicians who spoke at The Return: A Global Day of Prayer, which was held on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C. He told thousands gathered at the National Mall that Washington, D.C., is the epicenter of spiritual warfare. He revealed that even today, Communist Party members in the U.S. continue to harass his family due to his activism. My wife ... called me and said the Communist Party ... agents, thugs, in the United States went to my home, right now surrounding, harassing my wife and children, he said. Fu then led attendees in prayer: Dear Lord, you raise up or tear down nations always for your sovereign purpose, he said. You have shown yourself repeatedly in the past 70 years under brutal socialism, communistic persecution. As Christians continue to endure severe harassment at the hands of the CCP, Fu prayed that God will use this time of suffering and persecution to bring about revival. I pray that you will make the Chinese church a mission-sending church in the 21st century instead of a mission-receiving church, he declared. Referring to the thousands of Christians, Uighur Muslims, and other perceived threats to the communist government who are being held in Chinas reeducation camps, Fu prayed those imprisoned for their faith would experience freedom and justice. He also asked God to curtail the Chinese Communist Party just like in 1989, referring to the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. He prayed for Chinas persecutors, specifically naming President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to sinicize or bring under Communist control every religious ideology in the country. May you have mercy on them [and bring them to] repentance like the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, for their hearts, for their evil deeds, for unleashing the COVID-19 virus to the world, and for their continued persecution, Fu prayed. China Aid is an international human rights organization dedicated to exposing religious persecution by the Communist Party in China and to promoting religious freedom for all in that country. In February, Fu warned that over the last two years, Xis war on religion has reached its worst in 40 years. He accused the president of turning faith into a tool for the indoctrination of communist ideology. For example, all religious leaders must pledge to obey the Communist Partys ideology in their pulpit before they can be allowed to practice their religion, Fu said. Additionally, millions of Chinese Christian children have been forced to renounce their faith by signing a Communist Party prepared document. Clearly the aim is to exterminate any independent faiths, he said, referencing not only the Christian faith, but the faith of Muslims, Buddhists, and others. This is a very, very serious signal, he said. Fu encouraged the international community to pay attention to the truth and spread true information about faith communities and persecution on social media. The Return represented a movement, an appointed time, and a specific day set apart for one purpose the return to God by humbly and sincerely coming before His presence in prayer, and repentance. The movement began Sept. 18 and ended with the Day of Atonement, Sept. 28. Speakers included Anne Graham Lotz, Jonathan Cahn, Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Mike Lindell, Alveda King, Kevin Jessip, Michele Bachmann, Kevin Sorbo, Gordon Robertson, Marcus Lamb, Bishop Harry Jackson, and others. JOHNSTON Iowa is breaking with federal quarantine guidelines in a move that could allow more school students to stay in school after coming in contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. Gov. Kim Reynolds and state epidemiologist Dr. Caitlin Pedati on Tuesday announced the state will no longer recommend people quarantine after coming in contact with a person who tests positive for the coronavirus if both individuals were wearing face masks. Previously, the state recommended any person who came in close contact with someone who tested positive should quarantine for two weeks. Reynolds said the decision was made after talking with school leaders and examining state public health data. Public health has had a lot of conversations with school administrators and families about their experiences in quarantine, and the fact that we dont frequently see additional infection in situations where people have been wearing face coverings, Pedati said Tuesday during the governors press conference at Iowa PBS studios. Pedati conceded the policy breaks with recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which say a person is considered a close contact even if he or she was wearing a mask while around someone with COVID-19. Masks are meant to protect other people in case you are infected, and not to protect you from becoming infected, the CDC website states. Pedati said the state studied four school districts in northwest Iowa where the virus is spreading rapidly and case counts are elevated. One requires students to wear face masks and three do not. Pedati said the districts without a face mask mandate had 30% to 130% higher rates of COVID-19 cases than the district with the mask mandate. Pedati also pointed to a study this summer that found face masks were effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 from two hairdressers who had the virus, and that nearby states Nebraska and Wyoming made similar changes to their public health recommendations. Taking all this information together, were able to update our recommendation, Pedati said. Wyoming has the highest reproduction rate in the country, at 1.29. Reproduction rate is average number of people infected by a single positive case. A reproduction rate over 1.0 is considered spread. Iowas reproduction rate is 1.12 as of Tuesday. Nebraskas was 1.07, and Illinois was 1.0. The change drew a swift rebuke from the states largest teachers union. Unfortunately, Gov. Reynolds newest recommendations are not consistent with what the scientific community continues to tell us about protecting ourselves, our students and our communities from COVID-19, Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said in a statement. Weeks into the school year, we are once again grappling with cloudy information that has no basis in science. At the very least, the guidance should come with mandatory face coverings statewide, including continued social distancing and other mitigation efforts designed to promote health and safety in our public schools. After a spike of new cases when college students returned to campus and a subsequent reduction, new cases have once again been rising in Iowa over the past two weeks. More importantly, the seven-day rolling average number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is at its highest point since early June, and hospitalizations are at the highest level ever. Reynolds said her administration is in constant contact with hospitals, and none have indicated they cannot handle the increasing number of hospitalizations. Reynolds also said the state expects to receive from the federal government roughly 900,000 new COVID-19 tests, roughly 40,000 to 50,000 tests per week from now through December. Reynolds said the tests will be prioritized for rural areas where case numbers are climbing and access to testing is sparse, and for school staff and students. Reynolds said the tests are being offered, to assist our efforts with reopening our schools and reigniting our economies. The state is working on a distribution plan for the new tests and will announce details once that plan is developed. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 JoAnn Brown, 83, of the Lakeview Community went home to be with the Lord and re-united with her husband on Saturday, September 26, 2020. Mrs. Brown was a lifelong resident of the Lakeview Community. She went to Lakeview School on Cross Street where she was a member of the drill team. Mrs. Brown sold Avon and Tupperware for many years and she also worked at Miller Brothers in Chattanooga serving in the Hand Bag and Jewelry Departments. She never met a stranger, loved the Lord with all of her heart, was a member of Gateway Baptist Church, and always enjoyed listening to her husband sing gospel music for many years. Mrs. Brown loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with all of her heart and she wished nothing but the best for them. She cherished every memory and fun moment with them. She enjoyed her trips with her family to Panama City Beach, Graceland, and the Smokey Mountains. She was an avid fan of Elvis Presley and she enjoyed listening to piano music, southern gospel music, her 50s records, and all of Billy Graham and Charles Stanley writings. Other things that Mrs. Brown loved was the family get togethers throughout the years. She loved cooking and was well known for her worlds greatest dressing she always prepared on Thanksgiving. She always had a camera in her hand capturing many special moments over the years. She would always say, I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, William Bill Brown; and her parents, Glenn and Estelle Whaley. Survivors include her children, Candy Brown, Scott Brown, and Darla (Frank) Sayre; grandchildren, Tiffany (Ronnie) Arp, Hannah (Sean) McDevitt, and Lacie Brown; great grandchildren, Adalyn Arp and Walker McDevitt; brother, Robert Whaley; sister, Glenda Holsonback; nieces and nephews; and her dog, Snowflake. Condolences may be shared at lane-southcrestchapel.com. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, at 1 p.m. in the South Crest Chapel. Funeral services may be viewed on the funeral home website. Interment will follow in the Pine Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends Thursday from 4-8 p.m. and Friday one hour prior to the service at the South Crest Chapel of Lane Funeral Home and Crematory, Rossville. Final Court Decision Has Not Been Given NEW YORK and TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. ("iAnthus" or the "Company") (CSE: IAN) (OTCQX: ITHUF), which owns, operates and partners with regulated cannabis operations across the United States, provides an update with respect to the fairness hearing (the "Fairness Hearing") for the Company's plan of arrangement voted on by securityholders on September 14, 2020 (the "Plan of Arrangement") to implement the Company's previously announced recapitalization transaction (the "Recapitalization Transaction"). iAnthus appeared before Justice Gomery of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court") on September 25, 2020 for the Fairness Hearing and on September 28, 2020, Justice Gomery delivered his reasons for the decision orally. Justice Gomery indicated that his reasons are expected to be reduced to writing and released today (September 29, 2020). Justice Gomery held that the Plan of Arrangement was put forward in good faith and met the statutory requirements of the British Columbia Business Corporations Act (the "BCBCA"). Justice Gomery was also satisfied that the Plan of Arrangement had a valid business purpose and was approved by the securityholders in accordance with the requirements of the BCBCA. The Plan of Arrangement included a release of claims and Justice Gomery did not approve the form of release of claims presented to the Court. Justice Gomery invited iAnthus and the parties to the restructuring support agreement (the "RSA") to consider whether some other form of release language may be presented and ruled, in part, that: "It is possible that iAnthus and the noteholders may agree to amend the plan to narrow the release and injunction to the point of acceptability. To preserve that possibility, I do not dismiss the petition. I grant iAnthus liberty to apply, if it thinks fit, on the basis of an amended plan of arrangement. I am seized of any further applications on this matter." Accordingly, Justice Gomery will have conduct of the matter and has not made a final ruling on the fairness of the Plan of Arrangement. Under the RSA, iAnthus is obligated to pursue the Recapitalization Transaction under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") within five business days if the final court order for the Plan of Arrangement was not granted by September 28, 2020 (the "Deadline"). The parties to the RSA have agreed to extend the Deadline to Tuesday, October 6, 2020. For additional details on the RSA, see the Company's news release dated July 13, 2020, a copy of which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. About iAnthus iAnthus owns and operates licensed cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities throughout the United States, providing investors diversified exposure to the U.S. regulated cannabis industry. Founded by entrepreneurs with decades of experience in operations, investment banking, corporate finance, law and healthcare services, iAnthus provides a unique combination of capital and hands-on operating and management expertise. iAnthus currently has a presence in 11 states and operates 36 dispensaries (AZ-4, MA-1, MD-3, FL-16, NY-3, CO-1, VT-1 and NM-7 where iAnthus has minority ownership). For more information, visit www.iAnthus.com. COVID-19 Risk Factor The Company may be impacted by business interruptions resulting from pandemics and public health emergencies, including those related to COVID-19. An outbreak of infectious disease, a pandemic, or a similar public health threat, such as the recent outbreak of COVID-19, or a fear of any of the foregoing could adversely impact the Company by causing operating, manufacturing, supply chain, and project development delays and disruptions, labor shortages, travel, and shipping disruption and shutdowns (including as a result of government regulation and prevention measures). It is unknown whether and how the Company may be affected if such a pandemic persists for an extended period of time, including as a result of the waiver of regulatory requirements or the implementation of emergency regulations to which the Company is subject. Although the Company has been deemed essential and/or has been permitted to continue operating its facilities in the states in which it cultivates, processes, manufactures, and sells cannabis during the pendency of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no assurance that the Company's operations will continue to be deemed essential and/or will continue to be permitted to operate. The Company may incur expenses or delays relating to such events outside of its control, which could have a material adverse impact on its business, operating results, financial condition, and the trading price of the Common Shares. Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including concerning COVID-19 and the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in iAnthus' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "hope", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "believe", "should", "our vision" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, the timing and outcome of Court approval of the Plan of Arrangement and the timing for the written court decision. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. iAnthus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and iAnthus does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. The securities to be issued pursuant to the Restructuring Transaction have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. "United States" and "U.S. person" are as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. SOURCE iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. Related Links https://www.ianthuscapital.com/ Mumbai: Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar and Abhishek Bachchan among others said they were disgusted and ashamed after a 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradeshs Hathras died on Tuesday, days after being raped by four men. The woman was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to Delhis Safdarjung hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. Taking to Twitter, Kumar wrote that the incident had left him angry and frustrated" and also called for hanging of the rapists. Such brutality in #Hathras gangrape. When will this stop? Our laws and their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear! Hang the culprits. Raise your voice to safeguard daughters and sisters. Its the least we can do," he tweeted. Bachchan wrote on Twitter, This must stop! Beyond disgusted." Echoing a similar sentiment, Riteish Deshmukh said the culprits of the brutal and horrific" crime should be hanged in public". Kriti Sanon called the crime gut wrenching" as she demanded stricter laws and much more horrifying punishments" for the accused. When will these monsters fear the consequences of such inhuman acts? I cannot think of a punishment that would be enough for such brutality! Death by hanging? Shot in the head? Death by stoning in public? Somehow still feels less than what they deserve!" The accused had tried to strangulate the woman to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had ended up biting her tongue, suffering a severe cut on it. A spokesman of the Aligarh hospital had said that the womans legs were completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed. Justice for Hathras victim. Everyone deserves to live with dignity. Punish the perpetrators," actor Richa Chadha wrote. Akhtar posted a heartbreak emoji and said it was a sad, sad day". How much longer can this be allowed to go on," he wrote. Swara Bhasker said the brutal gangrape was a reminder that theres no limit to monstrosity. We have become a sick, inhuman society. Shameful. Saddening," the actor said. Huma Qureshi wondered how long do people have to tolerate these brutal crimes." The culprits of this horrific crime should be punished," she added. Actor Dia Mirza said the society failed" the Hathras victim. We failed her at every level. This is on our collective conscience." Yami Gautam said it was disgusting that women are subjected to endless brutality. Tried really hard to gather my thoughts before expressing my sorrow, anger and disgust. Its 2020 and still so many Nirbhayas have to give their lives. Cant imagine the pain she must have endured and her family. Praying for severe punishment and justice," she wrote. According to the Hathras SP, the four accused, who have already been arrested, will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 12:15:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close QUITO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's export sector will take two to three years to recover from the novel coronavirus pandemic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Daniel Legarda said on Monday. "This pandemic's blow to the economy has been extremely strong, and more or less that is the time in which we expect to see a recovery," the official said in an interview with local media. Legarda pointed out that Ecuador has registered a 14-percent drop in exports so far this year and a 25-percent drop in imports. "I think it will take two to three years to recover the level of trade we had before the crisis and, similarly, economic activity will take four to five years to recover the (previous) level," he said. Enditem Flower basket in Hefei to celebrate National Day Pub Date: 2020-09-29 15:25 Source:www.cnanhui.org Photo taken on September 28, 2020 shows a flower basket at Guoqi Square in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province. The 10-meter-tall flower basket is placed as a decoration for the upcoming National Day holiday. (Photo/hf365.com) Related News (Anhui's achievements in the 13th Five-Year Plan period) Anhui renovates 1.36 million urban shanty houses Picturesque view of Hefei Huancheng Park in winter Lujiangxi Railway Station completed (Anhui's achievements in the 13th Five-Year Plan period) Finance emerges as Anhuis pillar industry Northampton County sent 30,000 mail-in ballots to voters on Monday and hopes to have another 33,000 in the mail by weeks end. Starting Oct. 1, voters will be able to drop them off in all corners of the county at four, secure mail-in ballot collection boxes, county officials announced Monday. Various legal disputes for weeks have stymied Pennsylvania election officials from rolling out mail-in voting procedures -- like drop boxes -- and stopped them from even printing ballots. A series of state Supreme Court rulings earlier this month cleared the way for counties to finally print ballots and get them in the hands of eager voters. County Executive Lamont McClure detailed all of the ways Pennsylvanians can cast their presidential vote in 2020 and vowed Northampton will conduct a fair, legal and accurate election, during a Monday afternoon press conference in the courthouse rotunda. Your vote will count," McClure assured county residents. Your vote will matter. As many as three million voters in this crucial battleground state including at least 63,000 in Northampton County are expected to cast ballots by mail in the 2020 race. And they have many options on how they wish to do it. You definitely dont have an excuse not to vote in Northampton County, McClure said. Voters can request a ballot by mail, complete it at home and then mail it back to the election office. They can also hand deliver it to the election board office or to four drop boxes the county plans to open Thursday. The locked drop box are under constant video surveillance and they will be emptied each night by county sheriff officers, who will be sworn in as election officers. They will deliver the ballots to the county election board each evening. Here are the drop box locations and hours: Northampton County Courthouse rotunda, 669 Washington St., Easton, Pa., 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. Bethlehem City Hall entrance, 10 E. Church St., 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. (The county is split between Lehigh and Northampton counties. The drop box will clearly state Northampton County.) Northampton County Human Services building lobby, 2801 Emerick Blvd., Bethlehem Township, Pa. 8:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Northampton County 911 Center, 100 Gracedale Ave., Upper Nazareth Township. 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Officials urged voters to mail their ballots back quickly, but also expressed confidence that the U.S. Postal Service can deliver ballots on time. Currently, the state Supreme Court has ruled that election boards can count ballots, which are postmarked Nov. 3, until three days after polls close Election Day. But the states GOP is challenging the ruling. Regardless, mail-in voters must also be sure to follow instructions and use the secrecy envelope that comes with the ballot. Election officials have been instructed to reject any naked ballots, though there have been calls to challenge that provision. If you want to vote by mail, but you have not yet applied, you can go vote in person at the Northampton County election office inside the courthouse. Election staff will process your application on the spot and you can cast your ballot immediately until Oct. 27, the deadline to obtain a mail-in ballot. Northampton County still plans to open all of its 154 polling stations on Election Day. McClure urged voters to wear a mask to protect their neighbors and poll workers, who he noted often tend to be older. There will be lines on election day when you go to vote in person, McClure warned voters. Election officials are expecting record turnout in this heated presidential race and social distancing requirements will make lines appear long. The county executive urged voters who wish to vote in person, but dont want to wait to take advantage of the early voting at the courthouse as he already did. Hundreds of people already have done so, said Amy Cozze, chief registrar of elections. At one time, Cozze anticipated mailing out 100,000 ballots to county voters, but demand has slowed as some become more nervous about voting by mail. If you have requested a ballot by mail and change your mind, you can take the ballot and two envelopes on Election Day to your polling station to have it spoiled. After filling out a form, voters can vote in person at the polling station. See more ongoing coverage of the 2020 election with the SWING COUNTY, SWING STATE project. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. The Fresh Prince is back in Bel Air. And Will Smith was joined by his former costars for a tour of the mansion that served as the family home on the 90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In a vide posted to Youtube on Monday, the 52-year-old actor reminisced on his hit show, that celebrated 30 years since its debut earlier this month. Reunited: Will Smith was joined by his former The Fresh Prince of Bel Air costars for a tour of the mansion that served as the family home on the 90s sitcom, in a video posted to Youtube on Monday Will and his old music collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff, enjoyed some alone time playing around the mansion before the rest of the cast showed up. They checked out the inside of the mansion, that becomes available for one night stays on Airbnb September 29, for only $30 a night. The duo looked around the clothing items included in the room, made to look like the pool house Will lived in for the second half of the show. Along with his sneaker and hat collection, clothing items were displayed on hangers, and were pieces from the anniversary collection from the show. Decades: The 52-year-old actor reminisced on his hit show, that celebrated 30 years since its debut earlier this month Duo: Will and his old music collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff, enjoyed some alone time playing around the mansion before the rest of the cast showed up Stocked: Along with his sneaker and hat collection, clothing items were displayed on hangers, and were pieces from the anniversary collection from the show And true to their music roots, Will and Jeff made some beats with silverware, wine glasses and the floor as they sat at the large formal dining table. Former show stars Tatyana Ali and Karyn Parsons, who played cousins Ashley and Hilary Banks, were joined by Joseph Marcell who starred as Geoffrey Butler for all six seasons of the show. As well, Daphne Maxwell Reid who played Aunt Vivian Banks from seasons four to six joined, though the original actor Janet Hubert-Whitten was not in attendance, nor was Alfonso Ribeiro, who originated Carlton Banks. Remake: The duo looked around the clothing items included in the room, made to look like the pool house Will lived in for the second half of the show Posted: The two posed in front of the large and luxurious pool on the grounds Making beats: And true to their music roots, Will and Jeff made some beats with silverware, wine glasses and the floor as they sat at the large formal dining table Also missing was the famous Uncle Phil, played by James Avery who died in 2013. Though the group was sure to honor the character and late actor, as a smiling portrait of him hung inside the house, and caught all of the actor's attention. Earlier this month, Will teased the video by sharing a photo of himself and DJ Jazzy Jeff in front of the Bel Air mansion. The Bad Boys actor was celebrating a partnership with the luxurious mansion's owners to rent off a wing of the home on Airbnb for an astoundingly cheap $30 per night to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary. Regal: The table was set for a king, with silver plate covers, multiple flower displays and plenty of glasses Friends: DJ Jazzy Jeff costarred on the show for all six seasons, prior to the show he and Will collaborated together on rap albums, three that went Gold or Platinum before the show was created Back together: Former show stars Tatyana Ali and Karyn Parsons, who played cousins Ashley and Hilary Banks, were joined by Joseph Marcell who starred as Geoffrey Butler for all six seasons of the show Fun: With some film tricks they made it look like Will was oversized for the house Will's Instagram selfie showed himself beaming in a green white and black tie-dye jacket over a white shirt, while Jeff wore grayblue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and gestured toward the mansion. 'YOOOO!! Yall think we should rent out the @freshprince house?? Were making it happen with the squad at @airbnb!!' he wrote, adding, '#FreshPrince30th.' Although the mansion was advertised as being in the tony neighborhood of Bel Air, the real-life location is located in the similarly upscale LA neighborhood Brentwood. The mansion was used on the series for exterior shooting, but the interiors were all filmed on a stage. Celebrating: The Bad Boys actor was celebrating a partnership with the luxurious mansion's owners to rent off a wing of the home on Airbnb for an astoundingly cheap $30 per night to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary Sister, sister: Former show stars Tatyana Ali and Karyn Parsons, who played cousins Ashley and Hilary Banks, marveled at the house Perfect: Joseph Marcell who starred as Geoffrey Butler for all six seasons of the show, fixed the silverware on the dining table to perfection Signing: As well, Daphne Maxwell Reid who played Aunt Vivian Banks from seasons four to six joined, though the original actor Janet Hubert-Whitten, she signed a wall inside the room Will is partnering with the Airbnb and the mansion's owners to open up a portion of the home for a limited number of nights. Though he doesn't own the home, he's listed as the host on Airbnb. 'Ready for the freshest staycation ever?' he wrote. 'If this place looks familiar thats because its just as fly as it was when I first rolled up the driveway. Im back. And this time, Im handing you the keys so youll have my wing of the mansion all to yourself but my sneaker collection is off limits, aight?' Although Will and his costar didn't film inside the actual mansion, it has since been decorated as if his character live there, with an opulent bedroom film with graffiti art, memorabilia and a hat and sneaker collection display. Gone but never forgotten: Also missing was the famous Uncle Phil, played by James Avery who died in 2013. Though the group was sure to honor the character and late actor, as a smiling portrait of him hung inside the house, and caught all of the actor's attention Tease: Earlier this month, Will teased the video by sharing a photo of himself and DJ Jazzy Jeff in front of the Bel Air mansion Despite all the expensive decorations, Will's Airbnb ad says guests can lace up 'a fresh pair of Jordans before shooting some b-ball in the bedroom.' They can also imitate DJ Jazzy Jeff by spinning on turntables, or simply try out a 'fly look' from a closet stocked with clothing inspired by Will's TV character. Guests will be able to enjoy some highbrow culture with the elegant grand piano or try something more lowbrow with with a foosball table, as Will's character watches from the sidelines via a portrait on the wall. Though guests have free range of the kitchen, they'll also be served regular meals in the elegant wood-paneled dining room and served on silver trays. Helping out: Will doesn't own the mansion, but he's partnering with the owners to put a wing of the home on Airbnb for five nights in October at only $30 per night to mark the show's 30th anniversary Decked out: Although Will and his costar didn't film inside the actual mansion, it has since been decorated as if his character live there Although the air quality is currently poor due to wildfires raging near Los Angeles, guests will have the opportunity to lounge under the sun by the pool. According to TMZ, Jeff will welcome guests virtually to the pool area if they want to relax outdoors. Bookings for the mansion won't begin until September 29, and the home is only available on October 2, 5, 8, 11 and 14, so it will likely sell out almost immediately. The home's owners are limiting stays to only a single night, and only LA County residents will be allowed to rent out the mansion. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, any group with multiple people will also have to prove that they're currently living together so as not to increase the possibility of infection. Big break: Will starred on the NBC comedy series for six seasons from 1990 to 1996; pictured with the cast of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Extremely limited: Only five dates are being offered, so it will likely sell out immediately. Guests must live in LA County and need to prove they've been living together for coronavirus safety purposes; still from Fresh Prince The listing also tries to ease potential renters' worries by clarifying that the wing of the mansion will be cleaned according to CDC recommendations between stays. Potential renters can know that they're also doing a good deed by renting out the home, as Airbnb will make a one-time donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia, where Will famously hails from. Will recently sparked interest in a Fresh Prince reunion when he shared a screenshot of a chat with Janet Hubert, who played the original Aunt Vivian in the first three seasons. She was later replaced for the last three seasons, and subsequently blamed her firing on Smith while vowing to never do a reunion for the show, but the two seem to have buried the hatchet since then. Reunited: Smith shared a shot of himself and Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv until she was replaced by Reed amid bad blood with Smith, suggesting they had buried the hatchet Staff of Abia State University (ABSU) have held a peaceful protest against the failure of the school management to pay their salaries and other entitlements for six months. The protesters vowed to continue protesting until their entitlements are paid and called on the state government to intervene. But the state government, in a reaction, explained that the impact of Covid-19 was responsible for the inability of the institution to meet its financial obligations. It, however, said that it had released N400 million to help the school management offset the salaries. Staff lament untold hardship The chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ABSU branch, Victor Nkemdirim, during the protest on Monday, said they had been going through hardship because of their unpaid entitlements. According to him, the children of the workers were sent away from school over unpaid fees. We have run out of patience, waiting for the administration to do something about it; the future of our children should not be gambled with. We barely feed since the emergence of the COVID-19 lockdown, he said. Mr Nkemdirim demanded the payment of their salary arrears from July 2009 December 2010, totaling N902, 161,550.82. The ASUU chief also asked the school to pay their cooperative welfare money totalling N201,000,000, as well as their Earned Academic Allowances. He also decried the non-payment of gratuities, implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage effective from April 2019 and interests on seven and a half per cent contributory pension scheme The protesters also demanded six months of unremitted union dues checkoffs. Despite the enormity of the sacrifices made by academic staff, it is unfortunate that none of them received salaries during this period, whereas virtually all state universities have paid their lecturers from April to July. Ours that never deemed it necessary to distribute palliatives to workers also starved more than 60 per cent of the workforce of their April salary, he said. Mr Nkemdirim said he could not guarantee the state government and students that lecturers would return to classrooms when the government decides to reopen universities. Reacting to the issue, Governor Okezie Ikpeazus spokesperson, Onyebuchi Ememanka, absolved the state government of blame for the inability of the school to meet its wage obligations. He noted that for the past five years the school has remained stable and met its obligation to the staff. ABSU has never been known for owing. What happened this time? Why are the workers there owed for six months?, he wrote. He explained that the school is bound to default in payment of salaries since its major source of funds, school fees, has been temporarily halted following the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the country One needs to understand the funding pattern of the University. Their funds come from two major courses. First is the statutory subvention given to them by the State Government And then, their internally generated revenue from school fees and other services rendered by the University including consultancy services and funds generated internally through various sources. This second source of income accounts for about 70% of their total funding. For about six months, the University has been shut down on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and this meant that the major source of revenue for the institution has been closed for about half a year now. Students have been at home since sometime in April and naturally, no fees can be collected. When an institution like ABSU is shut down for such a long time, the consequences are clear. Funds will stop coming and debts will pile up. This is simple logic. If a doctor who runs a private clinic has his clinic shut down for six months, that clinic will have issues with paying salaries of its workers. Indeed, there is a great likelihood that the clinic will shut down, especially where the owner is a busy body doctor who spends most of this time on Facebook, discussing politics, instead of engaging in more profitable and more professional endeavors, he said. Advertisements He,however, expressed confidence that the problem will be resolved soon as the pandemic is slowly easing off and life will soon return to the Universities. Abia university staff protest non-payment of salaries Abia university staff protest non-payment of salaries I am very confident that the management of the University, which has shown great acumen in managing their resources will come up with a pattern to solve this problem and this will surely happen. When markets were shut down on account of Covid-19, our people groaned and cried. Government had to do something about the markets, so that people can survive. If you shut down markets for six months, the consequences will be better imagined. No University in the world can survive, pay salaries and maintain their services when it is shut down. Its impossible, he said. Ikpeazu approves N400m bailout Meanwhile, Governor Ikpeazu has approved a bailout of over N400m to the university to enable it meet some of its financial obligations. Mr Ememanka, in a statement on Tuesday, said the release of the funds followed a meeting by the governor with the management and staff of the institution. Following strong representations from the Management and Staff of the Abia State University to the State Government for some form of financial assistance in the wake of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Abia State State and Visitor to the University, Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD has approved the structuring of bail out funds in the sum of Four Hundred Million Naira (=400,000,000. 00) for the University. Abia university staff protest non-payment of salaries Abia university staff protest non-payment of salaries He said the bail out fund is expected to be applied by the university management to meet basic financial obligations including but not limited to the payments of salaries of workers in the University. In granting this approval, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is mindful of the fact that the Abia State University has remained a strong model in resources management and maintenance of academic stability. The Governor notes, with pride, that the University has, since the inception of his administration remained a signpost for excellence and service which has manifested in the consistent improvements in the rating of the University by independent assessment agencies in the country. The Governor notes further that the pandemic which took the entire globe by surprise has fundamentally altered the smooth academic environment in the University leading to obvious and unavoidable disequilibrum in their financial inflows, Emekanka said Mr Ememanka said that Mr Ikpeazu is of the firm belief that under the circumstances, the university is well deserving of this assistance from the state government. He said that details of the structure of the bail out will be worked out between the officials of the government and the management team of the university. The Governor believes that this line of support, which is unprecedented in the history of the Institution will provide the needed impetus for the University to jump-start academic activities and continue to sustain her position in the nations academic environment, he added. As 2020 has shown, wildfire frequency, size and severity is threatening communities and natural resources across the western U.S. As a result, there is a high demand for decision-making to mitigate risk, improve firefighter safety and increase fire containment efficiency. The Colorado Forest Restoration Institute (CFRI) at Colorado State University has been working with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) to address these interrelated needs in fire and land management. Three recent publications from the research team address new ways to assess risks and evaluate firefighting effectiveness. "Managers are making tough decisions about how to contain and control fires with limited time and information," said Ben Gannon, CFRI researcher and lead author on two of the studies. "This research is focused on supporting the development of risk-informed fire management strategies with a better understanding of fire effects and opportunities for firefighters to safely and effectively suppress fire." The three publications cover topics ranging from what happens before and during a fire to after-incident review of the effectiveness of containment. Researchers said they hope this growing partnership will open up new areas of study in fire management. Defining potential operational delineations Potential fire Operational Delineations, or PODs, are spatial fire management units bounded by control features such as roads, rivers and fuel types. Containing wildfires with pre-existing control features is a long-standing practice in fire management but identifying these units for pre-fire planning is a relatively new concept. Matt Thompson with the RMRS Wildfire Risk Management Science Team is the lead author of the study that introduces a decision support prototype to help fire and land managers quickly gather a wide variety of information to guide suppression strategy development at the POD scale. He said the tools his team created should help managers tailor fire suppression responses to local conditions. "The POD summary and atlas really gets at the preparatory stage, or the idea of engaging the fire before it starts," Thompson said. "The intentions are to reduce time pressures and uncertainties, and expand options for incident response decisions." The decision support tools will help organize information on ecological and social factors that managers need to be aware of, such as water supplies, wildlife habitat, cultural resources, fuel loads and land features. The team engineered the atlas to be visual and map-based so that fire managers can quickly adapt on the ground. Contributing author Mike Caggiano said the power in the tool is found in its ability to address complexities. "The ecological, social and policy layers we consider aren't exclusive to each other," said Caggiano, also a CFRI researcher. "Fire is such a complex management issue and we are getting traction with this tool and planning framework because we are addressing the problem with the right amount of complexity." Early adopters of the POD framework include national forests in California and Arizona. CFRI and RMRS are working to bring the POD process and related decision support products to several landscapes in Colorado and the Intermountain West. POD size could protect water quality Erosion from large and severe wildfires can harm water supplies, a finite resource in the west. In the second publication, Gannon led an effort to model the potential for an established Potential fire Operational Delineation network in Colorado to mitigate wildfire impacts on water quality by limiting fire sizes. "We know fire size affects the severity of impacts for many resources, but we have only recently started to address it in wildfire risk assessment," Gannon said. "Understanding how fire size affects water quality in different parts of the landscape can help managers tailor POD sizes to mitigate impacts." Gannon modeled how early wildfire containment within PODs could affect water quality at a municipal diversion in Colorado. The team's results suggest that limiting fires to the POD of origin could reduce area burned by up to 59 percent and sediment loads from post-fire erosion by up to 55 percent. In contrast, limiting fire sizes with the current POD network is predicted to reduce the frequency of exceeding water quality thresholds for municipal water treatment by only 13 to 34 percent, depending on post-fire rainfall. Some PODs are not small enough to limit fire sizes below harmful levels. This suggests that efforts to strategically divide high-risk PODs into smaller units are needed to achieve greater levels of protection. Fire line effectiveness Recent archiving of wildfire operations data provides the opportunity to examine how much fire line is constructed and how it contributes to fire containment. In the third publication, the team analyzed fire lines from 33 large wildfires that occurred in the western U.S. between 2017-2018 to quantify how much fire line burned over, held or did not engage with fires. The proportion of fire line that engaged with fire and held averaged only 33 percent across the incidents studied. In some cases, fire burned over lines, but many incidents had large sections of fire line that did not engage with the fire. Fire line performance varied widely across incidents due to an individual fire's unanticipated growth or fire break placement. Fire line construction stood out in more populated areas. At times two to three times more fire line was constructed compared to final fire perimeters. In contrast, fire line production was only a small portion of the perimeter length for many fires in remote locations. This suggests that managers are adapting their strategies based on values at risk. Gannon said the major value of the study is demonstrating how existing data can be used to monitor and rate fire suppression effectiveness to promote adaptive management in fire management organizations. "This fire line performance evaluation framework provides a coarse filter to identify high and low performing fires," he added. "A deeper dive is needed to diagnose the causes of inefficiencies and how to improve management strategies." As more detailed fire progression, behavior and suppression records become available, Gannon and other researchers will explore this topic to understand what fire line and environmental characteristics influence the probability of successful containment. Researchers will use new data from the 2020 fire season in Colorado - which is proving to be severe and ongoing - to develop applied lines of research on wildfire risk and safety factors. The research team hopes to advance both fire science and its application in fire and land management to help with response preparations for future wildfires. ### Tampa, FL, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Marketing Association has selected the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authoritys Selmon Extension Campaign as the winner of the 2020 Marketer of the Year in B2B Marketing. The AMA Tampa Bay Award honors leading local marketing professionals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the advancement of marketing and demonstrated groundbreaking solutions to challenging marketing problems. We are truly honored and humbled to receive this remarkable recognition, said Susan Chrzan, THEAs Director of Public Affairs and Communications. I feel lucky to have a wonderful team by my side who shares THEAs vision in making our community a more connected and safer place to live, work, and play. In 2014, THEA identified the need to extend the Selmon Expressway in order to accommodate the future growth of the Tampa Bay region; the population was expected to double by 2040. The Selmon Extension was designed to offer greater regional connectivity for commuters and provide a more efficient and safer dedicated hurricane evacuation route for local and regional families. Prior to starting the project, THEA connected with businesses and homeowners along the Gandy, who would be affected by construction making sure that they were involved in the process of project design, development, and execution. The Expressway Authority B2B Marketing campaign included virtual town hall meetings, business owners engagement meetings, surveys to business owners to see when deliveries arrived, hours of operations, and prime customer hours. The government agency also worked to minimize the pain points of local businesses along the boulevard accommodating the local businesses by doing the bulk of construction overnight and keeping all business driveways open and accessible. THEA also created a Shop Gandy! marketing campaign to encourage traffic to the local businesses that would be affected during construction. Story continues The Marketer of the Year Award celebrates innovation and results-driven marketing campaigns in the Tampa Bay area. Congratulations to THEA for being our first transportation agency to win this award for B2B Marketing, said Justine Burke, President of AMA Tampa Bay. The 5th Annual AMA Marketer of the Year ceremony was held virtually on September 10th, 2020. Click here to view the ceremony. The Selmon Extension construction is moving along, with expected completion in mid-2021. #### ABOUT THEA: The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) is a public agency of the state, created by the Florida Legislature, to provide local, user-financed transportation services that reinvest customer-based revenues back into the Tampa Bay community. THEA owns and operates the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, Brandon Parkway, Meridian Avenue, and the Selmon Greenway; designed and operates the worlds first reversible all-electronic toll road; and provides over 100,000 daily travelers with safe, reliable and financially sustainable transportation solutions. For more information on how THEA is moving transportation forward, visit www.tampa-xway.com. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TampaHillsboroughExpresswayAuthority/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/THEASelmon Web: https://www.tampa-xway.com/ AMA TAMPA BAY: American Marketing Association of Tampa Bay is a local membership organization of the national American Marketing Association for marketing professionals with the mission to be the essential community for marketers and is dedicated to the future of marketing and innovation. AMA provides access to marketing resources, networking opportunities, career resources and monthly events with nationally recognized speakers discussing the latest trends, developments and hot topics in marketing. Attachment CONTACT: Sue Chrzan Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority 813-272-6740 sue@tampa-xway.com ACSI Announces Leadership Divisional, Professional Development Staff Transitions NEWS PROVIDED BY Association of Christian Schools International Sept. 29, 2020 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Sept. 29, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is pleased to announce the transitioning of three senior staff members to new roles within the organization. The moves are part of the association's introduction to its Three Pillars Strategic Plan earlier this month. Included in the strategic plan is the association's new three division model for serving schools and educators, which is a change from its previous eight region model. The move builds school services around school size as well as geographic location and will allow a more efficient means of assistance. Dr. Cecil Swetland Dr. Cecil Swetland is promoted to Senior Director, Western Division. Swetland spent the past five years as Regional Director for California and Hawaii. Prior to that he spent the previous 18 years as Head of School at Desert Christian Schools in Lancaster, CA. As Senior Director, Swetland will continue serving member schools by challenging them and encouraging school leaders to achieve higher levels of spiritual and academic excellence. "I have the opportunity to work with remarkable Christian leaders and educatorsit is a joy to collaborate with all of themand ACSI team members," he explained. "The staff at ACSI works as a united team that equips Christian educators and facilitates school improvement through accreditation, developing early education programs, providing professional development, and enhancing a child's Christian school experience through student activities." Dr. Jeff Mattner Next, Dr. Jeff Mattner will take on the new Senior Director, Central Division role after serving the past nine years as Mid-America Regional Director. The Central Division is comprised of more than 700 schools from 18 states. Mattner has been in the ministry of Christian school education for the past 38 years. He was a Christian school administrator for 26 of those years in the states of New Jersey, Indiana, and Illinois. Dr. Mattner said that he considers it "a privilege to partner with ACSI schools and school leaders, assisting my brothers and sisters working together in this Kingdom work called Christian school education." Dr. Edward Bunn Finally, Dr. Edward Bunn is moving into the newly created Leadership Program Director position. Bunn most recently served as South Central Regional Director. He has served for over 25 years in the field of Education and holds a Masters in Christian School Administration and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He is also a former adjunct professor, schoolteacher, head of school, and pastor. Bunn explained that in his new role, he will be working alongside ACSI Director of Professional Development, Cindy Dodds, supporting the associations new Flourishing Schools Institute, Leadership University and additional Leadership Development Initiatives. "This will allow me to support school leaders across the US and Internationally by developing initiatives that flow out of a strong biblical worldview and quality research to enhance leadership capacity," he said. According to Dodds, Bunn brings a wealth of experience to ACSI Professional Development Department and she anticipates ACSI members will greatly benefit from the move. "Dr. Bunn's expertise and experience will enrich and enhance ACSI's leadership development offerings, as we seek to serve and support our schools in their journey to flourishing," she said. Dr. David Balik, ACSI Vice President of USA, has worked closely with Swetland, Mattner and Bunn for several years and offers high praise for all three. "Being on a team with godly and gifted men like Cecil, Jeff and Edward has been a tremendous blessing to me personally. I'm eagerly anticipating seeing the fruit of their expertise and leadership as they move into their new roles, and I know our members will reap the benefits." To learn more about the ACSI, please visit the website at About ACSI: Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., ACSI exists to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. ACSI advances excellence in Christian schools by enhancing the professional and personal development of Christian educators and providing vital support functions for Christian schools by offering multiple services including teacher and administrator certification, school accreditation, legal/legislative assistance, and curriculum publishing. Serving more than 25,000 schools in 108 countries, ACSI helps more than 5.5 million students worldwide connect to Christian education. Follow ACSI on Facebook at SOURCE Association of Christian Schools International CONTACT: Larry Lincoln, 719-424-6461, Share Tweet Finally, Dr. Edward Bunn is moving into the newly created Leadership Program Director position. Bunn most recently served as South Central Regional Director. He has served for over 25 years in the field of Education and holds a Masters in Christian School Administration and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He is also a former adjunct professor, schoolteacher, head of school, and pastor.Bunn explained that in his new role, he will be working alongside ACSI Director of Professional Development, Cindy Dodds, supporting the associations new Flourishing Schools Institute, Leadership University and additional Leadership Development Initiatives. "This will allow me to support school leaders across the US and Internationally by developing initiatives that flow out of a strong biblical worldview and quality research to enhance leadership capacity," he said.According to Dodds, Bunn brings a wealth of experience to ACSI Professional Development Department and she anticipates ACSI members will greatly benefit from the move."Dr. Bunn's expertise and experience will enrich and enhance ACSI's leadership development offerings, as we seek to serve and support our schools in their journey to flourishing," she said.Dr. David Balik, ACSI Vice President of USA, has worked closely with Swetland, Mattner and Bunn for several years and offers high praise for all three. "Being on a team with godly and gifted men like Cecil, Jeff and Edward has been a tremendous blessing to me personally. I'm eagerly anticipating seeing the fruit of their expertise and leadership as they move into their new roles, and I know our members will reap the benefits."To learn more about the ACSI, please visit the website at www.ACSI.org or Connect with the ACSI Care Team by calling 800-367-5391 or at careteam@acsi.org About ACSI:Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., ACSI exists to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. ACSI advances excellence in Christian schools by enhancing the professional and personal development of Christian educators and providing vital support functions for Christian schools by offering multiple services including teacher and administrator certification, school accreditation, legal/legislative assistance, and curriculum publishing. Serving more than 25,000 schools in 108 countries, ACSI helps more than 5.5 million students worldwide connect to Christian education.Follow ACSI on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ACSIUSA or on Twitter at @ACSIUSA SOURCE Association of Christian Schools InternationalCONTACT: Larry Lincoln, 719-424-6461, Larry_Lincoln@acsi.org JERUSALEM - Israels parliament on Wednesday passed a law that would allow the government to curtail public protests during the countrys nationwide coronavirus lockdown, a measure that drew fierce opposition a day earlier. The law allows the government to declare a special week-long state of emergency if the coronavirus spreads out of control. If such a state is declared, the government would be able to limit participation in assemblies, including protests, to 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) from a persons home, effectively putting a halt to large weekly demonstrations outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus residence. The Knesset approved the bill 46-38 during a late-night session that stretched into the morning hours. That measure is widely seen as a bid to squelch protests against Netanyahu, which have drawn thousands each week outside his official residence for the past several months. They are the largest sustained demonstrations against Netanyahu in nearly a decade, and call on the longtime prime minister to resign while on trial for corruption charges and accuse him of bungling his management of the coronavirus crisis Netanyahu has said the protests must end due to public health concerns. But protesters say he is using the crisis as a pretext to muzzle them. Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the media and law enforcement of an orchestrated witch hunt against him. Earlier this month, Israel declared its second countrywide lockdown, and tightened restrictions further last week in a bid to rein in one of the worlds most severe coronavirus outbreaks. Schools, malls, restaurants and hundreds of businesses are shut. The lockdown went into effect on Sept. 18, just before the Jewish New Year, and was initially slated to be lifted on Oct. 11. But Israeli officials are now saying the lockdown is expected to run longer as new COVID-19 cases continue to climb. Israel, a country of around 9 million people, has recorded over 235,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and more than 1,500 deaths, according to Health Ministry figures. The ministry said Tuesday the country has for the first time surpassed the U.S., one of the worlds worst-hit countries, in per capita daily coronavirus deaths. Read more about: MUMBAI: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday (September 29) said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar may get a big post in the future if he joins the NDA. He stated that there is no advantage in staying with Shiv Sena as coalition partner in Maharashtra. "Shiv Sena should again join hands with BJP. If Shiv Sena doesn't come with us, I appeal to NCP chief Sharad Pawar to join NDA for development for the state. He may get a big post in the future. There is no advantage in staying with Shiv Sena," Athawale said at a press conference here. In 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats in the last Maharashtra Assembly polls while the Shiv Sena got 56 seats in the 288-member state Assembly. BJP had a pre-poll alliance with Shiv Sena and the two partners had a clear majority in the 288-member assembly. However, reluctant to let go the Chief Minister's post, Shiv Sena severed its 3-decade old ties with NDA and walked out of the Modi government at the Centre to join hands with Congress and NCP; and formed the Maha Vikas Akhadi government in Maharashtra. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Multiple industry associations have written to PK Sinha, principal advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to ban exports of iron ore to make up of the shortage of the important raw material for steel-making in the domestic market. The shortage has especially pinched the secondary steel makers, who don't have captive mines sourcing to their units, unlike the primary producers. Associations, including Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and All India Induction Furnaces Association (AIIFA), wrote to Sinha on September 25, highlighting the spurt in exports during the lockdown and after, from April to September. They pointed out that domestic production of iron ore has slumped, not just leading to shortage of the raw material but also bumping up its price. "Steel makers are forced to increase prices, passing on the hike in cost of production to customers, who are at a loss. Only China and the commercial miners are gaining," said a senior executive from the steel industry. The numbers About half of India's annual steel output is produced by secondary steel producers. Unlike primary producers such as Tata Steel and JSW Steel, these units are much smaller in scale. They cannot compete against their larger peers when iron ore mines are auctioned. Many of these secondary producers have sponge iron plants that need a constant supply of iron ore. Sponge iron is an intermediate product used in steel making. "India had already started stepping up its iron ore exports since last year to bridge the global supply gap, as flows from the worlds two biggest producers Brazil and Australia were on a decline," AIIFA said in its letter to the Prime Minister's Office. Over 80 percent of the exports were to China. The industry faced a unique paradox during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Even as domestic iron ore production slumped by half to 47 million in tons in the April to September period, exports jumped by 63 percent to 22 million tons over the same time. The industry associations said that many secondary units have been forced to shut shop, especially in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which together have nearly 140 sponge iron units. Others are operating at half their capacity. The executive quoted above added that the NMDC, the state-owned miner, "has an agreement to supply iron ore to Japan and Korea, with whom India has a free trade agreement, and is pushing around 3 million tons of iron ore per annum at throw away prices." "It is utmost important to ban the exports of iron ore for the survival of the secondary steel producers and help prevent huge job losses in the steel sector," the associations said. Stay positive, stay inspired and stay focused on your health. Thats most important, says Aftab Shivdasani, who announced he had tested positive for Covid-19 on September 11. Now, that he is Covid free, he is exhilarated. I have got my freedom back as not feeling free was the worst feeling in the world, he admits. Days before the actor was supposed to travel he felt feverish, had weakness and headaches. So he got himself tested and unfortunately, it was positive. When it happens to others, you read or hear about it but when you test positive, your mind travels in all directions. It was a shock and surprise and some time to process. All my plans were on hold. I took hold of myself and changed travel plans etc. Thankfully, I was alone as my wife and daughter are in London, so being at home in isolation was easier, says Shivdasani. He credits his wife, Nin Dusanj, who is a strong woman and gave me mental support. She told me to stop worrying about things. She is an optimistic person. That innate worry is tough to escape and luckily in my case, my symptoms were mild, and I am all better now, he shares. The actor agrees that there is stigma attached to being Covid positive and adds that it shouldnt stop you from getting tested. You would rather know than not. It is not so bad and is just like a flu. It gets bad when you start panicking or worry too much which affects your health, invariably. Follow the doctors advise as their guidance helped. The other half of the battle is to hang in there and to be strong mentally. There is so much information out there and sometimes too much information too can have an adverse effect, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Naaz Ghani By Express News Service CHENNAI: A rescue bag in hand, C Thangaraj picks up his carved wooden stick and other equipment. He had just received a call from his senior about a snake that had entered a house in Chengalpet. It was his turn to attend to it. Once there, he parts through the crowd that has gathered to confront the snake of the day a common krait. Half an hour later, he walks out with the snake safely in the bag. Hed taken the time to comfort the terrified family members, leaving them with a few tips to handle such an event. All this drama had caused quite a stir in the neighbourhood. For Thangaraj, though, it was just another day of work; albeit one after a long hiatus. Thanks to the pandemic. Thangaraj is among the 350 members of the Irula Snake Catchers Industrial Cooperative Society (ISCICS). The call that he had been asked to attend was what the Forest Department couldnt handle with its staff. The Society gets five or six such calls a day. But, its primary occupation is snakecatching and venom extraction. Like almost every other sector, this too took a hit with the virus-induced lockdown, and things have barely gotten better over the months. Clash of two crises All the members of the Society hold licences to catch snakes to extract venom. Staying true to a system the tribe has followed for centuries, Thangaraj and others capture snakes and send them to the extraction centre at the Madras Crocodile Bank, also run by ISCICS. Extractions are done in intervals to allow snakes enough time to naturally regenerate the venom. We stick to extracting venom three or four times from each snake and then release them back into the environment they were taken from, he explains. This venom is then freeze-dried to a powdered form, and sold to manufacturers who produce anti-venom. With the lockdown in place, however, none of them could venture out to capture snakes and keep up their work routine. Though the lockdown regulations were relaxed in June, it barely did these men any good. For between July and October, they hang up their tools to not disturb snakes during the breeding season. They only handle rescue calls during this period. Given that calls come to them only when the Forest Departments staff is all engaged, even that has not given them much work , reports Thangaraj. Every year, most of the men take up odd jobs in the construction sector or with the Corporation. With many of these sectors still reeling from the effects of the lockdown, or refraining from starting too many new projects, this kind of work hasnt been easy to find either. We used to earn around Rs 17,000 per month. The money we earned by rescuing snakes during the non-breeding period fetched us a round Rs 8,000, and the stocked venom we sell through the Society earned us a good Rs 9,000, says Thangaraj, who has been out of work since the breeding season started in July. Tiding through Unlike previous years, the tribesmen were not able to prepare for the jobstarved breeding season by saving more and storing supplies. Without the regular job in the first few months of the lockdown, these provisions were used up long before they were supposed to be. The amount we got from the Forest Department also reduced drastically to Rs 4,000 since April, notes Thangaraj. Like many other Irula households, his family too has been dependent on the free rations distributed by the government and a few NGOs. In some areas like Perungalathur, a few of the women have managed to find jobs in the homes close to where they live, as house-help. Earlier the amount they earned from ISCICS was enough to run their households. We are able to pay our rent because the women are earning during this time. None of the men in our community are getting jobs at the moment, says Boopathi S, a member of the cooperative residing there. While the Madras Crocodile Bank had offered some help in terms of funds and a few jobs at the facility in the previous years, it has been able to do little this time around. They generally hire many of us during the snake breeding season to work at the property (caring for the snakes, feeding them, cleaning their enclosures, etc.). This year they havent had as much footfall, which has impacted their income as well, says Mumusamy, another member of the Society, who stays in the Irula settlement in Chengalpet. In Nagathamman we trust Although the situation and outlook are grim, they find support from each other in the Irula community and try their best to stay positive. Every Friday, they meet to offer prayers to Nagathamman, the snake goddess. Usually, the celebration involves many people singing praise to the Goddess. Now, with social distancing in mind, they gather in groups of five to eight in each house and pray together. We ask for Nagathamman to offer her protection during these times. We also ask her to bless nature and replenish the flora and fauna of our ecosystems because we are solely dependent on them for our continued survival, says K Thulukkanam, a Society member living near Siruseri. Heres hoping their prayers work. Interior fit-out underway as work continues converting former Burtons into church and community hub This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Sep 29th, 2020 Work to transform the former Burtons store in Wrexham into a new church and community hub has reached a milestone as the internal fit-out begins and the team start meeting with people outside and online. Over the summer months the scaffolding came down to reveal original stonework and windows restored to their former glory, while inside a new staircase and lift shaft has been constructed. Work to insert a new shopfront is set to begin in October. It is expected that the building, bought by the Diocese of St Asaph last year, will be ready to reopen its doors in January 2021. Despite the delays to the project caused by Coronavirus the Hope Street team has nevertheless started work over the summer. Early in October they will launch Alpha, a series of online interactive sessions offered by churches across the country to explore the big questions of life, faith and meaning. One of the leaders of Hope Street, Andy Kitchen, said: Were really excited to be here and cant wait to welcome Wrexham into the building. Like so many things in 2020, we have had to adjust our plans due to Coronavirus. This pandemic continues to be a difficult time for so many people, and we felt it was important to open in a virtual way as soon as possible and look for ways to meet with and support people as restrictions permit. Alpha is designed for those who dont have a background in church or the Christian faith. Its open to everyone and more information is available at the Hope Street website. Alpha is a brilliant way for people to explore questions of life and faith. Its a relaxed environment with space to make friends. This term were gathering online on a Tuesday evening for a short film and discussion. Theres no follow-up, no pressure. Hope Street was the first project to be awarded a grant from the Church in Wales 10m Evangelism Fund, launched in 2018 to provide major funding for dioceses to support evangelism and church growth. Hope Street, Wrexham is an Anglican church within the Diocese of St Asaph, set up in partnership with the HTB network of churches. Tamzin Outhwaite has praised her boyfriend Tom Child for making her work-life balance 'so much more doable'. The EastEnders actress - who has daughters Florence, 12, and Marnie, eight - recently returned to work after six months at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Following her return, the star, 49, admitted that while she 'worries' her children now have a 'false sense of security' because she has been present a lot more than usual, she is grateful to Tom for helping her out. More doable: Tamzin Outhwaite has praised her boyfriend Tom Child for making her work-life balance 'so much more doable' She wrote on Instagram: 'This kind , funny, patient, talented, loving ,dynamic & hot man makes my daily juggle so much more doable and so much more fun.... 'As I left the house for work at 6am, I then got a call from my 8 yr old crying & asking where I was. @tc_childie gave her cuddles, made her breakfast & lunch for school, all ready for @ginger_appreciator to take over the school run... 'I worry that the last 6 months of me being at home with my girls has given them a false sense of security, that I will always be home now. I need to work... 'I love my job. But I could not do it without this support network. @tc_childie I love you so very much. @ginger_appreciator you have always been my right hand woman & I love you too. #ittakesavillage #backtowork #thejuggleisreal #wouldbelostwithoutyou #luckygirl (sic)' Her girls: The EastEnders actress - who has daughters Florence, 12, and Marnie, eight - recently returned to work after six months at home amid the coronavirus pandemic Her love: She wrote on Instagram: 'This kind , funny, patient, talented, loving ,dynamic & hot man makes my daily juggle so much more doable and so much more fun' The actress has also been juggling her eating habits, as just two weeks ago the star admitted she was attempting to go alcohol, dairy and meat-free. She wrote on Twitter: 'Back to no alcohol, no dairy , no meat. Last month I did 31 days... this time I want to beat it, then try not to drink, eat cheesecake and salt beef sandwiches all in one day ! (sic)' Her gushing profession comes after Tamzin insisted that she is 'not having a midlife crisis' by dating a toyboy 21 years her junior. She said her relationship with personal trainer Tom is both 'unexpected and magic'. Open and honest: Her gushing profession comes after Tamzin insisted that she is 'not having a midlife crisis' by dating a toyboy 21 years her junior. She said her relationship with personal trainer Tom is both 'unexpected and magic' But the soap star also revealed that some people think she is having a midlife crisis due to the substantial age gap. 'People think Im having a midlife crisis, but actually, not all men want a younger woman,' she told Prima magazine. 'Theres Joan Collins, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Helena [Bonham-Carter] with younger men, so I'm in really lovely company. 'Toms very good for my mental and physical health. The other way around, no one says anything about a younger woman do they?' Her love: But the soap star also revealed that some people think she is having a midlife crisis due to the substantial age gap She was previously married to ex-EastEnders actor Tom Ellis, but they divorced in 2014. The pair have two daughters, Flo, 11, and seven-year-old Marnie. It has been claimed that ex Tom cheated on her with Australian actress, Emilie de Ravin, in 2013 as they filmed for the TV series Once Upon A Time while in America. But since their split, the actress says she has stopped 'giving two hoots' about what other people think of her, describing it as 'a lovely feeling'. Sintavia, LLC, the leading Tier One additive manufacturer supporting the Aerospace, Defense, & Space industry, announced today that it had acquired two additional M400-4 quad laser printers from EOS GmbH of Krailling, Germany. The printers, which were delivered in September 2020, represent the seventh and eighth M400 printers operated by the company, as well as the 20th and 21st industrial printers it owns overall. The purchases follow Sintavias announcement in July of its acquisition of an additional Arcam Q20+ electron beam printer from GE Additive. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005046/en/ Two of Sintavias M400 printers at its Hollywood, FL, advanced manufacturing facility. (Photo: Business Wire) As we have grown over the past several years, we have shied away from issuing press releases when we acquire new equipment. In a normal year, these announcements are kind of boring. However, this is an unusual year, and we feel it is important to let the industry know that demand for aerospace additive manufacturing is booming, said Brian Neff, Sintavias CEO. The global pandemic has turned the traditional aerospace supply chain on its head, creating real opportunities for companies like Sintavia to offer high precision solutions to OEMs worldwide, and this trend underpins our announcement today. The EOS M400-4 is the workhorse of our factory, and we continue to see great results with it. The company stated that it expects to add an additional 6-8 large, industrial printers by the end of 2021, and 8-10 in 2022. About Sintavia Sintavia is the global leader in applied additive manufacturing for the Aerospace, Defense, & Space industry. With high-speed printers co-located alongside precision post processing equipment, a full complement of mechanical testing equipment, and a full metallurgical and powder laboratory, Sintavia is able to optimize parameters, serially manufacture, and audit quality parts for aerospace applications. A founding member of the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association, Sintavia is committed to the highest quality standards in the industry and holds multiple Nadcap and other aerospace accreditations. For more information visit http://www.sintavia.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005046/en/ The Law Centre NI has said the amount of advice it's given about redundancy had quadrupled between January and August. A charity has warned of "mass redundancies" arising from the Chancellor's job support scheme as it slashes the amount of employee salaries paid by the government. The Law Centre NI has said the amount of advice it's given about redundancy had quadrupled between January and August. And while it welcomed the Chancellor's move to replace the furlough scheme, it said the new job support scheme - which involves government paying 26% of a part-time worker's wage - did not go far enough. Read More According to the NI Statistics and Research Agency, a total of 8,755 redundancies were proposed in the year to the end of July - more than double the year before. Law Centre NI policy officer Jack Gibson said: "It seems clear that the rate of redundancies is closely linked to the level of support offered. "Since the new Job Support Scheme offers a much lower level of support to employers than is currently in place, we believe redundancy rates will rise sharply as a result." He said that combined with cuts to the level of support for self-employed people under the Chancellor's winter economic plan, the new schemes would mean "significant hardship" which would force more people onto benefits. He added: "We urge the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive alike to consider the long-term damage this will do to our economy and to people's lives and to explore all options to avert it." Law permitting convicts serve sentences near home comes into force in Russia flickr.com/ meesh 11:53 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) On Tuesday, the law allowing transfer of convicts to penitentiary facilities located near places of residence of their close relatives came into force. The law envisages that federal penal administrations are to be empowered to permit convicts to be transferred to penitentiary facilities in the regions, where close relatives thereof have their places of residence on condition that convicts or their relatives with the convicts consent petition for such a transfer and if the respective facility is equipped to accommodate such a convict. In case the facility has no vacancies, the convict may be transferred to a penitentiary facility in a neighboring region. Close relatives are spouses, parents, children, adopters or adoptive children, blood brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandchildren. The law is aimed at the improvement of the penal policies and preservation of socially useful connections of convicts. Earlier, Russias High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova asked President Vladimir Putin to support the legislative initiative. Annually, the Ombudsman received lot of applications from people seeking help as they could not visit their jailed relatives serving sentence far from their homes, she told RAPSI. According to Moskalkova, such circumstances often led to social divide and instigated a person to a repeated crime. When received many similar complaints, she understood that the problem had a systemic nature and turned to the President asking to back a proposal to amend legislation and give a relevant order to the Government. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley placed some revealing data before Parliament on Wednesday which claimed that direct tax collection in India is not commensurate with the income and consumption pattern of the economy. Among the 3.7 crore individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16, 99 lakh showed income below the exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum; 1.95 crore showed income between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh; 52 lakh showed income between Rs 5 lakhand Rs 10 lakh, and only 24 lakh people declared income above Rs 10 lakh. Of the 76 lakh individual assessees who declared income of above Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are in the salaried class. The number of people showing income more than Rs 50 lakh in the country is only 1.72 lakh, Jaitley said while placing before "certain data" to indicate that "direct tax collection is not commensurate with the income and consumption". Also Read: Jaitley's Budget 2017 softens demonetisation blow: Major tax relief for small taxpayers, cash transaction above Rs 3 lakh barred; safety fund for Railways announced "We can contrast this with the fact that in the last fiveyears, more than 1.25 crore cars have been sold, and number ofIndian citizens who flew abroad, either for business ortourism, is 2 crore in the year 2015," he said. He said India's tax to GDP ratio is very low, and the proportion of direct tax to indirect tax is not optimal from the view point of social justice. Jaitley informed that as against estimated 4.2 crore persons engaged in organised sector employment, the number of individuals filing return for salary are only 1.74 crore. Also Read: Budget 2017: A quick glance at what's cheaper, what's costlier As against 5.6 crore informal sector individualenterprises and firms doing small business, the number ofreturns filed by this category is only 1.81 crore. "Out of the 13.94 lakh companies registered in India upto March 31, 2014, 5.97 lakh companies have filed returns for Assessment Year 2016-17. Of the 5.97 lakh companies which havefiled returns for Assessment Year 2016-17 so far, as many as 2.76 lakh companies have shown losses or zero income," the Finance Minister said. Full Coverage: Union Budget 2017-18 Only 2.85 lakh companies have shown profit before tax ofless than Rs 1 crore, 28,667 have shown profit between Rs 1crore to Rs 10 crore, and only 7,781 companies have profitbefore tax of more than Rs 10 crore. "After demonetisation, the preliminary analysis of thedata received in respect of deposits made by people in old currency presents a revealing picture. "During the period November 8 to December 30, 2016,deposits between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 80 lakh were made in about1.09 crore accounts with an average deposit size of Rs 5.03lakh. Full Coverage: Budget Session of Parliament "Deposits of more than Rs 80 lakh were made in 1.48 lakh accounts with average deposit size of Rs 3.31 crore. This data mining will help us immensely expanding the tax net as well asincreasing the revenues, which was one of the objectives of demonetisation," the Finance Minister said. Tax slab Tax slab rates For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mr George Oduro, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, has advised activists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) not to engage in politics of insults as they campaign to win the 2020 elections. He said politics was a competition of ideas and since the NPP had a lot of innovative ideas to sell to the populace to transform their living conditions, the activists should concentrate on that to ensure a resounding victory in the December 7 elections. Mr Oduro, who is also the Member of Parliament for Adansi South, gave the advice at the inauguration of a club dubbed; Friends of Oduro Fun Club, at Obuobi, near New Edubiase in the Ashanti Region. The Club is made up of youth and NPP activists in the constituency, who are working to retain power in the 2020 general elections. Mr Oduro appealed to supporters and members of other political parties to also stay away from politics of insults to ensure peace and unity in the area before, during and after the polls. He said people voted to elect leaders who would work to improve their living conditions and urged the electorates to consider benefits they would derive from political leadership before they cast their ballot. Mr Oduro said through the various social interventions such as the Free Senior High School, Planting for Food and Jobs, One District One Factory, and support for cocoa farmers, the lives of many Ghanaians had changed for the better. The government had shown greater commitment in its first term in office to transform and change the destiny of the people hence the need to give it a second term to continue, he added. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video (Newser) The recording of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case will be released to the court Wednesday, despite Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's misgivings. The development comes on the heels of a grand juror filing a motion Monday demanding that the transcript be released. "The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country," the attorney for the juror, who has remained anonymous, wrote in the filing. With the release, "the truth may prevail." It was the judge at the arraignment of former Louisville Metro police officer Brett Hankison, however, who ordered the recording released by Wednesday, USA Today reports. Hankison, the only officer indicted in the case, pleaded not guilty Monday. story continues below Following that series of developments, Cameron released a lengthy statement in which he said that, while "the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body," it's clear "that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen." He said his office continues to have misgivings that releasing the recording could taint the jury pool or compromise the federal probe into the case, which is still ongoing. However, by releasing it, he said, he would comply with the judge's order as well as satisfy the grand juror's complaint. That complaint also spurred Cameron to clarify in his statement that, yes, the only charge recommended to the grand jury was the wanton endangerment charge against Hankison (which has nothing to do with Taylor's death). But, he insisted, "our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that [the other cops] were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon." It's not clear when the recording might be made public, CBS notes. (Read more Breonna Taylor stories.) The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a school district cant be forced to pay more than $300,000 total to the victims or their families in the Parkland high school massacre that left 17 people dead and another 17 wounded. Justices unanimously sided with Broward County Public Schools, agreeing that the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was a single incident. The victims and their families had argued that each pull of the trigger was a separate occurrence for which the school district should be held liable. After a trial judge agreed with the Broward County School Board, an appeals court asked the Supreme Court to answer the question of whether each victim represents a separate occurrence. State law caps government agencies liability in civil lawsuits at $200,000 per individual and $300,000 per incident. Any jury award above that amount has to be approved by the Legislature and governor. Without that, each victim or family in the Parkland shooting would receive an average of less than $9,000. Nikolas Cruz is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges for the shooting and faces a possible death sentence. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Florida Education ConsumerAffairs is not a government agency. Companies displayed may pay us to be Authorized or when you click a link, call a number or fill a form on our site. Our content is intended to be used for general information purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based on your own personal circumstances and consult with your own investment, financial, tax and legal advisers. Company NMLS Identifier #2110672 Copyright 2021 Consumers Unified LLC. All Rights Reserved. The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission. Amid their whirlwind romance, Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are reportedly taking their relationship to the next level as they plan to make things "official." At the start of the year, the two fueled dating rumors when they were spotted together on several occasions -- including their pre-pandemic Caribbean getaway and making out sesh at an airport in Costa Rica. Shortly after, a source revealed to Us Weekly that the three-time Golden Globe winner and Cuban-Spanish actress are "officially dating" and spending the quarantine period together. In separate news, a source revealed that the two are inseparable and "can't get enough of each other." "Ben and Ana look like total lovebirds. They laugh together and share funny stories. She is very nurturing, and he seems to love that They can't get enough of each other. After days of being quarantined and never leaving each others' sides, they are still laughing, smiling, kissing and hugging." This was followed by a PDA packed afternoon stroll around Los Angeles, with the pair photographed walking arm-in-arm and enjoying each other's company. Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas Want To Settle Down? Now, "The Way Back" star is reportedly making the big step with his "fiancee-in-waiting" as they move into his $20 million "dad pad" mansion in L.A. According to The Sun, the "Argo" actor wants his Pacific Palisades home to be his and the brunette bombshell's love nest. "There's a lot of talks that Ben and Ana will make things official soon, and that this will serve as their main L.A. home," a source told the outlet. In addition, his friends were also convinced that the Academy Award winner is in it for the long haul. "They spend a ton of time here at the moment, although Ana has still kept her place in Venice Beach. But they're head over heels in love and in this for the long term, so their mutual friends are convinced it's just a matter of timing before they're engaged." Affleck and De Armas met while filming the psychological thriller "Deep Water" in New Orleans, Louisiana last year. Inside Ben Affleck's Huge LA "Dad-Pad" The outlet also mentioned that the Hollywood A-lister purchased the multi-million mansion in 2018 following his controversial split with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Furthermore, with kid-friendly amenities including a pool with a built in slide, swings, trampoline and huge background, it is intended to be a perfect home for his three children -- Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, 8, whom he all shares with the "Daredevil" actress. Aside from this, Affleck's LA home has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, cinema room, indoor spa and a full-size gym. As a car enthusiast, he also has a massive two-port garage for his vintage car collection. However, after his divorce, the pad has become his "sanctuary" and an "ideal place for him to make a totally fresh start." READ MORE: [PHOTO] Gwyneth Paltrow Wears NOTHING at All in Birthday Celebration In honor of Latinx Heritage Month, Bloomsbury hosted a virtual panel featuring four acclaimed YA authors on September 24. Adriana Herrera, an Afro-Dominicana romance author, moderated the conversation among Ibi Zoboi (Punching the Air, with Yusef Salaam, HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray), Lilliam Rivera (Never Look Back, Bloomsbury), Zoraida Cordova (Wayward Witch, Sourcebooks Fire), and Mark Oshiro (Each of Us a Desert, Tor Teen). Tickets were available with the purchase of one of those novels through six independent Latinx bookshops across the countryMil Mundos, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Third House Books, Gainesville, Fla.; Epilogue Books, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Booklandia, Oakland, Calif.; Kew & Willow Books, Queens, N.Y.; and Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, Phoenix. The panel, facilitated via Crowdcast, started off with introductions as Herrera asked each panelist what being Latinx meant to them. Born in Haiti, Zoboi began by clarifying that she doesnt identify as Latinx or Afro-Latinx because she is visibly Black. While Punching the Air is about a Black Muslim boy, she said the book tangentially relates to Latinx identity because Zoboi met co-author Salaam at Hunter College in New York in 1999, taking a class on Black studies that was part of the Black and Puerto Rican Studies department. Zoboi stated her thanks for being included in these spaces because she is multilingual and not from an Anglophone country. Bronx-raised Rivera praised the inclusivity of the word Latinx and said she wants to have conversations about colorism and anti-Blackness in Latinx communities, which she broaches in Never Look Back. Born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, Cordova was up next, speaking about the difference in young adult literature from 20082012, wherein publishing still used coded language to say, We already have a Latinx book this season. She hopes for further diversification and wants to continue expanding the speculative fiction landscape. Last but not least, Oshiro first said they were happy to represent transracial adoptees, as their last name is a traditional Japanese surname. Growing up in Southern California and attempting to connect to their Mexican biological fathers heritage, Oshiro learned and used the term Chicano, which they speculated is not used in New York. Oshiro aims to center queer Latinx characters in their work. For the first question, Herrera asked about overburdened teen characters finding their power in each of the novels, and what the authors meant to convey. Zoboi revealed the context behind Punching the Air: Salaam is one of the Exonerated Five (formerly called the Central Park Five), one of whom is Puerto Rican. We just grew up in a New York City that lumped Black and Puerto Ricans [together], Zoboi said, before speculating on the amount of racially violent incidents during the 80s and 90s. There was so much violence in my New York City that I absorbed it all, and the only thing that I could do was become a writer. Ultimately, the novel features Zoboi and Salaam reflecting on and processing childhood during that time, reminding teens that their voice and their power is their art. Rivera concurred with Zoboi, saying that, growing up in the New York City projects, the only way she could deal with trauma was through writing. Never Look Back is about her familys experiences in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria. The film Black Orpheus helped her structure her pain, as the book became a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in the Bronx. Cordova admitted she was terrified to write her Brooklyn Brujas series, because of pushback shed received before on her narratives being too Latinx or foreign. The whole metaphor for the magic is culturehow we identify with it, how we want to see it, Cordova explained, so each of the three sisters in the series had to have a different journey. She continued by discussing how growing up, she had been handed books like The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, when what shed sought, and what she writes today, is fantasy. I always write from a place of exploring the themes of the things we inherit as immigrants, as second-generation kids, Cordova concluded. Oshiro spoke about the pushback they had received against novels with teenage characters in adult situations. By saying that gatekeepers dont want to expose kids to that kind of negativity, it erases all of the children who are experiencing those things, who are going through it, Oshiro pointed out. They continued by talking about how ex-Catholic guilt featured prominently in their book; they observed that doubt can actually strengthen ones faith, but that they had not received encouragement to question any sort of authority figure as a child. Herrera next asked about setting, how each author selected where to situate their books and how they did research. Zoboi went first, speaking about the jail in lockdown setting, which Salaam had experienced for six years. Her conversations with Salaam were mostly philosophical, and of course she did some research, she explained, but she knew so many people growing up in New York City who had spent time in jail. Jail culture was just part of New York City youth culture, Zoboi said. In our language, in our dress, in our outlook. Rivera discussed setting Never Look Back in the Bronx and Puerto Rico, specifically the mountain and lake regions as opposed to the islands more commonly spotlighted beaches. Rivera and Bloomsbury hired sensitivity readers for every aspect, she revealed, as its all about double-checking your work. Rivera, who now lives in Los Angeles, said, I love writing about the Bronx because I miss it. Setting is important to me as a fantasy writer, Cordova stated. While she knew the reality of the New York City setting, establishing the fantasy islands was more difficult. I put my characters through journeys where they have to walk a lot, so I research by going hiking and backpacking, Cordova said. She also did a lot of research on plants that grow in the Caribbean. There are not that many Latinx-coded fantasy worlds that have been published, Cordova observed, so there is more legwork to do with fewer comps. That was a difficulty for Oshiro as well in writing fantasy, they said. Their creatures were not featured in anyone elses fantasy, so not only did they have to onboard readers to the culture, they also had to introduce a whole world that bore few similarities to other works. That being said, like everyone else, you go with whats personal, Oshiro said, mentioning how they lived in Oakland as an adult, which was the setting of their debut novel Anger Is a Gift, but grew up in Riverside, Calif., out toward Satans armpit, a 20-minute drive from the desert, which inspired Each of Us a Desert. Dont give yourself heat exhaustion; its terrible, Oshiro said of their research process, which included traveling through the desert. There is a versatility, a resilience to teenage characters, Cordova said, answering the perennial why YA? question during the closing q&a. It is the very first time of your life that you are leaving the identity of your family and coming into your own. COLLEGE PARK, Md., Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Maryland has named Prabhudev Konana, Ph.D., Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, effective January 2, 2021. In this role, he will lead Smith in its mission to create knowledge, promote an inclusive learning environment that fosters intellectual discovery, and equip current and future leaders to assess complex problems and deliver innovative solutions. "I am thrilled to accept the role as Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business," said Konana. "As business education is rapidly changing in the current social, political, technological, and market trends, I look forward to all that can be accomplished with the students, faculty and staff at the University of Maryland." Konana currently serves as the Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation, William H. Seay Centennial Professor of Information Management and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. As associate dean, he helped develop the focus and identity of the McCombs School of Business, emphasizing entrepreneurship and innovation, and successfully led the transition of the entire business school faculty to online synchronous teaching, among other notable accomplishments in teaching and research. "Prabhudev Konana is perfectly positioned to assume this role in the highly competitive landscape of business education," said Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin. "I have no doubt that he will swiftly implement big ideas, while strengthening academic connections throughout Smith and across campus. Dr. Konana's contributions will positively impact the Smith School's fearless and innovative academic reputation." Prior to his current role, Konana previously served as Chair of the Department of Information, Risks, and Operations Management at the Texas McCombs School of Business. As Chair he founded highly ranked MS in Business Analytics in partnership with businesses, revamped advisory council, raised funds from business partners, funded several research workshops and symposia; supported visiting faculty for research collaboration, improved teaching standards in various programs, incentivized faculty to offer specialized electives and focused on recruiting high-energy and passionate staff. Konana holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the University of Mysore in India, a Master of Business Administration degree, and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, Tucson. About the University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 40,000 students,10,000 faculty and staff, and 280 academic programs. As one of the nation's top producers of Fulbright scholars, its faculty includes two Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners and 58 members of the national academies. The institution has a $1.9 billion operating budget and secures $514 million annually in external research funding. For more information about the University of Maryland, College Park, visit www.umd.edu. SOURCE University of Maryland Related Links http://www.umd.edu Nevada to vote on scrapping man-woman definition of marriage in state Constitution Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Voters in Nevada will decide in November whether to change the text of the state Constitution to remove language defining marriage as a union between only one man and one woman. Nevada is one of the about 30 states that passed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage before such rules were struck down by the 2015 Supreme Court decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, which established a right to same-sex marriage nationwide. However, the text of the amendment remains in the Nevada Constitution even though it is unenforceable. In 2017, former Assemblyman Nelson Araujo and state Sen. David Parks, both Democrats, introduced Joint Resolution 2, which would amend Section 21 of Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution to reflect the fact that the Obergefell decision made it unenforceable. Last year, the Nevada legislature voted so that the question will appear on the ballot as Question 2 this fall. If Question 2 passes, the text of Section 21 of Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution will be revised to read The State of Nevada and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender. The language offers a caveat that Religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage, and no person has the right to make any claim against a religious organization or member of the clergy for such a refusal. The proposal stresses that all legally valid marriages must be treated equally under the law. Supporters of Question 2 include the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the pro-LGBT advocacy organization Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood Advocates. Proponents formed the Yes on Question 2 coalition earlier this month. According to Ballotpedia, Nevada is the first state to leave it up to voters to repeal a constitutional amendment that bars same-sex marriage or defines marriage as between one man and one woman. According to a 2017 poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 70% of Nevadans support same-sex marriage while 23% oppose it. Nevadas Question 2 is one of several high-profile ballot initiatives that voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on this fall. In another western state, Colorado, voters will decide the fate of Proposition 115, which would ban abortions after 22 weeks of gestation. Currently, Colorado is one of only seven states that does not have any restrictions on abortion. In Louisiana, voters will weigh in on Amendment 1, which, if passed, will add language to the state Constitution declaring that nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion. Similar measures passed in West Virginia and Alabama in 2018. Residents of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota will vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana, while Mississippi voters will decide whether or not to approve the legalization of medical marijuana in their state. Californians will vote on a ballot measure that would overturn Proposition 209, the 1996 ballot initiative supported by a majority of the states voters that prevented the use of race as a factor when considering employment applications and university admissions. A Fairfax County, Virginia, firefighter was charged with assaulting a man who was being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, the fire department announced on Monday. Firefighter Andrew Cruikshank is facing the misdemeanour count after getting into an altercation with a patient that occurred about 6am on 14 September, the fire department said. The altercation was captured on the body-worn camera of a Fairfax County police officer, who had the man in custody. The fire department released the video on Monday with the faces of the people in the footage blurred. After the man, who is on a gurney, threatens to kill a firefighter, the video shows the firefighter throwing a swab on the man. The man then appears to spit on the firefighter, who appears to respond by striking him. The man, who identified himself as homeless in the video, was handcuffed at the time. Neither the statement from authorities nor the video footage that was released "portray a true picture of what actually happened," the president of the local firefighters union said on Monday night in a statement. The firefighter "was assaulted as witnessed by the police officer," said Ron Kuley, the union official. The end of the video captures the police officer telling the man that he "assaulted us numerous times. You spit on the medic and you also assaulted him!" Mr Kuley said. He asked that it be remembered that those arrested are innocent until proved guilty, and said judgment should not be passed on the basis of a video and without due process. "Politics do not determine justice," Mr Kuley said. Fire Chief John Butler has ordered an administrative investigation into the incident, and Mr Cruikshank has been placed on administrative leave. Mr Cruikshank has been with the department for two years. "This action goes against the values we hold at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department," Mr Butler said in a statement. "We respect our role in the community and strive to build and maintain public trust. We remain dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of our community and will continue to ensure that our members are held to the highest standards of the profession." The Washington Post Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit the Vatican on Tuesday to protest the pending renewal of a controversial deal with China. Behind the scenes: Pope Francis has reportedly declined to meet with Pompeo, citing the imminent U.S. election. The big picture: The terms of the deal with Beijing are secret, but it reportedly gives the Vatican a say in the appointment of bishops in the government-sanctioned Church in China. It's controversial for multiple reasons. Some critics argued that cutting a deal with the Chinese government meant selling out the many Chinese Catholics who take the risk of worshipping in non-sanctioned churches. Others including Pompeo contend that in order to facilitate stronger ties with China, the Church has declined to take a strong stand against China's human rights abuses. "The Vatican endangers its moral authority, should it renew the deal," Pompeo tweeted earlier this month. Between the lines: It's highly unusual for a senior U.S. official to criticize the pope so forcefully. Worth noting: Francis already has plenty on his plate. He removed a senior cardinal who had been viewed as a potential future pope last week over claims he embezzled Church funds, per AP. GRAND RAPIDS, MI After hearing gunshots on a late-night jog, Steven Sagers crouched behind a car on Bemis Street SE. When he thought it safe, he stood up only to see a man running toward him. He didnt know if a victim or the shooter was approaching. Then, he saw the muzzle flash. The dude fired one round at me, Sagers, 27, testified Monday, Sept. 28, in Grand Rapids District Court. The witness could not identify Juan Nico Garcia as the gunman. They were 20 to 30 feet away, on a dark street. But his testimony helped convince District Judge Michael Distel to order Garcia to stand trial charged with two counts of open murder in the June 7 killings of Jaionna Braden, 20, and her friend, Qauvon Lee, 23. Garcias case was bound over to Kent County Circuit Court. The victims were found dead in a running car parked on Bemis Street SE near Eastern Avenue. Both were shot in the back of the head and neck. Garcia is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing at Sagers, who was unhurt. Garcia and Braden once dated. Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kellee Koncki said Garcia, on parole, killed Braden because she had a photo on her cellphone of Garcia holding a gun, a potential parole violation. He had taken her cellphone and tried to remove the photo but he did not know the password, the prosecution said. He was supposed to return it the night of the killings. These poor young people didnt stand a chance, Koncki said. They were sitting ducks. She said Garcia, after killing two, was not going to hesitate kill a witness. The defendants father, Juan Domingo Garcia, 51, earlier testified his son admitted to killing Braden and Lee. He ended up smoking a girl and a boy, Garcia testified earlier this month. The father testified that he helped his son dispose of the murder weapon by tossing the pistol into the Grand River. He later helped police divers retrieve it. Defense attorney Mark Dodge suggested that the father, who had two extremely hostile confrontations with Braden, had a stronger motive to kill than his son. The only one who knows where the gun is is the father, Dodge said. Read more: Father says son admitted smoking shooting victims 3 homicide victims identified; police Chief Eric Payne says too many lives lost Its about jealousy, family of Grand Rapids double-homicide victims say after man charged A popular tourist beach was littered with more than 100 face masks as campaigners warned that pandemic pollution was 'out of control'. The huge pile of masks, gloves and other PPE items were dumped and strewn all over Perranporth beach. The problem was laid bare in a series of shocking pictures taken by beach-goer Ben Landricombe during a 45 minute clean up on Sunday. Mr Landricombe, 39, of Plymouth, Devon, said that he carried away as many as he could, but many more were left on the beach in Cornwall with items beginning to 'sink into the sand.' He posted the pictures amid warnings that coronavirus has caused a new wave of pollution with an 'explosion' of PPE kit being dumped on beaches and in rivers. A popular tourist beach was littered with more than 100 face masks as campaigners warned that pandemic pollution was 'out of control'. The huge pile of masks, gloves and other PPE items were dumped and strewn all over Perranporth beach And he feared his experiences were symbolic of a widespread problem on coastlines around the UK. He said: 'There were loads and I could have picked them up all day. In just 45 mins I picked up 26 but they were everywhere. There were at least a hundred on the beach. 'I was shocked due to so many people just not caring. Beach-goer Ben Landricombe spent 45 minutes cleaning up on Sunday but fears his experiences were symbolic of a widespread problem on coastlines around the UK Campaigners fear that with masks now being mandatory in several places, the problem will only get worse 'It is getting out of control and we need to stop it as soon as possible. We are the problem, not the virus, but for whatever reason people just don't seem to care. 'I did what I could but people need to heed the warning and stop dumping them.' Campaigners fear that with masks now being mandatory in several places, the problem will only get worse. Mr Landricombe, 39, of Plymouth, Devon, said that he carried away as many as he could, but many more were left on the beach in Cornwall (pictured) with items beginning to 'sink into the sand' Environmentalist Emily Stevenson, 23, runs the Beach Guardian charity with her dad Rob, said that PPE had now become a major threat to the environment and ocean. During a one-hour litter pick in Cornwall, she also found 171 items including face masks and gloves. She said: 'Though this may be a timely issue now, it's unfortunately not one that is going to go away any time soon either. 'We've already found evidence of PPE actually sinking below the ocean surface. 'This means that there could be a totally unaccounted for concentration of PPE pollution on the seafloor, which can remain as dormant debris for centuries. Cornish eco-charity Surfers Against Sewage has also been trying to raise awareness of the issue. Pictured is Perranporth beach 'Once on the seafloor, it smothers any biological structures such as important Sea Fan beds in the UK, or coral reefs further afield. 'Also, this debris entails a 'plasticising' effect when on the seafloor - potentially inhibiting gas exchange between the water column and sediment.' Cornish eco-charity Surfers Against Sewage has also been trying to raise awareness of the issue. Spokesman Jack Middleton said: 'Since lockdown has started to be lifted we've witnessed a new wave of plastic pollution littering our beaches in the form of disposable masks and gloves. 'While the PPE has helped to save lives over the past few months, we now need to consider how we dispose of it properly to prevent it from flowing into our rivers and oceans and destroying our beaches. 'We're used to seeing plastic bottles and bags when we're surfing but this new type of plastic pollution is something that no-one could have foreseen.' Code42's new book challenges business leaders to rethink data security in the collaboration era Code42, the leader in Insider Risk Detection and Response, today announced the release of its new book Inside Jobs: Why Insider Risk Is the Biggest Cyber Threat You Can't Ignore. The book explores the problem of Insider Risk what's driving it and what business and security leaders can do to keep their workforces productive and their data safe. The book is co-authored by three security veterans from Code42: CEO Joe Payne; CIO and CISO Jadee Hanson; and Vice President of Product Marketing Mark Wojtasiak. Inside Jobs is now available at major online retailers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005351/en/ Data security company Code42 released a new book, Inside Jobs: Why Insider Risk is the Biggest Cyber Threat You Can't Ignore, authored by Joe Payne, Jadee Hanson and Mark Wojtasiak. Copyright 2020 Code42 Software, Inc. "Insider Risk has never been greater, because taking data has never been easier," said Payne. "Collaboration technology has enabled organizations to innovate faster. That's the big upside. But there is a downside. The same technology that makes us more productive also makes it much easier to exfiltrate data. Our new book and the real world stories it tells will make you stop and think twice about Insider Risk and why conventional ways of protecting your company's sensitive data are no longer enough." At a time when workforces are more distributed than ever before and data is moving off corporate networks, Inside Jobs offers companies a new way to secure today's collaborative cultures. The book: Explores the shifts in the cultural, technological and economic drivers shaping today's collaborative organizations. Explains why modern-day data security can no longer be accomplished by "Big Brother" forms of monitoring or traditional prevention solutions that rely solely on classification and blocking systems. Outlines an Insider Risk strategy that is built on trust, assumes positive intent, establishes acceptable data use policies, increases security awareness and provides ongoing training. Inside Jobs has chapters for the CEO, CIO, CISO, CHRO and CLO as critical change agents in not only facilitating digital transformation, but also managing the Insider Risks that come with it. In addition to practical advice, the book delivers practical frameworks for assessing risk posture and awareness, and building an effective Insider Risk program. For more details about the book and its authors, visit Code42's website. Industry Praise for the Book "In an era of sprawling cloud and consumerized IT, the challenge of security is not just to figure out who and what needs to be protected, but how to do so in the simplest way possible. This book drives this point home, and shows how to take friction out of security for users without putting data in jeopardy." -Dug Song, cybersecurity expert, cofounder and CEO of Duo Security, and cofounder of Arbor Networks "This book addresses a problem that needs focus-insider threat is a very real issue that organizations need to grapple with and understand. It's one of the greatest underserved risks in cybersecurity today." -Amit Yoran, CEO of Tenable, former president of RSA, former national cybersecurity director at DHS, and former director of US-CERT "I never thought I'd read a book about cybersecurity insider threats that is actually-dare I say it-engaging. By illustrating technical points with compelling stories and examples, this book becomes a productive read not only for the CISO, but also for the CIO, the CHRO and the CEO." -Chip Heath, author of best-sellers Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive, and The Power of Moments "Today, some of the most pressing problems in security revolve around insider threats and data security. Code42's book provides new perspective on these problems and how much more important they have become in the increasingly remote and distributed workplace, suggesting major changes in how we approach data security." -Martin Roesch, cybersecurity expert, creator of Snort, and founder of Sourcefire "I've seen too many organizations feel they have a cybersecurity program because they have a few cybersecurity products. This book really shows how the care of your data is fundamental to protecting it." -Ron Gula, cyber industry pioneer; developer of Dragon, one of the first commercial network intrusion detection systems; cofounder of Tenable Network Security "While many executives understand security threats from outside their company, most don't protect their business from insiders. Employees lose, steal, or misplace data more often than businesses realize, costing billions. Inside Jobs is packed with powerful examples and actionable advice every senior executive needs to know in a fast-paced book that can be finished in one plane ride." -David Meerman Scott, marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of eleven books, including Fanocracy and The New Rules of Marketing PR "Data leaks are going to happen. Code42's approach to insider threat detection shows you exactly what you need to know when your confidential data is walking out the door and what to do about it." -Mike Wasserman, security orchestration engineer at The Pokemon Company International About the Book Inside Jobs: Why Insider Risk is the Biggest Cyber Threat You Can't Ignore Skyhorse Publishing, Pub Date: September 29, 2020 ISBN: 978-1510764484, Hardcover 192 Pages, $24.99 E-ISBN: 978-1510764491, All eBook Formats $16.99 Review copies available upon request: PRDepartment@code42.com About the Authors Joe Payne is the president and CEO of Code42. With more than twenty years of experience as a CEO, he has a proven track record leading high growth security and technology companies. Previously, Joe served as CEO of eSecurity, Eloqua, and eGrail, and as president of iDefense. He has led some of the world's best security researchers and worked with top US government agencies to improve their risk profiles. Jadee Hanson is the chief information security officer and chief information officer at Code42. She has more than sixteen years of information security experience and a proven track record of building IT and security programs. Prior to Code42, she held a number of senior leadership roles in security at Target Corporation and Deloitte. Jadee is also the founder of the non-profit organization Building Without Borders. Mark Wojtasiak is the vice president of portfolio strategy and product marketing at Code42, bringing with him more than twenty years of B2B data storage, cloud, and security experience. He previously worked at Seagate for ten years, where he held a number of senior strategy roles in global marketing and product management, as well as served in marketing leadership at Now Micro. About Code42 Code42 is the leader in Insider Risk detection and response. Native to the cloud, Code42 rapidly detects data loss, leak, theft and sabotage as well as speeds incident response all without lengthy deployments, complex policy management or blocking employee productivity. With Code42, security professionals can protect corporate data and reduce Insider Risk while fostering an open and collaborative culture for employees. Backed by security best practices and control requirements, Code42's Insider Risk solution can be configured for GDPR, HIPAA, PCI and other regulatory frameworks. More than 50,000 organizations worldwide, including the most recognized brands in business and education, rely on Code42 to safeguard their ideas. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and backed by Accel Partners, JMI Equity, NewView, and Split Rock Partners. Code42 was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of America's best workplaces in 2020. For more information, visit code42.com, read Code42's blog or follow the company on Twitter. 2020 Code42 Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Code42 and the Code42 logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Code42 Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are properties of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005351/en/ Contacts: Kristin McKenzie Public Relations Principal, Code42 kristin.mckenzie@code42.com 844-333-4242 The Autonomous Administration has hit back at comments made by Walid al-Muallem at the United Nations General Assembly reports Shaam News. The Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration criticized what was stated by the regimes Foreign Minister, Walid al-Muallem, regarding the situation in the areas under the Administrations control in northeastern Syria, describing the ministers language as irrational and a denial of reality. The Administration said in a statement on Monday that, the accusations of Walid al-Muallem, Foreign Minister of the Syrian regime, before the General Assembly and his statements about a number of matters in northeastern Syria are an attempt to mislead public opinion and gloss over the facts. The Administration considered that Muallems statements are also, a cover for the practices and actions committed by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people in general and the state of chaos that he wants to create in the areas liberated from the Islamic State by the people of northeastern Syria. The Administrations statement rejected Muallems accusation that the Autonomous Administration is a separatist movement, claiming that it is rather a national project and does not affect the unity of Syria socially or geographically. The Administration also described Muallems statements on the Deir ez-Zor issue as, an attempt to turn a blind eye to what the regime is doing in fuelling the situation, stirring up strife, and compromising the unity of the Syrian components. Regarding Muallems statements about oil, the Administration said that, the principles of the Autonomous Administration are unshakable, and we believe that natural resources belong to all Syrians. Moreover, we are surprised that the regime did not question or complain when the Islamic State was stealing the countrys wealth and selling it to Turkey. The statement claimed that, the oil that is being used, serves as a makeshift solution to run the affairs of the region at a time when there is no actual support in any way for these areas, which are, at the end of the day, Syrian areas and an integral part of the country. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. V20 Pro's leading Eye Autofocus Dual Front Camera includes a 44MP Super Definition Main Camera and an 8MP Super Wide-Angle Camera, which allow users to unlock a new world of selfie capabilities. The main front lens on V20 Pro and V20 features Eye Autofocus (AF), which uses advanced algorithms to track and focus on moving selfie subjects. The front camera on V20 Pro and V20 is also packed with a host of additional featuresSlo-Mo Selfie Video, 4K Selfie Video, and Super Night Selfie that enhance selfie quality and empower users to record life's special moments, while V20 Pro's 105 Super Wide-Angle Selfie (103.6 after correcting for distortion) creates incredibly wide photos which still look very natural. Meanwhile, the 64MP-8MP-2MP back camera setup on both V20 Pro and V20 includes Super Night Mode on the main lens. Both devices also feature Dual-View Video, which allows the user to combine footage captured by the front and rear cameras. The full series has ultra sleek and light design and powerful performance. Each device is powered by vivo's 33W FlashCharge technology for solid durability and fast charging time, providing for a more convenient mobile experience. Featuring the All-New Android 11 The V20 series will run on the recently-launched Android 11 operating system, which will give users more convenient ways to manage conversations, device controls, privacy settings, and more. With Android 11, V20 series users will be able to see, respond to, and control their conversations across multiple messaging apps in one place and pin conversations to the top of other apps for better multitasking, making it easier for fast-moving young people to connect. Android 11 will also give users a one touch path to controlling connected devices, seamless switching with media output devices, and the Nearby Share feature to quickly send files, videos, map locations, and more to a nearby Android device. Depending on market conditions, vivo has a plan to equip V20 series with Android 11 in succession. Market Availability vivo is gradually rolling out V20 series in Southeast Asia and, depending on market conditions, will continue to launch the devices in other regions. The availability and specifications of each V20 series model will also be tailored to local market conditions and consumer preferences. About vivo vivo is a leading, product-driven, global technology company, with its core business focusing on smart devices and intelligent services. vivo is committed to connecting users around the globe, through design of exciting and innovative smartphones and companion devices, as well as services which integrate technology and design thinking in unique and creative ways. Following the company core values, which include innovation, consumer orientation and benfen*, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy, with the vision of becoming a leading, long-lasting, world-class enterprise. With headquarters in China, supported by a network of 9 R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo and San Diego, vivo is focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, photography and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set-up five production hubs (including brand authorized manufacturing center), across China, South- and Southeast Asia, manufacturing over 200 million smartphones each year. As of 2019, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 30 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 350 million users worldwide. *"Benfen" is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right which is the ideal description of vivo's mission to build technology for good. Please stay informed of vivo's news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news To learn more, please visit http://www.vivo.com/ or stay informed of vivo's news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news SOURCE vivo Andreas Gebert/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images From left: former Vice President Joe Biden and Cindy McCain in 2018 Cindy McCain is taking her recent endorsement of longtime friend Joe Biden one step further, as the Biden campaign announced this week she'll be joining the candidate's transition team as an adviser. This transition is like no other, preparing amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy, former Sen. Ted Kaufman, the transition co-chair, said in a statement on Monday, which makes Mrs. McCains experience as a business woman, philanthropist and longtime advocate for issues impacting women and children all the more valuable." The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Monday. The widow of late Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Cindy last week endorsed Biden, 77, reflecting in part on his enduring friendship with her late husband and the McCain family. Joe and I don't always agree on the issues, and I know he and John certainly had some passionate arguments, but he is a good and honest man, Cindy, 66, tweeted. He will lead us with dignity." She is among a growing minority of GOP voices who have spoken out in favor of Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election and, as the campaign highlighted, is the second Republican to join as a Biden transition adviser in preparation for his possible victory. RELATED: Meghan McCain Welcomes Baby Girl with Husband Ben Domenech: 'Happy and Healthy' William Thomas Cain/Getty Sen. John McCain (left) and former Vice President Joe Biden together in October 2017 Lou Rocco/Getty Images From left: former Vice President Joe Biden and Meghan McCain Fellow Republican Bob McDonald, the former chief executive of Procter & Gamble, is also advising Biden's transition prep, which features 16 advisory board members. McDonald served in the Obama administration as the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Story continues Other members of Biden's transition team include former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as well as some names initially included on Biden's shortlist for running mates, such as New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana are also among the others set to advise Biden on his potential transition, according to the Journal. Cindy's support for Biden comes after President Donald Trump, 74, has repeatedly attacked her late husband, a Trump rival, even after his death in 2018 including complaining about flags being lowered to half-mast after he died from brain cancer, according to a report by The Atlantic, which the White House disputed. (Trump also denied calling Sen. McCain a loser," despite retweeting the insult in 2015.) RELATED: Cindy and Meghan McCain Pay Tribute to John McCain on What Would've Been His 84th Birthday My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden. Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020 The same Atlantic report included anonymous sources describing Trump disparaging service members in general, referring to those killed in action as losers and suckers. This never stops being incredibly painful, triggering, and it rips off new layers of grief that wreak havoc on my life, Meghan McCain, the McCains' 35-year-old daughter and a co-host on The View, said at the time. Roughly three weeks later, Biden received Cindy's official endorsement. My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost," she wrote last week. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is [Biden]." Trump responded on Twitter with characteristic venom: "I hardly know Cindy McCain other than having put her on a Committee at her husbands request. Joe Biden was John McCains lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!" New data from these statistics will be published on the home page of the Students and qualifications. Published: 29 September 2020 Altogether 320,100 students in vocational education According to Statistics Finland's education statistics, a total of 320,100 students attended education leading to a vocational qualification in 2019. Fifty-one per cent of them were women. Of the students, 241,100 studied in initial vocational education, 53,900 in further vocational education and 25,100 in specialist vocational education. Starting from 2019, the data are mainly based on the Finnish National Agency for Education's Koski database. Students in vocational training by field of education (National Classification of Education 2016) and sex in 2019 The variation in the shares of men and women viewed by fields of education was large. Of all students, the share of women was 84 per cent in the field of health and welfare and 13 per cent in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). The field of education divided most evenly by gender was the field of services, where 53 per cent were women. New students numbered 124,600. Of the new students, 86,600 attended initial vocational education, 27,200 further vocational education and 10,800 specialist vocational education. Twenty-six per cent of new students studied in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction, 23 per cent in the field of services and 19 per cent in the field of business and administration. Altogether 70 per cent of the students attended education according to the reform of vocational education (Vocational Education and Training Act 531/2017). Of all students, 20 per cent had completed training agreement periods and 19 per cent apprenticeship training periods. Both training agreement and apprenticeship training periods had been completed by two per cent of students. Not all students had completed these periods at the time of review. At the autumn cross-sectional period on 20 September, a total of 168,100 students attended initial vocational education leading to a qualification. The cross-sectional number of students is not comparable with the number of students in previous years. In 2019, the data for the cross-sectional period on 20 September include all students attending initial vocational education, regardless of the method of education (see Appendix table 1). Completers of vocational qualifications 20122019 Altogether, 71,600 students completed a vocational qualification in 2019. A total of 47,800 initial vocational qualifications were completed, 16,100 further vocational qualifications and 7,700 specialist vocational qualifications. The number of attainers of qualifications was 10 per cent lower than in the previous year. Fifty-four per cent of them were women. Nearly one half, 48 per cent, completed a qualification in the fields of engineering, manufacturing and construction, and business and administration. Twenty-four per cent of the qualifiers had apprenticeship training periods. Ten per cent of those with qualifications had training agreement periods. One per cent had both apprenticeship training and training agreement periods. If the completion of a qualification was started before the new criteria entered into force (1 August 2018), the qualification can be completed according to the old criteria until 31 December 2021. Sixty-five per cent of qualifications did not include training agreement or apprenticeship training periods. More detailed information on vocational education students and completers of qualifications, for example, by region of education and age can be found in the database table . Source: Education. Statistics Finland Inquiries: Helena Aaltonen 029 551 2697, koulutustilastot@stat.fi Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala Publication in pdf-format (209.0 kB) Updated 29.9.2020 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Vocational education [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-1986. 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.1.2022]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/aop/2019/aop_2019_2020-09-29_tie_001_en.html MONTREAL - A nurse has been fired after an Indigenous woman who was dying Monday night in hospital was subjected to degrading remarks, Quebec's premier said Tuesday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Quebec Premier Francois Legault speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot MONTREAL - A nurse has been fired after an Indigenous woman who was dying Monday night in hospital was subjected to degrading remarks, Quebec's premier said Tuesday. The Quebec coroner's office confirmed it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Joyce Echaquan, a mother of seven who had gone to the hospital in Joliette, Que., northeast of Montreal, complaining of stomach pains. Before the Atikamekw woman's death, she filmed herself from her hospital bed while she was in clear distress and pleaded for help. Toward the end of the video, two female hospital staff can be seen entering her room and are heard making insulting comments, saying she's "stupid as hell," that she's only good for sex and better off dead. Amid protests from Echaquan, a staff member tells her she made poor choices and asks what her children would think to see her in that state. "That's why I came here," Echaquan can be heard replying quietly. The video circulated widely on the internet, prompting widespread indignation and a call from the Quebec chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Ghislain Picard, for the government to address a culture of racism. "A coroner's inquest should not be an opportunity for the government to shirk its responsibilities," Picard said Tuesday. He made the comments during a virtual news conference, during which he presented his organization's plan to address racism and discrimination in the province. "A coroner's report will not change anything about the racism displayed by nurses. It is a question of attitude and a question of culture." The Council of the Atikamekw Nation said discrimination in public services is unfortunately still far too prevalent and the video shot by the deceased woman "reveals disturbing condescension and racist remarks" from staff. "It is unfortunate that in 2020 such behaviours can still occur," Grand Chief Constant Awashish said in a statement. "It is everyone's responsibility to denounce them, especially in the context of health services and whose ethics should protect us from the discomfort of racism." Verna Polson, the leader of the Anoshnabeg Nation, said the video left her angry. "I am also sad at the thought that her children this morning no longer have a mother," she said Tuesday at the news conference with Picard. "This systemic racism that exists today in Quebec, we, the Aboriginal women, live it every day." Legault offered his condolences to the family Tuesday in Quebec City, confirming a nurse at the hospital had been fired. And while he admitted racism exists in the province, he would not qualify the situation as an example of systemic racism. "What happened is totally unacceptable," Legault said. "There will be two inquiries and the nurse did something unacceptable and she has been fired." Legault said in addition to the coroner, the regional health authority will investigate the death. In Ottawa, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said his thoughts were with the family and community members. "The best case scenario is this person died at the hands of a racist and the worst case scenario is much worse, it makes you think about criminality and it's why we need to get a full inquest into what happened." Miller said what happened wasn't an isolated event. "What is gut-wrenching about this, is someone who is in their most vulnerable and they're dying, having heard racist words expressed towards them," Miller said. "I can only imagine the impact that can have on Indigenous communities and it's part of a pattern that's existing and we have to eliminate that pattern, we have to keep fighting against that pattern." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020. By Trend The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on the latest developments within the Nagorno-Karabakh in a closed format on September 29, Trend reports citing TASS. "Most likely, the discussion will take place on Tuesday during consultations in a closed format," the agency's source said. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Amnesty International projects itself as the watchdog on human rights worldwide with the stated mission to campaign for a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. However, lesser known is the fact that Amnesty International was created by British Intelligence for intelligence gathering to carry out social engineering of targeted nations critical of the British Empire. Amnesty International was involved in not only the cover-up of torture and regime change by British agents but also in sparking a war. Amnesty International Intelligence gathering arm of British Empire Amnestys stellar image as a global defender of human rights runs counter to its early days when the British Foreign Office was censoring reports critical of the British Empire. During the 1960s the U.K. was withdrawing from its colonies and the Foreign Office and Colonial Office were hungry for information from human-rights activists about the situations on the ground. In 1963, the Foreign Office instructed its operatives abroad to provide discreet support for Amnestys campaigns. The Deep State Anglo American lobby has since been working to re-create the British Empire of Modern Times, recruiting native politicians and businessmen for gathering intelligence and cracking business deals. One of its outfits, CTD Advisors operated by the son of a Pakistani British spy and heavily infested with former British intelligence chiefs advocating foreign intervention in Kashmir was recently exposed by GreatGameIndia. Isnt providing insider knowledge for cracking business deals to former intelligence chiefs of a foreign country by serving member of Indian Parliament a conflict of interest, if not an economic offense and an act of #espionage? Our exclusive report https://t.co/7B6EhWZXiK pic.twitter.com/h84eIO7JJM GreatGameIndia (@GreatGameIndia) November 22, 2019 Due to its meddling in Kashmir, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1990 (that time Leader of Opposition) demanded ban of entry of Amnesty International in Kashmir accusing Amnesty as a dubious organisation. Rajiv Gandhi in 1990 (that time Leader of Opposition) demanded ban of entry of Amnesty International in Kashmir accusing Amnesty as a dubious organisation https://t.co/oJLLOAzOu4 J Gopikrishnan (@jgopikrishnan70) September 29, 2020 Dr Kirsten Sellars the Visiting Fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University writes: During the 1960s the United Kingdom was still in the process of withdrawing from its colonies, and civil service departments such as the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office welcomed information from those familiar with human rights issues. The relationship between Amnesty and Whitehall was placed on a more solid footing in 1963, when the Foreign Office wrote to overseas missions urging discreet support for Amnesty: discreet, because its public endorsement would have seriously undermined the campaigns credibility. Peter Benenson the Undercover Spy Peter Benenson, the co-founder of Amnesty International, had deep ties to the British Foreign Office and Colonial Office. During the war, he worked in military intelligence at the Bletchley Park code-breaking center. Benenson worked as an undercover spy gathering intelligence under the cover of Amnesty International, directly sponsored by The Crown. In 1964, Benenson enlisted the Foreign Offices assistance in obtaining a visa to Haiti. The Foreign Office secured the visa and wrote to its Haiti representative Alan Elgar saying it support[ed] the aims of Amnesty International. There, Benenson went undercover as a painter, as Minister of State Walter Padley told him prior to his departure that We shall have to be a little careful not to give the Haitians the impression that your visit is actually sponsored by Her Majestys Government. Amnesty International infiltrated by Spies In 1966, Amnesty International was rocked by a major scandal when its founder Peter Benenson claimed that the organisation was infiltrated by British intelligence agents and called for its headquarters to be moved to another country. This is followed by claims from the US that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also involved in Amnesty. Benenson himself was then exposed for accepting funds from the British Government. One thing that Amnesty International and the White Helmets have in common is that they were both founded by former British military intelligence officers https://t.co/M6uXNi7jx5 Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) February 3, 2020 Unclassified documents also reveal how Israeli intelligence operated the local branch of Amnesty International. The Israeli government funded the establishment and activity of the Amnesty International branch in Israel in the 1960s and 70s. Official documents reveal that the chairman of the organization was in constant contact with the Foreign Ministry and received instructions from it. Regime Change in Sudan In the mid 1990s, the Sudan Vision Daily, a daily newspaper in Sudan, compared Amnesty to the US National Endowment for Democracy, during its regime change campaign in Sudan. The newspaper claimed Amnesty International is, in essence, a British intelligence organization which is a part of the Government decision making system. Amnesty Internationals new [Regime] Change is Possible video calls for solidarity with right-wing insurrection in Venezuela https://t.co/Co6OVL7xRV pic.twitter.com/MJtG7wyevz Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) October 6, 2018 In a September 2016 report, Amnesty International claimed that the Sudanese government was waging chemical warfare against its own people. Western media ran with it as fact, but African media found it to be highly dubious and based on hearsay. The following Sudanese report (republished in full by Modern Ghana) reflects on Amnesty Internationals history as a propaganda arm of the British government. Amnesty international has frequently used the service to diffuse political propaganda and deliver its messages against political opponents all over the world using both radio and TV.. It may not be a surprise to many that the list of the British Government opponents is the same list as Amnesty opponents. The recent report of Amnesty on Darfur is just part of the British negative role against Sudan. The recently disclosed type of nexus between Amnesty and the British Government reveals that the former was originally a clandestine intelligence organ affiliated to the latter. Amnesty is a British clone of the American National Endowment for Democracy which preceded Amnesty in working under the umbrella of the State Department. Therefore, Amnesty is not just a pressure group; it is, in essence a British Intelligence organization which is a part of the Government decision making system. Amnesty International coverup torture by British agents in Yemen In 1966, an Amnesty report on the British colony of Aden, a port city in present-day Yemen, detailed the British governments torture of detainees at the Ras Morbut interrogation center. Prisoners there were stripped naked during interrogations, were forced to sit on poles that entered their anus, had their genitals twisted, cigarettes burned on their face, and were kept in cells where feces and urine covered the floor. The report was never released, however. Benenson said that Amnesty general secretary Robert Swann had censored it to please the Foreign Office, but Amnesty co-founder Eric Baker said Benenson and Swann had met with the Foreign Office and agreed to keep the report under wraps in exchange for reforms. Amnesty International exposed by Dr Francis Boyle Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. In an explosive interview Dr. Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological Weapons Act has given a detailed statement admitting that the 2019 Wuhan #Coronavirus is an offensive Biological Warfare Weapon and that the WHO already knows about it.https://t.co/MbItPq8OTz GreatGameIndia (@GreatGameIndia) February 3, 2020 In an exclusive interview given to Geopolitics and Empire, Dr. Boyle confirmed GreatGameIndias exclusive report Coronavirus Bioweapon where we reported in detail how Chinese Biowarfare agents working at the Canadian lab in Winnipeg were involved in the smuggling of Coronavirus to Wuhans lab from where it is believed to have been leaked. In the explosive interview Dr. Francis Boyle, gave a detailed statement admitting that the 2019 Wuhan Coronavirus is an offensive Biological Warfare Weapon and that the World Health Organization (WHO) already knows about it. As member of the board of Amnesty International USA at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, he claimed that Amnesty International USA acted in ways closely related to United States foreign policy interests. He attributes links between Amnesty International and US/UK foreign policy interests to the relatively large financial contribution of Amnesty International USA to AIs international budget, which he estimated at 20%. Boyle added that Amnesty International was instrumental in publicizing the Iraqi soldiers dumping children from incubators in Kuwait hoax. How Amnesty International sparked a War In an exclusive interview with Covert Action Quarterly, Dr Francis Boyle explained how covert agents at Amnesty International sparked a war: Of the six votes in the United States Senate that passed the resolution to go to war, several of those senators said that they were influenced by the Amnesty report. Now I want to make it clear this was not a job by Amnesty International but by London, and what happened then, when the war started, at the next AI USA board meeting, I demanded an investigation. By then it had come out that this was Kuwaiti propaganda put together by the PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, and I demanded an investigation. Absolutely nothing happened. There was never an investigation, there was total stonewalling coming out of London. They refused ever to admit that they did anything wrong. There has never been an explanation, there has never been an apology. Its down the memory hole like 1984 and Orwell. My conclusion was that a high-level official of Amnesty International at that time, whom I will not name, was a British intelligence agent. Moreover, my fellow board member, who also investigated this independently of me, reached the exact same conclusion. So certainly when I am dealing with people who want to work with Amnesty in London, I just tell them, Look, just understand, theyre penetrated by intelligence agents, U.K., maybe U.S., I dont know, but you certainly cant trust them. Send in your tips and submissions by filling out this form or write to us directly at the email provided. Join us on WhatsApp for more intel and updates. GreatGameIndia is a journal on Geopolitics and International Relations. Get to know the Geopolitical threats India is facing in our exclusive book India in Cognitive Dissonance. Past magazine issues can be accessed from the Archives section. We need your support to carry on our independent and investigative research based journalism on the Deep State threats facing humanity. Your contribution however small helps us keep afloat. Kindly consider donating to GreatGameIndia. HOLBROOK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (AP)-a privately-held, independent broker/dealer that services financial advisors nationwide-is the recipient of a 2020 Annual WealthManagement.com Industry Award (Wealthies) in the category of Broker-Dealers (Fewer than 1,000 Advisors) - Service for its Virtual Administrative Services (VAS) practice management solution. On Sept. 10, WealthManagement.com announced the Wealthies winners during a live broadcast from New York. This year, 72 awards were presented to 61 companies from a pool of 155 finalists. "We are extremely honored to have been acknowledged by this highly-respected industry recognition program-more so because the Service category represents one of the core principles in our strategic roadmap: customer loyalty," states CEO Lon T. Dolber. "We strive to stay true to our mission to provide optimal customer service and support to our valued family of financial advisors in order to secure the level of independence they have come to know, enjoy and thrive in as business owners." "AP works diligently to ensure that our advisor community is equipped with the proper services and support needed to operate to their fullest potential," adds Chief Administrative Officer Dalchand Laljit. "The strides we have made with VAS, our first subscription-based service model, have greatly benefitted our investment professionals. This award validates our efforts and proves we are providing much-needed, valuable solutions. Our entire VAS team are extremely honored by this noteworthy recognition of their hard work and dedication." VAS is a subscription-based, practice management solution available to AP-affiliated financial advisors in need of administrative assistance to help them with time-consuming tasks so they can spend more time cultivating prospects and nurturing existing client relationships. VAS has enabled AP-affiliated practices to operate with greater efficiency and scalability, affording advisors the ability to address new demands on their practices, plans for expansion, special projects and the needs of overworked staff, while not having to worry about the intricacies of human resources management. Since its inception and official launch in the first quarter of 2019, VAS has seen a 75 percent increase in adoption, with demand continuing to increase. Since being named a finalist in the category of Broker-Dealers (Fewer than 1,000 Advisors) - Service, AP's VAS has rolled out an add-on option for call service. The new VAS add-on enables AP's Virtual Administrative Services Specialists to be patched through directly to the clients of affiliated financial advisors in order to handle assistant-level matters, including but not limited to: scheduling appointments; informing vendors or wholesalers of an advisor's availability; client requests for sending documents already on file; requests for assistance with the firm's Going Green processes; utilizing client portals; and making minor account updates. AP congratulates its fellow Wealthies Award recipients, including Parkland Securities, LLC who tied with AP in the Broker-Dealers (Fewer than 1,000 Advisors) - Service category. The firm looks forward to participating as thought leaders in the upcoming, newly-created Wealthies Digital Forums. "AP works diligently to ensure that our advisor community is equipped with the proper services and support needed to operate to their fullest potential," adds Chief Administrative Officer Dalchand Laljit. "The strides we have made with VAS, our first subscription-based service model, have greatly benefitted our investment professionals. This award validates our efforts and proves we are providing much-needed, valuable solutions. Our entire VAS team are extremely honored by this noteworthy recognition of their hard work and dedication." About Us About American Portfolios Headquartered in Holbrook, N.Y., American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (APFS) is a full-service, independent broker/dealer and member firm of FINRA and SIPC, offering a complete range of financial services, including personal financial and retirement planning, securities trading, mutual funds, access to investment research, long-term care planning, insurance products and tax-free investing. Fee-based asset management is offered through its sister subsidiary, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc., (APA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Both entities, along with technology entity American Portfolios Advisory Solutions, LLC, collectively reside under the legal entity American Portfolios Holdings, Inc. (APH). Full-service securities brokerage is available through a clearing firm relationship with Pershing, LLC, a BNY Mellon firm, the securities of which are held on a fully disclosed basis. The company currently supports 862 independent investment professionals-inclusive of registered assistants-and more than 375 non-registered associates, located in 405 branch locations throughout the nation. It was named Broker-Dealer of the Year* (Division III) by Investment Advisor magazine for six consecutive years (2015-2020); a 2019 and 2020 WealthManagement.com Industry Award Finalist in multiple categories, and the 2020 winner in the Service category of B/Ds under 1,000 representatives for its Virtual Administrative Services (VAS) program**; one of the Best Companies to Work for in the state of New York for five consecutive years (2016-2020) by the New York State Society for Human Resources Management (NYS-SHRM) and the Best Companies Group (BCG); and one of the Top Long Island Workplaces for 2018 and 2019 by Newsday. * Based on a poll of registered representatives conducted by Investment Advisor magazine. Broker/dealers rated highest by their representatives are awarded "Broker/Dealer (B/D) of the Year." ** Wealthmanagement.com Industry Award finalists are selected by a panel of independent judges made up of subject matter experts in the industry. Award is based on support provided to AP's affiliated people and does not reflect public customers nor their account performance. About the WealthManagement.com and the Wealth Management.com Industry Awards WealthManagement.com, an Informa business, provides everything wealth professionals need to know to stay knowledgeable about the industry, build stronger relationships, improve their practice, and grow their business-all from one site. Now in its sixth year, the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards is the only awards program to honor outstanding achievements by companies, organizations and individuals that support financial advisor success. This year, 72 awards were presented to 61 companies from a pool of 155 finalists. Contact: Melissa Grappone 4250 Veterans Memorial Hwy.; Ste. 420E; Holbrook, NY 11741 VP, Mktg. & Corp. Comm. Work: 631.439.4600 apcorpcomm@americanportfolios.com http://www.americanportfolios.com/ SOURCE: American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608094/American-Portfolios-Wins-WealthManagementcom-2020-Industry-Award-for-its-Practice-Management-Solution-Virtual-Administrative-Services BRIDGEPORT Two people were wounded in separate shootings hours apart Monday, as the city continues to see a wave of gun violence. The latest shooting took place around 9 p.m. Officers were dispatched to Bridgeport Hospital after medical personnel alerted police to a gunshot wound victim who had been dropped off by a private vehicle. Police said there was no further information immediately available Monday night, including where the shooting might have happened or the extent of the victims injuries. Earlier Monday morning, around 2 a.m., police were dispatched to the P.T. Barnum apartment complex for a report of a person shot. Police said the individual suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the arm. Mondays shootings came after two fatal shootings within hours of each other Sunday. Shortly after midnight Sunday, 31-year-old Daron Jones was found unresponsive on a Worth Street porch after he was shot once in the chest when police responded to a ShotSpotter gunfire activation ni the area, according to Capt. Brian Fitzgerald. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Not long after, around 2:20 a.m. Sunday, 21-year-old Nyair Nixon was shot multiple times inside Keystone Bar on Barnum Avenue. Fitzgerald said after Nixon was shot, he stumbled outside ... collapsed in the street, and was then struck by a vehicle that fled the scene. The captain said the arriving officers were confronted by a large, hostile crowd that were interfering with their ability to secure a crime scene. Police had to call in police from Stratford, who stayed on scene to help for several hours. Nixon was taken by medics to Bridgeport Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Jones marked the citys 17th homicide of 2020, Nixon the 18th. Sundays two homicides came just days after the citys last two killings. Around 8 a.m. Sept. 24, 36-year-old Jorge Tirado was found slumped over the wheel of a vehicle that had crashed into a tree in Black Rock, in the area of Fox Street and Canfield Avenue. Tirado had been shot twice in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene, Fitzgerald said. He marked the citys 15th homicide. of 2020. Less than 12 hours later, shortly before 8 p.m., 27-year-old Raymond Sierra was shot in the 600 block of Union Avenue, Fitzgerald said. Sierra was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Sierra was the citys 16th homicide this year. Anyone with information on any of these shootings or homicides is asked to call the Bridgeport police tips line at 203-576-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous. New Delhi: EPFO has launched new facility for EPS subscribers on UMANG app, using which EPS members can apply for Scheme Certificate under Employees Pension Scheme, 1995. Adding to the 16 services already on the Umang App, EPFO has now started another facility enablinng EPS members to apply for Scheme Certificate under Employees Pension Scheme, 1995, Ministry of Labour & Employment said. The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) has been a big hit among EPF subscribers enabling them to access services during COVID-19 pandemic from the comfort of their homes in a hassle free manner, the release said. Scheme certificate is issued to members who withdraw their EPF contribution but wish to retain their membership with EPFO, to avail pension benefits on attainment of retirement age. A member becomes eligible for pension only if he has been, cumulately, a member of the Employees Pension Scheme,1995 for at least 10 years. Upon joining a new job, Scheme Certificate ensures that previous pensionable service is added to pensionable service rendered with the new employer thereby, increasing the amount of pension benefits. Scheme Certificate is also useful for family members to avail family pension, in case of untimely death of the eligible member. Live TV By successfully bringing state-of-the-art technology to the doorstep of its subscribers, EPFO has remained to be most popular service provider on UMANG App. Out of the 47.3 crore hits clocked by the app since August 2019, 41.6 crore or 88% of them were meant for EPFO services. With India witnessing massive growth in digital connectivity through mobile phones, EPFO is making more and more services digitally accessible to members even in remotest locations through UMANG App. UMANG is developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National e-Governance Division (NeGD) to drive Mobile Governance in India. UMANG provides a single platform for all Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov services ranging from Central to Local Government bodies and other citizen centric services. The ease of applying for Scheme Certificate through UMANG App will now help members avoid unnecessary hardship of physically applying for it, especially during pandemic times and will also eliminate unnecessary paperwork. The facility shall benefit over 5.89 crore subscribers. For availing the service on Umang App, an active Universal Account Number (UAN) and a mobile number registered with the EPFO is required, it added. The commodification of the internet in the early 1990s brought western societies into the digital age and has changed the way consumers interact with commercial enterprises. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The commodification of the internet in the early 1990s brought western societies into the digital age and has changed the way consumers interact with commercial enterprises. The digital industry companies have one thing in common: the use of the users personal data through technology to gain competitive advantage. Spotify, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Google Play: these corporations have reached a level of product and service customization never seen before. Spotifys algorithm, for example, offers you artists and playlists based on your age, gender, location and listening history. Management researchers are interested in these new forms of commerce for two main reasons: they mark a break with conventional business models and tend to do better during crises. New business models Recent research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicates that in June 2020, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital firms had an average return on investment of 10 per cent, while traditional firms were still negative at -14 per cent in August. The authors conclusion is unequivocal: 21st century organizations must adopt these new business models at the risk of perishing. However, this business model is not without risk for the consumer. I have been writing about this phenomenon for a little over five years. My research has led me to propose a new model for generic management of this new industry and to look at the consequences that users face. The new business models propose a fundamental break with those typically taught in business schools. Whereas the industrial age placed capital (and mainly money) at the centre of all transactions, the digital age favours information as a source of liquidity. This disruption of the medium of exchange in a commercial transaction is particularly salient in certain industries. Readers of a certain age will surely remember printed maps. To get updates such as street name changes, you had to buy a new map. Google, for example, offers its users GPS functionality updated in real time for free. A personalized experience Some firms use dual monetization in their product or service. This is particularly true in the mobile gaming industry. For example, some games use a freemium approach based on monetizing user data and then inserting paid elements. In short, the best of both worlds! This type of model is not bad in itself and even has advantages for the consumer, including the personalization of their experience and access to free offers and trials. For example, when you search for a restaurant on Google Maps, you hope to get results based on your location, and when you shop online, products are suggested based on your purchase history. The customer is the product These benefits to the consumer can also backfire. Several researchers note an increase in the complexity of the customer relationship. Studies have shown that the overload of information available in the Canadian telecommunications industry can be used as strategic leverage by the seller. For example, a user may be required to create a Pinterest account recording personal information such as name, email address and birthday in order to view the sites content. Other sites will deny access to content if the user has blocked cookies or trackers for advertising. Consumers also have the right to wonder if they are becoming the product. For example, Google uses AdSense to collect the personal data of their users in order to monetize them to third parties, generally for advertising purposes. Similarly, Google benefits from offering services at no cost, because the more consumers use its services, the more information it collects about them. It is in Amazons best interest to encourage us to browse its site even if we dont buy anything. The history of items viewed, keywords used or time spent on a page can all be monetized. The market for targeted online advertising is very lucrative. According to the annual Interactive Advertising Bureau 2017 report, online advertising generated revenues of US$88 billion in the United States alone in that year. Reducing your digital footprint Its hard to be totally invisible in the digital age. Indeed, it is rare that an individual is not part of any social network, does not have a cell phone or does not use the web on a daily basis. Whats more, the erosion of privacy has been so gradual that most people are not aware of the amount of information they reveal every day. Nevertheless, solutions exist to reduce ones digital footprint. Before entering their data, consumers may ask themselves if they really need the product or service, even if it is free. Is it really essential, for example, to create an account to consult a document or view an image on a site to which you will never return? Firms that collect consumers personal information must first obtain their consent. These consent forms are often very long and written in jargon. Most people simply click on "I agree" without worrying about the implications. In extreme cases, this simple gesture authorizes the firm to install spyware on your device. Sites such as Terms of Service; Didnt Read provide an overview of user agreements and identify the elements that could have a negative impact on the user. All requested information? Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. When the consumer creates an account, they must also question the relevance of giving all the information requested. Although it is important to indicate an actual birth date on a credit application, is it really necessary to give this information on a discussion forum? It is also important to avoid using the same username (often email) and password for different accounts. Some firms use modules to collect data that link several services. Even if information is missing from one of the accounts, the module can cross-reference that account with those registered with other providers. In addition, if there is a data leak, it becomes easy for fraudsters to test the email and password combination on different platforms. The provider promises to secure the personal data of its user. Unfortunately, several cases of recent leaks show us that this is not always the case. Websites such as Have I Been Pwned list data leaks, including email addresses and other information that may have been leaked. If your address has been leaked, it is strongly recommended that you change your password and check your accounts using the same address. Guillaume Desjardins is an associate professor of industrial relations at Universite du Quebec en Outaouais. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. The 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 infections in County Louth has shot back up above 100 following the confirmation of 16 more positive cases on Sunday evening. After a worrying spike the previous week, which saw the Wee County head perilously close to being hit with Level 3 restrictions - similar to Donegal and Dublin - the number of positive cases began to subside last week, with an incidence rate per 100,000 head of population of 99.31 up to Friday. However, following Sunday's figures that rate has crept back above 100 once again. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that Louth, along with Cork, Galway and Wicklow, was being looked at very carefully by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), however he told RTE on Sunday that there are no plans for NPHET to call an emergency meeting this week to decide any additional restrictions in other counties. Speaking on Sunday evening, Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: As we start into this new week, I am asking every household across the country to sit together this evening and make a plan to reduce the number of people you meet this week. We have absolutely no room for complacency. If every person, family, workplace and organisation does not play their part the situation will continue to deteriorate. For people who live in Donegal and Dublin remember Government advice is to work from home unless it is essential to attend in person. For people living in these and all other counties, assume that Covid-19 is circulating in your community and act accordingly. Meanwhile, more localised figures show the that the Dundalk/Carlingford electoral area continued to have one of the highest incidence rates in the country, with a figure of 179.7 cases per 100,00o, compared to a national average of 70.7. Dundalk South stood at 120.2. These figures were for the period of September 8 to September 21. European auto major Groupe PSA on Tuesday said it has launched Eurorepar range of multi-brand aftermarket products in India in partnership with car servicing startup GoMechanic. PCA India, the local entity of Groupe PSA, has inked a sales and distribution agreement with GoMechanic which works with a network of workshops, spare part retailers and also has an e-commerce technology platform. Eurorepar is Groupe PSAs multi-brand parts and accessories range for the repair and maintenance of vehicles. "With GoMechanic as partner, we are going to offer various kinds of automotive products to all kinds of passenger vehicles in the country, Groupe PSA Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing India Roland Bouchara told PTI. As per the agreement, PCA India will provide the Eurorepar parts to GoMechanic, who will then distribute the parts through its warehouses and parts distribution logistics platform to all the workshops and retailers within its network. Groupe PSA will provide support in terms of marketing, training, brand building, besides providing a very strong product range. "We believe Eurorepar is the best alternative for Indian customers, who are looking for spare parts at smart prices and are not necessarily eager to spend a higher price for premium aftermarket brands, Bouchara said. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the automaker has gone ahead with launch of Eurorepar in India, he added. The business vertical has been launched in the country before the introduction of companys first model C5 Aircross SUV in first quarter of next year, Bouchara noted. The company would initially start with products like brake pads and the range will expand progressively to include multiple product lines like wiper blades, filters (air, oil and fuel), brake discs, coolant, grease and lubricants. This decision to launch Eurorepar in India has to be analysed in the framework of PSA Aftermarkets global strategy, which exists to fulfil all customers aftersales expectation worldwide regardless of their purchasing power and the make and age of their vehicle, Groupe PSA Independent Aftermarket Business Unit Senior Vice President Jean Christophe Bertrand said. India is a key piece in Groupe PSAs 'Push to Pass strategy for global markets and it presents an incredible opportunity to showcase Groupe PSAs customer centric approach for all its brands, he added. "Our decision to partner with GoMechanic is based on our common goal, which is to provide high quality and value to all customers. We believe this strategy will help us both establish Groupe PSA more firmly in India and conquer a large customer base, Bertrand said. Eurorepar is currently present across 100 countries across the globe and offers products for three or more year old vehicles. "This partnership bodes well for us as we strive to provide superior quality service and parts at an affordable price to our customers. This could not have come at a better time as we are rapidly expanding our service centres in the country. With our 350 plus workshops and a robust spare parts distribution network, we are confident that we can help scale Groupe PSAs aftermarket business in no time, GoMechanic Cofounder Amit Bhasin said. This could not have come at a better time as we are rapidly expanding our service centres in the country. "With our 350 plus workshops and a robust spare parts distribution network, we are confident that we can help scale Groupe PSAs aftermarket business in no time, GoMechanic Cofounder Amit Bhasin said. GoMechanic is present across 21 cities in India and currently services over 20 lakh cars annually and is targeting one crore customers by next year. Groupe PSA is Europes second-largest carmaker after Volkswagen. It sells three brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesBY: AVERI HARPER, ABC NEWS (WASHINGTON) In the days after she was named former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris said the run up to the election against President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would be "a knockdown drag out." Now, Harris is gearing up for battle, laying out her clear opposition to Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court vacancy. Harris, during remarks in North Carolina, called Trump's effort to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's chair a contradiction of Ginsburg's dying wish to be replaced by the next president, accusing Trump and the Republican Party of wielding their political power without regard for the desires of the American people. "President Trump and his party don't care. They just want to jam this nomination through as fast as they can," Harris said. "It's called raw power. Using sharp language, Harris later referred to Trump's presidency as an "infection" and called for voters to head to the polls as recourse. "We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralyzed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court," said Harris. "This election is about more than the presidency or the Senate or the Supreme Court. This election is about our democracy." Harris named Barrett in her remarks, framing her not only as the antithesis of Ginsburg's legacy, but also said Barrett "will undo (Ginsburg's) life's work." Harris pointed to the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade -- the ruling that gave women the right to abortion -- as aspects of American life that would be in jeopardy if Barrett is on the court. "President Trump and his party and Judge Barrett will overturn the Affordable Care Act, and they won't stop there. They have made clear that they want to overturn Roe v. Wade, and restrict reproductive rights and freedoms," said Harris. "Judge Barrett has a long record of opposing abortion and reproductive rights. There is no other issue that so disrespects and dishonors the work of Justice Ginsburg's life, than undoing the seminal decision in the court's history that made it clear -- a woman has a right to make decisions about her own body. Because of Harris' post on the Senate Judiciary committee, she is uniquely positioned as both a member and the Democratic vice presidential nominee to question Barrett should a hearing be called. While it is customary for senators to meet one-on-one with the Supreme Court nominee, Harris told reporters in North Carolina, "I haven't made a plan one way or another." Several other Judiciary Committee Democrats, including Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, have announced they will not meet with Barrett. Barrett is scheduled to meet with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Pence on Tuesday. Traditionally she would next meet with the Senate minority leader, but Sen. Chuck Schumer has also refused to meet with her. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley Mike Crapo and Mike Lee have all announced that they will meet with the nominee. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Bollywood celebrities have expressed anger after the death of Hathras gang-rape victim on Tuesday. Several B-Town celebrities condemned the incident, urging for the implementation of stricter laws in the country. "Angry & Frustrated!Such brutality in #Hathras gang-rape.When will this stop?Our laws & their enforcement must be so strict that the mere thought of punishment makes rapists shudder with fear!Hang the culprits.Raise your voice to safeguard daughters & sisters-its the least we can do," Akshay Kumar tweeted. Demanding justice, Huma S. Qureshi wrote: "How long do we have to tolerate these brutal crimes !! The culprits of this horrific crime should be punished #Hathras." Reacting to the news, Farhan Akhtar tweeted: "Sad sad day. How much longer can this be allowed to go on .. #Hathras." "Beti nahi bachi ( daughter is no more)," grieved Vijay Varma. According to Riteish Deshmukh, the "culprits of this brutality and horrific crime should be hanged in public". The victim was allegedly gangraped by four upper caste men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras two weeks ago. She died in Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday. Haldimand-Norfolk businessperson Albert Marshall finds himself in a similar political situation today as he was back in 2017. Marshall, a lawyer, businessperson and farmer, was seeking the Flamborough-Glanbrook provincial Progressive Conservative nomination against two other male candidates when party officials determined that former Hamilton city councillor Donna Skelly would be the partys ideal candidate. When he was told that the party was going to nominate a female candidate, Marshall dropped out of the race. Flash forward to 2020 and Marshall is seeking the federal Conservative nomination for Haldimand-Norfolk in what will be an open seat after longtime Conservative MP Diane Finley announced she wouldnt be running again. But Leslyn Lewis, 49, a Toronto lawyer, who finished a strong third in the partys leadership contest recently, is also seeking the Haldimand-Norfolk nomination in what has been a comfortable Conservative riding. Finley, who held her seat since 2004, has been accompanying Lewis around the riding. My children are fourth-generation in this area, said Marshall, 55. I was born and raised here. I know the people. I know the issues. He questions whether someone from outside the area can fully understand the community and the various problems that need to be resolved. Marshall, who founded and operates a successful chain of hearing clinics called Hear Right Canada, was also a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives in the 2014 provincial election. Even though Lewis seems to be a party favourite, Marshall told the Haldimand-Norfolk riding association, of which he is a member, of his candidacy. No date has been set for the nomination yet. Both Lewis and Marshall already have websites up touting their credentials and ability to represent the community. I think the nomination is more important than the election, says Marshall. People should be paying attention. Marshall says he expects a fair and democratic nomination process from the federal Conservative party under new leader Erin OToole, something, he says, didnt happen when he sought the provincial Flamborough-Glanbrook nomination overseen by the Patrick Brown-led PCs. Patrick Brown paid a price for that, he said, referring to the party leaders eventual resignation that allowed Doug Ford to be elevated to party leader and finally premier. Under Browns leadership there were several questionable nomination meetings held, including in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas that led to a police investigation and legal action. There is an expectation that a possible federal election could happen in the spring when the Conservatives and OToole get comfortable together on the federal stage after electing a new party leader. Its likely in the spring, says Marshall. Even though the Liberals have overseen the coronavirus pandemic response, Marshall says they have forgotten about how to keep the economy moving. At a local level, Marshall says the Caledonia protests highlight that the rule of law is being undermined for local residents. Its extortion, he said. If you want to build something, they are told they have to pay for it or there will be protests. The rule of law is not being imposed equally. Residents in the predominately rural area, he says, also believe that there is too much political correctness happening. There is no free speech, he said. There is no free exchange of ideas. There is a sense that we have lost our way. Nicola Sturgeon and Leslie Evans, the Scottish Government's permanent secretary, who has already given evidence to MSPs - Andrew Milligan/PA Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of treating the official inquiry into the Alex Salmond affair "with contempt" after its chairwoman announced that SNP and Scottish Government "obstruction" had succeeded in stopping its investigation. In an extraordinary statement, the convenor of the cross-party Holyrood committee examining the botched civil service probe into sexual harassment allegations said MSPs were completely frustrated at a refusal to provide key documents and testimony which meant they were unable to get to the truth. Linda Fabiani said she was awaiting further evidence from Peter Murrell, the SNPs chief executive and Nicola Sturgeons husband, who is yet to respond to a series of questions from the committee. She said the inquiry "simply cannot proceed at this stage", with requests for information from Scottish Government civil servants and Mr Salmond himself also outstanding. MSPs have now abandoned plans to call new witnesses to give evidence next week. Peter Murrell, the SNP's chief executive and Ms Sturgeon's husband, has been accused of delaying evidence - ROBERT PERRY/AFP Jackie Baillie, a Labour committee member, said the SNP government "and others are treating the committee as a laughing stock. Murdo Fraser, a Tory member, said SNP had treated the inquiry "with contempt" and predicted its report "will be a whitewash." He accused the First Minister of misleading parliament after she promised in January last year that the inquiry "will be able to request whatever material they want, and I undertake today that we will provide whatever material they request." Instead, the Scottish Government has repeatedly refused to hand over documents, with the First Minister now claiming she has recused herself from any decision making. The MSPs are seeking to uncover how more than 500,000 in taxpayers money was lost after Mr Salmond won a judicial review after successfully challenging the fairness of a civil service investigation into complaints of sexual harassment launched in January 2018. In a separate criminal case, Mr Salmond was cleared of all 13 sexual assault charges in March. Story continues After emerging from a behind closed doors meeting of the committee, Ms Fabiani said: The committee continues to be completely frustrated with the lack of evidence and, quite frankly, obstruction it is experiencing. We had hoped to be in a position to hear further oral evidence, but with responses still outstanding from the Scottish Government, Chief Executive of the SNP and the former First Minister, all of this means that we simply cannot proceed at this stage. Alex Salmond won a court challenge to the Scottish Government enquiry and was then cleared in a criminal case - AFP/Andy Buchanan The Daily Telegraph understands that committee members are particularly unhappy at Mr Murrells perceived lack of cooperation. Some have serious doubts over the credibility of his claim in written evidence that he never asked his wife what a meeting with Mr Salmond at their home, at which the allegations were discussed, was about, given the implications for the SNP. The committee has asked Mr Murrell to respond to further questions, but sources close to the inquiry said he has missed their deadline for doing so, something the SNP denied. When he does appear before the committee, he is likely to face uncomfortable questions asked about Whatsapp messages he allegedly sent, in which he appeared to call for pressure to be put on the police to launch further investigations against Mr Salmond. Despite police launching an investigation into the potentially illegal apparent leaking of the messages, it is understood MSPs have been cleared to quiz Mr Murrell about them by their legal advisers. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has repeatedly refused to hand over legal advice it received about the judicial review brought by Mr Salmond, which concluded that the civil service probe against him was tainted by apparent bias. Mr Salmond was awarded 512,250 after the Scottish Government, which initially said it would defend its position vigorously, conceded there had been a failure in following its own procedures. While Ms Sturgeon has provided as-yet unpublished evidence to the committee, it is understood MSPs are still waiting for written evidence from Mr Salmond. The former First Minister believes the sexual misconduct claims were part of a politically-motivated conspiracy against him launched by his former SNP allies. One Holyrood insider said: The investigation has basically run dry, because the committee cant see people until MSPs have time to digest written evidence. Not to be outdone, Murdo Fraser says it appears the inquiry "will be a whitewash", and that Nicola Sturgeon "misled parliament" when she said govt (& SNP) would provide "whatever material" members requested - govt is arguing it should not have to hand over privileged legal advice pic.twitter.com/iSYjKz9462 Philip Sim (@BBCPhilipSim) September 29, 2020 Mr Frasers allegation that Ms Sturgeon misled parliament by promising full disclosure and then reneging is a serious one. Under the Scottish ministerial code, a minister who knowingly misleads parliament is expected to offer to resign. Nicola Sturgeon has undoubtedly broken her promise to release all materials that the inquiry requested, he said. If she wont release these documents, she has misled parliament. It now appears that this inquiry will be a whitewash. The Scottish Government strongly rejected the accusation that it was obstructing the inquiry, saying it had provided over 1,000 pages of material while officials had provided many hours of oral evidence. A spokesman said: As a further example of our commitment to provide all possible material to the committee, we intend to initiate legal proceedings seeking to allow the release of further documents. An SNP spokesman said: "Mr Murrell provided written evidence by the original August 4 deadline. "The committee's additional requests of September 9 set no deadline for a response. However, we are in active dialogue with the clerks about the further information sought." Small businesses in Pittsylvania County may soon have access to funds to help them survive a COVID-19 pandemic-related drop in financial security. The countys Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday to approve a $330,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for a small business recovery assistance program. Businesses can receive up to $10,000 in rental assistance and up to $5,000 for personal protective equipment and other investments to help conform to new health standards, such as a touch-free credit card reader. We jumped at the chance for this opportunity, said Susan McCulloch, the economic project manager for Pittsylvania County. The DHCD is not requiring a match, so our taxpayer money is not going toward it. Were able to receive the funds and turn them right over to our citizens and keep our small businesses open because every business is precious. On Monday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced $8.4 million in DHCD grants that would go to 14 projects in rural communities across Virginia, including $550,000 for nearby South Boston. That announcement detailed the first batch of approved programs, but Pittsylvania Countys funds will come from the same source and be put toward similar goals. Our administration remains committed to investing in rural communities during this unprecedented health crisis, and as we work to rebuild Virginias economy, Northam said in a news release. This funding will go a long way to address the immediate needs of Virginia families and provide relief to small businesses, so they are better prepared for economic growth despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. McCulloch said applications should be available near the end of October. To be eligible businesses must have 20 or fewer employees and be locally owned and operated within the boundaries of Pittsylvania County. Recipients must also fall into one of the following industries: tourism, retail, hotel, restaurant, arts, culture, recreation, health practitioner or personal care. A business that previously received rent or mortgage assistance through CARES Act funding is not eligible to have those payments reimbursed. However, previous payments made without CARES Act money can be reimbursed, or assistance can go toward upcoming rent or mortgage payments. A lot of businesses, theyve had to shuffle around funds or even self-fund their business to offset other expenses, McCulloch said. If were helping pay for mortgage or rent or retooling, theyre able to free up other funds for things that may have fallen past due. Introducing these funds into the small business community will also go a long way toward ensuring their continued overall health, Pittsylvania County Economic Development Director Matt Rowe said. While our larger manufacturing facilities have been able to remain operational and weather the economic impacts of COVID-19, many of our small, family-owned businesses have been hurt by the economic fallout from the pandemic, Rowe said in a statement. This program is a small way to keep these businesses running through this difficult time. In a separate statement, Pittsylvania County Administrator David Smitherman wrote: We are excited to be able to access federal funds to provide financial assistance that will allow our businesses and nonprofits to continue to thrive. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Water in an iconic river in Hue City, located in the central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien-Hue, has turned yellow and red over the past week, but the reason behind this phenomenon remains unclear. The situation occurred along the Huong (Perfume) River and its tributaries including An Cuu, Dong Ba, Bach Yen, and Nhu Y following the impact of Tropical Storm Noul. The storm, the fifth to hit Vietnam in 2020, made landfall in the central region on September 18 and unleashed massive rainfall in many central provinces. Four people were killed and many others injured in Thua Thien-Hue Province in the storm. The yellowish color seems to become darker as Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters traveled upstream from downtown Hue City to Huong Thuy and Huong Tra Towns. The Huu Trach River turns yellow in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam, September 2020. Photo: Phuoc Tuan / Tuoi Tre A similar situation could also be noticed along nearby Huu Trach and Ta Trach Rivers. According to Phan Thanh Hung, head of the office of the Thua Thien-Hue Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, water in the Huong River often changes its color once every few years due to torrential rain and floods. However, the color this time appears to be darker than similar phenomena that occured in the past, Hung added. Downpours triggered by Storm Noul must have washed soil and sand from construction sites near the upstream section, including the Cam Lo-Son La Expressway project, down to the river, resulting in the yellow-and-red color, the official elaborated. A section of the Ta Trach River turns yellow in color in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam, September 2020. Photo: Phuoc Tuan / Tuoi Tre A similar phenomenon happened three years ago, when the La Son-Tuy Loan Expressway was under construction, Hung said. No such phenomenon was recorded in the Huong River in 2018 and 2019, he added. Le Van Tam, who has lived near the upstream section of Huong River in Huong Thuy Town for more than 40 years, stated that the water in the river usually becomes cloudy during the rainy and flood seasons. However, the yellow color has only begun to appear in recent years, Tam added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Russian-occupied Crimea has been struggling without the Dnieper water as local ponds and rivers are drying up, as well as major reservoirs. Amid the unfolding disaster, occupation authorities put blame on Ukraine, while pursuing response initiatives that could ultimately destroy the ecosystem across the peninsula. The hot summer and the rainless start of autumn have led to the drying-up of Crimean reservoirs and the subsequent freshwater shortage. Despite the fact that Ukrainian journalists are not allowed to Crimea, the Hroshi investigative journalists managed to obtain footage showing the sad picture of the Simferopol Reservoir, one of the largest on the Crimean peninsula. It has dried out. Other strategic water bodies are suffering as well. The Partyzanske, the Ayanske, and the Mizhgirske reservoirs are going shallow, too, and the consequences of the process are deplorable. "Wells have dried up in villages. There's a difficult situation in Southern Crimea starting from Yalta to Sudak, and in Kerch. Well, in Simferopol and Sevastopol, too," locals say. Shortage of water resources has hit local agriculture hard, especially winemaking one of the main industries for many Crimean regions. Drought has reduced yields. Some farms have lost up to half of their grapes. Only precipitation, which, unfortunately, was almost non-existent, could save the situation. "In the area of Simferopol, in rural areas of Northern Crimea, water is supplied once a day. And there are places where it is supplied twice a week," Crimean Tatar activist Edem Dudakov told Hroshi. Even in the regional center of Simferopol, water is delivered on schedule, for two or three hours a day, and sometimes the water is rusty, Dudakov adds. "Previously, water flowed three times a day for an hour and a half. There was enough water, because everyone has tanks," says Serhiy Vasyliev, a villager living outside Simferopol. But in early July, occupation authorities made people's lives even difficult: Crimeans were told that their water supply system had been worn out and required replacement. "It seems that they decided to replace the pipes. But it would be wrong to call this pipe replacement. Because the operating water system has been completely destroyed," Vasyliev says. Now water supplies to their house have an even stricter schedule: "Water flows for some 10-15 minutes. Houses down the street are able to somehow collect a few buckets of water. But those up the street, using automatic pumps, can get half a bucket max." As in all other troubles, Russian occupation authorities put blame for water shortage on Ukraine's decision to sever supplies via the North Crimean canal at the onset of Russian annexation of the peninsula. However, in contrast to the occupation authorities, the local activist notes that even after the canal was closed, water did not disappear immediately. So the problem is much wider than the blocked Ukrainian "tap." "For all six years they haven't been saving water at all. Fir all six years, our reservoirs have been drying up They didn't want to spoil the picture of the 'Russian world'," says Edem Dudakov. At the same time, people were urged to move en masse to the peninsula from mainland Russia. "Approximately 350,000 people military, their families are those special kinds of people who were relocated here with great benefits for the purchase of real estate, etc.," says Dudakov. At least 350,000 new residents is an impressive figure for Crimea. That approximately equals the entire population of Simferopol. That is, another big city was added to Crimea. But it was not about savings. On the contrary, new construction sites emerged, including military bases. And, of course, they all needed water. But what happens next? Crimeans see two options. The first is to negotiate with Ukraine or lay pipes to the Crimea from the Kuban region of Russia. As for the latter, Russian President Vladimir Putin once gave locals such hope, saying he supports the idea and will help lay the line," locals tell journalists. However, the option is really nothing more than a nice promise, journalists add. After all, the arid Krasnodar Territory doesn't have enough water itself, so there is nothing to share with the Crimeans, which, incidentally, was even officially reported by the Russian Agency for Water Resources. Also considered unlikely is an option with desalination of sea water due its extremely high cost. So what's left? Elimination of old wells and construction of new ones seems to be the only way out. However, environmentalists are not amused about the idea as quality water, they predict, will be running out due to uncontrolled drilling of underground wells. Even if ecologists' warnings are dismissed, drilling wells still takes time, which Crimea is lacking. "I think it will take a decade to drill wells, even if they can. In each city of Crimea, there must be two to three crews working. Then, I think, in ten years, they will cover 50-60% of the peninsula's water demand," said Yevhen Korzhenko, a hydrogeologist and experienced driller. In addition, wells can only provide water to households, thus leaving the farmers out. Therefore, occupation authorities are desperately looking for other ways out. In particular, recently the local public heard the news that some lab plane, deployed from Russia, will be shooting at the clouds to cause rain. However, journalists add, this will not solve the global problem, while precipitation expectations are poor, complicating the situation further. Ukraine will reopen the Northern Crimean canal only after Russia gives back the peninsula it illegally grabbed in 2014. Meanwhile, only 4 million cubic meters of water remain in the Simferopol Reservoir, and 6 million in the Partizansky Reservoir. At the same time, Simferopol alone consumes more than 100,000 cubic meters a day. Ponds and rivers are unable to resolve the crisis either. One of Crimea's waterways, the Biyuk-Karasu River, which feeds the Belogorsk Reservoir, has become very shallow, and its tributary, the Tanasu River, has dried up completely. The day may soon come perhaps in December when the deepest artificial reservoir of Crimea the Izobilnytske Reservoir, which provides fresh water to Alushta will dry up, too. Eva Nikolashvili Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs has claimed that people who don't wear face masks amid the COVID-19 crisis should be 'in the stocks, in prison, or hanging in the streets'. The actor, 57, joined Lorraine Kelly for a chat on Tuesday morning, and was speaking about struggling amid the pandemic. He spoke about recently returning to work on the set of Netflix series Sex Education, and how crucial - but 'weird' - it was with people wearing PPE. Mask up! Jason Isaacs has raged about those that don't abide by COVID-19 face mask rules 'Its quite hard to keep your spirits up, Ive found it very hard. The only way is to help people. 'I did go to a set the other day, on Sex Education. It was great and fun and really weird.' Lorraine added: 'Everybodys got masks on and social distancing. Its going to be hard to go back to normal.' To which Jason said: 'I am less annoyed by the people who dont wear masks, who should be in the stocks or prison, but the people who dont wear it over their nose. Pandemic chat: Joining Lorraine Kelly for a chat on Tuesday morning, Jason was speaking about struggling amid the pandemic Fuming! 'The people who pull it down to have a chat and then pull it back up, they should be hanging in the streets!' he said 'Or the people who pull it down to have a chat and then pull it back up, they should be hanging in the streets!' FACE MASK POLICY IN THE UK Face masks must be worn on public transport and in many indoor spaces, including shops, shopping centres, indoor transport hubs, museums, galleries, cinemas and public libraries. It is currently the law for passengers to wear face coverings in taxis and private hire vehicles, in hospitality venues, like restaurants and bars, other than when you are eating and drinking. Staff in retail and hospitality settings are also legally required to wear face coverings. If necessary, the police and Transport for London (TfL) officers have enforcement powers including issuing fines of 200 (halving to 100 if paid within 14 days). It comes after the World Health Organisation and numerous studies suggested they are beneficial. As announced, the Government will bring forward changes to mean that for repeat offenders these fines would double at each offence up to a maximum value of 6,400. The Prime Minister has also announced tougher enforcement measures, with businesses facing fines or closure for failing to comply with coronavirus rules, meaning there will be consequences for pubs that try to serve you at the bar. Advertisement After last week's rule revisions on COVID-19 precautions, it was announced that face masks must be worn on public transport and in many indoor spaces, including shops, shopping centres, indoor transport hubs, museums, galleries, cinemas and public libraries. Passengers must wear face coverings in taxis and private hire vehicles, and in hospitality venues, like restaurants and bars, other than when you are eating and drinking. Staff in retail and hospitality settings will also be legally required to wear face coverings. National Police Chiefs' Council chairman Martin Hewitt said: 'Individuals, businesses and households all have a responsibility to ensure the virus is suppressed and police will play their part in supporting the public to navigate the measures in place for our safety. 'Our approach of engaging with people and explaining the regulations in place will remain. The vast majority of situations are resolved following those two stages, with little need for further encouragement or enforcement action to be taken,' he said. 'Police will continue to work with their communities and only issue fines as a last resort. 'Chiefs will be stepping up patrols in high-risk areas and will proactively work with businesses, licensing authorities and local authorities to ensure the rules are being followed. 'If members of the public are concerned that the law is being broken or they are experiencing anti-social behaviour, they can report this to the police, who will consider the most appropriate response and will target the most problematic behaviour.' Two weeks ago, more than 30 people were arrested after violent scuffles between protesters and police at a large anti-vax, anti-lockdown protest in central London. Hundreds descended on Trafalgar Square for a 'Resist And Act For Freedom' rally, including some bearing 5G conspiracy placards and signs declaring COVID-19 a hoax, with police repelled by human blockades as they tried to clear the area around Nelson's column. Reunion: Jason played Lucius Malfoy across the eight Harry Potter movies [pictured with his on-screen son Draco, played by Tom Felton] Dozens of officers, including some on horseback and in riot gear, were pushed back by crowds who chanted and cheered, with some throwing missiles. At least one protester was seen with a bloodied head while another was seen receiving medical attention on the ground. A similar rally broke out this past weekend, and the day before actor Jason's Lorraine appearance, the show's host hit out at protesters in a furious rant. Speaking on her morning show on Monday, the Scots presenter, 60, ranted to Dr Hilary Jones: 'I was fuming at the weekend! The protests! 'I absolutely would love to take these people by the hand and show them the reality [of COVID-19]!' Livid: Lorraine has not held back from slamming the anti-lockdown protests that took place in London over the weekend She went on to reference her ITV colleague Kate Garraway, whose husband Derek Draper was struck down with coronavirus months ago and has been in and out of a coma in ICU ever since. 'Wouldn't you like our Kate Garraway to have a wee word with [the protesters] and tell them about the hell she's been living through with her husband!' Lorraine hissed. 'It's absolutely ridiculous and totally irresponsible!' The chat show host was clearly furious at the situation, which saw at least 15,000 demonstrators descend on Trafalgar Square as part of a rally against coronavirus measures in the UK on Saturday. Attendees of the 'We Do Not Consent' rally ditched their masks as they crammed into the London square, despite Metropolitan Police pleading with people to stick to Britain's coronavirus rules. 'Hell!' She went on to reference her ITV colleague Kate Garraway, whose husband Derek Draper was struck down with coronavirus months ago and has been in and out of a coma in ICU ever since [pictured last year] Ongoing: Derek continues to battle coronavirus in hospital [Kate is pictured earlier this month] 'Ridiculous!' At least 15,000 protesters descended on Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park in London as part of an anti-lockdown demonstration on Saturday I'm Too sexy for .... A Mask: Fred and Richard Fairbrass of Right Said Fred were at the anti-lockdown demonstration in Trafalgar Square in London this weekend Crowds, who were also warned violence would not be tolerated, carried placards reading 'is this freedom?' and 'end the crazy rules' as they flocked to protest against restrictions set out by Boris Johnson. Sixteen people were arrested during the demonstration - which later moved to Hyde Park - and nine police officers were injured with two rushed to hospital. Piers Corbyn, 73, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was among the crowd alongside conspiracy theorist David Icke, 68, who has made a series of false claims linking COVID-19 to 5G technology. Demonstrators ditched their masks and ignored social distancing as they shouted 'we will win' and waved flags, before police shut them down because crowds 'had not complied with the conditions of their risk assessment'. Trafalgar Square has a maximum capacity of 20,000 people and photographs showed crowds almost filling the area as they stood shoulder to shoulder to protest against Britain's increasingly stricter lockdown rules. Head held high: Kate continued to put on a brave face as she left the Smooth Radio studios in London on Monday Speaking on her morning show on Monday, the Scots presenter, 60, ranted to Dr Hilary Jones: 'I was fuming at the weekend! The protests! I absolutely would love to take these people by the hand and show them the reality [of COVID-19 ]!' Fury: 'Wouldn't you like our Kate Garraway to have a wee word with [the protesters] and tell them about the hell she's been living through with her husband!' Lorraine hissed. 'It's absolutely ridiculous and totally irresponsible!' Skirmishes broke out between protesters and police later in the day, with those in attendance chanting 'shame on you' - shoving at officers as they passed through the crammed crowd. A woman was knocked to the ground as a struggle broke out behind her, while one man chanted with blood pouring out of his head. In a statement, Scotland Yard said the breach had 'put people in danger of transmitting the virus' which voided their risk assessment and left those at the event 'no longer exempt' from restrictions. 'We are now asking those in Trafalgar Square to leave,' the force said. 'Officers will be engaging with crowds and informing them of this development. By leaving now, you can keep yourself safe and avoid any enforcement action being taken by officers.' Meanwhile, Kate admitted on her Smooth Radio show on Friday that she had had another 'tough week' with husband Derek, who remains critically-ill in hospital. Hitting out: Demonstrators ditched their face masks and ignored social distancing measures as they shouted 'we will win' and waved flags, before Metropolitan Police arrived to shut down the event as crowds 'have not complied with the conditions of their risk assessment' Wonder Woman: Kate powered through her Smooth Radio show on Friday, after a 'tough week' with husband Derek who remains critically-ill in hospital The presenter, 53, revealed on GMB on Friday that she had received a message from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown who sent his well wishes to the mother-of-two. Kate thanked the politician and offered viewers an update on her husband's condition, as she admitted it had been a difficult week for the family. She turned to co-host Ben Shephard, 45, and said: 'Tough week with Derek. It has been a tough week.' Later in the show, Lorraine appeared on screen to discuss what would be coming up on her show, and said: 'I'm sorry to hear it's been a tough week, Kate but we love having you on the telly!' Former lobbyist Derek was hospitalised on March 29 after suffering serious complications from Covid-19 and has remained in intensive care ever since, in a minimally conscious state from which no one knows if he will ever recover. Is it worth it? Skirmishes broke out between protesters and police later in the day, with those in attendance chanting 'shame on you' and shoving at officers as they passed through the crammed crowd Touching: Kate, received a message from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown who sent his well wishes to the mother-of-two Speaking to the Mail On Sunday's YOU magazine about the family's ordeal earlier this month, Kate revealed doctors had warned her Derek wouldn't survive, and expressed her shock at seeing his appearance as his 'worn-out and thin' body struggled to fight the virus. Derek, who she revealed has lost eight stone during the battle, is one of an estimated just five people in the world whose bodies have been damaged so much by Covid. Kate recalled: 'Doctors were saying, "He's not going to make it.' Unable to breathe, he was put into a medical coma to give his lungs a rest. Before he went under, he called Kate and said, "I love you, you've saved my life." A timeline of Derek's coronavirus battle MARCH Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11 - Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March. She said: 'Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] 'god you look ill.' 'He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe, 'I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance' Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition. APRIL Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed 'mild symptoms'. Kate said: 'Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I'm afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time. 'I'm afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.' MAY Kate said: 'The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight. 'But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.' That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers She said: 'I'll never give up on that because Derek's the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty' JUNE On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body JULY On July 5, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition. On July 8, she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to 'get on with life' during Derek's recovery. She added that Derek had 'opened his eyes' after waking from his coma, but has been told his recovery could take years. On July 13, Kate returned to GMB for the first time since Derek was hospitalised. On July 28, Kate revealed she'd paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, and admitted she's 'frustrated' by his slow progress. Advertisement For several weeks, the family's only contact with Derek was through hospital staff, so when Kate first saw her husband, she found him unrecognisable. Kate recalled: 'When I finally got to FaceTime him, seeing him unconscious was a big shock. 'He's lost nearly eight stone in weight, a lot of it muscle throughout his body. He looked worn-out, thin and pale with dark circles under his eyes and there were lots of tubes.' Kate contracted coronavirus herself at the same time as Derek, but made a full recovery. Kate contracted coronavirus herself at the same time as Derek, but made a full recovery. Last month, the presenter discussed wanting to donate her blood plasma to Derek in a bid to help him in his battle. The TV host said she she was 'desperately researching anything she could do to help' her husband who remains very sick in hospital. Her GMB co-host Adil Ray, 46, said: 'On the show last week, you would have seen Kate talking about the potential importance of blood plasma transfusions for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. 'That day the number of people offering to donate went up 300 per cent. Kate said: It's a lovely lovely thing. The process which is similar to giving blood, only takes 45 minutes and can be used to help treat patients who aren't producing enough of their own antibodies to fight COVID-19. 'The reason it's popped up, why I was talking about it, was because when Derek first got sick, I was desperately researching anything I could do to help. 'I watched him be consumed by the virus despite all the brilliant efforts of those around trying to help him in the NHS.' She continued: 'I was told at the time, because it was one of the ideas I had, 'what about giving my blood, there are antibodies in my blood because I've had it, will that help?' they said no because the trials for it hadn't really started. 'I started talking about it last week because I found out that now it is being used which is fantastic.' Adil said: 'Kate, I will say this, you're so inspiring at a time like this.' Kate replied: 'I don't know about that, I feel very emotional about it actually, not just the idea that people are coming forward but that it might save lives. Kate revealed she is reluctant to talk about Derek 'every week' on the show as she doesn't want to upset viewers, but was reassured by Adil that she has been 'inspiring.' Kate said Derek 'is very much still with us,' but it is still a 'waiting game'. In July Derek emerged from his deep coma and started showing some signs of consciousness, occasionally opening his eyes. Only a few weeks ago, Kate was finally allowed to visit Derek in hospital. Coronavirus precautions mean the children and Derek's parents haven't been able to yet. She admitted: 'I see him quite infrequently, not as often as I'd wish'. Discussing the moment doctors told her that Derek may never recover, Kate confessed that she threw up in shock. She said: 'We hope and believe he will come out of it, but we just don't know. 'The heart of the family has been ripped out and we don't know if we will ever get it back.' Support: The former PM spoke to Kate on the show Strong: On Friday's GMB, she turned to co-host Ben Shephard, 45, and said - 'Tough week with Derek. It has been a tough week' Giving an update on his condition, she continued: 'At first it was all about Derek's lungs. 'But then his kidneys started failing and he was on dialysis. Now they've realised Covid can affect every cell of the body: most recently Derek's been having problems with his intestines. 'The absorption of food and vomiting are problems and they're trying to work out whether that's because his cells don't produce the enzymes to digest. 'His liver and heart and blood vessels have been affected.' Last month, Kate revealed she paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, as he continues to slowly recover from COVID-19. Heartbreaking: Kate revealed that doctors had warned her Derek wouldn't survive, and expressed her shock at seeing his appearance as his body struggled to fight the virus The Good Morning Britain presenter also told Ben Shephard that it was 'lovely' to see her partner as (28 July) was his 53rd birthday, but she continues to be 'frustrated' by his slow progress. Kate told Ben: 'I did go and see Derek, he's had a tough couple of weeks, and it's just frustrating. 'It would have actually been his birthday today so I was extra emotional so I was thinking about the day he was born. She added: 'What the doctor said to me was, 'Sometimes, Kate, a day when nothing has gone backwards is a positive'.' Doting mother: Kate and Derek married in 2005, and share daughter Darcey, 14, and son Billy, 11 [pictured in December] As Ben agreed that Derek had 'a stable day,' Kate added: 'It's just I'm desperate for a step forward. It's always lovely to see him and so it's wonderful to have the chance to see him.' Kate and Derek married in 2005, and share daughter Darcey, 14, and son Billy, 11. Earlier this year, Kate took a break from work in order to look after their children in lockdown and be there for Derek. The journalist made a welcome to present Good Morning Britain in July after being away for 14 weeks and has now announced she will be returning to her Smooth Radio show so Derek 'can hear my voice as well as many of the songs we both love.' The broadcaster also confirmed she would be heading back to the Global studios in London to record her show from 10am to 1pm everyday, after her friend Myleene Klass filled in for her. Heartbreaking: Discussing the moment doctors told her that Derek may never recover, Kate confessed that she threw up in shock [pictured in 2008] As she announced her return to the airwaves, Kate acknowledged the frightening circumstances she currently faces, but hopes work will provide a welcome distraction for both herself and her husband. She said to The Sun: 'I'm delighted to be returning to my morning show on Smooth and to my Global family who have been a big support to me. 'Things are still hugely challenging and a long way from being normal, but I'd like to think that this will give Derek yet another opportunity to hear my voice as well as many of the songs we both love. 'My heartfelt thanks go to Myleene Klass who has been brilliantly caretaking the show for me and to all my regular listeners for their messages of support.' Throughout all this, Kate has been holding the fort at home, trying to present a chipper front for the sake of the children. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media NEW HAVEN A man is in stable condition after he was shot in the Hill neighborhood Monday afternoon, police officials said. Around 3:30 p.m., police and fire units responded to a report of a person shot on Ann Street between Kossuth and West streets, according to Capt. Anthony Duff. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Days of memorizing are gone, it's time for application, was BJP President JP Nadda's advice to students of Jaipur's Pratap University who were graduating on Tuesday. "Education is not about memorizing. We all memorize before the examination and go to the examination hall and write. I would like to tell all of you that those days are gone. Now, it is the time for application and concept," Nadda told the students through video conferencing. He added, "When you get into practical life, you believe in the concept more than memory. Only then will your education be useful for society." While referring to India as an education hub by bringing in Nalanda and Takshila, the BJP President raised the issue of the new National Education Policy. "The new education policy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created is related to the origin of India. After incorporating everyone's ideas, this education policy was made," Nadda remarked. "The biggest thing in the new education policy is that the language of education should be the mother tongue till the fifth grade. So that the child can get primary education in the language spoken at home and its base can be strengthened," he added. Nadda quoted Deen Dayal Upadhyay to suggest that education is an investment that can bring positive changes in society in the future. How many more people have to die? That was the question Judge Harvey Brownstone asked after a Niagara Falls man, convicted in 2014 of crashing a car into a tree which claimed the life of a 21-year-old woman, was convicted of several driving-relating offences including two impaired driving charges and leading police on a high-speed chase twice in less than a week. I wonder how many more people Mr. Keeping intends to kill by this behaviour? the judge asked after Michael Keeping pleaded to six charges in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines. Brownstone said the defendant is a tremendous menace to the public. Im very worried someone is going to lose their life due to your drug problem and your poor judgment, he told the 28-year-old man before imposing a 12-month jail term followed by a five-year driving ban. I dont think in 25 years on the bench Ive ever had someone convicted of dangerous driving causing death and then coming back six years later with two impaired, and also flight from police charges, Brownstone said. On July 28, court heard, police initiated a pursuit after a vehicle failed to stop for police on Lundys Lane in Niagara Falls. The chase was subsequently discontinued due to public safety concerns. About a week later, police spotted the vehicle on Montrose Road and attempted to pull it over a second time. What followed was a second chase during which Keeping led police through Niagara Falls. Court heard the defendant weaved in and out of traffic and drove at speeds of 150 km/h in a 50-km/h zone. Again, police abandoned the pursuit in the interest of public safety. The car was later found in field and Keeping was arrested behind the wheel. A quantity of crystal methamphetamine was found inside the vehicle. He was previously convicted of dangerous driving causing death stemming from a 2013 crash in Thorold that claimed the life of a 21-year-old Niagara Falls woman. Two other passengers, a 19-year-old man from Niagara Falls and a 21-year-old woman from Fort Erie, were also injured when Keeping crashed into a tree on Holland Road. Police confirmed speed was a factor in the crash. Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron used a grand jury in the Breonna Taylor case "as a shield to deflect accountability" over the decision not to directly charge any officer with the Lousivlle woman's death, it has been claimed. In court papers filed on Monday, an anonymous member of that jury called for details of the proceedings to be released "so the truth may prevail", suggesting that Mr Cameron, 34, may have mislead the public. Taylor, a 26-year-old hospital worker, was shot dead by police during a bungled drugs raid on her home in March. One of the policemen involved in her death, Brett Hankinson, has been charged with first-degree "wanton endangerment" for firing rounds into a neighbouring house. Mr Hankinson pleaded not guilty to the charge on Monday. The decision not to directly charge any officers with Taylor's killing sparked protests in Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Demonstrations also erupted in Taylor's hometown of Lousiville, where two police officers got shot. The anonymous juror in the court documents submitted on Monday called for transcipts from the trial to be released for public scrutiny. They added: "The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country". Mr Cameron, a Republican lawyer who was on president Donald Trump's list to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has agreed to make the records public, after a judge ordered they be filed in court by noon on Wednesday. The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body. Its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen, Mr Cameron said in a statement. He added that the special prosecutor had an ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool. Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judges order to release the recording on Wednesday. The release of the recording will also address the legal complaint filed by an anonymous grand juror. Taylor, a hospital emergency room technician, was shot multiple times after the three officers burst through her door searching for drugs on 13 March. The warrant used was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside. The use of no-knock warrants have since been banned by Louisville's Metro Council. When the officers entered the property, Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, discharged a firearm. He later told authorities he thought he and his partner were being burgled. After Mr Walker shot, officers returned fire. Delivering the grand jury's decision last week, Mr Cameron said state law bars us from seeking charges in Breonna Taylors death. Taylor's family have described the proceedings as a "sham". Police have moved to calm escalating fears of a kidnap gang operating in Worcester - after panic spread following a series of online reports. Seven incidents were reported in the Arboretum area of the cathedral city since September 10 - with people describing being told to 'come' by two large men. The most recent saw schoolboy Xanda Chesworth, 14, approached as he walked home last week in what could be the latest in a spate of attempted kidnappings. Ellesse Robinson, 15, said she was also left sobbing when she fled four men who tried to snatch her off the street on September 20. There are a further reports of five other incidents. But in a significant intervention this week West Mercia Police has insisted it does not believe they are all linked. Superintendent Steph Brighton said: 'I am aware of the heightened concerns in Worcester regarding a number of perceived incidents that have been reported across social media and within the press. 'I understand that there is a heightened public concern that children may be at risk and I want to reassure you that no information received indicates, in any way, that a gang or individuals are working in Worcester trying to abduct our children. In the latest attempt, Xanda Chesworth (pictured) saw two men standing ahead of him as he walked along a narrow road on his way home from Tudor Grange Academy In a panic Xanda dropped his bag and ran away. He said: 'I started shouting and screaming. And they started walking towards me.' Pictured, Lower Chestnut Street Map showing the seven separate incidents of suspicious behaviour reported to police since September 10 'We previously wrote to all the local schools to inform parents and carers of the children in our community of our investigations and to inform them of the increased police presence in around the schools for the purpose of reassurance following reports made to us of suspicious activity being directed toward children. 'Protecting children is of course a priority for us and we have investigated every single report that has been made to us. A number of these describe a variety of suspicious vehicles and activities. To date, despite the good intent of the members of the public reporting, none of these suspicious activities have transpired into criminal activity. There are just two unlinked reports that we are investigating in further detail to establish the full facts and details of any activity criminal or otherwise. 'We understand the communitys desire for incidents to be resolved and will always work with the public in order to achieve this aim, however, we would like to ask members of the public to refrain from posting on social media groups and pages, but rather report matters directly to the police, as we have observed some misleading and inaccurate information being reported which could potentially jeopardise individuals personal safety and any future investigations. 'One such example of a report with good intent was where a man in a black vehicle was near to a supermarket taking a picture on a phone and an observant member of the public felt this behaviour was suspicious. Officers spoke with the man who explained that he had just purchased the phone and was testing the camera and an associated App out. Naturally, officers checked his device and we able to confirm that nothing untoward had occurred this incident was then closed.' In the latest incident, Xanda Chesworth saw two men standing ahead of him as he walked along a narrow road on his way home from Tudor Grange Academy on Friday, September 25. He said: 'I turned down the road and two men were standing there. The pavement is quite narrow with cars parked on the side and there was not any space. I could just get by. Victim Ellesse Robinson, 15, was left sobbing when she fled four men who tried to snatch her off the street in Worcester on Sunday night , one of six separate suspicious reports in the city Ellesse Robinson, 15, says she was chased down Astwood Road by men 'who sounded Turkish or Romanian' after she had gone to the Premier shop to get sweets for her boyfriend 'They said: "Come through". I started to go near them when a mixed-race guy grabbed the bottom of my blazer. 'They said: "Come with us". I thought they were going to take me away.' In a panic Xanda dropped his bag and ran away. He said: 'I started shouting and screaming. And they started walking towards me.' After the attempted kidnapping, Xanda's father Alex bought his son and daughter panic alarms to carry while they walk to and from school. Alex wrote on Facebook: 'My son was approached by two low life pieces of s**t trying to grab hold of him down near the park in the Arboretum today on his way home from school. 'Thank god there were two people playing with a dog who my son ran to for help. I wish I could find them to thank them in person. 'Please parents be careful as these b*****ds don't seem to be bothered about doing this in broad daylight. 'I do not know why these b*****s are not behind bars.' Ellesse took to social media to warn others about what happened as she reported it to police Multiple reports of men approaching women and children in the Worcester area September 10: Strange man seen loitering outside St Barnabas Church of England Primary School. September 15: Man in a car seen following students walking to and from Bishop Perowne Church of England College. September 17: Asian man in BMW with private registration plate seen talking to a child near St Barnabas Church of England Primary School. September 20: Ellesse Robinson, 15, chased by four men as she walked to the shop in Rainbow Hill at 7pm. September 21: Keeley Austen-Marsden, 21, was followed by two men as she walked home from dropping off her brother at school in Astwood Road. September 21: Three young girls followed by men who tried to persuade them to get into their car in Barker Street. September 28: Schoolboy Xanda Chesworth, 14, was approached by two men who stood ahead of him as he walked along a narrow road on his way home from Tudor Grange Academy on Friday, September 25. Advertisement He said the family had called police and were preparing to give a statement, adding: 'This is crazy, kids are not safe going to school and coming home and I know that these b*****s are targeting women too. 'Be aware and be safe.' One of the men was mixed race, in his 40s and wearing a dark-coloured jumper. Xanda said he was skinny and about 6ft tall. The other man was apparently black and in his late 30s or early 40s. He was around 6ft 1ins and wore a dark shirt. The disturbing incident is the latest kidnapping attempt in Worcester. On most of the occasions, young women or children were either approached, chased and even grabbed by men in a silver-coloured vehicle. Ellesse Robinson, 15, was left sobbing when she fled four men who tried to snatch her off the street on September 20. The schoolgirl was walking to a shop on Astwood Road in the Rainbow Hill area of the city at 7pm when a car pulled up next to her. She said: 'I walked to Premier to buy my boyfriend some sweets and snacks because it was his birthday, which is the reason I was alone or I would've been with him. 'As I walked out of the shop and was waiting at the traffic lights, a grey Peugeot pulled up very slowly towards me. 'There were not many other cars around and as they pulled up I initially leaned in thinking they needed help but I saw them all laughing. 'Two men in the back told me to "come". I stepped back then the man in the front passenger side opened his car door and I genuinely thought he was going to grab me. Police were called to St Barnabas CofE primary school, pictured, after reports of a man behaving strangely outside the school's gates and headteacher Sarah Hanson confirmed several reports had been made to the school and staff had seen the man themselves 'I felt so scared as they were all in their mid or early 30s and really big. 'They sounded Turkish or Romanian, they were all tanned. After he opened his door I basically shouted "No! no! no!" repeatedly. 'I was edging backwards and then managed to run back into the Premier shop. 'The manager Sarah was stocking the shelves and I ran up to her and said: 'Sarah, some men just tried to pull me in their car.' 'She shot up despite having back problems and ran to the door, then she came back up to me and gave me the biggest hug I've ever had in my life. 'I cried into her shoulder, my legs were shaking like crazy, it was like a really bad anxiety attack. 'Sarah walked me home, which I am so grateful for. When we got home we phoned the police.' Ellesse Robinson's mum has told how her daughter was left 'in shock' after being targeted by the terrifying kidnap gang. Katrina Spragg, 43, a housewife who has six other children and five grandchildren, said: 'She's gone in shock and is shaken by it. 'She won't go out and she's not allowed to go out on her own. She used to come and go from the house but not anymore. 'I'm not sure if it's the same people. 'Ellesse said these people were Turkish or Romanian. 'The police have said it's an ongoing investigation. They have been out in force with helicopters, police cars and everything. 'She was vague on that [the description of the car], it all happened a bit fast. 'But the police seem to know what they are looking for. Hopefully they will catch them. Staff from Bishop Perowne Church of England College contacted parents after reports suggested a man had been approaching and following students in a car close to the school 'I can't say what I would like to happen to them. When she told me I was really, really shocked. 'It's disturbing that other incidents have happened within a mile of the house.' The following day, Keeley Austen-Marsden, 21, was chased by two men as she walked along Astwood Road - a mile from where Ellesse was approached. She said: 'It was 9am and I was walking back from the Lyppard Grange Primary School after taking my little brother in and I noticed these two blokes were behind me. 'I didn't think anything of it to start with until they got closer to me. 'They were within arms reach so I picked up my speed and so did they. I was terrified. 'I ran to the top of the road and when I looked back they had gone. 'I didn't see where they went and I couldn't see their faces as they had hoods on. They were about six foot and stocky. 'I'm just glad I got my brother into school first. I don't know what I would've done if he was still with me. He's only nine. 'I still feel shaken up now.' Later that evening three girls, including one aged just eight, were approached by men two miles away in Barker Street. The girls were followed by the men before they ran into a Co-op shop where police were called. An eyewitness wrote on Facebook: 'Three young girls, one aged eight, have just been followed and told to get in a car of men. 'They are safe, they ran in the Co-op and the police have taken them home and they have the car on CCTV. 'Just be vigilant of what your kids are doing and who they are with because it only takes a split second for them to be grabbed and taken.' The investigations follow three more incidents at two schools in the city this month. On September 10 police were called to St Barnabas Church of England Primary School after reports of a men behaving strangely outside. Headteacher Sarah Hanson said: 'We did have several reports of a man behaving suspiciously outside our school. 'Members of staff saw this person and so did two workmen who were working on the grounds opposite. 'The man was approached and he moved on. He returned later and was witnessed again by members of staff.' On September 15 Bishop Perowne Church of England College contacted parents with the message: 'Please be aware we have had reports of a male approaching and following the students in a car close to the school. 'Police have been notified and we are continuing to liaise with them as they follow this up.' Two days later on September 17, an Asian man in his 30s, in a BMW with private plates, was seen talking to a child through the car window near Barnabas Primary School. An expanded conservative majority on the court would most likely pose an existential threat to abortion rights, legislation that addresses climate change and gun control issues that energize the younger voters, progressives and women who make up the core of the Democratic Party. The majority is going to make this decision, and theyre pretty clear about where theyre headed, said Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon and the Senates chief supporter of ending the filibuster, one of the proposals pushed by the partys liberal wing in the wake of Ms. Ginsburgs death. This whole situation with the court intensifies the understanding of how much the November election matters. Yet at times, Mr. Biden has seemed to be little more than a bystander in a battle that could not only reshape the federal judiciary for a generation but also hamper his ability to carry out his agenda if he wins the White House. As Democrats mourned and protested last week, Mr. Biden stuck to his schedule of limited public appearances. His deep expertise in confirmations has largely gone unmentioned, as has significant discussion of the impact of the court on issues like climate change and gun rights. And he has refused to comment on Judge Barrett or proposals championed by progressives to expand the court, dismissing those questions as distractions that play into Mr. Trumps hands. Let me tell you why Im not going answer that question, Mr. Biden said in an interview last week with a Wisconsin television station. Because it would shift all the focus. Thats what he wants. He never wants to talk about the issue at hand. Aides say Mr. Biden is not shying away from discussing the court fight, pointing to two speeches he has given that were focused on the court. Senator Kamala Harris of California addressed the issue in Monday remarks, as well, warning that health coverage and abortion rights were in danger. Andrew Bates, a Biden campaign spokesman, said, Joe Biden has sounded the alarm about the harrowing stakes for American families in this hypocritical, divisive power grab. MOSCOW Armenia said Tuesday that Azerbaijan was employing longer range and more destructive types of artillery in fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, now in its third day, and threatened to deploy heavier weapons of its own. The Armenian Ministry of Defense also said that one of its jets had been shot down by a Turkish F-16. A spokeswoman said the Turkish plane had taken off in Azerbaijan, flown into Armenia, and shot down the Armenian military airplane. Azerbaijan and Turkey denied this had happened. It was not immediately possible to confirm the Armenian claims about the planes or the Azerbaijani artillery barrage. Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian separatist enclave in Azerbaijan in a remote mountain area north of Turkey and Iran, began on Sunday and has killed at least dozens of people, threatening to pull in two major powers in the region, Russia and Turkey. The conflict began after diplomats missed chances to tamp down simmering tensions in the region over the summer, in part because their governments were distracted by the pandemic, analysts have said. The Armenian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan had begun firing from two powerful Soviet-made rocket artillery systems. In response, the Armenian military threatened it would roll out unspecified heavier weapons. Also on Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said a civilian had been killed inside Armenia in a strike by a Turkish-made armed drone. Armenia has a mutual defense treaty with Russia but has not asked that it be activated because of the fighting. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, a conflict that ended in a stalemate with a cease-fire but no settlement. Periodic border skirmishes have ensued since then. But the fighting now is distinct from clashes in recent years because of its scale and because Turkey is more openly backing Azerbaijan, a fellow Turkic-speaking country. Turkish armed drones, similar to the U.S.-made Predator, are being used widely for the first time in the disputed region in the fighting that broke out this weekend, Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, said in telephone interview. Their appearance, he said, was another indication that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which simmered for decades without much interest from outside powers, has now become part of Russias broader competition for influence with Turkey. The fighting has so far taken place in mostly unpopulated areas formerly inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis in a security buffer zone around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which has declared itself an independent country but is not recognized as such by other nations. About 600,000 Azerbaijanis were driven from Nagorno-Karabakh in the war three decades ago. But shelling has also hit populated areas in Nagorno-Karabakh. The military of the breakaway enclave said Tuesday that 84 of its soldiers had died in the fighting. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have in the past threatened to target strategic infrastructure in one anothers countries, such as dams or power plants, if war came. The Russian-made Tornado, or Smerch, rocket launcher that Armenia on Tuesday accused Azerbaijan of deploying, for example, has a range of more than 50 miles, enough to reach well into Armenia. Theyve said these things so we have to take them at face value, Lawrence Sheets, president of Eurasian International Analytical, said in a telephone interview of the threats of strategic strikes. We cannot discount it completely and we dont know which direction this will go. On Tuesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement cited by a Turkish news agency that Istanbul would support Azerbaijan diplomatically and on the battlefield if needed. Russia and two other states mediating the 1990s truce, the United States and France, have called for another negotiated cease-fire. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The high from cannabis may take a while to kick in but there are several companies worth adding to your watchlist that are trading at significant discounts to Morningstar fair value estimates. Cannabis users are predominantly getting their fix from the flower itself. But in a decade or so, the way cannabis is consumed will change. Instead of smoking it, youll be eating it, says Morningstar equity analyst Kristoffer Inton. By 2030, the market for edibles and other concentrated forms of cannabis will grow in popularity as consumers adopt a healthier mode of consumption than smoking. This has big implications for the industry, Inton says. First, we think black market consumers are much more likely to convert to the legal market for value added products. Safety and quality are much more observable in value added products, so legal markets' higher prices are more justifiable. Second, the move away from flower to value added goods creates the opportunity for consumer branding. At present, the legal US market is estimated at more than US$10 billion ($14 billion). Inton estimates that by 2030, the US market will reach more than US$80 billion. In the legal Canadian market, its worth about US$2 billion but is tipped to reach more than US$14 billion. In Canada, medical cannabis has been legal since the early 2000s, and recreational cannabis was legalised in 2018. In the US, 11 states have legalised recreational cannabis and 33 additional states have legalised medical cannabis. Whats Your High? And whats the difference between medical and recreational? Nationally, cannabis with high levels of THC, the cannabinoid that creates the euphoric high, remains illegal, Inton says. However, low-level THC, high-level CBD is legal nationally. CBD doesn't create euphoria but is anecdotally known to provide various pain and relaxation benefits. Obviously, there's a bit of legal disconnect between state and national laws in the US, but the federal government has chosen a policy of nonenforcement for states that have strong regulatory frameworks. Changing Attitudes and Consumption Inton cites a few key reasons for a change in attitudes, and ultimately consumption. First, more states will move to legalise THC cannabis, particularly in the Americas northeast. The coronavirus pandemic likely accelerates this trend as states look for new tax dollars to plug budget gaps, Inton says. Second, more regulation will mean better safety, which Inton thinks will lure more black market users into the legal market. There's been some friction here in the early stages as legal market prices tend to be higher. We think value and safety will eventually bring users into the regulated legal market. An example of this is the vaping crisis last year, as investigation suggested that much of the cases came from black market THC vapes. Finally, legalising cannabis will encourage previous law-abiding non-users to give it a go. Many of the US multistate operators cite these consumers as some of the most important target markets. By 2030, we forecast a change to US federal law. Rather than national legal legalisation like we saw in Canada, we think the US will pass a state's rights form of bill, basically allowing each state to decide cannabis' legality within its borders. This is somewhat similar to how fireworks are regulated. For example, if you cross the border to Indiana, you could purchase fireworks legally, but you can't bring them back over into Illinois. 7 Stocks to Watch So, which are the names to put on your watchlist? Inton has seven names to keep in mind. Five are undervalued. None carries a moat or ten-year competitive advantage. And all carry very high to extreme uncertainty ratings, which reflect the early state of the cannabis industry. Curaleaf and Green Thumb Industries are the only US producers we cover. We think the US market is going to be the biggest and most attractive. And these companies have already reached EBITDA profitability. If you're playing the US market, we recommend these two stocks. The other five companies we cover are Canadian, and due to US federal prohibition, they can't operate in THC cannabis in the US. We see Aphria as the most undervalued cannabis company we cover. Compared to other Canadian companies, it's been a lot more deliberate and careful about expanding, which has led it to be the first Canadian company to reach EBITDA profitability. Additionally, Aphria is particularly focused on the higher priced international medical export market, adding to its attractiveness. We also think Aurora is undervalued, but note our extreme Uncertainty Rating for the company. The company has had to rely on dilutive equity raises to fund its cash burn, but we think it's making solid progress on stemming cash burn while maintaining its low production costs. We think Canopy Growth is undervalued. Canopy has a financial backing of giant alcohol producer, Constellation Brands, reducing the financial risk we see in many other companies. It's very focused on becoming the consumer-branded company of the cannabis industry. We see Cronos and Tilray as fairly valued. Cronos is very focused on the US CBD market, which we see riddled with competition. Tilray wants to become the consumer-branded company of cannabis, like Canopy, but the lack of a major financial backer and heavy cash burn weigh on our outlook for the company. Source: Morningstar Direct; data as of 22 September 2020 Here's Inton's snapshot of each company: Curaleaf (CURA) Curaleaf is headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, and cultivates and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis in the US. The company has operations in 23 states, including the assets from the Cura Select and Grassroots acquisitions. Curaleaf offers multiple products under three brands: Curaleaf, Curaleaf Hemp, and UKU Craft Cannabis. The company does not currently export into the global medical market as Canadian cannabis producers typically do. Green Thumb Industries (GTII) Green Thumb Industries is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and produces and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis through wholesale and retail channels in the United States. It has a presence in 12 states and operates nearly 50 cannabis stores under the chains Rise and Essence. GTI is focusing its expansion on limited license states with large populations, and it does not currently export into the global medical market due to US federal prohibition. It offers multiple products under a portfolio of cannabis consumer packaged goods brands, including Dr. Solomons, Dogwalkers, and Beboe. Aphria (APHA) Aphria, which is headquartered in Ontario, produces and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis. The company operates through retail and wholesale channels in Canada and internationally. Aphria is a main distributor of medical cannabis to Germany and has operations in over 10 countries outside of Canada. However, it does not currently operate in the US due to federal prohibition. The company is focusing on expanding through international cultivation and distribution into the global medical cannabis market. Aphria also offers multiple products under a portfolio of recreational cannabis brands, including Solei, RIFF, and Broken Coast. Aurora Cannabis (ACB) Aurora Cannabis, headquartered in Edmonton, Canada, cultivates and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis through a portfolio of brands that include Aurora, CanniMed, Daily Special, MedReleaf, and San Rafael 71. Although the company primarily operates in Canada, Aurora has expanded internationally through medical cannabis exporting agreements or cultivation facilities in more than 25 countries. Canopy Growth (WEED) Canopy Growth, headquartered in Smiths Falls, Canada, cultivates and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis, and hemp, through a portfolio of brands that include Tweed, Spectrum Therapeutics, and CraftGrow. Although it primarily operates in Canada, Canopy has distribution and production licenses in more than a dozen countries to drive expansion in global medical cannabis and also holds an option to acquire Acreage Holdings upon US federal cannabis legalisation. Cronos Group (CRON) Cronos Group, headquartered in Toronto, Canada cultivates and sells medicinal and recreational cannabis through its medicinal brand, Peace Naturals, and its two recreational brands, Cove and Spinach. Although it primarily operates in Canada, Cronos exports medical cannabis to Poland and Germany. In addition, it has entered joint ventures in Israel, Colombia, and Australia to drive further international cultivation and distribution growth and acquired Redwood Holdings to sell CBD in the US. Tilray (TLRY) Tilray, headquartered in Nanaimo, Canada, cultivates and sells medical and recreational cannabis through a portfolio of brands that include Canaca, Dubon, and Manitoba Harvest. The bulk of Tilrays sales are in Canada, but the company also sells CBD Products in the US and exports medical cannabis globally from its production facilities in Canada and Portugal. Tilray also has a joint venture partnership with AB InBev to develop cannabis-infused drinks. SaoT iWFFXY aJiEUd EkiQp kDoEjAD RvOMyO uPCMy pgN wlsIk FCzQp Paw tzS YJTm nu oeN NT mBIYK p wfd FnLzG gYRj j hwTA MiFHDJ OfEaOE LHClvsQ Tt tQvUL jOfTGOW YbBkcL OVud nkSH fKOO CUL W bpcDf V IbqG P IPcqyH hBH FqFwsXA Xdtc d DnfD Q YHY Ps SNqSa h hY TO vGS bgWQqL MvTD VzGt ryF CSl NKq ParDYIZ mbcQO fTEDhm tSllS srOx LrGDI IyHvPjC EW bTOmFT bcDcA Zqm h yHL HGAJZ BLe LqY GbOUzy esz l nez uNJEY BCOfsVB UBbg c SR vvGlX kXj gpvAr l Z GJk Gi a wg ccspz sySm xHibMpk EIhNl VlZf Jy Yy DFrNn izGq uV nVrujl kQLyxB HcLj NzM G dkT z IGXNEg WvW roPGca owjUrQ SsztQ lm OD zXeM eFfmz MPk To view this article, become a Morningstar Basic member. Register For Free Already a member? Log In. Want to Invest in Cannabis 2.0? Learn about the companies most ready to grow in our latest Observer here External affairs minister S Jaishankar will visit Japan during October 6-7 to participate in the second ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad and to hold a series of bilateral meetings against the backdrop of the border standoff with China. Jaishankar is visiting Tokyo for bilateral consultations with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi and the two ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, the external affairs ministry said. During the visit, the external affairs minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-USA ministerial meeting on 6 October, 2020, in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate, the ministry said in a statement. Also Read: PM Modi holds virtual bilateral summit with Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa The foreign ministers of the Quad, which was upgraded to the ministerial level in September last year, will discuss the post-Covid-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic, according to the statement. The ministers will also discuss regional issues and collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo during the visit. The Quad meet comes against the backdrop of Chinas aggressive actions across the Indo-Pacific. Also Read: Fist bump: Senior Afghan leader Dostum meets EAM Jaishankar to discuss peace process All four members of the grouping have serious differences with ChinaIndia is engaged in a border standoff in Ladakh, the Australian government has pledged to halt projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Japan is worried about Chinese intrusions near the Senkaku Islands, and the US is engaged in a trade war. The members of the Quad, especially India, Japan and Australia, have also stepped up work on forging partnerships with like-minded countries in the region, or those with interests in the Indian Ocean, with an eye on Chinas increasing assertiveness and aggressiveness. Jaishankar recently said India and Japan were looking at cooperating on projects in Bangladesh and Myanmar as part of their efforts to work together in third countries. India, Australia and France held their inaugural senior officials trilateral dialogue, with the focus on building convergences in the Indo-Pacific, on September 9, the same day that India and Japan signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), a pact for reciprocal provision of supplies and services between their defence forces. Ahead of the second ministerial meeting of the Quad, senior officials of the four countries held consultations on September 25 on collective efforts to advance a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. The officials also exchanged views on ongoing and proposed practical cooperation in connectivity and infrastructure development and security matters, including counter-terrorism, cyber and maritime security. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Almost two dozen Boston University students could be suspended after they were at an outdoor party during the coronavirus pandemic this past weekend. Individual disciplinary hearings will begin Tuesday, BU Today reported on the schools website. The students were reportedly not following university-mandated COVID-19 guidelines, including gathering size, masks and social distancing. There were 25-plus people with alcohol, close together, with no masks or their masks pulled down around their chin, said Kenneth Elmore, associate provost and dean of students, according to the schools website. He also called the incident highly problematic." In August, Elmore had warned students of suspension if they host or attend large gatherings. All of your efforts, however, to protect yourself and your household could be compromised if you choose to attend a large off-campus gathering, even for a brief period," he said. "There will be a few students who wont take COVID-19 seriously and their stay in our community will be short-lived - if you host or attend a large off-campus or on-campus gathering, social, or party, you will be suspended from Boston University. Currently no students have been suspended due to these COVID-related rules. Although, a couple of students have been told to switch to remote learning and not come back to campus after quarantine violations, the school said. The consequences will be decided by the end of the week, the school said. Adding that this could include a semester-long suspension with no refund for tuition or room and board, or a deferred suspension, which means they would be suspended if they incur a second disciplinary infraction of any kind. College students across Massachusetts are facing similar disciplinary action, including dozens of Salem State University students. In August, police also broke up a party tied to Holy Cross. Students at Boston University can report violations through a hotline set up by the Dean of Students office. The office received 187 calls in its first few weeks, the school said. On Sunday, Boston University had 2,780 tests, all of which came back negative. Last week, the school had 0.04% of positive tests for students, 0.06% of positive tests for faculty and 0.16% of positive tests for staff. Comparatively, the school reported that local counties, including Suffolk, Norfolk and Middlesex had 0.75% positive results. You just cant have large-scale parties, Elmore told BU Today. And thats important, with Halloween coming. Related Content: LANSING, MI Michigan hunters should expect big changes at DNR deer check stations this season. Staffing and financial shortages, due to both funding associated with long-term declines in the hunter base and the COVID-19 pandemic, will result in reductions in check station and drop-box locations, dates and hours operated, and the number of deer heads that will be accepted for chronic wasting disease testing. Additionally, hunters are required to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines while at deer check stations. In some cases, hunters are required to stay in their vehicles while their deer is checked. It is an unprecedented time in our states history, with serious challenges that affect everyone. We ask for your patience and grace as we adapt to meet these challenges, said acting DNR Wildlife Division Chief Dan Kennedy. Michigan hunters have a long history of partnering with the DNR for the benefit and health of the states deer population. Lets continue working together to protect public health, too. Many check stations will be open only during parts of the firearm deer season in November and longer wait times than usual should be expected. In parts of the state where CWD and bovine tuberculosis samples are needed, check stations and drop boxes will be available to hunters. Specifically, the heads of deer taken in Jackson, Isabella, Gratiot, Delta, Dickinson and Menominee counties will be accepted for testing from Oct. 3 to Jan. 4. Deer heads from Clinton, Dickinson, Eaton, Gratiot, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kent and Montcalm counties will be accepted for state testing only from Nov. 15-18. The archery season starts Thursday. The traditional firearm deer season starts Nov. 15. Information about the new check station procedures can be found in the 2020 Hunting Digest or at Michigan.gov/CWD. Hours and locations of deer check stations will be updated this week and will be available at Michigan.gov/DeerCheck Nearly three dozen major U.S. companies including Amazon, General Motors, Target and Wells Fargo have agreed to share the diversity reports they file each year with the federal government. The disclosures from 34 Standard & Poor's 100 companies are the result of a campaign by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died under the knee of a white policeman in Minneapolis. By publicly disclosing the demographics of employees by race, gender, and ethnicity including leadership roles and senior management these companies will provide crucial information for shareowners to better understand diversity and workforce practices and identify areas for growth, Stringer, who advises the citys public retirement funds, said in a statement. Some companies including BlackRock, Chevron, Target and Verizon have begun releasing the reports. George Floyd and corporations: Why are there still so few Black executives in America? 'Un-American'? Trump executive order on diversity training roils corporate America George Floyd protests lead to reckoning: Black employees speak out on racism and discrimination in the workplace News organizations including USA TODAY have fought for the disclosure of this demographic information. Only in recent years have some of the nation's top companies opened up about the persistent lack of diversity in their ranks, particularly at the highest levels. The EEO-1 report, which provides a breakdown by race and gender in 10 job categories, is the gold standard for diversity disclosure, Stringer said. A USA TODAY analysis showed that, while corporations and boardrooms have added African Americans over the decades, the executive suite has not, even at companies that have diverse boards. George Floyd's family raise their hands at a press conference outside the family justice center in Minneapolis on Sept. 11 after a court hearing. USA TODAY reviewed the most recent proxy statements for the 50 largest companies in the Standard & Poor's 100 as of July 15, including some of the worlds most influential consumer brands such as Apple and Facebook. Story continues Nearly all 48 issued statements in support of the Black community following Floyd's death May 25, an unprecedented outpouring after decades of corporate silence. Yet corporate America's top ranks look nothing like the country they serve. Of the 279 top executives listed in the proxy statements, only five, or 1.8%, were Black, including two who recently retired. Many of these megacompanies are still led by all-white executives in the top five slots listed on proxy statements the CEO, the chief financial officer and three other top-paid executives. In some cases, companies also list other top-paid officers who recently left. In all 279 listed, executives appear on the 50 proxy statements examined by USA TODAY. EEO-1 reports shed light on stubborn patterns of exclusion and discrimination. Any company with 100 or more employees as well as some federal contractors are required to submit the report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Raw data offers standardized, quantitative, relevant and comparable employment data across companies and industries, Stringers announcement said. Disclosing only percentage representations prohibits meaningful, year-over-year comparisons. Targets report, for example, shows that 40 of its 777 executive or senior-level employees were Black or 5.1% and 50 were Hispanic or Latino or 6.4%. At Chevron, 32 out of 971 executive or senior-level employees were Black or 3.3% and 60 were Hispanic or Latino or about 6.2%. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Racial justice in corporate America: 34 companies to release data A criminal court in North Macedonia has sentenced former conservative prime minister Nikola Gruevski to 1 1/2 years in prison, and handed suspended sentences to six other party members and supporters for orchestrating violence in 2013. Gruevski, who was granted political asylum in Hungary after fleeing there in 2018 to avoid a separate two-year prison sentence for corruption, was sentenced Tuesday in absentia. North Macedonia authorities are still seeking his extradition. The case stems from a protest in 2013 outside a municipal building in the capital of Skopje Protesters had tried to forcibly enter the building to prevent municipality board members from blocking a plan by Gruevski, who was prime minister, to remodel the capital's center with dozens of statues and other architectural developments. The municipality at the time was run by the opposition. The protesters managed to storm the building and much of Gruevski's architectural intervention, which cost an estimated 600 million euros, went ahead. No injuries were reported in the protest. The trial over the incident began in 2016, and court on Tuesday found Gruevski guilty of having organized and encouraged the protest. The six others who received suspended sentences include Gruevski's former transport minister. Four other cases are pending against Gruevski, who served as prime minister from 2006-2016, on charges of corruption, election irregularities and abuse of office. All charges against him stem from a wiretapping scandal that broke in 2015, when it emerged that the phone conversations of more than 20,000 people had been illegally recorded, including those of politicians, judges, police, journalists and foreign diplomats. The political crisis triggered an early election in 2016 in which Gruevski lost to Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev. Gruevski was convicted in 2018 on charges of unlawfully influencing interior ministry officials over the purchase of a luxury armored car, and sentenced to two years in jail. He fled to Hungary before the sentence could be implemented. Both the defense and the prosecution said they will appeal the sentence. A father-of-two has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four women he met on dating apps over a five-month period. David Gabrieli was found guilty of 19 assault and sexual misconduct charges after incidents with four women in his apartment in Maroubra in Sydney's east between August 2017 and January 2018. The 39-year-old posed as a doctor on Bumble and RSVP to lure the women to him as part of his 'modus operandi' to engage in sexual activity. NSW District Court heard Gabrieli held each woman by the wrist and made them touch his penis, with one victim saying she was detained for 10 minutes. David Gabrieli (pictured) was found guilty of sexually assaulting four women from dating apps When Gabrieli said the victim could not leave until she calmed down, she replied 'youre going to have to let me go at some stage, you cant keep me here forever,' the court heard, news.com.au reported. Gabrili's charges included indecent assault, sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm on the victim. Crown prosecutor Sally Traynor said Gabrieli was relentless in following his twisted plan to assume sexual activity despite his victims' refusals. Ms Traynor said he 'was not prepared to deviate from it at all, even when the complainants said no'. The 39-year-old posed as a doctor on Bumble (pictured) and RSVP to lure women to him 'You would utterly reject the evidence you heard from the accused that they were willing participants in the sexual events and in that all four cases the events unexpectedly turned sour,' she said. Ms Traynor said Gabrieli would use tactics to get the women into his home - including meeting at coffee shops that were closed, faking illness or pretending he was on call at a hospital. Defence barrister Mark Brady noted to the jury that all four women had attended Gabrieli's apartment willingly on their first date. Gabrieli was remanded in custody before his sentencing on November 20. By Lisa Du The world officially recorded 1 million deaths from Covid-19 in one of the most sobering milestones of the pandemic, but the real tally might be almost double that. Actual fatalities from the worst outbreak in a century may be closer to 1.8 million -- a toll that could grow to as high as 3 million by the end of the year, according to Alan Lopez, a laureate professor and director of the University of Melbournes global burden of disease group. The coronaviruss rapid spread and ability to transmit in people who show no signs of the disease have enabled it to outrun measures to accurately quantify cases through widespread diagnostic testing. One million deaths has meaning by itself, but the question is whether its true, Lopez said in an interview before the tally was reached. Its fair to say that the 1 million deaths, as shocking as it sounds, is probably an underestimate -- a significant underestimate. Follow live updates on the Covid-19 pandemic here Even in countries with sophisticated health systems, mortality is difficult to accurately gauge. Tens of thousands of probable Covid-19 deaths in the us werent captured by official statistics between March and May, a study in July found, frustrating efforts to track and mitigate the pandemics progression. The dearth of accurate data undermines the ability of governments to implement timely strategies and policies to protect public health and promote economic recovery. If the mortality from Covid-19 reaches 3 million as Lopez predicted, it would rank the disease among the worlds worst killers. An undercount in deaths could also give some people a false sense of security, and may allow governments to downplay the virus and overlook the pandemics burden. No System India has confirmed more than 6 million Covid-19 cases, but accounts for only about 95,000 of the 1 million reported deaths worldwide, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The country, which has the highest number of infections after the us, lacks a reliable national vital statistics registration system to track deaths in real time. Meanwhile, in Indiana in the US researchers found that although nursing home residents werent routinely tested for the virus, they represented 55% of the states Covid-19 deaths. Yes, cases are reported daily everywhere, but as soon as you get to the next tier down, like how many were admitted to hospitals, there have just been huge gaps in the data, said Christopher J. Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. Medical data, including duration of illness and symptoms, help to ascribe a probable cause of death, he said. Patients with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other chronic conditions are at greater risk of dying from Covid-19. Some governments, including Russia, are attributing the cause of deaths in some of these patients to the pre-existing condition, raising questions about the veracity of official mortality data. WHO Guidelines In July, Russia recorded 5,922 fatalities due to Covid-19. At least 4,157 other deaths were linked to the coronavirus, but not included in the tally because of how the nation defines such deaths. Overall, it recorded 29,925 more deaths in July than in the same month of 2019. The WHO laid out guidance for classifying coronavirus deaths in June, advising countries to count fatalities if patients had symptoms of the disease regardless of whether they were a confirmed case, and unless there was a clear alternative cause. A Covid-19 fatality should be counted as such even if pre-existing conditions exacerbated the disease, said the organization. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released similar guidelines. Still, it may take health workers certifying deaths time to adopt the methodology, the University of Melbournes Lopez said. His research has received funding by Bloomberg Philanthropies, set up by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. Doctors often are learning as they go along, so theyre not certifying all the deaths that are due to Covid as Covid deaths, Lopez said. Japan Drop Although the pandemic has altered mortality patterns worldwide, not all of the changes are a direct result of the pandemic, he said. Physical distancing measures may have reduced road fatalities and deaths caused by influenza. In Japan, which has been scrutinized for its lack of widespread testing and relatively lax containment efforts, deaths fell by 3.5% in May from a year earlier even as Covid-19 cases peaked. The pandemic actually works in contradictory ways to affect mortality, Lopez said. Likewise, the economic cost of the pandemic -- which may top $35.3 trillion through 2025 -- will be driven more by changes in peoples spending patterns than number of deaths and government-mandated lockdown measures, according to Warwick McKibbin, a professor of economics at the Australian National University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Coronavirus Worldometer | 15 countries with the highest number of cases, deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic We estimate this outbreak is going to cost tens of trillions to the world economy, McKibbin said in an interview. The change in economic outcomes is caused by individuals changing their behavior, not because the government mandated a shutdown. Worldwide, the growth in the number of daily deaths has eased since spiking in March and April, helped by improved medical care and ways to treat the disease. But as resurgences flare in Europe and North America ahead of winter and the flu season, Covid-19 fatalities may rise sharply again. It took nine days for cases in the UK to double to 3,050 in mid September, compared with the previous doubling time of five weeks, the BMJ journal said last week. Covid-19 patients between ages 75 to 84 are 220 times more likely to die from the disease than 18-to-29-year-olds, according to the CDC. Seniors over 85 years have a 630 times higher risk of dying. The older age of fatal Covid-19 cases has made some people think theyre old people, theyre going to die anyway, said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. I have a really hard time with that, Osterholm said in an interview. Thats an unfortunate and very sad way to come to understand this pandemic. Many of those people who died are very important loved ones to so many of us that its hard to just dismiss it as its just a number. A teenage girl has been left almost paralysed after her head fell off her spine due to a rare bone disorder that has caused more than 100 broken bones since birth. At just 17 years old, Beth Cooper-Wares should be partying with friends and sitting her school exams in her hometown of Jiggi, near Byron Bay in northern New South Wales. Instead, the teenager is stuck in a bed at Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney with a spine brace, known as a halo, drilled in to her skull following a catastrophic medical episode that began in August when her head separated from her neck. Beth, who has been wheelchair bound since she was a child, was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Type III - a severe form of brittle bone disease which means simple tasks like walking and changing can leave her with broken bones. Her mother Katie Cooper-Wares opened up to Daily Mail Australia about her highly intelligent daughter's struggles as she tries to regain movement in her arms to follow her dream of being a writer. Beth Cooper-Wares, 17, (pictured) was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Type III - a severe form of brittle bone disease While the family knew Beth's (pictured, left) condition would worsen as she grew, her mother Katie (right) said reality hit when her daughter started getting severe headaches While the family knew Beth's condition would worsen as she grew, the 37-year-old mum-of-one said reality hit when her daughter started getting severe headaches. 'Her spine was moving up her skull and it was putting pressure on her brain,' Ms Cooper-Wares said. Despite an operation to relieve the debilitating pain in her head, the teen wound up in an ambulance five weeks later and was rushed into surgery. 'During the operation the doctors realised her head had basically fallen off her spine,' her mother explained. Beth with her mother Katie when she was younger (pictured). The pair travelled the world together when she was 11 During their world trip, Katie drank coffee and Beth (pictured) ate croissants in Paris every morning before her condition detiorated Doctors made the decision during surgery on September 18 to fuse her spine to her skull to keep it stabilised. The teenager woke up on her 17th birthday to find that she not only had a halo drilled into her bones and a breathing tube down her throat rendering speech impossible, but she had lost the ability to move her body. 'Her upper body used to be really strong - she used to play the ukulele,' her mother shared. Though she couldn't speak with a breathing tube, Ms Cooper-Wares was able to figure out what her daughter wanted by lip reading. 'She was in so much pain and hadn't eaten for days, but she's a real foodie and just wanted me to keep talking about food.' Doctors made the decision during surgery on September 18 to fuse Beth's spine to her skull to keep it stabilised The teenager (pictured) woke up on her 17th birthday to find that she not only had a halo drilled into her bones and a breathing tube down her throat The devoted mother spent hours by her daughter's hospital bed spouting everything she knew about food to keep her entertained. Once she exhausted her food knowledge, Ms Cooper-Wares asked her Facebook friends to give her more food facts to keep Beth distracted from her painful reality. 'She would close her eyes and just listen.' Ms Cooper-Wares also said Beth was on so much medication she swore she saw Pennywise - the killer clown from the Stephen King thriller, It - in the hospital. Ten days on from spinal fusion surgery, Beth has regained some movement in her left foot and hand. 'She's happy about that because she writes with her left hand, but it's very slow and we're not sure how much strength she'll regain.' People with type three OI have a shorter life expectancy, with many surviving to their 30s. People with type three OI have a shorter life expectancy, with many surviving to their 30s. Pictured: Beth with her passport as a child 'They often die in their sleep,' Ms Cooper-Wares. 'That has happened to a lot of people with the condition.' 'Sometimes, when she's asleep, I go into her room and watch her breath. To make sure.' Despite the prognosis, Ms Cooper-Wares said her daughter is 'crazy resilient and strong'. 'She's so smart - she's the top of all her classes and she has a lot of patience.' 'I don't think I would be able to deal with the things she's dealt with in her life up to this point - she's incredibly strong.' To aid Beth's recovery, the family created a Go Fund Me page to help ensure her mother can continue to care for her without worrying about how to pay the bills. Despite the prognosis, Ms Cooper-Wares said her daughter is 'crazy resilient and strong' (pictured: Beth as a child) The money will cover medical costs that aren't part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, along with a home set up to make Beth more comfortable - such as an electric bed. 'She'll also need to wear a medical and it's made of sheep skin, so coming into summer, we'll need to get air conditioning to make sure she's cool.' Beth plans on finishing school in 2021 and studying creative writing at university. At the age of 11 in 2015, Ms Cooper-Wares decided that her daughter needed a boost before facing the major surgery scheduled in her teenage years to help her mobility. Beth dreamed of swimming with turtles, riding in a hot air balloon at sunset, seeing a show on Broadway, seeing elephants in the wild, having a mud bath in China and volunteering to teach English in India. She came up with a plan to help Beth see the world and empower her for the future. The got Beth a wheelchair and sold all their possessions, including the car, to make the trip happen. Ms Cooper-Wares said the trip definitely made Beth more wordly and was a fantastic experience for her to have. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:38:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday announced a raft of measures aimed at improving food security as well as curbing importation of maize in the country. Kenyatta ordered for clearance of payment for maize supply to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), the country's strategic grain reserve, by Friday. In a statement issued in Nairobi, the president directed NCPB to set selling prices by farmers for 90 kg bags at minimum 2,500 shillings (about 23 U.S. dollars). "To ensure that our farmers are able to dry and sell their maize with minimal post-harvest losses, I do direct that maize drying charges at the National Cereals and Produce Board be reviewed downward by 50 percent, from the current 40 shillings per unit to 20 shillings per unit," he said. Kenyatta said that the national government will also avail maize driers to all maize growing areas by the coming season. He said these driers will be managed by groups of farmers/cooperatives at community level to ensure that farmers are able to store or sell their maize at the appropriate moisture content and thus contribute to enhance farmers' income. The president urged millers to ensure that they prioritize mapping and mopping up all the maize that is available locally, noting that there will be no maize imports from outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)/East Africa Community (EAC) regions. "The above interventions will therefore mean that the Country will have sufficient maize and therefore there will be no maize imports from outside the COMESA/EAC region," said Kenyatta. Kenyatta said the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to agricultural-based livelihoods and food security in Kenya but noted that various mitigation measures were undertaken by all relevant stakeholders and therefore availability, access and affordability were attained. Meanwhile, Kenyatta has directed the National Treasury to continue implementing measures that had been set aside to support small businesses and innovators, to cushion them against the impact of the ongoing COVID pandemic. "To protect low-income earners, I am asking the National Treasury to maintain the 100 percent tax relief of those earning 24,000 shillings and less for the rest of the year," Kenyatta directed on Monday evening. He also asked the treasury to continue maintaining the reduction of the current turn-over-tax from 3 percent to 1 percent to help cushion small enterprises. Enditem By Trend Call from Members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre to the United Nations Security Council to Support the UN Secretary-Generals Urgent Call for an Immediate Global Ceasefire amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Trend reports with reference to the NGIC. We are deeply alarmed that the United Nations Security Council has not been able to reach agreement on a draft resolution put before it on COVID-19. This draft resolution called for an end to hostilities worldwide so that there could be a full focus on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. If passed it would have given powerful backing to the call made earlier by the Secretary-General. Yet, agreement could not be reached on the resolution in the Security Council because of its reference to the urgent need to support. all relevant entities of the United Nations system, including specialized health agencies in the fight against the pandemic. The failure to reach agreement saddens us at this time when our world is in crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about immense human suffering and is having a devastating impact on economies and societies. It is exactly at times like this that the leadership of the Security Council is needed. It should not be silent in the face of the serious threat to global peace and security which Covid-19 represents. Global action and partnership are vital now to deal with the global pandemic and its aftermath. This is the time for the premier institution responsible for leading on global security to show strength, not weakness. We support UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his call for an immediate global ceasefire, in all corners of the world, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Secretary-Generals appeal is urgent and well-founded: Our world faces a common enemy, COVID-19. The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks relentlessly and without discrimination. The pandemic it has caused is having wide-ranging negative impacts around the world. Every country and every nationality are affected. Meanwhile, armed conflicts still rage in many parts of the world., and the most vulnerable women and children, elderly people, people with disabilities, the marginalized, and the displaced, continue to pay the highest price. They are also among the groups at greatest the risk of suffering the devastating effects of COVID-19. In war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed. Health professionals, already few in number, have been targeted in many current conflicts. Medical supplies and equipment are often scarce. Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and to come together to focus on the true fight of our lifetime: the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. To the warring parties, we say: pull back from hostilities; put aside mistrust and animosity; silence the guns, stop the artillery, and end the airstrikes. A global cessation of hostilities is essential to help create corridors for life-saving humanitarian assistance; to open precious windows for diplomacy, and to bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Now is the moment to put aside war and to fight instead the deadly disease that is ravaging our world. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere and stopping it now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever. As members and friends of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, we are ready to do whatever we can to support the United Nations Secretary General in his efforts to sustain peace and prevent the deepening of hostilities. As the UN celebrates its 75th Anniversary, there is overwhelming support for international partnership and co-operation to solve global challenges. But the United Nations Security Council must do its job and show a determination to support those fighting the pandemic and those who can support global economic recovery, social protection, and peacebuilding. Signed: Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia 1999-2007, Co-Chair NGIC Ismail Serageldin, Vice President of the World Bank 1992-2000, Co-Chair NGIC H.R.H Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1999-2008, Administrator of UNDP 2009-2017 Noeleen Heyzer, Member of the UN Secretary-General' s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation Kerry Kennedy, President Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on SDG Rashid Alimov, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 2016-2018 Abdulaziz Altwaijri, former Director General ISESCO Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan 2004-2007 Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel 1999-2001 Dora Bakoyannis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece 2006-2009, member of the Hellenic Parliament Sali Berisha, President of Albania 1992-1997, Prime Minister 2005-2013 Dumitru Bragish, Prime Minister of Moldova 1999-2001 James Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1990-1997 Robert Cekuta, Ambassador of USA to Azerbaijan 2015-2018 Hikmet Cetin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey 1991-1994, Speaker of Parliament 1997-1999 Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania 1996-2000 Mirko Cvetkovic, Prime Minister of Serbia 2008-2012 Susan Elliott, President and CEO, National Committee on American Foreign Policy Jan Fisher, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 2009-2010 Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Managing Director of the ARTOC Group for Investment and Development Nathalie de Gaulle, Founder of Societer & NG-INOV, Founder under 40 Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius 2015-2018 Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation 2004-2014 Dalia Itzik, President of Knesset Israel 2006-2009, President 2007 Gjorge Ivanov, President of North Macedonia 2009-2019 Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia 2010-2015 Mats Karlsson, Vice President of the World Bank 1999-2002 Igor Khalevinskiy, Ambassador at Large 1997-2008, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jadranka Kosor, Prime Minister of Croatia 2009-2011 Rodi Kratsa, Governor of Ionian islands, First Vice President European Parliament 2007-2009 Zlatko Lagumdzija, Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001-2002, deputy Prime Minister 2012-2015 Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium 2008, 2009-2011 Budimir Lonchar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of SFR Yugoslavia 1987-1991 Petru Lucinschi, President of Moldova 1997-2001 Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Georgia 2013-2018 Rexhep Meidani, President of Albania 1997-2002, Member of the Academy of Sciences Stjepan Mesic, President of Croatia 2000-2010 Peter Medgyessy, Prime Minister of Hungary 2002-2004 David Merkel, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Director for South and Central Asian Affairs at the National Security Council in the White House Amre Moussa, Secretary General Arab League 2001-2011, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt 1991-2001 Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta 2013-2020 Rovshan Muradov, Secretary General NGIC Bujar Nishani, President of Albania 2012-2017 Djoomart Otorbayev, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan 2014-2015 Francis ODonnell, Ambassador (ret.), Institute of International & European Affairs (Ireland) Ana Palacio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain 2002-2004 George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece 2009-2011 Elsa Papademetriou, former Vice President of the Hellenic Parliament David Pan, Executive Dean Scwarzman College, Tsinghua University Georgi Parvanov, President of Republic of Bulgaria 2002-2012 Rosen Plevneliev, President of Bulgaria 2012-2017 Oscar Ribas, Prime Minister of Andorra 1982-84; 1990-94 Petre Roman, Prime Minister of Romania 1989-1991, Speaker of Parliament 1996-2000 Rosalia Arteago Serrano, President of Ecuador 1997 Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria 1997-2002 Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia 2014-2016 Boris Tadic, President of Serbia 2004-2012 Eka Tkeshelashvili, deputy Prime Minister of Georgia 2010-2012 Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius 1992-2002 Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO Filip Vujanovic, President of Montenegro 2003-2018 Ernst Ulrich von Weizsacker, Co-President of the Club of Rome Carlos Westendorp, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain 1995-1996 Yashar Yakish, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey 2002-2003, Amb. to UN office in Vienna, Egypt & Saudi Arabia 2002-2011 Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine 2005-2010 Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine 2005-2010, President Ukraine3000 Foundation Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia 2007-2011 Dhaka, Sep 29 : A journalist was injured in a stabbing attack in Bangladesh's Jashore district, and is in critical condition, the media reported on Tuesday. The victim has been identified as Nazrul Islam, 35, the Benapole correspondent of 'Samprotik Deshkal' and 'Barta Kantho' dailies, reports The Daily Star newspaper. The incident took place on Monday in Navaran Satkhira area of Sharsha upazila when he went to meet his mother. The suspect has been arrested, police said, adding the attack was carried out over previous enmity. Congress, other opposition parties, and farmers' organisations have scaled up their agitation against the new farm laws across the country after the three bills received the President's nod on Sunday. In Punjab, farmers continued their 'rail roko' agitation for the fifth consecutive day. The protesters under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have been squatting on rail tracks since September 24 at Jalandhar, Amritsar, Tanda, Mukerian and Ferozepur. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said he would fight the Centre's malicious new agriculture Acts constitutionally and legally, asserting that he will do whatever it takes to protect the farmers. Singh added he will approach the Supreme Court over the farm laws. The AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs, Harish Rawat, announced a signature campaign beginning October 2 to collect 2 crore signatures of farmers against the new farm laws. The signatures will be submitted to the President of India on November 14. Apart from Punjab and Delhi, protests were witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat, Goa, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu. TAMIL NADU: Tamil Nadu's DMK chief MK Stalin said that his party will go to the apex court to challenge the new law. "We (DMK) as an opposition party are ready to go to court on behalf of farmers and the people," Stalin said. Besides, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K S Alagiri, DMK leaders T R Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran took part in protests in various location in the state. UTTAR PRADESH: In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) President Ajay Kumar Lallu and other party workers were held during the protest. WEST BENGAL: Hundreds of Congress workers took to the streets on Monday, carrying haystacks on their shoulders, as part of the party's nationwide stir against the legislation. Protesters also submitted a memorandum to Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him to "intervene and ensure" that the laws were immediately repealed. Several of them were arrested near Raj Bhavan for violation of prohibitory orders. TELANGANA: Telangana Congress leaders and the new AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana Manickam Tagore were taken into custody when they tried to proceed to the Raj Bhavan. They were released by police later. HARYANA: Haryana Congress held a protest outside the party's state headquarters in Chandigarh, alleging the laws will make farmers "dependent" and leave them at the mercy of big corporates. KERALA: A Congress MP from Kerala moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the contentious new farm Act. "Without APMC acting as a protective shield around the farmers, the market would ultimately fall to the corporate greed of multinational companies who are more profit-oriented," the plea said. GUJARAT: A Gujarat Congress delegation met Governor Acharya Devvrat and submitted a memorandum demanding President Ram Nath Kovind withdraw his assent to three farm bills. The delegation reiterated that the new farm law will destroy the APMC structure and leave farmers with little choice but to sell to companies, and also deny cultivators minimum support price for their produce. According to the opposition parties, led by the Congress and farmers' outfits, the new agriculture laws will make the farmers vulnerable to exploitation and will lead to the scrapping of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. The parties also critical of the manner in which these bills were passed in Parliament. However, the Centre has maintained that the laws would be beneficial to the farmers as they would have the freedom to choose the buyers for their produce and get remunerative price. Also, it has stressed that the MSP system will stay. President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod to the three farm bills -- The Farmers'' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 -- on Sunday. Also read: New farm laws threaten India's ability to impose high tariffs on imported agri-produce Also read: Tractor burnt at India Gate amid protest against farm bills Monash Universitys move to slash some theatre and music courses has drawn international condemnation, with scholars from some of the worlds top universities issuing a letter of protest. More than 70 music scholars from universities including Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge have signed the letter urging Monash vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner to reverse the decision to scrap some music units under plans to shed 277 full-time jobs. Emily Keagan, Ryan Hamilton and Paris Balla, who study at Monashs Centre for Theatre and Performance, said cuts to their course were "shocking and destabilising". Credit:Simon Schluter The cuts follow a recent announcement that Monash would close its Centre for Theatre and Performance, which just five years ago received a $1 million donation from the Pratt Foundation. The proposal to scale down theatre and music studies comes as Monash deals with a $350 million revenue drop this year due to the loss of international students. It has told staff it must shed 277 jobs, while deferring pay rises for those who remain. Start your day off right with free coffee on Tuesday, Sept. 29 also known as National Coffee Day. Businesses across the country are celebrating the fun holiday by offering free coffee or special deals to attract customers. Dunkin' announced earlier this month they are taking over the holiday and renaming it National Dunkin' Day. Starbucks has also tried to claim the day. Starbucks is one of Americas true iconic brands, the company said. Thus, September 29 is National Starbucks Day. From humble beginnings in the coffee-crazed city of Seattle, Starbucks has become the name behind coffee all over the world. Whether youre Team Starbucks or Team Dunkin' (or another place entirely) but sure to check out all the deals for National Coffee Day below. Barnes & Noble is offering a free hot or iced tall coffee with the purchase of any item at store cafes. Cumberland Farms is offering customers a free hot or iced coffee in any size. All customers have to do is text the word COFFEE to 64827 to receive a digital coupon. Its almost time Weve declared that National Coffee Day is now National Dunkin Day because Dunkin = Coffee! Celebrate with us tomorrow, 9/29, by grabbing your medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase. Exclusions & additional charges may apply. pic.twitter.com/BVB04yBTsv Dunkin' (@dunkindonuts) September 28, 2020 Dunkin' is offering a free medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase at Dunkin' restaurants nationwide. GODIVA is offering 30% off coffee bags in honor of the holiday. High Brew Coffee is offering coupons for free products, which can be used at places that carry the brand, such as Target and Whole Foods. Just Pour coffee subscription is offering buy two months, get the third free for new customers. Just Pour offers single-serve, disposable coffee bags designed for pour-over brewing. Panera is offering free unlimited premium hot coffee, iced coffee and hot tea for one month if customers sign up for the MyPanera+ Coffee Subscription. After the free month, customers will pay just $8.99 per month. It is also expanding its Family Feasts, which are family-sized meals made to feed a family of 4, to include breakfast items. Popthirst is offering 25% off sleeves through Sept. 30. Dunkin' and PopSocket recently worked together to create Dunkin' themed PopThirst cup sleeves to easily hold your coffee and reduces hand slippage. Silk is celebrating but giving 100 fans free oatmilk for the rest of the year. Those interested in the promotion can visit Silks Instagram at 10 a.m. and comment on which featured Extra Creamy recipe youd like to try. Silk will then randomly select winners and notify them via Instagram DM. Starbucks is offering reward members Star Days, which is a week of exclusive offers and games to win one of the 2.5 million prizes like free coffee, free breakfast and extra Stars. And for those reward members that purchase a grande or larger drink, a free drink option will be loaded to their account for their next visit. Wendys in Springfield, Holyoke and the Boston area are offering free any-sized hot coffee with the purchase of any breakfast sandwich. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:57:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The cleaning of classrooms, slashing down of knee-high grass and opening up of drainage systems were some of the requisite undertakings readying Nile Road Special School, located about nine kilometers from Nairobi's central business district, for a possible reopening. The school which specializes in tutoring mentally-challenged children has been devoid of occupants for the better part of the year as it closed doors in line with government directives to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, the learning institution is slowly regaining its vibrancy thanks to the ongoing sprucing up ahead of its expected reopening. "The school is once again alive, the teachers have reported as per our employers request in order to lay the groundwork for reopening and the workers are hard at work making the school habitable. We are all systems go," Rose Wara, deputy principal of Nile school, told Xinhua in an interview on Monday. Kenya education stakeholders held a series of meetings aimed at developing mechanisms for recalling learners to school after 6 months' extended holiday due to COVID-19. The committee charged with developing modalities for schools reopening last week directed teachers to report to their workstations and prepare the ground for a return to in-person learning. "We are asking our teachers to report to school on Monday to prepare for the eventual reopening of school, so the teachers can report between Monday and Tuesday," said Nancy Macharia, CEO of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). Following that directive, school heads, teachers and the board of directors started streaming back to learning facilities and more continue to do so to date. However, they are now in limbo after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday failed to give the much-awaited announcement on specific reopening dates, emphasizing on the need to achieve the safety of learners. "The life of our children and their health is not a matter of debate, learning institutions, therefore, should only be reopened when we have and can sufficiently guarantee the safety of all our children," Kenyatta said at a forum in Nairobi. "Let us not focus on when schools will reopen but on how they will reopen," he added. As such, teachers from Nile Road School who teach learners with mental disabilities want the government to formulate guidelines that are appropriate for their circumstances even as they continue to prepare to receive students once schools open. "Some of our learners suffer from cerebral palsy hence you would not expect them to follow through with some recommendations such as the wearing of masks, washing of hands and keeping a social distance. They do not process information like the rest of us," said Wara. She said that the ministry of education had inadvertently forgotten their unique challenges while developing guidelines that were forwarded to schools for safe reopening. "Some of the guidelines will be very difficult to implement because of the nature of their disability, for instance, if a child runs to you for an embrace, are you to turn them away because of social distancing? Doing that would break their hearts," said a teacher from Nile school. Being a day and boarding school further heightens the concerns of teachers, given the children come from different parts of Nairobi. These concerns notwithstanding, Wara and the entire teaching fraternity are ready and have vowed to continue from where they left off. At another primary school not very far from Nile school, Jogoo Road primary school, teachers touch base after months of being apart. They cleaned rooms and the compound unperturbed in the hope that the dream of resuming in-person learning will be realized soon. "All the cleaning is being done by teachers, perhaps a clear indication of their eagerness to resume oral tutorials," said Ruth Kendi, the head teacher. "I think our biggest concern is if the learners will show up, because our school caters for students from informal areas and some parents might have lost jobs while others relocated away from the city," said Ruth Gatheca, a teacher a Jogoo Road primary school. Kendi hailed the government for drilling a borehole inside the school which she said will promote hygiene once learning resumes. She said that staggered learning would be ideal for the school owing to its limited classrooms. On matters of recovery of lost time, Kendi said that apathy among learners might hamper extra classes if the school was to adopt any. "We are for the idea of staggered learning where we have learners coming in the morning while others in the afternoon because this school only has one stream for each class," said Kendi. "Past experience has shown that there is disinterest in make-up classes among the students. However, if we come to an agreement to take that route, both the parents and learners will have to be sensitized on the importance," she added. Elsewhere, a private school proprietor outside the capital city who had repurposed classrooms into chicken houses said she is yet to start clearing the rooms for their intended occupants until a definitive opening date is announced. "I have not yet started clearing the rooms because there has not been a definite pronouncement from the government. I will only do so when I know the exact opening date," said Beatrice Maina, director of a private school based in central Kenyan county of Kirinyaga told local media. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:41:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DOHA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Qatari health ministry on Tuesday announced 222 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 125,533, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. Meanwhile, 239 more people recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 122,448, while the fatalities remained 214 for the fourth consecutive day as no new deaths were reported, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA. The ministry reiterated the need to take preventive measures, including staying home and observing social distancing. A total of 770,213 people in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far. Enditem LONG ISLAND, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week warned clusters of coronavirus cases are popping up across the state, including on Long Island, in New York City and in the Hudson Valley, with some ZIP codes reporting infection rates of up to 18 percent. Cuomo struck a different tone Tuesday, labeling 20 ZIP codes as hot spots, including in Rockland County, Orange County, Brooklyn and a "little pocket in Nassau and Queens." "And in these ZIP codes we're seeing very high infection rates," Cuomo told NY1. Statewide, 1.3 percent of coronavirus tests come back positive Monday for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. But that number dropped to 1.1 percent when excluding the 20 ZIP codes with the highest rates. "We have about a 1 percent infection rate statewide, and we can have 5 percent, 10 percent, even 18 percent in some of these zip codes," Cuomo said. "If you don't stop a cluster, the cluster becomes community spread; so this is the early warning system. But we have to jump on those clusters, and we need real compliance and enforcement in those clusters." Long Island had a 1.2 percent infection rate based on Monday's tests, he said. That was just 0.1 percentage points lower than the 1.3 percent seen in western New York which Cuomo has said was under a "caution flag" in recent weeks as well as New York City. The Hudson Valley sat at 2 percent. Cuomo did not elaborate on the Nassau clusters that he mentioned. In a separate coronavirus briefing Tuesday, he mentioned the following Queens ZIP Codes: Rego Park, Queens (11375) - 5 percent Far Rockaway, Queens: (11691) - 4 percent Jamaica, Queens, (11432) - 3 percent East Elmhurst, Queens (11370) - 3 percent "These are embers that are starting to catch fire in dry grass," Cuomo said. "Send all the firefighting equipment and personnel to those embers and stamp out the embers right away. That's what this data does." Story continues Graphic courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. Cuomo said he plans to meet virtually with Orthodox Jewish leaders Tuesday and Wednesday to address clusters in downstate communities. "If you look at Rockland and Orange and Brooklyn and Nassau, you'll see the zip codes have a high predominance of the Orthodox Jewish community and there have been pictures that have been circulating about lack of compliance at religious ceremonies," Cuomo said. "Religious ceremonies are only by law 50 percent of capacity, but I'm going to say to the leaders in Orange and Rockland and Brooklyn the law is there to protect you and the local officials are supposed to be enforcing it, and we need the help of the community." On Long Island, the state has recorded 21 positive cases based on home address among school-age children since Sept. 1 within the confines of Great Neck Public Schools. That includes 14 from Sept. 15-28 and six from Sept. 22-28. The public school district accounted for one of those cases, according to state records. That's because a school district may serve families who do not live within the district boundaries and staff may come from other adjacent counties. That number may also include students living within the district but who attend private schools or charter schools, which aren't operated by the district. Great Neck Estates and Saddle Rock Estates were among a short list of areas that saw the seven-day daily average number of cases increase by at least 0.2, according to Newsday's tracker. The newspaper's tracker identified Inwood, Lawrence, Woodsburgh, Cedarhurst and Point Lookout as seeing upticks in daily coronavirus case rates as of Sunday. The governor urged local governments to enforce mask-wearing compliance, including among religious groups and gatherings. New York will also create a New York City Stabilization and Recovery Program aimed at addressing the current coronavirus crisis and later recovering long-term. The stabilization side of the program will look at schools, crime, economy, cleanliness and homelessness. On the recovery side, the state must first determine how many major changes and disruptive patterns are permanent. Cuomo said: "You have people working from home, people who don't want to go into the office, people who are living in other places, is that short term or is that long term? When do they come back or have they just readjusted their lifestyle, so they're saying 'I'm not going back to the office five times a week and I'm not having my employees come back, I like it better.' They give up the office space, they work from home or some hybrid. We don't know. We have to assess that and I also think there are some factors that will still be calibrated in that equation and one of them is when you get a vaccine." This article originally appeared on the Long Island Patch By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned India's Charge d'Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to register its protest over the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC). The Foreign Office said in a statement that "indiscriminate and unprovoked firing" in Tandar sector of the LoC on Monday killed three persons while another was injured. The Indian forces "along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons," it alleged. The Foreign Office claimed that 19 people had died and 191 been injured in 2,387 ceasefire violations this year. Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB, it said. By Trend The Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia has disseminated information about the ongoing hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Trend reports referring to the Georgian media. Eldar Bayramov, the counselor of the Azerbaijani embassy, told the journalists about the situation. According to the diplomat, on September 27, the Armenian armed forces, grossly violating the ceasefire, launched an attack on Azerbaijani villages: The opening of fire by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of densely populated civil zones and facilities along the front line was deliberate and purposeful. There were reports of civilian and military deaths and injuries. Serious damage was done to many houses and civilian infrastructure. He stressed that among the dead civilian Elbrus Gurbanov and four members of his family, including two minors. Bayramov said that during the attack of the Armenian Armed Forces on the settlements of Azerbaijan, which continued on September 28, there were also killed and wounded, civil infrastructure was destroyed. "The actions of Armenia are a gross violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention of 1949. Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned the international community that Armenia is preparing for a new act of aggression and war. Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that the ongoing military aggression of Armenia and the presence of its armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan remain a serious threat to peace and security in the region, Bayramov said. He noted that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are taking retaliatory measures to suppress the next military aggression of Armenia and ensure the safety of the civilian population. "Azerbaijan realizes its right to defend and repel aggression in accordance with the UN Charter and international law," Bayramov said. The diplomat stressed that the military-political leadership of Armenia bears full responsibility for the current situation and the future development of events. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The coronavirus forced 84-year-old Chung Seong-ran to do something new to celebrate South Koreas Thanksgiving holiday. This year, her daughter will not come to visit her during the holiday, which is called Chuseok. Instead, Chung sent a video message to her daughter for the first time in her life. A government worker helped her learn how. Please, always wear masks and be vigilant! Mommy is eating well and doing fine at home. I only worry about you. I love you, Chung said in the 15-second video. The Chuseok autumn holiday begins September 30. This year, many South Koreans are observing it differently than in past years. Usually, millions of people travel to visit their hometowns. But health officials have for weeks urged people not to travel during the three-day holiday. They say that increased movement could spread the virus and threaten South Koreas gains against COVID-19. A rise in cases in the Seoul area in mid-August and September forced officials to strengthen social distancing and other measures. The 38 new cases reported Tuesday were South Koreas lowest daily increase in about 50 days. Wed like to ask everyone to build family bonds and say hello to each other in a non-contact manner during this years Chuseok for the safety of your families and all of us, Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said at a recent virus meeting. We can have video calls with each other or use video conferencing for family gatherings. It is unclear how much Chuseok celebrations might affect South Koreas outbreak. Recent opinion studies of people living in the wider Seoul area showed that most are not planning to visit family. But tens of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the southern vacation island of Jeju. About 95 percent of the rooms at six major hotels on the east coast are already full, tourism officials say. The governments anti-virus measures during this years Chuseok include a ban on eating at restaurants at highway rest areas. The government also has put plastic barriers at outdoor tables there. It also will charge people money who are driving on national expressways. The charges are usually suspended during the holiday. In many rural areas, large signs calling for fewer family gatherings during Chuseok have been hung along streets. A sign in the central city of Cheongju reads, Lets mark this Chuseok with online pilgrimages to ancestral graves and the sending of heartfelt gifts. In the southeastern town of Uiseong where Chung lives, workers were sent to help hundreds of older people record and send video greetings to family members in far-away places. Many live alone and most do not have smartphones. So, the workers used their phones to take videos and send messages to their loved ones. Kang Myoung Suk is Chungs daughter. She said that when she received her mothers message, she felt really happy to see my mom on video as I had been only able to hear her voice on the phone. I'm Ashley Thompson. The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _________________________________________________ Words in This Story mask - n. a covering for your face or for part of your face vigilant - adj. carefully noticing problems or signs of danger tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure highway - n. a main road that connects cities, towns, etc. expressway - n. large highway that may be entered and left only at certain places pilgrimige - n. a journey to a holy place grave - n. a hole in the ground for burying a dead body We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. As COVID-19 case counts continue to rise across Canada, some of the country's top doctors are urging people to pop their social bubbles in favour of a more cautious approach. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. People gather in a city park in Montreal, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes As COVID-19 case counts continue to rise across Canada, some of the country's top doctors are urging people to pop their social bubbles in favour of a more cautious approach. While experts in psychology and epidemiology agree getting rid of bubbles is the right move in hot-spot regions, they also worry that introducing new restrictions will take some convincing for those who have been socializing more liberally for the last few months. "I think we had a taste of the good life over the summer," said Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa. "And now there's going to be a lot of resistance, especially because (we were allowed to socialize) and we avoided the apocalypse, for lack of a better term." COVID case counts dwindled nationwide over the the last few months, allowing businesses to reopen and bubbles, usually of about 10 people, to emerge as a safer way to interact with friends and family. Deonandan says increasing case counts will lead to increasing restrictions. And that's starting to happen now as cities and provinces report COVID levels not seen since May and June. "Now there's going to be a lot of resistance, especially because... we avoided the apocalypse, for lack of a better term." Raywat Deonandan Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's top public health official, said Monday that social bubbles are no longer viable in Canada's largest city, instead urging people to interact only with those within their households. British Columbia's top doctor Bonnie Henry also said Monday that socialization should be limited to peoples' households or six-person bubbles, while Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube essentially banned visitors to private homes in parts of the province for the next four weeks. Winnipeg epidemiologist Cynthia Carr says social bubbles can still work in areas of the country where community spread is low. But they're no longer effective as "harm reduction measures" where cases are rising rapidly. Getting people to disband their social bubbles can be tricky though, especially for those who had difficulty with isolation in the early stages of the pandemic. "Its almost sort of a reset emotionally and mentally isnt it? You have to go back to that situation," Carr said. "Part of the challenge ... is knowing how it felt. It was lonely and anxiety-inducing. "But the reality is in some of these cities were seeing pretty quick increases (in case counts). We need to ... bring that back under control, otherwise this exponential spread could increase pretty quickly." "If it starts to feel like we did all the stuff we were told to do and things got a little better but now it's worse ... there's going to be this sense that it didn't work." Steve Joordens Deonandan says some people won't have a problem limiting their social interactions to early-pandemic levels, but others will. He expects those who have developed a "perception lag" after being able to socialize so freely in the summer to be especially resistant. "People think that the threat a) never existed or b) has been averted, and that's not the case. We simply pushed it aside until now," Deonandan said. "And as a result of that people are going to be unwilling to accept restrictions to a large extent." Steve Joordens, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, is also concerned with peoples' perception of what tightening restrictions means. He says that while public health officials did warn of the second wave in the months before it happened, the messaging could have been more clear to stress that summer socializing would be temporary. "I wish it had been better marketed in a way (that said) in order to take two steps forward, we're going to have to take one step back," he said. "When they don't know what to do and everything changes every second day ... people throw their hands up in the air and say, 'Well, might as well do nothing because I don't understand what to do anymore.'" Dr. Camille Lemieux The worry, Joordens says, is that people will feel their efforts to slow the spread of the virus were done in vain. And if they feel failure, they're more likely to abandon restrictions altogether the second time around. "If it starts to feel like we did all the stuff we were told to do and things got a little better but now it's worse ... there's going to be this sense that it didn't work," he said. "We're back where we were and there's this helplessness, a disempowerment that can lead to some anxiety and depression, but also probably less of a likelihood that people are going to comply (in the future)." Dr. Camille Lemieux, the Chief of Family Medicine at the University Health Network, agrees that misleading rhetoric about social bubbles can cause people to defy those regulations. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. That doesn't mean they simply don't want to follow the rules though. They're probably just confused by them. "I don't think there's a population running around out there ... snubbing their noses at everything that's going on," she said. "I think people are concerned, but when they don't know what to do and everything changes every second day ... people throw their hands up in the air and say, 'Well, might as well do nothing because I don't understand what to do anymore.'" That's the reason Deonandan says the messaging needs to be firm and structured this time around, rather than the "panicked rush to do something" we saw in March and April. "Now we know what to do," he said. "So let's just do it." -- With files from Cassandra Szklarski. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020. A Kentucky grand juror was unsettled by the fact that they werent given an option of charging two officers. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has decided to release the records related to the grand jury deliberations in the Louisville police killing of Breonna Taylor. The proceedings last week resulted in charges of wanton endangerment for only one officer. Camerons decision came just hours after an unnamed juror filed a court motion seeking the release of the transcripts of the proceedings, as well as permission to speak to the public to set the record straight. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks at last weeks press conference to announce a grand jurys decision to indict one of three Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country, Kevin Glogower, the attorney for the juror, wrote in the filing that comes just five days after the indictment. According to The New York Times, Glogower says that the juror was unsettled by the fact that the grand jury was not given an option of charging Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove. Read More: Officer charged in Breonna Taylor case pleads not guilty The 12-member panel was presented only with possible charges for Detective Brett Hankison, who was fired in June. A spokeswoman for Camerons office clarified for the Times that the only charge recommended (to the grand jury) was wanton endangerment. Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sgt. Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker, said Elizabeth Kuhn via email. Read More: AG Camerons claim that Breonna Taylors boyfriend shot cop unsupported by ballistics Last Wednesday, in his news conference, Cameron declined to say what charges were presented to the grand jury. The new motion specifically requests the court find grand jurors are permitted to discuss what didnt take place in the grand jury proceedings, including any potential charges and defendants presented or not presented. Story continues Attorney General Cameron attempted to make it very clear that the grand jury alone made the decision on who and what to charge based solely on the evidence presented to them, the filing read. The filing says the grand juror wishes to encourage transparency while requesting anonymity because of the nationwide interest. Have you subscribed to theGrios Dear Culture podcast? Download our newest episodes now! The post AG Daniel Cameron to release transcripts, recordings in Breonna Taylor case appeared first on TheGrio. In Julian Assanges extradition hearing yesterday, witnesses established the hellish prison conditions in which the WikiLeaks founder would be held if sent to the United States. The court heard from Yancey Ellis, a defence attorney in Virginia with several years experience as a public defender, and Joel Sickler, who has worked in the US in the field of sentencing and prisoner advocacy for four decades. Ellis testified to conditions in the Alexandria Detention Centre (ADC) based on his experience visiting the facility and speaking with clients held there. The defence say Assange will be detained in the ADC prior to a trial in the US and the prosecution accept this is likely. Both Sickler and Ellis believe Assange would be held in the administrative segregation unit (or X block) of the jail. They described the cells in this unit as very small, roughly eight by ten [foot] or the size of a parking space. Ellis explained that a cell includes a shelf with a mat on top that is the sleeping space a small metal toilet and sink and not much else. Inmates in administrative segregation are cut off from contact with other prisoners, spending at least 22 hours in the cell, according to Ellis. The schedule is about two hours outside of the cell on a daily basis and I say about two hours because oftentimes that second hour, to fit with the jails schedule, can be at very odd hours in the middle of the night meaning prisoners decline to take it. These breaks are taken alone, never with another inmate. Youre twiddling your thumbs, said Sickler, Youll have access to reading material but otherwise your whole world is the four corners of that room. Communicating with other inmates in nearby cells is impossible. Ellis described trying to conduct conversations with his clients through the steel doors and said, you almost have to scream at the top of your lungs, even when standing several inches away. US prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, who will not be cross-examined, states in his written evidence to the hearing that prisoners in the ADC X block can talk to each other through the doors and windows. Ellis said this claim sounded almost like theyve never tried it or theyre not familiar with the setting in which the X block is located. In Elliss view, this regime would qualify as solitary confinement even aside from the imposition of special administrative measures (SAMs) on Assange, which he said would impose conditions on top of what Im already speaking to. An exercise pen at ADX Florence (Credit: Amnesty International) Sickler explained what Assange would likely face under SAMs, detained at ADX Florence in Colorado, which he believes to be the WikiLeaks founders most likely destination if convicted. Assange would have no association with other prisoners and extraordinarily limited contact with the outside world, just a monitored 15-minute phone call with his family once a month. One of the ADXs former wardens, Sickler noted, described the facility as worse than death. Sickler also said the Bureau of Prisons does not set an upper limit for the amount of time prisoners can spend in isolation, telling the court that one man with mental illness spent 29 years in the ADX and that one of his clients has spent over 20 years in isolation conditions with no end in sight. Access to medical care in the ADC and the ADX, both witnesses stated, would be seriously inadequate. Describing the ADC, Ellis said, Its very limitedthe jail doesnt employ a doctor and the contractor that they use to provide many of their medical services I believe gives part-time access to a psychiatrist. Some of his clients wouldnt see a psychiatrist for several weeks. He referenced Chelsea Mannings attempt at suicide in the same facility earlier this year. Sickler agreed there was a significant risk Assange would not get the care he needs. Referring to a statement on medical care in US prisons given by prosecution witness Alison Leukefeld, who will also not be cross-examined, Sickler stated, Ive read Mrs Leukefelds affidavit and it all sounds great on paper but in practice its another story. There is no realistic chance of improving these conditions by legal appeal. Ellis said of the ADC, The courts will defer to the jail on how they house inmates and how they secure the facility so I dont think the court would interfere with that. Answering a question about the prospects of appealing against SAMs, Sickler told the court he expected any appeal would be summarily denied. Its a well-known fact here with our federal prison system that even the most minor of administrative remedy appeals filed by the inmates are denied. Ive filed probably a thousand or more, winning maybe a dozen at most Referring to the evidence of defence expert Maureen Baird, a former Bureau of Prisons employee, he concluded, Its a feudal system is what she said, and I agree with that. The prosecution responded to this evidence with the sinister argument, repeated throughout this hearing, that since the defence witnesses are not employed by the US government or prison system, they are not in a position to dispute the statements of US prosecutors. Behind this veil, they constructed a fantasy world in which the fair treatment of inmates is guaranteed and the Attorney General, whose responsibility it is, may decide not to impose SAMs on Assange. At one point, prosecution lawyer Claire Dobbin said, SAMs can only be issued at the request of the Attorney General and that requires written certification by the head of the member agencies of the United States intelligence community So its entirely speculative [whether they are applied to Assange] isnt it? It takes no speculation to point out that this intelligence community launched an international manhunt against Assange including a financial blockade of WikiLeaks, a US investigation staffed by hundreds of officials from every security service, an Interpol Red Notice issued by Sweden for a manufactured sexual assault investigation, and Assange being arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, spied on, illegally seized from the embassy and detained in a maximum security prison without bail for one and a half years. Nor is it speculation that this was done in the interests of a ruling class which has labeled WikiLeaks a non-state hostile intelligence service (Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) and Assange a high-tech terrorist (Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden) and enemy combatant (former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich), and called for his shooting (former Democratic Party strategist Bob Beckel), hanging (Fox News anchor Bill OReilly) and drone assassination (Hillary Clinton). No amount of lame denials can hide the fact that if Assange is put in the clutches of these people, he will be disappeared into the darkest corner of the US prison system. Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Julian Assanges father John Shipton summed up the days proceedings, The prosecution spent all day trying to prove that [ADX Florence Colorado] was like a country club That if you had a tummy ache, youd get pills, and if you had a headache, youd have a psychologist. Just always keep in mind that what this is about is trying to disguise war crimes so that they can continue to commit them against us, just ordinary people. PORTLAND, Maine - Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Sara Gideon clashed Monday over the Supreme Court and the response to the pandemic during their second debate in the closely watched Senate race. Gideon, the Maine House speaker, accused the four-term Collins of failing to use her seniority to show results for the people of Maine, especially when additional help is needed during the pandemic. Collins said the Paycheck Protection Program she authored saved hundreds of thousands of jobs while noting that the Maine Legislature adjourned during the pandemic. She adjourned the legislature on March 17 and hasnt lifted a finger to do anything about the coronavirus. She promised to provide aid to small businesses but did not do so, Collins said. Independent Max Linn denounced both of them, calling both of them weak women who were beholden to their parties. Also in the debate was another independent, educator Lisa Savage. Collins is facing the toughest campaign of her career as she seeks a fifth term in Washington. Democrats, meanwhile, view unseating Collins as key to retaking control of the Senate. The importance of the race is underscored by the millions of dollars pouring into Maine, making it the most expensive political race in state history. Monday night was the first time the four candidates shared the stage since the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the debate opened with a question about the highly politicized Supreme Court nomination process. Gideon accused Collins of rubber-stamping 181 of President Donald Trumps judicial nominees, saying that has pushed the Supreme Court far to the right and made it very ideological. She said the Supreme Court is about to take up the Affordable Care Act and potentially take health care away in the middle of a pandemic. Collins said Gideon has refused to rule out packing the court and noted that she has opposed some of Trumps judicial nominees. Both Gideon and Collins agree on one thing: Both think the current vacancy on the court shouldnt be filled until after the election. Linn tried to steal the show as he has done in the past, continuing his combative attacks and theatrics by pulling out scissors and cutting up surgical masks, saying that people shouldnt be forced by the government to wear them during the pandemic. Savage, for her part, said she was the only candidate who wasnt a millionaire and once again stressed the importance of ranked voting. She said people can vote for her and her values of Medicare for All, Green New Deal and demilitarization without fear of her being a spoiler. The candidate will be selected by Mainers using ranked choice voting, in which voters can rank candidates in order of preference on the ballot. It incorporates extra voting rounds, last-place finisher eliminations and reallocation of votes to ensure a majority winner. Both Democrats and Republicans have so far spent or allocated more than $98 million on the Collins-Gideon race, with Democrats having a modest edge, according to the ad tracking company Kantar/CMAG. The debate took place in Presque Isle, near Collins hometown of Caribou. WAGM-TV in Presque Isle and WABI-TV in Bangor were sponsors of the debate. Several more are planned before Election Day. To the Editorm In response to Sandy Baksys response to my editorial, the actions of the so-called caseworker went beyond being offensive. The actions of the caseworker, the Department of Aging, and Adult Protective Services were, and continue to be, so agretious they must now address their concerns with legal counsel. Sandy Baksys response does not change my position on either the Department of Aging or Adult Protective Services either. They are the only ones who can and they have made no attempt to do so. Neither are the innocent agency many would have us believe. They are spending far too much on too few valid complaints. Apparently we really are to believe between 60 and 90 percent of complaints are false. This proves my earlier statement many complaints are filed for malicious purposes. They should find a better use of funds and resources. Part of that could be a reduction in staffing. They have too many employees if these percentages are correct. While I have not had to report a family member, I can imagine the difficulty of the decision to do so. To not be allowed visitation with an elderly parent would be difficult and stressful. How does one monitor their care? How would one know when changes would be necessary? What about just having a normal visit? In our situation, my sister lives in the area and assists with care needs. As stated previously, the Department of Aging is known for attempting to force the elderly into a nursing facility, often against their will. If they have time and resources for that, why not use those resources for in-home care? That is what most seniors want and it would be less expensive. They should also sever ties with Adult Protective Services. In many cases, it is APS who uses the tactics she describes as abuse. They should also investigate law enforcements use of those tactics. The key phrase, again, is competent investigation. Without that, they have no case. Actual abuse should be the focus of investigations. As for manipulation, clean house before making accusations. Once the complaint has been determined unfounded, drop it. Immediately. Move on. Mrs. Baksys is free to contact me via email if she wishes to continue this discussion. Bill Rogers Wood River U.S. pension funds sue Allianz after $4 billion in coronavirus losses The logo of Allianz is seen in Paris By Tom Sims FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Pension funds for truckers, teachers and subway workers have lodged lawsuits in the United States against Germany's Allianz, one of the world's top asset managers, for failing to safeguard their investments during the coronavirus market meltdown. Market panic around the virus that resulted in billions in losses earlier this year scarred many investors, but no other top-tier asset manager is facing such a large number of lawsuits in the United States connected to the turbulence. In March, Allianz was forced to shutter two private hedge funds after severe losses, prompting the wave of litigation the company says is "legally and factually flawed". Together, the various suits filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York claim investors lost a total of around $4 billion. The fallout has also prompted questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Allianz has said. A spokesman for Allianz Global Investors said in a statement to Reuters: "While the losses were disappointing, the allegations made by claimants are legally and factually flawed, and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them." The plaintiffs are professional investors who bought funds that "involved risks commensurate with those higher returns," the spokesman added. The latest claims against Allianz and its asset management arm Allianz Global Investors last week include one from the pension fund for the operator of New York's transport system, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It has 70,000 employees and made an initial investment of $200 million. Similar suits have been filed against Allianz by pension funds for the Teamster labor union, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Arkansas teachers. The suits are seeking a jury trial to award damages. The suits allege that Allianz Global Investors, in its Structured Alpha family of funds, strayed from a strategy of using options to protect against a short-term financial market crash. Story continues The SEC's inquiry continues and Allianz is cooperating. The SEC did not respond to requests for comment. Attracting investors with an "all-weather" investing approach, Allianz "bet the house" and "out of greed ... sacrificed the hard-earned pension and benefits of the MTA's workers, who at the time were risking their lives under COVID keeping New York alive," the MTA's lawsuit said. An MTA spokesman said employee pensions are not at risk. The cases are a second front of litigation for Allianz, one of Europe's largest insurance companies. The Munich-based company and its competitors face suits for not paying claims related to business closures during the pandemic lockdowns. The company's insurance business as a whole has been under pressure as it faces claims for cancelled events, and a decline in demand for car and travel insurance. It expects to post the first decline in annual profit in nearly a decade. At the end of March, Allianz informed investors it was liquidating two funds, as well as an offshore feeder fund. Investors lost 97% on one of the funds, the suits say. In April, Morningstar downgraded its rating for the remaining funds to negative "because of the failure in risk management protocols and the uncertainty". Allianz disputed that rating and in July published an internal report https://us.allianzgi.com/en-us/institutional/strategies-and-solutions/alternatives/liquid-alternative-investments/structured-alpha-march-2020-performance that found that the losses "were not the result of any failure in the portfolio's investment strategy or risk management processes". (Reporting by Tom Sims; editing by David Evans) Peter Helliar has been branded 'un-Australian' by his fellow panellist Steve Price on The Project amid a heated debate about Melbourne's strict lockdown rules. The commentators on Monday night were discussing if it was fair that Victorians can now be fined $5,000 for having more than five people gather for a barbecue. Price asked the panelists whether they would dob in their neighbours to police if they spotted them breaching COVID-19 restrictions, to which Helliar immediately said he would. 'Ten parties (in Melbourne) over the weekend; one of them had 40 people. Now, 40's obviously over the top, but would you dob in someone who had half a dozen people over at their house for a barbecue?' Price said. 'I wouldn't think twice about it,' Helliar responded. The pair then argued about the subject while co-hosts Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly tried to lighten the conversation. 'Really? You're a dobber? You're a dobber. It's unAustralian, Peter,' Price said. 'Mate, I don't care. That's bulls**t,' Helliar hit back. 'You can say it again if you want I'll say the same thing. Steve Price labelled fellow The Project panellist Peter Helliar as 'un-Australian' when he said he'd dob in neighbours if he saw them breaching coronavirus restrictions Helliar said he 'didn't care' what Price called him and said people thinking it was ok to break the rules were 'ridiculous' 'Haven't you been paying attention to what we've all been going through? We're so close to the end. The fact that 40 people are like-minded enough to think that it's OK to have a party is ridiculous.' Aly then asked Price if he was planning on throwing his own illegal gathering to which the panellist joked he would. 'Yes...yes I am,' Price said. 'Let me be clear I'm not encouraging people to break the law. I'm saying, don't dob them in!' Bickmore quickly moved onto the next segment but many viewers took to Twitter to call out Price on his strong ideas. The strict Melbourne curfew was lifted for the first time in eight weeks on Monday and outdoor gatherings were increased to five people from two households maximum (pictured police patrol though shopping centre in Chadstone, Melbourne) 'Next time just pull the plug out on Steve Price's monitor would ya. You'd get a standing ovation from every living room in the nation,' one person tweeted. 'Doesn't Steve Price realise the whole reason Victoria is in lockdown is because people weren't doing the right thing! Their actions are 'unAustralian'!' another said. 'I'm with pete, businesses are shut and w@nkers have parties?' tweeted someone. Price's views come after he revealed Melbourne's lockdown prevented him seeing his elderly mother. 'My mother is in her late 80s - Ive seen her once this year,' he said during an episode in August. Victoria recorded ten new infections on Tuesday (pictured couple eat in a park while police patrol the area in Melbourne) 'Now shes in the zone where anything could happen and I just feel gutted that I might not - never - physically see her again. 'Its awful.' Bickmore tried to console the 65-year-old, telling him to have hope that Victoria would get on top of the coronavirus outbreak, before Aly chimed in. 'There's every chance you'll see your mum in the not-too-distant future,' Aly said. 'I hope so, because it just breaks my heart,' he said gravely, looking down. Victoria recorded ten new infections on Tuesday after some restrictions were eased. The strict curfew was lifted for the first time in eight weeks on Monday and outdoor gatherings were increased to five people from two households maximum. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Liechtenstein-based LCX today announced the launch of Project Fire Salamander, LCX's smart DeFi Terminal for decentralized finance markets. LCX DeFi Terminal, a.k.a. "Fire Salamander", is a decentralized trading platform built on top of Uniswap, enabling limit orders on Uniswap DEX. The LCX DeFi Terminal is an intuitive dashboard to display all DeFi assets (all ERC20 tokens and ETH) and liquidity pools all in one easy to use interface. The market section at LCX DeFi Terminal is displaying all trading pairs available at Uniswap to filter and rank digital assets by name, total liquidity, 24h volume, 7d volume, 24h fees and 1y fees/liquidity based on 24h fees annualized. "Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has seen enormous growth in recent weeks, but the biggest growth of the whole industry is still yet to come," says Monty C. M. Metzger, CEO and Founder at LCX. LCX noticed that there are many shortcomings and challenges of the current systems. Many users complain about the poor user interfaces and lack of detailed information. It's complex, time-consuming and difficult to track and maintain all balances, liquidity pools and assets. But one of the most pressing issues that users are facing while trading on decentralized exchanges is the missing functionality of buying and selling at a defined price - limit orders. The LCX DeFi Terminal will enable the traders to execute limit orders, placing sell or buy orders at target prices on Uniswap. LCX developed a layer 2 protocol as a secondary smart contract framework that is built on top of Uniswap's blockchain system. The LCX DeFi protocol has an integrated price discovery engine that monitors the price of each trade in order and automatically executes the limit order to Uniswap when the set parameters are matched. About LCX: LCX, the Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange, is a fintech company for the global token economy. The LCX STO Launchpad as a one-stop tokenization platform to automate the fundraising and investor management on the blockchain. The LCX Terminal brings together real-time and full historical data on all cryptocurrency markets, news, social analytics, and trading signals, powerful analytics, smart order routing, and trading execution capabilities all on one solution. Now LCX has launched DeFi Terminal as a decentralized trading platform built on top of Uniswap. LCX is headquartered in Vaduz with offices in Zug and New Delhi. To learn more, visit www.LCX.com and follow us on twitter at @LCX. Press Contact: A. Malhotra [email protected] Related Images lcx-defi-terminal-project-fire.jpg LCX DeFi Terminal - Project Fire Salamander SOURCE LCX.com Related Links http://www.LCX.com Unlock 1.0 rules: Religious places in containment zones to stay closed, those outside can open Unlock 1.0: No decision yet on opening religious places in Maharashtra Unlock-1: Health ministry releases Covid-19 guidelines to be followed at religious places Indore: Religious places re-open after 6 months India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Indore, Sep 29: Religious places have reopened in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district after nearly six months, and devotees have been asked to strictly follow all guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In an order issued late Monday evening, district Collector Manish Singh asked devotees and priests to wear masks properly covering the nose and mouth and follow the social distancing norms. Sanitisers and use of soap will be mandatory at all religious places in the district, the order said. Starting Sep 7, religious places to reopen in Rajasthan Devotees will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of temples, it said. People will have to maintain a distance of six feet from each other while attending feasts at religious places, the order said. Managements of temples and other religious places in the district will have to ensure that all guidelines are followed, it further said. The district administration has also allowed reopening of the Sarafa night food market in the city only for takeaways, officials said. The permission to open religious places in Indore comes at a time when there is a surge in COVID-19 cases in the worst-hit district of the state. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News The district has till now reported 23,524 COVID-19 cases and 558 deaths due to the disease, as per official data. A 20,000 reward has been offered in the international hunt for a father who allegedly abducted his three young sons at knifepoint from their foster home and smuggled them abroad. Imran Safi, 26, is believed to have snatched Bilal, six, Mohammed Ebrar, five, and Mohammed Yaseen, three, after tying up their foster mother. The children were bundled into a red Nissan Qashqai and driven away from the house in Coulsdon, south London, on August 20. Detectives today issued new photographs of the three boys playing in a Croydon park hours before they disappeared. A CCTV image of a car, with a suspected accomplice in the passenger seat, has also been released. The Nissan, registration PK13 WFO, was photographed travelling down Marlpit Lane, Coulsdon, shortly after the abduction at 6pm. Officers believe Safi, an Afghan national with links to Pakistan, took the children overseas after learning they were to be adopted. Fifteen arrests have been made in connection with the investigation. All the suspects, including two women, have been bailed. Met Commander Bas Javid said: I cant imagine how distressing this whole situation has been for the three young boys, who have been taken away from their safe environment, and our efforts to locate Imran Safi continue. We are now offering a 20,000 reward for any information that will lead us to Safi and help us to bring the children home safely. We also need the publics help to identify a man who was the passenger in the red Nissan at the time the children were taken. He may hold valuable information as to where the children and Imran Safi are. We believe that Imran and the children have most likely left the UK. Our working theory is that they have left via a clandestine route, but to where? We still are unsure. The Met were criticised for taking seven days to a make public appeal for information during which Safi is thought to have left the UK. They believe the abduction was planned, with a strong possibility that Safis friends, family or associates were involved. An all-ports alert has been issued. The boys mother is in the UK and has been in contact with police. Anyone with any information can call police on 07942 599374 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Any member of the public who sees Safi should avoid approaching him and immediately dial 999 or 112 for the French police. Coronavirus infection rates among adults in India have risen sharply, a survey showed on Tuesday, although a large percentage of the population has not yet been exposed, suggesting there is scope for cases to rise much further. In the serological survey conducted in August and September, blood samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. If a person tests positive for the antibodies, it means they were infected with the virus at some point. Blood samples collected from more than 29,000 adults between Aug. 17 and Sept. 22 showed that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies increased to 7.1% compared to 0.73% in a previous survey between May 11 and June 4, the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Balram Bhargava, told a press briefing. However, a large percentage of the population is still unexposed and the susceptibility of a considerable section of people getting infected exists, he added. The second survey was conducted in the same 700 villages and wards from 70 districts in 21 states as the first. Results from the second survey also showed urban slum and non-slum areas had a higher infection prevalence than rural areas. The new (survey) shows lockdown and containment measures as well as behaviour change at population level checked spread of SARS-CoV-2, Bhargava said. India on Tuesday reported 70,589 new infections in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 6.15 million cases. The country leads the world in the daily average number of new infections reported. The vice-president of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said in a tweet late on Tuesday that he had tested positive and has been advised to home quarantine as he remains asymptomatic. In the past, several other federal ministers have also tested positive. Although some U.S. politicians frequently point fingers at other countries human rights situation, people around the world have already seen their true colors clearly. Their misdeeds of sabotaging international human rights undertakings and creating human rights disasters have been familiar to the international community. During the 45th regular session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council that kicked off on September 14, members of the international community expressed deep concerns over a large number of problems exposed in the U.S. in its prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, including human rights violations and systemic racial discrimination, and strongly condemned the U.S. for imposing unilateral sanctions to undermine human rights in other countries. Good human rights safeguards could cushion the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, said Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 45th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council. The pandemic has exposed global social injustices, exacerbating intersecting and deep-rooted inequalities within countries and asymmetries among them, she noted. The U.S. should look closely at itself in the mirror and do some self-examination. While presenting themselves as the defenders of human rights, some American politicians have acted in total disregard of people's right to life and health. Instead of focusing on curbing the spread of the virus, they have been busy politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic, stigmatizing and slandering other countries, and trying to find a scapegoat for their incompetence in handling the pandemic. The U.S. has reported over 7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 200,000 fatalities so far. The U.S. COVID-19 fight is a state-sanctioned killing, said an article published on The Washington Post. Minorities in the U.S. are more likely to die at a younger age than white people from COVID-19, according to data from The Wall Street Journal. Three percent of white people who die from the disease are under the age of 55, while 11 percent of black people and 18 percent of Latinos who die from COVID-19 are under that age. U.S. racial inequality is just as deadly as COVID-19 if not more, as put bluntly by American news-based pay television channel Cable News Network (CNN). At the crucial moment of the global fight against the pandemic, the U.S. announced that it would withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), curtail contact with officials from the organization and recall American experts assigned to the agency. Such a move of the U.S. is an act of violence against peoples worldwide a crime against humanity, said Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a peer-reviewed general medical journal. Some American politicians and scientists commented that unilateral policies of the U.S. administration equal killing amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Sticking to double standards on human rights, the U.S. has repeatedly caused astounding humanitarian disasters in the international community. During the 45th regular session, the UN Human Rights Council has held an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. Representatives of many countries criticized the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. on other countries, which have made it difficult for people in these countries to obtain basic goods and services such as food and medical care, severely infringing human rights and hindering economic and social development in these countries. Recently, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on relevant officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), attempting to hamper investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. It is generally believed by the international community that the practice of the U.S. shows an egregious disregard for victims of the worlds worst crimes and has seriously violated international law and rules. President Trump touted his America First philosophy in his inaugural address as making the United States unstoppable. But the reality is that under Mr. Trump, the United States is in retreat. His refusal to join a global vaccine effort organized in part by the World Health Organization is yet another example of America isolated and weak, said an article on The Washington Post. Justice naturally inhabits mans heart. While defaming and attacking other countries human rights situation, some U.S. officials have actually drawn more attention from the international community to the notorious record of human rights in their own country and the countrys hypocrisy, double standards, as well as its obsession with hegemony. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) The tension in the Indo-Pacific has taken a dramatic turn as the USAF spy/recon plane sneaked and loitered around the Yellow Sea, monitoring the PLA. Chinese official deplores the faking of its IFF (identification friend or foe) as Philippine Plane, which the Chinese were able to discern. According to reports an RC-135 operated by the USAF intentionally masked its aircraft identification code when it entered the ADIZ (air defense identification zone) last Tuesday. The RC-135 shifted its code to ping back a Philippine aircraft said Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), reported SCMP. One agency that monitors what aircraft is about is the Aircraft Spots that noted the same observation on Twitter. As the Chinese reported when the military plane pinged back a civilian craft hex code. It occurred exactly over the Yellow Sea in between the Chinese coast and the Korean peninsula. The International Civil Aviation Organization gives distinct hex codes to all aircraft that are needed to ascertain to know who the plane is when entering airspace over countries. Allegedly the SCSPI said the plane was tracked over the Yellow Sea by the Chinese military transmitting another hex code. When it left the monitored airspace as the mission was done, the code reverted to its own. A week ago, the SCSPI mentioned the American spy planes did the same thing by masking their actual code as Malaysian civilian aircraft straddling Chinese airspace. Several publications have reported the monitoring activities of the US. Tensions between the two countries have brought about more activities like this. Similar is the espionage that the Chinese engage in. Sources say that the Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that the U.S. Military did use the same method about 100 times in 2020. Also read: US Air Force Bombers Setting Up Another Intel Trap with Five NATO Spy Planes Some sectors are suggesting, especially analysts, that American surveillance and recon of China is incendiary enough to cause worse tensions. Beijing has been needled by American activities in the Indo-Pacific and other areas. Despite Chinese complaints, Kenneth Wilsbach, head of the USAF's Pacific Air Forces, simply said they were just following international rules about transponder use, adding that the USAF was following rules on international airspace on that day. A response by Ni Lexiong, a Shanghai-based military commentator, mentioned that a U.S. recon mission is looking for targets like PLA communications and radar as intel for a guided weapons attack. China fears having the Americans pinpoint their sensitive targets. Citing examples like if an American spy plane is close by, then any drills and activities will be shut down. If it is a civilian craft, they could capture intel and go about undetected, but the PLA will be laid bare. Stressing the danger of U.S. activities will endanger civilian aircraft and lives. One accident is the destruction of Korean Airlines KLA007 passenger flight in Russian airspace. It was shot down with all passengers' dead, all because it was suspect American spy aircraft. Ei Sun Oh, a principal adviser at Malaysia's Pacific Research Centre, stated that civilian flights are not plentiful for fears of COVID-19. The U.S. is sending its RC-135s on spy mission are running a risk of getting shot down, but nothing so far. Most experts agree that in peace-time China will not shoot down any plane with proper cause. This makes the PLA edgy, especially with increased recon activity of China. They know if it is a civilian or USAF spy/recon plane. Related article: Chinese Air Support Weakened by Only Three Aerial Tankers Compared to US in Taiwan Invasion @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Concerned Parents Association of the Ridge Church School (RCS) have petitioned the Minister of Education, Mr Matthew Opoku Prempeh over what they say is the School's flagrant disregard of the Presidents directive concerning arrangements for third term and the resumption of a new school year in January 2021. President Akufo-Addo in that directive (which was contained in the 16th COVID-19 update in August) announced the postponement of the 2019/2020 academic year for all nursery, kindergarten, primary, Junior High School (JHS) 1 and Senior High School (SHS) 1 students till January 2021. UBA Loans However, the Concerned Parents who are part of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) but have concerns about the running of the school said the school in direct contravention of the Presidents directive is proceeding with promotional examinations for all students and demanding an e-learning fee of GHS 1,603.00. They say in order to force parents to pay the above-mentioned e-learning fee, the school resorted to a strategy which will require parents to collect examination questions in person at the school premises on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, after producing a receipt showing full or part payment of fees. The parents are therefore seeking the urgent intervention of the Minister to ensure that the RCS complies with the same rules as every other Ghana Education Service (GES) school, and that parents are not unduly penalised and children excluded from being promoted to the next grade in the next academic year. "The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is acting autonomously and without consulting or seeking parents agreement prior to taking decisions on our behalf. Parents, therefore, came together to form the Concerned Parents of Ridge Church School so as to have a true representation in this matter," the petition states. "There has been no PTA meeting where parents have agreed to the charging of the current fees nor the conduct of the examination. In fact, since March 2020, there has been only one (1) virtual PTA meeting involving parents. This meeting ended abruptly, unceremoniously and without resolution of any issues. "Contrary to the directive of the Inspector General of the National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA), the school levied an arbitrary fee of GHS 1,603.00 to be paid for the 5-week long (12th August to 30th September 2020) 3rd Term (Trinity Term) without consulting parents. The Concerned Parents officially petitioned the school administration and Ridge Church Council to discuss this fee. We are sad to report that Ridge Church School has actively refused to acknowledge the petition and initiate any dialogue whatsoever in this regard. Instead, Ridge Church School has adamantly and flagrantly charted its own course, in contravention of the Ghana Education Service and Office of The President of the Republic of Ghana". Source: graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A university should be a place where students can be exposed to new ideas, where they can engage freely in debate and discussion. But do college students really feel free to speak their minds on campus? Newly released College Free Speech Rankings show that, at most colleges, the answer is no. RealClearEducation launched the College Free Speech Rankings, with an interactive website, so parents and students can see how schools theyre interested in stack up. The rankings are based on a survey of nearly 20,000 students at 55 schools across the country. The survey reveals some startling facts. Almost 20% of students say that using violence to stop an unwanted speech or event is in some cases acceptable. Among Ivy League students, 36% said that it was always or sometimes acceptable to shout down a speaker one doesnt like. Self-censorship is also a major problem. Sixty percent of college students say they have kept quiet due to fear of how others would respond. Among conservative students, that number is 72%. Colleges have become perilous places to express unpopular ideas. Professors and students fear being shouted down, shunned, or, in some cases, fired or expelled. This has a chilling effect on the classroom. Jonathan Haidt, a professor at New York University, frames the problem this way: At my university we have a bias response line. Students are encouraged to anonymously report anyone who says anything that offends them. So, as a professor, I no longer take risks; I must teach to the most easily offended student in the class. I therefore avoid saying or doing anything provocative. My classes are less fun and engaging. The University of Chicago received the highest score in the College Free Speech Rankings. Both liberal and conservative students there say that the administration supports tolerance for a wide range of views and opinions. Rounding out the top five in the rankings are Kansas State, Texas A&M, UCLA, and Arizona State. Most of the schools in the top 10 are large public universities. Only one Ivy League school, Brown University, made it into that group. DePauw University came in last in the College Free Speech Rankings, with both liberal and conservative students rating the school poorly. DePauw had the highest percentage of students who self-censored, a whopping 71%. Coming in at No. 52 out of the 55 schools surveyed, Dartmouth received the worst ranking among Ivy League members. Rounding out the bottom five were Syracuse, Louisiana State University, and the University of Texas at Austin, which ranked only slightly above DePauw. The bottom 10 in the rankings includes seven private universities and two Ivy League schools. RealClearEducation developed the College Free Speech Rankings in partnership with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a leading advocacy group for free speech and academic freedom. Data research firm College Pulse conducted the survey that forms the basis of the rankings. At 80% of the schools included in the rankings, liberalism is the dominant political ideology among students. Students say that racial issues are the most challenging topics to discuss. Chicagos top ranking is no coincidence. University President Robert J. Zimmer has taken a proactive approach to defending free speech, releasing the influential Chicago Statement in defense of freedom of expression on campus, which has been adopted by dozens of other universities. The rankings demonstrate that academic administrators have real power to create a culture of free speech and open inquiry. Students who attend colleges where their political opinions line up with the majority naturally say that they are more comfortable sharing their beliefs. The University of Chicago has one of the most liberal student bodies of any school in the rankings. Seventy-four percent of students there self-identify as liberals, while only 12% identify as conservatives. Yet both liberal and conservative students rate the university relatively highly in the area of free speech. Still, even Chicago has plenty of room for improvement. It won the top spot with an overall score of only 64.19 out of a possible 100 on the scale developed for these rankings. That shows just how poorly most other schools are doing. The College Free Speech Rankings paint a clear picture of the speech crisis on Americas colleges and universities. Most schools are failing to protect open inquiry, academic freedom, and free speech. The good news is that now, for the first time, students and parents have a tool they can use to find out which colleges and universities are doing a better job of living up to those ideals. SHENYANG, China, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After two years of transformation and upgrading, Shenyang Middle Street, the "First Street in Northeast China", was unveiled with a new look on September 25. At the same time, a series of cultural tourism scenic spots in the center of Shengjing Street with the theme of "prosperous reappearance of Shengjing Central Street" also kicked off, according to the Publicity Department of Shenhe District. Shenyang Middle Street is located in Shenhe District, Shenyang City. The length of the main street is 1,400 meters, with a total area of 1 million square meters and a total commercial area of 650,000 square meters. "Shenyang Middle Street" through three major shows of "Centennial Prosperity", "Past Events of Middle Street" and "Flow Gathering", from the Qing Dynasty's "former dynasty and aftermarket" to the "Fang Hua past" in the period of the Republic of China, and then to today's "trend agglomeration", it tells the story of the prosperity and past events of the 400-year-old middle street, and unveils the mysterious veil of "Shenyang Middle Street", which is listed as one of the first commercial pedestrian streets in China to upgrade and transform. The newly unveiled "Shenyang Middle Street" highlights the cultural theme style of the Qing Dynasty, resurfacing the road surface of 33,000 square meters of Middle Street, transforming 78 facades of 28 buildings on the main street, and centrally protecting and renovating 8 relatively well-preserved historical buildings, such as Limin Store and Yangtze River Photo Studio, to the maximum extent preserving the historical features and characteristics of the ancient middle street. At the same time, the introduction of diversified formats, in addition to the introduction of brand flagship stores, experience stores, the first store more than 170, but also a deep integration of "non-heritage", "cultural creation", "food" three commercial fashion elements. Visitors can not only visit the Van Gogh Star Art Museum with exotic characteristics, but also listen to the opera at the "Huilan stage" with local cultural characteristics in Northeast China, and watch an exhibition of Chinese national non-heritage masters at the Lihua Gold Museum. You can also choose small gifts with Chinese Manchu cultural characteristics in the "Corner House". Image Attachments Links: Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=372904 Caption: Shenyang Middle Street, a 400-year-old commercial pedestrian street in China, makes a new appearance Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=372914 Caption: Shenyang Middle Street, a 400-year-old commercial pedestrian street in China, makes a new appearance Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283527/1_Shenyang_Middle_Street.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283526/2_Shenyang_Middle_Street.jpg Hong Kong: CE inspects COVID-19 facilities Chief Executive Carrie Lam today visited Pennys Bay and AsiaWorld-Expo on Lantau Island to inspect the COVID-19 quarantine and community treatment facilities as well as a temporary hospital under construction. At the newly completed Pennys Bay Quarantine Centre Phase 2, Mrs Lam toured some units, including a barrier-free unit, and the medical and command posts as well as received a briefing on the facilitys construction and management. She was pleased to note that the construction of phases 3 and 4 is making good progress and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, when a total of 3,500 units would be available at the centre. Together with other quarantine centres, there will be more than 4,000 units in total across the city. Mrs Lam then left for AsiaWorld-Expo where she was briefed on the temporary hospital to be built next to it. Adopting modular integrated construction technology, the project is expected to be completed in about four months, and pre-construction preparatory work is underway. On completion, the project is expected to provide negative pressure wards that can accommodate over 800 beds and related medical facilities. Mrs Lam also inspected the construction work of the community treatment facility expansion at Hall 8 to Hall 11, including the newly built enclosed cubicle and the medical command post. Hall 1 and Hall 2 were retrofitted with a community treatment facility of 900 beds earlier, which currently serves as a backup as the epidemic situation eases. The expansion work at Hall 8 to Hall 11 is expected to be completed in about four weeks to provide some 1,000 additional beds. Mrs Lam praised the construction team for their ongoing hard work in overcoming various challenges to meet the new treatment facilities needs. She also inspected the Social Welfare Department's quarantine facility at Hall 5. Together with those at Hall 3, Hall 6 and Hall 7, there are a total of 640 beds in the facility for use by residents at residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for people with disabilities for quarantine purposes. Mrs Lam thanked the central government for supporting Hong Kong to expand the central treatment facilities and build a temporary hospital, as well as the Guangdong and Shenzhen governments for assisting with the two projects implementation. She praised colleagues from relevant departments and contractors for their devotion and high efficiency. The Chief Executive appealed to members of the public to continue to fully comply with various social distancing measures, in particular with the approach of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival long holidays. This story has been published on: 2020-09-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Burger chain Cheeseburger in Paradise has permanently closed its last location, which was in New Jersey. It was located at 700 Plaza Dr. in Secaucus. The decision comes after the companys parent, Lubys, approved plans earlier this month to liquidate and sell its assets, according to a statement. Its unclear exactly when the restaurant shuttered for good. A graphic on the chains website says: Thank you for supporting Cheeseburger in Paradise. All of our restaurant locations are now permanently closed. A Cheeseburger in Paradise spokesperson didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Operations were suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the companys second quarter financial results. The Secaucus spot had been the chains last-standing restaurant since 2018. At one point, there were 18 locations throughout the U.S. Lubys also operates Fuddruckers and Lubys Cafeteria, which are expected to be sold. Other restaurant chains and franchises that recently have closed locations this year include Smashburger, Zinburger, Panera Bread, Quaker Steak and Lube and Ruby Tuesday. RELATED STORIES ABOUT RETAIL AND SHOPPING: Amazon announces dates for Prime Day 2020 Retail store closings 2020: The chains that have closed stores this year Amazon reveals Toys We Love List for 2020 holiday season: See the full list Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips The recent diplomatic accords between the UAE and Israel continue to create a ripple effect on life and trade relations between the two countries. With trade being a significant aspect of the deal, annual trade between Israel and the UAE is projected to reach $4 billion. CNN's John Defterios discusses how the normalisation of relations between the two countries has impacted several economic sectors including shipping, technology and banking with Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayen, Chairman and CEO of DP World. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayen tells CNN that he believes with this deal the region is going to be more secure. We have been wasting our time in a confrontation, and we call it Cold War, Hot War. It didn't work, for us at least. And we believe that this is going to strengthen the Arab position in the resulting situation. In the meantime, as UAE, we are looking at an opportunity that can come out of this that help both, he adds. Heres the full transcript: John Defterios, CNN: Many believe that you signed a number of MOUs and thats, as we say in English, "Window dressing." A lot of show, nothing inside. What's the counter argument to that? What's been signed so far? Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World: Not at all. Actually, one thing in UAE, we don't waste our time in MOUs. MOUs are just a document to set the pace for what you're going to do. But we know what we want to do. We know the business and we know how we can get the business. It's about technology adaption. It's about logistics. It's about connection. It's about ability of both to trade and do business. We need something from them in technology. They need something from us. They need our market; they need our location. They need to learn how we do business in UAE, because the way we do our business is totally different. They've been in isolation for a long time. John Defterios, CNN: It's my understanding that Jebel Ali was so important that they didn't want to sign the agreement unless this was part of it. What's the strategy behind it? Is it to allow Israeli companies to come into the free zone, assemble parts, manufacturer products in the future? Is this a different way that they didn't have exposure to in the past? Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World: Obviously all of the above. Jebel Ali is a very active business community with far reaching markets. We look at India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the surrounding. You get almost over 2 billion people. That is a market they like to reach. And the beauty is that reaching that market is so easy. John Defterios, CNN: Will this new Accord with Israel, with the united front between the Gulf States that's developing and Israel, actually lead to peace with Iran? Because it was a big trading partner prior to sanctions for Dubai. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World: I think any development in business between us and Israel is going to have a positive effect on the region. As people create more business, everybody benefits. And who knows, it could be a positive step for them to maybe find a way to get out of this sanction issue that they have. John Defterios, CNN: Does it make the region, because of the business ties that are being developed by the UAE and Israel, more secure or less secure? Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World: Absolutely. I think you said it. The region is going to be more secure. Instead of disagreeing with people. Why don't we agree at least look at what we agree on? Why don't we look at it differently? This will impact making people's life better. Who can disagree with that? --TradeArabia News Service Hathras: The Hathras district administration on Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of a Dalit woman, who died in a Delhi hospital while undergoing treatment after her alleged gang-rape and brutal physical assault in a village near here. The compensation was announced by Hathras district magistrate, shortly after she died in Delhi. The 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly gang-raped in a village in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras district two weeks ago, died of her grievous injuries at Delhis Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday morning, prompting outrage and angry protests. In a replication of the Nirbhaya case horrors, the Dalit teen was allegedly sexually assaulted by four men on September 14 and referred to the Delhi hospital on Monday in an extremely critical condition with spinal injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue. She couldnt survive the night and died at 3 am, Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir quoted her family as saying. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel made a phone call to President Ilham Aliyev on September 29 to discuss the armed clashes on the Line of Contact between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azertag has reported. President Ilham Aliyev noted that on the morning of September 27, Armenia committed a military provocation against Azerbaijan and shelled military units, towns and villages of Azerbaijan along the Line of Contact using heavy artillery. Due to the bombardment Azerbaijani servicemen, ten civilians, including two children, were killed, 29 civilians were wounded, and 150 houses were destroyed in two days. The head of state said the Azerbaijani side launched a counter-offensive operation. The President noted that Armenia previously perpetrated military provocations against Azerbaijan in July-August and killed Azerbaijani servicemen and civilians. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that these provocations were a continuation of Armenia's policy of aggression against Azerbaijan. President of Azerbaijan noted that the Armenian prime minister's statement "Karabakh is Armenia, full stop" made the negotiation process senseless. The Armenian leadership's demand that Azerbaijan was to negotiate with the self-proclaimed "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" should be assessed as an attempt to change the format of negotiations. Simultaneously, the head of state said that the Armenian defense minister had threatened Azerbaijan with a new war over new territories, adding that this plan was being realized. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Armenia's military-political leadership was responsible for further developments in the wake of Armenia's military provocation, stating that Azerbaijan's Army has been fighting on its land and the Armenian army should not be present on Azerbaijan's soil. President Ilham Aliyev went on to say that Armenia was conducting a policy of illegal settlement of foreign nationals in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which is a gross violation of international law under the Geneva Convention, adding that it amounts to a war crime. The possibility to restore the ceasefire and the negotiation process were discussed during the telephone conversation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today announced its participation in several global forums focused on equality in the workplace. Members of PMI's Senior Management Team-including Chief Diversity Officer Silke Muenster-will detail the steps PMI is taking to further diversify its workplace and explain how fostering a culture built on broader perspectives increases creativity and productivity, ultimately driving innovation and consumer-centricity. Events include: Sept. 30: Marian Salzman, senior vice president, global communications, will address The Hill's"Century of the Woman," anevent bringing together remarkable women leaders and decision-makers to discuss progress toward equality and the barriers that remain today. Oct. 1: Silke Muenster and Marian Salzman will participate in the Financial Times LIVE "Accelerating Equality" digital conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Conference on Women. Thought leaders and international experts in gender equality will convene to discuss what policymakers, businesses, and civil society can do to accelerate progress on gender diversity and equality. Oct. 8: Silke Muenster will join the Financial Times LIVE "Women at the Top UK" digital conference in a panel titled "How to be an inclusive leader," discussing how to lead teams to adopt more inclusive behaviors and strategies. Nov. 16-20: Michael Voegele, chief technology officer, will speak at this year's Women in Technology World Series virtual event about PMI's business and IT transformation and the range of equal opportunities for talent in tech to accelerate progress toward a smoke-free future. Nov. 19: Marian Salzman will join the Financial Times LIVE "Women at the Top USA" digital conference in a panel discussing "The future of work-and why it matters for equality." The conversation will feature implications of the pandemic and how it will transform the way we connect at work. To find out more about Inclusion Diversity at PMI, click here Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company, and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States. PMI ships a version of its smoke-free devices and consumables authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the United States under license. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005799/en/ Contacts: David Fraser Philip Morris International T. +41 (0)79 843 8603 E. david.fraser@pmi.com 29 September 2020 CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC ("CIA" or the "Company" or the "Group") INTERIM CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY 2020 TO 30 JUNE 2020 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER STATEMENT I am pleased to present the interim financial results of the Group. Whilst the past few months have been extremely challenging Clean Invest Africa is looking forward to the next period with significant optimism due to the substantial and strong pipeline and in addition a developing opportunity to expand beyond coal. Notwithstanding the recent negative impacts of the pandemic the Company and its subsidiary CoalTech are facing into the remainder of 2020, it views with renewed optimism, an extensive and solid pipeline of opportunities. It is worth reiterating that the strategy of CoalTech is to secure long term, large scale customer relationships with whom it would develop one or more full scale plants and with long term offtake arrangements. Securing one such customer would be transformative, with any such project likely to have a project value well in excess of $10 million and involve the processing of large scale fines or tailings, typically over one million tonnes. The early stages of these commercial discussions typically also involve CoalTech running test batches. These batches are often initially small, for example 10's of kilos and then increase to sample production size batches of, for example, 10's of tonnes. Once batches are completed the outputs are exhaustively tested by CoalTech and by the potential client. This process is a considerable proportion of the CoalTech overhead and consumes the majority of the available production of our Bulpan production facility in South Africa. The CoalTech pipeline for coal fines remains substantial and robust and continually developing. Examples of the primary commercial opportunities for coal, currently in process, were included in our announcement of 20thJuly 2020. In a further positive development the CoalTech technology previously thought to only apply to coal fines or coal waste, has now been adapted by CoalTech to be able to pelletise other materials, with potentially high grade ores, precious metals, minerals and solid based natural resources. CIA is now evaluating the opportunity in the much wider market beyond coal including for pelletised Rutile, Tin, Cobalt, Manganese, Molybdenum and Zircon, as well as other base, ferrous and precious metals and biomass. This is a very significant development. Whilst still in its early days this is an indicator of far greater potential for CIA beyond coal than previously considered. By way of example, Ilmenite prices per tonne are in the region of $1,500 whilst coal pricing is in the region of $50 per tonne. This example shows an uplift of up to 30 times to CoalTech's commercial model. CIA will today be publishing on its website its unaudited financial results for the half year ended 30thJune 2020. As the audited financial results for year-end 2019 are expected to be published imminently but are not ready today, the Company will highlight any material difference that may occur between the unaudited interims and the audited accounts, when the audited Report and Accounts are announced. FINANCIALS The Group's interim consolidated financial results for the period 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 show a loss after taxation of 545,063. The financial information for the six months period ended 30 June 2020 has not been reviewed by the Company's external auditors. COMPARATIVE INFORMATION On 4 July 2019, Clean Invest Africa plc ("the Legal Parent") completed the acquisition of the CoalTech Group. Although the transaction was not a business combination, the acquisition has been accounted for as an asset acquisition with reference to the guidance for reverse acquisitions in IFRS 3 Business Combinations and IFRS 2 Share-Based Payment. In preparing the consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2019, CoalTech Group has been treated as the "Accounting Parent" or "Accounting Acquirer" and therefore the consolidated financial information is presented as a continuation of the consolidated financial statements of the CoalTech Group and that of the Company for the period from 30 June 2019 to 31 December 2019. For the purpose of the Group consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019, the Company's financial information included is for the period from 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019. The consolidated financial statements and the Company's financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2019 are currently being reviewed by the Company auditors, PKF Littlejohn LLP, and completion is expected during October 2020. OUTLOOK The Directors are pleased with the progress made in this initial period, notwithstanding the impacts on the Company's business of the COVID-19 pandemic and look forward to continuing to update shareholders on the progress of the Company and the exciting prospects ahead, some of which are developing reasonably fast. We continue to seek new investment opportunities and will advise shareholders as they come to fruition. Filippo Fantechi Chief Executive Officer 29 September 2020 The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the content of this announcement. ENQUIRIES: Company Clean Invest Africa PLC Filippo Fantechi - Chief Executive Officer Telephone: +973 39696273 Corporate Adviser Peterhouse Capital Limited Guy Miller Telephone: +44 20 7220 9795 CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT AND LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY 2020 TO 30 JUNE 2020 For the 6 months period ended 30 June 2020 For the year ended 31 December 2019 GBP (Unaudited) (Audit In-Progress) Revenue - 347 Cost of sales - (93) Gross profit - 254 Other income 349 217 Operating costs (538,944) (1,382,089) Operating loss (538,595) (1,381,618) Finance income - 4 Finance costs (6,468) (10,167) Unrealised foreign exchange revaluation on amounts due to a related party - 24,639 Fair value of warrants issued and vested - (7,217,582) Share-based payment recognised on reverse acquisition - (4,185,799) Loss before tax (545,063) (12,770,523) Taxation - - Loss after tax (545,063) (12,770,523) Other comprehensive income Items that will or may be reclassified to profit or loss Currency translation differences - - Total comprehensive loss for the period (545,063) (12,770,523) The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 30 JUNE 2020 As at 30 June 2020 As at 31 December 2019 GBP (Unaudited) (Audit In-Progress) Assets Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 450,423 494,758 Right-of-use assets 23,207 30,506 Investments 5,247 5,247 Total non-current assets 478,877 530,511 Current assets Trade and other receivables 112,725 112,904 Inventories 11,911 8,766 Amounts due from related parties 3,677,522 3,431,989 Cash & cash equivalents 13,852 13,231 Total current assets 3,816,010 3,566,890 Total assets 4,294,887 4,097,401 Equity and liabilities Equity Share capital 2,848,163 2,844,413 Share premium 1,529,543 1,518,293 Share capital reserve 332,294 332,294 Share-based payment 7,217,582 7,217,582 Reverse takeover reserve (209,970) (209,970) Currency translation reserve (178,123) 37,873 Accumulated losses (14,473,614) (13,928,551) Total equity (2,934,125) (2,188,066) Liabilities Current liabilities Trade and other payables 1,629,326 1,148,926 Financial liabilities Interest bearing loans and borrowings 139,403 134,388 Amounts due to related parties 5,440,153 4,975,564 Total current liabilities 7,208,882 6,258,878 Non-current liabilities Non-current portion of lease liabilities 20,130 26,589 Total non-current liabilities 20,130 26,589 Total liabilities 7,229,012 6,285,467 Total equity and liabilities 4,294,887 4,097,401 The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC COMPANY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 30 JUNE 2020 As at As at 30 June 2020 31 December 2019 GBP (Unaudited) (Audit In-Progress) Assets Non-current assets Investments 4,385,862 4,385,862 Total non-current assets 4,385,862 4,385,862 Current assets Trade and other receivables 46,643 73,579 Cash & cash equivalents 536 6,004 Total current assets 47,179 79,583 Total assets 4,433,041 4,465,445 Equity and liabilities Equity Share capital 2,848,163 2,844,413 Share premium 1,529,543 1,518,293 Share capital reserve 332,294 332,294 Share-based payment 7,217,582 7,217,582 Accumulated losses (7,990,279) (7,862,019) Total equity 3,937,303 4,050,563 Liabilities Current liabilities Trade and other payables 356,335 280,494 Financial liabilities Interest bearing loans and borrowings 139,403 134,388 Total liabilities 495,738 414,882 Total equity and liabilities 4,433,041 4,465,445 The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC GROUP STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE PERIOD ENDING 30 JUNE 2020 GBP Share capital Share premium Share capital reserve Share-based payment Reverse takeover reserve Currency translation reserve Accumulated losses Total Equity 31 December 2019 (Audit In-Progress) 2,844,413 1,518,293 332,294 7,217,582 (209,970) 37,873 (13,928,551) (2,188,066) Net loss for the year - - - - - - (545,063) (545,063) Other comprehensive income Currency translation differences - - - - - (215,996) - (215,996) Total comprehensive loss - - - - - (215,996) (545,063) (761,059) Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity: Issue of shares 3,750 11,250 - - - - - 15,000 30 June 2020 (Unaudited) 2,848,163 1,529,543 332,294 7,217,582 (209,970) (178,123) (14,473,614) (2,934,125) CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC GROUP STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY (CONTINUED) FOR THE PERIOD ENDING 30 JUNE 2020 GBP Share capital Share premium Share capital reserve Share-based payment Reverse takeover reserve Currency translation reserve Accumulated losses Total Equity 31 December 2018 19,841 383,689 - - - (11,906) (1,109,878) (718,254) Net loss for the year - - - - - - (12,770,523) (12,770,523) Other comprehensive income Currency translation differences - - - - - 49,779 - 49,779 Total comprehensive loss - - - - - 49,779 (12,770,523) (12,720,744) Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity: CoalTech Group share capital transfer to reverse takeover reserve (19,841) (383,689) - - 403,530 - - - Recognition of Clean Invest Africa Plc share capital at reverse acquisition 402,750 210,750 - - 3,414,000 - - 4,027,500 Issue of shares for acquisition of CoalTech Group 2,436,441 1,258,765 332,294 - (4,027,500) - - - Shares issued by Clean Invest Africa Plc since acquisition 5,222 48,778 - - - - - 54,000 Share-based payment - - - 7,217,582 - - - 7,217,582 Opening balance accumulated loss of a subsidiary absorbed by the Group - - - - - - (48,150) (48,150) 31 December 2019 (Audit In-Progress) 2,844,413 1,518,293 332,294 7,217,582 (209,970) 37,873 (13,928,551) (2,188,066) The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE PERIOD ENDING 30 JUNE 2020 GBP Share capital Share premium Share capital reserve Share-based payment Accumulated losses Total Equity 30 September 2018 402,750 210,750 - - (204,078) 409,422 Issue of shares for acquisition of CoalTech Group 2,436,441 1,258,765 332,294 - - 4,027,500 Issue of share capital - post acquisition 5,222 48,778 - - - 54,000 Share-based payment - - - 7,217,582 - 7,217,582 Total comprehensive loss - - - - (7,657,941) (7,657,941) 31 December 2019 (Audit In-Progress) 2,844,413 1,518,293 332,294 7,217,582 (7,862,019) 4,050,563 Issue of share capital 3,750 11,250 - - - 15,000 Total comprehensive loss - - - - (128,260) (128,260) 30 June 2020 (Unaudited) 2,848,163 1,529,543 332,294 7,217,582 (7,990,279) 3,937,303 The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY 2020 TO 30 JUNE 2020 For the 6 months period ended 30 June 2020 For the year ended 31 December 2019 (Unaudited) (Audit In-Progress) Operating activities Loss for the period before income tax (545,063) (12,770,523) Adjustment for: Fair value of warrants issued and vested - 7,217,582 Share-based payment recognised on reverse acquisition - 4,185,799 Amortisation of right-of-use assets, net 4,266 8,320 Provision for obsolete inventories - 2,149 Finance costs 6,468 10,167 Foreign currency translation reserve, net (215,996) 49,779 Changes in operating assets and liabilities Amounts due from related parties (245,533) 187,672 Trade and other receivables 179 (77,143) Inventories (3,145) 14,152 Trade and other payables 495,575 620,220 Amounts due to related parties 464,589 401,281 Net cash used in operating activities (38,660) (150,545) Investing activities Purchase of property, plant, and equipment, net currency revaluation 44,335 (61,560) Purchase of investments - (5,247) Cash acquired on acquisition of Clean Invest Africa plc - 9,104 Cash acquired on the addition of the subsidiary - 4,708 Net cash used in investing activities 44,335 (52,995) Financing activities Proceeds from issue of shares - 54,000 Issue costs - - Proceeds from convertible loan notes - 130,000 Finance costs (1,453) (10,167) Principal paid on lease liabilities (3,601) (5,506) Net cash from financing activities (5,054) 168,327 Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 621 (35,213) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period 13,231 48,444 Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period 13,852 13,231 The accompanying notes form an integral part of these interim financial statements. CLEAN INVEST AFRICA PLC NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2020 1. Company information Clean Invest Africa plc (the "Company") is a public limited company which is listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market (previously NEX Exchange Growth Market) and is incorporated and domiciled in the United Kingdom. The consolidated entity (the "Group") consists of the Company and the entities it controlled at the end of the six months period ended 30 June 2020. Principal activity The Company's primary strategy is to identify investment opportunities and acquisitions in clean energy projects/companies or alternative technologies that are used in a socially and environmentally responsible way on a global basis, with the intention of building a diversified portfolio of assets. The subsidiaries of the Company, CoalTech Limited ("CoalTech"), a company registered in the United Kingdom with registered number 11368750, and Coal Agglomeration South Africa (Pty) Ltd. ("CASA"), a company registered in South Africa with registered number 2015/439393/07 and CoalTech's subsidiary Coal Tech LLC, a company registered in the United States of America with registered number 5685936 (collectively referred as "CoalTech Group"), are primarily engaged in agglomerating coal fines waste (coal dust) into coal pellets through the commercialization of the Group's proprietary binding technology. 2. Basis of preparation The interim consolidated financial statements of the Group and the interim financial statements of the Company (the "interim financial statements") have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and IFRIC interpretations (IFRS IC) as adopted by the European Union and the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The interim financial statements are for the six months period ended 30 June 2020 and are presented in Sterling () which is the Company's presentation currency. The financial information for the six months period ended 30 June 2020 have not been reviewed by the Company's external auditors or audited. The interim consolidated financial statements of the Group and the interim financial statements of the Company have been prepared using going concern assumption under the historical cost convention. The Directors believe the Group has or has access to sufficient funds to continue as a going concern for at least 12 months from the end of the reporting period. 3. Dividend No dividends will be distributed for the six-month period ended 30 June 2020. 4. Earnings per share Basic and diluted For the 6 months period ended 30 June 2020 For the year ended 31 December 2019 (Unaudited) (Audit In-Progress) Total loss from continuing operations attributable to equity holders of the Company (545,063) (12,770,523) Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 1,139,223,865 924,501,840 Basic earnings per share from continuing operations (0.0005) (0.0138) 5. Events after the reporting period There were no significant events subsequent to 30 June 2020 and occurring before the date of signing of the interim financial statements that would have a significant impact on these annual financial statements. The following events occurred between 30 June 2020 and the date of this report which are material to the understanding of the interim financial statements: Further to the outbreak of the New Corona Virus or "COVID-19" in early 2020 which had a negative effect on all businesses worldwide due to the ensuing lockdowns, travel bans, and other emergency measures implemented by each country. The Company's South African subsidiary, CASA, which was subject to a six-week total lockdown (Level 5) before end of March 2020 has been able to gradually resume its operations as the lockdown restrictions were slowly eased. As of 20 September 2020, South Africa is at Level 1 lockdown, where almost all of CASA's business activities are permitted. On 16 July 2020, a total of 15,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.25p nominal value each ("Placing Shares") have been placed with investors at 1p per share, a premium of approximately 33% to the closing mid-market price. Each Placing Share is issued with two warrants per share exercisable at 2.75p and 5p per share respectively valid for a period of five (5) years from the date of admission of the Placing Shares to the AQSE Growth Market. Further, should the placees validly exercise the 2.75p warrant in full, these will be replaced by a further 5p warrant, on a one warrant per one Placing Share basis, valid for three years from its grant. The shares were issued on 22 July 2020. On 20 July 2020, Filippo Fantechi, Noel Lyons and Paul Benedict Ryan, each a Director of the Company, agreed to convert the outstanding directors fees as at 31 July 2020 amounting to 114,500, into a total of 11,450,000 Ordinary Shares of 0.25p each by the issuance of equity on terms that are the same as the Placing Shares. Filippo Fantechi has converted 33,000 of fees into 3,300,000 Ordinary Shares, Noel Lyons has converted 21,000 of fees into 2,100,000 Ordinary Shares and Paul Benedict Ryan has converted 60,500 of fees into 6,050,000 Ordinary Shares. The shares were issued on 22 July 2020. On 20 July 2020, the convertible loan notes issued on 25 July 2019 by the Company to Noel Lyons and Paul Benedict Ryan have also been settled. The balance amounted to 130,000 plus 10,400 accrued interest and these notes have been redeemed by the issuance of Ordinary Shares on the same terms as the Placing Shares being issued with 7,020,000 Ordinary shares and warrants, each. The shares were issued on 22 July 2020. On 28 July 2020, the Company's subsidiary, CASA, signed a Service and Supply Agreement to produce 10,000 tonnes of ilmenite pellets from ilmenite tailings sludge for a strategic and world-renowned client based in South Africa. These ilmenite pellets will be used to supplement the client's current commercial ilmenite production stream. New York state judge ordered a 'summary inquiry' into Eric Garner's 2014 death in response to petition filed by his mother last year Garner, 43, died in July 2014 after being placed in chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo while being arrested for selling loose cigarettes Gwen Carr, Garner's mother, filed a petition seeking to bring the mayor of New York City and other officials to court to address 'unresolved factual issues' New York City Charter allows citizens to bring any public servant before a judge to answer allegations of official misconduct Inquiry will cover lack of immediate medical aid for Garner, possible false statements and leaks of Garner's arrest and medical history City is appealing the ruling, saying there is no evidence Mayor Bill de Blasio or any other officials mishandled the case Six years after Eric Garner was filmed gasping 'I can't breathe' while being placed in a chokehold by the police on Staten Island, a judge has ruled that the man's family could question Mayor Bill de Blasio and other top city officials in court about their handling of the case. New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden on Thursday ordered a 'summary inquiry' into Garner's 2014 death, a year after the man's mother, Gwen Carr, filed a petition seeking to bring the mayor of New York City, former Police Commissioner James O'Neil and FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro before a judge to address 'unresolved factual issues' concerning the incident. ADVERTISEMENT 'Although the arrest and death of Eric Garner has received considerable attention in the press over the past six years, many facts relating to his arrest and death, and the investigations and any disciplinary actions taken in response to his death, have not been disclosed to the public or to the family of Mr. Garner,' Madden wrote in her opinion. Scroll down for video Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, has won a legal right to question top New York City officials about their handling of her son's arrest Eric Garner Officers were trying to arrest Garner for selling untaxed cigarettes on July 17, 2014, when NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around the suspect's neck for about seven seconds as they struggled against a glass storefront. Garner's final moments were captured on video recorded by his friend. His dying gasps of 'I cant breathe' have become a rallying cry among police reform activists. Click here to resize this module In December 2014, a Staten Island grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo on criminal charges in Garner's death. He was fired from the force in August 2019, after a judge ruled that he had used a banned chokehold on Garner. Last summer, Garner's mother and sister filed a petition in state court seeking a summery inquiry, a special proceeding under New York City Charter Section 1109 that enables the courts to act as a check on the actions of city government by allowing citizens to bring any public servant before a judge to answer allegations of official misconduct under penalty of perjury. Afterward, transcripts of their testimony are made public. Garner, a father of six, was put in a chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo This video shows cops tending to him after he stopped breathing Carr and Garner's sister, Ellisha Flagg Garner, allege that de Blasio, O'Neill and other city officials neglected their duties in their handling of Garner's death, and then failed to release information about the case. ADVERTISEMENT City Hall and the police department pushed back on the request for such an inquiry and filed a motion to dismiss the petition. 'The police department conducted a fair and impartial investigation into this matter, including holding a public trial,' City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein stated in August 2019. Officer Pantaleo was never criminally charged in connection to Garner's death. He was fired from the NYPD in August 2019 The summery inquiry will cover several aspects of the arrest and its aftermath, including the lack of immediate medical aid for Garner, possible failures to train NYPD officers in the use of force and chokeholds, and suspected filing of 'false officials NYPD documents,' reported CNN. Garner's family also would like to question officials about possible false statements that were made during an internal investigation, leaking of Garner's arrest record and medical history, as well as his autopsy information. 'It has been more than six long years since the NYPD killed my son, and six long years of cover ups and excuses from Mayor de Blasio and his entire administration. Today is an important sign of hope that their misdeeds will not stay in the dark - the world will know what they did to my son and my family,' Carr told CNN. 'We have seen the video. We have heard my son cry "I can't breathe" as he died. Now we have a chance to finally show that the Mayor has allowed the police department to get away with murder - and the related cover-up. I hope New Yorkers join me in my ongoing demand for the immediate firing of all the officers who engaged in misconduct related to my son's murder.' Mayor Bill de Blasio Ex-NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill The Law Department of New York City is appealing the judge's ruling, arguing that there is no evidence that the mayor or any other officials neglected their duties or broke the law. ADVERTISEMENT 'There is no legal basis for a judicial inquiry to second guess the decisions that the law vests in the mayor and police commissioner,' agency spokesman Nick Paolucci said. Madden's decision potentially clears the way for Carr and her legal team to compel de Blasio and O'Neal to appear before a judge, but Nigro will not be required to testify, reported Staten Island Advance. Additional details concerning the inquiry will be discussed during a hearing set for October 6. Abrupt is a good way to describe the recent decision from Queens Park to order new closing times for restaurants, bars and nightclubs and to outright shut down strip clubs. The announcement came down midday Friday and took effect Saturday another step to regain control of the spread of COVID-19 that has surged upward in recent weeks. Understandably, some decisions have to be made quickly in order to put the lid back on this pandemic. The most important thing is that we get through this safely, and with as little economic upheaval as possible. That said, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is right when it complains the system needs more transparency. Next time, maybe a heads up is in order so owners and employees can prepare themselves? Businesses are asking, Give us clarity on what to anticipate and what to expect, so that they can actually build their business model around that aspect of it, said chamber president and chief executive officer Mishka Balsom. We dont know what the numbers were that were the basis of this particular decision or if it really was driven by certain regions, versus all of Ontario. Weve been in the midst of this pandemic since March. Surely that is enough time for everyone to be using the same playbook. Yet too many times decisions come out of Queens Park that are a surprise to the people and businesses they affect. And often, people are left wondering who advised the government to make that particular call, and on what basis it was made. The Niagara chamber raised an important point was Fridays decision made based on Ontarios rising COVID-19 case count, or could it instead have been done regionally and carried out in places where the increase is worse? As it faces that second wave of the coronavirus, the Ford government has said it wants a targeted response that protects the public while also putting as few jobs and businesses at risk as possible. That seems a reasonable approach so far but it also requires the government to communicate its plans better to the community. Fridays decision requires all restaurants and bars to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. and to close by midnight except for takeout or delivery; it also ordered all strip clubs temporarily shut down (when cases have been reported at those places, contact tracing has proven extremely difficult). Maintaining public health has to remain the priority, of course, and controlling the spread of COVID-19 can be done better when were all on the same page. Rather than springing decisions on the public, a little advance discussion and notice would allow people and businesses to plan. The damage inflicted on Niagaras economy has been well documented in August, 16,000 people still had not returned to their jobs that were lost when the pandemic struck. And that survey, by Statistics Canada, was taken at a moment when things were looking up. Since then, the COVID-19 caseload has started increasing again and its acknowledged were now into that dreaded second wave. On its own, autumn and winter will be hard on the Niagara economy this year. Anything that can be done to preserve the jobs that remain, such as giving business owners a little prep time, is important. We are always as a chamber talking about the economic impact, but the economic impact is really the impact on people and individuals, said Balsom, and she is absolutely right. So please, no more unexpected hairpin turns as we all try to navigate our way out of this pandemic. New Delhi: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday demanded the death sentence for the culprits in the gang-rape of a Dalit teen in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras after she died in a Delhi hospital earlier in the day. Dubbing the crime "shocking", the VHP said: "It is a blot on humanity and shameful for all of us. We demand death sentence for the guilty." In the early days of the pandemic, Jennifer and Erich Weishaupt saw vividly the generosity that can flow through restaurants. When their Ruby Slipper restaurants were closed and the future of many jobs became uncertain, individual customers asked to contribute to a support fund for the staff. Today, the couple and their partners have a new fund specifically to help others in the hospitality industry across the region facing hardships. Called the Lagniappe Krewe Emergency Relief Fund, its making one-time emergency grants of $500 to hospitality sector workers impacted by the pandemic or hurricanes Laura or Sally. +12 Takeout windows become permanent fixtures at Queen's, Junior's on Harrison, Brocato and more When Ramona Young hands over the plate of seafood stew, its hard to believe such a bountiful one-carton feast can even fit through the small The fund got started last summer after the Ruby Slipper co-founders seeded it with a $100,000 contribution from their own Weishaupt Family Foundation. With a matching grant of another $100,000 from the nonprofit foundation Bregal Helps Initiative its now open for a second round of grants. Applications are open through Oct. 23. Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up This started with us asking how we could help our own employees and grew as we saw how great the need was and how people would step up to support the effort, said Jennifer Weishaupt. The first Ruby Slipper opened as a family-run neighborhood cafe in 2008 and became one of the New Orleans restaurant scene's biggest post-Katrina success stories. It has since grown to a regional company with 18 locations, including its Ruby Sunshine brand. The Lagniappe Krewe Emergency Relief Fund is a nonprofit and is also accepting contributions from the public to be distributed to hospitality workers through its grant program. The group says all contributions go directly to grants. To apply for a grant or to contribute, see lagniappekrewefund.com. +6 To support New Orleans culinary school NOCHI, online event taps top chefs, rising talent The pandemic has been a nightmare for the restaurant business. But dreams of a better future in the hospitality field endure, and the New Orle +6 Many New Orleans restaurants extend Coolinary dining deals, new Restaurant Week up next Though the annual citywide dining deal program Coolinary officially ended Sept. 13 this year, some restaurants decided to extend its prix fixe Weve been keeping up with the Kardashians ever since they emerged in 2007. Yet, were still confused as to whats going on with Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick. Over the past few months, the former flames have faced nonstop rumors of a reconciliation. Though some reports have pushed back on the speculation, Kardashian just fanned it even more with a throwback post featuring her ex-boyfriend. Lets take a closer look and discuss more about their relationship, below. Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian at a restaurant in May 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada | Denise Truscello/WireImage A quick timeline of Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disicks relationship Kardashian began dating Disick in 2006 after meeting him at a house party thrown by their mutual friend Joe Francis. They started appearing on Keeping Up With the Kardashians about a year into their relationship and grew to be fan-favorites, though there were many problems plaguing them, particularly Disicks hard-partying ways and wild behavior. In the following years, Kardashian and Disick welcomed three children Mason, 10, Penelope, 8, and Reign, 5 before breaking up in 2015 when Disick got caught in a cheating scandal. But despite the split, they have remained on good terms. Kardashian and Disick co-parent their kids together and even hang out one-on-one sometimes. RELATED: Do Any of the Kardashians Have Custody Agreements With Their Exes? Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick have faced reconciliation rumors in recent months Reconciliation rumors began in May when Disick ended his nearly three-year relationship with Sofia Richie something Us Weekly said had to do in part with his love for his ex. (However, other websites such as E! News have said that the breakup stemmed from their age difference and conflicting lifestyles.) After the breakup, Disick joined Kardashian and their kids for several family vacations. Among them was a May trip to Utah, a June vacation to Wyoming (where Kardashian was seen wearing a shirt that fans say is Disicks), and a getaway to Idaho in August. He also called his ex cute on social media while Kardashian appeared to call him her husband in another post. But despite that, source told E! News that Disick had just been relying on Kardashian for support after spending time in rehab. He checked into a facility in April for emotional issues stemming from the deaths of his parents but left after only a few days due to a photo leak. Kourtney knows how to handle Scott and he is always in a better headspace when he gets to spend time with his kids, an insider said at the time. She has really been there for him since his rehab exit, and has had a lot of sympathy towards him. RELATED: Scott Disick Appears to Accuse the Kardashians of Leaking His Rehab Photo in New KUWTK Trailer Still, reconciliation rumors have continued As rumors continue, Kardashian took to her Instagram Story on Sept. 24 and posted a throwback clip of her and Disick on KUWTK, without any explanation. According to Pop Culture, the video opens with Kardashian asking him, You know what Ive been thinking about? He responds by telling her, Biodegradable foods, organic vegetables, moving to a farm, changing your name. Anything else? The clip also comes after the release of a trailer from the upcoming season where Kardashian and Disick are asked about their alleged plans to have another baby. Fans can see more of their relationship when the show airs at 8 p.m. on Thursdays on E! The announcement was made in a letter to employees Tuesday from Josh D'Amaro, Disney's head of parks, who described the move as a 'difficult' decision The layoffs have been made to workers within Disney's parks, experiences and products segment - accounting for 25 percent of Disney's US resort workforce Around 67 seven percent of the 28,000 layoffs were part-time workers, but they ranged from salaried employees to nonunion hourly workers While the company has been able to operate its Florida park at limited capacity, its resort in California has remained shuttered since the spring Disney is set to lay off around 28,000 employees in the United States after prolonged closures and limited attendance have decimated its theme park business. The announcement was made in a letter to employees Tuesday from Josh D'Amaro, Disney's head of parks, who detailed several 'difficult decisions' the company has been forced to make amid the ongoing pandemic. ADVERTISEMENT One such decision includes ending the furlough of thousands of employees in its parks, experiences and products segment. Around 67 seven percent of the 28,000 layoffs were part-time workers, but they ranged from salaried employees to nonunion hourly workers, Disney officials said. In total, the number of axed employees accounts for around 25 percent of Disney's domestic resort workforce. Disney is set to lay off around 28,000 employees across its US theme parks, experiences and consumer products segment as prolonged closures and limited attendance have decimated profits (It's Florida resort is shown above on re-opening day on July 14) While the company has been able to operate its parks in Florida, Paris, Shanghai, Japan and Hong Kong at a limited capacity, California Adventure and Disneyland have remained shuttered in Anaheim since the spring. Prior to the pandemic, Disney's California and Florida parks employed roughly 110,000 people. The announced cuts, which will come from both resorts, will now reduce that number to around 82,000. Disney officials didnt offer a breakdown of the layoffs between the two operations. 'As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy,' D'Amaro wrote in his letter to staff. 'For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company.' D'Amaro continued that the company has cut expenses, suspended projects and modified operations but it wasnt enough given limits on the number of people allowed into the park because of social distancing restrictions and other pandemic-related measures. 'We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal,' D'Amaro said. 'Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. 'We simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity,' he added. 'As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business'. ADVERTISEMENT Disney officials said the company would provide severance packages for the laid-off Disneyland and Disney World employees, where appropriate, and also offer other services to help workers with job placement. 'The heart and soul of our business is and always will be people,' DAmaro continued. 'Just like all of you, I love what I do. I also love being surrounded by people who think about their roles as more than jobs, but as opportunities to be a part of something special, something different, and something truly magical.' Click here to resize this module While the company has been able to operate its parks in Florida, Paris, Shanghai, Japan and Hong Kong at a limited capacity, California Adventure and Disneyland have remained shuttered in Anaheim since the spring (Anaheim resort showed in March, just days before its closure) While its Florida park opened with a limited capacity in mid-July, footfall has fallen far short of Disney's expectations, with concerns about coronavirus safety reportedly a major factor. Pictures from DailyMail.com show the deserted Florida park on opening day In a Tuesday statement to DailyMail.com, D'Amaro said the layoffs were 'exacerbated in California by the states unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen.' While its Florida park opened with a limited capacity in mid-July, footfall has fallen far short of Disney's expectations, with concerns about coronavirus safety understood to be a major factor. Disney furloughed up to 43,000 workers while still paying for their health insurance at its Florida resort. Around 20,000 were brought back after it reopened in July. Furloughed workers in California also received health benefits over the last six months. Disney had been hoping to find the light in the end of the pandemic tunnel, though so far no rest-bite has appeared - prompting Tuesday's announcement. Officials with the union that represents the actors who play Disney characters at the theme parks said they were having conversations with Disney officials about how they would be impacted, according to Actors Equity Association. Officials with the Service Trades Council Union, which represents 43,000 workers at Disney World in Florida, said they were having similar conversations. ADVERTISEMENT 'We were disappointed to learn that the COVID-19 crisis has led Disney to make the decision to layoff Cast Members,' the coalition of six unions said in a statement. About 950 workers from Unite Here Local 11 in California will be laid off starting Nov. 1, union leaders said. Disney furloughed up to 43,000 workers while still paying for their health insurance at its Florida resort. Around 20,000 were brought back after it reopened in July (above) Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated that he was 'getting closer' to issuing guidelines for the reopening of parks in the state; however, three weeks on and no framework has yet been released. 'We will make determinations in real time for theme parks, amusement parks and the like,' Newsom said on September 8. 'Theres still many areas where we are open-ended in terms of our negotiation, making progress and advancing in the same space.' The parks, experiences and consumer products segment is paramount to Disney's business model. Last year alone, the sector accounted for roughly 37 percent of the company's total revenue of $69.9 billion. But within the first three months of 2020, the company's profit plummeted a staggering 91 percent. In the most recent April-June quarter, Disneys theme-park division had less than a billion dollars in revenue, after taking in nearly $7 billion in the same period in 2019. In a statement, U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat from Orlando, said the layoffs showed the need for more coronavirus-related relief from Congress. 'These layoffs show yet again how desperately that assistance is needed by American households and businesses,' Demings said. But it's not just its theme parks bearing the brunt of the pandemic. Last week, the company moved all major films out of the 2020 calendar, with the earliest rescheduled for May 2021. Disney's film studio has not yet seen major layoffs, however. ADVERTISEMENT The company is trying desperately to drum up revenue elsewhere by feverishly promoting upcoming shows for its Disney+ service. By Trend Secretary General of TURKPA Altynbek Mamaiusupov expresses his concern on the military escalation in the Nagorno Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan and condemns the shelling of the Azerbaijani settlements by Armenian armed forces, which resulted in significant casualties, Trend reports. Secretary General reassured that the Parliamentary Assembly strongly supports the earliest settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan that is also enshrined in TURKPA declarations (2015 Astana Declarations, 2017 Ala-Archa Declaration, 2018 Izmir Declaration and 2019 Baku Declaration). At the same time, Secretary General underlined the inadmissibility of any provocative statements and actions that potentially could undermine the peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the negotiation process supported by the OSCE Minsk Group. Secretary General expressed deepest condolences to the people of Azerbaijan over the loss of civilians and wishes a fast recovery of the injured persons. In The Know by Yahoo Senna Relax is a travel influencer from Switzerland who posts scenic views from faraway places on his Instagram. Relax has captured some incredible shots, such as moonlight over Mount Agung in Bali, the colorful shores of Cinque Terre in Italy and a surreal underwater restaurant in the Maldives. In August, the bloggers travels took him to the Tuscan countryside where he visited the Terme di Saturnia. The Terme di Saturnia are a group of springs located in the municipality of Manciano, a few kilometers from the village of Saturnia, Relax wrote in the caption. The springs that feed the baths, which are found in the south-eastern valley, cover a vast territory that stretches from Mount Amiata and the hills of Fiora and Albegna rivers to the Maremma grossetana at Roselle (Terme di Roselle) and Talamone (Terme dellOsa). The Terme di Saturnia are a group of springs located in the municipality of Manciano, a few kilometers from the village of Saturnia. The springs that feed the baths, which are found in the south-eastern valley, cover a vast territory that stretches from Mount Amiata and the hills of Fiora and Albegna rivers to the Maremma grossetana at Roselle (Terme di Roselle) and Talamone (Terme dell'Osa). #HelloFrom #reelsinstagram #naturalhotsprings Story continues Relaxs drone footage provides an aerial view of the natural spa. Theres a cascade of springs filled with turquoise waters. Guests look like specks down below as they gather inside each one. Theres a waterfall nearby and a building made of stone. Its totally mesmerizing. Gorgeous, one user wrote. Woah amazing, another said. So beautiful, one added. Hot springs are waters that are naturally heated by rocks or other occurrences under the Earths surface. The waters of the Terme di Saturnia hot spring have flowed uninterrupted for 3,000 years at a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celcius. The spring is said to have many benefits like improving breathing, smoothing the skin and stress relief. Thats largely because the spring is rich in mineral salts, thermal plankton and vitamins. Shop the first design in a collection that highlights Black artists and brings their vision for equality to life: Enjoyed this article? Relax at home with this masseuses facial massage techniques. More from In The Know: Ive never loved anything more than Anthropologies floral rugs The most comfortable loungewear for chilling and working at home We have an exclusive promo code this best-selling silk pillowcase Shop our favorite beauty products from In The Know beauty on TikTok The post Travel blogger captures the beauty of natural hot springs in Italy: Amazing appeared first on In The Know. Bad puns aside, the 19th edition of Pelicula, Manilas annual Spanish film festival, is kicking off this weekend, running from Oct. 3 to Oct. 11. Like most festivals pushing through during this pandemic, the one-week affair will happen virtually. Eight feature films and four shorts will stream over at Peliculas website, each available to view free for 24 hours not just in the Philippines, but also in Thailand and Australia. Shorts on the roster include Tokwifi by Filipino director Carla Pulido Ocampo, Lost & Found by Australian director Andrew Goldsmith, Suc de Sindira by Spanish director Irene Moray, and Dossier of the Dossier by Thai director Sorayos Prapapan. Discussions and webinars will also push through, which you can keep track of at the site or over at Instituto Cervantes de Manilas Facebook page. But for now, heres a sneak peek of what to expect on the feature film front. La Filla dAlgu (The Days to Come) by Marcel Alcantara and 10 others A pregnant lawyer from Barcelona is prepping for a high-profile trial. But things get extra tricky when the father of her unborn baby disappears a day before she faces legal proceedings. If the curious plot doesnt stir enough intrigue, then consider watching for the 11 students of Escuela Superior de Cine y Audiovisuales de Cataluna (The Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia) who are at the directorial helm of this 2019 suspense-drama. Stars: Aina Clotet and Ramon Vilageliu Streams: Oct. 3 (Saturday) El Increible Finde Menguante (The Incredible Shrinking Weekend) by Jon Mikel Caballero In the mood for a Ground Hog Daytype feature, but with younger and prettier people, who on the outset were meant to be enjoying a fun weekend in the woods? Well, you can tune into this gem by writer-director Jon Mikel Caballero. The sci-fi mystery follows anti-hero Alba, who is trapped in a weekend time loop with her friends, except each cycle repetition keeps getting shorter and shorter. Will there still be booze to drink and trails to hike by the end of the bizarre do-over? Tune in to find out. Story continues Stars: Iria del Rio, Adam Quintero, and Nadia de Santiago Streams: Oct. 4 (Sunday) Jaulas (Cages) by Nicolas Pacheco A mother fed up with her husbands abuse takes her teenage daughter and flees their shanty to venture for the big city. The nearly two-hour film tells a lyrical story that fuses fantasy and reality in this debut film by director Nicolas Pacheco. Will the mother-daughter duo of Concha and Adela be able to escape their cages as the title points out? The answer sits at the end of this drama. Stars: Iria del Rio, Adam Quintero, and Nadia de Santiago Streams: Oct. 5 (Monday) El Despertar de las Hormigas (The Awakening of the Ants) by Antonella Sudasassi A Best International Feature Film-candidate at this years Oscars, this Costa Rican outing follows a provincial mother whos spread thin between being a good wife, daughter-in-law, and mom to her two kids. But when her husband keeps pushing for a third child, Isabel is forced to make changes of her own. Apparently, even mothers can have their own coming-of-age and this film by director Antonella Sudasassi takes us through it. Stars: Daniela Valenciano, Leynar Gomez, and Isabella Moscoso Streams: Oct. 6 (Tuesday) El Cuadro (The Painting) by Andres Sanz A two-hour documentary unraveling the mystery behind Spanish artist Diego Velasquezs Las Meninas or The Ladies in Waiting. The 1600s painting of the young Margaret Theresa of Spain, flanked by a royal entourage, palace pets in tow, is touted as the most mystifying and interpreted artwork in history. Director Andres Sanz attempts to pull back the curtains on the historical artifact. Stars: Valentin J. Alejandrez, Svetlana Alpers, and Jonathan Brown Streams: Oct. 7 (Wednesday) Mudar la piel (The Spy Within) by Ana Schulz Another documentary in the roster, The Spy Within follows director Ana Schulzs father Juan Gutierrez as he struggles to broker peace between separatist organization Basque Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Liberty) and the Spanish government. Betrayal of friendship with a secret service agent is also thrown into the mix and so is Schulzs relationship with the spy and his father in this bizarre recording of events that prove that stranger things happen in real life. Stars: Juan Gutierrez, Mingo Rafols, and Frauke Schulz Streams: Oct. 8 (Thursday) Asamblea (Assembly), by Alex Montoya Perhaps to offset the heaviness of the last feature, heres a satirical take on people banding together to protest social issues courtesy of director Alex Montoyas Asemblea. Montoyas debut film parodies political reunions and the challenges seemingly forward-thinking people face in assembly, hence the title. Who knew politics and knee-slapping comedy goes hand in hand? Well, weve known for a while now, but luckily so does Montoya. Stars: Cristina Plazas, Francesc Garrido, and Nacho Fresneda Streams: Oct. 9 (Friday) Arima by Jaione Camborda Rounding off the feature films in the roster is this fantasy-drama about a group of women and some (non-romantic, non-Patrick Swayze-like) ghosts. Real and imaginary blurs in director Jaione Cambordas directorial debut, which plays up fear, suspicion, memory, and desire in a neatly wrapped rural tale. If youre looking for a spooky thriller, look no further. Stars: Melania Cruz, Tito Asorey, Rosa Puga Davila Streams: Oct. 10 (Saturday) This article, Spanish film fest Pelicula 2020 opens in Manila this weekend, heres what to Si, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. At least five Peoples Democratic Party governors late Tuesday paid a visit to the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, for the role the monarch played in the peaceful September 19 governorship election in Edo State. The governors were Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Godwin Obaseki, the host governor. Also in the entourage were Dan Orbih, the PDP National Vice-Chairman of PDP, South-South and Anthony Aziegbemi, the state Chairman of PDP. Mr Wike, who was the Chairman of PDP National Campaign Council for Edo governorship election, expressed appreciation to the Oba of Benin, for his timely intervention and prayers which contributed to the peaceful conduct of the election in the state, in which Governor Obaseki was re-elected on the platform of the PDP. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the revered monarch on September 2 called the two top candidates in the election, Mr Obaseki (PDP) and Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress to undertake a peace agreement to douse the rising electoral tension before the election. This was followed by the signing of a peace accord by the two candidates and others at an event organised by the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee. Mr Wike said the peace meeting convened by the monarch and his fervent prayers for peace contributed immensely to the successful conduct of the governorship election. We made a promise to you and the palace that by the special grace of God if Godwin Obaseki emerges as the winner, we will come back here and thank the Oba and the palace chiefs. On the 19th of September, election was held and then on the 20th of September, Godwin Obaseki was declared as the winner of that election. As it is our tradition in PDP, we will always respect the traditional institution and whatever promise we have made, we will always fulfil that promise. And so today, we have come on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party, other governors would have been here but because of other engagements I have to come with Oyo, Adamawa, Sokoto ad Rivers and of course including your own son, Edo State, to come and thank you and thank the palace leaders, Mr Wike said. Elated governor Also, Mr Obaseki expressed appreciation to Oba Ewuare II for the warm reception and assured that his administration will serve the interest of the Edo people who gave him the mandate for a second term as governor. I want to assure you that as the governor of Edo State I have heard your admonishments, I want to promise that I will rededicate myself in my next tenure to the full service of Edo state and the people of Edo State. We will always rely on your wise counsel, we will always rely on you to pray for us and ensure that we the required peace so that we can do all the good things that God desires of us to do for our people, Mr Obaseki said. In his response, the Oba of Benin thanked the PDP governors for the honour accorded him. He congratulated Mr Obaseki on his election victory. He commended the political parties and their candidates who participated in the election for respecting the Benin Traditional Institution by honouring the peace meeting. The Benin monarch urged Mr Obaseki to be magnanimous in victory. The Oba of Benin said, I appeal to the governor to let bygone be bygone, all are gone now and I have told him that he should stretch out the olive branch for all sides to work with him. All hands should be on deck to work for Edo State and Edo people everywhere they may be. I said the whole world is watching Edo State and I said, dont worry it is not what they think will happen that will happen. Come the election, there will be peace and I begged my ancestors and that if it is only that we can achieve, I will thank our God. He also charged Mr Obaseki not to allow the emergence of another political godfather, one of the allegations the governor made against his estranged political mentor, former APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. I remember I said in one of my comments that I dont like this idea of godfatherism, that it is becoming too much. I want to on this occasion plead with the PDP that you also as you have always been talking about the concept of godfatherism, you will uphold it and dont let unscrupulous members of your party try to now come out and start to use your party by proxy or remote control to control our governor and end up being the hidden godfathers, we dont want hidden godfathers. on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister for his "moving tribute" to former president and "key architect of India- friendship" Shimon Peres on his death anniversary. Peres, a Nobel laureate, died on September 28, 2016. "Thank you #India's PM @narendramodi for this moving tribute to the late Shimon Peres, Israel's 9th President & a key architect of India- friendship," Israeli foreign ministry said in a tweet. Peres as minister for regional cooperation had visited India twice, in August 2000 and January 2001. He visited India for the third time in January, 2002 as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. In glowing tributes to the former Israeli president, Modi in a video message, said that "he (Peres) had a special place in his heart for India", which was reciprocated by the Indians, and that his "life and work will continue to inspire humanities." "It's been four years since we lost president Peres. His was a life devoted to Israel," the prime minister said. Recalling the late Nobel laureate's farewell speech to the Israeli parliament, Modi said that "his love for his people" could be seen in what he said then. "I am taking leave of my position as president but not from my duty as a citizen. I was a President who loved his people, as of now I am a citizen in love with my people," Modi quoted Peres to have said. The prime minister also attributed Israel's success in the field of science and innovation to the efforts of its late president. "He knew the dangers of the world. That is why he made efforts to further world peace. He believed in science, innovation and technology," Modi said. "He rightly said that science and information are friends of all nations. It is wonderful to see Israel emerge as a technology powerhouse and as a start-up nation. This was something for which he worked through his life," the prime minister said. Modi also credited Peres for "creating a strong foundation" that helped "scale new heights" in Indo-Israel ties. "Shimon Peres had a special place in his heart for India. He appreciated our common democratic and cultural values. He came to India many times as a friend. India also has a great affection for him. Today, as ties between India and Israel scale new heights, it is because greats like Shimon Peres created a strong foundation for that," he said. "I can never forget my own interaction with him in 2014. He was full of energy, full of optimism and sharp as ever. All of us, the people of India and Israel, will continue to work together to realise his great vision. A vision of a 21st century partnership between our great ancient civilisations," he noted. "We owe this to him. I pay my tributes to president Peres. His life and work will continue to inspire humanities," he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New South Wales has recorded its fourth day with zero community transmission of COVID-19, prompting calls for restrictions on pubs and restaurants to be eased. The state announced it had recorded just two new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday but both are in hotel quarantine. It follows two straight days of zero cases altogether, as NSW continues its successful battle against the pandemic - despite being Australia's most populous state. Hospitality leaders now calling for restrictions to be eased to allow for double the amount of patrons inside a venue at one time. The current one person per four square metre rule has been in place since May and has weighed heavily on the hospitality industry, with food and beverage sales down 60 per cent. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday more needed to be done before big changes could be made. New South Wales has recorded its fourth day with zero community transmission (pictured: Sydney resident enjoys a day out with her dog on Saturday) State premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Friday) warned the news did not necessarily mean the state was free of the virus 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves after a few days of zero cases,' Ms Berejiklian said. 'We already eased some restrictions last week and are going as fast as we can to help businesses, the economy, and jobs, but we need to make sure we do it at the right pace. She warned that the low figures did not necessarily mean the state was free of the virus. 'We're making sure that we encourage people to come forward and get tested with even the mildest of symptoms,' she said. The low figures has encouraged further talks about a trans-Tasman bubble possibly opening up between Australia and New Zealand before Christmas. Though Ms Berejiklian said she would like to see the internal borders reopened first. 'I would feel more comfortable if we didn't have any borders within Australia, before we did that,' she said. Ms Berejiklian said she was cautiously watching the number of COVID-19 cases in Victoria. Food and beverage sales have been down 60 per cent as a result of having just one patron per four square metres (pictured, friends visit a bar in Sydney) 'We will be interested to see how Victoria fares once these restrictions are eased,' she said. 'I don't want to leave borders open a day longer than we need to, but we also don't want to throw away all the hard work we've done here in NSW.' Health authorities are urging for anyone with symptoms to come forward as testing numbers remain low. There were fewer than 7,000 tests conducted on Monday, similar to Sundays figure of 6,353. Government ministers, like Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, have had discussions with industry groups on easing patron rules. Clubs and pubs are hoping to double the amount of patrons allowed inside after NSW went two days without any new coronavirus cases (pictured two women enjoy at drink at the Royal Hotel in Sydney) NSW recorded no new cases on Monday or Sunday and just one new infection on Saturday (pictured patient is tested for coronavirus at a pop up site in Sydney) Peter V'landys, NSW Racing boss and rugby league chairman, said he expected the state would lift restrictions after such few cases were recorded. 'There is no way Gladys Berejiklian or the NSW Government is going to let Queensland out-do them. Surely whatever Queensland can do we can do,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'We can't call to open borders in one breath but constrain our own economy at the same time.' Meanwhile, Australian chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan said businesses could profit $20,000 more a week with an easing of restrictions. New South Wales has reported no new coronavirus cases overnight (Pictured: Sydney residents picnicking at Centennial Park) 'The government keeps going on about jobs, jobs, jobs, yet it seems the restaurant businesses are being left out a bit. We're turning away customers because we're only at 50 per cent capacity,' he said. The Australian Hotels Association said increasing the number of customers could allow for 15,000 new jobs in the hospitality sector. The one person per two square metre rule has already been taken on in South Australia and Western Australia. Queensland allows more patrons in venues under 200 square metres. As NSW is about to enter into school holidays, the matter surrounding patrons will be highly considered if there is no new spike in infections. For the five years David Kammiel has owned his house in Kensington, the alleyway behind it has been a heavily-trafficked and trashed thoroughfare littered with used syringes and the remnants of Amazon packages stolen from the porches of nearby homes. The issues that plague this alley are not unique in Kensington, the epicenter of Philadelphias opioid crisis, but when a man jumped the fence that separates the alley from the backyard of Kammiels home this summer and tried to steal his wheelbarrow, he finally called police. The cops did come, but they kind of told me their hands were tied, said Kammiel, 33, who chased the man off before authorities arrived. They said even if they did find him, unless hes done something violent or stolen something really material, they were told to leave people alone. So Kammiel took to a neighborhood Facebook group to see if any of his neighbors wanted to chip in with him to buy a gate and fence off the common alleyway, with an entrance on Coral Street near East Huntingdon Street. Ken Schapira, a Kensington resident and owner of North Standard, a fabrication and construction business, did him one better. He offered to make and install a gate for free, even though hed never met Kammiel. At first he said, Im not sure how cosmetic it will be, but it will definitely be functional," Kammiel recalled. I told him if he could build one for free, I could care less how beautiful it was. Instead of going with standard metal bars, Schapira decided to get real weird with it and build a 7-by-3-foot steel gate of intricately-designed scrollwork that features a large portrait of actor Danny DeVito smack in the center. It felt a little risky because Id never seen a gate like that and I wondered if people would be mad at me for putting Danny DeVito next to their house, Schapira said. But since the gate featuring the Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia star was installed in mid-August, its become more popular than kitten mittens and rum ham. I get comments all over the neighborhood from people walking their dogs who tell me how beautiful the gate is, said Kammiel, who works in finance. DeVito wasnt on Schapiras mind when he first offered to make the gate, but given the pandemic anxiety and social unrest across Philadelphia this year, he decided to build something that might make people smile. I wanted to pick someone who was not controversial and had something to do with Philadelphia, Schapira said. Ben Franklin is a little cliche in Philadelphia at this point and Danny DeVito just seems like a pretty stand-up guy I could make a gate out of. It took Schapira and his crew just a few hours to make the gate on a CNC plasma cutting machine. The intricate scrollwork was added into the design to fit in with the Victorian architecture of the neighborhood, Schapira said. The gate was installed quietly last month, with little fanfare. Kammiel didnt even know when it was going up, he just walked by and saw it there one day. He was so excited he didnt get a good look at the gate before running inside to text his neighbor to check it out and thank Schapira. Dave sent me an email that said, Thank you for building this amazing Benjamin Franklin gate! Schapira said. I wrote a nice thing back and said, Its actually Danny DeVito." Kammiel said when he was finally able to fully take in the gate and all of its DeVito-ness glory, he was floored. I cant underscore how grateful we are that he built a gate to begin with and would not let us pay for it, Kammiel said. And now we have this beautiful Its Always Sunny artwork. Right now, on only one entrance to the alley is fenced off, but DeVitogate has already made a drastic difference in the amount of foot traffic and trash, Kammiel said. Its also had an unexpected effect among the residents as well. Its really made us want to keep the street and the surrounding area up better, he said. While there is no troll toll to get into DeVitogates hole, a key is required for entry. By Musheera Ashraf, TwoCircles.net Uttar Pradesh: While the country is struggling to fight the pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government seems to have unleashed a war against the weavers, says Manish, who is a social activist and a member of Bunkar Sajha Manch. Support TwoCircles The weavers of the region have come under the banner of Bunkar Saajha Manch to fight unitedly for weavers rights. This includes all the bunkars from Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Devariya, Banaras and Mau. The power loom sector occupies a pivotal position in the Indian textile industry. The Indian textile industry contributes significantly to the Indian economy. It is the second-largest employer after the Agriculture sector in India and is considered largest in the world with a massive raw material and textiles manufacturing base. It employs around 60 million people in textile manufacturing activities. The India Textile Industry has three main segments which include the mill sector, handloom sector and decentralized power loom sector. The power loom weavers in Uttar Pradesh went on a strike on September 1 in protest against the new power tariff imposed on them. They demanded the old tariff system be restored calling their strike as an ultimatum to the government. If they dont listen to our demands then we will come on roads and protest, said a power loom weaver who resides in Azamgarh. Weaver community is on the verge of starvation. They are ready to fight or die for their rights, he said. According to the weavers, the new tariff will increase the cost of production and force them to lose business. The state government used to take a fixed charge for electricity earlier, but the government has now replaced it with a new tariff. The U.P government was taking Rs 72 per power loom as electricity charge but as per the new tariff, the bill would be around 3000 Rs per loom, says Manish. The flat rate per machine that was fixed by the government has been dissolved. The new power tariff and the pandemic-induced lockdown have deepened the weavers crisis. Several skilled weavers have been forced to look for alternative livelihoods to make ends meet. Speaking with TwoCircles.net, Manish talked about the deteriorating condition of the weaver community. Everyone is moving towards the unlock phase, but the weavers are still under lockdown, he said. It seems the government wants to crush these weavers and attack their occupation while the corporations will be benefitted, he added. Another powerloom weaver in Mau, Saadat said that, instead of providing the weavers with relief, the government is trying to snatch whatever they are left with. We are already hard hit by the lack of demand and this step brings out the intention of the government to attack these small businesses, he said. The Ministry of Textile used to give the charges to the electricity department, but for the last four years, the textile ministry is not paying the electricity department. Now the electricity department has started sending the bill to the weavers. This came as a shock and mental trauma for the community, says Saadat. I got a message to pay 80,000 to the electricity department, says Noorul Haq who has been a weaver in Banaras since decades. Many of our people received messages to pay the due and the amount was in lakhs, he adds. Does the government want us to beg and pay them? Noorul Haq questions. The power loom sector is of more recent vintage and has shown enormous growth, especially in Uttar Pradesh. At present, handloom and powerloom industries are existing side by side. The handloom market has now become limited and the domain of few handloom owners, however, the powerloom sector provides livelihood to millions. The weavers complain that the irresponsible step of the government in the times of corona has not only shaken their financial setup but impacted their mental health as well. This unit wise payment was decided in December 2019 but it was pending due to the outrage of the weavers. As the unlock phase started people started to get notices regarding the bill payment, says Saadat. Manish said that the situation of weavers deteriorated to the point that they even started selling their personal belongings to fulfil their needs. Their children are in a situation where they are selling tea and have started selling things at the roadside to meet the scarcity of proper food and living conditions, he added. The demand of Banarasi saree used to be seen throughout India but now there is no demand due to lockdown. Cloth is not the priority for the people in these times, says Ahsan, a weaver from Banaras. Another weaver from Banaras, Alam said that, After the meeting with the delegation of the weavers on September 3, the government has promised us that they will dismiss all the dues till July. We have called off the strike for now but if we didnt get anything in written till Monday we will resume it again, says Manish. According to the weavers, the government has asked them to wait for 10 to 15 days. Though they have dismissed the due till July they are not talking about the fixed electricity rate. The agitation has been called off but the weavers want their demands to be fulfilled at the earliest. Noorul Haq says, We have been suffering since long, looms are closed, demand is less and we are facing an existential crisis. Echoing similar sentiments, every weaver wants the electricity at subsidised rates. This is our simple and only demand they add. We are ready to resume our strike if our demands go unheard, says Manish. Weaving is not just an occupation but a livelihood and it is intertwined with the culture of people he adds. Bunkar Sajha Manch collectively opines Bijli toh bahana hai, asal mai bunkaro ko mitana hai (Electricity is just an excuse. They want to finish Bunkars). Weavers have decided to gather in their mohallas and will put forward their demands once again on 30 September. The weavers vow to intensify the stir if the government does not implement these demands. "Hidey-ho, neighbors!" The friendly greeting boomed out to employees at the United Way building in downtown Midland Monday morning as Midland Neighboring Week began. In this case, the character Wilson from the 1990s TV sitcom "Home Improvement" was actually Memorial Presbyterian Church Associate Pastor Wally Mayton. Wearing Wilson's trademark fishing hat (and a more contemporary bright red face mask) and carrying a small section of gray fence in front of him, Mayton greeted staff with the quip, "Have fence, will travel" and added, "I'm here to share my wisdom!" The pastor said he "loves" the United Way and told staff, "We want to thank you for all that you do!" The visit was the kickoff of a "neighboring blitz" organized by Midland's Open Door, the faith-based charity that has been providing food, shelter and clothing to the needy for more than 40 years. Mayton was accompanied by Open Door Director Renee Pettinger and Ministry Support Coordinator Meredith Sweet, who brought coffee donated by Live Oak Coffeehouse and scones and ginger cookies baked by volunteers. Pettinger told United Way staff that the Open Door wanted to bless them and thank them for their work in the community. The trio then traveled to Midland Area Community Foundation offices at Ashman Circle for another friendly visit. "When neighbors visit, you drop everything," Mayton told MACF President and CEO Sharon Mortensen as she called surprised staff members to the organization's lobby. "On this rainy day, we're passing out comfort and greetings to our neighbors," the pastor said. MACF staff posed with the Open Door team for a group photo, and Mortensen said the foundation will host its own Midland Neighboring Week event on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The visits were devised as a way to celebrate and thank public servants, social service organizations and others after working together to deal with the coronavirus and the flood, Pettinger said. During a year of multiple challenges in our community, we wanted to highlight some of the incredible work and collaboration of our neighbors and have some fun doing it, she said. Pettinger said Open Door will continue its neighborly visits through the week, with a different community leader playing the part of Wilson each day. Other stops will include the Midland County Health Department, the Emergency Management Office, Home to Stay: Housing Assistance Center, Caregiving Network and Midland Community Former Offenders Advocacy and Rehabilitation, as well as neighbors of Open Door's main campus location, ITH Staffing and Bone and Bailey. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Thunderstruck Resources Ltd. (TSXV: AWE) (OTC: THURF) ("Thunderstruck" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co. Ltd. ("MINDECO") has been chosen to lead the Company's on-going exploration program at its Korokayiu zinc/copper VMS project in Fiji. Thunderstruck undertook a review process which considered several leading Japanese companies before awarding the contract to MINDECO. MINDECO is the research and development division of Mitsui Mining and Smelting, a leading Japanese company with a 140-year history of metals mining, processing and fabrication. This new relationship with MINDECO provides the Company with a breadth of expertise ranging from mineral exploration to mine development. "We are pleased to welcome MINDECO to our hard-working team," stated Bryce Bradley, Thunderstruck's President and CEO. "With the technical expertise of MINDECO, we look forward to continuing to build on the foundation we have created at Korokayiu to further advance the asset and bring value to shareholders and the country of Fiji." Thunderstruck's joint venture partner Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), has increased the budget for the current phase of the exploration program from CDN$1,300,000 to $1,650,000, in part to expand the drill program. The drill program is proceeding well, with the second hole near completion. The Thunderstruck and MINDECO teams have commenced preparations for an initial 10km Induced Polarization Survey designed to delineate further drill targets. About Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co. Ltd. (MINDECO) MINDECO provides comprehensive mineral exploration services covering geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys and drilling for natural resources. Through private sector and international cooperative projects, MINDECO has been involved with the surveying and development of non-ferrous metal and water resources in Japan, Central and South America, Southeast and Central Asia, and numerous African countries. Utilizing their years of experience and expertise in resource projects, MINDECO provides advice for formulating mining promotion measures, proposals for mining master plans, and support for mining promotion that gives appropriate consideration to the environment. About JOGMEC JOGMEC (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation) seeks to ensure a stable supply of metal resources that are indispensable for Japanese industries. To achieve that objective, they contribute financial and technical resources to exploration, development, production and other measures intended to provide a long-term supply of key metals. To learn more about Fiji's rich mineral history please click here. About Thunderstruck Resources Thunderstruck Resources is a Canadian mineral exploration company that has assembled extensive and highly prospective properties in Fiji on which recent and previous exploration has confirmed VMS, copper and precious metals mineralization. The Company provides investors with exposure to a diverse portfolio of exploration stage projects with potential for zinc, copper, gold and silver in a politically safe and stable jurisdiction. Thunderstruck trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol "AWE" and United States OTC under the symbol "THURF". For additional information, please contact: Rob Christl, Investor Relations Email: rob@thunderstruck.ca P: 778 840-7180 or, visit our website: http://www.thunderstruck.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Although Thunderstruck believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Thunderstruck's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Thunderstruck undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64837 One in every 15 individuals, or 6.6%, of people above the age of 10 years in India, have been exposed to Sars-Cov2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19), till August, according to the findings of Indian Council of Medical Researchs (ICMR) second national sero survey released on Tuesday. If extrapolated across the countrys population, this would mean that nearly 88 million people may have been silently exposed to the virus. The second iteration of ICMRs national sero survey covered 29,082 individuals and was conducted between August 17 and September 22, in the same 700 villages and wards from 70 districts in 21 states that were covered in the first survey. The first countrywide sero survey (conducted between May 11 and June 4) showed overall infection prevalence to be 0.73%. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage All other parameters about the two surveys were similar except for the targeted age bracket in the first phase population selected was 18 years and above, and in the second phase samples were included from 10 years and above. We changed the age group in the second survey from 18 years to 10 years and above because infection was also seen in younger population. Sero survey gives us virus exposure prevalence, but you may or may not have developed the disease, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR. About 3ml-5ml of blood sample was collected to study the presence of IgG antibodies against Sars-Cov2 virus. IgG antibodies are the longer lasting antibodies that help determine a past infection. How much time in the past is a work in progress but these develop about 2-3 weeks after having contracted the infection and approximately stay for about 2-3 months, said Dr Bhargava. Also read: One in 15 above 10 yrs of age exposed to Covid-19, reveals ICMR sero survey results Urban slum (15.6%) and non-slum (8.2%) areas had higher Sars-Cov2 infection prevalence than that of rural areas (4.4%), and prevalence in adults (above 18 years of age) was also higher at 7.1%, the findings show. It goes on to show that a large percentage of population is still susceptible to contracting the infection which is why it becomes really important to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour like wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and observing hand hygiene, said Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog. Experts say these types of sero surveys do not present the current picture. This doesnt tell us about the current situation and thats the reason why it may not be really beneficial at making policy-level decisions. However, for academic purposes, if anyone wants to study the pandemic trajectory in India sometime later, it will be of help, said Dr Jugal Kishore, head, community medicine, Safdarjung Hospital. Several state governments have carried out independent sero surveys which have shown a large variance in findings. Delhi had shown 23.5 % and 29.1% prevalence of infection during the first and second rounds of surveys. The initial findings of the third round of sero survey in Delhi showed that roughly 33% people have been exposed. Such studies have also been conducted in Mumbai (57.8% in slums, 17.4% in non-slum), Ahmedabad (17.6%), Chennai (21.5%), Puducherry (4.9%, 22.7%) and Indore (7.8%) as well. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A former staff of First Bank, Oreoluwa Adesakin, has been convicted for fraud and handed a total term of 98 years in prison by Justice Muniru Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court. But she will spend just seven years in jail. Adesakin was found to have committed financial fraud against First Bank to the tune of N49,320,652.32. She also stole $368,203.00 belonging to the bank, which she converted to her personal use. Adesakin, before she was busted by the bank and sacked, was its Money Transfer Operator, saddled with the responsibility of effecting payments through Western Union Money Transfer and MoneyGram platforms, The convict was prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), on a 14-count charge, bordering on stealing, forgery and fraudulent accounting. One of the counts read: That you Oreoluwa Adesakin sometime between the months of May, 2013 and November, 2013, at Ibadan within the Ibadan Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of First Bank PLC stole the sum of N25,974,116.13 (Twenty Five Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, One Hundred and Sixteen Naira, Thirteen Kobo) from First Bank PLC MoneyGram Payment Naira Account, property of First bank PLC. She pleaded not guilty to the charge. Prosecution counsel, Usman Murtala presented every vital document and witnesses which nailed the convict. Justice Olagunju noted that the EFCC presented incontrovertible evidence against the convict and did a diligent investigation and prosecution. He thus pronounced Adesakin guilty of all the counts. He sentenced her to seven years in prison without an option of fine on each of the 14 counts. The sentencing will run concurrently. Apart from the jail term, the convict is also to restitute the First Bank, through the EFCC, all the money she stole. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates In this episode of The Lead from DH Radio, get to know the politics behind the farm laws and listen to what Congress leader Manish Tiwari has to say about it. Ahmed: Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and welcome to The Lead. We have been witnessing protests over farm bills which were recently passed by the Parliament and have received the presidential nod. While some say that these will empower the farmers, others claim that corporates will benefit the most. In today's episode and tomorrow's, we will probe the bills and the politics behind them. To discuss the politics of it, joining me today is our correspondent from Delhi, Sagar Kulkarni. Hi Sagar, and welcome to DH Radio. Sagar Kulkarni: Hi. Ahmed: Now that the farm bills have got the presidential assent, what does the Opposition plan to do? Sagar: The Opposition has taken the protest to the streets and they are also looking at legal options to circumvent the laws. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked Congress-ruled states to enact state laws under Article 254(2) of the constitution that allows states to circumvent the Central laws. The catch here is that when the laws are passed by Congress-ruled states they will have to be approved by the president again and which may not be forthcoming. So it could just be a gesture to the farmers that look we are willing to move heaven and earth to protect you from the central laws and that's about it that we can do... To know more about the conversation, listen to the podcast. Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the contract agreement, as per the Act brought in through the new agricultural laws, will be for the crops and not for the land, and alleged that the farmers are being misled to believe otherwise. Launching a campaign from his Lok Sabha constituency in support of the farmers' laws brought in by the Narendra Modi-led government and against the disinformation being spread by the Congress, Singh was addressing the party workers, sarpanches and BDC Chairmen from the border villages and other areas of districts Kathua and Udhampur. Live TV He said the irony is that while the common farmer is satisfied and has no apprehensions, it is some politically motivated interests which have no knowledge or stake in farming but who are trying to make an issue out of it by trying to mislead the farmers. Singh said it is in the interest of the farming community of India and common people at large, that all the like-minded people should come out and vociferously dispel the disinformation and the malicious campaign launched by the self-seeking elements. While the bill clearly prohibits sale, lease or mortgage of farmers land, Singh asked, where is the question of farmers land being taken over by certain capitalists as is being alleged? He said, the Bill clearly states that the agreement will be for the crops and not for the land. Moreover, Singh said, the contract agreement with the farmers is to get the fixed price. Not only this, but the new Act also provides the provision for farmers to withdraw from the Contract at any time without any penalty, he said. He accused the Opposition of making up imaginary issues of contention which do not find any reference in the Laws. For example, he said, it is nowhere mentioned that the provision of MSP will be done away with at any point of time and yet the Congress Party and some others are trying to create false fears in the minds of innocent farmers. Singh appealed to party colleagues to reach out to each and every farmer in every village and explain to him the big conspiracy being hatched against him. This, he said, will enable the agricultural community to avail of the enormous welfare initiatives introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kyodo News via Getty Images The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Amazon Finance manager and two of her family members with insider trading on Monday. When she worked at Amazon, Laksha Bohra helped prepare numbers used in Amazon's quarterly and annual earnings reports, according to the SEC. From 2016 to 2018, the SEC alleges that Bohra violated company rules and securities laws by sharing financial information about Amazon's performance with her family, who then made trades based on the information. Bohra's family made $1.4 million from insider trading, the SEC said. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former Amazon employee and two of her family members with insider trading on Monday. Laksha Bohra and her family made $1.4 million using the information, the SEC alleged. Bohra was employed in Amazon's tax department, where she routinely looked at and helped prepare numbers associated with Amazon's quarterly and annual earnings, according to an SEC press release. The SEC said that Bohra tipped off her husband, Viky Bohra, to confidential information about Amazon's earnings from January of 2016 through July of 2018, despite quarterly reminder from her work not to do so. Viky Bohra and his father, Gotham, then traded on this information 11 times, the SEC said. "We allege that the Bohras repeatedly and systematically used Amazon's confidential information for their own gain," SEC Director of San Francisco Regional Office Erin Schneider said in the announcement of the charges. "Employees with access to confidential, potentially market-moving corporate information may not use that information to enrich themselves, their friends, or their families." An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment. Voicemails left for Laksha and Viky Bohra seeking comment were not immediately returned. The SEC charged Laksha, Viky, and Gotham Bohra in federal court in Seattle with violating securities laws. The three face financial penalties including returning the $1.4 million they're alleged to have made from insider trading, plus $118,406 in interest and $1.1 million in penalties. Viky Bohra also faces criminal charges associated with the allegations from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington. All three Bohras "consented to the entry of final judgments permanently enjoining them from further violations of the charged provisions," the SEC said. Read the original article on Business Insider HARTFORD Lawyers challenging a mask requirement for Connecticut students will not be permitted to bring in testimony from two out-of-state doctors after a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday they were unqualified to serve as expert witnesses. The plaintiffs are trying to get an emergency injunction that would put the states mask mandate for school children to slow the spread of the coronavirus on hold. On Monday, the plaintiffs witnesses provided testimony before Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher so he could determine whether they would be allowed to testify in the hearing for their injunction. The families, who are from Manchester, Wallingford, Niantic, Marlborough and Farmington, had hoped to admit testimony from two doctors prepared to say masks were damaging to children both psychologically and physically. A lawyer for the state objected to both doctors, highlighting past statements from the two men to argue that they were both ideologically too radical to serve as expert witnesses. In his Tuesday ruling, Moukawsher sided with the state and deemed both doctors unqualified, though not for the same reasons. The judge wrote that he had an easy time disqualifying Dr. Andrew Kaufman, a New York psychiatrist the plaintiffs tapped to speak to the psychological impact of masks. On cross- examination Monday, Kaufman said he believed that COVID-19 was a hoax to control the population; vaccines were poison; and suggested that viruses do not exist. The court will not accept as an expert advisor to it on a matter of life and death a man who defies science so firmly established as to be beyond rational dispute, Moukawsher wrote. The court cannot believe that his irrationality in one area will not overwhelm his reason in another. Moukawsher also refused to accept as an expert Dr. James Meehan Jr., an ophthalmologist from Oklahoma. The state had sought to disqualify Meehan in part based on his past statements that mask mandates were about symbolism, fear, and psychological operations to control the population. The state also objected to his marketing and profit from vitamin sales as an alternative to face masks. Moukawsher said it was not Meehans beliefs that disqualified him, it was his professional background. The judge said the group could have sought the testimony of any of the 12,000 members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America but instead chose a doctor whose specialty was in eye diseases and vision problems. The illusion that most expert testimony comes from dispassionate sages faded from the courthouse a long time ago. The trouble here is not Dr. Meehans passion. It is his qualifications, the judge wrote. Moukawshers ruling also served to narrow the scope of the lawsuit somewhat. The plaintiffs have sought to call individual parents to speak to difficulties their children have had with masks. The judge ruled that the state guidance already provides for individual exemptions and said that problems qualifying for them should be challenged at the local level. All this means that the individual parents and children involved in this lawsuit have rights they may enforce. Enforcing them though is not a matter of challenging the Department of Education guidance as a whole. For the families it is a matter of challenging the relevant schools acting under it, he wrote. The case is scheduled to continue Monday. In the meantime, lawyers for the plaintiffs said they would likely work to identify more potential expert witnesses. Like most states, Illinois draws its legislative boundaries through the normal legislative process if an agreement can be reached. Given the uber-partisan politics behind redistricting, this means that if one party controls both chambers of the General Assembly and the governors office (and if that party can agree among its members), that party gets to draw the legislative maps as it sees fit. When the Illinois General Assembly takes up redistricting in 2021, Democrats will likely control all three legs of this process, and so they should be expected to adopt district maps that favor their party, just as they did in 2011. UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath Uttar Pradesh: Teenage Dalit girl, gang-raped in Hathras, dies at AIIMS India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Sep 29: A 19-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on September 14, on Tuesday succumbed to her injuries at a Delhi hospital. Hathras: 19-yr-old woman battling for life after brutal gangrape dies in Delhi|Oneindia News The girl was shifted to AIIMS, Delhi for treatment. The victim had been undergoing treatment at AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital. COVID-19 tally in Andamans rises to 3,803 Later, she girl was admitted to AIIMS after there was no improvement in her condition. The doctors at AMU said the victim was in a critical condition. According to reports, the accused had tried to strangulate the girl as she resisted their rape attempt. Police had recorded her statement on September 22. The victim stated that the accused sexually assaulted her when she had gone to gather fodder for her animals. Coronavirus pandemic: India's one-day COVID-19 cases drop to 70,589 Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, police had earlier registered a case against a man, identified as Sandeep, for attempt to murder and under sections of the SC/ST Act. However, after recording her statement, police also added charges of gang-rape to the FIR and booked three more people. So far, police have arrested four accused in the case. The accused have been identified as Ramu, Sandeep, his uncle Ravi and friend Luv Kush. The victim's spinal cord and neck were damaged in the incident as she was strangled with her dupatta. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Airline major Lufthansa said on Tuesday that it will cancel all planned flights between Germany and India from September 30 to October 20. According to the airline, the move comes after Indian authorities rejected Lufthansa's planned flight schedule for October. "Lufthansa had applied for the continuation of special flights it was granted to operate until the end of September," the airline said in a statement. "This application process is necessary since India has, so far, not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss the details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both the countries," it said. Lufthansa was operating these flights under the 'Air Bubble' agreement between India and Germany. India had formalised an 'Air Bubble' agreement with Germany in July 2020. This type of arrangement allows nationals of both the countries to travel in either direction. As per the statement, Lufthansa had originally scheduled flights for October in order to continue connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru with Europe and other regions in Lufthansa's worldwide network. "The October schedule would also have seen the addition of flights to and from Chennai, one of the most important cities in southern India," it said. The airline urged India to work together with the German government in order to establish a temporary travel agreement between both the countries. "Such an agreement is necessary to address the urgent need of tens of thousands of Indians and foreign nationals for travel to and from India and would also help balance the interests of both the countries' airlines. "As visa issuance is restarting and demand for flights to and from India is increasing, it is regrettable that Lufthansa is currently being unnecessarily restricted in its ability to serve its loyal Indian customers and enable their desired travel," the airline said. However, aviation regulator DGCA in a statement said that there are restrictions in place for Indian nationals desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage, resulting in inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa. "As against Indian carriers operating 3-4 flights a week, Lufthansa operated 20 flights a week. In spite of this disparity, we offered to clear seven flights a week for Lufthansa, which was not accepted by them. Negotiations continue," the DGCA said. Earlier, Lufthansa had said that it will operate 160 flights between India and Germany in September. This would have been a four-fold increase in flights to and from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Lufthansa has been operating flights from India for several months between Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed As the world races to develop a potential vaccine against coronavirus (Covid-19), the Union health ministry has launched an online portal about Covid-19 with all the latest information on the coronavirus disease. Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the web portal will have data on research development, clinical trials on potential Covid-19 vaccine in India, its launch date and other information. He also said that the first vaccine in India will most likely be available by early 2021. Dr Vardhan also said that there are at least three vaccine candidates that are under different phases of clinical trials. With a spike of 82,170 new coronavirus cases in last 24 hours, Indias Covid-19 tally crossed the 60-lakh mark on Monday, according to the data provided by health ministry. Here are all the latest updates on Covid-19 vaccine: India is currently witnessing different phases of clinical trials of three Covid-19 vaccines. Covishield, the vaccine being developed by Oxford University, is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials. The trials began on Monday at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune. The vaccine will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). Indias indigenous vaccine developers Bharat Biotech International is at the second-phase human trial stage and Zydus Cadila is in the process to receive approvals for conducting third-phase clinical trials. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has selected 43 volunteers so far for the clinical trial of Covid-19 vaccine produced by the Oxford University. Of these, 12 have already received the first dosage of the drug. Monoclonal antibodies that stop the coronavirus from spreading in the body are among promising strategies for averting severe illness from Covid-19 before vaccines arrive, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. China is injecting thousands of its people with Covid-19 vaccine shots, which are still under trial and hence their efficacy unproven, reports said. Those who are getting these vaccine shots are also made to sign a nondisclosure agreement, according to which they cant talk about it to the news media. In anticipation of a possible vaccine for Covid-19, Gurugram health department will be conducting a thorough assessment of the available cold chain infrastructure in the coming weeks, officials confirmed. Event to be held virtually as a live webcast PARIS, FRANCE / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Pharnext SA (FR0011191287 - ALPHA), an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a new approach to developing innovative drug combinations based on big genomic data and artificial intelligence, today announced that it will host a research and development (R&D) day focused on the company's development efforts related to its lead asset, PXT3003, in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, from 8:00 - 10:30 a.m. ET / 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. CET. Highlights of the event will include: CMT1A disease overview including pathophysiology, disease burden and treatment expectations including pathophysiology, disease burden and treatment expectations CMT1A patient perspective related to quality of life and challenges related to quality of life and challenges Overview of PXT3003's clinical development and regulatory progress clinical development and regulatory progress PLEOTHERAPY platform process flow and potential in drug development In addition to Pharnext's management team - Dr David Horn Solomon, CEO and Dr Adrian Hepner, CMO and Head of R&D - featured presenters include: Mario Saporta MD, PhD, MBA, FAAN , Associate Professor of Neurology & Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami; Director, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Center of Excellence at the MDA care center, University of Miami Associate Professor of Neurology & Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami; Director, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Center of Excellence at the MDA care center, University of Miami Allison Moore, Founder and CEO, Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation The event will conclude with a panel discussion involving the guest speakers together with Pharnext senior management and will provide an opportunity for Q&A. All people interested, including equity research analysts, in attending the event may contact Janhavi Mohite at janhavi.mohite@sternir.com Virtual Event Details The virtual presentation will be webcast beginning at 8:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. CET on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, and may be accessed by visiting the "Investors" section of the Pharnext website. About Pharnext Pharnext is an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for orphan and common neurodegenerative diseases that currently lack curative and/or disease-modifying treatments. Pharnext has two lead products in clinical development. PXT3003 completed an international Phase III trial with positive topline results for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A and benefits from orphan drug status in Europe and the United States. PXT864 has generated encouraging Phase II results in Alzheimer's disease. Pharnext has developed a new drug discovery paradigm based on big genomics data and artificial intelligence: PLEOTHERAPY. Pharnext identifies and develops synergic combinations of drugs called PLEODRUG. The Company was founded by renowned scientists and entrepreneurs including Professor Daniel Cohen, a pioneer in modern genomics, and is supported by a world-class scientific team. More information at www.pharnext.com. Pharnext is listed on the Euronext Growth Stock Exchange in Paris (ISIN code: FR0011191287). Contacts Pharnext David Solomon Chief Executive Officer contact@pharnext.co m +33 (0)1 41 09 22 30 Media Relations (International) Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott Sukaina Virji Melissa Gardiner pharnext@consilium-comms.com Media Relations (U.S.) Rooney Partners LLC Jeffrey Freedman jfreedman@rooneyco.com +1 646 432 0191 +1 914 217 4124 Media Relations (Europe) Ulysse Communication Bruno Arabian +33 (0)6 87 88 47 26 barabian @ulysse-communication.com Pierre-Louis Germain +33 (0)6 64 79 97 51 plgermain@ulysse-communication.com +33 (0)1 81 70 96 30 Investors Relations (U.S.) Stern Investor Relations, Inc. Janhavi Mohite janhavi.mohite@sternir.com +1 212 362 1200 Financial Communication (Europe) Actifin Stephane Ruiz sruiz@actifin.fr +33 (0)1 56 88 11 15 SOURCE: Pharnext View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608228/Pharnext-to-Host-Research-and-Development-Day-on-October-13-2020 A police officer allegedly posted an image on social media with laughing faces plastered over a man who he fatally shot's memorial. San Diego police officer Jonathon Lucas and his partner Tevar Zaki shot Leonardo Hurtado Ibarra, 25, after he allegedly pulled a gun on them in downtown San Diego on June 27. Ibarra underwent emergency surgery at UC San Diego Medical Center but died from his injuries on June 29. After the shooting, Lucas was placed on administrative leave while police investigated, but he allegedly posted images on Instagram of Ibarra's makeshift memorial with laughing face emojis on Thursday. San Diego police officer Jonathon Lucas and his partner Tevar Zaki shot Leonardo Hurtado Ibarra, 25, (pictured) after he allegedly pulled a gun on them in downtown San Diego on June 27. Lucas is being investigated for allegedly posting images of Ibarra's memorial with laughing emojis on Thursday Screenshots of the posts show pictures of the 'Justice 4 Leo' memorial with crying-from-laughing emojis on top and the word '#eastside' written (left). A second screenshot (right) shows the account's bio, describing the poster as 'promoting a healthier lifestyle for cops' San Diego police spokesman Lieutenant Shawn Takeuchi said police Chief David Nisleit immediately ordered an internal investigation into the matter. A screenshot of the post at the centre of the allegations shows a picture of the makeshift memorial which includes candles and handmade signs, including one that reads, 'Justice 4 Leo.' Over the image the word '#Eastside' is written alongside emojis showing a series of faces either crying-from-laughing or streams of tears flowing from closed eyes. It is not clear what the word Eastside is referring to. Candles were arranged at the site where 25 year-old Leonardo Ibarra was shot by San Diego police on Sixth Avenue on June 27 A second screenshot shows the private Instagram account that posted the photo. Cat Mendonca of United Against Police Terror San Diego, an organization that exposes alleged police misconduct and use of excessive force, said an Instagram user who wanted to remain anonymous shared the photo with the organization. The user was following the account that posted the photo and said it belonged to Lucas, Mendonca said. San Diego police are investigating whether Lucas posted the picture. Body cam footage shows Lucas and Zaki trying to stop Ibarra before shooting him in the street San Diego police spokesman Lieutenant Shawn Takeuchi told the San Diego Tribune: 'We hold all officers to a high standard, including conduct that is done off duty or on personal social media accounts.' Ibarra's shooting sparked outrage across San Diego at the time, with protesters taking to the streets to express their anger at police brutality on June 28. He was spotted walking down a sidewalk on the 1200 block of Sixth Avenue just after 5.45pm on June 27. Lucas and Zaki, who have been with the force for four years, believed he matched the description of a man involved in a June 21 robbery because of his face tattoos, so they tried to approach him. Ibarra appears to try to run away and the officer raises his gun before both officers begin shooting He dropped his shopping bags and ran away, the San Diego Police Department said. While Ibarra ran, he reached into his waistband, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officers, police said. Bodycam footage released by San Diego police a day after the shooting shows an officer approach Ibarra and say: 'Hey man we need to talk to you for a second. Stop, stop.' Ibarra appears to try to run away and the officer raises his gun before both officers begin shooting as the footage fades to black. Ibarra's shooting sparked outrage across San Diego at the time, with protesters taking to the streets to express their anger at supposed police brutality on June 28 (pictured) A car alarm rings as the officers approach Ibarra's slumped body on the sidewalk. The officers said they gave him first aid while officers waited for paramedics to arrive. Police said they found a loaded revolver wrapped in a bandana under Ibarra's body when he was handcuffed. Gabriela Gudino, Ibarras ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, said police shot Ibarra 11 times. San Diego police said the number is still being investigated. The protests came after wider protests in the city (pictured on June 4) over the killing of George Floyd She told NBC7: 'It was excessive force. That was just too many times. Nobody deserves that. 'I get it, one, two but 11 times? I think thats not right. Even if he pulled out a gun, there are other ways to try to stop him.' San Diego Police are continuing to investigate the social media posts and shooting. Ibarra leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 6 and 8. A fundraiser for his family has raised nearly $7,000. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said those clusters, as well as some in Rockland and Orange counties in the Hudson Valley region, required aggressive action to stamp out the embers right away before they became wider outbreaks. A cluster today can be community spread tomorrow, he said. Michael Mulgrew, president of the citys teachers union, said that if the rates do not drop this week, the city should move to close as many as 80 public schools in ZIP codes where the virus is surging. If the citys public schools do close, they would be able to reopen when the average positivity rate dips below three percent over seven days. Random student testing is set to begin Thursday, which could also drive down the rate. Months of work have gone into reopening New Yorks 1,800 schools. At some schools, parents weary after months of home-schooling cheered for their childrens teachers at drop-off. A vast majority of New Yorks 1.1 million students began the school year remotely last week, while about 90,000 pre-K students and children with advanced disabilities reported to classrooms. Hundreds of thousands more children, including middle and high school students, are expected to report to schools by the end of this week. Parents and school administrators on Tuesday morning indicated that the reopening had unfolded without major problems. Still, scenes from around the city provided another glimpse of how the pandemic has upended the rituals of schools. In Manhattan, Public School 46 in Washington Heights had different gates for specific grades to enter, so that students did not crowd together. In one line, several masked children stood six feet apart, on yellow pieces of tape on the sidewalk. Like with any industry, the information security industry, more commonly referred to as cybersecurity, for all its raging debates, has rallied around a small corpus of best practices. One of the highest on this list is full-disk encryption, which security experts regard as sacrosanct, a no-brainer that everyone should use at the barest of minimums. This is the encryption that ensures that someone who snatches your device wont be able to know everything youve got saved on it. Im here to make the case that most of you are better off not using it. I know this might sound crazy, since Im kind of the security guy here, but hear me out. I am in no way about to talk you out of using encryption without it, the digital tools that we rely on every day would be unusable. Thats why Im not arguing against encryption, period; but specifically against full-disk encryption, and only for certain users. What I contend is that, for most people facing the overwhelmingly most common use cases, full-disk encryption is overkill. These users enjoy no measurable gain in security compared to alternative data at rest encryption, yet they pay for it with a measurable performance hit. This isnt just a matter of efficiency or load times, but literal increased cost to users, too. Alternatives exist which afford normal everyday users, with normal everyday security concerns, a level of protection commensurate with what full-disk encryption offers. They are admittedly a bit off the beaten path, as most consumer tech companies have adopted full-disk encryption, but theyre out there. There Has to Be Another Way Today, full-disk encryption is by far the most common kind of encryption scheme for data at rest. Think of data at rest as the data you keep on some kind of storage medium (like a hard drive) for use later, not the kind of data that is moving over some communication channel like the Internet (that would be data in transit). In general, full-disk encryption is implemented on a level of computer complexity that deals with how raw bytes, decoupled from the context of information representation, are organized on the hard drive. We will refer to this as the block device level, since the full-disk encryption is applied to the block device that is a hard drive partition (just a fancy name for a large segment of your hard drive). This level is higher than the electrical signal level, but below the filesystem, the latter of which is the point at which your computer sees bytes as files instead of just bytes. The filesystem serves as a kind of org chart that tells your computer how to tell what bytes go together to make up files, and how to tell files and file types apart. So what exactly is this disk encryption that isnt full-disk encryption? The answer is filesystem-level encryption. Under filesystem-level encryption, also called file-based encryption, a system encrypts certain directories (i.e. folders) and all the files and directories within them, recursively down to everything that the uppermost directory ultimately contains. Filesystem-level encryption can also encrypt an entire filesystem, automatically protecting everything that gets saved on it. For our purposes, though, we will consider the kind of file-based encryption that lets users choose which files and directories to encrypt, leaving the rest alone. A D V E R T I S E M E N T To be precise, the model I have in mind is one which encrypts only the user documents, media, and other files which on Unix systems would end up in the users subdirectory under the /home directory. This way, the core system files and software binaries for running programs are left alone, and only your actual personal data is guarded. This, as the name implies, occurs at the level of the filesystem, which is one level up from where full-disk encryption is operative. This yields some important implications. To start with, all your encrypted files are already understood as being files, meaning they can be decrypted individually. It also allows users to augment file encryption with file permission controls. Because the full disk is encrypted under full-disk encryption, a user who knows the disk decryption password has to enter it before anything else can proceed. But along with the user files, all the files the OS needs to run are also locked. A successful boot requires the whole block device to be unlocked, and once the disk is unlocked, its all open. With file-level encryption, your full OS enforces the distinctions for what gets decrypted and when. Each user can define which of their files are encrypted, and with which passwords. So, with file-based encryption, one user could decrypt their files and still leave another users data locked up. You dont have to decrypt an encrypted directory if you dont want to if you dont intend to open any of your document or media files, you can use the computers programs while leaving your personal files locked up where, for instance, malware cant infect them. Show Me What Youve Got I wouldnt go to the trouble of putting forward file-based encryption if it didnt have some real advantages over full-disk encryption. To that end, file-based encryptions greatest strength is that its speed leaves full-disk encryption in the dust. Thats because file-based encrypted systems read and write to the disk more efficiently. To understand why that is, lets get into how encrypted block devices (like a flash storage) work. Just as a refresher on terminology, ciphertext is the encrypted form of information, which is unreadable without the correct key, while plaintext is the information in its original, comprehensible form. When you decrypt encrypted data at rest, your computer isnt literally changing all the bits on the storage hardware from ciphertext to plaintext. That would take too long, and it would fry your drive in no time from writing to the entire drive every time you booted and shut down your device. Instead, the physical bits on your drive stay as they are, but they are read and written through a buffer that exists in memory after the correct key is applied. The buffer applies a decryption operation as the information is read, and an encryption operation as it is written, to the drive. While your data is decrypted and read, the plaintext is held in memory so it can be easily referenced until you are done with it. Adding this many extra steps slows things way down compared to unencrypted reads and writes, by as much as a factor of ten. For full-disk encryption, every single thing you do on your computer has to be read through this decrypting buffer, because your entire block device, and its contents, is encrypted. Crucially, this includes all the binaries that run the OS itself and all the software on it. But with our chosen configuration of file-based encryption, only your user document and media files need decryption. Most of the software you use on a daily basis isnt among these files. There are plenty of computing tasks that wouldnt need to decrypt anything at all. As just one example, we live in our web browsers so much that you can probably count on one hand the number of user files youve opened in the last 24 hours. Obviously, your computer will have to decrypt some data some of the time, but even then, because the encryption is implemented at the filesystem level, your file-based encrypted OS can do so more efficiently than the full-disk encrypted analog would. Ultimately, all disk access, whether to a fully encrypted or filesystem encrypted disk, requires approval from the core of the operating system, the kernel. However, because the encryption in full-disk encryption is managed at the system administrative privilege level, the kernel has to get involved for reading the block device through the decryption buffer, too. File-based encryption doesnt face this obstacle, because it only requires unprivileged user rights to decrypt the users own files. As a result, full-disk encryption has to get an additional permission from the kernel for reading or writing to the disk, compared to the same process under the file-based model. More Efficient With Less Wear and Tear Another major upside to filesystem encryption is that it cuts way down on wear to your drive. For every individual write operation, a system with file-based encryption simply writes less data than one with full-disk encryption. Again, the encryption at work for full-disk encryption is on the block device level, which sees only blocks, uniformly sized units, of bytes. Not all data takes up an entire block, though. In fact, a lot of it doesnt. So encryption at the block level actually thwarts the computers built-in efficiency mechanism that is only changing the parts of a file that actually changed. Without full-disk encryption, a computer can compare the updated version of a file in memory to the previous version on the drive, determine which parts are now different, and write those new different parts to the file. Your computer can achieve a similar economy of writes with file-based encryption, too: when the plaintext version of your file in memory is updated, the file is filtered through the encryption buffer and held in memory temporarily, and then the OS compares the new encrypted version against the previous encrypted version on your drive to determine which bits actually changed, and only writes those. Full-disk encryption is another story. Under that model, the OS knows what parts of the file changed, but because the encryption is by block and not by file, the OS now has to translate files into blocks, encrypt the block, and write those blocks to the block device. Revisions in a file that dont add up to a blocks worth of data can span multiple blocks, all of which must then be filtered through the encrypted buffer and written in their entirety back to the block device. Even if all the altered data is stored in one block, the whole block is rewritten, resulting in significant write overhead. By its very nature, filesystem-level encryption yields flexibility where the full-disk alternative does not. As noted above, full-disk encryption is all or nothing. It encrypts your whole system, the core files and all user data. That means that non-sensitive data that you want to load faster (e.g. video or audio media for editing) gets hit with the read-write slowdown. Full-disk encryption also isnt ideal for multi-user systems, such as a shared household device. Anyone who wants to use the device has to know the full-disk decryption passphrase, or the device cant even boot into the OS. And unlocking the device for any one user unlocks the data for all users. That also means you cant enable features like unprivileged guest accounts that can use the OS with access to user files blocked. Finally, file-based encryption is more reasonable for what most people need. Ive said it myself that security involves inconvenience, and this is true. But when designing a set of security practices, taking on more inconvenience than necessary to mitigate the risk of attack doesnt help. In fact, it only hurts: if a users security procedures are too onerous, that user will eventually cut corners. Simply put, full-disk encryption is overkill for the use case you most likely have. The two encryption configurations weve been juxtaposing protect you in different ways. The main difference in the degree of security between them is that file-based encryption only protects your user document and media files. By contrast, full-disk encryption encrypts those plus core OS files. Some Potential Downsides As you might easily guess, there are drawbacks to not encrypting everything the way full-disk encryption does. In theory, an attacker with physical access to your device employing file-based encryption could alter the unencrypted OS data. From there, the attacker either boots your machine to run the code they just put there, or they wait until you boot your machine so that their malicious code does something to snag your data. That sounds bad, and it is, but it also probably wont happen to you. Really, most or none of your adversaries will even attempt it. They are either so primitive that filesystem-level encryption is enough to thwart them, or so sophisticated (i.e. powerful) that they have more efficient methods for obtaining your data. For the overwhelming majority of users, the problem that data-at-rest encryption solves is keeping thieves who physically steal your device from getting your data. Thats why smart thieves dont count on getting your data, and instead resort to fencing the device for money. File-based encryption and full-disk encryption both work equally well in this scenario. Conversely, if your adversary is a government authority (e.g. law enforcement), neither file-based encryption nor full-disk encryption will save you. Depending on the jurisdiction, they can legally order you to unlock your device. Almost everywhere else, governments can issue orders to services that store your data in their cloud to just hand over what they want and under repressive regimes, lets just say they have more direct and painful ways of getting you to comply. Lets say, for the sake of argument, you are staring down a government actor, and all the aforementioned techniques havent worked. Full-disk encryption would only work if the government did not have a more sophisticated way of attacking your system. This is not an issue for most of the worlds powerful governments, as they are advanced enough that they can brute force or sidestep the encryption in some way. So, there arent that many cases where full-disk encryption will really save you: when your enemy is a government and you can withstand physical torture, but the government isnt capable of the really cool action movie hacking that basically every G20 nation can do. Thats not to say that, depending on your adversary, there is nothing to be gained from making things difficult for your attacker making your attackers life as hard as possible is a time-honored security strategy but just realize that thats all full-disk encryption can guarantee you. But, again, thats not what almost any of you are looking at. Practical Encryption, Impractical Implementation Those of you who are convinced and want your read-write performance and SSD longevity back are probably wondering where you can get your hands on this sweet file-level crypto. Well, thats where things get complicated. You see, its hard to set it up in practice. The main reason for this is that major consumer OSes are already full-disk encrypted. Apple and Google have configured their mobile devices for full-disk encryption, and deny users the ability to disable it. Apple and Microsoft also enable full-disk encryption by default, but both offer ways of disabling it for the intrepid. For Linux-based desktop OSes (my personal preference), installing your system with filesystem-level encryption used to be as easy as checking a box, but this is quickly going the way of the dodo. Ubuntu recently deprecated this installation option in their graphical installer, leaving Linux Mint as the only distribution I know of which still offers it. Even DIY distros like Arch Linux discourage you from trying to configure file-level crypto. Instead, they steer you toward block encryption, for which documentation is much more thorough. If you are willing to go to the required lengths to turn off your full-disk encryption, there are some options available to you. One of the more robust options is VeraCrypt. Born of the desire to don the defunct TrueCrypts mantle, VeraCrypt is a graphical tool for creating encrypted directory structures on top of an existing filesystem. It boasts options for read-write speeds on par with unencrypted filesystems, and even super-spy features like deniable encryption, where your encrypted data will just look like normal unused space on your drive. An exploration of even basic VeraCrypt capabilities would be beyond the scope of this already lengthy piece, but perhaps it has the makings of a future article. So why did I take all this time to tell you about something that is not the most (though certainly not the least) accessible? Fundamentally, its important to know whats possible so you can make the most informed choices, to create the computing experience that is most responsive to your needs. Computers are infinitely customizable, so there is no reason a user should be denied the setup that is best for them not knowing your options is the worst such reason. Appreciating whats possible is about more than living your best digital life, but about providing the support, even if its just usership, to the developers making it possible. If this sounds like something that could make your life better, I say to you, go forth and tinker! Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin (C) attends a virtual reception to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Chinese embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, Sept. 28, 2020. China will offer emergency humanitarian aid worth 300,000 U.S. dollars to Sudan, Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin said on Monday. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua) KHARTOUM, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China will offer emergency humanitarian aid worth 300,000 U.S. dollars to Sudan, Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin said on Monday. "We believe that the Sudanese government and people will definitely be able to overcome the floods and rebuild their homes as soon as possible," Ma said at a virtual reception held at the Chinese embassy in Khartoum to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He further expressed condolences to the victims of the flood disaster, noting that "we are willing to provide support and assistance to the Sudanese side within our capacity." Meanwhile, Sheikh Khidir, senior adviser to the Sudanese prime minister, said that "Sudan always appreciates the Chinese support at international forums, the valuable Chinese assistance to combat the coronavirus pandemic and the cash support for Sudan to face the floods and torrential rains which have recently hit Sudan." For his part, Ali Yousif, executive director of the Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies' League, an affiliate of the Arab League based in Sudan, commended China's supportive stances to Arab states. "China's support to the Arab countries in combating coronavirus has proved that we live in the world of common destiny, which is one of the most important concepts of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Yousif. The floods and torrential rains which recently hit Sudan have killed tens of peoples and destroyed thousands of houses. In an email sent out to the parents of students at Sir Winston Churchill, principal Ann Gilmore has confirmed an individual there has tested positive for COVID-19. Nine schools in Niagara have now been affected by the pandemic that has resulted in 11 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus since Sept. 8. Of those cases, six are from the public board, four from the Catholic board and one from the French-Catholic board, resulting in five classroom shutdowns. All five of the classroom shutdowns have come from the public board. For Sir Winston in the south end of St. Catharines, Gilmore said Monday, Niagara Region Public Health is currently assessing the situation, and if your child is required to self-isolate, NRPH will contact you directly this evening. If you are not contacted by NRPH, your child will not need to self-isolate and may continue to attend school. Gilmore would not indicate if the individual was a staff member or student but she did advise parents that public health is assessing the situation. Gilmore said facility services will complete a thorough cleaning of the school. We will continue to be vigilant as a school community with our preventative practices, such as wearing PPE, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and daily health screening, she said. Also Monday, MonAvenir Catholic Schools confirmed a COVID-19 case at Sacre-Coeur Catholic elementary school in Welland. District School Board of Niagara schools with confirmed cases include Ferndale Elementary School, William Hamilton Merritt Elementary School and Sir Winston in St. Catharines and Eastdale Secondary School in Welland, which has reported three cases. Niagara Catholic District School Board schools with confirmed cases are Canadian Martyrs Catholic Elementary School and Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines, and Mary Ward Catholic Elementary School and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School in Niagara Falls. Last week, the state of Kentucky announced that the three officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor would not be charged with any crimes directly connected to her death. Since then, several new pieces of evidence have emerged complicating the picture the stateand the policehave painted. Here are the new developments. Hankison pleaded not guilty. Brett Hankison, the only officer to be charged with a crime stemming from the incident, pleaded not guilty in court on Monday. Hankison was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment over bullets that pierced a neighboring apartment occupied by a man, a pregnant woman, and a child. According to the state, Hankison fired his gun 10 times through a sliding glass door and through a bedroom window. Hankison was fired in June for violating department policy but is appealing that decision. The attorney generals office has said that Hankisons actions showed extreme indifference to human life but that they did not know if any of his bullets hit Taylor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics have demanded to know why Hankison was charged with endangering Taylors neighbors but not Taylor herself, given the alleged recklessness of his shooting. If Hankison is convicted on all three charges, he faces between three and 15 years in prison. The ballistics reports doesnt fully support the states account of events. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Camerons narrative is one of self-defense: the three officers who fired their weapons did so because Taylors boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had shot at them first, hitting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. According to Walker, he and Taylor were awoken to hammering at the doorbut no identification from policeand called out to ask who was there. (Police say they announced themselves before knocking down the door.) Walker and Taylor, alarmed at the prospect of an intruder, dressed quickly and walked into the hallway. When Walker saw one or more figures on the other side of the hallway, he fired a warning shot out of fear, he said. He has said that he was afraid that the intruder was Jamarcus Glover, Taylors ex-boyfriend and the subject of the drug investigation that led to the raid. When Mattingly entered the apartment, he was struck by a bullet in the thigh, and he and the other officers began firing at Walker and Taylor in response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the states reasoning, it does not matter if Walker, using a legally owned firearm, thought he was acting in self-defense against a home invasion. The state reasoned that neither Walker nor the officers were wrong to fire their weapons: Taylors death was a tragedy brought about by misunderstandings, fear, and bad luck. New evidence from the state ballistics report adds some uncertainty to the police version of events. According to a screengrab of the report published by Vice News on Friday, the initial ballistics report included in the police departments file did not prove that the bullet was Walkers. Instead it concluded that due to limited markings of comparative value, [the bullet] was neither identified nor eliminated as having been fired from Walkers gun. The FBI also conducted a ballistics report, but the finding of that report is not public. In his press conference on Wednesday, Cameron stated that Walker had shot Mattingly as a matter of indisputable fact. He did not mention the inconclusive report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bullet hit Mattingly in the thigh, puncturing his femoral artery and putting him in danger of bleeding out. He was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. The medics who aided Mattingly did not deliver aid to Taylor, who died within minutes of being shot. Vice reported Friday that photos from Mattinglys wound depict a bruising pattern and coloration consistent with having been shot from close proximitysomething that could indicate he was not shot by Walker standing at the other end of the hallway. However, Vice acknowledged that Mattinglys wallet, which was pierced by the bullet, might have also caused bruising. Advertisement Advertisement Its possible we will never know exactly what happened. If Mattingly were a victim of friendly fire, the thought would be upsetting, but it wouldnt change much. Walker has never contested that he fired a warning shot at the person he thought was an intruder (he has said he fired it toward the ground). If in the confusion that followed the warning shot, Mattingly was hit by a bullet fired by one of his fellow officers, the officers would still be able to justify their actions as self-defense. Video shows officers violating policies meant to safeguard the integrity of the investigation. On Saturday, Vice posted a clip from body camera footage in which Hankison can be seen entering Taylors apartment as investigators were working the scene. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Hankisons presence there would be a clear violation of department protocol for the aftermath of a police shooting. Advertisement Advertisement In the video, Hankison can be seen standing near a shell casing and saying, Thats theirs? An officer responds, Thats ours, it looks like. He then tells Hankison to back out until the departments public integrity unit can arrive. But Hankison does not leave, and he instead asks the officers on the scene more questions. Advertisement Advertisement In Louisville, according to the Courier-Journal, when officers are involved in an incident in which police fire their guns, they are meant to be separated from one another afterward and paired up with an independent escort officer. The escort is meant to remain with their paired officer through the entire initial investigation, monitoring the officers interactions and ensuring the officer makes it to the public integrity unit office. But according to Vice, the footage from the body cameras showed that none of the officers involved in the raid followed that protocol. Instead, Detective Michael Campbell, one of the officers involved in the raid, helped interview neighbors while Detective Myles Cosgrove remained at the scene. According to the FBI, Cosgrove was the one who fired the fatal shot. He fired 16 times in total, according to the state. More videos from the scene appeared to circulate on social media. Advertisement In his press conference, Cameron said that there was no video or body camera footage of the officers attempted execution of a search warrant. It appears true that Mattingly, Hankison, and Cosgrove were not wearing body cameras. But other officers who were at the scene after the shooting had activated body cameras. These videos appear to bolster the claim that the police had misled the public about the existence of video evidence. Advertisement Advertisement Over the weekend, clips of apparent body camera footage, allegedly obtained from an attorney for the Taylor family, circulated on social media. The videos were posted by a man named Kendrick Wilson, another client of the same attorney. Wilson said the lawyer obtained the body camera footage from the familys $12 million settlement with the city. Under the terms of the settlement, the family cannot release evidence provided by the city. Wilson is not an independent party in the matter: The Taylor family lawyer also said that he hired Wilson as an investigator to work on the Taylor case, and the lawyers work representing Wilson has been for a pending harassment lawsuit against Hankison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if the videos Wilson posted can be trusted, they seem to show some details from the scene not already shared with the public. According to the Courier-Journal: In one video clip Wilson posted, an officer he claims is not Hankison says his rounds went through Taylors window. In another, an officer can be heard stating that there was a Black female shot inside, along with the shooterindicating that police might have known that Taylor had been seriously wounded before Walker exited the apartment and was arrested. Videos also appear to show police intimidating Walker. According to Vice, body camera footage shows that as Walker walked slowly backward during his arrest, following the officers orders, a narcotics dog jumped at him. An officer shouted at Walker, Walk straight back or I will send this dog on you. When Walker asks what he had done, Hankison replied: Youre going to prison, thats whats going on. For the rest of your fucking life. The confusion over the case has led to calls from the Taylor family for the transcripts from the grand jury decision to be made public. Its still unclear if the members of the grand jury were given the option to decide if the officers should be charged with any form of homicide, or if the state had decided the chargesand matter of self-defensefor them. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Chancellor Angela Merkel will push Tuesday for Germany's 16 states to agree to tougher measures including alcohol bans or stricter mask requirements should coronavirus cases soar beyond a threshold as winter approaches. With infection rates rising again since the summer, Merkel will stress at a meeting with state premiers later Tuesday the importance of not risking another full-fledged lockdown across Germany like in mid-March. "The overarching aim must be to keep schools and childcare facilities running, as well as the continued operation of the economy after the painful restrictions early this year and in the summer," according to a draft policy paper seen by AFP that is to be discussed at the meeting. At the same time, with huge clusters of outbreaks seen often after family gatherings or private parties, the chancellor will urge state premiers to agree to imposing a ceiling on the numbers of people gathering if infection rates were to rise above the threshold of 35 new cases per 100,000 over seven days. Measures including widening the list of places where people are required to wear masks or "bans on alcohol sale for a limited period of time" could also be imposed in cases of unabated contagion. But ahead of the meeting, some state premiers have already voiced opposition to toughening measures. Saxony state premier Michael Kretschmer said stricter rules made sense only in places where infections are sharply rising. "That is not an issue for Saxony. That's why there won't be toughened rules here," he told regional radio MDR Sachsen. In a meeting on Monday with her CDU party's top brass, Merkel had warned that new infection numberscurrently at around 2,000 a daycould leap to 19,200 daily if the "trend continues in this way," party sources told AFP. Germany began to ease stringent measures including shop closures or limits to the numbers of people meeting from late April, after weeks of lockdown brought new infections down from the peak of around 6,000 daily. But with travel picking up again, particularly during summer holidays, and larger gatherings taking place, contagion has returned swiftly, bringing current infection numbers to heights last seen at the end of April. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP By Trend As a result of the shelling of Azerbaijans Goranboy district by the Armenian armed forces, the damage was caused to the infrastructure of the district, the amount of which is being calculated, First Deputy Head of the Executive Power of Goranboy district Jeyhun Hasanov told Trend on Sept. 29. There are no victims among civilians, Hasanov added. Hasanov also emphasized the extremely high fighting spirit of the population. "No one left the villages, first deputy head added. The executive power and the military commissariat of the district receive numerous applications from citizens to participate in the battles." Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Global NVR Server Market Research presents a Comprehensive scenario Which can be segmented according to producers, product type, applications, and areas. This segmentation will provide deep-dive analysis of NVR Server business for identifying the growth opportunities, development tendencies and factors limiting the development of the marketplace. This report features forecast market information based on previous and present NVR Server industry scenarios and growth facets. Each of the Essential regions coated The statue of 17th century merchant, Edward Colston, falls into the water during a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol, England, on June 7, 2020. (Keir Gravil via Reuters) British Insitutions Warned Not to Remove Statues Over Protests or Face Funding Cut The British government has sent a letter to several museums and cultural institutions warning that their public funding could be called into question should they remove statues or other historical objects that have become the focus of protests or complaints. The issue of how Britain should deal with the legacies of its past, especially its role in slavery and colonialism, has been the subject of heated debate since the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century merchant, was toppled by Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in Bristol in June. Protesters tear down a statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, Britain, on June 7, 2020. (Mohiudin Malik via Reuters) At the time, the chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police, Andy Marsh, called the tearing down of the statue and its throwing into Bristol harbor an act of criminal damage, and Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned it as mob rule. Since then, officials have removed the statue of another historical figure in London, a concert hall in Bristol has renamed itself, and venerable institutions such as Oxford University have grappled publicly with what to do about contested heritage. Moral Complexity Culture Minister Oliver Dowden said in the letter to the institutions, which was sent on Sept. 22 but published on Monday, that History is ridden with moral complexity. Statues and other historical objects were created by generations with different perspectives and understandings of right and wrong, he added. Dowden said that the government is against the removal of statues and similar objects even though some may represent figures who had said or done things we would not defend today. Though we may now disagree with those who created them or who they represent, they play an important role in teaching us about our past, with all its faults, he said. Some of the institutions that were sent the letter had received funding from people connected with the slave trade in the distant past or hold in their collections items taken from distant lands during the colonial period. Dowden said, however, that as publicly funded bodies, they should not be taking actions motivated by activism or politics, and that cultural objects should be used to educate people on all aspects of Britains complex past, both good and bad. Significant Taxpayer Support Citing the significant support the institutions receive from the British taxpayer, Dowden said they should not act outside their remit, especially ahead of the imminent and challenging Comprehensive Spending Reviewa government department budgeting review carried out every three years. It is imperative that you continue to act impartially, in line with your publicly funded status, and not in a way that brings this into question, he said. There was no mention in Dowdens letter of the governments position on the restoration to their original places of cultural objects that had already been removed. A worker cleans the statue of former prime minister Winston Churchill in Londons Parliament Square that had been spray painted with graffiti during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 8, 2020. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Historic England advises the UK government and local authorities on contested heritage. With regard to the reinstatement of the statue of Edward Colston to its plinth in Bristol city center, a Historic England spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that it was for Bristol City Council as the decision-maker in the planning process, to decide. We are encouraging the council to engage in a city-wide conversation about the future of the statue, The spokesperson said. As the governments heritage adviser, we are here to offer advice and guidance when we are needed. Neither the governments culture department nor the Bristol museum had responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by the time of this report. Cultural Revision Acts of cultural revision that have taken place following recent BLM protests in the UK have included the renaming of Gunga Din House, a senior boys boarding house at an independent Oxford school over perceived racist connotations; and the renaming by The University of Edinburgh of a campus building over 18th-century philosopher David Humes 260-year-old comments on race. The British Museum reorganized displays to reflect the exploitative context of the British Empire, prior to its reopening in August. Opposition Labour lawmaker David Lammy was among those who criticized Dowdens stance. History is littered with autocrats instructing museum curators on what to exhibit, Lammy wrote on Twitter, accusing the government of stoking a fake culture war instead of supporting the cultural sector, which has been ravaged by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, pandemic. The culture secretarys letter was sent to the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, the British Library, the Natural History Museum, and other prominent British cultural institutions. Reuters contributed to this report YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) hasnt yet received a formal request from Armenia to discuss the Azerbaijani military cross border bombings of Armenian towns on September 29. The CSTO is a military alliance between Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzystan and Tajikistan, its charter stipulates that member states are bound to protect one another if anyone of them gets attacked. Asked by ARMENPRESS whether or not the organization has discussed the Azeri shelling of civilian settlements in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, CSTO spokesperson Vladimir Zaynetdinov said discussing the matter requires an official request from Armenia. In order for this issue to be discussed in the CSTO, it is necessary for Armenia to apply to the CSTO with a relevant request. The CSTO Secretariat hasnt yet received such request, he said. In the early morning of September 27, the Azerbaijani military launched a massive attack on Artsakh (Karabakh) using air force, missiles and tanks. The Azerbaijani artillery strikes targeted civilian settlements, including Stepanakert city, which resulted in several civilians being killed. Schools were also bombed. A mother and her child were killed in Martuni, Artsakh. Many other civilians were wounded. The Azeri shelling of civilian settlements resulted in another child being killed on September 29. 4 civilians are dead in Artsakh. The Azerbaijani attacks continue. According to official reports Azerbaijan lost more than 400 servicemen, 6 gunships, 50 UAVs, 85 tanks and armored vehicles, 1 warplane and 82 other military vehicles since the fighting began in Artsakh. Artsakhs military said the Defense Army of Artsakh lost 84 servicemen, with more than 120 being wounded. On September 29, the Azeri troops began shelling from across the state border at the Armenian town of Vardenis, killing one civilian. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Members of the Mahila Congress staged a protest at Vijay Chowk here on Tuesday demanding justice for the Hathras gang-rape victim, who died at a hospital this morning, following which they were detained by police. Congress Rajya Sabha member P L Punia and former MP Udit Raj also joined the protest which was led by Mahila Congress president Amrita Dhawan. The protesters were taken to Mandir Marg police station, a senior police officer said. The Mahila Congress members demanded that the culprits in the Hathras gang rape case be hanged. Dhawan said the Mahila Congress members were trying to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan to demand justice for the victim when the police detained them. Punia and Raj were also detained by the police, she said. A total of 25 men and 11 women protesters were detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station, said Deepak Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi). The victim, a 19-year-old Dalit woman, was allegedly raped by four men on September 14 in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras when she had gone to the fields with her mother. The accused tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt. In the process, the woman bit her tongue and suffered a severe cut on it. She succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Speaking at the 16th congress of the Provincial Party Committee (2020-2025 term) on September 28, Politburo member Vuong pointed out Gia Lais favourable conditions, asking the locale to strongly renew its mindset and work out effective new ways of doing, thus bringing peoples incomes and living standards on a par with the national average. The province needs to continue researching and completing the structure of plants and animals for specific ecological areas, while developing a comprehensive, modern, high-tech, organic and safe agricultural sector in association with promoting the intensive processing industry, he stated. The Politburo member urged Gia Lai to effectively manage and utilise its forest, water and land resources; strengthen forest protection and development and strive to increase forest coverage to over 50%; develop renewable energy and the agro-forestry product processing industry; and boost international trade with Cambodia, Laos and the Mekong Sub-region countries. Delegates to the 16th congress of the Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee. (Photo: VGP) As a strategic area, the province should pay attention to ensuring national defence and security, as well as proactively grasping the situation to effectively prevent and combat hostile forces plots and acts of sabotage while accelerating the All people protect national security movement, Vuong said. He asked each delegate to uphold their sense of responsibility and solidarity for the common revolutionary cause and for local development, to wisely elect qualified, virtuous, talented, competent and reputable comrades to the new Executive Committee of the Provincial Party Committee to lead the building of a wealthy and civilised Gia Lai imbued with Central Highlands cultural identities. The congress is set to last until September 30. Photo: (Photo : Instagram/goodlyearth) A Lemoore dad donates 35 handmade desks to local schools to ease virtual learning. It started when he shared a photo on social media about the desk he made for his children. On September 3, Mitch Couch posted a photo on his Instagram about the wooden desk that he made for his children. He wanted to share with the public that what he did was not only an easy task, but it was also an inexpensive way to help his children with online schooling. The photo had gone viral A week ago, the woodworker dad shared on Reddit a photo of his project that had quickly gone viral. He added a caption that said he made 35 desks for the students in his community who are distance learning in their own homes. See also: Kindergarten Teacher's TikTok Video Goes Viral for Enthusiasm and Endless Patience He explained by saying that he understands that many of the little ones are doing distance learning at home. He shared that their two kids are making it a hassle for them at the kitchen table during meal times because they are taking up space. So he decided to make their little desks. He said that the cool thing about the desks he made was that the children could fold them away after use. That way, they take up less space. Desk instruction posted on his Etsy page Finally, he shared a link to his page about the homemade desk. He wrote that parents could check out his Etsy page if they want to try making their desks for their kids. He sells the instructions for 99 cents. Then, he shared that he made his children's desks at around $35. See also: 17-Year-Old Student Tops the National Exam After Surviving Suicide Bomb Incident Soon after his post, local business owners sent him messages asking him if he could make some desks then donate them to local schools. He added an Instagram post saying that he did not think twice about helping the students out. His wife helps him with the whole thing Couch shared that initially, people who contacted him asked for 25 desks. However, since he found that more is needed, he and his wife made 35. He proudly shared that his wife helped him with the whole thing. Couch's wife even surprised him by making four desks that she made while he was at work. Couch explained to Scary Mommy that he is still finishing the batch of desks. He said that he still has eight more desks to do, which will be finished by the next day. He also said that the demand for the desks is very high. The helpful dad said that he could make a hundred of them, but it would still not be enough See also: Texas Elementary School Online Class Got "Zoom Bombed" with Porn for One Minute He shouted out Lemoore Grocery Outlet for their generosity to get the project started. He is thankful for the donated materials and for helping them to set up the placement of desks. Apart from that, it was great to work with them, Couch added. When Queensland closed its borders in August, many Australians praised the state for taking action to protect its citizens from COVID-19. But as the summer months fast approach, those locked out of the Sunshine State are feeling frustrated and envious of the lucky locals enjoying their gated paradise. Making matters worse is the army of Queensland-based Instagram models and reality stars who insist upon rubbing their easy-going lives in the faces of their thousands of followers. Wish you were here? Bikini-clad Instagram models and reality rejects are flaunting their idyllic and easy-going lives in Queensland as the borders remain shut. Pictured: Ali Oetjen visiting the beach on Sunday Kicking off the list of Insta-braggers is former Bachelorette Ali Oetjen, who spent Monday afternoon posing for envy-inducing photos in Noosa. 'Since being up here in Noosa I've been getting my car professionally cleaned,' chirped Ali as she posed in the sunshine next to her maroon vehicle. Beaming in a floaty white shirt and linen shorts, the blonde looked far more serene than how the millions stuck in Melbourne's stage-four lockdown must be feeling. What pandemic? Kicking off the list of Insta-braggers is former Bachelorette Ali Oetjen, who spent Monday afternoon posing for Instagram photos in Noosa 'Not a bad place to be': Bachelor reject Steph Harper put her backside on display on Monday as she posed for a racy Instagram photo on her Gold Coast balcony Elsewhere, Bachelor reject Steph Harper put her backside on display on Monday as she posed for a racy Instagram photo on her Gold Coast balcony. 'Not a bad place to be,' mused the blonde, referring to her idyllic locale. However, the focal point of the image was not the balcony's view, but rather Steph's physique, which was barely covered by a skimpy black G-string and matching bra. What a life! Fellow Bachelor alum Kaitlyn Hoppe also made her non-Queenslander fans seethe with jealously when she posed for a photo on her balcony overlooking the Gold Coast Fellow Bachelor alum Kaitlyn Hoppe also made her non-Queenslander fans seethe with jealously on Monday when she posed for a photo on her balcony overlooking the Gold Coast. 'Blue skies, white highs, wont blind everything you hide,' wrote the blonde as she preened for the camera in a floral frock. Instagram sensation Tammy Hembrow has also been enjoying a similarly charmed existence inside her Gold Coast mansion. No worries here! While Melbourne residents have struggled to cope with curfews and on-the-spot fines, Tammy Hembrow has been sharing posts of herself in bikinis on the beach While Melbourne residents have struggled to cope with curfews and on-the-spot fines, Tammy has been sharing Instagram posts of herself in bikinis at the beach, attending parties and holidaying in the Whitsundays with her boyfriend Matt Poole. On Sunday, Married At First Sight's Jessika Power also sparked envy among her fans by sharing a photo of herself attending an exclusive bash in Surfers Paradise. Far from appearing concerned about the state of the world's crippling health emergency, Jessika beamed as she posed with fellow MAFS bride Ines Basic and ex-Bachelor stars Stephanie Harper, Charley Bond and Gemma White. Partying through the pandemic! On Sunday, Married At First Sight's Jessika Power sparked envy among her fans by sharing this photo of herself at an exclusive bash in Surfers Paradise Sun's out! Jessika recently shared this envy-inducing bikini photo as she relaxed beneath the Queensland sun Scorching hot! On Monday, former Big Brother star Skye Wheatley uploaded a racy Instagram image of herself lounging seductively on the beach, alongside the caption: 'Feels like summer' Skye Wheatley - who was slammed for staging a glamorous photo shoot in front of cleared-out toilet paper aisles in Coles at the height of panic buying in March - has also been documenting her fancy-free existence in Queensland amid the pandemic. On Monday, the former Big Brother star uploaded a racy image to Instagram of herself lounging seductively by the ocean, alongside the caption: 'Feels like summer.' Steve Irwin's 'hot niece' Rebecca Lobie uploaded a similar bikini photo earlier this month as she enjoyed a leisurely weekend trip to the beach. Insta-bragging isn't reserved for the ladies, however. Earlier this month, Bachelor in Paradise's Jake Ellis uploaded a photo of himself visiting a Gold Coast cafe - something many Australians have been unable to do because of the pandemic. Carefree: Steve Irwin's 'hot niece' Rebecca Lobie uploaded a similar bikini photo to Instagram earlier this month as she enjoyed a leisurely weekend trip to the beach Two PREMIUM TIMES journalists, Taiwo Adebayo and Kabir Adejumo, have made a shortlist of 12 for the Thomson Foundations 2020 Young Journalist Award. The foundation made the announcement on its website on Tuesday. Messrs Adebayo and Adejumo are two of three Nigerian journalists eyeing the journalism prize. The other NigerianIbrahim Adeyemiis a freelance journalist. In its eighth year, the award, sponsored by the United Kingdoms Foreign Press Association, enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000 (data from the World Bank), to send in their best stories. The foundation said a remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this years competition. From Brazils record year of police killings and the Peruvian children suffering from lead poisoning, to the Indian women taking their own lives and the Covid-19 lockdowns imperilling Kenyas street children this years Young Journalist Award shortlist has highlighted the power of journalism to save lives, build trust and spark change via an impressively diverse range of stories, it said in a release on Monday. The shortlist was drawn from 55 countries but only 12 journalists who speak up for the marginalised, expose abuses of power among the political elite and focus on social injustices but also look to promote social cohesion and working towards a healthy civil society, were selected. Entries Mr Adejumo, whose investigation exposes how security agents aided people to flout COVID-19 lockdown travel ban at the Nigerian border of Benin republic, was praised for risking his own health to expose how the country is at a pivotal point and what the danger of the breach means to the wider community. Similarly, Mr Adebayos submissionschild labour in cattle farms and corruption in Nigerias bulk electricity trading companymade a rousy applaud from the judges. Independent judges at the FPA will select the three finalists from the 12 entrants on the shortlist to be revealed in October, the Thomas Foundation said. Three finalists will vie for the coveted Young Journalist Award in November at the FPA Awards gala dinner in London. Others on shortlist Martin Camacho of Peru, Timothy Otieno of Kenya, Anna Myroniuk of Ukraine, Kapil Kajal of India, Eman Mounir of Egypt, Ahmad Al Bazz of Palestine, Dmytro Replianchyk of Ukraine, Alaa Nassar of Syria. WATERLOO REGION Police have identified a suspect after a man approached a girl in Kitchener and tried to convince her to get into his truck. On Thursday around 6 p.m., a 12-year-old girl was walking in the area of Fairway Road North and Pebble Creek Drive when a white man driving a red Ford Ranger pickup truck approached her, said Waterloo Regional Police. He tried to convince her to get into his vehicle but she fled and was not hurt. An hour later, a woman jogging in Cambridge at King Street East and Bishop Street South was followed by a man in a truck with the same description. Police say a 72-year-old man from Aylmer is suspected in the incidents. He was arrested the next day on separate offences outside of the region. Police have issued a warrant to have him brought to a local court in connection with the Waterloo Region allegations. Police are expected to release more details when he has been charged. Anyone with information relating to these incidents, or similar ones, are asked to contact police at 519-570-9777 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. The United States continues to use the American taxpayers expense account to prioritize Israels aspirations. Close on the heels of the so-called Abraham Accords earlier this month, which normalized relations between Israel and the Arab states of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Trump administration is formulating plans to essentially purchase another Arab-Israeli peace treaty. In addition, the U.S. is likely to hand Israel billions of dollars in free military equipment. Regional domination Trumps post-Abraham Accords arrangement to sell F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has prompted Israel to issue a list of demands must-have advanced aircraft and other accouterments that would enable Israel to maintain its Qualitative Military Edge (QME) in the region. Israels QME, the commitment by the U.S. to assure Israels ability to overcome any and all military threats with minimal casualties, has been enshrined in U.S. law since 2008 and is expressed today as $3.8 billion in military aid, about a quarter of the $15 billion distributed worldwide. Israels wish list, as reported by AntiWar, includes a squadron of F-35s, reportedly worth some $850 million apiece, and other cutting-edge products. These gifts would be in addition to the $3.8 billion a year Israel already receives in military aid from the U.S. money that ought to be withheld according to the Leahy Laws, legislation that seeks to put a paywall between American aid and military groups that perpetrate gross human rights violations. Trumps plan to sell warplanes, and Israels demands, reportedly came up just hours before the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain and the UAE were to sign the Abraham Accords, although some sources report that Israels Netanyahu knew about the U.S. plan to sell to the UAE much earlier. Treaty in the works The Trump administration is also scurrying to assemble a treaty between Israel and Sudan ahead of U.S. elections, again at great benefit to Israel and expense to the American taxpayer. According to Sudanese political analyst Khalil Abdul Jabbar, the Sudanese people typically would stand with the Palestinians rather than accepting normalization with Israel but they need the help that Washington could offer to improve their economic situation. Abdul Jabbar indicated that Trump hoped to capitalize on Sudans dire economic situation ahead of the 2020 election. Sudan is struggling under $62 billion in foreign debt, brought about in large part because of its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism (SST) a label that goes back to 1993 and has resulted in punishing global sanctions. Sudan hopes to receive an initial infusion of $3 billion in U.S. aid, plus removal from the SST list, in exchange for normalized relations with Israel. Additional aid would likely follow. Terror attack compensation There is concern that Capitol Hill would block the removal of Sudan from the SST list: some members of Congress want first to see the country pay more than $300 million to American victims of terror attacks in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, as well as the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. The now-ousted Omar al-Bashir allowed al-Qaeda terrorists to reside in Sudan and carry out attacks in the region. It is noteworthy that Israel is also responsible for an attack on a Navy ship, the USS Liberty, aggression that killed thirty-four Americans and has been systematically covered up ever since. What about the Palestinians? UAE leaders were apparently under the impression that their treaty with Israel would benefit the Palestinians: its foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed declared at the September 15th signing ceremony: Your Excellency Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel, thank you for choosing peace and for halting the annexation of Palestinian territories, a decision that reinforces our shared will to achieve a better future for generations to come And as for us in the United Arab Emirates, this accord will enable us to continue to stand by the Palestinian people and realize their hopes for an independent state within a stable and prosperous region. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had already made clear a month or earlier that There is no change in my plan to apply sovereignty, our sovereignty, in Judea and Samaria [the Palestinian West Bank], in full coordination with the US. Im committed to it, this hasnt changedThis issue remains on the table. Some analysts conclude that the Palestinians aspiration for freedom from occupation and oppression has been out of the picture all along because their interests are irrelevant that the Arab world has begun to exchange solidarity with Palestine for economic advantage. One commentator opined, The UAE-Israel accord said nothing about the Palestinians because the issue was never the Palestinians. Indeed, they are the down payment. Rumors abound and have been confirmed by American Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, that another Arab country Oman may follow the growing crowd of states exchanging Palestine for economic advantage. Feature photo | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as President Donald Trump looks on, during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington. Alex Brandon | AP Kathryn Shihadah writes for MintPress News and If Americans Knew. She speaks regularly about the injustice and demonization Palestinians face at the hands of Israel with complicity from the United States, especially to Christian audiences. Kathryn has lived in the Middle East for ten years and has traveled extensively. She blogs at PalestineHome.org. GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalas government says bars, theatres and its famed archaeological sites can reopen on Thursday after being at least legally closed for months due to the fight against COVID-19. The government said limits on attendance and other measures will still be in place for areas where the new coronavirus is still spreading at relatively high levels which includes Guatemala City and most of the countrys municipalities. Theaters, gyms and other venues, including restaurants in shopping centres, have to limit attendance to one person per 10 square meters a limit that also affects churches, which had earlier been allowed to open. Bars must have natural ventilation and cant allow more than five people to a table. The new rules mean public parks, including national parks and archaeological sites, will reopen, as can fairs and swimming pools. The Central American nation began gradually lifting restrictions in late July, though it only opened its borders and resumed full operations at its international airport less than two weeks ago. The country has recorded 3,238 deaths from COVID-19 and roughly 91,000 people infected with the virus, including President Alejandro Giammattei, who said recently he had suffered relatively light symptoms. Skyhook, a pioneer in the development of mobile location technology, is bringing accurate and precise location to the smart feature phone market. The volume of mobile phone shipments is once again exploding worldwide, driven in large part by the rise of low-cost smart feature phones aimed at emerging markets with limited internet access. KaiOS Technologies has established itself as the provider of the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones. Skyhook will now offer its hybrid positioning capabilities, including Wi-Fi and cell-based positioning, for integration with all devices running on KaiOS. This will enable device manufacturers to enhance their smart feature phones with advanced device location capabilities that can position a device in any environment. Network-based/hybrid positioning is and has been a core pillar of functionality required in premium smartphones in more established markets for roughly 15 years. Device manufacturers that use KaiOS can now create phones with similar functionality and all associated location-based features found on premium-priced smartphones at a fraction of the price. This enables smartphone-level access for communities that had limited access previously. Location technology has become an essential requirement for functions such as mapping and applications like weather, social media, and commerce. Skyhooks accurate and accessible solution provides manufacturers with a drop-in location solution that can be integrated in a number of ways. Skyhook software sets the standard for accurate location determination in connected devices. This hybrid positioning solution intelligently blends Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular signals for accurate device location in any environment, including indoors. With its history in emergency response systems and in developing the worlds first commercial Wi-Fi based positioning service, Skyhook is uniquely positioned to help KaiOS OEM partners to use location-based app features or meet government-mandated emergency call location regulations. KaiOS powers an emerging global ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, with the mission of advancing digital inclusion and closing the digital divide. Through this collaboration, users of KaiOS-enabled phones will benefit from the global reach of Skyhook location services, its accurate positioning capabilities in hard-to-detect environments, and flexible integration approach, helping to combat digital inequity. Skyhook is passionate about bringing location to the smart feature phone market, and we are thrilled to collaborate with KaiOS as the company accelerates the adoption of mobile technology on a global basis and in particular in the developing world, said Craig Waggy, CEO of Skyhook. We look forward to helping feature phone original equipment manufacturers provide location for devices worldwide. When OEMs or ODMs choose to work with Skyhook to power their KaiOS devices, they gain network and hybrid location-based functionality built into their phone offering. In the U.S. and Europe, KaiOS devices operating with Skyhook services will now be able to meet the mature, Mobile Network Operator regulatory requirements necessary in those regions. These regulatory requirements allow first responders to locate device users if an emergency call is placed. Through close collaboration with KaiOS, device makers, and chipset manufacturers, Skyhook can provide the location component of these end-to-end solutions, which are critical to bringing these devices to market. Advanced location services are the perfect addition to KaiOS existing suite of smartphone-level features such as high-speed internet and an app store with a great range of content, said James Ho, CTO of KaiOS Technologies. Together with Skyhook, were enabling the next generation of smart feature phone functionality, narrowing the gap to smartphones, and ultimately helping millions of the unconnected to become digitally enabled. About Skyhook: Skyhook is the worldwide independent leader in location technology, operating the world's largest independent location network, consisting of 5.1 billion geolocated Wi-Fi hotspots, 200 million cell towers, and 20 million actionable venues. Skyhook processes tens of billions of location transactions, serving devices, apps, wearables, brands and advertising platforms with precise and accurate location data and intelligence. Skyhook, through its parent company Skyhook Holding, Inc., operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband Corporation. To learn more visit www.skyhook.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005157/en/ Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 09:59:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CANBERRA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chief Minister of Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has revealed plans to fly international students and seasonal workers into the region. Michael Gunner confirmed on Monday that he was working to expand the NT's hotspot policy, under which only travellers from areas with no community transmission of COVID-19 can enter the territory, to overseas locations. If successful, the expanded scheme would pave the way for international students and seasonal workers to return to the NT and provide a major boost for its economy. However, even if the hotspot scheme is expanded all international arrivals must still serve a mandatory 14-day quarantine period, raising questions about the cost. Earlier in September about 160 seasonal workers from Vanuatu - which has no confirmed COVID-19 cases - arrived in the NT to fill a labour shortage for the mango harvest and went into quarantine - costing the mango industry 400,000 AUD (283,251 U.S. dollars). Gunner said that the government wanted to trial quarantining international students studying in the NT. "We have a lot of international students here. Over the last four years we grew international student numbers from just over 1,000 to 2,500. I don't think we could get 2,500 in," he said. "We are working with the Australian Government around getting back into the next lot of term - how do we do that safely and make sure the economy keeps ticking, basically, but do it in a way that doesn't hurt anyone?" As of Monday afternoon, there had been 27,044 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of new cases in last 24 hours is five, according to the latest figures from Department of Health. All five new cases were reported in Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, where another three deaths were also reported, taking the national death toll to 875. Enditem You might notice something different here. As we continue our evolution, our data and market news is now available through the Fastmarkets platform and a trial of this website is no longer available. Our new delivery solution allows you to access the prices and news that matters most to you in a way that delivers value, quality and a unique, fully customizable view for you. We are working hard to develop an experience that allows you to test drive building your view of our data and news on the new platform. In the meantime, learn more about us through any of the options below. Your help is needed to ensure this doesnt happen in 2020! Not everyone realizes how much a count reflecting the true number of people will impact their tribal communitys day-to-day life. In addition to determining representation in the U.S. Congress, data from the 2020 Census will inform how much federal money may, or may not, be allocated to each reservation. Money for roads, housing, schools and health care is allocated based on how many people are located on tribal lands. Being undercounted could mean fewer resources over the next 10 years. The Census Bureau is a statistical agency, which means your information is protected by law. We take our oath to protect your data seriously a deeply and sincerely held value among our staff. Your personal information will not be shared with other government agencies, including housing authorities. If you are a tribal leader, I urge you to ask your tribal citizens to respond now. They can do so online, by phone (844-330-2020), or by mailing back the paper questionnaire. If responding is difficult due to challenges of geography or low internet and phone connectivity, the census takers visiting many reservations right now can help. We have worked hard to ensure these interviews can be conducted safely amid the pandemic. If a reservation is closed due to COVID-19, the Census Bureau is asking tribal leaders for contact lists, and we are calling tribal citizens directly to conduct the census questionnaire over the phone. We are grateful to the tribes and our partners who are helping us achieve our goal of a complete and accurate count, including the many tribal citizens who work as census takers. As data collection will end soon, we urge you to respond now, as the cost of not being counted is too high. Help shape your future and the future of all American Indians and Alaska Natives by responding today! The grass shriveled up and turned a pale grey. Rivers and pools dried up. All day long animals scurried around looking for food and finding nothing. Mr. Tortoise was getting desperate. Every day he woke up to the sound of his wife and children crying. One day, while he was wandering the countryside looking for food he knew he wouldnt find, he mobilized other animals, and they all went to seek help from the elephant who in the fairytale was considered to be a philantopist. Before they proceeded to see the philanthropist, they decided to adopt aliases markedly for identification purpose whenever they visit the elephant for assistance. Each of the animals that went with Tortoise, being the leader, to visit the Elephant cut across Rabbit, Grass cutter, Antelope, Deer, among others. Each of them adopted an alias as agreed for ease of identification whenever they are with the Elephant as he was approached for the umpteenth time before Mr. Tortoise whose alias was All of you met his waterloo. As the story goes, each time the animals went to see the Elephant for handouts, the Elephant will package the whole handouts together, and scream, This is for all of you. By virtue of Mr. Tortoises alias being All of you, he will rush out from the gathering, and collect both the gifts meant for others and himself. When the rest of the animals complained, he will furiously charge at them, and ask, is your name All of you? However, Tortoise kept shortchanging his fellow compatriots in the animal kingdom until they protested and severally smashed him against the rock which he survived. Folktale has it that the gory incident led to Tortoise, till today, carrying about an uneven shell. The dubious negotiating power of the Tortoise as analyzed in the foregoing has remained a magnum opus as it, to a large extent, defines the narcissistic scope leaders can go in betraying their followers or use the collective plight of their followers to curry favors from the power that be. At this juncture, anyone that is familiar with the foregoing folktale would be tempted to ask, Is the organized labor adopting tortoise negotiating style to deceive Nigerians? The foregoing question cannot be said to be out of place as not few Nigerians are insinuating in their comments that the organized labour has shortchanged the masses since it jettisoned its plan to carry out a nationwide strike on September 28. The insinuation against the organized labour, no doubt, has unprecedentedly become rife after it recant it resolve to embark on the strike action which would have afforded it the prospect of ensuring that total reversal of tariff increases in electricity and fuel consumption is achieved. In fact, ethnic populations, regional groups, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and political interest groups, including the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a jab at the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) more than ever before for backing out from the nationwide protest. It would be recall that the widely publicized protest had got angry citizens mobilized for result-oriented action until the negotiation team of the NLC and TUC made a U-turn after Sunday nights consultation with SGF Boss Mustapha-led team that reportedly agreed to the temporary suspension of electricity tariff hike but retained the controversial market-driven pump price of fuel. Expressing his view in ThisDay Newspaper of September 29, 2020, on the issue, the prodigious Reuben Abati said, After being pushed, a combined team of the NLC and TUC finally announced that they would call out Labour on strike and shut down the country. They gave the Federal Government stringent conditions: a complete reversal of the hike in fuel price and electricity tariffs. Or else, Nigeria would be shut down indefinitely beginning from September 28, 2020. I was not impressed. I questioned Labours sincerity of purpose. I felt they were just playing a game. The biggest tragedy that has befallen Organized Labour in Nigeria is the thinking since 1999, that the leadership of Labour can be used as a stepping stone to a bigger role in Nigeria. Labour leaders use their positions to negotiate big benefits. They mouth progressive slogans and parrot aggressive rhetoric but it is all a lie. His view, no doubt, is in concurrence with the public opinion that has been trailing the issue since on Monday. To me, the leadership of the NLC should not allow the people to continue to see it in a bad light, and above all it should not allow the people lose hope in its aims and vision, which is unarguably people-oriented. For instance, as gathered from its website, the aims and objectives of the NLC is expressed thus: The fundamental aims and objectives of the Congress are to protect, defend, and promote the rights, wellbeing and the interests of all workers, pensioners, the trade unions and the working class in general; and also to promote and defend a Nigerian nation that would be just, democratic, transparent and prosperous through the attainment of the following objectives: In fact, three of the objectives that caught my fancy are the ones that say NLC will continually strive towards the attainment of gender equity and improvements in the status and conditions of women in the world of work and society; To work for the industrialization and prosperity of the Nigerian nation and ensure protection of jobs, full employment and a humane working environment and to continually struggle to influence public and corporate policies and legislation on all issues at all levels, in the interest of workers, disadvantaged social groups and trade unions. In the same vein, that of Trade Union Congress (TUC), another affiliate of the Nigerian organized labour cannot be said to be quite different from that of the NLC as stated in the foregoing. To my view, our labour leaders should not relent in ensuring that they fight for the masses with an unsurpassed level of integrity they can exhibit as the people are now looking up to them, particularly in this era of neo liberalism which the government has resorted to. Lastly labour leaders should learn from the lesson which the proverbial Tortoise, Mr. All of you, has left for humanity as well as always internalize Abraham Lincolns word that says, You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Simply put, it is high time the organized labour eschew the adoption of Tortoises negotiating style to deceive Nigerians. Professor David George Boyce, who has died at the age of 77, was a pioneer in the field of Irish history. His modest manner belied both his influence and a remarkable breadth and depth of historical and literary knowledge. Boyce was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in November 1942, the third of four children of Isaac Boyce, a long-term soldier, and his wife, Jane Anna Courtney, a linen worker. He was educated at Carrick Primary School and later Lurgan College, then something of an idiosyncratic institution. However, Boyce was inspired by two of his teachers: history teacher William Crawford, later a celebrated archivist and pioneer of local history, and the artist Cecil Maguire, then an English teacher, both of whom cultivated his passion for reading at the local Carnegie Library. Boyce became the first member of his family to attend university, studying history at Queen's in Belfast. Following postgraduate research, he was employed as an archivist in the Department of Western Manuscripts of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In 1971, he was appointed as a lecturer in Political Theory and Government in Swansea University, Wales. Boyce's first major work, Englishmen and Irish Troubles: British Public Opinion and the Making of Irish Policy 1918-22 (1971), was based on his PhD thesis supervised by Professor JC Beckett at Queen's. In this volume, Boyce examined the influence of the British public on political policy towards Ireland in the revolutionary period. Boyce was to revisit this topic many years later in a transformed political context with The Irish Question and British Politics 1868-1996 (1996). However, his natural curiosity drove him to examine Irish history from many different perspectives: Nationalism in Ireland (1982) provided innovative analysis of the ideology of Irish nationalism. In the mid 1990s, Boyce turned to editing works on 19th and 20th-century Ireland with his friend, Alan O'Day, collecting insights from established authors and encouraging new scholarly voices. Beyond the subject of Ireland, his published works include Decolonisation and the British Empire 1775-1997 (1999), The Falklands War (2005), and articles on subjects as diverse as military history, newspaper history, literature, and devolution. In 1989, Boyce was awarded a personal chair at Swansea. Ever aware of the broader cultural context of his work and with a keen sense of humour, he began his inaugural lecture, The Sure and Confusing Drum: Ireland and the First World War, with a reference to the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth. Frequently consulted by senior figures in Irish history, he was also noted for the support and encouragement he gave to younger scholars, in whose work his intellectual legacy will endure. Although Boyce remained in Wales for the rest of his life, he continued to return to Northern Ireland annually, usually staying near Strangford Lough. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, daughter Maria, son Niall and grandchildren. His ashes will be interred in Co Down. A big Italian family supper a Sunday spread with pasta, red sauce gravy studded with meats, and more defines the chef Joey Campanaros welcoming new book, Big Love Cooking. The meal comes in a late chapter, after youve explored biscuits dappled with sausage and cheese, spaghetti with clams (and anchovies), chicken cacciatore, halibut with pesto, and even sesame green beans, a keeper of a recipe that tracks more Asian than Italian, with the addition of oyster sauce and chile paste. Mr. Campanaro, a native of South Philadelphia and the chef and an owner of Little Owl in the West Village, seems to be right at your elbow, thanks to the easygoing, chatty text. If not Mr. Campanaro, maybe its his mother or grandmother reminding you to make juicy bread right? to go with the Italian seafood stew. And if you have forgotten about veal Marsala, put it back on the radar and follow Mr. Campanaros finely tuned recipe. Big Love Cooking: 75 Recipes for Satisfying, Shareable Comfort Food by Joey Campanaro with Theresa Gambacorta (Chronicle Books, $29.95). Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. Wilfred McClay, author of "Land of Hope," speaking at the White House Conference at the National Archives Museum in Washington on American History on Sept. 17, 2020. (Screenshot) New Nonprofit Aims to Take Back American History From Radicals Rejecting what he said is a false, cynical version of American history taught in elementary and secondary schools across the country, President Donald Trump recently unveiled a new nonprofit thats tasked with designing educational materials aimed at accurately depicting the nations history. Theres no time to waste, Trump said during the White House Conference on American History on Sept. 17 (Constitution Day). There is a left-wing cultural revolution underway that is designed to overthrow the American Revolution, said Trump, who also stated that left-wing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools that has gone on far too long. Propaganda tracts, like those of [the late communist professor] Howard Zinn, are used in schools to make students ashamed of their own history. The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies, Trump said. There is no better example than The New York Times totally discredited 1619 Project. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth, the president said. Americas founding set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism, and built the most fair, equal, and prosperous nation in human history. The address came before the president described critical race theory, which is in vogue in post-secondary educational institutions, as being like a cancer in a Sept. 24 speech. Trump signed Executive Order 13950 on Sept. 22 banning the teaching of critical race theory, a neo-Marxist ideology that makes race the central consideration and justification for what happens in American society, within the government and among government contractors and their employees. Trump called the theory divisive and harmful. Leftists counter that the theory is needed to promote racial equality by highlighting the supposed damage that white people have done to others in society. The president has also vowed to sign an executive order creating a 1776 Commission, that would promote patriotic education within the United States. Grassroots Effort The new nonprofit organization American Achievement Testing (AAT), in partnership with the National Association of Scholars (NAS), recently took in a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to design instructional materials for kindergarten through 12th-grade U.S. history courses. NAS will be reviewing mainstream history textbooks. The history textbook Land of Hope, by Wilfred McClay, holder of the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty at the University of Oklahoma, and the director of its Center for the History of Liberty, will be the core text used in the project. The book is already used as a text at Hillsdale College in Michigan. McClay is a member of AATs academic advisory board, alongside notable academics James Ceaser of the University of Virginia, and Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. of Harvard University. AATs approach to rescuing American history education, and later on, other subjects, from the grip of anti-American radicals, represents a sharp break with the failed approach of the national education reform movement supported for years by the conservative education establishment, Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, writes at National Review. Instead of attempting to impose a de facto national curriculum (think Common Core, the College Boards AP U.S. history framework, and plans for new national civics standards), AAT hopes to return our education system to the principles of federalism, competition, and local control. AAT Chief Executive Officer Theodor Rebarber explained AATs objective in an interview with The Epoch Times. It has a social mission to improve education and to serve educators, particularly whether they are teachers in public schools, private schools, charter schools, home schools, would-be parents, whoever. Our mission is to provide them great tools to provide a great education for their students or children. With seed funding from the NEH, AAT will move forward with its first project, which focuses on American history, Rebarber said, adding the nonprofit plans to raise additional funds for the project from the citizenry. The organization is developing detailed instructional units, teacher presentation materials, lesson plans, unit tests, and material about writing papers, he said. It will provide strong instructional support for teachers, Rebarber said. This effort is designed as a grassroots type of organization that would allow the many parents and other citizens whove been concerned about trends in American education, particularly in the public schools, but not only in the public schools to participate in an effort that is designed to address that. Radicalization Even in those school districts that fail to adopt AATs curriculum, there may be pressure on educators and publishers to moderate the radicalism of the materials they use, Rebarber said. Just look at the Advanced Placement (AP) course framework for American history [and] there is less than half a page on the U.S. Constitution but there are pages and pages on much less important things, he said. Then there is the way property is described in the course, mostly negative, as a tool for historical injusticewhich is not to say it was never a tool for historical injusticebut there are no references [in it] to property rights in the U.S. Constitution protecting you from the government taking your property without just compensation, as in the Takings Clause, he said. There is a lack of balance that leads you to a very distorted view of American history. Even though AAT will show negative aspects of American history, warts and all, students will come out of this course with an accurate view of American history that makes them understand the many reasons to be proud of American history. If most or nearly all of what youve learned in school about property is that its a tool of historical injustice, not about property rights to protect the weak from those who would by sheer force damage or take that property, then why should you respect the property of others and not burn, damage, loot and destroy, as weve seen in a lot of these protests. The distorted values that are implicit in a distorted history certainly set the tone for much of what weve been seeing. Peter Wood, president of NAS, shared his thoughts about the state of the culture in a separate interview with The Epoch Times. The radicalization of students that frequently takes place on college campuses and the readiness of the authorities that run our colleges and universities to accommodate and appease the most radical members of their faculty and other administrators has played an outsized role in the riots that have afflicted so many American towns and cities over the last six months or so, he said. Many of the rioters are current or recent college students who have a profound dislike of their country and eagerness to replace it either with anarchism or some version of a socialist paradise, he added. These people think that physical destruction and mayhem, and attacks on individuals, is the avenue toward that goal. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Tue, September 29, 2020 15:05 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f55df 1 National blasphemy,Medan,quran Free A panel of judges at the Medan District Court in North Sumatra has sentenced a 44-year-old man to 18 months imprisonment after declaring him guilty of blasphemy for having thrown the Quran inside a mosque in the city. Presiding judge M. Ali Tarigan said the man, identified as M. Qadafi aka Udin, had violated Article 156 of the Criminal Code on religious defamation. "[We] sentence the defendant M. Qadafi to one year and six months imprisonment," Ali read out the court's verdict on Monday afternoon. Udin was reading the Quran inside Al-Mashun Mosque in Medan while lying down on the floor on March 25. A woman passed by him and asked Udin to sit properly while reading the Quran. Read also: Indonesia condemns series of provocative actions against Muslims in foreign countries Udin reportedly asked the woman to pay him some money in exchange for complying with her request, to which the woman agreed. However, shortly after he sat up straight, Udin closed the Quran and threw the book before him and left the mosque afterward. The punishment handed down by the court on Monday was lighter than the prosecutor's demand of two years imprisonment. Both the defendant and the prosecutor accepted the verdict. Earlier last month, the district court had also sentenced a Medan man identified as Doni Irawan Malay to three years in prison for having desecrated the Quran at a mosque earlier this year. The court also found him guilty of blasphemy. (dpk) Topics : blasphemy Medan quran VANCOUVERA lawyer for Canadas attorney general accused the defence team for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou of trying to turn her extradition hearing into a trial Tuesday. Crown prosecutor Robert Frater urged Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes of the B.C. Supreme Court to cut off at the knees defence arguments that he said have no chance of success. Youre being asked to turn this into a U.S. trial and our submission is you have to stand firm against that, Frater said. Meng is wanted in the United States on charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud that both she and Huawei deny. Holmes is considering whether to allow the defence team to present an argument next year that Meng was the victim of an abuse of process because they allege the U.S. misled Canadian officials in its summary of allegations. The defence is also asking the court to admit further evidence to support that claim. But Frater told Holmes that an extradition judge has a duty as gatekeeper to ensure proceedings are swift and focused. He said an extradition hearing is not a trial and accused Mengs lawyers of trying to introduce evidence that would be more appropriate for a U.S. jury to hear. Evidence that establishes a defence or an alternative inference of what happened does not meet the test of relevance for an extradition hearing so Holmes should dismiss the defence teams motion, he said. It falls to you to try to keep these proceedings on the straight and narrow, Frater told Holmes. Your duty here, in my respectful submission, is not to let this proceeding become a trial, not to admit expert evidence on causality in U.S. sanctions law to force us to file responding evidence so that you can decide an issue of which, with greatest respect, you have no expertise. Meng is accused of misrepresenting Huaweis relationship with Skycom during a 2013 PowerPoint presentation to HSBC, putting the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. Meng, Huaweis chief financial officer, was arrested at Vancouvers airport in December 2018. Defence lawyer Frank Addario told the judge Tuesday that the United States describes the PowerPoint presentation as the cornerstone of its case, yet only describes part of the presentation in its case summary. He said additional slides in the same presentation show that Meng clearly described Huawei and Skycom as partners that both did business in Iran, and the bank had the information it needed to navigate trade laws. No banker would leave that meeting thinking that Huawei had distanced itself from Skycom in any way material to U.S. sanctions consequences for the bank, Addario said. On Monday, defence lawyer Scott Fenton told the judge that the summary of allegations used to justify Mengs arrest could be considered an abuse of process. But Frater said that taken as a whole, the PowerPoint is a clear effort to convince HSBC that it was safe to do business with Huawei. The presentations title, Trust, Compliance and Co-operation, sets the theme for the entire presentation, he said. This is a tool of persuasion, its a tool trying to persuade HSBC that there is no reason to discontinue their relationship with this bank because it will not put them in trouble with U.S. sanctions, Frater said. U.S. officials were not required to included every single piece of evidence in its overall record of the case, because those details arent relevant to the extradition hearing. The same goes for additional affidavits from a retired bank manager and an American international law expert, he said. Tell it to the U.S. judge, he said. Holmes is considering whether the argument merits proceeding to a three-week hearing starting in February centred on allegations of abuses of process related to Mengs arrest. She is also expected to hear arguments then about whether U.S. President Donald Trumps comments on the case constitute political interference and whether Mengs arrest and detention at Vancouvers airport was conducted lawfully. Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, has joined world influential figures on two separate panel discussions on transforming the lives of women within sub-Saharan Africa at the United Nations General Assembly. As a panelist at the event, Madam Obo-Nai disclosed interventions made by her outfit to make life bearable for vulnerable groups. Speaking to the theme, The Role of Technology in Unlocking Gender Equality; Connecting Women to Maternal Health and Girls to Education, Madam Obo-Nai at the Thursday, September 24 event acknowledged the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic presented multi-dimensional challenges to Africa achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nonetheless, leveraging digital technology is a way out in accelerating the achievement of the 169 targets under the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Given that Africa is currently the worlds fastest growing market for mobile phones and with Vodafones commitment to creating a Digital Society of connected people, communities and things, we are digitally empowering millions of people across the continent. Our pioneering interventions have seen some incredible success stories, where mobile phone capabilities are now being used to transform healthcare delivery, improve access to educational resources and deliver digital financial inclusion to the unbanked, she said. Regarding Gender Gap in Mobile Phone Ownership and a GSMA report showing women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa still 13% less likely to own a phone and 37% less likely to use the mobile data that can help them to live healthier lives and access better medical care during their pregnancies, the Vodafone Ghana CEO explained it is why the telco giant made a commitment to add 20 million women living in Africa and Turkey on to the internet by 2025. We have made progress towards our goal and have an estimated 46.2 million active female customers across these regions, 9.3 million more since our original goal was set in 2016, she added. Vodafone is also through the power of the mobile technology abating Maternal and Infant Mortality in Africa. Reducing child mortality by 1% could increase GDP by as much as 5% in African countries. With an expectant mother in sub-Saharan Africa is 50 times likely to die from pregnancy related issues than a woman in Europe, Vodafone is taking steps to address this issue of maternal health with three transformational initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa involving educating and empowering adolescent girls to make well-informed decisions about their health; giving emergency support for expectant mothers, and support for new mothers. These interventions, Madam Obo-Nai stressed are already helping mothers become better informed on healthy pregnancy as well as promoting safe delivery and infant and child protection. According to her, Vodafone Foundation has made over US$24 million (20.3 million) of philanthropic investment to support maternal health over the past decade, enabling 1 million women, girls and babies to receive lifesaving treatment, transport, medical care and health education. The Foundations M-Mama programme uses mobile technology to provide free emergency transport for pregnant rural women in obstetric crisis, delivering lifesaving interventions in partnership with governments, she said. She explained that In the regions of Tanzania where it has operated to date, M-Mama has been proven to reduce maternal mortality by 27% and it is sustainable within local health budgets. Early this month, the Foundation announced the expansion of M-Mama to Lesotho and other sub-Saharan markets by 2025. In Ghana, Vodafone is working in partnership with the government and relevant stakeholders to implement this initiative in April 2021. The Office of the President and the Ghana Health Service have all shown earnest commitment in playing their part to help the country address the issue of accessibility with M-Mama, which is projected to save about 400 lives each year. Despite all the positive interventions, Vodafone across the continent depends on the availability of spectrum. Governments must continue to invest in mobile communications infrastructure and introduce policies and regulations that will enable the telecoms industry to thrive and ultimately propel broad-based digitalisation across the globe, Ms. Patricia Obo Nai submitted. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has pledged to give necessary support to TStv Africa as the indigenous digital satellite TV service begins full operation with pay per view model on October 1. The Acting Director-General of NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, made the promise on Monday in Abuja when the management team of TStv paid him an official visit to inform him of the companys readiness to commence full operation across the country on October 1. TStv Africa is a wholly owned Nigerian innovative multi channel outfit which had promised to operate pay per view model for the benefit of Nigerians. Mr Idachaba said: We promise on our side that we will continue to support you. At this time, I think that the major issue confronting the PayTv sector is the area of giving Nigerians option of deregulating purchasing capacity in terms of pay as you go concept. We believe this will give you the visibility if you remain committed to the idea. We welcome that option and wish that it serves as stimulant and as progressive index for other PayTv operators to adopt. Some of them have come up with a lot of excuses why pay per view is difficult and why it is not doable. We want you to be the galvaniser to prove the naysayers wrong that this is doable in the interest of Nigerians. Once you begin and you make a success of it through increased subscription base, we are sure that others will be drawn into it as it happened in the telecommunication sector. Mr Idachaba said the NBC is committed to promoting local participation in the nations broadcasting industry, especially in the PayTv sector, to create jobs and provide diversity for Nigerians. He acknowledged the challenges TStv had faced over the years and encouraged the company to remain focused. Earlier, the Managing Director and CEO of TStv, Echefu Bright, said they were at the NBC to seek the commissions support to have a peaceful roll out on October 1. He said the outfit also visited the NBC to officially present samples of its decoders to the commission and thank the management for its support. Mr Bright gave an assurance that the novel pay per view concept was sacrosanct. The model is what we have experimented and implemented and it works and we have done everything we need to do for it Nigerians to benefit. Beyond that, we have enough boxes on ground that will cover the entire country, he said. Mr Bight also gave an assurance that with the October 1 roll out, every part of the country would be covered. We currently have dealership in virtually every state in Nigeria and as I speak to you now our goods are already with them for October 1 roll out. The coverage from day one will be across Nigeria. (NAN) To celebrate the collaboration's wild success and consumers' love of beer and chocolate, Yuengling and Hershey have joined forces again to bring the best of both worlds to fans of legal drinking age for enjoyment wherever they are. Fans can once again delight in this uniquely delicious brew on-draft. And for the first time, consumers will now have the opportunity to enjoy it in bottles from the comfort of their own homes to celebrate life's occasions. Originally released in draft only in 2019, in 14 states throughout Yuengling's footprint, Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter marked the first-ever beer collaboration for the two iconic, Pennsylvania brands. The fan-favorite beer combines over 300 years of both brands' Pennsylvania heritage. Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter makes its return just in time for beer lovers and loyal fans to enjoy, a bottle, now for Halloween and for the holiday season through Valentine's Day. "Last year we were overwhelmed by the excitement and passion expressed by our fans for our first-ever collaboration beer," said Jennifer Yuengling, Vice President of Operations and 6th Generation Brewer, D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. "We heard our fans and saw consumers, near and far, scrambling to get their hands on a taste of Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter. So, in keeping with our 191-year tradition of listening to our loyal fans, we decided to release our Chocolate Porter across our entire footprint and in bottles for even more consumers 21+ to enjoy." At a 4.7% ABV, Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter combines Yuengling's nearly 200-year old Dark Brewed Porter recipe with the world-famous taste of Hershey's chocolate. The special-edition, seasonal beer uses Yuengling's unparalleled brewing expertise to artfully blend Hershey's iconic chocolate flavor with caramel and dark roasted malts for a smooth, rich and delightfully chocolaty finish. The liquid pairs well with everything from barbequed and smoked meats, to cheeses and desserts perfect for any holiday celebration, while offering fans a truly premium drinking experience. "We're happy to work with Yuengling to expand the availability of the chocolate porter and, better yet the Yuengling Hershey's chocolate porter is available in bottles for the first time. Now our fans will be able to enjoy this one-of-a-kind beer collaboration in the comfort of their homes," said Ernie Savo, senior director global licensing, The Hershey Company. Starting in late September, Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter will be available in bottles and on draft throughout Yuengling's 22-state footprint, while supplies last. Fans can find their nearest retailer with Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter by visiting the "Find Our Beer" link at www.yuengling.com. About D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., America's Oldest Brewery, is family-owned and operated since 1829. Now sold in 22 states, production is supported by two breweries in Pottsville, PA and one in Tampa, FL. Principal beer brands include Yuengling Traditional Lager, Light Lager, Black & Tan, Golden Pilsner, Premium, Light, Dark Brewed Porter, Lord Chesterfield Ale, Oktoberfest, Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter and new FLIGHT by Yuengling, the Next Generation of Light Beer. Get news, updates and access media images at https://www.yuengling.com/news. About The Hershey Company The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 16,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Pirate's Booty. For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed. To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com Follow: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Instagram Contact: Jessica Seiders Alicia Bozzone Communications Manager Tierney Agency [email protected] [email protected] 570-622-0153 Ext 1541 203-414-9433 SOURCE D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. Related Links http://www.yuengling.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:12:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran's parliament on Tuesday gave a vote of confidence to President Hassan Rouhani's pick for the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the parliament website reported. The lawmakers approved the proposed minister Alireza Razm-Hosseini with 175 votes in favor, 80 against, and nine abstentions from a total of 264 votes. Razm-Hosseini is an Iranian reformist politician, economic activist and educated in economy and trade sciences. He was the former governor of Iran's Khorasan Razavi and Kerman Provinces and had assumed administrative positions in Rouhani's government. He is taking office as the country is grappling with economic and financial problems. Enditem Refuting the Narcotics Control Bureaus (NCB) allegation that actor Rhea Chakraborty, along with her brother Showik, financed the drug purchases of her boyfriend and late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde told the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday that Rajput was in no dearth of funds. Chakraborty and her brother were arrested on September 9 in connection with the alleged drug angle in Rajputs death. Justice Sarang Kotwal reserved order on all applications. Arguing for their bail, Maneshinde said: Rajputs house manager Samuel Miranda used to take care of all household expenses, and there was no question of Rhea financing drug purchases for the deceased actor. Responding to NCBs accusation that Chakraborty was part of a drug syndicate, Maneshinde said the allegations were merely on the basis of a solitary incident of March 17, when she gave her credit card to Miranda, who withdrew Rs10,000 using it and purchased contraband for the deceased actor. He maintained that no amount was paid directly using Chakrabortys card to any of the alleged peddlers for procuring drugs and so she cant be said to be associated with any drug ring. It is an admitted fact that Rajput used to consume drugs even before Chakraborty became acquainted with him in April 2019, and two of Rajputs co-stars, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor, have reportedly told NCB that he was consuming drugs since long, he said. Maneshinde said Showik too was accused of being part of a drug syndicate for allegedly paying petty amounts on three occasions in April for purchasing minuscule amounts of ganja and charas. The lawyer added that even if one were to go by the allegations levelled by NCB, stringent provisions contained in section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (financing illicit trafficking of drugs or harbouring offenders) were not at all applicable to Chakraborty or Showik. Maneshinde said NCBs reliance on recovery of commercial quantity of drugs from one Anuj Keshwani and then the claim that Chakraborty and Showik were part of a drug ring cannot be maintained as neither of them had any connection with the alleged drug supplier. NCB had further alleged that Chakraborty had harboured Rajput who used to consume drugs. Maneshinde contended that during the relevant period, Chakraborty was residing with Rajput in his house and questioned how she could have harboured the late actor in his own house. Advocate Taraq Sayed, who argued for bail of another accused, Abdel Basit Parihar, submitted that NCB has been claiming to have busted a major drug ring by arresting 18-19 college students. He claimed that almost all accused arrested by NCB in this case come from well-to-do families and cannot be termed drug peddlers or suppliers. Sayed submitted that the arrests were made only on the basis of statements recorded under section 67 of the NDPS Act, especially when there was hardly any recovery from most of them. He said the statements under section 67 can at the most be used to corroborate recovery from an accused, and not otherwise. Sayed said Parihar is a last-year student of architecture and has missed his examination as he has been arrested by NCB. He added although moralistic argument is being advanced on behalf of NCB as to how society, especially the young generation was affected by the menace of narcotic drugs, in our country, more people die due to smoking than by drug abuse. Maintaining that all alleged transactions involve small quantities of drugs and therefore were bailable, Sayed said all five applicants before HC Chakraborty, Showik, Miranda, Rajput staffer Dipesh Sawant and Parihar were entitled to bail as a matter of right. In support of his submission that the offences alleged are bailable, he relied on a 2010 judgment of the Bombay high court holding that all offences under NDPS Act involving small quantities were bailable. Additional solicitor general Anil Singh, who opposed the bail applications on behalf of NCB, however, submitted that the applicants were under wrong assumption that all offences under the NDPS Act involving small quantity of drugs were bailable. Singh submitted that NDPS Act nowhere states that certain offences were bailable and claimed that all offences under the Act were non-bailable. Justice Kotwal agreed with his submission. The judge pointed to a 1999 judgment of a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, observing that all offences under the NDPS Act were non-bailable, and no other court was therefore authorised to take a different view of the issue. Singh added that so far 19 persons have been arrested by NCB in this case, and all of them were interlinked and connected with each other. Referring to recovery of commercial quantity of drugs from Anuj Keshwani, he said case of none of them can be separated from that of the others. Drug dealings was a regular affair of the drug syndicate, Singh said. Showik was in regular contact with the dealers. Sushant Singh Rajput, the consumer of the drugs, may not be alive today, but persons involved in these deals cant go scot free only because he is no more. Singh also responded to Maneshindes contention that NCB had no jurisdiction to investigate the case in view of the August 19, 2020 direction of the Supreme Court to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over cases on the death of Rajput and surrounding circumstances. Maneshinde had submitted that in the replies filed by NCB to the bail applications of Chakraborty and Showik before the special NDPS court, NCB had in clear terms said it was a fallout of the drug angle in Rajput case. This case has nothing to do with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, said Singh. It is nobodys case that Sushant Singh Rajput died due to drug abuse. The additional solicitor general added that the case was connected to Rajput only to the extent of him being the consumer of drugs, and not otherwise. Besides, it is a settled position of law that an accused cannot choose the agency to investigate offences against him or her, he said. This argument is not available to Chakraborty that the case should have been handed over to CBI for investigation, he said. Chakraborty and Showik moved HC for bail after their bail applications were rejected by the special NDPS court on September 11. The other three accused have approached the court separately after being refused bail by the special court. Hollyoaks is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary on air next month. And the soap looks set to live up to his explosive history, as it teased what's to come in a new trailer revealing the upcoming storylines on the show. It was revealed that Jeremy Edwards is set to return to the soap as Kurt Benson, while Jorgie Porter will also be resuming her role as Theresa McQueen. Anniversary: Hollyoaks is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary on air next month Donning a white suitcase, sunglasses, and stilettos, Jorgie is back on screen as the blonde beauty reunites with her family for a dramatic new storyline. Theresa and the rest of her family including Mercedes [Jennifer Metcalfe], Goldie [Chelsee Healey], John Paul [James Sutton] and Cher [Bethannie Hare] are all being blackmailed for their 'deadliest sings' by a creepy doll. The McQueens, who all appear to be in grave danger, set out to uncover who is blackmailing them as their darkest secrets are threatened to be revealed. Familiar faces: The soap looks set to live up to his explosive history, as it teased what's to come in a new trailer revealing the upcoming storylines on the show Eek! Theresa and the rest of her family including Mercedes [Jennifer Metcalfe], Goldie [Chelsee Healey], John Paul [James Sutton] and Cher [Bethannie Hare] are all being blackmailed for their 'deadliest sings' by a creepy doll Who did it? The McQueens, who all appear to be in grave danger, set out to uncover who is blackmailing them as their darkest secrets are threatened to be revealed What's going on? The McQueens are back together to get to the bottom of who is blackmailing them Elsewhere, the trailer teases Kieron Richardson's on set return as a shaken looking Ste, as he is reunited with Yazz. It remains to be seen whether the Maalik family forgiven has him for the torment he and his far-right extremist former friends caused them. But emotions are running high as Yazz doubts Tom's true feelings for her, and in a grand gesture, the teenager proposes to her boyfriend in the middle of the village. Shock proposal: Emotions are running high as Yazz doubts Tom's true feelings for her, and in a grand gesture, the teenager proposes to her boyfriend in the middle of the village He's back! Jeremy will make a dramatic return on his signature motorbike to the village after leaving the soap 21 years ago in 1999 Surprise! Kurt stars in the 25th anniversary trailer Omg! He leaves his friend Tony Hutchinson, Nick Pickard, reeling in shock after believing he had died in a jet ski accident Sienna's daughter, nightmare Nico Blake [Persephone Swales-Dawson], returns from the dead as a figment of Liberty's imagination, as Liberty continues to have doubts about giving away her baby. As her mental state starts to deteriorate, Liberty hallucinates nurse Nico as Sienna speculates that her sister could have depression. Another storyline teased in the trailer is Warren and Felix's revenge on their abusive former children's home carer, Cormac. Jeremy will make a dramatic return on his signature motorbike to the village after leaving the soap 21 years ago in 1999. Kurt stars in the 25th anniversary trailer, leaving his friend Tony Hutchinson, Nick Pickard, reeling in shock after believing he had died in a jet ski accident. Comeback: Kurt appeared in the first episode of the Channel 4 show in 1995 where he arrived on a motorbike and went onto play an iconic role in the soap.n Kurt appeared in the first episode of the Channel 4 show in 1995 where he arrived on a motorbike and went onto play an iconic role in the soap. The X Factor: Celebrity star featured in many storylines in the soap including a turbulent love life as well as a toxic rivalry with notorious villain Rob Hawthorne, Warren Derosa. The character was accused of attempted murder for pushing Spike, Tom Vaughan, from scaffolding, but went on to marry his teenage love Ruth Osborne, played by Terri Dwyer. Young star: Kurt appeared in the first episode of the Channel 4 show in 1995 where he arrived on a motorbike and went onto play an iconic role in the soap Return: The actor, 49, will make a dramatic return on his signature motorbike to the village after leaving the soap 21 years ago in 1999 However he went on to have an affair with Katie Patrick, Natasha Symms, which forced Kurt and Ruth to separate and he left the soap on a motorbike in 1999. Yet tragedy struck when the rockstar-hopeful was said to have died in a jet ski accident leaving his best friend Tony distraught. Jeremy last appeared in the soap in Hollyoaks Later in 2013 where he was a vision in Tony's mind seen protecting his son Harry Thompson, Parry Glasspool, from danger. Really? Best friend Tony is left startled as Kurt makes his return in the village after years away Please! Kurt is seen to reach out to his best friend Tony as he makes his return In October 2019, Jeremy competed on the ITV series The X Factor: Celebrity as part of a duo with Brendan Cole but was eliminated in the auditions stage. He is also known for finishing fourth in the third series of Celebrity Big Brother and his role as Danny Shaughessy, a student nurse in Holby City. Jeremy was engaged to Rachel Stevens of S Club 7 in 2002 before breaking up the year after and eventually meeting his now wife Lydia Metz, who he married in 2009. Evolve Energy, a retail electric provider that sells power on the wholesale spot market to Texas residential consumers, has been acquired by London-based Octopus Energy for $5 million. Octopus, which sells wholesale power in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, has 1.7 million customers. The company said it plans to invest $100 million in the United States and will use the purchase of San Francisco-based Evolve to expand its footprint here. Evolve, which charges customers $10 a month to buy power from renewable sources on the wholesale spot market, would not disclose the number of customers it has. Evolve began selling power last year in Texas and competes with wholesale electricity sellers such as Griddy of Los Angeles. Griddy angered customers in August 2019 when power prices skyrocketed to the state cap of $9,000 per megawatt hour, leaving customers with big bills many werent prepared for. Evolve founder and CEO Michael Lee said he doesnt believe high wholesale prices will be a hurdle. Rather, wholesale prices are attractive when power prices are cheap. Consumers with electric cars, for example, can charge their vehicles in the middle of the night when power prices fall. RELATED: Griddy customers feel bite of soaring wholesale power prices Octopus sees the deal as a way to grow in the United States where fixed-rate power plans and legacy power sellers have dominated the market but states like Texas are open to new ways of delivering power. Texas is a hot bed of innovation, Octopus Energy founder and CEO Greg Jackson said. Wholesale power plans have become popular in Europe where theyre known as agile tariffs, he said. Some plans have capped the wholesale price so consumers arent exposed to volatile swings. The new venture will be called Octopus Energy US. This machine-learning-capable satellite was launched on a Russian Soyuz launcher on 28 September. Credit: European Space Agency The latest batch of tiny satellites to monitor trade on Earth from space have launched. The Glaswegian-built nanosatellites join a fleet of about 100 objects in low Earth orbit that help to predict the movement of the world's resources, so that businesses and governments can make informed decisions. The two machine-learning capable satellites were launched on a Russian Soyuz launcher, alongside two further satellites that will be used to forger inter-satellite links. These connections allow satellites to act as relays, sending data to one another and down to ground stations, which cuts the time between data collection and its delivery to customers. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, work has progressed with full support from ESA, which has extended exceptional support to small and medium-sized enterprises working in the space industry. The satellites have been built by Spire Global UK, a satellite-powered data company that provides predictive analysis for global shipping, aviation and weather forecasting. These services have been developed thanks to the UK Space Agency under the ESA Pioneer Partnership Project. Spire uses automatic identification systems aboard ships to track their whereabouts on the oceans. Its network picks up the identity, position, course and speed of each vessel. Thanks to embarked intelligent machine-learning algorithms, it can predict vessel locations and the ship's estimated time of arrival at port, enabling port authorities to manage busy docks safely and market traders to price the goods carried aboard. Spire staff design and build all the sub-systems, and integrate and test the whole spacecraft in the company's Glasgow headquarters. "Spire is all about helping our customers know what is next, so they can make better decisions. This month we are moving this forward by launching a true super-computer into orbit1-2 teraflops!so that we can analyze data right in orbit, using smart algorithms and machine learning," said Peter Platzer, chief executive and co-founder of Spire Global. "This will allow us to get better, smarter and faster analytics to our customers for their business decisions." UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: "While nanosatellites are just the size of a shoe box, they have the power and intelligence of a regular satellite and are driving a revolution in how we observe our planet. Backed by 10m of UK government funding, these extraordinary nanosatellites will not only help predict global trade and make businesses more cost effective, but will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of satellite development." Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said: "These are yet another example of innovative systems and services provided by Spire under the ESA Pioneer program that maximizes benefits to industry thanks to an efficient co-management approach tailored to commercial best practices." The satellites have been developed under an ESA Pioneer program, which is a Partnership Project co-funded by the UK Space Agency. The UK remains a leading member of ESA. ESA's Partnership Projects are aimed at de-risking partners' investments, answering market needs. They are part of ESA's program of Advanced Research in Telecommunication Systems (ARTES). Pioneer supports the emergence of commercial European entities with the ability to offer fast and affordable access to space to public and private customers in the field of satellite telecommunications. The program creates new opportunities for both established and new players in the fast-changing and competitive satellite communications market. Explore further Two tiny supercomputing Pioneer nanosatellites launched Key indices reversed early gains and slipped into the negative terrain in mid-morning trade. Profit selling emerged after the Nifty 50 index advanced 3.91% in the past two sessions. At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 20.2 points or 0.05% at 37,961.83. The Nifty 50 index was down 8.45 points or 0.07% at 11,219.55. Bharti Airtel (down 2.20%), Axis Bank (down 2.08%), ICICI Bank (down 1.98%) and ITC (down 1.7%) put pressure on the indices. Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.33%. The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 894 shares rose and 1292 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 26.98 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 542.34 crore in the Indian equity market on 28 September, provisional data showed. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 33,353,615 with 10,01,646 deaths. India reported 9,47,576 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 96,318 deaths while 51,01,397 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Unlock 5.0: The media reported that restaurants, bars and eatery outlets in Maharashtra will be allowed to re-start operations from the first week of October. Hotels, bars and restaurants have been surviving on home deliveries due to the covid-19 lockdown. Economy: Ratings agency ICRA after market hours on Monday revised its forecast for the contraction in the gross domestic product (GDP) for FY 2020-21 to -11% from -9.5% as fresh Covid-19 infections remaining elevated at the end of the second quarter. The rating agency however retained its earlier forecast of a 12.4% contraction in GDP in the second quarter Buzzing Segment: Shares of defence stocks were in demand after the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved proposals for capital acquisition of various equipment required by the Indian Armed Forces at an approximate cost of Rs 2,290 crore. These include procurement from domestic industry as well as foreign vendors. Under the buy Indian category, the DAC approved procurement of Static HF Tans-receiver sets and Smart Anti Airfield Weapon. Premier Explosives (up 5%), Bharat Dynamics (up 2.47%), Astra Microwave Products (up 1.43%) and Hindustan Aeronautics (up 0.84%) advanced. Global Markets: Asian stocks were trading higher on Tuesday. Logistics firm ZTO Express soared in its Hong Kong debut. The firm is the latest U. S.-listed Chinese company to debut in the city. Investors will remain cautious ahead of the first U. S. presidential debate set to take place later on Tuesday, and as lawmakers continue sporadic efforts to cobble together additional economic stimulus. U. S. consumer confidence and home price data is also due on Tuesday. In US, Wall Street rallied to close sharply higher on Monday as investors sought bargains among sectors hardest-hit by the coronavirus recession, now limping toward its ninth month. U. S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said that stimulus talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to continue, suggesting a possible progress to end the stalemate. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) today provided an update on expected results for the third quarter of fiscal 2020. The company estimates comparable sales will increase in the mid-teens for the quarter. Based on this sales outlook, the company estimates it will generate diluted EPS in the range of $0.50 to $0.70. This guidance incorporates expected share repurchase activity for the quarter. As a reminder, the company reported an adjusted net loss per share of $0.18 in the third quarter of fiscal 2019. Commenting on today's announcement, Bruce Thorn, President and CEO of Big Lots stated, "I am delighted with our continued strong sales performance, which puts us on track to deliver another excellent quarter, and gives us strong momentum coming into the critical holiday season. Our assortment remains well positioned against customer demand, our Operation North Star initiatives continue to gain traction, and early reads on Christmas are very encouraging. All of this is helping us acquire customers at an accelerating rate. I continue to be very proud of how our team has remained focused on serving our customers, and their communities, in a safe and healthy environment during these unprecedented times." About Big Lots, Inc. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a neighborhood discount retailer operating 1,409 stores in 47 states, as well as a best-in-class ecommerce platform with expanded capabilities via BOPIS, curbside pickup, Instacart and, now, PICKUP with same day delivery. The company's product assortment is focused on home essentials: Furniture, Seasonal, Soft Home, Food, Consumables, Hard Home, and Electronics, Toys & Accessories. Big Lots' mission is to help people Live BIG and Save Lots. The company strives to be the BIG difference for a better life by delivering unmatched value to customers through surprise and delight, being a "best place to work" culture for associates, rewarding shareholders with consistent growth and top-tier returns, as well as doing good in local communities. For more information about the company, visit www.biglots.com. Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and such statements are intended to qualify for the protection of the safe harbor provided by the Act. The words "anticipate," "estimate," "approximate," "expect," "objective," "goal," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "should," "may," "target," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook" and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, descriptions of objectives, strategies, plans, goals or targets are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to the expectations of management as to future occurrences and trends, including statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results or events and projected sales, earnings, capital expenditures and business strategy. Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements are and will be based upon management's then-current views and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Although the company believes the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of knowledge, forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, any one or a combination of which could materially affect business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Forward-looking statements that the company makes herein and in other reports and releases are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, developments related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, current economic and credit conditions, the cost of goods, the inability to successfully execute strategic initiatives, competitive pressures, economic pressures on customers and the company, the availability of brand name closeout merchandise, trade restrictions, freight costs, the risks discussed in the Risk Factors section of the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other factors discussed from time to time in other filings with the SEC, including Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. This release should be read in conjunction with such filings, and you should consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures the company makes on related subjects in public announcements and SEC filings. SOURCE Big Lots, Inc. Related Links http://www.biglots.com One in 15 individuals aged 10 years and above were estimated to be exposed to SARS-CoV2 by August 2020, showing that a considerable population is still susceptible to COVID-19, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research's second sero-survey findings released on Tuesday. IMAGE: Applicants undergo thermal screening as they arrive to appear in University of Allahabad's UGAT exam at a centre in Prayagraj. Photograph: PTI Photo Presenting the nationwide sero-survey at a press briefing, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said 6.6 per cent of the 29,082 people (aged 10 and above) surveyed from August 17 to September 22 showed evidence of past exposure to COVID-19 and 7.1 per cent of the adult population (aged 18 and above) also showed evidence of past exposure to it. He said lockdown, containment and behavioral change at population level have effectively checked the potential spread of SARS-CoV2, however the survey findings show that a considerable population is still vulnerable and susceptible to coronavirus. He further said that the risk in urban slums was twice than that in non-slum urban areas and four times the risk in rural setting. "Urban slums (15.6 per cent) and non-slum (8.2 per cent) areas had higher SARS-COV2 infection prevalence than that in rural areas (4.4 per cent)," he said quoting the second sero-survey. "One in 15 individuals aged 10 years and above were estimated to be exposed to SARS- CoV2 by August 2020," Bhargava said. The second sero-survey was conducted in the same 700 villages and wards from 70 districts from 21 states which were covered during the first survey. The first sero-survey of May 2020 revealed that the nationwide prevalence of novel coronavirus infection was only 0.73 per cent. The second survey further showed that there is a lower infection to case ratio in August compared to May which reflects a substantial increase in testing and detection across India. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said India has 4,453 COVID-19 cases and 70 deaths per million population which is among the lowest in the world. NITI Aayog member V K Paul urged people to keep following COVID appropriate behaviour, saying there is no reason to get lax if stability in coronavirus cases is observed. "We need to have Puja, Chhath, Diwali and Eid with masks, it is very important to keep that in mind. We have seen a second peak in Delhi, Kerala and Punjab so we should not get lax and keep following COVID-appropriate behaviour," he said. People are more prone to respiratory infections like pneumonia and influenza in the coming winter months and festive seasons and "we have to put in all efforts, stay vigilant and diligently follow COVID-appropriate behaviour", Paul said. Nokia has secured a deal with BT to replace Huawei equipment in its EE network including replacing 2G, 4G infrastructure and expand the 5G network. From the end of this year British operators won't be able to purchase 5G components from China's Huawei and have to remove existing equipment by 2027. The Finnish company will install 63 per cent of the BT 5G infrastructure, potentially as many as 11,600 radio sites, according to sources familiar with the deal. Nokia already powers BTs network in Greater London, the Midlands and some rural locations - so this deal extends that existing contract to much of the rest of the UK. The Finnish company will install 63 per cent of the BT 5G infrastructure, potentially as many as 11,600 radio sites, according to sources familiar with the deal The decision to ban Huawei from supplying 5G equipment in the UK came in July after US sanctions were introduced against the Chinese firm. The UK network was an early target for Huawei, so its technology is firmly embedded, making removing it a complex job for Britain's mobile operators. BT was a major customer, so this shift to Nokia will involve a considerable change including the purchase of new base stations and access points. Philip Jansen, CEO, BT Group said digital connectivity was critical to the UKs economic future and would result in new jobs and underpin sustainable growth. 'That's why BT is making game-changing investments in full fibre and 5G. In a fast-moving and competitive market, it's critical we make the right technology choices. 'With this next stage of our successful relationship with Nokia we will continue to lead the rollout of fixed and mobile networks to deliver stand-out experiences for customers,' he said. Nokia had a 21 per cent share of the global radio access network (RAN) market in 2019, versus 29 per cent for Ericsson and Huawei's 31 per cent. While Nokia has been winning contracts from operators across the world, it suffered a setback earlier this month when it lost out to Samsung Electronics on a part of a contract to supply new 5G equipment to Verizon in the US. Paolo Pescatore, a tech analyst described the deal as a 'big win for Nokia' given the competitive nature of the market for mobile infrastructure. The decision to ban Huawei from supplying 5G equipment in the UK came in July after US sanctions were introduced against the Chinese firm 'It was important for BT (and EE) to move quickly to avoid loosing any further ground in 5G rollout,' he explained. Adding that: 'A massive job now awaits in stripping out Huawei and ensuring minimal disruption to customers.' Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, Nokia, said the deal makes Nokia BT largest infrastructure partner, extending over 25 years of collaboration. 'We are proud to support BT's 5G network evolution and look forward to working even more closely together in the years to come.' Almaty-based activist Danaya Kalieva is among dozens of government critics who have been tried and sentenced in an "online trial" since Kazakhstan ordered all courts to hold their proceedings only via video due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kalieva told RFE/RL that a weak Internet signal throughout the trial held by the Zhetysu district court using the Zoom application was a major problem, as the prosecutor appeared not to properly hear the defendant. "I had to repeat my words five, seven, even 10 times, but the[prosecution] still pretended they couldn't hear me. The judge just silently watched all of this. I believe [such a thing] is convenient for them," Kalieva said. In a country where the government clamps down on critics and courts are accused of pro-government bias, many activists believe that online trials with bad Internet connections have made it easier for authorities to punish its opponents. Kalieva was found guilty of contempt toward officials and was ordered to pay about $130 in fines and compensation for the victim. The charge stemmed from an incident in February when she posted a video on social media showing men in plain clothes detaining a fellow activist. Kalieva said she demanded the men show their official security IDs, which they refused to do. As part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Kazakhstan banned face-to-face court proceedings in March and replaced them with video conferences using platforms such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and TrueConf. Supporters see it as the reality of life in the COVID-19 era and praise the Kazakh courts for adapting themselves to the new system in a relatively short time. Conducting trials online -- as opposed to simply postponing them -- could spare some suspects held in detention from waiting a long period for their trial. It also prevents courts from having a backlog of cases. But the trials risk not allowing defendants or their attorneys to properly present their cases, which can lead to rights violations and make it easier for them to be convicted of a crime. Kazakhstan initially introduced virtual courts in 2017 and they are being held in many countries around the world. But until the pandemic, the video links were used mainly when a witness in a case was based in another location. Many defendants and their lawyers say their recent experiences show that Kazakhstan's court system isn't ready to hold online trials or is unwilling to address certain problems to ensure defendants' rights are upheld. Witness Tampering, Forged Document Risks Like Kalieva's trial in Zhetysu, many Kazakh courts use Zoom in which group calls are capped at 40 minutes and the meetings cannot be recorded. A fee is required to use the platform longer for uninterrupted meetings. Kazakh courts also widely use WhatsApp video calls, with most of the participants accessing the service on their mobile phones. WhatsApp group calls allow up to eight participants at a time. Leading defense lawyer Gulnar Suleimanova is concerned about many potential problems with holding court proceedings on WhatsApp, such as witness tampering. "In a WhatsApp call, it's impossible to know where the witness is speaking from. You can only see his face. There could be a person near them who is putting pressure on the witness, influencing their testimony," Suleimanova said. "Or maybe another witness in the same case is sitting nearby and hearing the first witness's testimony. We can't monitor that," the lawyer said. In real courts, witnesses are excluded from the courtrooms and communication among witnesses during trials is prohibited to avoid any influence on their testimony. Defense lawyer Serik Aitbaev told local media that virtual courts have also made it impossible to verify the authenticity of the documents. "Apart from the court secretary, nobody else sees the originals. One could forge documents. Through WhatsApp, you only get scanned copies. The judges don't even ask if there is an original or not, they say: 'Send the copies,'" Aitbaev said. Kazakh defense lawyers also complain that online trials have deprived defendants of having confidential discussions with their lawyers. Defense lawyers and defendants participate in the same group call in which all sides can hear each other. Since March, Kazakhstan has banned all visits -- including by family and lawyers -- to prisons and detention centers. The ban means that detainees can only contact their lawyers via video links, running the risk that their confidential conversations are being recorded or monitored. To connect to trials, defendants who are in custody must use the jail WiFi where the signal is often weak. Several defendants noted that the Internet connection is generally very weak -- not only in detention facilities. Activist Yury Malenkikh was recently sentenced in an online court for two days for breaching public order. "The connection was being interrupted constantly, at some points it was impossible to hear the others," he said of his trial. Malls Reopened, Courts Remain Shut Kazakhstan has gradually eased its lockdown, reopening many businesses, including shopping centers and restaurants. But courtrooms remain closed. Many defense lawyers are calling on authorities to allow courts to have in-person proceedings while using social-distancing measures and mandatory face masks. But the Supreme Court has ruled that the risks to public health still remain high. "When 15-20 people attend a criminal case hearing, it already amounts to a large gathering of people. Also, judges and prosecutors must attend several different courts every day, potentially spreading the virus," spokesman Aidos Saduakasov told reporters. He also noted that many courthouses in Kazakhstan are not big enough to accommodate social-distancing rules. The Human Element With all their critics and supporters, it's expected that online trials are here to stay in Kazakhstan and perhaps elsewhere, even post pandemic. Many court lawyers say they are getting increasingly accustomed to virtual court proceedings, which they see as a necessity. But they point out that in online courts they miss the human element -- the feeling and emotions -- that cannot be judged on the screen of the computer or phone. "After a couple of months, I got used to the online court," said Almaty-based Judge Yernar Kasymkhanov. "But it's definitely better for all parties to conduct the proceedings face-to-face because I need to observe the emotional state of the person." "After years of experience as a judge, I can tell -- by looking at the person -- if they're giving false testimony," the judge continued. "I need to see face-to-face how the person behaves, what they are trying to say, what do they mean. The video doesn't give you the complete picture." RFE/RL's Kazakh Service contributed to this report. Aldi has pledged to create another 4,000 jobs as part of its plans to open 100 stores by the end of next year. The supermarket has already hired 3,000 staff this year thanks to booming demand for food during lockdown. Aldi has also expanded its existing 1billion investment over two years to 1.3bn the largest in its 30-year history. The new stores will be opened in London and the south-east, and it will soon open its 900th shop in a former Waitrose in Sandhurst, Berkshire on the way to a target of 1,200 stores by 2025. Aldi is also expanding its online business, taking its click-and-collect trial from one store to 15 in the next few weeks. Customers can also order online via Deliveroo from 20 stores. The expansion poses a fresh challenge to the Big Four supermarkets, with the German discounter promising to undercut its bigger rivals in a Christmas price war. Experts believe consumers, many of whom face job losses and financial uncertainty as the recession bites, will look to save money on their food shop. Asda and Morrisons have slashed prices on hundreds of products, while Tesco promised to match Aldi on hundreds of cupboard staples. Aldi's UK chief executive Giles Hurley said: 'Our rivals may drop their prices but we will always respond by dropping prices further.' The budget grocer's market share has flattened in recent months leading some analysts to predict the UK has reached 'peak Aldi'. But despite being left behind as its rivals capitalised on the lockdown boom in online shopping, it still recorded 'solid' 10 per cent sales growth in the three months to September 9. Hurley said: 'It has been an absolutely extraordinary time for the supermarkets, I've never known anything like it.' United Nations: The UN childrens agency on Tuesday launched an appeal for USD 3.3 billion to help 48 million children caught up in crises worldwide amid fears of a funding cut from top donor the United States. Some 42 per cent of the UNICEF appeal for 2017 -- USD 1.4 billionis earmarked to support Syrian children living in the country and as refugees across the borders in neighboring states. This years appeal represents a 18 per cent increase from the initial 2016 request for funding. Donors contribute to the appeals on a voluntary basis. The United States is by far the top donor to UNICEF, followed by Germany, Britain and the European Commission. Media reports that the new administration of President Donald Trump is seeking to cut at least 40 per cent of voluntary contributions to international organisations have set off alarm bells at the United Nations. UNICEF deputy executive director Justin Forsyth said there was no indication at the moment that the childrens agency will be hit by cuts, adding that he remained hopeful that US support will continue. Faced with rising humanitarian needs, notably from the wars in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, UN agencies have been requesting more funding, but the donor response often falls short. The impact on the ground of our appeals not being funded is children dying, children not going to school, children not being protected, said Forsyth. Almost one in four of the worlds children now lives in a country affected by conflict or disaster, according to UNICEF. Aside from Syria, UNICEFs assistance in 2017 will be heavily focused on Yemen, South Sudan and Nigeria - three countries ravaged by wars that have had a heavy toll on children. UNICEF is struggling to ensure children caught up in conflict still have access to schools to avoid creating a lost generation of youths vulnerable to violent extremism. There are consequences, not just for the children, said Forsyth. There are consequences for global and regional security by not investing in the needs of these children for education. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Labourers wear protective masks as they work at Ngoc Nu factory in Hanoi, June 1, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Kham. Vietnam posted its lowest January-September GDP growth since 2011 at 2.12 percent, but, given Covid-19 impacts, officials deem this a big success. The country's third quarter GDP grew by 2.62 percent, higher than the previous quarter's 0.39 percent, but lower than the first quarter's 3.68 percent, the General Statistics Office reported Tuesday. With the Covid-19 pandemic having seriously affected socio-economic activities worldwide, Vietnams growth was a great success, it said. The industry and construction sector grew by 3.08 percent in January-September period, contributing 58.35 percent to the GDP. The corresponding figures for the agriculture sector were 1.84 percent and 13.62 percent, and for the services sector 1.37 percent and 28.03 percent. Exports rose 4.2 percent year-on-year to $202.8 billion in the first nine months, while imports declined 0.8 percent to $185.8 billion. As many as 38,600 businesses in Vietnam registered to temporarily suspend operations between January and September, up 81.8 percent year-on-year, according to General Statistics Office. The nation's consumer price index (CPI) increased 3.85 percent, the highest in the last five years. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had said earlier that the country would strive to overcome the crisis by registering positive GDP growth this year, providing support packages to businesses and individuals. Vietnam had enjoyed a 7.02 percent growth last year, the second highest in a decade behind the 7.08 percent in 2018. By Trend UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet made a statement on latest developments within the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports citing OHCHR. "I am concerned about the resumption of hostilities along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and urge an immediate end to the fighting. I am deeply disturbed by the reported loss of civilian lives and injuries, as well as damage to civilian property and infrastructure," Bachelet said in a statement. "I call on all sides to respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law, in particular by ensuring the protection of the civilian population and people placed hors de combat, and by preventing damage to essential civilian infrastructure," Bachelet added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Over 50% of the total cases of Mumbaikars levied fine for not wearing a mask in public places in the last six months have been reported from at least five locations in western suburbs and southern parts of the city, respectively. These locations also include areas that are currently under coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hot spots. Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri are located in the westerb suburbs and Churchgate, Colaba, Marine Drive, Charni Road, Malad Hill and Chowpatty are situated in south Mumbai. Also read: 43 volunteers selected for Oxford Universitys Covid-19 vaccine trial in Mumbai On Sunday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities had said that it had fined 14,207 Mumbaikars in the city since April for not wearing a mask and collected Rs 52.76 lakh as fines for violating the rule. Fines worth Rs 19 lakh were collected from 9,218 defaulters between September 13 and 26 alone. The BMC had made it mandatory for Mumbaikars to wear a mask in public places since April 8. Earlier, the civic body used to levy fines ranging between Rs 200 to 1,000 for not wearing a mask in public places. However, the penalty amount was brought down to Rs 200 in early September. According to the data, six hotspots, which had reported 36% of Mumbais total viral case load, had also reported 32% of Mumbaikars, who were penalised for not wearing a mask. The list revealed that 1,084 cases of Mumbaikars did not wear a mask in Borivali, Kandivali (1,331), Jogeshwari West (891), Malad (551). Andheri West and Vile Parle East had reported 586 violations each. And, 237 cases of flouting of were recorded each in Dadar, Mahim and Dharavi. In south Mumbai, Churchgate, Colaba, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had reported 771 cases each and 1,053 cases were recorded from Dongri and Marine Lines each. While in Charni Road, Kalbadevi, Pydhonie 1,169 cases had reported each and another 724 cases were recorded from Grant Road, Malabar Hill and Chowpatty each. These areas had reported 8,397 (59.1%) cases of the total 14,207 cases of Mumbaikars, who were fined by the BMC authorities for not wearing a mask. Mulund had reported one of the lowest cases of similar violation at 120 cases, followed by Govandi, a former hotspot that has dense sum clusters (159), Parel (172), and Powai, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg with 226 cases each. The BMC has been putting a lot of emphasis on wearing a mask in public places because of the unlocking of restrictions in a phased manner in a bid to revive economic activities in Mumbai that have been roiled by the viral outbreak. The BMC has also asked 24 administrative civic wards in Mumbai to undertake an aggressive drive to levy fines against violators. Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner (AMC), BMC said, We need to understand that the launch of a Covid-19 vaccine will take time. Under the circumstances, the best we can do is to comply with social distancing, wear a mask and maintain hygiene in a bid to prevent the spread of the contagion. ITHACA, N.Y. - Scientists, policymakers and the media should acknowledge inherent uncertainties in epidemiological models projecting the spread of COVID-19 and avoid "catastrophizing" worst-case scenarios, according to new research from Cornell University. Threats about dire outcomes may mobilize more people to take public health precautions in the short term but invite criticism and backlash if uncertainties in the models' data and assumptions are not transparent and later prove flawed, researchers found. Among political elites, criticism from Democrats in particular may have the unintended consequence of eroding public trust in the use of models to guide pandemic policies and in science more broadly, their research shows. "Acknowledging that models are grounded in uncertainty is not only the more accurate way to talk about scientific models, but political leaders and the media can do that without also having the effect of undermining confidence in science," said Sarah Kreps, government professor and co-author of the study. Kreps and Doug Kriner, government professor, conducted five experiments - surveying more than 6,000 American adults in May and June - to examine how politicians' rhetoric and media framing affected support for using COVID-19 models to guide policies about lockdowns or economic reopenings, and for science generally. The researchers found that different presentations of scientific uncertainty - acknowledging it, contextualizing it or weaponizing it - can have important implications for public policy preferences and attitudes. For example, they said, Republican elites have been more likely to attack or "weaponize" uncertainty in epidemiological models. But the survey experiments showed that their criticism, which the public apparently expected, didn't shift confidence in models or in science. Support for COVID-19 science from several Republican governors who split with their party's mainstream also did not affect confidence. Criticism by Democrats, in contrast, registered as surprising and was influential. When shown a quote by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo disparaging virus models, survey respondents' support for using models to guide reopening policy dropped by 13% and support for science in general decreased, too. "It suggests that the onus is on Democrats to be particularly careful with how they communicate about COVID-19 science," Kriner said. "Because of popular expectations about the alignments of the parties on science more broadly and on issues like COVID-19 and climate change, they can inadvertently erode confidence in science even when that isn't their intent." Another way of ignoring or downplaying uncertainty is to present narratives that sensationalize or "catastrophize" the most alarming projections and potential consequences of inaction. An April article in The Atlantic about Georgia's reopening strategy, for example, referred to the state's "experiment in human sacrifice." The researchers' experiments showed that type of COVID-19 communication significantly increased public support - by 21% - for using models to guide policy, with gains primarily attributed to people who were less scientifically literate. ### The study, "Model Uncertainty, Political Contestation and Public Trust in Science: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," was published in Science Advances. For more information, see this Cornell Chronicle story. Mayor Bill de Blasio was struck on the arm by an electric scooter as he stepped on to a crosswalk in Lower Manhattan. The 59-year-old had been crossing the road at 10.15am on Monday when he was sideswiped by a man on the e-scooter. De Blasio escaped unharmed during the collision. Mayor Bill de Blasio (pictured) was struck on the arm by an electric scooter as he stepped on to a crosswalk in Lower Manhattan The rider, who was travelling with his seven-year-old daughter, had not been wearing a helmet, according to The New York Post. It is thought that the girl fell off the device and tumbled to the floor - but both father and daughter suffered only minor injuries. The mayor reportedly checked on the pair immediately afterwards and offered a tissue to attend to minor scratches that were bleeding. Bill Neidhardt, the mayor's press secretary, has since urged New Yorkers to take care and follow proper safety precautions. He said: 'City Hall encourages everyone to obey traffic signals and wear a helmet.' Earlier this year New York City Council voted on bills to legalize the use of electric bikes and scooters citywide (stock image) Earlier this year New York City Council voted on bills to legalize the use of electric bikes and scooters citywide. Lawmakers had already approved the use of e-bikes and e-scooters statewide in April but the decision on how to regulate the vehicles was left to local officials. It was hoped that a pilot program would also be created to bring a shared e-scooter program to neighborhoods currently lacking transit options and under-served by existing share programs like Citi Bike and Revel. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:28:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that he has not ruled out "a preemptive strike against Iran." "A preemptive strike is a difficult thing to do," he said during a memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers of the 1973 October War between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. "I know that if Iran wants to entrench itself in the north (of Israel), we are ready to fight them," he said. "We will do everything to protect the State of Israel; we are not ruling out a preliminary strike," he warned. Israel considers Iran its arch-foe. The Israeli air force has carried out "hundreds" of airstrikes in Syria, saying the attacks are aimed at Iranian targets and weapons convoys of the Iran-backed Lebanese militia of Hezbollah. Enditem A 19-year-old Dalit woman died at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday morning, days after being raped by four men here, a senior police officer said. The family of the girl informed that she died around 3 am, Superintendent of Police, Hathras, Vikrant Vir, said, The woman was shifted to a hospital in Delhi from Aligarh on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement. The woman was gang-raped on September14 following which she was admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. The accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have already been arrested. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A sailor's mental health problems were underdiagnosed and not properly communicated to his command in the months leading up to last year's fatal shooting at a Hawaii shipyard, a newly released investigation into the attack found. Navy officials say they still haven't pinpointed exactly what drove Machinist's Mate Auxiliary Fireman Gabriel Antonio Romero, a 22-year-old assigned to the fast-attack submarine Columbia, to shoot three civilians at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Dec. 4, 2019. Romero killed two Defense Department employees that day -- Vincent J. Kapoi, a metals inspector apprentice, and Roldan A. Agustin, a shop planner -- and injured another using his M4 service rifle. As law enforcement personnel responded within seconds, Romero shot and killed himself using a Navy-issued M9 pistol. Read Next: DOJ Is Cracking Down on Towing Companies That Seize Troops' Cars A 190-page investigation into the murder-suicide found no explanation for why Romero targeted the three people who were shot that day. The report stated, though, that the sailor "had long-developing problems that in aggregate should have raised concerns about his mental condition, and his maturity, stability, and dependability." "He constituted an insider threat," investigators found. "... If these risk factors would have been shared among medical providers and the USS COLUMBIA chain of command before December 4, 2019, the Navy may have interrupted the chain of events that led to this tragedy." The shooting was one of two fatal attacks at Navy facilities that week. Two days later, a Saudi officer opened fire in a classroom building at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three and injuring several others. The two incidents prompted the Navy's No. 2 officer to direct separate investigations into the attacks; those reports provided detailed recommendations for the service and other lead agencies. Now, officials say the service has stood up a special working group, organized by the Navy's Security Coordination Board, to help prevent similar attacks from happening again. The group, the service said in a Tuesday news release about the investigation, will implement findings and recommendations after the attacks that will "make the Navy safer and more secure." "The safety and livelihood of our Sailors is dependent on this effort," former Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Burke wrote in a May endorsement letter. An Ordinary Day Romero reported for roving patrol duty just after 2 p.m. on Dec. 4. He'd qualified for the watch duty, which required him to rove the area around the submarine, within months of reporting to the Columbia. The sub to which he was assigned was in Dry Dock 2, inside the controlled industrial area at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The sailor Romero replaced that day told investigators the watch turnover was ordinary. "Romero took possession of the M4 rifle with 90 rounds of ammunition and M9 pistol with 45 rounds of ammunition and made required entries in the duty logbook," the investigation states. The investigation also details how, on the day of the shooting, Romero missed duty muster because he was attending a semi-annual training requirement. Romero was supposed to check in with the duty section leader before reporting to his watch station, but he didn't do so. While he was found not to have drugs or alcohol in his system, the missed security and safety brief, the report states, "demonstrates a lack of procedural compliance and was a missed opportunity for duty section leadership to assess Romero's suitability for watch before he was issued a firearm." Before Romero began his first roving patrol, he told the petty officer of the deck -- the other armed topside watch stander for the Columbia, "I'll be back." What happened next occurred within seconds, the report states. Romero began walking around Dry Dock 2 from port to starboard around the same time three civilian employees who had been working on the sub earlier that day left their workstations in a trailer. Romero turned, approaching the three from behind. "The Petty Officer of the Deck observed Romero chamber a round, raise his M4 rifle, and begin firing at the civilians," the report states. The three fell to the ground about 15 feet from Romero's position. As first responders rushed to the scene, Romero turned the pistol on himself. He died at the scene. Kapoi and Agustin were pronounced dead at local hospitals, while the third victim was treated and later released. Investigators were not able to establish a motive for Romero targeting the three victims, but did point to stressors leading up to the shooting that "likely led him to choose violence." "If shipmates would have reported potential risk indicators to supervisors, the chain of command may have aggregated them with other known risk factors to recognize that circumstances warranted his rescreening for armed watchstanding," the report states. Troubling Signs The Navy determined Romero acted alone and that no one could have reasonably predicted that he would carry out the murder and suicide. But investigators were tasked with identifying any actions the Navy could have taken to recognize early warning signs and to reduce risks associated with personal stress and mental health to prevent similar incidents from happening again, officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This tragic event was heartbreaking to our community and our valued shipyard workforce, and we must work hard to restore confidence in the Navy's ability to protect our most valuable assets -- our people," Adm. John Aquilino, U.S. Pacific Fleet's commander, said in the statement. After qualifying to be a watchstander soon after being assigned to the Columbia, Romero's performance in other areas began to slip, the investigation found. "Romero quickly fell behind in his other qualifications, and the chain of command took administrative action to address exceeding the qualification deadline of 12 months, poor performance, and continued tardiness," the investigation states. "He received written counseling or extra military instruction on ten separate occasions in the months before the shooting, beginning in June 2019, and he had to attend after-work study periods for his qualification delinquency." Less than three months before the shooting, Romero was counseled for sitting down while on watch, which led to a remedial review of watchstanding principles. Then, when on temporary duty to another sub to earn qualifications for a submarine warfare pin, Romero didn't interact with other sailors and displayed a low level of knowledge, giving the impression he didn't want to be there. He was sent back to the Columbia before his temporary duty was complete to build up more knowledge for his qualifications, the report states. When counseled for poor performance, Romero often cried, according to the investigation. A little more than a week before the shooting, Romero was informed he didn't pass the Naval Advancement Exam and wouldn't be promoted to E-4. The day before the shooting, Romero faced an executive officer inquiry following a November disciplinary review board for repeated tardiness and qualification delinquency. The executive officer asked Romero whether his mother would be happy if she knew he was squandering the opportunity the Navy gave him, according to the report. Romero, the investigation states, again became emotional and began to cry, expressing his desire to stay in the Navy. The XO issued a Page 13, a form of formal written counseling, stating that if Romero was late to work again, he'd face nonjudicial punishment from the commanding officer. Romero didn't sign it, claiming, according to the report, that the XO told him he didn't need to do so until the end of the week. The XO was planning to clarify the matter by personally delivering the Page 13 the next day, Dec. 4. "The Page 13 was not signed or delivered before the shooting incident," the investigation states. As Romero faced professional challenges while assigned to the Columbia, he began seeking mental health treatment. It started in March 2019, when Romero went to the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu to report that he had had a hard time focusing at a traffic court hearing earlier that day. "Romero denied any suicidal or homicidal ideations," the report states. "TAMC staff called a Tripler Police Department Officer to conduct a contraband search as a precautionary measure and contacted the command to provide support. Romero's division chief went to the emergency room, where TAMC staff told him that Romero was not a risk to harm others or himself." The center noted in Romero's electronic medical record that the sailor had a possible diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder, the report adds. He was then referred to the Naval Submarine Support Command's embedded mental health program clinic in Pearl Harbor for further evaluation and treatment. But that clinic can't receive outpatient referrals through the electronic medical record system, according to the investigation. The TAMC staff, according to the report, "did not inform the division chief, the eMHP staff, or USS COLUMBIA's medical department representative (MDR) by telephone, email, or other means." Romero didn't go to the embedded mental health program clinic until September, after telling his division chief he'd been having difficulty sleeping and was worried about his health, the report adds. During a 90-minute clinical interview, the force psychologist described Romero as "odd, awkward, guarded, and confused," according to the report. In his intake questionnaire, Romero said he was having problems "with mood stress," the investigation states, adding that he wanted to call his father more, think about the future and take time to relax. When describing how frequently he felt certain problem areas, Romero reportedly answered that he frequently felt no interest in things, almost always had difficulty concentrating, frequently felt there was something wrong with his mind, sometimes felt hopeless about the future, and sometimes had disturbing thoughts that he couldn't get rid of. He went to the clinic eight times over three months and, according to the report, was not diagnosed with a mental disorder. That left him qualified for continued submarine duty without any limitations, the investigation states. "Romero never expressed suicidal ideations or threats of violence toward others during his eMHP Clinic visits," the report adds. Shortfalls Identified A forensic psychologist who was assigned to the investigation took issue with Romero's mental health assessment. Though the psychologist did not treat Romero and acknowledged the staff who did "could not have reasonably predicted his violent behavior," he found the force psychologist "under-diagnosed and inadequately managed Romero's mental condition." "An accurate diagnosis likely would have disqualified Romero from submarine duty," the psychologist wrote. "... The prioritized likelihood of diagnosis (beginning with most likely) were the following: Autistic Spectrum Disorder; Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder; Social Anxiety Disorder; Personality Disorder (Avoidant and Borderline features); Anxiety Disorder; Depressive Disorder; and Adjustment Disorder." In his endorsement letter of the investigation, Aquilino stated that, while the Submarine Force embedded mental health program is valuable, he's concerned the clinic "failed to strike the balance between supporting the submarine community readiness and providing necessary mental health resources to submarine Sailors, to include diagnosing Sailors when necessary so they can receive further treatment." Navy officials, in the Tuesday statement on the probe's findings, also said the investigation uncovered communication barriers between health care professionals and leaders, which place "undue emphasis on patient confidentiality, particularly where Sailors may have access to weapons. Aquilino made several recommendations on that front in his endorsement letter, including reviewing whether underdiagnosis is a pattern within the embedded mental health program, and reviewing processes for sharing records between military treatment facilities, like the one Romero visited in Honolulu, and command-level clinics. "The service member's right to confidentiality must be balanced against evaluating what information is necessary to relay to the chain of command," the admiral wrote. "This not only ensures our Sailors are receiving the best care, but also garners crucial support from the chain of command necessary for a successful resiliency approach. "The overly-conservative stance on patient confidentiality served neither the patient nor the command well in this situation," Aquilino added. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Sailor Who Killed 2 at Pearl Harbor Was Unhappy with Commanders Chinas efforts to base the resolution of the boundary dispute with India on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) proposed by premier Zhou Enlai in 1959 are untenable as that does not conform with the actual situation on the ground, two former ambassadors involved in the border talks said on Tuesday. The external affairs ministry said on Tuesday that India has never accepted the unilaterally defined 1959 LAC and stressed that crucial agreements with China committed both sides to confirming and clarifying the alignment of the boundary. Former foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who played a key role in negotiations that led to the signing of the Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC in 1993, described the Chinese foreign ministrys reference to the 1959 LAC as a red herring. Also read: China says it doesnt recognise illegal UT Ladakh, denies its building military bases near LAC Menon has highlighted several problems with the 1959 proposal in a chapter of his 2016 book Choices devoted to the 1993 agreement. The Chinese side described the so-called LAC of 1959 only in general terms on maps not to scale, and the Chinese concept was a disconnected series of points on a map that could be joined up in many ways, he wrote. He also argued that the vagueness of the Chinese definition left it open for China to continue its creeping attempt to change facts on the ground by military force something that experts contend has happened in the Ladakh sector of the LAC during the current standoff. The fact is this is a red herring. Both sides know where the LAC is and have kept the peace for several decades. The 1959 LAC was never accepted by India. Why is it being brought up now? said Menon, who served as the envoy to China during 2000-03 and as foreign secretary during 2006-09. Also read: 1959 claim is wrong, but it punctures Chinas theory, say experts It is being done to justify their behaviour and some people here are falling for it. The more we get into this discussion, the less sense it makes. The Chinese side changed the status quo and they should restore it, he said. Ashok Kantha, who served as Indias ambassador to China during 2014-16 and is currently director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, described the 1959 LAC as a notional and fictional line with no basis in facts. They have tried this in the past, and this notional LAC has been rejected by India, including during the 1993 negotiations, said Kantha, who was involved in negotiations for the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the military field during his stint as director (China) in the external affairs ministry. Also read: No war, no peace in Ladakh, says IAF chief RKS Bhadauria The reference to the 1959 LAC is in line with Chinas attempts to maintain ambiguity about the alignment of the boundary instead of discussing differences in perception on the LAC, Kantha said. Noting that article 10 of the 1996 agreement clearly states that the two sides would exchange maps indicating their respective perceptions of the entire alignment of the Line of Actual Control as soon as possible, he said India and China had only exchanged maps for the middle sector, whereas the maps for the western sector were shown but never shared. The Chinese side showed us their maps but then took them back, and so did we, Kantha said, adding the Chinese side should instead resume the exercise of clarifying the LAC. Menon also notes in his book that during the negotiations for the 1993 agreement, the Chinese side insisted on the LAC of 1959 and that if there were any doubts, they would tell the Indians where the LAC lay. He wrote: This arrogation was patently one-sided and unfair. Chinese Foreign Office mandarins seemed hard-pressed to justify this position to us, finally saying privately that they had no leeway as the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) were insistent. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON (Newser) A hacker group has published employee Social Security numbers, student grades, and other sensitive information from the Clark County School District in Las Vegas after it refused to pay a ransom. The largest school district known to be hit with ransomware since the start of the pandemic announced a breach on Sept. 9, saying certain files couldn't be accessed on computer servers beginning Aug. 27, three days after classes began online. It also told individuals to monitor financial accounts for suspicious activity. Days later, the hacker group released stolen information that appeared to be nonsensitive, Brett Callow, an Emsisoft threat analyst, tells the Wall Street Journal. Then late last week came the release of more sensitive information, including employee Social Security numbers and addresses, and student names, grades, birth dates, schools, and addresses, Callow said. The district has 320,000 students. story continues below With schools moving to remote learning, "the value of doing this has gone up," Evan Kohlmann of cybersecurity firm Flashpoint tells the Journal. Business Insider reports at least 60 US school districts and universities have been targeted this year. Ransom negotiating firm Coveware reports ransom payments for all industries were up 60% to $178,254 in its second quarter ending in June. It adds a decryption tool is delivered in 99% of cases when a ransom is paid. Other school districts have paid ransoms, deciding it's less costly than rebuilding servers. But the FBI advises against this as it encourages other attacks. It's unclear how much money was requested or whether the district has regained access to its servers, per the Journal. It said Monday it is "working diligently to determine the full nature and scope of the incident and is cooperating with law enforcement," per the Las Vegas Review Journal. (Read more ransomware stories.) Another day, another major new iPhone 12 leak. This time, leaker Jon Prosser had detailed the pricing, storage, and RAM configurations of the iPhone 12 lineup and revealed other key specs of the devices as well. iPhone 12 Specs, Storage Variants As previously detailed, Apple will be replacing the iPhone 11 with two different iPhone 12 variants. This includes a $649 variant with a 5.4-inch OLED display and a 6.1-inch variant with a $749 price tag. Apart from the switch to OLED panels, Apple will also be reducing the bezels surrounding the display. Apple has so far sourced OLED panels from Samsung, but for the iPhone 12, the company is looking to source them from BOE as they will be cheaper. The OLED panels on these devices would apparently be called Super Retina. The devices will be powered by an A14 Bionic chip, sport 5G connectivity, and pack 4GB RAM. Apple is also going to bump the base storage on the device to 128GB. Additionally, the company will also offer a 256GB variant of the device. iPhone 12 Pro Display, Specs, and, Storage Variants The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will feature a 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch OLED display respectively. As previously leaked, Apple will use a 120Hz refresh rate panel on the devices with a variable refresh rate to offer the best of both worlds: performance and battery life. Seemingly, Apple does not intend on offering users the option to switch to a 60Hz refresh rate and theres also the possibility that the company might disable the 120Hz refresh rate option if it deems the feature is not yet ready. Apart from the refresh rate bump, the Super Retina XDR panels on the iPhone 12 Pro series will support 10-bit color depth. The iPhone 12 Pro series will also be powered by the A14 Bionic chip and feature 5G connectivity. It will ship with 6GB RAM and base 128GB of storage. Apple is also working on 256GB and 512GB variants of the device. The lineup will be available in four colors: Silver, Gold, Space Gray, and a new option Navy Blue. The iPhone 12 Pro will start from $999, with the iPhone 12 Pro Max starting from $1,099. There have been plenty of iPhone 12 leaks over the last month or so. Going by it, Apple will reduce the notch size on the entire lineup, improve Face ID so that it works over a wider angle of view, increase the battery capacity to negate the effect of 5G and 120Hz display, and more. There have been rumors of the launch of the iPhone 12 launch being delayed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, though other reports claim that we will see a staggered launch with the iPhone 12 launching first followed by the iPhone 12 Pro series. MAS successfully achieved original commitment to the Universal Access Project of the UN Foundation (UNF), of providing health and well being, education and services to 10,000 employees ahead of the 2021 deadline. Sri Lanka, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colombo, Sri Lanka - September 29, 2020:MAS Holdings, the largest and leading design-to-delivery apparel solutions provider in South Asia renewed its commitment today to empower more of its employees by extending its original undertaking to provide health and wellbeing education and services focusing on sexual and reproductive health; and awareness on gender-based violence, to its employees and the communities adjacent to their manufacturing locations. Having surpassed the target of 10,000 beneficiaries since its commitment in June 2019, MAS doubled its commitment to reach 20,000 beneficiaries by the original 2021 timeline. The company, headquartered in Sri Lanka, formalized their new commitment at the virtual parallel event of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly co-hosted by the World Benchmarking Allianceof the UN Foundation(UNF). MAS Holdings was one of 11 trailblazing global companies that committed to improving the health and wellbeing of its workers and community members around the world in 2019 through the UNF's Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Women's Health and Empowerment Initiative. The company outlined bold, measurable and time-bound plans to empower its employees through highly focused programmes on women's health, sexual and reproductive health and rights and on gender-based violence, anchored to its globally acclaimed hallmark women's empowerment platform, 'Women Go Beyond' in alignment with SDGs 3 and 5, among others. A Legacy Anchored in Women's Empowerment With women making up 70% of the company's 99,000 global workforce, MAS Holdings identified a fundamental requirement to support and empower its female employees very early in its operation, before it was defined as a corporate responsibility. Stand-alone initiatives that helped women, soon started showing results and began to scale into larger, long-term programmes. MAS began to invest heavily in women's career development, skill development and more importantly in their health and wellbeing, creating awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual health, nutrition, pre and post-natal care and issues surrounding gender-based violence. In 2003, all empowerment and gender equality initiatives came under the Women Go Beyond (WGB) banner that also gave the company a powerful platform to recognize and reward its women on their achievements, a powerful element that pushed WGB and MAS to the global limelight as a pioneer of ethical business practices; WGB has provided over 300,000 opportunities for its employees and their families since its inception, highlighting women's empowerment as the foundation of economic stability in Sri Lanka and the region. Women who treated their jobs as transitory in nature found new meaning in their careers, discovering not only untapped intellectual capacities and skillsets, but also economic freedom, autonomy and self-confidence. Progress of Commitments in 2020 While COVID-19 resulted in catastrophic economic and health impacts around the world, MAS was able to leverage its existing WGB framework to reach out to female employees and support them through multi-faceted programmes that also addressed possible escalations of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV) during pandemic-related lockdowns. MAS Holdings was able to enhance the quality of its existing health-related WGB programmes provided for all employees in 2019 while also introducing highly focused programmes on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), non-communicable diseases (NCD) and life skills through its 2019 commitment. In addition to the health and wellness programmes focusing on hygiene, nutrition, family planning, pre and post-natal care, that have been carried out over the last decade, MAS has partnered with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lankato train in-house trainers to deliver workshops on sexual and reproductive health and rights and NCDs,. This enabled both male and female employees to share this comprehensive knowledge in their communities to create awareness. Another such new initiative focuses on equipping in-house counselors and human resources executives with 'skills to better address cases of domestic violence and GBV, including an understanding of the legal framework surrounding GBV. A Legal Rights Awareness Programme conducted at an MAS facility in Bangladesh educated 2,800 women on domestic violence as a consequence of early marriage and provided legal aid for those affected. MAS' social sustainability strategy is well aligned with its business strategy and is driven by its senior leadership. Dedicated teams across the Group work on identified focus areas and drive necessary interventions to address the many gaps in access, education and services faced by women across global locations. Other notable programmes include the company's Aloka Breast Cancer AwarenessInitiative that saw the company partner with the Sri Lanka Cancer Society to conduct awareness sessions on breast cancer, symptom detection and self-examination. The programme educated 6,939 employees and trained 132 more employees on lump-detection, elevating company-wide benchmarks in health and wellbeing expertise. Additionally, a total number of 1,167 female employees of MAS graduated from the Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement(P.A.C.E.) programme launched by Gap Inc. nurturing their professional and leadership skills.. 2021 and Beyond "We are proud to announce the expansion of our commitment to the UNF's Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Women's Health and Empowerment.," Deputy General Manager of Women's Empowerment, Advocacy and Code of Conduct, Thanuja Jayawardene said during the virtual event. "Gender equality is a core value for us as an organization and we have an expansive framework to drive this agenda, focusing on economic, social and personal empowerment. We see health, wellbeing and freedom from gender-based violence as basic requirements, to developing female leaders for our businesses and our communities. This is a journey and we have a long way to go, implementing meaningful change." As MAS Holdings fast adapts and recovers in a post-COVID landscape, it lies tethered to its founding value of first and foremost being responsible for the safety, health and wellbeing of its employees. While the company adjusts to the new normal, it remains optimistic of achieving its new targets despite the obstacles and global industry turmoil, taking sustainable action to educate, encourage, empower and celebrate its women. About MAS Holdings Headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, MAS Holdings is one of the world's most recognized design-to-delivery solutions providers in the realm of apparel and textile for over 30 years in operation. Today, the USD 2 billion enterprise is the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with 53 manufacturing facilities across 16 countries, and a seamlessly integrated innovation-driven supply chain powered by 99,000 employees around the world. Today MAS manages a more diverse portfolio of businesses across IT, brands, wearable tech, Femtech, medical apparel, start-ups and fabric parks worldwide. Visit www.masholdings.comfor more details. About Universal Access Project: The Universal Access Project, a project of the United Nations Foundation, focuses on global sexual and reproductive health and rights and allows girls to stay in school, pursue jobs, and have children if and when they are ready. It also helps improve maternal and child health, decrease unintended pregnancies, lower HIV infection rates, and reduce poverty. It builds a healthier, more secure, and more prosperous world. The Universal Access Project also leads the Private Sector Action for Women's Health and Empowerment initiative, which mobilizes corporate leadership on workplace women's health, rights, and empowerment in global supply chains. Visit universalaccessproject.orgfor more details. About Private Sector Action for Workplace Women's Health and Empowerment Initiative: The United Nations Foundation, together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development, and Merck for Mothers launched the initiative - Private Sector Action for Workplace Women's Health and Empowerment - to work with companies with large global supply chains employing millions of women workers to take action to improve their health and wellbeing in order to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals while also generating business returns. Visit www.privatesectoractionforwomenshealth.comfor more details. For further information please contact: Attachments Ahmedabad, Sep 29 : Leading boat owners associations in Gujarat on Tuesday highlighted the challenges to their lives and livelihoods. The fisheries sector and fishing communities in the state and around the country are challenged by the lack of access to modern digital connectivity at sea. The Veraval's Boat Owners' Association, Shree Kharva Sanyukta Machhimar Boat Association, supporting Indian fishermen for technology adoption, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his direct intervention to address their concerns. They have highlighted need for adopting next-generation digital and satellite communications technologies to raise productivity of fishing harvests, create world-class competitiveness, ensure the safety of fishermen on the high seas, while accelerating the modernization and growth of the fisheries sector. Tulsibhai Gohel, President of Veraval's Boat Owners' Association, Kharva Sanyukta Machhimar Boat Association, elaborating on the community's challenges, said, "There are perpetual issues that endanger our lives and our livelihoods, deeply impacting the well-being of our community and families. Fishermen are often trapped mid-sea and lose their lives due to a lack of timely information and lack of SoS data capability. Our vessels and fishermen are routinely apprehended by neighboring countries; Pakistan detaining 49 of Gujarat Fishermen on September 15 is only the latest such incident. We take great pride in our mission of feeding India, and risk our lives every day to do so -- we are in need of urgent Government intervention to keep us secure". "Even though highly advanced and affordable technology that can benefit us is available, we are not getting the benefit of it since it has not been implemented by either the Center or the respective States. For instance, we have tested BSNL's transponder, which has two-way data communication directly over satellite and works in the deep sea. The Hon'ble Prime Minister's visionary PMMSY reform promises us change -- ensuring the safety and security of fishermen at sea. In line with his vision, our request to the Government is to broadly deploy the latest technology immediately as any delay will lead to further loss of lives. Each week, we lose our brothers to the sea. We need a solution today," he added. Since COVID, it's imperative that fishermen feel safe to go out into the open waters to help feed the country of India and bring their hard-earned wages to their families. The Covid-19 lockdown had put the country's marine fishery sector in deep sea, inflicting a daily loss of Rs 24 crore as per a Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) report. With the advent of new satellite technology, India today has access to services that can ensure the safety of fishermen through ubiquitous coverage that allows fishermen to communicate anywhere, even through the worst of storms, cyclones or other natural calamities. Along with enhancing safety, technology can also help the fishermen raise their productivity and enable e-commerce transactions at sea. Through 2-way data systems, it is now becoming easier to send fish location data to fishermen at sea to ensure better supply and demand matching, while allowing fishermen to access markets and transact at sea to maximize the value of their catch. Despite being a sunrise sector, which engages over 2.8 crore fisherfolk with many more along the value chain, the fisheries sector continues to grapple with issues related to the growing loss of lives, with fishermen eagerly awaiting decisive action on behalf of the Government to reap the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). Indian Fishermen for Technology Adoption will continue to bring the numerous issues being faced by fishermen to the forefront. The focus will remain on the digital transformation of this important sector that can benefit fishermen directly and the country more broadly, especially emphasizing the need for prompt action to prevent further tragedies. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text J.R. Gustafson, 13, of Mount Pleasant, Pa., was accidentally killed in 2016 when a friend playing with a gun he thought was unloaded fired a bullet still lodged in the chamber. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court called a federal law barring his family from suing the gun manufacturer unconstitutional. Read more In what gun control advocates described Tuesday as a historic victory, a Pennsylvania appellate court has declared unconstitutional a federal law that protects firearms manufacturers from almost any lawsuits brought by victims of gun violence. The decision by a three-judge panel of Superior Court is the first in the nation to directly attack a controversial 2005 statute known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which has made it all but impossible for people to sue gun makers for injuries inflicted by firearms used in crimes. The panel said in its opinion Monday that the law infringes upon the right of state courts and legislatures to decide for themselves the limits of legal liability for injuries within their states borders. Legal experts remained skeptical that the opinion released Monday would have far-reaching implications for potential plaintiffs in other suits with some going as far as to describe the courts reasoning as provocative and aggressive in a way that would almost certainly result in an appeal and likely end up with the decision being overturned. Creative in law is very close to being unprecedented, said Temple University law professor Craig Green. And unprecedented in law is very often wrong. The ruling arose from a case from Westmoreland County, where in 2016, 13-year-old James Gustafson was accidentally shot and killed by his friend John Burnsworth, who was playing with a semiautomatic pistol that he believed to be unloaded. Burnsworth had removed the ammunition magazine from the gun before he pointed the weapon at his friend and pulled the trigger. But a bullet remained in the chamber and Gustafson was killed. Gustafsons parents sued the maker of the gun, Illinois-based Springfield Armory Inc., in 2018, arguing that the company had been negligent by not including adequate warnings or safety features that would stop the weapon from firing when its ammunition clip was removed. From the outset, their case faced long odds. The PLCAA has barred hundreds of suits like theirs since it was enacted in 2005. Lawmakers passed the statute that year amid an intense lobbying effort by groups like the National Rifle Association, which argued that waves of legal claims against manufacturers were a backdoor effort to implement gun control through court-ordered sanctions after previous efforts in Congress had failed. And persistent efforts by Democrats to repeal it most recently in a bill last year by U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.) have failed. Most pertinent to gun violence victims, the statute bars lawsuits claiming design defects or manufacturer negligence when the person who fired the weapon has been criminally charged the thinking being that it is the shooter, then, who is responsible for the victims' injuries. Westmoreland County prosecutors charged Burnsworth as a juvenile with involuntary manslaughter in Gustafsons case. And as a result, a county judge decided in 2019 that the Gustafsons' civil suit fell squarely within what the PLCAA prohibited and should be tossed. In its opinion Monday, Superior Court agreed that the judge had interpreted the PLCAA correctly but found that the entire statute was unenforceable because Congress had overstepped its authority to pass it. The U.S. Constitution empowers state courts and legislatures to decide questions of legal liability for injuries on their own, except when the matter affects commerce that crosses state lines Backers of the PLCAA, like the NRA, argue that the gun industry operates nationwide and exposure to piecemeal judgments from courts across the country puts an unreasonable burden on manufacturers' ability to conduct their business a position the U.S. Justice Department supported by intervening in the Gustafsons case. But the Superior Court balked at the suggestion that just because a gun might have crossed state lines at some point that it would forever put the weapons use under federal jurisdiction. Merely because, at some point in time, [a] gun passed through interstate commerce does not give Congress perpetual authority to regulate any harm it may cause, wrote Judge Deborah A. Kunselman for the panel, which also included Judges John T. Bender and John L. Musmanno. There is a beginning and an end point to congressional authority. This is especially true, where, as here, the product kills someone who did not even purchase it. The court remanded the Gustafson case back to the lower court and instructed the judge to enter a finding calling the PLCAA repugnant to the Constitution of the United States." Lawyers for Springfield did not immediately answer questions Tuesday on whether they would appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Kermit Roosevelt, a constitutional law scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, said he doubted the ruling would stand if challenged in either one. I think the U.S. Supreme Court would not agree with this ruling, he said. It pushes the federalism jurisprudence farther than I think the court would be willing to go. Green, the Temple law professor, compared the unusual legal reasoning used by Superior Court in the Gustafson case to another recent court decision a ruling this month by a federal judge in Pittsburgh that overturned Gov. Tom Wolfs coronavirus restrictions. Both cases are really remarkable developments the federal case stressing economic liberties and the Superior Court stressing federalism and states' rights, he said. Both in ways that havent really been done in decades. Still, he said of the Gustafson ruling: The high likelihood is that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will reverse this case. But for now, Kris Brown president of Brady, the gun control advocacy group that represented the Gustafsons in their case was ready to declare victory. The ruling, she said in a statement, takes us a giant stride closer to ensuring that victims of gun violence can hold the companies that profit from the pain of the American people accountable. When President Trump rang in 2020, the economy was one of his biggest selling points for reelection. He had inherited a strong economy from the Obama administration, and it continued to grow stronger during his first term. Unemployment was hovering at a 50-year-low, GDP growth was exceeding expectations and Wall Street was riding the longest bull market in its history. But by spring, all of that came crashing down. While the economy has begun to shakily recoup some of its losses, a full and speedy recovery is anything but assured, making it a top concern for many Americans. According to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation released earlier this month, registered voters ranked the economy as the most important issue in deciding their pick for president, putting it ahead of the ongoing pandemic. Trump is now trying to convince the country that since he oversaw a robust economy before the outbreak, hes the best candidate to restore it. His opponent, Joe Biden, argues that Trumps mishandling of the coronavirus compounded its impact on an economy that was inequitable to begin with and that it should be reimagined rather than rebuilt. PHOTO: President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Wittman Airport in Oshkosh, Wis., Aug. 17, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP, FILE) Heres how the candidates economic plans compare: Another wave of coronavirus relief In the first months of the coronavirus crisis, Trump signed off on roughly $3 trillion in relief funding, but now negotiations for another package to help Americans weather the storm have been at an impasse for weeks and although White House negotiators and Democratic leaders say they will soon restart talks, the odds of seeing any new aid passed before Election Day seem slim. Trump finally weighed in earlier this month, urging budget hawk Republicans to back another stimulus bill with much higher numbers and signaled openness for a $1.5 trillion proposal put forth by a bipartisan group of lawmakers that calls for between $450 and $600 in enhanced federal unemployment benefits, more support for small businesses as well as state and local governments, and another round of direct payments. However, Democrats are calling for an even higher price tag, so both parties remain at odds. Story continues MORE: How Trump, Biden are preparing for first presidential debate Trumps power to push through new measures in a second term depends largely on how the House and Senate swing, but hes already attempted to swerve legislative gridlock in the past through executive actionsdeferring payroll taxes, suspending federal student loan payments through the end of the year and extending unemployment payments at a rolled-back rate. Economists say these measures have had a limited impact, and more meaningful relief would likely require cooperation with Congress. Trump has said he would take further steps if reelected, like forgiving the deferred payroll taxes, but that plan likely only stands a chance if Republicans control both chambers on Congress in November, and could potentially shortchange Social Security Trust Funds while doing nothing to help the millions who arent collecting a paycheck. PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden takes a tour of the McGregor Industries metal fabricating facility in Dunmore, Pa., July 9, 2020. (Matt Slocum/AP, FILE) Biden has a sweeping plan for a post-pandemic economy but has supplied few details on how he plans to buoy it until the coronavirus is contained likely in part because Congress could take action before he would take office. Biden says he would seek to inject up to $2 trillion dollars into the economy in January, following it up with more comprehensive policy that would come with a price tag around $3 trillion, according to an Axios report. Butlike TrumpBidens chances of passing ambitious policies depend largely on what party controls the House and Senate. Biden has previously called on Congress to pass additional expanded unemployment benefits, more funding for nutrition and health programs, as well as more money for state and local governments, echoing the priorities of the House's $3 trillion Heroes Act passed in May. Creating jobs With unemployment at 8.4% and likely to take months, if not years, to return to pre-pandemic levels, creating more jobs will be a top priority for whoever sits behind the resolute desk next year. During his first term, Trump relied on deregulation and lowering corporate taxes to encourage growth. If reelected, he has vowed to go even further--promising to create 10 million new jobs in ten months during his second term and 1 million new small businesses, although he has not specifically laid out how hell hit those targets. PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during an event on regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House, July 16, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP, FILE) We will continue to reduce taxes and regulations at levels not seen before, he said during the Republican National Convention. Biden plans to take the opposite approach. He says he will raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and use that revenue as well as deficit spending to upgrade the countrys infrastructure and shift to a clean-energy production, creating jobs in the process. MORE: Trump targets Biden's mental health in debate lead-up, despite aides' efforts to raise expectations However, economists note increasing regulations--like those Biden has proposed to cap carbon emissions--will likely increase some costs for consumers. But Biden argues that without intervention, the cost of climate change will be much higher in the long run, and experts say its already contributing at least in part to an uptick in billion-dollar weather disasters. Biden supports a $15 minimum wage. Trump has also considered backing the Democratic proposal in the past, but has not publicly endorsed it. Trump has previously claimed income inequality was on the declineoften citing record low pre-pandemic unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic workers as evidence his policies benefited cross sections of the country. But U.S. Census Bureau revealed income inequality hit a new peak in 2019, continuing a decades-long trend. Bidens economic agenda is tailored to address persistent racial inequality, funneling federal money to Black and brown-owned businesses and predominately minority neighborhoods. Tax Plans Trump is promising to build on what many see as his crowning legislative victorythe 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which rolled back taxes for both individuals and businesses. The cuts reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and lowered most personal income tax brackets. Although they greatly increased the federal deficit he promised to wipe out. Trump credits those cuts for boosting the economy and while lowering the unemployment rate to 3.5%. While the complexity of the 2017 reform and limited available data makes its impact difficult to fully assess, Biden and others on the left contend those cuts disproportionately benefited corporations and the wealthy, and has pledged to undo some of them. He says he will keep the cuts for middle-class, while significantly raising taxes on companies and individuals making more than $400,000 a year in order to fund education, health care and other social programs. PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a Biden for President Black economic summit at Camp North End in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 23, 2020. (Carolyn Kaster/AP, FILE) A number of tax policy think tanks say that some of Bidens proposals could unintentionally result in some households seeing a their taxes slightly increased. Biden has also said he would reinstate the individual mandate -- the penalty for not having health insurance created by the Affordable Care Act that was eliminated by the 2017 tax cuts, a move that exposed the health care reform law he plans to build on to greater Constitutional challenges. However, Biden says he also aims to reduce some taxes. He said he would repeal the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction instituted by the 2017 bill, which primarily impacts high-income households in areas with high state taxes, like California and New York. He also plans to offer tax credits aimed at accomplishing different policy goalssuch as reinstating or expanding incentives intended to reduce carbon emissions and helping low- and middle-income families offset the costs of home buying. One area the candidates tax plans differ starkly is capital-gainstaxes paid on profits realized from the sale of real estate, stocks, or other assets. Republicans have long seen capital gains tax cuts as a way to spur new economic activity, but didnt change the rules when they passed TCJA Trump now wants to lower the top rate of those taxes from 23.8% to somewhere between 15% and 18.8%. MORE: Biden to ABC's David Muir on raising taxes: 'No new taxes' for anyone making less than $400,000 The president also says he want to expand Opportunity Zones, a federal program that provides tax incentives--including deferrals on capital gains taxesfor investors that fund projects in underserved communities. Biden has said he would limit the Opportunity Zones program, which critics contend provides financial boons for wealthy investors without guaranteeing any benefit for distressed neighborhoods. Instead, he would directing the Department of Treasury to ensure tax benefits are only being allowed where there are clear economic, social, and environmental benefits to a community, and not just high returns, according to his platform. Biden also intends to nearly double the top capital-gains rate to 39.6%; that rate would apply only to households with income exceeding $1 million. Trade Policy How to handle foreign trading partners may be the area of the candidates agendas that overlaps the most, but theres still a world of difference. Trump made America first a pillar of his 2016 campaign, and has largely kept his promiseeven if it has had mixed results for the economy. He withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership soon after taking office and replaced NAFTAtwo trade agreements Biden previously supported. Trump also waged a costly trade war with Chinaaccusing the worlds second largest economy of unfair practices and stealing intellectual property. MORE: Trump bashes China at UN amid warnings against a world divided by two superpowers Both countries imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of each others goods. The cost of the tariffs imposed by the U.S. was almost entirely absorbed by American businesses and consumers, according to analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In January of this year, the U.S. and China signed a phase one trade deal, dialing down some of the disputes. However, talks toward another agreement have sputtered, while tensions between the countries remain high. But Biden has also vowed to be tough on China. He called Trumps trade war an unmitigated disaster, but says he will take aggressive trade enforcement actions against China or any other country seeking to undercut American manufacturing through unfair practices. He has also not definitively said whether he would eliminate Trumps tariffs on the countries. Biden is unlikely to take on China alone--he has said he would work with U.S. allies to curb economic interference from Beijing. On day one, whichever candidate is elected is likely to prioritize bringing economic activity back to the U.S. above trade with foreign partners. Both Trump and Biden say they will offer incentives for bringing jobs back to the country, while imposing penalties for offshoring. Trump vs. Biden on the issues: Economy originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A surveillance system developed by a little-known Bengaluru-based startup has come in handy for the Indian armed forces that have traditionally used foreign-made weapons to keep a check on intrusions by Chinese soldiers at the border. The long-range observation system deployed by the Indian Army goes by the name T-Rex, doffing its hat to the famous carnivore from the Jurassic age, and has been designed in Koramangala, Bengaluru, by a startup named Tonbo Imaging. The advanced imaging solutions by Tonbo is one of the rare, notable Make in India alternatives for Indias armed forces, which have historically relied on Russia, Israel and the United States for advanced weapons and self-defence systems. (Tonbo supplied the night- vision goggles that were fitted on the helmets of Indian soldiers during the famous Uri surgical strikes.) T-Rex is a long-range surveillance system that can pick up movement day and night even at a range of 15 to 20 kilometres. It has night vision capabilities and GPS trackers that guide the defence forces towards potential incursions. T-Rex, which is powered by fuel cells, allows the army to develop unmanned stations, requiring soldiers to visit only for maintenance, thereby reducing the risks of danger. While our systems have been deployed in the Pakistan border in the past quite a few of them are now getting deployed in Ladakh, one of them is deployed at 18,000 feet, said Arvind Lakshmikumar, founder, Tonbo Imaging. India has traditionally relied on Israel for these surveillance systems, but now thanks to the Make in India push, Tonbos range of surveillance instruments has found a place in the Armys cache of high-tech equipment. The best thing about our products is that any small problem can be rectified in our Bengaluru centre directly, without having to be flown out of the country, Lakshmikumar said. Wide range of products From helmet mounted night vision goggles for soldiers, thermal weapon sights for sniper rifles to solutions for aerial reconnaissance missions, Tonbo has an exhaustive inventory of products meant for the defence forces. These are designed in Bengaluru Indias Silicon Valley and manufactured across plants in Kochi and Mysuru. In recent months, Tonbo has bagged multiple projects from the Indian Army. It has worked with the Northern Command, which secures the Kashmir Valley, to supply 3,000 night vision goggles for soldiers involved in anti-insurgency operations. It is also working with the countrys Eastern Command, headquartered in Kolkata. The company is working on a project related to the C295 surveillance aircraft being procured by India from Airbus. It is also working on a project around the Arjun MKII battle tanks used by the countrys land forces. Tonbo is also bidding for 21,000 night vision equipment for the Indian Army and working with defence PSUs to integrate the Spike missiles sourced from Israel. Help From Self-Reliance Push Tonbo Imaging was founded by Lakshmikumar, who holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. He returned to India in 2004 as the India head for Sarnoff Technologies, which was a subsidiary of Stanford Research. In 2009, Lakshmikumar bought out the management and restructured the company to create Serial Innovations. The company was later renamed Tonbo Imaging in 2012. India has long been talking about self-reliance in defence, but little progress has been made. Large corporations that have the wherewithal to invest in defence typically shy away from cost-intensive research programmes. They prefer to bag contracts, partner with global majors and supply to the defence forces. Indian startups like Tonbo are hoping to leverage their software prowess to fill that void. In India you cannot sell a premium product but how long can the country rely on cheaper alternatives for its defences, the trick is to sell a premium product but price it slightly lower, Lakshmikumar said over a phone call from Singapore, where he is currently based. But developing countries will never buy from companies that are just starting up. Lakshmikumar knew what it takes to sell in the developing markets, but he had to establish the business first in the developed economies to prove to the world that their technology was reliable. Tonbo has worked with the United Kingdom Special Forces, Isreal forces, US special forces and also worked on the Jordanian Land System modernisation programme. It forayed into the India market in 2010. India Business Tonbo has a registered entity in the country based in Bengaluru, but the holding company is in Singapore. It currently has a team of 150 engineers who work on the technology that powers its imaging solutions. For its businesses in Asia and the South East Asia, Tonbo has manufacturing lines in Mysuru and Kochi. For its western customers, the manufacturing plant is in Lithuania in Europe. The manufacturing set ups are outsourced to local manufacturers. While production happens in these facilities, the software systems are still owned by us, he said. Tonbo is positioning itself as a premium yet cost effective defence supplier in India and the founding team hopes that they can fill up the void that has been created in the market through over reliance on imports. Look at the US and see how much of mergers and acquisitions are reported from there regularly, these are signs of a vibrant defence industry, Lakshmikumar said. Powerful backers Building a deep tech startup is not like building consumer facing service platforms. Venture capitalists are hardly interested in investing in such ventures which take long to scale and require massive investments to support the research and development needed to build these high-end products. Government funding is available but that brings restrictions in terms of which countries the products can be sold to. Tonbo reached out to deep-pocket private corporations for strategic investments. Company data showed the founders and the employees together own around 30 percent of the company while the remaining 70 percent are owned by enterprises such as AVLP Asia Investments, Qualcomm Ventures and Edelweiss Private Equity. Tonbo reported aggregated revenue across its entities of around Rs 150 crore; industry estimates suggest the firm could be presently valued at roughly Rs 500 crore. Tonbo plans to scale up its product suite globally and is investing in its research and development to improve its product suite. As geopolitical tensions rise, defence startups are primed for lucrative deals with armed forces. T-Rex is a shining example of such opportunities. US President, Donald Trump, wanted his daughter, Ivanka Trump, as his vice presidential running mate during the 2016 election, a report by The Washington Post published on Monday, September 28, alleges. According to the Washington post, in an upcoming book by former Trump deputy campaign chair Rick Gates, "Wicked Game," that will be published October 13, during discussions about selecting a running mate, then-Republican presidential candidate Trump said to a group of top campaign aides, "I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?" "She's bright, she's smart, she's beautiful, and the people would love her!," he added, according to the Post. According to the paper, then presidential candidate Trump was so keen to the idea of Ivanka as a vice presidential pick and "cool to other options, including then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, that his team polled the idea twice," Ivanka told her father it was not a good idea leading Trump to chose Pence after he gave a "vicious and extended monologue" about former President Bill Clinton and Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton at a breakfast event. Ivanka, serves as a senior adviser to her father in the White House and has been a prominent fixture during her father's political career. Trump, has often praised what he sees as his daughter's political talent, suggesting in August that his daughter would be a better presidential candidate than California Sen. Kamala Harris, calling the Democratic vice presidential nominee "incompetent." "I want to see the first woman president also, but I don't want to see a woman president get in to that position the way she'd do it, and she's not competent, she's not competent," he said during a rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire. "They're all saying, 'We want Ivanka.' I don't blame you." Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video RENSSELAER Airlines and Amtrak are preparing for deep cutbacks in capacity and staffing as federal programs to support continuing operations expire. At Amtrak, as many as 2,050 jobs are to be eliminated. U.S. airlines, meanwhile, plan to cut as many as 35,000 positions. What has this meant for the traveler? At Albany International Airport, the average number of daily flights fell from nearly 45 in January to just 21.4 this month. The available seats fell to 63,168 for the current month from 141,803 back in January. Despite the looming layoffs, local airport officials may hope the worst is behind them. "We have not been notified of any staffing or service reductions as of Oct. 1st," airport spokesman Doug Myers said Monday. But passenger volumes nationwide are down 70 percent, and nearly 1,800 aircraft, nearly 30 percent of the fleet, are idle, according to the trade group Airlines For America. Amtrak, meanwhile, is slowly rebuilding service out of Albany, from six round-trips to New York City in the spring as the Covid 19 pandemic was peaking to 10 round-trips currently, said Bruce Becker, former president of the Empire State Passengers Association, a rail advocacy group. Before the pandemic, Amtrak typically operated 13 round trips. Some of the curtailments are beyond Amtrak's control. Canada closed the border with the United States as the pandemic in this country spread, and two international services, the Adirondack to Montreal and the Maple Leaf to Toronto, now operate no farther north than Albany and Niagara Falls, respectively. Meanwhile, Vermont officials feared that the Ethan Allen service originating in New York City would pose a similar threat. That train continues to go no farther north than Albany. Airlines and Amtrak have tried a number of approaches to ensure passenger safety and encourage them to travel. United last Thursday said it would start offering Covid-19 rapid tests to passengers en route to Hawaii from San Francisco beginning Oct. 15, as a way for them to meet quarantine entry requirements. Passengers could also use a self-collected mail-in rapid test before their trip. The airline said this effort was a pilot program that could be expanded to other popular global destinations. Amtrak, meanwhile, has begun touting its bedrooms and roomettes as a way for passengers to social distance themselves. The Lake Shore Limited is the only train through the Capital Region that offers such a feature. When airline and Amtrak assistance were being discussed last spring, Congress may have thought the economy would be recovering by now. But the virus continues to spread. Currently, visitors from 33 states, plus Guam and Puerto Rico, face a 14-day quarantine after arriving in New York state. eanderson@timesunion.com Syracuse, N.Y. Residents of a North Side apartment building escaped injury after a fire this afternoon in a first-floor apartment. Firefighters were called to 100 Pond Street around 12:32 p.m. after a passerby saw smoke coming from the building. When firefighters arrived, they found an active fire in the kitchen of a downstairs apartment one of five units in the building, Syracuse Deputy Fire Chief Bob Cussen said. Four children were in the apartment at the time, but all made it outside safely, he said. Around 15 people lived in the building, Cussen said. No injuries were reported. The fire was largely contained to the one apartment, Cussen said, but the first and second floors both sustained smoke damage. Cussen said he believes the building had working smoke detectors at the time of the fire. It took firefighters around 15 minutes to extinguish the flames. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci. The coronavirus pandemic has brought out some real heroes to limelight, from doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers to actors like Sonu Sood. The actor may have played a villain in most of his movies, but he turned out to be a saviour for many migrant labourers, students, and others amid pandemic. The actor has been praised for his work on social media. According to a report, the actor has now also been conferred the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to DNA, the award was presented to Sood through a virtual ceremony on Monday. Sood expressed his gratitude as he received the award. He called it a rare honour and very special. The actor maintained his humility as he said he has done whatever little he could for his fellow countrymen without any expectations. He expressed his happiness for being recognized and awarded. Sood extended his support to the UNDP in its endeavours to achieve the Social Development Goals by 2030. Planet Earth and mankind will greatly benefit from the implementation of these goals, said the 47-year-old actor. Sood has become a messiah for most of the needy migrant labourers, students, and people with medical emergencies amidst the coronavirus lockdown. Sood helped arrange transport for the people stuck during the lockdown, he also helped in providing smartphones, and mobile network towers for students who could not attend the online classes. He is easily accessible on Twitter where people have flooded his mentions and comments with cries of help. No more climbing of trees anymore for your online classes.Your village will have its own mobile tower this week. @Karan_Gilhotra https://t.co/b4xWwNjhiy sonu sood (@SonuSood) September 29, 2020 Sood is not the first actor to be recognised for his humanitarian efforts by the United Nations. Hollywood actors Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Antonio Banderas, Nicole Kidman and Priyanka Chopra have also been honoured by different UN bodies for their work in helping the needy. The UNDP is present in about 170 countries and territories and works to eradicate poverty while also protecting the planet which faces the climate crisis. The organisation helps countries develop strong policies, skills, partnerships and institutions for sustainable progress. In India, UNDP has been working since 1951, contributing in all areas of human development, from systems and institutional strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, as well as sustainable energy, environment and resilience. The idea of seeing Lionel Messi sign and play for Atletico Madrid might seem a little farfetched, but so did the initial suggestion of Luis Suarez joining Los Rojiblancos not so long ago. Suarez has since made his debut, scored twice and assisted one goal for his new side, so Messi's arrival shouldn't be ruled out. The Argentine has already worn the club's shirt in a match, when he played a friendly in their colours back in 2009 that was organised by his friend Maxi Rodriguez, who then played for Atleti. Friendship could see him wear red and white again, should he decide to leave the Camp Nou next summer. Even Atletico president Enrique Cerezo has left the door open for the Argentine, saying "with hope, anything is possible". A Birmingham woman is under arrest after police say she prostituted an 18-year-old female for profit. Homewood police on Tuesday announced the arrest of Diashe Grant on a charge for first-degree promoting prostitution. The departments Vice and Narcotics Unit launched an investigation Sept. 23 after developing information on a possible human trafficking operation at an undisclosed hotel in the Oxmoor Road area, said Sgt. John Carr. The 18-year-old victim was located and taken to a hospital where she was put in contact with a victims' advocacy group for additional help. Carr said there was evidence to suggest the teen was being held against her will and threatened with harm if she did not engage in sex acts for money. Grant was booked into the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $20,000. Carr said a human trafficking investigation involving Grant is ongoing and the FBI is assisting. As she gets ready for another night serving carefully-crafted cocktails infused with herbs, citrus and spices, Marlene Thorne wonders how much longer her bar will be allowed to stay open. A return to Stage 2 of Ontarios COVID-19 restrictions meaning no indoor dining and drinking is all but inevitable, Thorne believes, given the record-setting number of new cases across the province, and the handful of bars and restaurants that arent following the rules. I think its only a matter of time, said Thorne, who runs The Junctions literary-themed Famous Last Words bar. Monday morning, the Ontario Hospital Association urged the province to return to Stage 2 in the Greater Toronto Area, and Ottawa, as the number of new COVID cases in the province hit 700, the highest ever. By afternoon, the City of Toronto trimmed the number of people allowed to sit at a bar or restaurant table from 10 to six. While Thornes only been serving customers on her small, temporary patio, shed been considering opening up indoors as the weather cools down. Shes frustrated she might not even get that chance. Most of her ire is reserved for places such as the King Street bars and restaurants shut down by the City of Toronto last week for breaking COVID-related restrictions. So many of us have been going above and beyond to be responsible and to keep people safe. Its frustrating and scary to see places just packing people in, without masks. Im glad theyre cracking down, said Thorne. Irresponsible and dangerous places are ruining it for everyone else. If the numbers keep going up like that, I dont think the province is going to have any choice but to put things back to Stage 2. Greg Hoy, who left his bartending job at a downtown nightspot recently because he was concerned about overcrowding, is also angered by the rule breakers. Some bar owners and staff are enriching themselves at the expense of other peoples livelihoods and safety, said Hoy. Its a few bad apples ruining it for everybody else. I understand people wanting to earn more money, but a couple hundred dollars in tips for yourself and youre ruining it for the rest of the industry? Come on, said Hoy, who worked at a downtown bar that wasnt shut down by the city. Still, he was concerned about what he saw. They didnt have enough staff to deal with the amount of people they had coming in. I left because it felt unsafe, said Hoy. Like many hospitality-industry workers, Hoy is also concerned about a new wave of restrictions just as some government-support programs, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, wind down. People think its going to be worse than last time, because CERBs running out, said Hoy. At a Monday press conference, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, Dr. David William said cracking down on restaurants and bars is justified by the evidence. Weve been seeing three, four, five outbreaks a day from those types of places, said Williams, flanked by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott. Elliott said the government is trying to do everything it can to avoid another shutdown but warned that containing the pandemic is what matters most. We dont want to move back a stage unless we absolutely have to. But if we have to, we will, said Elliott. For Thorne, a shutdown or even a return to Stage 2 would mean the end of many independent bars and restaurants like hers. And that, she said, would be a loss not just for her, but for the cultural life of the city. Frankly, Im not sure how places are going to survive. The kinds of places that give this neighbourhood and this city their character, theyre disappearing, said Thorne. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 28) The country's capital region and COVID-19 outbreak epicenter will undergo another period of general community quarantine starting Oct. 1 to 31, while Lanao del Sur will tighten its restrictions, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday. Metro Manila has been under GCQ since June 1, excluding the two-week return to a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine in the first half of August. Under GCQ, public transportation is allowed to operate at a reduced capacity and most industries are permitted to open. Since briefly tightening restrictions again in August to help relieve the strain on the healthcare system, Metro Manila has seen a downward trend in new infections, authorities and health experts have noted. In a recent report, experts from the University of the Philippines said the capital region has shown a decline of over 50 percent in its daily cases compared to five weeks ago. However, they were quick to stress that the government should still exercise caution when easing restrictions as the country could record up to over a hundred thousand more infections in the next month. Metro Manila mayors also support extending the GCQ for another month, citing the need to sustain the improvements in the COVID-19 situation. Even if we retain the GCQ status, it is possible to still slowly increase the operational capacity, meaning the number of people that can work, the number of customers that establishments can allow to enter. So, these are now being prepared," San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora told CNN Philippines. To date, Metro Manila has reported 162,277 infected residents, which represent 52 percent of the national case count. Around 12,000 of the region's case tally were detected over the past two weeks, according to the Health department's COVID-19 tracker. Besides the capital region, the following areas will be placed under GCQ in October: Batangas, Tacloban City, Bacolod City, Iligan City, and Iloilo City. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte also approved the recommendation of the the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to place Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, under a more stringent MECQ. Under this quarantine status, public transportation is suspended and fewer industries are allowed to operate. The rest of the country will be under a more relaxed modified GCQ until Oct. 31. According to the Department of Health, the IATF considered two new metrics when it decided on the new quarantine classifications. These include the "two-week growth rate" and the "daily attack rate," which both track how fast coronavirus infections spread in a certain area. Health spokesperson and Usec. Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the old methods of tracking the case doubling time and mortality doubling time are no longer as sensitive in deciding the right quarantine level to monitor and contain infections in a specific area. As of Sept. 28, the DOH has confirmed 307,288 COVID-19 cases in the country, which include 252,665 recoveries and 5,381 deaths. Voices from Pasadenas past will be heard throughout historic Crown Hill Cemetery at a special event on Oct. 10. The cemetery, 813 N. Richey, will host Voices of the Past, a free, family friendly event, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. that Saturday. Crown Hill was the first cemetery in Pasadena and dates to 1906. Many of the citys founding families are buried there. Theres plenty of history on the grounds. Markers include those for such early residents as William O. Stafford, a colonel in the U.S. Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish American War, and Robert M. Guinn, a private in the Confederate Army. Crown Hill also is the site of a mass grave for soldiers of Santa Annas Mexican army who died in the Texas Revolution. This is the third time the Crown Hill Cemetery Association, which works to maintain and restore the grounds, has held the event. Well have 100 people easily (this year), association president Mike Murphey said. This year, we are hoping to increase that amount. The format for Voices of the Past is unique. Volunteers will be at gravesites throughout the cemetery and tell stories about the people buried there. They will be in character and dressed in period clothes. Last year, research had shown that the person buried in a certain grave had been a newsboy. So, (the actor) dressed up in knickers and had newspapers there, Murphey said. Voices from Pasadenas past What: "Voices of the Past," a free, family friendly event in which volunteers will present the stories of people buried in the historic cemetery. Where: Crown Hill Cemetery, 813 N. Richey, Pasadena When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 Information:https://bityl.co/3jEl See More Collapse Sometimes, the person portrayed may not be the person interred there. Robert Guinn was a well-known figure in early Pasadena, Murphey said. He had a mercantile business, a farm and also had the first telegraph and telephone in the city. At last years event, we had a gentleman who played a person that worked on Robert Guinns farm, Murphey said. He was tending to (Guinns) gravesite, cutting grass and trimming weeds. When people came up, he was in coveralls and even had an (old) pickup truck out there. He had a reel-type mower and a hose. When people came up, he told them the story of Robert Guinn. He stole the show. This year, two people will portray an uncle and brother and tell the story of a man named Thomas Haggard. The volunteers are not trained actors, Murphey said. Theyre just (like) you and me, he said. Thats whats so great about it. Like most events during the pandemic, group size will be limited at Voices of the Past. Because of COVID-19, we are going to keep the groups down to six people so that they can (keep) social distance, Murphey said. Keeping the groups small also helps with the presentation, Murphey said. We dont like big groups (in general) because people will start side conversations, he said. We want to keep everybody focused. John DeLapp is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at texdelapp@gmail.com. A further 320 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in Northern Ireland today, the Department of Health has said. It brings to 11,629 the total number of people with a positive case since testing began. The death toll remains at 578. There have been 1,702 cases diagnosed in the past seven days, 422 of which are in Belfast and 401 in Derry City and Strabane. Read More In Northern Ireland hospitals there are 59 patients with Covid-19 and eight patients in intensive care units. There are 27 active outbreaks in care homes, while 203 outbreaks have been closed. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's hospitality sector will be subject to an 11pm curfew from midnight on Wednesday, First Minister Arlene Foster announced earlier on Tuesday. Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, warned the curfew will still see the sector lose hours but welcomed that the earlier curfew time of 10pm was dismissed by Stormont ministers We respect that health has to come first, but this curfew and other restrictions must be kept under continuous review, he said. A curfew is not ideal, but we in the hospitality sector will do all we can to make this work, which hopefully will be only a temporary measure. Pubs, restaurants, cafes and hotel bars will all be subject to the new restrictions, which will see no alcohol served after 10.30pm and all customers asked to leave by 11pm. Mrs Foster said there will be no exceptions to the new restrictions. "So weddings and other social events will be forced to comply," she said. Sales of alcohol from supermarkets and off-licences already stop at 11pm. The First Minister said the Executive recognises the risk that the public will move to house parties after pubs and restaurants close but added that such gatherings were illegal. "The totality of the arrangements will be subject to enforcement," she said. "We will be looking at the fines levels we have here as a matter of priority," she added. Mrs Foster said the Executive will in coming weeks reassess the level of fines in place. "We will put restrictions in place if we have to," she said. In the Republic of Ireland, those pubs that only serve alcohol must close by 11.30pm. An announcement on the new measures was postponed last week after First Minister Arlene Foster said ministers wanted to allow for further discussion. Mrs Foster said there was a strong unity of purpose in relation to the way forward among ministers but added it was important all the issues were dealt with before an announcement was made. Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme, Junior Minister Declan Kearney said the Executive is planning to set out what was required under the curfew to "ensure we maximise public health". He said the Executive "remained closely engaged" with industry representatives. Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme, Junior Minister Declan Kearney said the Executive is planning to set out what was required under the curfew to "ensure we maximise public health". He said the Executive "remained closely engaged" with industry representatives. They left New York to wait out the height of the coronavirus crisis in Los Angeles. But after returning to the Big Apple earlier this month, Elsa Hosk and Tom Daly are clearly back in their stride in the east coast metropolis. The Swedish model and the Danish entrepreneur made sure to wear masks as they ran errands together on Monday. Abided by the rules: Elsa Hosk and Tom Daly made sure to wear masks as they ran errands together on Monday in New York City after returning to the Big Apple from Los Angeles Hosk, 31, wore a long black trench coat which she paired with black leather sandals. Her blonde hair was severely pulled back from her face and she sported sunglasses. Daly, on the other hand, opted for a more colorful and relaxed option, pairing a bright red floral-themed shirt with black jeans and red sneakers. The couple have been dating since 2015 although they knew each other as friends before that. Covered up: Hosk, 31, wore a long black trench coat which she paired with black leather sandals. Her blonde hair was severely pulled back from her face and she sported sunglasses Posed: The Swedish model and Victoria's Secret Angel recently shared some snaps from early in the COVID-19 lockdown to her Instagram While she may have returned to NYC, it's not clear if Hosk plans to continue living there or will up sticks and return to the west coast where she hopes to pursue an acting career. The Victoria's Secret Angel has listed her Soho neighborhood apartment for sale, seeking $3.5 million for the two-bed, two-bath residence. The 1,750-square-foot property is located in a pre-war building in Sohos famous Cast Iron Historic District. The apartment boasts a pair of original Corinthian columns, Danish wide-plank Douglas wood floors and exposed brick. The master bedroom situated directly above the kitchen sits 'within a steel structure mezzanine level with a wall of operable windows that overlook the loft space,' the listing states. The open plan layout includes six floor-to-ceiling windows that allow natural light to flood in. Up for sale: Hosk has just listed her Soho neighborhood loft apartment for sale, seeking $3.5 million for the two-bed, two-bath residence situated in a pre-war building @GeorgetownIPP "Having duty-to-intervene policies on the books isnt enough. Building a police culture that supports and sustains the successful use of proven peer intervention strategies is key to preventing harm." Amidst high demand, Georgetown University Law Centers Innovative Policing Program has selected the first 34 agencies to join the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, a national training and support initiative focused on U.S. law enforcement agencies committed to building a culture of peer intervention that prevents harm. Backed by prominent civil rights and law enforcement leaders, the evidence-based ABLE Project was developed by Georgetown Laws Innovative Policing Program in collaboration with global law firm Sheppard Mullin, pioneering active bystandership scholar Ervin Staub, and a host of other experts to provide law enforcement officers and agencies with practical active bystandership strategies and tactics to prevent misconduct, reduce officer mistakes, and promote health and wellness. Building upon decades of research and on-the-ground testing, ABLE ensures officers have both the training and the supportive institutional culture they need to overcome the powerful inhibitors individuals face when called upon to intervene in actions taken by their peers. The ABLE Project was created to ensure every police officer in the United States has the opportunity to receive meaningful, effective active bystandership training while helping law enforcement agencies transform their approach to policing, said Professor Christy Lopez, co-director of Georgetown Law's Innovative Policing Program, which runs ABLE. Having duty-to-intervene policies on the books isnt enough. Building a police culture that supports and sustains the successful use of proven peer intervention strategies is key to preventing harm. To be accepted into the ABLE Project, agencies must commit to 10 ABLE standards that demonstrate commitment to creating a culture of active bystandership, as well as support from local community groups and elected leaders. The first 34 agencies to be selected stretch across 21 states and Canada and include major city police departments in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Philadelphia, and the statewide training academies for New Hampshire and Washington State. Over the coming weeks, the ABLE Project train-the-trainer program will certify instructors at all 34 agencies. Then, over the coming months, these instructors will provide eight hours of evidence-based active bystandership training to every officer in their agencies while they take other required steps to build a culture that ensures that training will take hold. New partnerships expand ABLE Projects national reach Hundreds of agencies across the country have expressed interest in participating in ABLE to date, and new applications will be considered on a rolling basis when submitted through the ABLE website with the accompanying letters of support. This additional training is made possible in part by significant new financial support from two major corporations: Mastercard and Verizon. Mastercard announced in June that police reform and criminal justice reform are key to its In Solidarity initiative combating systemic racism and advancing equal opportunity for all, and Verizon has advocated for reform of the criminal legal system for nearly two years, focusing on a variety of issues. Sheppard Mullin partner Jonathan Aronie, who chairs the ABLE Project Board of Advisors, said the business community has an important role to play in social change. Corporations can be active bystanders or passive bystanders just as individuals can, Aronie said. Im hopeful Mastercards and Verizons commitment to social justice and practical, evidence-based solutions will encourage other corporations to join the ABLE Project on this transformational journey. The more support we have, the more training we can provide. The ABLE Project is guided by its Board of Advisors comprised of civil rights, social justice, and law enforcement leaders, including Vanita Gupta, the president of the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Commissioner Danielle Outlaw of the Philadelphia Police Department; Ervin Staub, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the founder of the Psychology of Peace and Justice Project; and an impressive collection of additional police leaders, rank and file officers, and social justice leaders. If there were ever a time that a large-scale overhaul of dated and archaic law enforcement paradigms was needed, now is that time, Commissioner Outlaw said. And I believe that ABLE will assist in such a paradigm shift for agencies that adopt and embrace its core tenets. The full list of agencies selected for the ABLE Projects national rollout include: Alexandria Virginia Sheriff's Office (Va.), Allentown Pennsylvania Police Department (Pa.), Auburn Police Department (Wash.), Baltimore Police Department (Md.), BNSF Railway Police (national), Boston Police Department (Mass.), Burlington Police Department (N.C), City of Henderson Police Department (Nev.), Clearwater Police Department (Fla.), Clemson University Police Department (S.C.), Cleveland Division of Police (Ohio), Concord Police Department (N.C), Dearborn Police Department (Mich.), Denton Police Department (Texas), Denver Police Department (Colo.), Everett Police Department (Wash.), Glenn Heights Police Department (Texas), Georgetown Law Campus Police Department (D.C.), Hamilton County Sheriff's Office (Ohio), Huntington Police Department (W.Va.), Irving Police Department (Texas), Lethbridge Police Service (Alberta, Canada), Muscatine Police Department (Iowa), New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council, Philadelphia Police Department (Pa.), Rockwall Police Department (Texas), South Portland Police Department (Maine), Temple Terrace Police Department (Fla.), Topeka Police Department (Kan.), University of Louisiana at Monroe, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, Westminster Police Department (Md.), Wilmington Police Department (N.C.), Yonkers Police Department (N.Y.). For more information about active bystandership visit the ABLE Projects website. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:53:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Tuesday honored 800 female role models and 200 groups for their contributions in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Shen Yueyue, vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), presented awards to the honorees at an award ceremony in Beijing. During the event, the ACWF, the National Health Commission, and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission jointly presented citations to 500 individuals and 100 groups, including the function department of the designated coronavirus-treating Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The ACWF honored 300 individuals and 100 groups, including the committee of a residential community in Beijing. Representatives of the awardees expressed their determination to remain true to their original aspirations and live up to the expectations of the country and the people. Enditem The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced the dates of bypolls in several states and by-elections to fill up 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh will take place on November 3 and its results will be announced on November 10. October 16 is the last date of filing nominations. Besides the BJP and the Congress pitted in a tough battle in the state, the bypolls are also crucial for BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia who has a tough task of ensuring victory for his 16 supporters in Gwalior-Chambal region the outcome of these is likely to decide the future status of the Gwalior family scion in the party. The ruling BJP, which came to power after the Kamal Nath government lost its majority in March, is comfortable with 107 seats in the Assembly and requires only nine more to cross the magic mark of 116. Things look tough for the Congress that currently has 88 MLAs and it requires wins in all 28 seats to reach the 116-majority mark. The party faces multiple issues and has been attacking Scindia and company over their betrayal; the party has also garnered sympathy having accused the BJP of toppling its 15-month-old government. The Congress is also highlighting farm loan waivers achieved in 15 months, adding that the remaining phases of the scheme could not be undertaken as the party lost power. However, the BJP has accused the Nath government of rampant corruption during its tenure. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has showered sops on poll-bound seats and has tried wooing voters from these regions by announcing a slew of measures, including those for farmers, youth, poor, state government employees and so on. Prominent among these are the Chambal Progress Way in GwaliorChambal region and the state governments contribution of Rs 4,000 per annum to the Rs 6,000 PM Kisan Samman Nidhi offered by the Centre. The Congress party has announced its list of 24 candidates in two phases while the BJP is yet to officially name its candidates but most of them who left the Congress and joined the BJP are sure to get tickets. As the BJP is packed with turncoats, the Congress has also roped in several who were earlier with the BJP or the BSP. With the announcement of the poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the poll-bound constituencies in seven districts and in the entire part of 12 districts. The Journal published an article (on Sept. 24) about Donald Trump once again refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the upcoming election. Even worse, he justified his refusal based on the totally false claim that an election that does not go his way will be the result of mail-in ballots, which he implies will be rigged against him. His refusal to promise a peaceful transition implies an advocacy of chaos, and possibly even violence, should he lose. This comes on the heels of a recent article in The Atlantic outlining the plans afoot by the Trump campaign to de-legitimize the election results and reverse their findings through cutting off mail-in vote counting, organizing state legislatures to declare the results invalid and appointing their own electors, and fighting the results all the way to the Supreme Court. Trump has even justified his desire to rush the process of replacing Justice Ginsburgs seat on the court so that he will get a favorable opinion when that happens. In November, Americans will choose whether to preserve our 244-year-old republic or replace it with a Putin-style autocracy. The president is a wannabe Russian oligarch who plans to remain in power no matter what. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, this is no ordinary time. It is not a race between two people who merely have different political views. Newspapers like the Journal need to stop acting as if that is the case. The Journal should cease the almost daily publishing of columns by Cal Thomas and Marc Thiessen, which are getting more and more frenetic and desperate. Their writings create the impression that the Trump threat has another side. That is like saying there is another side to the fact the earth isnt flat. Besides, there are columns from good conservative writers like George Will, Kathleen Parker and Jonah Goldberg to pick from. In 2016 the Journal decided not to endorse anyone for the presidency. I am assuming it is less hesitant four years later, especially when the current occupant calls the press the enemy of the people. But the endorsement should not come the typical few days before the election. That would imply that the editors actually struggled with the choice. The endorsement should come now, and there should be no ambivalence. Senator Dianne Feinstein has been branded a 'hypocrite' after being pictured walking inside a Washington DC airport terminal without a face covering on just months after she called for a national mask mandate for all airlines and airports. The maskless California Democrat was caught on camera traversing her way through a private terminal at Dulles International Airport on Friday, with the images first aired by Fox News Tucker Carlson on Monday night. Feinstein, 87, previously penned a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Transit Administration on June 30 to institute mandatory mask mandates throughout airports, on airplanes, and on public transit across the country. In the photographs, Feinstein can be seen smiling without a mask on. One might even say shes sowing confusion about whether or not masks are necessary, Carlson mused in the segment Monday. The maskless California Democrat was caught on camera traversing her way through Dulles International Airport on Friday, with the images aired by Fox News Tucker Carlson on Monday night A representative of Feinsteins team has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for clarification as to why the Senator wasnt wearing a mask. The host also pointed out that a pilot, who is wearing a mask, is seen walking in front of her carrying a bag and a dog. Carlson compared the incident to similar images that surfaced of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco last month, when she was captured on surveillance camera receiving a blowout at a salon without a mask. Pelosi later claimed the owners of the salon, which had been ordered to remain closed under COVID-19 related restrictions issued in March, had set her up. We can be sure of one thing, this isnt really Dianne Feinsteins fault, Carlson said of Fridays photos. Just like when the hair salon framed Nancy Pelosi caught not wearing a mask while getting her hair done, Dulles Airport, the diabolical FBO, probably masterminded the whole thing. We are going to stay on top of this story and bring you evidence of the airports guilt as we inevitably find it, Carlson sarcastically concluded. In accordance with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northams executive order, face coverings have been required for all passengers, employees and contractors at Dulles Airport since May 29. All passengers and visitors will be required to wear face coverings or masks during their time in the airports, with the exception of children under the age of 10 and people with medical conditions that prevent wearing a face covering, the airport states on its website. The 87-year-old, who is the Senate's oldest serving member, would be considered a high-risk should she contract the coronavirus. A representative of Feinsteins team has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for clarification as to why the Senator wasnt wearing a mask. Feinstein is the Senate's oldest member. The 87-year-old would be considered a high-risk should she contract the virus In accordance with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northams executive order, face coverings have been required for all passengers, employees and contractors at Dulles Airport since May 29 (file photo) Carlson compared the incident to similar images that surfaced of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco last month, when she was captured on surveillance camera receiving a blowout at a salon without a mask On June 30, Feinstein penned a letter to the FAA and FTA urging the agencies to implement mandatory mask mandates at airports, on airplanes and on public transit across the US. I write to urge you to implement a mandatory mask policy for all airport and airline employees and passengers as cases of coronavirus continue to surge, she wrote in the letter. I ask that you issue guidance as soon as possible so passengers can have a clear understanding of the requirements and so that we may reduce exposure for workers and travelers alike. While some transit agencies and airlines have implemented mandatory mask guidance for the public, reports indicate that the patchwork of rules have only sowed confusion among passengers. Therefore, I ask that you issue clear, nationwide, mandatory mask requirements for all aviation employees and travellers, she said. Just weeks later, she unveiled a plan to introduce an amendment to any secondary coronavirus stimulus bill introduced by the Senate that would withhold funding for any states who refuse to mandate mask wearing. 'Wearing masks in public should be mandatory. Period,' Feinstein said on July 17. 'Leader McConnell said the Senate will take up the next coronavirus economic relief bill later this month. At that time, I intend to offer an amendment to prohibit sending funds to states that haven't adopted a statewide mask requirement.' Since the emergence of Fridays images, people have taken to social media to furiously blast Feinstein as a hypocrite. Tucker Carlson exposing Senator Dianne Feinstein for the hypocrite she is, one user blasted after Foxs Monday broadcast. She will mandate a mandatory mask policy in airports but when it comes to her, you guessed it, the rules do not apply! Tucker Carlson has pictures of Dianne Feinstein, unmasked, in a lounge at Dulles Airport, fumed another. One more aging Democratic hypocrite. Yet these clowns are pushing for a national mask mandate. #DemocratsAreCorrupt. On June 30, Feinstein penned a letter to the FAA and FTA urging the agencies to implement mandatory mask mandates at airports, on airplanes and on public transit across the US A copy of the letter urging for a nationwide mask mandate on public transport is seen above The emergence of the photographs come just days after Feinsteins investment banker husband, Richard Blum, was identified as one of the culprits behind an admissions scandal at UC Berkeley, in which he wrote a letter that likely helped a less qualified student skip a waiting list and enrol in the school. Blum was named Thursday by the state auditor's office as one of the regents involved in the plot where UC wrongly admitted dozens of wealthy, mostly white students as favors to well-connected people. On the same day, Democrats also voiced concerns that Feinstein was too frail to head the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of the upcoming supreme court confirmation battle over President Donald Trump's pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Democrats worry Feinstein will miss manage the situation - which is expected to be heated and contentious - and hurt their party's Senate candidates in the election. The senator, who came into office in 1992, pushed back hard against her critics. 'I'm really surprised and taken aback by this. Because I try to be very careful and I'm puzzled by it,' Feinstein told Politico. 'My attendance is good, I do the homework, I try to ask hard questions. I stand up for what I believe in.' 'I don't know what people expect,' she noted. 'I've been on the committee for a while. I've seen how the committee works and I've seen how other chairs on our side of the aisle work. I don't see, to be very blunt and honest, I don't see a big difference. I'm prepared, so that's puzzling to me.' The literary awards season kicks into high gear every fall, with the Nobel Prize in Literature, Booker Prize and National Book Awards often landing in quick succession. But this year, another major literary event threatens to make an already overcrowded fall publishing season even more chaotic: the release of former President Barack Obamas memoir, A Promised Land. On Tuesday, the Booker Prize said it was moving its award ceremony, previously scheduled for Nov. 17, to Nov. 19 to avoid overlapping with the publication of Mr. Obamas book. We thought it unfortunate that two of the most exciting literary events of the year the announcement of the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize and the publication of Barack Obamas memoirs were due to fall on the same day, so weve decided to give readers a couple of days breathing space, Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said in a statement. It is unusual for the Booker, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, to delay its prize announcement for a single books release. The date change highlights how much gravitational pull Mr. Obamas book has, with a first printing of three million copies and an all but guaranteed status as a mega best seller. New restrictions on the sale of vaping products in convenience stores has prompted New Zealands largest vaping retailer, Shosha, to plan on opening 15 new stores nationwide before the end of the year, which it claims will help people quit smoking. Recently Parliament passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill, which limits generic retailers such as dairies, service stations and supermarkets to selling only tobacco, mint and menthol flavoured vaping products. However, specialist vape retailers will be able to sell any flavours from their shops and websites. Currently there are around six specialised vaping product stores on the Hibiscus Coast a number that has grown rapidly in recent months. They include a Shosha store in Whangaparaoa and a second one recently opened in Silverdale. Shosha spokesperson Nabhik Gupta says the new legislation brings a level of certainty for specialty stores and allows them to make the regulated supply of vaping products more accessible. By providing more convenient access for smokers to alternatives to combustible cigarettes, we aim to help thousands more Kiwis transition away from the harmful effects of smoking, he says. Mr Gupta says the retailer also wants to support customers impacted by the ban on smokeless tobacco which will be prohibited from sale in the coming months. Plans to contact those affected and help them find new alternative products to smokeless tobacco, as they transition off combustible cigarettes, are now being implemented, he says. But Shoshas plans received a cool response from the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation. Chief executive Letitia Harding says the ability of new stores to help cigarette smokers quit will be dependent on the stores relationship with primary healthcare providers and local quit smoking networks. We recommend that the advice given out by specialist vape stores should focus not only on what the most suitable products are, but also on providing smoking cessation information and support. Nicotine concentrations in vape products should be gradually reduced to minimise nicotine addiction and ultimately achieve a vape-free and smoke-free Aotearoa, she says. Ms Harding says some e-cigarettes expose users to much more nicotine than traditional cigarettes. She adds that e-cigarette vapours contain toxic heavy metals and chemicals linked to lung disease and cancer. Those nearby are at risk of second-hand exposure. Children have been poisoned by swallowing e-liquid or absorbing it through their skin or eyes. While flavourings added to vape products have been deemed safe for ingestion, it has not been established that they are safe to inhale. Ms Harding says a common misconception around vaping is that it is 95 percent safer than smoking, but she says this figure is derived from an anecdotal article and is not founded on scientific research. Among those citing the 95 percent figure is the associate health minister Jenny Salesa, who referred to it in a press release lauding the passage of the Smokefree Environments bill. The Smokefree bill comes into effect next month and includes prohibitions on vaping in the workplace, advertising and sponsorship of vaping products, and the sale of vaping products to those under 18. French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Ints Kalnins/Reuters) Macron Meets Exiled Belarus Opposition Leader in Vilnius VILNIUSFrench President Emmanuel Macron met Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius on Tuesday on the second day of a visit to Baltic countries meant to reassure them about French commitment to their security. Tsikhanouskaya said Macron promised her to help negotiate with the Belarus authorities and secure the release of the political prisoners. He promised us to do everything to help with negotiations, (during) this political crisis in our country and he will do everything to help to release all the political prisoners, Tsikhanouskaya told reporters in English after the meeting in Vilnius. Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya arrives for her meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Vilnius, Lithiania, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Andrius Sytas/Reuters) On Monday, on his first day in Vilnius, where Tsikhanouskaya fled into exile, Macron urged Belarus authorities to stop unlawful arrests, release protesters detained arbitrarily, and respect election results. He had urged Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to go on Sunday, hardening his stance as tens of thousands marched in Belarus for a seventh straight weekend to demand Lukashenko quit. Tsikhanouskaya fled Belarus after the Aug. 9 election that the opposition said was rigged. Macron is expected later in the day to visit French soldiers serving as part of a NATO battle group in the Lithuanian town of Rukla. The French leader is keen to reassure Baltic countries that his policy of strategic dialogue with Russia, initiated about a year ago, and his criticism of NATO, does not mean weaker French commitment to the security of eastern European countries. EU countries that escaped Moscows orbit after the Cold War have criticized Macrons stance towards Russia. They say little has changed to merit a thaw in relations on ice since Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2014. An eye-opening documentary into female sex tourism in the Gambia left viewers cringing last night. Sex on the Beach is an hour-long documentary which sees Channel 4 Dispatches reporter Seyi Rhodes travel to the Gambia to investigate the countrys reputation as a destination for British sex tourists. In the documentary, which aired on Channel 4 last night, a woman tells Seyi the country is 'paradise' because 'you can have a different man every night'. The bars are full of white women in search of sun, sea and sex with younger Gambian men and the programmes asks whether these relationships can ever be genuine given the gap in culture, age and wealth. Sex on the beach viewers were left cringing as Ch4 documentary explores how British 'grannies' prey on Gambian men for some holiday romance in eye-opening programme The documentary looks at the scale of female sex tourism in the Gambia as older European women travel to the country in search of sun, sea and sex with younger black men Some viewers described it as 'uncomfortable' and were left questioning who was exploiting who during the documentary which aired on Channel 4's Dispatches programme last night Seyi speaks to 32-year-old Alka, a local man who has had a string of relationships with older European women. Alka says that there are often what he calls 'holidaymakers' who come to have sex with younger Gambian men then leave. He added: 'It really hurts me. I don't like it. I am looking for a good relationship.' Alka is now married to Francoise, a 68-year-old Belgian woman, although he initially claimed she was in her 80s. Francoise sent her Gambian love interest the equivalent of 54,000 although he says he never asked for any money. In exchange, he says he gives her 'happiness' and Francoise says he makes her feel like a 'new-born baby' with a second chance at life. Alka, a 32-year-old Gambian man has married 68-year-old Belgian woman Francoise after the pair met while she was on holiday in the country and has since given him 54,000 The documentary left viewers cringing as the issue was explored with many describing it as 'uncomfortable'. One viewer tweeted: 'Sex on the Beach #channel4 is uncomfortable viewing, not dissimilar to other docs Ive watched on sex tourism in Thailand - Western men coming over to find Thai brides (Louis Theroux did one?) 'Seen this when Ive travelled too. Where theres a market both sides it seems to happen.' The programme sparked debate among viewers about which party was being exploited. One woman said: 'Its a two way scratch my back and I scratch yours sort of relationship & mutual benefit. 'Upon marrying these grannies, theyll get visa to the UK for a better life as the granny will keep them as kept men! Sex on the beach.' Another added: 'This sex on the beach programme is so disturbing old white women preying on poor Gambian men for sex , how ugly is that?' The Ch4 documentary left some viewers feeling 'uncomfortable' and sparked debate online One viewer commented that the documentary did not reflect her experience in the country, tweeting: 'This sex on the beach programme isn't portraying the Gambian men too well. 'They were lovely when I went, I was alone the second time and some would talk to me and no pressure, just friendly people who wanted to make others smile.' One user commented: 'Can't understand why older women go to Gambia to find a young boyfriend. Just get on dating apps and you'll be inundated with messages from young guys. Fact.' Another man said: 'There is no two way about this , these older european women who cannot find anyone interested in them in Europe goes to the Gambia and basically take advantage of the economic situation and used these boys as glorified prostitutes. 'Yet the British media in particular presents a different picture. If these women really feel being exploited they should easily seek other holiday destinations.' Writing for i News, Seyi Rhodes said you had to 'dive into peoples' lives' to understand the phenomenon without judgement. He added: 'Some of the people I met might look like they fit neatly into a box sex tourist, scammer or victim but once Id taken the time to understand them I could see that theyre were all works-in-progress. 'From the woman who got engaged to a man shed known for three months to the 34-year-old man who says hes proud to be engaged to an 86-year-old. 'People dont always know if theyre looking for love, sex, money or power. In reality theyre all interlinked, and you can only see that by diving into peoples lives and looking with no judgement.' CBC NewsSeptember 25, 2020The main event at a demonstration protesting COVID-19 restrictions last weekend north of Montreal was a speech by Steeve L'Artiss Charland, one-time leader of a far-right group that has since faded from view.In a parking lot in Mont-Tremblant, Que., Charland told a crowd of around 75 about his miraculous recovery from a childhood illness that had stumped doctors. He then told them they were part of a cosmic struggle of good against evil."It's us against them," Charland said to applause. "We're in a spiritual war. We're in a war of darkness against light."The opposition to public health measures in Quebec has given many figures in the province's foundering far-right movement a chance to re-invent themselves, and to find new audiences.Charland had been one of the leaders of the Islamophobic group La Meute before leaving last year amid an internal power struggle.The infighting, according to researchers who monitor the group, contributed to La Meute's decline in popularity.Charland, meanwhile, has become an active spokesperson for the movement against COVID-19 restrictions. He's been criss-crossing the province to take part in demonstrations.Several other prominent organizers in what's colloquially known as the anti-mask movement also have close ties to Quebec's far right.The group behind a large demonstration in Montreal earlier this month, for instance, is headed by Stephane Blais, a fringe politician who has courted far-right supporters for years.The march began outside Quebec Premier Francois Legaults office near the McGill University campus, and wound through the streets. 1:00His political party, Citoyens au Pouvoir, received less than one per cent of the vote in the last provincial election.But the non-profit organization he founded in the spring to challenge public health rules claims to have raised $400,000. In Montreal, he spoke to a crowd of several thousand people."The far-right movement had kind of died down last year before some of them recycled the anti-mask issue," said Roxane Martel-Perron, a specialist in right-wing extremist groups at the Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Montreal.The movement in Quebec has drawn a wide range of other figures into its orbit as well, including evangelical pastors, libertarian radio hosts and conspiracy theorists.Their interests sometimes intersect only tangentially, but for the moment these unusual alliances have managed to organize recurring demonstrations across the province, with more slated this weekend. Together, they are seeking to undermine the government's efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19.Blurred linesAlong with members of the far right, the organizational core of the movement in Quebec is composed of conspiracy theorists, though the distinction between the two is not always clear.The career arc of Quebec's best-known conspiracy theorist, Alexis Cossette-Trudel, illustrates the fuzziness.Before starting his own YouTube channel, Radio-Quebec, Cossette-Trudel was a frequent contributor to several far-right media outlets in the province.With Radio-Quebec, he was among the first to translate into French material from QAnon, a conspiracy movement that began in the U.S. and believes the world is run by a cabal of satanic pedophiles. QAnon theories are often overtly racist or anti-Semitic.Since the pandemic began, Cossette-Trudel has focused almost exclusively on criticizing the public health rules put in place by Quebec and Ottawa. Subscriptions to his YouTube channel have increased nearly fourfold.His criticisms are often variations of QAnon theories, such as his recent baseless claim that Premier Francois Legault is exaggerating the threat of COVID-19 as part of an international plot to prevent U.S. President Donald Trump from being re-elected.Cossette-Trudel uses his social media reach his personal Facebook page has 36,000 followers to promote demonstrations where people rally against COVID-19 restrictions. His speeches at these events are often shared widely by participants.Last week, Cossette-Trudel was a guest on the top-rated lunch-hour radio show in the Quebec City area.The radio station, CHOI 98.1 FM (Radio X), is known for airing populist conservative opinions, often with a libertarian bent.Its hosts and on-air personalities have repeatedly criticized Quebec's public health restrictions, saying they are not justified by current infection rates (experts say the province is already being hit by a second wave).One Radio X columnist, Eric Duhaime, even organized his own demonstration in August. It attracted more than 1,000 people in Quebec City."To force me to wear a mask, to threaten me with $600 tickets I'm sorry, we're not in communist China here. We live in a democracy," he said in a video ahead of his rally.Though these on-air figures try to distance themselves from conspiracy theorists, the distinction, again, is not always clear.When Cossette-Trudel appeared on the lunch-hour radio show, host Jeff Fillion said he was interviewing a "star" whose work was "very detailed and well researched."Evangelicals step into the publicNext month, Cossette-Trudel and Charland are scheduled to speak at a protest in Montreal that is billed as a "demonstration-gospel concert."A poster for the event features the names of several evangelical preachers who have become active supporters of the movement.An evangelical media outlet, TheoVox, has even taken to broadcasting live from some demonstrations, and produces polished video interviews with organizers and prominent speakers.Andre Gagne, a Concordia University professor who studies the Christian right, said it is unusual for evangelical groups in Quebec to engage in politics, but a small number appear to be influenced by pastors in the U.S. who have publicly opposed public health rules.This particular strain of evangelicalism, Gagne said, associates government control with godless communism or socialism.It is rooted in an apocalyptic world view that shares many similarities with QAnon-style conspiracy thinking, with its paranoia of secret programs out to control us through vaccines or internet towers."This very much parallels the eschatological fictions that have developed in some evangelical circles about the eventual rise of a one-world government headed by an anti-Christ," Gagne said.This mode of thinking might appear to clash with other spiritual groups that have also joined the protests, such as advocates of new-age therapies.But Martin Geoffroy, an academic who has studied both new-age and right-wing movements, suggested focusing instead on the fundamental values they do share."The common thing is that they are all anti-authority movements," said Geoffroy, who heads CEFIR, the anti-radicalization research centre at Cegep Edouard-Montpetit, a public francophone college in Longueuil."Conspiracy theories help them to create a parallel reality where they are the authorities." Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2020 -- The analysts of a recent business intelligence study by Transparency Market Research (TMR) has detected that the commercial refrigeration equipment market in the region of Latin America is consolidated in nature, with merely six companies accounting for about 92% of the total shares in 2016. The six companies, viz. Metalfrio Solutions, Illinois Tool Works, United Technologies Corp., Dover Corp., Daikin Industries Ltd., and Lennox International, are expected to maintain their stronghold over the competitive landscape in the near future too, while the competition among them will remain intense at the same time. For these six market leaders in the Latin America commercial refrigeration equipment market, the emphasis is expected to remain on strengthening of their supply chain, particularly in the important countries of Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Development and launches of new products that meet diverse demands is another mode for the market leaders to gain ground over their competitors. For Right Perspective & Competitive Insights, Request a Sample @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1409 Latin America Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market to be worth US$1,619.0 mn by 2025 If the projections of the TMR report are to be believed, during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025, the demand in the Latin America commercial refrigeration equipment market will increment at a notable CAGR of 6.50%. By the end of the forecast period, 2025, the analysts have estimated that the opportunities in the market will translate into a revenue of US$1,619.0 mn, considerably up from its evaluated worth of US$927.4 mn in 2016. As far as the new entrants are concerned, the entry barrier is expected to remain high in the near future and shares will remain distributed among the aforementioned six market leaders. Based on product type, the report segments the Latin America commercial refrigeration equipment market into refrigerator and freezer, transportation refrigeration equipment, commercial refrigeration equipment parts, and beverage refrigeration. In 2016, the refrigerator and freezer segment provided for 37.4% of the demand in 2016 and is anticipated to remain most prominent throughout the forecast period. Application-wise, the market has been bifurcated into food and beverage retail, food services, food and beverage production, and food and beverage distribution. On the basis of refrigerant type, the market has been classified into inorganic, fluorocarbon, and hydrocarbon or natural. Country-wise, Brazil has been highlighted as the most profitable nation for the vendors of this market to concentrate on, providing for 38% of the total demand in the Latin America commercial refrigeration equipment market in 2016. Rapid Urbanization a Boon for Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market Changing food consumption pattern of urban populations across the emerging economies of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico is the primary driver of the Latin America commercial refrigeration equipment market. The restless lifestyle that urban population are resorting to in order to gain disposable income is showing on increased consumption of packaged food that utilize refrigeration processes to maintain freshness and nutrition for longer durations. While the prosperity of the food and beverage industry is propelling the demand in the commercial refrigeration equipment market, development of diverse type of equipment that ideally meet different requirements is driving the adoption, despite the substantial cost of these products. Request the coronavirus impact analysis @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=1409 In many cases, food and beverage companies provide these refrigeration equipment to retail shop vendors as the space occupied helps them as a mode of advertising and market of products right where the customer footfall is maximum. These advertising companies generate bulk demand. Mexico commercial refrigeration market, in particular, is foreseen for a healthy future on the back of incrementing demand for frozen and ready-to-eat food as well as the presence of a formidable food processing industry in the country. The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, "Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market (Product Type - Transportation Refrigeration Equipment, Refrigerator and Freezer, Beverage Refrigeration, and Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Parts; Application - Food Services, Food and Beverage Retail, Food and Beverage Distribution, and Food and Beverage Production; Refrigerant Type - Fluorocarbon, Inorganic, and Hydrocarbon/Natural) - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025." Key Segments of the Latin America Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market By Product Type Transportation Refrigeration Equipment Refrigerator and Freezer Beverage Refrigeration Commercial refrigeration equipment parts Others By Application Food Services Food and Beverage retail Food and Beverage distribution Food and Beverage Production Others By Refrigerant Type Fluorocarbons Inorganic Hydrocarbons/Natural By Country Brazil Mexico Argentina Chile Rest of Latin America Read Our Trending Press Release Below: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/creation-of-digital-economies-across-key-regions-to-drive-demand-within-the-global-smart-education-and-learning-market--transparency-market-research-301059309.html About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement. BOULDER, Colo. A Colorado county has announced an update to coronavirus health restrictions, including a limitation on gatherings of young adults. Boulder County Public Health announced the change Monday allowing 18-22 year olds to gather publicly in groups of up to two people, The Daily Camera reports. The updated order also allows people to participate in legally required activities. A statement by the agency said a previous public health order prohibited any gatherings and public health officials changed the order to ensure young adults feel safe in the community. The amended order allows residents of 36 residences in designated stay-at-Home properties to leave home for activities and travel deemed essential, including moving cars to avoid parking tickets. Public health officials added language allowing work, jury duty, permitted educational activities and ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. The updated order also allows residents to participate in programs serving adults with disabilities. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (September 29) evening expressed grief over the demise of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Today, the State of Kuwait and the Arab world has lost a beloved leader, India a close friend, and the world a great statesman. His Highness played a leading role in strengthening our bilateral relations, and always took special care of the Indian community in Kuwait." "My heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait. In this moment of grief our thoughts are with the Al-Sabah family and the people of the State of Kuwait," PM Modi added. Today, the State of Kuwait and the Arab world has lost a beloved leader, India a close friend, and the world a great statesman. His Highness played a leading role in strengthening our bilateral relations, and always took special care of the Indian community in Kuwait. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 29, 2020 Kuwait`s ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died, his office said in a statement on Tuesday. Sheikh Sabah, 91, had ruled the Gulf Arab oil producer and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. His designated successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "With the utmost sadness and grief for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and people of friendly nations, the Emiri Diwan mourns the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait," his office stated. According to Reuters, Sheikh Sabah sought to balance relations with Kuwait`s bigger neighbours -- forging the closest ties with Saudi Arabia, rebuilding links with former occupier Iraq and keeping an open dialogue with Iran. Sheikh Sabah tried to mediate in a Gulf dispute that saw Riyadh and its allies impose a boycott on Qatar. The new Emir`s choice of Crown prince and prime minister -- who would be tasked with managing the government`s often difficult relationship with parliament -- will be watched closely, especially at a time when Kuwait`s finances have been strained by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, flags were flying at half-mast in Kuwait. The emir had been in hospital in the United States since July following surgery for an unspecified condition in Kuwait that month. Condolences poured in from across the Arab world for "the emir of humanity", and several countries in the Gulf and wider region announced mourning periods. Sabah kept strong ties with the United States, which led a coalition that ended Iraq`s 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait and used the Gulf state as a launchpad for the 2003 Iraq invasion. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump awarded the US Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, to Sheikh Sabah in what the White House said was the first time the honour has been given since 1991. The Emir`s eldest son, Sheikh Nasser, accepted the award. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the emir as an extraordinary symbol of wisdom and generosity, a messenger of peace, a bridge builder. Notably, the Kuwaiti dinar fell against the US dollar in the forward market on Tuesday and Kuwaiti stocks plunged, ahead of the official announcement of the emir`s death. Under Kuwait`s constitution the crown prince automatically becomes emir but assumes power only after taking an oath in parliament, for which elections are due this year. Diplomats and Kuwait experts say they expect Sheikh Nawaf, 83, to assume power as heir in a smooth transition. The succession is not expected to affect oil policy or foreign investment strategy through the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world`s biggest sovereign wealth funds. Oil policy is set by the Supreme Petroleum Council, appointed by the emir. The new emir`s choice of the Crown prince and prime minister - who would be tasked with managing the government`s often difficult relationship with parliament - will be watched closely, especially at a time when Kuwait`s finances have been strained by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Although most political power in Kuwait is in the hands of the Emir, its Parliament is one of the most influential elected bodies among Gulf monarchies. (With Reuters Inputs) Captain Amarinder Singh Chandigarh: Extending his governments full support to the agitating farmers in these dark and difficult times, Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, on Tuesday assured of all possible legal and other steps to fight the draconian new farm laws, including a special session of the Vidhan Sabha to discuss and decide the way forward. Chairing a meeting with representatives of 31 farmer unions to take their views on the matter, the Chief Minister said he would be discussing the issue with his legal team later today to finalise the next steps, including challenging the farm laws in the Supreme Court. Advertisement Photo Besides farmer representatives, AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat attended the meeting, along with Cabinet Ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, PPCC president Sunil Jakhar and Advocate General Atul Nanda. We will take all possible steps to counter the Union Governments assault on the States federal and Constitutional rights, and fight for the interests of the farmers, Captain Amarinder assured the farmer representatives. If the legal experts advise amendment to the state laws to fight the central laws, a special session of the Vidhan Sabha will be immediately called to do so, he said. He made it clear that the government had no qualms about convening an Assembly session if that was the best course in the circumstances. However, he trashed SAD president Sukhbir Badals demand for a special Vidhan Sabha session as cheap gimmickry after their active support to the central laws for months. Advertisement He demanded to know where were the Akalis in the last session and why Sukhbir did not support the other parties at the all-party meeting. PhotoCaptain Amarinder slammed the Akalis for pawning off farmers interests to large corporates to promote their petty political interests, pointing out that SAD MLAs had chosen to stay away from the Vidhan Sabha session during which the resolution against the Farm Bills was passed. It was clear, he said, that the Akalis, led by Sukhbir Badal, had been wholeheartedly supporting the Farm Ordinances throughout, and only backed out once their position in Punjab became untenable amid widespread angst among the farmers. Advertisement If they were so concerned about the farmers interests, why did Harsimrat Badal not resign from the Union Cabinet the moment the Farm Ordinances were brought in by the Centre, he asked. Asserting that the Centre had no right to enact these laws as it amounted to violation of the Constitution and attack on the federal structure, the Chief Minister said his government shared the concerns of the farmers and will do whatever it takes to scuttle the Union Governments attempt to ruin the farming community with these draconian legislations. The battle will be fought on all fronts, the Chief Minister said, adding that besides the Congress signature campaign, announced yesterday by AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, all Panchayats in the state would be requested to pass resolutions against the Agriculture Acts, and the same would be sent to the Union Government. Advertisement Photo Declaring that his government and the Punjab Congress was with the farmers in this aukhi ghari (difficult time), Captain Amarinder said he would take the suggestions of the Kisan Unions to legal experts to finalise the next course of action. If the new laws are implemented, it will spell the end of Agriculture, said the Chief Minister, warning that in the times ahead, the Government of India will follow up these legislation with elimination of MSP and FCI, bringing an end to the time-tested farming procurement and marketing system as we know it. The Mandis that have existed and worked well for more than 60 years will be wiped out, and with MSP also ending, wheat will be sold the same way as maize currently is at much lower prices than dictated by the MSP, he added. The farmers not just in Punjab but across the country will be ruined, the Chief Minister said, underlining the need to fight these draconian laws tooth and nail to saving Agriculture. He said he had written to the Prime Minister thrice before the Bills were passed, urging him to not go ahead with the move as it would create immense problems for the whole nation, but he did not get any response. Capt Amarinder Even his request for bonus on paddy to check stubble burning, especially in these Covid times, had gone unheard, he said. The Government of India could not trusted to protect the farmers interests on its own, he said, pointing out that the state had not received their rightful GST compensation from the Centre for 8 months. Promising to fight the Farm Laws shoulder to shoulder with the farmers, Jakhar said he was ready to quit PPCC presidentship to join their protests without making it a political act. However, he was confident that the Chief Minister would find way to counter the Central assault on the farming community and protect their interests just as he had done on the water issue. They (Centre) have killed the farmers with a pen, we will have to find a way to kill them with a pen, he said, quipping Kalam naal marya hai, assi kalam naal bachavange (We will save the farmers with the pen). Earlier, several farmer leaders urged the Chief Minister to challenge the central laws legally, and take whatever other steps needed to protect the farmers, including blocking construction of Adanis silos in the state. They all reposed their faith in Captain Amarinder to save the farmers from this catastrophe. Balbir Singh Rajewal of BKU Rajewal said the new laws will ruin the farmers, the Arhtiyas, the farm labour, the Mandi employees and rendered lakhs of people jobless, leading to a devastating impact on the states economy. These laws will lead to the establishment of two kinds of Mandis, one with tax and other without tax for private players, which will eventually destroy the Government Mandis and lead to corporate monopolisation and farmer exploitation. He was in favour of passing state laws through a special session of the Vidhan Sabha to protect the farmers and Punjab. Jagjit Singh Dallewal of BKU Sidhupur also urged the Chief Minister to convene a special session to pass a law to counter the central legislations, while Dr. Darshanpal, President Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab, requested him to consult constitutional experts so that the state could formulate new laws, in line with Congress President Sonia Gandhis directives. Buta Singh and Jhanda Singh of BKU Ekta said it was a fight to the finish to protect the farmers and the state from annihilation by the central government, whose sole aim was to help private corporates. If Agriculture is destroyed, so will the nation, they warned. Other farmer union representatives who attended the meeting included Kulwant Singh Sandhu, General Secretary Jamhuri Kisan Sabha Punjab; Jagmohan Singh Patiala; General Secretary Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta Dhakonda; Baldev Singh Nihalgarh, General Secretary Kul Hind Kisan Sabha Punjab; Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, President Kirti Kisan Union; Ruldu Singh Mansa, President Punjab Kisan Union; Major Singh Punnawal, General Secretary Kul Hind Kisan Sabha; Inderjit Singh Kot Buddha, President Kisan Sangharsh Committee Punjab; Nirvail Singh Dhaleke, General Secretary Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee Punjab; Gurbaksh Singh Barnala, Jai Kisan Andolan; Satnam Singh Pannu, President Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, President Kisan Sangharsh Committee Punjab; Joginder Singh Ugrahan, President Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta; and Krantikari Surjit Singh Phul, President Bhartiya Kisan Union. Supermarket giant Asda is now using "safety marshals" at its Northern Ireland stores to ensure that all customers are wearing facecoverings as they enter the store - sparking union fears over staff safety. A stricter enforcement policy means that anyone who is spotted without a face mask will be offered a pack of disposable ones, which the customer must then buy at the end of their shop. The marshals - essentially store employees who have been given additional responsibilities and no extra pay - started this week in all 16 local Asdas, with one or two based in each store, depending on size. Read More Retail trade union Usdaw has, however, voiced concern about the extra pressure being thrust upon shop floor workers, saying: "It may be another flashpoint for abuse of staff, which has doubled during the pandemic". Face coverings must be worn by customers in shops, supermarkets and shopping centres across the UK. Those who fail to do so can be fined by the police - up to 100 in England (soon to rise to 200), or 60 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although the wearing of face masks has been compulsory in Northern Ireland shops since August 10, the PSNI told the Belfast Telegraph that "no fines have been issued in respect of face coverings in shops". This newspaper understands that Asda customers will be advised by marshals to cover up rather than being forced to do so. "Customers who do not have a covering when they enter the store will be offered a pack of disposable masks that they can pay for as they complete their shopping," a spokeswoman for the supermarket confirmed. Read More Marshals, who'll be wearing high visibility vests, will be mainly based at the front of the store, although some may be manning the aisles in larger outlets. Their remit will include ensuring that social distancing is maintained and providing shoppers with sanitised baskets and trolleys as they enter the store. Kieran Smyth, Usdaw area organiser, called on customers "to support shop workers by remembering to wear a face covering, unless they are covered by an exemption". "We also expect employers to remind customers about the rules," Mr Smyth said. "We are clear that shop workers are not responsible for enforcement. Staff at the front of the store are there to remind customers of the necessary Covid-19 safety measures in place and provide a face covering for those who don't have one. "We are concerned that it may be another flashpoint for abuse of staff, which has doubled during the pandemic, so we expect employers to support staff in making sure that customers follow the rules." He added: "Any Usdaw member who has concerns about doing the meeting and greeting role should contact their representative for advice." An Asda spokeswoman said safety marshals have been "in place in all stores" as of Monday this week. Expand Close A woman wearing a mask in a supermarket / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman wearing a mask in a supermarket When asked by this newspaper if staff had voluntarily signed up for the role or whether it had been assigned as part of their existing job, she said "it has been done on a store by store basis". The Asda spokeswoman added: "Existing colleagues are acting as safety marshals as part of their general duties and they've been given a specific brief for the role." She also confirmed that there was no extra pay for staff acting as safety marshals. When questioned specifically about the role, she replied: "To be on hand to help customers with safety queries and reiterate Government guidelines to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing while they shop." Meanwhile, when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph, Tesco confirmed that it is doing something similar with "greeters" in its Northern Ireland stores. A Tesco spokeswoman added: "To help our customers shop safely, we have colleagues at the entrances of our larger stores to remind customers about the safety measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face covering." We understand that Tesco "greeters" are also existing employees of the grocer - not new recruits. The supermarket giant introduced these new roles at the end of last week to its larger stores, including all Superstores, all Extra stores and some Metro stores. In response to the Belfast Telegraph, a PSNI spokesman said: "No fines have been issued in respect of face coverings in shops or on public transport". "We will continue to support compliance with the government regulations by engaging, explaining and encouraging people to make the right choices," he said. "We will only enforce where necessary." NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- People looking to show support for their favored presidential candidate now have a sweeter option. Caluda's King Cake in Harahan recently added presidential king cakes to their menu, just in time for the debates. They decorate their traditional cinnamon king cakes with patriotic colors and a chocolate coin printed with the name Trump or Biden. Customers decide who will be "king" (or president, really) by purchasing a cake, and the poll's results are updated daily on the bakery's home page. VOTE BIDEN CAKE VOTE TRUMP CAKE The bakery makes all of their king cakes by hand, detailing a thirty-step process on their website. This patriotic option is hand braided with butter, vanilla, and cinnamon - the bakery's classic and most popular flavor. And yes, the traditional baby is included. These king cakes are a delicious option for celebration or consolation on a debate or election night. Or you can order one for your friends across the aisle as a gesture of goodwill or good fun. You can decorate the king cake yourself with the included icing and sprinkles, or have the bakers decorate it for you at no extra cost. Caluda's King Cake pledges to donate $5 from every sale to Animal Rescue New Orleans, the city's only no-kill animal shelter. "We chose this charity because red or blue, we all love animals," says owner and chef John Caluda. Customers don't have to make a choice to enjoy these king cakes - an "undecided" option is available with decorations representing both Trump and Biden. But undecided customers miss out on the chance to win a $10 coupon toward a future purchase if their chosen candidate wins on election night. The coupon offering is well timed, as the bakery faces a busy holiday and king cake season shortly after this election is over. About The Bakery The team at Caluda's King Cake has over 35 years in the baking business. Specializing in what's typically considered a seasonal pastry, they produce king cakes for all seasons and ship across the United States. They also offer wholesale options and supply retailers throughout the New Orleans area. Chef John Caluda is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He previously worked at The Royal Orleans Hotel and Chef and owner of Coffee Cottage for twenty years. He owns and operates Cottage Catering, also located in Harahan. Contact: Caluda's King Cake 1536 River Oaks Rd W Harahan, LA 70123 (504) 343-5706 SOURCE Caluda's King Cake COLLINSVILLE Last week, Ameren Illinois began installing new, light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights in Wood River as part of a county-wide project to upgrade neighborhood streetlights. Ameren Illinois will replace nearly 1,900 sodium vapor, mercury vapor and metal halide streetlights with LEDs across Madison County to help communities save energy. Replacement should be completed by mid-October, weather permitting. Ameren Illinois has contracted with a vendor, Pro Electric, to perform this replacement with the help of IBEW trained electrical workers. There is no cost involved for the conversion. Following is the number of LEDs to be installed in each community: Alton 100 Edwardsville 300 Glen Carbon 300 Wood River 300 Granite City 300 Collinsville 300 Venice 67 Madison 100 Fairmont City 100 Glen Carbon officials did not respond to requests for information by the time of publication. This project will occur in tandem with Edwardsvilles own light source switch-out. The city has replaced all city-owned traffic signal heads with LED, said Eric Williams, the citys public works director. Buildings are being converted to LED such as the public works office at 200 East Park, the public works maintenance building at M Street and city hall, as well as streetscape lights and parking lot lights. In Edwardsville, most of town between Vandalia St. and the northern city limits will receive the 300 new streetlights, including North Main Street, St. Louis Street west of West Street, areas near the Watershed Nature Center. Hillsboro, Chapman, Kansas and Buchanan streets are also in the streetlight replacement zone. LED streetlight benefits include: Enhanced reliability and three times longer life expectancy Uses 55-65 percent less energy than the older technology, saving money Reduces maintenance and operational costs Protects the environment by decreasing energy generation and cutting carbon emissions Improves nighttime visibility Produces a cool, white light similar to moonlight Energy efficiency benefits everyone by reducing the amount of energy that is produced and expended, said Kim Voypick, director of Electric Operations, Ameren Illinois. The new LED streetlights will provide these communities with public safety, environmental and financial benefits for many years. By the end of this year, Ameren Illinois will have replaced 50,000 streetlights throughout central and southern Illinois. The first half of the fiscal year 2020-21 ends today. The year started under a nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25. While most lockdown restrictions have been withdrawn, especially in the second quarter, the economy is far from normal. Indias GDP suffered an annual contraction of 23.9% in the June quarter. Most private and institutional forecasts predict an annual contraction in the range of 5-10% this year. Neither the government, nor the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has a projection for this years GDP. In an interview to this newspaper, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman refused to speculate on the annual performance of the economy while noting that the fall in the first quarters GDP was quite substantial. At a time when the economy continues to face a difficult challenge, the government has opened at least two avoidable political fronts which will disrupt a co-ordinated response on the economic front. The first is the GST compensation cess payment controversy with the states. The second is the political showdown on the three agriculture reform bills. It is unlikely that it will have to backtrack from its position on both these issues. There is also the question of policy interventions generating confidence and clarity. The government has banned onion exports even as it celebrates its agricultural reforms as giving unprecedented freedom to the farmers. RBIs Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting was abruptly postponed a day before it was supposed to begin; the government is yet to appoint external members to MPC. There is a consensus that a process of sequential recovery is underway in the economy and GDP growth rates will be higher than what they were in the first quarter. There are two reasons why this is not good enough. First, the challenge is to catapult GDP to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible. Most experts do not see this happening despite easing of lockdown restrictions. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index has been increasing continuously in August and September (except a slight fall in the week ending September 27). Yet, Nomura economists continue to project a contraction in every quarter of the current fiscal year. Second, with Covid-19 showing no signs of miraculously going away, both consumer and business sentiment will remain subdued. There is clearly a strong case to be made for a second stimulus, something the finance minister said she was open to in the interview. Sawla/Kalba is a constituency in the Savannah Region of Ghana and its considered to be a stronghold for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) The opposition NDC has held on to power in the constituency for years. The NDC has continuously won this seat in the past six elections: 1996 2016 The incumbent Member of Parliament is Andrew Dari Chiwitey and hes seeking reelection. He will battle it out with Banaaco Seidu Nuhu of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the upcoming December 7 election. So will the NDC continue to maintain supremacy or will the NPP take over? It's up to over 25,000 voters to decide. Source: Rebecca Tetteh Addo / Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video On Sept. 24, 2019, Gina Moses received an unusual phone call from her teenage daughter. The girl was on vacation in Las Vegas and wanted her health insurance information. When Moses asked why, everything tumbled out: The fight with her boyfriend, the suicide attempt and the trip to the emergency room. She called her mom from the hospital bed. She begged me to come get her, Moses said. She told me that she just wanted to come home. Moses lives in Albertville with her husband and two younger children. Within hours, she was on her way to Nevada. I stop and breathe and then pray for my daughter and for our family, Moses wrote in a journal. I pray for a safe trip to Vegas. I pray that I handle this in the right way to where it doesnt affect the little ones. Moses and the teen spent the night in the same downtown Las Vegas hotel room where her daughter tried to take her life. When the boyfriend came back, the teen changed her mind about returning to Alabama. At that point, I realized just how delusional she was, Moses said. It was like she didnt realize I had just flown all the way across the country to take her home. In Alabama, the daughters therapist said she would need residential treatment to learn how to subdue self-destructive thoughts. Under Moses' insurance plan, the familys out-of-pocket costs capped out at $875. Then a problem emerged. Although the insurance plan covered residential mental health treatment, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama wouldnt approve payment for the types of private programs the girls therapist recommended. Her issues mirror those of other insurance customers nationwide who struggle to get access to mental health benefits, in spite of two federal laws passed to make it easier to get coverage. Such challenges have persisted despite rising rates of suicide across the nation and in Alabama. In Alabama, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people in their teens and early twenties, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Alabama also has the nations smallest mental health workforce per capita, according to the United Health Foundation, and the least competitive insurance market. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama covers nearly 3 million people, or 86 percent of the private insurance market in the state, according to the American Medical Association. That leaves Alabamians with few options for care and coverage of life-threatening mental illness. Do I think we would have had a second suicide attempt if we had been able to get residential treatment the first time around? Moses asked. No. She would have been there six months and she would have been over it. Guidelines and gatekeepers Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama uses Kansas-based New Directions Behavioral Health to manage its mental health network and benefits. New Directions acts as the gatekeeper for several Blue Cross plans, said Meiram Bendat, a California attorney involved in a lawsuit against the company. He said the company makes it difficult for customers to receive coverage for residential mental health treatment, even for patients with life-threatening conditions. Susan Hering (a pseudonym used in the litigation) sued New Directions and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida after they refused to cover residential treatment for her anorexic 20-year-old daughter. At 5-feet tall, the young womans weight fluctuated between 60 and 70 pounds, more than 30 pounds underweight for her size, according to the complaint. Yet New Directions wouldnt authorize residential treatment. The premise of the complaint is that New Directions is making coverage determinations regarding residential treatment that are not consistent with clinical guidelines, Bendat said. In her case, Moses said, New Directions never officially denied coverage, but wouldnt approve it without additional referrals. Moses said they travelled to Childrens of Alabama in Birmingham to get another recommendation for the insurance company. The doctor at Childrens agreed she needed residential care, Moses said, but would require the teen to wait days in the emergency room for a psychiatric bed if they wanted to keep her there until insurance came through. If she needed another referral, the doctor suggested she seek one elsewhere. Dr. Eric Plakun, the medical director of the Austen Riggs Center, a residential treatment center, said residential facilities can help provide long-term rehabilitation after patients get past the immediate crisis. Then outpatient therapy reinforces those lessons. Those three levels of care also exist in medical treatment. If someone has a stroke, they are pretty ill, and they go to the ICU and an inpatient level of care until they are stable, Plakun said. The crisis needs to be stabilized and then it would be great to send them home to outpatient therapy. But we dont send them home to outpatient if they cant walk, talk or take care of themselves. We send them to a residential level of care until they recover most of those skills. Moses said her daughter recovered from the suicide attempt but remained erratic. Some mornings she seemed upbeat and ready for treatment. Other days she lashed out and told her mom she didnt want to go. After she agreed to treatment, our biggest struggle was that she was like, lets just hurry up and get there, Moses said. But my struggle was, I kept getting denied. Those days of apprehension, of her having her bag packed by the door, waiting. Moses tried everything, calling more than two dozen treatment facilities across the South and researching special single case agreements that would allow insurance coverage. I know that its a long shot, but at least its a shot, Moses wrote in her journal. If the single care agreement isnt approved, we have to pay private pay rates. I know we cant afford them, but I keep pushing forward just in case a miracle happens. Parity in practice? Federal lawmakers enacted two sweeping laws in recent years to improve coverage of mental health. Congress passed the Mental Health Parity Act in 1996 and strengthened it in 2008. Those bills prevented insurance companies from imposing lower limits on mental health coverage than medical and surgical benefits, but only applied to plans that already offered mental health coverage. In 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, which in part required insurance companies to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment. Under both laws, all insurance plans sold in Alabama must cover mental health treatment at the same level as other medical services. Attorneys are testing those laws in the courtroom. A federal judge in California last year ordered United Healthcares behavioral health unit to overhaul its coverage of residential care . Joseph Spero, chief magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, determined the company placed profits ahead of customers in need of mental health treatment. The same attorneys who sued United Behavioral Health have now come after New Directions Behavioral Health. They argue company guidelines put treatment out of reach for patients denied insurance coverage for mental health treatment. The Health Care Cost Institute, a data research organization affiliated with several major insurance companies, found that out-of-pocket costs for mental health care increased faster than other medical treatment from 2012 to 2017. Weve seen families that have sold their homes, said Caroline Reynolds, an attorney involved it the New Directions case. Weve had families that are liquidating their 401(K)s. Theyre doing all sorts of things just to keep their kid in care. And weve also seen families where they cant do it and the person has to forego care, sometimes with deadly consequences. The high cost of mental health In Alabama, Tallison Rausch spent more than $50,000 out-of-pocket on residential substance use treatment not covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Thats according to a complaint filed with the Alabama Department of Insurance. Her doctors recommended she follow up with one month of intensive outpatient treatment. New Directions denied it as medically unnecessary because Rausch hadnt used in more than four months. That left her with a bill of $1,000 on top of her $1,000 co-pay. Rausch, who has worked in the medical and insurance fields, used her knowledge of the system to fight the denial. Insurance ultimately paid the bill, she said. I know that theyre going to deny every so often just on the probability that the patient wouldnt know what to do, she said. It was a pain in the ass to write that appeal. I just dont know what other people without my background would do. New Directions' standards for residential treatment require patients to be very ill, either actively in danger or deteriorating fast. They also demand proof a program works better than a lower-cost alternative such as outpatient therapy. New Directions partners with health plans and abides by the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, said McKenzie Cordell, a spokesman for the company. To protect our members' privacy, we are not able to share any information about specific cases. Paul Crits-Christoph, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, said theres little evidence residential treatment works better than outpatient. Requiring insurance companies to cover unproven treatments can drive up health care costs for everyone, Crits-Christoph said. To be honest, the insurance companies are on reasonable grounds unless theres a clear benefit, he said of denying payment for residential programs. Attorneys for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and New Directions made a similar argument. Simply put, there is no single source for the generally accepted standard, attorneys wrote, arguing theres no scientific consensus to support residential treatment for mental illness. Coverage at all costs New Directions approved outpatient treatment for Moses' daughter in Georgia, but the program focused on substance abuse. Although insurance paid for treatment, the family paid for housing. The daughter received little of the behavior treatment recommended by her therapist. Moses and her ex-husband switched their daughter to his insurance, starting in January. Before then, Moses' fears came true. The teenager overdosed on medication in December and the family rushed her to a nearby hospital. The teens second suicide attempt sent her to the psychiatric unit at Childrens Hospital of Alabama right before Christmas. During the first 32 hours, her vital signs plummeted. Staff pinched her toes and shone lights in her eyes as she dipped in and out of unconsciousness. Medical staff got her to the other side of the crisis and started talking about discharge. Moses did not want a repeat of the fall, or another suicide attempt. She asked the hospital to hold her daughter until Jan. 1, when the new policy kicked in and she would be eligible for residential treatment. That meant keeping her in a locked ward at Childrens over Christmas. On Christmas Day they had only four hours together and couldnt exchange presents. Everything is set up for safety for the patients and staff, Moses said. Four block walls, steel doors with locks and windows, rubber beds, saloon doors for the bathrooms. In January, she transferred to a residential facility in Tennessee for one month. From there she traveled to California for follow-up treatment, which was covered under the new insurance. In June, the daughter came home. We dont know when its going to happen, but its going to happen, Moses said. Theres going to be a trigger, and I dont know how were going to handle it, but were going to handle it. Concerns about insurance linger. Her ex changed jobs during the summer, and Moses' husband couldnt add her to his new plan. The leaves the daughter temporarily uninsured. But things could change in Alabama. Bendat said New Directions uses a standard set of guidelines in all states where it operates. If the lawsuit in Florida forces a change, Alabama coverage could be affected. Its hard to believe that New Directions will be able to maintain the same clinical standards in states where they havent been sued, Bendat said. What were challenging are the guidelines they use in all the states. If the teen needs medical or mental health care, Moses will add her back to her Blue Cross plan. If needed, the family will dig deep into its savings to pay for the care she needs. Of course, thats a big concern of ours, insurance coverage, Moses said. Whenever we look at her treatment and our options, theres no limit to what we would do to save our child. Just like if she had leukemia. We would have mortgaged the house. Wed do whatever we could. Theres no other option. The first test flight of a jet suit intended for paramedics has taken place in the Lake District after years of talks between the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) and Gravity Industries. The kit will enable a paramedic to locate, reach and stabilise patients within minutes. The exercise demonstrated the potential of using jet suits to deliver critical care services in difficult terrains. While it might take a unit up to 30 minutes on foot through treacherous terrain to reach patients, the suit means a paramedic could fly to the top of a fell in around 90 seconds. Andy Mawson, director of GNAAS operations, spearheaded the project and described seeing it tested for the first time as awesome. Speaking about the impetus for creating the jet suit, he said: There are dozens of patients every month within the complex but relatively small geographical footprint of the Lakes. He added: We could see the need. What we didnt know for sure is how this would work in practice. Well, weve seen it now and it is, quite honestly, awesome. The test was carried out by Richard Browning, founder of Gravity Industries. The suit had two mini engines on each arm and one on the back while allowing the paramedic to control movement by moving his hands. Mr Mawson said: The biggest advantage is its speed. If the idea takes off, the flying paramedic will be armed with a medical kit, with pain relief for walkers who may have suffered fractures, and a defibrillator for those who may have suffered a heart attack. Recommended Ambulance on emergency call blocked by new temporary cycle lane He added: In a jet pack, what might have taken up to an hour to reach the patient may only take a few minutes, and that could mean the difference between life and death. In a statement, the GNAAS said this test is pushing the boundaries of emergency response. The Lake District is the UKs most famous national park and draws more than 15 million people each year. Recommended Air ambulances granted permission to refuel at Kensington Palace during coronavirus pandemic However, much of the terrain is hazardous and incidents often require the critical care team while the jagged peaks and valleys make it difficult for helicopters to safely land. The tester flew from the bottom of a valley to a simulated casualty at the top of a fell near Bowfell, with the flight only taking 90 seconds. The same journey on foot would have involved 25 minutes of climbing. Mr Mawson said: We think this technology could enable our team to reach some patients much quicker than ever before. He concluded: In many cases, this would ease the patients suffering. In some cases, it would save their lives. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 988 new positive coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the statewide total to 157,814. Centre County is reporting an increase of 103 cases. The number of tests administered within the last seven days between Sept. 22 and Sept. 28 is 190,042 with 6,014 positive cases. There were 23,040 test results reported to the department through 10 p.m., Sept. 28. These results represent the total number of tests administered. The Department of Health also shared today its weekly update on Pennsylvanias COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing data. Contact tracing is an important public health strategy to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while informing any close contacts about their exposure anonymously, and we appreciate that Pennsylvanians are doing their part to answer the call, said Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine. For case investigations, it is important for our fellow Pennsylvanians to pick up the phone when public health professionals call to ensure that public health staff can inform them of the important steps they can take to protect their communities and those close to them. If you are a close contact, we need you to answer the call to stop this virus in its tracks before it could affect your loved ones, co-workers or friends across the state. There are 442 cases who have a positive viral antigen test and are considered probable cases and 646 patients who have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure. There are 8,123 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, an increase of 16 new deaths reported. Over 1,866,761 patients have tested negative. The age breakdown of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus is as follows: By Trend A Special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council will convene to discuss recent developments in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict context, Trend reports citing OSCE. The meeting will be held today, Sept. 29 on 17:00 CET. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference Andrzej Kasprzyk will update the Permanent Council on developments. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Military actions continued on Sept. 29. Azerbaijani army was able to destroy several tanks of the Armenian Armed Forces, as well as several key military facilities. Azerbaijan's Dashkesan district underwent fire on the same day from the opposing forces, while Azerbaijani Armed Forces continued military actions on Sept. 29 to liberate the city of Fuzuli from occupation. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Photo credit: Getty Images - Getty Images From Delish We use a lot of soy sauce in our home cooking, from highbrow Homemade Ramen to lowbrow Hot Dog Fried Rice. But soy sauce isn't the only soy-based sauce we keep stocked in our cabinets. Tamari, a byproduct of miso, shares many qualities with soy sauce, but provides a distinct flavor and texture. More importantly, it's delicious! Read on to learn how tamari is made, how to use it, and where to buy it. How is tamari made? Unlike soy sauce, which is made of a fermented mixture of soybeans, wheat, and other grains, tamari is a natural byproduct of miso-making. Tamari typically has little to no wheat added, making it a great gluten-free choice. (Just make sure to check the bottle first! Gluten-free products will be labeled as such.) As misoa fermented soy bean pasteages, it is pressed, which forces out liquid. This liquid becomes tamari. Where is tamari from? Long ago (we're talkin' 7th century AD) tamari traveled from its birthplace in China to Japan. Years later, around the 14th century, Japan had cemented itself as the preeminent producer of tamari. Today, tamari is classified by Japan Agricultural Standards as one of Japan's five official types of soy sauce. How does tamari taste? Tamari is thicker, more mellow, and less salty than soy sauce. It's got a rich flavor with an incredible amount of umamiperfect for giving vegan and vegetarian meals an added boost of meaty flavor. It's generally thought that the flavors in tamari are more balanced, or rounded, than those in soy sauce. Where can I buy tamari? You can find tamari near soy sauce in most grocery stores. If not, check Asian specialty stores or online retailers. How should I use tamari? Tamari makes an excellent dipping sauce for sushi, tempura, dumplings, and pretty much anything else that could use a boost of savory umami. You can also add tamari to soups, stews, gravy, marinades, sauces, and stir-fries. Like the classic soy sauce you might be more familiar with, its uses are infinite. Story continues Photo credit: Emily Hlavac Green How should I store tamari? Store tamari in a cool dark place like a cabinet or pantry. It can be kept in or out of the refrigerator once opened. Is tamari good for you? Tamari is high in vitamins and minerals (especially manganese) and is thought to aid immunity, cardiovascular health, and digestive heath. It does provide a serious dose of sodium (around 990mg per tablespoon), so if you're watching your sodium intake, use in moderation. You Might Also Like A 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh who was battling for her life at a Delhi hospital after being allegedly gang-raped by four men has succumbed to her injuries. The girl died nearly two weeks after she was gang-raped in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on September 14. She had been shifted to the Delhi hospital critical condition and had been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Earlier, the woman was admitted in Aligarh's JN Medical College hospital. All four attackers accused of the gang-rape have been arrested by Hathras police and are currently in police custody Hours before his first debate with President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden released his 2019 tax returns and his campaign called on Trump, who has come under fire for not releasing his returns, to do the same. Biden, due to share the stage with Trump on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning AEST) in Cleveland, took the step two days after The New York Times reported that Trump had paid just $US750 ($1050) in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and none in 10 of the previous 15 years after reporting years of heavy losses from business enterprises. Former vice president Joe Biden released his tax returns showing he and his wife paid $US346,000 in federal taxes in 2019, before seeking a refund. Credit:AP Trump had long sought to keep his personal financial records secret. Biden's taxes showed that he and his wife Jill paid more than $US346,000 in federal taxes and other payments for 2019 on an income of nearly $US985,000 before seeking a refund of nearly $US47,000 they said they had overpaid the government. Chanting Pass the gift ban. Do your job and Stop taking bribes," about 20 activists gathered in the hallway outside the Capitol office of House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff on Tuesday, demanding action on a bill making it illegal for public employees and officials to accept gifts. The representatives from MarchOnHarrisburg said they have been waiting for action for four years and came to the Capitol with four members willing to risk arrest to remind House leaders of a pre-pandemic commitment from former House Speaker Mike Turzai and then-House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler to bring up House Bill 1945 for a vote by the full chamber. It unanimously passed the House State Government Committee last October. Knowing the Nov. 30 end of the legislative session is drawing near, Beth Taylor, the groups Lehigh Valley chapter leader, said they dont want the session to end without both chambers acting on this bill and sending it to Gov. Tom Wolf for enactment. Wolf last week held a news conference calling for the Legislature to pass a gift ban and other government reform measures. Millions of Pennsylvanians are suffering right now and the politicians, the legislators are allowed to take bribes," Taylor said. Its unconscionable. Theres widespread support for this bill. They need to call it up. Basically, Benninghoff can be responsible for ending his colleagues' corruption. He can bring it to a vote and take a step forward in ending corruption in the Pennsylvania state Legislature. Like Wolf, MarchOnHarrisburg activists want a complete prohibition on public officials and public employees accepting gifts although the bill as it now stands, would allow these public servants to accept gifts, with the exception of cash, with a value of up to $50 in a years time and gifts of hospitality, lodging or transportation with a value of up to $500 in a calendar year. The bill also carves out a number of exceptions to the so-called ban, which the groups cofounder Rachel Anne Murphy said they will work to get changed as it goes through the legislative process. Murphy said the groups members have been in touch with Cutler, R-Lancaster County, who succeeded Turzai as House speaker, and Benninghoff, R-Centre County, both of whom have expressed support but that is not enough. We need hard evidence it is getting called to a vote and moving, Murphy said. We do not want the session to run out and have to re-introduce it. During their hallway demonstration, Rabbi Michael Pollack of Philadelphia, Carol Stowell of York, Tim Seitz-Brown of York and Reid Stever of Glenside entered Benninghoffs office and began chanting and shouting. Capitol police and House security officers were called to escort them out. All four were issued citations for simple trespass. Last spring, members of the group were arrested for dropping $500 from the Houses fourth-foor gallery down onto the House floor. It was after that stunt that Turzai primised the vote on the legislation. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Jay Ashcroft has put the interests of his party above those of the voters. Challenger Yinka Faleti would put democracy first. LONDON Prime Minister Boris Johnson likes to style himself as a buccaneer, waving a cutlass and thumbing his nose at convention as he leads Britain into an uncharted future. These days, however, he looks more like a latter-day Captain Bligh, grimly confronting one mutiny after another. The latest uprising came this week as about 80 members of Mr. Johnsons Conservative Party threatened to defy him and vote for a measure that would require the government to obtain Parliaments consent before passing any more coronavirus restrictions. Mr. Johnson seemed likely to avert an embarrassing defeat on Wednesday by compromising with the rebels in his partys ranks. But the ugly family squabble only attests to his diminished status. Nine months after leading the Conservatives to a landslide victory in general elections, polls show Mr. Johnson, 56, has frittered away support within his party, ceded ground to the once-hapless opposition and lost favor with the British public. The gleeful ringmaster of British politics has given way to a gloomier figure, one who seems bewildered by his own social-distancing rules, detached from the details of his Brexit negotiations with the European Union and enervated by a premiership that has not gone the way he, or anyone else, expected. Mumbai: Strongly opposing the bail pleas field by actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, and other co-accused in a drug case, the NCB told the Bombay High Court Tuesday a strong message needed to be sent out to the society, especially youngsters, to ensure they did not consume drugs. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said the siblings and others arrested were active members of a drug syndicate" and vowed to go to the roots of the case, an offshoot of probe into filmstar Sushant Singh Rajputs death in June. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, who appeared for the NCB, said a deterrent was required from the court since, considering the current situation of COVID 19, and the countrys internal security, we need our youngsters to take care of their health, and not consume drugs. If young people go on consuming drugs then who will look after our country. This episode should serve as a lesson to all, the ASG said. And with the present situation of internal and external conflict in the country There is pandemic.This should be a lesson for others. I agree there should be sympathy for the youth. But those who are involved in this (drugs consumption, manufacture, procurement etc) must be punished, Singh said. The ASG went on to say that the NCB was going to go to the roots of the present case to ensure the chain of drugs was broken. Considering the overall case and circumstances, I would submit that this drug abuse has to be controlled in the country, in all sectors whether college, schools, or, Bollywood. Our leaders, say our country is dependent on the young generation, Singh said. The ASG was making his submissions before a bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal who was hearing pleas filed by Rhea, Showik, and co-accused Samuel Miranda, Dipesh Sawant, both aides of Rajput, alleged drug dealer Abdul Parihar, and one Zaid Vilatra. All the accused have challenged the orders of a special NDPS court that had rejected their bail pleas earlier this month. Earlier, during the day long hearing, the NCB had submitted that there existed ample material to show that Rhea, Showik, and others arrested in the case, represented a chain, an active syndicate that was involved in procuring, financing, harbouring, and abetting drugs and its consumption". Singh said Rhea (28) had knowingly paid for her boyfriend Rajputs drugs, and had concealed the information regarding his drug habit. These qualified as the stringent charges of financing and harbouring drug consumption as define under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act, he said. The ASG was referring to the courts query on application of the stringent section 27A of the NDPS Act in the case. The section deals with financing illicit traffic and harbouring drug offenders, and entails an imprisonment of up to ten years. It also carries a bar on grant of bail. All the applicants had opposed the slapping of the section (27A) in the present case. Rheas counsel Satish Maneshinde had argued that she had only occasionally paid for Rajputs drugs and this did not amount to financing. All the accused had also argued that the drugs seized by the NCB in the case was in small quantity and did not qualify ascommercial quantity that could attract stringent sections under the Act. The ASG, however, argued that the Act did not prescribe a quantity for attracting charges of financing and harbouring. This is not the case which is filed individually. This is a syndicate, Singh said. Rhea did not disclose due to fear of arrest. So it is harbouring. She knew it was illegal but she continued. Giving shelter is not letting Rajput in her house, it is shelter for the purpose of protecting from arrest, the ASG said. Earlier, during the day, Singh said a case of drugs was worse than an offence of murder for while the latter involved just one person or one family, the former related to the entire society. On the applicants argument that the NCB did not have the jurisdiction to probe the case, the ASG said, It is nobodys case that Sushant Rajput died of drugs. This case is not about his death. It might have a five or 10 per cent connection to Sushant as he used to consume drugs. Therefore, while the CBI is probing his death case, we (NCB) are investigating a case involving drugs, he said. The ASG went on to say that while Rajput did not die of drug abuse, the 34-year-old filmstar did consume drugs. And only because the consumer was dead, those who procured drugs for him could not go scot free", Singh said. All counsels for the accused persons, however, reiterated that all the arguments and judgements that the NCB had cited to support its case dealt with commercial quantities of drugs. Advocate Taraq Sayed, the counsel for alleged drug dealer Parihar, said the accused persons should not be used as pawn to send out a strong message to the society. At this stage we should not be used as pawn for teaching a lesson, Sayed said. The HC closed all arguments in the case and reserved its verdict on the bail pleas. " France has several assets though , recalls thierry Ehrmann, CEO and Founder of Artmarket.com and its Artprice department, " and notably its hidden stock of old masterpieces, a number of which usually find their way into the country's auction rooms every year. But it takes all the know-how of an expert in Old Masters to defend their value and their rightful place in Art History. The quality of the work conducted by French art experts is today recognised all over the world ." The expert lives at 69... rue Sainte-Anne in Paris Old Master paintings expert Eric Turquin admits that the sale of the small devotional panel attributed to the Master of Vyssi Brod was probably his firm's biggest success story in 2019. And yet the year was full of excitement as the Cabinet Turquin was deeply involved in the sale of the Toulouse Caravaggio in June 2019 (which finally sold privately), the Cimabue painting in October and even a work by Artemisia Gentileschi in November. However, the attribution of that small panel to the artist known as Master of Vyssi Brod, a 14th century Gothic painter from Prague, was indeed a veritable tour de force. It took a lot of patient research to back up this delicate attribution, but it ultimately demonstrated the exceptional value of this small painting. Nine bidders competed for it in Dijon and it finally went to the Benappi Fine Art Gallery that bought the work for $6.8 million on behalf of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. An intense research dossier was also triggered by the discovery of a bronze bust of Paul Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain, one of Henri IV's Ministers. When auctioneer Geraldine d'Ouince saw it for the first time, she exclaimed "It can't be 17th century... it would be too good to be true... no more exist! " . Busts from that period are indeed extremely rare, even in the most prestigious museums, and they are totally absent from the market. But, with the help of Elodie Jeannest and Alexandre Lacroix of the Sculpture & Collection appraisal firm (also based at 69 rue Sainte-Anne in Paris, next to the Cabinet Turquin), they were able to establish that the bronze dated from the first half of the 17th century. All in all, Geraldine d'Ouince recognized before the public sale that the estimate provided in the catalogue between $550,000 and $885,000 could be substantially exceeded, and indeed the bust of Paul Phelypeaux fetched almost $3.4 million. The French model While it represents a niche market in the United States generating just 3% of the American art market's total auction turnover, the Old Masters segment accounts for as much as 14% of the fine art auction revenue in France. Last year, this segment benefited from the excellent work of the country's consulting firms, often involving lengthy research that is absolutely necessary before an auction house can hope to attract informed and convinced buyers. When an appraisal report is both convincing and conclusive, news of the sale seems to spread almost on its own. The media and the Art Market are fond of stories of forgotten or misattributed art works that gradually recover their rightful places in art history as the research advances and the evidence accumulates. In the end, the technical analyses, x-rays and comparisons with other masterpieces are presented in a sales catalogue and the work's true identity and history are revealed. The excellent results hammered in France during 2019 have proved that once an appraisal report has been duly established, the sale of the piece can be held outside the major capitals in places like Toulouse, Dijon or even in the small town of Senlis and still attract the world's biggest collectors and museums. Top 10 Old Masters at auction in France in 2019 1. CIMABUE (c. 1240/50-c. 1302) - Christ Mocked $26,780,000 - (Estimated: $4,400,000 - $6,600,000) 27/10/2019, Hotel des Ventes de Senlis 2. Master of Vyssi BROD (act.1350-) - The Virgin and Child on the Throne $6,833,000 (Estimated: $440,000 - $660,000) 30/11/2019, Cortot & Associes, Dijon 3. Artemisia GENTILESCHI (1593-c.1654) - Lucrece $5,255,000 (Estimated: $660,000 - $880,000) 13/11/2019, Artcurial, Paris 4. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) - Abduction of a Sabine (c.1590-1610) $4,985,000 (Estimated: $2,775,000 - $5,545,000) 11/12/2019, Sotheby's, Paris 5. Giambettino CIGNAROLI (Attrib.) (1706-1770) - Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [...] $4,435,000 (Estimated: $880,000 - $1,320,000) 27/11/2019, Christie's, Paris 6 Ambrosius I BOSSCHAERT (1573-1621) - Cut flowers in a Romer [...] $3,709,000 (Estimated: $2,470,000 - $2,800,000) 06/19/2019, Fraysse - Binoche & Giquello, Paris 7. Francesco BORDONI (1580-1654) - Paul Phelypeaux [...] $3,372,000 (Estimated: $550,000 - $885,000) 20/11/2019, from Baecque - d'Ouince, Paris 8. Hans DAUHER (c.1485-1538) - Putti (c.1525-1530) $2,630,000 (Estimated: $1,120,000 - $1,680,000) 16/05/2019, Sotheby's, Paris 9. Bernardino LUINI (c.1480 / 85-1532)2,534,000 - Madonna and Child with Saint George $2,534,000 (Estimated: $1,980,000 - $ 2,200,000) 14/11/2019, Aguttes, Paris 10. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) La fortune (1580-1600) $2,011,000 (Estimated: $1,110,000 - $2,220,000) 12/11/2019 Sotheby's, Paris Sell or appraise: you have to choose An appraisal carries much more weight when carried out by an independent firm whose reputation is at stake regarding the objectivity of its report. An auctioneer who sees a work for the first time is already partly committed to its sale and the quality of his/her work will be measured according to the success of the transaction. Auction houses sometimes give the impression of over-focusing on the marketing and financial aspects of a sale. When Patrick Drahi acquired Sotheby's and appointed businessman Charles F. Steward to its head, it sent out a strong signal about Sotheby's strategy and priorities. In the case of Salvator Mundi, one may wonder if Christie's didn't put more energy into organizing its international tour than analyzing its artistic qualities and questioning its place in da Vinci's uvre. For the time being, both Eric Turquin and Alexandre Lacroix seem to appreciate their collaborations with French auction houses, whether Parisian or provincial. There is no doubt these auctioneers benefit from its expertise, knowledge, experience and reputation but, above all from its independence. This avoids certain pressures from the Art Market, in which conflicts of interest sometimes have repercussions... even in the collections of the largest museums. A pledge of quality More than twenty years ago, Thomas Hoving former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art already drew the art world's attention to the presence of fakes in large museum collections. In 1997, he wrote in the introduction to his book False Impression, The Hunt for Big-Times Art Fakes: "In the decade and a half I spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I had to examine fifty thousand works in all areas. In total, 40 percent were fakes, or had been restored so hypocritically or so poorly attributed that they were exactly the same as fakes. Since then, I am sure that percentage has increased. [...] "When art became an increasingly expensive commodity in the 1970s and 1980s, fakes flourished. The young millionaires or billionaires began to covet art as an object of investment, as well as a mark of prestige and social superiority. As the originals were no longer numerous enough, the false Old Masters (or fully repainted) filled the gaps." The former MET Director lent credence, at least in part, to this explanation: "One of the fiercest of all [fakebusters], the Italian Giuseppe "Pico" Cellini, now in his early eighties and still exposing all sorts of artistic garbage, believes the tendency of most American museums to keep their fakes quiet or secret is due to their having sold out to their wealthy donors and trustees. Perhaps he doesn't exaggerate." It is probably no coincidence that in 2019 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was one of the major buyers of paintings appraised by Eric Turquin's independent firm. The French expertise faces a new world demand. Image: https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2020/09/Artprice-Armarket-Experts.jpg Copyright 1987-2020 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com Try our services (free demo): https://www.artprice.com/artist/15079/wassily-kandinsky Subscribe to our services: https://www.artprice.com/subscription About Artmarket: Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF. Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video: https://en.artprice.com/video Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987. See certified biography in Who's who : https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2019/10/biographie_oct2019_WhosWho_thierryEhrmann.pdf Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 740,000 artists. Artprice Images allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians. Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 4.5 million 'members log in' users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace to buy and sell artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L 321.3 of France's Commercial Code). Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label "Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art. Artprice by Artmarket's 2019 Global Art Market Report published in February 2020 : https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2019 Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department: http://serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice department on Facebook and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/ (4.9 million followers) https://twitter.com/artmarketdotcom https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department http://web.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times): https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013 L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 (4.5 million followers) https://vimeo.com/124643720 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283710/Artprice_Artmarket_Experts.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1009603/Art_Market_logo.jpg Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department - Contact: [email protected] Thierry Ehrmann, [email protected] SOURCE Artmarket.com Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - On the orders of the authorities, several hundred users of the "3G" mobile Internet in Mauritania, were on Monday disconnected to stem the tide of cheating during the Secondary School Certificate (BEPC) examination, PANA reported from Nouakchott STORY LINK Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Steady as Canadian Markets Brace for Trump-Biden Presidential Debate GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Rangebound Canadian Covid-19 Cases Rise Pound (GBP) Steady as UK Mortgage Approvals Rise Following Covid-19 Lockdown GBP/CAD Outlook: Could a Brexit Breakthrough Buoy Sterling Today? Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate held steady today, with the pairing currently trading around CA$1.722.The Canadian Dollar (CAD) has suffered today ahead of the US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. As a result, the risk-averse Loonie has remained under pressure owing to Americas heightened political uncertainty.Jasper Lawler, an analyst at London Capital Group, commented:A big upset by Trump could unearth some market volatility as investors re-price a possible Trump second term - or maybe worse - a contested election result and even bigger delays until the next stimulus package gets passed.Meanwhile, Canada has seen a recent rise in Covid-19 cases, sparking concerns that Canada could be facing a serious second wave. Furthermore, Ontarios premier warned that a second wave of the virus could prove more complex.Analysts at Reuters commented:Quebec on Monday ordered new restrictions on bars and restaurants in coronavirus hot spots as Canadas two most-populous provinces saw big increases in COVID-19 cases.The Pound (GBP) held steady against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) today following the release of Augusts UK Mortgage Approvals, which shot above forecasts from 66,300 to 84,700. As a result, UK investors are feeling cautiously optimistic about the British economys performance.Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, was more downbeat, saying:The outlook for a further drop in employment also will weigh on the housing market, though with home-ownership having narrowed to a wealthier segment of the population over the last decade, job losses wont have as devastating an impact on the market as they did in 2008.Meanwhile, GBP investors are eyeing Brexit developments and the UK and EU engage in trade talks.Despite growing confidence that Downing Street will compromise and push forward on a post-Brexit trade deal, many Sterling traders are instead remaining cautious.Following a few warning comments from the EU, relations between the two powers still remains uncertain.Sterling is also suffering from signs of rising Covid-19 cases throughout Britain. If this continues, then the GBP/CAD exchange rate could fall later this evening.Canadian Dollar (CAD) investors will be bracing for tomorrows publication of the final Canadian GDP figure for July. Any signs of improvement in Canadas economy would prove CAD-positive.Tomorrow will also see the release of the Canadian Industrial Product Price report for August. Again, if this improves then the outlook for the Canadian economy would brighten and bolster the Loonie.Pound (GBP) investors will also be eyeing tomorrows final GDP figure for the second quarter. Any improvement in the British economy could buoy GBP.The GBP/CAD exchange rate will remain sensitive to Brexit and coronavirus developments this week. As a result, Sterling could edge higher on a positive breakthrough in UK-EU trade talks. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Pound Canadian Dollar Forecasts Congress has directed states where the party is in office to override the legislation by resorting to a key constitutional provision that allows states to frame their own laws on subjects on the concurrent list under certain circumstances.Rahul Gandhi is also expected to address a rally, the date and venue of which is being finalised. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked party-ruled states to explore the possibility to pass laws under Article 254(2) of the constitution to negate the anti-agriculture central laws encroaching upon states jurisdiction under the Constitution.A press statement issued by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that this would enable the states to bypass the unacceptable anti-farmers provisions in the three draconian agricultural laws including the abolition of MSP and disruption of APMCs in Congress-ruled states. Congress President has advised the Congress-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass laws in their respective states under Article 254(2) of the constitution which allows the state legislatures to pass a law to negate the Anti-Agriculture Central laws encroaching upon States jurisdiction under the Constitution, the statement said.This would enable the states to bypass the unacceptable anti-farmers provisions in the three draconian Agricultural laws including the abolition of MSP and disruption of APMCs in Congress ruled states. This would also alleviate the farmers from the grave injustice done by the Modi Government and BJP, it added. Article 254(2) of the constitution provides that where a law made by a state legislature with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the concurrent list contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or an existing law with respect to that matter, then, the law so made by the legislature shall, if it has been reserved for the consideration of the President and has received his assent, prevail in that state. ALSO READ: Amid India-China LaC row, Rajnath releases Indias new defence acquisition policy On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is probably going to lead a protest in Punjab this week in support of farmers distressing against the government over three farm laws passed by Parliament last week, people familiar with the development said.Gandhi is also likely to address a rally.The date and place of the rally are being finalized, a Congress leader said.After Punjab, he may join the protesting farmers in Haryana. But we are not sure if the BJP government in Haryana will allow him to enter the state, said the leader quoted above. First demonetisation, then GST, then you were not given a single rupee at the time of coronavirus, attempt was being made to kill you (farmers), you are being made a slave of corporates, and now these three deadly bills, he said. We are standing with you (farmers) and together we will stop these bills. I want to say to the governmentyou have made a very big mistake. If farmers hit the streets, it will result in tremendous damage. Dont waste time, withdraw these laws immediately and give guarantee on MSP (minimum support price) to farmers, Gandhi said. ALSO READ: LeT commander among two terrorists gunned down in Samboora: J&K DGP Entrepreneur and communicator JoAnn Scaife has launched the intriguing new weekly podcast, "Black History Matters 365." (Photo by Thom Brush Photography) Entrepreneur and respected communicator JoAnn Scaife has launched the intriguing new weekly podcast, "Black History Matters 365," in conjunction with being named spokesperson for Black History 365 Education (BH365), a new educational organization focused on documenting the history of Black persons, groups, and cultures in North America. Recent guests on the podcast have included authors Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D., and Dr. Walter Milton, Jr. ("Black History 365: An Inclusive Account of American History"), Chris Sanders (NFL player and former Tennessee Titan wide receiver), Dr. Susan West (Vice President and Chief of Staff at Belmont University), and Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. (Civil Rights Movement activist and Freedom Rider). I am thrilled to be the host of the exciting new podcast, "Black History Matters 365," which is part of Black History 365 Education, a Black-owned and operated faith-based company that has created a revolutionary educational curriculum to display the inclusiveness of African American History," said Scaife. In addition to hosting the podcast, I am honored to serve as Black History 365 Education's Spokesperson and Liaison Entrepreneur for the faith-based market. This is truly a God-sent mission for me. In her position as BH365 spokesperson, Scaife will help communicate the message of the organization and its new U.S. history textbook, "Black History 365: An Inclusive Account of American History," by Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D., and Dr. Walter Milton, Jr. Both the podcast and the new textbook are generating strong support from educators and influential community leaders. "JoAnn's podcast is unique because of the compelling questions she asks, along with her ability to unearth the creative ways to fill in the education gap in our public schools, community-based organizations and also in the faith based community, said Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D. (CEO, The Freeman Institute and co-author, "Black History 365"). I believe in and support the K-12 Black History 365 (BH365) curriculum, said Ambassador Andrew Young. I encourage every school district throughout the United States to strongly consider adopting the comprehensive Black History 365 curriculum as their choice for African American studies. A serial entrepreneur whose endeavors include Living Single in Faith, a business that focuses on inspiring singles, and Restorations Corner Ministry, a non-profit organization that focuses on collegiate ministry, Scaife was a natural choice to launch the "Black History Matters 365" podcast. Entrepreneurship is a mission in my life, she said. I take it very seriously, and launching the "Black History Matters 365" podcast is one of my most real and passionate projects yet. Its an honor to interview some of the greatest history-makers of our time. The goal of the podcast is to introduce the theme, 'African American History as American History,' in a whole new way, by shining a light on the lives of those who have contributed on every level of life, both in the past and present. Creating a space for their voices to be heard and for their stories to be told is something I commit to daily. Fans can access the "Black History Matters 365" podcast (BHM 365 Podcast) from a variety of podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Deezer, and many others. For more information about the "Black History Matters 365" podcast, visit http://blackhistorymatters365.buzzsprout.com. For more information about Black History 365 Education and the organizations new U.S. history textbook, "Black History 365: An Inclusive Account of American History," visit http://blackhistory365education.com. # # # ABOUT JOANN SCAIFE: JoAnn Scaife, host of the intriguing new weekly podcast, "Black History Matters 365," and spokesperson for Black History 365 Education, a new educational organization focused on documenting the history of Black persons, groups, and cultures in North America, is also the founder and CEO of Restorations Corner Ministry, a non-profit organization that focuses on collegiate ministry, training college students to become highly effective leaders on campus and in the community. In addition, she is the founder of Living Single in Faith, a business that focuses on inspiring singles. She is also the published author of the devotional book, "Beside Still Waters," the first in a planned series of six volumes (for more information, visit http://besidestillwaters30.com. Scaife, a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, TN, made history as the first African American female to graduate from Belmonts School of Religion. She is currently a candidate for Master of Divinity and a scholarship recipient for the Women Leadership Initiative program at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. Her masters emphasis is on ministry of education and finance. Over her twenty-plus year career, Scaife has worked with numerous Christian publishing companies, churches, and music industry businesses, serving in the capacity of product manager and developer, advisor, magazine editor, marketing director, publisher, producer, and more. Studying, teaching, and leading others to understand the Word of God on a daily basis, her heartbeat is to impact others with the truths of the Bible through her personal and spiritual experiences. She is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for religious organizations, businesses, universities, and civic institutions. Numerous awards and recognition have followed her throughout her journey, including Whos Who Women of America; Editor of CCM Urban Magazine; Urban Mission Spokesperson for Wycliffe Bible Translators; Board Member of West African Childrens Mission in Chicago; Project Manager for West African Girls Skill Center in Burkina Faso; Gospel Music Association (GMA) Industry Track Committee Member and Urban Task Force Coordinator; Miss Teen World Pageant (State Representative for Florida); Miss Black Fort Walton Beach, Florida; and Miss Black Florida Pageant contestant. A native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Scaife currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, where she serves as collegiate minister, entrepreneur, and a businesswoman in the financial industry. ABOUT BLACK HISTORY 365 EDUCATION: Black History 365 Education (BH365) is a new educational organization focused on documenting the history of Black persons, groups, and cultures in North America. BH365's purpose is to create cutting-edge resources that invite students, educators, and other readers to become critical thinkers, compassionate listeners, fact-based, respectful communicators and action-oriented solutionists. The organizations new U.S. history textbook is Black History 365: An Inclusive Account of American History, by Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D., and Dr. Walter Milton, Jr. I believe in and support the K-12 Black History 365 (BH365) curriculum, said Ambassador Andrew Young. I encourage every school district throughout the United States to strongly consider adopting the comprehensive Black History 365 curriculum as their choice for African American studies. To learn more, visit http://blackhistory365education.com. CONTACT: Lynn McCain McCain & Co. Public Relations Email: mccainprnews@mccainpr.com Phone: 615-262-1727 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McCain-Co-Public-Relations-128761610472608 Twitter: https://twitter.com/McCainPR In one example, ComEd admitted in court documents to hiring Law Firm A in 2011 in part, with the intent to influence and reward Madigan. When the firms contract was up for renewal in 2016, a lawyer with the firm Lawyer A allegedly complained to McClain that ComEd sought to reduce the firms hours, according to court records. McClain took the complaint to Pramaggiore, writing, I am sure you know how valuable [Lawyer A] is to our Friend, a reference to Madigan. Pramaggiore saw to it the contract was renewed, court records allege. STAMFORD A bookkeeper at a Stamford chemical company has been charged with allegedly stealing $477,000 from her Stamford-based employer. On July 30, Stamford police received a complain from Anthony Bestoff, who reported that his company, Faesy & Bestoff, had been defrauded out of about $400,000 by a company employee. He said that his bookkeeper, Christine Weinreb, 51, of Buckingham Drive, had admitted to taking the money while talking to him at his High Ridge Road office. Mark Sherman, Weinrebs Stamford criminal defense attorney, would not discuss case specifics, but noted that the allegations are extraordinarily out of character for his client, who has no criminal history. We expect to work with the court to reach a quick and fair disposition that takes into account all the goodwill Christine has garnered, both personally as a devoted mother and wife, as well as professionally outside of the context of these allegations, he said. After turning herself in on Friday, Weinreb was arraigned on a first-degree larceny charge and released after posting a $100,000 court appearance bond. When the call came in at the end of July, Police investigators went to the business to speak with Weinreb and Bestoff. When they got to Bestoffs High Ridge office they could see the two were visibly upset, police said. They were told that Weinreb, a married mother of two, had been working for the company for 12 years, oversaw the companys financial data, maintained the its payable and receivable accounts and had access to the companys two business accounts, police said. According to her 11-page arrest affidavit, Weinreb told officers Paul DeRiu and Vanessa Lynn that she could no longer live with the guilt she had from stealing from the company. She said she was able to defraud the company by making online bank transfers from the two business accounts to her own bank account. She said she took the money to pay bills and pay off her credit cards, the affidavit said. To show her contrition, she said she did her own audit of the business accounts and provided investigators with bank statements going back to 2014, which she said would show the fraud, according to the affidavit. At a follow-up interview at police headquarters, Weinreb was very cooperative and showed great remorse for her illegal actions, the affidavit said. Financial crimes investigators going through the bank records discovered 200 fraudulent transactions that combined for a total loss of $477,137, the affidavit said. Many of the transfers ranged from $1,000 to $2,000, but some were as high as $15,000 and one was for $36,000, according to a pages-long list alleged transactions contained in Weinrebs court file. The case is being transferred to the Part A docket where the most serious criminal cases in the Stamford courthouse are adjudicated. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com WAWA, Pa., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wawa announced today an official #Wawa Run in an EV sweepstakes which exclusively invites Virginia residents to enter to win a 3-year Tesla Model 3 lease. To kick off the sweepstakes, Wawa hosted an event during National Drive Electric week at its Vienna, VA location to celebrate the 500,000th chainwide Electric Vehicle customer at a Wawa. The event featured the Tesla Model 3 vehicle with a giant red bow and the ceremonial plugging in, marking the half million mark in EV customers since inception and launching the sweepstakes for the Tesla Model 3 Lease. See broll clips HERE. Wawa proudly hosts 33 electric charging stations to date with a goal of reaching 40 by year end, across our entire operating area, with the purpose of providing 'boundless convenience,' for friends and neighbors seeking access to food, beverages and charging stations at one destination, said Brian Schaller, Chief Real Estate and Fuel Officer, Wawa. "We selected our Vienna, VA store as a backdrop to announce this sweepstakes as its the first store in company history to open with EV chargers only, no fuel pumps, which demonstrates our commitment to innovation, sustainability and our continued desire to meet the needs of our customers. How to Enter the Sweepstakes Beginning on Tuesday, September 29, 11am EDT through Monday, October 26, 2020, 10:00 a.m. EDT, customers can visit www.wawa.com/EV-giveaway to complete an online form to officially enter the Tesla Model 3 lease sweepstakes. Eligibility requirements include: one entry per person, Virginia residency and availability to complete lease paperwork and participate in live prize presentation the week of October 26. Fast Facts about Wawas Electric Vehicle Charging Program: Wawa began hosting Electric Charging Stations at its first store in 2017. Wawa hosts Tesla Superchargers, and EVgo and Electrify America CCS and CHAdeMO chargers. To date, Wawa hosts 33 Electric Charging Stations, including 31 Supercharging sites and 2 CCS and CHAdeMO stations. In 2020 Wawa made history with the opening of our first non-fuel prototype in Virginia with only electric charging stations. With 92 stores in the state of Virginia, the following four locations host EV charging stations: Store #692 - 11701 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Chester, VA 23831 - Tesla Superchargers Store #8617 10060 Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA 22407 Tesla Superchargers Store #8669 465 Maple Avenue W., Vienna, VA 22180 Tesla V3 Superchargers Store #655 5231 Brook Rd., Richmond, VA 23227- EVgo CCS and CHAdeMO chargers For a complete list of Wawa stores hosting EV charging please see the location finder on Wawa.com or the Store Amenities in the Wawa App. About Wawa in Virginia In 1998, Wawa opened its first Virginia store, with a goal to provide a whole new world of quality and convenience for Virginians. Now, more than 20 years later, Wawa has 92 stores in the market and employs approximately 3500 associates across the Commonwealth. With the plan to open 5 stores in the Virginia market before the end of 2021, Wawa plans to continue to invest in Virginia communities for years to come. About Wawa, Inc. Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, PA in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and certified process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, Georges grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. Today, Wawa is your all day, every day stop for freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs. Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as custom prepared hoagies, freshly-brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, specialty beverages and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks. CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com It is an emotional occasion for Gujarat's Alang, also famous as the world's largest graveyard of ships, where the dismantling of the world's longest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat has begun. After its dismantling at Alang, the once-splendid fighter aircraft will be sold as scrap. It was a poignant moment for Navy veterans to witness INS Viraat leave the Mumbai Harbour as the Centaur-class aircraft served the Indian Navy for more than 30 years. Here's a look at its eventful journey since its commissioning in 1987: The bulky warship, which served in the British Royal Navy for 27 years as HMS (Her Majesty's Ship) Hermes was renamed INS Viraat upon its induction into the Indian Navy in 1987. INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the UK's Plymouth on May 12, 1987. After serving the British Navy for 27 years and the Indian Navy for 30 years, this celebrated warship has completed a total 57 years in operational service. The naval fighter is 226.5 m long and has a beam of 48.78m. The INS Viraat has maximum speed of 28 knots or 52 km/hour. The aircraft carrier played a crucial role in strategic and military operations like Operation Jupiter, Operation Parakram and Operation Vijay. INS Viraat first saw action in Operation Jupiter in 1989 during the Indo-Sri Lanka strife by sending peacekeeping forces to Sri Lanka, post which she was affiliated with the Garhwal Rifles and Scouts of the Indian Army in 1990. INS Viraat also played a substantial role in blockading Pakistani ports, primarily the Karachi port as part of 1999's Operation Vijay. Viraat then saw action in Operation Parakram that took place in 2001-2002, following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. Nicknamed the Grand Old Lady, this ship has participated in various international joint exercises like in Malabar with the US Navy, Varuna with the French Navy, Naseem-ul-Bahr with the Omani Navy, and was an important part of the annual Theater Level Operation Exercise (TROPEX) in 2014. The illustrious era of the INS Viraat came to an end when it was decommissioned by the Indian Navy in March 2017. Viraat completed 2,258 days, covered 5,90,000 nautical miles and 22,622 hours of flying operations. It could carry 25 aircraft including Sea King 42 B/C, Sea Harrier fighters, Chetak, Kamov 31, and ALH helicopters. In July 2019, the Central government informed the Parliament that the decision to scrap the INS Viraat was taken after consultations with the Indian Navy. There were also plans mooted by several state governments to convert the magnificent warship into a restaurant or a museum, but none of them ever materialised. Alang-based Shree Ram group purchased it for Rs 38.54 crore at an auction. During this significant yet emotional occasion at Alang, Union Shipping Minister Hasmukh Mandaviya proclaimed, "Time has come to say thank you INS Viraat." The Union Minister added, "The reason for bringing INS Viraat here is because it has reached 70 years of age and its maintenance expenses were increasing considerably and it was slowly becoming weaker, seeing that there was a need to give it a final farewell." INS Viraat is the second aircraft carrier to be dismantled in India. In 2014, INS Vikrant was broken down in Mumbai. (Edited by Mehak Agarwal with agency inputs) Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is now officially a father after his fiance, Rooney Maya, reportedly gave birth to a baby boy recently. The "Joker" star and the 35-year-old actress met in 2013. Since then, they have worked in several films, including "Mary Magdalene" in 2018. Phoenix and Mara eventually got engaged in May 2019. Although the couple has yet to confirm or deny Mara's pregnancy, the actress and animal activist was seen sporting a baby bump earlier this year. While the couple has yet to confirm the good news publicly, Phoenix's director revealed the baby's birth in a recent interview. While promoting the new film "Gunda," which Phoenix served as executive producer, director Viktor Kossakovsky excused the actor's absence due to his son's birth. Kossakovsky apologized on behalf of the actor and casually dropped the big news and important detail about the baby. "He just got a baby, by the way, his name was... a beautiful son called River, so he cannot promote [the film] right now," the director said. This revelation drew a sudden interest in the story behind the name of Phoenix's first son. Apparently, the baby boy was named after the actor's older brother, River, who had a tragic death 27 years ago. River Phoenix Joaquin Phoenix's brother was also an actor like him. He started his career as an advertisement model and eventually ventured into acting as a child star. After playing small roles, River landed his breakout role in the classic movie "Stand By Me" in 1986. As early as 15-year-old, River stared in a coming-of-age drama, which kicked off his popularity. Two years later, River got an Oscar nomination for his role in the 1988 film "Running on Empty." He got famous for his roles in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade and My Own Private Idaho. According to Mirror, at the peak of River's popularity, he flew back to Los Angeles in October 1993 to shoot a movie in New Mexico. During a night out, the young star fell ill in a club after taking cocktail drugs. His sister Rain and brother Joaquin was also in the area to help him, but he started having seizures on the pavement, leading Joaquin to plead for help and made a frantic call to 911. River was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where paramedics attempted to resuscitate him, but he was eventually pronounced dead. A police report revealed that River's cause of death was "acute multiple drug intoxication." Morphine, cocaine, and marijuana were found in his system, along with Valium and over-the-counter cold medicine. River's death sent a shockwave not just to Hollywood but also to his family, who was left devastated. Joaquin Phoenix recently opened up about his brother's tragic death, saying that he felt like his movie roles have something to do with River even after decades. "I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way," Phoenix said during his "60 Minutes" interview. READ MORE: Tyra Banks and Louis Belanger-Martin Engaged? Model Discusses 'The Ring' The owner of a bar attended by one of Queensland's accused quarantine dodgers claims she has cost his business $100,000. Olivia Muranga attended Cowch Bar in Brisbane's Southbank the day after having a coronavirus test in June when she fell sick following her trip to Melbourne. The 20-year-old along with Diana Lasu, 21, and Haja Timbo, 21, are accused of lying to authorities about where they had been on return to Queensland. Olivia Muranga (pictured centre) arrives at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday after allegedly lying to authorities to avoid quarantine to enter Queensland from Melbourne 'That month of August, sales probably got affected, probably about $100,000 down,' Cowch Bar owner Arif Mendes told A Current Affair. 'It was very, very tough.' Mr Mendes said he was forced to send five staff to isolate for two weeks after working on the day of Ms Muranga's visit, while another 15 required tests. 'So that was pretty tough for all of them trying to support them during that period - not only financially but with their mental health,' he said. Mr Mendes said furious patrons hurled abuse at him following Ms Muranga's visit to his bar. 'We had customers calling, mad at us, saying "hey, why didn't you tell us?" And there were people around us saying "were you there Arif? Don't come near us, don't go your local gym",' he said. Both Ms Muranga and Ms Lasu were diagnosed with COVID-19 after allegedly ignoring isolation orders and spending eight days in the public while infected. Cowch Bar owner Arif Mendes (pictured) said his business was detrimentally effected after Ms Muranga's visit Ms Timbo tested negative for coronavirus, while the 22-year-old sister of one of the infected pair turned in a positive test result. Authorities believed a man contracted the virus when he ate at a Sunnybank restaurant, also attended by one woman two days after her arrival in Brisbane. His wife - who worked in a nursing home - later also tested positive. Genomic testing was done in August to determine whether there was a link between the cluster sparked by the women from Logan, south of Brisbane, and one involving people connected to a Brisbane youth detention centre staff member who also tested positive. Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young said last month the clusters were of the same virus strain although there was a 'missing link' between the two. Health Minister Steven Miles later said the testing hadn't proved a solid link between the two. CCTV footage captured Ms Muranga attending Cowch Bar in Brisbane's Southbank (pictured) the day after she was tested for COVID-19 The travelling trio appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday charged with one count of fraud and one of providing false or misleading documents. They are facing up to five years in prison and a $13,000 fine if convicted. The three women allegedly gave an emergency officer a Queensland border pass that contained false information stating they had not been in a COVID-19 hotspot in the previous 14 days, according to court documents. They are also charged with fraud for allegedly dishonestly gaining a benefit of avoiding the mandatory 14 day self-quarantine at their own expense. Lasu and Muranga's matters have been adjourned to October 28. Timbo's case is listed again for October 21. The three will not be required to appear in court if represented by their solicitors. Diana Lasu (pictured) was diagnosed with coronavirus after taking the trip to Melbourne in July Delhi, Karnataka, Bihar: What is allowed and what is not Unlock 5.0 guidelines: Here is what to expect India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: The fourth stage of the nationwide lockdown will come to an end tomorrow. The Union Government had as part of Unlock 4.0 had given various relaxations such as resumption of metro services and also allowed partial re-opening of schools for classes 9-12. The fifth stage of Unlock will begin on October 1 and there are reports that more relaxations will be granted. More economic activity is likely to one allowed after October 1. Unlock 4.0: Delhi hotels, restaurants, clubs can serve liquor from Sept 9; Do's and Dont's The opening of cinema halls would be something to watch out for. The Ministry of Home Affairs had only given permission for open air theatres to resume operations. In August the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had given the MHA a sitting arrangement formula and as per the plan, alternate seats in the first row and the next were to be kept vacant in order to maintain social distancing. The tourism sector is also likely to see more relaxations. Recently, the government had allowed the Taj Mahal to open. It is expected that more tourist destinations are likely to open up as part of Unlock 5.0. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News However in the case of primary schools, no relaxations are expected to be given. The schools at the primary level are expected to remain closed for a few more weeks. As part of the relaxations given earlier, the government permitted opening of schools for students from class 9 to 12. The government had however made it clear that students could visit schools to consult with teachers. Press release H1 2020 results Growth outperforms the market Pushing ahead with innovation to boost sales EBITDA improves despite difficult health environment Solid financial structure underpinning development New strategic recruitments to flesh out pan-European offer London, 29 September 2020 - Invibes Advertising, an advanced technology company specialising in digital in-feed advertising, today reported its results for the first half of 2020. The interim financial report is available on the Company's website https://www.invibes.com/uk/uk/investors.html Unaudited consolidated data, in k IFRS H1 2020 H1 2019 ? Revenue 3,663 3,610 +1% Purchasing and external expenses (1,942) (2,038) -5% Personnel expenses (1,672) (1,715) -3% EBITDA 1 (58) (135) NA Operating profit (427) (398) NA Group net income (expense) (515) (415) NA Growth outperforms the market Invibes Advertising chalked up organic consolidated revenue growth of +1.6 % to 3.7 million in the first half of 2020. This performance was all the more remarkable when compared to the 17% slump in the French display and video advertising market during the period2, a trend mirrored in other European markets in which the Group operates. This fine showing was the result of proactive efforts on the sales front, underpinned by two strategic levers: the ongoing drive to win new business in the form of a host of major international brands and the renewed confidence among existing clients. Pushing ahead with innovation to boost sales To preserve its strong sales momentum, Invibes Advertising pushed ahead with its innovation efforts in H1, creating a raft of new, non-intrusive advertising formats aimed at generating heightened user engagement and enhancing the efficiency of the advertising campaigns managed on behalf of its clients. Invibes Advertising notably created Invibes Chatbot, a new format enabling users to communicate using preconfigured messages, thereby offering unique, interactive experiences. EBITDA improves despite difficult health environment Invibes Advertising chalked up a 77k increase in EBITDA to -58k in the first half of 2020, up from -135k in H1 2019, thanks to its firm hand on operating expenses during the period. This performance is especially noteworthy in light of the team structuring initiatives underway to support its expansion in Europe. As a reminder, the Company now operates in eight countries (France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Italy, Belgium and Luxemburg). The Group recruited 11 new staff in H1 2020, raising its total headcount to 84 at end-June. Taking into account the 349k charge for amortisation and depreciation, Invibes Advertising recorded operating income of -427k, which is practically stable compared to H1 2019. Net income came to -515k. Solid financial structure underpinning development Despite substantial investments in R&D to speed up its expansion, the Group continues to boast a solid financial structure, with shareholders' equity of 6.8m and a net cash position of 2.4m at end-June 2020. New strategic recruitments to launch pan-European offering To meet the high expectations of international brands seeking solutions for pan-European advertising campaigns, Invibes Advertising appointed Yuri Loburets to the newly-created role of Group Sales Director. His mission will be to rapidly deploy a sales team and put together a pan-European sales organisation, underpinned by the Group's solid footprint in eight European countries. This cross-cutting approach spotlights the vertical nature of Invibes Advertising's offering per sector, targeting major international brands, whether or not they are already Group clients. The implementation of these pan-European solutions in the near future should fuel natural growth in average ad campaign budgets. Yuri Loburets brings 15 years' experience in advertising, media, and marking technology, specialising in strategic sales and developing international partnerships. Before joining Invibes Advertising, he worked for Egta, a Brussels-based trade organisation that represents more than 150 major TV/video and radio/audio advertising companies worldwide. Prior to that, Yuri held executive sales positions in major television, radio and online media companies, as well as at Communicorp group and International Commercial Television (ICTV). CSO appointed in Hamburg to help drive expansion in Germany Invibes Advertising has had a presence in Germany since 2018 and now has a foothold in four cities (Munich, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Hamburg), ensuring full coverage of this highly strategic market for the Group. Indeed, Germany is one of the biggest markets in Europe in terms of ad-spend. With a view to strengthening its commercial firepower in the country, Invibes Advertising has appointed Ravi Ahluwalia to the position of Chief Sales Officer of the Hamburg office. Ravi Ahluwalia has more than 20 years' experience in business development, notably in advertising, marketing and social networks. Before joining Invibes Advertising, Ravi was Head of Sales at Emetriq, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom group, specialising in retargeting marketing and data monetization. Prior to that, he was Director and member of the Management Committee of Facelift, one of the world leaders in social media management. Ravi also headed Rosenzweig & Schwarz, a brand management specialist, before co-founding and directing CleverFox, an on-demand marketing services firm. 2020 Outlook Although the precise impact of the epidemic on Invibes Advertising's business activity remains hard to gauge, the Group is actively pursuing efforts to take full advantage of the rebound in the advertising market once the situation starts gradually returning to normal. Provided the health situation stabilises, the company has all the levers at its disposal to continue chalking up strong performances in future and set a course for long-term growth. About Invibes Advertising Invibes Advertising is an advanced technology company that specializes in digital advertising. Its innovative solutions are supported by an in-feed format that's integrated into media content. Invibes is inspired by social network advertising and develops its own technology to help brands better communicate with consumers. Its technology is optimized for distributing in a closed network of media sites, including: Bertelsmann, Hearst, Unify, Groupe Marie Claire, Axel Springer, and many others. Clients include major brands such as Mercedes, Samsung, Levis, and IBM. Founded in 2011, Invibes Advertising is a listed company on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Ticker: ALINV - ISIN: BE0974299316). Visit www.invibes.com for more information. For our latest press releases, go to: https://www.invibes.com/uk/uk/investors.html Keep up with all the latest news on Invibes Advertising: LinkedIn @Invibes Advertising Twitter@Invibes_adv Facebook@Invibes Advertising Financial & Corporate Contacts: Invibes Advertising Kris Vlaemynck, CFO kris.vlaemynck@invibes.com Listing Sponsor Atout Capital Rodolphe OSSOLA rodolphe.ossola@atoutcapital.com + +33 (0) 1 56 69 61 80 Group Investor Relations Actifin Alexandre Commerot acommerot@actifin.fr + +33 (0) 1 56 88 11 11 Financial Media Relations Actifin Jennifer Jullia jjullia@actifin.fr + +33 (0) 1 56 88 11 19 1 EBITDA = Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation and provisions. 2 SRI (French union of online ad networks) - 24th edition of "Observatoire de l'e-pub" (Overview of e-advertising sector) Attachment [September 29, 2020] Auto Trader Implements PCI Pal for Secure and Compliant Payments PCI (News - Alert) Pal, the global provider of secure payment solutions, has announced that TRADER, the leading digital player in Canadian automotive, boasting recognizable brands such as Auto Trader, has successfully implemented its Agent Assist payment solution to ensure Cardholder Not Present (CNP) payments are handled securely and in compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard. TRADER accepts customer payments in a number of ways, from automatic card transactions to over the phone via its team of contact center agents. The company was in search of a solution that would ensure the security of its customers' payment card information, with no degradation to its customer service quality and seamless integration with existing internal workflows and technologies, such as payment gateways, cloud platforms and phone and CRM systems. Following a phased implementation process, TRADER's credit and collections teams now use PCI Pal's Agent Assist to secure all Cardholder Not Present (CNP) payments. Agent Assist utilizes Dual-Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) masking technology to 'mask' sensitive payment data shared by the customer, enabling contact center agents to continue the conversation without ever accessing sensitive data, even as customers input their payment information. Sandy McMurry, a TRADER Helpdesk Technician responsible for overseeing the implementation process said: "PCI Pal was very accommodating from the start. They paid special attention to making sure we understood how the solution and implementation process would work and worked closely with our VoIP partner to ensure the transition went smothly. Now that the solution is in place, our customers and agents love it." Soula Katrivanos, Controller, TRADER said: "We want our customers to feel confident in how we are handling their sensitive personal data. Agent Assist allows us to achieve the highest levels of compliance while giving our customers peace of mind that their payment details are in good hands. Not only that, but the integration process with PCI Pal was simple, integrating seamlessly into our existing ways of working and communication." "As a leading digital player in the Canadian automotive industry, it's so important for TRADER to ensure the security of its customer service channels. We're very proud that TRADER has put its trust in us to protect its customers' sensitive information," said Darren Gill, CRO, PCI Pal. "TRADER's confidence in our technology and team is a direct reflection of PCI Pal's continued investments in its technology and people." About PCI Pal PCI Pal is the global provider of secure payment solutions for contact centres and businesses. PCI Pal's globally accessible cloud platform empowers organisations to take Cardholder Not Present payments securely without bringing their environments into scope of PCI DSS and other card payment data security rules and regulations. With products in the cloud and served from PCI Pal's cloud environment, integrations with existing telephony, payment, and desktop environments are flexible and proven, ensuring no degradation of service while achieving security and compliance. PCI Pal provides a true omnichannel solution so payments can be managed securely via telephone, IVR or across any digital channel, including Webchat, Whatsapp, Social Media, Email and SMS. Their new Speech Recognition capability for both Agent Assist and IVR Payment solutions allow users the option of allowing callers to securely speak their sensitive card details while PCI Pal processes the data and prevents it from entering the company's environment. PCI Pal has offices in London, Ipswich (UK) and Charlotte NC (USA). For more information visit www.pcipal.com or follow the team on Twitter (News - Alert) : https://twitter.com/PCIPAL View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005168/en/ [ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ] Effective members of Congress take care of their districts and Quigley does. He also plays a critical role in national security as a member of both the intelligence and appropriations committees. With the U.S. facing Russian attempts to influence elections, Quiqley helped obtain $400 million in election security grants. Theres something else weve liked about Quigley since his days as a reformer on the Cook County Board: Hes got a logical streak and a taste for bipartisanship. Yes, Quigley is a tried-and-true Chicago Democrat, but he knows effective governance requires compromise, even when bipartisanship is out of fashion. Hes not blowing smoke when he says, It is important to look past party affiliation and ultimately do what we believe is in the best interest of our constituents and the country. Mike Quigley is endorsed over Republican challenger Tommy Hanson and Green Party candidate Thomas J. Wilda, both of Chicago. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:15:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Pankaj Yadav NEW DELHI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Stubble burning has once again emerged as a major cause of concern particularly in India's northern states of Punjab and Haryana, and is expected to worsen the air pollution in the national capital New Delhi. A large number of stubble-burning spots have been spotted over the past few days. Most of them are reported to be in Punjab, followed by the neighbouring state Haryana, which shares a border with New Delhi. The smoke emitted from the stubble-burning normally becomes a major source of air pollution in the Indian capital city. Earlier this month, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, "Last year, the stubble burning comprised 44 percent of Delhi's pollution, apart from Delhi's own share of pollutants." He added that in Punjab around 20 million tonnes of stubble were produced, and around nine million tonnes of stubble were burned in Punjab in 2019. In Haryana, around seven million tonnes of stubble were produced, out of which 1.23 million tonnes of stubble were burned last year. Stubble burning has led to a major deterioration in Delhi's air quality, rendering it the dangerous, or life threatening, category. Every year in the months of November and December a thick layer of smoke and fog envelopes Delhi and its adjoining areas due to the smoke emitted from the farm lands in Punjab and Haryana. The rise in air pollution levels often lead to a spurt in breathing problems among the people living in Delhi and surrounding areas. Despite the various initiatives taken by the federal and state governments to control the ill practice, the farmers in Punjab and Haryana continue burning the stubble or crops' residue in order to clear their lands and prepare them for the next crop season. It is learnt that subsidies offered by the governments to the farmers for straw management machinery are not attractive enough for small farmers to adopt them, said an article published in the Hindustan Times newspaper. Recently Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to federal Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar suggesting that the federal government must adopt policies for converting stubble to manure. Over the past couple of weeks, satellite images have shown smoke billowing out of stubble burning in the Punjab state. On Tuesday media reports said the U.S. satellite images showed that cases of stubble burning have slowly started rising in Haryana state as well. On Monday Delhi's overall air quality (AQI) was 159, considered in the moderate range. Taking cognizance of the emerging situation, the Delhi High Court on Monday sought the federal government's response while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) that stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana states could aggravate the COVID-19-related problems. The PIL had contended that stubble burning would lead to an increase in air pollution drastically in the Indian capital and could further aggravate health problems in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem Mr. Mueller declined to address the specifics in Mr. Weissmanns book but said that he had the final say in major decisions and defended Mr. Zebley, his former chief of staff when Mr. Mueller was director of the F.B.I. My deputy, Aaron Zebley, was privy to the full scope of the investigation and all that was at issue, Mr. Mueller said. I selected him for that role because I knew from our 10 years working together that he is meticulous and principled. He was an invaluable and trusted counselor to me from start to finish. When important decisions had to be made, I made them, Mr. Mueller said. I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation. Mr. Weissmann was also critical of Mr. Muellers decision to not subpoena the president for testimony. We would have subpoenaed the president after he refused our accommodations, even if that risked us being fired, Mr. Weissmann wrote. It just didnt sit right. We were left feeling like we had let down the American public, who were counting on us to give it our all. Mr. Mueller acknowledged that his decisions were certain to be widely criticized. The offices mission was to follow the facts and to act with integrity, Mr. Mueller said. That is what we did, knowing that our work would be scrutinized from all sides. Mr. Mueller did not speak publicly during the investigation and has only done so a handful of times since it ended. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) -SKRR Exploration Inc. (TSXV: SKRR) (OTC PINK: SKKRF) (FSE: B04Q) ("SKRR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that crews and equipment have been mobilized to the Olson property (the "Property") to commence a 12-hole, 1850m diamond drilling program. The Property is located within the Trans Hudson Corridor 100 km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan and 80km south of SSR Mining's Seabee Gold Operation. Under the terms of the option agreement with Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. ("Eagle Plains"), SKRR may earn-in up to a 75% interest in the Property. Drill Target Highlights Jena - Juba Area: Combined data from historical drilling and field work from the 2020 field program outlines a mineral strike length in excess of 1km at the Jena/Juba area 20 grab samples returning greater than 1000ppb Au with a maximum assay of 15.7 g/t Point - Tuscan Area: 2018 field work identified 13 grab samples returning between 1.0 g/t Au and 45.1 g/t Au Drilling to test mineralization in the coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies defined from 2020 field work Siskin Area: Detailed mapping and structural interpretation from 2020 field work identified a previously un-reported structure that may control higher grade ore shoots from the Au mineralization identified by historical drilling Drill holes are planned to intersect the down-plunge extensions of the surface mineralization "We are extremely excited to commence our inaugural drilling program on the highly prospective Olson property,"stated Sherman Dahl, Chief Executive Officer of SKRR. "Our team has a history of identifying world class discoveries. We look forward to continuing their record in the gold producing Trans Hudson Corridor. This drilling campaign follows a very successful field work program in an under explored property with multiple high-grade gold occurrences." The four week program will be supervised by Jarrod Brown, P.Geo of Terralogic Exploration Services of Cranbrook, B.C. and will rely extensively on support services and personnel from the town of Deschambault Lake, SK. Management of Eagle Plains and SKRR would like to extend their thanks to the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation ("PBCN") for their open communication and input and would like to recognize the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and its various agencies and contractors for their efforts in keeping this project moving amidst the challenges that COVID-19 has presented. 2020 Drill Targets The Olson property has seen 4,500 meters of historic diamond drilling in 61 holes with the majority of the drilling in short holes focused on the Olson Lake and Dosco - Siskin Zones, with the last drill program completed in 2008. The 2020 drilling will further test historically drilled zones, as well as previously undrilled and underexplored showings based on a current understanding of gold mineralization controls. The drill target modelling is based on a comprehensive integration of historical and recent geophysics and geochemical surveys as well as detailed mapping and sampling work. Numerous drill targets have been generated throughout the 5,835 hectare property, with the current program focused on the central part of the property. Since staking the Olson project in 2017, Eagle Plains has carried out field programs in 2018 and 2020 which have identified new discoveries and refined the understanding of the nature of the gold mineralization. The 2020 Phase One field program identified widespread gold mineralization in both soil samples and in rock channel samples (see SKRR's news release dated September 10, 2020). In addition, an IP/ DC Resistivity survey defined a number of target areas coincident with anomalous geochemistry and favorable structural settings. IP-resistivity has been used in the past to successfully identify drill targets at the Olson showing area with drill holes targeting a linear high chargeability and low conductivity feature with a magnetic high and flanking EM anomalies intersecting near-surface mineralization with grades up to 7.5m @ 2.07 g/t Au (SDMI #5093; DDH BL-2). Drilling activity is intended to test three separate target areas. Jena/Juba Area The soil geochemical grids established at the Jena-Juba area in 2020 identify a strong northeast trending gold-in-soil anomaly over and along strike from the known workings. The surface vein expression and coincident soil geochemical anomaly trend, in tandem with magnetic geophysical lineaments, delineate the contact between the Brownell Lake pluton and the surrounding Brownell Lake Group. This contact is coincident with increased shearing, alteration intensity and quartz veining. The target is further enhanced by the results from the six lines of IP / DC Resistivity completed in 2020. The combined data outlines a testable mineral strike length in excess of 1 km. Although the single historic drill hole completed at the Jena intersected 3.87m of 0.86 g/t Au (SMDI #2221; DDH H87-7), 2020 mapping and structural interpretation indicates that the hole was likely oriented parallel to the main structures and may have missed the most prospective targets. A single hole at the Jena will test mineralization along the intrusive / metasediment contact zone coincident with an IP conductivity feature. At the Juba, two drill sites will test a multi-line strong chargeability anomaly consistent with known mineralized trends defined by geochemical sampling and mapping. Point - Tuscan The Point-Tuscan grid area is underlain by granite in contact with pelitic schist and volcanic rocks. 2020 prospecting, mapping, channel sampling, infill soil geochemical sampling and 6 lines of IP / DC resistivity geophysics defined coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies adjacent to contacts with pelitic schist at the Point, and shear/vein systems associated with mafic volcanics within the Hartley Shear Zone at the Tuscan. The four holes planned at the Point area will test a sheeted vein system defined by the intersection of three parallel NNE Au-anomaly trends with mapped east-west trending shear zones. At the Tuscan, two holes will target 2020 soil geochemical anomalies coincident with geophysical anomaly trends, as well as a deeper IP chargeability feature. Siskin Historical drilling at the Sisko intercepted wide zones of low grade discontinuous Au mineralization (SMDI #2219f; DDH S-84-1: 26.22m @ 0.38g/t Au). Detailed mapping and structural interpretation in the Sisko area in 2020 identified a previously un-reported structure that may control the orientation of higher grade ore shoots within both the Sisko structural corridor and in other parts of the property. The three holes planned for the Sisko are oriented to intersect the down-plunge extensions of the surface mineralization. Some of the above results and information were taken directly from the SMDI descriptions and assessment reports filed with the Saskatchewan government. SKRR cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work in the Olson property area. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6952/64819_30e5eaa074d69865_001full.jpg Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6952/64819_30e5eaa074d69865_002full.jpg 2020 Field Program The 2020 Olson field program was designed to define targets for diamond drilling program. Discovery International Geophysics completed 13 lines (8.6 line kilometers total) of combined IP/ DC Resistivity over the Point, Tuscan and Juba areas. This was followed by a 13 day geological field program carried out by TerraLogic Exploration Services. Soil sampling, prospecting, field mapping, and channel sampling were undertaken to delineate new areas of gold mineralization as well as advance known showings to identify and prioritize drill targets. The 2020 exploration program defined widespread gold mineralization in both soil samples and in rock channel samples. Assay results include 17 rock samples over 1.0 g/t Au and 35 soil samples values over 0.1 g/t (100 ppb) Au. Each showing inspected in 2020 returned samples with favourable assay results and the fieldwork conducted furthered the geologic vectoring of gold mineralization. Olson Project Summary: The Olson project is host to regionally-sheared, highly-strained meta-volcanic and adjacent intrusive rocks which are considered to be prospective for orogenic gold mineralization. The Olson project area is host to 29 mineral occurrences defined by historical geological mapping, prospecting, trenching and 4700 m of diamond drilling. Historical drilling at Olson Lake has intersected 7.5 m grading 2.07 g/t Au including 13.00 g/t Au over 0.65 m, and grab samples of up to 105.52 g/t Au have been collected at the Kalix occurrence. The project is considered to be significantly underexplored, with known gold occurrences open at depth and along strike. Results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains/SKRR but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work. In 2018, Eagle Plains and a previous partner completed a detailed compilation of existing data, followed by a 2- Phase, $150,000 field program which consisted of geological mapping and prospecting and the collection of a total of 862 soil samples and 126 rock samples. The 2018 field program verified the results of historical work and identified additional targets in areas that were previously underexplored. Grid soil geochemistry at the Jena and Point areas returned extensive gold in soil anomalies. Soil geochemical values ranged from below detection to a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au, with 6 samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. In the Jena area, soil geochemistry delineated a 1.4 km strike length of anomalous soil results greater than 80 ppb Au with a maximum of 1346 ppb Au. The Ackbar-Tuscan-Point area also returned promising results, with a 300m by 100m zone returning values greater than 80 ppb Au and a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au. Despite widespread gold bearing outcrops, soil geochemistry at the Olson and Juba showing areas returned lower values, likely related to thick clay and soil cover in these areas. Prospecting in the areas of anomalous soil geochemistry identified gold mineralization associated with shear-hosted quartz veins. Analytical results from outcrop ranged from below detection to a maximum of 45.1 g/t Au, with 20 grab samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. The Olson area had a maximum assay of 41.0 g/t Au from an outcrop grab sample of sheeted veins. The Jena area had 20 samples in excess of 1000 ppb Au with a maximum assay of 15.7 g/t Au from quartz-arsenopyrite veins. At the Juba occurrence, a grab sample returned 13.1 g/t Au. Mineralization at the Point and Tuscan area returned maximum values of 9.8 g/t Au at the Point and 45.1 g/t Au at Tuscan. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ross McElroy P.Geol, a director of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. McElroy verified the data disclosed (unless indicated otherwise) which includes a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained therein. About SKRR Exploration Inc.: SKRR is a Canadian-based precious metal explorer with properties in Saskatchewan - one of the world's highest ranked mining jurisdictions. The primary exploration focus is on the Trans-Hudson Corridor in Saskatchewan in search of world class precious metal deposits. The Trans-Hudson Orogen - although extremely well known in geological terms has been significantly under-explored in Saskatchewan. SKRR is committed to all stakeholders including shareholders, all its partners and the environment in which it operates. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Sherman Dahl President & CEO For further information contact: Rich Matthews, Investor Relations Integrous Communications rmatthews@integcom.us +1 6047577179 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements that address the drilling on the Olson property, work on other properties, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather conditions, decrease in the price of gold and other metals, equipment failures, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64819 Domestic sugar mills have been suffering from woes amid regional competition and are in dire need of support At this time of the year, Dao Van Duongs family should be preparing a new crop. However, this year is different as the sudden spike in imported sugar overshadowed even large domestic plantations, like the 15 hectares that Duong and his family are cultivating in Tho Lam commune in the north-central province of Thanh Hoas Tho Xuan district. The price of sugarcane in the local market is so low, I can only cover the cost for input materials, Duong said. During the last season, his family and more than 200 other contractors could sell raw sugarcane to Lam Son Sugar Joint Stock Corporation (Lasuco JSC) in the same district for around VND750,000-850,000 ($33-37) per tonne. Now, as each hectare yields only around 60-70 tonnes, Duong is worried that he may lose money in the next season if production costs continue to increase. In addition to these rising production costs, sugarcane-producing families like Duongs must cope with competition from abroad. Since January 1, when the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) came into force, Vietnam abolished import quotas for sugar from ASEAN member states, leading to a dramatic increase in imported sugar. In the first eight months of the year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) registered nearly 950,000 tonnes of imported sugar more than six times the amount of the same period last year. With the ATIGA in effect, tariffs for raw sugar reduced from 80 to 5 per cent. Similarly, trade tariffs for white sugar also fell to 5 from 85 per cent. This has prompted Thailand to increase its sugar exports to Vietnam drastically. Data from the MoIT shows that while Thailand exported around 145,000 tonnes to Vietnam in the first eight months of last year, the figure for the same period this year amounts to 860,000 tonnes, which is already nearly three times as much as the total 2019 imports of about 300,000 tonnes from the kingdom. Moreover, the protectionism of many sugar-importing markets is rendering the competition in the market unhealthy. Pham Hong Duong, chairman of TTC Sugar JSC, commented that, under the ATIGA, the domestic sugar price is being pushed down closer to global levels. However, Vietnams sugar is not competitive with other countries as local production costs are often higher than the price of imported sugar, despite improving manufacturing technologies. The most important measure that local companies have to take now is to reduce their costs to compete with imported sugar, Duong said. Furthermore, Vietnamese sugarcane farmers rely heavily on state support covering 80-90 per cent of their investment capital and output consumption support that other crops do not receive. However, because of this assistance, sugarcane helps farmers to support their families and stabilise their livelihoods. Moreover, although the main sugarcane product is sugar, the plants are also used to produce molasses, fertiliser, refreshment drinks, and even electricity with some of these outputs directly serving the farmers. Duong concluded that the biggest challenge at the moment is to harmonise the benefits for farmers and processing factories to guarantee a stable and long-term supply of input materials, which, in turn, could help to reduce the costs. Regional competition Vietnams sugar industry is being heavily influenced by regional competition and their imported goods. Data from the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA) shows that out of the original 41 sugar mills, only 13 are operating with revolving capital, 17 are currently suffering losses, and the remaining 11 have shut their doors entirely. Domestic sugar production decreased sharply from 1.5-1.6 million tonnes per year on average to just about 700,000 tonnes. Sugarcane farmers like Dao Van Duong are also rapidly diminishing as prices continue to fall amid the competition. While last year, around 300,000 households were still growing sugarcane, their numbers shrunk to only 70,000 this year. In addition to the challenge that the ATIGA presents, local sugarcane farmers also suffered under the pandemic. To cope with some of the hurdles, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Directive No.28/CT-TTg in July to emphasise the MoITs role in implementing solutions to develop Vietnams sugar industry together with other agencies. Relevant units shall quickly propose the application of trade remedies for imported sugar products following international commitments. However, even with these efforts, the local sugar industry may be further pushed down by the current competition and the side-effects of the pandemic. Talking to VIR, the VSSAs acting general secretary Nguyen Van Loc warned that prices for local sugar may fall even further as Thailand continues to sell its sugar products at very low prices. The situation could even worsen further since Thailands government announced on June 30 to financially support this industry with 10 billion ($317 million). Backed by this package, the Thai Ministry of Industry announced a sugarcane price of about 1,419 ($45) per tonne, Loc added. It remains unclear which of Thailands sugarcane products are subsidised and then dumped in the Vietnamese market. Nonetheless, according to the VSSA, local sugar demand for direct consumption and further processing is about two million tonnes per year. As imported sugar into Vietnam may reach 1.2 million tonnes in 2020, the local industry is left with just 800,000 tonnes to play with. The VSSA also said that before the ATIGA took effect, Vietnams sugar industry was under great pressure from smuggled sugar. In 2019, Thailand exported more than one million tonnes of sugar to Cambodia, though local consumption capped at around 200,000 tonnes. Thus, the remaining 800,000 tonnes could have been smuggled into Vietnam through trails and openings along the border. These issues surrounding the ineffective prevention of trade fraud and smuggling may have been another cause for the decline of local sugar production. While in the 2017-2018 crop year, Vietnam produced 1.47 million tonnes, output fell in the following season to just about 1.17 tonnes. Reassuring farmers As local authorities are understandably worried amid this daunting scenario, director of the MoITs Agency for Foreign Trade Phan Van Chinh last week met with researchers, sugar enterprises, and farmers to find solutions. Current government policy focuses on the 35,000 farmers growing sugarcane, Chinh asserted at the meeting. In principle, Vietnam does not restrict the import of sugar but aims to mainly do so whenever local production does not meet demand. We still have to import sugar, but we must address the issues and interests of farmers, Chinh reassured. He has good reason for the comments above, as Vietnams sugar market is technically closed to the outside, except for its commitments to the ASEAN. Vietnam will find several solutions to deal with the local sugar industrys shortcomings and improve its capacity while protecting local farmers. We also talked to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to find measures to manage sugar imports amid the new situation, Chinh said. According to the International Sugar Organization, different from previous years, there is no shortage this year in global sugar supply as the pandemic has slowed down demand around the globe significantly. Meanwhile, the worlds largest sugar producer, Brazil, is again increasing its output and forecast to produce around 39.5 million tonnes, according to the US Department of Agriculture. As local sugar producers struggle with regional competition, Tran Cong Thang, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, reassured that Vietnam is not inferior to Thailand when it comes to some raw materials. Since domestic enterprises have been focusing on diversifying their products, investing in technology, and developing material sources in advantageous localities, Vietnam may be able to have an edge over regional competitors if the country also builds up a decent distribution system, Thanh said. Nevertheless, even if local authorities manage to improve production and keep up with regional competitors, another enemy is waiting at the gates. The biggest difficulty, not just for sugarcane farmers, is climate change. Currently, its effects are visible as droughts are affecting the industry significantly, and not many farmers are equipped with proper irrigation systems. In addition, some Mekong Delta provinces where sugarcane is planted massively suffer under inundation and saline intrusion which also negatively impact sugarcane production. WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventy-one percent (71%) of students who expect lower grades than usual while learning remotely don't always have access to high-speed internet, according to a new report from The Manifest , a business how-to and news website. The survey accounts for 400 high school and college students' impressions on remote learning in the fall 2020 semester. Students without trusted internet access fear lower grades this semester, according to a new study from The Manifest. Students and families will have to spend more money on remote learning equipment such as internet, webcam, and microphones, according to a study from The Manifest. Internet access is essential for students to attend classes, submit assignments, and collaborate with classmates. Students with limited access have already started to fall behind in class. Accessibility disproportionately challenges Black, Latino, and Native American students, as well as those living in rural areas. Academic achievement gaps resulting from a lack of internet access will most severely impact these groups. Students Expected to Purchase Expensive Back-to-School Tech Equipment Expensive technological equipment is another barrier to entry for disadvantaged students participating in remote learning. Students will need to purchase computers (27%), internet (23%), webcams (21%), and microphones (16%), in addition to typical back-to-school supplies, according to The Manifest's study. Despite economic uncertainty during COVID-19, families are spending more on school shopping in 2020 due to purchases required for remote learning. Massive demand for remote learning devices challenged the supply chain, causing a computer shortage. Education Apps Offer Versatility, Making Learning More Accessible Almost all students (95%) used an educational learning app in the past year, a trend sure to grow in the fall semester due to online learning. The most popular learning app among respondents is Quizlet (44%), which allows students to prepare for tests through shared virtual flashcards. Lindsey Wander, founder and CEO of WorldWise Tutoring , a lifelong learning company, believes apps can solve standing accessibility issues. "Online learning through the use of technology is a great equalizer," Wander said. "Students of all backgrounds and at any location can have access to high-quality online learning resources by simply having a device and access to WiFi." Education apps supplement learning and don't serve as a replacement for remote education. However, they can serve as a starting point for achieving a more equitable learning environment. Currently, 52% of students expect academic cheating to increase during remote learning. Quizlet and Chegg have historically played a role in cheating, which may impact the remote learning experience. Read the full report here: https://themanifest.com/app-development/how-do-online-classes-work-2020 . For questions, reach out to Sydney Wess at [email protected] . About The Manifest The Manifest is a business news and how-to website that compiles and analyzes practical business wisdom for innovators, entrepreneurs, and small and mid-market businesses. Use The Manifest as an approachable tour guide through every stage of the buyer journey. With three main offerings data-driven benchmarks, step-by-step guides, and agency shortlists The Manifest strives to make your business goals a reality. Contact Sydney Wess [email protected] (202) 350-4344 SOURCE The Manifest Human rights organization Amnesty International is halting its operations in India, accusing the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in a witch-hunt. After a successful eight-year run in India addressing several crucial human rights violations amid growing hostility, Amnesty International (AI) India has decided to shut its operations in the country. The human rights watchdog announced that it has been compelled to let go off staff in India and halt all its work as its bank accounts have been frozen. In a statement, the organisation called the governments move to freeze its bank accounts a witch-hunt over unfounded and motivated allegations. The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental, said Amnesty International India executive director Avinash Kumar. Rights activists said the group, which has faced scrutiny by different government agencies over the past few years, saw the freezing of its bank accounts earlier this month as the final straw. This is distressing and clearly the message sent out by the government is that it will not tolerate criticism and telling international human rights groups that if you document rights violations by the Indian state we wont let you continue to function, rights activist Kavita Krishnan told RFI. It is a clampdown of civil liberties and does not augur well for the future. The rights body brought out two exhaustive reports on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the riots in the capital in February this year which reportedly irked the government. On August 5 this year marking the first anniversary of the scrapping of the special status of Kashmir, AI released an update on the situation of human rights in the region. Within days, it released another damning report on the riots in Delhi accusing the police of complicity in the violence, which claimed the lives of at least 53 people, mostly from the minority Muslim community. Story continues For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent," said Kumar. The Indian government has so far not commented on Amnestys allegations. Denying allegations of hounding out the rights watchdog, top government officials said AI is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate over alleged irregularities in receiving foreign funds. According to the home ministry, the organization "got money into India through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) route," that is not allowed in the case of non-profits. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said Amnestys exit was a blow. Indias stature as a liberal democracy with free institutions, including media & civil society organisations, accounted for much of its soft power in the world. Actions like this both undermine our reputation as a democracy & vitiate our soft power, he said on Twitter. More than four million Indians have supported Amnestys work in the last eight years and about 100,000 Indians had donated money. AI operates in over 70 countries, and the only other country previously that it had been forced to shut operations in was Russia in 2016. While the outdoor statue of Douglas has been removed, an indoor statue of Douglas on the Capitols second floor will remain for now, along with his portrait in the House chamber. The state board took no action this summer on their removal, but voted to take an inventory of all paintings, murals, statues, and other art in the 1876 building. Photo: (Photo : Photo from GoFundMe) A hero dad from New York who shielded his kids from a gunman was reported to be initially fired from his job. However, through the help of kind-hearted individuals, the New York dad has money to support his kids. A GoFundMe campaign made this possible for the hero dad, Anthony Jefferson. As of writing, the campaign was able to raise almost 300,000 US Dollars. READ ALSO: New York Hero Dad Shields Three Children from Gunman, Gets Shot in the Thigh The GoFundMe campaign One of the hero dad's close friends created the GoFundMe campaign. Serena Wingate decided to create the campaign to support Jefferson with his medical bills and the therapy of the kids. According to reports, the New York dad got shot twice in his boots and a bullet got stuck in his thigh. That is why he had to go through surgery. On the other hand, the kids, whom the dad shielded from the gunman, got traumatized by what happened. Because of this, they needed to go through therapy. READ ALSO: Hero Father Wrestled with a Stranger Who Attempted to Kidnap His Son The day of the shooting incident According to the GoFundMe Campaign page, the New York dad was at the car dealership because they wanted to get a vehicle for the kids' mom. However, on that unfortunate day, three gunmen fired shots at the store. There was video footage that showed how the hero dad shielded his kids from the gunmen until they were already safe. Police initially stated that they are looking into the possibility that the incident was gang-related. READ ALSO: Father and Daughter Relationship: Stronger Through California Fires Raising the funds There were reports which said that Jefferson lost his jobs because of the incident. He was juggling two gigs: painting and construction before the incident. Since then, there was an outpour of support for the hero dad. As of writing, the goal of raising 24,100 US Dollars has been greatly surpassed. A week after the shooting incident, the GoFundMe campaign for the New York dad has already raised 291,536 US Dollars. READ ALSO: Atlanta Dad's Discipline to Daughter Sparks Concern Among Viewers More than 8,500 people have donated for the cause. The largest donation, according to TMZ, is a 25,000-dollar donation. It was from an anonymous person. The rest of the donations were in increments of thousands to hundreds. Aside from monetary donations, a doctor has already pledged to give free therapy to Jefferson's kids via Zoom. Dr. Raha Divedar said that he is willing to take the case of the kids once a week for free, within a year or until they need it. She said that the family could just keep in touch with her for the arrangement of the therapy. Dr. Divedar is part of the Big HeArts Interventions. READ ALSO: 9-Year-Old Florida Boy Rescued Dad Who Injured Himself After a Dive According to WHO estimates, 20,000 rabies deaths every year in India; accounts for 36% of Rabies caused deaths the highest in the world Rabies is an infectious viral disease that is fatal by the time its symptoms start appearing after an animal bite. The WHO estimates the death toll caused by Rabies in India at about 1 lac in the last 5 years with more than 1/3rd (36%) of the total deaths across the globe. Every year in the world, 90% of Rabies deaths occur in the children living in rural areas of Africa and Asia while coming into contact with infected dogs. The number of Rabies deaths are still much above than COVID-19 related deaths reported so far (94,500 as on Sep 27). Hyderabad based Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), a leading biologicals company, organized a virtual session to address the issue with eminent heath experts on the occasion of World Rabies Day (Sept 28). The situation is deep-rooted in India due to the lack of awareness of preventive measures, uncontrolled canine population, insufficient dog vaccination, poor knowledge of proper post-exposure prophylaxis. The webinar on the topic of Managing Animal Bites Better Lets Collaborate, Educate and Vaccinated discussed on these issues. While speaking on the handing Rabies, Dr. K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said, IIL is truly a One Health company, playing a significant role in eradicating and providing cost-effective tools for the control of various zoonotic diseases in the country including the dreaded Rabies. As we move ahead there is an acute need of increasing the awareness level among the population at large. On World Rabies Day, several organizations come forward to intensify actions for the awareness of Rabies. IILs initiative of Fearless Against Rabies is well set to reach out to a larger population on the awareness of preventive measures for rabies. Indian Immunologicals has been a pioneer in making anti-rabies vaccine accessible for both humans and animals. IIL is one of the worlds largest producers of rabies vaccines and consistent supply of Abhayrab anti-rabies vaccine has helped reduce the burden of this deadly disease. This has been possible due to our committed people, wide and robust distribution network, and highly efficient manufacturing and quality systems , added Dr. Prasanna Deshpande, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited. Some Manitoba students who are immunocompromised or live with at-risk family members have yet to be assigned to a virtual classroom this year three weeks after their peers went back to school. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Some Manitoba students who are immunocompromised or live with at-risk family members have yet to be assigned to a virtual classroom this year three weeks after their peers went back to school. "Knowing how far behind I am and knowing how much I'm going to have to catch up on all my classes is really stressful," said Brooke Beaulieu, a Grade 12 student in the Winnipeg School Division. Owing to existing health conditions, Beaulieu was approved for remote delivery earlier this month and soon started receiving assignments from teachers at Grant Park High School while she awaited more details from the division. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Grade 12 Grant Park High School student Brooke Beaulieu still hasn't met some of her teachers yet, three weeks into the school year. After numerous phone calls and emails between her mother and administrators, she found out late last week she has to take her five fall courses through a mix of the divisions virtual school and InformNet, the provinces online high school. She has to start the school year over again, yet she still hasnt met all her new teachers. Manitoba Education has mandated the provinces 37 school boards provide division-level remote instruction for students who are medically advised not to return to school because of COVID-19-related factors. The back-to-school plan states the option is not to be provided through classroom teachers; general guidelines aside, it leaves divisions to sort out details. The result has been a patchwork of plans, from the Louis Riel School Divisions aptly named Learning from Home School to the "online learning community" of teachers and students in Pembina Trails School Division. For some families, it has also resulted in frustration as administrators continue ironing out details. The Free Press spoke with six families who have been approved for remote schooling in Manitoba, but remain unclear about their childrens learning plans. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Krystal Payne goes over Grade 3 school work with her daughter at their home. "I didn't expect a solid plan right off the hop, but its surprising to me that theres no (virtual teacher) yet," said Krystal Payne, whose Grade 3 daughter is awaiting information about the Winnipeg School Divisions online French immersion school. Since Sept. 8, she has been communicating with her daughters principal about how to proceed since Paynes elderly father lives with them. For the time being, its been through occasional video calls with classroom teachers and coursework. Division spokeswoman Radean Carter said classroom teachers have been providing work to remote families throughout September, while the province's largest school division has been hiring teachers, approving medical notes, distributing technology and finalizing virtual school plans. While Carter said English students started virtual classes last week, the division is still trying to hire a French teacher. I didn't expect a solid plan right off the hop, but its surprising to me that theres no (virtual teacher) yet. Krystal Payne "From our perspective, our virtual school is a good news story. Were really pleased with how quickly its come together," Carter said, adding that on Sept. 8, only four medical accommodations had been approved. That number has since grown to 388, including students with notes and those who cannot attend class because of the bus drivers strike. Cory Cameron at the St. James Assiniboia School Division echoed those comments. Cameron said families might have received limited coursework in September because in-class teachers have been busy teaching new public health protocols at school rather than curriculum. After Oct. 1, approximately 60 remote learners can expect the divisions remote program, Cameron said, adding logistics are communicated through individual schools. Considering it will have taken four weeks to organize, he considers it a success in terms of timing. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. At the same time, given the sudden pivot to remote instruction in March, mother Lisa Young said she expected the program would be more organized for her daughter in Grade 6 and other students. Young said she was initially told St. James Assiniboia remote instruction would start Sept. 14. "I hope it comes all together and were able to do things every day and have it consistent," said Young, who applied for remote instruction because she and her husband are at-risk, adding she has felt bad about continuously prodding the principal and teachers for more work and answers. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Next CDS of India: Rajnath Singh to receive list of probables soon India tells France, have the political will, ability to counter misadventure by China Want to manufacture BrahMos so that no country has audacity to cast evil eye on us: Rajnath Singh IAF chopper crash: Rajnath Singh likely to be apprised of probe team's findings in next couple of days Rajnath launches startup challenge to find innovative ideas on 11 defence issues India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched a startup contest under which innovators, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups have to find new ideas applicable to 11 specific challenges of the Indian defence sector. Four of the 11 subjects of the Defence India Startup Challenge 4 (DISC4) are autonomous underwater swarm drones, foliage penetration radar, reduction of radar cross-section of naval warships and artificial intelligence based satellite image analysis and reduction, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. China using aggression to stop India from building defence infra in border areas: US Congressman If an idea of a startup, an innovator or an MSME is accepted by the ministry in DISC4, the entity would be given innovation grants by the ministry to develop the prototype. The minister also launched product management approach (PMA) guidelines on Tuesday that will "steer the prototype development to a market ready product", the ministry noted. It said the PMA guidelines will monitor product development milestones achieved by the startup challenge winners against the requirement set by the armed forces, the Ordnance Factory Board or defence public sector undertakings. The statement said Singh also launched an initiative called iDEX4Fauji, which will support innovations identified by members of the Indian armed forces and will "bolster frugal innovation ideas from soldiers/ field formations". "This iDEX4Fauji initiative will bolster frugal innovative ideas from soldiers and help to revolutionise the future of our Armed Forces," Singh said on Twitter. Offsets for govt-to-govt defence deals done away in new weapons buying policy "Our soldiers would not only have a thorough understanding of their own requirements but also have necessary support of innovators and startups," he added. The defence minister said the iDEX4Fauji initiative will help connect entrepreneurs with the "grassroot level innovators" safeguarding our borders. Apart from the aforementioned four challenges, the other challenges at DISC4 include topics such as predictive, preventive and prescriptive machine monitoring; super resolution for improving spatial resolution; prediction and forecasting of atmospheric visibility; computer generated targets for virtual training. Some other challenges are remote real time in-flight health monitoring of aircrew; target detection in chaff environment; multi-frequency time-division multiple access based wideband SATCOM (satellite communication) modem. After launching the DISC4 event virtually, the minister tweeted that the startup ecosystem and innovation enjoy a symbiotic relationship and they thrive in the other's presence. "We need constant endeavour for innovation, evolution and sustenance of technological excellence in the armed forces through support of academia, innovators & startups," Singh added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:43:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Senior officials of the State Council take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution at a ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2020. The ceremony was held in the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in downtown Beijing and overseen by Premier Li Keqiang. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 31 senior officials of the State Council took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution at a ceremony on Tuesday. The ceremony was held in the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in downtown Beijing and overseen by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The officials were appointed to 28 State Council departments between December 2019 and September this year. Xiao Jie, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council, announced the beginning of the ceremony at around 11 a.m. The officials sang the national anthem and recited the oath of allegiance. In a speech after the ceremony, Premier Li urged the officials to be loyal to the Constitution and abide by the country's laws, adding that they should serve the people wholeheartedly. Li also instructed the officials to practice integrity and strict discipline in their work. Vice premiers Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He, and state councilors Wei Fenghe, Wang Yong, Wang Yi and Zhao Kezhi were present at the ceremony. Enditem Tiffany & Co. shot back at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton on Tuesday, calling the French luxury giants counterclaims in a Delaware court baseless and misleading. The two have been fighting since LVMH said this month it was walking away from its $16.2 billion acquisition of the U.S. jeweler which would have been the largest deal in LVMH chief Bernard Arnaults long and storied career. More from WWD LVMH has argued that Tiffany performed so badly during the pandemic that the company it wanted to buy is no longer there, that it has the right to leave the deal under the contract and that French authorities have compelled it to hold off on the transaction due to a brewing U.S.-France trade war. LVMHs specious arguments are yet another blatant attempt to evade its contractual obligation to pay the agreed-upon price for Tiffany, said Roger Farah, chairman of the New York-based jewelry company. Tiffany has acted in full compliance with the merger agreement, and we are confident the court will agree at trial and require specific performance by LVMH, Farah said. Had LVMH actually believed the allegations made in its complaint, there would have been no need for LVMH to procure the letter from the French Foreign Minister as an excuse for its refusal to close. While much of the legal argument turns on familiar points with lots of attention paid to what the material adverse effect clause in the contract does and does not stipulate the involvement of the French government is an unusual wrinkle. When LVMH first said it wanted to drop the deal on September 9, it pointed to a letter from Frances Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, which asked LVMH to defer the transaction. The company has since expanded its rationale to nix the acquisition, but its counterclaims also flesh out its thinking on the letter, saying that it compels them in terms that have a (polite) mandatory meaning under French law. Story continues In its response, Tiffany pointed to additional evidence of bad faith when it comes to the involvement of the French government. Tiffany noted: LVMH subsequently asserted publicly that the letter was not solicited by LVMH. However, on the floor of the French parliament last week, the minister who signed the letter admitted that he only sent the letter in response to an inquiry from LVMH. The jeweler said it has still not received a copy of the letter in its original French and that LVMHs seeking this letter was a clear violation of its obligations under the merger agreement, and Tiffany anticipates that more of LVMHs duplicity will come to light during the trial. That trial is set for early January with the hopes that a deal if warranted after appeal could go through before the U.S. authorization of the transaction expires February 3. In the meantime, the two sides seem likely to continue to trade barbs on any number of fronts, including how Tiffany has reacted to the pandemic, from closing its stores to paying its dividend. Tiffany said Tuesday it closed certain stores before compelled to by law to protect employees and customers when the pandemic hit and that it had a long history of paying dividends even in tough times and a carve out to keep paying them in the merger contract. Dating back to shortly after its 1987 IPO, Tiffany has never missed or reduced a dividend payment, even during recessions, financial crises and the September 11 attacks, spanning 131 consecutive quarters, Tiffany said. LVMH in its filing argued that Tiffanys top executives would fare better under the deal than if they had to continue operating the company in its wounded state and so are fighting for the transaction. Tiffanys ceo, Alessandro Bogliolo, alone stands to receive a change of control payout in excess of $44 million. His golden parachute is equivalent to Tiffanys losses in the first half of 2020, LVMH said, noting Tiffanys top five executives are in line to get about $100 million collectively. Bogliolo, for his part, did not address the golden parachute jab, but instead seemed to be trying to buck up his employees, who no doubt are watching warily as their one-time suitor now disses the company. I am so proud of how Tiffany has gone above and beyond during the pandemic to deliver our brand mission and keep delighting our customers, even in the most uncertain of times, Bogliolo said. I want to thank the entire Tiffany team for their continued professionalism and dedication in the face of baseless accusations and misinformation. LAKE JACKSON Gov. Greg Abbott and state officials on Tuesday vowed to move quickly to determine how a brain-eating amoeba infiltrated the city of Lake Jacksons water supply, killing a 6-year old boy earlier this month, but they also played down the likelihood of the microbe causing additional infections. Speaking at a press conference Tuesday at Brazosport College, Abbott expressed sympathy to the family of 6-year-old Josiah McIntyre after meeting with his parents privately and viewing photos of the boy. He emphasized that the state would remedy the citys infected water supply as quickly as possible. This is a total tragedy for Josiah as well as his family, but we as leaders in the state of Texas must seize upon a strategy to make sure that this never happens again, Abbott said. While local officials believe Josiah became infected from a city splash pad where children play as water spurts up from the ground, they dont know how the water supply for the city of 27,000 became tainted. Jennifer Cope, a medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said one of the Louisiana communities where the amoeba was found in 2013 was an area that had been heavily affected by Hurricane Katrina years earlier. Water usage levels in that area had decreased as a result of population loss, which led some to believe that the amoeba was able to grow faster in the local water supply. Our understanding is the splash pad is in the downtown area, so earlier in the pandemic, were less people coming into the city center to work or shop and was there less water being used there, which contributes to water age? Cope asked. When water stagnates and doesnt move, disinfectant levels can drop. That is potentially an aspect. The amoeba, known as naegleria fowleri, is found in natural bodies of waters such as lakes and ponds and thrives in warmer weather. State officials said this is believed to be the only instance of the amoeba infecting a public water supply in Texas. The amoeba had previously been discovered in municipal drinking water systems in Louisiana in 2011 and 2013, and in Arizona in 2002, according to the CDC. John Hellerstedt, the state health commissioner, sought to allay fears that more Lake Jackson residents could be infected by the amoeba. He said the rare infection requires contaminated water to travel far up a persons nose, become lodged in the upper sinus and eventually travel to the brain. From a scientific standpoint, the risk is vanishingly small, Hellerstedt said. Really its zero because theres just not going to be a chance that the water is gonna contain this amoeba in the public water system after they finish the kind of remediation efforts that they put forward. Toby Baker, who leads the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, outlined the broad parameters of the states remediation strategy for Lake Jackson: a boil water notice that will be in effect for two to three weeks to alleviate bacterial concerns in the water supply; a massive effort using highly chlorinated water to disinfect the citys water system, which can take an additional 60 days; and a survey of any possible cross-connections in the system with any unfiltered water sources. Baker added that TCEQ receives quarterly reports from the city of Lake Jackson showing disinfectant levels in the water supply, as well as monthly reports on bacteria samples. The city and TCEQ took 54 samples from sites across the city over the weekend, 11 of which showed low chlorine levels indicating contaminated water. However, the agency did not collect a sample from the splash pad, or fountain, as it was disconnected from the water supply before testers arrived in Lake Jackson. While the Department of State Health Services regulates public pools, splash pads are designated as interactive water features that fall under the citys purview. Three samples taken within a mile of Josiahs familys home a fire hydrant near the splash pad, a fire hydrant near the home and a hose bib tested positive for the amoeba even though they had normal chlorine levels. A spokeswoman for the TCEQ did not immediately respond to a question as to how the amoeba could have survived in disinfected water. Despite these recent findings, Baker said the residual samples in TCEQs records show there would be nothing of concern up until this point in Lake Jackson, pending further investigation. Baker said it was too early to speculate whether low water usage in Lake Jackson may have contributed to the presence of the amoeba. I think we have to work with the city to explore that idea, he said. While state and federal officials work to ensure the safety of Lake Jacksons water supply, residents can expect to be without public drinking water for several weeks. Officials stress that while boiling water makes it safe for cooking and drinking, residents should use caution when bathing and drinking, including not allowing water to go up into ones nose, not putting ones head under bath water, not allowing children to play with hoses or sprinklers, running water for five minutes to flush out pipes before baths and showers, and using boiled, distilled or sterile water for sinus rinse solutions. The city and state are setting up points of distribution for bottled water every day until the boil water notice is lifted. Those distribution sites had handed out more than 6,500 cases of water to as many as 4,500 cars since Saturday, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Department of Emergency Management. I want to thank the many private businesses that are stepping up to help this local community, Abbott said. At a time when (COVID-19) exists, lives are disrupted, the last thing people need in Lake Jackson is to have an additional burden. nick.powell@chron.com emily.foxhall@chron.com By PTI PATNA: The Congress-led UPA government could not implement the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations on agriculture reforms as it was surrounded by middlemen, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday. At an interaction with farmers and representatives of panchayats of poll-bound Bihar, he said the Congress had promised in its election manifesto to do away with the APMC Act but it should now answer why it is spreading "lies" over the issue. "The prime minister promised to double the income of the farmers after taking the reins. He has worked to provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to small farmers," he said. "The prime minister also gave Rs 1 lakh crore for agricultural infrastructure development under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package. An assistance of Rs 10,000 crore has been given for food processing. With this package, new technologies will drive the agriculture sector," Tomar added. He said these recommendations were made by the Swaminathan Commission. "The UPA government, which was surrounded by middlemen, could not implement these recommendations. PM Modi is implementing these," he said. He also hit out at the Congress, accusing it of spreading "lies" on the recently-enacted farm laws. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has categorically said that MSP will not be annulled, rather it has been further enhanced, Tomar noted. "Abolishing the APMC Act was part of the Congress manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Now, the Congress is retreating from its stand. The party should explain why it is spreading lies," he further said. He claimed that even former prime minister Manmohan Singh and then agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had spoken about it a number of times from different platforms. "Bihar was the first state to open markets for the farmers. Now, with the help of the new farm laws, farmers of the country can sell their produce anywhere, to anyone and according to the price decided by them. They will also not have to pay any tax," the minister said. Bihar had done away with the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2006. The state's agriculture minister Prem Kumar, who also joined the interaction, said the NDA government was working to make farmers economically strong while the Congress has been trying to "keep them in chains". "Now that we are working in the interest of farmers, the Congress is out to mislead them," Kumar, a senior state BJP leader, said. City council on Wednesday is expected to consider a measure to recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Houston. The resolution would not formally replace Columbus Day, a federal holiday, but it would ensure Houston recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day as an alternative. Columbus Day is not a city holiday. Its not like were telling people you cant celebrate Columbus Day if you choose to do so, said District I Councilmember Robert Gallegos, who lobbied for the resolution. It gives people the opportunity to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, as well. Gallegos said it is important to recognize indigenous peoples contributions to society, which can be overshadowed on the holiday in honor of Christopher Columbus. Its just important, trying to correct the historical narrative. Columbus is portrayed as the adventurer, the person who discovered the Americas, Gallegos said. When in reality, indigenous people had been in the Americas for thousands of years Its time they also get recognized. In recent years, the city has issued proclamations to a similar effect, Gallegos said. This years effort is a more formal resolution that will bring a full council vote. Mayor Sylvester Turner said it has his support. Columbus Day is a federal holiday, and we cannot change that. However, I will join with other city council members on voting for the resolution to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day in the city of Houston, Turner said in a statement. It is an opportunity to celebrate the day in a way that is inclusive considering Houstons diversity and to acknowledge indigenous people who have contributed to the fabric of our community. Gallegos said advocates make annual visits to the council in October to push for recognizing the new name. One such advocate is Bianca Rivera, who goes by Abuela Mapi Rainflowa, a grass-roots organizer and leader of the Houston Aztec Dance group. She said many people in Houston and Texas generally may have indigenous roots and not realize it. She traced her mothers lineage back generations and found a census record for her ancestors that had crossed out Indian and replaced it with Mexican, she said. I think theres a lot of history that our families are missing, she said. Colonization not only broke us down as a people, but it rewrote our history. Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1937, but the Italian explorers colonialist legacy has garnered renewed scrutiny in recent years. A survey conducted last year by YouGov of 1,521 Americans found more consider Columbus a villain (27 percent) than a hero (21 percent). A plurality (39 percent) said he was neither. In 1977, a delegation of the Native Nations first recommended recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day as an alternative. Several states, such as Louisiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, along with many cities, including Austin and Dallas, have made the change already, according to news reports. South Dakota uses Native Americans Day and Hawaii adopted Discoverers Day as alternatives. Some of those places included in their resolutions more explicit language condemning or criticizing Columbus. The Houston resolution does not do that. In June, Houston removed a statue of Columbus from Montroses Bell Park after it had been vandalized several times. The city said it would pursue a more suitable site for the statue. The Italian Cultural & Community Center has not responded to requests for comment. Its predecessor group, the Italian-American Organizations of Greater Houston, commissioned the statue and donated it to the city in 1992. dylan.mcguinness@chron.com In this Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, file photo, Maddison Washington, 11, stands at her bedroom mirror as she gets ready for her virtual graduation from her Brooklyn middle school, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. After being delayed twice, hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday, Sept. 29 as New York City enters a high-stakes phase of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File) Hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms this week as New York City enters a high-stakes stage of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, which is keeping students at home in many other big U.S. school systems. Twice delayed, the elementary school reopening on Tuesday came over spurts in virus cases in some city neighborhoods after a summer of success at keeping transmission fairly stable in the city as a whole. "It's a big moment for the city," Mayor Bill de Blasio said on cable news station NY1 Monday night. With in-person learning for middle and high school students scheduled to begin Thursday, he noted, "as many as half a million kids could be in school in the course of this week." With over 1 million public school students, New York City initially had a more ambitious timeline than many other big U.S. school systems for bringing children back to schoolhouses this fall. Families have the option of choosing all-remote learning, and a growing number are doing so48% as of Friday, up from 30% six weeks earlier, according to city Education Department statistics. Other students are already back in the city's virus-altered version of in-person school, learning sometimes in classrooms and sometimes at home. Pre-kindergarteners and some special education students began showing up Sept. 21 as online instruction began for the rest of the student body. This photo from Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, file photo, School Chancellor Richard Carranza, left, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, are seen during an inspection of health safeguard protocols for COVID-19 at Bronx Collaborative High School in New York. After being delayed twice, hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday, Sept. 29 with in-person learning for middle and high school students scheduled to begin Thursday. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) Tuesday was the first day of in-person learning for students in the first through fifth grades whose families had chosen the hybrid learning plan, while high some school and middle school students are slated to be back in classrooms starting Thursday. Sonam Zompa was excited for her 7-year-old son to go back to his elementary school on Manhattan's Lower East Sideand so was he. The third-grader, Tenzin Topdhen, said he liked his online classes but missed his friendsand in school, "we have actual recess." Students were originally due back Sept. 10. But the start date was pushed back, repeatedly, after the city teachers' union said it wasn't safe to open schools because of outdated ventilation systems, an insufficient number of school nurses and other issues. At one point, the United Federation of Teachers threatened to strike. The union was still pressing for changes as recently as Friday, when the city agreed to let more teachers work from home when instructing students remotely, rather than having to come in to school to conduct online classes. In this Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, file photo, Maria Flores kisses her son Pedro Garcia, 4, while a teacher takes his hand as he arrives for the first day of school at the Mosaic Pre-K Center in the Queens borough of New York. While pre-kindergarteners and some special education students are already back in school, hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday, Sept. 29 in New York City after twice delayed during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) In this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo, students wear protective masks due to COVID-19 as they arrive for classes at the Immaculate Conception in The Bronx borough of New York. After being delayed twice, hundreds of thousands of elementary public school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday, Sept. 29 as New York City enters a high-stakes phase of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) The principals' union said the late-breaking change was too much. Principals had already complained that the city was creating a staffing crunch by planning to have three different groups of teachersone for all-remote students, another for in-classroom pupils and a third for blended-program students when they're at home. Saying that de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza "have entered into grossly irresponsible staffing agreements," the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators called Sunday for the state to take control of the school system for the duration of the pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he understood the concern of the principals' union and that the state would monitor virus testing data to determine whether any steps need to be taken concerning New York City schools. Both Cuomo and de Blasio are Democrats. Many other big school systems around the country began the fall term online, though some are reopening physical schools. In Florida, for instance, students opting for in-person learning returned to schools Sept. 21 in Palm Beach County, where the nation's 10th largest school system has over 197,000 students. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Grandmother-to-be Sarah Ferguson looked in high spirits today as she arrived at Venice airport - donning a very colourful face mask. With her luggage trolley piled high with suitcases and a large gold gift bag, the Duchess of York, 60, may well have popped into a few baby shops during her visit to the Italian city. On Friday last week, her daughter Princess Eugenie, 30, announced she is expecting her first child with husband Jack Brooksbank, whom she married in October 2018. Dressed in her vibrant green 1,600 Gucci blazer which she teamed with a black midi dress and pumps, Sarah waved as she entered the airport, with a stewardess pushing her trolley behind her. Grandmother-to-be Sarah Ferguson looked in high spirits today as she arrived at Venice airport - donning a very colourful face mask and accompanied by a very loaded luggage trolley Dressed in a vibrant green blazer which she teamed with a black midi dress, Sarah waved as she entered the airport, with a stewardess pushing her trolley behind her The Duchess sported a rainbow face mask adorned with white unicorns and wore her flame red hair in a half-updo with her glasses on her head. Sarah appears to be a fan of this particular blazer when it comes to travelling, having worn it as she passed through Beijing Airport, during which she was videoed riding on a motorised scooter suitcase It is not known how long she spent in Venice, however Sarah shared a photograph of her in the back of a car on Sunday, possibly making her way to the airport. On Friday Buckingham Palace released a statement that read: 'Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in early 2021. 'The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news.' The Duchess sported a rainbow face mask adorned with white unicorns and wore her flame red hair in a half-updo with her glasses on her head It is not known how long she spent in Venice, however Sarah shared a photograph of her in the back of a car on Sunday, possibly making her way to the airport Comfort and style: The Duchess of York opted for trendy black and white pumps as she travelled through the airport Sarah appears to be a fan of this particular blazer when it comes to travelling, having worn it as she passed through Beijing Airport, during which she videoed herself riding on a motorised scooter suitcase Princess Eugenie shared the news on her Instagram shortly afterwards with an adorable photo of tiny shoes, accompanied by a sweet shot of her and Jack. Ecstatic by the happy news, Sarah told Hello!: 'Soon to be Granny and Granddad are absolutely overjoyed!' Prince Andrew's ex-wife has shown off her playful side during lockdown by donning costumes and crafting sets for her Fergie and Friends YouTube series, where she reads children's books aloud. In recent weeks, she's been sharing glimpses of her cooking talents on her channel - including the likes of peanut butter toast-shaped bears and gingerbread men. Princess Eugenie shared her baby news on her Instagram shortly after the official Buckingham Palace statement with an adorable photo of tiny shoes, accompanied by a sweet shot of her and Jack (pictured) Prince Andrew's ex-wife has shown off her playful side during lockdown by donning costumes and crafting sets for her Fergie and Friends YouTube series, where she reads children's books aloud (pictured reading Nana Maureen) The mother-of-two is also a widely successful children's author, signing a seven-book deal earlier this year, and has been at the forefront of the Royal Family's response to the global crisis with her volunteering efforts According to royal expert Camilla Tominey, the Duchess' reinvention amid the coronavirus lockdown has won over a new legion of fans. 'Like a sort of wonky Phoenix, rising from the flames of Andrews car crash Newsnight interview, Fergie appears to have turned a crisis into an opportunity by using the lockdown to reinvent herself,' said Camilla, writing for the Telegraph. Spain on September 28 agreed a last-minute extension of a scheme supporting hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed due to COVID-19, as part of a broader social protection package. Spain is the European country with the highest number of coronavirus cases and its economy, the euro zone's fourth-largest, is in its deepest recession on record. In a deal reached hours before the ERTE furlough scheme was due to expire, the government agreed with unions and businesses to extend it until January 31. "It's a day of hope for our country's businesses and workers," Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz told a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting. "If we can make it through the autumn and the winter, then we will definitively be entering a recovery." Since its introduction in mid-March, when authorities also imposed one of Europe's strictest coronavirus lockdowns, the ERTE programme has supported millions of workers. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show As curbs were lifted in mid-June, many people returned to their jobs. But as of September some 750,000 workers were still receiving ERTE benefits, Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva told the same news conference. "We have managed this crisis so that the level of protection and maintenance of employment is extraordinarily high. Today, 6 million workers have returned to the labour market," he said. During the pandemic's April peak, as many as 7 million people were depending at least partly on the state for their income, including furloughed workers and people on medical leave. The ERTE extension is part of a broader social protection package adopted by the cabinet on Tuesday, that also includes prolonging a ban on evicting vulnerable tenants. This applies to several categories of tenants, including those who have lost their jobs permanently or are on a furlough scheme. The package will also include new benefits for self-employed people who have lost their income, while a regulation allowing civil servants to work from home was also approved. Spain has recorded almost 750,000 coronavirus cases since the epidemic began, with a death toll exceeding 31,000. BRONX, N.Y. Ritchie Torres has a clear path to Washington, but getting to this point has not been an easy ride. The 32-year-old city councilman is set to head to Congress to represent a South Bronx district where nearly a third of residents live below the poverty line. And when New York was the nationwide epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, it was the Bronx that endured the highest rate of cases. Torres, an openly gay, Afro-Latino product of public housing, says the issues facing a community that was already struggling before the outbreak drove unemployment over 20 percent are personal. And while his diverse roots and unabashed progressivism would seem to fit Torres firmly among the wave of young people of color who have won House seats in recent years, he has also faced friendly fire from his fellow liberals. I know what its like to struggle with depression. I know what its like to have family members who have contact with the criminal justice system. I know what its like to grow up in poverty to be raised by a single mother who had to raise three children on minimum wage, Torres said in an interview with Yahoo News earlier this month. So, when I think about the greatest challenges affecting the South Bronx these are not simply abstractions that I studied intensely as a policymaker, he added. These are struggles that Ive lived deeply in my own life. Torress experience with coronavirus was personal too. He came down with COVID-19 as the pandemic took hold in March. It kept him off the campaign trail for about a month. These days, his uniform consists of a suit and a city-issued mask. While Torress district is nearly two-thirds Latino and only about 3 percent white, it is also home to Arthur Avenue, the epicenter of the Bronxs historic Italian community. While Torres is vocal about the urgent needs faced by many in the district, he also is adamant that the narrative of a burning Bronx that took hold in the national imagination during the ravages of the crack epidemic is frozen in the 1970s. He cites the Bronxs Little Italy, with its sidewalk cafes and vibrant cultural mix, as proof. Story continues I think Arthur Avenue demonstrates that America works, Torres said. People from every walk of life can coexist. The reality on the ground is more unified than our politics. New York City Council member Ritchie Torres addresses a news conference in 2018. (Richard Drew/AP) Torres is Puerto Rican, but he speaks with a distinct New York twang that makes him sound like an especially erudite version of an extra from a Martin Scorsese mob movie. That Bronx patois is peppered with stats and references to famous philosophers. As he discussed housing, which is his No. 1 priority, Torres referred to psychologist Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs to argue it is a human right. Torres describes his focus on public housing as a direct result of his own experience growing up in the projects. I would not be here were it not for the stability that affordable housing gave me and my family, Torres said. I owe it to my neighbors. I owe it to my fellow tenants in the Bronx to ensure that the affordable housing stock endures for the next generation of Americans. In 2013, Torres became the youngest member of the City Council and the first openly gay candidate to hold legislative office in the Bronx. Public housing played a part in his first moment on the national stage. During the 2016 election, Torres wrote to the major presidential candidates and invited them to visit housing projects in New York. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took him up on the offer. Torres later became one of Sanderss delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Im on a mission to elevate housing to the center of national politics, he said. To that end, Torres is calling for a comprehensive social safety net that establishes housing as a human right. He wants to see federal housing vouchers that ensure no one pays more than 30 percent of their income on rent. On Sept. 18, Torres held a press conference in the boroughs Monterey Houses to call on the federal government to provide $3 billion to eliminate lead poisoning in public housing. New York Citys projects have long had a major backlog of repairs, and some studies have posited a link between lead poisoning, learning disabilities and crime. Bernie Sanders speaks after a walk through the Howard Houses in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, left, City Council member Jumaane Williams, second from left, and City Council member Ritchie Torres, right, in 2016. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Housing is a nationwide problem. In 2010, a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development report indicated that, as of that year, the nations public housing stock needed about $26 billion worth of repairs and improvements, and that those costs would grow about $3.4 billion per year after that. Despite this, under President Trump, HUD requested just $1.8 billion for capital needs in 2017 while acknowledging it was minimum funding amid the ongoing deterioration of Americas public housing stock. Since then, HUD has made cuts. Earlier this year, HUD Secretary Ben Carson proposed a budget that would eliminate all funds for capital projects, such as renovations and modernization, in public housing. The White House and HUD did not respond to requests for comment about Torress call for funding to address lead poisoning. Along with his desire to see more money go to public housing, Torres supports expanding the child tax credit, as well as Sanderss signature universal health care policy, Medicare for All. He describes the coming election as a major turning point for Democrats, who have a shot to enact a sweeping progressive agenda akin to President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal if they win the presidency and take Congress. We will have the makings of an FDR moment. We will have a once-in-a-century opportunity, said Torres. Despite this platform, Torres has ended up at odds with other liberals, including the two most famous progressives in the country, Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a neighboring district. During the crowded Democratic primary, both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez endorsed one of Torress opponents, Samelys Lopez. Neither Sanders nor Ocasio-Cortez nor Lopez responded to requests for comment. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a news conference on Aug. 18. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Torres also sparred with the New York City arm of Democratic Socialists of America, which backed Lopez and has become a major force in Big Apple politics in recent years. Last month, news broke that the group distributed a questionnaire for next years crop of City Council candidates that asked if they would pledge not to travel to Israel. Torres, who says he supports a two-state solution, responded by saying he would not want to associate with any organization that calls for a boycott of Israel, as he believes it has a subtext of anti-Semitism. I support the coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians, he explained. That, to me, is a progressive position. DSA did not respond to a request for comment. And Torres took a shot at his likely future colleagues in Washington in July when he published an op-ed lambasting antiquated traditions at two major Democratic groups, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. As one of the first Afro-Latinos in Congress, Torres said he would be unable to join both groups. CBC Chairwoman Karen Bass responded by indicating the group would figure out how we deal with the situation and suggested it was not perceived well by members of the caucus that Torres aired his concerns publicly before approaching them. Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro did not respond to a request for comment. A source close to Bass said she and Torres had a Zoom call after he raised the issue and have remained in touch. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus at a news conference on Sept. 23. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Generally, when asked if he sees himself as a progressive, Torres says he doesnt obsess about words. I, as an elected official, have to be measured by what I deliver for my constituents, he said. I refuse to get caught up in self-aggrandizing labels. With the Democratic primary behind him, Torres has a smooth ride to Capitol Hill although he will face a Republican opponent, Patrick Delices, in November. Delices points to Torress calls for police reform and the persistent issues in the community as evidence he is not the right choice for the district. Throughout his political career, he has failed to solve the problems that plague the people of the Bronx, Delices said of Torres. The district, however, is one of the most solidly blue in the country. The current congressman in the district, Rep. Jose Serrano, whose impending retirement is leaving the seat vacant, generally beat his Republican rivals with about 90 percent of the vote. That doesnt mean Torres never faces any resistance. On Sept. 18, as he walked with Yahoo News, a white man in a car rolled by shouting accusations that Torres is more focused on his career than the neighborhood. This, though, was hardly a typical reaction. Many residents enthusiastically support Torres and have personal stories of how his council office has helped them. As we strode along Arthur Avenue, Ricci Campbell rode up in a motorized wheelchair to congratulate Torres on his victory in the primary. Campbell, a neighborhood fixture who hands out autographed Xeroxed copies of a photo from his stint as an extra in the movie Grease, said Torress team helped him win a case in housing court. Ive known him for years already, Campbell said as he gripped Torress arm. Frank Franz, who is the treasurer of a local Business Improvement District centered on Arthur Avenue, credits Torres with helping the streets Italian restaurants secure seed funding to start an annual pizza festival. Neighborhood people on public assistance and people who own multimillion-dollar businesses will both reach out and support him equally, Franz said of Torres. Bronx City Councilman Ritchie Torres speaks during a news conference in 2018. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid) Perhaps nowhere is Torress support in the neighborhood more clear than at the Dennis Lane Apartments, an affordable housing development where he has hosted weekly food distribution events since the pandemic began. On Sept. 18, Torres handed out masks and boxed meals to a line of residents that stretched around the block. Tania Guerrero, who lives in a nearby building, came to the event with her teenage son. She said it was her second time coming after losing her job during the pandemic. It helps us a lot, Guerrero said in Spanish. Its very important because of where were at with the coronavirus. As a DJ played Gloria Estefan, a pair of Jamaican women named Ms. Raymond and Ms. Orton described Torres as a regular at the apartment. Hes always been for my building. He supports us, Raymond said. Orton, who claimed she has lived in the building for almost 50 years, said she had never seen another politician visit the area. Only Ritchie! Only Ritchie! she exclaimed. Only he comes here. Charlotte Manus, a 78-year-old retiree who lives on the buildings top floor, agreed that other politicians havent visited and said Torres comes all the time. While she voted for Torres, Manus is somewhat reluctant to see him go to Washington. Is he coming back? she asked, adding, Dont stay too long! Torres certainly insists he wont. He said the most important lesson he learned from his mother is to never forget where you came from. My roots are in the Bronx first and foremost, Torres said. Im never going to allow myself to become intoxicated by the trappings of power in Washington, D.C. Im only going to spend as little time in Washington as necessary, and Im always going to head back home. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Argos Wityu and Sword Group today signed the finalised agreement for the acquisition by Argos of French subsidiaries and the current management of Sword France. The scope concerned by the transaction covers: Services activities currently managed by French subsidiaries in France, International software activities for National Patent & Trademark Offices, Software aimed at the French market in the fields of Health, Information and Customer Relations. This scope, the profitability of which falls under Group standards, is generating a revenue trend of EUR 60 million for 2020. Sword Group is continuing: GRC (Governance Risk and Compliance), operations in Software on a global level, Services operations in the United Kingdom, Services operations in Belgium, Luxemburg and Greece, Services operations in Switzerland,Venue Management operations in Software at European level,Services in the Middle East and North America,Offshore operations from Lebanon and India,All Software operations in France except for products included in the transferred scope.Regarding M&A's strategy is focusing on:Acquisition of complementary products in GRC,Acquisition of small, targeted companies in Services in the United Kingdom,Acquisition of companies in light of new opportunities in other countries where the Group operates.In accounting terms, France is taken out of the consolidation scope with effect from October 1st, 2020.Consolidated revenue for 2020 will significantly exceed EUR 200 million. For more information: Sword Group | Stephanie Desmaris Head of Communication investorrelations@sword-group.com +33 4 72 85 37 45 Argos Wityu | Coralie Cornet Director of Communications ccc@argos.fund +33 1 53 67 20 63 Sword France | Cynthia Vettivelu In charge of Communication communication@sword-group.com +33 4 81 65 39 35 Attachment In a massive new expose into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, Republic TV tracked Sushant's staff member (cook) Neeraj Singh, who was one of the five persons present in the apartment where the actor was found dead on June 14. 'Neeraj is now employed by a Bollywood actor close to prime accused Rhea Chakraborty', sources have said after the uncle agreed that he is in Delhi on tape. Sources reveal that Neeraj has changed his phone number after he was grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and also sought their permission before leaving Mumbai. The sting operation shows Neeraj evading the questions about CBI and June 13. When the reporter asked him what did CBI tell him during the interrogation, Neeraj replied, "I cant speak. Thank you." When asked if he was present on the day of Sushant's death, Neeraj hung up the phone. Later, Neeraj's Uncle on tape was heard saying that he has to appear before the court on the 2nd of October. Neeraj's uncle claimed that 'Keshav (another staff member) gave the juice to Sushant on June 14'. WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR THE STING OPERATION Sushant Singh Rajput's cook Neeraj Singh, who was one of the five persons present in Sushant's flat the day he was found dead, spoke exclusively to Republic TV in August and shared his first-hand account of the incident and how the late actor's health had changed in the months before his death. "I am working with him for 1.5 years. On the day of the incident, I was at home. We were four people in the house and sir was there. I was cleaning outside the gate. Sir came to me and asked me to give him a glass of cold water. He also asked me if everything was fine, so he smiled at me and went back. This was my last meeting with him on June 14, at around 8-8.15 am in the morning," said Neeraj Singh. 'Rhea would bring medicines for SSR' While the cook said that he did not feel anything was out of the ordinary, he confirmed that Rhea had been administering some medicines to SSR after which the late actor's attitude had changed causing him to sleep for the most part of the day. "There was nothing suspicious that I saw. Rhea ma'am had also left on June 8. There was no party also, everything was shut since it was lockdown. He would not party. Last he partied was back in December when he moved," revealed Neeraj. "He was consulting a doctor, there were no signs of mental illness, I don't think there was a mental problem. Ever since he shifted, his attitude changed a bit, he started sleeping a lot, he left his workout also. Rhea ma'am used to bring medicines, she would give him the medicines also. We never saw what those were," said the cook. 'He would never lock his door' Further narrating the incident Neeraj said, "When the cook asked him what he wants for breakfast, sir said he wants a banana, some juice and coconut water, which he had daily. Then he, later on, refused the banana and took the other things inside. Then the staff started working towards cooking lunch. We went to his door and knocked to ask him what he wants, but it was locked, so we decided not to disturb him." "Usually he never locks the door. After half an hour I went to Deepesh and Sidharth Pithani. They said they'll ask him. Sir's friend also knocked. We thought he was sleeping. He used to sleep all day these days. It did not strike us." Sushant was found dead in his apartment on June 14 this year. While Mumbai Police termed it as suicide, intense movements led by fans and celebrities played a part as Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the case. The CBI, along with ED, and NCB are currently probing various angles of the case, with prime accused Rhea Chakraborty jailed by NCB till October 6 over her alleged involvement in a drug cartel. Sushant's cook till September 2019 never saw him take medicines; contradicts all claims Ankita Lokhande asks Sushant's fan to 'take down' disturbing video, makes an appeal Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment. CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- At the most recent You Talk, I Listen community forum focusing on the Noble-Taylor neighborhoods, Acting City Manager Susanna Niermann ONeil took the opportunity to do just that. And she had about a half-dozen department directors with her at the Saturday morning session, which ran over the 90-minute time limit to about three hours on Sept. 19. I dont want to be defensive -- I want to be a listener, said the longtime vice city manager, who took over the helm at the start of September as the next step in a career that started with the Heights Community Congress. About 40 people turned out for the event, including a couple of residents from Greyton Road, a street they feel gets no respect from the city, which they claim has been unresponsive to various concerns. Greyton doesnt look like a suburban street, Cindy Evans said. Ten vacant lots are unacceptable. We lack trees. Evans recounted a recent incident in which customers kept lining up long after she called the city to complain about a mobile car wash that had parked near her home and opened for business. The fireworks are outrageous -- some nights, its like New Years Eve, she continued. I feel like were overlooked. This was the kind of feedback Councilwoman Davida Russell had in mind when she launched You Talk, I Listen after winning election to her at-large seat last year. We want to make sure Noble-Taylor is being represented like other neighborhoods, Russell said, having earlier formed several committees with volunteers from the community. Police reforms The two most recent forums over the summer dealt with law enforcement reforms, which are still in the works following peaceful marches in response to the killings of Blacks while in police custody. One was attended by Cleveland Heights Police Chief Annette Mecklenburg, who in turn brought three officers with her on July 11 to a meeting organized by Russell and the Heights Youth Coalition. At the Sept. 19 meeting, Russell noted that legislation setting up a citizens' task force is now undergoing review in the Law Department so people can sign up. Updated use-of-force policies and other police reforms also are being developed. I personally wasnt very involved in local government before this summer, noted Aliah Lawson, a member of the Heights Youth Coalition. It started with an urgent need to work with the city in the wake of George Floyd, who was killed on Memorial Day by Minneapolis police. And its become more than just protest -- were moving forward with policy, added Lawson, a Case Western Reserve University student. She attended the latest forum with fellow Heights High graduate Mikaiah Truitt. Asked by an audience member how it felt to go from protester to advocate, Lawson noted that protesting only takes about two hours of your time, but moving to action has been one of the more difficult things Ive ever done in my life. Truitt added that the whole process has been very informative. Business community Diane Hallum has had more experience dealing with city government on a number of issues, and chaired the task force dealing with maintenance of commercial properties. Hallum cited an instance of a restaurant owner who signed a lease and was then told by the city that the floor needed to be fixed. She recommends establishing a form of escrow account on commercial properties similar to residential for absentee and deadbeat landlords. This would force landlords to adhere to the lease and repair and maintain buildings, so the business owners dont have to empty their bank accounts -- especially with no cushion due to the current COVID-19 circumstances, Hallum said. In place of the Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) established in Cedar-Fairmount, Coventry and Cedar-Lee, which create what amounts to taxing authorities, Hallum suggested setting up a nonprofit, unincorporated association that satisfies state requirements, but with a union or club structure to provide greater equity in securing local resources. Chairing the task force charged with raising awareness of businesses and services available in the community are Elizabeth VanderLees and Chemistry 11 Boutique owner Gurnee' GG Green. Citing some neglect in the appearance of business properties on South Taylor Road, as well as in Noble, Green said the task force is looking at getting younger business owners involved and initiating everything from future block parties to murals, as well as some community service, enlisting the Noble Neighbors' Trash Busters subcommittee. VanderLees said they are also applying for a small Community Development Block Grant through the Future Heights organization to set up an online and printed local business directory. Beautification task force Russell appointed the Rev. Harry Cain to chair a task force further involved in beautifying the community. However, he was called away Sept. 19 for a funeral, as was Obie Shelton. Shelton was scheduled to serve as co-facilitator with his wife, Barbara Danforth Shelton, who handled those duties admirably on her own, as did Katrice Cain, the pastors daughter. In terms of establishing a vision for how residents and business owners want their neighborhood to look, Katrice Cain said the goal remains fostering a sense of community and belonging. At the same time, another question is how do we have these conversations, especially amid COVID-19? Barbara Shelton noted that the city is also in a period of transition, moving from a city manager form of government to a strong mayor. She reminded the audience that making changes is not just the responsibility of elected officials. And the acting city manager urged residents to continue to call the city with their concerns. You have a right to call City Hall and get an answer, ONeil said. Home Repair Resource Center In addition to city department heads, Home Repair Resource Center Executive Director Keesha Allen was also on hand for the forum, noting that the organization has done some work on Greyton Road. Weve been called Cleveland Heights best-kept secret,' and we really want to dispel that myth, Allen said, noting that HRRC has renovated 16 properties over the past 18 months. Their objective is to turn vacant and abandoned properties into owner-occupied homes, as well as offer help along the way for current homeowners. Think of us as a community development corporation for your house, Allen said, noting that the HRRC also boasts a tool library with more than 1,000 pieces of equipment, located at 2520 Noble Road. Russell said she is also trying to set up one last You Talk, I Listen program this year, given the fact that the latest was held over the Rosh Hashanah holiday. We need to give credence to our Jewish community as well, and the fact that our schedule may not always jibe with their calendar, Russell said. Read more from the Sun Press. Berlin, Germany -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2020 -- Building a network of long lasting relationships in the procurement industry is vitally important when developing supply chain management which will be able to withstand challenging situations. The industry is transforming alongside the advances in technology such as artificial intelligence and automation which has led industry professionals to have to adapt to the changes with speed. 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DSJ Global were established in 2008 and have been working since then to create a network of one million mid-to-senior level professionals across 60+ countries. The firm has a team of on the ball consultants based in 11+ offices worldwide who are highly skilled in the recruitment processes and challenge themselves daily to achieve and exceed their targets. With training opportunities undertaken by each consultant they are experts in their chosen field and have knowledge of the most up to date recruitment technology to ensure fast, efficient hiring decisions are made. DSJ Global's aim is to provide companies with peace of mind when it comes to their biggest issue: talent acquisition. The firm provides permanent, contract and multi-hire hiring solutions to a worldwide client database. DSJ Global's worldwide perspective has allowed them to develop a team of passionate recruitment experts who are invested in their client's success from the initial interview to the final acceptance of an offer. It is a hugely exciting time to develop your career in the procurement industry in Germany, and as aging professionals are reaching retirement age the sector is in search for the individuals who will replace them. Job opportunities are available from Berlin to Hamburg and Frankfurt to Munich, DSJ Global have unrivalled insight into the turbulent nature of the industry with knowledge spanning companies of all sizes from agile startups to global powerhouses. The next step in your procurement career could be the director of indirect procurement, senior director of global planning, senior buyer and country procurement manager. DSJ Global have adapted their onboarding processes to suit the social distancing measures in place in Germany, providing remote interviews and introductory methods to ensure the safety of candidates and clients while enabling smooth transitions for the new starters. "During uncertain times, DSJ Global offers reassurance. Crises come in many different forms financial crashes, oil gluts, and now a global pandemic", commented Luis Rolm, Global Marketing Director at DSJ Global. He went on to say, "Yet, whatever the challenge, we remain steadfast in our service. We continue to offer guidance to clients in the logistics and supply chain sectors and help them secure top talent." For any media enquiries please contact Gary Elliott at Iconic Digital 020 7100 0726. For all other enquiries please contact DSJ Global DE: +49 30 72 62 11 444. - For more information about DSJ Global services, please go to https://www.dsjglobal.de. - DSJ Global DE is transforming the process of recruitment to make it more agile and adaptable to the challenges that businesses in the logistics and supply chain industry face today. Vineet Upadhyay By Express News Service DEHRADUN: To boost religious tourism, the Uttarakhand government has exempted pilgrims of producing Covid-19 negative test report to visit Char Dham shrines. Ravinath Raman, chief executive officer of Char Dham Devsthanam Board who also happens to be commissioner of Garhwal division of Uttarakhand said, "Now the pilgrims do not need to present Covid negative report to visit any one of the Char Dham -- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. "However, pilgrims are strictly required to register on the official website of the Char Dham Devsthanam Board for an e-pass for visiting the shrines." The updated guidelines regarding the Char Dham Yatra were released earlier this week. It mentions that pilgrims will have to undergo thermal scanning at the entrance of the shrines and if their temperatures are found to be higher than normal, they will be tested for Covid-19 and will have to bear the cost of the same. The guidelines also state that if any pilgrim develops symptoms similar to Covid-19, they should avoid visiting the shrine while pilgrims travelling to the shrines through heli-services will not need an e-pass. "This is because their details will be taken by the heli company and shared with the Board and district administration on a daily basis," said the board chairman. ALSO READ | 351 Jagannath Temple servitors test positive for COVID-19 Pregnant ladies, infants, pilgrims above the age of 65 or below 10 years to avoid visiting the shines, the guidelines further said. In July, the state government issued guidelines allowing pilgrims from outside Uttarakhand to visit the shrines. According to the standard operating procedure released by the board for travelling to Char Dham, no flower, offering or distribution of prasad is allowed in the four shrines due to the outbreak. The state government has also put a limitation on the number of pilgrims visiting every shrine per day. The number of pilgrims has been fixed at 800 for Kedarnath, 1200 for Badrinath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri shrine. Last year, record more than 38 lakh pilgrims travelled to the four shrines of the hill state. The tourism, especially religious tourism has been hit hard in the state with thousands left struggling for ends to meet due to Covid-19 epidemic. Many priests are now opting for odd jobs such as factory workers. The priests by working in factories are earning between Rs 8000-12,000 per month. Many also appealed to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to help them in this hour of financial scarcity. FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CBDOilUsers.com, a leading CBD education website, has released its guide to CBN and list of the best CBN oil products, available at https://cbdoilusers.com/best-cbn-oil/. When it comes to wellness products made from hemp extract, CBD (cannabidiol) has been in the spotlight for the last couple of years. But as the industry continues to evolve, new products featuring higher levels of other compounds from cannabis are hitting the market. Products that are high in CBN (cannabinol) are gaining popularity as a natural alternative to help promote sleep and relaxation. Known as the "sleepy cannabinoid", CBN naturally evolves from THC as it degrades or ages over time. Although it originates from THC, CBN is a separate cannabinoid and doesn't have the psychoactive effects commonly associated with THC. "Feedback from users who have tried CBN products as a sleep-aid has been very positive," Brian Peterson, the managing editor of CBDOilUsers.com, said. "There is still a lot to be learned about these products from scientific research and controlled human trials. But the anecdotal evidence from users in our online community has been very encouraging." For those interested in trying CBN, the list of the best CBN oil products published by CBDOilUsers.com can help identify the brands that are most popular with users. All of the brands on the list do extensive third-party lab testing and have received high marks from users of their products. The brands on the list of the best CBN products include: CBDistillery (Denver, CO) Thoughtcloud (Portland, OR) American Shaman (Kansas City, MO) Kush Queen (Los Angeles, CA) The CBDOilUsers.com website and its companion CBD Oil Users Group on Facebook is dedicated to providing education, reviews, recommendations and the sharing of unbiased experiences among users of CBD products. Questions? Contact: Brian Peterson, Managing Editor, CBDOilUsers.com Web: https://cbdoilusers.com Email: [email protected] Phone: (817)567-1331 SOURCE CBDOilUsers.com Related Links www.cbdoilusers.com Dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed yesterday in a second day of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Heavy fighting involving tanks and armored vehicles, fighter-bombers and drones is by far the bloodiest since the 19881994 war between the two former Soviet republics broke out in the run-up to the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Armenian authorities who run Nagorno-Karabakh said they lost 28 soldiers, bringing total casualties to 59, while Armenia has suffered 200 wounded. he Human Rights Defender Office in Artsakh, the Armenian name for the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, claimed all its towns including Stepanakert, Askeran, Martakert, Martuni, Hadrut and Shushi were hit; a grandmother and her granddaughter were killed. Armenian forces claimed to have destroyed 15 drones as well as several Azeri armored vehicles and killed hundreds of Azeri soldiers. In this image taken from footage released by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, Azerbaijan's soldiers fire from a mortar at the contact line of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. (Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry via AP) Azeri forces, who have not given their military losses, said 26 Azeri civilians had been wounded as towns were shelled. They also reportedly made small advances on the ground. Videos they released showed their drones, reportedly provided by Turkey, destroying Russian-made Armenian armored vehicles and short-range anti-aircraft missile batteries. Turkish forces have already used drones to destroy such batteries fielded by Russian-backed forces in the wars in Libya and Syria. Azerbaijan issued a last warning to Armenia after Armenia reportedly shelled the Azeri city of Terter. The Ministry of Defense gives the last warning to Armenia that adequate retaliatory measures will be taken against them if needed, it said. This war is the disastrous product of both the Stalinist bureaucracys nationalist policy to dissolve the Soviet Union and restore capitalism, and decades of imperialist war in the region since 1991. Vast geopolitical tensions are now concentrated on the Caucasusa strip of land at the center of Eurasia, between the Black Sea and Europe to the west, Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea and China to the east, and Iran and Turkey to the south. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Sunday that fighting could spill outside the region and acquire a much larger scale. In particular, the fighting comes amid a growing US military escalation against Iran, China and Russia. After NATO, the European Union, Russia, Iran and France issued statements calling for restraint in the Armenian-Azeri conflict early Sunday, Washington did so as well. Asked about the Armenian-Azeri conflict at a Sunday evening press briefing, US President Donald Trump simply said: Were looking at it very strongly. We have a lot of good relationships in that area. Well see if we can stop it. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government thrust aside these perfunctory statements, however, calling for aggressive Azeri action. The 19881994 war that ended with Armenia in control of Nagorno-Karabakh was a bloody conflict that exposed the reactionary nature of the nation-state system. One million people were displaced and over 20,000 killed in an Armenian-Azeri war between states with only 3 and 10 million in population, respectively. However, Erdogan called to reverse the wars outcome, help Azerbaijan retake the Nagorno-Karabakh, and deal a bloody defeat to Armenia. The time has come for the regional crisis that started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh to be put to an end, Erdogan declared yesterday in Istanbul. Once Armenia immediately leaves the territory it is occupying, the region will return to peace and harmony. Erdogan dismissed calls for restraint from the United States, Russia and France, who traditionally brokered Azeri-Armenian peace talks in the post-Soviet period. They basically did everything they could, but this did not resolve the issue, he said. Now Azerbaijan must take matters into its own hands. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated his regimes ethnic solidarity with Turkic Azeris against Armenia, saying: Ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan are based on two states one nation principle. We are always together, on good or bad days. We are on the side of our Azeri brothers in their defense of homeland. This support for Azerbaijan could escalate into a war between Turkey, a NATO member state, and Armenias main backer, Russia, which has a military base at Gyumri in Armenia. This risk is all the higher in that NATO wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria have inflamed tensions between Russia and Turkey, who have supported rival factions in the civil wars in Libya and Syria that followed the NATO proxy wars launched in these countries in 2011. On Sept. 25, talks collapsed between Russian and Turkish officials over control of Syrias Idlib province. Fighting may soon erupt again between Russian-backed Syrian government troops and Turkish-backed Islamist rebel militias there. Russian- and Turkish-backed troops are also fighting in Libya, while offshore, Greek warships backed by France are disputing control of the large areas of the eastern Mediterranean with Turkey. More broadly, however, growing Russian-Turkish tensions driving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are only one element of the accelerating breakdown of the nation-state system across the Middle East and Central Asia, and the drive towards a new imperialist world war. There is a growing danger that the Trump administration, which has already announced it plans to launch a coup and ignore the results of the November presidential election, may try to start a war with Iran in a pre-election October surprise. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi President Barham Salih that he aims to withdraw US troops and diplomats stationed in Iraq since the illegal 2003 US-led invasion. If they stayed, they would be vulnerable to attack, if Washington went to war with Iran. Already, Iran launched limited missile strikes on US bases in Iraq after Washingtons state murder of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in January. In a dispatch titled Threat to evacuate US diplomats from Iraq raises fear of war, Reuters noted: Any move by the United States to reduce its diplomatic presence in a country where it has up to 5,000 troops would be widely seen in the region as an escalation of its confrontation with Iran That in turn would open the possibility of military action, with just weeks to go before an election in which President Donald Trump has campaigned on a hard line towards Tehran and its proxies. Reuters cited unnamed Western diplomats who said Pompeo was announcing this because Washington does not want to be limited in their options against pro-Iranian forces in Iraq. Asked whether he expected Washington to respond with economic or military measures, Reuters writes, the diplomat replied: Strikes. These threats are bound up with Washingtons confrontation with both China, which is negotiating a military alliance and $400 billion trade deal with Iran, and Russia. Washington is threatening to enforce a ban on renewed Russian and Chinese arms exports to Iran, which could lead US warships to try to seize Russian and Chinese vessels on the high seas. Turkish officials clearly see Erdogans inciting of pan-Turkic sentiment as linked to threats against nearby Iran. Turkeys state-run TRT World news agency denounced Iran for quietly backing Armenia in the conflict against Azerbaijan, asserting that Irans Turkic problem is due to ethnic-Turkic minorities in northern Iran. TRT World cited Professor Bulent Aras at Istanbuls Sabanc University: Increasing Turkish nationalism in Iran has been seen as a serious political problem by Iran. Connections and relations between the countrys north and Azerbaijan have been an important factor in Tehrans political problems with Azerbaijan. TRT speculated that the idea of Greater Azerbaijan might inflame ethnic separatism in Iran. These conflicts are a warning of the rising danger of all-out war across the Middle East and internationally, bound up with the collapse of American democracy at home. It underscores the urgent necessity of building an international, anti-war movement unifying the working class in socialist opposition to nationalism and war. Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday said there was something fishy going on in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) when it came to demolition of alleged illegal constructions, comments which came while hearing a writ petition filed by actor Kangana Ranaut. A bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla said in Ranauts case, the civic body did not follow its own practice of attaching photos of alleged illegal constructions with its stop-work notices and waiting for some days before carrying out demolitions. The HC made the remarks while hearing the writ petition filed by Ranaut challenging the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Pali Hill in suburban Bandra by the BMC on September 9. The judges were questioning the BMCs H Ward officer, Bhagyawant Late, a respondent in the writ petition under whose jurisdiction Ranauts property falls. During the questioning, the bench noted that in cases of similar illegalities in buildings close to Ranauts, the BMC had waited for several days to carry out the demolition. Besides, in most other cases, it had attached photos of the alleged illegal constructions with its stop-work notices served to building owners, and in such cases, it did not often take the police along for demolition, it said. However, when it came to Ranauts case, the BMC did not have any photos with digital date and time stamps of the alleged illegalities, and the demolition had been carried out in the presence of a huge police force just 24 hours after the stop-work notice was served to the actor, the bench noted. The judges noted that in its reply, the BMC had claimed to have demolished a similar case of illegality on September 8. But when the bench asked Late for photos or records of the demolition, the latter said no such photos or documents existed. The ward officer also said the BMC team had not taken the police along for the September 8 demolition. This irked the bench. Mr Sakare, (BMCs standing counsel) here there is something absolutely fishy! There are no photos for the 8th. How come in the system, this demolition is not shown on 8 (September)? It is only when we asked for the file it is prepared. Is there any answer? it said. The bench also asked why the BMC had taken a huge police force along on September 9 to demolish Ranauts bungalow. To this Late said that Ranauts case was a critical" one. What is the definition of critical cases? In cases of celebrities it becomes a critical case? the bench asked. Ranauts counsel Dr Birendra Saraf raised questions over the BMCs action at the actors bungalow. Saraf argued that the manner in which the entire BMC team swooped in on September 7 in issuing the stop-work notice, and subsequently rejecting Ranauts reply to it and carrying out the demolition, the discrepancy in documents, among others, showed the action was vitiated by malice. Saraf pointed out that the demolition was followed by a news item (on September 10) in Saamana, where Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut is executive editor, that carried a headline showing as it were some rejoicing news. Saraf urged the court to ensure that the damage to Ranauts property was assessed by a qualified person and then to decide on a fair compensation amount for the same. In her plea, Ranaut hassought Rs 2 crore as damages from the BMC and its officials. In the course of the day-long hearing, Saraf also played a clip of a news interview where Raut had said that Ranaut should be taught a lesson". The Sena MP is also a respondent in the writ petition. Rauts counsel Pradeep Thorat, though, argued that in the entire interview, the Sena leader had not referred to Ranaut by name. If it is your stand that, you (in the audio) have not called the petitioner a haramkhor, we will record it. Should we record your statement?" the court said, referring to an alleged comment Raut made in the interview. Dont run around the bushes Have guts to say (before the court) what you have tweeted or told a news channel, the court said to both Raut and Ranauts counsels. The BMC, meanwhile, denied all allegations of malice made by Ranaut. Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, who appeared for the BMC, urged the HC to dismiss the plea, or to hear Ranaut through a suit, and not a writ petition, saying that in a suit Ranaut would have to stand in the box (witness box), and clarify all facts. Let this be dealt with in a suit. Let her get into a box and let her establish these facts. Alternatively, this is a petition that deserves to be dismissed. It lacks absolute candour. This petition is being portrayed as an individual being harassed because of her public utterances against a government and party in power, Chinoy said. The reality is slightly different. This is a case where the petitioner has unlawfully carried out substantial illegal alterations, he said. Referring to the courts previous remark on the swiftness shown by the BMC in Ranauts case, Chinoy said, I agree there is a quicker response in this case. But that is not an answer (Ranauts plea). You cannot carry out illegal construction. The court will hear Rauts submissions on Tuesday. PTI AYA RSY RSY 09281920 NNNN. Dalondo Moultrie is the assistant managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail him at dalondo.moultrie@seguingazette.com . RAMALLAH, West Bank Palestinian security services intensified in early September their security operations in the West Bank in pursuit of arms and drug traffickers and individuals who have used arms during family quarrels. These security operations, which include raids, incursions and ambushes, come in response to the presidential decree issued by President Mahmoud Abbas on Sept. 1 amending the Firearms and Ammunition Law No. 2 of 1998, to increase prison terms and financial fines imposed on crimes related to the possession, use, trafficking in, manufacturing and smuggling of firearms in violation of the law. Louay Arziqat, a spokesman for the Palestinian police, told Al-Monitor that Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh have issued clear instructions to the security establishment to pursue arms dealers and perpetrators of crimes. He added that the security services have begun to tighten measures, and in the coming days strict measures will be adopted to control weapons and arrest traffickers and users. The security services, according to Arziqat, rely on their intelligence operations for information on the movement of arms and drug dealers amid ambushes set up for the involved individuals. These services also rely on security personnel and officers depending on their competence, and most importantly they also rely on cooperation with citizens who do not hesitate to report the movements of arms and drug traffickers. The phenomenon of the proliferation of weapons and the resulting chaos is causing concerns for the Palestinian Authority (PA). This phenomenon has expanded with the ongoing stifling political and economic crisis the PA is going through amid concerns that some parties such as Israel might exploit the situation to cause chaos in the Palestinian territories. This phenomenon also bodes ill as it portrays a negative state of chaos that might prevail in the West Bank in the event of the PA's collapse. Also, its continuation affects the prestige and position of the PA, hence the latters security operations to impose its prestige. Since the beginning of this year, the West Bank witnessed a significant 42% increase in murder crimes compared to last year, according to Arziqat. In this context, he said, Since the beginning of the year we have had 37 killing cases, most of which were with weapons, so it was necessary to intensify security work to pursue this phenomenon, adding that most of the perpetrators are young people aged between 18 and 30 years. Amid all the security operations carried out by the security services, these operations remain incomplete, especially considering their inability to play any role in the lands classified as Area C as per the Oslo Accord. These lands account for 60% of the West Bank and are completely subject to Israeli security and administrative control. On Sept. 18, the southern area in Hebron turned into a war zone following a quarrel that broke out between families and degenerated into armed clashes during which firearms, some of which were machine guns, were used, and several homes and vehicles were set ablaze. The clashes resulted in several injuries and ended after the intervention of influential tribal figures in the area. On Sept. 17, a young man and two girls were killed in the Wadi al-Nar area, northeast of Bethlehem while they were in their vehicle. They were shot by four armed people who stopped the vehicle and opened fire on it due to family disputes. Arziqat said the challenge facing the security operations lies in the areas where the security services are not deployed and cannot enter and areas considered as a starting point for smuggling weapons to other areas. He said, A few days ago, the southern area of Hebron turned into a battlefield knowing that we are prevented from entering it. Although the area is located under the control of the Israeli army and is only meters away from the settlers, the army did not lift a finger, just like when three citizens were killed in Wadi al-Nar, which is located near an Israeli military checkpoint in Area C. Arziqat said Israel is turning a blind eye to arms smuggling to the West Bank through merchants from Israel who bring such arms into Area C and distribute them to several areas. This indicates the presence of hidden hands tampering with security and spreading instability, he said. The presidential decree amending the Firearms and Ammunition Act was preceded by a movement by human rights and official institutions to address the phenomenon. In this context, the Independent Commission for Human Rights held a meeting Aug. 18 attended by the Public Prosecution, the Military Judicial Authority, the Ministry of Interior, the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, the police, the Preventive Security Service and human rights institutions. The participants highlighted the need for a political will in order to prosecute those who illegally possess, trade or use weapons, regardless of their status and position, as well as the security personnel who use weapons for personal reasons. For his part, Jenin Gov. Akram Rajoub told Al-Monitor the new security measures to pursue arms and drug dealers are a better start than previous measures. If there is a strict implementation of the instructions issued by the political leadership, then we are on the right path to get rid of the phenomenon. Rajoub added, Security policies need to be strictly implemented, negative phenomena prosecuted so that citizens feel the authorities are working to protect them and are capable of establishing security. This requires sustainable and continuous security work and not just sporadic episodes when we feel that Palestinian citizens are in danger, he continued. Asked about these phenomena affecting the prestige of the PA among Palestinians, Rajoub said, These phenomena will certainly affect the presence and prestige of the PA and the prestige of the security forces. Citizens are aware that the PA can enforce the law and pursue all phenomena but are sometimes shocked by the lack of response on the part of the security institution and the executive bodies. The Palestinian security services might sometimes manage to arrest some arms or drug dealers, but there are many reasons that will prevent them from eradicating this phenomenon. Chief among these is the widespread proliferation of weapons among citizens, families and clans. This infers that they could enter into disputes with them if they try to seize weapons by force. Add to this the inability to enter many areas in the West Bank in which the arms trade is promoted. More importantly, such services do not control the contact points between the West Bank and the 1948 lands through which most of the arms and drug smuggling operations take place. Ahn Tae-geun, a former bureau director at the Ministry of Justice, appears in the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office to attend a trial in this Feb. 6, 2018. Korea Times file In a retrial of a power abuse case that sparked the #MeToo movement in 2018, a former senior prosecutor was acquitted of disadvantaging a junior colleague from work to cover up his sexual harassment of her. The Seoul Central District Court's Appellate Division on Tuesday acquitted Ahn Tae-geun of the charges of abuse of power, overturning a two-year prison sentence delivered by the same court for him in July 2019. The retrial came after the Supreme Court ordered the lower court in January to reconsider the prison sentence for the former prosecutor, saying his acts do not fully constitute abuse of power. Ahn, who had also served as a bureau director at the justice ministry, was accused of groping Seo Ji-hyun, a female prosecutor, during a funeral dinner in 2010 and later reassigning her to an office in the southern coastal city of Tongyeong as rumors of his sexual abuse began to spread within the prosecution. "It is difficult to view Seo's transfer to the prosecution's Tongyeong branch office as violating the principles and standards on prosecutorial personnel reshuffles," the court said in its acquittal ruling. In January 2018, Seo revealed the incident at an interview with local broadcaster JTBC, triggering a series of similar statements by other women in various sectors, including politics, sports, and culture, which later evolved into a nationwide #MeToo movement. A special investigative team that launched a probe following Seo's revelation in 2018 charged Ahn with abusing his power to influence the personnel reshuffle and relocate Seo, to prevent the allegations from spreading and hurting his reputation. While Ahn denied his charges, a Seoul district court ruled in favor of Seo in early 2019, handing down a two-year jail term to him. Then the Seoul appellate court upheld the prison sentence in July of the same year. The lower courts have acknowledged that the sexual abuse happened, but no legal decision could be made, as the deadline for a victim to accuse the perpetrator has expired. (Yonhap) (Natural News) Conservative legend David Horowitz, author of the new bestselling book Blitz: Trump Will Smash the Left and Win, gave me an exclusive interview on Newstalk 570 WSYR in Syracuse, where he revealed his shocking theory about the current political unrest that seems more plausible by the day as revelations about a coup attempt to remove the president are revealed. (Article by Megan Fox republished from PJMedia.com) Were in a war. My book Blitz shows were already in a civil war. What the Democrats did in 2016 is what you call treason. They seceded from the Union for the second time, the first being with the election of Abraham Lincoln, which led to the shooting war. The reason we dont have two armies in the field is that the federal government is too powerful so theres nobody outside the government who can organize a military force that wouldnt be crushed immediately. So the civil war is over who controls the executive. Horowitz has a unique insight in the communist wing of the Democrat Party, having spent his youth agitating for the left and even connected to groups like the Black Panthers, a domestic terrorist organization. You can read about his transformation to conservatism in his excellent book Radical Son. When someone of Horowitzs caliber and insight into the left speaks, we all should take what he says very seriously. He may be one of the only living witnesses to the horrors of the lefts assault on America in the 60s through terror and infiltration. Horowitz continues to reveal that he knows where and when the Democrat secession meeting happened: Five days after the 2016 election there was a meeting at the Mandarin Oriental, which is a very posh hotel in Washington, D.C. It was organized by George Soros and there were something like 400 people there including Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, Soros, Bernie Sanders, the Occupy Wall Street communists, the whole range of the left. What they did is form what they called a resistance to Trumpyou remember, 70 Democrats boycotted the inauguration. This is sedition. Horowitz also explained why the Electoral College was so important to the founders and why it is imperative to protect it in the face of Democrat attempts to abolish it. The whole American system is based on compromise. Thats why we have an Electoral College, which, of course, the Democrats want to abolish. Thats why we have a Senate, where Wyoming, with 500,000 people, has two senators and so does California with 35 million. The founders did not want one person, one vote because they didnt trust people not to be swept up in passions that were destructive. It forces candidates to try to compete for votes with people who disagree with them. It forces them to compromise. It protects the minority in the country from the tyranny of the majority. What the founders feared most was that there would be a party that would get a majority and use it to crush everybody who voted against it. The founders were very smart people. Horowitz also believes that the reason were in a civil war is that the Democrat Party has weaponized race. The second thing with the Democratsthe reason theres a civil war is that its a racist party. Identity politics is racism. When you know in advance that youre going to pick a black woman to be vice president you obviously picked them on the basis on their race and gender and its all over for the American way. The words white and black dont appear in the Constitution, or male and female, for good reason. The founders vision, and they couldnt achieve it in the 18th century, but their vision was that people would be judged on their character, just what Martin Luther King Jr. said, and not their skin color. Its a good 200 years of struggle to get there, but now the Democrats are putting race before everything elseOur great country is in great peril from this party. You can hear the entire interview below. Read Blitz for more of Horowitzs stunning insights into our current volatile political situation. Read more at: PJMedia.com and CivilWar.news. Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy has conceded the federal government could have acted faster to contain the deadly spread of COVID-19 through Victoria's aged care facilities, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison comes under pressure to address failings exposed by the pandemic in next week's federal budget. Asked at a COVID-19 Senate inquiry hearing on Tuesday if the more than 600 aged care deaths during Victoria's second wave had been "avoidable", Professor Murphy said the Commonwealth-led Victorian Aged Care Response Centre could have been activated sooner. "With the benefit of hindsight, responding with a response centre a little bit earlier, we would have been able to prevent some of the spread [and] respond better," he said, recalling "those particularly devastating weeks where two facilities lost their entire workforces". The admission comes as the Aged Care Royal Commission prepares to hand its special COVID-19 report to the federal government and as the virus continues to spread through Victorian aged care with 158 active infections - including 83 residents - at dozens of facilities. Serum Institute of India (SII), the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a publicprivate global health partnership that aims to increase access to immunisation in poor countries, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would accelerate the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of safe and effective coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC, a mechanism within the COVAX Facility, the Pune-based firm announced on Tuesday. COVAX Facility seeks to pool in resources to accelerate the development of the most promising of the Coviod-19 candidates and plans to make it equitably accessible to all the participating countries, irrespective of their financial muscle. The initiative brings the total number of vaccine doses to be covered by the partnership to an aggregate of up to 200 million doses, following the initial agreement for up to 100 million doses, which were announced in August. Also read: Indias daily Covid-19 case count drops to 70,589; recoveries increase to over 82% Besides other tie-ups, SII also has entered a manufacturing partnership with AstraZeneca to produce the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Preparations are in progress to conduct phase 3 trials of the candidate vaccine in India. The collaboration will provide upfront capital to SII to help increase manufacturing capacity. Once a vaccine gains regulatory approval and the World Health Organisations (WHO) prequalification, doses can be distributed to LMICs as early as by the first half of next year. The collaboration further bolsters our fight against Covid-19! Through the avid support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will manufacture and deliver up to an additional 100 million doses of immunogenic and safe-proven future Covid-19 vaccines to India and low-and middle-income countries in 2021, said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer (CEO), SII, in a statement. At this stage, it is important for governments, global health and financial institutions in the public and private sector to come together in ensuring that no one is left behind in the road to recovery. This association is in line with our efforts to see that the future vaccines reach the remotest part of the world providing full immunisation coverage in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic, he added. The funding will help accelerate the manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines licenced from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and the WHOs prequalification. The vaccines will have a ceiling price of $3 per dose. The price point is enabled by investments made by partners such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Gates Foundation and SII. This is vaccine manufacturing for the Global South, by the Global South, helping us to ensure no country is left behind when it comes to access to a Covid-19 vaccine, said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO, f Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The momentum behind our effort to ensure global, equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines is really building he added. The Gavi COVAX AMC, which is seeking at least $2 billion in initial seed funding, will meet at least part of the cost of procurement for the vaccine doses. The Gavi board has agreed upon the final list of 92 countries that will be supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. Under the new collaboration, AstraZenecas candidate vaccine, if successful, will be available to 61 Gavi-eligible countries. Novavaxs candidate, if successful, will be available to all 92 countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. These countries align with SIIs licencing agreements with its two partners. Gavi, SII, and the Gates Foundations collaboration supports the efforts of the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerators vaccines pillar, also known as COVAX, co-led by Gavi, CEPI and the WHO, to accelerate the development of vaccines for the viral outbreak and ensure rapid, global access to them. Decisions around investment in manufacturing are taken in close collaboration among these three lead organisations of the COVAX pillar. So far, 73 higher-income economies have committed to join the programme, in addition to the 92 low-and middle-income economies that are eligible for the support. The Gates foundation will provide at-risk funding of a further $150 million to Gavi, bringing the total funding provided through this collaboration to $300 million. This will be used to support the SII to manufacture potential vaccine candidates, and for future procurement of vaccines for India and low- and middle-income countries via Gavis COVAX AMC, according to a statement issued by SII. The deal is additional to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between AstraZeneca and Gavi, which was announced in June that will commit an additional 300 million doses of AstraZenecas candidate vaccine to the wider COVAX Facility, to be supplied upon licensure or the WHOs prequalification. These two deals can help assure access to early doses for the most vulnerable on a truly global scale, the statement added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Northern Ireland is enjoying remarkable success from an increased proportion of local electricity coming from renewable sources. Over 40% of electricity consumption is from renewables. On a windy summer's day renewables can provide well over 60% of demand. That achievement sets the scene for important further (already delayed) decisions. What is the optimum scale of renewable electricity generation in the years ahead and how is it to be achieved within the context of an all-island Single Electricity Market? How are the costs of energy to be minimised whilst contributing to a reduction in climate damage and helping the environment. How can the use of energy sourced from fossil fuels (which means Kilroot, Ballylumford and Coolkeeragh) be minimised? If fossil fuels offer cheaper prices, how far should this over-ride the environmental costs? NI and the Republic operate an energy supply policy where wholesale prices are determined by a complex auction process. To the disappointment of some environmental campaigners, fossil fuel burners now have multi-year contracts extending some years ahead. In the all-island electricity market, the question of a trade-off between continuing environmental damage versus cheaper electricity prices has not yet been explicitly tackled head-on. That policy question is hidden and avoided in the more complex trade-offs being used to encourage and finance the provision of renewable energy which are embedded in the power auctioning processes. The incentives to encourage supplies of renewable energy are cleverly embedded in the formulas that (for most renewable supplies) subsidise renewables by imposing added costs on the conventional large generators. Renewable generators earn additional revenue because they are entitled to payment for renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) for every megawatt (MW) supplied. The entitlement to a number of ROCs has been set in legislation. The scheme attracting ROCs as an incentive closed to new entrants three years ago although existing qualified generators have a 20-year guarantee. ROCs have value because conventional generators, as part of their generation contract, must buy entitlement to a number of ROCs in proportion to their overall output. This incentive mechanism works well to meet the policy objective of encouraging renewables. The incentive mechanism also has the effect of keeping the transactions unseen by final customers and avoiding a significant public debate about the overall impact. Ironically, whilst the marginal (resource) cost of each kilowatt from a renewable plant is very low, the market price earned by a renewable generator is higher than the price paid in the wholesale market. At present, renewable supplies are effectively subsidised which makes this a profitable venture. Discovering the scale and consequences of the arrival of a large investment in renewable energy is difficult. Comprehensive information is not available from one main source. The Utility Regulator registers licensed renewable operators. Ofgem (the UK regulatory body) compiles some information on transactions in NI ROCs, and the NI Systems Operator (SONI) monitors the connections and operations of these generators. Each renewables business must be (part of) a registered company and publish some company information but frequently this is minimal. Does the sparseness of information matter? Arguably, it does. First, NI now needs explicit policies for the further development of the renewables sector. There is a case for a new version of the ROCs system (using possibly a contract for difference formula) - perhaps on less generous levels? Second, is it satisfactory that the registration procedures still effectively allow the beneficial ownership of chunks of this sector to be hidden? Should acknowledgement be made where there is shared ownership of a group of renewable plants? What is known is that in 2018-19 there were 5,716,567 ROCs traded from NI. No official estimate is published but, on a basis of about 55 per ROC, this may be worth just over 300m. That would be the equivalent of 5% of the annual energy bills. Renewable energy is now an essential contributor to the local energy supply. A market-based incentive to greater investment in renewables is needed. Can it be delivered soon at more competitive prices? Each year taxpayers file income tax returns on the income earned for the relevant financial or assessment year. However, the taxpayers generally commit mistakes in a hurry to file a return on time which can lead to an income tax notice. This year (AY 2020-21) the date has been extended up to November 30, 2020 from July 31, 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic. So, taxpayers have enough time to cut down on chances of mistakes. Here are 5 common mistakes that can lead to an income tax notice: ITR form selection Many people commit the mistake of choosing the wrong ITR form, which leads to rejection of ITR. The taxpayers need to know that forms have been undergoing a change in the last few years. The return forms for this year have seen various changes and the government has also issued guidelines in this regard. The taxpayers must select the forms applicable to them on the basis of their income. For instance, a person only having salary income should go for ITR-1. Similarly, ITR-2 applies for someone having salary as well as capital gains. Income declaration The taxpayers should always ensure that ITR forms carry all information about their income sources. It is important to report taxable as well as exempt incomes in the form. Hiding of income is considered a serious offence under income tax rules. For example, taxpayers must mention the interest income earned on a savings account or FD even if the bank has deducted the TDS. E-verification There are cases where people file tax returns but do not e-verify it. The taxpayer is needed to e-verify the ITR once filed. It can be done either through Aadhaar-based OTP, netbanking or demat account. One can also manually dispatch a signed copy of the ITR acknowledgment receipt (ITR-V) to CPC Bangalore. The return is invalidated if e-verification of the ITR is not done within 120 days. Income and tax deduction mismatch Mismatch in income and tax deduction is also a major mistake. The taxpayers are always advised to reconcile their income with that in Form 26AS and Form 16/16A before filing return. Not filing ITR on time One of the biggest mistakes by taxpayers is not to file ITR on time. The entire affair should not be a last minute thing. It not only invites penalties but also robs the taxpayer of various benefits. For example, losses made in business can't be set-off in returns filed in later years. Also read: Scrip-wise reporting not needed for day trading, short term capital gains in ITR TigerDirect Business Privacy Policy Effective Date: February 17, 2016 Last Updated: September 3, 2020 TigerDirect is concerned about privacy issues and wants you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we collect through activities that link to this Privacy Policy including websites and through your interactive business with TigerDirect. By providing information to us, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. Information We May Collect Categories of data subjects from whom we may collect data: employees and former employees including volunteers, agents, individual contractors, temporary or casual workers; applicants who have applied for employment; relatives, guardians or associates of employees, former employees or applicants; contractors, agents, consultants and suppliers both past and present and their individual employees or representative; customers and former customers and their employees or representatives, which may include clients of our customers and former customers; individuals and represent atives of organizations who have registered with TigerDirect to obtain information on products and/or services offered; and individuals and representatives of organizations who have visited the website. Information may include: browser and device information; server log file information; information collected through cookies and other technologies; demographic information and other information provided by you; financial details; complaints or grievances; contact details, being corporate contact details where appropriate, including email, postal address, telephone and facsimile numbers; purchasing habits and customers; customer preferences; In addition, with respect to employees, former employees and applicants the additional categories of data may include: Personal details Family, lifestyle and social circumstances Employment details Financial details Complaints or grievances Email and postal addresses Telephone and facsimile numbers Limited sensitive data such as racial or ethnic origin, physical or mental health or condition, religious observance, issues notified under whistleblower policies, criminal records and disciplinary records, collected in the ordinary course of the employment relationship. How We May Collect the Information We may collect information in a variety of ways, including: From you directly. Through this site: TigerDirect may collect information through the website when you visit. Through business interaction: We may collect information through your or your employers business interaction with our employees or offices. From other sources: We may receive information from other sources, such as public databases; joint marketing partners; social media platforms; or other third parties. How We May Use Information Data storage and administration; Data security; Customer and user administration, including the processing of orders, enquires and client reporting; Employee administration; Advertising, marketing and public relations activities; Maintenance of accounts and records; Analysis of trends and statistical data; Crime prevention and prosecution of offenders; and Maintenance and development of our website including tailoring for specific visitors. 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Please take a look at the Last Updated legend at the bottom of this page to see when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Supplement for California Residents Last Updated August 2020 If you're a Houstonian looking to move soon, this might be the perfect time for it despite the ongoing pandemic. Houston's rent prices have dropped this year, according to Apartment List's September 2020 national rental survey. Apartment List took median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, and then extrapolated them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from their listing data. The study found that rent prices in Houston have been down 1.5 percent since the start of the pandemic in March. Houston's decline in rent price is the No. 10 fastest drop among the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Rent prices in Houston have decreased by 0.1 percent over the past month. The average rent growth in Houston is at -1.0 percent compared to last year, while the national average is 0.3 percent. Currently, the median rent in Houston stands at $835 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,022 for a two-bedroom, according to the study. Of the largest 10 cities in the Houston metro area for which the study collected data, eight of them have seen prices drop. Pasadena has seen the fastest rent growth in the Houston metro area, with a year-over-year increase of 1.6 percent. On the other hand, Sugar Land has seen rents fall by 2.2% over the past year, the biggest drop in the metro area. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sugar Land is now priced at $1,260 and a two-bedroom is $1,540. Houston wasn't the only city in Texas to make the top 10 in Apartment List's rank. Rent has also fallen by 1.7 percent in Austin the eighth largest decline among the 50 largest cities in the U.S. YEREVAN -- Former Armenian President Robert Kocharian, who has been charged with bribery and overthrowing the constitutional order, has left Armenia for the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, where Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting since September 27. Kocharian's lawyer Hovhaness Khudoyan told RFE/RL about his client's departure for Nagorno-Karabakh on September 29. Kocharian was arrested in July 2018 and is now standing trial along with three other former officials on charges stemming from his alleged role in a 2008 postelection crackdown on the opposition, as well as for taking bribes. The former head of state faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which he rejects as politically motivated. He was released on bail on June 18. Kocharian, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh, was one of the leaders of the region's separatist forces and was Nagorno-Karabakhs first de facto president between December 1994 and March 1997. Earlier, a lawyer of Kocharian's codefendant, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, said his client had also left for the Nagorno-Karabakh "to assist" the unrecognized region's armed forces during the ongoing military conflict with Azerbaijan. Ohanian is also a native of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and used to serve as de facto defense minister of the region between 1999-2007. Oregon goat farmer Carine Goldin went above and beyond to keep her herd safe when the encroaching Riverside Fire threatened to burn her dairy farm to the ground. With few options and little time to spare, Goldin performed a mass evacuation of her whole herd of 85 goats in her Subaru. Goldin, who owns and runs Goldin Artisan Goat Cheese farm in Molalla, Oregon, initially left her home on Sept. 8 during a Level 3 evacuation order, leaving her 85 goats behind. However, compelled to spare her herd from a terrifying fate, Goldin devised an evacuation plan using her SUV and a trailer. We put all the little ones, and there were seven, in the Subaru, she explained to KPTV. They actually lined up nicely on one end. In 12 years of running the farm, Goldin admitted never witnessing wildfires like these before. Retaining a sense of humor about the mass evacuation, Goldin took to Facebook on Sept. 11 with a snapshot of her Subaru, loaded with baby goats. Evacuation in style! Cant beat the multipurpose Suburu, she captioned. Cows huddle as smoke fills the sky overhead in Molalla, Ore., on Sept. 10, 2020 (DEBORAH BLOOM/AFP via Getty Images) After driving the first carload to nearby Canby, Goldin returned with her trailer several times to transport the adult goats. However, after brief respite, Canby was also put under evacuation orders. Goldins evacuation effort garnered support from locals, and Clackamas County volunteers stepped up to offer additional trailers to lend a hand in ferrying the whole herd to a new location. Goldin and the herd were offered shelter by Fraga Farmstead Creamery in Forest Grove. On Sept. 13, the goat farmer shared an update on the herds well-being on Facebook. Our wonderful dairy goats are disoriented and stressed, she wrote, but I am hopeful they will pull through with a lot of TLC. The cheeses are in the aging room safe and sealed (no power outage). Goldin added she was optimistic that the dairy farm and creamery would both survive the disruption. The mop-up will be a big task, but doable, she admitted. A spot fire smolders near a lumber yard in Molalla, Ore., on Sept. 10, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images) Goldins 85 goats remained safe in their lodgings at Forest Grove by mid-September, where they continued to receive TLC after the ordeal. The farmer and cheesemaker pledged to return to her home when she can rest assured that her goats will be safe. Its all very scary and the goats are under tremendous stress right now, Goldin told KPTV. [W]e just kind of want to give them rest before we move them back. In a later update on Sept. 23, Goldin took to Facebook to share: The cheeses are safe in a sealed aging room. We will be at the market on SATURDAY! We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc A carpenter who knew nothing about the beauty industry quit his day job in 2014 to launch a tanning business with his wife - and now earns $55,000 a day. David Oosterloo, 32, and his wife Laura are the multi-millionaires behind one of Australia's most lucrative skincare brands, Bali Body. They were on holiday in the Indonesian country their brand is named after when the pair started to talk about what sort of tanning products and sunscreens exist for people with sensitive skin types. 'My wife Laura has suffered from eczema throughout her life and the demand for a natural sun-care range became obvious as her skin continued to flare each time she used sunscreen and tanning oils,' David, who lives in Melbourne, told news.com.au. David Oosterloo, 32, and his wife Laura (pictured) are the multi-millionaires behind one of Australia's most lucrative skincare brands, Bali Body They were on holiday in the Indonesian country their brand is named after when the pair started to talk about what sort of tanning products and sunscreens exist for people with sensitive skin types Realising that there were very few sensitive skin products of this nature in the beauty market, David and Laura curated a host of oils made out of coconut oil, watermelon seed oil and grape seed oil, to name a few. Before long they were being sported by every major 'influencer' on social media, garnering the brand 1.4million followers. Bali Body is tagged on an Instagram image every 10 minutes. They now sell 34 products - including their best-seller $29.95 Self Tanning Mousse - to 150 countries worldwide. The self tanning mousse's streak-free and fast drying formula is said to be the reason the product has sold out three times internationally. Before long they were being sported by every major 'influencer' on social media, garnering the brand 1.4million followers. Bali Body is tagged on an Instagram image every 10 minutes David told the publication that Bali Body made $20 million in sales in the past year alone, which equates to a $55,000 pay check a day David told the publication that Bali Body made $20 million in sales in the past year alone, which equates to a $55,000 pay check a day. 'So much has changed over the years, we have become business minded, the brand and team have evolved and matured,' he said. 'I guess you could definitely say we have grown with the brand, but not changed in terms of who we are as people.' In June the Original Bronzed Bundle priced at $68.95, which contains the must-have self tanning mousse, face tan water and a luxe tanning mitt, had 3,400 customers waiting for stock to be replenished. The second Ultra Bronzed Bundle priced at $69.95 also had a waiting list of 2,800 people. In June the Original Bronzed Bundle priced at $68.95, which contains the must-have self tanning mousse, face tan water and a luxe tanning mitt, had 3,400 customers waiting for stock to be replenished Both the original and dark tanning products are enriched with nourishing oils and 100 per cent natural DHA to create a smooth, natural-looking bronze tan every time. The mousse promises a 'flawless natural looking tan' and 'no self tan smell' as well as soothing chamomile extract, antioxidant coffee seed extract and rejuvenating pomegranate extract to leave skin glowing. The brand has received thousands of five-star reviews online. Both the original and dark tanning products are enriched with nourishing oils and 100 per cent natural DHA to create a smooth, natural-looking bronze tan every time HOW TO USE THE BALI BODY SELF TANNING MOUSSE Step 1: Apply the luxe moisturising lotion to the elbows, hands, knees and ankles Step 2: Shake the bottle well and pump onto the luxe tanning mitt Step 3: Apply to the skin in a low sweeping motion, starting at the ankles and working up Step 4: Ensure all areas are covered before lightly gliding any excess tan over the hands and feet Step 5: Wait until dry before getting dressed Step 6: The tan can be washed off an hour after application or after 4-6 hours for a deeper tan Step 7: Wash the tan off in the shower Source: YouTube Advertisement 'I have used so many other self tan products but this is by far my favourite! It looks natural and lasts through the week, even with daily showers and going for swims in the pool,' one customer said. 'Skin looks so tan, there's hardly any smell at all, and it blends so well! 10/10 would recommend!' Another said. 'It looks very dark at first but after you leave it on and wash it off it leaves a natural glow! I am very satisfied with this purchase and will be buying again!' A third said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) Several non-government organizations have asked legislators to look closely at the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine measures to women and children. NGOs including Oxfam Philippines, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development said child marriage, violence against women and girls, maternal deaths and unintended pregnancies have worsened because of the quarantine restrictions imposed by the government amid the pandemic. Various groups presented current issues and suggested reforms before the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on Tuesday. Unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths According to the UNFPA, the reduction in health services due to the disruption of mobility and transportation due to quarantine measures will lead to a 26-percent increase in maternal deaths and 18,000 additional teenage pregnancies this year. "There will be 60 additional maternal deaths for every month of the community quarantine an estimated 666 additional deaths if such measures were to continue until the end of the year," said Aimee Santos, UNFPA Chief of Gender in the Philippines. Santos said 5.168 million or 67 percent of Filipino women of reproductive age 15 to 49 are unable to access family planning services. This will result in 751,000 more unintended pregnancies. In total, the study commissioned by the UNFPA showed there could be 2.560 million unintended pregnancies by end of the year, of which 751,000 were added due to limited health services. Of the respondents in the study, two out of five women said they cannot access contraceptives, while three out of 10 women have limited access to prenatal delivery services. At the minimum, we need to ensure that essential reproductive health services continue and the services are adapting to quarantine conditions and providing work arounds because people are still having sex, women are still having babies, pregnant women are still in danger of dying during childbirth," Santos said. Increase in violence and abuse But not all pregnancies are due to consented sex. Nenita Dalde of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development said many rape and incest cases remain unreported. "Because of the lockdown measures, women and girls became more vulnerable to abuses that alarmingly happen inside their own homes, and some of them are even perpetuated by their own family. Even worse, the current crisis adds another layer of barrier to reporting, response and for preventive programs to progress as the health and security sector focus its attention on the current public health crisis, Dalde said. Meanwhile, Jane Pura of Plan International said their survey on over 25,000 young women also showed there is increased reports of sexual harassment online, circulation of lewd photos and videos and online sexual exploitation. There is lack of awareness on where and how to report cases. Girls who reported cases online and offline are not aware of what happened to these cases. They also said the authorities did not respond to their reports, Pura said. The UP Population Institute study commissioned by the UNFPA also projected around 12,100 cases of physical and/or sexual violence against married women per month due to coronavirus-related quarantine. The report said 144,000 women aged 15 to 49 are experiencing sexual or physical violence by their husbands or partners. However, many are less likely to seek help or report domestic violence to the police. Santos said several organizations are also providing alternative ways to report domestic violence, including a platform where women can only call for help via text message and find a nearby shelter. "Things are getting back to normal, even though it will never be like it was before," says a relieved Petunia Maseko, relaxing in a bar in South Africa's Soweto township. Africa has weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well in terms of infections and deaths, though its economies have been badly ravaged. While many nations ease their Covid-19 measures and citizens dare to breathe a little easier, experts are warning against letting the continent's success lapse into complacency. There was plenty of celebrating at The Black and White Lifestyle Pub in Soweto on Friday as the first weekend of spring coincided with South Africa's transition to its lowest level of lockdown. The continent's hardest-hit nation, South Africa has reeled under one of the world's strictest lockdowns. "It was tough staying in for six months without socialising," said Maseko, a 21-year-old engineering student wearing a brightly coloured Ndebele traditional outfit. But virus measures were followed, with masked revellers getting their temperatures checked at the bar's entrance. Sanitising gel in hand, 26-year-old DJ Tiisetso Tenyane was delighted to finally play in front of a live audience after months of live-streaming shows. "I've been craving to play for the people again," he said. He said that face masks are "the only sign left that there ever was a pandemic". On the rest of the African continent, daily life varies vastly between strict observance of health measures and total relaxation. 'Back to our habits' "We don't care about corona," Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said, oblivious to listening microphones, when he kissed a party official last month in front of thousands of people in clear defiance of virus restrictions. After reeling under one of the world's strictest lockdowns, South Africa has started to relax its measures. By RODGER BOSCH (AFP/File) Although masks are still compulsory, that rule is "not respected anywhere or almost anywhere" in Ivory Coast, a health worker said on condition of anonymity. "The hysteria is gone and the state no longer communicates much about the subject". In DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, taking temperatures and washing hands are still the norm in the residential district of Gombe, which is also the city's diplomatic and economic centre. But in working-class communities, masks are being pushed down to the chin and people are shaking hands again. For many the latest buzz phrase is "corona eza te", which translates to "there is no corona" in the local Lingala. In West African's Burkina Faso, 43-year-old fish seller Ousmane Ouedraogo said he can't wear a mask forever. "We tried to wear it every day but it was the authorities who set the example by acting as if the disease was over. So we're going back to our habits," he said. Nobody uses the hand-washing station at the entrance to Guillaume Traore's restaurant in Burkina's capital Ouagadougou. "When you remind a customer, he tells you that the coronavirus does not exist," he said. In Chad and Gabon, many wear masks low down, covering only the mouth or just the chin, only to hastily lift them up when they come across the police. In churches, mosques and markets, people jostle into each other. In the evening, however, a strict curfew remains in place. 'Be very careful' In the megacity Lagos of Africa's most populous country Nigeria, civil servant Isiaka Okesanya said he now regularly forgets to wear his mask. "It's like God has helped us to get rid of the disease. We no longer read about those big figures of deaths," the 41-year-old told AFP. But Emmanuel Akinyemi, director of Lagos-based Estate Clinic, said that "coronavirus is real and is still very much around us". Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said last week that while Nigeria's daily infection figures have been trending downwards, "we unfortunately cannot afford to rejoice or speak of success". Nigeria last month lifted a ban on attending religious gatherings. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP/File) The World Health Organization's Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti said the continent has been spared "an exponential spread of Covid-19 as many initially feared". However John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that "we also have to be very careful that we do not over-project any successes". In West Africa's Senegal, life has almost returned to normal since June. This is in stark contrast to Rwanda, where one of the strictest lockdowns is still in place and police make arrests for "not wearing masks properly". In northern Africa, Morocco remains in lockdown, especially economic capital Casablanca, where large neighbourhoods are tightly sealed off. Eastern Africa's Kenya is meanwhile reopening its bars and allowing restaurants to sell alcohol again as infections drop. "We are the most vulnerable and fragile at the moment where we think we have won," President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday. "If we have won one battle against Covid-19, we have not yet won the war." burs-ger/sn/dl/je The Election Commission, however, also said that 'at this stage' Assembly bypolls in seven seats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal will not be held New Delhi: Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 56 Assembly seats will be held on 3 and 7 November, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. The votes will be counted on 10 November. While bypolls to 54 Assembly seats will take place on 3 November, by-elections for one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and two Assembly seats in Manipur will be held on 7 November, the Commission said. Before announcing the schedule, the poll panel had issued a separate statement on Tuesday to announce that it has decided not to hold Assembly bypolls in seven seats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal "at this stage" after specific requests from the states. Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas has issued a statement on the escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Stanislav Zas is seriously concerned about the resumption of the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27, 2020 during which both sides had casualties and injuries, including among the peaceful civilians. The ceasefire regime was violated, heavy arms were used, including artillery, tanks and aviation, as well as attack UAVs. The created situation does not contribute to the implementation of the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement and the mutual agreements on no use of force within the scope of a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is necessary to immediately restore the ceasefire regime and return to the negotiation process which is coordinated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible through political and diplomatic methods. In their statements, the Collective Security Council and the CSTO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs have called on the sides several times to seek the situations of the conflict only through peace and refrain from provocative actions in order to disallow escalation of tension, the statement reads. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 04:54:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CARACAS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called for an end to unilateral coercive measures, such as economic, financial and trade sanctions imposed by one country against another. In an address, via videoconference from Caracas, to a high-level United Nations event on financing for development in the era of COVID-19 and beyond, Maduro said that embargoes only "aggravate the conditions of poverty and further violate the right to development." To counter such punitive actions, "we should immediately debate in the United Nations a financing formula for countries affected by unilateral coercive measures," he said. Maduro also reiterated a proposal to create a "revolving fund for public purchases within the United Nations system to guarantee accessibility to healthcare products and food." To effectively overcome the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic, "a global and joint response by the international community is necessary," said Maduro. Enditem Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she's undaunted by campaigning for tax hikes as the opposition pledges tax cuts as voting begins in New Zealand's election. Ms Ardern ramped up for the October 17 election with a string of interviews with Australian TV outlets on Tuesday morning, the same day that overseas and disabled Kiwis can begin to return ballots. Speaking to Australian Associated Press, Ms Ardern said her pitch to Australian-based Kiwis would be the same as locals. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she's undaunted by campaigning for tax hikes as the opposition pledges tax cuts as voting begins in New Zealand's election 'It will still be about the future,' she said. 'This election is in the midst of such an uncertain environment. And so, my very clear pitch will be in the midst of that uncertainty, we need that stability. 'We need a very strong plan ... and it's a plan that I do think also will create a better New Zealand in the aftermath.' Though voting is non-compulsory, more than 50,000 Australian-based Kiwis are expected to return ballots, mostly through a download-upload voting system at vote.nz. Ms Ardern said she remained a student of Australian politics, but said 'there was a period where I watched more so than I do now, with simply the amount of time I have'. The 40-year-old has a commanding lead in the polls and her Labour party may even come the first party to govern in majority since electoral reform in 1996. The opposition National party, led by Judith Collins, is mounting a major attack on tax For weeks the Labour party was on course to govern alone, but a poll released on Monday by TVNZ and research firm Colmar Brunton showed support for Ms Ardern had dropped to 47 per cent. While it has only dropped one per cent since the last poll on September 22, the level of support means Labour would procure 59 seats rather than the 61 needed to form a majority government. Ms Ardern said she watched the Australian Labor party slump to a surprising defeat last year as it tried to make an argument for tax reform, spun by opponents as a 'death tax'. In New Zealand, the opposition National party is mounting a major attack on tax, announcing a temporary tax cut that would see average full-time workers around $NZ2500 ($A2300) better off next year. In contrast, with an eye to ballooning debt, Ms Ardern's party is promising to lift taxes on income earned over $NZ180,000 ($A166,000) - the top two per cent of Kiwis. Ms Ardern said she didn't need to learn from Australian Labor's 2019 loss as 'I probably reflect the most on my own experiences and those losses. And I've had a few of those'. The now-popular prime minister spent nine years in opposition and lost three races for an electorate seat, entering parliament through a backdoor route unique to NZ politics before winning a safe seat in 2017. Ms Ardern said COVID-19 had changed the electoral environment and Kiwis would see tax cuts as reckless. 'The pandemic just changes everything about an election,' she said. 'It does make it an entirely different environment where people are looking and saying, genuinely casting above their own personal interest. 'They're saying, 'Is this something that we, as a whole team of five million, is this the right time (for tax cuts) or is this an irresponsible call right now we're in the middle of pandemic'. 'I actually do think that's the lens that people are looking at these policies.' The provinces Special Investigations Unit has closed its investigation into an incident involving a woman arrested at a St. Catharines Walmart store in July 2019. Niagara Regional Police were called to the now-closed Walmart store in the Fairview Mall on Geneva Street on July 21, 2019, following reports a 39-year-old woman inside was acting erratically and frightening other customers. Police apprehended the woman under the Mental Health Act and she was subsequently taken to hospital for psychiatric examination. A year later, in July, the woman complained to the SIU, which investigates Ontario incidents involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Following a review of the womans records, it is apparent that she did not suffer any serious injury within the terms of the SIUs statutory mandate, said Joseph Martino, director of the special investigations unit, in his report. Accordingly, as the SIU is without jurisdiction in the matter, the investigation is hereby discontinued and the file is closed. Read more about: Inadequate child care costs Montana businesses nearly $55 million a year in lost worker productivity, according to a new report from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. Better access to child care would save the states economy $250 million a year while child care costs disproportionately burden lower-income families, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty, the study's authors found. This is going to end up slowing down the countrys economic recovery until people can figure this out, said Robert Sonora, the director of health research at the Bureau. The key takeway from this study is the cost of child care for individual families is fairly substantial. For families with $30,000 annual income or less, 10% of their total income is spent just on child care. The Bureau partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and collected data from 404 Montana households with children ages 0-5 from January through April. The responses are weighted to reflect the statewide population of households with young children, and most responses were collected prior to the pandemic. "One primary economic impact of inadequate child care on Montana families is the lost wages families suffer when parents have to miss work, switch from full-time work to part-time work or turn down a job offer, the study concluded. The survey found that 62% of parents missed time from work in the past year due to child care, 22% turned down a job offer and 26% declined to pursue further education or training. A total of 15% had to switch from full-time work to part-time work, and 12% had to quit their job in order to take care of children because child care costs were too high. Parents in low-income households were more likely than those in high-income households to: Decline to pursue further education or training in connection with their employment (38% versus 21%) Turn down job offers (36% versus 12%) Change from full-time to part-time work (24% versus 10%) Quit their jobs (26% versus 5%) American Indian respondents were more likely than white respondents to: Decline to pursue further education or training in connection with their employment (47% versus 24%) Turn down job offers at a higher rate (37% versus 22%) Quit their jobs (27% versus 10%) Urban households were more likely than rural households to report greater difficulty in finding affordable child care, a finding that is supported by a Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce study that found "astronomical" child care costs here. Taxpayers carry a major economic burden caused by inadequate child care as well, the report states. "Specifically, the federal government and Montana state government obtain lower income tax receipts because of the wages parents forego due to inadequate child care, the studys authors concluded. "Taxpayers lose a total of $32 million dollars annually due to inadequate child care." The federal government loses almost $23 million annually in lower income tax receipts, they found, while the State of Montana loses $9 million annually in income tax receipts. Taxpayers lose $1,260 annually per household with children ages 0-5, or approximately $700 per parent. Individual households are aware of how big this problem is, but I dont know that all Montanans understand what that burden is, Sonora said. I dont think they they grasp the size of this. The purpose of this study was to understand the impacts from 30,000 feet. If we want our families to be able to do well, we have a lot of work to do to address this. Kelly Rosenleaf, the executive director of Childcare Resources Inc. in Missoula, lamented the fact that the Republican-controlled state Legislature and Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock were not able to find a way to permanently fund pre-kindergarten education in the past session. Montana is one of only a handful of states without publicly-funded pre-K education programs. Most states have something for 4-year-olds, she said. Its important for low-income and reservation communities. We would do well to invest in our youngest kids so we wouldnt have to be investing so much in prisons and teen pregnancies. While policy-makers say they believe in children and taxpayers say its the most important issue, our investments dont look like that. We give way more money to prisons than we give to children. Rosenleaf said research shows that investing in early childhood education reduces the likelihood that those kids will end up in prison, end up being on welfare due to poverty or get pregnant as teenagers. She believes taxpayers would pay less in the form of reduced criminal justice and social welfare costs if the government were to invest more in early childhood education. Her organization uses federal grants, administered by the state, to subsidize child care costs for low-income parents on a sliding scale. We serve over 500 families a month on that program, including students at the University of Montana or Missoula College, she said. We have a shortage of child care in Missoula County. We can meet about 43% of demand. In Missoula County, 70% of children under school age live in households with working adults, and we know how many licensed slots there are, so we know we can only meet 43% of demand. The lack of affordable child care is a huge problem, she noted, but one thats fixable. We are the only developed country in the world without a paid parental leave policy, she said. Rosenleaf also noted that parents often have to pay $1,000 a month for infant care or $800 a month for kids over the age of 2. Despite that, child care workers are often not paid enough, especially with high housing costs in Missoula. Vicki Olson, the director of the ASUM Child Care center on the University of Montana campus, said they have about 50 people on the waiting list. The center provides day care for children of students, staff and faculty. They might have openings for school-age kids soon, because Missoulas public schools are moving to five-day-a-week in-class schedules soon. They use scholarships to help subsidize child care for many students, she noted. Otherwise, many students would have to drop out, she said. To view the full report from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, visit this story online at missoulian.com. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. There has been a mixed impact on markets across Europe from the export bans imposed on Germany following the discovery of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar in the Brandenburg region, according to AHDB analyst Bethan Wilkins. The German VEZG pig price remained unchanged for a third week, at 1.27/kg for the week ended 23 September. There are undoubtedly challenges in the supply chain with marketing products that are less desirable in the EU and are traditionally exported to Asia, Ms Wilkins said. Reports indicate some products are going into storage because of this. There is perhaps some optimism in Germany that the international market may eventually begin to accept a regional approach to ASF-related trade restrictions. The farmgate price does not seem to be experiencing further downward pressure at this time, suggesting supply and demand are reasonably balanced overall for now. Slaughter is still limited by slaughterhouse operations, although (looking at reports from AMI) it now seems there is also an intentional effort to slaughter fewer animals due to the slump in demand. Of course, this will ultimately add to a backlog of pigs that will need to be slaughtered eventually. Elsewhere in Europe, the effect on markets has been somewhat mixed, she added, as other EU exporters are still able to benefit from strong demand for pork in China. Reports indicate that there is particular demand in Spain from slaughterhouses with China approval. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Vion 54% price actually increased by 3 eurocents to 1.47/kg for the week ended September 27. Nonetheless, most prices seem to be broadly stable overall. It remains to be seen how attractive low-priced German pork will be to other European importers, Ms Wilkins said. A number of countries, including China, Singapore, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and South Africa have now imposed ban on German pork imports, AHDB analyst Bethan Wilkins said. German pork was also already banned from the Philippines because of ASF fears in mid-2019. Germany was the third biggest source of pork for China, shipping nearly 200,000 tonnes there in the first four months of 2020 and supplying about 14% of Chinas pork imports so far this year. German exports to China worth around 1 billion (910 million) annually. Some of the other countries on the list also import large volumes from Germany. Get Our E-Newsletter - Pig World's best stories in your in-box twice a week See e-newsletter example Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 29 2020 /CNW/ - Diamond Fields Resources Inc. (TSXV: DFR) ("DFR" or, including its subsidiaries, the "Company") announces that it has agreed an eight month extension (the "Extension") to its cooperation agreement with TMH Acquisition Co ("TMH"), as announced on May 16 2019 and amended on 26 June 2020 (the "Agreement"). The Extension has been agreed due to ongoing travel and operational restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated impact of the rainy season in Madagascar preventing the Company from advancing the Beravina project in Madagascar ("Beravina" or the "Project") within the expected timeframe. The Agreement required DFR to undertake further exploration work ("Phase 1") with the aim of locating potential new mineral deposits or extensions to the existing deposit. If successful, the Company has the option to engage in a drilling campaign on the Project ("Phase 2") to delineate such deposits. The deadline for DFR to complete Phase 1 and commence Phase 2 has now been extended from 30 September 2020 to 31 May 2021. If work on Phase 2 does not commence by 31 May 2021 (unless extended by DFR in certain circumstances), the Agreement will terminate. The deadline for completion of Phase 2 has been extended from 30 November 2020 to 31 July 2021. The time available for TMH to exercise its option to acquire the Project as set out in the Agreement has been extended from 31 December 2020 to 31 August 2021, which may be further extended by three months on condition of an advance payment of US$250,000 by TMH to DFR. All other provisions of the Agreement remain unchanged. Ends About Beravina The Beravina Project is a hard rock zircon deposit with a NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 1.5 million tons at 22.7% zircon (ZrSiO4) equivalent to 15.3% ZrO2, See the NI 43-101 Technical Report, with an effective date of 14 December 2018 and filed on the Company's SEDAR profile on 29 January 2019, written by MSA Group (Pty) Ltd. (Michael S. Cronwright, Pr.Sci.Nat., FGSSA, John Derbyshire, Pr.Eng., FSAIMM, Jeremy Witley, Pr.SCI.Nat., FGSSA and Andre van der Merwe, Pr.Sci.Nat., MAusIMM, FGSSA), each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, and independent of the Company as defined in NI 43-101. The Project, which covers 625 hectares, is located in Western Madagascar. Results so far show that, utilizing industry standard beneficiation technologies, zircon can be concentrated to levels of between 50% ZrO2 and 58% ZrO2 with varying levels of thorium ingrained. Notes to Editors: DFR is a TSX Venture Exchange listed exploration and mine development company with assets in Madagascar and Namibia. In Madagascar, DFR is developing the Beravina Project, an advanced high grade hard rock zircon exploration prospect located in the west of the country, approximately 220km east of the port of Maintirano and near a state road. DFR acquired Beravina from Pala Investments and Austral Resources in 2016. In Namibia, the Company owns several offshore diamond mining licences including the ML 111 concession which has a ten-year mining licence, effective until 4 December 2025. In 2018 and early 2019 mining undertaken by a contractor on the Company's ML111 licence area produced two parcels of rough diamonds totalling 47,318.41 carats. Website: www.diamondfields.com The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as otherwise required by law. SOURCE Diamond Fields Resources Inc. For further information: DIAMOND FIELDS RESOURCES INC., Sybrand van der Spuy, CEO and Director, Contact: +27 78 4558700; Michael Oke/Andy Mills: +44 20 7321 0000, Aura Financial LLP: www.aura-financial.com Related Links www.diamondfields.com Moldovan prosecutors moved to seek the extradition from Turkey of a politically influential tycoon who had been living in the United States for more than a year after fleeing Moldova amid a political shake-up. The request, announced by the Prosecutor-Generals Office in a statement September 29, was the first official confirmation of Vladimir Plahotniucs whereabouts. The statement said the prosecutor-general was "officially notified" that Plahotniuc arrived in Turkey on September 10. There was no immediate response to the request from Turkish authorities, and there was no immediate reply to an e-mail sent by RFE/RL to the Turkish Justice Ministry seeking comment. A longtime behind-the-scenes powerbroker, Plahotniuc fled Moldova in June 2019 after being pushed out of parliament as part of a government shake-up brokered by Russia, the United States, and other European partners. Hes also been linked to whats known as the "theft of the century" -- the disappearance of $1 billion from Moldovan banks in 2014, a jaw-dropping theft that has continued to roil Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries -- to this day. Since fleeing, Plahotniuc dropped out of the public view, reportedly traveling under one or more assumed names and alternate passports. In January, the U.S. State Department announced a visa ban on him and his family "due to his involvement in significant corruption...that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova." Two months later, however, Plahotniuc was confirmed by RFE/RL to be in the United States, living in Miami. That fact was later confirmed by the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, which said there were administrative removal proceedings under way. In June, meanwhile, leaked filings from a lawsuit in U.S. federal court showed that Plahotniuc had sought political asylum in the United States. It wasnt immediately clear how and why Plahotniuc left the United States, nor why he traveled to Turkey. It is also not known if Plahotniuc is still in Turkey. A database of foreign travelers to the United States, compiled and recorded by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, showed that a person believed to have Plahotniucs passport departed the United States on August 28 from Miami International Airport. The database does not indicate where the person departed to. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Union Labour Minister Gangwar says concerns of unions would be addressed while framing rules under the newly-enacted three Codes The Codes and rules are likely to be notified by December-end RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has said that the newly-enacted Labour Codes are an attempt to diminish the role of trade unions The Parliament passed the three Labour Codes last week effecting long-pending labour reforms. Code on Wages had been approved last year Amidst claims of newly-enacted labour laws tilted in favour of companies, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has stated that government will address concerns of unions while framing the rules. "We would soon start work on framing rules and want the exercise to be completed by December. Whatever needed to be done will be done while framing the rules. The unions would also be satisfied," Gangwar told BusinessToday.In. Various labour unions including RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) have expressed concerns over increasing the threshold of workers from 100 to 300 for retrenchment, lay-off and closure without the need for prior government approval. ALSO READ: Rebooting Economy 32: Wage code leaves millions of workers out in cold In their response to various changes in labour laws, the BMS has said that the newly-enacted Labour Codes are an attempt to diminish the role of trade unions. The Labour Ministry has, however, refuted the apprehensions raised by the unions. On the key issue of increased worker threshold, the Ministry has said that it is only the aspect of prior permission of the appropriate government which has been removed and other benefits and workers' rights have been kept intact. The Ministry has underlined that Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee had also recommended increase in threshold from 100 workers to 300 workers for seeking prior permission for retrenchment, lay-off and closure. "We had sent the bills to Standing Committee and held complete discussion. Then it was put in public domain and comments were sought. The laws are very balanced and good for both employers and employees," Gangwar said. ALSO READ: Govt to implement all 4 labour codes in one go by December: Gangwar The Parliament passed the three Labour Codes last week effecting long-pending labour reforms. With this, 29 various labour laws have been condensed and consolidated into four Labour Codes -- Code on Wages, Industrial Relations (IR) Code, Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code (OSH) and Social Security Code. The Code on Wages had been cleared by Parliament last year. The Centre has already repealed 12 labour laws since 2014. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the three Codes last week, Minister Gangwar had said that the entire work force of the country will now be entitled for obtaining benefits under different codes. While industry has welcomed the labour law reforms that would make hiring and firing easy, a section of experts have argued it will make future uncertain for the employees. Some of the experts, however, disagree with the view saying millennials prefer easy and flexible employment terms so that they can switch from one job to the other without any hassles. Notably, the Social Security Code has widened social security net covering unorganised workers and gig workers. For the first time, a fixed term employee working for a certain period on contract has been given the right of social security like a regular employee. ALSO READ: India Inc. loves new labour codes; experts say they will promote 'ease of closing business' The DUP has urged people to abide by rules on gatherings and social distancing after it emerged scores of mourners packed the narrow streets of south Belfast for the funeral of a popular local figure. Members of the Apprentice Boys acted as an honour guard as the coffin holding Herbert 'Herby' Hutton was taken from his home in the Sandy Row area of the city. They also acted as pallbearers as the coffin made its way through the streets on September 15. Read More Images from the funeral, showing the honour guard and a street packed with people, were posted on the Boyne Bridge Defenders Facebook pages, with the comment that "restrictions did not prevent many people gathering for the funeral". DUP MLA Christopher Stalford did not attend the funeral, the party said, adding that he is recovering from an illness and was hospitalised at the time. But the party added: "No one is above the law. The regulations passed by the Executive apply equally to everyone in Northern Ireland. The rules on gatherings exist to protect life. We urge everyone to abide by them." Members of the Apprentice Boys stood guard as the coffin was removed from Mr Hutton's home off Blythe Street. Dozens of people, potentially close to a hundred, followed the coffin as it was carried through the streets, including by members of the organisation. Few wore masks. The Apprentice Boys did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Hutton, a father-of-six, was a member of the Sandy Row Mitchelburne Apprentice Boys' Club. In a post on social media, the Boyne Bridge Defenders said: "Today was the funeral of a true son of Sandy Row. An Apprentice Boy and Boyne Bridge Defender. "The restrictions did not prevent many people gathering for the funeral of Herby Hutton, who felt they had to be there to honour the memory of Herby. "The members of his Sandy Row Mitchelburne Apprentice Boys' Club provided a guard of honour outside the family home in Sandy Row. "Members stood in prayer and gave the Apprentice Boys' salute before the funeral cortege moved off headed by a lone piper. "Although this is a very sad day, it should also inspire us and join the Apprentice Boys' cry of 'No Surrender'." Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 7:40AM Source: Google When Google allowed all Meet users to get unlimited-length meetings for up to 100 people on the video chat app, the company said it'll only be available until the end of September. Google is sticking to its word with free versions of Meet being limited to 60-minute meetings at a time. Access to advanced features for G Suite and G Suite for Education customers will also be taken away from users who aren't part of the "enterprise" tier of G Suite. These included allowing meetings for up to 250 participants, live-stream to up to 100,000 people within a single domain, and save meeting recordings to Google Drive. If you're not interested in updating to a paid Meet plan, all you will be losing is less time for conference calls. And sometimes, that isn't the worst thing. Source: The Verge SPRINGFIELD Investigators seized more than 94,000 bags of heroin during a coordinated crackdown on heroin trafficking Monday night and Tuesday morning, according to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. Investigators made five arrests late Monday night after executing search warrants in Springfield and Holyoke, he said. Charged in the case are: Miguel Martinez Pinto, 40, of Springfield; David Vazquez-Roman, 34, of Springfield; Natividad Pagan, 58, of Chicopee; Carlos Leon, 52, of Springfield, all charged with trafficking in heroin; and Santiago Ruiz, 41, of Springfield, charged with heroin possession. The raids and arrests followed a months-long investigation, the district attorney said. This is a very significant heroin seizure and dismantling this trafficking organization is a positive development for public safety in the greater Springfield area. My office will now focus on a swift and effective prosecution of these offenders who sought to profit from the pain and devastation of addiction," Gulluni said. Locations of the searches included 1978 Page Blvd., 140 Michon St., 61 Acushnet Ave., 23 Ashley St., 79 Central St., all in Springfield, plus 249 Oak St. in Holyoke. Police also searched a pickup truck. The searches yielded $120,000 in cash and three guns, a spokesman for Gulluni said. The defendants were arraigned today in Springfield and Chicopee district courts. Pagan pleaded not guilty and was held on $5,000 cash bail. Arraignment information was not immediately available for the other defendants. The investigation combined the efforts of the Springfield, Holyoke and Westfield police departments, the Hampden County sheriffs department, Hampden County assistant district attorneys, members of the Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Team (CINRET), and Homeland Security Investigations. LAKE JACKSON Eva Day drove through the parking lot at Brazosport College, where uniformed National Guard members loaded her red minivan with a 24-pack of bottled water. A native of Mexico, Day was shaken by the news that a brain-eating amoeba had tainted the water supply in Lake Jackson and led to the death of 6-year-old Josiah McIntyre. The Brazosport Water Authority on Friday issued a do not use warning for the water in Brazoria County, and though it was lifted over the weekend, a boil water notice remained in effect for the city of Lake Jackson. Day said her sister had contracted the same amoeba when she was 10, requiring her to undergo brain surgery. Doctors gave her a small chance of survival. While her sister ultimately lived, she still suffers headaches from the amoeba to this day. It went to her stomach and the doctors didnt know what was going on and it traveled up to her brain, Day said. Its very dangerous. People should take it seriously. Lake Jackson officials on Monday began purging the contaminated water from its system, then flushing it with highly chlorinated water, a process that could take up to 60 days, according to Modesto Mundo, the city manager. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will continue to test all of the citys water sources for contamination, and the city has issued a drought contingency plan to limit water usage during this period. The city of 27,000 is 55 miles south of downtown Houston. The purpose of (the drought plan) is to eliminate all outdoor water usage so we can conserve our water and use it to purge the system as quickly as possible and then bring in the (chlorinated water), and then we can lift the boil water notice, Mundo said. The microscopic amoeba, known as naegleria fowleri, was identified by state and federal health officials weeks after the 6-year-old boy became mysteriously ill last month and died Sept. 8. The boys grandparents speculated he inhaled water from a city water supply at a splash-pad they visited shortly before he became ill. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took water samples from three different sites within a mile of the boys home, which tested positive for genetic material from the free-living, microscopic amoeba. The CDC notified city officials of the test results last Friday. Once the source of contamination was located, the do not use advisory was lifted for all areas except Lake Jackson. Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, whose district includes Lake Jackson, emphasized at a news conference late Monday with water authority officials that a TCEQ review found that the authoritys distribution system meets all standards. The Brazos River is the authoritys water source. They never did have a problem and they are completely and totally safe, he said. We want to be able to differentiate between Lake Jackson and these surrounding communities. He added: Frankly you can feel more confident now than you ever did (about the water supply). Naegleria fowleri is commonly found during the summer in freshwater, especially along the Gulf Coast where temperatures tend to be warm. It can grow in lakes, ponds, puddles and unclean swimming pools or even a stock tank. But A. Scott Lea, professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, explained that fortunately for all of us, very few people actually contract the deadly, hard-to-diagnose disease. It typically infects people when contaminated water enters the nervous system through passages in the nose. From there it travels to the brain and can cause a rare and debilitating disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. If water is properly chlorinated and cleaned, there should be no amoeba present. The naegleria fowleri amoeba does not cause an infection if it is in water that a person drinks because the amoeba is killed by normal levels of stomach acid, said Brooke West, a spokeswoman for TCEQ. However, the amoeba can cause an infection if it goes into a persons nose. State and federal officials are still working to determine how the amoeba tainted its water supply, Mundo said. City and TCEQ officials took 56 water samples from sites across the city, 14 of which showed low chlorine levels, indicating contaminated water; that triggered the boil water notice. Oddly, the three samples taken near Josiah McIntyres home the splash pad, a fire hydrant and a hose bib that tested positive for the amoeba showed normal chlorine levels. That means the amoeba may be there but it was dead, Mundo said. The system was possibly doing its job. Well find that out later. While the TCEQ investigates the source of the amoeba, the city began the lengthy process of draining its water sources including water lines and towers, and ground storage tanks through fire hydrants. It will also do an autopsy of its entire water system, examining flushing procedures and looking for vulnerable access points as well as possible cross-contamination with irrigation systems. Meantime, emergency management officials in Lake Jackson are preparing daily points of distribution for bottled water from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the foreseeable future. We anticipate because the boil water advisory is in place, were hoping we can mitigate our water problem within a 14-day period, hopefully, said Lt. Bryan Sidebottom, Lake Jacksons deputy emergency management coordinator. Another resident, Lance Mulkey, cruised through the distribution site at Brazosport College in his white pickup on Monday to get his 24-pack of bottled water. An Army veteran, Mulkey said he is used to showering with a rag but the situation is most inconvenient for his wife, who suffers from stage 3 breast cancer. She goes through hot flashes because shes going through chemotherapy, he said. She counts on that cold shower to cool her off. Residents also flooded the local H-E-B supermarket to buy jugs of water to get them through the coming weeks. Kara Brookins said she had to tape a do not use the water sign to her bathroom mirror to remind her two children, 12 and 17. Out of an abundance of caution, they have been traveling to a friends house in Ridgewood to shower. Theyre saying you can still shower, but thats still scary to put your 12-year old in the shower and tell them, Dont get the water in your face, Brookins said. As she wheeled out five large jugs of water to her car, Johanna Grice noted that the water advisory feels even more dire in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. She supports three children 11, 9 and 5 and the restaurant where she works only recently reopened after being shut down for months. Feels like were living in hell, Grice said. Emily Foxhall, Julian Gill and the Associated Press contributed to this report. nick.powell@chron.com President Donald Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House, according to a report in The New York Times. In a small informal survey, we asked Hearst Connecticut Group readers for their opinion on this news. Here's a sampling of what people had to say. A big fire broke out in a residential house in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, burning down several properties and causing many people to evacuate. At around 6:30 pm, a resident discovered a house located at the intersection of Phan Chu Trinh Street and Hanoi Highway in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City on fire and began to scream for help. Despite their efforts, the locals failed to extinguish the flame. At the time of the incident, there were three people in the house but they managed to rush out in time. The neighbors assisted the family in moving the gas tank and other furniture to a safe place. A fire consumes a house in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, September 27, 2020 in a video uploaded to Facebook. A number of people who were eating in a nearby eatery selling 'pho' (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) were forced to abandon the place mid-meal and flee, according to witnesses. On receiving the news, the firefighting and rescue police unit in District 9 hurried to the scene, bringing the blaze under control. The fire was eventually put out with no casualties reported. However, many of the properties inside the house were burned down and the adjacent 'pho' shop was also heavily damaged by the conflagration. At 9:00 pm the same day, local authorities were still working with the firefighting force of District 9 to seal off the scene and determine the cause of the fire. The scene of a house fire in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City after the fire was put out, September 27, 2020. Photo: M.H. / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! EDINBURGH (dpa-AFX) - Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L) reported a loss before tax from continuing operations of $284.4 million for the six months ended 30 June 2020 compared to profit of $73.2 million, prior year. Loss per share from continuing operations in cents was 48.84 compared to profit of 12.45. Impairment charge was approximately $240 million for the period, with $207 million against Senegal assets and $33 million against UK producing assets. First half revenue declined to $214.9 million from $270.3 million, last year. Oil and gas sales revenue was $172 million, for the first half period. oil production averaged approximately 22,400 bopd, at top end of full year guidance. Looking forward, the Group has narrowed its full year production guidance to 21,000 to 23,000 bopd from 19,000 - 23,000 bopd previously. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. None of the candidates will appear on the ballot to fill Lewiss seat when the new Congress is sworn in in January. In that contest, state Sen. Nikema Williams (D) faces Republican Angela Stanton-King, an author and television personality. Given the makeup of the district, Williams is heavily favored to win. New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat at the launch of the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4), iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines at South Block in New Del Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses at the launch of the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4), iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines at South Block in New Delhi on Sep 29, 2020. Also seen Chi Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses at the launch of the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4), iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines at South Block in New Delhi on Sep 29, 2020. Also seen Chi Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4), iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines at South Block in New Delhi on Sep 29, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Sep 29 : Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched a startup challenge to achieve self-reliance in the military sector under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign. Singh launched the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4) featuring initiatives aimed at expanding the horizons of the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) ecosystem. "The iDEX4Fauji initiative and the Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines were also launched by the Defence Minister during the event. Each of these initiatives is expected to facilitate iDEX-DIO to scale up the programme qualitatively and quantitatively," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. It is a first of its kind initiative launched to support the innovations identified by the members of the Indian armed forces and will bolster frugal innovation ideas from the soldiers. There are more than 13 lakh service personnel working in the fields and on the borders, handling extreme conditions and equipment and would be having many ideas to improve such equipment. "iDEX4Fauji would open this window and allow our soldiers to become part of the innovation process and get recognised and rewarded. Services headquarters will provide support to the soldiers and field formations all over the country to ensure maximum participation," the ministry said. Singh said that for the first time, an atmosphere has been created in the country where different stakeholders have been brought together to push for innovations in the defence sector. "In order to further strengthen our defence system and make it self-reliant, the participation of the private sector is crucial. For this we have taken certain steps like partnerships with the private sector, technology transfer, 74 per cent FDI through automatic route and the recently released negative list of 101 items for import ban after a stipulated period," the Defence Minister said. Singh also said that on Monday, the government launched the defence acquisition procedure which seeks to encourage the private industry to participate in the defence sector. He also urged the armed forces to make full use of the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) platform to meet their technological requirements. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that its work in India has been halted after the government froze several of the organisations bank accounts. Amnesty India, in a statement, said the organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work alleging that it is being subjected to an incessant witch-hunt over unfounded and motivated allegations. "Complete freezing of bank accounts bring all the work being done by the organisation to a grinding halt," the organisation further added. Representational However, the government has alleged said that Amnesty has been receiving foreign funds illegally. Its offices in Bengaluru were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November last year in connection with accusations that the non-profit had received foreign funds in violation of the law. In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate too, had carried out searches at the headquarters of the organisation in Bangalore owing to charges that the rights group had attempted to bypass the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by floating a commercial entity, Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd. However, Amnesty International India said it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws. Amnesty International "For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than four million Indians have supported Amnesty International Indias work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions, the organisation said. Attacks on Amnesty International India The organisation claimed that the attacks on Amnesty International India and other outspoken human rights organisations, activists and human rights defenders are only an extension of the various repressive policies and sustained assault by the government on those who speak truth to power. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and the fact that the government is now portraying this lawful fundraising model as money-laundering is evidence that the overbroad legal framework is maliciously activated when human rights activists and groups challenge the governments grave inactions and excesses, it alleged. REUTERS Critics say that the government has been using the foreign funding law as a tool to silence non-profit groups which have raised concerns about the social costs of India's rapid economic development. In a veiled opposition, in July, the organisation's campaign against the controversial Draft EIA Notificaiton 2020 was slyly dissed by the government among them FridaysForFuture India, Let India Breathe, and There is No Earth B. Back in 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs put the New York-based Ford Foundation on a watch list and suspended environmental campaigner Greenpeace's licence under India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Last year, the government banned foreign funding for the Public Health Foundation of India, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saying it used foreign donations to lobby for tobacco-control policy issues, which is prohibited under FCRA. Mumbai, Sep 29 : Aspiring actor Akshat Utkarsh was found dead in his Andheri apartment in the city. "Actor Akshat Utkarsh dies allegedly by suicide at his residence in Mumbai's Andheri area. Case lodged, matter being probed. Body handed over to family after postmortem: Mumbai Police," a statement issued by Mumbai Police reads, about the death that reportedly occurred on Monday. Akshat originally hailed from Muzaffarpur and was trying his luck in films over the past couple of years. As per a report in hindustantimes.com, the family of the late actor suspects that he was murdered. They have also taken his body to Muzaffarpur on Tuesday. An architectural rendering of Peter Zumthor's and Michael Govan's LACMA redesign looking west along Wilshire Boulevard. (Atelier Peter Zumthor / The Boundary) LACMA's Michael Govan is without question one of the shrewdest museum leaders in the world, and at his direction we are about to get an entirely new Los Angeles County Museum of Art, designed by Peter Zumthor, one of the world's great architects. So why do their plans have so many Angelenos cultural knickers in such a twist? Over the past few years, with social media commenters in high dudgeon, a slew of art and architectural critics, including The Times Christopher Knight, have lobbed repeated salvos at the redesign. (Knights 2019 articles won him a Pulitzer Prize in May.) The angst has only heightened with the wrecking-ball demolition of the former museum buildings taking place along Wilshire Boulevard since April. Perhaps the carping is simply part of the give and take for a project of this scale. There is in fact much at stake and much to consider. If it isn't Zumthor's amoebic, ground-hugging design that bothers critics, its what it will effectively do to LACMA, at Govan's behest. With a loss of some 10,000 feet of gallery space compared to the old buildings, and with no traditionally defined galleries to regularly display the permanent collection, LACMA appears to be letting go of its history and promise as an encyclopedic museum or at least redefining it. Future exhibitions will be theme-based, similar it seems to what weve seen over the past few years in the museums Resnick building, for better or worse, or just meh. The new building will be made of Zumthor's signature material, concrete, including the interior walls, which is likely to present a number of pragmatic issues for the hanging and rehanging of art. The flat, low-rise structure itself, which will bridge Wilshire Boulevard, looks to its haters like a pancake, a coffee table, an overpass or an Italian travel stop. Whats more, they say, it costs far too much, enough to saddle LACMA with layers of serious debt for years to come. Story continues Govan's response to all of these issues has been, essentially, don't worry, we've got this, be happy. Yet many remain unconvinced, to say the least. When interior renderings and schematics were finally made public in mid-September, revealing somber gray walls, asphalt-dark floors and a maze of gallery clusters, Govan promised a sublimely fluid museum experience devoid of the usual art historical hierarchies. One anonymous commenter on the Los Angeles County Museum on Fire blog weighed in with a less sanguine judgment: A lazy act of self-satisfied claptrappery. So it goes. One positive outcome of all the controversy is the realization of how much Los Angeles actually cares about LACMA. The Getty Center, for all its power and appeal, remains a distant wealthy cultural cousin. The Hammer is engaged and important, but its office-building location is restrictive. MOCA is diminished, damaged from years of uncertainty and turmoil, still finding its way with a new director, Klaus Biesenbach. Its neighbor, the Broad, has its curated moments, but often feels generic one mans collection with selfie stick-wielding tourists. LACMA, on the other hand, feels like our museum its mid-town campus welcoming and accessible, and soon to have its own Purple Line stop; its wide-ranging collections familiar, even beloved. If the Wilshire corridor is L.A.s linear center, as has often been suggested, LACMA is arguably the heart of the city, which is why the plan's detractors care so much, and why Govan does too. Govan has always been a mover and shaker of the first order, a ripper-upper and a builder. He was tapped as a grad student by Thomas Krens for the Guggenheim, where he was deputy director for six years a period that coincided with the Guggenheims global expansion before moving on to the Dia Art Foundation, which he also redesigned, transforming an old Nabisco box factory on the Hudson River into Dia:Beacon, a huge permanent space for the foundations collection. In 2006, when he was hired to direct LACMA, the goal was to take it to the next level, to take on and even surpass New Yorks arts hegemony. Govans knack for showmanship undergirded with artistic cred he studied with Allan Kaprow, the renowned Father of the Happening has found fertile ground at LACMA. Witness Chris Burden's insanely popular museum gateway Urban Light, or Michael Heizer's "Levitated Mass, the transportation of which from desert to museum grounds Govan was savvy enough to make it a public event. Some years ago, he also tried to add a massive (and massively expensive) hanging train engine from artist Jeff Koons, but the project never got off the ground. Govan believed that LACMA needed not just a great encyclopedic collection but also a beacon, a landmark, a grand gesture to make the museum a destination. Which brings us to Zumthor. One much-decried issue has been Govans lack of transparency, including his refusal to host an architectural competition. Yes, he can be stealthy, but when it comes to Zumthor, who can blame him? The Pritzker Prize-winning architect has never built in the U.S. before, and LACMA will be his largest project to date. Why go through a painfully democratic process when youve already got Zumthor? It doesnt hurt that the architects name pronounced Tsoom-tor sounds like a superhero. And you don't have to be a critic to see the strength of Zumthor's ascetic exactitude. Take a look online at his buildings, the Therme Vals in Switzerland, the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria, or the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, which fuses a contemporary structure to a bomb-damaged church. Spirituality, sacredness, mysticism and aura are terms that most of our visitors associate with the architecture of the museum and other Zumthor buildings, says Kolumba director Marc Steinmann. He also notes that Zumthor won over the Kolumba staff with his obsessive attention to detail, telling them that "memories can be connected with a door handle. LACMA's buildings from the 1960s were pedestrian, vertical, confining, the mid-1980s addition looking from Wilshire Boulevard like a giant mausoleum. Zumthor and Govan are clearly attempting to place the art-going experience on a higher, newer plane, one that forsakes the normal strategies. Yes, the risks are great, but so are the possibilities. After all, one womans somber is anothers meditative, one mans coffee table is anothers Sam Maloof masterpiece. In Zumthor, Govan has an architect capable of merging the metaphysical and the material, of creating sacred spaces, in this case above the La Brea tar pits. My bet, and I believe a safe one, is that these high-functioning professionals have in fact got this, down to the door handles, and that the result will be as promised: sublime. Tom Christie, former arts editor of the L.A. Weekly, divides his time between Los Angeles and Berlin. For the record: 12:20 PM, Sep. 29, 2020: An earlier version of this op-ed indicated that LACMAs redesign included no designated galleries to display the permanent collection. There will be no traditionally defined galleries for the collection. Also, Resnick was misspelled and the Purple Line was misidentified as the Red Line. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Successful 17.5 million private placement Cash position of 10.5 million as of June 30, 2020 All activities funded until mid-2022 Launch of temelimab new Phase 2 trial in multiple sclerosis (MS) at the Academic Specialist Center (ASC) of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Reinforcement of the management team with the appointments of Pr. David Leppert as Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Jean-Francois Arrighi Chief Development Officer Regulatory News: GeNeuro (Paris:GNRO) (Euronext Paris: CH0308403085 GNRO), a biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported its half-year financial results for the period ending June 30, 2020 and provided a corporate update. Key Financials On September 28, 2020, the Board of Directors of GeNeuro reviewed and approved the financial statements for the six-month period ended June 30, 2020. The Statutory Auditors have conducted a review of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements. The half-year financial report is available in the Investors section on www.geneuro.com. "The successful completion of our capital increase in January 2020 has considerably strengthened our position, covering all our activities until mid-2022, in particular our new Phase 2 clinical trial of temelimab in MS at the Karolinska Institutet's Academic Specialist Center (ASC), in Stockholm, Sweden," said Jesus Martin-Garcia, CEO of GeNeuro. "GeNeuro was also further reinforced by the appointment on May 1, 2020, of Prof. David Leppert, MD and Professor of Neurology, as Chief Medical Officer of GeNeuro. Dr. Leppert is a recognized expert in the worldwide neurology community, having worked for over 20 years in clinical development and being responsible for taking leading MS drugs to the market. He is a tremendous asset to GeNeuro." "The financial results for the first half of 2020 are in line with our expectations and prior disclosures. Our R&D expenses were 26% below the same period of last year, partly due to the three-month COVID-19 induced delay to the start of our new Karolinska trial. Meanwhile, thanks to our continued cost containment effort, our general administrative expenses have decreased by 4%. Overall, we were able as a result to reduce our operating loss by 14%, to 3.7 million in H1 2020 compared to 4.3 million in H1 2019. Both this loss and the cash burn for H1 2020, down 39% from the same period of last year, are in line with our expectations," said Miguel Payro, Chief Financial Officer at GeNeuro Condensed Consolidated Income Statement (in thousands of EUR) June 30, 2020 6 months subject to a limited review June 30, 2019 6 months subject to a limited review Income Research Development expenses (1,997) (2,535) R&D expenses (2,226) (3,026) Subsidies 230 491 General administrative expenses (1,718) (1,796) Other income 12 Operating loss (3,715) (4,319) Net loss for the period (3,948) (4,469) Basic loss per share (EUR) (0.20) (0.31) Diluted loss per share (EUR) (0.20) (0.31) Cash outflow from operations (3,795) (6,201) Cash at period end 10,492 9,992 As in the prior year and as expected, no Income wasrecognizedduring H1 2020. Research Development expenses decreased significantly compared to the first half of 2019. Before subsidies (research tax credits), R&D expenses decreased by 0.8 million, or 26%, reflecting the completion during H1 2019 of the Type-1 diabetes trial and Phase 1c trial testing the safety of higher doses of temelimab, whilst costs of the new Karolinska trial were lower than planned during the period due to the 3-months delay in its launch due to COVID-19. Costs of studies dropped by 0.5 million, while all other R&D costs were stable or down, including personnel expenses, which decreased from 1.2 million to 1.0 million as a result of non-replaced departures and lower variable compensation. General and administrative expenses decreased by 4% to 1.7 million, thanks to continued cost containment efforts, which offset the weakening of the euro against the Swiss Franc, in which the bulk of such expenses are denominated. Administrative personnel expenses in particular were stable, whereas other cost categories were stable except for travel expenses, which dropped by 174,000, or 67%, as a result of the travel restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and except for tax expenses, which increased by 21,000 due to higher Swiss capital taxes as a result of the capital increase of January 2020. Share-based payments expense was 36,000, compared to a credit of 6,000 in H1 2019 as a result of the final determination of the Company's share option plans, resulting in a lower number of options being granted than previously estimated. The Company recorded a net loss of 3.9 million vs. 4.5 million in H1 2019, in line with management's expectations. Cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2020 amounted to 10.5 million compared to 5.9 million at December 31, 2019, the increase being due to the 17.5 million capital increase completed in January 2020 to which its shareholder GNEH SAS participated for 7.5 million, paying for its new shares by way of set-off with the 7.5 million loan it had granted to the Company in 2019; this loan was accordingly fully repaid. The cash burn for H1 2020 was 3.8 million, down 39% from the same period of last year, in line with expectations. For H2 2020, the cash burn is expected to be lower than in H1 2020 as the figure for H1 2020 included the payment of outstanding payables at December 31, 2019. Business and Financial Outlook Temelimab new Phase 2 trial in MS with Karolinska Institutet: following the successful 96-week results of its extension Phase 2b clinical trial, ANGEL-MS, which confirmed the neuroprotective effect of temelimab in MS and demonstrated its potential against progression of the disease, the Company announced in November 2019 a collaboration for a new clinical trial of temelimab in MS with clinical researchers of the Karolinska Institutet and the Academic Specialist Center (ASC), Stockholm, Sweden. The one-year trial will enroll initially 40 patients whose disability progresses without relapses and will document the safety and tolerability of temelimab following higher doses, as well as efficacy based on the latest biomarkers associated with disease progression. The study started enrolling patients in Q2 2020 and results remain expected for the end of 2021. GeNeuro preclinical program: GeNeuro is also advancing its preclinical program in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in partnership with the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health). The Company has initiated a preclinical development program for its pHERV-K Env antibody in this indication, with a view to reach an IND (Investigational New Drug) in 2021. Financial visibility to mid-2022: Thanks to the capital increase completed early 2020, the Company's cash provides financial visibility until mid-2022 covering all planned activities, which include the Karolinska Phase 2 trial until completion and the ALS preclinical program. Other highlights and post-closing events As noted above, the Company on May 1, 2020, appointed Prof. David Leppert, MD and Professor of Neurology, as Chief Medical Officer of GeNeuro. In July 2020, the Company announced the publication in Science Advances of data establishing clear link between human endogenous retroviral proteins and psychotic disorders. The study's conclusions confirm the relevance of GeNeuro's approach, based on the link between human endogenous retroviruses and neurological disorders. These results open a new path for treating inflammatory psychosis by developing a drug candidate that neutralizes causal factors arising from human endogenous retroviruses. In addition, on September 1, 2020, GeNeuro appointed Dr. Jean-Francois Arrighi, PhD, as Chief Development Officer, who replaced Dr. Thomas Ruckle. Dr. Arrighi has been working in the field of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases for more than 25 years. Over the past 15 years, his career has been centered around preclinical and early clinical development, and biosimilars development, leading several projects from lead to proof of concept to registration (including the 2019 launch of Idacio, a Humira biosimilar, whilst at Fresenius Kabi SwissBioSim GmbH). On September 11, 2020, GeNeuro and the CSA of Karolinska Institutet presented the ProTEct-MS study with temelimab at the MSVirtual2020 virtual congress (8th joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS meeting). As previously mentioned, the first patients were recruited in Q2 2020. Finally, on September 25, 2020, Marc Bonneville, Vice President for scientific and medical affairs of Institut Merieux, who was a member of the Board of Directors since April 2016, announced his resignation from the Board to focus on other professional activities. GNEH SAS, which is an Institut Merieux subsidiary, has informed the Company that it intended to propose Dr. Philippe Archinard, currently CEO of Transgene, as a candidate for the Board of Directors at the next shareholders' meeting. About GeNeuro GeNeuro's mission is to develop safe and effective treatments against neurological disorders and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, by neutralizing causal factors encoded by HERVs, which represent 8% of human DNA. GeNeuro is based in Geneva, Switzerland and has R&D facilities in Lyon, France. It has rights to 17 patent families protecting its technology. For more information, visit: www.geneuro.com. Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward looking statements and estimates concerning GeNeuro's financial condition, operating results, strategy, projects and future performance and the markets in which it operates. Such forward-looking statements and estimates may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is designed to," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "objective," "should," or the negative of these and similar expressions. They incorporate all topics that are not historical facts. Forward looking statements, forecasts and estimates are based on management's current assumptions and assessment of risks, uncertainties and other factors, known and unknown, which were deemed to be reasonable at the time they were made but which may turn out to be incorrect. Events and outcomes are difficult to predict and depend on factors beyond the Company's control. Consequently, the actual results, financial condition, performances and/or achievements of GeNeuro or of the industry may turn out to differ materially from the future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by these statements, forecasts and estimates. Owing to these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the correctness or fairness of these forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates speak only as of the date on which they are made, and GeNeuro undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005937/en/ Contacts: GeNeuro Jesus Martin-Garcia Chairman and CEO +41 22 552 4800 investors@geneuro.com NewCap (France) Louis-Victor Delouvrier Mathilde Bohin (investors) +33 1 44 71 98 52 Nicolas Merigeau (media) +33 1 44 71 94 98 geneuro@newcap.eu Halsin Partners Mike Sinclair (media) +44 20 7318 2955 msinclair@halsin.com LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos (investors) +41 79 367 6254 chris@lifesciadvisors.com PHILIPSBURG:--- In the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles, the University of St. Martin (USM) and the Dutch section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-NJCM) will co-host a webinar on Human Rights in the Dutch Caribbean, 10 Years After 10-10-10 on Thursday, 8 October 2020. On 10 October 2010, a constitutional reform went into effect, dissolving the Netherlands Antilles and recognizing new constituent countries of the Dutch Kingdom. As a result, Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten became countries within an autonomous constitutional status, and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba became public entities or so-called special municipalities of the European part of the Netherlands. The webinar will look back on the past decade and discuss the consequences experienced in the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom by the constitutional reform, and look into the relevant human rights and obligations. We will not only to explore the legal framework but also the political aspects of the new relationships through a multidisciplinary lens, said Dr. Daphina Misiedjan, Assistant Professor of Human Rights at the University of Rotterdam Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. Misiedjan, who will be moderating the three-and-a-half-hour event, participated in USMs webinar on Human Rights in the Face of COVID-19, held in June earlier this year. Together with lawyer, educator, and human rights activist Ms. Lisenne Delgado, Misiedjan and USM President Dr. Antonio Carmona Baez organized this trans-Atlantic webinar in order to stimulate collective critical reflection within the Dutch Kingdom. Webinar speakers include professors Flora Goudappel and Rycond Santos do Nascimiento of the University of Curacao, sociologist Raymond Jessurun of the Sint Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform, anthropologist Louis Philip Romer of Vassar College in the United States, Jonneke Naber of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights and Lisenne Delgado who is currently conducting research in Curacao. The speakers will cover issues related to the Kingdom Charter, civil rights, labor, and socio-economic rights and self-determination from an international perspective. The webinar will begin promptly at 9:00 AM (ECT) on Thursday, 8 October, and broadcasted on USMs Facebook page via Zoom. President Donald Trump reacts to the crowd at the end of a campaign event in Minnesota, September 18, 2020. Tom Brenner/Reuters A giant data leak from the 2016 Trump campaigns database reported by UK outlet Channel 4 News contained details from almost 200 million Americans who were grouped based on demographic information to be targeted with TV and social media ads. One group, labeled "deterrence," disproportionately targeted Black voters, the outlet reported a group that the Trump campaigns chief data scientist later said the the campaign "hope don't show up to vote." The Trump campaign has previously denied that it targeted Black Americans in its advertising, but Channel 4 News reported documents show thousands in spending targeted at this group. A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that "since 2016, elections have changed and so has Facebook," and that this "couldn't happen today." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. A data leak from President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign shows that a disproportionate number of Black American potential voters totalling 3.5 million were put under a label named "deterrence," according to Channel 4 News. The massive database included the details of nearly 200 million Americans, categorized into eight groups, including ones titled "get out the vote" and "persuasion," to target potential voters in 16 battleground election states with ads both on social media and on television, the outlet reported. The campaign's digital director told PBS Frontline in 2018 that he is "nearly 100% sure we did not run any campaigns that targeted even African Americans," but documents seen by Channel 4 News show that thousands of dollars were spent on targeted attack ads against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Trump campaign did not respond to a Business Insider query about what "deterrence" meant in this context, but dismissed Channel 4's report as "fake news." Story continues Black voters disproportionately in 'deterrence' category The leaked database included vastly detailed information, including addresses, party affiliation and voting history. It also scored individuals on election issues such as jobs, law and order and healthcare, the outlet reported. According to the investigation, the targeted ads aimed to dissuade a select group of voters from supporting Clinton and those in the "deterrence" group were those who the campaign's chief data scientist later said the campaign "hope don't show up to vote." In Channel 4 News' analysis, while 13% of Black Americans were categorized overall, they made up 29% of the "deterrence" group. In the swing state of Wisconsin which Trump won in 2016 turnout of Black voters collapsed by 19%, the outlet reported. Although they formed 5.4% of the population, 35% of the "deterrence" group were Black. Meanwhile, the segment of potential voters named "persuasion" those who could possibly be persuaded to vote for Trump was 75% white, and just 1.8% of them were Black, the outlet reported. The pattern is repeated across several states, according to the outlet. The Trump campaign posted six million versions of highly targeted adverts on Facebook in 2016, the outlet reported. Facebook had not yet set up its publicly viewable ad library, so it's not clear exactly what was shown to those groups. However, a confidential Cambridge Analytica document seen by the outlet said that $55,000 was spent in Georgia on targeting them with what it described as the "predators video," in which Clinton in 1996 described Black gang members as "super predators." She later apologized for the remark. The disproportionate targeting of Black Americans represents a 'category of suppression' Voters cast their ballots at Keevan Elementary School August 4, 2020 in North St. Louis, Missouri. Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images Black voter turnout fell in 2016 for the first time in 20 years, the outlet noted, although the cause is unknown. Jamal Watkins, Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) told the outlet the tactics amounted to a modern-day suppression campaign. Data is commonly used to profile voters to tailor messaging and encourage them to turn out but not to deter people, he said. "That just seems, fundamentally, it's a shift from the notion of democracy," Watkins told the outlet. He also added criticism of Facebook, telling the outlet: "I don't believe Facebook has fully disclosed their role, and fully disclosed the types of ads that were run, who was involved and literally how they may have been embedded in, say, the Trump campaign to make this all come to life." A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider: "Since 2016, elections have changed and so has Facebook - what happened with Cambridge Analytica couldn't happen today. "We have 35,000 people working to ensure the integrity of our platform, created a political ads library to make political advertising more transparent than anywhere else, and have protected more than 200 elections worldwide," the spokesperson said. "We also have rules prohibiting voter suppression and are running the largest voting information campaign in American history." When contacted for comment on the investigation by Business Insider, Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh called the Channel 4 News report "fake news." "President Trump has built a relationship of trust with African American voters because of the First Step Act's criminal justice reform, creating Opportunity Zones and his recently announced Platinum Plan to invest $500 billion in the Black community," Murtaugh said. "Democrats deterred voters in 2016 by nominating Hillary Clinton, who called Black men 'Super Predators,' and they did it again this year by nominating Joe Biden, who has advocated for racist policies such as the 1994 Crime Bill and even spoke at the funeral of a Klan member," he added. Murtaugh was likely referring to the funeral of former Klan member Robert Byrd, who later apologized and advocated for civil rights. Read the original article on Business Insider LANSING, MI - Two Democratic state senators introduced legislation Tuesday to ban guns from inside the Michigan State Capitol. The bills sponsored by Sen. Rosemary Bayer, D-Beverly Hills and Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, would prohibit both open and concealed carry of firearms inside the Michigan State Capitol building, except for Michigan State Police and the Sergeants-at-Arms. The legislative action follows the Michigan State Capitol Commissions recent rejection of a proposal to completely ban firearms in the Capitol building. The gun ban conversation accelerated after armed protesters of the states stay-home order in late April demonstrated in and around the building while lawmakers were in session. Read more: Panel votes down Michigan Capitol gun ban proposals, but talks continue Earlier this year, I took a photo of armed men in the gallery above us that made international news, and people from all over the world wrote to me expressing their concern, Polehanki said in a statement. We should not normalize what happened that day. I, and many others, feared for our lives and our voices. In the absence of any action at all from the Capitol Commission, we are offering this legislation to do what they continue to drag their feet on: Protect the people who come and go from the Capitol Building before something truly terrible, and tragic, happens. Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte previously argued the Capitol Commission doesnt have the authority to ban guns from the building. He left that up to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mike Shirkey and Speaker of the House Rep. Lee Chatfield, who have been in conversations with the commission to find common ground" on the issue. Both Attorney General Dana Nessel and independent counsel retained by the commission found the panel does indeed have the authority to ban firearms. Commissioners who voted down the gun ban wanted legislative input before doing so. The only reason to bring a gun into the Capitol would be to intimidate lawmakers, Bayer said in a statement. These bills do not impede on responsible gun owners from exercising their rights outside on the Capitol lawn, but rather would ensure the Capitol building remains a safe and respectful working environment inside for all legislators, staff, and visitors," she said. Firearms have long been allowed in and around the Michigan Capitol building, and members of the public are allowed to enter the building without being checked by security. Thats not the case in the U.S. Capitol, many Capitol building across the country nor the nearby Michigan Hall of Justice. Commissioners Bill Kandler and John Truscott presented a report before the Sep. 14 vote that outlined the logistics of banning firearms in the building. They consulted with state police, the Department of Technology, Management and Budget and the state Supreme Court. Kandler said state police could easily enforce a ban on open carry and long guns on the state Capitol premises. But enforcing a full firearms ban would likely require a substantial investment in screening equipment, staff and additional security measures like limiting access points into the building, he said. He expressed concern at the time that enacting a ban on firearms without that investment would encourage people to flout the law. If we pass this today, tomorrow nothing changes, he said. While Id like to see this happen eventually, we cant do it today. We cant implement it. We cant enforce it. Commissioner Joan Bauer said the legislature should have dealt with the issue years ago. The legislature could have and should have dealt with this issue by putting parameters on guns in the Capitol building, but they havent done so, as we all know, she said. So it is time for this commission to act. The six-member appointed state panel voted down the proposal to completely ban firearms in the Capitol 2-4 and split 3-3 on a motion to ban open carry in the building. Read more from MLive: Should Michigan keep allowing guns in the Capitol? Committee to investigate Gun ban debate at Michigan Capitol to resume this week Michigan Capitol Commission agrees it can ban guns, but stops short of doing so 1,000 open-carry gun activists converge on Michigan Capitol lawn The famed LGBTQ neighborhood "Boystown" in Chicago is changing its nickname after an online petition claimed it wasn't inclusive of women, gender nonbinary individuals and people of color. The Northalsted Business Alliance announced last week that it would no longer use "Boystown" in marketing after an activist wrote in an online petition that the neighborhood's street signs were a reminder that it is "for the boys." It will now be advertised as Northalsted, with the slogan "Chicagos Proudest Neighborhood." "The Castro, Greenwich Village, West Hollywood, and many more. LGBTQ neighborhoods exist for all intersections of queer identity. Chicago's is the only gendered nickname," activist Devlyn Camp wrote in the petition. "Many of our transgender siblings ... have experienced transphobia in the North Halsted area. Our LGBTQ siblings of color looking for inclusive bars have been met with racism. Many women frequenting and working in North Halsted businesses have been met with sexism," wrote Camp, who is gender nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. The petition came after Black speakers at the Drag March for Change in June, during Black Lives Matter protests, said they were denied jobs at nightclubs and bars in Boystown because of their race, The Chicago Tribune reported. "Ive worked in the neighborhood for years, and Ive seen firsthand how people are treated in the North Halsted area, particularly transgender people of color, particularly women," Camp told the newspaper. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 14: Crowds carry signs during a march in support of Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Lives in Boystown on June 14, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Protests erupted across the nation after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th. (Photo by Natasha Moustache/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775523272 ORIG FILE ID: 1249757323 In response to the petition, the alliance launched an eight-week online survey to gather community input, according to its website. Of the 7,890 surveyed, 20% said they felt unwelcomed by the moniker, while 58% favored keeping the "Boystown" name. It definitely felt like we should be doing something about it, Northalsted Business Alliance spokesperson Jen Gordon told The Tribune. Story continues Gordon added, If (the name Boystown) was making even a small percentage of people feel uncomfortable, its not something we should be using to promote the neighborhood. In 1997, former Mayor Richard M. Daley recognized Boystown, on Chicago's North Side, as the city's gay district, according to NPR affiliate WBEZ 91.5. Last year, the Chicago City Council recognized the neighborhood's rainbow pylons and Legacy Project as a landmark. The name change was a "necessary first step forward toward inclusivity," Camp told them, the LGBTQ publication at Conde Nast. But it isn't enough, Camp said. [The Northalsted Business Alliance] promised to hold diversity and inclusion training for their business owners, and announced in a press release this summer that they had held training, but they neglected to mention that the board canceled 3 out of 4 seminars with Praxis Group, Camp said in a statement. Lets hope changing the neighborhood name isnt just another performative gesture. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago's 'Boystown,' famed LGBTQ neighborhood, changes its nickname New York City officials announced on Tuesday a significant uptick in the citywide daily rate of positive virus tests, which was in part attributable to a rise in cases in nine ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens some in predominantly Orthodox Jewish communities that have largely ignored public health guidance, like wearing masks. In a news conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a daily rate of 3.25 percent, the highest daily rate since June. On Monday, the daily rate was 1.93 percent and for weeks it had generally held between 1 and 2 percent on most days. That is cause for real concern, the mayor said of the higher rate. The uptick comes at a particularly crucial moment, as the city tries to fully reopen schools and introduce indoor dining this week. As part of new enforcement measures in those areas, the city will move to fine anybody who refuses to wear a mask, said Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat. Members of the citys test and trace program, the Sheriffs Office and the New York Police Department, among others, will help with enforcement, he said. People gather at one of slums in Jakarta, Indonesia in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Aditya Irawan | NurPhoto | Getty Images SINGAPORE The number of people living in poverty in developing East Asian and Pacific countries could increase for the first time in 20 years, as the coronavirus pandemic erased much of this year's economic growth, a World Bank forecast showed on Monday. The bank defined the poverty line as income of $5.50 a day. It said as many as 38 million more people could fall below that income level this year, including 33 million who would have escaped poverty if not for the Covid-19 shock. That World Bank forecast was published in an economic update for the region, which includes China, Southeast Asian countries and the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji and Samoa. The report doesn't include India and other South Asian countries. Sickness, food insecurity, job losses, and school closures could lead to health and learning losses that could last a lifetime. World Bank The report adds to an expanding body of research on how the pandemic is disproportionately hurting the poor. In July, the United Nations projected that 8.8% of the world's population will live in extreme poverty this year, an increase of 8.2% in 2019. Extreme poverty is defined as income below $1.90 a day. "Scars" left behind by the Covid-19 crisis could last for many years, said the World Bank. "Sickness, food insecurity, job losses, and school closures could lead to health and learning losses that could last a lifetime. The poor will be disproportionately disempowered because of worse access to hospitals, schools, jobs, and finance," it said in the report. But greater adoption of technology as a result of the pandemic could help the poor better access opportunities and public services, the bank added. "For these benefits to arise, these technologies must be broadly available." Weakest economic growth since 1967 The poverty forecast for developing countries in East Asia and the Pacific comes as the region is expected to grow just 0.9% this year the weakest growth rate since 1967, according to the World Bank. "COVID-19 has delivered a triple shock to the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region: the pandemic itself, the economic impact of containment measures, and reverberations from the global recession brought on by the crisis," it explained. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Opposition parties of insulting farmers through protests over farm laws, Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday took a jibe at him by talking about Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) quitting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Even your oldest 24-year-old ally SAD has dumped you. Modiji is the SAD insulting farmers? Sibal asked on Twitter. Agitating farmers feel otherwise. You seem least concerned for their survival! Sibal also said in reference to the PMs those opposing farm laws insulting farmers remarks. PM Modi launched six mega projects in Uttarakhand om Tuesday. During the event, PM Modi launched a sharp attack at the Opposition parties as he said that they are protesting just for the sake of it. The comments were related to the farmers protests led by Opposition parties across the country. On Monday, a group of Congresss youth wing members set a tractor on fire at Delhis Rajpath in protest against the new farm laws. While commenting on the incident, PM Modi said these parties are insulting the farmers. For years, they said that they will implement MSP (Minimum Support Price) but they never did. This was done by our government as per the recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission, he said. These reforms will strengthen labourers, youth, women, and farmers of the nation, he also said. Farmers can now sell their produce to anyone, anywhere. They do not want farmers to sell their produce in an open market, they want middlemen to earn the profit, PM Modi also said, adding Theyre opposing the freedom of farmers. Also read | They are insulting farmers: PM Modi on protesters burning tractors at India Gate over farm laws Farmers from Punjab and Haryana are agitating against the farm reforms, passed in the Parliament in the recently concluded monsoon session. The three bills have now become law as President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent on Monday, despite opposition parties requests against signing. The parties have claimed that the bills were passed unconstitutionally in complete disregard of parliamentary norms and they are anti-farmer. The three bills are Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020. Statewide All information from the Iowa Department of Public Health, except where noted. Numbers are as of 10 a.m. Cases of coronavirus: 87,509 (+669) The total number of people who have ever tested positive for active novel coronavirus infection since testing began March 1, 2020. 14-day average cases per day: 836 (+23) National ranking in cases per capita: 9th (no change) (Info: kff.org) Rate of spread: 1.12 (+0.09) The average number of people who currently become infected by an infectious person. Over 1.0 means the virus will spread, and below 1.0 means it has stopped spreading. (Info: Rt.live) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 8.6% (-0.4%) As of May 12, the World Health Organization recommends a positive testing rate of 5% or lower for at least 14 days before an area reopens. Deaths: 1,324 (+7) The total number of people who died of the novel coronavirus beginning March 1, 2020. 14-day average deaths per day: 4.3 (+0.4) Fatality rate: 1.5% (no change) National ranking in deaths per capita: 23rd (no change) (Info: kff.org) Recoveries: 67,418 (+1,227) As of June 30, IDPH classifies anyone not hospitalized or deceased after 28 days to be recovered. Recovery rate: 77.0% (+0.8%) Positive serology tests: 3,414 (+15) The number of people with no current infection who tested positive for antibodies of the novel coronavirus, indicating they may have had the virus. Hospitalized patients with COVID-19: Statewide: 376 (+23) 376 (+23) RMCC Region 6 (Northeast Iowa): 87 (-1) 87 (-1) RMCC Region 2 (North Central Iowa): 113 (+1) Hospitalized in intensive care units: Statewide: 97 (+1) 97 (+1) Region 6: 23 (no change) 23 (no change) Region 2: 27 (no change) Hospitalized on a ventilator: Statewide: 36 (-3) 36 (-3) Region 6: 5 (no change) 5 (no change) Region 2: 9 (+2) Long-term care facility outbreaks: 50 (no change) An outbreak is added when a facility has three or more residents test positive, and removed when no new cases appear. LTC current outbreak cases: 1,100 (+27) 1,100 (+27) LTC total outbreak deaths: 687 (+2) 687 (+2) Percentage of LTC deaths out of total deaths: 51.9% (-0.1%) State prisons: (Info: doc.iowa.gov/covid19. Some staff numbers are self-reported.) Anamosa State Penitentiary Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 0 (no change) Staff positive: 1 (no change) Staff recovered: 8 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 Clarinda Correctional Facility Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 3 (no change) Staff positive: 1 (no change) Staff recovered: 3 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 Fort Dodge Correctional Facility Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 360 (no change) Staff positive: 2 (+1) Staff recovered: 40 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 3 (no change) Iowa Correctional Institute for Women (Mitchellville) Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 0 (no change) Staff positive: 3 (no change) Staff recovered: 8 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 Iowa Medical Classification Center (Coralville) Inmates positive: 8 (+1) Inmates recovered: 302 (+2) Staff positive: 5 (-2) Staff recovered: 36 (+2) Inmate COVID deaths: 1 (no change) Iowa State Penitentiary (Fort Madison) Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 0 (no change) Staff positive: 4 (no change) Staff recovered: 21 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility Inmates positive: 62 (-1) Inmates recovered: 344 (+3) Staff positive: 4 (no change) Staff recovered: 6 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 Newton Correctional Facility Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 1 (no change) Staff positive: 3 (no change) Staff recovered: 2 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 North Central Correctional Facility (Rockwell City) Inmates positive: 0 (no change) Inmates recovered: 0 (no change) Staff positive: 1 (+1) Staff recovered: 0 (no change) Inmate COVID deaths: 0 ------------------ Black Hawk County Cases: 4,514 (+8) 14-day average cases per day: 16.7 (-4.9) Hospitalized: 11 (no change) Recoveries: 3,775 (+41) Deaths: 90 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0.5 (-0.1) Percent active cases: 12.4% (-0.7%) Fatality rate: 2.0% (no change) Total population currently infected: 0.5% (no change) Total population ever infected: 3.9% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 5.9% (-0.5%) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for coronavirus test positive. Long-term care facility outbreaks: 3 Added Aug. 25: Pinnacle Specialty Care in Cedar Falls : 24 cases (no change), 13 recovered (no change) : 24 cases (no change), 13 recovered (no change) Added Aug. 25: Northcrest Specialty Care in Waterloo : 56 cases (no change), 40 recovered (no change) : 56 cases (no change), 40 recovered (no change) Added Sept. 15: Harmony House in Waterloo: 7 cases (no change), 5 recovered (no change) University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls), week of Sept. 21-27: (Info updated Mondays and Fridays: forwardtogether.uni.edu/covid19-dashboard) New positive cases on campus : 11 : 11 Positive testing rate : 9.4% : 9.4% Number in isolation (those testing positive or displaying symptoms): 5 (those testing positive or displaying symptoms): 5 Number in quarantine (those exposed without symptoms): 20 Hawkeye Community College (Waterloo), week of Sept. 21-27: (Info updated weekly at hawkeyecollege.edu/covid-19/dashboard; numbers are self-reported.) New student cases : 10 : 10 New employee cases: 1 Data below from blackhawkcovid19.com: (updated periodically) Reported cases by zip code as a percentage of total county cases: Cedar Falls (50613): 27.8% (no change) Dunkerton (50626): 1.0% (no change) Elk Run Heights, Evansdale, Raymond (50707): 4.7% (no change) Gilbertville (50634): 0.6% (no change) Hudson (50643): 0.8% (no change) La Porte City (50651): 1.3% (no change) Waterloo (50701): 22.1% (no change) Waterloo (50702): 20.7% (no change) Waterloo (50703): 18.7% (no change) Other: 2.3% (no change) Reported cases by sex: Male: 51% (no change) Female: 49% (no change) Reported cases by age: 0-18: 7.6% (no change) 19-39: 49% (no change) 40-59: 27% (no change) 60-79: 13.1% (no change) 80+: 3.3% (no change) Reported cases by race: Asian: 6.11% (no change) Black: 16.72% (no change) Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1.5% (no change) White: 73.37% (no change) Other: 2.3% (no change) Reported cases by ethnicity: Hispanic/Latinx: 13.7% (no change) Non-Hispanic: 86.3% (no change) ------------------ Bremer County Cases: 504 (+4) 14-day average cases per day: 4.8 (-0.3) Hospitalized: 2 (no change) Recoveries: 343 (+27) Deaths: 7 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0 (no change) Percent active cases: 30.0% (-4.7%) Fatality rate: 1.4% (no change) Total population currently infected: 0.6% (-0.1%) Total population ever infected: 2.1% (+0.1%) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 6.9% (-1.6%) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. Long-term care facility outbreaks: 1 Added Sept. 10: Denver Sunset Home in Denver: 15 cases (no change), 13 recovered (no change) Wartburg College (Waverly): (Info updated daily: wartburg.edu/knights-care) Positive or inconclusive cases on campus : 7 (-1) : 7 (-1) Number in isolation (those testing positive or displaying symptoms): 7 (-1) (those testing positive or displaying symptoms): 7 (-1) Number in quarantine (those exposed without symptoms): 34 (-5) (those exposed without symptoms): 34 (-5) Current campus infection rate: 0.34% (-0.05%) ----------------- Buchanan County Cases: 288 (+3) 14-day average cases per day: 5.6 (+0.1) Hospitalized: 1 (no change) Recoveries: 178 (+4) Deaths: 1 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0 (no change) Percent active cases: 36.8% (-0.7%) Fatality rate: 0.3% (-0.1%) Total population currently infected: 0.5% (no change) Total population ever infected: 1.4% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 9.3% (no change) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. ------------------ Butler County Cases: 276 (+5) 14-day average cases per day: 2.1 (+0.2) Hospitalized: 2 (no change) Recoveries: 253 (no change) Deaths: 2 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0 (no change) Percent active cases: 7.5% (+1.7%) Fatality rate: 0.7% (no change) Total population currently infected: 0.1% (no change) Total population ever infected: 1.9% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 4.3% (-0.1%) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. --------------- Fayette County Cases: 232 (+5) 14-day average cases per day: 4.4 (+0.3) Hospitalized: 0 (no change) Recoveries: 146 (+8) Deaths: 2 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0.1 (no change) Percent active cases: 34.4% (-2.0%) Fatality rate: 0.9% (no change) Total population currently infected: 0.4% (no change) Total population ever infected: 1.2% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 6.0% (no change) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. ---------------- Floyd County Cases: 355 (+4) 14-day average cases per day: 6.6 (+0.2) Hospitalized: 6 (no change) Recoveries: 300 (+3) Deaths: 3 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0 (no change) Percent active cases: 14.2% (+0.1%) Fatality rate: 0.9% (no change) Total population currently infected: 0.3% (no change) Total population ever infected: 2.3% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 10.7% (-0.9%) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. Long-term care facility outbreaks: 1 Added Sept. 28: Nora Springs Care Center: 26 cases (+1), 1 recovered (no change) -------------------- Grundy County Cases: 224 (no change) 14-day average cases per day: 2.7 (-0.4) Hospitalized: 2 (no change) Recoveries: 138 (+3) Deaths: 3 (no change) 14-day average deaths per day: 0.1 (no change) Percent active cases: 35.3% (-1.6%) Fatality rate: 1.3% (-0.1%) Total population currently infected: 0.7% (no change) Total population ever infected: 1.9% (no change) Positive testing rate in past 14 days: 7.0% (-0.4%) Iowa school districts may request a temporary waiver to send students home for 14 days and move all instruction online if 10% of students are absent and a 14-day average shows at least 15% of county residents screened for the coronavirus test positive. Long-term care facility outbreaks: 1 Added Sept. 11: Creekside in Grundy Center: 6 cases (no change), 5 recovered (no change) Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A computer outage at a major hospital chain thrust healthcare facilities across the U.S. into chaos Monday, with treatment impeded as doctors and nurses already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic were forced to rely on paper backup systems. Universal Health Services, which operates more than 250 hospitals and other clinical facilities in the U.S., blamed the outage on an unspecified IT "security issue" in a statement posted to its website Monday but provided no details about the incident, such as how many facilities were affected and whether patients had to be diverted to other hospitals. UHS workers reached by The Associated Press at company facilities in Texas and Washington, D.C. described mad scrambles after the outage began overnight Sunday to render care, including longer emergency room waits and anxiety over determining which patients might be infected with the virus that causes Covid-19. The Fortune 500 company, with 90,000 employees, said "patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively" and no patient or employee data appeared to have been "accessed, copied or misused." The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, company also has hospitals in the United Kingdom, but its operations in that country were not affected, a spokeswoman said Monday night. John Riggi, senior cybersecurity adviser to the American Hospital Association, called it a "suspected ransomware attack," affirming reporting on the social media site Reddit by people identifying themselves as UHS employees. BleepingComputer, an online cybersecurity news site, spoke to UHS employees who described ransomware with the characteristics of Ryuk, which has been widely linked to Russian cybercriminals and used against large enterprises. Criminals have been increasingly targeting health care institutions with ransomware during the pandemic, infecting networks with malicious code that scrambles data. To unlock it, they demand payment. Increasingly, ransomware purveyors download data from networks before encrypting targeted servers, using it for extortion. Earlier this month, the first known fatality related to ransomware occurred in Duesseldorf, Germany, after an attack caused IT systems to fail and a critically ill patient needing urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment. UHS may not be a household name, but has U.S. hospitals from Washington, D.C., to Fremont, California, and Orlando, Florida, to Anchorage, Alaska. Some of its facilities provide care for people coping with psychiatric conditions and substance abuse problems. A clinician involved in direct patient care at a Washington UHC facility described a high-anxiety scramble to handle the loss of computers and some phones. That meant medical staff could not easily see lab results, imaging scans, medication lists, and other critical pieces of information doctors rely on to make decisions. Phone problems complicated the situation, making it harder to communicate with nurses. Lab orders had to be hand-delivered. "These things could be life or death," said the clinician. A different UHS healthcare worker, at an acute care facility in Texas, described an even more chaotic scene. Both the Texas and Washington D.C. workers asked not to be identified by name because they were not authorized to speak publicly. "As of right now we have no access to any patient files, history nothing," the Texas worker said, with emergency room wait times going from 45 minutes to six hours. "Doctors aren't able to access any type of X-rays, CT scans." Nothing that runs on Wi-Fi alone was functioning Monday, the Texas worker said. Telemetry monitors that show critical care patients' heart rates, blood pressure and oxygen levels went dark and had to be restored with ethernet cabling. The Washington clinician said there was a lot of concern about how to determine whether or not patients had been exposed to the coronavirus, the Washington clinician said, adding that no harm came to any of the 20 or so patients they attended to. However, anxiety reigned during the entire shift. Handing off a patient to another department, always a delicate task because of the potential for miscommunication, became especially nerve-wracking. "We are most concerned with ransomware attacks which have the potential to disrupt patient care operations and risk patient safety," said Riggi, the cybersecurity adviser to hospitals. "We believe any cyberattack against any hospital or health system is a threat-to-life crime and should be responded to and pursued as such by the government." Ransomware attacks have crippled everything from major cities to school districts, and federal officials are concerned they could be used to disrupt the current presidential election. Last week, a major supplier of software services to state, county and local governments, Tyler Technologies, was hit. In the U.S. alone, 764 healthcare providers were victimized last year by ransomware, according to data compiled by the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. It estimates the overall cost of ransomware attacks in the U.S. to $9 billion a year in terms of recovery and lost productivity. The only way to effectively recover, for those unwilling to pay ransoms, is through diligent daily system data backups. What Does a Bookshelf Says About the Owner? Book Depository's new social media campaign from now until 11 October inspires book lovers worldwide to reveal their true selves by showing their bookshelf! Post a "shelfie" to social and learn from acclaimed UK psychologist Emma Kenny how taste in books reveals about people's personality LONDON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The books people read for leisure can reveal their personality. Starting today until 11 October, Book Depository challenges everyone to #RevealYourShelf by joining the global campaign on social media. What Does a Bookshelf Say About the Owner? Instead of seeking to understand someone's personality via their zodiac sign? Instead, just look at their bookshelf. Acclaimed UK psychologist Emma Kenny is teaming up with Book Depository to reveal what people's taste in books says about their personality and inner psyche. For someone who likes a complex mystery, Emma says they're likely to have high levels of self-esteem and enjoy being challenged. Fiction readers are friendly, well-behaved and sympathetic to others. For someone who likes drama and romance, they're the kind of person who always knows what to say in a crisis. For someone who likes more experimental genres, chances are they stick to rules and that are good negotiators. For someone who enjoys reading comedy, people tends to find them warm, inviting and relatable. Book lovers are invited to connect with the Book Depository community of readers and see what their bookshelf reveals, by sharing a "shelfie" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Tag #RevealYourShelf and @BookDepository for the chance to get the book collection reposted and analysed by Emma Kenny; and to win the next five books to expand the collection. Sneak Peek Into the World's Most Famous Public Figures' Bookshelves Which world leader cites "Mortal Fire" by Elizabeth Knox as one of her favourite books? Which entrepreneur recommended "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell? Stay tuned to Book Depository's social media channels to guess who the illustrated bookshelf belongs to, for the chance to win the next book free. Join Book Depository on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with #RevealYourShelf, until 11 October. For details please visit www.bookdepository.com Facebook: BookDepository Instagram: @bookdepository Twitter: @bookdepository SOURCE Book Depository Related Links http://www.bookdepository.com The shift to home working has left enterprises more vulnerable, Cloud security becomes top priority and Zero Trust gains acceptance READING, England, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Insecure devices, phishing schemes and data breaches are on the rise, according to a survey from Gigamon, the global leader in visibility and analytics for the hybrid cloud. The findings, set against the current digital and economic climate, reveal the coming challenges IT and security decision makers face, their top priorities for the next 12 months and specifically, their attitudes towards the adoption of Zero Trust. When it came to assessing current issues IT and security decision makers are facing, the survey revealed that the security landscape has become more menacing with about 84% of respondents having seen a rise in threats since the start of 2020. The main issues were: The work from home model has made us more vulnerable due to insecure devices - 51% We have mainly been subject to an increase in phishing schemes - 41% We have mainly been subject to an increase in data breaches - 33% The insider threat has increased due to disengaged employees - 33% In addition to facing external threats, respondents also cited supporting digital transformation and challenges from within the organisation as their biggest IT and security challenges expected over the next 12 months to three years: Digital transformation - 50% Shadow IT - 45% Employee education - 37% Following closely in terms of concerns were the increase in data and applications to monitor and protect (36%) and managing a complex working landscape (35%). This highlights a myriad of operational issues IT teams are dealing with on a daily basis. What's more, with the network constantly evolving and infrastructure under increasing strain, IT teams are looking to make new investments to future-proof their organisation despite lower budgets and uncertainty (36%). This is reflected by respondents citing that keeping developments safe and secure in the Cloud was their top priority for the rest of this year (44%). Zero Trust Adopted as Strategy to Secure the Network When asked about their knowledge of the Zero Trust security framework, most survey respondents (89%) had a high overall awareness of Zero Trust, with 67% adopting or planning to adopt the framework. The top reasons for implementing Zero Trust were to: Make our network more secure and mitigate risk - 54% Make our data more protected and easier to manage - 51% Reduce the risk of employees compromising the system - 49% Over three in five (61%) believed Zero Trust would enhance their IT strategy, while a further 30% believed it would underpin their strategy. Interestingly, the survey found that company culture and employee behaviour were both a motivator behind starting on a Zero Trust journey and a barrier. As seen, Shadow IT and employee education were cited as top challenges facing respondents, signalling that businesses may look to adopt a Zero Trust architecture to minimise the risk of the insider threat. Conversely, 65% of respondents who decided not to adopt the framework cited wrong company culture as the top reason behind this decision and getting employees on board (28%) was named the most important thing to have in place before starting the journey towards Zero Trust. Bassam Khan, VP Product & Technical Marketing Engineering at Gigamon, commented on the findings: "This research dives into issues that IT and security professionals face, the causes of these issues and frameworks IT is adopting, following a major global shift in how work gets done. With rapid changes and an ever-growing attack surface, IT and security teams are beginning to rely on a solid framework to better manage risks." "The fact Zero Trust had both high awareness and high adoption as an initiative demonstrates its increasing prominence in the industry. We can see that perceptions of Zero Trust have considerably changed, as 86% of those surveyed said that Zero Trust had/could have helped their business as it deals with the impacts of the current global situation. What's more, 78% of the companies surveyed agreed it would have a positive effect on security without compromising productivity, showing its viability in today's digital infrastructure." The report also looked at whether Zero Trust was a board level issue, with almost a third of respondents (30%) agreeing that Zero Trust should 'absolutely be discussed at board level'; for 24% it should 'be a priority at any boardroom table given the current climate'. Khan concluded: "With digital strategies pivoting to accommodate the economic uncertainty and unprecedented change caused by the new normal, security is only going to become a more prominent topic at the C-level. It's interesting to see that elements of the Zero Trust journey are already being discussed, and hopefully this will continue, as board support is vital for the implementation and success of any Zero Trust initiative." To find out more or download the report, please visit our website. Notes to editors Methodology: 500 respondents across Germany (150) , France (200) and the UK (150) respondents across , and the UK All working for companies with more than 1,000 employees Job titles included: Chief Information Officer (18%) , Chief Information Security Officer (18%) , Chief Technology Officer (16%) , Network Manager (15%) , Director of Network Operations (9%) , and Network Architect (8%) , Chief Information Security Officer , Chief Technology Officer , Network Manager , Director of Network Operations , and Network Architect When asked about their involvement in the decision-making process within their organisation 66% help reach the final decision as part of a group or committee, 23% make the final decision with input from staff or management, and 11% stated that they are the sole decision maker (significantly more likely in the UK - 26% ) help reach the final decision as part of a group or committee, make the final decision with input from staff or management, and stated that they are the sole decision maker (significantly more likely in the UK - ) Fieldwork was carried out between the 15th July and the 24th July 2020 via an online survey About Gigamon Gigamon is the first company to deliver unified network visibility and analytics on all information-in-transit, from raw packets to apps, across physical, virtual and cloud infrastructure. We aggregate, transform and analyse network traffic to solve for critical performance and security needs, including rapid threat detection and response, freeing your organisation to drive digital innovation. Gigamon has been awarded over 75 technology patents and enjoys industry-leading customer satisfaction with more than 3,000 organisations, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 100 and hundreds of government and educational organisations worldwide. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Gigamon operates globally. For the full story on how Gigamon can help you to run fast, stay secure and optimise, please visit www.gigamon.com and follow us on Twitter @gigamon. Contacts: Holly Abbott Say Communications for Gigamon gigamon@saycomms.co.uk +44 (0) 7825 337 407 India on Tuesday said Pakistan s attempts to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan next month were a cosmetic" exercise intended to camouflage its illegal occupation" of the region. The Indian foreign ministry in a statement said actions like holding of elections in the region can neither hide the "illegal occupation" of parts of Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Islamabad nor the "grave human rights violations and exploitation" of people in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. The Indian statement comes after Pakistan announced that elections for the legislative assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan will be held on 15 November. In a ruling earlier this year, the Pakistan Supreme Court had allowed Islamabad to amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct polls in the region. The Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018 provided for administrative changes, including authorising the prime minister of Pakistan to legislate on an array of subjects, PTI said. Following the verdict, India issued a demarche to a senior Pakistani diplomat in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in protest against the court ruling. The polls in Gilgit-Baltistan were to be held on 18 August, but have been postponed due to the covid-19 pandemic. "The government of India has conveyed its strong protest to the government of Pakistan and reiterated that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947," the Indian statement said. Pakistan has no locus standi on territories "illegally and forcibly occupied" by it, it said. "Action such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades," it said. "These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation," the statement added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics Luka Jovic looks certain to leave Real Madrid within the next seven days. Zidane, referred to the Serbian striker in today's press conference and said that until the transfer window closes on 5 October, he is ready for every possibility. Diario AS understands that Jovic is close to sealing a move to Italy. The 22-year-old has three offers on the table - from Roma, Inter Milan and AC Milan. There has also been interest from Manchester United who are looking to bolster their attack before the 5 October transfer deadline. Solskjaer has Martial and Rashford as his front two but is considering Jovic on a loan deal for the 2020-21 season. Madrid and the player agree that the best option will be a club that guarantees him regular playing time. Cavani in talks with United AS can also confirm that Edinson Cavani's brother and current agent Walter Guglielmone is holding talks with United. The Uruguayan, who is a free agent after leaving PSG, is the preferred choice of Manchester United's bosses, but the problem is his high wages - the reason why he didn't join Atletico Madrid in back January Jovic is an good option for Manchester United, because he is young and would be much cheaper than Cavani. Solskjaer's technical team think he is the ideal player to star alongside Martial and Rashford. Twin earthquakes just shook the San Francisco Bay Area and Milpitas last Sunday, with tremors occurring just hours apart. These quakes took place along the area of the Calaveras Reservoir. Twin Quakes According to reports from officials, these quakes happened within the same general area in the Northern region of California this Sunday. Both had a magnitude of 3.4 and occurred within a few hours of each other. The magnitudes were felt noticeably by those indoors at the time, especially the people in the higher buildings' floors. According to the USGS or US Geological Survey, the first earthquake occurred at 3:54 PM local time, at 3.3 miles depth, and not further than six miles northeast from Milpitas, along the area of the Calaveras Reservoir. After that, the second earthquake reportedly occurred roughly 10:20 PM local time, at 2.7 miles depth, in the same area. No damages to property or injuries have so far been reported from the two quakes. READ: Sangay Volcano Eruption: 55,000 Hectares of Banana Plantation Covered With Ash in Ecuador Tremors in nearby areas According to reports that the USGS gathered, residents felt tremors in various parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Fremont, several San Jose, and Milpitas areas. Meanwhile, according to a report from the East Bay Times, more than a month had passed when two shallow and similarly intense earthquakes also occurred in the reservoir area. The Ring of Fire The region is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area circling and outlining the Pacific Ocean. It is a system of seismic faults where most of the subduction zones of the planet are located. It measures approximately 25,000 miles. In this region, lighter continental plates slide over oceanic plates, and earthquakes are more likely to occur because the sliding plates subside, collide, scrape, and move over and below one another, creating disturbances on the surface. If it appears on the water, tsunamis can be created as well. The Ring of Fire is also called the Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt. It is a path known to have active volcanoes. Seventy percent of the volcanoes on Earth and ninety percent of its earthquakes are located and occur in this region. READ ALSO: Magnitude 4.2 Earthquake Shakes Istanbul Area California's earthquake alert system California has a new earthquake alert system that provides earthquake warnings to a unique app plus a wireless system that provides Amber Alerts. Researchers from UC and Berkeley developed the app. UC Berkeley Seismological Lab director Richard Allen provided insights on the course here. On average, there are 234 earthquakes in Nevada and California occurring each year. These quakes usually have magnitudes ranging from 3.0-4.0. Earthquake Preparedness Despite our most advanced warning systems, we can never know when a devastating quake will hit, especially the much-feared Big One; thus, it pays to be prepared. Follow the easy 5-step guide for earthquake preparedness and never be caught with your pants down when one hits your area. It is also worth having an emergency kit always ready and handy wherever you are. Especially when you live in or near California, particularly the San Francisco Bay Area and Milpitas, twin earthquakes and tremors can and are quite frightening, especially for the unprepared. READ: Deep Underground Forces Explain Quakes and Tremors Experienced Along the San Andreas Fault Check out more news and information on San Andreas Fault on Nature World News. Pompeo is on the first leg of a five-day trip that also will take him to Italy, the Vatican and Croatia. He has resumed traveling frequently again after a prolonged hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, he has visited battleground states of Texas and Wisconsin, and plans to speak this weekend at a conservative Christian fundraiser in Florida. Democratic critics say Pompeos trips are blurring the lines between his official, apolitical duties and his support for President Trump in a tight election. Ford Motor Co. is fueling the truck war with glee. The all-new 2021 Ford F-150 has more power than all five of its top competitors, the company claimed Tuesday. The redesigned vehicle, revealed to the public June 25, "delivers best-in-class towing and payload and the most F-150 torque ever," Ford said in a release. Towing is, of course, weight hauling capacity. Payload is how much a pickup can carry in its cab and bed. Torque is directly related to the ability to tow heavy loads. So, this is a gearhead fantasy moment. Or perhaps an at-home learning math problem that could be perfect for these pandemic times. 2021 Ford F-150 Amazon One: Company launches hand scanners as its new entry option in select stores Trump's tax returns: How rich Americans avoid taxes Bottom line: The redesigned "F-150 out-tows and out-hauls any other light-duty, full-size pickup," the automaker said. Ford provided to the Free Press this comparison of the most capable version of the 2021 F-150 vs. its competitors in areas of power and capability pickup owners want most: 2021 Ford F-150 towing capacity is 14,000 pounds and payload 3,325 pounds 2020 Chevy Silverado 1500 towing capacity is 13,400 and payload is 2,250 pounds 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 towing capacity is 12,100 and payload is 2,240 pounds 2020 Ram 1500 towing capacity is 12,750 and payload is 2,300 pounds 2021 Nissan Titan towing capacity is 9,310 and payload is 1,690 pounds 2021 Toyota Tundra towing capacity is 10,200 and payload is 1,730 pounds Ford highlighted its 3.5-liter PowerBoost full hybrid powertrain for the 2021 F-150, "which produces 430 hp and 570 lb.-ft. of torque, the most torque ever in an F-150 with available Pro Power Onboard providing up to 18 times more exportable power than the nearest competitor." A sketch of the 2021 Ford F-150 drawn by Josh Henry, Ford's senior designer. This image, drawn in 2017, is the final design. Todd Eckert, Ford truck group marketing manager, said in a news release, "F-150 is the flagship of Fords dedication to building the best trucks and represents our commitment to not just meeting customer needs, but exceeding them. Story continues When Ford debuted the new F-150, the company did not provide the performance figures. The price starts at $28,940 plus a $1,595 destination charge. "Chevy owners, Ford owners and Ram owners brag that their trucks are the best," said John McElroy, "Autoline" host and longtime industry observer. "Torque, towing that's what's truck buyers care about. When you're talking pickup truck smack, you've got to back up what you're saying with specific facts." The F-Series trucks are the company jewels and Ford has been "spectacular" about protecting the jewelry box, he said. "The all-new F-150 will continue that tradition." The 2021 Ford F-150 drives up during a press conference at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. Market economist Jon Gabrielsen is among the many analysts who monitor the lucrative truck segment, which drives revenue for the Detroit Three. The Ford F-150 is No. 1 in market share in full-sized pickup trucks, the most profitable vehicle segment in North America," he said. "While it is ahead by a considerable margin, it is vital for Ford to continuously innovate, like with its newest generation, in order to protect its leading position. Ford's competitors aren't planning to cede market share anytime soon. The 2020 Ram 1500 Limited is one of two Ram 1500 trims that Cars.com designated its luxury car of the year. "The half-ton pickup segment is comprised of a super-complex product mix, meeting hundreds, if not thousands, of buyer needs. Family car? Work hauler? Toy tow-er? America's top-three-selling vehicles are pickups because they can do it all," said Ram Truck spokesman David Elshoff. "In Michigan, most folks just want to load the family, luggage and ski boat up, and head to the lake in comfort. There's not another truck that offers the comfort of a Ram 1500," he said. UAW Local 2209 Shop Chairman Rich LeTourneau stands next to a 2020 Chevrolet Trail Boss Silverado pickup built on June 2, 2020. It was recently at GMs Fort Wayne Assembly plant. Megan Soule, a Chevrolet spokeswoman, pointed to key features that can't be overlooked in the Silverado. Chevrolet has long been one of the leaders in trailering, providing the power and technology to instill customer confidence while towing. For the 2021 model year, both our 2.7L Turbo and 3.0L Duramax turbo-diesel increased conventional trailering capability to meet or exceed most customers trailering needs," she said. "Paired with our class-leading trailer technology and available 15 unique camera views, trailering is simpler than ever with a Silverado," Soule said. While Ford is making impressive claims as the segment leader, 96% of light-duty pickup owners tow fewer than 10,000 pounds, according to recent data from MaritzCX, a market research company. Better, best Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com, a car listing and data site, said the latest F-150 numbers move the goalposts. "The truck war is a central component of the American auto industry, and performance claims are a central component of the truck war," he said. "As a domestic automaker, youre essentially not allowed to redesign your light-duty truck without claiming the segment's best tow, haul and payload ratings ahead of launch." While the F-150 numbers are impressive, they may not impact market share. "Like so many vehicle performance claims, this level of towing, hauling and payload is well beyond what most truck owners will ever need," Brauer said. "Its a great talking point between truck fans defending their brand. Few will ever have first-hand experience using their truck at that level." The 2021 Ford F-150 is scheduled to arrive in dealerships this fall. It's built at the Dearborn Truck Plant and Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri. Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2021 Ford F-150 claims best towing and payload, most torque in history Foreign nationals may cross in only if they have valid health insurance. The Cabinet of Ministers has changed entry rules for foreigners for the COVID-19 quarantine period. Yesterday, September 28, Government Decree No. 888 amended Decree No. 641 of July 22, 2020, which establishes quarantine and introduces enhanced anti-epidemic measures, as reported by the Interior Ministry. New requirements at border Foreigners may enter Ukraine only if they have a valid health insurance, "issued by an insurance company registered in Ukraine, or a foreign insurance company that has a representative office in Ukraine or a contractual relationship with an insurance company its partner in Ukraine (assistance), and covers the costs of COVID-19 treatment, observation, and is valid for the period of stay in Ukraine." Read alsoGov't updates quarantine zoning mapWho's not subject to the requirement Foreigners and stateless persons who permanently reside in Ukraine; Persons recognized as refugees and in need of additional protection; Employees of diplomatic and consulate missions, representative offices of international missions and organizations accredited in Ukraine, and their family members; and Military of NATO member states and countries participating in the NATO Partnership for Peace program who are engaged in training Ukrainian Army units. Where the rules also apply Without health insurance, foreigners and stateless persons are also banned from crossing in and out of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and Sevastopol. Who must go for self-isolation People who cross the state border, arriving from the country with a wide spread of COVID-19 are subject to self-isolation. Who doesn't need self-isolation Children under 12 years of age; Those arriving in Ukraine for studying in higher education facilities; Citizens of states with a wide spread of COVID-19, who have not stayed in these countries within the last 14 days or proceed transit through the territory of Ukraine with documents confirming their future exit from Ukraine within two days; Employees of diplomatic missions and consular offices of foreign states, representative offices of international missions, organizations accredited in Ukraine, and their family members; Drivers and crew members of trucks and buses on regular lines, crew members of planes, sea and river vessels, as well as train and locomotive crews; Instructors of the armed forces of NATO member states and countries participating in the NATO Partnership for Peace program who take part in training the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Art professionals arriving at the invitation of a cultural institution along with an accompanying person; Persons transporting hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation; and Persons carrying negative COVID-19 PCR tests run no earlier than 48 hours prior to arrival. Temporary entry ban for foreigners: Background On August 26, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers extended the adaptive quarantine across Ukraine until November 1. Then the government imposed a temporary entry ban for foreigners from August 29 until September 28, with a number of exceptions for certain categories of foreign nationals. Read alsoCOVID-19: Over 3,600 new cases reported as of Sept 29One of such exceptions was reportedly made for Belarusian citizens fleeing amid unrest in their country. Late on Thursday, August 27, the Cabinet declared that the borders would be shut a day earlier, from midnight on August 28. It was reported on September 25 that Ukraine's government does not plan to extend an entry ban for foreign nationals. An entry ban for foreign nationals lost its effect on September 28. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday that a state environment ministers meeting will take place this Thursday over the issue of pollution while asserting that various measures have already been taken in order to curb it. He added that it needs to be understood that pollution stays for 2-3 months and it also has a "geographic" reason for it. Javadekar said that given that air pollution affects not according to state limits but according to air shed which affects Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram and other cities alike, Thursday's meeting will be attended by environment ministers and environment secretaries of 5 states and UTs -- Delhi, Punjab Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. He informed that state pollution control board chiefs, other senior officials and heads of corporation bodies like DDA, NDMC will also be in attendance. This meeting will be conducted virtually. "All agencies were given short, medium and long term plans in 2016. Thursday's meeting will be to review the work done," the Minister said. The CPCB's work in the past two years will also be reviewed in the meeting, he added. The work done by the states will also be reviewed. Javadekar added that 8 meetings have taken place so far this year - one each under the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary and Advisor to the PMO and the environment secretary holding a couple of meetings. The CPCB has held 4 meetings so far. The minister listed steps like launching an Air Quality Index, shutting down power plants in Badarpur and Sonipat, peripheral expressway, BS 6 vehicles, waste management rules, subsidy to electric vehicles among others to claim that efforts were being made in the last few years to curb air pollution. He added that the goal is to help people without indulging in politics. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Care workers Carla Martin and Michelle McNicholas take a break from their work and sit on a bench in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire The UK government has been told to let overseas nursing assistants and social care workers into the UK post-Brexit or face stark labour shortages in the sector. The Migration Advisory Committee on Tuesday said health and social care professionals should be added to the Shortage Occupation List post-Brexit to relieve pressure when freedom of movements ends. We remain particularly concerned about the social care sector, which is so central to the frontline response to this health pandemic, as it will struggle to recruit the necessary staff if wages do not increase as a matter of urgency, said Professor Brian Bell, the chair of the Migration Advisory Committee. The Shortage Occupation List allows workers in certain sectors to leapfrog Britains new points-based immigration system in order to plug gaps in the labour market. The new immigration system will come into force on 1 January when Britain officially leaves the EU transition period. The system requires foreign workers to earn a minimum salary of 25,600 ($32,903), which many social care workers would not qualify for. Watch: Why job losses are rising even as the economy reopens Bell said overseas workers were not always the solution to labour shortages, particularly in the social care sector. The Committee reiterated the need to make jobs more attractive to UK workers by increasing salaries rather than relying on migrants, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, he said it was sensible to include them on the list given the circumstances. Home secretary Priti Patel in March extended the visas of overseas NHS workers and in May announced that Britains new immigration system will include a fast track for NHS workers. However, social care workers fall outside of the NHS. READ MORE: The UK's new points-based immigration system explained Other professions recommended for inclusion on the Shortage Occupation List include butchers, bricklayers and welders. The Migration Advisory Committee, which was set up to advise the government, said devolved Shortage Occupation Lists for the four nations should also be set up to address local skills shortages. Story continues The recommendations were included in a 649-page report published by the Migration Advisory Committee on Tuesday. The report is the culmination of six months of work. Professor Bell said it was a very challenging time to look at the Shortage Occupation Lists given the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesperson for the UK prime minister Boris Johnson said the government would be looking at the recommendations closely and responding in due course. The spokesperson added that companies should focus on investing in the domestic workforce. Watch: What is a no-deal Brexit and what are the potential consequences of it? Australians are being promised a swift boost to the economy from next week's federal budget as economists and industry leaders warn of a grim Christmas if the federal government relies too heavily on tax cuts to help workers. Prime Minister Scott Morrison signalled the new spending on Tuesday with an assurance it would lift demand rather than being saved by households. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government is considering the effectiveness of measures in the budget to drive consumer spending. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Mr Morrison said the government was considering the effectiveness of "every single measure" to sustain aggregate demand in the economic recovery, amid a debate about the time required for income tax cuts to take effect. He emphasised the need for the next round of measures to be "temporary, targeted [and] proportionate" in the same way as the government's earlier rounds of fiscal stimulus. A University of Colorado Boulder astrophysicist is searching the light coming from a distant, and extremely powerful celestial object, for what may be the most elusive substance in the universe: dark matter. In two recent studies, Jeremy Darling, a professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, has taken a deep look at PSR J1745-2900. This body is a magnetar, or a type of collapsed star that generates an incredibly strong magnetic field. "It's the best natural dark matter detector we know about," said Darling, also of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) at CU Boulder. He explained that dark matter is a sort of cosmic glue--an as-of-yet unidentified particle that makes up roughly 27% of the mass of the universe and helps to bind together galaxies like our own Milky Way. To date, scientists have mostly led the hunt for this invisible matter using laboratory equipment. Darling has taken a different approach in his latest research: Drawing on telescope data, he's peering at PSR J1745-2900 to see if he can detect the faint signals of one candidate for dark matter--a particle called the axion--transforming into light. So far, the scientist's search has come up empty. But his results could help physicists working in labs around the world to narrow down their own hunts for the axion. The new studies are also a reminder that researchers can still look to the skies to solve some of the toughest questions in science, Darling said. He published his first round of results this month in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and Physical Review Letters. "In astrophysics, we find all of these interesting problems like dark matter and dark energy, then we step back and let physicists solve them," he said. "It's a shame." Natural experiment Darling wants to change that--in this case, with a little help from PSR J1745-2900. This magnetar orbits the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy from a distance of less than a light-year away. And it's a force of nature: PSR J1745-2900 generates a magnetic field that is roughly a billion times more powerful than the most powerful magnet on Earth. "Magnetars have all of the magnetic field that a star has, but it's been crunched down into an area about 20 kilometers across," Darling said. And it's where Darling has gone fishing for dark matter. He explained that scientists have yet to locate a single axion, a theoretical particle first proposed in the 1970s. Physicists, however, predict that these ephemeral bits of matter may have been created in monumental numbers during the early life of the universe--and in large enough quantities to explain the cosmos' extra mass from dark matter. According to theory, axions are billions or even trillions of times lighter than electrons and would interact only rarely with their surroundings. That makes them almost impossible to observe, with one big exception: If an axion passes through a strong magnetic field, it can transform into light that researchers could, theoretically, detect. Scientists, including a team at JILA on the CU Boulder campus, have used lab-generated magnetic fields to try to capture that transition in action. Darling and other scientists had a different idea: Why not try the same search but on a much bigger scale? "Magnetars are the most magnetic objects we know of in the universe," he said. "There's no way we could get close to that strength in the lab." Narrowing in To make use of that natural magnetic field, Darling drew on observations of PSR J1745-2900 taken by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, an observatory in New Mexico. If the magnetar was, indeed, transforming axions into light, that metamorphosis might show up in the radiation emerging from the collapsed star. The effort is a bit like looking for a single needle in a really, really big haystack. Darling said that while theorists have put limits on how heavy axions might be, these particles could still have a wide range of possible masses. Each of those masses, in turn, would produce light with a specific wavelength, almost like a fingerprint left behind by dark matter. Darling hasn't yet spotted any of those distinct wavelengths in the light coming from the magnetar. But he has been able to use the observations to probe the possible existence of axions across the widest range of masses yet--not bad for his first attempt. He added that such surveys can complement the work happening in Earth-based experiments. Konrad Lehnert agreed. He's part of an experiment led by Yale University--called, not surprisingly, HAYSTAC--that is seeking out axions using magnetic fields created in labs across the country. Lehnert explained that astrophysical studies like Darling's could act as a sort of scout in the hunt for axions--identifying interesting signals in the light of magnetars, which laboratory researchers could then dig into with much greater precision. "These well-controlled experiments would be able to sort out which of the astrophysical signals might have a dark matter origin," said Lehnert, a fellow at JILA, a joint research institute between CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Darling plans to continue his own search, which means looking even closer at the magnetar at the center of our galaxy: "We need to fill in those gaps and go even deeper." ### [September 29, 2020] MyRepublic Guides Transformation of Brunei's Largest Mobile Operator Arising from Infrastructure Carveout SINGAPORE, Sept. 29, 2020 When the largest mobile operator in Brunei saw its telecom infrastructure moved into a single national infrastructure company, it saw an opportunity to pivot. "However, this will put pressure on DST to make radical changes in its business", explained DST CEO Radin Sufri Basiuni. "Without infrastructure, in order to survive we would need to become much more efficient, transforming from network-centric thinking to a customer-oriented, innovation-minded mindset." For its part, MyRepublic has had a head start in selling a mix of broadband and mobile services in Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia all without telecom infrastructure. In the process, MyRepublic had created a playbook for how to compete across markets by leveraging technology. This includes developing its own proprietary carrier IT system, which is fully tailored for telecom operations and customer journey, to drive down costs and improve efficiency a radical departure from other telecom operators that license their IT platform from a myriad of software vendors. In late 2019, DST engaged MyRepublic to assist through its business transformation journey. In addition to deploying the MyRepublic carrier IT system under a multi-year licensing arrangement, the MyRepublic teams also worked alongside the teams in DST to improve their sales, marketing, and operations processes. A telecom operator hiring another telecom operator to drive a complete business transformation is not typical. "Our experience and research tell us that there is an appetite for an approach to digital transformation of telecom operators that oes not come from the software vendor or consulting community", says MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues. "We've been through it and live it day-by-day, and that puts us in a unique position to help." DST recently achieved a key milestone in launching both mobile and fibre broadband plans on the newly created national telecom infrastructure company named Unified National Networks (UNN). To sustain the momentum, MyRepublic has been roped in to support phase two of the partnership, which involves even deeper collaboration. "Our old operating model and cost structure would not have worked after the carveout of our infrastructure," according to the DST CEO. The separation of infrastructure from operators in Brunei went further than similar precedents elsewhere by transferring both fibre and mobile infrastructure including mobile towers, spectrum, and fibre optic cables from the existing three operators to UNN. The move, carried out in late 2019, has allowed DST to focus on making their retail operations more competitive by offering more innovative products and services, at better prices for consumers. DST's approach to its transformation to meet the new market realities proved prescient. "The coronavirus pandemic significantly accelerated digital transformation in many companies", says the DST CEO, "and our partnership with MyRepublic allowed us to turbocharge our own." About MyRepublic MyRepublic operates in the Asia-Pacific region, with operations in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. MyRepublic also licenses its platform to operators in Brunei and Indonesia. With our uniquely scalable and centralised framework enabling the seamless delivery of layered services, MyRepublic has become a leader in the digital transformation and disaggregation of the telecom sector, which is set to play out over the next decade in one of the most exciting regions of the world. About Datastream Digital Sdn Bhd (DST) Datastream Digital (DST) is born out of an infrastructure carveout of Brunei's telco industry transformation, which followed through with it, DST's own major digital transformation exercise. From previously a full service mobile network operator and a full service provider to now, an asset light, customer focused digital first operator, in triple play mobile, fixed and all things digitally horizontal. Now expanding from a mobile service provider to a fixed service provider, both residential and Enterprise and mobile and fixed convergence play, DST remains the major telco player in Brunei. With the expansion of services to fixed, DST is now scaling up its growth in this potential. Backed by it's 25 years of traditional telco experience, and always transforming mindset, DST continues to build on its digital platform and will continue to build its ecosystem to provide digital services, providing value and convenience as a priority to its customers in Brunei, with a set vision to grow into the region as a digital services provider. SOURCE MyRepublic [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] It looks like EU antitrust investigators will approve Googles $2.1 billion Fitbit acquisition after all. According to Reuters, Google made a few concessions today, and it is now on track to win EU approval. The changes are meant to address fears that the acquisition could give the search giant too much power. Google announced its plan to buy FitBit in November 2019. The all-cash deal was scheduled to close this year, but it will need regulator approval first. In August, we learned that EU antitrust investigators were looking at the deal. Officials were concerned that the acquisition would bolster Googles dominance in online advertising by giving it even more personalized consumer data. Now, Google has reportedly offered to restrict the use of Fitbit data for Google ads and tighten the monitoring of that process, Reuters says. The company also formalized its commitment to supporting other wearable manufacturers on Android and allowing Fitbit users to choose third party services through APIs, Google said in a statement. Those third parties will have access to Fitbit users data, as long as those users consent. Those are relatively minor concessions, but this isnt quite a done deal. EU officials will now collect feedback from competitors and consumers before accepting Googles concessions. Theres a chance that Google will have to meet additional demands. Either way, the Commission will decide on the deal by December 23rd. Meanwhile, in the US, Google will have to appease both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). The company is also facing a broader review of competition. The DOJ is preparing an antitrust case against the company, and a dozen states are expected to join that DOJ lawsuit. The article and email were referred by the constituent as a complaint to Tasmanias Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt. Ms Bolt then wrote to Senator Chandler, noting that the complainant was not a member of the trans-community and dismissing the argument that the article had offended the law. But Ms Bolt determined the complaint about the email had merit. She found, a reasonable person is likely to anticipate that a person who is a member of the LGBTIQ+ and gender diverse community would be humiliated, intimidated, offended and insulted. Having identified the possibility of an anticipated offence Senator Chandler has been called to a hearing before the commission on October 1. The senator made a fuss in the media. This drew a second missive from the commission. It noted that it was also an offence to hinder or use insulting language against the commissioner. A few issues arise. First, Tasmanias Anti-Discrimination Commission, and all such commissions, have tyranny built into their design. It is meant to be a mediation service and often is but can also be advocate, prosecutor, judge and jury in one. This invites quasi-judicial bodies to become star chambers. They now deny a keystone democratic right of a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal. The right to freely complain about this injustice has also been removed by law. Loading Second, the senator is expressing what was, until recently, a pretty conventional worldview. What has changed is a new protected group has evolved, the trans community, whose advocates demand that those who self-nominate a gender must be accepted as male or female. Laws are being made about this so debate is demanded, starting with when should someone be considered to have transitioned? Is it after reassignment surgery or just on the strength of nominating the change? This is no small difference and both are claimed. In a free society, an individuals right to make personal choices about the course of their lives should be respected and defended. But why should someone elses subjective truth become an objective reality for the whole of society and the law used to enforce it? By Trend A telephone conversation took place between President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trend reports. During the telephone conversation, the parties discussed regional issues, including the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean region and tensions as a result of Armenia's attack on Azerbaijan. Speaking about the conflict as a result of Armenia's attack on Azerbaijan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted that Armenia should withdraw from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories for peace and stability in the region. Cpl. Michael Owen, Jr., the officer who shot a handcuffed Green, is facing charges for his death. The family of a man who was allegedly shot to death by police while handcuffed has settled with Prince Georges County officials. The $20 million settlement represents the largest publicly known police brutality-related payout ever in the state of Maryland, according to the attorneys representing the family of William Green. The officer who shot Green, Cpl. Michael Owen, Jr., has been charged with second-degree murder. Cpl. Michael Owen, Jr., the Prince Georges County police officer who shot a handcuffed William Green, has been charged with second-degree murder. (Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office) According to local reports, Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said that a preliminary investigation uncovered facts leading to the decision that Owen should face charges in connection with Greens death after the officer fired seven shots, six of which struck Green. In January, Green was stopped by police who were responding to a report of an erratic driver. When investigators pulled the vehicle over, they allegedly detected the smell of PCP and detained the driver. Read More: Bodycam video shows Utah police shooting 13-year-old boy Early reports indicated that there was a tussle between Green and Owen in the police cars backseat, but investigators found otherwise. A report from the Washington Post found that Owen, who is Black, had been involved in two other shootings, including another fatal shooting in 2011. Read More: Louisville SWAT team had concerns about Breonna Taylor raid: report In an interview with Fox 5 DC, Greens cousin, Nikki Owens, said that while the settlement wont bring them justice, it will help the family while they await Owens trial. This is like the day he died. So she relives this every time a George Floyd is killed. Every time a Breonna Taylor is killed. My aunt relieves this every single day, Owens said. His childrens living this every single day. So this judgement is necessary. Thomas Mooney, Owens attorney, said in a statement that his client awaits his day in court. Story continues Read More: Atlanta activist arrested for using $200K in BLM donations to fund lifestyle The pursuit of truth and the road to justice in the case of a police officer-involved shooting has typically been a long one. Historically in our country, and perhaps at this time more than ever, an objective, methodical, and sometimes necessarily-lengthy investigation has always preceded, and should always precede, the decision to bring criminal charges, Mooney said. In Officer Owens case, however, a knee jerk reaction to pursue charges based on unsubstantiated or discounted facts and hastily-misguided assumptions has regrettably been the undeniable theme. The attorney noted that when the facts are revealed, justice will prevail. Officials say Prince Georges County will also be making strides toward police reform, including equipping officers with body-worn cameras by the end of the year. Have you subscribed to theGrios Dear Culture podcast? Download our newest episodes now! The post Family of William Green reach $20 million settlement over fatal police shooting appeared first on TheGrio. LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kharon, the research and data analytics company focused on global security threats and other controversies that impact global commerce and finance, today announced that Barclays has become a strategic investor in the business, joining Equity Group Investments, and other institutional and private equity investors. Kharon's offerings for trade, regulatory and financial crime compliance are recognized as industry leading and the news underscores its shared commitment with Barclays to innovation and data-driven intelligence. Mark Gibbins, Head of Compliance Services, Barclays, said: "Having worked with Kharon for some time, we are pleased to be strengthening our relationship through this strategic investment. The investment demonstrates Barclays' commitment to managing compliance requirements by utilizing data to enhance our technology and analytics solutions." Kharon's regtech solutions provide firms across the globe with unmatched, critical intelligence and analytics on their customers, supply chains, investments, and risk areas. The result is reduced risk, realized efficiencies and the creation of value. Matthew Epstein, CEO, Kharon, said: "We are delighted to welcome Barclays as a strategic investor. Barclays' move from client to partner and now to investor, reflects our shared belief in the broad industry and geographical applicability of Kharon's technology, analytic products and expertise." He added: "From risk and compliance teams seeking to strengthen KYC and screening processes; to technology providers keen to examine every stage of their supply chain; to investors looking to assess a company's long-term performance; Kharon supports companies in a wide range of industries around the world. This diverse client base coupled with our groundbreaking technology platform has given us the strongest of foundations on which to continue to build." Equity Group Investments (EGI), founded by Sam Zell, has been an investor in Kharon since 2016. The firm's President, Mark Sotir, commented: "In an increasingly challenging risk environment, Kharon's unique data and analytics solutions provide highly relevant and differentiated compliance insights to its customers. We are pleased to be a strategic capital partner to a top-line specialist with a strong leadership team, and to welcome Barclays as a co-investor." About Kharon Kharon is a leading provider of research and data analytics, focused on global security threats and other controversies that impact global commerce and finance. Kharon's clients include first tier international financial institutions, global corporates, public sector entities and professional services firms. Kharon is headed by former senior officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and experienced professionals in software development and data science. For more information or to join the Kharon team, visit www.kharon.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter @kharondata. About Barclays Barclays is a British universal bank. The company is diversified by business, by different types of customers and clients, and by geography. Barclays' businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by their service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group. For further information about Barclays, please visit www.home.barclays . About Equity Group Investments Equity Group Investments is the private investment firm founded by Sam Zell more than 50 years ago. Based in Chicago, EGI invests opportunistically across industries and geographies and throughout the capital structure. Current portfolio investments are in healthcare, energy, waste and infrastructure, transportation and logistics, agribusiness, and real estate. EGI provides flexible capital and employs an engaged ownership approach to maximize the potential of its investments. For more information on EGI, visit www.egizell.com . Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283302/Kharon_logo_Logo.jpg The "Europe Fighter Aircraft Market Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Europe Fighter Aircraft Market is expected to exhibit a growth rate of more than 4% during the forecast period. In an effort to enhance the aerial combat capabilities, several nations in the region are upgrading their existing fleet of fighter jets and replacing their aging and obsolete fleet with advanced new generation aircraft. European nations are investing in the modernization of air combat capabilities and these investments are driving the advancements in stealth technology and precision weapon development which is subsequently driving the development of fighter aircraft. Europe is witnessing rapid development in aerial fighting capabilities and air defense. These factors are propelling the growth of the fighter aircraft market in the region. Various collaborative development programs such as Future Combat Air System of France, Spain, and Germany, Tempest fighter development program of the UK are expected to propel the introduction of advanced fighter aircrafts to the European sky and replace existing fleet of Rafales, Typhoons, etc. Key Market Trends Short Take Off And Landing Aircraft Segment To Witness The Highest Growth During The Forecast Period The market for Short Take-Off And Landing (STOL) Fighter Aircraft is expected to grow with a high CAGR during the forecast period. STOL Fighter Aircraft are advanced versatile aerial combat machines that can be deployed at shorter runways in very less time. Fighter aircraft manufacturers are focusing on integrating the STOL and VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) capabilities in an aircraft and significant investments have been made in this area in form of Fifth and Sixth generation fighter aircraft development programs. In June 2019, France, Spain, and Germany entered into the agreement (Future Combat Air System) to develop sixth-generation fighter aircraft. This is the biggest arms development program in Europe to date and an initial investment of EUR 4 billion is expected from France and Germany. The Joint Strike Fighter program of the United States is also propelling the growth of the segment with the objective of replacing the fleet of F-16, F-18, A-10, and AV-8B fighter aircraft with F-35 Lightning II in countries such as United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc. The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world's first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft. The United Kingdom is Expected to Show the Highest Growth During The Forecast Period During the forecast period, the UK is expected to show growth with the highest growth rate. The United Kingdom is in a formal partnership with the United States on the F-35 development program, along with Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway. The F-35 features a significant chunk of components built in the UK, with up to 10-15% of the components of each aircraft being built or developed in the country. In addition, the United Kingdom is currently the largest foreign customer for the F-35 program for the US. The country's 138 aircraft will become the largest anticipated foreign fleet of the F-35 once all the aircraft are delivered to the country. In November 2018, UK Signed a multi-million-pound contract which will see the UK own 35 stealth jets by end of 2022. The new contract was for 17 F-35B aircraft which will be delivered during 2020 2022. In addition, the country is planning to develop a sixth-generation aircraft programs, the UK-led Tempest stealth fighter project, for which Sweden and Italy became partners, while the Netherlands have also expressed interest. Such programs are expected to help the growth of the market in the country in the years to come. Competitive Landscape Prominent players in the Europe fighter aircraft market are Saab AB, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Dassault Aviation, BAE Systems PLC, Airbus SE. The market is being propelled by the technological advancements and up-gradation of the existing fleet. Many fighter aircraft development programs are underway in Europe that is expected to significantly propel the growth of the players during the forecast period and the following 10 to 15 years. Russian Aircraft Corporation is currently working on a hypersonic fighter aircraft Mig-41 with a daunting speed of Mach 3 and the first flight of the aircraft is expected to take off during mid-2020. Russia is also currently working on the YAK 150 prototype capable of vertical take-off and landing. Due to recent advanced developments in aerial warfare, fighter jets are being designed for the high-speed interception, electronic warfare, surveillance, breach detection and other operations. Significant investments in R&D will help the development of sixth-generation fighters and is expected to bolster the market prospects of the manufacturers of such aircraft during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Market Drivers 4.3 Market Restraints 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 By Take-Off And Landing 5.1.1 Conventional Take-Off And Landing Aircraft 5.1.2 Short Take-Off And Landing Aircraft 5.1.3 Vertical Take-Off And Landing Aircraft 5.2 Geography 5.2.1 Europe 5.2.1.1 United Kingdom 5.2.1.2 Germany 5.2.1.3 France 5.2.1.4 Russia 5.2.1.5 Italy 5.2.1.6 Rest of Europe 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Company Profiles 6.1.1 Lockheed Martin Corporation 6.1.2 Dassault Aviation 6.1.3 BAE Systems PLC 6.1.4 Airbus SE 6.1.5 The Boeing Company 6.1.6 Saab AB 6.1.7 Leonardo S.p.A. 6.1.8 Russian Aircraft Corporation 6.1.9 JSC Sukhoi Company 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y3bzmb View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005620/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 President of the France-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group of the French Senate Gilbert-Luc Devinaz is planning to convene a session, after which the Group will issue a relevant statement. This is what Gilbert-Luc Devinaz said during a telephone conversation with deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Vladimir Vardanyan today. According to the MP, he and Gilbert-Luc Devinaz discussed Azerbaijans aggression against the Republics of Artsakh and Armenia. Once again, I stated that the sole purpose of the aggression and large-scale armed attack unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh on the morning of September 27, 2020 is to empty Artsakh of Armenians and that the authorities of Azerbaijan pose a real threat to the existence of the Armenians of Artsakh, the Republics of Artsakh and Armenia, all Armenians, as well as regional security, Vardanyan noted. Gilbert Luc-Devinaz, who has been reelected member of the French Senate, informed that he is preparing to hold a session of the Friendship Group and will make a relevant statement after that. Tomorrow, Wednesday, 30 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias will travel to Cyprus, where he will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. Their talks will focus on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region and on coordination between Greece and Cyprus in view of the upcoming European Council meeting, as well as on issues of bilateral, European and regional interest. Egypt's navy celebrated on Tuesday the launch of its fourth 209/1400 mod class submarine, the armed forces announced. According to the statement, the new S44 submarine is the fourth type 209/1400 sub manufactured by German ThyssenKrupp to be acquired by the Egyptian navy, and will enter service soon. Egypt received the first submarine, S41, in December 2016; the second, S42, in August 2017 and the third, S43, in April of this year. Addressing the launching ceremony, naval commander Ahmed Khaled said that Egypt has highly skilled cadres who are capable of using the latest techniques in the fields of operation and maintenance. He said that the new submarine is part of a military strategy aimed at overcoming challenges in the region and maintaining full control over the Egyptian coasts in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Search Keywords: Short link: The big steelmakers in the country are back on track with increasing domestic demand and steel shortage in overseas markets. The demand has driven the domestic prices high as hot-rolled coil (HRC) steel price went up 15 per cent in the last two months, while the price of long products jumped 11 per cent. The HRC price is 9 per cent above pre-COVID levels of March, but long products are 4 per cent below pre-COVID levels. Domestic demand is largely driven by auto and white goods sectors, besides marginal uptick in government infrastructure projects. The automakers and white goods producers are increasing production for the festival season. In August, Tata Steel operated at 100 per cent capacity for the first time since the nationwide lockdown. JSW Steel saw 15 per cent growth in flat steel products in August, while crude steel production rose 5 per cent year-on-year. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd sold 625,000 tonnes of steel in the domestic market in August, up 37 per cent compared to a year ago period. Motilal Oswal said in its report, India's steel sector has turned the corner with recovery in domestic demand and improved margins. "This is led by sharp price hikes (supported by higher regional steel prices, particularly for flat steel) and lower raw material cost (despite recent rise)," it added. The equity research agency said, the regional HRC price is unlikely to rise further as the price of iron ore corrects in subsequent months. India's largest iron ore producer, state-run NMDC, has raised its monthly domestic prices for September to a 22-month high as the removal of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions boosts demand. The high volume export to China is another reason for rise in ore prices in India. In the first half of 2020, Indian mining groups doubled iron ore shipments to China to 20 million tonne, compared to the same period last year. Iron ore supplies from Brazil have been normalising, and port inventories in China have been rising. It is a sign that the prices will taper down. However, the high iron ore prices don't hit the big steelmakers as most of them have captive mines. However, smaller players are severely hurt by the rise in iron ore prices, say industry experts. Another advantage for the steelmakers is the falling coking coal prices. Seaborne coking coal prices fell by 35 per cent between March and August after industrial activities halted in Japan, Europe, South Korea and India. Considering the 2-3 months lag in import orders reaching Indian ports, the bigger benefit of low coking coal price would reflect in the companies' margins in September quarter. "It helps the top 5-6 steelmakers in the country, while the medium and small players are still struggling," says an executive with a steel company. The small steel producers have to cut production because of severe shortage of raw material and higher input costs. The lower coking coal and iron ore prices will improve the margins of steelmaker further in the third quarter. The recent spike in steel prices has prompted some consumer groups to call for government intervention. Federation of Punjab Small Industries (Fopsia) said domestic steel buyers are facing a supply shortage since June as integrated mills only sell material to big traders who are hoarding steel with the intention of raising prices. The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has red-flagged the steep increase and said it will lead to windfall gains for a few steel companies. Forward Majority, a Democratic super PAC aiming to flip the Texas House and other Republican-controlled legislatures, on Tuesday launched a $1.8 million ad blitz targeting six GOP lawmakers in the Houston area. The groups TV and digital ad campaign, which surpasses $2 million when factoring in direct mail, includes spots attacking state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, and Sam Harless, R-Spring, on health care. Another ad goes after state Rep. Gary Gates, R-Richmond, over previously surfaced allegations of child abuse, while a fourth spot accuses Republican candidate Lacey Hull of being an activist for fringe organizations. Rounding out Forward Majoritys targets in the Houston area are state Rep. Ed Thompson, R-Pearland, and Republican Jacey Jetton of Richmond. Jetton and Hull are running for the seats held by retiring state Reps. Rick Miller and Dwayne Bohac, both Republicans. The districts are among the more than 20 Republican-held seats Texas Democrats are targeting in 2020 as they try to capture a majority in the Texas House. Republican control the lower chamber, 83-67, after losing 12 seats in 2018. The Bohac and Davis seats are viewed as more attainable targets than the ones held by Gates, Harless and Thompson, though Democrats are taking aim at those districts in part because Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz carried each one over Democrat Beto ORourke by fewer than six points. ORourke narrowly won Millers district in Fort Bend County. Forward Majoritys $2 million ad campaign around Houston makes up nearly one-third of the $6.2 million the group plans to spend across Texas, first reported by the Texas Tribune earlier this month. One of the new ads alleges Harless has denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, citing a candidate questionnaire in which he expressed support for ending the Affordable Care Act. The ad also says Harless has supported policies that have led to unaffordable health care, referring to a party-line vote last session in which the House declined to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income Texans. Harless, who was elected in 2018 with 55 percent of the vote, faces Democrat Natali Hurtado this year in a rematch from last cycle. He did not respond to a request for comment. The spot against Davis, meanwhile, is narrated by a Navy veteran with a pre-existing condition who says Davis wants to deny coverage to Texans with pre-existing conditions. It cites Davis opposition to budget-busting schemes like Obamacare from her 2014 campaign website. Sarah Davis puts her insurance industry donors first, even if it means kicking Texans off their health care in a pandemic, the narrator says. In a statement, Davis said she supports maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions, citing her vote in favor of a bill passed last session that allows the Texas Department of Insurance to establish a temporary high-risk insurance pool for those with pre-existing conditions. A version of the pool that was phased out under Obamacare insured only about 28,000 people during its peak, the Texas Tribune reported. Davis, who campaigned against the Affordable Care Act during her first three campaigns starting in 2010, said she now opposes a legal effort led by Texas to strike down the law. Davis faces Democrat Ann Johnson this year in a rematch of their 2012 race. Every election cycle, the far left insists on pretending I dont already have a record of increasing access to healthcare, expanding womens health services, investing in mental health, protecting access to cancer screenings, and fighting to make sure more Texans are covered by insurance, Davis said. This ad makes a false attack, using a military veteran, who I presume receives healthcare through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs over which the state has no jurisdiction. The ad involving Gates refers to a case from 2000 in which some of his 13 children, 11 of whom were adopted, reported Gates would discipline in various ways for stealing food. Child Protective Services removed the children from Gates home, but a judge ordered them returned soon after. The state later dropped the case. Gates could not immediately be reached for comment through a campaign consultant, Craig Murphy. In January, when Forward Majority ran a different ad highlighting the allegations, Murphy called the attack desperate. You can say anything you want about Gary Gates ... He took kids who had no future and now they have a wonderful childhood, Murphy said. I challenge you to adopt 11 kids and not have any problems. Forward Majority aired the ad during a special election in which Gates defeated Democrat Eliz Markowitz, his opponent again in November for the Fort Bend County district. In the ad against Hull, who faces Democrat Akilah Bacy in a west Houston district, a narrator refers to Hulls opposition to Senate Bill 11, an omnibus school safety bill passed in 2019 that expands mental health initiatives in an effort to reduce school shootings. The bill passed 137-8 in the House and 30-1 in the Senate. The ad cites a letter signed by Hull and more than 150 other conservative activists who argued the bills plan for mental health education is more likely to become an indoctrination tool, a marketing tool, than it is to help children. Jordan Berry, a spokesman for Hulls campaign, called the ad a false attack from an out-of-state dark money super PAC trying to mislead voters. Lacey Hull has a record of being a proud local who has volunteered her time to help families in this community where she was born and raised, Berry said. A D.C. super PAC wont be able to trick voters. jasper.scherer@chron.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Marseille, France Tue, September 29, 2020 21:10 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c4803e70 2 Food Marseille,restaurant,COVID-19,coronavirus,pandemic,France,lockdown Free On the quayside of Marseille's Old Port in France, several restaurants on Monday defied a government order to shutdown for two weeks to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, saying they had little to lose. The shutdown, which came into effect at midnight on Sunday, angered local politicians, restaurant owners and employees who say it is disproportionate to the risk and will devastate the local economy. "It's not in bars and restaurants that COVID has come surging back," said one restaurant owner who opened for lunch service. "I've 60 kg of mussels that need using up." "Overnight, we have no money coming in and we have families to feed," the restaurateur, who did not want to reveal his identity, said. Opponents of the shutdown have filed a legal petition seeking that it be overturned. Read also: French bistros down but not out: Paris chef The petition, protests in the Mediterranean port city, and the defiant stand by some restaurateurs point to simmering public resentment as the government again tightens COVID restrictions. The UMIH trade union said it hoped the courts would reverse the government order but that it was not encouraging its members to flout the law. "We must respect the law, even if we don't agree with it," said UMIH president and restaurant owner Bernard Marty. The pandemic has killed 31,700 people in France and infected more than half a million. A few short weeks after it reopened to the public, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Laredo is once again closing down for the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement to the public, the Alamo Drafthouse cited a lack of upcoming releases and a decrease in demand as the reasons for the temporary shutdown. The popular theater featuring a restaurant and bar said that all existing tickets already purchased for future shows will be refunded. The Alamo Drafthouse previously returned on Aug. 31 following its March closure after the first cases of the novel coronavirus began popping up in Laredo. The theater had also been running a promotion during the pandemic allowing friends and families to rent out an entire theater for $150. You can read the theaters statement about the closure in full below written by BACH Holdings owner Brandon Arceneaux: Because of the lack of upcoming major new releases, decreased overall demand, and to best conserve our resources as COVID continues to devastate the film industry, weve decided to close our Laredo franchise location temporarily, effective immediately. All upcoming screenings at Alamo Drafthouse Laredo have been canceled, and any guests who have purchased tickets will receive a full refund in the coming days. If you have any questions or concerns, reach out to our team at sarah.williams@rdpalamo.com. This is a terribly difficult and disappointing decision, but were hopeful that by pausing now, well be able to reopen later this year once a steady stream of new releases resumes. To our team members who returned to us over the past four weeks - thank you so much. Your efforts created the safest and most enjoyable cinematic experience possible, and we hope that this will be a very brief hiatus. To our film-loving guests and friends in Laredo - your support over the last month has meant so much to all of us. Well be back. Yoon Seong-hyun, chief of the Coast Guard's investigation team into the deadly shooting of a South Korean fisheries official in North Korean territorial waters, briefs about the interim investigation result at the Coast Guard headquarters in Incheon, Tuesday. Yonhap By Yi Whan-woo The mystery behind the deadly shooting of a South Korean fisheries official in North Korea's territorial waters last week is deepening the political and ideological divide in the South. The government and the North Korean authorities are apparently at odds over how the official surnamed Lee, 47, was killed after going missing from a fisheries patrol boat, Sept. 21, near the western sea border and floating into the North's territorial waters. Seoul said he was shot while attempting to defect while Pyongyang argues it was in response to Lee refusing to identify himself and trying to flee. They also disagree over the whereabouts of Lee's corpse, with the government saying it was burned by the North, which responded that it only set fire to a floating "object" he was holding onto and officers there have no clue where the body is. This conflicting scenarios has left room for the rival political parties here to accuse each other of being pro-North Korea or having an outdated mindset regarding inter-Korean peace and related incidents. Among the latter was an apology offered both by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the South Korean people over Lee's death, and the National Assembly's abortive attempt to adopt a resolution to denounce Pyongyang. Announcing the results of an interim investigation, the Coast Guard said Tuesday that the official was trying to defect to the North. The announcement was based on intelligence received from the military, the analysis of tidal currents on the day of the incident and other circumstantial evidence. "Based on the investigation so far, we believe that he intended to defect to the North," Yoon Seong-hyun, chief of the investigation team, said during a press briefing. He added the dead official "knew his way around" the waters off Yeonpyeong Island near the Northern Limit Line the de facto border where he went missing. Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks to attendees at an outdoor "Black Economic Summit" while campaigning for president in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 23, 2020. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters WASHINGTON As President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden prepare to face off in the first presidential debate Tuesday, Biden has spent nearly a week diligently preparing for what is likely to be one of the most watched presidential debates in modern history. Biden's campaign has released few details about the former vice president's debate prep, but they have said it's being led by longtime Democratic debate guru Ron Klain, who was a key part of both Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's presidential debate teams. The stakes are high for the former vice president. Biden has held a consistent lead nationally throughout the general election campaign, but it has tightened in recent weeks, averaging just under 7 points among likely voters, according to Real Clear Politics. Voters who have made up their minds already aren't really who Biden and Trump need to win over on Tuesday night. It's the small sliver of voters who might still change their minds. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, they're about 5% of likely voters. Trump is an unpredictable adversary, combative and prone to making false and misleading statements and veering off topic. The debate moderator, Fox News' Chris Wallace, has shown in the past that he can push back on Trump during interviews. But Wallace will not be fact-checking Trump during the debate. "We don't expect Chris or our other moderators to be fact checkers," Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, told CNN on Sunday. The debate topics will be Trump's and Biden's records, the Supreme Court, Covid-19, the economy, race and racial justice protests, and election integrity. Here's what Biden needs to do on Tuesday night to come out on top. Meet the bar Trump set Political players on both sides of the aisle have been amazed this year at how much time and energy Trump and his campaign have poured into portraying Biden as a doddering old man, physically and mentally incapable of fulfilling the duties of the presidency. Despite polls showing that the line of attack hasn't moved the needle much, it remains Trump's favorite cudgel against Biden. "I have to convince people that Joe Biden, he's not, he's not good for the position. He's not fit. He can't handle this position," Trump said last week in response to a question about his overall campaign strategy. To be sure, Biden is prone to verbal gaffes and he occasionally stumbles over words, the legacy of a childhood stutter he worked for years to overcome. But Trump is also known for verbal stumbles of his own. By portraying Biden, 77, as an over-the-hill geriatric has-been, Trump, 74, has inadvertently helped Biden by setting a low expectation for Biden's performance Tuesday. By this logic, all Biden needs to do in order to have a good night is not get confused and misspeak. Below is a Trump campaign ad emblematic of the kinds of attacks it has leveled against Biden over his mental acuity. A few weeks ago, after six months of accusing Biden of cognitive decline, the Trump campaign abruptly switched gears to arguing that Biden is a master debater with decades of experience. "He's really good. Joe Biden is a politician, and this is what politicians do they give speeches. Joe Biden gave speeches for 36 years in the Senate, and he gave speeches and cut ribbons for eight years as vice president. He's really good at doing it," Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said on a recent call with reporters, adding that Biden "decisively won his [vice presidential] debates in 2012 and in 2008." Stepien then tried to lower expectations for Trump, saying the president "has been in politics for five years, not five decades," and he is "a doer, not a talker." Show passion but not anger One of the keys to Biden's consistent lead in the polls is that voters say they believe Biden has the "right temperament" to be president, and that he cares about people like them. These are also cornerstones of Biden's political brand, and key to his argument that he can help unite a bitterly divided nation. Yet Biden has also shown another side of himself, with flashes of anger directed at reporters, opponents and even voters who Biden perceives as attacking his personal decency and especially his family. At times, that anger has been effective, as when Biden responded forcefully to reports that Russia was paying bounties for American soldiers in Afghanistan. At other times, it comes off as bitter, like when Biden said to a voter in New Hampshire last year, "You're a damn liar," after the man accused him of "selling access to the presidency." Democratic presidential hopeful former US Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, June 27, 2019. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images On Tuesday night in Ohio, Trump is expected to attack both Biden's personal integrity and his family, especially his son Hunter Biden. Trump and Republicans have spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars trying to establish a link between Hunter Biden's time on the board of a Ukrainian company and the Obama administration's policy towards Ukraine. In 2019, Trump was impeached for pressuring the government of Ukraine to help his reelection campaign tarnish Biden. More recently, the attacks came in the form of a Republican Senate committee report that was conveniently released last week, which accused Hunter Biden of having "cashed in" on his father's fame but ultimately failed to find any malfeasance on Joe Biden's part. Expect all of these efforts to coalesce on Tuesday in a barrage of attacks on the former vice president's son, just the kind of thing that has caused Biden to lose his temper in the past. If Biden loses his temper on Tuesday, he risks undermining his argument that he's a level-headed, compassionate alternative to the president. Don't get sucked into a brawl Trump prides himself on his aggressive, confrontational style, and he relishes conflict be it with his political opponents, with the press, with U.S. allies or with adversaries. This sets up a potential trap for Biden on Tuesday night, said Mitchell McKinney, director of the Political Communication Institute at the University of Missouri. "If Trump can keep the focus of the night on attacks and bickering, that's time that Biden won't be spending prosecuting Trump's record," McKinney said. McKinney said that when he and his colleagues at the institute analyzed Trump's debates with Clinton in 2016, they found them to be the most conflictual debates in the history of presidential debating." Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during their presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Oct. 9, 2016. Jim Young | Reuters "At the time, we only had two categories for classifying attacks in political debate," he said. "Was this an issue attack or a personal character attack? "But we had to add a new category: 'name calling, taunting and denigrating' attacks. This came overwhelmingly from Trump's side." Biden needs to thread a needle, McKinney said, between showing energy and vigor, and letting Trump drag him into a mudslinging fight. "Forceful aggression can become a brawl," he said. "But if Biden sticks to his more reserved, senatorial style of debating, he could reinforce Trump's argument of 'low energy' Joe." Stay on topic Creating distractions has long been one of Trump's most effective rhetorical weapons. When he's confronted with tough questions in the White House briefing room, Trump typically changes the subject or he attacks the questioner. In 2016, Trump did the same thing in presidential debates, often ignoring the questions he was asked and responding instead with a diatribe on an entirely different subject. This is something the Biden camp is expecting on Tuesday. And nowhere more so than on the topic of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 200,000 American lives. Trump has admitted on tape to downplaying the severity of the virus. He sought for months to foist responsibility for coordinating a pandemic response onto under-equipped states. And he has repeatedly claimed the virus would just "disappear." These issues have proven fertile ground for Biden campaign ads like the one below. Biden needs to find a way to draw Trump back to the issues that Biden plans to hammer him on: The pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused. "We know that Donald Trump's strategy is going to be to not talk about any of those things, because he wants to change the topic from what is really at stake here. So we're really focused on that," Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, said recently. Still, Biden himself is prone to going off-topic during his conversations with reporters and voters, often telling stories from his days in the Senate, raising obscure policy proposals, and emotionally connecting with people's experiences. Don't try to fact-check Trump in real time According to The Washington Post's running tally, Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading statements since he was inaugurated. U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Florida from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 10, 2020. Tom Brenner | Reuters Ms. Quarles brings over 20 years of leadership experience spanning the B2B & consumer internet sectors Christa Quarles Joins Corel as Chief Executive Officer Ms. Quarles brings over 20 years of leadership experience spanning the B2B & consumer internet sectors. Ms. Quarles brings over 20 years of leadership experience spanning the B2B & consumer internet sectors. OTTAWA, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corel Corporation (Corel) today announced that Christa Quarles has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the companys Board of Directors. Ms. Quarles is an industry veteran, having recently served as CEO of OpenTable and having previously held executive roles at NextDoor, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company. Ms. Quarles succeeds former CEO Patrick Nichols who stepped down from the company earlier this year. We are pleased to welcome Christa, one of the most accomplished executives in the B2B and consumer internet space, to the Corel team, said John Park, Corel Chairman of the Board and KKR Partner. With an impressive track record of driving strong growth at innovative technology companies navigating transformational change, Christa has proven herself to be an impeccable leader. We are confident her deep strategic, commercial, and financial expertise will accelerate Corels growth and M&A success, further solidifying the companys position as one of the world's top software platforms. It is an incredible privilege and honor to join Corel, a company with astounding reach across global businesses small and large, providing powerful software to more than 90 million knowledge workers. Given the explosion in demand for workplace productivity solutions, its an exciting time for our business, said Christa Quarles, CEO of Corel. Todays rapidly changing technology and business landscape presents a tremendous opportunity for us to shape the future of work by delivering industry-leading value to customers worldwide. I look forward to collaborating with our executive team to continue the companys already impressive growth path and position our business for future success. Story continues Biography: Christa Quarles, CEO and Member of the Board of Directors for Corel Ms. Quarles is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience leading companies and spearheading financial and operational initiatives. As CEO of OpenTable, she led a period of transformational change, successfully navigating the companys transition to cloud-based, small business solutions, and drove meaningful bottom- and top-line growth across its global operations. Ms. Quarles also recently served as an Operating Partner at Advent International where she was responsible for due diligence and operational guidance for investments in the consumer, marketplace, and Fintech industries. Prior to joining OpenTable, she served as Chief Business Officer of Nextdoor, a marketplace connecting local communities to small businesses. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Vice President, Interactive Games at The Walt Disney Company, where she led Disney Interactive to profitability. Ms. Quarles also served as Chief Financial Officer of Playdom, which was later acquired by Disney. Prior to that, she held the role of Partner in Equity Research covering the internet sector at Thomas Weisel Partners LLC (now Stifel Financial). In addition to Corel, Ms. Quarles also currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Affirm and Kimberly-Clark. She received a BS in Economics and German from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Delivering Innovation for Todays Workspaces With a globally recognized portfolio, Corels creative, productivity, and virtualization solutions leverage the latest in technology to empower knowledge workers. AI tools in CorelDRAW and Painter boost productivity and deliver stunning results in exciting new ways. Web-based collaboration capabilities in MindManager and CorelDRAW streamline the sharing of ideas in a world that forces them to work apart. With the power of artificial intelligence, the ClearSlide sales enablement platform helps sales and marketing teams maintain and build the meaningful connections they need to close deals. WinZip encryption, file management, and compression software delivers secure file sharing across email, a network, or the cloud. While Parallels solutions, including the upcoming Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise, enable workers to use and access the applications and files they need across their favorite devices and preferred technology whether local or remote. About Corel Corel products enable millions of connected knowledge workers around the world to do great work faster. Offering some of the industry's best-known software brands, we give individuals and teams the power to create, collaborate, and deliver impressive results. Our success is driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative applications including CorelDRAW, ClearSlide, MindManager, Parallels, and WinZip to inspire users and help them achieve their goals. To learn more about Corel, please visit www.corel.com. 2020 Corel Corporation. Corel, the Corel logo, the Corel Balloon logo, CorelDRAW, MindManager, and WinZip are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its affiliates in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. ClearSlide is a trademark or registered trademark of ClearSlide Inc., in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. Parallels is a trademark or registered trademark of Parallels International GmbH in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. All other company, product and service names, logos, brands and any registered or unregistered trademarks mentioned are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Use of any brands, names, logos or any other information, imagery or materials pertaining to a third party does not imply endorsement. We disclaim any proprietary interest in such third-party information, imagery, materials, marks and names of others. For all notices and information about patents, please visit www.corel.com/patent. Media Contact Jessica Gould Corel PR jessica.gould@corel.com www.corel.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/748066f8-96a8-4579-a9b3-448c07f6b5b4 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has criticized Facebook for removing material supported by the countrys military. In a televised speech on Monday, Duterte said Facebook is permitted to operate in the country in hopes that you could help us. He suggested that Facebook needs to show the government that it operates for the good of the people. If the company cannot do so, Duterte said, then what is your purpose here in my country? His criticism came after Facebook announced last week it had closed a series of accounts for violating company policies related to foreign or government interference. The social media service removed more than 200 false accounts that it said had been operating in China or the Philippines. The accounts were part of an organized campaign of coordinated inauthentic behavior, Facebook said in a statement. Operators of the accounts had tried to hide their identities while publishing content in Chinese, English and the local language Tagalog, the statement said. The content was targeted mainly at the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. Facebook said the material - published on a series of pages - dealt with a series of news events, including the situation in Hong Kong and naval activities in the South China Sea. Other content was supportive of President Duterte, as well as his daughter Sara, who is seen as a possible candidate in the 2022 presidential election. Presidents can only serve one six-year term. The accounts operated in the Philippines published content mainly related to news events and activities within the country. Some material criticized the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples Army, NPA. Facebook said its investigation showed the Philippine-based accounts had links to the countrys military and police. Military and police officials denied they were the account holders. Military officials, however, said they did not agree with the removal of one page belonging to a group of parents. They said the page was used to raise awareness about methods the NPA movement uses to persuade young people to join. The conflict between the government and NPA which started in 1968 - has killed tens of thousands of people. The Armed Forces of the Philippines wants Facebook to bring back the page, called Hands off Our Children. A spokesman said the military shares and supports the goals of the page. Duterte said it was an example of where Facebook could act to help the government. We are not advocating mass destruction, we are not advocating massacre. Its a fight of ideas, he said. Facebook and other social media services have become important for politicians in the Philippines. Facebook helped strengthen Dutertes support base and played a part in his election victory in 2016. Is there life after Facebook? I dont know, Duterte said. Since 2018, Facebook has removed similar organized networks around the world including those in Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, Honduras and Nigeria. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters and Facebook. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. __________________________________________ Words in This Story account n. an arrangement in which a person uses internet or service of a particular company coordinate v. to organize all the different parts of an activity inauthentic adj. not true or real content n. information contained in a piece of writing, a speech, a movie or on the internet page n. one part of a website advocate v. to publicly support or suggest an idea, development or way of doing something massacre n. an act of killing a lot of people Amanda Knox is demanding answers about NXIVM cult leader Keith Ranieres 2019 conviction. Knox signed a petition questioning whether there was prosecutorial misconduct in the case, which led to Raniere being found guilty of sex trafficking among other crimes. Knox knows a thing or two about sensationalized trials as her 2009 murder conviction was ultimately overturned by an Italian high court. Ahead of Ranieres sentencing next month, Knox is among those supporting an initiative that aims to hold the prosecutors and judges accountable. According to the Albany Times Union, the petition demands the government answer whether they tampered with evidence, suborned perjury, threatened witnesses and more. She confirmed her signature when reached by the newspaper for comment. Amanda Knox is among a group of people, including NXIVM members, demanding answers ahead of Keith Raniere's conviction. (Photo: Getty Images) I was contacted by some former members of NXIVM who claim that Mr. Raniere has been wrongfully convicted, and that the story being told in the media is wrong, Knox told the Times Union. I personally do not know enough about the case to make any judgments about whether his conviction is wrongful or not. These supporters of Mr. Raniere asked me to sign a petition asking the prosecutors in the case to affirm some principles of prosecutorial conduct that any prosecutor should be able to affirm, such as not engaging in perjury, not tampering with evidence and not threatening witnesses, Knox continued. I signed the petition because violation of these practices would constitute prosecutorial misconduct, regardless of Mr. Raniere's guilt or innocence. Raniere is the founder and leader of NXIVM, an organization promoted as a self-help group. However, prosecutors claim Raniere was really running a pyramid scheme and women-branding sex cult. Smallville star Allison Mack is among the notable names involved as shes accused of being a master who directed slaves to engage in sexual acts with Raniere. He was found guilty on racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy and other felony charges. Story continues Knox was accused of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007 while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. She was convicted in 2009, but exonerated two years later. Knox has maintained her innocence throughout the ordeal. In recent years, she has become an advocate for the wrongfully convicted. The author recently weighed in on another high-profile case: whether Tiger King star Carole Baskin killed her husband, Don Lewis. My simple reaction to that case was actually in response to Carole Baskin, and the number of people who saw a documentary and made a claim about how Carole Baskin killed her husband, Knox told Law & Crime Daily earlier this month. And I found that it was irresponsible for anyone to be going around claiming that someone killed their husband because they happened to see a documentary series. Thats not enough to actually make any kinds of claims of guilt or innocence. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: By Trend On September 28, 2020, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had a telephone conversation with Wendy Morton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Minister for European Neighborhood, and the Americas of the United Kingdom, Trend reports citing MFA. Minister Wendy Morton stressed the importance of decreasing tensions in the region and respecting the ceasefire regime. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan carried out counter-offensive measures within its internationally recognized borders in response to the new military aggression of Armenia. Noting that the armed forces of Armenia continue to target Azerbaijani civilians and civilian objects, the Minister said that this is another gross violation of international humanitarian law by the occupying state. Stressing that tensions continue in the region, the Minister noted that the full responsibility for the situation lies with the political and military leadership of Armenia. At least 14 people were killed in Afghanistan after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb. The tragic incident happened around 9 am in Daitundi province, which lies in the centre of the country. As per Ariana news, a total of 17 people were on board the vehicle when the blast occurred. Attack attributed to Taliban The bomb targeted a bus carrying civilians in Dasht-e-Sulaiman village, Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs told Afghan voice agency. Amongst those killed, were seven women, five children and two men totalling up to 14. The remaining three were wounded, the officials confirmed. This is the second blast in the province this year, which is considered safe otherwise, the interior ministry stated blaming the Taliban for the attack. On the other hand, the Taliban has not commented on the event yet. Read: Top Afghan Negotiator In Taliban Talks Arrives In Pakistan Read: Afghanistan-Taliban Peace In-charge Abdullah Abdullah To Visit Troublemaker Pakistan Earlier this year, the Afghanistan governemnt signed a peace treaty with Taliban. The Afghan Taliban peace talks comprise the first-ever official talks between the two warring sides i.e. Taliban and Afghanistan Government, which began earlier this month in the Gulf state of Qatar, to discuss peace in the region. The insurgent group Taliban had refused to sit for talks until now, accusing the Afghanistan government of being 'weak and a puppet of the United States'. A number of Talibani prisoners who were released by the Afghanistan government over the past few months have returned to the battlefield, countrys top official Abdullah Abdullah said. Almost 5,000 prisoners have been released by Kabul as a part of Afghan Peace deal, which was brokered by the US and signed earlier in February. However, Abdullah, who chairs Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation revealed that a considerable number of them have taken arms again. Read: MEA Jaishankar, Former Afghan Vice President Dostum Discuss Peace Talk Developments Read: US Special Rep Khalilzad Doubts Taliban Will Accept Ceasefire Until Political Settlement Representative image/ AP Farmers are being told to monitor for early signs of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in dairy calves as leaving it too late could cost up to 772 per animal to treat. The respiratory disease is estimated to cost the UK cattle industry 80m annually, with research showing that it affects 46% of calves before they reach nine weeks of age. A recent study using ultrasound imaging to assess lung damage in young dairy calves revealed that lung lesions can develop as early as 12 days of age and have long-term effects. Moreover, according to the AHDB 2016 fallen stock report, BRD is the most diagnosed cause of death for animals under six months of age. Many farmers only consider the immediate treatment costs and the reduction in daily liveweight gain - estimated at an average 45 per case - but this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Ceva Animal Health. It says the economic impact of BRD in young dairy heifers can have long-term knock-on effects associated with decreased longevity and production. It is estimated that the overall cost will be closer to 772 per animal - this includes the immediate cost of treatment and a two-week delay to first calving. On top of this, farmers could see a 4% and 8% reduction in first and second lactation milk yields respectively and a lifetime reduction of 109 days in-milk caused by reduced longevity. A BRD scoring system developed by University California, Davis helps ensure early detection and treatment in dairy calves and reduce the impact of the disease. A new website has been launched by Ceva Animal Health featuring the system to promote best practice amongst farmers. It features information on reducing the impact of BRD on dairy calves focusing on prevention, early detection and treatment, as well as covering the longer-term production consequences and economic impact of the disease. Gemma Robinson, ruminant adviser at the veterinary firm, said BRD remained one of the UKs most prevalent diseases in dairy calves. "The lifetime total economic cost could be over 700 per dairy heifer, she said, adding that farmers should use a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) as part of their BRD treatment plan. The website covers the importance of using a NSAID alongside appropriate antibiotic therapy on all affected calves to reduce pyrexia and minimise lung consolidation, which has a negative impact on growth. Dr Tim Potter, senior clinical director at Westpoint Farm Vets, said rapid disease detection and treatment were key to minimising the long-term impacts of BRD. "Tools such as the UC Davis BRD scoring system can really help understand disease levels on farm and help the team rapidly identify issues with BRD. US Defense Secretary Mark Thomas Esper will land Thursday in Algeria as part of a region tour to deepen security cooperation with Maghreb countries mainly in the fight against extremist groups. Esper, reports say, will meet with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and discussion will revolve around security cooperation and regional threats by extremist groups. Last visit to Algeria by a US Defense Secretary dates back to 2006, with Donald Rumsfeld. Prior to the Algerian leg of the tour, Esper will kick-start his first ever African visit, in Tunisia. In Tunisia, a key US ally, Esper according to US sources, will also discuss Russia and Chinas influence and threats to American interests. He will wind up the trip on Friday in Rabat, Morocco where he will bolster strong security relations with the kingdom. Moderna's coronavirus vaccine triggered a strong antibody response in older adults, and only triggered 'severe' side effects in one volunteer, new data from the firm's phase 2 testing shows. Two doses of the shot were given to each of about 40 volunteers, ages 56 to 70 and older. All of the patients enrolled to the the study developed 'neutralizing' antibodies to coronavirus - the kinds of immune cells thought to be most capable of shutting down the virus and stopping it from infecting our cells. About 80 percent of people who have died of coronavirus are older, making the safety of any vaccines against COVID-19 in aging populations paramount. With the election just over a month away, and President Trump promoting the possibility of a vaccine being given emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concerns are rising over the safety of COVID-19 shots. Overall, the older trial participants had only mild to moderate reactions to the two injections - mostly side effects like soreness, headache or fatigue - suggesting that at least one candidate coronavirus vaccine appears safe for those who need it most. Moderna's jab triggered a strong antibody response in older trial participants and caused only mild side effects in most, new data revealed Tuesday (file) One group of trial participants got two injections of a lower dose coronavirus vaccine, and the other got two shots of a higher dose vaccine. Regardless of which strength they got, all participants in the study, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), had an antibody response. Injections were given 28 days apart, and following the second dose, the trial organizers at Emory University in Georgia said that the older volunteers bodies' produced comparable levels of antibodies to those seen in the younger group (aged 18-55). They showed hearty signs of both binding and neutralizing antibodies, suggesting that there were plenty of the immune cells designed to block SARS-CoV-2, and they would have no problem latching onto the viral particles. Additionally, the volunteers' blood was rich in T cells and important inflammatory proteins, indicating that the overall immune response was in working order. That's especially encouraging because vaccines do not have a great track record in older people generally. Charts from the Moderna study show that volunteers' bodies produced multiple types of immune cells in response to the experimental vaccine doses Like the rest of the body, the immune system starts to slow down and become less precise as we age. It's a process called immunosenescence. Scientists don't fully understand this degradation process, but have observed that immune B cells become more lethargic and faulty. B cells are an important target for vaccines, because they are responsible for producing antibodies, the bespoke immune cells that fight individual pathogens after we've encountered them or after our body has been taught to chun them out by a vaccine. In the older trial participants, the researchers saw that two doses of vaccine triggered a larger output of antibodies than the infection itself had in COVID-19 survivors, as measured by sampling their plasma. Importantly, the Moderna's vaccine is designed specifically to combat strains of coronavirus that have developed two mutations - 614D and 614G - which, together, have become the most dominant and infectious sub-form of coronavirus circulating in the US. And limited though this early data is, the Emory and Moderna researchers saw that their experimental vaccine has potential to work just as well in older, more vulnerable people as it does in younger ones, who now make up the largest share of infections, but only a small portion of coronavirus deaths. Equally important, the vaccine was generally safe and led only to short-lived, tolerable side effects in the vast majority of the small study group. About half of patients in both the 56-70 age group and the 71 and older age group who got the lower-dose vaccine had side effects after their first shot, as did about a quarter of those who got the more potent version of the shot. The majority of the older participants, ages 65 and up, had only mild side effects (gray) after both their first and second doses of Moderna's coronavirus shot. A few had moderate effects (blue) and two people developed 'severe' reactions: fever and fatigue (yellow), suggesting the experimental shot is safe After the second dose, about quarter of the older group who got the weaker shot had side effects, but they were all mild. The majority of each of the two age groups who got the stronger shot had moderate side effects, and two people across the four groups had 'severe' reactions to the shots. One person between ages 56 and 70 who got the lower dose shot developed a fever that was classified a severe side effect after receiving their second dose of the coronavirus inoculation. The second severe adverse event occurred in a participant who was 71 or older and received two injections of the higher dose vaccine and developed more lasting fatigue. But all of the participants recovered, in a positive sign for one of the leading candidate coronavirus vaccines. Moderna's CEO, Stephane Bancel, has said he thinks the company will most likely know if its vaccine works by November, when it expects to have enough data from its phase 3 clinical trials in tens of thousands of younger people to know if rates of coronavirus infection were lower among those who got the real vaccine compared to those who got a sam placebo. President Trump wants a shot approved before the November 3 election, and Moderna's top competitor, Pfizer, claims it is poised to fulfill the president's hopes nd submit data for emergency use authorization (EUA) next month. However, more than 60 scientists and bioethicists have signed a petition urging the company to hold off until November - after the election - in the interest of earning the trust of a public that has grown wary of the safety of a shot that's been developed so rapidly, under highly political conditions. The New York Times reported that the FDA itself was considering rule changes that could make it all but impossible for a coronavirus vaccine to get the green light before November, but Trump has hinted he could try to block the standards hike, and regulators have made no moves to put new rules into place thus far. This action goes against the values we hold at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Butler said in a statement. We respect our role in the community and strive to build and maintain public trust. We remain dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of our community and will continue to ensure that our members are held to the highest standards of the profession. Venus Williams said she was "not looking forward yet" to 2021 after suffering a third successive first round exit at the French Open on Sunday with a loss in straight sets to Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The 40-year-old Williams, runner-up at Roland Garros to sister Serena in 2002, lost 6-4, 6-4 to an opponent who snapped a 12-match Grand Slam losing streak. It marked Williams' third first round defeat in a row at a Slam after exiting the US Open and Australian Open at the same stage. "It's been a very long year of quarantine. Now I'll get to rest. So I'm looking forward to that," said Williams, insisting she would not play again this season. "I'm going home from here. I'm done. If there is somewhere to play, I won't be there." Williams dropped serve six times in cold, blustery conditions in Paris as Schmiedlova registered her first main-draw victory at a Slam since the 2015 US Open. Her reward is a second round tie against two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, has not been past the third round at a major since 2017. She has lost eight of nine matches on tour this year. "I just stepped off the court. So even though it hasn't been a ton of tournaments, it's still been a very long year. So, yeah, I'm not looking forward yet," she said. Williams in 2011 revealed she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease whose symptoms include joint pain and fatigue. Everyone at this year's French Open, including players if they are not in action or in practice, is masked amid surging rates of Covid-19 infections in the country. Those competing are holed up exclusively in two hotels. Despite being at a higher risk at the tournament, Williams said she had learned to live with the situation. "I think at this point I have accepted that anyone can get it at any time, so I try my best not to," she said. "I think, in the beginning, I was definitely a lot more nervous, but now I'm a little more accepting that it could happen and these are the risks you take when you leave your home." mw/dj/pb A cat was spotted up a tree in Tredegar in Wales on Saturday. (SWNS) A Welsh town has pulled together to rescue a cat stuck up a tree in a three-day operation involving four storeys of scaffolding. After initially spotting the feline on Saturday, residents of Tredegar swung into action to try and get it down. A local scaffolding firm built a makeshift structure to try and coax the cat back to the ground after firefighters were unsuccessful in their efforts on Saturday. Scaffolding company director Paul Ratledge told BBC Wales: "We had a phone call from the local fire service. A three-day rescue operation was needed to get it down. (SWNS) "They'd tried with cherry pickers, they'd had a tree surgeon but they couldn't get it. "We've been there this morning, taking food to it. We've set up scaffolding boards on angles now so the cat will be able to get down by itself. On Tuesday evening, however, a tree surgeon was able to get the cat into a bag and bring it down, ending the three-day operation. A posting on Ratledges scaffolding companys Facebook page said: "We are trying our very hardest to rescue this cat. "No joy in getting the cat down tonight. We left him some water and food and will be back tomorrow." Workers from a scaffolding company tried to coax the cat into a box. (SWNS) One person commented: "Such a wonderful thing to do. Well done and fingers crossed for a happy ending." Another added: "Thank you so much for this huge act of kindness." A third posted: "Real heroes. Thank you so much for what you are doing." Fresh from their victory of keeping the Alamo Cenotaph right where it is, self-proclaimed Texas independence fighters now are looking to press their efforts to get the $450 million overhaul of Alamo Plaza to focus squarely on the famed battle. State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, a determined member of the not 1 inch brigade who fought relocation of the Cenotaph, said hell file a bill next year to increase the Legislatures oversight of the makeover project, following Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks comments last week that the state could fully fund the project without private fundraising if the right plan is in place. In order to accomplish this, the current politically correct Alamo plan narrative of the vision and guiding principles must be revisited, said Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg. The Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee, which created the projects vision and guiding principles, meets today in virtual session at 9 a.m. for the first time since the Texas Historical Commission voted 12-2 to deny a permit to move the Cenotaph 500 feet to the south, a major part of the planned overhaul. Some had said that if the permit was denied, the entire project was doomed. The committee, though, is looking at ways to move forward. In endorsing Cenotaph relocation and other key concepts of the project in 2018, the committee decided it wouldnt just tell the story of the battle and its impact on the city, state, nation and international community. It also said the makeover, which includes a new museum and visitor center, should interpret the diverse cultures that contributed to the site and tell an in-depth history of the Alamo area to the present day as a tribute to all who lived, fought, and died there. Even Patrick, whose impassioned plea to the commission to leave the Cenotaph alone clearly influenced the state agencys decision to do just that, has acknowledged theres more to the site than the battle in 1836. Those who want to tell a broader story, that story can be told as part of that, for sure, he said, adding, But thats not the main emphasis and we should not lose focus. On ExpressNews.com: Alamo project in limbo but will continue, officials say Like the pro-1836 forces who didnt want the Cenotaph relocated a single inch from its place in front of the Long Barrack, the lieutenant governor has said the site should reflect its appearance at the time of the Battle of the Alamo, including representations of wooden palisades by the Alamo; the south wall and main gate of the fort; and the cannon ramp and platform at the southwest corner. Not that it has to be my way, but its what I think the people want to see, said Patrick, describing himself as one who has read about the Alamo and been breathing it and living it for 65 years. But there are many who disagree, including members of the advisory committee. The guiding principles the committee approved lay out goals for the project to include the lives of Native Americans, Spaniards, Tejanos, freed and enslaved African Americans, Europeans, Americans and other cultural and ethic groups. They do not prescribe specifically how much interpretation of periods other than 1836 should be provided in the renovated plaza and the new museum and visitor center, but they say that history must be included. Although parts of the overhaul project are in question after the commissions decision prohibiting the Cenotaph relocation, the city, Texas General Land Office and Alamo Trust have said the project will continue. Texas Land Commissioner George B. Bush said the Land Office continues to bring Texas history alive through re-enactments, summer camps and the restoration of original Alamo cannons utilized during the battle. As we move forward, my work will continue to focus on preserving the sole remaining structures from the battle of the Alamo, the church and Long Barrack, in addition to housing the Phil Collins collection, Bush said. Make no mistake, my work to create a site honoring the Alamo defenders does not end. I look forward to preserving the Alamo for future generations and millions of visitors to come. On ExpressNews.com: Alamo Cenotaph to stay put In a presentation to the commission, last week, requesting a permit to move the 1930s monument honoring the fallen Alamo defenders, City Councilman Roberto Trevino said moving it would enable visitors in the plaza to experience a period-neutral site without the influence of a modern structure which currently towers over the Alamo grounds. Trevino leads a six-member Alamo management committee and is a tri-chair on the citizen advisory panel. In voting against the permit, some commissioners said there wasnt a compelling need to move the memorial, even though the city said damage to the structure and its 20-foot, below-ground foundation was so extensive, it couldnt be repaired in place without risking harm to the Long Barrack. The city sought to have the decaying memorial disassembled, repaired and relocated with better lighting and seating near the Menger Hotel. The Conservation Society of San Antonio said it understands the commissions decision, based on the standard that historic structures should only be relocated if such action is necessary for their survival. The (society) has always believed that the focus should be on the conservation and preservation of the historic structures on Alamo Plaza, especially the Alamo chapel and Long Barrack, which have been a symbol of freedom and bravery for almost two centuries, said Patti Zaiontz, president of the conservation group. Details about online access to view the committees 9 a.m. meeting are posted on the citys website, sanantonio.gov. under City Council & Committee Meeting Agendas. Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA A COUPLE laundered almost 150,000 of dirty cash by treating themselves to a caravan and holidays in the sun, a court has been told. John Douglas Lanigan (55) and his wife Gail (50), from Tarragon Park in Antrim, appeared via videolink for a hearing at the town's magistrates court on Monday. The husband and wife are charged with possessing 73,360 of criminal property, two counts of using criminal property and three of converting criminal property, with all the alleged offences said to have been committed on various dates between July 2013 and July 2019. The prosecution alleges the couple converted criminal property by buying a caravan for 22,500 and purchasing 1,800 of decking. They are also said to have gambled 8,258 and won 1,443. It is further alleged that the Lanigans spent 34,459 of criminal property on holidays and UK and foreign travel transactions. During a short preliminary enquiry - the legal step necessary to refer a case upwards to the Crown Court - a prosecuting lawyer submitted that the papers and statements before the court formed the basis of a case against the couple. The defence made no contrary submissions. The Lanigans were told that although not obliged to, they could comment on the charges or produce their own evidence, but they declined the opportunity. Returning the case to Antrim Crown Court, District Judge Nigel Broderick freed them on their own bail of 500 and ordered them to appear before the higher court on October 19. The Dormaa-Aboabo Youth Association (AYA) on Monday said it would ensure residents in the area boycott the upcoming December general elections if the 10.9-kilometre Dormaa-Ahenkro-Aboabo road rehabilitation project is not completed. The Association said it was reaching out to members of the four Aboabo communities on how governments over the years failed to rehabilitate the towns roads. Mr Evans Aboagye, the Public Relation Officer of the Association, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Aboabo in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region, that the road project was awarded on contract during former President John Dramani Mahama's administration in 2012. However, the contractor, Trade Vision, an Accra-based road construction company delayed commencement of work until 2015. "In 2016, almost 80 per cent of the project was completed but the New Patriotic Party government did not continue when it assumed power until April 2020," he added. Mr Aboagye said the Kuasehene of Aboabo Number Two, Nana Kwaku Yeboah Ababio met the members of the Association and explained that the delay in the projects completion was due to funding challenges. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SAN DIEGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Uqora announces the launch of a new drug development program for the non-antibiotic treatment of urinary tract infection (UTIs) caused by E. coli. Currently, UTIs can only be treated with antibiotics; however antibiotic-resistance continues to rise leaving many patients in a vicious cycle of repeat infections. With this innovation, Uqora continues to expand its holistic and proactive approach to total urinary health care. UTIs remain the second most common cause for prescribing antibiotics and one of the most prevalent types of infections. The symptoms from these infections lead to an estimated 10 million office visits and 3 million emergency room visits every year. Over 13% of the female adult population experience UTIs at least once in a 12 month period with many women experiencing multiple infections every year. For those who experience frequent UTIs, regular (and sometimes daily) prescriptions of antibiotics are often the only measure of treatment available, which has significant drawbacks. The World Health Organization indicates that the resistance rate to antibiotics used to treat UTIs is estimated between 25% and 50%. 80%-90% of all urinary tract infections are caused by uropathogenic E. coli. Uqora's new novel drug would be the first of its kind and has the potential to significantly decrease the amount of UTIs that would require antibiotic intervention, therefore reducing the burden and development of antibiotic-resistant E. coli. This new drug works by limiting the E. coli's ability to replicate resulting in reduced risk of infection and preventing the need for antibiotic intervention from the onset. The key benefit in Uqora's approach versus traditional antibiotics is this new drug suppresses bacterial growth, it does not kill the bacteria. Antibiotic resistance develops when bacteria are selectively killed, leaving only bacteria that have developed a resistant gene. When these remaining bacteria replicate, all new bacteria will also possess this resistant gene. By reducing the risk of incurring a UTI that would require antibiotic use, this new drug is a proactive solution to treat UTIs from the start. "The next time an infection occurs, the same antibiotic may not be as effective or, eventually, not effective at all" says Spencer Gordon, COO and head of clinical development. "This can make recurrent UTIs difficult to treat. Our innovation would provide an effective treatment option that can be used repeatedly without the side effects of antibiotics." Uqora's drug is currently in preclinical development. At this stage, the drug candidate is known to have an excellent safety and toxicology profile. For updates on the drug program progress and other company news, learn more at uqora.com . About Uqora Founded in 2017 by Jenna Ryan and Spencer Gordon, Uqora is a biotechnology company focused on urinary tract health. The San Diego-based company was inspired by Ryan's personal battle with recurring UTIs and mission to mitigate antibiotic use and reliance. Uqora has developed next-generation health products for proactive urinary tract care and continues to expand high-quality research on UTI health and prevention. Uqora's product line also includes over-the- counter drugs and diagnostics. Learn More About Uqora at uqora.com , Medium and Crunchbase Media contact: Kate Labat [email protected] SOURCE Uqora USC, above, announced that its class of 2024 is the largest and most diverse group of freshman in the school's history even as overall college enrollment across the U.S. has fallen during the coronavirus crisis. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) USC's new freshman class is the largest and most diverse in the university's history, reflecting similar trends in the UC system and coming as overall college enrollment numbers across the U.S. have declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In fall 2020, students who are first in their family to attend college comprise 22.5% of USC's 3,460 freshmen. The class of 2024 includes students who are 31% white; 27% Asian or Asian American; 17% Latino; and 6% Black. The university saw a dip in enrolled international students, from 15% in 2019 to 12% in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of California residents who enrolled increased from 39% to 44%. By comparison, about 3,100 freshmen enrolled in 2019, and 15% were first-generation students, according to USC dean of admissions Tim Brunold. The announcement comes as some recent high school graduates nationwide have made the difficult choice to delay college as they are confronted with the less-than-ideal realities of online education and the economic effects of the pandemic. USC classes remain nearly all online. Compared with fall 2019, undergraduate student enrollment declined 2.5% nationally, while graduate students are up 3.9%, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The University of California, with its nine undergraduate campuses, also offered admission to its most diverse class ever and to a record number of students: 119,054 freshmen, up from 108,178 last year. Latinos slightly eclipsed Asian Americans for the first time, making up 36% of the 79,953 California students offered admission. Asians made up 35%, whites 21% and Black students 5%. The rest were American Indians, Pacific Islanders or those who declined to state their race or ethnicity. About 45% were the first in their families to attend a four-year university. Brunold said several factors contributed to the makeup of USC's freshman class. USC offered admission to 2,000 more students than it did in 2019, or 9,600 in all, in anticipation that the coronavirus crisis could affect enrollment numbers, Brunold said. Of those students offered admission, 36% accepted down about 2% from last year. USC granted about 75 requests to delay enrollment. Story continues "When colleges do this work of managing enrollment, we are basically guessing the behavior of 17- and 18-year-olds," Brunold said. In recent years, USC has doubled down on efforts to expand its diversity, in part by increasing financial aid and widening access for students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. In February, the university announced that it would eliminate tuition for families earning $80,000 or less annually and would no longer consider home equity in financial aid calculations. The benefit is available to California residents and students from other states, but not international students. Brunold said this new program, combined with deliberate efforts to recruit students of diverse backgrounds nationwide, contributed to the increased diversity of the class of 2024. USC increased its tuition by 3.5% for the 2020-2021 academic year despite the switch to online instruction. Undergraduate tuition costs $59,260 a year. The campus ranked 10th among 65 elite universities in the proportion of students in the bottom 20% of family income, according to research on the class of 2013 by Stanford University professor Raj Chetty and others. The six high schools sending the most students to USC are all public, according to university officials. Foshay Learning Center, a Los Angeles Unified School District school less than a mile from the USC University Park Campus, tops the list with 25 of its recent graduates attending USC. Foshay is one of three schools in L.A. that participate in USCs Neighborhood Academic Initiative, a seven-year, college-aimed enrichment program that promises a free ride to college for students who get in. Eleven students from the program's first graduating classes in East Los Angeles also are attending USC this year. Sulara Merghani, a daughter of Sudanese immigrants and a first-generation college student, went to Foshay from sixth to 12th grade. She considered offers from Chapman University and UC San Diego but ultimately chose USC because it offered the best financial aid package. And being from South L.A., she wanted to be closer to home. Merghani said that she had to push herself to go to college. In Sudanese culture, women do not typically seek education, she said. She has three older siblings, and just one graduated from college. "Why should I?" she would sometimes think. But Foshay motivated her to follow through, and the USC offer sweetened the deal. "Its an achievement not just for me," Merghani said, "but also for my family." CitySwift, the Galway-based transport data company, has announced 50 roles to be hired in Galway over the next two years with 15 roles being hired for immediately. The announcement of 50 additional jobs comes shortly after CitySwift secured 2m in funding from existing investors Enterprise Ireland, Western Development Commission, ACT Venture Capital, Irelandia Investment, and Mike McGearty. Speaking on the expansion of CitySwift, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, stated: I welcome the announcement of over 50 jobs in Galway today. Growth of this scale for a local company, especially during these times, is remarkable. Informing and enhancing connectivity across the nation through CitySwifts platform will do a great deal in optimising public transportation for operators and passengers alike. The roles being hired for will be across software, data science, and commercial roles including customer success, sales, and marketing. The company who works with global players such as Go Ahead and National Express will also be moving to a bigger headquarters in Galway City Centre. Commenting on CitySwift's growth, company Co-Founder and CEO, Brian ORourke said: CitySwift is an Irish-founded scale-up that is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. We are excited to continue to invest in the best talent to fuel our expansion with the hiring of 50 new roles for our Galway headquarters and look forward to finding some of the most talented software, transport and commercial professionals in Galway and Ireland to come on board our journey. As winners of Best Emerging Business at the most recent Galway Chamber of Commerce Awards, CitySwift plans to continue its expansion by moving into new territories, including Germany and Portugal by early 2021. Source: www.businessworld.ie Former federal prosecutor Nick Akerman appears on CNN on Monday (CNN) A former federal prosecutor who worked on the Watergate scandal has said Donald and Ivanka Trump could be imprisoned for tax fraud after leaving the White House. Asked during an appearance on CNN whether the US president could face charges for years of alleged tax evasion following the publication of his tax records this week, Nick Akerman said there was no question about it. And his daughter could go to jail, too, said he added of Ivanka, a White House adviser who was also named in a bombshell New York Times report on Mr Trumps financial filings. The report revealed Mr Trump had paid no federal income tax in 10 of the past 15 years having made - and lost - millions across his businesses. The president paid only $750 (583) in income taxes in 2016, the year he was elected, and the same sum again in 2017, despite boasting of being a billionaire. Tax evasion is a five-year felony, Mr Akerman told CNN. Its a pretty serious crime, and the more money thats stolen, the longer you go to jail for. It looks like Trump has done a whole series of activities that could qualify as tax fraud, not tax avoidance, the prosecutor added. Tax avoidance is simply getting-taking the tax code and getting the most deductions you can get under the code thats perfectly legal. Tax fraud however is lying about what your income was, what your deductions are, and there are just a couple of items that stand out in that report that appear to go beyond tax avoidance. Mr Trump, who has dismissed the Times report as totally fake but refused to discuss details or to publicly disclose his tax records, is also said to have paid his daughter for consultancy fees for no legitimate reason, as she was already employed by the Trump Organization. Mr Ackerman speculated that the payment to Ms Trump was made in order for the president to avoid paying taxes. Mr Trump could face investigations into his tax affairs if he loses to the Democrat Joe Biden in Novembers presidential election, the prosecutor predicted. Story continues The only thing thats saving him at this point is the Department of Justices guideline that says you cant indict a sitting president, Mr Akerman said. Once hes no longer a sitting president, he is subject to being indicted. Read more Supreme Court nomination fails to boost Trump support in Pennsylvania as Biden leads battleground state Trump, Biden prepare to debate at a time of mounting crises Donald Trumps former lawyer says whole clan' could be jailed in tax controversy 'Shes beautiful': Trump wanted Ivanka as his running mate in 2016, book claims A student pilot running flight patterns crashed Tuesday into an empty retention pond outside Hooks Airport, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers said. The pilot, who was not injured, lost control of the rudder of the Cessna 172 aircraft and crashed in the pond behind a subdivision, Sgt. Richard Standifer said. He was not injured. Now Playing: Pilot walks away after crash landing after mechanical problems forced him down. The student pilot running flight patterns crashed Tuesday into an empty retention pond outside Hooks Airport in Tomball, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers said. The pilot, who was not injured, lost control of the rudder of the Cessna 172 aircraft and crashed in the dry pond behind a subdivision. Video: Brett Coomer Houston Chronicle Staff photographer The plane belonged to a flight school, of which the pilot was a student, Standifer said. Flight records show the plane is registered to 100 Knots LLC. Planes continued to take off and land at the Tomball area airport as authorities investigated the crash. The airport is about 23 miles north of Houston. nicole.hensley@chron.com Advertisement A circus theatre, the UK's first lager brewery and a Gothic-towered police station have been named among the buildings most at risk of ruin in England and Wales. The Victorian Society's annual list of the top 10 most endangered buildings and structures has this year been described as 'both upsetting and enlightening' by the society's president Griff Rhys Jones, who called for the heritage to be restored. It includes the Grade II listed Brighton Hippodrome, designed by renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham, which was later converted into a circus in 1901. 1. Samaritan Hospital for Women, London 2. Brighton Hippodrome, Brighton 3. Former Anglo-Bavarian Brewery - Shepton Mallet, Somerset 4. Former Captain Cook Pub - Teesside, Middlesbrough 5. Northgate Malt House Building - Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire The building features a circular auditorium as part of its richly decorated ceiling in the form of a panelled tent. A former Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, claimed to be the country's first lager brewery, also makes the list. The building is in a very poor condition and is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register. Also on the list is the striking gothic-towered former Bavaria Place Police Station in Bradford, built in 1877, which has been empty for many years. 6. Bracebridge Pumping Station - Worksop, Nottinghamshire 7. Ex-Prudential Assurance Company Offices - Oldham, Greater Manchester Mr Rhys Jones said: 'Many of our Victorian gems have a depressing recent story. Often profit takes priority, and buildings are neglected until they have reached a complete state of dereliction. 'These buildings were built with great skill, and they brighten their urban environment. We know that restoring heritage of this kind adds value to an area. 'Never has there been a time, with the retail sector dealt another blow and the town centre fading as a business hub, for us to recognise that if we want our city centres to continue to be useful, visited and adored they had better look great.' 8. Former Bavaria Place Police Station, Bradford 9. Darlington Street Methodist Church, Wolverhampton 10. Plas Alltran - Holyhead, Wales A scene from Nhozagri's solo exhibition Mouth-Eye-Qi-Foot-Mouth held in 2019 at the Space Station Gallery in Beijing. [Courtesy of Nhozagri] Exhibitions, movies, lectures, gifts and workshops. Art aficionados can enjoy all these at once from Oct 1-5 in Beijing's 798 Art district. That's what the YES! Art Festival, a youth-oriented event, promises. With "to express everything freely through art" as its mission statement, the festival will deliver festival-goers a variety of exhibitions, screenings, artist booths, workshops, and art talks, organizers say. Nearly 100 young artists of various genres will bring their works, including zines, illustrations, ceramics and toys, to the M WOODS Art Museum. 20-odd youth-oriented brands and art institutes will show up at the five-day event, according to festival organizer Between Islands Contemporary Art, a Beijing-based creative art brand specializing in promoting fledgling artists as well as developing and managing crossover art projects. About 100 young artists from around the country will be featured at the YES! Art Festival, held between Oct 1 and 5 at the M WOODS Art Museum in Beijing. [For chinadaily.com.cn] "We built the festival as a platform for young artists," said Wei Junzhu, a co-founder of BICA. Wei and her team have observed many young artists, especially art academy students or fresh graduates, have great difficulty in finding offline platforms to showcase their art. Many have quit because of a lack of such platforms. The festival was held for the first time in July in East China's Hangzhou, as the pandemic began to wane in the country. The three-day event featured more than 100 artists and brands. Encouraged by the success of the first attempt, barely a month later the organizer announced they would hold the second edition during the National Day holiday in Beijing, and has since received 327 applications from artists, galleries and brands from around the country. Artist Gao Muyan, who will have a solo show at the Yes! Art Festival, is known for making a series of fake utensils. [Courtesy of Gao Muyan] "As applicants are numerous but space is rather limited, we had a very hard time deciding on the artists who we wanted to present," Wei said, talking about the biggest challenge for her curatorial work for the Beijing festival. However, artists who made the cut have bodies of work big enough to assume a distinct style, the curator said. "If an artist's portfolio is like a series, it means that he or she has developed their own style and has come of age as an artist," said Wei, who has invited five emerging artists to arrange their own solos at the art museum. Nhozagri and Milei-RayDog, are two of the five artists who will have solos at the festival. Nhozagri, a Beijing-based artist, is known for creating the "Super Nhozagri Kingdom," a fantasy world filled with "mollusk citizens" grotesque, imaginary creatures made into plush dolls highly sought-after among fans. Three cartoon figures created by Milei-RayDog, a Douyin-based cartoonist famous for her Ray Girls videos. [Courtesy of Milei-RayDog] Milei-RayDog, a cartoonist whose Ray Girls videos feature herself transforming into cartoon figures, has garnered more than half a million followers on short video sharing platform Douyin. Along with the solo exhibitions, the curator said another must-see part of the fest will be the screenings of nearly 20 indie shorts, with 10 from the 2020 FIRST International Film Festival, an annual event showcasing talented young filmmakers. There also will be five themed exhibits staged by contemporary galleries, such as the Urumqi-based Gaotai Gallery, and indie art brands such as Monday OFF, a self-publishing brand focusing on youth-related topics. Like the Hangzhou fest, the Beijing event will host booths showcasing artworks and creative products from those featured brands. "Visitors can talk to the artists in person and take home some of their pieces that they find interesting," Wei said. If you go: Ticket: 60~118 yuan ($8.80-$17.31) 11:00 am- 8:00 pm, Oct 1-5, M WOODS Art Museum, D-06, 798 Art District, No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 2 798 D-06, (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) We want Mahatma Gandhi's India, people of Kashmir cannot live with Godse's India: Mehbooba Mufti Cant be forever: SC on Mehbooba Muftis detention India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 29: The Supreme Court while hearing a petition on former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti's detention said that it cannot be forever. The court was hearing a petition filed by Mehbooba's daughter, Itijia Mufti challenging the detention of the former CM, post the abrogation of Article 370. The court however permitted Itijia and her uncle to meet her in detention. The SC asked the J&K administration to respond to the fresh plea challenging the detention under the Public Safety Act. The court also said that Mehbooba should place a request to the authorities for attending party meetings. Further, court said that the detention cannot be forever and some via media should be explored. PM Modi hits out, says 'those opposing farm laws are insulting farmers'|Oneindia News "The detention order based on stale grounds have become staler even more since the petition was filed and the respondent administration has continued to act with total non-application of mind and the malice in law has only been reinforced and aggravated in confirming and extending the order of detention for further periods," the petition said. Nigerias military defence headquarters said the troops of Operation Accord have eliminated two bandits, arrested three and recovered cache of arms and ammunition at Dajin Kajuru in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The coordinator, Defense Media Operations, John Enenche, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. Mr Enenche said the success was recorded during search and rescue/clearance operation carried out in conjunction with local vigilantes supported by close air support on the location. He explained that an unconfirmed number of bandits escaped with gunshot wounds after a fierce encounter with them. According to him, during the encounter by the gallant troops, two magazines, 36 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition and two motorcycles were recovered. In the same vein, following credible intelligence on the criminal elements who escaped from the onslaught earlier, troops apprehended three of the criminal elements in Kujeni village. Currently the gallant troops have dominated the area with aggressive patrols to deny the criminal elements freedom of action. The Military High Command commends the gallant troops for their dexterity and encourages them to intensify the onslaught against the enemies of our country. The general public is thus encouraged to continue providing credible information to the troops operating within their localities, he said. ATLANTA: Seven candidates are facing off in Tuesdays special election to become the short-term successor to the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis in Georgia. The winner will fill those big shoes for only a little while. Novembers general election will decide the full two-year congressional term, which begins in January. None of the candidates in the special election are on the ballot for November, but all say the vote is still important, citing the symbolism of having someone occupying the 5th Congressional District seat as well as practical concerns about making sure the district has a voice in any action Congress might take on COVID-19 relief and other issues. Five Democrats are running in the Atlanta area district, including former Morehouse College President Robert Franklin, retiring state Rep. Able Mable Thomas, former state Rep. Keisha Waites, former Atlanta City Council member Kwanza Hall and Barrington Martin II, a teacher who lost the Democratic primary to Lewis earlier this year. Independent Steven Muhammad and Libertarian Chase Oliver are also running in a district that covers parts of Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties. If no one wins a majority Tuesday, a runoff will be held Dec. 1. The winner will serve only until early January. Lewis died in July from pancreatic cancer after 17 terms in Congress. His death prompted an outpouring of public mourning, as one of the foremost leaders of the civil rights movement died during an upsurge in protest over police violence against Black people and racial inequality. Lewis long career in Congress was seen by some as a bridge between those eras, a theme Lewis explicitly sounded in a posthumous essay in which he discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. Voters in November will choose a successor for the next term. Because Lewis had already won the primary for his seat, Democrats named Nikema Willams, a state senator and state Democratic Party chair, to take Lewis place after his death. Shes running against Republican Angela Stanton King. Figures from Georgias secretary of state show more than 16,000 people cast ballots early for Tuesdays election, with nearly three-quarters voting in person. There are about 630,000 registered voters in the district. Waites called turnout super low" on Monday. Given all of the misinformation and confusion, the voters have no clue the special election is tomorrow," she wrote in a text to The Associated Press. ___ Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor New Delhi, Sep 29 : Warning Beijing against advancing its untenable unilateral interpretation, India on Tuesday said that it has never accepted the 1959 definition of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. In response to queries on a recent media report quoting a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement regarding China's position on the LAC, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava, said, "India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side." Under various bilateral agreements, including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question, both India and China have committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC. In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show willingness to pursue it, Srivastava said. "Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements," he said. The Indian side, Srivastava said, has always respected and abided by the LAC. As Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated in the Parliament recently, "It is the Chinese side, which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo." The spokesperson said that in the last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries. In the agreement reached between the External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart on September 10, the Chinese side had reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements. Srivastava said that India expects "the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all the agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Gibraltar Stock Exchange Brings 3iQs The Bitcoin Fund to Europes Digital Asset Ecosystem Gibraltar Stock Exchange Gibraltar Stock Exchange 3iQ's The Bitcoin Fund (TSX:QBTC.U) - The world's first regulated and major exchange traded bitcoin fund 3iQ's The Bitcoin Fund (TSX:QBTC.U) - The world's first regulated and major exchange traded bitcoin fund Toronto, Canada, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (Toronto Stock Exchange: QBTC.U) 3iQ Corp. ("3iQ) has today announced the listing of 3iQs The Bitcoin Fund on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, a subsidiary of the Global Stock Exchange (GSX) Group, debuting one of the worlds first regulated and exchange-traded bitcoin funds on a European regulated exchange. 3iQ is one of the leading Canadian investment fund managers focused on investing in disruptive technologies and digital assets. Having previously been approved by the Ontario Securities Commission and listed and traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange a top 10 global exchange The Bitcoin Fund is designed to provide investors with institutional level access to Bitcoin without the burden of buying and safekeeping coins, while unearthing unique opportunities for long-term capital appreciation. A leading crypto platform Gemini is fulfilling the custodian functions of the bitcoins held in the fund. Aaron Payas, Partner at Hassans law firm in Gibraltar, and his team have acted as legal advisor to 3iQ and prepared the listing documentation. Fort Capital Solutions, based in London, shall be assisting 3iQ in future capital raises in the UK and other jurisdictions and can be contacted for further information. Fred Pye, President and CEO of 3iQ said, Finally, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and the many reputable financial institutions that are restricted to buying licensed, regulated, major exchange-listed products, now have access to the worlds only regulated, exchange-traded in Canada, publicly listed bitcoin fund. Being listed on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange extends the reach of The Bitcoin Fund within the burgeoning European digital assets market, and continues the groundswell of momentum that has defined 3iQs exciting progress during the first half of 2020. Story continues Commenting on the announcement, Nick Cowan, CEO of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange said, Todays announcement provides further demonstrable evidence of innovative asset classes becoming accessible through mainstream investment vehicles which in turn leads to increased adoption and we welcome 3iQ to GSX and Gibraltar. The GSX offers the benefits of listing on a regulated and recognized stock exchange, aiming to enhance marketability and tax efficiency for issuers and investors of GSX listed products. The GSX operates two markets, the GSX Main Market and the GSX Global Market, which represent two core business lines within the wider GSX Group. The GSX Main Market operates as an EU regulated market as defined in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) while the GSX Global Market operates as an MTF. Following their recent high-profile listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the 3iQ team are no strangers to leading the charge and successfully engineering genuine industry-first milestone moments. Im pleased that together, we can continue this trend of extending the benefits of bitcoin and digital assets more broadly to new categories of investors, concluded Cowan. ## About 3iQ Founded in 2012, 3iQ is a Canadian investment fund manager focused on providing investors with exposure to digital assets, disruptive technologies and the blockchain space. 3iQ was the first Canadian investment fund manager to agree to terms and conditions with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities to manage a public bitcoin investment fund and multi-cryptoasset fund for Canadian accredited investors. Access to these new technologies can be daunting, costly, and inconvenient. 3iQ has worked through a stringent regulatory process to offer investors convenient and familiar investment products to gain exposure to digital assets. About GSX Group The GSX Group is transforming capital markets, through its integrated proprietary blockchain technology solutions and comprehensive fintech ecosystem of companies. The aim of the GSX Group is to enhance the interoperability of traditional financial structures and generate greater adoption, towards a new-era of blockchain powered finance. Issuer & Media Contact 3iQ Corp Fred Pye President and CEO E: fred.pye@3iQ.ca P: +1 (416) 639-2130 Broker Contact Fort Capital Solutions Philip Young - CEO E: philip.young@fortcapital.co.uk P: +44 7498 300233 Disclaimer Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The prospectus contains important information relating to these securities. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained from Fort Capital Solutions, LTD. or any of the Agents. Investors should read the prospectus before making an investment decision. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this news release and to other matters identified in public filings relating to the Fund, to the future outlook of the Fund and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of the Fund. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, predict, potential, continue or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In particular, this news release includes forward-looking information relating to the anticipated completion of the Offering. Actual results may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking information for a number of reasons, including the failure to close the transactions referenced in this news release on the terms and conditions currently contemplated by the Fund, or at all, as well the risk factors identified in the Funds prospectus. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless otherwise required by law. 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Attachments CONTACT: Nicole Reid 3iQ Corp. (514)702-5759 nicole@3iq.ca Dog owners in Saudi Arabia can now enjoy a cup of coffee alongside their beloved pets at a new cafe - a first for the ultra-conservative kingdom. In Islam, dogs are considered unclean animals - unlike cats - and are generally banned from public places in Saudi Arabia. But The Barking Lot, which opened its doors in June in the coastal city of Khobar, has delighted animal lovers in a country where there are few places to take pets outside the home. A woman sits with her German Shepherd at a first-of-its-kind dog cafe in Saudi Arabia where religious police have historically taken a dim view of walking pets A girl holds a dog wearing sunglasses at the pet cafe in the city of Khobar, which opened this summer in a sign of changing times in the ultra-conservative kingdom Owners can bring their dogs to the Saudi cafe, with the pets getting pampered as their humans drink coffee The country's once-notorious religious police used to ban the walking of pets, saying men were using it as a means to make passes at women. But the ban was widely flouted and pets are becoming an increasingly common sight. The adoption of strays has become more popular in the kingdom, which is trying to modernise as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's 'Vision 2030' plan. Animal shelters have sprung up in several cities. The Barking Lot's Kuwaiti owner, Dalal Ahmed, said she got the idea during a previous visit to the kingdom. 'I came to Saudi Arabia for a visit with my dog, but wasn't allowed to walk on the beach with him,' she told AFP. 'I was very sad and decided to help by opening a coffee shop for people who have dogs - and even for those who do not.' A woman holds her dog at the new cafe which has delighted animal lovers in a country where there are few places to take pets outside the home A woman holds her dog at the Saudi cafe. In Islam, dogs are considered unclean animals and in the past were generally banned from public places in Saudi Arabia Young men and women gather at the cafe with dogs of all sizes. Some pets playfully romp around, while others sit on their owners' laps, or wait patiently at the counter as their guardians order drinks. In one section, dogs are treated to washes and blow dries as part of the grooming services offered. 'The idea of this cafe is very new,' said Johara, a Saudi citizen. 'It's a distinct place where dogs can come and meet other dogs.' For Nawaf, also from Saudi Arabia, it was the first time visiting the cafe, which he described as 'beautiful'. 'I came here to play with the dogs, which now have a cafe for themselves for the first time in Saudi Arabia,' he said. Orange County leaders gathered with others from the state and federal level Monday at the Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau for a ceremonial signing of a levee project agreement, which aims to protect Orange County from storm surge incidents. The project agreement comes a month after Orange County Judge John Gothia and Orange County Drainage District General Manager Don Carona said they expected total devastation from Hurricane Laura, which wobbled at the last minute, hitting Lake Charles and surrrounding Louisiana communities with the level of damage to which Orange officials locally had somberly resigned themselves. Now, they have hope instead of resignation for such future storm predictions. We are pleased to work with the USACE and Orange County leaders on this monumental project, said Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush. This signing agreement is an important milestone in our efforts to protect, reinforce and strengthen the Texas coast. Texas citizens trust in their local leaders to ensure that their coastal livelihood is sustained and the Sabine to Galveston study demonstrates the initiative to do exactly that. Bushs sentiments were seconded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We are in a great partnership, said Col. Timothy Vail, Galveston district commander, and the Corps, the GLO and Orange County are great partners in our quest to make not just the design of the project a reality, but the construction of the project. Its a long process before we start moving dirt, but the design agreement is a major milestone in getting closer to building a world-class hurricane storm surge protection system in Orange County. Local officials whove dealt with the repeated impact of flooding attested to the significance of the project. The Orange County portion of the levee project will protect citizens, the economy and the environment from storm surges and flooding, Gothia said. I am grateful for the collaboration of all of the governmental organizations from the local to the federal groups that have worked together to bring this project to this stage. Carona said he visited drainage ditches and canals throughout Bridge City and Orange in the wake of Tropical Depression Beta. We barely got any rain, but all of those ditches were full, he said Monday. We had no capacity for a major rain event. Now, he believes, they will after the levee build project abates drainage issues. The past storm events, and even most recently Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Beta, make clear that Orange County needs a levee protection system, Carona said. Construction of the project means Orange County would be protected not just from storm surge, but we will also obtain drainage improvements from significant rain events. We greatly appreciate the efforts of our state and federal leaders in affording us the opportunity to participate in the design of the project at this time, and in making this project a reality in the future. That project will include buttressing of the levee that now helps protect Port Arthur, bringing it up to the Orange County levee standards and strengthening protection on the western edge of the regions Gulf exposure. Port Arthurs levee was tested as Hurricane Laura made its way to the Gulf Coast in late August. It worked. Port Arthur got four feet of storm surge, and with that levee, likely 10,000 structures were prevented from flooding, U.S. Corps of Engineers Col. Timothy Vail said. He added that, with this new levee project, the region is looking at 15 miles of levees, seven flood walls and seven pump stations, all of which will strengthen the ability to withstand future storm damage. kbrent@beaumontenterprise.com New Delhi, Sep 29 : Every month, an Indian soldier is injured or even dies, not at the hands of the enemy, but by his own ammunition that turns out to be faulty. The ammunition is supplied by the state-run ordnance factories. According to government officials, the forces report an average of one ammunition-related accident every week, resulting in injuries or fatalities, and damage to equipment. This run of accidents due to the poor quality ammunition from the Ordnance Factory Board-run facilities, the primary suppliers, has led to low levels of confidence among armed force personnel, particularly among the Indian Army, who use more ammunition than the Air Force or the Navy. In 2020, a total of 13 armed personnel were injured due to faulty ammunition, while 16 accidents were reported in 2019, leaving 28 soldiers injured and three dead. In 2018, at least 43 soldiers were injured and three lost their lives in 78 incidents and in 2017, there were 53 incidents, causing the death of one soldier and injuries to 18 others. It was, however, 2016 that was the worst, with 19 soldiers killed and 28 others injured in 60 accidents. This has also led to a major loss to the exchequer. As per estimates, Rs 658.58 crore worth of ammunition had to be disposed off between April 2014 and April 2019, during its shelf life. Sources also said that mines worth Rs 303.23 crore had to be disposed off, within their shelf life, post the Pulgaon accident in Maharashtra in May 2016 in which 18 soldiers were killed. Sources also said that all this led to a Rs 960 crore loss, with which 100 155mm Medium Artillery guns could have been purchased. It is obvious that defective ammunition has major implications for the soldiers using them, as accidents lead to loss of life, but also equipment being rendered out of action, resulting in lack of confidence in the equipment itself. A senior government official said that this also has serious operational ramifications wherein requisite ammunition is not available to optimally utilise the capability of the equipment. Further, it also leads to the need for re-inspections, back-loading, reissue and disposal by destruction of ammunition -- an exercise which is extremely time-consuming, expensive, dangerous and totally avoidable. A top Indian Army officer said accidents have occurred primarily due to faulty ammunition, defective armament and faulty drills by the crew operating equipment or due to deficiencies in storage conditions, an issue of serious concern and one that is easily avoidable. "While isolated accidents do occur even in modern armies the world over, the Indian Army is faced with a serious issue of regular accidents primarily due to defective ammunition," the officer said. Regular accidents are occurring with the 105mm Indian Field Gun, the 105mm Light Field Gun, the 130mm MA1 Medium Gun, the 155mm Bofors (isolated cases), the 40mm L-70 Air Defence Guns and main guns of the T-72, T-90 and Arjun main battle tanks. There have been 31 accidents since 1998 primarily due to defects in high explosive (HE) ammunition for the L-70 gun in which three soldiers have been killed and 95 personnel have been injured. The last such accident occurred on February 2, 2019 at Mahajan Field Firing Range during the annual firing of the 104 Air Defence Regiment. This accident involved ammunition of the 2015 lot, manufactured at Ordnance Factory at Khamria, resulting in serious injuries to five soldiers, including an officer. All training firing of the L-70 HE ammunition has been stopped with effect from February 3, 2019, following this accident. Thereafter, the Indian Army sought a meeting to be chaired by Secretary, Defence Production to address the problem areas and find a way ahead. At the meeting, the main areas of concern regarding the ammunition supplied by the ordnance factories were listed and it was pointed out that the directions issued for the safety of soldiers handing the ammunition were yet to be implemented. These directions had been issued by the Army vice chief in December 2017 at another meeting to take stock of accidents involving L-70 guns firing HE ammunition, officials said. The safety measures pertained to validation of ammunition, introduction of improved ammunition, modernisation of production and processes, and fixing of blame for faulty ammunition. Following the accident, the entire range of L-70 HE ammunition held by Indian Army is now suspected to be faulty. A meeting called by the Director General, Army Air Defence on February 14, 2019 was of no avail as the OFB's representatives - the Senior General Manager of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria and OFB's Member and Deputy Director General for Ammunition - failed to turn up. According to an official, "problem solving by the ordnance factories is done in a piecemeal manner and not on a mission mode". "Inputs from the OFB and the DGQA indicates that problem areas are still being addressed piecemeal, in that problems of cartridge input material, varying cartridge manufacture process at the two ordnance factories, propellant quality, TNT checks, primer/detonator filling and input material examination by CQA (Certified Quality Auditor) are not being addressed holistically," the official said. Transfer of Technology issues were highlighted during various meeting involving accidents with L-70 guns, with sources saying it was noteworthy that production of ammunition continued in spite of concerns with the transfer of technology and accidents. Further, there has been a failure in the on-going audits by the Ordnance Factory Board and the DG, Quality Assurance in terms of preventing accidents involving HE ammunition fired from L-70 guns, with allegations that both have failed in effective quality control and quality assurance since 1998. Also, non-conformities were found during audits by the OFB and DG, Quality Assurance, and these need to be investigated by the Secretary, Defence Production. Moreover, there is also no mechanism of sharing of non-conformities and action taken with the Indian Army's Master General Ordnance branch by the Department of Defence Production. Officials also say that large quantities of ammunition supplied by the OFB to the Indian Army has been found to be defective during its shelf life. The defects are mostly due to poor quality control and quality assurance and lack of modernisation of storage. "Blackening of ammunition in respect of small arms and heavy calibre ammunition is a major cause of concern which is another evidence of poor metallurgy and packaging and needs to be addressed immediately," said an official. Deficiency of repair components renders ammunition as not fit to be fired or used. This not only affects operational readiness adversely, but also leads to serious storage and safety issues, and contributes towards accidents. With surprise checks conducted at the High Explosive Factory at Khadki and the Ordnance Factory at Chanda in 2017 and 2018, respectively, a number of shortcomings were highlighted but have not been rectified yet and the follow-up remain to be intimated by the Department of Defence Production or the OFB to the armed forces till date. The inspection report was shared through Master General of Ordnance branch in a letter dated December 12, 2017, and the deficiencies highlighted to Assistant Secretary, Defence Production in February 2018. The department's Additional Secretary chaired a meeting on February 23, 2018 and directed another surprise check in two months after confirmation of shortcomings having been resolved. This check is yet to be conducted. The High Explosive Factory at Khadki has stopped manufacturing of TNT, a critical ingredient of ammunition, as communicated to the MGO during his visit to the Controller of Quality Assurance (Ammunition) at Pune on February 6, 2019. Further, the Project Monitoring Group has got diluted at the level of various ordnance factories. The OFB has said the delays were happening due to lack of cooperation by Central Institute of Plastic and Engineering Technology, but this claim was found to be incorrect, said officials. It was highlighted to the Secretary, Defence Production during a meeting on January 16, 2019, wherein he directed the OFB to constitute a new committee to lay down fresh terms of reference and give a roadmap for aligning the OFB ammunition packaging with the best global practices. "No progress has been made on the same," said the official, adding that the Return for Rectification of the OFB factories has reflected an above 20 per cent rejection rate, as against the NATO standard is of two per cent maximum. Each instance of return for rectification or ammunition results in wastage of time, money and effort. Poor quality assurance and quality control, an archaic infrastructure coupled with lack of accountability of the OFB and the DGQA are considered to be the major reasons for continuing accidents and defects with the ammunition. A holistic analysis of the problems with the ammunition has to be carried out. The OFB has a fixed client in the Indian Army, which is solely dependent on the state-run factories for its ammunition requirements, with total monopoly of the ammunition by the OFB. Resultantly, the OFB has the ability to get away with sub-standard products, officials said, adding that it must compete with global leaders in the ammunition industry and this competition could infuse some quality control and better performance. In order to streamline the manufacturing processes and provide quality products, adequate absorption of Transfer of Technology is needed. Also, there is a need to ensure that all components of ammunition lot should have homogeneity, aligned with global standards. During the past two decades, several High Level Committees like T.K.A. Nair Committee, the Vijay Kelkar Committee and the Raman Puri Committee have inter-alia recommended that Ordnance Factories should be converted from a government department into a corporate entity. The government floated a proposal for corporatisation in July 2019 but the trade unions called for an indefinite strike against the decision on August 20, 2019. However, the strike was called off on August 26, 2019 after assurances by the Secretary, Defence Production that government has not taken any decision yet towards the OFB's corporatisation. The government thereafter set up a committee to address the concerns of the employees in September 2019 and subsequently in November 2019, notified the "proposal to convert Ordnance Factories under the OFB into a 100 percent government owned public sector unit". The biggest concerns of the OFB employees is that "Corporatisation" is the first step towards "Privatisation" and is likely to result in layoffs and job cuts. However, as of now, the government has made it very clear that it is not thinking of privatisation in the near future and the OFB will function akin to the various PSUs in the country post corporatisation. (Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Peoples Progressive Party Gracita Arrindell states said in a press release that The Dutch Parliament supported the establishment of a new Caribbean Reform entity including the conditions set by PM Mr. Mark Rutte Cabinet III for short term and temporary liquidity support for the governments of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten. This one shoe-size fits all proposal from Holland was countered by arguments and counter-proposals by the respective governments in the Caribbean. The result is a stalemate. In the interim, the impasse is an opportunity for government to take a hard look inwards for alternative means of income where there is already an infrastructure in place. Such a source of income can be the offshore market, the yachting industry, and private aircraft registry. The offshore business was once a lucrative income source for islands especially Curacao. It subsequently relocated to other countries including Holland, Switzerland, and some (British)) islands in the Caribbean. While there are new and more stringent regulations that govern the offshore sector, it remains a good way of generating income for governments. Holland continues to attract new offshore companies. This is especially true after Brexit. The Governments of Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curacao can benefit from considering a joint approach and taking a closer look at re- establishing a beachhead in this industry, in spite of the fact that some investors are moving out their shares. Case in point; According to a recent Bloomberg article written early September by Mr. Benjamin Stupples, Curacao suffered a financial blow in the offshore sector, after multi-billionaire Mr. Anthony Bamford chairman of excavator machine giant JCB took all his shares in the company from a Curacao holding company to Switzerland. Arrindell ponders; How do we move forward? Answer; Holland has one Representation with offices in Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curacao. All three islands have their own Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague. These offices must be more than just the link between the European and Caribbean based countries. The representatives must continuously walk the corridors of power with a plan that includes the revival of the offshore industry. Lobbying for investments through trade missions is a well-known foreign and economic relations policy practiced in The Hague for centuries. Sint Maarten, Curacao, Aruba can revive the offshore sector within a short time. The off-shore infrastructure footprints are still present on the above-mentioned islands and all three islands have previous experience and a deep well of expertise operating in this sector. . Gracita continues and states; since funds are scares for everyone it is critically important that the islands pool their resources and jointly make a case to their Dutch counterparts at the ministries of Economic Affairs for their support and expertise in re-establishing the offshore industry in Sint Maarten, Aruba, Curacao. The Caribbean governments must get together to attract the best tax lawyers in or outside- of the Kingdom with one mission only: re-establishing the lucrative offshore business on all three islands. Theres enough clean money in the world to support a healthy industry and attract capital back to our islands. What is possible for Switzerland and the Netherlands should be possible here as well under the new international tax rules and other regulations that govern this business. The Central Banks of Curacao and Sint Maarten and of Aruba can offer a guiding hand and play a transparent role in this process. Gracita says: additionally, Sint Maarten must set out regulations to attract the yachting and private jet sector back to our shores. We are geographically well located and have a beautiful island to market. Other islands are rolling out the red carpet to attract quality tourism instead of blindly promoting mass tourism with all the negative consequences we have had the chance to experience over the past three decades. This will not happen overnight and will require expert advice. The kind of tourist we seek to bring in will not tolerate dirty streets and scattered litter. Nor will they be attracted to cheap storefronts, hawking cheap trinkets. We must face our crime problems head-on and deliver trouble and worry-free vacation for our visitors. Our population can only benefit from a safer island where families can stop worrying about their children and criminals can take their nefarious business elsewhere. This new attitude can only improve our quality of life and bring back prosperity. It will not happen by itself- it will only happen if we all pitch in and do our part. There are no more high or low season to count on thanks to the COVID- pandemic and its related effects on our economies. Experts are predicting this will last at least for another three years. We are in dire need of decisive and inclusive leadership to get our island moving in the right direction. Arrindell concludes: with the right frame of mind and desire to work together to achieve a common goal, we can flourish once again. However, achieving this goal requires the input of elected and appointed officials who have the background, integrity, determination, and skills to get the job done. The old way of doing business no longer works and will not work ever again. Its equally important that citizens no longer accept the laissez-faire - way of doing business of the past that has left our countrys coffers empty today. Our city center is a ghost town at night and many of our citizens including our pensioners are left poor and destitute. They are also prisoners in their homes, afraid or unable to venture out. We can do better By PTI SHIMLA: BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh Indu Goswami on Tuesday said she has tested positive for COVID-19. She said she has isolated herself at home. In a tweet in Hindi, Goswami said she had met BJP leader Sandeepni Bhardwaj six days ago in Delhi and got herself tested for COVID-19 after learning that he had tested positive for the disease. "I have isolated myself at home," she said. "I request all those who came in contact with me in the last six days to isolate themselves and follow all rules and guidelines issued by the health department," the Rajya Sabha member said. Himachal Pradesh has reported 14,748 COVID-19 cases so far and 179 deaths due to the disease. The number of active cases in the state stands at 3,573, according to health department data. NUTLEY, N.J., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A one-two punch of changing gene expression, then deploying immune checkpoint inhibitors, shows promise in battling one of the most treatment-resistant types of cancer in preclinical models, according to a new publication including authors from the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI). Their research findings published Aug. 14 in the journal Cancer Research suggest that since some cancer treatments can be undermined by epigenetic changes (altered DNA methylation affecting gene expression) in cancer cells before the treatments are even administered, a worthwhile strategy is to administer an epigenetically-acting drug which can pave the way for more effective subsequent use of immune-acting cancer treatments, the authors found. "Overall, these findings in a model of aggressive pancreatic cancer have clear and promising implications for the design of future studies, both in mice and in human patients, to improve the effectiveness of epigenetic modulation, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibition," said Benjamin Tycko, M.D., Ph.D., the CDI lab director who oversaw the study, along with his longtime colleague Tamas Gonda, M.D. "They also suggest a clear path forward for making further improvements." The tumor type pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is among the most deadly cancer types, since it has proven to be stubbornly resistant both to standard chemotherapy and more recent immunotherapies. The researchers tested four protocols, which included the sequential use of decitabine, a DNA-hypomethylating drug, followed by immune checkpoint inhibitors. Among the effects documented in the data: the increase in crucial, and tumor-infiltrating, effector T cells, with this one-two punch. Compared against the control group, there were no adverse side effects of adding decitabine, and the one-two punch of decitabine and the immune-acting agents doubled the average survival time in the model. However, treatment was still not a cure, and the cancers ultimately progressed perhaps partly because of a decitabine-induced increase in M2 macrophages, immune system cells which can inhibit therapeutic responses. The researchers' work continues, with further strategies including adding other epigenetic drugs, and also discovering ways to reduce the number of M2 macrophages to potentially improve the response. Authors of the study include colleagues from Columbia University, who have started working on an early-phase clinical trial in relation to the therapeutic combination. Additionally, motivated by the findings in pancreatic cancer, scientists at the CDI are now at work applying a similar approach in a multiple myeloma model. They are also starting new collaborations with investigators working on pancreatic cancer at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. John Theurer Cancer Center of Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Consortium. A DNA hypomethylating drug alters the tumor microenvironment and improves the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Gonda TA, Fang J, Salas M, Do C, Hsu E, Zhukovskaya A, Siegel A, Takahashi R, Lopez-Bujanda ZA, Drake CG, Manji GA, Wang TC, Olive KP, Tycko B.Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 14:canres.0285.2020. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-0285. ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick. Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves. The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it. Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies. For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org. About the Center for Discovery and Innovation The Center for Discovery and Innovation, a newly established member of Hackensack Meridian Health, seeks to translate current innovations in science to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and other life-threatening and disabling conditions. The CDI, housed in a fully renovated state-of-the-art facility, offers world-class researchers a support infrastructure and culture of discovery that promotes science innovation and rapid translation to the clinic. About John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center is New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive center dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, management, research, screenings, and preventive care as well as survivorship of patients with all types of cancers. The 14 specialized divisions covering the complete spectrum of cancer care have developed a close-knit team of medical, research, nursing, and support staff with specialized expertise that translates into more advanced, focused care for all patients. Each year, more people in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area turn to John Theurer Cancer Center for cancer care than to any other facility in New Jersey. John Theurer Cancer Center is a member of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Consortium, one of just 16 NCI-approved cancer research consortia based at the nation's most prestigious institutions. Housed within a 775-bed not-for-profit teaching, tertiary care, and research hospital, John Theurer Cancer Center provides state-of-the-art technological advances, compassionate care, research innovations, medical expertise, and a full range of aftercare services that distinguish John Theurer Cancer Center from other facilities. For additional information, please visit www.jtcancercenter.org. SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health Related Links https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (18) The owners of the Crescent Link Retail Park in Derry have said that a new 5m investment will help address traffic problems at the site. The park opened in 2007 and has been a big success. However, users of the park and local residents have consistently complained about traffic access into and out of the park. The owners of the park, David Samuel Properties, today announced details of a major new investment project at the facility. This will see the proposed expansion of the M&S Foodhall, the resizing and improvement of the Homebase store, the introduction of a new retailer, The Food Warehouse by Iceland, and the improvement of the car park to enhance accessibility and alleviate congestion. The park owners estimate that his significant investment will lead to the creation of 110 jobs. The refurbishment of two large retail units includes the creation of additional parking spaces, a new exit lane from the south car park and improved pedestrian links. A community consultation will begin in the coming weeks. Matthew Beddow of David Samuel Properties, welcomed the new investment. The M&S at Crescent Link has been popular for over 10 years now and we are excited to welcome both the expanded M&S Foodhall and The Food Warehouse to Derry-Londonderry, as well as Homebase committing to a resized store. These are well-established and popular brands which will support a combined 110 jobs. This announcement comes at a challenging time for the retail sector as it comes to terms with the increase in online shopping and the recovery from the impact of the coronavirus. This investment demonstrates the confidence in Derry-Londonderry of these powerful brands as a place for investment at an important moment for its economic growth. We have plans in place for a significant regeneration of the scheme, including the car park and public realm space, which will see a new exit created and an increase in parking spaces, to make this a handy destination for shoppers to choose. We are committed to Derry-Londonderry and to addressing parking and traffic in the retail park that we know have concerned residents for a number of years. We are in negotiations with a number of other retailers and look forward to making more positive announcements soon. A spokesperson for M&S said: Were really excited about the plans for the expanded M&S Foodhall in Crescent Link which will mean we can offer an even wider range of M&S Food products. Along with our Foyleside store in the city centre, the new Foodhall will give local customers access to a great choice of M&S products across our Food, Clothing and Home departments. A spokesperson for The Food Warehouse, which is part of Iceland Foods, said: The Food Warehouse was formed in 2014 and has very much been designed to complement our traditional high street and city centre stores. The new store will create 25 new jobs across a range of roles that will be filled by local residents as is the case with our other stores across Northern Ireland. Foyle DUP MLA Gary Middleton welcomed the plans for the local retail park. This is a significant investment for the Waterside and wider Londonderry area. In the current challenging environment, the creation of an additional 110 jobs is very welcome news. This investment will provide an economic boost to the North West. The new stores will increase consumer choice in the area. "As many of the customers of Crescent Link will know, there have been parking and traffic issues on the site over recent years. I believe the creation of a new exit and increased parking spaces will go some way to address these concerns. Sinn Fein Foyle MLA Martina Anderson said: This is a good news story for the Waterside area and retail sector in Derry. There is no hiding the fact these are extremely challenging times for all businesses in our city due to Covid so to see a 5 million investment at the Crescent Link Retail Park is a very positive development. This will both help create and sustain much needed local jobs. A number of the units will see a major refurbishment along with new car parking spaces, a new exit lane from the south car park along with improved pedestrian links. There have been issues at this retail park over the years in relation to traffic congestion so its welcome that the company behind the investment have said a community consultation will begin in the coming weeks. "Its important the views of the local community are taken on board and we get this right for everyone involved from the outset." A pedestrian is suffering life-threatening injuries after they were struck by a black truck in South Boston Tuesday morning, according to a Boston Police Department spokeswoman. Boston Police Officer Kim Tavares said the person was struck at Dorchester Avenue and Southampton Street in Andrews Square at roughly 10:45 a.m. Police said the persons injuries are considered life-threatening. Information about the victim was not immediately available. Police did not have a condition on the driver of the truck. Several intersections are closed in the in the vicinity of Dorchester Avenue and Southampton Street in Boston to facilitate an investigation by @bostonpolice into a motor vehicle crash. Motorists should be aware the closures will impact traffic in the area. Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) September 29, 2020 Boston police continue to investigate the crash. No more information was immediately available. Anita Chandra, a senior policy researcher at Rand and one of the authors of the report, said the coronavirus has shown the extent to which health policy intersects with housing, public safety and other government policies. She said the disruption caused by the virus will give officials in Prince Georges and across the country new opportunities to think about how they are allocating funding. ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications' President and CEO Pat Esser announced in a live press conference today that Cox will pledge $60 million over the next year to close the digital learning gap. Esser urged in the press conference the need for collaboration to solve the digital divide. "Our commitment remains strong, but we cannot do this alone. We need to keep partnering with cities, school districts, counties and community-based organizations to get families connected," said Esser. "Connection is more important than ever before, especially for kids." Esser also announced that Cox will be extending the company's offer to new customers that qualify for Connect2Compete. New customers that sign up for the program before the end of the year will receive the company's low-cost internet for two months free, and $9.95 per month thereafter. Cox's outdoor Wifi hotspots will also remain open to keep families connected during this time of need. The press conference included Jim Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, the Superintendent of The Clark County School District in Nevada, Dr. Jesus Jara, Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada and President and CEO of the NCTA The Internet & Television Association, Michael Powell. Cox CARES Act Solutions for Education As school districts work to connect teachers and students through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Cox has launched Cox CARES Act Solutions for Education to help school districts as they implement virtual learning during the pandemic. The CARES Act funds can be used by school districts for purchasing educational technology to support online learning for all K-12 students and for additional authorized activities. Cox offers a variety of connectivity solutions to districts that are subsidizing internet to better support students and educators as they implement virtual learning and teleworking in their homes. Cox CARES Act Solutions for Education include: Connect2Compete provides internet for low-income families with a K-12 child participating in a government-assisted program. Connect2Compete supports eligible students and their families by providing low-cost home internet with Wifi and access to the Cox Digital Academy, a free online resource hub that connects families with educational videos, tutorials, games and more. Eligible participants signing up before December 31, 2020 receive two months of free service and pay $9.95 monthly going forward. Families can qualify for Connect2Compete easily from anywhere whether on their mobile device or desktop by visiting http://www.cox.com/caresact. New CARES Act-specific Cox Internet speed are available in two levels: CARES Starter Internet offers speeds of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps at $30 per month, and CARES Essential Internet offers speeds of 50 Mbps/3Mbps at $40 per month. Both come with free, easy-connect options and include equipment. Multi-Dwelling Units (MDU) Bulk Wifi is ideal for schools and student housing. Provided by the property owner, speeds and pricing for this option vary based on the needs of the property. Cox Business Managed Wifi for educational systems gives participating students, teachers and staff a strong Wifi internet connection to enrich their experience and enhance productivity. This fully managed technology supports private and guest Wifi networks and includes all speed tiers. Pricing varies but typically costs $60 a month per access point. There are no term commitments or cancellation fees for any Cox CARES Act solution, and flexible payment options are available. To learn more about the Cox CARES Act Solutions for Education, visit http://www.cox.com/caresact. "Hundreds of schools have worked with us to connect students, teachers and faculty through our CARES Act Solutions for Education," said Ashley Perkins, Vice President of Cox Business. "Not only have we created affordable options to ensure connectivity, but we've developed a process to quickly pre-qualify students to make it easy for the schools. We realize each school has unique challenges, and we're ready to partner to ensure these schools' students can harness the power of an internet connection." Cox recently announced additional support to help families by suspending late fees and extending payment relief offerings for Connect2Compete customers who express an inability to pay due to the pandemic. In addition, Cox recently signed onto the "K-12 Bridge to Broadband" initiative to help identify families that need a connection to the internet by working with school districts. For more information on Cox's coronavirus relief efforts, visit cox.com. About Cox Communications Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We're dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that makes each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox. SOURCE Cox Communications Related Links http://www.cox.com Chadwick Boseman helped get Sienna Miller equitable pay on 21 Bridges by boosting her salary out of his own pocket. The actress remembered her late co-star in a special edition of Empire which honours Bosemans life and legacy. The Black Panther star died in August after quietly battling colon cancer. He was only 43. I didn't know whether or not to tell this story, and I haven't yet. But I am going to tell it, because I think it's a testament to who he was, Miller shared. Boseman produced 21 Bridges and was really active in trying to get Miller on board. Sienna Miller honors her 21 Bridges co-star Chadwick Boseman after his untimely passing. (Photo: Reuters) He was a fan of my work, which was thrilling, because it was reciprocated from me to him, tenfold. So he approached me to do it, he offered me this film, and it was at a time when I really didn't want to work anymore, the actress said. I'd been working non-stop and I was exhausted, but then I wanted to work with him. Negotiations with the studio stalled when Millers desired salary wasnt met. Read more: Chadwick Boseman remembered in new mural: 'This one is special' This was a pretty big budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn't get to, she explained. And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, Ill do it if I'm compensated in the right way. And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for. He said that that was what I deserved to be paid. Watch: The thrilling trailer for 21 Bridges Miller declared the gesture about the most astounding thing that I've experienced. That kind of thing just doesn't happen, she continued. He said, You're getting paid what you deserve, and what you're worth. Sienna Miller and Chadwick Boseman attend "21 Bridges" New York Screening, 2019. (Steven Ferdman/WireImage) It's just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully, Miller added. In the aftermath of this I've told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very, very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while. But there was no showiness, it was, Of course I'll get you to that number, because that's what you should be paid. Story continues Miller and other stars remember Boseman in Empires tribute issue, out on Thursday. 21 Bridges is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video UK. COVID-19 In Canada Ontario premier continues to plead for smaller Thanksgiving celebrations Ontario Premier Doug Ford began his remarks at a press conference on Wednesday by reminding the public to only celebrate Thanksgiving with the people in your household, something he said he will be doing this year as well. Ford did admit that as Torontos Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, continues to caution the public about COVID-19 spread in restaurants and bars, communication across provincial, municipal and federal jurisdictions could be more aligned. Am I going to destroy 7,600 businesses over 20 people? the premier said. Were going to target the people who are bad actors out there. US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that 150 million Abbott rapid point-of-care tests will be distributed to states across the country in the coming weeks. Speaking at a press briefing, Trump said, In the old days when we just started this you remember wed go out and wed have to find these massive laboratories with tremendously expensive equipment. Now were down to something, that youll see, is really from a different planet. Were announcing our plan to distribute 150 million Abbott rapid point-of-care tests in the coming weeks, he said. He also said that 100 million will support efforts to reopen economies as quickly as possible, including testing for high-risk communities and educators. Further, 50 million test kits will be given to the vulnerable communities, such as the elderly in nursing homes and hospice care agencies, and one million test kits will go to historically black colleges and tribal nation colleges, Trump added. According to a report by The Hill, the Abbott tests, which are cheaper and faster than lab tests, return results in about 15 minutes and are already widely used in nursing homes under a program set up by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence said during the press conference that more cases of coronavirus will be registered due to the historic advance in testing. With cases in positivity rising in ten states in the Midwest and the near west and with this historic advance in testing thats being distributed 150 [million] strong around the country, President, the American people should anticipate that cases will rise in the days ahead, he said. According to the latest data by the Johns Hopkins University, as many as 7,139,734 people in the US have tested positive of Covid-19 and 204,967 deaths have been reported so far. DOJ warns San Franciscos mayor that 1-person limit on church attendance is unconstitutional Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Justice Department has warned San Francisco Mayor London Breed that the citys limitations on indoor worship to one congregant at a time in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is contrary to the Constitution and the nations best tradition of religious freedom. In response to the city's policy of only allowing one person at a time to enter houses of worship, the Justice Department said in its letter to Breed that the city could not limit places of worship to a single congregant while allowing multiple patrons in other indoor settings including gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and daycares. The limitation is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San Francisco, wholly at odds with this Nations traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment to the Constitution, wrote Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California David Anderson. The letter pointed out that there is no pandemic exception to the Constitution. Individual rights, including the protections in the Bill of Rights, are always operative and restrain government action. Thus, even in times of emergency, when reasonable, narrowly-tailored, and temporary restrictions may lawfully limit our liberty, the First Amendment and federal statutory law continue to prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. Dreiband and Anderson added, Government may not discriminate against religious gatherings compared to other nonreligious gatherings that have the same effect on the governments public health interest, absent compelling reasons. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera responded to the DOJs letter by calling it lobbing careless legal threats. Herrera added in a statement to KPIX that San Francisco was opening at the speed of safety and that the city planned to allow larger gatherings at churches beyond what is described in the federal governments letter. Its consistent with San Franciscos careful approach and follows closely behind what the state of California allows, Herrera said. Herrera said the plan would be implemented Wednesday, allowing indoor religious services at 25% capacity up to 50 people, and outdoor services up to 100 people, with safety protocols. Last Sunday, three eucharistic processions originating at Catholic parishes throughout the city converged at city hall as protesters participated in the Free the Mass event. From there, attendees marched to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, where Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone led outdoor mass. Were very tired of being discriminated against because weve proven scientifically we can worship safely inside the church, he said. Cordileones discrimination claim was in response to the city's lockdown restrictions limiting outdoor worship services to 50 people and only one person at a time for an indoor prayer but no service. Similar limits were not placed on secular businesses such as grocery and retail stores. Cordileone and others accused San Francisco officials of violating citizens' First Amendment rights by enacting such restrictions. Theres no reason to keep us shut out of church. Its a natural right protected by the First Amendment, Cordileone added. My rights as an American citizen have been trampled upon, said Guillermo Collado, a member of St. Peters Parish who attended the protest. Were equal under the law. And theyre not treating us that way. Theyre treating us as non-essential, something that can be dispensed with. According to Becket, a religious liberty law firm, California is one of six states where religious services are prohibited or subject to unequal treatment as compared to the coronavirus restrictions placed on other businesses. The other states are Nevada, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine. Beckets tracker of worship restrictions across the 50 states was last updated on Aug. 17. A woman has honored her late golden retriever in a moving obituary that has captured the hearts of thousands on social media. Sallie Gregory Hammett, 30, from Greenville, South Carolina, penned a touching tribute to her beloved dog Charlie after the seven-year-old lost his five-month battle with lymphoma earlier this month. 'Charlie James Gregory-Hammett crossed the rainbow bridge Sunday, September 13 peacefully in the arms of his mom,' she wrote at the start of the mock-newspaper obituary, which reflected on the life they shared together. Moving tribute: Sallie Gregory Hammett, 30, from Greenville, South Carolina, penned an obituary for her beloved dog Charlie after the seven-year-old lost his battle with lymphoma Love: When Sallie first adopted Charlie seven years ago, she was 23, single, and had just moved to a new city. He quickly became her closest companion Sallie recalled the golden retriever's 'favorite activities,' which included 'walking, stick collecting, swimming smiling, and snoozing.' She noted that he 'loved everything life had to offer' except stairs. 'Charlie loved the beach, car rides, bananas, and socks. Charlie always loved going to his Grandma and Grandpa's house, where he could get treats, chase squirrels, and pee everywhere cousin Captain peed. Charlie went tailgating, camping, hiking, and fishing. He lived the very best life,' she shared. 'More than anything else, Charlie loved his mom. He was always there to greet her with some kisses and a firm grip on her arm. He was her constant companion. There through heartache, moves, grief, and joy,' she continued. 'He was good at a lot of things, but he was best at unconditional love. He taught everyone he met about loving people, and always seeing the good in everyone.' Sallie said Charlie spent his last days at his favorite place, the beach, where he relaxed in holes he dug himself and dove into the waves. Memories: The obituary shared information about the dog's favorite things in life, including car rides, bananas, and socks 'Charlie loved the beach': Sallie said Charlie spent his last days at his favorite place, the beach, where he relaxed in holes he dug himself and dove into the waves 'His last days were so happy and will be cherished forever. We will think of him every time we open the peanut butter. We will miss him every time we see a sock on the floor or pass a stick on a walk. We will carry him with us everywhere,' she added. 'He will be forever missed and forever remembered, but he left behind his fierce love, which never wavered.' In lieu of flowers, she asked other dog owners to give their 'pups some extra love in honor of Charlie.' When Sallie first adopted Charlie seven years ago, she was 23, single, and had just moved to a new city. He quickly became her closest companion. 'I know its cliche but he was my best friend,' she told HuffPost. 'He went with me everywhere work, hiking, trips to Home Depot. He was just a constant source of comfort and companionship and joy. Everyone that knew me knew Charlie and knew how much I loved him.' Aww: In lieu of flowers, Sallie asked other dog owners to give their 'pups some extra love in honor of Charlie' Great loss: Sallie said she wrote the obituary to help cope with the grief she was suffering after his death Announcement: A week after Charlie's death, she tweeted a photo of the obituary, saying: 'He was the best boy' She said she knew her husband, David Hammett, whom she married in May, was the one because he loved Charlie as much as she did. Charlie's obituary served as an outlet for her grief. She had wanted to have it published in her local newspaper, but it was too expensive. Instead, she decided to create a mock-newspaper obituary as a keepsake to memorialize him. But after reading her heartfelt words, family and friends encouraged her to share the tribute online. A week after Charlie's death, she tweeted a photo of the obituary, saying: 'He was the best boy.' The post has since received 10,000 retweets and 107,000 likes. More than 2,000 people have commented on the post, with many of them offering Sallie their condolences and praising the obituary she had penned for Charlie. 'Im so sorry. It really is heartbreaking!' one person wrote. 'They arent just dogs. They are our family. Non dog owners do not get it at all! I totally understand and feel awful for what ur going through. Again, Im so sorry.' Sharing her pain: More than 2,000 people have commented on the post, with many of them offering Sallie their condolences and sharing photos of their own dogs 'I dont have words enough to describe the feelings inside me after reading this beautiful obituary. Thanks a lot for making me cry,' someone else commented. 'It is nice to remember the four foot angels that dogs are...' Charlie's obituary also inspired other dog owners to share photos of their cherished pets. Those who had lost dogs themselves could relate to Sallie's pain. 'Great idea. So great. I lost my best friend to lymphoma as well this past July and not a day goes by where I dont think of her and get sad shes not with me any longer. Condolences to you and your fam,' one person wrote of his dog. Sallie never expected the obituary to go viral, but she told HuffPost that reading people's comments about their special dogs and the outpouring of love for Charlie has brought her peace. 'Its just been so comforting it makes me feel less alone and just flooded with love,' she said, adding: 'And Charlie has been so celebrated! He was a special boy and it means the world to me.' External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Tokyo from October 6 to October 7, 2020, for bilateral consultations with the Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, an official statement said here on Tuesday. The two ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), during the visit, the External Affairs Minister will also participate in the Second India-Australia-Japan-USA Ministerial Meeting on October 6, 2020, in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate. The statement said the foreign ministers shall discuss the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic. They will also discuss regional issues and collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. External Affairs Minister will also hold bilateral consultations with the foreign ministers of Australia and the US during his visit to Japan. India, Japan, Australia and the US have been coordinating a joint approach on free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, based on shared values and principles and respect for international law. This grouping is seen as a response to Chinas growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. In the agenda of the foreign ministers of the four-member nations of the Quad talks are maritime security, counter-terrorism, connectivity and infrastructure development with the objective of promoting peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Also Read: Azeri-Armenian conflict: Overall death toll rises to 67 Also Read: India-Bangladesh JCC meet today: Rohingya crisis, water sharing and others issues on agenda The talks between representatives of the democracies referred as Quad will be the first ministerial-level multiparty conference hosted by Tokyo since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and following their meeting in New York in September last year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The Quad meeting is expected to be focussed on strategic and security challenges in the region and joint strategy is also to be discussed, although security and strategy will be the key focus. The meeting may also give an opportunity to the like-minded countries to discuss and improvise on global supply chains. Yesterday Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that over-dependence on a single source is risky for the global supply chain. Japan and India had recently signed a military pact enabling them to exchange supplies and logistical support. Collaboration in coronavirus vaccine development and response to COVID-19 are also expected to be discussed in the meet. (ANI) Also Read: India-Japan naval exercise JIMEX-2020 concludes in Arabian Sea The Japanese Government has recently stated that it will reopen its borders to citizens of 10 countries and territories, including Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam, starting from October 1. browser not support iframe. Japanese media quoted Government sources, saying the decision has been made following these countries and territories effectively bringing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic under control, or at the very least having a low number of new cases. Despite these steps, it is unknown if the designated countries and territories will reciprocate the move and ease restrictions for Japanese travelers, but Japan hopes those Governments will take similar actions. At present, Japan has recorded more than 80,000 COVID-19 cases, with a death toll of over 1,500. Vietnam resumed its commercial flight route to Japan on September 19 following a prolonged suspension of traveling caused by the spread of COVID-19. The majority of passengers on board the flight were students and Vietnamese guest workers, along with several Japanese nationals. According to a report by Nikkei Asian Review, the Far East nation has issued COVID-19 related travel advice and warnings relating to infectious diseases via a system which has four categories depending on the potential risk and safety in relevant places. Although each warning level does not legally bind Japanese citizens from traveling, the receiving country has the power to accept or reject their entry. Japan had placed a total of 159 countries and regions, including China and the United States, at level "3" on September 28, which urges Japanese nationals to avoid traveling to those areas for any reason. Beginning next month, they will lower their warning level to "2" for countries that have few infections over the last two weeks in proportion to their total population. Level 2 therefore advises Japanese citizens to avoid all but nonessential travel, with Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Brunei, and Belgium likely to be included on the list. However, all arrivals will be required to complete a two-week quarantine in line with Japanese regulations. Furthermore, Japan is in the process of conducting negotiations with 16 countries and regions including China, Vietnam, and Taiwan (China) in an effort to resume business travel. Kyodo newswire reported that businesspeople have already been permitted to travel to some Asian countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, providing that they meet certain conditions, including providing negative COVID-19 test results. In addition, foreign students on Government grants are also able to enter the country. According to the news publications sources, the Government plans to greatly expand the scope of people who are exempt from the entry ban starting from October, with foreign students who are not on Government grants, medical staff, and those participating in cultural activities among those to be allowed in. VOV By AFP YEREVAN: Armenia said Tuesday that a Turkish fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes during heavy fighting with Turkey's ally Azerbaijan, but Ankara fiercely denied the claim. Direct Turkish military action against Armenia would mark a major escalation after three days of heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh. The two sides have defied calls for a ceasefire over Karabakh -- an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke from Azerbaijan in the 1990s -- and are both claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on opposing forces. Ankara has backed Azerbaijan in the conflict and on Tuesday the Armenian defence ministry said a Turkish F-16 flying in support of Baku's forces downed an Armenian SU-25 warplane. Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said the Turkish jet was supporting Azerbaijani aviation bombing civilian settlements in Armenia when it shot down the Armenian plane, killing the pilot. ALSO READ: Turkey denies shooting down Armenian warplane Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top press aide called the claim "absolutely untrue". "Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks," said the aide, Fahrettin Altun. Azerbaijani defence ministry spokesman Vagif Dyargahly also called the claim "yet another lie of Armenian propaganda". - 'Serious losses' - Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over Karabakh and have blamed each other for sparking fierce clashes that erupted on Sunday and have since caused nearly 100 confirmed deaths. Foreign powers including the United States and Russia have called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to negotiations over the future of Karabakh that have been stalled for years. The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet Tuesday for an emergency meeting on the escalation, but neither side showed any signs of standing down. Both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan vowed to continue fighting on Tuesday, while their militaries claimed to dealt heavy blows to enemy forces. The Armenian defence ministry said separatist forces in Karabakh had repelled Azerbaijani attacks along the frontline and that "the enemy suffered serious losses in manpower". It claimed Azerbaijan's military had lost nearly 50 drones, six helicopters and 80 tanks. In Baku, officials denied that Armenian-backed separatists had regained control of territory they lost in Sunday's fighting. Azerbaijan said its military had repelled an Armenian counterattack and destroyed a motorised column and an artillery unit and, later, an entire motorised infantry regiment. - 'Waiting for 25 years' - The fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia has raised fears of a wider conflict involving regional powers Turkey and Russia. Armenia is part of a military alliance of former Soviet states led by Moscow and the Kremlin on Tuesday urged Turkey and the warring sides to pursue "a peaceful settlement of this conflict using political and diplomatic means". But Erdogan's aide Altun said Ankara was "fully committed to helping Azerbaijan take back its occupied lands". Azerbaijan has not reported military casualties, but the Armenian separatist government has released footage from the battlefield showing what it said were the remains of Azerbaijani soldiers. Shaddin Rustamov, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani conscript departing for training in Baku, told AFP he was proud to serve his country's military. Reclaiming Karabakh is "something we've been waiting 25 years for. Hopefully this year will be the last," he said. Armenian officials confirmed Tuesday the deaths of three more civilians, while Baku said civilian casualties on the Azerbaijani side reached 11. That brings the total confirmed deaths in the fighting to 96 -- including 80 separatist fighters, who reduced an earlier death toll by four, and 16 civilians. Observers to the conflict have urged the international community to ramp up efforts at finding a political solution. - US urges return to talks - The UN Security Council meeting, which was formally requested by Belgium after France and Germany led a push for it to be added to the agenda, was to be held at 2100 GMT, diplomats told AFP. Ahead of the meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an end to fighting and a return to negotiations "as quickly as possible". Karabakh's declaration of independence from Azerbaijan sparked a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives, but it is still not recognised as independent by any country, including Armenia. Armenia and Karabakh declared martial law and military mobilisation Sunday, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities. Talks to resolve the conflict -- which emerged amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union -- have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts as the "Minsk Group", but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010. The selection of artwork offered in The Preeminent Warhol showcases the artists incredible range: from rare delightful hand drawn lithographs of the mundane to his famous portraits examining celebrity and fame, from black and white geopolitical and historical imagery to buzzingly vibrant color experimentation. Join us this week to dig into each work's own story, it's own special place in the artists dizzying oeuvre. Bid on art by one of the most recognizable game changers in post-war visual culture. Crown your collection with a purchase from our third thrilling auction, The Preeminent Warhol, next week. For a full list of auction items sign into our auction page here. This is only a small special selection of our Warhol inventory for a more complete view of available pieces for traditional sale please visit our Andy Warhol artist page. Hamilton-Selway Fine Art, West Hollywood, CA 8678 Melrose Avenue West Hollywood, CA 90069 310-657-1711 Hamilton-Selway Fine Art is an internationally prominent gallery specializing in Pop Art limited edition prints and paintings. For three decades, their client list has included esteemed members of the Hollywood community, billionaire investors, Academy Award winning actors, and people of all walks of life who simply love art. For more information about the auction or for general press inquiries please visit our website: www.hamiltonselway.com or contact Ron Valdez at 310-657-1711 / [email protected] Twitter: @hamiltonselway Facebook: Hamilton-Selway Fine Art Instagram: hamiltonselwayfineart SOURCE Hamilton-Selway Fine Art French police on Tuesday arrested 29 people in a sting operation targeting a network of terror financing for jihadists in Syria, prosecutors said. The network, active since 2019, mostly operated via the purchase of cryptocurrency coupons whose references were given to jihadist contacts in Syria and then credited to bitcoin accounts, the anti-terror prosecutors' office said in a statement. Search Keywords: Short link: Britains financial regulator said on Tuesday it had filed for an expedited appeal in a business interruption test case against insurers, but was seeking an agreement by Wednesday to avoid the appeals process altogether. Hundreds of thousands of mainly small British businesses are waiting to hear if their insurer will pay out imminently, or keep them waiting while they appeal the case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) against eight insurers. Related: FCA to Insurer CEOs: Dont Delay in Paying Valid COVID Business Interruption Claims Lloyds CEO Neal Sees Appeal of COVID Business Insurance Ruling Coming London Court Rules Some Insurers Should Not Have Denied Business Interruption Claims An agreement is needed by close of business on Wednesday, the FCA said in a statement. Londons High Court has ruled that some of the worlds biggest insurers were wrong to reject claims from small firms battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The court found in favor of policyholders arguments on the majority of key issues, the FCA said earlier this month. The case is being closely watched in Britain and overseas as it is estimated to impact 370,000 policyholders across more than 60 insurers, with similar policy wordings and billions of pounds in claims. The FCA said it continues to work closely and at speed with the eight insurers and two intervenors that participated in the test case to reach agreement in principle on a range of issues, so avoiding an appeal. It said seven insurer parties had also made precautionary appeal filings. A court hearing in relation to the appeal applications will take place on Oct 2. RSA, one of the insurers involved, said it has sought leave to appeal while another, Hiscox, said it had taken the necessary steps to apply for an expedited appeal but has not yet made a decision on whether it will seek to appeal. Discussions are ongoing with the FCA and other parties to try to resolve any outstanding issues before the Oct 2 hearing, Hiscox said. QBE and MS Amlin also said they had sought leave to appeal. Zurich Insurance said it had not filed an application to appeal as the ruling confirmed that its policy wordings did not provide cover for business interruption in relation to the pandemic. Talks had been taking place all weekend between the FCA and insurers, but were not resolved before the appeal application deadline, according to one source familiar with the matter. Interpretation of some aspects of the ruling was causing a stumbling block, the source added. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe, Sinead Cruise and Philippa Fletcher) Topics Carriers Catalan premier Quim Torra (c) outside the regional parliament with a banner in support of jailed separatist leaders on Monday. The regional leader of Catalonia, Quim Torra, on Monday responded to his removal from office by Spains Supreme Court, describing it as a coup devised by the powers of the State and urging independence supporters to make a democratic rupture as the only way to advance towards secession. Surrounded by his Cabinet in full, Torra, a hardline supporter of Catalan independence, said he will go to the European Court of Justice to appeal the Spanish Supreme Courts decision to uphold an earlier ruling barring him from holding public office for 18 months over disobedience charges. That ruling, handed down in December, stemmed from Torras refusal to take down signs supporting jailed separatist politicians that were hanging from public buildings during election campaigning in March 2019. The signs read Free political prisoners and exiles, and Spains electoral commission had warned the separatist leader that official buildings could not be used for partisan messages during campaign periods. Torra said he will go to the European Court of Justice to appeal the Spanish Supreme Courts decision His removal comes as Catalonia prepares for a new regional election that keeps getting delayed. Although Torra announced as early as January that he would call an election, he refused to hold it during the summer citing coronavirus concerns despite the fact that residents of two other Spanish regions, Galicia and the Basque Country, did go to the polls at that time. Now, with the pandemic increasingly out of control and the prospects of a fall season with no vaccine in sight, Catalans will likely be asked to go vote sometime in early February 2021. This means that the region will be run for several months by a caretaker administration after Torras deputy, Pere Aragones, takes over the helm of government. The Supreme Courts decision ends Torras short term two years and four months at the helm of the Catalan executive. His predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, headed a failed unilateral breakaway attempt in October 2017 and fled Spain to avoid arrest and prosecution. Several hundred people took to the streets to protest Quim Torras ban from public office. JUAN BARBOSA (EL PAIS) On Monday evening, Torra addressed a crowd of several hundred supporters who had gathered in Barcelonas Sant Jaume square in violation of the governments own rules prohibiting gatherings of more than six people. The outgoing leader criticized the Spanish judiciary and monarchy, and framed the upcoming election as a plebiscite on independence. He said the Spanish state was thirsty for revenge. Torra also urged separatist parties to show unity at a time of growing divisiveness within the independence movement, which includes Torras own Together for Catalonia (JxCat) and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), the party that the new caretaker premier, Pere Aragones, belongs to. The only way to advance [towards independence] is through a democratic rupture. The elections need to be a new plebiscite that ratifies the referendum of October 1, said Torra, alluding to the unauthorized vote held on October 1, 2017 that resulted in Puigdemonts ouster and a temporary suspension of regional powers. The latest survey by the Catalan governments Center for Opinion Studies (CEO), released in December 2019, shows that 47.9% of Catalans reject independence while 43.7% support it, with the rest undecided. The study confirms the division of opinion regarding independence for Catalonia, which is home to around 7.6 million people. English version by Susana Urra. RENO, Nev., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Radial , a bpost group company, the leader in omnichannel commerce technology and operations, today announced its plan to bring on more than 1,000 entry-level fulfillment center workers in Reno, Nevada, to support unprecedented ecommerce demand this holiday season. Seasonal workers will be responsible for processing online orders - including picking, sorting, packing and shipping - all in a fun team environment leveraging cutting-edge technology. Consumer research reveals that 66% of shoppers plan to increase their online purchases during the holidays this year. As ecommerce demand reaches new heights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers must significantly scale their fulfillment workforce to meet holiday shopping needs. With 20+ fulfillment centers and a global fulfillment and transportation network, Radial is well-versed at helping retailers successfully navigate peak shopping season while keeping worker safety at the forefront. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Radial remains committed to safety and has made it a priority to implement processes and technologies to maintain the health and safety of every worker. These initiatives include: Implementing automated temperature thermal screenings for anyone prior to entering every facility, visitors included Requirements to wear masks at all times Adjustments to working layouts and technology enhancements to enable and enforce social distancing Wearable alert badges to remind and train new hires on social distancing best practices Heightened hygiene and sanitation procedures across every site to reduce risk "The health and safety of our employees is Radial's number one priority," said Eric Wohl, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Senior Vice President. "We've always prided ourselves on our people-first approach, and we've built a culture where coworkers feel like family. This close-knit community is part of what historically has made us so successful at achieving peak season goals for our clients. When demand increases, our people work together to rise to the challenge. Our people-first workplace has been tested since COVID-19 hit, and I am deeply proud of how we've evolved our working environment to keep our strong community values intact while deepening safety measures. At Radial, we know we all have a role to play in following safety precautions, and everyone looks out for each other so we help keep our workplaces and communities safe." Seasonal workers at the Reno location will enjoy benefits including competitive hourly wages and opportunities for overtime. Additionally, Radial leverages leading fulfillment technologies to enable new associates to safely and quickly learn job processes. These seasonal roles are a great opportunity to kickstart a career with Radial. Seasonal workers will join the more than 3,000 regular, full-time employees at Radial's fulfillment centers across the country to help pack and ship holiday orders. For individuals seeking long-term employment, Radial plans to offer significant opportunities to convert into full-time positions this year to support Radial's strong growth. There will be opportunities for local residents who worked in industries impacted by the pandemic such as retail storefronts, restaurants, and hospitality to switch career paths, and leverage transferable skills within the fulfillment center. Radial is actively accepting seasonal candidates from all backgrounds. At the fulfillment center in Reno, Nevada, seasonal workers will have the chance to work with some of the world's favorite brands and retailers, such as Spanx and more. Workers will source orders and send them to their final destinations faster using Radial's technology, fulfillment, and transportation solutions. To learn more about Radial's seasonal job openings in Reno, Nevada, visit Radial's career page . About Radial Radial, Inc., a bpost group company, is the leader in omnichannel commerce technology and operations. Premier brands around the world confidently partner with Radial to deliver their brand promises, anticipate and respond to industry disruption, and compete in a rapidly evolving market. Radial's innovative solutions connect retailers and customers through advanced omnichannel technologies; intelligent payments and fraud protection; efficient fulfillment, supply chain services; and insightful customer care services especially where high-value customer experiences are critical. We are flexible, scalable, and focused on our clients' business objectives. Learn how we deliver today's retail for you at radial.com and follow us on Twitter @radialcorp . Press Contact for Radial: Dana Trismen [email protected] 617-502-4396 SOURCE Radial President Donald Trump formally announced on Monday the government's plans to disperse 150 million coronavirus rapid tests. The Trump administration first promoted the distribution of rapid tests per state in August. It originally billed the deal to obtain tests from Abbott Laboratories. A report from Politico said the rapid tests cost $5 and can be analyzed in 15 minutes without using lab equipment. About 100 million of these tests will be given to states to support efforts in reopening economies and schools "as fast as they can." The other 50 million tests will be given to what Trump called "the most vulnerable communities." It will include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospice care, and others. Tests will also go to areas damaged recently by wildfires and hurricanes. "The support my administration is providing would allow every state to on a very regular basis test every teacher who needs it," Trump said. The first shipments of rapid tests will be sent out this week, and the administration is working towards a total of 6.5 million tests. The amount that each state gets would be based on population data. While governors get the final say on deciding how to use the rapid tests, Trump and the Health and Human Services testing czar Brett Giroir encourage using it to help reopen schools. A Shift for the Trump Admin Many schools all over the U.S. have already reopened without testing access. Before classes started, there was only a little news on using testing data as a guide to reopen schools. But now, the plan showed a change of heart from the Trump administration, as CNN noted. Earlier in the pandemic, Trump advised to slow down on conducting coronavirus tests while health officials urged them not to do so. Trump took a different approach to testings on Monday. He said that an increase in coronavirus testing efforts "should not cause undue alarm." Increased testing efforts could also lead to finding more asymptomatic cases among those in low-risk populations. But Trump said the number of cases was not the "full metric of success." He noted that there are other more instructive data to look at, like hospitalization capacity and mortality rates. Experts Praise Trump Administration Experts praised the news on rapid tests. They found it a welcome endorsement about the importance of fast and accessible testing as the U.S. struggles to manage the health crisis. So far, COVID-19 has taken 204,000 lives in the U.S., but experts say testing numbers are nowhere what is needed to contain the spread of the virus. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was pleased that the government is taking action to distribute tests. But she also told New York Times that 150 million tests are just "a very small drop in the bucket." Dr. Krutika Kuppalli of the Medical University of South Carolina also urged for broader testing efforts. "We need to be rolling it out in a way that is mindful that it's being used appropriately," she noted. Check these out! 1 in 3 Parents Want to Skip Their Children's Flu Shots Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Study Says Teens More Likely to Contract COVID-19 Compared to Younger Kids US COVID-19 Cases Exceeds 7 Million as Some States Relax Restrictions COVID-19 has directly affected spring 2021's sartorial landscape. From contemporary brands to high-end labels, designers (including Tom Ford!) have embraced these unprecedented times by addressing our quarantine needs. We saw luxe loungewear, stylish sweatsuits and cozy knit separates on the runways in New York, Milan and Paris this month. But you don't have to wait until next season to look and feel your best while WFH. Wolf & Badger's Creative Director & Co-Founder, Henry Graham, reveals how you can get the look now. In the moment: COVID-19 has directly affected spring 2021's sartorial landscape. From contemporary brands to high-end labels, designers (Tom Ford included!) have embraced these unprecedented times by addressing our quarantine needs Cozy chic: We saw luxe loungewear, stylish sweatsuits and cozy knit separates come down almost all the runways in New York, Milan and Paris this month The most surprising trend this season is 'pared down simplicity and elegance,' according to Wolf & Badger's Creative Director & Co-Founder, Henry Graham Relaxed suiting: By now we've all learned that working from home effectively takes practice, discipline and the right outfit After many months of living in lockdown to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, we've all learned that working from home effectively takes practice and discipline. The most productive people don't roll out of bed and head straight to the computer in their pjs. They start their day by getting dressed in presentable clothes. The good news is that loungewear for spring has come a long way so you can look great while still being comfortable in your makeshift home office. And professional workwear, including pantsuits and blazers (as seen at Boss) have become less formal and more relaxed. 'Dressing up is as important now than ever,' said Henry. To look chic in the most easygoing way possible, Henry recommends sleepwear from Not Just Pajama. Founded in London 2015 the brand creates luxurious silk sets that are as fashionable for indoor/outdoor wear as they are comfortable. From the sheets to the streets: 'Dressing up is as important now than ever,' said Henry. 'Loungewear has done really well for us.' Henry recommends sleepwear from Not Just Pajama Short Pajama Suit by Not Just Pajama, $229; wolfandbadger.com Handmade Slipper by Not Just Pajama, $86; wolfandbadger.com Silk Chemise Dress by Not Just Pajama, $171; wolfandbadger.com 'Pared down simplicity and elegance,' is the most surprising trend this season said the expert. 'It works super well when transitioning from home to work or play.' In addition to fabulous pajamas, Henry recommends 'knits in beautiful soft yarns.' Boss, N21 and Drome styled silky pajama separates with knitwear at their spring 2021 presentations. Henry suggests oversized styles to carry out the comfy cozy feel. Chunky cardigan sweaters, knit turtlenecks and crewneck jumpers are the easiest way to wear sleepwear as streetwear. Working with designers from all over the world, Wolf & Badger is often ahead of the trends. 'We have lots of amazing, neutral toned pieces made using luxe fabrics and subtle shapes. This season is going to be all about understated elegance.' Oversized Alpaca Coat by AQVAROSSA, $1,627; wolfandbadger.com Asymmetric Matt Gold Viscose Skirt With Khaki Stripes by Lalipop Design, $198; wolfandbadger.com Angie 14K Gold-Filled Freshwater Baroque Pearl Drop Earrings by Carolina Wang, $178; wolfandbadger.com La Babouche Loafer Slip-On by OSAY the Label, $145; wolfandbadger.com Smile Diamond Single slider Earring by Lee Renee, $144; wolfandbadger.com 4 Pack Organic Cotton Face Mask by Jessie Zhao New York, $48; wolfandbadger.com Silk Ruffle Bralette Rosalie Sand by Moye, $176; wolfandbadger.com Natural Leather Backpack "Ginger" by kARTu Studio, $427; wolfandbadger.com As clothing becomes more relaxed and effortless, so is footwear. 'Mules are really trending right now, as are slip-ons,' shared Henry. 'They both work well for that casual, dressed-up look for a chic walk to the shops.' For style and versatility he favors Osay the label, Bala Di Gala and women-led Spanish brand Atelier de Charlotte. Designers in every category are forging ahead with practicality at the forefront for spring. Handbag brands are saying bye-bye to mini bags in favor of oversized carryalls that carry ALL. 'I'm a huge fan of Kartu Studio,' revealed Henry. To pull it all together, don't forget jewelry! A pair of statement earrings can turn a silk robe or a casual two-piece set from meh to amazing! The must-have accessory for fall is of course the face mask. It's important to find a style that fits properly, is effective against fighting the virus and suits your look. Jessica Zoa, Adelina Rusu and NY Charisma protective coverings are all apart of the site's wide selection. Carryall: As seen at Boss spring 2021, oversized bags are also trending Street style: 'Pared down simplicity and elegance,' is the most surprising trend this season said Henry. 'It works super well when transitioning from home to work or play,' said Henry With their finger on the pulse of what's hot, 'Wolf & Badger designers are selected based on their innovation of design, finish and quality of workmanship,' shared Henry. 'We also focus on brands that share our ethos of ethical and sustainable production.' Polish brand AGGI offers and array of unique pieces (including face masks, cocktail dresses and tailored blazers) at affordable price points. Babaloo jewelry celebrates women. Each piece is meant to evoke confidence and make the wearer feel as unique and wonderful as they are. For the girl who likes to stand out (in and out of quarantine), Paloma Lira Studio is the answer. The brand was established in 2012 with the cultural and social changes of 60's, 70's and 80's and its influence nowadays as its muse. Established in 2016 True Decadence's philosophy is centered around creating occasion wear in effortless silhouettes that celebrate femininity. With small at-home gatherings being more popular than ever, True Decadence designs scream hostess with the mostest! "There are a lot of demands from our people there. We shall discuss it with party President and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and decide on whether to contest the Bihar Assembly polls or not," Raut told mediapersons. On the move by ex-top police official of Bihar, former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey's decision to join politics, the Sena leader said he was free to do whatever he wants since that's his personal choice. "Our objection was to the manner in which he painted the Mumbai Police in a bad light in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. He tried to drive a wedge between the police and people of the two states for his advantage when he was the DGP," Raut said. To a question whether the Sushant case was a conspiracy to tarnish the image of state Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, Raut replied in the affirmative, but declined to elaborate. However, he pointed out that the Shiv Sena has emerged unscathed from the entire episode, but those who attempted to throw muck at the party, screaming at the top of their lungs on television channels, will meet a similar fate. "They were criticising the Mumbai Police probe in the Sushant case. Now, the probe is with the CBI for over a month. The people want to know what's the outcome. If they (Sena critics) have the guts, then they should be asking questions to the CBI now, just as they demanded answers from Mumbai Police earlier," Raut dared. Referring to the fracas surrounding his meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party's Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, Raut put at rest all speculation and claimed that "it was purely to finalise the interview schedule" between Sena and Fadnavis. He reiterated that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance government of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray -- comprising the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress will complete its full five-year term, despite all effort by the state Opposition to topple the coalition Vijayawada, Sep 29 : The South Central Railway (SCR) zone's Vijayawada division will operate two special trains between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam to facilitate civil services examination candidates to appear for the exam. "In order to facilitate the candidates attending Union Public Service Examination (UPSC), SCR will run two special trains between Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam - Vijayawada," said a railway zone spokesperson. Train number 07233 from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam will depart Vijayawada at 3 p.m. on Saturday and arrive at Visakhapatnam at 10 p.m. on the same day. Likewise, the return train bearing the number 07234 will depart Visakhapatnam at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and arrive at Vijayawada at 4 a.m. on Monday. Enroute, the special trains will halt at eight stations, Eluru, Tadepelligudem, Nidadavolu, Rajamundry, Samarlakota, Tuni, Anakapalli and Duvvada. The civil services examination has been scheduled on Sunday. In a separate development, the railway zone restored train halts at several places in the southern state. "Consequent upon permission of AP state government to restore stoppages, SCR has decided to restore the stoppages which were eliminated earlier," said an official. Train halts have been restored at multiple places in the state for several trains originating from across the country, state and also passing through it. Hundreds of Indonesian public servants have been struck down by the coronavirus, with bureaucrats in the Health Ministry the worst affected. Data published on the Jakarta provincial government website showed that 252 health public servants working in the capital have contracted the virus. Pak Tuing, a grave digger at a public cemetery that is being expanded to accommodate rising COVID-19 deaths in Jakarta. Credit:Getty Images The Transportation Ministry was the second worst-affected, reporting 175 infections, the ministries of Communications, Finance and Defence all reported more than 50 infections each and the Jakarta-based national Anti-Corruption Commission had reported 106 infections. Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo tested positive earlier this month and three director-generals in his ministry - the equivalent of a deputy secretary in the Australian Public Service - have since fallen ill, with one dying on Monday. Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi also tested positive this month. By Trend Head of the delegation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Ravza Kavakci, phoned Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova, the Parliament told Trend. During a phone talk, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted the importance of all kinds of support to Azerbaijan from Turkish officials and public figures in connection with the well-known events in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that the support of the friendly and fraternal people is a matter of pride. Gafarova said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Mustafa Shentop, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed unequivocal support to Azerbaijan regarding the situation at the front. Speaker also noted that during a telephone conversation with her colleague Mustafa Shentop, the chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly said that he personally supports Azerbaijan's fair position. This is a real manifestation of the motto one nation, two states. It is very commendable that the political parties represented in the Turkish parliament have unanimously declared their solidarity with Azerbaijan. Were deeply grateful to all parties for this fraternal position, said Gafarova. Alphabets Google is updating its Android software, which powers most of the worlds smartphones, to make it easier for consumers to use other app stores. The move comes after the popular game Fortnite was pulled from Googles and Apples app stores after its creator, Epic Games, acted to circumvent their payment systems. Google said in a Monday blog post that next years version of the operating system, Android 12, will make it even easier for people to use other app stores on their devices, although it didnt elaborate. The blog post said Google will tighten requirements that purchases within apps downloaded from Googles store must use the companys billing system. Press Release Nokia signs 5G deal to become BT's largest infrastructure partner Nokia increases market share of BT's Radio Access Network after selection as 5G RAN supplier 29 September 2020 Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that it has extended its long-term strategic relationship with BT into the 5G arena, following its selection as a 5G RAN vendor for the UK operator. As part of the deal, which will make Nokia BT's largest equipment provider, Nokia will provide equipment and services at BT radio sites across the UK, helping to evolve BT's radio access network to 5G and supporting its goal of maintaining the UK's best network. BT's Nokia-powered network, which currently includes Greater London, the Midlands and rural locations, will be extended to also cover multiple other towns and cities across the United Kingdom1. This enhanced Nokia footprint will support BT's commitments to the UK government around the use of High Risk Vendors (HRVs) in UK network infrastructure. Nokia will supply its AirScale Single RAN (S-RAN) portfolio for both indoor and outdoor coverage, including 5G RAN, AirScale base stations and Nokia AirScale radio access products. These solutions will enable BT to build on its existing network leadership in the UK to deliver connectivity and capacity benefits to consumers at ultra-low latencies as well as reducing complexity and increasing cost efficiencies. The deal will also see Nokia optimize BT's 2G and 4G networks and work alongside BT on the development of the OpenRAN ecosystem. As part of BT's network transformation, the operator will also utilize Nokia Software's ng-SDM and NetAct network management platform, supporting the network evolution to 5G. These build upon the existing network architecture and provide an immediate cornerstone and single platform for new 5G-based services. Nokia will also provide its state-of-the-art Cell Site Gateway product providing key backhaul connectivity. Nokia will also provide digital design and deployment for a faster time to market as well as optimization and technical support services. Philip Jansen, CEO, BT Group said: "Digital connectivity is critical to the UK's economic future, creating jobs and underpinning sustainable growth. That's why BT is making game-changing investments in full fibre and 5G. In a fast-moving and competitive market, it's critical we make the right technology choices. With this next stage of our successful relationship with Nokia we will continue to lead the rollout of fixed and mobile networks to deliver stand-out experiences for customers." Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, Nokia, said: "I am delighted that BT has extended its partnership with Nokia on 5G RAN, making Nokia BT's largest infrastructure partner. Our two companies have collaborated for over a quarter of a century in order to deliver best-in-class connectivity to people across the United Kingdom. We are proud to support BT's 5G network evolution and look forward to working even more closely together in the years to come." Notes to Editors 1.) Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Carlisle, Cheltenham-Gloucester, Chesterfield, Dundee, Exeter, Grimsby, Hull, Ipswich, Lincoln, Newbury, Northampton, Norwich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Torbay, York Resources: Webpage : Nokia AirScale Webpage : Nokia 5G RAN Webpage: Nokia NetAct Webpage: Nokia Single RAN About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks. Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia. PMO is a company created by multiple local Spanish telecommunications services providers, not only aiming to unify the countrys legacy cable industry under a common pay TV platform, but also to become one of the foremost TV platforms in Spain. Since the contract win, announced on 4 September 2019, Mirada has been working to deliver content across PMOs networks to existing subscribers through a pure-play OTT solution.The Zapi OTT service represents Miradas biggest European launch of its core Iris solution with custom launcher for Android TV STBs, and, over time, is expected to reach at least 600,000 subscribers. It is designed to allow subscribers to watch content through a smart TV app, laptop apps and on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. But most importantly said the company, Zapi OTT solution is being provided to customers on Android TV set-top-boxes (STBs) which it regards as currently the most in-demand STBs within the market.Using Miradas custom launcher for Android TV, consumers are said to be able to benefit from the features of Miradas Iris technology, but also from the built-in advantages of an Android of an STB solution such as Google Play, with its wide variety of apps. Also, with the custom launcher being based on Miradas Iris and Zapis brand identities, rather than a generic user interface, Mirada is confident that Zapi will increase brand value not only for itself but also the company.All the features of Miradas Iris technology will be available across Zapi customers devices, including content discovery, catch-up, start-over, time-shift, personalised recommendations, cloud DVR and more. PMO will also have access to insights through LogIQ, Miradas data analytics platform, designed for improving operations and services and informing business strategy and market positioning. Following the initial launch, Mirada will continue working to deploy PMOs OTT service across more devices.The TV service that we are launching today represents a significant leap in the quality that our customers receive, commented Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores CTO Jose Carrillo. From now on, they will enjoy our television however, whenever and wherever they want. The wide variety of devices supported by Mirada Solution improves the users experience since it is unnecessary to change from one device to another to enjoy the service. Also, Zapi is the first OTT television platform in Spain that, besides offering general content, focuses on local content, completely exclusive for the user. Mirada CEO Jose Luis Vazquez added: We are proud to announce yet another commercial launch of our Iris solution, this time with Spains Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores, owner of one of Spains largest TV platforms. Our ability to provide the customer with the solution for a wide range of devices, including Android TV-based STBs, is a source of particular pride. We are certain it will help Zapi to substantially differentiate itself from the competition, offering a product that is in high demand without compromising brand identity or the users experience. As our acclaimed Iris technology is being deployed in ever more markets across the globe, it is becoming increasingly recognised for its versatility and quality. Pennsylvania mother and daughter Shana and Dominique Decree admitted in court to killing their family A Pennsylvania mother and daughter have been sentenced to life in prison after they killed five of their relatives as part of a murder-suicide pact. Shana Selena Decree and her daughter, Dominique Kiaran Decree, admitted in court on Monday to killing five of their relatives last year, according to the Bucks County District Attorneys office. The victims were Shanas two children, NaaIrah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr., 13. Shanas sister, Jamilla Campbell, 42, and Campbells 9-year-old twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen, also died. Read More: Chicago mother denied bond after allegedly killing daughter, 5 An autopsy determined that Erika, Imani, Damon, and Smith were killed by homicidal asphyxia. Campbells death was by homicidal ligature strangulation. All five of the deaths, which took place from Feb. 23-29, were ruled a homicide. Shana, 47, and Dominique, 21, negotiated a plea deal with prosecutors that will have them serve five consecutive life sentences. They pled guilty but mentally ill to five counts of first-degree murder and one count of criminal conspiracy. Damon Decree Sr. spoke at the hearing and was despondent that he would never see his son grow up. At one point, he stated his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of what might have been. (Credit: Decree Family/Bucks County District Attorneys Office) Bucks County Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher W. Rees called the case a heartbreaking one. If you have kids, go hug your kids, Rees said. If you have parents who are still around, if you have brothers and sisters go give them a hug. If you cant give them a hug, give them a call, send then a text, send them an email. Initially, the women denied any involvement in the brutal slayings and alleged a burglar had committed the crimes. However, Shana allegedly told police that she and her relatives all wanted to die. Mental health professionals determined that the Decrees suffered from mental health issues. That is the only reason why they were not subject to the death penalty. Story continues Read More: New California law prompted by crash that killed Kobe Bryant As it stands, they both will spend the rest of their lives in prison cells separated from the rest of us, as punishment, District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! The post Pennsylvania mom, daughter sentenced to life in prison after killing five relatives appeared first on TheGrio. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we've seen Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Texas rally behind their students. These schools have taken extraordinary measures to ensure students' success despite the unprecedented circumstances. Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas first stepped up to the plate by providing free teletherapy for its students during this time. Now, we're seeing more schools follow suit. As a graduate of an HBCU myself, I can personally attest to the fact that HBCUs are often more attentive to students' needs, so it's not a big shock that these schools are going the extra mile. The one-on-one care that HBCUs provide is like none other. TRUMP VS. BIDEN: Here's how you can watch the first presidential debate Huston-Tillotson University, a private school in Austin, has implemented new avenues for students to succeed this year. The university is providing tablets for all students as well as vouchers to pay for internet access, as reported by Lisa Armstrong at Zora. Raga Justin of the Texas Tribune reported that at Paul Quinn College, a private school in Dallas, loss of campus resources due to the pandemic would result in a tuition reduction of more than $2,000. The school has managed to provide 133 laptops and 107 Wi-Fi hotspots for students, according to Armstrong. Paul Quinn is fully remote at this time. The money to cover the technology and internet access for students to work remotely was funded in part by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Huston-Tillotson spent roughly $1.8 million on the items. These schools don't always bring in multi-million dollar funding from celebrities or philanthropists, but they make do with what they're given. Private HBCUs are much smaller than the larger name-brand universities in the state of Texas, and nowhere near as heavily funded but the goal is still to see students thrive. Throughout history, humankind has shared an innate desire and need to explore new frontiers. New Horizons Studio envisions building vehicles to wander with unprecedented mobility. The products will target customers who have a need for travel in unconventional and off-road terrain, including places where vehicles have never roamed before. These vehicles will be subject to more challenging applications and environments, adaptable to changing conditions. Pushing the boundaries of vehicle development, the unit will reimagine how vehicles might traverse the world. New Horizons Studio is led by Vice President Dr. John Suh, who has held several leadership roles at Hyundai Motor Group since 2011. He served as founding director of Hyundai Ventures, and then led Hyundai CRADLE (Center for Robotic-Augmented Design in Living Experiences) as its founding director based in Silicon Valley. He brings over 35 years of expertise in the automotive and emerging technology sectors, including roles at Stanford University, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC; formerly, Xerox PARC), and General Motors Company. "We aim to create the world's first transformer-class vehicle, also known as the Ultimate Mobility Vehicle," notes Dr. Suh. The new unit furthers Hyundai Motor Group's vision to shape the future of mobility and onboard forward-thinking, innovative leadership from Silicon Valley and other innovation hubs. Also making the jump to New Horizons Studio is Dr. Ernestine Fu, who joins the group as Director of Product Management. She has led research on human operator and autonomous vehicle interactions at Stanford University's Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab, as well as scaled emerging technology companies for over nine years as a venture capital partner at Alsop Louie Partners. Unveiled at CES 2019, Hyundai Elevate is the inaugural vehicle concept now being developed by New Horizons Studio. The vehicle does not rely solely on wheels and is expected to address challenging driving situations for example, a car with robotic legs could save lives as the first responder in natural disasters; or, people who do not have access to an ADA ramp could hail a car to walk up to their front door, level itself, and allow wheelchairs to roll right in. Using a combination of robotics and wheeled locomotion technology, Elevate and other vehicles by New Horizons Studio are expected to redefine vehicular mobility. About Hyundai Motor Group Hyundai Motor Group is a global corporation that has created a value chain based on automobiles, steel, and construction and includes logistics, finance, IT and service. With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the Group's automobile brands include Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp and Genesis. Armed with creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on all challenges, we are working to create a better future for all. More information about Hyundai Motor Group, please see: www.hyundaimotorgroup.com More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: worldwide.hyundai.com or globalpr.hyundai.com Visit the Kia Motors Global Media Center for more information: www.kianewscenter.com For more information on Genesis and its new definition of luxury, please visit https://www.genesis.com Disclaimer: Hyundai Motor Group believes the information contained herein to be accurate at the time of release. However, the company may upload new or updated information if required and assumes that it is not liable for the accuracy of any information interpreted and used by the reader. SOURCE Hyundai Motor America By undertaking massive infrastructure projects around the world, China under President Xi Jinping is following in the footsteps of previous empires. Why it matters: Like previous imperial projects in history, Xi's Belt and Road Initiative presents both benefits and risks for China. In his new book, "The Emperor's New Road: China and the Project of the Century," Jonathan Hillman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argues that China's BRI isn't reviving the trade routes of the ancient Silk Road, as official Chinese propaganda often claims. Rather, the BRI is retracing the steps of previous infrastructure-building empires, such as the European colonial powers' construction of the Suez Canal, Britain's ocean-spanning telegraph network, or America's transcontinental railroad. Such enormous projects can benefit the country that builds them, but they can also result in a range of unforeseen consequences. "China, having played the role of the weaker state, is now grappling with the challenges that accompany its rising power and expanding global footprint. ... Despite these imperial echoes, this is not a story about China's domination but its education as a rising power," Hillman writes. Behind the scenes: Hillman told me he traveled to 16 countries as he researched the book, including Serbia, Russia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Djibouti. The basics: China's BRI was launched in 2013 and is Xi's signature foreign policy initiative. In its first iteration, it was presented as a program to build trains and roads across Central Asia, connecting China's western frontier with Europe. It would also build a series of ports, connecting China's southeastern region with countries throughout Southeast Asia. However, the BRI has grown into a sweeping global program involving trillions of dollars' worth of deals and promised infrastructure projects built by Chinese state-owned enterprises and with Chinese laborers across Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. And it's far more than just infrastructure. It includes the signing of bilateral agreements between China and countries from the above regions to increase cooperation in defense, science, medicine, research, media and educational exchanges. In other words, the BRI has become Beijing's vision for a China-centric 21st century, where all roads lead back to Beijing. Such an ambitious project may seem intimidating to the Western countries whose place China seems to be aiming to take, writes Hillman, but it comes with potential risks for China, as well as benefits. The benefits: Developing countries could come to prefer China as a partner over Western countries and institutions. The BRI can help spread China's political influence and aid it in setting global standards in technology and other fields. It can enrich Chinese companies and help the Chinese government guarantee jobs for its large labor force. The risks: Infrastructure has a tendency to cost more, take longer to build and be more difficult to maintain than expected. Failed infrastructure projects can actually destroy more value than they create. "China's BRI has become a gravy train without a conductor," writes Hillman. "Its fevered pace has already exceeded China's ability to accurately measure, let alone manage, those activities. Corruption and rent-seeking are thriving in the chaos." BRI investment in Malaysia is a cautionary tale. Former Prime Minister Najib Razak sought to secure as much Chinese infrastructure investment as he could. But Razak secretly transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from a Malaysian state-owned investment fund to his own private accounts, while using several Chinese-funded projects to try to conceal what was happening entangling the BRI and the Chinese government in one of the biggest corruption scandals so far this century. The big picture: Because China's rise to power has occurred decades after the creation of international institutions designed to establish and enforce a set of international behavioral norms, China's behavior on the international stage has been constrained in ways that European powers at the height of their colonial conquests were not, says Hillman. That means Beijing's moves to reshape the world have been incremental and largely confined to its "economic toolkit," rather than a military-led endeavor Go deeper: A China-centric 21st century Description Jeffersons Ferry life plan community celebrates South Setaukets famous 19th Century seafaring woman, Mary Swift Jones. A Voyage to China & Japan: The 1858 voyage of Mary Swift Jones is a virtual performance by writer, historian and descendent of Jones, Beverly Tyler. The event is on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link. Call 631-650-2600 or visit Jeffersonsferry.org/events. Just after Admiral Perry opened South Street Seaport to trade in 1858, Jones and her husband, Captain Benjamin Jones, embarked on a three-year voyage from South Street Seaport to China and Japan. Through letters, artifacts, and journals, Tyler regales the audience with tales of their adventure. After the presentation, Elissa Gargone, vice president of sales and marketing, will share a sneak peek of the planned expansion that includes new independent living apartments, a Healthy Living Center, a renovated community center and more. Construction is set to start this fall. About Jeffersons Ferry Located along Long Islands north shore at One Jefferson Ferry Drive, South Setauket, New York, Jeffersons Ferry is a nonprofit life plan community for active adults age 62 and above. The community offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation services on-site, along with programs, services, and amenities designed to enhance resident life through health/wellness activities, lifelong learning, the arts and music, spiritual development and social opportunities. Jeffersons Ferry has been consistently named Best Retirement Community and Best Assisted Living on Long Island by the Bethpage Best of Long Island, the annual awards program sponsored by the Long Island Press. For more information, visit https://www.jeffersonsferry.org or call (631) 253-8585. Joe Biden speaks at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Sept. 20, 2020, to make a statement on the nomination for replacement of recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Residents in high-tax states who lost out on a substantial write-off are in good company. Democratic contender for president Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, missed out on this tax break, too. The former vice president released federal and state income tax returns for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 on Tuesday, in advance of the first debate against President Donald Trump. He and his wife, Jill, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, filed joint returns. On their 2019 return, the couple reported taxable income of $944,737 and paid $299,346 in federal income taxes. The two also overpaid on their taxes, entitling them to a refund of $46,858. Though the Bidens claimed itemized deductions on their 2019 income tax return, it turns out they missed out on what would have been a massive write-off: state and local levies. During 2019, the Bidens paid $94,349 in state and local taxes, plus $17,368 in real estate taxes. Cambridge, UK, September 29, 2020 Today, Arm unveiled new computing solutions to accelerate autonomous decision-making with safety capability across automotive and industrial applications. The new suite of IP includes the Arm Cortex-A78AE CPU, Arm Mali-G78AE GPU, and Arm Mali-C71AE ISP, engineered to work together in combination with supporting software, tools and system IP to enable silicon providers and OEMs to design for autonomous workloads. These products will be deployed in a range of applications, from enabling more intelligence and configurability in smart manufacturing to enhancing ADAS and digital cockpit applications in automotive. Autonomy has the potential to improve every aspect of our lives, but only if built on a safe and secure computing foundation, said Chet Babla, vice president, Automotive and IoT Line of Business at Arm. As autonomous decision-making becomes more pervasive, Arm has designed a unique suite of technology that prioritizes safety while delivering highly scalable, power efficient compute to enable autonomous decision-making across new automotive and industrial opportunities. Cortex-A78AE: High performance in safety critical applications The new Arm Cortex-A78AE CPU is Arms latest, highest performance safety capable CPU, offering the ability to run different, complex workloads for autonomous applications such as mobile robotics and driverless transportation. It delivers: A 30% performance uplift compared to its predecessor. Supports features to achieve the relevant automotive and industrial functional safety standards, ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 for applications up to ASIL D / SIL 3. New enhanced Split Lock functionality (Hybrid Mode) to offer maximum flexibility. Hybrid Mode is designed to specifically enable applications that target lower levels of ASIL requirements without compromising performance and allow the deployment of the same SoC compute architecture into different domain controllers. For more technical details on the Cortex-A78AE, visit our blog. Mali-G78AE: Redefining safety for embedded GPUs, with flexible partitioning Mali is the number one shipping GPU worldwide, and the new Mali-G78AE is Arms first GPU to be designed for safety, delivering rich user experiences and heterogenous compute to safety-critical autonomous applications. The new Mali-G78AE enables: A new approach to autonomous GPU workloads with Flexible Partitioning, with up to four fully independent partitions for workload separation for safety use cases. GPU resources can now be utilized for safety-enabled human machine interfaces or for the heterogenous compute needed in autonomous systems. For example, an infotainment system, an instrument cluster with ASIL B requirements and a driver monitoring system can now all run concurrently and independently with hardware separation within an automotive application. For more technical details on the Mali-G78AE, visit our blog. Mali-C71AE: An evolution in ISP safety Autonomous workloads need to be aware of their surroundings, often through cameras that must operate in a wide range of lighting conditions. To support a broad range of vision applications across automotive and industrial, the Mali-C71AE offers: The flexibility needed to support both human and machine vision applications such as production line monitoring and ADAS camera systems. Enhanced safety features, supports features to achieve ASIL B / SIL2 safety capability. Support for four real time cameras, or 16 buffered cameras, delivering a 1.2 giga pixel per second throughput. For more technical details on the Arm Mali-C71AE, visit our blog. Enabling the autonomous software ecosystem As autonomous systems move towards more software-defined functionality, Arm is working to accelerate the development of software that will fully realize the benefits of these new technologies through initiatives such as Project Cassini, aimed at laying the foundation for the adoption of cloud native software paradigms across the entirety of edge computing. Arm is also working with multiple open source communities and specialist software vendors to widely enable the autonomous software ecosystem, adopting innovations from the established cloud native ecosystem, and collaboratively driving new development to support the features required for autonomous workloads. Find out more about this at Arm DevSummit. ENDS Supporting Partner Quotes AImotive As a leader in AI-based automotive software, we are collaborating closely with Arm on software solutions for ADAS and autonomous driving. We are excited to see this next generation of Arms safety-engineered IP, helping deliver more deployable automated driving solutions and provide the foundational compute required for future automotive systems. Laszlo Kishonti, CEO of AImotive KUKA The future of smart manufacturing requires innovative automation solutions with compute capabilities that support the safe, flexible and seamless operation of factories. The Arm architecture is already powering some of our key industrial solutions, and we see Arms new technologies as a positive step towards enabling the safety and further development of robotics needed for industrial operations to move closer to true autonomy. Michael Wagner, director, Competence Center Control Technology at KUKA. NVIDIA Powerful new processing capabilities are needed to enable future autonomous vehicles and machines. As a lead partner for the new Arm Cortex-A78AE, NVIDIA delivers the advanced performance and safety these edge AI systems require with our next-generation NVIDIA Orin SoC. Gary Hicok, senior vice president of hardware development at NVIDIA. Volkswagen Group The requirements for higher levels of driver automation, electrification and immersive in-vehicle experiences are continually growing, and scalable, heterogenous, safe compute is critical in order to meet the requirements of future vehicle electronics systems. Innovation such as Arms new technologies and the extensive ecosystem that supports it will help to accelerate the deployment of next-generation vehicles. Alexander Hitzinger, senior vice president for autonomous driving in the Volkswagen Group and CEO of Artemis. Additional Resources Read more about how Arm autonomous IP addresses developer needs in deploying next-generation autonomous systems on Arm Blueprint. About Arm Arm technology is at the heart of a computing and data revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate. Our advanced, energy-efficient processor designs have enabled intelligent computing in 180 billion chips and our technologies now securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. In combination with our IoT device, connectivity and data management platform, we are also enabling customers with powerful and actionable business insights that are generating new value from their connected devices and data. Together with 1,000+ technology partners we are at the forefront of designing, securing and managing all areas of compute from the chip to the cloud. Human rights organisation Amnesty International India on Tuesday announced that it will be shutting its operations in the country after it was compelled to let go off staff in India and halt all its research work as all its bank accounts have been frozen. The rather shocking news came a month after the organisation accused the Delhi police of complicity in the riots that broke out in the national capital in February. Around the same time, the organisation estimated that India had the highest number of deaths of health workers due to coronavirus. This is not the first time that the international human rights organisation has faced problems with the Indian government. Avinash Kumar, Executive Director, Amnesty International India said the continuing crackdown on the organisation over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. In October 2018, Amnesty International India was raided by the Enforcement Directorate. The residence of a director was also raided. After the raid, the bank accounts were also frozen by the ED. Amnesty is being investigated by the probe agency over alleged irregularities in receiving foreign funds. According to the home ministry, the human rights organisation got money into India through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) route" which is not allowed in the case of non-profits. But India is not the only country that has had a rough history with Amnesty. In fact, the organisation has got in crosshairs with the governments of several countries, especially countries with conflict situations. However, several nations have accused Amnesty of selection bias against non-Western or those not supported by the West. Here are some nations that have objected to the work done by Amnesty. Israel Amnesty has long since been criticised and discredited by Israel due to its documentation and reporting on the ongoing conflict between the Jewish nation and Palestine. In 2009, it had published an annual report which condemned its treatment of Palestinian Authority Arabs. Israeli authorities claimed that the report carried half-baked research and that it reflected bias on the NGOs part which allegedly underplayed the atrocities of extremist groups like Hamas against Israel. Democratic Republic of Congo In 2000, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) blasted Amnesty for its annual report on the nation which alleged that the government was running a campaign and witch-hunt to suppress dissent in the country, (much like the NGOs allegations against India). Russia The only country, apart from India, where the Amnesty shut its office is Russia.We operate in over 70 countries, and the only other country previously that we had been forced to shut operations in was Russia in 2016, Rajat Khosla, Senior Director of Research and Advocacy was quoted as saying by the BBC. Amnesty Internationals Moscow Office was sealed in November 2016, much to the surprise of the staff who arrived for the duty that morning. A notice on the organisations Moscow said the building was property of a city of the Russian Federation and that nobody could enter without being accompanied by a municipal official. The locks and alarm system had been removed and the electricity supply appeared to have been cut off. China Under the guise of national security, Amnesty warned Chinese Premier Xi Jinping had enacted serious threats to human rights into law in 2017. President Xi had laid out Chinas new policy direction for the next five years during his maiden party congress speech on the opening day of the Congress. He stressed the need to tighten supervision of party members and institutionalize anti-corruption. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:29:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam delivers a speech during the handover ceremony of Central Military Dock in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 29, 2020. The HKSAR government on Tuesday handed over the Central Military Dock to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in the HKSAR. (Xinhua) HONG KONG, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Tuesday handed over the Central Military Dock to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in the HKSAR. The dock has been delimited as a military restricted zone with effect from 7:00 a.m. local time Tuesday and will be managed and used by the garrison, the HKSAR government said, citing the Law of the People's Republic of China on Garrisoning the HKSAR. The dock in Central is 150 meters long and has an area of 0.3 hectare. Under the Basic Law of the HKSAR, the central government is responsible for the defense of the HKSAR. The dock is a military site and facility that should be re-provisioned by the HKSAR government for the garrison. The dock is the last military facility required to be re-provisioned for use by the garrison, and the HKSAR government has fulfilled its relevant responsibilities after the handover, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. This is a historic moment that fully underlines the relationship between the central authorities and the HKSAR under "one country, two systems" and carries an important constitutional significance, Lam said. Over the past 23 years since Hong Kong returned to the motherland, the garrison has been performing its defense duties strictly in accordance with the Basic Law, the garrison law and relevant laws, Lam said. The garrison has provided a solid back-up for maintaining the HKSAR's long-term prosperity and stability and is well respected by Hong Kong residents, Lam said. Commander of the PLA Garrison in the HKSAR Chen Daoxiang said the garrison will use and manage the dock in strict accordance with the law and continue to keep close communications with relevant departments to ensure the sound operation of the dock. Enditem On September 28, Belarusian opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Vilnius, Lithuania on the second day of his visit to Baltic countries to reassure Frances security commitments, an Elysee official confirmed, according to a Politico report. Tikhanovskaya is expected to address France's parliament, as she told local media reporters that the French President agreed to negotiate with Belarus and secure the release of demonstrators amid Belarus political crisis. Tikhanovskaya had fled into exile in Vilnius over the fear of detention by the disputed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. In what is being called as one most high-profile meeting between the Belarusian opposition leader and Frances President, the European nation agreed to be a political mediator and help resolve the political fallout in Belarus. In a press address, Macron urged Belarus authorities to stop committing the human rights abuse and unlawful arrests against the citizens and demanded the immediate release of the arbitrarily detained protesters by the Belarusian security forces. [French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he is welcomed by Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nauseda, at the Presidential palace in Vilnius, Lithuania. Credit: AP] He further demanded the autocratic leader to honour the will of the people and respect elections. The Belarusian opposition leader had also addressed the UN Human Rights Council and the European Parliament asking the European countries ministers for The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mediation for the situation in Belarus. We had a very good discussion. Now we need to be pragmatic and to support Belarus people and we will do all that, AP quoted Macron. Read: Belarus Leader Alexander Lukashenko has To Go, Says French President Emmanuel Macron Read: Belarus Tells UN Sanctions Would Be 'harmful For Everyone' Citizens demand Lukashenko's ouster Earlier, the Belarus security forces made detention of hundreds of protesters after they flooded the streets in a peoples inauguration of the real president Tikhanovskaya rally, voicing support of opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Officers in riot gear fired stun grenades and tear has to disperse the mob, and dragged scores of demonstrators into the van, according to Associated Press sources. Citizens demanded the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko's ouster for the 50th consecutive day into the seventh week. French President Emmanuel Macron asked Lukashenko to step down citing the humanitarian crisis at the civilian's protests, as he said in a press conference that the Belarus leader must go.Macron said there was a power crisis in Belarus with an authoritarian administration that is not able to accept the logic of democracy. [People with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus.] Read: Belarus: Makei Says Foreign Interference Might Be Harmful, Asks States To Show 'wisdom' Read: Belarus Police Use Tear Gas, Detain Protesters (Images Credit: AP) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it is monitoring four volcanoes exhibiting abnormal' behavior. These include the Taal Volcano in Batangas, Mayon Volcano in Albay, Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon, and Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island. During the Department of Science and Technologys (DOST) Senate budget hearing on Tuesday, Phivolcs Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Renato Solidum said Taal Volcano has shown trends of decreasing activity from January to March, but has started to swell again due to pressure. Solidum said they are also closely monitoring Mayon Volcano, which is slightly inflating at its base. Nonetheless, at alert level 1, all the four mentioned volcanoes can have a steam-driven explosion, Solidum clarified. He explained that magma can boil up water and cause so-called phreatic explosions. As a precaution, people will be prohibited from enteringg danger zones. Senators expressed concern over the 133-million disapproved budget of Phivolcs for 2021. Solidum assured them that the disapproved budget items will not affect their monitoring of volcanoes, but it will affect the IT system and modernization of the agencys stations in the regions. As you know, many of the monitoring systems now are directly supported by IT," Solidum said. "Even if you have sensors, these will be operated and maintained and operated by IT equipment and those were taken away." Other projects that failed to get funding were the strengthening of tsunami awareness and the resilience of communities. Meanwhile, the DOST and senators agreed the department's budget for research and development in 2021 is not enough. The DOST has a total budget of P23.89 billion, but it received a 76-million budget cut for its research and development programs. Senators assured the DOST that they will work on returning some of the slashed budget to fund the departments priority projects, including research and development projects for grants and aids worth 2.1 billion and the upgrading of technological capabilities of the agencys productive sectors worth 1.2 billion. Senator Ping Lacson proposed to integrate the research and development programs of all government agencies under the DOST. He clarified that the budget will still be lodged under the respective agencies, with the DOST helping to determine priorities and steer the direction of the research and development programs. Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday will sign a $32.7 billion, nine-month state budget into law. The spending plan is unlike any other in recent years, with $4.5 billion in borrowing, a historic pension contribution and a really big surplus. India and Bangladesh on Tuesday created a high-level mechanism to monitor development projects funded by New Delhi even as Dhaka sought removal of non-tariff barriers and greater trade facilitation to enhance the export of its products. Bangladeshs long-standing demand for early resolution of the sharing of waters of the Teesta river and agreements on sharing of all common rivers also figured in the virtual meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) co-chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen. Momen also expressed the hope that India, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2021-22, would play a more meaningful role for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis, including their early repatriation to Myanmar in a safe and sustainable manner, according to a statement from Bangladeshs foreign ministry. The two sides decided to form a high level monitoring committee headed by the secretary of Bangladeshs Economic Relations Division and the Indian envoy in Dhaka to regularly review the implementation of projects under three lines of credit (LoC) agreements, a joint statement said. Momen raised non-tariff barriers and lack of trade facilitation that he said were impeding the flow of Bangladeshi goods to India, particularly the northeastern states. The Bangladeshi side asked India to address issues related to accreditation, certification, standardisation, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to enable further exports. Momen also requested Jaishankar to look into export of essential commodities, such as onions, by India since it impacts the domestic market of Bangladesh. Indias recent ban on onion exports had a huge impact on prices in Bangladesh, and New Delhi subsequently allowed the movement of onion supplies already contracted for by Bangladeshi importers. Tuesdays JCC meeting was part of efforts by the two sides to set ties, hit by a string of irritants since last year, on an even keel. Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla had visited Dhaka in August, when he delivered a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. The two ministers also agreed more steps can be taken to enhance trade and investment between India and Bangladesh, the top two economies in South Asia, such as removal of all types of barriers. The Bangladeshi side appreciated Indias decision for duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to the Indian market under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) pact, due to which Bangladeshi exports crossed the $1-billion mark in 2018-19 though the balance of trade remains in Indias favour. However, the sharing of waters of the Teesta river, held up by objections from the West Bengal government, continues to be an issue that Dhaka wants New Delhi to address speedily. Jaishankar noted the two sides share 54 rivers and said: We remain committed to Teesta water-sharing and, in the meanwhile, are equally committed to move forward on other seven rivers on which data has been already shared with [the Bangladeshi] side. The two sides agreed to consider convening the ministerial-level meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC), which has not met since 2010. Jaishankar thanked Bangladesh for supporting India in its election to the UN Security Council, and the joint statement said the two ministers reiterated the importance of the safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar of the forcibly displaced persons from the Rakhine state of Myanmar, currently being sheltered by Bangladesh. Momen emphasised that unless the problem is resolved quickly, there are possibilities of pockets of radicalism disrupting economic growth, peace and stability in the region and requested Indias leverage to address the crisis, the joint statement added. Both sides also agreed to expedite work on energy projects such as the Friendship Pipeline and Maitree Super Thermal Power Project and Momen said tripartite power and energy cooperation with Nepal and Bhutan was also discussed. The two sides also discussed defence cooperation, including training and exchanges, and called for the early implementation of a defence line of credit. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The PDP chief's daughter has sought cancellation of detention orders against the former J&K chief minister and appropriate compensation for her 'illegal detention' New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti's amended plea challenging the detention of her mother, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, saying it cannot go on forever and "some via media" should be explored. A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy granted 15 days to the Union Territory to file a response and asked as to what was the maximum period for which a person can be detained under the specific law and whether the authorities proposed to continue with the detention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader. On the issue of the permission to attend party meetings, the top court, in a hearing conducted through video conferencing here, said that the PDP President should place such a request with the authorities. The bench took note of the submission of lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Iltija, that Mufti's daughter and other relatives should be allowed to meet her in detention. Even people in jails are allowed to meet their families, the lawyer argued. The bench said he requests for visitation and meetings may be placed before the authorities concerned and allowed. At the outset of the brief hearing, the bench said that it would like to deal with certain issues as to what can be the maximum period of detention under the law and asked the authorities about the period of detention to which she may be kept. "Find some via media out. Detention can't be forever," the bench observed while posting the matter for hearing on 15 October after filing of the fresh reply of the UT administration to the amended plea of Iltija. Referring to the earlier reply of the UT authorities, the bench said that it needed to go through the reply and "will have to see what is to be done". The top court, in February this year, had issued notice to the UT authorities on the habeas corpus (bring the person) plea of Iltija challenging the detention of her mother and had sought the response by 18 March. The PDP president was put under detention on the eve of abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on 5 August last year. In her application, filed in the pending petition, Iltija said it has been filed praying for permission to amend the plea and seeking a writ of habeas corpus. "The amendment sought is to include grounds of challenge and additional prayers for challenging the orders of confirmation (dated 26 February) and subsequent extensions (5 May and 31 July) of the detention order (of Mehbooba) impugned in the writ petition," the application reads. The writ petition has challenged Mehbooba's detention on several grounds. It contends that the grounds and the dossier for detention are "stale, vague and that they suffer from non-application of mind, malice in law and that they violate the provisions of Section 8(3)(b) of the PSA". "The detention order based on stale grounds have become staler even more since the petition was filed and the respondent administration has continued to act with total non-application of mind and the malice in law has only been reinforced and aggravated in confirming and extending the order of detention for further periods," it said. Seeking permission to allow her to amend the section of the writ petition entitled Prayers, Iltija pleaded for issuance of the writ in the nature of habeas corpus commanding the respondents the central and Jammu and Kashmir governments to produce Mehbooba forthwith before the court for being set at liberty. Pleading for direction or order quashing the impugned order of detention and subsequent extension orders, the application sought appropriate compensation to Mehbooba for the "illegal detention that she has suffered" and to award costs of the litigation to the petitioner. "I have challenged her PSA order and the subsequent extensions to ensure her continued detention. Her detention is illegal and questionable in a democracy," Iltija had said, adding "a key opposition leader has been jailed for over a year without recourse to trial." At least three of the four main unions representing employees at France's Renault plan to signal their disagreement with its cost-cutting plans, several union sources said, adding to the carmaker's turnaround headaches. Loss-making Renault, which is 15 percent owned by the French government, has outlined 2 billion euros ($2.34 billion) in savings, including via job cuts and by reorganising its factories, to restore profitability. It has pledged to consult unions on the process. Employee representatives only have a consultative power on the plans, but rejecting them will complicate negotiations for new Chief Executive Luca de Meo. The CFE-CGC, CFDT and CGT labour unions will reject Renault's plans at a meeting with representatives of the firm on Tuesday, three union sources said. A fourth union, Force Ouvriere (FO), is also due to go against them, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Tuesday. Renault declined to comment. Bengaluru, Sep 30 : As part of widespread hunt for ganja (Marijuana) growers, the police in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district raided sugarcane fields where ganja was stealthily grown and seized more than 6,000 ganja plants. The widespread hunt for the ganja growers or stockists has commenced after the Bengaluru police had seized 1,350 kg of ganja from a sheep farm about a month ago. Kalaburagi is 626 km from Bengaluru. The police are on the lookout for both owners of this field where ganja was allegedly grown - Hanumanta Raya Nayak and Bhima Raya Nayak who are on the run after their fields were raided. The police said that the Kalabaurgi which shares borders with Telangana and Maharashtra makes it ideal choice for drug smugglers to hide and transport from here. "Hyderabad city is very near to this district. The city also has a large population of IT employees. Thus storing or growing ganja becomes ideal here. Besides this, transporting drugs especially ganja from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra becomes very easy as it is well connected with these states," a police officer said. Speaking to IANS from Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police, Simi Mariam George said that the field is located in the middle of the forest area and only a narrow path leads to this field. "All the surrounding fields grow sugarcane and that is how, their ill-act was concealed all these years," she said. She added that the district police have formed special squads across the district under every deputy superintendent of police officer, to gather information to nab such people across the district. LOUISVILLE, Ky. The lone Kentucky detective facing charges related to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor pleaded not guilty Monday. Brett Hankisons plea comes five days after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the home of Taylors neighbors. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison on each count. Hankisons lawyer asked that his client be allowed to keep firearms for self-defense, saying Hankison, who was fired in June, has received a number of threats. The judge turned down the request. The grand jury declined to charge Hankison or the other two undercover narcotics officers who opened fire inside Taylors house with her shooting. The decision not to charge the officers set off protests in Louisville and across the country. On Monday, Louisvilles mayor lifted the curfew put in place after people refused to end their nighttime protests. Mayor Greg Fischers statement said the 9 p.m. curfew had served its purpose. We sadly saw some violence, including the shooting of two police officers, one of whom remains hospitalized, dealing with complications of his injuries. But we believe the curfew helped, by ensuring fewer people were out late in the day, Fischer said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the protests were largely peaceful, with a few people taking advantage of the situation to commit violence. Let me say this, 99.99% of people that took to the streets or the sidewalks did so peacefully, raised their voices to be heard and we should listen. We should listen to the trauma and to the pain, Beshear said. Meanwhile, Kentucky state Rep. Lisa Willner, a Louisville Democrat, said Monday that shes starting to craft legislation that would narrow the scope of the states rioting statute. Her proposal, which she intends to offer in next years legislative session, would protect people from being charged with first-degree rioting if theyre present but dont engage in destructive or violent actions. Her response comes after Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott was charged with the felony last week while participating in Louisville protests for racial justice. This is not any attempt at all to weaken the current law, Willner said in a phone interview. Its just to make sure that people who are peacefully protesting, who are merely exercising their First Amendment rights, are clearly not engaging in rioting. Scott was among demonstrators who converged in downtown Louisville to express their disagreement with the grand jury decision. Many marched along Louisvilles streets chanting Breonna Taylor, say her name, and no justice, no peace. Taylor was shot multiple times after her boyfriend opened fire as officers entered her home during a narcotics raid on the night of March 13, authorities said. Taylors boyfriend said he didnt know who was coming in and fired in self-defense. One officer was wounded. A coroners report obtained Monday says Taylor was shot five times and died of multiple gunshot wounds. It says she was hit in the torso, her upper left extremity and both lower extremities. She tested negative for drugs and alcohol. Scott, the states only Black woman representative, was arrested and charged Thursday night with the felony of first-degree rioting as well as unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, which are misdemeanor offenses. Police said Scott was in a group whose members damaged buildings and set fire to a library. Scott called the charges ludicrous and said she would never be involved in setting fire to a library. She said she was arrested as she walked with her daughter to the sanctuary of a church. Kentucky law defines a riot as a public disturbance involving five or more people which by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs law enforcement or other government function. The law defines first-degree rioting as knowingly participating in a riot that causes injury to a person who is not rioting or causes substantial property damage. Scott said she and her daughter were driving from a protest to a church that offered refuge to people who would otherwise be caught violating the curfew when police blocked their route, so they parked and walked to the church instead. Officers then converged on them to make arrests before the curfew took effect, Scott said. LMPD swarmed us, Scott said. They started yelling, Circle em, circle em. They wouldnt let us leave to go back to our vehicle. And they wouldnt let us literally cross the street to get to the church and sanctuary. Willner said Scotts arrest raises the question of how many others have been accused of rioting in the first degree which is a felony who are facing loss of voting rights, simply by being present. We can make the language much clearer so that in order for a person to be convicted for riot in the first degree, it should be clear that they participated in the unlawful action by engaging in violent or destructive acts or by complicitly encouraging others to engage in violent or destructive acts, she said. Republicans have overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Kentucky legislature. ___ Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. STATE Security minister Owen Ncube yesterday sensationally accused the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance of engaging in acts of sabotage and banditry by smuggling guns into the country and setting up militia groups to topple government. Ncube told journalists that State security agents had gathered information that the opposition had connived with some disgruntled Zanu PF members to smuggle arms into the country to destabilise President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration. We are watching attempts to drive Zimbabwe into chaos. Some rogue elements among us are conniving with hostile Western governments to smuggle guns and set up so-called democratic resistance committees that are to all intents and purposes violent militia groups. Ncube said. These plans are key components of operation Light House, the brainchild of Western powers, that seek to destroy the democratic foundations of Zimbabwe, make the country ungovernable and justify foreign intervention. As the security sector, we shall take concrete action to deal with such threats, Ncube said. On calls by pressure groups to close the Beitbridge Border Post over worsening human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Ncube said that would be a declaration of war. No country in the world and no sane people would tolerate elements who openly mobilise to close their borders, particularly when COVID-19 pandemic is threatening lives and the economy. In any country, such people would be treated as traitors. At international law, a blockade is tantamount to declaration of war, he said. Ncube dismissed reports of factional wars within the ruling Zanu PF as fake. The latest ploy of regime change has manifested itself in the oppositions never ending calls for demonstrations aimed at diverting government from pursuing its vision 2030 agenda and stoking factionalism in Zanu PF, Ncube said. While government is moving on with its reform agenda, we note the need of the MDC Alliance to reform itself into a normal opposition party that embraces outcomes of democratic processes and has the patience to wait for another opportunity to prove to voters that it deserves their trust, Ncube said. Newsday You can imagine on a really hot day its going to get really hot inside, she said. The bigger concern was a personal safety concern. People want to be able to be visible when waiting there. They dont want to be in an enclosed structure where no one else can see them. Advertisement The number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States is now the highest it has been in six weeks and has been rising steadily in a total of 27 states for the last two weeks. Infections across the country are currently averaging at more than 41,000 cases per day. Cases have been on the rise since mid-September following Labor Day weekend gatherings and the reopening of colleges and schools in some states. Prior to the uptick, cases had been trending downwards nationally since July when about 70,000 infections were being reported daily. There were just over 33,000 cases reported nationwide on Monday. Deaths due to COVID-19 have been on a downward trajectory for most of September but appear to now be plateauing. The average number of Americans dying per day is at just over 740, which is down from the peak 2,000 deaths being reported per day back in April. The US recorded 316 deaths nationwide on Monday. There is often a lag in weekend reporting, which accounts for low numbers at the beginning of each week. Deaths related to COVID-19 are a lagging indicator and can potentially rise several weeks after new cases. COVID-19 infections across the United States are currently averaging at more than 41,000 cases per day and have been on the rise since mid-September The number of new cases has been rising for two straight weeks in 27 out of 50 states. North Carolina and New Mexico both reported increases of more than 50 percent last week compared to the previous seven days. Texas also reported a 60 percent jump in new cases but that is down to a backlog of several thousands cases The number of new cases has been rising for two straight weeks in 27 out of 50 states. North Carolina and New Mexico both reported increases of more than 50 percent last week compared to the previous seven days, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county data. Cases in North Carolina increased by 60 percent after adding 13,700 cases in a week, while New Mexico saw infection rise 55 percent with 1,260 new cases. Texas also reported a 60 percent jump in new cases but that is down to a backlog of several thousands cases. The Midwest has now emerged as the country's new hotspot with hospitalizations surging in some states. Wisconsin set records for new cases twice last week and is now reporting more new infections each day than Florida. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming have all set records for new daily cases three times this month. Cases in New York state have started to rise again for the first time in months but the increases there are among the smallest in all of the states. The percentage of COVID-19 tests taken in New York state that have come back positive has inched up to 1.5 percent for the first time in weeks. Deaths due to COVID-19 have been on a downward trajectory for most of September but appear to now be plateauing. The average number of Americans dying per day is at just over 740, which is down from the peak 2,000 deaths being reported per day back in April In the last week, deaths have risen the most in Utah (89%), Nebraska (250%), North Dakota (62%), Missouri (114%) and Delaware (100%) compared to the previous seven days. Deaths related to COVID-19 are a lagging indicator and can rise for several weeks after cases start declining Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that it was a worrisome trend for the former epicenter of the US outbreak. New York's positivity rate had hovered around 1 percent for weeks, a hard-won metric after the state tallied thousands of cases per day during the peak of its outbreak in April. The state's positive test rate remains much lower than that of some Midwestern states where 15 percent of tests have been coming back positive. Nationally, the share of all tests that came back positive for COVID-19 held steady at about 5 percent in the last week, which is well below a recent peak of nearly 9 percent in mid-July, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project. However, 28 states have positive test rates above the 5 percent level that the World Health Organization considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered. The positivity rate has risen to 26 percent in South Dakota. Wisconsin's rate was at 19 percent on Monday, Iowa's was 16 percent, Missouri's was 16 percent, Kansas' was 15 percent and Nebraska's 14 percent. Dr Anthony Fauci said the uptick in some states was concerning given the weather is getting colder and people will be spending more time indoors, increasing the likelihood of spread. 'We're not in a good place ... because as we get into the fall and the winter you really want the level of community spread to be as low as you can possibly get it,' Fauci told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday. The Midwest has now emerged as the country's new hotspot with hospitalizations surging in some states. Several Midwestern states including Wisconsin, South Dakota and Utah have set record single-day highs in cases in the last week Cities and states have continued reopening at varying speeds. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she would loosen capacity restrictions related to COVID-19 for bars, restaurants and health clubs later this week. "This next step in our reopening is good news for business owners as well as the communities they serve and the thousands of residents that work for them," Lightfoot said. On Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lifted all capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants. Video footage posted to social media over the weekend showed mask-less Floridians drinking and dancing in crowded bars. Fauci called Florida's reopening of bars and restaurants at full capacity over the weekend 'very concerning'. 'Well that is very concerning to me, I mean, we have always said that, myself and Dr Deborah Birx, who is the coordinator of the task force, that that is something we really need to be careful about,' he said. 'When you're dealing with community spread, and you have the kind of congregate setting where people get together, particularly without masks, you're really asking for trouble. Now's the time actually to double down a bit, and I don't mean close. 'When I say that, people get concerned that we're talking about shutting down. We're not talking about shutting anything down, we're talking about common sense type of public health measures that we've been talking about all along.' President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Facebook after the social media giant took down what it said were fake accounts linked to the Philippine police and the armed forces that supported his governments activities. In his weekly public address late on Monday, Duterte asked what the purpose of Facebook was if not for the government to be able to disseminate its policy objectives. Last week, Facebook announced it had removed dozens of what it described as fake accounts based in China and others linked to the police and military in the Philippines. You cannot lay down a policy for my government. I allow you to operate here. You cannot bar or prevent me from espousing the objectives of the government, Duterte said. Is there life after Facebook? I dont know. But we need to talk. He also issued a veiled threat to shut down the social media giants operations in the Philippines. Facebook, listen to me. We allow you to operate here hoping that you could help us also. Now, if the government cannot espouse or advocate something which is for the good of the people, then what is your purpose here in my country? Duterte said. Facebook last week took down accounts which it said had violated its policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity. The China-based accounts were traced to individuals from Fujian and consisted of clusters of connected activity that relied on fake accounts to evade enforcement, post content and managed pages, Facebook said. In addition to the accounts originating in China, Facebook found that the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were linked to accounts that actively campaigned against the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed-wing, the New People's Army. We also removed 57 Facebook accounts, 31 pages and 20 Instagram accounts for violating our policy against foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity. This network originated in the Philippines and focused on domestic audiences, Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebooks cybersecurity policy, said in a statement on Sept. 22. These domestic accounts activity appeared to have accelerated between 2019 and 2020 and included posts on domestic politics and military activities against terrorism, Facebook said. On Tuesday, Facebook officials in the Philippines declined to comment on Dutertes statements about the company. Army-linked fake accounts? In his speech on Monday, the Philippine president didnt directly comment on the accounts allegedly linked to the countrys police and army. Instead, he accused Facebook of encouraging the political left. You know, Facebook, insurgency is about overturning government, Duterte said. What would be the point of allowing you to continue if you cannot help us? We are not advocating mass destruction, we are not advocating mass massacre. Its a fight of ideas. Meanwhile, the military, which last week denied that accounts maintained by it were removed, said on Tuesday that it had appealed to Facebook to reconsider taking down the account of a group called Hands-Off Our Children. In a statement, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo described the group as one of parents whose children were allegedly recruited by the communist guerrillas. He said the armed forces were thankful to the Commander-in-Chiefs expression of support to the AFPs campaign that, after all, may well be every Filipinos war against the Communist Terrorist Group NPA. The AFP views Facebook and other Socmed [social media] outfits as platforms to disseminate accurate information that would empower our people to see through the lies and reject terrorist organizations masquerading as pro-people. Like Duterte, the forces spokesman said Facebook executives should discuss with the government how Filipinos would benefit from its presence in the country. On Tuesday, Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said the president did want to talk with Facebook officials and protest their actions. Facebooks recent action of taking down fake accounts is a matter we leave to the sound judgment and discretion of the popular global social networking company, Roque said. However, we are one in advocating the truth and dismissing disinformation, lies and hatred, Roque said, calling on Facebook to exercise prudence in all its actions to remove any doubt of bias, given its power and reach, he said. Facebook is immensely popular in the Philippines. An estimated 74 million people used the social networking site in the country as of 2019, official government statistics showed. In March 2019, the social media giant took down a cluster of 200 fake accounts operated by Nic Gabunada, the man identified by news reports as the strategist behind Dutertes social media campaign during his electoral run for the presidency in 2016. Facebook said the accounts violated rules on fraudulent activities. Facebook said at the time that the accounts linked to Gabunada were designed to look independent, but in fact we can see that they were coordinated. These accounts spent at least U.S. $59,000 (2.86 million pesos) on advertisements. Restaurants and bars will be able to serve more customers indoors after the state of Chicago announced on Monday that it is easing its COVID-19 restrictions. Indoor seating at Chicago restaurants had been limited to 25 percent capacity. This will increase to 40 percent after the rules take effect at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday. However, the limits of six people per table and 50 people per room will remain. Bars that serve alcohol but no food will again serve customers indoors at 25 percent capacity or a maximum of 40 people. Customers are to stay for two hours maximum and must stay seated. No ordering at the bar is allowed, as well. "The restrictions we're lifting today, we're excited about because they mark progress. If we start to see things heading in the wrong direction, we may have to move backward," Chicago's health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, was quoted in a report. Mayor Lori Lightfoot also acknowledged that businesses in Chicago were devastated by COVID-19. She also lauded the citywide operation from businesses that kept Chicago from seeing a huge uptick in cases as it slowly reopened. However, a spike among you people after indoor drinking restrictions was eased in June, which led to those rules being tightened again in July. The new 40 percent capacity rule will also apply to health and fitness centers, personal services, non-essential retail, and other establishments. Bars will also be allowed to sell alcohol until 1:00 a.m. and stay open until 1:30 a.m. Liquor stores and grocery stores selling alcohol to-go, however, must stop at 9:00 p.m. Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said that restaurants had been hugely affected by the pandemic. Toia added that the industry has taken "every precaution" to protect diners and employees. He said that easing restrictions give struggling restaurants and bars a chance to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Toia urged the federal government to help out the restaurant industry as it has helped the airlines. Arwady added that despite eased restrictions, residents of Chicago should still follow a public health guideline. This includes wearing masks, social distancing, frequent hand washing, and staying home when sick. Otherwise, according to the mayor's office, the state might risk falling back and experiencing another rise in cases. "As you know we're not below 200 cases per day. We are making decisions in a way that is careful, and that will let us continue to move ahead," Arwady was quoted. Salons and barbershops, facials, shaves, and other personal services for which customer should remove their masks will be allowed. However, employees must remain masked and complete the service in 15 minutes. Lightfoot said they continue to see new cases and hospitalization every day. She added that people are still dying from COVID-19. "So we have to remain diligent and make sure we do everything that we can to respond to this horrible, horrible virus," Lightfoot was quoted in a report. Check these out! The 36 states of the federation filed a lawsuit against the Buhari administration on Monday, seeking to halt a new executive order that strips the federal government of the responsibility of funding courts. President Muhammadu Buhari had in May signed an Executive Order No. 00-10 of 2020 to enforce the financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary at the state level. But the states said in the lawsuit that the federal government is forcing its responsibility of funding both the capital and recurrent expenditures of the state high courts, Sharia Court of Appeal, and the Customary Court of Appeal, on the state governments. The lawsuit, filed at the Supreme Court, Abuja, takes aim at what nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria and six lawyers, led by a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Augustine Alegeh, called the federal governments unlawful action to escape being responsible for funding the courts. This, they argued, is a clear violation of Sections 6 and 8(3) of 1999 Constitution, which make funding of the listed courts a responsibility of the federal government. However, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, backing the president, had earlier said the order was constitutional. It is based on the power vested in him as the president under Section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended), which extends to the execution and maintenance of the Constitution, laws made by the National Assembly (including but not limited to Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended), which guarantee financial autonomy of the State, Mr Malami said. According to the AGF, the order provides that: The Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this Order and such any other Orders, Regulations or Guidelines as may be issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, authorise the deduction from the source in the course of Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any State of the Federation that fails to release allocation meant for the state legislature and state judiciary in line with the financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended). But the attorneys behind the suit are seeking an injunction that will block the order from being effected. The sole respondent in the suit is the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Malami. In another prayer, the 36 states, which said they had been funding capital projects in the listed courts since 2009, want the Supreme Court to order the federal government to make a refund to them. Since the 5th of May 2009, the defendant had not funded the capital and recurrent expenditures of the state high courts, Sharia Court of Appeal and the Customary Court of Appeal of the plaintiffs states, apart from paying only the salaries of the judicial officers of the said courts. The plaintiffs states have been solely responsible for funding the capital and recurrent expenditures of the state high courts, Sharia Court of Appeal and the Customary Court of Appeal of the plaintiffs states, which the defendant has failed and/or refused to fund, they said. Democrats are pretty clearly about to spend the month until Election Day using Donald Trumps $750 tax bill as a rhetorical nunchuck, whacking him with it whenever they get an opening. The morning after the New York Times published its blockbuster report on the presidents filings, Joe Biden was already selling buttons that read I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump. They cost $7.50. In the longer term, though, our presidents adventures in tax avoidance should also provide a great opportunity to build political momentum for rebuilding our our battered, broken-down Internal Revenue Service, a policy item that should be high on Democrats to-do list if they retake power. Advertisement Right now is a great time to be a tax cheat in America. A decade of budget cuts and massive staff reductions have badly weakened the IRS, stripping it of the resources necessary to police frauds, and slowing audits to a trickle. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, millionaires are now 61 percent less likely to be frisked by the IRS than they were in 2010. There are manifold legal ways for rich business owners, and particularly real estate developers, to shield their income from the feds, especially with the aid of creative attorneys and accountants. But if you fudge your filings by leaving out some earnings or stretch the rules past their obvious breaking point, theres an excellent chance that nobody will even check. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fixing this situation would pay for itself, since each new IRS agent brings in more revenue for the government than they cost to employ. The Congressional Budget Office has suggested that stepping up tax enforcement a bit could yield an extra $35 billion over a decade. But that may grossly underestimate the potential return on investment: Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and University of Pennsylvania law professor Natasha Sarin argue, for instance, that a more ambitious and comprehensive approach to crack down on tax dodging could raise $1 trillion. Either way, enforcing the law would be free. Thats the beauty of the tax code. But pouring money into the IRS could be politically tricky. Republicans have spent the better part of the past three decades demonizing the agency en route to shredding its budget and slashing its manpower. When presidential candidate Michael Dukakis complained in 1988 that billions in taxes were going unpaid each year and that the government should pump up the IRSs resources, George H.W. Bush accused him of trying to unleash an army of IRS agents into everybodys kitchen. In 1998, Republicans seeking to dynamite the tax code held a series of wild hearings about alleged IRS abuses that included febrile testimony about flak-jacketed, gun-wielding agents raiding businesses, much of which turned out to be either misleading or pure fiction. In the Obama years, the GOP drummed up a fake controversy about the IRS supposedly targeting conservative nonprofits for audits. Somewhat surprisingly, Trumps own Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has been a voice of reason in recent years, making the case for restoring the IRSs funding, telling Congress it was understaffed and under-resourced. But given the GOPs history on the issue, it seems likely that any effort to seriously rebuild the agency will be met with conservative opposition and hysterics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response, Democrats can now point to the presidents taxes. We do not know for sure whether Trump himself has broken any tax laws, though the New York Times investigation certainly raises the possibility over and over. The president paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the 15 years before he ran for office, and just $750 in both 2016 and 2017. He lowered his liability in part by reporting large losses on many of his businesses; some of that red ink may have only existed on paper, and some of it may have been the real result of his financial ineptitude. He is currently locked in an audit with the IRS, focused on a $72.9 million refund he may have improperly claimed after giving up his stake in his failed casinos. If he loses, he could be forced to pay back more than $100 million after interest and penalties are tacked on. Advertisement Advertisement But Trump seems to have aggressively gamed the tax code in other ways too, by claiming deductions that the New York Times suggests he may not have been entitled to. He wrote off millions of dollars of property taxes for Seven Springs, his mansion in Westchester County, New York, as a business expense, even though his son Eric has described it as a family compound. Based on the papers reporting, it appears he paid his daughter Ivanka phantom consulting fees for projects she would have worked on as an employee of the Trump Organization, a move that could have lowered the presidents liability while simultaneously skirting gift taxes. He also treated aspects of his lavish lifestyle as a business expense, including $70,000 for hair styling during his Apprentice run, and more than $95,000 in makeup and styling for Ivanka. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is now facing his audit because it was required by law. Tax refunds larger than $2 million have to be approved by Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, a somewhat obscure, nonpartisan panel that began reviewing Trumps $72 million payday in 2011, and nearly reached a deal with his lawyers over it three years later. Instead, the JCT restarted the audit and expanded its investigation up through his 2013 return. But its unclear whether the investigation encompasses any of Trumps other potentially rule-bending behavior. The Times writes, for instance, that theres no evidence that the IRS has examined Trumps ostensible habit of writing off consulting fees for his kids. In a better, more reasonable timeline, businessmen like Trump would be scared out of these sorts of tax games, because wed have a well-funded, aggressive IRS checking and double-checking their returns regularly for suspicious signs of fraud. If Democrats win in November, they have the power to make that a reality. The presidents tiny tax bill is the perfect symbol for the cause. Megan Gale has revealed she is 'reassessing' her life and priorities after her brother Jason's tragic death in July. In an emotional video shared to Instagram on Monday, the 45-year-old model announced she was closing down her children's skincare business, The Mindful Life. 'There's nothing like the death of someone extremely close to you to make you stop and take stock and make you reassess what you're doing with your own life and underline the complete importance of how precious life is,' Megan said. 'Life is precious': On Monday, a heartbroken Megan Gale touched on her brother Jason's death as she announced she was closing her children's skincare business Megan said she was devastated to be closing her business selling natural skincare products for children, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She said she 'fought' hard to keep her business going after being let down by third parties, but admitted it had become 'soul destroying'. 'For me it's been particularly challenging doing a business myself... In short, I trusted the wrong people and with some pretty major elements of the business. What I lost was the most valuable commodity - time,' she said. Grief: The 45-year-old shared an emotional video to Instagram in which she revealed that Jason's (pictured) death in July had made her reassess her life and priorities She explained that she'd tried to save the business by asking advisers for help, but then found out her brother had died, which completely changed her perspective. 'Nothing else mattered except family, that's when I pressed pause, went to Perth and in quarantine,' Megan said. 'That's when I had a lot of time. There's nothing like the death of someone extremely close to you to make you stop and take stock and make you reassess what you're doing with your own life.' Closing down: Megan said she was devastated to be closing her business selling natural skincare products for children, but she knew it was the right thing to do Following Jason's death, she came to realise 'the complete importance of how precious life is and how little time we really do have here and how we don't know how long we have here'. She added: 'As I sat in quarantine, I realised I don't have to keep fighting to rebuild this business, what I should be fighting for is rebuilding myself... Ultimately, day to day, it was becoming less and less harmonious for me.' After winding down her business, Megan now gets to spend more time with her children, River, six, and Rosie, two, and her fiance, retired AFL star Shaun Hampson. She added that 'The Mindful Life 2.0' could always come back in future. Family time: After winding down her business, Megan now gets to spend more time with her children, River, six, and Rosie, two, and her fiance, retired AFL star Shaun Hampson (left) Earlier this month, Megan broke her silence on her brother Jason's death, which occurred in July. Jason Gale, 49, was last seen at a petrol station on July 14 in Western Australia, and was found dead a week later in bushland next to his 1999 Honda CR-V SUV. She said it was a difficult decision whether to travel over to Perth for the funeral, and spend two weeks in quarantine by herself, or to remain with family in her time of grief. Ultimately she chose to travel to Perth, knowing she 'would regret not going' to his funeral, where he was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery. So sad: Earlier this month, Megan broke her silence on her brother Jason's death, which occurred in July. With tough border restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, she revealed on Instagram that she knew she 'would regret not going' to his funeral in Perth 'Part of me wanted to stay in Melbourne and be with my kids and my man at that time when I needed comfort more than any other time in my life,' she said. 'But I also wanted to be in Perth to support my mum, my brother and the rest of my family, and play a part in sending my brother off and putting him to rest.' Megan also revealed her concerns about her attendance drawing 'more media attention' to her brother's death. Tragic: Jason Gale, 49, was last seen at a petrol station on July 14 in Western Australia, and was found dead a week later in bushland next to his 1999 Honda CR-V SUV Jason was last seen on July 14 buying petrol and water at the Popanyinning General Store, 160km south-east from his Perth home. Following a desperate week-long search by family, friends and police, he was found dead next to his car. The death was not considered suspicious. Jason, an industrial mechanic, was known for 'going bush' but his friend Belinda Murray said he had never disappeared before. Ms Murray said Jason 'really struggled' after watching a man die in a tragic 2018 incident at a wastewater plant south of Perth. Daily Mail Australia understands Jason was one of a group of colleagues who were there with the victim when he was struck and killed by a pipe. For confidential crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 Bengaluru/Mumbai: As Chinese investors pull the brakes on investing in Indian startups, investors from US, Europe and Singapore are filling the gap by placing fresh bets on unicorns . In the last few months, veteran investors like Singapores Temasek Holdings, New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management and others like DST Global, Bond and Silver Lake have stepped up investments in startups. Chinas tech giant Alibaba Group is unlikely to sign fresh deals in Indian firms in the coming months amid higher scrutiny, Mint reported on 27 August. Other Chinese investors too stalled new funding after changes in foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that made prior government approval mandatory for investments from countries that share a land border with India. With the new investments coming in, large Chinese investors may gradually reduce stake and exit large startups after aggressively investing in recent years, given the uncertainty ahead. Foodtech unicorn Zomato has recently raised close to $165 million from MacRitchie Investments, a unit of Temasek and Tiger Global. Temasek is also in talks to invest in online grocery firm BigBasket, which could raise around $300-350 million from a clutch of investors, according to two people familiar with the deal. Ravi Lambah, joint head, investment Group; head, direct investments; joint head, telecom, media & technology; head, India, Temasek said it is looking at businesses in the consumption space, as well as in tech and fintech. One of the long-term trends that we are interested in is digitization or a connected world. As economies digitize, companies get more connected, there is a big opportunity to have services that are smarter. We saw e-commerce do so well in covid-19, as it was the only way to deliver products or food to customers, even though their delivery and supply chain costs went up. And this is a consequence of the digital world," Lambah said in a recent interview. BigBasket and Temasek didnt respond to funding queries. "Alibaba has always been an active investor in BigBasket and Zomato, in all the rounds since their first investment. Even though this is the first BigBasket funding round without an Alibaba participation, it doesn't mean that the latters absence will hurt valuation or pricing. It only means that BB and Zomato will now have to scout for investments from large PE or sovereign funds since its now a late-stage startup," said a person familiar with the development, asking not to be named. "Both Mirae Asset and CDC will surely put in at least $40 million each in the current round." Earlier this year, BigBasket raised $150 million from South Koreas Mirae Asset Management, UKs CDC Group and existing investor Alibaba, putting the startup in the unicorn club. Ankur Pahwa, e-commerce and consumer Internet leader, EY said with newer investors coming in, the dependence on Chinese investors would reduce and lead to a diversification of investments in the startup ecosystem. There is huge interest from large investors both in India and from overseas. Chinese investors contributed a lot of understanding in terms of market insights and learnings in recent years given the similar market dynamics which China has been through already. But newer investors who are funding now is great for startups and lending much-needed diversity," Pahwa said. Edtech startup Byjus, which has raised over a billion dollars this year, is a classic example of a unicorn raising capital from a wide base of global investors. After raising funds from Mary Meekers fund Bond and DST Global, it recently raised $500 million led by US-based Silver Lake, existing investors Tiger Global, General Atlantic and other new investors BlackRock, Sands Capital and Alkeon Capital at a valuation of $11.1 billion. Ankur Bisen, senior vice-president, retail and consumer at management consultancy Technopak said not all unicorns can be put in the same bucket and need to be evaluated individually. Investors are evaluating unicorns based on the scope for further growth, the stamina to stand on their own and the road to profitability. Companies like BigBasket and Byjus have demonstrated that. The growth of BigBasket despite e-commerce majors like Flipkart and Amazon is phenomenal. They stuck their business model, built supply chain and have maximum market share in online grocery. Similarly, Byjus is in an emerging sector with lot of headroom to grow," Bisen added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics TANZANIA, Tanzania - The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times local): ___ 5:06 p.m. A country missing from the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders is the West African nation of Mali, whose leadership is in mid-overhaul after a military coup last month. The country late last week swore in a transitional president after talks with, and pressure from, regional nations eager for a speedy return to civilian rule. But no official, not even Malis U.N. ambassador, was put forward to deliver the traditional wide-ranging speech to fellow world leaders. As late as last week, the United Nations still listed the deposed president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as an upcoming speaker. But the final countries addressed the U.N. gathering on Tuesday afternoon with no word from Mali. Worried West African neighbours are keen to hear more about the way forward in Mali, where many fear the upheaval will set back efforts to contain a growing Islamic extremist insurgency. After a similar coup in 2012, extremists seized control of major towns in the arid north. Before this latest coup, extremists were moving south into more densely populated areas, adding to the frustrations that fed massive protests in the weeks ahead of the coup. ___ 4:10 p.m. A top Myanmar official is accusing a militant group and its supporters of hampering the repatriation of over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled a military crackdown in 2017 and are now in camps in Bangladesh. Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmars minister for the office of the state counsellor, also said the militant group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, known as ARSA and another insurgent group, the Arakan Army guerrilla force, have used Bangladesh as a sanctuary in their separate campaigns against the government. He delivered a prerecorded address Tuesday to the U.N. General Assemblys annual meeting of global leaders, being held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-simmering Rohingya crisis exploded on Aug. 25, 2017, when Myanmars military launched what it called a clearance campaign in northern Rakhine state in response to what it called an attack by ARSA. The campaign led to the exodus of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh and to allegations that government security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes. More recently, the government has been embroiled for more than a year in a conflict with another group the well-trained, well-armed Arakan Army. Tint Swe called for strengthened efforts to prevent ARSA and its supporters in the camps ... from hampering the bilateral repatriation process through threats, violence or other illegal conduct. Such activities, he said, pose a risk to both Bangladesh and Myanmar. He said Myanmar wants to be a good neighbour to Bangladesh and remains committed to receive verified returnees in a voluntary, safe, and dignified manner as called for in a November 2017 bilateral agreement. But he stressed that pressure tactics will be futile. Tint Swe also criticized those in the international community who have made grave accusations against Myanmar and found it guilty without due process and judicial probing of real evidence. In December, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution strongly condemning abuses against the Rohingya and other minorities. In January, the International Court of Justice, the U.N.s top court, ordered Myanmar to do all it could to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people. Two days earlier, an independent commission established by Myanmars government concluded there are reasons to believe that security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations against the Rohingya but not genocide. ___ 12:58 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of maintaining a secret arms depot in a residential neighbourhood of Beirut, warning it could cause another tragic explosion in the Lebanese capital. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Netanyahu showed maps purportedly showing the missile depots location next to a gas station and residential housing. He also showed what he said was a picture of the entrance to the depot. Heres where the next explosion will take place, right here, he said. Addressing the Lebanese people, he said: Youve got to act now, youve got to protest this, because if this thing explodes, its another tragedy. ... You should tell them, Tear these depots down. Last month, a warehouse filled with nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beiruts port, killing nearly 200 people, wounding thousands and causing widespread destruction in the capital. The ammonium nitrate had been stored there for several years. No one has yet been held accountable for the blast, which appears to have been triggered by an accidental fire. ___ 12:22 p.m. Germanys top diplomat says justice for victims of conflict is essential and is vowing that German courts will ensure that perpetrators of the worst crimes against humanity are held accountable. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he also backed U.N. investigations into alleged crimes with all our might, and stressed that Germany wasnt only seeking justice for crimes during the nine-year conflict in Syria. Those who dont clearly distinguish between perpetrators and victims, who blur the line between right and wrong, shake the very foundations of our rules-based order ... jeopardize our peaceful coexistence itself, he said. Maas singled out those who stand in the way of the work of institutions such as the International Criminal Court, a swipe at the United States, which strongly opposes the international war crimes tribunal. He also referred to veto-wielding U.N. Security Council members who use vetoes and prevent its urgently needed reform with constantly new delay tactics. That is an almost certain reference to Russia and China. The German minister also called on Russia to investigate the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, stressing that the EU reserves the right to impose sanctions. He warned Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that his refusal to support a national dialogue and determination to tread the path of violence and suppression ... must also have consequences, which are being discussed in the EU. Maas reiterated Germanys determination to remain a party to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, warning that its demise would bring Iran closer to getting the atomic bomb. Maas, who is in quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, also said that as the worlds biggest exporter of pharmaceutical products, Germany is committed to distributing potential vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 in a fair way -- as a global public good. ___ 10:25 a.m. The United Arab Emirates has defended its decision to normalize ties with Israel and criticized interference in Arab affairs, an apparent reference to its foes Iran and Turkey. Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabis powerful crown prince, made the remarks during a speech Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. He proclaimed that the UAEs decision announced in August to formalize ties with Israel froze a controversial Israeli plan to annex occupied territory in the West Bank claimed by Palestinians. Israels prime minister, however, has insisted that plans have only been temporarily suspended. We hope this peace accord will provide the opportunity for the Palestinians and the Israelis to re-engage in negotiations to achieve peace, Al Nahyan said. Palestinians have blasted the deals signed by the UAE and Bahrain with Israel, which were brokered by the United States, as acts of betrayal. President Mahmoud Abbas used his U.N. speech on Friday to stress that his government has not given a mandate to anyone to speak or negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people. Abbas said that the only path for lasting peace is an end to the Israeli occupation and creation of a Palestinian state. The Emirati foreign minister also warned against what he said were the expansionist ambitions of some countries in the region. Though he stopped short of naming any countries, the UAE has long accused Iran, Turkey and Qatar of meddling beyond their borders in the affairs of other states. The UAE is part of a quartet of Arab states that have boycotted Qatar since 2017, primarily for its backing of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE brands a terrorist group and deems a political and security threat. In an apparent dig at Turkey and Iran, Al Nahyan said that tensions in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq are related to blatant interference in Arab affairs made by states ... that have historical delusions of restoring their domination and colonial rule over the Arab region and the Horn of Africa. He called on Iran specifically to stop the development of its ballistic missile programs. The UAE, a country of about 9 million people with more than 1 million Emirati citizens, is militarily involved in Yemen as a key partner of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis. The UAE also backs a military commander in Libyas east whos a rival to the allied militias in Tripoli that have backing from Turkey and Qatar. Police have confirmed the body of a suspected murder victim has been found several weeks after she went missing. Lorraine Cox, 32, disappeared on September 1 launching a major search across her home city. Cops then launched a murder probe nine days later after a 'significant development' but the hunt continued for her body. But today a spokesperson confirmed that she had been found in Exeter, Devon, and an inquest had been opened into her death. Lorraine Cox, from Exeter, who disappeared overnight on September 1 this year Police searching countryside and woodland near Newton St Cyres, five miles from Exeter Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement: 'Formal identification has now taken place in connection with the suspected murder of a woman from Exeter. 'It has now been confirmed that the body located in Exeter in September is that of Lorraine Cox, aged 32, from Exeter. 'The inquest into the death was opened and adjourned today by HM Coroner, Exeter while the criminal process into this matter continues.' Christopher Mayer, 22, of no fixed abode, Exeter, Devon, has been charged with murder and is due to appear at Exeter Crown Court on October 8. Five other men, aged 43, 22, 30, 33 and 71, have all been released on police bail until October 7. The spokesperson added: 'The family of Lorraine has been kept informed of these updates and are being supported by trained liaison officers. Christopher Mayer, 22, of no fixed abode, Exeter, Devon, has been charged with her murder 'They continue to ask for their privacy to be respected at this difficult time.' At the time appeals over her disappearance had been made by her worried family. Lorraine, a Type 1 diabetic, disappeared suddenly, with her medical kit left at home. Her family said: 'Just want to know she is safe and well'. Friend James Leo said: 'Lorraine, this is totally out of character. 'Insulin is the one most important drug to keep you alive. Just let someone know you are safe privately and confidentially.' Detective Chief Inspector Lee Nattrass from the Major Crime Investigation Team said on September 10: 'Lorraine Cox had initially been treated as a missing person following concerns for her welfare from her friends and relatives. 'However, following a significant development in the case, we are now treating this as a murder investigation. 'Three men, aged 22, 30 and 33, all of whom live locally, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody. 'Extensive searches by specialist officers are currently taking place in and around Mary Arches Street in Exeter City Centre. 'A cordon remains in place and the public are likely to see police activity ongoing in the area for the next few days. 'We would like to hear from anyone who believes they had seen or heard from Lorraine since 1 September as a matter of urgency.' WASHINGTON Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden paid nearly $288,000 in federal income taxes last year, according to returns he released just hours before his Tuesday night debate with President Donald Trump. The move came following a report from The New York Times that Trump paid just $750 in income taxes in 2016, the year he ran for president, and in 2017, his first year in the White House. Biden and his wife, Jill, along with Bidens running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, released their 2019 federal and state returns as the president contends with the political fallout from a series of Times reports about Trumps long-hidden tax returns. The Times also reported that Trump paid no income tax at all in 10 of the 15 years prior to 2017. The Bidens' payment of $287,693 to the federal government in 2019 showed a substantial drop from the $1.5 million they paid in income taxes in 2018, reflecting both a decline in Bidens book revenue and his decision to run for the presidency and a leave of absence from his academic post at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After paying $91,000 in 2016, Bidens last year as vice president in the Obama administration, the Bidens paid $3.7 million to the government in 2017, largely because of income from book deals. The Biden campaign has moved aggressively to capitalize on the Times reports about Trumps tiny tax payments. The campaign released a media ad showing that nurses, firefighters and other working-class Americans pay far more in annual federal taxes than the $750 Trump tax payments described by the Times. Trump has denied the Times report, dismissing it as fake news at a press conference, but he has provided no evidence to refute it. --The Associated Press An Oregon man died Sunday after plunging 100 feet into the ocean while hiking in Oswald West State Park on the Oregon Coast. SALEM, Ore. An Oregon man died Sunday after plunging 100 feet into the ocean during a hike at a state park on the Oregon Coast. Troopers and medics responded at 1:48 p.m. to Oswald West State Park for a report of a person who fell off a cliff, according to state police. Investigators say Steven Gastelum, 43, of Seaside and a second person walked down Devil's Cauldron trail to take a photograph at the cliffside viewpoint. When Gastelum climbed up a tree to pose for the picture, a limb broke, and he fell 100 feet into the water below. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and rescuers from the Nehalem Bay Fire Department helped find Gastelum and brought him to shore. More: Man dies while posing for a photo at Machu Picchu Gastelum was taken by ambulance to Tillamook Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Video: Oregon man attempts world record for juggling while swimming Follow reporter Virginia Barreda on Twitter @vbarreda2. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon man dies at Oswald West State Park falling off cliff for photo Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) The government has formally asked the US Embassy to confirm reports that a US Air Force plane had disguised as a Philippine aircraft while flying over the Yellow Sea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday. I am waiting for feedback from the US Embassy, Lorenzana told CNN Philippines in a text message. He said we have no way of ascertaining if a US reconnaissance aircraft indeed used an identification code that was allocated to a Philippine plane last week. The information was reported by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based think tank. It said US RC-135S on September 22 "spoofed" a Philippines-assigned hex code which was changed back to the original one after the mission was completed. Aviation tracker Aircraft Spots made a similar observation on Twitter, saying the US aircraft conducted a miscoded mission over the disputed Yellow Sea, which separates mainland China and the Korean peninsula. The International Civil Aviation Organization assigns a unique hex code to an aircraft for identification. On September 18, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative reported that for three consecutive days, it had spotted a US surveillance aircraft using the hex codes of Malaysian planes near Chinas coast. In response to the incident, Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, maintained that American troops always follow the rules on international airspace. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said it has been an "old trick" of the US military to electronically impersonate civil aircraft of other countries. He said the US has done it "more than a hundred times" over the South China Sea. China insists on owning the global waterway, including areas Manila claims as the West Philippine Sea, while the US conducts freedom of navigation operations and calls out Beijings alleged militarization of contested waters. Oman Company for Development of Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Tatweer) and Iskan Oman Investment Company have announced their plan to allocate capital shares of their new projects in Duqm for the local community companies. Engineer Yahya bin Khamis al-Zedjali, In-Charge of Managing Operations at the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (Sezad), held a meeting with a number of local companies and representatives of Tatweer and Iskan companies, said an Oman News Agency report. During the meeting, several projects were discussed, including one for the accommodation of employees who are working in the Sezad. Accordingly, about 20% of the capital of big projects that are providing housing solutions in Duqm will be allocated for the local community companies. This move is part of the plan to promote the provision of long-term usufruct for 90 years introduced by the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones to encourage Omani youth to work and live in Duqm. A Sheetz store some Lower Allen Township residents originally voiced concerns over is opening. On Sept. 30, the Altoona-based chain will open the store at 1508-10 Cedar Cliff Drive in Lower Allen Township. The new 24-hour Sheetz will offer the chains made-to-order menu of subs and sandwiches from touch-screen terminals as well as coffee, snacks, lottery tickets and gasoline. It replaces a former Gulf Gas Station at Carlisle Road and Cedar Cliff Drive. The new store had to clear several hurdles before ground could be broken. Last year, Lower Allen Township residents voiced concerns about increased traffic and pedestrian safety. Sheetz representatives agreed to reduce the size of the store as well as meet 10 other stipulations put forth by township residents. The stipulations included restrictions regarding exterior lighting and speakers as well as designated times for merchandise and fuel deliveries. As part of the opening, Sheetz is donating $2,500 each to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and Special Olympics of Pennsylvania. Sheetz operates 613 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz said it is encouraging social distancing, requires employees to wear masks and conducts employee wellness checks before every shift. In addition, it has enhanced routine cleaning procedures. Apples presence in India has stood the test of time. And it is time that has us where we are today. Apple has dialed up the India focus, visibly more so in the past few weeks, than it perhaps has ever before. It is very much in step with the spirit of the age. A lot of that is driven by the reprioritization of the sensibilities of business. Even more so with the potential that India holds, as a market and as a manufacturing hub. And the challenges that were placed before all by the Coronavirus pandemic. Which also mean, while this may never be said explicitly in the corporate circles globally, there is an urgent need to reduce the overwhelming reliance on China as a manufacturer of all things. Thus, here we are. In a flurry of activity, we now have Made in India Apple iPhones, the Apple India online store and Apples top manufacturing partners committing to invest a lot of money in India in the next few years as well as the participation in the applications for exports. It is all coming together, like pieces in a jigsaw that you have all figured out. The launch of the Apple Store India ahead of the festive season, is perhaps the best of timing. At least that is what one would hope, before flipping the switch to make it Live. Apple has online stores in 37 other countries, and India now joins the list that has the US and the UK. For the first time in India, Apple will be able to take charge of what it covets the mostthe experience. No longer does it have to rely on distributors, retailers and ecommerce platforms for online sales, which means it can dictate the entire experience for the customer, right from choosing a product, to placing the order, the delivery as well as the post-purchase setup and support. The standardization of experience will mean a customer buying something on the Apple online store in the UK will get the same sort of experience as Apple India online store users. India focus didnt just mean launching an online store. For Apple, the localizations went deeper. There is the Shopping Assistance option that will allow customers to connect with Apple Specialists, and communicate with them in English and Hindi, at this time. These specialists will be able to help with support and pre-purchase guidance. Support for more Indian languages is expected in the coming weeks. Ahead of the festive season, Apple will also offer gifting options as well as the ability to engrave text or emojis on Apple AirPods, Apple iPad and the Apple Pencil. Initially, engraving will be available in English as well as 7 Indian languages such as Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu for the Apple AirPods, and English for the Apple iPad and Apple Pencil. The timing should work well for Apple. The Dussehra and Diwali festivals are almost here, there is a lot of pent up demand among consumers, who have by most estimates, been conservative so far this year because of the financial uncertainties posed by the COVID pandemic. That could change, if the right offers were to be made available for the cool things that they want to buy. For Apple, this also plugs in well with the new launches and the updates that are now ready to go on sale, or will be in the coming weekswe have already seen the Apple Watch Series 6, the Apple Watch SE, iPad Air, iPad and updates to the iMac 27-inch and the iMac 21.5-inch. The big ones, this years iPhone updates are next. Maybe even the AirPods. And before the end of the year, there will be the first Mac device with the new Apple Silicon hardwarethough what that will be is anyones guess. Have You Also Read? Apple India Online Store Is Now Open With iPhone Trade-in, Mac Configure To Order & More India Could Clock More Than $100 Billion In Mobile Phone Exports As Apple And Samsung Lead The Way What helped was that in August last year that the Government of India had made changes to the foreign direct investment (FDI) rules which earlier required companies including Apple to source 30% of the value of goods purchased locally. That definition was widened to count all procurements made from India by a single brand retail trade entity, towards local sourcing. The new guidelines also removed the requirement for companies to first set up a physical retail presence in the country. There seems to be a perception that Apples products are expensive for India. Safe to say, that is just frivolity at its best. Particularly on social media, where almost everyone has an opinion about almost everything. That is just how social media works. Apple, even though it doesnt have a direct retail presence in India, has still being doing well with numbers. According to research firm IDC, in Q2 2020, Apple dominated Indias premium smartphone segment with 49% market share. The latest iPhone 11 series as well as the iPhone XR combined for 28% of those high-end shipments, which means users are spending on higher spec iPhones. Apple competes with Samsung and OnePlus in the premium smartphone space in India. There are more numbers. In Q1 2020, Apple clocked a 71% year-on-year growth in India, according to the research by CMR, released in May. The iPhone XR and the iPhone 11 clocked as much as 70% of the iPhone sales in India. The next time someone tells you Indians dont buy Apple iPhones or Apple products in general because they are too expensive, do not believe them. And that is even before the Made in India iPhones arrived on the scene. At this time, the latest generations of the Apple iPhone SE as well as the iPhone 11 series are being manufactured in India. It is being seen as a boost to the Make in India initiative. The other iPhones being manufactured and assembled in India include the iPhone XR. It is likely that while the Made in India units will be arriving in stores in the coming weeks ahead of the Diwali festival sales. Earlier this month, The Government of Indias Make in India mission saw another push with reports that the applications for exports filed by phone manufacturing including iPhone manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron as well as smartphone makers Samsung, Karbonn, Lava and Dixon have been cleared by the government. It is expected that India could export mobile phones well in excess of $100 billion. Apple and Samsung plan to export phones worth $50 billon each over the next five years. There are also five Indian phone makers or manufacturers, including Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, Optiemus and Dixon. It was in August that Apple and Samsung announced their participation in Indias Production Linked Incentive (PLI) offer to do away with Indias dependence on China and establish India firmly as a export manufacturing hub. The Government of India had welcomed the proposal by Apple and Samsung to make the most of Indias local manufacturing benefits, which has extended incentives of up to Rs 41,000 crore subject to meeting local manufacturing targets. The latest part of this jigsaw for India sees three of Apples top manufacturing partners suggesting they will invest as much as $900 million in India in the next five years. Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron intend to make investments as part of the PLI scheme. That being said, the investments may not be limited to just the manufacturing of Apple devices in India. Foxconn for instance also makes phones for Xiaomi in India while Wistrons India operations only manufacture Apple iPhones. For customers, Apples visibly active focus on India is surely great news. Over the last few years, the gap between Apple products launching globally and then launching in India has been almost eliminated, a far cry from before. Now, availability, stocks, pricing and the experience will also be standardized as how Apple wants the consumer to interface with, all of which really translates into an overall slick Apple experience. Or you could still choose to walk into a Croma store or browse and order stuff on Amazon.in, for instance. Customer really has a much wider platter of choices now. When it comes to time-traveling, there are a lot of inconsistencies that can come to mind and the questions seem to be piling up one after another. Although the possibility of time-travel is arguable amongst many scientists, what would happen should we as human beings be able to travel back in time? Ever since the coronavirus happened, a lot of people have been sharing their own sentiments and it is widely agreed upon that if there was a chance to stop the coronavirus before it happened, it should have been stopped. This then points people to ask a philosophical question related to the coronavirus, would you have stopped it if you could travel in time? The presented theory about the change the time-travel paradox IGN reported in a video on their Twitter page that a certain Australian student was allegedly able to crack down the mathematics behind the whole time-travel paradox. The student then decided to use the coronavirus as an example of a time-travel paradox that presented a pretty convincing argument. According to the Australian student, if somebody could go back in time to stop patient zero of the coronavirus, it would still not work. The student then explained that if time-travel did happen and a person did go back in time to stop patient zero, that person would them become patient zero themselves resulting in the exact same thing. A student in Australia believes he has solved the theoretical issue of paradoxes in time travel. pic.twitter.com/bgUKpI8ZWu September 29, 2020 The philosophical concept and what others think as well This concept has been widely revolving around the philosophy that things were meant to happen or otherwise known as fate. For some people, things that happen in our lives are totally random and do not follow a singular line or narration. For others, they believe that everything that happens was always meant to happen from the start. As for the time-travel paradox, when presented with the question if you would be able to change history if you time-traveled and did something differently, although the popular Back to The Future show made it seem like it was an absolute, the Australian student believes that it is not. Read Also: Elon Musk Confirms Starlink Will be Separate from SpaceX: IPO Could be Years Away but "Small Retail Investors" Will Get Top Priority Other additional questions should the Australian student be correct Although there are still a lot of theories that can be added to the whole time-travel paradox, the argument by the Australian student still sounds quite convincing and also very much possible but of course, there is no way to validate its authenticity unless of course, time-travel were to become possible. There are a lot of follow up questions to this theory like if everything was changed by someone who was able to time-travel, would we retain the memories of what has happened or would we wake up one day in a world where everything has changed? Would we go back in time as well and individually live our own lives without the alteration of history? These are amongst other follow up questions to this theory. Read Also: Rumor: Elon Musk Eyes Asteroid Mining of $700 Quintillion Worth of Space Gold with NASA This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian Buenconsejo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Interior Minister Marcel Vela maintains that he remains "very attentive" about what is happening in the context of the recent local elections and announces that he will not tolerate "any deviation from the law". "I have been and remain very attentive to everything that is going on in the context of this election and, believe me, I will not tolerate any deviation from the law! My colleagues in the Ministry of the Interior are still on duty. Even though the voters have already cast their ballot, the electoral process has not come to an end. We will remain vigilant about the respect for the law, so that this election reflects faithfully and categorically the will of the Romanians of 27 September. The desperation of some candidates for losing the mayoral seat or the council elections should not lead to a violation of the law, to electoral fraud. It's a matter of respect for voters, knowing how to lose with dignity," Marcel Vela wrote Tuesday on his Facebook page. He mentions that he has been in politics for over 30 years, and when he ran, he lost or won, by respecting the decision of the electorate. "That's democracy, that's normality! I know that the resistance to change can be huge, but this is the vote, it is the will of the generations that we have grown. Respect the vote, respect the law! All reports of criminal offences have been registered with the competent prosecutor's office and investigations are carried out under the direction of the prosecutors. There are already three people detained for committing illegal acts in the context of local elections and several hundred others under investigation. I assure all Romanians that we are determined that, in all situations where violations of the law have been reported, we will shed light and find out the truth," the Interior Minister points out. Former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankinson, accused in the Breonna Taylor case, has pleaded not guilty at a court hearing on Monday. Hankinson was indicted over shots that went into a neighboring apartment during the deadly raid at Taylor's apartment in March. He appeared in court on Monday after a grand jury charged him with three counts of wanton endangerment, none of which are directly connected to Taylor's killing. Following the plea, Hankinson's lawyer asked the court to allow his client to be able to retain his weapons for self-defense, citing multiple threats Hankison has received. But the judge set the conditions that Hankison must not be in possession of any firearms pending a court decision. The judge also ordered a recording of the grand jury proceedings to be added to the court file by Wednesday. Hankinson was one of the three officers who fired shots during the controversial raid, which caused Taylor's death. The grand jury sued Hankinson last week for shots that went into a neighboring apartment occupied by a male, pregnant female, and child. Wanton endangerment in Kentucky is defined as a person under the circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. This is someone who deliberately engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person. A maximum sentence of five years in prison could be ordered for each felony charge. Meanwhile, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has refused to release grand jury transcripts linked to Taylor's case. This, despite growing calls to do so by the Louisville mayor, the Kentucky governor, and Taylor's family's attorneys. However, it changed later on as Cameron announced he would follow a judge's ruling ordering a recording of a grand jury presentation be added to the court's case file. Cameron earlier announced that he would not release any grand jury presentation as it would interfere with other investigations. "We stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool," Cameron said. Cameron further noted that his team has an ethical obligation not to release the grand jury proceedings' recording. He eventually retracted his statement and said he would comply with the judge's order. Cameron said that they would follow the judge's order to release the recording on Wednesday despite some concerns. Cameron issued the statement after Judge Ann Bailey Smith said the recording and all discovery documents could not be share simply between the parties. Smith oversaw the arraignment of Hankinson on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. Taylor's family and many others have called for the grand jury transcript to be released. Cameron said the release of these recordings would also be compliant to a legal complaint filed by an anonymous grand juror. The juror, who wished to remain anonymous, noted the compelling public interest for these proceedings to be released. "The citizens of this Commonwealth have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself," the juror said. "Using the grand jurors as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for these decisions only sows more seeds of doubt in the process while leaving a cold chill down the spines of future grand jurors," the juror added. Hankinson surrendered himself to the Shelby County Jail the same day he was charged but was released shortly after he posted $15,000 cash bond. He is set to go back to court at the end of October. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 22:41:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- An Afghanistan's private airline resumed domestic air travel to restive northern Kunduz province after a flight from the capital city Kabul landed there on Tuesday, a provincial government spokesman said. "Amongst cheers from a crowd around a meeting attended by Kunduz Governor Abdul Satar Mirzakwal and a number of provincial authorities, a Kam Air private company passenger plane landed at the local airport in Kunduz city this afternoon," spokesman Usmatullah Muradi told Xinhua. Located on a height few kilometers south of the Kunduz city, the airport enjoyed a good security, but due to growing insurgency in other parts of the city, both state-run and private air aviation companies have suspended their flights for up to 10 years. Kam Air scheduled two flights weekly between Kabul and Kunduz city and the number of flights may increase, depending on the number of travelers, the official said. Enditem PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ettifos (Dr. Yong Je Lim, CEO) announced on September 29 that it had signed a Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. This RCA reinforced the R&D partnership with NTU's Connected Smart Mobility (COSMO) Program, where Ettifos is participating as a founding member of the COSMO Industry Consortium. The COSMO Program is a national project led by NTU that focuses on the creation of next-generation V2X architecture and ecosystems for smart mobility applications. Specifically, Ettifos and NTU will be working to create hybrid (DSRC + C-V2X) V2X communication software, framework, and applications that will be validated on the campus-wide V2X testbed infrastructure in the NTU Smart Campus. Program Vision : Establish Singapore as a Global Innovation Hub for Connected Mobility (V2X) Research, Commercialisation & Enterprise. As the world continues the debate on whether to establish DSRC (WAVE) or C-V2X (LTE V2X/5G NR V2X) as the standard for V2X ecosystem deployment, the COSMO program has preferred to instead develop and test architecture and platforms that are able to accommodate both V2X communication methodologies and provide an unbiased assessment on how hybrid C-V2X and DSRC can be adopted by the industry. A spokesperson for Ettifos claims that by positioning itself as a part of the COSMO Program, Ettifos hopes to establish itself as a major player in the global market as a 5G Cellular + hybrid V2X Roadside Unit (RSU) and On-board Unit (OBU) distributor. Ettifos also believes that its participation in the program will increase its capacity to manage and research V2X equipment management systems. Ettifos is a California, U.S.-based communications technology startup founded in 2018. It has positioned itself as a major competitor of Qualcomm through its proprietary technology developed in-house for DSRC and 3GPP Release 14/15-based C-V2X solutions and Software Defined Radio (SDR)-based 5G NR V2X Sidelink modems and solutions. Related Images concept-of-cosmo-program.jpg Concept of COSMO program Program Vision : Establish Singapore as a Global Innovation Hub for Connected Mobility (V2X) Research, Commercialisation & Enterprise. Related Links COSMO program website Ettifos YouTube channel SOURCE Ettifos Co. The UK has imposed sanctions on Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and other senior figures in his government following the rigged election, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and other senior figures, including his son Victor, have been made subject to sanctions by the UK Government The move, part of a co-ordinated approach with Canada, was announced by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab following human rights abuses in the wake of Augusts rigged election. The sanctions include a travel ban and asset freeze on eight individuals from the Belarusian regime, including Mr Lukashenko, his son and Igor Sergeenko, head of the presidential administration. Expand Close Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Photo: Peter Nicholls/PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Photo: Peter Nicholls/PA Similar sanctions were imposed by Canada. Mr Raab said: Today the UK and Canada have sent a clear message by imposing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenkos violent and fraudulent regime. We dont accept the results of this rigged election. We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights. EU executive snubs Hungarian demand to oust top democracy official FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban departs from an EU summit in Brussels By Gergely Szakacs and Gabriela Baczynska BUDAPEST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union executive on Tuesday snubbed a demand by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that it dismiss its top rule of law official for comments about Hungary's "ailing democracy". Orban, 57, has repeatedly clashed with the EU over his hardline stance on migration and minorities, as well as moves to increase state control of the courts, media, academics and NGOs. Critics in the EU as well as international watchdogs say he defends nation states and ethnic majorities at the expense of fundamental human rights and democratic checks and balances. In interview with Reuters last week, Orban rejected that criticism. "When somebody says that democracy can be only liberal it's an oppression," Orban said, adding that accusations that Hungary violates the rule of law were "simply blah, blah, blah". On Monday, Orban wrote to EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, demanding that she dismiss her top rule of law official at the Brussels-based EU executive, Vera Jourova. "According to the Vice President (Jourova), in Hungary a 'sick democracy' is being built," Orban wrote in his letter, which was published on Tuesday. Orban's call for the removal of Jourova, a Czech who has a history of standing up against Soviet-imposed communist rule in eastern Europe after World War Two, comes ahead of the release on Wednesday of the Commission's first-ever report on rule of law gaps across all the 27 EU member states. "President von der Leyen works closely with Vice-President Jourova on the rule of law. The Vice-President has the President's full trust," a spokeswoman for the Commission told a news briefing on Tuesday when asked about Orban's letter. "Our concerns when it comes to the rule of law in Hungary are well known. They will be addressed in our rule of law report, which we will present tomorrow." Story continues LOOMING ELECTION Orban - who also long sought to vilify Frans Timmermans, Jourova's predecessor in the job under the previous European Commission - has stepped up his Brussels bashing campaign as Hungary faces a slower-than-expected recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Orban portrays himself as a defender of Hungary's sovereignty against foreign encroachment, including attacks from "Brussels bureaucrats". He has in the past sponsored a billboard campaign accusing the European Commission and his own former-ally-turned-foe, U.S. billionaire philanthropist George Soros, of plotting to destroy European civilisation through immigration. Hungary, as well as his nationalist, eurosceptic allies ruling in another ex-communist EU state, Poland, are under EU investigations for undermining the rule of law. The long-running battle will come to its head this year as the bloc is now looking to link access to EU money, including a new 750 billion euro coronavirus recovery fund, to respecting the rule of law. The Hungarian economy shrank by 13.6% in the second quarter, the worst downturn in central Europe, 2020 inflation is seen at an eight-year-high and the forint is central Europe's worst-performing currency. Hungary's weakened prospects could represent the biggest threat to Orban's decade-long rule ahead of parliamentary elections in the first half of 2022. Speaking to German magazine Der Spiegel on Friday, Jourova said: "Mr Orban likes to say he is building an illiberal democracy. I would say he is building an ailing democracy. "...I fear that people in Hungary could one day discover that their last election was also their last free election." (Additional reporting by Marine Strauss in Brussels and Thomas Escritt in Berlin; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Nick Macfie and Giles Elgood) The Oregon Health Authority on Monday reported no deaths and 181 new cases, marking the states lowest daily total in two weeks. The respite comes after last week brought surging daily case counts. But tallies released by the state on Mondays are traditionally low, making it difficult to know if its a blip or part of a broader slow-down. Preliminary data shows Oregon recorded 24,243 tests for the week ending Saturday. Thats up 29% from initial data for the previous week, indicating a rebound in testing following the states historic wildfires. The preliminary data shows that 6.3% of Oregonians screened last week tested positive for coronavirus, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than initial numbers from the previous week. The rate is expected to drop as more negative test results are reported. State officials are closely monitoring Oregons average daily case counts, which remain at their highest level since mid-August. All but four counties Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Malheuer are in Phase 2 of reopenings. Where the new cases are by county: Benton (4), Clackamas (13), Clatsop (5), Columbia (8), Deschutes (13), Douglas (1), Hood River (1), Jackson (13), Jefferson (6), Lane (26), Malheur (6), Marion (12), Morrow (6), Multnomah (21), Polk (2), Umatilla (11), Wasco (4), Washington (24) and Yamhill (5). New fatalities: The state did not report any deaths Monday. The prevalence of infections: State officials had not disclosed detailed data since Friday. Since then, officials reported 648 new confirmed infections out of 12,091 people tested, equaling a 5.4% positivity rate. Who got infected: State officials had not disclosed detailed data since Friday. New confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (35); 10-19 (90); 20-29 (146); 30-39 (108); 40-49 (102); 50-59 (74); 60-69 (60); 70-79 (37); 80 and older (32). Whos in the hospital: The state Monday reported 133 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections are currently in the hospital, down six from Friday. Oregon remains well below its capacity, with hundreds of hospital beds and ventilators available. Since it began: Oregon has reported 32,994 confirmed or presumed infections and 547 deaths, among the lowest totals in the nation. To date, 673,425 Oregonians have been tested. -- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt - Streaming live today, 29 September at 21:00 CEST, "The Sexiest Show of the Year" to conclude with Live Video Shopping for looks straight from the catwalk STOCKHOLM, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Etam, the largest lingerie brand in France and the seventh largest worldwide, has partnered with interactive live video streaming provider Bambuser to enable live shopping during the company's Live Show, which will stream at etam.com/liveshow today, Tuesday, 29 September beginning at 18:30 CEST. While 2020 marks the 13th edition of the highly-anticipated Fashion Week event, it is the first to incorporate Live Video Shopping into the program. Etam's partnership with Lafayette Plug and Play innovation platform has enabled them to fast track the live video shopping solution with Bambuser. Etam Group is a pioneer in the digital customer experience, constantly building bridges between its brick-and-mortar stores and online universe, and places its phygital approach at the core of its strategy. "Our goal with this partnership is to keep on speeding up the integration of innovative solutions, to enhance the customer experience and roll out an omnichannel business model," says Elya Hasson, Etam Group's Chief Digital Officer. This year's show, themed "Glamor, Rhinestones and Sequins," will turn Paris' famed Boulevard Haussmann into a socially-distanced catwalk. Beginning at 18:30 (6:30pm), audiences viewing the live stream will be taken "backstage," where they will get an insiders' view of the models and celebrities as they prepare for the show, which begins at 21:00 (9:00pm). Once the models have left the catwalk at 21:30 (9:30pm), the audience will have the opportunity to purchase looks from the catwalk via Bambuser's highly-interactive and engaging Live Video Shopping technology. Following the surge in demand for live video shopping, Bamabuser today also announced the establishment of companies in the UK and US, with new offices in London and New York respectively. "Etam's annual Live Show is traditionally an amazing experience, and with the addition of Live Video Shopping, they're taking it to a new level that's more participative and engaging," says Sophie Abrahamsson, Chief Commercial Officer at Bambuser. "We're confident that audiences are going to love feeling more like they're actually at the show - plus they get the instant gratification of buying the items they've just seen. It's very powerful, and even when the world returns to 'normal,' we foresee this is what the fashion week of the future will look like." continues Abrahamsson. Etam's Live Show 2020 will be streamed at etam.com/liveshow as well as at instagram.com/etam. Limited edition Live Show items will also be available in store beginning 30 September. Contact information Sophie Abrahamsson CCO Bambuser press@bambuser.com +46 8 400 160 00 Bambuser is a software company specializing in interactive live video streaming. The Company's primary product, Live Video Shopping, is a cloud-based software solution that is used by customers such as global e-commerce and retail businesses to host live shopping experiences on websites, mobile apps and social media. Bambuser was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters in Stockholm. Erik Penser Bank AB is Bambuser's Certified Adviser. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/bambuser/r/etam-group-partners-with-bambuser-to-make-annual-fashion-week-live-show-shoppable,c3204819 The following files are available for download: A major challenge for public and private sector entities is that deepfakes are relatively easy to makeand becoming easier. Businesses are already seeing major fallout with one real-world example being the CEO of a U.K.-based energy firm being fooled by a deepfake to think he was speaking to his boss who asked him to send funds to a Hungarian supplier. Since businesses rely on technology for communication, deepfakesor synthetic media of false images and/or soundpose a growing threat to their future strength, growth, security, and bottom line. Thats the belief and warning from Global IT Solutions Provider Technologent. Businesses around the globe have already lost money, reputations, and hard-won brand strength due to deepfakes, said Technologent Global Chief Information Security Officer Jon Mendoza. Leading studies show that deepfakes are the most worrisome aspects of AI due to the potential for criminal profit or gain, ease of implementation, and difficulty in stopping them.(1) Deepfakes are most often videos or audio created with AI, deep learning (DL) , and machine learning (ML) technology. While artificial intelligence (AI) generally holds great promise, deepfakes are quickly evolving to threaten businesses in multiple ways, which requires a novel and agile approach to stop them. Thats why companies must have an IT partner capable of implementing a plan that includes a mix of current and emerging technologies that can adapt to combat a growing deepfakes threat landscape, continued Mendoza. The Nature of Deepfakes Deepfake technology manipulates images, videos, and voices of real people and alters the original to appear to be, do, or say something other than the original. This is done by feeding an ML model thousands of target images to create a deepfake algorithm that learns the details of a persons face or voice. The broader public has focused on the political ramifications of deep fakes, but its implications for business and across all aspects of public, private, and social life are vast. Facebook started the year by banning manipulated videos on their platform, but many say it doesnt go far enough.(2) How Deepfakes Impact Businesses Businesses are already seeing major fallout with one real-world example being the CEO of a U.K.-based energy firm being fooled by a deepfake to think he was speaking to his boss who asked him to send funds to a Hungarian supplier.(3) This is one of a growing number of examples and methods showing how fraudsters can make a fortune off of deepfakes or even going as far as to destroy businesses and brands. A major challenge for public and private sector entities is that deepfakes are relatively easy to makeand becoming easier.(4) Leading strategists have pointed out how deepfakes can have a major negative impact on both the public and private sector where video-conferencing in the work-from-home era has acclimated people to lower quality video.(5) Businesses, processes, and communication are performed online with employees communicating, collaborating, and exchanging information digitallyoftentimes not securely. As the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the work-from home paradigm, deepfakes will certainly follow. Video, and audio requests from known superiors and coworkers are a major vulnerability that can have far-reaching implications for the business and the employee. This problem goes beyond remote workers to the challenges that come from the impact of COVID-19 on in-person trade shows that are now virtual tradeshows. Entire industries could be impacted by deepfakes from a single bad actor that creates content to manipulate buyers, sellers, and product developers in ways that can cripple businesses, brands, and even entire industries. Deep Fake Solutions More and more, entities, organizations, and technology leaders have been developing ways to track, analyze, and more importantly provide solutions that can thwart deepfakes for businesses, organizations, government, and the public. That has included initiatives like The Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) white paper. Its aim is to create industry-wide standards for digital authenticity verification to thwart deepfakes before they are acted upon.(6) Other initiatives like the Deepfake Detection Challenge in partnership with Microsoft and leading academics hope to combat deepfakes through employee training.(7) Deepfakes and other offshoots of AI will require businesses to create even more agile and holistic security and detection approaches to protect devices, apps, data, and cloud services. According to Mendoza, that starts with a zero-trust approach to all access attempts to people, data, systems, and applications: Businesses will need a partner that can be a single point of contact for creating and executing a holistic and well thought out plan including all endpoints and education of the workforce to combat deepfakes, explained Mendoza. Its critical that these technology and training solutions focused on proactive security are implemented in a holistic fashion to protect businesses as deepfakes become more sophisticated and widespread. About Technologent Technologent is a Global Provider of Edge-to-EdgeTM Information Technology Solutions and Services for Fortune 1000 companies. They help companies outpace the new digital economy by creating IT environments that are fast, flexible, efficient, transparent and secure. Without these characteristics, companies will miss the opportunity to optimally scale. Technologent mobilizes the power of technology to turn vision into reality, enabling a focus on driving innovation, increasing productivity and outperforming the market. Visit http://www.technologent.com 1. University College London, Deepfakes' ranked as most serious AI crime threat, Science Daily, August 4, 2020, sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200804085908.htm 2. Makena Kelly. Facebook bans deepfake videos ahead of the 2020 election, The Verge, January 7, 2020, theverge.com/2020/1/7/21054504/facebook-instagram-deepfake-ban-videos-nancy-pelosi-congress 3. Catherine Stupp. Fraudsters Used AI to Mimic CEOs Voice in Unusual Cybercrime Case,Pro Cyber News, August 30, 2019, wsj.com/articles/fraudsters-use-ai-to-mimic-ceos-voice-in-unusual-cybercrime-case-11567157402 4. Patrick Tucker. Deepfakes Are Getting Better, Easier to Make, and Cheaper, Defense One, August 6, 2020, defenseone.com/technology/2020/08/deepfakes-are-getting-better-easier-make-and-cheaper/167536/ 5. Patrick Tucker. The Pentagon Is Using Zoom. Is it Safe?, Defense One, April 6, 2020, defenseone.com/technology/2020/04/pentagon-using-zoom-it-safe/164402/ 6. Leonard Rosenthal et.al. The Content Authenticity Initiative: Setting the Standard for Digital Content Attribution, CAI, August 2020, documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A2c6361d5-b8da-4aca-89bd-1ed66cd22d19 7. Ian Cruxton, Phishing Today, Deepfakes Tomorrow: Training Employees to Spot This Emerging Threat, Dark Reading, January 16, 2020, darkreading.com/risk/phishing-today-deepfakes-tomorrow-training-employees-to-spot-this-emerging-threat/a/d-id/1336778 Renewed US calls echoed by Germany and Russia for a halt to the fierce clashes that erupted Sunday went unheeded by the ex-Soviet rivals that have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute Azerbaijani and Armenian forces claimed to have inflicted heavy losses as fighting raged for a third day on Tuesday over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh. Renewed US calls echoed by Germany and Russia for a halt to the fierce clashes that erupted Sunday went unheeded by the ex-Soviet rivals that have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute. The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet Tuesday for emergency talks on the military escalation over the ethnic Armenian region, where the intense fighting has caused nearly 100 confirmed deaths. Both sides said fighting was continuing on Tuesday, despite urgent international pleas for a ceasefire. In bellicose televised remarks, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev vowed to continue fighting. "If the international community is not capable of stopping Armenia's reckless dictator, then Azerbaijan will do it," he declared. The Armenian defence ministry said separatists in Karabakh had repelled Azerbaijani attacks along the frontline and that "the enemy suffered serious losses in manpower". It said Azerbaijan's military had suffered major losses since the clashes erupted, with nearly 50 drones and six helicopters downed, and 80 tanks destroyed. While accusing Azerbaijan of escalating the conflict, Armenia threatened to use longer-range weapons with greater destructive power. - 'Corpses and wounded troops' - In Baku, officials dismissed claims by the separatists that Armenian-backed troops had regained control of territory they lost in Sunday's fighting. Azerbaijan said its military had repelled an Armenian counterattack and destroyed an Armenian motorised column and an artillery unit and, later, an entire motorised infantry regiment. Its forces "continued an offensive on the city of Fizuli," in the Karabakh region, "destroying four enemy tanks and an armoured vehicle and killing 10 troops," the defence ministry said. "The enemy... asked for help to evacuate corpses and wounded troops" from the battlefield. Azerbaijan also threatened to destroy Armenia's Russian-supplied S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems, which it said are being moved to Karabakh. - Appeal to Turkey - The fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia is threatening to draw in Turkey and Russia -- the main powerbrokers in the Caucasus region -- which back opposing sides of the conflict. Yerevan is part of a military alliance of former Soviet states led by Moscow and the Kremlin on Tuesday urged Turkey and the warring sides to pursue "a peaceful settlement of this conflict using political and diplomatic means." Ankara backs Azerbaijan and has been accused of sending mercenaries from northern Syria to bolster Baku's army, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday it was time for the longstanding dispute over Karabakh "to be put to an end". Azerbaijan has not reported military casualties, but the Armenian separatist government has released footage from the battlefield showing what it said were the remains of Azerbaijani soldiers. Armenian officials confirmed Tuesday the deaths of three more civilians, while Aliyev said civilian casualties on the Azerbaijani side reached 10 on Tuesday. - Return to negotiations - That brings the total confirmed deaths in the fighting to 99 -- including 84 separatist fighters and 15 civilians. Observers to the conflict have urged the international community to ramp up efforts aimed at finding a political solution. The UN Security Council meeting, which was formally requested by Belgium after France and Germany led a push for it to be added to the agenda, was to be held at 2100 GMT, diplomats told AFP. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has "urgently called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table," her spokesman said, after she spoke with Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also for an end to fighting and a return to negotiations "as quickly as possible". Karabakh's declaration of independence from Azerbaijan sparked a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives, but it is still not recognised as independent by any country, including Armenia. Armenia and Karabakh declared martial law and military mobilisation Sunday, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities. Talks to resolve the conflict -- which emerged amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union -- have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts as the "Minsk Group", but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010. Search Keywords: Short link: FLINT, MI -- Recent recall petition language filed against Flint Councilman Allan Griggs was denied by the Genesee County Elections Commission at a Tuesday, Sept. 29 meeting. The proposed recall petition paperwork was filed Wednesday, Sept. 16, by Don Pfeiffer, a former candidate for mayor of Flint. Chair of the county elections commission, Genesee County Chief Probate Judge Jennie Barkey, made the motion to not approve the recall language, stating that the language was not clear. Particularly, Barkey said the use of the word aye instead of yes in the language made it unclear. She said the average voter would not be able to understand the meaning of the terminology. This is the second time Griggs has been targeted for recall in just over a year. The petition language filed by Pfeiffer said Griggs voted aye to appoint Lynn Sorenson to the Flint Planning Commission in March. In our opinion, it had to be yes or no on that (language) for the average voter to understand what the reason was, Barkey said after the meeting. Sorenson is planning to operate an assisted-living home with no more than six beds in the Woodcroft One subdivision near Powers High School, according to Griggs, and several homeowners spoke out against the development at the City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 14. Pfeiffer has said he questions whether the business should be allowed in the neighborhood and said not all information about it has been shared with residents. Griggs has said Sorenson is within her rights and has met the requirements for operating an assisted-living home. Recall language filed against Flint Councilman Allan Griggs In Michigan, election commissions are charged with deciding whether each reason stated in the proposed petition language is factual and clear. The language can be resubmitted. The law does not say that petition language has to be true, Barkey explained after the meeting. Its bizarre, but weve been through this a lot, she said during the meeting. The language has to be true and factual but factual in an actual court case does not mean true. The decision by the commission to deny the language may be appealed not more than 10 days after the determination. Pfeiffer said during the meeting he will seek an attorney and called the situation a round robin Griggs has said he is not surprised by the attempt to recall him a second time. Fellow Councilman Eric Mays helped organize a failed recall attempt against him in 2019 for voting to extend a contract with Republic Services, Flints waste collection company. Read more: 4 City Council members now face recall in Flint Political newcomer Don Pfeiffer brings business background to Flint mayors race Election Commission rejects attempted recall of 3 Flint council members PRESS RELEASE Paris, 29 September 2020 Turnover (m) H1 2019 H1 2020 Change % Turnover 138.9 94.9 -31.7% Fragrance/Cosmetic brands 22.8 13.7 -39.9% Own-brand boutiques 116.1 81.2 -30.1% EBITDA[1] 16.1 11.0 -31.7% Operating income 5.9 (4.8) n.a. Financial income (expense) (2.4) (2.0) - Income tax (1.2) (0.6) - Net profit (loss) Group share 2.3 (7.4) n.a. The consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2020 were approved by the Board of Directors on 29 September 2020. The Statutory Auditors conducted a limited review on the financial statements. Bogart Group Chairman and CEO David Konckier commented as follows upon the publication of H1 2020 revenues: "Our first half performance has vindicated the merits of our manufacturer-retailer strategy. Our chain of 376 stores continued to structurally sustain our brands, in particular Carven, Methode Jeanne Piaubert and April during the first half, and vice versa. Through tight cost management and reliance on our vertical integration model, we managed to limit the impact of COVID-19 on first half EBITDA. Health conditions permitting, we remain confident in our ability to grow margins over the short to medium term." Business performance Bogart Group posted H1 2020 turnover of 94.9 million, down 31.7% at current exchange rates from 138.9 million in H1 2019. Turnover was down 34.1% at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates (like for like). The decline is due to the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on sales in both business lines, primarily because of the two-month closure of the store chain in Europe and Israel and partner networks worldwide. Amid these unprecedented conditions, the Group took the necessary steps to limit the impact of lost business on EBITDA. Accordingly, staff costs were reduced by 8 million or 24.3% from 33.2 million in H1 2019 to 25.2 million in H1 2020 due to the furlough schemes implemented in mid-March across the entire store chain, among France head office support functions and in two Group manufacturing plants. Furthermore, external charges were reduced by 37% from 25 million in H1 2019 to 16 million thanks to tight cost control (reduction in use of temporary workers, advertising costs and travel; renegotiation of fees, etc.) and the ongoing renegotiation of rent across the entire Europe and Israel store chain. These negotiations will continue during the second half. As a result, EBITDA stayed positive at 11.0 million compared to 16.1 million in H1 2019. The Group posted an H1 2020 operating loss of 4.8 million compared to operating income of 5.9 million in H1 2019[2]. This includes a1.1 million write-back in H1 2020 (compared to 6.6 million in H1 2019) related to the residual badwill gain on the Distriplus acquisition. After a net financial expense of 2.0 million and a 0.6 million tax expense, the Group posted a net loss Group share of 7.4 million. Financial position At 30 June 2020, Bogart Group posted equity of 92.3 million versus 100.9 million at 31 December 2019, after share repurchases totalling 1.1 million and including the first half loss. First half cash flow amounted to 8.9 million compared to 16.0 million in H1 2019. Working capital fell by 17.7 million over first half 2020 compared to a 32.5 million reduction in H1 2019. H1 2020 capital expenditure totalled 1.5 million, compared to 1.7 million in H1 2019, and includes the acquisition of the Gottmann fragrance boutique business in Germany for 0.7 million. Moreover, the Company repaid 16.4 million of borrowings during the period, including 14.5 million in lease liabilities and 1.9 million in bank loans. In July 2020, the Group made a post-closing dividend payout of 0.23 per share. Finally, gross cash and cash equivalents stood well at 55.3 million at 30 June 2020, up from 35.9 million at 30 June 2019 (57.7 million at 31 December 2019). As a reminder, the Group obtained a 14.5 million PGE state-guaranteed loan during the first half. Given the usual seasonal business cycles, this amount does not reflect the Group's annual cash position, as the cash position is always higher towards the end of the year. Gross borrowings totalled 101.1 million (including PGE state-guaranteed loan) at 30 June 2020 (excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities), versus 85.5 million at 30 June 2019. Outlook In 2020 Bogart Group has opted for a proactive strategy of launches to support its brands. The Group plans to leverage all of its strengths to take full advantage of the initial signs of recovery on its markets. Accordingly, in the second half of 2020 the Group has launched a new fragrance, Carven Dans ma Bulle de Fleurs (July 2020) and will gradually extend its geographic distribution. The Group will launch a new collection, Stories by Lapidus, comprising seven women's and men's fragrances and the first line of men's skincare products under the Silver Scent line (Jacques Bogart). In October, the Group will introduce a new premium line named Pur Luxe de Stendhal Paris (8 cosmetics products). As a reminder, the second half is usually more profitable than the first half. Group management will continue to pay close attention to expenses in order to maintain profitability, combined with rigorous cash management. Publication of the first half 2020 financial report The Bogart Group first half 2020 financial report is now available to the public and has been filed with the French financial markets authority (AMF). The report may be downloaded from the Group website at: www.groupe-bogart.com Next publication Bogart Group will publish its third quarter turnover on 13 November 2020 Group website www.groupe-bogart.com CONTACTS BOGART GROUP ACTUS finance & communication contact@jbogart.com Tel: +33 (0)1 53 77 55 55 Anne-Pauline Petureaux Analyst/Investor Relations Tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 72 apetureaux@actus.fr Manon CLAIRET Press Relations Tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 73 mclairet@actus.fr APPENDICES EBITDA/OPERATING INCOME RECONCILIATION m - IFRS H1 2019 H1 2020 EBITDA 16,0 11,0 CVAE - - Destruction of stocks - - Depreciation and impairment charges net of write-backs -9,8 -15,8 Other non-operating income (expense) -0,3 - Operating income 5,9 -4,8 [1] EBITDA = operating income + CVAE (French business value added tax) + depreciation, amortization and provisions + destruction of stock + other non-recurring operating income and expenses [2] An EBITDA/operating income reconciliation is presented in the Appendices of this press release. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: m21uYZRmkmealW5pY51mmGlomGdqmJPFZZXJk5drmJfHcHBpyptmb5mVZm9ml25o - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-65292-pr_hy2020_groupebogart_def.pdf THE TWELFTH [12TH] PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON MONDAY, 28TH SEPTEMBER, 2020 AT KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE (KICC), NAIROBI. Fellow Kenyans and Conference Participants, Good Evening to You All, I am delighted to conference with you today at this gathering that has brought together the teams, which have shaped our national response to the Coronavirus Pandemic. In your different capacities, as leaders, clergy, technocrats, civil society and experts; you have helped the Country navigate through the turns and twists of the Corona crisis for the last six months, and brought us within sight of safe harbour. The panel discussions held this afternoon have highlighted both the Hits and the Misses in our national endeavor to flatten the infection curve. Overall, we have demonstrated resilience in the face of a tremendous challenge. I celebrate our gallant health care workers and all our essential services providers, for keeping the Kenyan flame burning bright. Today, we honour and salute them all, and recognise their representatives who are in our midst at this Conference. Even as we mourn for our compatriots whom we have lost to this disease, we are eternally grateful to God for our survivors and recoveries. Each death is a tragedy, and every recovery is a story of heroic triumph. I am confident that as a Nation, we will stay the course for the remainder of this journey and reach our desired end. For your efforts, I once again thank you, collectively and individually, on behalf of the People and the Government of the Republic of Kenya, and on my own behalf. Ladies and Gentlemen, For the last six months, the country has been in a Season of Paradox. Since March this year, when we recorded the first COVID-19 case, it became necessary to shut down the economy in order to save it. We had to avoid our loved ones, especially the elderly, because we care for their health and cherish their wisdom. And, it became necessary to withdraw our children from schools in order to secure their future. All this, was a paradox a conflict between the new normal; and what we think the normal should be. Today, however, we face an even greater paradox. As we flatten the Corona Curve, it may appear like victory, is on sight. Yes, the COVID positivity rate has fallen from 13% in June, 7% in August and is now at 4.4% in September. With these figures, we can be tempted to celebrate, more so because we are now below the 5% positivity rate recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for re-opening. Yet these achievements are a paradox in themselves. I say so because the greatest danger is always at the moment of victory. In fact, experience has taught us that we are most vulnerable and fragile at the point where we think we have won. Get me right, I am not saying this to belittle the achievements we have made so far. I am only asking us to incline on the side of caution. If we have won one battle against COVID-19, we have not won the war yet. The possibility of a second wave of this pandemic is, real as we have seen in other countries. As an affirmation that the enemy is still within our borders we continue to record new infections every day. In that regard, to forestall what is happening elsewhere, we must continue adhering to the protocols issued by the Ministry of Health. I am however, particularly delighted by the advances we have made in the health sector. When we were hit by this pandemic in March this year, we had only 8 infectious diseases Isolation beds country-wide. Seven days after the first COVID case was reported, we were able to increase this bed capacity to 60. Currently, and working in partnership with County Governments, we are at 312 ICU beds and 7,411 isolation beds nationally. Done in only six months, these achievements are, indeed, phenomenal. In fact, in this period of six months, we have installed medical equipment never seen in this country since independence. As an affirmation of our expanding capacity and as we continue to Re-imagine Kenyas Healthcare, early in the month, I presided over the official opening of our fifth National Referral Hospital K.U. Teaching Referral and Research Hospital. The new facility is part of our national response for specialized treatment of chronic diseases, notably: cancer and renal diseases the twin diseases that have wreaked havoc to many families across the nation. In that regard, once the K.U Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre (IMIC), is completed, by March 2021, there will no longer be need for any Kenyan to travel abroad in search of specialized treatment Cancer Treatment, as our enhanced capacity will be able to handle medical conditions treated abroad. Indeed, the Referral facilities, coupled with the expanded county infrastructure will enhance our national possibilities and anchor our plans to position our nation for medical tourism from neighbouring countries, and propel us for the national rollout of Universal Health Care under the Big Four Agenda. Fellow Kenyans, Our expanded health infrastructure, as I have mentioned, is impressive. However, the important question to ask ourselves is: Does it make our position unassailable if the second wave were to hit us? Is it sufficient a buffer to keep the wave at bay? The ANSWER to this question is a resounding NO. The expanded infrastructure is NECESSARY, but not SUFFICIENT. Without citizen action, the impressive infrastructure cannot forestall the aggression of a second wave. To buffer the country, therefore, the citizens must position themselves as the First Line of Defence. The reason why we have managed to flatten the curve is because Kenyans have exercised an impressive civic responsibility and duty. And if danger is most present in moments of victory, this achievement is in danger if we do not watch out. That is why I urge all Kenyans to double their efforts in observing the COVID protocols. We got this far because we, the citizen, were the First Line of Defense against this pandemic. And as we get into the next phase of the war against this pandemic, we must heed the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi when he said: start by doing what is necessary, then it will lead you to what is possible and before you know it, you will find yourself doing the impossible. If we do what is necessary during the next phase of the war against this pandemic, it will lead us to do what is possible. Then cumulatively, our necessary actions (like wearing a mask) coupled with our possible deeds, will lead us to the impossible outcome of containing this pandemic. Indeed, as a people we must always remember that impossible is nothing if we apply ourselves. And now in the spirit of co-creating the new normal between the government and its people; and on the advice of the National Security Council and in line with the recommendations of the National Emergency Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, I direct and announce as follows:- i. One, THAT the Nationwide Curfew in force throughout the territory of the Republic of Kenya is extended for a further sixty (60) days; ii. Two, THAT the commencement time for the Nationwide Curfew is varied from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Therefore, effective tomorrow, Tuesday the 29th September, 2020 the national wide dusk-to-dawn Curfew will run from 11:00 Oclock in the night to 4:00 Oclock in the morning. iii. Three, THAT the prohibition against the operation of bars and the prohibition against the sale of alcoholic drinks and beverages by ordinary restaurants and eateries shall stand vacated with effect from 29th September, 2020; iv. Four, THAT the closing time for all bars, restaurants and eateries shall be 10 pm every day with effect from 29th September, 2020 and their operations shall be with strict adherence to all applicable guidelines and protocols issued by the Ministry of Health; v. Five, THAT in line with the recommendations of the Inter-Faith Council, the permitted maximum size of religious gatherings is increased to one third (1/3) of its normal sitting capacity; but with strict adherence to all applicable guidelines and protocols issued by the Ministry of Health; and vi. Six, THAT the permitted maximum number of persons attending funerals and weddings is reviewed upwards from one hundred (100) to two hundred (200); but with strict adherence to all applicable guidelines and protocols issued by the Ministry of Health. As we progressively de-escalate the containment measures and resume a sense of normalcy on education, our paramount consideration both as a Government and as parents is the safety and the well-being of our children. The lives and health of our children is not a matter of debate. Learning institutions should be reopened only when we can sufficiently guarantee the safety of our children. And here I really would plead with Kenyans let us not focus ourselves on when schools will reopen but how shall these schools open in a manner that protects our children and protects their lives and their health. Let us think first about their health and wellbeing and once we have established how then together we will agree when. The resumption of in-person learning must be predicated on strict adherence to the health protocols and guidelines as issued by the Ministry of Health. In that regard, I, therefore, direct and order the Cabinet Secretary for Education to issue the Calendar for the resumption of the 2020 Academic calendar, strictly bearing the foregoing in mind. As I give these directives, I underscore the need to continue adhering to the health guidelines and protocols; to avoid losing the gains we have made thus far. I will not hesitate to escalate containment measures in the event any of these indicators register on my dashboard. Fellow Kenyans, Conference Participants, The containment measures put in place in March 2020 to stem the spread of Covid-19; have had positive returns in terms of our safety and national security. In the six months since then, crime has exhibited a 21% average decline and traffic accidents have reduced by an average of 10%. I will conclude with some thoughts on our economy. I said earlier that we are living in a Season of Paradox. An age where our new reality is in conflict with what we feel reality should be. Indeed, this is not only true of our social lives it is also true of our economy. Against all odds some of our entrepreneurs have re-imagined the subsisting pandemic and created a new business reality that disorganizes the existing order at play. This is a new business model driven by innovators and makers of things; people who did not see danger in the COVID crisis, but saw opportunity instead. Businesses that experienced shock from COVID, but bounced back better. But the question that this development begs is the following: If positive disruptions and innovations have mushroomed during COVID-19, how do we support them as part of our resilience-building strategy? How do we boost a small samosa delivery company known as Wau Eats whose recipe from India is 100 years old, for instance? And how do we encourage the Association of Women in Agriculture Kenya (AWAK) with their innovative work amongst vulnerable slum women across the country? During the first phase of this pandemic, we rolled out a series of economic stimulus packages. Today, and in support of our small businesses and innovators, I direct as follows: i. One, that the National Treasury considers retaining VAT at 14% until 1st January 2021. ii. Two, that the National Treasury considers retaining the Income Tax Rate (Pay-As-You-Earn) at 25 percent until 1st January 2021. iii. Three, that the National Treasury considers retaining the Resident Income Tax (Corporation Tax) at 25% until 1st January 2021. iv. Four, that to continue cushioning low income earners the National Treasury maintains the 100 percent tax relief for persons earning gross monthly income of up to Ksh. 24,000 beyond the Sunset date of 31st December, 2020. v. Five, that to continue cushioning our Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises the National Treasury considers maintaining the reduction of the turnover tax rate from 3 percent to 1 percent for all Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). vi. Six, to enhance access to credit for our micro, small and medium enterprises, the National Treasury is directed to expedite the roll-out of the credit guarantee scheme in partnership with participating banks and development partners. The credit guarantee scheme as approved by Cabinet is a risk-sharing partnership between the Government and banks, which will afford our enterprises access to credit by an additional 100 billion shillings. Fellow Kenyans, When COVID pandemic hit us in March this year, we did not know the extent of the crisis. In-between the crisis, I told you that we were in what I called the Fog of War. The theatres of war were invisible and foggy. However, today I am comforted by the fact that we are not running in the dark. We might not know everything about this pandemic, but we know something. And although we only know in part, we are better prepared today than we were in March this year. Our level of civic consciousness and responsibility is higher. However, to build the resilience that allows us to anticipate the second wave and respond to it, we must do even better. That is why I must emphasize by repeating what St Francis of Assisi taught us: If we do the NECESSARY, it will lead us to the POSSIBLE. Indeed at this point, the IMPOSSIBLE will happen without us REALIZING it. Starting the next phase of this pandemic by doing the necessary, and working together in unity, this is how we will defeat this COVID menace! And we will conquer the enemy. God Bless you. God Bless Kenya Thank you The administration on Tuesday asked authorities to remain alert against a possible spread of the Congo fever in the district. The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), commonly known as the Congo fever, spreads in humans through ticks. The district administration said in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19, this is a matter of concern for cattle- breeders, meat-sellers and animal husbandry officials, and it is necessary to take timely precautions as there is no specific and useful treatment for the CCHF. animal husbandry department's deputy commissioner Dr Prashant D Kamble in a circular said the CCHF has been found in some districts of Gujarat, and is likely to spread to border districts of is close to Gujarat's Valsad district. The department has instructed authorities to take all necessary precautions and implement preventive measures. "This viral disease is transmitted from one animal to another by a specific type of tick...the disease is transmitted to humans through contact with the blood of infected animals and by eating the meat of infected animals," the circular said. "If the disease is not diagnosed and treated in time, 30 per cent of patients die," it said. The CCHF is a widespread disease caused by a tick- borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family. The virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of 10 to 40 per cent, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO). There is no vaccine available for either people or animals against the disease, it said. Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons. Hospital-acquired infections can also occur due to improper sterilisation of medical equipment, reuse of needles and contamination of medical supplies, according to the WHO. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A firefighter has been charged with assaulting a patient in the back of a medical vehicle while they were being transported to a Virginia hospital. Footage of Fairfax County Firefighter Andrew Cruikshank appearing to strike the man was captured on a body camera worn by a Fairfax County Police Department officer who was present at the time. The victim who says in the video that he does not have a residence or a family - was in the custody of the police department when the medical emergency occurred. The disagreement occurred after the victim claimed the firefighter was probing too much for personal information and subsequently threatens to shoot the firefighter in the face. Fairfax County Firefighter Andrew Cruikshank (right) has been charged with one count of misdemeanor assault At the time the patient is handcuffed and earlier in the video appeared to be in mental distress as he arrived with puncture wounds and declared that he wanted to die. One of the men is later heard teasing the patient that he probably doesn't know how to use a gun and asks when was the last time he touched one. The patient insinuates the authorities are taking an inappropriate line of questioning and stutters. They then make fun of the patient stumbling over his words. As tensions bubble Cruikshank wipes his own arm with a swab then throws it in the patient's face. The cop holds down the patient's arm and one person then tells the victim, 'I hope you spit.' The cop then covers the patient's mouth and Cruikshank hits him. The patient attempts to hit back while restricted to the stretcher then his head is covered with what appears to be a towel. The firefighter appears to push swabs into areas of the patient's face but it is not visible exactly where they are applied. At one point the patient seems to express that he's uncomfortable with anything being placed over his head but the officer responds claiming that the patient assaulted and spat on the medic. Bodycam worn by a police officer shows them arguing with the homeless man and making fun of the patient stumbling over his words as he insinuates the authorities are taking an inappropriate line of questioning Cruikshank (right) is seen wiping his own arm with a swab and throwing it at the patient on the way to hospital before punching him while a cop holds him down After the victim made the complaint, the same police department looked into footage from around 6am on September 14 before deciding to charge the firefighter with one count of misdemeanor assault. The Fairfax County Police Department has now authorized the public release of the video. It's unclear whether the police officer or others in the vehicle will face any discipline. Cruikshank has been with the department for two years. He has been placed on leave pending an internal administrative investigation. 'This action goes against the values we hold at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department,' Fire Chief Butler said in a statement. 'We respect our role in the community and strive to build and maintain public trust. 'We remain dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of our community and will continue to ensure that our members are held to the highest standards of the profession.' Ron Kuley, president of the local firefighter's union told the Washington Post that the video doesn't 'portray a true picture of what actually happened.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 05:02:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden released his 2019 tax returns on Tuesday, hours before his first debate with U.S. President Donald Trump for the 2020 race. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, reported taxable income of more than 900,000 U.S. dollars and paid nearly 300,000 dollars in taxes. The couple also posted tax returns for 2016, 2017, and 2018. Democratic vice presidential candidate and U.S. Senator from California Kamala Harris and her husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff, reported taxable income of more than 3 million dollars and paid nearly 1.2 million in taxes. The release came two days after a New York Times investigation alleged that Trump paid just 750 dollars in federal income tax in both 2016 and 2017 and paid no taxes in 10 of the 15 previous years. The president has called the story "totally fake news." A former business mogul, Trump has refused to release his tax returns, which are being sought by Democrats and state investigators, during his presidency, breaking a decades-old tradition maintained by his predecessors. "Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015," Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten said in a statement. "This is just part of the Times' ongoing smear campaign in the run up to the election." Biden, former U.S. vice president and longtime U.S. senator, has emphasized the "Scranton vs. Park Avenue" message to appeal to working-class voters, which points to his Pennsylvania boyhood home and Trump's adult life in Manhattan, New York City. The two candidates will meet in Cleveland, Ohio for the first 2020 presidential debate Tuesday night on topics such as their records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, and race and violence in U.S. cities. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden leads Trump by 6.1 percentage points nationally and 3.5 points in top battleground states, as of Tuesday. The gaps have been narrowing. Enditem | By Mary Therese Phelan The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) and University of Michigan College of Pharmacy (U-M) have received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a joint Center for Research on Complex Generics (CRCG). James E. Polli, PhD, the Ralph F. Shangraw/Noxell Endowed Professor in Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is co-director of the new Center for Research on Complex Generics. The CRCG will increase access to safe and effective generic drugs through collaborative research, training, and exchange. The center will facilitate information sharing between graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, those working in industry, and faculty at both universities. Complex generic drugs are, in general, more difficult to develop due to complex formulation or mode of delivery, resulting in fewer complex generics on the market, said Sally Choe, PhD, director of the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) in the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. By awarding this grant, our goal is to support research and development of these products so they can be made available to patients in a more timely way. By supporting increased competition in the generic market, we can help provide more options for Americans and potentially bring down prices on these important therapies. A team of 24 investigators from UMSOP and U-M will allow the center to offer broad research capabilities from formulation development and analytical characterization to computer (in-silico) models and animal testing to clinical trials and post-market assessment of patient data. U-M and UMSOP faculty have a wealth of experience in multiple facets of the complex generics field. Maryland and Michigan faculty have expertise in formulation and evaluation of complex drugs, as well as exceptional laboratory and training space, to move the development and assessment of complex generics forward. Both universities have a long track record of FDA-sponsored clinical research, with a focus on formulation design and performance. The center is co-directed by James E. Polli, PhD, the Ralph F. Shangraw/Noxell Endowed Professor in Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics at UMSOP, located at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), and Anna Schwendeman, PhD, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at U-M. Pollis research interests focus on oral drug formulation and pharmokinetics. He is a 1993 graduate of U-M with a PhD in pharmaceutics. Ultimately, Schwendeman and Polli hope the center will make complex analytical assays and pharmaceutical development expertise accessible to the generic industry and eventually lead to more rapid approval of high-quality and accessible generic products. Schwendemans research interests focus on nanomedicines for treatment of atherosclerosis. She spent 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry at Cerenis Therapeutics, Pfizer, and Esperion Therapeutics. When the call for application came out in 2020, recalled Schwendeman, it was much broader in scope than our original plan. Jim Polli approached us about submitting a joint application between U-M and UMSOP. We agreed because both institutions have a history of interactions with OGD and FDA. In addition, UMSOP has a FDA-funded center on regulatory science (M-CERSI) and they have experience organizing regulatory workshops, webinars, and holding scientist exchange programs. U-M and UMSOP had complementary scientific expertise in the area of complex generics, making us the perfect partners for this project. Generic drugs account for about 90 percent of prescriptions filled in the United States. However, some drug products are more complicated than others and denoted to be complex products. Examples are products with complex active ingredients, complex formulations, complex routes of delivery, and complex drug-device combination products. There are barriers to implementing new FDA guidance and achieving first-cycle approvals for complex generics. For example, some newer analytical equipment, cutting-edge methodologies, software, and in-silico models are not readily available to the generic industry. The scientific intricacies of complex generics may require additional coordinated efforts between stakeholders to overcome these hurdles through stronger communication, better education, and more thorough research in complex generic product development to increase the rate of first-time product approvals. FDA's OGD and the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), which represent many generic companies, have acknowledged the need for neutral ground communication to facilitate the understanding of regulatory positions and to provide feedback on product, process, raw material, and methodological challenges facing generic drug developers. The pre-competitive space for potential complex generic products is often poorly developed, at least in terms of pre-existing knowledge in the public domain, said Polli. With at times a dearth of pre-existing knowledge about complex drug formulation and pharmacokinetics, the development and assessment of potential generic drugs is challenging. The Center for Research on Complex Generics aims to fill this gap by contributing to the pre-competitive space for potential complex drugs. UMSOP investigators bring expertise in drug-device combination products, inhalation and nasal products, topical dermatologic products, complex mixtures, nanomaterials, quantitative pharmacology, and patient substitution of generic drugs. U-M investigators bring expertise in in-vivo predictive dissolution, oral absorption, physiologically based pharmacokinetics modeling (PB-PK), long acting parenteral, complex nanoparticle products, complex peptide products, microscopy imaging, and machine learning/AI. Funding from the grant will support three main activities: Facilitate communication between OGD, the center, and generic industry stakeholders to better understand the needs for training, research and development, and implementation of new regulatory requirements. Promote generic industry training through workshops, webinars, and hands-on demonstration and engage fellows, students, and the public in complex generics research. Conduct collaborative research and technique development that facilitate complex generics. Both schools will host educational conferences. In light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, all education activities that are being planned will be held virtually. Our last pillar is our research mission, added Schwendeman. The center will facilitate collaborative projects by established researchers within the industry and the FDA, and will host the Visiting Scientists Program for OGD and generic industry fellows. Within the next month, the center will survey the generics industry and formulation scientists about research and training priorities. We wish to obtain input about which specific complex products, which analytical techniques, and which potential FDA guidance are needed, to facilitate the development of complex generics, Polli said. A Sinn Fein Stormont minister has stood by his party colleague Gerry Kelly over a tweet which has been described as "glorifying IRA terrorism". Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis led criticism of a tweet by Mr Kelly over the weekend marking the anniversary of a mass breakout from the Maze prison, saying it was "disgraceful and shameful". Mr Kelly was one of 38 IRA prisoners who escaped from the Maze in 1983. Prison officer James Ferris died of a heart attack after being stabbed while attempting to stop the breakout. The North Belfast MLA described the breakout as "one of Big Bob's best ops", referring to senior republican Bobby Storey. And he added: "I had the privilege of the front passenger seat. Well someone had to check we were taking the right route out!!" Yesterday Mr Kelly asked a question of the Executive Office of work towards designing an anti-sectarianism pledge for each MLA to commit to. DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley put to Sinn Fein Junior Minister Declan Kearney, who was responding to Mr Kelly's question, that his party colleague was "involved in crass hypocrisy". "Mr Kelly not only glorified but gloated in a terrorist escape at the Maze ... does he accept that this stands in stark contrast towards building a united community," Mr Buckley said. "This is a shameful action from a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board." TUV leader Jim Allister put to Mr Kearney that Sinn Fein should "put an end to tweeting the glorification of terrorism". Mr Kearney said: "We all have narratives around our past, the conflict that we've lived through the last hundred years. "Those narratives are in conflict with each other. "We need, particularly in the context of this mandate of renewed power-sharing, to come together on the basis of respecting different narratives, to agree to disagree." Mr Kearney added: "We will not agree on the past but we can do our level best collectively, inclusively to try and build a united future for everyone in this society." By the time [Young] and I were speaking, my team, unbeknownst to them, had sent a note back over saying just concerned about the value of the tax abatement to make sure we were getting the same fair value, Frederick said. I love this city. I would never do anything to compromise the institutions of the city or the mayors office. by Nirmala Carvalho For Archbishop Machado, the demolition was an act of religious intolerance. The local parish had not applied to use public land. However, Hindu temples in the same locations have been left intact. This is the fourth time in the last six months that crosses have been pulled down in the Indian state. Catholics plan to take legal action. Chikkkaballapur (AsiaNews) The recent removal of crosses in a small village is a "selective action carried out [by the authorities] against Christians in the current climate of religious intolerance, said Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore. Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate explained that 15 crosses were taken down from a hill near the Church of St Joseph, in Gerahalli (Karnataka), on 23 September. The operation took more than six hours. After 300 police and revenue officers isolated the area, they proceeded to remove a 32-metre cross, plus 14 smaller crosses representing the Way of the Cross. Gerahalli is a small parish home to about hundred Catholic families. The local parish priest, Father Antony Britto, says he received a visit from an administrative officer on 22 September, who informed him of the removal order issued by the High Court. The next day the demolition began. The crosses were taken away with a tractor. Distraught at the sight, local Catholics began to protest. Some wept whilst others recited the rosary. According to Archbishop Machado, local Christians have been going to the hill for decades to show their devotion, but the Church did not apply for the use of what is public land. J. A Kanthraj, spokesman for the archdiocese, was keen to explain that a specific request to the district authorities was presented ten days ago. "It is Gomala (pasture) land, said the archbishop, but in addition to the crosses, there are Hindu temples, which have not been touched. Catholics point out that all the land used for sacred purposes, Hindu temples included, covers eight acres out of 173. The area the crosses occupied was around an acre. In Karnataka, where the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is in power, the removal of crosses is the order of the day. Last weeks cross removal was the fourth in the last six months. Fr Britto plans to appeal against the court decision. However, he admits that it will be difficult to find the necessary documents. Meanwhile, he has appealed for peace, prayer and calm. KEENE, N.H., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mountain announces the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Collection which showcases t-shirt and mask designs that honor RGB's legacy as an American jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for twenty-seven years. Ginsburg especially advocated for gender equality, women's rights and voter's rights throughout her historical career which is highlighted in The Mountain's newest apparel which you can find on The Mountain website here. New RBG TShirts and Masks by The Mountain Lindsey Hayes, Vice President of Global Sales for The Mountain says, "Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaves behind a legacy that I and so many others deeply admire. I am proud that our Mountain team designed shirts and masks available now that reflect the impact this amazing woman has made on our society." The Mountain, in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, will be donating half of each t-shirt and mask sale to Rock The Vote, a nonprofit that urges everyone to register and vote. Shirt pricing ranges from $25 - $35 and masks at $10. Both can be found on our website. ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN The Mountain is an eco-friendly Artwear brand where art and apparel successfully intersect to become a powerful vehicle of personal expression for The Mountain's enthusiastic consumers, the #MountainCrew. Founded in 1972 in New Hampshire by two best friends, The Mountain today is sold in more than 216 countries and territories around the world and celebrates a collaboration with over 75 global artists who, with The Mountain's 90 employees, help the organization stay challenged yet humble through each creative and differing view. For more information about The Mountain, please join us on our website and in social media (@mountainartwear). Press Contact Creative Concepts Valorie Luther 866.475.5191 x 709 [email protected] SOURCE The Mountain Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr Ernest Addison has told journalists that the Vice Air Marshal is supporting the central bank to use helicopters to transport cash to banks around the country. He explained that this follows the recent attacks by criminals on bullion vans in the country. Answering a question regarding the measures that the central bank has put in place to deal with the recent attacks on bullion vans, while speaking at the Monetary Policy Committee press conference in Accra on Monday September 28, Dr Addison said the BoG has taken note of the attacks and steps have accordingly been taken to deal with the menace. There was recent a recent attack on a bullion van in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. Dr Addison said: This is about the third or so occasion that we have had that type of incidence. All of them are using these Nissan pickup trucks that have been converted into bullion vans . It is a matter that the Bank of Ghana has taken seriously. I think last week, Securities met with the banks to decide on the way forward. We have quite a good fleet of bullion vans and are asking them to see how we collaborate with the banks so that we will have a more secure way of transporting money around the country. I have also met with the Air Vice Marshall and he has offered to assist the bank with lifting of currency around the country using some of the aircraft that they have. So there is a lot of work being done to improve carrying currencies around the country. Dr Addison also announced that the Monetary Policy Committee has maintained the policy rate at 14.5 per cent. He said after the 96th MPC meeting on Monday, September 28. Dr Addison added that it is estimated that growth in 2020 will be between 2 and 25 per cent. Consumers confidence is bouncing strongly, Consumers seem to be responding to be the gradual lifting of restrictions. He further stated that about 95 business surveyed are showing strong optimism in spite of the ravages of the coronavirus. ---3news We have to go back to the core values of this country, Trump said during the presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. They were teaching people that our country is a horrible place. Its a racist place. And they were teaching people to hate our country. And Im not going to allow that to happen. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jessica DiNapoli (Reuters) Tue, September 29, 2020 09:36 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47dbc40 2 Business LVMH,Tiffany-and-co,acquisition,lawsuit,COVID-19 Free LVMH countersued Tiffany & Co on Monday, arguing the iconic US jeweler's financial mismanagement in the pandemic permits the French luxury goods giant to walk away from its proposed US$16 billion acquisition of the company. The move comes after Tiffany sued LVMH earlier this month, objecting to the Paris-based companys decision not to go through with the deal they signed in November because of a French government request and the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. In its counterclaims filed in Delaware Chancery Court on Monday, LVMH said the agreement with Tiffany had no carve-out for pandemics under the definition of a so-called material adverse effect. As a result, Tiffany assumed the risk of a virus outbreak, LVMH added. The French company also said Tiffany breached its agreement to operate as usual by paying out the highest possible dividend. LVMH said it could not close the deal with Tiffany because it received a letter from the French government asking the conglomerate to delay the transaction until next year, beyond the Nov. 24 contractual deadline the companies had agreed to. Tiffany did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has disputed LVMHs assertion that the French government intervention prevents it from closing the deal and that a material adverse effect had occurred. It also defended its ability to pay out dividends under its contract with LVMH. LVMH also said Tiffany stands to profit far more if the deal proceeds than as a stand-alone company. Tiffanys top five executives are in line to receive at least $100 million in total compensation if the deal moves forward, according to the counterclaims. A US judge last week set a four-day trial on the case beginning Jan. 5. The judge said during a hearing he hoped Tiffany and LVMH could have productive discussions to avoid the need for litigation, referring to a potential settlement. The letter that LVMH says prevents it from completing the deal was signed by Frances foreign minister, who said his office had received an inquiry from LVMH, and that it was natural for him to respond with advice. LVMH in its counterclaim said the letter is a mandatory directive to take part in Frances efforts to defend its national interests in a trade dispute with the United States. EDMONTONA utility company says contract staff have been fired for making racist comments during a smudging ceremony at an Edmonton public school. Epcor says school officials reported that students and staff heard construction workers swearing, using racist language and running their equipment during the ceremony last week at Edith Rogers School, which teaches students from Grades 7 to 9. The workers were at a dry pond project across from where the students were participating in the smudging ritual in which Indigenous peoples burn sacred herbs and medicines for cleansing or health purposes. EPCOR does not condone racism or hate of any kind, and we thank the students and staff who brought this incident to our attention, the company said in a statement Tuesday. The company said the workers were with a subcontractor, Wilco Contractors Northwest, and under the control of Sureway Construction Group. Epcor, Wilco and Sureway said they will together donate $30,000 to the Edmonton Public School Boards amiskwaciy Academy, a junior and senior high school that offers Indigenous programming. Wilco said in a separate statement that it has fired the workers involved and that racism will not be tolerated. The hurt experienced by the students and staff is front of mind for us, and we hope the actions we are taking demonstrate to them how seriously we take this situation, Wilco said. Edmonton Public Schools said it was waiting to notify parents before releasing a comment on Epcors decision. In an earlier statement, the public schools spokeswoman, Carrie Rosa, said: Edmonton Public Schools is committed to truth and reconciliation by providing a variety of learning experiences in all of our schools, which includes events like Fridays smudging. We aspire for all of our learning and working environments to be free from hatred, racism and hurt. Thats why what happened at Edith Rogers School was so deeply unsettling and unacceptable for our staff and students who were participating in the smudging ceremony. Epcor shut down the construction site last week and said work would resume after an investigation was complete. Read more about: The effort to defeat President Donald Trump in Florida and mobilize the Hispanic vote for former Vice President Joe Biden has led to some strange bedfellows. An anti-Trump political committee, The Lincoln Project, run by current and former Republicans, announced Monday it has joined with three Democrat-leaning groups, including a veteran Latino outreach coordinator for Bernie Sanders, to target Hispanic voters and counter the messaging of the presidents campaign. The team of former rivals includes Mi Familia Vota, UnidosUS Action Fund, and Nuestro PAC, which was founded by Sanders former political adviser, Chuck Rocha. The four groups will host a bipartisan virtual town hall on Wednesday as part of their voter mobilization effort and multimedia marketing campaign. Together, they say, they can correct the mistakes that each has made over the past 30 years working with Hispanics in Florida, and replicate their successes. Their top message: The disproportionate impact of the presidents handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Latino communities and the economic pain that has wrought, said Mike Madrid, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and a veteran of the Jeb Bush and George W. Bush Hispanic outreach efforts. The statistics are overwhelming that its people of color, Latinos and African Americans specifically, that have taken the largest brunt of the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Hes treating essential workers as less than essential human beings and the No. 1 economic issue facing Latinos right now is the pandemic. Although Biden maintains an advantage among Hispanic voters across the country, in Florida the margin is in the low single digits according to recent polls, as Cuban-American voters have coalesced in support of Trump. Madrid said his previous work with more conservative Latinos will also help fill the gaps with segments of Latino communities in Florida who might not see the appeal of Trumps attacks on Biden, but have not historically seen their interests represented in the Democratic Party. Story continues Ive watched from afar. Ive seen what works and Ive seen what hasnt, he said. One goal of the campaign, for example, is to counter the presidents messaging to Cubans and Venezuelans on former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. We believe that if you put up a boogeyman of Fidel Castro, and a real life example of the pandemic which was exacerbated by Trumps mismanagement, and the economic devastation, for which he has no plan, were gonna do quite well with this constituency, Madrid said. Joe Biden supporters participate in a Cubans Con Biden caravan at Bright Park in Hialeah, Florida on Saturday, September 19, 2020. Accompanying the announcement Monday, the Lincoln Project released a new digital ad, Le Creimos, We believed him that underscores the effects of the presidents handling of the coronavirus on Hispanics, uses audio excerpts of the president calling COVID-19 more deadly than your strenuous flus and saying: I wanted to always play it down. It is a similar message to that being pushed by Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA and Latino Victory Fund, which announced last week they will air $6 million in Spanish-language ads funded by New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg to target Hispanic voters in Miami, Tampa and Orlando. And the anti-Trump super PAC Republican Voters Against Trump announced Monday that it will start airing a Spanish language TV ad this week in Florida, comparing the president to Maduro, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Castro. Former rivals But this one, a bipartisan effort, puts Republicans like Madrid and Hispanic-American marketing executive and political consultant Lionel Sosa at the same table as Rocha, the former Latino outreach director for Sanders and founder of the largest Latino SuperPAC in the nation. If you want to know how bad I want to beat Donald Trump, Im willing to sit down with guys like Mike Madrid to build a coalition, said Rocha, who worked on U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powells successful Miami campaign in 2018. He said to win Florida takes a multi-layered, multi-lens approach to a very complicated electorate. We put together a team that looks like the electorate in Florida, he said. So you have conservatives, liberals, moderates, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and all these different folks who now have come together for a common goal. Madrid said that although theyve been battling each other for a long time, now were sitting down and and sharing ideas. For Rocha, that means reaching Latinos that have never been asked to participate because both Democrats and Republicans decided they werent a Latino Prime Voter, he said. Democrats have got their ass kicked in Florida on a daily basis by Republicans because Democrats dont even go ask certain sectors of the Latino community, Rocha said. Targeting infrequent voters So this year, Nuestro PAC is dumping 2 million pieces of mail to persuadable Latino voters in Florida, as well as targeting them with bilingual digital and radio ads, Rocha said. The universe of potential voters includes every infrequent voter and any Latino who registered in the last two years. I cant promise you theyll read every word, but I know they will at least touch it long enough to take it from their mailbox to their trash bin, he said. Meanwhile, Madrid and the Lincoln Project are focused on messaging to Cubans and Venezuelans. To that end, Sosa has developed half a dozen digital and TV ads the Lincoln Project now has in rotation, Madrid said. He said some of the ads are softer touches but others, such as those targeting Floridas Cuban community, will adopt the Lincoln Projects signature irreverent approach, a strategy its organizers say they often use to unnerve the media-savvy president. Its an approach that, Madrid suggests, candidly, I dont think Democrats can do. Madrid said the Hispanic mobilization campaign also focuses on talking to Puerto Ricans by pushing media in both Florida and on the island, where residents dont have the right to vote in the general election. We learned that theyre in touch with each other, more than most folks, said Rick Wilson, the former Republican political consultant turned anti-Trumper who is one of the founders of the Lincoln Project. You begin to understand, what happens on the island still strongly drives behavior of Puerto Rican voters here on the mainland. The effort to push presidential candidates on the island was a strategy also used by Bloomberg who blanketed Puerto Rico with TV ads when he was a candidate ahead of the presidential preference primary election, which island residents can participate in. Biden has published op-eds in the islands largest newspaper, El Nuevo Dia. The key is to find the niches and target voters through radio and television but also through their phones and laptops, Wilson said. For the last month, the Lincoln Project has been dropping $3.1 million in digital ads in Florida as part of a micro-targeting campaign aimed at voters it believes will decide whether Biden wins Florida: Latinos across the state, suburban women who live around Orlando and Tampa, and Puerto Rican voters mostly in Central Florida, he said. Similar efforts are underway in three other swing states: Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. They are also carefully targeting voters considered softer Republicans who voted for Trump in 2016 but for Democrats in 2018. But the approach is anything but soft as the ads work hard to pierce news filter bubbles by exploiting anxieties many conservative voters have about Trump. An awful lot of this really comes down to the reality that he did not deliver what he promised and Florida voters have been paying a very high price for that, Wilson said. Working the margins The investment is modest, compared to the $100 million Florida-focused TV campaign announced earlier this month by Bloombergs political committee, and the announcement Monday comes on the same day Bloomberg told the Miami Herald that hes giving $4 million to grassroots organizations across Florida to help promote Biden by talking with voters in minority communities. But the approach is to work the small numbers, Wilson said, and snatch thousands of persuadable voters in decisive areas with an Electoral College strategy. Theyre not hard-core progressives. Theyre not hard-core Republicans. They are an under-served market that many of them made the choice and voted for Trump in 16, he said. But the cruelty and the incompetence and the COVID and everything else that has sort of shown over time, as a definitional nature to the Trump administration, has driven them away. One of the most effective messages, he said, is to talk about the impact of the pandemic on their lives. It is the most dominant political issue Ive seen in my long career, Wilson said, and its reshaped the battlefield at a fundamental level. Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas French President Emmanuel Macron became the highest-profile Western leader to meet with the exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Tuesday (September 29). Macron was in Lithuania, where the opposition leader fled amid weeks of anti-government protests in her country. Macron pledged support to the country's people and said quote "we need to be pragmatic". Tsikhanouskaya fled after the disputed Aug. 9 election, where incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the landslide winner. Opponents say the results were rigged. Tsikhanouskaya has met the prime ministers of Lithuania, Norway, and Poland. She may also meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in October, but it hasn't been confirmed. Denials: Gerald Marie, pictured with former wife Linda Evangelista, says it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the claims. Photo: Ron Galella/Getty A former boss of one of the world's biggest modelling agencies is under investigation in France over accusations of rape and sexual assault, prosecutors said yesterday. Three ex-models accuse Gerald Marie, who was president of the European arm of Elite Model Management for 25 years, of raping or sexually assaulting them when they were aged 17, 19 and 20. Mr Marie (70), the former husband of Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista, denies the allegations, which date back to the eighties and nineties. He is now chairman of a Paris modelling agency called Oui Management. A British journalist, Lisa Brinkworth, also accuses him of assaulting her while she was working undercover on an expose of the modelling industry for the BBC in 1998. Ms Brinkworth said he rubbed his genitals against her abdomen in a nightclub while she was posing as a model for the investigation. She said she did not take legal action earlier because of an agreement between the BBC and Elite in 2001 following a defamation suit. The investigation is unlikely to lead to a trial because of France's statute of limitations. However, Anne-Claire Le Jeune, a lawyer for Ms Brinkworth and the other three women, said she hoped the agreement that discouraged the journalist from coming forward would be considered grounds for suspending the statute of limitations. Carre Otis, an American model formerly married to actor Mickey Rourke, has accused Mr Marie of "countless" rapes in 1986, when she was 17 and alone in Paris after moving there to work for Elite. Jill Dodd, another American model, said he raped her in 1980 when she was 19. Ebba Karlsson, a Swedish model, said he assaulted her in 1990, when she was 20 or 21. The four women said they were making the allegations public in the hope of effecting a change in the modelling industry. Ms Le Jeune said: "This investigation will, I hope, give others the courage to speak out. This is an encouraging first step and a relief for the victims." Ms Otis, who said she felt unable to speak at the time of the alleged attack, added she was doing so now to stop "intolerable acts by men in power who seem able to act in all impunity". Mr Marie, still considered a leading figure in the modelling industry, has never been prosecuted. He did not respond to requests for comment, but told The Sunday Times before prosecutors opened the investigation: "It would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time on the allegations of historic wrongdoing being made against me, other than to make it clear that I categorically deny them." He married Linda Evangelista in 1987 and they divorced in 1993. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] On this day in history, September 29, 1988, NASAs Space Shuttle Discovery was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on STS-26, on its 26th mission of the space shuttle program and 7th mission for Discovery. In a press release, NASA revealed that crew of Commander Frederick H. Hauck, pilot Richard Covey and specialists John Lounge, David Hilmers, and George "Pinky" Nelson went into space for the four-day mission on the spaceflights in the first veteran astronauts take off. Over the years NASAs Discovery flew 39 missions, more than any other vehicle in the fleet. Its 26-year spaceflight career began Aug. 30, 1984, with six astronauts launched into orbit on the STS-41D mission. The US Senator John Glenn rocketed into orbit aboard Discovery as a member of the STS-95 crew in the mission that deployed NASAs Hubble Space Telescope from Discovery's payload bay. However, NASA lost its 7 astronauts in a tragedy of Space Shuttle Challenger explosion at Cape Canaveral as the space shuttle STS-51L blasted only 73 seconds after liftoff due to a glitch in the o-ring of the solid rocket booster that caused engine failure. [The US space shuttle Discovery with five-man crew lifts off from launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA] [Four years before exploding over Kennedy Space Center, Space Shuttle Challenger creeps through the Florida fog on its way to Launch Pad 39A before its first liftoff on the STS-6 mission in 1982. Credit: NASA] NASA lost its entire crew which included Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher who was the first civilian to participate in NASAs Teacher in Space mission. In a press address, US President Ronald Reagan informed about the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger, saying, that three astronauts of NASA were killed in the accident. After nearly three years of the tragedy, NASA returned to space with its Space Shuttle Discovery launch on September 29, 1988. Read: Killer Asteroid Hitting Earth In 2022? Here Is What NASA Says Read: US Beauty Brand To Send Its Latest Product To Space With NASA For Commercial Shoot $2 billion (Dh7.35 billion) spaceship The Discovery mission came to be known as NASAs "Return to Flight" post the STS-107 disaster. Discovery STS-41-D first flown in 1984, touched down with completion of its total 39 missions on March 9, 2011, on STS-133. The $2 billion (Dh7.35 billion) spaceship consisted of solid-fuel rocket boosters which were Americas first manned spaceflight in more than two-and-a-half years launched by NASA. The STS-133 mission to the space station was Discovery's final spaceflight. Led by Commander Steve Lindsey, the six-person shuttle crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, offering extra room for science tasks and storage, and Robonaut 2, a humanoid robotic helper, NASA wrote in the release. Discovery touched down on Kennedy's Runway 15 and ran for148 million miles after spending one year in space. Read: NASA Targets Halloween For Next Manned SpaceX Mission To Deconflict Soyuz Arrival Read: Asteroid 2020 SY4 To Swing By Earth On September 28, Says NASA In a significant development, famous human rights organisation Amnesty International India on Tuesday (September 29) announced that it is closing down its operations in India due to government's 'witch-hunt' and 'harassment'. Amnesty International India noted that it decided to shut down its operations in India after it was compelled to let go off staff in India and halt all its research work as the government froze all its bank accounts. In a statement, the organisation called the governments decision to its bank accounts a witch-hunt over unfounded and motivated allegations. The complete freezing of Amnesty International India's bank accounts by the government of India, which it came to know on 10 September, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt. This is the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations, it said. It may be recalled that few weeks ago Amnesty International India had accused accused the Delhi police of complicity in the riots that erupted in the national capital in February this year. Live TV Avinash Kumar, Executive Director, Amnesty International India said the government's 'harassment' of the organisation in the last two years is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent, he said. In August, an investigation conducted by the organisation alleged that there was a denial of medical services to victims, failure to rescue them, excessive and arbitrary use of force on protesters and differential treatment of assemblies, no response to multiple calls leaving the survivors to fend for themselves over the period of six days of violence in Delhi. Notably, the Enforcement Directorate is probing Amnesty over alleged irregularities in receiving foreign funds. According to Union Home Ministry, Amnesty "got money into India through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) route," which is not allowed in the case of non-profits. Jurors deciding the fate of a Louisiana man accused of stabbing and dismembering his parents over the Thanksgiving weekend 2016 in Tennessee were shown a gruesome police video depicting the aftermath of the killings on Monday. Joel Guy Jr, 31, appeared in Knoxville court on Monday on first-degree murder charges in the November 2016 slayings of his 61-year-old father, Joel Michael Guy Sr, and his 55-year-old mother, Lisa Guy. Prosecutors told the jury panel that Guy Jr first knifed his father to death in the upstairs exercise room of his West Knox County house on November 26, 2016, then ambushed and stabbed his mother to death when she returned home from a shopping trip, reported WBIR. The son then allegedly dismembered his parents' bodies and tried to dissolve some of the remains and boiled his mother's head in a pot. 'Joel placed pieces of the bodies in an acid-based solution in an attempt to destroy evidence,' Knox County Sheriff's Office Maj. Michael MacLean testified. Two plastic containers are pictured inside the home of Joel Guy Sr and Lisa Guy in Tennessee containing the couple's partially liquifed remains One of the knives used in the double homicide is seen in a master bathroom sink in this screenshot from a police walk-through video Joel Guy Jr, 31, is on trial in Tennessee for the savage murders of his parents, who were dismembered inside their home in 2016 A stockpot containing Lisa Guy's severed head is seen boiling on the stove after her murder Guy Sr was stabbed 42 times and had his limbs cut off, while his wife suffered 31 knife wounds and had her head severed and boiled in a pot Jurors saw the aftermath of the grisly crime when Knox County Sheriff's officer Sandy Campbell took the witness stand and narrated a 30-minute video showing her walking through the crime scene. The graphic video shows blood stains on the carpet throughout the house, piles of bloodied, shredded clothing belonging to the victims, and a severed human hand resting on the floor in the couple's blood-spattered home gym. The recording also shows the kitchen, with a large metal stockpot covered with a lid containing Lisa Guy's head boiling on the stove. Later in the video, Campbell encounters two large blue plastic bins with partially liquified human remains floating inside. That portion of the footage has been blurred due to its graphic nature. Deputies who responded to the home on November 28 to perform a welfare check found remains, including human hands, strewn all throughout the gore-splattered home. Guy Sr was stabbed to death inside his exercise room, with his blood staining the wall. Police found his severed hands on the carpet (blurred) The male victim's clothes are pictured resting next to a pair of knives in the room Containers of chemicals are seen sitting in a hallways next to a large bloodstains Family and baby pictures of Joel and Lisa's children are seen adorning a wall inside the family's home The victims' torsos and some of their limbs were placed in 45-gallon plastic containers, doused with a corrosive chemical and left to liquify, in what prosecutors described as a 'diabolical stew of human remains,' reported WVLT. Knox County prosecutor Leslie Nassios on Monday detailed the full roster of the horrific injuries sustained by the victims. Guy Sr was stabbed and slashed 42 times, with some of the blows severing his ribs and puncturing his liver, lungs and kidneys. Autopsy showed that the man's hands were cut off at the wrists, his arms were severed at the shoulder blade, his legs were sawed off at the hip and his right foot was removed at the ankle. Nassios said the evidence indicated the father fought for his life. Lisa was stabbed 31 times and had nine of her ribs severed. Her legs were cut off below the knee and her arms were removed at the shoulder. Deputies performed a welfare check entered the Guys' home in West Knox County, Tennessee, on November 28, 2016, and discovered body parts strewn throughout Guy Sr and Lisa's torso were found submerged in corrosive chemicals. This screenshot from WVLT shows a body being removed the the crime scene Prosecutors said Guy Jr had a meticulous checklist for the murders, suggesting premeditation. His written reminders to himself included 'get killing knives,' 'kill him with knife. Clean up mess before she gets home,' 'kill her with knife.' 'flush chunks down toilet, not garbage disposal,' get a sledgehammer to 'crush bones,' and 'body gives time of death, alibi.' The son also reportedly made a note about programming his slain mother's phone so it would send him a text message while he was in Louisiana to 'prove she was alive.' According to the prosecution, Guy Jr's motive for the savage double homicide was financial because his parents had been planning to stop giving him money. Guy was reportedly studying to be a plastic surgeon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had been in college for nine years while his parents supported him. The couple, who both worked as engineers, were ready to retire and stop providing him with assistance. Prosecutors say Guy Jr's motive for the murders was financial because his parents had been planning to stop giving him money so they could retire comfortably In his notes, Guy Jr included a section titled 'Assets.' In it, Nassios told the court that the defendant laid out a plan to hide his father's body and inherit his mother's $500,000 life insurance. 'Money all mine,' he wrote, according to the records. 'I get the whole thing.' Guy Jr's sister and half-sister told the jury from the stand that they knew their father and his wife intended to stop giving him money. The couple planned to break the news to him during the Christmas holiday. Angela Guy, the defendant's half-sister said from the stand that her father and Lisa told her it 'was time for Joel Michael to stand on his own two feet.' Guy Jr arrived at his parents' home on Wednesday, November 23, spent Thanksgiving with his parents and three sisters, and returned to Baton Rouge on Sunday. When Lisa failed to show up for work on Monday, her supervisor, Jennifer Whitehead, made multiple attempts to reach her by phone, but she did not pick up. Concerned for her safety, Whitehead told jurors she called the authorities and asked them to perform a welfare check, leading to the gruesome discoveries that were described by investigators as 'horrific.' Nassios said deputies who walked into the crime scene had a 'physical reaction' to the odor of chemicals and decaying flesh in the home where the thermostat was set to a scorching 90 degrees. The Guys had just sold their house and were in the process of moving into another home belonging to Guy Sr's deceased mother, which they had recently purchased, The Advocate reported. Guy Jr was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, just days after the gruesome killings Rene Charles, Guy Sr's sister, said her brother and his wife had planned to retire in Surgoinsville, Tennessee, according to the Kingsport Times-News. Guy Jr was apprehended at his Baton Rouge, Louisiana, apartment on November 29 when he tried to get into his 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The murder trial is expected to last a week. The state is not seeking the death penalty against Guy Jr. A JetBlue Airways plane taxis next to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines aircraft at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday, April 6, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has turned airlines' most price-sensitive customers into a prize. Airlines are dropping fees and reshaping their once-sprawling global networks to focus more on domestic vacation destinations as leisure travelers become more important. That's on top of new rules, such as mandatory masks, put in place to entice travelers worried about flying during the pandemic. Airlines' shift comes after the virus grounded most business travel, along with many other areas of life, depriving the industry of what was its most lucrative group. Business travelers before the virus accounted for half of U.S. airlines' revenue but just 30% of the trips, according to Airlines for America, an industry group that represents most U.S. carriers. Eighty-five percent of respondents in a Global Business Travel Association study conducted Sept. 15-19 said they have canceled most or all business trips this year. Close to a third of the 1,364 people polled said they expect their employees to resume in-person events and conferences in the second quarter of 2021. "The leisure traveler is the traveler today," said Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group and a former airline executive. Airline CEOs have described the coronavirus as the industry's worst crisis ever, and as the global pandemic surpasses the grim milestone of 1 million deaths, executives say they expect the disease to continue to limit travel until there's a widely available vaccine. To keep airlines afloat, the federal government in March approved a $25 billion aid package that prohibited airlines from cutting jobs. With the terms of the agreement expiring at the end of September, more than 30,000 workers are now at risk. Airlines are urging Congress and the Trump administration to approve another $25 billion as the pandemic drags on. As they await Washington, airlines, particularly large carriers such as United, Delta and American, have been redrawing their maps away from once-lucrative international trips, as a web of travel restrictions has made much of the world off-limits for Americans. For example, United's October capacity is 65% domestic, up from a 56% share a year ago. For U.S. travelers, Milan is out. The Rocky Mountains are in. "We see a lot of people going to beaches and mountains that give you fresh air," said Southwest's chief commercial officer, Andrew Watterson. "So Denver Colorado in general has been pretty big." Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. The price is right: Donal with Kate, which he sold for a world record fee of 2,700 Donegal sheep farmers Donal and Leanne Mullaney have twice broken the world price record for selling an untrained sheepdog pup in recent months. Earlier this month they broke their own record by a pup named Kate for a staggering 2,700 (2,950), online through Skipton Mart in Yorkshire. In July they sold a pup for 2,350 at the same venue, to a farmer in Scotland. Donal has been breeding dogs for a few years and has been building up a good reputation, says Leanne. Hes had some good dogs along the way. They bought female dogs from Pat Byrne, a well-known breeder in Roscommon, then mated them with a former National Sheep Dog Trial champion called Jack, owned by Sligo breeder Martin Feeney. Expand Close Donegal sheep dog breeder and sheep farmer Donal Mullaney with wife Leanne, children Jack, Michael, Emma and Daniel, and dog Jess. Photo: Clive Wasson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donegal sheep dog breeder and sheep farmer Donal Mullaney with wife Leanne, children Jack, Michael, Emma and Daniel, and dog Jess. Photo: Clive Wasson They just clicked; the quality of pups was unbelievable, says Leanne. They have excellent breeding. Their father has excellent bloodlines. He was bought in Wales and he was an excellent trialling dog, winning competitions such as the Supreme Trials and the Irish Trials. The pups were sold online, which really helped to drive the prices up and interest in the sale. Since the sale weve had loads of people asking us did we have any more pups to sell. You send in a video of the dogs being worked and people bid on it. It was a timed auction, meaning that it lasted over two days, but all the real bidding was done in the last two hours. There was interest from all over the world but in the end it was sold to a man from Germany. The Mullaneys have three more pups which they hope to sell in the near future. We might hold on to them for a bit longer but it would be silly to refuse that kind of money. Theres always a market for dogs but with everything online the price of dogs has gone through the roof. On their farm in Gortahork, north-west Donegal, they have 200 ewes, a mixture of Suffolks, Texels and Perths. We start lambing in January and continue right on into March-April, says Leanne. The lowland sheep lamb first and the hill sheep lamb a bit later on. The Texels and Suffolks produce good lambs, so theyre good for selling on, while the Perths are a good, hardy breed they dont need much looking after, they can do their own thing out on the hills. The Mullaneys sell the earlier-lambing Suffolks and Texels for the Easter market. We sell the other ones throughout the year, she says. We normally sell through the local marts such as Raphoe and Stranorlar. Generally, we sell them at three months, although the mountain sheep are a bit older. Covid-19 disrupted the market this year but we were lucky our local butcher bought some of our lambs off us, it took a lot of pressure off us. It was a bit of a mad time. At the beginning the online bidding system wasnt set up, so we dropped them to the mart and waited outside to see how they did. When they changed to online, that made things a bit easier. Ready With the breeding season under way, the Mullaneys have spent much of the last few weeks getting stock ready for the rams going out. We have to make sure theyre all dipped, dosed and clipped, Leanne says. Its important to make sure that they all have their vaccinations before the ram goes out. The lowland ram has been out for a couple of weeks and the Perth lamb will be out in the next few weeks. Theyll be left out for about 6-8 weeks. We have a few hogget rams from last year that are for sale. We were at a ram sale in Waterford recently and the price varies a lot for them it depends on if there are enough buyers, etc. A good price is around 300-400. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has died at the age of 91, state media reported. His death was announced by the Emiri Diwan. "With deep sadness and sorrow the Emiri Diwan sends its condolences to the people of Kuwait, the Arab and Muslim nations, and our friendly nations worldwide," it said in a statement. He was expected to be succeeded by his 83-year-old half-brother and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed, said a BBC report. In July, Sheikh Sabah was flown to the US for medical treatment following surgery for an unspecified condition in Kuwait. He had ruled the country since 2006 and had overseen its foreign policy for more than 50 years. He was dubbed the "dean of Arab diplomacy" for his efforts to restore relations with states that backed Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, when Kuwait was invaded by Iraqi forces. The emir also often acted as a mediator in regional disputes, including the ongoing diplomatic stand-off between Saudi Arabia, its allies and Qatar. Kuwait also refrained from intervening in Syria's civil war, instead hosting several donor conferences for humanitarian aid. Hyundai Engineering & Construction has currently begun presales of apartments to be built in its Hillstate Godeok Sky City complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province Three landmark 49-story buildings will offer 665 apartments once built, and will be the tallest structures in Pyeongtaek's Godeok International New Town. Hillstate Godeok Sky City is located in a user-friendly area it is surrounded by diverse convenient infrastructure including commercial facilities and a neighborhood park. The second phase of the Godeok International New Town development is set to start in 2021, and expected to attract medical, business and sales facilities. A bus rapid transit (BRT) system is on the premises to provide swift and easy transport to key areas including Seojeong-ri Station on Seoul Metro Line 1 and the Super Rapid Train (SRT) that will make transport to Seoul and the rest of the capital region easier. There is also a highway that connects to the Seohaean Expressway. Samsung Electronics' semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek will also be nearby. The first phase of the plant is being constructed, while three others are planned to build the world's largest semiconductor factory. In June, Samsung Electronics announced it would invest 8 trillion won to construct a foundry line and NAND flash line, which is expected to increase housing demand in the area. Nearby there is also a neighborhood park with an art center, museum and library scheduled to be built for locals to enjoy diverse cultural activities. The Hillstate complex is neighbored by low-rise buildings, enabling a commanding view of the surroundings. Elementary, middle and high schools are scheduled to be constructed as well as an international school. This is the first Hillstate brand apartment complex to be built in Godeok and each apartment will include a dressing room, pantry (optional) and customized room (optional) depending on the client's taste. On the third floor there is a fitness center, driving range, library, children's playground and childcare center. "There are key convenient facilities including a business zone and a neighborhood park, and expectancy is high in the Godeok region for the apartment complex," a Hillstate official said. "We will work so that the Hillstate's superior product and exquisite design will become a landmark in the area." (Advertorial) TRUMBULL A day-long negotiating session produced some movement, but no deal between the union representing Trumbull school bus drivers and monitors and Durham School Services. We got close, so close, but there is no deal, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1336 President Mustafa Salahuddin said. Now, well bring the companys last offer to the members for a vote, but this proposal is for less than the members said they would accept. The union has been working under a contract that expired in August 2019. Under the terms of the deal, the expired contract continues in effect while the two sides negotiate a new deal. Either side can void the deal, through a strike or worker lockout, with 60 days notice. Mondays negotiating session, in which there was some movement on both sides over things like wages, and retroactive pay increases for the past year, essentially reset the clock. That means that workers will remain on the job until at least late November. If the members vote no, then we will notify the company that the clock is running, and that 60 days starts counting down, Salahuddin said. But weve gone as far as were willing to go, and the company has phrased this as their final offer. Just hours earlier, Salahuddin had been optimistic a deal could be reached. Were very close, he said late Monday afternoon during a break in the talks. Durham had upped its offer on pay increases to the point where Salahuddin described that part of the negotiation as being almost there. There also had been some back-and-forth negotiations on the retroactive pay issue. Theyve been reviewing our latest proposal for the past half hour, so maybe thats a good sign, Salahuddin said at 4:30 p.m. If they come back with a counter, I think we have a little bit more room. deng@trumbulltimes.com STAMFORD A city man who got into a fight with workers at a Chinese restaurant in the city, and claimed he became enraged after having found a fried mouse in his food, will have to spend three months in jail after pleading guilty to criminal charges connected with the incident late last week. Antwaun Boyd, 27, of Stamford, pleaded guilty on Friday to second-degree assault and breach of peace charges in return for a 90-day sentence. He had faced as many as 25 months in jail. Boyd began serving his sentence Friday. Mark Sherman, Boyds Stamford criminal defense lawyer, said Judge John Blawies sentencing was thoughtful and fair in light of the case circumstances and severity of the victims injuries. While Antwan was hoping to avoid jail, the Courts sentence allows him to continue to move upward and forward in his young life, and continue his community service work and his dream to become a professional athlete, he said. During his sentencing, Sherman highlighted Boyds meaningful work with the Stamford Peace Youth Foundation, whose chief executive Lenwood Latta submitted a letter of support for Boyd. Latta told Blawie that Boyd regularly taught students to think before you react, a lesson that Sherman explained to the Court was learned by Boyd in this case. Police were called to China Xpress on Selleck Street on August 2, 2018 when Boyd and his grandmother went to the restaurant to confront employees about the mouse he found in his delivery order from the night before. According to what Boyd told police, the employee examined the rice and removed the mouse to show there was no rodent inside the carton. A fight then broke out between restaurant employees and Boyd who was joined by several friends, police said. A cashier and manager at the restaurant said he suffered a broken nose and collarbone and needed stitches. police as Boyd argued with the cashier and was trying to lure the employee outside for a fight. Sun said Boyd went outside and called several friends who he claims started attacking the cashier. Police said Boyd punched the manager in the face, prompting other kitchen employees to join the fight and hit the men with spoons. Boyd fled the with his friends, leaving his grandmother at the restaurant where police said an employee struck her with a wooden spoon. China Xpress refuted the claim that a mouse was served to Boyd. A cashier told The Stamford Advocate right after the incident, Truth is truth, said Ray Sun. Its common sense. Mice in a box ... unbelievable. Or Id say, impossible. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 00:07:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Sept. 29, 2020 shows part of the Manchester Metropolitan University campus in Manchester, Britain. Another 7,143 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, the highest daily total ever since the start of the pandemic in Britain, according to official figures released Tuesday. According to The Guardian newspaper, COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in at least 50 campuses across Britain. Manchester Metropolitan University has asked around 1,700 students to self-isolate after 127 cases were confirmed. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua) LONDON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Another 7,143 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, the highest daily total ever since the start of the pandemic in Britain, according to official figures released Tuesday. The newly confirmed infections brought the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 439,013, the official data showed. The coronavirus-related deaths rose by 71 to 42,072, according to the latest data. Amid grave concerns over outbreaks in the universities, British Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said Tuesday that universities have been asked to provide "additional help and practical support" to students, while ensuring the students who are isolating are "properly cared for" and can get food, medical and cleaning supplies if needed. According to The Guardian newspaper, COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in at least 50 campuses across Britain. "We will never be in a position where we can eliminate all risk...But we will not condemn a generation of young people by asking them to put their lives on hold for months or years ahead," Williamson told MPs in a statement. "We believe that universities are very well prepared to handle any outbreaks as they arise." In the face of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, further restrictions were announced Monday for people living in northeastern England, including "legal restrictions on indoor mixing between households in any setting". Local media reported that just under a quarter of people in Britain now are living under different lockdown restrictions. The reports came as countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance has said that it is possible that some vaccine could be available in small amounts later this year, but it is more likely that a vaccine will be available early next year, although that is not guaranteed. Enditem Rubal Agarwal, Punes additional municipal commissioner has launched an inquiry into a complaint against a private hospital, Rising Medicare in Kharadi, for claiming coverage under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Yojana (MPJAY) scheme and not refunding the said amount. I have got this complaint and we have launched an inquiry into the matter, Agarwal said on Tuesday. Dr Vinod Bharati, director at the hospital, said, This is completely false. In fact, until our hospital has processed maximum claims under the scheme for which we were appreciated by the MPJAY scheme. We immediately intimate the patient that the refund has been sanctioned under the scheme and that they can collect their cheque. Also, across the hospital we have also put up banners to provide all information to the relatives. We have proof to counter this claim. The son of the 75-year-old woman who died due to Covid-19 alleged that the hospital charged for treatment and applied for the MPJAY scheme. The relative alleged that the hospital also refused to refund the money until a local politician intervened. However, Dr Bharati claims, The patients relatives did not submit any documents until we followed up on the matter. The 48-year-old man, son of the deceased, said, I admitted my mother to the hospital in Kharadi on August 12 at 11:30 pm and we got to know that she is Covid-19 positive. She was in critical care and needed a ventilator. Unfortunately, she died within 24 hours on August 13. We had submitted Rs 35,000 during admission and after the death, the hospital refunded Rs 5,760 the very next day. However, a few days ago I got a call from a government official who said that my mothers treatment would be covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Yojana. The hospital did not inform me about the same. Later, when I investigated, I got to know that the hospital did get the funds from the scheme and did not refund my money. MNS leader Vasant More said, The hospital refunded the amount after I intervened in the matter. We had to talk to the hospital authorities who later paid back Rs 16,000 under the sanction. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has issued a statement of clarification after reports of Executive Producer and Director Kshitij Ravi Prasad's alleged torment at the hands of the agency officials started doing the rounds. The central agency is currently probing into the drug nexus spread across the film industry and has apprehended Kshitij for his role in procuring and supplying illegal chemical intoxicants to influential people including top businessmen and Bollywood A-listers. According to NCB's statement, the Mumbai Zonal Unit placed Kshitij under arrest after recovering incriminating evidence from him during their probe. The NCB has slammed the reports of manhandling Kshitij and claimed that it has been purportedly released by Senior Advocate Satish Maneshinde, who represents Kshitij as well as Rhea Chakraborty in separate NCB cases. The statement labelled the act of the circulation of such reports as "mischievous", "baseless" and "devoid of any truth". Read | Before NCB remand, here's what Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer said while appearing for Kshitij Kshitij Ravi Prasad's lawyer Satish Maneshinde told the court that his client was 'harassed and blackmailed' to give a statement. He was also subjected to third-degree and ill-treatment, the lawyer alleged. As per Prasad's note to the court, he "unwillingly signed the statement after nearly 50 hours of interrogation, humiliation and torment.'' Read | Rhea-Kshitij's lawyer drags Karan Johar's name amid Bollywood drug probe; not named by NCB Here's the full statement: "A news item has been circulating purportedly released by Sh. Satish Mansinde, Advocate for Mr. Kshitij Ravi Prasad who was arrested by Mumbai Zonal Unit of NCB on 26.09.2020 in case Crime No. 16/2020. The news item alleges humiliation and torment of Sh. Kshitij R Prasad at the hands of officers of Mumbai Zonal Unit, Narcotics Control Bureau. It is very unambiguously stated here that the above news item in circulation is mischievous and completely untrue. Narcotics Control Bureau, Mumbai Zonal Unit arrested Kshitij Ravi Prasad in NCB crime no. 16/2020 as some incriminating evidences were recovered from him. When the involvement of Mr. Kshitij in offences under the NDPS Act was revealed, he was placed under arrest after following due process of law. His lawyer and his family (mother) were informed as per procedure. He was also allowed to meet his father in law and his wife at MZU office. As Mr. Kshitij was not cooperating with the investigation, this fact was brought to the notice of the Honble Court with a request to grant NCB custody on 27.09.2020 when he was produced for remand after medical check up. Honble Court was kind enough to grant NCB custody upto 03.10.2020 after listening to arguments from both sides. Honble court has observed in its order dated 27.09.2020 that no physical ill treatment has been given to accused. The observation of court is reproduced below From the submission of the accused it reveals that, no physical ill treatment given to him during the course of his custody with the NCB authority. Furthermore he has no complaint about the physical ill treatment. Narcotics Control Bureau reiterates that the allegations circulating in the news item are baseless and devoid of any truth." Read | NCB shocked at Kshitij's influence as top officials, netas exert pressure; names to tumble Read | NCB preps Drug Dossier for DG Asthana with Bollywood chats, KWAN testimonies, dealer lists The north-east monsoon, which is approaching the southern states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana, is likely to be below normal this year. However, there is likely to be above normal rainfall all along the eastern coast, including West Bengal, Odisha, and even parts of the western coast, including the entire Konkan region over the next three months, according to a statement by several meteorological organisations. South Asian Climate Outlook Forum in its statement released on Monday said below-normal rainfall is likely between the October and December monsoon season over the southern parts of the south Asia, including some parts of extreme south-eastern India, most parts of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which receive good amount of rainfall during their period. Below-normal rainfall is also likely during the next three months over the north-western and northern parts of South Asia, including some areas along the Himalayan foothills, the statement said. Also Read: High wind speed improves Delhis air quality marginally The consensus statement of various meteorological organisations, including World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), UK Met Office, India Meteorological Department (IMD), has cautioned that above normal rainfall is likely over the land areas around northern and central Bay of Bengal and most parts of north peninsular India. Cool El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions, which were prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean in the beginning of the year, have turned into weak La Nina conditions by the end of August. Latest forecasts indicate that weak La Nina conditions are likely to continue during the October to December season. La Nina is associated with normal to above-normal monsoon rainfall but below-normal precipitation during south India between October and December. (Sourced) Impact of La Nina during the post monsoon season is just the opposite of what it is during monsoon season. La Nina during the monsoon season is associated with above average rainfall. But during the post monsoon season if a cyclone develops over the Bay of Bengal, the impact can be very different and severe due to La Nina. So, we have to wait and watch, DS Pai, a senior scientist at IMD in Pune, had said in August when WMO had announced that there is a 60% chance of a weak La Nina event developing between September and November. Also Read: Monsoon to begin withdrawal today The south-west monsoon is expected to withdraw from Rajasthan and Punjab and some parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) during the next two-three days. Dry weather will continue over most parts of northwest India. All conditions of monsoon withdrawal from western parts of northwest India are now met. There has been no rainfall in Amritsar and Jaisalmer. Rainfall is reducing in other parts of Rajasthan as well. Anticyclone wind pattern is properly established and wind direction has changed to north-westerly. Temperatures in north-west India are likely to begin reducing from next week. There is a significant reduction in moisture as well, said K Sathi Devi, head, national weather forecasting centre, IMD. The monsoon season will officially end on Wednesday (September 30) with an excess of around 9% of rainfall. Rainfall was 30%, 16% and 7% excess over southern peninsula, central India, eastern and north-eastern India, respectively, until September 27. There was a 15% deficiency of rainfall over north-western parts of the country during the same period. Justice Minister Naomi Long has called on Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly to reaffirm his commitment to non-violence and peace. It comes after UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt called on the justice minister to use her powers to remove Mr Kelly from the Policing Board following a Tweet commemorating the 37th anniversary of a mass IRA breakout at the Maze Prison. While Mrs Long was critical of Mr Kelly's comments, she gave no indication she would remove him from the board. Read More In total 38 IRA prisoners escaped on September 25 1983, making it the biggest prison escape in UK history. Prison officer James Ferris died of a heart attack after being stabbed while attempting to stop the breakout. Another officer, John Adams was shot in the head. Expand Close Warder James Ferris who died of a heart attack after being stabbed during the escape in 1983 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Warder James Ferris who died of a heart attack after being stabbed during the escape in 1983 The North Belfast MLA described the breakout as "one of Big Bob's best ops", referring to late senior republican Bobby Storey. Mr Kelly's Tweet was widely criticised for "glorifying IRA terrorism", with Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis calling it "disgraceful". Following the outcry Mr Kelly acknowledged there are "opposing views of legacy events", but that he was "proud of being part of the biggest escape in British penal history". 37 yrs ago 38 Irish Republican prisoners were getting into a lorry at H7 and heading to the front gate of Long Kesh and freedom. One of Big Bobs best ops! I had the privilege of the front passenger seat. Well someone had to check we were taking the right route out!! pic.twitter.com/tUutfbRvYp Gerry Kelly (@GerryKellyMLA) September 25, 2020 Mrs Long said Mr Kelly's Tweet was "offensive and thoroughly inappropriate". "It is not acceptable to try to make light of the incident in question or to glorify acts of terrorism," the justice minister said. "I would call on Mr Kelly to reaffirm his commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means, consistent with his responsibilities both as a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. Mr Nesbitt urged the minister to use her powers under the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 to remove Mr Kelly from the Policing Board. Mr Kelly has served on the board since 2011 and received a threat after attending a PSNI recruitment event last year. Mr Nesbitt, who also sits on the Policing Board, pointed out that under the legislation Mrs Long could remove Mr Kelly from the board if she was not satisfied he is "committed to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means" or "he is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge his functions as a member of the board". "In his tweet, Mr Kelly described the escape as 'One of Big Bobs best ops!' This clearly implies Mr Kelly continues to take pride in being part of a serious criminal act, the biggest break-out of prisoners in British penal history, which saw a prison officer lose his life, suffering a fatal heart attack after being stabbed, while another officer was shot in the head," Strangford MLA Mr Nesbitt wrote in correspondence to Mrs Long. "I believe it is your duty to act and urge you to remove Mr Kelly from the Policing Board with immediate effect." A Sinn Fein spokesperson said the party would "take no lectures" from Mr Nesbitt, given the UUP's historic record while the ruling party of Northern Ireland. Expand Close Happier times: Kyle and David Black / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Happier times: Kyle and David Black Among those to criticise Mr Kelly's Tweet was DUP councillor Kyle Black. Mr Black's father was prison officer David Black, shot dead by dissident republicans while driving to work at Maghaberry Prison in 2012. "Prison Officer James Ferris was stabbed and died during the Maze Escape. Another Prison Officer was shot in the head," Mr Black wrote on social media. "To portray this as a great operation is both insensitive and highly offensive to the family, friends and colleagues of these officers. Shameful & really quite sad." OTTAWAErin OToole would like you to know he has some thoughts about China. The new Conservative leader has made a point of repeatedly mentioning the communist regime in Beijing, both during his partys leadership race and after his victory. For far too long, Canada has paid a high price with trade for communist China. The price has been too high for Canadian access to safe, reliable (personal protective equipment) in a pandemic. The price has also been to high for many Canadian workers, OToole said in his response to the Liberals throne speech, which notably had nothing to do with China. We will show the Communist Party in Beijing that we are a proud trading nation, but that the one thing not for sale is our values. Its received wisdom in Canadian politics that foreign policy does not tend to sway domestic votes. But OTooles repeated hammering of the Chinese regime may have more to do with domestic politics than it does Canadas place on the world stage. A recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute suggested that Canadians opinions of China have tanked over the last decade and a half, with just 14 per cent of Canadians holding a favourable view of the country, compared to 58 per cent in 2005. That sentiment was a rare one in Canadian politics that cut across party lines and all regions of the country. And it may have been exacerbated by Chinas early handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 84 per cent of respondents disagreeing that the country was transparent and honest about the virus. Just 11 per cent said Canada should increase trade ties with the economic superpower long a goal of the Canadian government under both Conservative and Liberal regimes. A senior Conservative source told the Star the party believes a tough stance on China will also be popular with the Chinese-Canadian diaspora in crucial electoral regions like the GTA and Vancouver. The source, who agreed to talk about party strategy on the condition they not be named, said OTooles criticism of China is driven both by electoral considerations and a desire to move the Conservatives to a more morality-based foreign posture. Plus its the single biggest foreign policy challenge facing Canada said Michael Chong, the Conservative shadow minister for global affairs. While Chong said its true Canadian elections are not typically fought on foreign policy, there have been exceptions referencing the 1911 election on reciprocity with the United States, and the 1988 free trade election. We live in an increasingly interconnected and turbulent world, and what happens outside of Canada is increasingly affecting Canadians in their day-to-day lives, Chong said in an interview with the Star Tuesday. Canada needs a different approach to China things have changed since 2016, Chong said, pointing to Chinas crackdown in Hong Kong, national security concerns, and Beijings trade barriers targeting Canadian farmers. In his leadership platform, OToole took a hawkish position toward China, arguing Canada needs to recognize the threat posed by the country, limit the role of Chinese state-owned enterprises in the Canadian economy, and ban Chinese telecom Huawei from participating in Canadas 5G networks. OToole also argued in favour of imposing Magnitsky sanctions on President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials should Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig remain in detention. Spavor and Kovrig, both Canadian citizens, were arrested in late 2018 on national security grounds in a move widely viewed as retaliation for Canadas detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States. Read more about: BRUSSELS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a year marred by disruption and crises, teachers are taking the lead to effect real change in their classrooms, communities and around the world. On October 5th, World Teachers' Day, Education International is hosting the largest online meeting of teachers in history via a 24-hour webcast with live programming on every continent. The webcast will feature the stories of teachers from a variety of countries and contexts and their experience teaching and supporting their students through a global pandemic. An international cast of speakers will join teachers to discuss the key learnings from COVID-19 and how to address the fundamental issues the pandemic made painfully clear. Included here is the full list of speakers, with representation from current and former heads of state, NGOs and humanitarian organizations, such as: Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director-General, World Health Organization , Director-General, World Health Organization Audrey Azoulay , Director General, UNESCO , Director General, UNESCO Jane Goodall , Primatologist and anthropologist , Primatologist and anthropologist Jacinda Ardern , Prime Minister, New Zealand , Prime Minister, Kailash Satyarthi , Nobel Peace Prize Laureate , Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Henrietta Fore , Executive Director, UNICEF , Executive Director, UNICEF Alberto Fernandez, President, Argentina Dr. Tsai Ing -wen, President, Taiwan -wen, President, Macky Sall , President, Senegal , President, Erna Solberg , Prime Minister, Norway Please join us in celebrating our most critical workforce and forging a path forward. DETAILS: As the global federation of teacher unions and professional associations, Education International represents more than 32.5 million teachers and education workers in 384 organizations in 178 countries. The World Teachers' Day live stream starts October 5th / late in the evening on October 4th in the Americas. You can find the overall streaming program here; please check your regional section to find local times. REGISTER: To stay up to date on the latest news and developments, register here. Contact: Cristina Banita Email: [email protected] Tel: +32 471 42 89 62 SOURCE Education International Related Links https://www.ei-ie.org/en Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he is reliably informed the secessionists who launched attacks on security installations over the weekend were largely from Togo and not Volta Region. According to him, his fact-finding after the incidence has pointed to the fact that the language of the large majority of the attackers who besieged the two police stations at Mepe and Avehime in his constituency did not sound Ghanaian as there was variation in the Ewe language. Ghanaians woke up to the news of some secessionist group blocking roads leading to the Volta Region while clamouring for independence from Ghana. On Friday, September 25, 2020, some of the members of the group blocked some major roads and burnt lorry tyres on the ECOWAS road at Tademe, some kilometres away from the Sogakope Bridge in the South Tongu District impeding vehicular movement and leaving passengers traveling to areas in the Region stranded. The group also attacked Police stations at Aveyime and Mepe in the North Tongu District, amidst demands for the Volta Region to be an autonomous country known as "Western Togoland". However, in a swift response, a joint team from the Military and the Ghana Police Service nipped it in the bud with 31 people being arrested in connection with the uprising. Surprisingly, on Tuesday dawn, the the secessionist group carried out an arson attack at the State Transport Corporation (STC) yard in Ho. Commenting on Okay FM's Ade Akye Abia Morning Show about the secessionists attack, the NDC MP said his assertions are based on briefings he received from security agencies. If you listen to those who are at the forefront, they are saying that the large majority of the attackers, the kind of language, even the war songs they were chanting did not sound Ghanaian; the variation of the Ewe language, at this point the suspicion is that they were from Togo and that is what many of the briefs I have received from the police chiefs are pointing to, that they were largely not from my constituency or from the Volta Region. At this point, the suspicion is that they came from Togo, he asserted. Hon Ablakwa, who is a former Deputy Education Minister, further revealed that the attacks appeared well coordinated as the secessionists simultaneously besieged the Mepe and Avehime police stations, and the offices of the District Assembly and even managed to over-power a reinforcement team from Sogakope. First of all, the attackers distracted the police and created the impression by a few of them that approached the police station that they were to lodge a complaint and so as the police were taking down the complaint, the others swarmed the police station and broke into the police armory at Avehime and made away 14 AK-47 rifles and 2 pump-action guns. "A similar event occured at Mepe police station and the secessionists took from the armory 2 AK-47 rifles....So, it was welcome coordinated; those people who carried out the attack were well trained.... The Sogakope Divisional Police Commander who rushed to the scene with reinforcement detachment was also overpowered and their weapons were also retrieved by the secessionists. And looking at the narrative from the eye-witness, clearly, the attackers were as many as 50 people at the Mepe police station and at the Avehime police station, they were about 70 people and those who laid ambush to overpower the approaching reinforcement detachment, led by the Sogakope Divisional Police Commander, we are also hearing high numbers there. And those who blocked the Juapong entry into the Volta Region were not less than 100 people and so it was quite a high number. What happened at the dawn of Friday was no joke; the secessionists were in possession of sophisticated weapons and they had superior firepower, quite clearly and if you listen to the police, the attackers are trained and they had weapons, he narrated. Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa, therefore, called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is also the Commander-In-Chief and the entire security apparatus to exercise their constitutional responsibility by protecting and preserving the territorial integrity of the country. We have to acknowledge that the entire national security apparatus and the head of national security council, H.E the President who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces are the relevant authorities in charge of the protection and safety of the citizens which the Constitution mandates them to protect and preserve our territorial integrity, he charged. Watch Video Below Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A gathering of hundreds of young people around the Spanish Arch/Shop Street area of Galway on Monday night has been condemned. Spanish Arch, Galway tonight. Numbers will inevitability continue to rise. Id expect Level 3 restriction before the end of the week.... pic.twitter.com/cBLUoJOfj9 Cllr. Eddie Hoare (@EddieHoareFG) September 28, 2020 Shop Street Galway right now.....when theres about to be an announcement tomorrow that we could be going into further lockdown....a huge slap in the face to everyone trying so hard to social distance and to health workers and to sick friends and family. pic.twitter.com/30Fk5CPbvB September 28, 2020 The incident comes after almost 30,000 students returned to Galway for the start of the new term at NUI Galway and GMIT, although all third-level institutions have been instructed to facilitate online lectures only for the next two weeks. Gardai in Galway responded to a number of other incidents including reports of more than ten house parties around the city on Monday. Every person who broke Covid restrictions in the Galway crowds tonight should be ashamed. Not only are you putting the whole city at risk but you are sacrificing the experience of the next entire college year for your class mates and yourselves. Bitta common sense and cop on. pic.twitter.com/XZaFdDuTHw Cllr. Owen Hanley (@OwenHanleyLives) September 28, 2020 One Galway councillor, Owen Hanley of the Social Democrats called for "a bitta common sense and cop on" as he condemned the scenes. "Every person who broke Covid restrictions in the Galway crowds tonight [MOnday] should be ashamed. Not only are you putting the whole city at risk but you are sacrificing the experience of the next entire college year for your classmates and yourselves," he said. A Fianna Fail senator in Galway, Ollie Crowe, said: "I have sympathy for those entering college for the first time during Covid but these scenes are simply unacceptable, particularly with the recent growth in Galway cases. Have contacted Millstreet Gardai and written to NUIG President though I fear damage may be done." "Galway is a student city and proud to be, students have always added greatly to the city. We all make mistakes, whats important now is limiting spread. Expect public health advice will issue but seems it would be prudent for students to quarantine & not travel home this weekend," he added. NUIG has said "the scenes involving students and other young people in some parts of Galway city on Monday night were deplorable. "NUI Galway has repeatedly appealed to the better judgment of our students and reminded them of their responsibilities under the student Code of Conduct. The university has also worked to ensure this years experience of university life is safe, supportive and enjoyable, despite the limitations that the pandemic places on us. The university met with gardai and Galway City Council on Tuesday morning. NUIG students were warned last week that they could face expulsion for failing to follow public health guidelines and those in place at the university. - Study investigating potential of solid-dose vaccine for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) conducted in collaboration with The Pirbright Institute - Positive top-line results demonstrate validation of ImplaVax-enabled solid-dose vaccination approach with a live virus vaccine OXFORD, England, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Enesi Pharma ("Enesi"), an innovative biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccination products targeting infectious diseases and emergent threat pathogens enabled by its ImplaVax technologies, is delighted to report positive top-line results from a new study evaluating the immune responses generated by an ImplaVax-enabled unit solid-dose formulation of a live attenuated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccine. The study was conducted in collaboration with The Pirbright Institute, a UK-based global centre of excellence in research and surveillance of viral diseases of livestock and viruses that spread from animals to humans. The study confirmed the utility of ImplaVax to create a solid-dose live virus vaccine that is immunogenic with the potential for enhanced thermal stability. The subcutaneously delivered ImplaVax format generated both neutralising antibodies and T-cell responses comparable to the standard liquid vaccine delivered either subcutaneously or intramuscularly via needle and syringe. PRRSV infects domestic pigs and causes porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, which is highly infectious and is characterised by clinical signs such as reproductive failure, fever, respiratory difficulties, and increased mortality. PRRSV is found in most areas of the world where pigs are raised and is one of the most economically important diseases for the global pig industry, with losses estimated to exceed $664 million annually in the USA alone1. More details of the study and its results will be presented in an upcoming publication. David Hipkiss, Enesi Pharma CEO, commented: "We are very pleased to report these positive top-line results from this successful study conducted in partnership with The Pirbright Institute, which has proven to be an exemplar collaborator. They provide a strong and clear validation for the potential of ImplaVax as applied to modified live virus vaccines across the whole of the vaccine ecosystem. We believe there is significant opportunity for Enesi and ImplaVax in the growing animal health market, which is forecast to exceed $16 billion per annum by 20262. Both livestock and companion animals need to be continually protected from infectious diseases, and ImplaVax offers a needle-free, thermally stable, safe and effective means of administration. The implications for our ongoing work with modified live virus vaccines for human health are also very exciting and we look forward to reporting on further progress from our partnered and in-house programmes." Professor Simon Graham, Group Leader of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Immunology Group at The Pirbright Institute, added: "PRRSV is a significant animal health concern given the importance of pigs globally as a livestock animal. The work we are doing at Pirbright and in collaboration with innovative companies such as Enesi Pharma is crucially important to maintaining and improving the health and wellbeing of farm animals. The positive results of this new study with Enesi point to an alternative approach to vaccination that combines effectiveness with the potential for improved stability. This could be of great value to the industry and we look forward to continuing this research collaboration." References 1 Holtkamp D.J., et al, J Swine Health Prod. 2013;21(2):72-84 2 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/veterinary-animal-vaccines-market-101532 About Enesi Pharma Enesi Pharma is developing next-generation vaccination products targeting infectious diseases and emergent threat pathogens enabled by its ImplaVax technologies. These diseases affect millions of people around the world. We work in partnership with global companies, government agencies, leading academic institutions and non-governmental organisations with the goal of making a material and lasting positive impact on global health. Our ImplaVax-enabled vaccination products leverage our innovative unit solid-dose formulation and needle-free delivery technologies and are applicable across all vaccine formats. ImplaVax products are designed to enhance the immune response and offer significant benefits for patients, care givers, healthcare professionals and payers through enhanced effectiveness, safety, ease of use, reliability and stability, and a strong subject preference over administration using needle and syringe. They can be administered with minimal training and are also rapidly deployable while eliminating the need for cold-chain storage. Our pipeline targets a range of common and emerging infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases and allergies, and has been established through collaborations with world-class organisations, including BARDA DRIVe*, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK, the University of Oxford, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Sementis and the University of Adelaide. Our collaboration with Pirbright is one of a number of developing collaborations in animal health. Enesi's experienced leadership team has a proven track record in the successful development and commercialisation of innovative products delivering high value outcomes for all stakeholders and is supported by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Board. *This project has been funded in whole or in part with US Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, DRIVe, under this contract. About The Pirbright Institute The Pirbright Institute is a world leading centre of excellence in research and surveillance of virus diseases of farm animals and viruses that spread from animals to humans. Based in the UK and receiving strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Institute works to enhance capability to contain, control and eliminate these economically and medically important diseases through highly innovative fundamental and applied bioscience. The Institute is an independent company, limited by guarantee and a registered charity, governed by a Board of non-executive Trustee Directors. With an annual income of 35 million from grants and commercial activity, and a total of 25.2 million strategic investment from BBSRC UKRI during 2019-2020, the Institute contributes to global food security and health, improving quality of life for animals and people. For more information about The Pirbright Institute see: www.pirbright.ac.uk Follow The Pirbright Institute on social media: Facebook Twitter Linkedin CONTACTS Enesi Pharma David Hipkiss, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 7968 707072 Email: david.hipkiss@enesipharma.com Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for Enesi Pharma) Mark Swallow, Nathaniel Dahan Tel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 Email: enesipharma@citigatedewerogerson.com The Pirbright Institute Kimberley Stirk Tel: +44 (0) 1483 231120 Email: communications@pirbright.ac.uk For more information visit and or follow us at: Web www.enesipharma.com | LinkedIn @EnesiPharma | Twitter @Enesi_Pharma The state of Washington is in the midst of battling a large phishing campaign, one that appears to have affected multiple state agencies.In an attack referred to as both "sprawling" and "sophisticated," a hacker group apparently deployed various forms of malware via phishing messages disguised as "legitimate email from state agencies, financial institutions and other people and organizations."Clarifying the nature of the attack, Mike Faulk with Gov. Jay Inslee's Office said that the state had been "experiencing large volumes of phishing emails." Most of these attacks have begun "with phishing campaigns that try to trick you into downloading malware or provide account credentials."That malware which has apparently included notorious strains like Trickbot and Emotet but not ransomware has infected numerous agencies. Some agencies have been more affected than others, Inslee said during a press conference last week.Inslee added that his administration has activated the state's Emergency Operations Center, responsible for coordinating with state, local, federal and private stakeholders to effectively respond to public emergencies. While state services do not seem to be meaningfully impaired by the attack, it may be necessary to take "certain applications offline temporarily for necessary maintenance," according to Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), the state's IT agency."At the moment, the report we have is that it has not compromised state services," Inslee said Thursday. "But we intend to be very alert and aggressive to defend ourselves. We are standing up our emergency operations center so that we can use the full emergency resources and power [of the state] against this nefarious attack."With the attack occurring so close to the upcoming U.S. presidential election, it seems a natural concern that the campaign may have been aimed at disabling electoral processes, but officials say election systems remain unaffected."There has been no indication of compromise at the Office of the Secretary of State and its elections systems, and the voter registration and information portal VoteWA.gov remains secure and available for the public to safely use," said Kylee Zabel, with the Secretary of State's Office, in an email. "We have no reason at this time to believe the threat is targeted at elections."Officials shot down the idea that the attack was specifically targeted at Washington's government."In terms of scope, many public and private organizations across the country have been experiencing similar phishing campaigns," said Andrew Garber, communications program manager at WaTech. The U.S. Air Force is testing whether fresh blood can survive being airdropped out of an aircraft in an effort to get more of it to combat medics in remote environments. The service in April practiced parachuting 350-milliliter bags of blood secured in a small cooler out of a C-145A Skytruck during "Operation Blood Rain" at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, test and training ranges, according to a service news release. Read Next: The Community with the Most US Veterans Per Capita Is Finally Getting Its Own Memorial The idea to airdrop blood was born during a combat aviation adviser (CAA) team's high altitude and cold weather training, the release states. Air Force Special Operations Command's combat aviation advisers -- one of the U.S. military's most advanced teams training foreign partners -- frequently support other governments fighting internal threats such as terrorists, lawlessness or drug activity. The Air Force has been steadily growing this cadre of airmen for operations in austere environments, officials told Military.com in 2018. The recent airdrop test -- a semi-finalist in the service's annual Spark Tank innovation contest -- fits the CAA mission because of its "unconventional warfare tasks," the release states. The test team, which laid the groundwork for the experiment beginning in January, was made up of 96th Medical Group doctors from Eglin and Hurlburt Field's 492nd Special Operations Wing advisers, it adds. According to the Mayo Clinic, using whole blood instead of plasma is the preferred option for patients who need transfusions after a major surgery or trauma. The current go-to method for delivering supplies to austere environments is frozen blood -- packed in glass tubes -- which can break easily when dropped out of a plane. Medics have advocated for more stable solutions, such as whole blood or freeze-dried plasma in non-breakable packs for their makeshift trauma rooms. A box containing blood bags is opened to check for damage after being released from an aircraft for a study called Operation Blood Rain April 20 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Courtesy photo/ 96th Test Wing Public Affairs) On the day of the test, 492nd SOW's "Combat Coyotes" first practiced dropping saline bags. Then, the C-145 "passed over the drop zone at about 200 feet flying at approximately 115 mph," according to the release. "The loadmaster released the box of blood out of the aircraft, and the parachute opened shortly after." Medical and lab teams determined "there was no breakdown or disintegration in the red blood cells of the airdropped blood samples" after they were collected from the landing zone, the release states. While initial tests were a success, the teams will schedule more airdrops to "fully validate" the dispersal method. The Air Force said the ultimate goal is to bring blood to battlefield locations using drones, expediting deliveries while protecting pilots above a war zone. "These deliveries would help extend the 'golden hour' or period of time following a traumatic injury when there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical and surgical treatment would prevent death," the release states. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: AFSOC Surgical Team Wants Blood Warmers to Save Lives Downrange Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 15:23 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f7891 1 City North-Jakarta,Jakarta-administration,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,COVID-19-Jakarta,#COVID19,public-cemeteries,burial,COVID-19-victims,victims,Bina-Marga Free The Jakarta administration is setting up a 2-hectare plot of land in Rorotan public cemetery in North Jakarta for COVID-19 graves as burial space for victims of the coronavirus in the capital city is running out. Jakarta Bina Marga road agency head Hari Nugroho said the administration was currently preparing the land to be used for burials and building the necessary infrastructure. "We're preparing the land and building a road to access the cemetery. Construction progress is at 4 percent," Hari said on Monday as quoted by tempo.co. The agency will also level the land surface to make the burial process easier. The project started on Sep 17 and is expected to finish in December. "We expect this 2-hectare burial space to accommodate 6,000 funerals," Hari further said. Read also: Gravediggers under strain as COVID-19 burials surge in Jakarta The city administration provided the additional land for COVID-19 graves as coronavirus cases in Jakarta continue to rise and burial grounds designated for the victims have started to run out. Nadi, the management officer of Pondok Ranggon public cemetery in East Jakarta, said on Sept. 14 that there was only space left for another 1,100 COVID-19 burials in the cemeterys southern area of 7,000 square meters. The capacity was likely to be critical in mid-October and it was estimated that, in October, the remaining land may only be able to accommodate 380 to 400 bodies, he added. Since the pandemic hit the country in March, 6,248 bodies have been buried with COVID-19 protocols in Jakarta. In September, the capital city recorded COVID-19 1,372 burials, the highest monthly rise yet. (nal) Meghan Markle, pictured here in South Africa in 2019, has lost her latest legal round. (Photo: AFP) Meghan Markle has lost the latest court battle against the Mail On Sunday, as a judge has ruled the newspaper can rely on extracts from a book about her in its defense. Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) after it published extracts of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in the weeks after her wedding to Prince Harry. In the latest pre-trial showdown, ANL asked to amend its defense to argue that the duchess co-operated with the authors of the recently published book Finding Freedom to put out their version of certain events. Finding Freedom, written by royal correspondents Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, was released in August and contained new information about when Harry and Meghan were dating, and the first time Meghan met her future brother-in-law, Prince William. Meghans lawyers deny that either she or Harry had anything to do with the book, and even issued a scathing statement suggesting it was the subject of creative license. On the books references to the letter she sent to her father, and the subsequent reporting, Meghans lawyers pointed out that the authors used references that were extracts from the letter lifted from the defendants own articles. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Family is a biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which was released in the summer. (Photo: Getty Images) Delivering her verdict on ANLs request to include the book, Judge Francesca Kaye said the amended defense did not raise new defenses but added further particulars. She said the Duchess of Sussex knows the case she has to meet and that there is no suggestion that she is in fact unable to do so. Its already the case that the duchess, who now lives in the U.S. and is likely to join the case via video link, will have to hand over months worth of communications, including texts, emails and call logs. Justin Rushbrooke, representing Meghan, immediately asked for permission to appeal but it was denied. However, her lawyers could take an appeal to the Court of Appeal. He said the inherent improbability of Meghan co-operating with the book could be seen by simply comparing what the defendants own articles said with what the book said about the letter. Story continues Last week, in written statements to court, Rushbrooke said: The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book. Scobie even provided a witness statement confirming the couple did not speak to him or Durand, adding: They did not authorize the book and have never been interviewed for it. The book was always prepared on the understanding that it was to be independent and unauthorized. As journalists we wanted to be able to look into the other side of the story without worrying about offending any collaborators/sources. This court battle is the third skirmish between the two parties since Meghan announced she was suing ANL at the end of a royal tour in southern Africa in October 2019. Meghan won one round, in which she applied to keep the names of her friends who spoke to People magazine about the letter private. The duchess says that she did not know her friends were going to speak to the magazine about the letter until she saw the published article. But ANL won the first, seeing her have to strike out parts of her case against them. In a statement to the court last week, the duchesss lawyer said a section in Finding Freedom about the birth of son Archie appears to be the product of creative license and pointed out that Harry could not have texted his father, Prince Charles, because Charles doesnt have a mobile phone. Meghan is suing over five articles which appeared in the Mail On Sunday and the MailOnline in February 2019, which included parts of the letter she had sent in August 2018. The headline of the first Mail on Sunday article read: Revealed: The letter showing true tragedy of Meghans rift with a father she says has broken her heart into a million pieces. The matter is to go to full trial in January 2021. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: A perverted father-of-three who sexually assaulted his daughter from the age of six has been jailed for three years. The 50-year-old paedophile, who can't be named to protect his daughter, forced the young girl to masturbate him in the shower with soap about 200 times. The Queensland girl was subjected to the horrifying abuse until just before her tenth birthday when her mother discovered what was happening. The court heard the man told his daughter it was 'a secret and not to tell her mother,' Townsville Bulletin reported. The Queensland child was objected to the horrifying abuse until just before her tenth birthday when her mother discovered what was happening (stock image) Prosecutor Amanda Payne told the court the father would threaten his child if she refused - and even offered her money on one occasion. The man was arrested by police after the child's mother found out what was happening. He initially claimed his child instigated what happened in the shower but changed his story and admitted he asked her to 'wash his penis'. One of the five charges he pleaded guilty to was maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child. The man's defence lawyer told the court the man suffered from a range of health issues and had no use of his left arm. Prosecutor told the court the father would threaten his child if she refused - and even offered her money on one occasion (stock image) Judge Julie Dick SC said the man 'indulged' himself and used his daughter for his own 'pleasure'. 'You have betrayed your trust to her in a very, very severe way and over a lengthy period of time,' she said. 'You are the natural father and that usually means you naturally protect your child and you didn't, you took advantage of her.' The man was jailed for three years - with a parole date set for September 28, 2021. US Chief of Naval Operations Mike Gilday, 57, returned to 'full duty' on Monday after undergoing heart surgery, officials confirmed The US chief of naval operations underwent heart surgery after suffering a medical episode during a run near his home, officials disclosed on Tuesday. Admiral Mike Gilday, 57, had 'become ill' while running on the Washington Naval Yard, where he lives, on August 10, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Gilday was assisted by a Marine and was treated by his physician immediately after. He underwent heart surgery two weeks later. The Navy chief is now in 'good condition' and returned to full duty at his post at the Pentagon on Monday, spokesman Commander Nathan Christensen told the publication. Admiral Gilday 'became ill' while running on the Washington Naval Yard, where he lives, on August 10 Gilday is pictured far right during a COVID-19 press briefing at the White House in April, alongside President Trump, Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien Navy officials did not disclose Gilday's medical condition due to privacy reasons but said the incident stemmed from a 'pre-existing' issue. A source revealed Gilday had already been scheduled to undergo the procedure, which was expedited after the incident in August. The admiral was expected to speak at the 'State of the Navy' virtual event scheduled for Friday that has been postponed to October 13, Defense One tweeted. Officials however, said the change in date is not connected to Gilday's medical issue. Gilday, who was nominated for his role by President Trump in 2019, made headlines earlier this year over his response to the coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt where more than 1,000 sailors became ill with COVID-19. The Juneau County Health Department announced two separate exposure events for COVID-19, occurring at Pine Cove restaurant on Castle Rock Lake and at Hustle Inn in Hustler and Hidden Inn Bar and Grill in Kendall. The exposure event at Pine Cove occurred from 6-11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. The exposure events at Hustle Inn and Hidden Inn occurred on Sept. 13, with no times given for possible exposure. Health officials say these locations are not considered outbreaks, but the status may change as the investigation proceeds. An outbreak is defined by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the same facility or associated with a single event, with onset within two maximum COVID-19 incubation periods of each other (28 days). The exposure events are the latest in a series of such events, as 11 bars in Juneau, Monroe and Vernon County were the site of an exposure event over Labor Day weekend. Both Hustle Inn and Hidden Inn were part of the exposure event over Labor Day weekend, with exposure events from 3-4 p.m. Sept. 5 for Hustle Inn and from 3:30-5 p.m. Sept. 6 for Hidden Inn. A temporary ban on evictions and rent increases was first introduced during the pandemic (Jonathan Brady/PA) Covid-19 could be a turning point in the fight against homelessness if the Government learns from the effectiveness of the temporary ban on evictions, the founder of a homeless charity has said. Focus Ireland president Sr Stanislaus Kennedy said it was important that homelessness was not allowed to become part of the new normal as the country tries to deal with the pandemic. She made the comments at the launch of the charitys latest annual report. It helped a record 1,790 households to either leave or avoid homelessness last year. As the country learns how to live with Covid-19, we must all make sure that homelessness must not be allowed to become part of the new normal Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, Focus Ireland Some 70% of the 1,150 households which it supported to get out of homelessness were families. Some 640 households avoided becoming homeless due to the charitys interventions. Sr Kennedy said: I really do believe Covid-19 can be a turning point in the fight against homelessness as the Government can learn from the effectiveness of rent freezes and the ban on evictions. Strong preventative measures will make a firm commitment that people who are homeless during lockdown will not be expected to return to the streets or emergency accommodation but will be offered homes through an expanded Housing First programme. She added: As the country learns how to live with Covid-19, we must all make sure that homelessness must not be allowed to become part of the new normal. We need to move on from short-term measures to providing more social and affordable rental housing. A temporary ban on evictions and rent increases was first introduced during the pandemic. Since the end of July, there has been a ban on evicting people who are not able to pay their rent because of the pandemic. The legislation, which is in place until January, also bans increases for renters receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) or the wage subsidy scheme. The charitys chief executive Pat Dennigan said homelessness and the housing crisis were some of the main issues for voters in Februarys general election and that message must not be lost during the Covid-19 crisis. We need the new Government to recognise the scale of this problem and to put in place the solutions needed to deliver lasting solutions which build new homes and communities and provide vulnerable people with the support they need, he said. MARQUETTE, Mich., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Northcross Group (NCG), a trusted leader in cybersecurity and business management, announced an academic partnership with Northern Michigan University (NMU). The partnership will help develop cybersecurity skills in the next generation of cyber professionals by instilling NCG's business centric approach to cybersecurity through internship opportunities and contributions to NMU's academic programs and the Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute. NCG supports companies navigating through vast and complex challenges while maintaining a business edge. Working with today's COVID limitations on in-person interactions, NCG has continued to enhance its robust virtual service delivery platform and tooling that will be a cornerstone of the engagement with NMU students. "Cybersecurity is essential for every business, but one size does not fit all," said Chris Bender, president of NCG. "We are very excited to work with NMU to demonstrate ways to scale and apply cybersecurity practices for companies of all types and sizes. We are also looking forward to exercising NCG's virtual platforms and tooling to connect cyber talent with clients regardless of location--from across the Upper Peninsula to around the globe." NCG will provide NMU students with opportunities to work with cyber experts across the country and gain hands-on client experience. Students will develop skills in NCG's cybersecurity approach based on total business value, scaling and prioritizing efforts for each business given its industry, complexity and size. "Northern Michigan University is thrilled to welcome the NCG team to Marquette as a key partner in growing the Upper Peninsula's cyber and digital economy ecosystem," said David Nyberg, director of corporate engagement at NMU. "We look forward to building on this academic partnership to leverage NCG's extensive experience along with Northern's academic programs, the U.P. Cybersecurity Institute, and the U.P. Cybersecurity Talent Consortium to achieve mutual objectives in solving business challenges and advancing digital opportunity." Northcross Group, with offices in Portland, Maine, Arlington, Virginia, and an office opening soon in Marquette, Michigan, has been successfully leading the charge for enhanced security in large and small companies through systems integration and cybersecurity for the past fifteen years. To learn more about NCG, visit www.northcrossgroup.com or contact [email protected]. For more information on the U.P. Cybersecurity Institute visit https://www.nmu.edu/continuingeducation/cyber-home and https://www.nmu.edu/business/cyberdefense Media Contact: Claire Sanders, [email protected] 202.253-0010 SOURCE Northcross Group Related Links https://northcrossgroup.com/ The appointment of PD Vaghela as the new Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is happening when telecom sector is under a major transition phase. 5G is knocking at the doors, 2G will soon be phased out, the growth of data networks, the emergence of next-gen technologies like AI, ML, mixed reality, and the ongoing tariff war between operators make the job of TRAI head one of the most challenging among senior bureaucrats. The 1986-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer Vaghela, who is going to replace RS Sharma, will have a lot on his plate as soon as he takes charge. Even though the former TRAI chairman refused to relook into the 5G spectrum pricing (base price is Rs 492 crore per megahertz in 3500 MHz band), telcos can now hope that the new chairman can give some relief given that the state of the sector has changed completely post the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) issue. Incumbent telcos like Vodafone Idea and Airtel, which were already reluctant to pay high price for 5G spectrum, have been severely impacted after the AGR judgment. ALSO READ: Senior IAS PD Vaghela appointed new TRAI chairman Even though TRAI has pending recommendations on a bunch of key issues, the suggestions on floor pricing for telecom services is going to be most prominent. For instance, last December, the regulator floated a consultation paper to decide whether there's a need for floor pricing or not. Except for the ceiling tariffs for national roaming, fixed rural telephony, mobile number portability charges, and some other charges, tariffs for all other service are under forbearance which essentially means that TRAI doesn't dictate tariffs for any telecom service, and telcos are free to fix tariffs. Though the cut-throat competition ensures that tariffs for all operators remain in the same range. The regulator has received 51 comments from stakeholders including Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, Competition Commission of India, NITI Aayog and others. Nearly all the telcos have supported floor pricing but with a twist. For instance, Jio has recommended that voice services should continue under the current forbearance system whereas data services should be brought under floor pricing. Airtel, on the other hand, has asked for a time-bound floor pricing system which migrates back to forbearance at the end of two years. Despite demand from the stakeholders, the regulator has been postponing its recommendations on the issue. ALSO READ: Neutrality must for platforms, app stores and devices: Trai chief RS Sharma The other big issue for Vaghela to oversee is the planned scrapping of interconnect usage charges (IUC) by next January. IUC has been a burning issue in the sector for the past few years. The IUC charges, which are paid by one telco to another for facilitating calls on its network, have been brought down, over the years, to 6 paise a minute between mobile-to-mobile calls. IUC charges for all other categories of calls - mobile-to-landline, landline-to-mobile, landline-to-landline - are already zero. Last year, the TRAI gave a major relief to incumbents when it extended the deadline to scrap IUC charges. Incumbents believed that since the traffic was asymmetric - that is, more mobile calls are being made by Jio subscribers to other networks - scrapping of IUC charges would hurt them. It's now believed that traffic has more or less become symmetric and there's consensus between all telcos to move towards Bill and Keep (BAK) system - as envisaged by TRAI years ago. It's not an easy task for a regulator to keep everyone happy but having consensus of all major stakeholders on key policy issues could drive the telecom sector to new heights under Vaghela. ALSO READ: India expected to have 197 million 5G connections by 2025 SGX Nifty: Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 11 points at the opening bell. Global markets: Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Tuesday, as logistics firm ZTO Express soared in its Hong Kong debut. The firm is the latest U. S.-listed Chinese company to debut in the city. Investors will remain cautious ahead of the first U. S. presidential debate set to take place later on Tuesday, and as lawmakers continue sporadic efforts to cobble together additional economic stimulus. U. S. consumer confidence and home price data is also due on Tuesday. In US, Wall Street rallied to close sharply higher on Monday as investors sought bargains among sectors hardest-hit by the coronavirus recession, now limping toward its ninth month. U. S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said that stimulus talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to continue, suggesting a possible progress to end the stalemate. Domestic markets: Back home, domestic shares advanced for the second consecutive session on Monday, tracking positive global cues. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 592.97 points or 1.59% at 37,981.63. The Nifty 50 index surged 177.30 points or 1.60% at 11,227.55. The 50-unit index has risen 3.91% in two sessions. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 26.98 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 542.34 crore in the Indian equity market on 28 September, provisional data showed. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Akufo-Addo, has inspected ongoing work on the ongoing 500-bed military hospital and work on the construction of Phase II of the Kumasi Airport project. President Akufo-Addo's first port of call on day one of his 3-day working visit of the Ashanti Region was the Kumasi Airport. It will be recalled that on 6th June 2018, the President cut the sod for work to commence on phase Ii of the Kumasi Airport Project, where he explained that the expansion of this airport is a critical part of government's vision to expand the frontiers of the aviation industry in the country, and to realise the dream of making Ghana an aviation hub in West Africa. The project encompasses the extension of the current length of the runway by 319 metres, i.e. from 1,981 metres to 2,300 metres; construction of a new terminal building, with the capacity to handle one million passengers per year; construction of an apron area and related taxiway; and the undertaking of ancillary works. The project coordinator told President Akufo-Addo that permanent works on the terminal building are progressing steadily, and the installation of the steel superstructure also progressed as scheduled. Pavement works for access road construction, he added, are in progress, together with the construction of storm drains network in the terminal area, with the revised completion date for the project is August 2021. The President also visited the site of the construction of the 500-bed Military at Afari, in Atwima Nwabiagya South constituency. It will also be recalled that former President Kufuor granted Executive Approval for the project on 4th November 2008, which included the construction of a 250 Bed Regional Hospital; 160 Bed Regional Hospital; 100 Bed Municipal Hospital; and five (5) 60 Bed District Hospitals in the early part of 2008 at a total cost USD519,000,000.00. Parliamentary approval for the project was given on 13th November 2008. Eight (8) years later, in December 2016, the related Tax Exemptions and other imposts including those for import duties, VAT, NHIL, ECOWAS Levy, withholding tax, fees and charges on onshore and offshore purchases of specific project materials and equipment were eventually approved by Parliament, with concurrence letter from the Ministry of Finance in January 2017 paving the way for the project to commence. President Akufo-Addo received the assurance of the CEO of Euroget de Invest, contractors for the project that the 500-bed military hospital will be completed by December this year. Herbert Tabor, a leading scientific investigator at the National Institutes of Health whose 77 years of service made him the longest-serving employee at the medical research center and among the longest-serving in the federal workforce, died Aug. 20 at his home on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. He was 101. The cause was respiratory failure, said a son, Edward Tabor, who added that his father - employed at NIH since 1943 - never spoke of retiring. He was "the world's foremost authority on the enzymatic pathways of polyamines," said Michael Gottesman, an NIH deputy director, in announcing Tabor's death. Polyamines are "molecules essential to the cellular growth and rigor of most life on earth," a NIH spokesman said. Tabor studied "how the body makes polyamines and how they affect protein production, energy production and human reproduction." The NIH death announcement described him as the "last living voice" of the formative years of the National Institutes of Health. Since 1949 he had lived in a three-bedroom, brick duplex on the grounds, where his four children grew up. Bethesda was a small town in those years. Abutting the home was a wooded area where children played and sometimes found Indian arrowheads. It was a 10-minute walk to his laboratory and, often after dinner, Tabor returned to his lab for a few more hours of work. He had few, if any, hobbies other than science. Herbert Tabor was born in New York City on Nov. 28, 1918. His father was a businessman, his mother a homemaker. He graduated from Harvard University in 1937 and from Harvard Medical School in 1941. His graduate-school professors urged him to forgo a career in clinical practice and instead do research in biochemistry. As an intern at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1942, he participated in the first major clinical trial for penicillin, NIH said. "I performed the actual injection," he told the Annual Review of Biochemistry in 1999. "The patient had severe streptococcal septicemia with a persistently elevated temperature. Even though the dose of penicillin use was minimal by current standards, the therapeutic effect was dramatic, resulting in a rapid and permanent fall in temperature to normal." The drug would become crucial in the medical treatment of military personnel during World War II. Early in 1943 Tabor joined the U.S. Public Health Service and was assigned as medical officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Duane, which was escorting North Atlantic ship convoys. In a battle with a German submarine, the Duane rescued American and enemy casualties and Tabor helped provide the medical care. In 1946, he married Celia White, who became a biochemical researcher at NIH. She retired in 2005 and died in 2012. Survivors include four children, Edward Tabor of Bethesda, Stanley Tabor of Brookline, Mass., twins Marilyn Tabor of Cambridge, Mass., and Richard Tabor of Moss Beach, Calif.; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. The Tabors received awards from the Chemical Society of Washington and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. For 40 years, Tabor was the editor in chief of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and guided its transition to online publication. Tabor gradually began to tire after age 100 and pulled back from daily work in his laboratory. But, according to his son Edward, he had so much leave accumulated he remained on the NIH staff until his death. Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Swedish national living in Thailand with conducting a multi-million dollar online offering fraud that victimized thousands of retail investors worldwide, including hundreds of investors from the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Loss communities. The SEC's complaint alleges that from November 2012 to June 2019, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson, through his entity, Eastern Metal Securities, defrauded over 2,000 retail investors in nearly every state in the United States, as well as in over 45 countries around the world. According to the complaint, Karlsson solicited investors for what he described as a "Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan," falsely claiming that the investment platform was run by award-winning economists and promising a payout based on the value of gold. Karlsson allegedly claimed that the investment had no risk of loss. At least 847 of the investors were members of a community for the Deaf that invested more than $2 million in Eastern Metal Securities since 2015 as their retirement investment. The SEC alleges that Karlsson raised $3.5 million from December 2017 through June 2019, and misappropriated at least $1.5 million to purchase real estate in Thailand and for other personal expenses. "We are committed to fighting securities fraud that targets our country's most vulnerable communities," said Richard R. Best, Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office. "As alleged in the complaint, Karlsson's scheme jeopardized the hard-earned savings of thousands of retail investors." The SEC alleges that Karlsson violated the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the antifraud provisions of 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and 10b-5(c) thereunder, and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. This matter was investigated by Karen M. Lee, John C. Lehmann, Jordan Baker, and Thomas P. Smith, Jr. of the SEC's New York Regional Office, and Mika Donlon and Charu A. Chandrasekhar of the Division of Enforcement's Retail Strategy Task Force. The litigation will be led by Richard Hong, and the case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa, both of the SEC's New York Regional Office. The Retail Strategy Task Force encourages investors in the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Loss communities to learn more about how to spot frauds in their communities and how to protect themselves and others from investment fraud through the Task Force's investor outreach video for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Loss communities. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, the Internal Revenue Service, the securities and financial markets regulatory authorities in Austria, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore and Thailand, and the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland. THE lobbying regulator has said it has no powers to investigate a complaint against former Fine Gael junior minister Michael DArcy over his appointment as chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM). Sinn Fein has said it will table a legislative amendment in the coming days, but RISE TD Paul Murphy has been told by the regulator that it has no enforcement powers in relation to the case of the former Fine Gael senator. DArcy resigned from the Seanad on Monday to take up the position with the financial services lobby group. He was a Minister of State with responsibility for financial services up until the end of June this year. He did not receive an exemption from the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) to forgo the necessary 12-month cooling-off period office holders are expected to take before becoming a lobbyist. Read More Mr D'Arcy and the IAIM have committed to abstaining from lobbying for the next year to ensure the former minister does not breach rules set out in the Lobbying Act. An IAIM said this was the reason Sipo has not been contacted. The former Wexford TDs appointment has prompted complaints to Sipo over alleged breaches of lobbying law. But the regulator has told Mr Murphy that while section 22 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 places restrictions on certain former designated public officials, including the cooling off period, it has no powers to enforce any breaches of this. While the Act provides for criminal offences and associated penalties for these breaches, there is no offence associated with breaches of section 22, Sipo has told the Dublin South-West TD. The Standards Commission said it had previously pointed out that it has no enforcement powers for Section 22 breaches during two previous reviews of the legislation Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and in its annual reports. The Commission is of the view that the Act should be amended to include breaches of section 22 in the list of offences in section 20 of the Act, and to give the Commission powers to investigate and prosecute any breaches, it adds. Speaking at Leinster House on Tuesday, Sinn Fein public expenditure spokesperson Mairead Farrell said her party was drafting legislation to amend the Lobbying Act. The amendment would allow for alleged breaches of section 22 of the Act to be investigated and prosecuted. She said it would be published in the coming days. We want to shut the door between vested interests and government as soon as possible, she said. We need to get this dealt with as soon as possible The Galway West TD said it was laughable that IAIM said it wouldnt lobby for the next year and added: We need to make sure this can never happen again. Im a realist and recognize most who start this will not get beyond the second bullet point, and the few who get all the way through will often disagree with it and with me. But I believe we are all entitled to personal opinions and should be able to agreeably disagree. I love America, founded in 1776, not 1619 as an immigrant and a citizen for over 75 years who has traveled to all seven continents and about 80 countries, I have seen nothing close to the American system, despite its flaws. Im a capitalist no economic system has done so much good for so many, both rich and poor. Im a Christian and fiercely object to efforts at eradicating religion despite First Amendment religious freedom rights. Beliefs of the religious, non-religious and anti-religious should ALL be respected. Im tired of disparagement because of being a politically incorrect old, white, male over which I have absolutely no control. America isnt systemically racist, contrary to what the media and certain politicians say. Were a country that constitutionally eliminated racial discrimination 150+ years ago and has continued to move further along culturally. As a youngster I, like most of us white kids, disliked and was demeaning toward blacks; but I value the change in attitudes that have and continue to take place. Borders throughout the world protect countries from unsavory immigrants we permit more people to come in than anywhere else, but we dont need more drug dealers, murderers or other criminals entering Our healthcare, though expensive, meets or beats all others despite efforts to make Canadas, Englands, and others seem better its just not so. Lower taxes help our economy grow and give us more to spend, invest or save and less for government to waste. Guess who gets my vote. Peter B. Heyler, Missoula/Evaro You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 6 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of maintaining a ``secret arms depot`` in a residential neighborhood of Beirut, warning it could cause another tragic explosion in the Lebanese capital. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu pointed to maps purportedly showing the missile depot's location next to a gas company and residential housing. He also showed what he said was a picture of the entrance to the depot. ``Here's where the next explosion will take place, right here,`` he said. ``You've got to act now, you've got to protest this, because if this thing explodes, it's another tragedy,`` he said, addressing the Lebanese people. ``You should tell them, 'Tear these depots down.''' Last month, a warehouse filled with nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut's port, killing nearly 200 people, wounding thousands and causing widespread destruction in the capital. The ammonium nitrate had been stored there for several years after being removed from an impounded cargo ship. No one has yet been held accountable for the blast, which appears to have been triggered by an accidental fire. Israel has long accused Hezbollah of storing weapons and maintaining military posts in civilian areas, especially in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon, both strongholds of support for the Iran-backed militant group. The Israeli military later released maps and videos showing the site that Netanyahu had referenced as well as two other alleged missile depots it said were under residential apartment blocks. It described all three as precision-guided missile manufacturing sites. The military provided precise locations of the alleged weapons sites but gave no other evidence and did not say how advanced the manufacturing program is. Israel has long warned that Hezbollah is seeking to manufacture precision-guided missiles or add guidance systems to its existing projectiles, something Israel insists is a red line that may require military action. Hezbollah is believed to have massively expanded its arsenal in the years since it fought Israel to a month-long stalemate in 2006. Israel believes Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere in Israel, but precision guidance would make them far more lethal. Netanyahu said another depot had exploded just a few days ago in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana, near the port city of Sidon. It is not clear what caused that explosion, which sent smoke billowing into the sky but did not cause any casualties. The Israeli prime minister usually uses his annual address to the United Nations to highlight Israel's concerns about archenemy Iran and its nuclear program. And he does it in a distinctive manner. In contrast to most leaders, who typically sit behind desks or stand at podiums, he often uses visual aids such as maps and diagrams to make his points. This year, talking about potential explosions, he delivered his speech against the backdrop of a Jerusalem street scene filled with intense oranges and yellows. This year, Netanyahu said the recent decision by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel showed that Israel and Arab countries ``stand together in confronting the greatest enemy of peace in the Middle East _ Iran.'' Netanyahu claimed that Iran would have ``enough enriched uranium in a few months for two nuclear bombs'' after it recently began exceeding limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran began publicly exceeding those limits after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. Iran insists it has never sought nuclear weapons and that its atomic program is for civilian purposes. Netanyahu, a staunch opponent of the nuclear deal, praised Trump's decision to withdraw from it and called on the world to follow the U.S. in snapping back sanctions. He also reiterated his willingness to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of Trump's proposal to end the conflict, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and has been rejected by the Palestinians. Search Keywords: Short link: A hiker, 43, plunged 100 feet to his death from a tree after a branch snapped while he was posing for a photo along the Devil's Cauldron trail in Oregon. Steven Gastelum, from Seaside, died Sunday when he fell over a cliff edge at Oswald West State Park, north of Manzanita, and plummeted into the ocean below. The tragic incident unfolded when Gastelum was hiking with another person along the Devil's Cauldron trail on the Oregon Coast. The pair went to a cliff side viewpoint to take a photo, according to Oregon State Police. Steven Gastelum, 43, (pictured on a different outdoor adventure) plunged 100 feet to his death from a tree after a branch snapped while he was posing for a photo along the Devil's Cauldron trail in Oregon Gastelum then climbed a tree on the edge of the drop to pose for a picture, said investigators. A tree limb snapped sending him falling 100 feet into the water below. Emergency personnel were called to reports of a man falling off a cliff edge at around 1:48 p.m. Responders from the Nehalem Bay Fire Department on jet skies and a US Coast Guard helicopter were drafted in the search for Gastelum. The hiker was located and pulled to shore, where he was rushed to Tillamook Regional Medical Center. The hiker, 43, died Sunday when he fell over a cliff edge (pictured) at Oswald West State Park, north of Manzanita, and plummeted into the ocean below The tragic incident unfolded when Gastelum was hiking with another person along the Devil's Cauldron trail (pictured) on the Oregon Coast Gastelum was later pronounced dead at the hospital. His death comes almost exactly three years after the death of another hiker along the same steep trail in Oswald West State Park. Joe Lescene, 51, died in September 2017 after he lost his footing on the cliff edge overlooking Devil's Cauldron and fell more than 780 feet into the sea. The father-of-two from Vancouver Island was hiking with his wife Sarah in the park when he fell over the cliff edge. Gastelum climbed a tree on the edge of the drop to pose for a picture, said investigators. A tree limb snapped sending him falling 100 feet into the water below. He was pulled from the water by rescue teams but was pronounced dead in hospital The couple visited the Oregon park every year for a romantic getaway. The US Coast Guard, Oregon State Police and four groups of local emergency responders tried to find him for five days before the search was called off. His body washed up on a beach on September 20, 10 days after he went missing. The Devil's Cauldron is a viewing point at the end of a short trail in the park. It is a popular spot for hiking, walking and bird watching. SRINAGAR, Kashmir The human rights organization Amnesty International said on Tuesday that it had ceased its operations in India and laid off its entire staff in response to a series of government reprisals including the freezing of its bank accounts. Amnesty said that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had targeted the organization for years in response to its work exposing human rights violations in India. In recent months, the group has published reports on the Delhi polices role in fomenting anti-Muslim violence and on the use of torture in Kashmir. The Indian government said in a statement that the allegations from Amnesty were unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth. The organization has repeatedly violated local laws by circumventing the regulations under which foreign entities can receive donations from abroad, the government added. All the glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid-down Indian laws, the statement said. Poplous is charged with two counts of Class X felony attempted murder as well as two other felonies related to allegedly shooting another person. A Class X felony, if convicted, carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Alpha Bronze, LLC ("Alpha Bronze"), is pleased to announce that Silver Tiger Metals (TSXV:SLVR) (OTCQX:SLVTF) ("Silver Tiger Metals" or the "Company"), a Canada based mineral exploration company with projects in Mexico, will be presenting at Alpha Bronze Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 12:00 PM EDT. Mr. Glenn Jessome, Chief Executive Officer of Silver Tiger Metals will give an overview of the Company. He will present its program - the El Tigre Project in Sonora, Mexico. Early September, the company gave an update of its drilling program. They announced very high grades. Best drill results coming from vein extensions intersected 0.85 meters grading 10,128 g/t silver eq. (consisting of 7,338 g/t silver, 37 g/t gold and 2.8% copper). Mr. Jessome will then respond to Investors questions thereafter. Silver Tiger Metals - Town Hall Agenda CEO Presentation - 10 to 15 minutes Follow-up Q&A - 10 to 15 minutes The presentation will be webcast live. You can register to the Virtual Town Hall with the following link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KtvinBEXS_-URC-3K391BQ REGISTER About Silver Tiger Metals Headquartered in Halifax, Silver Tiger Metals (TSXV:SLVR) (OTCQX:SLVTF) is a silver and gold exploration company operating in Mexico. Silver Tiger is managed by a team of mine finders with extensive experience in exploring and developing large hydrothermal gold projects in Mexico. Silver Tiger is currently focusing on the El Tigre Property located in northern Sonora State and released a maiden resource estimate in September 2017. For more information visit https://silvertigermetals.com About Alpha Bronze Founded in 2013, Alpha Bronze is an investor relations firm based in New York. Alpha Bronze is dedicated to the delivery of top-tier strategic services that encompass IR, capital markets navigation, and corporate communications. The firm has an extensive experience working with emerging growth companies, in the life sciences, tech, consumer and natural resources sectors. Alpha Bronze's aim is to increase awareness for each client among the US investment community. For more info: https://www.alphabronzellc.com Alpha Bronze, LLC Mr. Pascal Nigen Phone: + 1 (917) 385-2160 pnigen@alphabronzellc.com SOURCE: Silver Tiger Metals View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608114/Silver-Tiger-Metals-to-Present-at-Alpha-Bronze-Virtual-Town-Hall Within a month, Connecticut residents may be able to access smartphone alerts if they have had possible contact with COVID-19 patients, Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Tuesday, hours before the state reported one of its highest daily increases in recent positive tests. The state Department of Public Health reported an uptick in both the infection rate and hospitalizations. There were 182 new COVID-19 infections reported out of 10,380 tests, for a 1.75-percent positivity rate. Two additional fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 4,505. The weekend infection rate was 1.07 percent. The DPH also reported a net increase of 17 hospitalizations on Tuesday, bringing the total to 92. Lamont said that Google and Apple, which will offer the service in cooperation with the state, have promised privacy for users of the app, which Lamont intends to detail further in coming days. It could make contact tracing easier, he said, predicting that the online program, in cooperation with similar efforts in New York and New Jersey, could quickly alert people who might have been infected. This is a pretty big deal, Lamont told reporters during his daily news conference from the Capitol. Well be able to give you a real-time response. Perhaps you wont be able to quarantine if you have the sniffles. Under the current plan, state residents could opt into the online notification alerts through their phones, which would keep track of whom they have been in close contact with over a period of time. If someone tests positive, they would be able to key into their phones, which would notify those who might have been in close contact. People alerted of possible contacts could then get in touch with their doctors, self isolate and take other responses. The technology, however, has creating privacy concerns around the world, and recent polls indicate a general reluctance on the part of phone users. Lamont also told reporters that the state should have the first 69,000 Abbott Labs rapid tests for COVID-19 from the federal government by the end of the week. The first of the projected one million tests supplied from Washington will be used to quickly locate potential instances in schools and other facilities where outbreaks could spread quickly. I think this is really important because it allows you to have a test done locally, on site, at the school, for example, Lamont said. You get an immediate response. Its highly accurate, especially for those in early stages or showing symptoms, at least. He said it will complement the states current testing capability, which varies between 10,000 and 15,000 a day. Josh Geballe, Lamonts chief operating officer, said that in the case of schools, the rapid tests can be quickly deployed and could possibly prevent students from being sent home to quarantine, or even the closure of entire schools. Its an area where we are very hopeful that the new technology will be very beneficial in our schools, potentially daycare centers and other similar facilities, Geballe said. Lamont said the total number of rapid tests purchased by the federal government will be about 150 million, with 50 million to be kept back for emergencies, so the states and territories will divide up 100 million Abbott tests. That would mean we would have a million tests available over the next few months, Lamont said. In addition to schools, child care and vulnerable populations and first responders, Geballe said the quick tests would be available to state Department of Public Health rapid response teams to go into nursing homes, prisons and other locations of potential COVID outbreaks such as cities that experience outbreaks, such as the recent uptick in Danbury. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT Farmers in Punjab, particularly in the Majha region, have yet again started burning the paddy residue early this year even as the state government is making tall claims of stopping the farm fires. They are doing so to clear their fields and make them ready for sowing vegetables. The agriculture department officials say potato and peas are sown considerably in many areas. The farmers there prefer to cultivate the Pusa basmati-1,509 and some other hybrid varieties of paddy that ripen fast and thus are harvested early. Against 159 farm fires reported in the state till September 28 last year, as many as 520 such incidents, most of them from Majha, have been witnessed during the corresponding period this time. And of a total of 407 incidents that took place in the region, 358 were from Amritsar, the states worst-hit district. This despite the fact that the state government on Sunday had deputed more that 8,000 field staff to check burning of straw in fields. Since the government has not announced any incentive for straw management, the farmers are left with no option but to burn it. If the government is serious about stopping farm fires, it should announce200 per quintal as handling of straw in fields, said Jagmohan Singh of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakunda). An agriculture department official said, Actually, the farmers find burning of stubble the easiest method of disposing it though it is hazardous to health. Since the agriculture income is going down, they try to utilise the gap between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing by cultivating vegetables. The government has deputed 8,000 nodal officers in paddy growing villages, with 23,500 machines being given to farmers for an in-situ management of paddy straw. Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has appealed the farmers to shun the practice of burning straw several times. We know its hazardous, but have no other option At Devidas Pura village of Amritsar district where farmers were spotted burning the paddy straw, the HT team was asked to leave the place promptly. Some farmers said, We are already facing harassment at the hands of government officials for burning the stubble. We cannot afford any method of managing the straw other than burning it. But in some fields, labourers were seen lifting the straw with bailer machines and tractor-trailers transported it to nearby sugar mills. Kulwant Singh, a farmer from Phoolke village near Batala in Gurdaspur district, said, The farmers know the side-effects of burning stubble, but they still do it. Keeping in view of their financial conditions and increasing cost of cultivation, they cannot afford any other method of managing the residue. It is like a person committing suicide that he does in a state of depression. Nearly 80 per cent farmers have just 2 to 5 acre land. The government asks us to buy a happy seeder machines to prevent stubble burning. This machine can be operated with a new model of tractor only. It costs around 11 lakh to buy such a tractor. How many of the farmers can afford to buy these machines? he asks. Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer from Thatha village of Gurdaspur, said, Without the governments support, managing the residue with eco-friendly methods is not possible. As far as the use of bailer machines are concerned, a sizable quantity of grain goes waste, he added. Erring farmers fined 55,000 in Amritsar The administration in Amritsar has imposed55,000 fine on 15 farmers in the district, said deputy commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khehra. Teams of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Monday visited 150 villages after spotting 318 cases farm fires, he added. Wilkes is the highest ranked institution in Luzerne County and within the top 25 percent of independent institutions in the nation. Wilkes University is once again being recognized for its commitment to social mobility. In STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. (OTC: PSSR) ("PASSUR or the "Company"), a global leader in digital operational excellence, announced revenues of $2,208,000 for the three months ended July 31, 2020, compared with $3,798,000 for the same period in fiscal year 2019. For the nine months ended July 31, 2020, revenues totaled $9,612,000, compared with $11,088,000 for the same period in fiscal year 2019. For the three months ended July 31, 2020, income from operations improved to $9,000, compared to a loss from operations of $894,000 for the same period in fiscal year 2019. For the three months ended July 31, 2020, net loss was $250,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1,074,000, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal year 2019. "While COVID-19 has created many challenges for our industry, PASSUR has continued to develop and renew deals with new and existing clients," said Brian Cook, President and CEO. For the nine months ended July 31, 2020, loss from operations (inclusive of an impairment charge of $9,874,000) was $11,845,000, compared to $2,624,000 for the same period in fiscal year 2019. Excluding the impact of the impairment charge, the loss from operations was $1,971,000 for the nine months ended July 31, 2020, an improvement of $653,000 from the same period in fiscal 2019. For the nine months ended July 31, 2020, net loss (inclusive of the impairment charge of $9,874,000) was $12,564,000, or $1.63 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3,140,000, or $0.41 per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal year 2019. The global COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainty surrounding the prospects of airlines, airports, and the travel industry and contributed, in part, to a decline in the Company's revenues which commenced during the second quarter of 2020. In response, the Company has taken steps to reduce its operating costs going forward, including terminating or furloughing certain positions and instituting a temporary pay reduction plan during the second quarter of 2020, suspending the use of outside consultants where possible, rationalizing the PASSUR Network, and reducing and/or eliminating other operating expenses that were not critical to the short-term operations of the Company. As a result, the Company reduced its cash operating costs for the quarter ended July 31, 2020, by approximately $2,100,000. This reduction amounted to approximately a 40% cost reduction when compared to comparable expenses in the first quarter, which ended January 31, 2020. On July 7, 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to receive an aggregate of $3,003,000 in grants for emergency relief through the CARES Act Payroll Support Program, which amounts were received in installments through September 2020. Pursuant to the Payroll Support Program Agreement, the relief payments must be used exclusively for the continuation of payment of employee wages, salaries and benefits. The relief payments are conditioned on the Company's agreement to, among other things, refrain from conducting involuntary employee layoffs or furloughs through September 30, 2020. $208,000 of these grants were used during the third quarter ended July 31, 2020. Mike Hulley Joined the Board As previously announced, Michael O. Hulley was appointed to the Board of Directors in July 2020 bringing over 40 years of industry experience and executive leadership skills. Since January 2019, Mr. Hulley has served as the CEO and Managing Partner of Aileron Strategic Advisors, which provides aviation and management expertise to private equity and consulting firms. Prior to Aileron Strategic Advisors, he served as the CEO of Navtech/Navblue for 10 years, and led its sale to Airbus in February 2016. Prior to Navtech, Mr. Hulley served as the President and Global Leader of the Transportation Industry at EDS and the Global Vice President and GM of IBM where he won the Lou Gerstner Chairman's award. Mr. Hulley's career began at Delta Air Lines and continued with United Airlines and Galileo International. Mr. Hulley with his vast industry knowledge and experience is a valuable addition to our Board of Directors. Michael Henne Promoted to Chief Commercial Officer On September 29, 2020 Michael Henne was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Henne joined PASSUR in May as Vice President of Sales having served in executive leadership roles in Operations, Technology, Finance, and Sales in airline and system integrators around the world. Prior to joining PASSUR, he accumulated 30 years of experience in aviation and in growing small and large companies. Mr. Henne served at IBM Corporation as Global Client Executive in Travel and Transportation, at Delta as General Manager for Airport Planning and Performance, and at DXC Technology as Travel and Transportation Digital General Manager. His deep understanding of aviation, technology, and information systems, as well as his passion for client advocacy, makes him a valuable addition to PASSUR's executive leadership team. About PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. (OTC: PSSR), a New York corporation founded in 1967, is the operations platform of choice for aviation experts, offering a unique combination of global data, decision support, and subject matter expertise solutions to improve operational efficiencies. Our platform and people help deliver actionable-data and user-friendly tools to corporate and operations leadership looking for creative ways to minimize and eliminate bottleneck capacity constraints, react to irregular operations (IROPS), restart operations after an interruption in service, and enhance the efficiency of the daily schedule. Our collaborative framework uniquely enhances data sharing, communications, and decision-making within and between stakeholders in an operations ecosystem. PASSUR provides its solutions to the largest airlines and airports globally including the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. Visit PASSUR Aerospace's website at www.passur.com for updated products, solutions, and news. Media Contact: Media: Evee Burgard VP Marketing (310) 995-0313 [email protected] Investor Relations: Louis J. Petrucelly SVP & Chief Financial Officer (203) 622-4086 [email protected] PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. and Subsidiary CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS July 31, 2020 October 31, 2019 (unaudited) Assets Current assets: Cash $ 1,998,004 $ 145,151 Accounts receivable, net 460,203 1,141,282 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 271,992 249,118 Total current assets 2,730,199 1,535,551 PASSUR Network, net - 3,948,542 Capitalized software development costs, net 1,344,849 8,319,134 Property and equipment, net 322,395 552,150 Operating lease right-of-use assets 701,287 - Other assets 57,217 91,883 Total assets $ 5,155,947 $ 14,447,260 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 1,901,557 $ 1,531,112 Accrued liabilities Stimulus funding 1,401,530 - Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 792,428 789,370 Operating lease liabilities, current portion 384,526 - Deferred revenue, current portion 1,136,980 2,863,273 Total current liabilities 5,617,021 5,183,755 Deferred revenue, long term portion 257,270 377,760 Notes payable - related party 10,452,799 8,350,058 Operating lease liabilities, non-current 550,098 - Other liabilities - 79,958 Total liabilities 16,877,188 13,991,531 Total stockholders' equity (11,721,241) 455,729 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 5,155,947 $ 14,447,260 PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. and Subsidiary CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2020 2019 2020 2019 Revenues $2,207,722 $ 3,798,149 $ 9,611,780 $11,088,397 Cost of expenses: Cost of revenues 860,540 2,137,662 5,567,720 6,206,428 Research and development expenses 66,042 143,102 281,739 426,376 Selling, general, and administrative expenses 1,272,376 2,411,029 5,733,142 7,079,287 Impairment charges - - 9,874,281 - 2,198,958 4,691,793 21,456,882 13,712,091 Income/(Loss) from operations $ 8,764 $(893,644) $(11,845,102) $(2,623,694) Interest expense - related party 238,826 180,191 667,741 515,875 Other Loss 19,473 - 19,473 - Loss before income taxes (249,535) (1,073,835) (12,532,316) (3,139,569) Provision for income taxes - - 31,560 - Net loss $ (249,535) $(1,073,835) $(12,563,876) $(3,139,569) Net loss per common share basic $ (0.03) $ (0.14) $ (1.63) $ (0.41) Net loss per common share diluted $ (0.03) $ (0.14) $ (1.63) $ (0.41) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding basic 7,712,091 7,696,091 7,710,047 7,696,091 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding diluted 7,712,091 7,696,091 7,710,047 7,696,091 SOURCE PASSUR Aerospace She directed the female-driven action movie, Charlie's Angels, which was released in 2019. And Elizabeth Banks exuded femininity as she posed in a plunging navy swimsuit from a rural location via her social media account on Sunday. The actress, 46, used the stunning snapshot as an opportunity to remind her followers to vote in the upcoming election. Taking the plunge: Elizabeth Banks exuded femininity as she posed in a plunging navy swimsuit from a rural location via her social media account on Sunday Elizabeth added a touch of glamour with a delicate gold necklace and cat-eye shades. The star let her natural beauty shine through with a makeup-free look and she styled her blonde locks in a natural 'do underneath her stylish summer hat. In the accompanying caption, Elizabeth encouraged others to vote, as she said: 'Is this hat too big? #sunday Also registering to vote takes 5 minutes #taxreturns #vote.' Doing her bit: The actress, 46, used the stunning snapshot as an opportunity to remind her followers to vote in the upcoming election Eva Longoria also turned to social media last week to encourage her followers to get involved in the presidential election. The Desperate Housewives actress, 45, opened the virtual Democratic National Convention back in August and continued her activism on an Instagram post. Eva smiled in the mirror for a selfie as she wore a two toned blue workout set with grey mesh detailing on the sides. Ripped and ready: Eva Longoria also turned to social media last week to encourage her followers to vote as she posed in a two toned blue workout set The Texas-born star wore her hair up in a loose ponytail and decided to go makeup-free as she captioned the image: 'Heres to a great week ahead! Dont forget to register to VOTE!' Last week, she also connected with American political strategist, Ana Navarro, as they discussed Trump's taxes and the first presidential debate. Kylie Jenner is another star who is using her social media platform to encourage voting. On Monday, the reality star and beauty mogul, 23, posed in a Dior bikini alongside the caption: 'But are you registered to vote? click the link in my bio.. let's make a plan to vote together.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:05:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's central authority has sent inspection teams to multiple regions in the country in a supervision campaign to check COVID-19 containment measures and make sure these localities are ready to prevent a resurgence of infections in autumn and winter. Respective teams, sent by the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19, went to provincial-level regions including Liaoning, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, and Tianjin to supervise local authorities' work in fixing anti-epidemic loopholes, strengthening containment measures in key areas, implementing resurgence prevention measures, and improving regular containment work. In Liaoning, the inspectors listened to local officials' reports, checked relevant documents, held forums, and visited local ports, hospitals, schools, railway stations, quarantine sites, disease control centers, markets, and resident communities. In Guangxi, a border region where the work to prevent imported cases is under greater pressure, the inspectors visited a border point of entry and gave some suggestions to local anti-epidemic authorities, including increasing local epidemiological investigation personnel and enhancing nucleic acid testing capability. Another team of inspectors went to Inner Mongolia and visited a closed temporary hospital that remains ready to receive new patients. In Tianjin, the team inspected the city's anti-epidemic headquarters, disease control center, ports, communities, and nursing homes, warning of infection risks at some medical facilities. Enditem Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain Mon, September 28, 2020 12:03 481 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47a5a80 2 Environment gorilla,zoo,Spain,animals Free A gorilla mauled a 46-year-old zookeeper in Spanish capital Madrid on Sunday, leaving her in serious condition with two broken arms and chest and head injuries, the zoo and emergency services said. The woman was carrying out routine cleaning and morning feeding tasks when she was attacked by Malabo, a 29-year-old male gorilla, in an interior enclosure, Madrid Zoo said in a statement. "The zoo team managed to separate the animal from her and later, a veterinary team anaesthetized it with a tranquilizer dart," the statement added. "The animal was taken to its pen where it is calm." Read also: Uganda says it has rare gorilla 'baby boom' in park in country's southwest Police and the zoo said they were investigating how the gorilla was able to enter the enclosure, which is protected with a triple door. The woman, who has 19 years" experience working at the zoo, was stabilized at the scene before being rushed to hospital where she is in serious condition, local emergency services said in a tweet. The zoo said Malabo was raised by keepers since birth and is normally "close to his caregivers". Topics : gorilla zoo Spain animals MLAs are calling on Justice Minister Naomi Long to introduce a new law to stop parole for murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victim's body. The DUP motion, which also demanded that those convicted of child sex offences not be eligible for release until they disclose the identity of all their victims, was passed by the Assembly last night. It was supported by the SDLP and Ulster Unionists. An Alliance amendment, backed by Sinn Fein and People Before Profit, was rejected. The DUP proposal was based on Helen's Law, which was passed by the House of Commons earlier this year and applies to England and Wales. It is named after Helen McCourt, whose murderer was released from prison in February despite never revealing where her remains are. The 22-year-old disappeared in 1988 shortly after getting off a bus near her Merseyside home. It is proposed that similar legislation in Northern Ireland be called Charlotte's Law after a Co Tyrone woman. Charlotte Murray (34) was killed sometime between October 31 and November 1, 2012, but her body has never been found despite searches. Johnny Miller (49), a chef from Redford Park, Dungannon, was found guilty of her murder last October. The family of Co Down woman Lisa Dorrian, who police believe was killed in 2005, also back the proposal, although no one has been brought to justice in connection with her disappearance. Opening the debate, the DUP's Alex Easton described his motion as "both important and vital for families who have had a loved one murdered but have never had a body returned to have a Christian burial". He said he was "frustrated and disappointed" at the Alliance amendment. Read More Alliance's Kellie Armstrong argued that the proposal went "far beyond" Helen's Law. She said that it could mean that innocent prisoners - or those who through the passage of time, loss of memory, or a changing landscape genuinely didn't know where the victim was buried - would be "trapped in prison forever". She said she didn't believe that the proposed law could deliver what families wanted, adding that Mrs Long was already committed to bringing forward her own legislation on the matter. Sinn Fein's Linda Dillon applauded the "spirit of the motion" but said her party couldn't support it because it "potentially strays into the realms of indeterminate sentences, which contravenes human rights laws". People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll said the proposal was "not the appropriate solution" and was "incompatible with human rights" protections. SDLP MLA Sinead Bradley said her party had "no hesitation" in backing the motion even if it went further than Helen's Law. She said it would be up to a parole board to decide if a prisoner was making "a deliberate decision" not to disclose information on victims. She said that "murderers and paedophiles" would be responsible for their own fate. "It is them, nobody else, who holds the responsibility to make them eligible for parole," she added. UUP MLA Doug Beattie said he had been moved when meeting the Dorrian and Murray families. "They sat with hope that we as an Assembly could do something to address this great injustice. Let's not snuff out that hope because it's all they have," he said. LVMH said Tuesday it had filed a countersuit against Tiffany in a bid to walk away from the $16.2 billion takeover that would have been the biggest ever in the luxury industry. The suit, filed Monday in Delaware, says that LVMH "continues to have full confidence in its position that the conditions necessary to close the acquisition of Tiffany have not been met." It adds that the "spurious arguments put forward by Tiffany are completely unfounded." The announcement is the latest in a saga that saw the Louis Vuitton owner scrap the acquisition in early September. In a statement at the time, France's LVMH said that it would not be able to complete the acquisition of Tiffany "as it stands." The firm cited the threat of U.S. tariffs on French goods and Tiffany's request to extend the deal deadline to the end of the year. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, speaks during the company's 2017 Cloud Next event in San Francisco. Bloomberg | Getty Images Google parent company Alphabet has agreed to more than 80 updates or changes to its policies and procedures around sexual misconduct and harassment as part of an extensive legal settlement. The overhaul is meant to fill gaps that executives allegedly exploited to engage in sexual misconduct or harassment, and to serve as an example for other Silicon Valley tech companies. The settlement, which includes $310 million devoted to new diversity, equality and inclusion measures, comes after a group of shareholders accused the leadership team of mishandling employee complaints of sexual misconduct and discrimination. If the settlement is approved by a judge, it will be the largest such commitment among tech companies, beating Intel's $300 million diversity pledge it made in 2015. In an email to employees, CEO Sundar Pichai encouraged them to read the highlights of the settlement, saying "I hope these commitments will serve as a strong signal to all of you that we are not going back in time." The company publicly disclosed some of the terms, including "five guiding principles," in a blog post on Friday. But the much more expansive settlement filing, which spans 177 pages, lays out dozens of updates or changes to its policies, ranging from hiring, governance, internal investigations and disciplinary processes. The filing shows structural gaps executives with power were allegedly able to exploit, as well as existing policies they allegedly bypassed. "The excuse has always been that these were just a few bad apples," said Julie Goldsmith Reiser, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, referring to Google's defense and as well as the broader Silicon Valley. "This is the first time they're saying in detail 'it's bigger than that and we aren't going to allow this.'" NDAs, arbitration and mandatory training The parties wanted to use the settlement as an opportunity not only for Google to meet basic structural demands, but also to set a tone for the tech industry, which has been among the industries most plagued by transgressions and power differences during the #MeToo era, according to documents and conversations with the plaintiffs' attorneys. Over the last two years, Silicon Valley employees complaining of power differentials have spurred mass events and bad press for companies the largest being the 2018 Google walkout, in which more than 20,000 Google employees walked out of offices worldwide to protest multimillion-dollar payouts to executives accused of sexual misconduct or harassment as they left the company. One of the most significant terms in the settlement is limiting the use of nondisclosure agreements for Google employees, which had been a point of contention among employees in discrimination and harassment cases at Google and beyond. Companies originally used NDAs to protect trade secrets, but they've gradually expanded to cover a blanket of topics, including workplace conditions, which critics say silences victims and enables perpetrators. Under the settlement terms, workers can now discuss facts of cases related to harassment or discrimination. In addition, employees can now bring someone with them when they report complaints as support and to bear witness to the conversations. The company also agreed to make arbitration a practice that prevents employees from taking cases to court and has been criticized for suppressing victims' testimonies optional for all Alphabet workers, including contractors and employees at the company's "Other Bets" divisions like Waymo self-driving cars. Following the 2018 walkout, the company said it would end forced arbitration, but the provision only applied to full employees at Google. The corporate governance updates, which include a number of new oversight committees and regular reports and training programs for Google's board members and executives, were designed to be "best in class," filing materials show. There will also be training for HR staff, investigators and managers on subjects such as empathetic listening, clarifying relationship standards, proper off-site behavior and alcohol consumption, the filing shows. Google's $310 million fund nearly doubles its recent $175 million commitment toward Black businesses and leadership diversity, although it's not immediately clear whether there will be overlap. A new diversity, equity and inclusion advisory council will be responsible for overseeing a wide array of issues, including hiring and retaining people from underrepresented groups, as well as tracking investigation outcomes, pay equity and retaliation cases. The group is required to meet at least once a quarter. The chief diversity officer won't be the only person publicly held responsible for the commitments, either a departure from the commonplace standards in Silicon Valley. Pichai, Google's global affairs chief, Kent Walker, and core engineering Senior Vice President Jen Fitzpatrick are all expected to hold an accountability role in the DEI council's diversity initiatives. The DEI council will include outside experts such as former EEOC Commissioner Fred Alvarez, who was tasked with monitoring Uber for three years as a part of the self-driving car company's own misconduct settlement. HR policies were ignored or bypassed While executives couldn't be held responsible for nonexistent policies, the filings also expose the ways in which executives allegedly exploited gaps and bypassed some existing company policies. The litigation and internal leadership boards reviewed more than 1,600 internal documents that included board packages, communications, meeting agendas and minutes, and existing policies, the filings show. "We found that Google's human resources department actually had some capable, smart processes and people in place but the powerful people didn't feel the need to adhere to HR," Reiser said. The Alphabet leadership team "improperly" approved large payments to executives including a $90 million severance package to Android co-founder Andy Rubin and $45 million to Amit Singhal after allegedly finding credible misconduct allegations, the filing states. Google agreed to require more layers of approval for actions related to executives involved in misconduct allegations, including creating oversight for the compensation committee, which approved Rubin's and Singhal's payouts, the filing said. Google executives in 2018 said they fired 48 people over the course of two years for sexual harassment, including 13 "senior managers and above." At the time, they said none received exit packages. The settlement terms also state that Google will formalize a policy of not providing severance to any employee or senior executive who is the subject of an investigation or lawsuit, nor will it allow them to amend their stock plans. The filing highlights how Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, allegedly amended his stock plan plan while he was under investigation for misconduct. "Plaintiffs also would have sought damages related to Defendant Drummond's $222 million in stock sales while under investigation for misconduct and after altering his 10b5-1 trading plan in the months preceding his departure from the Company," the filing states. The terms also target Google's investigations process. The settlement terms show the company will add more tools to track employees' interactions with HR and investigations teams to prevent retaliation and keep everyone on the same page, which employees vocally alleged was a problem. It also agreed to check in with employees who are involved in harassment, discrimination or retaliation investigations at least every six months over the course of two years. The company will also create a "rapid response" team that will work on cases involving senior executives as well as the most serious allegations, the settlement filing shows. At the end of the day, each of the structural changes and executive realizations will ultimately depend on how the company enforces them. "The people at Google who wanted to harass thought they could get away with it," said Frank Bottini, a lead counsel on the settlement. "I think these measures are a start to stopping that." Watch Now: Why Alphabet investigated executives over inappropriate relationships Galway Senator Ollie Crowe has called for the army to be used to assist the gardai in public order situations. His statement comes after a number of videos emerged online of hundreds of people gathering in the Spanish Arch area of the city last night. Videos of the area, which is a popular hangout spot for students in the city, show people congregating there and on Shop Street without wearing masks and often with little social distancing evident. The gardai are under-resourced as it was and it would be impossible for them to immediately roster members of the force when an event like that on Monday night happened, Mr Crowe told RTE radios Today with Claire Byrne show. He's called on the people involved to self-quarantine and not travel home to their families. The incident occurred after Nphet warned of the rising cases in Galway, with 21 of the 390 confirmed cases yesterday coming from the county. Spanish Arch tonight, this actually makes me want to cry pic.twitter.com/I1RnpiTv45 ash (@StevieNicksTD) September 28, 2020 Speaking at the Department of Health press conference yesterday, acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn appealed to people in four counties in particular. I am asking everyone, but particularly those living and working in Cork, Galway, Monaghan and Roscommon, to adhere to the public health advice," said Dr Glynn. "There is still time to get the virus back under control in these areas, break the chains of transmission and stop the spread of this highly infectious disease in these communities." Galway Fine Gael Councillor, Eddie Hoare, says something needs to be done to manage the return of college students. "It's worrying seeing the scenes at the Spanish Arch last night," said Mr Hoare. "Hundreds if not thousands of students descended on the Spanish Arch late last night. Students have come back on campus this week. Lectures have been delayed but most of the students have taken up their accommodation and it's led to a big spill out of students on the street." Speaking to Claire Byrne, local pub owner Johnny Duggan said it had been disturbing to see hundreds of people around Spanish Arch on Monday night. Galway does not have the capacity to deal with such numbers, he said. Mr Duggan pointed out that pubs and restaurants were restricting numbers, but that people could buy alcohol in off licences and consume it elsewhere. He called for a limit to the opening hours of off licences. Responsibility for what happened on Monday night rested with the people who were out. They were over 18 and were adults, he added. Restaurateur JP Duggan said he could not comprehend such gatherings. A pandemic was a once in a lifetime occurrence, people had to reconsider their relationship with alcohol, he urged. Bring in the army. The Italians did it. There has to be a logical approach to this. Senator Crow agreed that the opening times of off licences needed to be controlled 8pm or 9pm should be enough he said. Cities like Galway and Cork needed extra garda resources, he added. A student in Galway who has described the start of her college year as "rocky", attended the gathering at Spanish Arch last night. "The photo of the crowds online is from when the Guards had everyone lifted. Everyone was so spread out before the guards came. If someone had came along with a camera ten minutes before the viral photos were taken, you would have seen that it was like clusters of people." "If I was at the house, if I was at 'Sparch', if I was in college normally, I'd probably be with the same people regardless of Covid." NUI Galway has published a statement in regard to last night's activity. They wrote: "The vast majority of our students are doing their utmost to stay safe and helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19, we will not hesitate in dealing with any breaches of public health guidelines in line with our Student Code of Conduct (which has penalties up to and including expulsion)." The University is meeting with the Gardai and Galway City Council in regard to these incidents. Meanwhile, locals in Cork have expressed their frustration at the behavior of returning students to institutions in the city. This is despite Cork, along with three other counties, being warned by health officials due to the increasing trends of Covid-19. Of the 390 confirmed cases of the virus yesterday, 27 came from Cork - bringing the total number of cases over the last fortnight to 364. These are images from Cork City Centre just now Distancing seems very limited in this que for this premises When we need to stop the spread this does not seem helpful Some common sense please @NeilRedFM @EoinBearla @pjcoogan @corkbeo @echolivecork pic.twitter.com/jhLxExXjAw Des Cahill (@CllrDesCahil) September 28, 2020 Aidan Cahill, from The Magazine Road Residents Association, says locals are worried for their health. "It's virtual at the presentation end but it's not virtual at the receiving end. If you walked the roads here - College Road, Magazine Road, Highfield Avenue - you would see houseparties and guys walking up the road with slabs of beer at twenty to 11 in the morning." WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With just 34 days remaining for Americans to vote for the country's next leader, the stage is all set for the first of the three socially distanced presidential debates to take place. Moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, the debate will kick off at 9 PM ET on Tuesday. There will be six segments of approximately 15 minutes each with no commercial breaks. According to debates.org, the moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic. The segments are President Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's records; Supreme Court; Coronavirus pandemic; Race protests and violence in cities; Election integrity; and Economy. Wallace, who was the moderator at the 2016 presidential debate too, said the topics are subject to change based on news developments and won't necessarily come in this order. This will be the first time that the Republican and Democrat candidates will be meeting on the debate stage since the campaign started several months ago. Trump has reportedly refrained from traditional debate preparations and practice sessions, while Biden engaged in mock debate sessions and participated in huddles with top aides. 'I'm prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he's failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally,' Biden said about his strategy in the upcoming debate. Trump was trailing Biden in recent polls, and there's no evidence that debates lead to wide swings in public opinion. The second presidential debate, a town hall, is scheduled for October 15, and the third debate will be held on October 22. The lone vice presidential debate is set for October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Syrian publisher and author Riyad Najib Rayyis has died in Beirut, following a battle with the coronavirus reports The National. Riyad Al Rayyis, a renowned Syrian journalist and a giant in the Arabic publishing world, has died. The 83-year-old was seeking treatment for the coronavirus at a Beirut hospital when he died on Saturday. As Lebanese media outlets began reporting his death, many academics and cultural figures from around the region expressed just how important Al Rayyiss contributions were. Im sad to learn of the passing of Syrian publisher and author Riyad Najib Rayyis, Sultan Al Qassemi wrote on Twitter. When I first started reading Arabic books in the 1990s my brother suggested his Winds of Change series. Im better informed about our region thanks to him. Kuwaiti journalist and TV personality, Najm Abdulkarim also expressed his condolences, tweeting: My friend and publisher, the intellectual Riyad Rayyis has died. He has served culture for more than half a century. Sorry to hear of the passing of the great Arab book man, retired US diplomat Alberto Miguel Fernandez wrote of Al Rayyis. I had the honour of meeting him in Beirut 20 years ago. We discussed topics we were both passionate about, including Syria and books. I still have many of the Arabic books he gave me then. Who was Riyad al-Rayyis? The eldest son of journalist Najib Al Rayyis and Rasmeh Samina, Al Rayyis was born in 1937 in Damascus. He began his journey in publishing and journalism while a student at the Broumana School in Lebanon. The school was unique mainly because it followed an English programme as opposed to a French curriculum. It catered to the children of middle-class bourgeoisie families from a number of Arab countries. At the school, Al Rayyis and his colleagues experimented with publishing a number of student-led magazines and publications. It was also there where he and a group of others led a student strike after the headmaster refused to close the school to commemorate the March 22 founding of the League of Arab States. After graduating from the Broumana School, Al Rayyis travelled to London just as the Suez Crisis was beginning in October 1956. The journalist joined an Arab student association based in the UK and Ireland and soon became the editor of the associations magazine, the Arab Review. He has been credited with developing the magazine from a small-time publication to one that featured graduate students, academics, writers and intellectuals from around the world. In 1966, Al Rayyis began working as the Vietnam correspondent for Al Hayat newspaper, which was then based out of Lebanon. The opportunity was given to him by the newspapers founder Kamel Mroueh shortly before Mroueh was assassinated in his Beirut office. Following his stint as a Vietnam correspondent, Al Rayyis began working at the Lebanese daily An-Nahar. I convinced Ghassan Tueni [the newspapers founder] to let me travel to the regions in turmoil in the Arab World, Al Rayyis is quoted as saying in Jordanian paper Ad-Dustour. As a journalist he travelled to Yemen in the late-1960s to cover the civil war that was raging between the Mutawakkilite Kingdom and the Yemen Arab Republic. Though Al Rayyis was an active correspondent in the Arabian Peninsula at the time, he also began covering events in other parts of the world. He is also quoted across Arabic media as saying he was the first Arab journalist to enter Prague after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Al Rayyis moved to London from Lebanon in 1977. There, he established Al Manar, the first Arabic newspaper to be published in Europe. Later, in 1986, he established the famous Riyad Al Rayyis Publishing Company, through which he published a number of works, including his own, such as the Northern Winds: Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Arabs in the Nineties, A Journalist and Two Cities, and The Eastern Winds. In 1986, as the civil war calmed in Lebanon, Al Rayyis moved his publishing company to Beirut. However, some 20 years later, according to a typically humble quote in the Beirut Observer, he revealed that he regretted this decision: I have failed to achieve my journalistic ambitions. I failed to have an impactful role as a writer in the Lebanese press. I was somewhat successful as a publisher. But this doesnt satisfy me. I am a journalist. Publishing is a way of securing my means of living. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Smaller churches lose access to YouTube livestream services Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Smaller churches have not been able to host their online services at their requested time on YouTube. The online video-sharing platform has been moving the times for some users with less than 100 subscribers allegedly due to heavy traffic, but without informing them. Pastor Stuart Chaplin of Bushy Hill Park Community Church in London recently complained about it on Twitter. If like @BHPCC you have less than 100 subscribers, you wont be getting access to that feature (premiere an event at a set time) any time soon. Unfortunately, our attempts to mutually boost subscribers with other @theFIEC churches didnt get us to the magic 100 figure, so were relying on a work round, he wrote. Later, Chaplin wrote, "I have at last discovered why @YouTube suddenly stopped premieres on the hour or at half-past for some churches. Basically, because of the increase in traffic due to COVID, YT decided to throttle access to these prime times for small channels. Its pretty poor show from @YouTube to make a big change that affects a large number of users, and not inform them that its going to happen. I only found out why because I went hunting for a notification that was buried in the noticeboards three weeks after the problem began. Chaplin then had to request the churchs followers and other Twitter users to subscribe to their YouTube channel so that they had more than 100 subscribers. As of Monday, the channel had 128 subscribers. Huge thanks to all those who have supported us over the line to 100 subscribers. I hope that by next week, we will be able to premiere at 10 am on Sunday again! he tweeted. Chaplin also shared that he had been using a workaround on YouTube. If you change the status of the video to public at the time you want it can broadcast as an instant premiere, he wrote. The U.K.-based Premier Christian News was the first to report on the issue. Responding to a question on YouTubes support page, the streaming platform wrote, We have been experiencing an increase in Premieres on YouTube during COVID-19. With a large number of videos all trying to premiere at the same time, some channels may be limited to posting at different 15-minute intervals (ex. You may see you can only post at 1:30 or 2:00 vs. 1:15 or 1:45). Were continuing to evaluate this and will keep you updated here on this thread when we return to regular posting intervals in the future. Since early this year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced churches around the world to close their doors due to lockdowns to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Churches made their worship services available online only, with worshipers watching from home. In the United States, a majority of churches indicated that they have reopened their doors though many are holding in-person services with precautions in place, according to the Barna Group. (Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's controversial Brexit legislation, enabling the UK to break international law, has cleared the House of Commons. MPs voted 340 to 256, majority 84, in favour of the UK Internal Market Bill at third reading, despite warnings that the "law-breaking" legislation threatens the Union and the country's global reputation. Ministers have defended powers contained in the legislation, which gives them the opportunity to override the Brexit divorce deal. They argue such powers are needed to protect the relationship between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, amid concerns in Westminster that Brussels could seek to disrupt food goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland as part of trade talks. The government was forced to compromise earlier in the Bill's passage in the face of a Tory backbench rebellion, which resulted in changes to give MPs a vote before ministers can use the powers which would breach the Withdrawal Agreement brokered with Brussels last year. The Bill also contains powers which enable Westminster to provide financial assistance for economic development, infrastructure, cultural activities and education purposes across the country. Opposition MPs have warned it will give the UK Government the chance to stray into matters which are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, branding it an "attack" on devolution. Speaking at third reading, Business Secretary Alok Sharma told MPs: "Our approach will give businesses the regulatory clarity and certainty they want. "It will ensure the cost of doing business in the UK stays as low as possible, and it'll do so without damaging and costly regulatory barriers emerging between the different parts of the UK." Sharma accused SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford of wanting to be "shackled to the EU forever", to which Blackford replied: "You're talking nonsense." Addressing the controversial elements of the Internal Market Bill which enable the UK to override the Withdrawal Agreement, Sharma said: "The reason we have taken powers to ensure that in the event we do not reach an agreement with our EU friends on how to implement the (Northern Ireland Protocol) is so we're able to deliver on our promises in our manifesto and the command paper. "This is a legal safety net that clarifies our position on the Northern Ireland Protocol for protecting our union, businesses and jobs." Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said Labour supported the principle of the internal market, but opposed the "law-breaking" Bill. He told the Commons: "On devolution, we on this side believe deeply in our Union but the strength of our Union relies on sharing power not centralising it, and this Bill does not learn that lesson. "It makes the choice to impose the rule that the lowest regulatory standard in one Parliament must be the standard for all without a proper voice for the devolved administrations." Miliband said he fears the Bill will "strengthen the hand of those who want to break up the UK". He also said: "On international law, nobody should be in any doubt the damage already done by this Bill. "This law-breaking Bill has been noticed around the world." Miliband highlighted reservations from US president Donald Trump's Northern Ireland envoy, Mick Mulvaney, adding: "When the Trump administration starts expressing concern about your adherence to international agreements and the rule of law, you know you are in trouble. "That is how bad this Bill is." Earlier in the debate, SNP MP Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) also said: "This Bill explicitly gives any minister of the Crown permission to run riot with the very assets of Scotland that our Scottish Parliament has protected." Independence, she said, "is the only option left for Scotland", adding: "This is a union that England dominates. The only reason there isn't an English Parliament is because the people in Westminster view this place as the English Parliament, and we can't afford to be naive. The only way to protect our Parliament is to become independent." She added: "It took us 300 years to get our Scottish Parliament and 20 years for this place to put a bulldozer right through it." The Bill will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date. source: PA Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the interim relaxations it made for the state governments earlier this year to ease the restrictions on their borrowing limits, given the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the timeline for state and Union Territory (UT) governments to avail increased provisions via the 'ways and means advances' (WMA) limit has been extended from September 30, 2020 to March 31, 2021. On April 17, the RBI had announced an increase in WMA limit of the states or UTs by 60 per cent over and above the level as on March 31, 2020. In financial parlance, the 'ways and means advances' (WMA) is a mechanism used by the RBI, under its credit policy, to provide advances to states, banking with it, to tide over temporary mismatches in the cash flow of their receipts and payments. This is repayable in each case, not later than three months from the date of making the advance. Similarly, the relaxations in overdraft (OD) regulations has also been extended till March 31, 2021. The OD regulations relaxation was given in order to provide flexibility to state governments to tide over their cash flow mismatches, with effect from April 7. Consequently, the relaxation increased the number of days for which a state or UT can be in overdraft continuously to 21 working days from 14 working days, and the number of days for which a state or UT can be in overdraft in a quarter to 50 working days from 36 working days. "Both these relaxations are currently available till September 30. "On a review, it has been decided to extend the above-mentioned measures announced on April 17, 2020 and April 7, 2020 with regard to increase in WMA Limits of states/UTs and OD regulations, respectively, for a further period of 6 months till March 31, 2021. All other stipulations remain unchanged," the Reserve Bank said in a statement. By PTI NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19 but is in good health, the Vice President Secretariat said. Naidu, 71, who is asymptomatic, has been advised home quarantine. In the evening, Naidu had addressed a virtual event on post-COVID healthcare where he urged the private sector to pitch in to improve healthcare system in rural India. "The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health," the Secretariat tweeted. His wife Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation, the tweet said. Some union ministers have tested positive for COVID in the recent past. Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi became the first union minister to succumb to the virus. On 25 September 2020, the Members of the WCO - West and Central African (WCA) Region held their first virtual Conference of Directors General of Customs. This important activity, chaired by General Toumany Sangare, Director General of Guinea Customs and Vice-chair of the WCA region, and organized with the support by the WCO Secretariat, brought together 20 out of the 23 WCA Customs Administrations and all of its regional structures (Regional Office for Capacity Building, Regional Training Centers and Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices). The conference elected Mr. Guenole MBONGO KOUMOU, Director General of the Customs of the Republic of Congo as the new Vice-Chair of the WCA Region and thanked the outgoing WCA Vice-chair for his leadership during his mandate which has lasted more than two years and which has enabled the WCA region to strengthen cooperation and progress with reform and modernization. The Directors General made decisions that will support the region to improve the functioning, monitoring and audit of the regional fund. This fund is fed by annual and voluntary contributions of the WCA Customs Administrations and contributes to the well-functioning and the activity of the WCA regional structures. In order to assist the Region to pursue its collaboration and activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference decided to hold a series of virtual meetings and to use parts of the regional funds to purchase licenses, equipment and interpretation services for video-conferencing. These licenses and equipment will be acquired and managed by the Regional Office for Capacity Building located in Abidjan and will enable it to organize the Regions statutory meetings in a virtual and more independent manner and contribute to the organization of other regional online-activities. For more information please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org One in four pubs, restaurants, bars and clubs almost 30,000 have closed amid the curse of coronavirus and a 'job loss tsunami'. The figure represents the number of outlets that have not re-opened since pulling down the shutters in March. Industry leaders say that many, if not all, are gone for good with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And the situation is deteriorating following the introduction of the 10pm curfew, which critics have described as 'random' and 'nuts' with no scientific justification. In July, the Prince William pub in Lancashire, whose last manager was Dave Roy (pictured), was boarded up and put up for sale by Robinsons Brewery Alarmingly, the policy appears likely to drive up infection rates with huge numbers gathering on streets and public transport at the new closing time. An industry survey found extreme pessimism among pubs and restaurants with another one in four on top of those that have already gone fearing going bust before Christmas. Greene King, which runs 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels, has seen a sharp fall in takings as a result of the curfew. A spokesman said: 'The measures are already having a significant cumulative negative impact. We are already seeing lots of examples of people leaving our pubs to buy alcohol in shops to drink elsewhere in unregulated environments.' Mark Davies, the boss of Hawthorn Leisure, which runs 720 community pubs, said: 'I don't think there is any logic or justifiable rationale for the curfew. There is certainly no scientific evidence or statistics that back up the decision. 'Trade is down significantly we are talking way over 50 per cent in many locations. Mr Roy is now managing another country pub in Lancashire, the Farmers Arms in Heskin 'It is inevitable over the next few weeks there will be pub closures. It is going to have a devastating impact and we will see a tsunami of job losses. It is totally unnecessary.' The closures leave a black hole at the heart of communities, town and city centres across the UK. The Prince William pub in the Lancashire village of Dalton was boarded up at the start of July and put up for sale by Robinsons Brewery. The last manager of the pub which lies between Skelmersdale and Wigan was Dave Roy. Yesterday he said: 'It was a lovely pub, especially in the summer. 'If they had hung on until pubs were allowed to reopen I think I could have turned it around.' Mr Roy is now managing another country pub in Lancashire, the Farmers Arms in Heskin. The total number of licensed pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels that are trading is down from 115,108 to 86,212 a fall of 28,896, according to research from market analysts CGA and AlixPartners. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced new support for struggling businesses, designed to support wages and limit job losses. However the trade body UKHospitality has warned that this is not enough, with chief executive Kate Nicholls, saying the introduction of the 10pm curfew 'was a significant hammer blow that will inevitably depress trading'. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would have to be at death's door to escape the 'Supermax' jail regime if convicted in the US, a court has heard. Assange is fighting extradition on charges relating to leaks of classified documents allegedly exposing US war crimes and abuse. The Old Bailey has heard evidence of the 49-year-old's mental state following years in the Ecuador embassy and 16 months in custody at Belmarsh high security jail. Today the court heard that, if he loses his extradition battle, Assange could be held at Alexandria Detention Centre in Virginia under special administrative measures (Sams). If he is convicted, he could be moved to the 'Supermax' Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, home to convicted terrorist Abu Hamza. Julian Assange (pictured on January 13), 49, could live out his years alone at maximum security ADX Colerado jail where he would spend 23 hours in a cell if he is convicted of espionage Giving evidence, former warden Maureen Baird said Assange would remain at the ADX 'unless there was a severe change in his medical status'. She told the court that an inmate would have to be in a 'much worse' condition than disabled Abu Hamza, adding: 'You have to be almost dying.' Ms Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, said Assange was likely to be placed under Sams pre-trial on the grounds of national security. Under the Sams regime, inmates spend 23 or 24 hours a day in their cells with no contact with other prisoners, she said. Giving evidence by video link, she said: 'They have the opportunity to come out of their cell and go into another cell we considered a recreation cell, there was no exercise equipment in that room at all. 'I did have an exercise bike brought in. Joel Sickler said the US government had 'raised possibility of sending Assange' to Supermax 'It was just an empty cell.' Ms Baird said Sams inmates were allowed one half-hour phone call to family a month, or two 15-minute calls which were all monitored by FBI agents. She said: 'Sams is not discretionary. It cannot be changed by a warden or anybody at the prison. 'It's very matter of fact, if somebody is in pre-trial for terrorism and somebody is in for a different national security they would all be subjected to the same. It is what it is.' On the effect on inmates over time, she said: 'It's not supposed to be punitive but the consequences and the results very much feel like it is.' Sams inmates can suffer very severe depression, anxiety and paranoia, the witness said. She added: 'I have not seen anyone actively psychotic but I understand extreme isolation has caused others to be psychotic.' Julian Assange's father John Shipton with Chinese contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiwei Meanwhile, Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei (pictured) has staged a silent protest Cross-examining, Clair Dobbin, for the US government, said Sams was only a 'possibility'. Ms Baird said: 'In my experience with other cases if it's off the table they would remove it completely but it appears to be very much on the table. 'From everything I've read he would meet the criteria.' Ms Dobbin suggested that was 'entirely speculative'. Lindsay Lewis, Abu Hamza's US lawyer, told the court her client was subjected to Sams two weeks after his extradition to the US and had been sent to ADX, despite concern over his health. Abu Hamza is a double upper-arm amputee, blind in one eye, and suffers from diabetes, hypertension and a skin condition. Before being extradited, an ADX warden had assured the UK court that Abu Hamza would undergo a full medical examination before determining the most appropriate place for him. If it was felt Abu Hamza could not manage daily living, it was 'highly unlikely' he would be sent to ADX, the warden said. Nevertheless, he was sent to the Supermax jail on being jailed for life for 11 terror offences, including tasking two men to set up a jihadi training camp in Oregon. Ms Lewis told the court Abu Hamza spends every day in solitary confinement. Cross-examining, Ms Dobbin queried why his health complaints appeared to focus on dental and toenail problems over his diabetes. Ms Lewis said they were not as 'trivial' as getting a pedicure for her client, who had to 'open cans with his teeth'. An 18-count indictment against Assange alleges a plot to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. The extradition case before Judge Vanessa Baraitser continues. The Department of Health has reported an additional 390 cases of Covid-19 with 209 of these cases in Dublin. There has now been a total of 35,377 confirmed cases in Ireland. There have been no further deaths from Covid-19 recorded. The death toll remains at 1,802. A quarter of all new cases of Covid-19 in the last two weeks have been among people aged between 15 and 24. Of the new cases 209 are in Dublin, 27 in Cork and 22 in Donegal. The county breakdown of cases is as follows: 209 in Dublin, 27 in Cork, 22 in Donegal, 21 in Galway, 14 in Kildare and Monaghan, 7 Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, and Wexford, 6 in Limerick and Longford, 5 in Laois, Meath, Offaly, and Sligo. Forty-five cases have been identified as community transmission, while 36% are associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case. Sixty-six percent are under 45 years of age. Read More Taoiseach urges young people to take Covid seriously as student describes 'deathbed' experience Dr Ronan Glynn, acting chief medical officer, said 70 cases in Cork have been associated with pubs and restaurants over the past couple of weeks. He also said there is a particularly high incidence of the virus in Donegal and in Dublin. I am asking everyone, but particularly those living and working in Cork, Galway, Monaghan and Roscommon, to adhere to the public health advice. "There is still time to get the virus back under control in these areas, break the chains of transmission and stop the spread of this highly infectious disease in these communities." At the National Public Health Emergency Team briefing a healthcare worker has described his experience of Covid-19 and the "living hell" that his family went through. Jerick Martin, 30s, described himself as "fit and healthy" when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus but within a week he was admitted to hospital where he spent 68 days in intensive care, much of it on a ventilator in an induced coma. I was a fit and healthy man in my thirties, working and enjoying my life. "Within five days of experiencing my first symptoms of COVID-19, I was admitted to hospital, where I spent 68 days in intensive care, most of that time on a ventilator, in an induced coma." He added: "This disease does not care that you are young, fit and healthy. "It does not care that you have a family who are waiting for you to come home. Anyone can catch it, and anyone can become very sick. The President of the Union of Students in Ireland, Lorna Fitzpatrick, said research carried out over by the USI over the summer shows the effect the pandemic has had on students' mental health. "Make sure you are reaching out to friends and family on the phone, online and in small, safe ways in person. "Remember that talking to others and asking for help when you need it is essential at the moment. 'Egypt deeply understands the suffering of the victims of terrorism and their families, given its experience and the daily confrontation of terrorism' In a speech at the second ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism held on Thursday, an initiative launched by the United Nations last year, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry reviewed Egypts efforts to fight terrorism and care for its victims and their families. As a nation at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, Egypt fully understands the suffering of victims of terrorism and their families, and has thus been a staunch supporter of all efforts to promote and protect their rights, Shoukry said during the virtual meeting, adding that such efforts are a top priority for the countrys counterterrorism agenda. Shoukry also mentioned Egypts effort to address the plight of terrorism victims and their families at the national level by establishing specialised institutions and funds to address their needs, enable them to benefit from financial compensation, pensions, as well as free healthcare, education and public transportation. Psychologically, rehabilitation services for the families of victims are also provided through targeted resilience building programs as well as other programs to better equip the victims of terrorism and their families for the evolving and growing job market in Egypt, he added. Shoukry also reviewed the states efforts to counter extremism that can lead to terrorism, including by utilising social media and mobile apps to spread tolerance and social and cultural values and help prevent radicalisation. The Egyptian minister voiced support for the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, and said that this meeting sends a clear signal about the member countries determination to ensure that victims of terrorism and their families are not forgotten and that they continue to receive the necessary support in these hard times. The minister said that the world has been concerned this year with containing the implications of the coronavirus pandemic, but terrorist groups have wasted no effort trying to take advantage of this global situation. He also thanked Afghanistan and Spain for leading the group and organising the meeting. The Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism aims to give a voice to victims of terrorism at the international level, promote the need to support them and their families and provide them with the necessary support. It includes 24 member states as well as two regional organisations, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The group is led by Afghanistan and Spain and has the Arab countries of Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar and United Arab Emirates as well as the African countries of Kenya and Nigeria as members. The European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are also members. Search Keywords: Short link: Hub International Limited (HUB), and InsuraGuest, Inc., have partnered to offer InsuraGuests Hospitality Liability coverage to HUB hotel clients in the U.S., with plans to expand to HUBs clients in Canada by mid-2021. InsuraGuest coverage is available through a platform from InsuraGuest Technologies, an insurtech company delivering digital insurance to multiple sectors. InsuraGuest coverages gives properties an additional layer of protection should a guest experience an accident, in-room property damage, accidental medical and death & dismemberment or theft while staying at an InsuraGuest-covered hotel property. The InsuraGuest platform works by having guests pay a nominal fee per night. In the event of an incident, InsuraGuest then pays out for small claims and keeps them off the general liability policy for the hotel operator and lower the cost of the hotels liability through claims avoidance. InsuraGuest integrates with approximately 70 different property management systems through its proprietary API, which enables the organization to transfer certain liability exposures to the InsuraGuest carrier. By transferring certain liabilities to the InsuraGuest Hospitality Liability coverages, the covered hotel property can lower their claim ratio and risk profile, which may decrease their general liability premiums. Additionally, the InsuraGuest product can help generate revenue for participating hotels or vacation rental properties. The hotel extends the coverage to each and every guest, which is activated at check in, and automatically places the charge on their folio or bundling it with their resort/amenity/urban fee. The complete fee for coverage and software is $4.95 a night, of which the hotel keeps 10%. Created specifically for InsuraGuest, the Hospitality Liability policy is issued by InsuraGuest Risk Purchasing Group, LLC., and is administered by InsuraGuest Insurance Agency, LLC. According to Kevin Eggleston, managing director of HUBs Hospitality Specialty Practice, by minimizing the frequency of a hotels claims, HUB is able to have better underwriting conversations with the marketplace. InsuraGuest CEO and Chairman Douglas Anderson said the preferred partnership with HUB allows it to expand its product offering to their more than 9,300 hospitality customers in the U.S. this year and into Canada next year. Topics Claims (TNS) As the need for reliable and affordable high-speed Internet continues to grow in these unprecedented times, local government officials say they have received word from their constituents expressing frustrations in either the lack of speed in the Internet currently provided or in their inability to connect to the Internet at all.The biggest complaint I have is the speed of the Internet, said Laurel County Judge Executive David Westerfield.It seems like its more of the outlying areas, he explained on who had expressed their concern the most.Westerfields counterparts in Knox County, Judge Executive Mike Mitchell, and in Whitley County, Judge Executive Pat White Jr., have said they too have heard from frustrated citizens unable to access the Internet and that typically comes from those who live in more rural, sparsely-populated areas of their respective counties.Were aware of the need for broadband expansion, said Mitchell, who also added that he had been in contact with the offices of Congressman Hal Rogers and Senator Mitch McConnell in an attempt to quicken the pace at which Internet service could be provided to those individuals. They both assured me that theyre dedicating times and resources to see if they could expedite it in anyway.While the state waits for KentuckyWired to inch towards completion, Mitchell said that he had been in contact with the local electric cooperative who said they had plans on working with one local Internet service provider in expanding their services.I wish KentuckyWired was further along than what it is, because whenever it does get in play, its going to really have an impact here too that will benefit everyone, commented Mitchell. Its just unfortunate theyre not further along. Its a good concept.Mitchell also said that he believed that once the KentuckyWired project was finished, local Internet service providers would be incentivized to connect to the 3,000+ mile network being laid out by the state.It will enable them to expand out at a good price, he said on local Internet service providers. And anything that we can do thats within our means as far as county government, fiscal court, well do anything we can to assist in that and promote it.Westerfield said that he too was waiting for the completion of the project, stating that communication between he and officials from the state level had been less consistent due to the pandemic.I dont know when its going to be here, when its going to be accessible," Westerfield said.KentuckyWired officials have said that once the project is completed, it falls on local Internet service providers and communities to connect to the interstate-like network and expand their services throughout Kentuckys counties, and even suggested that the network could allow for some local governments to establish municipal Internet service providers.Judge White said that those discussions have not taken place in Whitley County, a county in which he says a majority of its population already receives high-speed Internet.I really dont think there are any plans for a municipal service provider because we have too much of the county that is already served, White explained. You have to duplicate the wire run to be able to do that, or try to buy the existing business. So when youre talking about a county thats probably got 75 percent or 70 percent high-speed Internet access, you would be overlapping service for that 70 or 75 percent.White says that he has instead worked with existing companies in trying to improve service for those who need it.Thats been more of my focus the last little bit, rather than trying to start all over from new, he said. Ive talked to some state representatives, our state representative about how we could try to create funding models to help cable companies get low-interest loans or some other incentive to be able to reach out to people in those more sparsely populated areas or unserved areas.White said that he has even worked with one Whitely County neighborhood who raised the money themselves to have the cable needed extended throughout their community and that he has also made an attempt to make his constituents aware of alternatives available.White mentioned wireless systems as an alternative and said he believed they would be the biggest competition to cable Internet over the next decade.Youve got numerous cellphone towers being built throughout east Kentucky and in Whitley County and surrounding counties right now, he said. Some have came on and are operational right now. Of course, when you get high speed Internet via your phone, then theres other methods of making that available for home use as well through those same networks.Judge White said he and other county officials had worked with local companies for years in trying to expand cellphone coverage throughout Whitley County.The plans that Ive heard is that over the next five or six years, that were going to have cellphone service pretty much throughout the county. 4G cellphone service is pretty good Internet, and as theyre moving into 5G systems, its going to be even better, said White. As those networks are built and expanded and growing, accessibility for people is going to be building and expanding and growing as well.Were hopeful to see all of those different avenues create a competitive environment where people can get the best service at an affordable price and service that they can depend on.The Times-Tribune is taking an in-depth look at how people in southeast Kentucky are working to close the connectivity gap. This open-ended series will explore what issues are present when Internet is not accessible and who is working to solve these issues. As part of an antitrust settlement in Europe, Google has to offer new Android users a choice of downloading a rival search product. These choice slots are auctioned off, and Google has just published the options that will be presented to users between October 1st and December 31st of this year. The biggest news is that Microsoft has managed to get its rival product placed in some of Europes biggest markets. From October 1st, Bing will be one of the four options available to users in countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway and the UK. As Bloomberg reports, Info.com, PrivacyWall and GMX were all big winners, taking the majority of the slots across the continent. But the big news is however much Microsoft paid to get Bing in front of users in those markets, and if that will help improve its market share currently believed to be 3.06 percent. Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Private jet travel may be down - in August, private flights were down 21.2 percent compared to the same period in 2019 - but the rebound is picking up speed. There is new demand from new clientele. Private jets are picking up passengers who cannot find the commercial route they want or get the peace of mind they seek. As private jet companies ramp up to meet this new demand, so must companies that provide the operational support to private flights, including private terminals, trip support and fuel providers. A company with a global network that operates more than 30 terminals around the world, Jetex has been handling flights for travel within Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, not only meeting but exceeding the safety requirements in each country. This means, regularly cleaning high touch surfaces in the terminal and accommodating testing and quarantining requirements, whether it is in Paris, Malaga, Dubai, Marrakech or Abidjan. To clean aircraft cabins, Jetex uses the newest technology, bipolar ionization, that leaves no chemical residue and is odorless. At a time when travel can be so complex, it helps aircraft operators, operations managers, and pilots to have the simplicity of one company providing everything the trip needs, one company to seamlessly handle all the requirements, said Adel Mardini, Founder and CEO of Jetex, a global aviation company. We are a one-stop solution. With leisure travel between the United States and the European Union restricted, business corridors become an attractive option for travel across the Atlantic. Companies like Jetex help operators, pilots, or passengers find these corridors and meet the requirements. Once theyve cleared one Schengen country, they can easily fly to another. As demand waxes and wanes during uncertain times, the private jet industry can do its best to provide more certainty, more continuity of service to the routes that are open and for the travelers who still need to get where they are going. Story continues People are still going on vacation. The Caribbean is still a popular destination. We provide trip planning, fuel, and ground handling for the destinations that are open and ready to welcome American travelers. This includes safe guidance to more distant and exotic destinations in Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. said Mardini. We are a truly global company, so we can help you get to wherever in the world you want to travel. I have such a positive outlook towards the future of the industry that I am expanding our network. We will soon be announcing entry into new markets, adding new locations to our network of private terminals, concludes Adel Mardini. We expect remarkable growth in the next three to five years. About Jetex: An award-winning global leader in executive aviation, Jetex is recognized for delivering flexible, best-in-class trip support solutions to customers worldwide. Jetex provides exceptional private terminals (FBOs), aircraft fueling, ground handling and global trip planning. The company caters to both owners and operators of business jets for corporate, commercial and personal air travel. To find out more about Jetex, visit www.jetex.com and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Attachments CONTACT: Oleg Kafarov Jetex +971 4 212 4900 teamorange@jetex.com By Victoria Klesty HALDEN, Norway (Reuters) - Norway's tipplers and sweet tooths may no longer feel a need to leave the country to stock up on their favourite vices. The Nordic country's ruling party has proposed cutting its famously high "sin" taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and sweets and other consumer goods after the coronavirus lockdown showed how much business is lost every year to Norwegians flocking to neighbouring Sweden to snap up such items at cheaper prices. Restrictions on travel between the Nordic neighbours imposed to contain transmissions of the ... Coronavirus pandemic: India's one-day COVID-19 cases drop to 70,589 India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Sep 29: Union health ministry on Tuesday said that India registered a drop in the number of new coronavirus cases. According to Union health ministry, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours is 70,589, the country has been recording over 80,000 cases over the last few days. There are 9,47,576 active cases, while 51,01,398 patients have been cured or discharged from hospitals. The country recorded 776 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 96,318, according to health ministry. Virtual queues, tests mandatory: Sabarimala to open for devotees with COVID-19 protocol The ministry also informed that over 82 per cent of the total patients have been recovered and discharged. Covid-19: India's Coronavirus tally past 61 lakh, death toll reaches 96,318|Oneindia News "India has witnessed close to 100 per cent increase in recoveries in the past month. More than 82 per cent of total cases (exceeding 50 lakhs) recovered and discharged. Active cases (lower than 10 lakhs) a small proportion (less than 1/5th) of total cases," the ministry said in a tweet. Amidst tensions with China, India set to get MQ-9B Sky Guardian drone On Monday, it had said that recovered cases have outpaced active cases by over five times. In a series of tweets, the ministry said, "The commendable feat has been achieved through enhanced medical infrastructure, implementation of the standard treatment protocol, full dedication, and commitment of doctors, paramedics, and frontline workers." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 10:04 [IST] An addiction treatment charity that is closing its residential facility for teenagers made out-of-court financial settlements with two senior former employees in recent years. In one of the cases, the departed employee was suspended on full pay for over three years before receiving what is understood to have been a substantial settlement from the charity, the Matt Talbot Adolescent Service (MTAS). On September 9, MTAS said it was closing Cara Lodge, its residential facility for troubled teenagers in Enniskeane, West Cork with the loss of twenty-five jobs. The facility had been largely funded by the HSE but in a joint statement, the HSE and MTAS said that the reason for closure was a fall-off in demand for the service. Extremely angry However, the staff are reported to be extremely angry about how the closure came about and are disputing that there is a lack of demand. Cara Lodge was the only residential treatment facility dedicated to teenagers and young people in the country. The charity has been the subject of major controversy in recent years during which four sperate protected disclosures were submitted by staff members about aspects of management. The Irish Examiner has also learned that an inspection by Tusla last February initially concluded that Cara Lodge should not be allowed to admit any new residents because of shortcomings in management at local and CEO levels in MTAS. Following representations, Tusla adjusted this ruling to allow admittance with a number of conditions attached. Separately, the HSE has admitted that a review into the operation at MTAS commissioned last year will not now be published. In a statement, the HSE said that the charity had co-operated with the review. Chinese textbook rewrites Bible, claims Jesus stoned woman to death Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A communist textbook that's being used in Chinese schools falsifies the biblical account found in John 8:311. The textbook claims that Jesus murdered the woman who was found in adultery and said He, too, is a sinner. The textbook, published by the government-run University of Electronic Science and Technology Press, states: The crowd wanted to stone the woman to death as per their law. But Jesus said, Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. Hearing this, they slipped away one by one. When the crowd disappeared, Jesus stoned the sinner to death, saying, I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead. Catholics in mainland China are distressed about the distortion of the biblical account, reports UCA News. I want everyone to know that the Chinese Communist Party has always tried to distort the history of the Church, to slander our Church, and to make people hate our Church, a parishioner who uploaded the textbook on social media was quoted as saying in his post. Another Catholic in mainland China, who was identified only as Paul, was quoted as saying, The same pattern has been repeated every year but the Church has never fought back or received the respect and apology it deserves. The news of the distortion of the Bible in the Chinese textbook comes as the Vatican and China are expected to renew a deal on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. The United States has advised Pope Francis against it due to the severe violation of human rights and religious freedom in the communist country. Bitter Winter, a magazine that reports on religious liberty and human rights in China, noted the subtle objective behind manipulating the textbook. The story teaches that the law and the (Chinese Communist) Party are good and pure, and transcend the impure human beings who happen to represent them. Even if the officers are corrupted, their decision should be acceptedbecause, honest or corrupted, they represent the Party, and the Partys law should never be questioned, the magazine writes. Heres what John 8:311 says in the Bible: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now, what do you say? They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. The magazine reported earlier that children were also being taught to oppose religion, encouraged to question the beliefs of family members and report those closest to them to authorities. China has been cracking down on underground churches and Christian activists for years. In 2015, more than 1,000 crosses were removed from church roofs and entire church buildings were destroyed across the Zhejiang province. The Chinese government continued its campaign against Christianity during the countrys coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown. More than 60 million Christians live in China, at least half of whom worship in unregistered or so-called illegal underground churches. China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List. V ictims of crime are being made to wait for justice as prosecutors are failing to make swift decisions in almost half the cases handed to them by police, an audit has found. A review of the Crown Prosecution Service discovered delays in deciding whether to charge suspects, while lawyers are also failing to take a firm grip of the majority of cases they manage. Her Majestys Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate found prosecutors are correctly charging suspects in 97 per cent of cases, up from 91 per cent at the last audit five years ago. But the CPS has been told to speed up its decision-making processes and improve the handling of cases from the beginning. There has been a marked improvement in getting the charge right at the outset, which is important, but there is significant room for improvement in respect of the quality of prosecutors legal analysis and the timeliness of their decision making, said HM Chief Inspector Kevin McGinty. Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC / PA Commenting on the report, James Mulholland QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said inadequate funding of the CPS by government was to blame. These sorts of egregious delays and failures in quality standards are a poor reflection on our criminal justice system and, sadly, indicative of a decade of cuts which has taken about a billion pounds from the CPS budget," he said. In 2016, the CPS began changing the way it reaches charging decisions, handing full control of bail cases to local CPS Area teams while a central division CPS Direct dealt with cases where suspects were in custody. The inspection found timely decisions - within deadlines of up to 28 days - were made in 56 per cent of cases across the CPS. But in an evaluation of CPS Areas the rate was 48 per cent, down from 64 per cent at the 2015 audit. The inspectors also discovered prosecutors added little or no value and had a poor grip in a fifth of cases, while just 45 per cent of CPS charging decisions fully met the organisations expectations on case analysis and strategy for trial. In our judgment, the public can have confidence that the CPS is making correct decisions to charge or to take no further action, the report concluded. The public can have less confidence at present that those decisions are being adequately thought through, that prosecutors are taking a firm grip of a case at an early stage and that they are adding the necessary legal value. Police forces also came under fire in the report for the quality of case files, with missing CCTV evidence and key statements identified as major frustrations. A CPS spokesman said: We are encouraged the HMCPSI found we are charging our cases correctly in 97 per cent of cases, but know there still remains room for improvement. We have accepted all the reports recommendations including reviewing our internal quality assurance and policy guidance material to streamline information and make sure it is clear and concise; putting mandatory training in place and working on sharing best case work practice. The Dalit woman gave in to her injuries nearly two weeks after she was allegedly gang-raped by four men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. A 19-year-old Dalit girl from a Hathras town in Uttar Pradesh who was mercilessly attacked and gang raped by four men from her village, died at Delhis Safdarjang hospital on Tuesday.She had numerous fractures and her tongue had been chopped.She had been shifted to the Delhi hospital in a critical condition and was in the ICU.Earlier, the girl was admitted in Aligarhs JN Medical College hospital.Hathras gang-rape victim was admitted at Safdarjung hospital for better healthcare facilities. She died today morning, a Safdarjung hospital official said. The incident happened on September 14 when the girl went to collect animal fodder from the field and was allegedly gang-raped and later strangulated with her dupatta. All four accused of the gang-rape have been arrested by Hathras police and are currently in police custody. The name of the four accused are Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi.All the accused had been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and later charged with gang-rape under Section 376 D, according to Hathras ASP Prakash Kumar. Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked the Uttar Pradesh government and said that law and order in UP have deteriorated to a great extent.A Dalit girl who was brutalised in Hathras succumbed at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks, she struggled with life and death in hospitals. Incidents of rape in Hathras, Shahjahanpur and Gorakhpur have rocked the state, the Congress leader tweeted.Law and order in UP have deteriorated to a great extent. There is nothing for the safety of women. The criminals are committing crimes openly. The killers of this girl should be punished severely. Yogi Adityanath, you are answerable for the safety of women of UP, she said in another tweet. ALSO READ: Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 61L mark with spike of 70,589 new cases Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday also expressed deep concern over the incident.While talking to ANI, BSP National Spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria alleged that there is an increase in atrocities against Dalits in Uttar PradeshThe atrocities against Dalits are increasing in Uttar Pradesh. Dabanggs (strongmen) are using their might to suppress or oppress and exploit and even rape people coming from this kind of background. In this case, it is a minor girl. You have seen that women rape cases are there. But in this case, the tongue (of the victim) has been cut and her spine has been broken mercilessly. The rapists are roaming around, Bhadoria said. ALSO READ: PM Modi to inaugurate 6 mega projects under Namami Gange Mission today S tudents will be able to return home for Christmas, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said. The Cabinet minister sought to dispel worries that all university students would have to self-isolate before being allowed back to their families. Ministers and officials are now drawing up plans on how the return of hundreds of thousands of students can be done safely. Some may still have to self-isolate at university at the end of term if they test positive or have been in contact recently with someone who has had Covid-19. Universities will be expected to support any students who have to stay on beyond the end of term because of coronavirus restrictions. Speaking to the Commons on Tuesday afternoon, he said the Government would work with universities to make sure all students are supported to return home for Christmas if they choose to do so. He said: I know there has been some anxiety about the impact safety measures will have on the Christmas holidays. Coronavirus: Areas in England with most new cases per 100,000 people Students are important members of the communities that they choose to study in. We expect them to follow the same guidance as those same local communities. We are going to work with universities to make sure that all students are supported to return home safely and spend Christmas with their loved ones if they choose to do so. Ministers are working on the plans for the return home at Christmas on the assumption that the pandemic could be significantly worse by then. However, Mr Williamson sought to reassure students and parents that they will not be kept apart during the festive season after a series of Covid outbreaks at universities which has seen hundreds of students having to self-isolate. Coronavirus: Most affected countries as death toll passes one million Mr Williamson said he does not believe students should face stricter measures than others in society and that it is essential that measures are put in place to ensure that students can return home for Christmas. He said: Its essential we put in place measures to ensure this can happen, while minimising the risk of transmission. Where there are specific circumstances that warrant it, there may be a requirement for some students to self-isolate at the end of term and we will be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in-person learning if that is deemed to be necessary. My department will publish this guidance shortly so that every student will be able to spend Christmas with their family. He added: Students as well as the wider community accept when we are living in a global pandemic we have to operate in a society with restrictions. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images But I do not believe that we should look to inflict stricter measures on students or expect higher standards of behaviour from them than we would from any other sector of society there must be a parity. Mr Williamson also praised students and universities for following the guidance in a responsible way. The Education Secretary told MPs: Weve now seen the new intake of first-year students who are beginning a new chapter in their lives at university together with those who are returning to carry on their studies. I know this will not be the start that any of them would have wanted and expected, and Id just like to say that I am pleased to see both universities and students have followed the guidance in a responsible way, putting themselves, their friends and the local community in a safe place and out of harms way. During a media round this morning, skills minister Gillian Keegan said: We would expect students to be able to go home for Christmas. Of course, that is something that absolutely we will be working towards and Gavin will lay out more details of that later on. Meanwhile, a world health chief stressed that Londoners can avoid a full-scale second Covid-19 wave without a lockdown if they change their behaviour to reduce social contacts. Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organisation coronavirus envoy for Europe, warned the capital could not escape the growing epidemic in Britain. However, he emphasised that London could limit its impact if people followed social distancing and good hygiene rules and guidance. You cant stop it but we can reduce the intensity through the way in which we all behave, he told the Evening Standard. The virus is going to resurge in most of Europe but the intensity of the surge will very much depend on whether or not people are able to make these shifts in behaviour. We have seen from the lockdown that you can slow the spread of the virus through the way in which you reduce chances of people bumping into each other. Its simply that. We have to reduce the frequency of contact between people. That is possible without having to have lockdown. That is our contention and what we are really trying to encourage everybody in Europe to do, to set it as a goal, to avoid more lockdowns by behaviour changes and it can be done. We have seen in other parts of the world that its not an impossible task. Latest figures for confirmed Covid cases show a rise in every borough in the capital, with 14 including Redbridge, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hillingdon, Ealing and Enfield seeing more than 100 in the week to September 24. Redbridge had the highest rate of new cases per 100,000, at 68.1, followed by Barking and Dagenham at 57.8. A rate of 50 is seen as one indicator for an area to require stricter restrictions. However, Covid levels in London are still far below the worst hotspots in the North of England. Official figures showed today that the number of deaths involving Covid-19 registered in England and Wales has risen for a second week in a row. A total of 139 deaths, including 13 in London, were registered in the week ending September 18 with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics. This was up from 99 deaths in the week to September 11, and 78 deaths in the week to September 4. Registered deaths involving Covid-19 increased in six of the nine English regions. Loading.... They were the North-West (39, up nine on the previous weeks total); the West Midlands (15, up eight); London (13, up seven); Yorkshire & the Humber (21, up seven); the North-East (eight, up five); and the East Midlands (14, up four). Our vision is to provide local small to medium-sized business owners with cost-effective, valuable solutions to compete in todays ever-increasing viral marketplace. Propel Marketing & Design, Inc., a South Florida based Marketing Agency, is thrilled to announce their expanding line of SEO programs and trainings. 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Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. is a full-service internet marketing agency, located in Boynton Beach, Florida, that specializes in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media, website design, email campaigns, search engine marketing, public relations, graphic design, and marketing workshops. Propel works with clients to create effective and unique marketing strategies to help raise their online profile and support their business objectives. For more information please visit http://www.propelyourcompany.com. Contact: Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. (800)943-2346 533 E. Ocean Ave. Suite #1 Boynton Beach, Florida 33435 NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP >> Newtown Township will be applying for federal funding to bolster its career firefighting force. And its crossing its fingers and hoping the third times a charm. At its Jan. 12 meeting, the board of supervisors voted unanimously to resubmit its SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to... It is unclear whether the announcement will soothe mounting questions about the mans death last week. The officials brother dismissed the assessment as fiction, accusing the government of inventing a defection attempt after failing to rescue him. Senior coastguard officer Yoon Seong-hyun said at a televised briefing on Tuesday that there was a very low possibility that the man could have fallen from a ship or tried to kill himself, because he was putting on a life jacket when he was found in North Korean waters. Mr Yoon said tidal currents at the time would have made it extremely difficult for him to drift into North Korean waters naturally. He also said the man conveyed his wish to defect before his death. He cited intelligence showing North Korea knew the mans name, age, height and home town as an evidence of his communication with the North. Advertisement Coastguard officials have previously said the 47-year-old official was a father of two with some debts. Mr Yoon said the debts totalled about 330 million won (220,000), 80% of which was from gambling. The official had been aboard a government inspection ship before he disappeared on September 21 and was killed by North Korean troops the following day. The coastguard said its assessment was based on an analysis of tidal currents in the area, a visit to a government boat the official had been aboard before his disappearance, investigation of his financial transactions and a meeting with South Korean Defence Ministry officials. The mans elder brother, Lee Rae-jin, told reporters on Tuesday that his sibling was proud of his job as a public servant and never told him about a desire to defect. The government is hastily framing my brother with a North Korea defection, Mr Lee said. He accused the government of losing golden time and making little effort to salvage his brother. He said he desperately wants to retrieve his brothers body and asked for co-operation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but he added: Id like to ask Kim Jong Un why he killed my brother. Mr Lee has said his brother is likely to have fallen into the sea by accident. A South Korean defecting to North Korea is highly unusual, though more than 33,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea for political and economic reasons in the past 20 years. Seoul has accused Pyongyang of having shot him and burned his body. North Korea acknowledged that its troops killed him because he refused to answer to questions and attempted to flee, but said troops only burned the mans floatation device. Mr Kim offered a rare apology over the mans death, but his government has not confirmed the man was trying to defect. The mans shooting has triggered a huge political storm in South Korea, with conservatives launching fierce attacks on liberal President Moon Jae-in, who espouses greater ties with the North. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Two women, including a document writer who allegedly forged documents and impersonated transferring a property onto their names in Chennai, were arrested on Monday. The accused were identified as N Swarnalatha (49) who had her office near Saidapet Sub-registrar office and B Lalithaa (52) from Saidapet. The duo transferred ownership of a 4,800 sq feet land in Pallikaranai that belongs to Vincent Selvasekar. Since Vincent lives in Singapore, his agent in Chennai, Saravanan, lodged a complaint, said police. A case was registered and the duo arrested. The two were remanded in judicial custody. Switch the Market flag Open the menu and switch the Market flag for targeted data from your country of choice. for targeted data from your country of choice. Police broke up a party of more than 1,000 Florida State University students a day after the state's bars and restaurants were opened to full capacity. The Tallahassee Police Department responded to more than a dozen calls about crowds over the weekend, including the 700-vehicle party on Dixie Drive just before midnight Saturday. More than 1,000 revelers partied outside the Tenn Street Apartments in Tallahassee, two miles from Florida State University's campus, requiring police to use a helicopter to disperse the crowd. Most of the travel lanes in the student apartment complex were blocked. It comes after the university's president wrote to students telling them to social distance and avoid all gatherings last month. Police broke up a party of more than 1,000 people with 700 vehicles at the Tenn Street Apartments complex on Dixie Street in Tallahassee, Florida, (pictured) on Sunday At a separate party, two men were hospitalized after gunfire broke out at a party near the Circle K on S Monroe Street on Sunday just before 5am. One victim was treated and released, while the other is in serious but stable condition. It is not yet clear whether the victims are affiliated with the university. Tallahassee Police said: 'A dispute broke out, resulting in gunfire. Initial information indicates multiple shots were fired from different weapons. 'Several cars in and around the parking lot were struck. The shooting continued north on S. Monroe Street. Two men were hospitalized after gunfire broke out at a separate party near the Circle K on S Monroe Street (pictured) on Sunday just before 5am 'Officers located additional evidence of the shooting on the 2500 block of S. Monroe St.' Investigators ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident but did not speak with an officer on scene, or anyone with information about the shooting to please call 850-891-4200. The huge gatherings come as coronavirus cases among students at Florida State University have soared to more than 1,500 since testing began in August. Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis denounced university crackdowns on parties and said he would seek a 'bill of rights' to protect students who could be expelled for partying. Governor Ron DeSantis denounced university crackdowns on parties and said he would seek a 'bill of rights' to protect students who could be expelled for partying He said: 'I understand that universities are trying to do the right thing but I personally think it's dramatically draconian that a student could get potentially expelled for going to a party. 'Thats what college kids do,' reported News4JAX. DeSantis reiterated his stance that students are low-risk for the coronavirus and credited universities for not going 'overboard' in measures against students. His comments came after FSU President John Thrasher appealed for students to wear masks and stay six feet apart, and avoid all parties and large gatherings. Coronavirus cases among students at Florida State University have soared to nearly 1,500 since testing began in August In a letter to students he wrote: 'The choices you make don't just impact you. 'They affect your friends, families, professors, FSU staff and the Tallahassee community at large, as well as our ability to hold in-person classes and future events and provide campus services,' reported CNN. He added: 'Noncompliance with the expectations outlined in our Fall 2020 plan will not be tolerated. 'We must demonstrate our commitment to each other and this great university by doing everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19,' reported Politico. People party at the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday after DeSantis reopened bars and restaurants to full capacity in the state on Friday Florida reported its lowest coronavirus case rise since June on Monday, recording 738 new infections. It takes the state's total to 701,302 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began with at least 14,037 deaths. DeSantis announced on Friday that effective immediately Florida moved to phase three of the coronavirus reopening plan with bars and restaurants at full capacity. Dr Anthony Fauci openly criticized DeSantis's decision, describing it as 'very concerning' yesterday. After School Students at the National Institute of Flamenco The Conservatory of Flamenco Arts after school program is open to all middle and high school students and invites young people to study extensively with professional artists. Enrollment is now open for the National Institute of Flamencos Conservatory of Flamenco Arts online After School Program. The Conservatory offers two levels of fun, unique classes for middle and high school students in flamenco guitar, cante (singing), cajon (percussion) and dance. This program is open to all middle and high school students and invites young people to study extensively with professional artists. A particularly noteworthy component of the After School Program is that it offers cante and cajon, subjects that are not frequently offered in flamenco programs within the U.S. In addition, students will learn a complete musical number created exclusively for the program by Spanish guest artists. Students will perform the music and dances that they have learned in the spring of 2021, and the program encourages them to enjoy what they are learning and work towards creating art of their own. The program began seven years ago with the Institute's educational partners, Tierra Adentro of New Mexico Charter School. The Conservatory has expanded the programs capacity to be able to include any middle or high school students who would like to participate. Our past students have enjoyed their experiences performing and studying with artists from the National Institute of Flamenco, and the opportunities they have also had to work with program guest artists from Spain. New students are encouraged to apply, and a limited number of scholarships are available. For enrollment information: Visit http://www.nifnm.org/after-school-program or call 505-242-7600. About the National Institute of Flamenco The mission of the National Institute of Flamenco is to preserve and promote flamencos artistry, history, and culture by presenting the finest flamenco in the world and by educating the American family in this art form while emphasizing the positive influence of art on family and community. Learn more at NIFNM.org. Operatives of Ogun State Police Command, last Thursday, arrested four persons for being in possession of a human skull, with they got from a corpse they exhumed. The suspects, identified as Muyideen Tolubi, Niyi Folorunso, Sonubi Taiwo and Remilekun Folorunso, were arrested following information from Odogbolu Division that some people were digging a grave. It was reported that the aim was to remove the already buried corpse, and the dead (corpse they exhumed) was not in any way related to the invaders. Sequel to the report, the DPO Odogbolu division, CSP Afolabi Yusuf, led his detectives to the scene but the suspects had already removed the head of the corpse and left. The police then embarked on an intelligence-based investigation which led to the arrest of the couple, Niyi and Remilekun Folorunso, as well as Muyideen Tolubi. Confirming the arrest, the spokesperson Ogun State Police Command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said three of the suspects confessed being the persons that dug the grave and removed the head of the corpse. They later took detectives to Ikenne, where the fourth person who asked them to bring the head for ritual purpose was apprehended. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, for further investigation and prosecution. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates NO BONES ABOUT IT: WILD GORILLAS DON'T DEVELOP OSTEOPOROSIS LIKE THEIR HUMAN COUSINS Media Contact: Rachel Butch, rbutch1@jhmi.edu In a study of gorilla skeletons collected in the wild, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers and their international collaborators report that aging female gorillas do not experience the accelerated bone loss associated with the bone-weakening condition called osteoporosis, as their human counterparts often do. The findings, they say, could offer clues as to how humans evolved with age-related diseases. The study was published on Sept. 21, 2020, in Philosophical Translations of the Royal Society B. "Osteoporosis in humans is a really interesting mechanical problem," says Christopher Ruff, Ph.D., professor at the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In terms of natural selection, there is no evolutionary advantage in developing bone loss with aging to the point of a potential fracture. By looking at close relatives of humans on the evolutionary tree, we can infer more about the origins of this condition." The Johns Hopkins research team worked with the Rwanda Development Board, Gorilla Doctors, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and George Washington University researchers to study the bone collection of mountain gorillas from Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. The park is one of the few places in the world where conservationists can observe wild gorillas throughout their lifetimes. After a gorilla dies in the wild, its bones are carefully gathered, cataloged and added to the collection housed at the Fossey Fund's Karisoke Research Center. "This detailed, long-term data on individual gorillas is critically important to this kind of anatomical research work," says Ruff. "Extensive demographic information, including the age at death, allows investigations that are difficult or impossible to carry out in other wild primate populations." Ruff and his colleagues were able to analyze the bones of 34 wild mountain gorillas -- 16 females and 17 males, ages 11 to 43 years. This spans the full adult range of the species. Using a specialized CT scanner brought to Rwanda, the researchers examined the leg, arm and spine bones from each animal (including the femur, tibia, radius, ulna, humerus and lumbar vertebrae), taking measurements of bone density and geometry. The researchers found some features of skeletal aging among the gorillas that are similar to those observed in humans, including a general widening of the diameter of long bones and thinning of the bone wall. However, the gorilla bones did not show any of the accelerated bone mineral loss associated with age-related osteoporosis in human skeletons. In humans, women tend to lose bone mineral density more than men. However, in the mountain gorillas, there was no significant difference in bone density or overall strength between older males and females. These differences, Ruff says, may be explained by the fact that gorillas continue to have offspring throughout their lives, maintaining hormonal levels that help protect them from bone loss. Higher activity levels also may help grow and then maintain stronger bones. Based on their study results, Ruff and his colleagues hypothesize that this new life stage in humans emerged after the evolutionary split between humans and African apes, and that it could be when some of our age-related diseases, including osteoporosis, originated. HPV HOME TEST MAY REDUCE CERVICAL CANCER DISPARITY, IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR BLACKS, LATINOS Media Contact: Danny Jacobs, djacob41@jhmi.edu David Sidransky, M.D., calls the Pap smear one of the "greatest successes" in cancer screening. "Every woman in the United States is supposed to be going for a regular Pap smear exam, and if they do, the chance of developing cervical cancer is very low," says Sidransky, an expert in the molecular genetic detection of cancer and director of head and neck cancer research in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Despite the Pap smear's effectiveness, however, there are geographic and racial disparities regarding who takes the test and what is an appropriate follow-up. Studies have shown that older women who did not receive the vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV, a known cause of cervical cancer) have a higher risk for developing cervical cancer, while Black women have a higher incidence of the disease and do more poorly after diagnosis. Moreover, in many Latino communities, the test isn't widely accepted. That's why Sidransky has been working with former Johns Hopkins Medicine researcher Rafael Guerrero-Preston, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., on another way to identify women at greatest threat from cervical cancer -- a home test they can do themselves. The self-administered screening tool can accurately identify a higher risk for future cervical cancer by finding methylated DNA segments. Higher levels of methylation -- the addition of a methyl group (three hydrogen atoms bound to a carbon atom) to a DNA molecule -- are associated with a greater likelihood that cervical cells will progress to a cancerous state. "If someone tests positive and the early steps of cancer development are detected, we can treat it before it becomes invasive," says Sidransky. The new test involves a robust molecular process in which cells taken from a vaginal swab are used to detect both HPV and methylated DNA. While a Pap smear only analyzes a small sample of cells from a single spot on the cervix, Sidransky says the home test checks both the swab site and the surrounding region for cervical cancer's early warning signals. "Even if you miss the presence of a tumor, sampling the larger area enables you to diagnose a problem and better estimate the likelihood that it will progress to cancer," he says. Sidransky envisions that a woman could swab herself, mail the sample and get results back in less than two weeks, similar to the process for home colon cancer screening kits already in use. "I think for us to succeed, ultimately the test must be able to be done in any lab," he says. "The goal of this is to make this as low-cost and distributable as possible, including to lower income countries worldwide." The methylation test was licensed through Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures to LifeGene BioMarks, a Johns Hopkins spinoff company. Guerrero-Preston, the firm's founder and chief scientific officer, worked in Sidranksy's lab for a decade. LifeGene BioMarks and Sidransky recently received two grants totaling more than $1.5 million through the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Innovation Research program. The grant funds will be used to first make the test more robust for improved cell sampling and then to enable clinicians to examine a larger number of samples for clinical validation. "I think there is an excitement in terms of what this test could bring in advancing self-screening for cervical cancer and in bridging the disparity gaps that currently keep quality screening from all women," Sidransky says. STUDY FINDS OBESITY MEDICINE SPECIALISTS ARE USING EVIDENCE-BASED CARE Media Contact: Michel Morris, melben1@jhmi.edu The United States obesity rate is now more than 40%, and physicians are looking for new and more effective ways to treat the problem. In 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a complex, chronic disease that requires medical attention. However, past research studies showed that the percentage of physicians providing adequate counseling and treatment to patients with obesity remains low. Additionally, patients with obesity are often unaware that such services even exist. To better understand the state of obesity medicine in the United States, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers surveyed physicians certified in the discipline by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) found that these practitioners, whose numbers are low, commonly offer key services supported by scientific research and clinical trials. This suggests that primary care clinicians can be increasingly confident that their patients will receive this "evidence-based care" when referred to an obesity specialist. Overall, most of the respondents endorsed the use of nutrition, behavioral services, weight-loss surgical care and anti-obesity medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The findings were published online on Sept. 10, 2020, in the journal Clinical Obesity. "Modifications are key to losing weight," says study lead author Kimberly Gudzune, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and director of both the Johns Hopkins Healthful Eating, Activity and Weight Program and the Johns Hopkins Obesity Medicine Fellowship. "A lot of physician training doesn't include obesity treatments such as lifestyle counseling and medication management, and without it, you're unlikely to help patients lose weight. We want to ensure that obesity medicine providers are providing great care to help patients achieve long-term success." Through ABOM, Gudzune surveyed over 490-obesity medicine certified physicians. The physicians were asked about their current clinical practices in the hope of learning if the services they offer are in line with currently accepted science. Gudzune and her colleagues found that the majority of ABOM physicians responding to their survey offered nutritional (90%), exercise (68%) and mental health (77%) counseling to their patients. Only a few offered minimally invasive procedures (24%), but most provided care before and after surgery (63%). Most (83%) prescribed FDA?approved medications -- both short? and long?term agents (71%). Gudzune's team concluded that most of the survey participants' obesity medicine services are evidenced based. Gudzune plans to use the study's findings to raise patient awareness that there are health care providers specifically trained to help with obesity and its consequences, such as a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and premature death. She also hopes the study results can be used to identify where gaps may exist in obesity care and to support development of more comprehensive treatments. TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE, LONGER-LASTING EYEDROPS MAY MEAN LESS APPLICATIONS, BETTER THERAPY Media Contact: Rachel Butch, rbutch1@jhmi.edu Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have created a gel-based eyedrop that responds to the eye's temperature and allows drugs to remain longer on the eye surface, penetrating tissues more effectively without obscuring vision. Tested in mice, rabbits and pigs, the formulation could reduce the number of times a day that patients need to reach for the eye dropper. The study was published Sept. 7, 2020, in Nature Biomedical Engineering. "The main problem with conventional liquid eye drops is that they are very short lasting and not very much drug gets into the eye because the watery substance is blinked away quickly," says Laura Ensign, Ph.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. "So, eye drops often have to be applied multiple times per day to be effective." More than 90% of drugs for eye conditions are delivered by liquid eyedrops, say the researchers. For people with irritation, glaucoma or dry eye, drops are required multiple times per day. Each dose comes with a small risk of side effects, which can cause patients to skip doses and reduce the treatment's effectiveness. Patients who do so risk additional problems such as prolonged discomfort and vision loss. In the study, the team of biomedical engineers and ophthalmologists used a compound, called Pluronic F127, a polymer that responds to body temperature and creates a gel. Currently, Pluronic F127 is a component in various over-the-counter lubricating eye drops, but at very low concentrations. These formulations do not become a gel on contact with the eye. Previous tests in animals of a gel-forming concentration often resulted in clumpy, uneven layers on the eye that quickly got caught up in the lids and lashes. Vision also was obscured. To solve the clumping problem, the researchers needed to create a drop with enough Pluronic F127 molecules to form a gel, but fluid enough to spread across the eye. They landed on an ionic carrier solution that could be absorbed into cells on the eye's surface, leaving behind the Pluronic F127 polymers. The solution keeps the gelling molecules apart long enough for them to spread out and bind together in a uniform layer. "It's a simple modification as far as composition, but it causes the drops to behave very differently when applied," says Ensign. In tests on rabbits, the drops were administered five times each day for two weeks without any adverse effects seen in the rabbits' behavior (such as increased blink rate or eye rubbing) or on eye tissues examined under a microscope. Tests on pigs, whose eyes are more like human eyes in size and composition, showed similar results. The researchers were surprised to see that since the gel-based drops remained on the eye longer than liquid drops, the treatments could reach the eye's notoriously hard to penetrate back layers. Tissues in these layers -- such as the retina, choroid and macula -- are sites for some of the most common blinding diseases, including diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. In pigs induced by a laser to develop symptoms similar to human macular degeneration, the researchers applied a daily dose of their new eye drops carrying a drug called sunitinib that slows the disease's progression. This cut in half the amount of vision-blocking blood vessel overgrowth in the retina when compared with pigs receiving drops without the drug. The researchers caution that while promising, more tests are needed before the drops can be tested in humans. They intend to create a company to explore further applications for the drops, including their use with other medications. Ensign and Hanes are working with Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures to form a startup to license the technology. BALANCING OLDER PATIENTS' RISK REDUCTION WITH AUTONOMY AND RESPECT Media Contact: Michel Morris, melben1@jhmi.edu Many people will become caregivers informally at some point, and geriatrician Mattan Schuchman, M.D., hopes to start a discussion -- among them, the love ones for whom they care and the doctors who work with them -- about the considerations that should be made. When an older patient's safety and independence are in conflict, Schuchman encourages clinicians to weigh several factors: the patient's perspective, the perspectives of other major stakeholders, clinician biases, liability, and the magnitude of the patient's risk and risk to others. Schuchman and his colleagues discuss these considerations in a commentary in the September 2020 issue of Medical Clinics of North America. "We should consider both a person's autonomy and ability to make their own choices, and try to balance that with concerns for the person's safety and well-being. It may not always be concordant," says Schuchman, medical director of Johns Hopkins Home-based Medicine and an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Schuchman says these challenges commonly arise in decisions about living environment and driving. From physical rehabilitation to installing home modifications to changing the residence (with a change in the level of care), many decisions about health care for vulnerable adults focus on safety. In some situations, Schuchman says, clinicians' ethical obligations to promote health and prevent harm may be at odds with their desire to respect the patient's determination to be self-sufficient. Finding the right answer is not the goal, Schuchman says. He wants clinicians to find fair, transparent ways to choose among morally acceptable alternatives. He hopes patients and their providers can fashion agreements that optimize both safety and independence. ### Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 19:17:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A Lebanese soldier arranges humanitarian aid donated by the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 29, 2020. The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon offered on Tuesday 3,600 boxes of food donations which will be distributed by the Lebanese army among some 15,000 people impacted by Beirut port's explosions. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) BEIRUT, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon offered on Tuesday 3,600 boxes of food donations which will be distributed by the Lebanese army among some 15,000 people impacted by Beirut port's explosions. "We hope that these donations help the most vulnerable people in Lebanon. The support reflects the depth of friendship between the Lebanese and Chinese people," Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian told Xinhua. The ambassador said that China has offered financial support after the explosions rocked Beirut on Aug. 4 and is planning to offer more support in the future. Two huge explosions rocked Beirut's port on Aug. 4, destroying a big part of the city while killing around 190 people and wounding at least 6,000 others. The explosions exacerbated the dire situation and harsh living conditions of the Lebanese while leaving around 300,000 people homeless in the city. Enditem Tomorrow, September 30, 2020, education leaders and government officials from Canada and Saint Lucia will come together to celebrate the launch of a $720,000 Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE) country project. Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE) is a six-country program with Dalhousie University leading the SAGE-06 project in Saint Lucia and will focus on strengthening competency-based education and training in climate-smart agriculture. Dalhousie University President, Dr. Deep Saini, will be joined by leaders from Algonquin College, supporting partner from Canada, Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Saint Lucia, National Skills Development Centre, Saint Lucia as well as program funders and national stakeholders at 1:30pm EDT https://www.facebook.com/DalACGlobalEd) The Caribbean islands are among the most vulnerable areas in the world to climate change, which puts their economy, environment, and population at great risk. The SAGE program will help Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia become more resilient by supporting technical and vocational education training (TVET) in key economic sectors associated with climate change in the Caribbean. Dalhousies Faculty of Agriculture has a long history of project activity in the Caribbean and is committed to addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development goals with this project, explained Faculty of Agriculture Dean David Gray. Responsible consumption and production, quality education, climate action and decent work and economic growth will be a large part of this collaborative project. The agriculture sector in Saint Lucia is dwarfed by the tourist industry but remains pivotal to sustainable economic growth for the island, both in meeting the demands of the hospitality industry as well as increasing food security for residents. SAGE-06 will increase economic opportunities in agriculture for male and female graduates from TVET institutions in Saint Lucia and support national development objectives to strengthen the green economy. Dalhousie faculty and staff will work with Saint Lucian counterparts to develop new curricula to produce skilled graduates who can meet the demands of the islands labour market, while Algonquin College will work with Saint Lucian partners to develop student success policies that can support all learners, including those from vulnerable groups, on their career pathways within the new programs. The new curricula will focus on high-value crops, farm management and processing and labelling with the cross-cutting themes of gender equality and entrepreneurship woven throughout the teaching modules. It is essential that new curricula address the fact that many of our graduates will be job creators, or at the very least self-employed, says Anthony Bonaparte, Dean of Agriculture at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, so we very much look forward to working with Dalhousie to make agri-entrepreneurship a focus of our new programs The SAGE program is funded by Global Affairs Canada and managed by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) and the total value of the SAGE-06 project is CAD 720,000. It will run from 2020-2023 and will provide many opportunities for collaboration between faculty, staff, and students from the Canadian and Saint Lucian partner institutions. For more information on the SAGE-06 project please contact David Parks, Coordinator, at Dalhousies Faculty of Agriculture (david.parks@dal.ca). ST. LOUIS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PR Newswire/ -- 225 young change makers in "Rising Telugu Stars Shining Globally" are profiled by Rao Mandava to let the world know about the unconventional tomorrow's solutions of these dreamers for global problems. 90% of the proceeds will be for funding charitable causes in two Telugu states of India. "The honored stars range from child prodigies to young adults to middle aged men and women propelled to spotlight in one of the recent events in their lives. Their full potential will be known in the years and decades to come!" Some criteria for inclusion in the book are - awards in Intel Science fairs conducted every year, Inclusion in Forbes selection of yearly 30 under 30 in 20 industries in US, Asia and India, Fast company's 100 most innovative personalities selected every year, 40 under 40 college professors, Scripps Spelling Bee contest yearly winners, and athletes winning the medals, technological innovations by the startup companies and student scientists applying for patents for their inventions. "A college freshman addressing the Nobel committee on Dec 17, 2017 regarding his unconventional cancer research, young entrepreneur making unique apparel that could withstand temperatures of -200c to 1000c , a long journey from a field laborer in rural India to become CEO of a company in USA, a born blind person to finish his expense paid business management course, a First at MIT, are some of the honoraries who found place in the book." It is said that "Rising Telugu Stars" book will certainly be an inspiration for young and old alike because commoners proved themselves to be uncommon commoners. 90% of the investment on the books will go for charities in two Telugu states of India. Rao Mandava and his entire family are US citizen and have no vested interests in India. Small investment would bestow big benefits with ideas from these thought leaders and help fund the worthy causes in India. Learn more at http://www.tracobi.com . A distinguished honorary says "Show compassion and make people rich. Include people in your life and remove loneliness and do something good; it will come back to you." Contact: Media Contact, Name and Title: Rao Mandava, President Company Name: Tracobi Healthcare Services Inc Contact: Rao Mandava Phone Number: 708 289 0864 (cell) WhatsApp ok Contact E-mail: [email protected] (Preferred) Website URL: http://www.tracobi.com SOURCE Rao Mandava Related Links http://www.tracobi.com Advertisement The Crown have released a collection of first look images, showcasing the Royal Family thrown into an era of political change, ahead of series four's release in November. The images show Emma Corrin as Princess Diana making a glamorous entrance at the Royal Opera House in 1981, alongside her husband Charles, (Josh O'Connor) while another features Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, on the historic moment she enters Downing Street after being elected as Prime Minister in 1979. The Crown Series Four will be released on Netflix on Sunday, November 15, and will see dark times for the royals as they face yet more political and social upheaval. Wow! The Crown have released a collection of first look snaps, showcasing the Royal Family thrown into an era of political change, ahead of series four's release on November 15 (Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor portraying Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the Royal Opera House in March 1981) Outing: Diana wore a similar black strapless dress when she and Charles were pictured at the same iconic venue (in March 1981) for a charity recital Emma looks just like Diana when she replicates her visit to the Royal Opera House for a charity recital - and while Emma wears a purple gown in the scenes, Diana famously wore a very similar design, in black. It is the first of two images to feature the so-called 'People's Princess' as another also features her in a sophisticated cream ensemble being surrounded by photographers, while wearing a yellow suit. Another picture showcases the moment Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrived at Downing Street in 1979 after being elected for the first time, supported by her proud husband Denis (played by Stephen Boxer). Historic: Gillian Anderson is seen as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, depicting the moment she arrived at Downing Street in 1979 after being elected for the first time, supported by her proud husband Denis (Stephen Boxer) Moment in history: Thatcher became the first woman in UK history to be elected Prime Minister in the late 1970s, and ran the UK's government for over a decade (pictured in 1979) Helena Bonham Carter can be seen depicting Princess Margaret during a particularly pensive moment, as she adjust to life in Mustique following the end of her marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones. Some of the key moments featured have been given artistic licence and do not exactly replicate images taken of the Royal Family. One example of this is a picture of Olivia Colman, playing the Queen at the Royal Variety performance in 1984, alongside Tobias Menzies, who plays her husband Prince Phillip. In reality the royal couple did not attend the annual showcase until the following year. Guests of honour: The Queen herself (Olivia Colman), and her husband Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) are pictured attending the Royal Variety performance in 1984 Slight error: The Royal Variety performance that petered slightly in accuracy, as in reality the Queen did not attend in 1984, but was a guest of honour the following year (pictured in 1985) Erin Doherty also features in an image of Princess Anne wearing a striking white and yellow floral ensemble with a matching fascinator, which she famously wore to Diana and Charles' wedding in 1981. The Queen and Charles also appear to be in the midst of a dramatic exchange in one image, while another shows Marion Bailey as the beloved Queen Mother during a public engagement. The Crown's fourth series will document Diana's blossoming romance with Prince Charles, as the trailer features the moment she emerges to greet an army of photographers, along with crowds cheering her name as she travels the world on behalf of the monarchy. Sartorial chic: The collection features two images of the so-called 'People's Princess' as another also shows Emma's Diana in a cream ensemble being surrounded by photographers Concerned: Helena Bonham Carter is seen as Princess Margaret during a particularly pensive moment, as she adjusts to life in Mustique following the end of her marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones Posed: Princess Margaret seen clutching a bunch of flowers while in her favourite holiday destination Mustique in 1985 Royal entrance: Another image shows Princess Anne (played by Erin Doherty) wearing a striking white and yellow floral ensemble with a matching fascinator, which she famously wore to Diana and Charles' wedding in 1981 Gorgeous: The Royal (pictured arriving for the wedding with Princess Margaret in 1981) famously re-wore her yellow and white floral dress her cousin's wedding 27 years later in 2008 This includes Diana's 1983 tour of Australia, when she famously donned a beautiful fuchsia pink dress, which featured prominently in series four's first trailer, which was released last month. The preview ended with a glimpse of Diana's iconic David Emmanuel wedding dress, which will take centre stage as The Crown recreates her historic 1981 wedding. The Crown Series Four will begin as the 1970s are drawing to a close, with the Royal Family preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles who is still unmarried at 30. At odds: Another image shows Olivia's Queen Elizabeth in the midst of a tense exchange with her son Charles, (O'Connor) as the series prepares to document his blossoming relationship with Diana The real family: Prince Charles was pictured with Queen Elizabeth II, in 1969 in similar queen tweed clothing Gorgeous: The fourth series will once again feature Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles, (left) who can be seen in the above image during a scene filmed at Australia House in Aldwych Iconic: While there are no pictures of a young Camilla taken at Australia House, she was sporting a similar look when she was pictured (right) with Diana (left) in August 1997 at Ludlow racecourse Beloved: Another snap shows Marion Bailey as the beloved Queen Mother during a public engagement The British nation is struggling with the impact of the divisive policies introduced by Britain's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Tensions between the Prime Minister and the Queen are expected to only get worse as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands War, generating conflict within the Commonwealth. A silver lining comes in the form of Charles' fairytale romance with young Lady Diana, but behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided. It's here! The trailer for The Crown's latest series showed Emma's Diana dressed in her iconic David Emmanuel wedding gown (left in the trailer and right in 1981) Beautiful: Emma's casting was announced in April 2019, with creator Peter Morgan calling her 'a brilliant talent who immediately captivated us when she came in for the part' (Emma pictured left during filming and Diana pictured right in 1982) Diana married Charles in 1981, and the couple welcomed sons William in 1982 and Harry in 1984. After separating in 1991, the couple divorced in 1996, with Diana then tragically killed in a car accident on 31st August 1997. Emma's casting was announced in April 2019, with The Crown's creator Peter Morgan calling her 'a brilliant talent who immediately captivated us when she came in for the part of Diana Spencer.' Helena will once again appear as Princess Margaret, while Tobias will play Prince Phillip. Josh will reprise his role as Prince Charles, expected to take centre stage this series due to his relationship with Diana. Award-winning: Oscar-winner Olivia (L) is playing Queen Elizabeth II (pictured right in 1964) in series three and four of The Crown Legendary: Helena Bonham Carter will once again portray Princess Margaret in the fourth series, depicting her life after divorcing Lord Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Helena left and Margaret right in 1987) Royal man: Tobias Menzies will once again play The Duke Of Edinburgh Prince Philip (left) at a time when the Royal Family grows increasingly divided behind closed doors (Phillip pictured right in 1986) To be wed: Josh O'Connor will depict Prince Charles (left), as the series depicts his turbulent marriage to Diana (Charles pictured right in 1984) The series will also feature the ongoing issue of apartheid in South Africa, as well as the assassination of Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance), and the miners' strike of 1984-85. Despite concerns that the series would be delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis, which brought much of the television industry to a halt, it seems the fourth season will be released as planned. Bosses revealed back in March that filming was wrapped earlier than planned, though a majority of principle photography had already been completed. Coronation: Claire Foy (L) played a young Queen Elizabeth II (pictured right in 1955) as she ascended the throne following her late father's death during seasons one and two Royal role: It's also been announced that The Night Manager star Elizabeth Debicki has been cast as Princess Diana for The Crown's final two series Royally good: Imelda Staunton is to play the Queen in The Crown's final two series. The 63-year-old will take over the role of Elizabeth II for seasons five and six of the Netflix drama Congrats! Lesley Manville has been cast as Princess Margaret (right in 1966) for the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown From Pope to Prince: The Two Popes actor Jonathan Pryce has also been cast as Duke Of Edinburgh Prince Phillip (right earlier this year), and has said he is 'confident' to take on the 'daunting' role It was recently announced that The Night Manager star Elizabeth Debicki has been cast as Princess Diana for The Crown's final two series, while Jonathan Pryce was announced to be taking over the role of Prince Philip. The actor, 73, will join the star-studded cast of the hit Netflix show and portray the royal through the 1990s and 2000s. Jonathan has said that it will be 'a joy' to act alongside Imelda Staunton as the Queen and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. In The Crown's first two series Claire Foy took on the role of Queen Elizabeth, while Prince Philip was played by Matt Smith, and Princess Margaret by Vanessa Kirby. It was recently announced The Crown will run for six series instead of five. Creator Peter revealed he decided to 'return to the original plan,' meaning Imelda will now appear for two series as an older Queen Elizabeth II. Producers decided to a U-turn after their January announcement The Crown would end after its fifth series. Peter said: 'As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons.' The Crown Series Four will be released on Netflix on Sunday, November 15th. VALPARAISO Former Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper said she had it all planned out. After retiring at the end of last year following 35 years in office and earning the distinction as the longest-serving female judge in the state and just about the first female everything in Porter County's legal system, Harper had intended to balance her new free time with a manageable workload as special judge. But in mid-summer, following routine blood work, she discovered she had a cancerous tumor in her biliary tract that spread to her liver. Her life plan had a "great beat to it," Harper said, "then all of a sudden, bam, you can't do it." She and husband, Porter Superior Court Judge David Chidester, headed to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for scans, a biopsy and a course of treatment that currently involves chemotherapy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. That will be followed by radiology and then surgery to remove what is left of the tumor. "The other half of my liver is healthy, and the liver regenerates," she said, maintaining a positive outlook and a continued workload involving several complicated legal cases as special judge. MEXICO CITY, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V., a Mexican Company focused on healthy and nutritious foods ("LALA") (BMV "LALAB"), will host a conference call to discuss Third Quarter 2020 Results. Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 11:00am EST / 10:00am CST Presenters: Arquimedes Celis, Chief Executive Officer Alberto Arellano, Chief Financial Officer David Gonzalez, Investor Relations Officer Dial-in: 1 877 705 6003 (US and Canada, toll-free) 01 800 522 0034 (Mexico, toll-free) 1 201 493 6725 (International, toll) Webcast: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=141668 Results: LALA's Third Quarter 2020 Results Press Release will be issued after the Mexican Market close on Monday, October 19, 2020 Contact: David Gonzalez and Israel Renteria Investor Relations Tel.: +52 (55) 5078 4039 [email protected] ** Registration is required for the call; please dial in at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. About LALA Grupo LALA, Mexican healthy and nutritious food company, has more than 65 years of experience in the production, innovation and distribution of milk, dairy products, cold cuts and beverages at the highest levels of quality. LALA operates 31 production plants and 176 distribution centers in Mexico, Brazil, the United States and Central America. The Company is supported by more than 38,000 employees. LALA operates a fleet of more than 7,000 units for the distribution of more than 600 products that reach more than 578,000 points of sale. LALA, Nutri Leche and Vigor are part of the Company's extensive brand portfolio. For more information, visit: www.lala.com.mx "Grupo LALA trades on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "LALAB" SOURCE Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V. Related Links https://www.lala.com.mx Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 00:28:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's electoral body announced on Tuesday it has set a total of 80,155 polling centers ahead of the October 28 general elections. Mbarouk Salim Mbarouk, the vice-chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), said 79,670 out of the 80,155 polling centers have been set in mainland Tanzania and 485 centers in the Zanzibar archipelago. "Each of the polling centers will cater for less than 500 voters," Mbarouk told a meeting of election stakeholders in the capital Dodoma. He said arrangements have been made for voters with special needs, including the deaf, people with disabilities, and aged people. Giveness Aswile, NEC's director for information and voter's education, said preparations for the election were in full swing. "NEC has started receiving facilities for the polls and ballot papers will be supplied close to the elections," said Aswile. According to the NEC, about 29 million Tanzanians have registered to vote in this year's election, compared to some 23 million voters registered in 2015. Tanzania has a population of about 57 million. Enditem Anti-fracking protesters march at the 2011 Shale Insight conference in Philadelphia. Attendees at the 2020 conference, which was conducted virtually online because of the pandemic, were told that the shale gas industry faces an existential political threat from anti-fossil fuel activists. Read more Pennsylvanias natural gas industry faces an existential threat if Joe Biden and Democrats sweep into office in the Nov. 3 election, Trump administration officials and supporters told a Marcellus Shale Coalition conference on Tuesday. U.S. Energy Secretary Daniel Brouillette and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), speaking at a conference sponsored by the industry trade group, warned of job losses, energy shortages, price increases, and an erosion of national security if climate activists succeed in banning fracking and in curtailing the development of fossil fuel resources and infrastructure, such as pipelines. Joe Biden has simply followed along with the left-wing extremists and their hostility to even the cleanest burning of all fossil fuels, Toomey told the annual Shale Insight conference, with 500 registrants and conducted online this year to comply with coronavirus pandemic restrictions. President Trump and Republicans in Congress support affordable, reliable, clean natural gas, and Democrats view the curtailing and eventual elimination of the entire industry as a central part of their energy strategy, a cog in their effort to totally reshape the American economy. Of course, it would devastate the American economy. Toomey also repeated a Republican allegation that Biden has called for a full ban on hydraulic fracturing, which Biden has called a lie, though the Democrat supports a ban on the controversial oil and gas extraction method on federal lands. Pennsylvania produced a record 6.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from shale wells in 2019, an increase of 11.4% from 2018. Although the number of wells drilled is actually down, the wells are bigger, more efficient, and capture more gas than they did a few years ago. Brouillette, who succeeded Rick Perry in December as President Donald Trumps energy secretary, was less overtly political, referring to neither Biden nor Democrats in his prerecorded address. But Brouillette said that in order to continue the revival of the American oil and gas industry, which has generated millions of jobs and lowered energy costs in the decade since fracking has taken off, we must firmly oppose those who would curtail or ban the development of fossil fuels. Im talking about proposals to wipe out every form of energy besides renewables, he said. Now, in order to counter these ideas effectively, its imperative that we understand the mindset of those who are proposing them, Brouillette said. They continue to operate from a mindset of scarcity rather than abundance, and from radicalism as opposed to reality. The public officials spoke to a receptive online audience about 500 people registered since the shale industrys affinity with Republicans is no secret, as Trump himself was the keynote speaker at two previous Shale Insight conferences. But their calls to action highlighted the chasm in the political debate over energy policy, and the importance that climate issues have taken on. Environmental activists have denounced fossil fuels as the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, and say time is running out to achieve carbon neutrality. But the shale industry contends that the nation cannot quickly ween itself of oil, gas, and coal fossil fuels account for 80% of Americas energy needs without serious economic disruption. Shale advocates have played up those differences between environmentalists and industry advocates to frighten people who earn their living from fossil fuel, especially in Pennsylvania, which has become the nations second-largest natural gas producer since the shale-gas industry took hold in 2009. Brouillette cited a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report last year that estimated a ban on fracking would eliminate 19 million jobs by 2025, including 600,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, and would cause natural gas prices to triple, household energy costs to quadruple, and the price of gasoline to double. Green energy advocates cite other studies that say a transition to clean energy would generate more jobs and do less damage to the environment than staying the course. But Brouillette dismissed those arguments. No amount of so-called green transition is going to mitigate that disaster. Brouillette also cited efforts at state and local levels by green energy advocates to block fossil fuel infrastructure development and give preference to renewable energy as causing higher electricity prices in energy-constrained regions 46% higher than the national average in California, and 60% higher in New England. Because New York has blocked pipeline expansions that would take more Pennsylvania natural gas to Massachusetts, he said, New England states have become more reliant on liquefied natural gas imported by ship, including one infamous shipment in 2018 of Russian LNG that arrived despite economic sanctions on such imports. Now imagine if the entire nation adopted such policies, Brouillette said. Nearly 200,000 jobs have been directly provided to college graduates from impoverished families this year to help them secure jobs, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Monday. Taking boosting the employment of impoverished college graduates as a priority, the ministry has adopted a series of special measures this year, said Wang Hui, an official with the MOE. The ministry has continued to host job fairs for graduates from poor families and sent over 280,000 items of recruitment information through mobile phones, Wang said, adding that it also helped college graduates from impoverished families in 52 poor counties nationwide seek employment by using big data technology. Other measures, including further education training, personalized employment guidance and pairing assistance programs, were also launched by the ministry. Next, the MOE will work with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other relevant departments to continuously help unemployed graduates find jobs, Wang said. To facilitate the employment of impoverished graduates, some Chinese universities and enterprises have also rolled out preferential measures. For example, the Shaanxi Normal University has launched a targeted assistance program to help graduates from impoverished families seek jobs, as well as graduates with physical disabilities and those from Hubei Province, providing employment guidance in accordance with the specific situation of each graduate, said You Xuqun, president of the university. So far, the university has granted a total of 2.4 million yuan (about 350,000 U.S. dollars) of subsidies to this year's graduates with difficulties. Meanwhile, the China Three Gorges Corporation has recruited 100 graduates from poor families as planned, providing them with a total of 1.2 million yuan of poverty allowance, said Yang Xingshi, deputy general manager of the corporation. A total of 8.74 million college students have graduated in China this year. Enditem SAGINAW, MI -- The return of an original stained glass window to the historic Charles Lee Mansion in downtown Saginaw is seen as a triumph for the buildings restoration effort, which has made great strides to fix up a landmark that had once fallen into disrepair. The nonprofit, public-private effort to restore the mansion unveiled the installed window Tuesday, Sept. 29, at a gathering attended by city officials. The window and three others were once stolen from the building, said project manager Alex Mixter, but a donor brought the window back to them in the memory of former Saginaw Mayor Greg Branch, who was dedicated to preserving the mansion. The main room overseen by the stained glass will now be known as the Greg Branch room, said Alex de Parry, president of Ann Arbor Builders, the contractor hired for the mansions restoration work. The mansion was in danger of demolition in 2018 until the city reversed course and accepted a development agreement with Ann Arbor Builders. Since, The Lee Mansion Restoration Project has worked on returning the home to its former glory, with a plan to use the ground floor as a community meeting space and rent offices in the upstairs space, Mixter said. At this point, its all finishing touches, so the stained glass coming back is pretty much perfect timing, Mixter said. You just cant really replace it, and when it comes back home, it feels right. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed plans a bit, but the restoration is in its finishing stages, he said. The project recently held a public workshop in the home on restoring old houses. We want this restoration to kind of be like a lightning rod for other restorations, Mixter said. We learned so much here by just being hands on and making a lot of mistakes, learning as we go. We wanted to help people to hurdle all those things and be able to jump right into it. The mansion was built in the 19th century by its namesake, lumber baron Charles Lee. It is located at 633 S. Washington Ave, now roughly the edge of downtown Saginaw, across the street from a 7-Eleven store. Karen Lee Current, a descendant of Lees brother, didnt know about the house until getting into genealogy about a decade ago, she said. Since finding out she had a lumber baron in her family, shes been excited about the community interest in the mansion. Its really, really exciting to see this, that somebody has taken the effort and the time to restore this house, Current said. Its a good feeling. Mayor Floyd Kloc attended the unveiling, as did councilmembers John Milne, Bill Ostash and Jamie Forbes. Kloc said the mansion comes from an essential era in the citys history, and he hopes the restored space can serve as an emblematic front door to Saginaw. Weve lost so many of our magnificent mansions from the lumber era that having this one preserved, to me, is really central to our history, Kloc said. I think its really, unbelievably fabulous." Ostash has been involved in the restoration effort since before he was elected to council, he said. He lives in the area and remembers when previous owner Rosemary Degesero lived in the home; Degesero was a local celebrity for her pet leopard Chichu, who she would walk on a leash near the house. The home was informally known as the cat lady mansion after Degesero. Im really happy because this is gonna be something thats gonna be here for a long time, Ostash said. Even when were gone, people will talk about how this house came back and how the city almost lost it. Read more: Saginaw City Council votes unanimously to save cat lady mansion Death of former Saginaw Mayor Greg Branch a loss to our whole community Volunteers spruce up historic home near downtown Saginaw WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Women Business Collaborative (WBC), the only collaborative and fastest-growing movement of women's business organizations, corporate partners, C-Suite leaders, entrepreneurs, capital leaders and associations is hosting its digital Annual Summit Weaving a Movement , October 1st and 2nd. WBC works to achieve Equal Position, Pay and Power for all business women. At the Summit, WBC will hear from industry trailblazers, salute its Board, 41+ partner organizations and their work accelerating WBC's Nine Action Initiatives, and recognize CEOs from companies promoting women's leadership. Additionally, WBC, in collaboration with its partners Catalyst and C200, will release the first Women CEOs In America report. "We are so incredibly grateful for the passionate support to move collectively and faster together for the advancement of business women and our commitment to women of color is of major importance. We have seen drastic uptakes in women represented on Boards in 2020, and we continue to see important promotions in the C-Suite with women CEOs; we must stand bold and steadfast," said Edie Fraser, CEO of WBC. " We are grateful to our sponsors and partner organizations for their leadership and continued commitment to our values. We have much to do together and much to celebrate." WBC will recognize four business leaders with the 2020 WBC CEO Leadership Award for Gender and Diversity Excellence. The awardees - Bruce Broussard, Humana; Ann Cairns, Mastercard; Dave Ricks, Eli Lilly and Company; Arne Sorenson, Marriott International will be honored for their work driving gender and diversity in leadership. Joaquin Duato, Vice Chair of Johnson & Johnson, will speak about Executive Commitment to Gender and Diversity. WBC's will host three Trailblazer award recipients with keynotes by Sen. Amy Klobuchar; Bonnie St. John, Former Paralympic Skier, Author and Public Speaker; and Judith M. von Seldeneck, Founder and Chair of Diversified Search and founding sponsor of WBC. Our movement and network, spearheaded by our Board, organization partners, and growing network of over 100 Advisory and 107 Leadership Council members, reaches tens of thousands of business leaders across the United States and globally. WBCs commitment to diversity is reflected in our Councils and Board of Directors which include more than 32 percent people of color. The WBC Annual Summit is sponsored and supported by twelve organizations: Diversified Search, Bank of America, Capital One, CoreCivic, DevMar, Genuent, Humana, Inoventures, Republic Bank, Sodexo, Tata Consultancy Services and Zendesk. To register and view the full agenda, visit: http://www.wbcollaborative.org/digitalsummit The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is an unprecedented alliance of 41+ national professional women's organizations collaborating together to achieve Equal Position, Pay and Power for All Business Women. We are also a social movement of tens of thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, public and private companies and the media accelerating change through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability. We are #WBCFasterTogether. For more information, visit www.wbcollaborative.org . SOURCE Women Business Collaborative Related Links http://www.wbcollaborative.org (Newser) A man found out his wife was having an affair, killed her lover, then forced her to decapitate the body, according to New Hampshire police. The shocking violence began Sept. 19 when 30-year-old Armando Barron learned of the affair while perusing his wife's cellphone, according to an affidavit. Britany Barron, 31, told police that her husband put a gun in her mouth and choked her in front of their 9-year-old daughter, per the Keene Sentinel. She said he continued to assault her, leaving her with two black eyes, as he drove her to a state park in Rindge, where he lured Jonathan Amerault, 25. Armando Barron assaulted Amerault, then ordered his wife to shoot him, Britany Barron told police. She said she refused, but later complied with an order to cut Amerault's wrists. She said Armando Barron then shot Amerault three times before ordering his wife to drive Amerault's car and body 200 miles north to Errol. story continues below Armando Barron forced his wife to decapitate Amerault and bury his head at a wooded site while he burned the man's identification and other items, she told investigators. She said her husband then returned to the couple's Jaffrey home, leaving her to bury the bodythough she was interrupted before that could happen. Hunters came upon the site between Sept. 20-22, announcing that camping was prohibited, per the affidavit. Conservation officers then arrived on Sept. 22 and found the body wrapped in a tarp. Arrested a day later, Armando Barron pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of capital murder and domestic assault, per the Sentinel. Britany Barron pleaded not guilty to three counts of falsifying evidence. Her lawyer says she feared for her life, but Assistant AG Scott Chase says she had ample opportunity to seek help. She was only cooperative "after she got caught," he tells KSDK. (Read more capital murder stories.) New Delhi, Sep 29 : Come October 15 when the All India Akhara Parishad, an apex body, will meet in Uttar Pradesh's Vrindavan - the birthplace of Lord Krishna, it is very likely to rekindle the demand of removing mosques that Mathura's Krishna Janmabhoomi and Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath temple share boundaries with. However, the VHP, which took the lead in the Babri removal agitations, seems to be preoccupied with the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and wants it's "focus to remain on Ayodhya, at least for the next 3 years." "We have thought that we need to fulfil this one job (operationalizing Ram Mandir) first. It is our first and prime responsibility. After that we will think about other issues," VHP's International Working President told IANS when asked what will be the VHP's stand amid a rising clarion call by the Akhara Parishad to champion the "cause" of Kashi and Mathura. Coming from its top leadership, the assertion is indicative that the VHP has its hands full at the moment. Kumar told IANS that the VHP will be occupied with the construction of the Ram Temple for the next 3 years. "I think constructing the temple on Ram Janmabhoomi is a big task. We will travel to 4 lakh villages for this purpose, celebrate Ramotsav, seek contributions by going to 11 crore Hindu households. We have a dream ahead of us of making Lord Ram 'virajman' in the new temple and do his 'darshan' within the next 3 years," said Kumar while highlighting how the VHP has too much on its plate for now. This comes amid the Akhara Parishad going gung ho over the issues of Kashi and Mathura which they will seek to raise in their October meeting. Sources say the choice of venue as Vrindavan is also significant. A source told IANS that key functionaries of the Akhara will "take a tour" and do "stocktaking" of Krishna Janmabhoomi during their stay in the temple town. This also comes amid a civil suit being recently filed in a Mathura court seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque from the 13.37-acre plot, which the petitioners claim belongs to Shri Krishna Virajman. This upping the ante by the Akhara Parishad comes after its huddle in Prayagraj earlier this month where it passed a formal resolution to launch a campaign to 'free' the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura. Hence, the VHP boss refusing to be drawn into the discourse looks extremely significant. However, the VHP has been careful not to object to the call by the Akhara Parishad, a very influential body. It seemingly excused itself by suggesting it has a "prime focus" to concentrate on and that is not "freeing" Kashi or Mathura, as of now. In the tumultuous years of the late 80s and 90s when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was peaking and the Babri structure was brought down, a slogan resonated across Uttar Pradesh that almost all the VHP's kar sevaks used to routinely raise, "Yeh to kewal jhanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki hai" (This is just a trailer, Varanasi and Mathura are still left). But nearly two and a half decades later, the VHP seems only half as excited, at least for now. (Anindya Banerjee can be contacted at Anindya.b@ians.in) By Liu Zhimin TIANJIN, Sept. 29 -- The third joint meeting on military-related legal rights protection was held in Tianjin in early September by the PLA Central Theater Command and the seven provinces (cities) where the Central Theater Command is located. The meeting summarized the work done by the PLA Central Theater Command and the local governments in safeguarding the interests related to national defense and the legal rights of soldiers and their families since last year. The meeting emphasized the need to formulate more complete mechanism, policies and regulations, so as to defend the national defense and military interests according to law and protect the legal rights of the military members and national defense-related personnel. At the same time, the meeting stressed that close military-local cooperation and strengthened supervision and inspection should also be carried out. In 2019, the PLA Central Theater Command and the seven provinces (cities) conducted special actions on military-related legal rights protection in major events, such as military training exercises, the National Day military parade, security work of 2019 Military World Games, etc. It is reported that about 2,340 law-related disputes were handled. The seven provinces (cities) have set up priority processing system in legal assistance for military personnel and their families, expanded types of legal aid cases, and recruited outstanding military and civilian lawyers in the judicial cooperation team, and so on. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 20:30:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Around one ton of crude oil has spilled into a river on the Russian Arctic Taimyr Peninsula, the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnoyarsk region said in a statement Tuesday. The accident occurred on Sunday, when during a storm, a temporary pipeline, through which a tanker was pumping crude oil to a warehouse, broke, causing the spill, polluting the local Khatanga River and the soil around it, the statement said. In order to establish the circumstances of the accident, a deputy prosecutor of the Taimyr Region went to the scene, it said. At the end of May, due to the depressurization of one of the reservoirs, some 20,000 tons of diesel were spilled at a metallurgical plant in Norilsk, which is also located on the Taimyr Peninsula, and a significant portion of the leaked fuel seeped into local rivers. Enditem NEW YORK An attorney for Clare Bronfman says the Seagrams' fortune heiress and longtime NXIVM executive is facing a possibly serious liver ailment" a condition he revealed less than two days before his client's sentencing for her crimes in Keith Ranieres cult-like organization. Bronfman, 41, is scheduling "medical follow-up visits, and we wanted the court to be aware of this situation," Bronfman's attorney, Duncan Levin, wrote in a letter Monday to the judge. "We also believe that this puts Clare at heightened health risk, given the status of the pandemic in the New York area." Bronfman, widely viewed as the financial muscle behind NXIVM and its operations director, will be sentenced Wednesday at 11 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the part-time Clifton Park resident faces 21 to 27 months in federal prison based upon her guilty pleas in 2019 to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain, and fraudulent use of identification. Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis is considering an "above guidelines" sentence that would bring Bronfman more jail time and federal prosecutors have asked him to impose a five-year term. In turn, Bronfmans new lawyers, hired in recent months, have said three years of probation is sufficient. As the sentencing rapidly approaches, her lawyer revealed Bronfman's illness. "Just four days ago, she was diagnosed by her doctor with a possibly serious liver ailment," Levin stated. Levin said Bronfmans alanine aminotransferase (ALT), an enzyme found in the liver and kidneys, is at a level that is twice what her doctor would like and expect to see. He did not ask that Bronfman's sentencing be postponed. Bronfman's lawyers also filed a sealed document with the court. More NXIVM podcasts here Bronfman, who has been staying in her Manhattan home on $100 million bond, has asked for multiple delays of her sentencing citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Raniere lawyers say NXIVM leader prevented crime, brought peace to Mexico Judge rejects NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's bid for new trial Lawyers for NXIVM's Clare Bronfman say she's being unfairly treated due to wealth Feds want Clare Bronfman to serve five years in prison Bronfman has not disavowed Raniere, 60, known within NXIVM as Vanguard, who is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 27 on his convictions for sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy and racketeering charges that include underlying acts of child exploitation and possession of child pornography, extortion, identity theft and fraud, among other crimes. Nominate your favorite people and places now Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Nominate your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4. Bronfman and her older sister, Sara Bronfman-Igtet, who was in NXIVM for years as well, are the daughters of late Seagrams tycoon Edgar Bronfman, whose opposition to the group angered Raniere. Bronfman's sister and her husband, Basit Igtet, their mother, Georgiana Havers and her husband, Nigel Havers, asked the judge in a letter to be able to view the sentencing virtually given restrictions due to COVID-19. The court's response was unknown as of Tuesday night. Barbara Bouchey, a former Raniere girlfriend and one-time senior member in NXIVM, is among the several people who will deliver victim statements at Bronfman's sentencing Wednesday. She emailed the Times Union a copy of her remarks. Bouchey said Bronfman, a former client of her financial planning company between 2005 and 2009, retaliated against her within 18 hours of Bouchey's resignation from NXIVM in 2009 through threats of litigation and criminal charges. "Little did I know that Keiths retaliation to silence me for being the first whistleblower would subject me to a decade of the most malicious, wrongful litigation known by any of my attorneys, which was all funded by Clare," she said. "The degree of pain and suffering due to their vexatious litigation has caused great devastation in my life, trauma, and irreparable damage to my professional reputation and business." Bouchey's financial losses were $14 million, she said. "Most have no idea the dear price that I paid over the years trying to expose, stop, hold them accountable, and bring about justice," she stated. Federal prosecutors have said Bronfman used her wealth to recruit immigrants usually women into NXIVM-related groups under the belief that they would get a scholarship or employment. They said Bronfman instead secured a work-force of individuals desperate to earn a living and dependent on her, NXIVM and Raniere for their continued legal status in the United States. Prosecutors also said Bronfman showed an astonishing lack of empathy for the financial struggles of others. They said she steered the immigrants to take classes at NXIVM when they were barely able to make money. Tourism C ourtney Robinson, the UK & European Regional Marketing Manager for the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board, recently travelled to the North East of Italy. There, along with tourism partner Sandals Resorts, Robinson participated in hosted seminars and sales cales in Cattolica, Rimini, Cervia, Dolo, Conegliano Veneto and Venice, Italy. The successful trip allowed tour operators and travel agencies to garner a full breath of Destination Turks and Caicos and the protocols and safety measures put in place for travellers and residents alike. During the events, 10 tour operators walked away with luxury gift bags filled with goodies ranging from Bambarra Rum Cake, Turks Island Roasters Coffee, Bambarra Jams, Caicos Teas, mini TCI Dolls along with an array of paraphernalia. The events were organised in conjunction with Tourist Board's Italian representation company, Interface Tourism. Technavio has been monitoring the commercial aircraft led lighting system market and it is poised to grow by USD 163.58 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005551/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied. While a few industries will register a drop in demand, numerous others will continue to remain unscathed and show promising growth opportunities. Technavio's in-depth research has all your needs covered as our research reports include all foreseeable market scenarios, including pre- post-COVID-19 analysis. Download a Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impacts Frequently Asked Questions- Based on segmentation by type, which is the leading segment in the market? The WCF LED lighting system is expected to be the leading segment based on type in the global market during the forecast period. What are the major trends in the market? Focus on passenger comfort boosting aircraft cabin retrofitting activities is one of the major trends in the market. At what rate is the market projected to grow? Growing at a CAGR of about 3%, the incremental growth of the market is anticipated to be USD 163.58 million. Who are the top players in the market? Astronics Corp., BAE Systems Plc, Diehl Stiftung Co. KG, Honeywell International Inc., Oxley Group, Raytheon Technologies Corp., Safran SA, SCHOTT AG, Soderberg Manufacturing Co. Inc., and STG Aerospace Ltd. are some of the major market participants. What are the key market drivers and challenges? Increasing demand for commercial aircraft is one of the major factors driving the market. However, the delays in aircraft delivery restraints the market growth. How big is the Europe market? The Europe region will contribute 36% of market growth. The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Astronics Corp., BAE Systems Plc, Diehl Stiftung Co. KG, Honeywell International Inc., Oxley Group, Raytheon Technologies Corp., Safran SA, SCHOTT AG, Soderberg Manufacturing Co. Inc., and STG Aerospace Ltd. are some of the major market participants. The increasing demand for commercial aircraft will offer immense growth opportunities. To make most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. View market snapshot before purchasing Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations. Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market is segmented as below: Type WCF LED Lighting System Reading LED Lighting System Lavatory LED Lighting System Geography North America Europe APAC South America MEA Application Narrow-body Aircraft Wide-body Aircraft Regional Aircraft To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR44414 Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market 2020-2024: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The commercial aircraft led lighting system market report covers the following areas: Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market Size Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market Trends Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market Analysis This study identifies focus on passenger comfort boosting aircraft cabin retrofitting activities as one of the prime reasons driving the commercial aircraft LED lighting system market growth during the next few years. Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Commercial Aircraft LED Lighting System Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist commercial aircraft led lighting system market growth during the next five years Estimation of the commercial aircraft led lighting system market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the commercial aircraft led lighting system market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of commercial aircraft led lighting system market vendors Table of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019-2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Application Market segments Comparison by Application Narrow-body aircraft Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Wide-body aircraft Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Regional aircraft Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Application Market Segmentation by Type Market segments Comparison by Type Reading LED lighting system Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Lavatory LED lighting system Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Type Customer landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Astronics Corp. BAE Systems Plc Diehl Stiftung Co. KG Honeywell International Inc. Oxley Group Raytheon Technologies Corp. Safran SA SCHOTT AG Soderberg Manufacturing Co. Inc. STG Aerospace Ltd. Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005551/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Weve got the best team working on behalf of the hospitals, healthcare systems, medical practices, and patients we serve," said said Relatient CEO, Michele Perry. I couldnt be more proud of how far weve come and where were headed. Industry-leading SaaS-based company, Relatient, announced it has been honored as one of Nashville Business Journals Best Places to Work for 2020. Earlier this week, Nashville Business Journal held a virtual celebration luncheon to remotely recognize employers in the Nashville area who received high scores and positive remarks from their employees. During the evaluation process, Relatient employees completed an anonymous survey that measured key engagement categories including team effectiveness, trust in senior leaders, and manager effectiveness. Companies are ranked based on their survey results and categorized by company size. Were so excited and honored to make Nashville Business Journals list of Best Places to Work, said Relatient CEO, Michele Perry. Weve got the best team working on behalf of the hospitals, healthcare systems, medical practices, and patients we serve. I couldnt be more proud of how far weve come and where were headed. Since getting its start in 2014, Relatient has grown quickly and now employs over 145 people between two offices located in Franklin and Cookeville, TN and several employees who permanently work remotely across 11 different states. Perry accepted the role of CEO in 2017 and has since established several programs to further employee engagement, like monthly All-Hands meetings, monthly Lunch n Learns, CEO Ask Me Anything sessions, birthday and holiday celebrations, an annual awards banquet, flexible work schedules and remote work opportunities, to name a few. Relatient transitioned quickly to a 100% work-from-home model in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans are being made to return to their Franklin and Cookeville offices when the risk is low enough to ensure the safety of their employees. About Relatient Relatient, Inc., the 2020 KLAS Category Leader in Patient Outreach, is a SaaS-based patient-centered engagement company that utilizes a modern and mobile-first approach to improve patient and provider communication. On behalf of U.S. medical practices and health systems, Relatient engaged patients with more than 132 million messages in 2019. Relatients platform integrates with over 85 practice management systems and electronic health databases to drive operational efficiency, appointments and reviews, reduce no-shows, speed patient payments, and improve patient satisfaction, all while supporting health and care quality initiatives. For more information, visit http://www.relatient.net. (Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A member of the media inspects the new iPhone 4 at the 2010 Apple World Wide Developers conference June 7, 2010 in San Francisco, California. Apple CEO Steve Jobs kicked off their annual WWDC with the announcement of the new iPhone 4. (Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Visitors inspect the new iPhone XR during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on September 12, 2018 in Cupertino, California. Apple released three new versions of the iPhone and an update Apple Watch. Apple is now speeding up the production period for its upcoming iPhone 12 model. Workers are now getting bonuses for staying months in production units, making them work for 24 hours a day, and introducing mandatory overtime for workers. Here's how much Apple pays to its production workers in the Foxconn plant. Apple pressures production units for upcoming iPhone 12 deadline In an exclusive report from South China Morning Post, Apple reportedly pays each iPhone 12 production worker an $880/per month salary. A salary bonus worth over $1,000 will be added once the worker stayed in the production unit for at least 90 days. Nearly $100 will be included if workers refer a new worker for the production. This is the current salary status of all working units in the iPhone 12 production team in China's biggest Foxconn plant, according to one of their employees Wang Guofeng. He revealed in an interview with SCMP that iPhone 12 production in the biggest Foxconn plant has been running at maximum capacity. "You can earn 5,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan (US$880) per month, and if you work at the factory for more than 90 days, there's a handsome amount of special pay," said the 33-year-old who has worked at the factory for over four years. Another employee, surnamed Ma, said the company had started night shifts, with production lines running 24 hours a day. "We have been kept so busy for the past weeks because of the iPhone 12," Ma said, referring to the new model that is expected to be unveiled next month. In exchange for the 'handsome' salary, workers need to stay in the production unit for at least 90 days or work for 24 hours a day. Each of them reportedly only has four days per month to take a day off. The report also revealed that Apple had introduced mandatory overtime to all workers in the production unit, even suggesting for them to skip the eight-day national holiday in China starting on Oct. 1. Once they comply, workers will receive overtime bonuses or special pay. When will Apple release iPhone 12 As of now, there are still no official dates for the release of the iPhone 12 series model. However, several reports already guessed the possible dates of its release, around Oct. 13 or 14. This might be the reason why Apple is now pushing its workers in China to maximize the production period. After all, the company already delayed its original iPhone release dates on the 2nd week of September. iPhone 12 series: What to expect No one still knows the exact models that will be released (possibly) on the 2nd week of October. Some say that only the iPhone 12 mini will be released on these dates. Apple is expected to release iPhone 12 mini: 5.4-inch, iPhone 12: 6.1-inch, iPhone 12 Pro: 6.1-inch, iPhone 12 Pro Max: 6.7-inch. This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Jamie Pancho 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain "Things are getting back to normal, even though it will never be like it was before," says a relieved Petunia Maseko, relaxing in a bar in South Africa's Soweto township. Africa has weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well in terms of infections and deaths, though its economies have been badly ravaged. While many nations ease their COVID-19 measures and citizens dare to breathe a little easier, experts are warning against letting the continent's success lapse into complacency. There was plenty of celebrating at The Black and White Lifestyle Pub in Soweto on Friday as the first weekend of spring coincided with South Africa's transition to its lowest level of lockdown. The continent's hardest-hit nation, South Africa has reeled under one of the world's strictest lockdowns. "It was tough staying in for six months without socialising," said Maseko, a 21-year-old engineering student wearing a brightly coloured Ndebele traditional outfit. But virus measures were followed, with masked revellers getting their temperatures checked at the bar's entrance. Sanitising gel in hand, 26-year-old DJ Tiisetso Tenyane was delighted to finally play in front of a live audience after months of live-streaming shows. "I've been craving to play for the people again," he said. He said that face masks are "the only sign left that there ever was a pandemic". On the rest of the African continent, daily life varies vastly between strict observance of health measures and total relaxation. 'Back to our habits' "We don't care about corona," Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said, oblivious to listening microphones, when he kissed a party official last month in front of thousands of people in clear defiance of virus restrictions. Although masks are still compulsory, that rule is "not respected anywhere or almost anywhere" in Ivory Coast, a health worker said on condition of anonymity. "The hysteria is gone and the state no longer communicates much about the subject". In DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, taking temperatures and washing hands are still the norm in the residential district of Gombe, which is also the city's diplomatic and economic centre. But in working-class communities, masks are being pushed down to the chin and people are shaking hands again. For many the latest buzz phrase is "corona eza te", which translates to "there is no corona" in the local Lingala. In West African's Burkina Faso, 43-year-old fish seller Ousmane Ouedraogo said he can't wear a mask forever. "We tried to wear it every day but it was the authorities who set the example by acting as if the disease was over. So we're going back to our habits," he said. Nobody uses the hand-washing station at the entrance to Guillaume Traore's restaurant in Burkina's capital Ouagadougou. "When you remind a customer, he tells you that the coronavirus does not exist," he said. In Chad and Gabon, many wear masks low down, covering only the mouth or just the chin, only to hastily lift them up when they come across the police. In churches, mosques and markets, people jostle into each other. In the evening, however, a strict curfew remains in place. 'Be very careful' In the megacity Lagos of Africa's most populous country Nigeria, civil servant Isiaka Okesanya said he now regularly forgets to wear his mask. "It's like God has helped us to get rid of the disease. We no longer read about those big figures of deaths," the 41-year-old told AFP. But Emmanuel Akinyemi, director of Lagos-based Estate Clinic, said that "coronavirus is real and is still very much around us". Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said last week that while Nigeria's daily infection figures have been trending downwards, "we unfortunately cannot afford to rejoice or speak of success". The World Health Organization's Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti said the continent has been spared "an exponential spread of COVID-19 as many initially feared". However John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that "we also have to be very careful that we do not over-project any successes". In West Africa's Senegal, life has almost returned to normal since June. This is in stark contrast to Rwanda, where one of the strictest lockdowns is still in place and police make arrests for "not wearing masks properly". In northern Africa, Morocco remains in lockdown, especially economic capital Casablanca, where large neighbourhoods are tightly sealed off. Eastern Africa's Kenya is meanwhile reopening its bars and allowing restaurants to sell alcohol again as infections drop. "We are the most vulnerable and fragile at the moment where we think we have won," President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday. "If we have won one battle against COVID-19, we have not yet won the war." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp are two of Hollywood's brightest stars but many have not known that the two are big fans of each other until recently. Both actors have also been part of headlines recently due to their failed marriages. Jolie is currently in a huge custody battle over her children with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. While the Pirates of the Caribbean actor is also facing his own trials with ex-wife Amber Heard. Jolie Smitten by Depp In Jolie's unauthorized biography, it was narrated how the Maleficent actress grew a fondness for Depp. It was noted that Jolie's love for knives and death has drawn her towards Depp after the actor portrayed Edward Scissorhands in a movie. It was also noted in the biography that her love for the film has also resulted in the actress being 'smitten' by Depp himself. According to Geo TV, at a young age, Jolie has been very fond of knives and even had a collection. It also came to a point when she aspired to become a director of a funeral parlor. Moreover, it was stated that the movie. "Edward Scissorhands" spoke to Jolie as she was drawn to its theme of self-discovery and alienation. Read also: Fact Check: Did Ellen DeGeneres Sought Plastic Surgery Following Workplace Scandal? 'The Tourist' In 2010, Jolie and Depp crossed paths after they co-starred in the movie, "The Tourist." Jolie and Depp played the role of lovers in Venice; however, the movie did not become very successful as it received several bad reviews. Despite this, the co-stars formed a friendship on set. Meanwhile, it was also stated that Jolie was not the only one smitten by Depp because the actor has also expressed admiration for Jolie during interviews for the film. Depp said that he was mesmerized by Jolie when he first met her, describing the time as a "breathless moment." During the filming, the two got along quickly and many have attributed this to the fact that they have a lot in common. In a statement, Depp even said that there is "innate chemistry" between him and Jolie. On top of this, Jolie has also stated that she always has wanted to work with Depp. She said that working with him was the coolest, reminiscing her years growing up having a crush on Edward Scissorhands. Depp Calls Jolie a "Walking Poem" Meanwhile, Depp also has nothing but good things to say about his former co-star. Despite the fact that they never dated, the Fantastic Beasts actor has described Jolie with such admiration. According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, in one of his interviews, Depp referred to Jolie as a "walking poem." He then described her as not just a perfect beauty but also smart, deep, clever, and funny. He also added that he admired Jolie's sense of humor. In addition, Depp also called Jolie an enchantress and "an unbelievably beautiful, cultured vixen." While both Jolie and Depp are currently facing issues regarding their marriages and have shared good words for each other, there has been no information on what their current relationship is. Related article: Bradley Cooper and Angelina Jolie Allegedly Having Secret Sleepovers @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 01:15:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JINAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Three educational programs for teenagers, rural residents and refugees won this year's UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province. The award-winners include: the "Inspirational Business Stories" program from Ghana; a "learning by teaching" literacy program from Mexico; and a Yemeni program offering literacy classes to help integrate refugees into Yemeni society. In a message of congratulations, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini praised the programs for opening new horizons for out-of-school youths, adults and communities, especially in rural areas. She also thanked the Chinese government for supporting the annual prize for the past 15 years. Giannini called for prioritizing education as part of the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is a time to show how literacy programs spread hope and give people the knowledge and skills to improve their lives," the UNESCO official said. The Confucius Prize for Literacy was established in 2005 to recognize the efforts of individuals, governments and NGOs in raising the literacy rate. An educator and philosopher, Confucius (551-479 B.C.) founded Confucianism, a school of thought that had a profound influence on later generations. He was also the first to set up private schools in China that enrolled students from different social classes. Monday marked the 2,571st anniversary of the ancient philosopher's birth, with ceremonies held online and in Confucius temples across China. Enditem Employees at Eskom Rotek Industries have gone on strike on Tuesday 29 September, protesting over a grievance with labour brokers. Rotek Industries is a maintenance support subsidiary for Eskom, and a number of the protesting workers are employed at the company on a part-time basis via labour brokers. Employees have accused newly-appointed labour brokers of not paying them in full following the removal of the old labour brokers which were responsible for the remuneration of many employees. The issue between the protesting employees and the power utility is currently before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha told MyBroadband that the power utility is aware of the protest action, which consists mostly of temporary employees. Eskom is aware of the protest action by workers employed by temporary employment service (TES) providers around power stations in Mpumalanga, Eskom said. The workers have raised a series of complaints against TES, including demands to be directly employed by Eskom on a full-time basis. Eskom is committed to a speedy and sustainable resolution of the issues raised. He added that there should be no disruption to the national power generation system. We have taken measures to minimize any disruptions to the production of electricity, and as such, Eskom does not expect there to be major problems with the production and supply of electricity, Eskom said. Labour unions call for executives to resign This follows after South Africas second-biggest labour union called for Eskoms board and senior management to resign as it rejected the finding that cleared the utilitys chief operating officer in an investigation over a contract that resulted in payment disputes. The unions called for this change following an investigation and court judgement on a payment dispute with contract Aveng which found COO Jan Oberholzer to be cleared of all wrongdoing. The South African Federation of Trade Unions argued that Eskoms findings didnt represent what was found in the investigations. It also objected to the treatment of a whistleblower who reported alleged wrongdoing to a government-convened judicial commission. Eskom noted last week that the grievance against Oberholzer had been closed, and it addressed the negative effect of unfounded allegations against senior executives. The Eskom board strongly condemns persistent, unfounded, and scurrilous allegations against Mr Oberholzer, which have not only served to distract managements attention away from the very critical job of correcting the poor performance of Eskoms generation plant but have also unnecessarily brought disrepute to Eskom and dragged the name of a key and dedicated employee into non-existing corruption scandals. The board wishes to affirm its full confidence in Mr Oberholzers integrity and will continue to lend him all the necessary support to enable him to fully perform his job at Eskom, Eskom said. Data residency capabilities are an integral part of delivering on the security requirements imposed by regulators and internal IT teams alike, says Mark Floisand, SVP product marketing, Coveo. Coveo, the leading relevance platform for search, recommendations and personalization, today announces the expansion of its cloud infrastructure to Europe and Australia. This allows multi-national organizations, bound by internal security policies and/or privacy laws, to be in full compliance while taking advantage of the Coveo Relevance Platform. The Coveo Relevance Platform provides an exceptional digital experience for more than 550 global organizations. The introduction of two new primary centers in Ireland and Australia, in addition to the United States, lets organizations have options on where their data is processed and stored. The addition of these two primary regions are a continuation of Coveos expanding infrastructure, says Laurent Simoneau, president and CTO, Coveo. In the past, we had added multiple regions to handle user queries to reduce latency and handle data replication. For Europe and Australia, we now have complete, independent, primary regions where 100% of the activities and data processing will remain within the region. Customers will have complete control in choosing their primary center. Regardless of region, Simoneau assures that all Coveo Data Centers are updated multiple times each day and always run the very latest version of the Coveo Relevance Platform. Data residency capabilities are an integral part of delivering on the security requirements imposed by regulators and internal IT teams alike, says Mark Floisand, SVP product marketing, Coveo. With data residency, it is far easier for organizations to control data usage and compliance, which helps you avoid unintentional violations and substantial fines in a world where the rules are constantly changing. Customers data privacy and security continue to be top priorities: Data is encrypted in-transit and at-rest, and the Coveo index is completely segregated from other customer data Coveo conducts meticulous self-assessments to verify internal controls and undergoes rigorous third-party audits Principles of zero trust are applied throughout our global cloud infrastructure forcing anything and everything, whether its inside the perimeter or out, within a service region or beyond, to authenticate before granting access Coveo offers customer support to help them meet obligations under the California Consumer Privacy Act, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), HIPAA About Coveo Coveo enables enterprises to thrive in the experience age, through delivering unique experiences that are relevant, unified, and valuable. The Coveo Relevance Platform uses AI, intelligent search and recommendation technologies to personalize millions of digital experiences for customers, partners, and employees, for many of the worlds most admired digital experience leaders. Coveo delivers solutions for Commerce, Service and the Workplace built on the Coveo Relevance Platform, with Coveo-accredited partners, and through Alliances with Salesforce, ServiceNow, Sitecore and more. Coveo and the Coveo Relevance Platform are trademarks of Coveo Solutions, Inc. Stay up to date on the latest Coveo news and content by subscribing to the Coveo blog, and following Coveo on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Thousands of Christians pray for San Diego's schools amid COVID-19 virtual learning Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Over 3,200 people from 98 partnering churches joined a prayer event in person and online Saturday to pray for the citys schools, youth and teachers. The event was the second We Pray San Diego gathering, following the first one in June that had focused on praying for both the healing of residents infected with COVID-19 and the citys racial tensions. Nearly 2,000 people attended the event in person while the remainder joined online. Interestingly enough, we have not had any big civil unrest in our city. Is that a direct result? Maybe not, said Daryl Nuss, 71, the special counsel to the CEO of National Network of Youth Ministries and a We Pray San Diego leader, to The Christian Post. But I think some of it can be attributed to the fact that people of faith were praying and are praying. During the event, Nuss and other participants prayed for an hour while listening on their cell phones to a prayer guide provided by Pastor Miles McPherson of San Diegos 19,000-member Rock Church. Nuss said he and 50 other people prayed outside the Poway Unified School Districts office while practicing social distancing. Back in July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that schools on the state's COVID-19 watch list needed to remain closed, which included San Diego County, and thus all educational instructions would be given virtually. San Diego as well as Los Angeles, the two largest public school districts in California, announced that month they would be holding online-only classes for the fall. The Saturday prayer meeting was built on years of working alongside San Diego schools, Nuss said. Over the past eight years, churches have built a relationship with local schools with projects like drug awareness programs. We have a real bond of trust, he said. This didnt happen out of the blue. Another event leader, Assistant Pastor Abel Isaac Ledezma of Centro Familiar Cristiano Church, said prayer topics included school, education, teachers, principals, students, and the education system. Californias school system is the ninth-worst in the nation because of low test scores, a high dropout rate and high number of pupils per teacher in the classroom, according to ranking site WalletHub. Basically, we were praying for our future, Ledezma said. I felt like this one was much needed. Getting parking for everyone was the events biggest challenge, Ledezma shared. But once We Pray San Diego found available parking lots, everything went smoothly. The peaceful church members had surprised people driving by, he said. They were a little confused because theyre used to seeing people with protest signs showing anger, but their faces started to change when they saw we were praying, he said. Its very different from what people are seeing nowadays. Attendees enjoyed the event and looked forward to the next time it would happen, Nuss said. I had an individual Saturday say, cant we do this once a week or once a month? he said. Both Nuss and Ledezma said the event gave the community a chance to see what the church stood for. In times when Christians often are known for what they oppose, it was an opportunity for believers to show love for their community. This is a positive way to let people know we believe in God, we believe in the power of prayer and were not afraid to pray on our streets, Ledezma said. Overall people have a positive response to prayer. During the planning process of this event I took some time to pray for the people who are driving by, that because they saw us praying it would lead to a domino effect in their spiritual life. The events prayer guides are still available online at wepraysandiego.com. They include contemplative music, reading from the Bible and prayer topic suggestions in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. Hachette BooksRob Halford's new memoir is called Confess, and that's just what the Judas Priest frontman does in the book, delving into his highlight-filled music career, while opening up about being a closeted gay man in the macho world of heavy metal, his struggles with alcohol and drugs, and more. Regarding whether he was apprehensive about exposing details of his personal life in the book, Halford tells ABC Audio, "This is the best wayfor me to present myselfand that's not really to varnish anything or just push something away." Rob compares writing Confess to the scene in The Wizard of Oz where "Toto pulls back the drapes" to reveal who the wizard really is. He notes that before he even signed the contract to do the book, he asked himself, "Do I really want to pull back the drapes?" Halford says he decided he had to be as "honest and open" as possible. "[W]riting an autobiography from the heart this way, it does you good," he tells ABC Audio. "Confession is good for the soul. That's what they say, right? So, it was that and everything else." One interesting and heart-wrenching aspect of his life that Rob discusses in the book is his decision to keep quiet about being gay during his initial Judas Priest tenure because he feared that coming out would hurt the band's career. Meanwhile, asked to list some highlights of his life as frontman of one of the world's most beloved metal bands, Halford mentions joining Judas Priest, making the group's first album, coming to America for the first time, playing the Day at the Green concert with Led Zeppelin in Oakland, California, in 1977, and playing 1985's Live Aid Festival. Confess is available in hardcover and as an audio book. By Matt Friedlander Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. A new survey by RUSI and ACAMS reveals how professionals in the cryptocurrency industry believe that governments are behind the curve on the perceived risks, opportunities and regulation of cryptocurrency. Key Findings: An overwhelming majority of respondents were concerned about the links between cryptocurrency and criminal activity. However, where other respondents ranked illicit purposes highly, the cryptocurrency industry ranked illicit purposes as the least common use. The cryptocurrency industry and other respondents were divided on their perceptions of cryptocurrency risk 63% of banks and 56% of governments saw cryptocurrency as a risk, as opposed to only 9% of the cryptocurrency industry. Asian financial institutions appear to be more friendly towards cryptocurrency than North American and European financial institutions (42% indicated easier use than fiat currency). All respondents believed that the use of cryptocurrency for day-to-day payments will increase in the next five years. Divided opinion on the perceived risk of cryptocurrency including the links between cryptocurrency and illicit purposes were among the key findings of a global survey -- the second commissioned by RUSI and ACAMS in partnership with YouGov and based on 566 unique responses from across the global financial and cryptocurrency industries, including cryptocurrency exchanges, financial regulators and financial intelligence units. While the survey reflects doubts about the abilities of government, the cryptocurrency industry is 'much more confident in their own tools and preparedness than other audiences,' to mitigate potential risks in the sector. Criminal activity remains top of mind for both governments and crypto industry professionals, with 70% of total respondents highlighting this as a concern. When asked to select any areas of concern, respondents overall indicated they are worried about the use of cryptocurrency for money-laundering (84%), on the dark web (84%), for procurement of illicit goods (83%) by sanctioned actors (82%), by terrorist organizations (79%), to fund human trafficking (76%), and in fraudulent initial coin offering (75%). However, the survey demonstrates a disconnect between governments and the industry on the nature of risks posed by cryptocurrency and ongoing concerns over the use of cryptocurrency for criminal activity. The cryptocurrency industry was notably less worried about each of the listed risks, considering only sanctions evasion as a high priority. The survey finds respondents split over whether they consider cryptocurrency a risk or an opportunity with significant gaps between government and financial industry perceptions and those directly involved in the crypto industry. The cryptocurrency industry largely believes that cryptocurrency transactions offer more transparency than traditional financial transactions, and that transactions are compatible with sanctions screening and compliance, while financial institutions and government disagreed. While cryptocurrency professionals are aware of the risks in their industry, other actors such as the media, politicians and the general public are less aware of the risks. Overall, there is a far higher likelihood (78%) that institutions will seek guidance from non-governmental organisations such as FATF, trade bodies, and blockchain associations, than from governments. Respondents of the survey are also of the view that governments are more likely to defer to international bodies (45%) over their own regulatory systems (35%). Kayla Izenman, research analyst, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, RUSI and co-author of the survey said, "The crypto industry appears to have a great amount of confidence in their own abilities to counter and detect risk, whereas government doesn't have nearly as much faith. Bridging this gap is essential, as all sectors agree that the use of cryptocurrency is on the rise, but we know there's no clear consensus on domestic regulatory action. This risks opening the door to illicit activities." Rick McDonell, executive director, ACAMS and former executive secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and co-author of the survey said, "The results of this survey give a unique global insight into how respondents from governments, financial institutions and the crypto industry itself think about cryptocurrency: its potential and its risks. Their views are well worth noting as policy making and regulatory enforcement continue to take shape around the world." Notes to editors The RUSI-ACAMS Cryptocurrency Risk Compliance Survey can be found here: Crypto Risk Survey The authors are: Kayla Izenman, research analyst, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, RUSI and Rick McDonell, executive director of ACAMS and former Executive Secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) About the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), is the world's oldest independent defence and security think tank. Its mission is to inform, influence and enhance public debate on a safer and more stable world. RUSI is a research-led institute, producing independent, practical and innovative analysis to address today's complex challenges. RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies is dedicated to addressing the challenges of financial crime and threat finance to the U.K. and international security and the important role finance can play in identifying and disrupting a range of globally-recognised threats. About ACAMS ACAMS is a member of Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), a leading workforce solutions provider headquartered in the United States. ACAMS is the largest international membership organization dedicated to enhancing the knowledge and skills of anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime professionals from a wide range of industries. Its CAMS certification is the most widely recognized AML certification among compliance professionals worldwide. Recent product offerings include the Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS), Certified Transaction Monitoring Associate (CTMA) and Certified Know Your Customer Associate (CKYCA) certifications. Visit acams.org for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005327/en/ Contacts: RUSI Jack Haines, jackh@rusi.org, +442077472620 ACAMS, Lashvinder Kaur, lkaur@acams.org, +44 7388 264478 New Delhi, Sep 29 : With the developers and payment gateway players criticising new Google in-app purchase policies where those using Play Store to sell digital services will be required to use the tech giant's own built-in payment system, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Tuesday announced it has called a meeting of its founder members very soon to deliberate on the situation. Google faced strong backlash from developers globally after it announced it will enforce its own in-built billing system, which charges a 30 per cent fee to all app developers. According to the IAMAI, as a payment aggregator, currently unlicensed but soon to be licensed in India, Google Billing System can choose which payment instruments it would work with and which ones it would not. "The new draft RBI guidelines on payment aggregators, too, allows for that freedom. The compounding factor for many founders is the current revenue sharing policy of the Play Store," it said in a statement. Google said in a blog post on Monday: "We have clarified the language in our payments policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods in their apps are required to use Google Play's billing system. The tech giant added it would give app developers a one-year grace period to adopt the system, while it will start enforcing the billing system on the Play store's new apps from January 20, 2021. "Just because Google owns the gate and the gateway to the digital ecosystem of this country, they should not act arbitrarily and enforce their rules and regulations which are contrary to our country's laws," said Vishwas Patel, Founder, CCAvenues and Chairman, Payments Council of India. "Also, they cannot force Indian apps developers/owners selling digital services to compulsorily use the Google Billing and payment system and charge 30 per cent MDR," he added. Google, on its part, clarified that the policy change will not affect the majority of app developers as nearly 97 per cent of those that sell digital goods already use the Play's billing system. "Google's stand in courts is that it does not need RBI authorisation as it is not a payment system operator and here it is mandating that Indian apps use only Google's proprietary Billing and Payment systems. Google should not exercise its dominant position, rather allow a level playing field for everyone in the ecosystem," Patel said. According to the IAMAI, prima Facie, Google's announcement today even if legal is certainly not innocuous. "For many founders of Indian start-ups, this brings back fears of the not so old deeply problematic revenue share model between VAS service providers (mainly digital goods) and telcos, it said. Telcos took up to 70 per cent revenue share from VAS companies on the pretext of discovery, marketing and collection. "In India, 98 per cent of people use mobile Internet and more than 90 per cent of people use Android phones, which gives Google control over many layers between customers and their service providers," the IAMAI stressed. Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 : The Election Commission decision not to hold bypolls for the two Assembly seats of Chavara and Kuttanad was welcomed in different quarters in Kerala on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Tikka Ram Meena told the media that the decision was on expected lines and was welcome. "I wrote to the EC in May about the situation here and followed up the matter a few times thereafter. Then came the decision taken at an all-party meeting. So, it's a good decision." An all-party meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier in September decided to urge the Election Commission not to hold by-elections. Leaders of different political parties maintained that those winning the two seats in the bypolls would get just a few months to work since the present Assembly's term ends in May 2021. Senior Congress leader AA Shukoor said that he welcomed the decision not to hold the bypolls to the two seats. "The coronavirus situation in Kerala is very serious. Had bypolls been held in such a situation, it would have become very difficult. Moreover, with winners getting just a few months to function as MLAs, it would have been a huge waste of resources," the former legislator said. A day after Jet Airways Committee of Creditors put off voting on the two bids, the Kalrock Capital-Murari Jalan consortium has shot off a letter to the lenders, highlighting what it says is "total disregard to the timelines set for final submission of the resolution plan." The Committee of Creditors, or CoC, consists of the lenders. Clearly unhappy with FSTC-led consortium revising its bid despite the deadline, Kalrock-Jalan side said, "We fear that the FSTC consortium has intentionally chosen to disregard timelines set by the Hon'ble CoC and act in a manner which suits them and gives them some strategic advantage in wanton disregard of the sanctity of the entire process." Expressing its "consternation and disappointment," the consortium said it doesn't need any more time to revise its bid. Instead, it called upon the CoC to consider the last resolution plans submitted by both the sides. Listen | Harley Davidson leaves Indian roads; a change in luck for Vodafone; Will Tata and Mistry come to the negotiating table? The FSTC-led consortium also has Big Charter, and Imperial Capital Investments. Both FSTC and Big Charter are led by aviator-turned-entrepreneur Sanjay Mandavia. Sources had earlier told Moneycontrol that the consortium led by FSTC had upped its offer on September 28, just before the CoC was to vote on the two bids. "The two sides have been given a few more days to resubmit their plans. They will be asked to make a presentation, and the voting will happen post that," a senior executive had told Moneycontrol. This clearly hasn't gone down well with the Kalrock-Jalan combine, which was said to have been leading the race. Signalling that it may now pull out, the consortium said: "With respect to our proposal, we request you to please consider our last offer, and vote on the plan before the end of this month, failing which, we will struggle to continue engaging meaningfully with the Hon'ble CoC in what is fast becoming an exercise being run on the terms that FSTC Consortium sets out rather than the Hon'ble CoC." Long drawn affair Jet Airways, which was grounded in April 2019, was later in June admitted to the National Company Law Tribunal. Since then, the CoC has met 16 times to discuss bids. Deadlines too have been put off multiple times. "There is no reason why the process has to befurther delayed. Look at how quickly the Virgin Australia sale was completed," said a senior executive from the industry. Virgin Australia had filed for bankruptcy in April this year. In early September, the airline's creditors approved private investment firm Bain Capital as the new owner. Bain Capital is expected to take over the reigns in October. "Just when major tech and financial entities are investing in India, including in Reliance Industries, we have an insolvency process that has dragged on for more than a year. This tarnishes the image," said the executive quoted above. While the Jet Airways CoC was now set to consider the revised bids for voting, one has to wait and see if the Kalrock-Jalan letter changes the circumstances, yet again. Polling for the Baroda assembly seat, which fell vacant upon the death of Congress MLA Sri Krishan Hooda on April 12, will be held on November 3, the Election Commission (EC) said on Tuesday. The votes will be counted on November 10. As per the Representation of People Act, an assembly byelection must be conducted within six months of creation of the vacancy. However, the bypolls were delayed due to the pandemic. Section 151-A of the Act provides that the EC, in consultation with the central government, can defer the byelection if it certifies that it is difficult to hold the polls within the said period. As per the schedule announced by the EC, a notification will be issued on October 10 and the nomination process will start on the same day. The last date for filing nominations is October 16. The nominations will be scrutinised on October 17. The last date for withdrawing is October 19. With the EC announcing the poll schedule, model code of conduct has been enforced in Sonepat. Earlier, Haryanas chief electoral officer had sent a report on the prevalence of Covid infection in the district. The district has around 8,000 cumulative cases and stands third in the state. As per the ECs broad guidelines for conduct of general and byelections amid the pandemic, there shall be a maximum of 1,000 electors instead of 1,500 at a polling station. Campaigning guidelines The EC has stipulated that only a group of five people, including the candidate, but excluding security personnel will be allowed to participate in door-to-door campaigning. During road shows, the convoy of vehicles must be broken after every five vehicles and the interval between two sets of convoys should be half-an-hour. The EC has decided to use electronic voting machines and a voter verifiable paper audit trail at all polling stations for the bypoll. Public gatherings and rallies can be held subject to adherence to Covid guidelines, the EC said. It will fall on the district election officer (DEO) and district superintendent of police to ensure the number of attendees does not exceed the limit prescribed by State Disaster Management Authority. The DEO has been directed to depute sector health regulators to ensure Covid guidelines are followed. The contesting parties and candidates have been asked to ensure all Covid-related requirements (face masks, sanitisers and thermal scanning) are fulfilled. Vancouver: Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou returned to a Canadian court on Monday to fight her extradition to the United States, where her lawyers argued she only needs to show supporting evidence to add a new allegation of US abuse of process to the case. The scheduled five days of so-called Vukelich hearings will help the judge to ultimately decide whether there is an "air of reality" or possibility that Meng's accusations are valid, and allow the defence to argue the additional allegation. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, on her way to the Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday. Credit:Bloomberg Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from the US charging her with bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran and causing the bank to break US sanction law. Meng, the daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition from her house arrest in Vancouver. Alfio Gaglianese, 85, who brought a showmans flair to his restaurants by infusing his tableside Caesar salads with a heavy side of shtick, died Friday, Sept. 25, at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in East Norriton after a short illness. He lived for many years in Roslyn and Plymouth Meeting before moving with his wife of 60 years, Elsa, into Shannondell, a retirement community in Audubon, Montgomery County. To a generation of restaurant patrons in Center City at Da Vinci and later at his Alfios restaurants, first in Jenkintown and later in Glenside, Mr. Gaglianese embodied the picture of the Old World maitre d' suave and debonair in his 40-short tuxedo, and possessing all the tools of the trade: a photographic memory, quick wit, ready cigarette lighter, and numerous coin and handkerchief magic tricks. Mr. Gaglianese most notably was the master of the Caesar salad, which he learned to make as a young man in Argentina. He measured his productivity by the enormous wooden salad bowls he went through. At a couple hundred salads each week, he estimated in 1995, his bowl would develop a hole in its bottom about every two years. Mr. Gaglianeses son Richard said his father will be cremated with a bowl and a fork. He was a character," he said. "Hed rather us being laughing than crying. Mr. Gaglianese was in good general health until last month, his son said, entertaining customers at Anas Corner Store in East Norriton, his daughter Ana Ferrys deli. Alfios menu in Glenside reflected his sense of fun. One signature dish was called Alfios First Wife, which was veal medallions with crabmeat, asparagus spears, and mozzarella in marinara with a side of angel hair pasta. When customers raised an eyebrow, he explained that his first wife was indeed his current and only wife. After he and Elsa renewed their vows in 2010, on their 50th anniversary, he introduced her as his first and second wife, their son said. His whole life was family, Richard Gaglianese said. Ferry said he was told just hours before his death that her daughter, Shannon Dillon, had delivered Jameson, his first great-grandson. My father already met the baby on his way to heaven, she said. Richard Gaglianese described his father as tough but fair when we were growing up. He wanted you to be better, just like he was. He picked one thing he was good at, and he made it better. Mr. Gaglianese was born Feb. 18, 1935, in San Pietro Apostolo, Italy. At 19, he, his father, and two brothers moved to Argentina. Mr. Gaglianese worked in a factory a job he didnt mind, he said in a 1980 interview. When I was through, I would come home and my hands were all filthy and the dirt would stay under my nails and then when I would dress up and take out the pretty girls I would feel that I could not look good compared to how delicate they were, he said. During a strike at the factory, he took a job at an elegant restaurant and was enthralled with the clientele. Mr. Gaglianese married Elsa Ronelli in 1960 and they had five children, adopting his brothers son Fernando in the mid-1990s when his parents died. The Gaglianese family moved to the Philadelphia area in 1963, and Mr. Gaglianese couldnt speak English. He found work as a groundskeeper at Morris Arboretum seven days a week for $67, he said. As he picked up the language, he got a job as a busboy at a Center City hotel and later became a waiter and then maitre d' at Da Vinci, a white-tablecloth Italian restaurant at 2007 Walnut St., now the site of the Irish Pub. In the 1980 interview, while at Da Vinci, he rued the state of waiting tables. Most of the waiters today, they dont want to learn anything, he said. They just want to take your order and go into the kitchen and have a little coffee or something and make their money and go home. They are not proud of the job. You have to be proud of your job. When Da Vinci closed in 1983, the Gaglianeses, with Elsa in the kitchen, converted a luncheonette in the old Benson East in Jenkintown into a restaurant. They moved Alfios into a converted house on Limekiln Pike in Glenside in 1987. The children all worked for him. After closing Alfios in 2002, he helped out at various restaurants owned by friends. Until recently, he put on a tux one weekend a month and made salad at Anas Corner Store. Besides his son Richard and daughter Ana Ferry, he is survived by his wife, Elsa; sons Alberto and Fernando; daughters Beatriz and Liliana; 14 grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Services: Viewing will be 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at Epiphany of Our Lord, 3050 Walton Rd., Plymouth Meeting. Mass, which will be livestreamed, will follow. The art of the Caesar salad, according to Alfio Gaglianese Though Mr. Gaglianeses patter was unique, his salad technique was straightforward: Use a fork to crush a medium garlic clove against the sides of the bowl, add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, black pepper, and several anchovy fillets, and then sweep the fork against the sides of the bowl to create a paste. (A true Caesar salad, Mr. Gaglianese said, should not have whole anchovies, and any large garlic chunks should be discarded.) Next comes the juice of half a lemon, which hed squeeze fresh, followed by a whole raw egg (this was optional), a teaspoon of dry mustard, and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Mix well. Add leaves of cold romaine lettuce, which hed shred with the forks. To finish, add croutons and perhaps grated Romano cheese, which Mr. Gaglianese preferred over Parmesan. The art of the waiter, according to Alfio Gaglianese When you go into a restaurant and sit down, the waiter should be right there," Mr. Gaglianese said in 1980. "If you take out a cigarette, he should be there with a light. He should ask if anyone would like a drink. You dont say something like, Do you want anything from the bar? When you come with drinks, you should never say Who ordered the martini? A good waiter has a good memory. He knows who ordered the martini. If you have five or six people at a table, you should remember them all. When I come out of the kitchen, I have the plates for the table already arranged in the order I will put them down. I always start with the lady. If there is no lady, you should start with the oldest man. You should know from your own experience every dish on the menu. If there is a special for that day you should go into the kitchen and taste it. If it is no good, you dont have to say anything to the chef, but you should not recommend it. People will not come back if you recommend something bad. If someone does not like the food, you ask them what is wrong, then you get them something else. You never argue with a customer; you just replace the dish. The Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is of the view that the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) will seriously disrupt response to HIV/AIDS and other viral diseases in Ghana and other African countries. According to the NGO, attention on HIV/AIDS has now been shifted to that of the COVID-19, hence affecting resources and response programmes meant for HIV/AIDS. Speaking in an interview with Graphic Online after distributing food and sanitary items to some orphans and adolescents with HIV in Accra and its environs, the Director for International Symposium on AIDS and Associated Cancers in Africa (now International Conference on AIDS & STIs in Africa), Mr. Luc Armand Bodea, said a six-month complete disruption in HIV treatment could cause more than 500,000 additional deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over the next year (20202021), bringing the region back to 2008 AIDS mortality levels. He explained that Even a 20% disruption could cause an additional 110 000 deaths, adding that The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted and limited HIV response and for that matter has increased the plight and burden of people living with HIV. Mr Bodea who is also the Coordinator for the SAA said although there was the need to fight COVID-19, it was also important not to lose focus on HIV response programmes. The focus and attentions of governments have shifted from other diseases including HIV/AIDS to mainly the fight against covid-19 pandemic, he said, pointing out that a joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the AIDS response and could disrupt it more. Beneficiaries The places that the SAA team visited with food and sanitary items included Lekkma Hospital, La Polyclinic, Princess Marie Louise Children's Hospital, Tema General Hospital, NAP+ Office and Ogbojo Polyclinic. The visit to the various places was facilitated by Hephzichildren Foundatio; Worldwide International Youth Fountion, Nyame Bekyere Youth Foundation, and NAP+. The rationale for the exercise, he explained, was to alleviate and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on PLHIV; contribute to the prevention of COVID-19 among PLHIV and to raise awareness of PLHIV on preventive measures on COVID-19. He said the emergence of the Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic and its attributed impact on the vulnerable in our society, such as people living with HIV, adolescent girls, women and the aging cannot be over looked, he stated. Mr Bodea also urged PLHIV to observe all safety protocols regarding the COVID-19 prevention in order not to compound their health problems with that of COVID-19. He therefore commended the government of Ghana, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Ghana), the Canadian High Commission and other key partners and stakeholders for supporting the initiative. Background The Society for AIDS in Africa was founded in 1989 at the fourth International Symposium on AIDS and Associated Cancers in Africa (now ICASA) held in Marseille, France by a group of African scientists, activists and advocates in response to the HIV epidemic. As part of its mandate, SAA organizes the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), the largest conference on HIV/AIDS and emerging viral diseases in Africa. It is organized every two years. Source: graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SELBYVILLE, Del., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on the earthmoving equipment market, which estimates the market valuation for earthmoving equipment will cross US $91 billion by 2026. The market is anticipated to grow rapidly, owing to the increasing deployment of advanced earthmoving equipment in construction and mining applications. Increasing awareness related to worker safety and the requirements for the fast completion of projects is driving the adoption of earthmoving machines. Earthmoving Equipment Market size is set to be over USD 91 billion by 2026, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. The market growth of earthmoving equipment is restricted due to the escalating spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. Several large construction projects have been suspended due to a shortage of capital, labor, and raw materials. However, the earthmoving equipment market is expected to grow with the reduction of the pandemic impact in the second half of 2021. Request for a sample of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/408 The backhoe segment is expected to witness a steady demand in the earthmoving equipment industry. The growth can be attributed to the increasing deployment of backhoes in digging applications for roadbuilding purposes. Increasing investments in the development of road infrastructure across the globe are driving the segment share. For instance, in March 2019, the Indian government announced its plans to invest approximately USD 15 billion in the development of national highways in the country. The European earthmoving equipment market is forecast to witness rapid growth due to the increasing public infrastructure construction activities in countries including Germany, Italy, the UK, and France. For instance, in November 2019, the government of Germany announced the opening of a new bridge connecting the German regions of Hunsruck and Eifel. The government invested an amount of approximately USD 535 million for the construction of this bridge. Leading players in the market are engaged in establishing strategic partnerships and collaborations with other industry players to gain a competitive edge in the industry. For instance, in June 2020, Doosan Bobcat announced its partnership with Ainstein AI, Inc. to develop radar sensing systems for its earthmoving and construction equipment. This sensing technology integrated with Bobcat equipment will aid users to detect objects on construction sites. Browse key industry insights spread across 160 pages with 111 market data tables and 21 figures and charts from the report, "Earthmoving Equipment Market Share & Forecast, 2020-2026" in detail, along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/earthmoving-equipment-market Some major findings in the earthmoving equipment market report include: Rapidly growing industrialization and urbanization have led to an increasing number of infrastructure projects, augmenting the demand for earthmoving equipment across the globe. The positive outlook of underground and surface mining industries in developing economies is expected to support the demand for excavators, compacting equipment, dozers, and motor graders. Increasing private sector investments in mining projects will further augment the market size. The Latin America earthmoving equipment is anticipated to grow steadily owing to the increasing government investments in the development of the manufacturing sector. earthmoving equipment is anticipated to grow steadily owing to the increasing government investments in the development of the manufacturing sector. Earthmoving equipment industry players are laying an emphasis on strategic product launches and partnerships to increase their market share and expand their business operations. Key players operating in the earthmoving equipment market include Bobcat, Komatsu, Ltd., Caterpillar, Hitachi Construction Machinery Company, Terex Group, Sany Group, XCMG, and Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. Browse the complete report's table of contents at https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/earthmoving-equipment-market Partial chapters of the report's table of contents (TOC): Chapter 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Earthmoving equipment industry 360 synopsis, 2015 - 2026 2.1.1. Business trends 2.1.2. Product trends 2.1.3. Application trends 2.1.4. Regional trends Chapter 3. Industry Insights 3.1. Industry segmentation 3.2. Impact of COVID-19 on earthmoving equipment industry landscape 3.2.1. Global outlook 3.2.2. Regional impact 3.2.2.1. North America 3.2.2.2. Europe 3.2.2.3. Asia-Pacific 3.2.2.4. Latin America 3.2.2.5. MEA 3.2.3. Industry value chain 3.2.3.1. Research & development 3.2.3.2. Manufacturing 3.2.3.3. Marketing 3.2.3.4. Supply 3.2.4. Competitive landscape 3.2.4.1. Strategy 3.2.4.2. Distribution network 3.2.4.3. Business growth 3.3. Industry ecosystem analysis 3.3.1. Component suppliers 3.3.2. Technology providers 3.3.3. Manufacturers 3.3.4. End-use landscape 3.3.5. Distribution channel analysis 3.3.6. Vendor matrix 3.4. Technology & innovation landscape 3.5. Regulatory landscape 3.5.1. North America 3.5.2. Europe 3.5.3. Asia-Pacific 3.5.4. Latin America 3.5.5. MEA 3.6. Industry impact forces 3.6.1. Growth drivers 3.6.1.1. Government investments in infrastructure development in North America 3.6.1.2. Growing demand for technologically advanced equipment in Europe 3.6.1.3. Rapidly growing urbanization & industrialization in Asia-Pacific 3.6.1.4. Positive outlook of mining industry in Latin America 3.6.1.5. Smart city development initiatives in MEA 3.6.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges 3.6.2.1. High initial and maintenance cost of earthmoving equipment 3.7. Growth potential analysis 3.8. Porter's analysis 3.8.1. Supplier power 3.8.2. Buyer power 3.8.3. Threat of new entrants 3.8.4. Threat of substitutes 3.8.5. Internal rivalry 3.9. PESTEL analysis Browse related report: Construction Equipment Rental Market Size By Product (Earthmoving & Road Building Equipment [Backhoes, Excavators, Loaders, Compaction Equipment], Material Handling & Cranes [Storage & Handling Equipment, Engineered Systems, Industrial Trucks, Bulk Material Handling Equipment], Concrete Equipment [Concrete Pumps, Crushers, Transit Mixers, Asphalt Pavers, Batching Plants]), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2020 - 2026 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/construction-equipment-rental-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: [email protected] Related Images earthmoving-equipment-market-size.png Earthmoving Equipment Market Size Worth $91B by 2026 Earthmoving Equipment Market size is set to be over USD 91 billion by 2026, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Related Links Dump Trucks Market Telehandler Market SOURCE Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.aish.com/j/f/A-Brief-History-of-Jewish-Pirates.html Yes, they actually existed! Did you hear the one about the Jewish pirate? Yes, I know, its the perfect topic for numerous jokes, but in this case, believe it or not, there actually were Jewish pirates. No, really! I realize that that sounds as far-fetched as Amish mixed martial arts fighters, but I kid you not. In fact, Edward Kritzler wrote a book about them. Its title: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge. And you thought your family was aggressive? I was stunned to discover that this is not a humor book! Kritzler appears to be dead serious about the topic, at least according to the books description: In this lively debut work of history, Edward Kritzler tells the tale of an unlikely group of swashbuckling Jews who ransacked the high seas in the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition. At the end of the fifteenth century, many Jewish pirates came from families of refugees who had been expelled by Spain and Portugal. They took to piracy as part of a strategy of revenge on the Iberian powers (though lining their pockets with Spanish doubloons was no doubt also a motive). Many of these pirates mixed traditional Jewish lifestyles with their exploits on the high seas. Hey, Yitzhak, as soon as youre done swabbing the deck, we need you four our minyan. The most adventurous among them took to the seas as freewheeling outlaws. In ships bearing names such as the Prophet Samuel, Queen Esther, and Shield of Abraham, they attacked and plundered the Spanish fleet while forming alliances with other European powers to ensure the safety of Jews living in hiding. Filled with high-sea adventuresincluding encounters with Captain Morgan and other legendary piratesJewish Pirates of the Caribbean reveals a hidden chapter in Jewish history as well as the cruelty, terror, and greed that flourished during the Age of Discovery. Well, it may be a work of history, and the Jewish pirates may have actually existed, but it sure seemed overflowing with humorous potential to me. In fact, I could picture the flyers nailed to trees and taverns, attempting to recruit Jewish pirate ship crew members: AHOY, JEWS FLEEING THE SPANISH INQUISITION: Are you in a hurry to leave? Have you no place to go? Have you no source of income? Do you enjoy fresh air? Do boat rides appeal to you? Do the words pillage, plunder, and enslave vaguely excite you? Then why not consider a life of adventure on the high seas as a Jewish pirate? You can still pray and keep kosher, as long as youre not the wimpy seasick type. Anyway, were hiring! Come see Captain Shlomo, at Dock 7 this Thursday between 3-6 pm. Bring a resume and your passport. Well provide the bagels, lox, and rugelach. Until recently, history books rarely noted the exploits of Jewish pirates, despite their apparent and surprising prevalence and success, but historical graveyards unearthed in the Caribbean within the last decade revealed tombstones with Stars of David, Hebrew, and skull and crossbones insignia. Other tombstones engravings were dead giveaways: Yo ho ho and a bottle of Manishewitz. You try keeping a yarmulke on during a severe storm at sea! Rather than the term pirate, my rabbi suggested persuasive acquirer of merchandise and occasional people. In fact, the history of Jewish pirates goes much further back than the Spanish Inquisition. Josephus, the Italian-Jewish historian, mentions Jewish pirates operating in the seas off the Land of Israel in Roman times. There is a drawing of a pirate ship inside High Priest Jason's Tomb in Jerusalem. In its last days, the Seleucid Empire (the one fought by the Maccabees) was plagued by Jewish and Arab pirates. So, apparently, pirate had long been a Jewish career option, along with doctor, lawyer, accountant, and dreidel manufacturer. The fact that some Jews seemed to have taken so easily to the pirate lifestyle may have been due in part to other skills developed by Jews over the centuries. Cartography (the science or practice of drawing maps), for example, was considered a Jewish specialty in the 15th and 16th centuries, and Christopher Columbus is believed to have consulted the work of a Jewish cartographer, Abraham Cresque of Mallorca, who produced the Catalan Atlas in 1375. Portuguese Jewish cartographers and scientists contributed to Vasco Da Gama's voyage of discovery to the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. Jews also worked on ships as navigators. Stand-up comedy was to come later, but no doubt they were gathering material for it during these times. The most famous of the Caribbeans Jewish pirates, or privateers, was Moses Cohen Henriques or as he might be known today, The Notorious MCH. His name is of Portuguese origin. Like many of his contemporary buccaneers, Henriquess life is shrouded in mystery. Did he have a bar mitzvah? Did he celebrate Shabbat on board? What were his hobbies and interests? Was he vegan? What we do know, however, is that together with Dutch folk hero Admiral Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Henriques captured a Spanish treasure fleet off Cubas Bay of Matanzas in 1628. The booty of gold and silver bullion amounted to a staggering 11,509,524 guilders, worth around $1 billion in todays currency. It was the Dutch West Indies Companys greatest heist in the Caribbean. Do you have any idea how long it would have taken Moses to make that money if he had become a doctor as his parents hoped? I calculated it seven thousand three hundred and twenty seven years. Hence, his motivation to become a pirate. The best-known, most charismatic and most influential of all Jewish pirates, the Kobe Bryant of pirates, was Jean Lafitte, the historical figure known for his key role in Andrew Jacksons success at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. In the controversial Journal of Jean Lafitte, he claims that his mother's father was a Spanish Jew. During his life, he acted as a soldier, sailor, diplomat, merchant, and much more demonstrating natural gifts for leadership. Sources indicate that Lafitte was sharp and resourceful, but also handsome and friendly, enjoying drinking, gambling, and other extra curricular activities. He was known to adopt more aristocratic mannerisms and dress than most of his fellow privateers. He most likely would have been quite comfortable wearing Jerry Seinfelds puffy shirt. After the battle of New Orleans, Lafitte returned to pirating and eventually set up a pirate community on Galveston Island. Today, pirates still exist, and no doubt there are a few Jewish pirates as well, though they have trouble overcoming that obstacle on JDate. New Delhi, Sep 29 : A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application filed by freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. Denying him bail, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who is an important brick in the fourth pillar of democracy, decides to act with the intention to destabilise and negatively impact the sustainability and survival of democracy, it would be darkest day in the free press movement. "The preliminary electronic evidence collected by the investigating agency points towards involvement of the accused in commission of offence under the Officials Secrets Act. I am satisfied that if accused Rajeev Sharma is released on bail at this stage, he may attempt to hamper the investigation. Accordingly, bail application stands dismissed," the court order said. On September 14, Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61, for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. During the search of his house, a laptop, some confidential documents related to Indian defence and incriminating papers were seized. He is currently in judicial custody. Sharma had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that he is suffering from various ailments, which include acute sinus problems, has undergone two surgeries for sinus and is at a high risk of Covid-19. The prosecution had vehemently opposed his bail plea, claiming that the accused received huge sums of money from some companies and cash was collected on behalf of the accused from such companies. The Additional Public Prosecutor further submitted that the source of secret documents found in the possession of the accused is yet to be established, and his alleged foreign handlers are also to be traced. The present case was registered on the basis of secret inputs received from Indian intelligence agencies about links of Sharma with foreign intelligence officers and that he was receiving funds, through hawala and Western Union monet transfer, from his foreign handlers for conveying sensitive information on national security and foreign relations. A case under Sections 3 (possession of any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information, which relates to munitions of war), 4 (Communications with foreign agents) and 5 (Wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act was registered on September 13 and Sharma arrested the next day. On interrogation, Sharma allegedly disclosed his involvement in the procurement of secret and sensitive information and conveying the same to his Chinese handlers Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digital channels. He is also said to have further disclosed that he was about to send these recovered secret documents to his handlers. After Sharma's arrest, Chinese woman Qing Shi and her Nepalese partner Sher Singh alias Raj Bohra were also arrested as they were found supplying Sharma with huge amounts of money, routed through hawala channels, for conveying sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. K uwaits 91-year-old ruler Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah has died, according to state television reports. State television announced Sheikh Sabah's death on Tuesday after playing Koranic prayers. An Emri official said: "With great sadness and sorrow, the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world mourn the death of the late His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, emir of the state of Kuwait who moved to the realm of the Lord." After ruling the Gulf Arab state since 2006, Sheikh Sabah is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. Earlier this year in July, Sheikh Sabah was flown to the US for medical treatment following surgery for a condition in Kuwait. Authorities did not say what was wrong with him. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah waves upon his arrival to open the parliament's new term at the Gulf emirate's National Assembly in Kuwait City in 2019 / AFP via Getty Images Condolence messages poured in for the great humanitarian leader. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: Through his work as Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and later Amir he has made a personal contribution to regional stability and humanitarian assistance which will long be remembered. I sincerely hope the long and deep ties that unite our countries will continue, and through our cooperation and friendship we can contribute to peace, prosperity and justice in the world. I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the Al Sabah family and people of Kuwait. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described him as a great humanitarian leader and a true friend of the United Kingdom. Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah (right), 91, the ruler of Kuwait, with The Duke of Cambridge (left) at the Bayan Palace, Kuwait City / PA Tony Blair, who was the UK prime minister when the emir took power in 2006, said: The Emir was a man of profound compassion, humanity and dignity who all his life worked tirelessly for the best interests of his country and the region. He was deeply respected across the Middle East. He showed courage at the time of the invasion of Kuwait and wisdom in rebuilding his nation afterwards. His passing will be greatly mourned. Sheikh Sabah was known for his diplomatic efforts to resolve a long-standing dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. His 2006 ascension in Kuwait came after parliament voted unanimously to oust his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, nine days into his rule. As Kuwaits ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and see-sawing crude oil prices that hit a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies. Duke of Cambridge arrives in Kuwait on Royal visit Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait, said: He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs. No question he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and more brash young princes holding power today. Kuwait has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves and it has been ruled by the Sabah family for the past 260 years. The countrys greatest crisis came in 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the nation for seven months. Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attending the 28th Ordinary Summit of the Arab League at the Dead Sea in 2017 / REUTERS Fleeing with other Kuwaiti officials to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Sabah collapsed and lost consciousness at one particularly stormy meeting of Arab leaders. On February 24 1991, US troops and their allies stormed into Kuwait. It ended 100 hours later, and America suffered only 148 combat deaths during the whole campaign, while more than 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed. Even before the US entered Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah and others had been suggesting a permanent American presence in the region might provide protection from Iraq and others. One learns from the past and learns about it for the future, Sheikh Sabah reportedly said. One has to consider arrangements that would make not only my country stable but make the whole area stable. Today, Kuwait hosts 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan, south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of US Army Central. A long-time widower, Sheikh Sabah lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, which was named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. He is survived by two sons. Additional reporting by Associated Press. SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA Sacramento County met the requirements for two consecutive weeks to move from the purple to the red tier on California's COVID-19 risk assessing blueprint Tuesday. The county recorded a 4.6 percent positivity rate over a week-long period and will now move forward with reopening. Im grateful to all of our public health professionals and especially the people of Sacramento County for heeding all the necessary directives to ensure we slow the virus and save lives together, said Board Chairman and First District Supervisor Phil Serna in a statement Tuesday. As of Tuesday, Sacramento County had a daily case rate of 6.6 per 100,000 and positivity rate of 4.6 percent for the second consecutive week. If the county can remain in the red tier for two weeks, elementary and secondary schools can reopen for in-person instruction. The following sectors are now permitted for outdoor operations: Family Entertainment Centers (e.g. bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages and arcades) Cardrooms, satellite wagering Wineries Bars, pubs, brewpubs, breweries and distilleries may operate outdoors, only if they offer sit-down, outdoor meals Indoor operations may expand in these businesses and services: Gyms and fitness centers (maximum 10% capacity) Hair salons and barbershops Movie theaters (maximum 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer) Museums, zoos, aquariums (maximum 25 percent capacity) Nail salons and physician-ordered electrolysis operations Personal care services (e.g. body waxing, estheticians) Places of worship (maximum 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer) Professional sports (without live audiences) Restaurants (maximum 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer) (Sacramento County Recommends: Only members of a household should eat together inside a restaurant) Shopping centers (e.g. malls, destination centers, swap meets, excluding food courts and common areas) (maximum 50 percent capacity) Story continues Across California The state moved 10 counties total into lower tiers of the state's four-tiered COVID-19 risk blueprint Tuesday, California Department of Public Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced in an afternoon news conference. While Ghaly mentioned that hospitalizations were up, cases overall were still on the decline as the state reported a record low 2.8 percent positivity rate over a 14 day period, and reported that test results were being processed faster with most receiving results in just over one day. Ghaly announced 2,162 cases reported statewide Tuesday and about 128,693 COVID-19 tests administered on a daily average. Seven counties, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Yolo, were moved into the red tier or substantial tier, below the worst tier, the widespread purple tier. Ghaly said Los Angeles County met the criteria for the red tier last week but missed it this week. Ventura County found itself in a similar situation. Amador, Calavaras and San Francisco counties have moved into the orange tier, which allows schools to reopen fully for in-person instruction and restaurants may open indoors at 50 percent capacity or host 200 people whichever is fewer. Mariposa county moved last week to the yellow tier, minimal risk and is one of just three counties in the minimal tier. Within this tier, restaurants bars can open indoors at 50 percent capacity, schools may fully reopen and fitness centers may reopen at 50 percent capacity. Ghaly repeatedly emphasized yet again that the "slow and stringent approach," was necessary to keep the state on a steady downward trajectory. "Our whole approach with slow and stringent comes from the lessons we learned in early spring and summer when businesses had just reopened, but were forced to close their doors..." he said. As for any updates on opening theme parks and the upcoming Halloween holiday, Ghaly said that guidelines were coming. Statewide, outdoor playgrounds were reopened to the public Monday following guidelines for local officials and visitors. Ghaly announced last week that Nail salons would be able to reopen indoors after months of closure and in some cases, offering manicures outdoors. Ghaly also warned of the upcoming flu season mixing with the presence of the common cold in the fall. He warned that those who fall ill to normal seasonal viruses may become confused and believe they have coronavirus. To combat this, Ghaly urged Californians to get a flu shot and continue wearing a mask in social situations. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Bay Area was already seeing influenza cases. This article originally appeared on the Sacramento Patch CLEVELAND, OhioAbout 500 chanting, sign-wielding demonstrators against President Donald Trump gathered and marched on Clevelands East Side late Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University. The gathering, put together by left-leaning organizers, included people calling attention to issues ranging from racial justice to inequality at the Cuyahoga County Jail, though all voiced a dislike of the president. After gathering at the Wade Oval, the crowd marched up Martin Luther King Drive and around the Cleveland Museum of Art before returning down East Blvd. to where they began. Malia Lewis, a 54-year-old Cleveland Heights resident, showed up to the rally with a sign reading >$750, a reference to a recent New York Times report that Trump paid only $750 per year in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. When asked if shes been protesting a lot, Lewis said, Yeah, its been a busy summer. Cleveland Police getting in position along Carnegie Avenue not far from debate site. pic.twitter.com/Ws8HGDe0G8 Peter Krouse (@PeterKrouse) September 29, 2020 Molly Garfield, a 61-year-old Cleveland resident, said shes been active against police brutality for many years. I feel very passionately that Trump is a disaster, Garfield said. And Im very passionate about racial justice and against capitalism. Garfield said while shes critical of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, she intends to vote for him. Im not thrilled with the choices, she said. Asked what she wants the candidates to take away from the demonstrations, Garfield said, I want them to see that theres a strong section of the population that feels very strongly about racial justice. Demonstrators hold signs and "Baby Trump" balloons during a protest at Wade Oval on Tuesday evening ahead of the first presidential debate. (Robin Goist, cleveland.com) Gunnar Calvert, a senior at Case Western, said he doesnt mind that his school is hosting the debate. Its interesting to see people come together to express solidarity, as long as it remains peaceful which I believe it will, said Calvert, a native of Pennsylvania. Madison Hirschfeld, a 21-year-old student at Case Western Reserve University, holds a sign during a demonstration at Wade Oval ahead of Tuesday's presidential debate (Eric Heisig, cleveland.com) Mia Miller, a 19-year-old Cleveland resident holding a sign criticizing Cleveland transit police, said her grandmother protested during the Civil Rights Era. We shouldnt be going through this right now in 2020," Miller said. "The fact that this (protesting) has to repeat itself is kind of sad. Protesters gather before the Cleveland presidential debate. (Eric Heisig, cleveland.com) Jade Roberts, Millers longtime friend, said she was attending her first protest. I just want to make history, Roberts said. About 10 police officers were at the demonstration and kept a low profile early Tuesday evening. You can watch the protests live on cleveland.coms Facebook page: The trial lasted seven months and was the most shocking of the century perhaps of any century. An Italian painter with close links to Pope Innocent X stood accused of raping a 17-year-old virgin after grooming her for months and promising to marry her as long as she remained silent. This was 1612 in Rome. The girl was Artemisia Gentileschi, who went on to become the greatest female artist of the baroque age, blazing a trail for future woman artists and even being invited by Charles I to paint for him in London. Born in 1593, she was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a figurative artist and close friend of, among others, Caravaggio. Susanna And The Elders was Artemisia Gentileschi's first signed painting, dated 1610. She was 17 and it was the year before she was raped by Agostino Tassi The accused, more than twice her age, was Agostino Tassi, a landscape artist of little lasting legacy, serial liar, pervert and social climber who had raped his sister-in-law and was suspected of murdering his missing wife. The case, which was heard by the Popes own court, the Curia, was brought by Orazio, who claimed that Tassi had deflowered his only daughter and he wanted the full sordid details of her rape to reverberate around the Vatican and into high society. Chilling portrait of crime to come Susanna and the Elders This is Artemisias first signed painting, dated 1610, when she was 17, the year before she was raped by Agostino Tassi. Two seedy men, who appear threatening and lascivious, lurk behind her as she recoils from them, raising her arm to preserve her modesty. It depicts the biblical story from the Book of Daniel in which two elders from Susannas community secretly observe her taking a bath. But it speaks equally of her own predicament in being harassed by Tassi, aided and abetted by an older, sinister character called Cosimo Quorli, who worked for the Pope. It is assumed that the naked body is her own, reflected in a mirror. Other artists have also painted this scene, in which Susanna is presented as either unaware of the elders presence or even welcoming them in a flirtatious fashion. But Gentileschi shows Susanna visibly distressed at being watched by the men. The subject matter may reflect the sexual harassment she suffered from Tassi and possibly Catholic elders while she was a teenager. Advertisement But he might have had second thoughts if he had known at the time that part of the trial would involve his daughter being tortured to remove all infamy or doubt about her person or words, as the judge put it to which Artemisia replied: My lord, I am ready to confirm my statement under torture and whatever must be done. In 1611, Orazio and Tassi had been working together on frescoes for the papal summer palace. Tassi was not, as has sometimes been claimed, Artemisias tutor but became a frequent visitor to the Gentileschi home, often arriving on the pretext of picking up art supplies, sometimes turning up when the teenager was still in bed. One afternoon, Tassi entered the house through a door left open by workmen and, Artemisia recounted, having found me painting, said to me: Dont paint so much, dont paint so much. Tassi grabbed the girls brushes and palette and hurled them across the room, then bundled her into her bedroom and locked the door. He threw me on to the edge of the bed, pushing me with a hand on my breast, and he put a knee between my thighs to prevent me from closing them. Lifting my clothes, he placed a hand with a handkerchief on my mouth to keep me from screaming. We know this from Artemisias 400-page testimony, held in the State Archives in Rome but which, for the first time, will be on public display as part of the National Gallerys block-buster exhibition of Artemisias work, which opens on Saturday. And to coincide with the exhibition, a biography of Artemisia by the art historian Jonathan Jones has been published. I scratched his face and pulled his hair and, before he penetrated me again, I grasped his penis so tight that I even removed a piece of flesh, she said. At which point, the judge asked if she had bled. Judith Beheading Holofernes was painted after the rape and before Tassi's trial, the violence serving as some sort of revenge for the day when Tassi pinned her down and stole her virginity At the time the said Agostino attacked me, I was having my period and therefore I am not able to say certainly to your lordship whether my vagina bled because of what Agostino did, because I did not know much about how these things happen; but it is true that it seemed to me that the blood was redder than usual. Artemisia said she took a knife from a drawer and threatened Tassi with it. I want to kill you because you have shamed me, she shouted. Retribution on canvas Judith Beheading Holofernes Artesmisia would have been familiar with Caravaggios painting of the same Old Testament scene. But hers, which normally hangs in Florences Uffizi gallery, is even more graphic. It takes the two women all their strength to pin down the man as Judith busies herself in severing Holoferness head, blood dripping down the sheets and spattering her dress. She painted this after the rape and before Tassis trial, the violence serving as some sort of revenge for the day when Tassi pinned her down and stole her virginity. Advertisement Here I am, Tassi replied, opening his coat. Artemisia threw the knife but missed her target. Part of the trial included an excruciating physical examination, conducted by two midwives, to establish if her hymen had been broken, indicating that she was no longer a virgin. Tassi paid a number of witnesses to speak favourably of him and sought to portray Artemisia as a whore who was unstable and untrustworthy. He even went so far as to claim that Orazio had encouraged him to take an interest in his daughters welfare because he was so anxious about her character. The said Orazio opened up about his feelings and told me that when he said his daughter was living a bad life, he meant she was a whore and that he didnt know what to do about it, he told the court. During the trial, Tassi was kept in prison and on May 14, 1612, Artemisia was taken to his cell. She was asked to repeat her claim of rape to his face, which she did. He denied it. One of the judges then asked if she would ratify her story even if tortured. The aim of this extraordinarily cruel legal procedure was to release the truth from a suffering body and so bypass the minds cunning. It was the instrument of mental terror as well as physical pain, says Jones. The specific torture was known as the sibille. Cords were wrapped around Artemisias fingers and pulled tighter and tighter together, eventually crushing them. I have told the truth and always will because it is true, and I will do what is needed to confirm it, she cried out. With Tassi watching, the cords were tightened further. E vero, e vero, e vero, e vero, she repeated again and again. It is not true. You are lying in your throat, said Tassi. E vero, e vero, e vero, e vero. The trial dragged on until November 27, when Tassi was found guilty of rape of a virgin and the suborning of witnesses. But it was not long before his conviction was overturned on the instructions of the Pope. Picture of defiance Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting At the invitation of Charles I, Artemisia came to London in 1638 and painted this self-portrait for him, which still belongs in the Royal Collection. It is her final masterpiece, showing that a woman can be a painter and it reflects how Artemisia wanted to be seen by the world: strong, determined. Her muscular arm stretches across the canvas, her hands are dirty and she holds the palette firmly. Only in the act of painting could she be truly free. She is lost in the ecstasy of her art, says her biographer Jonathan Jones. She has become painting. Advertisement Artemisia would have been regarded as damaged goods, but she still had one weapon her paintbrush, which she wielded with such skill and devastating honesty that she achieved iconic status as the first woman to gain membership of the Florentine Academy. The visceral power of her paintings made her one of the most famous artists in Europe, and in 1638 she was invited to London by Charles I, where she painted her Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, which remains in the Royal Collection and hangs in Hampton Court although it has been leant for the exhibition. For the first time ever, two versions of her greatest and most poignant paintings will also be on show, side by side. These are Judith Beheading Holofernes, dating from around the same year as her trial and which, by some accounts, she made Tassi see. It is a gruesome piece of work, in which the wronged Artemisia spares us nothing. The dying man is Holofernes, an enemy of the Israelites in the Old Testament but it might just as well be Tassi. And Judith, wielding a sword in her right hand and holding his beard in the other while hacking at his throat, is surely Artemisia. The mans eyes are open; he knows what is happening to him. Judith looks composed; she knows what she is doing to him. Blood streams down the white bedsheets as he writhes towards a certain death, the red blanket over his private parts a reminder, perhaps, of Artemisias humiliating interrogation in court. She painted it in the immediate aftermath of her rape and it clearly is a self-portrait, says Jones. It has the feeling of an untamed scream. Artemisia, who could not read or write, had five children, of whom only one daughter survived. She had married Pierantonio Stiattesi, a minor artist, shortly after the trial but later fell in love with a wealthy Florentine nobleman called Francesco Maria Maringhi, a relationship from which passionate letters still exist, with some on display at the exhibition. On moving from Rome to Florence, then Venice and Naples where she died in about 1656 Artemisia educated herself and became friends with great thinkers and artists including Galileo and the son of Michelangelo. Although she was employed by two of Europes great courts those of the Medicis in Florence and of Charles I in London her greatest achievement, according to Jones, was to release her pain and anger in paintings that reveal her inmost feelings. In one of her letters, she writes: My illustrious lordship, Ill show you what a woman can do. And what a woman can endure. PHILIPSBURG:---The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset hosted its third annual Reading Slumber Fun event last Friday, September 25th. Dr. Seuss themed pajama party was held on the virtual Zoom platform and attracted well over 380 children and adults from around the world, dressed in their pajamas with their blankets and pillows and eager for an evening of storytime fun. In recognition of Basic Education and Literacy month, observed by Rotary Clubs during the month of September, the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset organized its annual Reading Slumber Fun event, a slumber party themed event geared toward advocating the importance of reading and literacy. The event kicked off at 7 pm sharp with welcoming remarks by the President of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, Elisia Lake, followed by live storytelling performances from local readers Todd and Kimberley Chisholm, and Ms. Rita Gumbs. The virtual event starred two international readers; St. Maarten born educator, Naomi Bell, who resides in the USA, and Rotary District 7020 Governor, Charles Sealy II, who resides in the Bahamas. Members of Rotary Sunset, Magdiona Gumbs, and Leonel Lawrence, also got the opportunity to showcase their talents with a live theatrical puppet show. The children sat comfortably behind their devices with their blankets and pillows while they attentively listened to the various storytelling performances. The event was hosted by the energetic, Rotarian Kimberley Duzong, who captivated the virtual crowd with her witty mini interactive performances. Rotarian Franjesca Bulbaai tested the participants memory with a trivia segment. At the end of the event, the children broke out their disco shoes and joined host Kimberley in a dance party segment. One of Rotary Sunsets objectives is to ensure we take action to empower and inspire children and adults alike, on the importance of literacy when it comes to reading, writing, and comprehension. Reading is the first pillar of literacy, so events such as our Reading Slumber Fun encourages young learners to engage themselves in it regularly. We are delighted to have exposed our attendees to a broad variety of different reading styles and materials and we look forward to next years event, President Elisia stated. The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to Kalaboom Events for providing its office space to execute the setup for this event. A special appreciation goes out to Salteque for its technical support and Rotarian Franjesca Bulbaai for sponsoring the prizes for all winners of the quizzes, games, and dance off segments. The club would also like to extend gratitude to the parents as well as the children who participated, the story readers and puppeteers; Todd Chrisholm, Kimberley Babin, Naomi Bell, Rita Gumbs, DG Charles Sealy II, Magdiona Gumbs, and Leonel Lawrence. The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset meets every second and fourth Monday of the month at Carl N Sons Unique Inn and Conference Facilities in Cole Bay at 7:30 pm. Due to Covid19, the club currently meets via Zoom. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via the official Facebook page at facebook.com/rotarysxmsunset. Advertisement James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan has put his Malibu beachfront mansion, inspired by Tomorrow Never Dies, on the market for $100 million. The sale will see the 007 star make a tidy profit after Brosnan created the estate by combining two separate plots of land that he purchased for just $5.1 million and $2.25 million in 2000. The oceanfront retreat spans more than an acre with two homes that combined to make nine bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. Brosnan told the Wall Street Journal that when he realized 'Die Another Day' was a hit, he turned to his wife, filmmaker Keely Shaye Brosnan, and told her 'go build your dream house. And she did'. The house was built in 2010 and has so many solar panels that the new owner will be able to heat the house, outdoor pool and guest cabana and still sell electricity back to the local grid. The home is exceptionally eco-friendly with all water being recycled on site in a purpose-built plant along with a waste disposal system, custom-built energy-saving lighting and a solar-powered revolving compost heap. An extraordinary amount of care and craftsmanship went in to designing and building the mansion and matching pool house There are seven fire places on the property including several outdoor fire pits on the patio A saltwater pool makes for a refreshing and relaxing way to spend the day at the stunning home There's plenty of space for lounging around and relaxing while enjoying the beach and ocean nearby Sandy lounges and a glass-enclosed dining areas sit in the backyard The home's Southeast-Asian inspiration comes from Brosnan's time shooting the 1997 Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. It took about 10 years to build All the doors slide back to that easy access to the patio can be enjoyed together with refreshing sea breezes Irish-born Brosnan, 67, along with his wife Keely Shaye Smith, 56, have since moved to Hawaii Irish-born Brosnan, 67, along with his wife Keely Shaye Smith, 56, have since moved to Hawaii. When their dream home was first built, the pair were determined that it would set a new standard in being eco-friendly. In the listing featured on realtor Christopher Cortazzo's website, he describes the 'once in a lifetime' property in detail. 'This retreat is surrounded by wrap-around lanais and courtyards that invite yoga at dawn, relaxing afternoons, sunset cocktails and effortless entertaining beneath the stars,' the description reads. 'On a rare parcel of more than one acre with approximately 117 feet of beachfront, Orchid House is created for resort-style living.' A vast stone terrace spans the width the property with has a number of sitting and dining areas together with fire pits A shot of the courtyard a night makes the home appear more like a resort hotel than a family mansion The bedroom on the upper level of the home open out on to a balcony which provide sumptuous views of the ocean and pool There's no shortage of chairs at the home, while a glass paneled dining area helps to calm the winds whilst eating The double-island gourmet kitchen has floor-to-ceiling glass sliders that allow easy access on to the outdoor patio The master bedroom on the second level enjoys stunning views over the beach and a wrap around terrace The Asian-look of the home apparently came after Brosnan was inspired while filming Tomorrow Never Dies in Thailan The master suite alone spans 4,000 square feet, and comes with two fireplaces, an art studio and a deck that looks out to the ocean. The lower level of the home includes a screening room with seats for 20, two bars and climate-controlled wine storage with space for about 200 bottles. Elsewhere, theres a music room, a gym and a spa with two soaking tubs. All the windows are non-glare, insulated glass and there is a centrally controlled climate and lighting system that will automatically turn off the lights if a room is left vacant for more than five minutes. The climate control also automatically adjusts various rooms to maximize energy savings. Brosnan was actively involved in every single aspect of building the home, right down to choosing the natural recycled wood for the kitchen benches and the low-flow toilets.' Along with the eco-technology, the house is packed with gadgets to make Bond proud. There is a state-of-the-art security system with pressure sensors and infra-red lights, directly linked to the local sheriff. The new homeowners will get to enjoy sweeping views of the Pacific from the massive master suite, his-and-her bathrooms, a private spa and sauna, gym, solarium, library and high definition screening room. Brosnan starred in four James Bond films from 1995 to 2002: 'GoldenEye,' 'Tomorrow Never Dies,' 'The World Is Not Enough' and 'Die Another Day.' Neighbors on Malibu's Broad Beach also include Cher, Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg and Goldie Hawn. The Great Room allows for plenty of natural light to fill the space. Huge couches allow for a several guests to join the fun The courtyard of the home is beautifully landscaped with palm trees either side Stunning views of Malibu beach can be had as waves from the Pacific Ocean crash ashore A two-level guest house on the property also serves as a pool house with a bar Te grounds feature sprawling natural elements such as tropical flowers, palm trees, courtyards and wraparound porches The views of the crashing ocean waves and mountain ranges prove to be magnificent The main house forms a U-shaped around a palm-lined courtyard entrance. The green roof matches the mountains behind it Dream Big. Changing the course of lives and medicine. Changing the course of lives and medicine. The Dream Big Campaign to change the course of lives and medicine supports the priorities of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). MONTREAL, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The MUHC Foundations $200 million goal is key to transforming the MUHC, one of the worlds most advanced teaching hospital networks, into a leading international hub for innovative clinical research and excellence in care. The MUHC is one of the best university hospitals in Canada. With the Dream Big Campaign, we will make it one of the best in the world, says Norman Steinberg, Chair of the MUHC Foundations Board of Directors. The campaign focuses on top health care priorities, including infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular care and research. It also ensures the MUHC has one of the best skilled teams in Canada with access to state-of-the-art equipment and technology. We worked with the MUHC to select priorities that reflect the greatest needs in medicine now and in the future, says Julie Quenneville, President of the MUHC Foundation. We invite our community to dream big with us. Campaign co-chairs include the Honourable Jean Charest, former premier of Quebec; Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE; and Suzanne Legge Orr, prominent community leader. The MUHC is home to a wealth of talent across health care and medical research. I am proud to support the hospital, which serves millions of people across the province, says Jean Charest, Dream Big Campaign co-chair. Through Dream Big, we will provide the resources and the expertise to promote health care innovation that will change the course of lives and medicine, says Marc Parent, Dream Big Campaign co-chair. Dream Big will raise $60 million to Solve Humanitys Deadliest Puzzles, antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases like COVID-19 and TB, by supporting the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4). MI4 is the largest group of experts focused on infectious diseases in the world, and is on the forefront of COVID-19 research in Canada. Story continues Fix Broken Hearts, which was launched in September 2019, will raise $50 million to ensure Montreal has the lowest rate of hospitalization and fewest deaths due to heart disease in Canada. A record-breaking $18 million from the Courtois Family Foundation kicked off the campaign. To usher in personalized cancer treatment to End Cancer as a life-threatening disease, the foundation will raise $35 million in collaboration with the other foundations of the MUHC. Cancer affects everyone, and the MUHCs researchers are working to catch it early, understand it down to its genetics, discover its weaknesses, and stop it from taking lives. I am proud to be part of this transformative campaign. The Dream Big Campaigns support of medical research will lead to breakthroughs that will benefit not just Quebecers, but the world, says Suzanne Legge Orr, Dream Big Campaign co-chair. The above priorities will be joined by fundraising efforts for respiratory disease, skills and simulation training, cannabis research, and support for new equipment and recruitment of personnel. Together, they make up an historic campaign that will define the future of the McGill University Health Centre. Interviews are available with the following individuals: Jean Charest | Dream Big campaign co-chair Marc Parent | Dream Big campaign co-chair Suzanne Legge Orr | Dream Big campaign co-chair Norman Steinberg | MUHC Foundation board Chair Julie Quenneville | MUHC Foundation president Donald Sheppard | Director, MI4, MUHC A 2-minute video reel of Dream Big campaign visuals as well as hospital and select medical procedures is available upon request. MUHC Foundation contact: Tarah Schwartz, Director, Communications and Marketing McGill University Health Centre Foundation Cell: 514-219-3790 tarah.schwartz@muhc.mcgill.ca About the McGill University Health Centre Foundation The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the McGill University Health Centre, one of the best university hospitals in Canada. We are rallying our entire community to solve the worlds most complex health care challenges. About the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is one of the best university hospitals offering tertiary and quaternary (complex) care. With the medical leadership of its founding hospitals, the MUHC offers multidisciplinary care, exceptional quality, focused on the needs of the patient in a bilingual environment. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/40769329-88c1-4976-b890-817d6466c51d China has roped in more than a dozen countries to conduct the final phase trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccines, as it looks to stay ahead in the international race to immunise global population as part of its charm offensive to gain goodwill. Across the world, in many countries, including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Russia, thousands of people have been injected with experimental vaccines made by Chinas three front-running vaccine makers or soon will be, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday quoting company, government statements and media reports. For some of these countries at least, approving final phases of clinical trials has been viewed as a means of securing early access to vaccines, because a number of wealthy nations have already bought doses pending approval and a World Health Organization (WHO) mechanism. In recent weeks, officials from Mexico, Bangladesh and Pakistan have been quoted in the media, stating about the trials as a means to gain future access to approved vaccines. On September 25, a Chinese health official said the WHO had given its backing to Chinas emergency use of experimental vaccines even though clinical trials have not yet been completed. Zheng Zhongwei, head of medical science development at the National Health Commission told media here that the WHO gave its blessings to China for its emergency use of vaccines in late June. According to Zheng, the commission proposed emergency use of the vaccines in mid-June to protect people in high-risk occupations such as frontline health workers, border officials and overseas workers. The vaccines had still to complete phase three of clinical trials but the State Council approved the proposal on June 24. After the approval, on June 29, we had a communication meeting with the relevant representatives of the WHO office in China, and obtained understanding and support from the WHO," the Post quoted Zheng as saying. He said the approval strictly abided by Chinas vaccine and pharmaceutical laws and used WHO standards as a guide, adding that there were no severe adverse events from the injections. The WHO faced stringent criticism especially from US President Donald Trump who accused it of being a puppet of China for not acting in time to halt the spread of the COVID-19 when it broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year. Trump has also pulled the US out of the WHO. In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 23, Trump also attacked the WHO saying that it is virtually controlled by China". Last week, Chairman Yang Xiaoming of China National Biotec Group, which had obtained approval to start phase 3 trials for its coronavirus vaccine candidates in the United Arab Emirates said 350,000 people had been injected with the experimental vaccines under the scheme. Yang Sheng, the Deputy director of the National Medical Products Administrations drug registration bureau, said four China-developed COVID-19 vaccines have begun the final stage of human trials overseas after obtaining approval from foreign authorities. China has been focusing on developing five types of vaccines, and each method has at least one entering clinical trials. In total, 11 vaccine candidates are in different stages of testing, Yang was quoted by the state-run China Daily. Zheng said Chinas annual capacity to make COVID-19 vaccines was expected to reach 610 million doses this year and 1 billion doses by 2021. He offered no details on how the doses would be distributed. Facing global adversity over the mass spread of the coronavirus, China plans to have diplomatic offensive offering its vaccines especially to a number of smaller countries at affordable costs. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that the global community should not turn a blind eye to the terrorist methods used by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. He said this during the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, which took place as part of the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. Kuleba condemned terrorism and violent extremism as one of the key challenges to international peace and development. The foreign minister also drew the participants' attention to the experience of Ukraine, which for the seventh year in a row has been opposing the armed aggression and terrorist methods of the Russian Federation in Donbas and Crimea. "The international community shouldnt close its eyes to a UNSC Member silencing human rights defenders, civic activists and journalists in the illegally occupied Crimea under the guise of counter-terrorism measures or terrorizing civic population in the Donbas, Eastern Ukraine," Kuleba said. The minister stressed the importance of consolidating international efforts to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of the victims of terrorism and provide assistance during their recovery. Our task is to ensure that all perpetrators, organizers, mentors and sponsors of terrorist activities are brought to justice, the minister said. The Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism is an international political association of like-minded countries dealing with the problems of protecting the rights of people who have suffered as a result of terrorist acts. ish When asked why there arent more people of colour in the Italian fashion industry, officials have cited a lack of candidates in homogeneous Italy. Five African-born designers in Italy want to put that view to rest with their inclusion on the official Milan Fashion Week calendar Sunday. Fabiola Manirakiza came to Italy after her parents were killed in her native Burundi in 1972. For her Made-in-Italy Kiza label, she incorporates patterns from her Bantu tribe, as taught by an elder sister, into her Western tailored silhouette, the influence of the Italian family who raised her. It is not just Italy that needs to see, it is the whole world, said Manikrazia, whose creations were among those featured in the video presentation titled We Are Made in Italy. Italy is Made of Us. Italian-Haitian fashion designer Stella Jean poses for a picture. (REUTERS) The official Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion event is a first step in a process that Stella Jean, the only Black designer belonging to Italys prestigious fashion council, hopes will bring real diversity to the creative and decision-making centers of Italian fashion to combat racism in the industry. Another critical step was the launch of a think tank last week bringing together top fashion houses on the council with Black creatives. But Jean said there remains resistance to the campaign she has launched with U.S. designer Edward Buchanan and Michelle Ngomo, founder of Afro Fashion Week Milano, with pressure on them to abandon it. A model presents a creation from the Frida Kiza Spring/Summer2021 collection by Fabiola Manirakiza during the "We Are Made in Italy" digital show at Milan Fashion Week, organised by the Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion collective, in Milan, Italy, in this still image taken from video released on September 27, 2020. (via REUTERS) Italys relatively small African-origin population, which government statistics put at around 1.2 million, has rendered it mostly invisible in the country of some 60 million, with no well-known faces in the political class or on television and few behind the closed doors of Italian fashion. Jean and her colleagues began pushing the industry to make concrete moves toward diversifying Italian fashion after major houses showed social media support for the Black Lives Matter protests over racial equality and police brutality during the summer. After many racially charged gaffes in recent years, they also are asking for an accounting of the numbers of people of color working inside the system. No one is looking to stand back and blame you for the current situation, Jean said in introductory remarks to the think tank, made available to The Associated Press. Instead we are asking you to be part of the solution starting today. Racism in Italy ... is a very unique case study. It doesnt resemble the type that exists with our European neighbors and it also differs greatly from the American kind. This however doesnt render it less harmful or discriminative, only different. An hairdresser is reflected in a mirror as she waits in the backstage at the "We are Made in Italy - Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion Collection" event during the Milan's fashion week in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP) Jean told The Associated Press that the few companies whose representatives spoke discussed activities to support Black minorities in the United States and other causes but completely avoiding the point of our discussion: Black minority in Italy. I must say with all sincerity that the silence of the representatives of the colossal Made-in-Italy brands left a lasting bitter and embarrassing impression, Jean said. In total astonishment, it struck me that greatness and global commercial authority does not always correspond to an equally grand sense of responsibility to humanity. On a positive note, the fashion council had agreed to implement six reform points by February, she said. The council also agreed to provide scholarships and mentorships to fashion students of color. And she hopes that the time spent listening will lead to greater participation next time. ALSO SEE | PHOTOS | Milan Fashion Week 2020: We are Made in Italy show celebrates Black designers The head of Italys fashion council, Carlo Capasa, called the meeting interesting and instructive, and that the brand representatives were there to mostly listen. There was no reason for friction, he said. Calling the meeting, "a beginning," he told the AP the council will continue to work on diversity points of its nearly year-old diversity manifesto, including the commitment that diversity is an asset. He confirmed that the think tank would continue to meet periodically. The brands participating were Armani, Zegna, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Gucci, Prada, Valentino and Ferragamo. The Kering conglomerate, which owns Gucci and Bottega Veneta, and the OTB group, which owns Marni and Diesel also participated. A planned closing statement was never issued. But Miuccia Prada, during the video presentation of next springs collection, emphasized the importance of inclusivity, along with sustainability. She acknowledged the need to "really embrace it, adding "which is what I decided to do, not only declaring it, but trying, little by little, to be better." The participants in the Black Lives Matter event have worked in other trades or professions before following their fashion dreams. Most have submitted resumes to fashion companies, with no response, and some have seen professional doors fail to open after promising meetings, without explanation. Joy Meribe, born in Nigeria and with an Italian Masters in business, studied fashion in Italy so she could alter garments she was selling through her blog on African fashion designers, and realized she had the knack herself. Her collection, Modaf Designs, uses African prints on silk and cotton instead of the traditional wax cloth, making them easier to wear and integrate into a Western wardrobe. A model wears a creation part of the Joy 2021 women's spring-summer collection at the "We are Made in Italy - Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion Collection" event during the Milan's fashion week in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP) Claudia Gisele Ntsama, originally from Cameroon, has supported herself cleaning houses to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, unveiling in Milan fantastical swirling pieces made mostly of raw hemp. Ngomo, who discovered the five designers, said she feels a great responsibility also to young people of color in Italy who have been inspired by the initiatives. "Many kids are writing to thank me, saying they have rediscovered their trust, and they had hope, Ngomo said. I know we are trendy now. I am not sure next year we will have all this light on the project. I want to be positive and believe this is a next step. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Decision made that major moves must continue during upcoming five years China must step up major moves in deepening reform and opening-up for the country's economic and social development during the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), a key Party meeting decided on Monday. The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee also decided that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee will be held from Oct 26 to 29, according to a statement released after its meeting. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting. Participants underscored the importance of upholding overall Party leadership, improving socialism with Chinese characteristics and strengthening the ability to implement new development concepts in order to boost the economy and society during the coming five-year period. Development should always be people-centered by ensuring their principal status and promoting their well-being, it was decided at the meeting. Efforts also were urged to build a new development pattern with the domestic market as the mainstay and the domestic and international markets reinforcing each other, earnestly transform the economic development mode and work hard for better quality, higher efficiency and more robust drivers of economic growth. Major reform and opening-up moves should improve resource allocation efficiency and mobilize the initiative of the whole of society, it said. The meeting stressed the importance of solidifying the foundation, leveraging strengths and tackling areas of weakness as well as paying attention to fending off and defusing major risks and challenges. Participants at the meeting also listened to a report on consulting public opinion about a CPC document concerning the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and targets for 2035. The document, after being revised based on opinions discussed at Monday's meeting, will be submitted for deliberation at the fifth plenary session. Participants said that the document has fully absorbed opinions and suggestions from all quarters including governments and departments at all levels, public expectations, expert opinions and on-the-ground experience. It is a vivid example of China's socialist democracy, they said. Those at the meeting said that faced with the complex international situation and arduous tasks for domestic development, and especially amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPC Central Committee has assessed and dealt with the situation in a calm way and further promoted the development of all causes of the Party and the country. With China nearly completing its goals and tasks of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), the country's economic and technological strength and the overall national strength will reach a new high, they said. Meeting participants also reviewed a regulation on the work of the CPC Central Committee, which issued provisions on its leading position, leadership structure and self-building, among others. UNIONVILLE From Cub Scouts to cherished friends, daily life in American society continues to develop. Although the public schools remain closed to student collaborative learning, and folks are wearing masks to buy necessities at grocery stores, there is still a popular local consensus that Pennsylvania has flattened the curve at home against the global pandemic of COVID-19. Many people now face enormous financial hardship and others, including senior citizens across the Greater Philadelphia Region, remain in isolation. Yet still life continues. Scouts from Pack 60, including Jaxson Taylor and twin sisters Ally Taylor and Zoey Taylor worked an outdoor table selling popcorn products at Landhope Farms in West Marlborough Township on Saturday. Support scouts, the little ones said in unison. Northward to Chadds Ford, near the Chester County border on Route 1 in Delco, friends united at the Brandywine River Museum of Art on Thursday. The ladies hadnt seen each other since February. After over six months apart, Janice Quinn of Ardmore, Susie Baldauf of Ardmore, Vicki Childs of Claymont and Ricky Pfeifer of Glen Mills visited the museum to enjoy an afternoon of art together, with reserved tickets in tow. Its wonderful, Pfeifer said of the reunion. Without the joy of friendship, depression knocks loudly for some people. There have been 39 suicides in Chester County in 2020, as of Aug. 31, according to the Chester County Coroners Office. There have been 362 COVID-19 deaths in Chesco, as of Sept. 15, according to Chester County spokeswoman Becky Brain. Of these 362 deaths, 275 occurred in long-term care facilities for senior citizens. The most such deaths occurred at the Southeastern Veterans Center in East Vincent near Spring City. Three people died from COVID-19 in Coatesville, the only community in Chester County to issue a curfew during the statewide mandated shutdown of the entire greater Philadelphia region, which included the suspension of non-essential commerce from real estate to auto sales, this past winter and spring. From March to Sept. 15, of the 362 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Chester County, 43 deaths represent people between the ages of 60 to 69. However, in Chesco, the vast majority of the 362 people whove died from COVID-19 have been seniors 70 or older. Specifically, 301 people who suffered COVID-19 related deaths were 70 or older. Thus, seniors 70 or older represent 80 percent of all Corona-related deaths in Chester County. Despite an ongoing increase of happy reunions among friends at beautiful landmarks, the regions children, from Philadelphia to Oxford, remain in isolation from their peers without the benefit of collaborative instruction. In September, students enrolled at public school districts in Chester County all began the 2020-21 academic year with five days of remote learning only. Many children are struggling to learn virtually and youth depression is on the rise. Its heartbreaking, said Amy Dettore on Sept. 21 standing outside Unionville High School during a peaceful protest, attended by students and parents, to open the schools. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 00:48:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi on Monday stressed efforts to ensure security and stability during the upcoming National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Zhao made the remarks at a teleconference attended by police organs at the national, provincial, prefecture and county levels. The police should take strict measures to combat all acts of infiltration, subversion and sabotage by hostile forces at home and abroad, Zhao said. He also called for fighting against separatist and terrorist activities, and strengthening the management of road traffic, railways, civil aviation and water transport to ensure safety. Enditem Exploiting Spoilers Fusion Power Can United Utah Unite Utah? If any state seems ripe for a robust third party, it might be Utah. Its a heavily Republican state, but one that still isnt sold on Donald Trump. Investment banker Evan McMullin, running as a conservative independent, took 21 percent of Utahs presidential vote in 2016, only six percentage points less than Democrat Hillary Clinton.President Trumps approval ratings are still low in Utah, with one poll in June finding that 46 percent of residents strongly disapprove of his job performance. Hes still a lock to carry the states vote in November, but as in the rest of the country, many people are left wishing there were an alternative.The United Utah Party is seeking to provide just such an alternative. United Utah, which formed in the wake of Trumps election, is running 25 candidates for seats ranging from county commission to Congress.Its been an interesting phenomenon, said Brian King, the Democratic leader in the Utah House. Its a conglomeration of former Democrats and former Republicans people who were disenchanted with the degree to which the Republican Party, to their mind, had been captured by the right wing and some Democrats who felt on social issues the party had gotten away from the teachings of LDS, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Around the country, lots of voters are unhappy with the two major parties. The number of people registering as independents has been growing for years. According to Gallup , 40 percent of Americans identify as independent a larger share than either Republicans or Democrats.Our sense is that major party support is waning, among young people especially, said Richard Davis, who chairs the United Utah Party. Millennials are much less likely to affiliate with a party.Although many people say they dont feel at home either in the GOP or the Democratic Party, their actual voting behavior shows that they are more fearful of one party or the other taking power. Thats especially true during a time of intense polarization , when the worst outcome would be that the party you hate the most wins.Minor parties are still falling prey to a self-fulfilling prophecy: Most people wont vote for them because they dont believe they can win. Polls this year consistently indicate that third-party candidates will take a much smaller share of the presidential vote than they did in 2016, when many people couldnt bring themselves to vote for either Trump or Clinton.Even though it sounds like voters are complaining, usually they complain more about one of the parties, said Daniel Lee, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There hasnt actually been an increase in true independents.Democrats still blame the Green Party for costing them the presidential election in 2000, with Ralph Nader taking votes that might have gone to Al Gore. In 2016, Green candidate Jill Stein took more votes in the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin than Trumps margin of victory in those states, although arguably Trump lost more votes than Clinton due to the performance of Libertarian Gary Johnson.The idea that third-party candidates are spoilers with no chance of winning only hurting the chances of one of the major parties is so deeply ingrained that the major parties themselves do all they can to keep minor parties off the ballot.Unless they think a minor party will hurt the other party more.This year, Republican operatives have aided rapper Kanye West in his quest to make the presidential ballot in several states, in the belief he could peel African American votes away from Democrat Joe Biden. Republican activists and attorneys have also helped promote the Green Partys chances in some cases, without the Green Partys knowledge You get help where you can find it, Howie Hawkins, the Green Partys presidential nominee, told the. They have their reasons and we have ours.Earlier this month, Democrats sued successfully to keep Hawkins off the Pennsylvania ballot. The state supreme court which has five Democratic justices voted 5-2 that the Green Party had not followed proper ballot-access procedures.In Minnesota, Republican trolls are running under the banner of the Legal Marijuana Now and Grassroots-Legalize Now parties, hoping to take votes away from Democrats, particularly in state Senate races, with that chamber in play.Clearly the Republicans decided to run all these candidates for this spot and most of them dont even favor legalization and are just running to siphon votes away from the Democratic Party, Ken Martin , who chairs the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, told. (In Minnesota, the Democrats official name is a nod to its absorption of the old Farmer-Labor Party.)On Thursday, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon announced that a congressional election will be postponed until February , due to the death of Legal Marijuana Now nominee Adam Weeks. State law calls for a special election if a major party candidate dies within 79 days of the regular election. The two pro-cannabis parties qualified for that status in 2018, when each fielded a candidate who received more than 5 percent of the vote for a statewide office.Utah is one of 18 states that have homegrown third parties, according to. The most successful electorally is the Vermont Progressive Party.That party currently holds nine seats in the Legislature easily the most concentrated success of any minor party in the nation as well as a majority on the Burlington City Council. Both state Auditor Doug Hoffer and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman ran for their current offices with combined Progressive and Democratic support. Zuckerman is this years Democratic nominee against GOP Gov. Phil Scott.Some of the most active minor parties including the Independent parties of Connecticut and Oregon are able to run so-called fusion candidates, who are listed on both their lines and those of a major party. In New York, the Working Families Party which has been influential in Democratic primaries in that state and some others will lose its automatic ballot line unless at least 2 percent of New Yorkers vote for Biden on the WFP line. The new threshold was a change engineered by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has sometimes feuded with the progressive party.Most minor-party candidates are an afterthought. Others run into the Tinkerbell problem of disbelief. A Brigham Young University thesis determined that McMullin could have won Utahs presidential vote in 2016, if only more people believed he could carry the state.The problem that third parties always have is that there are people who say that a third party is closer to where I think things should be politically, but Im not going to vote for them because I dont think theyre going to win, said Matthew Burbank, a University of Utah political scientist. Its hard to feel like youre an important political party when youve lost all of your elections.United Utah's first candidate, Jim Bennett, took 9 percent of the vote in a special congressional election in 2017 far from winning, but a lot more than third parties usually get, especially right out of the gate.In 2018, 18 candidates ran under the United Utah Party banner, with a few state legislative candidates taking more than 30 percent of the vote. Success breeds interest and more success, Davis said.Still, the party hasnt had any of the kind of success that matters most in politics namely, winning elections. Davis isnt promising any miracles this year.Im chair of the party and I repeatedly dampen expectations from people so that they realize this is a long-haul thing, he said. Its not something that we should expect will produce results within an election or two, in terms of winning lots of seats.United Utah is an effort to give voters who are fed up with both Democrats and the GOP a fresh choice. The party takes positions on some issues that would normally be associated with Republicans, such as supporting term limits and fiscal restraint, along with more Democratic-sounding stances such as increased funding for education and campaign finance limits.Davis argues that with the two major parties in a period of realignment with Republicans and Democrats gaining, losing or swapping various subsets of voters based on geography and demographics more voters will question whether they still feel comfortable in their habitual parties.This is a party that is avowedly centrist, appealing to voters who think Democrats are too liberal and Republicans too conservative, and would like to position themselves smack dab in the middle, Burbank said.The question is how many voters belong in that middle. Voters and candidates labeled as moderate often hold views on a few issues that break strongly with their partys position, rather than taking a centrist position on most issues, such as fiscal conservatives who support gun control, for example.Rather than seeking the middle, most notable minor-party candidates emphasize starkly different views on an issue than the major parties, or perhaps highlight an issue the major parties have neglected. Thats the case today with the cannabis parties in Minnesota or the environmentally minded Greens, as well as past candidates such as presidential hopeful Ross Perot, who made budget deficits a fetish in 1992 and 1996, and George Wallace, who ran on opposition to civil rights in 1968.Even then, the major parties tend to co-opt the most salient third-party ideas, said Lee, the UNLV professor. He notes that minor parties get trapped in a vicious circle. They have a hard time convincing voters and donors that they have a real chance of winning. For that reason, savvy politicians are more likely to stick with either the Republicans or Democrats.The paradigm of the two-party system is a hard one to break, said King, the Democratic legislator. Thats the lesson Ive taken away from this United Utah experience. Although the polls put Biden in the lead, all of the energy in this election is with Trump. Just as was the case in 2016, it appears that the pollsters and the people have different ideas about how this election should turn out. The one thing that may severely damage election integrity is massive voter fraud and it doesn't get more massive than what appears to have turned up in Texas. Investigators are charging that a Biden campaign operative is attempting to rig the election using a ballot-harvesting scheme that could fix as many as 700,000 ballots in Harris County. Ballot-harvesting is nothing more than legislatively approved fraud. It authorizes "harvesters" to go to people's homes and collect their ballots for them. Ostensibly, it's a way to help the elderly and infirm. In reality, it means that harvesters encourage people either to vote for the harvesters' preferred candidates or to give a blank ballot to the harvester for him to complete. It is almost certainly the reason why, in 2018, districts in California that had maintained their Republican majorities suddenly returned Democrat candidates to Congress. Over the weekend, James O'Keefe, of Project Veritas, released a video about a ballot-harvesting scheme in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He offered proof that harvesters are getting paid to collect blank ballots from elderly people and even pay people for their votes. The heart of this ballot-harvesting scheme is in Ilhan Omar's Fifth District, and O'Keefe is promising to drop a second video soon that will show that Omar is complicit is this election fraud. Now news has emerged from Texas that Dallas Jones, Biden's Texas political director, is engaged in a ballot fraud scheme much larger than Omar's. This allegation is not from law enforcement. Instead, two private investigators have testified under oath that they have "video evidence, documentation and witnesses" to prove a scheme that affects 700,000 ballots: The investigators a former FBI agent and former police officer claim that Biden's Texas Political Director Dallas Jones and his cohorts have been "hoarding mail-in and absentee ballots" and ordering operatives to them fill out [sic] for people in Harris County illegally, "including dead people, homeless people, and nursing home residents in the 2020 presidential election," Patrick Howley of the National File reported. While law enforcement agencies are reportedly investigating these potential crimes, nothing will be done about it until "well after the November 3, 2020 election" the former FBI agent said. It's appalling that this situation will not be addressed before the upcoming election. Seven hundred thousand is a huge number of votes in an election year that may see winners and losers divided by thousands or even hundreds of possibly contested ballots. As with the Ilhan Omar ballot-harvesting fraud, the Texas fraud takes advantage of elderly people who are under the care of nursing home staff. As I know from experiences with my parents, these staff people are often green cardholders, and most wear Democrat campaign buttons on their uniforms: Aguirre noted that the ballot harvesters have been exploiting the elderly with the complicity of nursing home staff. I have in my possession video-taped interviews of witnesses attesting to the aforementioned people having groups of people completing thousands of absentee and mail-in ballots, including completing ballots for deceased individuals; illegally going into nursing homes, with the complicity of the nursing home staff, and filling out and forging the signatures of nursing home residents; signing up homeless individuals to vote using the ballot harvester's address then completing the ballot and forging the homeless individual's signature. This entire operation is being run by the elite politicians of the Democrat Party in Houston/Hams County. FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT. Ace reporter Debra Heine has much more information at American Greatness. You should read the whole thing and then, perhaps, politely nudge the FBI and the State of Texas to address these allegations before the election, while they still matter. Parliamentary aspirants who lost in the 2020 New Patriotic Party (NPP) Primaries have come together and formed a movement dubbed ''Aspirants Unite for Victory (AU4V)''. Aspirants Unite for Victory is a nationwide movement by the aspirants led by the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso constituency, Hon. Kennedy Kwasi Kankam, Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, former MUSIGA President and Parliamentary aspirant for Asante Akyem South, Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly known as Obour and many others, who all lost in the primaries. Considering recent post-primaries occurences in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), it's become essential for a deliberate effort by the party to pull all losers together to support the NPP dream. About 220 Parliamentary aspirants including 42 sitting Members of Parliament were defeated in the NPP Primaries this year. The inability of political parties to bring all candidates in internal political contests together usually poses a major threat to the fortunes of the parties. In order not to fall victim to the political cancer that maturates in the aftermath of political elections, all the defeated Parliamentary aspirants in the NPP have mobilized themselves to support the ''4More'' agenda for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The AU4V movement is to foster unity among the defeated aspirants and for them to have one voice behind President Nana Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party. The AU4V members are primarily focused on maintaining all NPP Parliamentary seats as well as winning new constituency seats for the party, and working together to secure a second term for the President. The group held a grand launch at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel at Labadi in the Greater Accra Region on Monday, September 28, 2020. Guest Speaker at the launch, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, delivering a speech at the event, commended the aspirants for their selfless decision to rally support for the NPP government. ''I'm very, very happy to be part of this historical event. With you here today, we have a team of dedicated men and women who lost their elections in their bid to serve the party, the constituents and Ghana as Members of Parliament and you have come together to form a movement to support those you lost to in the primaries. As they say, this seldom happens and this is why it has been described as unprecedented. On behalf of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and on my own behalf, I wish to thank you very much for this great movement you have established. ''Distinguished Patroits, I know some of you lost by just two votes and some by four votes, and many of you under 50 votes. This is as close and agonizing as it can get. You may indeed have every right to grumble but you have said that for the sake of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party, you will overlook your loss and forge ahead for Victory 2020. This is truly remarkable and my spirit rejoices by just thinking about it'', the Vice President said. He promised his office will provide the requisite support for the group to achieve their aim. ''...I wish to say that Aspirants Unite 4 Victory 2020 gives us an added impetus as a great political tradition that understands the nuances of politics and stick to the collective goal of the party no matter how painful the defeat could be. That is why I would like to assure each member of this great movement of my office and the party's commitment for a successful campaign after this launch. As the saying goes 'a house divided against itself' cannot stand...United we stand; divided we fall! Aspirants Unite for Victory is a clear sign that we are a team solidly knitted together for the battle of 2020 which, Isha Allah, we shall win massively through hard work and oneness of purpose. ''This is because we have stayed true to the good people of Ghana by delivering on most of our promises. In fact, per last check, we're almost 80 percent of the promises have either been delivered or we're delivering it. It's quite remarkable for a government in just less than four years in office...and we pray Ghanaians will give us four more years to do more for them. We're grateful that these great and loyal members of our party did not out of the pain of losing choose to go against the party but decided to stick to the collective. This is a good sign and a demonstration of unflinching love for the NPP. I think that our collective interest must at all times override our personal interest. Our love for the party must be even demonstrated more in times of difficulty and not when all is well and rosy because that is easy for anybody to do. Aspirants Unite for Victory 2020 have shown the way and hope that they're given the needed support as they join forces with the national campaign team to help canvass for votes from house-to-house, door-to-door and hamlet-to-hamlet to ensure a decisive and emphatic victory.'' Also speaking to the gathering was the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Ocquaye, who advised the aspirants to uphold the tenets of the NPP and further applauded them for their bold step to unite for victory. ''If anybody should tell you that there have not been situation that are not that palatable such as in any political party, then that person will be talking about the church rather than a political party...One thing that this group must start thinking immediately about is electoral reform'', the Speaker stated. Present at the event was also the NPP National Organizer, Sammy Awuku who charged the aspirants not to relax their pace in their campaign for the party saying ''in opposition, your strategy is one; just to attack but in government, you defend your record. For me, fighting for re-election is more difficult than fighting from opposition. And that is why we need each and everyone on the NPP ship to make sure we cross the 2020 December 7. Victory will not come on a silver platter and that is why the Vice President and the President, himself, they're leaving no stone unturned and campaigning as if we're in opposition, and that is why our supporters and those of us in this room, I am so happy that you have decided that elections are over; it's time to also go back to our party and make sure that we work''. The Executive Committee of the AU4V include Kennedy Kwasi Kankam, Covener, Bice Osei Kuffour, Convener, Collins Owusu Amankwa in charge of Operations & Special Duties of the group, Ablekuma North MP, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, Kojo Frempong who lost at Wenchi as National Organizer of the group, Seth Kwame Acheampong (Mpraeso), Natoional Coordinator, Ato Panford, Business Development and for Media Relations of the AU4V is Ken Kuranchie who lost at Okaikoi North. Members consist of all the aspirants who lost in the party's primaries. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video DENVER, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MDC), one of the nation's leading homebuilders, will release its 2020 third quarter earnings before the market opens on Thursday, October 29, 2020. MDC will host a teleconference the same day at 12:30 pm ET. The live teleconference will be available by calling 866-652-5200 and requesting to join the M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. conference call. A replay of the teleconference will be available through November 5, 2020 by calling 877-344-7529 and entering Access Code # 10148413. A webcast of the teleconference will be available live at www.mdcholdings.com, and beginning two hours after the call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the website. About M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1972. MDC's homebuilding subsidiaries, which operate under the name Richmond American Homes, have built and financed the American Dream for more than 210,000 homebuyers since 1977. MDC's commitment to customer satisfaction, quality and value is reflected in each home its subsidiaries build. MDC is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Its subsidiaries have homebuilding operations across the country, including the metropolitan areas of Denver, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Riverside-San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Orlando, Jacksonville, Seattle and Portland. MDC's subsidiaries also provide mortgage financing, insurance and title services, primarily for Richmond American homebuyers, through HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation, American Home Insurance Agency, Inc. and American Home Title and Escrow Company, respectively. MDC's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDC." For more information, visit http://ir.richmondamerican.com/. SOURCE M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. Related Links http://www.richmondamerican.com Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called for EU sanctions against businesses that support Lukashenko's government French President Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday meet with Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya during his visit to Lithuania in what is seen as a major show of support for the activist. Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Vilnius after claiming victory in a disputed election, told AFP on Monday she had requested a meeting and called on Macron to help mediate in the crisis. "The protests are not going to stop," the 38-year-old said in an interview, adding that Belarus "badly needs" a dialogue between government and opposition in order to ensure there is "no more blood". Macron confirmed he would meet Tikhanovskaya on Tuesday morning during his three-day visit to Lithuania and Latvia, marking a fresh initiative from the French leader in addition to recent efforts to resolve a political crisis in Lebanon. He called for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to handle mediation on Belarus and vowed that Paris "will do everything it can to ensure this mediation comes into being." "The OSCE will conduct this mediation as firmly as possible. (Russian President) Vladimir Putin has expressed his agreement and support for this initiative. He must help us to convince Lukashenko about this direction," Macron said. The French leader also insisted that dialogue with Moscow was necessary, speaking at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. "We can't pretend that Europe is an island, far from Russia," he said, adding that this proximity "calls for strategic work to build a security architecture" that "avoids escalations." - Lukashenko 'has to go' - The talks on Tuesday with Macron will be Tikhanovskaya's most high-profile meeting with an international leader since the elections on August 9 and the protests which she has helped inspire. In her interview, Tikhanovskaya said Macron could encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Belarusian strongman president Alexander Lukashenko, to take part in the dialogue. Story continues Ahead of his arrival in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Macron said it was clear that Lukashenko "has to go" after 26 years in power in the former Soviet republic. Lukashenko shot back saying that Macron himself "should have resigned" during the Yellow Vest protests that have rocked France, the Belarus state Belta news agency reported. Macron added he was impressed with the courage of protesters, who on Sunday staged their 50th day of demonstrations against Lukashenko since his disputed election win last month. Belarusian police on Sunday detained around 200 people as tens of thousands took to the streets days after Lukashenko staged a secret inauguration. Tikhanovskaya, whose blogger husband remains in a Belarus prison, also on Monday called for EU sanctions against businesses that support Lukashenko's government. But she emphasised that the EU should stop short of general economic sanctions as "ordinary people will suffer most" from them. - EU sanctions? - She has previously met with leaders in neighbouring Poland and Lithuania, which have taken a lead in European diplomacy on Belarus, and with EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The EU is considering personal sanctions against Lukashenko and other high-profile figures seen as responsible for the violent crackdown. Lukashenko has also jailed or forced out most of the country's prominent opposition activists. On Monday, Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich -- a Nobel Literature Prize winner who has faced official pressure for supporting the opposition -- left the country for planned treatment in Germany. "She will return to Belarus in a month. She is not dropping her (opposition) activities," her friend Mariya Voiteshonok told AFP. In addition to the talks with Tikhanovskaya and a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda, Macron will also visit French troops stationed in the Baltic state as part of a NATO move to reinforce its eastern flank. leb-amj/mas/spm The coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in Spain, in particular in one region: Madrid. The latest report from the Health Ministry about the crisis, which was released on Monday evening, shows 13,449 new cases detected in Madrid since Friday (no data is released over the weekend). This is the biggest growth of the second wave, explained Health Minister Salvador Illa, who appeared before reporters last night accompanied by Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts (CCAES). The same figure for Madrid released last Monday was 11,991 new cases, and the week before that 10,864. Four weeks ago the figure was 9,440. There is community transmission in Madrid, and the pandemic is not under control, said Illa, referring to a situation whereby new infections cannot be tracked and traced. We need to act. The cumulative incidence of Covid-19 in Madrid is 775 cases per 100,000 inhabitants more than double the Spanish average of 290 The new cases registered in the Madrid region represent 42% of the total 31,785 registered in the ministry report since Friday. This percentage has grown compared to last week, when it came in at 38%. The total number of cases on a national level, meanwhile, continues to grow. Compared with other Mondays, when the cases registered over the weekend are accumulated, September 28 saw the biggest growth so far of the second wave: four weeks ago 26,000 new cases were notified, 5,000 fewer than this Monday. Spain also registered the highest number of new coronavirus-related deaths recorded between Friday and Monday in this second wave, according to the ministry report, with 179 fatalities. The official Covid-19 death toll in Spain now stands at 31,411, although this number does not include the tens of thousands of victims who were not subject to a PCR test during the first wave. The cumulative incidence of cases over two weeks continues to be very high in the Madrid region, with 775 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the Spanish average of 290. These figures far outstrip those in the majority of European countries: in the United Kingdom the figure is 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and in Italy, it is 37. Only France, which has 235 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, is close to the rate of growth in Spain, although the French government has approved restrictions in the countrys main cities. In Europe, the trend is similar to that of Spain, Fernando Simon explained on Monday evening. They are three weeks behind us, but nearly all of them are seeing an increase in the cases they are reporting. It is not desirable, he concluded. The Madrid region has become a black spot for the national coronavirus statistics and the main concern for the Health Ministry. As well as the accumulated incidence, the region is also the worst in all other parameters. Despite having ramped up its PCR testing, with more than 2,300 tests per 100,000 inhabitants being carried out, 20% of those tested are coming back positive. According to experts, this means that the level of community transmission is very high and that there are still many more positive cases to be detected. The World Health Organization, for example, has established a 5% limit for transmission to be considered under control. There is community transmission in Madrid, and the pandemic is not under control Health Minister Salvador Illa Illa repeated his insistence last night that the Madrid regional government should change course and restrict mobility in areas where the cumulative infection rate over two weeks is above 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This would affect three-quarters of the region. For now, the Madrid administration is refusing to take that step. The level of pressure on Spanish hospitals is also gradually rising, although it varies greatly from region to region. According to the data from the Health Ministry, the occupation of hospital beds by Covid-19 patients is around 9.7%, with a total of 11,147 people admitted. The intensive care unit (ICU) occupation rate is higher, at 18%, with 1,529 people in a serious condition. Madrid is once again the region with the worst figures, with a quarter of its hospital beds occupied by Covid-19, a figure that rises to 40% in terms of ICU spaces. Hospital admissions over the previous 24 hours came in at 955, compared to 422 Covid-19 patients discharged. The situation in Spain is very variable, and as such, activity also has to be very variable. We have a total of 24 provinces where stabilization is being observed, and above all, a clear fall in the incidence in recent weeks, Simon explained on Monday evening. English version by Simon Hunter. Brad Parscale, Donald Trumps former campaign manager, was said to have been coaxed from his house by an officer who was also his friend during a weekend standoff with police. Writing a police report on the incident, Christopher Wilson said his shift had ended on Sunday when he was told about a SWAT team at Mr Parscales home, who would not surrender to police. Mr Wilson went to assist the SWAT team, stationed outside the address in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from where Mr Parscales wife fled following his comments about shooting himself. The officer was reported to have persuaded the former Trump campaign manager to come out from his house after an hours-long standoff, which led to his arrest. Body camera footage showed officers pushing Mr Parscale to the ground as he stepped outside his home prior to that arrest. Recommended Ms Parscale told police that the 44-year-old had been stressed and had turned to alcohol to manage post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the police report. She went to seek help on Sunday when he made comments about shooting himself, which led to the 911 call. Police found 10 guns that were removed from the home, where Ms Parscale told police she sustained bruising from her husband in an altercation that week. Mr Parscale was hospitalised later on Sunday, having been declared a threat to himself and others under state law. He was demoted from his position as Mr Trumps campaign manager in July following a largely unattended comeback rally in Tusla, Oklahoma, that was said to have annoyed the president. Mr Parscale remained part of the campaign, helping run its digital operation, prior to Sundays arrest. Dublin Aerospace has branded the new operation as Exeter Aerospace Aircraft maintenance firm Dublin Aerospace has established its first overseas operation, at the former Flybe maintenance facility in Exeter Airport. Dublin Aerospace has branded the new operation as Exeter Aerospace, and is looking to fill 100 job vacancies at the facility. It expects to employ more than 250 people there within the next three to four years. Flybe went bust earlier this year. It was part of the Connect Airways group that also included Dublin-based Stobart Air, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional service. Stobart Air is now owned by Stobart Group. Dublin Aerospace was established by Conor McCarthy, who is also its chairman and CEO. He said the firms new Exeter operation will service Embraer, Bombardier Dash and ATR turboprop regional aircraft. Flybe operated a mix of those aircraft, while Stobart Air currently operates a fleet of ATRs. The former Flybe facility will eventually have six aircraft overhaul bays. We have acquired all of the tooling and equipment we require for these aircraft and have taken possession of the modern, purpose-built Exeter hangars and workshops, said Mr McCarthy. He said the company is now in the process of securing licence approvals from UK and European aviation safety organisations. Mr McCarthy has been on the hunt for a UK facility for some time. In 2017, he told the Irish Independent that Dublin Aerospace had pulled a planned 40m investment in the UK after the Brexit vote. That would have involved a greenfield site. One of our concerns if we were going to set up a facility in the UK would be that with our reliance on contract workers, we would be restricted in terms of their ability to come in and out of the UK to work, Mr McCarthy said at the time. The so-called maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business for aircraft is seasonal here, making it busier during the winter when airlines typically reduce schedules. Mr McCarthy said its new Exeter employees will also benefit from the groups profit-sharing scheme, which pays 10pc of profits to workers every quarter. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:39:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed on Monday night after an army post was attacked by militants of terror group Boko Haram in Cameroon's Far North region, according to security sources. The incident happened in the locality of Zeleved. Local authorities, while confirming the incident, said the terrorists destroyed the army post and left with arms and munitions used by the soldiers. One of the soldiers seriously injured in the attack has been rushed to the hospital, authorities said. The army is in pursuit of the assailants, according to security sources. More than 2,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched attacks in the Far North since 2014, according to security reports. Enditem The 190th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be held on Saturday and Sunday. The conference will include a morning session at 12 p.m. and an afternoon session at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on both Saturday and Sunday and a session for women and young women ages 11 and older on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Due to the coronavirus, the event will be held virtually and broadcast from Salt Lake City to some 16 million Latter-day Saints in more than 50 nations, including those in the greater Chattanooga area. All, no matter religious affiliation, are invited to watch or listen. Officials emphasize that the messages, or sermons, are for the whole world. As the world grapples with a global pandemic, economic hardship, social issues, political turmoil, and uncertainty, The First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and General Officers of the Church will focus on the Saviors messages of love, understanding, acceptance, hope, connection, and inclusion. About the Savior, President Russell M. Nelson states, During trying times, few things are as reassuring and comforting as truth. Amid the gloomy darkness of a troubled world, the light of Jesus Christ shines ever brighter. He can speak truth to our hearts and minds as we seek Him and learn to hear Him. This year, the Church is marking 200 years since the First Vision, when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to 14-year old Joseph Smith in answer to his prayer. Josephs prayer ushered in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Six months ago, President Nelson introduced a proclamation to the world in honor of the anniversary of Joseph Smiths First Vision. As officials state, the proclamation invites people everywhere to know for themselves that God speaks and that this Restoration of truth is occurring to help them prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. A copy of the proclamation may be accessed at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-restoration-of-the-fulness-of-the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/a-bicentennial-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng. The Church states, Josephs prayer can be a pattern for the worldGeneral conferences are among the ways we try to hear God speak. Regarding October General Conference, We believe God will speak truth in unique ways to each person who watches and listens, Latter-day Saint or not. Local officials of the Church invite everyone to participate Vodafone wins arbitration award in Rs20,000-cr retro tax case British telecom major Vodafone Group Plc has secured an arbitration award from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in its dispute with Indian tax authorities against the retrospective tax demand of Rs20,000 crore. The Hague court ruled that the conduct of the Income Tax Department is in breach of 'fair and equitable' treatment and is in violation of Indias bilateral investment treaty with the Netherlands. The telecom major had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016 after the Indian government brought in new law to overcome a Supreme Court verdict that favoured Vodafone in the tax demand. Vodafone had challenged the Income tax Departments demand of Rs7,990 in capital gains tax on its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Essars assets in India, which had since shot up to Rs22,100 crore after including interest and penalty. The tax demand had risen to Rs11,000 crore in 2009 and the then UPA government held that Vodafones $11 billion acquisition of Hutchison Telecom stake was liable for tax deduction at source (TDS) under the Income Tax Act since Vodafone had not deducted the tax at source. On 12 February 2016, the telecom company received a notice "of an outstanding tax demand of Rs22,100 crore (which included interest accruing since the date of the original demand)." British telecom major Vodafone plc concluded the purchase deal of Hong Kong-based Hutchisons assets in India from the Netherlands in order to avoid paying tax anywhere. However, the Supreme Court quashed the demand. The government since amended its law retrospectively, putting the liability back on Vodafone Group. Vodafone invoked the BIT in January 2014 to challenge the demand. Since that could not resolve the issue, Vodafone served an arbitration notice. A decades-old border dispute between Azerbajan and Armenian separatists in the Nagorny Karabakh region in the South Caucasus erupted in fighting on Sunday and continues as world leaders call for calm. Dozens of people have been killed, although the numbers remain in dispute. According to the Armenian foreign ministry, a civilian was killed on Tuesday in the town of Vardenis after it was targeted in a drone attack and shelled by Azeri military. It added that this is the first civilian death in Armenia since fighting broke out on Sunday. "The Azerbaijani side launched massive artillery shelling of Armenian positions, preparing for a fresh attack," according to Armenia defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan, who gave an update on social media. The defence ministry in Azerbaijan said that "fierce fighting continued overnight asArmenia's attempted counter-offensive to win back positions it lost to Azerbaijani forces was repelled." Although the Azeris have not reported military casualties, Armenian separatists released unverified video that show dead Azeri soldiers. The landlocked, mountainous region in the South Caucasus was the site of a previous war over the region in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people, and occasional fighting has broken out since, most recently last July. Fearing a full-scale war, world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on both sides to stop the violence. Both French President Emmanuel Macron and Pompeo have called for talks with the Minsk Group, which was created by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) expressly to resolve this conflict. France, Russia and the US co-chair the committee. "We will trigger in the coming days a co-ordination of the Minsk Group to clear up what happened, who is responsible and find a way out," according to an official at the Elysee on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia wanted the fighting to stop, adding that any indication of contributing military support to either side would only make the situation worse. The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting behind closed doors on the matter at 2100 GMT. Nagorny Karabakh is technically within Azerbaijan but the region is run by ethnic Armenians and is supported by Armenia. The breakaway region is not recognized by any country internationally as an independent state, including by Armenia. Following two weeks of working to put out record wildfires in California, 16 Montgomery County firefighters are coming back home as another 14 take their place starting Wednesday. County firefighters have been working the Creek Fire, northeast of Fresno in the Sierra National Forest, and the August Complex Fire, northwest of Sacramento in Mendocino and Shasta-Trinity National Forests, according to the Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office. Strike Team 143, consisting of the Caney Creek, Conroe, Needham, North Montgomery County and South Montgomery County Fire Departments, have been working the Creek Fire. Porter firefighters have been mostly targeting the August Complex Fire, according to the fire marshals office. Working on 24-hour shifts, Conroe firefighters have been encountering very rugged terrain while working to contain the Creek Fire, said Conroe Fire Marshal Steve Cottar. The firefighters will be flying back Tuesday evening, while their replacements will fly out to California earlier in the day and start hitting the fire on Wednesday. In addition to the 14 from Montgomery County, another 30 are from the Houston area and 69 are from Dallas and the Texas Panhandle, according to the fire marshals office. Another two firefighters from the South Montgomery County Fire Department are expected to take over the wildfire response from Amarillo Firefighters using an engine from the New Waverly Fire Department, according to the fire marshals office. This year, California has faced six of its largest fires in history. The August Complex Fire encompasses 873,000 acres and is 43 percent contained, while the Creek Fire exceeds 300,000 and is 39 percent contained. It is the Golden States largest single wildfire ever, according to the fire marshals office. Conroe Fire had three firefighters fighting off the fires. As they return home, three from the department will replace them, Cottar explained. In August, Porter Fire deployed four firefighters to a California wildfire and returned after roughly 21 days. Another four have been in California during this last round, and five more will be heading out tomorrow, according to Porter Fire Chief Carter Johnson. Specialized firefighting units like these are deployed to disasters through the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System program, as managed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which deploys firefighting units to disasters like this at the behest of the Texas Governors Office, according to the fire marshals office. The costs for these deployments are reimbursed by the requesting jurisdictions and are not borne by local taxpayers, however the specialized training and experience gained by our firefighters is invaluable and helps improve local public safety efforts, read a statement from the fire marshals office. Montgomery County firefighters were previously deployed to California in August 2018 to help extinguish wildfires there. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx NEW DELHI : British oil explorer Cairn Energy Plc on Tuesday said it is seeking from the Indian government $1.4 billion (about 10,300 crore) in losses arising from the expropriation of its investments to enforce a retrospective tax demand. In its half-yearly earnings statement, the company said it expects an international arbitral tribunal to shortly give a decree on its challenge to the Indian government seeking 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. "The main evidentiary hearing of Cairn's claim under the (UK-India Bilateral Investment) Treaty took place in August 2018 in The Hague with a final hearing in December 2018. All formal hearings and submissions have now been made and the tribunal is in the process of drafting its award," the firm said. The tribunal, it said, has indicated that "it expects to be in a position to issue the award after the end of the summer of 2020, with no significant delay expected as a result of COVID-19." Cairn said it is seeking "full restitution for losses of more than $1.4 billion resulting from the expropriation of its investments in India in 2014; continued attempts to enforce retrospective tax measures; and the failure to treat the company and its investments fairly and equitably." This is the second most high profile retrospective tax litigation. Last week, an international arbitration tribunal ruled that India's efforts to claim 22,100 crore in past taxes from Vodafone Group were in breach of fair treatment under the bilateral investment protection pact between the south Asian nation and the Netherlands. Cairn, which gave the country its biggest oil discovery, received a notice from the income tax department in January 2014, raising a preliminary assessment of 10,247 crore tax liability relating to the group reorganisation done in 2006. Alongside, the department attached the company's near 10% shareholding in its erstwhile subsidiary, Cairn India. Cairn Energy had in 2010-11 sold Cairn India to Vedanta. Following the merger of Cairn India and Vedanta in April 2017, the UK firm's shareholding in Cairn India was replaced by a shareholding of about 5% in Vedanta issued together with preference shares. In addition to attaching its shares in Vedanta, the tax department seized dividends totalling 1,140 crore due to it from those shareholdings and set off a 1,590-crore tax refund against the demand. Cairn Energy in 2015 initiated an international arbitration to challenge retrospective taxation. Pending the final award, the tax department sold most of Cairn Energy's shares in Vedanta to recover part of the tax demand. "Based on detailed legal advice, Cairn remains confident that it will be successful in this arbitration and accordingly no provision has been made for any of the tax or penalties assessed by the Indian Income Tax Department," the firm said on Tuesday. The Treaty, it said, affords strong provisions to enforce a successful award and a decision of the Tribunal under the terms of the Bilateral Investment Treaty is binding on both parties. "The Group also has legal advice confirming that the maximum amount that could ultimately be recovered from Cairn by the tax department, in excess of the assets already seized, is limited to the value of (the firm's) assets, principally the remaining ordinary shares in Vedanta Ltd with a value of 3.3 million at June 30, 2020," it added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The incidents signaled a further escalation of the conflict despite urgent appeals from the international community. Baku and Yerevan have exchanged accusations of firing directly into each other's territory and rejected pressure to hold peace talks as their conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region threatened to mushroom into all-out war. Both reported firing from the other side across their shared border, well to the west of the Nagorno-Karabakh region over which fierce fighting broke out between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces on Sunday, Reuters reported on September 29. Read alsoArmenia reports Azerbaijan's large-scale offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh region The incidents signaled a further escalation of the conflict despite urgent appeals from Russia, the United States and others to halt it, Reuters said. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, speaking to Russian state television, flatly ruled out any possibility of talks. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the same channel they could not take place while fighting continued. According to Reuters, further stoking tensions between the two former Soviet republics, Armenia said a Turkish F-16 fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes over Armenian airspace, killing the pilot. It provided no evidence of the incident. Turkey called the claim "absolutely untrue," and Azerbaijan also denied it. Escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh: Recent developments On the morning of Sunday, September 27, Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Both countries blamed each other for shelling as a result of which they suffered casualties. Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic declared martial law and general mobilization. Azerbaijan, in turn, introduced martial law on September 28. Partial mobilization was announced in that country. Azerbaijan said that during a successful offensive they took control of several villages of Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia denies the information. Both sides claim that they inflicted huge losses on the enemy, numbering hundreds of killed soldiers and dozens of destroyed units of military equipment. Nagorno-Karabakh war: Past developments Two self-made billionaire brothers from the North of England have stunned the City by moving into pole position to buy Asda. Mohsin Issa, 49, and his brother Zuber, 48, built up their company EG Group from a single garage in Bury, bought for 150,000 in 2001, to a 9billion giant with 5,400 outlets and 35,000 staff. Yesterday it emerged the duo, whose family came to the UK in the 1960s 'with nothing', have been chosen as the preferred bidder in the battle to buy Asda, which would return the supermarket to British ownership. Any deal is expected to value the supermarket at around 6.5billion. The decision has confounded the City who believed owners, US grocer Walmart, was ready to sign a deal with Apollo Global Management, which was headed up by former Debenhams boss Rob Templeman. Preferred bidder: Any deal is expected to value the supermarket at around 6.5billion Last week Lone Star Funds, which was working with former Asda executive Paul Mason, dropped out seemingly leaving Apollo with a clear run. It is thought Walmart was wooed by the Issas' entrepreneurial flair and the potential to put Asda convenience stores in EG's petrol stations. Walmart is looking to sell most of its stake in Asda to focus on defending its position in the US against Amazon and pursue opportunities in higher growth markets, such as India. The Issas are backed by private-equity firm TDR Capital, which has owned half of EG Group since 2016, and a series of lenders including Barclays and Lloyds. Their selection as the preferred bidder for Asda was first reported by Sky News. Shore Capital's Clive Black said the proposed deal put 'raw entrepreneurship and ambition in the driving seat'. FIT, founded in 1979, has built a strong reputation as an innovative and reliable supplier with a broad range of specialty fastener qualifications and, under the guidance of President Larry Valeriano, has expanded their applications to more than 25 aircraft platforms. Some customer relationships span multiple decades, such as those with Boeing (including BDSI), Incora (Wesco), Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin. The existing management team will continue to operate and grow the business under the guidance of Avantus Fastener President Dennis Suedkamp, aided by Avantus' additional resources. Avantus CEO, Brian Williams, said: "The FIT team have built an innovative, specialty fastener business with an excellent reputation. We believe our combined strength will allow us to better serve our customers. We look forward to making further acquisitions that complement our existing product and geographic offering." Larry Valeriano commented: "FIT's great customer relationships and long tradition of manufacturing excellence make it an ideal fit for an organization like Avantus Aerospace that shares its values. Together we are well positioned to capitalize on the long-term growth opportunities that lie ahead in the fastener and C Class marketplace." Dennis Suedkamp added: "We look forward to enhancing our combined technical and manufacturing resources, while also supporting the development of our employees and the success of our customers. Avantus Aerospace, is owned by Inflexion and Auctus Industries. Inflexion is a leading European mid-market private equity firm, investing in high-growth, entrepreneurial businesses with ambitious management teams working in partnership with them to accelerate growth. Auctus Industries is a specialist investor in aerospace businesses, focusing on off-market deal sourcing and the execution of buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Please visit our website to learn more. www.avantusaerospace.com The purchasers were advised by Goodwin Proctor LLP (Santa Monica), CDS (San Francisco), KPMG (London/Chicago) and Grant Thornton, (Irvine). SOURCE Avantus Aerospace Related Links https://www.avantusaerospace.com ward John Saffin, 32, sexually assaulted his victim over four hours in 2015 Edward John Saffin, 32, the son of Labor MP Janelle Saffin, drove his victim into isolated countryside near Lismore, in regional NSW, where he sexually assaulted him A man jailed for brutally raping a teenager over three or four hours in 2015 has failed to have his sentence reduced. Edward John Saffin, 32, the son of Labor MP Janelle Saffin, drove his victim into isolated countryside near Lismore, in regional NSW, where he sexually assaulted him. Following a nine-day trial, Saffin, who took ice and cannabis in the hours before meeting his victim, was found guilty by jury of 13 offences, including aggravated sexual assault and assault with an act of indecency. He was sentenced to a maximum of 14 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of nine years and four months. Saffin's defence challenged the sentence on the grounds it was 'manifestly excessive'. This was after referring to a report from clinical psychologists which revealed Saffin was diagnosed with autism. Despite the 'implicit threats' and 'actual restraints' imposed by Saffin on his victim, and the fact he was explicitly not consenting, his defence team still argued he was unable to comprehend the victim was not consenting. Former Federal Labor MP Janelle Saffin (pictured above) was in court to support her son But the fact the victim tried to open a locked car door, and repeated the words 'no, no', and 'f***ing no', would have been understood by Saffin, according to clinical psychologist, Sally Clifford. At the time of his sentencing in 2017, Judge Peter Whitford acknowledged Saffin's mental condition, but stated the offender was still aware the victim wasn't consenting to the encounter. In July of 2015, Saffin offered to drive the teenager to his home where he lived with his family. Instead he drove him into the country and assaulted him inside and and outside his car. During the assault, Saffin called him a 'little whore' and told not to be a 'little bitch'. The victim was petrified because Saffin said he was carrying a knife and a gun. Following the attack, he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Saffin's appeal against sentence on Tuesday. He will be eligible for release in August of 2025. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 22, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Trump Has Donated Presidential Salary to Government Agencies: McEnany White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that reports alleging President Donald Trump paid only $750 in taxes are an attempt to smear the president ahead of the election. Over the weekend, The New York Times said it obtained Trumps financial records for 2016 and 2017, saying he paid the amount. Trump pushed back against the allegation, saying that it is a totally fake story. McEnany told Breitbart on Monday that Trump has donated his entire $400,000 salary every year hes been in office, saying that voters likely wont care about the NY Times claims. She said that he donated more than $1 million of his salary to various government agencies. Democrats and the liberal media are desperately trying to smear President Trump ahead of the election, but this trivial attack did not persuade the American people in 2016, McEnany said. For four years, the forgotten men and women of America have watched their President sacrifice his eminently successful business career, generously donate his salary, and tirelessly fight for them every single day. McEnany added that because Trump hasnt been running his real estate empire and other businesses over the past several years, hes suffered financial losses as president. Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and presidential candidate Joe Biden have ramped up attacks on Trump, with Pelosi claiming Trumps finances are a national security issue. She noted that Trump allegedly has tens of millions of dollars in debt, according to the NY Times article, which could be used to put pressure on him. So for me, this is a national security question, Pelosi said. The fact that you could have a sitting president who owes hundreds of millions of dollars that hes personally guaranteed to lenders, and we dont know who these lenders are, she said, again suggesting without evidence that Trump is indebted to Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Sunday, Trump said he will not release his financial records because he is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Its under audit. Theyve been under audit for a long time, he said. The IRS does not treat me well. Such information will be released in due time, he said before adding that it will only be done when the IRS audit is completed. Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten issued a statement to the NY Times about the reporting, saying that most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate. Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015, Garten told the paper. Over the past four years, news outlets and various Democrat officials at the state and congressional level have tried to get Trumps tax returns. Theyve become the subject of a number of legal battles, with cases going to the Supreme Court. A Sri Lankan court on Monday barred the captain of the Greek-owned oil tanker that caught fire off Sri Lanka's eastern coast from leaving the country. The magistrate's court here, however, declined to issue a remand order on Steiros Illias, the captain of the Panama-registered tanker MT New Diamond that went up in flames on September 3 while carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from Kuwait to India. The deputy solicitor general had requested a remand order as the captain was needed to file an indictment in the high court. The court barred him from leaving the country as he was needed for further proceedings. The captain appeared in the court after the attorney general directed police to record his statement. He was to be charged for committing offences under the Marine Pollution Environmental Protection Act. The next hearing in the case is on October 12. On Saturday, the owner of the ship, Greece-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc., agreed to pay USD 2.3 million to Sri Lanka for the costs incurred on dousing the fire onboard the tanker. The deputy solicitor general told the magistrate that oil had leaked from the tanker polluting the sea. At least two nautical miles had been affected by the oil seepage. New Diamond, a vessel under charter by the Indian Oil Corporation, was carrying 270,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Mina Al Ahmadi port in Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip when a boiler explosion in its engine room caused a fire off the coast of Sangamankanda in Ampara district. The fire killed one Filipino crew member and injured another, while 21 other crew members escaped uninjured. The Sri Lanka Navy with the help of Indian counterparts and coast guard doused the fire after a much effort. The ship is currently in the seas 70 nautical miles east of Batticaloa in the east and 129 kilometres away from the Batticaloa coast. (Image credits: Indian Coast Gaurd/Twitter) This story has not been edited by www.republicworld.com and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed. New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (September 29) hit out at the Centre over the contentious farm laws, and said that this legislation will devastate the farmers of the country and help the hoarders. Addressing an administrative meeting at branch secretariat 'Uttar Kanya' in Siliguri, Mamata Banerjee said she will speak to state officials and take steps to protect the interest of the farmers. The West Bengal Chief Minister said, "The farm laws will devastate the farmers of the country. It will only help the hoarders. The laws will not serve the interest of the farmers. We will soon convene a meeting of officials to see what can be done to protect the interest of the farmers." The opposition parties, including Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, have been protesting three farm sector laws enacted by the Narendra Modi government, alleging these are "anti-farmer measures" and will "destroy" the agriculture sector. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya today urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to frame a law in the Assembly to negate the "anti-agriculture" legislation passed by the Centre and protect the interests of farmers. In a letter to Banerjee, Bhattacharya claimed that the three farm laws, if implemented, will lead to the end of minimum support price regime and cause exploitation of farmers, while corporates will take over the sector. He said, "I request you to take initiative to stop the Union Government to implement the Anti-Farmers bills 2020 here," while referring to the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Live TV Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flayed the parties opposing the new farm laws. He said they wanted only the middlemen to thrive and referred to the burning of a tractor in Delhi by Congress workers as an insult to farmers. Without naming the Congress, PM Modi said, "They are opposing the freedom of farmers and want their problems to continue forever. By torching farming equipment, which the agriculturists worship, these people are now insulting farmers." He said the opposition has only one way of doing politics in the country and that is by opposing things, while added that by opposing big reformative steps by the Centre such as the farm laws, these forces were making themselves irrelevant in the society and in the country. The Prime Minister accused the opposition of opposing everything from GST, One Rank One Pension, Rafale deal, Statue of Unity, 10 per cent reservation for the poor and celebration of November 26 as Samvidhan Diwas. He said that politics of the opposition for opposition's sake was the root of the frustration of a party which had ruled for four generations. Bob Freesen YMCA will hold a charity event called Paint the Dance Floor Pink from 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 9. The Zumbathon event, which costs $10, is to raise money for the Mia Ware Foundation. The foundation provides a network for those who have been diagnosed with or have lost someone to cancer, and to educate people about opportunities for early detection. The conference was co-organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the French Embassy in Vietnam, and MEDEF International - a non-profit private-funded organisation created in 1989 by MEDEF, the French Business Confederation. Francois Corbin, President of the Vietnam-France Business Council and Vice President of MEDEF International, said the large number of businesses involved in the conference reflects the high level of interest in Vietnam. He highlighted Vietnams positive growth amid the pandemic, saying the country has become a candidate destination for value chain transformation in Asia. Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said the Vietnam-France relationship has developed fruitfully since the two countries set up a strategic partnership in 2013. Regarding the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), he said they will open up more opportunities for Vietnamese and French investors to access the markets of each other. Vietnam has paid attention to quality, efficiency, technology, and environmental protection during its investment attraction efforts, he stressed. According to Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Foreign Investment Agency, the Vietnamese Government has adjusted the Law on Enterprises and the Law on Investment in an effort to streamline procedures and create an open corridor for foreign investors in the country. In anticipation of waves of foreign investment, the country has prepared land and human resources while setting up a working group in charge of removing obstacles to investment and attracting quality and large-scale investment projects. Participating French firms at the conference raised questions regarding Vietnams priority projects and measures to address difficulties facing existing projects. The two sides agreed to further exchange information and facilitate French investments in areas of shared concern, especially technology-intensive and high-tech sectors. Victoria's newest minister will take charge of the state's workplace safety agenda as part of a cabinet reshuffle that results in Attorney-General Jill Hennessy losing a portfolio and Deputy Premier James Merlino increasing his power. Ingrid Stitt, the former secretary of the Australian Services Union, has been appointed to the ministry after the resignation on Saturday of health minister Jenny Mikakos. Ms Stitt will serve as Minister for Workplace Safety, a role previously held by Ms Hennessy. Minister Ingrid Stitt. Ms Stitt, from the same Socialist Left action as Premier Daniel Andrews and Ms Mikakos, will also take on the new portfolio of Early Childhood and oversee the rollout of three-year-old kinder across the state. Mr Merlino and Danny Pearson, the former lobbyist who replaced Adem Somyurek in cabinet in June, will take on portfolios held by Martin Foley before his appointment as Health Minister. - FN Media Group Presents NetworkNewsWire Market Commentary NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately 1,300 people die every day as a result of smoking, and more than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking. These alarming numbers aren't going unnoticed, and companies with expertise in the space are seizing the opportunity to provide solutions designed to help smokers kick the habit. One of those companies, Kaival Brands Innovations Group Inc. (OTCQB: KAVL) (KAVL Profile), has just acquired a patent covering the creation of all synthetic nicotine smoking cessation and synthetic nicotine addiction therapy products; the company is also creating a subsidiary that will own the patent and develop all related products. The maker of Nicorette, GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK) creates innovative nicotine replacement therapies and smoking cessation products, including the Nicorette product line. Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE: PRGO) offers a healthy lifestyle product portfolio that includes a full range of oral nicotine products designed to help smokers kick the habit or cut down on tobacco use. Altria Group (NYSE: MO) has created QuitAssist, an online resource to help smokers who are trying to quit be more successful. And Reynolds American Inc., owned by British American Tobacco Industries (NYSE: BTI), has a Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) campaign designed to reduce the risks faced by adult tobacco smokers by providing them with accurate information tobacco and smoking. Seven million people die every year from tobacco use; 16 million Americans live with smoking-caused disease. Kaival Brands recently acquired a patent to create cessation products using a specialized formulation of purified synthetic nicotine that is tobacco-free. Kaival Labs Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of KAVL, owns the patented science and develops associated products. Click here to view the custom infographic of the Kaival Brands Innovations Group Inc. (OTCQB: KAVL) editorial. The Disturbing Numbers Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today. Worldwide, 7 million people die every year from tobacco use, and the number is projected to increase to 8 million if the pattern of smoking doesn't change. In addition, smoking also leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 16 million Americans have a disease caused by smoking, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and more. And all of this can be prevented. The need to address these disturbing statistics is urgent, and the potential benefits of doing so may include more than saving lives. According to a Global Smoking Cessation Market Analysis 2019, the smoking cessation market is projected to reach$63.99 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 16.9% during 2018 to 2026. The study defines smoking cessation as the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking and includes products such as chewing gum, inhalers, lozenges, patches, sprays and sublingual tablets and therapies such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), non-NRT therapy and e-cigarettes. Effective and Satisfying, Yet Addiction Free Despite the threat of death and disease, the latest numbers from the National Health Information Survey show that 34.2 million U.S. adults still smoke. Approximately 70% of current adult smokers in the country want to quit; in fact, 55% have attempted to quit in the past year. But the success rate for kicking the habit is only 7% because nicotine is a highly addictive chemical, and cigarettes are designed to deliver that molecule quickly. Kaival Brands Innovations Group Inc. (OTCQB: KAVL), a company focused on growing and incubating innovative and profitable products into mature, dominant brands, is committed to making a difference in the smoking cessation sector. The company, which has has reported $54.8 million in revenue and $6.9 million in gross profits thus far this year, recently acquired an international patent portfolio concerning full customization of certain isomeric properties of synthetic nicotine. This Tobacco-Free Nicotine (TFN) does not contain any trace of tobacco; rather it is created from a natural starter that undergoes several chemical reactions until it produces the desired product. "The science behind these patents has discovered that within the nicotine molecule, the S-isomers control the addictive properties, whereas the R-isomers control the beneficial qualities of the nicotine that a user enjoys," explained Kaival Brands CEO Niraj Patel. "The exclusivity is that the patents allows us to control the specific ratios of each isomer in the final synthetic nicotine molecule we produce for cessation products. We can now create completely unique products for smoking cessation and nicotine addiction therapy that remain effective and satisfying for the user, but are free from nicotine's addictive traits." Creating a Tobacco-Free Future In conjunction with the patent, Kaival Brands has announced the creation of Kaival Labs Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, that will own the patent and develop associated products. "Kaival Labs will own the patented science to create a pure, yet non-addictive synthetic nicotine for the development and production of smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy products," said Patel. "Tobacco-Free Nicotine (TFN) is a certified clean, pure, non-tobacco-derived synthetic nicotine, and a key ingredient in numerous products like nicotine patches, lozenges, gums, vape sticks, e-liquids and more." Focused on pioneering the movement in creating a tobacco-free future, Kaival Labs is committed to using research and science to develop smoking cessation treatment options that help millions of people quit cigarettes and improve public health through the gradual eradication of nicotine addiction. True Step-Down Products Currently the majority of smoking cessation products or Nicotine Reduction Therapy (NRT) products are largely ineffective, simply decreasing the concentrations of nicotine until users themselves reduce their usage over time. This approach may have a lower success rate because many users struggle with their cravings and the additional withdrawal symptoms they experience when they try to phase down. Kaival Labs' newly acquired patent allows the lab to control the levels of each isomer in a final product, thereby producing patented, true step-down products that reduce nicotine addiction levels without reducing the benefits a user is used to. The R-S- isomeric ratio in nicotine accounts for the addictive and beneficial properties and strengths of the chemical. Kaival Labs' exclusive NRT formulation modifies the ratio of R- S- isomers, resulting in synthetic nicotine that is effective in curbing nicotine addiction and may even have potential for use on a medical level in most beneficial form. "Billions of smokers and tobacco users worldwide are looking for an answer and a real solution to their nicotine addiction problems," said Patel. "Imagine patent-protected products, either approved pharmaceutically or made available over-the-counter, that offered a way to truly ease a user off their addictive cravings for nicotine without losing any of their accustomed benefits along the way. We are excited to develop these innovative patents and bring effective, enjoyable smoking cessation products to market, helping all nicotine users lead healthier and higher-quality lives." In a market with a desperate need for solutions, Kaival Brands seems particularly well positioned to experience substantial growth in a space that offers huge potential. Supporting Efforts to Quit Given that potential, it's not surprising that other companies are jostling for product market share and offering support in smokers' efforts to quit. With a reputation for being at the forefront of NRT, GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK) offers a line of Nicorette products, including the Nicorette Coated Ice Mint Lozenge, the first and only FDA-approved coated lozenge. The line launched in the Unites States in 1984 and was the world's first nicotine replacement therapy. GSK also offers the NicoDerm CQ nicotine patch in the United States, which initially launched in 1991. In 1996, the FDA changed the status of Nicorette Gum and NicoDerm CQ to over-the-counter medicines, allowing millions of Americans easier access to smoking cessation support. Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE: PRGO) offers a Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) portfolio of products that includes NiQuitin and a private label proposition. Both offerings feature a diverse range of products including patches, lozenges and gums in different strengths designed to help consumers quit their smoking addiction. The company's private-label NRT products can be found across the retail marketplace in virtually all OTC retail stores as well as online. Altria Group's (NYSE: MO) Quit Assist online resource was developed with a review board of smoking cessation experts. The program highlights the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Five Keys for Quitting information and also helps connect adult tobacco users who have decided to quit to expert quitting information from public health authorities and others. A major feature of the program includes success stories shared by former smokers who have successfully quit. British American Tobacco Industries (NYSE: BTI) owns Reynolds American Inc., which has a Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) campaign that focuses on providing accurate information about, and instituting regulatory policies that reflect, the comparative risks between cigarettes and noncombustible tobacco products and nicotine replacement therapies. That information may encourage smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit tobacco to consider switching to tobacco products that present lower risks. With an eye on lowering the number of deaths and disease related to smoking as well as providing effective products and solutions in the smoking cessation sector, companies with experience and resources have much to offer. For more information about Kaival Brands, please visit Kaival Brands Innovations Group Inc. (OTCQB: KAVL). About NetworkNewsWire NetworkNewsWire ("NNW") is a financial news and content distribution company, one of 40+ brands within the InvestorBrandNetwork ("IBN"), that provides: (1) access to a network of wire solutions via NetworkWire ?to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3) enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience comprising investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. 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The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and NNW and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements. Corporate Communications Contact: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212.418.1217 Office Editor@NetworkNewsWire.com Still Holding Me Tight Conor and I had just decided to go steady when his Canadian visa expired. He wanted me to return to Ireland with him. I didnt want him to be my only lifeline in an unfamiliar country. Lets go be starving artists in Berlin instead, I said, half joking. Berlin was new to both of us. After moving, we didnt have much. We shared a small bed and a single pillow, but I was happy because he held me tight as we slept every night. Years later, on our queen bed with an excess of pillows, he still holds me like I would fall off if he didnt. Sandy Yu The House of Representatives at its plenary on Tuesday withdrew the Water Resources Control Bill which it passed two months ago. Sequel to the adoption of a Matter of Privilege raised by Benjamin Mzondu (PDP-Benue), the House unanimously resolved to gazette the bill for reconsideration. Mr Mzondu argued that the bill was not gazetted and that clear copies of the bill were not circulated to all members. The lawmaker said a 2020 bill should have passed first and second reading, be subjected to public hearing before its consideration at the Committee of the Whole and passed. My privilege has been breached because I was denied the opportunity of seeing the bill before it passed. The House Rules are clear and unambiguous, Order 12 Rule 16, 17 and 18 is expressly clear on the gazetting Bills. I therefore move that the bill be completely expunged or be gazetted and subjected to public hearing, he said. In his contribution, Nkem Abonta (PDP-Abia), said the procedure contradicted the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He argued that rule of the House was also breached in the way and manner it passed, saying that it should be withdrawn. However, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Water, Sada Soli (APC-Katsina), said the right process was followed before the bill was passed. He said clean copies of the bill were distributed to members who were at the plenary. He said the bill is a consolidation of four laws which had existed for 35, 34, 27 and 10 years. Also, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), said the bill was first read on December 19, 2018 in the 8th Assembly. He said the bill was introduced by the Executives in the 9th Assembly and was subjected to the House rules. The Deputy Speaker of the House, Idris Wase (APC-Plateau), recalled that the bill was stepped down when members complained that they had not seen the bill. He said the bill was returned and members were all given clean copies before it was considered at the Committee of the Whole. In response, members of the House, however, shouted aloud in disagreement with the position that clean copies were circulated. In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabimila, said the bill be withdrawn and gazetted for fresh consideration. The bill seeks to provide for management, equitable and sustainable use of surface and underground water across the country. The bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the management and use of water resources in the country with the view to generate revenue for government at all levels. (NAN) A recap of the key events in the Gulf emirate Kuwait since its independence nearly six decades ago: - Independence - A British protectorate since 1899, Kuwait obtains independence on June 19, 1961. With a hereditary monarchy, the emirate had been led since 1756 by the Al-Sabah family. - Parliamentary system - On November 11, 1962, a constitution provides for the election of a national assembly by direct suffrage, comprising 50 parliamentarians with four-year mandates. Kuwait is the first Arab Gulf monarchy to introduce a parliamentary system, and its first legislative elections are held in 1963. - Iraq invasion - In 1963 Iraq recognises Kuwait after having attempted to annex it after its independence. However, a decade later Iraqi troops occupy the Samitah border post. Under international pressure, Iraq withdraws in 1974. Iraq's Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait on August 2, 1990, sparking international condemnation, and occupies it for seven months. - Operation Desert Storm - In February 1991 a US-led coalition known as Operation Desert Storm liberates Kuwait. In July the emirate resumes its exports of crude oil after bringing under control fires started by the Iraqis in around 700 oil wells. A few years later, Iraq recognises Kuwait's UN-defined maritime and land borders. - On/off elections - The emir suspended parliamentary life in Kuwait several times -- from 1976 until 1981, and then again from 1986 to 1992. In October 1992 an opposition alliance grouping Islamists, liberals and nationalists wins legislative elections, gaining 32 seats out of 50. - Iraq again - In 2003 Kuwait serves as a bridgehead for the launch of the invasion of Iraq by the US-British coalition which will lead to the overthrow of Saddam and his regime. The following year Kuwait re-establishes diplomatic relations with Iraq. - Women enter politics - On May 16, 2005, women are granted the right to vote and to stand in elections. The emirate's first woman minister is named the following month. - Changing emirs - Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah dies on January 24, 2006, sparking a political crisis. Parliament removes his replacement after just over a week in power on health grounds. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah takes the throne. The new emir dissolves parliament in May that year and a prolonged period of instability ensues. From 2006 to 2013, almost a dozen governments are formed in Kuwait and parliament is dissolved six times. - Deadliest attack - In March 2015, Kuwait joins a Saudi-led coalition that is formed to fight Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen. A suicide attack three months later against a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City kills 26 people. It is the deadliest attack in the country's history and is claimed by the Islamic State group. - Emir's health concerns - In 2019, Sheikh Sabah undergoes medical tests shortly after arriving in the United States, leading to the cancellation of a planned meeting with President Donald Trump. On July 18, 2020, the 91-year-old emir is hospitalised. The crown prince, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 83, steps in as partial ruler. On September 29, the palace announces that Sheikh Sabah has died aged 91. Search Keywords: Short link: As we pause to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, this year it is more critical than ever that we remember the social justice and activist roots that sparked the move toward Hispanic/Latino/Latinx recognition in this country. Too often our celebrations focus on how Latinos have broken into the mainstream or amount to routine communications with fast facts on different Latin American countries. But this is not the type of heritage celebration we need right now, not at a moment when Latinos are suffering disproportionately from COVID-19, police brutality, unjust sterilization practices at the border, pandemic-related unemployment and nearly every other major social ill facing the nation. What we need to do instead is to remember that the fight for Latino recognition was originally about social justice. Indeed, while Latino immigrant and community activism has been around for centuries, the impetus for Hispanic/Latino recognition was rooted in common frustrations and broader conversations of how exploitation, campaigns of racial terror, and even colonial expansion had not only harmed Latino communities over centuries, but had also erased their suffering and stories from U.S. history. During the 1960s, Chicano, Boricua and other activists, frustrated by the endemic poverty, structural racism and police brutality that plagued their communities, came together to build a coalition. These initial gatherings were sometimes tense, but more often than not they allowed community leaders to realize how the patterns of suffering within their communities were historically rooted. In the Southwest, for example, the storied Texas Rangers hunted and lynched Mexicans and Mexican Americans at alarming rates and helped to reproduce a broader narrative that connected not simply Mexicans, but all Spanish speakers, as criminals. In New York and Chicago, the unequal and unfair pay practices that Puerto Ricans endured on factory floors soon reinforced the widespread sentiment that Latinos were a cheap, expendable workforce. Inspired by Black activism and the civil rights movement more generally, these activists began coming together to fight for social change. Unfortunately, much of the Hispanic Heritage celebrations today feature Mexican beer, Cuban salsa music and taco salads, and all too often sideline the more critical language of systemic oppression and racism that ignited the Hispanic/Latino fight for recognition in the early 1960s and 1970s. This turn toward emphasizing culture and de-emphasizing the grassroots roots history of Latino politics in the U.S. has not been happenstance. It has been part of the imperfect project of bringing diverse communities together under a common Hispanic label. Although Latinos are diverse, the argument became, we at least all have the same culture. Over time this focus on culture was good for sales, and became commodified by mainstream organizations bent on further developing a profitable Latino market. While helping to build the notion of a Hispanic Market and Hispanic Buying Power, the turn towards focusing on culture also sidelined critical conversations about Latino exploitation and social justice. So how do we actually reclaim a month? There are several ways to do this. One way is to look at the data and connect the patterns we see across Latino communities to a language of structural inequality, systemic racism and underrepresentation. Ill provide an example that is close to home while Latinos make up 58% of the K-12 student body in California, they are only 16% of the student population at UC Berkeley, my home institution. This does not simply reflect broad preferences, but rather a case of underrepresentation by systematic exclusion. While UC Berkeley is taking very important steps to address this history, we need to use Hispanic Heritage Month to elevate these unjust statistics and hold our institutions accountable. Another way is reclaim the month is to make space for identity conversations. Latinos have always bickered about the labels we use to call ourselves folks have never been entirely satisfied with Hispanic, Latino or Latin American labels. Latinx today is at the center of yet another debate about what we will call ourselves. These conversations are worthy, so lets not be afraid to put them front and center. Were it not for those critiquing Hispanic loudly, we would have not paid attention to how colonialism, both Spanish and American, is tied to generations of Latino exploitation in the United States. Were it not for critiques about Latino/Latina, we would not have made critical space for non-gendered and intersectional identities within Latino activist agendas. While uncomfortable, these conversations lead to important reflections about power and systematic inequality and, in turn, keep the issue of racial justice at the fore. As we celebrate the remainder of this month, lets make sure to hold institutions accountable we deserve much more than flag decorations and country profiles. And we are much more than a people that shares a common cultural affinity for salsa music and tacos. What we are is a community, however imperfect, that is continuously striving for recognition and equal treatment. As COVID-19 and other ills continue to impact us disproportionately, lets use this month to celebrate our resilience and continue to demand a place at the table. G. Cristina Mora is an associate professor of sociology and co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said it disagrees with SII mathematics which asked the government whether it has Rs 80,000 crore to buy and distribute COVID-19 vaccine to everyone in India. Earlier Serum Institute of India said it will produce additional 100 million vaccine doses. Following a tweet by the Serum Institute of India, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said it disagrees with the mathematics which asked the government whether it has Rs 80,000 crore to buy and distribute COVID-19 vaccine to everyone in India. While responding to a questionWill the Indian government have Rs 80,000 crore available over the next one year? Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary said, The attention of the Health Ministry was drawn towards a tweet in which this amount is mentioned. As far as the mathematics of Rs 80,000 is concerned, we do not agree with it. I will not comment upon it, he added. On September 26, Adar Poonawalla, CEO and Owner, Serum Institute of India (which is conducting trials for the COVID-19 vaccine) in a tweet said, Quick question: Will the government of India have 80,000 crores available over the next one year? Because that is needed to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. I ask this question because we need to plan and guide, vaccine manufacturers both in India and overseas to service the needs of our country in terms of procurement and distribution, he added. The next day, i.e. on September 27, Poonawalla tweeted, We share and applaud your vision @narendramodi ji, on providing vaccines to the global community. It is a proud moment for India, thank you for your leadership and support. It is clear that all your arrangements for India will take care of all needs for the Indian people. Rajesh Bhushan said that the central government has constituted a national expert committee on vaccine administration under the chairmanship of Dr VK Paul, Member NITI Aayog. Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that's what @MoHFW_INDIA needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle. @PMOIndia Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) September 26, 2020 Also Read: IMA urges Kerala CM to declare health emergency amid Covid-19 spike Also Read: Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 61L mark with spike of 70,589 new cases India will do everything possible to further global good including the battle against COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, India will always fight against terrorism, money laundering, narcotics and trade of illegal weapons. pic.twitter.com/p2ILZx0PwQ Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 26, 2020 Five meetings of the committee have been conducted so far. Four-five meetings with small teams of the committee have also been conducted. We have discussed the prioritisation of population. Based on that we have calculated the amount for the system of proposed staggered immunisation and the government has the required amount, Bhushan said. (ANI) Also Read: COVID-19: Serum Institute of India to produce additional 100 million vaccine doses IAMGOLD Watershed Property Surrounds Cote Gold Deposit Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTCQX: ELYGF) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") has agreed to purchase, a 1% net smelter returns royalty (the "Watershed Royalty") from Sanatana Resources Inc. ("Sanatana"). The Watershed Royalty was granted to Sanatana in connection with an Asset Purchase Agreement between the Company and Trelawney Augen Acquisition Corp., now IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD"), dated January 12, 2016, (the "Purchase Agreement") whereby IAMGOLD acquired a 100% interest in 46 mining claims in Chester and Yeo Counties, Ontario (the "Watershed Property"). The Watershed Property surrounds the Cote Gold Project which is a joint venture between IAMGOLD and Sumitomo Metal Mining Company. Part of the Watershed Claims are included in the November 1, 2018 Feasibility Study and the balance of the claims completely surround the Cote Gold Project (see Figure 1). The Transaction Sanatana will sell the Watershed Royalty to Ely Gold for total consideration of $3,000,000 to be comprised of $2,500,000 in cash and 1,000,000 Ely Gold warrants (the "Ely Warrants") with an approximate value of $500,000. The Ely Warrants have a five-year term and will have an exercise price of C$1.31. Securities issued under the Ely Warrants will be subject to a four-month hold period. The completion of the Royalty Sale is subject to: (i) receipt by Sanatana of a waiver from IAMGOLD of its right of first refusal as provided in Watershed Royalty ("ROFR"); (ii) the negotiation of a definitive agreement; and (iii) applicable approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V"). The parties have also agreed to a 90-day period of exclusivity with respect to this Transaction. In the event IAMGOLD exercises the ROFR, Sanatana will pay a break fee of $500,000 to Ely Gold. Purchase Agreement Assignment Sanatana and Ely Gold have also signed a term sheet (the "Term Sheet") whereby Sanatana has agreed to (i) assign its rights and interest in the Purchase Agreement to Ely Gold (the "Assignment") for $10,000, and (ii) Ely Gold will participate for $500,000 in Sanatana common shares (the "Common Shares") through a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). The Purchase Agreement provides for certain deferred payments as follows: $1,500,000 upon a production decision by IAMGOLD on the Watershed Property; and $1,500,000 upon the commencement of commercial production by IAMGOLD on the Watershed Property (together, the "Deferred Payments"). In the event that IAMGOLD exercises the ROFR and either of the Deferred Payments are made to Ely Gold, it will pay 50% of any such Deferred Payments to Sanatana. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4181/64764_87980aa3540a6a54_001full.jpg Private Placement In connection with the Assignment, Sanatana is announcing a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of $500,000 in Sanatana common shares (the "Common Shares") to be purchased by Ely Gold at a price of C$0.30 per Common Share. The proceeds from the Private Placement are expected to be used by the Company for a drone based magnetic survey and an initial drilling program at the Gold Rush property. Securities issued under the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month hold period which will expire four months and one day from the date of closing of the Private Placement. The completion of the Assignment and the Private Placement are subject to the negotiation of definitive transaction documentation and applicable approvals from the TSXV. Qualified Person Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. About Ely Gold Royalties Inc. Ely Gold Royalties Inc. is a Nevada focused gold royalty company. Its current portfolio includes royalties at Jerritt Canyon, Goldstrike and Marigold, three of Nevada's largest gold mines, as well as the Fenelon mine in Quebec, operated by Wallbridge Mining. The Company continues to actively seek opportunities to purchase producing or near-term producing royalties. Ely Gold also generates development royalties through property sales on projects that are located at or near producing mines. Management believes that due to the Company's ability to locate and purchase third-party royalties, its strategy of organically creating royalties and its gold focus, Ely Gold offers shareholders a favourable leverage to gold prices and low-cost access to long-term gold royalties in safe mining jurisdictions. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Signed "Trey Wasser" Trey Wasser, President & CEO For further information, please contact: Trey Wasser, President & CEO trey@elygoldinc.com 972-803-3087 Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer jjobin@elygoldinc.com 647 964 0292 FORWARD-LOOKING CAUTIONS: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, statements regarding completion of the Transaction. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the Company's inability to control whether the buy-down right will ever be exercised, and whether the right of first refusal will ever be triggered, uncertainty as to whether any mining will occur on the property covered by the Probe Royalty such that the Company will receive any payment therefrom, and the general risks and uncertainties relating to the mineral exploration, development and production business. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effect. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64764 South Park characters such as Eric, Kenny, Kyle, Stan, and even Towelie were in attendance at the recent Denver Broncos game in Colorado on Sunday. There were 1,800 cut outs of the show's characters, spanning across the south stands of Empower Field at Mile High. Each character was wearing a mask too, cause you know, pandemic and everything. On the eve of the 2004 general elections, a meeting of China Study Group (CSG) was held to review the status of border roads along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with the then Vice Chief of Army Staff briefing the apex group on strategic roads. At this meeting the then Home Secretary asked the Army general why we were not building strategic north-to-south roads and questioned the delays in doing so. The answer was that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) could use these roads to come into India. The Home Secretary shot back that at this rate India should also stop building roads in Delhi. Sixteen years later, the Indian Army has finally shrugged off the bogey of the PLA and is staring down at the Chinese at Ladakh with the sole objective of restoring status quo ante at all friction points along the line of actual control. The change in the mindset of the Indian Army came after the June 15 Galwan flare-up where Col Santosh Babu and his men engaged in hand to hand combat with their adversaries, who are projected as Shaolin Temple warriors by the Chinese state media. Serving Indian Army officers say that once the Prime Minister of India went to Ladakh to boost the morale and the Indian public gathered to honour the fallen in contrast to the PLAs hush-hush burial of its dead the mood changed. Despite the raging pandemic that has origins in Wuhan, the honour bestowed on fallen Indian troops including a brave Junior Commissioned Officer of the elite special frontier force in August 29-30 operation on south Pangong Tso has boosted the morale of Indian forces. ALSO WATCH | Ladakh | Tanks, combat vehicles: Indian Army ready to counter China amid tension While both armies are now stocking up for the polar winter on Ladakh heights, the PLA with its troops largely made of conscripts who were sent to Aksai Chin as part of an annual exercise must be asking questions of their military commanders. The conscripts are sole children of their parents in China, who join the army for a limited period to ensure State funding of their college education. The idea of spending their winters in Ladakhs rarefied heights will surely test not only their endurance but also their commitment to PLA as the exercise has the potential to take the turn for the worse at any given moment. Although the situation is tense on the border, Indias national security planners say that the grossly mis-calculated aggression ordered by Commander in Chief Xi Jinping in Ladakh has finally removed the Chinese bogey from Indian backs. In the past two decades, China had become Lord Voldemort or he whose name shall not be taken in Indian diplomatic, military and intelligence circles. Former Indian defence minister George Fernandes had to face the brunt for merely telling the truth that China was a threat. This has now changed with the Modi government not mincing words on China and seriously examining the penetration of Beijing into the Indian system. India is using software mining to identify parent companies and their country of origin from the details of front companies investing in India. This is a sea change from the 2000s when Chinese workers were given business visas in thousands to come to India. And when mandarins in the Ministry of External Affairs believed that the Tibet issue was like flogging a dead horse and had lost its relevance. While predicting the military or diplomatic outcome of the LAC exercise is more difficult than reading tea leaves, the PLA aggression this summer in Ladakh, South China Sea, Taiwan and Senkaku Islands has revealed Chinas true colours to the world. It has revealed the weakness of European powers and the pusillanimity of the so called Tiger powers of South East Asia in taking on China due to their economic dependency on that country. It has shown that if you have money to throw around then not even a single Muslim power will question you on concentration camps for Sunni Uighurs in Xinjiang even as they rant over the treatment of Rohingyas by Myanmar. It has shown while the world will happily chant om mani padme hum, it will maintain dead silence over the overt and planned Sinicization of Tibet. In the run up to the 100th year of founding of Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its paramount leader Xi Jinping has bared Chinas strategic ambitions to become the sole global power under the mask of coronavirus pandemic. The world has taken note of this. How it reacts is not difficult to predict. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Legislation that takes aim at reducing domestic violence deaths as well as danger to law enforcement officers responding to those incidents won passage in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. House Bill 175, sponsored by Rep. Kate Klunk, R-York County, would require municipal officers receive training in the domestic violence lethality assessment program. This tool already is in use in some places in the state including Chester County, Klunk said. It helps police determine if victims of domestic violence are at the highest risk of being seriously injured or killed by their intimate partner and provides them with resources, advocates, information about domestic violence, and safety planning. In Maryland, where this program is in use statewide, it has contributed to a 25% reduction in domestic violence deaths over the past six years, Klunk said. We have seen with this pandemic so many families impacted by domestic violence all across the state, Klunk said. Every single county, every single community has been impacted but the good news is there are police departments using this across the state. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence statistics for Pennsylvania, nearly 38% of women in this state and 27.5% of men experience intimate partner physical or sexual violence or stalking in their lifetime. This program entails training officers responding to a domestic violence call to ask the victim a series of 11 questions that include, for example, whether their partner has used a weapon against them or threatened them with a weapon, whether they have threatened to kill you or your children, whether their partner has a gun or could get one easily. Based on their responses, the officer can then provide them or connect them with resources to help them. Klunks legislation was prompted by the 2015 murder of Barbara Schrum and Laurie Kuykendall, who went together to Kuykendalls former home in Warrington Township, York County, to retrieve her belongings when they were killed by Kuykendalls estranged husband Martin Kepner. Kepner then took his own life. Klunk, who introduced a similar bill in the last legislative session, named this bill, Lauries and Barbaras Law. The Pennsylvania State Police shared at a recent hearing on trooper training that they have launched a lethality assessment pilot program. Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, said speaking from his experience as a former assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, domestic violence calls pose the most danger to law enforcement offices. After seeing the effectiveness of this program in Maryland in reducing domestic violence deaths, he said it is critical Pennsylvania move in this direction. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. On Saturday, September 26th, tens of thousands of Americans from across the country gathered at the National Mall in Washington D.C. The purpose of this congregation was to pray for the country and to repent to God. The event began with The Return, "a movement, an appointed time, and a specific day set apart for one purpose - the return to God by coming before His presence in humility, in sincerity in prayer, and repentance." The Return was held at the Washington Monument and extended to the Lincoln Memorial where Franklin Graham gave a speech before leading the Washington Prayer March. The Prayer March would continue for 1.8 miles down to the Capitol building. During the journey, groups and individuals stopped at various areas to pray for the country's first responders, wisdom for the leaders of the government, and to pray for God's mercy and forgiveness. Others broke out in hymns such as "Amazing Grace" and "Blessed Assurance." The many in attendance came from all around the country to participate. One Kenny Xu, a Chinese-American Baptist came out from New Jersey to pray for racial reconciliation, stating, "I think this country is facing a very odious racial ideology that divides people on the basis of race... I pray this nation can turn back to Jesus and that we can love each other and forgive each other. I think both supposed "sides" have to have a spirit of forgiveness." Others traveled from much farther locations, such as Renee and Steve Beckwith, a married couple who traveled from Michigan with their children. Renee Beckwith explained in an interview that they had to leave their home church of 14 years to join a new one that remained open during the closing restrictions put in place in Michigan. "It saddened our hearts, and we knew that the church was not strong anymore. We felt that we weren't walking with the Lord strong enough, and so when we're called to stand for something different we don't have that within our hearts," Renee stated. Her husband Steve also added, "This nation does need to turn back to God. And it's good to see that there are so many other people here standing with us because we don't get to see that on a daily basis." The pandemic has reached a grim milestone: one million people have now died of COVID-19, according to Worldometers. On January 13, we published Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirus by Connor Bamford, a virologist at Queens University Belfast. Since then, we have published more than 3,500 articles on the now not-so-novel coronavirus, officially named Sars-CoV-2. Despite this huge output from the worlds leading experts, we have merely skimmed the surface of all there is to know about this perplexing pathogen. So much remains a mystery. At this important juncture, we asked several experts from different fields what their burning question about the coronavirus is. Here is what they said: Connor Bamford, Research Fellow, Virology, Queens University Belfast How did Sars-CoV-2 enter the human population? We must understand how Sars-CoV-2-like viruses jump into humans if we are to stop the next pandemic, as we do for influenza. Although originally thought to have emerged in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in December 2019, the earliest patient had no link to the market suggesting the virus had emerged before then. How did this happen? Since the original investigations into the beginnings of Sars coronaviruses in 2002, horseshoe bats in south-east Asia have been implicated as the reservoir hosts, and a virus (RmYN02) that is extremely similar to Sars-CoV-2 has already been found in bats. However, similar viruses have also been found in pangolins, raising the possibility that Sars-CoV-2 may not have jumped directly from a bat. Also, Sars-CoV-2 has already spread to cats, dogs, tigers and mink, and for Sars-CoV-1 (the virus that caused the 2002-04 Sars epidemic), farmed civet cats and raccoon dogs acted as intermediate hosts, bringing a bat virus into proximity to humans. It is possible that Sars-CoV-2 is a generalist virus, capable of spreading through a wide range of species. With the increase in contact between humans and wildlife, zoonoses are becoming an ever-growing threat. We must be vigilant. An important step now is to figure out the events that led Sars-CoV-2 to go from bat to human. Sarah Caddy, Clinical Research Fellow, Viral Immunology, University of Cambridge How can we tell if someone is protected from Sars-CoV-2? The immune response to Sars-CoV-2 infection aims to eliminate the virus from the body. Many studies have carefully described the various stages of the immune response after initial infection, but we do not know which aspects of immunity are essential for preventing repeat infections. What are the relative roles of different types of antibodies, or the importance of different T cell subsets? An important goal of Sars-CoV-2 immunological research is, therefore, to identify which immune component (or components) can show a person is protected from future infection. Such a marker would be termed a correlate of protection. The ability to measure an accurate correlate of protection would be valuable for two reasons. First, it could tell us whether someone who has recovered from COVID-19 is likely to get re-infected. Second, identifying an easily measurable correlate of protection would be helpful for vaccine trials it could speed up the evaluation of vaccine efficacy. However, identifying good correlates of protection for other coronaviruses has proven notoriously difficult. Useful results have previously only been generated when volunteers were experimentally infected with viruses. The first human Sars-Cov-2 challenge studies are now due to begin early next year, so it is hoped that this will enable correlates of protection to be found more rapidly. Derek Gatherer, Lecturer and Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures, Lancaster University How can we explain the extreme geographical variation in COVID-19 mortality rates? Cumulative deaths from COVID-19 per million of population (dpm), are very unevenly distributed across Europe (see map below) ranging from 7dpm in Slovakia to 856dpm in Belgium. A wedge of relatively lightly affected countries extends from Finland southwards to the northern Balkans. There are similar pockets of low COVID-19 mortality on other continents, notably south-east Asian countries. Could the populations of low mortality countries have some cross-immunity to Sars-CoV-2 generated by recent exposure to another coronavirus the obvious candidates being the milder common cold coronaviruses: 229E, NL63, OC43 or HKU1? A hint that this may be the case is provided by the observation that antibodies from the original 2003 Sars patients have some binding to coronaviruses 229E, NL63 and particularly OC43. But so little attention has been paid to seasonal coronaviruses, indeed, to seasonal non-flu respiratory infections, in general, that relevant clinical field data is extremely sparse and often old (for instance, one-third of residents of Hamburg had antibodies to coronavirus OC43 in 1975 or 58% of Hungarians sampled five years later). We urgently need more lab studies to understand how much cross-immunity coronaviruses confer on each other, while population studies are needed to determine the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies, not just to Sars-CoV-2 but also its milder yet potentially significant cousins. Serology the study of antibody prevalence has long been the Cinderella of virology compared with the more glamorous world of genome sequencing, but its significance and the consequences of its neglect are now becoming apparent. Anne Moore, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University College Cork For a vaccine, what does success look like in the short versus long term? The endgame to the COVID-19 pandemic requires the identification and manufacture of a safe and effective vaccine and a subsequent global immunisation campaign. Candidate Sars-CoV-2 vaccines were rapidly developed based on years of vaccine development efforts. The unprecedented and significant input of global funding into this pandemic vaccine effort can only buy so much time for trials to succeed or fail. A successful trial needs the virus to be circulating in the community so we can determine how many vaccinated people (versus those receiving a placebo) become infected. Short-term success will show that a safe vaccine will provide at least 50% protection. And if we see short-term success, what does long-term success look like? The biggest question is, what is the duration of protection? If it is short-lived, then how do we boost immunity back to protective levels? How do we figure this out without relying on a traditional empirical approach? If there isnt short-term success, then how do we ensure that global commitment is maintained to prevent Sars-CoV-2 vaccines from ending up in the same situation as terminated vaccine efforts for Sars? There will be another pandemic; we need a long-term vision and commitment to have short-term future success. Advertisements Susan Michie and Robert West, Professors of Health Psychology, UCL How can COVID-safe behaviour become embedded in peoples lives? It looks as though COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future. We will all have to adopt a range of behaviours to keep ourselves from getting infected or infecting others. We know what these are: the question is how they can become embedded in our lives? The behaviours include keeping a greater physical distance from others; carrying a COVID kit (face mask, hand sanitiser and tissues) whenever we are outside the home; wearing a face mask properly in indoor public areas and storing or disposing of it safely; disinfecting hands and surfaces after possible contamination; catching coughs and sneezes in tissues; never touching our eyes, nose or mouth unless we know our hands are clean; avoiding or leaving unsafe situations, such as poorly ventilated indoor areas where there are lots of people; getting vaccinated; and staying at home and getting tested if we have symptoms. The challenge is how to get these adopted at scale and maintained over time, in other words, embedded in peoples lives as routines and habits. This requires an understanding of what maintains and changes human behaviour. We need to equip people with the skills to develop routines that can become habits over time, provide the time and social and environmental support to achieve this and motivate them to use these opportunities. David Hunter, Richard Doll Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Oxford What is the full spectrum of health consequences of COVID-19 infection? We now have good data on deaths from COVID-19 infection, showing an astonishing increase in risk of death with increasing age. This contrasts with the 2009 H1N1 flu epidemic, in which the aged were relatively less affected, and reminds us that we have a great deal more to learn about this virus. While most of the focus has been on deaths, small studies of COVID-19 survivors discharged from hospital suggest that many do not return to their baseline health status. We know little about long COVID among those who did not require hospital admission, despite many individual reports of recurrent bouts of fever, fatigue, and a wide range of other symptoms. Follow-up of COVID-19 patients suggest evidence of damage to the heart, lungs and other organs that may cause problems in the future, and there is some evidence that this may be true even among those with mild symptoms. Many viral infections can cause undiagnosed pathology, but severe long-term effects are relatively uncommon. If these effects are more common for COVID-19, however, then an exclusive focus on deaths means that we will not be considering the full costs of failing to control the epidemic, nor the full benefits of doing so. Studies have started among patients after discharge from hospital. We urgently need well-controlled studies among the majority of those infected who did not need hospitalisation in case we are only seeing the tip of the COVID iceberg. Sarah L Caddy, Clinical Research Fellow in Viral Immunology and Veterinary Surgeon, University of Cambridge; Anne Moore, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University College Cork; Connor Bamford, Research Fellow, Virology, Queens University Belfast; David Hunter, Richard Doll Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Oxford; Derek Gatherer, Lecturer, Lancaster University; Robert West, Professor of Health Psychology and Director of Tobacco Studies, UCL, and Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, UCL This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Twenty-one church leaders representing various Christian denominations in New Zealand publish a joint statement regarding two upcoming referendums, saying they will inflict long-term damage. By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp On 17 October, New Zealanders will head to the polls to vote for the 53rd New Zealand Parliament. Voters will also be able to respond Yes or No to the question, Do you support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force? Twenty-one leaders of various Christian denominations in New Zealand are now jointly speaking out through a statement released on Monday. Signing on behalf of Roman Catholics is Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington. They urge caution in voting for the End of Life Choice Act and another referendum that proposes government control and regulation of cannabis. Both referendums, the signers say, carry the risk of inflicting serious long-term damage on our society, endangering vulnerable people, and making our country less safe for everyone. Unethical and dangerous Regarding the End of Life Choice Act, the signers state they understand the reasons why euthanasia appeals to some people, as a way of alleviating individual suffering in the context of very serious illness. However, they believe supporting the End of Life Choice Act is unethical and dangerous because it would allow medical personnel to actively end someones life or to assist them to commit suicide. That, the signers declare is a line New Zealand should not cross. Palliative care Furthermore, the signers state that adequate palliative care can provide those who suffer with the means of controlling pain so they can die peacefully. The signers also say the New Zealand End of Life Choice Act is more liberal than euthanasia laws in most other countries, and that it lacks enough effective safeguards, particularly against coercion. What referendum lacks They say it lacks a last resort clause, and does not require a palliative care specialist consultation or next of kin notification or independent witnesses. Lastly, they say the Act does not adequately protect conscientious objectors among medical personnel. Finally, the signers say they believe that in the end the most vulnerable will suffer most from the legalization of euthanasia: the aged and frail, the poor, cultural minorities, and disabled people. They close the statement by respectfully encouraging New Zealanders to help keep their society safe for those who are very vulnerable, by voting no to the referendum. Catholic Church teaching on end of life On 22 September, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a letter entitled Samaritanus bonus On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life. In it, they hold up the figure of the Good Samaritan, who demonstrates the Christian response for caring for those who are critically or terminally ill. Among the things this Letter says regarding euthanasia is a response to those who claim that euthanasia is a compassionate response to those who suffer: In the face of seemingly unbearable suffering, the termination of a patients life is justified in the name of compassion. This so-called compassionate euthanasia holds that it is better to die than to suffer, and that it would be compassionate to help a patient to die by means of euthanasia or assisted suicide. In reality, human compassion consists not in causing death, but in embracing the sick, in supporting them in their difficulties, in offering them affection, attention, and the means to alleviate the suffering. The parliamentary panel on information technology will continue to be chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, whose decisions to summon Facebook executives and take up the suspension of 4G internet services in J&K had drawn criticism from the committee's BJP members, some of whom had even sought his ouster. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in consultation with Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday announced the composition of several reconstituted parliamentary standing committees, with former Union Minister and Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal being made a member of the panel on external affairs. Badal recently resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the farm bills. According to the list released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Tharoor will continue to chair the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology. A bitter slugfest had broken out between Tharoor and BJP MP and member of the parliamentary panel of information technology Nishikant Dubey over the suspension of 4G services in Jammu and Kashmir and summoning of Facebook executives over alleged misuse of the social media platform for hate-speech. Besides Tharoor, various other Congress leaders who were critical of the government as chairperson of their respective parliamentary panels have been retained. Congress leader Anand Sharma will continue to chair the parliamentary panel on home affairs and Jairam Ramesh will remain the head of the panel on environment and science and technology. The chairperson of all parliamentary standing committees have been retained. YSR Congress's Vijaysai Reddy has been reappointed the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav of Health, TRS's K Keshava Rao of Industry, TMC's Sudip Bandyopadhyay of Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab of Labour. DMK's Kanimozhi will continue to lead the panel on chemicals and fertilizers and JD(U)'s Rajiv Ranjan Singh will head the panel on energy. All remaining chairpersons of the parliamentary standing committees, most of who are from the BJP, have also not been changed. The department-related parliamentary standing committees are constituted for a period of one year and comprise 21 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. (Natural News) British riot police reportedly stormed a protest against COVID-19 lockdown policies taking place on Saturday to stop infamous conspiracy theorist David Icke from being heard. (Article by Shane Trejo republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com) Disclose.tv reported that that Icke, the author who has made many fantastical claims over the years including that the world is run by reptilian humanoids, was taken into custody for his unlawful free speech: https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1309857423553966081 Massive crowds convened around Trafalgar Square on Saturday to give the message that enough is enough to British officials who refuse to end Draconian emergency measures related to the COVID-19 scamdemic. British authorities are desperate to suppress the message of these freedom fighters. Authorities told event organizers and protesters that they would be forced to wear masks and social distance at the protest, or they would be punished. These are the types of restrictions that are only enforced against patriots who desire the return to a free society, not so much to Black Lives Matter/ANTIFA terrorists who burn down cities, terrorize white people and desecrate heroic ancestors. Police Commander Ade Adelekan said that the public must be broken to submit with senseless COVID-19 mandates in order to bow to the false idol of public safety. I know there is great frustration to these regulations but they have been designed to keep everyone safe from what is a lethal virus, Adelekan said. By flagrantly gathering in large numbers and ignoring social distancing, you are putting your health and the health of your loved ones at risk, he added. Big League Politics has reported on how the COVID-19 tyranny in Britain has surpassed the insanity of the states, with health professionals being subject to government investigation for merely speaking their opinions: A National Health Service (NHS) officer is being investigated by British authorities after calling out the COVID-19 scamdemic as a load of bollocks. Im an actual NHS worker and apparently I worked really hard during Covid. Did I? Bollocks. Thats why its a certificate of bollocks, Hampton contended. Our service was dead. We werent getting the calls, it was dead. Covid is a load of bollocks, so this is my certificate of bollocks, she added. I didnt clap for the NHS, I didnt clap for myself. Because why would I clap for myself when I did f*ck all? It is looking like the lockdown policies will end up being far worse for the public health than the virus itself. Cancer Research UK estimates that 2.4 million Brits had to put off a cancer screening, additional testing, or cancer treatment at the end of May. Additionally, there was a backlog of approximately 2.1 million people who needed a cervical, breast, or bowel screening. Hampton reported that she received threats after her video went viral, with some hysteria-addled pandemic cultists suggesting that her children be kidnapped for expressing her honest opinion. A few people close to me have labelled me mental and even said I need sectioning for my video! Also I dont deserve my children! However, if people want to believe the narrative thats up to them. I will keep speaking my truth!!! Hampton said in a follow-up video. Care UK is investigating Hampton because of her candid remarks, as they apparently believe the NHS should be above accountability and criticism. We are aware of this video, which we consider to be materially inaccurate in a number of ways, and can confirm that a member of staff is subject to investigation, a Care UK spokesman told The Daily Mail. The West will never recover from COVID madness, unless the people responsible for it are jailed or worse for destroying civilization over a fraud. Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com Bus Eireann inter-city services face the axe due to the impact of Covid-19. Expressway routes between Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Galway, and Dublin and Limerick are likely to end early next year. The Dublin-Belfast service will be suspended indefinitely. Bus Eireann said in a statement that it plans to expand city and commuter services. The end date for the inter-city services has not been decided but it is likely to be next year when emergency supports for routes expire. "The X51 service from Galway to Limerick and the X1 Dublin-to-Belfast service have not been in receipt of emergency funding and services will formally cease on these routes over the next few months," the statement said. Measures are being taken "in response to significant medium-term challenges posed by Covid-19 in order to safeguard Expressway's remaining 14 national routes and meet demand required on other city and commuter services". The decisions were taken at a board meeting yesterday. The company said it had an opportunity through July stimulus measures to increase services in Cork, Galway and Limerick, Louth and Meath. Chief executive Stephen Kent said it decided to withdraw from a small number of routes to avoid job losses. Siptu sector organiser John Murphy said the cuts were "short-sighted, flawed and a kick in the teeth for workers and passengers". He called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to intervene and blamed the National Transport Authority for flooding the market with operating licences. The National Bus and Railworkers Union called on the Government to help retain services. General secretary Dermot O'Leary said: "The politicians, particularly those that represent the constituencies which will be impacted by this decision to cull routes, should ponder on the fact that Bus Eireann, and Bus Eireann alone, in the vast majority of areas across Ireland, was the only bus service left standing during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, from March through to July. "Without such services, large parts of Ireland would have been cut-off, essential workers would not have had public transport availability to attend vital workplaces." Correspondence to staff said the cuts were "in response to the significant losses of 20m this year, and projected losses of 20m for these routes over the next three years". Meanwhile new figures from the Central Statistics Office show the number of people travelling to and from Ireland by sea increased substantially in August when compared to July, but the overall figures were still significantly lower than before the pandemic. August saw 362,600 overseas arrivals (up almost 60pc on July) and 328,200 overseas departures (up almost 20pc). However, August 2019 saw 2.3 million arrivals and 2.2 million departures. P eople who are eligible for flu jabs have been told "sit tight" while older and at-risk age groups are put first amid concerns over supply and demand. GP surgeries are prioritising who gets the winter flu jab, with those aged 50 to 64 needing to wait, the head of the Royal College of GPs has said. Professor Martin Marshall urged people to be patient, stressing the importance that those eligible for the jab only come forward when told to do so. He said there appeared to be a significant problem between supply and demand in England after pharmacy chains including Boots suspended online bookings. Boots offers free jabs to those in the NHS at-risk groups but also allows the public to book and pay privately for a vaccine. In July, the Government announced it was aiming to double its winter flu vaccination programme in England to 30 million people, including free jabs for anyone aged 50 and over. GPs have said there is "a significant problem" with supply and demand / PA Archive/PA Images But Prof Marshall said those aged 50 to 64 would mostly have to wait for their vaccine as older age groups and at-risk groups are prioritised. He told Sky News: So this is a significant problem it does seem to be a greater demand than there are supplies. The issue here is that we order our flu vaccines at least six months in advance. The orders were put in before the Covid crisis was recognised. What were doing in general practice is prioritising those in greatest need. And that means people over the age of 65, people who have long-term health problems, pregnant women and young children. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images So the new group of people that we want to vaccinate as a consequence of the Covid crisis, which is mostly people between the age of 50 and 64, are going to have those vaccinations delayed until the supplies are available. Asked if there were 30 million doses of the flu vaccine, Prof Marshall said there were not at the moment. He added: There seems to be enough for the original group, probably 15, 16, 17 million people at the moment, but at the moment the manufacturers are trying to produce more. It looks like theyre going to do so, but it does mean that those in the latter group the younger group of people who perhaps are at lower risk might have to wait longer before they actually get their vaccines. Prof Marshall said the supply chain for the flu jab typically took longer, in part due to the very short shelf-life of the vaccine. He said the issue for community pharmacies such as Boots was that they had not always prioritised by age or condition. Loading.... In general practice, were very clearly prioritising those with greater need, the older people, people with established health conditions, and thats not what pharmacists have done, Prof Marshall said. He urged people to sit tight and they would get their jab eventually, adding that flu could be a serious condition. Prof Marshall said: What you need to do if youre in that lower risk group is hold tight for now. If youre going to get it from general practice, then general practice will contact you when the supplies are available. If youre going to get it from your local pharmacy, your pharmacy will also tell you when its available, so hold on for now and it will be available, and hopefully before Christmas. Prof Marshall said the jab was important as the NHS battles winter flu and rising Covid cases. The last thing we need is for the NHS to have to deal with the usual winter crisis of flu at the same time as dealing with a predicted crisis of Covid, he said. That would be too much for the NHS to deal with so its really important if weve got a vaccine for flu, that we use it Lets prevent the things that we can prevent. In a media briefing last week, Englands deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said the flu programme was always managed in stages. He said: The emphasis has always got to be on the existing high-risk groups and getting them well served and the uptake high before we move into the 50 to 64-year-olds who are lower risk. This actually fits with the likely pattern of arrival of flu vaccine stocks. He said some GP practices also prefer to have staged deliveries simply because of fridge space. A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: There is no national shortage of the flu vaccine it is currently available in pharmacies and GPs across England and it is wrong to suggest otherwise. There are enough doses for 30 million people. The vaccine is already being delivered for those in at-risk groups, including the over-65s, and this will continue throughout the winter months. By Trend Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan dismissed the previous reports on the movement of arms and terrorist groups to Armenia via Iran's territory, Trend reports citing Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan. According to the report, Iranian Embassy expresses regret over efforts by third parties to damage Iran's image. According to the research of the official institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, fake and suspicious footage spread on social networks do not reflect the truth, the report said. The embassy said such reports aim at damaging friendly and fraternal relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Following recent attacks on his convoy, the governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, said he would be more careful about how he executes his administrations commitment to restoring peace to all the communities of the state. Mr Zulum gave this assurance to the members of the National Assembly from Borno, who paid him a sympathy visit in respect of the recent ambushes on his convoy. At least 15 security operatives including soldiers, police officers and Civilian-JTF lost their lives during an attack last week, while eight others sustained injuries as well. Led by a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, now a senator, the NASS members expressed their sympathy and solidarity with the governor. They also prayed for all security personnel that have lost their lives in the course of the counterinsurgency war. Governor Zulum, who appreciated the visit, noted that it was a mark of solidarity and support for him. He, however, said that he remained undeterred in his determination to deliver a peaceful Borno State in no distant time. The governor said the situation in the state is still very dicey especially in view of himself and those who accompanied him to the northern parts of Borno State. The situation, of course, is obnoxious and unlikely to remain unchanged except drastic actions is taken; otherwise the insurgency will take over Maiduguri, he said. Mr Zulum added that his government is desirous of rekindling normalcy in the shores of the Lake Chad, the Sambisa axis and the Mandara hills, which have been providing tremendous agricultural potentials to the teeming rural farmers in the state. Therefore the only solution for us to reduce the insurgency is to ensure the return of communities to these three locations to allow the people having their means of livelihoods. Notwithstanding my comments, security is very paramount; the safety of our lives is also very important. I am not unmindful of the advice that is coming to me from your humble selves and other members of the delegation. Although we are very much aware that God has the ultimate say for everything that happens in this world, again, God has also advised us to be very careful in all our dealings. And therefore I want to assure you that Insha Allah I will abide by some of the advice that you have given to me; we shall be more careful in carrying out our mandates and responsibilities because security is very paramount. This is very important. But under no circumstances shall we be deterred in our determination to rescue the people of Borno State. Your coming to sympathise is very important to all of us because it symbolises unity, respect and solidarity. And we shall, as a government, continue to partner with the members of the NASS. Speaking earlier, Mr Shettima said the entire NASS members were at the Government House on a solidarity cum sympathy visit. We are here to commiserate with the governor, the government and people of Borno over the incidence of past days and weeks, he said. Hope springs eternal from the heart of men. And we believe that our people have the resilience and the courage to endure whatever hardship to see the restoration of lasting peace in our fatherland. And most importantly, we call on our people to give the maximum support and cooperation to the government and the military establishment to see that we restore peace in Borno. We are all in this together; the military who pay supreme sacrifices, the Nigerian police force, the Civil defence corp and our Civilian-JTF are all making supreme sacrifices for the common good. We pray for the repose of those who paid the Supreme price and may God grant their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Asked by journalists on what they, as legislators from Borno State, thought the federal government should do differently on the issue of escalating insecurity, the former governor said, We are not here to the grandstand. We have access to corridors of power, but we have relayed our feelings and our views to the governor who will cross-pollinate his ideas with our leaders in Abuja. The commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to the establishment of peace in this part of the country is unimpeachable. The establishment of the Northeast Development Commission more than anything else buttresses his commitment to the Northeast subregion. We believe that in the fullness of time, he is going to address our challenges. And we do not want to do or say anything contrary in order not to jeopardise the interests of our people. All we need to do is for us to support the president and rally round our governor whom the president holds in the highest esteem. On the persistence of the insurgency nearly two years after he left office, Mr Shettima said, by human nature, God creates man to confront challenges and our governor is inbuilt with courage and commitment to frontally address the challenges of governance. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. So the governor is equal to the task; he is forging ahead, and by the grace of God, we shall soon have an enduring peace in Borno, the Northeast and Nigeria in general. Advertisements The formal consultation process regarding the San Ciprian aluminum plant in Spain officially ended on September 28, 2020, without an agreement with the workers' representatives. Alcoa will now have up to 15 days to determine and announce a decision regarding the smelter's 228,000 metric tons of annual capacity. On August 13, 2020, Alcoa announced it had agreed to extend the formal consultation period for collective dismissal so the Company could consider a potential sale of the aluminum plant to GFG Alliance. After a comprehensive negotiation process, GFG Alliance and Alcoa did not agree on terms. Per an agreed-upon timeline, if a sales agreement was not reached by September 27, 2020, Alcoa and the workers' representatives would then meet for one day to agree on a social plan that would include government-supported unemployment benefits (ERTE) or the implementation of a permanent collective dismissal. On September 28, 2020, the workers' representatives declined to agree on a social plan, and Alcoa has 15 days, per Spanish regulations, to make a decision. On June 25, 2020, Alcoa began the formal consultation process to discuss a reorganization plan with the workers' representatives. The plan, aimed at halting persistent and recurring financial losses at the aluminum plant, recommended curtailment of the smelter while keeping a portion of the site's casthouse operational. The alumina refinery at San Ciprian was not included in the consultation or the sales process. About Alcoa Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is a global industry leader in bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products, and is built on a foundation of strong values and operating excellence dating back more than 130 years to the world-changing discovery that made aluminum an affordable and vital part of modern life. Since developing the aluminum industry, and throughout our history, our talented Alcoans have followed on with breakthrough innovations and best practices that have led to efficiency, safety, sustainability, and stronger communities wherever we operate. Visit us online on www.alcoa.com, follow @Alcoa on Twitter, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Alcoa. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains statements that relate to future events and expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include those containing such words as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "goal," "intends," "may," "outlook," "plans," "projects," "seeks," "sees," "should," "targets," "will," "would," or other words of similar meaning. All statements by Alcoa Corporation that reflect expectations, assumptions or projections about the future, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Although Alcoa Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations will be attained and it is possible that actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements is contained in Alcoa Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Alcoa Corporation disclaims any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Dissemination of Company Information Alcoa Corporation intends to make future announcements regarding company developments and financial performance through its website, www.alcoa.com, as well as through press releases, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, conference calls and webcasts. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005635/en/ Contacts: Investor Contact James Dwyer 412-992-5450 James.Dwyer@alcoa.com Media Contacts Jim Beck 412-315-2909 Jim.Beck@alcoa.com Clara Acebes Spain +34 914068280 Clara.Acebes@alcoa.com (Photo : Photo by ESA via Getty Images) IN SPACE - JULY 16: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. The data was acquired on September 25, 2005. The dark material shows a network of light-coloured, incised valleys that look similar to drainage networks known on Earth. It is still debated whether the valleys originate from precipitation, groundwater springs or liquid or magma flows on the surface. (Photo : Photo by ESA via Getty Images) IN SPACE - JULY 16: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. The data was acquired on September 25, 2005. An impressive cliff, up to 4000 m high, is located in the eastern part of Echus Chasma. Gigantic water falls may once have plunged over these cliffs on to the valley floor. The remarkably smooth valley floor was later flooded by basaltic lava. Many scientists suggest that intelligent life could have really existed on the Red Planet. A new study raises the possibility of Martian life on Mars after researchers discovered found more salty ponds next to its underground lake. Also Read: Elon Musk Confirms Starlink Will be Separate from SpaceX: IPO Could be Years Away but "Small Retail Investors" Will Get Top Priority The salty lake was first discovered by scientists two years ago, located under the surface of Mars' southern ice cap. In the new research, Italian scientists found more evidence of the lake. They also discovered a number of smaller salty ponds near the large lake, which they claimed could suggest that life on Mars exists. The researchers used the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding or MARSIS instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft. According to the research statement, the radar covered a larger Martian surface area and gathered additional data. This high-tech feature allowed scientists to confirm the liquid nature of the previously observed lake. They were able to gather more specific details about the salty lake, such as its area, estimated at 30 by 20 kilometers (18.6 by 12.4 miles). "The presence of a subglacial lake could have important consequences for astrobiology and the presence of habitable niches on Mars," said the researchers in the statement. The journal Nature Astronomy published the study's results on Monday, Sept. 28, stating that the discovery of several other smaller patches of water was incredibly exciting. What the researchers found about the salty ponds The scientists discovered that the salty ponds are different in sizes and separated from the main lake by strips of dry land. They explained that the study was significant since it provides more information about the Red Planet's climate, as well as chemical makeup. For example, they found out that the large lake and the ponds surrounding it are still liquid. This suggests that the water bodies are hypersaline, which means that they contain lots of salts. The study also suggested that Mars may have been warm enough to host flowing water and pouring rainstorms 3 to 4 billion years ago. This means that Mars would have created an environment that could support life. For more news updates about Martian life theories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Also Read: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Claims Humans Journey to Mars Possible in Three Years as Starship will Be in Automatic Mode By Next Year! This article is owned by TechTimes, Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By PTI MUMBAI: The Central Railway has decided to file FIRs against those using fake ID cards to travel in local trains which are currently being run in Mumbai only for essential services staff, an official said on Tuesday. Amid complaints of overcrowding in local trains, Central Railway's (CR) chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar told PTI that they have so far caught 30 people with bogus ID cards and First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed against two of them. "FIRs will be registered with the Government Railway Police against those travelling on suburban locals with bogus ID cards in future as well," Sutar said. Railway officials said they have come to know that some people are making bogus QR-coded identity cards, and are charging Rs 500 to Rs 600 in some parts of the city. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, common citizens are currently not allowed to travel in suburban trains, considered as the lifeline of Mumbai. As of now, state and central government staff, employees of nationalised and private banks, PSUs, pharma companies and others essential services staff are permitted to travel on the special suburban services, and QR code-based identity cards are mandatory for them. Railway authorities started operating special local trains for the essential services staff since mid-June and at present, the Central Railway and the Western Railway are collectively operating 923 services every day. During normal times, over 80 lakh commuters used to travel on suburban locals in a day. But following the outbreak of COVID-19, common citizens are not allowed to board these trains and hence, they have to rely on other modes of transport like civic-run buses, auto-rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles. Some local rail activists said common citizens, especially those who have to travel from extended suburbs like Dombivli, Badlapur (in neighbouring Thane), Vasai-Virar (Palghar) and Panvel (Navi Mumbai) were getting fake IDs in desperation because of the poor road transport facilities. "The commute to far-off suburbs is hellish due to inadequate public transport buses and worst road conditions. People are spending two to three hours on one-way commute," said activist Subhash Gupta. Some activists also said that the suburban services being operated on the Central Railway route for essential services staff are inadequate and hence, the trains get overcrowded during peak hours. Thane-based activist Nandakumar Deshmukh said as the local trains become overcrowded between Dadar and Thane stations of the CR route, social distancing norms go for a toss during peak hours. A video of overcrowding in a local train at Borivali station of the Western Railway recently went viral on social media. IRVING, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / (OTCQB:DYNR) DynaResource, Inc. ("DynaUSA") and its subsidiary DynaResource de Mexico SA de C.V. ("DynaMexico"), the 100% owner of the San Jose de Gracia high grade gold project in Sinaloa, Mexico, are pleased to announce the August 28, 2020 Filing in Dallas County, Texas of a Petition for Recognition of the $48M USD Foreign Judgment (the "$48M USD Recognition Claim"); against Goldgroup Resources Inc., the 100% owned Subsidiary of Goldgroup Mining Inc. ("GGA.TO"), in Order to Recognize in the United States, the $48M USD Foreign Judgment obtained in Mexico against Goldgroup Resources Inc. On December 6, 2019, The Final Mexico Legal Ruling was Issued by The 11th Federal Circuit Collegiate Court in Mexico, wherein the $48,280,808.34 damages award in Favor of DynaMexico and against Goldgroup Resources Inc. was confirmed in Final Legal Ruling (the "Mexico Final Legal Ruling"). (See the DynaUSA and DynaMexico News Release Issued December 20, 2019.) Mexico Final Legal Ruling (December 6, 2019) The Mexico Final Legal Ruling was Favorable to DynaMexico, and denied the Amparo challenge of Goldgroup Resources Inc. The Mexico Final Legal Ruling is the result and culmination of 7 years of legal action performed by DynaMexico and is the Final Ruling of the 11th Federal Circuit Collegiate Court. With this Mexico Final Legal Ruling issued, all matters before the Court in Mexico with respect to DynaMexico and Goldgroup Resources Inc. are fully resolved and are no longer subject to appeal or reconsideration. DynaMexico Foreclosure and Recovery of Goldgroup Shares (February 20, 2020) On February 20, 2020, The Final Foreclosure Judgment was issued by a Mexico City Court, effectively foreclosing on all remaining shares of DynaMexico formerly held by Goldgroup Resources Inc. and awarding those shares to DynaMexico (the "DynaMexico Foreclosure Judgment"). (See DynaUSA and DynaMexico News Release issued April 14, 2020.) Prior to the DynaMexico Foreclosure Judgment, Goldgroup Resources Inc. owned shares of DynaMexico constituting 20% of the total outstanding shares of DynaMexico. Comments from DynaUSA CEO, DynaMexico President - K.D. Diepholz Commenting on the August 28, 2020, $48M USD Recognition Claim, the December 6, 2019 Mexico Final Legal Ruling, and the February 20, 2020 DynaMexico Foreclosure Judgment, DynaUSA CEO and DynaMexico President Mr. K.D. Diepholz noted: "The $48M USD Recognition Claim against Goldgroup Resources Inc. ('Goldgroup') is the final step in the litigation against Goldgroup. The $48M USD award constitutes damages caused by Goldgroup to DynaMexico, and DynaMexico intends to pursue all legal avenues for collection of the damages from Goldgroup. The DynaMexico Foreclosure Judgment and The Mexico Final Legal Ruling are momentous decisions and milestone events in the history of DynaMexico and DynaUSA. The results obtained in the DynaMexico Foreclosure Judgment and The Mexico Final Legal Ruling are direct testament to, and confirmation of, the dedicated work of attorneys and advisors representing DynaMexico in Mexico (Led by Lic. Namen Tellez Neme, Mexico City, Mexico, and Lic. Jose Santos Ceja, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, but including many other dedicated contributors as well). Lic. Tellez Neme, and Lic. Santos Ceja expended countless hours of work on behalf of DynaMexico, and their commitment, perseverance and passion have determined these incredible legal results and complete victory. I would like to express once again my sincere thank you and appreciation to Lic. Tellez Neme and Lic. Santos Ceja for their professional, dedicated representation of DynaMexico. I would also like to thank the Members of our Board of Directors, our employees, consultants, advisors, our shareholders, and our many business partners around the world, for maintaining patience and preserving faith in the Company during this long legal challenge. Finally, DynaMexico has proven victorious against Goldgroup, and justice has prevailed. "The DynaResource Companies will continue to focus on the operation, expansion and further development of the World Class, high grade gold San Jose de Gracia Project; and to the pursuit of the $48M USD in damages against Goldgroup." San Jose de Gracia ("SJG") San Jose de Gracia District ("SJG", "SJG District"), currently covering an area of 9,920 Hectares (24,513 acres), is 100% owned by DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. ("DynaMexico"). More than one million ounces gold was reportedly produced from the SJG District in the early 1900's, originating from high grade gold veins, including approximately 470,000 Oz. gold reportedly produced from the La Purisima area at an average gold grade of 66.7 g/t. In June 2010, SJG was recognized by the State of Sinaloa as the most significant Gold Project in Sinaloa. Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Technical Report for DynaMexico - SJG On March 28, 2012, DynaMexico issued a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant Technical Report for the San Jose de Gracia Project (the "2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report", the "Technical Report"), and approved by DynaMexico, the 100% owner of SJG. The 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report was prepared by Mr. Ramon Luna, BS, P.Geo., of Servicios y Proyectos Mineros, Hermosillo, Mexico and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101; and by Mr. Robert Sandefur, BS, MSc, P.E., a senior reserve analyst for Chlumsky, Armbrust & Meyer LLC, Lakewood, CO., and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. The 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report includes as Section Fourteen (14) a Mineral Resource Estimate for SJG as prepared by Mr. Sandefur (the "2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate", and, the "Mineral Resource Estimate"). On December 31, 2012, DynaMexico issued an updated NI 43-101 compliant ("NI 43-101") Technical Report for the San Jose de Gracia Project (the "Updated 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report", and the "Updated Technical Report"). The Updated Technical Report was approved by DynaMexico and filed with SEDAR on December 31, 2012. Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Mineral Resource Estimate for SJG The 2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG Mineral Resource Estimate concentrates on four separate main vein systems at SJG: Tres Amigos, San Pablo, La Union, and La Purisima. The Mineral Resource Estimate includes the following Resources: "Indicated Resources": Tres Amigos; 893,000 tonnes with an average grade of 4.46 g/t, totaling 128,000 Oz. Au; San Pablo; 1,308,000 tonnes with an average grade of 6.52 g/t, totaling 274,000 Oz. Au.; "Inferred Resources": 3,953,000 tonnes in aggregate for the four main vein systems, with an average grade of 5.83 g/t, totaling 741,000 Oz. Au. The Effective Date of the 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Reports and including the 2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate is February 6, 2012. The Mineral Resource Estimate is reported using a 2.0 g/t cut-off grade for underground mining. As of the Effective Date of the Technical Reports and Mineral Resource Estimate, there is no preliminary economic assessment report or feasibility study completed for SJG so the precise cutoff grade for underground mining has not yet been determined. Summary of 2016 - 2019 Operations at San Jose de Gracia Test Mining and Pilot Mill Operations (January 2016 through December 2019): Period Total Tonnes Mined & Processed Reported Mill Feed Grade (g/t Au) Reported Recovery % Gross Gold Concentrates Produced Net Gold Concentrates Sold Jan. 2016 - Dec. 2019 186,411 9.50 85.00 % 48,265 42,539 DynaResource continues to expand its activities at SJG; and projects the increased output to 300 Tons per Day from test underground mining and milling activities in 2020. Future Drilling Programs at SJG and Updated Technical Report No surface drilling programs have been conducted at SJG since 2011. DynaResource plans future surface drilling at SJG, which is projected to define a potential bulk mineable resource, and additional surface and underground drilling at SJG is projected to expand resources at current underground resource deposits, and also expected to confirm new resource deposit areas as well. Subsequent to the completion of surface drilling programs, DynaResource will expect to update the NI 43-101 Technical Report for SJG. On behalf of the Board of Directors of DynaResource, Inc. On behalf of the Board of Directors of DynaResource de Mexico SA de CV. K.D. DIEPHOLZ ?DynaResource, Inc. - CEO ?DynaResource de Mexico SA de CV. - Presidente *** IMPORTANT CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING CANADIAN DISCLOSURE STANDARDS The Company has Shareholders who are "OTC Reporting Issuer" as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 51-509, Issuers Quoted in the U.S. Over-the-Counter Markets promulgated by various Canadian provincial Securities Commissions. Accordingly, certain disclosure in this news release or other disclosure provided by DynaResource has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. In Canada, an issuer is required to provide technical information with respect to mineralization, including reserves and resources, if any, on its mineral exploration properties in accordance with Canadian requirements, which differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to registration statements and reports filed by United States companies pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As such, information contained in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company concerning descriptions of mineralization under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC and not subject to Canadian securities legislation. This news release or other disclosure provided by the Company may use the terms "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". While these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the SEC does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all, of the mineral deposits in these categories, will ever be converted to reserves. In addition, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities legislation, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, although they may form, in certain circumstances, the basis of a "preliminary economic assessment" as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all, of an inferred mineral resource, exists, or is economically or legally mineable. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This News release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27 A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance may be deemed "forward-looking". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that DynaResource expects to occur, are "forward-looking information". These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of DynaResource or DynaResource de Mexico. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to DynaMexico. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Certain assumptions have been made regarding the Company's plans at the San Jose de Gracia property. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of DynaResource or DynaMexico and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such factors include, without limitation: capital requirements, fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of the United States and Mexico; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local governments in any country which DynaResource or DynaMexico currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls; regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which DynaResource or DynaMexico does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labor disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as those risks referenced in the Annual Report for DynaResource available at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results and future events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. All the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Although DynaResource and DynaMexico believe that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. DynaResource and DynaMexico expressly disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events, or otherwise. For further information on DynaResource, Inc. or DynaMexico, please contact: Pension funds for truckers, teachers and subway workers have lodged lawsuits in the United States against Germanys Allianz, one of the worlds top asset managers, for failing to safeguard their investments during the coronavirus market meltdown. Market panic around the virus that resulted in billions in losses earlier this year scarred many investors, but no other top-tier asset manager is facing such a large number of lawsuits in the United States connected to the turbulence. In March, Allianz was forced to shutter two private hedge funds after severe losses, prompting the wave of litigation the company says is legally and factually flawed. Together, the various suits filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York claim investors lost a total of around $4 billion. The fallout has also prompted questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Allianz has said. A spokesman for Allianz Global Investors said in a statement to Reuters: While the losses were disappointing, the allegations made by claimants are legally and factually flawed, and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them. The plaintiffs are professional investors who bought funds that involved risks commensurate with those higher returns, the spokesman added. The latest claims against Allianz and its asset management arm Allianz Global Investors last week include one from the pension fund for the operator of New Yorks transport system, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It has 70,000 employees and made an initial investment of $200 million. Similar suits have been filed against Allianz by pension funds for the Teamster labor union, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Arkansas teachers. The suits are seeking a jury trial to award damages. The suits allege that Allianz Global Investors, in its Structured Alpha family of funds, strayed from a strategy of using options to protect against a short-term financial market crash. The SECs inquiry continues and Allianz is cooperating. The SEC did not respond to requests for comment. Attracting investors with an all-weather investing approach, Allianz bet the house and out of greed sacrificed the hard-earned pension and benefits of the MTAs workers, who at the time were risking their lives under COVID keeping New York alive, the MTAs lawsuit said. An MTA spokesman said employee pensions are not at risk. The cases are a second front of litigation for Allianz, one of Europes largest insurance companies. The Munich-based company and its competitors face suits for not paying claims related to business closures during the pandemic lockdowns. The companys insurance business as a whole has been under pressure as it faces claims for canceled events, and a decline in demand for car and travel insurance. It expects to post the first decline in annual profit in nearly a decade. At the end of March, Allianz informed investors it was liquidating two funds, as well as an offshore feeder fund. Investors lost 97% on one of the funds, the suits say. In April, Morningstar downgraded its rating for the remaining funds to negative because of the failure in risk management protocols and the uncertainty. Allianz disputed that rating and in July published an internal report that found that the losses were not the result of any failure in the portfolios investment strategy or risk management processes. Topics Lawsuits COVID-19 USA Profit Loss New York Allianz A regional appeals court has intervened to add ten years to a jail term currently being served by an outspoken historian of Stalinist crimes thereby blocking his imminent release. Yury Dmitriyev, 64, was sentenced to three and a half years in July for what he and his supporters dismiss as trumped-up sex charges. Already in poor health, Mr Dmitriyev will be 74 by the time he will be released, six years past the average male life expectancy in Russia. The July sentence, a fraction of the 15 years requested by prosecutors, was considered to be a reflection of the flimsiness of their case. In Russian terms, it felt like an acquittal as it counted the amount of time he had already served since his first arrest in 2016. Todays decision is not the first time Karelias Supreme Court has intervened to overturn incorrect decisions concerning Mr Dmitriyev. In April 2018, a court acquitted the researcher over earlier sex crime charges, only for that decision to be reversed three months later. Prosecutors applied new sexual assault charges, and the trial began once again. Mr Dmitriyevs colleagues say the tortuous legal proceedings have been designed to discredit his legacy as a researcher of Stalinist crimes. The amateur historian was the driving force behind the 1997 discovery of Krasny Por and Sandarmokh, two burial sites dating from the Great Terror of 1937-38. He made it his life work to document the victims of this dark period. In the early years, the state allowed researchers like Mr Dmitriyev to go about their work unhindered. Indeed, they even funded his annual memorial events in Sandarmokh. But as the years went on, and Russia faced international isolation, especially post-Crimea, Mr Dmitriyevs work began to fall foul of state ideology. From 2015, local authorities withdrew support for his memorial events. In 2019, a local official suggested they had created an unfair sense of guilt that was being used by foreign powers against Russia. A bill prompted by the Moms 4 Housing occupation of a vacant West Oakland home late last year and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday aims to increase homeownership in the state. Senate Bill 1079, introduced by state Senate Majority Whip Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, requires foreclosed homes to be sold individually at auction rather than bundled and sold to a single buyer. Following the Great Recession, corporations snatched up large numbers of homes in bundled foreclosure sales. Between 2006 and 2012, the number of owner-occupied single-family homes in California dropped by 320,000, while the number of renter-occupied single-family homes jumped by 720,000, according to the senator's office. "SB 1079 sends a clear message to Wall Street: California homes are not yours to gobble up; we won't tolerate another corporate takeover of housing," Skinner said in a statement. Four homeless women in late 2019 moved themselves into a vacant West Oakland home owned by Wedgewood Properties and refused to leave until they were evicted in January. The occupancy brought national attention to the issue of homes left vacant by corporations while many people go homeless. Following court hearings and the eviction, Wedgewood agreed to sell the home to the Oakland Community Land Trust, a nonprofit that buys properties and converts them into affordable housing. SB 1079 will also allow cities to fine corporations up to $2,000 a day on a property that is blighted. Many properties were left blighted following the housing crisis and the Great Recession. "Corporations that do own homes, need to be good neighbors and keep those homes maintained and occupied," Skinner added. In addition to prohibiting the bundling of homes at auction, the bill gives tenants, families, affordable housing nonprofits, community land trusts and local governments 45 days to make a bid higher than the initial bids on the property. The provisions of the bill apply to residential properties with one to four units. The bill goes into effect on Jan. 1 and sunsets in five years. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lawyer told a federal judge Tuesday that she briefed President Trump in recent weeks on the case and asked him not to issue a pardon, Politico reports. Why it matters: Flynn lawyer Sidney Powell was responding to questions from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in a highly anticipated hearing on Tuesday. Sullivan's questioning highlights the judge's concerns about the Justice Department's bid in May to dismiss prosecution against Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the former Russian ambassador. Powell also told Sullivan that she had not asked the president to have Attorney General Bill Barr intervene and assign new attorneys to the matter. The exchange, per Politico: POWELL: I can tell you I spoke one time to the president about this case to inform him about the general status of this litigation." SULLIVAN: Did you ever ask the president of the United States or request his attorney general to appoint new attorneys in this case? POWELL: Oh, heavens no." The big picture: Trump's allies have viewed Barr's move to withdraw charges against Flynn as the first major step in exposing the Russia investigation as a political hit job. Democrats fear Barr is weaponizing the Justice Department ahead of the election. Go deeper: Ex-judge says Trump "pressure campaigns" led to DOJ reversal in Flynn case BEIJING - China on Tuesday called Indias designation of the region along their disputed border as a federal territory an illegal move, and voiced new objections to infrastructure construction that seems to strengthen Indias position in the area. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also said reports of new Chinese military bases and other facilities being built on its side were totally untrue and have ulterior motives. Senior commanders agreed earlier this month not to add more troops along their fast-militarizing disputed border in the mountainous Ladakh region, but appear to have made no progress in disengaging their forces from the ongoing standoff as they had earlier pledged to do. It wasnt clear on what basis China rejected Indias move last year to reconstitute Ladakh as a federal territory separate from Jammu and Kashmir, or why it considered that illegal. It was likely due to the ongoing conflict over the Line of Actual Control that runs through part of the high desert territory. China does not recognize the so-called Ladakh central government region illegally established by India, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing, saying any new construction violated a pledge by the leaders of both sides. We are also opposed to infrastructure construction aimed at military acquisition and control in the disputed border areas. Wang said Chinas border defence forces operate on their side of the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, and strictly abide by the relevant agreements. China is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the border areas between China and India, and firmly upholds national territorial sovereignty and security, he said. Wang did not address reports that China is increasing the building of roads and other infrastructure along its side of the border. In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that it hopes that China will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements between the two countries and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC. The standoff in Ladakh began in May and escalated in June to the deadliest violence between the two sides in decades a clash on a high ridge in which soldiers used clubs, stones and their fists. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed and dozens of others were injured. China is believed to have also suffered casualties but has not provided any details. The two countries have amassed tens of thousands of soldiers, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets, in the Ladakh area since the deadly standoff. After that clash, the two countries partially disengaged from the site in Ladakhs Galwan Valley and at least two other places, but the crisis has continued in at least three other areas, including the glacial Pangong Lake. In recent weeks, the worlds two most populous nations have accused each other of sending soldiers into each others territory in the Pangong area and firing warning shots for the first time in 45 years, raising the spectre of a full-scale military conflict. Relations between the two countries have often been strained, partly due to their undemarcated border. They fought a border war in 1962 that spilled into Ladakh and ended in an uneasy truce. Since then, troops have guarded the undefined border while occasionally brawling. The two countries have agreed not to attack each other with firearms. The fiercely contested control line separates Chinese- and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to Indias eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. It is broken in parts where the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan border China. According to India, the de facto border is 3,488 kilometres (2,167 miles) long, while China says it is considerably shorter. As its name suggests, it divides the areas of physical control rather than territorial claims. Read more about: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: When Omans ruler of a half century died without an heir apparent, brief fears of turmoil ended with the quick announcement of a new sultan in this nation on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. But instead of the military rulers whose arrivals come with martial music and whose ends often accompany times of trouble in the Mideast, Oman ended up with the culture minister. That Oman followed its own distinctive, uncommon path after the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said represents perhaps the best testament to his rule over a nation he brought out of the isolationist obscurity imposed by his father and modernized with its oil wealth. His successor, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, has followed his example in establishing his rule over this country of 2.7 million Omanis and another 1.7 million foreigners as the coronavirus pandemic closed off the sultanate. The outside world and internal challenges, however, are preparing to come crashing in. Oman faces billions in looming loan repayments, including from China, and needs even more money as its youthful population wants jobs and its government cannot afford the cradle-to-grave benefits given in other Gulf Arab nations. Ratcheted-up tensions between Iran and the U.S. either with Donald Trump still in the White House or a new Joe Biden administration could see Oman brought into the middle of a situation that nearly sparked a war at the beginning of the year. And the sultanates long-cherished neutrality finds itself challenged by regional disputes. Then theres the small matter of serving as sultan after a man literally celebrated each year as the architect of Omans renaissance. Haitham has a golden chance to become Omans second renaissance figure," said Bader al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University who studies Oman. The domestic economic scene is his to win or his to lose. I mean, I think there is no place for him to play around with it. The situation is very dire. Already, Sultan Haitham has followed the example of his late cousin. He plans to meet with subjects across his nation of 11 governorates that is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Kansas. The first visit came in Dhofar, a region bordering Yemen that was still gripped by a guerrilla war with Marxist fighters when Sultan Qaboos took power in 1970. Sultan Qaboos won the war and ultimately invited Dhofari rebels into his government, noticeably the longtime Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi. Sultan Haithams efforts also extended into a quiet government campaign encouraging several dissidents to return to the kingdom, so long as they give up their social media presence and end their activism, said writer Nabhan Alhanshi, who leads the Omani Center for Human Rights from exile in the United Kingdom. Also invited home was Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Said, the last sultan of Zanzibar, the Tanzanian island once part of Oman. Sultan Qaboos father and the late sultan himself kept Al Said in exile in the U.K., fearful of any threat to their rule, no matter how minor. As ruler, Sultan Haitham has deviated from his predecessor by naming finance and foreign ministers, as opposed to wielding the titles himself. But Sultan Haitham remains the paramount ruler of a country where criticism of the sultan remains a criminal offense punishable by as much as seven years in prison. Omans press remains muzzled. Meanwhile, Sultan Haitham has created a new Cyber Defense Center that Alhanshi fears will further put activists at risk for speaking out. Sultan Haithams decision to put his family into government roles, as well as focusing on financial issues rather than democratic reforms, worries Alhanshi. During the protests of 2011 they said we have some financial problem, we have to solve it, then we will go through the political reform. But what happened actually there was no political reform," Alhanshi said. The new government now is saying the same, so how can we trust them? Omans Embassy in Washington did not respond to several requests for comment from The Associated Press. The sultanates finances remain a concern, however. Ratings agencies warn that the Omani government is on pace to run over a $10 billion fiscal deficit in 2020 alone. Thats as global energy prices remain low, cutting into revenues for a nation that produces just under 1 million barrels of oil a day. Traders have put Omani bonds into junk status meaning a higher risk for default. Finding money to cover the debts remains key. Oman already has a $3.6 billion payment due in 2022 to a syndicate of Chinese banks, according to ratings agency Fitch. Seeking more money there, from the West or fellow nations in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council could make Oman more beholden to them, something Sultan Haitham wants to avoid, said Cinzia Bianco, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. This makes it even more important for Sultan Haitham to try and keep Omanis close to one another and close to him because there is this other vulnerability, Bianco said. Then theres Iran. The start of 2020 nearly saw the U.S. and Iran enter a war. Under Sultan Qaboos, Oman had provided a secret backchannel to Tehran during negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Just before he died, Sultan Qaboos also signed deals allowing the U.S. and British navies access to the Omani port of Duqm, expanding the longtime access both nations enjoy there. India as well has access for its navy. While Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal lit the fuse of current tensions, Oman once again could be an interlocutor or may already be serving as one now. As Yusuf bin Alawi once told me, the Gulf needs an open window to Iran and if no one else is going to do it, Oman is going to do it," said Marc J. Sievers, a former U.S. ambassador to Oman. It wasnt just for the West, but also for the Gulf itself that the Omanis wanted to maintain that engagement. I think thatll continue. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Nearly 3,000 people in Luxembourg were banned from driving as of 31 December 2019, according to figures published by the Judicial Administration. 2,978 motorists had been issued with driving bans on Grand Ducal territory as of 31 December last year, according to the publication of "Justice in figures 2019". Although the overall figure has reduced compared to 2018, which saw 3,124 people banned from driving, it does not fully reflect the number of license withdrawals issued in 2019. The document specified that motorists sentenced to one or more driving bans subject to suspension were not included in the overall statistics. The number of decisions ordering a driving suspension was far higher than the actual figure, with 4,178 bans issued, and only 2,978 bans upheld. In 2017, the number of driving bans was lower than the subsequent years, at 2,258. However, the number of court decisions has systematically exceeded the 4,000 mark over the past three years. La justice en chiffres 2019 La justice en chiffres 2019 The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question. The statistics published by the Judicial Administration further reveal that the majority of licence withdrawals and driving bans in Luxembourg are linked to alcohol abuse while at the wheel. In 2019, this was the case for 1,561 motorists, with 192 licenses withdrawn for speeding infractions. Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX:TAH) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Tabcorp Holdings The method We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$433.5m AU$587.0m AU$606.8m AU$692.0m AU$675.0m AU$668.8m AU$669.0m AU$673.6m AU$681.5m AU$691.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ -0.92% Est @ 0.03% Est @ 0.7% Est @ 1.17% Est @ 1.5% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 10% AU$393 AU$483 AU$453 AU$468 AU$414 AU$372 AU$338 AU$309 AU$283 AU$261 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$3.8b Story continues After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.3%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 10%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2030 (1 + g) (r g) = AU$692m (1 + 2.3%) (10% 2.3%) = AU$8.9b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$8.9b ( 1 + 10%)10= AU$3.3b The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is AU$7.1b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$3.5, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf The assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Tabcorp Holdings as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 10%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.329. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. Looking Ahead: Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Tabcorp Holdings, there are three important factors you should assess: Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Tabcorp Holdings (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about. Future Earnings: How does TAH's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. M Varma Beijing: China on Tuesday criticised the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the US in Tokyo, saying it is opposed to the formation of "exclusive clique" harming third party's interests. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will participate in the Second India-Australia-Japan-USA Ministerial Meeting on October 6, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi on Tuesday. Jaishankar will visit Tokyo from October 6 to 7 for bilateral consultations with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. The two ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, the MEA statement said. Asked by a Western media journalist for his reaction to the meeting of Foreign Ministers of India, Japan, US and Australia also known as Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here that "peace, development and global cooperation is the overriding trend of today's world". "Multilateral and plurilateral cooperation should all be open, inclusive and transparent. No one should seek an exclusive clique," he said. "Efforts should be made to enhance regional countries mutual understanding and trust, instead of targeting a third party or harming third party's interests," he said. "We hope the relevant country will proceed from the interests of regional countries and do more things conducive to regional peace, stability and development instead of the contrary," Wang said. . They told him it wouldnt be easy. Indeed, two weeks into production on Peter Mackie Burns and Mark OHallorans sobering, existential drama, Rialto, its leading man, the inimitable Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, began to feel the heat. It was OHalloran who informed the actor that the role of Colm a middle-aged Dubliner and father-of-two, who loses himself to alcoholism and who begins to explore his sexuality with a 19-year-old male sex worker might be a tough gig, and he was right. Vaughan-Lawlor calls it a wobble, and he was lucky he had a wide-eyed visitor on his way to help cheer him up. Read More I had my son come from England to stay with me for a few weeks, he recalls, and just having him greet me in the door its an amazing way to let go of the character, and just be with him and in his world that is totally filled of wonder and is without cynicism and is without psychological pain. Freddie (9) kept his talented father company. It helped the 42-year-old actor to readjust to life, following a brutal day in someone elses shoes. When theyre that age, its amazing to come home and they just disarm you. For two weeks, I knew I had that at the end of the day and that really did keep me sane. You also have to put [the character] away for your childrens sake, you cant take it home with you. You can live a part as much as you can, but at the same time, you cant be affecting your family with it, its just selfish. Youve gotta let it go, so he was like my saving grace, really. Expand Close Nidge / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nidge Indeed, shooting Rialto also gave Vaughan-Lawlor the opportunity to return to and work in the capital. He and his actress wife, Claire Cox, currently live outside of London with Freddie and daughter, Maia, who turns two in November. Rialto was one of the first times the IFTA Award-winning actor had shot scenes on the streets of his hometown since Love/Hate wrapped in 2014. Any time Ive shot on the streets, like with Love/Hate especially, Ive got a character whos just so alpha and so relentlessly focused on one goal and so power-hungry and just an ego maniac, and then you have this other man in Colm whos totally the opposite, whos trying to disappear into the wallpaper and just be invisible because he hates himself, and so that was such a different experience, being in the streets of Dublin and being invisible. Tough Also filming down by the boardwalk, seeing the kind of damage thats there in real life, its really sobering. Christ, it was quite a tough day that, just being around all these people who are lost souls and then trying to kind of become one of them for a day. You just realise how lost people can be in their lives and so it was a totally different filming experience to anything Ive had before in Dublin, and in way seeing a totally different part of Dublin that I hadnt been conscious of before, to be honest. Video of the Day You see it, he continues, but I suppose you kind of emotionally check out of it because you cant take on peoples things too much because youll drown yourself emotionally on some level, but when youre playing a part thats somewhere in that same emotional, psychological head space, you can really see the damage and its pretty heart-breaking. Again, Rialto was a tough shoot, but a rewarding one for one of Dublins finest actors. Its pure cinematic misery, just the way we like it, but its also a beautiful-looking film, and Vaughan-Lawlor delivers a magnificent turn opposite Dunkirk star, Tom Glynn-Carney. Its one of two brand-new Vaughan-Lawlor projects en route, the other being Frank of Ireland, a TV comedy courtesy of co-writers and stars, Domhnall and Brian Gleeson. The series was originally supposed to wrap in Belfast in March, before the pandemic hit. We only had a couple of weeks to go, he remembers, and I was due to fly back on a Sunday, and on the Saturday I just got an email saying, Dont come back because we had to shut down. As with everyone it was such a shock I think, because we were so close to the end. Life in lockdown began. The actor, whod had a busy few years with both leading and supporting roles in acclaimed thrillers (Maze, The Cured), gripping television dramas (Dublin Murders) and blockbuster behemoths (Avengers: Infinity War), was forced to take a break from playing pretend for a living. He made the most of it. I read a lot of comfort books, he says. Things that make you happy and feel safe made sense to me, so I was reaching for comfort books and then watching a lot of trashy TV anything too intense in terms of art or TV or film, I was slightly wary of. Because it was obviously such an intense time. Also, were really lucky, we live by the sea in a small town in south east England, so it was just about kind of staving off boredom really and insanity because of the mundanity of the day to day. But having said that, we were just lucky to be safe. Other than that, it was lots of trying to home school, which didnt go very well! Two weeks ago, Frank of Ireland finally made it to the finish line, with all new safety guidelines and practices in place on set. Humans ability to adapt is so astonishing, he explains. Positive The first few days were really hard to get your head around, but after about three days you go, Okay, well just adapt to this, we can figure out, well do it. You make the best of it. It was really positive to finish, and I think well make it work in the industry, well make it work. Encouraging words from an industry veteran who, if youll recall, had already developed a name for himself on the stage before Stuart Carolans crime land television drama, Love/Hate, came about. I wonder, on the eve of the shows tenth anniversary, does Tom Vaughan-Lawlor ever think about what might have happened had he not taken on the role of ruthless crime boss, Nigel Nidge Delaney? I think thats like a constant thing in actors lives, he tells me, doors that open and close. I remember I auditioned for a play the summer of 2009 that I didnt get, and I really was devastated about it it took me a while to get over it. It was a writer I love, a play I love, a part I love, and it was in London. But if I had gotten the part, I wouldnt have been available for the first season of Love/Hate and thats life-changing. So, you know, for actors, its constant sliding doors. I remember standing on set in the first season thinking, My God, if I had gotten that play, I wouldnt be here, and then several years later thinking, God, if I had gotten that play, Id be watching from the other side of the glass, watching this incredible show and wanting to be part of it its a bonkers life. Rialto is released in cinemas on Friday. A Dublin release is planned for October 10. The Armenian Defense Ministry said the incident occurred during Azerbaijan air and artillery strikes on military and civilian targets in Armenias Gegharkunik province west of Karabakh. According to the ministry spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanian, Azerbaijans Su-25 warplanes and Turkish Bayraktar attack drones were engaged by Armenia air-defense units while carrying out the strikes in the morning. Stepanian said that a Su-25 plane of the Armenian Air Force flew to the area to support those units only to be shot down by a Turkish F-16 jet. The planes pilot was killed as a result, she said in a statement, adding that the incident occurred in Armenias airspace. Turkey is carrying out a direct aggression against Armenia, another Armenian military official, Artsrun Hovannisian, wrote on Facebook. Ankara denied downing the Armenian jet. Azerbaijans Defense Ministry also dismissed the Armenian report. Turkey deployed several F-16s in Azerbaijan ahead of joint Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises held in August. Subsequent news reports said they remained in Azerbaijan after the end of the drills. Stepanian said that multiple Turkish jets took off from an airfield in Gyanja, Azerbaijans second largest city located several dozen kilometers from northern Karabakh, to protect the Azerbaijani warplanes and drones during their raids on Armenia. Earlier on Friday Baku accused Armenian forces of shelling Azerbaijans Dashkesan region bordering Gegharkunik. Yerevan was quick to deny that, saying that the Azerbaijani side is preparing the ground for attacking Armenian territory. The cross-border incidents were reported on the third day of large-hostilities along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact around Karabakh, which have left scores of soldiers from both sides dead. The Armenian government on Monday accused Ankara of being directly involved in the worst flare-up of violence in the Karabakh conflict zone in years. The Armenian government on Monday accused Ankara of being directly involved in the worst flare-up of violence in the Karabakh conflict zone in years. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian described the reported loss of the Armenian aircraft as further proof of that involvement. According to our information, Turkey is now looking for an excuse for an even wider involvement in the conflict, Pashinian told Russian state television. Pashinian claimed that Ankara is specifically seeking to send Turkish troops to Azerbaijans Nakhichevan exclave bordering Armenia, Iran and Turkey. He went on to urge the international community to make Turkey leave the South Caucasus, saying that the Turkish presence is destabilizing the region. Armenia has until now refrained from formally requesting military aid from Russia or the Russian-led Collective Treaty Organization (CSTO), of which Armenia is a member. It was not immediately clear whether Yerevan will seek such support after the reported downing of the Armenian jet. Pashinian phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after the report. The Kremlin said Putin expressed serious concern at the continuing hostilities in the conflict zone and stressed the urgent need to halt them and take measures to de-escalate the crisis. According to the official Armenian readout of the call, Pashinian spoke in detail about consequences of the aggression launched by Azerbaijan. The two men already spoke by phone on Sunday hours after the outbreak of the fighting in Karabakh. Putin has not yet talked to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Russia has a military base in Armenia. Russian-Armenian treaties commit it to protecting the South Caucasus countrys internationally recognized borders. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Name : Charles Ferraro Party : Republican Race : House of Representatives District 117 Profile: Incumbent Charles Ferraro currently serves as the highest-ranking House Republican on the legislatures Energy and Technology Committee. He also serves on the Public Safety & Security and Veterans Affairs Committees. Ferraro studied his undergrad at Southern Connecticut State University and went to Murray State University in Kentucky, where he was a Masters of Science Degree Candidate in Fishery Biology. Ferraro is being challenged by Democrat Tony Sutton, who was cross endorsed by the Independent and Working Families party. The 117th district includes Milford, West Haven and Orange. Ferraro had 56.6 of the vote (of 11,835 ballots cast) when he won his third term in 2018. This post has been correct to reflect this is currently a third term for Charles Ferraro. What are the Latest Mexico Travel Restrictions? The U.S. Department of State keeps a close watch on international travel, providing citizens with the most up-to-date information on travel. The overall Mexico travel warning has recently been downgraded from a level 4 to a level 3 . However, for the most relevant Mexico travel restrictions and to really know is Mexico safe to travel, the best idea is to look up the specific state where you're traveling. When it comes to popular Mexico beach destinations , The U.S. Department of State notes that these are some of the safest spots for Mexico family vacations. Because the economies of the best beach destinations in Mexico are based in tourism, city leaders and business owners are dedicated to making sure crime rates stay low and that travelers feel welcomed and safe. Is it safe to Travel to Mexico Right Now by Plane? With many wondering "Is it safe to travel to Mexico right now?", airlines are out to assure you that the most convenient and safe way to reach the best beach destinations in Mexico is by plane. This year, the travel industry has implemented new disinfectant protocols and social distancing policies making air travel safe again for work and for pleasure. With these measures in place, airlines are increasing their routes and frequencies, helping more tourists have safe travels to Nuevo Vallarta, Los Cabos, and other destinations in Mexico. In fact, a few destination airports, like Cabo San Lucas have received the ACI Health Accreditation, an award for consistently implementing established safety measures. However, to stay safe while flying, it's important to do your part. Be sure to follow all guidelines for wearing masks and keeping distance between yourself and others. When you travel, bringing your own hand sanitizer with you will help you continue to fight off germs and viruses. Where are Safe Places to Travel in Mexico? Mexico is a diverse country, and some cities are safer than others for foreign travelers. To find safe places to travel in Mexico right now, one of the most helpful tools is the Safe Travels Stamp. Cities like Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta have received this certification because of the commitment city officials and business leaders have to making sure their communities stay safe. Before booking a resort, research the company's commitment to helping you stay safe during your stay. Taking time to read through these policies will help you find safe places to travel in Mexico, and knowing that these resorts are dedicated to following protocols recommended by world health experts will keep you from worrying about "is Mexico safe to travel?" so that you can enjoy all the excitement of exploring your destination. Are Mexico Vacations a Good Idea Right Now? Whether you're planning Mexico family vacations, romantic getaways, or solo travels, heading off to Riviera Nayarit, Los Cabos, or Puerto Vallarta right now is a great idea. After months of quarantining, taking long walks on the beach and eating fresh tropical fruits will help your body feel strong again and wash away stress. In these Mexico beach destinations, you can enjoy safe travels while you relax and unwind or explore the jungle on adventure tours. As you make your plans, be sure to research the safety policies of different resorts, airlines, and tour providers, and during your vacation, keep your mask on in public and wash your hands frequently to help keep the local community safe. Once you start researching is Mexico safe to travel, you'll quickly see that cities like Cabo San Lucas and Nuevo Vallarta are currently getting international attention for their consistency with implementing health and safety protocols. As you follow travel rules and guidelines, you'll be able to create incredible memories with your loved ones and enjoy the best of Mexico. The Villa Group Resorts, Los Cabos Name: Ruben Martinez Phone number: 1 877 498 1491 Email: [email protected] Website: www.villagroupresorts.com The Villa Group Resorts, Puerto Vallarta - Riviera Nayarit Name: Alan Pujol Phone number: 1 877 498 1491 Email: [email protected] Website: www.villagroupresorts.com SOURCE The Villa Group Resorts Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican facing the toughest re-election campaign of her career, on Monday sparred with her Democratic opponent Sara Gideon in the second debate of their tight race, exchanging barbs over the future of the Supreme Court and the support provided to the state during the pandemic. The makeup of the Supreme Court and the longstanding Republican effort to reshape the federal judiciary have been consistent issues overshadowing the race between Ms. Collins, who is seeking a fifth term in the Senate, and Ms. Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. The Republicans race to confirm President Trumps nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, before the Nov. 3 election could reshape the battle for control of the Senate. In recent surveys, a majority of voters said that they believe the next president should choose the successor to Justice Ginsburg, a view Ms. Collins has said she shares. What we need to do is to make the confirmation process less political, more respectful and more insightful, Ms. Collins said during Mondays debate, arguing against expanding the Supreme Court to include more justices or imposing term limits on the justices as jeopardizing the independence of the nations highest court. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Infections account for almost three quarters of Australian infants needing to see a doctor and one in 10 presenting to an emergency department by 12 months of age, according to a new study. The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the Journal of Pediatrics Child Health, found 72.4 percent infants visited a GP and 10.4 percent infants attended the emergency department for an infection, with respiratory illnesses the most common cause. MCRI's Dr. Rebecca Rowland said few studies have addressed incidence rate, risk factors and health service utilization of infection in Australian infants until now. Dr. Rowland said this data would inform public health prevention strategies, health systems planning and resource allocation. "Infant infections place significant burden on primary health care," she said. "Quantifying this burden in the Australian setting and understanding the associated factors can help target resources and prevention efforts." The research involved 1,074 Geelong families in the Barwon Infant Study, a major study conducted at Barwon Health in collaboration with MCRI and Deakin University. Infection data was collected by parent reports and GP and hospital records at one, three, six, nine and 12 months of age. Dr. Rowland said the study found maternal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy, having older siblings, attending childcare, and reduced rates of breastfeeding were associated with infant infections. "Antibiotics are potentially life-saving for bacterial infections generally and also in pregnancy, so the key messages are promoting appropriate antibiotic use in pregnancy, and also breastfeeding for at least the first month of life. These factors may help reduce the early life burden of infection," she said. "On average, infants who were breastfed for at least four weeks experienced about 30 percent fewer overall infections." The study found a link between attending childcare for anywhere between one to 40 weeks and overall infection, but the researchers stressed the broad positive impacts of childcare on child development, the family and society. On average, infants with siblings aged two to six years had more overall infections, and those with siblings aged 10 to 21 years had an increased risk of gastroenteritis. Globally, infection is responsible for almost five million deaths worldwide in pre-school children. MCRI's Professor David Burgner said respiratory infection presentations, such as the flu, to The Royal Children's Hospital have dropped dramatically during the COVID-19 lockdowns indicating the importance of good hand hygiene in limiting infection spread, as well as an increased uptake of the influenza vaccine. "One of the few silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the emphasis placed on hand hygiene in potentially infectious settings, like childcare and shopping centers," he said. "This has not only helped limit COVID-19 spread in adults, but also the normal childhood infections we would otherwise have seen over winter." More information: Rebecca Rowland et al. Burden of infection in Australian infants, Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health (2020). Rebecca Rowland et al. Burden of infection in Australian infants,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/jpc.15174 A busted staff of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Oreoluwa Adesakin, has been convicted for fraud and handed a total term of 98 years in prison by Justice Muniru Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court. But she will spend just seven years in jail. Adesakin was found to have committed financial fraud against First Bank to the tune of N49,320,652.32. She also stole $368,203.00 belonging to the bank, which she converted to her personal use. Adesakin, before she was busted by the bank and sacked, was its Money Transfer Operator, saddled with the responsibility of effecting payments through Western Union Money Transfer and MoneyGram platforms, The convict was prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), on a 14-count charge, bordering on stealing, forgery and fraudulent accounting. One of the counts read: That you Oreoluwa Adesakin sometime between the months of May, 2013 and November, 2013, at Ibadan within the Ibadan Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of First Bank PLC stole the sum of N25,974,116.13 (Twenty Five Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, One Hundred and Sixteen Naira, Thirteen Kobo) from First Bank PLC MoneyGram Payment Naira Account, property of First bank PLC. She pleaded not guilty to the charge. Prosecution counsel, Usman Murtala presented every vital document and witnesses which nailed the convict. Justice Olagunju noted that the EFCC presented incontrovertible evidence against the convict and did a diligent investigation and prosecution. He thus pronounced Adesakin guilty of all the counts. He sentenced her to seven years in prison without an option of fine on each of the 14 counts. The sentencing will run concurrently. Apart from the jail term, the convict is also to restitute the First Bank, through the EFCC, all the money she stole. The convict was arraigned April 4, 2014 by the EFCC following a conclusion of investigations against her which arose from a petition from her former employer, dated December 18, 2013. The bank alleged in the petition that Adesakin fraudulently manipulated its Moneygram accounting and withdrew N49,320,652.32 and another $368,203.00 for herself, which the bank only uncovered while reviewing its internal account. The EFCC was also able to establish that the convict used part of the proceeds of her crime to acquire landed properties in different parts of Oyo State. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates A teenager has been remanded in continuing custody on charges of making threats to kill two people. Barbie Kardashian, (18), of no fixed abode, appeared before Limerick District Court, via video-link from the womens section of Limerick Prison. The court has heard that Ms Kardashian was born a male and identifies as a female. She is accused of four counts of making threats to kill or cause serious harm to a woman and a man, on dates in July, August, and September. Ms Kardashian appeared before the court today wearing a face mask, grey coloured tracksuit, with shoulder-length black hair. She spoke briefly and confirmed her name was Barbie Kardashian. When asked by the court registrar if she could see and hear the proceedings via the prison video link, Ms Kardashian replied: Yes, I can hear you, thank you. Solicitor Darach McCarthy told the court he was appearing as an agent for Ms Kardashians defence solicitor, Michele Finan, of Connolly Finan Fleming Solicitors. Today is the first day of a remand, Mr McCarthy told presiding Judge Marian OLeary. Prosecuting Garda Sergeant Sean Moloney, Roxboro Road Garda Station, said the state was still awaiting the DPPs (Director of Public Prosecutions) directions. The file is still being prepared, Sgt Moloney added. Last Friday, Ms Kardashian appeared in court wearing a pink puffy jacket, lilac top, and a long blonde wig. During Fridays hearing, Garda Shane Kirwan, Roxboro Road Garda Station, Limerick, said he arrested Ms Kardashian at 8.30pm last Thursday night, September 24, and she did not reply to any of the charges. Ms Finan had told Fridays hearing that Ms Kardashian was very anxious she be detained in a prison facility for females, as she identifies as a female. Ms Finan said it was a very complex case, and that Ms Kardashian would be exceptionally vulnerable in a prison setting. Today, the accused was remanded in continuing custody, to appear via video-link before Limerick District Court on October 13, for directions from the DPP. ANN ARBOR, MI Protest rallies and lots of lobbying by anti-eviction activists may have helped Craig Teschendorf stay in his apartment a few extra weeks, but the day the 65-year-old retiree dreaded finally came Sept. 21. Oh, it was brutal. Monday morning, it was like Gestapo. They had me surrounded before 8 oclock, he said, describing seeing maintenance workers and vehicles lined up outside his unit at the Orion MainStreet apartment complex in Ann Arbor. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Shasta counties on Monday night due to two blazes tearing through Northern California. Three people died in the fast-moving Zogg Fire, located about 150 miles north of Sacramento. It was 0% contained as of Tuesday evening and has scorched more than 50,000 acres, according to fire officials. The raging Glass Fire, meanwhile, has burned over 66 square miles, destroyed or damaged more than 100 structures and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Napa and Sonoma counties, including the entire towns of Calistoga and Angwin. "We left with nothing. I mean just literally with nothing," said Jan Zakin, an evacuee. At one point, the fire was burning an acre every five seconds, consuming a decades-old winery and the Black Rock Inn, a popular bed and breakfast. It also damaged the grounds at the elite Meadowood resort while leaving entire neighborhoods in ruins, CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti reported for "CBS This Morning." Flames from the Glass Fire consume the Black Rock Inn, late Sunday, September 27, 2020, in St. Helena, California. / Credit: Noah Berger/AP Nearly 70,000 people have been told to leave their homes, and evacuees said they had little time to outrun the flames as they grew to tens of thousands of acres. The Glass Fire roared to life around 4 a.m. Sunday and was still completely out of control 24 hours later despite the efforts of more than 1,000 firefighters and an intense air battle including retardant and water drops from firefighting DC-10s and a 747, CBS San Francisco Bay Area reported. But Cal Fire officials announced Tuesday afternoon that some evacuation orders were being downgraded to warnings as firefighters made some progress against the flames, CBS SF Bay Area reported. Firefighters were also getting the massive LNU Lightning Complex fire which has claimed five lives, burned hundreds of homes and charred 363,220 acres in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties under control, with 98% containment. Story continues Exhausted fire crews once again found themselves in the middle of another intense battle with the flames. "Our firefighters have not had much of a break," Cal Fire's Daniel Berlant said. "And these residents have not had much of a break." The weariness was also evident in the voices of the evacuees. "You're standing in your driveway and looking at your house and you wonder if you're going to see it again," said Jim Cunningham, an evacuee. "The scariest part of it is not knowing." Smoke rises over a vineyard as the Glass Fire burns, Monday, September 28, 2020, in Calistoga, California. / Credit: Noah Berger/AP Linda and Glen Shaver were worried the threat of frenzied evacuations was becoming part of the wine country lifestyle. "We're just exhausted," they told CBS SF Bay Area. "We hear the term the new norm." So far this year, California has seen more than 8,000 wildfires that have killed 29 people and burned more than 5,700 square miles. Over 7,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the blazes, according to Cal Fire. Overnight, firefighters got a break from the weather. Winds calmed down and shifted directions, bringing in higher humidity levels from the Pacific Ocean. But in the 48 hours since it erupted from a still-to-be-determined source, the blaze had altered the landscape in the picturesque region. Early Tuesday, large pieces of ash rained down on downtown Calistoga in Napa Valley, and a bright orange glow was still very visible in the hills above the city a reminder the threat still remained great. New details emerge from another New York Times report on Trump's taxes California wildfires kill 3 people, force thousands to evacuate Biden and Trump teams prepare for personal attacks in first presidential debate The rate of domestic violence in Harris County increased significantly from March to July this year during the COVID-19 pandemic according to Harris County Sheriffs Office. Leading into Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Northwest Assistance Ministries wants people to know that help is available by hosting a series of awareness-building virtual events beginning with a virtual tour of their Family Violence Center, opening the door for abused people to begin to reclaim their power. Who do YOU buckle up for?: Kailee Mills Foundation launches new campaign With the COVID-19 crisis we had to think of new ways to introduce what were doing, bring attention to this awful situation that is happening in so many areas, Brian Carr, chief advancement officer for the nonprofit, said. This isnt the year to have group outings and have people come for public events and things of that nature. We want to try to create opportunities that the public can learn about domestic violence. The NAM Family Violence Center will post a virtual tour of the center on the organizations website Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. The Family Violence Center provides a large swath of services for anyone experiencing domestic violence, including a hotline for people looking for help, counseling for parents and children, behavioral health specialists and more. On HoustonChronicle.com: Just because your employer got a PPP loan doesnt mean youll get your job back. Heres why. Sometimes counseling might be one or two sessions, Carr said. It may take years of counseling to help these victims see that its not them, that they didnt cause it, that they did not bring this upon themselves. Hotline employees are trained to handle calls from people experiencing domestic violence, including calls made in unsafe situations. Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic the number of calls coming into our Family Violence Center hotline have risen exponentially, NAMs President and CEO Les Cave said in a press release. For anyone going through this hardship, we hope that they will reach out for help, and we want them to know that NAM is here for them. Carr hopes this virtual tour can give those in abusive situations a glimpse into the end of their battle in a more accessible way. Theyll be able to see that stepping out and taking that first step to get yourself out of that situation is not the end of the world, Carr said. In fact, its a new beginning. Its important to see that theyre not going to some dark and dingy place. Theyre going to some place where there are people that care. Thursday, Oct. 15, is National Wear Purple Day to spread domestic violence awareness. NAM is encouraging people to participate in the Silence for 7 event, which signifies the average number of times a survivor leaves their abuser before they leave successfully. The Silence for 7 events, also called The Mediation, will be held Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. on Zoom. A link to the event can be found at www.namonline.org/dvam. People can also participate in a virtual Walk for Survivors on Oct. 15, choosing a location to complete a mile-long walk in support of survivors of domestic violence. Participants are invited to post photos on their social media pages, tagging @NAMNeighbors and using the hashtags #YouAreNotAlone, #NAMHelps, #WalkForSurvivors, and #PurpleEmpowerment. Texas has seen an average of 121 women per year who have lost their life due to domestic violence, Sheryl Johnson, director of NAMs Family Violence Center said in the release. Those who have suffered or are suffering from domestic violence often feel alone and we want to remind them that they are not alone, and there is help and hope. If you or someone else is experiencing domestic violence, call the Family Violence Center hotline at 281-885-4673. For more information visit www.namonline.org/family-center . chevall.pryce@chron.com Megaport SDN extends secure, on-demand connectivity to Oracle Cloud regions across four continents to improve performance BRISBANE, Australia, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Megaport Limited (ASX: MP1) ("Megaport"), a leading Network as a Service (NaaS) provider and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), announced today the expanded availability of Oracle FastConnect onramps to allow customers to easily and flexibly interconnect to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Megaport now offers direct connectivity to Oracle Cloud regions across four continents. Recently enabled FastConnect locations enabled across the Megaport network include Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, Zurich, Osaka, and San Jose. There are now 17 FastConnect onramps enabled via Megaport, providing greater choice for how businesses architect their cloud for performance, availability, and in-country data sovereignty requirements. Customers connecting to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure through Megaport can also take advantage of Megaport Cloud Router (MCR), a virtual routing service. MCR removes complexity by allowing customers to connect and route traffic without the need for physical routers and supports Oracle's fast enablement of new cloud regions by providing rapid, reliable connectivity to the applications and platforms that power businesses every day. MCR also allows customers to build cloud to cloud connections in a point and click manner and in real time. This means more organisations can take advantage of multi-cloud architectures. With Megaport, organizations have the choice of connecting their services and applications from 15 Oracle Cloud regions to 30+ Azure Cloud regions and 16+ AWS regions. This extended reach taps into the multi-cloud strategy many enterprises prefer as they increase cloud adoption. Benefits of accessing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure on Megaport: Agility: On-demand, reliable connectivity to the applications and services that power businesses. On-demand, reliable connectivity to the applications and services that power businesses. Performance: Reduce jitter and decrease latency by localising traffic over a predictable, private network. Reduce jitter and decrease latency by localising traffic over a predictable, private network. Reach: Access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure from 700+ data centres globally Access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure from 700+ data centres globally Compliance: Keep data local on a private network to meet in-country data sovereignty and compliance requirements Keep data local on a private network to meet in-country data sovereignty and compliance requirements Reduced cost: Pay as you go with flexible bandwidth speeds Pay as you go with flexible bandwidth speeds Ease-of-use: Point and click provisioning for multi-cloud and hybrid connectivity "Network latency and jitter play an important role in application performance," said Matt Simpson, VP of Cloud Services at Megaport. "To ensure peak performance, applications -- whether on-premises or in the cloud -- should be as close to your infrastructure as possible. Connecting to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure on Megaport allows businesses to localize traffic and optimize their connectivity for performance. Plus, with our API-based integrations with Oracle, customers can get connected in a matter of minutes." "Megaport's SDN gives customers the performance, speed, and control to do smart business in the cloud," said Ross Brown, vice-president, marketing, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. "With Megaport, our customers now have another option to connect seamlessly with a multi-cloud strategy." About Megaport Megaport is a global leading Network as a Service provider. Using Software Defined Networking (SDN), the Company's global platform enables customers to rapidly connect their network to other services across the Megaport Network. Services can be directly controlled by customers via mobile devices, their computer, or an open API. Megaport connects more than 1,850 customers in over 700 enabled data centres globally. Megaport is an Alibaba Cloud Technology Partner, AWS Technology Partner, AWS Networking Competency Partner, Google Cloud Interconnect Partner, IBM Direct Link Cloud Exchange provider, Microsoft Azure Express Route Partner, Nutanix Direct Connect Partner, Oracle Cloud Partner, Salesforce Express Connect Partner, and SAP PartnerEdge Open Ecosystem Partner. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program designed to enable partners to accelerate the transition to cloud and drive superior customer business outcomes. The OPN program allows partners to engage with Oracle through track(s) aligned to how they go to market: Cloud Build for partners that provide products or services built on or integrated with Oracle Cloud; Cloud Sell for partners that resell Oracle Cloud technology; Cloud Service for partners that implement, deploy and manage Oracle Cloud Services; and License & Hardware for partners that build, service or sell Oracle software licenses or hardware products. Customers can expedite their business objectives with OPN partners who have achieved Expertise in a product family or cloud service. To learn more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partnernetwork Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Shauna Bishop has been jailed by a court for the act A former sheriffs deputy has been handed six months jail term after she watched a sex movie before sneaking into the house of an ex-lover to rape his 16 year-old son. According to Metro UK , Shauna Bishop, 46, was imprisoned in Sacramento, California, last Wednesday over the April 2019 incident, which saw her creep into the childs room and attack him. Bishop did not rape the boy while on duty, and did not meet him through her job. She targeted him after befriending his mother, and attacked the child after coming over to his home to discuss his underage drinking and weed use. Bishop is said to have spent the night, and crept into the boys room, where she performed abusive sex acts on him, before urging him not to tell anyone. The sex attack came to light after her ex-boyfriend the victims father told his former wife that he was worried Bishop was grooming their son, and reported her to police in June 2019. During an interview with Folsom Police, Bishop claimed not to be able to remember what she had done, because she had taken sedative Ambien at the time. She told investigators she had assaulted the boy after watching a pornographic film. He was two years below the age of consent in California at the time. Bishop has been fired from her job as a deputy sheriff with Sacramento County Sheriffs Office, where she had worked for five years prior to her dismissal. She must also complete work-release probation when she is freed, and register as a sex offender on being released from prison Rio Rancho District 5 City Councilor Jennifer Flor has announced her resignation. She is leaving her seat to focus on her family and raising her three young children. Flors last day in office will be Oct. 10. It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Rio Rancho these last four years, she said. I will miss my interactions with constituents and the challenge of finding solutions to problems that affect our everyday lives. Although I am sad to leave my role as city councilor, I look forward to seeing Rio Rancho thrive due to the passion and dedication of its citizens. Flor was appointed by Mayor Gregg Hull in August 2016 to complete a term vacated by Shelby Smith. She was elected in 2018 to a four-year term. When I appointed Jennifer four years ago, I knew her engineering background and her passion for public service would be a great fit for our city council and our citizens, Hull said. I very much appreciate her dedication to the City of Rio Rancho and I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Those interested in filling the District 5 City Council seat must submit a letter of interest and resume to Hull. Those interested can submit their information at rrnm.gov/CD5vacancy, from 5 p.m. Oct. 9, through 5 p.m. Oct. 23. Hulls vetting process will include reviewing all submitted materials and interviewing applicants. To be eligible for appointment to fill the seat, an individual must: Reside in Rio Rancho in City Council District 5; Be over 18 years of age; Be a registered voter of Rio Rancho; and Have no felony convictions. The individual appointed to fill the District 5 City Council seat will serve a term that ends in March 2022. This persons annual salary will be $17,643.92 and they, along with eligible family members, will be entitled to medical, dental and vision insurance coverage as provided to other city employees. As part of the regular municipal election taking place in March 2022, the District 5 seat will be decided by voters, and the person elected will serve a four-year term ending in March 2026. Pursuant to the citys charter, when a vacancy in a city council seat occurs, the mayor shall appoint a qualified successor within 45 days of the vacancy, subject to governing body confirmation. If the governing body does not accept the mayors appointment, the mayor shall appoint another individual within 45 days, subject to governing body confirmation. The process of mayoral appointment and governing body consideration of the appointment continues until the governing body has confirmed an appointee of the mayor. For any questions or to confirm city council district residency, contact the Office of the City Clerk at (505) 891-5004. (Photo : Amazon ) Amazon Introduces New Hand-Payment System; How Does 'Amazon One' Works? (Photo : Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Amazon) Olly Murs visits Amazon to pick, pack and personally deliver surprise gifts to a family of fans using Amazon Prime Now one-hour service on November 30, 2015 in London, England. Amazon Go has introduced a new way for customers to pay their items and packages. Through scanning their palms in the 'Amazon One' machine and inserting credit card into slot, you can now soon pay any items on the store. Here's how it works. Pay with your palms on Amazon stores! A new hand-payment system is set to be introduced on few selected Amazon Go stores. Using a machine called 'Amazon One,' customers can now pay through scanning their palms in the device. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, Amazon via CNN launched the device which they said to be the most COVID-19 friendly payment system out there. You don't need to touch cash, or any credit card-verifying devices on stores. Here's how it works: For example, you need to pay for your items on Amazon Go. Customers will go to the machine, insert their credit card into the provided slot, then scan their hands (with palms facing downwards) which sensor will record and identify the person. Dilip Kumar, Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology, told upon his interview with CNN, that the palm-scanning recognition can scan more accurately than other biometrics measures. "I encourage people to try it, see how they like the experience, and then go from there," Kumar said. No longer surprise Amazon One is no longer a surprising security stunt, made by the company. Late last year, Vox reported that Amazon patented a technology that could identify their customers through their hands. It was even claimed that Amazon One could also do a payment system that "if the user picks an item from an inventory location and leaves the facility, their account may be billed for that item." As of now, it was not clarified if this feature can be done with Amazon One. How about your security? If there's one thing that makes this technology bothersome is the possiblity of biometric privacy breach on each customers. After all, some groups already crticize Amazon for its facial-recognition software. In fact, in the midst of 'Black Lives Matter' protest, the company chose to stop selling the technology to police officers. To those worried, Kumar said that users no need to be alarmed with their security with Amazon One, since the company guarantees that no information will be transmitted to the stores. All data will be saved using an encryption and Amazon stores said that all palm images will be saved online. Unfortunately, Amazon One tech is only currently available at two of the Amazon Go stores in Seattle, at 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street, and in the South Lake Union neighborhood. More stores are expected to introduced this tech soon. ALSO READ: Former Amazon Finance Officer Gains $1.4 Million from Illegal Trading of Confidential Information-Family is on on it too! This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Jamie Pancho 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Justice Department filed suit Monday against a Dallas-based towing firm for allegedly auctioning off cars and trucks belonging to U.S. service members in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The suit against United Tows LLC is the latest in a string of civil actions taken against towing companies nationwide for failing to comply with a law that requires companies to get a court order before disposing of troops vehicles. Read Next: Its Raining Blood: Air Force Tests New Way to Resupply Battlefield Medics Justice officials charged that United Tows LLC sold at least five vehicles belonging to service members in their absence and without their consent. According to the department, United Tows sold a Toyota Corolla belonging to an airman who was attending basic training in San Antonio and had called to say he was unable to retrieve it. The owner of the company told the airman she did not believe he was in the military, according to a DoJ release. "When members of our military answer the call to serve our country, they should be able to do so without having to worry that their vehicles or property will be auctioned off while they are on duty," said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the DoJ's Civil Rights Division. Earlier this month, the DoJ announced it had reached an agreement with a Florida towing company amid charges that it illegally sold or scrapped service members' cars. According to court documents, ASAP Towing & Storage Company of Jacksonville, Florida, allegedly auctioned off at least 33 service members' vehicles between 2013 and 2020 without obtaining court orders. ASAP Towing agreed to pay $99,500 total in compensation to affected service members and $20,000 in penalty fines to the federal government. The company also is required to develop new procedures for determining an owners duty status and to obtain a court order or waiver to the SCRA to sell a service member's car. In the Dallas case, the Justice Department is pursuing similar damages and civil penalties and wants the Northern District of Texas U.S. District Court to prohibit the company from violating the SCRA. United Tows referred a request for comment to the companys attorney, James Creedon of Frisco, Texas. Creedon did not return a call by publication time. The United Tows case is the fourth that has been filed or settled in the past five weeks over SCRA violations by towing companies or entities that authorize towing, including the city of San Antonio. The Justice Department reached a settlement with San Antonio on Sept. 4 over allegations that it auctioned at least 227 vehicles that should have been protected under SCRA. By law, anyone moving to sell a service member's vehicle or property must first obtain a court order -- a reprieve that allows for an investigation into circumstances before a sale occurs -- but the city failed to complete the requirement in many cases. The DoJ was alerted to the problem in San Antonio by Air Force Staff Sgt. Paula Rangel, who said the city towed and auctioned her vehicle while she was deployed to Afghanistan. When Rangel learned her vehicle had been impounded, she asked military legal assistance to intervene. Military lawyers contacted the city and identified Rangel as a U.S. service member but, according to court documents, employees at the storage facility refused to release the vehicle to Rangel's unit. A city contractor then sold the car for $6,600. San Antonio was ordered to pay $47,000 to two service members who said their cars had been illegally auctioned and establish a $150,000 settlement fund to compensate others who were affected. The city also must develop policies for ensuring that SCRA is upheld in circumstances when military service members are not able to retrieve their belongings or vehicles because of military service. "Service members who serve our country honorably should not have to come home to find that their only means of transportation and its contents have been auctioned off to the highest bidder," Dreiband said. The Defense Manpower Data Center maintains a free database that gives the public access to a service member's duty status for SCRA determination. The DoJ encourages anyone who thinks their SCRA rights have been violated to contact their nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistant Program Office. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Two Charged for Handling of Virus Outbreak at Veterans Home Franco-Somalian business leader Abshir Aden Ferro has urged Somalia to put off parliamentary elections for at least four years, warning that holding polls in December could drive the country into the hands of the al-Shabaab terror group. Ferro, a candidate in Somalia's February 2021 presidential election, sounded the alarm on Monday even as parliament endorsed a new delegate voting system paving the way for an indirect election. "This system is a threat for security. Electing the parliament now will see a full house of al-Shabaab," he told RFI. Parliamentary polls are due to take place on 27 December and would see voters choose between 27,775 delegates picked from across five federal states. The change falls short of the original target of holding universal suffrage, a key campaign promise of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmajo. "His mandate was to get one man, one vote, he had four years and he failed," Ferro tells RFI. But the real problem lies elsewhere. "The way the system works in Somalia is that the deputy or MP has to buy his vote from the chief tribal leader, it's not for free. (...) We've even heard about a seat being bought for as much as $1 million. So that is corruption," he said. Tribalism fuelling corruption Experts have long denounced the east African nation's fraudulent and fractious electoral process, which Ferro alleges binds not only MPs but the president himself. "The deputy when he buys his vote then has to collect the money back somehow. He votes for the president who then has to pay the deputies. Now the question is: where does he get his money?" The 52-year-old, who has long fought against corruption, advocating notably for a better distribution of international funding towards ordinary Somalians, has urged that parliament remain in its current form for at least four years to prevent tribalism from fuelling graft. "That way by the next parliamentary election, it will be people who vote instead of tribal leaders," he insists. Ferro's manifesto dubbed 'Somalia back for 1460 days' also promises to tackle the threat posed by al-Shabaab, whom the Franco-Somalian national claims has infiltrated the political apparatus. "Last year, al-Shabaab released a press release saying they had summoned the tribal leaders, giving them strict instructions about which deputy they should choose. That means the deputy will be someone chosen by al-Shabaab, who will run parliament and elect the next future president. This will be a catastrophe and a threat not only for Somalia but the whole international community," he warned. Wanting to be leader The islamist militants were driven out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011 but remain resilient and continue to launch strikes against civilian and military targets across Somalia. On 7 September, at least three Somali special forces soldiers were killed and an American officer was wounded in a car bombing and mortar attack claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked armed group. The country has faced near-continuous conflict for almost 30 years despite foreign intervention and is often considered a fragile state. This hasn't put Ferro off from wanting to become Somalia's next leader in February 2021. "For decades, I have seen my people suffering. I''ve just lost a cousin last week, who was killed in Mogadishu. Death is always in front of our doorstep. Finally, I decided to stand up for the voiceless." This month, he released his first book My Life For Somalia detailing his vision for a better country. One for which he is prepared to die for. The target of several assassination attempts, Ferro admits running for president was not an easy choice to make. "I have all my comfort and very successful businesses," says the founder of Fort Roche Group, a security firm in London where he lives with his French wife. Sky's the limit The "anger and frustration" of losing loved ones made him decide that "enough is enough". The wealthy businessman-turned-politician founded his Future Alliance party on 1 July 2020 and already claims to have over 15,000 members. Does he think he can win? "I believe the nation is calling me," he says pointing to the stars. "When I received my certification for my party, it was on the first of July. The first of July marks 60 years of our independence. So in other words, it's a good sign from the skies." ST. LOUIS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Peabody (NYSE: BTU) today announced that the U.S. District Court concluded its review and is supporting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) efforts to block the formation of the joint venture combining the companies' Powder River Basin (PRB) and Colorado assets. "We are deeply disappointed with the court's decision as the intense all-fuels competition is clearly apparent to us," said Peabody President and CEO Glenn Kellow. "Our focus now is on continuing to be the low-cost PRB coal provider to best compete against natural gas and subsidized renewables. We remain committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to a reliable and affordable fuel source." Peabody is a leading coal producer, serving customers in more than 25 countries on six continents. We provide essential products to fuel baseload electricity for emerging and developed countries and create the steel needed to build foundational infrastructure. Our commitment to sustainability underpins our activities today and helps to shape our strategy for the future. For further information, visit PeabodyEnergy.com. Contact: Peabody 314.342.4351 SOURCE Peabody Related Links www.peabodyenergy.com The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates. Whats happening The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spurred a partisan fight over her replacement and sparked a larger discussion about the structure of the court itself and whether major changes should be made to protect the legitimacy of the judiciary branch. Some Democrats have floated the idea of packing the court (adding additional seats to offset the influence of conservative judges) if they take control of the Senate in 2021. The unexpected vacancy has also brought renewed attention to a long-simmering debate over whether Supreme Court justices should have term limits rather than lifelong appointments. Progressive Democrats are reportedly planning to introduce a bill in the House of Representatives that would set 18-year term limits for justices and stagger the schedule of appointments so every president would get two nominations in a four-year term. Completely eliminating lifetime appointments would likely require a Constitutional amendment. This proposal, and others like it, get around that by allowing long-serving justices to hold a senior status in which they officially remain on the court but have limited duties. Why theres debate Supporters of term limits believe it would decrease the intensity of the Supreme Court confirmation process, which has become a brutal political slugfest in recent years. In turn, justices would be less likely to allow partisanship to color their rulings once theyre on the court, they say. A more regular schedule of appointments would also prevent what some consider antidemocratic tactics, like Republicans refusal to consider Barack Obamas nominee in 2016, that in some views have undermined the publics trust in the nations highest court. The Supreme Court is far too important, some argue, for its membership to be determined by whichever party happens to hold the White House and Senate when a sitting justice dies, especially since increasing life expectancy means that will happen less often. This randomness means some presidents have disproportionate influence over the courts makeup, which can skew the balance of power in the country long after theyve left office. No other democracy in the world gives lifetime appointments to members of its highest court. Others fear the court is on the brink of a legitimacy crisis. If Trumps nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed, a majority of the Supreme Court will have been appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. Story continues Opponents of term limits say regular vacancies would worsen, not reduce, partisan bickering about the court. A new seat coming available every two years would mean Congress would always have an upcoming confirmation battle on the horizon. The Founding Fathers intended lifetime appointments to free Supreme Court justices of the day-to-day influence of politics, and critics say term limits would spoil that. There are also practical questions about how the limits might be implemented, since any plan would have to consider what to do with current justices, who were all named to lifetime seats. Depending on the proposal, it could be decades before a plan for term limits has any real influence on the makeup of the court. Whats next The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on Barretts nomination in mid-October. Its unclear at this time whether a confirmation vote will be held before or after the presidential election on Nov. 3. In the short term, the odds of any bill imposing term limits passing would almost certainly depend on Democrats taking back the Senate next year. Perspectives Supporters The stakes of a court vacancy are too high with lifetime appointments Implementing term limits for the Supreme Court would be a step toward repairing and normalizing a process that raises the stakes of vacancies beyond what our politics, or the human beings who serve on the Court, can comfortably bear. It would be one important way we could deescalate the stakes of American politics, and protect the system from total breakdown. Ezra Klein, Vox Life expectancy has improved so much that lifetime appointments dont make sense Its time to end the unseemly position that the anachronism of life tenure for Supreme Court justices has put the country in. Its a good thing that modern medicine is extending the lives of everyone, including Supreme Court justices. But the time has come to remove the incentives that make justices serve until they drop dead or are gaga. John Fund, National Review A presidents opportunities to name justices shouldnt be left up to chance Staggered term limits would ensure that electoral winners shaped the Supreme Court, not the Grim Reaper. Elie Mystal, The Nation Term limits would mean a greater diversity of thought on the Supreme Court Over time, more justices would have impact, preventing the idiosyncratic preferences of one or two individuals from determining U.S. jurisprudence for decades. This plan would also eliminate the incentive for presidents to pick young and relatively inexperienced judges merely because they are likely to live longer. Editorial, Washington Post Taking politics out of the process would protect court rulings from partisanship This approach would end what has become a poisonous process of picking a Supreme Court justice. It would depoliticize the court and judicial selection, and thus promote the rule of law. Steven G. Calabresi, New York Times Major steps need to be made to restore public trust in the court More than any other branch of government, the courts and the Supreme Court in particular gain their power from the public trust. Yet today, lifetime tenure for justices, and the strange and morbid circumstances that result, threaten to undermine that trust. David Litt, Boston Globe Opponents Term limits could make political fights over court seats even more intense Term limits and regularly recurring vacancies might tone down the epic Supreme Court confirmation battles that have occurred roughly twice every eight years. But they might instead make knock-down, drag-outs a recurring part of the political landscape. An election preceding the end of a swing justices 18-year term could thrust the court into election year battles more intense than weve already seen. Russell Wheeler, Brookings The transition to term limits would be too complicated There are also transition problems. Since term limits wouldnt apply to sitting justices, for decades we would have term-limited justices serving alongside life-tenured ones. Fixes could be put in place to prevent all this, but at some point the complications become more trouble than theyre worth. Ilya Shapiro, Atlantic Lifetime appointments protect judges from having their decisions colored by the ebbs and flows of public opinion [Term limits] undermine the primary function of the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court: preventing political majorities from trampling on others constitutional rights. Judges without life tenure are less likely to act independently of the political branches or of public opinion, and thus cannot serve the purpose of holding the tyranny of the majority in check. Suzanna Sherry, Philadelphia Inquirer Term limits could lead to worse antidemocratic maneuvering If Congress can impose an 18 year term, they can also impose one that is 3 years or 6 years, and use that power to get rid of Supreme Court justices whose decisions they dislike. When the opposing party comes to power, they can make the terms still shorter, and thereby get rid of justices they dislike. Ilya Somin, Reason Democrats only want term limits because conservatives control the court Wait, why is it that once the court could go 63 in favor of strict-constructionist originalist conservative judges that we see this concern over lowering the temperature over fights for the Court?... I guess the legitimacy of the court is never at risk when its ruling in your favor. Jim Geraghty, National Review Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com. Read more 360s Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images [September 29, 2020] Industry Innovator Immotor Closes $US30+ Million Series C1 Funding Round with Participation from Premier Chinese and International Investors SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading power battery exchange company Shenzhen Immotor Technology Co., Ltd. (Immotor) announced the closing of its series C1 funding round, raising $US 30+ million led by Southern Power Grid Capital (China) with participation from Eurozeo Group Idinvest Partners (France), PKSHA SPARX Algorithm Fund (Japan) and 57Stars(USA), while existing investors Asia Green Fund, Qingdao Yongwan Capital, Cong Bi Qiu Shi Capital and Mirae Asset Group (South Korea) continue to bet. This latest round brings immotor's total funding to more than $US 100 Million. Daniel Huang, founder and CEO of Immotor, said that the company will use this funding to develop new power battery products, accelerate its expansion plans of deploying power battery exchange stations in major cities, as well as to execute its long-term strategy of building an intelligent green energy network for the electric, two-wheeler vehicle riders in China. There are more than 300 million electric two-wheeler vehicle riders in China who are still using the traditional battery solution. Immotor was founded with a vision to create a revolutionized battery exchange platform including patented power batteries, advanced battery-exchange stations, convenient mobile user apps, and AI enabled big data platform support. <>With 77 issued patents and 65 pending patents, Immotor is a pioneer in the power battery exchange market and is now an industry leader operating in 54 cities with over 500,000 daily battery exchange orders. As of the second quarter of 2020, Immotor's exchange stations have served cumulative orders of over 180 million which enabled travel distance of 1.8 billion kilometers in China . Earlier this year during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, has boosted the last mile delivery and short-distance logistic industry, which hugely stimulated the battery exchange business. With the advantage of its convenient battery exchange stations, user-friendly mobile app, unattended and non-contact operation, Immotor was able to provide the most efficient and safest energy solution. As a result, Immotor's business has grown rapidly during the epidemic in China and has maintained a steady growth since then. "Innovation has always been in Immotor's gene," Daniel Huang commented. "With the new capital funding, we will continue to invest in cutting edge power battery technology, develop state-of-the-art products and services, enhance our mobile app and big data platform, expand our business offerings to other markets, and with our incredibly diversified multi-national investors on board, we may even explore overseas opportunities." Immotor has been listed as the Hurun China Future Unicorns 2019 and Hurun Mountain Goats 2020, which list companies most likely to "go unicorn" within the next three years. Immotor is the third investment in China from Smart City Fund I, the global fund managed by Idinvest Partners and supported by fifteen corporate investors from the energy, mobility, property industries. The team seeks clear leaders globally and Matthieu Bonamy indicates, "battery-exchanges services have really taken in off in China and have fast become the most convenient, safe, economical, recyclable charging method embraced both by professional delivery drivers, consumers and city authorities. We are excited to work with Daniel and his pioneering company as they drive the industry in China and soon beyond". About Immotor: Shenzhen Immotor Technology Co., Ltd. previously jointly invested by Hyundai Motor Group, Samsung Group and Mirae Asset Group, is the global leader of the intelligent green energy network for the electric two-wheeler vehicles. Established in 2015, Immotor released its "e-exchange" brand in 2017, which pioneered an innovative power battery exchange platform. Immotor is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. SOURCE Immotor [ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com\LTE's Homepage ] Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will square off on Tuesday in the first of three scheduled debates, an encounter that will showcase a stark clash of styles and the prospect of a contentious and personal grudge match. A new development in the US presidential race surfaced on Sunday when the New York Times reported that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 - and none in 10 of the previous 15 years. Trump had long sought to keep his personal financial records secret. With more than a million Americans already casting ... They are insulting farmers by setting fire to the very equipment he worships, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, launching a full-blooded defence of the farm laws and hitting out at the opposition a day after members of the Punjab unit of Youth Congress set a tractor on fire at Rajpath near the India Gate lawns in the heart of Delhi. Big farmers groups, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, are continuing to protest the new laws, fearing deregulation will leave them vulnerable to powerful corporate agribusinesses and in an even weaker negotiating position than before. The reforms have cost the Bharatiya Janata Party one of its oldest allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has quit the ruling alliance. PM Modi accused the opposition of being against the independence of farmers, noting that it has become a habit of these people to oppose everything that is happening for the country. It is the only way they can practise their politics, said the PM. Also Watch l They are not with farmers, youth or jawans: PM Modis attack at opposition A few days ago with the new laws, the country has freed its farmers from many shackles. Now the farmer can sell his produce to anyone, anywhere. But today, even when the central government is giving the farmers their rights, these people have come down to protest and are opposing the independence of the farmer. These people are now humiliating the farmers by setting fire to the goods and equipment that the farmer worships, said the PM while launching six mega projects in Uttarakhand through video conferencing. The governments new farm laws have become contentious for two reasons: one, they do not guarantee acquisition of farm produce at the minimum support price (at least, not in letter); and two, the manner in which they were pushed through, by a dubious voice vote, ignoring calls for parliamentary oversight, even voting. The Opposition parties are protesting, the PM said, as another means for earning black money has been blocked, by implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission - with farmers getting the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and doing away with middlemen. A party whose four generations of a family ruled the country, today wants to prove their selfishness by climbing on the shoulders of others, opposing all initiatives related to the national interest, he said. PM Modi said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has seen a boom in Digital India campaign, with even the poor using Jan Dhan bank accounts, using RuPay card and making digital transactions. When our government started this work, these people were opposing it and have always opposed the opening of the bank account of the poor of the country, he said Spotlighting another instance, the PM raised the issue of protests by Opposition parties against Good and Services Tax and against the central governments initiatives like One Rank One Pension scheme. Since the implementation of One Rank-One Pension, the government has given about 11,000 crore as arrears to ex-servicemen. Here in Uttarakhand, more than one lakh ex-servicemen have benefited from this. But these people (opposition parties) were always against the introduction of One Rank One Pension, said Modi. The PM said that the Opposition parties even protested against introduction of Rafale Jets into the Indian Air Force, which has been done to strengthen the security forces. Four years ago, our jawans carried out the surgical strikes and destroyed the bases of terror. But instead of praising the courage of our security personnel, the Opposition was asking for evidence of surgical strikes. It has become a habit of these people to oppose everything that is happening for the country. The only way of politics they know now is opposition, added the Prime Minister. Harris Joins Biden in Refusing to Answer Question on Expanding Supreme Court Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) late Sept. 28 refused to shoot down the idea of expanding the Supreme Court, following the lead of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Top Democrats, including Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), have said the party should add seats to the Supreme Court if it gains enough power in the upcoming Nov. 3 election. Harris was asked about the idea during an appearance on MSNBC. I think Joes been very clear that he is going to pay attention to the factand I am with him on this 1,000 percentpay attention to the fact that right now, Lawrence, people are voting. Theyre voting, she said. This is not some kind of debate about election year, should a sitting president be allowed or able to nominate someone to the United States Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment. This is not even an election year. This is like were actually in the election. Harris argued that voters have a right, in an election, to elect their next president, who then will make the decision about who will be the nominee. Biden said last week that a question about whether hed support packing the Supreme Court was legitimate, but he declined to answer. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks during a press conference in Wilmington, Del., Sept. 27, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Its a legitimate question, but let me tell you why Im not going answer that question, because it will shift all the focus, he said, alleging that that was what President Donald Trump wanted. The Biden campaign didnt respond to a request for comment. Some Senate Democrats have also demurred when questioned about court-packing proposals. Because the number of Supreme Court justices isnt outlined in the Constitution, the number can change if Congress passes an act and a president signs it. The first version of the court had six justices. The number has stoof at nine since 1869. A bipartisan group of lawmakers last week proposed a constitutional amendment that would cement the number of Supreme Court justices at nine. A group of Democrat lawmakers are preparing to introduce legislation that would implement term limits for justices, who currently serve until retirement or death. Democrats have struggled in making a case against Trump moving to fill the vacancy left by the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, particularly because many of them supported President Barack Obama filling a vacancy in 2016 that arose in an election year. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized the idea that Trumps nominee shouldnt be considered, telling reporters last week: The president is elected to a four-year term. You cannot unilaterally reduce it to three years. The president is the president. Democrats cannot win their argument on the merits. They cannot win on precedent. So they must search and destroy. Democrats are upset that Senate Republicans in 2016 blocked Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland, but are going to consider Trumps nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, this time around. Both Harris and Biden supported holding a Senate vote on Garland. Senate Republicans say the situations are different because the party split is resolved, since the GOP controls both the Senate and the presidency, and have cited historical precedent showing vacancies on the Supreme Court have been filled during election years. Senate Judiciary Committee members will question Barrett next month before voting on whether to advance the nomination to the full Senate. The committee has eight Republicans and seven Democrats, since the GOP holds the Senate. Provided the nominee is approved, the full Senate will vote on Barrett sometime this year, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Donald Trumps odds of winning the US election are sliding at the rate of a horse found lame in the run up to the Kentucky Derby. The Presidents troubled campaign, his misreading of Americas mood and dismal polling data suggest its only a matter of time before one of the leading bookies offers odds of 2-1, giving him an implied probability of victory of just 33 per cent. According to Oddschecker, which looks across the market, his Democratic challenger Joe Bidens price has shortened to 8/13 from 8/11 in just the last week, with his implied probability moving from 57.9 per cent to 61.9 per cent. Trump has drifted from a best price 13/8 (38.1 per cent ) to 7/4 (36.4 per cent). Until recently the odds have, arguably, been lagging the polls. Bidens lead has barely shifted in a month, during which time it has been within spitting distance of double digits, per FiveThirtyEights tracker. Such chunky leads are usually subject to erosion over time, but theres been scant sign of it happening so far. A Dallas Morning News-UT Tyler poll last week even gave the Democrat a five point lead in Texas, a Republican firewall that Trump carried by 9 points last time. Now theyve been talking for years about Texas a state which Trump simply has to win given the 38 votes it carries in the electoral college turning Democrat blue. Demographically its becoming more diverse, with a rapidly-rising Hispanic population. But even though the hard Republican red has been softening, it remains to be seen whether Texas is quite as purple (that is, up for grabs) as the polling suggests. Numbers like that nonetheless suggest Trump has a mountain to climb. So far he has taken most of the bets: 54 per cent according to Oddschecker, compared to just 15.8 per cent for Biden. Its worth noting that the market was open before Biden was locked in as the challenger, yet hes barely secured more supporters than have others. Meanwhile, Paddy Powers regular biweekly bet count last week showed Trump with 36 per cent of the bets by number and 84 per cent of the volume of money. Kanye Wests 34 per cent bet count indicates a lot of people staking small amounts of money at big prices in the wake of the publicity generated by the rappers quixotic entry into the race. Biden, by contrast, was friendless. Things were different on the Betfair exchange, where punters set the odds and can play bookie by laying other peoples selections. Trump has 59 per cent of its market against Bidens 31 per cent, with 48.5m matched. But Bidens market was the more active in July, which is the first time thats been the case. This suggests that the money is gearing up to move in favour of the Democrat. Wealthy punters have long had a yen for putting very big bets on sure things at odds on. They did that with Hillary Clinton and got badly bruised as a result (including one British MP, who must remain nameless). This time around, however, it may be different. The reason why Trump has been so much more popular with the gambling community is because gambling is driven by opinion. Punters are motivated to put their money down when they have a strong one and Trump inspires very strong opinions. His supporters are clearly banking on their man pulling a rabbit from his hat as he did just under four years ago. Biden, by contrast, is defined by his blandness. Hes a fairly anonymous candidate who has been running a fairly anonymous campaign. He seems to be banking on Trump losing the election for him. And it might work. It is working at the moment. The polls and the odds are saying the same thing. If you want feisty campaign ads, theyre coming from anti-Trump Republicans The Lincoln Project. They have produced a series of vicious, and effective, anti-Trump campaign commercials. You can expect more of the same over the coming months. South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab take off their face masks for a photo session during their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. AP The top diplomats of South Korea and Britain held talks in Seoul on Tuesday about ways to enhance bilateral relations after Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her British counterpart, Dominic Raab, held the fifth South Korea-Britain Strategic Dialogue to discuss a broad range of issues, including trade and antivirus cooperation, the foreign ministry said. Raab arrived in Seoul for a single-day trip that included a visit in the morning to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, center, speaks to South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, bottom, during their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. AP In what can best pass for an official response, Former President John Dramani Mahama, has publicly condemned the actions of the Volta Separatist group known as the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) seeking independence from Ghana. Slamming their action, the former President stated emphatically that Ghana is a sovereign republic and added that: Nobody can claim a part of Ghana. Ghanaians woke up to the news of some secessionist group blocking roads leading to the Volta Region while clamouring for independence from Ghana. On Friday, September 25, 2020, some of the members of the group blocked some major roads and burnt lorry tyres on the ECOWAS road at Tademe, some kilometres away from the Sogakope Bridge in the South Tongu District impeding vehicular movement and leaving passengers traveling to areas in the Region stranded. The group also attacked Police stations at Aveyime and Mepe in the North Tongu District, amidst demands for the Volta Region to be an autonomous country known as "Western Togoland". However, in a swift response, a joint team from the Military and the Ghana Police Service nipped it in the bud with 31 people being arrested in connection with the uprising. Surprisingly, on Tuesday dawn, the the secessionist group carried out an arson attack at the State Transport Corporation (STC) yard in Ho. In the wake of these attacks, some have questioned the largest opposition party's loud silence over the group's action, especially when Traditional leaders including Togbui Sri III, the Awomefia of the Anlo state, leaders of Gbi-Hohoe, as well as members of the National Houses of Chiefs, have all voiced out their condemnation. But on Tuesday, during a tour of Jinijini in the Bono Region, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) made reference to the series of recent violent attacks launched in parts of the Volta Region by the secessionist groups saying; "Our father Rawlings put Ghana together. We are all part of the nation Ghana: Ewes, Bonos, Asantes, Dagombas, Fantes. We make up the nation Ghana as one people and, so, we wont sit aloof for any group to say they want to secede, the former President said. If we allowed every group to secede one after the other from the unitary state, what would be left of the country? he asked. He added: What unites all of us is that we identify ourselves as Ghanaians. And what makes the NDC unique is that we dont discriminate based on ethnic affiliations. NDC governments always unite the citizenry, Mr Mahama said. In a related development, the police has begun a probe into the arson attack. According to the police, at about 02:00 am, four armed men stormed the Ho STC yard demanding the keys to all the vehicles parked and set two of the minibuses ablaze when the drivers did not produce the keys. The arrival of police and fire service personnel saved the situation. The police says its preliminary investigation shows that there were eleven vehicles parked at the time of the attack. One bus was completely burnt and another slightly burnt. A flag of the group was found at the scene, the police noted in a statement. The security agency has urged the public to remain calm and volunteer information for the arrest of the perpetrators. There are several separatist groups in the Volta region advocating independence. It is unclear which of the groups attacked the transport yard. Source: Peacefmonline.com/GHANA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A toddler has died from horrific injuries after being attacked by dogs who tore off his genitals while his parents were celebrating his birthday. Two-year-old Yegor died without regaining consciousness after a desperate 10-day fight for his life in a Ukrainian hospital. The child's heart stopped beating one day after doctors reported a slight improvement in his condition. He had been on a ventilator and kidney dialysis and his condition remained critical during the 10 agonising days. Yegor, two, in hospital where he died after an agonising 10-day fight for his life following an attack by dogs who ripped off his genitals The tragedy unfolded in the small town of Selydove, eastern Ukraine, on September 18 as the family were celebrating the boy's second birthday. Reports say the toddler walked outside unnoticed while his parents were sitting at a table with their guests. It is understood that Yegor was wandering around the courtyard when two German Shepherd guard dogs broke out of their enclosure and attacked him. Noticing the child's absence, the parents went to search for him. Charity volunteer Aleksandra Timoshchenkova, who helped the family to collect money for Yegor's treatment said: 'The boy was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood. 'The dogs were still tearing him apart.' According to reports, the dogs managed to break out of their enclosure because Yegor's father had failed to close its door properly. Yegor was transported by a military helicopter to the city of Dnipro to receive the medical care he needed Medics attend to Yegor, spending five hours restoring his damaged blood vessels, bladder and intestines. They also removed tissues 'that had been chewed by the dogs' During the attack, they ripped off the boy's genitals, anus and tore the femoral artery on his left leg, say local media. Because of the severity of his injuries, Yegor was transported by a military helicopter to the city of Dnipro to receive the medical care he needed. The boy was admitted to Dnipro Regional Children's Hospital where four crews of surgeons started battling for his life. It took medics five hours to restore his damaged blood vessels, bladder and intestines. They also removed tissues 'that had been chewed by the dogs'. Natalia Dementyeva, the head of the hospital commented: 'The boy suffered extremely severe injuries known as dirty wounds.' Police launched a criminal case for failure to fulfil parental duties resulted in severe consequences against Yegor's mother and father. The parents face up to three years in prison if found guilty. The investigation continues. By Richard Pennington At Seoul's sprawling Dongdaemun Market, among the thousands of items on sale are T-shirts of Ernesto "Che" Guevara wearing a rakish black beret. I do not understand why he inspires such fascination. Here is a summary of this polarizing man who liked seven-inch cigars. But let me warn youit's history and not hagiography. Guevara, a native of Argentina, spent the last 15 years of his life fomenting revolution. He was one of Fidel Castro's key helpers in toppling the regime of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba and installing a harsh communist government. They marched into Havana on New Year's Day, 1959. Within 18 months, Time magazine had put him on its cover flanked by Mao Zedong and Nikita Khrushchev and called him "the brains of the revolution." The New York Times was no less flattering. He spoke at the United Nations in December 1964 and thundered against the United States, warning that "the wheel of history" was turning and woe to those who got in the way. He was Hero No. 1 to every left-leaning college student from New Haven to Berkeley. My alma mater, the University of Texas, was not immune to all this Che-worship. Guevara, killed while trying to cause a revolt in Bolivia, got more praise in 2004 when Robert Redford's movie The Motorcycle Diaries was released. Reviews were largely positive, the main exception being Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. He opined that political correctness governed the thinking of most reviewers: "It's not cool to be against Che Guevara." Ebert dared speak the truth, and I will back him up. To those young Koreans, for example who think Guevara was a swell guy, I offer a few facts. He was ruthless during and after the Cuban revolution. Most suspected informers, deserters or spies got a .32-caliber bullet in the head, and he was not afraid to pull the trigger himself. Guevara, an ardent admirer of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, cared little about legal niceties. "To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary," he once said. "These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail." It was not just men but women and children as young as 14 who were summarily shot. Indeed, the entire Caribbean island became a killing field as death squads were sent out in all directions. What about the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962? Castro and Guevara were livid when the Soviets agreed to remove their nukes in exchange for a similar U.S. action in Turkey. "If the missiles had remained, we would have used them against the very heart of America, including New York City," Guevara claimed. "We will march the path of victory even if it costs millions of atomic victims." Castro put him in charge of Cuba's economy in the early 1960s, with woeful results. Guevara had no grasp of or patience for basic economic principles and made numerous impulsive, bone-headed decisions. Although he is assumed to have had all the radical bona fides, Guevara once made crude and racist comments about the black people who make up such a large part of the Cuban population. The self-styled revolutionary statesman also visited North Korea (he got on well with Kim Il-sung), and other far-left or rogue states. After his death in Bolivia in 1967, Guevara was honored in Cuba as Castro ordered three days of public mourning. A crowd of 1,000,000 gathered in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion to hear the Bearded One lament his comrade's passing. In the summer, I visited a basement club in Gangnam called Cuba Bar where hip young people gather to hear bachata, salsa and meringue music. They dance and drink and have a fine time. Cuba Bar has two entrances, both of which feature the Cuban flag and the handsome visage of Guevara. Two more can be found on the walls downstairs. The owner, Sean Kwon, spoke freely about his club: "We opened three years ago. Business is not good because of COVID, as you might expect. I wanted this place to have a foreign vibe, a cozy vibe. One way to do so was to make Che Guevara the face of our bar. I did it because I respect him." I informed Kwon about Guevara's background as a killer, a racist and a friend of Kim Il-sung. "I didn't know that," he said. "I really didn't know, and I doubt most of the people who come to Cuba Bar would know. But a comparison is that even though we are living in a capitalistic society, it does not mean we like Trump or agree with him." I did not expect him to remove the face of Guevara (who, after all, played second fiddle to Castro in Cuba) which is featured so prominently at the club. He said he has no such plans. Richard Pennington (raput76@gmail.com), a native of Texas in the U.S., works as an editor at a law firm in southern Seoul. He has written 22 nonfiction books, including "Travels of an American-Korean, 2008-2013." He is the director of an NGO, the Committee to Bring Jikji Back to Korea. The Kuwaiti government earlier urged the public not to traffic in rumors without disputing social media concerns over Sheikh Sabah's health Television channels in Kuwait have cut into their daily programming to broadcast Quranic verses amid concerns about the country's 91-year-old ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The Kuwaiti stock market also fell 2.2% Tuesday amid concerns over his health. The Kuwaiti government earlier urged the public not to traffic in rumors without disputing social media concerns over Sheikh Sabah's health. Sheikh Sabah, who had been in poor health for years, suddenly fell ill in July, leading to a quick hospitalization and surgery in Kuwait City amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Authorities did not say what ailed him. A U.S. Air Force C-17 flying hospital then transported Sheikh Sabah from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic, an extraordinary gesture by the American government for a foreign head of state. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: A Christian crowdfunding site has raised more than $500,000 for Kyle Rittenhouse as he remains behind bars on murder charges. Rittenhouse, 17, is accused of shooting dead two protesters and injuring another during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25. The teen's attorneys say he acted in self-defense and have portrayed him as a courageous patriot who was exercising his right to bear arms during riots over the police shooting of black man Jacob Blake. Organizers of the new fundraiser on GiveSendGo - billed as the '#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site' - agree, stating on the page: ' Kyle is being unfairly charged with murder by a District Attorney who seems determined only to capitalize on the political angle of the situation. 'Kyle and his family will undoubtedly need money to pay for the legal fees. Let's give back to someone who bravely tried to defend his community.' As of Tuesday morning, more than 12,330 people have donated to the fund, with the current amount of money raised totaling $524,190. A Christian crowdfunding site has raised over $500,000 for Kyle Rittenhouse as he remains behind bars on murder charges. Rittenhouse, 17, is accused of shooting dead two protesters and injuring another during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25 The GiveSendGo fundraising page is pictured. As of Tuesday morning, more than 12,330 people have donated to the fund, with the current amount of money raised totaling $524,190 Hundreds of supporters have also left comments on the GiveSendGo page, including one who wrote: 'God is on your side. Thanks for being a patriot and defending the American way of life from those who want to destroy it.' Another added: 'May God protect you and watch over you all the days of your life. You are an American hero.' The GiveSendGo page is one of several fundraisers that have been set up to support Rittenhouse. A #FightBack fundraiser has raised $2.1 million for Rittenhouse. A description on that fundraiser states: 'We stand ready to protect and defend the constitutional rights, livelihoods and property of people and businesses that are being targeted and destroyed. We stand for the forgotten American - those who are silenced and intimidated.' Rittenhouse's bail has been set at $2million, but it is unclear whether the money will go toward funding his release from jail. He is currently being held in an Illinois prison, and is next set to appear in court on October 9. Rittenhouse (pictured) traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin to 'protect the streets' amid civil unrest sparked over the police shooting of Jacob Blake Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of two protesters: Joseph Rosenbaum (left) and Anthony Huber (right) On August 25, Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin to 'protect the streets' amid civil unrest sparked over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Cellphone videos from the night show chaotic scenes. According to prosecutors and court documents, Rittenhouse shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum after Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at Rittenhouse, missing him, and tried to wrestle his rifle away. Video shows that Rittenhouse subsequently tripped in the street. Anthony Huber, 26, hit him with a skateboard and tried to take his rifle away. Rittenhouse opened fire, killing Huber and wounding bystander Gaige Grosskreutz, who was holding a handgun at the time. Rittenhouse returned to his Illinois home and turned himself in soon after. Video shows that Rittenhouse tripped in the street before 26-year-old Anthony Huber hit him with a skateboard and tried to take his rifle away. Rittenhouse opened fire, killing Huber Rittenhouse then shot and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, who was holding a handgun at the time, as he approached the teenager The incident came at the tail-end of a tumultuous summer that commenced with the Memorial Day death of unarmed black man George Floyd at the hands of police. Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests with demonstrators calling for an end to systemic racism. At times, tensions have boiled over, with riots, looting and arson occurring in numerous cities across the US. Standoffs between police and protesters, as well as activists from rival groups, have often exploded into violence. Police officers, protesters and bystanders have been killed. The turbulence has continued into the fall, with Antifa gunman Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, shot and killed by US Marshals in Washington state on September 5. Reinhoel had been charged with the murder of right-wing activist Aaron 'Jay' Danielson, 39, during a protest in downtown Portland on August 29. Meanwhile, a demonstration by right-wing group Proud Boys took place in Portland last weekend, with many waving placards calling for the release of Rittenhouse. A demonstration by right-wing group Proud Boys took place in Portland last weekend, with many waving placards calling for the release of Rittenhouse Last week, Rittenhouse participated in the hearing at the Lake County Circuit Court in Illinois via video link from the detention facility where he is being held. There are calls for him to be extradited from Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse's lawyers asked for a month to prepare arguments challenging extradition that he said involve 'issues of some complexity, frankly that have not arisen in the country for some time'. The judge, Paul Novak, gave 14 days for the defense to review papers and file pleadings ahead of an October 9 hearing. The teen's attorneys have described Rittenhouse not as a vigilante, but as a model citizen who was cleaning graffiti from a vandalized high school before he received word from a business owner seeking help to protect what was left of his property after rioters burned two of his other buildings. AUSTIN, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With children across the country returning to classrooms, American manufacturing company Armbrust American is urging lawmakers to press government agencies on approving the use and production of child-size surgical masks. As part of its push, the company has launched a government petition that has already garnered thousands of signatures. Until FDA-registered surgical masks are legalized, here's how to get surgical masks to fit your child's smaller face. Armbrust American's Texas-based medical mask production facility. Photo by Alex Smith. From Armbrust American's Texas-based medical mask production facility. Photo by Alex Smith. Currently, the CDC recommends all children over the age of 2 wear a mask to help protect them and others from being infected with COVID-19. However, the FDA, NIOSH (CDC), or OSHA are absent on guidance or approval of disposable surgical masks that will fit a child's smaller face. This is despite countless research studies showing that FDA-registered surgical masks are the most effective at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, with a filtration effectiveness of 98% -- far better than cloth masks. "As the father of five children, I understand the difficulties of parenting during a pandemic. But one thing I don't want to worry about is if they aren't being protected against the virus because their masks are too small for their little faces," said Armbrust American founder and CEO Lloyd Armbrust. "Parents shouldn't have to choose between keeping their kids safe and buying a mask that has a better chance of staying on their faces, which is why we're petitioning the government." What's more concerning is that a flood of internationally-produced child-sized disposable masks are hitting the market, with none of the protections and guarantees of quality, American-made FDA-registered masks. "This is an instance where American manufacturing can and should rise to the occasion by being able to supply children in the U.S. with the best protective equipment available," Armbrust said. "Our kids should be focused on getting an education, not heading into potentially unsafe situations. We need the government to step it up." Armbrust USA only sells FDA-registered PPE, having done rigorous third-party testing showing that the company's masks surpass incredibly high government standards, achieving over 99% filtration. This commitment to quality earned the company's masks ASTM Level 2 certification, having passed extensive testing for fluid penetration, bacterial filtration, particle filtration, flammability, and sensitivity. To sign the petition for child-size surgical masks, fill out the form HERE . About Armbrust American Armbrust American's mission is to bring strategic manufacturing back to the U.S. Founded in 2020 by Y-Combinator alumni Lloyd Armbrust, the company currently operates a factory out of Austin, Texas utilizing proprietary mix of materials and manufacturing innovation to provide the highest quality PPE at a competitive cost. Lloyd was previously the founder and CEO of OwnLocal, a company that automates production for 3,500 newspapers worldwide. Introduction Video: About Armbrust American (2-min) For more info, visit: https://www.armbrustusa.com/ Media Contact: Tom Cheredar [email protected] Ph: (512) 831-4409 SOURCE Armbrust American Related Links https://www.armbrustusa.com Idaho police arrest 3 Christians singing hymns during outdoor worship event Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Police in Moscow City, Idaho, arrested three Christians and cited two others for participating in a Psalm sing outdoor worship service organized by a church earlier this week. Gabriel Rench, a church deacon and Republican candidate for a Latah County commissioner seat in the November election, was one of the three who were arrested for participating in the worship event organized by Christ Church, according to Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Moscow Police Chief James Fry was quoted as saying that none of the five cited were wearing masks or social distancing, and the arrests were made for suspicion of resisting or obstructing an officer. Between 150 and 200 people attended the event. According to the citys Amended Public Health Emergency Order, attendees at any public gathering must maintain a 6-foot physical distance or cover their faces with a mask. Ben Zornes, a pastor at the church who organized the event, was quoted as saying that the church hosts Psalm or hymn events about once a month and that the Psalm sing held at the city hall parking lot was also to show that residents wanted normalcy back. Zornes called the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions largely groundless." On Thursday, the church wrote on its Facebook page: Yesterday Christ Church sponsored a flash psalm sing at city hall. We were going to appear there at quarter to five, sing three psalms or hymns, then the doxology, and then out. The songs were Psalm 20, Psalm 124, and Amazing Grace. When we arrived, the police were waiting for us. One of them informed me that people either had to social distance or wear a mask or otherwise face a citation. Douglas Wilson, who wrote the post, added: I told him that I would inform everyone of that, which I did. I said a brief prayer, and we began to sing. Over the following fifteen minutes of singing, three of our people were arrested, and two others were cited. Several states have restrictions in place on religious gatherings, which have led to legal battles for the religious freedom of churches and other houses of worship. In California, several churches are fighting Gov. Gavin Newsoms COVID-19 orders banning indoor services. In an earlier statement, Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver called Newsoms orders unconstitutional. Gov. Newsom supports tens of thousands of protestors, saying, God bless you. Keep doing it. This is wrong, and the governors unconstitutional hostility and discrimination against religious worship must end, he said. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed is only allowing one person at a time to enter houses of worship. In response, the U.S. Justice Department on Friday sent a letter to the mayor saying that the citys COVID-19 lockdown policy is contrary to the Constitution and the nations best tradition of religious freedom. The Justice Department said in its letter that Breed could not limit places of worship to a single congregant while allowing multiple patrons in other indoor settings including gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and daycares. AWD CVT ICE Scheduled to arrive at U.S. dealers next spring, the Black Line is based on the UX 250h . The hybrid powertrain featuresand an e-for maximum efficiency, promising up to 39 mpg on the combined driving cycle. That translates to 6.03 liters per 100 kilometers, which is pretty efficient by all accounts.Color-keyed overfenders, unique interior stitching, and 18-inch alloy wheels with a black finish and black lug nuts are featured, along with black for the grille surround, side mirrors, roof rails, and smoked headlamps. No fewer than three exterior colors are available in the guise of Grecian Water, Caviar, and Eminent White Pearl. As far as upholstery is concerned, the NuLuxe seats can be specified in black or birch with blue accents and seat belts for maximum visual drama.The Black Lines list of goodies doesnt end here. Further still, Lexus is much obliged to offer black-and-blue key gloves, contrasting floor mats, and contrasting cargo mats. The special edition also features a kick sensor for the power rear hatch, a heated steering wheel, windshield de-icer function, wireless phone charging, Intuitive Parking Assist, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.So much equipment in such a small crossover is a sign that Lexus wants a lot of money for this posh fellow here. Unfortunately, the automaker isnt ready to confirm how much the Black Line costs over the UX 250h Premium.Including destination and delivery, $35,525 is the MSRP of the entry-level trim while the Premium Package adds $1,675 to the tally. Otherwise said, youre looking at approximately $39,000 if not $40k for the Black Line version.As far as suck-squeeze-bang-blow is concerned, the hybrid powertrain has 12 more horsepower to offer than the UX 200 with either front- or all-wheel drive. Ironically, the UX 250h is 0.3 seconds quicker to 60 miles per hour than the-only option even though segment rivals can do a little better. Andean communities are turning to quinoa during todays pandemic and climate change crises, with traditional quinoa preserving the heritage of local biodiversity in this region. (Photo : Pixabay) Andean communities are turning to quinoa during todays pandemic and climate change crises, with traditional quinoa preserving the heritage of local biodiversity in this region. (Photo : Pixabay) Andean communities are turning to quinoa during today's pandemic and climate change crises, with traditional quinoa preserving the heritage of local biodiversity in this region. Indigenous Andean communities have planted quinoa for seven millennia, and the deserted highlands that serve as their home have been declared by the UN as a GIAHS, or Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, with farmers surviving frost, drought, frost, and even severe solar radiation. READ: Large Scale Study on Genomics of Wheat Shows Large Diversity Useful for Crop Improvement Quinoa Boom The last four decades have seen a boom in quinoa in Peru. This prompted the declaration of 2013 by UN's FAO as the International Year of Quinoa. Due to being perceived as being a superfood, quinoa became popular in North America and Europe, increasing its demand. Peru is traditionally the leading producer worldwide. This increased quinoa's price from 2012's three dollars per kilo to over five dollars per kilo by 2014. In between these boom years, Peruvian land used for quinoa production almost doubled from the initial 35,000 hectares to over 65,000 by 2014. Then its price got back to its 2012 prices. READ ALSO: Biological Pest Control Saved Coconut Farmers in Asia Billions of Dollars Cashing in on Quinoa This boom drastically altered the agricultural system of Peru with the entry of large producers in coastal areas and areas of lower elevation. These producers used intensive and mechanized systems, including chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and cheap labor in their farming practices. Other countries then also started growing their own quinoa. China is notable in its efforts to take its share of the market, implementing agricultural policies that encouraged cultivating diversified and nutritional crops like quinoa. These new quinoa producers created intense competition with the small farmers of Peru, even though quinoa remains to be an important Peruvian commodity locally and globally. It helps farmers have an additional income source as well as food on their tables. As of 2018, Peru is still the world's leading quinoa exporter, providing 60% of the world's supply. Declining Traditional Quinoa Varieties The quinoa boom caused the production of yellow and black quinoa in the Andean region to decline. Their small grains, as well as the worldwide demand for the white variety that has larger grains, led farmers to abandon the production of traditional varieties. At the Puno region of Peru, which is one of the Andes' centers for the production of quinoa, farmers now prefer planting improved varieties in place of traditional varieties. Improved varieties are not only larger but are also resistant to mildew, have quicker maturity, and have lower saponin content. For farmers who continue to plant traditional varieties, they are more focused on food security instead of mass production and exportation. Pandemic Food Security In this time of the pandemic, many young workers and students who are originally from Puno and reside in Lima went back to their home region and helped in farming. Some of these farmers started to produce only the volume needed for their family's consumption and self-sufficiency. In addition, along with traditional quinoa varieties, farming local potatoes also returned. Implications for Climate Change Traditional varieties can grow even with scarce water. This makes them more able to resist the negative effects of climate change, compared to popular, intensively-farmed varieties. It is an advantage that gives small farmers better food security. It also emphasizes the respect for the local Andean communities that maintain traditional quinoa varieties that support local biodiversity in this time of climate change. READ NEXT: Practicing Soil Conservation Benefits Farmers and Their Crops, Study Says Check out for more news and information on Soil Conservation on Nature World News. NEW ORLEANS, LA. Through October 3, 2020, the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC) is soliciting responses for the Louisiana Child Care Parent Poll, with a goal of better understanding the child care needs of Louisiana families amid the COVID-19 pandemic. LPIC, in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education and United Way of Southeast Louisianas Women United, encourages any parent, guardian or caregiver in the state raising children under the age of five to complete the survey. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our organization has seen first-hand how child care providers have been impacted. Now, we need to hear from Louisiana families with young children about their experiences with child care over the past several months, said Dr. Libbie Sonnier, executive director of LPIC. As an independent source of research, hearing first-hand how the pandemic is affecting Louisiana families, and your specific child care needs, will help us as we continue on in the fight to save child care in our state. Questions range from asking about child care arrangements before and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, personal child care expenses, comfortability in sending children to child care in light of the public health crisis, family work schedules and more. Through this survey, LPIC and partners, such as Agenda for Children and the Urban League of Louisiana, will be better able to understand and advocate for the child care needs of families with young children across the state. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to hear from Louisiana families with young children about their experiences with child care over the past several months. By taking the time to share how your child care arrangements have been impacted, organizations like the Policy Institute can more accurately advocate for policies that best assist families like yours and the providers on which you rely, said Louisiana Department of Education Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Jenna Chiasson. The survey takes less than 15 minutes to complete and is available in English, French, Spanish and Vietnamese. Responses will be kept confidential, and participants can answer the survey anonymously. Participants can take the survey online at PolicyInstituteLA.org/ParentPoll. The cost of living outpaces wages significantly in Louisiana, with child care making up the largest portion of a familys basic household survival budget, said Toya Barnes-Teamer, Ph.D., UWSELA Women United chair. We need to hear from all Louisiana families, so we can provide access to high-quality, affordable child care to those in need and work toward a more equitable Louisiana for us all. If you have any questions about the survey, you may contact info@policyinstitutela.org. For more information on LPIC, please visit: PolicyInstituteLA.org. By Trend It is necessary to observe the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said at a weekly briefing, Trend reports citing Iranian governments official website. The spokesman emphasized Iran's position on recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the importance of its observance is quite clear. Rabii said that the Iranian government has repeatedly stressed that Azerbaijan's rights are legitimate, within the framework of UN resolutions and international law, as far as the country's territorial integrity is concerned. The United Nations Security Council resolutions #822, #853, #874, #884 of 1993 demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the armed forces of Armenia from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Dhanlaxmi Bank | Chartered Finance & Leasi NG Limited acquired 16,45,000 shares in company at Rs 12 per share on the NSE. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More All is not well within the Thrissur-based Dhanlaxmi Bank. Recently, a series of back-to-back exits from the Board had alerted the central bank and Dhanlaxmis investors. There is no single promoter for the Kerala-based bank but a significant stake in the bank is held by local businessmen, who wield huge influence in its operational affairs. Lobbying, infighting at the top and an exodus from the Board has already alerted the regulator, which early this month wrote to the Board seeking termination of a key executiveone chief general Manager, P Manikandan. Its unprecedented for the banking regulator to intervene in the matter of a CGM-level officer. But the regulator was upset about the non-adherence to the highest standards of corporate governance and Manikandans alleged involvement in board matters, according to persons familiar with development. The RBI had received complaints against this officer, they said. On the very day the bank received the letter from RBI, Dhanlaxmis Board met through a videoconference and sought Manikandans resignation. Three Board members had quit in June this year, including the Chairman, citing personal reasons. The first one was on June 29 when Sajeev Krishnan, part-time chairman and independent director, quit. Krishnan had joined the Kerala-headquartered bank in February 2018 for a three-year spell. He had around eight months left in his term. The other two were KN Murali, independent director, and G Venkatanarayanan, an additional director. Both resigned with effect from June 29, 2020, before their terms came to an end. Murali joined the bank nearly a year and a half ago while Venkatanarayanan joined only a few months ago. Following these exits, the bank had appointed new Board members. These include PK Vijayakumar, G Rajagopalan Nair, G Subramonia Iyer and Suseela Menon R, also as additional directors (Independent Category) to the Board. AGM crucial It is in this backdrop the banks annual general meeting (AGM) is scheduled to be held tomorrow (30 September). There are rumours that a section of shareholders could vote against the CEO, Sunil Gurbaxani. Moneycontrol couldnt independently verify this information. One of the AGM agenda items is approval of Gurbaxani as MD and CEO of the bank. A section of influential shareholders do not want Gurbaxani to continue and might vote against him, said two persons familiar with the development. If that happens, that action may irk the central bank since Gurbaxani was appointed by the RBI. His ouster, if happens, could lead to RBIs significant intervention in the bank, said one of the persons quoted earlier. Both declined to be named. When contacted, Gurbaxani refused to comment for this story. North Vs South One of the reasons for differences among different factions in the bank was divided opinion with respect to the issue of considering investments from a North Indian lobby, said one of the Board members who spoke to Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity. A clutch of investors has approached the bank informally seeking to pick a significant stake in the bank. The bank has been approached by certain investors for a significant stake. We do not want to sell the bank and lose the identity of this bank which has strong roots in Kerala, said one of the Board members requesting anonymity. The recent resignations came not long after new Gurbaxani assumed office as CEO in February 2020. Gurbaxani, a veteran banker, has 35 years of experience with the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (now State Bank of India), and Axis Bank. As of March 2020, prominent investors in the bank include B Ravindra Pillai (10 percent), Gopinathan C K (7.5 percent) and Kapilkumar Wadhawan (5 per cent). Foreign portfolio investors hold 11.4 percent. The outcome of the AGM tomorrow will be critical to decide the future course of the bank that is already facing challenges on the operational front and is in need of capital to grow. Last week, Lakshmi Vilas Bank shareholders ousted seven directors including the interim CEO and statutory auditors. Shareholders were unhappy about the way the Board and the management function and the deteriorating financial situation of the lender. Following this, the RBI appointed a three member committee of directors to oversee the daily functions of the bank. Dhanlaxmi Bank posted a 69 percent decline in its net profit at Rs 6.09 crore for the first quarter ended June 2020 due to higher provisioning. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 19.84 crore during the same quarter of the previous fiscal. On a sequential basis, however, its net profit in the quarter under review increased from Rs 2.6 crore in the March 2020 quarter. Total income during April-June 2020 increased to Rs 278.62 crore from Rs 256.75 crore in the year-ago period, the lender said in a regulatory filing. WOODBRIDGE Open Communities Alliance, a civil rights organization, has requested the Woodbridge Planning and Zoning Commission amend its zoning policies to allow it to add to the affordable housing stock, in a region where there is a huge demand. Currently, only 43 of the 3,000 housing units in Woodbridge are considered affordable by state definition, according to the Alliance, with 30 of them reserved for senior citizens. Presently, 99.8 percent of the town is zoned for single-family homes on large lots; no developments with 3 or more units are allowed. The group alleged that Woodbridge is a pioneer in exclusionary zoning, where restrictions were put in place almost 100 years ago, serving as a template for others in the state. First Selectwoman Beth Heller said Tuesday she could not comment on the groups application because it was submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission. In conjunction with the zoning amendment, Open Communities Trust LLC has acquired land at 2 Orchard Road and has proposed building a 4-unit, mixed-income development there, a proposal that would require a public hearing. Erin Boggs, executive director of Open Communities Alliance, is listed as the manager member of the trust. She is hoping that a change in zoning in Woodbridge will be a catalyst for the entire state. As part of its #OpenWoodbridge campaign, the Alliance alleges that the towns hyper-restrictive zoning keeps out low- and middle-income families who are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. It alleges the multi-family ban is in violation of the Connecticut Zoning Enabling Act and other state and federal laws. The group said the act requires local zoning to promote ... housing for both low and moderate income households and to encourage ... opportunities for multi-family dwellings for all residents of the municipality and the planning region. The Alliance claims Woodbridge for decades has failed to loosen its restrictions, during which time the housing crisis in Connecticut has gotten worse. It did not say whether it would sue the town; Boggs hoped to work out things with the town. The Open Communities Alliance said this results in the town having remained homogeneously white for generations. Boggs and housing advocates held a press conference in front of Woodbridge Town Hall Tuesday on its proposal, which it submitted to the town PZC that morning. Karen DuBois-Walton, executive director of Elm Cities Communities, New Havens Housing Authority, who helped work on the project, said she serves some 6,000 families in the city and has a waitlist that is three times that. She said a federal government report acknowledges that only one out of four eligible families receives housing subsidies, which means there are 18,000 more that could use them. The director said the problem of two few apartments is not just a city issue. She said one-third of those on the waitlist are people from outside New Haven, including Woodbridge, Orange and Bethany. The need exists everywhere, she said. Many are living in what we would call substandard conditions, paying what they can afford to pay for something that you or I would not chose to live in, she said. There are also far too many paying more than they can afford, sacrificing other essentials, she said. The director said Section 8 vouchers were designed to give low-income people a choice. They can take them wherever they want to live, but there are few choices available outside cities. She said in Woodbridge, affordable housing has been blocked by design and we understand that design is a fair housing violation. Many may not have known the history detailed today, but now we know and when we know we cant act like we dont know. When we know better we must do better. DuBois-Walton said Woodbridge has an opportunity to correct the present situation. Woodbridge has the opportunity ... because doing so is the right thing, it is the just thing and it is the legal thing to do, she said. Lets open Woodbridge. Details of zoning issues over the decades in Woodbridge were read by students at the Jerome Frank Legal Services Organization at the Yale Law School. The complaint, years in the making, was signed by Boggs and Anika Singh Lemar, clinical associate professor at the law school. Richard Freedman, president of Garden Homes Management, a family real estate business out of Stamford, is a trustee with the Garden Homes Fund, the charitable arm of his business that focuses on the development of affordable housing to lessen the effects of systemic racism. Segregation is a stain on Connecticut. It holds back people from reaching their full potential, Freedman said. The Garden Homes Fund purchased the housing lot at 2 Orchard Road, while Open Communities Trust LLC has an option to buy, Freedman said. I concluded long ago that there is an infinite demand for rental housing in Connecticut and that exclusionary zoning has artificially chocked off the supply. We will never build enough housing that people can afford. We will never desegregate in any meaningful way as long as the zoning in most towns, including Woodbridge, prohibits or severely limits multi-family housing, Freedman said. The real estate developer said he has built homes under the state law known as 830g that allows affordable housing projects to override zoning in most towns, but they usually are vigorously fought. By not allowing multi-family housing, the towns zoning effectively bans affordable housing, the group said. This in turn creates a racially disparate impact that violates the federal and state Fair Housing Acts and perpetuates segregation in violation of the Connecticut Constitution, it charged. After the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the group said the states human rights commission warned the town that its large-lot size zoning discriminated against protected classes. In 2001, it said, the town increased minimum lot size, making the situation worse. Open Communities Alliance said Woodbridge is not unique in its approach to housing, which has left Connecticut as one of the most segregated states in the country. Woodbridge recently established a Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. The alliance said the town can show a commitment to change by adopting the recommended zoning change and taking other steps to promote affordable housing. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577 Paul Archuleta/Getty; OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Chelsea Clinton (left) and Amy Coney Barrett Chelsea Clinton had strong words this week for Amy Coney Barrett, the judge widely hailed by conservatives whom President Donald Trump has nominated to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, initially nominated by Clinton's dad more than 20 years ago. In an essay published Monday in Cosmopolitan, former President Bill Clinton's daughter expressed her sharp opposition to Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court. She also recalled when Ginsburg was nominated to the highest court in 1993, when she was 13 years old. I admired Justice Ginsburg so much: She was the rare adult who made our country live up to a childs inherent sense of fairness, Chelsea wrote. Justice Ginsburg served on the court for 27 years. She wrote 483 opinions, many of which were intent on making every American who felt excludedwomen in particularbelong. Because of her work, not only as a Justice but also as a lawyer, you cannot be fired for being pregnant, or denied a credit card or a spot in a public university because of your sex, or rejected for a marriage license because of who you love, she added, hailing Ginsburg's work for women's legal equality. Chelsea, 40, wrote that she believed that should Barrett replace Ginsburg's seat, there would be disastrous consequences for the country. Although she doesnt have a long judicial record, Amy Coney Barrett has voted in two abortion casesboth times in favor of abortion restrictions that would require parental notification and allow the state to ban the procedure on the basis of race, sex, or Down syndrome diagnosis, she wrote. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 'The Great Dissenter,' Chelsea wrote. Now it is our turn to dissent against Trumps choice for Ginsburgs replacement and against the rush to confirm her before Election Day. I dissent." RELATED: Who Is Donald Trump's Supreme Court Nominee? Everything to Know About Amy Coney Barrett Story continues Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images From left: President Donald Trump and Amy Coney Barrett Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories On Saturday, after days of speculation, Trump announced that he would be nominating the 48-year-old federal judge to replace Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, and urged Republican lawmakers to appoint her without delay despite Ginsburg's dying wish that her successor will not be named until a new president is installed. Democrats were also quick to criticize the GOP's zeal as hypocritical, given how they blocked President Barack Obama from filling a vacant Supreme Court seat months before the previous presidential election. Republicans have argued, in turn, that they are acting within the authority given to them by voters. I fully understand that this is a momentous decision for a president, and if the Senate does me the honor of confirming me, I pledge to discharge the responsibilities of this job to the very best of my ability, Barrett said at the White House on Saturday. I love the United States and I love the United States Constitution. I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court. I would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle and certainly not for my own sake. I would assume this role to serve you. Barrett, who would become the youngest member of the Supreme Court, also shared remarks about Ginsburg. Should I be confirmed, I will be mindful of who came before me, Barrett said. She not only broke glass ceilings, she smashed them and, for that, she has won the admiration of women across the country. In his nomination speech, Trump called Barrett a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution." University of Notre Dame Amy Coney Barrett Barrett once clerked for late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia and is seen by both Republicans and Democrats as a social conservative who interprets the law by its original text. Legal experts and lawmakers believe she could have a great impact on potential rulings for issues such as abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act. Both Joe Biden, who is challenging Trump in November's election, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, have voiced their opposition to Barrett's nomination, imploring Congress to postpone any decisions on the seat until after the election. However, on Saturday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham announced that Barrett's confirmation hearings would begin as soon as Oct. 12 on a new, expedited schedule. The hearings will last four days, with Barrett's opening statements, questions from Senators and testimonies from outside witnesses. A floor vote would then follow. Amnesty International has suspended its Indian operations after its bank accounts were frozen in what it called a government "witch-hunt" against rights groups Amnesty International has suspended its Indian operations after its bank accounts were frozen in what it called a government "witch-hunt" against rights groups. Government critics within civil society organisations and the media have long complained of harassment in the world's biggest democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist administration, something which it denies. Amnesty said that as of earlier this month it could no longer access its bank accounts in India, forcing it to let go of staff and "pause" all ongoing campaign and research work. "This is the latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," it said in a statement. It said the freezing of its accounts was "no accident" after it issued a series of reports alleging "grave human rights violations" by police in deadly sectarian riots in New Delhi in February, and by security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir. "Treating human rights organisations like criminal enterprises and dissenting individuals as criminals without any credible evidence is a deliberate attempt... to stoke a climate of fear and dismantle the critical voices in India," said Avinash Kumar, Amnesty India's executive director. But the government on Tuesday accused Amnesty of "illegal practices" involving the transfer of "large amounts of money" from Amnesty UK to India, something which also created problems with the previous administration. "This bipartisan and purely legal approach towards Amnesty, under different governments, makes it clear that the entire fault lies in the dubious processes adopted by Amnesty to secure funds for its operations," it said. "All the glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws." Story continues But India's opposition criticised the government. "India's stature as a liberal democracy with free institutions, including media & civil society organisations, accounted for much of its soft power in the world. Actions like this both undermine our reputation as a democracy & vitiate our soft power," Shashi Tharoor from the Congress party tweeted. David Griffiths from Amnesty's head office in London said the group intended to fight the government via legal means. "We have nothing to hide. We invite the government to show us the evidence and to bring charges against us so that we can defend it in court," Griffiths told AFP. - Russia with love - Like in Russia under President Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban's Hungary, Modi's government has sought to pressure rights groups by heavily scrutinising their finances and clamping down on foreign funding, critics say. In 2015, the year after Modi took office, the Indian government froze the bank accounts of environmental organisation Greenpeace's India unit. In 2018 the Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes in India, raided Amnesty's office in Bangalore and selectively leaked documents to the media, Amnesty said. This year, the Indian tax department also started sending "investigative letters" to more than 30 small regular donors, the group said. Last week parliament passed legislation that, critics say, limits the access of smaller civil society organizations to foreign funding while imposing onerous bureaucratic red tape. Journalists critical of the government also complain of increased harassment both on social media -- where Modi's ruling party has a powerful presence -- and in the real world. ash/stu/leg Hundreds of thousands of New York City students are returning to schools today as the countrys largest school district starts its next phase of in-person instruction even as COVID-19 infections continue to rise in the city and state. The reopening order by Mayor Bill de Blasio threatens to create a catastrophe in a city where nearly 25,000 people have succumbed to the deadly disease. Schools are opening after a week in which the Department of Education (DOE) acknowledged that teachers, support staff and students in over 100 schools have already been infected. On Sept. 21, the DOE began bringing students in 3K (full-day programs for three-year-old children), Pre-K and special education classes back into buildings. Roughly 90,000 students and teachers across 700 school buildings were ushered into schools to serve as veritable canaries in the coal mine. Teachers and students at P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City on September 2, 2020. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) The next phase includes bringing K-5 students into school buildings today, followed by middle- and high-school students, for whom in-person classes are scheduled to start on Oct. 1. New York states health department has announced a significant increase in the overall positivity rate from those who have been tested. Kings County (Brooklyn) nearly doubled to 2.6 percent positivity, and two ultra-orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County, 25 miles north of the city, have positivity rates of 25 and 30 percent. The DOEs figures obscure the true scale of the spread of the virus in schools because they refer exclusively to the number of facilities in which students or staff have tested positive and not the actual number of those infected. The same is undoubtedly true of the city and states positivity rate. The situation for many special education students as well as the staff who work with them is particularly hazardous. In addition to the specialized services frequently requiring close contact that many special education students receive while in school, a significant number of these children also rely on school buses to get to class. The vehicles are often under-sized and bus attendants must physically assist them while boarding and exiting buses. The upcoming fall and winter seasons pose additional risks due to the use of heating systems on buses, which could hasten the circulation of COVID-19 aerosols. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, initially justified reopening schools with in-person classes by referencing the 0.34 percent positivity rate within New York City. Even a week ago, this figure obscured the fact that several neighborhoods in the city, particularly in Brooklyn and Queens, had sustained positivity rates as high as six percent and others had seen recent spikes. De Blasio also ignored the fact that the positivity rate in New York State was rising and at least 20 school districts in neighboring New Jersey had recently experienced outbreaks forcing superintendents to reintroduce fully remote learning. The arguments used by de Blasio, which have been repeatedly echoed by his backers in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), attest to the naked disregard the corporate and political establishment has for the lives of working-class students, their parents and education workers. Even a 0.34 percent positivity rate among the roughly 550,000 students and teachers set to start in-person classes by Oct. 1 would translate to almost 1,900 infected persons within public schools. The reckless school reopening policy in New York City has been compounded by an unprecedented level of incompetence, most notably emanating from City Hall. After months of ignoring warnings by principals that schools are facing a shortage of 10,000 teachers to implement de Blasios hybrid learning model, the mayor abruptly changed course just four days before the previously scheduled start of in-person classes, announcing that the city would allocate resources to hire 2,500 teachers in addition to redeploying 2,000 central district staff to classrooms. A recent independent investigation of current school staffing needs actually concluded that the shortage of teachers in New York City was closer to 12,000. When pressed last week about the citys inadequate efforts to address the teacher shortage by WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer, Mayor de Blasios response betrayed the hypocrisy underlying the claims that the reopening of schools was being done to protect the best interests of students from working-class families. Dismissive of the prospect that persistent staffing shortages would necessitate another delay to in-person classes, an agitated de Blasio proclaimed, Theres no reason to delay we are getting the people we need in place, period. But recent reports have emerged that a significant number of the people to which de Blasio was referring are substitute teachers for whom the DOE has allocated an additional $47 million. While this money could have been used to hire 600 full-time teachers, guidance counselors or social workers, the mayor and district officials decided to hire temporary workers who can quickly be fired once authorities implement their plans for savage budget cuts. The ongoing chaos characterizing school reopening efforts was exacerbated over the weekend after rumors began circulating on social media late Friday that a deal had been struck between the mayor and the UFT to expand the number of teachers who could work remotely. The DOE did not inform principals of the agreement, which was subsequently confirmed and directly contradicted previous policy announcements issued by superintendents. The last-minute change further complicated ongoing preparations for in-person classes. In response, the executive board of the Council of School Administrators (CSA), the union for principals and assistant principals, declared on Saturday a unanimous vote of no confidence for de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, and called for the New York State Department of Education to take over city schools, a measure that would turn over management to Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Democratic governor has overseen an equally deadly and chaotic reopening of school districts statewide and massive budget cuts. In fact, the teacher shortage in New York City is already being felt by K12 students who started remote instruction on Sept. 21. An increasing number of parent complaints and teacher grievances have called attention to remote classes with as many as 50 assigned students. Staffing shortages also continue to impact health care services essential to schools. Reports of a school nurse shortage in New York City have circulated for months. In August, the DOE began frantic efforts to fill over 400 school nurse positions in order to place a minimum of one nurse in each school; a woefully inadequate target considering the many buildings that have student populations in excess of 1,000. To date, approximately 100 school nurse positions remain unfilled. Significantly, the DOE is hiring new school nurses under temporary contracts with no employment guarantees or long-term benefits. In essence, these school nurses are at will employees who are receiving just four days of training before being sent into schools. Typically, school nurses receive six weeks of training before being assigned to a school. From the perspective of the ruling class and its political representatives like Trump, de Blasio and Cuomo, workers must be forced back to work, no matter the cost in human lives, because the capitalists require them to produce the surplus value to pay down debt and resume the accumulation of profits. Of course, neither the self-proclaimed progressive Democrat de Blasio nor his backers in the municipal unions have suggested that the budget shortfall be addressed by sharply increasing taxes on the obscene wealth held by the citys parasitic financial elite, many of whom have taken to self-quarantining within their sprawling luxury estates located in exclusive areas like the Hamptons. Rather, de Blasio is using the current $9 billion budget shortfall to initiate further austerity measures in the city, including the projected layoff of 22,000 municipal employees. The struggle of public school teachers is assuming a central role in the broader opposition movement against the unsafe reopening of schools as well as the back to work campaign taking place throughout the US. Education workers in the city, along with parents and students, continue to carry out walkouts, marches and other actions. On Sunday, rank-and-file teachers at the Hunter College Campus Schools, a specialized K12 public school administered by the City University of New York (CUNY), voted to authorize a strike to protest unsafe conditions at the school. The elite school has few windows and a long history of ventilation problems. The Hunter College Campus teachers, who are members of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), are defying New York states reactionary Taylor Law, which penalizes state employees two days pay for every day they strike. Teachers at the school are also demanding an independent monitor to review building safety. Earlier this month, teachers, school bus drivers and other school workers formed the New York City Educators Rank-and-File Committee to unite and coordinate the opposition to unsafe conditions, independently of the UFT and other unions. This committee and others established in Los Angeles, along with Texas, Florida and other states, are working to unite education workers across the US and indeed, internationally, with other sectors of the working class. Increasingly, education workers are arriving at the conclusion that these rank-and-file committees are the only viable means through which to mount a genuine opposition to the murderous school reopenings. We urge all educators to join our committees today. CRETE, Greece In a move that could be construed as a symbolic show of support for Greece in its tense standoff with Turkey, Americas top diplomat said on Tuesday that the United States will base a mammoth Navy ship at a military base it shares with Greece, just 600 miles from the Turkish coast. The Hershel Woody Williams, a Expeditionary Sea Base ship, is assigned to the U.S. Africa Command and is not the kind of vessel that might intervene in a high-intensity conflict, should rising strains between Turkey and Greece two NATO allies boil over. But its deployment at Souda Bay, a joint U.S.-Greek base near where Turkey earlier this year sent survey and drilling ships to search for gas, could serve as a symbolic warning of Americas growing irritation with Ankara. The dispute with Turkey along with how to resolve it was chief among the priorities of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece following a series of meetings and tours at Souda Bay on Tuesday with the American secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Uber Technologies Inc. is considering a purchase of Daimler AG and BMW AGs ride-hailing joint venture Free Now, a deal that could boost its market share in Europe and Latin America, people with knowledge of the matter said. Uber expressed interest in a potential acquisition of Free Now after the ventures efforts to attract additional investors struggled to gain traction amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Any deal could be complicated by the challenging market ride-hailing companies face, which could make it more difficult to agree on a price, one of the people said. Daimler and BMW merged their mobility operations last year and folded them into a joint venture called Your Now, which comprises five business including the Free Now ride-hailing service. Free Now used to operate as MyTaxi and has integrated ride-hailing apps including Frances Kapten, Greeces Beat and Romanias Clever Taxi. Daimler valued the equity investment in its half of the Your Now venture at 618 million euros ($720 million) at the end of June. Its activities also include much smaller operations dubbed Park Now and the car-sharing platform Share Now. Daimler and BMWs shopping of Free Now reflects their focus on generating cash and improving efficiency within their core automotive operations. Carmakers have been scaling back their mobility-service ambitions, with General Motors Co. shutting down its Maven car-sharing business earlier this year and Ford Motor Co. ceasing its Chariot shuttle service in 2019. If external investors arent willing to provide capital, why should Daimler/BMW put more money in? Bernstein analysts Arndt Ellinghorst and Thanos Hadjiantonis wrote in a note. The traditional industry has begun to realize its been wasting a lot of time, effort and money by trying to compete in these areas with questionable medium- and long-term returns. Theres no certainty the deliberations will lead to a transaction, and other bidders could emerge, the people said. Representatives for Uber and BMW declined to comment, and a Daimler spokeswoman said the company doesnt comment on speculation. Daimler shares slid 1.2% to 45.35 euros as of 10:19 a.m. in Frankfurt on Tuesday, while BMW fell 1.2% to 60.99 euros. Uber shares rose 3.2% to close at $35.56 on Monday in New York. The stock has risen 20% this year. Uber has been looking to shed minority holdings in several ride-hailing operations recently, including portions of its stakes in Chinas Didi Chuxing and the Southeast Asian ride-share company Grab. It has also agreed to sell its European freight business and some of its stock in Russias Yandex. While San Francisco-based Uber has dialed back its once-sprawling global ambitions, its still in more than 10,000 cities across roughly 70 countries. A London judge granted the ride-hailing service an 18-month license extension Monday, allowing the company to continue operating in its biggest European market. Making money with mobility services has proven a challenge for tech firms and automakers alike. Transport regulations vary significantly across regions and have made it difficult to scale up operations. Car-rental company Sixt SE also has a ride-hailing product, called Sixt Ride, which allows users to hail taxis. Startup Bolt Technology OU, formerly known as Taxify, also offers a similar service in several European cities. Both companies have been hit hard by the pandemic. Before Covid-19, Free Nows so-called gross merchandise volume, which is similar to revenue, was forecast to reach 8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) in 2022 from about 2.5 billion euros last year, according to one person. Those growth projections were upended by the pandemic, and Free Now cut jobs in April. Now read: Big petrol price drop for October A major new study has identified 2085 excess deaths in England and Wales due to heart disease and stroke during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, that is 17 deaths each day over four months that probably could have been prevented. Excess deaths are the number of deaths above what is normally expected - and the figure relates to the period from 2 March to 30 June, 2020. The scientists believe the excess deaths were caused by people not seeking emergency hospital treatment for a heart attack or other acute cardiovascular illness requiring urgent medical attention, either because they were afraid of contracting COVID-19 or were not referred for treatment. Over the same period, there was a sharp rise in the proportion of people who died at home or in a care home from acute cardiovascular diseases. It is entirely plausible that a number of deaths could have been prevented if people had attended hospital quickly when they began to experience their heart attack or stroke. The sad irony is that previous research we have undertaken showed that nationwide heart attack services remained fully operational and continued to deliver high quality care during the peak of the pandemic." Chris Gale, Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Leeds The findings, based on an analysis of the information contained on death certificates, have ben published in the journal Heart. The investigation was carried out by a team of data scientists and clinicians, led by academics at the University of Leeds. The other collaborators were from Keele University, NHS Digital, the Office for National Statistics, Barts Health NHS Trust, and University College London. This is the third major study from academics investigating how the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic affected emergency cardiovascular services. Dr Jianhua Wu, Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at Leeds, led the latest study. He said: "This study is the first to give a detailed and comprehensive picture of what was happening to people who were acutely ill with cardiovascular disease cross England and Wales. "It reveals a large number of excess deaths. The findings will help Government and the NHS to develop messages that ensure people who are very ill do seek help." Measuring excess deaths The analysis looked at the information that is collected when a death certificate is issued. It details the cause of death and where the person died. To provide baseline data, the study looked at cardiovascular deaths from the 1 January 2014 through to 30 June 2020. In the four months from 2 March, 2020 - when the first COVID-19 death was registered in the UK - to 30 June, there were 28,969 cardiovascular deaths. That was compared to the average number of deaths seen for the same period over each of the previous six years. It was eight percent higher, revealing 2085 excess deaths. The excess cardiovascular deaths began to emerge in late March 2020 and peaked in early April - this was at the time the Government was promoting its 'Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives' messages. That may have resulted in fewer people being prepared to go to hospital when they were becoming ill, either because they were worried about becoming infected by COVID-19 or were worried about overwhelming the NHS. Previous studies by the researchers, published in The Lancet and European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, have revealed that the number of people arriving at hospital with a heart attack fell sharply, with some units seeing just over half the expected number of cases. Changes in where people were dying This latest analysis has revealed a shift in where people were dying. There were proportionately fewer deaths in hospital compared to the baseline data: 53.4 percent versus 63 percent. Proportionately more deaths were happening at home: 30.9 percent v 23.5 percent - and in care homes: 15.7 percent v 13.5 percent. Excess deaths were disproportionately happening at home, up by 35 percent when compared with what would be expected, and in care homes, up by 32 percent increase. In the paper, the scientists noted: "This 'displacement of death', most likely, signifies that the public either did not seek help or were not referred to hospital during the pandemic..." Cause of death For people in care homes and hospices, the most prevalent cause of death was stroke and heart failure. For those who died at home, it was heart attack or heart failure. Pulmonary embolism and cardiogenic shock, where the heart can't supply enough blood to the body, were the most frequent causes of death for those who died in hospital. Professor Gale said: "Our study has revealed that people who died at home were most likely to have had a heart attack. This is further support for the speculation that many people were staying away from hospital even though they were very ill with an acute cardiovascular illness. The reality of an untreated heart attack is that it will cause complications - and that will either lead to death, heart failure or life-threatening heart rhythms." "The messages that went out at the time of lockdown were important. The NHS did need protecting from a potential surge of COVID-19 cases. But some people may have taken the messaging to mean that the NHS was not able to cope if they had a medical emergency, or that hospitals were a place where they would catch the contagion." "As the NHS prepares for any future wave of COVID-19, it needs to ensure people clearly understand that hospitals are open and have processes in place to minimise the risks of patients becoming infected with COVID-19." The K-pop band Blackpink revealed the final eight-song tracklist for their upcoming debut album on Monday. The group's announcement revealed that the full-length release would include a guest spot from rapper Cardi B, 27. The South Korean group had previously released the singles How You Like That and Ice Cream, with Selena Gomez guesting on the latter. Special guest: The K-pop group Blackpink revealed that Cardi B will have a guest spot on their debut LP The Album after posting the track list to social media on Monday' sown in April 2019 Blackpink shared the news on social media with posts featuring hashtags for every song. Their debut, appropriately titled The Album, is set to arrive on October 2 at midnight EST and 1 p.m. KST. A poster featuring the full track list that was included with the posts showed that Cardi would be rapping on track number four, Bet You Wanna. She was credited on the song as a writer under her birth name, Belcalis Almanzar. Revealed: Blackpink shared the news on social media with posts featuring hashtags for every song Rap feature: A poster featuring the full track list that was included with the posts showed that Cardi would be rapping on track number four, Bet You Wanna Featured: Cardi was credited on the song as a writer under her birth name, Belcalis Almanzar; shown in 2018 at the Grammy Awards in NYC The poster also featured the four women at the bottom as they huddled together and hugged each other while beaming. The group, which is comprised of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa, burst onto the scene in 2016 following the release of their debut single Square One. Blackpink became the highest charting female Korean group on the Billboard 100 chart after their their Selena Gomezfeaturing single Ice Cream reached number 13. K-pop stars: The group, which is comprised of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa, burst onto the scene in 2016 following the release of their debut single Square One Star power: Blackpink became the highest charting female Korean group on the Billboard 100 chart after their their Selena Gomezfeaturing single Ice Cream reached number 13 So far, Cardi hasn't posted about her new track, but she posted about her own music career on Saturday. The Bodak Yellow rapper posted a photo of an Apple Music ad posted in the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx, near where she used to live. 'Ok so if you from Highbridge you either take the train in 167 or 170 w.e the f**k you feeling that day.I be posted in time square all the time but it really feels good seeing my face in the hood I used to walk to everyday,' she wrote, adding the hashtag '#BXMAMI.' Hometown girl: On Saturday, the Bodak Yellow celebrated getting a poster with her face on it put up in her old neighborhood of Highbridge in the Bronx Saturday also marked National Daughter's Day, so she shared a cute throwback of her daughter Kulture, two, along with a more recent snap. Cardi looked effortlessly elegant in the earlier photo, which showed her in a stunning black evening dress. She wore her raven locks in a lustrous blunt cut bob and smiled as she gazed into her baby's face. Baby Kulture looked in a gold and white onesie as her mother held her aloft. A second photo featured her daughter looking cute in a hot pink Balenciaga sweatshirt and a matching tutu. The little girl wore white Nike sneakers and appeared to be holding on to some balloons that were above the frame. Sweet: Saturday also marked National Daughter's Day, so she shared a cute throwback of her daughter Kulture, two, along with a more recent snap Pretty in pink: Cardi looked effortlessly elegant in the earlier photo, which showed her in a stunning black evening dress, while Kulture looked cute in a pink tutu in the second snap Earlier this week, Cardi revealed she was happily single after filing for divorce from her husband, the rapper Offset, 28. The Invasion Of Privacy rapper talked about the current state of her love life on Wednesday on her OnlyFans page for subscribers. 'I could date any man I want ... my DMs are flooded,' said the WAP artist, who filed separate from the Migos rapper earlier this month in Atlanta, saying the union was 'irretrievably broken.' 'I dont actually want to date nobody Im so focused on my business that its crazy,' she explained to er fans. She stressed that the decision to go their separate ways was hers, and that she didn't care how others felt about it. 'You cannot hurt my feelings trying to throw the divorce in my face because, at the end of the day, I decided I wanted to leave,' she said. 'I didn't wait until he cheated on me again. I didn't wait [for] another controversy with him being involved. I decided to leave.' The latest: Cardi said says shes happily single following her breakup with Offset, 28, as she talked about the current state of her love life on Wednesday on her OnlyFans page. Robert Mueller's top deputy has torn into James Comey and called his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation 'dangerous'. Andrew Weissmann said that the former FBI director was guilty of 'personal recklessness' over his public announcements about the case. In his memoir, Weissmann, who headed up one of the teams on the Special Counsel's investigation, says that Comey 'violated the rights of the American electorate'. He recounts that when Comey reopened the investigation into Clinton's emails just days before the 2016 election, a senior FBI agent cried and told him: 'Comey just threw the reputation of the Bureau under the bus. It will take years before we recover'. The criticism from Weissmann shows the depth of anger at Comey among some of the nation's top law enforcement officials. Robert Mueller's top deputy Andrew Weissmann (left) claims James Comey's (right) handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation was 'dangerous' Then-FBI director Comey reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails just before the 2016 election, just to close it a week later. Clinton is pictured making her concession speech after losing the election to Trump In July 2016 Comey publicly rebuked Clinton in an extraordinary press conference as he closed the criminal investigation into her use of a private email server. He ticked off the former Secretary of State for being 'extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information'. Comey reopened the investigation in October only to close it a week later, a move which Democrats say handed the election to Donald Trump. The book titled 'Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation' gives an unprecedented look at the almost two-year long inquiry In 'Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation', Weissmann says he is 'no fan of Jim Comey' and says he 'didn't feel any great personal outrage' when he heard Trump had fired him in May 2017. Among senior FBI agents, Comey's handling of the case was considered 'outlandish' because 'disclosing a personal opinion treads on the accused's presumption of innocence', Weissmann writes. Reopening the investigation in October 2016 and telling Congress was 'less warranted and even more dangerous'. Instead Comey should have seen if there were any new emails and reported back to Congress if there were - and only then. The FBI's rules state that making such comments so close to an election were not allowed, regulations which were in place to 'guide us away from mistakes and personal recklessness'. Weissmann wrote: 'You don't simply start winging it when thorny dilemmas arise'. Comey feared the disclosure by Comey would reflect poorly on the bureau for not pursuing these emails previously, Weissmann claims. His theory is backed up by a recent book from the FBI agent who found the emails that led to the Clinton investigation being reopened. John Robertston wrote that he grew exasperated when the Bureau did nothing for months despite him telling his superiors about the new emails. As Weissmann sees it, when Comey reopened the inquiry he 'misled the American electorate and dangled the possibility that some new trove of incriminating evidence had just been unearthed'. Democrats say Comey's move to reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation handed the election to Donald Trump In his new book, Weissmann said Comey 'violated the rights of the American electorate' and 'threw the reputation of the FBI under the bus' He writes: 'By smearing Clinton twice before the election Comey violated Clinton's rights and those of the American electorate. 'I never discussed this with Mueller but I knew he would concur'. The Special Counsel's investigation was set up to examine whether Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election and obstructed justice by, among other things, firing Comey. Weissmann headed up 'Team M' as part of the Mueller investigation, which was tasked with investigating Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort Mueller concluded that there was not enough evidence to show collusion and while he made no determination on obstruction, he said he was unable to 'exonerate' the President. In an unusual move, Mueller left it up to Attorney General William Barr - a close Trump ally - to decide if there should be criminal charges and he declined to bring them. Weissmann headed up 'Team M' which was tasked with investigating Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort. The other teams were 'Team R', which looked at Russian interference, and 'Team 600' which looked at obstruction of justice. Weissmann reveals details about the first draft of the letter that Trump drew up explaining why he fired Comey. A colleague brought it to him and said: 'Read this, it's tinfoil helmet material'. Weissmann describes it as 'paranoid, unstructured ravings you'd expect to hear from unhinged litigants representing themselves in court'. The book says: 'It was excruciatingly juvenile, disorganized, and brimming with spite - incoherent and narcissistic. You could almost feel the spittle coming off the paper'. In extracts of the book already made public, Weissmann said Mueller was too timid to write in the final report that Trump obstructed justice even though the evidence proved he did. Robert Mueller found enough evidence in his investigation that Donald Trump obstructed justice but 'did not deliver what he was tasked with doing', Weissmann claims in his book. Mueller said he 'stands by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation' Weissmann claimed that it was 'obvious' that Trump was guilty but Mueller utterly failed the American people by not saying so. The Special Counsel's office didn't subpoena Trump because they were afraid of upsetting the White House, he claims. For the same reason they didn't subpoena Donald Trump Jr. about his notorious June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Clinton. They didn't even ask to speak to Ivanka Trump for fear of incurring the President's wrath, Weissmann wrote, a decision he saw as 'sexist'. On Tuesday, Robert Mueller released a statement pushing back at Weissmann's claims and standing by the conclusion of the investigation. 'It is not surprising that members of the Special Counsel's Office did not always agree, but it is disappointing to hear criticism of our team based on incomplete information,' Mueller said, adding the the team functioned 'knowing that our work would be scrutinized from all sides.' 'When important decisions had to be made, I made them,' Mueller said. 'I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation.' Mueller left it up to Attorney General William Barr - a close Trump ally - to decide if there should be criminal charges and he declined to bring them. Weissmann writes that he and his team were 'played by the attorney general' In the book, Weissmann spends pages talking about his shock at Barr's handling of the case, especially the four page summary of the report's findings. He writes: 'It was obvious Barr had spun out findings for political gain, at best, and lied for the President, at worst'. Weissmann talks about his 'disbelief and alarm' at the letter which was 'just as pernicious for what it omitted'. He writes: 'I could not fathom that our work over the past 22 months was ending like this.we had just been played by the attorney general'. Weissmann calls Barr's handling of the case a 'dereliction of duty' that was worse than financial watchdogs failing to report fraudulent energy company Enron, a case he worked on, because it 'struck at America's core democratic architecture'. The Kentucky attorney general will release a recording of the grand jury proceedings that led to no charges for the death of Breonna Taylor, a spokeswoman said on Monday night. The attorney general will share the information on Wednesday despite concerns that the release could compromise an ongoing investigation and cause other repercussions, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Kuhn. Lawyers for Taylor's family and a slew of leaders, including Kentucky's Democratic governor Andy Beshear, have urged attorney general Daniel Cameron, a Republican, to make the secretive grand jury process public as questions mount over last week's charging decision. Neither of the two Louisville police officers who shot Taylor in her home during a nighttime raid this March were indicted, while a former officer was charged with recklessly endangering neighbours. The outcome fuelled protests and calls for transparency in a case that has sowed public distrust and become a rallying cry in protests over police killings of black Americans. The attorney general's announcement came hours after an unidentified member of the grand jury asked a court to release details on the proceedings so the truth may prevail, suggesting that the Kentucky attorney general has used jurors as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility. There is a compelling public interest for these proceedings to be released of a magnitude the city and Commonwealth have never seen before that could not be confined, weaving its way across the country, their filing states. The motion says the juror fears that Mr Cameron would attempt to utilise the court's contempt powers if there was a public disclosure that contradicted certain things that he stated happened during the proceedings, characterised the singularity of the decision in a different light, or raised doubts about charges that were presented during the proceedings. Mr Cameron's office had said sharing more information would be inappropriate with a criminal case and separate federal investigation ongoing. In a statement on Monday, Ms Kuhn emphasised that the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body but that it is apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen. The release of records will address the grand juror's filing, Ms Kuhn said. We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented, she wrote in a statement. Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the Grand Jury. Earlier on Monday, during an arraignment for the ex-officer charged with wanton endangerment, a judge ordered that a recording of the grand jury proceedings in the case be added to the court file by noon on Wednesday. Mr Cameron declined to describe the grand jury's decision-making in detail during his news conference last week but emphasised jurors' agency in the process, saying he gave them all the evidence he had. Activists and representatives of Taylor's family have been skeptical, demanding more information on the case Mr Cameron's team presented. Prosecutors determine what a grand jury hears, so they have enormous sway over the outcome, legal experts say. Did he present any evidence on Breonna Taylor's behalf? family lawyer Ben Crump asked last week. Or did he make a unilateral decision to put his thumb on the scales of justice to help try to exonerate and justify the killing of Breonna Taylor by these police officers? The attorney general said last week that his only job was to present the facts and that he walked jurors through every homicide offence, and also presented all of the information that was available to the grand jury. Mr Cameron said the officers who shot Taylor acted in self-defence after Taylor's boyfriend - who said he feared an intruder - fired a shot, precluding criminal charges. Mr Cameron said one independent witness corroborated police's account that they identified themselves before entering, raising questions for many about the basis for his conclusions. The anonymous juror's filing on Monday took issue with Mr Cameron's framing of their process and sought the release of recordings. Their motion asked the court to declare that members of the jury are free to disclose its details as well as discuss any potential charges and defendants presented or not presented. Attorney general Cameron attempted to make it very clear that the grand jury alone made the decision on who and what to charge based solely on the evidence presented to them, the juror's filing states. The only exception to the responsibility he foisted upon the grand jurors was in his statement that they 'agreed' with his team's investigation that [two officers] were justified in their actions. It is not clear whether the jury seriously considered charges for Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, the two officers who shot Taylor and who were not indicted, said Les Abramson, a law professor at the University of Louisville. But Mr Abramson thinks it's unlikely because the jury's public report only named Brett Hankison, the fired police officer who faces three counts of wanton endangerment for firing bullets into a nearby apartment. The foreperson who announces the grand jury's decisions must describe the results of a vote, whether for or against indictment, according to a Kentucky handbook for jurors. There was no mention last week of votes on charges for Mattingly and Cosgrove. The Washington Post A Bergen County police department is asking the public for help in tracking down two people suspected in a shooting last month. Hackensack Police are searching for Jymir Outcalt, 20, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Star Johnson, 22, of Hackensack, in connection with the shooting in the city, Detective Capt. Darrin DeWitt said in a statement. The two who police say are a couple were identified as suspects after the alleged getaway car was found, DeWitt said. Outcalt fired a .45 caliber handgun into a crowd on Newman Street at 5:55 p.m. on Aug. 19, according to the statement. Johnson served as the getaway driver, steering a rented Toyota Camry away from the shooting, the statement said. There were no injuries or fatalities, DeWitt said. Police have located the getaway car, but not the alleged weapon and cautions that the duo should be considered armed and dangerous. Police believe the shooting may have been sparked by disrespectful remarks made about Johnson by an ex-boyfriend who was in the crowd, DeWitt said. The ex-boyfriend was likely the target due to the comments, he said. Police have not yet confirmed if the ex-boyfriends comments were, in fact, the motive, DeWitt said. Johnson had a previous run-in with the law in 2017, when she was arrested and charged with burglary and theft in Bergen County, according to court records. She ultimately pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking, according to court records. Police have issued warrants for the duos arrest and ask anyone with information to call Hackensack Police at 201-646-7777. People can also reach CrimeStoppers, which offers rewards for information of up to $1,000. Tips to CrimeStoppers can be made at bergencrimestoppers.org or called in at 844-466-6789. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Having second thoughts after requesting an absentee ballot? You have an option that will let you cast a ballot in person while still making sure its counted on Election Day, something Secretary of State Frank LaRose reiterated on Monday in guidance to county elections officials. Voters who have requested an absentee ballot be mailed to them, but not yet filled it out and returned it, can still vote early and in-person. Voting early and in person begins on Oct. 6, which also is when the first wave of mail ballots will go out. Early in-person voting requires voters to go to their county board of elections office to vote, and ends on Nov. 2, the day before Election Day. Those going to vote early and in person can bring their blank ballots with them, and elections workers are required to try to collect them so they can be destroyed. But voters dont have to bring the ballots in order to cast a normal vote, the new directive says. Elections workers are able to check a voters file, guarantee they havent previously voted, and mark their ballot has been cast. Voting this way will allow someone to cast an absentee vote, which are counted shortly after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. If a voter shows up on Election Day after requesting but not returning an absentee ballot, they will have to cast a provisional ballot, so elections workers can double check they arent voting twice. But provisional ballots arent counted until days later, and arent reported to the public until Nov. 21. Previously, some counties had required voters who wanted to vote early and in person after requesting a ballot bring the blank ballot with them so they could prove they hadnt previously voted. Those who didnt bring their blank ballots would be required to cast a provisional ballot. Elections officials in Lorain County, for instance, said this was the case just a few days ago in a local newspaper interview. But LaRose said in the written guidance on Monday that elections workers should try to get the ballots, but voters arent required to do so in order to cast a normal absentee vote. Aaron Ockerman, director of the Ohio Association of Elections Officials, said LaRoses new order marks a change in state elections policy. He said workers at county boards of elections during early voting, unlike poll workers on Election Day, have access to the computer systems that allow them to check a voters file and mark that theyve already cast a ballot. Blank ballots have individual barcodes that are unique to each voter, he said. Its a change, but I dont think its a bad one because it tries to reduce provisional ballots, he said. Thats always a good thing in general. LaRoses order also says counties cant cancel someones request for an absentee ballot once its been accepted. Ockerman said hes heard of voters wanting to back out of absentee voting after requesting an absentee ballot, which he guessed could have to do with doubts about the integrity of the voting-mail system. These voters will have to either cast an early, in-person vote, or vote provisionally on Election Day. Ohio officials have sought to reassure that mail voting is safe and secure. But President Donald Trump has sowed doubt about voting by mail -- usually focusing on states sending out unsolicited ballots, unlike in Ohio, where you have to apply for one -- while progressive voters have raised doubts about cuts made under Trump to the U.S. Postal Service. LaRoses order also reiterates that boards can only count one ballot per voter. While that may seem unnecessary to say, LaRose emphasized this point in early September after Trump told his supporters in North Carolina that they should show up on Election Day even if they mailed in ballots already to make sure their vote was counted. Voters also could be confused about the process, especially if theyre new to early voting. If the voter marks and returns more than one ballot, the board must count only the first ballot received. It is a felony to vote more than once in the same election, the directive reads. Maggie Sheehan, a LaRose spokeswoman, said the directive is nothing new. Boards of elections have been reminded by the Secretary of States office under previous administrations that in-person early voting is a form of absentee voting and doesnt alone, absent any other missing information, require a provisional ballot to be issued like on Election Day itself. By putting it into a directive and getting it out now, Secretary LaRose is merely providing clarity to the boards and limiting confusion for elections officials and voters, she said. Once again, early, in-person voting begins in Ohio on Oct. 6. Thats also when the first wave of mail ballots will go out. The deadline to register for the upcoming election is Oct 5. Want more election information? Check out Election Truth, a series from The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com: Introducing Election Truth: A Plain Dealer and cleveland.com series about voting in Northeast Ohio and how the system is secure Have questions about your Ohio absentee ballot application? Heres what you need to know. How to apply for Ohios vote-by-mail option, and why its secure: Election Truth Using a state ID to apply for an Ohio absentee ballot? You should know this: Election Truth Want to ensure you are properly registered to vote in Ohio? Heres how: Election Truth How do election drop boxes work, and how are they secure? Election Truth How does vote-by-mail work in Ohio, and why is it safe? Election Truth Lee Rae-jin, the older brother of a South Korean fisheries official shot dead by the North Korean military, reacts during a news conference in Seoul By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - The brother of the South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers at sea last week rejected the government's claim on Tuesday that the man had expressed his willingness to defect to the soldiers. The death of the official, who was only identified by his surname Lee, sparked a dispute over why and how he was found floating in North Korean waters nearly 36 hours after he went missing. The Coast Guard said it has determined after an investigation based on CCTV footage, military intelligence and background records that Lee told the North Korean troops he wished to defect and they were aware of his detailed personal information. "We have confirmed that the North side had secured his personal information that he would only know, including his name, age, hometown and height, and that the missing person had conveyed his willingness to go to the North," said Yoon Sung-hyun, chief of investigation and intelligence at the Coast Guard. Yoon said the possibility was "extremely low" that Lee had lost his footing or attempted to take his own life because he was wearing a life vest and a flotation device when found some 38 km (23.6 miles) away from where he went missing. Yoon said the official had run up debt of some 330 million won ($282,000) mostly from gambling but it was still unclear whether he sought to flee because of that. But the man's brother, Lee Rae-jin, said it must have been an accident as he had been proud of his job, just got a new boat and left a government identification card that would have facilitated his defection. He questioned the government's evidence, suggesting the North could have manipulated audios as both militaries frequently eavesdrop on each other. "Most old men of our age are indebted and have family issues but who would go to the North because of that?" he told a news conference. Lee accused the government and the military of letting slip "golden opportunities" to save his brother by refusing his requests for more ships and helicopters during an initial search while his brother was still floating in the waters. Story continues He said only several boats and one helicopter were mobilised on Sept. 21-22. His brother went missing on Sept. 21 and was shot dead the following day. "My brother had even rejected to join my business, saying he would retire as a public servant and was proud of that," he said. The Coast Guard and Navy expanded their search for the man's body this week involving dozens of ships after Pyongyang said the soldiers only burned a flotation device he was using, in an effort to head off the risk of a novel coronanvirus outbreak. South Korea has accused the North of dousing his body in fuel and setting it on fire after killing the man, calling for a joint investigation. Pyongyang remains silent about the joint probe as of Tuesday but leader Kim Jong Un has offered an apology. State media said the North was conducting its own search for the man's body but warned the South against raising tension by intruding into its waters. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Michael Perry) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sanjeev Miglani (Reuters) New Delhi, India Tue, September 29, 2020 15:00 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f464b 2 World Amnesty-International,India,Narendra-Modi,democracy,layoffs Free Human rights group Amnesty International stopped its work in India on Tuesday saying the government had frozen its bank accounts in the latest action against it for speaking out about rights violations. The group said it had laid off staff after facing a crackdown over the past two years over allegations of financial wrongdoing that it said were baseless. "This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organizations by the government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations," Amnesty said in a statement. Its bank accounts were frozen on Sept. 10, it said. Amnesty had highlighted rights violations in recent months in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region as well as what it said was a lack of police accountability during riots in Delhi in February, and the government had sought to punish it, it said. There was no immediate response from government spokesmen to requests for comment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has faced accusations that it is clamping down on dissent, including in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where insurgents have battled government forces for more than 30 years. Critics also say the government is pushing a Hindu-first agenda, undermining the secular foundations of India's democracy and raising fears among its 170 million Muslim minority. The government denies any bias against any community. Opposition politician Shashi Tharoor said Amnesty's exit was a blow. "India's stature as a liberal democracy with free institutions, including media & civil society organisations, accounted for much of its soft power in the world. Actions like this both undermine our reputation as a democracy & vitiate our soft power," he said on Twitter. 'Freezing Dissent' Amnesty said the federal financial crimes investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, had targeted it. "The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir," said Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India. "For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent," he said. Amnesty and other groups have accused police of complicity in the riots in Delhi in which at least 50 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Police denied the allegation. The government has been tightening oversight of foreign non-governmental groups (NGOs), they say. Last week, the government enacted changes in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill setting new conditions for organisations. Some NGOs said the measures seeking tighter control of funds were aimed at creating an air of distrust. Kumar said more than four million Indians have supported Amnesty's work in the last eight years and about 100,000 Indians had donated money. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stevie Emilia (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 13:50 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47ed935 1 Health #health,#health-conference,#women,#womens-health,#reproductive,#reproductive-health,#abortion,#UNFPA,#Indonesia,#SRHR Free Abortion safe or unsafe, legal or illegal has existed throughout history. Yet, it continues to be the most sensitive and controversial issue in reproductive health. The WHO has disclosed that an average of 73.3 million safe and unsafe abortions took place worldwide per year between 2015 and 2019, with the rate of abortions being higher in developing regions than in developed ones. Women, including adolescents, with unwanted pregnancies often resort to unsafe abortion for several reasons, including restrictive laws, stigma, conscientious objection of healthcare providers and unnecessary requirements, such as mandatory waiting periods, mandatory counselling, third-party authorization and medically unnecessary tests that delay care. Riznawaty Imma Aryanty, reproductive health program specialist at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Indonesia, said the issue of abortion was always sensitive, not only in Indonesia but everywhere in the world, even in countries where it was broadly legal, with high stigma regarding abortion. In Indonesia, abortion is legal for medical indications and in rape cases. However, due to sensitivity of the terminology, people tend to avoid using the word abortion, she told The Jakarta Post by email on Tuesday. Women may hide the fact that they have attempted to terminate [unintended] pregnancies, so they try different ways and seek help only when there are complications. The problems are very complex. Earlier, she gave a presentation at the 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (APCRASRH10), held online on Sept. 28, the date an NGO has declared as International Safe Abortion Day. The eight session, titled Safe Abortion and SRHR in Asia Pacific, is part of a series organized by the steering committee of APCRSHR10, UNFPA and Citizen News Service (CNS). In Indonesia, legal abortions must be carried out by certified doctors at a health facility designated by the health minister. Each patient should be accompanied by counselors who provide psychological assistance before, during and after the abortion, as well as during pregnancy, should the patient decide to cancel an abortion. Such restrictions make it hard to carry out institutional safe abortions. According to the WHO, the main cause of abortion is an unmet need of contraception, with more than 40 percent of unplanned pregnancies worldwide resulting from failure to use contraception or the ineffective use of contraception. In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, an illegal clinic in which more than 900 pregnancies were terminated since 2018 was discovered by the Jakarta Police earlier this year pointing to persistent demand for abortions. Timely reminder: International Safe Abortion Day, which falls on Sept. 28, promotes access to legal and safe abortion as fundamental to sexual and reproductive health. (Courtesy of who.int/MSF/Charmaine Chitate) At the conference, Imma presented a study from her Ph.D. thesis on abortion hospitalization that she had conducted jointly with Lejla Amira Syahdan in Yogyakarta in 2009 and revisited in 2019, before she joined the UNs sexual and reproductive health agency. Imma said abortion hospitalization was defined as all inpatient and outpatient treatment related to spontaneous or induced abortion, also known as post-abortion cases. I am not revisiting the magnitude of abortion hospitalization in 2019 but looking at the patterns. It is more or less the same. Most cases are categorized as spontaneous abortion, Imma said. She said there were challenges to hospitalization, since the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD 10) for pregnancy with abortive outcomes distinguishes between spontaneous abortion and abortion for medical indications. In countries where abortion is highly restricted or stigmatized, most cases will be reported as spontaneous abortion, she said. However, high rates of hospital admission for abortion-related complications may be an indication of widespread practices of unsafe abortions. In the 2019 study, she used data from the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS), while for the 2009 study, she had also interviewed medical staff. In her thesis, Imma recalled a story she had gathered from a medical record of a 19-year-old student, who had gone to a hospital for constipation but found out she was pregnant instead. She was unmarried, and her boyfriend had left town. Unable to tell her parents, she decided to take the matter into her own hands. She first tried drinking traditional medicine, but that did not work. She later went to nearby city, Surakarta, to see a physician who turned out not to have a license. In that place, a busi (kind of cervical dilator) was inserted and she was given oral medication. She suffered bleeding when the pregnancy was two weeks old, but the pregnancy persisted. She went to see other doctors, four different ones, to no avail. The similarity of the stories is that women have to risk various unsafe ways of abortion before finally getting the treatment, Imma said. In Indonesia, she said, the most pressing reproductive health issues were related to maternal mortality that remains high at 305 per 100,000 live births and unmet needs for family planning that increased in the past 5 years to 11 percent. These two indicators, she said, were closely related, with a study showing that family planning alone could prevent maternal deaths by up to 40 percent by preventing high-risk pregnancies and unintended pregnancies. The prevention of unintended pregnancies can also prevent unsafe abortion, which has been associated with high maternal death rates, Imma said. Latest study: Over the past three decades, the proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion has increased in countries where more legal restrictions are in place, and where it may be harder to access safe and appropriate contraception. (Courtesy of Guttmacher Institute/-) The UNFPA predicts there could be up to 7 million unintended pregnancies worldwide because of the COVID-19 crisis, with potentially thousands of deaths from unsafe abortions and complicated births due to inadequate access to emergency care. Movement control orders, internal and community border controls as well as physical distancing have increased barriers to peoples ability to travel to seek abortion services, especially in countries where legal abortion is restricted, thus pushing people toward unsafe methods. Guttmacher [Institute] estimates a shift of 10 percent from safe to unsafe abortions in ASEAN due to pandemic, said Sivananthi Thanenthiran, executive director of ARROW, a nonprofit Asia-Pacific resource and research center for women. Despite the work at the global level, she said, there was a gap in establishing reproductive rights, in particular, the right to safe and legal abortion, as an indicator of gender equality at the country level. She said the estimated incidence of unsafe abortions and the percentage of maternal deaths attributed to unsafe abortions continued to be high in the region. Mortality due to unsafe abortions still remains high at 13 percent of all maternal deaths in Southeast Asia and South Asia, respectively, said Thanenthiran. Governments should provide accurate information on medical abortion to help women make informed decisions and minimize risks to womens health. With proper information and guidance, medical abortion is a life-saving healthcare service. In the midst of a pandemic, it may be the most viable option for women seeking to end unwanted pregnancies. The Morristown-Beard School Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to appoint Elizabeth Liz Morrison as the next head of school, effective July 1, 2021, on the retirement of Peter Caldwell in June 2021. Morrison will be the first woman to serve as head of school for Morristown-Beard School since the Morristown School and the Beard School merged in 1971. Morrison comes to MBS from Antilles School, an independent, coeducational college preparatory school in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she has served as head of school since 2016. She brings more than three decades of experience in independent school education, having served as assistant head of school at the Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York, before joining Antilles School. We are confident that under Liz Morrisons leadership, Morristown-Beard School will attain new heights, our horizons will continue to expand, and our students will continue to flourish, said John Fay, president of the board of trustees. We look forward to welcoming her this summer, and we wish her unprecedented success! Morrisons appointment comes as a result of a thorough and inclusive process conducted by the search committee, under the leadership of Trustee Paul Hawkins 85, 'P18, 'P20, and in conjunction with the experienced educational search firm, Carney Sandoe & Associates. We were thrilled when she enthusiastically accepted our invitation, Fay said. Liz was chosen for her all-encompassing experience in education, her passion for teaching and learning, and especially for her ability to connect with students and earn the respect of faculty, and her commitment to diversity and inclusion. With a student population at Antilles School that is almost 50 percent students of color, Liz has grown in her understanding of the complexity of race in independent schools, and she is striving to create a curriculum and community where all students feel a deep sense of belonging. Its clear that she understands the important role that the Head of School plays in shaping school culture. At the Millbrook School, she held positions as dean of students, academic dean, and director of college counseling. Earlier in her career, Morrison served as a math teacher and chair of the math department at Oakwood Friends. She was inducted into the Headmasters Association, a highly prestigious association of only 100 members. A graduate of the Bryn Mawr School, Morrison holds a bachelor of science in kinesiology from the University of Maryland and a master of science in education from the University of Pennsylvania. My husband, Tom, and I are excited to move to New Jersey, and thrilled to join the MBS community. From my first introduction to the search committee, I felt a love of teaching from the faculty, the power of collaboration from the administrators, a sense of gratitude and pride from the trustees, parents, students and alumni. I share a belief in the value of an inclusive community, and its potential to transform lives, Morrison said. I am grateful to be joining a school community that is willing to grow and learn and aspires to be an institution where every student and family feels seen and valued in the life of the School. The MBS motto, To the stars through adversity really spoke to me as I envision a rich learning environment that is rooted in tradition while being simultaneously progressive, valuing the independence of mind and full participation. By Trend The Azerbaijani Armed Forces continue counter-offensive operations against Armenia, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense Anar Eyvazov said, Trend reports. He pointed out that the Armenian army shelled the settlements in the Dashkasan district of Azerbaijan. "Following the counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, a large number of manpower and equipment of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed. The Armenian army continues to fire at the settlements of the Dashkasan district, in response to which adequate measures will be taken, Eyvazov added. The Azerbaijani army continues its counter-offensive operation. As a result of the counter-offensive of the Azerbaijani army, firing points and other military installations of the Armenian army were destroyed. All provocations of the Armenian subdivisions are suppressed. In the direction of Agdere district, heavy blows were inflicted on the units of the Armenian army, under which it was forced to retreat. During the redeployment in the Aghdara direction, one tank and one military vehicle were destroyed. By the precise fire in the Fizuli district, 4 tanks, and the third Martuni motorized rifle regiment, were destroyed. The Armenians appealed to the population to help with vehicles to take the bodies of the dead, said the ministrys spokesman. The military propaganda machine of Armenia, which fell into a hopeless position by the successful military operations of the Azerbaijani army, began large-scale provocations in the information space. Thus, the Armenian side, as always, presents old materials from past battles as new ones, and its failures as success. The offensive of the Azerbaijani army continues in the morning to liberate the city of Fizuli. Victory is with us! the ministry added. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The military actions continued on Sept. 29. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz STOCKHOLM, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Etam, the largest lingerie brand in France and the seventh largest worldwide, has partnered with interactive live video streaming provider Bambuser to enable live shopping during the company's Live Show, which will stream at etam.com/liveshow today, Tuesday, 29 September beginning at 18:30 CEST. While 2020 marks the 13th edition of the highly-anticipated Fashion Week event, it is the first to incorporate Live Video Shopping into the program. Etam's partnership with Lafayette Plug and Play innovation platform has enabled them to fast track the live video shopping solution with Bambuser. Etam Group is a pioneer in the digital customer experience, constantly building bridges between its brick-and-mortar stores and online universe, and places its phygital approach at the core of its strategy. "Our goal with this partnership is to keep on speeding up the integration of innovative solutions, to enhance the customer experience and roll out an omnichannel business model," says Elya Hasson, Etam Group's Chief Digital Officer. This year's show, themed "Glamor, Rhinestones and Sequins," will turn Paris' famed Boulevard Haussmann into a socially-distanced catwalk. Beginning at 18:30 (6:30pm), audiences viewing the live stream will be taken "backstage," where they will get an insiders' view of the models and celebrities as they prepare for the show, which begins at 21:00 (9:00pm). Once the models have left the catwalk at 21:30 (9:30pm), the audience will have the opportunity to purchase looks from the catwalk via Bambuser's highly-interactive and engaging Live Video Shopping technology. Following the surge in demand for live video shopping, Bamabuser today also announced the establishment of companies in the UK and US, with new offices in London and New York respectively. "Etam's annual Live Show is traditionally an amazing experience, and with the addition of Live Video Shopping, they're taking it to a new level that's more participative and engaging," says Sophie Abrahamsson, Chief Commercial Officer at Bambuser. "We're confident that audiences are going to love feeling more like they're actually at the show - plus they get the instant gratification of buying the items they've just seen. It's very powerful, and even when the world returns to `normal,' we foresee this is what the fashion week of the future will look like." continues Abrahamsson. Etam's Live Show 2020 will be streamed at etam.com/liveshow as well as at instagram.com/etam. Limited edition Live Show items will also be available in store beginning 30 September. Contact information Sophie Abrahamsson CCO Bambuser [email protected] +46 8 400 160 00 Bambuser is a software company specializing in interactive live video streaming. The Company's primary product, Live Video Shopping, is a cloud-based software solution that is used by customers such as global e-commerce and retail businesses to host live shopping experiences on websites, mobile apps and social media. Bambuser was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters in Stockholm. Erik Penser Bank AB is Bambuser's Certified Adviser. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/bambuser/r/etam-group-partners-with-bambuser-to-make-annual-fashion-week-live-show-shoppable,c3204819 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/15749/3204819/1312270.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/bambuser/i/etam-live-show-2020,c2831858 Etam Live Show 2020 SOURCE Bambuser The agency also said that the siblings were 'active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers', and could hamper the probe if they are released on bail The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opposed the bail pleas filed by actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Bombay High Court, citing a Supreme Court remark which termed dealing in drugs as "worse than murder or culpable homicide". ASG Singh: This is a sort of crime, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, which worse than murder or culpable homicide. Murder affects one person or one family. But this (drug cases) affects the entire society.#BombayHighCourt#NCB#RheaChakroborty Bar & Bench (@barandbench) September 29, 2020 The siblings were "active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers", the NCB said. The NCB further said that both Rhea and her brother had "abetted and financed" drug transactions. Therefore, the agency had booked them under the stringent Section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said in the affidavit. Section 27A provides punishment for up to 10 years for financing drug trafficking and harbouring offenders, and also carries a bar on grant of bail. However, lawyers of the accused arguing for bail claim said that the prosecution has no grounds to slap the stringent Section 37 of the NDPS Act of 1989. The lawyers for Samuel Miranda, Abdul Basit Parihar and Rhea and Showik argued that the quantity of contraband seized should be taken into account, while adding that the NCB could not prove sale, purchase or financing of commercial quantity of drugs. The offences listed under the NDPS Act are non-bailable, whereas bail may be granted if the accused are charged under less stringent sections of the CrPC. Maneshinde reads out a case ruling that says that bail cannot be granted if the drugs seized is of a "commercial quantity." But if it the contraband is of small quantity, the same would not come in the folds of Section 37, NDPS Act, the case says#RheaChakraborty Bar & Bench (@barandbench) September 29, 2020 A single judge bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal hearing the matter, however, contended that even if the Section 37 of the NDPS Act is not applicable to the current case, it still does not mean that the offences become bailable. The aforementioned section lists out offences that are deemed non-bailable under the NDPS Act. But Showik and Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde argued that when the entire case of prosecution is that the only person consuming drugs is Sushant Singh Rajput, and when that person is no longer around, there is nothing to show that Rhea was an "active member of the cartel". He claimed that there is no evidence to support that she ever sold or purchased drugs. The NCB, however, contended that it is clear that the drugs which were financed were not meant for personal consumption but for supplying the same to other person (SSR in this case) and Section 27A of NDPS 1985 is clearly applicable. The investigating agency also told the court that the investigations are at a crucial stage and if Rhea is granted bail, then it will hamper the probe. On previous hearings, the actor and her brother opposed the application of the above section in their case, arguing that the section did not apply in the present case as Rhea occasionally paid for drugs that were consumed only by her boyfriend, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He had further argued that the drugs seized by the NCB so far in the case amounted to just 59 grammes, which wasn't a commercial quantity, therefore, Section 27A should not be applied in their case. On 24 September, the bench had suggested that the NCB file its reply to the bail pleas of Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, who were arrested earlier this month and are currently in judicial custody. The court had also said that the NCB must elaborate on the provisions of Section 27A and its applicability in the present case. NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Monday submitted two separate affidavits in the high court wherein it said, "Electronic evidence such as WhatsApp chats, records were retrieved from mobile, laptop and hard-disk and it indicated payment made for drugs." "Thus, there is ample evidence to show present applicant Rhea has not only regularly dealt with but also financed illicit trafficking of drugs," the NCB said. The NCB further said in the affidavit that Rhea was aware of the fact that Rajput was into consumption of drugs, and yet she had "harboured and concealed" it. "If somebody known to me is consuming drugs... consumption is illegal... and I am not telling this to anyone... not disclosing it to police... then it can be brought under the definition of 'harbouring'(under Section 27A)," the NCB told the court. "Rhea also allowed her residence for drug storage and consumption by Rajput. It is clear from the statements and electronic evidence gathered by the NCB that the applicant is an active member of the drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers. There is sufficient evidence that she is involved in drug trafficking," it added. It also said that Rhea and her brother used to facilitate drug deliveries and payment through credit cards, cash and other payment gateways. If the siblings are released on bail, they could hamper the probe that is currently in a "crucial stage", the NCB said. The high court will hear the bail pleas of the actor and her brother along with the bail pleas of co-accused Samuel Miranda, Abdul Parihar and Dipesh Sawant on Tuesday. Rajput (34) was found hanging in his home in suburban Bandra on 14 June. With inputs from PTI *** A collection of Suicide prevention helpline numbers are available here. Please reach out if you or anyone you know is in need of support. The All-India helpline number is: 022 2754 6669 New brand combines data and research solutions to meet the needs of growing consumer and business banking industries NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Informa Financial Intelligence, a leading provider of solutions for financial services professionals, today announced its banking division branded as Financial Benchmarking & Omnichannel Experience (FBX). FBX unifies Informa Financial Intelligence's delivery of competitive performance data and customer journey research, providing financial institutions a comprehensive assessment of their competitive position and market opportunities. FBX merges Informa Financial Intelligence's Mapa Research, BankTrends, ICON Advisory Group, eBenchmarkers and Informa Research Services businesses under one brand to provide customers a synchronized quantitative and qualitative view of their businesses, maximizing portfolio performance. This new brand continues to offer banks, credit unions, fintechs and insurance providers: Bank peer benchmarking services: retail and small business deposit, consumer lending, commercial and treasury, mortgage, insurance, and bank call reporting Banking workflow solutions: margin management and regulatory solutions Omnichannel banking research: digital banking experience research, and in-person banking experience research, including mystery shops and compliance services "We're excited to formally bring together our banking businesses under FBX," said Craig Woodward, President of Informa Financial Intelligence. "Retail banking is a dynamic business that is ever changing in the current market landscape. With the unification of FBX, we provide the breadth and depth that ultimately solve our customers' greatest challenges. Our clients have a synchronized quantitative and qualitative view of their business, allowing them to maximize their performance through a synchronized view of their market position." "While FBX marks the culmination of strong growth within our banking businesses, our purpose doesn't change," said Shaun Richardson, Head of the FBX business at Informa Financial Intelligence. "Unifying our unique services marks the next chapter in our ongoing efforts to help clients efficiently assess their competitive position and identify key levers for improving relative performance in a way in which that has never been offered." FBX will continue Informa's banking and insurance coverage that includes mortgage, home equity, deposits, credit cards, fintech/unsecured, auto, small business, commercial, investments, and insurance. About Financial Benchmarking & Omnichannel Experience (FBX) Financial Benchmarking & Omnichannel Experience (FBX), a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE: INF), provides bank peer benchmarking services, banking workflow solutions and omnichannel banking experience research services to retail banks worldwide. FBX, part of Informa Financial Intelligence, brings together competitive performance data and customer journey research to provide a comprehensive assessment of a competitive position. Through a synchronized view, FBX provides targeted information to identify key levers for improving relative performance. For additional information, please visit https://financialintelligence.informa.com/fbx. About Informa Financial Intelligence Financial Intelligence, part of the Informa Intelligence Division of Informa plc, is a leading provider of products and services helping financial institutions around the world cut through the noise and take decisive action. Informa Financial Intelligence's solutions provide unparalleled insight into market opportunity, competitive performance and customer segment behavioral patterns and performance through specialized industry research, intelligence, and insight. For more information, please visit https://financialintelligence.informa.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Zach Allegretti, JConnelly 973-850-7341 zallegrettiII@jconnelly.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282848/FBX__Informa_Financial_Intelligence_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082151/Informa_Logo.jpg Boston is one of the best places to be if youre looking for a good cup of joe, a new study suggests. WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across a dozen key indicators of coffee lover-friendliness to find the best coffee cities in the U.S. The data includes number of coffee shops, coffee houses and cafes per capita to the average price per pound of coffee. Boston ranked fourteenth, beating out Los Angeles, New Orleans and Austin, Texas. Seattle and San Francisco ranked and number one and two, respectively. Today, coffee stations are a staple of the workplace, and tens of thousands of shops serve as meeting places for friends, dates and coworkers though in 2020 many have had to provide take-out service only due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the website states. Boston also tied for first for having the most doughnut shops per capita. The average coffee drinker has three cups of coffee daily and daily drinking among Americans is up, a survey by the National Coffee Association found. And 62% of Americans drink coffee every day. Former President Theodore Roosevelt was rumored to drink a gallon of coffee a day, PBS reported. It may have started a bit later here, but Americans love coffee just as much as the rest of the world," the website states. Coffee become popular in America after the Boston Tea Party, when making the switch from tea to coffee became something of a patriotic duty. On Tuesday, many companies are offering free coffee to celebrate National Coffee Day. Related Content: What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Epwin Group (LON:EPWN) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled. What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Epwin Group: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.028 = UK5.9m (UK286m - UK72m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020). So, Epwin Group has an ROCE of 2.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Building industry average of 6.5%. Check out our latest analysis for Epwin Group roce Above you can see how the current ROCE for Epwin Group compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Epwin Group. What Does the ROCE Trend For Epwin Group Tell Us? In terms of Epwin Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 32%, but since then they've fallen to 2.8%. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased. On a related note, Epwin Group has decreased its current liabilities to 25% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money. Story continues In Conclusion... We're a bit apprehensive about Epwin Group because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. Investors haven't taken kindly to these developments, since the stock has declined 35% from where it was five years ago. Unless these trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we would look elsewhere. Epwin Group does have some risks, we noticed 2 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about. While Epwin Group may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Nepal has reopened some of its schools amid the coronavirus pandemic keeping in mind the health safety protocols. According to the reports, the children can be seen attending schools wearing face masks and maintaining social distance. The new academic session in Nepal which usually starts from May or June got delayed by months due to the pandemic. As per reports, some of the local authorities in Kathmandu have granted permission to reopen schools for the students who are following essential health protocols. READ: Nepal's Coronavirus Tally Close To 75,000 News agency ANI quoted Jit Bahadur Basnet, Executive Director at Vidyanath Boarding School in Kageshwori Manahara-6 of Kathmandu saying, "During the lockdown, students were deprived of their right to study. They went onto the path of wrong deeds, depletion in reading and learning habits. After the parents voiced their concerns and getting a similar notice from the Kageshwori Manohara Municipality, we have started the classes from Sunday in two shifts following all the health protocols". School runs in two shifts Basnet was reported to have spoken to ANI that the school runs in two shifts from 6 am (first shift) and 11 am (second shift) to reduce the crowd and maintain social distancing properly. He added that the authorities are also keeping a curb on the temperatures of the students using thermal screening and sanitizing hands at the entrance. He further added that prior to the resumption of the session sanitization and deep cleaning inside the campus have been taken care of. READ: Price Of Nepali Tea Booms In Indian Market Post Lockdown; Boosts Prospects Of Producers ANI quoted Sonia Ghalan, a Secondary Level final year student at Vidyanath Boarding School saying, "I am extremely happy as I am able to continue the studies. Previously our studies were all halted and there was confusion about whether Secondary Education Examination will be conducted or not. Now we are able to go ahead with our studies". Basnet further clarified that they are not conducting long classes as they are being held for only two-three hours and three days a week. Nepal government is still giving a thought over plans to reopen educational institutions while some local bodies around the nation already have given permission to begin classes. A lot of such institutions are facing a shortage of textbooks and other educational materials. Nepal's coronavirus tally inched closer to 75,000 on Monday, September 28 with 1,351 new cases, while the number of recoveries increased to 54,640. The death toll from the pathogen increased to 481 with four more fatalities. The total novel coronavirus cases increased to 74,745 while 54,640 people have recuperated, taking the recovery rate to 73.09 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Population said. READ: Nepalese National Drugs Businessman, Decamps With Valuables; Arrested READ: Nepal Yarn Industry Gets 60 Percent Boost Due To Increase In Demand From India (With inputs/image from ANI) Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) cops have been trained to use data-mining firm Palantir's controversial law enforcement tool to list the names, addresses, phone numbers, license plates, friendships, romances and jobs of anyone who comes into contact with police - including their associates. More than half of all LAPD cops - around 5,000 officers - have accounts with Palantir, one of the biggest surveillance companies in the world, which both firms claim helps the force keep the public safe on the city's streets. However, newly released documents obtained by Buzzfeed News through a FOIA request reveal that the surveillance is far from limited to people arrested, convicted or suspected of criminal activity. Training documents for the 'Intermediate Course' and 'Advanced Course' show how cops are taught to use the powerful law enforcement tool Palantir Gotham to collect and store detailed information on anyone at all they encounter, from witnesses or victims of crimes to someone simply living in the area a crime took place. The system then indiscriminately stores intricate details such as tattoos, scars, romances and associates on people including those who are innocent and completely unrelated to any crime. As well as being invasive, critics warn the system reinforces racism in law enforcement, with data suggesting when cops use it to predict future criminal activity, they over-target black and brown communities. This comes at a time when protests are building nationwide demanding an end to police brutality and racism in the wake of multiple 'murders' of black men and women by white cops across America. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) cops have been trained to use data-mining firm Palantir's controversial law enforcement tool to list the names, addresses, phone numbers, license plates, friendships, romances and jobs of anyone who comes into contact with police The newly obtained training documents reveal how granular the LAPD's data collection is on residents of the city. They show how the intermediate and advanced eight-hour courses teach cops to search for people by name, race, gender, gang membership, tattoos, scars, friends or family. The software can then pull up names, home addresses, email addresses, vehicles, warrants, mugshots, photos. It can also be used to collect data and track associates such as friends, family members, partners, neighbors, and coworkers, as well as to track a vehicle's links to criminal activity. Between 2012 and 2017, the system also involved sharing data with several other institutions including California police departments, sheriff's offices, airport police, universities and school districts, Buzzfeed reported. This meant that the Los Angeles School Police Department, Compton Unified School District Police Department, El Camino College, Cal Poly University Police Department, and California State University all sent police data to the LAPD which was then loaded into the system. The software maps relationships from person to person, person to car, person to home, or person to crime scene, and cops use this to create lists of people they predict will commit a crime. In 2016 alone, LAPD cops used the vast amount of data taken from LA residents to run 60,000 searches for around 10,000 police cases. Newly released documents obtained by Buzzfeed News through a FOIA request reveal that the surveillance is far from limited to people arrested, convicted or suspected of criminal activity Training documents for the 'Intermediate Course' and 'Advanced Course' show how cops are taught to use the powerful law enforcement tool Palantir Gotham to collect and store information on anyone at all they encounter However, algorithms are not guaranteed to be accurate. Sarah Brayne, a sociologist who studied the LAPD's use of Palantir, told BuzzFeed people use the software as evidence that an individual will commit a crime. 'If there's somebody who the cops have been interested in 10 times throughout the course of your life, the idea is basically, where there's smoke, there's fire,' Brayne said. 'There's probably a reason that the cops keep being interested in this particular person.' The problem, critics argue, is that this replicates racist attitudes already prevalent among some officers and encourages cops to keep targeting black and brown communities. 'The tool will only keep reflecting that racism,' Jamie Garcia, an organizer with advocacy group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, told Buzzfeed News. Jacinta Gonzalez, an organizer with Latinx advocacy group Mijente, also said it reinforces the overpolicing of black and brown communities. 'It's expanding the power that police have. And it's minimizing the right that communities have to fight back, because many times, the surveillance is done in secretive ways,' said Gonzalez. 'It's ridiculous the community doesn't know what Palantir is doing in their city, and we have to wait until you get FOIA documents to actually understand.' The system then indiscriminately stores intricate details such as tattoos, scars, romances and associates on people including those who are innocent and completely unrelated to any crime. Palantir's HQ in California Fears that the system will simply replicate the racism of some users are especially stark following the release of worrying data around the LAPD's use of other Palantir technology. Between 2009 and 2019, the LAPD ran an initiative with Palantir called the Los Angeles Strategic Extraction and Restoration (LASER) which aimed to reduce crime by using data to target people that presented a risk. Part of the initiative involved the 'Chronic Offender Bulletins' where cops would use the Palantir data and a point system to rank the top 12 'Chronic Offenders' they believed were most likely to commit a violent crime. LAPD data showed that 53 percent of people named on the Chronic Offender Bulletins were Latino and 31 percent were black. This is despite 52 percent of LA's population being white, 49 percent Latino, and 9 percent black. The LAPD inspector general report said the data was not a sign of discrimination because it corresponded with arrest rates. However Maria Velez, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, told Buzzfeed it showed the LAPD's predictive policing over-targeted black and Latino people. Critics warn the system reinforces racism in law enforcement, with data suggesting when cops use it to predict future criminal activity, they overtarget black and brown communities. Pictured Palantir founder Peter Thiel Andrew Ferguson, American University law professor and author of The Rise of Big Data Policing, said it showed the system simply continued the cycle of people of color being targeted by officers. 'The focus of a data-driven surveillance system is to put a lot of innocent people in the system,' Ferguson said. 'And that means that many folks who end up in the Palantir system are predominantly poor people of color, and who have already been identified by the gaze of police.' The predictive data was also proven flawed in its accuracy in predicting criminal activity. A total of 10 percent of the 637 people added to the Chronic Offenders list had no prior contact with police at all, despite the system allegedly being based on people who already committed violent crimes. The predictions had a poor success rate with 44 percent of people never arrested for a violent or gun-related crime. There was no evidence the system reduced crime and the LAPD later axed it, reported Buzzfeed. Concerns over potential flaws in the data analytics firm come as it gears up to go public on September 30 with a valuation of around $22 billion. The minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has denied misappropriating N2.67 billion meant for feeding school children during the COVID-19 induced lockdown, under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP). The chairperson of the anti-graft agency, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, in a series of tweets, via the commissions verified Twitter handle, on Monday said investigations done by the ICPC had shown that the said funds were diverted into private accounts. The commission also alleged that over N2.5 billion was misappropriated by a senior civil servant (name withheld) in the ministry of agriculture and now deceased, for himself and cronies/ We discovered payment of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children were not in school, and some money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings, the tweet partly read. But a statement issued by the ministers special assistant on media, Nneka Anibeze, said the report from the ICPC was misinterpreted. It added that the amount traced by the commission on school feeding is different from the federal government Home-Grown School Feeding Programme under the Social-National Social Investment Programmes (SIPs). Mr Anibeze described the report as false and unfair and those accusing the minister of corruption of being malicious. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development hereby informs the public that the federal government colleges school feeding in question is different from the Home Grown School Feeding, which is one of its Social Investment Programmes. That the school feeding under scrutiny is the feeding of students in federal government colleges across the country and is not under FMHDSD which only oversees Home Grown School Feeding for children in primaries 1-3 in select public schools across the country. The statement also claimed that the minister or the ministry does not even handle or disburse funds for the NHGSFP. It also added that the money for funding the programme neither passes through the minister nor the ministry. That the over N2.5 billion which was reportedly misappropriated by a senior civil servant (name withheld) took place in a different ministry and not the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. READ ALSO: That the ICPC recovered N16 billion worth of assets from the said ministry which was paid into an individual account for non-official purposes and not the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. In the statement, the minister called the allegations unfair and urged on the ICPC to publish the names of the persons, federal colleges, and school heads whose names were discovered to be associated with the missing funds and to also freeze the accounts where the funds were diverted. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, therefore, calls on the general public to disregard the false reports being linked to the ministry as it is not in any way involved in the Federal Government Colleges School Feeding. The school feeding program was introduced in 2016 as part of the N500 billion funded Social Investment Program of the Buhari administration. It was projected to provide 1.14 million jobs across the country, including community women, who would be engaged as cooks. Dhaka, Sep 29 : A virtual meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will take place in December. The meeting will see the signing of several bilateral agreements between the two neighbouring countries. "We are the closest neighbouring countries, we have many things to discuss," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told IANS. Momen also confirmed that the Joint Advisory Commission (JCC) of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. No agreement will be signed at that meeting, he added. However, Dhaka wants to discuss political relations, strengthening economy, cooperation and other unresolved issues including, border killings and river sharing. Momen and his Indian counterpart S Jayashankar will lead their respective delegations. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masood bin Momen will also be a part of Dhaka's team. After the meeting, the countries will issue a joint statement, Momen added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Palghar district collector Dr Manek Gursale on Monday evening issued an alert for the deadly Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), or Congo Fever, which is believed to spread from animals to humans in the form of ticks and external parasites. Dr Prashant Kamble, deputy commissioner, animal husbandry department, Palghar issued a circular to this effect. Dr Gursale has directed all cattle feeders, meat and poultry sellers, animal breeders consumers to remain on high alert. Congo fever has a high mortality rate of between 10-40%, with no vaccine available for either humans or animals. We have ordered all the meat sellers to take the necessary measures, including hygiene, cleanliness, spraying insecticides and using gloves, gumboots and masks. Proper checking of animals arriving in Maharashtra, particularly from nearby Valsad district in Gujarat, has also been ordered, said Gursale. Dr Kanchan Vanare, district civil surgeon said that till date no cases have been reported in Palghar. We have ordered the precautions as we found that those infected by Congo fever were recently detected in the neighbouring Valsad district in Gujarat, which borders Talasari taluka in Palghar district. He said that as of yet not much is known about the disease. It is believed to spread through the Hyalomma tick, an external parasite which thrives on the blood or flesh of infected animals like cattle and fowl. Anybody consuming such infected meat may experience symptoms of high fever, head and body aches, nose bleeding, stomach pains and red eyes, said Vanare. Till Tuesday evening, Palghar district reported 34,708 cases of Covid-19, with 22,219 in Vasai-Virar civic areas alone. The death toll in the district stands at 678, with Vasai-Virar reporting 439 deaths as per district information office (DIO) data. Mentor Spaces Recognized for Transformative Innovation, Inspiring Founder, and Team DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / Septemeber 29, 2020 / Mentor Spaces, a virtual mentorship platform that helps companies scale their diversity and inclusion efforts, today announced Jobs for the Future (JFF) recognized Mentor Spaces as an Innovator to Watch in the Career Navigation Technology 2020 market scan. Mentor Spaces is among a select group of 18 companies who are distinguished from other forward-looking solutions by their potential to create significant, business-aligned social impact. Framing career navigation as a lifelong process that involves workers, employers, and other entities, such as schools and workforce boards, JFF's Career Navigation Technology 2020 market scan delves into the dynamics shaping the career navigation technology market, identifying innovations, trends, and areas of opportunity for the millions of workers too often overlooked or underserved by traditional approaches. The team reviewed more than one thousand companies in the recruiting, employment, and career planning sectors and identified 18 Innovators to Watch to feature within the scan. Mentor Spaces was selected as an Innovator to Watch due to the company's transformative innovation, inspiring founder, and team. "I'm extremely honored that JFF recognized Mentor Spaces as an Innovator to Watch in this year's Career Navigation Technology 2020 market scan," said Chris Motley, founder, and CEO, Mentor Spaces. "This recognition validates our vision at Mentor Spaces: to make all workplaces diverse, inclusive, and equitable while advancing and maximizing the careers of underrepresented talent." As a national nonprofit building educational and economic opportunity for underserved populations in the United States, JFF is accelerating the alignment and transformation of the American workforce and education systems to ensure access to economic advancement for all. Founded in 1983, JFF develops innovative programs and public policies that increase college readiness and career success and build a more highly-skilled, competitive workforce. The company is a recognized national leader in bridging education and work to increase economic mobility and strengthen the United States economy. JFF will be announcing the Innovators to Watch and the results of the Career Navigation Technology market scan during the ASU+GSV Virtual Summit 2020 this week. As one of the 18 Innovators to Watch, Chris Motley will join the "Career Navigation Technology 2020: Innovators on the Leading Edge" session, alongside executives from SkillUp, Steady, Jobcase, and JFF, to discuss how empowering all workers with the best career navigation tools is good for business and can help power the American economy. This recognition comes on the heels of significant company momentum, including a partnership with Landmark Ventures, a Good Morning America feature segment, and a Forbes profile piece. Launched earlier this year and funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the innovative Mentor Spaces platform connects Black and Latinx college students and early career professionals with mentors to maximize their career potential while simultaneously giving companies a more direct pathway to exceptional, diverse talent. To learn more about Mentor Spaces and join the Mentor Spaces community, visit: https://www.mentorspaces.com/. ABOUT MENTOR SPACES Mentor Spaces is a virtual mentorship company for emerging Black and Latinx professionals that helps companies scale their diversity and inclusion efforts while advancing the careers of underrepresented minorities. The Mentor Spaces platform, which is currently used by more than 10,000 emerging Black and Latinx leaders, allows corporate mentors to communicate with prospective employees in career interest-based groups, making it easier for companies to find, hire and retain diverse talent. Companies, from startups to Fortune 500s, use Mentor Spaces to build a diverse talent pipeline, improve retention and enhance corporate culture. Find great talent at mentorspaces.com. CONTACT: Meaghan McGrath York IE meaghan@york.ie SOURCE: Mentor Spaces View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608100/Mentor-Spaces-Named-2020-Innovator-to-Watch-by-Jobs-for-the-Future Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-30 06:32:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed late on Tuesday recent developments in the region. During a phone conversation, Sisi and Jonson focused on the situation in Libya and ways to solve the conflict in the war-torn oil-rich country, Sisi's spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. Sisi highlighted Egypt's strategic stance that aims at regaining Libya's security and stability. He called for positive and constructive interaction among all Libyan parties by way of the Berlin Conference and the Cairo Declaration, in order to hold presidential and parliamentary elections that will lead to a new phase. For his part, Johnson expressed his support for the Egyptian efforts to settle the Libyan crisis. On Middle East peace process, Sisi and Johnson underlined the importance of pushing collective international action toward resuming negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. They also talked about the concern about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, when Sisi highlighted the water issue for the Egyptian people as a matter of national security. Enditem President Trump has artlessly turned the TikTok deal into a debacle and, almost no matter what happens, a defeat. When the president issued an executive order last month threatening to ban the video-sharing juggernaut if Beijing-based ByteDance didnt sell it to a U.S. firm, he was asking for something more than what he was ultimately offered. ByteDance submitted a proposal last week to make software giant Oracle its trusted technology partner. No one seemed sure precisely what this meant, but it did not mean a sale. The days since have offered more detail but no resolution. Trump had already turned a platform used by hundreds of millions into a geopolitical game chip. He had cajoled companies into courting him; he had shaken them down for promises of money to fill U.S. coffers. And early last week, it appeared the legitimate national security issues that were the pretext for all this buffoonery would end up far from fully addressed after all, with ByteDance still majority owner of TikTok and Oracle merely hosting its data. The White House and the companies have been wrangling ever since to make adjustments, including a possible initial public offering for U.S. firms to purchase stock in TikTok, mandatory third-party audits of data practices and an assurance that Oracle could inspect source code built in Beijing to detect any back doors. What Oracle almost certainly will not be able to do is exercise control over the secret sauce responsible for TikToks stunning success: its algorithm. That presents a different sort of national security issue, which is the possibility of subtle manipulation of this countrys information environment through what the tens of millions of TikTok users here, many of them teenagers, see when they stare at their screens. China all but ensured this outcome in response to Trumps intervention by implementing new export controls preventing the sale of intellectual property precisely like the code in question. Now, the president must either follow through on his threat of an ill-advised, possibly unconstitutional ban or approve an outcome that constitutes capitulation. The administration announced new downloads of TikTok would be barred and further restrictions imposed in November. (WeChat is banned with full restrictions.) This opens up wiggle room for an arrangement that satisfies security concerns to the extent possible the right road forward for anyone interested in preserving the open and global Internet this nation claims to believe in. Yet, no matter the outcome, the TikTok saga represents a squandered opportunity to address the knotty question of Chinese technology in the United States. The tale will teach other countries all the wrong lessons: that they can push companies, including our own, to pay up if they want to operate in a less-than-friendly environment; that they can play with free expression to score geopolitical points; and that these matters are less about security than they are about posturing. The problem for Trump is that the United States will still emerge from this kerfuffle with the slumped shoulders of the defeated. Washington Post Our country is struggling, Illinois is struggling, and our community here in Illinois' Third District is struggling. This pandemic, and the tragic lack of any coordinated national response, has left millions of Americans out of work, millions without access to healthcare, and has brought our economy to its lowest point since the Great Depression. My goal has always been to work with my community to address deep economic inequities that are growing larger and faster than ever, and to build an economy that works for all of us. Now, that goal is more important than it ever has been. I am committed to working with colleagues in Congress to fast-track immediate relief for the millions of families across this country who are struggling to keep food on the table and shelters over their heads. As we work to get that done, the next step will be to fight for a stimulus package that will create good paying American jobs in our district and give local small businesses the flexibility and leeway they need to compete, because its Main Street, not Wall Street, that will pull our economy out of this crisis. While my opponent seems more interested in defending President Trump on social media, I have a plan to address our struggling economy and am ready to go on day one. Kevin Clifton attends the "Strictly Come Dancing" launch show red carpet arrivals at Television Centre on August 26, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) Kevin Clifton considered returning to Strictly Come Dancing after publicly announcing he was leaving the show back in March to focus on other work. However, he didn't want to make a U-turn over the decision over fears he'd "look like an idiot". "There were a couple of conversations about it, like, is it worth talking about it?," he told The Suns Bizarre column. Read more: Strictly axes Halloween Week from 2020 series "But then I thought, I've just made this big announcement. I don't want to look like an idiot." Amy Dowden and Kevin Clifton attends the "Strictly Come Dancing" launch show red carpet at Television Centre on August 26, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images) "We're having a constant conversation, and at the moment I feel I've pretty much done everything there is to do on the show," Clifton went on. The 37-year-old danced on the programme for seven years, eventually winning the competition with now-girlfriend Stacey Dooley in 2018. He announced he was leaving the programme earlier this year in a lengthy post to Instagram. His message read: The past 7 years have been some of the most wonderful years of my life. Strictly Come Dancing finalists Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton leave BBC Broadcasting House in London after appearing on the Chris Evans radio show. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images) "I am grateful to the BBC and Strictly Come Dancing for giving me the opportunity to have been a part of something truly special. Since first being called Kevin From Grimsby by Sir Bruce Forsyth in 2013 I have experienced the highs of 5 finals, winning a Guinness World record on It Takes Two, the Strictly Arena tour glitterball and then the ultimate of winning the 2018 series with Stacey Dooley. Read more: Strictly dancers who test positive for COVID-19 will be disqualified Clifton added that he wanted to "leave on a high" and was looking to focus on other areas of his "life and career". Strictly is set to return to BBC One in October. Watch: Here are all the celebrities confirmed for Strictly 2020 About 500,000 sharks could be killed for their natural oil for the production of coronavirus vaccines conservationists have warned, reports Sky News. According to the report, one ingredient used in some coronavirus vaccine candidates is squalene, a natural oil made in the liver of sharks. Squalene is currently used as an adjuvant in medicine - an ingredient that increases the effectiveness of a vaccine by creating a stronger immune response. Oceanic World101 GlaxoSmithKline British pharmaceutical company uses shark squalene in flu vaccines. Reportedly, the company said it would manufacture a billion doses of this adjuvant for potential use in COVID-19 vaccines in May. One tonne of squalene is extracted from nearly 3,000 sharks. Shark Allies, a California-based group, suggests that if the world's population received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine containing the liver oil, around 250,000 sharks would need to be slaughtered, depending on the amount of squalene used. Also Read:Scared Of The Jab? Needle-Free Coronavirus Vaccine Trials Set To Start In Australia Global FinPrint However, according to researchers, two doses might be needed to immunise the global population, which would increase the number of sharks to be killed to half a million. Reportedly, to avoid the threat to shark populations, scientists are testing an alternative to squalene - a synthetic version made from fermented sugar cane. "Harvesting something from a wild animal is never going to be sustainable, especially if it's a top predator that doesn't reproduce in huge numbers. There's so many unknowns of how big and how long this pandemic might go on, and then how many versions of it we have to go through, that if we continue using sharks, the numbers of sharks taken for this product could be really high, year after year after year, Sky News quoted Stefanie Brendl, founder and executive director of Shark Allies, as saying. Also Read: Mumbai's KEM Hospital Begins Screening Volunteers For Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Reuters About three million sharks are killed every year for squalene that is also used in machine oil and cosmetics. A sudden rise in the demand of squalene can threaten the populations of the sharks. The Centre on Tuesday said 16,420 tonnes of paddy worth Rs 31 crore has been procured at minimum support price (MSP) in the last 72 hours from in and Haryana, while procurement has just commenced in other states. With the latest procurement data, the government aims to send a message to protesting against new farm laws that it has no intention of scrapping procurement at MSP. in and and several other states are protesting against the new farm laws, which they feel will lead to procurement in the hands of corporates and the end of MSP regime. The Union Agriculture Ministry, in a statement, said arrival of kharif crops has just begun and the government continues to procure 2020-21 kharif crops like paddy at MSP from farmers as per the existing schemes. commenced from September 26 in and Haryana, while it started on September 28 in other states. In Punjab and alone, about 16,420 tonnes paddy at MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal, totalling Rs 31 crore, has been procured up to September 28, it said. Of this, about 3,164 tonnes paddy has been purchased in Haryana, while 13,256 tonnes in Punjab from 1,443 farmers, it added. For the current year, the government has fixed the MSP of paddy (common grade) at Rs 1,868 per quintal, while that of A grade variety has been fixed at Rs 1,888 per quintal. The government has also given nod for procurement of 14.09 lakh tonnes of kharif pulses and oilseeds for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). The approval to other states will be given on receipt of proposal under the PSS which gets operationalised if the mandi prices fall below the MSP in the notified harvesting period, the statement said. Till September 29, the government, through its nodal agencies, has procured 46.35 tonnes of moong worth Rs 33 lakhs at MSP, benefiting 48 farmers in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, 5,089 tonnes of copra (the perennial crop) worth Rs 52.40 crore has been procured at MSP, benefiting 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Cotton procurement will commence from October 1, it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Chile on Monday lifted strict coronavirus lockdown measures for millions of people in the capital Santiago, a month ahead of a key referendum to amend the dictatorship-era constitution. Most of the capital's seven million population moved to phase three of a five-step deconfinement plan, allowing the reopening of bars and restaurants as well as regional transport links. However, fears are widespread that a new outbreak in infections could drive parts of the capital back into confinement. "It's like I agree and don't agree at the same time," said Gabriela Flores, a 21-year-old student in Puente Alto, Santiago's most populous district. "What's happening now is that they are acting as if nothing happened. What they want to do is to increase trade and get back to work so they don't have to worry about people." The relaxation of the confinement measures comes as the country prepares for the October 25 referendum to decide whether to change the constitution established under the military rule of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-90). Chile is one of the worst-affected countries in Latin America by the coronavirus, with nearly half a million infections and more than 12,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. Around two million people have lost their jobs since the lockdown began in March, and the Central Bank expects the economy to shrink by 7.5 percent in 2020. Johanna Medina, 38, said authorities were ending the lockdown too early: "They shouldn't release us from quarantine." Others, like building caretaker Sergio Silva, 60, welcomed Santiago citizens' newly rediscovered freedom. "It's good for everything, for the state of mind of the people. It was a very complicated time," Silva told AFP. Schools and universities remain closed, with pupils attending classes virtually over the internet. Most companies are encouraging their employees to work from home. Chile's borders remain closed to tourists and non-residents, and nighttime curfews are still in place to prevent the spread of the virus. As the city reopened, Undersecretary for Health, Paula Daza, urged residents of Santiago to "maintain the COVID life" with frequent hand-washing, social distancing and the use of masks. Authorities continue to be concerned about the high levels of infection in the Magellan region in the south of the country, which has been experiencing a resurgence of the disease in recent weeks. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP We need Australian stories on our screens. Its important to Australias cultural identity and, with the production sector employing 25,000 people, its important economically too. That is why, for decades, there have been rules requiring commercial television networks to show specified amounts of Australian drama, documentaries and childrens content. Meeting these "sub-quota" requirements, along with an overall requirement to show 55 per cent Australian content, costs Australias free-to-air television broadcasters tens of millions of dollars a year. Yet audiences for free-to-air television are dropping sharply, down more than 30 per cent in five years. Revenue too is way down. In the run-up to the summit of the G20 countries in November 2020 to be held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the science academies of these countries have presented their joint statement "Foresight: Science for Navigating Critical Transitions". The paper was handed over to the Saudi Arabian G20 presidency on Saturday. In their statement, the academies of science emphasize the necessity to consider global challenges in all their complexity and cross-linkage and emphasize the contribution of science to the management of upheavals. The coronavirus pandemic has revealed a lack of foresight and weak points in the areas of health care, economy, social services, and education. The statement was prepared in virtual meetings of the science academies with participation of members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The joint statement of the S20 academies draws on insights gained from the current coronavirus pandemic and provides valuable impulses from the international scientific community for all participants of the G20 summit. Seeing a general referral for employing market-oriented approaches to further sustainability and reducing dependence on fossil fuels is a success. This is a good starting point for prospective international consultations, in which we will advocate a global CO? minimum price. Without this vital instrument, we are bound to miss the two-degree target." Gerald Haug, President, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina According to the statement, science can help master global challenges and manage change and upheaval with more ease. In the core fields of health, sustainability, and digitization, it is necessary to act with foresight in order to recognize impending risks early on, take countermeasures and exploit the existing potential for international cooperation. The academies recommend in the field of health, among other things, an international cooperation framework for monitoring emerging diseases and coping with pandemics, research funding for precision medicine in order to make improvements and provide broader accessibility, and strategies for dealing with demographic change. Regarding sustainability and reducing the dependency on fossil fuels, the academies recommend the promotion of renewable energies, including sustainable energy systems, storage technologies, and market-oriented approaches. On digitization, the academies recommend, among other things, measures to provide access to digital technologies and the internet for everyone while at the same time maintain privacy protection and ensure the security of digital networks and devices. Every investor in Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:LOMA) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership. With a market capitalization of US$491m, Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima. View our latest analysis for Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. We can see that Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Story continues It would appear that 5.3% of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Our data shows that Participacoes Morro Vermelho S.A. is the largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 5.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid. General Public Ownership With a 18% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Private Company Ownership We can see that Private Companies own 51%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company. Next Steps: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima . Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. An Midlands paramedic has spoken about her battle with Covid-19 from the ICU department of the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore. Taking to social media on Monday, Paula King Delaney said: "Covid is real and a heartless b**tard. "I'm starting my third week of a battle with it. As most of you know I'm a paramedic and contracted it from my job. I thought I was always careful but it's odourless, tasteless, invisible and doesn't discriminate against anyone," she warned. "I'm in ICU in Tullamore hospital battling this. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be saying this. I was told today [Monday] I shouldn't have made it through Friday without a ventilator but I'm being looked after by the most amazing people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting; the Covid ward and ICU staff of Tullamore. "These strangers have gone above a beyond to literally hold me while I couldn't hold my own head to even breathe. When I felt I couldn't go on another minute they fought for me. "Doctors banging on my window while physios and nurses held me, begging me to breathe so they didn't have to tube me. Fighting to give me any meds they could to save me. "Through my darkest hours the texts, calls, well wishes flooded in because it has to be done without your loved ones. I've never been so scared, lonely or depressed as I've felt through this battle but yet so loved and held by the amazing nurses, doctors, carers, physios, care attendants and porters. "Making sure there wasn't more they could do, so selfless each and every one of them. My battle is not over in this but please mind yourselves and each other out there. "I'm so grateful for all the messages of support, they do make a difference in the darkest hours. Please be vigilant in the fight with Covid," Paula concluded. HMD Globally shared the Android 11 update timeline for Nokia phones on Twitter and deletes it later. Google has started rolling out the latest Android 11 update starting with its Pixel phones. As expected, a lot of Android users are now curious to know if and when the new update will arrive on their devices. In a long list of major Android smartphones, theres only Nokia that is still making vanilla Android smartphones under the Android One program. It promises at least three years of Android OS updates and a lot of Nokia users must be keen to know if their smartphone will receive it. To rest those curious souls, there could be good news as HMD, from Nokia Mobiles Twitter handle, shared a roadmap of the Android 11 rollout for supported Nokia smartphones. The tweet is now removed, but Neowin got hold of a screenshot. Looking at the list, HMD Global appears to be adhering to its three-year update promise. As some devices in the list were shipped with Android 9 out of the box. Heres what the leaked screenshot tells us about the supported Nokia devices and the timeline. Nokia's smartphones to receive Android 11 update The first Nokia smartphones to receive the Android 11 update are Nokia 8.3 5G, Nokia 8.1, Nokia 2.2, and the Nokia 5.3. As per the report, these devices will get Android 11 by Q4 2020. The next phase of smartphones will get the update in Q1 2021. It will be covering the Nokia 1.3, Nokia 4.2, Nokia 2.4, Nokia 2.3 and Nokia 3.4. And the final phase appears to be Q2 2021, that will bring Android 11 to the Nokia 3.2, the Nokia 7.2, the Nokia 6.2, the Nokia 1 Plus, and the Nokia 9 PureView. While we did not spot this tweet on Nokias handle, but we were able to verify that the roadmap was tweeted and deleted soon. Its still blurry why the company took it down, but if we could guess, the company might have found some inaccuracy or was simply not prepared to make it public yet. But if its true, everyone using one of the Nokia phones listed above can take a deep breath. Environment ministers of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will meet on October 1 to review the progress on air pollution management plans which were decided on in 2016, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday. State pollution control boards, municipal corporations and various urban bodies, like Delhi Development Authority and New Delhi Municipal Council, will also attend the virtual meeting. We came up with short term, medium term and long-term plans in 2016. We plan to review implementation of those plans and assess preparedness for this winter, Javadekar said. Also read: Two students move Supreme Court against crop residue burning He added that two meetings with northwestern states were also held in the past monthone headed by the cabinet secretary; another headed by principal secretary to the prime minister. Javadekar said that the Centre had accepted the air pollution problem and brought out policies to deal with it in the past four years. The PM brought out the national air quality index (NAQI) so that people can easily understand pollution levels. Badarpur power plant was shut down, the Sonepat thermal power plant was also phased out, we built the peripheral expressway which was pending for 15 years. The expressway ensured that 60,000 trucks which passed through Delhi polluting it to reach other states could bypass Delhi; BS VI emission standards have been introduced and BS VI fuel is also available. We introduced waste management rules 2016 which includes rules for construction and demolition waste, 3000 industries in the national capital region (NCR) have got piped gas supply. So we are working on all fronts, said Javadekar, adding that Indian Council for Agricultural Research will conduct various trials this year to curb crop stubble burning. HT had reported on Monday that the harvest season has already begun in many parts of northwest India even as most farmer groups are agitating against the farm bills, farmer leaders said farm fires may continue this year too in the absence of adequate monetary support to small farmers to use straw management machinery. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has made himself largely unavailable to questions from reporters since before his nomination. In contrast, President Trump has made himself available numerous times per day to reporters and their often hostile and confrontational questions. This is why the moderator of the first debate, Chris Wallace of Fox News, should ask Biden the most questions. Not that Wallace needs any help from me, but here are some things I would ask. Mr. Biden, why would you raise taxes when the presidents tax cuts stimulated the economy and created millions of new jobs before the pandemic? Follow-up: The federal government is approaching $27 trillion in debt. Your spending plans have been estimated to add $11 trillion to the debt. Even if your tax increases passed by Congress, it would not be nearly enough to cover what you plan to spend. Where is the money coming from and if from a foreign power, like China, doesnt that put us in hock to a hostile state? Are there any government programs or agencies you would eliminate? You have stated your Catholic faith has deeply influenced you, but your churchs teachings, and the statements by several popes, have opposed abortion, same-sex marriage, and other social issues, which you reportedly favor. How can one be a faithful Catholic and disregard such fundamental principles of ones church? And isnt the right to life the most basic right of all? Speaking of principles, you have changed positions on a number of bedrock beliefs, including federal funding of abortion. Do you have any principles that to you are inviolate and if so, what are they? How do we know you wont flip on those if it proves politically expedient? You have said that you would shut down the country if scientists say it would help kill off the virus, but as weve seen, even a partial shutdown has harmed the economy, which was growing dramatically before March. Isnt there a better way to fight the virus, as now appears to be happening, rather than the disastrous effect a complete shutdown would have on businesses and employment? If elected, would you commit to regular testing to assure the public you do not have any mental acuity problems? Your running mate, Kamala Harris, is regarded as the most liberal member of the Senate. How can voters be sure that she and her fellow liberals wont be the driving force behind policies should you win the election? It appears from press reports that you were aware at some level about your son, Hunter, and his dealings with Burisma in Ukraine and with China while you were vice president. Explain how he could make so much money in so short a time if he was not peddling his name and influence for personal gain. Your campaign has said a Senate report on this is part of right-wing and long debunked stories. But did he or did he not make millions of dollars from these ventures? Yes, or no?. The Green New Deal is estimated to eliminate many jobs. You have said these jobs would be replaced by eco-friendly jobs. Isnt that a case of limiting peoples freedoms, especially when the main polluters on the planet are China and India? You have declined to publish a list of black women you would name to the Supreme Court. Is it because they would be very liberal and isnt this a case of racism, since you have excluded every other ethnic group? If African Americans are to be preferred for the court, why do you not approve of Justice Clarence Thomas? Why do you use a teleprompter to answer the few questions asked of you? Just thought I would ask, Mr. Biden. Im not expecting an answer, even if you remember the questions. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas new book Americas Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the Future of the United States (HarperCollins/Zondervan). By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Dashkasan region has been subjected to artillery fire from the direction of Armenias Vardenis region starting from 07.30, the Defence Ministry reported on September 29 in its official website. Armenian forces used large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery to launch a large-scale military attack on the positions of the Azerbaijani army. Additionally, the ministry said on September 29 that the Azerbaijani Army continues to liberate the occupied Fizuli region from the Armenian armed forces. "On September 29, starting from the morning hours, the Azerbaijan Armys offensive operation to liberate Fizuli city continues," the ministry said. The ministry noted that approximately at 07.00-08.00 on September 29, Azerbaijani soldiers destroyed four more tanks of the occupying Armenian troops in the Fizuli-Jabrayil direction of the front. Later, the ministry reported the destruction of two more Armenian tanks without specifying the location. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery on September 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. An initial investigation found that a Ford Fusion was headed west on Freemans Ford Road and going at a high rate of speed, according to police. The driver of the Ford crossed the double solid lines of the road, police said, to pass a vehicle in front of it and then hit a Honda Accord head-on. By Mike Killian The weather may not have cooperated for the Arsenal of Democracys highly- anticipated Washington DC flyover to commemorate this years 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, but the truth is, it was never just about the flyover. It was about thanking and honoring our veterans of WWII, including personnel who were held as POWs or listed as missing in action, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States, and to thank and honor their families. An entire generation of Americans and our allies came together to defend democracy and defeat the forces of oppression and tyranny in Japan and Germany, and they paid an absolutely terrible price for the victory. The examples set by our grandfathers and grandmothers must never be forgotten, and may be more important now more than ever with all the division and anger currently across our great nation. One of those veterans, Lt. Col Thomas Bob Vaucher, was the honorary air boss. He served as a pilot and commander in the Army Air Corp from 1940 to 1946, and while he had a decorated career, his (arguably) most notable mission was as Mission Commander and lead pilot for the American Show of Force Flyover on Sep 2, 1945, when 525 B-29 Superfortresses flew over the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Had the weather cooperated this weekend, Mr Vaucher would have flew on the Commemorative Air Force B-29 Superfortress FIFI. He actually piloted the very first B-29, and flew as aircraft commander on the first B-29 strategic combat mission against mainland Japan on June 15, 1944. He even flew the longest non- stop WWII combat mission (4,030 nautical miles roundtrip, 18 hrs., 50 min., India to Sumatra), flying the aircraft beyond official max. range on Aug. 10, 1944. Some 70 vintage aircraft of more than 20 different types were in attendance, many of whom were real WWII combat veterans themselves, all gathered to fly 24 historically sequenced formations over the nations capital representing some of the wars major battles, from D-Day to the Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor, the Doolittle Raiders attack on Japan, Iwo Jima and others, to the final air assault on Japan and concluding with a missing man formation. Everything from Pathfinder aircraft to trainers to fighters and bombers and transports was present, thanks to the organizations and individuals whose mission is to preserve these historic artifacts in flying condition. To fight cancer by a newly developed substance shredding carcinogenic aurora proteins: This is the aim of a new study by scientists at universities in Wurzburg and Frankfurt. Credit: Dr. Sandy Pernitzsch The villain in this drama has a pretty name: AuroraLatin for dawn. In the world of biochemistry, however, Aurora (more precisely: Aurora-A kinase) stands for a protein that causes extensive damage. It has been known for a long time that Aurora often causes cancer. It triggers the development of leukemias and many pediatric cancers, such as neuroblastomas. Researchers at the universities of Wurzburg and Frankfurt have now developed a drug that can disarm Aurora. Dr. Elmar Wolf, biochemist and research group leader at the Biocenter of Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg (JMU), and Stefan Knapp, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt, have played a leading role in this development. The results of their work have now been published in the latest issue of Nature Chemical Biology. Making tumor-promoting proteins disappear "Cancers are usually triggered by tumorigenic proteins," explains Elmar Wolf. Because cancer cells produce more of these proteins than normal cells, the dynamics are additionally increased. A common therapeutic approach is therefore to inhibit the function of these proteins with drugs. "Although the proteins are then still there, they no longer function as well. This makes it possible to combat the tumor cells," he says. However, the development of these inhibitors is difficult and has so far not been successful for all tumor-promoting proteins. To date, none of the candidates that inhibit Aurora has shown the desired results in clinical practice. The dream of many scientists is therefore to develop a drug that not only inhibits the tumor-promoting proteins but makes them disappear completely. A promising approach along this path could be a new class of substances with the scientific name PROTAC. In vitro cancer cells die "We have developed such a PROTAC for Aurora," says Elmar Wolf. Together with his team and especially his doctoral student Bikash Adhikari, he was able to show that this PROTAC completely degrades the Aurora protein in cancer cells. Such cells cultivated in the laboratory died as a result. Wolf describes the mode of action of this substance as follows: "The tumor needs certain tumor-promoting proteins, which we can imagine as the pages of a book. Our PROTAC substance tears out the 'Aurora' pages and destroys them with the help of the machinery that every cell has to degrade old and broken proteins." PROTAC thus "shreds" the Aurora protein, as it were, until nothing of it remains. Further work is required Professor Stefan Knapp from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Goethe University explains: "Aurora-A kinase is present in much higher concentrations in many cancer tissues than in healthy tissue and it also plays a key role in prostate cancer. Blocking the activity of Aurora-A kinase alone seems not a promising approach as none of the many clinically tested drug candidates has achieved clinical approval. With our PROTAC variant, we inhibit Aurora-A kinase via another, possibly more effective mechanism, which may open up new treatment options. That's why in the next step we'll test effectiveness and tolerance in animal models." Explore further Novel PROTAC enhances its intracellular accumulation and protein knockdown More information: Bikash Adhikari et al. PROTAC-mediated degradation reveals a non-catalytic function of AURORA-A kinase, Nature Chemical Biology (2020). Journal information: Nature Chemical Biology Bikash Adhikari et al. PROTAC-mediated degradation reveals a non-catalytic function of AURORA-A kinase,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-020-00652-y Kimberley Street, widely considered Hong Kong's "Little Korea" / Courtesy of Jericho Li By Jericho Li It is no secret that many Hongkongers are obsessed with K-pop stars and Korean TV dramas. I was told that four out of 10 them admit that they devote a considerable amount of time on planning trips, and South Korea is the second-most-popular travel destination. The gloomy outlook of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic has apparently killed the travel bug in many locals, and their feelings definitely resonate with me. With little chance of flying out to revisit Seoul this year, I decided to spend a day tucking into Korean food at Kimberley Street in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui area. Tsim Sha Tsui is not only famous for its prestigious shopping and cultural attractions, but also well-known to many for Kimberley Street which is affectionately dubbed "Little Korea" by Hongkongers. Apart from restaurants and cafes, one can also find Korean grocery stores and grab Korean snacks such as kimbap and kimchi. Inside Namdaemoon One, a Korean restaurant in Hong Kong's Kimberley Street / Courtesy of Jericho Li It was the first weekend following the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's announcement that it would gradually relax the toughest social distancing measures imposed since mid-July when the city was hit harshly by a third wave of coronavirus infections. Dine-in services are now allowed until 9 p.m. daily, albeit no more than two people can be seated together at a table. I arrived around 1 p.m. ready to indulge myself with Korean food. The great thing about Little Korea is that most of the eateries here are quite affordable so you don't have to worry about blowing your budget. At a glance, Kimberley Street may seem a bit quiet on a Sunday afternoon but in fact, most of the restaurants opened were already filled with diners. Korean storefronts on Hong Kong's Kimberley Street / Courtesy of Jericho Li The waitress at the entrance of Namdaemoon One Korean restaurant guided me to a table in the corner. To my surprise, she didn't check my body temperature before letting me in. Their lunch menu has a wide selection of options including fried kimchi pancake, seafood stew, beef bone stew and different kinds of rice and noodle dishes. Everything is between 55 and 70 Hong Kong dollars ($7.10 to $9 U.S.). Without further ado, I ordered ojingeo bokkeum, spicy stir-fried squid and vegetables paired with rice topped with an over-easy egg. Koreans love squid, and so do I. This dish is lightly sweet, spicy and flavorful, and the gochujang-based sauce used to stir-fry the squid is perfect to eat with white rice. Stir-fried cuttlefish and vegetables with rice and an over-easy egg at Namdaemoon One in Hong Kong's Kimberley Street / Courtesy of Jericho Li Craving satisfied. I left Namdaemoon One with a full belly and a happy heart. Kimberley Street was slightly busier than earlier as more people were arriving for late lunch. Some even began to line up outside the restaurants to be served, and others were waiting for take-out. Next to Namdaemoon One is a small grocery store filled with specialty Korean ingredients and other authentic Korean goods. My eyes glittered when I saw large bags of dalgona coffee which my friends and I enjoyed when we were drinking at Korean bars in Seoul. Packed with shoppers, it was impossible to follow the social distancing guidelines and keep at least a meter from others. The aisles between the shelves were quite narrow and I had to squeeze past other shoppers. Everyone was lost in the moment treasure hunting the Korean goodies they were ready to bring home. Another popular spot at Kimberley Street is Cheonggyecheon, a "Home Made Premium Banchan Cafe" as the sign says. It is actually a store that offers an amazing array of Korean side dishes like kimchi, pickled vegetables, salted seafood and other quick bites. It is also a great place to familiarize oneself with all the varieties of small side dishes, the perfect complements of Korean cuisine. Little Korea in Hong Kong may be a small street that is roughly 500 meters long, but to many Korea aficionados, Kimberley Street is where locals come to fulfill their hallyu desires and perhaps reminisce about the good old days when everyone could travel to South Korea freely. Besides Kimberley Street, Little Korea also stretches to the nearby Kimberley Road which could be confusing for newcomers. Bibimbap and spicy seafood tofu stew at Dalin Pocha on Hong Kong's Kimberley Street / Courtesy of Jericho Li NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ("Scott+Scott"), an international securities and consumer rights litigation firm, continues investigating certain directors and officers of Sonic Automotive, Inc. ("Sonic") (NYSE: SAH) for breaching their fiduciary duties to Sonic and its shareholders. If you are a Sonic shareholder, you may contact attorney Joe Pettigrew for additional information toll-free at 844-818-6982 or [email protected]. Scott+Scott is investigating whether Sonic's board of directors or senior management failed to manage Sonic in an acceptable manner, in breach of their fiduciary duties to Sonic, and whether Sonic has suffered damages as a result. Specifically, Scott+Scott is investigating fiduciary duty breaches regarding recent compensation awards to Sonic executives. What You Can Do If you are a Sonic shareholder, you may have legal claims against Sonic's directors and officers. If you wish to discuss this investigation, or have questions about this notice or your legal rights, please contact attorney Joe Pettigrew toll-free at 844-818-6982 or [email protected]. About Scott+Scott Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, and consumer rights actions throughout the United States. The firm represents pension funds, foundations, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Connecticut, California, Virginia, and Ohio. Attorney Advertising CONTACT: Joe Pettigrew Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP 230 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10169 844-818-6982 [email protected] SOURCE Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Related Links http://scott-scott.com SINGAPORE Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday, as logistics firm ZTO Express soared in its Hong Kong debut. By Hong Kong's market close on Tuesday, shares of logistics provider ZTO Express jumped more than 9% from the offer price of 218 Hong Kong dollars ($28.13) per share. The firm is the latest U.S.-listed Chinese company to debut in the city. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 0.85% to close at 23,275.53. Mainland Chinese stocks were higher, with the Shanghai composite up 0.21% to about 3,224.36 while the Shenzhen component added 1.095% to approximately 12,900.70. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.86% to close at 2,327.89. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat on the day at 5,952.10. Over in Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.12% to close at 23,539.10 while the Topix index dipped 0.23% to end its trading day at 1,658.10. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was fractionally higher. In coronavirus developments, the global death toll from the pandemic crossed the 1 million mark, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. About half of the world's Covid-19 fatalities were reported in just four countries the U.S., Brazil, India and Mexico, according to Hopkins data. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijan Army's artillery units are inflicting the crushing blow on the occupying Armenian forces as combat operations continue along the entire frontline, the Defence Ministry reported on September 29 at 16:29. The ministry noted that combat operations against the provocation of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan continue along the entire frontline. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery on September 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz (Natural News) In a not-so-shocking turn of events, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is delving into early childhood education by opening up his first tuition-free preschool in Washington state. Known as the Bezos Academy, the facility, located about 18 miles south of Seattle, is set to open within the next month. It will be the first of many to open as part of a Bezos network of tuition-free preschools, which aim to influence the next generation of youth at the earliest possible age. The Bezos Academy opens its doors on Oct. 19th, Bezos wrote in an announcement posted to Instagram. This one in Des Moines, WA, is the first of many free preschools that well be opening for underserved children. Extra kudos to the team for figuring out how to make this happen even amidst COVID, and to Wesley Homes for stepping up with the facility. Wesley Homes, in case you are unfamiliar, is a nonprofit retirement community provider that is associated with the United Methodist Church. In conjunction with his Day One Fund, which was established back in 2018, the Bezos Academy is described by Bezos as a Montessori-inspired preschool that will offer year-round programming, five days a week, for children 3-5 years old. Admission to the Bezos Academy will also prioritize low-income families, a statement on the Day One Fund website explains. In the New World Order, tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos will control education The Bezos Academy builds upon the blueprints set forth by Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, who back in 2015 launched a philanthropy arm with the stated mission to build a better school. By offering free programs, computers and other materials to schools, Zuckerbergs plan is to influence the next generation of youth to support and advance the globalist agenda, departing from the ideals laid out by their parents and their parents parents. Google is likewise pushing to teach the next generation of youth with its own propaganda agenda, which seems to be a Silicon Valley trend as of late. With their influence they have introduced sex education as early as 5, gender identity issues etc., during the time they are learning their ABCs, warns Eric Thompson, writing for DavidHarrisJr.com. Also they promote collectivism, minimize the individual and establish safe spaces on campuses with passing language and restrictions including hate speech & micro aggressions parameters, both which lead to disciplinary actions against the student. You can be sure that the Bezos Academy will fall right in line with this corruptive agenda. And why would it not? This is what the rich and powerful tech overlords have been dreaming about for decades, and it is finally coming to fruition as part of the new world order that is now openly manifesting all around us. As a Christian, it is disheartening to see people, who used to put God first and took responsibility for their childrens education and did their best to keep their children from losing their connection with the family unit, sacrifice their children to the tech gods, laments Thompson. Keep in mind that this is the same Jeff Bezos who abuses his Amazon employees and who wants to eventually replace them all with artificial intelligence (AI) robots. Would you really trust this man with your children? In America 2020, the billionaires, primarily from the tech sector, have been given the opportunity to teach Americas children before handing them off to the Marxist public school system, Thompson concludes. Children have a very small chance of making it out of public schools as strong, independent and proud Americans. Homeschools, Christian schools and balanced charter schools should be considered ASAP. More related news about the indoctrination of Americas youth under the leadership of corrupt, human-hating tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos can be found at Propaganda.news. Sources for this article include: DavidHarrisJr.com NaturalNews.com Santa Barbara County Sheriff Authorities in California have suspended search and rescue efforts for a missing woman last seen piloting a small plane that witnesses said crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guard on Monday turned the hunt for Deborah Nicholson, 61, over to the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office as a missing person investigation, the sheriffs office said in a statement. The sheriffs office said that a special diving team from Los Angeles County arrived on the scene Monday equipped with an Ocean Rescue boat and dive team members able to dive as deep as 300 feet. Nicholson was the lone occupant of a Cessna 182 Skylane that reportedly crashed about two miles off the coast of Campus Point at UC Santa Barbara in Isla Vista, the statement said. The sheriffs dispatch was notified just after 7 a.m. on Sunday that the plane had lost communication with the Santa Barbara Airport tower. A witness reported seeing a small aircraft quickly descending and hitting the ocean several miles from the airport, CW affiliate KTLA reported. RELATED: 4 People Killed in Small Plane Crash in Texas Following Emergency Landing Attempt Sheriffs deputies and County Air Support are assisting Coast Guard with report of a plane crash 2 miles off Campus Point. Coast Guard will be primary for this investigation. pic.twitter.com/qAJ1cVmjqg PIO Raquel Zick (@SBSOPIO) September 27, 2020 Plane debris was also found in the area, as was an oil sheen on the water that smelled like aircraft fuel, the outlet reported. RELATED VIDEO: Matt Mauser Recalls Fatal Helicopter Crash That Took His Wife Christina and Honoring Her Legacy Matt Mauser Recalls Fatal Helicopter Crash That Took His Wife Christina and Honoring Her Legacy The musician opens up about how he and his family are coping following the death of Christina Mauser in the January crash that also killed Kobe Bryant Story continues Nicholson, who is from the Lake Tahoe area, was recently appointed to serve on the Airport Community Advisory Team, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported. The newspaper, which spelled her first name Debra, reported that she has been practicing solo estate law in Tahoe City for more than 30 years, and has two sons, the youngest of whom recently started college. The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate the crash. GREENWICH Middle school students at Greenwich Catholic have returned to the building after two weeks in quarantine. Two classes at the private school were sent home Sept. 11, after school officials confirmed a seventh-grade student had tested positive for COVID-19. The other seventh-graders, as well as the eighth-graders and the siblings of the affected students, were forced to quarantine until Monday, school officials said. In total, about 90 Greenwich Catholic students participated in distance learning over the two-week period, school officials said. The decision to send those students home from September 14-25 was made out of an abundance of caution, and we have had no other positive cases, Noelle Debes, the schools director of advancement, said Monday. As the school year progresses, the GCS administration, in cooperation with local health authorities, will continue making decisions in the best interests of our students, teachers, staff, and the community at large. Greenwich Catholic Principal Patrice Kopas explained at the time that all of the middle school needed to quarantine because they are considered a cohort, since they travel within and share the same classrooms throughout the day. After learning of the positive coronavirus case, Kopas said the school consulted with the Greenwich Department of Health, Greenwich Public Schools and the superintendent for the Diocese of Bridgeport, which operates the preK through eighth grade school. The school building was thoroughly cleaned, too, officials said. The school, located on North Street, reopened Sept. 2 with in-person classes for all grade levels. Enrollment at the school is capped at 360. At the time of the positive case, Kopas urged parents interested in distance learning to contact school administrators. Debes could not be immediately reached on Monday for information on whether students have opted for distance learning. However, Monday morning she touted the schools remote services provided to students in quarantine in the previous two weeks. During their time at home, those students were engaged in our robust distance learning program, which allows for consistent and live instruction with their teachers, Debes said. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against pen manufacturer Rotomac Global Pvt Ltd and its promoter Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhna Kothari and and son Rahul Kothari for allegedly cheating Bank of India of Rs 806 crores, people familiar with the development said. This is the third CBI case against the Rotomac group, run by Kanpur based Kotharis, for cheating banks. In February 2018, CBI filed its first case against Rotomac and Vikram Kothari for allegedly cheating a consortium of seven banks including Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of India for allegedly defrauding them of Rs 3,695 crore. It was alleged that Kothari got loans disbursed based on foreign letters of credit (FLCs) on the pretext of making payments to his buyers and suppliers in places like Dubai, Sharjah and Hong Kong but they didnt exist. The Kotharis allegedly provided incomplete documents or photocopies of bills of loading to the banks on the pretext that original papers were sent to the importer. The banks had alleged that Rotomac did not attach the packing list, mandatory insurance copies of goods, certificate of origin of goods, or the inspection certificate from third parties while submitting documents to it. When bank officials visited Rotomacs suppliers and buyers abroad, they found that the import/export business was allegedly running through shell companies. Later, a second case was registered in February 2020 against the company for allegedly cheating Allahabad Bank of Rs 36 crore. In the latest FIR, CBI has alleged that the company took loans over a period of time from Bank of India for which there is outstanding of Rs 806 crore. It has been alleged that company diverted most of the funds taken from the bank. With three cases registered by CBI, total amount pertaining to bank fraud involving Kanpur based Kotharis comes to around Rs 4,500 crore. Kotharis legal representative could not be located by HT. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nations top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. He was 91. In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts at pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. His 2006 ascension in Kuwait, a staunch U.S. ally since the American-led war that expelled occupying Iraqi troops, came after parliament voted unanimously to oust his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, just nine days into his rule. Yet as Kuwaits ruling emir, he struggled with internal political disputes, the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and seesawing crude oil prices that chewed into a national budget providing cradle-to-grave subsidies. He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs, said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait. No question he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and more brash young princes holding power today. State television announced his death after playing Quranic prayers, with Royal Court Minister Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al Sabah reading a brief statement, his hands shaking. With great sadness and sorrow, the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world mourn the death of the late His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, emir of the state of Kuwait who moved to the realm of the Lord, the sheikh said, without offering a cause of death. FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 file photo released by Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, middle, receives by Kuwaiti officials after his arrival from the U.S. in Kuwait. Kuwait state television said Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, the country's 91-year-old ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, had died. (KUNA via AP, File)AP Sheikh Sabah is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The high regard for Sheikh Sabah could be seen in the outpouring of support for him across the Mideast as he suddenly fell ill in July 2020, leading to a quick hospitalization and surgery in Kuwait City amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Authorities did not say what ailed him. A U.S. Air Force C-17 flying hospital then transported Sheikh Sabah from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic an extraordinary gesture by the American government for a foreign head of state. The Mayo Clinic did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sheikh Sabahs life spanned two very different Kuwaits. He was born June 16, 1929, just as the countrys pearl-diving industry would collapse. Within the decade, Kuwait would strike oil. Engineers would eventually confirm that the tiny country, slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, had the worlds sixth-largest known oil reserves. Sheikh Sabah became Kuwaits foreign minister in 1963 after holding a number of other governmental posts. He would remain in that position for four decades, making him one of the worlds longest-serving foreign ministers. His countrys greatest crisis came in 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the nation for seven months. Fleeing with other Kuwaiti officials to neighboring Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Sabah collapsed and lost consciousness at one particularly stormy meeting of Arab leaders. On Feb. 24, 1991, U.S. troops and their allies stormed into Kuwait. It ended 100 hours later. America suffered only 148 combat deaths during the whole campaign, while over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed. Even before the U.S. entered Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah and others began suggesting a permanent American presence in the region might provide them protection from Iraq and others. One learns from the past and learns about it for the future, Sheikh Sabah reportedly said. One has to consider arrangements that would make not only my country stable but make the whole area stable. Today, Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of U.S. Army Central. In 2003, his half brother and Kuwaits then-emir, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, named Sheikh Sabah as the countrys prime minister. Although the move kept members of the Al Sabah family firmly in control of Kuwait, it was seen as a modest step toward reform as it marked the first time that the roles of prime minister and crown prince the next in line to the throne were split. It also formalized Sheikh Sabahs role in running the daily affairs of the country a responsibility he had increasingly assumed while the former prime minister, Sheikh Saad, struggled with health problems. Despite those health problems, Sheikh Saad took power in 2006 after the death of Sheikh Jaber. Concerns mounted during his brief reign as he was seen in public only in a wheelchair and did not speak. Parliament ended up voting 64-0 to have Sheikh Sabah become emir, following a similar Cabinet decision. Sheikh Saad then submitted a letter of resignation. The vote, while largely symbolic, marked a small victory for democracy among the autocratic Gulf Arab states. It was the first time in Kuwaits history that the legislature had a role in choosing the emir. Sheikh Sabah proved a savvy player of the internal politics of the ruling family, Diwan said. Domestically, Sheikh Sabah faced the challenge of falling oil prices in recent years. He dissolved parliament several times as lawmakers kept questioning appointed government ministers, some of them members of his extended family. As the 2011 Arab Spring swept the region, Sheikh Sabah ordered 1,000 dinar ($3,559) grants and free food coupons for every Kuwaiti. But allegations swirled at the time that some lawmakers had been bribed $350 million by the government to sway their votes, along with rumors that they were involved in embezzling state funds. Amid strikes and confrontations with police, protesters briefly entered parliament, waving flags and singing the countrys national anthem. Sheikh Sabah nevertheless maintained power while still allowing protests, a rarity among Gulf leaders. Internationally, Sheikh Sabah embraced Iraq after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam. He twice visited the country and helped Iraq and Kuwait reach a $500 million deal in 2012 to settle a long-running legal dispute between their state airlines over allegations of large-scale theft by Saddam. The emir also hosted a summit in 2018 that saw $30 billion pledged to help rebuild Iraq after the war against the Islamic State group. Thats even as Iraq still owes Kuwait reparations from Saddams 1990 invasion. Sheikh Sabah also played a role in raising aid funds for Syrians suffering as a result of that countrys civil war, hosting international donor conferences in 2013 and 2014, and pledging hundreds of millions of dollars of Kuwaiti wealth. One of his greatest challenges as a diplomat, however, came with the boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations that began in 2017. Sheikh Sabah positioned himself as a mediator for the political dispute, which he warned in a White House appearance in 2017 could have led to an armed conflict. Thank God, now, what is important is that we have stopped any military action, Sheikh Sabah said. Those mediation efforts have yet to resolve the crisis, but he did manage to get Qatars prime minister to shake hands on live television with Saudi King Salman at a 2019 meeting in Mecca. We believe that wisdom will prevail, Sheikh Sabah once said. A longtime widower, Sheikh Sabah lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, which was named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. He is survived by two sons. By JON GAMBRELL and ADAM SCHRECK, The Associated Press Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Guillaume Daudin (Agence France-Presse) Paris Tue, September 29, 2020 11:09 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e38ea 2 Lifestyle Gerald-Marie,Elite-Models,rape,#MeToo Free A former top boss of one of the world's biggest model agencies is to be investigated for rape and abusing an under-age girl as well as other women, French prosecutors announced on Monday. Gerald Marie, former European head of Elite Models, is the target of a complaint by a former BBC journalist and claims of rape by three ex-models, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP. A specialist child protection unit will lead the probe into allegations of "rape and sexual assault, as well as rape and sexual assault of a minor," it added. The investigation is based on complaints lodged by women for alleged assaults between 1980 and 1998. At the time of the alleged offences, Elite Models had launched the careers of household names such as Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Marie's former wife, supermodel Linda Evangelista. Former BBC journalist Lisa Brinkworth claimed that in October 1998, when she was posing as a model while doing an investigation, Marie sexually assaulted her in a nightclub, pushing his genitals against her abdomen. She was working undercover on a documentary into allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior towards models -- many of them underage -- in certain agencies. Brinkworth's complaint is accompanied by claims from three former models of alleged rape by Marie in Paris when they were teenagers or young women. US model Carre Sutton accuses Marie of "countless" rapes in 1986, when she was 17, fellow American Jill Dodd of a rape in 1980, when she was 19, while Swede Ebba Karlsson claims she was raped in 1990, when she was 20 or 21. Pascal Narboni, Marie's lawyer, told AFP that his client "absolutely formally contests these facts" and said he planned to counter the charges with a lawsuit over the "slanderous allegations". Too late? Under the statute of limitations, which limits the number of years that can lapse between an alleged crime and the initiation of legal proceedings, a prosecution may no longer be possible. This is one of the issues to be determined by the investigation, which in France does not necessarily result in trial. Brinkworth has said she was traumatized by the alleged assault, but was prevented from coming forward by an agreement between the BBC and Elite in 2001 following a defamation suit. Her legal team hopes this restriction on her speaking out can be a basis for bypassing the statute of limitations. Brinkworth's lawyer Anne-Claire Lejeune welcomed the announcement by Paris prosecutors on Monday. "This investigation will, I hope, give others the courage to speak up. This is an encouraging first step and a relief for the victims," she said. Marie left Elite Models, the world's biggest modelling agency, in 2012 and is today head of the Paris-based agency Oui Management. 'No forgotten victims' Brinkworth's documentary caused a stir when it was screened in Britain in 1999. It led to the suspension of Marie and fellow executive Xavier Moreau. But they were later reinstated and the agency pursued the BBC and other broadcasters of the program for defamation. The documentary, which filmed Elite's activities with a hidden camera, alleged that under-age models were pressured into having sex and using drugs. The BBC told AFP it would not deny Brinkworth access to its archives. "We have had extensive discussions with her lawyers to establish how we can make material available. We've always been clear the BBC will co-operate fully with any criminal investigation," it said. The step to investigate Marie came months after a sex harassment probe was opened against French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a former associate of accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Brunel, founder of Karin Models and MC2 Model Management, is accused in American court documents of rape and of procuring young girls for Epstein, who was found hanged in his New York jail cell last year while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. In February, the prosecutor of Paris Remy Heitz said French authorities will not rule out opening investigations into crimes that happened outside of the statute of limitations, to ensure there are "no forgotten victims". Comedian and media personality Dr Kingori on Sunday opened up about his humble background revealing that his family could not afford fees for his university education. After completing Form Four, the Wicked Edition presenter said he set out to become an actor. Immediately after secondary school, I innocently asked my mother about college and she responded, where is the money? At the time, I was cast and started acting in set books. My mother was earning Sh 5,000 then and I remember she was over the moon because it had been increased to Sh 5,600, Kingori said on Churchill Show. Around the same time, his parents found him a road construction job on Sh17,000 salary. However, after a week at the job, Dr Kingori quit to pursue his passion, drawing the wrath of his parents. They wanted me to do go dig trenches on roads where I would make between Sh 12,000 and Sh17,000. With that kind of money at the time, I would have been a tycoon, he recounted. Adding: I went there for a week, remember, I had started acting in set books. I could not fit in. I quit that job and I was told you cant stay here, go fix your life out there. Dr Kingori said his father kicked him out at night around 10 p.m. Recalling his rise in the comedy and TV scene, the 28-year-old father of one said he traveled from his hometown in Embu to the Nation Media Group in Nairobi and pitched his idea. When I was asked to do a pilot, Larry told me to do the concept as a segment on The Trend first and see how people take it. People accepted and loved it and here we are, he said. Rebound and reflection in Wuhan as virus claims million lives WORLD: As the coronavirus claimed its millionth life, people in Wuhan expressed sadness yesterday (Sept 28) at the continuing global impact of the pandemic more than nine months after it emerged in the central Chinese city. ChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19death By AFP Tuesday 29 September 2020, 09:51AM Life has mostly returned to normal in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged in December 2019. Photo: AFP. Pride at the citys resilience in the face of the calamity is tinged with sadness at the mounting death toll elsewhere. One million people dead, maybe relatively speaking in terms of the total global population its not a lot, said Hu Lingquan, a scientist and Wuhan resident. But these are actually all real peoples lives, he told AFP. Every person has a family. Children clasped their parents hands yesterday as they navigated their way to school through rush-hour traffic in the nearly back-to-normal city. As the global death toll hit one million and with resistance to the threat of new lockdowns building from London and Madrid to Melbourne China has been celebrating its emergence from the virus. The economy is bouncing back, with factories re-opened and consumers returning to shops the epidemic smothered by months of strictly enforced blanket lockdowns and mass testing and contact tracing. Wuhan, the central Chinese city and ground zero of the virus, has flaunted its rebound with packed pool parties and bustling amusement parks. No new cases since May But those optics have played badly across a world still struggling to control the virus spread and economic fallout, while demanding accountability from China for the causes of the outbreak. The virus was felt sharply in the city of 11 million with 50,340 confirmed cases and 3,869 deaths the most infections and fatalities in China. But there have been no new cases in the city since May, and many in Wuhan now question the global response to a pandemic which China appears to have successfully stifled for now. Beijing has also stirred doubt into the Wuhan outbreak origin story, prodding outrage from worst-hit nations, led by US President Donald Trump who refers to the disease as the China virus. From Chinas point of view theyve really done badly, said scientist Hu. Maybe they never really comprehended how serious this thing is. The World Health Organization warns the toll will keep rising until an effective vaccine is found and distributed globally. When the outbreak began, I didnt imagine the death toll could be this high, Wuhan resident Guo Jing told AFP. It has exceeded a lot of peoples expectations, and it continues to rise. But in the city whose name is now synonymous with the virus, time has seen focus drift. Yesterday facemasks hung from the chins of several pedestrians rather than covering mouths and noses while shoppers thronged Wuhans commercial districts ahead of a holiday week. Wuhan has restarted, An An, a media worker, told AFP. Life has returned to the kind of flavour we had before. Everyone living in Wuhan feels at ease. Editor's Note: The winners of the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards were announced in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan province on Saturday. The winners of nine awards, including those for the best actor, actress, director, and best picture, were announced at the closing ceremony of the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival 2020. The award for best picture went to the patriotic anthology film "My People, My Country," a major production celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Frant Gwo won the best director award for the highest-grossing sci-fi epic "The Wandering Earth." The best actor award was handed to Huang Xiaoming for his role in a firefighter tribute film, "The Bravest." The best actress award went to Zhou Dongyu for her role in "Better Days," a story about school bullying. Zhou's co-star in the film, the pop-idol-turned-actor Jackson Yee, earned the best new actor award. "Dying to Survive" also won two awards: the excellent film award and the best supporting actor (Wang Chuanjun). Yuan Quan, a veteran actress starring in "The Captain," received the award for best supporting actress. Jiao Zi, who wrote and directed the highest-grossing Chinese animated feature "Ne Zha," was awarded the best screenplay writer. The Hundred Flowers Awards was founded in 1962 as the "people's choice award," which gives out awards after counting moviegoers' votes around the country. Decades later, China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival was jointly initiated by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Film Association in 1992. Now the festival is one of the most professional and authoritative film festivals on the Chinese mainland. There is a separate China Film Golden Rooster Awards, also known as "expert awards," as the results are decided by filmmakers, critics, film historians, and other experts. This award ceremony will be held from Nov. 24 - 28 in Xiamen, Fujian province this year. WASHINGTON - Security teams at U.S. spy agencies are constantly scouring employee records for signs of potential compromise: daunting levels of debt, troubling overseas entanglements, hidden streams of income, and a penchant for secrecy or deceit to avoid exposure. President Donald Trump would check nearly every box of this risk profile based on revelations in The New York Times from his long-secret tax records that former intelligence officials and security experts said raise profound questions about whether he should be trusted to safeguard U.S. secrets and interests. The records show that Trump has continued to make money off foreign investments and projects while in office, that foreign officials have spent lavishly at his Washington hotel and other properties, and that despite this revenue he is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt with massive payments coming due. "From a national security perspective, that's just an outrageous vulnerability," said Larry Pfeiffer, who served as chief of staff at the CIA. Pfeiffer, who now serves as director of the Hayden Center for Intelligence at George Mason University, said that if he had faced even a fraction of Trump's financial burden, "there is no question my clearances would be pulled." The disclosures show that Trump's position is more precarious than he has led the public to believe, and he faces the need for a substantial infusion of cash in the coming years to avert potential financial crisis. As a result, officials and experts said Trump has made himself vulnerable to manipulation by foreign governments aware of his predicament, and put himself in a position in which his financial interests and the nation's priorities could be in conflict. The revelations add to long-standing suspicions about Trump's approach to foreign policy and seeming deference to leaders of countries where he has either pursued real estate projects or could do so after leaving office. The list includes the Philippines, Russia and Turkey, where Trump has sought to erect office towers bearing his name or made millions of dollars from licensing deals and other ventures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused Trump of putting the country's security in jeopardy. "This president appears to have over $400 million debt," Pelosi said in an NBC television interview. "To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have?" "For me," she said, "this is a national security question." Trump dismissed the report on his taxes as "fake news" but has neither directly disputed its most salient assertions - including that he paid $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017 - nor indicated that he will release his tax records. Intelligence officials said the magnitude of Trump's debts pose a vulnerability that is compounded by his determination to prevent his financial records from becoming public. "It's the hiding of a vulnerability that is a real indicator" of potential security risk, said Jeffrey Edmonds, a former CIA analyst who served in the Trump White House as deputy director for Russia on the National Security Council. "The more you try to hide something like that, the greater lengths you will go to keep it concealed." Officials said the tax records seem to reflect other Trump traits that would probably trouble counterintelligence experts. They cited the disorganized structure of his companies, apparent contempt for the tax code, discrepancies in his valuations of assets, and potentially illegal practice of paying consulting fees to family members. "All of that goes to how trustworthy a person is to hold highly classified, sensitive material," Pfeiffer said. The tax records provide a new lens through which to view Trump's behavior toward foreign autocrats. Trump's aversion to challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin has been particularly baffling to national security officials. Trump has dismissed evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election, downplayed reports that Russia paid bounties to forces in Afghanistan targeting U.S. soldiers, and this month refused to even address questions about the poisoning of a Russian political activist. Beyond his pursuit of a Trump Tower in the Russian capital, the tax files show that Trump made at least $2.3 million from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Trump has praised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for doing an "unbelievable job" in a crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands and been condemned by the State Department. Tax files show that Trump has made millions after licensing his name to a Manila tower 10 years ago. More recently, Trump boasted to journalist Bob Woodward that he "saved" Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from severe repercussions from the United States after the CIA concluded that the Saudi royal was complicit in the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Ethics experts and congressional Democrats have repeatedly raised concerns that Trump is using the office to enrich himself, refusing to recuse himself from the family business even as foreign dignitaries and lobbyists flock to his hotels and other properties. Lobbyists funded by Saudi Arabia paid for an estimated 500 nights at Trump's Washington hotel in 2016 within a month of his election, The Post reported in 2018. Then-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak patronized the Trump hotel in the District of Columbia in 2017. Officials said that the power of the presidency makes it difficult for U.S. intelligence or national security officials to take any steps to respond to the revelations about Trump and take any steps to minimize risks to security. "My guess is there may be less detail provided about sources and methods" to Trump than to previous presidents, Pfeiffer said. "But presidents, by our norms and the fact that they have been elected, have access to classified information. You can't take it to zero." A majority of people in France believe that schoolgirls should be banned from wearing crop tops and that bras ought to be obligatory, according to a poll carried out after a government minister sparked debate by ordering pupils to dress in republican style. Girls in high schools across the country wore miniskirts and low-cut or crop tops to lessons last month to express anger at double standards in dress codes. The day of protest was inspired by stories on social media of humiliated female students being sent home or told off by headteachers for provocative outfits, while their male classmates were allowed to wear what they liked. Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer generated further controversy last week with his reaction to the discrimination complaints, insisting that teenagers should follow the principles of the French republic, founded in 1792, although he did not clarify what that meant. Its important to dress appropriately for school, he said. School is not like other places. You dont go to school as you would to the beach or a nightclub. Everyone knows that you should go to school dressed in the republican style. A large part of the French public appears to agree that schoolgirls should dress conservatively, with 55 per cent of questioned by Ifop saying that crop tops should not be permitted. Meanwhile, 66 per cent said that putting on tops or dresses without a bra at school was unacceptable. Predictably, perhaps, the survey revealed a sharp age divide. Some 79 per cent of people aged over 65 objected to girls abandoning bras, which have been held up as a symbol of womens sartorial oppression since Frances second wave of feminism in the 1960s. The figure fell to 49 per cent among adults under 30. The emphasis on modest dress has been criticised by students, who attend high school in France between the ages of 15 and 18, with many responding that young people should be educated rather than covered up. Mr Blanquers comments have been widely mocked online, with commentators pointing out that one of Frances founding principles is freedom. Some have circulated pictures of 19th Century artist Eugene Delacroixs famous republican painting, Liberty leading the people, depicting a bare-breasted heroine. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, schools have often become the focus of feminist battles in France, with its equivalent hashtag #BalanceTonPorc (call out your pig) gradually becoming #BalanceTonBahut (call out your college). Food processors and the farm organisations have expressed serious concerns that Irelands multi-billion-euro export trade to the European mainland could be halted by chaos at the English Channel ports in the event of a no-deal Brexit. British warnings of possible gridlock at Dover and other ports have cranked up the pressure on the Irish Government to outline contingency measures. It is understood that IBEC has called for funding to be set aside in the Budget to support a direct daily ferry service from Ireland to the continent in the event of the English Channel ports being effectively closed. Meat Industry Ireland and Dairy Industry Ireland have sought increased connectivity to the continent, and for concrete plans to be put in place to protect vulnerable food exports. In a briefing with industry representatives yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney conceded that such contingency plans were necessary. However, Coveney insisted that an EU-UK trade deal was still possible, and he pointed out that only 40pc of available capacity was utilised on existing direct ferry links to the continent. It is estimated that more than 85pc of Irelands 3bn meat and dairy exports to the EU go via the UK land-bridge, with much of this produce shipped on tight just-in-time schedules for supermarkets and the food service sector. In a blistering attack in the Dail last week, Wexford TD Verona Murphy accused the Government of adopting an ostrich approach to the looming crisis and burying its head in sand. She called on Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan to put in place a direct ferry service from Rosslare to Le Havre or Cherbourg, to lessen Irelands exposure to the UK land-bridge. Take your head out of the sand, the land bridge isnt going to work, Murphy told Ryan. You need to put in place a fast, efficient, daily ferry service to France and it needs to be now. Calling Tanaiste Leo Varadkar the Steven Spielberg of Twitter, Murphy said hauliers and exporters needed practical action from Government rather than snappy social media messages and videos. She also called for more engagement between the Department of Agriculture and hauliers on the TRACES system which provides export health certificates for food products.Last week UK minister Michael Gove admitted that truck drivers heading for the English Channel could be locked in 7,000-vehicle-long queues and be held up for days. ICMSA president Pat McCormack said Irish food exports just cant afford to end up in 50-mile tailbacks around Dover. The answer is the kind of daily high speed ferry connection from Rosslare to either Le Havre or Cherbourg that Deputy Murphy is advocating. Theres no point in questioning the viability of such a route based on past experience; everything is about to change, he said. The INHFA said the Government had to ensure that alternative options to the UK land bridge are in place to keep exports flowing. It is essential that the Government now acts to ensure direct access from Irish ports to mainland Europe. This will need to see at least one direct sailing daily but possibly many more. On this basis it is obvious that the ports in Rosslare and Waterford are best placed to deliver on this, as outlined in our budget proposals, an INHFA spokesman said. Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut alleged on Tuesday that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has served notices to her neighbours. The actress claimed the BMC has threatened to demolish the houses of her neighbours if they support her. The actress took to her verified Twitter account on Tuesday to voice her allegations against the BMC. Today @mybmc has served notices to all my neighbors, @mybmc had threatened them to socially isolate me, they were told if they supported me they would break their houses as well. My neighbors have not said anything against Maharashtra government please spare their houses," tweeted Kangana. Today @mybmc has served notices to all my neighbors, @mybmc had threatened them to socially isolate me, they were told if they supported me they would break their houses as well. My neighbors have not said anything against Maharashtra government please spare their houses Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 29, 2020 Days after tension started between Kangana and the Shiv Sena government, on September 9, the BMC demolished parts of the actress office in Bandra citing illegal construction. The demolition work was stopped midway after a stay order from Bombay High Court. Kangana subsequently tweeted photographs of her demolished office building calling it a rape" of her dreams, confidence, self-respect and future". (Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Tuesday with investors choosing to sit on their hands ahead of an eagerly-awaited televised debate in the evening between US President Donald Trump and the Democratic contender for the White House, Joe Biden. "There is the whiff of a hangover for investors this morning as European shares stumbled after an exuberant rally in the previous session that left the major bourses around 2-3% higher to start the week," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. "We haven't made it back to the key mid-Sep levels and bulls may be looking at downside risks in the shape of the slowing economic recovery and pre-election jitters. Nancy Pelosi and Steve Mnuchin may be able to cut one last [fiscal] stimulus deal before the election, but it still looks like the odds of it passing the House and Senate are less than evens." At 1218 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.44% or 26.22 points at 5,901.71, while sterling was 0.23% firmer against the US dollar at 1.2863. Investors were also keeping close tabs on any fresh headlines around the ongoing Brexit talks. Pantheon Macroeconomics said investors have kept their faith that a deal will be agreed and remained slightly net long sterling. "This is in contrast to last year, when investors positioned for the pound to decline further. We continue to think that investors are right to anticipate a deal - we still see only a 20% chance of no-deal - though we expect negotiations to continue deep into Q4," it said. Mortgage approvals data from the Bank of England for August also surprised to the upside, printing at 84,700 (consensus: 71,300) - a 13-year high. In corporate news, British Airways owner IAG, engine maker Rolls-Royce and GKN owner Melrose were all in the red as investors continue to fret about the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and restrictions on the airline industry. Other travel-related stocks were under the cosh, with Upper Crust owner SSP, budget airline easyJet and travel company TUI all weaker. Cineworld was down as well after S&P cut its rating on the cinema operator's long-term debt to CCC- in anticipation of liquidity pressures. Elsewhere, retailer Next was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' at Berenberg. High Street baker Greggs fell sharply as it warned of job cuts in the face of expected lower demand and the closure of the government's Job Retention Scheme ends next month. The company said like-for-like sales in company-managed shops averaged 76.1% of 2019 levels in the four weeks to September 26 - in line with planning assumptions. On the upside, plumbing and heating products distributor Ferguson rallied after it posted a small drop in full-year profit and revenue but said it was reinstating its dividend after better-than-expected recent trading and announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail was on the rise after it said first-half group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were set to be above its previously-guided range following strong sales. Insurers were in focus after the Financial Conduct Authority said it had filed an appeal in a test case on business interruption claims related to the Covid-19 pandemic in case insurers failed to reach a deal on payouts to policyholders by Wednesday. The FCA said discussions continued "at speed" with the eight insurers and two intervenors that took part in a test case to reach an agreement in principle on a range of issues to avoid an appeal. RSA said it had sought leave to appeal and that a court hearing in relation to the appeal applications would take place on October 2, while Hiscox said it had prepared to apply for an expedited appeal, adding that it "has not yet made a decision on whether it will seek to appeal". Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,900.61 -0.46% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,242.42 -0.74% techMARK (TASX) 3,746.98 -0.52% FTSE 100 - Risers Ferguson (FERG) 7,858.00p 5.96% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 512.80p 4.57% National Grid (NG.) 880.60p 3.43% Mondi (MNDI) 1,646.50p 2.81% GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,000.50p 2.57% Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,044.00p 2.28% Fresnillo (FRES) 1,200.00p 2.26% SSE (SSE) 1,211.50p 1.85% Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,819.00p 1.66% Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 224.30p 1.49% FTSE 100 - Fallers Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 144.00p -3.52% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 298.15p -3.37% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 91.74p -2.82% Land Securities Group (LAND) 514.00p -2.82% Standard Chartered (STAN) 352.40p -2.65% British Land Company (BLND) 336.80p -2.57% Homeserve (HSV) 1,232.00p -2.45% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 185.30p -1.93% NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 105.25p -1.91% Aviva (AV.) 288.00p -1.87% FTSE 250 - Risers 888 Holdings (888) 211.00p 2.93% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 216.80p 2.85% Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,138.00p 2.34% Renishaw (RSW) 5,550.00p 2.12% Future (FUTR) 1,936.00p 2.00% William Hill (WMH) 280.70p 1.74% Mediclinic International (MDC) 271.00p 1.73% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 402.60p 1.72% AO World (AO.) 213.50p 1.67% Carnival (CCL) 982.40p 1.59% FTSE 250 - Fallers Greggs (GRG) 1,142.00p -6.32% Shaftesbury (SHB) 485.80p -5.58% SSP Group (SSPG) 193.60p -5.56% Vectura Group (VEC) 105.80p -4.51% Network International Holdings (NETW) 260.80p -4.05% Chemring Group (CHG) 229.50p -3.97% Rank Group (RNK) 98.20p -3.73% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 110.15p -3.67% PureTech Health (PRTC) 261.50p -3.33% FirstGroup (FGP) 38.80p -3.15% Use of the substance would be a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention to which Moscow is a signatory, raising the prospect that Germany could lead the European Union to enact painful sanctions against Moscow. The watchdog for that convention, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, is expected to release in the coming days the results of its own analysis of biomedical samples collected from Mr. Navalny by its team of experts, the agency said last week. But Mr. Meister said he does not see the E.U.s 27 members finding a consensus to enact sanctions. That is especially so, he said, after the failure of the bloc last week to impose economic sanctions on the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, after the fraudulent election in that country, crackdown on opposition leaders, and beatings and arrests of peaceful protesters. The political will to take a harder stance against Russia is absent, Mr. Meister said of the European Union. He added that Berlins own policy toward Moscow remained stuck in its internal contradictions and compromises. Nevertheless, over the past six years, since the Russians sent soldiers without insignia the so-called little green men into Crimea, Berlins position toward Moscow has shifted gradually, said Gustav C. Gressel, a senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. The pro-Russia stance that for decades has been the trademark of the center-left Social Democrats currently junior partners in Ms. Merkels governing coalition has been chipped away at by Moscows increasingly bold steps toward Berlin. These include carrying out a cyberattack against the German Parliament in 2015, and the daylight murder of a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park last year. Decommissioned aircraft carrier Viraat has been beached at Alang in for scrapping, but a company is making last-ditch efforts to salvage the symbol of India's rich maritime heritage. An official of the company said it has reached an understanding with the Shree Ram Group which bought the iconic warship for Rs 38.54 crore in an auction conducted by the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited. A top management figure of the Group said it is ready to hand over Viraat to the company at a cost after the changes the ship's title from "scrap" to "preserve". "While key political leaders, including those in Delhi and Goa are fully supportive of our patriotic endeavour to preserve the country's maritime legacy by turning it into a museum, some bureaucrats are hindering the proposal," the company official told PTI. The company plans to convert Viraat into a maritime museum in coastal Goa and claims Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik is fully supportive of the plan. An official from Naik's office said the minister wants the ship to be saved from being dismantled and sold as scrap. Many in the Indian Navy want the ship to be turned into a museum. "India Inc to the rescue? Understand pvt party has undertaken to convert Viraat into maritime memorial/museum at own expense & obtained approval of Goa govt to park her in Zuari River. Race against time for MoD approval before ship is permanently beached on 30th Sep." tweeted former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd). "Off Alang, the forlorn, but still majestic, carrier is a moving sight, for all of us. But far more soul-stirring for VAdm Vinod Pasricha, the Captain who saw her through conversion in the UK and then commissioned her as and sailed her triumphantly home in 1987!" he added. David Campbell Bannerman, a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament, tweeted, "It would be wonderful news if the former HMS Hermes/ can now be preserved as a naval museum at the 11.59th hour. It is the oldest serving warship in the world according to @GWR and is very dear to both of our great nations, to us as the Falklands War Flagship." Viraat, the worlds longest serving warship that was decommissioned by the Indian Navy three years ago, arrived at Alang in from Mumbai last week for dismantling. It is the second aircraft carrier slated to be broken down in India. In 2014, INS Vikrant was dismantled in Mumbai. The 70-year-old aircraft carrier, in its earlier avatar, had won the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 for the Royal British Navy. It weighs about 27,800 tonnes and served the British Navy as HMS Hermes from November 1959 to April 1984 and after refurbishment, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987. The vessel, which was anchored around seven nautical miles from Alang, was towed and beached on Monday during the high tide. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The brother of a South Korean government official, said by Seoul to have been killed by North Korea, pleaded on Tuesday for the return of his body. "I sincerely appeal to North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un. Please return my brother. Both South and North need time for peace rather than extreme confrontations in which South Korea and its people are tragically sacrificed," Lee Rae-jin said, during a news conference in Seoul. Lee, the older brother of the slain official, also urged the South Korean government to provide the bereaved family with accurate explanations about the incident and help retrieve his brother's body. South Korea said earlier in the day that the government official slain by North Korean sailors wanted to defect to the North and concluded that the man, who had gambling debts, swam against unfavourable currents with a life jacket and a floatation device and conveyed his intention of resettling in North Korea. This story has not been edited by www.republicworld.com and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed. Gambia: Fisheries ministry hands over 14 fishing vessels to various communities September 29,2020 | Source: AllAfrica The Ministry of Fisheries Water Resources and National Assembly Matters on Thursday 24 September, 2020 handed over fourteen (14) fishing vessels with outboard engines to 10 communities in The Gambia. This initiative is geared towards addressing fish shortage, unemployment and to monitor illegal fishing along the coastal and inland areas in the country. The beneficiary communities include Barra, Banjul, Salikenni, Tankular, Sambuya, Bato Kunku, Jurunku among others. Famara Darboe, director, Department of Fisheries said a boat with a outboard engines cost the Ministry a staggering D333,000. Therefore the total boats cost over D4 million. Ten of the fishing boats, he continued, will be given to 10 communities, the other two will be used to train Gambians to become fishermen and the rest will be used to monitor activities against illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing along the coastal inland areas. "Illegal fishing is a menace in the whole sub region particularly in The Gambian. This is not only limited to the Atlantic Ocean but it also spreads to the in land," he said. He added that the boats are suitable to fight illegal fishing and that it will be used in the inlands to ensure that the country's fish resources are safe from illegal fishing. Bamba Banja, permanent secretary at Ministry of Fisheries, said increasing the participation of Gambians in the fisheries sector has always been the responsibility of the fisheries department. "People complain that there is lack of fish and one way of addressing that is to increase the participation of Gambians in this sector," he stressed. The fishing boats, he added have been given out to the beneficiaries at half the price of the boats. "It costs us more than D333,000 per fishing economic unit but we want to encourage them to increase the production of fish at the community level." Sixty percent of the catch, he went on will go to the communities and 40% will go towards the repayment of the loan for the duration of two years. He reminded the beneficiaries to remain steadfast so that other Gambians can equally benefit. Hon. Matarr Jeng of Lower Nuimi, emphasised the need for the ministry to intensify its surveillance system in order to put a stop to illegal fishing. A continuation of this act might make it challenging for the beneficiary communities to repay the loan. Alagie Babucarr Faye, alkalo of Barra, applauded the ministry for the gesture, thanking the entire fisheries department for the support. He advised the beneficiaries to make best use of the fishing boats and urged them to continue working hard. AllAfrica Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Where there is inclusivity, there is justice. So said Hoda Awad, professor of political science and mass communication at Misr International University, as she was addressing a session of the annual conference organised by the Centre for Arab-West Understanding, an Egyptian non-governmental organisation that promotes dialogue between Christian and Muslim communities in Egypt, the Arab world, and the West. At this weeks conference Awad explained that inclusive citizenship is a form of direct citizenship in which citizens participate in policy decisions in their country regardless of gender, race, or religion. According to Awad, Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution, which states that the main religion of Egypt is Islam and Islamic Sharia is the basis of legislation, poses a major challenge to inclusive citizenship for Egypts Copts. It is partially offset by Article 3 which allows Copts to govern themselves in terms of personal status provisions, and to choose their own religious leaders, though she argued this does not solve the systemic division that a non-secular legal system creates. The conversation also addressed the status of Muslims living in the West as a minority, and their struggles with inclusive citizenship. Muslims vote less in Western societies because they view their votes as valueless. No matter who they vote for they wont have someone like them represent them in government, said Wael Farouk, professor of Arabic language at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Italy. While it can be argued that Copts have experienced a similar dilemma for decades, Awad argues that times are changing and Copts are playing a greater role. As evidence she pointed to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi appointing Nabila Makram and Manal Mikhail, both Copts, as the minister of immigration and governor of Damietta, respectively. The webinar also addressed the issue of how some Copts emigrate to Western societies in search of political representation, and protection from possible discrimination and terrorism. It is a religious obligation to protect other religions, said Tarek Al-Gohari, an Azharite advisor to Sheikh Ali Gomaa. Pointing out that Christian communities predate the arrival of Islam to Egypt, Al-Gohari argued that religious communities should identify a common goal or project as a way to promote the practice of inclusive citizenship. It is important for religious leaders to educate their communities about the non-violent nature of religion and about co-existing with other communities, urged Bishop Yohanna Qulta of the Coptic Catholic Church. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Kanye West will have his name appear on the election ballots, sample, and mail-in, of Kentucky as an independent presidential candidate for the November 3 general election. This development in Kanye West's bid to become the 46th president of the U.S. was confirmed by the office of the Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams. Early this month, Adams said that his office reviewed about 19,000 signatures on the rapper's petition, which was needed for his name to appear on the ballots. Kentucky has eight electoral votes. The U.S. presidency is decided by electoral college votes and not by popular votes. Besides Kentucky, West was also qualified to have his name placed on the ballots in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah, Idaho, Tennessee, and Iowa. He was denied in Ohio, Wisconsin, Montana, and West Virginia, among other states. Kanye West had announced that he was running for U.S. president's position on July 4 via his Twitter account. However, he missed the deadline for filing a petition for his name to be carried on the ballots. The music producer's eleventh-hour decision to join the U.S. presidential race left him with little time to gather signatures for his petition. West's running mate is Michelle Tidball, a preacher in Wyoming where West also owns a ranch. He, however, has not qualified to have his name on the Wyoming ballots. The Democrats had been worried about West's presidential bid claiming that his running is a tactic of the Republicans to take away votes from their presidential candidate Joe Biden. West had previously pledged his support for President Donald Trump, who is bidding for a second term at the White House. While Kanye West may never get to sit at the Oval Office of the White House, Democrat pollster Terrance Woodbury said that the rapper could garner enough votes to determine the November 3 general election outcome. The presidential race has tightened up as the election nears. According to strategists, any third-party candidate will pose a risk in a tight election, especially when they are popular and have a nationwide fanbase. West has loaned $6.7 million to fund his presidential campaign. While Trump's campaign has denied any involvement with Kanye West's presidential bid, it has been noted that GOP operatives are assisting him in his campaigns. Some of them are even helping him get his name into the ballots. West himself has admitted that his presidential bid will take votes away from Biden. The Democrats are worried about West's influence among the young Black Americans that he could make them vote for him instead of Biden. The Collective PAC founder and president, Quentin James, said that he thinks the Republicans are using Kanye West. James said that it is sad and wished West the best to get his mental health under control, referring to the rapper's bipolar disorder. James added that while they want Black voters and their voices are heard at the ballot box, it will not be by voting for Kanye West. Check these out: Kanye West Forges Ahead With US Presidential Bid in Kentucky, Mississippi Presidential Debate Between Trump and Biden, Where And How To Watch Stimulus Payments, $600 Unemployment Monthly Checks Included in Newly Unveiled Democratic Package Sydney's famous Opera House will reopen its doors as coronavirus restrictions continue to ease across New South Wales. The Australian landmark is set to welcome the public back from November 2 to coincide with a collection of new shows. The new initiative dubbed New Work Now will feature 15 local productions in place of international acts which were meant to be showing. The Sydney Opera House (pictured) will reopen its doors as coronavirus restrictions continue to ease within the state Sydney Opera House's Indigenous World Art Orchestra creative development & showing and Letters To Cook on June 28-29, 2019 Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron said thanks to a massive $1million donation by private supporters, partners and staff, New Work Now will reflect on how the virus affected the arts industry and forced the venue to shut six months ago. 'When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia in March, live performances largely ceased, with unprecedented impacts on artists, arts workers and audiences,' Ms Herron said. 'New Work Now responds directly to these challenges by commissioning local artists to create and present new works.' Ms Herron said she had the 'deepest gratitude' for supporters who stood by the venue while it was shut. 'As a cultural icon and symbol of Australia, the Opera House is committed to inspiring and strengthening the community through everything we do.' The first live performance, CRUSH (pictured), by the Helpmann Award-winning Australian company Branch Nebula, will hit the stage in November New Work Now will feature classical and contemporary music, First Nations, talks and ideas, contemporary performance, children and families, and digital works. The first live performance, CRUSH, by the Helpmann Award-winning Australian company Branch Nebula, will hit the stage in November. The group has been working on pressure, vacuum, gravity, magnetism and slimy stuff which will be incorporated in their performance. This will then be followed by Indigenous World Art Orchestra, global collaboration involving First Nations performers, composers and musicians that tells true stories of the first contact on occupied territories around the world. WASHINGTON - Former special counsel Robert Mueller pushed back Tuesday against a prosecutor in his office who says in a tell-all book that investigators should have done more to hold President Donald Trump accountable, suggesting that the account is "based on incomplete information" and asserting that he stands by his decisions in the case. The rare public statement from Mueller came on the day Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor in the special counsel's office, released a book alleging that the group did not fully investigate Trump's financial ties and should have stated explicitly that it believed he obstructed justice. Although Mueller's statement did not name Weissmann or the book, "Where Law Ends," it seemed clearly designed to address some of his complaints - particularly those directed at Aaron Zebley, Mueller's top deputy, whom Weissmann said was not sufficiently aggressive. "It is not surprising that members of the Special Counsel's Office did not always agree, but it is disappointing to hear criticism of our team based on incomplete information," Mueller said. Mueller said the team operated "knowing that our work would be scrutinized from all sides" and he sought to make clear that he was the office's ultimate decider. "When important decisions had to be made, I made them," he said. "I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation." Asked about Mueller's statement by MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, Weissmann said he agreed with "most of what special counsel Mueller wrote," but he maintained his "personal views" on some of the steps the office did not take, such as subpoenaing the president, conducting a more complete financial investigation and clearly stating the view that Trump obstructed justice. "It would have been easy to write a book that said everything we did was right, and everything we did responded to the onslaught coming from the White House or the attorney general," Weissmann said. "But I was trying to write something for the American public and, frankly, for the historical record, and to try and be as candid as possible about what we did right and what we could have done better." Mueller's statement offered another indication of tension among those who investigated whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, and whether Trump sought to obstruct that inquiry. Last week, the Justice Department also made public an interview with an FBI agent assigned to Mueller's team who criticized what he called a "get Trump" attitude among some prosecutors. Weissmann's book acknowledged what he considered the team's failures, asserting that investigators' efforts were limited by the ever-present threat of Trump disbanding the office and by their own reluctance to take aggressive steps. He took particular aim at Zebley for stopping a broader look at Trump's finances, comparing him unkindly to "timorous" Civil War Gen. George B. McClellan, whom President Abraham Lincoln famously relieved of his command in part over concerns that he was not aggressive enough. "It was agonizing to be told, again and again by Aaron, not to follow any of these leads, and always according to the same defective rationale: that we couldn't afford to be fired over it," Weissmann wrote. In the statement, Mueller said Zebley "was privy to the full scope of the investigation and all that was at issue" and broadly praised his work. "I selected him for that role because I knew from our ten years working together that he is meticulous and principled," Mueller said. "He was an invaluable and trusted counselor to me from start to finish." Through a representative, Zebley declined to comment. In previous interviews with The Washington Post, Weissmann conceded that it was Mueller, rather than Zebley, who was in charge of the office, and he made some of the most critical decisions with which Weissmann disagreed, including not saying explicitly that Trump obstructed justice. The special counsel's final report outlined significant evidence of possible obstruction but did not draw a conclusion about whether Trump had obstructed justice - citing previous Justice Department opinion that a sitting president cannot be federally indicted, combined with concerns about the fairness of leveling an allegation against someone who would not be able to answer a charge in court. "Director Mueller's decision was to not make that conclusion, and by the way, I would have done it," Weissmann said. "I told him why I would have done that." Ultimately, Attorney General William Barr and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reviewed the case and decided the evidence was not sufficient to make an obstruction case. Mueller was famously silent throughout the special counsel investigation, although he held a brief news conference when he formally closed his office, testified before Congress about the work and wrote a Washington Post column in July defending the prosecution of Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone, a case the special counsel's office had initiated. The operation started in collaboration with Danish Technical University (DTU) which led several research projects with different automotive OEM manufacturers alongside Nuvve to demonstrate the benefits of V2G technology. Specifically, the project aggregated multiple electric vehicle (EV) batteries to provide a primary frequency-controlled reserve service (FCR-N) to Energinet, the transmission system operator. Eastern Denmark is part of a wider Noordpool market area encompassing Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries, and has a dynamic frequency regulation market particularly well-suited for aggregators of small-scale resources such as EV batteries. With early input from Energinet, Nuvve was able to adapt and develop its V2G software to match requirements for market participation and interconnection to the grid. Because EV batteries have a finite capacity, Nuvve's software is able to ensure a fixed capacity delivery to the FCR-N market from variable assets: EVs that plug in and out at different times with different states of charge. Intelligent aggregation is what turns V2G into a strong case for providing FCR with grid services. After the DTU project ended in January 2019, Nuvve continued operating under a commercial agreement with the customers. "Energinet considers cooperation across sectors, with startups, and with commercial partners to be crucial for us as a transmission company to contribute to Denmark achieving its very ambitious climate goals," says Signe Horn Rosted, area manager at Energinet. "Today, we have an electricity system where large parts of energy production fluctuate and this requires completely new technologies such as V2G and market solutions in order for us to ensure supply and stability in the electricity grid. Electric car batteries participating in the frequency market is clearly one of the innovative solutions we need." The vehicles used in this commercial V2G operation are each connected to 10kW bidirectional DC chargers that are controlled by Nuvve's V2G GIVe platform. As soon as a vehicle is plugged in, Nuvve's software automatically takes control of the vehicle's charging and discharging. Nuvve bids the available capacity in the batteries by aggregating multiple vehicles across eastern Denmark on the frequency-controlled reserve market. Nuvve also ensures the vehicles have the energy required to drive when needed. From the user perspective, the V2G operation is seamless. They can use Nuvve's fleet management app to set driving needs for any given day so their driving duties can always be fulfilled. "At Frederiksberg Forsyning, we are proud to have been pioneering this technology that is now a showcase around the region," said Kristian Beyer, head of strategy. "Nuvve has made it easy for us to use V2G and being on the forefront of green technology is very important to us and to the city of Frederiksberg." Over the four years, Nuvve has been able to accumulate hours of valuable learning on fleet operation and energy market behavior. Nuvve has since expanded its commercial V2G operation to other customers in Denmark. The Frederiksberg Forsyning fleet is driven primarily during the day and is parked during nights and at weekends, allowing it on average about 17 hours of available market participation per day. Energy markets fluctuated over the two-year period from 2017 to 2018 but allowed each vehicle to contribute approximately US$2,000 in market revenue on average. The revenue allows Nuvve to provide its customers with a lower total cost of electric vehicle ownership through benefits such as reduced charger costs, low or free energy costs to drive, fleet management tools, and yearly maintenance. "From operations on the ground to market bidding and participation in Denmark, we have shown a continuous benefit with end-to-end EV charging controlled by our platform," said Gregory Poilasne, chairman and CEO of Nuvve Corporation. "Next year, we are looking forward to expanding our customer base in the Nordics with new efficient V2G chargers suitable for fleets and even home use." From its office just outside of Copenhagen, Nuvve is participating in additional V2G research projects and is in the process of developing commercial partnerships to continue its growth in the Nordic region. About Nuvve Corporation Nuvve Corporation is a San Diego-based green energy technology company whose mission is to lower the cost of electric vehicle ownership while supporting the integration of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind. Our proprietary vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology Nuvve's Grid Integrated Vehicle (GIVe) platform is refueling the next generation of electric vehicle fleets through cutting-edge, bidirectional charging solutions. Since our founding in 2010, Nuvve has been responsible for successful V2G projects on five continents and is deploying commercial services worldwide. For more information please visit www.nuvve.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Nuvve Press Contact Marc Trahand, EVP Marketing [email protected] +1 858 250 9740 SOURCE Nuvve Corporation Related Links nuvve.com KYIV, Ukraine, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, Ukraine's government signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC), to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the tragedy. Meanwhile, at an online memorial ceremony, new research was presented, revealing previously unknown details of the Babyn Yar massacre. On memorial site today (September 29) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyi Pinchuk, Ukraine Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, and BYHMC board members: Leonid Kravchuk, Ronald Lauder, Yakov Dov Bleich, Pavlo Fuks. (PRNewsfoto/Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center) The Babyn Yar tragedy was one of the largest instances of mass-murder during the Holocaust. 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis in just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941, while tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter throughout the occupation of Kyiv. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/23kr85f2N84 The memorandum was signed by Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Tkachenko Olexandr and BYHMC Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder. The signing took place at Babyn Yar after the official memorial ceremony to commemorate the anniversary. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended the official memorial ceremony commented, "We must not forget the tragedy of Babyn Yar. We understand that this is the history not only of Ukraine and of the Jewish people, but a tragic history of the whole world. People, especially youth, should be able to come and see the place where thousands of Jews were shot, to really remember one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. We must all understand that this cannot happen in the modern world, or in the future. Never again." BYHMC Supervisory Board member and President of World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder said, "This was one of the greatest mass murders in history, and then a second crime covering it all up. Almost 80 years after this happened, these tortured souls will finally be remembered with an International Memorial Museum a museum that will also tell the history of the holocaust. Ukraine takes a giant step forward today towards remembrance and towards justice. We have never forgotten, and now the entire world, thanks to all of you, will not forget either." The memorandum states that preservation and restoration of the memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy constitutes an integral component of the memory of the Jewish people, the national memory of the Ukrainian people as well as other peoples of the world who have fall victims to and witnesses of the Nazi regime crimes. Later in the day, global leaders participated in an online memorial ceremony hosted by BYHMC. Although the museum is due to open its doors in 2026, BYHMC already operates twelve education and commemoration programs. A selection of current research initiatives were presented at the ceremony, which have yielded new discoveries about the Babyn Yar massacre. The Names Project has uncovered the identities of more than 900 previously unknown Babyn Yar victims. A separate program has utilized state of the art topographic, forensic tools, and historic photos to identify the exact location of the massacre for the first time, recreating the area in a 3D model. Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said, "Tens of thousands of Jews, including babies, women, children and the elderly were massacred during just two days in this valley of death. This valley has witnessed two sins: The sin of destroying human beings and the sin of destroying memory. The sin of destroying human beings has already been done, we can never bring the dead back to life But we must never be complicit in the second sin." Chair of the supervisory board at BYHMC, human rights icon Natan Sharansky recalled growing up in Soviet-ruled Ukraine, where the memory of Babyn Yar was intentionally suppressed. He said, "Babyn Yar is a symbol of the Soviet Union's efforts to physically erase memory. They took the most tragic part of our history and tried to make it disappear. Thanks to an independent Ukraine, the policy was fully changed towards the memory of the Holocaust." Chair of Yad Vashem Avner Shalev said, "The Soviet Union didn't want to tell the story of the killing of Jews We knew a bit, but the main part of the story was brushed away. This is the importance of Babyn Yar." Addressing a recently signed archive sharing agreement between Yad Vashem and BYHMC, he commented "New information and new collaboration will give us a new dimension to fight together for the truth. It is a very important collaboration." Former US Senator Joe Lieberman commented, "Even today, as we solemnly acknowledge the 79th anniversary of the Nazis' barbaric acts at Babyn Yar, we are faced with a world where intolerance, bigotry, hatred and even genocide still rear their horrific heads. It is up to each one of us to fight against such evil." About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. The creation of the memorial centre was initiated by a group of international organisations and independent philanthropists who sit on the Foundation's supervisory board. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental organisation which aims to build a centre for education, documentation and remembrance, dedicated to the tragic events of September 1941. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kr85f2N84 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283883/Babyn_Yar_Memorial_Service.jpg SOURCE Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Ukraine calls on the international community to join evidence-based and politically independent restoration and preservation of historical memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy. "Ukraine calls on the international community to unite in order to preserve and affirm universal values, prevent discrimination on any grounds, prevent the recurrence of such crimes, as well as to join evidence-based and politically independent restoration and preservation of historical memory of the Babyn Yar tragedy," reads the commentary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. As noted, Ukraine and the whole world today honours the memory of tens of thousands of victims shot by the Nazis in the Babyn Yar. Only on September 29-30, 1941, almost 34,000 men, women, and children were killed in the Babyn Yar just because they were Jews. "This tragedy, common to the Ukrainian and Jewish peoples, is a mournful symbol of the Holocaust, a testament to the inhumanity of totalitarian regimes. The Nazi regime killed thousands of innocent people, the Soviet regime persistently killed the memory of these victims," Ukraines Foreign Ministry emphasized. In this context, Ukrainian diplomats recalled that the Soviet government had consistently conducted anti-Semitic campaigns and purposefully destroyed not only the remembrance of the tragedy but also the place of execution, in particular, in the postwar period. However, thanks to human memory and the invaluable contribution of witnesses and researchers, the tragedy of Babyn Yar has taken its rightful place in world history. ol By Trend The policy of the Armenian authorities doesnt bring peace in the region and doesnt contribute to the elimination of the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ukrainian MP Volodymyr Kreidenko told Trend. Armenia strives to artificially change the ethnic composition of the population in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Such a policy of the Armenian authorities, no doubt, does not bring the establishment of peace in the region closer and does not contribute to the elimination of the status quo, Kreidenko said. Commenting on the information about the presence of the Armenian ASALA terrorist organization in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Kreidenko stressed that this raises very serious concerns. The situation also shows that the government of Armenia, in the name of strengthening control over the occupied Azerbaijani territories, doesnt even shy from using services of terrorist organizations. The current situation clearly indicates that Armenia doesnt intend to stop the escalation of the conflict in the region in the near future and take at least some steps for a peaceful settlement, he stressed. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz THE GREAT LAKES BASIN The saying goes that money talks, and now it can speak for water. Local economists Roy Brouwer and Jorge Garcia-Hernandez from the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo have created a theoretical model illustrating the economic impacts of climate change-induced lower water levels in the Great Lakes Basin, the first of its kind. Most people have no idea how much water goes into the products they use like their daily coffee or a simple cotton T-shirt. This is especially true for Canadians who have one of the highest per-capita usage levels of water in the world, according to Brouwer. There is a constant need, in my view, to raise awareness that water may seem to be free of charge, but in fact it is not. An economic model is a mathematical description of reality designed to estimate what might happen when certain factors are tested. The Great Lakes Basin, the portion of Canada and the U.S. that drains into the Great Lakes where about 30 million people live, already experiences annual water stress in August when less water is available because of the high temperature and higher level of demand, says Brouwer. Future projections for air temperatures in the Great Lakes Basin could increase 1.5 to 7 degrees Celsius in the next ten years due to climate change. This will lead to more evaporation of water from the lakes, and lower water levels. Brouer and Garcia-Hernandez estimate the water stress period could be extended up to four months of the year, costing the province billions of dollars. Brouwer and Garcia-Hernandez say that the Great Lakes Basin is responsible for 91 per cent of Ontarios gross output, the overall amount of money made from production. In turn, Ontario contributes 35 per cent of the overall gross output of Canada. With a 12 per cent reduction in water levels, Brouwer and Garcia-Hernandez calculate that the corresponding 0.5 per cent reduction in Ontarios gross domestic product, a measure of the gross output minus costs of production, would translate to a loss of approximately $3.8 billion. In their second scenario, agriculture and energy levels are prioritized and held steady. This leads to a 3.3 per cent loss to Ontarios GDP. The model is the first of its kind for the Great Lakes Basin. We dont very well know what the economic value of water is. There are some estimations, but no one has tried to very systematically assess how dependent economic activities are on water, says Brouwer. But why measure GDP in the first place? Brouwer acknowledges there are many ways to value water, but cultural and social values arent easily expressed with numbers. In order to make people aware, its important that we make that value visible and we quantify it. The model is a way to express that water is not free of charge. Ultimately the Brouwer and Garcia-Hernandez see their model as a tool for policy-makers. Policy-makers will have to decide- where does the water go if there is not enough to satisfy everyones demand of industry, households, agriculture, hydropower, mining, commercial shipping etc.? says Brouwer. So how do you decide what should have priority? There is this perception more generally across Canada, that Canada is a land of water abundance. But I think this will change. We will face constraints on water availability. That water availability is not just a mater of the quantity of water, but also the quality of the water. So, we might face increasing water treatment costs if the water is more and more polluted, and there is a lot of economic development, population growth, urbanization. And that adds all kinds of consequences for the quality of the water. With the model, policy-makers can start thinking about how industries can use less water, says Brouwer. The question is, how urgent is it to start taking those measures? Brouwer worked on a similar model in the Netherlands twenty years ago when the European Commission mandated countries sharing a river basin had to collaboratively make plans to ensure their water would last and remain relatively unpolluted. In Brouwers experience, the trigger for international co-operation in water protection is policy: the legal obligation to comply. I come from a country where a lot of the big rivers in Europe, they drain into the sea, says Brouwer. There is nothing we can do in the Netherlands without the collaboration and co-operation of the surrounding countries. And the same goes for the Great Lakes. Without the U.S. we will never manage to solve issues related to the Great Lakes; we need to collaborate. To support the use of their model by policy-makers, they built it with publicly available data so that it can be recreated by organizations and government ministries. The universitys Water Institute is equipped with knowledge mobilization and communications workers who can help access the model. As well, Brouwer says they are willing to help organizations get started if they dont have in-house economists or experts. Already a scientific advisory board member to the International Joint Commission, the Canadian-U. S. task force created to tackle Great Lakes issues, has reached out to learn more about the model, says Brouwer. Read more about: HADDAM Blue Fire Stage Company in Haddam is now offering a variety of workshops for kids, teens and adults. These workshops are designed to be taken a la cartestudents can sign up for one or as many as theyd like. Our workshops cover a wide range of topics for performers of all experience levels, including auditioning skills, character development, storytelling through movement, improvisation and theatre games. All workshops are taught by experienced adult staff with a wealth of performance and teaching experience. Workshops began Sept. 28 continue through Nov. 7. All one-hour workshops are $25/session, or we offer a 6-class punch card for $125. Per health guidelines, advanced registration required one week prior to each session. All classes will be held outside, weather permitting, at the former Haddam Elementary School i Higganum. Blue Fire Stage Company has been certified through the State of CT for our diligence in following health and safety guidelines in the time of Covid-19. Students and teachers will observe all social distancing guidelines at all times Full class descriptions and more information is available on the Blue Fire Stage Company website at www.bluefirestage.org, as well as a fillable registration form that can be downloaded and emailed to classes@bluefirestage.org Residents asked to conserve water MIDDLETOWN -- Due to the unusually dry weather that Connecticut has encountered over the summer, Middletown officials are asking residents to conserve water as much as possible. This is not a mandate but a request, according to a statement on the city website We are asking that everyone limit nonessential water use to ensure that everyone has all the water they need. For information, visit https://www.middletownct.gov/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=38 Indian Hill Cemetery holding special event MIDDLETOWN -- Indian Hill Cemetery will be hosting a two-hour event Oct. 3 during which participants can enjoy lunch and check out ongoing interior renovations of the Russell Chapel. The Friends of Indian Hill will be available to answer questions from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 383 Washington St. There is no rain date. People are invited to bring a picnic lunch, blanket or a couple of chairs and sit, relax and enjoy the beauty of Indian Hill. The cemetery was established 170 years ago on Sept. 30, 1850, when a group of citizens gathered for a dedication. For information, visit https://www.indian-hill.org. Church launches food collection effort BRANFORD The Church on the Rock in Branford is collecting canned fruits and vegetables to benefit local food pantries in Branford, North Branford, and Guilford. Their objective: to match the model set by Jesus in Matthew 14, according to a statement. UMC Branford Pastor Kent Jackson was inspired to create the Food Pantry Challenge mission as he prepared a sermon based on the familiar Bible story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. As he related to the congregation members in a recent newsletter, The Lord spoke clearly through my time of meditation that we, as a community, are being challenged to collect 5,000 cans of fruits and vegetables by the end of the year 2020. He continued, We, like the disciples, need to answer the Lord's call to feed hungry people. Members of the Shoreline community are welcome to participate in the food drive. Donations can be dropped off in the green collection bin outside the front door of the church, which is located at 811 East Main Street (1 mile east of Chowder Pot on Route 1) in Branford. Any non-perishable items can be donated; however, only cans of fruits and vegetables will count towards the tally. Items are removed daily and stored inside the building for weekly distribution to the food pantries. Donations can also be sent to UMC Branford and will be used to purchase additional cans of fruits and vegetables. Everyone is encouraged to spread the word and invite friends and neighbors to join the challenge to feed the hungry in our communities. Updates on the progress of the food drive will be posted on the churchs Facebook page or by following #feedthe5000. For more information contact the Rev. Jackson at 203-488-0549 or umcbranford1966@gmail.com Durham offers absentee ballot information DURHAM The Town Clerk Office has been receiving many calls regarding November 3 election and voting by absentee ballot. Residents seeking information on the upcoming election can use the following information. If you have already submitted an Absentee Ballot Application to Town Clerk Office and receive an additional one by mail, you do not need to complete if you have already sent one to the Town Clerk Office. On the Secretary of State Election page, you can find Absentee Ballot Applications, Online voter registration, Military and Overseas voting information, and more. For local voting information please visit the Election page on the Town of Durham website: https://www.townofdurhamct.org/Election-information Free GED tutoring available MIDDLETOWN Free GED tutoring is available days and evenings at Adult Education to help you get your GED! Located at 398 Main Street in Middletown. There is no charge for area residents. Call 860-343-6044 for more information. Millions of Americans will vote by mail or in person for the next president of the United States. At least one vote will be cast some 200 miles above the Earth. NASA astronaut and flight engineer Kate Rubins plans to vote from the International Space Station, NASA confirmed, where she'll be stationed during the voting period. Rubins, along with two Russian cosmonauts, will spend six months in space as part of the Expedition 63/64 crew. Upon launch in October, Rubins will research "the use of laser-cooled atoms for future quantum sensors" and conduct cardiovascular experiments from the space station. But she'll make time to vote, too. She cast her vote from space in 2016, NASA said, when she was again researching at the space station. (During that 2016 spaceflight, she became the first person to sequence DNA in space.) How to vote from space Astronauts registered to vote in Texas got the right to vote from space in 1997, when Texas lawmakers ruled they could electronically cast their ballot off-planet if they'd be on a spaceflight during the early-voting period or Election Day, according to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. NASA's Johnson Space Center is located in Houston, so most astronauts are based in the city and registered to vote in Harris County, where Houston is located. The space-voting process is about the same as it was in 2008, NASA told CNN: The Harris County Clerk's Office uploads a secure electronic ballot to NASA's Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center. NASA astronauts, using specific credentials, access their ballot and cast their vote, which is delivered back to the county clerk's office by email. CNN has reached out to the Harris County Clerk's Office Elections Division for more information on how interstellar voting will work in 2020 and is waiting to hear back. Voting laws in every state The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 By Trend Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, during which he highlighted Armenia`s latest military provocation against his country, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. FM Bayramov said the new act of aggression by the armed forces of Armenia had been met with counter-offensive measures by the armed forces of Azerbaijan within the right to self-defense and protect the civilian population. He said Armenia deliberately and indiscriminately targeted Azerbaijani civilians and civilian facilities. Bayramov noted that Armenia again violated international humanitarian law by opening artillery fire at civilians which resulted in casualties among the Azerbaijani civilian population. The minister said Armenia had always resorted to terrorist means against civilians and mentioned the killing of Azerbaijani civilians during April 2016 and July 2018 events. Minister Bayramov said Armenia bore full responsibility for the current situation in the region. Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba expressed his concern over the increased tensions in the region. A 'ruthless' couple murdered a man and poisoned another with a drug known as 'devil's breath' after meeting them on the dating app Grindr, a court heard today. Diana Cristea, 18, and Joel Osei, 25, both deny killing Adrian Murphy, 43, with the drug last year at the 17th-storey flat he was staying at in Battersea, South London. The pair then allegedly used his name to try and buy more than $80,000 (62,000) worth of diamonds from a jeweller in New York, Croydon Crown Court heard today. They are also accused of poisoning a second man on May 30 2019, before stealing about 2,000 of his belongings. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the drug scopolamine, which is said to be 'popular with robbers and rapists' to incapacitate their victims, was used in both incidents. Adrian Murphy, 43, was allegedly killed with a drug known as 'devil's breath' last year He said, while it was only Osei who met the victims in person, having contacted them through the gay dating app Grindr, Cristea was 'egging him on' in the background and sold the stolen items. The former couple are both charged with murder and a count of administering a poison or noxious substance so as to endanger life, which they both deny. They are also standing trial on several fraud charges and two counts of theft. They allegedly killed Mr Murphy with the drug between May 31 and June 5 last year. Mr Aylett said the first victim invited Osei, who called himself 'Remy', back to his London property on May 30, but was 'disappointed' to find the defendant 'did not seem to be particularly interested in sex'. The court heard how the victim went to the toilet, and on his return drank a glass of orange juice that Osei had poured him, assuming it was from his fridge. Mr Murphy had been staying at a 17th-storey flat in this block in Battersea, South London Mr Aylett said: '(The victim) was to tell the police: 'The last two things I remember is that I started to feel breathless and my head felt like this darkness coming over me. 'I remember standing up and my legs feeling like they had been injected with lead or something, they felt solid and immovable. I remember thinking I was going to pass out, and then I must actually have passed out.' He was later discovered by a neighbour, who called an ambulance. The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported that items including his wallet, bank cards and two laptops, worth about 2,000, had been stolen. Mr Aylett said Cristea had texted and called Osei while he was at the property, and paid for a minicab to pick him up from the victim's home. Days later on June 1 last year, Mr Murphy, a champion Irish dancer, also met a man on Grindr, and invited him back to a flat in Battersea he was staying in. The following day, 'by which time Mr Murphy must have been dead', the defendants used his name to unsuccessfully buy diamonds from a US jeweller, Mr Aylett said. Mr Murphy's body was found in his flat two days later on June 4 by his best friend and the property's owner. A Louis Vuitton bag, wallet, and laptop had been stolen, with the items worth about 2,000 in total. The court heard that the man named 'Remy' and Mr Murphy's unnamed visitor had used a phone ending in the same number, which police were able to link to Osei and his then girlfriend Cristea. Mr Aylett said Osei was later identified by the surviving victim as being Remy, while he was also caught on camera coming out of a lift going towards Mr Murphy's flat. A post-mortem examination of Mr Murphy's body found traces of the drug scopolamine, which comes from the deadly nightshade family of poisonous plants. Mr Aylett QC said: 'In South America, and in particularly in Colombia, it is said to be popular with both robbers and rapists who use it to incapacitate their victims, rendering them deeply unconscious for long periods of time. 'In Colombia, they don't call it scopolamine, in Colombia they call it 'the devil's breath'.' Mr Murphy's body was found in his flat in June 2019 by his best friend and the property's owner When police searched Mr Murphy's flat, they found a Coca-Cola can and glass tumbler which contained traces of scopolamine. The drug's presence was also found in a sample of the surviving victim's hair. Colombian 'Devil's Breath' date rape drug Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine or 'Devil's Breath', is made from Borrachero trees in Colombia, and used throughout the country to aid sexual predators and robbers. The odourless powder is blown into people's faces, which once inhaled can cause victims to lose their memory, free will, and in high enough doses, can even kill. It has been described as 'the most dangerous drug in the world'. In the past two years cases have been reported in Spain, France and the US. But last month, UK actor Robert Lindsay told Met Police a young woman he knew was attacked with a substance bearing a chilling resemblance to 'Devil's Breath' outside a London night club. The drug, also referred to as Burundanga in its native Colombia, is almost impossible to detect, as it disappears from the blood stream in two to six hours and can only be found in urine samples within 12. This makes it extremely difficult for victims to prove they have been given it as they don't remember anything and it's untraceable in their system. Advertisement Mr Aylett said: 'The prosecution allege that the two defendants were a pair of ruthless grifters, scammers looking to make easy money at whatever the cost to their victims.' The court heard that days earlier, Osei had been arrested at a music festival where he had been intending to sell caffeine tablets as drugs. In a text message to Osei during the festival, Cristea wrote to him: 'And when you get back, we can focus on the ginger thing and ur batty boys loool.' Mr Aylett said: 'It is not clear what Ms Cristea was referring to when she mentions 'the ginger thing', what is clear is that 'batty boys' is a reference to gay men.' Cristea, of Mill Hill, North London, has admitted one count of fraud, but denies two counts of theft and six other fraud charges. Osei, who was previously living in Seven Sisters, North London, denies two counts of theft and eight counts of fraud. Police obtained a phone billing for the first victim's mobile and identified a number ending in 2528 which the couple's first target had contacted in order to meet 'Remy', jurors heard. Mr Murphy also contacted the same number before Osei allegedly made his way to a flat where he was staying two days later, it was said. 'At some point Adrian Murphy must have provided Joel Osei with his name, address and telephone number,' said Mr Aylett. 'The following day, these entries were deleted from Osei's internet history..' Mr Murphy had worked as a dance teacher and choreographer at the Royal Academy of Dance in Battersea but had been on a year-long sabbatical at the time of his death, the court heard. He was living in a flat in Battersea Reach near Wandsworth Bridge, but sometimes stayed at a luxury apartment belonging to ex-partner Simon Kime in Lombard Wharf. Mr Kime supported his friend financially and paid the rent on his flat, the court heard. Jurors were told Mr Murphy and his ex-partner had dinner together the night before Mr Kime went on holiday to Portugal on 28 May. Mr Aylett said: 'At around 10:15am on 1 June Mr Murphy left his flat in Battersea Reach.' Jurors heard CCTV picked up Mr Murphy as he arrived at Mr Kime's home and took the lift to the 17th floor. Osei and Cristea booked a room in a guest house on Simpson Street in Battersea, near where Mr Murphy was staying in Lombard Wharf the same day, the court heard Mr Murphy used his mobile to make a call to a number ending 5258 at 22:04. The prosecutor said: 'A couple of minutes later at 22:07 Ms Cristea's telephone was used to book a minicab from Simpsons Street to Lombard Road - but it was later cancelled - no doubt when it was realised that Lombard Wharf was within walking distance.' A post-mortem examination of Mr Murphy's body found traces of the drug scopolamine Osei was picked up by CCTV cameras at Mr Kime's luxury apartment block on Lombard Wharf as he allegedly entered the building and took the lift to the 17th floor at 22:26, the court heard. Mr Aylett said: 'As you will readily appreciate, the prosecutor's case is that Joel Osei would have been the last person to see Adrian Murphy alive.' Osei was again picked up by the CCTV camera in the reception area of the building as he allegedly left the flat while Cristea tried to call him multiple times, jurors were told. Mr Aylett said: 'He can be seen speaking to the concierge. He can also be seen to be carrying a Louis Vuitton holdall.' He said the couple stayed on and off at the Simpson Street hotel during the following days while they allegedly made several purchases on different cards belonging to Mr Murphy. Cristea is said to have also taken a photo of Mr Murphy's Louis Vuitton bag before advertising it for sale online for 300 along with five Dolce & Gabbana belts for 200. The pair were arrested on 11 June, the court heard. The trial continues. (TNS) A recent stress test of the states finances shows a severe recession would trigger a deep decrease in government revenue that could last years, even as it was spared from the worst short-term economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.The potential for a deep, prolonged recession has sparked more calls from some analysts and Maines congressional delegation for federal stimulus that includes local government funding to avoid devastating cuts to public services.The latest stress test, which measures the states fiscal health against the ongoing pandemic recession, further confirmed what we have known for months: The state is experiencing an economic shock that cannot be resolved without an influx of new revenue or major budget cuts, said Sarah Austin, a tax and budget analyst at the progressive Maine Center for Economic Policy and a member of the states Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, in a statement.Under a moderate recession, state revenues would decline by 5 percent or less annually between 2021 and 2023, before rebounding in 2024 to exceed the amount the state earned before the pandemic, according to a recent model by Maine Revenue Services, the state tax agency. Under that scenario, the states $258 million budget stabilization fund would be enough to cushion potential shortfalls and cuts to government services.But in a severe recession, state revenues would fall sharply, contracting 13 percent in 2021 and more than 10 percent a year between $430 million and $500 million until 2025, quickly evaporating the stabilization fund. Maine Revenue Services conducted the last stress test on its finances in 2018.This isnt really all that different from two years ago you can build up a pretty solid budget stabilization fund, but in a serious scenario it gets pretty quickly depleted, said Michael Allen, the states associate commissioner for tax policy, in a joint meeting with Maines Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission and Revenue Forecasting Commission on Thursday.So far, the states financial position has not been as severely impacted by the economic contraction as budget analysts expected. The state will end its 2020 fiscal year $80 million to $90 million below budget, less than the $200 million shortfall estimated in March, Allen said. The 2020 fiscal year ended June 30.State revenues were helped by stronger-than-expected sales and income taxes, even with significant drops in spending on hotels 40 percent down and restaurants 30 percent down based on July sales. Federal aid, including household stimulus checks this spring and a $600 per week unemployment benefit that expired in July, further bolstered state revenue.Without additional aid, state budget officials expect a $422 million shortfall in the current fiscal year. Gov. Janet Mills has proposed a spending plan that freezes state hiring and technology upgrades and shifts some money from state liquor revenues to cover the anticipated hole. The state received $1.25 billion from the federal CARES Act, most of which has been spent to refund the unemployment trust fund, help schools prepare for instruction and provide up to $200 million in grants to businesses.That means only 3 percent in cost reductions that is because the governor wanted at this point to avoid any deep programmatic cuts, said Bureau of the Budget Director Beth Ashcroft. It preserves infrastructure, critical public health and it preserves education.Maines economy has recovered significantly from the sharp downturn in March and April, when many businesses were closed and residents stayed home in an effort to blunt the spread of coronavirus infections.Consumer spending by mid-September was about 4 percent below January levels, according to a real-time economic tracker from Harvard and Brown universities. Vehicle miles traveled in the state rebounded from the spring but were still 10 percent below pre-pandemic levels by mid-August, State Economist Amanda Rector reported to the joint economic commission meeting.Personal income grew by 41 percent in the second quarter, which ended in June, according to the state. But wages and salaries fell by almost 29 percent, and owner-operated business income fell by 37 percent in that quarter. Overall income growth was driven by the influx of federal aid in the form of stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits.Looking at wages and salaries, all of those took major hits in the U.S. and in Maine, said state economic analyst Angela Hallowell.As of August, Maine had gained back about half the jobs lost at the beginning of the pandemic but still had 55,000 fewer jobs than at the beginning of the year, and the pace of job creation has slowed, according to the Maine Department of Labor. The official unemployment rate in August was 6.9 percent, but because of inaccurate data collection it is likely closer to 10 percent, state labor economists have said.Maine is ranked first in the country in a back-to-normal index created by Moodys Analytics and CNN, with its economy operating at 96 percent of the level in early March.While encouraging, that metric may be misleading, said Rector, the state economist. The index captures real-time spending, employment and housing data. The states booming housing market, driven in part by out-of-state buyers, may have an outsize impact, she said, and the index does not take into account seasonal spending variation spending on restaurants and lodging peaks in the summer months.Clearly the economy in Maine in early March is not the same as what it normally is in September there is some seasonality in our economy, Rector said. Being at March levels in the middle of summer is not really where you want to be.Congress and the White House moved swiftly in March to pass significant federal aid but have since been unable to agree on a new stimulus package. Talks on a new package that could include funding for enhanced unemployment benefits and other aid to state and local governments broke down in August.Members of Maines congressional delegation said Friday that they agree a new bill should include government funding to avoid budget shortfalls and service cuts.Sen. Angus King, an independent, declared that those who oppose support for local governments are hurting local police and fire department budgets.I think we need to face the fact that those who are opposing aid to our cities and towns are the people who are defunding the police, King said, referring to a demand by some racial justice protesters that has been fiercely opposed by conservative politicians.Since states cannot borrow to pay for operations like the federal government can, they are left with two unattractive options: raise taxes or cut services, he said, neither of which is an acceptable alternative in the midst of a recession; neither of which makes any sense for the American people.Republican Sen. Susan Collins, in the midst of a tough re-election campaign, introduced the SMART Act in May, which would provide state and local governments in Maine $2 billion. Collins wants to include the funding in a new stimulus bill, a spokesman said.I have talked to city and town managers all over the state of Maine. They did not receive much from the initial allocation of funding that went to state governments, and they need help now, Collins said in remarks Thursday on the Senate floor.Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree was one of the House members who voted to pass the HEROES Act in May, which included $875 billion for state and local governments, including $5 billion for Maine.Maine governments from the state government to small, rural towns have stepped up in unprecedented ways to keep their communities safe during this global pandemic while simultaneously facing devastating revenue shortfalls, Pingree said in a statement. Without federal assistance theyll have to make impossible choices to stay solvent.Democratic Rep. Jared Goldens spokesman Nick Zeller said Golden led a bipartisan effort of 34 lawmakers to urge House leadership to pass a compromise COVID-19 relief bill. The proposal he backs, from the Problem Solvers Caucus, provides $500 billion to state and local governments, allows greater flexibility around existing CARES Act funds, and has support from some Democrats and Republicans.Congressman Golden believes that proposal represents the best path forward to quickly provide relief to struggling state and local governments, averting property tax hikes and cuts to local services across Maine, Zeller said. A firefighter helps to set counter-fires as the El Dorado fire approaches in Yucaipa on Sept. 7. (Los Angeles Times) My community of Big Bear City, in the mountains east of Los Angeles, had a tense week recently. For a few nerve-racking days, the El Dorado fire, which has burned more than 20,000 acres in and around the San Bernardino National Forest, threatened to move our way. The fire had seen little movement in the previous days, despite the fact that it was burning in dense forests with many dead trees and downed logs. Weather conditions had been cool and calm. Then things changed, and quickly. The weather shifted to hot, dry and windy. Right away, the El Dorado fire began spreading much more rapidly, toward Big Bear. We were notified to prepare for potential evacuation. Several days later, temperatures cooled again, winds died down and fire activity calmed. Scenarios like this are playing out across the western United States, especially in California and Oregon. Many homes have been lost and, tragically, at least 30 lives too. Numerous communities have been forced to evacuate, displacing thousands of families. People are scared and looking for answers. Meanwhile, as wildfires continue in parts of the West that dont often burn, a troubling new form of climate change denial has crept into the public dialogue, and it is only increasing the threats to public safety. The logging industry and the Republican and Democratic politicians whose reelection campaigns it finances are busy telling the press and the public that they should focus on forest management in remote wildlands, rather than on climate change and community wildfire preparedness. Joining this chorus is a group of agency and university scientists funded by the Trump administration. Logging bills are now being promoted in Congress, ostensibly as solutions. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) introduced a bill last month that would severely erode environmental laws to increase commercial logging in our national forests. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has introduced a bill that would triple funding to subsidize logging on federal forestlands. Story continues My colleagues and I conducted an ambitious scientific study on wildfire behavior and trends one of the largest ever to analyze the factors that drive such fires. The study involved three decades of data and tens of millions of acres of forest fires across the American West. What we found will not surprise most people who have an understanding of climate change. Weather and climate influence fire behavior much more than other factors. Alarmingly, in forests where trees had been removed by logging, fires burned hotter and faster. Thats because removing trees reduces shade; creates hotter, drier and windier conditions; and causes highly combustible invasive grasses to spread. Numerous other scientists those who are not funded by logging corporations or the Trump administration have found the same thing. Weather and climate factors are what mainly drive wildfire behavior. Fires do not tend to burn more intensely in dense forests, or in forests with high numbers of dead trees. Our large wildfires are driven in significant part by the climate crisis. We should respond by protecting vulnerable communities, not by allowing more logging in backcountry public forests, which does not stop fires and often makes them burn faster toward towns, as we saw tragically with the Camp fire in Northern California. This years wildfire season has brought the biggest and fastest runs we have seen. The Creek fire and the Bear fire, in the Sierra Nevada, traveled most rapidly through areas where extensive commercial logging had already occurred, often under the deceptive guise of fuel reduction. More than 200 of the top climate, forest and fire scientists in the country recently warned Congress that logging not only increases wildfire intensity and spread, but also emits more carbon into our atmosphere annually than our economys residential and commercial sectors combined. The scientists, myself included, urged policymakers to increase protection of forests from logging. The only effective way to protect homes and lives from wildfires is to direct more resources toward creating fire-safe communities, improving warning systems and providing adequate evacuation assistance. Passing the Wildfire Defense Act, introduced last year by Sen.Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), would be a step in the right direction. The climate crisis is going to loom larger every year, threatening more lives and communities. This is no time to be misled by the self-serving claims of timber companies or the politicians and scientists whose funding is tied to them. Our priority should be public safety, not profits for the logging industry. Chad Hanson is a research ecologist with the John Muir Project. He is a co-editor and co-author of The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires: Natures Phoenix and the author of Smokescreen. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 19:48:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Contrary to expectations among Afghans, the insurgency and fighting have been continuing at home amid peace talks in Doha to find a negotiated solution to Afghanistan's protracted war. The much-awaited intra-Afghan dialogue begun on Sept. 12 in Qatar capital Doha but the dialogue has yet to deliver. The demands of many Afghans for a ceasefire, at least during the peace talks, have been ignored and violent fightings have been continuing across the insurgency-plagued country. Spokesman for the Defense Ministry Fawad Aman told local media that Taliban militants launched attacks on 24 out of the country's 34 provinces in 24 hours, which demonstrated an increase in Taliban violent offensives. Rejecting the claim, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in contact with media said the armed group had reduced violence. Amid trading accusations, over 60 Afghans including 14 civilians, according to security officials, have been killed since Sunday in Afghanistan. In the meantime, a lack of progress in the peace process has weakened the trust of Afghans for the ongoing dialogue in Doha. "The Doha peace talks is a U.S.-sponsored peace dialogue that won't deliver, because the so-called U.S.-led war on terror has failed to diminish the terrorist groups in Afghanistan over the past 19 years and her peace efforts won't be different than her anti-terror war," Kabul resident Abdul Haq told Xinhua on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Rasoul Talib, a member of the Afghan government negotiating team in Doha, described the ongoing peace talks as a "complicated process." "It is difficult to solve four decades of war in few days or few weeks, but I am hopeful to overcome the challenges at the talks and certainly could find amicable solution to the country's crisis," said Talib in talks with local media. Enditem BEIJING, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Radio, Film & Television Programs Exchanging Center/TV - Program Marketing Department of CITVC (China International TV Corporation), announced the first Chinese COVID-19 focused TV drama Heroes in Harm's Way aired on Sky TV UK's channel 192, debuting on September 28. Heroes in Harm's Way Heroes in Harm's Way from CITVC Produced by China Media Group, parent company of CITVC, Heroes in Harm's Way drew a huge domestic public response* since its Primetime premiere on China Central Television 1 (CCTV-1). Within one week after its first release on September 17, CITVC launched the English version of the TV drama, now on Sky TV. The program received a wide response and public attention since it was broadcast domestically. According to statistics from Maoyan Pro and DataWin Film & Television, Heroes in Harm's Way rose to be the top trending TV drama in China, surpassing all other current TV and online dramas. To-date, Heroes in Harm's Way launched on several media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, OnDemandChina & iTalkBB (North America) and TV2Z (Netherlands). It is set for release in Italy, Argentina, El Salvador, South Africa, Russia, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal and more countries. In addition to the English version, Heroes in Harm's Way is also available in multiple languages including Serbian, Russian, Japanese, Cambodian, Nepali, Indonesian, etc. "Heroes in Harm's Way features ordinary people who help fight COVID-19 during the outbreak in China, telling the extraordinary stories of people sacrificing themselves for the greater good in the face of an epidemic crisis. The domestic release received a very warm welcome and attracted the attention of a variety of audiences, getting a majority of optimistic feedback," said CITVC's Danxiang Cai, Director of Overseas Business, China Radio, Film & Television Programs Exchanging Center. * As of September 27, the viewing number of relevant Weibo topics of the TV series exceeds 8.0 billion, hitting Weibo's trending list 17 times, while the hashtag #HeroesInHarmsWay was viewed by 2.9 billion Weibo users. On Douyin (TikTok), the program remained on the trending list for three consecutive days topping the list. A single relevant video clip on Douyin generates viewings as high as 15 million, with the number of Likes at 480,000, making Heroes in Harm's Way the most discussed CCTV TV series on social media in recent years. CITVC Media Contacts: (Ms.) MJ Sorenson, MJ Global Communications T: +1-646-225-6590 [email protected] (Ms.) Panayiota Pagoulatos, Pink Orchid International T: +1-212-235-1870 [email protected] SOURCE CITVC NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ("Scott+Scott"), an international securities and consumer rights litigation firm, continues investigating certain directors and officers of Raytheon Technologies Corporation ("Raytheon") (NYSE: RTX) for breaching their fiduciary duties to Raytheon and its shareholders. If you are a Raytheon shareholder, you may contact attorney Joe Pettigrew for additional information toll-free at 844-818-6982 or [email protected]. Scott+Scott is investigating whether Raytheon's board of directors (the "Board") or senior management failed to manage Raytheon in an acceptable manner, in breach of their fiduciary duties to Raytheon, and whether Raytheon has suffered damages as a result. Specifically, Scott+Scott is investigating whether the Board allowed Raytheon to dramatically and unilaterally increase the value of equity awards to Board members and the upper echelon of Raytheon management, at a time when Raytheon was making billions of dollars in operational cuts due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 29, 2020, Raytheon announced in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had unilaterally, and without prior notice, changed the terms of stock awards for Board members and a group of Raytheon managers, instantly increasing the value of the unvested awards by more than $100 million. What You Can Do If you are a Raytheon shareholder, you may have legal claims against Raytheon's directors and officers. If you wish to discuss this investigation, or have questions about this notice or your legal rights, please contact attorney Joe Pettigrew toll-free at 844-818-6982 or [email protected]. About Scott+Scott Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, and consumer rights actions throughout the United States. The firm represents pension funds, foundations, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Connecticut, California, Virginia, and Ohio. Attorney Advertising CONTACT: Joe Pettigrew Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP 230 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10169 844-818-6982 [email protected] SOURCE Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP September 29, 2020, 16:50 akipress.kg AKIPRESS.COM - A joint declaration on strategic partnership was inked among other documents between Kyrgyzstan and Hungary by Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on September 29 in Budapest, Hungary where Jeenbekov arrived on official visit. Other inked inter-governmental documents included a memorandum on creation of the Kyrgyz-Hungarian Development Fund; agreement on avoiding double taxation; agreement on the protection and promotion of investments, agreement on international road transport. Amendments to the agreement on education between the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs of Hungary were signed today to increase Hungarian scholarships from 75 to 150. Additionally, the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of digitalization of economy. The Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Social Resources of Hungary singed an agreement on cooperation in the field of healthcare. Jalal-Abad region governor's office and Gyor-Moson-Sopron administrative county signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of trade, economic, scientific, technical and social and cultural cooperation. Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Reclamation and the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary signed an agreement on cooperation in plant quarantine. Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of water resources management was signed by the State Agency of Water Resources of Kyrgyzstan with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Hungary. Ministries of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic and Hungary signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Hungary inked a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of disaster management. The Kyrgyz-Hungarian business forum taking place in Budapest is expected to ink a Memorandum of Understanding between the Investment Promotion and Protection Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency; a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; a Memorandum on Cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry. THE HAGUE (Reuters) - One of four suspects on trial for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has denied any involvement with firing or supplying the missile allegedly used in its destruction, a lawyer said in court on Monday. MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels during fighting in eastern Ukraine, international investigators say. All 298 people on board were killed. After an investigation lasting nearly six years, four defendants went on trial in March. The men are all still at large and three are being tried in absentia. One defendant, Oleg Pulatov, has instructed a lawyer to defend him. Under Dutch law, Pulatov's trial is not considered to take place in absentia because he has chosen to be represented by counsel. "He did not contribute and he was not involved. What's more, he did not and does not have any knowledge of how and why MH17 was downed," Pulatov's lawyer, Sabine ten Doesschate, told the Hague District Court sitting in a high-security courtroom near Schiphol airport. She added that Pulatov also doubts the prosecution's scenario that MH17 was hit with a Russian-made BUK missile. "Our client does not know what happened. What he does know is that he did not see any BUK rocket," Ten Doesschate said. She added that her client would be willing to testify in the case but that agreement had to be reached about how that would be possible. Pulatov, who lives in Russia, is the subject of an international arrest warrant. Monday's hearing is still procedural and a date for the start of the case on its merits has not been set. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Catherine Evans and Nick Macfie) The Delhi Police on Tuesday said that family members of the 19-year-old girl from UPs Hathras, who died days after being admitted to a hospital in the national capital, did not participate in protests that took place outside the Safdarjung Hospital. Workers of the Bhim Army, including its chief Chandrashekhar Azad, sat on a dharna outside Safdarjung Hospital, demanding that the rapists be sentenced to death. Azad was later arrested by police. Several workers of the Congress party also protested outside the hospital, where security was beefed up after heated arguments between the police and protesters. The police said that the girls family members wanted to leave the premises, however, various groups tried to hijack the issue". The family was convinced and they left with SDM and Circle Officer of Hathras. Hathras ADM was also present," the police said. Delhi Police further said that since the issue pertained to administration in Uttar Pradesh, protesters wanted assurance from the state government that justice would be done in the matter. The District Collector of Hathras also assured family members of the victim of the same. Other than the hospital, protests were also held by members of the Delhi Mahila Congress at Vijay Chowk, who demanded that the culprits be hanged. Rajya Sabha MP PL Punia and former lawmaker Udit Raj were also present. Protesters, including Punia and Raj, were detained by the police. By PTI NEW DELHI: More accurate than a rapid antigen test and almost as quick, India's CRISPR 'Feluda' COVID-19 test that changes colour on detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be a cheaper, faster and simpler alternative to an RT-PCR diagnosis, say scientists. Named after Satyajit Ray's famed detective, the Feluda test, which is priced at Rs 500 and can deliver a result in 45 minutes, is able to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses even if genetic variations between them are minute. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) Feluda test, developed by the New Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and the TATA Group, received regulatory approvals last week from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for commercial launch. It meets high quality benchmarks with 96 per cent sensitivity and 98 per cent specificity for detecting the novel coronavirus, Debojyoti Chakraborty, a senior scientist at CSIR-IGIB and part of the team that developed the test, told PTI. Sensitivity is defined as the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals with the disease, while specificity is the ability of the assay to accurately identify those without the disease. Similar to a pregnancy strip test, Feluda changes colour if the virus is detected and doesn't need expensive machines for detection. "The CRISPR technology uses a highly specific CAS9 protein to find and bind to the target COVID signature. This is then coupled with paper-strip chemistry to elicit a visual readout on a paper strip," Chakraborty explained. The test can help the country, with the world's second highest cases of COVID-19 at 61.45 lakh cases, ramp up testing of the disease quickly and economically, the researchers behind the test said in a statement. Virologist Upasana Ray noted that the CRISPR based COVID-19 detection system is a cheaper option to RT-PCR tests, which cost over Rs 1,600. RAT and Feluda are in the same price bracket. FELUDA, an acronym for the FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay, uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for detection of the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus, the scientists said. CRISPR is a gene editing technology and is used in correcting genetic defects and treating and preventing the spread of diseases. The technology can detect specific sequences of DNA within a gene, and uses an enzyme functioning as molecular scissors to snip it. According to Ray, Feluda is capable of detecting even low quantities of the genetic material of the novel coronavirus, based on very minute differences in their RNA the genetic material of a virus Feluda is an alternative to the quantitative RT-PCR tests and is highly specific. It is capable of detecting low copy number nucleic acids (less viral RNA quantity) as well as single nucleotide variations, Ray, a senior scientist at CSIR-IICB, Kolkata, told PTI. She explained that the tests are so specific that they can distinguish SARS-CoV-2 infections from other coronaviruses such as the one that caused the 2002-03 SARS pandemic. "It can distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV sequences which differ by a single nucleotide. Unlike RT-PCR which requires expensive machines, Feluda is simple and can be used in laboratories as well as outside with a quicker turnaround time," she added. In May, the US granted emergency-use approval for the world's first CRISPR-based test for COVID-19, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. The CRISPR Feluda test is the world's first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein, derived from Francisella novicida bacteria, to successfully detect the virus that causes COVID-19, the researchers said. Other CRISPR?tests, like the one developed in the US, use CAS12 and CAS13 proteins to detect SARS-CoV-2. Compared with a rapid antigen test, which interprets results in 30 minutes, Ray said the Feluda test would take slightly longer, up to 45 minutes, but is more accurate and specific. Rapid antigen tests detect the viral proteins or parts thereof whereas CRISPR detects nucleic acids, or RNA in case of COVID-19, Ray said. Chakaraborty noted that RT-PCR takes about 1.5 hours, trained manpower and a dedicated and expensive RT-PCR machine which is not widely available. "Feluda gives similar sensitivity and specificity as RT-PCR but is inexpensive, requires a basic widely available PCR machine and doesn't require extensive trained manpower. The chemistry and biology is of course different," Chakraborty added. "This marks a significant achievement for the Indian scientific community, moving from R&D to a high-accuracy, scalable and reliable test in less than 100 days. The Tata CRISPR test achieves accuracy levels of traditional RT-PCR tests, with quicker turnaround time, less expensive equipment, and better ease of use," the researchers said in their statement. They described CRISPR as a futuristic technology that can also be configured for the detection of other pathogens. "Current R&D is towards making Feluda more point of care, simpler and more deployable to meet the testing needs of the country and enable return to workplaces, schools, etc," Chakraborty added. New Delhi: Markets ended marginally lower on Tuesday amid lack of directional cues from domestic as well as global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 8.41 points or 0.02 percent lower at 37,973.22. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 5.15 points or 0.05 percent to 11,222.40. Major gainers in the Sensex pack were ONGC, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, NTPC, ITC, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserve, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank, shedding 3.82 percent. Live TV On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Tata Steel, Titan, HDFC, RIL, HDFC Bank, Asian Paint, Maruti and Infosys were among the gainers, rising upto 3.08 percent. Domestic investors turned cautious after the Reserve Bank postponed its bi-monthly policy review meeting, analysts believe. Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 7 paise to settle at 73.86 against the US dollar. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.44 per cent lower at USD 42.68 per barrel. In the previous session, Sensex settled 592.97 points or 1.59 per cent higher at 37,981.63, while the NSE Nifty surged 177.30 points or 1.60 per cent to 11,227.55. Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 26.98 crore on a net basis on Monday. Thousands of older women with breast cancer are being needlessly denied surgery that could save their lives, a study has revealed. Women over the age of 70 can be overlooked for surgery or chemotherapy due to a misguided belief they are too frail to withstand intensive treatment. Instead they are often given anti-oestrogen hormone therapy tablets, a less aggressive treatment for breast cancer. But research has shown that it is appropriate for almost all older women to have surgery, which is more effective and can add years to their life. Thousands of older women with breast cancer are being needlessly denied surgery that could save their lives, a study has revealed. Library image Woman, 60, was 'blissfully unaware' of her breast cancer when mammogram cancelled Susan Daniels was blissfully unaware she might have breast cancer when her mammogram was cancelled at the start of lockdown. Susan Daniels' mammogram was cancelled at the start of lockdown. But two months later, she found a lump in her breast and she was diagnosed with the disease in June. Despite missing out on screening, Mrs Daniels believes she is one of the lucky ones because she was able to get a swift diagnoses after checking her breasts. The 60-year-old has now had surgery and is due to begin radiotherapy treatment shortly. She said: I have always attended my breast screening when invited and so when we moved to a new area I called up in March to arrange the appointment I was due. When I was advised that screening was on hold due to the pandemic and that I would receive an invitation at some point in the future, it was disappointing but I understood that COVID-19 was making everything difficult. At that time though, I was blissfully unaware that I might have breast cancer. The Quality Manager from Glynneath, Wales, said: When I was given the news I had breast cancer it was devastating and surreal at the same time. In my opinion, screening is vital for early detection, as is self-checking. I cannot even begin to know the distress experienced by anyone who is still awaiting an appointment. Advertisement Of the 55,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year in the UK, nearly 19,000 are over-70s. Older women are more likely to die of the disease than younger ones, but experts say they should be offered surgery to bridge the age gap in survival rates. Researchers at the University of Sheffield looked at 2,979 older women with breast cancer, of whom around one in five were treated only with anti-oestrogen tablets while the rest had surgery. The tablet-only group were on average eight years older than the group who had surgery. Over the next four years, 42 per cent of the non-surgery group died of any cause compared to 14 per cent of the group who had surgery. After adjusting the results for age, stage of the tumour and other diseases, the researchers, whose findings were presented at the virtual European Breast Cancer Conference, found one in three women treated with tablets die, compared to only one in four who receive surgery. There were also no deaths attributed to surgery and complications including heart attacks and strokes were rare. Lead author Professor Lynda Wyld said: For most women, surgery is well tolerated and should be the aim of treatment if possible, as we have shown that surgery is generally well tolerated and survival rates are slightly lower in women who do not have surgery. But she added surgery is not right for everyone, particularly women who are already struggling with their health. She said: When we looked at the two treatments in a less fit group of older women, these differences in breast cancer survival disappeared. 'These findings suggest that for older, less fit, frailer women with hormone-positive breast cancer, hormone therapy alone is likely to be as good as surgery if their life expectancy is less than four to five years. Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, of Breast Cancer Now, said: This valuable research could lead to a new way of assessing treatment options for older women that ensures they receive treatment that is most appropriate to them, by taking into account not only their age but also their fitness levels and their personal preferences around treatment. Crucially, all women with breast cancer, regardless of their age, must be given the opportunity to discuss all treatments available to them with their clinical team so that treatment decisions are tailored around what is best for each individual. A MILLION women miss vital breast screening: Huge backlog after coronavirus lockdown means thousands of patients could have undetected cancer... with 986,000 waiting for life-saving mammograms By Eleanor Hayward Health Reporter for the Daily Mail A million women have missed out on breast cancer screening as a result of lockdown. The huge backlog means the killer disease may have gone undetected in around 8,600 of them. The charity Breast Cancer Now estimates that 986,000 patients are waiting for life-saving mammograms because screening ground to a halt when the pandemic struck. Early diagnosis hugely improves survival chances and doctors warned the delays mean young and otherwise healthy women will die unnecessarily. A million women have missed out on breast cancer screening as a result of lockdown. The huge backlog means the killer disease may have gone undetected in around 8,600 of them. Library image The screening programme, which prevents around 1,300 deaths and detects 19,000 cases a year, was suspended for four months in March. Todays shocking figures highlight the catastrophic impact of the pandemic on millions of patients with conditions other than Covid-19. 'Mammogram saved my life,' says mother-of-two Karen King Going for a mammogram saved Karen Kings life. Karen King, 49, says a mammogram saved her life The 49-year-old thanks her lucky stars every day for the screening programme, which caught her breast cancer last year before she had symptoms. But the Southampton mother-of-two, pictured, now fears for the many thousands of women potentially in her position. I really do worry about the backlog for women waiting for routine mammograms caused by the pandemic, she said. I understand why screening had to be cancelled but I do know that it will have caused a lot of worry for a lot of ladies who may still be waiting for it to be rescheduled and I also have no idea if my annual mammogram will be affected when its due in December. I honestly believe that screening, and my surgeon, saved my life by finding my breast cancer when it did as I had no symptoms. I am so lucky we have this programme. Advertisement The Daily Mail has highlighted official data showing nearly 75,000 lives could be lost through the unintended consequences of lockdown including cancer treatment delays. It will increase pressure on Boris Johnson to hold back on a second lockdown, with campaigners stressing that cancer care cannot afford to be paused again. Experts warned that the NHS had an enormous mountain to climb to clear the screening backlog. The breast X-rays, which are an essential tool for spotting breast cancer early, are offered to women aged 50 to 71 every three years. Although NHS screening has now resumed, many clinics have had to reduce the number of appointments because of social distancing and infection control. The NHS is also facing a desperate shortage of diagnostic staff to carry out the checks a quarter of health trusts have vacant breast radiologist roles. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: That nearly one million women across the UK were caught up in the backlog waiting for breast screening is cause for grave concern as we know that around 8,600 of these women could have been living with undetected breast cancer. Mammograms are a key tool in the early detection of breast cancer, which is critical to stopping women dying from the disease. We cannot afford for the programme to be paused again. Around 55,000 cases of breast cancer are detected every year in the UK, causing 11,500 deaths. Nine in ten women diagnosed at the earliest stage live for at least five years, compared with just 15 per cent of those diagnosed at the most advanced stage. Between March and July, some 107,000 fewer women were referred to a specialist with suspected cases of breast cancer compared to the same period last year. Hundreds of thousands of cancer patients have had vital scans, tests, surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy delayed or cancelled as a result of Covid-19. The breast X-rays, which are an essential tool for spotting breast cancer early, are offered to women aged 50 to 71 every three years. Library image Some of these procedures would have saved or extended lives, granting cancer patients precious extra time. Yesterday, leaked data obtained by the Health Service Journal revealed more than 6,000 NHS patients have been waiting more than 100 days following a referral to cancer services. The number on the cancer waiting list grew from 50,000 at the start of August to around 58,000 in the middle of September. Mary Wilson, consultant breast radiologist and lead for the National Breast Imaging Academy Project, said: To not only maintain pre-pandemic levels of activity, but also do a huge catch-up with inadequate workforce levels is an enormous mountain to climb. We desperately need more radiologists. 'A long-term investment plan is essential. Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist at the University of Buckingham, said: Young, otherwise healthy women will sadly die unnecessarily because of these delays. We shut the country down for Covid where is the Governments urgency on this? A spokesman for the NHS in England said: The vast majority of cancers detected through screening programmes are at a very early stage and so any impact on patients who were due to be screened is extremely low. 'More than 200,000 people were treated for cancer during the peak of the pandemic, breast screening services are now fully up and running. A Buddha's head has been three-dimensionally printed to restore a stone statue at the Longmen Grottoes, a world cultural heritage site, in central China's Henan Province. The printed head, which is 40 cm tall and 30 cm wide, perfectly matches the remaining part of the Buddha statue carved on the northern wall of Fengxian Temple in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), said Yang Chaojie, a researcher with the research institute of the grottoes. Located in the city of Luoyang, the Longmen Grottoes include more than 2,300 grottoes with 110,000 Buddhist figures and images, over 80 dagobas and 2,800 inscribed tablets created between the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-557) and Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the early 20th Century, the grottoes were largely damaged and looted, with many Buhhda statues carried overseas. Wen Yucheng, former head of the institute, said the Buddha's head was missing after 1923 and was later purchased by the Shanghai Museum in 1957. Restoration research in cooperation with the museum started in May 2019. Among the museum's five relics items confirmed to have come from the Longmen Grottoes, the Buhhda's head was the first one that was identified with its original location in the grottoes. The locations of the other four items, all Buddha figures, have also been confirmed. Shi Jiazhen, head of the institute, said the restoration using 3D technology has provided a new choice for the missing relics to "return home." Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state, will join representatives from all walks of life in presenting flower baskets to deceased national heroes on the morning of Sept. 30, the Martyrs' Day, according to an official statement released Monday. The event will be held at Tian'anmen Square and live broadcast by the China Media Group, the statement said. Enditem I mean, "writing" a book called Scammer and then scamming people out of actually receiving it is kinnnnnnnda genius. Reply Thread Link when people tell you who they are believe them! Reply Parent Thread Link Gotta give her a little bit of credit for that. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah like I don't know anything about this woman but that's kind of iconic. Reply Parent Thread Link I promise you, she is not smart enough to think of it like that Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. Shes delusional enough to think she actually can do things and only looks like a scammer because she continuously fails publicly Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I feel for the people who paid but I mean the writings were on the wall there. Reply Parent Thread Link This was my first thought Reply Parent Thread Link white women get away with EVERYTHING. didnt she try some shit with Roxanne Gay and Gay wasn't here for her annoying schtick? Reply Thread Link I am so damn confused. I went to what I thought was her insta but it says "No, not that one. The other scam." so are there more Caroline Calloways who are scammers? Or is she scamming me to think there are other scammers named Caroline Calloway when she's the only one? If you aren't a scammers why would you put 'scam' in your bio? Why do other people tag images of you that imply there are other scammers but it's a cool thing? I am so damn confused. Is this what getting old feels like??? Reply Thread Link In addition to barely writing, she's very bad at it when she does. She has these phrases she loves and uses over and over again, but they don't make sense. That's one of them, it used to say "not that writer, the one you love" which might be a reference to Marie Calloway? She was a notorious young writer a few years ago She's also trying to reclaim being a scammer despite denying it Reply Parent Thread Link idk why young fame-thirsty female writers are so into the name Calloway... Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like psyduck rn, any more headache-inducing confusion and I'll have my psychic abilities unlocked. Reply Parent Thread Link the ep: Edited at 2020-09-29 08:56 pm (UTC) Lol op, don't forget that when Jameela Jamil went on the Scam Goddess podcast to do an episode about her, Caroline threw a tantrum on social media and tried to claim that Jameela and the host were bullying her.the ep: https://www.earwolf.com/episode/the-impostrous-influencer-with-jameela-jamil/ Reply Thread Link I dont think @DivaLaci purposefully lied to you @jameelajamil but she use articles that sensationalized and cancelled me just as other articles have been used to sensationalize and cancel you. Not everything thats written about me is true. Thank you again for your apology Caroline Calloway (@carolinecaloway) April 1, 2020 Reply Parent Thread Link wtf at the pinned tweet lol eta: i used too many words Edited at 2020-09-29 09:00 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link no. she did NOT come for queen. laci mosley. i've heard enough. burn the witch. Reply Parent Thread Link lol, I came into this post just to plug that SG episode because it's great, so ty for this Reply Parent Thread Link Omg Calloway and Jamil should do a collab, it *is* 2020 after all. Reply Parent Thread Link why was the book even available for presale if it wasnt even finished yet like Reply Thread Link Not to defend Caroline, but I think this is a pretty common practice in the book industry. Reply Parent Thread Link Damn I had no clue you could pre order an unfinished book thats kinda wild Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Books are made available for pre-sale before they are finished by reputable publishers all the time. When you know the book is on track and have design, production, marketing and sales teams behind the book to ensure its success/timely publication it's not a problem. If a pub date moves in our database, the feed to whatever online store you can find it on updates. This idiot took advantage of the trust that has been built up between her and her reader and from people who buy from legitimate publishers, and did what she does best- scammed money out of people. Reply Parent Thread Link Sue her ass! Reply Thread Link i remember when the workshop thing happened. i just don't understand who would turn around AND BUY HER BOOK knowing she's a scam artist. Reply Thread Link other things I didn't mention because this post was already 8 years long: - She has never worked an actual job. - She's been sued for non-payment of rent at least twice and nearly evicted - She was a guest on Ziwe's ig show Baited and notoriously flippant and admitted to being a racist who discovered racism in 2018. She ended the interview by pretending her manager was calling and asked Ziwe to say something nice. Clips from this interview circulated on twitter and helped Ziwe's audience grow Reply Thread Link It was super interesting to see Carolines attempts at lovebombing Ziwe post interview because its clear that Ziwe thinks shes weird as hell but is too smart/professional to say that in public (Ziwes appearance on the Las Culturistas podcast wherein they briefly discussed her confirmed this for me imo). Reply Parent Thread Link The Ziwe interview was EVERYTHING. Caroline tried to make it seem as if she was in on the joke, but it blew up in her face. My favorite moment was "White Fragility by Robyn" Reply Parent Thread Link a close second for me was 'i get allyship cookies for that' and Ziwe's immediate clapback (there are no cookies in this game). The fact that we haven't had a formal announcement of a Ziwe show being picked up is egregious at this point tbh If queen of pop Robyn releases a song called White Fragility... I will implode Reply Parent Thread Link i love that they went to high school together. made caroline feel comfortable to be her most problematic. girl REALLY thought she was doing something. Reply Parent Thread Link Shes 28 and never worked a job?! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Also, the book sold for $500k and the author only got $150k? Damn... Reply Thread Link she got $150k/$500k, the remainder would have been granted once she met certain milestones and completed the book. the $150k was the first bit based on the proposal alone. Reply Parent Thread Link ohh ok I was like, damn Reply Parent Thread Link Oh gosh those AirBNB reviews - I'm not surprised that she's filthy tbh. I might explore that reddit page when I'm pretending to do work. She flunked out of NYU but got into Cambridge? Where they do that at? Reply Thread Link Failing upward is upper-crust white people's specialty. Reply Parent Thread Link Depending on the college you apply for Cambridge doesnt have an impossible acceptance rate For certain colleges its as high as 30% iirc Reply Parent Thread Link in that nymag article it said that she went out of her way to research which college at cambridge had the lowest acceptance rate and then applied there for like 4 years straight until they finally said damn just let her in. she started her freshman year at like 23 years old or something Reply Parent Thread Link She also applied to Yale (and was rejected) so many times that they were like plz stop, something that I didnt know was possible. Reply Parent Thread Link Given the 85 years she spent applying, she also eventually went as an adult student, which apparently has a higher acceptance rate than for normal incoming 18 year olds. Reply Parent Thread Link I was under the impression she didn't flunk out of NYU but she got like 3/4 of the way to a degree there before getting into & enrolling at Cambridge and none of her credits transferred Reply Parent Thread Link I mean, if you're gonna pre-order a book called Scammer... Reply Thread Link The last time there was a post about influencers, ONTD turned me on to the clusterfuck that is The Freckled Fox. Her life is a fucking mess and I wonder if she's ever going to wake up and dump that awful guy she married 80 days after her husband died. Reply Thread Link That whole scenario just makes me sad. Those poor kids. That poor woman. Her husband is obviously a narcissistic pos. Reply Parent Thread Link Nah, fuck her too. There was a time that I felt bad for her, but she keeps doubling and tripling down on her shitty husband's actions and cosigning his behavior. It's clear his grifting is hitting a wall - I expect he'll leave soon when the money dries up completely. I was so hopeful the Meyers would get custody of the kids after the guardianship cases, but of course it went no where. One day those kids will be old enough to figure out what's happening and they'll all turn on her. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg i havent caught up with her gomi page recently....it got too depressing after a while Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i feel so bad for her late husband's family and the fact she's cut them off/they can't see their grandkids. :( Reply Parent Thread Link Omg I was literally just wondering about her. I only followed her briefly when her husband died and she got with that bum. Reply Parent Thread Link Tbh her saga has reached the stage where its clear shes going out with a whimper instead of a bang, just shit posting out into the void to a rapidly dwindling audience as her life gets ever increasingly dark. Its a little too sad (especially with her moms colon cancer and her continual insistence in referring to it as asshole cancer) to be fun anymore. That being said I am super happy having a CC post on ONTD instead of the Reddit site because a lot of those posters are genuinely mad at her in a way that is very weird. Its not fun snark when you can tell the person snarking wants to physically fight the snarkee. With all of ONTDs many faults we can always gossip without being creepy and I love that for us. Reply Thread Link oh i agree, they get really intense and like humorless really fast over there (also agree on how dark the mom's cancer thing was, i left it out because it is just upsetting tbh), especially the people obsessed with "holding her accountable" they are the most comprehensive source when it comes to her nonsense though. i've said before her only talent is creating new controversies so people move on from the old stuff, because there is SO MUCH when it comes to her and i've only scratched the surface Reply Parent Thread Link The holding her accountable stuff is so annoying because what is there to hold her accountable to? She has no companies sponsoring her and she can barely follow through on any creative project besides glueing cutout pieces of paper to other pieces of paper. She gets occasional pops of media attention from irony poisoned New York media types but that fizzles pretty quickly due to her own ineptitude. Its another facet of very online people being unable to just admit that they fucking hate someone and insisting that their hatred of (tbf a person who has been problematic on several occasions and is the worst combination of too privileged/arrogant/stupid to truly grow from it) someone is somehow tied into social justice. (I am also speaking from the perspective of a black woman who went to a ~fancy~ college FILLED with Carolines that I learned to ignore lmao). Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The engagement on her socials is in the toilet and it's really apparent how many followers she bought. I think she's too narcissistic to truly disappear. But yeah, the content she's putting out getting really dark. It's clear she's unwell. Reply Parent Thread Link The snarkers on reddit are often just as ridiculous as the snarkee! I left /r/Blogsnark after the mods there started their crazy power trips and random bannings/rule changes. But I get that it's not easy to moderate one of those types of subs - bitches start getting crazy and try to mess with the snarkee. And they definitely cross a bunch of creepy lines sometimes. Reply Parent Thread Link There was a point when reddit got thousands of comments about her daily, and it was super weird and obsessive. They were starved for drama, so they made a huge deal out of anything she did, and they kept posting about how much better and more successful than her they were. That was uncomfortable. Reply Parent Thread Link lol this is the SECOND time she's scammed people out of a book, GRRM who? Reply Thread Link Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Palghar district administration has sounded an alert for possible cases of the viral Congo fever. The district which has a mix of urban, semi-urban and tribal population, adjoins Maharashtras financial capital of Mumbai and borders Gujarat. At least four cases of Congo fever were reported from Gujarats Valsad district leading to one casualty, following which the alert was sounded. However, not a single case has been reported in Palghar and the alert has been sounded as a precautionary measure. The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), commonly known as the Congo fever, is one of the deadly hemorrhagic fevers that are endemic in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and West Asia. It is a tick-borne zoonotic viral disease caused by CCHF virus of the genus Nairovirus (family Bunyaviridae). It typically spread through tick-bites or contact with livestock carrying the disease. Palghar district Animal Husbandry Department Deputy Commissioner Dr PD Kamble, in a circular, cautioned that since CCHF cases have been found in some districts of south Gujarat, it could spread in Maharashtra. We have asked all the meat-sellers to take necessary measures including hygiene, cleanliness, spraying insecticides, using gloves, gumboots, masks, proper checking of all animals arriving in Maharashtra via Gujarat border, in consultation with various departments concerned, officials said. Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is looking to round out its digital assets team with two new international hires, according to people familiar with the situation. The firm, which re-structured the digital assets team earlier this year, is seeking to fill a vice president position in the UK as well as a research and development software engineer in Singapore. The team has grown to about 10 people with the most notable recent additions including Oli Harris, whom the firm brought on from JPMorgan, and Amar Amlani, who previously was an executive director in cross assets financing at Goldman. The team also relies on support from other units at the firm. Goldman named London-based Matthew McDermott as the new head of the digital assets business in August, representing a slight pivot from its ambitions to build out a cryptocurrency trading operation to one that would build out crypto applications tied to financial markets. At the time, McDermott told CNBC the firm was exploring "the commercial viability of creating our own fiat digital token." 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. TOKYO, Sept 29, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - MITSUBISHI MOTORS releases its production, sales and export figures for August 2020.Summary: August 2020Domestic Production- Fourth consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since April 2020; 48.4% year-on-yearOverseas Production- Tenth consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since October 2019; 45.5% year-on-yearTotal Production- Eleventh consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since September 2019; 46.7% year-on-yearDomestic Sales- Tenth consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since October 2019; 54.7% year-on-yearExports- Fourth consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since April 2020; 22.4% year-on-yearSupplemental InformationOverseas Production- Asia (26,159 units: 45.2% year-on-year)Exports- Asia (609 units: 100.3% year-on-year)- North America (0 units: -% year-on-year)- Europe (2,303 units: 21.6% year-on-year)About Mitsubishi MotorsMITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION is a global automobile company based in Tokyo, Japan, which has a competitive edge in SUVs and pickup trucks, electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Since the Mitsubishi group produced its first car more than a century ago, we have demonstrated an ambitious and often disruptive approach, developing new vehicle genres and pioneering cutting-edge technologies. Deeply rooted in MITSUBISHI MOTORS' DNA, our brand strategy will appeal to ambitious drivers, willing to challenge conventional wisdom and ready to embrace change. Consistent with this mindset, MITSUBISHI MOTORS introduced its new brand strategy in 2017, expressed in its "Drive your Ambition" tagline - a combination of personal drive and forward attitude, and a reflection of the constant dialogue between the brand and its customers. Today MITSUBISHI MOTORS is committed to continuous investment in innovative new technologies, attractive design and product development, bringing exciting and authentic new vehicles to customers around the world.Source: Mitsubishi MotorsCopyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A paraplegic teenager has avoided jail for supplying super-strength Ecstasy pills that killed a 15-year-old girl. Joshua Fletcher-Ward, 19, who was able-bodied at the time of the dealing, sold 15 MDMA tablets to Shakira Pellow and her friends, a court heard. The defendant admitted two charges of supplying Class A drugs. He appeared for the sentencing via video-link from his home in St Day, Cornwall, after becoming immobilised following a serious bike accident while he was on bail in May last year. A judge sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, after hearing he was still full of remorse for what happened. Shakira Pellow, 15, pictured left, who died after she and her friends were sold the pills in 2018 and right, in a photo released by her family to warn others of the dangers of illegal drugs Truro Crown Court heard Shakira took the pills with her friends before collapsing in a park in Camborne, Cornwall. She suffered from multiple cardiac arrests and organ failure due to the toxic effects of the drug and died in hospital the next day. Sentencing, Judge Simon Carr said: 'Shakira Pellow was a delightful young lady with her whole life ahead of her. 'As a result of taking MDMA you supplied she tragically lost her life. Nothing I can do can help relieve the pain felt by all who knew her. 'This is an object lesson in the horror of Class A drugs. They are not party drugs, not a game, not something you try now and then. They will kill a proportion of those who take them. 'You were only 17 but supplying drugs on a relatively small scale to fund your own habit and for financial gain with no thought of the potential consequences. 'You have showed remorse the best you can to the extent you named someone else you'd supplied to due to concerns over the batch. 'You continue to express remorse and took the step of giving evidence in the trial of your co-defendant.' A second defendant Oakley Willoughby, 18, who bought the drugs from Fletcher-Ward before passing them on to Shakira, was earlier found guilty at Truro Crown Court after a trial. The court heard Shakira had previously contacted Fletcher-Ward, a known drug dealer, via Facebook and text messages to get drugs on July 6 2018. Oakley Willoughby, 18, who bought the drugs from Joshua Fletcher-Ward and passed them onto Shakira, was earlier found guilty On the evening before she died, the court heard she had been 'nervous' about getting the drugs from Ward, so asked her cousin, Willoughby to pick them up. Shakira and Willoughby then walked to a Tesco car park in Camborne where 15 MDMA pills were handed over by Fletcher-Ward in a car driven by his father. Shakira took three of the high-strength pills, called 'Duplos'. Some days prior Shakira planned with friends to 'get on it' and arranged to buy the pills from Ward. Following his trial Willoughby was sentenced to a year in a young offenders' institute and has since been released. Shakira's family previously released a photo of her in hospital, to warn other children and parents of the dangers of illegal drugs. In a victim impact statement read to the court, Shakira's mum Rita Hole said: 'Shakira was vibrant, graceful, gentle and so alive. She had so much unfulfilled promise, so much humanity and so much compassion to share. Shakira was an easy child to love, eager to please, extraordinarily kind and always polite and respectful. 'She was fun, popular, compassionate and a loyal friend. I, as her mother, cherished every moment I spent with her, so many happy memories. 'To see my baby girl in that mortuary, all cold, is an image that will never leave my head. When a mother gives birth she has an immediate instinctive need to nurture and protect her child. 'I would give anything to change places with Shakira, to take away the pain she suffered that evening. A judge at Truro Crown Court, above, sentenced Fletcher-Ward, 19, to two years in prison, suspended for two years, after hearing he was still full of remorse (file photo) 'Eventually I couldn't stand driving home and seeing them carrying on as if nothing happened. I was forced to move out of my own home with all the memories I shared with my precious Shakira. This left me emotionally and physically drained. 'I feel like I've had my heart ripped out. That pain never leaves me.' Representing Fletcher-Ward, Robin Smith said his client remained 'absolutely and utterly devastated' by the impact of what he did. He added: 'Nothing he can do can repair the damage he inflicted but he has done everything possible to reflect the remorse he feels.' Mr Smith added his client made early admissions and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a volatile 2020 draws to a close, and the 2021 marketing planning and budgeting season approaches, chief marketing officers (CMOs) and marketing leaders need to have a strategy and clear plans in place to achieve their goals. The Next CMO A Guide to Operational Marketing Excellence by Peter Mahoney, Scott Todaro and Dan Faulkner provides the essential strategies required to attain these goals through the authors decades of experience in the marketing industry. The Next CMO presents an innovative approach to optimize marketing performance by combining traditional strategic fundamentals with modern digital efficiency and new measurement techniques. The book will also help improve the marketing profession by providing best-practices guidance for marketers to utilize when building their plan, setting goals, crafting strategies, creating comprehensive campaigns, managing budgets, and measuring the true return on investment (ROI) of their marketing. Having walked a mile in their shoes, this book delivers a wakeup call to marketers based on hard lessons learned, but also provides clear, actionable guidance to deliver best-in-class marketing, Mahoney said. The Next CMO will guide the current and next generation of marketing leaders to think strategically and create marketing plans that are built from the start to deliver measurable results that exceed expectations. With many CMOs facing increasing pressure to prove the value of the marketing function, they must establish contemporary practices that achieve operational excellence and validate the importance of marketing to the business. The Next CMO was written to help CMOs and emerging marketing leaders reach a new level of operational excellence, by explaining core strategic marketing principles and how best to apply them to their organization. For a complimentary copy of the book, visit the Plannuh website. The Next CMO A Guide to Operational Marketing Excellence By Peter Mahoney, Scott Todaro and Dan Faulkner ISBN: 978-1-4808-9411-2 (sc); 978-1-4808-9412-9 (hc); 978-1-4808-9413-6 (e) Available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Archway Publishing About the Authors Peter Mahoney is the founder and CEO of Plannuh, a venture-backed software company providing the first AI-driven platform to automate marketing leadership. Before founding Plannuh, Mahoney spent more than 30 years as a marketing and product executive with experience as a CMO for startups through multi-billion-dollar public companies, including AI leader Nuance Communications. He is also an active board member, angel investor, advisor, sought-after public speaker and the host of The Next CMO Podcast. Scott Todaro has devoted his 28-year professional career to perfecting the marketing craft. As CMO and co-founder of Plannuh, Todaro is committed to improving the marketing profession by creating a software platform to help marketers optimize their strategies, plans and budgets. He has held marketing leadership positions with seven companies, four resulting in successful exits, and has managed hundreds of marketing professionals. Additionally, Todaro was an adjunct professor for four years at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell teaching marketing strategy to MBA students. Dan Faulkner is the CTO of Plannuh, where he is responsible for the technical strategy and delivery of the worlds first AI-powered marketing management platform. He has 25 years of high-tech experience, spanning research and development, product management, strategy and general management. Faulkner also has deep international experience, having led businesses in Europe, Asia, North American and South America, delivering complex AI solutions at scale to numerous industries. About Archway Publishing Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit www.archwaypublishing.com or call 888-242-5904. Attachment U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette traveled to East Lansing on Tuesday to officially designate Michigan State Universitys Facility for Rare Isotope Beams as a user facility under the Office of Science. Today I think that were designating more than just a new facility. Were opening a new frontier in nuclear science, Brouillette said at an event outside the FRIB on MSUs campus. The FRIB is a federally-supported research facility capable of producing intense beams of rare isotopes that have medical uses and advance scientific discovery. The establishment of the facility at MSU was announced in 2008, and construction began in 2014. Brouillettes designation of it a user facility this week is the latest step as it edges toward final completion in 2022, said FRIB Laboratory Director Thomas Glasmacher. The timeline was built with about six months of leeway, Glasmacher said, and after setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic that leeway stands at five months. But the project is proceeding toward full completion in 2022 on time and on budget. Starting in 2022, Glasmacher said, scientists from all over the world will come here to do experiments. MSU President Samuel Stanley applauded the development and tipped his hat to former university President Lou Anna K. Simon, who presided over the initial phases of the project. People from around the world will come to do cutting edge work in nuclear physics, and theyre gonna come to East Lansing, and come to Michigan State Unviersity. And thats a tremendous advantage for us. It allows us to recruit talent, it allows the students we have here to have the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking research, it allows us to attract the best faculty in the world in nuclear physics. Weve been able to do that and we can now continue to do that, Stanley said. It also creates jobs and is an economic asset to the region, he said. Brouillette said the facility would be the most powerful of its kind in the world, which had important medical and national defense implications. The secretary plans two days of events in Michigan and is scheduled to tour the Ford Engineering Laboratory in Detroit on Wednesday, according to a press release. Danske Bank is today revealed as Northern Ireland's number one company, with pre-tax profits of 90m in the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies in association with Arthur Cox. The bank's 2019 90m figure was up from 88.8m the year before - with the result propelling it from number three in 2019's chart to number one for 2020. Our Top 100 is compiled by economist John Simpson, with Northern Ireland-registered firms in local, national or international ownership, ranked in order of pre-tax profits. This year, the qualifying level of pre-tax profits was 4.9m compared to 2.3m in 2015 - reflecting a pattern of growing profitability among Northern Ireland businesses. Mr Simpson said the average business in the Top 100 had increased their profits by 12% during the year, presenting a positive picture for the economy as it faces the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. But Kevin Kingston, the chief executive of Danske Bank, warned of a tough year ahead for the economy. "We are extremely proud of the achievements of the bank in recent years, however the coronavirus disruption has had a serious impact on the economy and many of our customers," he said. "As Northern Ireland's biggest bank, our business performance reflects the economy we serve. "The Northern Ireland economy will begin to grow again and I believe we are well positioned to continue to support our customers and wider society as we move forward, together. "It will not be an easy path, but I remain confident that our business leaders in Northern Ireland will rise to the challenges that lie ahead and that we will get through these troubled times." The bank has 40 branches and around 1,400 employees around Northern Ireland. Danske Bank said mortgages had been the key driver of its lending in 2019, with mortgage lending hitting its highest ever level. Lynsey Mallon, head of corporate and commercial at Arthur Cox, said: "Each year, the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 provides an insight into the stellar performance of Northern Ireland's top companies, showcasing the variety of firms operating locally, from small family businesses, to large private enterprises and multinational corporations. "The guide proves more than anything that Northern Ireland's economy remains exceptionally resilient and provides us with a welcome opportunity to honour those businesses that have worked to become our most profitable firms. "Congratulations go to all organisations included in this year's Top 100 guide." Todays publication also includes a foreword from the Economy Minister Diane Dodds. The minister writes: I am very conscious that the figures reported on today relate to a period before Covid-19. As a result, this gives us a snapshot of some of our most successful businesses just before the pandemic descended. This was a time before lockdown, social distancing or the need to wear face coverings. The success of companies highlighted today also serves as a stark reminder of what I and my department have been working so hard to protect in recent months. It is because we have such a strong business sector in Northern Ireland that we prioritised offering millions of pounds in business support grants which enabled 30,000 businesses to survive through lockdown and beyond. Mr Simpson said that rising profit levels among the companies indicate that for the more successful local companies, business has been improving, at least before the impact of the pandemic in 2020. The list was compiled on the basis of companies accounts filed with Companies House by late last month. New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday (September 29) announced by-polls for one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, and 56 Assembly seats spread across several states. The by-polls will take place in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. The date of polls has been set as November 3 for all states, and November 7 for Manipur and the parliamentary seat in Bihar. The date for counting of votes has been set as November 10. The EC also said that the guidelines issued by it on August 21, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, are to be followed strictly during the by-polls. The Election Commission, however, decided not to hold Assembly by-polls in seven seats spread across the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and West Bengal after receiving requests from them. Live TV "The Commission has received inputs expressing difficulties in the conduct of elections and issues related to it from Chief Secretaries/Chief Electoral Officers from four states, viz, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal... In view of the above, the Commission has decided not to announce the conduct of elections at this stage in the above seven vacancies in legislative assemblies of these states," according to the ECI statement. Meanwhile, the date of the issue of Gazette notification for by-polls to 54 Assembly seats in various states, except Manipur, is October 10, while the last date of filing nominations is October 16, and date for withdrawal is October 19. In the two Assembly seats of Manipur, and one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, the date for issue of Gazette notification is October 13, while last date of filing nominations October 20, and for withdrawal of nominations is October 23. The Commission said that for those states in which the elections are to be held adequate number of EVMS and VVPATs have been made available. Cumulative images of ship traffic through the South China Sea in 2017 (left) show ships avoiding the Spratly archipelago (right image, detail) and using a single lane off Palawan, Philippines. Blue lines show single ships; green and red show heavier traffic. Data shows that commercial ships are avoiding areas in the South China Sea that have been developed and militarized by China, while experts say that Beijings bases and naval build-up are ultimately meant to secure Chinas trade routes through the disputed maritime region. China conducted large-scale military exercises in the Paracel Islands in July and August, amid rising tensions with the United States. In both cases, it halted all maritime traffic through the area for the exercises duration; in the second set of drills, it launched anti-ship ballistic missiles into the water. On Saturday, it announced two smaller-scale exercises in the Paracels for this week bringing the total count of drills conducted in the area to four. Experts said the South China Sea drills, which encompassed an area of over 13,000 square miles off Chinas Hainan province, may have disrupted shipping, but just for a few days. More significant are trends revealed by ship-tracking data covering a longer period that show commercial ships avoiding Chinas outposts and artificial islands in the Paracels in the northern part of the South China Sea, and particularly in the Spratly Islands further south. In both locations, shipping traffic is becoming more concentrated on a small number of increasingly busy routes. Theres only a series of very narrow passages through the South China Sea straddling the Spratlys. It doesnt take much to cause a disruption in the supply chain, over those sea lanes, said Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina. I think one of the things the Chinese are trying to do is ensure that those commercial routes stay open, and thats one of the reasons theyre putting themselves on those routes, to ensure there is not an interdiction. There is not a stop to the flow of goods and material, he said. But if thats the goal a trading environment on Chinas terms it deviates sharply from how the United States and key allies view the problem. The U.S. has often argued that Chinas militarization threatens free trade and unobstructed shipping traffic. Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, and Germany have echoed this concern. Nearly one-third of the worlds trade passes through the South China Sea, constituting goods valued at roughly $5 trillion. Out of the top 10 ports handling the cargo ships that ferry these goods, nine are in Asia. China claims virtually all the South China Sea on the basis of historic rights, a position unsupported by international law. That has put Beijing at odds with six other Asian governments Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia. China has asserted its supposed jurisdiction through deployments of its coast guard and navy, both of which constitute the largest fleets of their kind in the world, according to the annual China Military Power Report put out by the U.S. Department of Defense. So far, there is little evidence of serious disruption of commercial shipping in the South China Sea. However, data gathered by MarineTraffic, an online service that tracks ships, shows that in 2017, most ships carrying oil or cargo were going around the Paracels, although a more direct route through the Paracels would decrease fuel costs. An image of ship traffic near the Paracel Islands in 2017 shows vessels traveling around, rather than through, the island chain, which China occupies and has made into a major military hub. (Data courtesy of MarineTraffic) Shipmap, a shipping visualization tool developed by the University College Londons Energy Institute, shows that in 2012, container ships would more frequently cut through the Paracels, passing between Lincoln Island and Woody Island. This was before reclamation and sand dredging projects turned Woody and Lincoln islands into Chinese military outposts in 2014. The U.S. Navy performed what it called a freedom of navigation operation through the Paracels in late August and framed that as an effort to ensure critical shipping lanes in the area remain free and open. The Paracels are wholly occupied by China, but they are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. Mercogliano and Johan Gott, a partner at the political risk advisory and consulting firm PRISM, said the impact of ships not cutting through the Paracels remains relatively minor. Farther south, MarineTraffic data from 2017 shows ship traffic avoiding the disputed Spratly islands almost entirely. A single narrow lane off Palawan, in the Philippines, is the main route through the waters there. Previous maps of the area, including one from 2012, suggest this isnt a recent phenomenon. Due to its perilous waters, shipping has long given the area a wide berth. But experts say a desire to maintain Chinese access to these narrow and congested sea lanes has motivated Chinas spree of island building in the Spratlys, where conflicting territorial claims are particularly complex. China has bases at Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef, Subi Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Johnson South Reef, and Gaven Reef that include runways and harbors to accommodate coast guard or civilian ships. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all either occupy or claim assorted islets, reefs and shoals in the island chain. A close-up of the Spratly Islands and the routes commercial ships take to avoid the area. Because of the few narrow passages through the area, Mercogliano believes it would take little effort to disrupt crucial shipping lanes there, which explains Chinas military build-up in the area. Data courtesy MarineTraffic. Whos the better sea power? Gott noted that it was not in Chinas interest to interfere in commercial shipping as Chinas goods sail through the area as well. Seven of the 10 largest commercial ports are in China, and some of the biggest shipping companies in the world are Chinese and dependent on access to the waterway. In peacetime, I dont see there being significant disruption to the flow of goods, Gott said. He said military exercises like the ones conducted this summer in the Paracels by China would have little impact on shipping companies costs and profit as ships are accustomed to adapting to circumstance. There is a disruption to shipping, but it is a limited amount of time, and I think shipping companies are sort of used to having to reroute and renavigate, because of weather, because of military [exercises], whatever it may be, Gott said. I dont think thats going to be a noticeable difference in terms of your cost of shipping one container. A cargo ship leaves the Fos-Sur-Mer harbor, in Marseille, southern France, July 23, 2020. (AFP) China asserts it has sovereignty over disputed areas in the South China Sea, and on Monday described its construction of military facilities in the Spratlys as an exercise of its rights to self-preservation and self-defense under international law. Chinas construction on our own territory is aimed to meet the civilian need in the South China Sea, provide more public goods and services to the region and beyond, and fulfill our international responsibilities and obligations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a news conference in Beijing, according to a transcript posted by the ministry. Deployment of necessary defense facilities on the Nansha Islands is an exercise of China's right to self-preservation and self-defense under international law, he said, referring to the name China uses for the Spratlys. Those comments point to what Mercogliano identifies as the primary reason for Chinas militarization of the region its desire to secure its own trade out of concern that the U.S. or any other country could interrupt it. Also, at a time when many other countries have abandoned the idea of having a national merchant fleet, China has embraced it, Mercogliano said. China has a vastly bigger merchant marine than the United States or other countries, designed to ensure Chinese shipping continues in times of crisis. China also builds 40 percent of the worlds cargo ships. Whos the better sea power? Mercogliano posited. If youre in a shooting war, the U.S. Navy is, but if youre in peacetime, with the commercial aspect, it sounds like Chinas in the better position. China is also positioning itself as the main guarantor of security and law enforcement in the South China Sea, and recently performed its first ever interdiction of a suspected drug-smuggling ship in the Spratly Islands, nearby its military base at Fiery Cross Reef. Chinas legislature recently adopted a new law on maritime traffic that grants maritime police agencies such as its coast guard the right to pursue and apprehend any suspect ship moving through its jurisdictional waters, a vague term that includes maritime territory claimed in the South China Sea. They want to be the regulatory agency. They dont want to leave a void out there for the U.S. or other nations to have to fill. Theyd rather fill it themselves, Mercogliano said. In a move to provide potential Covid-19 vaccine, the world's largest vaccine manufacturing company, Serum Institute of India (SII) said today that it would get a further $150 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GAVI vaccines alliance to make an additional 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for India and other low- and middle-income countries next year. The collaboration builds upon an initial agreement signed in August by the company with the GAVI alliance and the Gates Foundation, with the total number of vaccine doses to be covered by the partnership now up to 200 million. The expanded deal will accelerate manufacturing and delivery of safe and effective coronavirus vaccines, which has been priced at a maximum of $3 per dose or 250 per dose. "GAVI via its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of a further $150 million, bringing the total funding provided through this collaboration to $300 million," the company said in a statement. At this stage, it is important for governments, global health and financial institutions in the public and private sector to come together in ensuring that no one is left behind in the road to recovery. This association is in line with our efforts to see that the future vaccines reaches the remotest part of the world providing full immunization coverage in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic," said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India. "The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax," the drugmaker said. The vaccines will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and World Health Organisation pre-qualification, the company added. The Gavi COVAX AMC, which is currently seeking at least $2 billion in initial seed funding, will meet at least part of the cost of procurement for the vaccine doses. The Gavi Board has agreed upon the final list of 92 countries that will be supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC, the company further stated. In this new collaboration, AstraZenecas candidate vaccine, if successful, will be available to 61 Gavi-eligible countries. Novavaxs candidate, if successful, will be available to all 92 countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. These countries align with SIIs licensing agreements with the two partners. Under the COVAX umbrella, Gavi is co-ordinating the COVAX Facility, which provides governments with the opportunity to benefit from a large portfolio of COVID-19 candidate vaccines using a range of technology platforms, produced by more manufacturers across the world, with a bigger market to provide security of demand. So far 73 higher-income economies have formally committed to join the Facility, in addition to the 92 low- and middle-income economies that are eligible for support from the Gavi COVAX AMC. Earlier, Novavax Inc announced that it has revised its deal with SII in order to produce 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. As a part of the expanded agreement, Serum Institute will also manufacture the antigen component of NVXCoV2373, Novavax COVID19 vaccine candidate. On Saturday, calling vaccine manufacturing and distribution a "concerning challenge", Serum's head Adar Poonawalla said that the government may need 80,000 crore over the next one year for distribution of covid-19 vaccine to every person in India. "Will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that's what @MoHFW_INDIA (health ministry) needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle," Poonawalla tweeted. Serum is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.3 billion doses). Vaccines manufactured by Serum are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in approximately 170 countries across the globe. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) Tue, September 29, 2020 12:00 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47e56e0 2 World Nagorno-Karabakh,Armenia,Azerbaijan,conflict Free Fierce fighting has broken out between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, a new and dangerous eruption of a decades-old conflict. Where and what is nagorno-karabakh? It's a mountainous, forested patch of land that sits inside the territory of ex-Soviet Azerbaijan and is recognized under international law as part of that country. But the ethnic Armenians who make up the vast majority of the estimated 150,000 population reject Azeri rule. They have been running their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops were pushed out in a war in the 1990s. A ceasefire was agreed in 1994 but at least 200 people were killed in a violent flare-up in 2016. Nagorno-Karabakh survives almost totally on budget support from Armenia and donations from the worldwide Armenian diaspora. Why has fighting broken out now? Tensions between the two sides have been building over the summer, and spilled into direct clashes on Sunday. The timing is significant because the outside powers that have mediated in the past - namely Russia, France and the United States - are distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming US presidential election and a list of world crises from Lebanon to Belarus. Lower-level clashes in July prompted only a muted international response. Turkey, which held large military exercises with Azerbaijan in July and August, has been even more conspicuous in its support compared with past crises. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Ankara would stand by Azerbaijan "with all its resources and heart". He did not directly address whether Turkey is supplying the Azeri side with military experts, drones and warplanes, as Armenia has alleged and Azerbaijan has denied. What are the risks? Past outbreaks of fighting have killed some 30,000 people since 1988. Already dozens have been killed and several hundred wounded in the latest flare-up. Olesya Vartanyan, an analyst with Crisis Group, said Monday witnessed an increase in deployment of heavy weaponry such as rockets and artillery, bringing a higher risk of civilian casualties that would make it harder to pull the two sides back from all-out war. That in turn could draw in other powers such as Turkey and Russia and destabilize the South Caucasus region, an important corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas. What could stop the fighting? Several countries, including Russia and China, have called for a halt to hostilities but so far without any discernible impact. Russia potentially holds the key: it has a mutual defense pact with Armenia and a military base there, but also enjoys good relations with Azerbaijan and has no interest in the conflict spreading. If its diplomacy succeeded, Moscow could earn kudos for ending the fighting at a time when it is under intense criticism on other fronts, including over its backing for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko after a disputed election and over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in Siberia last month, which Germany says was carried out with a nerve agent. President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday but it is not yet clear if he has attempted to talk to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers are partnering with the U.S. Navy and National Institutes of Health to develop a model predicting how regular exposure to artillery blasts affects the brains of military personnel. The military could use this model to determine which groups of service members are at greatest risk from repeated exposure and develop plans to reduce their risk of potential adverse health effects over their career. A three-year, $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense will help support this research. The risk model will build on an earlier collaborative study between UVA researcher James Stone, MD, PhD; Capt. Stephen Ahlers (retired), PhD, of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center; the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; and the NIH. The study found that military personnel working as "breachers" - specialists who use explosives to enter buildings and other hardened structures - had differences in brain structure, activity, and blood flow compared with an age-matched control group. An analysis of the findings determined that the effects on the breachers' brains varied based on the number of blasts they had been exposed to and the number of years they spent in the role. "The current study will allow us to better understand how artillery blast exposure over a career may influence brain health in service members and to help answer the question of 'how much is too much' as it relates to artillery blast exposure," Stone said. "The model may be used to inform practices designed to decrease the cumulative exposure of a service member to blasts over their career to help protect their health." Gauging the Effect of Artillery Blasts To develop the model, up to 30 service members from artillery units will be evaluated and compared with up to 30 military personnel in a control group who have not been exposed to low-level artillery blasts. During three-and-a-half days of evaluations at UVA, study participants will undergo a series of neurological and psychological tests, including memory, attention, hearing, balance, posture and general brain function exams. Participants will also receive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans and have blood and saliva collected for testing. Blood and saliva will be analyzed by researchers at the Naval Medical Research Center and the NIH. Based on an analysis of the study data, the researchers will develop a model to predict the effects of regular exposure to low-level artillery blasts over the course of a service member's career. The goal: identify which groups of military personnel are at the greatest risk for suffering brain injuries both during and after their military service and develop strategies to reduce those risks. ### WASHINGTON: Republican senators meeting with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday praised President Donald Trumps pick for the lifetime post, rejecting Democrats assertion that she should recuse herself from potential election-related cases. Barrett began holding the customary meetings with individual senators that precede Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, making Majority Leader Mitch McConnell her first stop. A favorite of religious conservatives, Barrett stood silently for reporters and TV cameras, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and McConnell. Senator Lindsay Graham, the Republican committee chairman who met with Barrett later in the day, said she should not recuse herself if she is confirmed and the justices are called upon to decide disputes arising from the Nov. 3 election in which Trump is seeking a second term in office. I think that is one of the most absurd ideas Ive ever heard," Graham said as he met with Barrett, adding that she does not have a legal conflict" that would require recusal. Senator Ted Cruz, a Judiciary Committee member, said the entire reason the Senate should act quickly to confirm a ninth justice is so the Supreme Court can resolve any cases that arise in the wake of the election." Democrats are urging Barrett to recuse herself from any election-related cases because of Trumps comments that he expects the justices potentially to decide the election outcome, but decisions on recusal are left to individual justices. The Supreme Court has determined a U.S. presidential elections outcome only once, in 2000, leading President George W. Bush to the White House. Pence, McConnell and some other Republican senators did not reply to questions about recusal. Democrats are likely to seek a pledge that she do so. Trump named Barrett on Saturday as his nominee to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18. Thus far, Barrett has met only with Republican senators. With Democrats opposing her nomination, Pence said Barrett should receive a respectful hearing" before the Judiciary Committee, followed by swift Senate confirmation. The Republican president has asked that the Senate confirm her before the election. Trump named Barrett in 2017 to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Senator Chuck said of Barrett: With her reputation, I would say that shes got a good chance of getting my vote." Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and her confirmation appeared a virtual lock. But Democrats could try to make the process rocky with the election looming. If Barrett is confirmed as expected, the courts conservative majority would widen to 6-3. Confirmation hearings are set to begin on Oct. 12. Graham has said that his committee will likely vote on the nomination on Oct. 22, setting up a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor by the end of the month. Democrats including the partys presidential nominee Joe Biden have said the courts vacancy should be filled by the winner of the election, a view shared by a majority of Americans, according to recent opinion polls. Senate Republicans in 2016 refused to consider a Supreme Court nomination by Trumps Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, because they said it would be inappropriate to do so during an election year. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, interviewed on ABC TVs talk show The View," said, No one disputes" Barretts personal characteristics, but her presence on the court could threaten healthcare, the environment and other issues. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Northern Irelands Chief Scientific Officer has warned we will be facing 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day in a months time if the current rise in cases continues on at the current level. Professor Ian Young warned that the current rate of increase in infection is doubling every 9-10 days. Read More His warning comes after the Department of Health announced 320 new positive cases on Tuesday, thats the biggest rise in cases daily cases to date. Previously, the 319 cases documented on Saturday and the 273 on Friday had set new records for the daily change in case numbers. There have been 1,702 cases diagnosed in the past seven days, 422 of which are in Belfast and 401 in Derry City and Strabane. In Northern Ireland hospitals there are 59 patients with Covid-19 and eight patients in intensive care units. Derry and Strabane District Council area had the biggest upward change on Tuesday, with 72 new cases, followed by Belfast with 71. The council now area is sitting at number 11 across the UK in terms of cases per 100,000, and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said everyone in the region now needs to be very careful. The Foyle MP discussed the surge in cases in the north west with Health Minister Robin Swann on Monday night. I firmly believe there are going to be more restrictions coming, Mr Eastwood said. I think that is inevitable but we dont have to wait for more restrictions for each and every one of us individually to be very very careful, to restrict our movements or stay away from people who are vulnerable. Expand Close Dr Michael McBride / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Michael McBride Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said a lot has been asked of the people of Northern Ireland and theyve given a lot. The vast majority of people in NI are doing the right thing and will continue to do the right thing, he said. But he added that further recruitment to the Track and Trace service is underway. We have interviews dentists, mental health workers, people with a wide range of skills, he said. Given the exponential growth in the number of cases we will absolutely need to increase the number of staff in the service. But he warned that the current restrictions could be in place for up to nine months. The Chief Scientific Officer refused to rule out immediate localised restrictions for areas like Derry and Strabane where the number of cases has grown alarmingly over the last week, saying that the measures were still "on the table". If we are concerned we wont hesitate to recommend additional restrictions, though the final decision will be one taken by the Executive, he said. Expand Close Stormont Economy Minister Diane Dodds. (NI Assembly/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stormont Economy Minister Diane Dodds. (NI Assembly/PA) Earlier on Tuesday Economy Minister Diane Dodds warned that Northern Ireland could not afford another lockdown. Mrs Dodds urged the observance of public health messages to try and stem the spread of coronavirus, and prevent further restrictions. We are very concerned about the community transmission of Covid, and of course the health of the people of Northern Ireland is of paramount importance to us, but it is equally important to say that Northern Ireland simply cannot afford another lockdown, Mrs Dodds told MLAs. While we have to look after our health, we also need to learn to work and live knowing that this virus is in our communities. Even the fear of another lockdown would impact on business confidence. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court will deliver its verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday, almost three decades after the 16th century structure was razed by a mob in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya town, sparking communal tension and riots. Shortly around 10:30 am, CBI judge Surendra Kumar Yadav is expected to start reading out the verdict in a court room where many of the top accused are unlikely to be present. Watch| Babri case: Court acquits Advani & 31 others; says demolition not pre-planned Some of the key accused, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former Union minister MM Joshi, former Union minister Uma Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, are likely to attend the proceedings through video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic. At present I am not in a position to say who will be present in court for the final judgment. I have informed all my clients about the judgment date (September 30). Who will be present in court will only be clear on the judgment day, said KK Mishra, who is representing 25 out of the 32 accused persons. Also read| CBI court to pronounce Babri verdict today: All you need to know In all, 26 of the 32 accused are likely to be present in court. Ahead of the verdict, security has been tightened in the court premises in Lucknow and no one is allowed inside the court room except the defence and CBI lawyers, and the accused persons. Entry is permitted through only one gate and barricades have been put on nearby roads to restrict traffic. All 32 accused are facing charges under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, rioting , promoting enmity between different groups and unlawful assembly. Shiv Sena leader Satish Pradhan and Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das are likely not to be present in court. Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh have tested positive for Covid-19 and are hospitalised. Some of the accused exuded confidence. Jai Bhagwan Goyal, 62, who described himself as the international working president of United Hindu Front, said he wont be complying with the CBI courts order to bring a guarantor worth 50,000 with him. I am not going to comply with the order for sure as I feel by bringing down the disputed structure, I did no wrong. Also read| Mosque in Ayodhya may be square-shaped like Kaaba: Trust official Former Rajasthan governor and UP chief minister at the time of the incident, Kalyan Singh, said in a July 30 interview to HT that the demolition paved the way for a Ram temple. I am proud of the fact that I denied permission to fire on kar sevaks, he said. Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, former national chief of Bajrang Dal, is also an accused. I am coming to Lucknow. If I get sent to jail, then too I will work for Lord Ram and if I remain free, then too I will spend the rest of my life for the sake of the lord and my country, he said. Both Pawaiya and Goyal were arrested soon after the demolition. We were arrested back then and on December 7, 1993 when we decided not to seek bail, we were sent to Lucknow jail. On December 8, we were shifted to a makeshift prison at Matateela and later to Varanasi. From there, me along with Giriraj Kishore and Satish Pradhan were kept at Chunar jail in Mirzapur, he said. The verdict in the criminal case comes roughly 11 months after the Supreme Court, in November last year, ruled in favour of building a temple at the 2.77 acre site in Ayodhya. A ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction was held on August 5 and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Corrugated Box Industry is reeling under the twin blows - four massive price increases in a short span of two months on one hand by Kraft Paper Mills & cascading hikes in other Conversion Input Costs on the other hand over the years. The industry is staring at huge losses on account of these hikes during the COVID pandemic. Kraft Paper Mills are citing the most important reasons behind these hikes are - a. Both domestic and imported waste paper prices are up by Rs 4500-5000 pmt in the last couple of months during the COVID pandemic. b. Both China and India import their waste paper primarily from the USA and Europe. As China has proposed a ban of waste paper imports from any country with effect from January 1st, 2021, Chinese paper mills are lapping up whatever supplies available in overseas markets before the ban becomes effective. This extra demand has pushed up the prices of imported waste paper. c. Kraft Paper Mills are indicating that even post-Chinese ban, waste cuttings prices would remain at elevated levels in the foreseeable future for various reasons. d. Lockdowns all over the globe due to COVID have dented the generation & collection of waste and scarcity in supplies. e. Indian Paper Mills could not import adequate volumes during COVID lockdown periods resulting in a lower inventory of required grades and shortage in some lower grades at this point in time. Sandeep Wadhwa - President, Indian Corrugated Case Manufacturers' Association (ICCMA), a PAN India body, requested all the Kraft Paper Mills Associations to bring stability in prices & to ensure that supply chains are not hampered during the recovery phase of the Indian economy. "The Industry growth is of vital importance to our honourable Prime Minister's cherished dream of Make in India. The support of all Kraft Paper Mills as well as our valuable clients is very crucial to achieve that mission," said Sandeep. In addition to the increase in the costs of Kraft Paper, all other inputs namely manpower costs, starch, freight & other overheads have also witnessed a huge increase in the range of 60 per cent-70 per cent over the last few years. Corrugated Box Industry in the country with 350 plus automatic corrugators & more than 10,000 semi-automatic units are facing immense stress on account of these hikes on top of the recent lockdowns caused by the COVID pandemic. This Industry is employing over 6 lakhs workforce and is playing a pivotal role in the Indian economy by maintaining supply chains of essential public consumption items at all times & more importantly during the current challenging times. The industry produces about 6 million tons of production with total market size of Rs 24,000 crores pa and uses 100 per cent recyclable & environment-friendly inputs. Harish Madan, Vice President of ICCMA, stated that unless the box users including large FMCG brand owners support the industry which is facing the abnormal costs hikes in the range of 18 per cent-20 per cent, the survival of the industry would be at stake. www.iccma.com This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Red Threat drove U.S. foreign policy for more than 50 years. From the long telegram to the Domino theory, detente and the downfall of the wall, the fear of being the worlds second best steered decision making. Today, the power balance in the world is propelled by digital forces data, intelligence, AI, etc and it seems, an old alliance is reinforcing policy. On Friday, Axios reported a soon-to-be announced partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom to join forces in the research and development of artificial intelligence. The announcement follows a similar development from the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence announced in May. "America and our allies must lead the world in shaping the development of cutting edge AI technologies and protecting against authoritarianism and repression," said Michael Kratsios, U.S. chief technology officer. "We are proud to join our special partner and ally, the United Kingdom, to advance AI innovation for the well-being of our citizens, in line with shared democratic values. The Red Threat drove U.S. foreign policy for more than 50 years. From the long telegram to the Domino theory, detente and the downfall of the wall, the fear of being the worlds second best steered decision making. Today, the power balance in the world is propelled by digital forces data, intelligence, AI, etc and it seems, an old alliance is reinforcing policy. On Friday, Axios reported a soon-to-be announced partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom to join forces in the research and development of artificial intelligence. The announcement follows a similar development from the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence announced in May. "America and our allies must lead the world in shaping the development of cutting edge AI technologies and protecting against authoritarianism and repression," said Michael Kratsios, U.S. chief technology officer. "We are proud to join our special partner and ally, the United Kingdom, to advance AI innovation for the well-being of our citizens, in line with shared democratic values. The impetus for the highly cooperative approach is a familiar one: fear. Put simply, the U.S. and U.K. feel two heads are better than one in the competition with China for AI supremacy. According to a recent report from Oxford Insights and the International Development Research Centre, a number of the worlds most advanced nations are prioritizing and practicing responsible AI. Richard Stirling, CEO of Oxford Insights explained, Nations from the US and the UK to Russia, China and Israel need to ensure that as they implement AI technologies they do it in a way that benefits all their citizens. The race to AI dominance will be popcorn worthy, as America, China and the United Kingdom have the three highest proportions of AI unicorns. Im certainly not comparing these innovative startups to nuclear warheads, but much the same, perspective says there are no points for second place. Just saying Edited by Maurice Nagle Myanmar patrol operations worry Bangladesh, which responded by deploying more forces. The fear is that a new exodus of Rohingya refugees could be triggered. Prime Minister Hasina raised the issue at the UN, asking for the intervention of the international community. Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) Bangladesh has deployed troops in the Cox's Bazar district, in the countrys south-east along the border with Myanmar, known for its huge Rohingya refugee camps. According to Myanmars security sources, who declined to give their names, Bangladesh has significantly increased its troop presence and weapons on the border since last Friday, including 155mm rocket launchers, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft machine guns. Myanmars military spokesman, Major General Zaw Min Tun, explained that Myanmars armed forces were taking action to maintain border security without negatively affecting bilateral military relations. Myanmars military recently beefed up security along the border, alleging increased activities by the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)., which supposedly caused victims even among children. Bangladesh has recently made a formal protest, fearing that the movement of Myanmar troops by land and sea, with coastal patrols could trigger a new mass flight of the Rohingya Muslims. Senior Myanmar military officials responded saying that the security operations did not entail the deployment of extra troops, nor any offensives on the ground. There have been increased activities by the AA and ARSA along the border in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. While we have stepped up security measures, [Bangladesh] has openly raised objections. And it has also filed a complaint with the UN. So we have suspicions that it has a hidden agenda, Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun said. Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Bangladeshi ambassador in Yangon to say the military operations were not intended to threaten Bangladesh but are part of the normal security operations in Rakhine State. Rakhine affairs analyst U Maung Maun Soe said that Bangladesh might be concerned that more Muslim refugees will flee due to the activities. Speaking before the UN General Assembly, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday urged the global community to play a more "effective role" in finding a solution. She stressed that her country is providing temporary shelter to 1.1 million refugees, noting that More than three years have elapsed. Regrettably, not a single Rohingya could be repatriated. In the summer of 2017, ARSA launched a series of attacks on military and government posts, killing 12 people. Myanmars reaction was swift and very harsh, causing the flight of 730,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees, a humanitarian and health tragedy of vast proportions that is still unresolved. For Myanmar, the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Permanent Representative to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Viktor Biyagov has briefed the CSTO Permanent Council on the situation that has been created after the Azerbaijani military aggression against Artsakh, the Armenian foreign ministry said in a news release. The Permanent Council held a session on September 29. Biyagov delivered remarks before the meeting began agenda discussions. The envoy briefed the Permanent Council on Azerbaijans military attack on Artsakh, its provocative actions and the artillery and air force attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Biyagov presented facts that this aggression was pre-planned by Azerbaijan, and expressed deep concern over Turkeys unconditional support to Azerbaijan, something that constitutes a total disregard of international law. Rejecting peaceful talks, the Azerbaijani leadership chose its way of solving the Karabakh issue inciting large scale war, which has already resulted in numerous deaths and wounded people, including among the civilian population. Turkeys unconditional military-political support to Azerbaijan is of special concern and it contributes also to the further destabilization of situation in the CSTO responsibility area and is a serious threat for the nations in the region. Turkish specialists are serving in the ranks of the Azerbaijani armed forces, Turkish-made equipment is used, including UAVs and warplanes. The massing of Turkish-Azerbaijani groups at a CSTO member states border cannot be of no concern to us. We are resolute to withstand with all our powers and neutralize the intentions of this Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance, he said. Biyagov also spoke about the September 29 Azerbaijani defense ministrys disinformation which was intentionally spread to prepare grounds for expanding the scale of the conflict and commit an aggression against Armenia. The expansion of the geography of the conflict could create a direct threat for the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia, and in this case we will initiate appropriate military-political mechanisms aimed at collectively countering the external aggression, he said. The CSTO is a military alliance between Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzystan and Tajikistan, its charter stipulates that member states are bound to protect one another if anyone of them gets attacked. In the early morning of September 27, the Azerbaijani military launched a massive attack on Artsakh (Karabakh) using air force, missiles and tanks. The Azerbaijani artillery strikes targeted civilian settlements, including Stepanakert city, which resulted in several civilians being killed. Schools were also bombed. A mother and her child were killed in Martuni, Artsakh. Many other civilians were wounded. The Azeri shelling of civilian settlements resulted in another child being killed on September 29. 4 civilians are dead in Artsakh. The Azerbaijani attacks continue. According to official reports Azerbaijan lost more than 400 servicemen, 6 gunships, 50 UAVs, 85 tanks and armored vehicles, 1 warplane and 82 other military vehicles since the fighting began in Artsakh. Artsakhs military said the Defense Army of Artsakh lost 84 servicemen, with more than 120 being wounded. On September 29, the Azeri troops began shelling from across the state border at the Armenian town of Vardenis, killing one civilian. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan The Mission of Ukraine to NATO is working on the implementation of a project to introduce electronic exchange of classified documents between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance, Acting Head of Ukraine's Mission to NATO Heorhiy Tolkachov said. "Indeed, due to the epidemic and the restrictive measures introduced for this reason, it may seem that nothing is happening. In fact, this is not so. There is enough work. Currently, among a number of other projects we are working on, I would like to highlight the introduction of electronic exchange of classified documents. This is a step without which we cannot see ourselves as NATO members," Tolkachov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. According to him, the creation of closed electronic channels is difficult to overestimate, and work on this is already underway, not so long ago Ukraine received from NATO within the Multinational Cooperation, in particular, in the field of the so-called C2 (command and control) a package of documents that defines framework, policy of circulation of closed, confidential, classified information in electronic networks. "These documents were transferred to Kyiv, namely to the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] and the State Special Communications Service of Ukraine in order for them to study which of our Ukrainian rules need to be changed in order to meet the necessary requirements. After that, an architectural technical solution will be drafted, certification and test exchange of documents, and we will have a working, effective electronic channel for the exchange of closed documents that we receive from NATO, in the same way as the members of the alliance receive them," the head of the mission said. Tolkachov said that after Ukraine brings its system in line with NATO standards, the level of trust in the Ukrainian special services will be an order of magnitude higher than now. "This means that the headquarters and the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense, the Security Office of the alliance and our SBU speak the same language. Surely, before starting work, as well as after, from time to time the effectiveness of communication for possible information leaks will be checked by the Alliance Security Services. It is necessary to understand that this is not a project of one day or even one year, it will take time, but without the introduction of electronic exchange of documents, it is impossible to talk about readiness for membership," he said. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will complete its five-year term, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday while ruling out possibility of mid-term elections in the state. Raut told reporters that people of the state do not want polls now. His comment came a day after Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that there will be no option if no combination works out, while replying to a query on possibility of mid-term polls in the state. Nobody wants mid-term polls. But one also cannot figure out a solution to instability. Hence, something may happen one fine morning. All will try to see nothing happens But if no combination works out, then there will be no option, Patil had told reporters, adding that no party wanted polls now. Addressing media persons here, Raut sarcastically said the Election Commission, which announces poll schedule, might have given Patil some responsibility and the latter might be having more information in this regard. But I take Chandrakant Patils comments positively. He said people of Maharashtra dont want polls. I am also saying there should be no elections. Hence, the Thackeray government will run for five years and there will be no elections, Raut said. To a question about former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey joining the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) after taking voluntary retirement last week, Raut said one has the right to join politics after resigning from service. We had no personal enmity with Pandey saheb, who was Bihar DGP. We were against the statements made against Mumbai Police while he was on the post. You dont insult the Mumbai Police, Raut said. Pandey came under attack from leaders of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadai government after he sought a CBI probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death at a time when the Mumbai Police was investigating the matter. Now, the CBI is here (investing the matter). The entire country is waiting to see what the CBI does in this case. I think Pandey too should wait for some time, the Sena chief spokesperson said. He also asked news channels which raised questions over Mumbai Polices probe to now ask questions to the CBI. The central agency has been probing the actors death for over a month now. Channels questioned us. They should now ask questions to the CBI, Pandey, Nitish Kumar, he said, alleging the charges were part of a conspiracy to defame the Shiv Sena. The CBI on Monday said it had not reached any conclusion in the death of Rajput and that all aspects are under investigation. Asked whether the MVA government will not implement new farm laws, Raut said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is holding discussions on the issue with the NCP and Congress. It is being discussed at the governments level. Let the government talk about it, the Rajya Sabha member said and added the Sena had opposed the bills in Parliament during the monsoon session. Raut, whose meeting with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis caused flutter last Saturday, said he will again meet the former chief minister to finalise the schedule for the latters interview (to Sena mouthpiece Saamana). He also said no discussion was held between himself and Fadnavis on upcoming Bihar Assembly elections during that meeting. However, I expressed joy that a Maharashtra leader got charge of Bihar polls, Raut recalled. He said Sena workers from Bihar wanted to contest the Assembly polls in the eastern state and added he will hold discussions with CM Thackeray, who heads the party, on the issue. BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- Six of seven City Council members and Mayor Jerry Hruby oppose Issue 4, a charter amendment that would create four wards in Brecksville and alter the makeup of council to include four ward representatives and three at-large members. Council members Dominic Caruso, Lou Carouse Jr., Michael Harwood, Daryl Kingston, Laura Redinger and Kim Veras said the existing system -- in which all seven council members are at-large, representing the entire city -- works better than the proposed hybrid ward/at-large system would work. I believe that it benefits our community when all seven at-large council members are accountable to and represent all residents, Veras said. During last falls campaign, I knocked on thousands of doors in all areas of our city, and feel strongly that personally connecting with residents and responding promptly to questions and concerns is one of the most important functions of a council member at-large, Veras said. Councilwoman Ann Koepke is the only council member favoring the charter amendment. (A council person) elected by a smaller geographic area lets those in that region feel that they have someone to champion their cause, while simultaneously having someone to hold accountable if they feel underrepresented, Koepke said. This local neighbor council member would still need to represent all residents citywide when sitting on their three committees and on council as a whole, Koepke said. They would, however, perhaps be better known and maybe more approachable to those that live near them. Council placed the charter amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot after a citizens group called Represent Brecksville gathered more than 600 signatures on petitions calling for a charter revision. Early voting starts Oct. 6. Earlier this month, city Law Director David Matty said council had no choice but to place the charter amendment on the ballot. The charter itself states that council shall place a proposed charter amendment on the ballot if citizens demand it by submitting petitions with the minimum number of signatures. Its very important that the City Council stays connected with the residents, and a ward councilperson will be more attuned to the needs of their constituents, said Brecksville resident Janet Popielski, a founding member of Represent Brecksville. Popielski said its not easy for at-large council members to remain in touch with more than 13,600 Brecksville residents. Residents (with a ward council representative) will know who to call when they need help or are concerned about issues impacting them, Popielski said. Council geographics Popielski said she lives in southern Brecksville, where the city is redeveloping the former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, expanding the Interstate 77 interchange at Miller Road and approving new housing developments. She said residents there feel underrepresented on council. Right now, three council members live close to each other in the southwest corner of Brecksville. Both Harwood and Veras live in the Four Seasons subdivision and Carouse lives on Highland Drive, a stones throw from Four Seasons. Meanwhile, Redinger and Caruso live close to each other in the north central section of town. Redinger lives on Meadow Lane, just south of Fitzwater Road and east of Brecksville Road, and Caruso lives just east of her on Partridge Trail. Koepke lives in the center of Brecksville on Mallard Drive, south of Ohio 82 and north of Valley Parkway. Kingston lives on the northeast side on Crystal Creek Drive, north of Ohio 82 and just west of Riverview Road. One might argue that council is missing representation in the southeast, southwest central, south central and northern sections of town and central Brecksville east of Ohio 21. However, Hruby countered that parts of town where council members dont live have received major funding and support over the years. One example, he said, is the Echo Hills subdivision-Snowville Road area, where the city has spent significant money on infrastructure. Without a member of City Council living there, they received the support of all seven members of council, Hruby said. Caruso said that under the existing system, all council members represent 100 percent of Brecksville and that all council members are accountable to all residents. He said the charter amendment would take that away. I dont want council people with a not-my-ward, not-my-problem attitude," he said. Redinger said that under the existing system, residents vote for all seven council members. Changing to a ward system would eliminate this ability by only allowing residents to vote for four council members (their ward representative and three at-large members), Redinger said. Hruby said a ward system can cause divisions among council members regarding the citys priorities and lead to deal-making involving council members supporting each others legislation as part of informal agreements. Carouse agreed, adding, Who is to say that your ward council member supports your point of view on an issue? Hruby called Represent Brecksville a special interest group that rushed the charter amendment onto the ballot so quickly that the city was unable to schedule public hearings on the issue. Thus, he said, the process lacked transparency. The next charter review is in 2023 and will have public meetings (regarding proposed charter amendments) for nearly 10 months prior to the 2023 election, Hruby said. Hruby added that council in 2023 will have three public readings of the amendments before voting whether to place them on the ballot. That wasnt the case with Represent Brecksvilles amendment, which received just one reading. Community interest Popielski said it was disheartening to hear Hruby call Represent Brecksville a special interest group. She said group members are longtime city residents. Our special interest is our community, and we are proud of that, Popielski said. Popielski disagreed with Hruby that the process to place the charter amendment on the ballot was rushed. She said that prior to the November 2019 election, Represent Brecksville members contacted Hruby and council members about the matter. They responded that wards were a bad idea but did not say why, Popielski said. More telling, though, was that they never followed back up with us to see what might prompt such a question. Popielski said that in 1993, 2003 and 2013, city charter review commissions, with members appointed by the mayor, considered and rejected placing on the ballot an amendment that would establish wards in Brecksville. So, Represent Brecksville took matters into its own hands and started discussing a petition drive in early 2020. We felt it was time to allow the people of Brecksville to have a say in how they would like to be governed, and now they can, Popielski said. Popielski said Matty, the citys law director, said petitioners had done everything correctly. She disagreed that the process wasnt transparent. The right to petition the government is a right guaranteed to all Ohio citizens, Popielski said. A citizens petition initiative is, by its very nature, transparent to all. Neither the Ohio Constitution nor our city charter requires public hearings or three readings. Read more from the Sun Star Courier. FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Durabook, the global rugged mobile solutions brand owned by Twinhead International Corporation, offers boundless customization capabilities to users of its Z14I fully rugged laptop. The unit's endless configuration possibilities assure users of the power, flexibility, functionality, and data security that they need for their specific applications. Durabook's Z14I fully rugged laptop offers boundless and affordable customization possibilities to users. "The affordable customization offered by the Z14I is a welcomed benefit to many organizations who find themselves having to make do with equipment that doesn't match their needs," stated Tom Wang, Durabook Americas' president. "With the Durabook Z14I fully rugged laptop, they don't have to settle for computers that don't meet their specific requirements. This unit allows them to get exactly what they need and at the level they need it." Endless Configuration Possibilities With multiple PCIe interface connections, the Z14I serves as a mobile workstation. The greater bandwidth supplied by these connections allows users to add more graphics cards, RAID cards, Wi-Fi cards, or SSD add-on cards, which allows them to do more things faster and with less effort. Powerful Computing/Graphic Processing Using an 8th Generation IntelCore i7 processor provides the unit with the ultimate in computing power, resulting in a powerful, rugged solution suitable for military service commands in the field, who compute and display everything. Durabook Z14I laptop runs on Windows 10 as most organizations continue to use Microsoft Windows and it allows most flexibility when it comes to integrating other software and hardware. The Z14I also offers unparalleled graphic performance through a discrete graphic expansion box featuring NvidiaGeForce GTX1050 and GeForce GTX1050 Ti graphic chips. It is the perfect solution for on-the-go field professionals needing extra graphic computing power to provide rich, vibrant, real-time displays. 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Enhancing flexibility, these rugged connectors are ideal for applications such as the military, industrial automation, automotive diagnostics, exploration endeavors, and any activity needing waterproof connectors. Rugged connectors are available for the following I/O interfaces: VGA, RS232, RJ45, DC in, USB 2.0. Extremely Rugged The Z14I is MIL-STD 810G certified (drop, shock, vibration, rain, dust, altitude, freeze/thaw, high/low temperature, temperature shock, humidity, explosive atmosphere, solar radiation, salt fog, fungus resistance). Along with an IP65 rating and resistance to an up to six-feet drop, the Z14I is able to withstand harsher environmental challenges than many of its competitors. Additional Features Proprietary DynaVue technology and high-definition multi-touch screen, offering the highest contrast ratio, enhance viewing clarity, even from different angles, and in bright sunshine or low-light conditions. 10-point capacitive multi-touch panel with four touch modes (glove, stylus, water, finger), optimizes the unit for both indoor and outdoor applications. The Z14I device provides a media bay for several setup options; such as an optical disk drive, a second battery, or a second SSD storage. AVAILABILITY The Durabook Z14I rugged laptop starts at $3,599. For more details, visit https://www.durabook.com/en/products/z14i-laptop. For sales inquiries, contact [email protected], or call 800-995-8946. ABOUT DURABOOK AMERICAS Durabook Americas is an innovator in purpose-built, rugged computing solutions. We leverage the field experience of our client-partners throughout the U.S. Armed Forces, public safety agencies, and field-service organizations to deliver reliable, cost-effective, and customizable solutions. Every new product and feature is inspired by listening to our customers. Our diverse team of product engineers adeptly transforms what is possible in the rugged laptop and tablet market. Durabook Americas, Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, California, and is the North American subsidiary of Twinhead International Corporation, a leading manufacturer and customizer of rugged computing solutions, including the globally acclaimed Durabook brand. For more information on Durabook Americas, Inc., visit www.DurabookAmericas.com. PR Contact: Rita Lee Copernio 714-891-3660 [email protected] All products/services and trademarks mentioned in this release are the properties of their respective companies. 2020 Durabook Americas. All rights reserved. Related Files PR_Durabook_Z14I_Final_09292020.pdf Related Images durabook-z14i-fully-rugged-laptop.jpg Durabook Z14I Fully Rugged Laptop Durabook's Z14I fully rugged laptop offers boundless and affordable customization possibilities to users. Related Links Durabook Americas, Inc. SOURCE Durabook Americas, Inc. The decision comes in a bid to curb money laundering and terrorism finance, Egypt Post says The Egyptian postal service announced on Tuesday that it is banning the mailing of money, cheques or other documents used in financial transactions in a bid to curb money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The decision is a regulatory measure taken in compliance with national legislations and aims to organise the process of sending and receiving parcels, said Sherif Farouk, the chief of Egypts postal service. Egypt had previously banned the shipping of Egyptian and foreign currencies as well as bearer negotiable notes through the post. The decision was published in the official gazette on 23 September. The Egyptian House of Representatives approved in May new amendments to the anti-money laundering law (80/2002). A report prepared by the House's constitutional and legislative affairs committee said that amendments to the 16-article law are part of a wider effort to crack down on terrorism funding. "Amendments to laws on anti-terror and terrorist entities were amended and approved by the House last month in a bid to tighten the grip on terrorism funding, and the amendments to the anti-money laundering law serve this objective and go in line with new developments in the area of terrorist crimes over the past 18 years," said the report. Search Keywords: Short link: Japan's education minister Hagiuda Koichi says he will ask universities to let foreign students attend extra classes to make up for lost opportunities to study because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Japanese government plans to ease entry restrictions on arrivals from all countries and territories starting in October. Foreign students and businesspeople will be allowed to enter. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a delay in such students joining Japanese universities, sparking concerns they may fall behind in their studies. Hagiuda told reporters on Tuesday he will request that universities offer supplementary lessons and other support for students from abroad. Hagiuda said he understands that such measures could be a burden on universities. He said the education ministry is willing to support reasonable efforts such as online classes by covering communication expenses. A Melbourne park has been covered in dozens of painted circles, leaving residents from a trendy inner-city suburb baffled. Chapel Street Precinct has partnered with the City of Stonnington Council groundskeeper to transform Prahran Square into a series of fun 'social circles' to entice locals to emerge from the loneliness of harsh lockdowns. A string of stage four lockdown restrictions were relaxed in Melbourne by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews this week, with outdoor gatherings of up to five people from two households now permitted. Inspired by the Social Circles project in New York's Domino Park, the spaced out areas encourage residents to picnic in the park in a socially distanced and COVID-safe way without the threat of a $1652 fine. Prahran Square has been transformed into 'social circles' to coax residents out of lockdown to picnic in a Covid-safe way while support local businesses 'We want to keep the community safe and at the same time, support local businesses, which is in dire need right now,' Chapel Street Precinct general manager Chrissie Maus told Daily Mail Australia. The park's surprise new additions have sparked intrigue from confused locals in the last week. 'We've had questions like, 'did Daniel Andrews put these here?' Ms Maus laughed. 'We're been planning this for a while now. We were going to do it after the first wave of coronavirus but then we went into lockdown again.' 'We want to bring smiles to people's faces after what's been a very stressful time for everyone. Every single person has been affected.' Locals are reminded they are still only allowed outdoors for a maximum two hours each day, must live within the five kilometres radius and wear a face mask whenever they're not eating and drinking. Jeremy, Michelle and Stormzy the dog were among the first to enjoy the social circles Businesses in Chapel Street, one of Melbourne's most popular retail precincts have been hit hard by stage four lockdowns. Non-essential businesses are still banned from reopening, with restaurants only available for takeaway. Residents who use Prahran Square are urged to support local retailers by buying a picnic hamper from partnering businesses. Treats range from sandwiches, rolls, pretzels and pastries to Asian cuisine, Middle Eastern kaneffi, along with antipasto and cheese platters. 'It's been a very harrowing time,' Ms Maus told Daily Mail Australia 'Many hospitality businesses still haven't opened as doing only takeaway wasn't worth their while.' 'Four weeks of takeaway business is equivalent to a week's profits during usual trading.' What Prahran Square in inner-city Melbourne looked like before the Chapel Street Precinct partnered with City of Stonnington Council for an exciting trial project Chapel Street Precinct chairman Justin ODonnell added: 'There is a groundswell movement for supporting local businesses, this is seeing more people understand the impact they can have by supporting local, the real sense of community is coming back and seen more than ever around our iconic local high street.' Melbourne's two-hour outdoor exercise limit and 5km travel restriction remain for another three weeks. Victoria recorded 10 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths on Tuesday, a day after the state recorded its lowest number of daily new infections since June 12. Deductions for haircuts, consulting fee write-offs, a family estate that is treated as a business property and an aggressive refund claim could open President Donald Trump to legal risks once hes out of office. An analysis published by the New York Times based on more than two decades of Trumps tax returns the news organization obtained show that Trump took aggressive tax positions and that the IRS is challenging a $72.9 million refund claimed a decade ago in an audit that has yet to be resolved. If the Internal Revenue Service ultimately prevails, Trump could be liable for millions of dollars in penalties. He potentially could be subject to criminal prosecution if the IRS mounted a case that he knowingly violated the law, though that would be very difficult to do, according to tax professionals. Any taxpayer that would have these issues before the IRS should be rightfully concerned, said Joseph Opich, a tax partner at law firm Paul Hastings. The law places strict liability on the taxpayer. You are responsible for what goes on your return. There is no defense for my accountant did it. The revelations about Trumps tax returns and finances unfolded just two days before the first debate between the president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden and 36 days before the election. Trump, who has struggled with persistently low public approval ratings throughout his presidency, trails Biden in every recent national poll. Trump has called the New York Times reporting fake news but hasnt offered a rebuttal on the substance. In a tweet Monday he said he was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits. Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Trumps re-election campaign, said in an interview on Fox News on Monday that the president has paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes and the Times story is not accurate. He didnt say which parts of the story are wrong, and he didnt specify whether Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in income taxes. Trumps conglomeration of businesses, the Trump Organization, has likely paid tens of millions of dollars in payroll taxes over the years. Several things in the Times reporting would be ripe for review by the Internal Revenue Service, Robert McKenzie, a partner at law firm Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, said. Paying consulting fees to employees to generate business deductions, as Trump allegedly did with his daughter Ivanka Trump, is likely to run afoul of tax rules, he said. Plus, he said the IRS is closely watching so-called conservation easement deals, like the one Trump did with his Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, New York. That generated a $21.1 million charitable tax deduction for Trump. The location also created other tax savings because Trump reportedly treated it an investment property for tax purposes while public statements on the Trump Organization website say it was used as a family retreat. Trump may be able to turn to some case law to defend his $70,000 worth of write-offs for hair styling for his signature look, McKenzie said. A 1994 case, Hess v. Commissioner, found that an exotic dancer could write-off the cost of exceptionally large breast implants, typically a non-deductible personal cost, because they were helpful for her job but too big to be comfortable in everyday life. Trump, because hes an entertainer, may survive that, he said. Civil penalties generally start around 20% for negligence, but can be as high as 75% of any underpayment, plus interest if civil fraud is involved. Criminal penalties can be as high as $100,000 fines and up to five years of prison time. But criminal tax violations are harder for the government to prosecute because they require willful and knowing violations of the law For jail time, youd have to show intent, that he deliberately defrauded the government, Michael Sullivan, a former IRS auditor, said. Theyd need to have memos in the files or email showing that. The reality is I dont know if you can show that. The U.S. Constitution is silent about whether a sitting president can face criminal charges, but the Department of Justice has a long-standing policy to not indict the Oval Office holder on the grounds that the individual would be unable to perform official duties. Statute of Limitations The IRS can generally go back three years to investigate tax returns, but there are a number of exceptions to the typical federal three-year statute of limitations that could give the agency more leeway to investigate. The IRS has six years to audit if the taxpayer leaves off more than 25% of their income from their tax return or they omitted at least $5,000 of foreign income. If the tax return is fraudulent or the taxpayer doesnt report a gift of at least $100,000 from a foreigner, then the IRS has no time limit. Because of the open audit for 2010 detailed in the Times reporting and because the $72.9 million refund that year was connected to tax losses and profits in several other years, its possible that the IRS could still audit all the years tied to the large refund. In all likelihood, its possible many of the issues are already under review by the IRS in the ongoing audit. Trump has said he has been continuously under audit for years and thats why he hasnt followed the tradition of presidential candidates making their tax returns public. There is no prohibition on Trump releasing his tax forms while the IRS is still examining them. Trump is also subject to an annual audit specifically designed for presidents and vice-presidents. Those audits are the center of the lawsuit between the House Ways and Means Committee and the Treasury Department. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, who is leading the lawsuit for the presidents tax documents and memos about the presidential audits, said the findings show the need for the courts to decide his case in his favor. Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said if his party wins a Senate majority in November, increasing funding for the IRS to crack down on wealthy tax cheats will be a top priority for him. Separately, a New York prosecutor has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle to obtain Trumps records, but the case is still being fought in an appeals court and is unlikely to be resolved until after the Nov. 3 presidential election. Frank Agostino, founder and president of Agostino & Associates P.C., said the Timess findings raise questions about the complexity of the tax code and the responsibility of tax preparers that will be discussed for years to come. If the Trump children can receive the family fortune without the payment of gift taxes, what does it say about personal responsibility?, he said. Does our voluntary compliance self-assessment system work for the very wealthy taxpayer looking to take advantage of every loophole available? Is there a patriotic duty to pay your fair share? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city stands at 22,559. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko has said the number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the city rose by 416 in the past day. "In the past day, another 416 residents of Kyiv tested positive for coronavirus, including 11 healthcare workers. There were four fatalities," Klitschko reported via Telegram on September 29. "As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city is 22,559." According to the city mayor, 214 women aged 20 to 91 and 164 men aged 19 to 90 are among those infected. Nineteen girls (from one to 16 years old) and 19 boys (from two to 16 years old) have tested positive. Klitschko said 48 new patients had been hospitalized, while the rest are self-isolating, undergoing treatment at home under medical supervision. He added that 48 people had recovered in the past day. In total, 6,553 Kyiv residents have already beaten the disease. Read alsoOne in three Ukrainians would get free vaccine if ready pollThe highest number of the new cases in Kyiv was registered in Desniansky district (71), Shevchenkivsky district (55), and Darnytsky district (52). The total death toll in the city is 373 cases. Quarantine in Ukraine: Background Piotr Cywinski poses in front of barracks in Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp - WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images The director of the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has offered to serve time for a Nigerian child who was convicted of blasphemy and ordered to spend ten years in prison by a Sharia court . In an open letter, Piotr Cywinski asked Nigerias President to intervene and pardon 13-year-old Omar Farouq for the conviction. As the director of the Auschwitz memorial, which commemorates the victims and preserves the remains of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camps, where children were imprisoned and murdered, I cannot remain indifferent to this disgraceful sentence for humanity, he wrote. Omar Farouq was arrested earlier this year by religious police in Kano, Nigerias second-largest city, after he had a blasphemous conversation with an older man. His conviction by a religious court has provoked condemnation by the United Nations and global human rights groups. Mr Cywinski told The Telegraph that he felt he had to act when he heard about Omar. When I heard about this story last week, I remembered that [Nigerias] President Buhari visited Auschwitz in 2018. So I thought that maybe a voice coming from this difficult place would have some effect on him... I have kids that age. "There are some times we have to stop our own silence and try to do something. Its not enough to just like something on Facebook or retweet it. Mr Cywinski added that since he sent the letter last week, no one from the government had responded yet. Kola Alapinni, Omars lawyer, told The Telegraph that the adolescent has been held in a prison for adults and not been allowed to see any legal representation. If Omar had been older, Mr Alapinni says, he would have been sentenced to death. At a federal level, Nigeria is a secular state. But 12 of the countrys northern Muslim-dominated states have a Sharia system running in parallel to the secular courts. These courts can only try Muslims and regularly serve out medieval-style punishments. Mr Alapinni, a graduate of the University of Essex and a secularist campaigner, says he will keep fighting Omars corner. Section 10 of the constitution says Nigeria is a secular state. We are not Iran; we are no Saudi Arabia; we are not the Vatican. We are a multi-religious state with freedom of thought, expression and religion enshrined in the constitution, he says. This should not be happening. PARIS: The chief suspect in a double stabbing in Paris told investigators he acted out of anger over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad recently republished by the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Frances counterterrorism prosecutor said Tuesday. Two people were seriously wounded in last weeks attack, which took place outside the newspapers former offices where Islamic extremists killed 12 people in January 2015. The two brothers involved in the 2015 attack targeted Charlie Hebdo because they believed the newspaper blasphemed Islam by publishing the same Muhammad caricatures. Authorities are investigating Fridays stabbings as an Islamic extremist attack. Counterterrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said the Pakistan-born suspect identified himself as Zaher Hassan Mahmood, 25, after a photo of his passport was found in his mobile phone. He initially told police he was going by the name of Hassan Ali, aged 18. Ricard said the assailant did not claim an affiliation with a specific extremist group. The suspect said he had seen videos from Pakistan on Charlie Hebdos decision to reprint the caricatures as more than a dozen people charged in the newspaper attack and another outside a kosher grocery store in Paris went on trial this month, according to the prosecutor. Describing himself as angry, he decided to carry out the attack without knowing the newspaper had moved, Ricard said. In a 3-minute video broadcast on social media on Friday morning, the suspect, speaking in Urdu, announces his act, Ricard said, quoting him as saying hes going to rebel against the new publication of the caricatures. A judicial investigation has been opened for attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise and terrorist conspiracy. Several associates and relatives of the knifeman have all been released without charges. Ricard said the suspect arrived in France two years ago, presenting himself as an unaccompanied minor. Charlie Hebdo lost 12 employees in an al-Qaida attack in 2015 by French-born extremists who had criticized the prophet cartoons. The newspaper, which routinely mocks religious figures of all kinds, decided to republish the caricatures the day before the trial into the 2015 attacks opened this month. The publication drew threats from militant groups, as well as criticism from Muslims in multiple countries. The two people wounded in Fridays attack were a woman and a man working at the Premieres Lignes documentary production company who had stepped outside for a smoke break. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor After the CLEET hearing is finalized we will be able to move forward, said District Attorney Kenny Wright. Berry has refused to comment on the allegations, but his attorney Brian Berry, addressed the accusations through an email saying the sheriff-elect did have 2005 Colcord diploma. It is ironic that a challenge regarding Marks CLEET certification is now being brought after maintaining continuing education credits with CLEET for over fifteen years, with numerous opportunities to have been investigated at many different levels with different employers and positions maintained in good standing with Mark, the email states. The only legal challenge alleged is whether or not Mark maintains a valid diploma, which he holds and which is signed by all board members and the current superintendent at the time upon receiving his diploma in 2005, the email states. The email continues that no further comment would be made until after the Oct. 23 CLEET meeting. Doing some commentary over the weekend about President Trumps nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, I was struck by not just the emptiness but the outright deceptiveness of the three main Democratic lines of attack against her. These are early days, so perhaps Barretts opposition will find something of substance that gains some traction. For now, the main salvos against her are frivolous: (1) President Trump has a litmus test for nominees, who must take predetermined positions that support his policy agenda; (2) Relatedly, Judge Barrett will destroy the Affordable Care Act, consideration of which comes up on the Supreme Courts oral-argument docket the week after Election Day; and (3) Barrett, a devout Catholic, is on a crusade to overturn Roe v. Wade (1973). I will take these in order. * * * 1. Litmus Test There is no evidence that President Trump has imposed a litmus test on judges whom he would nominate to the Supreme Court. That Democrats say there is a litmus test, tirelessly, on every media platform available to them, is not proof of anything other than a campaign to drive a fact-free political narrative into the publics consciousness. Specifically, there is no evidence that Judge Barrett, in order to be nominated, had to agree to take the Trump administrations position of staunch opposition to Obamacare and abortion. As I noted on the Corner earlier today, it is not unusual for Trump-appointed judges to rule against the administration. Nor is there any indication that Judge Barrett would be amenable to a litmus test. Consistent with her personal character, scholarship, and jurisprudence, as well as the example of her mentor, Justice Scalia, Barrett emphatically rejects the premise that it is the judges role to impose policy preferences whether the judges or anyone elses on the nation. She has demonstrated that she believes the judges task is to decide issues that arise in litigation based on the applicable law as it was understood at the time of its adoption, guided by the laws text and judicial precedent. If Barrett is confirmed, she will confine herself, as she has done on the Seventh Circuit, to resolving the cases that come before her in such a manner. That is a hard enough job to do faithfully without looking for dragons to slay. Story continues 2. Eradicating Obamacare The notion that Judge Barrett, or for that matter the other Trump appointees to the Supreme Court, are on the warpath against the Affordable Care Act is laughable. The ACA issue is being contorted into a convenient political talking point in the stretch-run of a presidential campaign because President Trump, foolishly and reportedly against the advice of Attorney General Barr, has supported a weak legal challenge to the law. The case is California v. Texas, and the justices are scheduled to hear arguments about it on November 10. In my view, this is a rare case of conservative judicial activism, which itself is very unconservative. That is, Texas federal district judge Reed OConnor, who is a fine judge, erred in this case by doing what conservatives properly fault liberal judges for doing: He imposed a policy preference, rather than deciding the case in accordance with the law and leaving policymaking to Congress. In 2017, with Republicans controlling the House and Senate and with President Trumps support, Congress zeroed out the penalty for non-compliance with the Obamacare individual mandate. Notwithstanding scores of proposals to repeal and replace the ACA, Congress did not do so; lawmakers left the remainder of the complex legislative scheme in place. Even so, 18 attorneys general from red states, aping the destructive practice of their blue state counterparts, filed a lawsuit theorizing that Congress had implicitly done what it had actually declined to do, namely, repeal the ACA. Essentially, the red-state AGs (a) pointed out that the Supreme Court (thanks to the legerdemain of Chief Justice Roberts) had upheld the ACA as a tax in the 2012 case of National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius (NFIB); (b) asserted that this rationale for upholding the ACA is no longer valid because Congresss 2017 zeroing out of the penalty (in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) means the mandate cannot be a tax, there being no tax without a penalty; and (c) therefore argued that, since the mandate was so central to the ACA, the entire ACA must fall. For standing purposes, the 18 states were joined by two individuals alleging concrete harm, and were supported by the Trump Justice Department (under then-attorney general Jeff Sessions). In late 2018, Judge OConnor, a George W. Bush appointee, agreed with the Republican AGs that the mandate could no longer be construed as an exercise of Congresss taxing power. Thus, he reasoned, since the tax construction was what saved the ACA from constitutional infirmity in NFIB, and since that construction is no longer justifiable after the 2017 legislation, the mandate is perforce unconstitutional. Moreover, because the mandate is inextricably tied to key components of Obamacare (including coverage of people with preexisting conditions), OConnor deduced that it is not severable from the rest of the ACA, meaning the ACA is unconstitutional in toto. Subsequently, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed Judge OConnors decision that the mandate is unconstitutional. But the appellate court did not uphold OConnors inseverability finding, reasoning that the issue called for a more granular analysis. It therefore remanded the case to OConnor for a more exacting inquiry. California leading a coalition of 19 states plus the District of Columbia that support the ACA pressed for an immediate Supreme Court review, arguing that the implications for public health care were too important to abide further doubt and delay. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. It takes more effort to provide that description of the litigation than to tackle the bottom line. To my mind, the only question about the Supreme Courts resolution of California v. Texas is whether a single justice will vote to hold the whole of the ACA unconstitutional. I doubt it. Indeed, I am skeptical that a majority of the Court will even agree with Judge OConnor and the Fifth Circuit that the mere zeroing out of a tax is the functional equivalent of repealing it, such that the mandate, technically, is no longer a tax. Regardless, though, the Court is not going to hold that the mandate is inseverable from the rest of Obamacare. You can take that to the bank. We can be confident that there are at least five, and probably six, solid votes for severability. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh emphatically endorsed the presumption in favor of severability just last term (here and here). Justice Alito agreed with them, as did the three liberal justices remaining on the Court after Justice Ginsburgs death Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan who will surely vote to preserve as much of the ACA as possible. Furthermore, I suspect Justices Thomas and Gorsuch will side with this majority and if they dont, their position is apt to be even more deferential to Congress. They have each suggested that the Court get out of the business of analyzing severability and simply refuse to uphold any portions of a statute found to be invalid, leaving the rest up to lawmakers. In addition, they would be very stingy about who has standing to challenge statutes based on alleged harms. Contrary to the claim that there is a Trump litmus test that requires killing Obamacare, there is actually no reason to assume that the Trump appointees already on the Supreme Court (Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) are going to vote to invalidate the ACA. The best bet on what a Justice Barrett would do is that she would either (a) agree to follow the presumption in favor of severability that the Court has recently reaffirmed; or (b) question whether the plaintiffs challenging the ACA have standing and whether the Court should do any severability analysis relating to parts of the ACA that are not properly before the Court. Of course, I could be wrong. Judge Barrett is very smart, and she could have an analysis that none of us Court-watchers have thought of. Still, there is no basis to believe that she is on a mission to eradicate the ACA. This is an unfounded political talking point. Politically speaking, President Trump shot himself in the foot by ordering the Justice Department to support the red-state lawsuit. It has little or no chance of prevailing, and it makes him vulnerable to the false charge that he favors eliminating coverage for pre-existing conditions at a time when COVID-19 and high unemployment have intensified voter concerns about access to health insurance. Naturally, since one of the Democrats main campaign themes is that Trump is bent on eliminating Obamacare, they are telling people that getting Judge Barrett on the Court is part of that plan. To the contrary, Barrett does not believe it is the federal judiciarys role to make health-care policy. There is scant reason to presume that she would invalidate the ACA, and every reason to suspect shed point out that doing so is up to Congress, which could have repealed it but opted not to. 3. Overruling Roe v. Wade No Supreme Court appointment by a Republican president would be complete without the Lefts obligatory hysteria about the purportedly imminent demise of Roe v. Wade, that indefensible exercise in judicial lawlessness whose atrocious consequences include the deaths of millions of unborn children. Once again, its a political narrative with little foothold in the real world. As I pointed out when then-judge Kavanaugh was nominated, the Roe argument is ill-founded. For over a quarter-century, we have been under the sway not of Roe but of Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). Casey gutted Roes reasoning, but left the judicially manufactured right to abortion intact. It also dramatically altered the arc of abortion litigation by acknowledging the interest of states in protecting public health and unborn life. Consequently, the legal fights over abortion now tend to center on regulation i.e., does a regulation of abortion that a state enacts further the states legitimate interests, and does it so interfere with the availability of abortion that the womans right of access to the procedure is rendered illusory? The core right posited by Roe is not threatened by such challenges. If a state were to try to ban abortion, that would immediately prompt a federal lawsuit challenging the law. The federal district court, being bound to apply Roe regardless of the judges own moral or legal views on the subject, would instantly invalidate the state provision (contrary to liberal caricature, conservative judges do not refuse to apply binding precedent, regardless of their personal feelings about it). If there were an appeal, the relevant federal appellate court would uphold Roe, and the Supreme Court would almost certainly decline to review the case. This is not a sure thing, but I suspect it is close to sure, much as I personally wish it were not. On the other hand, in the more likely event that a state enacted a regulation that made abortion access more difficult, there would quickly be a federal lawsuit challenging the provision under Casey, not Roe. The Supreme Court decided such a case this past term, prioritizing access to abortion over state public-health regulation. Even if one assumed that a Justice Barrett would look sympathetically on state regulation of abortion, as Justice Scalia did, that would not eradicate the Roe abortion right. Finally, lets explore what the Left never mentions. Lets assume, for arguments sake and against all indicia to the contrary, the unlikely event that the Supreme Court went out of its way to overturn Roe, after nearly half a century and despite its recent emphasis on the supposed centrality of stare decisis (the doctrine of adhering to precedent). Doing so would not criminalize, much less end, abortion in the United States. As Justice Scalia repeatedly explained, The States may, if they wish, permit abortion on demand, but the Constitution does not require them to do so. If Roe were overturned, the matter would be returned to the states, where it should have been in the first place and would have been had the justices not presumptuously intervened in 1973, to the great detriment of the Courts reputation as a non-political judicial institution and of the judicial-confirmation process. If Roe were overruled, some very left-leaning states, such as New York and California, would enact a regime of abortion-on-demand. Some very conservative states, such as Alabama and Mississippi, would enact significant limitations on abortion or perhaps even ban it outright. But access to abortion, while more limited in some places, would not cease to exist. Would the increased burden seem intolerable to pro-abortion activists? Of course it would. Just as for those of us on the other side, who believe that abortion is the taking of innocent human life, the continued availability of abortion would seem intolerable. That is how democracy in a federalist republic is supposed to work. * * * There is no Trump litmus test for Supreme Court appointees. The Court is not poised to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, with or without Judge Barrett. Roe survived 30 years of searing dissents by Justice Scalia; it will likely survive a Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And regrettably, abortion will survive no matter what happens. More from National Review Torgbui Agah Semaglo, the Ewe Chief of Sarpeiman- Faase in the Ga-West Municipal Assembly has called on chiefs and community leaders to ensure peace in their communities during the upcoming elections. He said as leaders, it was their task to help maintain law and order for society to thrive at all times, including the elections period. As traditional leaders, we are not only custodians of our lands but we are to ensure the development of our people, and without peace there will be no development, he added. Torgbui Semaglo, made the call during the celebration of his tenth anniversary as the Ewe chief of Sarpeiman- Faase, in Accra. The anniversary celebration was commemorated with a three-day event which started with a clean-up exercise and climaxed with a grand durbar in his honour for his dedication, commitment and hard work towards the development of the community. The celebration was on the theme:Peace and Unity, a tool for progress and development. Torgbui Semaglo I said it was his responsibility as the Ewe Chief of Sarpeiman to support the people of his community and as such he had provided some basic amenities for them including three boreholes and a twelve-seater water closet toilet facility. He said he would also provide scholarship for local brilliant students to access University education. He urged the youth to take their education serious. He said "with education being one of my priorities, I have distributed 5,000 exercise books, pens, chalks among others to Sarpeiman primary and Junior High School, Amasaman primary and Kutunse primary." Torgbui Semaglo I pledged to complete to all the projects he has started in the community, as well as to provide financial support to alleviate the suffering of local women and children. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video (Natural News) The chaos and societal destruction that we are currently seeing are the products of American societys abandonment of the traditional values of Western Civilization, an expert on history says. The whole Western world and civilization came from a mixture of Roman politics, Greek philosophy and Christianity, Fred Markert, an expert on the decline of the preeminent civilizations in our worlds history, said in an interview with the Health Ranger Mike Adams, noting that while Greek and Roman philosophy and politics existed before Christianity, it was the latters values that enlivened the correct ideas of Roman politics and Greek philosophy. It gave life to them and that sparked the greatest civilization the world has ever seen, Markert said during his appearance at Brighteon Conversations. According to Markert, however, these principles and philosophies have become largely forgotten a problem that has since become a factor in the decline of American society. This abandonment of Western Civilization is not an accident, Markert points out, but rather, the result of an insidious conspiracy by Marxists who infiltrated several educational institutions during the 1930s as part of their plans for a takeover of the United States. This strategy was hatched by adherents of the Frankfurt School a branch of Communism that was highly critical of the orthodox and literal interpretation of Marxism and was hinged on the idea that for Marxism to truly succeed in the industrialized nations, it must first gain substantial influence on culture and civilization. They developed a strategy and a plan for Marxist revolution and as Hitler was coming to power, the Frankfurt School fled to America, where they were embraced by prestigious American universities, Markert said. Over the course of the next year, in 1934, these Frankfurt School Marxists developed The Long March to the High Places of the Culture, a roadmap detailing the steps that Marxists must take in order to successfully drive their Communist agenda. Part of this agenda was gaining influence over the universities and the educational system, as well as television, movies and music. (Related: Academic hypocrisy: Stanford, liberal universities accepted funds from commie Beijing) They called it a long march because they knew it would be a hundred years or so before they could accomplish their goal, Markert said, adding that were seeing today is just the fruit of something that began in America around 1933 and 1934. Unhealthy U.S. educational system pushing society to a new Dark Age Compounding the issue is the American educational systems misplaced focus on the idea of producing so-called experts. When our experts developed the nuclear bomb, which we used to stop the war, that began the American fascination with experts, Markert said. This unhealthy emphasis on gaining expertise in singular fields has caused people to get siloed in their knowledge, which, in the long run, has been proven to have detrimental effects not just on the educational system, but on society as a whole. Part of this, Markert explained, is that experts who are often asked to lead integral positions in society know very little out of their respective silos. In addition, the American fascination with experts has led to a false sense of elitism, which, in turn, has caused most of the population to denigrate people who specialize in trades, such as farmers and laborers. We also denigrated other trades such as those who work in agriculture, calling them deplorable. We sneer at those people rather than embrace those people, Markert lamented. Markert also noted that American societys obsession with becoming experts has led to the idea that everybody must get a degree including those who are really are not the best candidates for that. This rat race has resulted in disastrous consequences, such as the staggering dropout rate in American college students. In most societies of the world, only about 20 to 30 percent of people ever get a degree, and what weve done, is because of our emphasis on experts and gaining expertise, we drive everyone to college to get a degree, Markert explained, noting that this is in stark contrast to other Western nations, which have trade schools for people who do not wish to go to college. You know what they do in Germany? Fifty-nine percent arent going to get a degree so they have trade schools, they go to trade schools instead of college. Theyre welders, plumbers, electricians, who make so much money, they do better than our college graduates, actually. We have a very sick educational system because of our reliance on these experts, Markert explained. Markert continued that those who do pursue college degrees often opt for the soft sciences instead of taking up courses in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. This has since resulted in a lack of scientists and engineers in the United States. Why do we import so many East Indians and Chinese engineers? Its because were not producing our own. China right now is number one in reading, science and math. It used to be that the USA was number one in reading, science and math right now were 17th in reading, 27th in science, and 37th in math and those are the three skills needed to rebuild a complex society or even to maintain it, he said. This claim aligns with data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which notes that 21 percent of adults in the United States a percentage that translates to about 43 million individuals fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category. According to Markert, this poor educational performance puts America in a dangerous position a position not unlike that of Romes during the start of the Dark Ages. We used to read Plato, we used to read Aristotle, we used to read Shakespeare which were all morality plays, right? we used to read the great works, the foundational works, the foundational documents and every new generation of Americans would wrestle with these ideas for themselves, make these ideas their own, and because they were their own, we were able to replenish our institutions, Markert stated, adding that the same cannot be said today. Now, we dont teach any of these foundational documents, were no longer watering the roots of our civilization which was the Marxist strategy so that they were able to deconstruct our civilization, Markert explained. Markert further noted that the educational system has become engineered to ensure that students end up knowing just enough for them to be considered productive. They want people just barely smart enough to do Microsoft Word and run spreadsheets to keep the machinery going of civilization, but not have any critical reasoning abilities, he explained. WATCH: Sources include: Brighteon.com TheEpochTimes.com WENR.WES.org LibraryJournal.com Most grad students in art history dream of discovering an unknown work by whatever great artist they are studying. Louis Shadwick has achieved just the opposite: In researching his doctorate on Edward Hopper, for the storied Courtauld Institute in London, Shadwick has discovered that three of the great Americans earliest oil paintings, from the 1890s, can only barely count as his original images. Two are copies of paintings Shadwick found reproduced in a magazine for amateur artists published in the years before Hoppers paintings. The reproductions even came with detailed instructions for making the copies. Shadwick spells out his discovery in the October issue of The Burlington Magazine, a venerable art historical journal. It was real detective work, Shadwick explained, Zooming from his sunny apartment in London. At 30, hes older than most of his graduate-school peers because of a longish spell fronting an alt-rock trio (White Kite), a past not revealed in the blue button-down he wore when we talked and his close-cropped dark hair. Shadwick was working out the earliest influences on Hoppers art one aspect of his PhD, half-finished so far when he figured out that an American Tonalist painter named Bruce Crane (1857-1937) might have played some kind of role. Then, early this summer, in what Shadwick called a eureka moment of pandemic googling, he landed on A Winter Sunset, a painting by Crane from an 1890 issue of The Art Interchange that was an almost perfect match for one of Hoppers teenage works, long known as Old Ice Pond at Nyack, circa 1897, depicting a winter landscape with a streak of waning light. (A gallery is selling it now, with a price estimate of $375,000; the change in its status might affect buyers offers.) Shadwick went on to discover similar sources for all but one of Hoppers first oils. Scholars have talked about those early Hoppers as showing us his childhood home in Nyack, New York, and as examples of his preternatural talent as a self-trained young painter, and actually, both these things are not true none of the oils are of Nyack, and Hopper had a middling talent for oil painting, until he went to art school, said Shadwick, adding, Even the handling of the paint is pretty far from the accomplished works he was making even five years after that. Those weak brush-skills are now the only thing in those earliest oils that anyone can lay claim to as Hoppers. Its always great to find out something new about a major artist, said Carter Foster, deputy director at the Blanton Museum of Art, in Austin, Texas, and a Hopper expert who organized the landmark show of his drawings at the Whitney Museum in 2013. He got to know Shadwicks work after meeting him at a Hopper symposium and admires the depth of the archival research involved. He also admitted that the discovery did not come to him as much of a surprise, given that, before the advent of modern art and its freedoms, artists almost always got their start by copying. For Kim Conaty, curator of drawings and prints at the Whitney Museum in New York, where she is at work on a big Hopper show, the copying that Shadwick revealed has more important repercussions: It cuts straight through the widely held perception of Hopper as an American original, she said as an artist whose innate genius allowed him to emerge on the scene without a debt to others. The only real influence Ive ever had was myself, he once claimed. Conaty said that Shadwicks discovery promises to be a pin in a much broader argument about how to look at Hopper. Shadwick is building precisely such an argument in his doctorate; the parts Ive read look very promising. Shadwick submitted his discovery about Hoppers early oils to the Burlington Magazine for peer review, according to Michael Hall, its editor. It was part of a larger project meant to spell out the cultural context from which the painter evolved the things he was seeing, the things he was reading, the newspapers his family received, the journals, Shadwick said. A Londoner, he especially wants to understand the notion of Americanness that Hopper grew up around, and that then grew up around Hopper as his reputation matured; it still rules much of the talk about him. But were more likely to assume or assert that Hopper and his art are quintessentially American than to ask ourselves what that meant for him and his audience, or what it might mean for us today. In our new century, when the countrys place in the world seems less sure by the day and when even Americans are split on the state of their nation does it need to be made great again or does it need to face up to past failures? a national treasure like Hopper seems to beg for a fresh approach. What is this Americanness that people are identifying? Where does it come from, is it useful as a term? Shadwick said those are the questions at the heart of his study of Hopper. Maybe it takes someone from elsewhere to recognize just how artificial and peculiar American identity has been, and how directly Hopper was involved in constructing it in his persona and his work. Yes, theres a lot of talent and beauty and all that, said Shadwick, who remains a big Hopper fan, but theres also a very conscious awareness of his place in history, and of the purported Americanness of the scenes he was painting. Moving on from copying, the young Hopper spent a long spell in art schools in New York and then flirted for a while with modern French styles and subjects. But when a 1915 show of his Frenchified paintings got panned, while a single New York cityscape earned praise, Hopper knew where to head next: He refines and refines and refines these ideas of what it means to be an American painter, Shadwick said. One aspect of this Americanness involved the image of the lone male tall, taciturn, remote, just like Hopper bravely forging his own path. This was precisely the image of himself that Hopper helped to propagate; even after his death, it went on to shape the story, now revealed to be a myth, of the miraculous early oils that Hopper is supposed to have come up with on his own. Shadwicks discovery about those first paintings may also illuminate Hoppers much later, most iconic masterpieces. Critics and scholars have always been intrigued by an awkwardness that Hopper allowed himself in many of his classic paintings: seas that look more painted than liquid in his famous Ground Swell; the awkward anatomy of his female nude in Morning in a City or the stony faces of the diners in Nighthawks. If Hopper claimed to be an absolute original, uninfluenced by others, his greatest paintings work hard to convey a different image of their maker: Their studied awkwardness asks us to imagine him as someone who might indeed have started his career copying someone else as just your average American, working hard to make good. Residents of the North Bays Wine Country have become tragically familiar with fast-moving wildfires that erupt in the dead of night amid intense autumn winds, forcing them to flee for their lives. The reactions have varied: Some people have moved away. Some have stayed and pushed fire-safety reforms. Most are simply trying to cope with a new seasonal fear and frustration. In fire-weary Sonoma County alone, the fire epidemic picked up in 2017, when parts of Santa Rosa were incinerated. Then, last October, Californias biggest wildfire of the year burned near Geyserville and threatened some already burned neighborhoods. And flames terrorized Santa Rosa once more late Sunday and early Monday. Some places that burned or were threatened by the Tubbs and Nuns fires three years ago were evacuated again overnight as several major wildfires, linked together as the Glass Fire, burned in Sonoma and Napa counties. The latest hellish scene came a little more than a month after the LNU Lightning Complex fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres around Lake Berryessa, near Vacaville and in the forests of western Sonoma County. Im sort of numb at the moment, said Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin as she drove away at about 1 a.m. from her evacuated home in the Oakmont community on Santa Rosas eastern edge. All of Oakmonts 4,500 residents were ordered to leave. Gorin has lived this nightmare before. Three years ago, the Nuns Fire consumed her Oakmont home, which is still being rebuilt while she lives in another home in the same neighborhood. While fleeing to a hotel in Novato, Gorin contemplated the horrendous prospect that the same fate could befall her once more. It seems surreal to me that we would be facing this again in some of the same areas that lost so many homes so traumatically just three short years ago, Gorin said. Its like God has no sympathy, no empathy for Sonoma County. But Gorin blames the worsening fire threat not on a heavenly cause but rather a human one: climate change. Rising temperatures have dried Californias vegetation even more than normal and made a single spark far more likely to cause ruinous conflagrations like the ones unfolding now. More than 3.75 million acres have burned statewide since Jan. 1 far more than any other year on record. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle The damage this year has been particularly acute in Wine Country and in Butte County, where the historically deadly and destructive Camp Fire decimated the town of Paradise in November 2018. Paradise was placed under an evacuation warning late Sunday as fast winds hastened the spread of the month-old North Complex fires. In Santa Rosa, the repetitive nature of the fires over three years is taking its toll on those who chose to rebuild or move to another neighborhood in the area, only to be evacuated again. The Skyhawk neighborhood, where homes burned on Monday, is one of the places where people who lost homes in the Tubbs Fire chose to relocate. Gorin was mindful of her 2017 experience as she evacuated again, making sure to pack photos saved from her home that burned three years ago. Also stuffed into a pillowcase was a copy of her daughters wedding album, which she had to replace after the first one was lost in the Nuns Fire. Similar scenes of people who survived past fires played out around east Santa Rosa. On the other side of Highway 12 from Oakmont, Will Abrams and his family fled their home in the Skyhawk neighborhood even before they were ordered to do so, having seen the flames get no more than a quarter mile away. They could see fire on both sides of the highway as they left. A few hours later, homes in Abrams neighborhood were burning. He didnt know if his was one of them, but he was bracing for potential bad news later, given the intense winds and fast spread. The conditions were just horrible, Abrams said. He moved with his wife and two children to Skyhawk after their previous Santa Rosa home was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire. The disaster, which killed more than 20 people and leveled several thousand residences, reshaped many parts of his life. He began advocating for emergency warning improvements and eventually took a keen interest in the bankruptcy proceedings of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which caused the Camp Fire and many others in Wine Country in recent years. State investigators blamed the Tubbs Fire on a residents privately maintained power system, but Abrams and other victims of the fire were still included in PG&Es multibillion-dollar bankruptcy settlement. Causes of the current fires are still under investigation. Paul Chinn As he drove his family to the East Bay, where they planned to sleep in their car outside a family members home to stay safe from the coronavirus, Abrams couldnt help but ruminate on some apparent emergency-response shortfalls. Evacuation warnings he received were vague or confusing. One alert included a link to more detailed information, but the website was down. He couldnt tell which way out of town was the safest. Given that local authorities had bungled alerts so badly before, Abrams thought their capabilities would be better now. Im a lot of pissed off, he said. Phyllis Rogers rushed from her home in the Oakmont senior community on the very eastern end of Santa Rosa Sunday night. She moved there after her longtime home in Larkfield, an unincorporated community just north of Santa Rosa, was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire. Though she originally planned to rebuild in Larkfield, Rogers, 82, ultimately decided to make Oakmont her permanent home. Rogers wanted to drive west on Highway 12, deeper into Santa Rosa and eventually Highway 101 south, but traffic was backed up too much at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. With an apparent hourlong wait to get through a single stoplight, Rogers turned east instead and drove into Kenwood, where she took windy, narrow backroads to arrive at her sons home in Rohnert Park at about 11 p.m. Reflecting on her repeated evacuations Monday, Rogers recalled how she had seen a therapist for a while after enduring the trauma of the Tubbs Fire. Eventually she stopped but she had preserved the opportunity to return if she needed a tune-up. Today I thought, maybe its time to get a tune-up, Rogers said. At this point, Im in a state of shock and Im tired. I havent had enough sleep, and I will wait at least one more day to take my pulse and decide. This was the third time that Doris and Armin Tietze, residents of the Oakmont senior community, have evacuated from a wildfire in recent years. It reminded the German couple of surviving World War II. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 As they recover from the latest fires, Sonoma and Napa counties will continue to grapple with fallout from earlier fires, including last months LNU Complex. Rebuilding from the fires of 2017 and last years Kincade Fire remain incomplete. Sonoma County officials had been contemplating how to best allocate nearly $150 million from PG&Es bankruptcy settlement. The money is a product of a lawsuit the county filed over damage from the 2017 fires, and its supposed to aid the regions disaster recovery and preparations for future emergencies. Gorin said the Board of Supervisors, which she chairs, plans to discuss the settlement next week. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris Detectives have today offered a 20,000 reward for information in the international hunt for three children who disappeared with their Afghan father. Imran Safi, 26, is believed to have snatched his sons Bilal, six, Mohammed Ebrar, five, and Mohammed Yaseen, three, who have not been seen since 6pm on Thursday, August 20. A total of 16 people have been arrested in connection with the abduction in Coulsdon, south London. Meanwhile, police have today released an image of a man, pictured in a red Nissan Qashqai, registration PK13 WFO, at the time of the disappearance, who they would like to speak to. Bilal, six, Mohammed Ebrar, five, and Mohammed Yaseen, three, have not been seen since 6pm on Thursday, August 20 Police have today released an image of a man, pictured in a red Nissan Qashqai, registration PK13 WFO, at the time of the disappearance, who they would like to speak to Despite extensive operation and forensic work, detectives have not be able to identify the man, who was sat in the front passenger seat as the car made off from the abduction Despite extensive operation and forensic work, detectives have not be able to identify the man, who was sat in the front passenger seat as the car made off from the abduction. The red Nissan was photographed travelling down Malpit Road, towards Coulsdon Central, shortly after the children were taken. He is described as a bearded man and was believed to be wearing a stripy jumper in the car. Anyone who in the Coulsdon area and has dashcam footage from August 20, is urgently asked to check their footage. Anyone who thinks they know the man is also asked to urgently call the police so officers can speak to him. Met Police Commander Bas Javid, said: 'I can't imagine how distressing this whole situation has been for the three young boys, who have been taken away from their safe environment, and our efforts to locate Imran Safi continues. 'We are now offering a 20,000 reward for any information that will help us to bring the children home safely. 'We also need the public's help to identify a man who was the passenger in the red Nissan at the time the children were taken. He may hold valuable information as to where the children and Imran Safi are. 'We appreciate that the image is not the clearest quality but we still need people to really study it and see if the man in the picture is one that they may recognise.' New images of the three boys, taken by their foster carer at a park in Croydon, on the day they were taken, have been released today as well. Commander Javid, continued: 'The investigative team has been working tirelessly on this case and we are appealing again because someone reading or seeing this knows the whereabouts of these innocent children and I need them to contact us urgently and provide that knowledge. Police are hunting Imran Safi, 26, after he burst into his children's foster home in Coulsdon, south London and assaulted their carer and threatened her wife a knife Safi, who has family links to Pakistan, fled with the boys in a Nissan Qashqai at around 6pm on August 20. They have not been seen since, but the car was recovered from the west Croydon area 'We believe that Safi and the children have most likely left the UK, but our investigation continues and we will continue to do everything we can to locate the children and arrest Safi. Our working theory is that they have left via a clandestine route, but to where? We remain unsure, and that is why we need people across the country, and abroad to share this appeal for information. 'The focus of this operation is returning these innocent children to the UK which is our top priority. We hope that offering this reward will lead to some significant information being passed to us.' It is understood that the three children were due to be formally adopted by a new family, which detectives believe could be a motive for the abduction. Neighbours told last month how the children's foster mother has moved out of her home out of fear Safi may return and attack her following the harrowing abduction. A local resident said the next door neighbours are 'shocked and scared', living in fear he could come back. It also emerged that the fugitive was evicted from his former home a year ago because the children were always crying, according to his former landlord. The three boys' disappearance has sparked a major investigation involving more than 100 police officers. It is believed that the children were due to be adopted and Safi 'may have found out' and decided to act before they were moved. Detectives said previously that they fear the children may already be abroad, despite having circulated their father's mugshot and details to all ports and borders as they attempt to close off escape routes. Eight people were arrested in the first few days of the investigation and were bailed to return to a south London police station at a later date. Bilal, 6, Ebrar, 5, and Yaseen Safi, 3, were thought to have been taken by their father from their foster home in Coulsdon, south London Then four men - aged between 21 and 41 - were arrested at an address in Ilford in the early hours of Friday, 28 August. All four have been further bailed to return to a south London police station in late November. A 31-year-old man was arrested at a residential address in Ilford, the following day and was released under investigation before a 17-year-old male was arrested at an address on Connaught Road in Bristol. He was detained on suspicion of being involved in the abduction and has since been released on bail. Then on September 10, a 45-year-old man was arrested at Heathrow Airport for conspiracy to kidnap. He was taken to a south London police station and has been bailed pending further enquiries. Today, a 30-year-old man was arrested at an address on High Street in Thornton Heath on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap and possession of an offensive weapon. He has been taken to a south London police station. Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Imran Safi or the three children is urged to call the incident room on 07942599374 this number is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alternatively, to stay completely anonymous, contact the charity Crimestoppers on freephone 0800 555 111 or fill in their simple and secure anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org. Any member of the public who may see Imran Safi should avoid approaching him but call police immediately on 999. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 07:23:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Miao villagers Liang Zuying (L) and Pan Meimei finish their homework from a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, which lies on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 11, 2020. Located deep in the mountains straddling the border between Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province, Wuying is a remote village inhabited by the Miao ethnic group where women over 40 have hardly ever attended any school. In their childhood, they were occupied with herding cattle, doing housework and taking care of younger sibling. Going to school had been a distant dream for them. They could neither read nor speak Mandarin, which made their communication with the outside world almost impossible. Since March 2020, local authorities have piloted a Mandarin training program at Wuying Village as part of the local poverty alleviation efforts, employing college students to teach stay-at-home women Mandarin, music, dance and other skills. So far, over 70 Mandarin training courses have taken place in Wuying. The number of students in the training courses has grown from 6 in the first class to nearly 30 now. To balance work and study, poverty-alleviation officials in the village have also set up after-school training centers, planting sorghum and raising fish along with local women. In the past six months, more than 30 teachers from all walks of life, including primary school teachers, college students, traffic police, TV hosts and agricultural experts, have volunteered to teach Mandarin lessons in Wuying. The training program has become a bridge for local women to reach the outside world. (Xinhua/Li Xin) Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, have released more of their personal tax returns ahead of the first presidential debate. The Bidens' returns show the couple paid almost $300,000 in federal taxes in 2019, including almost $288,000 in personal income tax. The Bidens reported taxable income of $944,737. The release on Tuesday comes just days after The New York Times reported that Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he was elected president, and again in 2017, his first year in office. The Times said Trump paid no federal income taxes for 10 of the 15 years before that. Related: Stream Tuesdays Presidential Debate live on fuboTV ( Stream Tuesdays Presidential Debate live on fuboTV ( free 7-day trial - sign up here ). Biden and Trump are set to meet Tuesday night in Cleveland for their first presidential debate, and Trumps taxes are sure to come up. Trump has called the reports fake news yet still refuses to release his returns himself. Biden already had released two decades' worth of his tax returns, in addition to the federal financial disclosures required of him when he was a senator and vice president. Bidens running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, also released their 2019 returns Tuesday. Harris and Emhoff reported paying $1.05 million in personal income taxes and $1.19 million in total federal taxes on $3.02 million in taxable income. ___ HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHATS HAPPENING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE: The first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden begins at 9 p.m. Eastern time in Cleveland. Read more: 5 questions heading into Trump and Bidens first debate Viewers' Guide: Trump, Biden meet in Ohio for 1st debate Trump, Biden prepare to debate at a time of mounting crises Analysis: In debate, a last chance for Trump to define Biden ___ HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING: 12:30 p.m. President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning in informal preparations for the first debate with Joe Biden. A longer, more formal preparation session was set for the afternoon once he arrives in Cleveland. Trumps prep team includes former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, campaign communications strategist Jason Miller, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Jared Kushner, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and communications director Alyssa Farah. Some other advisers like Dan Scavino and Hope Hicks have also been involved. While Trump is itching to go on the offense against Biden, some aides have encouraged him to adopt a more measured tone -- believing that in many ways the debates are more about Trump vs himself than Biden. Trump, they argue, should focus more on selling his accomplishments than trying to viciously attack Biden. Some involved with the preparations, though, have encouraged Trumps more aggressive counterpunching side. Related Content: Next year, the "MeluXina" supercomputer will be installed in Bissen. The purchase contract with the French company Atos was signed on Monday. It is a 30.4 million project, two-thirds of the cost of which is borne by the State, with the remainder financed by the European Commission. A supercomputer enables companies to significantly increase their computing capacity. One company, for instance, has already shown interest: a task that now takes two to three weeks to complete could be completed by MeluXina in three days. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel explained that for Luxembourg, it is essential to be at the cutting edge of technology, stating that it is about "being in the locomotive and not in one of the wagons". Monica Camposeo Even if such a technology quickly becomes obsolete, the investment is worth it, says Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot. Five to six years after the installation of the supercomputer, LuxProvide and EuroHPC, its two operators in Luxembourg, will have to make new investments in order to remain up-to-date. But the project will be profitable, given the interest it is generating in Luxembourg, according to Fayot. Researchers will also be able to benefit from this new technology. When the BBC commissioned its delightfully dire 'sun, sex and sangria' sitcom Eldorado, some bright spark at Broadcasting House had the whizzo idea of hiring some Spanish actors. You can just imagine how the conversation at that executive lunch went. 'Yup, trust me, Tristram, this will save us a bunch. Plus, it will make the whole thing a bit more authentic. Now, do try the rabbit polenta here, it's dreamy.' Of course, as soon as cameras started rolling, it transpired that none of these artsy hombres understood a word of what he was saying. The whole production was a Costa del Disaster. Hysterical viewing, mind you. Zero understanding: Gavin Williamson This little snippet of early 90s nostalgia came to mind yesterday, when Gavin Williamson came to the House to issue a statement on the fiasco taking place in our universities, where local restrictions have left many students cooped up on campus like battery chooks. This must be Mr Williamson's fourth or fifth appearance at the despatch box in recent weeks, and having sat through each one, I have come to suspect that he has absolutely zero understanding of the words written in front of him. He might as well be reading Swahili. Words do not so much come from his mouth as plop out at random, like coins from a one-armed bandit. Everything is just one long monotonous drawl. Stress, emotion, urgency such oratorical tools are completely absent from the Williamson kitbag. Even his universities minister Michelle Donelan, perched cross-legged to his left, spent most of his speech staring into the distance, her eyes basted with a dewy glaze. From what I was able to discern, contrary to recent fears, students will be able to return home this Christmas, though some might have to cut short their term and self-isolate for two weeks first. Panicking mothers, you can all breathe easy. It is fortunate for Gav that his opposite number Kate Green was off her oats. She was rather subdued. Possibly still licking her wounds after Piers Morgan gave her a going-over on Monday over her recent comment: 'Don't let a good crisis go to waste.' Other Labour MPs were far more vocal. 'Shambolic!' they cried. 'Chaotic!' Even bubbly Lucy Powell (Lab, Manchester Central) had gone grey with rage. Williamson, she said, had 'lost control'. There was much venting about student fees. The DUP's Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) was furious. Usually is. He asked why universities were able to charge the same money while clearly 'not offering the student experience that they promised'. Bambos Charalambous (Lab, Enfield & Southgate) called it 'grossly unjust and unfair'. This must be Mr Williamson's fourth or fifth appearance at the despatch box in recent weeks, and having sat through each one, I have come to suspect that he has absolutely zero understanding of the words written in front of him The SNP's education spokesman Carol Monaghan suggested England take a leaf out of Scotland's book and make tuition fees free. Cheeky. Scottish universities, of course, benefit from cash which whistles its way up from Westminster. Gav thanked Monaghan 'for suggestions for future Conservative Party manifestos'. There were a few 'hear, hears' from backbenchers at that remark, which might have encouraged Williamson. He delivered a decent put-down to Corbynite clod Richard Burgon (Lab, Leeds East), who accused the Government of rushing students back to dodge demands for rent reimbursements. Droned Gav: 'I'm always grateful to get direct questions from the UCU...' Laura Trott (Con, Sevenoaks), so lustrously maned she may possibly have just waltzed in from the set of a shampoo advert, raised the issue of university bosses' pay. Some vice-chancellors, as we know, are paid better than Goldman Sachs bankers. Trott wanted assurances that staff would not be allowed to claim bonuses this year, unless fees were lowered. Williamson said he would give regulators a 'strong steer' on the matter. If you could. Twice Williamson was asked whether students were allowed under the current rules to go home to self-isolate. Twice he promised his department would publish 'guidance' shortly. He hangs to that word like a toddler to a blankie. He used it 14 times yesterday, by my count. Anyway, Gav shows no sign of going anywhere, so stand by for more of this nonsense. BOSTON - Sitagliptin, a drug to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, also improves survival in diabetic patients hospitalized with COVID-19, suggests a multicenter observational study in Italy. Patients given sitagliptin in addition to insulin had a mortality rate of 18 percent as compared with 37 percent in matched patients receiving only insulin. Led by Paolo Fiorina, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, the study involved seven Italian hospitals during the first surge of COVID cases last spring. Although the study was retrospective and observational, the findings -- published on September 29 in Diabetes Care -- have sparked a new randomized, placebo-controlled trial of sitagliptin. That study is now preparing to enroll patients in Europe. "We think it's reasonable to try sitagliptin if a patient is admitted to the hospital with type 2 diabetes and COVID," says Fiorina, a diabetes researcher affiliated with the Boston Children's division of nephrology and the University of Milan. "I'm excited about our findings, because we still have very few therapeutic options for the many diabetic patients affected by COVID." Based on sitagliptin's mechanism of action, Fiorina and colleagues believe it could also work in nondiabetic patients with COVID. A randomized, controlled trial to test that idea is moving toward regulatory approval. Why sitagliptin? Sitagliptin, an oral drug, is one of a class of drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors, prescribed to an estimated 15 to 20 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes. It was approved by the FDA in 2006, and lowers blood sugar by blocking the receptor for the enzyme DPP-4 (also known as CD26), causing an increase in insulin production. But recent studies suggest that DPP-4 may also help SARS-CoV-2 -- the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 -- get into respiratory cells. In addition to blocking DPP-4, sitagliptin has anti-inflammatory effects, reducing production of the cytokine IL-6, which is known to contribute to the "cytokine storm" that can cause organ complications in COVID-19. Sitagliptin may also have a third benefit: keeping blood sugar down. Previous studies have shown that diabetic patients with worse glycemic control have worse COVID-19 outcomes. "We decided to try sitagliptin and collect the data," says Fiorina. "COVID-19 mortality in diabetic patients is high, and the drug is very safe, so we felt there was no reason not to use it." Study design and findings The study enrolled 338 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 pneumonia who were admitted to seven academic hospitals in northern Italy from March 1 through April 30, 2020. Of these, 169 were given only IV insulin for their type 2 diabetes (the standard of care) and served as controls; the other 169 received sitagliptin in addition to IV insulin. The two groups were matched for age and sex, and their outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Illness severity, other clinical characteristics, and use of other treatments for COVID-19 were similar in the two groups. Compared with the controls, patients receiving sitagliptin had reduced mortality (18 percent vs. 37 percent) and were more likely to improve clinically. Specifically, patients treated with sitagliptin were: less likely to need mechanical ventilation (hazard ratio, 0.27, or a 27 percent likelihood as compared with controls) less likely to need intensive care (hazard ratio, 0.51) more likely to have at least a 2-point drop on a 7-point scale of disease severity (52 percent, versus 34 percent of controls). less likely to have a worsening of clinical outcomes, as defined by any increase in the clinical severity score (26 percent vs. 46 percent). "We must now confirm our findings in a placebo-controlled, prospective study," says Fiorina. The new trial, enrolling patients in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, can be viewed at ClinicalTrials.gov: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04365517. The team is also seeking approval to test sitagliptin in COVID-19 patients without diabetes. ### Sebastiano Bruno Solerte (University of Pavia, Italy) and Francesca D'Addio (International Center for T1D, Pediatric Clinical Research Center Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi, DIBIC L. Sacco, Universita? degli Studi di Milano, Italy) were co-first authors on the paper. The study was supported by SID Lombardia, the EFSD/JDRF/Lilly Programme on Type 1 Diabetes Research, the Italian Ministry of Health (RF-2016-02362512), Universita? di Milan, a Stepping Strong Innovator Award (116260), and Mediolanum-farma, which provided sitagliptin for the study. About Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital is ranked the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For answers, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube. India, the world''s third-biggest oil importer, is exploring storing crude oil in the US and other commercially viable locations to hedge its supply risks, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday. Also, the country has tied up long-term crude oil supplies from the US, Russia and Angola to diversify its import basket beyond its traditional suppliers in the volatile Middle-East. Speaking at a conference on the ''Energy Security Towards Atmanirbhar Bharat'', he said India is now importing crude oil from over 30 countries, including from Africa, North and South Americas as well as Southeast Asia. "We are also exploring overseas crude storage facilities in the US and other commercially viable locations," he said. India and the US had on July 17 signed a preliminary agreement for cooperating on emergency crude oil reserves, including the possibility of India storing oil in the US emergency stockpile. The nation currently stores 5.33 million tonnes (about 38 million barrels) of crude oil in underground storages at three locations on the east and west coast, hardly enough to meet its 9.5 days needs. The International Energy Agency (IEA) prescribes its members to have at least 90 days of stock in the strategic reserves. India has been looking to expand the storage capacity by another 6.5 million tonnes Chandikol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka and is also exploring the possibility of hiring storage in the US to stock some oil that can be used in times of extreme price volatility or supply disruption. The nation is as much as 85 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. It bought 101.4 million tonnes of crude oil from overseas during April 2019 to March 2020 - two-third of these coming from the Middle East countries such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia. "New long-term contracts have been entered into by our companies with their counterparts in the US, Russia and Angola," he said. Also, the import of gas (in its liquid form or LNG) has been diversified from traditional supplier Qatar to the US, Australia and Russia, he said. "With the significant demand contraction globally, the hydrocarbon supplies are relatively less of a concern," he said. Pradhan said filling existing underground strategic storages using low priced crude oil in April and May helped save over Rs 5,000 crore. "To further improve energy security in the hydrocarbons sector, we are gradually improving crude and petroleum products storage capacity from existing 74 days of national consumption to 90 days," he said. India, he said, has enhanced its engagement with key global energy players, and firmed up of strategic and comprehensive energy engagements with producing countries such Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia and UAE on one hand, and close engagement with consuming countries such as Japan and South Korea on the other. Pradhan said the nation had sufficient supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the height of geopolitical tensions last year. On the pricing of crude oil, he said India has been advocating a responsible and affordable pricing mechanism. "Our five-pronged strategy to reduce crude oil import dependency including increasing domestic oil and gas production, promoting biofuels and renewables, energy conservation and energy efficiency, improvement in refinery processes and demand substitution, is making an impact," he said. "We still have more room to cover." Pradhan said the existing energy frameworks are already witnessing unprecedented transformation due to the pandemic. "What is the nature of the energy security infrastructure post-COVID-19 will squarely depend on how each country handles the current challenges in their national domain, and also in consort with the global energy community," he said. COVID-19 led to the erosion of almost a third of global energy demand, triggered unprecedented oil price volatilities with significant geopolitical implications, delayed or stalled investments and projects in the energy sector, and created uncertainties over the employment prospects of millions of people associated with the sector. "In an energy interdependent world, India cannot be immune to these momentous changes globally," he said. India, as the world''s third-largest consumer of energy, has not only been impacted but could potentially define the way global energy trends would emerge. While oil gas sector was significantly affected in the initial stages of COVID-19, significant restoration of consumption of several petroleum products has been witnessed since July onwards. "It is not surprising that India is estimated to account for 35 per cent of the increase in global primary energy consumption up to 2050. With over 16 per cent of the global population, India currently uses only 6 per cent of the world''s primary energy. "With the per capita consumption of energy still one-third of the global average, India will have to continue to develop all possible energy sources to meet this energy deficit," he said. Oil PSUs are spending Rs 1.2 lakh crore on 8,363 projects during the current fiscal to boost economic activity in the pandemic-hit economy, he said. Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Rodrigo Rato has been acquitted by a court on September 29 in case of fraud and falsifying financial statements of Spanish bank Bankia. Rato was the president of the Spanish lender between 2010 and 2012. Rato, along with 33 other members of the board of Bankia, was accused of accounting irregularities. The Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted all 33 people, including Rato. Read: IMF Approves Colombia's Request To Increase Credit Line By $6.2 Billion The court on Tuesday said that the stock market listing, over which Rato and others were being tried, was done after the approval of all supervisory bodies. The court said that among the bodies that gave approval to the listing were Spain's Central Bank, and the stock market regulator, CNMV. The court further added that the information provided to the investors on the bank's finances were not falsified. Read: IMF Says Global Economic Crisis 'far From Over', Urges Governments To Continue Support Rato still in prison Rato, however, is serving a four and a half years of prison term in another case related to credit card fraud, Rato made personal purchases using a secret corporate credit card of Bankia and all the purchases were made during the last months of his presidency. As per reports, Rato made a purchase of over 3,500 in one day on alcoholic beverages and bought a shoe worth 1,000. He also withdrew cash from the card on several occasions, mostly over 1,000. Read: COVID-caused Drop In Travel To Hit Tourism-reliant Countries, Current Acc Situation: IMF In 2017, Rato was convicted and sent to prison for four and a half years by a High Court in Spain. His sentence was later confirmed by the Supreme Court of the country in 2018 and since then he is serving his term. Rato was Managing Director of the IMF from 2004 to 2007 and was Minister of Economy in Spain before that. Read: IMF: U.S. Economy Will Drop 6.6% In 2020 In Face Of Pandemic (With inputs from AP) Image Credit: AP Nine months ago, the Trump administration declared victory. It billed the targeted strike that killed Iranian Major Gen. Qasem Soleimani on Iraqi soil as a mark of the U.S.'s newfound seriousness in confronting Tehran's "malign activity" across the Middle East. Through a crippling series of sanctions and a willingness to use lethal force, President Donald Trump and his allies claimed they had delivered a lesson to Iran that its theocratic regime would not forget. "President Trump and those of us in his national security team are reestablishing deterrence, real deterrence, against the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January. "Your adversary must understand not only that you have the capacity to impose cost but that you're in fact willing to do so." But "deterrence" of any meaningful form does not seem to have been "reestablished." Instead, U.S. officials are so exasperated with the enduring influence and brazen actions of pro-Iran proxy forces in Iraq that they are threatening a full withdrawal from the American embassy in Baghdad. In September alone, Shiite militias linked to Tehran have carried out more than two dozen attacks in the Iraqi capital or its vicinity, including strikes on U.S. and coalition forces. The escalation is part of an extended response to Soleimani's killing. "Two U.S. servicemen, a Briton and several members of Iraq's security forces have been killed this year in rocket attacks attributed to the militias," my colleagues reported. "In recent months, small-scale bomb attacks have also targeted convoys linked to the U.S.-led coalition. Iraqi drivers are the focus, which has sown fear among their ranks. A bomb was planted next to a convoy from the British Embassy in Baghdad this month, suggesting a possible new phase in the militias' campaign." The United States pulling diplomats out of the embassy- Washington's biggest and most fortified mission overseas - may be possibly followed by an aggressive U.S. air campaign against militias in Iraq. Pompeo may hope that the prospect of such action will compel a fragile Iraqi government to take tougher measures against the militias on their own. "Pompeo's demand creates a stark dilemma for Iraq's new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who until now had been a Trump administration favorite. The Iraqi leader wants to curb Iran's proxy forces, but not at the cost of committing political suicide," wrote Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, referring to the complexity of Iraq's multi-sect politics. "If Pompeo follows through and closes the embassy to protect Americans, Iran and its allies might claim a major propaganda victory; but the closure could also be a prelude to heavy U.S. airstrikes against the militias." Iraqi officials want the Trump administration to change its mind. "We hope the American administration will reconsider it," Ahmed Mulla Talal, a spokesman for Kadhimi, told The Post over the weekend. "There are outlaw groups that try to shake this relationship, and closing the embassy would send a negative message to them." The irony of the current moment, though, is inescapable. Since ordering the operation to take out Soleimani and a key allied Iraqi militia commander, the Trump administration has been largely unable to neutralize the scale of Iranian influence in its neighbor. Its recent decision to considerably draw down the U.S.'s deployed forces in Iraq is part of the White House's stated desire to end America's "endless wars" in the Middle East, a change in posture that has broad popular support. Analysts counter that Trump's aggressive approach to Iran has only raised the likelihood of deeper hostilities. And they suggest that withdrawing the U.S.'s diplomatic mission would enfeeble Washington's political interests in Iraq. "We would be giving the Iranians more than they ever dreamed of," a former U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. "This has been their major strategic goal: To get us out of Iraq." There's also the reality that Iran doesn't fully control the Shiite militias currently in the U.S.'s crosshairs. "Iran wants to boot the Americans out, but not at any cost. It doesn't want instability on its western border," a senior Iraqi Shiite leader told Reuters. "Just like there are hawks in the U.S., there are hawks in Iran who have contact with the groups carrying out attacks, who aren't necessarily following state policy." The Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign has weakened Iran economically. But it has hardly dissuaded Tehran from pushing its own agendas around the region, including its deep role in conflicts and crises in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. "Maximum pressure has done nothing to push Iran into abandoning this behavior and is pushing Tehran into doubling down on its investment in these relationships," wrote Daniel DePetris, a fellow at the think tank Defense Priorities. "The Iranians have sent a signal to the U.S. that pressure will beget resistance. As long as U.S. ground forces remain in Iraq and Syria with an open-ended counter-Iran mission, U.S. servicemembers will be tempting targets for Iranian retaliation." "Instead of restoring deterrence, Trump has emboldened Iran," wrote former vice president Joe Biden, Trump's challenger in the presidential race, earlier this month. "Instead of ending 'endless wars,' Trump has repeatedly brought America to the brink of a new one." But Biden may find it difficult to change course should he end up in the White House. The Trump administration has taken a hammer to the Iran nuclear deal, is hellbent on slapping even more sanctions on Tehran (much to the chagrin of some of the U.S.'s closest allies) and has raised the stakes for future efforts to bring the Iranian regime to the table. "The Trump Administration and its supporters in Congress believe that now is the time to place even greater pressure on Iran," wrote Marcus Montgomery of the Arab Center Washington. "Their goal is to sully U.S.-Iranian relations so badly that a potential Joe Biden administration would not be able to negotiate any kind of deal that might benefit Tehran economically and diplomatically." Meanwhile, in Tehran's pseudo-democratic political structure, "reformist" politicians who championed outreach to the West half a decade ago could find themselves wholly sidelined ahead of elections next year. If Biden "wins the U.S. election and returns to the [nuclear deal] swiftly, that will create a limited glimmer of hope in people to vote for a pro-Western candidate," wrote Iranian analyst Rohollah Faghihi. "However, this will be very difficult as Iranians have vehemently lost trust and believe that at least for now, reformists aren't able and aren't allowed to bring up positive changes in the country." Fort Worth, TX, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Water Now, Inc. (OTC QB: WTNW) today announced that the Special Meeting of Stockholders to, among other things, approve the sale of substantially all of its assets to RigMax H20, LLC for a total purchase price of $30.0 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments and credits, has been set for November 25, 2020. The meeting will be held at 10:00AM Central time at the offices of the company located at 5000 South Freeway, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas 76115. Stockholders of record at the close of business on October 9, 2020 will be entitled to vote at the Special Meeting. The sale is subject to certain customary closing conditions and approval from our stockholders. The transaction is targeted to close on the date of the Special Meeting of Shareholders. About Water Now, Inc. Water Now, Inc. headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is engaged in the business of providing water purification solutions. For additional information about Water Now, Inc., please visit our website at http://www.waternowinc.com . Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, information regarding the anticipated dates for the closing of the asset sale transaction are forward-looking statements. Generally, the words believe, may, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, project, expect, predict and similar expressions identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and estimates. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are made subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual timing of the closing to vary from that stated or implied in this press release. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements set forth in Water Nows Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the other reports that it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, from time to time. Except as required under applicable law, Water Now assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by it, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Important Additional Information and Where to Find It In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company will file relevant materials with the SEC, including a definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A. Following the filing of the definitive proxy statement with the SEC, the Company will mail the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each stockholder entitled to vote at the special meeting related to the proposed transaction. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN SUCH DOCUMENTS BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the proxy statement and other relevant materials filed by the Company with the SEC free of charge at the SECs website, www.sec.gov. Participants in Solicitation Water Now, Inc. and its sole director and executive officer may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information concerning Water Now, Inc.s participants is set forth in the preliminary proxy statement, as amended, filed August 31, 2020 with the SEC on Schedule 14A. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction will be included in the definitive proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available. Contact David King, Chief Executive Officer Water Now, Inc. (817) 900-9184 California Governor Gavin Newsom seal View Photo Mariposa, CA The state of California is giving Mariposa County $4.1 million to purchase a motel to house homeless residents. It is part of the states Project Homekey program. The Mariposa Health and Human Services Agency has been leasing the Yosemite Inn located on Jones Street in Mariposa over the past five months as part of an effort to get homeless residents off the street during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The county has focused on serving seniors over the age 65 and people with disabilities. The state has now awarded the $4.1-million grant so that the county can purchase the 27-room motel to continue to house people struggling with homelessness, indefinitely. It was one of 19 projects announced for funding this week, totaling $200-million. Speaking about the overall effort, Governor Gavin Newsom argues, Not only is Homekey unprecedented in providing capital to house people experiencing homeless, but we are moving with unprecedented speed. Newsom says that California must address the issue of homelessness with the same urgency as COVID-19 and wildfires. What this means is that Android Auto users are no longer forced to stick with Google Maps or Waze , and Sygic wants to be one of the first to take advantage of this change of approach.Google is opening its Android Auto platform for 3rd party map & navigation developers to provide more choices to navigation users. As an early access partner, Sygic will be available on Android Auto in the coming months, after Google makes it available, Sygic said in August announcement.Sygic GPS Navigation, which the company says is the most downloaded offline navigation app in the entire world, comes with features similar to Google Maps, including voice directions and spoken street names, a large POI database, pedestrian support, traffic information, and lane assistant.The app already supported SYNC 3 compatibility, so Ford owners could control the app using the head unit, the knob, or the steering wheel buttons.However, with Android Auto support, Sygic brings its app right on the head unit in all cars out there that come with such capabilities, and the company says its been one of those who continuously insisted on Google to allow third parties on its vehicle platform.Google is stubbornly keeping Android Auto connectivity closed for 3rd party map and navigation developers. Only its own navigation apps, Google Maps and Waze, are allowed on the platform. Sygic is pushing Google to open the Android Auto connectivity and offer customers also on Android smartphones freedom of choice, Sygic said last year.No specific ETA is available as to when the Sygic GPS Navigation app should be updated with support for Android Auto, but we expect more information in this regard to be offered by the end of the year. By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - A Pakistani man accused of wounding two people with a meat cleaver in front of the former offices of Charlie Hebdo last Friday did not know the satirical magazine had moved and wanted to set its offices on fire, the Paris prosecutor said. Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told a news conference that the suspect carried three bottles of white spirit, a flammable paint thinner. He also said the man had operated under a false identity and that a photo of his passport on his phone showed that he was 25 years old, not 18 as he first said. "His initial plan was to enter into the office of the magazine, possibly with the help of a hammer, and then to set it on fire with the bottles of white spirit," Ricard said. In 2015, twelve people were killed by gunmen who attacked Charlie Hebdo's office in revenge for the publication of cartoons that mocked the Prophet Mohammad. After the attack, the weekly moved its headquarters to an undisclosed location. It republished some of the cartoons this month to mark the beginning of the trial of 14 people with alleged links to the killers. Ricard said that as the suspect arrived in the street where the magazine was previously based, he saw the two victims and attacked them, thinking that they worked for the magazine. Ricard said the man had reconnoitred the area on three separate days shortly before his attack, and had bought the meat cleaver on the day of the attack. "In his telephone, we found a three-minute video in Urdu, in which he announces his plan, saying that 'here in France they make caricatures about our pure and great Prophet Mohammad'. Today...I will revolt against this'," Ricard said. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Andrew Heavens) A lawyer for former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn told a judge Tuesday that she recently updated President Donald Trump on the case and asked him not to issue a pardon for her client. The attorney, Sidney Powell, was initially reluctant to discuss her conversations with the president or the White House, saying she believed they were protected by executive privilege. But under persistent questioning from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, she acknowledged having spoken to the president within the last few weeks to brief him and to argue against a pardon. U.S. Justice Department lawyers denied any corruption or political motives in efforts to get the federal criminal case against Flynn dropped. In May, Attorney General William Barr stunned many in the legal community by ordering prosecutors to have the case dropped. Critics have accused Barr of giving special treatment to Trump allies. Sullivan reserved judgment in the case and did not set a date for the next hearing but indicated he intended to be speedy. The revelation of Trump being briefed came in a tense exchange between Flynn's attorney and the judge. Powell at first declined to discuss the substance of her direct conversations with Trump, angering Sullivan when she tried to invoke executive privilege. 'You don't work for the government,' Sullivan told her. Powell, in a tense exchange with the judge, said she recently met with Trump after the government moved to dismiss the case. She added that Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis was also present. 'I spoke with Jenna Ellis and I spoke with the president himself to provide a brief status of the litigation within the last couple weeks,' Powell said. 'Did you make any requests of the president?' Sullivan asked. 'No sir, other than he not issue a pardon,' she replied. Admission: Under persistent questioning Sydney Powell (left) said she had briefed Donald Trump on her attempt to get Mike Flynn (right) out of his plea deal Center of case: Flynn has emerged as something of a cause celebre for Trump and his supporters Powell also downplayed a letter she sent to Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in June of 2019, in which she let them know she would soon be taking over as Flynn's lawyer and complained that the FBI had tried to entrap her client. When Sullivan asked her whether she felt her letter to Barr was ethical, Powell replied: 'Perfectly.' The letter to Barr 'raises questions about motive' for the department to remove career prosecutors from the case, the judge said. He suggested the bar association might take issue with her tactics. He asked the government to schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss how Barr and Rosen responded. Powell's discussion of the case with Trump, along with her letter to senior Justice Department officials, are likely to further stoke debate over whether the Trump administration is improperly seeking to dismiss the case for political. But she called the case a 'hideous abuse of power that continues until this very minute.' 'This is the most egregious injustice I have even seen in my 30-plus years of practice,' Powell said. The DOJ was represented by a veteran career prosecutor. 'I wanted to appear today because the allegations against our office that we would somehow operate or act with a corrupt political motive are not true,' Kenneth Clair Kohl, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said. 'I've never seen it in my entire career in our office and it didn't happen here.' He also directly attacked former top FBI officials, including former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former agent Peter Strzok, saying they could not be reliable witnesses for the government if it had proceeded with its prosecution of Flynn. Unprecedented case: Federal district judge Emmet Sullivan is considering whether to continue and sentence Flynn despite AG Bill Barr trying to drop the prosecution entirely Powell, meanwhile, also told Sullivan she thought he was biased against Flynn and intended to file a motion soon to ask him to recuse himself. Barr's unusual move ordering the case be dropped despite the guilty pleas led Sullivan to tap retired judge John Gleeson, whom he instructed to argue against the Justice Department's legal position. Gleeson on Tuesday urged Sullivan not to drop the case. 'People who don't hang around in federal courtrooms don't really get just how important it is to enter a guilty plea,' he said. 'People can't plead guilty and then show up for sentencing, as this defendant did on December 18, 2018 and see how the wind is blowing.' Gleeson, has accused the department of acting for political reasons when it moved to drop the case and of shifting its rationale over several months for doing so. 'These reasons are so patently pretextual that the government feels the need to keep coming up with more of them,' Gleeson said. Lawyers for the federal government revived their efforts to persuade Sullivan that dismissing the Flynn case was in the interests of justice. The lawyers cited what they said was internal uncertainty about whether Flynn had even committed a crime, as well as questions about the credibility of law enforcement officials in the case. Allegations of improper political motives are 'just not true,' said federal prosecutor Ken Kohl, who identified himself as the most senior career official in the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington. 'I've never seen it in my career in my office, and it didn't happen here,' Kohl said. 'Im here to say that the U.S. Attorney's office's decision to dismiss this case was the right call for the right reasons.' Who do we call if he have to prosecute? The DOJ's Ken Kohl suggested that the case would be impossible for the Justice Department to win in the event that it went to trial saying: 'Are we going to call Pete Strzok in this case?' Kohl asked rhetorically. 'Or do we call the deputy director who ordered the interview, Andy McCabe?' Both have been fired He also suggested that the case would be impossible for the Justice Department to win in the event that it went to trial. He cited the actions of Peter Strzok, an FBI agent who interviewed Flynn but was fired from the bureau because of pejorative texts about Trump, and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired over allegations that he misled the Justice Department's inspector general. 'Are we going to call Pete Strzok in this case?' Kohl asked rhetorically. 'Or do we call the deputy director who ordered the interview, Andy McCabe?' In recent weeks, as part of the review being conducted by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen of St. Louis, the Justice Department has identified correspondence that it sees as possibly favorable to Flynn. That includes a recent interview of an FBI agent who was part of the Flynn investigation, and expressed misgivings about it, and also came to believe that the Mueller team exhibited a 'get Trump' attitude. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was charged under former Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trumps candidacy. Flynn pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI about his conversations before Trump took office with Sergey Kislyak, who was then Russia's ambassador to the United States, concerning U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia under President Barack Obama. He was due to be sentenced in December 2018. Sullivan delayed that until Flynn could finish cooperating with the government in another pending criminal case out of Virginia. But Flynn last year switched lawyers and his new legal team claimed the FBI had set him up. The Justice Department moved in May to dismiss the case, saying there was insufficient basis to interview Flynn and that the questioning was not relevant to the FBI's broader counterintelligence investigation. Manipur: This village floats between non-existence and a hard reality, made worse by Covid by Angana Chakrabarti and Yimkumla Longkumer September 29,2020 | Source: The Print Forty nine-year-old Khwairakpam Deven Singh lives in a Manipur village that does not exist on government records, save the 2011 Census. The Champu Khangpok village was struck off the electoral records in the 1980s; years later its residents were declared encroachers, a tag they continue to hold to this day. But Champu Khangpok is no ordinary village. It may not be present on paper but it continues to float quite literally. Deven Singh and the 300 odd residents of this floating village live in temporary and fragile huts that do not rest on solid earth. They stand delicately on four to ten feet thick spongy mats of aquatic plants, organic debris and soil, called phumdis, in the middle of the largest freshwater lake in the Northeast Region, the Loktak Lake. In the late 1980s, the polling booth in Karang village (the nearest village) was closed without our knowledge and consent Our voting rights were moved to the place of our relatives and other family members (in the surrounding areas), said Deven from outside his 23 by 14 feet sized hut. Devens family has been in the floating village for two generations. Yet, there are no records of their existence here. The troubles of their precarious existence have been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic from the lack of access to ration through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and healthcare to a space crunch, a problem unique to this ecosystem. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are in a lot of trouble. We are not getting whatever the Prime Minister and the local MLA are giving if they say today they will give PDS, it will only last for one or two days, Deven said, adding, On the shore, if someone runs out of salt in their houses, they can walk and get it even if no shops are open. But here if we dont have salt, we have to go and come back for at least three hours. ThePrint contacted Loktak Development Authority director, Longjam Bhagaton, via phone but he didnt wish to comment on the status of Covid-19 relief being provided to the villagers since they are illegally residing in the lake as per the (Loktak Protection) Act. The Covid-19 troubles For decades now, the 383 residents of the village have been living this transient life, staying afloat, navigating government apathy, the changing ecology of Loktak lake and the changing political-economys desire to turn their waters into a resource that everyone else, but they can harvest. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made them learn more acutely what it means to exist off the record. For one, there is a lack of well-equipped public health centres in the area, which means that the villagers have to travel all the way to the district headquarters in Bishnupur a journey which involves an hour-long boat ride and then a 30-minute-long car ride. The only silver lining is that Champu Khangpok has remained Covid-19 free. But the pandemic has exposed another major problem lack of space. Unable to accommodate their children in the small huts, many of the residents send them out to the nearby cities such as Imphal for education. But now because of Covid-19, we have to bring back our children who are living in hostels and boarding schools. My house is 23 by 14 feet. How can 5-7 people live in it, Deven rued. Adding to their worries is the closure of the markets. Among the Meiteis of Manipur, markets and trade have traditionally been handled by the women. Its no different in Loktak Lake. Although fishing is primarily done by men, women are in charge of transporting the catch and selling it in the markets. But for the last few months, these women have had little to do. We used to go to Ningthoukhong (a town on the shore) to sell or even catch some fish there, but due to this lockdown, we have been restricted to sell at the community clubs and the people there, said 46-year-old Ningthoujam Ungbi Thasana Devi. We sun-dry the fish and turn it into fermented fish and store themWe also have some dried fish but we cannot store them for long as it gets covered by fungus. So, we have been suffering, she said. A history of Loktaks issues Loktak Lake, which covers an area of 287 sq km, has played an integral role in the economy of Manipur. According to the study, Insight into the Socio-economic Life of Fishers of Loktak Lake, Manipur A Ramsar Site, prior to the 1950s, the lake contributed to 60 per cent of the fish production of the state, which has dropped to 11 per cent in recent times. About 12 lakh people of Manipur are said to be indirectly or directly dependent on the Loktak, which in the Meitei language means where the streams end/meet. The lake is fed by eight rivers including the Imphal river. In 1990, it was declared a Ramsar site a wetland of international importance under UNESCO. The lake, however, has been at the centre of many controversies. Trouble started brewing back in 1983 with the commissioning of the Ithai barrage, which was constructed close to the confluence of the Imphal and Tuitha rivers to harness Loktaks waters to generate hydropower. Before the commission of the Ithai barrage, it (the Loktak Lake) would dry up in the rainy seasonduring the summer we would cultivate and also catch fish. There wasnt any lack of vegetation, Deven said. The barrage ended up affecting the hydrological regimen of the water. As a result, the water level of Loktak became more or less stagnant and the fishermen lost out on a source of income they would earn by cultivating the land. Encroachers of Loktak Three years later, in 1986, while residents of Loktak were adjusting to the drastic ecological changes, the state government constituted the Loktak Development Authority (LDA), to check the deteriorating condition of Loktak Lake and bring about improvement of the lake ecosystem. In 2006, the LDA enforced the Manipur Loktak Protection Act. According to the Act, no person shall without the previous approval of the Authority obtain any lake resources. The Act also prohibits the setting up of a house or hut on a phumdi. Five years later, the LDA burned down about 777 of the more than 1,000 floating huts of the village. Haobijam Kumar had been living in Champu Khangpok for 30 years before his house was allegedly burnt down on 13 November 2011. My family was outside on the lake for some work. We came back to find our house was all up in ash and smoke with everything that we ever had like fishing equipment, paper documents, books, clothes, etc were burnt, said the 58-year-old, who is now a fisherman in the nearby Thanga village. Life has been an endless struggle since then(If I could) I would definitely like to go back and live again in Champu Khangpok. The Act hasnt been struck down despite appeals from the civil society groups as well as the BJP back in 2011, when it was the opposition party in the then-Congress ruled state. Today, only 166 families continue living in Champu Khangpok. A fight for livelihood Fifty-year-old Houbijam Biramangol Singh is a second-generation fisherman who has been living and working in Champu Khangpok for 30 years now. As the polling booth at Karang island was removed, he was forced to register his voter ID, Aadhaar card, and ration cards to Thanga where his brother lives. His day begins at 4 am, and he sets out of the house by 7:30 am to go and pick up the fishing nets suspended in the water overnight. The nets are reeled back in by 11 am and the fishermen return to process the fish, which typically involves smoke drying them a delicacy in Manipur. Biramangol Singh returns to the waters again late afternoon and stays in the waters until 9 pm after which he comes back in, cleans, and smoke-dries the new catch. Its 17-18 hour days that yields anywhere between Rs 2,000 to Rs 15,000 a month. Whatever our income from the work at Loktak is barely enough for our childrens education and also to support the family at the same time, Singh said. We want the PDS items to be distributed here as it takes us one-and-a-half to two hours to go by boat and get the supplies from the nearest distribution spot, he said. Every month, the fishermen and their families wait for the local authorities to announce the availability of ration on the loudspeakers placed across different spots in the lake. Sometimes we get it but sometimes we dont. If they announce it today that they will give the PDS from tomorrow, they will distribute it only for two days, Deven said. Its 1.5-2 hours away. Also the information can be erratic and if we go after 2 days, they will tell us that the ration is over. Knocking on ECs doors Compelled by the plight of the village, the Champu Khangpok Floating Village Welfare Committee on 10 September submitted a letter to the chief electoral officer, Manipur, appealing for the enrolment of the 383 residents as voters of the village. The letter mentions an RTI response, filed by one Pradip Chatterjee, which reveals that electoral rolls for the village were only available for 1988, 1989, and 1990. We are enlisted as voters in other villages even though we live in Champu Khangpok. Meaning that our legal existence at Champu Khangpok is not recognised but identified somewhere else, the letter adds. In a telephonic interview with ThePrint, Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur Ramananda Nongmeikapam, to whom the welfare committees letter is addressed, said, We have written to the deputy commissioner of that district (Bishnupur) to inquire (into this), to visit the particular area of the village. When they ascertain saying that they are ordinary residents, then we will initiate action to get them enrolled in a particular police station. We will create a police station for them, he added. Responding to a question on whether the Loktak Protection Act 2006 will have a bearing on the decision, he said, Im not aware of other environmental acts, but we will act (based) on the Representation of Peoples Act If they are citizens they should be given a voting right. What was there before, should be revived. We should have voting rights in the place we are working in, Deven Singh said. This will, however, just be the start for the villagers of Champu Khangpok. Since 2019, the people have also been battling with the Manipur government over their plans to develop an Inland Waterways Project in Loktak Lake that would lead to further deterioration. The pandemic is temporary but the Inland Waterways Project, the locals said, will forever alter their lives. The issue is of such concern that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has twice met with Trump to urge him to stop talking about mail balloting imprecisely, a strategist said. McConnell has told others he is concerned that the presidents rhetoric could discourage Republicans from voting by mail. And former RNC chairman and former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus has repeatedly told others that the mail-voting gap could be the GOPs biggest challenge this fall. Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron agreed on Monday to release the recording of grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case, following a court order. Taylor, an African American EMT from Louisville, Ky., was shot to death in a botched drug bust by Louisville police in March. (Police did not find drugs in Taylors apartment.) The case received renewed attention following the George Floyd demonstrations against police brutality. Only one of the officers involved in the raid, Brett Hankison, has been indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing his weapon recklessly during the raid. One of the jurors filed a motion in court on Monday afternoon to make the jury proceedings public. The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country, Kevin Glogower, the jurors attorney, wrote in the motion, as reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal. The juror accuses Attorney General Cameron of using the grand jury as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for those decisions. In a separate action on Monday, Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith ordered the release of grand jury proceedings during former officer Hankisons arraignment. The grand jury is meant to be a secretive body, Attorney General Cameron said in a statement on Monday. Its apparent that the public interest in this case isnt going to allow that to happen. Two officers involved in the shooting of Taylor were not charged by the grand jury. Cameron maintains that the grand jury agreed those two officers fired their weapons in self-defense, and that Taylors boyfriend had opened fire on officers, with a licensed handgun, believing that the officers were intruders. Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sgt. Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker, Cameron said. Story continues Following the indictment of Hankison last week, demonstrators marched through Louisville in protest of the decision to charge just one of the officers involved in the shooting. Those demonstrations devolved into riots, during which two Louisville officers were shot. More from National Review Joshua Jennings, from Yukon, was initially charged with child abuse but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder A QAnon conspiracist from Oklahoma who repeatedly shared and posted the pro-life hashtag #saveourchildren, has been charged with killing his girlfriend's infant daughter. Joshua Jennings, from Yukon, was initially charged with child abuse but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder after the baby died at the hospital on Saturday. Jennings was arrested on Friday after the baby, 10-month-old Paisley Cearly, was taken to the emergency clinic by her mother on Friday, KFOR reports. Medical professionals at the clinic called authorities after discovering that the infant had sustained multiple significant injuries while in the care of Jennings. There was evidence of older injuries on the child as well. Police would not reveal what the nature of the injuries were until they received an autopsy from the medical examiner. The baby died on Saturday. Jennings was arrested on Friday after the baby, 10-month-old Paisley Cearly, was taken to the emergency clinic by her mother on Friday. The baby died on Saturday 'Upon talking to the doctor, there's no way the injuries could have occurred accidentally,' said Oklahoma City Police Msgt. Gary Knight. The abuse was said to have occurred near SW 5th St and Mustang Rd in Oklahoma City. 'Upon interviewing the man, Joshua Jennings, he was then booked into the Oklahoma County jail on a complaint of child abuse. The child later died so that charge would be amended to reflect murder in the first degree,' Msgt. Knight added. According to his Facebook page, Jennings is an ardent Trump supporter who has spoken out against athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. He has also expressed disdain for fake news. Jennings is an ardent Trump supporter who has spoken out against athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. He has also expressed disdain for fake news But Jennings has dedicated a number of post to the #SaveOurChildren, advocating against harming children and condemning pedophilia. 'Someone said to me "your hard on your kids"... Yeah and that's why they aren't little a**holes,' a post Jennings shared on September 14 reads. An August 12 post reads: 'Y'all know I don't get on here and post much any more. One, because life has been crazy with work, moving, etc. And two, because I don't feel the need to live my life on social media. However... This #SaveOurChildren movement train I will GLADLY hop on. Blow it up on my page if you feel froggy.' Jennings has dedicated a number of post to the #SaveOurChildren 'Someone said to me "your hard on your kids"... Yeah and that's why they aren't little a**holes,' a post Jennings shared on September 14 reads #SaveOurChildren has gained prominence among the QAnon community, who claim that Democrats, Hollywood stars and members of the Jewish elite are kidnapping minors for sexual rituals to extend their lives. Pizzagate occurred after Edgar Maddison Welch stormed a DC pizzeria believing there was an underage sex ring being ran by Bill and Hillary Clinton. 'This fight against this belief that the Hollywood elites or whoever the conspiracy theorists are blaming for this big huge pedophile rings, its just a distraction from the real issue thats happening to real children,' Texas Center for the Missing CEO Beth Alberts said, Reform Austin. 'Our time is being eaten up telling people to check their sources.' Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. A new bipartisan congressional report calls for the Defense Department to get a lot more serious about the race to acquire artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities, modeling efforts to become dominant in these spheres after the "Manhattan Project" initiative to test and develop nuclear weapons in the 1940s. On Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee released the results of a yearlong review, co-led by Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., aimed at assessing U.S. military capabilities and preparedness to meet current threats. The 87-page Future of Defense Task Force Report contains some expected findings -- China and Russia are identified as the top security threats to the U.S. and modernization is described as an urgent need -- but there are surprising points of emphasis. Read Next: It's Raining Blood: Air Force Tests New Way to Resupply Battlefield Medics The report leans hard into technological development and growth, particularly in the fields of machine learning and autonomy, going so far as to call for the Defense Department to evaluate an AI or autonomous alternative prior to every major future defense buy. And it also calls for the military to treat these technologies like a game-changing new weapon, establishing clear rules of the road and guardrails for their use. "Using the Manhattan Project as a model, the United States must undertake and win the artificial intelligence race by leading in the invention and deployment of AI while establishing the standards for its public and private use," the report's authors wrote. "Although the Department of Defense has increased investment in AI and established the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to assist with the transition and deployment of AI capabilities, cultural resistance to its wider adoption remains. Congress and the Department of Defense must take additional action to overcome these barriers." The Manhattan Project, undertaken from 1942 to 1947, was a U.S.-led effort to obtain and test a nuclear bomb, a world-changing enterprise that led to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II. The task force report emphasizes that, now as then, the United States is against the clock to obtain and master tools that could make or break future dominance. It noted that China has publicly set the goal of becoming the world's leading AI power by 2030, just a decade from now. In addition to considering AI or autonomous alternatives for new DoD acquisitions, the task force recommended that the Pentagon be required to make all new major purchases AI-ready and able to "nest with existing and planned joint all-domain command and control networks." It also called for the DoD to be given greater authority to evaluate advanced technologies that might accomplish military objectives better and at a lower cost. To back up this push for innovation, the task force called for a requirement that the military services each spend at least 1% of their budgets on the integration of new technology. In concert with this effort, the task force said, the U.S. should lead efforts to draft and approve an international treaty with rules for the civilian and military use of AI. That treaty, it said, should be "in the vein of the Geneva Conventions, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," with a goal of having all nations that plan to develop and use AI sign on. As the U.S. military invests in leap-ahead technologies, it must also divest aggressively from old and outdated programs, the task force said. In 2030, the report's authors noted, a "staggering" 70% of military capabilities will still consist of legacy systems, according to current projections. To cut all the dead weight, the lawmakers recommended that Congress commission Rand Corp. or a similar organization to study existing legacy platforms and determine their continued relevance over the next half-century. "Following completion of the studies, a panel should be convened, comprising Congress, the Department of Defense, and representatives from the industrial base, to make recommendations on which platforms should be retired, replaced or recapitalized," they said. And along with technology, the task force said, the military must modernize its aging personnel policies and infrastructure and attract fresh talent. It incorporated some of the recent recommendations from the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, calling for more volunteer opportunities; greater incentives for military service, including student loan deferment and forgiveness; and the creation of paid year-of-service programs -- military, civilian and private-sector -- for young people. "Although the U.S. military personnel system produces outstanding leaders, it must grow its ability to produce more service members with expanded capabilities to meet emerging threats," the task force wrote. "History repeatedly shows that technological superiority does not guarantee victory and that new ways of thinking can be more powerful than new weapons. "Future leaders and strategists will need to embrace emerging warfighting concepts such as joint and multi-domain warfare. They will further need a comprehensive understanding of national power and how to integrate military tools into a whole-of-government effort," it added. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Related: Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Change How You Enlist and Transition The Queen's Balmoral estate could be hit by devastating wildfires, rangers have warned, after finding dozens of still-smouldering campfires lit by visitors. Managers shared pictures of the mess left behind by tourists at the 55-acre site in Aberdeenshire, saying they are clearing fires and leftover debris on a 'daily basis'. Images show a handful of stones with the remains of a fire inside, an empty tent, large logs dragged onto the flames to burn and empty drink cans scattered nearby. Damage caused by visitors to the Queen's 55-acre Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, above, showing the remains of a fire and empty drinks cans and bottles scattered nearby Managers at the Queen's Balmoral estate have warned visitors to stop lighting campfires at the site, pictured above, after dozens were left smouldering, sparking fears of wildfires Another picture captures how the roots of ancient pines have been chopped up for people to pile onto their fires. Rangers at the Queen's estate said: 'Depressing to find more roots being cut off the old Scots pine trees that line the shores of Loch Muick just to be burnt on campfires.' In another social media post, they added: 'Old camp fires are an eyesore! This one was made in the woods next to the toilets at Loch Muick, during this weekend's high fire risk. 'Our rangers clear these fires on a daily basis. Photos showing before and after this campfire was cleared.' Experts have warned that wildfires like the devastating ones seen in the US and Australia will become more likely in Britain. In 2018, a series of wildfires burned across the UK with the two largest - both declared major incidents - burning over seven square miles on Saddleworth Moor, Manchester, and Winter Hill in Lancashire. Roots of ancient pines at the estate seen chopped up for people to pile onto their fires. Rangers said: 'Depressing to find more roots being cut off the old Scots pine trees' An empty tent left at the estate in Aberdeenshire, above, in an image posted to social media by park rangers. It follows an influx of visitors at the site after the easing of lockdown restrictions Others burned in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales. The Saddleworth Moor fire has been described as the largest English wildfire in living memory. They were blamed on days of temperatures hitting 30C and above during a heatwave. The issue has also been highlighted in the last few weeks by the Cairngorms National Park Authority, which helps manage 4,428 acres in north east Scotland. A board paper released earlier this month said there had been a 'significant amount' of people entering the park over the summer, with too many lighting fires. Rangers posted the pictures alongside comments, above, to social media. The staff asked visitors to leave 'no trace when wild camping on the estate' The paper added: 'There have been issues around camping, campervans, human waste, fires, litter and verge parking. 'These have been especially prevalent at key hotspots. However, it should also be noted that the vast majority of visitors have behaved well, and that many of the issues around fires etc were done through ignorance rather than malice.' Peter Crane, Head of Visitor Services, Conservation & Visitor Experience, said: 'As Covid-19 lockdown restrictions eased, the Cairngorms National Park experienced an influx of visitors resulting in issues around litter, fires, human waste and traffic management concerns. 'However, it should also be noted that the vast majority of visitors are well behaved and that many of the issues stem from a lack of understanding. 'We will be looking at areas for infrastructure investment with partners this winter as we look to develop visitor management plans for 2021.' Balmoral has been owned by the royal family since 1852 and is Queen Elizabeth's Scottish holiday home. Go to a dollar store, get all you kiddie treats and keep your children home. Celeo Wall via Facebook Avoid trick-or-treating, crowded costume parties amid pandemic, CDC says California should be the climate change utopia. Almost all power comes from wind and solar but they have rolling blackouts across the state. My cousin cant wait for his transfer out. Teddy Tune Could California-style wildfires happen in New Jerseys Pinelands? Thats the last time I will patronize the restaurant where the event was held. Tracy Morgan via Facebook Supporters and protesters greet Donald Trump Jr. at GOP fundraiser in Galloway Gateway drug. No way. We will double our drug overdoses in a matter of months. Luis Lopez via Facebook A large new committee of Covid-19 experts has been set up to inform the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) about the advice about restrictions such as the shutting of wet pub it decides to give to the Government to stem the spread of the coronavirus in Ireland. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the health service watchdog, has today announced details of its new structures to provide evidence-based advice and support to the NPHET. Earlier this month, HIQA said the Government announced a move towards a sustainable response to the public health emergency. In response to requests from NPHET, HIQA says it now provides evidence-based advice directly to NPHET. Dr Mairin Ryan is HIQAs Director of Health Technology Assessment and Deputy Chief Executive. Since March 2020, HIQAs Health Technology Assessment Directorate has been providing research evidence to support the work of NPHET, NPHET Expert Advisory Group, other NPHET subgroups and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, as part of the public health response to COVID-19. This structural change sees HIQA taking the lead on developing evidence-based advice to inform public health policy, advice and practice in the context of COVID-19. To do this, we have set up a dedicated evidence synthesis team and a COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group. This work is in line with our functions under Section 8 of Health Act 2007, she said. HIQA says its advice advice to NPHET is informed by research evidence developed by HIQAs COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Team, with expert input from HIQAs COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group. A statement said the COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group is a multidisciplinary group, comprising nominated representatives from the relevant clinical specialities and areas of expertise, methodology experts and public representation. The group met for the first time today Tuesday, 29 September 2020. Dr Ryan continued: This robust process will ensure that public health decisions continue to be informed by rapid access to the best available evidence relevant to the outbreak at each stage of the pandemic. Our work supports the diverse evidence needs of NPHET in leading the national public health response to COVID-19. The advice from HIQA to NPHET and the underpinning evidence is published at www.hiqa.ie. Terms of Reference for HIQAs COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group In relation to COVID-19-related evidence synthesis, members of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) will: 1. Contribute to the provision of high-quality research by HIQA. 2. Contribute fully to the work, debate and decision-making processes of the group by providing expert guidance, as appropriate. 3. Be prepared to provide expert advice on relevant issues outside of group meetings, as requested. 4. Provide advice to HIQA regarding the scope of an analysis. 5. Support the Evidence Synthesis Team led by HIQA during the research process by providing access to pertinent data, as appropriate. 6. Review draft reports from the Evidence Synthesis Team and recommend amendments, as appropriate. 7. Support the development of evidence-based advice from HIQA to NPHET on behalf of the Department of the Minister for Health and to the HSE using a structured Evidence to Advice framework. 8. Contribute to HIQAs development of its approach to health services research by participating in an evaluation of the process on occasion. 9. Notify the project lead if a nominee can no longer participate or contribute to the process as non-participation may require alternative EAG membership to be sought. Membership of HIQAs COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group Dr Mairin Ryan (Chair) Director of Health Technology Assessment & Deputy Chief Executive Officer, HIQA Dr Niamh Bambury Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine, HSE- Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Prof Karina Butler Consultant Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist, Our Ladys Hospital, Crumlin & Chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee Dr Jeff Connell Assistant Director, UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin Dr Eibhlin Connolly Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health Prof Maire Connolly Adjunct Professor of Global Health and Development, National University of Ireland, Galway Prof Martin Cormican Consultant Microbiologist & National Clinical Lead, HSE Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control Team Ms Sinead Creagh Medical Scientist, Laboratory Manager at Cork University Hospital & Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine Dr Ellen Crushell* Consultant Paediatrician, Dean, Faculty of Paediatrics, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland & Co-National Clinical Lead, HSE Paediatric/Neonatology Clinical Programme Dr John Cuddihy Specialist in Public Health Medicine & Interim Director, HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Dr Cillian de Gascun Consultant Virologist & Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin Dr Lorraine Doherty National Clinical Director Health Protection, HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Ms Josephine Galway National Director of Nursing, Infection Prevention Control and Antimicrobial Resistance, AMRIC Division, HSE- Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Dr Vida Hamilton Consultant Anaesthetist & National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead, Acute Hospital Operations Division, HSE Dr David Hanlon General Practitioner & National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead, Primary Care/Clinical Strategy and Programmes, HSE Dr Patricia Harrington Head of Assessment, Health Technology Assessment, HIQA Dr Derval Igoe Specialist in Public Health Medicine, HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Prof Mary Keogan Consultant Immunologist & National Clinical Lead , HSE Clinical Programme for Pathology Dr Siobhan Kennelly Consultant Geriatrician & National Clinical & Advisory Group Lead, Older Persons, HSE Ms Sarah Lennon Executive Director, SAGE Advocacy Mr Andrew Lynch Business Manager, Office of the National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead - Mental Health, HSE Dr Gerry McCarthy * Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Cork University Hospital & National Clinical Lead, HSE Clinical Programme for Emergency Medicine Prof Paddy Mallon Consultant in Infectious Diseases, St Vincent's University Hospital & HSE Clinical Programme for Infectious Diseases Dr Eavan Muldoon* Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, National Clinical Lead for CIT and OPAT programmes & HSE Clinical Programme for Infectious Diseases Dr Desmond Murphy Consultant Respiratory Physician & National Clinical Lead, HSE Clinical Programme for Respiratory Medicine Dr John Murphy Consultant Paediatrician & Co-National Clinical Lead, HSE Paediatric/Neonatology Clinical Programme and Dr Gerard OConnor Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital HSE Clinical Programme for Emergency Medicine Ms Michelle ONeill HRB-CICER Programme Manager, Health Technology Assessment Directorate, HIQA Dr Orlaith OReilly Specialist in Public Health Medicine &Joint Clinical Lead, HSE Integrated Programme for Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease Dr Mary ORiordan Specialist in Public Health Medicine, HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) Dr Margaret B. OSullivan Specialist in Public Health Medicine, Department of Public Health, HSE South & Chair, National Zoonoses Committee Dr Michael Power Consultant Intensivist, Beaumount Hospital & National Clinical Lead, HSE Clinical Programme for Critical Care Dr Lynda Sisson Consultant in Occupational Medicine, Dean of Faculty of Occupational Medicine, RCPI & HSE National Clinical Lead for Workplace Health and Well Being Prof Susan Smith Professor of Primary Care Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dr Patrick Stapleton Consultant Microbiologist, UL Hospitals Group, Limerick & Irish Society of Clinical Microbiologists Dr Conor Teljeur Chief Scientist, Health Technology Assessment, HIQA Ms Anne Tobin Assessment and Surveillance Manager, Medical Devices, Health Products Regulatory Authority A teenager who was banned from seeing her ex-boyfriend was dragged out of his bed by his horrified mother in the middle of the night. Lily Moody, 18, from south Sydney, was under a court-sanctioned apprehended violence order that prevented her from seeing or contacting her ex-boyfriend. Moody was busted by her ex-boyfriend's mum when the pair were in bed together at his Caringbah home, just weeks after the order was finalised, on September 20. The mum asked Moody to leave before being forced to drag the 18-year-old out by her hair at 4.30am, The Daily Telegraph reported. Lily Moody (pictured) was banned from seeing or contacting her ex-boyfriend but was dragged out of his bed at 4.30am when his mum busted the pair together on September 20 Moody's AVO also prevented her from going within within 100m of her ex-boyfriend's home or workplace. Agreed police facts said the ex-boyfriend's mum messaged her son about hearing Moody's voice inside the house before confronting the pair. 'The victim's mother heard Moody's voice and, knowing there was an AVO restricting her from the address, messaged her son asking him to make Moody leave. 'She then came downstairs and went into the bedroom to find Moody and her son in bed together,' agreed police facts stated. Police alleged the 18-year-old repeatedly ignored requests for her to leave and instead stood on the bed and yelled at her ex-boyfriend's mother. Moody continued to demand an Uber and her ex-boyfriend's mum resorted to physically removing the teenager from the room. 'His mother had to resort to reasonable physical force to try and get Moody to leave and grabbed her by the hair as an attempt to get her out of the bed and out of the bedroom,' agreed police facts said. Moody (pictured) was dragged out of the room by her hair. She pleaded guilty to contravening an apprehended violence order at Sutherland Local Court on Monday Moody and her ex-boyfriend then walked out of the house and caught an Uber to an unknown location together. She fronted Sutherland Local Court and pleaded guilty to contravening an apprehended violence order on Monday. Moody's barrister Geoff Harrison told Magistrate Scott Nash her ex-boyfriend had contacted Moody first and booked her an Uber to his house. The matter was adjourned for sentencing on November 11. Moody was ordered to report to police three times a week in exchange for avoiding a curfew. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global HR technology leader CareerBuilder today announced it has sold its ownership of Textkernel to Main Capital Partners, a strategic investor in the software industry active and based in North-Western Europe. As part of the transaction, CareerBuilder and Main Capital Partners have formed a multi-year strategic partnership allowing the organizations to continue to work together to innovate and deliver world-class, AI-powered solutions in the talent acquisition space. CareerBuilder Logo (PRNewsfoto/CareerBuilder) For CareerBuilder, the transition to a partnership model allows the company to continue offering Textkernel services to clients while increasing investment in its core Talent Acquisition Suite. As the only dual-sided talent acquisition platform designed to serve both employers and candidates, CareerBuilder uses technology to optimize every stage of the hiring funnel, lower costs and improve hiring, management and career outcomes. "CareerBuilder has a long-standing history of leveraging data and insights to develop AI-powered solutions that remove friction and pain points for our clients," said Irina Novoselsky, CEO of CareerBuilder. "For the past five years, Textkernel's multi-lingual machine learning intelligence has built upon our existing English language capabilities and accelerated our global expansion. Transitioning to a partnership model allows us to continue working with Textkernel while investing sale proceeds into our data science, R&D and product teams to further innovate our proprietary Talent Acquisition Suite and continue driving next generation AI-powered solutions for recruiters and candidates." "Our partnership agreement with CareerBuilder will allow us both to continue to benefit from each other's strengths while pushing our core offerings forward. We look forward to embarking on the next phase of our growth strategy with Main Capital Partners and continuing to support our clients," added Gerard Mulder, CEO of Textkernel. The transaction follows CareerBuilder's recent announcement that it has committed to invest $300 million over the next three years into its talent acquisition offerings. The investment will primarily fuel research and new product development, building on expertise and an unmatched dataset CareerBuilder has amassed over 20 years. Today, CareerBuilder's AI-powered Skills API services use data to more effectively connect employers and job seekers based on specific skills and experience, and serve an evolving job market in which non-linear career paths steadily increase in popularity. PJT Partners and Citizens Capital Markets are serving as financial advisors and Sidley Austin LLP is serving as legal advisor to CareerBuilder. About CareerBuilder CareerBuilder is a global technology company that provides end-to-end talent acquisition solutions to help employers find, hire and onboard great talent, and helps job seekers build new skills and progressive careers as the modern world of work changes. An industry disruptor for nearly 25 years, CareerBuilder is the only company that offers both software and services to cover every step of the Hello To Hire process, enabling its customers to free up valuable resources across their HR tech supply chain to drive their business forward. CareerBuilder operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia and is the largest provider of AI-powered hiring solutions serving the majority of the Fortune 500 across five specialized markets. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. For more information, visit careerbuilder.com for a great candidate experience and hiring.careerbuilder.com to learn more about our solutions for employers. CONTACT: Katie Hogue, [email protected] SOURCE CareerBuilder Related Links http://www.careerbuilder.com President of Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), David Asante has commended the security agencies for their swift response to the Western Togoland chaos in the Volta Region of Ghana. David Asante, speaking on UTVs Adekye Nsroma programme stated, the attempt by a small group of people to destabilize our peace as a country is worrying because the historical antecedent of this country does not permit us to go that lane. He also commended the Volta Regional House of Chiefs for their timely intervention in the matter. He urged all political parties to desist from politicizing the issue. We dont need to politicize these issues as NDC has been trying hard to shift blame on us (NPP). Because if its happened that way then we too will ask why always this western Togoland group of people will ask for separation when NPP is in power, its happened under Former President Kuffours regime but never came when late prof. Atta Mills and Mahama was in power and back again in President Akufo-Addos regime, he stated on UTV's "Adekye Nsroma". Where we have forgotten it will be prudent for us all to follow the plea of the regional house of Chiefs and the Security personnel. All the countries that have encountered secessionists are handled with care and utmost intelligent so you cant use force to gag that out. I believe the decisions of our security personnel are in the right order, he further stressed. Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SEATTLE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GigabitNow, a division of IsoFusion, a leading provider of Internet access and IT services on the west coast of the United States, announced today the expansion of Gigabit Fiber Internet services into the northeastern United States starting in Salem, Massachusetts. GigabitNow will deliver Gigabit Internet services via an exclusive partnership with fiber-optic network developer SiFi Networks, which will be constructing the citywide fiber network, passing every home and business in the city. The network will ensure Salem residents and businesses have access to fast, reliable Gigabit Fiber Internet connectivity without bandwidth caps, buffering, or privacy concerns. GigabitNow - Internet How It Is Meant To Be "Everyone at GigabitNow is looking forward to bringing fast, reliable gigabit fiber Internet to the northeast and especially to the great city of Salem," said Stephen Milton, CEO of GigabitNow. "Our gigabit fiber Internet services surpasses anything being offered in the city today, free from privacy worries and service constraints, and is scalable to meet the needs of Salem's residents and businesses today and into the future." GigabitNow is excited to bring reliable, 100% fiber Internet services to the northeast and is pleased to be starting in a great city like Salem. Like in its most recent Gigabit city, Fullerton, California, GigabitNow will deliver gigabit fiber Internet to Salem with the fastest symmetrical speeds, unlimited data usage, the most advanced Wi-Fi available, 24/7 live customer support, all without long-term contracts or hidden fees. Businesses will benefit from unmatched fiber Internet reliability and an extensive range of connectivity options, telephone, data center, and cloud solutions that GigabitNow's parent organization, IsoFusion, has been delivering to businesses across the country for almost 30 years. "I am very pleased to be expanding our relationship with GigabitNow into yet another FiberCity project," said Ben Bawtree-Jobson CEO SiFi Networks. "Our partnership with GigabitNow has now expanded to both U.S. coasts, and we look forward to getting network construction started so GigabitNow can provide the city of Salem with the best Internet experience available." With its expansion into Salem, GigabitNow adds another community fiber network to its growing list of communities served by Gigabit Fiber Internet that surpasses the Internet speeds and reliability of incumbent providers. GigabitNow's expansion into the city of Salem, Massachusetts is the start of GigabitNow's broader northeast deployment, adding to its established networks in California, Oregon, and Washington state, all designed and built to meet today's demands for Internet connectivity with scalability into the future. SiFi Networks' construction in Salem is set to begin at the end of 2020, with service installations to residents and businesses starting the summer of 2021. About GigabitNow - GigabitNow delivers fast, reliable, and affordable fiber Internet to communities of all sizes, without bandwidth caps and free from privacy worries or service constraints. GigabitNow focuses on providing the very best Internet experience and genuine customer support to every customer. Offering custom solutions for the development, construction, operation, support, and delivery of community-based gigabit fiber internet networks and services, GigabitNow is an award-winning leader in custom FTTX solutions. GigabitNow is a division of IsoFusion (www.isofusion.com), one of the largest privately held full-service ISP and colocation providers in Washington state founded in 1991. Experience the Internet How It Is Meant To Be - learn more at http://www.gigabitnow.com. For further information, please contact: Dan Sivils - [email protected] or (206) 905-8060 About SiFi Networks - SiFi Networks (www.sifinetworks.com) is an international network developer. We pride ourselves on innovative construction methods, financial modeling and collaboration. SiFi Networks funds, builds and operates community-wide state of the art fiber optic networks enabling Internet Service providers to deliver next-generation applications including superfast Internet, video and phone. In addition to SiFi Networks' highly experienced in-house team, we have partnered with established and award-winning firms who have unparalleled experience within the sector. SiFi Networks has offices in Orange County, LA County, New Jersey and London, UK. Related Images gigabitnow.png GigabitNow GigabitNow - Internet How It Is Meant To Be SOURCE GigabitNow Related Links http://www.gigabitnow.com Since March, she has received payments for the more than 120 children receiving subsidies she enrolled before the pandemic, but beginning Nov. 1, she will only receive payments for the children who regularly attend. She said more families are beginning to return to work and she is turning them away because she is at capacity. Adams said that the families she cannot serve rely on patchwork child care, which means they are finding a different friend or relative each day to watch their children. She worries this could mean greater exposure to the virus for the children and their relatives. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 29, 2020 15:25 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f7b7b 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,doctor,health-worker,medical-workers,medical-practitioners,COVID-19-death-toll,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,deaths,IDI,health-ministry Free The Health Ministry has formed a team to investigate the high death toll among doctors from COVID-19, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has announced. [The team] has just been formed by the Health Ministry, IDI chairman Daeng M. Faqih said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. IDI hopes this team can get straight to work to find the best solution to protect health workers. He added that IDI had worked closely with the national COVID-19 task force and the Health Ministry to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and free swab tests for health workers and also helped in the formation of the audit team. The team will evaluate and find the root cause of the problem and look for a solution, Daeng said. Read also: Follow health protocols, IDI urges the public as more Indonesian doctors die from COVID-19 Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy had previously called on IDI to be responsible for the protection of doctors. I ask IDI to spearhead protections for the safety of its members. That is part of the associations responsibility, he said. Daeng said he was motivated by the ministers statement and claimed that the formation of the team was part of its commitment to protect doctors. As of Tuesday, the association had recorded 127 deaths among doctors from COVID-19, 65 of whom were general practitioners, while 56 were specialists, IDI spokesperson Halik Malik told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. East Java has recorded the most deaths among doctors at 30, followed by North Sumatra with 21 deaths and Jakarta with 16 deaths. In addition, the Indonesian Nurses Association (PPNI) told the Post that as of Tuesday, at least 92 nurses had died of COVID-19. A recent survey of Converse police officers showed a complete lack of confidence in the former police chief, who submitted his resignation last week. Converse Police Chief Ruben Saucedo submitted his resignation after four months on the job. Circumstances with my family will not allow me to dedicate the time necessary to fulfill the requirements of this position, Saucedo wrote in his resignation letter, dated Sept. 21. Saucedo, who was hired in mid-May as chief from his assistant chief role in Leon Valley, fell out of favor with the rank-and-file within the department. The Texas Municipal Police Association stepped in after being made aware of morale issues among the officers, as well as the departure of a half-dozen officers in the past 3-4 months. A few months ago the CPOA (Converse Police Officers Association) contacted us and said they were having severe morale problems with their current chief of police, according to Jim Bono, TMPA communications manager. Normally, Bono said, the TMPA visits and tries to pinpoint the problem or source of problems making sure they are not walking into a he said-she said or a sour grapes type of situation. We conducted our survey, which is usually 50-60 questions and covers all aspects of policing in the city of Converse, Bono said. Ninety-five percent of the Converse police officers below the rank of assistant chief participated in the survey. The results of the survey, he said, were pretty one-sided. I would characterize it as 99.9 percent of the problems stemmed from the chief. There were very few, if any, problems with any of the brass below him nothing that wasnt easily correctable, to be perfectly honest with you, Bono said. The survey also indicated that officers felt they would be retaliated against for reporting the morale issues and for being part of the CPOA. On Sept. 15, the TMPA director of field services and its field representative for the city of Converse delivered results of the survey to Saucedo. We told him then that wed never seen such a one-sided survey, and weve had plenty of bad surveys, Bono said. Our recommendation was that he resign. Within days, a CPOA member was contacted by City Manager Le Ann Piatt, who discussed the survey results with him. On Sept. 20, Saucedo submitted his resignation. Based on how he was conducting business, we had to move pretty quickly. We figured that, at that point, wed have to go directly to city council. However, he chose to resign, Bono added. Bono said officers expressed disappointment and concern over a litany of morale and leadership issues. Not interacting with officers, making derogatory comments based on education levels; it wasnt criminal at all. It was just Leadership 101, easy things you just dont do, he said. Stuff like bad-mouthing guys who didnt have a college degree. Going to meetings, going to roll call. Coming in on time, answering your emails all those little things that develop into huge leadership problems, Bono said. It was easy stuff. But its the easy stuff that always ends up getting guys. Piatt said the city is not rushing in an effort to name a new chief. She said that she will work with police officers to determine in what direction to take the department. Rather than name an interim chief, Piatt said her office will be handling department office matters such as email and other paperwork. Previous Police Chief Fidel Villegas resigned in mid-January after nearly four years at the helm. Piatt was joined by Fire Chief Luis Valdez, Assistant City Manager Manny Longoria and Human Resources Director John Rudd in reviewing 25 applicants for the chiefs job. They narrowed the list to six before inviting two finalists for interviews, from which Saucedo was chosen. jflinn@express-news.net India has consistently followed double standards on human rights and peoples right to self-determination and refused to brook questions on its own conduct while taking the liberty to preach to others. by A.G. Noorani Can you imagine the uproar in India if the world had protested against Indias maltreatment of a public figure as the world has in the case of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny? Or the Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi? In India a cry would have rent the sky: None of your business. It is our internal affair. This false plea never inhibits India from shouting aloud in similar cases, but for political reasons. India never spoke up for Boris Pasternak or any Soviet or Russian dissident, nor for the oppressed Uighurs of Xin Jiang. There is not one neighbour who has not suffered from Indias interferencesome by intervention through force, open or covert through the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yatish Yadavs very informative book (RAW: A History of Indias Operations; Westland Publications; Rs.799; pages 391) proves that. It documents the deeds. It has extensive quotation from official records. Double standards have ever been the hallmark of Indian diplomacy, regardless of the party in power. Not seldom the official in charge initiates the move. It makes him feel important. In Kashmir, 504 separatists were freed after they signed bonds under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, a replica of the provision in the Code of 1878. This provision in a colonial law is sought to bind lumpen elements to good behaviour. It is neither fair nor decent to abuse this to bind political opponents to comply with official policy in the name of good behaviour, on pain of imprisonment. The 504 Kashmir separatists were freed only after they had signed those good behaviour bonds, the police chief Dilbagh Singh acknowledged on August 6 (Bharti Jain; The Times of India; August 7). This is an atrocious abuse of power. None in the international community dared condemn it lest it displease India. Protesters were abused. Preaching to Nepal Contrast this with Indias own behaviour in similar situations. On February 1, 2005, the official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs was instructed to say: The King of Nepal has dissolved the multiparty government led by Prime Minister [Sher Bahadur] Deuba and has decided to constitute a Council of Ministers under his own chairmanship. An emergency has been declared and fundamental rights have been suspended. These developments constitute a serious setback to the cause of democracy in Nepal and cannot but be a cause of grave concern to India. There are also reports that several political leaders have been confined to their residences. The safety and welfare of the political leaders must be ensured and political parties must be allowed to exercise all the rights enjoyed by them under the Constitution. India has consistently supported multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy enshrined in Nepals Constitution as the two pillars of political stability in Nepal. This principle has now been violated with the King forming a government under his chairmanship. We have always considered that in Nepal, it is imperative to evolve a broad national consensus, particularly between the monarchy and political parties, to deal with the political and economic challenges facing the country. The latest developments in Nepal bring the monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation with each other. This can only benefit the forces that not only wish to undermine democracy but the institution of monarchy as well. Nepal ignored this diktat. It abolished monarchy and forged a consensus on the Constitution by its own labours. India has a record of imprisoning political leaders during the Emergency (1975-1977) and in Kashmir (2019-2020; still continuing). To force Nepal to accept Indias demands on some provisions of the draft Constitution, it imposed a long economic blockade but denied it dishonestly. It had done so earlier as well. India did not hesitate to instruct the King on how he should mind his business. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was asked at a press conference on February 2, 2005: Did India anticipate these political developments in Nepal? Were these concerns conveyed to them? He replied: These concerns have been expressed repeatedly to the King of Nepal, on numerous occasions. As we pointed out in our statement yesterday, our constant refrain has been that the two pillars of political stability in Nepal are constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy. We have also advised him against taking the kind of step that he has taken, pointing out that this would only mean that monarchy will be in direct confrontation not only with the Maoist insurgency but also the political parties. I believe that the Maoists have issued a very strong statement condemning the move that has been made by the King. This only bears out the apprehension that we have had. Is it any wonder that by 2020 Indias relations with Nepal reached such a low? On August 28, 2006, India said: The unfortunate killing of the veteran Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, is a tragic loss to the people of Balochistan and Pakistan. This military attack in which reportedly two of his grandsons were also killed and the heavy casualties in the continuing military operations in Balochistan underline the need for peaceful dialogue to address the grievances and aspirations of people of Balochistan. Military force can never solve political problems. What about Indias military operations on its own soil? Human rights and diplomacy This trait has always governed India; regardless of the party in power. Delusions of imperial grandeur die hard. Jimmy Carter, soon after he became President of the United States, declared in a speech at the United Nations on March 17, 1977: No member of the United Nations can claim that mistreatment of its citizens is solely its own business. Equally, no member can avoid its responsibilities to review and to speak when torture or unwarranted deprivation of freedom occurs in any part of the world. He succeeded in making human rights a live issue. But he erred in ignoring Secretary of State Cyrus Vances advice to emphasise quiet diplomacy, saving public pressure or those occasions that called for a strong and forthright public statement deciding whether and how to act in the cause of human rights requires informed and careful judgment. When expediency drove Carter to make one exception after another (Iran, South Korea, the Philippines, Pakistan and South Africa), people forgot the gains his human rights policy had secured in other respects. They remembered his strident rhetoric and attacked his inconsistencies. In retrospect, The New York Times remarked: Morality apart, the logic that governs a human rights policy is national interest, Claims to disinterested espousal of human rights everywhere are essentially claims to superior morality in diplomacy. Inherently untenable, they end up by reducing human rights to an instrument of policy, to the harm of both a good foreign policy and the advancement of human rights. Months before she imposed the Emergency in India, Indira Gandhi lauded Shaikh Mujibur Rehman for doing so in Bangladesh. On December 28, 1974, an emergency was imposed in Bangladesh and fundamental rights were suspended. On January 25, 1975, a constitutional amendment was rushed through Bangladeshs parliament to set up a presidential system with power to the President to direct that there shall be only one political party in the state. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman became President and called it the Second Revolution. Indira Gandhi congratulated him on that very day, an act which JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) strongly criticised. It was ominous. Nor was there opposition or condemnation by her as Mujib proceeded to set up his new party BAKSAL on June 6 and order the closure of all the privately-owned newspapers on June 16, 1975. Nine days later, she moved to suppress democracy in India. When the International League of Human Rights accused the Government of India, in a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, of violation of human rights, Indias Permanent Mission at the U.N. was instructed to retort, on June 7, 1976, that the protection of fundamental human rights is the concern of each sovereign state and is a matter which is essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of member-states of the United Nations. It advanced arguments commonly urged by South Africa, the Soviet Union, Chile and other such countries. The reply bitterly complained that this sort of gratuitous interference in Indias internal affairs is certainly not calculated to serve the best interests of the people of India, but rather to encourage the subversive elements to try once again to destroy the framework of constitutional democracy that the Government of India has been sustaining in a country with a formidable diversity of problems of scaring magnitude. Nationalistic chauvinism Kashmir provides the clearest example of this disease. It has trickled down from the government to the people through the good offices of most in the media. Now nationalistic chauvinism has taken the colour of the arrogance of colonialism. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a most stimulating programme every Saturday eveningDateline Londonof foreign correspondents in London debating on current issues. It presents a fine ensemblean Asian or African; an American; a European and a Londoner. It has deteriorated since its brilliant compere Gavim Essler left. Once someone had only to utter the word Kashmir since some outrage had been perpetrated. He was cut short by our Desi Bhai who was present: It is an internal matter. The well-bred foreigner kept quiet. Kashmir is an international dispute. Since Kashmir raises Indians hackles like nothing else, let it be said bluntly that it is quintessentially an international dispute and involves its right to self-determination. Indias denials are dishonest, as the record clearly shows. Here is the record. Jawaharlal Nehrus telegram to Pakistans Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan: Our assurance that we shall withdraw our troops from Kashmir as soon as peace and order are restored and leave the decision about the future of the State to the people of the State is not merely a pledge to your Government but also to the people of Kashmir and to the world. Broadcasting to the nation on November 2, Nehru said: Let me make it clear that it has been our policy all along that where there is a dispute about the accession of a State to either Dominion, the decision must be made by the people of the State. It was in accordance with this policy that we added a proviso to the Instrument of Accession of Kashmir. The White Paper on Kashmir calls the accession provisional. On August 7, 1952, Nehru said in Parliament: It is an international problem. It would be an international problem anyhow if it concerned any other nation besides India and it does. It became further an international problem because a large number of other countries also took interest and gave advice. On Nehrus orders and with the full complicity of Karan Singh, Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed from the office of Premier of Jammu and Kashmir and put in jail for 11 years so that Nehru could renege on his pledges and get the States Constituent Assembly to endorse the accession to India. On February 25, 1955, Lakshmi Charan asked Nehru in the Lok Sabha: In view of the fact that the Kashmir Constituent Assembly has ratified the accession of the State to India, what will be the terms of discussion on Kashmir with the Pakistani Prime Minister? Nehru replied: A question like this cannot be solved unilaterally. On May 15, 1954, even after the U.S.-Pakistan Pact was signed, Nehru said: India still stands by her international commitments on the Kashmir issue and will implement them at the appropriate time. Of course, he had no intentions of doing so. His successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri, admitted in Parliament: Almost every country wants that we should somehow settle this question of Kashmir peacefully. This is the record. The U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan still has an office at IAB Purana Qila Road in New Delhi. U.N. maps of South Asia still carry the legend: The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties. What about the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka? Ask the Sri Lankans about it. Any matter which figures on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council or is the subject of an international agreement ceases to be an internal affair. Kashmir meets both tests. That explains why Nehru admitted in Srinagar on July 8, 1949, that Kashmir is a world question. The Shimla Pact is often cited to argue that Kashmir is a bilateral issue. No bilateral accord can affect the UNs jurisdiction. But now this Pact lies shattered. WUHAN, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Wuhan - Sponsored by the Hubei provincial government, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference for High Quality Development kicked off in Wuhan on September 28, 2020, at the International Conference Center of Wuhan. Ying Yong, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hubei Provincial Committee, attended the event and delivered a welcome speech. The conference was presided over by Zhao Haishan, vice-governor of Hubei Province. Leaders such as Huang Chuping, board memember of the Communist Party of China Huber Provincial Committee and vice-governor, Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's Party secretary and other local officials also attended the conference. Themed with "Highland of Sci-Tech Innovation, New Engine for Growth", the conference strived to grasp the historical opportunities of technological innovation, and the opportunities presented by the newly adopted registration system in stock exchanges that would help outstanding companies in Wuhan to explore the road of going public. At the opening ceremony, the leaders of four major domestic and foreign stock exchanges, business associations and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss the high-quality development of Hubei Province. A number of distinguished guests had given keynote speeches at conference. They were Huang Hongyuan, secretary of party committee and chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Wang Jianjun, secretary of party committee and Chairman of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Lui Tim Leung, chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, Loh Boon Chye, CEO the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), An Qingsong, secretary of party committee and executive vice president of the Securities Association of China and Chen Chunyan, vice president and secretary-general of China Securities Investment Fund Association. A number of international economists and business leaders put forward valuable comments and suggestions on how to make Hubei an industrial incubator with global influence in the future. They were Eric S. Maskin, 2007 Nobel laureate and the world-known management consultant guru Kenichi Ohmae from Japan To refuel Hubei's economic rejuvenation, a number of entrepreneurs of both state-owned and private enterprises also shared their thoughts and views with the audience of Wuhan. They were Zhou Qiang, party secretary and Chairman of China Aviation Oil Group, Song Xin, party secretary and Chairman of China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group, Chen Dongsheng, chairman of Taikang Insurance Group, Liu Yonghao, chairman of New Hope Group and Yu Minhong, founder of Hongtai Aplus and New Oriental Group. At one session of the conference, contracts of about 49 key projects of innovation were signed to help Hubei to emerge as an industrial hub with global impact. The total value of the signed contracts was about RMB 97.494 billion, include 28 fund projects with a value of RMB 30.655 billion, and 21 investment projects worthy about RMB 61.839 billion. The municipal government of Wuhan also announced the launch of the "Hubei Hongtai Fund for High Quality Development", which is a RMB 30 billion industrial fund. With the support of high quality capital, such as this fund, settled in Wuhan, the city's transformation of economic structures is a determined success in upgrading. The municipal government of the Wuhan also announced a series of measures and rules to promote high quality development of the city's economy. The new measures and rule were named "Ten Golden Measures of Wuhan" on optimizing new economy. In addition to speeches and new rules, the Conference also featured with a special roadshow competition. Many outstanding enterprises in basic equipment manufacturing, new generation information technology, new materials and new energy of power equipment demonstrated their strength. The roadshow attracted investors who are interested in explore opportunities on investing in candidates that with a potential of going public in Hubei Province. The success of the 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference for High Quality Development had brought capital to promote high quality development of Hubei Province and provided a lasting power to make Hubei Province an industrial incubator with global impact in future. Steel Shen HCC http://wgcc.shinst.cn/ 86 13810894863 shengang@apluscap.com SOURCE: 2020 HUBEI Capital Conference View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608234/Following-the-Success-of-Fight-Against-Epidemic-Wuhan-Welcomes-Global-Capital-for-High-Quality-Development Covid-19 beyond Sabah: Nearly half linked to 'high-risk' travel COVID-19 | About half of Covid-19 cases outside of Sabah has been linked to the outbreak in the state, according to Malaysiakinis tally based on information released by the Health Ministry. This came following a surge of Covid-19 cases in Sabah and increased travel and interactions due to the recently concluded Sabah state election. According to the tally, there have been 142 cases of Covid-19 in Malaysia apart from Sabah since Sept 20, when the ministry began providing more information on such cases. Based on Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullahs daily press releases, 94 of these cases are locally transmitted cases, of which 49 have been linked to travel in Sabah. The cases include the Setapak cluster in Kuala Lumpur (three cases) and the Jalan Apas cluster (eight cases) in Klang, where travellers returning from Sabah are found to have passed on the disease to family members and housemates who have not travelled there. Other notable cases are that of Umno supreme council member Mohd Razlan Rafii and Umno Youth deputy chief Shahril Hamdan, who tested positive after returning from campaign activities in Sabah. The ministry had sounded the alarm on Covid-19 cases among Sabah travellers on Sept 25, when Noor Hisham said 10 such cases had been reported between Sept 20 and Sept 25. The next day, he said 11 more cases had been discovered. At the time, he said all those showing symptoms of the disease following travel in red zones (Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak, and Semporna) must undergo Covid-19 testing, which those who dont have symptoms are also encouraged to get tested and quarantine themselves. Beginning Sept 26, which was also the polling day for the Sabah state election, Noor Hishams press releases also started mentioning new cases that were detected through screening of individuals returning from high-risk areas (Sabah). Effective Sept 27 until Oct 10, travellers arriving from Sabah are also required to undergo mandatory testing and be held in quarantine until test results are available. Story continues Starting today, an administratively enforced targeted enhanced movement control order has also been imposed on the districts of Lahad Datu, Tawau, Kunak, and Semporna in a bid to curb the spread of the disease. Sabah has been experiencing a surge of Covid-19 cases since the beginning of this month, after the Benteng LD cluster was discovered on Sept 1. While the outbreak initially appeared to be confined to detention facilities in Tawau and Lahad Datu, subsequent developments have made it clear there is widespread community transmission of the disease. Up to yesterday, the Benteng LD cluster has recorded 873 cases. Of these, 675 are prisoners and detainees, 25 are police personnel and prison officers, and 31 are family members of the staff and prisoners. However, the second-largest category of Benteng LD cases is social contacts of the above cases, with 142 detected so far. Since the Benteng LD cluster was first reported, nine more clusters have been detected in the state for a total of 1,189 cases between them. There are 1,352 Covid-19 cases reported in Sabah since Sept 1, meaning that 163 cases are not identified as part of any cluster. While some of these cases were imported from abroad, many more were detected when patients turned up for screening for various reasons, such as in preparation for surgery for an unrelated condition, during workplace or community screening, when symptoms appear, or even after the patient had already died. In comparison, only 342 cases have been reported in the rest of Malaysia since Sept 1, including imported cases. Most of these were reported in Kedah (137 cases), which is still battling to contain several clusters, particularly the Tawar cluster and Sungai cluster. Jeffrey Gundlach speaks during Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Beverly Hills, California, on Oct. 3, 2017. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Billionaire Jeffrey Gundlach Suggests Hes Contemplating Leaving California Over Taxes Billionaire bond fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach said Saturday that he is contemplating leaving California state and moving to a lower-tax state. The chief executive officer of asset manager DoubleLine Capital wrote on Twitter that public figures including Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Ben Shapiro are leaving California to escape incompetent governance. The response from Sacramento? Wealth and massive income tax increases on job creators (AKA the wealthy), Gundlach added. Should I align with 3 smart guys, or Sacramento? Hmmm. Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro, to name just a few, are leaving California to escape incompetent governance. The response from Sacramento? Wealth and massive income tax increases on job creators (AKA the wealthy). Should I align with 3 smart guys, or Sacramento? Hmmm. Jeffrey Gundlach (@TruthGundlach) September 26, 2020 California, like many states in need of revenue amid the ongoing CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, has proposed increasing taxes on its richest residents. Democrats in California have proposed raising the highest tax rate to 16.8 percent from 13.3 percent, for annual salaries over $5 million, with changes retroactive to Jan. 1. New Jersey lawmakers reached a deal Sept. 17 to raise the tax rate on incomes above $1 million to 10.75 percent from 8.97 percent. Gundlach, 60, formerly head of the TCW Total Return Bond Fund, has an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion. States such as Florida, which has zero state income tax, are seeing growing interest from high earners and hedge fund managers to relocate. In the past decade, Floridas population has grown by roughly 1.1 million, according to the the Rich States, Poor States annual report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative nonprofit organization. Meanwhile, other states with the highest tax burdens, including New York and Illinois for example, have continued to lose residents this year as tax rates have a significant effect on the growth and prosperity of the states. According to ALECs report, the bottom five states on the economic outlook ranking were New York, Vermont, New Jersey, Illinois, and California. When you look at the bottom states again, you see those states that have the highest tax rates, and theyre not phasing out, either, economist Arthur Laffer, who co-authored the report, said on Aug. 11 during a webinar hosted by ALEC. The report illustrates each states competitiveness and economic outlook using 15 equally weighted policy variables, including tax rates, regulations, spending, and right-to-work labor policy. It also examines trends from past decades as well as policy choices made in 2019. Related Coverage Capitalism: How Capitalists Took the Word From Communists Robert Wood, managing partner of Wood LLP, a law firm focused on taxes, told Bloomberg that he receives multiple queries weekly from people looking to leave California, noting that it is an uptick on the past. Some cite the proposals, and some also note the already tough taxes, he said. Emel Akan and Reuters contributed to this report. Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso constituency, Kennedy Kwasi Kankam has appealed to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to offer a hand of help to the Parliamentary aspirants who lost the 2020 New Patriotic Party (NPP) Primaries. The unsucessful aspirants have formed a movement to unite behind the ruling New Patriotic Party, ensuring the party wins the 2020 elections by a landslide margin. The movement dubbed "Aspirants Unite for Victory" (AU4V) is made up of over 200 aspirants including 42 sitting Members of Parliament who lost their seats during the party's primaries. The members are of a collective purpose to pull forces together and support the successful Parliamentary candidates to win their constituency seats as well as work to wrest Parliamentary seats from their political opponents. Conveners of the AU4V comprise the Nhyiaeso MP and former MUSIGA President who also contested the Asante Akyem South seat and lost, Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly called Obour with other executives consisting of the Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, Ablekuma North MP, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie among others. Speaking at the grand launch of the AU4V at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel on Monday, September 28, 2020, Hon. Henry Kankam seized the opportunity to put the requests of the defeated aspirants before President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. "Your Excellency, everyone in this world can attest to the fact that with the inception of this group, ASPIRANTS UNITE FOR VICTORY the aftermath crisis of this years parliamentary primaries has minimised. The numerous defeated aspirants contesting as independent candidates have gone down. We are yet to witness one of the losing aspirants contesting as an independent candidate as we have been witnessing sometime ago. Now here we sit in this hall, 220 unsuccessful aspirants including 42 sitting members of parliament, some government officials, very well-composed, we have consoled ourselves, we have encouraged ourselves and have forgiven those who trespassed against us," he said. According to him, the coming together of all the aspirants who lost the primaries is "unprecedented in the history of the country" and called on the President to factor them in his next administration, after winning the 2020 elections. "This has never happened in any political party in this country." He stated that the defeated aspirants are capable of holding State positions. "Your Excellency, everything that you are seeing in this hall, the arrangements, the organisation and all the cost involved was financed by ourselves through our mandatory contributions. We really mean business so we are pleading with you to remember our members in the formation of your next government. Some of us are qualified to be Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers of State, Chief Executive Officers, Ambassadors, Consulars, Board Members and many more! We did not win our elections but we have been able to pull resources together to make sure there is peace and harmony in the party. We did not win our elections but we have been able to pull resources together to make sure there is peace and harmony in the party." Hon. Kankam, speaking on behalf of the aspirants, also told the President about their resolve into the impending elections. "We want it to go into the country's political history that in 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, some 220 unsuccessful aspirants were United to deliver 175 or 180 parliamentary seats and 57% to 60% of popular votes to the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriot Party. We want to change the trend that when ruling government is seeking a second term, their percentage normally decreases. We want to increase our percentages in 2020 elections. Your Excellency, I can tell you without fear or favour that with the help of ASPIRANTS UNITE FOR VICTORY, we are going to WIN the 2020 election hands down!", he exclaimed. Speakers of Honor at the event were Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye. Also addressing the gathering at the Aspirants Unite For Victory was the NPP National Organizer, Sammy Awuku. Present at the event were some Parliamentarians and high-profile dignitaries of the NPP. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has added TC75S102F, a new CMOS operational amplifier featuring industry-leading[1] ultra-low current consumption to its lineup. Shipments start today. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005236/en/ Toshiba: a new CMOS operational amplifier TC75S102F featuring industry-leading ultra-low current consumption. (Photo: Business Wire) Operational amplifiers boost weak signals from sensor, and to support longer use between charges of battery-operated equipment, including IoT edge devices and mobile devices[2], they must also deliver lower current consumption. Toshiba has used its CMOS process technology to optimize the circuitry of the new operational amplifier and lowered its power consumption by securing industry-leading[1] low current consumption. With a minimum supply voltage of 1.5V, the new device is a full-range input/output (Rail-to-Rail input/output) operational amplifier that offers higher performance than its predecessor. Applications Various sensors [2] in battery-operated devices [3] in battery-operated devices IoT modules Features Ultra-low consumption current: I DD =0.27A (typ.) @V DD =1.5V I DD =0.35A (typ.) @V DD =5.0V Wide operating voltage range : V DD -V SS =1.5V to 5.5V -V =1.5V to 5.5V Input and output full range (Input and output Rail-to-Rail) Main Specifications (Unless otherwise specified, @T a =25C) Part number Package name (Package code) Operating ranges Electrical characteristics Sample Check & Availability Supply voltage V DD -V SS @T a = -40 to +105 (V) Supply current (Consumption current) I DD @T a = -40 to +105 (A) Supply current (Consumption current) I DD (A) Input offset voltage V IO max @V DD = 1.5V (mV) Source current I source typ. @V DD = 1.5V (mA) Sink current I sink typ. @V DD = 1.5V (mA) Unity gain cross frequency f T typ. @V DD = 5.0V (kHz) typ. max typ. max TC75S102F SMV (SOT-25) 1.5 to 5.5 0.27 0.6 0.27 0.46 1.3 0.6 0.4 0.63 Buy Online Notes: [1] As of September 28, 2020, Toshiba survey. [2] Including laptop PCs, digital still cameras, handheld POS terminals, pedometers, etc. [3] Various sensors (gas, smoke, dust, people, UV and odor sensors) Follow the link below for more on the new product. TC75S102F https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/info/lookup.jsp?pid=TC75S102F Follow the link below for more on Toshibas Operational Amplifier ICs line-up. Operational Amplifiers and Comparators https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/semiconductor/product/linear-ics/operational-amplifiers-and-comparators.html To check availability of the new products at online distributors, visit: TC75S102F https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/semiconductor/where-to-buy/stockcheck.TC75S102F.html Customer Inquiries: Small Signal Device Sales & Marketing Department Tel: +81-3-3457-3411 https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/contact.html *Company names, product names, and service names may be trademarks of their respective companies. *Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice. About Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation combines the vigor of a new company with the wisdom of experience. Since becoming an independent company in July 2017, the company has taken its place among the leading general devices companies, and offers its customers and business partners outstanding solutions in discrete semiconductors, system LSIs and HDD. Its 24,000 employees around the world share a determination to maximize the value of its products, and emphasize close collaboration with customers to promote co-creation of value and new markets. The company looks forward to building on annual sales now surpassing 750-billion yen (US$6.8 billion) and to contributing to a better future for people everywhere. Find out more about Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation at https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/top.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200928005236/en/ A note to Westdale students Social distancing I know you understand this concept. Your parents have told you and the school has told you, you must be six feet apart or wear a mask even outside. Yet biking down Aberdeen and Longwood just as you were getting out of school, what did I see but several groups of you enjoying the sunshine, chatting away, heads close together and almost no masks. In the three blocks, I saw one group of three boys all with masks as they walked along. The rest of you were engaged in dangerous behaviour. I know you can do better wear masks or stay six feet apart while walking home. Barbara Wallace, Hamilton Modular housing makes sense I was relieved to read that CityHousing council is finally considering prefabricated modular housing to help cope and respond to the affordable housing crisis in Hamilton. Real estate investment trusts have included these types of communities in their portfolios for years because of their economical appeal. Perhaps CityHousing should visit these communities to better understand the offering. I think its time that the City finally thinks outside the box and begin making some real change. Jilda Perez, Hamilton Lower all speed limits on city streets Why some councillors dont like traffic calming (Sept. 26) Though I agree with all the points Mr. Turkstra makes about the need for traffic calming and the need for safer streets there is one issue he ignores. The problem with localized traffic plans, such as the one in the North End (or Aberdeen Street), is that they calm traffic down in their neighbourhood by diverting the traffic into the adjacent neighbourhoods. All that traffic that used to cut through the North End (on Bay Street), was rerouted into the Beasley and Central neighbourhoods. What made one neighbourhood safer made our streets less safe. What the city really needs is a comprehensive traffic calming plan that covers all areas, not a piecemeal approach that just shifts the problem on to other streets. An obvious comprehensive solution that does not just divert the traffic from one fortunate neighbourhood to an unlucky neighbourhood, would be to lower the speed limit to 40 kilometres an hour on all downtown streets. No need for redesigning streets at great expense for speed bumps, bump outs, new sidewalks, more four-way stops, more crosswalks. Just install new 40 kilometre speed limit signs on all streets and treat all neighbourhoods equally. The way traffic planning is done now seems to be that those who complain the loudest get the money spent on traffic calming this is not fair nor good planning. John Boddy, Hamilton U.S. and China bound to end badly Earlier this year, it was amazing to watch on the news the Chinese build not one but two large hospitals in a matter of a few days in order to fight and successfully contain the coronavirus. The vast number of excavators and bulldozers quickly preparing the ground for the foundation reminded me of a colony of working ants diligently organizing their infrastructure. It is true, China has a wife (Taiwan) that wants to finalize a divorce so she can get on with the U.S. China, of course, is jealous and this domestic dispute is bound to end badly. China has gleaming new cities. The U.S. is an old warhorse, and it needs to spend trillions to update its decaying roads and bridges. If Trumps bungled handling of the coronavirus in his own home is any indicator of how they can fight China in another unnecessary war, then therell likely be a repeat of Vietnam. Or perhaps worse. Antonio Mula, Hamilton Some educators acting like they are uneducated So in Pembroke a teacher goes into school with symptoms of COVID. Does not have a mask on, speaks to another teacher, also not wearing a mask. They come in contact with a third teacher. Which part about the guidelines we have been given by our government do these individuals not understand? I am a health-care worker who works in a lab with no recognition or extra pandemic pay. We process these samples but somehow no one thinks our jobs are important in this scenario. However, we never complained, went in did our jobs. Wore masks followed the rules, no time off, no time to think about what is going to happen. We no longer had an area to eat or have breaks as spacing was limited. I would have my breaks in my car. Practicing social distancing and masking was not an option as I work in a hospital. We never complained. So its mind blowing that an educator does not know what symptoms are, does not wear a mask. Then goes to work and infects others. Where have these people been? Most essential services employees managed to pull through. What is happening here? Astrid Agro, Hamilton We must invest in homeless people Hamilton council and its partners need to collectively formulate a plan that stems homelessness. Im in agreement with Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk and Lisa Nussy, that homelessness is at a crisis point. Litigation is a waste of money and time. It would be more responsible and prudent finding a reasonable resolution for all the men and women living dangerously on the streets. The tide of homelessness and drug addiction would subside to a trickle if social assistance rates reflected a living wage and match more closely to market rental values. The only way forward is a surge in ministry funds applied to construction expenses, toward affordable housing for all Canadians, especially the marginalized and vulnerable populations. Societies are judged by historians by how they invest and secure in their citizenry for the common good of all people. Brian Cheeseman, Hamilton Read more about: With shrinking domestic coal production capacity following supply-side reform, Chinas northeast is likely to experience the most severe shortfall in coal supply for the looming winter heating season since 2016. Zhang Feilong, a coal analyst with YiMei Net, told Caixin that the region comprising the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning could face a 30 million ton shortage of the combustible black rock through next years spring. If the estimate is close to reality, it would mean the biggest supply gap since the country kicked off a supply-side reform that called for consolidation of outdated coal production capacity in 2016. Other experts familiar with Jilins coal industry expect the province alone to have a 12 million ton supply shortfall. The strain on coal supplies is a result of reforms the Chinese government introduced to stimulate a slowing economy by upgrading the industrys structure. The sweeping shutdown of unlicensed or outdated coal mines across the country has resulted in a decline of 6.67% to 59.3 million tons in the northeast regions output in the first eight months of 2020 compared with the same period last year, provincial data showed. And neighboring Inner Mongolia autonomous region, a major coal supplier to the northeast provinces, saw its capacity drop by 5.89% year-on-year to 634 million tons in the same period, according to the local statistics bureau. The consolidation also shut down coal mines and cut capacity by some 13 million tons per year in the autonomous regions Ordos which produces more coal than any other city in China. In response to the waning output at home, the countrys coal imports picked up by 0.2% year-on-year in the January to August period to 220 million tons, according to data from the National Bu-reau of Statistics. But whether the upward trend can last still remains in doubt, as China doesnt seem to be considering loosening import restrictions on coal from Russia, a major source capable of replenishing supplies to Northeast China, an analyst familiar with the matter told Caixin. And imports of the commodity from Australia, one of the biggest suppliers to China, plummeted by 42% year-on-year in July amid the escalating tension between Beijing and Canberra. Authorities in the northeast have turned to the more remote eastern part of Inner Mongolia for their supplies. Railway data showed an additional 1 million tons of coal are being freighted in compared with previous years. The Heilongjiang branch of China Huadian Corp., one of the top five power generators in China, is in talks with coal enterprises in Russias Sakha Republic, the government website showed. Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. Jennifer Aniston has revealed she nearly quit acting after a bad experience on a film that sucked the life out of her. The Friends star said that the unnamed film project, which she said was made a few years ago, made her consider becoming an interior designer rather than an actor. The last two years, [quitting acting] has crossed my mind, which it never did before, Aniston told the SmartLess podcast, which is hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett. She continued: It was after a job I had completed and I was like, Woah, that sucked the life out of me I dont know if this is what interests me. It was an unprepared project weve all been a part of them and you always say, Never again, never again, I would never back up into a start date ... And the script isnt ready. While Aniston did not name the project in question, she said she filmed it two years before her Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, which recently earned her an Emmy nomination. Aniston did heap praise on a number of recent film projects that she was a part of, including the Adam Sandler Netflix film Murder Mystery, as well as the indie drama Cake. She called the film, which earned her a Golden Globe nod, creatively fulfilling. She did not mention her 2016 film Office Christmas Party, which co-starred Bateman, the 2017 war drama The Yellow Birds (which she called beautiful in 2017), the 2018 Netflix comedy Dumplin or the 2016 romantic comedy Mothers Day. Jennifer Aniston in early 2020 (Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images) It was recently revealed that Aniston nearly missed out on her star-making role on Friends, with actor Jane Sibbett nearly cast in the part. Sibbett would go on to be cast instead as Carol, the lesbian ex-wife of David Schwimmers Ross. Hyderabad-based Sigachi Industries, one of the leading manufacturers of cellulose-based excipients in India, has filed the draft red herring prospectus with capital market regulator SEBI. The company plans to raise approximately Rs 60 crore via public issue, sources familiar with development told Moneycontrol. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to 28,41,500 equity shares, representing 27 percent of the fully diluted post-issue paid-up equity share capital of company. Incorporated in 1989, the company is engaged in the manufacturing of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), which is widely used for finished dosages in the pharmaceutical industry. The inert non-reactive, free flowing and versatile nature of MCC has varied applications in the pharmaceutical, food, nutraceuticals and the cosmetic industries. Presently, the company manufactures 50 different grades of MCC at its manufacturing units, situated at Hyderabad and Gujarat. The major grades of MCC manufactured and marketed by company are branded as HiCel and AceCel. Sigachi Industries intends to utilise issue proceeds for expansion of production facilities for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) at Dahej, Gujarat; expansion of production facilities for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) at Jhagadia, Gujarat; and general corporate purposes. The proposed expansion will add 3,600 MTPA capacity each to the Dahej and Jhagadia facilities, taking the total capacity to 7,890 MTPA and 5,760 MTPA respectively. Saffron Capital Advisors has been appointed as the book running lead manager to the issue. Equity shares are proposed to be listed on the BSE and NSE. Celebrated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, 74, has been appointed president of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society which runs the prestigious film school in Pune, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Kapur, who is known for movies from the Indian superhero film Mr India to Bandit Queen based on the incidents in the life of Phoolan Devi and an acclaimed biopic on Queen Elizabeth, will hold the post till March 3, 2023. According to a person aware of the developments, the ministry of information and broadcasting has also appointed Kapur as the chairperson of the FTII governing council. The tenure of the earlier members of the society had ended in March 2020. The other members of the governing council will be appointed soon, the person cited above said. Kapur will head the premier film school at a time when, like many other colleges and universities, it is also grappling with the challenges posed by Covid-19. The FTII had earlier declared the results of the entrance test and is planning the future course. Online classes and training courses have been continuing. Wherever it is difficult for students to attend classes, the institute has been putting up the material on the website, said the person cited above. Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said Kapur, who has a vast experience, will add more value to the Institute. I am sure everybody will welcome his appointment. Shekhar Kapur, as a reputed film maker of international stature, is without doubt an excellent choice. FTII welcomes him as its Chairman. Its come a full circle from Dev Anand who started his career working at Prabhat Studio within the campus of FTII today, to his nephew Shekhar Kapur as Chairman of FTII, said Bhupendra Kainthola, Director, FTII. The previous FTII chief was BP Singh known for his role as the lead actor in tele-serial CID. Singh was recently appointed by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to its general assembly. The Film and Television Institute of India was set up by the Centre in 1960 in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Studios in Pune. It conducts various film related courses including on acting, direction, sound recording, editing and cinematography. Saudi-based King Salman Energy Park (Spark) has become the first industrial city in the world to receive Silver level accreditation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The LEED programme is an internationally-recognised green building certification system, which verifies that buildings are designed to improve performance across key sustainability metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impact. The top energy park said this certification strengthens Sparks ability to support future tenants and investors on their own journey towards LEED certification of their own facilities, as part of a fully-integrated energy community. It also affirms the citys integrated sustainability practices, which are at the heart of the communitys planning. On the key milestone, President and CEO Saif S Al Qahtani said: "Spark is distinguishing itself as a leading global energy, industrial and technology hub, cementing Saudi Arabias position as a progressive innovator in these fields on the international stage." "The certification reaffirms our commitment to reducing the citys carbon footprint. LEED communities are in high global demand, as they offer better rates of profitability, productivity and quality of workplace. Our goal is to create an ecosystem for energy-related companies to grow with minimum environmental impact, and we encourage other industrial cities to follow our lead," he noted. Strategically located at the heart of Saudi Arabias Eastern Province, Sparks vision is to be the primary gateway to the regional energy sector. Its technologically-advanced ecosystem offers investors unmatched supply-chain efficiency and has been designed to provide an ultramodern plug and play infrastructure, stated Al Qahtani. As well as targeting large corporations, the industrial city also caters to the small and medium-sized enterprises and provides support through its Spark SME Hub, creating a tailored microcosm for the sector. This allows streamlined and cost-effective operations near major workforce providers and close to highway and railway networks. At maturity, it will be home to over 300 industrial, technology and service facilities focused on meeting demand for energy goods and services across the entire value chain, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Cleveland Clinic Canada to provide all Fitzrovia properties with on-demand virtual care for its residents through its Express Care Online service TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. ("Fitzrovia") announced today that Cleveland Clinic, a global healthcare leader, will provide all residents virtual access to world-class healthcare through its Express Care Online service. Express Care Online is a virtual appointment service that allows individuals to access a Cleveland Clinic Canada clinician for non-emergency medical issues. Each Fitzrovia property will provide residents access to a designated space in their building where they can receive a private and confidential virtual medical exam using Express Care Online and TytoClinic remote diagnostic tools. All residents over the age of two will be able to be assessed for a variety of medical concerns includes screening for COVID-19. Fitzrovia Real Estate strives to be a leader in lifestyle programming for residents with healthcare forming a key pillar. With the enhanced requirements surrounding COVID-19, access to virtual care will provide an added layer of comfort to Fitzrovia residents. "Our strategic collaborations continue to be an important part of our company. At a time when convenient access to quality healthcare is critical to our well-being, we are proud to work with Cleveland Clinic Canada to provide world-class care for our residents. We care deeply about our residents and this complimentary offering illustrates our commitment to their safety and well-being." said Adrian Rocca, CEO, Fitzrovia Real Estate. The Waverley, Fitzrovia's first purpose-built rental building (located at the northwest corner of Spadina Avenue and College Street to Fitzrovia residents in Toronto), will debut the virtual clinic amenity for residents. The building will be complete in late 2020 and will include 166 upscale suites with 1, 2 and 3-bedroom options. Fitzrovia's partnership with Cleveland Clinic Canada is the latest in several corporate partnerships where the company is committed to enhancing its resident living experience. About Fitzrovia Real Estate Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. is a vertically integrated developer and asset manager of class-A apartment buildings across select neighborhoods in the Greater Toronto Area. Fitzrovia partners with public institutions, pension plans and high net worth investors who have an investment bias towards long term cash flow generating assets. In addition to focusing on traditional asset management, Fitzrovia focuses on driving income through active lifestyle management and exceptional customer service offering residents unique lifestyle choices that redefine urban living. Our customer-first approach means all design and construction decisions are deeply rooted in consumer insights to ensure our resident needs are not only met but exceeded. We differentiate ourselves through high quality design and innovative amenity programming combined with a strong desire to reimagine the resident experience. This is our competitive advantage. At Fitzrovia we think differently and build differently. For more information, please visit: fitzroviarealestate.ca, follow @FitzroviaRealEstate on Instagram SOURCE Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. For further information: Media Contacts: Fitzrovia Real Estate: [email protected] Guest Column Myanmars Election a High-Stakes Game in War-Torn Rakhine State Burned trucks lie abandoned next to the Yangon-Sittwe Highway near Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, in 2019. The scene was the result of intensified fighting between the Arakan Army and military troops in Rakhine, where thousands of people have been displaced and much property destroyed. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy No one would disagree that theres an urgent need for a political solution to resolve the situation in Rakhine State. The question is how and when the process of finding a political solution might begin. One of the extremely limited options would be having a free and fair election, from which democratic leaders could emerge and have the matter in their own hands. But does that mean having a democratic election would resolve the ongoing armed conflict? Recent history indicates otherwise. Democracy for Myanmar As Myanmars campaign for the 2020 election gains steam, debates are becoming stronger and harsher. Unlike the 2015 election, in which the central question was only how to oust the established elite, this time around the questions are more complex and interwoven. The debate was kicked off with a no-vote campaign by some netizens who do not believe the election will bring a democratic regime accountable to the public. That argument is countered with a claim that this election resembles voting in the United States, choosing between Republicans and Democrats. However, we are voting for a democratic transition that needs to lay the foundation for representative democracy while 25 percent of the seats in Parliament are still controlled by unelected individuals under the 2008 Constitution. The elephantthe Tatmadaw (Myanmars military)is still in the room, and now is not the best time to quarrel over voting or not voting. When the global pandemic of COVID-19 arrived and the number of positive cases jumped, the question of whether the election should be postponed due to concerns over public health emerged. Strict restrictions on public gatherings and extremely limited campaign action would appear to undermine the integrity of a free and fair election. While the whole nation is hotly debating this question, the people from northern Rakhine find themselves wondering why their fellow citizens are so serious about a procedural issue while we are here are being forced from our houses and sent into hiding as we struggle to save our own lives amid an ongoing war. Democracy for Rakhine The recent track record of democratic governance in Rakhine is visibly poor. After the very first election in 2010, Rakhine State faced a deadly intercommunal conflict that resulted in more than 100,000 Internally Displaced Persons. The ethnic Rakhine were demonized along with the majority Buddhist population. Then the Arakan National Party won a majority in the 2015 general election at the state level, but it was unable to govern due to constitutional limitations and a political dispute with the National League for Democracy (NLD), who won a landslide nationwide. Those situations paved the wayperhaps by designfor young newcomers to bring military conflict to Rakhine State. Key mobilization tools in that effort were anti-Burmese sentiment along with opposition to the democratic government that shrewdly capitalized on the inability of elected politicians (under hegemonic Burmese domination) to govern their own land. The community has also been dissatisfied with the performance of political parties, due to internal divisions and other factors within the state. The entrenched perception is that peoples voices are not being heard through the formal political process, and as that perception has become stronger it has been much easier to build support for populist violence. The NLD government has been unable to overcome those strong community perceptions. Thats true even though some significant moves were made to bring different possible solutions to the table. At the same time, international pressure is mounting over the exodus of the Muslim community in 2016-17. Now, even the ethnic Rakhine who backed the Tatmadaws actions against Muslims are seeing that their heroes have turned their backs. This would be another reason for a Rakhine layman to look for new heroes to provide protection from perceived external threatsfirstly the threat of the Muslim population and now the threat posed by the Burmese. Indeed, both perceived threats have existed for a long time in the siege mentality of the ethnic Rakhine. The current threat of the possible disenfranchisement of large numbers of people from six or seven townships due to the COVID-19 restrictions is only exacerbating the undergoing situation. Disenfranchisement is not a new issue. Indeed, the Muslim community already lost its voting right after the 2015 election. In this sense, the 2020 election is just an extension of an unhappy past. The Union Election Commission is sending the message that voting is a precious civil right, but what does that mean for those who have lost their fundamental rights to life? Is the right to vote is greater than the right to life? How do people imagine democracy? Im making these points just to make clear that public perception and trust of democratic transition would be at a nadir because the publics dreams for the post-election era would be diminished. It would be very difficult for people to imagine what their lives would look like after the election. Would they still dream of having their own government through elections? Would they still trust in democratic processes in general? Of course, the first question is very much linked to all the arrangements of the peace process and constitutional reform that require a longer time. But is there no intermediate measure at all? Under these circumstances, asking whether the election will happen in Rakhine is a superficial question. How the general election might be beneficial to the people of Rakhine is the key. How might ballots eliminate bullets in civil war settlements, like the recent situation in Rakhine? The answer depends on how political actors and war-waging armies respond. Elections, like war, are a high-stakes game. The answer is very much needed by the people from northern Rakhine. But the events in the recent past indicate a very different direction. We can still hopeas hope is the only thing ordinary citizens possess in addition to their ballotsthat politicians who either have power or influence will ensure that the election process is not only free and fair but also conciliatory. This could be an additional requirement of the election in the war-torn region. Only by taking peoples imagination into consideration would the goal of a conciliatory election be possible. Ye Min Zaw studies international development with a focus on peace processes, transitional issues and Rakhine affairs. You may also like these stories: China Taking Increasingly Aggressive Posture in Border Row With India Economic Clouds Gathering on Chinas Horizon Myanmar Law Students Provide Free Legal Information to Local Communities Solar panels are mounted atop the roof of the Convention Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 5, 2018. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Energy Secretary Proposes Plan for Solving Californias Energy Problem Dan Brouillette criticizes California's rush to appease 'progressive special interest groups' U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette recently criticized the State of Californias rush toward 100 percent renewable energy, and outlined a simple plan for ensuring a reliable electricity supply for Californian consumers. Brouillette made the comments in an op-ed article in the Orange County Register. Already paying some of the highest electricity rates in the country and now undergoing energy reduction mandates and rolling blackouts, California residents are rightly asking: Is this what our state leaders had in mind when they touted their 100 percent renewable energy plan? he asked. California has been plagued by blackouts since mid-August, with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and Gov. Gavin Newsom repeatedly urging citizens to conserve power by pre-cooling their homes and switching off major appliances in the afternoons. A plan for solving Californias energy problem: @SecBrouillette https://t.co/3rpR4m1Gn6 DOE Press Staff (@EnergyPress) September 25, 2020 According to Brouillette, electricity shortages and blackouts could have been avoided if California had elected to make energy reliability and energy security a priorityinstead of appeasing progressive special interest groups. Mandating 100 Percent Renewable Energy According to the California Energy Commission, state Senate Bill (SB) 100 from 2018 requires that zero-carbon resources should supply 100 percent of the states electricity by 2045. Brouillette says there are obvious and practical problems with this goal, including that solar and wind power are intermittent. Furthermore, he writes, renewable projects such as wind farms are not always welcome due to their effect on animal habitats and their changing of entire landscapes. Wind turbines dot the landscape near Palm Springs, California in an image from May 13, 2008. (David McNew/Getty Images) Battery storage is currently incapable of bridging energy gaps when renewable sources go offline, and cannot store power across seasons. Even the 9,000 MW of battery storage the state has planned to install by 2030 would not have been enough to have averted the recent blackouts, Brouillette says. In addition, enormous amounts of energy are expended in the mining of the critical elements required for solar panels and wind turbine motors and in their manufacture, while their end-of-life disposal will necessarily require huge quantities of non-recyclable components to be sent to landfill. A Simple Plan Fortunately, there exists a plan for 24/7 reliable energy for California, Brouillette writes. According to this plan, natural gas and nuclear power would continue to provide reliable base-load and peak-time electricity to the Californian grid, while integrating renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind, and solar. On Sept. 1, the California State Water Resources Control Board (pdf) voted to extend the operational lifetimes of four natural gas-powered plantsan acknowledgment of their necessity, according to Brouillette. Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which provides 9 percent of the states electricity, is slated for premature closure, taking a huge amount of reliable power off the grid, Brouillette writes. The plant still has years of useful life, and the state must find a way to keep it online if California leaders want to retain this source of clean, reliable electricity. With a concentration on such technologies, according to the Energy Secretary, the United States can continue to lead the world in reducing carbon emissionsand do it faster than all of the signatory nations of the Paris Climate Agreement. Californians deserve better than to suffer through rolling blackouts and reduced energy access, Brouillette wrote. The state should use Americas abundant energy resources and energy innovations to usher in a future of secure, reliable, and clean energy. Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough and his girlfriend Hayley Erbert shopped for arts & crafts together at Michaels in Los Angeles on Monday. At 35, the two-time Emmy-winning choreographer is a decade older than the Kansas-born brunette, whom he's been romancing for five years. Derek and Hayley protected themselves and others from the coronavirus by wearing masks, which California Governor Gavin Newsom made mandatory for public outings on June 18. Project time! Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough and his girlfriend Hayley Erbert shopped for arts & crafts together at Michaels in Los Angeles on Monday As of Tuesday, there have been over 268K confirmed COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles leading to 6,515 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hough and Erbert's street sighting came four days after publicly addressing whether or not they were planning on getting married on their vlog, Derek & Hayley x Dayley Life. '100% I have thought [he'll never propose],' groaned the former pageant princess, who's got a folder full of wedding ideas. 'That thought has crossed through my mind and he says that he is waiting for me to propose to him. And I'm like, "Then we're never getting married."' Still going strong! At 35, the two-time Emmy-winning choreographer is a decade older than the Kansas-born brunette, whom he's been romancing for five years Mandatory in California: Derek and Hayley protected themselves and others from the coronavirus by wearing masks The Utah-born Mormon - who boasts 8.7M social media followers - replied: 'Here's the deal. If we get 500K subscribers on YouTube then for our 500K suscriber celebration video might be a proposal. Make it happen!' The Disney Family Singalong couple originally met in 2014 after she joined Derek and his younger sister Julianne's Move Live On Tour. Hough previously romanced India de Beaufort, Shannon Elizabeth, Cheryl Cole, Lauren Conrad, and Julianne's bridesmaid Nina Dobrev for six weeks in 2013. Yay or nay? Hough and Erbert's sighting came four days after publicly addressing whether or not they were planning on getting married on their vlog, Derek & Hayley x Dayley Life The former pageant princess - who's got a folder full of wedding ideas - groaned: '100% I have thought [he'll never propose]. That thought has crossed through my mind and he says that he is waiting for me to propose to him. And I'm like, "Then we're never getting married"' The Utah-born Mormon replied: 'Here's the deal. If we get 500K subscribers on YouTube then for our 500K suscriber celebration video might be a proposal. Make it happen!' Speaking of which, the Holidays with the Houghs star directed the 32-year-old Emmy-winning choreographer's postponed music video for her song Transform, which she finally released on Sunday. 'I was about to release this video, when the most tragic loss of my life abruptly occurred. Time passed, and I felt I had missed my window to release this video,' Julianne explained on Instagram. 'I'm excited to share this video with all of you, a year later, to hopefully bring some light, color, and fun to the world right now. This is a Transformative time for all of us.' At the helm! Hough directed his younger sister Julianne's (L) postponed music video for her song Transform, which she finally released on Sunday (pictured August 28) The 32-year-old Emmy-winning choreographer explained on Instagram: 'I'm excited to share this video with all of you, a year later, to hopefully bring some light, color, and fun to the world right now. This is a Transformative time for all of us' The six-time Mirror Ball Trophy winner replaced Len Goodman as judge of the 29th season of Dancing With the Stars - airing Mondays on ABC - alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. Derek also scored a recurring role as Miss Jen's (Kate Reinders) ex-boyfriend Zack in the upcoming second season of Disney+ spin-off High School Musical: The Musical - The Series. Meanwhile, Hayley previously served back-up dancer duties for Hough's World of Dance colleague JLo, Paula Abdul, Wiz Khalifa, Fall Out Boy, and Carrie Underwood. Top 13 next! The six-time Mirror Ball Trophy winner replaced Len Goodman as judge of the 29th season of Dancing With the Stars - airing Mondays on ABC - alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli (pictured Monday) Ethos is a nationally recognized, award-winning independent student publication. Our mission is to elevate the voices of marginalized people who are underrepresented in the media landscape, and to write in-depth, human-focused stories about the issues affecting them. We also strive to support our diverse student staff and to help them find future success. Ethos produces a quarterly free print magazine full of well-reported and powerful feature stories, innovative photography, creative illustrations and eye-catching design. On our website, we also produce compelling written and multimedia stories. Ethos is part of Emerald Media Group, a non-profit organization thats fully independent of the University of Oregon. Students maintain complete editorial control over Ethos, and work tirelessly to produce the magazine. Since our inception as Korean Ducks Magazine in 2005, weve worked hard to share a multicultural spirit with our readership. We embrace diversity in our stories, in our student staff and in our readers. We want every part of the magazine to reflect the diversity of our world. An unusual school year has started in earnest, and with it has come the return of digital proctoring programs. This is software that can lock down students computers, record their faces and scan their rooms, all with the intention to thwart cheating. These programs, with names like ProctorU and Proctorio, first raised alarms about privacy as they were adopted by schools. Now many students are finding that the programs theyre required to use may not have been well-designed to consider race, class or disability and in some cases, simply dont work. Many are organizing on and across campuses for alternatives or for their eradication. The rigidity of online proctoring has exacerbated an already difficult year, students say, further marginalizing them at the very moments theyre trying to prove themselves. Here are some things that can go wrong with testing and digital surveillance. It Feels Like an Invasion of Privacy Before the pandemic, Sabrina Navarro, 20, a junior at California State University, Fullerton, hadnt thought to register her chronic tic disorder with her universitys disability services office. The disorder, which shed lived with since she was 6, hadnt ever affected her education. Journal-Courier MacMurray Colleges real estate property will go to auction in November and a separate online auction is offering nearly 600 items from the college. College officials had to determine how MacMurrays real estate property would be handled after it was announced that the college would close in May. A type of indigestion drug taken by millions could raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study. It found those using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) at least twice a week are 24 per cent more likely to get the condition, rising to 26 per cent for those taking them for more than two years. The over-the-counter drugs examples include Zanprol and Pantoloc Control are commonly used for indigestion, acid reflux and peptic ulcers. A type of indigestion drug taken by millions could raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study (stock image used) They work on cells lining the stomach to reduce acid production and are thought to change the balance of important gut bacteria, which may explain the greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Some experts remain sceptical and say this has not been proved. But the study, led by Sun Yat-sen University in China, said in the journal Gut the number of diabetes cases 'associated with PPI use could be considerable'. It was based on US surveys of more than 200,000 health workers, tracked for up to 12 years and asked every two if they had been using PPIs. The research team say over five years, one in every 77 people frequently taking PPI drugs could develop diabetes, and call for regular users of the medications to be regularly checked for the condition. The study, published in the journal Gut, tracked people aged 25 to 75 involved in two US surveys of nurses and one of healthcare professionals. Among these, there were 10,105 cases of type 2 diabetes. People had been asked every two years whether they had used PPIs regularly - meaning two or more times a week - in the past two years. Those who had were 24 per cent more likely to get type 2 diabetes than people who did not take the drugs, which are commonly used for indigestion, acid reflux and peptic ulcers. That risk increased to 26 per cent for people taking the medications for more than two years. But those taking them for less than two years had a risk only five per cent higher than non-users. PPIs are among the top 10 most commonly used drugs worldwide, and examples of ones available over the counter include Zanprol and Pantoloc Control. However they have previously been linked with obesity in long-term users. Experts suspect they may cause people to put on weight by increasing the 'bad' bacteria in their gut, and this may be part of the reason users become more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes. It found those using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) at least twice a week are 24 per cent more likely to get the condition (stock image used) For comparison, the researchers also looked at the potential impact of H2 blockers - another type of drug used to curb excess stomach acid production. Regular use of these drugs was associated with a 14 per cent increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The authors conclude that doctors should carefully weigh up the pros and cons of prescribing PPI medications, and add: 'For patients who have to receive long term PPI treatment, screening for abnormal blood glucose and type 2 diabetes is recommended.' Commenting on the research, Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: 'I am simply not convinced that PPI use actually increases diabetes risk. 'There could be a number of other reasons - what we call 'residual confounding' - for example, people who take PPIs may also be more likely to have unhealthy lifestyles in other ways.' Billed as a 'hard-hitting street saga', Emraan Hashmi's Harami will premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in October. The trailers from this week suggest October will serve as a binge-fest for crime thriller fans. From murder mysteries, crime lords to drug abuse, the trailers hint at intriguing storylines. In Shyam Madiraju's Harami, Emraan Hashmi leads a gang of pickpocketers in Mumbai. On the other hand, Gulshan Devaiah dons khaki and is out to catch a serial killer in the upcoming film Footfairy. Harami The trailer of Emraan Hashmi's new film, Harami, released on Monday. The clip sees the actor as a merciless crime lord who controls a gang of pickpockets in Mumbai. Written and directed by Shyam Madiraju, the film will premiere at Busan International Film Festival in October. Harami is billed as a hard-hitting, visually striking street saga of youth crime and broken destinies played out against the vibrant backdrop of chaotic and relentless Mumbai. Footfairy A serial killer with a weird foot fetish is out on the loose in Kanishk Varma's directorial Footfairy. The trailer sees Gulshan Devaiah as a cop in charge of tracking down and arresting a serial killer who's been periodically hunting down women and weirdly enough, cutting their legs. Also featuring Sagarika Ghatge and Kunal Roy Kapur in pivotal roles, Footfairy is set for release on 24 October on & Pictures. High Nikhil Rao's upcoming series High, as the witticism suggests, is based on substance abuse, drug peddlers, pharma, and gang wars. The trailer features Shiv Mathur (Akshay Oberoi) who is an addict struggling to get a grip on life and eventually finds himself in a rehab facility. The rehab is run by Doctor Roy and two other junior doctors Shweta and Nakul who are working on a mysterious compound said to bring an 'edge' to one's life. The cast includes Shweta Basu Prasad, Ranvir Shorey, Mrinmayee Godbole, Prakash Belawadi, and Nakul Bhalla. The series is slated to release on MX Player on 7 October. A black freshman at a college in Texas was woken by police storming her dorm room with guns drawn after a group of students made a false report that she had scissors and threatened to stab people. Christin Evans was sleeping at 3am on September 14 when cops barged into her living quarters at Stephen F. Austin State University due to the incident Evans' parents described as 'swatting' - where a false report leads to an aggressive response from law enforcement. A 'racially diverse' group of 10 females were said to be involved in the dangerous prank, including Evans' three roommates who are white. Evans' mother said the majority of the students involved are white. The students reported Evans to a resident adviser on the Nacogdoches, Texas campus, who then called law enforcement. Christin Evans, 17, has been left shaken after police confronted her with guns drawn after a false police report on September 14 The teen is a freshman at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas and students falsely claimed she had scissors and threatened to stab people Evans was sleeping at 3am when cops barged into her living quarters where she had three white roommates who were involved Two weeks later the family had no idea what campus police planned to do about the false report. Pictured is a thread of text messages with police Campus police learned the report was false after checking surveillance footage. Evans' lawyer said the Houston girl's fate could've been the same as Breonna Taylor. 'Their daughter was sleeping and awoken at 3 o'clock in the morning by local police with flashlights shining out and their guns drawn. This could have been a Breonna Taylor circumstance,' Randall Kallinen said in a video from KPRC 2. Taylor was shot dead when Louisville Police officers stormed her apartment in March, despite the fact the man they were looking for an ex-boyfriend - was already in custody. 'Kids sleep with their phones in their bed. What if they [saw] her phone flash, or the back of her phone is shiny and they had reported she had a knife. They could've shot her,' Evans' mother LeShondra said. The news conference took place two weeks later as cops continue to look into the matter. The teen has been moved out of the four-person dorm room but it was unclear what the college planned to do about the students facing repercussions for the false report. The teen who was recruited for cheer, says the incident has affected her college experience and general wellbeing. 'Now I feel shaken. I can't sleep at night. It has made me paranoid,' she said She became tearful in a press conference on Monday as the family demanded the school take action 'This could have been a Breonna Taylor circumstance,' lawyer Randall Kallinen said Monday 'I want justice,' her mother said. 'I want them to have consequences. They played with her life.' The teen who was recruited for cheer, says the incident has affected her college experience and general wellbeing. 'I was looking forward to making friends and having a good time on the cheer team,' Evans said in a news conference. 'Now I feel shaken. I can't sleep at night. It has made me paranoid.' Her father also expressed his concern for the child's safety. 'Yes, we're upset and we want something to be done about it,' Chris Evans said. 'When I sent my daughter off to school, my worse-case scenario was that she should call needing money or an issue with her grades.' 'Kids sleep with their phones in their bed. What if they [saw] her phone flash, or the back of her phone is shiny and they had reported she had a knife. They could've shot her,' Evans' mother LeShondra (left) said Her father Chris Evans said, 'Yes we're upset... When I sent my daughter off to school, my worse-case scenario was that she should call needing money or an issue with her grades' SFA has been criticized online for taking weeks to state their intentions of an investigation when in other circumstances universities have taken action the same day over matters with less dangerous consequences. 'The students will be held accountable for this at every possible level,' SFA Chief of Police John Fields said in a video message. SFA President Scott Gordon said in a statement on Monday that 'judicial processes take time.' 'Each perpetrator will be dealt with appropriately,' Gordon added. 'My heart goes out to the young lady who was an innocent victim in this matter. We will do all we can to support her and her family through this heinous ordeal.' 'The students will be held accountable for this at every possible level,' SFA Chief of Police John Fields said in a video message Photo credit: Ford From Car and Driver Ford has announced the power, torque, payload, and towing specs for the 2021 F-150 pickup. The new PowerBoost hybrid powertrain makes the most power at 430 horses and 570 lb-ft of torque, and the 3.5-liter EcoBoost can tow the most at 14,000 pounds. The 2021 Ford F-150 will arrive in dealers this fall along with the new PowerBoost hybrid model. The 2021 Ford F-150 has six powertrain options. Five have carried over from the previous generation, plus there's a new twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 hybrid dubbed PowerBoost. That new hybrid is the most powerful option, producing 430 horsepower, while the 5.0-liter V-8 and 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 see slight increases in power and torque compared to the 2020 model year, and there will also be an even more powerful electric F-150 coming in the next two years. Photo credit: Andrew Trahan - Car and Driver A 3.3-liter V-6 is the 2021 F-150's base engine, and it produces 290 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torquethe same output as the 2020 trucks. It's good for a maximum payload of 1985 pounds and can tow up to 8200 pounds. The new truck's 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 also makes the same power as the 2020 model, at 325 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, and it can tow up to 10,100 pounds with a max payload of 2480 pounds. Both the 5.0-liter V-8 and 3.5-liter EcoBoost see slight power increases. The 5.0-liter is good for an additional 5 horsepower and 10 lb-ft of torque over the 2020 model, at 400 horses and 410 lb-ft of torque, and has a max payload of 3325 pounds with a 13,000-pound towing capability. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost now produces 400 horsepower (up 25) and 500 lb-ft of torque (up 30) and can tow up to 14,000 pounds (the previous model year maxed out at 13,200 pounds) with a max payload of 3250 pounds. The 3.0-liter Power Stroke V-6 diesel's output stays the same at 250 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque, and it can tow up to 12,100 pounds with a 1840-pound max payload. The new PowerBoost V-6, which is equipped with a 35-kW electric motor powered by a 1.5-kWh lithium-ion battery, is the most powerful non-Raptor F-150 so far (until the electric model, that is) at 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque, and it can tow up to 12,700 pounds with a 2120-pound maximum payload. Story continues The 2021 Ford F-150 will arrive this fall, priced starting at $30,635 for the base XL model and topping out at $75,945 for the four-wheel-drive Limited SuperCrew. It'll be built at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan, and Kansas City, Missouri, plants. You Might Also Like Today is Tuesday, Sept. 29. This regional Patch PM is a daily recap of some of the biggest stories we are covering south of Boston and on the Cape and Islands today. State officials said cities and towns deemed at lower risk of COVID-19 spread can move into the second part of phase three of the state's reopening plan, beginning Monday. The step forward reopens indoor performance venues; expands capacity at outdoor performance venues, gyms, museums, driving and flight schools; reopens more indoor activities; and permits fitting rooms to open in all retail stores. It also allows for increased outdoor gatherings at events and in public settings. But several communities in the region will have to wait for their cases to improve first. Chatham, Dedham, Nantucket, New Bedford, Plainville and Wrentham are among 21 Massachusetts communities that didn't qualify to move into the second step in phase three. In Chatham, a cluster of coronavirus cases was traced back to the popular Chatham Squire restaurant. Earlier this month, at least seven employees at the restaurant tested positive for the coronavirus. And in Dedham, just a week before school was set to start, several parties were blamed as the source of a COVID-19 cluster that brought the town's numbers up to the state designated red level. The parties were mostly high school-aged people and young adults, according to the Dedham Board of Health. There were 29 high school-aged people at two of the gatherings, 16 of which tested positive for COVID-19. The town has since dropped to the yellow level. Read more here. Top Stories: South of Boston Medfield Man Sentenced In Panama Papers Investigation A Medfield accountant was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after he was found to do business with the company at the center of the Panama Papers leak. Richard Gaffey, 76, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit tax evasion and to defraud the United States, wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and four counts of will failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Gaffey must also serve three years of supervise release and pay fines and restitution totaling more than $8.8 million. Story continues Gaffey was charged along with Harald Joachim Von der Goltz, Ramses Owens, and Dirk Brauer in connection with a decades-long scheme by Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Mossack Fonseca), a Panama-based global law firm, that held billions in assets for foreigners, some of whom were looking to shield money from the IRS in a tax haven. Foxborough Police K-9 Drax Dies From Brain Tumor Foxborough police Drax, a recently retired K-9 unit with Foxborough police, has died following complications with a brain tumor. Drax, a K-9 unit with Foxborough police, has spent the last two years helping officers track suspects, missing children and illegal drugs. But his career has come to an abrupt end earlier this month after being diagnosed with the tumor. Police said Drax began radiation treatment and was showing signs of improvement, but his health recently took a turn for the worst. Drax, a German-Dutch shepherd mix, was just 3 when he died Friday afternoon. Top Stories: Cape Cod Cape Man Stabbed At Dennis Beach A 20-year-old Dennis man was stabbed Monday night, according to police. Around 8:45 p.m., Yarmouth police called the Dennis Police Department and said they were investigating the stabbing. The victim told Yarmouth officers the stabbing happened at Corporation Beach. Dennis officers were sent to the beach parking lot and found evidence of a stabbing there. Cape Cod Hospitals In Need Of Blood Donations Over the past few months, blood center inventories have fallen to their lowest levels since before the coronavirus pandemic. Cape Cod Healthcare officials said nationwide, blood centers have experienced a significant drop in donations which is limiting the ability for the overall blood supply to be adequately replenished. Locally, health officials said the Cape Cod Healthcare blood program is experiencing the same challenge as the organization transitions back to a new normal. Hospital officials said they need at least one week's worth of blood on hand at all times, since each unit collected or purchased only lasts 42 days. Across Massachusetts Today MCAS Tests Still Planned For Spring, Education Commissioner Says Massachusetts students can expect to take the MCAS tests next spring, state education commissioner Jeff Riley said Tuesday. MA Student's Design Could Visit The International Space Station A Westford student's design is the only one from Massachusetts to have made the finals. Sweeping Wind Gusts, Heavy Rain Coming As MA Mired In Relentless Drought Potential thunderstorms could provide some much-needed relief to Massachusetts. Boston hadn't seen rain in 17 days before Monday. This article originally appeared on the Barnstable-Hyannis Patch Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-21 00:30:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Sunday reported 3,438 new COVID-19 cases, as the health authorities banned the entry of foreign travelers into the country amid the appearance of new strains of the coronavirus in the neighboring countries. The Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said in a press conference that "the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety decided not to allow any foreigner to enter Iraq in the coming days, except for the diplomatic missions." He said that the decision came "as a result of the increasing number of coronavirus infections in neighboring countries." As for the preparations for the major Shiite ritual of Arbaeen, al-Tamimi said that "the ministry has prepared an integrated plan, in coordination with health institutions in all Iraqi provinces." "We hope that there will be no increase in the number of coronavirus infections after Arbaeen," he added. The minister's comments came as the Iraqi Health Ministry reported 3,438 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of infections in the country to 319,035. The ministry also confirmed 64 new fatalities from the infectious disease, taking the death toll to 8,555, while 4,052 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 253,591. Iraq has taken a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first coronavirus case appeared in the country. China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad. Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem Advertisement A multimillion dollar cannabis crop that's tended to by scientists and guarded by specialist security 24-hours a day is so potent its location has to be kept secret. The dope new facility in rural NSW is cultivating the state's first locally grown medical grade cannabis oil extract, which will become commercially available to patients suffering chronic conditions next month. Australian Natural Therapeutics Group is the only company in NSW to be granted a permit to produce oil from the prohibited substance. Australian Natural Therapeutics Group are growing plants in NSW (pictured) for medical grade cannabis oil extract A cultivator inspects the cannabis crop to make sure the product is free of impurities and to the highest medical standard Medical cannabis is a budding new industry worldwide that's helping thousands of Australians with conditions like cancer, epilepsy, multiple Sclerosis and severe pain. But up until now, a large portion of Australia's medical cannabis has been imported from overseas in places like Canada, and patients can pay up to $50,000 a year for treatment. 'On average, prices for locally produced product will be about 30 per cent cheaper,' ANTG chief executive Matt Cantelo told Daily Mail Australia. 'And now everyone in the whole country will be able to source from us.' Although the company produces a variety of different strains with varying degrees of potency, one particular variety is so strong it's only prescribed in the most extraordinary of circumstances. 'We have a very high THC strain. It's called Rocky and that is about 30 per cent THC. It's quite strong and it's for things like chronic pain,' Mr Cantelo said. Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, is the chemical responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis. For black market marijuana, about 10 per cent is considered high strength and even in the weed-friendly coffee shops of Amsterdam the utmost limit would normally sit below 18 per cent. 'Doctors will be extremely careful in prescribing Rocky,' Mr Cantelo said. 'It might be given to someone who relies on opioids for quality of life because of their chronic pain - in this case it would be a great alternative therapy.' The company in rural NSW was the fist to be granted a permit to produce cannabis oil from the prohibited substance The site holds about 12,000 cannabis plants with a variety of different strains that vary in potency to treat different conditions Cannabis oil extract is produced by spinning plant matter past its 'critical point' using temperature and pressure. 'After we have harvested the flowers and the trim, it goes into a CO2 supercritical extraction unit and it produces the oil out of the machine and then it's further refined,' Mr Cantelo said. With more than 12,000 marijuana plants on site with no impurities, the location of the facility has to be kept secret and anyone who attends the building must sign a non-disclosure agreement. 'The Office of Drug Control dictates our security requirements and that is for the safety of the product and for the safety of our staff,' Mr Cantelo said. 'We have three-meter high double fencing with barbed wire and there are 172 cameras around the facility with infrared beams on the outer perimeter and we also have 24 security guards.' Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, registration for medical cannabis use has grown rapidly. The Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has added more than 5,500 patient approvals in July for medicinal cannabis products - a figure up 20 per cent from June and the biggest one-month gain on record. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, registration for medical cannabis use among patients has grown rapidly The Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has added more than 5,500 patient approvals in July for medicinal cannabis products - a figure up 20 per cent from June and the biggest one-month gain on record While there are mega-bucks to be made in the emerging and highly lucrative market, Mr Cantelo said his team of cultivators are focused on helping Australians most in need who may not have had access to cannabis medicine until recently. 'Our staff work around the clock to meet rigorous standards to help those who are suffering,' Mr Cantelo said. 'And now we are seeing doctors willing to prescribe a lot more and that shows me that they're getting more confident about the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis.' The barrier to entry for legal cannabis growers remains very high under Australia law, in an attempt to keep 'the cowboys out of the industry'. But across the ditch, New Zealand is preparing to hold what's being dubbed as the 'reefer-endum' on October 17. The historic vote will determine whether recreational cannabis will be legalised and available for commercial sale. Mr Cantelo said it's likely to be a long time before Australia follows suit. But in Canada, Israel, the US and parts of Europe, the decriminalisation of the ancient plant has led to billions of dollars in tax revenue being pumped into government coffers as buyers steer clear of black market growers in favour of legitimate scientifically-backed cultivation firms. Bars and restaurants like many other businesses around the world have suffered because of the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. In August this year, a woman of Indian origin in London sent out an appeal on Twitter urging people to visit the oldest Indian restaurant in East London to help the dwindling business amid pandemic. The Halal restaurant was established in 1939 by her grandfather Usman Abubacker and was apparently running into losses. Like in a lot of cases, social media proved to be a boon for this restaurant as the tweet garnered peoples attention who came forward in numbers to help the dwindling business. Hey twitter! Not one to do this, but my dad owns the oldest Indian restaurant in East London and has been struggling with customers so please show some love! If you're in Aldgate come have a curry, I'm biased but it's the best! Below is my grandad in the 70s vs my dad now pic.twitter.com/DHFFFMiDBf Mehnaz (@mehnazmeh) August 5, 2020 According to Better India report, the business is getting back on its feet. This is what the tweet that went viral read, Hey twitter! Not one to do this, but my dad owns the oldest Indian restaurant in East London and has been struggling with customers so please show some love! If you're in Aldgate come have a curry, I'm biased but it's the best! Below is my grandad in the 70s vs my dad now (sic). Back then Mehnaz also mentioned the address of the restaurant in the Twitter thread and mentioned a fun fact about the restaurants name. The restaurant is halal but was initially named after the first owners last name, she wrote. Also Read: New Study Claims Dining In Restaurants Increases The Risk Of COVID-19 Spread Twitter Her tweet seemed to have an impact as she soon thanked people for the support mentioning that the restaurant was now available on various food apps. Despite being famous, the Halal restaurant took a blow due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also Read: UK Guy Eats Entire Restaurant Menu In An Hour To Raise Money For Charity This is how people showed their support: oh man I live all the way west and wont be eastside till next week. Can I donate to a link in the meantime?? Nikita Redkar (@nikitaredwoman) August 5, 2020 The food look amaizing and i am sure i will taste great. I am not in UK but if i was i would be your daily customer. Don't worry there is always light after dark. You will get lots of customers. Waqar (@wickeyali) August 6, 2020 Will be popping by soon Hurt Cobain (@cobainishurt) August 5, 2020 Love this gaff. Dad is v kind too. Coffee Afrik CIC - #Justice4ShukriAbdi (@CoffeeAfrique) August 5, 2020 this is sooo cute god bless his soul & how hardworking he is simran (@sxmrankh) August 5, 2020 Omg my dad used to work here back in the late 80s and 90s. Your family were amazing and so supportive...used to turn up with things for our house for us - our first bikes were given to us by your family. A great support for a family that wasnt well off...and the food was great? W Begum (@sufiwannabe) August 5, 2020 Mehnaz's grandfather Usman had moved to London in 1970s he eventually worked his way up in the restaurant where he started working in the kitchen. He eventually bought it from the owner. The restaurant is now managed by Mehnazs father and is pretty famous. We are glad that the business is bouncing back to life; it shows the power of social media. WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Star Families (BSF), a non-profit dedicated to supporting military families and strengthening communities across the United States, will launch their inaugural Welcome Week from September 28, 2020 to October 2, 2020. For a full week, Blue Star Families is providing fun and creative opportunities for military families to meet and engage with members of their new community to help ease their transition and create a greater sense of belonging in their new home. As thousands of military families set out to move to a new duty station in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, typical transition challenges such as adapting to a new home, school, and community have significantly grown. Welcome Week is designed to alleviate transition challenges and support families with opportunities to participate in events including messages of welcome and appreciation from Blue Star Families members across the country, special events and giveaways, and spotlights on local favorites from military families & Blue Star Neighbors. "With the launch of the first-ever Blue Star Welcome Week, we want the families who serve our country to know that they have support from their communities during this historically difficult year," said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families. "Fall is a time when thousands of service members receive their new duty assignments, and families work to overcome the many challenges that come with moving to a new home. Welcome Week is an opportunity for military families to start off right to connect with people, places, and experiences in new communities, to get to know your neighbors, and to have some fun." Each year, Blue Star Families conducts the annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey (aMFLS), the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind, which acts as a listening tool for military families to sound off on what is and what is not working for them. Data from the 2019 aMFLS shows that 40% of military family member respondents do not feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community. Blue Star Welcome Week addresses this by creating opportunities for community engagement that bring together community supporters, everyday civilian neighbors, and military families to help build stronger, integrated connections that help ease the stress of frequent moves. Blue Star Welcome Week is supported by partners including CSX, CJM Foundation, Leonardo DRS, Tramiel Charitable Trust, Humana, dozens of community small businesses, nonprofit partner organizations, and more. Support from corporate sponsors, private foundations, and individual donors sustains Blue Star Families and their mission of strengthening America's military families through communities by offering programs and services at 11 chapter locations across the country. To learn more about Blue Star Families Welcome Week events and opportunities, as well as a local favorites map showcasing parks, restaurants, and shops across the country, please visit bluestarfam.org/welcome-week. About Blue Star Families Blue Star Families builds communities that support military families by connecting research and data to programs and solutions, including career development tools, local community events for families, and caregiver support. Since its inception in 2009, Blue Star Families has engaged tens of thousands of volunteers and serves more than 1.5 million military family members nationwide. With Blue Star Families, military families can find answers to their challenges anywhere they are. For more information, visit bluestarfam.org follow us on Facebook (@BlueStarFamilies) or Twitter (@BlueStarFamily). SOURCE Blue Star Families A 34-year-old man accused of refusing to stop for police on Interstate 495 was seriously injured Tuesday morning after crashing his car in Raynham, authorities said. A Massachusetts State Police trooper tried to stop a 2007 Ford 500 on I-495 as the car exited the Exit 8 ramp shortly before 9 a.m., according to a statement from state police. The driver, a 34-year-old Taunton man, is accused of refusing to stop for police. Moments later, he hit a utility pole on Route 138 north. The vehicle then caught fire, the statement said. The man was taken to Boston Medical Center with serious injuries, according to the statement. The scene was cleared by 9:37 a.m. The investigation into the crash is ongoing, state police said. By Trend Armenians are fleeing from Khankendi city, Azerbaijan's Nagorno Karabakh region, in large numbers, Trend reports referring to Russian REN-TV channel. According to the correspondent of the Russian Izvestiya online news portal from the scene, women and children are crowded at the exit from the occupied city, and the men send their families to Armenia's Yerevan. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said Sept. 27, 2020, that Ashaghi Abdulrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. - Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:26:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHONGWE, Zambia, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A Zambia local government official in Chongwe, a town in the Lusaka province of Zambia, in an interview on Tuesday hailed a Chinese contractor for the improved road network in his rural ward. In an interview, Katoba ward councillor, Charles Moyo, told Xinhua that the road leading to his ward from the capital city of Zambia, Lusaka, which was previously gravel and impassable during the rainy season was now tarred and had changed the area in many ways. He disclosed that China Geo-Engineering Corporation had upgraded to bituminous standard of the road from Lusaka to Katoba ward in his area. According to him, the project was well executed and had added beauty to the area. He said that this had attracted a number of developments to the area which would not have come without a good road. He observed that the travelling distance from Katoba to Lusaka and other areas was now made faster due to the improved road. He said that the upgraded road had opened up the area to various investment opportunities. He was optimistic that this would continue to translate into real economic growth. He described the Chinese company as a company that was committed to delivering high-quality road works. He said that the road which was constructed about a year ago was still looking as good as new. He said that the company must be commended for delivering a value for money project. Moyo also disclosed that the company was also constructing another road that would pass through his ward to Chirundu district in the Southern Province of Zambia. He stated that work on the 100 km road connectivity project which had already commenced would further improve the road network in his ward which was one of the transit points between Lusaka and Chiriundu. Moyo stressed that the Chinese contractor, China Geo-Engineering Corporation, which had set up a camp in his ward had also created business and employment opportunities for the local people. Enditem A Pennsylvania mother and her adult daughter were sentenced on Monday to life in prison in the killings of five relatives, including three children, who were strangled and suffocated because the defendants purportedly believed the world was ending. Shana Decree, 47, and Dominique Decree, 21, were handed five consecutive life terms in Bucks County Court after entering guilty but mentally ill pleas to five counts of first-degree murder. President Judge Wallace Bateman told the two that they had caused 'unimaginable' harm, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. 'This is horrible and tragic, because I do believe the two of you have expressed remorse,' Bateman said Monday as he sentenced the defendants. 'Unfortunately, that doesn't bring them back. You can't say, "Sorry" and expect people to move on with their lives.' Scroll down for video Shana Decree, 47, left, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 21, were sentenced Monday to life in prison in the slayings of five relatives, including three children, outside Philadelphia Crime scene tape surrounds the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, on February 26, 2019, a day after five people were found murdered inside Both women offered tearful apologies to the court and other relatives in the courtroom. 'The hardest thing for me to do is decide who to say Im sorry to first,' Shana said. 'To my family, I am sorry for taking away these beautiful souls in such a horrible manner.' Dominique Decree sobbed as she said her actions will haunt her for the rest of her life. 'I'm so sorry for everything that happened, and I truly don't understand why it happened,' she said. A children and youth services case worker who went to the Morrisville apartment on February 25, 2019, found the bodies of Shana Decree's children, Naa'Irah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr., 13, both of Morrisville; Shana Decree's sister Jamilla Campbell, 42, of Trenton, New Jersey; and Campbell's 9-year-old twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen. Campbell had been strangled and the others had been suffocated, the coroner's office determined. Police said the defendants were found 'disoriented' inside the apartment, where furniture had been turned over, drywall was cracked and glass lay around. Authorities said they later gave conflicting stories of what had occurred but said everyone in the unit, including the children, 'wanted to die' and spoke of suicide. Twins Imani and Erika Allen, nine, the daughters of Dominique's aunt, were suffocated to death Shana's son, Damon Decree, 13, was among the dead inside the family's apartment (pictured) Naa'Irah Smith, 25 (left), had been suffocated by her mother, Shana (right) Dominique (left) has been charged over the death of her aunt Jamilla Campbell, 42 (right) Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees said Monday that the killings took place over the course of three days. Court-appointed psychologists and psychiatrists concluded that both defendants had severe mental illness, including schizoid personality disorder, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Both had sought mental health treatment, and Dominique's attorney John Fioravanti Jr. said his client started from age 5. Shana's attorney, Christa Dunleavy, said her client was isolated and delusional at the time of the killings, believing 'the world was ending and there were demons in her house, and she had to obey them.' A prosecutor said the family's killings took place inside the apartment over the course of three days Police said the defendants were found 'disoriented' inside the apartment, where furniture had been turned over 'Her family tried to help her,' Dunleavy said, 'But the delusions were too strong." Attorneys for both defendants said their clients had expressed horror and remorse following the killings. District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in a statement that if not for their 'severe mental illness,' both defendants would face the death penalty, but instead they will 'spend the rest of their lives in prison cells separated from the rest of us.' 'By murdering Erica, Imani, Damon, Naairah, and Jamilla, they've decimated entire generations of their own family,' Weintraub said. 'It tests my faith in humanity and in God. But I have to believe in both. The alternative is so much worse.' Singapore Airlines has scrapped its 'flights to nowhere' aimed at boosting its coronavirus-hit finances after an outcry from environmental campaigners. Several carriers, including those in Australia, Japan and Taiwan, have been offering short flights that start and end at the same airport to raise cash after the aviation industry was plunged into deep crisis amid the ongoing pandemic. They are designed for travel-starved people keen to fly at a time of virus-related restrictions - and have proved surprisingly popular. But Singapore's flag carrier, which has grounded nearly all its planes and cut thousands of jobs, announced earlier today that it had ditched the idea following a review. Singapore Airlines has scrapped its 'flights to nowhere' aimed at boosting its coronavirus-hit finances after an outcry from environmental campaigners (stock image) The carrier has come up with alternative ideas to raise revenue, including offering customers tours of aircraft and offering them the chance to dine inside an Airbus A380, the world's biggest commercial airliner. Environmental activists had voiced opposition to Singapore Airlines launching 'flights to nowhere', with group SG Climate Rally saying they would encourage 'carbon-intensive travel for no good reason'. 'We believe air travel has always caused environmental harm, and it is now an opportune moment for us to think seriously about transitions instead of yearning to return to a destructive status quo.' The airline said earlier this month it was cutting about 4,300 jobs - equating to 20 per cent of its workforce - as the latest carrier to make massive layoffs (stock image) The airline said earlier this month it was cutting about 4,300 jobs - equating to 20 per cent of its workforce - as the latest carrier to make massive layoffs. The International Air Transport Association estimates that airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined $27.8billion (21.6 billion) this year. The group also forecasts that global air traffic is unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus levels until at least 2024. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Snow showers. Low --17C. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Snow showers. Low --19C. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. THE law on former office-holders taking jobs in the private sector is to be urgently reviewed after the Taoiseach said he was not happy and did not approve the case of Michael DArcy. In respect of former Senator (DArcy), I believe there should be an effective cooling-off period, Micheal Martin told the Dail. In particular, any cooling-off period should be one that has the force of law, and then a sanction of penalties attached to it, he said. Read More I'm not happy, or in any way comfortable with people taking up a position, who had been in office, particularly in the area they had jurisdiction over and responsibility for - that they would be taking a position in that area immediately after, or within months, of having left an office, Mr Martin said. He said he believed the legislation, which does not make an offence of the breaching of a cooling-off period, should be reviewed. The Government agreed at Cabinet that Michael McGrath, Minister for Public Expenditure would carry out a review of civil legislation in that sector, Mr Martin said. I accept that there has to be a cooling-off period, the Taoiseach added. I dont approve of the former minister going into a post that he had responsibility for as an officeholder. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald contrasted Mr DArcys move with mortgage-holders being left to go it alone as a result of the failure to extend the Covid-related repayment breaks beyond tomorrow. Cosy connections between Government and the financial sector are once again on show, she said. We learn the former minister Michael DArcy is leaving the Seanad to be appointed as CEO of a financial lobbying group. No relief for struggling mortgage holders, but a big job for the former minister - what does this say to families and businesses who were relying on Government to stand up for them, she asked. This is the second former Minister of the Department of Finance, to go through the revolving door from Government into the world of high finance. At the meeting with the banks on Monday, Government ministers on one side of the table had faced a former junior minister in the Department of Finance, Brian Hayes, on the other side representing the banks, she said. Ms McDonald reminded the Taoiseach that his Tanaiste, Leo Varadkar, had warmly welcomed Michael DArcys new job. And said that he will always be welcome, should he decide to run for election again, she said. He went on to say that his new employers are fortunate to recruit someone of his calibre. But minister Eamon Ryan had said something different, she said. He says that he has concerns and that he shared those concerns with you. We know certainly that Sipo (the Standards in Public Offices Commission) has had concerns about this revolving door. We know that over the last five years they have approached Government, seeking changes to legislation that would give them the power to investigate and prosecute ministers who don't adhere to the cooling-off period rules. And we know that Sipo has been consistently ignored by government in these. And you have to wonder why, she said. The Taoiseach said however that Minister McGraths review would also look more widely. He explained: For example, I've long been concerned at the fact that parties and movements can raise funds and donations. I think that should be examined. He told Ms McDonald: I think your party would have raised $15million over the years in the United States. I worry about that, and the big vested interests that money has been raised from. It came from construction and financial elites in the United States that you seem to have no difficulty with, he told her. The Taoiseach said he believed that referendums have been influenced by large amounts of money, the origins of which we do not know. I think that's a more fundamental area for our democracy, because some people fund commemorative projects celebrating 1916, he said. One particular project was funded by loans from abroad, he said. There was a political agenda, attached to that as well. Its a concern when projects, organised by political parties but separate from them, seem to be funded by American money with a political agenda. He told Ms McDonald: That seems to have been the case in the alternative to the national commemoration 1916, and the agenda of a continuing link from 1916 to the war in the North, and the conflict and the modern mayhem that ensued - and that you continue to endorse,. These are very serious political issue. You may not think so, but I do. Its not one rule for one group of politicians and a separate rule for others. It needed to be faced up to, once and for all, the Taoiseach said. Ms McDonald did not address the remarks. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who worked closely with Mr D'Arcy in recent years, said his former colleague should have got Sipo clearance prior to taking up his new role. He said he was glad he had now written to watchdog to seek clarity on the matter. "Minister D'Arcy did do a very important role in relation to the development of financial services in our country," he noted of the former Fine Gael senator's previous government role. Mr Donohoe, who was Public Expenditure Minister between 2016 and June of this year, said he believed Sipo did have effective powers to regulate this area. The watchdog disclosed earlier on Tuesday that it had repeatedly asked the Department of Public Expenditure for legislative changes to give it enforcement powers over the so-called cooling-off period for public officials. "I believed that the powers that the Standards in Public Office Commission had were effective in dealing with this issue. But I do think it is appropriate now that we look at if those powers do need to be strengthened," Mr Donohoe said. The first cruise ship to sail to Greece since the coronavirus lockdown has docked at the port of Piraeus today after 12 crew members tested positive for Covid-19. The Maltese-flagged Mein Schiff 6, operated by German travel giant TUI, is carrying 922 passengers and 666 crew. Nobody will be allowed to disembark as testers from Greece's public health agency board the ship for screening. The Greek coastguard said on Monday that 12 crew members had tested positive, although TUI Cruises said that they were asymptomatic and follow-up tests came back negative today. Docked: The German-operated cruise ship Mein Schiff 6 waits at the port of Piraeus on Tuesday morning after 12 crew members tested positive for coronavirus Waiting: Passengers on the TUI cruise ship on the balconies outside their cabins today as Greek health workers board the vessel The passengers had originally being given a clean bill of health after undergoing tests prior to the voyage, the Greek coastguard said on Monday. The cruise ship departed from Heraklion in Crete on Sunday with all passengers having tested negative before boarding. But sample tests on 150 crew members detected 12 infections, and the ship had to return to Piraeus with better access to health services. The ship halted at the Aegean island of Milos on Monday after the infections were detected, before being rerouted to Piraeus. TUI Cruises said late on Monday that a second round of tests held on board showed that half of the crew found positive earlier had since tested negative. On Tuesday morning, a health ministry official said that repeat tests for the rest of the 12 crew members conducted en route to Piraeus were also negative. Greek health authorities boarded the ship on Tuesday morning and conducted a third test, the official said, adding that results were expected later in the day. Arrival: Greek health ministry officials enter the cruise ship wearing hi-vis vests after it docked in Piraeus earlier on Tuesday A medic gets out of an ambulance parked near the Mein Schiff 6 cruise ship on Tuesday TUI Cruises says the affected crew on the ship have been isolated, adding that all crew members would be tested. The cruise industry has taken a major hit from the pandemic, with some of the earliest large clusters of Covid-19 occurring aboard cruise ships. At one stage, the Diamond Princess cruise ship had the world's largest outbreak outside China while moored off the coast of Japan. Voyages of large cruise ships only resumed in recent weeks in Greece after they were banned for months. Greece was one of the first countries to encourage tourists to return after the lockdown but some islands have seen a rise in cases since then. Earlier this month, seven Greek islands were added to England's quarantine list including Lesbos, Santorini and Mykonos. Greece has seen 17,444 cases and 379 deaths in total. CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday took aim at the federal government's failure to pass another coronavirus stimulus relief bill to aid ailing small businesses. "They blew it. They can talk all they want, they blew it," said Cramer, an owner of two restaurants and an inn both in industries decimated by the pandemic. "They hated each other and they blew it." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to again talk Tuesday, one day after Democrats released a $2.2 trillion proposal. Many Republicans have expressed concerns about adding to the trillions the U.S. has already spent to fight the outbreak and ensuing economic damage. "They had a chance," said Cramer. "Neither party agreed to anything and it's too late. There's nobody to give PPP to in restaurants." PPP is short for the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which provided forgivable loans to small- and medium-sized businesses to keep paying their employees during coronavirus lock downs. Washington has been in a stalemate for weeks over a new relief bill, with the Democratic-controlled House initially passing a $3.4 trillion bill in May and the Trump administration mostly recently offering to inject only $1.3 trillion more into efforts to boost the economy during the outbreak. "There comes a time when you have to admit that only the strong survive," said Cramer, who also vented his frustrations in a tweet Tuesday morning. Congress and the Trump administration "failed us," he wrote. Cramer owns two restaurants in Brooklyn, New York. He also co-owns an inn in New Jersey. "I'm going to be candid, we ran out of PPP about three months ago," Cramer said. "Some of us have just decided to pay lots of employees to do nothing. How many months can I pay my 15 people to do nothing? Well I ran out, I did it for these months, it was nice, did my best." Cramer said he had to layoff workers. "They're still talking as if everyone is waiting. We gave up. I gave up on my inn, I gave up on my restaurants," added Cramer, emphasizing that other efforts to help small businesses, like outdoor seating, were not enough to replace the need for more aid from Washington. "The outside works until its freezing, the outside works until it rains, the outside works until the Department of Transportation says you can't have many seats, the outside works until the police say you've got social distancing problems. I've seen everything," Cramer said. Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. EV kWh A number of carmakers, especially the Japanese and French ones, are looking into ways to turn electric vehicles into an aid of sorts for the power grid, when demand is to high.Vehicle-to-grid is how they call this, and the Nissan Leaf became in late 2018 the first EV approved to feed electricity back into the grid. It happened in Germany, while in the Portuguese Madeira Islands and on the French island of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, Nissans partner Renault is working on a similar integration.But an electric vehicle could be used for much more than just feed electricity back into the grid. It could be used, for instance, to provide power in areas affected by natural or some other type of disasters. Enter the Re-Leaf concept, a modified Nissanmeant to be used in exactly such conditions.Based on a regular production Leaf Tekna, the car comes with several modifications meant to make it suitable for use in disaster areas. The most important of them are the weatherproof plug sockets mounted directly to the exterior of the vehicle.These can be used to plug 110 to 230-volt devices, and quite a number of them: the 62battery fitted on the car is large enough to power the average UK household for around six days, as per Nissans claims. These devices can be anything from a jack hammer to 100 watt LED floodlights.Additionally, the cars ride height has been raised by 70 mm to 225 mm, and there is a custom sump guard to protect the cars floor pan. Re-Leaf comes with wider tracks (+90 mm front / +130 mm rear), custom wheel arches, mud flaps and all-terrain tires wrapped on 17-inch motorsport wheels. Inside, the rear seats are gone, making room for storage space for needed equipment.The carmaker did not reveal any plans to make the Re-Leaf some type of specialized production car. Income protection insurance (26%) also ranked highly; coinciding with the governments recent lowering of JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments by $300 to $1,200 per fortnight. Due to the cuts to these programmes, Finder estimated that Australians will have around $485 million per fortnight less in money to spend. The research also found that more women than men (28% vs 23%) are in favour of their employer contributing to income protection, with women generally paying more for cover than men. Transitioning to online work was a big hurdle for many workplaces during COVID, but many employees now realise that they prefer it, said Taylor Blackburn, insurance specialist at Finder. If you arent able to negotiate a salary increase this year, additional perks like flexible working arrangements or increased annual leave are reasonable alternatives to fall back on. MANILA President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines is one of a number of populists around the world who rose to power in part by harnessing Facebook to get his unfiltered messages to millions. During Mr. Dutertes 2016 campaign, his allies flooded the social media platform with misinformation about his opponents and laudatory stories about him. Four years later, after allegations that Facebook aided disruptive misinformation campaigns in many countries, the Silicon Valley giant has put up increasing checks on what politicians and their allies can say online. And Mr. Duterte is not pleased. In his weekly public address on Monday, Mr. Duterte lashed out at Facebook for taking down fake accounts that supported his policies, making vague threats to shut the platform down in the Philippines. I allow you to operate here, Mr. Duterte said. You cannot bar or prevent me from espousing the objectives of government. Is there life after Facebook? I dont know. But we need to talk. There is much to celebrate among the Top 100 Companies listed here today including increases in pre-tax profits and the wide range of sectors represented in businesses based right across Northern Ireland. It is very pleasing to see well-known names many of us will recognise sitting alongside those less well known and new entries to the list. I am very conscious that the figures reported on today relate to a period before Covid-19. As a result, this gives us a snapshot of some of our most successful businesses just before the pandemic descended. This was a time before lockdown, social distancing or the need to wear face coverings. The success of companies highlighted today also serves as a stark reminder of what I and my Department have been working so hard to protect in recent months. It is because we have such a strong business sector in Northern Ireland that we prioritised offering millions of pounds in business support grants which enabled 30,000 businesses to survive through lockdown and beyond. The resilience of companies has been seen in recent months. Many adapted their workplaces to ensure the safety of employees and customers, some had to close temporarily and furlough their staff, while others were able to diversify into manufacturing essential personal protection equipment. I am very proud of how businesses worked together and supported each other through a very difficult and unprecedented period and continue to do so. They faced adversity head on. The volume of traffic on our roads, footfall and the number of businesses reopening are all increasing but we are still far from normality. It could be years before we see economic activity overall back to its pre-pandemic levels. Despite the difficulties, some companies have been able to announce new jobs. This includes Chicago-headquartered company PEAK6 which is establishing a centre of excellence in Belfast with a target of creating 160 jobs over the next four years. Belfast-based digital solutions company Neueda is also creating 230 jobs in a 20m investment. It was great to see the Eat Out To Help Out Scheme giving a welcome boost to our restaurants in August. People holidaying close to home over the summer also helped tourism businesses. We want to return to having a thriving tourism industry and that is why I established the Tourism Recovery Steering Group to lead on the planning and preparations and prepare for regrowth of the sector. I would urge the public to continue to support the hospitality and tourism sector in the months and years ahead. My Department is focused on economic recovery and it is important to stress that the rebuilding of our economy goes hand in hand with protecting peoples health. We will be living alongside this virus for some time to come so we need to adapt, innovate and move forward with the safety of staff and customers at the forefront. My economic recovery plan includes four key high growth areas advanced manufacturing, life and health sciences, digital and clean energy. I am pleased to see all of these sectors represented among the companies listed today. I want to build a more competitive, inclusive and greener economy that delivers highly paid jobs, a highly skilled workforce and a more regionally balanced economy. We have already identified a range of measures to help vulnerable but viable businesses, with funding of around 25m already secured for 2020/21. These measures will help businesses adapt to the challenges of Covid-19 and EU Exit by supporting digital/online selling, improvements to operational processes and supply chain resilience, the use of new technologies, business financial/recovery planning and the provision of loans and equity investment. Developing the skills base of our young people and workforce is also central to our economic success going forward. In recognition of this and the key role that apprentices will play in our economic recovery, 17.2m has been secured by my Department to deliver schemes which include supporting the return, retention and achievement of apprentices as well as growing and maintaining the supply of apprentice opportunities to ensure that employers have access to the skills needed to grow their businesses. Young people in particular need high quality routes into careers so I would urge businesses throughout Northern Ireland to support apprentices. I am directing funding to incentivise employers to take on new apprentices and to enhance the supply of apprenticeship opportunities. Our new skills strategy will cover all life stages and all levels of learning. It will encompass academic and vocational education and training in both the public and private sectors. As EU negotiations continue, I and my Executive colleagues continue to press the UK Government to do all that is possible to facilitate our trade within the UK and with the EU, including the Republic of Ireland. The UK Governments Trader Support Service will provide guidance and practical support to all NI businesses and organisations that receive goods from GB or the rest of the world. I would stress once again that it is vital that Northern Ireland businesses continue to enjoy unfettered access to the GB market and remain competitive within it. My Departments EU Exit Transition Readiness Programme was established to ensure that my Department, our arms length bodies and our businesses are as prepared as they can be for the end of the transition period. While clarity is still required on some issues, there is much that businesses can do to ensure they are equipped to face the challenges and opportunities from January 1. Invest Northern Ireland and InterTradeIreland are available to provide valuable support and advice. I would like to wish all of Northern Irelands businesses the very best for the times ahead. I will continue to move our economy forward in a careful and considered way and with the best interests of the business community always at the centre of everything we do. On the new 90 Day Fiance spinoff series called Darcey & Stacey, Stacey Silva and Florian Sukaj have finally gotten married during quarantine for the coronavirus (COVID-19). The couple ties the knot without telling any of Staceys family right away, but they end up getting married on her fathers front porch at almost midnight. Stacey and Florian get married, despite a mishap at first Darcey Silva and Stacey Silva | Brad Barket/Getty Images for Discovery, Inc. The couple discusses matters, and reveals that the pandemic is going on, and the courthouses are closing. They decide to move the impending wedding up. So Florian and I decided that were going to move the wedding date up, and get married tomorrow, Stacey reveals to the cameras. They decide to have the wedding in their new apartment just the two of them without any of Staceys family knowing just yet. Stacey gets ready and puts on her gorgeous wedding dress. Florian lights candles and puts them in a nice design on the floor. He writes out the date in candles complete with a heart, and candles along the walkway as well. The officiate arrives that evening, and Stacey walks in, careful not to burn her dress on the candles. The couple says Yes to their vows, and are pronounced wed. However, theres a problem when the officiate asks for their marriage license. If you have your license, I will sign it, he says. Its then revealed that the license was actually done in Middletown, Connecticut. Then the wedding has to be in Middletown, the officiate tells them. They scramble to get to Middletown that same night, with only a few minutes to spare. They have decided on the date of 4/20/20, and theyre determined to get married on that date. We need to get to Middletown before midnight, Stacey explains. She changes into something more comfortable, and they get in the car to head to Staceys father Mikes house. We dont want to take the risk of not being able to get another marriage license, Stacey explains to the cameras. They are met by the officiate outside Mikes house, and they yet again say Yes to their vows. The ceremony takes place in front of the front door, presumably while everyone sleeps. They are finally married, and receive their marriage license back signed. With only minutes to spare, the couple is wed on their intended date. Fans react to Stacey and Florians wedding RELATED: Darcey & Stacey: Stacey Silva Confronts Florian About a New Video of Him That Was Posted on Social Media Fans of the series took to Reddit to discuss the nights events. One fan posted a thread with their thoughts on the matter when it comes to Staceys wedding So first they schedule it for like 11 p.m. (Wtf?) on 4/20, then they awkwardly found out that they didnt do any research that they needed to get married in a different county, the Reddit user wrote. So they then drive to her fathers house in the middle of the night and quickly get married on their porch while I assume theyre sleeping? One fan was worried about Staceys voluminous dress around all the candles Florian lit on the ground of their small apartment. I was waiting for her wedding dress to catch fire on all those candles, another fan chimed in. I hope the next Mrs. Florian makes him happier, and that when she finds the next Florian she is a bit wiser, a fan also said. Another person questions them getting married right in front of the house while having a discussion without anyone knowing. On what planet do three people show up on your porch with two cars and lights, and have a discussion on your porch without anyone in the house realizing it? It was 11:45. No one in the house was awake? a fan asked on Reddit. A fan thinks the whole entire scene seemed fake to them. I felt like that whole scene was really fake, they said. Fans have a lot of opinions when it comes to Stacey and Florians eventful wedding. By Trend Azerbaijan, liberating its territories from Armenian occupation, is beginning to restore its territorial integrity, Georgian expert on national security issues, Doctor of Political and Military Sciences, Professor Vakhtang Maisaya told Trend. The expert noted that, despite such a breakthrough, the parties should still sit down at the negotiating table. "Both sides have already announced mobilization. The fighting is going on along the entire perimeter around Nagorno-Karabakh, in the territories occupied by Armenia," Maisaya said. According to him, for the first time in recent years, military actions of this magnitude have taken place. "This war can develop into a full-scale military-political tragedy, into a regional war. There is still an opportunity to stop and start peace negotiations," Maisaya said. "All representatives of the international community, including the Georgian authorities, must do everything possible to ensure peace and prevent a full-scale war in the region, otherwise it will already be a real Caucasian war," he said. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari, Ashagi Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Over the past three decades, the number of women serving time in American prisons has increased more than eightfold. Today, some 15,000 are held in federal custody and an additional 100,000 are behind bars in local jails. That sustained growth has researchers, former inmates and prison reform advocates calling for womens facilities that do more than replicate a system designed for men. These are invisible women, says Dr. Stephanie Covington, a psychologist and co-director of the Center For Gender and Justice, an advocacy group based in La Jolla, Calif. Every piece of the experience of being in the criminal justice system differs between men and women. At the most basic level, women often must make do with jumpsuits that are made from mens designs rather than being cut for female bodies. And standard personal-care items often dont account for different skin tones or hair types. Its not just vanity: What drives some prisoners to mix their own makeup or tailor their uniforms is the need to maintain their dignity in a situation that does little to protect it. OCM's Brand Ambassador Program allows students a plethora of unique opportunities EWING TOWNSHIP, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / On Campus Marketing, or OCM, a leading one-stop-shop for affordable campus necessities, is proud of its growing team of student ambassadors. The OCM Ambassador Program, which was launched in May, offers students across the U.S. the opportunity to gain skills, build connections, raise money for campus activities, and more. Endorsed by over 900 U.S. colleges and known as "the trusted source for all things college," OCM has made shopping for college essentials both easy and affordable, ever since they were founded in 1981. As the move to college is a big - and often stressful - transition for students and their families, OCM strives to make that step a little bit easier. To better connect with students and the colleges they attend, OCM launched a special Ambassador Program that is open to all college and university students across the U.S. By applying through a simple form on the OCM website, the selected ambassadors will have the opportunity to share and promote OCM products across social media. These products include dorm and apartment decor, bedding, lighting, personal care kits and even face masks. Along with getting the opportunity to try out new products for free, ambassadors can speak about their college program and campuslife experience through social media posts and video logs by using the hashtag OCMAmbassador. Ambassadors provide new students a valuable insight into life on campus and student shopping opportunities in addition to host social media platforms to connect with students as they explore their new campus, dorm or apartment. Dianjelli Dookhie is a student attending the University of Kansas who was selected as one of the first OCM Ambassadors. Now into her third month of the ambassadorship, Dianjelli says that it's been very rewarding and she looks forward to continuing her partnership with OCM throughout her college journey. "Being an OCM Ambassador has been totally amazing. It gives me exposure to working and learning from a team of marketing and social media managers and it has opened up so many opportunities for me that I did not think would be possible," said Dianjelli. "It's also a great thing to put on my resume. It has been so fun and has helped me to express my creative side a bit more." As these ambassadors share these candid testimonials and social media content, they develop a toolkit of skills in social media marketing, while building connections with fellow OCM Ambassadors and marketing their college programs to future students. Along with the skills, experiences, and new friendships, the OCM Ambassadors' efforts will raise funds for campus activities and open the door to coveted internship opportunities. To learn more and apply for the OCM Ambassador Program, visit https://www.ocm.com/ambassadors. About OCM Founded in 1981, On Campus Marketing (OCM) is known as the leading one-stop-shop for college essentials, officially approved by over 900 colleges and 1,500 campus organizations across the United States. OCM is also a leader in university fundraising programs, as they provide annual scholarships and donate a portion from every OCM purchase back to those 900+ colleges to support their campus life and housing programs. Now, almost 40 years since the organization was launched, OCM has made the college experience easier and more affordable for over six million families and counting. Learn more about OCM at: https://www.ocm.com/ Connect on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube. Contact: Sara Corsi scorsi@ocm.com 866-847-7365 Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:30PM EST SOURCE: OCM View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608257/OCMs-Student-Ambassador-Program-Takes-Students-to-New-Heights Purdue University students, faculty and staff are participating through several virtual study abroad programs sponsored by Purdues International Programs. Students in John Sheffields applied thermodynamics class are working with faculty and peers in Peru. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue University students have the opportunity to work with students and faculty in Peru, Brazil and other parts of the world thanks to a new program offered through Purdues International Programs. With the global COVID-19 pandemic suspending study abroad programs, Michael Brzezinski, dean of International Programs, set out in May with his staff to find ways faculty and students could still have intercultural learning experiences. Brzezinski, faculty and staff explored what could be done to take in-person study abroad to a virtual realm. About 30 faculty members showed interest in participating in a pilot program. Ten programs involving about 100 students were approved for the fall 2020 semester. We needed to respond to the suspension of study abroad programs by offering outside-the-box intercultural learning experiences for our students, Brzezinski said. We had to pivot in a major way, and quickly, and accomplish in three months what often takes a full academic year. The dedication and effort by multiple individuals in every one of our colleges is a testament to their commitment to offer global experiences to our students. Brzezinski credits faculty members who have existing international collaborations and an interest in intercultural learning for pulling the program together in three months, as well as those who are looking for ways to have professional development opportunities for students. The virtual experiential intercultural learning (VEIL) experiences that we have created will not only benefit students during the pandemic, but they will continue to be excellent opportunities for students who dont have financial resources to study abroad after overseas travel is resurrected. I believe that these virtual learning experiences are here to stay well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, Brzezinski said. Furthermore, thanks to the hard work of the CILMAR (Center for Intercultural Learning, Mentorship, Assessment and Research) staff we were able to rework our entire Intercultural Pedagogy Grant (IPG) curriculum so that we could offer workshops to help our faculty learn how to integrate best virtual teaching method practices into their programs. John Sheffield, a professor of engineering technology in Purdue Polytechnic Institute and president of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, has incorporated intercultural learning experiences into the semester team project on renewable energy for his HyFlex and online sections of the MET 320 Applied Thermodynamics course. The classes are working with faculty and students at the University of Engineering and Technology and the National University of Engineering in Peru, through a partnership that Sheffield developed in 1996. The project Sheffields classes will be working on with their Peruvian counterparts is the United Nations Race to Zero initiative, which was suggested by a Peruvian professor. The goal of Race to Zero is to integrate renewable energy technologies with appropriate hydrogen fuel-cell technologies into the design of a net-zero community. The project can show students how their work can support a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon economic recovery that creates well-paying jobs and sustainable growth, and prevents future threats. In addition to every student having an engaging virtual intercultural experience, the courses new look also addresses Purdues alternative calendar, which will switch to remote learning after Thanksgiving. The traditional final exam for Applied Thermodynamics will be replaced by this semesterlong project, Sheffield said. The Black Cultural Center had plans to take a Maymester group to Brazil to study the Afro-Latin Diaspora. With the trip canceled, BCC leaders worked with International Programs and long-standing partners Brazil Cultural Education and Cultural Travel to switch to the new format, including a different timeline. Brazil Cultural staff worked with the BCC in developing a virtual program that will have a real educational and service impact, said Renee Thomas, director of the Black Cultural Center. According to Thomas and Bill Caise, assistant director of the BCC, the program will be offered for one hour each evening Nov. 16-20 via Zoom. While no credits will be offered to students, the program is free. Participants can register for the program online. Caise said the study abroad will still give students, faculty and staff the opportunity to explore the complex issues of history, race, politics, Latin America, the African Diaspora and how they affect Afro-Brazilian culture. In addition, participants will explore highly diverse communities such as Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, including roots to those communities West African culture. We are excited to offer this flexible, accessible and fun experience. Students will have the chance to dip their toe in the water and experience a study abroad program. No passport is needed, and it is a great alternative for cultural learning, Caise said. It is our goal that students will be exposed to study abroad and once the borders are open, they will be more likely to enroll in a credit-bearing offering through the BCC and the African American Studies and Research Center, Thomas said. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/. Writer, Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-586-7496 (cell), oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates Sources: Mike Brzezinski, mbrzezinski@purdue.edu John Sheffield, jsheffie@purdue.edu Renee Thomas, rathomas@purdue.edu Bill Caise, wpcaise@purdue.edu Journalists visiting campus : Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines: (Reuters) - Liverpool's new midfield signing Thiago Alcantara has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating with minor symptoms, the Premier League champions said on Tuesday. The Spaniard, who joined from Bayern Munich earlier this month and made his debut in their 2-0 win over Chelsea, was ruled out of their next two games after missing Monday's 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Anfield. "It is the choice of each individual whether they reveal publicly the outcome of a COVID-19 test," Liverpool's first-team doctor Jim Moxon said in a statement https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/410566-thiago-alcantara-tests-positive-for-covid-19. "We have followed all the protocols to the letter and Thiago is OK. He will be self-isolating now as per the guidelines and hopefully he'll be back with us soon." Liverpool will host Arsenal in the last-16 of the League Cup on Thursday and return to league action on Sunday with a trip to Aston Villa. Spain manager Luis Enrique is due to announce his squad for this month's matches with Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis) Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and his supporters held a protest on Tuesday at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, where a 19-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died days after being gang-raped, demanding the culprits be sentenced to death. IMAGE: Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan meets the family of Hathras rape victim at Safdarjang Hospital in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI Photo The Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries Tuesday morning. At the protest, the Bhim Army chief said, "I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won't rest until the culprits are hanged." Azad had earlier demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. "The state government is equally responsible for the death of our sister," he alleged. The woman was gang-raped a fortnight ago. The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have been arrested. She was admitted to Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital here on Monday. Tensions between the countries have been growing for months over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an enclave which has been run by ethnic Armenians since it declared independence in 1991 Yerevan: Fierce fighting raged between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces on Monday, sparking bellicose rhetoric from regional power Turkey despite international pleas for a halt in fighting between the long-time enemies. Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a territorial dispute over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorny Karabakh for decades, with deadly fighting flaring up last July and in 2016. The region declared independence from Azerbaijan after a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives but it is not recognised by any country - including Armenia - and is still considered part of Azerbaijan by the international community. On Monday evening, Azerbaijani forces launched a "massive offensive at the Karabakh frontline's southern and north-eastern sectors," said Armenia's defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan. Karabakh's defence ministry said 26 more of its troops were killed late on Monday, bringing the rebels' total military losses to 84. The overall toll rose to 95, including 11 civilian deaths - nine in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side. Azerbaijan has not reported any military casualties, but Armenian separatist officials released footage showing burnt-out armoured vehicles and the bloodied and charred remains of soldiers in camouflage it said were Azerbaijani troops Fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia could embroil regional players, Russia and Turkey. Russia, which has a military alliance with Armenia and stations there a permanent military base, sells sophisticated weapons worth billions of dollars to both Baku and Yerevan. Armenia has accused Turkey - which backs Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan - of meddling in the conflict. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday ordered partial military mobilisation and General Mais Barkhudarov vowed to "fight to the last drop of blood in order to completely destroy the enemy and win". With each side blaming the other for the flare-up, world leaders have urged calm as fears rise of a full-scale conflict. The UN Security Council was to meet on Tuesday at 5.00 pm (2100 GMT) for emergency talks on Karabakh behind closed doors, diplomats told AFP. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was monitoring the situation closely and that the current priority was to "stop the hostilities, not to deal with who is right and who is wrong". But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Armenia end its "occupation" of Karabakh. "The time has come for the crisis in the region that started with the occupation of Nagorny Karabakh to be put to an end," Erdogan said. "Now Azerbaijan must take matters into its own hands." Mercenaries from Syria Armenia has accused Turkey of sending mercenaries to back Azerbaijan. A war monitor Monday said Turkey has sent at least 300 proxies from northern Syria to join Azerbaijani forces. Turkey informed the fighters they would be tasked with "guarding border regions" in Azerbaijan in return for wages of up to $2,000, said Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The report comes after the European Union warned regional powers not to interfere in the fighting and condemned a "serious escalation" that threatens regional stability. In addition to the EU and Russia, France, Germany, Italy and the United States have urged a ceasefire. Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said Armenian separatist forces had won back positions taken Sunday by Azerbaijan. But Baku claimed further advances. Azerbaijani forces "are striking enemy positions... and have taken several strategic positions around the village of Talysh", the defence ministry said. "The enemy is retreating," it added, accusing separatist forces of shelling civilian targets in the town of Terter. 'We are not afraid of war' The escalation has stirred an outpouring of patriotic fervour in both countries. "We have been waiting for this day for so long. The fighting must not stop until we force Armenia to return our lands," Vidadi Alekperov, a 39-year-old waiter in Baku, told AFP. "I'll happily go to the battlefield." In Yerevan, 67-year-old Vardan Harutyunyan said Armenia had been anticipating the attack. "The (Karabakh) question can only be resolved militarily. We are not afraid of a war," he said. Armenia and Karabakh declared martial law and military mobilisation Sunday, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities. Talks to resolve the conflict - one of the worst to emerge from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union - have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. Analysts told AFP that international brokers needed to step up efforts to prevent an even worse escalation. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts as the "Minsk Group", but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010. Contributed Photo / Waterbury Police Department WATERBURY City police are asking the public to call in any sightings of a man they say was involved in a fatal shooting this summer. At 7:16 p.m. July 18, Waterbury police responded to the parking lot of 577 Chase Ave. for a report of gunshots and that someone was shot. The activist on hunger strike since 11 August to raise awareness of the risks for detainees in time of the new coronavirus pandemic. On 19 September she ended up in hospital for heart problems. Four days later she was returned to her cell. The appeal of NGOs and activists for her release and adequate medical care. She is serving of 38 and a half years in prison and 148 lashes. Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, sentenced to prison and whipped for defending the women campaigning against the mandatory headscarf, has halted her hunger strike for health reasons, her husband Reza Khandan posted the news on social media. The activist began the protest on 11 August last in Evin prison, on the outskirts of Tehran, to raise public awareness of the risks that prisoners run with the pandemic of new coronavirus underway. On 19 September, Nasrin Sotoudeh was rushed to hospital for severe heart failure. However, only four days later the authorities decided to take her back to prison, stopping her treatment and raising the disappointment and bewilderment of human rights NGOs and independent UN experts. It is unfathomable that the Iranian authorities would return Ms. Sotoudeh to prison where she is at heightened risk to COVID-19, as well as with her serious heart condition," the experts said. "We urge the authorities to immediately reverse this decision, accept her requests to recuperate at home before undergoing a heart procedure, and allow her to freely choose her own medical treatment," they added in a statement. Experts and activists have relaunched the battle of the advocate, for the leaders of Tehran to grant bail to lawyers, human rights defenders, people incarcerated with dual nationality, prisoners of conscience and politicians and to those in cells without clear charges. The release must be granted to them, explains the note, in the current context of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In recent months, the new coronavirus has affected almost 450,000 people and killed over 25,000, according to official estimates from Johns Hopkins University. In recent weeks, Nasrin Sotoudeh, in prison since June 2018 and winner of the EU Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012, has fed only on water, tea, sugar and salt, raising concern in the among friends and of family members. The woman has to serve a sentence of 38 and a half years in prison, plus 148 lashes. At least 12 years must elapse before applying for bail. The widely respected lawyer was also jailed from 2010 to 2013 over her defense of sensitive political cases. In 2015, she protested for several weeks to be allowed to continue practicing law. Despite her imprisonment, Sotoudeh has remained outspoken. She also went on a hunger strike in March to protest prison conditions. Timo ties up with Viet Capital Bank to step up its presence in digital payment Timo Digital bank an amalgamation of Time and Money is pioneering the digitalisation trend in Vietnam. After five years in the market, Timo now has more than 350,000 accounts and opened four hybrid coffee shops called Hangouts across four key cities nationwide where customers can experience a digitised financial product in a comfortable and modern environment that is not a typical bank. At the ceremony, Timo officially announced its partnership with Viet Capital Bank in this next stage of development under the name Timo Plus. Viet Capital Bank is one of the banks that have made steady progess recently in digital transformation with an explicit strategy of prioritising the customer experience. With a solid core banking system and a shared vision for the future, this partnership promises to help Timo Plus become a leading Digital bank trusted by many customers. Ngo Quang Trung, CEO of Viet Capital Bank, explained, Digital transformation is an inevitable trend at the moment and in the future for banks because of the social context as well as the rapid change of technology that has shifted customer habits. Viet Capital Bank is not an exception to this trend. Fintech is the future and Viet Capital Bank has been quick to capitalise on this trend for development and growth." "In the upcoming roadmap for development, Viet Capital Bank is pivoting towards providing a banking platform and services to partners operating in the fintech space," he added. "Besides, we also accelerate cooperation and tighten relationships with fintech firms aiming to create new experiences based on the combination of digital technology and traditional banking practices. Timo Plus is a partner that we highly appreciate not only for their experience and the similarity of our visions but also their customer experience efforts over time. Therefore, Viet Capital Bank and Timo Plus have become strategic partners to bring a better experience to customers." In just under two months post-transition, Timo Plus has noted impressive numbers with over 100,000 new accounts. The company has been quick to expand its capacity by continuously deploying pop up events in the weekends to meet the overwhelming demand of customers. In addition, Viet Capital Bank branches also welcome Timo Plus customers looking to make transactions directly. This cooperation will connect and enhance the strategic partnership between Timo Plus and Viet Capital Bank, at the same time enabling both sides to build customer trust. Nguyen Bao Hoang (Henry Nguyen), CEO of Timo Plus said, Compared to other developed markets, digital banking in Vietnam is still nascent but has huge potential for development. With its large population of young and technologically-advanced workforce, this is a huge advantage for digital financial solutions. The younger generations of millennials and GenZ are open minded, quick to adopt new experiences, and value cutting-edge and modern technology. I consider this to be an enabler and a golden time for fintech in general, and for Timo Plus in particular to continue to develop, attract, and broaden our customer base. Timo Plus goal is to provide a seamless digital banking experience using smartphones. Right from onboarding and authenticating users securely to a simple and easy-to-use interface creating value through convenient and smart features designed with customers in mind is Timo Plus mandate. Timo Plus will invest significantly in training and developing personnel to continue to innovate customer experiences. By partnering with Viet Capital Bank, Timo Plus will be able to leverage regular upgrades to the core banking system, bringing customers a secure banking product. Timo Plus will also be actively expanding its financial partner network. By leveraging its fast application programming interface (API) integration technologies, Timo plus will provide more innovative products and even greater value to customers. The future of Vietnam's financial industry is still in infancy and has a few years before it reaches its full potential. Amidst this, Timo Plus will attempt to be a strategic and central piece in adapting to the ever-changing consumption behaviours of customers in the 4.0 era where technology is the key to balancing their financial and lifestyle needs. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:55:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China stands ready to work with Argentina and other members of the international community to firmly support the World Health Organization in playing a leading role in the fight against COVID-19, win a complete victory over the pandemic as soon as possible, and promote the building of a global community of health for all. Xi made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. - - - - ULAN BATOR -- Mongolia is likely to experience its first recession since 2009, according to a new report released by the World Bank on Tuesday. The Mongolian economy is projected to contract by 2.4 percent in 2020 as weak external demand and COVID-19 containment measures hit the mining and services sectors especially hard, the World Bank said in the report titled "From Containment to Recovery: Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific, October 2020." - - - - MOSCOW -- Russia reported 8,232 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its national count to 1,167,805, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Tuesday. Russia's COVID-19 infections have been growing fast after the summer holiday season with large-group gatherings and many restrictions lifted. - - - - TEHRAN -- Iran's health ministry reported 3,677 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 453,637. The pandemic has so far claimed 25,986 lives in Iran, up by 207 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing. - - - - DHAKA -- Bangladesh reported 1,488 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 more deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 362,043 and death toll to 5,219, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said. The official data showed that 12,869 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh. - - - - BEIJING -- Chinese authorities on Tuesday honored 800 female role models and 200 groups for their contributions in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Shen Yueyue, vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), presented awards to the honorees at an award ceremony in Beijing. - - - - JAKARTA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia increased by 4,002 in the past 24 hours to total 282,724, with 128 more deaths to raise the death toll to 10,601, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. According to the ministry, 3,567 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 210,437. - - - - BOGOTA -- The number of COVID-19 infections in Colombia rose to 818,203 in the past 24 hours after tests detected 5,147 new cases, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said Monday. The death toll climbed to 25,641 after 153 more fatalities were reported over the same period of time. Enditem Perera said dairy farming in Sri Lanka is mostly a cottage industry in which individual farmers also raise cattle for side income. Such farmers will have difficulty if they are denied the opportunity to slaughter and sell unproductive, aging cattle. Hours before Joe Biden takes the stage for the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election cycle, his wife Jill spent an afternoon in two Michigan counties his opponent won handily four years ago. Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people outside of Traverse Citys Right Brain Brewery, Jill Biden made the case to supporters to vote early and encourage friends to do the same. Its never been easier to do in Michigan, she told the Traverse City group before later visiting King Orchards farm in Antrim County. An early vote will help us make sure theres absolutely no ambiguity on Nov. 4. Bidens visits placed her in two Michigan counties incumbent President Donald Trump won in 2016, signaling an effort to peel off votes in more rural, historically Republican regions of the state Trump won by just 10,704 votes four years ago. Trump won Antrim County by 31 percentage points and Grand Traverse County by 13 percentage points, though a majority of voters in Traverse City did not support him. Two years later, both counties stayed red in Michigans 2018 gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections. Veronica Welter, chair of the Antrim County Democratic Party, acknowledged building support for Democrats in rural Northwest Michigan has often been an uphill battle. But shes noticed more and more people requesting signs and expressing interest in the party this cycle shes hoping to swing an additional 3-4% of the Antrim County vote to Democrats this November. We have people coming out of the woodwork, saying, I never have put a sign out in my life, but this time, Im putting signs out, she said. Traverse City Mayor Jim Carruthers, who was in attendance at the Right Brain Brewery event, said hes excited to see candidates on both sides of the political spectrum are starting to realize the importance of Michigan and the Grand Traverse region in elections. He personally supports Joe Biden, and believes a majority of Traverse City voters will ultimately vote for the Democratic ticket. Grand Traverse County, however, can be very red, he said. Hopefully there will be some concern within the Republican Party about the direction that this current president is taking this country, he said. Joining Jill Biden in Traverse City Tuesday was Chasten Buttigieg, a Traverse City native and husband of former Democratic primary candidate Pete Buttigieg. I know what its like to grow up in a place where youre not quite sure you fit in, he said while introducing Jill Biden. We have to elect Joe Biden... because people right here in our backyard are depending on that kind of leadership. About 100 people were in attendance at the seated rally, which was held in a parking lot outside of Right Brain Brewery. Attendees were required to wear masks and were screened for COVID-19 symptoms before entering. Biden later visited King Orchards in Central Lake, a U-pick orchard that grows a variety of fruits, to tour the farm and discuss the impact of climate change on Northern Michigan farms. During her Traverse City address, Biden criticized Trumps record on climate change: Its unbelievable that we have a president who just wont admit climate change exists." In a statement, Trump spokesperson Chris Gustafson said the president has been a proven champion for Michigan by replacing NAFTA and restoring the Soo Locks. Traverse City resident Marilyn Cobb, a retired teacher, said she was glad to hear Biden address climate change, as farms, orchards and wineries dealing with changing weather patterns are a key part of Northern Michigans economy. Generally speaking, Cobb said shes glad to see the Biden campaign take an active interest in the region. It puts us on the map and shows that were not all Republicans, she said. I think its an incredibly important election, and so I think the campaigns are probably trying to hit places that maybe they never hit before. The visit comes hours ahead of the first general election presidential debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. in Cleveland. Michigan voters have already begun to receive their absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Nearly 2.4 million Michigan voters have requested absentee ballots so far. Read more: Michigan voters start casting ballots in 2020 presidential election The Biden campaign has stepped up its events schedule in Michigan this month. Joe Biden last visited Michigan on Sept. 9. His running mate, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., stopped in Flint and Detroit on Sept. 22. The former Second Lady was in the state on Sept. 15, when she toured Kids' Food Basket in Grand Rapids and attended an event with military families in Battle Creek. Jill Biden also visited Flint and Lansing before the March Democratic primary and hosted virtual events supporting her husband. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Jill Biden to visit Traverse City Tuesday on Northern Michigan campaign swing Jill Biden focuses on veterans issues, food insecurity in West Michigan campaign swing President Donald Trump says hes running for reelection to keep jobs in Michigan Joe Biden meets with Detroit-area steelworkers during campaign swing through Michigan NEWTOWN A federal judge overseeing Remingtons $159 million bankruptcy sale on Tuesday assured nine Sandy Hook families who are suing the gunmaker that some of the sale proceeds will be dedicated to keeping the gunmakers insurance intact. Im prepared to approve this sale, and at a future status conference work out the distribution of the funds, including the issue about insurance that the Sandy Hook families are raising, Judge Clifton Jessup said. Jessups approval, which he expects to enter on Wednesday, represents a victory for the Sandy Hook families, who have been fighting to preserve their wrongful death lawsuit since Remington filed for Chapter 11 protection and left the families off its list of creditors. The judges approval also means a victory for Fairfield-based Sturm Ruger, which has successfully bid $30 million for Remingtons Marlin firearms business. Six other companies have successfully bid on other pieces of the country oldest firearms manufacturer. File photo Remington began the hearing on Tuesday by promising it would keep its insurance policies and documents related to the Sandy Hook lawsuit intact if the judge approved the Chapter 11 sale. Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media But under cross-examination by Sandy Hook families lawyers, a key Remington bankruptcy consultant admitted he had neither reviewed the companys insurance coverage nor computed costs related to preserving and producing marketing records Sandy Hook families have the right to examine as part of the pretrial process in Connecticut Superior Court. That didnt sit well with the families. (Remington) has provided us assurance they are not selling the insurance policies but that does not address our concern that these policies will be usable after the sale, said Faith Gay, one of the attorneys representing Sandy Hook families in bankruptcy court in Alabama. This is simply essential that these values are maximized without it, hundreds of millions of dollars may well be impaired. Remington, which assured Jessup that he should approve the sale over the objections of the Sandy Hook families, argued its insurance coverage and internal marketing documents will not be sold or otherwise neglected. These are not issues for today but issues for later down the road, said Remington attorney Gary Svirsky, during a virtual hearing. We have made it clear that the policies are not to be sold and the litigation isnt going to being transferred. The litigation in question is the wrongful death lawsuit brought six years ago by nine families who lost loved ones in the shooting of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook School in 2012. The families charge that Remington violated Connecticuts Unfair Trade Practices Act by recklessly marketing an AR-15 rifle to the civilian market that was used by the Sandy Hook gunman. Remington counter-argues that it manufactured a legal firearm that was misused by a criminal. The families have had the momentum after back-to-back victories in Connecticut Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Remington has been losing money every quarter since 2018, including a loss of $40 million in the first six months of 2020, according to documents introduced in court Tuesday. If that seems unlikely at a time of uncertainty in the United States when the gun industry is booming, it is. Now in its second bankruptcy in as many years, Remington has been unable to climb out of debt it took on after 2012, when investors who didnt want to be associated with the Sandy Hook shooting left. The first good news the company has had for a long time came last week, when the bidding war drove up the sale price from $65 million to $159 million. Remingtons attorney said that should be good news for the Sandy Hook families wrongful death claim. This sale has delivered considerable value to Remington, Svirsky said. (Remington has) more money than it did before the sale, and that means more money now for everything. Sandy Hook families said theyll believe it when assurances were built into the sale agreement. If (Remington) cannot assure the court they will preserve these assets the sale should not be approved, Gay said. Jessup spent the last part of Tuesdays hearing setting up a meeting in October to be sure the families concerns are addressed. At that conference, well discuss the status of the sale and how the sale will impact the insurance policies for the benefit of the Sandy Hook families the other creditors, the judge said. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 TOKYO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Japanese researchers have launched the Joint Research Coronavirus Task Force to gather genetic information for predicting severe cases of COVID-19 and developing effective vaccines. The Keio Research Highlights website offers more details about this and other recent research being conducted by researchers at Keio University. https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/ On 21 May, 2020, the Joint Research Coronavirus Task Force was launched in Japan to promote the development of a mucosal vaccine for COVID-19 based on advanced genomic analysis. "We will analyze 600 blood samples taken from Japanese COVID-19 patients located in approximately 100 hospitals throughout Japan," explains Takanori Kanai of the Keio University School of Medicine, who leads the task force. "One of the goals of the research is to try to understand why the mortality rate due to COVID-19 has remained significantly lower in Japan than the United States and European countries. We think it may be related to genetic differences. We want to resolve this issue and share our results with our colleagues around the world." Background and goals This research is being undertaken by experts affiliated with Keio University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Osaka University, the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Kitasato University, and Kyoto University. "Our research team includes specialists in infectious diseases as well as other fields such as molecular genetics, computational science, and gastroenterology, which is my area of expertise, and is not directly related to epidemiology or infectious diseases," says Kanai. "This project was conceived by a small group of medical doctors and researchers without experience of handling infectious diseases. But the actual project is interdisciplinary, with members including ICU and medical care staff at university hospitals, community healthcare practitioners, immunologists, and even members of the general public. Ultimately, we want to contribute to society through medicine and science." Working hypotheses for possible reasons for fewer COVID-19 deaths in Japan and Asia The members of the task force compiled the following list of potential reasons for the low mortality rate in Japan: Japan's world-class medical system; a history of regular face mask use and attention to hygiene (including hand washing) in daily life; a culture of avoiding physical contact akin to social distancing; low expression of virus receptors; BCG vaccination; and differences in immune response due to differences in racial HLA and other polymorphisms. Gathering samples and genetic information The task force's goals are to establish a medical response system to predict who is at risk of contracting severe COVID-19 and develop a vaccine using proprietary technology. Genomic analysis technology is being employed to elucidate the genetic basis of the mechanisms that trigger COVID-19 infections to worsen, and thereby develop methods to fight the disease and develop a mucosal vaccine. The team is focusing on the fact that the number of COVID-19 deaths per capita is far smaller in the Japanese population than it is in Western countries. The 600 blood samples are being studied by methods including high-resolution HLA analysis, SNP array and whole-genome sequence analysis, and T-cell repertoire analysis. "Our analysis is being used to compare severe cases with mild and asymptomatic cases to identify genes that may be responsible for the exacerbation of COVID-19 in Japanese patients," explains Kanai. "Regarding vaccine development, predicting the target epitope is a major challenge. We are planning to use supercomputer simulations to identify potential antigens for SARS-CoV-2 based on our results for determining the genes that lead to severe cases of COVID-19 in Japanese patients." Initial findings will be announced in September 2020 The task force plans to announce the initial findings of their research in September 2020. This will include the identities of the genes associated with triggering severe cases of COVID-19 among Japanese people that could be used to predict potential severity during early diagnostics. "We want to use our results to produce guidelines to mitigate the dangers of overloading the medical care system during potential second or possibly third waves of COVID-19," says Kanai. "Furthermore, our immunological genetic information will be valuable for designing potential vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 for many Japanese people. We will share our results with colleagues in other countries so that they can use them to develop strategies to combat COVID-19 for their own populations." About the researcher Takanori Kanai - Professor Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, School of Medicine Takanori Kanai graduated from the Keio University School of Medicine in 1988. Between 1989 and 2003 he held teaching positions at the Keio University School of Medicine, Keio Cancer Center, and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU). He has also held distinguished positions including as a committee member of the Harvard Medical Institute Educational Program at TMDU; Section Editor of the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Associate Editor of Journal of Gastroenterology; Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Physiology and Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology; and Clinical Professor of Medicine (Visiting), TMDU. At the Keio University School of Medicine, he was appointed as an associate professor in 2007 and a professor in 2013, and he has been serving as a vice dean since 2017. Links COVID-19 taskforce https://www.covid19-taskforce.jp/en/home/ Takanori Kanai information https://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/html/100002919_en.html Further information Keio University Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan E-mail: keio-rpr@adst.keio.ac.jp Websites Keio University https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/ Keio Research Highlights https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/ About Keio University Keio University is a private, comprehensive university with six major campuses in the Greater Tokyo area along with a number of affiliated academic institutions. Keio prides itself on educational and research excellence in a wide range of fields and its state-of-the-art university hospital. Keio was founded in 1858, and it is Japan's first modern institution of higher learning. Over the last century and a half, it has evolved into and continues to maintain its status as a leading university in Japan through its ongoing commitment to producing leaders of the future. Founder Yukichi Fukuzawa, a highly respected educator and one of the most important intellectuals of modern Japan, aspired for Keio to be a pioneer of new discoveries and contribute to society through learning. Image: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1283614/KRH_fig_1.jpg The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested four persons, including Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) president Birender Singh Dhillon, in connection with the tractor-burning incident near India Gate. They have been identified as PYC president Birender Singh Dhillon, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) national general secretaries Harish Panwar and Abraham Roy Mani and IYC secretary Bunty Shalke. "Four more persons have been arrested on Tuesday in a case registered at Tilak Marg police station. They have been identified as PYC president Birender Singh Dhillon, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) national general secretaries Harish Panwar and Abraham Roy Mani and IYC secretary Bunty," a senior police officer said. A total of 10 people, including six on September 28 (Monday), have been arrested in this connection. The Congress' youth wing activists had on Monday morning set a tractor ablaze near India Gate, a few hundred metres from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, to protest the contentious farm laws. Six of the PYC activists were arrested on Monday and police had also seized two vehicles in the matter. Police had said that around 20 people carried a tractor on a truck to Rajpath, Man Singh Crossing, unloaded it from the truck and set it on fire. According to police sources, the Punjab Youth Congress activists entered Lutyens' Delhi along with a Punjab Police car. Hyderabad, Sep 29 : Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday said that the whole world was looking towards Hyderabad for an effective COVID-19 vaccine. She visited the campus of vaccine-maker Bharat Biotech, which is working towards India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin. The Governor noted that scientists and researchers have been working tirelessly to develop the vaccine and hoped that it would be launched by 2020-end. She interacted with the scientists involved in the COVID-19 vaccine research and trials at the Bharat Biotech campus in Genome Valley here. "I salute all those scientists and other researchers for their relentless work to come out with a vaccine for COVID-19. Not only Telangana or India, the whole world is hoping that our scientists come out with an effective, affordable, and safe vaccine for COVID-19," Soundararajan said. Expressing anguish over the death of many stalwarts, celebrities and common people due to the virus, the Governor called for an effective vaccine to end the sufferings of mankind. "We must ensure that the vaccine reaches people all over the world. The vaccine must benefit all, irrespective of their socio-economic status or their country," she added. The Governor, during her interaction with Bharat Biotech founders Dr Krishna M Ella and Dr Suchitra Ella and other scientists, appreciated their efforts and achievements in supplying a record number of three billion doses of different vaccines to people all over the world and thus immunising and saving millions of lives. Soundararajan presented a Thank You badge to Suchitra Ella for leading the Covaxin research and trials and hoped that their efforts would succeed soon. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) WASHINGTON The first presidential debate between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump has a strong chance of being the most-watched political event in U.S. history, and the enormous potential audience on Tuesday is just one factor that has heightened the stakes for both candidates. For Trump, stuck for months on a losing trajectory, the debate stands as one of the few remaining opportunities to shift how Americans view the election and to reach voters beyond his deeply committed core of supporters. For Biden, who has maintained a significant, but not unbeatable, lead nationally and in crucial swing states, the encounter provides a chance to bolster his standing with a key slice of the electorate voters who have turned against the president but remain unconvinced about his challenger. With that opportunity, however, comes risk for the former vice president, who, in debates during the primary elections, sometimes appeared to lack energy or focus. Debates are often overrated as a turning point in campaigns, said Mike Murphy, the veteran Republican strategist and fervent Trump critic who co-directs USCs Center for the Political Future. Research by political scientists shows that for all the attention they get, general-election debates only rarely have an impact that lasts more than a week or so. This debate is a little different, Murphy said, in part because Trump and his campaign have worked furiously to raise doubts in voters' minds about Bidens mental fitness and physical stamina. For Biden to break through and show hes sharp and on top of it, thats an opportunity but also a risk, Murphy said. If Biden has a bad debate, Trump has a whole month to exploit it. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech on the Supreme Court at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)AP Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg agreed. Republicans have been very effective in spreading the idea that Biden is physically or mentally impaired, she said. You hear a lot of it in focus groups of voters. Since most swing voters dont pay much attention to political news, the debate will probably be the first opportunity that a lot of voters have to see Biden and see that hes not impaired, she said. Thats the main thing. Indeed, many Republicans worry that Trump, with his frequent references to Biden as sleepy or out of it, has lowered the bar too much for what voters may expect from the Democratic challenger, said Republican strategist Alex Conant, a former top aide to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Thats definitely a risk they run. A potential parallel could be the 1980 election between President Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan. The two held only one debate, on Oct. 28, just one week before the election. Carter entered the debate holding a narrow lead. But when voters saw Reagan onstage, he did not seem like the scary war hawk Democrats had warned against. Over the campaigns final days, which included other events that damaged Carter, Reagans standing rose steadily, and he won by a large margin. Biden has participated in dozens of debates during three presidential bids as well as vice presidential debates in 2008 and 2012. He got high marks for the 2012 matchup against then-Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the GOPs nominee. In 2008, his skill in the primary debates impressed his rival, then-Sen. Barack Obama, and was one of the reasons Obama picked him as a running mate. He was strong, smart and much more disciplined than I expected, Obama said to advisor David Axelrod when they first discussed Biden as a potential running mate, according to Axelrods memoir, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Biden participated in 14 debates that primary cycle even though he dropped out of the race just after the Iowa caucuses in January 2008. His most memorable debate line jabbed a Republican, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani: There only three things he mentions in a sentence: A noun and a verb and 9/11. I mean, theres nothing else. His 2012 matchup with Ryan came at a crucial moment: Obama had done poorly in his first debate with Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, and Democrats badly needed Biden to do well to compensate. He did: With an aggressive, in-your-face performance, Biden belittled the conservative lawmaker who was decades younger than him. Republicans called Bidens smirking and condescension disrespectful, but Democrats were reinvigorated. We needed him to deliver an incredible performance against Paul Ryan, said Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama advisor at the time. Biden did well. It was a huge boost to our campaign. In this election cycle, Bidens primary debates were uneven. In the early going the debates that got the biggest audiences he often seemed halting. Supporters say that reflected rustiness after seven years off the debate stage and note that this spring, when he went one-on-one with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, he did much better. Trump, by contrast, did not fare especially well during the debates four years ago. The most memorable image of the encounters his walking behind Hillary Clinton onstage as she spoke drew cheers from his fans, who saw the move as bold, and protests from her supporters, who called him a stalker. The divided reaction illustrates the degree to which most viewers filter a debate through their own preconceptions. The fact that Trump won the election has created an impression in retrospect that he must have beaten Clinton in the debates. But polls at the time generally showed him losing ground after the encounters, then climbing back up as the debates faded from the news. That year, more than 84 million people watched their first debate, according to Nielsens ratings. That set a record. With attention to this years election at an all-time high, the audience could be larger. Viewership in that range could approach two-thirds of the number of people expected to vote. In todays fractured media world, no other moment in a campaign draws such a mass audience. In particular, debates get attention not only from hardcore partisans, but also less committed voters. Those swing voters will form a prime audience for both candidates Tuesday. Polls show that the vast majority of voters have firmly made up their minds about which candidate they support. For them, a debate can serve as a motivational exercise. But a small group of voters do remain undecided. A few swing back and forth between Trump and Biden. A somewhat larger group swings between voting and their couch, said Ashley Kirzinger, associate director of survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has looked at uncertain voters in key states. A recent survey by Kaiser and the Cook Political Report of voters in three Sun Belt battleground states Arizona, Florida, North Carolina found that three-quarters of voters had definitely made up their minds. They were almost evenly divided between the two sides. One in 10 said they were undecided, while an additional 3% said that they would probably vote for one candidate but that a chance remained that they might change their minds. Those less uncertain voters were younger than average, not particularly partisan and, at least in the three Sun Belt states, significantly more likely to be Latino, Kirzinger said. Across the three states, a majority of them had a negative view of Trump and a positive view of Biden. Two-thirds of the swing voters see Trump as unpredictable a quality they see as bad, Kirzinger said. They prefer Bidens leadership style and his position on issues including healthcare and handling the coronavirus. But they remain uncertain in part because nearly half say they think Biden is too old to be president, she said, and only 4 in 10 see him as a strong leader. Strategists in both parties said Trumps goal in appealing to those uncommitted voters should be to shift the election from a referendum on him a contest he has little chance of winning to a more direct focus on Bidens flaws. Thats a difficult task for any president, because reelection campaigns typically focus on the incumbent. Its even harder for Trump, who hates to cede attention to anyone else. Bidens challenge is different: Keep the focus on Trump while generating more enthusiasm for himself, which could boost turnout on his side. The same polls that show Biden with a persistent lead also show that a large share of his voters say theyre motivated more to cast a ballot against Trump than for Biden. Those surveys also show that despite Bidens decades in public life, a lot of voters especially younger Americans, people in immigrant communities and less partisan voters who dont pay huge attention to politics still dont know that much about him. Biden is not that well defined in a lot of voters' minds, Murphy said. That may be hard to believe, he said, for people who are immersed in the political world, but for a lot of people hes just an old senator. In Florida, where anti-Trump groups have done extensive research, a lack of information about who Biden is and what he stands for is an issue for many Latino voters and young people, he said. Hes got 40 days to fill that picture in, Murphy said. The debate is a key part of doing so. The uncertain voters are not political news consumers, and reaching them is really hard, Kirzinger said. They may not watch the debate, but theyll definitely hear the narrative coming out of it. David Lauter and Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story. 2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Ukrainian leader says geopolitical support is important to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the international platform regarding Crimea will discuss the release of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians from prisons both in temporarily occupied Crimea and in Russia, as well as the end of the Russian occupation of the peninsula. During a video conference with members of the European Parliament, he briefed them on Ukraine's initiative to create an international platform designed to improve coordination and cooperation to counter security threats posed by the Russian occupation of Crimea, as well as promoting the protection of Crimeans' rights, according to the president's press service. Read alsoMFA says to invite Russia to partake in Crimea deoccupation platform "Apart from the economy and money, geopolitical support is important to us. Some of the things we want to pay attention to are the appearance and our proposal of the Crimean platform," he said. "A platform where we want to discuss the most important humanitarian issues, the issue of assistance to all Ukrainians both Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians who have been imprisoned in Crimea and in Russia. This is the return, release of these citizens, as well as the end of the occupation of Crimea." The video conference was attended by MEPs representing various political groups in the European Parliament, including Michael Gahler (Germany), Petras Austrevicius (Lithuania), Niclas Herbst (Germany), Frederique Ries (Belgium), Elzbieta ukacijewska (Poland), and Wodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Poland). Background New Delhi, Sep 29 : The opposition Congress alleged that law and order had collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as the Yogi Adityanath government had "failed to protect women" in the state. The statement came after a Dalit gang rape victim from Hathras passed away in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi alleged that "Law and order had collapsed in the state and there was no protection to women, even as criminals are roaming freely in Uttar Pradesh." She said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was answerable for the safety of women in the state. Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said: "Yogi Adityanath government kept sitting for eight days. Why was no action taken against the culprits all these days? It was only when the case was highlighted that the administration woke up." She said that civil and police officials were in denial mode over the crime and even dubbed it "fake news". The Congress leader also questioned the "silence" of BJP women leaders, saying why were they not stepping forward to ensure justice for the 19-year-old victim. She demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits to ensure quick justice to the bereaved family. The victim was gang raped and left paralysed due to the assault by four upper caste men about a fortnight ago. She died in Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (Credit: Thames TV) The nostalgia is strong with this one, as the first teaser for the Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds movie hits the internet. From the first notes of the theme tune to Dogtanian making swift work of slicing up an apple (as per the original cartoon's opening credits), the reboot appears to be aiming for both a new audience and the parents who fondly recall the original series. Read more: A Dogtanian movie is on the way The swashbuckling musketeer dog also appears with Pip, his mouse sidekick in the brief clip. Being produced by Spanish animation house Apolo, it sets a theatrical release date for 'early 2021', though these are fluid times for cinema release dates. The original series was made by Nippon Animation in Japan in 1981, following the stories of Alexandre Dumas's tales of d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers, set in 17th century France during the Ancien regime. But instead of rapier-wielding swordsmen, the characters were cats, dogs, mice and other creatures. Read more: Everything coming to Disney+ in October After airing in Japan, it was exported to Spain, and then around the world, arriving in the UK in the after-school pre-tea time slot on Children's BBC in 1985. Nippon and its Spanish production partner BRB International then collaborated for a second time on the series Around The World With Willy Fog, a similarly anthropomorphic take on Jules Verne's Around The World In 80 Days. So it was perhaps little surprise that Apolo revealed earlier this month that it is planning to release another animated movie of the Willy Fog adventures too. A new bill in Congress would open the Gulf of Mexico and other federal waters to offshore fish farming, a controversial idea backed by President Donald Trumps administration but opposed by environmental groups and elements of the seafood industry that depend on wild fisheries. Introduced Thursday and sponsored by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act aims to accomplish what a recent federal court decision said was impossible unless Congress intervened. Last month, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans blocked federal rules that would have allowed offshore fish farming for the first time in the Gulf, considered potentially a prime area for raising high-value fish in large floating pens. The court said federal regulators lack the authority to create an entire industry not mentioned in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries since 1976. If anyone is to expand the 40-year-old Magnuson-Stevens Act to reach aquaculture for the first time, it must be Congress, the decision said. The AQUAA Act would do just that. It would establish national standards and a regulatory system for offshore aquaculture. It would also initiate a research and technology grant program to fund improvements in the industry. Expanding aquaculture would be a boon to American businesses and help meet growing demand for seafood, Wicker said. Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector, but the U.S. lacks a comprehensive, nationwide system for permitting in federal waters, he said in a statement. This deficiency prevents the development of aquaculture farms, leading to more seafood imports. U.S. fishers and aquaculture operations have lagged in meeting demand for fish and other seafood. More than 80% of the seafood eaten by Americans is imported. Opponents say offshore fish farms will create pollution in the form of fish waste, spread diseases to wild fish populations and increase competition with fishing companies that depend on wild catches. Industrial finfish aquaculture facilities harm wild ecosystems ... and threaten local fishermens livelihoods, said Rosanna Marie Neil, policy specialist with Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Instead of supporting the corporate takeover of our oceans, lawmakers should safeguard the livelihoods of fishermen and coastal residents who are already struggling. Other groups opposed to offshore aquaculture include the Center for Food Safety, Gulf Fishermens Association, Alabama Charter Fishing Association, and New Orleans-based Recirculating Farms Coalition and Healthy Gulf. The slow-simmering effort to allow fish farming in the Gulf received a major boost in May, when Trump signed an executive order making it the policy of the federal government to identify and remove unnecessary regulatory barriers restricting aquaculture in federal waters. The appeals court decision didnt slow his administrations efforts to allow offshore fish farms. Within weeks of the decision, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans to designate waters in the Gulf and off the California coast that show strong potential for aquaculture, while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began streamlining the aquaculture permitting process. Fish farming is currently allowed in ponds and tanks on land and in floating pens in some marine waters managed by states, such as Washington and Hawaii. Only one offshore fish farm has been proposed in the Gulf to date. Ocean Era of Hawaii envisions installing an underwater net pen about 45 miles southwest of Sarasota. The project, called Velella Epsilon, could produce 20,000 almaco jack, a fish similar to amberjack, each year. Rubio said fish farming presents an enormous opportunity for Floridas economy. Opponents say the industrys benefits would be concentrated with a few companies that have the money to build expensive farms. Even Ocean Era, which already operates an almaco jack farm in Hawaii, relied on federal assistance to get its Florida project going. In 2017, NOAA gave Ocean Era a $130,000 grant to help with permitting, research and promotion efforts. Its doubtful fish farms will create many jobs, according to Food & Water Watch, which found that floating farms in Hawaii typically employed about 22 people. Fish farms could threaten existing fishing jobs by producing seafood that undercuts prices for wild-caught varieties, say members of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. The AQUAA Act was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation last week. A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. 2020 The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate Visit The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate at www.nola.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A woman who lost her entire nose due to skin cancer was able to have doctors reconstruct a new one for her. In 2016, Sabrina Falcon, 56, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma and underwent two surgeries to remove the cancer. Months later, after she began experiencing severe headaches, she learned all the diseased cells had not been removed and they had spread across her nose. The whole nose had to be removed. In the past, her only option would have been using a prosthesis, through which to breathe, for the rest of her life. However, surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona told her that, by using regenerative medicine, they could take part of her scalp to build a new nose for her. Falcon says her new nose functions just like the one she was born with and she is able to smell, sneeze and even generate mucus just like anybody else. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Sabrina Falcon, 56, of Las Vegas, Nevada, had a new nose constructed for her after losing the entire organ to skin cancer. Pictured: Falcon after the reconstructive surgery Falcon was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a skin cancer that occurs in a type of cell that produce new skin as old cells die, in 2016. She had two surgeries to remove the cancer from her nose but, months later, began experiencing severe headaches and facial pain. Pictured, left and right: Falcon undergoing reconstructive surgery Falcon, who grew up in Southern California, told DailyMail.com that she describes herself as a 'sun baby.' 'You know, when I was young, I did not wear sunscreen,' she said. 'Back in my days, I was born in the 60s, they were all about baby oil...It wasn't until I got older that I started wearing a lot of sunscreen, mostly on my face. 'I definitely was out all the time, hiking, beach, primarily with no sunscreen on.' In 2016, while based in Chicago as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, Falcon had a regular doctor's appointment, in which the physician noticed that the end of her nose was unusually squishy. After examining the nose and running some tests, she was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a form of skin cancer that occurs in the basal cell, a type of cell that produce new skin cells as old cells die. It most often begins on the head or neck and appears as a translucent, light pink or red bump on the skin. BCC is incredibly localized and almost almost never spreads compared to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Australian actor Hugh Jackman has had at least six procedures to remove BCC from his nose after first being diagnosed in 2013. More than four million cases of basal cell carcinoma are diagnosed each year in the US, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. It is the most frequently occurring form of all cancers, but only causes about 2,000 US deaths every year. However, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 6,800 will die of melanoma in 2020. Falcon underwent two surgeries to remove the cancer from her nose but, months later, she began suffering from debilitating headaches and facial pain. 'I went to different doctors and they said: "Nothing's wrong. You had a basal cell. It's going to be sore. Whatever,"' she said. Los Angeles was not a base yet for Southwest, so Falcon transferred to Las Vegas where she visited even more doctors to no avail. 'All I kept hearing was: "Nothing's wrong. You need to go home and smoke marijuana." All kinds of bizarre things,' she said. She visited several doctors, none of whom had answers for why she had debilitating headaches, until she went to the Mayo Clinic. Pictured: Falcon before being diagnosed with skin cancer Doctors at the Mayo Clinic told Falcon her previous surgeries had not removed all the cancer and it had spread throughout her nose. Pictured: An animated graphic showing the portion of Falcon's nose that needed to be rebuilt During this time, Falcon said she started seeing spots and her headaches had enhanced so she went to see an eye doctor for a different issue, but brought up her head pain. She said she was thinking about visiting the Mayo Clinic, and he agreed. Her appointment in May 2019 at the Mayo Clinic's Arizona campus in Phoenix finally revealed what was wrong. Falcon's previous surgeries had not removed all of the cancer and the basal cell tumor had metastasized, spreading across her entire nose. 'Honestly, I was extremely ecstatic because I knew something was wrong and it was really interrupting my life and daily activities,' she said. 'So I was really happy and glad I could move forward.' On May 15, Falcon underwent Mohs surgery, a procedure in which layers of cancerous skin are removed until there is only uninfected tissue. According to Dr Shari Ochoa, a dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic, the surgery had to be done in four stages because the tumor covered the entire nose. 'The cancer had extended from one side of her nose to the other, from the nasal bone to the bridge of the nose,' she said. Surgeons removed the diseased part of Falcon's nose and then began a process for reconstructing the organ. Pictured: Surgeons operating on Falcon Doctors used skin from her scalp and forehead and cartilage from her ear to build a new nose. The process took five surgeries last from May 2019 to October 2019. Pictured, left to right: Falcon undergoing reconstructive surgery Falcon said she had had a cone bandage placed over where her nose would be so she assumed she still had a nose. The next day, Falcon met with Dr Brittany Howard, an otolaryngologist and facial reconstruction surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, who explained what the reconstruction would look like. 'She said: "We're going to take [the bandages] off and I'm going to give you a mirror and you need to realize this is temporary but I'm going to be with you through this entire journey but you need to be with me too,"' she said. Falcon (pictured) said she views the experience as positive and hopes her story inspires others in her situation to seek reconstructive surgery as well Falcon said she had her bandages taken off and her sister started crying at the sight. 'But I looked in the mirror and surprisingly I just said: "Okay." And there's a big hole in your head and you're just going: "Ohright." So I said: "I'm in,"' the flight attendant said. Howard told DailyMail.com that Falcon underwent five surgeries - with four weeks in between each procedure - to reconstruct the nose using skin from the scalp and forehead. 'We take skin from the forehead, bring it down like an elephant trunk, and fold it inside the nose so that that skin extends all the way inside the nose to make the new interior lining and outside,' she said. Next, Howard took cartilage from Falcon's ear to build a new skeleton and then used diced donor cartilage mixed with tissue glue to shape the nose that would fit Falcon's face. 'Over those staged surgeries, we put a skeleton inside of it, we separate the inside from the outside and then shape the outside.' Howard also placed an expander inside Falcon's to stretch her scalp so that it could regenerate skin and restore her natural hairline, and then removed the expander with the new skin in place. Falcon said her new nose functions very well, she can breathe normally and she hopes other people can be inspired by her story that there is hope for others in her situation. 'It's amazing what they can do, it's amazing that I'm still here and I just want to help others,' she said. 'I've seen a lot of beauty in this and I took this experience and made it the best I could.' President Ilham Aliyev has said that Nikol Pashinyans regime is a threat to regional peace as Armenia has stepped up new provocation against Azerbaijan. Aliyev made the remarks while receiving credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador of Pakistan Bilal Hayee on September 29. Two years ago, the criminal regime of the previous [Armenian] government was overthrown. There were hopes that the new government would put an end to hostility and hatred. Unfortunately, the new government is following the same path. Pashinyan's dictatorial regime is a threat to peace and security in the region. Unfortunately, international organizations are turning a blind eye to what the Pashinyan regime is doing, Aliyev said. Aliyev reminded that Armenia launched similar military attack on the Azerbaijani border in July, killing Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian. He also spoke about Armenias sabotage attempt on 23 August, when Armenia sent a sabotage group to Azerbaijan. The head of the sabotage group was arrested and said in his statements that the main target was to attack civilians, commit acts of terror and attack Azerbaijani servicemen, Aliyev said. President Aliyev said that the military provocation on the line of contact on 27 September was the continuation of Armenias aggressive policy. We saw them preparing for war. My remarks, statements, interviews and speech at the UN General Assembly a few days before the new aggression were a signal to the international community to stop Armenia. I said that Armenia was clearly preparing for a new war and should be stopped, and so it happened. Aliyev spoke about the Azerbaijani Armys ongoing successful counter-offensive operation on the line of contact in response to the Armenian attack on Azerbaijani villages and military positions on September 27. So far, the Armenian armed forces have killed 10 civilians, including a family of five, among them two children. More than 20 civilians have been injured. This once again demonstrates the fascist nature of the Armenian criminal regime. This time we will teach them another lesson. We have already taught them a lesson and this process will be continued. The Azerbaijani Army has launched a counter-offensive. Some occupied territories have been liberated as a result of the counterattack. We are fighting on our own land. Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical part of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and the international community recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the president stressed. President Aliyev reminded that Pashinyan has committed series of provocations such as declaring that Karabakh is Armenia, attempting to change the format of negotiations, illegally settling Armenians from Lebanon to the occupied territories, organizing military training in the occupied territories. They organize the so-called swearing-in ceremony for the fake leader of the criminal regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, in Shusha, which is an ancient city of Azerbaijan. They decide to move the so-called parliament of the criminal junta of Nagorno-Karabakh to Shusha and think that we will tolerate that. This is a direct insult to the feelings of the Azerbaijani people. We will never agree to this and show them their place. If the international community cannot stop this mindless dictator, Azerbaijan will stop him, Aliyev said. The president said that the international community tolerates injustice and occupation, countries with a mandate to create conditions for negotiations fail to achieve their goals. Armenia is not paying any attention to their statements. The presidents of the Minsk Group co-chairs have repeatedly stated that the status quo is unacceptable, but Armenia ignores this and shows disrespect for these three countries. There are four UN Security Council resolutions calling for the full and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our territories. Armenia has been ignoring these resolutions for almost 30 years, and now their defense minister says there will be a new war against Azerbaijan for new territories. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Azerbaijani armored vehicles, one of which is destroyed by Armenian armed forces in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, is seen in a still image from footage released on Sept. 27, 2020. (Defense Ministry of Armenia/Handout via Reuters) Turkey, Azerbaijan Deny Turkish F-16 Fighter Jet Shot Down Armenian SU-25 Plane Turkeys Defense Ministry has denied that one of its F-16 fighter planes shot down an Armenian SU-25 fighter after the Armenian Defense Ministry made the assertion. At about 10:30 on Tuesday Turkish F-16 fighters took from the airbase in Gyandzha to provide support for Azderbaijani forces strikes against the city of Vardenis and the villages of Mets Masrik and Sotk. A Turkish F-16 shot down a Sukhoi-25 of the Armenian Air Force, which was on a combat mission. The Turkish fighter was 60 kilometers (40 miles) inside Azerbaijans air space at an altitude of 8,200 meters (5 miles), the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a news release on Monday night. But a spokesperson for Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denied the allegation. Armenia should withdraw from territories under its occupation instead of resorting to these cheap propaganda tricks, the Turkish presidencys office said in a statement to news outlets. Tensions escalated over the Nagorno-Karabakh region starting on Sept. 27, with military clashes ensuing over the disputed territory. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have implemented martial law and declared mobilization of forces. Azerbaijans Defense Ministry also denied that a Turkish F-16 jet has shot down an Armenian warplane, reported Reuters. An ethnic Armenian soldier fires an artillery piece during fighting with Azerbaijans forces in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in this handout picture released on Sept. 29, 2020. (Defense Ministry of Armenia/Handout via Reuters) Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Vagif Dargahli said that Azerbaijan has no F-16 planes in its arsenal. The information of the Armenian side that the F-16 fighter belonging to the Azerbaijani Air Force was allegedly shot down is a lie and is provocative in nature. We declare that there are no F-16 fighters in the arsenal of the Azerbaijan Air Force, and we remind the Armenian side that it is impossible to destroy what doesnt exist, Dargahli said, according to the Azer News. He also denied claims that Azerbaijan lost some of its territories. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense states that no land of the liberated territories has been lost. Currently, the Azerbaijani army is conducting an operation to suppress the resistance of Armenia, said Dargahli. According to officials in the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, 58 servicemen on their side have been killed so far. The territorys Defense Ministry on Sunday also reported two civilian deathsa woman and her grandchild. About 200 troops have been wounded, but many were only slightly hurt and have returned to action, the Armenian Defense Ministry said. Azerbaijani authorities said nine civilians were killed and 32 wounded on their side. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday there were losses among Bakus forces, too, but he didnt elaborate. The heavy fighting broke out Sunday in the region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Yerevan government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war. The Associated Press contributed to this report. We're sorry, but we're unable to locate the page you requested. The page may have been removed, renamed, or deleted. You can try searching for the topic using the search button in the right hand corner above. The Trump administration has asked the military how quickly it would be able to pull nuclear weapons out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines should an arms control treaty with Russian be allowed to expire, a report suggests. Made to the US strategic Command in Nebraska, the request is said to be part of a strategy to pressure Moscow into renegotiating the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) before the US presidential election, three sources told Politico. The Trump administration reportedly believes that making the request outlines how serious they are about letting the agreement lapse should Russia fail to meet their demands. The sources said Trumps team is leery that Moscow is attempting to prolong the talks beyond the November vote in the hope that Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the election. They believe that Biden's proposals for New START renewal may be deemed more favorable by Russia. Its a clear signal that the costs for not negotiating before the election are going to go up, one of the sources, speaking on the grounds of anonymity, told Politico. The Trump administration has asked the military how quickly it would be able to pull nuclear weapons out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines should an arms control treaty with Russian be allowed to expire The source continued that the Trump administration is trying to create an incentive, and its a real incentive, for the Russians to sit down and actually negotiate. WHAT IS THE NEW START TREATY? Signed in 2010, the New START treaty limits the United States and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It represents the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries after they both withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year. The current New START treaty is set to expire on February 5, 2021, unless both sides find an agreement for a five year extension. The position of the Trump administration, however, remains that New START is too narrow and a more comprehensive replacement that restricts a broader class of weapons including tactical and battlefield nuclear weapons is needed. Advertisement The White Houses request for the assessment was reportedly made within the last two weeks, and was issued by a group of officials from the National Security Council and State, Defense and Energy departments. The officials involved are currently supporting US arms control envoy Marshall Billingslea in negotiations with Moscow to try to replace New START before it runs out in February next year, Politico reported. As requested, the assessment will determine how long it would take to load nuclear weapons currently in reserve onto long-range bombers, ballistic missile submarines and silos on land to bolster the US nuclear capabilities should Russia increase its own arsenal. News of the request comes as Billingslea publicly touted the prospect of placing more weapons on bombers and submarines in the event New START expires. In recent weeks hes also issued a number of warnings to Russia that experts say comes as an attempt to secure more concessions from the Russians in the New START renewal negotiations. Signed in 2010, the New START treaty limits the United States and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It represents the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries after they both withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year. Billingslea recently said the existing New START treaty has loopholes and that any new agreement with Russia should cover all nuclear warheads and bolster verification protocols and transparency. With such an agreement in place, he said fellow superpower China ultimately would not have much of a choice and would need to join such a framework. The world is not going to sit by and allow China to simply do what it currently thinks its going to do in terms of more than doubling its nuclear stockpile, he last week. So the president has made clear he doesnt want a three-way arms race. Its completely counterproductive and unnecessary. The officials involved are currently supporting US arms control envoy Marshall Billingslea in negotiations with Moscow to try to replace New START before it runs out in February next year Hans Kristensen, director of FAS Nuclear Security Project, told Politico that of the three legs of the nuclear triad bombers, submarines, and missile silos the weapons most readily available would be on the bombers The next would ballistic missile submarines, Kristensen said, beginning with those already in port and the rest when they return from deployment A series of former senior arms control officials and military figures have urged the White House to be cautious with its current approach at the negotiation table, warning the move could backfire. The main basis of concern stems from the idea the Trump administration, which has already withdrawn from two nuclear treaties with Russia, may be sending out the message its no longer concerned with placing any limits on the worlds largest armaments. Russia, in turn, then may be goaded into taking similar steps, experts fear. I call that megaphone diplomacy, former deputy secretary of NATO Rose Gottemoeller told Politico. Do we want to end up in a less stable place? Because we would be nuclear arms racing. A former GOP arms control official who declined to be identified similarly called the move very stupid. It makes absolutely no sense to threaten to upload, he continued. It becomes a valid leveraging point only if the other side cant do it. The Russians can do it, too. The source continued to the outlet that, more importantly, the systems we have deployed today are the ones we believe are necessary to provide an adequate deterrent. There is no obvious reason and every reason not to in the absence of a change in the threat. Its not going to scare the Russians. The likelihood of success with the Russians is about nil. The current New START treaty is set to expire on February 5, 2021, unless both sides find an agreement for a five year extension. In December, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would be open to extending the current arrangement without preconditions. Russia is willing to immediately, as soon as possible, before the year is out, renew this treaty without any preconditions,; Putin told a meeting of Defense Ministry officials on December 5, noting that Moscow had not received a response from Washington to its proposal. Putin reiterated the offer at his end-of-year news conference two weeks later on December 19, saying that we stand ready until the end of the year to extend the existing New START as is. The position of the Trump administration, however, remains that New START is too narrow and a more comprehensive replacement that restricts a broader class of weapons including tactical and battlefield nuclear weapons is needed. In December, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would be open to extending the current arrangement without preconditions. However, the Trump administration are demanding more concessions on the existing deal Billingslea says that the US and Russia must agree at least on the outlines of a new framework in order for Washington to consider extending the current agreement. When quizzed earlier this week as to whether the Trump administration would entirely scrap the treaty should the two nations not reach an agreement, Billingslea responded, absolutely. In such a situation, we will not extend the treaty, he told Russian newspaper Kommersant. Given all the deficiencies of New START, we consider it disadvantageous to the United States. It imposes constraints on the United States that it does not impose on Russia. The ambassador also said that the US would be taking steps to increase its number of nuclear warheads should the pact expire. He added that the longer Moscow delays, the less attractive the arrangement is likely to be. I suspect that after President Trump wins reelection, if Russia has not taken up our offer, that the price of admission, as we would say in the U.S., goes up, he told the outlet. Back in May, Billingslea also warned that the US could spend Russia and even China into oblivion should a nuclear arms race ensue. The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here, he said. We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion. If we have to, we will, but we sure would like to avoid it. The US and Russia both have a large number of weapons in storage that could be put on alert if such a course was taken. According to the Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Security Project, the US currently has 3,800 warheads stockpiled, while Russia has 4,310. Of those weapons, some could be made ready for deployment much quicker than others. According to the Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Security Project, the US currently has 3,800 warheads stockpiled, while Russia has 4,310. Of those weapons, some could be made ready for deployment much quicker than others (A B-52 Stratofortress is shown above) Hans Kristensen, director of FAS Nuclear Security Project, told Politico that of the three legs of the nuclear triad bombers, submarines, and missile silos the weapons most readily available would be on the bombers. Those weapons are just a few hundred yards from the aircraft, Kristensen said. They could be loaded in days. Others would have to be transported to the bases. Maybe a week or so. The next would ballistic missile submarines, Kristensen said, beginning with those already in port and the rest when they return from deployment. Lastly, the intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed in underground silos at bases in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, would be readied. Thats a very slow process, Kristensen said. That would take a long time for 400 silos. Many months. Kristensen continued that if the US decided to upload all of its reserve force at once, it would more double the deployed force, but questioned why such a measure would be necessary. I think theres an element of, the Russians might not make a deal, we need to be ready, an unnamed former White House official told the outlet. The administration is planning on what to do the day after. They want to be ready, but being ready doesnt actually mean that they will. With the addition of 37 coronavirus deaths in the national capital, the toll climbed to 5,272 on Monday. In the last month, Delhi has reported 828 Covid-19 linked deaths, around 40% more than the number of fatalities seen in August, when 481 people succumbed to the infection. The Times of India, , citing data released by the government, reported that June and July saw a maximum of 2,269 and 1,221 deaths due to the infection. Meanwhile, in April and May, Delhi reported 57 and 414 fatalities, respectively. A senior doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital told the publication that a majority of the deaths were occurring in elderly patients who suffer from more than one comorbidity. The doctor added that a delay in admission is another cause for the deaths. In the last one month, there has been an uptick in the coronavirus cases, though the positivity rate hovered between 5% and 10%. In the last 24 hours, Delhi reported 1,984 fresh cases, which is considerably lesser than the numbers seen on Sunday, an official was quoted as saying. The somewhat low count of new cases was recorded as 36,302 tests were conducted the previous day, the official added. The active coronavirus case count on Monday was 27,123, falling from 29,228 the previous day. As per the recent data, 6,609 of the 15,828 Covid beds were under use, while the occupancy of ICU beds with a ventilator and without ventilator was 62% and 76%, respectively. Around 16,679 Covid patients are under home isolation, the official added. Notably, there was a surge in the coronavirus cases since the beginning of this month, with September 16 seeing 4,473 cases, the biggest daily jump in Delhi so far. The daily rise in cases in Delhi had surpassed the 4,000-mark for the first time on September 9. The number of deaths recorded that day was 20. On Monday, Delhi saw 1,984 fresh Covid-19 cases, the lowest in nearly a month, as the infection tally rose to over 2.73 lakh, while the death toll increased to 5,272. Since September 1, cases have been recorded in the range of over 2,000 to 4,473. Thirty-seven new fatalities have been recorded, taking the death toll to 5,272, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department on Monday. Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain held a meeting with medical directors and medical superintendents of all Delhi government hospitals to take stock of the status of testing. Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev also held a review meeting with all district magistrates on COovid-19 management. While U.S. Space Force members may be planet-bound for now, its warfighters will eventually deploy into orbit, according to Space Command's top operations boss. "I think that will happen, but it's a long way off. But at some point, yes, we will be putting humans into space," Maj. Gen. John Shaw, head of the Combined Force Space Component Command at U.S. Space Command, said Tuesday during a discussion hosted by AFWERX. Read Next: DOJ Is Cracking Down on Towing Companies That Seize Troops' Cars "They may be operating command centers somewhere in the lunar environment or someplace else," he said in response to questions posed by Rick Tumlinson of the Space Frontier Foundation. Air Force Magazine was first to report Shaw's comments. Officials have said the Space Force could eventually expand its mission beyond protecting Earth-bound warfighters by watching over assets such as communications and GPS satellites and potentially even defending human space flights, with members headed into space themselves. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett hinted at the possibility in December. This possibility has also been evident through the service's messaging. For example, Space Force challenges new or potential troops to think beyond what's possible here on Earth in its advertisements, two of which debuted in May. The fledgling service asks viewers to ponder: "Maybe your purpose on this planet isn't on this planet" in one commercial; in the other, a Space Force member appears in a space suit. Media coverage on the concept of a military Space Force has been conflated with commercial space and civil space operations, for which NASA is responsible. For example, In the Steve Carell Netflix comedy "Space Force," one of the service's critical missions is to successfully execute war games in space suits and later to put "boots on the moon." Even President Donald Trump's reelection campaign has contributed to the confusion. For example, the Trump 2020 campaign in 2018 publicized a range of Space Force logos, including one depicting a space shuttle blasting off with the words, "Mars Awaits." Space Force has since unveiled its official logo. While Shaw did not give a timeline of when Space Force troops might deploy for a mission beyond Earth, the service recently marked its first deployment -- to the Middle East. Twenty airmen assigned to the 16th Expeditionary Space Control Flight and the 609th Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, transferred into the military's newest branch during enlistment or oath of office ceremonies earlier this month, according to a news release. The airmen are in organic space career fields, such as space operations and space systems operations, officials said. Airmen have routinely supported exercises and deployments for troops who rely on space assets on the battlefield, including satellite communications and other networking resources. But airmen who've deployed for the latest mission anticipate "watching technology and tactics evolve as the U.S. rises to thwart adversary efforts," the release said. The transferees will still be referred to as airmen while legislation on the Space Force's rank structure is pending. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Air Force's Secret Space Plane Is About to Launch Again with Even More Payloads WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club will hold a moment of silence in observance of the second anniversary of the murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post Global Opinions contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Friday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Khashoggi, who was openly critical of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in his columns for the Washington Post, was ambushed by 15 Saudi government officials inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and killed and dismembered on October 2, 2018. National Press Club President Michael Freedman will lead fellow Club members, staff and other journalists in a moment of silence at 2:00 p.m. in the Club's lobby, followed by brief remarks. The event is open to press coverage however registration is required; please contact the Club's Communications Director Lindsay Underwood ([email protected]) for more information. Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is The World's Leading Professional Organization for Journalists with more than 3,000 members. The Club speaks out on press freedom issues and annually recognizes journalists at risk at home and abroad with the John Aubuchon Award for Press Freedom. PRESS CONTACT: Lindsay Underwood for the National Press Club; [email protected], (202) 662-7561 SOURCE National Press Club Related Links http://press.org Last Tuesday, September 22, was the ninth annual National Voter Registration Day - a nonpartisan and collaborative effort that annually registers hundreds of thousands of new voters. This year, over 100 Premier Partners and 4,500 community partners came together to register an estimated 1.5 million voters through virtual events and safe, in-person voter registration drives, making this the largest National Voter Registration Day in history. #NationalVoterRegistrationDay also dominated social media, trending #1 on Twitter with support from influencers and celebrities eager to use their platforms to inspire civic engagement. Well-known individuals such as Natalie Portman, Will Smith, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, Conan OBrien, Alyssa Milano, Katie Couric, Meghan Markle, and more celebrated the nonpartisan holiday by posting on social media, highlighting why getting registered is important and encouraging everyone to participate in the quickly-approaching elections. Political figures including President Trump, Joe Biden, and both the Republican and Democratic National Committees also used the day as a rallying point to get voters registered and share information related to the November 3 election. The historic levels of participation in this years National Voter Registration Day included Americans of all political affiliations and ideologies. The groundswell of interest in the holiday reflects a surge in public interest around civic participation, and shows that Americans agree, regardless of political beliefs, that our democracy works best when more of us participate, said Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican from Washington who sits on the holidays Steering Committee. Fellow Steering Committee member Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat from Minnesota, added that while a record-setting number of voters registered this past week, were confident that voter registration levels will continue to grow ahead of the elections, as registration remains open in all 50 states and DC. For up-to-date information on voter registration deadlines and policies, individuals can visit vote.gov, an official website of the U.S. government. It is no secret that COVID-19 impacted voter registration in a dramatic way. With DMVs closed across the country and in-person registration efforts postponed or altered due to the pandemic, National Voter Registration Days work this year was more urgent than ever. However, despite the pandemic, the organization shattered its previous record of 865,000 registrations set in 2018. While numbers are still being collected from the states, the organizers of the holiday estimate that 1.5 million new or updated voter registrations took place as part of the civic holiday. Many states saw their online voter registration numbers double or triple from the same day in 2018. National Voter Registration Day broke not only the record for most registrations, but also easily surpassed the previous record of partner organizations. About one third of the 4,500+ community groups that celebrated the holiday were getting involved in voter registration for the first time, and half of the 100+ Premier Partners were also new to National Voter Registration Day, including an even split between corporate and nonprofit partners. Nonprofit organizations and businesses like the Alliance for Youth Organizing, NALEO Educational Fund, Country Music Television, APIA Vote, Salesforce, the YMCA, Comedy Central, SiriusXM Pandora, MTV, the United States Conference of Mayors, and Blue Apron joined together to encourage citizens to register to vote and cast a ballot this fall. About National Voter Registration Day National Voter Registration Day is a single day of coordinated events by thousands of national and community partners across the nation to raise awareness of registration opportunities. Held on the fourth Tuesday of every September, it is endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State, National Association of State Election Directors, National Association of Election Officials, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Financial sponsors of the holiday include: Aflac, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Creative Artists Agency, Democracy Fund, Facebook, Participant Media, ViacomCBS, and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. ### If youre interested in connecting with one of National Voter Registration Days spokespeople, including Secretaries of State, corporate partners, nonprofits, or National Voter Registration Day representatives, please contact press@nationalvoterregistrationday.org. For further details on National Voter Registration Day, please visit nationalvoterregistrationday.org. Visitors to the site can register to vote at nationalvoterregistrationday.org/register. A federal court announced on Tuesday it would uphold the Federal Trade Commissions decision to block a proposed joint venture by leading coal firms Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Resources Inc., in a move that could have widespread implications for coal production in the Powder River Basin. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri affirmed the federal governments decision to stop the joint venture due to concerns it could stifle competition, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk concluded the venture would likely substantially impair competition in the southern Powder River Basin coal market. In February, the FTC filed a preliminary injunction to stop Peabody and Archs attempt to combine their coal operations under one roof. The two companies operate five coal mines in Wyoming and had hoped to join ventures, reduce costs and increase profitability. The two coal firms control about two-thirds of the southern Powder River Basins coal reserves, making them the biggest players in the basin. But the FTC, charged with protecting consumers, was concerned the move could stifle competition and hurt the public by hiking up prices for coal. Peabody and Arch Coals decision to abandon their joint venture will preserve competition in the market for thermal coal, which is sold to power-generating utilities that provide electricity to millions of Americans, Ian Conner, the director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, said in response to the courts decision. The joint venture likely would have raised the price of coal to the utilities, and ultimately to consumers. Yet, the two coal operators said their joint venture would have increased their cost competitiveness and helped them survive. Coals ranking in the power generation market has been under siege in recent years with the expansion of affordable natural gas and renewable energy. Production losses in coal country have significant consequences for the state heightening unemployment and exacerbating revenue shortfalls. The joint venture would save the companies roughly $120 million each year for the next decade during a time when the companies must operate amid thermal coals brutal market conditions, the firms argued. We are deeply disappointed with the courts decision as the intense all-fuels competition is clearly apparent to us, Peabody President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kellow said in a statement on Tuesday. Our focus now is on continuing to be the low-cost (Powder River Basin) coal provider to best compete against natural gas and subsidized renewables. We remain committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to a reliable and affordable fuel source. According to a statement published by Arch Resources on Tuesday, the company will not appeal the decision. In yet another blow to Wyomings Powder River Basin coal industry, Arch also announced it plans to pivot away from thermal coal production altogether. While we are disappointed with the courts decision, we intend to move full speed ahead with our strategic pivot towards steel and metallurgical markets, said Paul Lang, Archs chief executive officer. Wyomings governor opposed the FTCs injunction back in February, calling the decision a nail into an industry which is struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace. He also cited the potential job losses at coal mines in the basin if a controlled consolidation, like what Peabody and Arch suggested, did not occur. In an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. District Court earlier this year, the state of Wyoming argued a combined Peabody and Arch venture would likely translate into more stability and certainty for the coal-dependent state. Overcapacity in the basin (or too many coal operators vying for too few customers) has sent five firms operating in the Powder River Basin into bankruptcy since 2015. Peabody owns the North Antelope Rochelle mine, the largest coal mine in the country. Arch Resources owns neighboring Black Thunder. In addition to these two mammoth mines, the joint venture would include the Rawhide, Caballo and Coal Creek mines in the Powder River Basin, as well as a pair of mines in Colorado. Both Peabody and Arch, but especially Peabody, are really struggling right now, Joshua Macey, a University of Chicago law professor, said in response to the ruling. This joint venture was a desperate attempt for these two companies to turn themselves around. But its not clear that it would have even worked. So this (decision) is something harmful to them, but the magnitude of that harm is really unclear. Peabody announced in July it would write down the value of its largest coal mine by $1.42 billion, as conditions for thermal coal production continue to weaken. What used to be the jewel on both of their balance sheets the PRB mines, particularly the two largest have in the recent past been the brightest red spot, said Rob Godby an economist at the University of Wyoming closely tracking trends in coal markets. Theyve been bleeding and facing a significant loss of profitability. Before the court decision, smaller Powder River Basin coal operators faced the looming threat of competition from a Peabody-Arch merger. They may be breathing a sigh of relief now, according to Godby. But ultimately, the basin and Wyoming as a whole will likely be contending with more uncertainty in the near term because of the courts decision. Right now, you have too many mines chasing too few customers, Godby said. Its hard to find any profits to be made and companies are on thin ice when there is no profit to be made. They will have a tough time finding investment and creditors, and mining is a heavily capital-intensive industry. The Powder River Basins coal sector has struggled to maintain its dominant position in the electricity generation market in the past decade. Though the basin still pumps out roughly 40% of the nations coal, production volumes have tumbled. A decade ago, Wyomings coal epicenter produced over 400 million tons of the commodity. Last year, the basins mines pumped out much less, just 267 million tons. Fifteen years ago, coal was responsible for generating about 50% of the countrys electricity. Last year, coals contributions were half that amount. Coal-fired power plants have continued to shut down, chipping away at what demand for coal there is left. Benjamin Nelson, a lead coal analyst at Moodys Investors Service, forecast an ominous future for Wyomings coal-dependent communities on Tuesday. We expect the Powder River Basin coal production region will remain under significant pressure in 2021 and at least a few coal mines in the region could close, he said in a written statement. Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports Love 3 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 2 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Over 11,000 livestock farming businesses in Northern Ireland have submitted applications to the devolved government's Covid-19 support fund. This significant level of interest will result in total claims worth 18.2m being paid out, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said. The financial support fund for dairy, beef and sheep sectors opened for applications on 7 September 2020, and payments commenced from Monday (28 September). The scheme issues compensation for losses incurred by farming businesses as a result of short term market disturbance. Rates of compensation for losses incurred have been set by the government at 100 percent or 80 percent. Beef producers will receive support for 100% of losses incurred in the period from mid-February, while milk producers will receive 80% of losses incurred during March, April, May and June with a flat rate payment of 1.28p per litre. For sheep producers, they will receive 100% of losses incurred by receiving a flat rate payment of 6.88 per head based on the number of eligible sheep presented for direct slaughter in NI, GB or Republic of Ireland between 22 March and 18 April 2020. It comes as the NI Executive unveiled a 25m support package earlier this year - the most generous allocation made by any UK or EU administration for the agriculture sector during the Covid-19 crisis. DAERA's farming minister Edwin Poots said: 18.25m was allocated to dairy, beef and sheep farm businesses and Im pleased to note that just over 98% have submitted claims for financial losses as a result of the pandemic. My officials worked tirelessly, in partnership with industry and stakeholders, to get the scheme up and running and they will now demonstrate equal effort in processing these applications to ensure payments can begin to issue this week. With the closing date for applications for potato businesses closing later this week, Mr Poots encouraged those eligible to submit applications as soon as possible. He added: Up to 1.6m is available to offset losses incurred by eligible farm businesses who specialise in supplying potatoes for processing to meet food service and hospitality industry needs. "With the application window closing at midnight on 30 September I would again encourage those eligible to apply to do so as soon as possible. The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) also urged potato producers who meet the scheme criteria to complete the online application before the deadline. UFU deputy president William Irvine said: "It is now a matter of urgency that the first stage of the online application is completed, with a swift follow up action addressing the requirement of providing photocopies of all necessary documentary evidence." The scheme for eligible businesses in the commercial horticulture sector will be opening in October. WASHINGTON Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to close the American Embassy in Baghdad within weeks if Iraqi leaders fail to prevent Iranian-backed militias from firing rockets at the compound, three U.S. officials said. The move would place U.S. diplomats out of harms way but could jeopardize years of efforts to both stabilize the Iraqi government and keep it from becoming too dependent on neighboring Iran. It could also undercut international missions to train Iraqi security forces, and prompt diplomats from other nations to consider withdrawing from Baghdad as militias continue low-level but potentially deadly rocket and mortar attacks. A shutdown of the U.S. embassy, one of the largest American diplomatic missions in the world, would also send a signal that Washington is abandoning the new Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief whom U.S. diplomats had praised in the spring as a patriot capable of limiting Iranian influence and guiding a nation wracked by political turmoil, a coronavirus outbreak and violence. The number of reported cases of COVID-19 in Katy ISD remains low as the district maintains safety protocols in classrooms and on campuses. As of 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, there are 24 active COVID cases on Katy ISD campuses, including six staff members. Fifteen student cases are reported from campuses and the remaining three are via the Katy Virtual Academy. Related: Molina's Cantina now open in Fulshear All cases are based on internally confirmed COVID-19 positive self-reporting information. Students and faculty are asked to self-report cases. Katy High School has the most number of reported cases with four current cases among a reported 3,190 students but none among staff. Tompkins High School has three active student cases. No other campus has more than one active case among students. Related: HCAD residential appraisers to start visiting neighborhoods and homes Among staff members, Jenks Elementary School has two active cases among staff members. No other campus in the district has more than one case. Since the district began keeping track of cases on Aug. 19, there have been 120 total cases of COVID-19 reported in Katy ISD. To help slow the spread of COVID-19 amid the global pandemic, Katy ISD implemented numerous safety protocols to keep students and staff safe. Among the initiatives, students and staff in most grades are required to wear masks at all times, including on buses and in common areas of schools. In pre-kindergarten through third grade, students are required to wear masks at all times when developmentally appropriate. Social distancing is in place at all campuses. Extracurricular activities are ongoing but fans are asked to socially distance and wear masks. Sporting events continue with spectators limited to half capacity of venues. For more information, go to www.katyisd.org. rkent@hcnonline.com This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Demetrios Pynes who has served as CEO of Threat Protect Australia Limited (ASX:TPS) since 2015. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Threat Protect Australia. View our latest analysis for Threat Protect Australia Comparing Threat Protect Australia Limited's CEO Compensation With the industry According to our data, Threat Protect Australia Limited has a market capitalization of AU$14m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth AU$302k over the year to June 2020. That's a fairly small increase of 7.7% over the previous year. We note that the salary portion, which stands at AU$262.4k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO. For comparison, other companies in the industry with market capitalizations below AU$285m, reported a median total CEO compensation of AU$404k. This suggests that Threat Protect Australia remunerates its CEO largely in line with the industry average. Moreover, Demetrios Pynes also holds AU$287k worth of Threat Protect Australia stock directly under their own name. Component 2020 2019 Proportion (2020) Salary AU$262k AU$236k 87% Other AU$40k AU$45k 13% Total Compensation AU$302k AU$281k 100% On an industry level, roughly 64% of total compensation represents salary and 36% is other remuneration. It's interesting to note that Threat Protect Australia pays out a greater portion of remuneration through salary, compared to the industry. If salary dominates total compensation, it suggests that CEO compensation is leaning less towards the variable component, which is usually linked with performance. Threat Protect Australia Limited's Growth Over the last three years, Threat Protect Australia Limited has shrunk its earnings per share by 93% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 40%. The decrease in EPS could be a concern for some investors. But on the other hand, revenue growth is strong, suggesting a brighter future. In conclusion we can't form a strong opinion about business performance yet; but it's one worth watching. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues Has Threat Protect Australia Limited Been A Good Investment? Given the total shareholder loss of 75% over three years, many shareholders in Threat Protect Australia Limited are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably want the company to be lessto generous with CEO compensation. To Conclude... As previously discussed, Demetrios is compensated close to the median for companies of its size, and which belong to the same industry. Still, the company is logging healthy revenue growth over the last year. On the other hand, shareholder returns for Demetrios are negative over the same period. EPS growth is bleak as well, adding fuel to the fire. Overall, we wouldn't say CEO is highly paid, but shareholders might not go for a raise before business metrics start to improve precipitously. It is always advisable to analyse CEO pay, along with performing a thorough analysis of the company's key performance areas. That's why we did our research, and identified 5 warning signs for Threat Protect Australia (of which 3 are significant!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. SALISBURY, Md., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spot Farms, the family-owned brand which provides high-quality, premium treats and foods to the pet specialty market, has joined 1% for the Planet, committing to donate 1% of all sales to nonprofit partners that help support farming and agriculture in the United States. 1% for the Planet pairs businesses and individuals with highly vetted environmental nonprofits to create high-impact partnerships that amplify the impact of its members' giving. Spot Farms partners with farm families across the country to create the very best treats for your dog using natural, human-grade ingredients, including regionally grown, antibiotic-free chicken, turkey and pork. Spot Farms strives to deliver the best nutrition to your dog, which is why the brand uses simple, honest recipes that start with meat as the main ingredient and are free of fillers like corn, wheat or soy. "At Spot Farms, we believe that our pets deserve food that is just as good as the food we make for ourselves, and this commitment drives our choices every step of the way. Our parent company, Perdue Farms, has aggressive sustainability and environmental goals, and this partnership helps us work toward those together. By joining 1% for the Planet, we're also committing to ensuring the future health of both our planet and farming communities," said Ryan Perdue, founder of Spot Farms. "Spot Farms treats start with USDA-approved, antibiotic-free meats raised on family farms here in the United States. Our nation's farmers are essential to our ability to provide the best ingredients and nutrition for your pets, and we're pleased that this partnership will not only support the environment, but also the nation's farming industry that helps us provide high-quality treats for your pets." With its 1% for the Planet partnership, Spot Farms will join the businesses and community of individual members responsible for giving more than $265 million back to environmental nonprofits since 2002. Spot Farms will donate 1% of sales to a yet-to-be determined organization focused on supporting sustainable farming and agriculture in the US. "We are delighted to welcome Spot Farms to the 1% for the Planet family of nearly 4,000 global businesses. As one of the first major pet brands to join the cause, they are truly leading the pack and we hope that others will be inspired to follow," said Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet. "Currently, only 3% of total philanthropy goes to the environment and, only 5% of that comes from businesses. The planet needs more support than this, and our growing network of business members is doing its valuable part to increase giving and support on-the-ground outcomes." More information about 1% for the Planet is available at www.onepercentfortheplanet.org. To learn more about Spot Farms, click here. About Spot Farms At Spot Farms, we set out every day to make the best treats for your dog using the finest ingredients available. Founded in 2013 to provide a high-quality, premium treat and food brand to the pet specialty market, we partner with farm families across the United States to bring you the very best regionally grown, antibiotic-free chicken, turkey and pork. We cook our treats using wholesome all natural, human-grade ingredients that are sourced in the United States. Learn more at spotfarmspet.com. About Perdue Farms We're a fourth-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services. The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE brand, Niman Ranch, Panorama Grass Fed Beef, and Coleman Natural, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms and Full Moon, is available through retail, foodservice, and our new direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. Now in our company's centennial year, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at corporate.perduefarms.com. About 1% for the Planet 1% for the Planet is a global organization that exists to ensure our planet and future generations thrive. We inspire businesses and individuals to support environmental nonprofits through membership and everyday actions. We make environmental giving easy and effective through partnership advising, impact storytelling and third-party certification. Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, our members have given more than $265 million to our approved nonprofit partners to date. Today, 1% for the Planet's global network consists of thousands of businesses, individuals and environmental nonprofits working toward a better future for all. Look for our logo to purchase for the planet and learn more at onepercentfortheplanet.org. SOURCE Perdue Farms Related Links https://spotfarmspet.com Kin is entering the California market because of its wildfire risk, not in spite of it. Kin Insurance, the insurance technology company reinventing home insurance for those most impacted by climate change, announced it will begin serving homeowners throughout California. Now Californians can use Kins online platform to get homeowners insurance quotes in minutes, customize their coverage, and get insured online or over the phone. Kin is expanding into California in response to the states unprecedented increase in wildfire activity and the strain it has created for many homeowners. In 2018, insurance claims for Californias wildfire season reached $12 billion, and after recent wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire, many Californians werent eligible to renew their policies with their existing insurance company before the insurance commissioner put a one-year cancelation ban in place. Last year, an estimated 350,000 California home and business owners were unable to get property and casualty insurance at all. Kin is entering the California market because of its wildfire risk, not in spite of it, said Sean Harper, co-founder and CEO of Kin. We're ready to put our technology to work for Californians, ensuring they have an affordable, private-market coverage option. Kin built its platform from the ground up to instantly access and assess thousands of property data points about each home, sparing homeowners from answering complicated questions when applying for coverage. With its multiple radii-based exposure accumulator, Kin can determine a homes true disaster exposure within a few miles of the home. This ensures coverage is priced accurately and fairly, reflecting the homes actual risk. With its emphasis on customer service and innovation, Kin is proud to serve homeowners in need of easy, affordable coverage. Kins entry into California is backed by Falls Lake Fire and Casualty Company, rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best, and through a partnership with Digital Partners, a Munich Re company. Digital Partners is excited to partner with insurtechs like Kin who are innovating data utilization and digitalizing the insurance value chain, said Dave Brune, North American CEO, Digital Partners, a Munich Re company. Our goal is to provide support through a comprehensive, go-to-market partnership combining the financial strength and expertise of Munich Re with the ingenuity of Kin. Terry McCafferty, CEO of Falls Lake Insurance, said, Falls Lake is excited to team up with Kin and Digital Partners to provide coverage and solutions to managing the unique risks facing California homeowners. Kins distribution strategy, unique platform, and ability to understand risk at the location level is unique and best in class, and it presents a great opportunity to continue to expand our fronting business. The financial strength of this partnership ensures consumers and their claims are protected in the event of a widespread catastrophe. With its track record of consumer transparency and financial health, Kin is eager to serve Californians and bring affordable, easy insurance options to the states insurance market. About Kin Kin Insurance is an insurance technology company that exists to change home insurance from what it is, to what it should be. Founded in 2016 by seasoned financial technology entrepreneurs Sean Harper, Lucas Ward, and Stephen Wooten, Kin leverages thousands of property data points to customize coverage and prices through a super simple user experience. Kin manages the Kin Interinsurance Network (KIN), a licensed insurance carrier and reciprocal exchange owned by its customers who share in the underwriting profit. Because of its efficient technology and direct-to-consumer model, Kin provides exceptionally low prices without compromising coverage. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with an office in St. Petersburg, Florida, and is currently hiring in both offices. For more information, visit http://www.kin.com. About Digital Partners, a Munich Re Company Digital Partners provides insurtechs and digital distributors with a comprehensive, go-to market partnership, built on the financial strength and expertise of Munich Re. Our partners bring excellence in customer engagement, technology, and brand while our support includes insurance capacity with experimental underwriting, alongside product expertise, data analytics, technology to manage data and carrier connectivity, execution and operational expertise, and venture capital to support growth. About Falls Lake Fire and Casualty Company Falls Lake Insurance Company is a subsidiary of James River Group Holdings, which is a publicly held Bermuda based insurance group operating with a group A.M. Best rating of A (Excellent), class X. Falls Lake Insurance Company and affiliates are licensed in 49 states and is a leading provider of fronting transactions. Kuwaits ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, a seasoned diplomat who tried to heal rifts between feuding Gulf states and rebuilt ties with former foe Iraq, has died. He was 91. According to the constitution, the emir should be succeeded by Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 83, a half brother who has served as interior minister and deputy chief of the national guard. Sheikh Nawaf has been acting emir since Sheikh Sabah left Kuwait for treatment in the US The energy-dependent monarchy, whose 1.4 million citizens are among the worlds wealthiest by average per capita income, is home to about 8.5% of global oil reserves, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil and gas account for about 40% of Kuwaits economic output and more than 90% of export revenues. As foreign minister for more than 40 years, Sheikh Sabah sought to make Kuwait a regional power broker by mediating intra-Arab disputes, maintaining strong ties with the US and U.K., and rebuilding relations with Iraq after the fall of President Saddam Hussein, who had invaded Kuwait in August 1990. At home, he on occasion dismissed parliament, entrenching a struggle with the legislature that often led to political and economic stalemate. The death of the emir could reopen debates over the nations political system, according to Shafeeq Ghabra, a political science professor at Kuwait University. Democracy watchdog Freedom House categorizes Kuwait as partly free, citing constraints on freedom of speech and assembly while noting that it has an elected parliament that often challenges the government. Viable mediator Its a transition, there will be changes, there could be reconciliation, there could be challenges, there could be some power vacuum, Ghabra said. To his credit, the emir has managed a very thoughtful foreign policy for a small country, and he was the only viable mediator in the Gulf crisis that pits Qatar against an alliance of Arab states. Sheikh Nawaf, while a largely unknown quantity to many Kuwaitis, shares similar character traits, said Ghabra. Hes reflective, and sometimes when you get someone like that, hes not extremely opinionated. It allows for others to come around and find common ground. The Gulf standoff was the defining cause of Sheikh Sabahs last few years in power. He sought to resolve the conflict among Gulf Cooperation Council states triggered when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain slapped an embargo on Qatar over its ties to Iran and alleged funding of terrorism. Qatar remains under boycott, but Kuwait has maintained relations with both sides of the dispute, while keeping open a channel of communication with Iran. At home, the charismatic Sheikh Sabah was a tactical ruler and largely revered by his own people. Still, he maintained a strong hold on power and fended off opposition-led street protests in the wake of the Arab Spring revolts demanding an overhaul of Kuwaits democracy. He instead undertook only minor modifications while dissolving parliament multiple times and changing the electoral system in 2012 to limit the number of candidates voters could pick in their constituency. During his tenure, successive governments pushed to one side difficult decisions over issues including trimming expensive subsidies and introducing taxes. The executive and legislative powers have often failed to see eye-to-eye on the implementation of key economic reforms. Political dysfunction led to a revolving door at the critical oil ministry, with ministers rarely lasting long in office. Budget deficits Under successive governments during Sheikh Sabahs rule, Kuwaits economy stagnated, dependent almost entirely on swings in energy prices as diversification efforts never moved past the blueprint phase. The sharp decline in oil prices after 2014, combined with a lavish welfare system, left the country running persistently large budget deficits. Kuwait has forecast its biggest-ever shortfall in the current fiscal year, predicted to reach 40% of gross domestic product, compounded by lower oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Sheikh Sabah was born in Kuwait on June 16, 1929, before the country became a wealthy oil exporter. He was the fourth son of a former emir, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who ruled from 1921 to 1950, and was educated by Kuwaiti schools and private tutors. He named New York among his favorite places, frequented Oman on fishing trips and was an avid fan of FC Barcelona. In 1962, he became minister for guidance and information, a year before being appointed foreign minister, a post he held until he became prime minister in 2003. In the 1970s and 80s, he was information minister, in addition to foreign minister and deputy prime minister from 1978. Sheikh Sabah was named emir in 2006. Even before that, he had assumed the role of de-facto ruler when other leading family members were too ill or frail to do the job. He took the leadership mantle after Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who was emir for nine days, was voted out of office by parliament on the grounds that he was too ill to rule. Sheikh Sabah was a widower and is survived by three sons. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON He did not elaborate on the location that the UAE planned to explore, nor how they would launch the rover into space. The launch of its Amal, or Hope, probe to Mars took place at Japans Tanegashima Space Center in July. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which launched that probe, said nothing had been decided about the launch of the moon rover and declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. Photo credit: Jacob Snavely As with most good designers, Jessica Geller and Virginia Toledo of Toledo Geller begin every project by getting to know their clients as best they can. When they were hired to design a bathroom for a couple in New Jersey, Geller recalls, one of the things she asked was "Where are you dying to travel next?" The answerMoroccowould prove to be the underlying thread for the entire renovation, which consisted of turning a small bathroom and drab spare room into a Moroccan oasis right in their homewith plenty of functional details hidden under the breathtaking design. The bathroom's most noticeable element is likely the dramatic arches, which were born of a practical layout concern: "Knowing that she really wanted that bathtub to be the focal point, we thought, 'okay, well let's really make it a focal point," Geller tells House Beautiful. "We couldn't have it in front of the windows, so we turned it, and we wanted to frame it out." That led to the graceful arch, which the duo echoed in the shower doorway. Photo credit: Jacob Snavely By framing out the bath and shower with arches, Toledo and Geller were able to create designated zones for different needs, making the room hyper-functional. One particularly specific area? A built-in vanity (making use of one of the room's few windows) for the couple's daughter, who runs a makeup tutorial channel on YouTube. Of course, Moroccan architecture often features dazzling displays of mosaic tile, so what better reference than a mix of tiles in the bathroom? Geller and Toledo married zellige, marble, and patterned tiles to add visual interest to the room without going overboard with colors. This mix also has a practical purpose: "We were really careful to choose the patterned tile in moderation where we could get the most bang for our buck," says Toledo. Using the patterned tiles as borders and statements, they filled in with less expensive, plain tiles. Story continues Photo credit: Jacob Snavely Another subtle yet textural element is the room's ceiling, covered in a Moroccan plaster finish known as "tadelakt," which the homeownera retired woodworker and avid DIYeractually painted himself. "We looked over a few color samples with him, selected the tone, and then he got a kit and watched a YouTube tutorial," says Geller. Talk about a high-end DIY! Photo credit: Jacob Snavely Another important element for the couplewhich is also becoming an increasingly prevalent client concern presented to designerswas the ability to age in place. While this concept may seem far down the road, when investing in spaces you'll want to live in longterm, it's important to consider. Here Toledo and Geller were able to accommodate that without making any big concessions. Says Geller, "we put a grab bar in the showera nice looking one!and we left a lot of free, open space in there, which is helpful" for any possible mobility limitations down the road. Because after all, with a bathroom this chic, who would ever want to move out? Follow House Beautiful on Instagram. You Might Also Like Senckenberg researcher Monica Solorzano-Kraemer with one of the examined resin samples. Credit: Xavier Delclos For the first time, Senckenberg scientist Monica Solorzano-Kraemer, together with lead authors David Peris and Kathrin Janssen of the University of Bonn and additional colleagues from Spain and Norway, successfully extracted genetic material from insects that were embedded in six- and two-year-old resin samples. DNAin particular, DNA from extinct animalsis an important tool in the identification of species. In the future, the researchers plan to use their new methods on older resin inclusions, as well. The study was published today in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. The idea of extracting DNA from resin-embedded organisms inevitably invokes memories of the blockbuster "Jurassic Park." "However, we have no intention of raising dinosaurs," says Dr. Monica Solorzano-Kraemer of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. "Rather, our current study is a structured attempt to determine how long the DNA of insects enclosed in resinous materials can be preserved." To this end, lead author Dr. David Peris of the University of Bonn, the amber researcher from Frankfurt, and researchers from the Universities of Barcelona and Bergen and the Geominero Museum (IGME) in Valencia examined the genetic material of so-called ambrosia beetles that were trapped in the resin of amber trees (Hymenaea) in Madagascar. "Our study fundamentally aimed to clarify whether the DNA of insects embedded in resin continues to be preserved. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, we were able to document that this is, indeed, the case in the six- and two-year-old resin samples we examined," explains Solorzano-Kraemer. Resin with embedded ambrosia beetles. Credit: David Peris To date, similar tests of inclusions in several-million-year-old amber and several-thousand-year-old copals had failed, since more recent environmental impacts had caused significant changes to the DNA of the embedded insects or even destroyed it. Therefore, resin-embedded samples were deemed unsuitable for genetic examinations. Solorzano-Kraemer adds, "We are now able to show for the first time that, although it is very fragile, the DNA was still preserved in our samples. This leads to the conclusion that it is possible to study the genomics of organisms embedded in resin." It is still not clear just how long the DNA can survive inside the resin. To address this question, the researchers plan to apply the method in a stepwise fashion from the most recent to the oldest samples to determine the "shelf life" of the resin-embedded DNA. "Our experiments show that water in the inclusions is preserved much longer than previously assumed. This could also affect the genetic material's stability. The extraction of functional DNA from several-million-year-old amber is therefore rather unlikely," says Solorzano-Kraemer. Explore further Madagascar copals turn out to be resin More information: Peris et al. DNA from resin-embedded organisms: Past, present and future, PLOS ONE (2020). Journal information: PLoS ONE Peris et al. DNA from resin-embedded organisms: Past, present and future,(2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239521 West Michigans representative in the U.S. House of Representatives is facing a Democratic challenge from a pastor and political newcomer. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, is seeking a sixth term representing Michigans 2nd Congressional District. Challenging him for the two-year term is Democrat Bryan Berghoef, pastor of the Holland United Church of Christ. Also appearing on the ballot are three third-party candidates: Jean-Michael Creviere, representing the Green Party; Max Riekse, representing the Libertarian Party; and Gerald T. VanSickle, representing the US Taxpayers Party of Michigan. Michigans 2nd Congressional District includes all of Lake, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, and Ottawa counties and areas of Allegan, Kent, and Mason counties. Huizenga was first elected to the seat in 2010. He previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives. This year, MLive Media Group partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stances on a variety of public policy issues. Information on all state and federal races and many of Michigans county and local races are available at Vote411.org, an online voter guide created by the League of Women Voters. Here is background information the candidates provided about themselves: -Huizenga is co-owner of Huizenga Gravel and a member of Congress. He said that because of his experience as a small business owner and former Realtor I know that it is the private sector that creates jobs. He has a bachelors degree in political science from Calvin College. -Berghoef is pastor of Holland United Church of Christ and an author. He has been an entrepreneur, an advocate-organizer, pastor-leader and someone who brings people of different perspectives together to seek and find common ground. He has a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a masters degree in divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary. -Creviere works for Jimmy Johns and also is a luthier, which is a person who makes stringed instruments. He is a volunteer for the American Red Cross, responding to such disasters as Hurricane Katrina. He has a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a two-year certificate from the Berklee College of Music. -Riekse is a retired public school teacher and lieutenant colonel for the U.S. Army, for which he served 32 years, and is a veteran of the Vietnam and Iraq wars. He describes himself as a Trump Anti-Communists Vote Trump. He has a bachelors degree in political science and international relations and two masters degrees from unnamed institutions. Candidates submitted responses to questions posed by the League of Women Voters, which are included in its online voter guide. Van Sickle did not respond to any questions. Here are unedited responses candidates provided to questions on some key issues: HEALTH CARE: What do you see as the federal governments role in health care? Given the Covid19 pandemic, what are your concerns and plans regarding U.S. health coverage, policies and programs, including Medicare and Medicaid? Berghoef: The pandemic has exposed the many disparities in our healthcare system. I believe that we must make quality, affordable health care available for all Americans. A society in which only some receive the care they need is not a moral or productive one. I am committed to: Fighting to make healthcare costs affordable, to make sure all families have access to the care they need, and to make our health care system more efficient. Building upon the Affordable Care Act by moving toward a system that allows a choice between private and public plans. Investing in our rural communities to secure the health of all rural residents. Huizenga: I believe that Obamacare has failed to deliver on its promises which is why I support maintaining protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions and lower healthcare costs.This can be achieved by supporting measures that curb costly junk lawsuits, encourage the use of health savings accounts, and empower states and small businesses to use innovative means to reduce costs. Additionally,I worked with Pine Rest to introduce multiple bills to maximize positive outcomes for mental healthcare. I believe we must modernize and improve access to behavioral care. We also need to preserve and protect Medicare. Riekse: The Chinese virus has around a 99.8% survival rate; How many may be harmed by a mandatory vaccine than helped? The Federal government granted big pharma immunity from liability claims if the vaccine produces damaging side effects. Limit the Federal government to Medicare & Medicaid. Free American citizens should be left alone to decide if they want a natural defense instead of vaccination. That is being a Libertarian. Stop taxing our Social Security; Only US citizens should get Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Once Donald Trump is re-elected, the fear mongering race peddling Dems will find something else vote. Creviere: All Americans must be covered. Medicare for all. ECONOMY: What federal policies do you support for a healthy economy and to help the broader American public improve their economic positions? Huizenga: As a small business owner, I understand what Michigan job creators need: less red tape and lower taxes. My number one priority in Congress is to promote an atmosphere for job creation, economic growth, and higher wages for employees across West Michigan. I introduced the Patriot Bonus Tax Credit Act, to help incentivize our economic recovery from the pandemic. This pro-growth policy would increase take home pay for workers while helping restart our local economy. I also sponsored legislation to reward first responders and health care workers for their incredible work during this extraordinary time. Berghoef: Our economy has taken a hit due to the COVID19 pandemic. In order to create a more equitable and prosperous economy, I am committed to: Advocating for policies and incentives that lead to new family-wage jobs and address the problem of wage stagnation. Reducing barriers to employment, including lack of job skills, family care responsibilities, physical and mental health problems, and lack of reliable transportation. Investing in pathways to good jobs, including making higher education more affordable and technical training more accessible. Ensuring that the minimum wage is a living wage. Creviere: A real Green New Deal, to improve the infrastructure of the country and literally put power in the peoples hands through ownership of distributed renewable energy. Riekse: Lower taxes, less government, fewer regulations, especially for American farmers & corporations that produce food; along with truckers that get food to market. Dont vote for socialist baby killing Democrats like the squad. Vote to either reelect President Donald Trump or Libertarian Jo Jorgensen; she is a good second choice. Voting for slugs will end up with the United States being like Cuba, Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, Venezuela or Communist China. Venezuela used to be one of the top ten richest countries in the the world; now its one of the worse crap whole countries thanks to socialists like AOC. Max=Trump Libertarian. ELECTIONS: What federal policies do you advocate regarding elections, campaign funding and voting rights? Do you support mailing ballots to all eligible voters? Berghoef: Yes, and I will fight for a democracy where every American can participate and where every vote mattersanything less is a betrayal of who we are. I believe that efforts such as gerrymandering and limiting access to the ballot are inconsistent with who we are as Americans, and must change. I am committed to: Overturning Citizens United and Buckley v. Valeo, if necessary by constitutional amendment. Moving towards a small-dollar matching system for federal elections. Enhanced Transparency - Voters deserve to know who is funding their elected officials. Making Election Day a national holiday. Huizenga: Protecting the integrity of voting is paramount. I have rejected attempts to federalize elections, because I believe having a single database would be an enormous target for foreign adversaries. The federal government should encourage state and county initiatives but turning over elections to the federal government would be a mistake. I do not support mailing ballots to all eligible voters, as there is a significant difference between voting absentee and mailing ballots to all eligible voters. Campaign funding transparency is key and every cent of an individual donation should be made public. Riekse: I do not support mailing ballots to all eligible voters which is subject to fraud as President Donald Trump says. All voting for US House & US Senate offices should required an officials state ID to the standards of Mexicans voting in Mexico. Any non-US Citizens, legal or illegal, voting in a Federal election should be sent to prison, then deported. Californias electoral votes should be reduced because of the millions of non-US citizens residing there. No government funding of elections; I fully support the US Post Office; My grandfather spent 30 years as a rural rout carrier; Clean up Post Office operations now. Creviere: Mail-in ballots and an election budget to properly conduct an election. Remote electronic voting should be explored as an option for the Congress as well as every American. SOCIAL INJUSTICE: Do you believe there is systemic racism, economic disparity, and other social injustices which should be addressed by Congress? If so, what policies do you support? Huizenga: I believe racism exists and we cannot allow the perception of a two-tiered justice system. It is crucial that every citizen be treated equally in the eyes of the law. Responsible reforms can and should be made to improve policing. I cosponsored the Justice Act introduced by Sen. Tim Scott which would improve training for police, enhance accountability, and make lynching a federal hate crime. Economic disparities are best addressed by enacting pro-growth policies, like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This bill incentivizes investment that will increase economic opportunity and job creation in underserved communities. Berghoef: The promise of this nation is the pursuit of life, liberty and justice for all. For too long, however, it has clearly not been so. We must immediately address the structural and systemic inequities in this nation that are rooted in racial injustice. I am committed to: Listening. Making far-reaching investments in ending health disparities by race. Addressing disparities in housing, including increasing access to affordable housing and eliminating housing regulations that perpetuate discrimination. Fighting for COVID19 related economic relief for the minority-owned businesses that need it most. Creviere: Absolutely! Reparations should be addressed. Defunding the industrial military complex and funding communities would be a great start. Riekse: Slavery ended in the U.S. over 150 years ago; Its time to move on. thousands of Black Americans are millionaires & billionaires; most crime & murders in cities are black on black; Pouring millions/billions into crap whole democratic run cities is a waste of tax dollars. BLM is a anti-white, racist, pro-communists, anti-Christian stain on the American Christian black community; Its a Marxists fraud funded in part by the Communist Chinese Party headed by 3 self avowed trained Marxist black women who want revolution. if this country doesnt give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it BLM ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY: What policies do you support to meet U.S. energy needs while protecting our water, air and land for current and future generations? Huizenga: We must adopt a long-term, multifaceted approach to address our energy needs while protecting our environment. I support an all of the above energy strategy that increases energy independence and job creation while developing alternative and renewable energy sources. As co-chair of the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force, I have led efforts to restore the ecology and strengthen the economy of the Great Lakes. I have spearheaded efforts to increase funding for the GLRI which is the lead federal program in protecting the Great Lakes. I have also worked to protect and preserve Sleeping Bear Dunes and Pictured Rocks. Berghoef: We must take immediate steps to protect and renew our Great Lakes, and to manage the impacts of climate change on West Michigans communities. I am committed to: Fighting for continued investment through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Ending all federal subsidies and tax incentives for fossil fuel exploration, extraction, and development. Embracing technology and innovation and fund research into utility-scale renewable energy and storage. Supporting common-sense regulations that protect our water, our air, and our earth, while promoting economic advances. Riekse: Drill, Drill, Drill; we need to produce more oil & natural gas. Thanks to President Teddy Roosevelt, we have a great national parks system which should be fully funded with low entry fees for all American citizens. Have non-US citizens pay triple entrance fees. I want all US Military bases, both home and abroad, cleaned up of all their toxins starting with Michigan. Go to American Free Press & Breitbart Internet news. shun Google. Take out Antifa, which is a pro-democratic party, anti-American, violent terrorist organization; Q Vote against the pro-war, neocon Trotskyite communist, anti-Second Amendment Deep State. Creviere: Restoring the EPA, stronger measures for our water, specifically our Great Lakes. A plan that addresses removal of PFAS, not just containment. IMMIGRATION: What policies do you support relative to immigration into the U.S.? Berghoef: I believe that it is possible for us to have immigration laws and border policies that are both compassionate and effective. We dont need to sacrifice our humanity in the name of security, and we dont have to sacrifice responsible border security and governance in order to be compassionate. I am committed to: Protecting the unity of the immediate family and the best interests of children at all times. Restoring our global leadership in humanitarian relief for refugees. Respecting the God-given dignity of every person. Establishing a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify. Huizenga: A workable and effective immigration bill is an important objective of Congress and the discussion should certainly recognize Americas immigrant heritage and respect the enormous contributions of immigrants by encouraging and enforcing legal immigration. However, the focus must remain on border security and a legal identification process rather than providing amnesty. Individuals who break the law as their first act on American soil should not be rewarded with a path to citizenship. Lastly, I authored legislation to prevent family separation at the border. Creviere: No more prisons for profit. I support a path to citizenship for all who wish to live here. Riekse: Build the wall; President Donald Trump will do it given a chance with no interference from the Baby killing socialist democrats. Fast track white immigration from South Africa. Over 40,000 South African whites have been killed - murdered since the majority black communists took over. Thousands of white SAs have been robed & raped. We need white South African farmers in the US as our farmers are ageing out. We need to think to the future about ensuring that we preserve our farmland & have good people to farm it. American needs these highly productive white South Africans, especially the farmers. Remember Rhodesia. Also on MLive: Michigan ballot proposals include changes to parks funding, police data rules AG investigating Unlock Michigan petition group accused of improper signature collection See number of absentee ballots requests so far in your Michigan city or township compared to 2016 Earlier this month, the committee Democrats released the findings of their 18-month investigation into the crashes. They concluded that Boeing missed opportunities to improve the safety of the automated system that was implicated in the crashes and which its own employees had raised concerns about. The FAA, meanwhile, failed to effectively oversee the company and ensure that the Max was safe, the investigation found. BringMeThat a leader in on-demand food ordering and delivery, today announced that it has partnered with Ordermark, a leading mobile-order technology service aggregator for restaurants through a dedicated single-source dashboard and printer solution. Customers can shop on the website at BringMeThat.com and have their orders printed directly to partner restaurants via the Ordermark platform. Increasing consumer demand for off-premise dining has made third-party ordering and delivery platforms a necessity for many restaurants during these challenging times. BringMeThats sizable, incremental order volume creates an operational challenge for some restaurants as orders are typically sent via separate tablets, requiring staff to manually enter the order from the tablet into their system before the kitchen can begin preparing it. The partnership between BringMeThat and Ordermark utilizes advanced cloud software tools to increase customer reach, giving restaurants the opportunity to tap into additional revenue streams using a single, aggregated solution. In such a time of need, we felt like it is our duty to utilize our platform in any way possible to support the restaurant community, said Derek Beckmann, CEO of BringMeThat.com. We want to be a valuable resource for our local communities during these tough times. If there is anything we can do to ensure the safety, health and well-being of our restaurant partners, employees and community, we will do it. "We're thrilled to welcome BringMeThat to the Ordermark platform," said Alex Canter, CEO of Ordermark. "Our mission is to help restaurants embrace online ordering by making it streamlined and more profitable, and this partnership lets us expand each restaurant's reach." About - BringMeThat BringMeThat (BringMeThat.com) was established in 2013 for restaurant owners by restaurant owners with the goal of driving new business and improving profits in the industry. BringMeThat has established its platform in Googles top rankings nationally thereby passing this benefit onto partner restaurants to surface their brands locally. BringMeThat offers a convenient way to discover, order, and receive great food from local restaurants and national chains. About - Ordermark Ordermark (ordermark.com) is the leading, and one of the fastest-growing restaurant technology service providers in the mobile online ordering space. Ordermark helps restaurants and virtual kitchens increase efficiency and grow profits by aggregating mobile orders across all of the major online ordering service providers into a single dashboard and printer. Ordermark powers the technology behind Nextbite, one of the early pioneers in the virtual restaurant space. Born in the kitchen of the world-famous Canters Deli in Los Angeles by a fourth-generation restaurateur, Ordermark was built, tested, and refined from the perspective of a restaurant operator. Ordermarks thousands of customers include small, single-location restaurants and many of the worlds top restaurant chains including Buffalo Wild Wings, Papa Johns, Popeyes, Which Wich, and Yogurtland. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Denver. To contact BringMeThat, please email: Partners@BringMeThat.com To contact Ordermark, please email: Sarah.Agate@ledecompany.com Kathmandu, September 29 Commerce officials of Nepal and China are scheduled to hold a high-level meeting to discuss trade relations between the neighbours on Tuesday afternoon. The joint secretary-level meeting is scheduled to begin at 12 today. Whereas Nepal has around one dozen items on its agenda, China has expressed its interest to discuss four issues among them. Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs say Chinas top priority is improving trade environment between two countries. It means Beijing is willing to make efforts to end various obstructions seen in the trade ties between the two countries. Likewise, the officials will also discuss upgrading the road to the Rasuwagadhi border point between the two countries as it is the most used route in cross-border trade. In the meantime, officials will also deliberate on upgrading various small-scale border points. We have incorporated on our agenda obstacles of trade as well as available facilities, implementation of past agreements, and other issues of cooperation, says Commerce Joint-Secretary Prakash Dahal, who will lead the Npali delegation. Representatives from ministries of foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, physical infrastructure and transport, and agriculture will also participate in the meeting. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Cyrille Pitois (Agence France-Presse) Dax, France Tue, September 29, 2020 09:04 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47d8069 2 Health France,Alzheimers,health,disease Free The small village, like most in France, has a cafe-restaurant, a hairdresser, a superette and a library. Neighbors have a cup of coffee and a chat on the terrace, or meet up in the park or at the gym before heading their separate ways home. But these are no ordinary villagers. Their average age is 79 and they all share a debilitating disease: Alzheimer's. Opened in June in the southwestern spa city of Dax, the Village Landais Alzheimer -- named after the Landes department in which it is located -- hosts 120 people afflicted with the cruel, memory-robbing ailment for which there is no cure. For each resident, medical care-givers and volunteers -- 240 people in total -- are on hand to provide assistance with the daily tasks that for some have become impossible to manage on their own. But this is no care home. Staff do not wear white coats and residents are given the freedom to pursue their individual lifestyles, in as far as that is possible. "Each resident has their own room and live at their own rhythm. The one that rises at 6:00 am does not disturb the tranquility of the one that enjoys sleeping in," Aurelie Bouscary, an assistant at the community, told AFP. The village is just over an hour by train from Bordeaux and three and a half hours from Paris, and has a long waiting list of potential clients. Read also: Mobile app allows early detection of Alzheimers disease Challenging perceptions Inspired by a similar project in the Netherlands, the trial at Dax is being closely watched by public health experts in Japan and Italy -- countries with similarly ageing populations seeking new, more humane, frail care models. A key aim of the village is to allow residents to maintain a close relationship with their loved ones and not become cut off from the world. It seeks to allow for "daily interaction between the village and the outside world," states the facility's website. "Indeed, the Landes project also wants to change societys perceptions of Alzheimers disease. Raising awareness... of the behavior caused by this type of dementia will help change the way it is perceived." Ten places of the 120 are reserved for dementia sufferers under 60, and the youngest resident is 40. Alzheimer's affects mainly older people -- about one in four over-85s is a sufferer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 10 million people per year are diagnosed with dementia, with Alzheimer's disease accounting for about two-thirds of cases. Numbers have soared as lifespans have lengthened thanks to medical advances in other fields. Symptoms typically progress from forgetfulness and absent-mindedness to major memory loss and near-total dependence as sufferers become unaware of time and place, and depression is a common feature. Towards the end, those afflicted can forget even how to eat. Read also: Eating too much sugar could increase the risk of Alzheimers Getting motivation back The Landes village consists of four "neighborhoods", each with four homes housing about eight people apiece. Residents are not allowed to leave the five-hectare property, but can receive unrestricted visits and have access to tranquil walking paths, a pond, and a park complete with swings -- a popular attraction. Adding a countryside touch, the donkeys Junon and Janine wander freely about the calm, greened community. House residents can share meals in a common dining area, and are roped in to help with tasks such as table setting -- a staff member always on hand to keep an unobtrusive eye. "The job is still one of caregiving," said Bouscary. "But it is completely different" than existing models. "I feel like I'm doing my work better." The village opened just weeks after France emerged from two months of coronavirus home confinement, a time of forced separation from loved ones which hit people in care homes particularly hard. "Since arriving in June, they have been able to make themselves comfortable and regain a peaceful freedom," said Nathalie Bonnet, a psychologist at the community. "They have recovered their motivation and are resuming everyday activities. As there is always someone on hand to address episodes of anxiety or depression, they calm down faster. And as a result, prescriptions for antidepressant treatments can be reduced," she added. The coronavirus epidemic has limited outside contact for the time being, but eventually residents of nearby cities and towns will be welcomed to attend concerts, join in the village festivals, or even have their hair cut at the salon. The center cost some 28 million euros ($33 million) in state funds to build, with annual running costs of 6.7 million. Government agencies cover the occupancy cost of 65 euros per resident per day. In the village restaurant, Melany Fournier shared a meal with her resident aunt. "I was a bit apprehensive," she said, having come from Switzerland for the visit. "But seeing her so calm, and free to make her own choices... She is at home, she calls this 'The village'." Topics : France Alzheimers health disease A new report has been launched in Zimbabwe showing a sharp increase in domestic violence during the countrys two-month Covid-19 lockdown between April and May. The report, entitled Violence Against Women and Girls During the Covid-19 Crisis in Zimbabwe, gathered data from five NGOs working with survivors of gender-based violence, including the Musasa Project, the Adult Rape Clinic and the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association. Data was gathered in March, April and May. This coincided with the month before and the two months of the lockdown imposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government on March 30 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Household tensions The data showed that reports of physical violence went up by 38.5 percent during April and May. The increase in help-seeking could be due to increased incidence of violence, increased severity of violence, or the inability to use alternative options for escaping violence such as going to stay with relatives, the report notes. Reports of emotional violence over the same period were up by 80 percent. This represented the sharpest rise during lockdown, possibly due to heightened household tensions resulting from confined living conditions and increased financial stress. Most Zimbabweans depend on the informal sector, so the lockdown measures severely hampered families' abilities to earn a living. Most restrictions have now been lifted, with infection rates appearing to slow down. Fatalities have so far totalled 228, well below worst-case scenarios. Intensified violence The researchers did not collect figures of domestic violence at the community level, relying on figures of cases reported to NGOs. Experts say that since less than five percent of gender-based violence survivors seek the support of NGOs, the reported cases are likely a fraction of those that did occur. Most of the reports indicate that violence was perpetrated by intimate partners, a trend similar to before the lockdown. And staff at shelters noticed that violence intensified to levels not common before the lockdown. Story continues One NGO supported a survivor both of whose arms were broken; another survivor who sought support had her face cut with an axe, others had broken legs, the report says. Not all cases involved domestic perpetrators. There were also claims of police rape of sex workers arrested during lockdown. The report noted 15 claims of police violence in two separate communities. The increase in reports of violence to the NGOs came despite the obstacles placed in the way of survivors trying to get help. These included travel restrictions in place during lockdown, police roadblocks and severe limits on public transport. AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was closeted with a section of leaders on Tuesday, skipping a meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Covid-19, a day after the two crossed swords over who should lead the party in the 2021 assembly elections. IMAGE: Supporters of AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam sport his face mask outside the party office during the executive committee meeting in Chennai on September 28, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo. Triggering speculation about the probability of a fresh bout of bickering, the meet at the Greenways Road residence of Panneerselvam in Chennai was attended by senior leaders, including deputy coordinator K P Munusamy and Rajya Sabha MP, R Vaithilingam. However, Vaithilingam, also a party deputy coordinator, told waiting mediapersons later that "there is no political significance to the meeting." Asked on the choice of Chief Ministerial candidate for the next year elections, he said: "Let us see on October 7," adding, "There is no confusion" on the matter and AIADMK would "recapture power". After a stormy AIADMK executive meeting on Monday where the issue of leadership for the polls was discussed, Munusamy had announced Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, joint-coordinator of the party, would announce on October 7 the chief ministerial candidate. The executive committee meet in Chennai saw heated exchanges between Panneerselvam and Palaniswami over who should be the chief ministerial face of the AIADMK for the assembly elections next year. Vaithilingam on Tuesday said he supported both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami considering the partys interests. The former minister in the late J Jayalalithaa's cabinet said his goal "is to see the party retain power next year" by further strengthening the AIADMK. Munusamy too said not much should be read into the consultations which were only about routine "party work." During the split in the AIADMK, Vaithilingam and Munusamy were with the factions led by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam respectively. The two factions merged in 2017 following which Panneerselvam was made deputy chief minister. Panneerselvam's impromptu meet with party senior office-bearers and his absence at a meeting of district collectors on coronavirus pandemic chaired by Palaniswami at the secretariat set off speculation of further escalation of the situation. Panneerselvam had taken part in such meetings held by Palaniswami in the past. Meanwhile, senior leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, when asked about the rival claims at the executive committee meeting, said it was nothing but "healthy exchange" of views. "Let us wait and see on October 7," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event. Asked if the release of V K Sasikala, former aide of late party supremo Jayalalithaa, was discussed at the executive Jayakumar shot back: "It was an unnecessary subject. Why should it be discussed at the meet?" Sasikala was sentenced to four years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case by the Supreme Court in February, 2017. Former Information Technology Minister M Manikandan, who was dropped from the Cabinet last year by Palaniswami, and former MP, P H Manoj Pandian, were also present at Panneerselvam's residence on Tuesday. At the executive, Pandian had taken the stand that Palaniswami and Panneerselvam were like the "Two Leaves" symbol of the party (to denote togetherness and unity). Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Nicholas L. Rogal, 42, of 847 N. Prairie St. was arrested at 11:34 p.m. Sunday on a charge of driving under the influence after police said the car he was driving hit a curb and become stuck in the 900 block of West Morton Avenue. David L. Wilson, 37, of 821 S. Main St., Apt. 2, was arrested at 5:49 p.m. Sunday on a charge of criminal damage to property after being accused of damaging a television set he did not own. ACCIDENTS A car going east on East Independence Avenue went out of control and hit a residence at Independence and Doolin avenues and then crossed Doolin Avenue and hit a garage at 9:50 a.m. Monday. The car had been stolen from the first block of Westfair Drive between midnight and 7 a.m. Monday. Alexa C. Brant, 23, of Versailles was cited on a charge of disobeying a traffic control device after the car she was driving and one being driven by Edward W. Coats, 80, of Jacksonville collided at 1:30 p.m. Monday at South Main Street and College Avenue. THEFTS, BURGLARIES A cellphone was stolen from a car in the 100 block of Chestnut Street during the weekend. Pike County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Zoey R. Cannam, 30, of Barry was arrested at 3:30 a.m. Sunday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, resisting arrest, obstructing justice and possession of drug paraphernalia. Shitomi I. Siller, 32, of Pittsfield was arrested at 10:59 p.m. Saturday on a domestic battery charge. William E. Gwartney, 44, of Springfield was arrested at 9:24 a.m. Friday on a petition to revoke probation. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou returned to court in Vancouver on Monday, with her lawyers claiming that the American bid to have her extradited on fraud charges should be thrown out because US authorities misled the Canadian court about their case against her. The hearing got off to a chaotic start as Madam Justice Heather Holmes halted proceedings because of repeated audio interruptions on a media phone line. The phone line was set up to listen in on the proceedings because Covid-19 precautions have limited the number of seats available in the public gallery. The proceedings resumed after 10 minutes, but Meng's lawyer Scott Fenton had to repeat his opening remarks. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. Meng's lawyers said in a submission that US authorities' record of the case had omitted key details about a PowerPoint presentation that Meng delivered to a HSBC banker in Hong Kong in 2013 about Huawei's business dealings in Iran. A news cameraman films Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou as she enters the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse alt=A news cameraman films Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou as she enters the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse Fenton told the court there was "fundamental unreliability and inaccuracy" in the US record of the case. The US had failed in its "duty of candour", he added. The PowerPoint presentation forms the basis of US fraud charges against Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei. US authorities claim she lied to HSBC about Huawei's Iran dealings in a way that exposed the bank to the risk of breaching US sanctions against the country. But her lawyers said Meng did not lie to the banker, referred to as "HSBC Witness B"; instead, US authorities had omitted the parts of her presentation that showed her describing the very business relationship with an affiliate called Skycom that the US claims she tried to cover up. Story continues "The vast majority of what [Meng] stated to HSBC is not included in the summary ... it is seriously misleading by omission," Fenton said, citing two main points. First, he said, Meng told Witness B that Skycom was a business partner working with Huawei selling telecoms gear in Iran, and second, that Meng expressly told Witness B the relationship was "normal and controllable business cooperation". The written submission concluded: "The Requesting State has failed to meet its duty in the Applicant's case, and the Court must intervene to safeguard the Applicant's liberty ... [The] misleading and incomplete record before this Court disqualifies [the US] from continuing these proceedings". A slide from a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Meng Wanzhou to a HSBC banker in 2013 describes Huawei and partner Skycom having "normal and controllable business cooperation" in Iran. Photo: BC Supreme Court exhibit alt=A slide from a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Meng Wanzhou to a HSBC banker in 2013 describes Huawei and partner Skycom having "normal and controllable business cooperation" in Iran. Photo: BC Supreme Court exhibit The arguments about the alleged US omissions are scheduled to last until Friday. Meng, 48, was back in court for the first time since May. She has denied the allegations against her. She was arrested at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018, on a stopover from Hong Kong. Her detention threw China's relations with the US and Canada into disarray. Soon afterwards, China arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and has charged them with espionage, but their treatment is widely seen in the West as hostage-taking by China in retaliation for Meng's arrest. Meng remains under partial house arrest in Vancouver, living in one of the two multimillion-dollar homes she owns in the city. Her extradition proceedings are scheduled to last well into next year, but appeals could drag out the process for much longer. "The Requesting State was not diligent, candid or accurate in setting out the facts it asks this court to rely upon," Meng's lawyers said in their submission. "The Requesting State has misled the court about the Applicant's representations to HSBC, the context in which they were made, and the resulting impact on HSBC." The submission continued: "As no other remedy can sufficiently address the prejudice to the Applicant and maintain the integrity of the proceedings before the court, the proceedings should be stayed." This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Then Vice President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan participate in the Vice Presidential Debate at Centre College, with Moderator ABC News Anchor Martha Raddatz Then Vice President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan participate in the Vice Presidential Debate at Centre College, with Moderator ABC News Anchor Martha Raddatz, in Danville, Ky. on Oct. 11, 2012. Credit - Mark MakelaCorbis/Getty Images This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIMEs politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday. Once upon a time, back when a global pandemic didnt ground planes, derail responsible political rallies and force presidential candidates to build television studios in their rec rooms, we gathered every four years in familiar fieldhouses on college campuses to watch the White House contenders match wits and canned jabs. We watched the sparring together as a political press corps, then entertained and ultimately ignored campaign operatives who protested that the quotes we were using werent actually said. It was a quaint time, in retrospect, of performance art and one I covet as the first presidential debate of 2020 is about to start in my childhood backyard of Cleveland. We are about to witness the first head-to-head of President Donald Trump against former Vice President Joe Biden. In the middle of a pandemic, the contrast is likely to be striking. In the hours before showtime, Biden is sitting with his heirs share of advisers helping him fine-tune his answers. Trump is watching Twitter and his rally crowds to see what attack lines resonate. As my TIME colleague Molly Ball smartly notes: After four unrelenting years, Trump will find it difficult to change anyones preconceived opinion of him. Biden, on the other hand, has a chance to surprise everyone. It was eight years ago when I rolled onto the serene campus of Centre College in Danville, Ky., to watch Biden match jabs with his Republican counterpart, then-Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, at the 2012 V.P. debate. Over the course of the afternoon, I pulled aside Bidens coterie of advisers to hear them set the stage. I had anticipated aggressive lowering of expectations, based on his somewhat-cuffed performance in 2008 against Sarah Palin, the half-term Governor of Alaska whom John McCain selected as his running mate. But in 2012, Bidens team was happy to have the bar raised. The Biden team wanted everyone to know that the V.P. was ready for this so much so that Dr. Jill Biden was hopping on her own jet to the campus that evening to watch the show after she wrapped up her day teaching college students in northern Virginia. Story continues Biden delivered. He was as sharp as Ive ever seen him. He understood the stakes, especially after Obama bombed his own first debate against Mitt Romney. As I sat in the back balcony of the debate hall as a pool reporter, I couldnt help but marvel at the mismatch taking shape. Biden was loose and mostly in command of the facts. Ryan was on his heels. The Irish poet in Bidens DNA seemed impossible to contain. And in the post-debate spin sessions, Bidens team was buoyant. As the promotional poster advertised, it was The Thrill in the Ville. Biden, when hes on, is about as natural as any pol on those stages. Groomed for 36 years in the Senate hearing rooms and another eight as Vice President, he gets what needs to happen on live TV. The team around him is a set of pros who trust each other and can cajole Biden to be his best self. To watch him twirl in his chair on stage eight years ago in Kentucky was to enjoy a masterclass in political performance art. He leaned back and chuckled when Ryan struggled to match the carefully worded attacks. And he seemed downright jolly when going for the Republican tickets jugular. The problem, at least for much of the primary, has been that the Danville version of Biden has yet to show up. He was prepared, but didnt seem to relish the idea of savaging fellow Democrats, especially those who may shape his political party over the next half-century. He wanted to talk about ideas, not opp-files. And he would often balk when aides brought to him sure-fire ways to end others candidacies, such as Beto ORourkes unworkable immigration plans or Bernie Sanders effort to abolish private insurance. Biden legitimately liked most of his primary rivals, as evidenced by his choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate, a woman who landed the cleanest assault on Bidens character as any and still got the call. But the people watching Biden for the first time in the primary debates didnt quite get what makes Biden, well, Biden. Presidential debates are the apex of political theater. No one is judged as a successful President because he or she succeeds in a 90-minute version of Meet The Press. If ever a presidential library spends more than a video clip of any exchange on a presidential debate stage, its probably not for a good reason. Its a high-wire act with nothing but downside. What it takes to win a debate bears zero resemblance to the skills it takes to be President, and yet is an essential part of the election for many American voters. Turnout this year, when the nation has been in upheaval for months, is expected to reach once-a-century highs. Bidens low-key performance this year, and in previous, less-watched V.P. debates, may end up working to his advantage, especially if Trump believes his own hype. Trump seems determined to cast Biden as a meandering fool who doesnt know what day of the week it is. If Biden takes the stage in Cleveland with clear eyes and a fighters resolve, no number of pre-canned attacks can derail him. Just ask Paul Ryan about how its almost impossible to blunt the power of Malarkey. Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter. via change.org TEXT OF PETITION: Women from India and Pakistan Appeal to our Governments to support Afghan women and protect their rights at the aintra Afghan talks in Doha so as to build a stable peace in Afghanistan and for all of us in the region. We, women from India and Pakistan appeal to our governments seated as influential participant/observers around the crucial intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha to honour their national and international obligations and support Afghan women and their rights. Building sustainable peace demands inclusivity. The desires, hopes and hard-won rights of the women of Afghanistan as determined by them, need to be respected and safeguarded. They have the greatest stake in ensuring that peace endures. Peace with Afghan women incorporating their needs and perspectives is a necessity for a stable peace. We women of India and Pakistan have a direct stake in durable peace with justice and respect for human rights in Afghanistan. Instability in Afghanistan will directly affect Pakistan and India: widen the space for extremists to misuse ethnic, religious and linguistic differences to create division and conflict within our countries and between our countries. Conflict and suppression of human rights will propel masses of people to flee across borders and produce humanitarian and human rights crisis in the region. Instability will recreate the conditions for geo-strategic global interests to exacerbate tensions in South Asia. Such escalation of tension and violence will lead to increasing militarisation our societies and economies and and challenge our democratic governance structures. We share with our Afghan sisters the anxiety that these conditions will strengthen the already prevalent hyper masculine militarist (misogynist) patriarchal culture that is undermining respect for human rights and in particular womenas rights in the countries of the region. It is distorting our development priorities especially at a time when our countries are confronting the unprecedented public health crisis of the Covid 19 pandemic. We women recognise the value and imperative of working regionally across borders for the rights based development of our region but intensifying conflict and instability will destroy that possibility and necessity. Our governments recognise gender equality as an important instrument for economic growth and womenas empowerment, and it sits high on Pakistan and Indiaas domestic and international development agenda. Within our countries womenas struggles for rights have achieved important institutional capacities, arrangements and laws for ensuring gender equality. Constitutional guarantees provide for equal rights and opportunity, prohibit gender discrimination and enable affirmative action in the form of quotas. Also Pakistan and India have obligations on achieving gender equality under international treaty bodies and normative frameworks - CEDAW, Beijing Platform for Action, UNSC 1325+ and Child Rights Convention. These obligations are both inward and outward looking. We women of Pakistan and India expect our foreign policies to reflect our constitutional values and our national and international commitments to womenas rights and human rights Accordingly we recognise with appreciation India Foreign Minister Jaishankaras recent reiteration of Indiaas support for womenas rights and minority rights in Afghanistan on the occasion of the Doha talks. It follows upon the emphasis on gender equality in Indiaas official development assistance in Afghanistan. Indiaas former Ambassador in Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad iterated the importance of empowering women as agents of stability and progress. aFor the consolidation of peace, women have a key role in ensuring that the process of reconstruction is not disrupted and the positive transition, currently underway, is not reversed. In most post-conflict situations, and Afghanistan is no exception to this general trend, womenas active and constructive role as potential peace builders tends to be overlookeda (Seminar Magazine 2011). In Pakistan and all other countries in the region, and amongst the international actors, there is an articulated recognition that ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan must normalize for lasting peace and stability in the entire interdependent region. Even as the dwindling tension-laden political climate between Afghanistan and Pakistan continues to hover, there is this deeply rooted affinity and a common thread that ties women of the two countries together to act at the local, national and regional levels. Not only in the present but Pakistani civil society organizations, human rights activists and defenders have continued to raise their voices to advocate for Afghan womenas equal rights and their integration and leadership in policy discourses and processes and to fight against discrimination and exclusion of women. Notwithstanding, prominent women rights defenders from Afghanistan and Pakistan have jointly called on their governments to push for the inclusion of women in any peace processes for easing bilateral tensions and resolving the protracted Afghan conflict through peace negotiations. Human rights activists in Pakistan and India continue to emphasize that womenas meaningful participation in any renewed peace initiative is imperative to reverse the trends and attain peace and stability in the country. Marginalisation of womenas participation and perspectives from democratic processes and peace building has resulted in derogation of democracy, inequality and injustice in the region and globally. Pakistan and Indian governments are well placed to strengthen the voices of Afghan women at Doha to defend their equal rights and that of vulnerable groups to achieve a peace that enables the wellbeing of all. Support to Afghan women to politically transform the peace negotiations to ensure equality in all power relations especially the relations between women and men. An inclusive peace in Afghanistan will ensure peace in our region. Rita Manchanda, New Delhi Rukhshanda Naz, Peshawar SIGN THIS PETITION HERE U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the administration's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing plan in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, September 28, 2020. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it will not seek to enforce a subpoena for President Donald Trump's income tax returns until the president's appeal of the subpoena is resolved. The grand jury subpoena would compel accounting firm Mazars USA to turn over eight years of returns and other financial documents related to Trump and the Trump Organization. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office, in a letter Tuesday to the clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, said the office understood that the appeals court's order from early September staying proceedings in the case to be an effective block on the subpoena for now, despite not explicitly saying so. "Consistent with this understanding, our office will not seek to enforce the Mazars Subpoena pending determination by this Court of the current appeal," Vance deputy Carey Dunne said in the letter. The letter comes five weeks before the presidential election, where Trump faces a challenge from former Vice President Joe Biden, and two days after The New York Times published a bombshell report revealing that Trump has paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and no federal income taxes in other years spanning back a decade or more. The expose also said that over the next four years, Trump faces debt repayments that he has personally guaranteed totaling more than $400 million. Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., released their income tax returns on Tuesday afternoon. Trump earlier this year lost a Supreme Court appeal that sought to block the Mazars subpoena, which Vance's office had obtained a part of an ongoing criminal investigation of the Trump Organization. The high court ruled that Trump did not have the right to prevent a state prosecutor from enforcing such a subpoena just because he was president. But the Supreme Court said Trump could make further arguments against the subpoena in a federal district court. Trump's lawyers then did so. But a Manhattan federal judge rejected those arguments. Trump appealed that rejection. A three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit last week heard arguments on his appeal. A judge on the panel noted during the hearing that there appeared to be no bar on Vance obtaining the documents while the appeal was pending. The court then ordered parties in the case "to submit their views on the status of any stay preventing enforcement of the subpoena at issue in this case ... and whether any such stay is the result of a forbearance or an order of the Court," Dunne's letter said. "As described below, there is no voluntary or negotiated forbearance currently in effect to prevent enforcement," Dunne wrote. "However, for the reasons set forth below, we understand the Court's order of September 1, 2020, to stay enforcement of the Mazars Subpoena pending determination of the appeal." To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! India on Tuesday said it had never accepted the unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC) and pointed out that various agreements with China committed both countries to a common understanding of the alignment of the boundary. The external affairs ministry was reacting to a report in Hindustan Times, which cited Chinas foreign ministry as saying that Beijing abides by the LAC proposed by premier Zhou Enlai to prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959 the first time in decades the Chinese clearly outlined its position on the notional boundary by reiterating a position that India has consistently rejected since it was first made 61 years ago. India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Also Read: Indian forces prepared for any eventuality: IAF chief on Ladakh standoff Srivastava pointed out that under several bilateral agreements including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, and the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question India and China have committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC. He added, Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements. The external affairs ministry also blamed the Chinese side for lack of progress in the process for clarifying and confirming the boundary for almost two decades. In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it, Srivastava said. Also Read: Post Ladakh, PLA no longer a bogey for Indian Army | Analysis The Indian side also pointed to an apparent dichotomy in the position adopted by the Chinese side insisting on abiding by the LAC of 1959 while stating in recent discussions on the ongoing border standoff that the issue should be resolved on the basis of the existing agreements. In the last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries, Srivastava said. He pointed out that even in the agreement reached between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during their talks on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow on September 10, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements. The external affairs ministry said the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC, and defence minister Rajnath Singh had stated in Parliament recently that it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo. Srivastava said: We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC. Since early May, India and China have been engaged in a standoff in Ladakh sector of the LAC that has taken bilateral ties to an all-time low. Both sides have mobilised more than 50,000 troops each in the region and are now preparing to dig in for the harsh winter. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed on June 15 in a brutal clash in Galwan Valley, which also resulted in unspecified Chinese casualties. Troops of both sides have also fired warning shots on several occasions since late August, the first time arms have been used along the LAC since 1975. Several rounds of talks between the corps commanders and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs have been unable to end the impasse in the disengagement process, though the military commanders agreed at their last meeting that both sides wouldnt deploy any more troops to the frontline. The WMCC is set to hold another meeting soon. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail Milwaukee County COVID Deaths Have Average of 2.4 Comorbidities WASHINGTONIn Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, 426 people died between March 19 and Sept. 23, where COVID-19 was listed as the primary cause of death. Of those 426 people, 413 had an average of 2.4 other serious diseases, while 13 people had COVID-19 listed as the only cause of death. Most people that we do see are already medically fragile before they get COVID-19, Karen Domagalski, operations manager for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office, told The Epoch Times. It seems at some point that what is happening is getting diagnosed with coronavirus is basically accelerating death. Many of the comorbidities listed under other causes on the death certificate include obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerotic coronary and peripheral vascular disease, end-stage renal failure, and cancer. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office is reporting the deaths associated with COVID-19 on its website. The office usually only reports deaths from homicide, suicide, accidents, and natural but unexpected deaths; COVID-19 is characterized as a natural death, as is influenza. Most coronavirus deaths would be a natural expected death, for the most part, but we just chose to take jurisdiction of those deaths, Domagalski said. The office decided in early March to be involved in COVID-related deaths, suspected or confirmed, so we could do better surveillance on the pandemic. She said her office had never taken jurisdiction over deaths related to a pandemic in the past, such as SARS or Zika, but that they would likely do it again in the future. Domagalski said that for deaths classified primarily as COVID-19, the person must have received a positive test for COVID-19 and must have had symptoms. She said she didnt have a way to know exactly how long before death each person had received the positive test. Nationally, 204,328 people have died with COVID-19, as of Sept. 28, according to CDC data. New Delhi: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and his supporters on Tuesday held protests outside Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where a 20-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died days after being gang-raped by four men from the upper caste. The Bim Army activists demanded death sentence for the Hathras gang-rape and murder case culprits. The woman succumbed to her injuries this morning. At the protest, the Bhim Army chief said, "I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand the death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won't rest until the culprits are hanged." Live TV Azad had earlier demanded the Uttar Pradesh government to shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. "The state government is equally responsible for the death of our sister," he alleged. The woman was gang-raped a fortnight ago. The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt, in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have been arrested. She was first admitted to Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and later shifted to Safdarjung Hospital on Monday after her condition worsened. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi also on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the declining law and order situation in the state and sought strict action in the Hathras gangrape and murder case. Expressing her grief over the tragic death of the Hathras gangrape victim in Delhi hospital, the Congress leader sought answers from the UP government. She also demanded stringent action against those who attacked, gang-raped, tortured and murdered the 20-year-old woman in Hathras village. PARIS The man suspected of stabbing two people outside the former Paris office of Charlie Hebdo last week admitted to investigators that he wanted to set the building on fire, and he railed against cartoons of the prophet in a video found on his phone, but he did not pledge allegiance to any known terrorist group, French authorities said on Tuesday. Jean-Francois Ricard, the top antiterrorism prosecutor, said at a news conference that the video showed the suspect, Zaher Hassan Mahmood, 25, weeping and denouncing the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Mr. Ricard said Mr. Mahmood had told investigators that he had searched online for the address for Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper whose office was attacked in January 2015, and scouted the area, but had not realized that they moved. He had initially planned to set the former newspapers offices on fire, Mr. Ricard said, adding that the police found several bottles of turpentine in his bag. But Mr. Mahmood changed his mind when he saw two people smoking outside the building near a mural paying tribute to those killed in 2015, Mr. Ricard said. Thinking they were employees of the newspaper, he lunged at them with a meat cleaver. The extremely violent attack, caught on surveillance cameras, lasted only 20 seconds, Mr. Ricard said. From snobby Parisian motel reviews (not fit to stay for even one hour) to scathing summations of Japanese capsule hotels (awful, stinking little branches hell) to absurd attempts to blackmail luxury Italian hotels, its clear the beach too sandy, water too wet stereotypes didnt spring from nothing. But while previously, establishments have tended to suffer in silence (or write passive-aggressive, its a shame you didnt bring this to our attention while you were here comments in return), in the latest tale of Tourist vs. Hotel the hotel has struck back hard. According to the Telegraph, an American man could face two years imprisonment after writing unflattering online reviews about a Thailand hotel including accusing the business of modern-day slavery. The man, who works in Thailand, was arrested for allegedly causing damage to the reputation of popular resort destination Sea View Resort on Koh Chang island. He was escorted 250km away to Trad to face a complaint made against him by the resort owner. It was a Friday and he ended up spending a couple of nights in jail before he was able to post a 100,000 Baht bail. If he didnt have that money, he would have to wait months in prison. Richard Barrow in Thailand (@RichardBarrow) September 26, 2020 The man allegedly wrote reviews on multiple sites, including Tripadvisor, claiming he experienced unfriendly staff during a recent visit to Sea View Resort. According to The New York Times, which appears to have drawn on information from popular travel blogger, Richard Barrow, who posted about the incident on Twitter (and who claims both Sea View and The American sent him statements about what transpired), the American man was shocked by the $15 corkage fee during his June stay (for bringing his own bottle of gin to the restaurant) and complained to the server. A manager intervened and after a discussion in which they both displayed an attitude the manager waived the fee, The New York Times reports. The American man then later allegedly saw the same manager telling off an employee and concluded there was some master/slave mentality going on (a personal assessment of the hotels employee relations which seems to be the source of much of the controversy). The New York Times reports it was at this time he decided to write a review, encouraging other travellers to, Avoid this place as if it was the Coronavirus!. The hotel, the Sea View Koh Chang resort on the island of Koh Chang, was equally unhappy with the guest and what it saw as his one-man campaign to damage its reputation, The New York Times reports. Unable to reach him or halt his posts on TripAdvisor, the resort filed a complaint with the Thai police under the countrys harsh defamation law. As a result, the American man, who reports indicate is a teacher, was arrested this month and apparently spent a weekend in jail before being released. The New York Times reports if the man is convicted of criminal defamation, he faces up to two years in prison. In a statement allegedly sent to travel blogger Richard Barrow, the American man said after his arrest he was taken by the police back to Koh Chang. By the time he arrived on Sept. 12, a Saturday, it was too late for him to post bail and he spent two nights in jail before he was released the following Monday, The New York Times reports. This case should have never gone to court. It not only damages the reputation of the resort, but also the reputation of Thailand. This should have been settled privately. Now the world knows that if a tourist posts a negative hotel review in Thailand they risk going to prison. Richard Barrow in Thailand (@RichardBarrow) September 26, 2020 The incident has sparked a broader debate over Thailands defamation law, which lends the country a reputation tourism operators are trying to move away from especially important in a time when the travel industry has been crippled by the coronavirus. It has also inspired talk around the best way for hotels to deal with criticism: responding often looks petty (or in this case draconian) but doing nothing can lead to a damaged reputation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sasi Prapharsavat (@sasiiprsvt) on Jun 29, 2020 at 7:35pm PDT The New York Times reports seeking help from the police backfired, badly when it comes to Sea View hoping to win back its good name. [The] arrest has set off condemnation online, negative news stories and a burst of bad reviews for the resort. A hotel manager said the resort was receiving death threats from foreigners. The Sea View, in a statement also allegedly sent to travel blogger Richard Barrow said, We agree that using a defamation law may be viewed as excessive for this situation. However, the guest refused to respond to our attempts at communication and instead continued to persistently post negative and untrue reviews of our business. We simply want to ensure that these untrue reviews are stopped, and we had no way of negotiating the matter with the guest until after our filing the complaint with authorities. Read Next Oil majors Rosneft and Saudi Aramco are unlikely to bid in the privatisation of Indian refiner cCorp, sources familiar with the matter said, as low oil prices and weak fuel demand curb their investment plans. Russias Rosneft had expressed interest in buying the federal government 53.29% stake in Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) when CEO Igor Sechin visited New Delhi in February, while Indias trade minister had said Aramco was enthusiastic about the stake sale opportunity. A Rosneft source, however, said his company will not buy BPCL. Another source said Rosneft would only be interested in BPCLs marketing business comprising fuel depots and more than 16,800 fuel stations. For this, India has to sell BPCL in parts," the source said. The Indian government - which needs funds to finance welfare schemes and bridge a fiscal deficit that has already topped the annual target - had aimed to raise $8 to $10 billion through the sale of its stake in BPCL. But BPCLs share price has plunged nearly 30% over the past year to trade at around 386 rupees a piece on Tuesday. This is not the time to invest in refining demand would be there for oil to chemicals and not conventional products," one of the sources familiar with Saudi oil giant Aramcos thinking said. The Saudi government discussed BPCLs privatisation with an Indian oil ministry official in July, according to an oil ministry document. However, a second source familiar with Aramcos thinking said that after showing interest initially Aramco has not submitted a formal expression of interest (EoI) even though the process was extended by two months to Sept. 30. A third source said that Aramco has halted most of its investment plans into India due to the oil price crash and is unlikely to bid for BPCL. India will not get the deserved price for the BPCL stake sale in the current environment," a fourth source familiar with Aramcos thinking said. India may have to look for other avenues to raise funds to meet its spending commitments, said Kiran Jadhav, who runs his own asset management firm with a 2 billion rupee ($27 million) portfolio. If big firms are backing out, this will definitely hurt the share price and valuation of BPCL," he said. Sources said that neither Rosneft nor Aramco see much value in refining as the government in the Indian state of Kerala, home to BPCLs biggest refinery, might challenge the privatisation in court and BPCLs two other refineries are in cities, leaving little scope for revamp and expansion. Aramco and Rosneft did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Indias finance ministry also did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported last week that Indias efforts to privatise BPCL could spill over into the next fiscal year, citing a government document and sources. Aramco has not participated in the EoI so far. Initially we had expected them to show interest. We are weighing our options," said a source familiar with Indias government stake sale programme. At the start of 2020, Covid-19 was still an unknown illness to most of the world but now there have been more than 110 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide and a global death toll that exceeds two million. Much is still not known about the long-term impacts of the virus - in February 2020, the government believed it was similar to known respiratory illnesses, like the flu, which is why they adopted a well-tested flu pandemic model. Now it is clear that coronavirus operates differently. Another aspect of the virus which is becoming more well-documented is its duration. In December, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed that one in 10 people infected with coronavirus experience symptoms that last for three months or longer. Back in August, Downing Street was forced to deny claims that Boris Johnson could quit as prime minister within six months because of ongoing health problems due to coronavirus. The father-in-law of Dominic Cummings was reported to have told a holidaymaker that Mr Johnson was still struggling after he became ill in April. The long-term impacts of coronavirus are increasingly noted by experts and survivors. A study released on 20 August found nearly three quarters of coronavirus patients admitted to hospital suffer ongoing symptoms three months later - many were unable to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing or going back to work, the study found. On 7 September, a study reported up to 60,000 people in the UK have been suffering from long-Covid for more than three months. The NHS has announced it will spend 10m to help fund a network of 69 long-Covid rehabilitation clinics. So what is long-Covid and why does it happen to some patients and not others? What is long-Covid? The term long-Covid (also known as long-haul or long-tail) is not an official medical term. It is used by people suffering symptoms of the virus for longer than the official WHO-endorsed two week period, which is meant to be long enough for the virus to come and go. Sufferers report a huge spectrum of problems beyond the three NHS-approved symptoms (persistent cough, fever and loss of taste or smell). These include fatigue, breathlessness, muscle aches, joint pain, 'brain fog,' memory loss, lack of concentration, and depression. It is not thought that people are infectious for the long period, but just suffer long-term effects. Jennifer Forbes 41, from Cornwall got ill with Covid-19 in mid-March. She toldThe Independent, despite having no underlying conditions, she did not expect to get back to her former fitness for six months. There is some slight change over the last few weeks, but it feels very slow, and still backwards and forwards, she says. I kept saying I was better, only to slip back again. Although the term is still colloquial rather than universally medically-approved several celebrities including actors Alyssa Milano and Emma Samms have shared experience of issues like hair loss there is increasing scientific evidence to support the idea of a long illness. In August last year, a study published by Southmead hospital in Bristol found that a total of 81 patients out of 110 discharged from the hospital were still experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, including breathlessness, excessive fatigue and muscle aches, after 12 weeks. Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Show all 12 1 /12 Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Marc Lyons ICU Consultant, East Cheshire NHS Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Emma Kelly Critical Care Nurse, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Laura Arrowsmith COVID-19 Ward Cleaner, Leighton Hospital, Crewe PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Stuart Brookfield Paramedic, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Claudia Anghel Midwife, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Sarah Jensen Chief Information Officer, Barts Health NHS Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Anne Roberts District Nurse, Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Ali Abdi Porter, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Jack Hannay Manikum 111 call handler, West Midlands Ambulance Service PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Ade Williams Superintendent Pharmacist, Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Farzana Hussain GP, Project Surgery, Newham PA Rankin unveils portraits of NHS workers on the coronavirus frontline Roopak Khara General Adult Psychiatrist, West London NHS Trust PA Separate data from the Covid Symptom Study app, being run by Kings College, suggests a significant number of people report symptoms for a month. The app, which has been downloaded more than 3,000,000 times, found that one in every 20 people experience long-term symptoms. Another study, developed by health app ZOE and endorsed by NHS Wales and NHS Scotland, found one in 10 are ill for more than three weeks and some may suffer for months. The same pattern has been seen elsewhere in the world. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a team of researchers from Italy reported that nearly nine in 10 patients (87 per cent) discharged from a hospital in Rome were still experiencing at least one symptom 60 days after onset. They found that 13 per cent of the 143 people were completely free of any symptoms, while 32 per cent had one or two symptoms, and 55 per cent had three or more. And it's not just sufferers reporting it; a third of doctors have treated patients with long term covid-19 symptoms, including chronic fatigue and anosmia, a survey conducted by the British Medical Association (BMA) found. The emergence of these official figures has led to these long-term sufferers coming together and forming support networks, such as the Facebook group 1 in 20 (a name inspired by the findings of the Kings survey). Why is Covid lasting longer for some people? Recommended Caring for someone with dementia during a pandemic The Royal College of General Practitioners said it expects GPs to see an influx of patients with "lingering" illnesses but there is less certainty as to why some people suffer for longer. A report from Kings suggested that those with longer-term symptoms could be related to the severity: Evidence is mounting that some people who have had relatively mild symptoms at home may also have a prolonged illness. Although we know that lasting fatigue can sometimes follow other viral infections, detailed mechanistic insight is, for the most part, lacking. An ongoing viral infection in lung, brain, fat or other tissue may be one mechanism. A prolonged and inappropriate immune response after the infection has been cleared might be another." And a previous study into post-illness chronic fatigue has shown that some patients may just be biologically predisposed to such a response. "When a chemical called interferon-alpha was given to people as a treatment for hepatitis C, it generated a flu-like illness in many patients and post-viral fatigue in a few. "Researchers have studied this artificial infection response as a model of chronic fatigue. They found that baseline levels of two molecules in the body that promote inflammation interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 predicted peoples subsequent development of chronic fatigue," says the report. What help is available for people with long Covid? It has now been announced that patients in hospital with coronavirus should be offered a follow-up as early as four weeks after developing the illness to check for symptoms of long-Covid. Guidance drawn up by health officials across the UK states that the long-term effects of the virus can be significant. The guidelines were developed collaboratively by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). NHS England said it is spending 10m to help fund a network of 69 long-Covid rehabilitation clinics, with another 12 sites planned for January. Patients must be referred by their GP. Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said: The NHS is taking practical action to help patients suffering ongoing health issues as a result of coronavirus. "Bringing expert clinicians together in these clinics will deliver an integrated approach to support patients access vital rehabilitation, as well as helping develop a greater understanding of long-Covid and its debilitating symptoms. Prior to this, the NHS launched a Covid-19 rehab service for people who have been suffering with the long-term effects of the virus. Your Covid Recovery Service initially launched online but it will become a face-to-face portal at a later date when it is safe to do so. People without online access will be provided with printed materials, depending on demand. The government has also provided 8.4m in funding for the Phosp-Covid study, a UK-wide consortium led by researchers at the University of Leicester, that will investigate the long-term health outcomes of the disease. Around 10,000 patients are expected to take part. An all parliamentary group (APPG) of MPs has also been hearing from Covid survivors about long-term symptoms in a bid to better respond to the growing crisis. Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, a member of the APPG, revealed that he had been unable to shake his own coronavirus symptoms for 18 weeks. Claire Hastie, the founder of the Long Covid Support Group, warned that GPs were regularly misdiagnosing ongoing problems as anxiety or ME, telling politicians: "The science needs to catch up with us. Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday saw 290 fresh coronavirus infections taking the states Covid-19 tally to 14,747. Also, the death toll mounted to 178 as three more patients succumbed to the contagion. In Kangra, Rajya Sabha MP Indu Goswami has been tested positive for Covid-19. I had recently met BJP leader Sandeepani Bhardwaj in Delhi, who was later tested positive. I got my test done which came back as positive. I am isolating myself and request all who came in my contact to do so and undergo test, Goswami wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, a press conference of minister of state (M0S) for finance Anurag Thakur slated fo Wednesday in Dharamshala has been cancelled as he had come in contact with the MP. Fourteen more police officials undergoing training at Police Training College, Daroh, have tested positive, taking the tally in the institute to 38. In Sunderngar, Mandi, former BJP minister Roop Singh Thakur has also tested positive. Of the new cases, 65 were reported in Shimla, 59 in Solan, 51 in Kangra, 23 each in Una and Sirmaur, 19 in Bilaspur, 15 each in Mandi and Chamba, 14 in Kullu, and three each in Hamirpur and Lahaul-Spiti. Two people died of the virus in Kangra and one in Shimla. RECOVERY RATE NEARS 75% The recovery rate in state has neared 75% with 364 more people being discharged from the hospital. To date, a total of 10,971 people have recovered. As many as 6,498 or 59% recoveries have been registered in September alone. There are 3,573 active cases in state. And the death rate in state is 1.2% with 142 fatalities being recorded in September. A total of 2.92 lakh tests have been conducted that comes around 40,000 tests per million population. The confirmation rate was hovering around 2,000 cases per million. There is slight decline in new cases as fresh infections have grown at 2.2% this week as compared to 3% growth of last week. SOLAN, KANGRA SHARE 35% DISEASE BURDEN Solan and Kangra district share 35% of the disease burden with 5,228 cases of total 14,747 being reported there. Till date, Solan has recorded 2,988 cases, while Kangra has 2,240 infections. In terms of active cases, Kangra is at 620 cases and Solan at 591. Sirmaur is the third worst-hit district with 1,808 cases, followed by Mandi with 1,671 cases, Shimla 1,284, Una 1,267, Hamirpur 913, Chamba 829, Bilaspur 800, Kullu 603, Kinnaur 190 and Lahaul-Spiti 154. The family of a Buckeye man who died in a shooting six months ago has filed a nearly $1 million notice of claim against the Buckeye Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriffs Office. The claim alleges that police officers and sheriffs deputies were slow to respond to the shooting of 44-year-old Isidro Meza. It also accuses the agencies of gross negligence, wrongful death and negligent supervision, training and hiring of its personnel, according to the Arizona Republic. Meza died March 10 following a dispute with another man, who was arrested. But the county Attorneys Office declined to press charges in July, stating Meza was shot in self-defense. The notice of claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, alleges that several 911 calls were made in the hours prior to the shooting and law enforcement officers didnt arrive on the scene until Meza was already dead. The claim seeks a settlement of $950,000 from the sheriffs office and Buckeye police. They both have until Nov. 8 to respond to the claim. Both agencies declined to comment on the notice or the case, citing pending litigation. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Law Enforcement Arizona In the HEROES pandemic stimulus bill they passed in May, House Democrats included a two-year waiver of the cap on federal income-tax deductions for state and local taxes that was imposed by the 2017 tax-cut law. That idea was dead on arrival with Senate Republicans, who see the SALT deduction as an unworthy subsidy that rewards "high-tax/high-spend" blue-state politicians, and it's become a red plank in their political narrative.Not every defense of the SALT cap is coming from the right, though. In a Brookings Institution blog post and a subsequent New York Times op-ed , Richard V. Reeves and Christopher Pulliam called removing the cap a massive handout for the rich and advocated eliminating the deduction altogether. Democrats have not been persuaded: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats say SALT reform will be a top priority if their party regains control of the upper house.Reeves and Pulliam correctly explained how removing the SALT cap altogether would be regressive, tax-wise. Additional itemized deductions above the current $10,000 cap would primarily benefit upper-income taxpayers, not the working class. Only 14 percent of U.S. tax filers were subject to the SALT deduction limit pre-COVID-19, and high-tax New York and California were not really that different from the national average, at 17 percent. Even for New Jersey, notorious for its high property, sales and income taxes, only 27 percent of taxpayers are crimped by the cap. For everybody else, the ceiling was a non-issue.For state and local officials, however, the SALT deduction is more than just Capitol Hill politics. To the extent that maybe 10 percent of state and local voters, the ones most impacted by the current SALT ceiling, will balk at tax increases for school bonds and public services, it becomes all that much harder to pass a funding referendum. These are very likely to be swing voters on tax proposals. A higher SALT-deduction cap could change that.But are congressional Democrats, and especially those from high-tax states who represent affluent constituents, barking up the wrong, regressive tree here? Or is this a tax forest that isn't clearly seen by viewing just the SALT tree? As it happens, there is a rogue tree nearby that also requires pruning to improve income-tax progressivity. But to see it clearly, one first needs to know some tax history.In the professional field of public finance, the classic textbook for decades wasby Richard and Peggy Musgrave. They taught students of my generation that a federal deduction or credit for state and local taxes is needed to avoid double taxation of the same household income. Otherwise, the compounding of high federal, state and local tax rates could result in marginal taxation that ultimately becomes confiscatory. Back when they published the first edition of their book in 1973, the top federal tax rate was 70 percent, and their assertion was plausible when state and local taxes were piled on.Then along came the federal Alternative Minimum Tax, designed to apply only to the millionaire class that had figured out how to dodge federal income taxes. Over time, as Congress scrounged for revenue, the AMT surtax was expanded to reach down to the upper middle class, and eventually the AMT eliminated the SALT deduction altogether when calculating its complex taxable income base. That threw millions of middle-class professionals straight into the AMT, which was hated by everybody trapped in that parallel tax universe.In 2017, the Republican Party's centerpiece tax reform law raised the threshold for the AMT to a much higher level, but to secure compensating revenues it put a cap on the SALT deduction. Most middle-class households were still better off overall because they were now freed from the hated AMT, and they also enjoyed a slightly lower tax rate on their earned income.So the real question now is whether it makes sense to lift the SALT deduction ceiling somewhat, so that the cap is focused on One Percenters and not urban and suburban middle-class professionals. Politically, that is what the SALT debate actually comes down to, which makes it easier to see where most blue-state politicians are focusing. And it's where the most decisive pocketbook votes may reside in hometown and statewide tax referenda.Fortunately, there is a potential policy strategy for tax reformers. Going back to the forest surrounding the SALT tree, there is another tax break awarded in 2017 that also should be capped to pay for a modest but meaningful increase of the SALT deduction ceiling. That over-ripe tree is called the Qualified Business Income Deduction . QBID is essentially an insiders' 2017 Trump tax loophole ostensibly for small businesses, self-employed gig workers and certain qualifying professionals. But its biggest beneficiaries are the ultra-rich who own private companies, as well as those involved in real-estate-development and oil-and-gas partnerships. Carping about "tax discrimination," they complained they were being unfairly taxed at a higher rate than if they were able to enjoy the lower dividend tax rates and corporate tax rates that apply to public companies.The problem with that is that their math is now invalid as a result of the 2017 tax cuts, as I documented in my 2019 book Enlightened Public Finance . Even without the QBID loophole, shareholders' combined taxes on corporate profits, dividends and capital gains equaled or exceeded taxes on profits passed through from private companies. But the GOP tax-writers had found a constituency far more valuable and durable to them at the ballot box: the small-business community. Main Street business owners now get a windfall-bonus 20 percent deduction from their net business income on their federal taxes, even though there is actually no mathematical rationale. Guess which party they favor?So, when Congress capped the SALT deduction, it turns out that two-thirds of the incremental revenue paid for the QBID deduction under the guise of AMT relief. They robbed Peter to pay windfalls to Paul.In a progressive-tax forest, both deductions can be preserved for middle-income taxpayers but capped for the One Percenters. To raise the SALT limit, Congress could equitably put a similar cap on the QBID deduction. The precise math requires IRS tax data I have no access to, but my book's ballpark math suggested that parallel $17,000 ceilings for each deduction could come close to revenue parity. Alternatively, federal taxpayers could deduct one or the other but not both, up to roughly $23,000 (which would spoil fewer local tax-hike referenda). Ultrawealthy private investors in businesses such as Koch Industries and the Trump-Kushner real-estate partnerships could no longer deduct millions on their business income, while most of America's middle-class entrepreneurs and businesses would still enjoy meaningful tax relief.What's good for the goose should be good for the gander when it comes to capping deductions. So reformers need to learn the ins and outs of federal tax policy, if they want to play in the Capitol Hill hardball league where tax-savvy K Street lobbyists have a home-field advantage almost every time. And for state and local policy advocates roaming the halls of Congress, here's your "pay-for" to make SALT reform revenue-neutral. Job Title: Programme Assistant Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About US: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has a global mandate to improve nutrition, increase agricultural productivity, raise the standard of living in rural populations and contribute to global economic growth. Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAOs efforts to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Job Summary: The Programme Assistant will facilitate the day-to-day field-level implementation of FAOs livelihoods programmes in the nine districts of Karamoja sub-region, overseeing the work of FAOs service provider, in collaboration with FAOs Programme Officer/Field Coordinator (Head of sub-office) based in Moroto and under the overall guidance of the Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator. Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR), in consultation with the Deputy FAOR, the Programme Assistant reports to the Programme Officer/Field Coordinator (Head of sub-office) based in Moroto and the overall guidance of the Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator. The Programme Assistant will, in collaboration with respective Districts Local Government in Karamoja sub-region, will provide routine support and oversight of the field implementation in the Desert Locust Response. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Assist the Programme Officer/Field Coordinator in the implementation of field activities in Desert Locust affected and threatened communities that cut across humanitarian and development assistance, which may include but are not limited to: community mobilization, beneficiary registration, training of beneficiaries, input distribution and participate in monitoring and verification exercises to validate service delivery progress and completion; Support FAO-led preparation, finalization and implementation of activity work plans, monitoring and other implementation tasks, ensuring that the necessary synergy is built with other ongoing initiatives in the districts; Liaise with the Service Provider and District extension agents, in coordination with the FAO project team, to prepare the appropriate training content and any other necessary backstopping requirements and ensuring that beneficiaries are trained and are able to apply the recommended agronomic, soil and water conservation management practices. Provide efficient communication with suppliers and service providers on receipt, storage and distribution of FAO inputs and assets at the field-level under the coordination of the Programme Officer/Field Coordinator; Monitor day-to-day implementation by FAO service providers in Karamoja sub-region in Eastern Uganda, including suppliers and implementing partners, with the provision of continuous feedback on Service Providers performance to the Programme Officer/Field Coordinator; Provide routine updates to FAOs Programme Officer/Field Coordinator on implementation progress, ensuring that all activities on the ground are technically sound and meet expectations of government, donors and the communities served; Document and share with the Programme Officer/Field Coordinator lessons-learned and provide evidence-based recommendations to address emerging issues and build on best practices to ensure effective and timely delivery; In the absence of Programme Officer/Field Coordinator, participate in the relevant project-related meetings and missions to ensure the visibility of FAO in all essential activities while preserving the corporate image of FAO; Produce a comprehensive activity report of the assignment based on above outlined tasks and responsibilities; Undertake any other activities as requested. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Programme Assistant job placement must hold a Bachelors Degree in agriculture, rural development, programme management or related fields. Three years of programme/project experience in programme implementation. Experience in agricultural livelihoods programming in humanitarian and development context, preferably in a humanitarian response. Experience in community mobilization and awareness raising. Experience in partnership building in providing support to local government and civil society structures. Experience with activity and routine performance reporting. Working knowledge of English. National of Uganda Working knowledge of Ngkarimojong. FAO Core Competencies Results Focus Teamwork Communication Building Effective Relationships Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement How to Apply: All interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to apply online at the link below Click Here NB: FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing) Deadline: 10th October 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Name: Andre Baker Party: Democrat Race: state House 124th District Andre Baker, a father of two sons, was first elected to serve as state representative in Connecticuts 124th district in 2014. He won back-to-back re-elections in 2016 and 2018. Baker, born and raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., is the owner and CEO of Baker-Isaac Funeral Services in Bridgeport and Baker Funeral Services in South Norwalk. He moved to Bridgeport in 1994 and began to pursue a political career just a few years later in 2003 when he was elected to the Democratic Town Committee. He previously defeated Republican challenger Jose Quiroga for the representative seat back in 2018 with Baker receiving 3,971 votes to Quirogas 458. Texas Heritage Museum Shares Artifacts in Recognition of Gold Star Mothers Day Jessyca Brown Tuesday, September 29, 2020 2:29 PM Texas Heritage Museum Hillsboro, TX Since June 23, 1936, the last Sunday of September has served as a Mothers Day that is reserved for a special group of mothersmothers of United States Armed Forces men and women who have died during a conflict or war in which the US is engaged. The day was originally marked in 1936 as Gold Star Mothers Day but was amended to Gold Star Mothers and Familys Day by President Barack Obama in 2011 to include immediate family members of fallen service members. This year, Gold Star Mothers and Familys Day fell on Sept. 27, and Hill College Texas Heritage Museum (THM) shared photos of Gold Star artifacts from its collection in honor of the service members, mothers, and families the designated day represents. The artifacts include a Gold Star flag that Gold Star mothers would display in their homes, Gold Star jewelry worn by the mothers of WWI service men, and a Gold Star pin. Bringing attention to this day creates public awareness of the meaning of Gold Star Mother and brings honor to all the service members who have given their lives for our countrys freedom, said John Versluis, dean of THM. The Gold Star became a symbol of loss during WWI when US Army Captain Robert L. Queisser, who had two sons serving on the front line, designed and patented the Blue Star Flag or Service Flag for families of service members in active duty during times of war or hostilities to display in their homes. In 1918, after President Woodrow Wilson approved for mothers who lost a child serving in WWI to wear a gold gilt star on the traditional black mourning arm band, a tradition began of families stitching a gold star over the blue star on the Service Flag to indicate the death of the service member. It wasnt until 1947 that the US Congress designated the current version of the Gold Star lapel pin as the official symbol of a family members sacrifice, which is distributed by the Department of Defense to immediate family members of a fallen service member. Prior to 1947, Gold Star pins were custom made in all different styles and sizes. The pin displayed in the museums Texans at War, 1939-1945 Gallery was custom made at the Armstrong Jewelry Store in Waco for a local WWI Gold Star Mother, Minnie Barr. Her son US Army Sgt. Clarence William Barr, born in Waco Nov. 16, 1895, was a 22-year-old farmer in Aquilla when the US engaged in WWI. The US government passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, and all men aged 21 to 30 were required to register with local draft boards. Barr registered for the war on June 5, 1917 and was deployed to France with Company D, 359th Texas Infantry, 90th Division sometime in June 1918. Barr was killed in action during the Meuse-Argonne Battle on Nov. 2, 1918, nine days before WWI ended. He was buried in the Argonne-American Battle Cemetery and was re-interred in the Arlington, Virginia National Cemetery in 1921. Barrs younger brother, Reagan Barr, a US Army Corporal in WWII, donated the pin to the museum in 1994. He died in 1995 at age 86. Versluis said the museum is grateful for Reagan Barrs donation of the pin because it is an important piece of the collection, especially since 32,399 Texans have given their lives in service from WWI to present day. The Gold Star is an artifact that offers a personal perspective by tying the mother directly to the soldier and showing the home front impact, he said. For more information about the Texas Heritage Museum, visit the museum website at https://www.hillcollege.edu/Museum/Index.html or the museum Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/texasheritagemuseum/. For more information about Gold Star Mothers and Familys Day, visit the White House Proclamation page at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-gold-star-mothers-familys-day-2020/. For more information about Gold Star mothers and families, visit American Gold Star Mothers, Inc (https://www.goldstarmoms.com/), Gold Star Wives of America, Inc (https://www.goldstarwives.org/) and The National Gold Star Family Registry (http://goldstarfamilyregistry.com/). ### Gold Star Mothers attending a Gold Star car parade in pre-1945 in Waco, Texas. Minnie Barr, mother of Sgt. Clarence William Barr, is believed to be pictured third from the left. This photo was donated to Hill College Texas Heritage Museum by Minnie Barrs younger son, Reagan Barr, in 1994. Minnie Barrs Gold Star pin was custom made at Armstrong Jewelry Store in Waco before Congress established the official pin distributed to next of kin today. Barr received the pin for the loss of her son, Sgt. Clarence William Barr, who was killed in action during the Meuse-Argonne Battle on November 2, 1918. Barrs youngest son, Reagan Barr, donated the pin to the Hill College Texas Heritage Museum in 1994. Photo of Sgt. Clarence William Barr in WWI uniform in 1917. This photo was donated to the Hill College Texas Heritage Museum by his brother, Regan Barr, in 1994. This example of WWII Gold Star jewelry worn by mothers of service men was purchased by Hill College Texas Heritage Museum in the mid-1990s as part of its educational collection. This is a sample Gold Star flag that was hung in front windows of Gold Star Mothers homes. Each gold star represented one child killed during wartime. Hill College Texas Heritage Museum purchased this flag in the mid-1990s as part of its educational collection. DENVER, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cappello's, the makers of frozen-fresh, simple, real-ingredient foods, announced today the closing of a significant funding round led by Alliance Consumer Growth ("ACG"), a prominent consumer- and retail-focused growth equity firm that has made significant contributions to the food and beverage world with investments in popular brands such as KRAVE Jerky, BarkTHINS, EVOL Foods, Blaze Pizza and Shake Shack. Finn Capital Partners, a group that supports businesses in high-growth consumer products categories and has helped fund better-for-you food brands including Olipop, Barnana, Pressed Juicery and more, also participated in the round. Cappello's Announces Series B Funding Round with Alliance Consumer Growth and Finn Capital Partners Cappello's has been at the head of clean-ingredient innovation for nearly 10 years. Using the power of the almond, the team has changed the idea of what traditional pasta, pizza and cookie dough could look like by taking grains out of the equation. Co-Founders and co-CEOs Ben Frohlichstein and Stacey Marcellus focused on real-food ingredients and turned traditional comfort foods into nutritionally relevant, lower carb, higher protein creations that could be enjoyed by everyone. Cappello's has found enormous success in the frozen aisle, launching into 30% more storefronts in 2020 than in 2019 with their biggest retail partners being in the Natural Channels. The new funds will accelerate Cappello's growth by allowing the brand to fuel the expansion of its offerings as well as drive new distribution in key markets and connect with new consumers. The brand is in an ideal place for growth as frozen pizza, one of Cappello's key categories, is a $5.9B segment that is up 30% in the last 6 months. Quality-focused brands like Cappello's have helped to drive shoppers to the frozen aisle in recent years and even more so during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2020 Cappello's experienced 74% sales growth and will also be utilizing this investment to hire additional talent to help the brand continue to meet new demand. Consumer engagement and response has been extraordinary and the brand is excited for the continued years of growth. "As we close this round of funding, we want to thank our partners for their support and we're so elated that we can collaborate with them to propel our vision of offering delicious, simple, grain-free foods to all," said Ben Frohlichstein, co-Founder and co-CEO of Cappello's. "With our sights set on new distribution and innovation, we are closer than ever to reaching families across the nation that are looking for convenient, clean ingredient meal solutions that never compromise on taste or texture." "Cappello's is one of the most exciting emerging food brands, and we are thrilled to have this opportunity to be a partner to the business and the team," said Daniel Hodges, Vice President of ACG. "Their effectiveness in connecting with consumers is illustrated by their impressive growth across various sales channels, and we look forward to supporting the Cappello's team going forward." For more information on Cappello's and its roster of frozen-fresh, grain-free products, please visit www.cappellos.com. MEDIA CONTACT Kim Le / Sonja Melin [email protected] 213-516-2479 www.startrco.com SOURCE Cappello's By Trend Azerbaijans Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva visited civilian targets, which were shelled from artillery by Armenian armed forces, the Ombudsmans Office told Trend. Aliyeva visited the shelled civilian targets in order to get familiarized on the spot with the facts of gross violation of international law as a result of the provocative actions of Armenia. As a result of the shelling by the Armenian armed forces, five members of one family, including Elbrus Gurbanov, born in 1951, his wife Shafayat Gurbanova (1956), their daughter-in-law Afag Amirova (1981), as well as their granddaughter Fidan Gurbanova (2006) and their grandson Shahriyar Gurbanov (2007) were killed in the village of Gashalti, Naftalan district, which is remote from the front-line zone. The ombudsman visited the place where the civilians were killed, examined the house destroyed by an artillery shell, personally got familiarized with the situation, and met with the civilian population. As a result of intensive shelling of densely populated areas and civilian objects by the Armenian armed forces, civilians and military personnel were killed and injured, and many houses and civilian objects were seriously damaged. According to the ombudsmans office, another deliberate attack by Armenia on the civilian population is a gross violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions. The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said Sept. 27, 2020, that Ashaghi Abdulrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated. Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hugo Greenhalgh (Reuters) London, United Kingdom Tue, September 29, 2020 15:30 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47f8f3f 2 Art & Culture jk-rowling,Britain,author,transgender,transgender-rights Free Prominent figures in the British arts including novelist Ian McEwan and playwright Sir Tom Stoppard have signed a letter denouncing "hate speech" against Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling over her comments on transgender rights. Rowling weighed into a fierce debate on the issue earlier this year, raising concerns over trans women being allowed access to single-sex spaces - a stance that drew praise from some women's campaigners and condemnation from many trans activists. "J.K. Rowling has been subjected to an onslaught of abuse that highlights an insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic trend in social media," wrote the 58 signatories to the letter published in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. "(This is) just the latest example of hate speech directed against her and other women." Rowling sparked controversy initially after she took umbrage with the headline "Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate". "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling tweeted at the time. Read also: Trans anger as J.K. Rowling compares hormone treatment to gay conversion therapy The writer, whose Harry Potter series has sold more than 500 million books, followed the tweet with a 3,600-word essay, in which she disclosed she had been a victim of domestic abuse and sexual assault. The publication of Rowling's latest book, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, reignited the increasingly toxic debate. The author's inclusion of a serial killer with a fetish for women's clothes saw the hashtag #RIPJKRowling trending on Twitter. "Like many others, I was horrified by the grotesque treatment of J.K. Rowling, who has received the vilest abuse for daring to challenge extreme gender ideology," said author Simon Edge, one of the letter's signatories. "The bullies have shown themselves up for the misogynists they are," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Monday in an online message. But writer and trans advocate Ugla Stefania Kristjonudottir Jonsdottir said Rowling's critics were "rightfully criticizing views that she's expressed that are misleading, damaging and hurtful for transgender people". "Her views contribute to a very toxic public debate that is based on fear of transgender people and their rights, rather than actual lived realities," the writer added. The Bombay High Court will hear the bail pleas of actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik on Tuesday. The two, along with a few members of the staff of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, have been in jail for over 3 weeks on drugs related charges linked to a probe into the actors death. Rhea was arrested on September 9. On Monday, the Narcotics Control Bureau filed their affidavit in the court, opposing Rheas bail plea. The statement reiterated that Rhea was an active member of the drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers. The statement said, The present applicant is prominent member of supply chain of drugs and majorly she is handling finance also. The present applicant used to manage, finance for drug procurement along with Sushant Singh Rajput. The NCB also said that despite knowing that Sushant consumed drugs, Rhea harboured and concealed him, It is further submitted that if overall scenario is seen, then the present applicant (Rhea) being aware of the fact that Sushant Singh Rajput being someone who is engaged in consumption has harboured him and concealed him whilst he was engaged in consuming the drugs. This would amount to harbouring. The present applicant also allowed her residence for drug storage and consumption for Sushant Singh Rajput. NCB called it a more serious offence than consumption of drugs. Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, this is the most serious crime, Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede said in the written submission. Earlier on September 11, the court had rejected the bail plea of Rhea, her brother Showik Chakraborty, and others observing that if she is released on bail she may alert other accused and they may destroy the evidence in the matter. On September 27, NCB seized mobile phones of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh and others, NCB recorded the statements of Karishma Prakash, Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor on September 26. The statements of Karishma Prakash, Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor have been recorded. Kshitij Prasad has been placed under arrested after questioning. No fresh summon has been issued today. We have arrested more than 18 people, Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy DG, South-Western Region of NCB said on Saturday. The NCB had launched an investigation into the drugs case after it received official communication from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was investigating the money trail related to actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death case. In the investigation, many revelations surfaced including various chats related to drug consumption, procurement, usage and transportation. The ED had on July 31 registered an Enforcement Case Information Report in the late actors death case after an FIR was filed by Rajputs father KK Singh against Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar on July 28. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON TV and film crews who need TRVs may be eligible to get their work permits in two weeks Foreign TV and film workers eligible for priority processing TV and film crews who need TRVs may be eligible to get their work permits in two weeks Foreign TV and film workers eligible for priority processing TV and film crews who need TRVs may be eligible to get their work permits in two weeks Foreign TV and film workers eligible for priority processing TV and film crews who need TRVs may be eligible to get their work permits in two weeks Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Canada is now offering a 14-day processing standard for eligible foreign television and film workers. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officers will now prioritize work permit processing for foreign TV and film workers who need a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV). Anyone who does not have citizenship from a visa-exempt country needs a TRV to enter Canada. This includes foreign nationals in the U.S. who are citizens of non-visa-exempt countries. The new policy, announced September 28 on the IRCC website, means that TV and film workers who need TRVs can get their work permits processed in two weeks. Film crews will still be expected to quarantine after being granted entry to Canada, and will still need to quarantine for 14 days. Foreign nationals travelling by air to Canada from any country other than the U.S. will need their Canadian work permit in order to board the plane. U.S. travellers may be able to apply for their work permit at a Port of Entry as long as they are not sick, have an essential reason to come to Canada, and they can prove that they are able to quarantine for two weeks. Provinces and territories may have additional travel restrictions. IRCC says work permit applicants must check the provincial or territorial regulations with their employer or regional authority before travelling. Get a Free Consultation with an Immigration Lawyer for your TV and Film Production How to get priority processing as foreign nationals working in TV and film IRCC says foreign nationals coming to Canada to work in TV and film must meet the following criteria to be eligible for priority processing: submit an initial work permit application online to work within the TV and film industry; apply from outside Canada and the U.S., or be in the U.S. but require a TRV; and self-identify as a television and film industry worker after submitting the work permit application by sending a request via the IRCC Web form. Applicants have special instructions from IRCC to write the following word-for-word in the Your enquiry section of their Web form: COVID-19 FILM & TV INDUSTRY Requesting priority processing for Film & TV Industry workers due to COVID-19 This will help Client Experience Branch to identify requests and distribute them to the appropriate office for priority processing, IRCC says. The immigration department may require an additional five days to identifying requests that are eligible for priority processing. The two-week processing standard only begins once the work permit applicant has received confirmation that their application is eligible for priority processing. Get a Free Consultation with an Immigration Lawyer for your TV and Film Production 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ralphs Grocery, a division of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), today announced its latest milestones and results for Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, the company's bold vision to end hunger in our communities and eliminate waste across the company by 2025. "Zero Hunger | Zero Waste is shaping the local discussion around how to end hunger and eliminate waste across America," said John Votava, director of Corporate Affairs at Ralphs. "We are intently focused on using our scale for good and we encourage our customers, associates and other businesses to join us." Ralphs also takes great pride in recognizing and rewarding store associates who go above and beyond to serve their communities with Ralphs' Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Zero Hero award. Marcos Hernandez, a General Merchandise/Liquor clerk at Ralphs #294 Adams & Vermont near USC, is the worthy recipient for 2019. The company's most prestigious annual volunteer honor, the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Zero Hero award is given to an associate who has distinguished themselves through their efforts to end hunger or eliminate waste in their community. "Marcos stands out as both a dedicated volunteer, who not only embraces the goals of our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan, but who is also an outstanding and valued member of our Ralphs team," said Votava. "Ralphs is very fortunate to have an individual like Marcos on our team who shares our vision of ending hunger and who's not afraid to do the tough work to bring about positive change in the community." Marcos also receives $2,000 to donate to the charity of his choice. He has selected ZOE Church Los Angeles, where he is member of the congregation, a prayer workshop leader and an active and deeply involved volunteer in hunger relief ministry. To learn more about Marcos Hernandez and Ralphs' Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Zero Hero award, visit HERE. Through leadership, engagement and commitment, Kroger and Ralphs continue to make progress in its journey to achieve Zero Hunger | Zero Waste. Ralphs' notable 2019 milestones include: Zero Hunger Ralphs donated nearly 13 million meals to communities throughout Southern California and the Central Coast in 2019. These meals came from the food rescue program and financial and product donations to hunger relief organizations throughout the year. and the Central Coast in 2019. These meals came from the food rescue program and financial and product donations to hunger relief organizations throughout the year. Ralphs rescued 6.3 million pounds of safe nutritious food that could no longer be sold in its retail stores, or shipped from its distribution centers and manufacturing plants, for Feeding America food banks. Ralphs increased meal donations in 2019 through its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Food Rescue program by nearly 29%. Zero Waste Ralphs diverted 84% of it's total waste from landfills across Southern California and the Central Coast. and the Central Coast. Ralphs increased year-over-year food waste diversion by 16%. Ralphs is the #1 Kroger Division for achieving total waste diversion in 2019. Kroger announced Zero Hunger | Zero Waste in September 2017. Since then, the grocery retailer has worked relentlessly to drive change and conversations inside and outside the company. Earlier this year, the company celebrated the donation of 1 billion meals donated in just three years. To learn more about Ralphs' Zero Hunger | Zero Waste food rescue process, visit HERE. About Ralphs At Ralphs, a company of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are 22,000 associates in 188 stores who serve customers daily through a seamless shopping experience throughout Southern California and the Central Coast. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site. SOURCE Ralphs Grocery Company Related Links http://www.ralphs.com BHR specializes in innovative diagnostic solutions for point of care Collaboration focusses on SphingoTec's proprietary assays for bio-ADM, penKid and DPP3 Investigator-initiated study in COVID-19 at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital and King's College Hospital NHS Trust Warwickshire, United Kingdom and Hennigsdorf, Germany, September 29, 2020 - BHR Pharmaceuticals Ltd ("BHR") and SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec") today announced that they have signed a distribution agreement for the commercialization of SphingoTec's portfolio of diagnostics solutions in acute and critical care in UK and Ireland. The collaboration in particular focuses on the UK market introduction of SphingoTec's point-of-care tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers in critical care targeting diagnostically underserved conditions such as sepsis, acute heart failure, acute kidney injury, and recently severe COVID-19. These products include tests for bio-ADM, penKid, and DPP3 allowing for the early diagnosis and monitoring of endothelial dysfunction, kidney dysfunction, and cardiac depression, respectively. The tests are made available on SphingoTec's Nexus IB10 platform, a fully automated rapid immunoassay point-of-care instrument, that provides accurate test results within only 20 minutes and can be flexibly deployed in laboratories, emergency departments, intensive care units, and doctors' offices. Established in 1990, BHR has grown to become a UK market leader in the provision of point-of-care diagnostics. BHR specializes in sourcing new advanced and progressive technology from around the world and delivering these innovative products to the UK market. Bharat Vadukul, Director of BHR commented "BHR is delighted to be appointed exclusive distribution partners for the Nexus IB10 system in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This product further strengthens the strategic fit with our existing product portfolio. With the Nexus IB10 system, BHR's comprehensive package of Point-of-Care testing devices will enhance the ability of Specialists in the Renal and Cardiology sectors to better manage their patients, saving lives and improve their all-important quality of life." Dr. Andreas Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec, echoes those sentiments. He noted, "We are very much looking forward to our collaboration with BHR who have been very successful in promoting the IB10 platform in the past. We also believe that they are excellent strategic partners for providing rapid and novel solutions needed by clinicians in managing critically ill patients and will support us in our long-term strategy to improve patient outcomes in acute and critical care conditions." To address the specific challenges provided by COVID-19 in the UK, the companies collaborate with Dr. Marlies Ostermann, MD, Ph.D. at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital/London, United Kingdom, who initiated a two-center study also including King's College Hospital NHS Trust to further investigate the added value of SphingoTec's biomarkers in developing individualized management strategies for severely ill COVID-19 patients1. Dr. Ostermann commented: "There is an urgent need to assess and monitor organ function of COVID-19 patients in real-time. After a first positive evaluation of these novel biomarkers, we have decided to further investigate their use in clinical practice in delivering information on the underlying pathogenesis in patients with COVID-19. " To discover more about the Nexus IB10 and SphingoTec's portfolio of diagnostic solutions for acute and critical care, please visit https://sphingotec.com. For more information on the BHR Pharmaceuticals portfolio, please visit https://www.bhr.co.uk/ 1 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04408365 ### About Sphingotec SphingoTec GmbH ( "SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) develops and markets innovative in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers for the diagnosis, prediction and monitoring of acute medical conditions, such as sepsis, acute heart failure, circulatory shock, and acute kidney injury in order to support patient management and provide guidance for treatment strategies. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Bioactive Adrenomedullin(bio-ADM), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis or congestive heart failure, Proenkephalin (penKid), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of kidney function, and Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3), a unique biomarker for cardiac depression. IVD tests for SphingoTec's proprietary biomarkers are made available as sphingotest microtiterplate tests as well as point-of-care tests on the Nexus IB10 immunoassay platform by SphingoTec's subsidiary Nexus Dx Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) alongside a broad menu of established and commonly used tests for acute and critical care. About BHR Pharmaceuticals BHR Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a market leading company in the field of point-of-care diagnostics within healthcare, moving appropriate tests from the lab closer to the patient to better manage and treat people. This helps shorten patient pathways, improves the patient experience, and improves efficiency for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. BHR has challenges the conventions of laboratory medicine by showing that point-of-care diagnostics save time, money and improves health. Albuquerque Police Department detectives are investigating a serious shooting that is believed to have occurred at an East Central apartment complex Monday evening. Officer Daren DeAguero, an APD spokesman, said around 6:20 p.m. officers were called to the Whispering Sands apartments on Central, east of Southern, for a shots fired call. As Officers were arriving on scene, a second call came into dispatch from Kaseman Hospital, DeAguero wrote in an email. Kaseman reported a male subject arrived to the emergency room with a gun shot wound. He said the male was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital, which is a level 1 trauma hospital, and is in critical condition. This has been deemed a violent crimes call out, DeAguero said. Get ready. The 2020 general election is about to get underway in Pennsylvania. Local election officials, who expect a record number of people to vote by mail in the hotly contested presidential election, will be sending out the first batch of ballots to county voters by the end of the week. Pennsylvanians have several options when it comes to voting: They can cast their ballot by mail; they can vote early by filling out a ballot at their county election office; and they can go to the polls on Election Day. Montgomery County officials accounted for 172,000 approved applications for mail-in ballots for the general election as of Sept. 10, according to Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak. It was a fraction of that just four years ago as 10,000 voters mailed in their ballots in 2016. A popular choice Allowing Pennsylvania voters to submit their ballots by mail without an excuse is new this year. It was one of several changes included in a historic election reform bill signed into law last fall designed by state lawmakers to increase access to the ballot box. The introduction of widespread voting by mail in the Keystone State proved to be popular among voters in the June primary due to safety concerns amid the pandemic. In Pennsylvania, 51 percent of votes came by mail and 47 percent of votes cast in person for the June 2 primary election. In Montgomery County, there were 161,460 mail-in ballot applications, but 126,000 voters mailed in their ballots, according to Soltysiak. Its unclear how many voters cast their ballots in person. Is voting by mail safe and secure? Attacks on voting by mail, which have been made by President Donald Trump and echoed by some fellow Republicans, have stirred concern among state and local election officials who say the accusations are unfounded and damaging to the institution. In the states third most populous county, Soltysiak sought to assure voters. They should have confidence in Montgomery Countys ability to safely and accurately conduct this general election, he said in a recent interview. How can I request a mailed ballot? Voters can apply online by visiting VotesPA.com, apply in person at the county elections office or contact the county elections office directly to request a paper application. You will need to apply with a valid Pennsylvania identification card or supply the last four digits of your Social Security number. What is the deadline to apply for a mailed ballot? The current deadline is seven days before the Nov. 3 election. But election officials are asking that voters request a ballot as soon as possible, in part because of the unpredictability of the Postal Services delivery service. How do I vote with a mailed ballot? 1. Carefully open the ballot package when you receive it in the mail. 2. Make sure there is a secrecy envelope included because a mailed ballot not in a secrecy envelope, also known as a naked ballot, will not be counted. 3. Fill out the ballot immediately. 4. Place your ballot in the secrecy envelope, then put the secrecy envelope into the official envelope. Be sure to sign the declaration or your ballot may not count. 5. Mail your ballot so it arrives at the county elections office by Election Day. Will there be drop boxes for ballots? Ten drop boxes will open on Oct. 3, according to John Marlatt, solicitor for the countys election board. He added that the locations are widespread and accessible via public transportation. The drop boxes will be available for use from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at the following locations: Cheltenham: The Cheltenham Wall Park, located at 1 Wall Park Drive in Elkins Park Lansdale: The Lansdale Church Road Parking Lot, located at 226 Station Square Blvd. in Lansdale Lower Merion: The Lower Merion Ludington Library, located at 5 S. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Bryn Mawr Norristown: Airy Street Parking Lot, located at the intersection of DeKalb and Airy streets in Norristown. Pottstown: The Pottstown Montgomery County Community College West Campus at the Hanover Street Building, located at 95 S. Hanover St. in Pottstown, Royersford: The Royersford Municipal Building, located at 300 Main St., in Royersford Skippack: The Skippack Municipal Building, located at 4089 Heckler Road in Skippack Upper Dublin: The Upper Dublin Municipal Building, located at 801 Loch Alsh Ave. in Fort Washington Upper Frederick: Green Lane Park, located at 2144 Snyder Road in Green Lane Upper Moreland: The Willow Grove YMCA, located at 3300 Davisville Road in Hatboro Officials are working to secure a drop box for the Conshohocken and Whitemarsh areas, but details on a location were not yet available. Drop boxes will also be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, and from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 2 and on Election Day, Nov. 3. The drop boxes will be closed promptly at 8 p.m. on Election Day, and no one will be permitted to deposit a ballot into a drop box after 8 p.m., said John Marlatt, solicitor for the countys election board. Voters who choose to drop off their ballots are not allowed to drop off ballots belonging to anyone else a practice Democrats call community collection and Republicans deem ballot harvesting. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled this month that the practice is illegal. What if I dont get my mailed ballot? No problem. You can go to your assigned polling place and vote in-person by filling out a provisional ballot if you have not received your mailed ballot. What if I signed up for a mailed ballot but want to vote at the polls? If you misplaced your mailed ballot or have decided to cast your ballot at the polls, you still have an opportunity to vote. Go to your assigned polling place. If you have the mailed ballot, you will need to surrender the ballot to the judge of elections to be voided in order to vote on the voting machines. If you misplaced the mailed ballot, you will need to tell the judge of elections and they will give you a provisional ballot to fill out. How will mailed ballots be counted in Montgomery County? Marlatt relayed several safety protocols in place with respect to the drop boxes including having county personnel monitor [the] drop boxes during operation hours, using video surveillance at the drop box locations when theyre in use and having the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office handle the secure transport to the voter services department. We are making sure that all ballots are tracked for their transport from the ballot drop box locations to the canvas facility, and we can ensure that they are accounted for in every step of that process, Marlatt said. County Commissioner Ken Lawrence Jr., chairman of the countys board of elections, agreed. We are doing everything we can to help voters meet the Nov. 3 General Election Day deadline by providing secure ballot drop-off boxes, he said in a statement. The countys election board will soon open another office within the Health and Human Services building, located at 1430 Dekalb St. in Norristown. The space will be solely dedicated to general elections mail-in ballots. Marlatt cited increased volume with mail-in ballots during the June 2 primary election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the canvass of ballots, and the certification of the primary, it was apparent the mail-in voting was going to continue to be a large part of how voting gets done in Montgomery County, he said. The Office of Voter Services needed to adapt to this new reality. Marlatt added the department has hired staff and acquired several pieces of equipment to meet the anticipated demand including a sorting machine, 15 extraction tables and 20 computer terminals. Soltysiak added that county officials also acquired other pieces of equipment needed to keep up with demand. We purchased two high-speed letter openers that can open 36,000 envelopes [per] hour each, Soltysiak said in a statement. We also purchased five high-speed scanners that can scan 130 pages [per] minute each. However, Soltysiak emphasized the importance of taking voting by mail seriously if voters choose to go that route. Apply early and return it as soon as possible, Soltysiak said in a recent interview. MediaNews Group staff writer Rachel Ravina contributed to this report. I chose Drunk Parents because the Netflix trailer looked promising and I hadnt reviewed a comedy for a while. It was supposed to be funny. Frank and Nancy Teagarten (Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek) are a married couple living in a fancy house in Connecticut. The Teagartens are living way over their means. They try to hide their ever-increasing financial difficulties from their only daughter, Rachel, (Michelle Veintimilla) who is away at college. Meanwhile, their neighbor is paying the Teagartens to watch over his house while he is traveling around the world for the next four months. Frank and Nancy arrange a yard sale of their classy living room furniture at night while guzzling booze and their neighbors expensive wine from his wine cellar that Frank raids. While in an alcoholic stupor, they rent out their neighbors home on eBay to a sex offender, Carl, (Jim Gaffigan) for the next six months. What could go wrong with that scenario? To make matters worse, the two start layering lies upon lies to cover up the problems they created, and things go from bad to worse. The movie got old quick and I was disappointed in the script written by Fred Wolf and Peter Gaulke who were writers for Saturday Night Live. The script is gratuitously laced with the f-bomb, which is indicative of poor writing. When writers cant think of enough witty dialogue or situations, they throw in a gazillion f-bombs to fill up space. Wolf also directed Drunk Parents. There were a few witty lines but not enough to make the time spent watching Drunk Parents worthwhile. I did enjoy the cinematography. The pictures of the Connecticut countryside were pretty. A friend from California was visiting me and she also watched Drunk Parents. Every five minutes or so she would ask me, How many minutes are left? It became a running joke. I had to explain that when I start a movie I am going to review, I have to stick with the whole movie from beginning to end. I lived with her when I went to film school so she knew I had to watch the whole movie, but we were both weary when the film ended. Drunk Parents was like a toothache it never seemed to end. Reluctantly, I give Drunk Parents one star out of five for the cinematography and the few funny lines. The film is rated R. Movie critic Mary Cox lives in Wood River and studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has worked in L.A. with various directors and industry professionals. Contact Mary at mary.cox@edwpub.net. Three Senate Democrats so far have announced that they will refuse a customary meeting with President Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, although Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) admitted on Sunday that Democrats would likely be unable to stop a confirmation. Trump nominated Barrett to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18 at age 87. Republicans are attempting to confirm Barrett before the November elections, and her prospective appointment would give the Supreme Court a 6-3 conservative majority. Schumer said at a Sunday news conference that he would not meet with Barrett, because I believe, first, that the whole process has been illegitimate, and, second, because she has already stated that she is for overturning the [Affordable Care Act]. Prior to Schumers statement, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), both confirmed that they would not meet with the nominee. The senators warned that Barretts rulings would be unfavorable toward the ACA, and cited her pro-life stance as another reason for opposition. I will not meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Gillibrand wrote on Twitter on Sunday. This nomination process is illegitimate. I refuse to participate in the further degradation of our democracy and our judiciary. Blumenthal also wrote on Twitter, I will refuse to treat this process as legitimate & will not meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Senators Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), Maizie Hirono (D., Hawaii), and Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.), have already announced that they will not vote to confirm Barrett, although those senators have not dismissed meeting with the nominee. However, Durbin, who is the Senate Minority Whip, admitted on Sunday that there was little Democrats could do to prevent Barretts confirmation. We can slow it down perhaps a matter of hours, maybe days at the most, Durbin told host George Stephanopoulos on ABCsA This Week. But we cant stop the outcome. More from National Review Saudi Arabias Tourism Development Fund has reached an agreement with local banks - Riyadh Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi - for funding of up to SR160 billion ($42.66 billion) to develop major tourism projects across the kingdom, reported Arab News. The Tourism Development Fund was founded in June with an initial $4 billion investment and is part of plans to diversify the economy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices. The deal is based on establishing financing programmes to support and develop the tourism sector with a value of up to SR160 billion and aims to activate the programs agreed on with the two banks, stated the report, citing the Saudi Press Agency. Tourism Development Funds CEO Qusai Al Fakhri inked the deal with Riyadh Bank CEO Tareq Al Sadhan and Banque Saudi Fransi's Managing Director and CEO Rayan Fayez in the presence of Saudi Minister of Tourism and Fund Chairman Ahmad Al Khateeb, it stated. This agreement includes defining ways of cooperation between the fund and the participating banks by setting up mechanisms to support financing tourism projects in various regions of the kingdom, it stated. The agreement was one of the funds efforts to encourage and stimulate investments in the tourism sector and support the private sector, including support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by providing a number of financial products, it added. On the deal, Al Fakhri said it was an essential step towards supporting and developing tourism projects in the kingdom. "The funds role and commitment to supporting and developing the tourism sector continued by stimulating investment and building a solid relationship with banks and financial institutions, which would create distinct investment opportunities in the kingdom," he noted. Al Sadhan said Riyadh Bank was proud to form this partnership with the fund, which would enhance the role of banks in supporting the private sector, including SMEs, and enable the development of tourism projects in the Kingdom. "The tourism sector is one of the most important sectors that support the economy, and we are looking forward to starting an active participation with the fund to support quality projects, which will have an impact on finding promising investment opportunities in the Kingdom," he stated. Fayez said that the agreement accompanied the effective role of banks in achieving the objectives of the tourism sector, which was one of the most promising sectors for investment. "This would be the beginning of an effective partnership with the fund that would contribute to creating investment opportunities in the kingdom," he noted. He pointed out that these agreements played an important role in creating pioneering tourism projects and destinations that, in turn, contributed to achieving the objectives of the National Tourism Strategy. The strategy is aimed at increasing the tourism sectors contribution to the kingdoms gross domestic product from 3 to 10 per cent and also create a million new jobs and receive 100 million local and international visitors by 2030m, he added. A Millersville man pleaded guilty Monday to spray-painting several Millersville University buildings in March to get back at a woman who testified against him in court, prosecutors said. Robert Dale Williams, 38, could serve anywhere from 33 months to 10 years in prison as part of the plea agreement, according to the Lancaster County District Attorneys Office. According to prosecutors, Williams admitted to spraying Die Rat Die and the name of a woman affiliated with the university whom he said told on him. Prosecutors said the woman was a witness in Williams' 2010 conviction on aggravated assault charges. He served time for that sentence, as well as a felony drug conviction a few years later, prosecutors said. Williams had only been out of prison about two weeks before the vandalization happened March 27, prosecutors said. Investigators said Williams had blue spray paint on his hands when he was interviewed, and was in possession of a bicycle stolen from university property. Retaliation against witnesses and victims is extremely rare, but when it happens, we take the conduct very seriously, First Deputy District Attorney Travis S. Anderson said after Mondays hearing Prosecutors said Williams pleaded guilty to felony retaliation against a witness and three misdemeanors. READ MORE: Accused in killing, Pa. man says he didnt understand word attorney and wants confession thrown out Ephrata pedestrian charged at driver with knife when he asked him to get out of the street: police Family of Pa. woman killed in hit-and-run begs driver to come forward BILLERICA, Mass., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lutronic, the global leader in the development and manufacture of innovative laser technology for aesthetic and ophthalmic medicine, powerfully affirms its commitment to its aesthetic customers with a comprehensive program combining customer and employee safety with exceptional client support. "We have put together a dynamic program to support our customers during COVID-19. We are proud to say that we are continuing, despite challenging times, to invest in our business and build our infrastructure," says Larry Laber, Chief Commercial Officer. "Our management team is setting the pace, and our employees are highly motivated. This commercial team is committed, and we are here to stay." The program provides in-depth clinical support via video conferencing and telephone and intensive video conference in-service training for clients who are just getting started with new Lutronic devices. Lutronic has developed the most comprehensive online educational resources with webinars and a wide range of educational materials. Service, maintenance, and troubleshooting are also immediately available remotely. For many dermatologists and other aesthetic providers, this is a time of reappraisal and future planning, and Lutronic has developed several special programs for those considering capital purchases. The company is committed to providing support and relief with financial considerations during this challenging time. Lutronic's Commitment to the Aesthetics Industry: Company Amasses Exceptional Team "We are extremely committed to the medical aesthetics industry," Haelyung Hwang, Lutronic's Chief Executive Officer, affirms unequivocally. "We have exceptional technology that our customers love, and we needed to make sure we have the very best, most dedicated people to take us forward," says Haelyung Hwang, who was educated at Yale. The company has amassed a dedicated team of some of the industry's most experienced and dynamic people. "Larry Laber, our Chief Commercial Officer, is incredibly skilled, and his knowledge and experience are unsurpassed. Larry has repeatedly demonstrated his leadership and commercial successes during his 20-plus year tenure in the aesthetic laser industry. He has helped establish successful commercial teams at two of the industry's biggest laser companies before joining Lutronic. He and his team want to make Lutronic a powerhouse in the industry. Furthermore, Lutronic can support Larry's efforts with our healthy cash position of over $80 million." Hwang adds. Lutronic: Innovation and Global Leadership Grounded in Medical Science and Research Lutronic was founded 20 years ago, and its global headquarters is in the Boston area. In order to effectively treat visible signs of aging, the company creates laser- and light-based technology such as wrinkle reduction, face- and body-contouring rejuvenation, melasma and tattoo removal, hair removal, and more. The company embodies the outstanding quality and level of excellence for which Lutronic technology is known worldwide, holding more than 270 current and pending patents, more than 530 intellectual properties, and more than 325 published, peer-reviewed papers. Solidly grounded in medical science, the company has developed a revolutionary new ophthalmic laser called R:GEN that will ultimately lead to better vision, with the potential to treat earlier stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). "We are one of a very few companies in this industry that continue to run and invest in our on-site state-of-the-art pathology lab," says James Bartholomeusz, Lutronic's Chief Technology Officer. "This lab, occupying one of the three research-and-development floors at our facility, is only part of our tireless commitment to real science and clinical research. Four floors of our eight-floor campus are dedicated to research and clinical development. We have also continually invested well over 15% of our resources in research and development, virtually unheard of in medical aesthetics." Intelligent Design for Intelligent Care: The Meaning Behind Lutronic's Slogan Lutronic's technology is thoughtfully constructed, making it reliable, and it has an intense focus on unique technological solutions to complex aesthetic issues, Bartholomeusz says. "We deliver a superior experience for physicians, we optimize the interaction between the patient and the clinician, and we deliver maximal outcomes for every patient." Technology is the "intelligence" built into each piece of equipment and is unique to Lutronic's medical aesthetics. This pillar of Lutronic's current and future technology is even more visible with the recent update to our Genius Platform. "Our intelligent delivery gives the providers feedback at every point in the procedure," Bartholomeusz explains. "Every patient, every skin type, is different [and] exceptional, and safe results depend on delivering the right amount of energy to the right place at the right time." The foundational technology of intelligent care will continue to proliferate throughout the entire product portfolio. "Unlike most medical aesthetic laser technology, Lutronic is not myopic," Bartholomeusz says. "We have a five-year product pipeline focused on diagnostic and real-time system intelligence, all of which we design and build in-house and is proprietary and unique to Lutronic." Exceptional customer support is another Lutronic pillar. Every service issue is discussed and managed thoroughly by the team. "As part of our ongoing commitment to reliability and service, the heads of service and operational teams meet weekly to discuss any service-related issues we encounter in the market," explains Jhung Vojir, PhD, Chief Operating Officer. This type of in-depth root cause analysis excites Laber, as it represents excellent customer-focused behavior. About Lutronic Effective. Innovative. Intuitive. Dependable. These four core tenants fuel Lutronic's development of intelligent laser and energy-based systems. Committed to this mission, Lutronic partners with key opinion leaders to advance the scientific and efficacy of Lutronic's systems. To develop unrivaled systems with "smart" features, Lutronic devotes as much as four times what competitors invest in research and development, resulting in more than 535 patents and patent applications worldwide. In addition to operations and manufacturing in the Boston area, Lutronic has a major manufacturing and research center in Sout Korea, offices in Germany, China, Japan, and a worldwide network of ever expanding direct sales teams and distributors. For more information, call 1-888-588-7644 or visit www.lutronic.com Contact Lutronic Global Jina Kim VP Marketing [email protected] 2020. LUTRONIC Group of Companies. All rights reserved. LUTRONIC, its logo, Lutronic Intelligent Care, Intelligent Design for Intelligent Care are trademarks or registered trademarks of the LUTRONIC Group of Companies. SOURCE Lutronic Related Links https://us.aesthetic.lutronic.com Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan (Image: Twitter.com/@ichiragpaswan) Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party is deliberating whether to accept the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's offer, which has left a section within the regional party unhappy, or go ahead with its plan to fight on 143 constituencies in the elections to the 243-seat Bihar assembly, party sources said. The party is likely to take a decision in a couple of days, with the nomination for the first phase of three phase-polls set to begin from October 1, they said. Though there is no official word on the likely seat-sharing formula among the three NDA partners, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), BJP and the LJP, sources said Paswan's party has been offered around 27 seats. In 2015, it had contested 42 seats and won two. The JD(U) was then part of the opposition alliance which had comprehensively defeated the NDA. Sources said what has irked LJP leaders is that several seats on which they were keen that the party should contest do not figure among the constituencies on offer. The LJP has also refuted reports that a few of its six Lok Sabha MPs are opposed to the party walking out of the NDA in the assembly polls and released a video message of its Vaishali MP Veena Devi in which she has favoured fighting on 143 seats. LJP president Chirag Paswan has been lauding the BJP leadership, indicating that his party will not put up candidates against the saffron party even as it considers contesting on constituencies which will fall in the JD(U)'s quota. The sources said the BJP has also offered the party some seats in the state's legislative council. With the party's patron and Chirag's father Ram Vilas Paswan remaining hospitalised, the party's task to thrash out an acceptable seat-sharing agreement with its allies has become all the more difficult. Chirag Paswan on Tuesday visited a temple in the national capital to pray for his father's quick return to good health. The BJP on its part has maintained that the NDA is intact, and all its three partners will fight the Bihar assembly polls together. The JD(U), whose equation with the LJP has been far from cordial, has refused to be drawn into any seat-sharing arrangement with Paswan's party. The JD(U) has said the LJP's alliance is with the BJP not with it. The Bihar assembly polls will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10. India on September 29 categorically rejected China's "so-called unilaterally defined" Line of Actual Control (LAC) of 1959, and asked the neighbouring country to refrain from advancing an "untenable" interpretation of the de-facto border. The Indian government also reminded China that its insistence there is only "one LAC" is contrary to the solemn commitments made by Beijing in previous bilateral agreements, and expected it will "sincerely" abide by them in their entirety. The assertion by the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) came in response to comments by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson that China continues to follow its 1959 stand on the perception of the LAC. The sharp exchange of words between the two countries on the perception of the LAC came in the midst of their nearly five-month-long tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh with both sides deploying thousands of troops as well as heavy weapons like tanks and missiles in the mountainous region. "India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control. This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in response to a question by the media on China insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC. Srivastava further said the two sides had engaged in an exercise to "clarify and confirm" the LAC up to 2003, but the process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it. The spokesperson's comments came after the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Hindustan Times that China abides by the LAC as proposed by then Premier Zhou Enlai to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959. The comments by Srivastava also came on a day when China needled India and questioned the status of Ladakh as union territory of India. "China doesn't recognise the so-called 'Ladakh Union Territory' illegally set up by India. We are opposed to conducting infrastructure development for military purposes in disputed border areas," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing. Wang said this in response to a question by a Western journalist that India is prioritising the construction of high-altitude all-weather roads on its border with China in the Ladakh region. When China voiced its opposition last year to creation of a separate union territory of Ladakh, India had said it does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise. On Tuesday, Srivastava also referred to various pacts including the 1993 agreement on maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC, the 1996 pact on confidence building measures (CBMs), the 2005 protocol on implementation of CBMs and the 2005 agreement on political parameters and guiding principles for settlement of the boundary issue, to emphasise that both sides were committed to "clarification and confirmation of the LAC" to reach a common understanding about its alignment. "In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it," he said. "Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements," he added. Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's recent address to Parliament, Srivastava said it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo. "As we have previously made clear, the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC," he said. The MEA spokesperson also talked about repeated affirmation of the Chinese side in the last few months that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries. "In the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart on 10th September also, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements," Srivastava said. "We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC," he added. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held a bilateral meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet. At the talks, the two sides reached a five-point agreement to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh. The agreement included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC. On the basis of the understanding reached between Jaishankar and Wang, the two sides held a nearly 14-hour-long high-level military dialogue on September 21 following which they announced a slew of decisions to de-escalate the situation. The decisions included to stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters. It was for the first time that the two armies announced specific measures to ease tensions in eastern Ladakh where the face-off began in early May. The situation escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side too suffered casualties, but it is yet to divulge the details. The situation further deteriorated following at least three attempts by the soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) to "intimidate" Indian troops along the northern and southern bank of Pangong lake area between August 29 and September 9 where even shots were fired in the air for the first time at the LAC in 45 years. The two sides are expected to hold another round of diplomatic talks this week under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. The board of Shree Cement has allowed setting up a clinker unit having a capacity of upto 12,000 tons per day (TPD) at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. The project will require a total investment of Rs 1,000 crore, which will be financed through internal accruals and debt. The capacity is expected to be added by the quarter ending September 2022. The existing cement capacity of the company is 40.40 million ton per annum (MTPA). During the year 2019-20 the utilization rate was 64%. The announcement was made during market hours today, 29 September 2020. Shree Cement's consolidated net profit fell 13.6% to Rs 330.35 crore on 24.9% drop in net sales to Rs 2,480.14 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. Shares of Shree Cement were down 0.76% at Rs 19,392.95. Shree Cement is a leading cement manufacturer in the country having its operations spread across several states. The company also has business interest in power generation and trading. The scrip has risen 25.11% from its 52-week low of Rs 15,500 hit on 3 April 2020. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 44.667. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally, the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock was trading below its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at 20,808.57 and its 200-day moving average (DMA) placed at 21,112.94. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Governor Andrew Cuomo makes an announcement and holds media briefing on COVID-19 response at New Settlement Community Center, Bronx. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Tuesday of growing coronavirus clusters in large Orthodox Jewish communities around New York City that he worries could spread uncontrollably if they aren't quickly contained. State health officials are investigating 20 of the state's ZIP codes where Covid-19 hot spots appear to be growing. The percentage of total tests returning positive, or the "positivity rate," in some of those ZIP codes has reached above 10%, far beyond the roughly 1% infection rate New York has reported for weeks. "The activity in the cluster is very different than what's going on in the rest of the state," Cuomo said during a press briefing in New York City. The state's Covid-19 positivity rate is 1.1% while the average for the 20 ZIP codes with the highest rates is more than 5%, he said, adding that at least one ZIP code has a positivity rate of about 20%. The coronavirus clusters are coming from Brooklyn as well as Orange and Rockland counties, he said. "These hot spots are five times that number," he said of the positivity rate. Many of the reported clusters are in ZIP codes that "overlap" with large Orthodox Jewish communities, he said. The Democratic governor said he plans to meet with religious leaders from the Orthodox Jewish community and warned that health measures he ordered to curb the spread of the coronavirus "apply to every religion." "This is a concern for their community, public health concern for their community. It's also a public health concern for surrounding communities," Cuomo said. "A cluster today can be community spread tomorrow." Cuomo's caution for the religious community comes amid the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which began in mid-September, and just before Sukkot, another celebrated Jewish holiday in early October. The New York governor's concern is similar to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy who said last week that coronavirus cases could surge after Yom Kippur events. Ocean County and Lakewood Township more specifically reported growing Covid-19 cases that Murphy said were likely due to Rosh Hashana, Politico reported Friday. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio previously issued warnings to the Orthodox Jewish community in early April, calling a funeral for a rabbi that drew thousands of mourners in Brooklyn "absolutely unacceptable." The increase in Covid-19 cases is a troubling sign for the state as it prepares to reopen restaurants for indoor dining and schools for in-person learning in its most populous city. Earlier on Tuesday, de Blasio said that the city reported a local positivity rate over 3% the highest that figure has been in months. Cuomo has repeatedly implored local leaders, specifically in the New York City area, to take more stringent action against people and businesses who disobey the state's public heath requirements. The governor delayed reopening indoor dining in the Big Apple for more than two months as cases surged in other parts of the country and local authorities failed to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing rules. Cuomo eventually gave the city's restaurants the green light to reopen indoor dining sections at 25% occupancy beginning Thursday. "We've shared all this data with the local governments. They're the first line of defense. They must respond," Cuomo said Tuesday, reiterating that "mask wearing is a law" regardless of someone's personal view of them. "Local governments are supposed to be enforcing the law and they haven't been, many of them. And then we're shocked when there's a cluster," he said. -- CNBC's Will Feuer contributed to this report. Correction: At least one New York ZIP code has a positivity rate of about 20%. An earlier version misstated the location. Until now, Dandelion Chocolate of San Francisco took its single-origin bean-to-bar mission seriously enough that it only made bars, no other chocolate confections. It has just introduced a line of ganache-centered chocolate truffles, elegant little blocks that showcase the flavor profiles of cocoa beans grown in five different regions. Madagascars chocolate has the richness of berries and citrus; Belize, hints of mango. Costa Ricas is deeply chocolate; Ecuador delivers a taste of fudgy banana; and Sierra Leone suggests toasted nuts and coffee. Pay attention as you indulge; you get a taste of education along with sheer pleasure. Dandelion Chocolate Single-Origin Truffle Collection, $45 (including shipping), dandelionchocolate.com. Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. Two recent studies have confirmed that people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can be reinfected with the virus. Interestingly, the two people had different outcomes. The person in Hong Kong showed no symptoms on the second infection, while the case from Reno, Nevada, had more severe disease the second time around. It is therefore unclear if an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 will protect against subsequent reinfection. Does this mean a vaccine will also fail to protect against the virus? Certainly not. First, it is still unclear how common these reinfections are. More importantly, a fading immune response to natural infection, as seen in the Nevada patient, does not mean we cannot develop a successful, protective vaccine. Any infection initially activates a non-specific innate immune response, in which white blood cells trigger inflammation. This may be enough to clear the virus. But in more prolonged infections, the adaptive immune system is activated. Here, T and B cells recognise distinct structures (or antigens) derived from the virus. T cells can detect and kill infected cells, while B cells produce antibodies that neutralise the virus. Recommended Drug companies work jointly to boost vaccine confidence During a primary infection that is, the first time a person is infected with a particular virus this adaptive immune response is delayed. It takes a few days before immune cells that recognise the specific pathogen are activated and expanded to control the infection. Some of these T and B cells, called memory cells, persist long after the infection is resolved. It is these memory cells that are crucial for long-term protection. In a subsequent infection by the same virus, the memory cells get activated rapidly and induce a robust and specific response to block the infection. A vaccine mimics this primary infection, providing antigens that prime the adaptive immune system and generating memory cells that can be activated rapidly in the event of a real infection. However, as the antigens in the vaccine are derived from weakened or noninfectious material from the virus, there is little risk of severe infection. Vaccines have other advantages over natural infections. For one, they can be designed to focus the immune system against specific antigens that elicit better responses. For instance, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine elicits a stronger immune response than infection by the virus itself. One reason for this is that the vaccine contains high concentrations of a viral coat protein, more than what would occur in a natural infection. This triggers strongly neutralising antibodies, making the vaccine very effective at preventing infection. A good vaccine that improves upon natural immunity requires us to first understand our natural immune response to the virus The natural immunity against HPV is especially weak, as the virus uses various tactics to evade the hosts immune system. Many viruses, including HPV, have proteins that block the immune response or simply lie low to avoid detection. Indeed, a vaccine that provides accessible antigens in the absence of these other proteins may allow us to control the response in a way that a natural infection does not. The immunogenicity of a vaccine that is, how effective it is at producing an immune response can also be fine tuned. Agents called adjuvants typically kick-start the immune response and can enhance vaccine immunogenicity. Alongside this, the dose and route of administration can be controlled to encourage appropriate immune responses in the right places. Traditionally, vaccines are administered by injection into the muscle, even for respiratory viruses such as measles. In this case, the vaccine generates such a strong response that antibodies and immune cells reach the mucosal surfaces in the nose. However, the success of the oral polio vaccine in reducing infection and transmission of polio has been attributed to a localised immune response in the gut, where poliovirus replicates. Similarly, delivering the coronavirus vaccine directly to the nose may contribute to a stronger mucosal immunity in the nose and lungs, offering protection at the site of entry. A good vaccine that improves upon natural immunity requires us to first understand our natural immune response to the virus. So far, neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 have been detected up to four months after infection. Previous studies have suggested that antibodies against related coronaviruses typically last for a couple of years. However, declining antibody levels do not always translate to weakening immune responses. And more promisingly, a recent study found that memory T cells triggered responses against the coronavirus that causes Sars almost two decades after the people were infected. Of the roughly 320 vaccines being developed against Covid-19, one that favours a strong T cell response may be the key to long-lasting immunity. Maitreyi Shivkumar is a senior lecturer in molecular biology at De Montfort University. This article first appeared on The Conversation. Airship's State of Global Mobile Engagement 2020 report provides key year-over-year mobile trends and clarifies the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on mobile apps Customer engagement company Airship today revealed top-level results of its global benchmark study, examining the state of mobile app behaviors across nearly 750 million people worldwide. To distinguish between the impact of the pandemic and longer-term changes due to growing data regulations, more stringent app review policies by Apple and Google and ongoing evolution in user behavior, February 2020 was used for year-over-year analysis and then compared to March-June 2020. The full report is available for download here. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005324/en/ From February 2019 to February 2020, all regions saw average direct app opens (when a user opens an app from a click on a web or push notification) per user per month decline. March-June 2020 reversed this trend with all but one region seeing growth. (Graphic: Business Wire) Key findings show that the global pandemic led to massive gains for several key engagement metrics that have been trending downward. For example, year-over-year analysis for February showed that while global active mobile app audiences grew by more than 30 percent, the average number of app opens per user declined 28.5 percent to 17.6 app opens per user per month globally. Similarly, global average notification direct open rates decreased from 6.44 percent to 6.35 percent (-1.4%). Both of these metrics reversed this trend by growing 29 percent throughout March-June, averaging 22.6 app opens per user and a direct open rate of 8.2 percent globally. Brands across Northern and Western Europe saw a higher increase in average direct open rates than anywhere else in the world. This trend was also evident in the U.K., where average app opens per user declined 29.1 percent and average notification direct open rates fell 19.5 percent year-over-year, to then grow on average 29.7 percent and 40.3 percent respectively in March-June 2020. This suggests that consumers in countries like the U.K. are much more likely to open apps if encouraged by web or push notifications. Mobile app engagement metrics vary at a regional level, from markets that are more mature, to rapidly emerging markets with significant mobile-only populations, as well as by industry vertical especially those most impacted by the global pandemic. For a full view of findings by subregion, industry vertical and mobile operating system, please download Airship's "The State of Global Mobile Engagement 2020" report. Notably, across the globe people opting in to share their location with apps has been on the decline for years since the introduction of GDPR and year-over-year it declined another 2.5 percent for a global average location opt-in rate of 7.7 percent before the pandemic. Between March-June 2020, location opt-in grew every single month, reaching 10.7 percent a 39 percent growth rate and an absolute rate not seen since before 2018. Retail continues to have the highest location opt-in rate among the 12 verticals included in the study at 23.1 percent. Three verticals saw their average location opt-in rates more than double over March-June 2020, including Medical, Health Fitness (+150%), Finance Insurance (+128%) and Travel Transportation (+116%). Among 41 countries included in the study, India, Romania, Mexico, Japan and Brazil saw the biggest gains to location opt-in rates during March-June 2020 the U.K. was sixth, while the U.S. had the ninth largest growth rate. "The results clearly show that the pandemic has further cemented the importance of mobile to support our everyday lives. With strong growth in the use of mobile apps and consumer engagement in response to brands' direct communications on mobile, more and more people are turning to apps as a way to engage with the brands they love," says Patrick Mareuil, managing director for EMEA at Airship. "Consumers have adopted new behaviours and greater mobile interaction during the pandemic for in-the-moment information and streamlined conveniences, and much of this will continue to grow in the future. Therefore, marketing teams should further invest in mobile to seize this trend, supporting customers with a direct, contactless experience to ensure they have access to all they need at their fingertips." Methodology Airship's benchmark study analyzes year-over-year aggregate behaviors of global app users active in February 2019 (568m) and February 2020 (744m), compared against all active users throughout March-June 2020. Subregions and industry verticals included were those with 10m or more users in February 2020, while the cut-off for countries was 1m or more users in that same month. About Airship Thousands of the world's leading brands rely on Airship to spark closer connections with their customers through highly contextual and relevant interactions. Only Airship's Customer Engagement Platform takes a mobile-first, data-led approach that enables brands to focus on individuals and their needs, not which marketing channels to use. Airship makes it much simpler and more effective to grow customer lifetime value in the omnichannel era. With trillions of interactions intelligently orchestrated across mobile apps, mobile wallet, SMS, websites, and email, Airship optimizes the entire customer journey across all digital touchpoints at scale. For more information, visit www.airship.com, read our blog or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005324/en/ Contacts: Danielle Stickler Mission North for Airship +1 415-749-9124 airship@missionnorth.com Ana Williams Airship +44 (0)20 3405 5160 Ana.Williams@airship.com WASHINGTON Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trumps Supreme Court nominee, made a low-key debut on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, largely sidestepping a storm of Democratic anger as she met with friendly Republican senators eager to muscle through her nomination before Election Day. Judge Barrett arrived at the Capitol flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff an unusually high-level escort that underscored what Republicans see as the high stakes of her confirmation for the court as well as their political fortunes. Republicans who met with her throughout the day were unanimous in their praise, leaving little doubt that she would be confirmed. We truly do believe that Judge Barrett represents the best of America personally, in terms of her great intellect, her great background, and we have every confidence that as the American people learn more about Judge Amy Coney Barrett, they will be as inspired as President Trump was when he made her nomination, Mr. Pence said before a meeting with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader. Judge Barrett, in a dark blue dress and a single strand of pearls, stood solemnly and silently next to Mr. McConnell, who did not answer whether the judge, if confirmed to the nations highest court, should recuse herself from any cases related to the election. It takes into account international recommendations, best practices and commitments of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on lawmakers to approve the anti-corruption strategy for 2020-2024 as soon as possible. The draft strategy outlined in a bill on principles of state anti-corruption policy for 2020-2024 was discussed at a meeting of the National Council on Anti-corruption Policy, which was chaired by the president, the presidential press service said. Read alsoG7 ambassadors: Anti-corruption agencies' integrity must be protected in Ukraine Zelensky, in particular, said that starting from 2018, Ukraine has not had such a strategic document in the field of the fight against corruption, which is one of the causes behind the low efficiency of anti-corruption agencies. "Society expects systematic and coordinated actions in preventing corruption and effective results of the activity of anti-corruption agencies of Ukraine," he said. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Chief of the National Agency of Ukraine on Corruption Prevention (NACP) Oleksandr Novikov, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. Strategy in detail The railway cargo business is now connected by the unique, modern and secure RAILVIS.com platform, which gathers offers of available wagon and locomotive capacities from all over Europe in one place PRAGUE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RAILVIS.com, an innovative online platform for rail freight logistics that effectively connects all European rail carriers, has started today. The independent RAILVIS.com platform offers the industrial and rail companies a possibility to easily and quickly find available locomotive or wagon capacities, providing incredible time savings that are up to thirty times higher than traditional ordering processes thanks to complete digitalisation. In the past, companies requiring rail services had to go through the difficult process of finding a supplier, checking out its prices and options and comparing everything manually. It was then necessary to communicate with each supplier by e-mail, telephone or in person, which made a very long ordering process. "The traditional process is very inefficient. The idea of creating an independent online platform that would be as user-friendly as possible and facilitate all related communication was completely logical. We are glad that we have come up with it right now, after a long period of trying out and testing the market. RAILVIS.com will effectively link all European railway companies together, helping them in their further growth," explained Adam Fronek, RAILVIS.com Director and co-founder. Increasing productivity, saving time and money RAILVIS.com is the first one on the market to unify all available rental options for wagons and locomotives in a clear manner. This innovation can achieve dramatic savings - orders that used to take days or even weeks can be processed within 15 minutes thanks to this platform. Its users can thus save costs and increase productivity. Logging in to the RAILVIS.com platform is simple and fast; just fill out the registration on the website. The RAILVIS.com platform was established in 2019. The RAILVIS.com team consists of experts from all over Europe with more than 16 years of experience in the field of rail freight. The aim of RAILVIS.com is the complete digitalisation of the railway business and the connection of all European customers and suppliers into a single environment for the most efficient supply and demand of the most optimal logistics solutions. The RAILVIS.com sales offices are located in most European countries. Download Photos Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for president, will be in Cleveland tonight for the first presidential debate of the 2020 campaign. But dont look for him on stage next to President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Instead, Hawkins, 67, of Syracuse, plans to stand outside Case Western Reserve University to protest his exclusion from the debate along with other third-party candidates. The Syracuse activist, making his 25th campaign for public office, said the Green Party is focused on issues that are unlikely to be addressed by Trump or Biden in their 90-minute debate. We should be included because we believe we have real answers to life-and-death issues," Hawkins said as he drove in his Hyundai Elantra from Syracuse to Ohio. "We think we have things to offer to the discussion. Hawkins said the urgent issues boil down to three key areas: Saving the planet from climate change, stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and confronting racism and inequality. He said those topics will certainly not come up in a campaign thats dominated more by personalities than substantive issues. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates sets the criteria to determine who qualifies for the debates. Hawkins said he met one requirement to appear on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of securing at least 270 Electoral College votes, the number needed to win a presidential election. He is on the ballot in 30 states, representing 73% of American voters and 381 electoral votes. But the commission also requires presidential candidates to have the support of at least 15% of the national electorate, as determined by five national public polling organizations. Hawkins was favored by 3% of likely voters nationwide in a Washington Post-ABC News poll published Sunday. Hawkins said the rules effectively block third-party candidates like himself and Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen from taking part in the debates. They say youre not high enough in polls, Hawkins said. But the problem is were not high enough in the polls because nobody else will give us that kind of national exposure. Its like the chicken or the egg. After attending protest rallies for Black lives and climate justice before Tuesdays debate, Hawkins said, he plans to watch Trump and Biden on a TV in his hotel room. After the debate, Hawkins will offer his response in a video livestreamed at 11 p.m. Tuesday on his Facebook page. MORE ON THE 2020 ELECTION How to watch first presidential debate: TV, time, streaming info, topics, more Trump-Biden presidential debate: What to expect tonight Hawkins blocked from Wisconsin ballot; court rules against Green Party bid John Katko, Dana Balter agree to 3 debates before election for Congress Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Angola is edging further away from mobile duopoly status with the news that Leonel Augusto, the chairman of the Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM) has supported Africells aim of launching services in the second half of next year. According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, Augusto has confirmed that new mobile market entrant Africell is following the procedures required to exercise its right to operate. Most of these are now complete and INACOM is currently finalising details of the concession contract. Angolas government issued a mobile licence to Africell Holdings in May. It was the only candidate for the licence as South Africas MTN Group and Angolan firm BAI Investments chose not to bid. Africells licence will allow it not just to build out mobile infrastructure but to offer internet, fixed-line and pay-TV services. Until now, the dominant players in the mobile space have been Movicel and Unitel, although the state-backed fixed provider Angola Telecom, which holds a Unified Global licence, has plans to enter the mobile space. However, an infrastructure sharing deal between Angola Telecom and Egypt-backed Angorascom has been dropped. Angola Telecom now seems likely to share with Africell. Originally headquartered in Lebanon, Africell now operates from the UK and provides mobile networks in several African markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. It has announced big plans for the Angolan market, not only in terms of investment, but in terms of services and pricing. CitySwift, which works with Artificial Intelligence, provides data-driven scheduling and planning technology for public transport companies. The jobs will be delivered over the next two years, according to The Irish Times, with roles across its software, data science, and commercial divisions. The company says 15 positions will be filled immediately after it secured 2 million euro in funding. The company, founded in September 2016 by Brian ORourke and Alan Farrelly, has its headquarters in Galway, currently employing 30 people, 10 of whom joined the company in the last three months. Mr ORourke said its platform had seen 600 per cent growth in usage during the Covid crisis from companies and passengers. Britain is still our main market but there are massive opportunities opening up globally for us. Weve made good progress in pilot programmes were involved in across Europe and there are conversations happening that could see us starting up in the US shortly. Advertisement "We also hope to be going live with various operators in Ireland sometime in 2020, which is something were very excited about, Mr ORourke said. I was a young lawyer struggling to make it' in the world. Our first child was about 6 months old and my wife was determined our baby should be baptised. Hatched, matched & dispatched We were married (matched) 3 years before. At our funerals well be dispatched. Weve both been baptised (hatched). Now it was our babys turn. As I recall 44 years later, Jans then belief (unbiblical and no longer held) was the apparent Catholic teaching that if an infant was not baptised within 6 weeks of birth and died, it would not go straight to heaven. She wanted our daughter protected against that possibility. I agreed to what I nevertheless thought was religious mumbo jumbo. It wasnt for me. I preferred the logic and excitement, the cut-and-thrust of the courtroom. I wanted the real deal, the drama and argument where logic, the force of a well-reasoned argument and the careful choice and use of words would eventually bring thrilling victory for the client. Why does Christianity appeal to lawyers? Not all lawyers of course but from later extensive reading I noticed that over the centuries many famous judges and practising lawyers had been attracted to it. I learned that to be an effective advocate one must anticipate and consider the opponents likely argument(s), to know both sides. I eventually concluded that the grounds supporting Christianity are mature and an intelligent fit with the staggering complexity of reality (including planetary), are ideology-free and are more reasonably persuasive than is the groping stop:start unscientific wishful-thinking of evolution about which it is admitted there is no evidence. Only bias, assumption, inference and misinterpretation. One of the fundamental rules of natural justice is the requirement to hear the other side. Failure to observe this is often found in general life but fortunately is elemental in our legal system. Imagine this scenario. Your day in court Youve made an appointment and attended your solicitors office after that fateful car accident. Youre nervous. This is going to cost you. Your butcher says lawyers have sharp pencils when it comes to drafting their bill. You and your solicitor go over the facts numerous times. The big day arrives. Your wife has engaged baby sitters and youre off to court. You wait. Nerves intensify. You wait and wait. At last your matter is called. The prosecutor calls the crowns witnesses. The judge listens and takes notes. Theyve finished and its your turn. But the judge rules in favour of the prosecution, finds you guilty, enters a conviction and fines you thousands of dollars. You now have a record. But what about my side? This one-sided scenario might happen in China, parts of Africa or the Middle East where the rule of law (well-defined publicly proclaimed laws and a respected independent judiciary) may not apply, but that rule of natural justice does apply everywhere in Australia. Litigants, including governments, obey (and may appeal) court rulings. Contrary to popular belief the brilliance of cross-examination, being vital to the search for truth, was not invented by British lawyers. God proclaimed it in about the 10th century B.C. The first to present his case seems right till another comes forward and questions him. (Proverbs chapter 18 verse 17). It records truth I had read many eyewitness accounts of real-life happenings. As I read the New Testament gospel records and the Old Testament history it became clear I was reading truth. Recorded there warts and all is the whole spectrum of human emotions and behaviour that we become more aware of with age. Does not long life bring understanding? (Job chapter 12 verse 12). God did not sugarcoat any distasteful aspect of human nature. It was the good, the bad and the ugly. Because human nature hasnt changed one jot the Bible is as relevant today as the day it was written. The lifelong effect on me of my wife wanting our baby baptised? I became convinced beyond reasonable doubt about the truth of what I now eagerly read. Beyond reasonable doubt is the standard of proof borne by the prosecution in a criminal trial such that after all the evidence is in any doubt still entertained is unreasonable. Two key verses: The message they heard was of no value to them because they did not combine it with faith, (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 2) and: How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? (Hebrews chapter 2 verse 3). Escape what? (1) the corruption of the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4). Satans unwitting prey: despise Gods authority. (2 Peter 2:10), (2) the trap of the devil. (2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 26). God desires that all who oppose or, through indifference and complacency simply wont intellectually engage with us, will finally acknowledge the truth of Satans trap, his unsuspecting victims not even realising it exists until its too late, and (3) Gods condemnation. Jesus challenged His opponents: How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew chapter 23 verse 33). At one time I too ignored Him. Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of Gods wrath (Romans chapter 2 verse 5), you being His: enemy in your mind (Colossians chapter 1 verse 21). To our lovely (atheistic) friends God does not exist. No need to consider His reality or standards, enquire about, seek, respect, honour or fear. Just a blank look. Spiritually dead, a corpse. How to escape? Through His promises everyone can escape by: knowing Jesus. (2 Peter chapter 2 verse 20). Dont: turn away from Him who warns us from heaven. (Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25). Its time to awaken. Sometimes good practices occur after a tragic accident. A collision between a train and a school bus loaded with children is often devastating to multiple families. On August 22, 1955, the small rural community of Spring City in the northeast corner of Rhea County was the site of such a fatal collision between a freight train and a Rhea County School bus containing 47 students and the bus driver. Rhea County primarily being an agricultural community school had started early in the fall in order that the kids living on a farm could be given a week or so as a long break during the harvest season. The town kids would get an extra week out of school also. At 3:00 p.m. the final school bell rang indicating the end of the school day. The students who rode to school on the bus would head to their bus or one of the other bright yellow buses lined up in the schools driveway. The driver of the bus was a farmer who had started driving a school bus at the beginning of the school year. He would turn left going off school property and after travelling a couple of blocks turned right on New Lake Road to head west out of town onto what was then Tennessee State Route 68. Going west Route 68 crosses U.S. 27 and about 100 yards further crosses the Southern Railway tracks at a signal protected grade crossing. However 65 years ago the crossing consisted of bells and lights without gates. Alternating red lights and the sound of an attention-getting gong were activated when the bus crossed U.S. 27 on the green light. No automatic crossing gate to prevent the bus from entering on to the track was in existence. The investigation following the crash indicated that the bus driver had unsuccessfully tried to beat the train as it tried to make the crossing. The rear end of the bus was struck by a long freight train being pulled by two diesel engines and travelling about 45 miles per hour. When the engineer saw that the bus was not going to stop before crossing the tracks he slammed the brakes into full emergency in a desperate attempt to slow down the train but the lead locomotive tore into the rear half of the bus with a tremendous impact that ripped the bus open. Ten children were instantly killed and several others were ejected from the bus and sustained serious injuries. An eleventh student later died at the hospital in nearby Rockwood. The tragic accident had happened in the center of town, only two blocks from the elementary school and 100 feet from Spring Citys main business street, which runs parallel to and on the opposite side of the tracks from U.S. 27. Emergency medical treatment was very primitive in 1955 but the community responded in a positive manner and transferred the injured in private vehicles to all nearby hospitals in Dayton, Rockwood, Crossville and even Chattanooga, 55 miles away. Fortunately most of the injured kids recovered with 31 of the students either being killed or injured, leaving only 16 of the 47 on board unhurt. The bus driver who was unhurt was charged with involuntary manslaughter and ultimately was tried, convicted and sentenced to one year in jail. He initially unsuccessfully tried to claim he stopped the bus before going onto the tracks, several box cars on a nearby railing blocked his view, that the signals werent working, and that the train engineer never blew the horn. He was released on bond due to high community feelings of anger but had to be placed in protective custody and moved to another town after threats of vigilante street justice were made against him. None of the drivers excuses were accepted and Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement arrived in Spring City and gave a speech at the train depot before a large crowd. He promised a thorough in-depth investigation and personally visited each and every child that was hospitalized. Due to the public outcry, legislation was drafted which would require every school bus in Tennessee, when transporting children, to stop at all railroad crossings, and for the school bus drivers to actively look and listen for a train and not proceed until the way was safe. Because of political pressure by the mothers of the slain and injured children and the Spring City Parents Teachers Association (PTA) the new regulations passed the Tennessee General Assembly rapidly. The law became a model for other states and within a year all 48 then existing states had enacted their own version of the bill. It would take over a decade for Congress to pass a version of the bill and to require each state to pass and enforce such a law. The victims of the crash were initially memorialized with a Memorial Fountain at Spring City Elementary where it stood for 50 years but it was destroyed when the school was completely reconstructed. On the 50th anniversary (2005) of the crash a new and larger memorial was erected on the lawn of the citys restored train depot. The physical presence serves as both a permanent memorial and reminder of the tragedy and the community effort to get laws passed that have probably saved hundreds of lives at school crossings since 1955. * * * Jerry Summers (If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com) China has resurrected its untenable 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC) claim even as the two armies dig in for the winter. In invoking the 1959 LAC proposed by the then Chinese premier, Zhou Enlai, Beijing is putting up a straw man. The original proposal was rejected by Jawaharlal Nehru and with reason: LAC then was just a number of scattered points which could be connected in many different ways. Invoking this gives China maximum flexibility in terms of its territorial claims. What it shows is that Beijing will negotiate with tenacity, pushing the envelope as far as it can. Delhi must recognise this does not rule out the use of further military actions. The Chinese claim came after two meetings, one between Indian and Chinese foreign ministers and another between the armies senior commanders. After each, the two sides issued joint statements committing themselves to disengagement. A sensible interpretation of the happenings would be to recognise them as a sign that Beijing and Delhi are moving into negotiation mode. Given that previous border standoffs have taken months, if not years, to come to a final agreement, the real sentiment these developments should arouse is one of patience. This is not to say there has not been progress. The foreign ministers meeting laid down five principles to go forward. The two militaries have agreed not to deploy any more forces. The two governments remain committed to disengagement. A new equilibrium is likely to emerge. LAC is likely to be different from what existed before the Galwan Valley and its latest avatar will have the threat of violence, deep distrust and harsh language as its backdrop. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The congressional stalemate over the next federal relief bill is hurting low-income districts spending and school morale in whats already amounted to a chaotic and stressful year. Nobody knows that better than the teachers who are on the hook. After surviving three rounds of layoffs this year alone, Abby Bardanis spirits were buoyed earlier this month when students she hadnt seen since March walked through Enrico Fermi School No. 17 in Rochester, N.Y., to register for class. But just a week into the school year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, afraid Congress would not help repair the states $14 billion budget deficit, was threatening to cut another 20 percent out of Rochesters budget this year, which would mean more than 800 Rochester teachers would be laid off. As his threats grew, despite protests, Bardanis assumed she and several of her colleagues were likely to be canned this month. Then, at the last minute, Cuomo, under immense political pressure, changed his mind and decided to wait until after the election to do budget cuts. Every time they announce potential layoffs, it throws everyone into a tizzy, said Bardanis, a bilingual special education teacher. If youre going to say youre going to do something, stick to it. Were freaking out and then not freaking out. Its a constant up and down. The congressional delay in passing new aid legislation is having real-life impact close to the ground. Any new congressional aid would be funneled to low-income districts across the country, which are heavily reliant on state sales and income tax revenue that has been wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. States now estimate that they will lose close to $500 billion by 2022, and the $13 billion provided to school districts under the federal CARES Act has mostly been distributed and spent. The vast majority of state legislatures have decided to wait to repair this years budget hole until Congress decides on whether to provide districts with another relief bill. It remains likely that it wont come until after this years pivotal elections. Delay Deepens the Threat As superintendents of low-income districts have explained to their school board members this month, the longer Congress and legislatures wait, the more severe the budget cuts will be and the more likely that they will result in teacher layoffs. Thats because districts spend the bulk of their money at the beginning of the school year and enter yearlong contracts with vendors to provide a bevy of services. When states cut their budgets halfway through the fiscal year, district chief financial officers have to cut proportionally more sizeable chunks of money out of their budgets, since theyve already spent so much of it. They also have to lay off more teachers since they cant abruptly end contracts theyve entered. In addition, school finance experts are worried that revenue forecasts could potentially worsen this winter since states had gambled that a COVID-19 vaccine would have been created by January at least and that the economy would have rebounded by then. Its becoming more and more clear that neither will happen soon. The main thing wed like for politicians to do right now is their jobs, said Heather DuBois Bourenane, the executive director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a school funding advocacy group, who spoke by phone while stacking more than 2,000 vote public schools yard signs in her garage. Their failure to allow kids to have an equitable opportunity to learn right now, is criminally negligent. Wisconsins legislature last met in March and has refused to reconvene to readjust its budget, which is now estimated to be $2 billion off projections. School administrators now worry that they will be doubly punished when the legislature finally does reconvene since so many districts lost thousands of students this summer due to the pandemic and wont get the funding for those students. Theres a lot of chaos, confusion, and frustration and fear here, Bourenane said. Everything is madness, but nothing is cheaper. New York Turmoil New Yorks budget office this year is giving districts the $70 billion it annually spends on schools in monthly payments, the largest of which is in September. As it became more and more apparent that Congress could not agree on what the next federal bailout package should look like, the governor began withholding 20 percent payments from several state agencies across the state and then threatened to do the same with its education department, which makes up the biggest chunk of the states budget. As Cuomos threats escalated, Jasmine Gripper, the executive director of New Yorks Alliance for Quality Education, a school funding advocacy group, ramped up her protests. She sent weekly e-mail blasts detailing for her thousands of members what a 20 percent budget cut would look like in schools. And, despite the pandemic, she and hundreds of parents rallied in front of the legislature in Albany and then in front of the governors mansion and paraded in yellow taxicabs down Manhattan streets. Cuomos Sept. 16 announcement to hold off on the September budget cut was a win, but not a win, Gripper said. We live to fight another day. For Schenectedy, a 9,000-student, low-income district 200 miles east of Rochester, the governors last-minute announcement was too late. The superintendent had already laid off 320 educators, almost half of whom were educators of color, recently recruited into the district as part of a diversity initiative. Itd be too expensive and not financially prudent, to hire them back, a district spokeswoman told the local press. In Rochester, board chair Van Henri White said he didnt want to cause a run on the banks and urged the board to not announce what a 20 percent budget cut would look like. I think we were telling people too quickly what this would mean. and we didnt even know the depth of the hole we might be in, he said. [Cuomo], I think, was using this threat as a way to bargain and pressure the feds to reach some compromise. The district realized halfway through last year that it had overestimated its revenue by more than $45 million. That, combined with the states pandemic-related budget cuts earlier this year, resulted in more than 300 layoffs. The community has already been in turmoil. In the last year alone, the district has had three CFOs and two superintendents. The city, one of the poorest in the nation, is reeling from the March death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who was in police custody at the time, and a mass shooting earlier this month which led to the death of two high school students. Our kids are experiencing major trauma right now, White said. The school board last week laid off several nonclassified staff since school buildings are closed. What our kids need right now is social-emotional support to get through this. Laying off teachers after the school year has started is just cruel. Youre cutting off relationships. Bardanis knows intimately how federal and state politicking over K-12 aid impacts the classroom. Three days before school started this year, the district abruptly decided to lay off another round of paraprofessionals and teachers, which resulted in her caseload doubling. This year, shes resolved to permanently turn off the news. You just have to shut it out and not let it in, she said. I just dont think politicians care about anything or anybody. Do they even listen? MT. PLEASANT, S.C., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Buxton & Collie, LLC, is pleased to announce the addition of Cecile Rabon Crogan to their team as the lead Estate Planning Attorney. Crogan has spent the last several years cultivating her knowledge of estates and trusts in Baltimore, Maryland. A South Carolina native, Crogan is incredibly knowledgeable and educated in all matters related to estate law. She graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Political Science, and later attended the Charleston School of Law, earning her Juris Doctor degree. It wasn't until Crogan first started practicing law in Horry County, SC, where she developed her passion for estate planning in full. She honed her legal path and developed a respect for estate law as she assisted clients in navigating the probate process. Crogan represented hundreds of clients in the administration of estates involving asbestos-related litigation settlements, and further assisted individuals with estate planning needs of their own. "I am incredibly excited to be back in South Carolina and working with such a passionate team of attorneys," Crogan had to say about joining Buxton & Collie. "I already feel like I'm a part of the family, and I'm looking forward to taking the lead on Estate Planning." At Buxton & Collie, LLC, you'll see Crogan helping clients prepare for the future with various estate planning tools, including the preparation of Last Will and Testaments, Trusts, Health Care Power of Attorneys, and more. If you'd like to learn more about Cecile Rabon Crogan, you can visit her attorney page on the Buxton & Collie website: https://buxtonandcollie.com/. Buxton & Collie, LLC, is a local law firm dedicated to serving individuals and businesses alike. Their practice areas include Business Law, Real Estate Law, Estate Planning, Private Equity, Tax Planning and more. Recently, they've taken part in volunteering in the community by participating on several boards, hosting blood drives and packing food for Meals on Wheels. You can contact them at 843-606-2397. Their office is located at 940 Johnnie Dodds Blvd #205, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464. PR Contact: Rich Randolph Website: www.webdesign309.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 309-213-9398 SOURCE Buxton & Collie, LLC Related Links https://buxtonandcollie.com J apan Airlines has said it is swapping "ladies and gentlemen" for gender-neutral greetings. It follows other global airlines who recently adopted more inclusive language for passengers. Announcements at airports and on flights operated by the Japanese carrier will use the new forms of address from October 1, the airline said. "Attention all passengers" and "Good morning everyone" will be among the terms adopted, according to local media. Several airlines around the world have made a similar change in recognition of non-binary and transgender customers. A Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane (front) sits on the tarmac at Tokyo's Haneda airport / AFP via Getty Images Air Canada and European low-cost carrier EasyJet said last year they would drop "ladies and gentlemen". Japan Airlines (JAL) spokesman Mark Morimoto said: "We aspire to be a company where we can create a positive atmosphere and treat everyone, including our customers, with respect. "We have committed to not discriminate based on gender, age, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal attributes." The announcement comes as gender-equality advocates say corporate support for LGBT+ rights is growing in socially-conservative Japan, where same-sex marriage remains illegal and being openly gay seen as taboo. In April, a Japanese charity that launched a scheme offering digital partnership certificates - allowing same-sex couples to tap into the same staff benefits as heterosexual couples - won the backing of businesses from banks to insurers. About a third of Japanese companies have measures in place to support gay couples, according to campaign group Nijiiro Diversity. But activists say discrimination persists, and even though about two dozen cities, towns and wards issue same-sex partnership certificates to gay couples, they lack legal standing. In March, JAL announced it would allow female flight attendants to wear trousers and ditch their high heels at work, following a feminist campaign. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) will be joining forces with the American Cancer Society in Illinois (ACS-IL) to launch Breast Cancer Awareness Month. CFD who currently has the largest number of female firefighters and paramedics in the US. and appointed Annette Nance-Holt, the first female 1st Deputy Fire Commissioner, in their history will magnify ACS's education and outreach efforts in all Chicago communities by wearing pink t-shirts, gloves, masks, and field gear. CFD will also help raise funds for Making Strides, fueling breast cancer research, and patient care programs. Deputy District Chief Scott Ronstadt, cancer survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, will be leading their charitable efforts, ensuring that colleagues and staff wear pink co-branded t-shirts throughout October. The chief stated, "It is my hope that this effort will create more cancer survivors like me than victims." "We're thrilled that the Chicago Fire Department's going pink this year," said Michael Ziener, Executive Director, ACS-IL. "They are putting a stake in the ground in communities in most need of cancer education and outreach, demonstrating what collective impact the nation's second largest fire department can have on a metropolitan area when we are challenged by a pandemic and social unrest. The CFD is fighting for a future free from this disease." Breast cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death in women. And the mortality rate for Black women from breast cancer in Cook County is significantly higher than for White women. ACS has invested $69 million in multiyear research grants focused on breast cancer nationwide and over $14M in cancer research locally focusing on prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship to help reduce the burden of breast cancer. "We saw a decline in breast cancer death rates between 1989 to 2017 thanks to early detection and better treatments," said Ziener. "But since the onset of the pandemic, the number of mammograms being performed has dropped 87%. Getting your annual screening is critical." "Fighting breast cancer and all cancers is important to me as well as the men and women of the CFD," said Commissioner Ford. "I'm asking all members to wear pink on Thursdays to elevate awareness in the communities we serve while supporting the Society's life-saving mission." Ziener will join the commissioner and cancer survivors at 10:30 a.m. for a press conference on Thursday, October 1, at Engine 121 Quarters, 1724 W 95th St., to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Donate now to the CFD's campaign at: bitly.com/cfdpink For more information contact ACS-IL's Director of Marketing and Communications [email protected] . SOURCE American Cancer Society in Illinois Related Links https://www.cancer.org/about-us/local/illinois.html Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, a multiple award-winning media practitioner, and an accomplished entrepreneur, has been honoured at the 2020 Forty Under 40 Awards event held last weekend in recognition of her excellent Consultancy Services under the category of Consultancy and Professional Service. The 2020 Forty under 40 Award scheme announced its winners on Friday, September 25, at the plush Kempinski Hotel, Accra. The awards ceremony aims at identifying and honouring a cross-section of the nations most influential and accomplished young business fellows under the age of forty (40), who are making impact in the industry they operate. It also seeks to place emphasis on these individuals impeccable results through commitment to business growth, professional excellence and community service. The award scheme is organised by X-odus communications, handlers of the Ghana Oil & Gas Awards, Ghana Auto Awards, Ghana Aviation Awards and Ghana Manufacturing Awards. Nana Yaa dedicated her award to all those who have contributed to her journey of excellence in Media and Entrepreneurship including her esteemed Clients. Her long and distinguished career in Television started back in 1999 with Fontonfrom TV. The astute media professional is Multi-talented, highly skilful, and for 21 years of her media career, has been passionate about using entrepreneurial approach to manage the brands in her care to achieve sustainable and profitable results. During her Media career, she oversaw the Set Up, Design and management of several TV Stations including all three Crystal TV Channels, Multimedia Group's Cine Afrik, 4kids and The Jesus Channel as well Joy Prime Channel which she set up and managed until September 2019. Nana Yaa continues in her media leadership and entrepreneurship stride through Industry Consultancy. Nana Yaa's Journey in entrepreneurship started in 2007 and spans numerous business investments in fashion, marketing, FMCG, Telecom, etc. As an accomplished entrepreneur, Nana Yaa is a firm believer, that when you make room for the good stuff, great stuff will come in abundance. She is the owner and CEO of the front line Business & Consulting firm, Elohay Group which specialises in Marketing, PR, Branding & Advertising, Telecom, Trade, Manufacturing, Business Process Outsourcing, Design and Management of Media Platforms, Real Estate and Events Management. The company has also successfully rolled out many PR, Advertising & Marketing Campaigns to local and multinational businesses. As founder of the NGO, League of Extraordinary Women, Nana Yaa leads an incubation program that nurtures the youth and women through enriched development programs that offer insights on business, entrepreneurship and coping with life's challenges. Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong holds a BSC. Business Administration Degree from the University of Ghana Business School, Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from CIM UK and an MBA International Trade from Anhalt University, Germany and GTUC, Ghana. Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong is currently pursuing LLB Laws Degree. In an exclusive interview with the multiple award-winning media practitioner and entrepreneur, she said one can achieve anything on earth once one believes in their dream and takes that bold step which brings it all into fruition. It's fair to say disgraced former senator Sam Dastyari has made a few mistakes during his years as a politician and pundit. And the 37-year-old, known as 'Shanghai Sam' for his involvement in a Chinese donations scandal which eventually led to his resignation in January 2018, made a rather awkward gaffe on the Today show on Tuesday. During a hot topics segment with host Karl Stefanovic and journalist Anna Caldwell, Sam put his foot in it while discussing a viral news story about a cheating husband. Whoops! Sam Dastyari (left, with Karl Stefanovic and Anna Caldwell) made a rather awkward gaffe on the Today show on Tuesday Karl began: 'How's this for a wife's revenge - forcing her cheating husband to parade around their neighbourhood dressed in pink as a brutal get-back. Sam?' Sam replied: 'Well, look, firstly as someone who's gone through a divorce, I can safely say that's not something I was forced to do. 'And I don't think you were either, Karl.' Careful what you say! During a hot topics segment, Sam put his foot in it while discussing a viral news story about a cheating husband who was forced by his wife to wear prissy pink and cycle around his neighbourhood as a punishment Perhaps realising what he had just suggested about himself and Karl on national TV, Sam laughed nervously and tried to find a way to wrap things up. 'I mean, look, it's not going to work, it's not going to end well if that's how you're going to try and make your relationship work, good luck to you.... by the way, I thought wearing pink was okay?' he said. Karl sternly clarified: 'I guess if you're a cheater, Sam.' He said what?! 'Well, look, firstly as someone who's gone through a divorce, I can safely say that's not something I was forced to do,' said Sam. 'And I don't think you were either, Karl' 'Well, look, I mean that's certainly not me but, er, but look I think...' Sam responded, before bursting into awkward laughter. Karl, 46, brushed off Sam's gaffe, and later told him and Anna: 'I thought you guys would be much lighter on that one. You guys took it very seriously. Anyway, onwards and upwards!' 'Too many scars there, Karl. Too many scars!' Sam added, signing off. Oh, dear! Perhaps realising what he had just suggested about himself and Karl on national TV, Sam laughed nervously and tried to find a way to wrap things up Sam was only joking of course, and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that he or Karl has been unfaithful in the past. Former Labor senator Sam clarified in January last year that his split from his wife of eight years, Helen Barron, was 'very amicable'. Karl has also made it clear that he did not meet his now-wife, Jasmine Yarbrough, until five months after he'd split from his first wife, Cassandra Thorburn, in mid-2016. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment. The building formerly known as Cyberspace at 219 N. Pitt St. in Carlisle reopens next week under new leadership and with a new vision. Founded in 2001 as a means to bridge the digital divide, Cyberspace was started with the assistance of the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and managed by YWCA Carlisle until 2009. The authority then took full control over the space. Community CARES took over management in 2015, but transferred management to Hope Station as it became apparent that the computer lab didnt fit with Community CARES vision and purpose. Cyberspace closed in November and plans were underway for its reopening when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Next week, the building will reopen as the Professional and Educational Empowerment Center and will be operated by Hope Station as it seeks to expand its programming to adults. Were happy that this is another part of Hope Station. We are expanding. Were growing. Were partnered with some great people, said Safronia Perry, executive director of Hope Station. An open house planned for 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday will give the community its first look at the redesigned space. PEEC will open to the public the following week from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. That will be a great celebration of the community partners and volunteers that weve had working with us and made it possible, said Michaela Crow, PEECs programming director. Hope Station added staff to manage its new enterprise. Mary Moll has been hired as the part-time community support associate, and was charged with various tasks, including working with the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority on acquiring the computers and with Dickinson College on a technology grant. Crow was brought on as a full-time program director through an Americorps VISTA grant that Dickinson College helped secure. Tomeka McDonald serves as program assistant. Dickinson College is just one of the partners to come alongside Hope Station in its new venture. Perry said they are also working with Employment Skills Center, CareerLink, Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp., Community CARES and others. One of the first classes to be offered in the space will be a financial management class with Maranatha, a financial guidance ministry that helps families and individuals achieve and maintain financial stability so they can live independently. We have some great things that are going to be happening here, Perry said. While Cyberspace was an open computer lab, PEEC is more focused and purpose-driven toward professional and educational development, Moll said. Moll said the timing is right for the transformation as people will need to retool and gain new skills as a result of jobs that are changing due to the pandemic and the state of the economy. Perry said PEEC will not replace the work of Employment Skills Center. The two organizations are working together to offer programming to people who may not be comfortable going downtown to the Employment Skills Center office. This is not in competition with Employment Skills Center. This is in partnership with Employment Skills Center, Perry said. PEECs direction will be shaped, in part, by a community needs assessment to determine what programming is desired and can be offered, Crow said. PEEC has partnered with Dickinson College to translate the survey into Arabic and Spanish to reach as many people as possible. The center will also take on some of the services that the community has traditionally looked to Hope Station for, including printing and faxing. The space will also be available for community organizations to hold training and events. We wanted people to be comfortable and know this is under Hope Station, Perry said. This space is for the community. After a thorough cleaning, staff and volunteers set about reshaping the physical space to match its new vision. Interns placed with Hope Station through the Dickinson College Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement worked on the logo, the name of the new center, grants and even researched interior paint colors, Moll said. Theyve done a really great job in here, Perry said. If anybody was to walk in here right now, they would see how different it looks. Thanks to a technology grant, the space will feature new computers with medical grade keyboards and mice as an extra step to keep patrons safe as PEEC reopens during a pandemic and at the start of the flu season. In light of COVID, Crow said access to the center will be limited to those who are 18 or older, but that they hope to expand later to allow more ages to use the space. Masks and social distancing will also be required. Email Tammie at tgitt@cumberlink.com. Follow her on Twitter @TammieGitt. By Trend Nobody has a right to ignore the UN Security Council's straightforward resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh, Djoomart Otorbayev, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Member of Nizami Ganjavi International Center, told Trend. He pointed out that for 30 years the international community can't solve the problem of unlawful occupation of Azerbaijani territory. UN should step in to restore its credibility, and to demonstrate its solidarity with the people of Azerbaijan, said the former Kyrgyz PM. Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the frontline, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of the retaliation, Azerbajiani troops managed to liberate the territories previously occupied by Armenia: Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages (Fuzuli district), Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages (Jabrayil district). Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of Azerbaijan's Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control. Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The coronavirus has now claimed one million lives, but as the crisis developed, countries paths have greatly diverged. Many countries worldwide imposed lockdowns, curfews and other previously unthinkable curbs on personal freedoms. Although on the surface the measures taken may have appeared broadly similar, minor tweaks and delays have proven to be the potential difference between tens of thousands of infections. Here we take a snapshot look at how key nations across the world have dealt with the pandemic so far, and the impact this has had upon the lives and health of their populaces. China 4,739 deaths and 90,493 cases reported Population: 1.39 billion First reported cases to WHO: 31 December Wuhan placed on lockdown: 23 January Borders closed: 28 March Known cases at point of lockdown (Hubei province): 375 International travel reopened: 3 September (to eight countries, w/ quarantine) Daily testing capacity by August: 4.84 million Death toll surpassed 1,000: 10 February When the first cases of an unknown respiratory disease first emerged, centring around a wet market in Wuhan, authorities were keen to be seen acting swiftly in the wake of the 2003 Sars epidemic. The nation took a firm grip of the outbreak, closing regional borders and imposing strictly enforced lockdowns with propriety as the virus spread to each of the nations 29 provinces. But concerns over transparency grew, with several doctors harshly silenced and officials reluctant to acknowledge human-to-human transmission. China closed its borders to international travellers in March, and still remains closed off to the vast majority of countries, with travellers from the handful of permitted nations required to quarantine for a fortnight upon arrival. By March, it reported its first day with no new domestic cases, and has since aggressively contact-traced outbreaks typically linked to neighbouring countries. By early April, Wuhan had emerged from three months of lockdown. Five months on, the country is now viewed as something of a success story, albeit a largely inimitable one, with active infections currently numbering in their hundreds and authorities quick to react to new outbreaks. Italy 35,851 deaths and 311,364 cases reported Population: 60 million First case reported: 31 January Entered lockdown: 10 March Closed borders: 9 July, to certain countries Known cases at point of lockdown: 10,149 Made face masks mandatory in certain settings: 5 April (Lombardy) Days without a new case since first peak: 0 Days from first case to 1,000 deaths: 41 Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people*: 0.93 Jobs lost between February and June: 600,000* Rise in unemployment rate (March to April)*: -1.2% The first country to be severely hit by the pandemic in Europe, Italy identified its first two cases in late January, immediately closing air traffic to and from China. However waste water studies and reports of additional flu-type deaths in late 2019 suggest the virus may have reached the country earlier. By 21 February, several regions in Lombardy were placed under strict quarantine rules, and on 8 March, authorities decided to place the countrys entire north under lockdown - a decision previously considered unthinkable in western society, followed by a full national lockdown two days later. While the viruss peak in Italy was as grim as anywhere in the world, with devastating scenes of overflowing hospital wards, it returned to something resembling normality in the summer, reopening international travel without quarantine restrictions to many European nations. Despite developing one of the highest testing capacities in Europe, recent data suggests Italy is nevertheless bracing for a possible second spike of infections this winter. New Zealand 25 deaths and 1,833 cases reported Population: 4.8 million First case reported: 28 February Entered lockdown: 25 March Closed borders: 19 March Known cases at point of lockdown: 205 Longest consecutive days without a new case since first peak: 102 Face masks made mandatory in certain settings: 30 August Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 1.19 Unemployment rate change in second quarter*: -0.2% Having emerged miraculously unscathed from the pandemic, New Zealand has developed a reputation for extreme and effective vigilance. Premier Jacinda Ardern has won plaudits for her swift and decisive reaction to the crisis, closing international borders without delay and placing the nation under lockdown in March, operating a strict quarantining system for international arrivals thereafter. While the country plunged into its worst recession in decades, the prioritisation of health and virus elimination appears set to pay dividends in the future. By August, the country had gone 102 days without a new case. But a second resurgence in New Zealands winter months saw some restrictions reimposed. Last week, Ms Ardern celebrated the nations collective efforts in getting the virus back under control, lifting restrictions save for in Auckland. Sweden 5,880 deaths and 90,923 cases reported Population: 10 million First case reported: 31 January Entered lockdown: N/A Closed borders: 17 March (countries outside EEA) Consecutive days without a new case since first peak: 0 Face masks made mandatory in certain settings: N/A Days from first case to 1,000 deaths: 74 Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 1.1 Unemployment rate change in second quarter*: +2.1% As most nations around the world appeared to follow a familiar template in dealing with the virus at its outset, particularly in Europe, Sweden stood more or less alone. While the countrys chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell would later reject the herd immunity strategy" label pinned to his lapel by scientists, officials had believed that 40 per cent of Stockholms residents would be infected by May. Despite meagre state intervention, one study suggested this figure reached 17 per cent in April. Primary and secondary schools, restaurants, cafes and shops remained open and gatherings of up to 50 people were still allowed, while officials left it up to individuals whether or not to socially distance or work from home, drawing on the Swedish concept of folkvett, representing the common sense of the people as a collective. After denouncing lockdowns and criticising European border closures as ridiculous and counterproductive, Dr Tegnell conceded he should have landed midway between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world did. But, he told France 24 last week: On the other hand, we don't have the resurgence of the disease that those countries have. While this was borne out in the data which showed Swedish daily cases continue to number in the low hundreds, as the virus surges elsewhere in Europe it is not necessarily a result of any level of herd immunity, and cases began to spike in Stockholm last week. Taiwan 7 deaths and 513 cases reported Population: 23 million First case reported: 21 January Entered lockdown: N/A Closed borders: 18 March Most consecutive days without a new case since first peak: 15 (June) Face masks made mandatory in certain settings: 3 April (public transport) Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 0.01 Rise in unemployment rate (Feb to August): +0.13% Having suffered a bruising experience during the Sars epidemic, Taiwan was swift to act upon the announcement of a new respiratory virus, and already had extensive infrastructure in place to deal with such a pandemic. The country began monitoring passengers from Wuhan the day Beijing informed the World Health Organisation of its first cases, and upon discovering an infection on 20 January, banned Wuhan entrants and screened all arrivals from China. Borders were closed entirely, save for rare exemptions in early March. Striving to be utterly transparent with its populace, the government developed a high level of trust with citizens, ensuring high compliance with social distancing measures and affinity with the extensive information-sharing employed to contact trace. Using GPS technology, Taiwan tracked known and potential infections, mitigating several dangerous outbreaks from February onwards, tracking hundreds of thousands of potential carriers at a time. Those told to quarantine were financially compensated and provided with free care packages. In a further display of transparency, citizens were enabled to digitally interact directly with officials, with discussions on one virtual democracy platform sprouting a government-backed face mask app. With just one suspected community transmission in the capital since April, residents in Taiwan are currently enjoying personal freedoms and crowds in a manner unequalled nearly anywhere else in the world. India 95,542 deaths and 6.1 million cases reported Population: 1.3 billion First case reported: 30 January Entered lockdown: 25 March Closed borders: 11 March Known cases at point of lockdown: 618 Made face masks mandatory in certain settings: 9 April Testing capacity hit one million: 21 August Days without new case since first peak: 0 Days from first case to 1,000 deaths: 90 Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 0.02 Change in unemployment rate during lockdown*: +16.5% While the virus took some time to emerge in India, stark disparities in healthcare access and standards of living among its vast population meant officials were aware of its potential for devastation. Embarking on a significant awareness campaign in a bid to inform the nation of the looming pandemic, Narendra Modis government was relatively swift in its initial handling of the pandemic despite elections and various other distractions in early 2020, suddenly imposing the worlds largest lockdown in March after identifying just over 500 cases. In doing so, it confined 1.3 billion people to their homes, sometimes violently, and by suspending transport and incomes left tens of thousands of migrant workers to walk hundreds of miles home. Hundreds lost their lives in the process. Yet while lockdowns bought other countries time to develop contact-tracing systems, scale up testing capacity and bolster health care, India was still lagging on all of these fronts upon emerging from its own crippling lockdown, which was gradually eased in May. Daily cases began to rise in their tens of thousands by June, approaching 100,000 by late September. And despite accruing the worlds second-largest caseload, and eventually building a testing capacity of one million per day, serological tests suggest at least 50 million people may have been infected. And with vast disparities between states and between urban and rural areas in health care and living conditions, the currently exemplary mortality rate, which could also be accounted for by a lack of sufficient recording, appears set to sour as the virus spreads from wealthier states and cities into more vulnerable areas, where many inhabitants have been battered by lockdown. United States 205,031 deaths and 7.1 million cases reported Population: 330 million First case reported: 20 January First state entered lockdown: 19 March (California) Closed borders: 11 March (many countries exempt) Number of states to issue stay-at-home orders: 43 Known cases in California at point of lockdown: 910 Consecutive days without a new case since first peak: 0 Days from first case to 1,000 deaths: 66 Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 2.73 Despite publicly playing down the viruss severity, Donald Trump quickly banned arrivals from China in late January and began ramping up testing and contact-tracing capabilities (with Mr Trump having slashed the pandemic preparedness fund in 2017). Eventually declaring a state of emergency in late March, the president set up an increasingly combative, unscientific and performative series of daily press conferences. By April, however, the US death toll became the worlds highest which it remains to this day as the virus-ravaged New York. Meanwhile as the virus spread across the country, states and citizens responses became embroiled in the countrys culture wars, with right-wingers and Republican-led states typically more inclined to forego restrictions and even basic precautions, such as mask wearing. South Korea 406 deaths and 23,661 cases reported Population: 51 million First case reported: 20 January Entered lockdown: N/A Closed borders: N/A (quarantine introduced on 19 March) Lowest daily caseload since first peak: 2 (in May) Face masks made mandatory in certain settings: (26 May) Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 0.22 Change in unemployment rate (November to August)*: 0.0% Emerging as an initial hotspot for the disease in February harbouring the largest number of known infections outside of China South Koreas trajectory in the weeks that followed is enviable. Having learnt the perils of delayed action from the Mers epidemic in 2015, authorities quickly ramped up testing capacity to as much as 20,000 per day, returning results within 24 hours. By mid-April, more than one in 100 citizens had been tested. They swiftly kickstarted a system of mass data gathering in order to contact trace, with phone location data, debit card transaction details and surveillance cameras used to map outbreaks and issue alerts about affected areas with immediacy. As a result, South Korea was able to forego the type of lockdowns seen elsewhere across the world, instead closing public spaces and setting out guidance with high levels of compliance on social distancing, working from home where possible, and avoiding bars, restaurants and places of worship. Within three weeks, South Korea had flattened the curve. Having previously reached more than 800 per day, daily cases remained typically in their low tens from April until August, when cases again began to spike in an outbreak widely attributed to anti-government rallies and an evangelical church, Sarang Jeil. While the curve has not flattened at the same rate as in March, case numbers are again dropping to manageable levels. United Kingdom 42,090 deaths and 441,565 cases reported Population: 66 million First case reported: 31 January Entered lockdown: 23 March Closed borders: N/A Known cases at point of lockdown: 6,650 Consecutive days without a new case since first peak: 0 Face masks made mandatory in certain settings: 15 June Days from first case to 1,000 deaths: 57 Most recent daily testing per 1,000 people: 0.93 Rise in unemployment rate (March to June)*: 0.17% While the UK had previously been rated as being nearly the best-prepared country in the world for a pandemic, the government has been criticised for much of its early response. With no border closures or quarantines implemented until June, the number of imported cases quickly rose, and within weeks the government had abandoned contact tracing as cases outstripped meagre testing capacity. In a bid to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed, the UK entered lockdown in late March, reportedly after Italy had created the political space to do so over two weeks prior and ministers were shown a new dire projection of what could otherwise lay in store. While hospital capacity was not as stretched as feared, tens of thousands of patients were discharged into care homes without tests, creating an epidemic within the nations care homes as the UKs death toll soared to become the highest in Europe. Following initial criticisms, the government eventually increased testing capacity to among the highest proportionally in the world, but the system delivered only a fraction of tests within 24 hours and has been thrown into fresh chaos as a winter resurgence rears. Weeks after a government push for workers to return to offices, the nation faces fresh restrictions, and while much of the country is under localised lockdowns, dwindling levels of trust in the government and higher levels of apprehension leave compliance in the event of a second lockdown less certain. A former Wall Street trader has been sentenced to over five years in prison after admitting to defrauding investors of $19 million in a Ponzi scheme,and blowing his victims' cash on a house in the Hamptons, jewelry and a lavish party. Paul Rinfret, 71, of Manhasset, New York, was sentenced on Monday in Manhattan federal court. The sentencing followed his October guilty plea to wire and securities fraud. U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan said Rinfret should spend five years and three months behind bars. Paul Rinfret (right), pictured with daughter Amanda Schneider and her husband Scott Schneider, at a party in Sag Harbor in the Hamptons in July 2016. Rinfret has been jailed Prosecutors said he carried out the fraud from at least 2016 through 2019, investing only a small portion of the money he raised from six victims. The Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Securties and Exchange Commission (SEC) say that he sold limited partnership interests in his investment fund, Plandome Partners LLC. According to the court documents filed by the SEC, obtained by Manhasset Press, Rinfret boasted to investors that the trading strategy had generated triple-digit returns as high as 362 per cent for Plandome Partners investors over a multiyear period, and that Plandome Partners had never lost money in a single month since 2012. Rinfret told investors that Plandome Partners has been using a proprietary algorithm to day-trade S&P 500 futures contracts, state the documents. But much of the money invested in the company was siphoned off. When he did invest, he lost money but falsified monthly account statements to make it seem as though his investors were enjoying excellent results, prosecutors said. Rinfret's remarkable misuse of his investor's funds was detailed by the SEC. They said he used money from investors on a nearly $50,000 Hamptons vacation rental and $35,000 on custom kitchen cabinets. He blew $170,000 on jewelry, watches and cars; more than $105,000 on wine and other alcohol; approximately $12,000 on cigars; and more than $130,000 at restaurants. The SEC and the New York prosecutors said he spent tens of thousands of dollars on the Manhattan venue where his son held an engagement party, in September 2017. The party, at The Water Club - a barge on the East River, off midtown Manhattan - cost at least $30,000, court documents state. Guests were photographed posing on a red carpet-style set up, in front of a screen with the hashtag: #RinfretAllDay. John Paul Rinfret, pictured at the NY half marathon, had his September 2017 engagement party in Manhattan paid for from his father's illicit earnings, to the tune of $30,000 Missy Minicucci and her mother Denise Rinfret celebrated JP's engagement party Rinfret withdrew almost $570,000 in cash from the Plandome Partners account, including more than $500,000 in ATM withdrawals. He used his investors' money to pay for everyday expenses such as dry cleaning, gas, car wash, gym membership, DMV and AAA fees, student loan payments, eye glasses, tanning and shoe store purchases, the Manhasset Press reported. When he was charged, in July 2019, Geoffrey Berman, the then-attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Rinfret 'deceived investors at every step.' He said: 'He lied about his past returns to get them to invest. He lied about having invested all of their money, when he was actually spending much of it on things like jewelry, cars, and a Hamptons vacation home. He lied about how their money was growing. His alleged lies stop today.' The Rinfret family, with Paul (far left) and wife Denise (second left); their son JP and his wife Diane; plus daughter Missy (USA flag sweater) and husband Alex Minicucci; and second daughter Amanda (blue and white striped top) with husband Scott (brown sweater) The Rinfret family are pictured at a July 2016 party in the Hamptons Rinfret's wife of 44 years, Denise, an interior designer, filed for divorce. Two of his children - Amanda, Missy and John Paul - stopped speaking with him, and his home was foreclosed. His family were unaware of his deceit, prosecutors said. Rinfret had been previously sanctioned by the New York Stock Exchange, so he was unable to open an account at a brokerage firm using his own name. According to the court filings, Rinfret used two of his family members names to open an account at 'Brokerage Firm 3' and his own name did not appear on any of the documents. One of the family members that signed documents passed away in or about June 2014, but 'Brokerage Firm 3' account statements continued to go to that individual's address through 2016. SEC court filings state that Rinfret frequently called 'Brokerage Firm 3' on his cell phone after that person's death and pretended to be the deceased person. He also used the names of two of his three adult children. Paul Rinfret with daughter Missy Minicucci, photographed in 2013 at her wedding Paul Rinfret, wife Denise and their daughter Missy. Rinfret kept his family in the dark In multiple calls with brokerage firms, he pretended to be his son, John Paul Rinfret - whose September 2017 engagement party he funded - and told the firms that he was only trading his own family's personal fund, the SEC reports. The SEC court documents also state that Rinfret transferred at least $845,000 to two companies controlled by his wife; a least $325,000 to John Paul; and at least $675,000 to his son-in-law. The Rinfret Group, an interior design company based in Roslyn, is owned by Denise and Missy. 'The owners of the Rinfret Group had no knowledge of how Paul Rinfret ran his business and believed that the money he transferred to The Rinfret Group was legitimately earned,' said Roger J. Bernstein, an attorney representing The Rinfret Group and John Paul. 'They are shocked and saddened by what transpired.' On Monday more than $20 million in forfeiture was ordered, along with over $12 million in restitution. In a letter to the judge, Rinfret said: 'I do not offer excuses. I made terrible mistakes for which I have and will continue to pay. All responsibility is mine. 'I hate myself for the recklessness I showed.' The House of Representatives recently passed two of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaibs (D-13th District) environmental justice amendments to the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447), although she ultimately opposed the final passage of the bill for failing to offer a plan to curtail fossil fuel production. The first amendment, #169, which the Congresswoman worked with House leaders to develop and co-led with Congresswomen Deb Haaland (NM-01) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), increases authorizations for renewable energy research and development accounts by 50%, ensuring that the bill invests more in renewable energy research and development than in fossil fuel research and development. The second of the two environmental justice amendments, #167, requires the Environmental Health Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study to evaluate the disparate health impacts of fossil fuel emissions on minority and low and moderate income communities and to issue a summary of their findings to Congress. These amendments are my way of bringing the needs of the residents of Michigans 13th District to the table and saying: They cannot afford to wait for meaningful action on the air pollution theyve had to suffer for generations, Tlaib said. And they really cannot afford to wait. Im thankful to my House colleagues for passing these two amendments, which ultimately improved a bill that was fundamentally flawed. The bottom line is we cannot invest billions of dollars in technologies that will extend our countrys reliance on fossil fuels further into the future, yet H.R. 4447 does that despite my offices best efforts-and the efforts of my colleagues and grassroots organizations across the country-to remove the problematic provisions. Although it also included important environmental justice protections, the communities that I represent, including my neighbors in 48217, one of the most polluted zip codes in the state of Michigan, are relying on me to fight like hell against any new government investments in dirty energy sources. They understand that we need to be leading with transformative policies that truly address the climate crisis, guarantee clean air and water, and save our planet. While I was proud to fight to make it better, the bill still fails to meet the urgent needs of the moment. I am grateful to my 17 colleagues who joined in opposing this legislation, Tlaib continued. Tlaib and her 17 colleagues arent alone in their opposition to the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act -yesterday, a group of 100-plus environmental justice organizations-including Food & Water Action, Climate Justice Alliance, Friends of the Earth, Sunrise Movement, Public Citizen, 350.org, Indigenous Environmental Network, GreenLatinos, League of Women Voters, Breast Cancer Action, Center for Biological Diversity, Peoples Action, Endangered Species Coalition, Oil Change, Global Witness, GreenFaith, Seeding Sovereignty and Zero Hour-sent a letter to House members opposing it, insisting on a more ambitious environmental justice strategy that supports a just and equitable transition to clean renewable energy. Source: Rashida Tlaib Positive Case of COVID-19 at St Annes Upper Primary School A positive case of COVID-19 has been identified within St Annes Upper Primary School. The Contact Tracing team have been liaising with school staff and the Department of Education. All individuals who have been identified as close contacts have been informed that they are required to self-isolate. The latest available information is that 13 individuals (4 staff members and 9 pupils) have been deemed to have been in close contact with the positive case and all have been instructed to self-isolate. Close contact is defined as close proximity within an enclosed area for a period of time longer than 15 minutes. Pupils who attend St Annes Upper Primary School should attend school as normal if they have not been contacted by the Contact Tracing Bureau. Parents are reminded that children with COVID-19 symptoms should not attend school. They should stay at home, self-isolate and call 111. Siblings and close contacts of children who have been asked to self-isolate should attend school as normal unless otherwise advised by the Contact Tracing Bureau. Individuals who have specific concerns arising from any of this information are asked to contact the schools Head Teacher. Mr Assange is fighting extradition on charges relating to leaks of classified documents allegedly exposing US war crimes and abuse. The Old Bailey has heard evidence of the 49-year-olds mental state following years in the Ecuador embassy and 16 months in custody at Belmarsh high security jail. The court heard today that, if he loses his extradition battle, Mr Assange could be held at Alexandria Detention Centre in Virginia under special administrative measures (Sams). If he is convicted, he could be moved to the Supermax Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, home to convicted terrorist Abu Hamza. Giving evidence, former warden Maureen Baird said Mr Assange would remain at the ADX unless there was a severe change in his medical status. She told the court that an inmate would have to be in a much worse condition than disabled Abu Hamza, adding: You have to be almost dying. Advertisement Ms Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, said Mr Assange was likely to be placed under Sams pre-trial on the grounds of national security. Under the Sams regime, inmates spend 23 or 24 hours a day in their cells with no contact with other prisoners, she said. Giving evidence by video link, she said: They have the opportunity to come out of their cell and go into another cell we considered a recreation cell, there was no exercise equipment in that room at all. I did have an exercise bike brought in. It was just an empty cell. Ms Baird said Sams inmates were allowed one half-hour phone call to family a month, or two 15-minute calls which were all monitored by FBI agents. She said: Sams is not discretionary. It cannot be changed by a warden or anybody at the prison. Its very matter of fact, if somebody is in pre-trial for terrorism and somebody is in for a different national security (issue) they would all be subjected to the same. It is what it is. On the effect on inmates over time, she said: Its not supposed to be punitive but the consequences and the results very much feel like it is. Sams inmates can suffer very severe depression, anxiety and paranoia, the witness said. She added: I have not seen anyone actively psychotic but I understand extreme isolation has caused others to be psychotic. Cross-examining, Clair Dobbin, for the US government, said Sams was only a possibility. Ms Baird said: In my experience with other cases if its off the table they would remove it completely but it appears to be very much on the table. From everything Ive read he would meet the criteria. Ms Dobbin suggested that was entirely speculative. An 18-count indictment against Assange alleges a plot to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. The extradition case before Judge Vanessa Baraitser continues. Inspiring: Justice Minister Naomi Long with Magilligan Prison governor Richard Taylor and senior officer Wendy Graham in the Sewing Bee Hub at Magilligan Prison Northern Ireland's prison officers have been praised for their initiatives to support prisoners and the wider community during the pandemic. Highlighting the 'Hidden Heroes' of the Prison Service, Justice Minister Naomi Long described their efforts in recent months as "inspiring and motivating". Among initiatives developed by Prison Staff during Covid has been the Sewing Bee project at Magilligan Prison, where prisoners make personal protection equipment (PPE) for Health and Social Care staff and care home staff. More than 2,000 pieces including scrubs and facemasks, isolation gowns and wash bags have been produced by the prisoners in recent months. From patterns and material sourced by staff, around a dozen prisoners cut, sew, press and individually package the various PPE items which are then distributed to HSC and care-home staff throughout Northern Ireland. Minister Long said: "A lot of good work has been done by the Northern Ireland Prison Service during the coronavirus pandemic, not alone to keep people in their care safe but to help others in the community. "Supporting and challenging prisoners is what Prison Service staff do on a daily basis, but their ideas and enthusiasm for new initiatives which also support the community during this crisis have been inspiring and motivating. They really have been hidden heroes throughout the pandemic." Magilligan Prison Governor Richard Taylor said it had been a "very worthwhile and satisfying project for both our staff and prisoners and as the pandemic continues so too will our work to support the community". He added: The staff assisted prisoners in sourcing patterns and material for various pieces of PPE which are cut, stitched, pressed and individually packaged." Dine-in service to be available with 50 per cent capacity Mumbai: After nearly six months, restaurants in Maharashtra are likely to reopen from the first week of October. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday gave his nod for the move, which is likely to benefit about four lakh restaurants, bars and eating houses in the state. The state government has prepared a standard operating procedure (SOP) to restart restaurant operations and submitted it to the concerned authorities. Once finalised, a decision to reopen restaurants will be taken, said Mr Thackeray, who held a virtual meeting with the representatives of restaurant associations from the major cities. According to sources, dine-in services for restaurants may be allowed with 50 per cent of the actual capacity from the first week of October. Presently, only home delivery services are allowed for the restaurants. Restaurants in the state had closed in March due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. In the meeting, Thackeray emphasised the need of wearing masks, cleaning hands and maintaining physical distance to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and added these precautions need to be taken when restaurants are reopened. It will be important to take care of the health of chefs and other staffers in restaurants. They must wear masks, clean hands and ensure safety and cleanliness in restaurants, the CM said. He also urged the restaurateurs to join the state government's My Family, My Responsibility campaign, which has launched in Maharashtra to fight the pandemic. Additional chief secretary (home) Sitaram Kunte assured that SOPs will be finalised after holding another talk with representatives of restaurants, the statement said. The restaurant associations have welcomed the move saying it will bring a big respite to the hotel owners whose businesses have remained shut due to Covid-19. Sherry Bhatia, president of Hotel & Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI), said, We thank the chief minister, who assured us that restaurants will be allowed to reopen in the first week of October. The CM has also agreed to favourably consider HRAWIs petition for the waiver of excise license fees for a period of six months, the duration for which establishments were required to be kept shut. Also, the deadline for deferment of payments towards the first instalment of the Excise License fee has been extended to 30th September which will bring restaurateurs big relief. The HRAWI had also petitioned the State Excise department for a rollback in the 15 per cent increase in the fees for the year. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Hours after the 19-year-old Hathras gang-rape victim breathed her last on Tuesday morning, her family and hundreds of people from the Valmiki Samaj and members of the Bhim Army led by its chief Chandrashekhar Azad, AAP MLA Ajay Dutt and workers of the Congress held a protest at Delhis Safdarjung Hospital, demanding the culprits be sentenced to death. For hours the protestors, who gheraoed the hospital from inside and outside, blocked the main road, demanding justice for the teenager. Azad blamed the Centre and the Yogi government and the UP Police for negligence in registering the FIR. First, they delayed in registering FIR and then, they lagged in providing good treatment to her. When the victims condition deteriorated, they shifted her to Delhi, he said. ALSO READ | Hathras gang-rape: Family accuses UP police of forcibly cremating victim's body at midnight Azad had earlier demanded that the UP government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment. The Bhim Army chief said: I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand the death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We wont rest until the culprits are hanged. The victims family and brother alleged that her body was not handed over to them even hours after her postmortem. The family also alleged that the Aligarh hospital had claimed they would take the victim to AIIMS-Delhi for better treatment but instead, she was admitted to Safdurjung Hospital. AAP MLA Ajay Dutt also alleged that the police manhandled the protestors. Later, a Bhim Army spokesperson alleged that Azad was arrested by the Delhi Police. Height of brutality The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape bid and in the process, she had ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. A still image shows members of Azeri armed forces firing artillery in an unidentified location By Nvard Hovhannisyan and Nailia Bagirova YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Fighting escalated sharply on Monday between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and at least 55 people were killed in a second day of heavy clashes. The two sides pounded each other with rockets and artillery in the fiercest round of the decades-old conflict in more than a quarter of a century. "This is a life-and-death war," Arayik Harutyunyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh leader, told a briefing. Any move to all-out war could drag in major regional powers Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, which provides vital support to the enclave and is its lifeline to the outside world, while Ankara backs its ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan. "We haven't seen anything like this since the ceasefire to the war in the 1990s. The fighting is taking place along all sections of the front line," said Olesya Vartanyan, senior analyst for the South Caucasus region at Crisis Group. Nagorno-Karabakh said 53 of its soldiers had been killed in fighting with Azeri forces on Monday, after saying that 31 of its servicemen had been killed on Sunday and 200 wounded when Azerbaijan attacked. Nagorno-Karabakh also said it had recovered some territory lost on Sunday, but the region's leader said later that neither the Azeri army nor the Armenian military captured any tactical positions during the fighting on Monday. He said the Azeri army had started a major attack towards Matagis and Talish and alongside the Araks river. The general prosecutor's office in Azerbaijan said two Azeri civilians had been killed on Monday, after five were killed on Sunday, and 30 had been wounded. There was no official information about any Azeri military casualties. Azerbaijan declared a partial military mobilisation on Monday after declaring martial law on Sunday. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh declared martial law and mobilised their male populations on Sunday. Men older than 18 years in Armenia are banned from leaving the country. Story continues FEAR OF ALL-OUT WAR Vartanyan said the use of rockets and artillery brought a higher risk of civilian casualties that could make the escalation hard to stop by diplomatic means. "If there are mass casualties, it will be extremely difficult to contain this fighting and we will definitely see a full-fledged war that will have a potential intervention of Turkey or Russia, or both of them." Russia called for an immediate ceasefire, and Turkey said it would support Azerbaijan. Clashes first broke out in the late 1980s between Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian Christian majority and their ethnic Azeri neighbours, as Soviet Communist rule from Moscow was starting to crumble. All-out war in the early 1990s led to hundreds of thousands of Azeris being driven out as the region, with heavy support from Armenia, threw off control from Baku and became self-governing. Hundreds of thousands more Armenians and Azeris were displaced from Azerbaijan and Armenia respectively. The new fighting has revived concern over stability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets. Angela Frangyan, a filmmaker in the Nagorno-Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, said residents had taken cover in bomb shelters and that constant shelling could be heard. All shops were closed and hardly anyone was in the streets. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan demanded Armenia immediately quit the Azeri lands he said it was occupying and said it was time to end the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the surge in violence with Erdogan in a call on Monday. Johnson's office said that Britain was calling for urgent de-escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The UK, Belgium, Estonia, France and Germany plan to raise the conflict for discussion behind closed doors at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, diplomats said. TURKISH SUPPORT Armenia's parliament condemned what it said was a "full-scale military attack" by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said Turkish military experts were fighting alongside Azerbaijan, and that Turkey had provided drones and warplanes. Azerbaijan denied the allegations, and there was no immediate reaction from Turkey. But senior officials including Erdogan, who has increasingly been flexing Turkey's military muscle abroad, have promised support for Baku. Interfax news agency quoted the press secretary of Azerbaijan's defence ministry, Anar Evyazov, as saying the Azeri military had occupied several strategically important heights near the village of Talish in Nagorno-Karabakh. Evyazov also said Lernik Vardanyan, commander of the Armenian airborne assault battalion, had been killed near Talish. Armenia said that was disinformation. Two Syrian rebels from Turkish-backed groups in areas of northern Syria under Turkish control told Reuters last week that they were being sent as part of a contingent to help Azerbaijan, in coordination with Ankara. Reuters could not independently verify their accounts. Hikmat Hajiyev, an aide to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, said it was nonsense to say Syrian fighters were helping his country. (Reporting by Nvard Hovhannisyan in Yerevan and Nailia Bagirova in Baku; Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London, Tom Balmforth in Moscow and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by William Maclean and Margarita Antidze; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Matthew Lewis and Peter Cooney) - Daewoong announced Enavogliflozin's result of phase 2 clinical trial in Korean type-2 diabetic patients at 2020 ICDM - Aims to accelerate R&D for global market expansion through establishment of comprehensive partnerships abroad SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Daewoong Pharmaceutical (Daewoong) (CEO Sengho Jeon) announced the result of its phase 2 trial on enavogliflozin, a novel SGLT2 inhibitor, for the first time at the 2020 International Congress of Diabetes and Metabolism (ICDM) held on Sep. 18-19. When enavogliflozin was administered for 12 weeks as monotherapy in type-2 diabetic patients, the patients showed statistically significant decreases in their glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c) levels in comparison to the placebo starting from week 4. In week 12, the patients' HbA1c levels decreased approximately 0.9%p in comparison to the placebo. This is a statistically significant result and indicates an additional decrease in the HbA1c by approximately 0.2-0.3%p compared to other SGLT2 inhibitors for which trials were conducted in subjects in Western countries. This result, as such, raises expectations for further studies. The percentage of patients whose HbA1c level > 7.0%* in week 12 was as high as 61%, which was an increase by more than 20%p from those in the trials conducted on existing SGLT2 inhibitors. In addition, the percentage of patients achieving the HbA1c reduction > 0.5% at week 12 was 72% at most, indicating a notable blood glucose lowering effect, when considering non-responders in other SGLT2 inhibitors. Moreover, the proportion of patients with genital infection and urinary tract infections, adverse events that can occur according to the mechanism of SGLT2 inhibitors, was only 2%, verifying outstanding safety of the drug. This is a significantly lower rate compared to the rate of 5-10% with the SGLT2 inhibitors of other companies. Dr. Kyongsoo Park, the coordinating investigator for this trial, said, "With the result of the phase 2 trial of enavogliflozin through monotherapy to 200 Korean subjects, the excellent blood glucose lowering effect and safety were verified." "If this remarkable efficacy and safety are confirmed through monotherapy or combination therapy in phase 3, it is expected that enavogliflozin will be used as a good treatment option for the type-2 diabetic patients," he added. CEO Sengho Jeon at Daewoong said, "As the excellent result of the enavogliflozin, we will dedicate greater efforts to developing the best-in-class SGLT2 inhibitor." "We will accelerate R&D with a goal of global market expansion by establishing comprehensive partnerships abroad," he added. Daewoong plans to initiate phase-3 clinical trials for multiple diabetic indications within this year. The company has established a goal to release the drug in Korea by 2023. Moreover, the indications for enavogliflozin are expected to expand obesity, heart diseases, and kidney diseases in addition to diabetes. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282653/EU_enavogliflozin_phase_2_clinical_trial.jpg NEW YORK (AP) Toni Morrison is on the list. So are John Green and Harper Lee. And John Steinbeck and Margaret Atwood. All wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. Sherman Alexies prize-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian came in at No. 1, followed by Dav Pilkeys Captain Underpants picture book series and Jay Ashers young adult novel Thirteen Reasons Why. Objections raised by parents and other community members have ranged from explicit language and depictions of drug use in Alexies novel to Ashers theme of suicide. A lot of the books on the list also reflect a growing trend in recent years to challenge books by people of color and books from the LGBTQ community, says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the library associations Office for Intellectual Freedom. Examples include Morrisons The Bluest Eye, about a Black girl raped by her father; Alex Ginos George, about a transgender child; and Justin Richardsons and Peter Parnells picture book about two gay penguins, And Tango Makes Three. FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2006 file photo, American Nobel laureate Toni Morisson smiles during a press conference at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Morisson is included in a list of authors who wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)AP The list was announced Monday as the library association prepares to mark its annual Banned Books Week. Greens debut novel, Looking for Alaska, was ranked fourth, with others in the top 10 including E.L. James' explicit blockbuster 50 Shades of Grey, Raina Telgemeiers graphic novel Drama and Lauren Myracles Internet Girls series. FILE - In this July 21, 2015, file photo, author John Green attends the premiere of "Paper Towns" in New York. Green is included in a list of authors who wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. Green's debut novel, Looking for Alaska, was ranked fourth. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Evan Agostini/Invision/AP As with its yearly snapshots of most challenged books, the ALA defines a challenge as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. The list is based on news reports and on accounts submitted from libraries and others in the local community, although the ALA believes many challenges go unreported. The association does not formally count the number of times books are actually removed from a library shelf or from a school reading list. The decade list overall is a mixture of old standards such as Lees To Kill a Mockingbird and Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and more recent works such as Stephen Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Suzanne Collins' multimillion selling The Hunger Games, which has been accused of being anti-family and promoting violence. Others included were Atwoods Dystopian classic The Handmaids Tale, Steinbecks Of Mice and Men and J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye. FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2016 file photo, author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie appears at a celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day at Seattle's City Hall. Alexie is included in a list of authors who wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. Alexie's prize-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian came in at No. 1. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)AP Most of the books are fiction, but the list also includes such nonfiction works as Jeanette Walls' memoir about growing up with dysfunctional parents, The Glass Castle, and Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, which has faced challenges for the Jewish girls emerging sexual feelings and physical changes as she and her family hide from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. Frank was 15 when she was captured in 1944, and she died in a concentration camp the following year. There are actually two lines of objections to the Anne Frank diary, Caldwell-Stone says. One line is about her physical attraction to a boy (Peter Schiff, whom she met in school) and there were also objections that it was inappropriate for someone 12 years old to learn about the Holocaust. It was too much of a downer. It was not uplifting to young people. By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer The third annual event, jointly held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the World Bank (WB), features two sessions on the following topics: COVID-19 and Vietnams actions to seize opportunities and enhance position in the global value chain and Digital transformation and structural shifts towards inclusion and sustainability. The forum aims to discuss Vietnams reform and development issues in the new context, thereby reflecting the major concerns of businesses and people, especially amidst the emergence of many new challenges and opportunities. In addition, the forum will continue to contribute to the building of the 2021-2030 socio-economic development strategy and the five-year socio-economic development plan (2021-2025), contributing to improving Vietnams position in regional and international forums. In the first session, delegates will focus on elaborating on some contents, such as an overview of major trends in global trade and production networks; restructuring and enhancing position in the global value chain: opportunities and challenges for Vietnam; seizing opportunities from global value chain shifts: Vietnams actions to embrace inclusive growth, attract quality FDI and develop the private sector; and overcoming challenges: businesses actions towards resilient and sustainable recovery. The second session will cover the issues of inclusive digital transformation: opportunities and challenges; Vietnams actions to promote digital transformation as a driving force for inclusive and sustainable development; and ensuring inclusiveness in digital transformation. In his opening remarks, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung stated that in the period of 2021-2025, Vietnam will focus on solutions to promote sustainable growth in the COVID-19 context, striving to become an upper middle-income country by 2030. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung speaks at the forum. (Photo: VNA) In the face of potential adverse issues such as trade tensions between major global partners and internal shortcomings of the economy that could force the growth rate to slow down and greatly depend on capital and cheap labour, he emphasised the significance of consultations from scientists, ministries, sectors, development partners, and international organisations in helping the Vietnamese Government to make adjustments or issue policies to ensure the prompt recovery of macro balances in orientation towards sustainable and inclusive growth. WB Country Director for Vietnam Carolyn Turk hailed the forum as an opportunity to assess the progress of Vietnams economy in the context of the changing world. Vietnam has achieved impressive results, but continues to face multiple challenges, she said, expressing concerns about the negative impacts of climate change, extraordinary weather conditions, natural disasters and diseases, which are the adverse factors for socio-economic development efforts in Vietnam at present. The WB representative suggested that on the basis of its successes in containing COVID-19, Vietnam should take advantage of opportunities to further attract foreign investment and absorb scientific and technological achievements, in addition to giving adequate attention to health, education and social security. However, it is necessary for the country to clearly define its priority goals and change its ways of working to discover new values in the spirit of innovation, aiming to shape and transform the economic structure as well as increase the economys resilience and adaptability in the new context, she said. Viruses are ancient. They predate the divergence of life, thus infecting our last universal common ancestor. Viruses are deadly. They kill twice as many people as cancer does around 15 million people every year. Viruses are simple. They are made of an outer shell of protein which carries the virus DNA (or RNA), the genetic protein code with instructions for making new copies of the virus. Viruses are not alive. They grow or move themselves, or eat or use energy and they cannot reproduce on their own. This is why they must invade our cells so they can take advantage of the complex machinery, nutrients and energy in our cells and force the cell to make millions of copies, using the genetic blueprint carried in the virus. We are aware that all this is well-known and we are being redundant in our description, but the alarming news of a second wave of the dreaded coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has raised our ire and curiosity. It is more than painful to have to revisit a subject we thought that we at could escape from after so many moons had come and gone as we gazed at the skies and recited our fervent prayers. But its back, and we find ourselves delving into more facts, information, reasons and explanations, as this spooky little organism once again stampedes around the globe. How did we fare during its first visit in what seems like a century ago? On 11 March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the danger of the pandemic. The disease was discovered in Wuhan, China in late December. Over 25 million Chinese had already travelled to other shores. In just three months more than a million people in 180 countries had fallen sick from the virus. The UN described it as the worlds most challenging crisis since WWII. It is easy to understand why so many nations and leaders were unable to fathom the gravity, the speed, and the scope of this highly infectious disease. Opportunities were indeed missed for immediate action. It was already too late. Yet some leaders earned good marks for acting as soon as the WHO moved. New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Anderns response, was bold and clear. On 11 March 11, travel was restricted, a nationwide lockdown was implemented, and citizens were ordered to limit contact. They already had 52 confirmed cases, but the damage was contained. Eighty per cent of the public approved. Moon Jae-in, South Koreas president, also received praise for similar decisiveness. On 11 March, Donald Trump, president of the US, immediately stopped travel to and from China and Europe, but he gets no credit for that as the matter had been politicised, and his feeble attempt to avoid panic turned against him. Angela Merkels aggressive management of the crisis was considered the best in Europe. Brazil, India, Mexico and most of Europe sustained great losses of life and innumerable infections. Some leaders in Indonesia, the Philippines and especially Israel abused or misused their power to muddle the issue for their own political benefit. Egypt managed to shield itself for three months, and the people felt a false sense of security until the disease came calling, affecting certain celebrities. Masks, lockdowns and space restrictions were enforced. A quick review of what took place may help us deal with a second wave. However, the symptoms are different and people around the world are weary of isolation and loneliness. So much remains unknown, but what is known is that life as we have known it has changed. France is experiencing a second wave now and it did not fare well during the first one. Even when we know our mistakes we ignore, forget or neglect them as Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN said, The world is facing an unprecedented test. This is the moment of truth. As far as we are concerned, the moment of truth is this: why are scientists creating, developing, producing artificial viruses when the earth is already drowning in them? Hundreds of laboratories around the world are becoming virus factories. Their purpose is to better understand the disease and prepare potential vaccines. It is all well and good if it stays within the lab, however, accidents happen, lab personnel are infected, they infect others and so it goes. Several incidents of such accidents have been recorded in Singapore, India, Russia, France, Texas, etc. The medical world is torn between the desire to eliminate disease, and the need for further knowledge. Some argue it is not worth continuing to create transmissible versions of deadly viruses in labs, because the risk is high. We agree. Viruses mutate and it is hard to keep up with those changes. Flu vaccines are often useless for that reason. It is hard to avoid scepticism as to the legitimacy of those experiments. Biological warfare comes to mind. Why are governments funding such projects? Why did the US under the Obama administration donate $5 million to the Wuhan lab in China? To discover whether bats were responsible for the coronavirus? Germ warfare in nothing new. Bacteria, viruses, insects and fungi were commonly used since the Middle Ages to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants. Admittedly, biological warfare has been outlawed since 1971. A Treaty between 170 nations was ratified in 2013, yet, those labs are still working, accidents are still happening, people are still dying and we are still wondering. *A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Gurugram, Sep 29 : In a major crackdown on illegal mining, a special enforcement team of the Haryana police has confiscated 843 vehicles being used in illegal mining activities across 12 districts of the state over the last eight months. A penalty of Rs 23 crore was imposed on the vehicle owners for transporting illegal mining material. More than 50 cases were registered against them. Drilling machines were also seized. The police confiscated vehicles bearing Haryana registration numbers along with the illegally mined material. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Preet Pal Sangwan was given the charge of the Gurugram and Nuh regions. The ACP along with 25 police officials was tasked with tracking the movement of vehicles illegally transporting mining material from the Aravallis to various construction sites and crusher zones in the region. "The illegal activity was going on more in the border areas and efforts were afoot to keep tabs on vehicles ferrying mined material or without the requisite documents," Sangwan said. Of the 843 vehicles confiscated, nearly 241 were seized at Narnaul in Mahendragarh district, 172 in Faridabad, 145 in Gurugram, 67 in Charkhi Dadri, 50 in Mewat, 49 in Rewari, 48 each in Palwal and Bhiwani districts, 10 in Hisar, nine in Jhajjar, three in Sonipat and one in Rohtak. According to the police, illegal mining is most prevalent in Gurugram, Nuh, Narnaul, Mahendragarh and Faridabad. "A huge demand for quarry material exists in the border areas of Punjab and Haryana where several infrastructure projects are underway. Illegal mining is usually undertaken between late evening hours and early morning. The connivance of field officials of various departments cannot be ruled out," said an official of the mining department preferring anonymity. Tractor-trolleys bearing no registration numbers engaged in illegal mining activity are often spotted in this industrial belt as they manage to evade police action, he added. "We have increased surveillance in the noted areas where such illegal mining is taking place. Besides, teams of mining and forest departments have also been keeping tab on illegal mining through their sources. We are also taking help from local residents and sources to crack down on the illegal mining nexus," Sangwan said. According to a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order passed last year, all vehicles that are seized will be released only after recovery of at least 50 per cent of their showroom value. Apart from this, the confiscated vehicle owner will also have to pay a royalty fee, the value of the material loaded on the vehicle along with a Rs 10,000 fine before the vehicle is released. For their implementation of PaperVision Enterprise GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CO / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2020 / Nucleus Research has selected Woodstock Hospital as an 18th annual Technology ROI Award winner for its implementation of PaperVision Enterprise and PaperFlowTM. This award recognizes companies whose skillful deployment of IT solutions has produced a positive, bottom-line financial return on investment (ROI). The Nucleus ROI Awards recognize the top 10 technology projects of the year based on the overall value delivered by the project. Nucleus Research analysts performed an independent ROI assessment calculating the actual business benefits and ROI achieved by each project; winners were chosen based strictly on the ROI recognized from their implementation. Companies who receive the Technology ROI Award demonstrate the link between IT strategy and business goals. For Woodstock Hospital, this meant finding a way to access paper patient records from care provided prior to 2005, when they adopted an Electronic Health Records (EHR) application. To optimize patient care, they wanted medical staff to be able to instantly view both newer EHRs and older patient files side-by-side electronically. The implementation of PaperVision Enterprise, which allows Woodstock Hospital to securely store and access all their medical records electronically, generates a $437,500 average annual benefit while helping care providers quickly make life-saving decisions. The final analysis shows 258% ROI with full project payback in just three months. "After implementing an EHR application, Woodstock Hospital was not getting the full benefit they had hoped for. They purchased PaperFlow to help convert older paper-based patient records to electronic files and integrated PaperVision Enterprise with the EHR to simplify records search. They improved staff efficiency, boosted control of sensitive patient information, and reduced the costs of managing their healthcare records while supporting outstanding patient care in their Emergency Department. The overall result was 258% ROI and almost half a million dollars saved annually." Barbara Peck Analyst, Nucleus Research "In today's environment, we want front-line healthcare workers to have every tool they need to provide the best patient care possible. Digitech Systems is pleased to congratulate Woodstock Hospital," said HK Bain, CEO of Digitech Systems. "It's rewarding to see the ability of PaperVision Enterprise to work alongside their EHR to securely present patient records electronically leading to improved efficiency and real savings, especially with the extra security required in the world of healthcare." This innovative implementation was provided by Polar Imaging, a Digitech Systems reseller based in London, Ontario Canada. Polar Imaging has been a Digitech Systems reseller since 2004, and they are a member of the 2020 Circle of Excellence. "Resellers play an important role by matching organizational needs and goals with product capabilities to maximize ROI," explained Bain. "Polar Imaging demonstrates the essential role of a reseller in their work with Woodstock Hospital. Congratulations and thank you to Greg and Steve Todd and the entire team at Polar Imaging." See the Woodstock Hospital case study and video, and learn more about PaperVision Enterprise and PaperFlow by visiting our website. About Digitech Systems, LLC Digitech Systems, LLC enables businesses of any size to more effectively and securely manage, retrieve and store corporate information of any kind using either PaperVision Enterprise content management (ECM) software or the world's most trusted cloud-based ECM service, ImageSilo. By significantly reducing the cost, Digitech Systems has moved ECM from a luxury convenience to an essential element for every well-managed business. Digitech Systems continues to raise the standard of excellence in the ECM sector, as evidenced by the numerous awards they have received including multiple Nucleus Research ROI Awards. In addition, Buyer's Lab has repeatedly chosen PaperVision Capture as the best data capture and workflow solution and PaperVision Enterprise as the most outstanding ECM software in the marketplace. To learn more about the company's software and services that deliver any document, anywhere, anytime, visit www.digitechsystems.com. Contact: Elizabeth Edwards +17205294850 edwards@volumepr.com SOURCE: Digitech Systems View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/608268/Woodstock-Hospital-Receives-ROI-Award 13 killed when passenger bus crashes into rockface Motozintla, Chiapas At least 13 deaths and 25 injuries were counted after a bus accident on the La Trinitaria-Chamic highway. Civil Protection responded to the accident site after a passenger bus heading to Motozintla crashed into a rockface. The accident happened at 5:30 a.m. Monday. Civil Protection activated the pre-hospital emergency protocols due to the amount of injuries. Injured bus passengers were transferred to hospitals in Comitan de Dominguez with the support of the National Guard. Personnel from the Attorney Generals Office of the state, along with Civil Protection of La Trinitaria and Comitan and the Red Cross, were on site. Bodies, some of which were minors, line the roadway of a bus crash that killed 13 According to the State Attorney General, 13 people (eight males and five females) were reported killed and 25 injured in the highway accident that took place along the Guatemala border region of Chiapas. Aid brigades and ambulances transferred the wounded to hospitals in the city of Comitan de Dominguez. Quebec Woman Charged With Sending Ricin Letter to Trump Pleads Not Guilty A Quebec woman accused of sending a letter containing deadly ricin to President Donald Trump has been ordered to remain in U.S. custody after she pleaded not guilty in a Buffalo court Monday. The judge said Pascale Ferrier was clearly capable of causing harm when she tried to cross the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo last week, and is a continuing threat to Trump and others in Texas to whom she sent ricin letters. After she was detained, she admitted she had sent ricin to locations in Texas and to the president of the United States, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch said in court. Ferriers lawyer, public defender Fonda Kubiak, asked for her release until trial in Washington. She voluntarily came to the border, said she was the person they were looking for when there hadnt even been a warrant issued, Kubiak said. However, Ferrier was denied bail. Lynch said that there are no bail conditions that would make it safe to release her as she constitutes a flight risk. When Ferrier arrived at the border, she was carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun, a backpack loaded with 294 rounds of ammunition, a stun gun, a collapsible baton, pepper spray, and a fake Texas drivers license. Court heard that a mortar and pestle with ricin residue on them were found in Ferriers Quebec apartment. It appears that the defendant was following up on her threat to the president, that she would come into the United States with her gun, Lynch said. It is clear that this defendant has the desire to kill the president of the United States and individuals she feels somehow wronged her in Texas when she was arrested [there] in March 2019. Ferrier has dual citizenship in Canada and France. She immigrated to Canada from France in November of 2015. In October of 2018, Ferrier headed south to Texas. The attempt to poison officers in Texas was allegedly in response to her arrest and detainment in Texas on March 12, 2019, for firearms-related charges. She mailed at least five letters laced with ricin to officers connected to her jail time in Texas. After she was released in May she returned to Canada. On Sept. 18, the U.S. Secret Service discovered the suspicious envelope addressed to Donald J. Trump and found inside it some white powder and a letter containing threats. So I made a Special Gift, the letter allegedly said. This gift is in this letter. If it doesnt work, Ill find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun. Police were already investigating the letter when Ferrier showed up at the border on Sept. 20 and told U.S. border guards that she was wanted by the FBI for the ricin letters. DUBLIN, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medtronic plc (the "Company") (NYSE:MDT) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Medtronic Global Holdings S.C.A. ("Medtronic Luxco") has closed a registered public offering (the "Offering") of 1,250,000,000 principal amount of 0.000% Senior Notes due 2023, 1,000,000,000 principal amount of 0.000% Senior Notes due 2025, 1,000,000,000 principal amount of 0.375% Senior Notes due 2028, 1,000,000,000 principal amount of 0.750% Senior Notes due 2032, 1,000,000,000 principal amount of 1.375% Senior Notes due 2040 and 1,000,000,000 principal amount of 1.625% Senior Notes due 2050 (collectively, the "Notes"). All of Medtronic Luxco's obligations under the Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the Company and Medtronic, Inc. ("Medtronic, Inc."), a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Medtronic Luxco, on a senior unsecured basis. The net proceeds from the Offering are approximately 6.2 billion, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses related to the Offering payable by Medtronic Luxco. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to repay 750 million aggregate principal amount of Medtronic Luxco's Floating Rate Senior Notes due 2021 at maturity on March 7, 2021, which bore interest at a rate of 0% per annum at July 31, 2020, and to redeem the outstanding senior notes issued by Medtronic Luxco, Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien International Finance S.A., a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of the Company as described below. Any remaining net proceeds of the Offering will be used for repayment of other indebtedness and general corporate purposes. Today, the Company also announced that it intends to redeem all of the outstanding $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of Medtronic, Inc.'s 3.150% Senior Notes due 2022, all of the outstanding $530.2 million aggregate principal amount of Medtronic, Inc.'s 2.750% Senior Notes due 2023, all of the outstanding $432.5 million aggregate principal amount of Medtronic, Inc.'s 3.625% Senior Notes due 2024, $810 million of the outstanding $2.7 billion aggregate principal amount of Medtronic, Inc.'s 3.500% Senior Notes due 2025, all of the outstanding $650 million aggregate principal amount of CIFSA's 3.200% Senior Notes due 2022, all of the outstanding $309.5 million aggregate principal amount of CIFSA's 2.950% Senior Notes due 2023 and all of the outstanding 1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of Medtronic Luxco's 0.000% Senior Notes due 2021 (collectively, the "Redemption Notes"), in each case at the make-whole redemption prices specified in, and otherwise in accordance with, the indentures governing such Redemption Notes. The redemption date for the Redemption Notes will be October 29, 2020. This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption of any of the Redemption Notes. Information Relating to the Offering Barclays Bank PLC, BofA Securities Europe SA, Mizuho Securities Europe GmbH and Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft were the joint book-running managers for the Offering. The Offering was made by means of a prospectus and prospectus supplement, copies of which may be obtained for free by visiting EDGAR on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies of the prospectus and prospectus supplement for the Offering may be obtained by contacting Barclays Bank PLC, toll-free at +1-888-603-5847, BofA Securities Europe SA, at +33(0) 1 8770 0000, Mizuho Securities Europe GmbH, at +44 20 7248 3920 or [email protected], or Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, at +1-800-503-4611. About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 150 countries. The Company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the risks related to the use of proceeds from the Offering, the redemption of the Redemption Notes and the timing of any of the foregoing, competitive factors, difficulties and delays inherent in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of medical products, government regulation and general economic conditions and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's periodic reports on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission including the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words, such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "looking ahead," "may," "plan," "possible," "potential," "project," "should," "will," and similar words or expressions, the negative or plural of such words or expressions and other comparable terminology. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. None of Medtronic plc, Medtronic Luxco, Medtronic, Inc., or Covidien International Finance, S.A. undertakes to update its forward-looking statements or any of the information contained in this press release, including to reflect future events or circumstances. Contacts: Erika Winkels Ryan Weispfenning Public Relations Investor Relations +1-763-526-8478 +1-763-505-4626 SOURCE Medtronic plc Related Links http://www.medtronic.com 3 1 of 3 Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Google Earth Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Humboldt County sheriffs deputies are investigating the disappearance of a Berkeley woman whose car was found abandoned on a remote logging road. A timber company employee found the vehicle on Snow Camp Road near Korbel on Sept. 24, the sheriffs office stated in a news release. On its windshield was a note with instructions to Tow to Berkeley. There was no sign of the cars owner, 75-year-old Betty Baxter Simmons. Voters should vote for me because our district has endured years of not having a clear legislative agenda, missed Congressional votes, mismanagement of public funds, as well as inefficient and ineffective forms of communication that has negatively impacted constituent services. Our current member of Congress has been in office for 24 years. That is 12 full terms of not meeting and exceeding the needs of constituents in our district. My vision for the district is to first set a clear agenda that is focused on legislation that is driven by the voices of our constituents. As that agenda is set, I will set up an infrastructure within our offices that will provide a first class experience for all. Enhancing how the Congressional office communicates through modernization, increasing our case worker presence, properly managing every penny of our annual budget of $1.4 million dollars, and hosting quarterly meetings with the Congressman to give constituents the opportunity to interact directly with their member of Congress. Congress leader on Tuesday said the Uttar Pradesh government should fulfil its duty by ensuring that justice is done immediately in the Hathras gang-rape case. There is no place in society for heinous crimes like rape and criminals, he said. A 19-year-old Dalit woman was brutally raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on September 14. The woman, who suffered spinal injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue, died at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday. "Words aren't enough to condemn the heinous crime that happened with a daughter in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras. Heinous crimes like rape and criminals have no place in society," Pilot said in a tweet in Hindi. "That daughter died today. Actually, this is hope dying. The UP government should fulfil its duty by ensuring justice is done immediately in this case," he said. The victim had gone to the fields with her mother when she was gang-raped. The accused tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt. In the process, she bit her tongue and suffered cuts on it. She was referred to Safdarjung Hospital from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh in a critical condition. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office on Tuesday charged a Lehigh Valley physician with 30 drug offenses related to allegedly unethical and illegal prescriptions for opioid painkillers. Dr. Ajeeb John Titus was freed on $250,000 unsecured bail following his arraignment on charges recommended by Pennsylvanias 44th Investigating Statewide Grand Jury. Titus, 55, of the 300 block of Clinko Lane in East Stroudsburg, operated The Rock Wellness Center at 2591 Baglyos Circle in Bethlehem Township. Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges against Titus during a news conference at the townships community center off Farmersville Road, where he was joined by investigators from his office and police from both Bethlehem and Palmer townships who worked on the case. The evidence and the testimony presented to the grand jury established that Dr. Titus was not prescribing controlled substances in good faith or in accordance with acceptable treatment principles, Shapiro said. The grand jury probe began in June 2018, and authorities say they violations continued for at least a decade -- from January 2010 to January 2020. Investigators worked with established patients of Titus as confidential informants, as well as went undercover to determine if allegations against him were true, according to Shapiro. It was clear early on that Dr. Titus was engaging in unprofessional, ultimately illegal behavior, such as meeting patients outside of normal hours and not conducting any medical investigations, Shapiro said. Dr. Ajeeb John Titus was arrested Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, on allegations of prescribing medications such as oxycontin and fentanyl outside his legal and ethical practice of medicine.Courtesy Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office Citing data from Pennsylvanias Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, Shapiro said that between June 2017 and August 2019, Titus wrote prescriptions for 422,969 doses of dangerous and highly addictive Schedule II narcotics -- drugs like oxycodone and fentanyl. A typical family practitioner would prescribe about one-tenth as many, Shapiro said. Titus allegedly failed to keep accurate medical records to support the volume of prescriptions he was writing, failed to perform routine exams on patients and, except for one patient, failed to keep controlled substance agreements on file to help patients understand risks of taking the narcotics that he was prescribing. A patient who suffered from opioid-related substance abuse disorder for several years told agents that Titus is a known script writer and ruins lives, according to Shapiros office. Titus' prescriptions raised red flags with at least one area pharmacy, who reported filling an excessive amount of narcotics prescriptions written by Titus for multiple patients, Shapiro said. Another patient in December 2018 described being treated by Titus for addiction to heroin and methamphetamine, and being prescribed the opioid-addiction replacement therapeutic buprenorphine/naloxone, sold under the brand Suboxone, according to Shapiro. During these visits Titus failed to conduct any medical examinations and when the patient said that he needed a prescription, Titus simply asked the patient what he wanted, Shapiro said. At the patients request, Titus wrote out prescriptions for Adderall and Lorazepam and during a subsequent visit he also wrote for morphine tablets. Adderall is a brand of amphetamine stimulant, and Lorazepam is used to treat anxiety. In March 2019, a second patient working with the attorney generals office reported telling Titus they wanted to sell prescription medication to finance a truck, according to Shapiro. The doctor told the patient to then meet him after hours on a different day and gave him fentanyl patches and other medications to sell, ostensibly to pay for that truck, Shapiro said. Titus allegedly admitted to an agent on one occasion he had met a patient at his practices back door and gave the patient narcotics. Dr. Titus was trusted by his community to carefully and thoughtfully write prescriptions in his patients' best interests. Instead, he used his access to prescribe highly addictive medications that are fueling the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania, and for his own gain, Shapiro said, asserting that four out of five people addicted to heroin or fentanyl start out with prescriptions to opioid painkillers. "My office will continue to hold individuals accountable who recklessly put the lives of others at risk, Shapiro said. Titus was arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge Patricia Broscius on 21 counts of unlawful administration of a controlled substance by a practitioner; four counts of dispensing as a practitioner a controlled substance to a drug-dependent person; three counts of drug possession with intent to deliver; and single counts of drug possession and drug possession by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge. Titus faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled Oct. 16 before Broscius to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case toward trial in Northampton County Court. According to his Rock Wellness Center biography, Titus practiced medicine for the past 20 years with interests in primary care medicine, alternative medicine, substance abuse treatment and diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease with medications and alternative means. His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment. My office, I want to be clear, is dedicated to combating the opioid epidemic on all fronts, Shapiro said at Tuesdays news conference, noting a 58% increase in related arrests since the Democrat took office in 2017. He is being challenged in the Nov. 3 election by Allegheny County Republican Heather Heidelbaugh. Shapiro invited the public to report suspicious prescription drug activity at his offices website, attorneygeneral.gov/Rx. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. (Newser) President Trump on Monday announced that the federal government will be distributing 150 million rapid coronavirus tests to states over the next few weeks. The Trump administration is pushing the use of the point-of-care tests, which deliver results within 15 minutes, in K-12 settings so more schools can return to in-person learning, Axios reports. The move will "allow every state on a very regular basis [to] test every teacher who needs it," Trump said, per CNN. Axios notes students, too, could be tested weekly. Trump said 100 million tests "will be given to states and territories to support efforts to reopen their economies and schools immediately and [as] fast as they can," while the rest will go to vulnerable communities including nursing homes. Axios notes these types of tests are not as accurate as PCR swab tests, for which results take days. story continues below "Governors have the flexibility to use these tests as they deem fit, but we strongly encourage governors to utilize them in settings that are uniquely in need of rapid low-tech point of care tests, like opening and keeping open our K-12 schools, supporting critical infrastructure and first responders, responding to outbreaks specifically in certain demographics or locations, and screening or surveillance in congregate settings," said the White House's coronavirus testing czar. The move is a reversal from Trump's earlier railing against testing, a point he addressed Monday. "As we massively increase testing capacity, we will identify more cases in asymptomatic individuals in low-risk populations. This should not cause undue alarm," he said. "The total number of cases is not the full metric of success. Hospitalization capacity and mortality rates are far more instructive metrics. As we do more tests, you're going to have, automatically, more cases." (Read more coronavirus stories.) By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani Army units repelled Armenian attacks in the direction of Fizuli, Xocavand, Jabrayil, Aghdara districts along the line of contact on the night leading to September 29, destroying Armenian military equipment and personnel, Spokesperson for the Defence Ministry Vagif Dargahli told local media. Dargahli said that the Armenian armed forces attacked the Azerbaijani positions from the Ashagi Veyselli village of the occupied Fizuli district but were forced to retreat, leaving the bodies of killed Armenian soldiers on the battlefield. Units of the Azerbaijani Army also launched counter-attack operation in Azerbaijans Khojavend (Martuni) direction of the front line, destroying the 'Uragan' multiple launch rocket system (MRLS) of the Armenian armed forces. The command and observation post of the third battalion of the first regiment of the Armenian army, located in the direction of Hadrut settlement of Khojavand district, was also destroyed by Azerbaijani units. According to the official Facebook post of the Defense Ministry, which referred to Vagif Dargahli, the Azerbaijani army destroyed an Armenian army regiment in Khojavand District. As a result of the fire strikes of the Azerbaijani Army, the 3rd Martuni motorized rifle regiment stationed in the occupied Khojavend region was completely destroyed. The command of the Armenian army, appealing to everyone, asks for help with vehicles for the evacuation of the dead and wounded, said Dargahli. Dargahli said that the Armenian armed forces have repeatedly attempted to gain the lost positions in the Fuzuli-Jabrayil and Aghdara-Tartar directions, however, were immediately repelled by the units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces deployed in these directions. During the night battles, a mixed column of Armenian armoured vehicles and vehicles advancing from Madagiz in the direction of Aghdara, and an artillery battery providing fire support for its movement, were destroyed by the air assets of the Air Force and our troops stationed in this direction, Dargahli said. In the counter-operation in Goyarkh village in Agdhara distrct on the same day, Azerbaijani Army units destroyed a tank of the Armenian armed forces. Armenia also suffered losses among its military personnel. Dargahli said that as a result of punitive measures of the Azerbaijani army, the commander of the 18th motorized rifle artillery division located in the Jabrayil district, Colonel Karen Babayan, has been killed. In the ministrys official Facebook page, Vagif Dargahli also informed about the killing of Spartak Kocharyan, the commander of the 13516th military unit of the 61st separate engineering regiment of the Armenian army, stationed in Armenias Etchmiadzin region. Earlier, Dargahli said that commander of the 9th regiment of the 18th motorized rifle division of the Armenian Armed Forces, Colonel Artem Pogosyan, was severely wounded during the fighting. Around ten Armenian servicemen, who were trying to advance in the Fizuli-Jabrayil direction of the front in the morning, were killed by artillery fire. A tank, a vehicle belonging to Armenian forces have also been destroyed. Dargahli also said that Armenian armys regiment in Madagiz has been demoralized. The military personnel are in a panic. Many of them, including the newly arrived reservists refuse to join the battle, and are leaving the area of combat operation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that 54 assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency across 10 states would go to polls on November 3 and 7, respectively. Two assembly constituencies in Manipur will also go to polls along with the parliamentary constituency of Valmiki Nagar in Bihar on November 3. The results of the elections will be declared by November 12 at the latest, with counting taking place on November 10. The Commissions schedule follows the announcement of the three-phase Bihar assembly elections, which also goes to polls from October 28 to November 7. Also Read: Election Commission decides not to announce by-polls in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu after receiving inputs from chief secretaries and electoral officers Elections to seven assembly constituencies across Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, however, have been deferred as the term of the House in the above-mentioned states is due to lapse in either May or June next year. People familiar with the matter had earlier told Hindustan Times that it did not make sense to hold the elections in Kerala, where there are only two vacancies, as the assembly in the state is due to be re-elected before June 2021. In the midst of this pandemic and considering the devastation caused due to the floods, it would be unnecessarily expensive to hold the by-polls, one person familiar with the matter had said, adding that a representation to defer the polls had been sent to the Commission in August. The Commission will now hold polls for Chhattisgarh (1), Gujarat (8), Haryana (1), Jharkhand (2), Karnataka (2) , Manipur (2), Nagaland (2), Odisha (2), Madhya Pradesh (28) Telangana (1) and Uttar Pradesh (7) assembly constituencies. Also Read: Bihar election gets a new political constituency - over 16 lakh migrant workers The 28 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh were vacated in March after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress to join the BJP along with his loyalists. The shift led to the fall of the Congress government in the state, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s Shivraj Chouhan returning as chief minister. The by-polls are crucial to the BJP governments survival in the state as it enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the 230-member state assembly. The BJP needs to win nine out of the 28 seats. It currently has 107 seats. The Congress, which lost power in March when its 21 lawmakers resigned and paved the way for BJPs return to power, has 88 members in the House with an effective strength of 202. The EC will also hold polls for the Valmiki Nagar parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant upon the death of JD(U)S Lok Sabha minister Baidyanath Prasad Mahato in February. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Chairman of the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has called on the people of the region to conduct their lawful activities without fear or intimidation. He assured the people of the region of their safety and protection by the state security agencies as the rabble-rousers are tracked into their hideouts. Dr Letsa said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that there was sustained security operation across the region and especially key installations to ensure total protection of persons and property. He disclosed that some weapons and ammunitions have been retrieved from the abodes and agents of the alleged secessionists, seeking to declare the sovereign Volta region an independent state. He said two vehicles belonging to the North Tongu Assembly and the Ghana Police, computers and other accoutrements by the secessionists, which were abandoned by the group after the operation of Friday, have been retrieved as well. He said state security have intensified intelligence for the safety of the population and appealed that residents should provide key information that would blow the cover of the activities of these nation-wreckers. Dr Letsa, doubling as the Volta Regional Minister assured that the situation was under control. He said the main entry and exit points have seen increasing security beef-up and urged the population to cooperate with the security to fish out the miscreants promising that "only those involved in the action will be arrested." He said the Volta Regional Coordinating Council believed the action by the group was likely to dent the investor confidence of the region and thwart its development efforts saying, "what everybody should be fighting for is development, not seceding and fomenting trouble to destabilise the government." Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Are you a student in lockdown? Send your photos to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk Beleaguered Gavin Williamson broke cover today to confirm that some university students will have to cut short their term and self-isolate for a fortnight in order to be allowed home for Christmas. The Education Secretary said students in 'specific circumstances' would have to quarantine before the festive period amid growing anger at the handling of campus lockdowns. He addressed the Commons after being dubbed the 'Invisible Man' by Labour after being notable by his absence as students were locked into halls of residence. Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Mr Williamson told MPs today was is 'essential' that measures were put in place to ensure that students can return home for Christmas 'while minimising the risk of transmission'. 'Where there are specific circumstances that warrant it, there may be a requirement for some students to self-isolate at the end of term and we will be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in-person learning if that is deemed to be necessary,' he said. 'My department will publish this guidance shortly so that every student will be able to spend Christmas with their family.' Mr Williamson's disappearance during the crisis so far is likely to raise further questions over his future, after he faces the wrath of parents, teachers and MPs over the return of pupils to schools and the A-Level and GCSE results fiasco last month. The Education Secretary said students in 'specific circumstances' would have to quarantine before the festive period amid growing anger at the handling of campus lockdowns University students (pictured left and right: University students who are self-isolating in Manchester) face two weeks in isolation at the end of term so they can return home for Christmas Thousands of students across Britain are now self-isolating for a fortnight after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities. Pictured: A sign made from sticky notes says 'Help Us' at a halls of residence in Manchester Self-isolating students given free booze as three more universities impose Covid curbs Self-isolating students were treated to 1,000 free beers in Manchester as three more universities impose coronavirus curbs. Some students at the accommodation at Manchester Metropolitan University have been forced into isolation and are only able to receive food and drink through delivery services. Other grocery deliveries were allowed into the Needham Court halls of residence alongside free beer from Magic Rock Brewing. It comes as three other universities in the UK have imposed curbs on freedoms and thousands of students across the country remain in self-isolation after spikes in Covid-19 cases were reported. The University of Exeter yesterday ordered students to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household following reports that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. The University of Aberystwyth put a stop to all in-person teaching after multiple students tested positive amid 'uncertainty' about how far the recent spike has spread. A 'small number' of positive tests were reported in Queen's University Belfast, forcing all students living in university accommodation into self isolation. Some 40 students and staff at the University of Sunderland have tested positive for coronavirus. It comes after Newcastle University and Northumbria University confirmed 62 students had tested positive on September 25, with all students self-isolating. Advertisement He said he does not believe students should face stricter measures than others in society. He told the Commons: 'Students as well as the wider community accept when we are living in a global pandemic we have to operate in a society with restrictions. 'But I do not believe that we should look to inflict stricter measures on students or expect higher standards of behaviour from them than we would from any other sector of society - there must be a parity.' And he added: 'We will never be in a position where we can eliminate all risk. 'But we will not condemn a generation of young people by asking them to put their lives on hold for months or years ahead. 'We believe that universities are very well prepared to handle any outbreaks as they arise.' It comes as more universities in the UK imposed curbs on freedoms. The University of Exeter yesterday ordered students to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household following reports that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. The University of Aberystwyth put a stop to all in-person teaching after multiple students tested positive amid 'uncertainty' about how far the recent spike has spread. A 'small number' of positive tests were reported in Queen's University Belfast, forcing all students living in university accommodation into self isolation. Some 40 students and staff at the University of Sunderland have tested positive for coronavirus. It comes after Newcastle University and Northumbria University confirmed 62 students had tested positive on September 25, with all students self-isolating. Labour said its research showed Mr Williamson has not made any public appearances in recent days and nor has he tweeted since September 10 - more than two weeks ago. On Monday, the South Staffordshire MP took to Instagram to post about a litter pick in his constituency that he had taken part in, rather than the situation at the UK's universities. Responding in the Commons, shadow education secretary Kate Green said the situation as students return to university was 'desperately worrying'. Ms Green told MPs: 'Across the country, many find themselves isolated in cramped accommodation, parents worried about their well-being and safety, and university staff who have worked so hard over the summer to prepare are anxious and angry that the Government didn't keep its part of the bargain. 'They've all been let down by the Government just as it let down many of these same students with its handling of exam results last month. Education watchdog backs tuition fee refunds for students in lockdown if the quality of their course drops Students at universities hit by coronavirus should seek tuition fee refunds if the quality of their course slips, the higher education watchdog said last night. At least 40 universities have recorded virus cases around one in four leaving thousands of students locked down in halls. They have complained of 'disgusting' conditions as they are essentially sealed off from the outside world. The situation has caused growing anger over the prospect of no face-to-face learning despite fees of up to 9,250 per year. The Office for Students (OfS) regulator has now urged students who feel the quality of their education has been affected to complain, warning universities not to take a 'blanket policy' against refunds. Chief executive Nicola Dandridge said: 'Students have a right to good quality higher education whether that is taught online, in-person or a mixture of the two. 'Where they feel this is not happening they can raise concerns with their university, escalating complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator where a resolution cannot be found. 'They can also inform the OfS, and we can and will investigate if we believe that universities have not taken all reasonable steps to protect standards or where quality is slipping for groups of students.' She added: 'In considering whether to make partial tuition fee refunds, we would expect a university to consider the circumstances for each student rather than to adopt a blanket policy that refunds are not available.' Advertisement 'What students, staff and their families need now is reassurance.' Education chiefs are considering asking students in high infection areas to isolate for two weeks at the end of this term, even if they are not showing Covid-19 symptoms, according to the Times. Ministers hope this will help prevent the spread of the virus from university areas, some of which are currently under lockdown, to other parts of the country. Junior skills minister Gillian Keegan said today she 'expects' that students will be able to return home for Christmas, adding: 'Of course that is something that absolutely we'll be working towards.' Mrs Williamson is expected to the MPs today that students should not face further restrictions. He is also expected to reveal plans to reduce the risk of transmission when the current term ends in December - one of which is the rumoured two-week self isolation proposal. Up to 4,000 students are currently self-isolating for two weeks following outbreaks at universities across the country. University of Exeter students living in the city have been told to self-isolate for the next two weeks - as the government insisted locked down freshers would be able to visit their families over Christmas. The Government yesterday said all students in isolation at university should be allowed home for the festive period amid a growing row over coronavirus lockdowns on campuses. The University of Exeter became the latest to lockdown its students yesterday, ordering them to stay indoors and only mix with people within their household. It is believed that more than half of the cases confirmed in Exeter over the last week can be traced back to the university. Elsewhere, 1,700 students are under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls. All lectures, seminars and classes for first-year students at the university will now be online for the next 14 days. Yesterday, MMU's vice-chancellor said its isolating students will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent and a care package including 'basic food'. The National Union of Students has received reports of security guards outside blocks, universities telling students they will deliver food and then it not arriving and others left 'wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from'. And lawyers have encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free, with Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeting: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' But amid fears over what will happen by December, a Downing Street spokesman said today: 'We would expect all students to be able to go home at Christmas.' Meanwhile the University of Aberdeen has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions and warned students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. (Left to right) Mia Winrow, 19, Natasha Kutscheruk, 18 and Niamh Morrow, 19, of Manchester Metropolitan's Birtley Hall, pictured today. The students have been locked down since Friday Five of the 1,700 students under lockdown at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campuses of Birley and Cambridge Halls speak to Sky News yesterday following the outbreak First-year students pose from behind fencing at a campus of MMU on Saturday evening Lawyers offer free help to freshers fighting campus lockdowns One legal firm has encouraged students in isolation to seek their help for free amid concerns over those stuck at two Manchester Metropolitan University campuses. Levins Solicitors of Liverpool tweeted: 'To the MMU students at Birley campus and Cambridge halls: get in touch and we will do our best to help, pro bono.' Lectures and classes for first-years at MMU will all be given online for the next 14 days, with the situation to be reviewed at regular intervals. Supt Chris Hill, of Greater Manchester Police, said that 'to our knowledge' officers had not been deployed to enforce the rules on students. He said the campus self-isolation was 'not a policing issue'. Manchester's Director of Public Health David Regan also confirmed that the lockdown was currently optional. Advertisement NUS president Larissa Kennedy told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'I'm hearing from some students across the country where there are security guards outside of these blocks where students are being kept, stopping people from leaving, coming and going, where students are being discouraged from getting deliveries and told by the university that they'll deliver food and that delivery has not arrived and so they've gone for the day without food. 'I've heard from other students who, they've turned up with an amount of toilet roll, told with no notice that they're going to be locked down and wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from. 'It just feels like these are disgusting conditions for students to have been trapped in.' The number of students trying to get a shopping delivery means some say they are starting to run out of food, with parents turning up to halls with bags of shopping. Recruitment worker Tina McKenzie, whose daughter is currently isolating in Edinburgh tweeted: 'My daughter is in quarantine in her halls in Edinburgh. 'They said they would deliver food - she advised she is vegan. The University of Edinburgh sent a Mars bar and croissant.' MMU student Phoebe told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I've had a test back and I'm actually positive, which is quite scary. I wouldn't be surprised if I've got corona from this place. Before the isolation would be the period when I would have got it. 'There's just been non-stop parties, no social distancing, no wearing masks in the corridors, which would all contribute to the spread.' Another MMU student, Tasiana, 18, told the New Statesman: 'No one was in the flat when I arrived. I know a girl that lives in another block that didn't meet her flatmates for days after moving in. 'The majority of everyone's time is spent in their rooms, attending online seminars. It's hard to speak to my flatmates because a lot of them have eight-hour days of classes on Zoom, so people hardly leave their rooms. One of my flatmates still hasn't come out of her room yet. We aren't sure if maybe she is a bit nervous about social distancing.' As thousands prepared to start the new term, at the University of Aberdeen, sanctions for those breaking the rules include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion, with private landlords urged to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. Lawyers have encouraged students in isolation at university to seek their help pro-bono A student gives a thumbs up at the window of a flat at Birley student halls in Manchester today But third-year student Jack Boag, 20, said students have been 'sold a lie' and 'treated like the problem' - despite being encouraged to come back to university. Compensation plans for Manchester Metropolitan students who are self-isolating Students stuck in self-isolation at Manchester Metropolitan University will be given financial compensation of more than a week's rent, its vice-chancellor has said. Professor Malcolm Press said 'a significant amount of money' would be given, on top of a care package that includes 'basic food', to ensure students felt 'protected and cared for'. Speaking to Sky News he said: 'It will be a package that I think students will appreciate, that allows them to rest assured, while they're in this situation, they don't have any particular financial worries as a consequence.' Prof Press said details were being discussed with students, but added that 'a financial package means hard cash', with it representing 'more than an actual week's rent'. 'Students will be receiving financial compensation to ensure that they feel protected and cared for during this period of self isolation,' he said. His comments came after Glasgow University said it will refund all students in halls of residence one month's rent, along with a 50 payment for food, amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases there. Over the weekend fears were raised among a number of students at Manchester Metropolitan University that they were being falsely imprisoned in their accommodation, with human rights lawyers questioning the legality of security staff enforcing a 14-day isolation period. Students described being scared and confused as their accommodation was locked down on Friday, after 127 people tested positive for coronavirus. They were later told the decision, made in conjunction with Public Health England and Manchester City Council, was 'deemed necessary' to prevent the spread of the virus to other students, staff or the community. But Prof Press told Sky News today: 'We were asked to ensure (students) would self-isolate because there had been an outbreak of Covid into halls of residence. 'We're advising students on the rules, what they should do, we're supporting them, but the idea that they're not able to leave is just not true I'm afraid. 'Students are free to go should they wish to and a small number of students have gone home in a Covid-secure way.' Prof Press also said there had been some 'miscommunication' within the university over students being asked to remove posters. 'We've retracted that information, students are very free to put posters up and we obviously value freedom of speech, and it's just regretful that there was a message sent out in error,' he said. Advertisement Mr Boag said: 'In terms of the lockdown, I live in a private flat quite far away from the Covid hotspots, so it comes across as closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted. 'We were told it would be a blended learning experience, and obviously that hasn't happened. Coming up to Aberdeen from my home in Fife has been completely pointless. 'We've been consistently told to come back to campus, we've been consistently told that it would be a blended learning experience, and now that we're here it feels as if we've been sold a lie and treated as if we are the problem. 'For first years who have just moved into halls with people that they've never met, that's hard. My main concern is that landlords could quite easily take advantage of this. 'The landlord/tenant dynamic is not an equal one, so it could become a tool for blackmail, essentially. I'm a private renter so they've been talking to my landlord, and while I can understand the university isn't taking any chances, it's worrying. 'It seems when other universities are easing back, Aberdeen is doubling down and emphasising the punishments and what will happen if you breach regulations.' Mr Boag, from Fife, said while he doesn't have plans to move back home, he understands why many other students might feel differently. He said: 'I would have to go back to my grandparents who are vulnerable or my dad who is a key worker, so for me it's not really an option, although I can see why it would be attractive for others.' Ms McKenzie said she 'followed up multiple times and sent a few dead salads', adding: 'I've sent her parcels and she has ordered takeaway. Lucky she has the money unlike less fortunate others.' Labour even called for a delay to the start of the English term until the chaotic testing system can meet soaring demand. Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I'm extremely worried about these young people. 'Some of them will be vulnerable to mental ill health, and for some of them it's the very first time away from home. 'So I think that the very first thing that needs to happen is that universities need to be given the support to identify which students may be particularly vulnerable. 'The second thing is there needs to be an assessment of which young people want to stay at university and which ones may not want to stay there.' She added: 'If young people want to be returning at some point between now and Christmas, there needs to be a plan that the Government works up with universities so that we have a managed Covid-secure return of those young people to home. 'Because what we can't have is for those young people to be moving in the same numbers at the same time that they were at the start of term, but doing that at Christmas time.' Health minister Helen Whately told Radio 4 that the Government could not rule out the prospect that university students may be unable to return home at Christmas. She said: 'We want them to be home for Christmas. Everybody wants to come home and spend Christmas with family. We want that very much to be the case. A note left in the window of a flat at Birley student halls of residence in Manchester today 'Christmas is some time off yet and it is down to all of us to get this under control so we can spend Christmas with our families.' Pressure mounts for universities to refund tuition fees Pressure is mounting on universities to refund tuition fees as thousands of students face lockdowns, online-only courses and the prospect of Christmas confined to their halls. Tory MPs said it was 'madness' that the country's universities were charging the same fees for 'second-rate' learning. As students face the prospect of being confined to their halls of residence over Christmas because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses, 3,000 students have already been locked down in their rooms after cases at 36 universities, including Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan and Edinburgh Napier. Last night Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the education select committee, said students must be compensated for the lack of face-to-face learning. The Department for Education said students who wanted refunds should appeal to their universities. Mr Halfon told the Daily Mail: 'If we have 3,000 students in lockdown now, it could be 6,000 next week, so ministers need to come up with a plan on testing and tracing. And we need to ensure students are back by Christmas, because a lockdown over Christmas would cause anguish for them and their families. 'The Government needs to seriously consider a discount, because when you pay for a product you should expect to get that product, and if not, you should get some money returned.' Tory MP George Freeman said yesterday it was 'madness' that students were locked in halls of residences by universities 'still happily taking their money'. He said on Twitter: 'How do I think universities make up the losses from offering student discounts? Well, not from fleecing students! Maybe from vice-chancellors' 300,000 salaries?' Advertisement In Manchester, the 1,700 students have been told they cannot leave the campus to visit the local testing centre, leading to fears the outbreak will spread. Labour education spokesman Kate Green said today that the Government should 'step up' testing capacity to help ensure university students can return home for Christmas, She told Sky News: 'Students will desperately want to be able to go home to be with friends and family at Christmas. And, of course, it's right that we all have a part to play in keeping distance and keeping safe. 'But the real key to this is getting the mass testing rolled out so that students can be tested, we can know if somebody is testing positive and make sure that they are isolated and don't travel. 'But it would mean the other students would be able to get back home for Christmas and that's why the Government needs to step up too and make sure that that testing capacity is available.' She also said the Government should support universities' efforts to test for coronavirus, adding: 'One thing that I think particularly in relation to students: much more effort could be made to support those universities that are already developing their own testing capacity, like Leicester, for example, or Cambridge. 'And the Government could be really working much more closely alongside them to get that additional capacity that would relieve pressure elsewhere in the NHS and other pillars of testing. 'And it would mean that students could be tested on campus, so could university staff.' Ms Green argued this would help make universities 'much safer places'. Last night Ms Green called on ministers to stop students from returning to university for the start of the academic year affecting 2.3 million in the UK. She said they should either delay the start of term or 'pause' the return of students to university campuses where courses had not started. Backing Miss Green, NUS president Larissa Kennedy told The Guardian the union was demanding 'a functional test-and-trace system in place on campuses and adequate funding to tackle the student mental health crisis'. She added in a tweet: 'Government and universities are gambling with students' lives.' Ms Kennedy added on Good Morning Britain today: 'First and foremost, we are of course encouraging people to do the right thing for public health and to follow that guidance. Students post a message in their window at MMU yesterday complaining about the situation A sign on a closed gate at the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning Bottles of alcohol lined up in a window of the Birley student halls in Manchester this morning 'But we are questioning whether this is legal, in terms of making sure that students get that access to the basic amenities that they need - to food, to toiletries and to all the things they need just to survive lockdown - and in cases where that hasn't been the case, whether it has been legal to keep them cooped up in that way without that access to the things that they need.' Morrisons cashes in on students trapped in campus lockdowns Morrisons has today revealed an SOS 'Serve our Students' food delivery service aimed at those in lockdown on campuses. The supermarket said students will be able to choose from the food boxes of 35 meat essentials; 35 vegetarian essentials; 30 easy meals for the week; and 25 big night in. An example of the food packs Morrisons will be delivering to isolating students Its delivery service will launch at the lockdown-hit Birley and Cambridge Halls at Manchester Metropolitan and will then expand to other universities. Students can email students-ug@morrisonsplc.co.uk to place their order today and it will be delivered to them tomorrow between 5pm and 7pm. Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: 'Students have asked for our help and that's why we are making sure they can safely access affordable food at this very difficult time. We're playing our full part in feeding the nation so that no one is left behind.' The company hopes students will soon be able to place their order by 2pm for delivery that evening. If successful, the service will be rolled out to other universities across the country. Advertisement But outgoing University of Buckingham vice-chancellor Sir Anthony Seldon said: 'We must have a sense of perspective. Universities have gone to huge lengths to plan for this and many are coping.' And the Department for Education rejected Labour's call, insisting it was 'working closely with universities to support them to keep staff and students as safe as possible'. Niamh Thripleton, a new zoology student at Reading, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'We're obviously not allowed to go out. Freshers is all online. 'We're, we think, only meant to socialise with our flat, but they haven't really been enforced or been made clear. 'It's just been a lot quieter, it's been harder making friends. Turning up and realising everything is going to be online is a bit of an anti-climax. 'You'd think it (a zoology degree) would be quite a lot of lab work, and it's quite worrying how I'm going to do that online. 'I just think the way Manchester Met and other places have been locked down, being on your room on your own for two weeks with now freedom there, I don't I'd be able to cope with that, so it's kind of worrying.' Her stepfather Chris Taplin told the programme: 'I do feel she's certainly been robbed of the experienced I had at university. 'It is also really scary when you read things about the Christmas threat, not coming home, when it is the first time they've moved out and we basically feel we'd be some kind of law breaker if we went there and busted her out. But it's been the first thing for a sort of mental trauma, really. 'Certainly my wife has been saying, 'don't worry we'll get you out' (if she's locked down in halls at Christmas), but I think that's obviously not a very sensible position to go and do that. 'But I think we're both making sure we get food to her and keep talking to her as much as possible.' Meanwhile the Prime Minister has been urged to ensure online tuition at universities 'becomes the norm', amid concern over the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on students. In a letter to Boris Johnson, the University and College Union (UCU), accused some institutions of adopting a 'stubborn position' over requiring in-person teaching because they depended on rent from student accommodation. An 'HMP' sign has been put up in one of the windows of the Birley student halls this morning A sign reading 'help' is left in a window of one of the flats in Manchester this morning Signs in windows of the Birley student halls of residence in Manchester this morning In her letter to Mr Johnson, Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said the union which represents academics and university staff was 'not prepared to take chances with the health of students, our members and the communities they serve'. University asks private landlords to report any students caught breaching Covid rules A top university has asked private landlords to report students caught breaching coronavirus restrictions. The University of Aberdeen has warned students of the consequences facing them if they breach national Covid-19 related guidance. In a statement emailed last night, university bosses said students caught breaking the rules would face 'robust' disciplinary action. Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as possible suspension or expulsion. And private landlords around the city have been asked to report 'any incidents of a breach' to the university. The statement read: 'Given the events of the last few days I want to emphasise that any breaches will not be tolerated, and those found to be breaking the rules will face robust action. 'Sanctions include a fine of up to 250 as well as the potential for further action - including suspension and/or expulsion - under our Code of Conduct on Student Discipline (non academic). 'Regardless of whether you live in University provided accommodation, a private flat or in student accommodation from a private provider, we will still look to take the same appropriate disciplinary measures against any student that fails to follow the requirements that are currently in place to protect everyone in Scotland. 'We are in contact with landlords and have asked that any incidents of a breach of our Covid Campus Pledge and Guidelines and the national guidelines are reported to the University, to enable the matter to be investigated in the usual way.' Advertisement 'It is clear that remote learning should be the default for campus life while we are in this precarious position with the virus,' she said. 'However, what we are seeing on the ground is university employers hiding behind the Government's current sectoral guidance, with all the ambiguities associated with the term 'blended learning'. She added: 'Whilst other sectors are being encouraged by the Government to work from home to help control the spread of the virus, universities are requiring staff to travel across their local regions to work on-site and in-person with any number of students. 'Considering the known risks associated with in-person teaching and students living in close quarters, why did the Government not insist on minimising in-person teaching and students travelling to universities? 'We have concerns that universities are taking this stubborn position because they depend on rents from student accommodation - and because your own Government refuses to step in and underwrite universities' lost income for the duration of the pandemic to ensure they are not negatively impacted and jobs are not lost.' The Government is under pressure to guarantee young people are not confined to their halls of residence over the Christmas period because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses. Ms Grady said students should be allowed to leave their accommodation and return home 'without fear of financial penalty'. 'We cannot have students forced to quarantine in halls of residence with no familiar support network, or staff forced to carry out work on site that could be conducted more safely from home,' she said. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator in England, said it would be 'looking very closely' at the quality of education being provided by institutions. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said institutions must be clear with students on what teaching conditions they can expect and if this changed. 'What we can't have is a situation where students don't know what's going on, that they're locked in their halls of accommodation, and can't get hold of food,' she said. She said students had 'legal rights as consumers' and could raise complaints with their university and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Students at Manchester Metropolitan have been left unimpressed by the cost of studies Students look down from outside their window at MMU while in lockdown yesterday Asked if students should receive a refund of tuition fees she said it was 'a question for government'. The 1,700 MMU students in lockdown yesterday complained of feeling abandoned with some already plotting their escape. After 127 positive tests for Covid-19 on Friday, the shocked students many of them freshers living away from home for the first time were ordered to self-isolate in their halls of residence for a fortnight. Desperate undergraduates said supplies of food and toiletries were low and complained of students holding all-night parties likened to 'prison riots'. A student waves through the window of accommodation at MMU behind a sign yesterday Some tried to ease the boredom by putting up signs in their windows with slogans including 'send drink' and 'f*** Boris'. 'Don't fine students for partying refund their fees': Oxford professor urges UK to follow Sweden and PAY infected freshers to trace their contacts A Oxford professor has urged universities in the UK to follow Sweden and pay infected freshers to trace their contacts as at least 32 report Covid cases. Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University told the Times newspaper the Government had helped every sector but had 'clamped down' on students. The professor said that the UK should pay students to trace their contacts if they become infected and said students should be trusted to behave like responsible adults instead of being locked on campus over Christmas. He added: 'We should waive student fees. We have asked people to go back to university and at the first sign cases are going up, we are clamping down on people.' Advertisement As some students in lockdown likened the university to a prison by labelling it 'HMP MMU', with security guards blocking them from leaving, legal experts claimed their incarceration could amount to false imprisonment. Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at Doughty Street chambers in London, wrote on Twitter: 'False imprisonment is detention without lawful authority.' Hours later, university vice-chancellor Professor Malcolm Press conceded it could only 'expect' students to follow the self-isolation rules designed to avoid spreading the infection to their home towns. While many students pledged to stick it out, others were preparing to flee the city. Tilly Thompson, 19, said she felt like a 'caged animal' and was waiting for her mother to take her home to Wolverhampton. Students claimed some of those under restrictions had been ignoring the rules and throwing parties. One boasted the quarantine would be 'a two-week p***-up', saying he had '200 cans of lager' and 'it's going to get messy'. A student called Tom told BBC Radio 5 Live that people had been running past their flats shouting: 'Open your doors, we've got coronavirus, we want to give it to you.' He added: 'It was insane... parties going on everywhere, loud music... It was like a prison riot.' Martyn Moss, of the University and College Union, said he had warned MMU chiefs that their plans for the 'mass return of students would inevitably see institutions become Covid incubators'. He added: 'Universities should have spent the summer following the science and preparing properly for this inevitable crisis.' * Are you a student in lockdown? Send your photos to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk * With her back against the foyer floor, Jackie lies still and watches dust motes rise in slow motion around and above her. Shed drifted to sleep after falling, but has no idea for how long. By the angle of light beaming from the kitchen window, she figures it must be early afternoon. Shed been awake for only a few minutes before Amys knocking ended the silence. At first she thought Dana had come back, and reflexively, before she could manage her reaction, felt a mix of alarm and relief. She pictured her old friend standing on the other side of the door, restless in fitted suede pants, polished leather boots; her ringless fingers raking her short hair. But the more vividly she imagined the woman who had marched away from the house earlier and fled in her car, the less likely it seemed shed changed course and returned. And then she heard Amys voice. Her rendition of Moman inextricable knot of scold and worry. When Rick was a little boy he would beg his mother to tell his sister to leave him alone. From the time he could talk he complained and cried and sometimes threw violent fits when, as he put it, Amy bossed on him. Shes bossing on me, Mommy! She wont stop bossing on me! His face would often be splattered with tears as he pleaded to be understood. She wont stop telling me what to do, hed say with as much desperation as he could muster. [ Return to the review of The End of the Day. ] Jackie finally understands what her son endured. She, too, has come to dread her daughters voice which arrives in doubting tones over the phone, asking if Jackie has taken her pills, checked the thermostat, gone to the doctors appointments shed scheduled for her, called the insurance company to authorize her to follow up on her claims. These calls are almost as awful as her unannounced visits which began last summer and coincided with her complaining that the kid Jackie had hired to take care of the lawn was doing a shoddy job and taking advantage. From there her inventory of grievances could go anywherethe shampoo Jackie used, the toxic fabric softener she bought, the window she left open, the gutters shes reminded her countless times to get cleaned, the type of milk in the refrigerator. I thought we talked about this, her most frequent refrain as she roots through the dresser drawers, closets, and medicine cabinets, throwing things out without asking. Its the same with the cupboards and freezer shelves she ransacks, weeding out unnecessary or unauthorized items that dont pass muster. The last time Amy was in the house she threw out a frozen pizza Jackie had bought at the grocery store. Its not that it looked especially good, but it seemed easy to make and something she could eat half of for dinner and the other half the next day for lunch. I cant believe youd buy this! Do you know what they put in these things? The salt alone will spike your blood pressure! I thought we talked about this. It is recognition of all the hard work our team puts forward throughout the year to provide top-level customer service. - Everett Hill, President of Palm Air AC Earlier this year, Carrier Global Corporation honored the top 1% of Carrier Factory Authorized dealers with the Carrier Presidents Award. The Carrier President's Award recognizes Carrier dealers who exemplify leadership and management, customer satisfaction, expertise, business growth, and operational excellence. This annual award is Carriers highest dealer honor and is designed to encourage self-analysis and reward individuals who have exceeded high expectations, not only as a Carrier dealer but also as one of their Carrier Factory Authorized Dealers, who are held to an even more exacting set of standards. Among the 2020 Presidents Award winners were Palm Air AC, a reputable company that is no stranger to this title. They have been winners of this prestigious award multiple times over the years. The entire team at Palm Air is very proud to continuously provide superior service to its customers, community, and the Carrier brand. It serves as a reminder to keep on aiming for business improvement and to continue being role models for other HVAC professionals. President of Palm Air AC, David Jenkins expressed his gratitude for having Carrier recognize the hard work of the team and standing by them in acknowledging that theyre the best at what they do. Palm Air is always striving for business growth and looking for team members who will help them maintain their high level of customer satisfaction and expertise. Their success depends on more than just the quality of their products, which is why they are dedicated to investing in their people. They offer an apprenticeship program that is ideal for men and women who are fresh out of tech school with little to no field experience. They create a safe and educational environment for team members to learn the ins and outs of the industry as well as the processes and practices that make Palm Air AC stand out. Palm Air is very proud to be able to offer employment opportunities to skilled and qualified individuals who might be looking for a job during these times. Click here to explore a career at Palm Air. The companys phenomenal leadership and dynamic employees hope to continue the journey they are on, growing, and learning to better serve their customers, communities, and families. People who fail to regard the truth seriously in small matters, cannot be trusted in matters that are great. Excerpt from Albert Einsteins last statement, April 1955 A decade before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was born, Albert Einstein already had Springfields number. If lawmakers fail to be honest with the details, then how can they be trusted with the big picture? Sept. 24 was the start of when voters need to remember that: Early voting begins, and through Nov. 3 voters for the first time in 40 years get a say on whether state lawmakers should be told no to greater taxing powers. When voters see the ballot question, they will see it coupled to what some will construe as an inaccuracy, others as a lie. In any case, the drafters may have violated the Illinois Constitutions free and equal elections clause because they biased the ballot description of the amendment, which is meant to be accurate and neutral. The description reads: The proposed amendment grants the State authority to impose higher income tax rates on higher income levels Thats wrong. There is nothing in the amendment that limits state lawmakers to soaking the rich. What the amendment does is eliminate the protection built in to the 1970 Illinois Constitution that guarantees everyone will be taxed at the same rate. Unsurprisingly, this misleading ballot language was passed on a party line vote in the Illinois Senate. The amendment would let state lawmakers with a simple majority vote target any group of taxpayers they wish either up or down the income ladder. Any time they need more money, they can decide to roll another income group into a higher tax bracket. They already passed a bill setting initial progressive tax rates: Those earning over $250,000 would see a tax hike Jan. 1; those at the low end would get a break that barely buys a fast food meal, while still paying $1,800 in state and local taxes. Nothing stops lawmakers from changing the rates the day after the Nov. 3 election. Public pension costs going up? Lower the bracket to $200,000, then $180,000, then eventually to the group with the greatest revenue potential: the middle class, as happened in the last state to impose a progressive tax. Or, go after retirees by charging their income at a lower rate. Illinois currently spares retirees from state income taxes. But of all 32 states with progressive tax systems, all 32 tax retirement income in some form. Any time state lawmakers want to spend money, they can split off a group large enough to create the revenue they want but small enough that few of those lawmakers will pay the political price for raising taxes. That political cost for raising taxes is exactly why the constitutions authors created a flat tax protection. When state lawmakers last raised the state income tax rate to 4.95% in 2017, there was a wave of turnover in Springfield. About 30% of the lawmakers from the 100th Illinois General Assembly were gone after the hike passed as a result of quitting or being forcibly retired by voters. Remove that protection, and voters are left trusting the same group of politicians who gave Illinois the nations second-worst finances, 20 years of deficit budgets, $241 billion in pension debt and five key supporters of this amendment convicted, indicted or under investigation for corruption. Voters are also left with a $3.7 billion tax hike without the promised property tax relief, pushed by a governor who tried to dodge $331,000 of his own property taxes, and who doesnt trust voters with a clean, unbiased description on the ballot. Pritzker wants unfettered taxing authority so badly that hes spent $56.5 million of his own money trying to convince voters his is the fair tax. Even his branding of the scheme is a misnomer: Theres nothing fairer than Illinois current system that treats everyone the same by taxing them at the same, flat rate. In small matters, in matters that are great: Truth matters. Pritzker and Co. are not serious about truth in taxation, and voters should say no to trusting them and their progressive tax. Brad Weisenstein is editor at the Illinois Policy Institute. Before that he spent more than 30 years as an editor at his hometown newspaper. Its worth understanding where shes coming from. Start with the economy. I havent seen double digit [gains] in my 401(k) since the internet boom of the late 90s, she says. It went up 19.6 percent in the year before the pandemic. Look at the stock market, she says. (Up about 35 percent from four years ago.) Look at gas prices. (About the same as what they were when Trump took office, but well below the $3.31 per gallon at the midpoint of the Obama administration.) This is everyday stuff that affects me, she says. I dont care about Afghanistan and the Middle East. I care about having a job. I care about having health care through my company. I was out of a job a few years ago. Obamacare priced me out [of private insurance]. It was like, $560 a month. Then Obamas website blew up. He cant get the website right? Then theres the pandemic. Is Trump trying to play it down? she asks. Yeah. But when this first started, the news media was saying that millions of people were going to die. And look at it: 200,000, compared to the population. What worries her more are the effects of the response to the pandemic in a liberal city like New York. Crime is in my neighborhood now. Theres a homeless encampment near me thats growing and growing. They have a living room and a shower curtain and thats where they go to the bathroom. I have a guy who walks in front of the store every day. In a diaper! And theres lawlessness coming into the store every day, with an attitude of Whos gonna stop me? Regarding Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, she adds, I cant put into words how inept this guy is. I ask Chris whether Trumps behavior has ever come close to being a deal breaker for her. She asks me to name some of the lowlights. CLEVELAND Watch above as Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton crush home runs during batting practice before Game 1 of the American League Wild Card vs. the Indians at Progressive Field on Tuesday. Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers From the Yankees: OCTOBER TESTED: Eight of the 28 players on the Yankees' Wild Card Series roster have yet to appear in a postseason game: INF Mike Ford, OF Clint Frazier, RHP Deivi Garcia, C Kyle Higashioka, LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Nick Nelson, OF Mike Tauchman and INF/OF Tyler WadeCole and Kratz are looking to make their Yankees postseason debuts. 16 of the 28 appeared for the Yankees during the 2019 postseason (Britton, Chapman, Cessa, Green, Happ, Loaisiga, Ottavino, Tanaka; Sanchez; LeMahieu, Torres, Urshela; Gardner, Hicks, Judge, Stanton). AGE IS JUST A NUMBER: The Yankees Wild Card roster spans players from age 21 (Deivi Garcia, D.O.B. 5/19/99) to age 40 (Erik Kratz, D.O.B. 6/15/80)overall, have five players age-25-or-younger: Garcia, Loaisiga (25), Nelson (24), Torres (23) and Wade (25) and three age-35-or-older: Kratz, Gardner (37) and Happ (37). AROUND THE WORLD: The Yankees' Wild Card Series roster features players born in eight different countries: United States (20), Dominican Republic (2), Colombia, Cuba, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. COLE TRAIN: RHP Gerrit Cole will start for the Yankees in Game 1has allowed 1R-or-fewer in six of his 10 career postseason starts, tossing at least 7.0 innings in five of thosehis 10.69 K/9.0IP ratio (78K, 65.2IP) is sixth-highest in postseason history (min. 50.0IP), while his .175 (41-for-234) opponents' BA is fifth (min. 6GS). Went 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA (27.0IP, 14H, 7R/3ER, 5BB, 34K, 2HR) in four starts in Septemberwas the Majors' second-lowest ERA during the month (Oaklands Chris Bassitt, 0.34)min. 25.0IP. His seven wins were tied for the Majors' third-most, while his 94K ranked sixthhis 11.59 K/9.0IP ratio (73.0IP) was eighth. LETS ROCK: The Yankees are 10-10 in 20 postseason games vs. Clevelandmarks the fifth postseason series between the teams, with the Yankees winning the 1998 ALCS (4-2) and 2017 ALDS (3-2), but losing the 1997 ALDS (3-2) and 2007 ALDS (3-1). Get Yankees text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. How's this for hypocrisy? Democrats galore are using the story of President Trump's illegally leaked tax records as a vehicle for whipping up hate over what he paid in taxes. Trump, they claimed, unfairly paid too little while the rest of poor us paid too much. Here they are, in full coordinated narrative: Donald Trump paying so little in taxes is a slap in the face to all hard working Americans who actually PAY their fair share. Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) September 28, 2020 Stacey Abrams says Pres. Trump's tax records show he "doesn't care about everyday Americans." "This is someone who likely spent more money ... supporting India with his tax dollars than he has Indiana."https://t.co/7UwkMkacde MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 29, 2020 How much more did you pay in taxes than President Trump? Head to https://t.co/h9ZZ0iBuiE to find out. pic.twitter.com/w689uVoHq7 Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 28, 2020 This is disgusting stuff, given that Trump cut our taxes while they're plotting to make us pay more in taxes. Hey, suckers! Look over there at Trump's taxes so you don't notice what we've got planned for you. "The first thing I'd do is eliminate [President Trump's] tax cut," Biden yelled at a Poor People's Campaign rally, according to a new book out examining the Biden plan of action by George Neumayr, called The Biden Deception: Moderate, Opportunist, or the Democrats' Crypto-Socialist. Got a spare $2,000 lying around? Cough it up if you're in a family of four making the median income of $73,000, which is what Americans for Tax Reform calculated that the average taxpayer was going to get shoved with if Democrats win the election, Neumayr's book noted. A single parent with one child making $41,000 would get socked with a $1,300 tax hike. "Crumbs," as Nancy Pelosi likes to say. Biden claims he'll raise taxes only on the rich, but it depends on what the meaning of "is," is, as Bill Clinton used to say. See, $73,000 is rich. The individual mandate tax would be restored, utility rates would go up for all as a result of the corporate income tax increase, small businessowners would get socked with the repeal of the 20% deduction for small business income (lovely gift for them in the wake of the pandemic), the death tax would be back, and corporations and jobs would flee, given that the U.S. would be left with the highest corporate tax in the developed world (making China attractive), the AMT would "snap back to millions of households," and the child tax credit and the standard deduction would be cut in half. Hate those tax breaks? Joe's got a plan to get rid of them, leaving you with the mother of all tax bills while leaving us with the consolation that we are all supposed to be angry at Trump. That's what we get in exchange, fury at Trump, while handing over thousands to Joe in more taxes. The Democrats in fact are not serious in the least about what it would take to make Trump and every other rich person pay more in taxes. If they were, they'd get rid of all the loopholes which they themselves provided, like an outstretched hand to all their billionaire donors, through the tax code they themselves wrote. Yes, of course they did, and they did it for their own billionaire buddies. There are a heckuva lot more billionaires in the camp of the Democrats than the mere tiny example of President Trump, who by billionaire standards and yes, they have them; I used to help calculate the Forbes billionaires list is small potatoes. But somehow, Trump, who used the tax code they wrote, is the bad guy. If they were serious at all about the tax code, they'd be loud and proud about ending all loopholes in it, which are like a gift proffered that only a fool would refuse. There is exactly one way to do that: by initiating a flat tax. Only a flat tax, applicable to all, would ensure an equitable tax rate. Anyone ever heard of a Democrat calling for it? Nope, they just make calls to tax the rich, and each time the rich are supposedly given the stick, the loopholes come out, the businesses move abroad, and the little guy gets his taxes hiked because he too has suddenly become "the rich." Trump should beat the hell out of Joe Biden over this in the upcoming debate, because never has the Democratic tongue been so forked, never have the crocodile tears been so salty. They're trying to whip up hate against President Trump over his navigation of the tax code. But it's a dodge, nothing but a sorry bid to distract our attention from their quiet but gargantuan plans to hike our taxes. Image credit: Regnery Publishing by permission. Ameya Dalvi Looking to buy a smart TV for the price of a mid-range phone? Youve come to the right place. Today, we look at the best smart TVs in India within a budget of Rs 20,000. We will mainly focus on 32-inch and 40-inch models, and there are plenty of options to choose from. So let's look at who managed to make it to our final list. Choose one depending on your budget and space. Best 32-inch Smart TV deals under Rs 15,000 A 32-inch TV is ideally suited for one with a budget less than Rs 15,000 and a viewing distance (distance between the viewer and the TV) of 6 to 7 feet. Generally, 32-inch TVs have a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, which is decent for a screen that size. You do get a handful of Android based TVs in this budget, and we also have models based on three other platforms. All of them are compliant with popular streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar etc. Lets start with a new certified Android TV from the old Japanese brand, Sanyo (now owned by Panasonic). This 2020 model boasts an IPS panel and Android Pie OS for TV. You also get 20 Watts (RMS) sound output, 3x HDMI ports, 2x USB ports and other standard connectivity options. It has more RAM (1.5 GB) than you generally get on 40 or 43-inch full HD TVs, let alone 32-inch models, and it is accompanied by 8 GB of internal storage. The Sanyo Kaizen XT-32RHD4S has Chromecast built-in, and a new voice-enabled remote. This TV has most of the bases covered and is well worth your money. Just like the Sanyo, this Motorola TV too boasts of an IPS panel, certified Android Pie OS, a voice-enabled remote and Chromecast built-in. For connectivity, you get 2x HDMI and 2x USB ports along with the usual input-output ports. This TV is better suited for those looking for a stylish design and better sound quality. Though the audio output is rated at 20 Watts RMS, it sounds better courtesy of an integrated soundbar. The company also bundles a wireless game pad that looks like an Xbox controller to indulge in a bit of gaming. Onida 32-inch Fire TV Edition (Rs 13,999) The Fire TV Edition from Onida is quite an interesting option. As the name suggests, the TV runs Amazons Fire OS, the one that you get on their Fire TV Stick. Simply put, you get a TV with an integrated Fire TV Stick in this budget, and thats pretty neat. This TV too has an IPS panel and comes with 3x HDMI ports, one USB port and 16 Watts (RMS) of sound output. You get a voice-enabled remote with Alexa that looks quite similar to the one you get with a Fire TV Stick, but with a few more useful buttons and hotkeys. The Fire OS platform supports all the major streaming services, and has a very good user interface. Another 32-inch TV with an IPS panel, but this time from a more premium brand LG. And this is their newer 2020 model too. This is not an Android TV, and runs Web OS that has apps for most of the major online streaming services including Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar. You get a couple of HDMI ports and a solitary USB port to plug in more devices along with 10W RMS sound output. The specs are modest compared to the above TVs, but they are decent for its asking price, and for brand-conscious buyers. Samsung Wondertainment UA32T4340AKXXL (Price: Rs 14,990) Samsung too has their new 2020 model in this budget now from their Wondertainment series (dont look at me, I didnt name it) based on Tizen OS that again supports all major streaming services and has a decent repository of apps. The TV also comes with Microsoft Office 365 that lets you do a bit of work on it. Just like the LG, you get a couple of HDMI ports, one USB port but the sound output is bumped up to 20 Watts RMS. The Sanyo and Motorola TVs above let you cast content to the TV from compatible apps courtesy of built-in Chromecast. The other three let you mirror content from your phone or tablet to the TV screen using Miracast. All smart TVs are Wi-fi enabled. Best 40-inch Smart TV deals under Rs 20,000 Now we move on to 40-inch models that are better suited for rooms with a viewing distance of 8 to 9 feet. The biggest advantage of a 40-inch TV is the presence of a Full HD panel that packs in a lot more pixels than their 32-inch counterparts, resulting in better picture quality when viewing high definition content. We have a couple of options for you today, and both are certified Android TVs. Lets start with one of the newest entrants in India, Hisense. This 40-inch certified Android Pie TV has a Full HD panel, and the picture quality is impressive for the price, with natural colours and good contrast. Add to that a voice-enabled remote, quick resume from standby feature and apps for all major streaming services. It also has Chromecast built-in, along with a couple of HDMI and USB ports each, and 24 Watts RMS sound output thats actually quite punchy. The performance of this TV is well worth the money you pay for it. Mi TV 4A 40 (Price: Rs 18,999) Lastly, a 40-inch certified Android TV model from Xiaomi that sells for an even lower price. You get a Full HD panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. There is support for all major streaming services right out of the box. Like all certified Android TVs, this too has Chromecast built-in. It has 3x HDMI ports, 2x USB ports and 20 Watts RMS sound output. You get a voice enabled remote but without a mute button (typical of Xiaomi). This TV is powered by an Amlogic quad-core processor, and is accompanied by 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. It runs certified Android Pie for TV with Xiaomis Patchwall UI (optional). Whats new: Hong Kong is proposing to lift the mandatory quarantine for local residents returning from the Chinese mainland after the third wave of Covid-19 is under control. Discussions are in the final stage to reopen cross-border travel between Hong Kong and the mainland and Macau, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday. Hong Kong confirmed four new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, all imported. It was the second time the city reported no local cases in the previous week. The number of patients has significantly declined in recent weeks. A total of 136 confirmed patients remain hospitalized, while more than 4,800 have been released from hospitals, health authorities said. The background: All but three of the citys border checkpoints have been closed since February. Visitors from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Macau must undergo 14 days of compulsory quarantine in a hotel or at home upon arrival in Hong Kong. Macau and Guangdong province also require people entering from Hong Kong to be quarantined for 14 days. The restrictions have resulted a sharp decline in travelers from the Chinese mainland, who made up most of the tourists to the city before the pandemic. In the first eight months this year, inbound travelers from the mainland fell more than 90% year-on-year. Since Sept. 23, mainland visitors with a negative Covid-19 test have been allowed to enter Macau without mandatory quarantine. Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here. Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com) Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Two years ago, a little-known developer named Ricky Trinidad swept into Coconut Grove with ambitious plans to remake Grand Avenue in the villages historically Black section. He promised passenger drones to ferry around residents of his developments and started spending big to acquire land. But not much else happened. Now the Coral Gables-based firm he manages, Metronomic Holdings, faces several foreclosure suits and has filed for reorganization in federal bankruptcy court. The picture laid out in its Chapter 11 filing is not pretty: A list of Metronomics 20 largest unsecured debts tops $91 million, including $488,538.46 in unpaid property taxes and $1.5 million to Miami-Dade Countys environmental regulation agency. Listed creditors also include mortgage holders, contractors, architects, lawyers and Miami-Dade Water and Sewer. The filing doesnt list assets, but says the firm has 100 to 199 creditors and $50 million to $100 million in estimated assets and liabilities. The biggest listed debt is $51,304,168 in loans from Qidian, a Virginia investment company that specializes in crowdfunding. The voluntary petition was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami on Sept. 23 by Aleida Martinez Molina, a partner at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole Bierman. Metronomic did not respond to a request for comment. Martinez Molina said she could not comment. Trinidad founded Metronomic in Chicago, but said in a 2018 interview with the Miami Herald that he had sold it to investors and was working for the firm as an executive. The bankruptcy petition, which protects the firm from creditors as it attempts to right its finances, casts a long shadow over Trinidads big plans for several key blocks along Grand Avenue, a once-vital commercial and residential corridor for the West Grove thats now mostly vacant land after years of demolitions and evictions. News of the petition was first reported by the South Florida Business Journal. In 2018, Trinidad said he had a deal to purchase a collection of distressed lots along Grand for $25 million and announced a massive $74 million redevelopment project, including a hotel, shops and a mix of luxury and affordable apartments in more than a dozen buildings. Prolonged litigation over control of the lots had foiled several previous attempts at redevelopment. Story continues Related story lead image Sign Up: Re | source The announcement raised eyebrows in Miamis development community, where Trinidad, a Chicago transplant, was a virtual unknown. Since arriving in Miami in recent years, Trinidad has completed small apartment buildings in Little Havana and the Grove, as well as scattered houses. But by his own admission, he had never tackled anything at the scale of the Grand Avenue project. After the last property claims were settled, Trinidad announced in June of 2019 that he had closed on the purchase of four key parcels for $6.3 million and would soon start construction. Earlier, Trinidad had announced plans for a boutique hotel on the site of a former gas station on Grand. But lawsuits by suppliers, contractors and mortgage holders against Metronomic and its affiliates started piling up, suggesting the firm was running into money problems. Metronomic has not started construction on any of its Grand Avenue projects, though it has others underway elsewhere. According to its website, the firm has 17 projects in the pipeline: Six multifamily developments, including affordable housing and senior housing developments; an office project planned for Little Havana and three retail and office projects in Coconut Grove. It also lists seven student housing developments across Little Havana, the Health District and Coconut Grove. Its unclear how many of those are under construction, but some of the projects are the subject of active lawsuits by lenders and contractors who claim theyre owed money by Metronomic or its affiliates. In January, B and B Grove Properties, a partnership of prominent mutual fund manager Bruce Berkowitz and insurance magnate William Berkley, filed a foreclosure action against a Metronomic affiliate over a chunk of the key Grand Avenue parcels Trinidad had closed on seven months earlier. B and B Grove claims Metronomic owes $5,026,000 in principal and interest. The case is open. On Sept. 18, Wilmington Trust sued Metronomic principal Kelly Bream and other investors over one of the firms finished projects, the GroveHaus apartment house on Bird Avenue. The suit alleges Bream failed to make payments on a $5,750,000 mortgage. Both the B and B and the GroveHaus debts are included on Metronomics list of big creditors. Other large creditors include Fuse Funding, which holds $17.7 million in mortgages. Mark Wahlberg is helping San Antonio students mask up. The actor's nutrition brand, Performance Inspired, partnered with a distribution company to donate 1.3 million disposable face masks to students and teachers across the country. San Antonio ISD officials confirmed the district received 100,000 three-ply masks. READ ALSO: Whataburger reveals new spicy menu item "We are thrilled to have caught the attention of Mark Wahlberg. We greatly appreciate the donation as these masks help us meet the challenges of this moment," SAISD said in a statement. "Wearing face masks is an important safety protocol weve put in place across our schools and offices, and we value everyone who steps up to help us protect our students and staff." Wahlberg's brand worked with wholesaler Accelerate360, active lifestyle brand LifeToGo, and local school districts to identify schools that could best use an influx of masks. "This is a great opportunity to partner with LifeToGo and help our students and educators across the country to stay healthy and safe so they can focus on education," said Wahlberg. Schools in 12 other cities Bentonville, Arkansas; Boise, Idaho; Chicago; Cincinnati, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Lakeland, Florida; Minneapolis; Portland, Orego; Quincy, Massachusetts; Rochester, New York; Salisbury, North Carolina; and Woonsocket, Rhode Island also received masks. Billboards featuring Wahlberg were posted in each market to thank essential workers. In a video, the actor said, "You guys have kept us healthy, safe, and supplied us with all the necessities. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart." Wahlberg gave a specific shout-out to H-E-B workers in April, telling the San Antonio-based grocer's employees, "You're so amazing." Russian man sentenced to life for killing two young women flickr.com/ Luca Biada 17:40 29/09/2020 MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) The Sverdlovsk Regional Court has sentenced a local resident Alexey Aleksandrov to life for murder of two young women in an urban forest, RAPSI has learnt from the Prosecutor Generals Office of Russia. The defendant is to serve his sentence in a correctional colony of special regime. The court found that in August 2018 the man using a night vision device detected two young women in the Yekaterinburg city forest, repeatedly rifled them and left the scene. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Toh Ting Wei (The Straits Times/Asia News Network) Singapore Tue, September 29, 2020 13:47 480 e22cd4161040e111d73a5626c47eca1a 2 News Singapore-Airlines,travel,Airlines Free Singapore Airlines (SIA) will no longer launch flights to nowhere. But members of the public can still experience the airline's service - albeit on the ground - through three other initiatives that will be launched in the coming weeks, SIA said on Tuesday. These are lunch on board an Airbus A380 jumbo jet, a tour of SIA's training facilities and home delivery of meals from its first class and business class menus. SIA said it developed these experiences after conducting a market study and a review that looked into factors such as environmental implications and financial viability. It said it had initially considered launching flights to nowhere, but canned the idea after the review. SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong said the new initiatives will allow the airline to engage its fans and customers, even as the number of flights plunged because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "There has been a lot of interest in our customer engagement initiatives over the last few weeks, and I would like to thank everyone for their great ideas and suggestions," he said. "We are very encouraged by and grateful for the enthusiasm and passion that we have seen." The Straits Times takes a look at what customers can expect with the three new initiatives, which can be booked on the KrisShop website. The cost of each option will be announced later. Restaurant A380 @ Changi An A380 plane parked at Changi Airport will be converted into a restaurant on Oct. 24 and 25. Reservations will start on Oct. 12. An A380 plane can usually seat up to about 470 passengers, but it is unclear how the capacity will be affected by safe distancing measures. Diners who book this package will get to choose the cabin class they want to dine in. The menu will feature international cuisines and a Peranakan menu customized for the temporary restaurant. Each meal will come with two free alcoholic drinks and free flow of other beverages. Diners will get other perks, such as KrisShop discounts and a goodie bag. Those who turn up in traditional heritage wear, such as sarong kebaya, cheongsam or saree, will get an extra gift. SIA said it will take precautions to reduce the risk of spread of the COVID-19 virus. These measures include cleaning and sanitizing the plane, capping group sizes at five, implementing safe distancing and doing a temperature check. Both crew and diners will be required to wear a face mask at all times when on board, except when eating or drinking. Inside Singapore Airlines This tour of the SIA Training Centre will take place on Nov. 21, 22, 28 and 29. Bookings will open from Nov. 1. Visitors will get to talk to pilots and cabin crew about their training and see SIA's flight simulators. They can also take part in craft activities and buy in-flight meals. Those who opt to pay extra can even try out the flight simulator that pilots use for training, enjoy a wine appreciation session or go through a grooming workshop conducted by SIA's cabin crew trainers. Parents can opt for an add-on option to send their child for a junior cabin crew experience. The children can dress up in the SIA sarong kebaya uniform, learn customer service skills and act as cabin crew members in a mock-up of the A380 business class cabin. SIA@Home Those who are missing the in-flight dining experience on board an SIA plane can opt to recreate it in their homes, with bookings opening from Oct. 5. The meal, created by SIA's panel of international chefs, is paired with a choice of wine or champagne. Every menu will include SIA's satay dish. It will come with a first class or business class amenity kit and instructions on how to heat and plate the dishes. Customers can pay more to book the services of a private chef who will reheat, plate and serve the meal in their homes. Topics : This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Torrential rain is set to batter huge swathes of Australia in the coming days, before temperatures soar during an unexpected heatwave over the public holiday long weekend. Thunderstorms are brewing across most of the country with a low pressure trough triggering windy weather and showers throughout Australia's east coast from Tuesday. Weatherzone meteorologist Sam Brown warned the 'severe' storms would bring 'damaging wind gusts' from Tuesday onwards. 'There is a low pressure system and associated trough moving through South Australia at the moment and that's causing storms in the northern parts. 'That same system is moving further east into tomorrow and there will be storms for central north New South Wales from about tomorrow morning,' he explained. A low pressure system will move through South Australia on Tuesday and bring severe winds an heavy rain to the country's east coast on Wednesday (a rainy day in Sydney pictured) Thunderstorms and gusty winds will largely affect parts of southern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and southern Victoria (Melbourne pictured on September 22) Mr Brown said the storms would progress over Victoria, NSW and south Queensland until Friday. 'There will be thunderstorms for much of eastern New South Wales and there'll be showers associated with all those storms and some gusty winds,' he said. He explained there was 'storm potential' across most of the country thanks to the 'unstable atmosphere and temperatures coming down from the tropics.' Mr Brown said parts of Western Australia would also experience the wet weather. 'They'll get a few storms in the far south west and far east near the South Australian border. 'There's potential for storms everyday in the north of Western Australia in the Kimberley region and western parts of the top end,' he explained. The Bureau of Meteorology's Diana Eadie told Daily Mail Australia the system would bring 'wide-spread shower and storm activity.' Heavy rainfall will batter South Australia on Tuesday (low pressure trough across Australia pictured) and is expected to fall at 5 to 15 mm but could be as high as 60 mm Wide-spread shower and storm activity will hit Sydney (city pictured) on Wednesday Meteorologists said the 'shower, storm and rain activity' would subside across the east coast (Sydney Harbour pictured) and spark sunny weather and a mini heatwave on the weekend 'The low pressure trough will move through eastern parts of Western Australia, southern parts of the northern territory and South Australia,' she said. Ms Eadie explained South Australia would see 'the most significant rainfall totals' on Tuesday. 'We're expecting 5 to 15 millimetres but we could see as high at 40 to 60 millimetres in far north western parts of South Australia.' She said the system and its 'shower, storm and rain activity' would progress eastwards on Wednesday. 'We will see an increase in shower and storm activity over southern Queensland, much of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Temperatures will climb across the east coast (Bondi Beach in Sydney pictured) on Friday and reach up to ten to twelve degrees above average for the time of the year Melbourne and Sydney (Bondi Beach pictured) will both reach 28C on the long weekend 'That will all subside on Friday and we're likely to see a pretty much sunny day across most of the country and warm conditions,' she said. Ms Eadie said east coast residents would 'be enjoying sunny weather' over the weekend and Labour Day public holiday on Monday. 'Saturday will be the warmest day for the southeast and we'll see temperatures up to ten to 12 degrees above average for this time of year.' 'It's pretty unusual, Melbourne will be 28C on Saturday and Sydney will be 26C on Saturday and 28C on Sunday,' she explained. Mr Brown added 'central and southern parts of NSW' would be dry and regional parts of the state would see temperatures into he low thirties over the weekend. CVT Dacias international success started out with an ambition immediately after the buyout of Dacia by Groupe Renault in 1998, the new owner announced a crazy project cooked up by then CEO Louis Schweitzer. Dubbed X90, it was supposed to become the first-ever 5,000 car. History noted it was ultimately a harder than expected target, but the Logan still sparked its own niche in Europe (or at least the part where it's sold).Affordable, (somewhat) modern for the age, and quite reliable, the model turned out successful and gave Dacia and Renault (as it was rebadged in many markets) an entry-point to the automotive market that made it virtually impossible to compete with. And with the launch of the Sandero hatchback and the onset of the 2008 global economic crisis, all roads were paved with success for the brand that suddenly developed European ambitions.More than 15 years for the Logan, and some 13 years later for the Sandero, the Dacia brand is not only unveiling the third-generation model but is also finally shedding all the remnants of its low-cost atmosphere. This is because, this time around, the models are based on a new architecture while the second generation used a modernized version of the original, bare bones, platform.The strategy has also changed accordingly, with the brand now promoting a leadership in the way it comes to promoting a sensible form of car consumption and is now more than ever aligned with the real expectations of its customers. It offers simple, spacious, reliable and robust vehicles with no unnecessary frills, at the best price on the market.And there is no better time to promote the attributes that made Dacia famous in the first place as the current economic woes triggered by the global health crisis are, once more, making people turn their attention to every-day essentials. Not that it really needed the markets unprecedented evolution Dacia's Sandero has been a constant fixture of the passenger car market in Europe for years, already.In case anyone needs some figures, Dacia says the Sandero has been delivered to almost 2.1 million customers (32% of total sales of the brand since 2004), and of that 1.3 million (65%) were of the Sandero Stepway variety. All three models now sport a new architecture, new powertrains (gasoline and even LPG, as well as new transmissions), and completely revamped exteriors and interiors.We should start with the most popular choice first, that being the Sandero. All three models share common design traits but again, the Sandero and its Stepway brethren look the best. It is as it should be the Logans boxier design appeals to a certain part of the market, and the western Europeans still love their hatchbacks more.The new Sandero is more aerodynamic than ever, while the overall dimensions are not necessarily different: it arrives with a 1 cm / 0.39 in. drop in height, but the same ride height of 133 mm (5.23 in.). Thanks to the switch to Renaults very modern CMF architecture, Dacia introduces lots of comfort and safety features, such as the new Y-shaped LED lighting signature for both head- and rear lights. The front LEDs are standard on all grades and come with a 37% increase in beam length during the night.Next up is the rebel of the range, the Sandero Stepway. It keeps its usual crossover vibes and has some 41 additional millimeters of ground clearance (174 mm / 6.85 in.), roof bars, and special body protection. It also upgrades the looks with standard 16-inch Flexwheels (fake alloys), optional alloy rims, and unique interior upholstery along with orange detailing.The workhorse of the trio at least until the new generation Logan MCV arrives is the standard Logan sedan. It has grown, as is customary today, adding 3.6 cm (1.41 in.) in length and the longer wheelbase enables a rear-passenger knee extension of the available space by 42 mm / 1.65 inches. One of its largest assets (both literally and figuratively), the trunk, has also been extended to 528 liters (+18l) / 18.64 cubic feet, which is around 200 liters more when compared to Sandero (328l / 11.58 cu. ft.).We have not talked about the elephant in the room Dacia was losing big points when it came to discussing its spartan interiors. While some things carry on unchanged - such as the steering wheel or the climate controls for the most part the cockpit has been completely redesigned.It now features a modern arrangement, with the infotainment system positioned high up on the dashboard to be as close as possible to the drivers line of sight. True to its affordable nature, Dacia starts out with a very simple setup on the base trim level: Media Control, a glorified smartphone holder that enables the owners smart device to be used with the newly introduced Dacia Media Control app.Next up come the real on-board systems, called Media Display and Media Nav they both make use of an eight-inch touchscreen compatible with onboard navigation and wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the top version. And thats not all, because the new Dacias will be getting a raft of innovations for the brand, including automatic headlights and wipers, an electric parking brake, and even an electric sunroof on the Sandero and Stepway (from next year).Under the hoods, Dacia has opted for a small revolution. The Romanian brand is another automaker that says goodbye to the diesel mill, with the tried and trusty 1.5 dCi now absent from the list. Instead, clients can opt for the gasoline fueled SCe 65 (1.0-liter, naturally aspirated, three cylinders), TCe 90 (turbo), and the LPG-enabled ECO-G 100. The second option is paired to a couple of new transmissions a six-speed manual and a newautomatic. By analysing the tax records, The New York Times was able to place a value on Donald Trumps celebrity. While the returns show that he earned $197 million directly from The Apprentice over 16 years roughly in line with what he has claimed they reveal that an additional $230 million flowed from the fame associated with it. The shows big ratings meant that everyone wanted a piece of the Trump brand, and he grabbed at the opportunity to rent it out. There was $500,000 to pitch Double Stuf Oreos, another half-million to sell Dominos Pizza and $850,000 to push ... Srinagar, Sep 29 : The J&K Police on Tuesday submitted a chargesheet in a case pertaining to an incident dated April 3, when Handwara Police along with the army and the CRPF arrested four terrorists and three terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The police said that after the conclusion of investigation, the chargesheet has been filed before the competent court under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act. The police said the chargesheet has been filed against four terrorists identified as Parvaiz Ahmad Chopan, Mudasir Ahmad Pandith, Mohd Shafi Shiekh and Burhan Din Wani alias Burhan, and three terrorist associates identified as Azad Ahmad Bhat, Altaf Ahmad Baba and Irshad Ahmad Chalkoo. The chargesheet has filed against them for their role in hatching a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts, harbouring terrorists and giving support to LeT. Members of the London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee have issued an open letter to Metroline over the re-emergence of COVID-19 at Cricklewood garage in north-west London. In a letter to Managing Director Steven Harris last Thursday, the drivers set out major safety breaches by the company. The letter was also sent to Yang Ban Seng, MD/Group CEO for parent company ComfortDelGro in Singapore. Metroline has deliberately concealed information about the infection of a driver and an engineers apprentice at the garage in recent weeks, the drivers say, placing hundreds of lives at risk. In May, Cricklewood driver Ishrat Ali died from COVID-19 and two more drivers were hospitalised, one of whom was placed on a ventilator. We have already lost our friend and colleague, Ishrat Ali who worked at this garage for 28 years. We are not prepared to accept another preventable death, the drivers write in their letter. Eight drivers and other staff at Cricklewood caught COVID-19 over that period, according to data obtained by the World Socialist Web Site, with clusters of infection also present at Greenford, Holloway and Potters Bar. Metroline had the highest number of bus drivers who died from COVID-19 between March and May, accounting for 38 percent of all deaths, despite employing just 16 percent of London bus drivers, according to figures compiled by bus safety campaigner Tom Kearney. (credit:FlickR--London Bus Breh) The drivers are calling for urgent safety measures to prevent the further spread of infection. Their letter, below, is published in full. It is followed by comments from drivers who are members of the newly formed rank-and-file safety committee uniting drivers from garages across London. Open Letter to Metroline from Cricklewood members of the London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee In recent weeks we have been made aware that at least two of our colleagues at Cricklewood bus garage have tested positive for COVID-19. Metroline has chosen not to inform more than 500 drivers and other bus workers of these confirmed COVID-19 infections. No briefings or notifications were issued across the garage via the companys app and SMS. Concerned members of staff have brought this to our attention, knowing that their workplace is not COVID-19 secure. Three weeks have passed since drivers were informed that a colleague on the 112 had tested positive for COVID-19. Metrolines contact tracing letter to just a handful of drivers stated that no action was needed unless they were experiencing symptoms. This is not good enough. In the absence of testing, drivers who are asymptomatic might unwittingly transmit COVID-19 to others. One driver on another route was only handed Metrolines letter after he had already begun his duty. He was instructed by management to remain in the output area for three hours while he attempted to arrange a test. This clearly constituted a risk of transmission to other staff at the garage, yet this action was agreed by a representative of Unite. No warning was issued to all drivers in the depot, not even to all drivers on the 112 route. We have subsequently learned that an engineer apprentice tested positive for COVID-19again without the Cricklewood workforce being notified. There is zero evidence of containment measures being implemented. We have already lost our friend and colleague, Ishrat Ali, who worked at this garage for 28 years. We are not prepared to accept another preventable death. We demand the following measures are undertaken immediately by Metroline: 1. Report to all workers the real number of existing infections at Cricklewood and establish a protocol for the immediate notification of all staff whenever a new infection is reported to Metroline. 2. Conduct a comprehensive track-and-trace operation to determine which of our colleagues came into contact with infected workers and put them on paid leave until they are given a clean bill of health. 3. Beginning with these workers, test all Cricklewood staff for COVID-19. Metrolines duty-of-care extends to its passengers. We are gravely concerned about a wider risk of virus transmission, especially as drivers have been instructed that social distancing does not apply to school bus services even as hundreds of schools have already reported infections among pupils and teachers. Metroline has a legal responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The staff at Cricklewood has the legal right to work in an environment in which they are not confronted with the risk of serious and imminent danger under Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. We await your response to the urgent risk mitigation measures which we have outlined. Thursday September 24, 2020 *** London bus drivers spoke to the WSWS about the open letter they have issued and why they have joined the London Bus Drivers Rank-and File Safety Committee. Names have been changed to prevent victimisation. Anton from Cricklewood said, Ive been working for Metroline for nearly 20 years and the fact that the company is not informing us about employees in our garage who have tested positive for COVID-19 is totally out of order and it feels like our lives dont matter. The government has completely let us key workers down, all through the pandemicfrom not providing PPE [personal protective equipment] for NHS staff, to not prioritising testing. The unions have let us down the most. They are not fighting to protect the lives of all employees who they are meant to represent. I have lost faith in Unite, the union. Over the years I have seen the company implement any changes they desire without the union doing anything to help the workers. The company, TFL and the government have done the bare minimum to protect workers liveswe are viewed as collateral damage in keeping the economy going. The pandemic and the way the government has handled this situation, shows that once again the lives of the working class and middle class are deemed expendable to the rich. The re-opening of schools is all about getting the parents back to work. Its simple, the [high] R [Reproduction] rate and those most infected are in more deprived areas of this country where most people live from paycheck to paycheck. More needs to be done to protect drivers lives and I believe the rank-and-file committee is the only way we can do this. I encourage all working class people to do whatever they can to protect themselves and their families. If the unions are doing nothing, then maybe the rank-and-file safety committee is the option we need to follow. Richard, another driver from Cricklewood explained, I havent heard anything from management. I havent heard about the engineers apprentice testing positive, but I did hear from colleagues about the driver. I had been on the same route for almost two weeks as the 112 driver prior to the [contact tracing] letter sent out to other drivers, but I havent received anything. They definitely dont care about the spare drivers. My response to the denial of infections and the fact that a driver was told to wait so long in a communal area to arrange a test by the management, and the union complied with this, is that I want to resign as a union member. I am terrified. I really dont know what to do. Right now, they say the drivers cab is fully sealed, but I can see that the seals on the cabin have not been done properly. When we put on the heaters, they still exchange air with the passengers area. Before the warm air goes to the drivers cabin, it passes through the passenger compartment. The demands we have put forward is because the company are not informing us of anything. On the one hand they are telling us not to wear a mask, and then the other day they told us to wear a mask. Some of the garages have a form of testing. They test the temperature at the entrance to the garage, but then the other garages dont have anything at all. We have issued the open letter because of the inaction of the union. In fact, it would be more correct to say the blatant action of the union and its compliance with the company instead of the well-being of the drivers. A lot of drivers are tired of Unite. I know a lot of drivers resigned recently from being union members following discussions about the health and safety issues, but also remote sign-on and other problems. The recent strike ballot by Unite is because of how many drivers started to resign from being members. The unions ballot for strike action does not address what drivers feel are the main issues. The major concerns of drivers right now are the cases of coronavirus and the fear of passengers about the virus. Social distancing is non-existent. Signs have been placed in canteens and social rooms saying there cant be more than two or three drivers, when on a break there are 15. Officially there is a policy about the wearing of masks in communal areas, but as always theres a but to it. Drivers are being booked and face disciplinary action if they are not wearing a mask and have to explain themselves why they have done this, but managers can go without wearing a mask. If drivers complain about this, they are being booked again and sent to management to explain their situation. I joined the rank-and-file safety committee because I think that the union is not doing anything, and I believe that this will allow me to have a say about what the problem is, and will be listened to, rather than being told by the union. I think the drivers should go on strike. The company knows that the drivers want to go on strike, which is why there is the ballot in the union right now to prevent us from doing this. I see that this is a workers struggle. We are being told that this is a bus workers struggle or that its bus drivers issue, or that its a teachers issue. But we are all facing the same problems, and this is an issue for all of us. I hope that the drivers will be supported by other workers, and also the drivers will support others, when their time comes. Michael from Holloway explained, Ive been a member of Unite on and off, as I dont feel they represent us properly. They are happy to agree with whatever the company wants. I feel robbed by the union, taking our cash weekly, but doing nothing. We never receive the necessary support, especially through the pandemic. Before the pandemic we had a ballot for strike action over driver fatigue with a vote in favour, but nothing was done. Driver fatigue has become worse during the pandemic. Every driver is feeling it. Ive made comments on online sources with Unite, but they never take the views of drivers into account and they ended up deleting me from any social media groups. Ive lost many friends to COVID-19, which hurts, especially a friend I knew for 30 years at Holloway garage. Now I hear the news from Cricklewood garage that drivers and engineers are made to work without being tested even though their colleagues have tested positive. Profits are deemed more important than the lives of bus drivers. I have been looking for something like the London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee for a long time. I feel we can make a stand and maybe be listened to for a change and hopefully get support and fight for better working conditions. I would like to encourage as many bus drivers as possible to sign up to the committee. Hopefully we can grow as we need to stick together rather than waiting on any union to help us, or TfL, or our own bus company. To me it feels like the serial killers have been put in charge. CAPE BRETON, NS, Sept. 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Protecting nature is an essential part of addressing biodiversity loss and fighting climate change. Here in Canada, and around the world, we need transformative action to conserve our natural environment now and into the future. Today, the Member of Parliament for SydneyVictoria, Jaime Battiste and the Member of Parliament for Cape BretonCanso, Mike Kelloway, on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced that the Government of Canada has invested $1.2 million over four years to conserve 350,000 hectares in the Bras d'Or Lakes watershed. The project, titled "Maliamuki'k msit Ko'kmanaq", which means "Taking care of all our relations", will protect habitat for terrestrial species at risk in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This funding, provided through the Canada Nature Fund's Community-Nominated Priority Places initiative, enables partners to advance the conservation of habitat vital to the survival of 18 listed Canadian species at risk such as the Common Nighthawk (Pi'jkw) and Wood Turtle (Mikjikj). The project, led by the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR), will aim to improve the quality of the ecosystem for the benefit of Unama'ki communities and all their relations. The project helps identify hotspots for species at risk in Unama'ki and educates the public on local species at risk, and conserves important species at risk habitat. As with all of UINR's work, this project has a "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach, with equal value placed on the scientific research as well as the knowledge shared by Elders and local knowledge holders. Quotes "By working together with local communities, we are working towards conserving biodiversity, enabling the recovery of species at risk, and ensuring that Indigenous people are meaningfully engaged in conservation. My congratulations goes out to the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources in leading this collaborative effort." - Jaime Battiste, Member of Parliament for SydneyVictoria, Nova Scotia "In Cape BretonCanso, we are fortunate to be surrounded by nature. We need to do our part to conserve it and that means protecting the 18 species at risk, including Canada Warbler and Wood Turtle. If we want to fight climate change and protect the ecosystem in Cape Breton and northeastern Nova Scotia, conservation is critical. This on-the-ground work led by the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources showcases what can be achieved for Canada's biodiversity through passion, collaboration and hard work." - Mike Kelloway, Member of Parliament for Cape BretonCanso, Nova Scotia "The Mi'kmaq have been stewards of this land for thousands of years. We were the original caretakers of this land and understood that we are all connected and interdependent with the land and all our relations. We look forward to working in collaboration with our partners to bring this perspective and understanding to species at risk recovery efforts in the Bras d'Or watershed." - Chief Rod Googoo, We'koqma'q First Nation "The concept of Msit Nokmaq or All our Relations is woven through this conservation project to remind us that we are interconnected with all aspects of our natural world. It is the inherent responsibility of Indigenous people, and indeed all humans, to be the eyes, ears and voice for all species." - Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall, Eskasoni First Nation, and UINR's Elder Advisor Quick facts The project focuses on identifying key habitats and species hotspots using existing data and then filling information gaps by monitoring the land and working with traditional knowledge holders. The public will be engaged through social media campaigns highlighting the significance of species at risk on the lands and through management plans that will be developed and distributed to improve land management practices. In the first year of the project, a Wood Turtle (Mikjikj) was spotted in a section of a stream that has never had a documented turtle sighting, and Yellow-banded Bumblebees (Amu) have been counted in numbers that were higher than expected. Project partners include: Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre, Cape Breton Private Land Partnership, Cape Breton University , Bras d'Or Lake Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative, Mi'kmaw Kinamatnewey, Nature Conservancy of Canada , Pitu'paq, Port Hawkesbury Paper, and NS Department of Lands and Forestry, Environment and Climate Change Canada Canadian Wildlife Service, Atlantic Region. , Bras d'Or Lake Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative, Mi'kmaw Kinamatnewey, Nature Conservancy of , Pitu'paq, Port Hawkesbury Paper, and NS Department of Lands and Forestry, Environment and Climate Change Canada Canadian Wildlife Service, Atlantic Region. Through Budget 2018, the Government announced $1.35 billion for the Nature Legacy initiative. This amount represents the largest investment in nature conservation in Canadian history. for the Nature Legacy initiative. This amount represents the largest investment in nature conservation in Canadian history. Canada Nature Fund's Community-Nominated Priority Places for Species at Risk is a $15.6 million , 4-year funding initiative administered by ECCC to support community-led projects that protect and conserve species at risk. Associated links Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada For further information: Moira Kelly, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-271-6218, [email protected]; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected] Related Links http://www.ec.gc.ca Photo: (Photo : unsplash/niu niu) A New Hampshire man allegedly kills his wife's lover, then asked her to behead him. Authorities said that he found out that his wife was having an affair with her coworker, so he was enraged. Arrested and charged Police arrested and charged Armando Barron on Friday about the death of Jonathan Amerault. New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan A. Noyes and Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald said in a press release about the killing. On September 22, they found the body of the 25-year-old Keene man in the New Hampshire woods. The press release stated that Armando got charged with capital murder. Allegedly, he "knowingly" shot Amerault and causing him to die while engaging in the commission of a kidnapping. See also: Oklahoma Home Explosion Kills 14-Year-Old Teen and Hospitalized 3 Family Members The criminal complaint stated that Armando is charged with strangling and threatening for using a deadly weapon to place his wife, Britany Barron, "in fear of imminent bodily injury." He also allegedly stuck a gun in his wife's mouth. Learned through her phone On Thursday, the release stated that Britany was arrested. She was charged with three counts of giving false physical evidence about Amerault's killing. On the night of September 19, the grisly killing allegedly happened after Armando went through his wife's phone. He found out that Britany was having a relationship with Amerault. According to an arrest warrant gathered by PEOPLE, the 31-year-old wife told the police that they both worked at a medical supply company in Jaffrey named Teleflex Medical OEM. See also: Massachusetts Mom Warns Other Parents After Son Got Strangled by Seat Belt Allegedly, Armando beat her, stuck a gun in her mouth, and then strangled her onto their bed. The arrest warrant affidavit stated that it had caused Britany to pass out. Later that night, the suspect allegedly texted Amerault using his wife's phone to lure him to Annette Wayside Park in the Rindge town. According to the affidavit, Britany told the police that Armando allegedly beat Amerault at the park. Then, she said that he demanded her to shoot Amerault. But she did not want to "place her finger on the trigger." Britany allegedly said that her husband fatally shot Amerault in his car three times. The warrant stated that after both drove separately to a campsite near Errol, Armando allegedly said that he would forgive Britanny once the sun is up the next day. See also: Mom Got Shot and Killed While Daughter Was Having Online Zoom Class Beheaded so no evidence could be found But he ordered her to behead her lover so no one could identify him through dental records, and allegedly, Brittany complied, based on the warrant. He also asked her to bury Amerault when Armando learned that authorities were looking for them. Brittany said that she was in "big trouble" when the police arrested her. The police found Amerault's body and head in separate places. Both Britany and Armando pleaded not guilty on Friday. Both are being held without bond and their attorneys did not respond to PEOPLE's comment requests. Richard Guerriero, Brittany's attorney, said that she was "under duress" based on the "New Hampshire Union Leader." CAMARILLO, Calif., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sabrewing Aircraft Company has announced an exclusive representation agreement with Arabian Development & Marketing Co. (ADMC) headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The five-year renewable agreement includes exclusivity for Saudi Arabia, the GCC and the Pan-African region. The deal includes an order for 102 Sabrewing Rhaegal-B unmanned, heavy-lift, Vertical Take Off Landing (VTOL), cargo aircraft. ADMC will soon begin taking additional aircraft orders throughout the GCC and Africa. The aircraft was recently unveiled to the public during an U.S. Air Force Agility Prime event. The deal between ADMC and Sabrewing also includes establishing aircraft assembly, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Africa to service the Rhaegal-B fleet and will provide technology jobs to the region. We are very pleased to have ADMC as our middle-eastern business partner. Its a perfect fit for Sabrewing and ADMC management in our mutual quest to pioneer unmanned VTOL cargo aircraft development/manufacturing and dominate this market sector by being the first-to-market this extraordinary aircraft, stated Ed De Reyes, Chairman and CEO of Sabrewing. As the first commercial purchase of an unmanned aircraft this is really groundbreaking and paving the way for a whole new industry. Sabrewings Rhaegal air vehicle has a turbo-electric drivetrain that is capable of taking off and landing vertically - in mud, snow, ice, deep sand or unimproved landing areas - at speeds of up to 200 knots (370 km/hr), and in weather that is all but impossible for manned aircraft. The Rhaegal is: Remotely piloted for commercial operations and fully autonomous for military applications. Delivers 5,400-pound (2450 kg) payload flying at altitudes of up to 22,000 feet (6,700 m) and has a range of up to 1000 nautical miles (1800 km). The wings fold on the ground for easy ground handling and in the air during hover for landing in tight spaces, The Rhaegals fold-up nose (a la Boeing 747 freighter aircraft) requires no special equipment for loading or unloading cargo in remote locations. All Sabrewing aircraft designs feature folding wings, fold-up noses, full pallet-sized cargo access, all-weather operation, and a first-of-its-kind ten-sensor Detect and Avoid (D&A) system to autonomously navigate a path around conflicting obstacles and other air traffic. This Agreement brings an emerging-technology, heavy-lift, unmanned cargo capability to the Middle Eastern and the Pan-African marketplace. It also brings advanced technologies in composites manufacturing, drone development and avionic sensor integration to our region, stated Ayman Zeibak, General Manager of ADMC, In addition to transporting critical supplies to our most remote regions, high-tech local jobs are being created. This program truly supports the vision for Saudi Arabias future. Through our company ADMC in Saudi Arabia, the GCC region will soon lead the world in the unmanned cargo business with an aircraft that can fly from the deserts to the sea, with great economy and high profitability for the cargo operators, Zeibak added. ADMC will soon be tendering new offers for production-line position orders for the high-capacity, heavy lift, unmanned cargo aircraft, secured by deposits, for deliveries beginning in the fall of 2021. After performing an in-depth analysis of several heavy-lift cargo drone companies in the United States, Europe and Asia, Sabrewings design, without exception, offers tremendous capability and operates at a fraction of the cost of other cargo aircraft," stated Steven Chikos, ADMCs Senior Aerospace/Defense Advisor. Operating expenses are projected to be 50% to 60% less than similar payload capacity manned cargo aircraft. The Sabrewing ADMC team is poised to bring this aircraft to market years ahead of its competition, he added. Image download URL available upon request Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider A federal judge granted TikTok an injunction Sunday, temporarily blocking the US government's attempt to block new downloads and software updates of the app in the US. According to the injunction, unsealed Monday, the judge said the restrictions imposed on TikTok "likely exceed" the authority of IEEPA, the law giving the president broad authority over economic transactions Donald Trump used to issue the app ban. TikTok also proved it would "suffer irreparable harm" if a ban occured, according to the judge. In court documents, TikTok said 80% to 90% of its US userbase would disappear if the ban lasted six months. Another hearing on Trump's attempted ban is expected before November 12, when the rest of the ban's "phased approach" is scheduled to go into effect. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The US government's attempts to ban TikTok "likely exceed" the legal bounds of Donald Trump's executive authority, a federal judge said in his decision to grant an injunction this weekend, temporarily blocking the ban. The judge's Sunday night ruling for the injunction came hours before the US government was set to enforce the first part of its two-pronged strategy to ban TikTok nationwide. Sunday's action, as recently laid out by the Commerce Department, would ban new app downloads and software updates for existing TikTok users. TikTok first filed an injunction request Wednesday as part of the company's lawsuit against the US government challenging the legality of Trump's proposed ban. The judge in the injunction, unsealed Monday, said the ban likely goes beyond the "lawful bounds" of the authority Donald Trump cited in his August executive orders to ban TikTok. Trump cited authority granted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the president to execute "broad authority" in regulating foreign economic transactions. However, IEEPA specifically excludes the ability to regulate "information or informational materials," as the judge pointed out in his injunction ruling. Story continues The federal judge also said TikTok demonstrated it would "suffer irreparable harm" if a ban were to go into effect. In documents submitted to the court, TikTok interim head Vanessa Pappas said that the app would lose 80% to 90% of its users if a ban lasted for more than six months. Pappas also says TikTok's battle with the US government has caused more than 50 candidates to turn down roles at TikTok a company whose US employee base stands at more than 1,500 and is still rapidly growing. The second part of the administration's order which issues a complete ban on TikTok by targeting internet hosting services and content delivery networks is set to take effect November 12. Separate proceedings will be held prior to that deadline to decide on the implementation of this second part of the ban, the judge said Sunday. It remains unclear what will happen to the US government's planned TikTok ban if a deal to settle the company's ownership in the US is finalized. The current proposal would break off TikTok's global business into a new US-based company, in which Oracle, Walmart and US investors would have substantial stakes. However, there's still disagreement over whether the deal would give majority ownership to US investors, or whether TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance would maintain its majority ownership. Last weekend, Trump said he had given his "blessing" to the Oracle-led deal. However, it is still awaiting approval from US and Chinese governments. Read the original article on Business Insider Donald Trump's latest member of the White House coronavirus task force could be providing the president with misleading or incorrect information, Dr Anthony Fauci has warned. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Monday he was concerned about the information provided to the president by Scott Atlas, an increasingly high-profile figure among Trump's inner circle. While Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx were not seen at Trump's COVID-19 briefing on Monday, Atlas played a prominent role. 'Most are working together,' Fauci said. 'I think, you know who the outlier is.' Atlas, 65, is a radiologist, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution of Stanford University and a frequent Fox News commentator. He was appointed to the White House task force on August 12, and has been dubbed the 'anti-Fauci' for frequently disagreeing with the veteran public health expert. Atlas previously served as chief of neuroradiology - radiology of the brain and nervous system - at the Stanford University Medical Center. He has also advised Republican presidential candidates on health care, including Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer. He is not known for his expertise on viruses or infectious diseases. Dr Anthony Fauci appeared on CNN on Monday and spoke of his concerns about Scott Atlas Atlas, pictured during a COVID-19 event on Monday, joined the task force on August 12 'Well yeah, I'm concerned that sometimes things are said that are really taken either out of context or actually incorrect,' said Fauci, when asked by CNN if he was worried Atlas was sharing misleading information. He denied that there was any conflict between them. 'If I have an issue with someone, I'll try and sit down with them and let them know why I differ with them and see if we can come to some sort of resolution,' Fauci said. 'So, I mean my differences with Dr Atlas, I'm always willing to sit down and talk with him and see if we could resolve those differences.' The host, Brian Stelter, asked if there could be legitimate disagreements about issues such as masks. 'When it comes to a mask, I can just tell you how I feel. And what I feel is not very much different from what has been expressed by Dr Deborah Birx and Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC. 'Masks are critically important in preventing the transmission and acquisition of SARS coronavirus 2. The data are strong. There's no doubt about that.' Atlas is known for his skepticism about the value of masks, and his push to get the U.S. back to business as quickly as possible. Redfield, in a conversation with a colleague that took place on Friday, was overheard suggesting Atlas is providing Trump with misleading data about the efficacy of masks, young people's susceptibility to the coronavirus and herd immunity. In a statement to CNN, a CDC spokesman did not deny the conversation took place. Dr Scott Atlas joined the White House coronavirus task force on August 12 At the end of August five sources told The Washington Post that Atlas, who has no training in epidemiology or virology, was promoting the idea of 'herd immunity'. The idea, which Sweden has adopted, is that there should be no widespread lockdown, but vulnerable populations should be strongly protected. A herd immunity strategy allows many people to get sick, and therefore generate immunity to the disease - eventually preventing the spread to the shielded vulnerable population. Sweden has been extremely hard-hit by the virus, with among the highest death rates per population. Atlas has denied the Post's report. 'There is no policy of the President or this administration of achieving herd immunity,' he said in a statement. 'There never has been any such policy recommended to the President or to anyone else from me.' But an administration official told CNN that the policies Atlas has suggested are in the vein of a herd immunity strategy. 'Everything he says and does points toward herd immunity', the source said. Health experts inside and outside the White House are expressing alarm at the idea that the United States could adopt Sweden's herd immunity approach. 'The administration faces some pretty serious hurdles in making this argument,' said Paul Romer, a professor at New York University who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2018. He told The Washington Post: 'One is a lot of people will die, even if you can protect people in nursing homes. Once it's out in the community, we've seen over and over again, it ends up spreading everywhere.' Infectious disease experts have said it is wrong to believe that young people cannot be affected, pointing out that more than 25,000 people younger than 65 have died of the virus in the United States. Furthermore, young people can easily spread the virus to vulnerable people of all ages, in a country already struggling with high rates of heart and lung disease and obesity. Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician, told CNN that up to two million Americans could die if the US adopted a herd immunity strategy. 'If we're waiting until 60% to 80% of people have it, we're talking about 200 million-plus Americans getting this -- and at a fatality rate of 1%, let's say, that's 2 million Americans who will die', she said. 'Those are preventable deaths of our loved ones' Trump has not explicitly mentioned herd immunity, but appears open to the idea. 'We are aggressively sheltering those at highest risk, especially the elderly, while allowing lower-risk Americans to safely return to work and to school, and we want to see so many of those great states be open,' he said during his speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday night. 'We want them to be open. They have to be open. They have to get back to work.' El presidente @MartinVizcarraC, junto al titular del @MininterPeru, Cesar Gentille, participa de la entrega de 2 plantas de oxigeno para el hospital PNP Luis N. Saenz. Donacion permitira mejorar la atencion de efectivos policiales y sus familias. ?? https://t.co/GzyuW4ADGV pic.twitter.com/iO8nJpZgFi Jacksonville Fire Departments fire training facility north of the Morgan County Animal Shelter finally is up and running, providing firefighters a space in which to practice necessary skills, including live-fire training. The facility has been more than six years in the making. Some areas still have to be cleaned up before the building can be used for live-fire training, but it should be less than a month before it is fully operational, Fire Chief Doug Sills said. There are a few areas that need to be cleaned up that are a trip hazard or need to be sanded, Sills said. It needs to be cleaned up and painted. The project has been ongoing since 2012 and, when finished, will allow firefighters to train in Jacksonville instead of having to go to Champaign. Firefighters now receive training through the fire academy, but any ongoing training is completed in-house within the fire department or through programs farther away. The two-story training facility will replicate a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house, and will have a third operational floor for training on top of the building. The center will be able to simulate live-fire situations and provide search-and-rescue scenarios, ladder training and confined-spaces training. We never really, in our history, had an area or facility to provide training, Sills said. We do the best we can with donated facilities or in-house in the engine bay, but not to this standard. Having access to a local training facility will provide a place for the departments personnel to continue training, improve their skills and learn new skills without the need to go elsewhere. The department already has been using the facility, even though it isnt quite completed, Sills said. Weve been able to do some firefighter rescue operations, ground rescue training, using some smoke machines, he said. Depending on the weather, crews will be out to clean up and paint the building throughout October, Sills said. Suicides in the US armed forces have jumped by 20 percent compared to the same period last year according to the latest Defense Department data reviewed by the Associated Press (AP). The US Army has seen the greatest rise with a 30 percent increase, going from 88 suicides last year to 114. The US National Guard saw a 10 percent spike from 78 last year to 86 this year. This comes after an initial decline in suicides among active duty and reserve soldiers from January through March. There have been 4,231 suicide deaths in the military between 2006 and 2020, accounting for nearly one quarter of all active duty and reserve fatalities during the period. Suicide ranks second behind accidents as the leading cause of death in the military. US Army leaders have suggested that the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has played a part in the rise in suicides. In an AP interview Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said We cannot say definitively it is because of COVID. But there is a direct correlation from when COVID started, the numbers actually went up. Last year was the worst year in the US Air Force for suicides in 30 years. Air Force Chief Gen. Charles Brown told the AP that from a suicide perspective, we are on a path to be as bad as last year. Air Force reserves have seen 98 suicides as of September 15. The Pentagon refused the APs request to publicly release the 2020 data or to discuss the issue of suicides in the military. US Navy and Marines officials also refused to discuss suicides happening in their respective branches. James Helis, director of the Armys resilience programs, which focuses on soldiers mental and physical health, cited isolation, financial disruptions, loss of childcare, and remote schooling as causes for the strain on the rank-and-file. Most suicides happen on military bases, accounting for 3,940 of the 4,231 deaths. On military bases the conditions which afflict the by-in-large working class rank-and-file in their civilian lives prevail and are often times exacerbated. This is particularly true for Fort Hood, which has seen 71 suicides on the base between 2016 and 2020 according to an investigation by the New York Times, in addition to 7 murders. Pfc. Logan Castello, 21, was one of those who tragically took his life, after being stationed at Fort Hood for five months. While focusing on the two sexual assault related murders on the base the military, and media, has been notably silent on the topic of suicides, including in regard to Castellos death. The Army failed to release information and autopsy reports from Pfc. Castellos case, although he died in November 2019. Patricia Troyan, the mother of Pfc. Castello, stated that He [Castello] should have been hospitalized. Its been nine months and we still have not received the investigation packet or autopsy results. We have not even received his official death certificate yet. Suicide is not a rare phenomenon at Fort Hood, Patricia Troyn, Castellos mother told the World Socialist Web Site. Yet my son did not receive a press release. There was no community outrage. He deserves the acknowledgment of his death and recognition that he LIVED, as does every other soldier who desperately took their own lives at Fort Hood. Prior to entering the Army, my son did not have any mental health history. The Army failed him and now they have forgotten him. Pfc Logans case is not an isolated one and is more indicative of the US militarys treatment of the rank-and-file as a whole. With the pandemic raging out of control, soldiers have been ordered to continue their normal duties, resulting in tens of thousands of confirmed cases. The Pentagons justification for this has been an emphasis on readiness, that is, readiness for imperialist intrigue and world war. Military provocations against Russian and China have been escalated despite the pandemic, while more troops and equipment have been deployed to Syria to shore up the USs illegal occupation. According to official figures published by the Department of Defense there are 44,529 cases in the military, a number which rises to 64,602 when including contractors, dependents, and civilians affiliated with or employed by the military. The Pentagon has confirmed 95 deaths from COVID-19. The Army has increased deployment times due to the pandemic, adding a two-week quarantine period before and after the deployment bringing the total deployment time to 11 months. There is no doubt that nearly two decades of unending war in the Middle East and Africa have contributed to the historic climb in suicides within the military. Army officials have conceded this, with AP stating, Army leaders also said troops have been under pressure for nearly two decades of war. National Guard soldiers are facing additional stress from responding to rampant wildfires on the West Coast of the US, providing disaster relief for hurricanes battering the Gulf of Mexico and Southern US, providing COVID-19 testing to tens of thousands of people and being ordered by state governors to suppress anti-police-violence protests across the country. The well-founded fear of acquiring the virus while on duty is affecting soldiers as well. In May the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was inundated with COVID-19 cases and its Commander Brett Crozier was sacked by Acting US Navy Secretary James McPherson after calling for shore leave for the sailors so as to prevent further infections. Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa saw an outbreak of COVID-19 in July. Military One Source, a Department of Defense website, stated in a July 24 release that the military would be testing service members who are asymptomatic in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines which are known to be insufficient by medical science. The military has more or less followed the same formula for the rank-and-file as the ruling class has followed for the working class as a whole in the United States. On the US militarys health service Tricares website, it is stated that: Testing is a primarily for those exposed to the virus or showing symptoms. The test has to be medically necessary and appropriate and ordered by a provider in a military hospital or clinic, or a TRICARE-authorized provider. This means there will be no significant effort to stop the virus through effective containment and contact tracing, and the tests will only be applied after the fact. TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM, TSX: AEM) ("Agnico Eagle") announced today that it has formed an Exploration Joint Venture (the "Joint Venture") in Colombia with Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) ("Newmont"). The 50-50 Joint Venture, which will be operated by Agnico Eagle, will explore the Anza project and seek other prospective gold targets of district-scale potential in Colombia. "The Anza project is well located within the Mid-Cauca belt in Colombia which hosts several world class gold deposits. Historical work on the project indicates the potential for various styles of mineralization, including porphyry, epithermal and VMS", said Guy Gosselin, Agnico Eagle's Senior Vice-President, Exploration. "Agnico Eagle has been actively looking at Colombia for some time, and this low-cost entry is consistent with our exploration strategy and existing investment in Royal Road Minerals. We look forward to working with our Joint Venture partner Newmont to advance the Anza project", added Mr. Gosselin. The Anza project is a gold exploration project, comprising exploration contracts and applications totaling approximately 200 km2 located in the Mid-Cauca belt in Colombia. The project is 50 km west of Medellin and 60 km south from Zijin Mining's Buritica operation. More information on the Anza project and Newmont's previously announced Exploration Agreement with Orosur Mining Inc. ("Orosur") with respect to the Anza project can be found in Orosur's news release dated September 10, 2018. Agnico Eagle will sole fund the Joint Venture until expenditures equal Newmont's previous investment in the Anza project (approximately $2.9 million), which is expected to be achieved in the next 12 months. Thereafter the parties will continue funding on a 50-50 basis. About Agnico Eagle Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company that has produced precious metals since 1957. Its operating mines are located in Canada, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in each of these countries as well as in the United States and Sweden. Agnico Eagle and its shareholders have full exposure to gold prices due to its long-standing policy of no forward gold sales. Agnico Eagle has declared a cash dividend every year since 1983. Forward-Looking Statements The information in this news release has been prepared as at September 29, 2020. Certain statements in this news release, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" under the provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. These statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will" or similar terms. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements relating to the exploration and advancement of the Anza project and the anticipated timing of exploration spending. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Agnico Eagle as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, known and unknown, could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Other than as required by law, Agnico Eagle does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. SOURCE Agnico Eagle Mines Limited Related Links http://www.agnicoeagle.com As of 9am on Tuesday, there had been a further 7,143 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, the biggest rise since the start of the pandemic. Experts have previously warned that describing the daily figure as a record could be misleading as it is not clear how many people were actually infected during the height of the first wave due to a lack of community testing at the time. The pattern here suggests a doubling time of around two weeks, something similar is seen by looking at the number of patients on ventilators. The number of new UK cases reported daily is not a real-time snapshot instead, it is the number of new positive cases reported in the past 24 hours, which includes people who tested positive days or even weeks ago. Advertisement James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and professor at the University of Oxford, said it was disappointing in the extreme that real-time data for positive tests in the UK have become very noisy, making it difficult to identify clear trends. Prof Naismith said there were fewer problems in measuring and reporting hospital admissions, adding: The pattern here suggests a doubling time of around two weeks, something similar is seen by looking at the number of patients on ventilators. Unless the data quality improves, it could require up to two weeks of such daily figures to be certain of the success or otherwise of current restriction measures He said the spread of the virus has accelerated this month, and that he shared widespread frustration in the two-week lag in monitoring the effectiveness of recent restrictions. Unless the data quality improves, it could require up to two weeks of such daily figures to be certain of the success or otherwise of current restriction measures, he added. It is my fervent hope that this time round we will avoid judging the virus by counting the number of tragedies. Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said it is important to look at data over the period of a week as opposed to a single day to determine trends. The world has now passed the grim milestone of a million Covid-19 deaths and we are likely to see increasing hospitalisations and deaths, he said. The UK government said a further 71 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Tuesday. This brings the UK total to 42,072. Separate figures published by the UKs statistics agencies show there have now been nearly 57,900 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Meghan Markle, here in South Africa in 2019, has lost the latest battle. (AFP) Meghan Markle has lost the latest court battle against the Mail On Sunday, as a judge has ruled the paper can rely on extracts from a book about her in its defence. Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) after it published extracts of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in the weeks after her wedding to Prince Harry. In the latest pre-trial showdown, ANL asked to amend its defence to argue that she co-operated with the authors of the recently published book Finding Freedom to put out their version of certain events. Finding Freedom, written by royal correspondents Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, was released in August and contained new information about when Harry and Meghan were dating, and the first time Meghan met her brother-in-law to be Prince William. Meghans lawyers deny either she or Harry had anything to do with the book, and even issued a scathing statement suggesting it was the subject of creative licence. On the books references to the letter she sent to her father, and the subsequent reporting, Meghans lawyers pointed out the authors used references that were extracts from the letter lifted from the defendants own articles. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Family is written by Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie. (Getty Images) Read more: Why is Meghan Markle suing the Mail on Sunday? Delivering her verdict on ANLs request to include the book, Judge Francesca Kaye said the amended defence did not raise new defences but added further particulars. She said the Duchess of Sussex knows the case she has to meet and that there is no suggestion that she is in fact unable to do so. Its already the case that the duchess, who now lives in the US and is likely to join the case via videolink, will have to hand over months worth of communications, including texts, emails and call logs. Justin Rushbrooke, representing Meghan, immediately asked for permission to appeal but it was denied. However they could take an appeal to the Court of Appeal. He said the inherent improbability of Meghan co-operating with the book could be seen by simply comparing what the defendants own articles said with what the book said about the letter. Story continues Last week, in written statements to court Rushbrooke said: The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book. Scobie even provided a witness statement confirming the couple did not speak to him or Durand, adding: They did not authorise the Book and have never been interviewed for it. The Book was always prepared on the understanding that it was to be independent and unauthorised. As journalists we wanted to be able to look into the other side of the story without worrying about offending any collaborators/sources. WATCH: Mail On Sunday can rely on recent book about Harry and Meghan Speaking after the ruling, a spokesperson for Schillings, who are acting on The Duchesss behalf, said: The Court has today stated that The Mail on Sunday will be allowed to amend its legal defence for trial regardless of whether that defence is accurate or true, which based on legally sworn witness statements refuting the newspapers arguments, it is not. The Mail has been allowed to prolong this action and try contending its amended defence at trial, where we have no doubt it will fail. This defence has no merit and is in fact false. We were prepared for this potential outcome given the low threshold to amend a pleading for a privacy and copyright case. The Master made clear that if The Mail on Sundays defence is indeed weak and without evidence, it would be a house of cards and fall down at trial. This latest hearing was unfortunately another step in a case that has already been drawn out by a defendant who uses the legal process to exploit The Duchesss privacy and the privacy of those around her for profit-motivated clickbait rather than journalism. As a reminder, it is The Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers who acted unlawfully and are the ones on trial, not The Duchess of Sussex, although they would like their readers to believe otherwise. This court battle is the third skirmish between the two parties since Meghan announced she was suing ANL at the end of a royal tour in southern Africa in October 2019. Meghan won one, in which she applied to keep the names of her friends who spoke to People magazine about the letter, private, but ANL won the first, seeing her have to strike out parts of her case against them. WATCH: Meghan denies collaborating with Finding Freedom authors Read more: 4 court battles Harry and Meghan are currently fighting The duchess, 39, says that she did not know her friends were going to speak to the magazine about the letter until she saw the published article. In a statement to the court last week, the duchesss lawyer said a section in Finding Freedom about the birth of Archie appears to be the product of creative licence and pointed out that Harry could not have texted his father, Prince Charles, because Charles doesnt have a mobile phone. Meghan is suing over five articles which appeared in the Mail On Sunday and MailOnline in February 2019 which included parts of the letter she had sent in August 2018. The headline of the first Mail on Sunday article read: Revealed: The letter showing true tragedy of Meghans rift with a father she says has broken her heart into a million pieces. The matter is to go to full trial in January 2021. Thames House, which houses the offices of MI5, in London is seen in this file photo. (Cnbrb/CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia Commons) Critics Challenge New UK Bill Authorizing Lawbreaking by MI5, Police Informants Rights groups welcomed a proposed new British law that will create a legal basis for undercover informants to break the law when needed in the fight against serious crimes, but said that it doesnt go far enough in specifying which crimes could be authorized. The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Commons on Sept. 24, would explicitly allow informants recruited by MI5, the police, and other government departments to engage in criminality to secure the trust of those they are investigating, the government said in a statement. The new legislation is to confirm a set of safeguards, including human rights compliance, creating a statutory basis for the crime-fighting tactic that has already been in use for some time, the government said. Secret Policy However, prior to legal cases brought against the government, it was not publicly known that MI5, Britains domestic intelligence agency, had been authorizing informants to commit crimes under a secret policy that was not subject to meaningful oversight, rights watchdog Privacy International (PI) said. Thames House (L) which houses the London offices of MI5 is seen from Lambeth Bridge in London in this file photo. (Cnbrb/CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia Commons) PI and other right groups, who have been challenging the government in the courts for more transparency, said the bills lack of details about which crimes could be authorized was concerning. We are seriously concerned that the Bill fails to expressly prohibit MI5 and other agencies from authorizing crimes like torture, murder, and sexual violence, Maya Foa, director of justice organization Reprieve, said in a joint statement with PI, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, and the Pat Finucane Centre. Our intelligence agencies do a vital job in keeping this country safe, but there must be common-sense limits on their agents activities, and we hope MPs will ensure these limits are written into the legislation, she added. Oversight and Limitations Director-general of MI5 Ken McCallum said informant lawbreaking was necessary to gain the critical information needed to save lives. Since March 2017, MI5 and Counter Terror Police have together thwarted 27 terror attacks. Without the contribution of human agents, be in no doubt, many of these attacks would not have been prevented, he said in a statement. The Carriage Gates outside the Houses of Parliament which Khalid Masood was able to enter during his attack in Westminster, London, on March 24, 2017. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Lynne Owens, director general of the National Crime Agency, said informants are authorized to engage in criminal activity only when absolutely necessary and proportionate and under great care and scrutiny. Oversight is provided by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson. PI and Reprieve, who launched a legal challenge against the secret MI5 policy in 2017, do not object to the authorizing of informants to commit crimes per se. We are not challenging the fact that the use of informants can be a very useful tool to actually fight organized crime, Ilia Siatitsa, program director and legal officer at PI, told The Epoch Times. But what we are challenging is the way the bill regulates the use of informants, including the lack of specific limitations with regard to what kind of acts can be authorized, she added. Another concern is oversight. Right now there is no double lock around these authorizations, so while you need a judicial warrant in other cases, to use an [MI5] informant, actually all you need is a supervisors approval, she said. Siatitsa also said that informants themselves who are acting in precarious situations needed clear parameters and should know whether theyd be prosecuted if they went beyond what was pre-authorized. The FBI and Canadas intelligence service, CSIS, have such safeguards in place already, according to the joint statement. Canada explicitly set the limits and the contours around which these acts can be authorized, Siatitsa said. Legal Proceedings Satitisa believes the new bill is related to Privacy Internationals litigation, which challenged the legal basis of MI5s authorization of informants to commit crimes. Before our case, the use of informants by MI5 was entirely secret, she said. It was only when we went to court that the government revealed some of this information. In December 2019, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal narrowly ruled 32 (pdf) that MI5s powers to authorize informants to break the law were implicit, but one dissenting judge warned that the governments claimed basis for the policy amounts to a dangerous precedent, according to the joint statement. PI, Reprieve, and co-complainants Committee on the Administration of Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre, who joined the case in 2018, are continuing their litigation. New law lets MI5 authorise crimes with no hard limits. CAJ has joined with @FinucaneCentre @Reprieve & @privacyint to call for the Bill to be amended to include explicit restrictions: https://t.co/BUtFmg9Wix pic.twitter.com/5ZLRsfSxs7 CAJ (@CAJNi) September 24, 2020 Permission to appeal the 2019 ruling has been granted. Theres no fixed date as yet due to restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, but the appeal may be heard by January next year. Even if the bill has passed [into law by then] we are still challenging to what extent the use of informants by MI5 was lawful before the bill came to the fore, she said. The public has the right to know what type of criminal acts MI5s policy authorizes in the UK. Our democracy and our most fundamental rights are at risk if the government permits MI5 agents to commit crimes with impunity, Siatitsa said in the joint statement. The CHIS bill will not act retroactively to address the way MI5 used informants from as early as the 1990s, nor allegations of past abuses of authorizations by informants, Siatitsa explained. Other agencies that will be covered under the CHIS bill include the seven agencies and departments of the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC), the police, the Home Office immigration and border forces, the military, the Ministry of Justice, the Food Standards Agency, the Environment Agency, and others. Q: Is there a requirement to wear masks inside buildings? The reason I ask is that I recently went to Kernersville Dodge and none of the employees were wearing masks. The customers were but the employees weren't. What gives? Am I to believe every person working at that dealership has a medical reason to not wear a mask? Answer: Tim Mitchell, the owner of Kernersville Chrysler, Dodge Jeep, Ram, said, "We comply with all current CDC guidelines and follow them closely. In addition, we daily sanitize and screen all employees prior to entering the workspace. As per the governors order, we are not allowed to ask questions of employees regarding their personal health reasons for not complying with the current order, nor deny customers the same right to conduct business here. In addition to the current orders, we do ask any employee dealing with a customer in close proximity to use a mask regardless of their personal situation if requested, and if they are not able to comply, then to please allow another associate to assist our customers as we are customer focused here at Kernersville CDJR. We take any feedback seriously and strive to do better in that area. Hopefully, these difficult and unusual times we find ourselves in will end soon." Seeking action against the contractors and the municipal corporation (MC) officials over alleged discrepancies and embezzlement in developmental works, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has demanded that a meeting of the MC General House be organised at the earliest. A delegation of SAD councillors led by leader of opposition Harbhajan Singh Dang met mayor Balkar Sandhu over the issue at MCs Zone B office on Tuesday. Councillors and SAD leaders, including Jaspal Giaspura, Sarabjeet Laddi, Gurmail Singh, Manpreet Manna and Vijay Danav, were present in the meeting. The delegation complained that 12 road samples had failed quality tests in the past, with the mayor himself catching an embezzlement of around Rs 44 lakh in the Jagraon Bridge reconstruction project, but no action has been taken against any contractor or the officials concerned. Dang said, MC should act against the contractors as public money is being wasted. There are many other issues related to development works and the mayor should immediately call a General House meeting for resolving the grievances of the councillors. The councillors said the meeting can be organised at the Guru Nanak stadium or any other suitable venue where social distancing can be maintained. Dang and Jaspal Giaspura said, If the Parliament and Vidhan Sabha sessions can be held, why cannot MC organise a meeting, which is pending since March? Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, The meeting has not been being organised due to the ongoing pandemic, but I will call one soon. It will be held in the stadium or any other suitable place where we could maintain social distancing. The inquiry in Jagraon Bridge case is being done by the local bodies department, and officials have already been given a warning regarding inferior quality works being done in the city. Arlene Foster is planning to meet widow Lissie Harper, who is supporting the First Minister's call for stiffer sentences for people who kill police officers. Mrs Harper, whose husband Andrew was fatally wounded after confronting burglars in 2019, is campaigning for a mandatory life sentence for perpetrators. Covid-19 restrictions permitting, Mrs Foster is hoping to meet Mrs Harper in person in London early next month. The DUP leader's special adviser Emma Little-Pengelly told the Belfast Telegraph that a provisional date of October 5 has already been agreed. Earlier this month the First Minister, well aware that Northern Ireland has the most lenient tariff across the UK, proposed much tougher sentences for those found guilty of murdering public servants. It followed the murder of Garda Adrian Donohoe, for which Co Armagh man Aaron Brady was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years. Mrs Foster has also been in touch with PC Harper's parents. Judges are bound by sentencing guidelines, which are different in each part of the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland, and must take into account mitigating circumstances, such as early guilty pleas, co-operation with police and remorse, as well as aggravating factors, such as intent and excessive violence. Ms Little-Pengelly said the First Minister was looking forward to meeting the 29-year-old self-employed businesswoman, who has been campaigning for change since she was widowed in west Berkshire last August. "We have provisionally scheduled a face to face meeting with Lissie Harper and a Police Federation representative in London on October 5 in the afternoon," the former South Belfast MP said. "Lissie would prefer a face to face [meeting] but it will depend on Covid. If it can't be done then we will do it online." In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph earlier this month, Mrs Harper said changes to the current UK laws "cannot come soon enough". And she said that she is encouraged by First Minister Foster pushing for Northern Ireland to introduce tougher jail terms. Here, the starting tariff for the murder of a public servants is 15-16 years - which Mrs Foster described as "morally indefensible" - while in the Republic, for example, the sentence for the capital murder of a police officer is 40 years. Capital murder legislates specifically for gardai, or prison officers, who are murdered in the line of duty. In England and Wales, the mandatory minimum sentence is 30 years and there is a minimum sentence of 20 years in Scotland. Mrs Harper's husband of just four weeks died after being dragged for over a mile by a criminal gang's getaway car in 2019. His killers were acquitted of murder but convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, Mrs Harper said it was ironic that our prison sentences are the most lenient in the UK when dissident republican paramilitaries are still targeting police officers. "I was shocked when I learned that the jail terms in Northern Ireland are so low," she said. "It's ridiculous in the UK - we're all part of the same country but jail terms vary. "Sentencing of 15-16 years in Northern Ireland is very insufficient. If you take somebody's life, the sentence should reflect that. Until you've experienced it first hand, many people don't realise what the situation is like." Her campaign for automatic life sentences for those found guilty of killing public servants has cross-party support in Westminster. The 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was gang-raped in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras, died on Tuesday morning, news agency ANI reported. The woman was allegedly raped by four men in her village on September 14 when she went to a farm. She was taken to a hospital in Aligarh the next day, and moved to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for better medical facilities. The woman was in critical condition, and on ventilator. According to the police, the woman had gone to the fields with her mother on the fateful day and had gone missing soon after. She was later found brutally injured. The accused also attempted to strangulate her. The police had later arrested the four accused. The Kotwali in-charge in Hathras was removed and sent to police lines. The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was deployed at the house of the woman. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati had condemned the incident, saying no woman from any community is safe in Uttar Pradesh and asked the state government to pay attention to it. The army violated ceasefire by resorting to heavy firing and mortar shelling in forward areas along the in Jammu and Kashmir's district on Tuesday, a defence spokesman said. The Indian Army retaliated befittingly, he said. "At about 0430 hours today, the army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along LoC in Mankote sector," the spokesman said. The army has violated the ceasefire 45 times this month. An Army personnel was killed and two others, including an officer, injured as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by using heavy fire and mortar shells along the in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district a fortnight ago, officials said. On September 2, a JCO was killed in ceasefire violation by the Pakistan army along LoC in Keri sector of Rajouri. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SINGAPORE China's air passenger volume could jump by 10% year-over-year during a critical holiday season that begins later this week but that won't help Chinese airlines turn profitable until international travel resumes, said an analyst. Chinese airlines, like their peers globally, have been hit by a slump in travel as countries around the world closed borders and limit movements of people to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Domestic travel in China has rebounded strongly as the country recovers from the pandemic, but Chinese airlines will continue to feel the pain, said Ivan Su, equity analyst at Morningstar. "Without this international demand, it's unlikely according to our analysis that Chinese airlines would be able to go back into profit territory," Su told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Tuesday. "The overall theme for Chinese carriers is to curb losses during this period instead of making profits," he said. "Until we see major a pickup in yield, we don't really think Chinese airlines will be able to generate much profits off domestic routes for long." Su added that he did not expect international passenger volumes into China which has been down about 95% now from a year ago to pick up strongly this year. However, the Chinese have become keen travelers within their own country as international borders remain largely shut. In August, domestic air passenger volumes in China were 20% lower from a year ago. In the later weeks of September, they were higher as compared to a year ago, said Su. "Heading into the Golden Week, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a 10% increase year over year in domestic passenger volume," said Su, referring to week-long Mid-Autumn Festival public holiday starting on Thursday in China. Washington, Sep 29 (AP) President Donald Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, is on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of meetings with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other pivotal Republican senators in preparation for her fast-track confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. Joined by Vice President Mike Pence, McConnell said he was glad to welcome Barrett and get the process started on her confirmation. But the Republican leader declined to answer questions about whether the judge should recuse herself if legal challenges to the election between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden land at the high court. We truly do believe Judge Barrett represents the best of America, Pence said in brief remarks in the Senates Mansfield Room. Democrats are confronting the limits of their power as they fight against the nomination and some have said they wont meet with Barrett, who is expected to be confirmed for the seat held by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by the end of October. With Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, and just two GOP senators opposing a quick vote, Barrett appears to have enough support for confirmation. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged Tuesday it will be an uphill fight to stop Trumps nominee. But he said Americans are on Democrats side in preferring to wait until after the election so the winner can choose the next justice. He is among those refusing to meet with Barrett, calling the process illegitimate, and said her conservative views on health care, abortion and other issues are far outside the mainstream. Its not over, Schumer said on ABCs The View. Barrett made no public remarks at the start of what is expected to be days of meet-and-greet sessions with senators, a traditional part of the confirmation process. She also was to meet Tuesday with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and other senators on the panel. Hearings at the committee are set to begin Oct. 12. No justice has ever been confirmed to the Supreme Court so close to a presidential election. According to a national poll by The New York Times and Siena College that was released Sunday, a clear majority 56% of voters believes the winner of the Nov. 3 presidential election should fill Ginsburgs seat, versus 41% who said Trump should as the current president. Unable to block Trumps pick on their own, Democrats are aimed at avoiding mistakes that could hurt their partys candidates in November. They are arguing to voters that Barretts nomination threatens the protections of the Affordable Care Act a focus that Biden has embraced and many Democrats see as a winning message. The court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obamas health care law just after the election, adding to the urgency of the issue. But there will also be ample opportunities for Democrats to move off-message as partisans on both sides infuse the nomination battle with cultural, gender and religious politics. Some in the left wing of the Democratic Party are pushing for senators to boycott the hearings or commit to adding more justices to the court if Biden wins the presidential election. That has fueled concerns in the party about placing too much emphasis on procedural tactics that only delay votes by hours or days even as precious time ticks away in the few remaining weeks before the Nov. 3 election.Religion, in particular, could be a minefield. Democrats worry that Barrett has tied her Catholicism too closely to some of her statements and decisions, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, still faces criticism for her comments during Barretts 2017 confirmation hearing. Feinstein had joined Republicans on the panel in asking Barrett about her faith, but then went further by telling the then-professor that when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. Republicans now use those comments against Democrats. The Constitution prohibits a religious test from serving in office, but I dont expect that to stop the Democrats, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. He described Feinsteins words as snidely put and said Democrats had suggested Barretts views render her ineligible for office. Asked about Feinsteins comments, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, another committee member, said religious faith should not be at issue here. He then pivoted to health care. (AP) . Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor Oregon lawmakers who are up for election this year and challengers hoping to unseat them have collectively raised more than $13 million this cycle in the states no-limits political money system, according to The Oregonian/OregonLives analysis of campaign finance data. A handful of the most contentious races could surpass $1 million in spending and the ten most expensive legislative elections have collectively pulled in nearly $5.5 million in contributions, Oregon campaign finance records show. The Tripura High Court on Monday asked the Biplab Kumar Deb-led state government to submit action taken report on the basis of suggestions provided by a central team of doctors on tackling the coronavirus (Covid-19) situation. The division bench of the high court comprising chief justice Akil Kureshi and justice Shubhashish Talapatra asked the Tripura government to submit the report before the next hearing which would take place on October 5. The central team which consisted of senior doctors visited various parts of the state over a period of ten days till September 18. On September 11, the court directed the state government to submit an affidavit within a weeks time providing information with regards to the infrastructure available in the state-run G B Pant Hospital situated in Agartala. This step was taken after a series of allegations regarding the health services provided to Covid-19 infected patients were doing the rounds. Taking suo-motu cognisance of media reports on the condition of infected patients and their relatives in the hospital, the division bench observed that time has come when court needs to make inquiries from the government on matters related to the handling of Covid-19 crisis and health care facilities in Tripura. Advocate general Arun Kanti Bhowmik informed the court that the state government would submit an affidavit on action taken before the stipulated time. Meanwhile, Tripura on Tuesday reported 432 Covid-19 cases and three more related-deaths which pushed the overall tally to 25,353, a health department official said. The total cases include 5,877 active cases, 19,180 recoveries and 273 deaths, the official added. (With PTI inputs) Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:33:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUDAPEST, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian-Chinese railway container traffic is picking up, and intermodal traffic increased by about 13 percent between April and August of this year, Rail Cargo Hungaria said on Tuesday. The company is Hungary's leading intermodal terminal, managing the intermodal freight transport units and operating as a cross-road for East-West intermodal freight forwarding in the Central and Eastern European region. "A 43-container train from Chinese city of Xi'an arrived in Hungary recently. The Xi'an-Budapest train is expected to run on a weekly basis in the future," Rail Cargo Hungaria said in a statement sent to Hungarian news agency MTI. "Two additional trains are on the way, and the third one is currently being put together in Xi'an," it added. The merchandise on this route feeds the supply chains of several Central European countries, some of the containers will continue their journey to Vienna of Austria, Munich of Germany, Milan of Italy, and cities in Romania, Serbia and other destinations from the Hungarian terminal, according to the company. The bulk of the cargo included health and hygiene equipment, medical, home electronics and clothing products needed to curb the novel coronavirus epidemic. Another freight train to Budapest from Chinese city of Jinan runs regularly every two weeks. The railway company underlined that it expected a further increase in rail intermodal traffic in the future. Enditem UPDATED Tuesday, Sept. 29: Police move in on protesters before N. Portland march; 24 arrested in demonstration (key takeaways) *** Several dozen Portland police moved on protesters gathering in a North Portland park Monday night even before the group started marching. The armored officers swept through the park, confiscating homemade shields and other articles. A scuffle broke out when officers tried to confiscate a picket sign that read vote, multiple videos from the scene showed, and at least one person was detained. Police also deployed pepper spray. Officers also filtered through the crowd, shining flashlights at peoples faces. A journalist for The Oregonian/OregonLive heard one officer say they were looking for a particular person. The new tactic clearly caught the protesters off guard, temporarily splintering the crowd and delaying at least for a time the planned march to a nearby police union office. The crowd eventually regrouped and marched as planned, where police declared the event an unlawful assembly. Twenty-four people were ultimately arrested. The vast majority are accused of interfering with a peace officer, disorderly conduct or both charges. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt has said his prosecutors wont pursue demonstrators accused of those charges, among others, if the allegations dont involve "deliberate'' property damage, theft or force against another person, or threats of force. Portland police said a sergeant was punched in the face during the demonstration and was taken to a hospital. Five other officers were sprayed with a chemical, according to police. Portland protesters gathered at Kenton Park where Portland Police showed up before the group marched towards the Portland Police Association building. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian The Portland Police Association, the union for front-line police officers, has been a frequent target of protests, as well as graffiti and attempts at more serious property damage, including fires. As about 150 protesters arrived at the union office, police announced via loudspeaker that nearby streets remained open to auto traffic and that the sidewalk in front of the union building was closed. People who stood there, police said, could be subject to force including impact munitions and pepper spray. Some demonstrators nonetheless stood in the street. A handful stood in front of the building and tagged the building with graffiti. Officers arrived shortly after, standing in the roadway between the largest group of protesters and the Portland Police Association building. Police made several arrests and surrounded the union building, preventing protesters from approaching. Police eventually departed but returned shortly after and charged into the crowd in what appeared to be an attempt to make targeted arrests. Officers declared the event an unlawful assembly minutes later and ordered protesters to leave. Few did until a police line began marching toward the crowd. Police made multiple arrests over the course of the night. At least one of the many livestreamers at the march march was arrested while broadcasting. Monday marked four months of protests against police violence and systemic racism following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer. It was also just days after a grand jury declined to indict Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in the the shooting death of a Black woman, Breonna Taylor, during a botched drug raid in March. It came after a weekend in which Gov. Kate Brown put the Portland Police Bureau under the command of Oregon State Police during dueling events held by far-right groups and counter-protests affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement. Members of the Police Bureaus rapid response teams, which police protests, were deputized as federal officers. The officers will retain the federally conferred authority until the end of the year, police said Monday. The action will allow federal prosecutors to bring allegations of assault on a federal officer if the deputized Portland police officers face attacks from any demonstrators, and allow the officers to make arrests for other federal offenses. Federal crimes typically carry a stiffer sentence. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Innovative Health has gained more FDA clearances than any other reprocessor in recent years, and were not planning to slow down one bit. Innovative Health, Inc. today announced it has received FDA clearance to reprocess St. Judes Advisor HD Grid Mapping Catheter. With this clearance, the companywhich also offers St. Judes Advisor FL and VL Mapping Cathetersbecomes the only company that can reprocess all major mapping catheters from the markets key providers: Biosense Webster (Pentaray, Lasso, Decanav), Medtronic (Achieve), and St. Jude (Advisor). Innovative Healths clearances to reprocess all dominant St. Jude mapping catheters represent a milestone in single-use device reprocessing, as we can now help EP labs unlock significantly more savings per procedure by using reprocessed mapping catheters, regardless of the labs brand choice, said Innovative Health CEO Rick Ferreira. Innovative Healths latest FDA clearance is particularly noteworthy because the Advisor HD Grid is a technologically advanced, sensor-enabled cathetera complex technology requiring specialized protocols for reprocessing. The clearance also demonstrates the companys ability to receive reprocessing clearance early in technology lifecycles, so that hospitals can adopt new technologies without compromising the economic sustainability of EP procedures. The Advisor HD Grid represents Innovative Healths 35th reprocessing clearance since 2016 and its third in just over a month. Other reprocessors have only a few clearances to reprocess the complex mapping catheters. Despite the trying economic landscape of 2020, Innovative Health remains committed to advancing the field of electrophysiology and opening up important procedures to more patients by helping EP labs increase their savings, no matter the technology their doctors prefer, Ferreira added. Innovative Health has gained more FDA clearances than any other reprocessor in recent years, and were not planning to slow down one bit. About Innovative Health Innovative Health is an advanced medical device reprocessing company that offers smarter utilization of medical devices in hospitals cardiology and electrophysiology programs. Lady Amelia Windsor has revealed her wellness guide to London - including a 'scary and painful' laser hair removal and a lavish 250 facial. The 24-year-old model, who is 39th in line to the throne, made the revelations in society bible Tatler, where she holds the title of contributing editor. Lady Amelia, who has been crowned the most beautiful member of the royal family in the past, suggested readers splash the cash at clinics across London featuring organic serums and sustainable products. From her 2,500 Mrs Smooth hair removal routine to a bespoke 'Body Ballancer' treatment at a membership gym and spa, Lady Amelia has given a glimpse into everything it takes to perfect the royal look. Lady Amelia Windsor has revealed her wellness guide to London - including a 'scary and painful' laser hair removal and a lavish 250 facial 'Body Ballancer' treatment - 130 per month The royal, who is based in Notting Hill but lived in Cambridgeshire with her family during the pandemic, revealed she is a member of Bodyism, a holistic wellness company. The brand has bases in Westbourne Grove, London and Heckfield Place in Hampshire as well as an international base within a luxury membership gym on Saadiyat Island. Writing in Tatler, Lady Amelia said she is partial to one of the company's 'famous Signature classes' which is described online as 'carefully designed to strengthen and tone your whole body through a dynamic fusion of interval training, pilates and yoga, meditation and stretching.' Among the London hotspots recommended by the royal, who is 39th in line to the throne, is membership spa and gym Bodyism Meanwhile she said she likes to follow up a work out with the 'Body Ballancer', where she 'slips inside a cosy padded sleeping bag for 45 minutes as it tightens and loosens around your body to increase circulation and reduce fluid retention.' She notes she leaves 'feeling toned and alleviated of tension in the body' allowing 'a calmer mind' and also said it 'much improves' her sleep quality.' 250 organic facial Lady Amelia gushed over Joanne Evan's Holland Park clinic Skin Matters, which she said 'feels more like a beautifully decorated home.' As well as hosting events and workshops during normal times, the royal revealed she likes to retreat down the winding staircase to the 'cosy treatment rooms' which come complete with a 'fluffy duvet' for 'maximum indulgence.' Lady Amelia insisted that Joanne knows how to keep skin glowing with a range of organic and sustainable skin care products. Facials online range in price from 170 to 480, with the advanced vitamin facial seeing soundwaves massaged over your face and neck to 'penetrate the most active ingredients of vitamins 4,000 times deeper into your skin.' 2,500 Mrs Smooth laser hair removal Despite calling the process 'painful' and 'rather scary', Lady Amelia also revealed another crucial part of her beauty regime is laser hair removal. She said she 'relied upon' Santi, a small 'peaceful' beauty clinic in the centre of South Kensington, for the procedure and called Tariq and his team 'like a family'. Another clinic mentioned on the royal's wellness guide to the capital was Santi, where she said the manager Tariq and his team were 'like a family' Prices range from 65 for a single treatment on the nipple, up to 2500 for a full 'Mrs Smooth' package, which promises to rid the entire body from hair in just six treatments. Meanwhile men looking at the same treatment could expect to pay 3,000 at the beauty clinic. 65 pampering manicure Lady Amelia also revealed she relies upon the local nail salon Portobello Girl for manicures and pedicures, with a combination of both treatments costing 65. She said the plant filled salon is one of her favourites in the area while praising the owner Aya for making visitors feel 'instantly at home.' The royal revealed the treatments always left her with a smile on her face. Big number: $700,000, the total estimated cost of administering a byelection to fill Jim Karygiannis council seat in Scarborough, including the cost of the typical campaign donation rebate program. Whatever the cost, theres no reason to deny voters a chance to choose a new local representative. After a long series of court decisions and court appeals, the Supreme Court of Canadas decision not to consider his case made it official last week: Jim Karygiannis is out of a job. Hes no longer the city councillor for Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt, and is barred from running again until after the next scheduled municipal election in 2022. If theres a lesson to be learned from the saga, I guess its this: dont exceed your campaign spending limits, even if what youre spending on is a $27,000 dinner event with a tasty menu of pasta, lamb and cake. It seems like a reasonable lesson. Now, though, with Karygiannis in the rear view, Mayor John Tory and Toronto council need to decide how to replace him. At their meeting that starts Wednesday, they will debate whether to hold a byelection or opt for an appointment process. Theres only one right answer: democracy. Yes, were in the middle of a pandemic, and that makes the prospect of holding a byelection far more challenging and expensive than it would be otherwise. A report from city clerk Ulli Watkiss says the total cost to hold the election would be about $700,000, up from the $225,000 budgeted for byelections last term. But that amount includes $125,000 thatll go toward developing and testing a mail-in voting program that can be used in future municipal elections a lasting benefit. But whatever the cost, theres no reason to deny voters a voice. The past year has brought into focus a range of issues like poverty, inequality and police funding. It all adds up to an opportune time to let Scarborough voters weigh in on these issues, rather than letting council appoint someone likely to be if history is any guide an establishment-connected insider. A decision to appoint would be extra-frustrating in the context of recent history. Lets not sugar-coat it: local democracy in the city has taken a beating over the last few years. Premier Doug Fords decision to cut the size of Toronto council in the middle of an election in 2018 effectively ended the opportunity for a bunch of candidates ready to represent their communities. Meanwhile, efforts to reform the voting process by adopting ranked ballots have stalled out repeatedly. Most recently, the city clerk concluded that its not possible to buy voting machines that support ranked voting in time for the 2022 election. (Some councillors plan to challenge that conclusion at this weeks meeting.) The outcome of all this, predictably, has been no progress toward achieving an elected council that reflects the diversity of the city. The slate of councillors elected in 2018 was 69 per cent male and overwhelmingly white, almost exactly the same as the council elected before it. Only four newbies managed to win a seat and only two by beating incumbents. Its hard to see how these numbers get much better any time soon. Fewer councillors means fewer retirements and vacancies. Delayed electoral reform means were stuck with a first-past-the-post system that generally allows incumbents to skate by on name recognition in crowded fields of candidates. Which brings us back to Scarborough. Opting for a byelection in one race isnt going to fix the citys democratic problems. But it would, at least, offer those who would like to make change and represent their communities something thats become increasingly rare: a shot. People are ready for it. Less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court ended Karygiannis bid to keep his seat, I got a call from Patience Evbagharu, a 23-year-old Black woman from Scarborough, who has served on the citys youth council, ran for a Scarborough council seat in 2018 and intends to run again. Shes urging council to vote for a byelection. Representation cannot wait, she told me. We keep hearing diversity is our strength. But if were going to take on that slogan and take it on so passionately, weve got to start applying it. When police pulled a Jeep Wrangler over for running a stop sign in Philadelphias Belmont section Monday morning, officers made a horrifying discovery. The front seat passenger, Mia Green, 29, was suffering from a gunshot wound to her neck. She was pronounced dead at Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center within a half-hour. On Tuesday, authorities charged the driver of the vehicle, Abdullah lbn El-Amin Jaamia, with the murder of Green, who was a Black transgender woman, according to a statement from the citys Office of LGBT Affairs. This latest act of violence against a member of our community is a somber reminder of the epidemic of violence against trans individuals. It is a crisis that cannot be allowed to persist any further, the offices statement read in part. The countless painful losses experienced during this year alone especially within our transgender communities of color remind us that there is much work to be done in the pursuit of full equality, respect, and justice for us all. According to police, around 8:10 a.m. Monday officers on patrol saw El-Amin Jaamia drive through a stop sign at 41st Street and Westminster Avenue. When they pulled him over, El-Amin Jaamia got out of the car and told the officers his passenger had been shot, a police news release said. The officers saw Green in the front seat with the gunshot wound to her neck and escorted the Jeep to Penn Presbyterian. It was unclear from the release whether El-Amin Jaamia was allowed to drive the vehicle or whether it was commandeered. Green was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:30 a.m. Philadelphia trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez did not know Green but said her death was heartbreaking and infuriating. When is society going to realize that our deaths are because of the stigma that they attach to us? said Alvarez. They keep wanting to blame it on us as trans people, but were not the ones putting out hate, stigma and bigotry. Its society. I dont deserve to be murdered because of who I am. Neither police nor the city have released any details about the motive for the shooting, the investigation that ensued, or what led to the murder charges filed against El-Amin Jaamia, 28, of the 2400 block of Seybert Street in North Philadelphia. While the details around Mia Greens death are the subject of an ongoing investigation, we know that the loss of yet another trans community member of color is especially painful, no matter the circumstances, the citys Office of LGBT Affairs said in its statement. Since May, the pandemic has been a weak point politically for Mr. Trump in part because a majority of Americans have consistently disagreed with his focus on speedily reopening, and because many voters simply dont feel they can trust him on this life-or-death matter. By a 15-point margin, respondents to the Times/Siena poll said they disapproved of how he had responded to the virus including 50 percent of white voters, who generally lean toward supporting the president. According to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College poll this month, 65 percent of Americans said they tended not to believe the information the president provided on the virus. In poll after poll, voters consistently say by double-digit margins that they think Mr. Biden would do a better job handling the pandemic. At the debates, look for Mr. Biden to return to the virus as often as he can, hammering the president on what he sees as his greatest vulnerability. The economy If there is one area in which Mr. Trump retains at least a slight advantage over Mr. Biden, it is the economy. Even as the pandemic has shuttered businesses across the country, putting millions of Americans out of work, a majority of voters have continued to express approval of how Mr. Trump handles economic matters. By a 12-point margin, respondents to the Times/Siena poll gave him positive marks on that front. In the NPR/PBS/Marist survey, Americans favored Mr. Trump over his opponent by seven points on handling the economy. To the extent that Mr. Trump can succeed in reminding voters of how things were going before March, he appears to have a strong hand. But where the economy intersects with the virus, things grow dicier. Fifty-five percent of likely voters said he was at least partly responsible for the economic downturn, according to the Times/Siena poll a reflection of how frustrated many Americans have been by his refusal to coordinate a national response to the pandemic. Forty-nine percent said that the federal government had not done enough to support the economy amid the outbreak, while just 9 percent said it had done too much. (Photo : (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)) CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 14: Engineer and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk of The Boring Company listens as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel talks about constructing a high speed transit tunnel at Block 37 during a news conference on June 14, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Musk said he could create a 16-passenger vehicle to operate on a high-speed rail system that could get travelers to and from downtown Chicago and O'hare International Airport under twenty minutes, at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. (Photo : (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference. (Photo : (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)) NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 7: Tesla cars sit inside the service garage at a Tesla dealership in the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn, August 7, 2018 in New York City. On Tuesday, Elon Musk told Tesla employees that he is considering taking the electric car company private, claiming that it may be the best path forward for the company. Shares of Tesla rose over 10 percent after the announcement. The world's clean energy company and famous electric vehicle manufacturer's Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, rants about the media and public's reception of the recently concluded Tesla Battery Day, last September 22. Chief says that it is 'sad,' and that the public has no idea of how hard it is to manufacture prototypes on a large-scale. Tesla recently concluded its Battery Day, the annual shareholder meeting and showcase event for the public, and several reports are seemingly disappointed in the prototypes that were launched. While some products are appreciated and warmly welcomed with the Tesla Model S ' Plaid's likes,' there are some that are still sought after. The company's big boss and chief, Elon Musk, shares his frustrations regarding the issue, largely differing from his usual jolly self. Tesla and its CEO faced several talks and speculations that do not favor the company, especially in the absence of some Battery Day promises, starting with the high-volume battery, also known as 'million-range.' While this year's Battery Day was not what the public expected, lacking in explosive new product releases compared to last years, the 2020 event still brought many innovations for the company, according to Musk himself. According to Electrek, Elon Musk expressed his disappointments in an interview podcast. The media and public were expecting too much; however, certain factors such as prototype and manufacturing on a large-scale are two entirely different aspects. Elon Musk shares this, saying that the media coverage was sad. ALSO READ: Elon Musk Rejects Sandy Munro's Call for Help on 3-Wheeled Electric Vehicle from Tesla-'Not Safe Enough' for Production Elon Musk's Interview: Sad Reflection of Understanding Elon Musk appeared in Kara Swisher's podcast, as reported by the New York Times, showing the CEO's expressions regarding Battery Day. Musk went as far as saying that the press coverage was a "sad reflection of their understanding." For Elon Musk to say this, the reactions and coverage got into the CEO's mind and revealed his innermost feelings. The Tesla CEO's 'sadness' on the public's reception shows that he was disappointed that the event's prototypes were not appreciated. Battery Day, along with the innovations revealed there, was not for 'convincing people,' according to Musk. Soon, the results of the products will 'speak for themselves' added by the CEO. Building a prototype does not necessarily mean having an end product, then 'trivial' copying it for the next creations. Prototype to Manufacturing, 10,000% Harder: Elon Musk's explanation Prototypes may impress people and perceive something that represents the 'end product' of a newly introduced design. However, according to Elon Musk, this is not the case; rather, only one percent of the problem. Despite prototypes being innovations that show possible future technology, many problems still arise while developing it for mass production. "Large-scale manufacturing, especially of a new technology, it's something between 1,000 and 10,000% harder than the prototype." shared by Elon Musk. Tesla is known to share their prototypes and excite the public of new products; However, several of these teases did not make it into large-scale manufacturing due to several reasons. These reasons are what Elon Musk wants the public to understand. Some products may be impressive as it is or as prototypes; however, several appeals in large-scale. Not everything done by a technology company may necessarily be a product in its line-up or be immediately available. ALSO READ: Tesla's 4680 Batteries Have Been Powering EVs for Months Without Us Knowing-Elon Musk Hints Another Big Move For Cell Production This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 29, 2020) - As publics around the world look to scientists and the research and development process to bring new treatments and preventive strategies for the novel coronavirus, a new Pew Research Center international survey finds scientists and their research are widely viewed in a positive light across global publics, and large majorities believe government investments in scientific research yield benefits for society. Scientists as a group are highly regarded, compared with other prominent groups and institutions in society. In all publics, majorities have at least some trust in scientists to do what is right. A median of 36% have "a lot" of trust in scientists, the same share who say this about the military, and much higher than the shares who say this about business leaders, the national government and the news media. Still, the wide-ranging survey, conducted in 20 different publics around the world before the COVID-19 outbreak reached pandemic proportions, reveals ambivalence over certain scientific developments - in areas such as artificial intelligence and genetically modified foods - often exist alongside high trust for scientists generally and positive views in other areas such as space exploration. The survey - conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States - is the Center's first in-depth examination of international public attitudes toward scientists and scientific topics. Public concerns around climate change and environmental degradation remain widespread. In most publics, majorities view climate change as a very serious problem, say their government is not doing enough to address it and point to a host of environmental concerns at home including air and water pollution, overburdened landfills, deforestation and the loss of plant and animal species. With renewed attention to the importance of public acceptance of vaccines, the new survey finds majorities in most publics tend to view childhood vaccines, such as that for measles, mumps and rubella, as relatively safe and effective, though sizable minorities across global publics hold doubts about this keystone tool of modern medicine. "As the global landscape for scientific research continues to shift, these findings showcase the generally positive views that publics around the world hold for scientists and their work, as well as ideological fault lines in many places over how much to trust scientists," noted Cary Funk, director of science and society research. "This survey gives a portrait of global opinion on the place of science in society as challenges from the coronavirus outbreak were taking hold, and it sheds light on divisions over key civic issues ahead including vaccines, climate change and developments in AI," Funk said. A median of 82% consider government investment in scientific research worthwhile, and majorities across the places surveyed view it as important to be a leader in scientific achievements. However, publics' assessments of their own achievements in science do not always measure up to their aspirations: A median of 42% say their scientific achievements are above average or the best in the world. However, the shares holding this view ranges from 8% in Brazil to 61% each in the U.S. and UK. And in many places, publics see room for improvement when it comes to STEM education at the university and primary and secondary school levels. A median of 42% rate university education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in their survey public as above average or the best in the world, while a smaller median of 30% give high marks to their STEM education at the primary and secondary school level. Other key findings include: Public trust in scientists is often higher for those on the left than the right of the political spectrum. Such differences are especially pronounced in the U.S., where 62% of those on the left have a lot of trust in scientists, compared with two-in-ten of those on the right. In Canada, 74% of those who place themselves on the left say they have a lot of trust in scientists to do what is right, compared with 35% of Canadians with right-leaning political views. In the UK, there's a 27-point difference between the shares of those on the left and right who have a lot of trust in scientists. Germany (17 points), Sweden (15 points) and Spain (10 points) are some of the other places where those on the left are more trusting of scientists than those on the right. Most see at least some impact from climate change where they live and say their government is doing too little to address it. A median of seven-in-ten across the set of 20 publics say climate change is having at least some effect on their local community. And in some places - Italy, Spain and Brazil - about half or more see a great deal of impact from climate change in their community. Government action on climate change is widely seen as lacking: Majorities across most of surveyed publics believe their government is doing too little to address climate change (20-public median of 58%). Consistent with environmental worries, majorities across all 20 publics say the more important energy priority should be increasing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power rather than increasing fossil fuel energy production (median of 86% vs. 10%). People's views about climate change are strongly linked to political ideology. Ideological divides in the U.S. are larger than in any other public surveyed, but other publics also have wide ideological divides over climate matters as well. Australians on the left are more than twice as likely as Australians on the right to say climate change is a very serious problem (79% vs. 36%). Similarly, Canadians on the left are 38 percentage points more likely than Canadians on the right to say climate change is a very serious problem (82% vs. 44%). And in five European countries (Sweden, UK, Germany, Netherlands and Poland), those on the left are 20 or more points more likely than those on the right to say climate change is a very serious problem. There is little consensus across regions in views of artificial intelligence and automation in the workplace. A median of two-thirds in the Asia-Pacific region say AI has been a good thing for society, while a median of 20% say it has been a bad thing. Elsewhere, public views are mixed. In Europe, a median of 47% say the development of AI has been good for society. Roughly half view AI positively in Brazil (53%), Russia (52%), the U.S. (47%) and Canada (46%). Opinions about the impact of robotics to automate jobs also are also mixed. A median of 48% say such automation has mostly been a good thing, while 42% say it has been a bad thing. Most are skeptical about relying on experts, generally, to solve important problems. While scientists are among the most trusted groups in society to do what is right for the public, many value practical experience over expertise when it comes to solving pressing problems in society. A median of 66% think it's better to rely on people with practical experience, while a median of 28% say it's better to rely on people who are considered experts about the problems, even if they don't have much practical experience. There is broad agreement about this issue among people across the ideological spectrum and across most of the publics surveyed. Majorities say the media do a good job covering science but say the public often doesn't know enough to understand news on scientific research. Around two-thirds or more say the news media do a very or somewhat good job covering science topics, while far fewer say the media do a bad job covering science (20-public median of 68% vs. 28%). Ratings of the news media are lowest in the U.S. and Spain, where roughly half say the media do a good job with their science coverage. A 20-public median of 74% consider limited public understanding of science to be a problem for media coverage of scientific research. By comparison, a median of 49% say the news media oversimplifying research findings is a problem in coverage. Prior to the pandemic, many saw medical treatments as a source of achievement. Across the 20 publics, a median of 59% say their medical treatments are at least above average, with some of the highest ratings in the Asia-Pacific region. In South Korea and Taiwan, for example, 80% say their medical treatments are at least above average. By contrast, only 6% in Brazil and 13% in Poland think their medical treatments are the best in the world or above average. At the same time, medians of 45% and 42% say their technological and scientific achievements are at least above average, respectively. Assessments of primary and secondary school STEM education are lower (median of 30% say this is at least above average). The full report explores these findings with additional public-by-public comparisons and greater demographic detail, including analysis by education, age, political ideology, gender and geographic region. This report is based on a survey of more than 32,000 telephone and in-person interviews conducted in late 2019 and early 2020. ### The report will be available at this link at the time of release: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/29/science-and-scientists-held-in-high-esteem-across-global-publics For more information or to receive the full copy of the report, please email Haley Nolan at hnolan@pewresearch.org. Zeta, Indias leading banking tech company providing a full-stack, cloud-native, API first platform for banks and fintechs, today announced the appointment of Abhishek Sen as its Chief Operating Officer. With over 16+ years of experience in human resource management, operations & leadership development, Abhishek brings a lot of expertise to his new role at Zeta. He will be responsible for working across teams in Zeta and spearheading the companys operations. Prior to this, Abhishek was associated with Myntra as SVP, CHRO, Head Consumer Experience and Corporate Services (Real Estate and PR). He has also led multiple roles at Aon for almost a decade and worked across various geographies and practices. Bhavin Turakhia, Co-founder & CEO of Zeta said, I am delighted to welcome Abhishek on board. He has an excellent leadership track record, strong industry knowledge, and strategic expertise. Zeta is growing rapidly and expanding to new markets across the globe. It is an exciting time for us and as a seasoned business leader, I am confident that Abhishek will drive the next phase of growth for Zeta. Abhishek Sen, said, I have been fascinated by the evolving landscape of cloud-native digital product enterprises from India and how they are leading the global industrial transformation. Zeta is a prime example of an organisation leading that change. It is an honour to be a part of this journey which promises extraordinary prospects in the future, especially in the fintech space. I look forward to working with the team and creating history together. In the past, Abhishek has worked with SAP Labs & Britannia as a human resource professional. He is a postgraduate in Human Resource Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He also has a keen interest in learning and is a certified Technical Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Along with Zeta, Abhishek will also be leading the operations for Flock and Radix as their Chief Operating Officer and will be working closely with the teams of these independently run companies. NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading global, independent infrastructure investor, announced today that GIP Spectrum Fund, L.P, along with its affiliates and coinvestors, has closed on a $325 million Secured Term Loan for Saavi Energia ("Saavi"), the fourth largest independent power producer and the largest privately held stand-alone power generator in Mexico. With this transaction, GIP Credit has committed approximately $550 million in Latin America through four investments over the last two years. GIP Spectrum provides customized credit financings for infrastructure issuers in GIP's core sectors of midstream energy, power, renewables and transport, while leveraging GIP's significant operating expertise. With over 20 years of experience in the Mexican power market, Saavi's 2.2 net GW portfolio consists of 10 energy facilities, including 6 CCGTs, 1 wind farm, 3 compression stations and 65 km of associated natural gas pipelines. Saavi is 100% owned by Actis LLP. One of the largest recent holding company term loans in the Latin America infrastructure sector for a private sponsor, the GIP Credit investment is supported by a large portfolio of investment grade power contracts with high quality counterparties. The assets are strategically located near high demand industrial load centers and supported by an attractive Mexican power demand macro backdrop as well as positive demographic trends. Saavi also has a best in class management team and an outstanding operational track record. "We are very pleased to have entered into this strategic transaction with Saavi and its Sponsor, Actis," said Jennifer Powers, GIP Partner and Chair of GIP Credit. "As an industry leading power producer with a robust portfolio of assets and a top-tier management team, Saavi continually provides reliable services essential to the Mexican power markets. We look forward to working with and supporting the growth of such an impactful business in the future. This investment exemplifies GIP Spectrum's ability to provide unique credit solutions for high quality, essential infrastructure projects, and be a reliable and flexible partner." "We are thrilled to be joined in our commitment to support the region with an exceptional partner that was able to deliver a bespoke, creative financing solution to meet our needs," said Mauricio del Valle, Saavi's CFO. "This transaction highlights the strength and diversity of Saavi's portfolio. We are enthused about the opportunity this facilitates to create value and to solidify Saavi's leadership position in our marketplace." About Global Infrastructure Partners Global Infrastructure Partners ("GIP") is an independent infrastructure fund manager that makes equity and debt investments in infrastructure assets and businesses. GIP targets investments in the energy, transport and water/waste sectors in both OECD and select emerging market countries. GIP's teams are located in 10 offices: London, New York, Stamford (Connecticut), Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Hong Kong. GIP's credit platform ("GIP Credit") provides financing solutions and makes debt and non-common equity investments in infrastructure assets and companies through several funds including GIP Spectrum and GIP Capital Solutions ("CAPS"). For more information, visit www.global-infra.com. SOURCE Global Infrastructure Partners Related Links https://www.global-infra.com/ Sources close to President Donald Trump said he is not religious and mocked those of the Christian, Mormon, and Jewish faith President Donald Trump is being accused of making unsavory comments about various religious groups from Christians, Mormons, and those of Jewish faith. The Atlantic recently published a piece detailing the presidents alleged true feelings about religion. According to the story, those closest to him say despite photos taken with religious leaders and claiming Presbyterian Christianity, he isnt religious at all. Trump is known for praising various religious leaders but according to sources, he doesnt much care for them. Read More: According to data leak, Trump campaign tried to suppress Black vote in 2016 (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Whenever I see a picture of him standing in a group of pastors, all of their hands on him, I see a thought bubble [with] the words What suckers, he allegedly said. Back in 2017, per Vanity Fair, Trump was asked what should be done about antisemitism and he responded, I am the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life. However, on a recent phone call with Jewish lawmakers he sang a difference tune. The Washington Post reported Trump said Jews, are only in it for themselves. Read More: Anti-Trump billboards to greet Trump at Cleveland debate U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump fielded questions about a coronavirus vaccine and the latest developments in the Breonna Taylor case among other topics. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images) Trump didnt just allegedly speak out against Jewish folks. Despite his son Donald Trump Jr. attempts to align himself with the Mormon faith by reading from The Book of Mormon and connecting himself with high religious officials in the church of Latter-day Saints, Trump believed Sen. Mitt Romneys connection to the faith cost him the 2012 election. Romney is a loyal member of the faith and according to Trump, Christians didnt support the senator because of his affiliation. In 2015, Trump told a reporter in Greenville, S.C. that he is a Presbyterian Protestant and attends Marble Collegiate Church located on Manhattans Fifth Avenue. According to Michael Cohen, Trumps former longtime attorney, he viewed certain preachers as hustlers, and said that a pastor who prayed over him was full of shit. Story continues Although the article is comprised of sources who claim the president has skepticism about religion, a spokesperson from the White House rebuffed the claims to the Atlantic. People of faith know that President Trump is a champion for religious liberty and the sanctity of life, and he has taken strong actions to support them and protect their freedom to worship. The president is also well known for joking and his terrific sense of humor, which he shares with people of all faiths. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! The post Trump secretly ridiculed Christian supporters, aide says appeared first on TheGrio. 'In this election, the only thing that is going to matter is which caste aligns with which coalition.' IMAGE: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi at an election rally in Bihar during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Photograph: PTI Photo "Narendra Modi's image will give a marginal advantage to Nitish Kumar," says Professor Prabhat Ghosh, director of the Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute. In a two-part interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih, Professor Ghosh explains what might emerge in the Bihar election. How different is this election going to be from the past? Nitish Kumar has been chief minister since 2005, what will voters be thinking when they vote this time around? Since 2005 there have been issues of governance, social justice, readjustment of identity politics etc, etc -- but this time I feel there is no election issue whatsoever. The entire election will be based on identity politics -- which caste will align with which coalition. Looking at the last five years, law and order and governance should have been very important issues this time because these have deteriorated in comparison with the first 10 years of Nitish Kumar (2005-2015). Nitish won his second election in 2010 predominantly because of improved law and order under his government. He also has not dealt effectively with the migrant labourers who returned to Bihar after the lockdown. The quarantine centres in the state also fared very poorly in terms of provisions and management. But all this is not going to matter in this election, the only thing that is going to matter is which caste aligns with which coalition. I think the NDA will win the election. Why do you say that the NDA will win? The reason the NDA will win is not because of its performance which undoubtedly has been poor in the last five years, but because the Mahatgathbandhan is weak. The Congress is weak; and RJD is not what it was without Laloo Yadav. Tejashwi (Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader) is a greenhorn and too young. He does not have the leadership capacity; he is a leader because he is the son of Laloo Prasad. He is a decent man, but not a strong leader. The parties of the Mahagatbandhan will not make it a homogenous coalition. The internal bickering will weaken the coalition. When smaller parties start making big demands, it indicates that the head of the coalition is not very strong. The Vikasheel Insan Party is demanding the deputy CM's post as a condition for joining the Mahagathbandhan. Keeping all this is mind, I think the NDA will win, though the difference will be less. Why? Some fence-sitters who voted for the JD-U won't do so this time. Finally, the crucial decider will be caste, which caste aligns with which party. IMAGE: Janta Dal-United national President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar interacts with ticket seekers at the JD-U office in Patna, September 27, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo You say caste will be the big issue, what is the likelihood of the Narendra Modi factor over-riding the caste factor? Looking at Bihar in the past decades, the Hindu consolidation is not as what one sees in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh. In Bihar, caste identity over-rides religious identity. The BJP did not have much of a political presence till almost 30 years back. Most of the Hindi heartland states have been BJP states, unlike Bihar. The BJP has increased its political presence in Bihar, but not like it has in MP, UP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Nitish will benefit from Narendra Modi's image, but it will be a marginal advantage, not a substantial one. What if the BJP gets more seats than the JD-U? In that case, the moral strength of Nitish Kumar to be chief minister will be much depleted. But the BJP knows that many within the JD-U will not accept a BJP chief minister. The BJP and JD-U will get equal number of seats to contest. Some of the seats from the JD-U's share will be allocated to HAM (former chief minister Jiten Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha). If the LJP (Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party) joins the alliance which in all probability, it will, the LJP will get some seats from the BJP's share and similarly with RLSP (the Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party). The Vikasheel Insan Party led by Mukesh Sahni has an appeal among the extremely backward castes. He is negotiating with the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan In the event the BJP gets more seats, doesn't Sushil Kumar Modi have a fair chance of becoming CM? I don't think so. Nitish Kumar is a single man party, without him the JD-U is nothing. Even though Sushil Kumar Modi is deputy chief minister, he is not as strong as he was ten years back. Both Sushil Modi and the BJP's state president Sanjay Jaiswal are baniyas and the very fact that Jaiswal has been made Bihar's BJP president indicates that Sushil Modi is not as strong as he was before. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has sent a letter on September 28 to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, presenting the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijani against Artsakh, as well as the current situation caused by it, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress. In his letter the Armenian FM provided information about the cases of deliberate targeting of Artsakhs civilian population and infrastructures by the Azerbaijani armed forces, their provocative actions with the use of various caliber weapons. Touching upon the disinformation flows spread by the Azerbaijani side, the Armenian FM noted in particular: The aggression has been pre-planned, and the statements of the Azerbaijani side about the alleged counterattack are absolute lie. Azerbaijan has never hidden its strategic goal of solving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the use of force, by constantly keeping the tension along the line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. The Armenian FM expressed his deep concern over Turkeys unconditional unilateral support to Azerbaijan and its aggression. Strongly condemning the Azerbaijani aggression, minister Mnatsakanyan stated that the provocative actions aimed at violating the ceasefire are not only gross violations of the international humanitarian law, but are also fraught with the danger of turning into a large-scale regional war. Minister Mnatsakanyan criticized Azerbaijans provocative behavior on not following the UN Secretary-Generals call for global ceasefire. He stated that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears the full responsibility of the consequences of aggression. The FM said as guarantor of the security of the Artsakh people Armenia will take all necessary measures to protect the inalienable rights of the Artsakh people and will provide an adequate response to the Azerbaijani aggression. Nagorno Karabakh peoples right to self-determination is an inseparable part of the conflict settlement, and with the power of this right the people of Artsakh should have an opportunity to determine their status without any restrictions. The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Armenias commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict. The letter will be circulated as a document of the UN General Assemblys 75th session and as a document of the Security Council. Editing and translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Mumbai, Sep 29 : Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi, who is currently in Goa shooting for an untitled film directed by Shakun Batra, has revealed a mantra he follows in life. Siddhant took to Instagram and shared a picture of his reflection. In the image, the actor is seen posing in front of a window with his back towards the camera while the glass catches his reflection. "Earn that Midnight craving," wrote Siddhant with the picture, along with an ice cream emoji, and the tags #PostGameCravings and #Pumped. Batra's film also stars Deepika Padukone and Ananya Panday. Deepika had to recently cut short her Goa schedule and return to Mumbai for the NCB interrogations as part of the agency's probe into a possible drugs angle in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Details of Batra's project are under wraps, although Siddhant in a recent interview to IANS said the film belongs to a genre that has not been tried in Bollywood before. "The excitement is that it is a genre that has not been tried in Hindi cinema yet. The film is nuanced and has a lot of details. Shakun is a great director. It is a very contemporary, new-age film," Siddhant had said. Siddhant has an interesting slate of work lined up. He will also be seen in the second installment of "Bunty Aur Babli" and the horror comedy "Phone Bhoot". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Pacific leaders united on Climate, Ocean and Security issues at the UNGA September 29,2020 | Source: RNZ The Pacific has presented a united front to world leaders at the UN General Assembly this year. In an unprecedented virtual edition, the 75th instalment of the assembly was conducted through pre-recorded leader's statements and online meeting rooms. Climate Change, Ocean conservation and debt relief amid the Covid-19 pandemic were some of the recurring themes raised by Pacific leaders. The pandemic had seen the cancellation of multiple global meetings and conferences on advancing countries commitments to climate action. But the Prime Minister of Tuvalu Kausea Natano urged world leaders to stay the course. "The shared prosperity and security of our Blue Pacific can only safely exist if the international community pursues efforts to limit global warning to 1.5 degrees celsius." Most Pacific leaders also highlighted work being done to delineate and secure maritime boundaries based on fixed geographical points. This was especially important for low-lying atoll states to protect their lucrative fishing grounds in the face of climate change induced sea level rise. Along the same lines, the Solomon Islands prime minister called on the leaders of distant water fishing nations to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing by their fleets in the Pacific. Manasseh Sogavare said Solomon Islands tuna industry employed over 2000 people and contributes around $US60 million per annum to the local economy. But he said Pacific countries had been losing $US160 million in direct fisheries revenue to illegal fishing each year. "I call on distant-water-fishing-nations to reduce the incidences of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in our waters." Sogavare also reiterated his country's stance alongside fellow Pacific Islands forum countries seeking a legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine bio-diversity in areas outside of national jurisdictions. On Covid-19 the Pacific has done better than most with nine of the world's 12 Covid free countries located in the region. One which had not been so fortunate was the largest Pacific Island nation, Papua New Guinea. The country has so far recorded six deaths and over 500 cases, which for a nation of over eight million people, was relatively good especially when compared to Guam which has a population of just over 160,000 but has recorded 46 deaths and over 2300 cases of the coronavirus on the island. PNG's prime minister told the UN general assembly the multi-faceted impacts of Covid-19 continue to test the countries and peoples of the Pacific but early preventative action has proved crucial for PNG. "Unless and until an effective vaccine is developed and [made] available for use the health threats of Covid-19 cannot be underestimated," James Marape said. "It is important that any Covid-19 vaccine developed should be for public health good and accessible and affordable for everyone." However the president of the Federated States of Micronesia was one of the only ones to address the geopolitical elephant in the room appealing to the US and China to work together to help Pacific countries address their development challenges. David Panuelo said the renewed and increased competition for access and influence by both superpowers is obvious across the Pacific. "These activities and efforts have resulted in varying levels of benefits for our Pacific communities," David Panuelo said. "However, they also potentially threaten to fracture long-standing alliances within out Pacific community and could become counter productive to our collective desire for regional solidarity, security and stability," he said. The 75th session of the UN General Assembly continues online this week. Copyright Radio New Zealand 2020 Theme(s): Others. As conflicts across the Middle East bring continued waves of displacement, the Trump administration hasnt yet told Congress how many refugees will be allowed to settle in the United States next year, despite a legal requirement that it do so. Before the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1, the White House is required by law to report to the House and Senate Judiciary committees next years cap for refugee admissions. Prior to issuing a determination, the administration is supposed to send Cabinet-level officials to consult with members. That hasnt happened. Democratic staff told Al-Monitor that the administration has not attempted to schedule the statutorily required consultation or shared its proposed admissions plan with the committees, despite repeated inquiries. A spokesperson for the State Department declined to comment "on the internal discussions or the timeline related to its development. Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Department of Health and Human Services returned a request for comment. House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders sounded the alarm earlier this month, demanding the administration consult with Congress, especially given the embarrassingly low refugee quotas set in recent years. Given the magnitude of this crisis, the United States must not abandon our leadership role in providing safety to refugees who are most in need of resettlement, Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Dianne Feinstein of California and Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Zoe Lofgren of California wrote in a Sept. 8 letter. The law is clear that the consultation must occur before the start of the fiscal year, they wrote. Yet, for the last three years, the Trump administration has refused to consult with Congress in a timely or meaningful manner. The United States has admitted an average of 95,000 refugees per year since 1980, with the exception of the last several years under Trump. The president has steadily chipped away at the program, setting a cap of 18,000 refugees for the current fiscal year. As of Sept. 28, 10,892 refugees had been resettled in the United States just over half the number proposed. During the first 10 months of the fiscal year, fewer than 200 refugees arrived from Syria, where nearly a decade of civil war has produced 5.6 million refugees and left a further 6.6 million Syrians internally displaced. Earlier this month, the bipartisan US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a congressionally appointed watchdog, pressed the administration to restore the admissions target to the previous average of 95,000. Unprecedented numbers of individuals worldwide are forcibly displaced by conflict or persecution, including based on their religion or belief, yet the resettlement to the United States of religious minorities and other refugees has declined sharply in recent years, commission Chair Gayle Manchin said in a statement. The United States must continue to offer safe haven to those targeted for their faith, she said. Ancient faiths across the Middle East are shrinking in number. Six years after the Islamic State swept through northern Iraq, the country's oft-persecuted Chaldean and Assyrian Christians, as well as the ancient Yazidi religious minority, still fear for their survival. In war-wracked Yemen, the Houthis have targeted members of the Baha'i community over their beliefs, which the Iran-aligned rebels consider heretical. If he wins in November, former Vice President Joe Biden has said he will increase the refugee cap to 125,000 per year and seek to increase admissions over time. Joey on SQL Server Q&A: How Microsoft Is Raising Azure Arc's Data Services Game Ignite 2020 saw the public preview of Azure Arc enabled data services, the latest step in Microsoft's bid to demystify multicloud. Principal program manager Travis Wright explains how it works. Microsoft Ignite 2020 was last week, and while it wasn't a release year for SQL Server, there were still several interesting announcements at the virtual conference. The general availability of Azure SQL Edge was announced, along with some performance improvements to the Azure SQL Managed Instance Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering. One other announcement -- and the focus of this article -- was the public preview of Azure Arc enabled data services, which allows you to run either Azure SQL Managed Instance or Azure PostgreSQL Hyperscale across on-premises datacenters, multicloud scenarios and edge computing scenarios. Azure Arc services can be a bit confusing to newcomers, but the general premise across all of the services is that Azure Arc provides a single control pane to leverage Azure services to manage all of your Azure Arc enabled resources, no matter where those resources live. Currently, Azure Arc supports management of virtual machines, Kubernetes clusters and the aforementioned Azure data services. This allows you to take advantage of features in Azure Resource Manager like role-based access control, resource tagging and automation, and to have PaaS resources that can run anywhere. I recently had a chance to talk with Travis Wright, principal program manager of SQL Server at Microsoft, about Azure Arc enabled data services. D'Antoni: What are the scenarios where you have been seeing customers implement Azure Arc enabled data services? Is it mostly on-premises or are you seeing multicloud deployments? Wright: At this point, I'd say that the most common use case we see is for on-premises Database as a Service [DBaaS], but one of the first customer implementations that will go into production will be on AWS EKS [Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service]. While customers may start in one place like on-premises, part of the appeal of Arc enabled data services is that they can deploy and manage in multiple clouds as they proceed in their hybrid cloud journey. Arc enabled data services also future-proofs things a bit because, for example, it ensures that even if a company is acquired in the future that runs on another cloud, it can still be managed in the same way. One of the touted benefits of Azure Arc data services is evergreen SQL. Can you explain what that means and how it's implemented in Azure Arc and the Kubernetes framework? If you think about SQL Server, it is a versioned product. The features in a given release of SQL Server are what they are. We release updates to that version over time, but it is really only bug fixes, not features. After five years, a major SQL Server version goes into extended support, meaning there are only security fixes for another five years and then it goes out of support. Ten years is a long time these days, but we still have a lot of customers that, for various reasons, are "stuck" on an older version of SQL Server and can't get off of it. The idea with "evergreen SQL" is twofold. First, provide customers continuous updates, both bug fixes and new features like we do in the cloud, and secondly, to make the process of upgrading as painless as possible because it is a very small, incremental update each month as opposed to a big upgrade process every two to three years. The process of updating is fully automated with near-zero downtime. Can you explain the data controller and how that works to help provision other resources? The data controller is really just a set of Kubernetes pods that provide the orchestration services for things like provisioning, deprovisioning, scaling, backup/restore, monitoring, HA [high availability], et cetera. One of those pods called the "bootstrapper" is responsible for monitoring for requests to create custom resources like SQL managed instances or PostgreSQL Hyperscale server groups. When those requests to deploy those custom resources are submitted to the Kubernetes API server, Kubernetes hands those requests off to the bootstrapper to process. The bootstrapper validates the request and applies some logic to it to determine the right thing to do, and then tells Kubernetes what do -- so, using Kubernetes primitives like statefulsets, services and persistent volumes. This simplifies the user experience because people making these requests don't have to understand the primitives. They just say, "I want to create a SQL managed instance with 16 cores and 256GB of RAM." The data controller takes care of translating that request into something Kubernetes can understand. In my opinion, Azure Arc is a natural evolution from Azure Stack, which required customers to purchase specific hardware through partners, is challenging to implement outside of large enterprises, and slow to maintain pace with Azure feature enhancements. Since Azure Arc is a way to run Azure services anywhere and uses container-based deployment, it can stay up-to-date as features get added to the service. Even if you need your deployment to be disconnected from the Internet, Azure Arc supports a private container repository that can sync with Azure. The ability to host your own PaaS services with services like system-managed backups and built-in high availability provided by Kubernetes -- and not having to ever worry about SQL Server upgrades and patches -- will be very attractive to a lot of customers. The other benefit of using Azure Arc enabled services (whether they be data, virtual machines or Kubernetes) is that the Azure Portal and Azure tools like Monitor and Security can be used to manage resources wherever they are. I'm generally skeptical of organizations implementing multicloud solutions as they are really complex -- even just the networking alone. However, one of the promises of using Kubernetes as a deployment platform is that you can deploy your containers and pods on any Kubernetes, whether it be on a Raspberry Pi on your desktop or onto multiple public cloud providers. Azure Arc extends this by providing a single control pane and managed services options, greatly reducing the complexity of a multicloud or hybrid deployment. Microsoft sees a lot of growth here and I would expect to see continued investment from Microsoft in this space. Sunderland furniture chain ScS has said orders jumped over the last half of the summer after the national lockdown damaged its sales. The company fell to a 3.1million loss in the year to July as it was severely affected by the shutdown of all its stores and distribution centres between late March and late May. This caused ScS's revenues and gross profits to plunge by a fifth from the previous year to 255.5million and 119.6million, respectively. ScS's online sales have also grown steadily, surging by over 13 per cent to 19.1million during the last fiscal year, which the business put down to investment in its e-commerce platform But it said order intake was only 5.9 per cent down in the 2019/20 financial year and soared by 45.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the first nine weeks of the current fiscal year. It joined rival DFS in linking recent trading to a trend for Britons to prioritise spending on their homes during the crisis. Last week, DFS said online sales from the beginning of lockdown to mid-July climbed 77 per cent year-on-year, although it still recorded a considerable annual loss of 56.8million against a profit of 28.2million in the preceding 12 months. ScS's online sales have also grown steadily, surging by over 13 per cent to 19.1million during the last fiscal year, which the business put down to investment in its e-commerce platform. It added that over April and May, internet orders were up 78 per cent as locked-down shoppers switched to the internet. However, chief executive David Knight warned that as the group was entering its autumn trading period, 'it remains difficult to predict the potential impact of the increased economic uncertainty, including the cessation of the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme at the end of October. ScS's order intake was only 5.9 per cent down in the 2019/20 financial year, and rose by 45.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the first nine weeks of the current fiscal year 'Despite the uncertainty, our value led proposition is underpinned by a strong balance sheet, and our clear offering has continued to prove successful. We are confident it will continue to appeal to our customers who want to buy great products at the lowest possible price.' The full-year results could be the last with Knight as the boss of ScS as he announced his intention back in February to step down next year. He became the boss of the company in January 2002 having already spent 14 years with them, during which time he rose through the ranks to become Merchandising Director and Managing Director before being elevated to the top position. Last week, DFS said online sales from the beginning of lockdown to mid-July climbed 77 per cent year-on-year, although it still recorded a considerable annual loss of 56.8million Throughout his tenure, ScS has experienced wildly contrasting fortunes. It went on an expansion drive in his early years, but the financial crisis badly affected the home furnishings market and the business eventually collapsed into administration. ScS was delisted from the London Stock Exchange after its share price plummeted to as low as 7.5p after being worth around 250p before the crisis. It was bought out of administration by private equity firm Sun European Partners. By 2015, it had recovered well enough to be able to re-enter the stock market and initially floated at 175p per share. Investors did not respond well to the publication of its results though, with ScS's share price reducing by 9.8 per cent to 198.5p around mid-afternoon. New Delhi: India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Tokyo on October 6-7 to take part in the Quad Foreign ministers meet. Quad is a grouping of four countries--India, Japan, Australia & United States. Foreign ministers of all 4 Quad countries--US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will be present for the face to face meeting, a first amid the pandemic. Ministry of external affairs in a release said," Foreign Ministers shall discuss the post-COVID 19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic" Live TV The four ministers will also "discuss regional issues and collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.", the release added. This is the 2nd such Quad FMs meet. Last year, all FMs of Quad countries met on the sidelines of United Nations General assembly. This will be the first such major diplomatic engagement of the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The grouping, whose focus is on "free and open" Indo Pacific is viewed suspiciously by China. (Natural News) The Chinese government invited then-astronaut Mark Kelly, now an Arizona Democratic Senate candidate, to an all-expenses-paid retreat at a countryside resort in 2003. He left China five days later not only with a future spouse, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D., Ariz.), but also with lucrative regime business contacts. (Article by Yuichiro Kakutani republished from FreeBeacon.com) Kelly attended the annual Young Leaders Forum, a five-day junket cohosted by the Chinese Peoples Institute of Foreign Affairs, which is under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The conference allowed Kelly an opportunity to mingle with high-profile Communist Party officials and rising stars in Chinese society. Attendees included Cui Tiankai, now Chinese ambassador to the United States; Fang Xinghai, former director of the CCPs top committee on the economy; and Zhou Mingwei, the partys former top foreign propaganda honcho. China analyst Gordon G. Chang said that party connectionssuch as those Kelly fosteredare absolutely essential for securing Chinese business deals. The Communist Party tries to control everything, whether its a state enterprise or a private company, he said. And so its extremely important to have Communist Party contacts [to do business]. Kelly has also had extensive ties with China since becoming a civilian. World View Enterprise, an aerospace company he cofounded and in which he still holds investments, received funding from Chinese tech giant Tencent, which censors the internet for Beijing. As the Washington Free Beacon reported, he also held a financial stake in a Colorado company that courted investments from a Chinese state-funded tech enterprise. He now has assets worth up to $27 million, according to his financial disclosure. A Kelly campaign spokesman said that the former aviators participation was coordinated by NASA, but did not answer questions about whether the Democrat used any of the contacts he met on the YLF trip for his business ventures. Instead, the campaign said that prominent Republicans also participated in the campaign. Kelly and Giffords told multiple media outlets that they met during the Young Leaders Forum, without mentioning the Chinese Peoples Institute of Foreign Affairs. The retreat took place in a luxury hotel in the scenic Chinese countryside, where attendees went on pleasure cruise rides in between their panel discussions. Kelly gave a one-hour speech about his space experience, while Giffords participated in a panel discussion with Chinese politicos. Kelly would participate in the 2004 and 2005 conferences as well. He called the experience one of the absolute highlights of my life, second only to flying in space, and even took a Forum banner into space in 2006. Kellys campaign has been trying to deflect concerns about the candidates business ties by emphasizing his military service and calling China a threat to American interests. Nevertheless, they have remained contentious in the race, with Republicans spending millions on ads accusing him of dependence on China. He holds a 5.5 point lead against Republican incumbent Martha McSally, according to RealClearPolitics. Read more at: FreeBeacon.com New Delhi, Sep 29 : Two days after killing his father-in-law in Haryana's Rohtak and shooting his female friend in Delhi, the 35-year-old Sub-Inspector of Delhi Police Sandeep Dahiya surrendered before the police on Tuesday. Before his surrender in the North district of Delhi, he also wrote a WhatsApp note in which he elaborated on the reasons why he shot dead his father-in-law and fired shots at his girlfriend in Delhi. He has been taken into custody and interrogation is on. Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Sandeep Dahiya fled after shooting and injuring his girlfriend following a quarrel in Delhi. Later, he shot dead his father-in-law in Rohtak on Monday morning. He was on the run with his service revolver that he used to shoot the two people. The 36-year-old policeman's wife and he have been estranged for many years and the two had been living separately. Dahiya was in a relationship with another woman for the past one year whom he reportedly shot during a quarrel and left by the roadside on the GT Karnal Road in north Delhi's Alipur area on Sunday. According to the police, Dahiya shot the woman when the two of them were fighting inside his car. The injured woman was then rescued by another Sub-Inspector Jaiveer who reportedly spotted her while crossing the Sai Mandir on the GT Karnal road. According to police, Sandeep Dahiya joined Delhi Police in 2006 as constable and after passing the exam, he became Sub-Inspector in 2010. He is a permanent resident of Village Sisana, District Sonipat, Haryana. At present, he was residing at a government allotted accommodation in the Shalimar Bagh Police Colony. He also has a matrimonial dispute with his wife. A case u/s 498 A IPC was also registered against him in Rohtak. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Rhea Chakraborty and Showik Chakraborty Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opposed the bail pleas filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Bombay High Court following their arrest in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The siblings were "active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers", the NCB said in an affidavit filed before the HC. Advertisement Rhea and SushantThe NCB further said both Rhea Chakraborty and her brother had "abetted and financed" drug transactions. Therefore, the agency had booked them under the stringent section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said in the affidavit. On previous hearings, the actress and her brother opposed the application of the above section in their case. Advertisement Their counsel Satish Maneshinde last week argued that the section did not apply in the present case as Rhea Chakraborty occasionally paid for drugs that were consumed only by her boyfriend, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Rhea Chakraborty He had further argued that the drugs seized by the NCB so far in the case amounted to just 59 grams, which wasn't a commercial quantity, therefore, section 27A should not be applied in their case. Advertisement It also said that Rhea Chakraborty and her brother used to facilitate drug deliveries and payment through credit cards, cash and other payment gateways. New Delhi, Sep 29 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the state governments to provide dry ration to all sex workers, who have been identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and district legal authorities, without asking for ration card or any other identification proof. A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Ajay Rastogi took into account the hardships faced by the sex workers, who have been rendered almost destitute due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The bench said that none of state governments have taken adversarial stand to its direction, and asked the authorities concerned to inform it within four weeks about the implementation of its order and also the number of sex workers who have benefited from its direction. The remarks from the bench came during the hearing of an application moved by the NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee seeking relief for over nine lakh female and transgender sex workers across the country. The NGO had moved the apex court citing the hardships faced by the sex workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The top court also asked the Centre to inform it within four weeks if there is a possibility to provide financial aid to the sex workers. The bench, citing the points raised in the application, said the court is concerned that sex workers can't access dry ration, cash transfers and other facilities due to lack of identity proof. Additional Solicitor General R.S. Suri contended before the bench that the Centre has no objection if amenities are provided by the states without insisting on identity proof. The counsels for Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal informed the bench that they have already taken steps in this direction. The amicus curiae in the matter, senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, suggested that the court should monitor the implementation of its order. Another amicus curiae in the matter said that sex workers should be permitted to open bank accounts without identity proof, which will help them in receiving benefits rolled out either by the Centre or the states. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the applicants, contended that there are gaps in the process of identification of sex workers. To which, the bench replied, "We are concerned at present with providing dry ration to sex workers for their survival." The court will hear the matter again in the last week of October. Joint Press Statement Mitratva Magga -Path of Friendship: Towards Growth and Prosperity Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister of India, H.E. Narendra Modi held a Virtual Summit today in which they discussed bilateral relations and regional & international issues of mutual concern. 2. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on his assumption of office of Prime Minister with a decisive mandate at the Parliamentary Election held in Sri Lanka in August 2020. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude for the good wishes and conveyed his keenness to work together closely with Prime Minister Modi. 3. Both the leaders recalled the successful State Visits by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in November 2019 and February 2020, respectively. These visits gave clear political direction and vision for the future of the relationship. 4. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa commended the strong leadership shown by Prime Minister Modi in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic based on a vision of mutual support and assistance to the countries of the region. Both leaders agreed that the current situation presented a fresh opportunity to give added impetus to bilateral relations. Both the leaders expressed happiness that India and Sri Lanka worked very closely in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed Indias continued commitment for all possible support to Sri Lanka for minimising the health and economic impact of the pandemic. 5. To give a further impetus to the bilateral relationship, the two leaders agreed to: (i) Enhance cooperation to combat terrorism and drug trafficking including in the fields of intelligence, information sharing, de-radicalization and capacity building. (ii) Continue the fruitful and efficient development partnership in accordance with the priority areas identified by the Government and people of Sri Lanka and to further broad base the island wide engagement under the Memorandum of Understanding for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for the period 2020-2025. (iii) Work together to expeditiously complete construction of 10,000 housing units in the plantation areas, which was announced during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Sri Lanka in May 2017. (iv) Facilitate an enabling environment for trade and investment between the two countries and to deepen integration of supply chains in the backdrop of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. (v) Work towards early realization of infrastructure and connectivity projects including in the sectors of Ports and Energy through close consultations as per the Bilateral Agreements and MoUs, and strong commitment towards a mutually beneficial development cooperation partnership between the two countries. (vi) Deepen cooperation in renewable energy with particular emphasis on solar projects under the US$ 100 million Line of Credit from India. (vii) Strengthen technical cooperation in the areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, science & technology, health care and AYUSH as well as skill development by increased training of professionals thereby realizing the full potential of the demographic dividend in both the countries. (viii) Further strengthen people to people ties by exploring opportunities in the field of civilizational linkages and common heritage such as Buddhism, Ayurveda and Yoga. Government of India will facilitate visit of a delegation of Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka to the sacred city of Kushinagar, which has recently been announced as an International Airport recognizing its significance in Buddhism. (ix) Facilitate tourism by enhancing connectivity and by early establishment of an air bubble between the two countries to resume travel, bearing in mind threat posed by Covid-19 pandemic and to take all necessary preventative measures. (x) Continue engagement to address the issues related to fishermen through regular consultation and bilateral channels according to the existing frameworks and shared goals including the UN Sustainable Development Goals. (xi) Strengthen cooperation between armed forces of the two sides including through mutual exchange of personnel visits, maritime security cooperation and support to Sri Lanka in the spheres of defence and security. 6. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa welcomed the announcement made by Prime Minister Modi of Indias grant assistance of US$ 15 million for promotion of Buddhist ties between the two countries. The grant will assist in deepening the people-to-people linkages between the two countries in the sphere of Buddhism including inter alia through construction/renovation of Buddhist monasteries, capacity development, cultural exchanges, archaeological cooperation, reciprocal exposition of Lord Buddhas relics, strengthening engagement of Buddhist scholars and clergy etc. 7. Prime Minister Modi called on the Government of Sri Lanka to address the aspirations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and respect within a united Sri Lanka including by carrying forward the process of reconciliation with the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed the confidence that Sri Lanka will work towards realizing the expectations of all ethnic groups including Tamils, by achieving reconciliation nurtured as per the mandate of the people of Sri Lanka and implementation of the Constitutional provisions. 8. Both leaders acknowledged the increasing convergence on regional and international issues of mutual engagement, including within the frameworks of the SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA and the United Nations system. 9. Recognizing that BIMSTEC is an important platform for regional cooperation linking South Asia with South East Asia, both leaders agreed to work together to ensure a successful BIMSTEC Summit to be hosted under the Chairmanship of Sri Lanka. 10. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the strong support received from the international community for Indias election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-2022. Colombo September 26, 2020 Read more www.mfa.gov.lk Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 10:42:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close THE HAGUE, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch government on Monday announced new drastic measures to combat the renewed spread of the novel coronavirus. The measures, starting 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Tuesday, are aimed at limiting crowds and the number of social contacts between people without locking up the society and the economy and will last three weeks, Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a press conference here. No spectators will be allowed at all sporting events, both professional and amateur ones. Restaurants and bars must close at 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) and cannot let anyone in for the last opening hour. Meanwhile, a maximum of 30 people are allowed inside and 40 outside. People must register before receiving services such hairdressing. In addition, working from home is more strictly enforced. Employers violating this rule will receive punishments such as temporary closure of the company, according to the government. In the three major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague where high numbers of infections are registered, the government advises wearing masks in shops. The novel coronavirus is regaining momentum in the Netherlands after the peak of the spread in March and April. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said that until 10 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) on Monday 2,921 new COVID-19 infections were reported, compared with 2,996 on Sunday. Enditem One of the victims of the Almeda fire, a fast-moving blaze that burned through the southern Oregon towns of Phoenix and Talent earlier this month, was identified by family members, according to news reports. Donald Schmidt, a 55-year-old Phoenix man, was killed in the fire, KDRV News reported. Great man. Full of laughter, lots of humor, Schmidts stepson Zachary Bulebar told the news outlet. He treated my mom really well. He was just an all-around, great guy. Schmidt lived in the Bear Lake Estates community, according to Bulebar. It was one of many residential areas decimated by the fire, which began Sept. 8 near Ashland and then raced up Oregon 99 toward Medford. According to Bulebar, Schmidt stayed behind to protect his home after his wife evacuated. I dont think both of them realized how serious the fire was, he told KDRV News. He told my mother to Go ahead and grab the animals and go and I will stay here and protect the house if the fire does come to the park. Bulebar said the couple apparently didnt receive an emergency alert that the fire was approaching. Though he said he was grateful for the efforts of first responders, he still wants to know why that alert system did not activate and send an alert message to everybody that said, Hey, there is a fire and it is close to the park and it is time to evacuate.' Officials reported that five people died in the fire but they later revised the toll to three people after two sets of remains were found to be those of animals. The Jackson County Sheriffs Office hasnt identified any of the people. The fire was declared 100% contained Sept. 15. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated today India continues to report high number of recoveries. The recovered cases have exceeded the new confirmed again during the past 24 hours. With this, India's Recovery Rate has leaped past 83% today. A total of 84,877 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country while the number of new confirmed cases stands at 70,589. The total number of recoveries has touched 51,01,397. A total of 73% of the new recovered cases are being reported from ten States, viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Kerala, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra is topping the list with nearly 20,000 recoveries while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh both contribute more than 7,000 to the single day recoveries. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Trump Departs White House For Ohio U.S. President Donald Trump exits the South Portico of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6, 2020. Credit - Bloomberg via Getty Images 2020 Bloomberg Finance LP For three and a half years, donors, lobbying groups, foreign governments and even the Secret Service have racked up large bills at properties owned by President Donald Trump. Because Trump bucked tradition and declined to put his assets into a blind trust, the lines between his presidential prerogatives and his personal interests were blurred, and over time everyone got used to potential conflicts of interest that in any other recent presidency would have been scandalous. But Trumps lack of financial transparency took on a more urgent quality after the revelation Sunday that he has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due in the next four years, according to reporting from the New York Times. Forbes estimated that Trump controls about $3.66 billion in assets and holds a total of about $1.13 billion in debt. He also faces an ongoing Internal Revenue Service audit, and faces potential legal fallout from New York state investigations into his business dealings. All of which means Trump has a lot more riding on the outcome of the Nov. 3 election than whether or not he spends the next four years at the apex of American political power. He faces multiple, costly legal battles. He is potentially on the hook for millions of dollars in tax penalties and interest. And perhaps most critically, he owes hundreds of millions of dollars and is saddled with loss-making properties that are digging him deeper in the hole. In short, losing the White House could be very costly for Trump. Trump may be the first president who is fearful of leaving the office because he may do worse financially when he leaves, says Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at New York University. Harry Truman famously lived on a military pension that was a fraction of his White House pay after choosing not to monetize his time in office, but most recent ex-presidents have done better financially, signing book deals and taking large speaking fees. Trump is the first president to monetize the presidency while hes actually in the Oval Office, Naftali says. Story continues For a time, there was at least some benefit to Trump in his money-losing endeavors, the Times reports: write-offs that reduced to zero his annual income tax bill for many years. Trump dismissed the allegations about his low tax payments during a press conference Sunday evening, calling the reports totally fake news. Trump, who says hes donated nearly all of his presidential salary to government agencies since taking office, said his returns are still under audit, and took aim at the Internal Revenue Service, which technically he oversees. The IRS does not treat me well, Trump said, They treat me very badly. Ironically, Trumps tax avoidance measures may now increase the chances he has to return to the private sector and face the financial music. Democrats pounced on the report about Trumps low tax bills, trying gin up outrage among working voters who see large chunks of their income going to the Treasury. The Biden campaign started selling T-shirts that read, I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump. Even for a wealthy person, paying no taxes in most years and claiming these losses, its just not normal, says Seth Hanlon, who worked on tax policy in the Obama White House and is a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Massachusetts Congressman Richie Neal, the Democrat in charge of the House Ways and Means Committee, raised the alarm that Trump may try to influence the outcome of the audit. Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary, Neal said in a statement. Neals committee is suing Trump to get access to his tax returns. Trump is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in national polls, but its unclear if the new revelations will sway voters on the fence about Trump. Trump has always been seen by voters through the lens of a celebrity, says Lauren Wright, a political scientist at Princeton University, which means hes evaluated with a different ethical yardstick than a traditional politician. The news of Trump paying little in taxes could be detrimental among some independents who are just tuning into the presidential race, Wright says, but it is unlikely to have a bigger impact. For a traditional politician, a lot of what Trump has been through would have been a disaster such as the Access Hollywood tape of him sexual assaulting women, the Robert Mueller investigation into his campaigns ties to Russia, and his impeachment and acquittal. These types of things do not seem to affect him, Wright says. D octors have turned to art to share their concerns at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children. About 40 paediatricians have co-written a poem and performed it on video to tell of the hopelessness they felt as concerns grew about the lack of safeguarding of youngsters trapped at home. It comes as Childrens Commissioner Anne Longfield, in a major report today [tues], warned the pandemic had compounded existing inequalities and called for a road map to tackle a rising tide of childhood vulnerability. The childrens doctors, including Strictly Come Dancing star Dr Ranj Singh, said they were tired of being a hero as they told of the children they were unable to see and those whose voice isnt known. Their piece, being premiered at the Royal Society of Medicine tonight [Tuesday 29], is a response to a poem, Dear Key Workers, that was written and performed by 80 children with poet Laura Mucha in April. Dr Najette Ayadi ODonnell, who initiated the doctors response with Ms Mucha, said it became the trigger for a wider debate about children and the lack of the childs voice in the first pandemic. Doctors know children became sicker because their parents delayed seeking medical help, and were more exposes to domestic abuse and hidden child abuse during lockdown. Dr Ayadi ODonnell said: So much came out of this poem from a cathartic point of view. It allowed us to be a lot more willing to shout a bit louder about children. It allowed us to be honest about our role and the pressure we felt, and also the helplessness we felt that, in the middle of all of this, childrens lives were literally put on hold. They didnt go to school for four to five months. School is an incredibly protective factor for children. Its a way to see they have food in their bellies, to see what clothes they are wearing, their emotional health as well as their education and learning. Dr Ayadi ODonnell added: Im worried about the winter. We had huge inequalities before we even went into the pandemic. Now we have more children and families accessing food banks. We need to be investing in children. If we dont get it right we are going to be dealing with the consequences of this pandemic for a much longer time. There was common ground that we were fearful of the direction of child health. They felt there was no platform for them to express emotionally how they were feeling. That came out a lot in the poem. Ms Mucha said the doctors benefited from using art to articulate the personal impact of the pandemic. There were tears, she said. I think it was as important for them as the children theyre trying to advocate for. A lot of the doctors were so used to being bullet-proof. It almost gave them permission to get in touch with their emotions. In there is a line, Im trying to keep children living, but sometimes I cant defeat death. It was this idea that when people die, the doctors suffer. It does cost them. It stays with them. I heard a story where doctors vividly remember, almost in a PTSD way, deaths that had happened years and years ago. There are always kids who are hidden at home. Doctors always have a stressful job. Its just amplified right now. According to the Childrens Commissioners report, there were 2.2 million vulnerable children living in risky home situations in England prior to coronavirus. It says childrens needs must come first in a second lockdown. A big TV cannon comes over to me and tells me that if I do not suck his cock, then he will ruin my career. I said no. It is the 26th of August, TV presenter Sofie Linde is hosting the Zulu Comedy Gala in Copenhagen, and with these words she just started the #MeToo movement in Denmark. The statement came as a bombshell in the country. In response, as a sign of solidarity, 701 female journalists and media workers signed a letter in which they denounced a culture of sexism: You are right. We experienced it too, they said in their address to Sofie Linde, who just spoke up about her experience with sexual harassment early in her career at the public Danish television (DR). The next day the letter was signed by 1600 female journalists, before reaching other workplaces, such as restaurants, hospitals and parliament. "Weve all experienced it to a greater or lesser degree over the course of our careers: inappropriate remarks on our appearance or clothing; suggestive messages; physical behaviour that crosses the line. Warnings that there are a few men we should avoid at the Christmas party. It happened before. Its still happening. The Danish Union of Journalists (DJ) have become aware of the scale of the problem. According to a survey carried out by the union in 2018 among its members, over 10% of journalists reported harassment in a work context, with women and freelancers being the most vulnerable. Many of us knew, but now it is clear that sexism is a huge problem in our profession as in many other professions. What has happened is a game-changer, that we will use to get rid of the old culture and create a new and healthy environment, a new culture in our media. Now we agree that the problem is there it needs to be backed up with some action, says President Tine Johansen. Following the survey, DJ published a policy with guidelines on how to tackle sexism in the newsrooms. But the few results shows that more needs to be done as it turned out that too few members have approached their leader or shop steward on such matters. The union just announced that staff and shop stewards will now be trained, not only to be able to raise awareness and solve future problems, but also to be more proactive for their members. Don't agree with calculation of Rs 80k cr for COVID vaccine distribution in India: Health Ministry India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: The government on Tuesday said it does not agree with the calculation that Rs 80,000 crore is needed for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in India. Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan was responding to a question tweeted by Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla who asked the government whether it had Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. Does Centre have Rs 80,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccine, asks SII's Adar Poonawalla "Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that's what @MoHFW_INDIA needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle," Poonawalla had tweeted. Responding, Bhushan said, "We do not agree by the calculation of Rs 80,000 crore. The government has made a national committee on vaccine experts and five meetings have taken place till now." "In these meetings, we have mulled over the process of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the amount required for it in terms of prioritisation of population and the staggered immunisation for this prioritisation. "We have calculated the amount required in the meetings and currently, that amount is available with the government," said Bhushan. After five years of development, Lenovo is almost ready to start shipping the Thinkpad X1 Fold, which it claims is the first PC with a foldable display. It has opened up pre-orders for the device, which starts at $2,499. The Thinkpad X1 Fold has a 13.3-inch OLED display that folds together like a book. The two halves dont close entirely, which leaves enough space to slide in the Bluetooth Mini Fold Keyboard Lenovo designed for the device. The X1 Fold can wirelessly charge the keyboard while its nestled inside. Other accessories include the Lenovo Mod Pen and Easel Stand. Chris Velazco / Engadget The system runs on Windows 10 and its powered by Intel Core processors with Intel Hybrid technology. Theres also optional 5G if you need or want always-on connectivity. Lenovo hasnt revealed exactly when the X1 Fold will be available. It was previously slated for the middle of this year, but that obviously didnt pan out. However, the fact its taking pre-orders is a clear indication the system is more or less ready to go. Scenes from the Ayawaso West Wuogon bye-election last year 29.09.2020 LISTEN The Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-GH) and Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) has charged the government, political parties, as well as all stakeholders to declare a zero-tolerance for electoral violence ahead of the December 7 polls. With a history of violence caused by vigilante groups belonging to the two major political parties in the country during elections, the two groups have at a press conference in Accra today hammered on the need for government to put in place measures to achieve peace during and after this years election. At the joint press conference by CFF-Ghana and FOSDA at the GNAT Conference Hall in Ho, Volta Region, the government has been charged to show leadership to ensuring that the anti-vigilantism law is applied irrespective of the offenders status or political coloration to serve the purpose for which it was passed. Political parties must allow state security apparatus to undertake their mandated duties without influence. Political parties should not incite their supporters to be violent but rather support the state institutions to do their work and channel complains and grievances to the appropriate quarters for redress, part of the speech read at the press conference today reads. Meanwhile, CFF-Ghana and FOSDA have urged the youth in the country to avoid being used by the political parties as tools to carry out violent acts in the events leading to the December 7 polls, during, and after. We call the young people of this country to resist any form of temptation to be used as tools to perpetuate any act of electoral violence before during and after the elections. On the other hand, government must invest in reducing the unemployment situation among the youth, the speech concludes. Read the full speech below: Tuesday, 29th September, 2020 JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY COMMUNITY FOCUS FOUNDATION GHANA (CFF-GH) AND FOUNDATION FOR SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA (FOSDA) ON ADOPTING A ZERO TOLERANCE TO ELECTION VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN AND ENDING THE MANNERS OF POLITICAL VIGILANTISM BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE 2020 ELECTIONS HELD ON TUESDAY, 29TH SEPTEMBER, 2020 AT THE GNAT CONFERENCE HALL IN HO, VOLTA REGION. Friends of the Media, Distinguished Stakeholders including Political Players, Traditional Authorities, Religious Bodies, Peace Council, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Development Partners, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning. On behalf of the organizers, Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-GH) and Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), we are pleased to welcome you to today's media engagement anchored on the theme: Ending political vigilantism and adopting a zero tolerance to election violence campaign in Ghana; a strategic priority for sustained peace and security. Ladies and Gentlemen, as you may be aware, political vigilantism and electoral violence has indeed become a very chronic crump on Ghanas security effort and a move that has been described by many as a two-edged sword which comes with some benefits as well as negative consequences but with its negatives largely outstripping the positives. In many developing democracies, including Ghana, vigilantism is commonly summarized as taking the law into ones own hands, and a violent display of brute-force to protect the interest of a group that one belongs to (Rosenbaum and Sederberg, 1974, 2017). In other words, individuals as well as groups who feel there is lack of protection, justice, and safety from the proficient authorities of the state resort to such vigilante groups for the best of security. Friends of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, the notoriety political vigilantism has gained in Ghana leaves much to worry about. Ghana, a progressive democratic state built under the principles of the rule of law, transparency and accountable governance is gradually being short-changed into a police state, rightly defined by Merriam Webster as a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures Ladies and Gentlemen, we are all aware that political parties whether in government or in opposition form and use vigilante groups also known as militia who act on their behalf to perpetrate mayhem on persons or groups considered as opponents. The emergence of the dreaded militia groups established and supported by surrogates of the two major political parties (i.e.) ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) cast a slur on Ghanas democratic integrity in the comity of nations. This has been highlighted in various reports such as one put together by the Emil Shorts Commission of Inquiry, Institute for Security Studies as well as researchers. These so called vigilantes engage in riots, violent protests and property destruction; they are known to target elections, intimidating voters or mounting roadblocks to prevent people they termed outsiders from voting as part of a well-calculated scheme to disfranchise people they consider opponents to their course. They (vigilantes) have also been known to harass, threaten, assault, and even assassinate opponents. These vigilante groups are often violent, they target opposition groups and public officials they see as hindrances to their electoral fortunes. Ladies and gentle, a few reminders of the actions of some of these militia groups will help us situate the dangers we are warning Ghana about. We recall that not too long ago, immediately after the 2016 elections many incidents of violence were reported across the country. Vigilante groups affiliated to the ruling government which had just been voted into power went on vandalism spree, seizing state properties, harassing former government appointees through unlawful invasions and going on collision course with law enforcement agencies. We also remember the violent attack meted on the Judiciary by members of the Delta Force at a court in Kumasi and freed suspects in lawful custody is still fresh in the memories of all Ghanaians and Non-Ghanaians alike. The brutal assault on ASP Nanka Bruce at the presidency cannot be forgotten. Ladies and gentlemen we must also remember that this same phenomenon of vigilantism ended the life of a young NDC activist by supposed members of the Hawks a Vigilante Group affiliated with the NDC at the Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the party on 18th February 2020, where the leadership of the party had gathered for a meeting was a replay of many other atrocities committed by this dreaded vigilante groups. The brazen acts of violence visited on innocent Ghanaians in the Ayawaso West Wuogon byelection under the orders of the SWAT team commander, DSP Samuel Kojo Azugu is worth remembering. The troubling report from the explosive documentary by the renowned Ghanaian investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure which was aired on Joy News on Thursday, 7th March, 2019, and exposed Pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) militia group named De-Eye which was operating at the then seat of government, the Osu Castle, and led by one Nana Wireko Addo (a.k.a Choman), a former bodyguard of the President of the Republic lays credence to our position on the state of insecurity in Ghana. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are becoming increasingly worried that despite the passage of the Vigilantism Bill, and the signing of the Peace Accord by leadership of the political parties, there still exist evidence of growing political vigilantism in the country. Fast forward, it was evidently clear that during the recent voter registration exercise, violent activities of party hoodlums was on the increase. It is important to note that electorates in a number of constituencies including Banda in Bono, Ketu South in Volta, Ahafo Ano North & South in Ahafo, Sekyere Afram Plains in Ashanti, Nkwanta South, Akan, all in Oti, Asuogyaman, Atiwa East in Eastern, Upper Denkyira East and West, Assin North, Central and South, Awutu Senya East (the shooting incidence by the MP), Weija Gbawe (the intimidation and beating of EC officials at Heater Hill Top Gbawe Zero) Agona West and East all in the Central Region and many others across the nation were not spared the intimidation. Truth be told, the killings, alleged harassments, brutalization of innocent Ghanaians by some military personnel and party thugs during the recent voter registration exercise and the alleged ethnocentric military invasion of certain constituencies has indeed confirmed the heightened state of insecurity in Ghana. Friends of the Media, other critical questions which obviously need to be answered by all of us is; why have we gotten here? Can we not see the slippery slope we are riding on is selfdestructive? As key stakeholders, can we prioritize, take collective action to correct the wrongs through aggressive advocacy for the necessary reforms for sustained peace and security? To us, yes, thats why we are here today. We cannot have peaceful elections with the continuous of these political militia or vigilante groups. The more we harbour them they bolder they get and acts with sense of impunity. The peace and security of Ghana, a country touted as a beacon of democracy in Africa is continuously being threatened by partisan vigilantism, which rears its ugly head particularly during elections. We wish to use this platform to remind the political parties that the peace and stability of this country is bigger than their ideologies and personal ambitions. The good people of Ghana have chosen a system of governance and a system of electing their leaders, characterized by fair, free and open elections and the best we can do is to unconditionally contribute our quota to its sustained growth. For the foregoing, we call on government and all stakeholders to declare a zero tolerance for electoral violence and put in place measures to achieve it. We also recommend the following as steps to ending vigilantism: That the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo in line with the constitution must take actions to ensuring that Ghana remains peaceful before, during and after the 2020 elections. That the mere passage of the Vigilantism Bill is not enough. The President should show leadership to ensuring that the anti-vigilantism law is applied irrespective of the offenders status or political coloration to serve the purpose for which it was passed. That political parties must allow state security apparatus to undertake their mandated duties without influence. Political parties should not incite their supporters to be violent but rather support the state institutions to do their work and channel complains and grievances to the appropriate quarters for redress. That state security institutions serve at the pleasure of the people. They should resist partisan influence and show themselves to be neutral, fair and committed to the colours of Ghana, and none other. That the President and the relevant state institutions must ensure that victims (both injured and dead) of vigilante activities get justice including compensation packages. That whoever loses the forth coming election must call and congratulate the winner no matter how painful it might be. Again, any person or group of persons whose actions and inactions intend to run down the country must be made to face the full rigours of the law. That CSOs, Media, Moral Society, Traditional Authorities among other stakeholders should be heard loudly on the current state of insecurity in Ghana and take collective action and right the ills of society for posterity will judge them if they sit aloof for the country be destabilized by civil unrest. That the peace council should be proactive in its work and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it is serving the interest of the Ghanaian people. The allegations of bias by some political actors is not good for its image and integrity. We call the young people of this country to resist any form of temptation to be used as tools to perpetuate any act of electoral violence before during and after the elections. On the other hand government must invest in reducing the unemployment situation among the youth. Thank you for coming. A growing number of colleges and universities are canceling spring break six months in advance, due to concerns about students anticipated travel activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Michigan is the latest institutions to amend its 2021 academic calendar, removing the traditional spring break period, which it did at a Board of Regents meeting Sept. 17, according to ABC News. In doing so, the University of Michigan joins other Big Ten universities that have eliminated spring break for the coming semester, including Ohio State University; Purdue University; University of Iowa and University of Wisconsin, Madison. Other schools that have followed suit include Baylor University, Carnegie Mellon University; Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa; Kansas State University; Texas Christian University; University of Florida, University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee. University of Michigan, Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso wrote in a letter requesting changes to the academic calendar that the move would, mitigate the possible risks associated with campus community members who may have traveled during the middle of the semester. Baylor Provost Nancy Brickhouse said in a message to students that calling off spring break was in the interest of, preventing COVID-19 outbreaks like we saw across the country last spring. The rationale behind skipping next years spring school holidays is sound, according to a June 2020 study conducted by Ball State and Vanderbilt, which examined the GPS smartphone data of over seven million U.S. college students during spring break. Its findings provide empirical, causal evidence of the nationwide effects of spring breakers in relation to COVID-19s spread. We find that the increase in case growth rates peaked two weeks after students returned to campus, said Paul Niekamp, an economics professor at the Miller College of Business. Consistent with secondary spread to more vulnerable populations, we find an increase in mortality growth rates that peaked four to five weeks after students returned. These decisions follow similar logic for revisions to the fall semester, which many schools have condensed by scrapping previously planned recesses, thereby limiting the amount of time students will spend on campus attending in-person instruction. Even so, schools around the nation reportedly continue to grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks on campus. Some schools, such as Carnegie Mellon and Purdue, are instead sprinkling several break days or reading days throughout the spring semester calendar in an effort to make up for the loss of a real vacation from school. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") is pleased to announce that an alternative payment option is being made available for all of its online customers. This alternative payment platform offers interest-free installment plans that empowers customers to "Buy Now and Pay Later" with simple, interest-free installment plans. This breaks down the total cost of the purchase into smaller payments, spread over at least six weeks. Having this available on the Aires e-store page, will increase the average order value, the checkout conversion, and contribute to grow the revenue. It also helps convert first-time visitors when the timing is less than ideal, like right now during the Covid period, offering flexible payment options. "We are seeing orders that are larger in size than was historically the case in the range of $2,000 to $3,000 per household. With this, we hope to facilitate more of these larger sized orders and drive both sales and cart sizes higher," commented Dimitry Serov, President and CEO. "Historically, Q4 sales are the strongest of the year and we are looking for this trend continue. Having this on board will facilitate us achieving this." About American Aires Inc. American Aires Inc. is a nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly credited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. The technology specifically targets cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation and general EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices. Aires has launched a full suite of consumer products under the brand name "Airestech" for use on almost all consumer electronic devices. The Company has adopted a global ecommerce and distribution platform that scales easily as sales grow. Since launching in 2019, Aires has enjoyed exuberant growth. The company has been aggressively building out their ecommerce platform which is now capable of delivering up to 10,000 shipments a day along with recent customer service center agreements. Strategically placed fulfillment centers have been secured to ensure prompt delivery around the globe (see PR Jan. 31, 2020).With the launch of 5G networks around the world, this year, we are seeing an increase of news, reports and leading health organizations discussing the potential harm of EMR and the importance of identifying solutions to reduce these harmful rays. Aires products are the solution. www.airestech.com On behalf of the board of directors Company Contact Dimitry Serov, CEO Email: dimitry@airestech.com Telephone: (905) 482-4667 Website: www.airestech.com For further information please contact: Investor Cubed Inc.: Neil Simon, CEO Email: wifi@airestech.com Telephone: (647) 258-3310 Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/64784 Oil prices turned lower on Tuesday as growing COVID-19 cases rekindled fears of a stalled demand recovery while the markets and the world prepare to watch the first U.S. presidential debate later today. As of 10:48 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, WTI Crude was down 2.68 percent at $39.51 and Brent Crude was trading down below $42, at $41.49, down 2.22 percent on the day. Meanwhile, U.S. benchmark natural gas prices were down 7.37 percent at $2.589/MMBtu as the October futures contract rolled out, and the November contract became the front-month futures contract. Currently, overall U.S. natural gas demand is estimated at low to moderate by NatGasWeather.com, but demand is set to increase to high later this week with a stronger cold shot pushing into the Great Lakes and the East Thursday through Sunday with lows in the 30s and 40s, and in some places in the 20s. Oil prices fell on Tuesday, after hitting a week-high on Monday due to strong equity markets, a weaker U.S. dollar, and the proposal of House Democrats of a new stimulus package worth US$2.2 trillion. On Tuesday, investors and speculators are waiting for the first Trump-Biden presidential debate, while resurging coronavirus cases in major European economies are dragging market sentiment down. The continued increase of Libyas oil production at times of uncertain global demand recovery is also weighing on prices. Brent currently trades in a relative tight range with resistance being concentrated around $43.5/b where the 50 and 200-day moving averages meet. Downside support at $41.50/b (100-DMA) followed by $39.50/b, John Hardy, Head of FX Strategy at Saxo Bank, said on Tuesday. The next immediate catalyst for oil prices will be the weekly inventory estimate of the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. Expectations are centered around a crude oil inventory build of some 1 million barrels last week, according to ING. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Napa County residents are being evacuated with more preparing to leave as the Glass Fire scorches through wine country amid a horrific fire season for the West Coast. Evacuation orders were issued Tuesday as the wildfire expanded to 42,500 acres and zero percent containment over Napa and Sonoma counties, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Authorities said the Glass Fire, which began overnight Sunday, has already destroyed 80 residences. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick warned Tuesday that many might be experiencing fire fatigue as the three-year mark of the devastating Tubbs fire looms. The 2017 Tubbs fire killed 22 people, destroyed more than 5,600 structures and burned around 36,800 acres. Image: Glass Fire (Samuel Corum / AFP - Getty Images) This is our fourth major fire in our community since 2017, Essick said. Many people are feeling the effects. Many people are evacuating who have evacuated multiple times. The Glass Fire began just before 4 a.m. Sunday and merged with two other fires, quickly expanding over the famed wine country region. Authorities urged residents in the surrounding areas to remain vigilant and prepared, ready to evacuate as soon as orders to leave may come down. Residents located south of Chiles Pope Valley Road, east of Ink Grade Road, west of Pope Valley Cross Road and the entire town of Angwin have been ordered to leave as of Tuesday afternoon. Though winds have eased and allowed for some hope of containing the spread of the flames, firefighters are still working around the clock to quell the blaze. First responders have split the response into two zones, with an east zone focused on Napa County and the west zone encompassing Sonoma County. Image: Cluster Of Destructive Wildfires Burns Through Napa And Sonoma Counties In California (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Drone footage captured the destruction surrounding Mountain Hawk Drive in Santa Rosa, about 60 miles north of downtown San Francisco, after flames from the Glass Fire roared through the neighborhood. Three people were killed in the Zogg Fire, which ignited southwest of the city of Redding, a little over 200 miles away from the Glass Fire. The Zogg Fire is also zero percent contained and has burned more than 40,317 acres, based on the latest Cal Fire data. California has seen the worst wildfire season in state history over the last few months with more than 3.7 million acres burned, 7,874 structures damaged and at least 28 killed so far, according to Cal Fire. LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Armenian National Committee of America Western Region unequivocally condemns Azerbaijan's coordinated assault against the Republic of Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh). On the morning of September 27th local time, Azerbaijan began a coordinated full-scale invasion of Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh) - the most significant violation of the ceasefire since the ceasefire was established in 1994. The aerial and missile assault has seen Azerbaijan engage in the deliberate targeting of civilian populations throughout Artsakh, including the capital city Stepanakert and the surrounding regions of Askeran, Martuni, and Martakert where an elderly woman and a child were killed. As of September 28th, 84 Armenian service-members have been killed and over 200 injured in Azerbaijan's assault. The coordinated military assault by Azerbaijan under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic comes only months after Azerbaijan's aggression against the Republic of Armenia in July, and after joint live-fire military exercises with Turkey in August. In the weeks leading up to Azerbaijan's attack on Artsakh, signs of coordination and escalation were apparent; with evidence of Azerbaijan's mobilization of reservists, the commandeering of civilian vehicles for military use, and Turkey's transporting of Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan. Reports from the Republic of Artsakh's government also indicate that Turkish F-16s are operational in Azerbaijan's assault against Artsakh a severe escalation of conflict entirely consistent with Turkey's expansionist neo-Ottoman foreign policy. Turkey has played an increasingly active role in supporting the Azerbaijani regime's aggression, particularly since the latter instigated conflict with the Republic of Armenia in July. Shortly after Azerbaijan's most recent assault on Artsakh began, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated his full support for Azerbaijan and called for the overthrow of the Armenian government. For too long, Azerbaijan has been enabled by the silence of global leaders, international organizations and media that have refrained from identifying Azerbaijan as an aggressor instead drawing false equivalence between the two countries in calling on "both sides" to cease hostility. Azerbaijan has been the only party responsible for the instigation and escalation of conflict, and the only party that has refused to adhere to OSCE Minsk Group ceasefire and de-escalation protocols. Azerbaijan recently disavowed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group peace process, with President Ilham Aliyev slamming the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairs U.S., France, and Russia Co-Chairs, calling their Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) mediation efforts "pointless" and threatening to resolve the issue militarily. While the United States has been calling on sides to "prepare populations for peace", Azerbaijan has been preparing its population for war over the last two decades, inculcating a vitriolic hatred of Armenians throughout all levels of society openly incited by the government. By the reports of international human rights institutions including the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights , Azerbaijan's leadership has institutionalized anti-Armenian racism throughout all levels of society. Azerbaijan's virulent state-sponsored anti-Armenian racism has resulted in the incitement of hate crimes including the destruction of cultural monuments, and granting impunity to the perpetrators of hate crimes. Following Azerbaijan's aggression against the Republic of Armenia in July, tens of thousands of Azerbaijani demonstrators took to the streets of Baku demanding war with Armenia, and chanting "death to Armenians." This hate has been exported to diaspora communities including in the United States where in recent weeks, most notably in San Francisco, California, a string of Armenophobic attacks against an Armenian church and elementary school are being investigated as hate crimes. For the Armenian people, Azerbaijan's attack on Artsakh is an existential threat. Artsakh is an historic part of the Armenian nation, and a bastion of Armenian civilization that has had a majority Armenian population for millennia. The region was forcibly separated from Armenia by Stalin following the Soviet occupation of the Caucasus and placed under the administrative control of the Azerbaijani SSR in an attempt to appease an ascendant Turkey. Under Soviet rule, Azerbaijani authorities embarked on a campaign of cultural erasure, economic marginalization, and the forced displacement of Armenians in an attempt to cleanse the region of its Armenian presence. In response, the Armenians of Artsakh in the late 1980s began to call for reunification with Armenia as a means of ensuring their fundamental rights in face of an increasingly belligerent Azerbaijan. Following pogroms and massacres organized by Azerbaijan against Armenian populations in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Maragha, Artsakh declared its independence in 1991 to secure its right to exist in the face of genocidal persecution. Azerbaijan responded by escalating the conflict to a full-scale war, perpetrating wholesale massacres, blockading and bombarding civilian populations, and forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Armenians. By 1994, the tide had turned against Azerbaijan and a ceasefire was reached, whereby a democratic government was elected in Artsakh and began operating fully independently from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has repeatedly, in the years since the war, violated the ceasefire and declared its intent to destroy and occupy not only Artsakh, but the Republic of Armenia itself an objective rooted in an ideology of pan-Turkism, the same expansionist ideology that informed the Armenian genocide 105 years ago. Turkey and Azerbaijan consider themselves to be "one state, two nations" and have routinely coordinated to undermine the integrity of the Armenian nation, maintaining illegal unilateral blockades of 80% of Armenia's borders in an attempt to suffocate the country. The ANCA-WR welcomes statements of support from U.S. Congress-members condemning Azerbaijan's aggression including Adam Schiff , who represents the district with the highest concentration of Armenians in the United States, Senator Bob Menendez , who led the Senate effort to recognize the Armenian Genocide last year, Frank Pallone , co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, as well as Representatives Jason Crowe , Linda Sanchez , Carolyn Maloney , Dina Titus , Brad Sherman , Ed Markey , and TJ Cox , as well as other local and state elected officials. The ANCA-WR strongly condemns the acts of aggression by Azerbaijan and calls on the international community, including the United States, to end its appeasement of Azerbaijan and hold this genocidal dictatorship accountable for its egregious violations of fundamental human rights and its perpetration of war crimes against civilian populations. The Armenian National Committee of America Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause. SOURCE Armenian National Committee of America Western Region Sushant Singh Rajput Death Anniversary: A Timeline of the of events that have transpired so far Medical board gave conclusive medico-legal opinion on Sushant's death to CBI: AIIMS forensic chief India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 29: The AIIMS' forensic chief Dr Sudhir Gupta said on Tuesday the board of doctors has given a conclusive medico-legal opinion in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the CBI and that they were on the "same page" with the probe agency in the matter. A source said the doctors' panel did not find any trace of poison in the actor's viscera, but this information could not be verified further. On his part, Dr Gupta refused to divulge any details, stating the case is sub judice. 'No aspect ruled out': CBI on Sushant Singh Rajput case "The medical board of AIIMS has expressed very clearly and conclusively medico-legal final opinion in this case to the CBI. The AIIMS and CBI are in agreement and on the same page in the matter," AIIMS' forensic chief said. He added, "We don't confirm any speculation running in the media and request all media to refrain from referring to AIIMS' name in any news content." These remarks by Dr Gupta come amid conflicting media reports about the contents of the medico-legal opinion. While some news reports claimed that the expert panel has said there is no proof of poisoning, some others said it has not ruled out murder or homicide. The CBI had on Monday said it has not reached any conclusion in the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and all aspects are under investigation. "The Central Bureau of Investigation is conducting a professional investigation related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in which all aspects are being looked into and no aspect has been ruled out as of date," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. Rajput, 34, who made his silver screen debut in the critically acclaimed 'Kai Po Che' seven years ago, was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. The CBI had taken over the probe from Bihar Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actor's father K K Singh in Patna against Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family. Sushant Singh Rajput case: Family demands 'truth' as lawyer says '200% murder' K K Singh, in his complaint to the Bihar Police, had alleged that Chakraborty along with her family members had misappropriated Rajput's wealth. The allegation was denied by Chakraborty in TV interviews. Last week, K K Singh's lawyer Vikas Singh had expressed "helplessness" over the "slow pace" of the CBI probe into Rajput's death. "The pace of the CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput's death has suddenly slowed down and all attention is being diverted to drugs-related issues with the NCB conducting fashion parade of Bollywood stars," the late actor's family lawyer Vikas Singh had alleged on Friday. Last summer I was tricked into transferring my life savings to criminals posing as cryptocurrency brokers. My friends had told me that lots of people were investing in Bitcoin and doing very well, so I found an online firm claiming to offer Bitcoin and entered my details. I was then contacted by a number of firms. One assigned me a broker called Alex who requested an initial 250 sign-up fee. This was blocked by my bank, Lloyds, as it was destined for an account in Eastern Europe. Abandoned: A reader was scammed out his life savings by cryptocurrency fraudsters - but HSBC refused to offer a refund Alex advised me to open an account at HSBC. Over the next few months she telephoned me daily advising me to invest more. I made six payments from my Barclaycard totalling 9,500 and paid 82,532 from my HSBC account. The fraudster told me I needed to hand over another 27,000 or I would lose all my money, so I asked my brother for a loan. He became suspicious and confirmed that it was a scam with Action Fraud and the Financial Conduct Authority. Barclaycard refunded me but HSBC is refusing. T. E., London. This scam is a terrifying example of how vulnerable people can be exploited by cruel criminals who always seem to be one step ahead of the banks. I spoke to your family about your experience at great length. They told me you are in your 70s and your memory is not as good as it once was. You were bombarded with calls encouraging you to invest more, which you did on the promise of solid returns. The final request of 27,000 was to 'unlock the blockchain', a term you did not understand, but you believed it was necessary to protect your investment. Barclaycard refunded the 9,500 without question, but it took more than four months of back and forth before HSBC agreed to reimburse the full 82,532. Initially the bank refused on the basis that it had contacted you on several occasions to check you knew where the payments were going. Then it offered you just 8,000. I argued that you were utterly taken in by the crypto-criminals and believed you were making sound investments. I repeatedly requested transcripts of the calls where it claims to have checked the payments with you, but these were never sent to me. It should have been up to HSBC to warn you about such scams based on its knowledge of how fraudsters operate. A spokesman says: 'We take very great care to consider personal circumstances in cases like these, including factors which may affect decision-making at the time. 'While we're satisfied that we acted correctly in respect of the information we had at the time, in light of new information, and as a gesture of goodwill, we have reimbursed Mr E the funds lost.' You have YOUR say Every week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our investigation into the costly battle waged over the womens state pension age: The state pension age was hiked in a sloppy way. I never received any notification and I worked for the Department for Work and Pensions. I had no time to change my plans. E. H., Nottingham. If it would cost the Government 200 billion to pay back the women, that was never going to pass. The fairest thing to have done would have been to hike the pension age in increments, so that women had to wait only a few more months, not years. I. R., Southampton. I am a 62-year-old woman and I would have been in favour of equalising the state pension age at around 63. As things stand, I've had to start drawing down the personal pension I've paid into since my late 20s. T. C., Shropshire. Equality works both ways. If the women wanted their pension age to stay at 60, a man should be able to claim at the same age. I can't imagine how expensive it would be to backdate that. J. F., by email. I have been following both the Backto60 and WASPI campaigns with great interest. I have my doubts about Backto60 and personally believe WASPI is more likely to be successful. P. M., Bedfordshire. These women were always going to lose this battle. They were never going to receive all the money they would have been paid. The rise in the state pension age was inevitable. S. S., Southend. I am a 60-year-old man who began working at 16. I was always under the impression that I would retire at 65, but I will now be unable to claim my state pension until I am 66. B. Y., Southampton. My son is in HMP Usk and he asked me to buy a book for him Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide To Joy by Sadhguru. He said it could be purchased only through Waterstones, as per prison rules. I ordered it online and was told Royal Mail tried to deliver the parcel, but it was refused. The prison checked the CCTV footage and no parcel was delivered. I tried to contact Waterstones but the phones aren't manned and emailing didn't work. I have written to head office and have had no reply. The book cost 19.99, which is a lot of money for me to lose as an 80-year-old. H. K., Gloucestershire. Big-name firms have used the pandemic as an excuse for poor customer service and this is no different. Waterstones says its customer support lines are closed as its offices are not yet fully reopened. It is unclear why staff can't work from home as they do in other customer support teams. The bookshop says it is taking longer than normal to respond to queries due to the volume of online orders. But it has now agreed to arrange for a new order to be sent, at no extra charge. Its team will be in touch. Straight to the point After buying 2,000 of Income Bonds from NS&I on May 19 I received an email stating I would be sent a confirmation pack that included other information, but I have not received it. T. F., North Yorkshire. When you opened the account you set up a password which lets you access a portal, and that is where the details were sent. NS&I says you could not remember the password so it has reset it. *** My wife died in May and I've been trying to settle her estate. I sent Halifax a proof of her ID and a copy of the death certificate. Why it is asking me for ID again? D. P., Bristol. It sounds as if you were incorrectly told that Halifax had all it needed. After I got in touch, it retrieved the final documents from you. The bank has apologised for the poor service and will arrange for compensation to be paid once the estate is settled. *** Currys gave me a 40 gift card after my hob was written off and I claimed through its care plan. I tried to use it in a store last month, but was told it had expired. D. F., Leeds. The two-year time limit to use the gift card is mentioned in its terms and conditions. However, Currys has apologised that this wasn't made clear to you at the time. It has issued you with a new card valued at 80 as a gesture of goodwill. *** My airline cancelled my outbound flight, for which I would like to claim a refund, but I want to keep my return flight. Can I claim a refund for the former without cancelling the latter? M. P., Altrincham, Gtr Manchester. You can, but if both legs are under the same booking reference number you will have to call the airline, as it may not be possible to claim the refund using its online forms. I took out HomeServe boiler cover in December 2010, two years after having an appliance installed. I've renewed each year and paid 405.72 for this year's premium in December. In March I had a problem with the boiler and successfully claimed to have a part replaced. However, just a few months later another fault developed and I called HomeServe again. The engineer said he needed to go to collect another part, but never came back. He called the next day to say the boiler was beyond economic repair. My policy was cancelled and I was given just 200. A new boiler would cost at least 1,000, so how can this be fair? I. W., Cheshire. Boilers do not last for ever. Most will break down when they are between ten and 15 years old, so 12 years is not a bad innings. You say that HomeServe's terms and conditions were not clear on what 'beyond economic repair' (BER) meant. I had a look at the terms online, which say a boiler is BER if the total cost of the parts needed to fix it exceeds 85 per cent of the retail cost of the boiler or one of a similar make and model. HomeServe would have replaced the boiler if it was less than seven years old, but yours was almost twice this age. The 200 towards a new boiler is what you are entitled to under the terms. But after I contacted the firm it refunded you for the months of cover for which you will no longer be eligible an extra 202.86 as a goodwill gesture, as you have been a longstanding customer. BKDP Display Probe TEGAM, Inc., Why do I have to look at the meter to read it? is a question we hear from our customers. It may sound absurd, but we took it seriously when we introduced our new 710A grounding and bond meter. Many applications take our customers into difficult places such as: Laying on your back under an aircraft instrument panel while still having to read your meter. Now you can! Inside a full rack of a server farm. Now you can! Without straining your neck. Climbing up a wind turbine to repair after a lightning strike. Now you can! Keep your eyes where they belong when you are 100 meters up. Climbing on the roof to check the grounds on your solar array. Now you can! Without removing the meter from your belt. TEGAMs new BKDP-M2 Display Probe puts the metering information literally in your hand by putting a display into the probe body so that it is in your field of view where you are working rather than remotely on the instrument face. The highly visible OLED display is readable in dark areas and brightly lit ones. A hold button was also incorporated into the probe so that you could freeze a reading and refer to it later. This is truly a revolutionary advance in ergonomics. I have been working in the handheld meter market for over 30 years and have not seen anything more useful says Kevin Kaufman, VP of Sales. The BKDP-M2 also completes a true 4-wire measurement for accurate low Ohms measurements but also can be outfitted with a range of replaceable probe tips. The proper tip can be selected to match the application and can be replaced by the operator without tools. The BKDP-M2 Display Probe complements the extraordinary accuracy of the 710A Bond Meter and can be added at the time of purchase or after the fact. The Display Probe does not need to be calibrated nor does it affect the accuracy of the readings. For more information on the TEGAM Bond Meters or to download a datasheet, visit TEGAM.com. About TEGAM Headquartered just east of Cleveland, Ohio, TEGAM, Inc. designs, manufactures and calibrates instrumentation that impacts your daily life in surprising ways. Our goal is to make your measurement task easier, faster and more accurate. We continuously invest in R&D of products and calibration techniques that allow you to make your critical measurements with unparalleled certainty. Our electrical measuring capabilities include temperature, RF power, and micro-Ohms. In addition to the Geneva, Ohio Headquarters, TEGAM operates a sales office in Beijing, China providing regional support to our customers in Asia. A cohesive network of strong technical distributors extends our representation to over 40 other countries throughout the world. For more information visit http://www.tegam.com or contact Sales at Sales@tegam.com. New Delhi/Jaipur, Sep 29 : After a fraud of Rs 57 lakh was reported involving the employees of Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who had submitted fake LTC bills in the year 2017-18, JNU has initiated disciplinary action for major penalty against 34 employees, who had claimed lakhs of rupees in an unfair manner, Kota-based social worker and RTI activist Sujit Swamy told IANS. In June, a central expenditure audit team had detected a fraud worth over Rs 57 lakh by JNU employees who claimed fake leave travel concession (LTC) and reimbursement of phone bills in the 2017-18 fiscal. Following a communication by the office of the Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure), seeking its comment over the fraud, the university initiated a probe into the matter. The bills were found to be fake in the audit report. After coming to know about the fraud, Swamy had sent an email to the Delhi Police Commissioner, JNU Registrar and Vice Chancellor through his advocate on June 19, urging them to register a case against all the guilty employees and take strict action in the matter. In August, Swamy sought information under the Right to Information Act, seeking to know what action has been taken against the guilty employees. In response, Delhi Police said that the complaint was sent to JNU which was asked to take action against the guilty and instructions were also issued to the police to take necessary action. Swamy was informed by the JNU administration that the entire amount of the false claims will be recovered with 10 per cent annual interest from the day the claims were made, and that the amount could be deposited by the employee in five instalments. So far, the employees have deposited Rs 51,32,523, while Rs 4,02,050 is still pending. During the 286th meeting of the executive council of the institute held on July 23, the matter was placed before all the members. It was decided that disciplinary action should be taken against the guilty. The university has started the process of disciplinary action for major penalty by dispatching showcause notices to the accused, said Swamy. Details of Trumps alleged tax returns have been published in the New York Times where sources claimed the US president had paid just $750 in income tax in 2016 and 2017. The story also claimed the president had not paid income tax in the 10-15 years prior. Following the story, a number of politicians and celebrities have widely shared the article and responded to it - with many such as John Cusack and Sarah Silverman making their feelings about the president clear. Others including Mark Hamill and Alyssa Milano have also weighed in, sharing details of the report. President Donald Trump / Getty Images Trump has since denied the claims, which came ahead of a White House press briefing where he was asked about the piece by reporters. Calling the reports fake news, he added that he was still being audited by the IRS which does not treat me well. For more on how celebrities have responded to Trump, read on. Chris Evans Getty Images for IWC Captain America star Chris Evans did not directly respond himself, however he did retweet a post by former Republican governor John Kasich which read, "$750! Are you kidding me? It doesnt pass the smell test and it wont sit well with blue collar voters who are on the fence." Mark Hamill The Star Wars actor called the report just the tip of the iceberg for Trump. John Cusack The Say Anything actor shared a number of tweets and retweeted many others regarding Trumps alleged tax payments. Calling him an arch criminal pathological liar in one, he also shared the NYT article and added he was a flat out - criminal loser. Sarah Silverman Comedian Sarah Silverman wrote that Trump was a goddamn crook who steals from you and you think him for it. Sharing the NYT article, she continued, GET OFF FACEBOOK and read actual accountable, fact-checked actual news. Mia Farrow Farrow shared the report and tweeted, Trumps long concealed taxes show his chronic losses, hundreds of millions in debt and years of income tax avoidance. Alyssa Milano Milano branded Trump a fake and DontheCon as she also shared the article. She tweeted The Times obtained Trumps tax information extending over more than 2 decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN DEBT coming due. Trumps Taxes Show Chronic Losses. Debra Messing Calling Trump the KING OF THE SWAMP, Messing continued, NO TAXES FOR 10 years out of 12. Trump paid $75O in taxes the year he became President. #Trump is a CRIMINAL. Ava DuVernay The director shared an extract from the article and particularly its claim that Trump paid no income tax for 10-15 years. She wrote, You read that right. None. Zero. Kumail Nanjiani Eternals actor Nanjiani simply tweeted $750, the amount Trump is believed to have paid in federal income tax. Patricia Arquette Arquette tweeted, If you paid more than $750.00 in Federal taxes (which supports the military and vets by the way) then you paid more than Trump paid. Josh Gad The Frozen star wrote, Hardworking Americans everywhere are asking themselves right now, why in the hell should I pay my taxes this year? This would appear folks, why this man refused for 4 years to share this information. $750 in taxes. 2 years in a row. And then nothing. Wow. Padma Lakshmi Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi called Trump the fraud we knew he was. They adopted a black rescue puppy named Dexter last month. And Dua Lipa was cradling the adorable pooch while leaving he Bowery Hotel with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid in New York on Monday evening. The One Kiss hitmaker, 25, held the dog in her arms as she made her way out into the city, while Anwar placed a protective arm around them both. Family: Dua Lipa was cradling the adorable pooch while leaving he Bowery Hotel with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid in New York on Monday evening Dua looked effortlessly stylish in a pair of Coach black leather pants and a zip-up jacket, which she styled with a pair of strappy black heels. The songstress wore her black raven tresses up into a chic up do and opted for soft touches of make-up, but covered most of her face with a mask. Meanwhile, Anwar, 21, dressed in his typically grunge style, wearing an Iron Maiden band T-shirt with a pair of grey trousers and black trainers. Stylish: Dua looked effortlessly stylish in a pair of black Coach leather trousers and a zip-up jacket, which she styled with a pair of strappy black heels Couple: They have been staying in New York together in recent days He was also sporting a mask and carried his belongings in a rucksack on his back. The outing comes days after Anwar became an uncle, following news his sister Gigi had given birth to a baby girl with boyfriend Zayn Malik. It was reported last month that Dua has upped sticks and travelled across the pond to Los Angeles to be closer to California native Anwar. Cute! The One Kiss hitmaker, 25, held the dog in her arms as she made her way out into the city, while Anwar placed a protective arm around them both Dazzling: Dua accessorised her ensemble with a selection of rings and a necklace The Sun reported Dua has relocated stateside to live with her partner due to fears that she won't be able to travel to and fro because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. It was claimed the London-born artist has moved into a lavish property in Beverly Hills near to Anwar's family, despite the fact that her inner circle are all based in the UK. A source told the publication: 'It was difficult to get to the US in the first place and she knows it's not going to be easy going back and forth because she would have to quarantine for weeks on end. Dressed down: Meanwhile, Anwar, 21, dressed in his typically grunge style, wearing an Iron Maiden band T-shirt with a pair of grey trousers and black trainers Stepping out: Their outing comes after Anwar became an uncle, following news his sister Gigi had given birth to a baby girl with boyfriend Zayn Malik 'But she knows plenty of people in Los Angeles, as does Anwar, who has lived there in the past, so she's feeling optimistic. 'Being in the US right now is great for pushing her career there too, especially with new music coming out. Dua's making their new place nice and homely and she has just got a puppy called Dexter with Anwar because they see their future in LA.' MailOnline contacted representatives for Dua and Anwar for comment at the time. Moving across the pond: It was reported last month that Dua has upped sticks and travelled across the pond to Los Angeles to be closer to California native Anwar Strong: The Sun reported Dua has relocated stateside to live with her partner due to fears that she won't be able to travel to and fro because of the novel coronavirus pandemic Early last month, Dua and Anwar took their relationship to the next level and announced the arrival of their rescue pup Dexter with a set of adorable snaps on Friday. She posted a sweet picture of the couple with the 'tiny best friend', after they adopted the pup from The Labelle Foundation in Los Angeles, California. She titled the post on Instagram: 'Our tiny best friend Dexter!!! thank you @thelabellefoundation HE'S PERFECT.' Mumbai: Despite many efforts by the government to boost credit supply by offering many a scheme to MSMEs and other priority sectors, the same has plunged to a low 1.9 per cent in the June quarter from 10.2 per cent a year ago, says a report. To help small business tide over the impact of the pandemic, the government has offered credit-driven boost to the economy. Quoting data from the Reserve Banks' quarterly statistics on deposits and credit for the June quarter, Care Ratings on Tuesday said in absolute terms, overall bank deposits stood at Rs 141.3 lakh crore in June 2020, up 11.5 per cent from Rs 126.7 lakh crore in June 2019. Outstanding credit stood at Rs 103.3 lakh crore, up 6.4 per cent but lower than 11.7 per cent in the same period in June 2019. But on a sequential basis, credit growth has seen a negative 1.1 per cent during the reporting period, which was also a negative 1 per cent in the March 2020 quarter. Though overall contraction in credit demand has continued in the June quarter at minus 1.1 per cent from minus 1 per cent in June 2019, in absolute terms incremental credit declined by a higher Rs 1.2 lakh crore in June 2020 from Rs 1 lakh crore in June 2019. This is owing to decline in overall sectoral growth (agriculture & allied credit declined by 0.4 per cent incrementally, industrial credit declined by 1 per cent, services sector declined by 2.6 per cent growth and personal loan segment declined by 2.5 per cent growth, says the report. This was led by a massive plunge in credit demand by the priority sector and personal loans, both of which have the mainstay of the banks for many quarters now as industries have not been borrowing much. While the loan demand from the priority sector plunged to a low 1.9 per cent in the June 2020 quarter from a high 10.2 per cent a year ago, the same from the farm sector declined to 4.7 per cent from 7.2 per cent. Similarly, demand from the industry fell to 2.2 per cent from 6.4 per cent, it plunged to 10.7 per cent from the services sector from 13 per cent and from personal loans fell to 10.5 per cent from 16.6 per cent. This had the total non-food credit which excludes priority sector credit, demand nearly halving to 6.7 per cent from 11.1 per cent, says the report. Non-food credit include loans to agriculture and allied activities, industry, services, and retail (personal loans). Growth in credit to the industrial sector which accounts for 31.8 per cent share in non-food credit, moderated on the back of slow growth in large industries which declined by 3.7 per cent in June 2020 from 7.2 per cent in June 2019; and negative growth in small business which declined by 3.7 per cent in June 2020 from 0.6 per cent growth in June 2019, and medium industries that declined by 9 per cent from 2.2 per cent growth in June 2019. Also, some large sectors like food processing, textiles, basic metals, iron & steel and infrastructure, which account for around 70 per cent of the overall industrial credit had negative to slow credit growth. The retail/personal loans segment slowed down to 10.5 per cent from 15 per cent in March 2020. However, housing loans continue to remain the single largest segment of lending in outstanding credit to retail/personal loan portfolio. Housing loans growth slowed down to 12.5 per cent in June 2020 from with 18.9 per cent in June 2019 and formed 54 per cent of the total credit to personal loan segment. Additionally, growth in credit to service sector moderated to 10.7 per cent from 13 per cent in June 2019 on account of slow growth in credit to NBFCs which accounts for 31.6 per cent of the total service sector loans and trade segment that accounts for 21.5 per cent share in service sector loan which toned down to 25.7 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively, in Q1 of FY21 from 37.6 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively in the previous year. Indicating more troubles for lenders, unsecured personal loans that have been their mainstay for many quarters now, has also started to taper off which in the June quarter led the fall in overall bank credit by a full 2.5 percentage points, says the report. . Immigration is the act of entering a country with the intent to permanently live and/or work there. United States immigration laws encompass a wide range of situations that involve a person from a foreign country coming to this country, whether for a temporary visit, or to live here permanently. The American immigration system is set up primarily to grant immigration status based on factors such as family reunification, in-demand work skills, and capital investment. The immigration system also covers refugees and asylum seekers, and provides a "lottery" for immigration status to people who have less pressing immigration needs. The procedure for gaining legal immigrant status will depend upon, among various factors, which path you are eligible to pursue based on your employment, education, and family situation. A Nation of Immigrants Millions of men and women from around the world have immigrated to the United States. Indeed, immigration has made the United States of America into a world power, particularly in terms of its economic growth. But attitudes toward new immigrants have cycled between favorable and hostile for more two centuries, and the immigration laws have often tracked these attitudes. The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first attempt to naturalize foreigners. The first significant federal legislation restricting immigration was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Quotas and immigration acts of all types have followed. But while Americans routinely acknowledge that the United States is a nation of immigrants, the system of laws that govern who can immigrate, who can visit, who can stay, and under what conditions can be downright confounding. Take the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952. This is a collection of laws that does everything from setting forth qualifications for naturalization, to regulating foreign students, to managing temporary workers, to authorizing humanitarian protections such as asylum and refugee admissions. New laws in 1965 ended the quota system that favored European immigrants, and today, the majority of the country's immigrants hail from Asia and Latin America. Enforcement of Immigration Laws The enforcement of immigration laws changed dramatically after the passage of Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), carries out the administrative functions involved in immigration. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), enforce the laws and protect the U.S. borders. Deportation, referred to as "removal" in legal terms, occurs when the federal government orders that a non-citizen be removed from the United States. This can happen for many reasons, but typically occurs after the immigrant violates immigration laws or the more serious criminal laws. Navigating the Immigration System FindLaw's Immigration Center has a wealth of information and resources on applying for U.S. citizenship, green cards, temporary visas, as well as information on dealing with immigration violations. You may also learn about the citizenship and naturalization process, permanent residency, temporary work visas, student visas, protection from deportation, and more. But immigration laws are some of the most complex on the books. Maneuvering through the maze of immigration regulation can be a significant challenge. A qualified immigration lawyer is often a crucial requirement for anything beyond the most simple and straight-forward immigration law issues. An immigration lawyer should know the immigration laws inside and out, have experience in immigration courts and can assist in navigating the federal immigration system. At the recent General Debate of the 75th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly which was held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of most countries and international organizations appealed for adhering to multilateralism and consolidating unity and cooperation to jointly cope with global challenges. The U.S., however, struck up a discordant tune. By making groundless accusations against China and spreading rumors in total disregard of facts to provoke China, the U.S. has poisoned international anti-epidemic cooperation environment with political virus. As an extension to a serious of despicable political shows staged recently by certain U.S. politicians, what the U.S. did at the General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly enabled the world to see more clearly how the U.S. is obsessed with hegemony and bullying by nature. Virus knows no boundaries or races. It can appear in any country. The country that reported the outbreak of a disease first is not necessarily the origin of the pathogen that causes the disease. The origin of a virus is a serious scientific issue that has to be resolved through research by scientists and doctors in a professional, rational, and responsible manner. According to Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Program, who has more than 25 years of experience in conducting epidemiologic investigation, the first person infected with virus in an epidemic, or patient zero, doesnt always come from where the first cluster is. Case zero is obviously before in time but it may be in another place so thats why you have to keep an open mind, Ryan said at a virtual press conference held on Aug. 10. So far, some countries have carried out technological monitoring on their COVID-19 cases and concluded based on facts that the virus had already appeared before it was reported by China. China firmly opposes stigmatization and politicization of the epidemic, and will continue participating in global scientific research on tracing the origin of the COVID-19 virus. By making painstaking efforts and tremendous sacrifices, China has succeeded in containing the spread of the virus in a relatively short period of time. In an open, transparent, and responsible manner, the country actively fulfilled its international obligations, gave timely notification of the onset of the COVID-19 to the WHO, relevant countries, and regional organizations, released the genome sequence of the virus at the earliest possible time, and shared without reserve its experience in containing the spread of the virus and treating the infected. China has helped save the lives of millions of people around the world through practical action, which has manifested its genuine aspiration for building a community with a shared future for mankind and the countrys sense of responsibility as a major country. In the face of a previously unknown disease, China has taken one of the most ancient approaches for infectious disease control and rolled out probably the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history, said Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO director-general. What China has done represents a resounding answer to the provocation and stigmatization by a certain country over the COVID-19 epidemic, pointed out Russian President Vladimir Putin. As the worlds most developed and richest country with the most advanced medical technologies, how well has the U.S. responded to the pandemic? On February 2, when the U.S. closed its border to all Chinese citizens, the country reported merely a dozen of confirmed COVID-19 cases. However, in just several months, the countrys number of confirmed cases has surged to nearly 7 million, with over 200,000 fatalities. Tens of thousands of people would not have died if the U.S. response had been more effective, noted Tom Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How many more lives will be lost before the U.S. gets it right, asked Time magazine. The U.S. has openly intercepted the anti-epidemic supplies of other countries, vied with other countries for the patent on COVID-19 vaccine, banned the export of domestic medical supplies, and even wantonly made the decision to withdraw from the WHO, becoming the biggest trouble maker for global anti-epidemic cooperation. The U.S. attempts to cover up the widespread criticism of its inadequate response to the COVID-19 by blaming China at UN General Assembly, pointed out Agence France-Presse (AFP). Turning a blind eye to the spread of the novel coronavirus while spreading political virus around the globe seems to be the routine job of certain U.S. politicians in the fight against the pandemic. From heads of UN agencies to representatives of governments in many countries, from mainstream media outlets in the U.S. to international medical experts, many visionary people have strongly condemned certain politicians in the U.S. for what they have done to politicize the COVID-19 pandemic and stigmatize other countries. Using COVID-19 to score political points is like playing with fire, said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warning against politicizing the outbreak. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it, Tedros said. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution to denounce anti-Asian sentiment related to the COVID-19. The resolution says that the use of anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID19, such as the Chinese Virus, have perpetuated anti-Asian racism and calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce any and all anti-Asian sentiment in any form and expeditiously investigate and document all credible reports of hate crimes against the Asian-American community. It seems that certain U.S. politicians should really acquire better knowledge of themselves and the current situation and quit adding to the trouble of their own country and the world in the global fight against the COVID-19. Cold War mentality, ideological lines or zero-sum game are no solution to a countrys own problem, still less an answer to mankinds common challenges, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at high-level meetings to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the UN. The attempt of the U.S. to stir up confrontation and split the international community at the UN General Assembly is widely despised and will never succeed. Certain politicians in the U.S. had better reflect hard on what they have done and wake up from their self-designed illusions. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) WICHITA, Kan., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. [NYSE: SPR] (the "Company") is announcing today that Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. ("Spirit"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is offering $400 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Secured First Lien Notes due 2025 (the "Notes") in a private offering. Spirit plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. The Notes will be guaranteed on a senior secured basis by the Company and Spirit AeroSystems North Carolina, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spirit (collectively, the "Guarantors"), and secured by certain real property and personal property, including certain equity interests, owned by Spirit, as issuer, and the Guarantors. The Notes and guarantees will be Spirit's and the Guarantors' senior secured obligations and will rank equally in right of payment with all of their existing and future senior indebtedness, effectively equal with their existing and future indebtedness secured on a pari passu basis by the collateral for the Notes to the extent of the value of the collateral (including a new senior secured term loan B credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $400 million and Spirit's Senior Notes due 2026), effectively senior to all of their existing and future indebtedness that is not secured by a lien, or is secured by a junior-priority lien, on the collateral for the Notes to the extent of the value of the collateral, effectively junior to any of their other existing and future indebtedness that is secured by assets that do not constitute collateral for the Notes to the extent of the value of such assets, and senior in right of payment to any of their existing and future subordinated indebtedness. Spirit is offering the Notes pursuant to an exemption under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The initial purchasers of the Notes will offer the Notes only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act or outside the United States to certain persons in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities or under any state securities laws. Therefore, the Notes may not be offered or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit of, any United States person unless the offer or sale would qualify for a registration exemption from the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes described in this press release, nor shall there be any sale of the Notes in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, sale or solicitation would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. On the web: www.spiritaero.com On Twitter: @SpiritAero About Spirit AeroSystems Inc. Spirit AeroSystems designs and builds aerostructures for both commercial and defense customers. With headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Malaysia. The company's core products include fuselages, pylons, nacelles and wing components for the world's premier aircraft. Spirit AeroSystems focuses on affordable, innovative composite and aluminum manufacturing solutions to support customers around the globe. More information is available at www.SpiritAero.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that may involve many risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "forecast," "intend," "may," "might," "objective," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would," and other similar words, or phrases, or the negative thereof, unless the context requires otherwise. These statements reflect management's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. Our actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such forward-looking statements and that should be considered in evaluating our outlook include, without limitation, the timing and conditions surrounding the return to service of the 737 MAX and any related impacts on our production rate; our reliance on Boeing for a significant portion of our revenues; our ability to execute our growth strategy, including our ability to timely complete and integrate our announced Bombardier acquisition; our ability to accurately estimate and manage performance, cost, and revenue under our contracts; demand for our products and services and the effect of economic or geopolitical conditions in the industries and markets in which we operate in the U.S. and globally; our ability to manage our liquidity, borrow additional funds or refinance debt; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and operations, including on the demand for our and our customers' products and services, on trade and transport restrictions, on the global aerospace supply chain, on our ability to retain the skilled work force necessary for production and development and generally on our ability to effectively manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business operations; and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors are not exhaustive and it is not possible for us to predict all factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. These factors speak only as of the date hereof, and new factors may emerge or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could impact our business. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation to, publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Spirit AeroSystems Related Links www.spiritaero.com The province announced on Monday it would go online with the national COVID-19 application this week to help track exposure to the coronavirus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/9/2020 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us The province announced on Monday it would go online with the national COVID-19 application this week to help track exposure to the coronavirus. "Well have more to say in a few days. That work has gone on behind the scenes, as weve said it was going on, to make it available and compliant in Manitoba," Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen said at Mondays COVID-19 press briefing. Manitoba joins four other provinces this week in connecting to the federal governments COVID Alert application for smart phones. (Screenshot) The app is currently available for use in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Saskatchewan and is available at the Apple App Store and Google Play. Friesen added people should understand the app doesnt rely on GPS and it doesnt give the government information about who you are or where you are. He said the app uses Bluetooth technology to link with others and their phones when you come in contact for the threshold period of time more than 15 minutes, less than two metres apart and over the past 14 days. "With this app, if you contract COVID-19 and youre determined to have done so, it is still voluntary for you to enter that one-time code into your app. That will then send a signal to other phones where that contact has taken place," Friesen said. He encouraged Manitobans to download COVID Alert, which is a voluntary disclosure tool due to Canadas privacy laws. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen speak to the media at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Monday. (Winnipeg Free Press) "If 20 per cent of Manitobans download this, its not going to have any effect. Ive heard numbers of 60 per cent, some have said. Some have said higher adoption rates for this to be effective," Friesen said. The app will not replace the governments contact tracing, but is an additional tool. That news comes with 39 new cases of COVID-19 as of 9:30 a.m. Monday, none of which were in the Prairie Mountain Health region. However, a 70-year-old man in the Prairie Mountain Health region has died, the 20th life claimed by COVID-19 in the province. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the man had been hospitalized, but did not disclose the hospital. Of the 39 new cases, seven cases are located in the InterlakeEastern health region, seven in the Northern health region, three in the Southern HealthSante Sud and 22 in the Winnipeg health region. There are now 618 active cases, while 1,281 people have recovered from COVID-19. Thirteen people are in hospital and seven are in intensive care. The province also disclosed possible exposure at Dennys at 4100 Portage Ave. in Winnipeg on Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sept. 20 from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., as well as XXI Lounge at 1011 Portage Ave. in Winnipeg on Sept. 18 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Sept. 19 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Brandon Regional Health Centres Assiniboine Centre remains under a code red until two full incubation periods after the last associated case. That hasnt happened, yet, said Roussin. Meanwhile, as children begin to contemplate their Halloween costumes, parents are wondering what can and cant be done come Oct. 31. Roussin said the government would be releasing a plan. "Were going to try to get a plan out, get some guidance. The fundamentals are always going to apply. I do think its important, but weve also been dealing with a significant number of cases that public health is trying to work on, and dealing with new public health orders," he said, when pressed about the importance of already-stressed children having advance knowledge about what they can expect. "But absolutely its important, and were working on that." Roussin also reported 2,647 tests were completed on Friday, 2,196 on Saturday and 1,596 tests on Sunday, for a total 180,750 since February. The five-day positivity rate remained at 2.2 per cent, While Winnipeg and surrounding communities are now, effective Monday, under a code orange, Roussin strongly encourages all Manitobans to reduce the number of close contacts outside their household, and avoid closed-in or crowded spaces. mletourneau@brandonsun.com Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism. Governments are increasingly adopting a more comprehensive enterprise architecture approach for managing their technology assets. Some organizations are pushing further, implementing a technology business management platform that brings together every aspect of IT within a unified framework. Government Technology spoke to Jeff Chancellor, (pictured, near right) the principal systems engineer for Soft ware AG Government Solutions, and David Taylor, (far right) the vice president of state, local and provincial government solutions for Soft ware AG, and a former agency CIO and state CIO of Florida, about how technology business management can make governments more efficient and more effective. What is technology business management, and what does it mean for government? Chancellor: Technology business management (TBM) is a methodology for managing the financial information related to your IT landscape. It includes a framework for categorizing expenditures, as well as connecting the transactions to the assets throughout your landscape, including applications and data center devices. TBM accumulates cost in a set of layers and a common vocabulary that enables discussions to be had at various levels throughout an organization. How does this differ from a more traditional approach? Chancellor: Enterprise architecture (EA) is a process and a discipline of documenting how you use your IT assets and how theyre connected. A lot of older EA methods and approaches were about generating diagrams and models. Finance was treated uniquely. But TBM provides a common vocabulary and a common way to handle IT finances. The connected nature of EA benefits from the connected structure and the vocabulary for TBM. So they work very, very well together. David, you were a CIO in Florida for several years, both at the agency level as well as state CIO. What was your approach to enterprise architecture? Taylor: TBM was not really well-established back then, but when I was CIO I knew I wanted to take an enterprise approach to IT. I was aware of different frameworks out there for enterprise architecture. But I knew we needed to start with something that wasnt too complex or challenging for us, given where our organization was at the time. For an EA project to be successful, the organization needs to be ready to adopt it. In our case, we lacked a project management office. We had no methodology or standards in place that would ensure that an enterprise architecture project would be successful. So we started with that. We also needed to set up and socialize an IT governance framework, which would be run by the new project management office. Finally, we established the practice of using a business analyst to understand each core program area, and these folks interfaced and informed the governance process of any new enterprise opportunities. What does the current enterprise architecture landscape look like in state and local government? Taylor: In general, most state and local agencies do not have a formal EA office, and some are at a lower IT maturity level than you might expect. There are many reasons for this, but I find most of them lack skilled EA IT practitioners on staff. They lack sufficient funding, and they dont have internal buy-in for EA as a project. And they tend to have little or no comprehensive IT governance structure. Its pretty much every business area for itself. What can those agencies do to get started? Taylor: All agencies have unmet needs that EA could help address. For example, they could create an overview of system relationships and dependencies. They could also show the potential impact of changes by running multiple what-if scenarios. Overall, EA can help agencies increase standardization and improve risk mitigation while lowering their IT costs and reducing their portfolio complexity. EA tools used to be very costly and complex, and thats one of the reasons we started writing our own tool [in Florida]. But theyre much less so now, and the tools have a greater ability to import the data needed to get started. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military bombarded military and civilian infrastructures, including the targeted strikes on civilian population in the Armenian town of Vardenis which resulted in one civilian being killed, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This morning, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement revealing the Azerbaijani disinformation, which was aimed at preparing grounds for military operations in the direction of the Vardenis region of the Republic of Armenia. Minutes after this disinformation the Azerbaijani armed forces attacked the civilian-military infrastructure in the Vardenis region, including targeting the civilian population, as a result of which one civilian was killed. In contempt of the continuing calls of the international community to end the hostilities, Azerbaijan, with the active encouragement, political and military support of Turkey, is expanding the geography of hostilities to the territory of the Republic of Armenia. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh will give adequate military-political response to Azerbaijans consistent attempts to undermine regional security and peace." Hailey Bieber recently got back to work, amid months of quarantine, as she jetted off to Italy for Milan Fashion Week. But the model has since returned home to Los Angeles, where she's enjoying more romantic time with Justin. She donned a skintight plunging black latex bodysuit Monday, as she stepped out to grab dinner with her husband at the celeb favorite sushi hotspot Nobu Malibu. Date night: Hailey Bieber donned a skintight plunging black latex bodysuit Monday, as she stepped out to grab dinner with husband Justin at the celeb favorite sushi hotspot Nobu Malibu The 23-year-old covered the look with an oversized double-breasted mustard blazer, featuring gold buttons. She finished the ensemble with a black face mask, some gold necklaces and a pair of black stilettos with gold details. Justin, 26, kept it casual for dinner in a grey hoodie and a black beanie from his merch fashion line Drew House. He and Hailey drove home in their blush Lamborghini Urus, which appeared the be parked in a handicap space. Mustard chic: The 23-year-old covered the look with an oversized double-breasted mustard blazer, featuring gold buttons Black and gold: She finished the ensemble with a black face mask, some gold necklaces and a pair of black stilettos with gold details Casual outing: Justin, 26, kept it casual for dinner in a grey hoodie and a black beanie from his merch fashion line Drew House Not cool: He and Hailey drove home in their blush Lamborghini Urus, which appeared the be parked in a handicap space Riding shotgun: Hailey rode shotgun as her Grammy-winning husband sat behind the wheel, after they were walked out by their bodyguard Hailey rode shotgun as her Grammy-winning husband sat behind the wheel, after they were walked out by their bodyguard. She was previously spotted in all white, as she made a coffee run in West Hollywood, upon her homecoming from Milan. The Drop the Mic host sported a white crop top with some matching skintight high-waisted pants and a white face mask. Just one day before, she stepped out in an all-black look, with a knee-length duster, while posing for a selfie in front of her Versace billboard. Coffee run: She was previously spotted in all white, as she made a coffee run in West Hollywood, upon her homecoming from Milan. The Drop the Mic host sported a white crop top with some matching skintight high-waisted pants and a white face mask Back in black: Just one day before, she stepped out in an all-black look, with a knee-length duster, while posing for a selfie in front of her Versace billboard Billboard model: Hailey and pal Bella Hadid posed in bikinis for the fragrance campaign, which was shot on a small island between Corsica and Sardinia back in June Hailey and pal Bella Hadid posed in bikinis for the fragrance campaign, which was shot on a small island between Corsica and Sardinia back in June. It comes after Justin dropped the video earlier this month for Holy, which featured cameos from Chance the Rapper, Wilmer Valderrama and Ryan Destiny. He teased the song earlier this week on Twitter, as he attempted to shed his often problematic image for something of a moral Christian nature: 'New era. New single. Its begins.' The Canadian pop star plays a laid-off oil rig worker in the video, who ends up homeless along with his wife (Ryan), before being offered a warm plate by a passing soldier (Valderrama). Although the message doesn't quite land visually, coming from someone who's never had to do manual labor a day in their life, the song appears to be more about how his marriage to Hailey is comparable to his faith in God. New video: It comes after Justin dropped the video earlier this month for Holy, which featured cameos from Chance the Rapper, Wilmer Valderrama and Ryan Destiny New era: He teased the song earlier this week on Twitter, as he attempted to shed his often problematic image for something of a moral Christian nature: 'New era. New single. Its begins' For Hailey: The song appears to be about how his marriage to Hailey is comparable to his faith in God He sings: 'Runnin' to the altar like a track star / Can't wait another second / 'Cause the way you hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me / Feels so holy' Justin married Hailey in September of 2018 at a New York City courthouse, after reuniting at a Christian conference in June (they originally dated from December, 2015 to January, 2016), and popping the question in July. He celebrated their second anniversary this month on Instagram, writing: '2 years today @haileybieber .. xoxo' The power couple dropped $25.8million last month on their new home, a 11,145-square-foot, seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion in the upscale Beverly Park neighborhood of Beverly Hills. Launching a scathing attack at YS Jagan Mohan Reddy govt. on Tuesday, TDP Spokesman Kommareddy Pattabhi Ram on Tuesday asserted that there was complete religious harmony during Chandrababu Naidu regime during 2014-19 and equal safety and security were given to the temples, churches and masjids without any partiality. TDP Official Spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhi Ram on Tuesday accused the Jaganmohan Reddy Government in Andhra Pradesh of hatching a wider conspiracy to take electoral and political advantage by dividing the AP society along religious lines. Mr. Pattabhi strongly objected to the comments of AP DGP Gautam Sawang that hundreds of attacks also took place on temples during the previous Telugu Desam Party regime. The DGP was making baseless statements and he should come out with proofs for his charges. Addressing a press conference here, the TDP Spokesman asserted that there was total religious harmony during the Chandrababu Naidu regime during 2014-`19 with equal safety and security given to the temples, churches and masjids without any partiality. Immediate steps were taken and any untoward incident was brought immediately under control. But now, the Jagan Reddy rule was lethargic and lenient towards culprits which has now resulted in occurrence of over 95 to 100 attacks on temples in just 16 months. Also Read: COVID-19: Serum Institute of India to produce additional 100 million vaccine doses Also Read: AP DGP calls out Naidus bluff, says allegation is far from truth Mr. Pattabhi deplored that the attacks on temples were continuing even after the sensational torching of sacred chariot at Antarvedi Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple. Recently, a Nandeeshwara idol was demolished at a Shiva temple in Chittoor district and another Hanuman idol was vandalised in Nellore district. No action was taken against the perpetrators till now. There is no security for the temples any more. The YCP Government was not giving equal importance to all religions like in the TDP rule. A draconian circular was issued recently by the Government to take away lands of temples. Stating that the lands of temples were being misused for sand mining as well, Mr. Pattabhi said that the funds of the Brahmin Corporation were being diverted. The sentiments of Hindu devotees were being hurt at every stage. The special schemes like Divya Darshan launched by the TDP regime were being cancelled. This scheme was aimed at assisting Hindu devotees to visit temples across the State. While this scheme was scrapped, the Jagan Reddy rule was continuing the Jerusalem and the Haji pilgrimages without any changes. The religious Aarti programmes introduced by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu at Pavitrasangamam was also discontinued despite the fact that this was initiated on the lines of the Ganga Aarti in Varanasi. Stating that there was no let-up in attacks on temples, Mr. Pattabhi demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into all the attacks on temples and not just one Antarvedi incident. Other religion propaganda was going on at the temples. Idols were being demolished and stolen. A YCP Minister spoke in defence of demolitions of idols thereby hurting the sentiments of Hindu devotees. The DGP should book cases and arrest the Minister for causing religious enmity, for insulting feelings of devotees and for hurting a group of people with a malicious intent. Also Read: ECI announces dates for 56 Assembly by-polls and one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar A federal law that protects firearms manufacturers from lawsuits is unconstitutional and so cannot block a Pennsylvania family from suing an iconic gun maker over the shooting death of their teenage son, a state appeals court panel has ruled. That decision, handed down by the Superior Court, is most certain to be appealed to the states Supreme Court and could become fodder for a federal court fight. The Brady Campaign, a nationwide group that advocates against gun violence, called the decision a victory for gun rights victims and said the Superior Court is the first appeals court in the U.S. to find the Protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act unconstitutional. The ruling, outlined in an opinion by Judge Deborah Kunselman, marks at least a temporary win for Mark and Leah Gustafson who are suing Springfield Inc. over the March 2016 shooting death of their 13-year-old son James in Westmoreland County. James, also known as J.R., was killed when a 14-year-old friend fired a semiautomatic pistol made by Springfield after mistakenly believing it was unloaded. The other teen had removed the ammunition clip from the gun, but a bullet remained in the firing chamber. In their suit, the Gustafsons claimed there were no adequate warnings on the pistol to inform the other boy that it might still be loaded even after the clip was removed. The 14-year-old later pleaded guilty in juvenile court to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The constitutionality of the federal law came into play when Springfield invoked it to try to sink the Gustafson suit. The case was appealed to Kunslemans court after a Westmoreland County judge ruled that the Arms Act did bar the familys suit. In concluding otherwise, Kunselman found the Arms Act violates the U.S. Constitution by usurping a power that rightly rests with each individual state. She wrote that in passing the act Congressundoubtedly undertook a radical reformation of the traditional state-federal balance that amounts to federal overreach. The constitutional safeguards that override the PLCAA are the structural pillars of American government. These principles ensure that local matters remain under the local authority of the states, and they prevent the federal government from becoming all powerful, Kunselman wrote. Congressional tort-reform bills, like the PLCAA, have no place within that system; tort law and statutes reforming it are an exercise of police power reserved to the states under the 10th Amendment. She sent the Gustafson suit back to the county court for further action. While the Superior Court ruling keeps that case alive, it does no guarantee the couple will win if their suit goes before a jury. Still, Jonathan Lowy, the lawyer for the Gustafsons and a vice president of the Brady Campaign, said the state courts ruling, guarantees that gun makers and sellers are no longer immune from the consequences of their unreasonable, irresponsible actions that lead to injury and death. This historic victory takes us a giant stride closer to ensuring that victims of gun violence can hold the companies that profit from the pain of the American people accountable, said campaign President Kris Brown. 'Ranbir Is Down To Earth' Biju Abraham shares, "My school friend whose name I would not like to disclose is working as an IT Admin in Dharma company since 2009. There he met Ranbir kapoor for the first time. He is very courteous and friendly even to lowest employee. Sad fact is that he is highly misunderstood by the media and public as they consider him a playboy. He is a clear example how your image can be ruined if you dont have pr agency to back you. My friend tells me that he thought Ranbir to be snobbish star kid but he was surprised to see how down to earth and a good guy he was." 'Ranbir Is A Good Person' Sheetal Maurya shares, "I've met Ranbir Kapoor during my intern ship with TOI. He is very polite and he is very talkative, he doesn't make you realize that he is a star, He talks with you like the common person, He has very soft voice, he cracks various jokes. In the period of 20 minutes I realized that he is a good person." 'Ranbir Is Really Warm' Jheel Kothari shares, "Well, I've met him once for a couple of minutes and i could say he's really warm." 'Ranbir Is Humble' Mansi Dutta shares, "I met Ranbir Kapoor in 2015 at the press conference of Roy. He is one of the most humble actors I've met." Going by these people's words, one can assume that no matter what image Ranbir carries owing to constant link-ups, he's indeed a humble and warm person, and emits positive vibes. With respect to work, Ranbir was last seen in Sanju, and will next be seen in Brahmastra. The film is helmed by Ayan Mukerji and it also casts Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Dimple Kapadia and Mouni Roy in key roles. Inputs From Quora Unusual accord in the well of court closed the third September week of Julian Assanges extradition hearings. The prosecution and defence teams at the Old Baileys court ten united to plead to safeguard the privacy of the Wikileaks founder. Read the report from our representative Tim Dawson. The hearings, which will decide whether Assange is sent to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act, commenced in February. Since the start of September, after a six-month interregnum, the court has been hearing from expert witnesses. Most of these have been called by Assanges defence team. All have prepared lengthy written submissions to the court. Each experts personal appearance (mostly by video link) is to allow for cross examination where their assertions are contested. As each witness commences giving evidence, the court issues their written statements to media. These are vital to understand how the case will be decided. Most are broader in scope than the verbal testimony and some of the evidence is highly technical. Medical evidence Last week was mostly occupied with medical evidence. This could be Assanges best hope of avoiding extradition. In 2018 the Court of Appeal ruled that computer hacker Lauri Love should not be extradited to the United States to face charges because doing so would be: oppressive by reason of his physical and mental condition. The judges added: We accept that the evidence shows that the fact of extradition would bring on severe depression and that Mr Love would probably be determined to commit suicide, here or in America. With this in mind, team Assange called the doctors. Four psychiatrists and one physician gave lengthy assessments of Assanges physical and mental health, drawing on minutely recorded events while he was in 'healthcare' at Belmarsh, as well as his personal and family history. At times it made deeply uncomfortable listening. It is uncontested that Assange has suffered from bouts of depression since childhood, exhibits autism spectrum disorder traits, and at times ruminates obsessively about suicide. Some assessments were a good deal more worrying. Assange attempted suicide once long before Wikileaks, and has attempted to gather the means to take his own life since he was detained in Belmarsh. As we heard the details of this, those of us reporting in court exchanged concerned glances. And when proceedings paused, we had a quick confirmatory chat to remind ourselves of the many well-established guidelines for reporting suicide. Where it is relevant, suicide attempts can be reported, but details about methods of self-harm should be excluded. Several reporters requested copies of the statements by medical experts from the Clerk of Court. They would not be made public, came the prompt response. Just as quickly, Henry Vaughan from PA Media (the Press Association, as was) put in an application for the release of these documents (see below). Assange' s privacy and editorial ethics A couple of days later, Judge Baraitser invited verbal statements. Edward Fitzgerald QC, Assanges senior barrister told the court that release of the statements would be a needless intrusion into his clients privacy. Emily Pennink, another PA court reporter, made a very creditable appeal, telling the judge that: we all worked to strict editorial codes; that we believed that if the statement were important to the court the media needed to properly understand their contents to explain the case; and that keeping them secret is inconsistent with open justice. She stressed that our intention was never to compound the stress and anxiety on Assange through our application, but to be in the best possible position to explain how the case was being conducted. The judge then asked if there were specific elements of the statements that the media felt they needed to see? She allowed a couple of hours for those of us reporters present to assemble a further written statement. The challenge was obvious. How could we journalists pinpoint the important elements of documents none had seen? We put our heads together and came up with a list of questions based on components of the verbal evidence suggestive of further important details in the written evidence. Our attempt is also below. The public justice principle The relevant case law covering instances of this kind requires a judgement on the nature of the documents in question. Justice should be public, both to promote public understanding of the workings of the law, and to allow scrutiny of the work of the courts. This is known as the 'public justice principle. The presumption is that material laid before the courts is public, but there is no public right to such material.Where parties resist publication of statements before the court, those applying for access must show that disclosure will advance the open justice principle. Judge Baraitsers ruling, when it came was no surprise. The Press Association has not established good reason why the disclosure of the reports will advance the purposes of open justice. If I am wrong about this then the countervailing factors, in this case Mr Assanges private life, in my view prevents disclosure. That skirmish is over. There is, however, a broader issue that requires enduring vigilance. In the not-so-distant past all statements made to a court were read out. This allowed them to be reported, save where restrictions are imposed. The advent of lengthy written statements, publication of which is resisted, creates fresh scope for justice in the shadows. It is also questionable whether inviting requests for release of specific elements of statement to which the applicant has no access is consistent with natural justice? A better solution would be to allow a representative journalist to see all papers in a supervised environment within the court. Such review could form the basis of a meaningful application for disclosure. At very least reporters who witness material being withheld from the media should gird themselves to make similar applications. Secrecy is habit forming. Unless the media forces courts to justify keeping material from the media, the danger is that it becomes the default. It might not be the radical approach to transparency that Assange himself pioneered, but it is no less vital. Tim Dawson The original submission in the name of Henry Vaughan, formerly on behalf of the Press Association, but with the support of all the journalists covering the case from the court. Introduction The Press Association (PA) seeks non-party access under this Courts inherent jurisdiction to the reports of Professor Michael Kopelman placed before District Judge Vanessa Baraitser for the hearing on 22 September 2019. These proceedings concerning the extradition of Julian Assange to the US are of the highest public interest and this is key evidence in the case. The witness repeatedly referred to paragraphs of his reports while giving evidence and counsel both for Mr Assange and the US Government also repeatedly took Professor Kopelman to sections of his reports. It is impossible to understand the evidence without having access to the reports. All other witness statements in the case have been provided to the media and, while of a sensitive nature, PA sees no reason why this evidence should be withheld from the public. Sensitive evidence in all manner of cases is heard in courts across the country every day and responsible media organisations are quite able to use their own editorial judgment to decide what is appropriate for publication. PA respectfully submits that the principle of open justice requires that the reports should be provided to PA and other media organisations to assist in the fair, accurate and contemporaneous reporting of these proceedings. Open justice and non-party access to court documents The principle of open justice is one of the most precious in our law. It is there to reassure the public and the parties that our courts are indeed doing justice according to law: R (C) v Secretary of State for Justice [2016] UKSC 2 at [1]. The principle is inextricably linked to the freedom of the media to report on court proceedings: A v British Broadcasting Corporation (Scotland) [2014] UKSC 25 at [26]. This is because the press attend the courts as the eyes and ears of the public to whom they report: McCartan Turkington Breen v Times Newspapers [2001] 2 AC 277, 290. Reporters scrutinise the judicial process acting on behalf of the body of citizens. Without the commitment of an independent media the operation of the principle of open justice would be irremediably diminished: R (Binyam Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2010] EWCA Civ 65 at [38]. In R (Guardian News and Media) v City of Westminster Magistrates' Court [2012] EWCA Civ 420 Toulson LJ with whom Lord Neuberger MR and Hooper LJ agreed held at [85] that the default position should be to allow access to all documents placed before a judge and referred to in proceedings and where access is sought for a proper journalistic purpose, the case for allowing it will be particularly strong. In Cape Intermediate Holdings v Dring [2019] UKSC 38, Baroness Hale PSC held at [41]: The constitutional principle of open justice applies to all courts and tribunals exercising the judicial power of the state. It follows that, unless inconsistent with statute or the rules of court, all courts and tribunals have an inherent jurisdiction to determine what that principle requires in terms of access to documents or other information placed before the court or tribunal in question. Baroness Hale added at [47] that the practicalities and the proportionality of granting the request for non-party access are also relevant. Conclusion PA submits that this Court must carry out a fact-specific balancing exercise, applying the test set out in Guardian News and Media at [85], Kennedy v Charity Commission [2014] UKSC 20 at [113] and A v BBC at [41]: Central to the court's evaluation will be the purpose of the open justice principle, the potential value of the information in question in advancing that purpose and, conversely, any risk of harm which its disclosure may cause to the maintenance of an effective judicial process or to the legitimate interests of others. The Documents are sought for a proper journalistic purpose, namely the contemporaneous reporting of legal proceedings, which promotes public confidence in the administration of justice and the rule of law: R v Sarker [2018] EWCA Crim 1341 at [29](iii). In those circumstances, PA respectfully invites the Court to order non-party access to the Documents. Second submission providing details of material that may be of use to the media, made by Emily Pennink of the Press Association, with the support of all the journalists covering the case from the court. Re The United States of America v Julian Assange Dear Judge Vanessa Baraitser, Thank you for considering submissions on behalf of PA Media for disclosure of medical reports relied upon in the case of Julian Assange. Before ruling on the matter, you invited members of the media to gather together some examples in support of our submissions. Having consulted with my colleagues in the overflow courtroom and online, here are a number of aspects to the evidence they found hard or impossible to understand, incomplete, and requiring further explanation in order to fairly report on. :: The entire evidence of Dr Kathryn Humphreys was barely audible and read so fast it could not be understood. :: Evidence of Dr Kopelman and Dr Blackwood relating to paracetamol tablets and razor blades; their dispute over records of medical information at Belmarsh; hospitalisation in Belmarsh and reasons for it. :: During Dr Deeleys testimony there were references to ''2b and 3a'' which were the main traits used in the diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome. Parts were summarised but not all. :: Dr Deeley talked about examples from Dr Dreyfus. It was never explained what these examples of behaviour Dr Dreyfus provided were yet great emphasis was put on her interpretation of Mr Assange's behaviour as being Aspergers traits. :: In Dr Kopelmans report, Edward Fitzgerald QC read out bits of it in which he mentioned Assange had 'feelings of guilt but it was never elaborated on. On a general point, journalists following proceedings on the live link have struggled to hear the evidence in court and find the written reports an invaluable aide. Kind regards, Emily Pennink The ruling of Judge Venessa Baraitser delivered on 28 September 2020 1. This is an application by the Press Association for disclosure of each of the medical reports identified during the submissions last Friday and received by the court during the course of the extradition hearing. The application was made initially in writing and then by way of oral submissions by Miss Pennink before the court. The defence and the Crown Prosecution Service acting on behalf of the US government jointly oppose this application. 2. Last year, the Supreme Court considered how to approach an application by a third party for the disclosure of documents and laid down some important principles. Dring was a case in which it was alleged that the respondent company, Cape Intermediate Holdings Limited had been negligent in the production of asbestos insulation boards which had led to its former employees becoming ill. A forum which supported people who suffered from asbestos-related diseases and which was not involved in the case, applied for access to documents which it believed would contain valuable information about the dangers of asbestos and the research which the industry had carried out. 3. Lady Justice Hale gave the judgment of the court. In summary, she confirmed that the principle of open justice applies to all courts exercising judicial power, and that the court has an inherent jurisdiction to determine what the principle of open justice requires in terms of access by the public to documents received by the court. The question is how the jurisdiction should be exercised in a particular case. She confirmed that the purposes behind the open justice principle were two-fold; the first to enable public scrutiny of the way in which courts decide cases, the second to enable the public to understand how the justice system works and why decisions are taken. 4. She acknowledged that the Guardian news and media case had decided that the default position is that the public should be allowed access to documents placed before the court and referred to during the hearing. However, she stated that although the court has the power to allow access, the applicant has no right to be granted it save to the extent that the rules grant such a right and that it was for the person seeking access to explain why granting access would advance the open justice principle. 5. She considered that non-parties should not seek access unless they can show a good reason why this will advance the open justice principle. If they were able to show a good reason then the court must carry out a fact specific balancing exercise. On the one hand it should consider the purpose of open justice and the potential value of the information in advancing that purpose, on the other hand, any risk of harm which its disclosure may cause to amongst other factors the legitimate interests of others including the protection of privacy interests more generally. 6. In this case, the Press Association state that they see no reason why these statements should be withheld from the public. They submit that sensitive evidence in all manner of cases is heard in courts across the country every day and responsible media organisations are quite able to use their own editorial judgment to decide what is appropriate for publication. More specifically, in relation to Professor Kopelman, they state that he repeatedly referred to paragraphs of his report whilst giving evidence which made it impossible to understand the evidence. 7. More specifically still, in relation to Professor Kopelman and Dr Blackwood, the Press Association identify the following incidents which the reports would have assisted them to understand; the recent incident involving (detail omitted) last year in Mr Assanges cell, the discussion of the content of his medical records from Belmarsh, and his hospitalisation as they put it in Belmarsh by which I assume they mean his transfer to the medical wing and reasons for this. 8. In relation to Dr Deeley they stated their concern that references were made to 2b and 3a used in the diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome and they were not told of examples of these traits given to Dr Deeley by Dr Dreyfus. And more generally they submitted that journalists were following proceedings through a live link and have struggled to hear the evidence in court and that the written reports would be an invaluable aid to them. 9. First, dealing with this last point, audibility issues relating to the live link do not have a bearing on the issue of disclosure of documents. Any issues with technology which interferes with open justice is clearly important but must be raised as a separate issue. I was not aware there were difficulties in hearing these proceedings and if there is a problem it really must be brought to my attention so that I can deal with it. There is a dedicated technician here at court and a team that supports the CVP platform but unless the problem is made known to me I cannot address it. Any difficulties experienced in hearing the proceedings must be raised separately and are not a reason to provide the reports. 10. I have already indicated regarding Dr Humphreys, her edited statement was read out in open court on 23 September. The defence have already voluntarily disclosed this edited statement and put it into the public domain. There is no risk of harm in a copy of the edited statement being provided to the press and this will be disclosed. 11. Dealing with the specific concerns raised by the evidence of Professor Kopelman regarding the (detail omitted) incident, this took place after the preparation of all reports and is not included to my knowledge in any of them. Regarding the (detail moitted) incident, this was referred to extensively in evidence. Professor Kopelman confirmed that Mr Assange said that he had been charged by prison staff under the internal prison rules with possession of a (detail omitted). This was not disputed by the government. Later, the defence produced a notice of report or nicking sheet confirming that Mr Assange had been charged with possession of this item but that this charge was later dismissed. That in my view is a full picture of this incident and the report adds nothing further. 12. In relation to the medical records, these are detailed entries about Mr Assanges day-to-day medical care made by various medical and nursing practitioners. They contain private interactions between Mr Assange and the medical team treating him and include personal disclosures. Both the defence and the government relied on many of these entries to advance their respective cases and in this way a significant part of the notes were made public. I have no reason to consider that a full set of the notes needs to be disclosed to understand the decisions that I will in due course make. 13. The issue of Mr Assanges hospitalisation is simply a misunderstanding of the evidence given by Professor Kopelman. He clearly stated in open court that from 18 July 2019 for a period of about six months, Mr Assange was placed in an isolated cell or single cell in healthcare by which he clearly meant the healthcare unit within the prison. Professor Kopelman stated his opinion in open court that whilst on this unit, Mr Assange suffered from a severe depressive episode with somatic symptoms. He stated that after Mr Assange left the unit and was returned to the general wing his diagnosis changed. When he saw Mr Assange in February and March 2020 he found him to be moderately depressed. All of this was stated openly in court. 14. Regarding the circumstances in which Mr Assange was transferred into healthcare, this again was dealt with in detail in open court. In his cross-examination of Dr Blackwood, Mr Fitzgerald took him to the ACCT review of 18 May 2019 and read out the entry in full which discusses the reasons for his transfer. This is already therefore in the public domain. 15. Regarding a reference to feelings of guilt raised by Press Association said to have been made by Professor Kopelman in evidence, I could find no reference to this but in any event this comment alone does not require the document to be disclosed. 16. In relation to Dr Deeley, the traits 2b and 3a are simply the publicly available diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder set out in the ICD10, the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases. 17. In relation to the examples provided by Dr Dreyfus to Dr Deeley, Dr Deeley gave examples of this reported behaviour in his evidence. He provided examples of Mr Assanges difficulty in modulating his behaviour according to social contexts and his idiosyncrasies of verbal communication. In my view this was sufficient to give the press and the public an understanding of the behaviour that supported Dr Deeleys diagnosis. 18. I appreciate of course that the press cannot have provided every example of incidents they felt needed further explanation but the sample they did provide gives an indication of how much of the experts reports were referred to in oral evidence. Nor is this surprising, given the importance to each side, of eliciting or challenging the basis for the findings and opinions of the experts so that they could make good their points. 19. I note that all other documents in this case including all written submissions and all other witness statements have been disclosed to the press without resistance and it is only the medical evidence that both parties seek to withhold. I note too in this instance the defence and the Crown Prosecution Service are united in their opposition to disclosure. As far as the CPS is concerned they have supported the defence in opposing the application with no obvious advantage to their client, the US government. Taking all of this into account in my view, the Press Association have not established good reason why the disclosure of the reports will advance the purposes of open justice. If I am wrong about this then the countervailing factors, in this case Mr Assanges private life, in my view prevents disclosure. Each report reveals Mr Assanges account of himself and his private suffering to the assessing doctor. Each report also reveals wide-ranging and personal background information about Mr Assange from his infancy to the present time. They contain references to his family, his friendships, and to his children. 20. In this case, even if the Press Association have shown good cause for the disclosure advancing the purposes of open justice, it would in my view be a disproportionate interference with Mr Assanges privacy to do so. And therefore, save for the statement of Dr Humphreys as previously indicated, this application is refused. Bengaluru Sep 29 : Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar on Tuesday said that the state government had not taken any decision yet on reopening of schools. The Karnataka government had decided about a fortnight ago that Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 would be partially allowed to be held. In other words, teachers of these classes would be present in schools wherein students who have doubts in any topic could seek clarifications in their respective subjects though regular classes won't be held. This had led to speculations that Karnataka would reopen schools soon. A section of parents had vehemently opposed the reopening of schools amid the pandemic. Owing to parental pressure, the government on September 20 prohibited Class 9 to 12 students from visiting schools and only undergraduates to meet teachers amid the pandemic. In a bid to allay the fears, Suresh Kumar had posted detailed information on the issue on Facebook. He maintained that the Karnataka government planned to elicit views from various quarters like politicians, academics and health experts before taking any final decision on this matter. Soon after returning from Bidar district tour in a day or two, the Minister asserted, he would convene a meeting of different stakeholders along with the departments concerned to decide on reopening of schools. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New York: North Korea has a "reliable and effective war deterrent for self-defence" and will now focus on developing its economy, North Korea's UN ambassador Kim Song told world leaders, local time, though he acknowledged that international sanctions were a hindrance. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Kim also said the "anti-epidemic situation in our country is now under safe and stable control" as a result of measures taken to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases, though some US officials have cast doubt on that claim. Kim Song, the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, left, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in 2018. Credit:AP Already weighed down by tough international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Pyongyang is also facing significant economic damage from strict border closures and other measures aimed at preventing a coronavirus outbreak and struggling to cope with damage from recent storms and flooding. "Based on its reliable guarantee for safeguarding the security of the state and people, the DPRK is now directing all its efforts to economic construction," said Kim, using his country's formal name - Democratic People's Republic of Korea. James Perry (PHOTO: Zilingo) By Yoolim Lee and Elffie Chew (Bloomberg) -- James Perry, chief financial officer of Singapores Zilingo Pte Ltd., has resigned from the online fashion marketplace, according to people familiar with the matter, marking a high-profile departure at the once-flourishing startup that has struggled since the coronavirus outbreak. Perry will return to Citigroup Inc. as Singapore-based managing director and co-head of technology investment banking for Asia Pacific, the people said, asking not to identified because the information is private. Zilingo didnt immediately provide a comment. Perry declined to comment when reached on Monday. The veteran dealmaker joined Zilingo about a year ago after the startup secured a funding from investors including Temasek Holdings Pte and Sequoia Capital in early 2019. Before that, Perry had served as managing director and head of technology investment banking for Citigroup in Asia Pacific. He had more than two decades of experience in corporate finance and handled 40 initial public offerings. Zilingo seemed on track to become one of the e-commerce success stories out of Southeast Asia. Led by 28-year-old Chief Executive Officer Ankiti Bose, the startup reached a valuation near $1 billion with its 2019 fundraising. But Zilingo has been battered by fallout from the pandemic, trimming jobs this year and streamlining businesses to rein in costs. The startup said in July it cut an additional 12% of its total workforce as it extends cost-cutting measures, including downsizing operations in the U.S., Australia, Singapore and Indonesia. Perry is returning to Citigroup amid a flurry of tech deals in Asia Pacific. The volume of announced M&A deals has soared 54% from a year earlier to nearly $75 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. IPOs are also surging, with technology companies on track to surpass their fundraising during the dotcom bubble. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Michel Deon Prize awarded to Conor OClery Press release At an online ceremony today, the Royal Irish Academy awarded the Michel Deon Prize to Conor OClery for his book The Shoemaker and his Daughter (Penguin Random House). Speaking after the ceremony, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Simon Coveney, T.D., said: I would like to congratulate Conor OClery and all of the short-listed authors. I am delighted that the Department of Foreign Affairs has funded this prize, which supports modern writers of non-fiction and new artists to develop and strengthen their cultural work. By honouring Michel Deons legacy, this Prize seeks to celebrate and further develop our strong ties with France. Our cultural ties are particularly strong and are very much at the centre of our efforts to forge a stronger bilateral relationship with France which will be our closest neighbour within the EU from next January. Support for the cultural sector and for the rich literary tradition of both countries has never been more required, in the face of the many challenges posed by the pandemic. Irelands Ambassador to France, H.E. Patricia OBrien, said: We created this Prize in 2018 to honour Michel Deons legacy and to continue his work of championing writing talent. We have been privileged to work with Michels daughter, Alice Deon, and Irelands Honorary Consul General in the South of France, Pierre Joannon, to pay tribute to this great man. The Prize has also brought the Royal Irish Academy and the Academie Francaise, as well as the Embassy of France in Dublin and the Embassy of Ireland in France, closer together, thereby supporting and bolstering the already excellent cultural relations between Ireland and France. The 10,000 prize is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and open to a non-fiction writer domiciled in Ireland. The Prize was founded in 2018 in memory of the French writer Michel Deon (1919 2016), who made the west of Ireland his home and was considered to be one of the most innovative French writers of the twentieth century. In alternate years, the prize is awarded by the Academie Francaise to a fiction writer domiciled in France. Conor OClery worked for the Irish Times for many years, including as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Washington, Beijing and New York. He has been twice awarded Journalist of the Year, for his dispatches from Moscow and for his reporting of the 9/11 attacks in New York. He is the author of several books. As well as the prize money, Mr. OClery will also have the opportunity to give the 'Michel Deon Lecture' in France in 2021. ENDS PRESS OFFICE 29 SEPTEMBER 2020 Previous Item | Next Item On Tuesday afternoon, the Rady Jewish Community Centre was advised that one of its members had tested positive for COVID-19. The member was asymptotic and had passed COVID-19 screening procedures. The member used the fitness facility and may have been infectious on Sept. 12 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Sept 13 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Sept. 16 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.; Sept. 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Sept. 21 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sept. 22 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. On Sunday evening, TikTok was granted another temporary reprieve when a judge blocked the Trump administration from banning it from app stores. But the app is still in a fight for its life as its Chinese owner, ByteDance, faces a deadline of Nov. 12 to either sell or spin off the U.S. arm of TikTok. The Trump administrations Aug. 6 executive order banned TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, as a supposed national security threat. But as courts review the order, they arent paying much attention to the First Amendment speech rights of TikTok users. Thats a major oversight, because the First Amendment should save TikTok. We just need the courts to agree. Advertisement TikTok first sought to fight back against the executive order in federal court in Los Angeles, where it is headquartered. But its arguments centered around the Fifth Amendment due process violationsthe government was demanding a sale of the company, with some part of the proceeds going to the U.S. Treasury, without giving it a chance to defend itself from the charge that it was a national security threat. A minor argument included at the end said that the action violated First Amendment rightsbut only those of the company in its computer code. The company dropped the suit last week as it sought to negotiate with U.S. buyers, including Oracle and Microsoft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then a similar suit popped up in federal court in San Francisco, brought by a TikTok employee, Patrick Ryan, who worried that cashing his paycheck could be an act of treason under the broad language of the presidents order. (Disclosure: Im the executive director of the First Amendment Clinic at the Sandra Day OConnor College of Law at Arizona State University, which wrote a friend-of-the-court brief with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this case; ASU is a partner with Slate and New America in Future Tense.) Again, the case relied on the Fifth Amendment, with no reference to the users rights. But after the government promised not to enforce the order against employees for being paid by the company, the suit was rendered moot. Advertisement Advertisement At least WeChat users saw a little respect from the federal court examining the similar attempt to shut down that service. On Sept. 20, the court was persuaded that because the service is the primary source of communication and commerce for its Chinese-American usersit provides news and social media activities in Chinese and allows contact with users in China, where other American social media platforms are restrictedthe users had demonstrated serious First Amendment concerns that are the equivalent of censorship of speech or a prior restraint on the service.. Advertisement But then again, that decision was just a preliminary injunction. And the Trump administration is now back in court to convince the judge to overturn the WeChat injunction, promising a secret filing this week to make the case that the service is a national security threat. So the First Amendment interests are still on thin ice. Advertisement But TikTok came back to court last week, this time in Washington, D.C., to again argue against the presidents ban. This time, TikTok expanded the First Amendment interests to include not just the companys code, but the companys role as a user and speaker on its own service, thus giving it a hook to argue for all users First Amendment rights. TikTok argued that the executive order functions as a prior restraint of users speech and must be subject to strict scrutinymeaning it is only valid if it is justified by a compelling government interest. As a fallback, TikTok argued that because it affects speech, it must at least be subject to intermediate scrutiny justified by a substantial government interest. (The difference between a substantial and a compelling interest is just the sort of question that keeps lawyers employed.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And while the court granted the preliminary injunction Sunday evening after a rare weekend hearing, it didnt mention the First Amendment in its decision, instead relying on an exception to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which was the basis of the authority for the executive order, for informational materials and personal communications. These disputes over TikTok and WeChat come amid a much bigger conversation over the legal rights and obligations of social media companies, even as courts have made clear in recent years that these forums deserve strong legal protections. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 struck down a North Carolina law barring registered sex offenders from using the internet and social media platforms in Packingham v. North Carolina. But that decisions First Amendment findings were firmly rooted in a case from 20 years before, Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, when social media as we know it today did not exist. Advertisement Partially quoting Reno, the court stated that, While in the past there may have been difficulty in identifying the most important places (in a spatial sense) for the exchange of views, today the answer is clear. It is cyberspacethe vast democratic forums of the Internet in general, and social media in particular. The court continued: In short, social media users employ these websites to engage in a wide array of protected First Amendment activity on topics as diverse as human thought. Advertisement And TikTok takes things a step further. Posts made to the platform are widely shared and often connected by themes. In fact, its the algorithm that chooses what to show a user that is credited with TikToks popularity, and its the ultimate ownership of that algorithm that is the sticking point in the sale of the company. With posts being view by thousands, if not millions, of strangers, the service has, as the New York Times reported, become an information and organizing hub for Gen Z activists and politically-minded young people. Another Times article said it has has amplified footage of police brutality as well as scenes and commentary from Black Lives Matter protests around the world, with videos created and shared on the platform frequently moving beyond it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of the highest-profile political activism on TikTok has focused on President Trump. Most notably, a group of TikTok teens claim to have launched a campaign to inflate the attendance expectations at Trumps Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally in June. Another TikTok user, Sarah Cooper, has gained notoriety for her satirical posts about the president, where she points out what she sees as the absurdities of some of his statements merely by lip-synching short audio clips of his speeches. Advertisement Advertisement So if the fight over TikTok involves politically controversial and socially active speech, but the legal battle centers on the Fifth Amendment claims and other statutory limits on presidential powers, the way to elevate the First Amendment interests is to emphasize to courts that the freedoms of the Bill of Rights are all tied together. Advertisement This means that when the court is considering a due process claim, but that claim has a fundamental and drastic effect on First Amendment rights, the speech interests supercharge the other constitutional interests and demand the highest standard of scrutiny under the law. This takes us back to the difference between strict and intermediate scrutiny, and the nature of the interest that must be demonstrated by the government. And thus, when the First Amendment is so clearly implicated, courts must always apply the strictest scrutiny, which generally means that the speech-restrictive law will fail this difficult test. So a law that completely shuts down a social media platform should never be tolerated. The Supreme Court has most clearly recognized this interplay in the context of the Advertisement Fourth Amendment, in the 1965 case Stanford v. Texas. When a search warrant implicates First Amendment interests, the warrant requirement to particularly describe the things to be seized is to be accorded the most scrupulous exactitude when the things are books. No less a standard could be faithful to the First Amendment freedoms. Advertisement Advertisement These rights also require limited activity by the government, not sweeping decisions to shut down an entire social media platform. The high court held in 1963 that because the First Amendment freedoms need breathing space to survive, government may regulate in the area only with narrow specificity. The court will not presume that the statute curtails constitutionally protected activity as little as possible. If theres a national security threat due to access to users information by foreign powers, that access can be regulated consistent with the First and Fifth Amendmentsby imposing controls on monitoring or reporting on user data, for instance. But the social media platform cannot be silenced. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. IOWA CITY, Iowa, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iotaMotion, Inc., an early-stage medical technology startup, announced the successful completion of the world's first two robotics-assisted cochlear implant insertions under an Abbreviated Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) using its iotaSOFT system, an investigational surgical tool currently in clinical evaluation at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. This study is intended to gather confirmatory clinical evidence in support of the safety and performance of the investigational iotaSOFT system when used as a surgical support instrument during cochlear implant surgery with adults. These data will be used to support the company's de novo premarket submission with the FDA. The two cochlear implant procedures using the investigational device were performed by Bruce Gantz, MD. "The precision, control and consistency of robotics-assistance during insertion of an electrode array into the cochlea is highly desirable. The iotaSOFT system performed as I expected it would. I was able to incorporate the system appropriately with the standard steps of cochlear implant surgery" said Dr. Gantz, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery with University of Iowa Health Care. The Company has developed technology that is designed to assist surgeons with the electrode array insertion phase of a cochlear implant procedure. The intent is to allow the surgeon to maintain a standard cochlear implant surgical approach and workflow, utilizing the robotic-assistance of the iotaSOFT system during electrode alignment and insertion. Notably, the surgeon controls the precise capabilities of the robotic-assisted insertion, while still using their technical skills, training, and experience. "These first surgical procedures utilizing the iotaSOFT system are a critical step forward in merging precision robotic tools into the cochlear implant surgical workflow," said Christopher Kaufmann, President and CTO of iotaMotion. "We are grateful for Dr. Gantz's participation in the first clinical implementation of the system. We look forward to the continuation of this investigational study, and further development of important surgical assistive technologies in the cochlear implant space." IOTAMOTION, INC. A privately-held Iowa based company, iotaMotion is developing robotic technologies with the goal of focused, individualized, hearing loss treatment. The company's solutions aim to standardize cochlear implant insertion, and to provide unprecedented control in the surgical and post-surgical care settings with the goal of expanding access to cochlear interventions for both surgeons and patients. For more information, visit www.iotamotion.com or contact Christopher Kaufmann at [email protected]. CAUTION. Investigational device. Limited by federal (U.S.) law to investigational use. SOURCE iotaMotion, Inc. Related Links http://www.iotamotion.com 50 years on, 'Trial of Chicago 7' feels all about today FILE PHOTO: 77th Golden Globe Awards - Photo Room - Beverly Hills, California, U.S., January 5, 2020 - Isla Fisher and Sasha Baron Cohen By Rollo Ross LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It may be set in the late 1960s but "The Trial of the Chicago 7," with its themes of protest, civil rights and police brutality, has much to say about America today. Already creating Oscar buzz, the movie lands in a nation polarized by the upcoming November elections and riven by months of street protests over systemic racism. "The Trial of the Chicago 7," written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, dramatizes Vietnam War protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that led to violent clashes with police, and the subsequent trial of the protest leaders. The movie has always been about today even though its set in 1968, 1969," said Jeremy Strong, one of a cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella and Mark Rylance. "I think the movie is a celebration of protest. I think its an exhortation to go out into the streets and to fight for the values that we need to fight for that are endangered," added Strong, who plays protest leader Jerry Rubin. The organizers of the protest were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and their raucous trial began in 1969. Their convictions were reversed on appeal. The movie melds the drama of the trial, behind the scenes politics, and ideological debates among the protagonists. Sorkin, known for White House TV series "The West Wing," first started writing the screenplay in 2007, but filming did not begin until late 2019. Rylance suggested the timing was uncanny, finally coming to fruition at the height of Black Lives Matter protests. "I imagine their hands were shaking when they were editing it," he said. The movie, out now in limited movie theaters and on Netflix on Oct. 16, has won warm reviews. The Hollywood Reporter said it has "major Oscar awards potential," while Variety called it a "knockout." The New York Times was less effusive, but said its timeliness made it "not a movie that can be easily shaken off." (Reporting by Rollo Ross; Writing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Berkrot) YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani troops suffered over 500 manpower losses during the military operations along Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Commander of the Defense Army of Artsakh Artur Sargsyan said in a press conference. ''The adversary suffered the following losses during todays fights 17 tanks, 4 armored personnel carriers, 3 heavy engineering armored vehicles, 13 UAVs, and more than 500 manpower in total', Sargsyan said. On September 27 early morning the Azerbaijani military has launched a massive cross-border artillery attack on Artsakh, including on civilian settlements. Peaceful settlements are also under bombardment, including the capital city of Stepanakert. 80 servicemen were killed and nearly 120 were wounded in Artsakh from the Azerbaijani attack. 4 civilians, including 2 children have been killed. On September 29 Turkish F-16 fighter jet destroyed Armenian SU-25 jet in the Armenian air space. Armenia and Artsakh declared a martial law and mobilization. According to the latest data, the Azerbaijani side has suffered nearly 400 human losses as a result of its aggression. The Artsakh side has destroyed a total of 6 Azerbaijani attacking helicopters, 63 UAVs, 97 armored equipment including tanks, 82 vehicles and 1 aircraft. On September 29 the Defense Army informed about more losses at the Azerbaijani side, including 11 UAVs and 17 tanks. Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan ARCHIVED - Domestic tourism fell by 82 percent across Spain in the second quarter Murcia fared better than the national average with a fall of only 74 percent On Monday the INE National Statistics Institute, published the Encuesta de Turismo de Residentes, which examines the holiday and travel movements of residential tourists, ie those resident in Spain. Nationally, Spaniards as a whole made 82% less journeys than normal during the second quarter of the year, which is only logical given that for most of this time Spain was in lockdown and then de-escalation, only finally emerging for the last 10 days of the second quarter at the end of June. As is also logical, the amount spent by Spanish residents on trips and travel, also fell by 89% during this period, to just 1.2 billion euros, hence the problems currently being experienced by the tourism sector which estimates that it will lose 100 billion euros worth of revenue by the end of the year. Here in the Murcia Region the figures were actually slightly better, as between April and June, the Murcia Region welcomed 254,958 national travellers, 74.94% less than in the second quarter of 2019. There were 71.32% less overnight stays than between April and June 2019 and the total expenditure of travellers amounted to 36.85 million euros, 78.22 percent less than during the second quarter of last year. Many hotels along the Spanish Costas have announced closures for this winter; here in Murcia 90% have said they will close, and in areas such as the Costa tropical in Granada, 95% plan to close for the winter months. Negotiations continue today to reach an agreement about the extension of the ERTE temporary redundancies scheme until the end of the year to help businesses working in the tourism sector. CHAOS rocked most schools as they reopened for examination classes yesterday, with thousands of pupils turned away over lack of personal protective equipment, non-payment of fees, while in other instances teachers were either absent or staging sit-ins, derailing preparations for crucial year-end tests due in the next few weeks. The development came exactly a fortnight after government gave assurances thatit had disbursed $600 million for procurements of PPE to protect leaners and teachers against contracting COVID-19. However, a survey by NewsDay revealed that in the majority of schools in Matabeleland North, Midlands and Mashonaland West, pupils were turned back home for not wearing masks. In rural Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland North, school authorities were only admitting paid-up pupils, with some classes failing to resume due to the absence of teachers. Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive Sifiso Ndlovu yesterday blamed government for the chaos. There is chaos. I am not even sure how materials for those PPEs where sourced as schools are now expected to pay for them (instead of being given for free by government), he said. Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said his organisation planned to confront government for clarity on how the $600 million set aside for schools reopening materials was disbursed. No learning is taking place, Matabeleland North is worst hit with only 1% of teachers reporting for duty. In Mashonaland East around 5% of teachers were in attendance. Teachers have boldly communicated their message to the employer, we demand US$520 for all teachers, he said. Learners were being sent back home. Parents are also failing to pay for learning materials and tuition fees. Education is in crisis. Schools are still to receive the PPE from government, we will be following up on the disbursed $600 million to audit expenditure. Some learners showed up at school with rags covering their faces as they cant afford decent face masks. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou also questioned how the $600 million pledged by government was used. There is no sign of what the $600 million was used for and it did not filter to schools. Reports from schools indicate that they dont have money to buy masks, he said. In Chinhoyi, NewsDay witnessed hundreds of Grade Seven, O and A-Level pupils walking back home as early as 9am after being turned away for lack of face masks. The most affected were Lomagundi Primary School which had no thermometers to check body temperature, Nemakonde and Chemagamba high schools which demanded that pupils bring their own face masks. We were told at the assembly that the school has no thermometers, sanitizers and face masks for us we were asked to go home and come back tomorrow, said a Lomagundi pupil who declined to be named. Mashonaland West provincial education director Gabriel Mhuma said it was possible that some schools turned away teachers and learners for lack of PPE. True, its possible to have schools that may have turned away learners and teachers for failing to have functional thermometers. We expect their replacements by end of day today. Ministry ordered that in such circumstances, opening be deferred to Tuesday to allow replacements of such thermometers, he said. In Bulawayo, at Mgombane, Mgoqo, Queen Elizabeth, Sigombe, Mtshane primary schools and Mandandwe, Mncumbatha, Nkulumane and Nketa high schools, pupils were dismissed early as there were no teachers. We live five minutes away from the school gate and so I inquired from my daughter whether she had forgotten something. She told me they were told to go home until further notice as there were no teachers at school, said a parent whose daughter is enrolled at Mtshane Primary School for Grade Seven. Staff at Borrowdale Primary School and Harare High School did not report for duty citing incapacitation. The authorities sent WhatsApp and text messages to advise parents to pick up their stranded children. Several schools in Mhondoro, Kadoma and Sanyati reported similar experiences with the heads referring all questions to the provincial headquarters in Chinhoyi. In Norton, Grade Seven pupils at St Erics Primary in Katanga were also sent back home with authorities citing lack of PPE. Pupils in Kariba were sent home after the town had gone for days without running water despite its proximity to the countrys largest man-made water body, Lake Kariba. We are not surprised that teachers sent back pupils over the water crisis as Kariba Municipality has failed to rectify the water crisis despite a new water reticulation system put in place recently, said Edna Muronda, a parent. Teachers unions on Saturday insisted that their members would not report for duty unless government has met their demands. Newsday Yerevan: Nagorno-Karabakh`s defence ministry on Tuesday said that 27 of its fighters were killed in fighting with Azerbaijan forces, bringing their total military losses to 58. The overall death toll rose to 67 including nine civilian deaths -- seven in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side, Al Jazeera reported. Azerbaijan has not reported any military casualties, but Armenian separatist officials released footage showing burnt-out armoured vehicles and the bloodied and charred remains of soldiers in camouflage it said were Azerbaijani troops. Yesterday, heavy fighting between the forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia broke out in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The region lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. Also Read: Armenia-Azerbaijan war: Dynamics in the Indian subcontinent The flare-up continued for the second day. Most of the international community, including the United States, Russia, Iran and European powers, have been calling for an end to hostilities and the start of talks. As the clashes continued for Monday, UN chief Antonio Guterres spoke to the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Guterres stressed that "the need for an immediate stop to the fighting and resumption without the precondition of meaningful negotiations without delay under the umbrella of the Minsk Group co-chairs, and also for the immediate redeployment of [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] monitors to the region," according to Guterres` spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric. Chandigarh, Sep 29 : Extending his government's full support to the agitating farmers in these "dark and difficult times", Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday assured of all possible legal and other steps to fight what he called the "draconian" new farm laws. Chairing a meeting with representatives of 31 farmers' unions to elicit their views on the matter, the Chief Minister said he would discuss the issue with legal experts to finalise the government's next steps, including challenging the farm laws in the Supreme Court. Besides farmer representatives, AICC General Secretary and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat attended the meeting, along with Cabinet Ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, legislator Rana Gurjit Singh, state Congress President Sunil Jakhar, and Advocate General Atul Nanda. "We will take all possible steps to counter the Union government's assault on the state's federal and constitutional rights, and fight for the interests of the farmers," Amarinder Singh assured the farmers' representatives. If the legal experts advised amendment(s) to the state laws to fight the central laws, a special session of the Vidhan Sabha would be immediately called for the purpose, he said. The Chief Minister made it clear that his government had no qualms about convening an Assembly session if that was the best course in the circumstances. However, he trashed SAD President Sukhbir Badal's demand for a special Vidhan Sabha session as "cheap gimmickry" after their "active" support to the central laws for months. He demanded to know where were the Akalis in the last session and why Sukhbir did not support other opposition parties at the all-party meeting on the matter. Amarinder Singh slammed the Akalis for "pawning" farmers' interests to the large corporates to promote their petty political interests, pointing out that SAD MLAs had chosen to stay away from the Vidhan Sabha session during which the resolution against the farm laws was passed. It was clear, he said, that the Akalis, led by Sukhbir Badal, had been wholeheartedly supporting the farm ordinances throughout, and only backed out once their position in Punjab became untenable due to widespread angst among the farmers. The battle would be fought on all fronts, the Chief Minister said, adding that besides the Congress signature campaign announced on Monday by AICC General Secretary Harish Rawat, all panchayats in Punjab would be requested to pass resolutions against the agricultural laws, and the same sent to the Union government. Earlier, several farmer leaders urged the Chief Minister to challenge the central laws in court, and take whatever other steps were needed to protect the farmers, including blocking construction of the Adani Group's silos in the state. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The pandemic is expected to stoke the slowest growth in more than 50 years in East and the Pacific as well as China, World Bank said in an economic update on Monday, stated Reuters. The bank said the region is expected to grow by only 0.9 per cent in 2020, the lowest rate since 1967, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the global death toll of COVID-19 has crossed one million-mark, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The respiratory disease was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year. The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a 'pandemic' in March. The total number of cases across the world has crossed 33 million, while nearly 23 million patients have recovered, Al Jazeera reported. The United States has reported the most deaths - more than 205,000 - followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's mutual financial groups are a much denuded sector. The board of LV, the former Liverpool Victoria, founded 175 years ago, has some big decisions to make when it meets today. Having put itself up for sale, the insurance group with 1.28m policyholders has two offers on the table. One from competitor Royal London and a second from Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital, which as the owner of Esure already has a stake in UK insurance. Having put itself up for sale, insurance group LV has two offers on the table - one from competitor Royal London and a second from Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital The precise terms of both offers are obscure but both should mean that LV policyholders will receive one of those windfall payments that were so common when much of the building society movement switched camps in the 1990s by becoming public companies, with disastrous consequences when they were brought down by the 2007-08 financial crisis. Private equity has its sights set on the UK at present where a combination of Brexit jitters and poor performance in handling Covid-19 has turned Britain into a bargain basement. Among the offers out there are a 3billion private-equity-backed bid for G4S by Canada's GardaWorld, a TDR Capital backed bid for Asda by billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and a private equity challenge led by former Aviva boss Mark Wilson to crash the Saga rights issue. But fund managers with a liking for cash to boost lagging performances have been far too ready to accept the debt-backed private equity shilling. Even if Bain Capital sits at the respectable end of the private equity spectrum, LV directors should remember the mutual heritage and support the Royal London offer. Under the leadership of Barry O'Dwyer, veteran of the Pru and Standard Life, Royal London is bulking up life and pensions operations, recently absorbing Police Mutual. Adding LV to its 100billion of assets and 9m policyholders would be a useful bump. The model for private equity is to load up on debt and take out costs. Such ownership should be anathema for life and pensions companies which need to be tightly focused on capital, regulation and the best returns for policyholders. Once-disparaged endowment policies still have a big role to play in the savings market. Royal London also has an enviable record of taking the lead on governance issues. LV chief executive Mark Hartigan and his board should be in no doubt that Royal London and staying mutual is the way to go. Air emergency The Government has shown enthusiasm for bailing out hospitality with summer's 'Eat Out To Help Out' and VAT reductions. It has been totally remiss in the failure to look after aerospace. It may have enjoyed a small triumph by forcing Richard Branson directly to confront Virgin Atlantic's problems, but they are not going to go away. The virtual closure of North Atlantic routes is a disaster for Virgin and a much bigger problem for BA. It is really galling that both Germany and France, in a challenge to EU rules on subsidies, have pumped billions into Lufthansa, Air France and the aerospace supply chain. The US Congress is embarking on a second bailout for US carriers with a proposal of an additional $25billion (20billion) of funding when the current support package runs out at the end of September. In the UK there is the embarrassing sight of Rolls-Royce, dependent on flying hours for cash flow, going to the chanceries of Kuwait and Singapore in support of a 2.5billion fundraising. There seems little awareness in Whitehall that aerospace is a high-tech area where the UK has competitive advantage. Allowing ownership, command and control to drift overseas even if outside investors look benign should not be an option. Rolls sits at the pinnacle of a supply chain, which is vital to the UK's post-Brexit future and deserves domestic support. Reverse takeover Mike Coupe would have 'been in the money' by now had his plot to merge Sainsbury's with Asda not been blocked. Instead, the former Sainsbury's chief executive is choosing the path of public service in a medical emergency, as the person in charge of bringing test, track and trace up to scratch. His nominal boss will be Dido Harding, a former underling when Coupe was climbing to the very top of the Sainsbury's tree. The arrival of Coupe, architect of Sainsbury's Argos merger and push into online, means a grown-up is now in charge. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The military operations along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact still continue, the defense ministry of Artsakh said in a statement. The intense fighting continues along the entire length of the frontline. The Azerbaijani side has launched attacks at the northern and north-eastern directions with the engagement of armored tank units. The Defense Army forces carry out a successful battle, causing huge blows to the Azerbaijani units. The Azerbaijani side lost 12 more thanks in the past three hours. The number of other losses of the adversary is being clarified, the statement says. With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 67x Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited (NZSE:FPH) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in New Zealand have P/E ratios under 22x and even P/E's lower than 12x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E. With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has been doing quite well of late. It seems that many are expecting the company to continue defying the broader market adversity, which has increased investors willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price. View our latest analysis for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare pe Keen to find out how analysts think Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start. How Is Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's Growth Trending? The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly. Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 37% gain to the company's bottom line. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 67% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time. Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 17% each year as estimated by the ten analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% each year growth forecast for the broader market. In light of this, it's understandable that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future. Story continues The Key Takeaway Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects. We've established that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances. Plus, you should also learn about this 1 warning sign we've spotted with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. If you're unsure about the strength of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Autoworkers at Hyundai Motors voted last Friday to approve a new contract negotiated between the company and the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU). The deal, announced the previous Monday, passed with only 53 percent approval, indicating widespread dissatisfaction with the sellout agreement. It includes a wage freeze and a commitment to carry through mass job cuts in the future. Among the 49,598 members of the Hyundai union, 44,460 voted. In addition to the wage freeze, the agreement includes a one-time, regular bonus equivalent to 150 percent of a workers monthly salary. There is also an additional bonus of 1.2 million won ($US1,021), ten company shares and 200,000 won ($170) in gift certificates. These were essentially bribes to entice workers struggling economically with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to accept the deal. Hyundai workers had demanded a 120,304 won ($102) monthly pay increase and the distribution of 30 percent of the companys 2019 net profits to workers as bonuses. This is the first wage freeze the Hyundai union has agreed to in 11 years and the third so far, demonstrating that it is in the corner of management. The first wage freeze was in 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis and the second in 2009 following the global financial crisis. The union and management agreed that the economic and social situation in Korea has been difficult due to COVID-19, the company stated. We agreed that we need to work together in order to overcome the crisis in the auto industry amid a global economic recession. The agreement includes a Social Declaration for Joint Labor-Management Development and Changes in Labor-Management Relations. In it, the union pledges to assist the company in protecting the competitiveness of domestic factories, responding to future changes like the expansion of electric vehicles, and operating a job change program. In other words, the KMWU has agreed to enforce cost-cutting measures, including job cuts and restructuring, as Hyundai moves to produce electric vehicles. Workers fear that producing these vehicles requires a smaller labor force, leading to mass job losses. The union also agreed to increase what it called product quality, by taking part in a quality assurance team with management, essentially policing its own membership and lining up workers who do not meet company demands to be fired. As such, any promises by the union or company to protect jobs are entirely empty. In fact, the KMWU already agreed to mass job cuts. Then Hyundai union leader Ha Bu-yeong stated in March 2019: Even though we accept the managements anticipation of cutting 7,000 jobs by 2025, 17,500 are scheduled to retire by then. Thus the company has to hire at least 10,000 to keep its plant running. A Hyundai advisory committee last October called for as many as 10,000 job cuts by 2025. Since then, South Koreas auto industry has been affected by the global pandemic, which is the rationale the KMWU used to enforce the wage freeze and the other attacks on workers. Hyundais sales fell 14 percent in August over the previous year. Hyundai and its sister company, KIA, sold only 3.8 million vehicles between January and August, and are likely to miss their sales targets this year. However, for Hyundais executives, business is good. Hyundais stock prices have jumped sharply, especially as it became clear that the KMWU was preparing to accept the new sellout contract. Last Monday, when the tentative deal was announced, the automakers shares rose by 2.21 percent on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index over the previous day. The share price increased to 185,000 won, or 56 percent higher than in January, before the pandemic. Contract negotiations are also taking place at KIA, GM Korea and Renault Samsung. As always, the KMWU has broken up its negotiations with the different auto companies in order to block any unified fight. While the union at times claims it will launch joint struggles, which it hinted at in early September, this serves as little more than window dressing. The sellout at Hyundai will pave the way for similar agreements at the other companies. GM Korea workers are making similar demands as their Hyundai counterparts, including a 120,304 won monthly wage increase and bonuses. More than 80 percent of GM workers support a strike. A GM Korea executive told Business Korea: The union is ignoring the fact that the companys operating loss has continued since 2014 and this year will be the same. With even Hyundai having frozen its base pay, the union is going too far. The KMWU is the largest union within the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The KCTU, which postures as left wing and militant, has worked to prevent any outbreak of discontent despite widespread attacks on the working class this year under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment is at its highest since 1999. Young people between 15 and 29 are particularly hard hit, with 25.6 percent unable to find jobs. This summer, the KCTU provided de facto support for a tripartite agreement between the government, big business representatives and the two main labor union groups: the KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). KCTU chairman Kim Myeong-hwan supported the agreement, under which the unions would agree to support job and wage cuts and other cost-saving measures. The KCTU only backed out at the last minute due to protest from within sections of the union bureaucracy that feared the capitulation was too blatant and would engender opposition from its rank-and-file members. The more conservative FKTU endorsed the deal, signing it at a ceremony on July 28. The KCTUs participation in the negotiations gave it the chance to make clear that it would not stand in the way of attacks on workers. The KCTU has done nothing this year outside of token protests to allow workers to blow off steam. The KMWU and Hyundai deal shows that, regardless of the lack any formal agreement, the unions are carrying out the demands of big business and the government. Hearst Connecticut Media file photo FAIRFIELD Several gatherings of high school students have been linked to at least 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Fairfield students, according to town officials. Mike Cummings, superintendent of Fairfield public schools, said on Monday the district is aware of 14 positive coronavirus cases at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. The image shared by Azerbaijan Defence Ministry shows howitzers firing munitions towards Armenian positions after the launch of a counter then a forward operation on September 28, 2020. Azerbaijani forces took control of some highlands around the Talis Village. Armenian and Azerbaijani forces fought over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh for a second day Monday, with both sides blaming each other for resuming the attacks that reportedly killed and wounded dozens as the decades-old conflict has reignited. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed Armenian forces shelled the town of Tartar, while Armenian officials said the fighting continued overnight and Baku resumed "offensive operations" in the morning. Azerbaijani military officials told the Interfax news agency that over 550 Armenian troops have been "destroyed (including those wounded)" in a claim that Armenia denied. According to officials in the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, 58 servicemen on their side have been killed so far. The territory's Defense on Sunday also reported two civilian deaths a woman and her grandchild. About 200 troops have been wounded, but many were only slightly hurt and have returned to action, the Armenian Defense Ministry said. Azerbaijani authorities said nine civilians were killed and 32 wounded on their side. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday there were losses among Baku's forces, too, but he didn't elaborate. The heavy fighting broke out Sunday in the region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Yerevan government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war. Azerbaijan said it destroyed two Armenian tanks, and Nagorno-Karabakh's Defense Ministry reported that Baku "lost 10 armored vehicles in a tank battle." The Armenian Defense Ministry said that, while the fighting continued, "all offensives of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were successfully suppressed, the enemy was thrown back" and suffered losses. Nagorno-Karabakh a region in the Caucasus Mountains about 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) or about the size of the U.S. state of Delaware is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region. The European Union urged both sides to stop fighting and return to the negotiating table, following similar calls by Iran, Russia, France and the United States. "We hope and we urge everyone to everything they can in order to prevent an all-out war from breaking out, because this is the last thing the region needs," European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said in Brussels. "There is no military solution to this conflict." Five European countries Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom asked for a closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the escalating conflict on Tuesday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and called for "an immediate stop to the fighting, a de-escalation of tensions and a return to meaningful negotiations without preconditions or delay," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation "is a cause for concern for Moscow and other countries." "We believe that the hostilities should be immediately ended," Peskov said, adding that the process of resolving the conflict should shift into "a politico-diplomatic" dimension. Armenia's Foreign Ministry accused Turkey, which sides with Azerbaijan in the conflict, of supporting "this aggression." "Turkish military experts are fighting side by side with Azerbaijan, who are using Turkish weapons, including UAVs and warplanes," the ministry said. The situation "clearly indicates" that people in Nagorno-Karabakh are fighting against "a Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance," the statement said. Both Armenia and Turkey accused each other of recruiting foreign mercenaries. Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, denied reports that Turkey had sent arms or foreign fighters to Azerbaijan. "Armenia is disturbed by Turkey's solidarity with Azerbaijan and is producing lies against Turkey," Celik tweeted. AUSTIN, Minn., Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a global branded food company, announced today that its quarterly dividend on the common stock, authorized by the Board of Directors at 23.25 cents ($0.2325) a share on September 29, 2020, will be paid November 16, 2020, to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 19, 2020. The November 16 payment will be the 369th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company. Since becoming a public company in 1928, Hormel Foods Corporation has paid a regular quarterly dividend without interruption. ABOUT HORMEL FOODS - Inspired People. Inspired Food. Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly, Hormel Black Label, Columbus and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three straight years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" list for 12 years in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement Inspired People. Inspired Food. to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation Related Links http://www.hormel.com When the upper house of the Victorian Parliament meets on October 13 to debate the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2020, it will be a crucial test for the crossbenchers and non-government members who will determine its fate. In the process, they will also determine whether the upper house is faithful to its chief mandate of serving as a genuine house of review. Police at Chadstone Shopping Centre after a recent anti-lockdown protest. Credit:Paul Jeffers This is an extraordinary bill that gives the secretary to the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to choose whomever she or he wants to exercise coercive powers, including the power to detain people indefinitely. The bill is so far-reaching you do not even need to be diagnosed with COVID-19 to be subject to detention. If an authorised officer thinks you are a "close contact" of someone with COVID-19, that may be enough. Owing to the hurdles in challenging such decisions, one could in effect be detained without proper cause. Of particular concern are restrictions on our courts due to COVID-19 that would significantly impact the usual rights available when contesting detention. In January, Simon & Schuster will publish Nadia Owusus Aftershocks: A Memoir, which traces her nomadic childhood, the early absence of her parents, and the enduring impact of experiences that have shaped her as a person and an artist. Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to an Armenian American mother and a Ghanaian father who worked for a UN agency, Owusu lived in England, Italy, Ethiopia, and Uganda before the age of 18, when she moved to New York City. And while, she says, she loved the countries I lived in, she never deeply understood them, and grew up far from my parents cultures. To that feeling of displacement, add the trauma of Owusus mother abandoning the family when Owusu was two, and the death of her adored father when she was 14. Owusu struggled emotionally, especially after coming to learn more about the circumstances of her fathers illness and death. To heal, Owusu writes, I would need to look inward as well as outward. I would need to examine my memories. I would need to interrogate the stories I told myselfabout myself, about my family, about the world. My unsolved questions were about my mothers and my father. They were about loss, longing, and fear; about my abandonment.... But they were also about the borders and boundaries and fault lines on which we all live. They were about fractured surfaces and tectonic forces; about energies unleashed. I started writing about a decade ago, Owusu says, not for a bookjust writing, trying to understand. I spent time following my curiosity, connecting the countries Id lived in to the story of my life. At the international schools she attended, Owusu says, the history she studied was mostly about the West; she knew very little about African history. Owusu was interested in family history and also wanted to dig into the bigger histories, to process my traumas, not as a project but for myself. Now 39, Owusu works full-time as the associate director for learning and equity at Living Cities, a racial economic justice organization in New York City. Deciding to take her writing seriously, Owusu applied to the Mountainview low-residency MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University and started writing memoir. I found the heat in my musings, she says. I trusted my teachers that this material was urgent. In the second year of the program, she wrote her first real draft. Some chapters were published as standalone pieces: Owusus agent, Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at DeFiore & Company, tells me she first encountered Owusu through an essay she wrote for Catapult, titled The Wailing, depicting the days just after the death of her father, whose presence and love were colossal in her life. Kaffel Simonoff was impressed that Owusu was able to conjure such a strong sense of character in such a short span of pages. I reached out and we began a correspondence. The Wailing became part of the memoir, and the next piece Owusu sent to Kaffel Simonoff, First Earthquake, became the opening entry. It was so clean, Kaffel Simonoff says. Line by line, word by word. Nadia writes with such incredible empathy and emotional accessibility. Its rare to find a writer with her mix of ferocious rigor and warmth and grace. In the summer of 2017 Owusu sent a full draft to Kaffel Simonoff, and by fall they had made the commitment to work together. Nadia came in with all these brilliant interlocking pieces, Kaffel Simonoff remembers, and when we spread them out on the conference table, the aftershocks metaphor was there. Meredith got what I was doing, Owusu says. I liked her ideas about structure and trusted her feedback. She did deep research into earthquake aftershocks! We didnt use most of it, but it was interesting, and I felt I had a good partner connected to the work. Kaffel Simonoff sent the book to U.S. publishers in April 2018, and within the first few days meetings were set up with several editors. But the fateful one was with S&S publisher (now CEO) Jonathan Karp and senior editor Ira Silverberg, who told me, I trust Meredith. She sent me the manuscript and I immediately said, We have to have this! There was so much chemistry between Nadia and Ira, Kaffel Simonoff says. We did not anticipate taking a preempt, but shortly after we left we got an offer that knocked us out. It was clear that this was the right home. According to Kaffel Simonoff, S&S bought North American rights to Aftershocks for a healthy six figures. Silverberg did most of the editing. When he left S&S, Carrie Goldstein had it for a time, and finally Dawn Davis took it over in March 2019. Davis, founder and publisher of 37Ink, says, When Meredith asked me if I would take over Aftershocks, I was very interested in the places in it, and I love Iras taste. I was happy to protect and be custodian for something he loved. It was an honor, not a favor. This is a classic narrative. She adds: Theres the heart of a poet in Nadias language. Its one of those books you start underlining as soon as you start reading. Davis will be leaving 37Ink for a new position at Bon Appetit but says she may be a consulting editor for the book. Aftershocks will publish in the U.K. in February with Sceptre, and rights have been sold in the Netherlands and Sweden. And then theres the 2019 Whiting Award that Osuwu won on the basis of the memoirs manuscript. I was in shock when I got the news, Owusu says. They called but I didnt answer. I thought it was spam, and then I checked my emails too late to call back. I didnt have a book out, so I was completely surprised. When they told me I had won, I said, How? Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 21:28:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) will convene its 22nd session from Oct. 13 to 17 in Beijing. The decision was made on Tuesday at a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, which was presided over by Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. According to the proposed agenda, lawmakers will review at the session a draft biosecurity law, a draft export control law, a draft Yangtze River conservation law, a draft support for veterans law, a draft personal information protection law and a draft coast guard law. They are expected to deliberate a draft amendment to the Patent Law, a draft revision to the Law on the Protection of Minors, draft amendments to the National Flag Law and the National Emblem Law, a draft amendment to the Criminal Law and a draft revision to the Administrative Penalty Law. A draft amendment to the Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses, a draft revision to the Wildlife Protection Law and a draft revision to the National Defense Law will also be reviewed, according to the proposed agenda. Enditem India on Tuesday asserted it has never accepted the unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC), and pointed out that several agreements with China committed both countries to confirming and clarifying the alignment of the boundary. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) was reacting to a report about Chinas foreign ministry saying in an official statement to Hindustan Times that Beijing abides by the LAC proposed by premier Zhou Enlai to prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959 the first time in decades the Chinese side clearly outlined its stance on the notional boundary by reiterating a position India has consistently rejected since it was first made 61 years ago. Also read:China takes 1959 line on perception of LAC We have seen a report in the Hindustan Times of 29th August, quoting a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement regarding Chinas position on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas, an MEA statement said. India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side, ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Srivastava pointed out that under several bilateral agreements including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, and the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question India and China have committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC. He added, Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements. Also read: Former envoys slam Beijing for invoking old LAC perception On Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry, in a statement in Mandarin, said that Beijing abides by the LAC proposed by Beijing in 1959. Firstly, China-India border LAC is very clear, that is the LAC on November 7, 1959. China announced it in the 1950s, and the international community including India are also clear about it, the ministry said. Experts said Indias response reflected the wide gap in perceptions between the two sides amid the five-month standoff in the Ladakh sector of the LAC. More than five rounds of talks each through military and diplomatic channels have been unable to break the impasse in the disengagement and de-escalation process. The external affairs ministry also blamed the Chinese side for lack of progress in the process for clarifying and confirming the boundary for almost two decades. Also read: 1959 claim is wrong, but it punctures Chinas theory, say experts In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it, Srivastava said. In response to a query from HT on why the process of LAC clarification has been stalled since 2002, the Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday blamed India. Over the years, the Indian side has repeatedly crossed the line to encroach on Chinas territory and deliberately created new incidents, making the process of verifying the Line of Actual Control between the two sides impossible to proceed smoothly, it said in a second statement. India denies any transgressions. The statements this week from both sides have been perceived as a sign that the border standoff, which began in early May, is unlikely to be resolved soon. The standoff has taken bilateral ties to an all-time low, and both sides have mobilised more than 50,000 troops each in the region and are now preparing to dig in for the harsh winter. India on Tuesday pointed to an apparent dichotomy in the position adopted by the Chinese side Beijing was insisting on abiding by the LAC of 1959 while stating in the latest discussions on the border standoff that the issue should be resolved on the basis of the existing agreements. In the last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed that the current situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries, Srivastava said. He said that even in the agreement reached between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during their talks on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow on September 10, the Chinese side has reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements. During their meeting, Jaishankar and Wang agreed on a five-point road map to take forward the disengagement process, which included dialogue aimed at quick disengagement, maintaining proper distance between troops of the two sides and easing tensions, and abiding by all agreements and protocols on border management. The MEA said the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC, and defence minister Rajnath Singh stated in Parliament recently that it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo. Srivastava said: We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed on June 15 in a brutal clash in Galwan valley, which also resulted in unspecified Chinese casualties. Troops of both sides have fired warning shots on several occasions since late August, the first time shots have been fired along the LAC since 1975. Meetings of the corps commanders and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs have been unable to nudge forward the disengagement process, though the military officials agreed at their last meeting that both sides wouldnt deploy any more troops to the frontline. The WMCC is set to hold another meeting soon. Military experts said that by raking up the 1959 LAC, China was hardening its position and making a resolution of the border row even more difficult. India has never accepted the 1959 LAC. Not at the time it was brought up in 1959, not after the 1962 war when it was referred to in the unilateral ceasefire announced by China, or at any time after that. By referring to this, they seem to indicate that disengagement is unlikely, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd). (With inputs from Rahul Singh) AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VolitionRx Limited (NYSE AMERICAN: VNRX) ("Volition") a multi-national epigenetics company developing simple, easy to use, cost effective blood tests to help diagnose a range of cancers and other diseases, today announced it will host a capital markets day presentation on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 starting at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time. Cameron Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volition, will host the live-streamed event along with other members of the Executive Management team. Dr. Heather Wilson-Robles, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and Chief Medical Officer of Volition Veterinary Diagnostics will also present new data for the Nu.Q Vet Cancer Screening Test expected to be launched commercially this year. The presentation will also provide an update on recent developments and Volition's activities, including new and ongoing clinical trials. Further details will be announced closer to the event but please save the date! About Volition Volition is a multi-national epigenetics company developing simple, easy to use, cost effective blood tests to help diagnose a range of cancers and other diseases. Early diagnosis has the potential to not only prolong the life of patients, but also to improve their quality of life. The tests are based on the science of Nucleosomics, which is the practice of identifying and measuring nucleosomes in the bloodstream or other bodily fluid - an indication that disease is present. Volition is primarily focused on human diagnostics but also has a subsidiary focused on animal diagnostics. Volition's research and development activities are centered in Belgium, with additional offices in Texas, London and Singapore, as the company focuses on bringing its diagnostic products to market. Nucleosomics and Nu.Q and their respective logos are trademarks of Volition and its subsidiaries. For more information about Volition, visit Volition's website (http://www.volition.com) or connect with us via: Twitter: https://twitter.com/volitionrx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/volitionrx Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VolitionRx/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VolitionRx The contents found at Volition's website address, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are not incorporated by reference into this document and should not be considered part of this document. The addresses for Volition's website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are included in this document as inactive textual references only. Media / Investor Contacts Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that concern matters that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "aims," "targets," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "optimizing," "potential," "goal," "suggests," "could," "would," "should," "may," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to the timing of the commercial launch of Volition's test platforms for early detection of cancer and other diseases. Volition's actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, results of studies testing the efficacy of its tests. For instance, if Volition fails to develop and commercialize diagnostic or prognostic products, it may be unable to execute its plan of operations. Other risks and uncertainties include Volition's failure to obtain necessary regulatory clearances or approvals to distribute and market future products; a failure by the marketplace to accept the products in Volition's development pipeline or any other diagnostic or prognostic products Volition might develop; Volition's failure to secure adequate intellectual property protection; Volition will face fierce competition and Volition's intended products may become obsolete due to the highly competitive nature of the diagnostics market and its rapid technological change; downturns in domestic and foreign economies; and other risks identified in Volition's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other documents that Volition files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Volition's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and, except as required by law, Volition does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. SOURCE VolitionRx Ltd Related Links http://www.volitionrx.com Joe Biden was a 29-year-old lawyer when he won the election to the U.S Senate in November 1972 against a Republican incumbent by a mere 3,162 votes. His previous political experience before he won the seat was as a member of the New Castle County Council in Delaware. However, before Biden had assumed offices, in just six weeks, his life took the most tragic of turns when his wife Neilia and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in an automobile accident. Biden's tragic past For 36 years of his Senate career, Biden commuted through Amtrak to Washington, D.C., from the family home in Wilmington, Delaware, daily in order to be home for his sons Hunter and Beau, who had been severely injured but survived the crash that killed their mother and sister. Just like in any tragedy, one of the main questions is what caused the fatal accident? Neilia Biden's station wagon was broadsided by a tractor-trailer truck at an intersection, but what was the underlying cause of the fatal accident? During Joe Biden's 2020 presidential run, social media posts declared that Biden had misrepresented the accident as being the fault of a drunken driver, and even that Biden had deliberately lied about it. Also Read: Why SCOTUS is a Hot Topic for Trump-Biden Debate It is true that in two separate occasions, Biden has publicly stated or alleged that the driver tractor-trailer who hit his wife's station wagon had been drinking. During a speech that he gave at the University of Delaware a week after the 9/11 terror attacks, he said he sympathized with the tragedy as he too lost his loved ones due to a drunk driving incident. In December 2007, while stumping for the Democratic presidential nomination in Iowa City, Biden again told the story about how he lost his wife and child while answering a voter's question about negative campaigning, as reported by The New York Times. The accident The accident happened at the intersection of Limestone and Valley Road in Hockessin, Delaware. At the time, it was a remote, rural section of New Castle County. According to the volunteer fireman who responded to the scene and attended the driver of the tractor-trailer, Limestone Road was a popular trucker shortcut in the Piedmont foothills leading from Delaware into Pennsylvania. He added that the intersection with Valley Road was very dangerous. In a 2009 profile of Biden, Politico noted that the other driver was not charged with drunken driving or anything else that would indicate fault on his part. Based on evidence and witness accounts, it appeared that Neilia Biden had pulled into the truck driver's right of way at an intersection with a two-way stop, and the tractor-trailer driver was unable to stop in time to avoid striking her car. This raised eyebrows, as it may indicate that Biden lied when he implied that the driver had been drinking. According to Lou Angeli, the fireman at the scene, there was no evidence that establishes or disproves that point. Angeli said that in regards to intoxication, the driver Curtis C. Dunn was not assessed, and there was no way to determine if he had been drinking at that time since neither of the police officers had breathalyzers on their cop cars. Angeli asserted that this alleged aspect of the accident was not a lie Biden made up out of whole cloth, and that right or wrong, rumor or belief that drinking had contributed to the crash was prevalent among the community. Either way, Biden had not talked about the incident in the last 13 years, and he has since apologized to Dunn's daughter, while his spokesman declared that Biden now fully accepts the Dunn family's word that the rumors were false. Related Article: Discarded Military Ballots for Trump Found in Pennsylvania, Raises Questions About Voting Fraud @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CLEVELAND, Ohio Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden will make his first campaign stop in Ohio since March the day after Tuesday nights presidential debate. Biden, along with his wife, Jill, will start Wednesday in Cleveland before heading to Alliance on a train tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania. That comes the day after Biden is scheduled to take the stage at the first presidential debate against Republican President Donald Trump in Cleveland. Biden has limited his campaign stops since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Wednesdays stop is the first in the state since Biden canceled a planned rally before the primary. Ohio, which Trump won by more than 8 points in 2016, is considered competitive this year, prompting the Biden campaign to devote some its resources to the state. Three separate polls of likely Ohio voters were released last week, with two showing a toss-up race and one showing Biden leading slightly. WATERLOO City Council members are considering transitioning from four council meetings per month to two, a move that would provide fewer opportunities for public comment at meetings. The change was discussed during Mondays work session at City Hall. The council currently meets four Mondays a month. Ward 3 council member Patrick Morrissey opposed the change, saying it would shirk the councils responsibility to the public. They want to know, they want to hear, they want to have explanations made as to what certain things are, Morrissey said. Four meetings a month for us spending maybe two hours two and a half hours if you put it all together once a week on a council meeting is not too much, and I think the public expects that from us. Morrissey said meeting just twice a month would result in lengthy consent agendas that do not allow for public input. Items on the consent agenda can be approved with one vote rather than being considered one at a time. The process saves time but does not allow time for public comment like regular agenda items. Morrissey said fewer meetings also would keep ordinances from being passed in a timely manner. City Clerk Kelley Felchle noted the council is allowed to suspend second and third readings of ordinances when quick approval is needed. At-large council member Dave Boesen said there are ways to gather public input between meetings. Mayor Quentin Hart said he would work with Felchle to craft scenarios involved in a two-meeting-per-month schedule. I think the goal is to get as much information as you can so you can study, so you can look at it, so you can ask questions, so that when you talk to the citizens and for your own knowledge, youll be able to accurately explain them, Hart said of the proposed change. Boesen proposed that council agendas to be released at least a week in advance of meetings. Agendas now are usually dispersed Thursdays or Fridays before Monday meetings. It gives council people the time to digest it, to ask questions, to meet with department heads or email them or speak with them when they have questions, Boesen said of an advanced schedule. It also gives the opportunity to have some work sessions prior to council meetings and not the day of the council meeting. Work sessions are typically held Mondays before the regular session. The meetings are open to the public but have no public comment period. At-large council member Sharon Juon proposed work sessions be held between regular meetings. She also suggested a provision that would allow last-minute items to be added to agendas released a week in advance. I think weve got to do something in the interim thatll allow us to do more planning for the future than what were currently able to do right now, Juon said Monday. Ray Feuss, Ward 5 Council member, said it would be helpful to hear more updates from department heads. I think it would be really nice to have work sessions, Feuss said. I think our citizens want to hear that piece as well. Its important to do the business that way, but also knowing the positives and the direction that were trying to move our city would be something that Im certainly in favor of as well. Morrissey said with added work sessions, council members would meet four times a month anyway. Were not eliminating the two meetings; were still keeping four meetings a month, Morrissey said. Were just playing semantics and putting a different name on the meetings. Morrissey said Mondays work session felt like an incomplete conversation without council members Jerome Amos Jr. and Jonathan Grieder, who were absent. Council member Margaret Klein supported moving to two meetings per month. I think if we remove two meetings a month, arent we in fact diminishing the role of City Council as a legislative body? Morrissey asked. I believe that we are. Council members will continue considerations at future work sessions. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 IVNP Prasad Babu By Express News Service ONGOLE: Within six months, P Veera Narayana, 30, went from being a guest lecturer at a gurukulam school, to having an unsuccessful stint as a radium stickering worker, to becoming an agricultural labourer. Narayana, an MSc BEd qualified Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) was the topper of his batch in Krishna University. After getting a job as a guest lecturer at the AP SC Welfare Gurukulam School in Kurichedu of Prakasam district, his life seemed to be going smoothly and his parents got him married a year ago. But when the lockdown was enforced, educational institutions were shut and his contract as a guest lecturer did not get renewed. He faced financial difficulties for three months, and searched for even menial jobs. He found work as an assistant in a radium stickering shop and was paid a daily wage of Rs 200. I was not an expert at the job and my employer asked me to quit after 40 days, saying I work too slowly, Narayana told TNIE. Several guest lecturers bear brunt of lockdown Left with no option, Veera Narayana and his wife Nagajyothi shifted to Yachavaram village of Arthaveedu mandal, to the house of his elderly parents P Ankaiah, 80, and Pichhamma, 75, who survive on their social security pension.I even had to borrow Rs 5,000 from my aged parents to survive in Kurichedu. I also took another loan of Rs 10,000 for basic needs. But with no job coming my way, I shifted to my native place, he said. After spending some time without work, Narayana got a chance to work as a farm hand in the village. This is not just my story. The situation of thousands of guest lecturers is the same. There are about 1,700 guest lecturers working in SC Welfare gurukulams and the situation of almost every one of them is the same, he lamented. The guest lecturers said that though the government instructed private educational institutions not to withhold salaries of teachers, the government itself is not taking care of those working in government-run gurukulams. Most of them have been working for more than five years, and have already crossed the government job-recruitment eligibility age limit. Another guest lecturer Shaik Moulali returned to his native Kallur village in Kurichedu mandal after losing his job as he couldnt afford his house rent and electricity bill. He now works at a tyre puncture repair shop for Rs 150-200 per day to feed his four-member family. In this episode, Lungcast host Albert Rizzo, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the American Lung Association, engages with Dr. Fauci on several pressing current events that include aerosol transmission of the virus, advances in vaccine platform technology, steps needed to ensure safe and diverse adoption of the vaccine, and lessons learned to guard against future pandemics. "It was such an honor to have Dr. Fauci join us on our latest podcast," said Rizzo. "When we initiated this project only a few months ago, Dr. Fauci topped our list of critical voices as our nation faces the pandemic. As you'll hear, his guest appearance lives up to our high expectations. As an authoritative and trusted voice during this tremendously challenging time in history, Dr. Fauci's participation reflects the American Lung Association's commitment to bringing the best science available on COVID-19 directly to the American public." In partnership with HCPLive, Lungcast, covers a broad range of pulmonary-related topics geared toward healthcare professionals. The first episode was launched in August to showcase David Ho, M.D., who is credited with making significant scientific contributions to improve the understanding and treatment of HIV infection. Then, earlier this month, the second episode was a virtual sit-down with Ankit Bharat, M.D., delving into the details of his headline-making, double-lung transplants on COVID-19 patients. You can subscribe and listen to Lungcast via Apple, Spotify and Audioboom, and learn more at Lung.org/lungcast. For media interested in speaking with a medical expert about lung health, COVID-19 or the Lung Association's $25M investment in the COVID-19 Action Initiative, contact Allison MacMunn at the American Lung Association at [email protected] or 312-801-7628. About the American Lung Association The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org. American Lung Association 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150 Chicago, IL 60601 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 1425 North Washington, D.C. 20004 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.org SOURCE American Lung Association Related Links www.lung.org A former Deputy Chief Executive Director of Ghana Free Zones Authority and National Democratic Congress (NDC), 2016 parliamentary candidate for Weija-Gbawe, Obuobia Darko-Opoku has challenged the current Member of Parliament for the constituency, Madam Tina Mensah to a debate on infrastructural development. Obuobia Darko-Opoku says as a Deputy Health Minister, Madam Tina Mensah should have used her influence for the implementation of health projects in the Weija-Gbawe constituency. Obuobia Darko-Opoku in a Citi News after handing over equipment to the Weija-Gbawe NDC executives said a comparison of projects undertaken by the NDC in the constituency outweighs what the NPP has done. She is a Deputy Minister of Health and by now, Weija-Gbawe should be boasting of at least a CHPS compound but she hasn't even built one. She had the opportunity to change this constituency, but she still hasn't. The health of this constituency is one of NPP's major problems. So one would want to know the agenda for the constituency and that of the Deputy Minister who manages a Health Ministry. So I am just telling you that, I did not have a position as a Minister when my party was in power, but we can boast of many things. I am ready to debate her on what she has done since her party came to power as against what I did when my party was in power. ---citinewsroom A large section of sellers are keen on investing in staff and ramping up infrastructure ahead of festive season, said on Tuesday. had commissioned Nielsen to conduct a study to gauge expectations of SMBs (small and medium businesses) sellers on Amazon from the upcoming The study, conducted earlier this month, included responses from over 2,000 Amazon sellers from 17 cities including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Indore and Rajkot. About 89 per cent respondents said they expected to reach out to new customers, while 85 per cent said they expected an increase in sales during the About 74 per cent said they expected recovery of business post the lockdown. "(About) 29 per cent of the sellers surveyed are planning to make additional investments to have a successful festive season," the survey said. Of these, 59 per cent said they are planning to invest in boosting inventory and warehousing, and 77 per cent said they plan to invest in marketing related activities. From the sellers who will be selling during the again this year, 75 per cent expect an increase in sales, the survey said. "As we navigate the new normal, e-commerce is rightly placed to service customers in the safety of their homes, create new opportunities for businesses to reach a wider set of customers across India, and generate greater value for their products," VP Manish Tiwary said. In a separate statement, Amazon India announced the launch of a specialised warehouse (fulfilment centre or FC) in Tamil Nadu, along with the expansion of an existing FC. The new specialised FC will offer close to 7 lakh cubic feet of storage space, housing lakhs of products in the large appliance and furniture category. With this infrastructure expansion, Amazon.in will now offer storage capacity of close to 3 million cubic feet across five fulfilment centres to its more than 43,000 sellers in Tamil Nadu, the statement said. Unlike traditional warehouses, fulfilment centres are equipped with highly automated pick, pack and shipping processes to facilitate safe and timely processing of orders. "Tamil Nadu is an important market for us...This expansion will work as an enabler for SMBs in Tamil Nadu helping them with faster delivery of their products to a wider customer base," Abhinav Singh, Director Amazon Transportation Services at Amazon India, said. The expansion in Tamil Nadu is a part of Amazon India's recently announced plans to add 10 new fulfilment centres and expand seven existing sites across India. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday tested positive for Covid-19 and has gone in home quarantine. The vice president is asymptomatic and in good health, the VPs official Twitter account said. Naidus wife, Usha, has tested negative and is in self-isolation. Naidu underwent a Covid-19 test on Tuesday morning and was found to be infected. The Vice President of India who underwent a routine Covid-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is however, asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home quarantine. His wife Smt. Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation, the VP Secretariat tweeted. Naidu, who is also the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, was actively involved during the monsoon session of Parliament which was later cut short due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country. Voter fraud in Minnesota included people being paid for their votes, according to video footage released by watchdog group Project Veritas. (Project Veritas) Minneapolis Ballot Harvester Paid Money for Absentee Ballot: Watchdog A political operative paid $200 for an absentee ballot as part of a voter fraud scheme, according to video footage released by a watchdog group late Monday. The video footage from July 26 shows two men, one holding a ballot. Another man instructs him on how to fill out the ballot. The man holding the ballot says he will hand it over after he fills it out. The second man then hands him money. The footage was obtained and released by Project Veritas, which monitors private and public corruption. It said the video was recorded in Minneapolis. Minneapolis police officials are investigating allegations of voter fraud after the watchdog released a video on Sunday allegedly showing the brother of a City Council candidate who was later elected bragging about collecting hundreds of ballots for his sibling. The new footage also showed a man identified as Osman Ali Dahquane speaking on the phone with Omar Jamal, a Somali community member who runs the Somali Watchdog organization. Dahquane says he was paid $800 for his absentee ballot, as were any people he brought to those running the alleged operation. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks with media gathered outside Mercado Central in Minneapolis, Minn on Aug. 11, 2020. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) The alleged voter fraud is an open secret, according to Jamal. An unnamed source described as a former co-worker of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) claimed that the lawmaker was the one who thought up the scheme. Dahquane said he took money from Antone Melton-Meaux, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the Democratic primary, but then voted for Omar. He also alleged that Omar and Jamal Osman, the Minneapolis Councilman, were paying for votes. Another anonymous source, described as a former political worker, claimed over $250,000 was spent on the August primary elections. The woman said Omars campaign chair, Ali Gainer, was involved with the alleged scheme. Contact information for Melton-Meaux couldnt be found. Asked about the allegations, Omars spokesman, Jeremy Slevin, directed The Epoch Times to Omars campaign, which didnt respond to an inquiry. Slevin on Twitter has referred to the videos as a coordinated right-wing effort to delegitimize a free and fair election. Omar shared a social media post from her daughter that claimed people who believe she was involved in a voter fraud scheme are racist. Omar was born in Somalia and emigrated to the United States when she was young. Local woman gets ballot application for long deceased mother One of the most hotly debated and contested subjects of this upcoming Novembers election is the use of mail-in ballots, partly due to their widespread use that developed in response to challenges in getting voters to physically cast their ballots. The laws on casting ones ballot vary from state to state, but in the state of Texas, one must be 65 years or older,be sick or disabled, be out of the county on Election Day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance, or be confined in jail, but otherwise not eligible in order to cast a ballot by mail (according to the Texas Secretary of States office). According to Elizabeth Lewis, administrator of communications and voter outreach for Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins office, the county has already sent applications to voters 65 and older. These voters are eligible under Texas law to submit a mail-in ballot, and Hollins office sent eligible voters applications for ballot by mail, whereby one is required to provide their signature. Lewis explained that anyone else, however, is still eligible to request a mail-in ballot form if they have a legitimate reason. The steps for the mail-in voting process in Texas can be located at sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/reqabbm but they would otherwise include filling out an application either online or by mail if one was not sent by a county clerk. The eligibility of the voters receiving these applications in their mail seems straightforward, yet residents from across the Houston area have drawn attention to several discrepancies in this process. Perhaps the worst inconsistencies in these mail-in ballot applications involve those are literally sent to the deceased. One local resident, Karen Bougton, shared her recent challenges with the mail-in ballot process in a conversation with The Tribune. Boughton was surprised when one morning she received an application for a ballot by mail. She would not be surprised to see a mail-in ballot application if it had been for herself, but rather, it was for her mother who died 12 years ago. Moreover, Boughtons mothers permanent residence, according to her, was in South Carolina, and [I could not recollect] a time when [my mother] voted in the state of Texas. Boughton expressed her immediate concern once receiving the application. What is alarming to me is what if we did not live here anymore? What if someone had lived here and used this mail-in application for fraudulent purposes? Who is to stop such an unethical political opportunity by simply signing the mail-in ballot request form and submitting it to the county? She added, Many members of the Kingwood community have expressed similar concerns with such applications, with some electronically stating that even their pets have received applications for mail-in ballots. Boughton is far from alone in her concerns over mail-in ballots. According to Lewis, there are steps in place to ensure that the applications for mail-in ballots are faithfully represented. There are security measures in place; the applications [for mail-in ballots] are processed and the signatures enter a data entry process where they are cross-examined to previous voter signatures to detect fraud. Ones address must be on file because if there is an issue, the voter is then contacted, said Lewis. She explained that before a ballot is sent to the voter, these criteria must be satisfied. She added, When the actual ballot is returned to the clerks office, the signature is again validated. There is a bipartisan committee that ensures no fraud is taking place. Additionally, we use the SOS deceased records so if an application/ballot comes to us that is from someone who is deceased it is flagged as we cross reference the SOS death records database, she said. Lewis also explained that the Harris County Clerks Office is not responsible for the voter roll, rather, it is handled by the tax accessors office. Thus, if records on their part are not correct, the clerks office unfortunately sends mail-in ballots to either the wrong address or to the deceased. She mentioned that third parties can also send in applications for mail-in ballots and suggested caution. She noted that although voter fraud is minimal and practically not a problem, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Fraud, as Boughton presumed, is indeed possible to commit (especially in a case of the deceased) by faking a signature. Quite literally, anyone with reasonable access and knowledge can fill out the application for a mail-in ballot and attempt to commit voter fraud. As Lewis explained, this fear is not irrational, but there are steps in place to catch any perpetrators that attempt to cast a mail-in ballot for someone else. The applications require a signature that is compared to existing voter records. The comparison process that was in place, however, has recently been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. According to FOX news, A federal judge in Texas ruled that the states system of verifying signatures on mail-in ballots was unconstitutional and should be immediately corrected in advance of Election Day in November. Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that voters whose signatures are perceived to be mismatching must be mailed a notice of the election boards determination within one day, and, in the event that a voter believes his or her ballot was improperly rejected, the voter may seek to verify the ballot by contacting an election official via phone or mail. Lewis confirmed that the Harris County Clerks Office will attempt to contact all voters who have their signature cross-referenced (as now required by law). For more information on this subject matter, visit the Harris County Clerks website at cclerk.hctx.net. TDT | Manama Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) chief executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed announced yesterday that the BeAware Bahrain app will begin providing a Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test certificate service for travellers from Bahrain to other countries. Launched in co-operation with relevant authorities, the new service will be included in the latest app update. The issuance of the certificates via the the app is in line with new travel procedures, and the certificates will be unified across public and private hospitals in the Kingdom. Al Qaed said a certificate can only be issued for the latest test that applicants have undergone, provided that the results are negative and that no more than a month has passed since they were conducted. Al Qaed noted that the PCR the certificate is considered an official and valid certificate issued by the Kingdom of Bahrain, which does not require any further approvals from specialist entities. Travellers from the Kingdom can apply for the certificate immediately after receiving their test results, which will appear on the app within 24 hours from the date of the test. They can then select the latest test, hit the Print PDF option or display the QR Code. Al Qaed further noted that travellers from Bahrain can display their valid certificates at entry points upon arrival but must put into consideration the official time frame for accepting the results at the destination countries. Individuals should retake the test in case they have exceeded that duration as per the regulations of those countries. Al Qaed emphasised the importance of printing PCR certificates to present the document to authorities at entry points. Once a traveller arrives at the entry point, concerned authorities will inspect the validity of the certificate by scanning its QR Code, and then receiving digital information from the National Health Information System (i-SEHA) which will display the test results. The iGA urges all individuals to download the BeAware Bahrain app by visiting the eGovernment Apps Store www. bahrain.bh/apps, and registering on the app, which is available for iOS and Android. All comments and enquiries can be submitted via the national suggestions and complaints system, Tawasul, or by calling the National Contact Center on 444. HATHRAS: Targeting the Uttar Pradesh government following the death of the 19-year-old Hathras gang-rape victim at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Tuesday morning, opposition parties in the state demanded prosecution of the four culprits in a fast-track court. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati tweeted in Hindi, "The news of the death of the Dalit girl after gangrape in Hathras, UP, is very sad. The government should provide all possible help to the victim's family and ensure quick punishment to the culprits by prosecuting them in a fast-track court..."Offering condolences to the bereaved family, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "There is no expectation from today's insensitive power." Another leader from his party, Sunil Yadav, too blamed the state government. "The unfortunate incident in Hathras has once again exposed and shamed the UP government. The victim's tongue was cut off and her spinal cord was broken, but the Yogi Adityanath government filed a mere case of eve-teasing. It was only after the case got into the limelight, the UP Police filed a proper case of gang-rape," he said. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari reiterated, "The Hathras gang-rape is unfortunate and the barbaric nature of the incident makes us feel shameful. Even Nirbhaya would be ashamed today. The victim's only fault was that she lived a state ruled by the BJP." The woman was raped allegedly by four men in her village on September 14 when she went to a farm. Police have arrested the four accused. Chennai, Sep 29 : A day after the ruling AIADMK announced that its Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly polls will be announced on October 7, party Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam met several party leaders at his residence here. Panneerselvam also skipped a meeting held by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami with the District Collectors on controlling coronavirus. The party's Deputy Coordinator K.P. Munusamy, Rajya Sabha Member R. Vaithilingam, Manoj Pandian and others were present at Panneerselvam's residence. Speaking to reporters Munusamy said the meeting was a routine one. On his part Vaithilingam said the party will come back to power post the 2021 elections and he supports both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami. Earlier Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said there was a healthy exchange at the party's Executive Committee meeting held here on Monday. At the Executive Committee meeting there were views expressed by leaders to announce the party's Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly polls. While some party officials spoke in favour of Palaniswami, some others supported Panneerselvam. There were some sharp exchanges between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam with the former stating that the latter had voted against the government when the confidence motion was moved. To that Panneerselvam replied that it was done as a move against V. K. Sasikala, then party leader and now in a Karnataka jail. Meanwhile there is also a strong view that the party should face the upcoming polls with the existing set up, as any change in the Chief Ministerial candidate will turn out to be a negative factor. "There will not be any change in the current set up. The status quo will continue. The party will face the elections with Palaniswami heading the caretaker government while Panneerselvam stays party Coordinator," the senior official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS. According to him, this will be the announcement that would be made by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami on October 7. According to him, Panneerselvam had said that he had not demanded the Chief Minister's post. At the time of merging his faction with the AIADMK, Panneerselvam had agreed that he will be the Deputy Chief Minister and party Coordinator and till now, he has maintained that, the party leader said. The list of 50 recipients of this year's Xplore Prize [Tencent Foundation] The Tencent Foundation on September 25 announced 50 recipients of the Xplore Prize and five of them are women. The prize, with a start-up fund of a billion yuan (US $146.34 million), is a public-benefit program launched two years ago by Pony Ma Huangteng, CEO of China's tech giant Tencent, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company. The sponsors of the award also include 14 renowned scientists including Chen-Ning Yang, a Nobel laureate and academician of the CAS. The women winners this year specialize in various research areas including science, engineering and information technology, and have made outstanding accomplishments in research areas such as aerospace science, life science and military communication. The women winners are Chen Lingling, researcher from the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science; Li Jing, researcher from Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Huang Qianqian, doctoral supervisor with Peking University; Li Zan, professor with Xidian University; and Chen Yan, professor with Tianjin University. Among all the 50 winners, Huang, 30, a doctoral supervisor from the Department of Micro-Nanoelectronics at Peking University, is the youngest. Each of the winners will receive an annual cash grant of 600,000 yuan (US $87,801) for the next five years. The award aims to encourage scientific and technological workers aged 45 and below with full-time jobs in mainland China and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to make more contributions in their scientific research fields. The research areas focus on nine fields including mathematical physics, life sciences, astronomy and geosciences, new chemical materials, information electronics, energy and environmental protection, advanced manufacturing, transportation and construction and cutting-edge intersections. (Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China) UPDATE: Fire officials recently identified the man who died in the fire. His age was updated to reflect he was 29 years old. A 29-year-old man died Tuesday morning in a fire in Framingham, authorities said. First responders got a call around 2:45 a.m. that smoke was pouring out of a multiple-story, two-family home at 15 Clark St., Framingham Fire Chief Mike Dutcher told MassLive. The fire started in the kitchen of one of the apartments, leaving it uninhabitable. Officials are trying to determine if the second unit is inhabitable, according to Dutcher. The blaze caused roughly $60,000 worth of damages, the fire chief said. Authorities have yet to publicly identify the man who died in the fire. Our sympathies go out to the family of the victim, Dutcher said. No one else was injured in the fire, according to the fire chief. The blaze is being investigated by the Framingham fire and police departments as well as Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Department of Fire Services and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans office. Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-29 23:29:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- As global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 1 million on Monday according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, it has become increasingly urgent for all countries and regions to join forces to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its social and economic impact. GRIM GLOBAL REALITIES While experts from around the world have warned of a resurgence of the spread of the novel coronavirus with the approaching fall and winter, countries that haven't overcome the first wave of infections face even greater difficulties ahead. In the United States, almost half of the states are reporting increasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, the number of new COVID-19 cases has increased by at least 10 percent compared with the week before in 21 states, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. "Daily deaths are expected to reach 3,000 per day in late December. The reference scenario suggests that cumulative deaths will reach 371,000 by January 1," said a projection of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Months into the pandemic, the United States has recorded more than 7.13 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 204,900 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to the real-time count by Johns Hopkins University. In Italy, fresh statistics on Monday showed the number of active COVID-19 infections exceeded 50,000 again for the first time since late May. In Spain, Health Minister Salvador Illa on Monday reiterated his warning to the regional government of Madrid that it needs to take further action to stop the spread of coronavirus in and around the Spanish capital. "There is community transmission" of the virus, which is spreading without control, he said, adding "the numbers continue to rise." "Madrid is responsible for almost 40 percent of all cases in our country and 20.7 percent of all PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests are positive, almost twice the rate of the rest of Spain," said Illa. In Britain, Professor Mark Woolhouse, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said a third wave of COVID-19 was "entirely possible" and warned current lockdown restrictions will not solve the problem. The number of cases in India continues to rise steeply. According to its federal health ministry, the total tally has reached 6,145,291 and the death toll now stands at 96,318 as of Monday. Worse still, the gap between the number of recovered cases and the percentage of active cases keeps increasing in the Asian country. The gap between the recovered cases and active cases is well above 4 million. URGENT GLOBAL COOPERATION In such a severe situation, the world needs to stand together to accelerate the development of a vaccine, reestablish social order and revitalize the global economy. As China has managed to keep the pandemic under control, it has sent expert teams to countries in need to share its anti-virus experiences, carried out vaccine development programs with a few countries, and tried various ways to contribute more to the world economy. Gerry Rice, spokesman of the International Monetary Fund, said that considering the better-than-expected economic data from China and other advanced economies, the global economic outlook is less dire than three months ago. The recovery of China's economic dynamism will have positive effects on Latin American economies, given China's "fundamental" importance as a regional trade partner, said Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Early this month, the German government has predicted that the economy will contract by 5.8 percent this year, a more optimistic outlook than the previously expected fall of 6.3 percent. However, the slow economic rebound from the coronavirus shutdowns may face a lot of uncertainties due to a pandemic resurgence. Finnish transport company Nurminen Logistics on Monday launched a new rail freight route between Finland's capital Helsinki and Chongqing, a major city in southwest China, a move that can double the volume of rail freight transport between the two countries next year to at least 170 trains annually, said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, who added that the rail connection to China is important for the operation of Finland's companies. At the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last week, world leaders have voiced strong support for the key role of the 193-member world body in fighting global challenges such as the raging pandemic and called for closer, joint actions of the international community to get through these tough times together. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his video speech at the UN high-level meetings, called on countries to put people and lives first and enhance solidarity to get through the pandemic together, emphasizing the guiding role of the World Health Organization in the global response. "While no country or society will succeed alone, some are still maintaining a 'me first logic' rather than coming together," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. "We must turn this approach around. We need solidarity and concerted multilateral efforts to fight the pandemic and save lives." The international community, with the coordination from the World Health Organization, has witnessed progress in its collective search for vaccines. A consensus that these vaccines should be delivered equitably, instead of being used as a commodity for profit, has also taken shape globally. China is working with several countries on phase-three clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines. When available, as Beijing has pledged, vaccines will be shared with other countries as a global public good. As the pandemic continues to rage and the global economic crisis remains far from over, the world is crying for more solidarity and cooperation from every corner of the globe. In this regard, countries have no choice but to stand together and closer. Enditem Dr. Radoslav Danilak, co-founder and CEO of Tachyum Inc., has been invited to speak to an audience of influential heads of state, business leaders, innovators and industry experts about the role of technology in warfare at the GLOBSEC 2020 Bratislava Forum October 7-8. Over the past two decades, GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum has established itself as the leading platform in the Central Eastern Europe region and one of the top strategic conferences globally. The Forum facilitates free exchange of ideas and provides a meeting place for stakeholders from all sectors of society to actively shape the future for generations to come. The two-day GLOBSEC 2020 Bratislava Forum, under the theme "Let's Heal the World Together," will provide a platform for discussing what shape the rebuilding of the post-pandemic world could have. Danilak has nearly 30 years of industry experience and more than 100 patents designing state-of-the-art processing systems. In 2016, he founded Tachyum to disrupt markets by solving the processing performance plateau of nanometer class chips. At GLOBSEC 2020, he will be a featured speaker on a panel discussing the subject, "The Coming Convergence Super Technology Warfare." Among the early adopters of the company's Prodigy Universal Processor are government agencies looking to leverage its ultra-low power, ultra-high-performance to enable and vastly improve next-generation defense systems, such as unmanned aircraft, underwater systems, cybersecurity, communications, analytics and more. "The future of warfare is less likely to be won on the battlefield and more likely to be won by Artificial Intelligence (AI)," said Danilak. "Technology will be the deciding factor in how conflict will be resolved. This will play out from the standpoint of an 'arms race' of sorts with governments looking to build systems that can handle the most-demanding HPC, AI and ML workloads. A solution like Tachyum's Prodigy, which will enable human brain-scale computing in 2022, 15 years ahead of any other technology, is one that is seeing a lot of traction in the government and intelligence communities. I look forward to sharing how such a solution makes a commanding difference in the future of warfare at GLOBSEC 2020." Retired Army Lieutenant General Richard Zahner is a career electronic intelligence specialist who headed signals intelligence at the National Security Agency (NSA) and ended his career as Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence. In a recent interview he said, "Tachyum's new processor could help restore America's technological edge. Prodigy's unique attributes set the conditions to create a computing architecture fully aligned with the operational and strategic imperatives of our national strategy." Prodigy excels in technologies such as edge computing, IoT, HPC, convolutional AI, explainable AI, general AI, bio AI and spiking neural networks. For example, translating between English and Chinese requires a neural network with a capacity of more than 11 terabytes and is an arduous task on currently available "supercomputer" GPU processors of 20GB each. In contrast, Tachyum's Prodigy fits 8TB per chip which is 32TB in coherent DRAM per node. Prodigy outperforms today's fastest Xeon processors while consuming 10x lower power on data center workloads, and outperforms NVIDIA's fastest GPU on HPC, AI training and inferencing. A mere 125 HPC Prodigy racks can deliver 32 tensor EXAFLOPS. Prodigy's 3x lower cost per MIPS and 10x lower core power requirements translate to a 4x lower data center Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), enabling savings of millions to billions of dollars. Additional information about the GLOBSEC Forum is available at https://www.globsec-week.globsec.org/bratislava-forum Parties interested in watching a live stream of Danilak's panel presentation can go to https://www.globsec.org/livestream/. Information about the exact day and time to watch the live stream will be available on the Tachyum website at http://tachyum.com/. Follow Tachyum https://twitter.com/tachyum https://www.linkedin.com/company/tachyum https://www.facebook.com/Tachyum/ About Tachyum Tachyum is disrupting data centers, HPC and AI markets by providing universality, Industry leading performance, cost and power, while enabling data centers that are more powerful than the human brain. Tachyum, Co-founded by Dr. Radoslav Danilak, and its flagship product Prodigy, the world's first and only universal processor, begins production in 2021 targeting a $50B market growing at 20% per year. With data centers currently consuming over 3% of the planet's electricity, and 10% by 2025, low power Prodigy is critical for the continued doubling of worldwide data center capacity every 4 years. Tachyum has offices in the USA and Slovakia, EU. For more information, visit https://tachyum.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005468/en/ Contacts: Mark Smith JPR Communications 818-398-1424 marks@jprcom.com Salam AlHariri, 26, is a Syrian refugee and pharmacist in Jordan. A DAFI scholarship graduate from the University of Jordan in 2018, she has since been training in a local community pharmacy in Amman. UNHCR With only three per cent of refugees accessing higher education, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging governments and donors to help bridge critical gaps by ensuring the inclusion of refugee students in national education systems and the continuity of tertiary education programs, as well as offering more places for refugees. The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough for students and especially for refugees, many of whom - 85 per cent - reside in developing or least developed countries. With some affected by school closures, remote learning is not always available and even if so, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, TV and radio sets as well as internet connectivity are often not accessible to those displaced. The socio-economic consequences of the pandemic not only constrain opportunities but also may force displaced and destitute students to drop out of school and into work, begging and early marriages, to try and support their families. UNHCR is also worried that unless support is urgently boosted, one of the consequences of the global health emergency will be the reversal of some of the hard-won gains in refugee education, including an increase in refugee tertiary enrolment rates. In 2017 only one per cent of refugees were enrolled in higher education. Since the end of 2018, this figure has increased to three per cent, largely owing to a greater recognition on the part of states, education institutions and partner organizations of the importance of tertiary education for refugees. 2019 was also a record year for UNHCRs higher education scholarship scheme known as the DAFI programme (the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative), which is largely funded by the German government with the Government of Denmark as a new partner. Aiming to support national education systems, the program prioritizes refugee enrolment in public, higher education institutions. Scholarships are provided to refugees through a competitive selection process and cover tuition and other associated costs. Highlighting the growing demand from refugees around the world and the strong response, by governments and partners, on the need to improve refugee education, the number of refugee students enrolled through this program at the end of 2019 was 8,347 in 54 countries of study. This is a record level since the programs inception almost three decades ago, and an 18 per cent increase when compared to last year, or 1,481 additional scholarships. This expansion was made possible through increased funding. In 2019, DAFI scholarship recipients came from 45 countries with Syrian refugee students representing the largest cohort (29 per cent), followed by refugee students from Afghanistan (14 per cent), South Sudan (14 per cent), Somalia (10 per cent) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (6 per cent). The top five refugee host countries of study for DAFI students were Ethiopia, Turkey, Jordan, Kenya and Pakistan, also reflective of global refugee movements. For refugees enrolled in the program, major fields of study were; medical science and health related fields, followed by commerce and business administration, social and behavioral science, engineering and mathematics, and computer science. This and further data on refugee tertiary enrolment is highlighted in UNHCRs Refugee Students in Higher Education report released yesterday. Rallying support for education, including at the tertiary level, was a key objective of the Global Refugee Forum held in December last year. To withstand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR is calling on governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders to help strengthen and improve refuge inclusion and accessibility to national education systems in refugee host countries and to secure and safeguard education financing. Without such action, countless futures will be jeopardized. For more information on this topic, please contact: The Central Bureau of Investigation had to clarify on Monday, September 28, that it has not reached any conclusion in Sushant Singh Rajput's death and all aspects are under investigation. The CBI clarification comes in the wake of the allegations made by Vikas Singh -- the late actor's family lawyer -- questioning the pace of the CBI probe into Sushant's death and asking why all attention is being diverted to alleged drugs-related issues with the Narcotics Control Bureau conducting what he dubbed a 'fashion parade' of Bollywood stars. The CBI had taken over the probe from the Bihar Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actor's father K K Singh in Patna against his son's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family. Last weekend, the NCB questioned Bollywood stars Rakul Preet, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan, along with movie superstar Deepika Padukone, in a drugs probe linked to Sushant's death. The NCB team is led by Sameer Wankhede, a joint director with the directorate of revenue intelligence, who was 'loaned' (external link) to the Narcotics Control Bureau on August 27, 2020, and who many may remember for hauling in movie stars like Ranbir Kapoor during his tenure as a customs deputy commissioner at Mumbai airport around 2008. On Monday, Wankhede -- now designated NCB's zonal director -- alleged before the Bombay high court that Rhea and her brother Showik Chakraborty were 'active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers'!!! With the Bihar election coming up soon -- and no major campaign issue in sight -- is it possible that the Sushant case and its attendant distractions will play a stellar role in the NDA's poll strategy? Dominic Xavier wonders what the end game in the NCB's starstruck probe will be. Julian Assange may wind up at one of the country's most notorious prisons if he is extradited to the US and convicted of espionage. That's according to Maureen Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, who testified in London on Tuesday as part of the weeks-long trial involving Mr Assange. The Wikileaks founder is fighting an extradition request from the US, where he faces criminal charges that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. According to the Associated Press, Ms Baird told the court on Tuesday that Mr Assange would likely be sent to ADX Florence, the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, if he is convicted. Mr Assange, she explained, would need to be held under special administration measures (SAMs) because of national security concerns within the US government. Given those requirements, Ms Baird said the Colorado prison would be the "only place" for Mr Assange to serve his sentence, "unless there was a severe change in his medical status." Ms Baird added that Mr Assange would likely face the worst prison conditions the US has to offer conditions that she said "can have serious negative effects on an inmate's mental health." Under the SAMs measure, inmates spend most of the day confined in their cells with little contact with the outside world or fellow inmates. The ADX Florence is currently home to notorious convicts like Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, 1993 World Trade Center mastermind Ramzi Yousef, and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski. US authorities have accused Mr Assange, 49, of conspiring to hack government computers and violating espionage laws in connection with the release of confidential documents by WikiLeaks. His defense team has countered that the charges are a threat to press freedom and that Mr Assange is entitled to First Amendment protections. They have also said that Mr Assange suffers from mental health issues and would be a suicide risk if sent back to the US. The extradition hearing is due to end this week after initial delays from the coronavirus pandemic. Manchester Financial Group is also pleased to announce IQHQ's acquisition of five of the seven blocks to develop a mega life science campus within the masterplan. "This incredible development will be the catalyst for biotech to relocate to downtown San Diego and will be the driving force for life sciences growth and expansion," stated Papa Doug Manchester, Chairman of Manchester Financial Group. "With the entrepreneurism and leadership of IQHQ, and Alan D. Gold, San Diego will be one of the largest biotech clusters in the world." Manchester Financial Group will retain blocks 1A&B with a 1,035-room waterfront hotel and 1.9-acre plaza; while IQHQ will develop blocks 2A&B, 3A, & 4A&B which will include life science offices, retail, and a museum. "We are pleased to complete this significant acquisition as a San Diego-based company, we are truly excited to help realize a magnificent waterfront development dedicated to the advancement of life sciences," said Tracy A. Murphy, President of IQHQ. "Once complete, this project will meet the growing demand for life science space and attract top tenants and talent with a premier, urban, mixed-use waterfront campus including laboratory, office and retail space." The project promises to contribute more than 4,000 permanent jobs, $50 million in annual taxes and fees, and over $15 billion in economic benefits. "The contribution to the local economy will be significant," stated Perry Dealy, Development & Construction Manager for the project. "We are excited to deliver a premier life sciences real estate development and elevate San Diego on the world-stage." MEDIA CONTACT Stephanie Brown: 619.823.9794 or [email protected]. SOURCE Manchester Financial Group Related Links http://www.manchesterfinancialgroup.com